A STUDY OF

J. I(RISHNAMURTI' s PHILOSO.PHY OF EDUCATION

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SUBR.A.TA ROY

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Thesis Submitted · for th·e Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Arts) of·. ·the North·Bengal ·University

"1992

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/81.4 R 88~

2 4 MAY 1993

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Dr.S.K.Sen . PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY ·.'

~ U~JVBRSJTY OP NORTH DBNOAL

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· CERTIFICATE

402·.· .Pbone: Bagdogra:rz:~K««H ·

P. 0. NORTH BENGAL UNIVI;RSITY . .

RAJA RAMMOHUNPUR :: DTo DARJEELi'NG

WEST BENGAL, .INDIA, ·PIN-~430

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This is to ·certify that Shri Subrata: Roy, I"l.k.,;

lVl.Phil., having worked under ·my supervision, has.

conp1E:i;(;ci 11 c.::..:J.sertation entitled 11 A Study ~of • • 0

J" .1\rishnamurti 1 s ·Philosophy of Education 11 !'.

I approve submission of the work for the Ph. D •. :~'

degree of. the University_ of rh)rth ·Bengal._. As far.·. as· ~:,;1 my knowledge goes., the thesis'· has not been ·submitted>;.;:

. ('. to any other In~titution for a~y ~egree. ;

!.!~~ (S.K.Sen) ..

·Ptc!sssot of Phllos6phy OnlvtJrsiti' of North i.:•Hw.al.

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Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 1986)

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PPEFJ\CE. · .

It .is rey fJUrpose in ·this wark "A STUDY (F -

J.KRISHN~I'URTI 1 S PHILOOOPIN OF EDUCA.TION.. to give

a .n!al perspecthre to J. Krishna:n.irti • s. vle#S on,

education by consl<"1arinq_ it from different angles, 1: ..

sometimes sociological.soroot.irres pol~tical :hut

mainly !)hilosopnical.~re education is never -~een asr·

dissOciated from life ; rather they are found to .

l'e intermingled··:tn many ways. However the work doas _

nc•t ~:Yu:r:p!=>rt to s~culate or to imagine ·in anyway

the nature of the state of mind of a ·liberated man . . . . )

like .J •. Krishrianux;ti.'I'he presurnptuousnes~ and danger

involved in that kind of activity io well kn~.

The work rather concentrates on the systematiz:tt.i.­

. on (ordering) of what has been so far e~ressed by,-:·

him.It· is out and out an acadernic pursuit with an

academic end~whicl1 takes. its strength fro~ Krishna~

·tl'llrti•s,o-...m words,· .. I. desfre.those~who seek to.·. i

understand rre,to be free.''(The :--find of ,J'.l~rishna- · ·

rrurti, p.296)

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In doing this. work I am indebted. to Krishna-

mur~i Foundation India,for p~oviding me a free-stay,

for two months with all sorts of .needful materials J.

particularly to nv friend Shri Rajesh Dalal~Joint-

~ecretary KFI,( l·tldras), for every possible a$Sistance ·

ih my work .from th~ very beginning.The overall ·-

character of· IT!{ wo.!":k is rruch influenced 'iy ltim. I am,

also grate.ful to- rqy ·teac.l-ter Dr.Pabitra kumar Roy~of. ·

Fhilosophy Departmant(NBU) ,who helped ne with _materia-

ls .. However.,P.tof.Sanat kr.sen,my supervisor1 is to me.

above all formalities.His advice and criticism has

guided me throughout nv work.

Thanks are als·o due :to nv friends ·whom I ·

met during the brief stay at Vasanta-Vihar( KPI campus),

Madras.They contributed humanism if} rey· work.Finally,;

I nust thank the North Bengal University author! ty·

for allo\·ling . me ·to do research in this particular

subj_ect~

N.B .U. S.R ..

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Preface

Introduction

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. CO':-JTEi;JTS

Ch.1 Education and Life·

2 . Intellect, Authority &. Intelligence

3 Freedom and.Discipline

4 Sensitivity and Image - making

5 The Protlem of Violence

6 Education and· World Peac·e

7 The School

8 Parents and reachers

9 Sri Aurobindo,Tag~r~ & Krishnamurti

on Education - A Com!)ar.ative Account

10 Critical Appreciation

Notes & Reference·s ~

B ihliograpt:y

Illustrations

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IV & 1oo

'I N T R 0 D U C T I 0 · N

Education is always for ac·nteving sc>me~ll1ng; to

become or to evolve into somethino bett.er £~6nl the present - • . ', ' . • I .

state of l:eino; to become. e,g.- e.ithSr ·a loyal law-abiding . ~ . . . . .

stereotyped ci tiz~n .or an awak~ned human bein<;r .coal or!en­

tedness thus is an essential feature of education as it is

of life.However, in this process of becoming mankind has

" . now reached on a valley ·of comparative .ease and. absence

of global tension.The great conflict hetweer\ two ideolo..;

·gical worlds., the war of word~· and neryes,an·d the constant . ~

fear of a third \lorld war have sufficiently su'hsided.

Several world p<;:r.vors ·are now workinq closely .. .?ossihly ,we

are in.the threshold of a new world order.

It is a great res~onsibility on our .part to help

ertSrgence of. the· riew world ordr;~r.This de~ands deeper

v.alf.leS Of COOperation,uni ty"global approach e.tc~The· Va:;t,~s

like_ competition, blind conformity,surrendering. to ideo::.,~ .. ,

and so on need to be replaCed·, because they. proved unsati &­

facto~ and t~ractical.Both Capitalism and· Col11'11Un~s·n hcwe

shpwn ~the iF U:rnitatiens~The former perpetrates·. discrimi~a­

tion and e<~loitation in society,and the latter 111ake~ for

dictatorship and tyranny~ of ·a stn'Jle party .. They· b~th· s~rn . .:fo .. ()...~ . . . . .'

t:o ~~ope comr.le :te 1 ~· w t: th the hu~an . uroe for equality and .

· frf:!~~om.The New .world· order. has to ensure iDdividual h : . ' ·. . . . ' . ':0,;''.,

11l;>erty as weJl as social security,Which is ~a perennial.

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puzzle of poli t.ical sci~tists• ·

The new world order ~i th _,its deeper value.:..-struc:

ture wants a new generati~ which will think tn a new

way - not in conventional terms and ideolcx;ies.A new

educational philosophy is requ1red1because education

makes. man I and man makes his Qsociety. In the capt talist

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. world education becomes a market plac.-e dP'"t1irJated ma.inly

by sellinq and buying mentality W11ich· lacks humanism .

essentially.The increasin·T number of the unemployed,

unyieldinq and unsympathetic b<:7f"S arid <:rf,.rls ·in .the

developed world have already ~dded .sufficient. tension

in their societies.Bere education needs a:.new ~tloo~e " . . . . ' ...... . ' ' ' ..

In ,another • front there is already a turmoil in· the

~ield of education in the. newly emerged .democracies .. in~ ...

Eas:tern. Europe.For e~ample~ .. in Rc>:nania .the au~horitie.s

are perplexed h.ow to .change t'ie course,the study m~t~rial,

the approach in their education system,because these.:,_ .. --- . . /

were made according to a certain(communtst)tde~logy.The

same holds· t~e in the Soviet union(eilrstwhtle) .The

t.eachers and professors specialized in· the study of :1 't

com~nism are having ladklustre social status.The pre~

ration of a new ·education is in progress there.

This,l'lowever, is not the whole story. Man's present

demand of solid.:.:.:::lty,unlty and cooperation are not' beyond

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. se·lfinterest~The germ of di~integration still 1 tes

there, ~1ecause 2. ·threat to selfinterest, may at any

moment open the floodryat:e of hostility.The new educ-· . .

ation needs. to plug this pOssibilit'y entir~ly and.

therefor~ an attemPt should he· made to Understand the ·

total psyc~ology of man·- his intrisic nature, . and

Po·U!nti ali ties.

It can riot be denieC! that . the · consta.'')t · empha~ . . . ·sis on cqmpetition,comparison etc., of the tradi~ional

educati.on rnake man more comple,.~,artiflcial~,asked;

· fraCJmented.In this process,man becorres more nleasure

htingry,more mechanical nearly everywhere.An individuai :·

sees another either as an Agent-provocateur or an

Ag~nt.-utility and least as an a -:rent of unity and friend-

shlp.Today"Progress' :t;"eally implies 'entering into

enemy's c.-:>untcy fully armed" .1 Mari therefome could not

t·ecome what .he could have been - "A. healthy whole human

,·

NoW is the time to ask, why any system - cap! ta- . . ' . . ' ·.- '

l!sm or coml1Unism, fails ultimately·?. Why man becomes

so: 'poor,nasty,hrutish and short' within and without ;1 ·.

Is.,'he destlned(by nature) to be so ? To CJO" deeper into

t~s.e questions,ma.., as he is 'and not as .he :ts ldeaU.s:ed

or .. imagined needs an enqtiiry~ ·

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Time ·or si tua:tton · is a very ·important factor . '

in ariy investigation, of education or of. sctence: for ..

time supplies. 8Ssential confirming or contrary tnsta­

nces.A serious rethinking on education becomes a mu~

to cope· with the present topgy-tU:rvy world.;.1\s . there .·

are ~reat challenges in politics,so are there in the

P.revailing.ethics and morality.Issues like ~sa

euthanasia(~ig\it to di~) ,embryo rese~rc·,,surroqate-

motherhoOd arid so on gave shatterini(J hlows ·to our

moral world. It is science and i~ts ~discoveries that i;

repeats a warning to us,- either· you ·mutually cooperate . . .

or perish.r,n·brief t':lis is the time and sitUation

imprerJnated with so ~ch mecming and challenges~that ·I . \

no,. philosophy of education can V1nore.

