Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurtiwas a speaker and writer on matters that concerned humankind. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher but later rejected this mantle and withdrew from the organization behind it. His subject matter included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasised that such revolution cannot be brought...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth12 May 1895
CountryIndia
So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.
Living in the present is the instant perception of beauty and the great delight in it without seeking pleasure from it.
The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth.
The only freedom is the freedom from the known.
The mind has to be empty to see clearly.
Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem.
When one has an image about oneself one is surely insane, one lives in a world of illusion.
If you lose touch with nature you lose touch with humanity.
The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.
That is the first thing to learn — not to seek. When you seek you are really only window-shopping. The question of whether or not there is a God or truth or reality, or whatever you like to call it, can never be answered by books, by priests, philosophers or saviours. Nobody and nothing can answer the question but you yourself and that is why you must know yourself. Immaturity lies only in total ignorance of self. To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom.
The man who lives without conflict, who lives with beauty and love, is not frightened of death because to love is to die.
There is an efficiency inspired by love which goes far beyond and is much greater than the efficiency of ambition; and without love, which brings an integrated understanding of life, efficiency breeds ruthlessness. Is this not what is actually taking place all over the world? Our present education is geared to industrialization and war, its principal aim being to develop efficiency; and we are caught in this machine of ruthless competition and mutual destruction. If education leads to war, if it teaches us to destroy or be destroyed, has it not utterly failed?
The moment you venture out, something takes place in you and about you. Life comes to your aid in various ways. You may not like the form in which it comes to you - it may be misery, struggle, starvation - but when you invite life, things begin to happen.
If I want to understand something, I must observe, I must not criticize, I must not condemn, I must not pursue it as pleasure or avoid it as non-pleasure. There must merely be the silent observation of a fact.