Krishnamurti - On Study Centres

For material prior to 1968: Copyright by Krishnamurti Foundation of America

For material from 1968 onwards: Copyright by Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd.

First edition: July 1996. Reprinted 1999

J. KRISHNAMURTI

ON STUDY CENTRES

(Selections from the Talks & Dialogues of J. Krishnamurti)

Selected & Edited by Krishna Nath

(For the use of Study Centres)

THE STUDY

KRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION INDIA

BANGALORE

Contents

Preface

This selection from J. Krishnamurtis dialogues on study centres is mostly made from verbatim reports and presented with minimal editing.

What is the purpose of this selection? To explore the intent of the founder of the centres. This exploration reduces itself to my own reasons for going to a centre. Why do I go there? To escape, to withdraw and return, to enjoy a weekend or to explore the teachings and live the teachings? What is the role of the centres and the Foundations in all this? The selection addresses these, among other questions.

This is not an essay in interpretation. No one has the authority to interpret what Krishnaji really had in his mind with regard to the centres. The selections seek to unfold the vision, the whole spectrum and not a part of it. To put it in context, the text has been selected to the fullest extent possible. Since these dialogues are around the same theme over a decade, repetition is unavoidable within and between pieces. Repetition is not cut out, because it is not always mechanical. That gives a rhyme and rhythm to the presentation, like the repetition of notes in the unfolding of a Raga.

The selections are arranged chronologically. No attempt is made to connect one to the other. Only the date, place and names of persons are given. And of course, the titles.

Looking back, it seems that Krishnaji had centres of a kind in his mind from his early Eerde, Ommen days. There are references to the spiritual centres, ashrams, adult centres and the like. He says yes and no to questions about the necessity or otherwise of the centres. But he perhaps emphasized them more towards the later part of his life. He goes into the centresthe purpose and kind of centresin depth with lifelong friends of the Foundations in America, Canada, England and India in Ojai in March 1977. He is concerned about what is going to happen when he is no more. There are schools, publications, archives. But there must be a living quality to all this and more. He would ask them again and again, I come from Seattle and I say, Tell me all about him... Tell me what he said. Have you got something of it? The man from Seattle has since then become a legend in Krishnamurti circles around the world.

Discussing the centres, he asked what these centres should be, or ought to be. What is the purpose, if any, of having the centres? And what kind of centres? There is an expectation and temptation to summarize by way of introduction. But perhaps it is better not to jump to conclusions and ready-made answers. And let the questions stay with us. Let the selections speak for themselves.

The study centres came into existence when Friedrich Grohe generously donated funds to build the proposed centres in Brockwood Park and in India in the 1980s. He was moved to do so after going through a statement on Brockwood Today and in the Future.

The selections are for the use of serious people who are genuinely involved in living the teachings in the study centres and in the world at large. The centres, it may be well to note, are going the way that suits the ethos of the place and persons organizing them. Perhaps the real centres are not out there in physical space and in the facilities created there; they are necessary, but not sufficient. The real centres are in the mind and heart and even in the blood of the person living there. Wherever such a person or a group of people exists, wherever there is a burning passion for inquiry and insight, there is a centre. And no prescription can make or mar that living quality. Still, if the intent of the founder of the existing and future centres is kept in mind, it may do some good. All this and more may not lead to enlightenment. But if it helps a little, its all right; if it does not, even then it is all right.

With these words, the selections on study centres is presented to live the teachings together at the centres and beyond.

Krishna Nath

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the help from friends:

Friedrich Grohe for suggesting me to make the selections on the study centres and inviting me to Europe to do so;

Dr. Satish Inamdar, Sushma Inamdar, Dr. T.K. Parchure, Raman Patel, Rabindra Singh, Kishore Khaimar, Harsh Tankha, Ingrid Porter, Kathy Forbes, O.R. Rao, S.P. Kandaswamy, David Skitt, G. Gautama, Siddhartha Menon and Hamid Foruzesh Gohar for enriching the selections and commenting on the same;

Mrs. Mary Zimbalist for giving me an inside view of the centres in the making;

Ray McCoy for arranging to make the first copy of the selections and going through the whole text and for comments and suggestions;

The Study, Krishnamurti Foundation India, Bangalore and Madras; the Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Limited and the Krishnamurti Centre, Brockwood Park, England for providing a home away from home, enabling me to select and edit;

Mary-Ann Ridgway for scanning, checking and printing the first draft of the manuscript on the computer; and Dr. CT Kannan, Jayaraj Kapila Kulasinghe and Mrs. Suchitra Narayan for correcting the proof;

Cathy Horn for organizing the work at Chalet Solitude, Rougemont, Switzerland.

Chalet Solitude, Rougemont (Switzerland)

1st of August 1996

Abbreviations

Participants in the discussions have been identified by their initials:

K: J. Krishnamurti

AC: Ahalya Chari

AK: Alan Kisbaugh

CW: Cynthia Wood

DB: David Bohm

DrP: Dr. T.K. Parchure

DS: Dorothy Simmons

EB: Evelyne Blau

EL: Erna Lillifelt

FW: Fritz Wilhelm

JS: Jagdis Siddoo

MC: Mary Cadogan

ML: Mark Lee

MZ: Mary Zimbalist

RB: Radha Burnier

RT: Ruth Tettemer

SF: Scott Forbes

SS: Sarjit Siddoo

TL: Theo Lilliefelt

[Any mistake in identification in the transcript is regretted. The text is from verbatim transcripts of the Report of the International Trustees Meetings in Ojai, 1977.]

Krishna Nath

1. What is going to happen when K dies?

J. Krishnamurti: I thought we should all meet, the four Foundations [with schools], to see and to consider what is going to happen when K dies. At present, from what one has observed, K has been the centre of the work. K has held the different Foundations together, if I am not mistaken, and if K dies tomorrow or in ten years time, what is going to happen? Will all the Foundations break away from each other? Thats one of the considerations that we will discuss presently, as we go along.

Ks teachings are a living thing and the books, Im afraid, are not. No book is. If K dies, what is going to happen to the teachings? Is it going to be repetitive or are there people who have, if I may use the phrase, drunk at the fountain, and who can carry on from there; not merely quoting K, but getting the spirit of it, the truth of it, the vitality of it, the energy of it? The books are all right, but they remain on the shelves. You pick them up occasionally, look at them, read them and forget them, and I feel there must be amongst us some who have, if I may use the phrase again, drunk at the fountain, and for themselves see the truth and express it in their daily life, and so on, and so on. I think thats one of the major issues as far as Im concerned. For the last fifty-two years one has talked a great deal about all these things and I findI hope youll forgive me for saying thisthere is not one person who has seen that thing for himself and goes on with it. I am notplease understandI am not disappointed that there is no one, so far; Im not looking for anybody to carry on. But I think we should consider all this.