A phllosophy of educ!ltion is basically a , ..

philosophy of life,'because·.education(in a broad sense')

de~ls with life as a wholei'lts phy~ical - psychological

~ ontological aspects: and therefore it is fCAJnd that·

one's philosQphy of life essentially determines his•

edu~ational·philosophy too.

There are philoso~!es l!lce Ideal~srn,R.ealtsm•

EKistentlalisrit and ·<So ori,and,they certainly have

e(jucational implications.Hawever to me the. irriportan.tn~·i ?A . . . ''', ,.

consideratlon in ·education is not the mechanism o~ '

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knowing (episte:nolor;y) but our present 1!Ee!:~ch tawards ·

lif~ and living. It is this approach that deterntnes

education among othe.r .thin·Js.It further indicates a . . ' -

value:_structure that is silently present in educatiC?n, ·

and which final!~ mou·lds saciety. 'H<:7tt "'"e kn:ow ·? • is

eptste~ologtcally importa.'1t,but 'How .a- we corrupt our

kncr.dedge and· life ? • ls fundamentally important in.

the consideration of any educat·ional. phtloisophy,.Forttis ·

found that corruption (fragrni3~~:.a-t1on) is an •issue of our makinq.( as li!J we evaluate) . and not. a thing that is

actually given .in the nature.It is said that a

philosophy of education is more a stut'ly of the mechani c8

of our adopte9- values,more ·a study of actuality(What ts),

than of icleal-ity(~·lhat shoula rbe) in our livtn'l'.It is

also .. a qo~ ~ans of,unclerstanding. the function ings of p~s4;!nt educatic~'tal practices, its as~f.rations,resul~ ..

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and contradictions.It tries. to provide ·a proper stru~

tu,re, of the right. values and their justification~ . . .

An enquicy into the aims and value .. of educat1ca

may itself have an E!!ducative yalue. It may helP. bring,·: I>

aboot sone measure of understandin~J.~harmony .·or peace '; · . .·

wi1:,~in oneself.To appreciat;e a value may' be, to whate~ . . .. -, .. ·: .. -

ver, extent, to internal!~e .·it~Educa~ion, t~ ·g~neral,has<.: :,. . . . . ; } . . ' . . . . .:,; i' ~

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·serise ·:· .Jl uniye.rsal . or endurin·j or timeless value. in 'the

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. it has value for all and it has value·-,cilways for -man.

A study of education may take note of the hasic- nature

of rnan,.and also,~n a general way~ of ·bts worldly progress:

and may show where the two lives of man (internal li'fe

and 1tzorldly life)· actually_ meet.Education needs to s.tand . .

at. that meetlng -point.

In such a philosophical inyestigation ~Y • 0

es.tablished .values of the society -nay ·_seem to need·

correcti.ons or reformulations.The connotatibn of some

may be chan·Jed. For e·-:ample,.honesty as an _important value

:nay need a redefin1tl on,.such t;,c:it a man who seeks nktm:rr.

·return out of his honesty nay not· he. reg8r.Cled as. 'honeSt

~t all.Presumably this may be the fate -Qf many :such/'

val~es •.

A total e'q)erirnent wit]l. our life and livin1 is ..

the ·fundamental·aim :.of the- phtl~sophy. of education~Ltfe­

here syrnl:(olizes life of mari,.who only llyes in relation~·:

-ship with the wo~ld.This relationship depends on the

individual .. li-fe of feelinq ;~here feeliniJ comprises

everythin, menta~ - reason· as well· as emotion,. which ·l •

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se~es as the pivot round which a philosophy of edaca•.

tion rotates~

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Whatever be the different systems· of prevailing

education,everywhere values.like freedom,love,sensiti­

~1 ty ,discipline, coooeration,physical. fitness. etc. are

. stressed, though in most cases w~ thcnt un~rstandbig. :,, .

the deeper meaning· of these values.For e·<ample,Japanese . . .. . . . .

education introduces militarism throogh d~sci.pline.In

· India cramming is often. rewarded, and thus ~ncouraqed~

·as a mark of brilliance,.,.and creativity.These emphasit19·s . ~ ' ' . . '. . . .

of differe~t va·lues. to different ·leve'ls by different; '· ~ '.1- _, .

educational SyStems· implies a deeper,, mearlin'] .'of soci'af • • . • \ • • ' . ' r

· preference to a cert~in picture of Man. Traditionally; in . .

the name of education~intellectualism is stressed.At . .

l times. milftaristn a."ld ,loyalism is ernphasized(as evidenced ' . . . . e,g,. in Nazi & Fascist period),a;td as a result human'·

· S.ocJety· suffers.

Any system of ~ducati.o~ is supposed to have

at least three dlme~sions - Situational,Global & Etem:al. . c

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· . Th8; situatianal~dimension satUifies the im-vlediate· ·nece-' . .

ssi ty of the situation. For eY.a'llple,learriinJ computer;..,.

technology may be .1mpor.t~et at this. hour because Of) .. ·

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the present state 'of progress in science and the .pre8ent . '·

ne~d of technological development and quicker data~piq:¢'8:­

s~ing etc.The global-dimension points at understaoqirilQ.L\ . t ~- ' ..

. · certain thinqs from the global st.andpoint • .tntegra~~~Y

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. facirig the inqreaSihg danger of environment.al ~llution . -'it is advised to 'think giohally*act glohally' .dn ·the· .·

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fields of politics,economics and science too this need

of qlobalis~ ts being in~~easi.nqly .felt~Thirdly & finally . . . . . .

· the eternal-dimensiOn implies ce'rtain values such as, ' . ' . ~ . . untty,l!berty,fraternity etc.These need to ~ underst-

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.bOd in -a different. way. In .this sense th~ eternal~dlmetn-

sion is categorically different from the~other dimen~ions

i,e. t)le :;;ituational and globaleThere can be a C!r:adual

groW-th from situational to global point of view inte-. .. . ' \ ~.

llectually,hut what is .c~ll~d the eterna~-dtmension

implie's .a 'qtJantum le~,and no necessary connectiori .. ;wlt'h . . . .

what precedes~ It implies a .change of heart, a chang.,,:dP,.:of

Understanding-, a ·change fCOitl ego-centriC OUtlOOkeSQ \'II;;

eternal dimension is not comrm.llative, hut a radical· \

• .. , change in the very dynamics(approach) of life.

Thus education .is_ to be seen in a very wide

spe~trum, as something which can make a leamer a: tota!-'

individUal.( lh-divisible.,whole} ,so that he can cope with

anr· situation, present or. future.It also helps integra-

tion - of the inner and the outer .. This. integration m£V • ·' I ' ..

give e:'pression to a <:;:eneral and systematic world-viewJ

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l ;K but it does not remai9 confined :there,lt goes

·beyond~ .. Jiddu Krishnamurti ( 1895 - 1986 )·,a man of'

great character and simplicity,a voice of sanrty of. our times,holds the following vi~w i Man waJ1ts

security both physically .a11d· psycholoqt.cally,s<:'

he or-1anized states, governments arid gods( .. ~-1a.ri has

made gods in his own i maqe") .Education . so far ts made· to secure. him in ·everyway "possible .Search·

for security leads to· conformityJconforrnf.ng to the . . ' .

desires a1d_ values of the society.Conformdty brings

authority into play,and the worship of aut'•ort·ty

sounds the deathknell of any individual l.nitiative ·

and discO".Jery.It fu~i:her helps to estahlish tlle Q

rule of dictatorship and tyranny. r-tan becomes subh\znan

in this process.

, . ~ishnatrurti' s philasot.>hy. is a liberatin~)

process..,He hasa philoSophy only in the sense' of~;,t . . . :. ·~, . ·.; .

love , of ~~·It shows the misery 'of the. mod.~iilhr!19n . . . ·. ·. ·. ·rr ·)·.;_~~·:·~·-

- thetir deep down psychological pri!12itiveness~tp~1r

moral 'd!stress.:rt d~ciaies 'in· no ~·certain ter.lns . . ,. : . .·

the ·total bankruptcy of the ·m6de,.rn trend· in. educaor,. • • • • ' '.. • ·< • ' :.;) :. \.! '; ~~- ~

. tion.Kl:-ishnam~rti adv.anees sta'p bY step#arid· firtally,,. . • . . ' . . . • . ·. .. . • . . . . ' ' :; _:: .. ' . ·. . . . •: :· ... : ; ..... ·~::· . ., ,1,. ."·:

points ·.at ~something :~h~re :~11. ·our :1~t~lle:ct::,?.~nd ...

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' ' e:-~periences flounder.

On\ij point ·of qreat importance in Krishnaim,lrti

is t~t,he gave uncommon meanings(sometlrr.es sur.)ported ·

hy etymology) ~0 ·many WOrds,Wll~Ch play enormous.

significance in understanding his teachings. For ev.am-

ple, Flow~ri119 to him means,'' Like .tho flower in· a

qarden,thought must blossom,it must come to fruition

and the.n 1 t dies • Though\. must he given 'freedom to die • '' 3

Freedorri & '.!!2V..2 ·is a state of mirid beyond ·_t~ouc;'ht, and . . I . .

-Ttemory. Intell!_qence · ts reading f.n '1:-.retween the lines!;.! 1

., .·. A!tent!.2n & se~lSi!ivitz ,go toqet'her only when the~ is

freedom.Choiceless;..awareneri.s. is bey'ond any T:Overrent of -·-------- . '·'

t.'he I(selflnterest) .M:!ditatic.in' is no·· ccincen'trat!on •. -~~ .• · .. {· ... - ,1,,;·

rather lt .is··the emptying of the mind fr.om the· knawni 0 ' . • '· ' .• : . . . . ' ; ~ ~ ·. '

etc.Howver,these words along ~with many o~hers ·appe~ 1 .. . . . ·, . .

ed . repeatecUy in this work and particul.arly, ln ' . . .

