Krishnamurti - On Self-Knowledge

On Self-Knowledge

Copyright 1954 Krishnamurti Foundation of America

On Self-Knowledge

J. Krishnamurti

K RISHNAMURTI F OUNDATION I NDIA

Contents

TALKS 1947

Madras

TALKS 1948

Bombay

Bangalore

Poona

New Delhi

TALKS 1949

Banaras

Rajahmundry

From The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti

Vols: IV, V & VI

Kendall / Hunt Publishing Co., USA

Publishers Note

This book is one of a series titled Selections from the Decades. The series aims at presenting a representative sample of public talks that Krishnamurti gave between the 1940s and the 1980s. Each volume focuses on the talks given during a decade or a part of it in different parts of the world. The series begins with Krishnamurtis talks in India in 1947, a year that marked a milestone both in Indias destiny and in the unfoldment of Krishnamurtis teachings.

The intention behind putting together such a series is to give the reader an overview of how the teachings expressed themselves over a period of time and in a particular context and in a particular idiom. The series also shows how Krishnamurti responded to the different challenges posed by a rapidly changing society. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) lived through the most tumultuous part of a century that saw two world wars, the splitting of the atom, the breakdown of ideologies, the savage destruction of the earth and the degeneration of every aspect of human life. It was also a century that could claim phenomenal progress in various technological fields. Krishnamurtis prophetic vision warned us of coming events far ahead of time. Decades before we became aware of the peril to the planet, he was already exhorting children at school to take care of the earth, to tread lightly on it. By the 1970s he was to ask: What will happen to the human being when the computer takes over all the functions of the brain?

Again we notice in the talks that the concerns expressed and the questions put to him in the 1980s were quite different from those of the 1940s and 1950s. What is striking about Krishnamurtis approach, however, is that even while addressing the social, political and economic issues of the period, his answers are rooted in a timeless vision of life and truth. He shows how behind any problem lies the creator of the problem and how the source of fragmentation lies within the mind of man. He offers no ready-made solutions to contemporary issues, for he sees clearly that they are but symptoms of a deeper malaise that lies embedded in the mind and heart of each human being.

Krishnamurtis statements are those of a seer, not of a social reformer. As such they are completely free of stereotype or clich. Krishnamurti displays a remarkable resilience in adapting his approach and idiom to the state of the mind of the questioner so that his answers are always fresh and original. Each talk is a new experience for the audience or the reader as it takes one through an inward journey of self-discovery.

Questioned as to whether his teachings had changed over the decades, Krishnamurti was to say: No. There have been changes in expression, changes in vocabulary, changes in language and gestureyou know all thatbut there has been no fundamental change from the beginning till now. (Fire in the Mind p. 16).

Krishnamurti Foundation India feels happy to offer these series of powerful talks to its readers, many of whom might be coming upon them for the first time.

TALKS 1947

Madras

22 October

The present world crisis is of an extraordinary nature; there have been probably few such catastrophes in the past. This present crisis is not the usual kind of disaster that occurs so often in the life of man. This chaos is worldwide; it is not Indian or European but stretching into every corner of the world. Physiologically and psychologically, morally and spiritually, economically and socially, there is disintegration and confusion, we are standing on the edge of a precipice and wrangling over our petty affairs. Few seem to realize the extraordinary character of this world crisis, how profound and how vastly disturbing. Some, realizing the confusion, are active in rearranging the pattern of life on the edge of the precipice, and being themselves confused, are only bringing more confusion. Others try to solve the problem through a particular formula or a system of the extreme left or of the right, or through formulas that lie between the extremes.

These inevitably fail, for a problem, a human problem, is never static, whereas formulas, systems are. Revolution according to a formula ceases to be a revolution. The intellectual professionals, specialists, will never save the world; and the intellect, which is only a part of the total process of man, will always fail as its answers are ever partial and so not true. Systems, formulas, organized thought, can never save man.

As the crisis, the problem, is ever new, a new approach is essentiala living, dynamic approach that is not anchored to any organization, to any system. A human problem is ever undergoing transformation; it is not static, and a mind that is burdened with a conclusion, with a formula, can never comprehend a living problem. To such a mind, the problem, the complex human entity is not significant; but the system, the formula forces the living into the static, so creates more confusion, more misery for man.

This catastrophic disaster has not come into being through some action of chance; it has been created by each one of usby our everyday activities of envy and passion, of greed and the craving for power and domination, of competition and ruthlessness, of sensate and immediate values. We are responsible for this appalling misery and confusion, not another, but you and I. Because you are thoughtless, unaware, wrapped up in your own ambitions, sensations, and pursuits, wrapped up in those values that are immediately gratifying, you have created this immense, engulfing disaster. War is a spectacular and bloody expression of our daily life, our life of competition, ill will, social and national division, and so on. You are responsible for this chaos, not any particular group, not any individuals, but you; you are the mass, you are the world. Your problem is the worlds problem.

As the problem is new you must approach it anew; there must be revolution in thinking. This revolution is not based on any formula but on self-knowledge, knowledge of the total process of your whole being. Neither the specialization of the part nor the study of the part can lead to the whole. Through self-knowledge there is right thinking which is revolutionary and creative. Individual and individualistic action are two different and opposing things. Individualistic action is action based on greed, envy, ill will, and so on, action of the part; and individual action is action based on the understanding of this total process. Individualistic action is antisocial, antagonistic, or opposed to another. Individualistic activities have brought man to this present chaos and misery. In reaction to individualistic activities, collectivism of many varieties has sprung up. In understanding the total process of our beingonly in self-knowledge is there salvation.

To understand the total process there must be no condemnation, judgement or identification. If you would understand your son, you must observe him, study him without comparison, without condemnation; similarly, if you would understand yourself, you must be aware of your activities, emotions, and thought without condemnation. This is very difficult and arduous, for our education and training have conditioned us to condemn, to judge. This condemnation puts an end to understanding; so we have to be aware of this conditioning. Freedom does not come through effort, but it is the perception of truth that liberates. Truth is liberating, not your effort to be free. Creative thinking which comes through self-knowledge is the solution for our miseries, for it reveals truth, which is the breath of happiness. Right thinking based on self-knowledge leads to meditation in which creation, truth, God, or what you will, takes place. Meditation is not self-hypnosis, as is the general case, but that in which the uninvited comes into being. What is invited is self-projected, so transitory and illusory. Reality or God must come to you and you cannot go to it. Without this reality, life is full of misery, chaotic, and destructive. During these talks, with those who are earnest, we shall experiment and cultivate right thinking, which alone can solve our problems permanently. Earnestness is not dependent on moods and circumstances. The problem itself demands earnestness for in the problem itself is its solution.