How Much Do We Follow?

This is my first Jiddu Krishnamurthy (JK). I have heard about him from many who follow  his philosophy. Ironically, Krishnamurthy himself does not believe in any advocacy. According to him, rituals, ideologies, philosophies and religions  are restrictive by nature. These  impose authority. As a result, the followers are not free to find the truth by themselves and repose faith in the ‘truths’ constructed by these external authorities.

Humans are a product of their internal and external worlds which are an  accumulation of past experiences and knowledge. Freedom from the past releases immense energy which otherwise gets dissipated in fear. Fear is a bondage which pulls humans into their world of  acquired knowledge and experiences. Once free, humans can start afresh by ‘looking’ inside and outside for sheer joy, beauty and truth but without craving and desire to own.

I see elements of Buddhism and Zen when JK says to experience a moment’s joy and beauty without seeking pleasure. Pleasure, according to him, is the desire for repetition. But then JK would say my mind is conditioned by isms and ideologies and that I have to be free of them in order to truly understand and appreciate truth, beauty, freedom and joy.

Likewise, JK says if we were to get rid of our negative emotions like fear, anger and violence, we have to look at them dispassionately without condemning or justifying. Once we are able to do that we will realise that these emotions are very much part of us. By looking them in the eye we will be able to finish them completely. Analysis and getting outside cure will not help. By looking at them we look at ourselves and by doing so we heal and be free.

Regarding relationships, JK says , it’s conflictual because in a relationship we form the image of the other. The relationship is then between two images and not between two persons who they actually are. He says this is also true of our relationship with our country, society and environment. Our education teaches us to compare between what we are and what we should be. That is how desire takes birth – what we actually have/are and what we want to be. This is duality and  contradictory in itself giving rise to confusion. Confusion and contradiction are both great dissipators of vital energy. When we let go of comparison, contradiction and confusion we become free and flower in a relationship.

Freedom, J K says, is being free from all bondages and time and it is something beyond consciousness. If we are able to live with our true self and relish the aloneness without any external stimuli we are free.

I admit this book is a heavy read which made me wonder whether it is really practical to look at yourself as you are. It is hard. Right? Is it really possible to come face to face with your negative emotions? JK says that everything around us is based on falsehood. That is a very bleak picture even if we are holding on to illusions, conditioned by our age old traditions.

We say time is a healer. In contrast, JK says time is the interval between an idea and action. This interval is invoked by our thoughts. According to JK we have to die to our past and whatever associated with the past in order to get rid of the fear of death. Once we are free of fear of death we start living completely.

Every word JK says is interesting, intriguing and thought provoking by its newness. There are some books which make things easy and doable for readers. And then there are some which make you think but appear to be unattainable. This book had the latter effect on me. At some point I thought JK was iconoclastic. I may be wrong but I am just jotting down thoughts or my reactions to his suggestions and words.

As I have understood JK, love is sharing without seeking, wanting, pursuing, possessing, controlling. Space is the gap between the Observer and the Observed. Once this gap melts away there is total abandonment. Time is when we see things in continuity – past, present , future or yesterday, today, tomorrow. If we are in the moment there is no time only presence, attention and awareness. JK says a quiet and still mind is a limitless mind. But this stillness and quietness cannot be brought about by control, suppression or discipline. Study the mind is JK’s advice and be free of the mind.

Phew! As I finish reading JK I really don’t know whether I have understood him well. Maybe it’s my lesser intellect and sub zero level of comprehension. Talking against a great thinker of the world is blasphemy itself. But even the stupidest person on earth has a right to his/her opinion. Banking on that I’d say JK is contradictory at times. He advocates a life and mind beyond justification or condemnation but he begins on the premise of condemnation himself. He condemns society, human mind, human relationships et all or perhaps my understanding, as he says , is shallow. His advocacy is coached in so many words that by the end the crux seems to be lost in the jargons of verbosity.

Simplicity attracts me. Lucidity attracts me. I am sure JK is saying the same thing as all other thinkers world over are saying but the only difference here is I fail to take to his way of saying things. It’s my shortcoming.

A little about the Author:

JK (born in 1895) and his brother were adopted in their youth by Dr. Annie Besant, the then President of the Theosophical Society. JK was proclaimed to be the World Teacher whose coming was predicted by the Theosophists. To  prepare the world for his coming a world wide organization known as Order of the Star in the East was formed and JK was made its head. However, JK renounced the role, dissolved the Order which had a huge following and returned the money and property donated for his work. From then on, for six decades till his death, JK addressed large audiences and individuals world over talking about the need to bring about a radical change in human consciousness.