KriahQamurt·P s sense •. ·: · . ·,

'rhis' work' contains terl cheeters and most' of

their names cam~· fr~rn ~e· of the Krishn-"lr:!.lrti-bool(s.; ·

1-'ro:n a~.l to CH.B,tr.ere a:re attempts to brln~· . . ...

Krisl)namurti 1 S Views 011 riqht t:!dUcat~on 'TlOre and:':m9.r,t?

clearly.However £h.l . . . . . ; . . . ." . ~ t ' . ·.

stress~s· on the im;>ortance ··of.,,,,,:,.· . . . : ''.:. . . '

riqht education to· understand the real siqn1 f<~c~.~,,

of life.It also con·s·iaers the present education.

shows its limitations, and put forward the aims

· and 1 mportah ce of I<ri_shnamurt i-eclucat ton.

fhd is i:& a way makes a deeper entry into indivi-

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dual psychology and finds_ intelligence.unli'ke .autrority i

and intellect. as the Qnly guide t~ right education. I

' £1:!!1 deals with freeddm,which is unconditional_and . psych.oloqical, as .the only has is of. true education.

It also considers so called freedom &· dlsci.pline in .

their lirriitationse .. .£ho4 is an attempt; to show that ~ensitlvity or total

attention is tpe only way to real education. It'. fim s

that the pre,~ent education helps image making and

disturbs living.

Ch.S ,shm;,~. that riaht education means total absence' - -of violence - outward and inward hoth.It disc:Usses

t . . . . ' the probl:'~m of violence in its various forms. · i ' ..

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· Ch.5 endeavours to estat-lish an essential connection - . ~

hetween education and world peace.It further. shows, . ' .

the utte_r irrationality of the present effo~S~\in;.

this reqardo

Ch• 7 attempts to understand Krishrramurti' s view on

'the School' not only theoretically but in their:

actual functiontngs.

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f!:l!.~ strives to understand the import~ce of .right

relatiOnship between educators (parents & ·teache.rs) ·.

and the ·students for thlf success of edtlcattori·. · . ; . ' . . ' ~--'-" . . .·, · . .' ,:: -,, ... ch.9 is a slight.diversion· wtth a comparative studY --- .. ' . '

of three great lumina-ries of this _ce11tury - SriAu~~indo,

Rablndranath Taqor~ and J.I<rishnamurti.rt alms to; ' . .

shoW that amidst superficial differen_ces~ theY li.aVe.

astounding s1m1lar1ti~s· partlcu~arly in the visloo ~:.· . .. •'

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of Man and Man -ma.ldng. They have· shared a common · _ ···1 (

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endeavoor .to .tum. human face from animal rationalitY

to eterni t)'. . - & .• ' ~ ~·-·

· Ch.lO _serves the purpose of clarificatlon as well as

. contemt:@tion .. It stri_,;es to clarify certain siqnifi;..;. . . . .

cant terms (and their irripli.cati ans) of l<rtshnanurt1• - ·. -

which is meant to. give a sort of comprehen.siveness ..

· 1ri thE! treatment of ·his views on Education.Further~

the chapter attempts to give Krishnamurtt•s teachings. __ ,.

oo educat,ion a proper philosophica~ perspective,wb.i.ch

lies more· in cootemplation than .in v~rbalization:.;:;;,.,;; ·. . ·.< J ·:'!,

Al tn~gh this is an exerc,ise in the· educ:.a~l,-r

· anal philosophy it also involves discussions reqarding · . . . ~ :

v~ri~s exl.stential issues (like ambition. violence e~.c.)

of daily_life.It discusses incidentally the eluding

ccmcepts of Man,his sociG'ty and his values. T}11s w~.J( ·

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. thus. in a: way, is also meant to l;)e a passarre from

education(in its lir.1ited settinQ) to life in actual.

'11an1.festation.

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.. Chapter 1

· EDUCA.TION AND I,IF£

J.Krishna'rnurti

Education,according to KrishnamUrti,isconoerned

with the t~k of understandinq the significance of

whole life.wruit is life. ? ~rishna.'11Urti f~·els, "Life is

study, play* sex, wor~, quarrels, envy 6 amhi'ti on,1ove, hem ty, . '

·truth - life is everything .• "5 AB the a~ove typic;:al

saying sug;ests,life consists of its contents,its

varie:1ated facets • .It is made up of these things.~e. • • < • ' •' ~

is no lifE{' in; the abstract.; Normally one .does not~hav~ . .

. . sticcessively under the spell or domination of one o·r.

. . .

another of· its aspects.Thus ·sometimes· s:1rrow engulfS· . ' . . . ·-

us,sorretimes ambition,sorretimas ·sev. and .. ·so :on.~s ' . . .· . ' '·' . . ·-.

of life is lost. ·. ',.

'< !

..

. '' . 15 • .. •

. Krish~!!!!E!-!_'_~12~1os2Qhy :

Like others of .his type"Krishnamurti has a Q

philosophy .of llfe(as well as of education) "which .

thooqh never elaoorated specifically. is yet suggested

by his.sayinqs.The salient points'of hi& philoso,-,hy

. can be stated a·.g. in the followlnq way :

t·fan ~!vas in coostant ·inner p~ntradictions ·· . . . .

and confticts, and socie,t.y· is a mer$ e>"terislon • • • ' < • '

of these conflicts; .·.

" Understanding the nature of·. these .facts of•,J.ife i

.Le· •. contradictioos, in one''s own way. implies the

d~wning. of truth to ·oneself.(s~lt~nderst:Mc.Ung); A· Con·tradictJ.on~fxee man is. psyetaoiog·l~~iy' . whole~,he 'i~:.m~t 'integrated·. and. ~armoniou~ly related ·with· the ·~orld;. Only such 'C$ man lives. a life. of· 'Intel! f.qenee,

·a life of constant· enquiry and chan;1e. a life

pf t:ruth - beauty and goodness etc •

. This e:.:presses, in brief.,Krishna'T!Urti ··s 'philosophy':ot· · ' ' ~

life, and he himself stands as: ari embodiment of this

kind of lfvihq.Kr:lshnamurt:i starts .from humax1 c~tr-· - - . '

adiction ·because 1 t is. a ·fact of' 11 fe 'and then' <l~s · < • • - •

. ).; .. ', ~ '\'. :~ ~ ~:·3:~ ~~~-~~~ t::,.'! ·. deeper . into ~he essence of 11 fe. In thie . process . he ' ·

decries any !tietaphysical theory formation.The, pla~'; \: -;:' .

of education lies in maklnc;J man aware ~f .his ·inner·~. . ·. .'· . . '· . -~i~~ t.Jtt :'-= :~ ~ .

and outer contradiction~ and to help him' to' live a 'lffe. . . . . '· :~t: '

·~~au .>·"!.tft_.,, l.Jr.iliAR.

o!~ • .~~. rv.-' ;.iJ!/M~ .f!lr~J. 2 L~ MAY 1993

' •, . .

( . l f>·

of intelligence.To Krishna.rnurti,intelligence is:.

neither an ideal which can be attai~ed·. by stre~-u.:.:; ~, · .·

~s efofoi:t·.not: ts it. a method of analytl9al pursui:t •.

· .. nor is there any guara11tee of a 'gradual emergence .. ~. ; '>·

··of lt in. the. ev:olutionaX-y. proce_ss.r,,telligen~ .bursts '.

suddenly and uninvttedly;but aniy the g'round shoold .. . . . ' ' ' - ..

·be prepared with individual'~ cholceless(motiveless)

awareness of the-everyday .facts of sorrow,p'ain ~tc. . .

Krishnamu:i:t.i speaks of the emergence of Intelligeri.ce

and Wisdom • ·;

.ffesent educatio!! & itS i~licatic>n! '

But,how far does conventional education agree

with Kris·mamurti' s philosophy of life· and education ?

Doesn't it· ]oes to establish a life q\lite cantrary to

t~ life. c:lf intelli_gence 1 Doesn't the prese~t educa­

t~c:mal systenl foster and strengthen . an attitude 'of : .

seeing liff!: fragmentarily ·? Doesn 1 t it. SPonSOr trainlt~g

or e·<pertise in specialized fields., to the ne(}lect· of . l' '

·basic virtues.? .Krishnamurti feals,n.o.the present

·srstem of education _is making us sW?servient,mechanical·

and deeply thotightlessJ thoUgh it awcilcens us inteil~Ct--

uc:llly; i.nwardly it leaves ~s 1ncomplet$,stultified· :: .

. and. uncrea1:ive~"6 M:>dem ,education produces doctOrs;

. . . another 'cle:ver,;cunning,clerks'"but does not make\~n.:),

;,: .

17

·: .,-

There is ·a madrush. for j ob.:.Ortented,. pres·tize-coosclou8

education based on fierce ,competition' for better .. ·.' . . . . ' ' . . ' . ': \:-

.- . . . . '.·. ' . . . . ·.... . •. .; . ' .. re'sult arid higher ·security·.clearly the orientation- ,·.

; ' . . \·: ,

''

is for material gatn·.Thts makes the· participants ip .

. educati011 f.rightenlnqly 'ruthless and jeal9t1s of othem. / .

T~e tensions and frustrations of the world,. of the i

parents and t.eachars,of society in qeneral,are :trattsf-·. ... . . . ·'

ered to ·the youn•;;er generation.P.s ·a consaquence, chfloo:: i'

, . I

dren live alienated life,a·1d they are dead to the!~ : .

