Monday, October 23, 2006

About J. Kirshnamurti


About J. Krishnamurti

"The teachings are not something out there in a book; what the teachings say is, 'Look at yourself, go into yourself, inquire into what is there, understand it, go beyond it', and so on. The teachings are only a means of pointing, explaining, but you have to understand, not the teachings, but yourself." JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI was born May 12, 1895, in Madanapalle, south India. From 1929 until his death in 1986 he traveled all over the world speaking spontaneously to large audiences. He engaged in dialogues with religious leaders, scientists, professors, authors, psychologists, computer experts, and people from many different backgrounds deeply questioning their daily life. His talks and dialogues have been compiled and published in more than fifty books and translated into as many different languages. His books include Think on These Things, Education and the Significance of Life, The Awakening of Intelligence, and The First and Last Freedom.Krishnamurti claimed allegiance to no caste, nationality or religion and was bound by no tradition. He said man has to free himself of all fear, conditioning, authority and dogma through self-knowledge and this will bring about order and psychological mutation. The conflict-ridden violent world, he suggested, cannot be transformed into a life of goodness, love and compassion by any political, social or economic strategies, but only through this mutation in individuals brought about through their own observation, without the mediation of any guru or organized religion.Krishnamurti`s stature as an original philosopher, attracted non-traditional and traditional thinkers and philosophers alike. Heads of various religious organizations held discussions with him, only to hear him repeat his central theme that authority in whatever form—religious, psychological or political—is a hindrance to seeing the truth; man has to be his own guru to bring about psychological transformation. Attending Krishnamurti`s talks in 1961, Aldous Huxley said, "It was like listening to a discourse of the Buddha-such power, such intrinsic authority...." In 1984 he spoke to nuclear scientists at the National Laboratory Research Center at Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.A. David Bohm Ph.D., the quantum physicist and friend of Einstein, recognized in Krishnamurti's teachings parallels with his own revolutionary theories of physics. This led to many years of dialogue between the two men. In 1980 a series of conversations took place between Krishnamurti and Bohm, which began with the question 'Has humanity taken a wrong turn . . .?' These conversations were later compiled into the book, The Ending of Time.In establishing the many schools he founded in India, England, and the United States, Krishnamurti envisioned that education should emphasize the integral cultivation of the mind and the heart, not mere academic intelligence. Krishnamurti said, "Surely a school is a place where one learns about the totality, the wholeness of life. Academic excellence is absolutely necessary, but a school includes much more than that. It is a place where both the teacher and the taught explore not only the outer world, the world of knowledge, but also their own thinking, their behavior." For decades he engaged in dialogues with teachers and students to emphasize the understanding that it is only in such freedom that true learning can take place.He established foundations in India, Europe and the United States with the defined role of protecting the teachings from being distorted and of disseminating his work, without the authority to interpret or deify the teachings or the person. There can be no learning where there is authority in any form. He stated tirelessly, "We must be very clear on this matter from the very beginning. There is no belief demanded or asked, there are no followers, there are no cults, there is no persuasion of any kind, in any direction, and therefore only then we can meet on the same platform, on the same ground, at the same level. Then we can together observe the extraordinary phenomena of human existence."

No comments: