Wonderful Insights About Life and Becoming AwareSeptember 29, 2008 I love this book for all of the wonderful insights he offers about practicing awareness and understanding our thoughts. I found it to be a hopeful book and a perfect guide for how to create true transformation in our troubling times.
Truly AwesomeSeptember 21, 2006 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Krishnamurti's works offer a rare glimpse of the sacred without dogma or path. I was surprised to see many of the people reviewing this text seem to have little understanding of what K is suggesting. K is not engaging in "egomania", instead he is constantly inviting the audience (and readers) to find out for themselves rather than accept an answer. The idea that reality is beyond our thinking is by no means a new one, but K helps us to see all the hundreds of thousands of ways that thought has looked for security -- which includes religion.
Someone (I'm assuming a Christian) challenged that if we go beyond our intellect we will simply believe in Santa Claus or Satan - which is obviously not true. The point is to believe in nothing and therefore find out reality for oneself.
Back to the subject matter, K's simple but profound teachings help serious individuals to bring about a change that is necessary for mankind to face the new challenges of the present day. I whole-heartedly recommend each and every book of K.
One of the best books of Krishnamurti's "teachings"May 23, 2004 11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've read over 25 Krishamurti books, including all the "big ones" like Freedom from the Known, The First and Last Freedom, Total Freedom, Awakening of Intelligence, Flight of the Eagle, Krishmaurti's Notebook, etc., many of which I've read more than once. I've given all of them away to share K's message but kept four of them which I keep as references for focused daily reflection/meditation (as opposed to the meditation of all waking life). The four I've kept are Freedom from the Known, On God, On Right Livelihood, and Education and the Significance of Life (the last one of great relevance to me since I'm an educator). And so now I always recommend (and often give) the first three books on that list I just mentioned to anyone who wants to learn more about K's "teachings." "Freedom from the Known" is the single best, most concise and thorough summary of all K's teachings. "On God" should greatly help anyone who is searching for ultimate reality, Truth, God, Enlightenment, Nirvana, The Meaning of Life, or whatever one wants to call it. No summary will do it justice; you must read it for yourself. "On Right Livelihood" addresses the issue of our daily living, in work, leisure, and even to some degree home life and family relationship, becuase, as K emphasizes, they all should be an integrated whole, not fragmented parts of our lives. "Education and the Significance of Life" is also or relevance to anyone who has children or who teaches; it will transform the way you view childrearing and education. I would say that those four books would be all a person would need to transform one's life; to have a radical revolution in living.
Over his headNovember 28, 2002 6 out of 17 found this review helpful
Though I like Krishnamurti's work in general, this is a [weak] one. Since he is anti-organization, anti-teacher he dimisses all the mystics and spiritual teachers who ever lived. They don't know but since I'm free of all that dogma and rigid teachings I know best sums up Krisnamurti's thought on god. This borders on egomania. Sadly by lowering the topic to such a low level of discourse he makes himself no better than any new age kook. Since he had no method per se and dismisses any sort development of higher level perceptions he puts himself in a box all alone. It's too bad his experience with Theosophy ruined his opinion of teachers and organizations.
This book could perhaps stand as signpost as too how far rational thinking can take a person. Get the book if you're interested and then get Underhill's "Mysticism" and Helminski's "Living Presence". Compare them and see who has a better understanding of spirituality and God.
More Than Just GodJune 29, 2001 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book (one in a series where Krishnamurti goes deeply into several topics critical to mankind) will mainly be of intrest to people who are already familiar with Krishnamurti's basic philosophy/teachings. Krishnamurti uses many words with specific definitions (specific to himself & used throughout his works) that people might not understand if they don't go deeply into particular subjects. This book helps clarify & define several of them. In a nut-shell, Krishnamurti states "How can anyone find God (the unknown) through the known? All one will find is their own thought's known projections. So to know God (if that's possible), one cannot approach God through the known; through knowledge." This is part of a larger thought of his, which is: don't believe in anything. Don't believe at all. If something comes to you as-is, on its own, fine. But any seeking...through prayer, thought, traditional types of yoga/meditation, or whatnot, is futile, as you will only find the known. Only when one stops seeking, is it possible for God, Truth, Reality, Enlightenment...call it what you will...to come to one. This, like all of Krishnamurti's works, will be of intrest to existentialists, as he states somewhere/everywhere (I've read so many of his works I've forgotten where!): "Truth is a pathless land. You can't follow another to get there, and none can follow you once you've reached it yourself." If you dig Krishnamurti, get it.