. '

natural s_tate.Innocence and Jrinqui'sitiveriess of

childhood .thus dries up~A lopsided,. shab'by and he a~•

. less life·the child recei~e~ as an inheritance from ... ·.,

' !. l

their elders.co~tition and corrupti'On are· invar±ably

present among parents an·d teachers today,.who care , , _ •., I''!'

v.ery little for the nobler aspects of l!fe.It's a .-fact,

h~ever cruel,.that many ·ren6wned scientists. naw have.· ' '- - . ~ . : . . ., . . ' ! "

an appalling. iqnorance in .regatd ·tO soct'al awareness •.. ~ ' . . _. .,_ . . ; .

e vcessive. e~ercise of the brai~ a'1d ~intmum tif th8i. heart~ ' .

As a result e.r:-'1:;di tion l~ads ·to a most narrow an4 ·· ·, . · . .

. unbalance(j 1 ife .fo~ many _.!rt the_ society~·This- is· i~L;; ( .·' . . . ' .. ·'·. .. ... ·:~f:.- ' .·

inevi~abl~:-'outco~ .of· oor ·iong 'nourtshe'd. educatio~~~l:'.:.' ' ".

system.Hq.ifeve.r,..,lf.lile .the par.tial~learning is a :~:t:C;\Q~, .•. , !.,,. ~.,.

total-learnin•i( intelligence) remains a mystery . •!\ ··r

·,

.18.

:_ , .....

; .

Also that, the wars· and oppressions,.'tridividu~ . . . ;'

and collective agony and dis tress etc. - these all,' can

be traced· b$c1C to the foll•tes of our educat1onai\system, · ' . • :-· :. ·! ~ ~; .

where 1 t ·seems, an empha~is has been made on sor,-e :\~~t~er ly.

· w·rong ideas.The present generation is merelv· a mecpani-

cal product of th@se wronq deeds.

J~ife ..§!. Righ~_edueation a ·

11 Life is like a river.,' ~ishnamurti o~1s~rve_s, .

··it is always in movement,nevEiu:: still.~It is· alive.;_If·

one holds to a part of th~:~· river ·a,d _thtn'ks ·one- . i'

· under~ta"lds,tneri it is like holdinq dead ~ater.For.~tl'e

r;iver Q<?eS by and if we ca;1n0t fiow wl·th.it,~e:i~(left . . . - ·. .... . ,· ·. ' :;_._: .

. behind."?: .. Education is essentially for ll.f$ and so·;lt . • .. , ' . . ·.1 • . ; • __ ; __ .• :- ·;- .. '

should ~.fle~ the. has~c·:natu~· of .lifa~whi~h 'i!.>mciv~(· ' . ; . ~ . ' : (

mant~The~fore. ac.cording to Krishriamtiiti,-;•Educa~t()n'\~ i', · .. . ' ... ~' .· . . '

is not till you are twenty one,but till you die."~~::l·:,;~; i.

knows no stagnation~:r.t has a ceaseless flow like lffe'

:~: ' '.

L~fe is significant bec;auae of its inherent\:':: ~ ; .•.• j .. : "'" . '

. . .

richness and div~rsity,where a QOod 1 ob or intelHtec:,-

·tual sut:)eriortty ~lays ·a very small roleoiA.fe is, an1

e~<ti:'aordinary r~omplex thing; "_To underst.and this

life,whi~h is both in time and 'oeyond ttme:,you n'iUa~·' ; ·

have. a very_ young,inn<?Cent .mind,g- t:rays ~r1s~:naaurt1.,·

I' .· - ' ~

Education ha.s to see that a student should deVelop·

.a very you rig, f¢resh ,tnno¢ent mind, wh icll_ means seri~i.:. ·

tivity.SQ far educatioo has. sti'e~sed .ll~~illl:.f!.;.;;"t!me •

which. covers .ev~ry mov~meht of thOtight · ~d inte,ll~c~ ... tual developmerit,every plece_of' ~owledqe. under·t~; · ..

. . . . . ' . - . '"(':'-;:·,

· sun~{t is. thus the !llEICha.'1ical

.£~qt!4~tme aspect of life is

aspect of mindc.E'iu't :.; \_, __ : ·. • : . . . ' ..... ·.. . ... ! \·'·'::~. ,•

a:nothe:r ci'iman~ion' .. iA: ; · · ' . • '. . : • • ~ ~-.,_ • l < '/ ;·- :i . ' .

. .

education; It is absolutely free· frQm thduc_::ht and ,

knowled:1e.Here 'Life is· sacred' .It involves in.tellige­

nce,psychc:>~oqical freedom,love.It ls out and out a

non-mechanical living.This w~n. develpped in men ~~. '

women,Krishnamurti thinks,the·world will c~ange

radicaily .Ho:~·2ver there is no absolute 'difference

between the two-aspects of life. "Life· is a unitary- .

. qlobal movement" ,9 sa~rs Krtshna·nurti .Riqht ec1uc~tipn· . . ··.1 ' '

hP-lps to .understan~ one's life in both tl'les(! aspec:~~;,_ ·.....__ ' I ' . . ' ' • : . • . . i~ ·,

-, ·in its ·wholeness · and total! ty .• In te111'1en.cet' only ): .. ;.< •f. .. :

implies tl\1~ whole.ne~s·.t{rishria:murti makes a ciistin~tion i .

between- .intellect arid intellig&nee,to show the •super!-.' ,· ~ . . . . . . .. l . ,. ·, '

ori ty of .. the· latter. He says,- 11 Intellect. is· thOugh~ ; ..

functioning independently of emotion,whereas, tntelliaence . . . \ . ---- ... -. . . . .

1~ the capacity' :to feel as. well a~ .!~ason· 1 and ~~til . ·: :- :.

~ appr~ach. life with intelli J~nce. instead of ihtellEt:ct . . . }j i ' ; .

. alone, or with emotion alone,'no ;poiitlcal or educational '

.. ' ') 0 . t~

. ·'·

. '• .. ': ·,

system in the w.orld can save us fro~ ·th9 toils· ~of··. · •, ..

. chaos and destruct~on."lO(my underline)

Education,for KrishnamJrti, !.a entrusted ~ith ' ..

. . '

the task of changing .oneself f~om dally mechanfca~:

(intellectual) living, to noo-mechanical ( tntelli::rent)

llving,which. alsq implies a chnnqe of attitude,from • ' I ' •

me-orieritatian to cosmlc-ortent'ation. It is ·the r-E' . . -~.

. c '

·. which vitiates the atmosphere by creatinry different . .

and coofl1l:ct1n·] ~ntres of thouqht,where cosmos b~Jng; :: ' . - . ' .·. . ...

. ,

ME(mlne), involves· time,· when intelligen.ce. or love'; etc. •. '. '; ' .• f

is beyond time and therefor~ cosm~ceritr1c(neutia1 -of

· any centre).-

Life~ right education and tr;ut~ funda:nental/X ·" ·

qo toqether in Krishnamu.r.ti. •iyou knpw,there 1~ drl-iy . . . . . \ -~ .

one tnith •, Krishnarrurti says, • and th~refore there: as

only ~e way which is not distant from that truthf

there is only one method to t.hat truth, he cause .the' . ---·----means are. not dis.tinct fr·om the. end."ll(my underline)

. l-r

beyond ouz.:. self-.oriented life~Ric;ht ~ducation is·~~:.'· . . .

way to t1:t,JthJ it. (the "educatioq) is named r!qht behause . 0--: ···-~···· .

it aims ·at freeinq oneself from one's sentimen:t~~;k l ''i.,

'.

· .. '.··'

·21

e:-not1ons and condH:ionsin~s(psychological moorin~~j ~ . -

Thus it is a way to· self-discovery. a-:1Cl iriteqrat_~One';· _, ' . . ,._ L--•. '·

: . : . . ' . ' . . . ·. . . ' . . . ~-; \ ' . To unde.rstand truth.Which_is unfra9mented and·whol~·'

. . . . - . . -. ~ .

a man must be. so. because · whol4eness .demiu1ds- ·a whole· :' : . . . . . .· ·.

approach.A .!.!'J.h!ly. edu~!te~-- m.an., because he- is

integrated and whole, can only understari.d and estal:~l-

ish _!:rtith in his ,!!_~.However, at this point,Xrtshn:~·;.;. · . !·

murti may ':~ hilhly dehatable l·)ut the :fact is ~ ·-~·

socalled different· wa:y_s to. truth,a~ conce,ived by ou'r

daily. w::>rld,are mainly due to the involvement of ciu~

iJ1terest(motive or so) - indivt(~ual. or collective, .;·

in- each cat1e • .

?svchQ!.9£!.~_!F._eed~- :

To:underatand the sir:ntficance of life

~ihole, indj.vidual .as well as col lective.:need~

~~ '. . ! . . · .

• J ••

in.tegrated outlc>ok.which invariably 1 i.n'kec. ~P wi t:h

-the compl~te or:der in. the ·lndividua.l peycholo:-;tcal··::i

field. Unless and until this psycholoq teal. orde~· is :L .. :

realized· any effort. of PE!a6e anq harmony·. ~.n ··the

outward life is bound to t.e a fatlure~For psycholo- .·· .. . .

,:iical walls are fa~ mor~ d,i.fftcuJt to ·br;:~~ ~h~-. -, ·:.> . , the, Berling walt.·.Krishrianurti:\':'S:!:phtlosophy.,of ,e(!uc~\· ..

' . . ·:!, •. ' :· '·l. -· ,• ... ,· .' . . .. ; ; ·.

ation emphasises this sinr.Jle bas~c potnt of having'· . ~~

-· :" .,,. '.

