Krishnamurti - In the Problem is the Solution: Question and Answer Meetings in India

In the Problem is the Solution: Question and Answer Meetings in India

Copyright 2008 Krishnamurti Foundation Trust

In the Problem is the Solution

Question and Answer Meetings in India

J. KRISHNAMURTI

K RISHNAMURTI F OUNDATION I NDIA

CONTENTS

During your first talk here, your appeal to stand up against the corrupt and immoral society, like a rock protruding from the mid-stream of a river, confuses me deeply. You see, sir, the rock means being an outsider. Such an outsider is his own light and does not need to stand up against anything or anybody. Your clarification and answer are very important to me.

You often switch over from mind to brain. Is there any difference between them? If so, what is the mind?

I am a student of chartered accountancy. Even though I understand each and every word of JK, the message remains vague. What should I do to understand his message fully?

Is there really such a thing as transformation? What is it to be transformed?

I think the saints created ideals and stories to teach man how to lead a good and correct life. How can you call it nonsense?

You say that if one individual changes, he can transform the world. May I submit that in spite of your sincerity, love, and truthful statements, and that power which cannot be described, the world has gone from bad to worse? Sir, is there such a thing as destiny?

Is it possible for an ideal teacher to discharge his duties in the classroom of a school without making use of reward and punishment? Can a teacher inculcate decent behaviour in poverty-stricken children who are in need of true education? Kindly give your answer with special reference to poor thildren and the problem of a teacher who is working in poverty-stricken areas.

What is the source of thought? How does one go to the very source of thought so that there is a possibility of silencing the thinking process itself?

We are students of a medical college. Why is it that we never notice things the way you do? Why are we not serious enough to change ourselves?

I have been recently hurt, and I heard you say, When you tread on the image you have created for yourself, can you not record the hurt? Can we get rid of the image? How can this be done?

When I love someone, I find myself deeply attached. When I really love someone, I am intensely concerned and deeply interested in the person, which always involves attachment. How can we be so intensely concerned and yet not be attached?

What is your stand with regard to miracles? We are told that even you have performed what would normally be called miracles. Do you deny this fact?

You say that one should look at things totally and not fragmentarily and that such observation is possible only when the brain is completely attentive. What should I do to make the brain behave rightly?

Is there any survival after death? When a man dies full of sorrow, attachments, and regrets, what happens to this residue?

What does it mean to inquire? Is inquiry itself a process of thought?

You have said, Lets think together. Does it mean collective thinking? If it is not, how can two people of different backgrounds think together?

What is the nature of evil? Do you think it is possible to live in the present-day world without compromising with evil in some form or another?

For living beyond the shadow of time we must discard psychological memory. Yet it is necessary to have memory of our skills for daily living. The two types of memory are the contents of the same brain, and each has close association with the other. How is it possible then to retain the essential memory and discard the psychological?

In the West, children are brought up to be separate, independent individuals, and this makes them less affectionate. In the East, they are brought up to share everything with the family. They are more affectionate, but this makes them more dependent, more attached. Which of these is a healthier, more natural way of bringing up a child?

You warn us that the practice of a technique of meditation makes the mind dull and mechanical, but it appears to me that your teaching of listening and seeing and learning also involves a struggle in the mind to drop its activities. May I request you to enlighten me on this question?

You often say thought is a material process. What does this mean?

You urge people to look inward and ask fundamental questions. Dont you think yoga, meditation, and so on prepare ones mind to look within?

What is the basis for your getting pessimistic about the growth of computers?

Without conflict or struggle in the sense of a desire to improve, how can there be any progress, material or social, in the world? The desire to change supplies the motive force for work towards achievement and progress. If you accept what is, then how can there be any kind of progress?

Does this transformation take place through the will of thought or through some other energy?

Are you not an outside agency to help us?

I am a student of engineering. I find this volcano of hurt burning deep within me every moment of my life. Competition has apparently been the root cause of all human development. Is it possible to be competitive and yet not hurt?

Tell us, sir what should be done seriously to help the country and the countrymen? For, no philosophy, no books, no talks can solve this problem.

What is sorrow?

What is the nature of freedom? Why does it happen?

We live in a corrupt and unjust society. Is there no place in your teachings to fight on behalf of the victims of injustice?

We see what you say and accept what you say but, all the same, is there no way by which we can also contribute towards the building of a reasonably just society?

You mean to say, sir, that I cannot create a just society even by my own personal behaviour, through cooperation with a large number of people? Can I not through a community create a sense of justice amongst the people?

What is the place of right action in ones quest for self-knowledge?

Even though I am able to bring about order within myself, the disorder and pressure of the world around me constantly affect my daily life. Is it possible to remain unaffected?

You have once said, Give your life to understand life. What does it mean?

I am a 12-year-old boy. I am constantly afraid of death. How shall I be rid of this fear?

Kindly give a straight reply. Does God exist or not? Yes or no? If yes, how best to realize him in this life?

In your first talk, you said that thought is responsible for all our problems, and you also said that thought has failed to resolve those conflicts. And you asked if there is any other instrument to resolve our conflicts. Please explain.

The Indian mind has for centuries probed into the nature of the self and of the cosmos. In spite of this, today it is completely materialistic. What has happened to the ancient wisdom of that mind?

The body ages, but is the ageing of the mind inevitable?

Can thought be separated from sensory perceptions?

If there are no ideals, one cannot deal adequately with the psychological crises and the resultant social conflicts. How can mere individual change affect the whole?

Is mutation purely a psychological happening? Is there any chemistry involved in the happening? Is there a psychological change in the brain cells themselves?