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I
think Krishnamurti is often viewed as a
kind of super guru both by those who idolise him and those who
are bitterly disappointed in him. Personally I have never been
interested in gurus as such, so I see him in a different light.
What I am interested in is the discourse that is going on in the
world. For centuries Western thinking has been dominant. The
Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, Modernism and the hippies
are movements that have shaped the world in one way or another.
The legacy is not only science and technology, but also things
like democracy and freedom of speech. In the search for
knowledge and understanding, authority, tradition and belief has
been stripped away - to sum up some of the positive
achievements. And I do consider them achievements. Democracy is
better than tyranny and controlled experiment better than
superstition.
But this promising discourse has withered away before reaching
true maturity. There may be many reasons, but one of them is
something inherent in Western thought. In its quest for
measurable truth, the deeper religious or mystical truths have
been identified with superstition and false authority and are
regarded with suspicion by intellectuals. Modern people live in
a world where God is dead and there are no deeper existential
truths than those that are true to each individual person.
Cosmos is a senseless dance of particles and energy, suddenly
you are there in time and space for no particular reason and the
next moment you are gone forever. Art is only for Art's sake. In
short, the modern universe is uninhabitable except for those who
are content with consumerism, sensuality and the trill of new
gadgets.
Consequently a market for spirituality has sprung up. To me it
seems like a reaction against rationality. With the 'Masters'
there is no 'freedom of speech' or 'healthy scepticism' - the
more totalitarian and superstitious the better. Generations of
young people have gone to the gurus to learn to control their
minds and often to unquestioningly follow some obscure and
reactionary doctrine. The so-called silence that gurus preach is
the silence of the stultified and narrow mind. A fairly sane,
responsible person cannot accept this regression.
The problem is that we desperately need the religious and
mystical truths in the modern discourse to gain a more holistic
understanding of life and to discover compassion. It is the next
step. And this step is urgent in Europe with the extreme, racist
Right one the move.
When I first read Krishnamurti it was like a bombshell of
understanding. Here was a man saying that for a good society to
come about you had to discard not only outward tyranny, but also
the inward authority of the past, except in fields where memory
and measurement are strictly necessary. And in the course of his
explorations he also demonstrated how the sense of anxiety,
isolation and meaninglessness - the very symptoms of Modernity -
lead to an everlasting search for new psychological escapes,
conclusions and identifications.
And also that love cannot exist if there is selfishness, and
that only the innocent can be blessed by the immeasurable -
words that are much needed in the modern world, which is
degenerating because of too much shallow materialism. He said
that conditioning and selfishness cannot be overcome by
following somebody or by disciplining the mind, only through
understanding. He wasn't regressing back to a set of beliefs and
thereby betraying the achievements of modern civilisation. On
the contrary, he was going much further, pursuing freedom to the
very end! It was almost as if he was entering into a dialogue
with Modernity, and maybe he was to some extent. But his
teachings are so universal that anyone can relate to them - if
they relate a little bit to themselves.
I think one needs a mind that is basically on a true and happy
path to really take in what he is saying. You can feel
discontent and suffer, but you must be strong enough to admit to
what you are, to be interested in the truth about yourself. If
your mind is too twisted and fearful you will forever grope for
the foothold of certainties. Most of us are like that even
though we flock around Krishnamurti. The capacity of the mind
for self-deceit is unlimited.
The way I see it, the schools are there to lead young people
onto this true and happy path, not to make them enlightened
beings. You can lead the horse to the trough, but you can't make
it drink.
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A response to this article follows.
You put the problem, the human condition, in very clear and
concise terms. I started reading K about 35 years ago and I am
often surprised how thoroughly I misunderstood many of his
teachings. Maturity changes perspective along with more and more
experience of the world one realizes the supreme challenge that
he/we face in a degenerating world that is really growing quite
desperate. In the end, the intellectuals realize they have
little to offer but empty rhetoric and consumerism never quite
satisfies the soul.
regards,
W. Hart
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