{!' '·' . ' ~ ;

22

.Ef!IC:ho!~!£!L~ndivisib!.~~t:y# because this will nene r­

ate love·, tntelliqence,sensitivity etc.Thts psycholo- ·

gical wholeness may also imply the ahsolute and·

uncoodi tional freedor:1wl1 ich KrtBhnamurti s.., earnestl v . .

des5.r.es for every human hein·1.("I have c:mly one; . . ! •

' . . purpose, to rnake mar. free~ t'o urqe h:tm towards freedOm;

.' . " . -

to help him to break away frr..:>m iall li-,ttatiana; for

.that alone will qive him etern~l happines.s; :b- · Krishnamurti.)

It is far more lronortatit,. thi.nks E: Krishna'TlUrti,

t:o have psycholOgical freedom rather t~~an ont\·lard ' ..

· econO'Tiic or poll t teal freadon. F,or it is: i;1divtduai '· ·

minds which rule the world, and the disorder a'1d · c~:flict

if,l that field has ·a natural outcome in our e,.·ternal

beha.viour.PSychological freedom irrrplies'··a ·positive::. . .

. state of mtnd,whlch is not a reactiO!! to any particular

-situation.It is a·~tate of c~1sciausness only

negatively. aware of 'itself,for the complete neC]at1.9n',~

(absence), pf .contradiction in individual mind lnd~­

ectly affirms che actuality of. the state of psych~-

loqical f.reedom.This freedom implies wholeness of the . . . ~

~mind, which 1 i ves above: the. dual characters ·of the :";. r: ·\

intellectual worl9 .Duality ts an obvious. outcone ·of. . . .

. . ' ~ . ' '"

' I ' '

~ ;·

' -our·activities fro~ intellect and knowled0e.Only a' . . psycholo Jically free beinq has perfect aP!'roach 0 •·

t-'Jwards life because he alone:isbeyond selfishile~"-'-' ' ' ' ' I ' . .

and senti._mentalism.Only his :apnroach ·ls_ holtstic~not·

. fragmepted hy any pa:rtieular iriterest. or _cul~ureJ: : .. · ·, . . .. -~ .

only he can have. a real taste of livlni _without. fear . . ·. - - .

·or despair.Kris}\namurti ·stands,:as it were·~ as a

policeman of _the psycholCK}ical fiel:d.Hfs eiliJcatt6n. ··.l.

!

. aims- at the nreen inr·r of o,1r inner field or at- the

-· psycholo:Jical tran~formatiori. '~ · ...

Aims & Imo6ri~~:1.1ce of I<' s education : _____ ___..._ ____ ... __ -Krishna:tmJrti • s whole phi_losophy of education is _based

6p certain fundamental observa,tions in re·~ra-rd to t'te

· wholeness of life, an inte0rated OU:tlook, psyc~olo 1tcal

·f-reedom etc., from where he has not shifted or cort~Pro~

m;tsed duriri 'l his lon!J years of teachin<:st. Further, ~_:., '' ..

1-)asic truth in Krishnamurti is that each individual, . ' -

1-~fe needs to blossom fully .EdUcation_ is_ for· the .· .. .-. . . .

flowering. of life wi, th. freedom and wi thoot an'y re~ri-·, . . ·. . . . ··.·

ctton : restrl ctions -that cone qrt. the way by disclpiine

and irnpositions of ideas and theories in sbhool curri-.

culum.To him. ""Freedom is at the t~qinninc;:,not. at.; t're

end"l3 of,,educatiOl,. 't .

. ' .. ' 1··

21

. ' .

.. trees and birds, ~ivers and flowers etc.has alwv:~~ ~ > . . : . . ··. . ' -... ·~

tmportant place in Krishnamurti' s education: Krtshncm,norti

found that,~ot only ecologically and ec~nomically. ~an

ts dependent on nature; but alst> psycholoqically marl·. ' ' ' . . . .- . ~

. is vei:y close to nature. •If you establish .a relatto.n­

ship with ft fa tree) ··~say~ Krtshnamurt.i, 'then y~

have relatiol1ship .with rnankind.You are ~sponslble , . I

then for that tree and for the trees of the. world.H.it

. t f yOu have n·.:> relationship with the 11 ving thinr:rs Jon

this earth you may lose. whatever. relationship :you h~ve . '

\'lith humanity.·..;;~ "'tth :human he~n,}s •• o" 14 So it can:.,hE!.

seen that::most Kl:'ishnamurti schools q!ve stress ·an:·~:;,; (.t:'

location in; natural envirooment.

Krishnamurti., ln his ·lonq years of teach 1nc ..

eni::ouragad people to attend. t:> ·~..rhat is' .what-is' ' ---- ..

·{

. '

is, L1 ·the .prr~sent, is e><.istinq a•1d i(ldicates only ·Fad·t.:s•

These. words have tiermndous si<Jnificance.It :lmplies;Lr .. ·,., -~

a'1 art of 1 tvin·r w:1ich ls based ry.i facts(.non-evalua~ed . l

what-is) and not on the ,evaluated past or on the dr~amy. Q

future. Information :of. the past a•1d the. calculation

for ,the fut,\re i.s after all i;u.port.ant when .the world;

of kilo-.,.rl~c7 Je '.•:hich is with-!..rl_ ti!!!!! e. q. technology~ . l.

?la.,.,nin ... ;,constr:~~:.:tion etc.1 are c·-mcE.tlled:"--)ut the art~,~·{. <. ,i "

of livin) q<:mS:ide.rs lifetn its·tctality'~.·whithin~:i'· .. ;.

~- ·-··· ·------- ..

25

and ~ayond ttme,w~llch de•i1ands total attention i:1 the·

present.

The aims of 9ducatton,.as c.:·>nce:tvetl by Xrishna- ·

murti are as follouwm:-tt is foJ:. Int~c;ration ·; :integr­

ation 11 of hody-."l''ind and heart, also i.nter,rration in

respect of outlook on life.Educat.ion also al111s at:

flowerin"! of J()odness ar:d lovfJ. !t e:nphasizes i ntelli n­

ence and tNisdom. It draws continuous ·at ten ticx; on ~

endurirHJ values of 1 i. fe su·ch as ,free~do'\1" fearlessnes B·~, . . ' ' ,.

. - ' ·, . (

humility, goot.'lness, self-knowle(1ge e~~c. . . ' '

. Krlshnamurti' s philosophy of 1 tf~. is in a WaJ,

a philosophy. of educatl on too, t-ecause ])ot"h a !.m at a

cOMmon c;oal~of.esta',lisllinq life of go~neRs.'I'he i:!fl!'fJF

9

importance of his educatio.:-1 lies in the fact t'hat it

1 ~ an educatiOn for th~ whole lif<:!, never dcsigt"'led to

q.:lve rnan_knowl~clqe only w.,1ich leads :eve,'!tu.ally to ·:·

increasing confusion and miser.t.:Krlsh...'1arnurti 's (',duc­

atlon is for an art of livl~l.whtch is holistic .;c'

It is for .integrated ~nd lntell tg~~t livi.-nq .. - •.. ·~ -,\ .l ~· {

;-·

.! . :·· . _,

'·

0

Chapter

'(· ..

2

INTELLECT AUTHORITY & INTELLIGENCE · ----·-~~------ ---...-.-.'

capacity .to ·feel as well as ·to reason J and

until we approach 'life with intelli·1ence,.

instead of intellect aloneeor with emoticm

alone,.no political- or educational system in

the world can save us from the toils of chaoS ' ') • Q . .

and des "\:.:.cuction .• 15 - . J. Krishnamurt.i.

B_gle -~f. Intell~~_:,&_~!;h~;:~-~ :

In the entire psycholornr. of man,Intellect and!· ' ' :,, !

fl,\lthori ty are mar~ cl~sely linked' up wi.th .each ()~her< . . . . . . . '

.: (

than with tha Intellic:Jence. Intell1rre~ce, _lias. a 's·ePe~;te · '· ,. ·. . ..

category ·'rhis is true particular~y in KrishJ:tarrprt!'s~- · . '

'teachirps.In him tn.tellig~ce .bears a special stqntf:i- · • . •, / , . ~ . • ' . I . : .

cance far greater than the .·'~o:nmooly held~·· ' . ' . . . ' '· '

Intellect is· the logical mind of man ~nd ' .

l2.uthori. ty tn it~ c~tent.so · 1.ntellect is essentially:·

linked up 'trtith authod.ty,thouqh,tt seems,authority,. -~: . .

t11 the se~se of mundane & .supernatural p~r.may have;

a sepera'te eYistence.A block headSd king or queen . . ' . 1 . ~

e~rctsing. supreme authority of material power on'

his suhjectS. or a nittt witch( a sorcerer). practtcing <.

•. 'J '

27

• author! ty of' superna1:;-ural power ori naive" people can

be.easily imagined,but a professor or a scholar- who . . is a symbol . of inte.llect - practicin:J rio author! ty at ·

all is indeed difficult to believe.Nevertheless;fnte7. ..

llect and author! ty · corrrnonly. :qo hand in hapdjl functioo: . ;

fr~m the s~ psychological· platf~rm(state: of mind)~' ; t ' . . . ·, ' . . . :.

and perform .nearly. similar role~. ·

Education fro~ its primitive origlnatlon worsh~ .

' . . ','. ;'·,·: '.·· .. was the· main concern· of the 'earlymen.-Educ'ation was' .. ·: ·.·.·.· .

. ~ '

.al.legiance to authority(to 'king. or scriptures),and ·:·

intellect served· this purpose effectively .However the:

searc~, fox'- ·seeuri ty still persists and that is much· ·

more: inte~s.ely ,because ~6ciety "t:oday has made a ,.

quantum.jun~ from the physical to the.psychol~ical

(intellectual) e;,istence,w~ich essentially. represents··

our increasin:j lust for poto~er,pleasure;,propertY etc •. . . 4

. ' . .

Education· is made to serve this !]Oal.IntelleCtual . .! .

