JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI (1895-1986) is regarded internationally
as one of the great educators and philosophers of
our time. Born in South India, he was educated in England,
and traveled the world, giving public talks, holding dialogues,
writing, and founding schools until the end of his
life at the age of ninety. He claimed allegiance to no caste,
nationality, or religion and was bound by no tradition.
Time magazine named Krishnamurti, along with Mother
Teresa, "one of the fi ve saints of the 20th century," and the
Dalai Lama calls Krishnamurti "one of the greatest thinkers
of the age."
His teachings are published in 75 books, 700 audiocassett
es, and 1200 videocassett es. Thus far, over 4,000,000 copies
of his books have been sold in over thirty languages.
The rejection of all spiritual and psychological authority,
including his own, is a fundamental theme. He said human
beings have to free themselves of fear, conditioning, authority,
and dogma through self-knowledge. He suggested that this
will bring about order and real psychological change. Our
violent, confl ict-ridden world cannot be transformed into a
life of goodness, love, and compassion by any political, social,
or economic strategies. It can be transformed only through
mutation in individuals brought about through their own
observation without any guru or organized religion.
Krishnamurti's stature as an original philosopher
att racted traditional and also creative people from all walks
of life. Heads of state, eminent scientists, prominent leaders
of the United Nations and various religious organizations,
psychiatrists and psychologists, and university professors all
engaged in dialogue with Krishnamurti. Students, teachers,
and millions of people from all walks of life read his books
and came to hear him speak. He bridged science and religion
without the use of jargon, so scientists and lay people
alike could understand his discussions of time, thought,
insight, and death.
During his lifetime, Krishnamurti established foundations
in the United States, India, England, Canada, and Spain.
Their defi ned role is the preservation and dissemination of
the teachings, but without any authority to interpret or deify
the teachings or the person.
Krishnamurti also founded schools in India, England,
and the United States. He envisioned that education should
emphasize the understanding of the whole human being,
mind and heart, not the mere acquisition of academic and
intellectual skills. Education must be for learning skills in the
art of living, not only the technology to make a living.
Krishnamurti said, "Surely a school is a place where one
learns about the totality, the wholeness of life. Academic
excellence is absolutely necessary, but a school includes
much more than that. It is a place where both the teacher
and the taught explore, not only the outer world, the world
of knowledge, but also their own thinking, their behavior."
He said of his work, "There is no belief demanded or
asked, there are no followers, there are no cults, there is no
persuasion of any kind, in any direction, and therefore only
then we can meet on the same platform, on the same ground,
at the same level. Then we can together observe the extraordinary
phenomena of human existence."
R.E. Mark Lee,
Executive Director,
Krishnamurti Foundation of America
