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Jiddu Krishnamurti
Who here has read Jiddu Krishnamurti's thoughts? What is your opinion on them/the guy?
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I think he has a special way of looking at things in the sense that he is very practical and rational. He doesn't care what religion or background you are from, he's only interested in talking to you directly about your current problems. He makes some very good points...we've had all of these systems of philosophy and religion for a LONG time...Buddhism, Hinduism, Muslim, Christianity....and still the world is still chaos. Krishnamurti is excellent at pinning down the reason for this from a rational perspective. He forces you to consider your own problems directly, and not to resort to some system of practice in order to deal with them. He asks a lot from people.
But...on the down side, I think he spends TOO much time trying to rationalize things, that it doesn't end up making any sense. In his talks he spent too much time trying to rationalize, and not enough time listening to the questions of his audience.
One of his best topics though is the way we use images to relate to everything in life. He is spot on in regards to this.
Oh and The Awakening of Intelligence is just a massive collection of his discussions with people around the world, its not any writing.
I have read many of his works, but his earliest —written when he was a boy— is still my favorite. It is titled, "At the Feet of the Master." A few others I've read are Life Ahead, Commentaries on Living, and Way of Intelligence. It's been a while, but Krishnamurti spoke articulately about the fact of how fear governs our lives and how we need to be free of it. Quite frankly, I always admired his iconoclastic attitude against things that would trap the human or investigative spirit.
I am sorry that some people don't like his style, but such are the times. If it isn't all brassy and noisy, people just can't hear.
I'm sure as my understanding grows, I will be more able to understand his words.
How unfortunate is it that we have likes and dislikes. We accept and appreciate that which we LIKE. We appreciate that which appeals to me. We do not really go all the way for truth. If we are really serious and honest we never criticize that
which we have not understood. You may criticize the things after having complete comprehension. If we can not understand truth it is not the mistake of truth. Similarly if you have not understood K it is not his mistake. You may not have given your heart or even time for him. That is so because we are not interested in truth. See How absurd is our heart and minds are? not interested in truth but comments on those who spoke nothing but truth like K. And on the top of it you want our opinion on him. How can any candle comment on a Sun? regards
Rao taduri
This is what the forum is for, discussing teachings, writings practice and Buddhism in general.
appraisal and criticism is absolutely vital in Buddhism, to accept or not accept, to discern what sits well with us or not, is essential.
Truth is subjective. We have different viewpoints, just as people gazing at a single diamond from different angles see the same thing, but slightly differently, nevertheless.
If that doesn't sit well with you, then really, I'm not sure what you're on a discussion board, for.
Krishnamurti
In other words, people have to stop being people. OK, how do we do this? We certainly don't do it by establishing some sort of think tank of elite free thinkers. A hundred years from now, they're still going to be thinking about the problem, because it has no logical solution.
I have no big criticisms about the man or what he said and feel sorry for what he had to put up with in his childhood. I do need to point out that for all his repeating a lot of what Zen has been saying for centuries, his teaching never gets beyond the "This is what we're doing wrong" stage. It's guru teaching without the robes and incense.
People are tribal animals, on an instinctive and hardwired level that cannot be overcome by just pointing out it's not logical and counterproductive in a crowded world. If the Buddha's Dharma is a prescription for the disease of suffering, then Krishnamurti is someone pointing out that you're sick without offering a way to get better. That's the difference. Buddha answered the question, "OK, now what?"
To put it another way, he's like a visiting lecturer at a school, who comes in, tells the students some interesting things about how we should buckle down and get an education, but leaves it to the real teachers to actually do the hard work of pounding an education into a bunch of unruly students.
Sorry if I'm being critical, and his followers will tell me that I'm just clinging to my religion without seeing the paradox of putting him on an elevated spiritual plane. Again, instincts at work. It's how the human mind handles the world.
If only people would stop being people.
Cheers - Mark
The Immortal Friend
(Poem)
I sat dreaming in a room of great silence.
The early morning was still and breathless,
The great blue mountains stood against the dark
skies, cold and clear,
Round the dark log house
The black and yellow birds were welcoming the sun.
I sat on the floor, with legs crossed, meditating,
Forgetting the sunlit mountains,
The birds,
The immense silence,
And the golden sun.
I lost the feel of my body,
My limbs were motionless,
Relaxed and at peace.
A great joy of unfathomable depth filled my heart.
Eager and keen was my mind, concentrated.
Lost to the transient world,
I was full of strength.
As the Eastern breeze
That suddenly springs into being
And calms the weary world,
There in front of me
Seated cross-legged,
As the world knows Him
In His yellow robes, simple and magnificent,
Was the Teacher of Teachers.
Looking at me,
Motionless the Mighty Being sat.
I looked and bowed my head.
My body bent forward of itself.
That one look
Showed the progress of the world,
Showed the immense distance between the world
And the greatest of its Teachers.
How little it understood,
And how much He gave.
How joyously He soared,
Escaping from birth and death,
From its tyranny and entangling wheel.
Enlightenment attained,
He gave to the world, as the flower gives
Its scent,
The Truth.
As I looked
At the sacred feet that once trod the happy
Dust of India,
My heart poured forth its devotion,
Limitless and unfathomable,
Without restraint and without effort.
-J Krishnamurti, 'The immortal friend', Ommen, Star publishing Trust 1928, Pages 8-10 also quoted in 'J Krishnamurti' as I knew him' by Susunaga Weeraperuma- Motilal Banarsidass- 1996, Pages 181-183.
Are we any different after having all these discussions over such long time. If the change is only superficial then is it worth all this hard work? Is it a forum to show our knowledge or cleverness in this field of spirituality or philosophy or is it a forum to help each other for the complete understanding of TRUTH. If it is not the case then I will be out of this forum right now. Regards
Dr Rao Taduri :
I gave a series of talks about the Dharma some years ago and taught meditation. When I asked for questions, a lot of hands immediately shot up. Some of the questions were obviously designed to seek validation of their insight. Some were argumentative and showed they had an underlying struggle going on in their mind. A few were sincere questions about how to practice the Dharma or straighten up a confusing point.
I know how it is, because when I sat and listened to my first Master, I had a question carefully prepared before the event to show my hard won insight to him and the group. He knew it, I'm sure. He validated my insight and gave me a question that proved I had far to go.
You've told us what you don't want to find here, but what is it you would like to find here? As sloppy and messy and argumentative as this forum can be, so far all I've found is minds at work, trying to connect with each other.
or man-thought so that it is illusory and has no real perfume or value. I know all
of you can give a million very erudite answers. But it should be given by one who has felt or smelt that real perfume so that they have the real love in heart and true intelligence in the mind ( not the cleverness of brain ) Regards
Dr Madhusudhan Rao taduri
Capturing the real truth requires a person examine and discard past assumptions and habits. To begin with, you're not capturing anything. Words are a flawed tool, but certainly not useless. It's how the Dharma teaching is transmitted, after all.
Way back when, the Buddha smiled, twirled a flower in his fingers and held it out to the congregation. Only one follower smiled back. Thus Maha Kashma received the true teaching beyond words, and Zen was born. But was the teaching in the twirling flower, or the smile? What was transmitted between Buddha and the monk? Another great Master heard a tile striking a stone and received the clear mind. Was the teaching in the tile, or the sound, or within the monk?
You can enter the gateless gate just as easily from reading the rambling words of a fool, as you can hearing an Enlightened Master pontificate. What you're looking for isn't "out there" after all.
Between the Buddha and the monk was all the monk needed to know. ?
if that's not for you, or to your liking, well, that's just tough, but thanks for stopping by.