. pursult along with· au·tbority thus. becor!J3s the very :. . 1· '.

order of the day •. '··

This. is· h! a way CNer emphasizing· the· exercise~

of intellect,which is more a mechanical process.It

brings comparison,'!l€asurement,partial1 ty. in con::!id- . 1

· eration.Reasoning or. it":tellection as· a· ~cha:nical

·,,I r.

. ' ·. ·:·-

.·28

' . : . . .

. 'Cldventure leads inevitaqly. towards a meqha,nical._end, \ ' l . ., ' . . ··~1 . '". . • ' '. \ .•

:a ·mechanlcaf'life .. H~re··~uthorlty ad?s· ftif3:(i~ the: .· · ' . . . ·.' !.. . .. { : .· ·.: .. ' . . . ' ·: ··. . . .' '·: ··. ' .. · :'

,proces.s.It appears: in varioos forms :. thl:-OU'Jh·know~e;_

-dge,success or powe,r etc .. This pursuit. of' authority :is.

marke!d by our thirst· for knowuler,ige,corn'""litment ·to .any

theory or ideoloqy. alleg~anceto our own .traditiqn,i ' . .

culture· or scriptures and so on.we f~llow,w~ n»J!S>. submit to and quote authority as if it is the most

. .

important t1-tin:1 of our life.Authority is both outward

and inward~· "The authority of the priest .. the polican.an,

the auth01;i ty of law" etc. ~hey consti tumte 'the 6utw.ard

authority.But "\.;e may reject the authority of.anoth~r, . . . .· . . . . . . . . . ·'.j:.

1Jut unfortunately .~ 'still .have' the aU~l1or~~Y '6£ our

own e·<ped.ence,of our. own knewled,Je, of Ollr own· thinking,

and that in . turn hecomes the pattern which c:;uides

us·." (Talks by Krishnamurt! 'l.n Europe 1':}5!) p.99) . ' ;

Thi.s · f.s in,.raxa'·autho:r1..ty,t-¥hich practlcally dominate/!'"!.:' · .. ' '

all our life of evaluat! ons or our· judgments of dik.es ' i

an¢t dlsl ikes at d!fferen_t st tuatiohs. '· ; f'i-:: .~_;\; . . '.

· This S'1pre::1e reltance of our. society on inte-llect

and authority,which ts stressed i.n the education

sy;3tem, henef1 ts as well 'a:s devastates· li f,e • It has a·:,;·.;. . . Q

·beneficial effect when the material (physi.cal) aspect: ·,:_,i . • . . L • .

i ,,,

. ,.

. ~ j •. : ,,·

; . ; « ••

~ .. • . r :-: :{! : .~

28 ' ~ : J '

., ~

of our life i~ concerned e,g~more arid more amenitie-s.

and comforts of life.But it has a devastating· effect

when the total' process of life is taken into consider-. . ' . ' ..

. atioo e,g.tlie aSPe.Ct cf relationship.tlove & -freedom etc,. . ~- . .

our reliance on intellect a.nd ai.1thority(thoU!flt . . l :

·& kn0117ledJe) also takes t'hl3 form of reliance en words. · ' . . ' ' . -~

t-Ie lave to see the ·world(our life ·too) throuah woms.· ' . . :"'

We worship words,pursue words,live On words :and fight . .

for words.r.ut,"· .... words are a trat;> an4· a snareoThey ( 1;

are the syrcnols and not the .r:eal.The scr:een 'of wonis : '. i

. acts as a shelter for . the lazy • the thooohtles s and the - ,;

deceiving mind.Slavery to words is the beginning of !

inactica which. may appear to be actiOn an~ a mind

caught in symbols cannotqo· far.Eveey word,thou··Jht.,

shapes the mind and without 6nderstandin<1 every· thou,}ht ·

mind becomas ·a slav~ to words anc;t sorrc:N he!Jins,n1 ~,·

says Krishna.wrti.To caught . .in the rtdc1la of words!

and .the search to find out the na~ure ·of Reality

and Truth out ~f 1t,ts one of the '!reatest traqedJe:a. • . ' . I

. . .

of.; ~kind : 1. t leads to· more r1diles anq ·-trion. . k

trappin·J.s,it. prevents life to go beyorid .words.o ,· ;· : ... . /·

rntelle~t functions in the .thouqht· pi-qeess 'i::.a~~ · '•

sh;;lrpens and; sustains itself with the B:C~~latton ciftd· . :- . . .· . ,.

. , .

. . '· . ' . . ·..: ' .. ·. ~~- . ·· .... .. ·.:, .·: ~-- . _' •··· . ' ·,. ·_ . ' . '. -- --. - ··.-.:-:_· .. ·.· ~;·.~-~-; ..

.. "~- ...

. ' ~ .. l · ..

. ;

! '

30··

. ~ l '' :'

Jmowledge(tnformation input) .Intellect ts the . I

analytical or the critical mind of' man.; ·· -,, ._; ;>;

But an anwer can ·he souqht to. the ·.question~

to wbat. e~nt inteliect ·& authority can help tQ ; . . . .

achieve. real peace, security & hu.man upliftrnent ~

~ace here means an absence of violenee ___ ....._ .i

a~toqathar,~£1~ entails a state of.mtnd devoid . . . . ' ·. .

. . . . •. Q . .

of fear,.![e!,iftrne~~efers to the psych(;>loJical.-. . . -~ ( . ". ' .

mutation or'radiaal transfor.natian.However, in·

actuality the present process of try~nrr .to bring .

~ace· etc.,throu·Jh intellect and authority results . . . .

:ln the absence of real peace~.

F~r Krishnamui:ti_, < .... :n Al:.i 'thoog~t.:: f.s c::or~p~ !

tion"l17· ber.e corrup~ion ·means: !. 11Wh1~l:\;1. PJ:Ok.~'q, ~ ' ~ . . . ~ . . '·~ . ·. \ : ' '~ '

that w~ich is not. taxen ·as. a whol~" • .,Authority' .: .· . . • •·· • i-

. ' l . ' ...

too. 'is terrible :and des:tructive"J 18 .8J;1d ·."~diction ' • ' I' . ' ' ' ' •. '' ! ' • ;, • : ' • ' ' •,J' ' • ' ' ·: • • > • • ' .. ', ' ' ~:;. :

to knowledge ~s llke -any: othe~· add.1cti~"nl9 lt~~~-. ',1 . .,

ledge) is inflic~ed ·by. ~he Faustean .~agedy of more··.·

knowledge and more misery.Thouqht alwa¥s functions':

thrt:)U•Jh memory of worP,s,ima··teS and information J '

They are 1 ts content.i-le!IJOries are essef1tiall:y old '

and dead.Thought. ·mar~~Y revives' th0$e old .arld dead:

memories .. in reaction to anythin·1 of the present,

. and living .so the ,problem .and' the response are .n.ot

~- ,· : ~ .

. . ' . ;.

•,

'' '·

i: ~! ·.

·:31

on the sarre :wave length, for r;an old cannot ·adequatelY . . . .

meet the new.Furthe~,though-t essentially. div1.des,1t.

perceives anything ·into OO__!!!_Y~~~~~-22~~~~­

relationship. "The observer is· the aceumulated know-;

led:-ye,mamoeyJ t~~ observer. is essentially._ the tradition, . ' . . . . - ~ . . . . . .

the past, the ~ad ashes of _many t~ousan~. ·y~st:erdayaoi.~ 20 Md ".If there is. a division betWeen the_ 'oY,s(!ryer~ '_,:

and ·the 'ohserved' t~1at division 'is the·~oo:rce ·of' ati· ~man conflict."21 ~here ~s always the psycholo1ical ·

dis~ance within'·this divis1~.The' 41ffere~ce haiwe~·-·:_:;-. • . ' • ' :. ;. .-:. • . • . ' ~. : ··:· '.. ' ' : • .. ·, ,• '!J ·;<· ~ ' .·

. knowled<je and memoey · Consti:biated by--the·· past, arid llt;";:·. 'i i ' . . . l • • . • • • • • : • ~ • . • • • • '· •

. t~ present challenge b~in·1s ciboot the ·(~patial.). dist:!-. . ~ ..

nction between- the observer ~ the ohserved.Thought is

also a process in the Becoming - frO!n ~at is to .!1rue":""

should be 1 which involves contlnuaus tension. ~--- . 1 .

. However ·f.n the. physical world-:- to- go 'sOmewhere,

to lc;!CJ..l:t,"t sq~ething • to build a stx;uetUte ·~ _so on t · .... : h ,

' ,,·,;. - ,

1~ not so· impOrtant psychOlogically.The way ~f dealiD;J

·with the physical·wor,'ld 'is not the way_ to,. the

psyc::boloJY of ~ ' . for . 1 1~ward chan:]Et • -~ of_ ·nn1tat1(;m. - ' . . . . . '. . . '· . . . . . -<· ; . . ,,,, . . ·: :

The _psychological issues lik~ .envy .. anger,sorroW etq. i

-- are present and persistent.They demand ··total-attention'

. ,

•• f,

-! .·

_ .

0

.32

,,·. ,· .. :.

' ~ .. . .'.

':•.··, • :·•;, 'I • .•

. __,·

. rle~at_ive·ly s~aking.is. an:: .. ef'tortless·:·~~·~~r~w~f .'t)~ · .. ,. I ' ' ' ' • ,o ' '• • . ' '·:' ''' :. '' ' ,' .)~ ·' '

all our judgements' on. any 'particular. i~aue :e,ci.: . ... ·· ... ·

·envy ; and posit·ively speaking,it is .a choiceless~ .. ..

awareness of that p~ticular issue.Accordinq to . .

Krishnamurti,. '1 Total attention includes the superf~ .

