Although Krishnamurti considered his work to be
religious in character, that work is far indeed from an appeal to faith or
to devotional sentiment. It is an intellectually deep, original, and
challenging set of observations about the human mind and the world
condition, often penetrating to the heart of an issue in a thought-provoking
way. His work undermines the very foundations of conventional religious
practices, denying any role in religion for belief, devotion, and spiritual
leading or following. He addresses not just religious issues per se, but
fundamental philosophical and psychological issues in his call for a
revolution in consciousness. He rejects some of our most firmly held ideas,
indeed, even questioning the value of ideation altogether.
(S Lloyd Williams)
Krishnamurti
Krishnamurti was not a martial artist, nor did he
encourage violent action - he was more akin to a zen master but without any
of the religious trappings.
He regarded the world with such astounding clarity that
once you have
read his works at length nothing will ever seem the same
again.
Bruce Lee was influenced by Krishnamurti
and applied his approach to the study of the martial arts.
Krishnamurti was a student of Iyengar style yoga.
Commentaries on living
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 - 1986),
renowned lecturer and author, was an inspiring, yet humble mentor who sought
no followers but simply invited his listeners to join him in partnership in
the spirit of inquiry.
A keynote throughout his lifelong
mission to free humanity from the conditioning of the
mind
was:
Freedom from thinking, not freedom of thinking is the goal.
No
master
Krishnamurti would not allow anyone to have
authority over him, nor allow others to place him in authority over them.
Authority creates dependence and blindness.
We adopt the same attitude towards tai chi - tai chi is about tai chi, not the teacher.
Answers
Krishnamurti offers no advice and gives no answers.
What does he do?
He asks you to dismantle how you think, and encourages you to re-consider.
Knowledge
Many people find Krishnamurti to be disagreeable.
He never sought to
please people or be popular.
He never advocated a stance, viewpoint, opinion or perspective.
He simply questioned every one of your assumptions, beliefs and memories.
Our society reveres knowledge.
Krishnamurti asked us to consider meaning,
value and conditioning.
Knowledge is based on the past and the past can never be an appropriate
response to the immediate.
Books
There are dozens of Krishnamurti
books that you
could buy.
They will seem initially difficult to read and contradict everything you
think about life.
The books are not political or religious, and do not have an agenda.
He was not seeking to brainwash anyone.
Critics
The critics of Krishnamurti tended to
focus upon his lifestyle rather than his words.
Krishnamurti was born into the Brahmin caste and never worked for a living
in the conventional sense.
He lived in luxury, with his needs and interests catered for by various
wealthy benefactors.
His distance from poverty and the concerns of 'ordinary people' caused some
criticism.
He was regarded as being a guru to the aristocrats.
Krishnamurti countered his critics by asking people to focus on his words
rather than the man speaking them.
Ivory tower
His critics did have a point.
Krishnamurti is excellent for exploring how you think. His essays are
extremely challenging and insightful.
The weakness in his material stems from a notable lack of compassion and
warmth.
Krishnamurti lived a privileged existence, free of toil and hardship. His
feet never quite touched the ground.
Krishnamurti and tai chi
Many of the
tai chi,
tao and
zen books can seem
obscure and lacking in relevance at first.
It is only when they can be applied to life, to reality, that they come to
make sense.
Krishnamurti's books offer a means of heightening your
awareness.
He also helps you to understand that how you practice your
tai chi is
more important than what it looks like.
Page created 16 August 2000