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Chapter 2 Krishnamurti's Philosophy: a General CHAPTER 2 KRISHNAMURTI'S PHILOSOPHY: A GENERAL FRAMEWORK. At the young age of 28, Krishnamurti denounced the prestigious position as the head of the Order of Star and the Theosophical society while setting a new mission in front of him- To set man 'unconditionally free.' Krishnamurti's unique understanding of freedom was to free man from his own fears, conditioning and from prejudice, among other similar psychological states. Being thus free, would awaken the intelligence of man and create a new mind with the ability of direct perception of truth. Krishnamurti's involvement with the Theosophical society was largely instrumental for his wide travel on the foreign land. This was the time when Krishnamurti keenly observed the human mind. After he separated from the Theosophical society, he set out all over the world, giving talks, lectures and holding dialogues with eminent people from different fields. As he interacted with people from all over the world, from different cultures, religions, and races, he realized that no matter what part of world one would be from, there was a striking similarity between people with only apparent, superficial differences. The fundamental similarity observed between different minds was that every mind was trapped in its own conditioning. These influences came from one's culture, tradition, religion, family values and the like. Krishnamurti also observed that the individual mind was afraid of fireeing itself fi-om the conditioning, as it would mean going against the set norms and values. It would be stepping out of one's secured feeling that came with being one among the crowd. Man had thus lost his freedom of thought. Krishnamurti's philosophy centers on each person to get the direct perception of truth. However, this was not possible unless the mind had cleared off all the unnecessary baggage of memories as well as the tyranny of theories in the intellect. Krishnamurti observed that the individual mind was unaware of the ways of itself, thus he begins with 27 self-knowledge or the understanding the flinctioning of the mind. This awareness is capable of bringing about transformation in the individual psyche. He insisted that one should understand oneself through the mirror of relationship. Unless there was radical transformation in consciousness, it would not be possible to perceive truth directly. To understand the fact or 'what is', without distortion is true understanding. Understanding of this quality would reveal the ways of the self, without the intermediary existence of the image that interferes with true awareness. Krishnamurti's philosophy thus comprehensively speaks of the state of the mind. Self- knowledge and its impact on understanding, and radical transformation of the mind that will enable direct perception of truth. His philosophy talks of the creation of the new mind that will be completely different from its existing chaotic state. Conditioned mind: Cause of chaos in the world. Krishnamurti's philosophy has emerged from his perception of the human mind. He notices the mind to be technologically savvy, but at the same time is primitive, that values sensate pleasures. He observes human mind, with the operation of thought as well as its far-reaching consequences. Contemporary society sees man as being modem, with vast amount of knowledge in every field. He is capable of putting all the inventions to use. However, BCrishnamurti observes that there has not been simultaneous evolution in man's psyche. His conformist attitude has not changed. Psychologically, man is still the same old, emergent, with as undeveloped mind. There was deterioration in man's attitude. He no longer had his initial feelings of altruism, compassion, and love for others. Such a primitive, conditioned, self-centered, and fearful mind creates chaos and confiision in the mind, which culminates in global chaos. By chaos, Krishnamurti implied existence with denial of independent thought. The confused mind operates on imposed value system; follows set norms, and denies itself the freedom to think. Such a mind is in a state of confusion and chaos. Krishnamurti talks of 2S the ways of the mind, with its timid and unquestioned approach to Hfe. Its superfluous rebellious attitude, does not solve issues related to life, but has far-reaching effects that create confiision and chaos in ideas, relationships, and society. Chaos at the personal level manifests in the outer world. The deep-rooted negativities manifest in the form of wars, strife, and power hungry nations. Both in the personal as well as professional life confusion and lack of integration are obvious. Krishnamurti refers to the confusion and lack of order in human consciousness. He asks, "What is the value of a lawyer if he perpetuates litigation. Or, what value does knowledge have if we continue with our confusion? What is the value of technical or industrial capacity, if we are to use them for destruction? The non integration of the different entities in man and encouraging separate existence of these entities are a cause of misery and conflict."(Education and the significance of life. p.21). Not taking proper cognizance of the fact, man fails to realize his own contribution to world chaos. Krishnamurti perceives the danger of such a mind and hence addresses it exhaustively. He refers to the apparently non-conflicting co existence of the two obvious opposite emotions of man—security and violence as the cause of inner chaos. Krishnamurti observed that man finds great deal of security when his thinking is confined within the boundary of set social norms He finds comfort and solace in the regimental behavior. Little does he realize that accepting and following norms conditions his behavior and mind heavily. The uncertainty and dilemma of man begins to manifest when on the one hand, he accepts the norms and on the other, he is unable to live up to them. He becomes aware of his lost freedom but the grave need for security scares him to face the consequences of questioning and rebelling against the social setup. The internal chaos reflects in human relations and the chaotic condition in the outside world. The deterioration of man as going on since ages. This is not a modem age problem. The unrest in every field of life, be it Polifics, Religion, or Cultural issues, shows the internal confijsion and wrong set of values over many generations. To live in a confiised and chaotic state seemed normal behaviour. 29 Krishnamurti writes, "The older people have not brought about a marvelous society; the parents, the ministers, the teachers, the rulers, the priests have not created a beautiful world. On the contrary, they have created a frightful, brutal world in which everybody is fighting somebody; in which one group is against another, one class against another, one nation against another, one ideology or set of beliefs against another .The world in which you are growing up is an ugly world, a sorrowful world, where the older people try to smother you with their ideas, their beliefs, their ugliness." (Life Ahead, p. 64). Although Krishnamurti referred to the world and individual chaos as two separate terms, the two refereed to but one fact. Inherent in the world chaos was the individual chaos. The two were only the different sides of the same coin. The individual is not any different from the world in which he lived. The world is but his extension. Because of the intimate relation between man and the world, the two have an obvious bearing over one another; Krishnamurti comprehensively looks at both, the internal and the external chaos, and the means to get out of it. Krishnamurti addresses these ftindamental issues that cause distressing situations to the human mind and in the world. The core of his philosophy is to set man unconditionally free from the tyranny of thought and its own conditioning, and help create a new mind with different set of values and qualities. The new mind would function on its sensitivity, religious spirit and scientific temper and would have order in its consciousness. Such a life would be devoid of chaos and internal strife. Consequently, a person with the new mind would not contribute to world misery and chaos. To this effect, Krishnamurti writes, "I think most of us know what is happening in the world- the threat of war, the nuclear bomb, the many tensions and conflicts that have brought about new crises. It seems to me that a totally different kind of mind is necessary to meet these challenges. A mind that is not specialized, not trained only in technology, that is not seeking prosperity, but that can meet challenges adequately, completely..." (On Education, p. 100) Krishnamurti's creation of a new mind was not a conscious drive towards perfection, but was a natural outcome of a fear free, uncondidoned mind. This new state of mind was to be attained through direct perception of truth, to an independently inquiring mind. His 30 philosophy points out to all the impediments of free inquiry as well as mentions the qualities of the new mind. Krishnamurti declares the negative impact of conditioning. He says that where there is conditioning there is no freedom. A conditioned man is a second hand individual with very little independent thinking. However, the complacent nature of man refrains from seeing this as a cause of his internal conflict and his lost freedom. With no regrets, man finds tremendous reassurance in conforming to the earlier established thoughts and ideas. As a result, his modem mind operates in the bygone times. The experience of uncertainty, personal fear of loneliness, emptiness, disease, old age and death too influence his behavior and thinking. The chaos and confusion thus created, permeates to all levels of consciousness including his value system.
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