He's not the messiah -April 11, 2005 17 out of 71 found this review helpful
- He's a very naughty boy. Though few get to see what goes on behind closed doors, get to see the teacher's dirty laundry. Still the powerful material in this book can serve well. At ultimate, like best medicine, it can help us get beyond leaning on such things, looking to them for models, alchemical formulae; to get beyond dependence, addiction. Won't go into the whole psycho bit. Won't go into this whole scene - the books, tours, Brockwood, the Foundation. Krishnamurti's court. All that was done to protect the kernel of his precious teaching. Lying. Abortion. Was K addicted to opiates of spouting his teaching about not-teaching, caught by delusional convictions like that he didn't NEED to orate as he was able to take a dose of time out from it? Hypocrisy, self-deception, sham. If you want the real essence of what he's trying to get at, supposedly talking about, try Sankara. Or take a doctoral combination like (Laszlo's) Universal Connectivity synthesis with Hog's Wholey Wash (Mitchell) & New Science of Life (Sheldrake). Apply own heart salt, see what emerges - using direct experience as reference - something from your own love and pain, not someone else's insight, abstraction, whatever. Maybe get to chat about it all with apt professor such as John Wren-Lewis. All equivocal advaita. The prof & that hog's wash both priceless on JK-ology. But why not listen to a woman for a change? Like Ann Faraday. Vandana Shiva. Andrew Cohen's mom. Not forgetting Brian's. Or just take J Krishnamurti ACTUALLY seriously for a moment - burn beyond the intellectual, leap trip rise or fall into life's throbbing paradoxical, perchance to implode, to supernova - follow his advice and stop following his advice! LISTEN to (WITH) the birds, the tree, the flower. Our nonduality. It's all there, here - interactive - mutually embedded - overlapping & ongoing.
No, Jiddu Krishnamurti wasn't the messiah. He wasn't like Jesus Christ is supposed to be (Was Jesus either?) Jiddu K was a pretty sharp trading type. New crutches for old. The trader might not be catching his own reflection in them too well, but still they could be of extraordinary utility. Old dilemmas for new in the search for truth. This legendary journeyer in a pathless land might have been more itinerant preacher than Avatar, but what he presented effectively offers double helpings to convert conceit, pretence, all false securities (matter) into fresh vistas of consciousness (energy)
To Be Read Again and AgainApril 3, 2005 14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I must have read this marvelous book more than 5 times, and with each reading have received new insights, both into myself, and the world around me. Krishnamurti does not condemn us, but does not let us deceive ourselves either. Therein lies the simple beauty of this book. In this world of madness, almost everyone is egotistical and suffers from it, while denying it in themselves, and condemning it in others. Krishnamurti sets us free by helping us admit to our state, and only asks that we observe whatever feeling or thought is possessing us at the moment--without judgment. In "choicelessly" watching our thought patterns and the emotions they create, we close the gap between the observer and the observed, permitting our noisy minds to become silent. Within that blessed silence is freedom, freedom from the known.
The long road homeDecember 13, 2004 45 out of 49 found this review helpful
Krisnamurti urges us to follow a path that runs entirely contrary to modern conditioning. The paradox of modern man lies in the fact that for the first time in human history he has the luxury of time and wealth to find himself, but the certainty that he automatically knows everything that needs knowing. Modern man hides in the forest of the known, secure and out of reach of meaning for his existence.
This book is not to be taken lightly, to be read and tossed aside for the next mystery or adventure story. It is not about escape from, but rather about escape to a reality most of humanity hasn't the courage to acknowledge, much less enter to find a different foundation for continuing.
It's tempting not to recommend this book at all without a certified statement from prospective buyers to read the words carefully, to examine the phrases and the meaning behind the phrases. If you are unwilling to do so your money will be wasted.
Reviewing ourselvesDecember 2, 2004 16 out of 18 found this review helpful
Written years ago, Krishnamurti's 'Freedom from the Known' is highly cleansing after the avalanche of recent writings, setting out this or that way of finding the truth. What he says touches the heart of all true spiritual awareness - all valid spiritual teachings, but with an almost surgical precision. In short, what we often IMAGINE to be a quest for spiritual truth, turns out to be a deluded game, playing with the same old monkey nuts which prevent us from opening our spiritual eye. We WANT SOMETHING, but the ultimate truth is not a 'something.' We want gratification, but this person who wants to be gratified (or justified) is the illusion which binds us to suffering.
The truth is unconditioned. It is not a 'known' thing. Let go of yourself, all your cherished clingings, including the idea of getting something - by letting go of them - and the truth will set you free.
Some people don't like this. They find it disturbing, they feel cheated or robbed. They don't get a 'system' to play with.Nor do they become members of the elect, by gaining access to a special 'in crowd.' But remember - that's the same old monkey nuts we tie ourselves to suffering with. The unconditioned truth is always there. You can't get it, because you didn't lose it. Even Krishnamurti has to go.
Beautiful, Profound... but FlawedSeptember 10, 2004 17 out of 42 found this review helpful
The doctrine of Krishnamurti is filled with wisdom. Any student who seriously takes on the practical application of Krishnamurti's philosophy will change; and this is fundamental. One finds in his words a mixture of the best of Buddhism and the best of Western philosophy; so what could be missing?
Undoubtedly, Krishnamurti has affected millions of people, and inspired them to work on themselves in order to help themselves and society to move away from self-centered behavior and thought, which in turn generate suffering. Yet, for all his wisdom and obvious internal development, Krishnamurti was missing something.
When he was a young boy, he was discovered by a group of Theosophists, who immediately proclaimed that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. This created an enormous division in the Theosophical Society, and it eventually fractured into many groups. Why the division? Why the disagreement? And what effect did this have on the boy? (...)
In the end, Krishnamurti became deeply skeptical because of his experiences with the Theosophists. It required many years before he began his mission of teaching... but it was hampered by the trauma he suffered at the hands of the Theosophists.
The result? Krishnamurti never knew the full depth of the Mysteries. While he taught and explained the method to work with the mind, he did not know or teach the essential wisdom to create the soul. That is why his students continue in the same problems and same conflicts, and why he ended his days so frustrated and disappointed with humanity...
If any student of Krishnamurti were to combine his wisdom with the profound tools of Gnosis, they would quickly discover the practical means to a complete psychological revolution. As it is, students of Krishnamurti work to revolutionize their minds, but are only able to achieve a very shallow change. To truly change the nature of one's own mind, one has to appeal to a force that is beyond the mind...
Truly and sincerely, I hope that all serious students of Krishnamurti will investigate the transformative tools now available to all serious investigators of our inner state, and that they do not fall into fanaticism, believing that he taught them all there is to know.
For more information about Gnosis and the complete esoteric wisdom every practitioner of every religion and tradition requires, read The Perfect Matrimony, The Great Rebellion, and The Aquarian Message, among many others, all authored by Samael Aun Weor.
