POST-MODERNITY: THE GENESIS OF THE HOLLOWED INDIVIDUAL A Thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of : . the requirements for the Degree JJOl} 1 ' ' ^ Master of Arts • 'T 4 ^ In Humanities by Sara Tesfai San Francisco, California August 2017 Copyright by Sara Tesfai 2017 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Post-Modernity: The Genesis of the Hollowed Individual by Sara Tesfai, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in Humanities at San Francisco State University. Christina Ruotolo, Ph.D. Professor Laura Garcia-Moreno Ph.D. Associate Professor POST-MODERNITY: THE GENESIS OF THE HOLLOWED INDIVIDUAL Sara Tesfai San Francisco, California 2017 This thesis seeks to interpret and examine the philosophy of the twentieth-century Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti as it relates to his ideas on the possibility of self­ transformation and freedom in order that one may live a life that is free from internal and external conflict resulting in what Krishnamurti terms “psychological freedom” and “choiceless awareness”. Self-transformation, for Krishnamurti, is the absolute revolution of the inner psychological, intellectual, and emotional devices used to live and interact with the world in which the individual lives. It is a turning around and away from the mechanistic responses conditioned, created, and maintained by the societal, cultural, traditional, and historical components of life as it is lived by the individual within society. The process of transformation does not happen in progressive stages, rather it is one movement defined by a shift in perspective. I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this thesis. Chair, Thesis Committee Date TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.................................................................................................................................1 Section One: Krishnamurti’s Life and Experience.................................................................. 6 Section Two: The Self, Human Conditioning, Thought, and Observation.......................... 17 Section Three: Conclusion......................................................................................................29 1 One cannot rely on anybody, on saviors, masters, not on anybody, including the speaker. And when we have rejected totally all the books, philosophies, the saints and the anarchists, we are face to face with ourselves as we are. That is a frightening and rather a depressing thing: to see ourselves actually as we are. No amount o f philosophy, no amount o f literature, dogma, ritual is ever going to solve this violence and sorrow. I think one has ultimately to come to this point and to resolve and go beyond. The more earnest one is, the more immediate the problem, the very urgency o f it denies the authority one has so easily accepted. J. Krishnamurti, Urgency Introduction In recent years, there has been a resurgence of the ideas held by Jiddu Krishnamurti, the 20th century Indian philosopher who explored perennial and existential questions that have plagued humanity for ages. Krishnamurti’s philosophic concept on the self as a conditioned entity and liberating the self not only from external authorities but internal authorities as well (the internal authorities, according to Krishnamurti only affirm the external forces) has gained much steam in the post-modern age of self-help. It maybe that the rise in interest is derived from the increasingly revolutionary stance individuals are taking in reaction to a world they feel they cannot change. Rather than going out into the world and taking issue with it, more people are turning inward to find the answers that cannot be found outside of the self. One could also argue, that at this moment in time, people are more focused on themselves than ever before. It is apparent however, that we have entered a place in the 21st century where individuals not only accept the idea of a constructed self but are also aware of the social constructions that have made them who and what they are. This awareness brings with it the desire to break free from the psychological, emotional, physical, and intellectual ways of being that cause the individual to suffer(suffering here is inclusive of all things that cause pain, mental, physical, emotional etc.). This statement is made evident by the overwhelming appearance of motivational speakers, life-coaches, gurus, self-help books, lectures, workshops, yoga retreats, that all seek to help the human being understand who and what they are and teach them how to live. New age gurus from Deepak Chopra, Sahad-Guru, 2 Eckhart Tolle to fringe groups and cults have banked on the growing population of individuals seeking to make their lives different than what they are. The promise of self transformation and liberation from the “chatter of the mind”, the “conditioned being”, and having access to “heightened awareness” and the “God or Divinity within us” are just some of the things that the age of self-help offers individuals. Many world-renowned self-help gurus, motivational speakers, and spiritual groups have appropriated one or several aspects of Krishnamurti’s philosophic notions of self and freedom without constructing the contextual framework necessary to better utilize the very specific conditions of implementing Krishnamurti’s philosophy to enrich and enliven the life of the individual. For Krishnamurti, one must begin by being aware of the network of ones thoughts before one can go out into the world and make any “real” change. For more than half a century, Krishnamurti’s life was devoted to subjects that not only occupied the fleeting physical realm of our existence, but also ventured into the deeper spheres that existed outside of psychological space and time. Krishnamurti investigated and discussed various topics that hinged upon the central idea of learning how to live on a conscious level of complete and utter awareness, free from the limitations produced and imposed by one’s conditioning. He presented in detail his unique perception on life and living, and how the individual might awaken to the “actuality” of his/her being outside of the conditioned, illusory, fragmented, and tremendously limited scope of human life and experience as it is lived in physicality. His notions of the self and freedom are at the forefront of learning how to live. It must be noted however that Krishnamurti’s philosophy emerges from a very specific time, not only in his personal narrative, but also a very particular place in history (this will be discussed later in the work). His philosophy, in essence, is a byproduct of his own personal experiences, observations, and human development. The various experiences of life, and the self which Krishnamurti critiques are universal, in that they encompass the sum and substance of human relations that make up the foundations of any culture, society, and tradition. That is, Krishnamurti seeks to understand the human relations 3 which have cultivated the choices, values, beliefs, and systems of thought that dictate the kind of life the individual leads and the self that is created in the process. The project of self-discovery for Krishnamurti leads the individual to the hidden potential of absolute freedom and autonomy that exist only when the human condition as he articulates it, is understood for what it “actually is”: suffering, induced by misunderstanding what is “actually so” (what Krishnamurti terms truth and actuality) and having false attachments to physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual things. This awareness of the human condition however, only comes about when the human being has come to know who and what they are and have absolutely grasped the age-old wisdom of the saying “know thy self’. To know oneself is, for Krishnamurti, the outcome of learning how to look at the various parts of the self while standing objectively on the periphery and center of one’s experiences, thoughts, memories, and knowledge. This process of learning how to look at the self without any preconceived notions is termed “psychological freedom”. Psychological freedom however, demands that the individual examine how the mind operates within any given framework of conditioning, whether through authority, perception, memory, history, or collective and individual experience without intent to do so. The job of learning how to look and learn is an enormous task to begin with, since the human being must, as William Blake suggests, ‘cleanse the doors of perception’ so that one may begin to see and perceive clearly. In other words, to be psychologically free means having all the perceptual filters with which the individual sees, feels, interacts, reacts, chooses with, and hence lives with be reoriented with the awareness of prior the external and internal authorities that have rendered the human animal incapable of thinking, feeling, and acting for one’s self. Thus, to psychologically stand-alone without any form of inner and outer dependence, demonstrates a mind that is free from influences, rendering it capable to critically analyze all experiences and observations that enter its consciousness without bias or prejudice. 4 Another term at the center of Krishnamurti’s notions of the self and freedom is the term “choiceless awareness”. Choiceless awareness is the ability to be aware of each moment as it is, unobstructed