. icial and the hidden.~he·past &ryd 1ts tnfluenoes . . . -

on the. preserit.maving· into the future ... 22

This whole

affair he:tps unfoldment o~ flowering ~f psycho- · . ' . . · .. · ·,

lo)ical facts.For Krishnanurti •. "Every thou·1bt cmd . c.

. .'"' .

feelin<J must flcuer for them to live ·and die 1 . .

· flowerin'j of. eve.rything in you. the amhition~ the g~ed. • ' ' . ' ' I '

its their death 'and· feedom. ~ 2 J But .thouqht. obstru4 this total phenomen·a· of natural fiowrinr:r :with its;

known theories. interpretations and reactioos.Suppm S!:?-, . .

lons.escape.~odi~ications ~tc.are p,roeesses .in which

thou Jht has also its role.. It hrings ttma. it brtn·.j,. ir.mumer~le fra·Jrmntation -withinJ. It hrtn "TS sorrow: .

inevi tahly 61

••ThEt ending of thought is ,the ending of s?~ow ... 24

To .attend to ~he psychqlogical issues for mutati&'~i

'· ,·,

.. :~'

~ nust £!._~ tp all our thou ;hts and memories.Here

11 Death means the endin:~J of the knoWn,. ••• the ending, . . . . ' ~

of attachments." T.his is Krishri~nurtt•s .!:!~.'!!!!2~~'.! . . . .

~no mo~to m~ .His advice therefore is,.

11 ~ih1le living,also. ~ive wtth death.u25 I

~anlr:l2...CJ.L!.!!.!!.ll1sz~£! J.

The ~nding of thought also means the. beginntnQ : . . . .

ot intel:tigence.~Ut· thou 1ht cannot e.nd SO lon 'J

there is e inatt.entton.,Further the effort to hecone -~-4---

attentive is the den~al. of .intellig~ncEU because .. , . '

intelli()ence does not i:wolve any strutting and . · •, ..

fretting,.which necessarii!!l:Y characterise effort• ,

Intelli·7erice is total attention. "An atte1t!ve · ndnd.

is 8..'1 empty :mind" • 26 Attention is always out of;:.:. l'

i'nward space ~and silence. "A silent mind has gre~~

space not 'created by eithe~ the. object or the . "' o1')server.~·27 .This. ~space has a differ-en~ qUality, ·i.·

.and .it. can only be tb! seat of that··.immeasurahle

'that 1.m119tls1ty,that which is s~prette and· \htch

cannot be invited'. tt 1 s far 8PBrt fr0'11 knowledge

and authority.There is no observer hut OS'11Y .· . . ·.- -~---·- .. · .. ·

~ \ ' :

.•

·. ,• . -.'J •• ·.

:·,

' . . ··_ ... : . . :· \

:3t.t' . ,.

'· .. ·.:.' ·: ~~ .· ... -... ·:_1··.

.. .

· pursued. but lntellt•)ence .. ·is bE¥ond ·.all· that, for . .

it(tntelligence) cannot .really be invttect and

~ccumulated. Intelli.gen(:e which is· the pe_rfect at~e-.

ntion always gives vaiue, ~o the -~~.in the ~!!!!fu:.

(that whicl) is .e':'.istincj) • 'The fact i~ and evecyt~-• • + • •

l•. ~·

ing else is. not•: 'The ,fact has: no time and no.s_p~oe. •28

The ·present involves only facts, it is of the highe!Jt

. i~portance. ~The presept is the whole of tine, in t'tS . .. ·.

seed of the present is th~ past a'1d the futureJ th8 i

past is the 'present and the futUre is· the present.· . ·

. 4fbB pre.sent is the'·eternal,t"le timeless.',.' 29

"Intelligence',Krishriamurti says,'is the

capacity to Perceive the essen~lal,t~e what is".:· 3d ·.In the com-non parlanC:e it' Cinte.1i11en~ ... r mean1:4 ... : .

. . I .' j'••

understandin~j the relations· of: things etc:., thS rOot Q • . . ,. ~ • • • • • \; • - • ~~ .•

meaning_ of the woxd intelligence is ~-!!~...£ . .!E!ue~ ~ -~··· ·:. c

.. ,;

.·which me~s .. To read betw,een." the lines,. <. . :-

Hc:lwever·nothin<f~an qU~ahtse·tfi~ ~mern~~~>< ··.;, .:i',; .· .. .,,·· ·,_ ·.~;·.: ~ ...... ·.··~·_-::· .. : . ,·_:._~_.· .. ;:···. ·. :··:.r ··.·:

.of intelligenee~ It appears -to him, who is unconditio~;i; . '

nall~ free,who has. no self"':'contradtction.It lives 'tn . . .

h~m as ·a pervasive state of mind where total 'Psycho.; .

19c;Jical rautatiOQ has t~n place .. To us~who live in;,· .. ·\ . j

.1

• .~ I

·i'

·' '"',

. '·'·

'!. ' ..

. ··35

perpetual contradi~ion,intelliqence sometime emerges

like flashes of li'lh~ but ~ever pers;tsts.They are

. ~_!~L!~lliCJ~Qc.e_ .cur ·&~1! feelings of hemi.:ty.

love and .sympaty .our flames of creation are all lrist:ances

of that flash.

In· a dialogue with Prof.tiavid Eo~,an eminent

theoretical pbysicist,Krishnamurti opens up hismtnd .. . .

. on the natUre of intelll]~ce in the. fol imdn··! way.­

Thoagh~ ~ mat.ter and intellicyenc~ at-e·diffe~nt . . .

forms of the same energy flow~While i.ndivi.du81.

thought· is polluted· by material and. selfcentred

thinkings; J:.ntelliqence on the otherhand is

completely free frorn any self~ntred. atti~de .

. and therefore always universal a:1d total.It ·u . . ' : .~ •• J . . . • ·' . • • • . .·• : ' . i . . . . . ,.. ~

1ne.~{haust1ble-1nf~n1te-u~cond1t1·onal and ever . new' in. nature ·hec~s$ .1 t derives.' frOm the. . "eteJ;n a!' source of energy, the truth~ ·

·. ,. . .

. While intellect o~ authority ca.'l be. charactez;t.-sed ·

by: me or mtne .. as rcy inteileet or so, 'bUt ,~~t~lll.'ienee, ,_: I : ' • ' • . , 'o • • • • .. . . • ' : , • ' ~ ' '

is ·ncX:lodyis,_ pr.operty_~_It. ·is_ .the sin·]ti·~lar e~~al·fleu .. :. . ;

of -wisdom beyond any .fragmentation.It ·ca11 sea totally.,

not in the physical totality but out of psycholo1ic~

wholeness.Phys!cal totality involves different sides;

of a body taken togethe~.,~hen psY,cholog1~al wholenesS f : .

indicates a state of looking(mlnd) ;.which is 'free frcin

:: .

.. ~. ~: '·'

~~ I •

'.::

•, .

Q

any contradiction or co:1flict~ whtch is not a11chored

to any motive,any definite value or cultureeit only

acts on the facts of life.

3f)

Intelligence awakens out of the understanding

· of<the total signlflcance of life .. Thts is ahave and

beyond econ_omic or politlcal si··mificance 'but ·r,oes ·

into the essence of life.A. psychol~YJicaliy_. whol_e

'Jeinq can· 6nly have that total grasp .. ~telllgence

never conforms hlin~lly. It. is re1Jell1ous in nature·'. ' ' ' , • • ' , . . • ; ~.--: ~ .: ' I, • ' '

aJa.lnst any authori:tY~:it· only .. acts out ·of its· own·

. . ! .

. ' i

values, own dynarr.ism.Its. value~ are fun'damental like . l

love,un1 ty and freed'om, in o~her way these are the ver~

has is ·of. i1t~lligence and cannot be detouched from t t

in any way.It is a ~ifferent state of mind.,as stated

earlier,most sensitive and therefore creattve.This

implies creative-living,and not so cal.led Creations. , . . . ' ·,

(•Only when the mind ceases 'to create is there creat-

iQn~· ,- .Krishnatrllrti') .so to a man of intell"tqence: '

confo~ty ·to any i~oloqy or theory is a fall,a

negation of 1ndivdual1tyoTo such a man, any geograPh,ical

boundary sepe~ating nati oos is fund~~al1y ·irrational.

'Apartheid' or ·any law· that segre')ates humanity· is

totally unjustified.

\'

'I

Krishnanurti cOnfirms that intel11-1ence .only can,. gi':'e

true persPective to our· life and ltving.It .'is 'rooted ' . .

.in the absolute nothingness of .our.beinq··;and tif:. . . . '. . . .. . . . .;-.~... . . : . ' : ·.'

1n~ompati'6.le with ou# eternal· cra%e' fo~ psycholti()ic.ai.

security through metaphysical· and religious theories~

It never idealizes or. romanticizes any issue.It

accepts fear•pain,loneliness and deathas facts of

life and faces ·them as ~ey are wl thout rationalizei~q

(theorizing) them in ariy way.Thts is in other wordS < ' ~

Krishna:Rllrti.'s Cho1eeless-A.wareness.A man of 1ntell1-. . '

)ence can becone a perfectly impartial judqe heca\lse .. . ' ..

he can only see a ca.Se in its real perspective i~ a most· detouched manner.Krishnamurti· further ·rrtatritains;'

that intelligence whe~ highly awcikened ·~e~oms ·intui tlon,

. wlU.ch is a. state· of ·~rfect ·:creat1vity.Intelligence -·

is also a link .between reality and the truth ....... tbe

truth ••• operates on reality through inte_lliqenee11• 31

says Krishnamurti.

Int.ell!,~ce in Ed~tiOiJ :.

Education, in Krishnamurt! 1 s ·views,is esselltt""" .

ally. the • Awakening of Intell.tqence 1 in oneself and . '.-

·in others.But. there is no_ way to 1ntell1'1ence.A.ll :sc,-:; ,.,·

called ways .are only-li~ting methoda,characterised\1~:~·

' either by any rnotive,emotion or sent1ment.ln·tell1den'ee•

. . ~ ~.~.

:' i

Q

·3 8' :.· . ·'·.

accordin J to I<risbnamurti,is free from all that(motive . . .

etc.). It cannot be limited because intelllqence is nOt

an outcome of a'1y centre0-E) .Any effort to limit it is

a denia.l of i.ts li.rn.itless(centreless) charact;.er.oniy

some aspects pf a school e,.g.its natural and._acadendc

environment &··so on,_can create a favourabl~(or unfavo- ·

urable) weathe~ for th8 awakenin·J 1 hUt it can .in no •.

way guarantee that emer·1ence. In found1nq of schools

Kr.ishnamurti therefore calways stresses on, a~ong. othe:i::

thl ngs, a very natural at'T!osphere, a small school wl th ., ' ·

minimum boys and Jirls, a spi.rit of learrdm:.r both

amon(J teachers a'1d taught, an atmosphere of. freedom .· .

and ·ao.on.Briefly,in his education the~e is always; a.

Ji:.ater emphasize on the total awareness both a'1out

the world and of the activities of the self,more than

b ")Oldsh. knowledge1 wt th ali" these, a harmonious develop­

ment of the mind-hear~t-"1ody is also stressed. ?or : ., , r· . . . ... ) ''

. i . .

.. In tell ig.ence c~>mes into t-einr; •, thinks Krishna1'1Urtl;.:1

Q . .

'when the mind,.the hea.z::t and the hody are really

ha~monious.n 32 Education· for tntellic;ence' thus hecorms .

a total and comprehensive process which is,farmore ). ·- . . . ,., . .

1-''

difficult than the traditional one.

;

· ... ' . ~. ; '.

. : .

. •

.· . ~ .

' '.

3B

Oh~rvations :

It ls ?OSsible t ~·raise nu'llerous ques~ions

abOut intelliQence ·-·on its status; its possihility •·

its emargen~. in education and so on. For e~ample,. . ~

since intel1.i':;iEmce is an individual's inward .affair,.

it is always dif~icult to pinpoint the 't'resence of · ,. l . ! . . . .

. . . .. the capactty of .in tell t7ence in ·some~ody .sepera~ely . · ··

. I . from tho .. qht or intellect.Often i~t.e,lec~ and. .

·· intelligence live toget~er c_ris-cros,in·J a."""ld 0\Terla­

pping.They a~:e n.ot ·se-perate as ol"'jec-t;s.It is· also trufi

Q that' there is no S~ngle· or Sllre criter~on of .tntell­

iqenc:e C I.~. meas1,1rement does. not relate to intell ig...:_

ence as conceived here) .Yet ;.ro'Xlness that t.s reflec.:.. . . --~----·.

tion of~ntell tgence in an ind,ividual ts quite discernible

in -~e's dealings and ap,roaches.

. Intell"i·1ence invol~es a spirit re1tbellton,. Q .

which questioos and destroys everything (norms, cilstoms., .· . . . . ' . ' :: .. ' " ' . . '

conve~tions etc~) t~at dupes.But the fear that- in

welcomlnq lntellige1ce in education Kr1shna~rt1 was

also invoking disasters in .cmr lives, is clearly

unfounded.Krish:-tamurti occasionai ly repeats that !·:,

intell.iqence k.'"IOWS the 0 right :place"• of. everytl--•ipg: ... ,:,,)· ... ·. ·,.· ... ,' .. ' .. ·:i)·... .. ·. ·.· . ·. ':·~·_·,_._-.. ~ ·._ ...... .-: ·.,:. ~~-'.'j'·l·.

a."ld ttlus it c.an ·. only stratqhten the socle.tY .. towards· '· . ' •• .. . • • . . . . . • ., :. :: ... ·:··, ) . . . o., . ··, .·

truth~ "Se_~iri(J the false· as· the· false. anci··tl\! ~e as)· . ,·, .

. • . ( t-( . .'··

, . . , ..... ~.:)_1_\~~f<:

Q

,_-., .. ·- _ .. ·.'

.. 40

'•; .

. : :,: .

the true and the true in the false•• is the essence 33

of intelligence. . .

In Krishnamurti's ·philosophy-·. of education OtD

h lndra':"lce in the awaken in''"]' of ~.ntelli,1ence ltes in . .

the misunderstanding of iritell igeQce ltselfJ particularly

in ic:leal1zinq and rationaliz1ng(conceptualizinr;) .

intellio.ence in life or in education.~fuen intellin

e,ce tecomes ~ ideal.~t produces more strifes and Q .

conflicts in one's :ntnd.The conflict is hetween Bein~· . .

and Beco'lling,hetween inattention and intellisencet,1\.s a

·result ~he 1 oy in e.ducation islost.t-1ost of oor queries

on intelllrrence are raised oot of tl1is shortsi ·rhte d

view on the issue.we ask qi.Jt!stions like,:- how .can ·<:i>

iz:ttelligen.ce be timeless ?oOes .it. denl'· ·~~tellect o~ ·

aut'1orJ.ty,and. thereby destroy society: 7: How is inte.ll-. . . ~ - . ~

iqence instantaneoos and not gradual ? and so on. ·.

This is ~cause· we· think of !ntelllqenc:e ·as a.,: ,ideal!> i': - -; •,. ' ._ . . -, .''~' ·.

to ~)E! sought~> :to be· attatnec1 throoqh .. eduhat.ton.:. · ·

. .A,ccording .to' Kr1s'nna'Tillrt1, to a man of total ' . . .. , . . ' . . ..

· attention intelligence is a fact, hut the pa.ssaqe_ tl: ·

to i.t is negative, throoqh awareness of our inatte"1-

tions.F\lrther it is not .a C·Jntent contrary to ., .

knowledge· and authorityJ intelli,Jence. is a £:low of

. ~ '' ' . ·'

:J'

,,. . .. ~ t·f ;·.

. , . ! . .41

clarity,. alertness. arid· sensi ·d.v:tt~·. It acts in tl;le .• ,. . . • Q .. • · ..

present and· only in total atte1t.ioo •. It .. ~wakes wt th .. ·the understandin 1 · of the self. As the:} nnumerahle

contradi.c:ti·gns ·and conflicts of the self s\Jhsi.de

there emerges a realization that contradictions are ' '

not insupera'.:)le ar,d ulttmate.reyond conflict and

.fragmentation.be~and thought.and k,awledqe_ the~· is'

a life 'Of harmony and happiness

Intelligence.

·:.· l '•. '.

.'j

·'. . .; . . ''

\• •.

: the iif-e of: .. ·

~-

. . ··:•.

~. . .

',' .·

. ' ··.:.::

Chapter 3

. .!!!!~DOM & D~CIPLI~-

Freedom .can never come ·through difictpline, . ~' . ,·

throuoh· r.esistanceJfreedom.is not' a goal,an ' ·.

end to be achieved~ Freed•>m is at the. beg inn - ·

~ ing.,not at the end, it is not· to .be·. found,' ia · some distant idea1.34 . . ;:.·. . . . .. '•

I ' • . •

-:J.Krishnanur:ti

Education is freedom in di~ciplinel it is not

slavery.HoWever the meaning of freedom and d~scipline

need to be understood in itsdifferent senses and

perspectives.

In the. co~&.l parla~ freedom impl tes two

things,freedom·l~ ~omething_ a~ Sg s~meother th~g,

as we generally want. freedom .!!2'! oppression ~0.' . . ' .

delnocracy etc_. Thus, f;re;edom to us is a qoal, an.·· ideal

to be souqht and aChieved bY sorae maans.The concept

ther:efore co:nrnonly indicates· a dynam!s~ a relentless

tension and no stabili~r-

Althou9h xr;ishnamu~i. h~. a different maa~ing ·

for freedq:n.Freedom, for him~ is not a reaction; so he. '

says.n ••• wh.E?_n you say you are 'free. from sorrethinq, ; ~,,,_,-

it is iwrely, a react1on,which,because it is a react! on,

is going to be the cause of at"tother ~:eaction.One can

hav'e. a chain reaction, aceept1nq each reaction as a

\ .. :.: .~ ) . .

·: .·,. _ .. :

'·l . '4.3.

freedom,but that is not freedom,it is a c:ontinuity

of t~1e modi·fie<:l past to1 which the mind clin~s" • 35

True freedom neither involves the prOc:ess of freeing

£!2! sometbing 1;o someother thing.It is not' an ideal

that needs te) be followed or strived at continuousl-y: •

.. Freedom means 1 freedom in 1 tse 1 f 11 and . not from

something ... 35 It 'tmpli~s compl~te soli tude.~ inward

state of mind. that ,_s not dependent on· any ~timulus,

on· any know ledge. ' 37

. · .

In education Krishnamurti eTJphasizes tlJS

peychological-freedom of the students,which in other I '•' ' •

.words,means the unconditiontng of their minds from •, .

the acqu i,red values of the ··society .so he: once said.

11 11{ only concern is ~o set man abs:,lutely,uncen~-;1-

tionally free;; .. 38 This freedom out of the uricond.tti:-;!

on:ing. of the m.ind is much more deeper.-wider and .· t

ha~ic than·.polit!cal.ec<mo!lJic or anyother freedom.

Today. by trad~t1on or· culture or throuq!'. education

indi~tidual mind is totally committed. to thts ideal :, , : ,.

or tQ that theory.Thus, it is felt that our civiliz­

~tion is an 1d.ea11zin'J process1 it rationally creates

ideal~( ic1aologie~) to fill up the present gaps in

· the society • and . then t:)ursues those ide~ls'. strenuously·. · . . ... ~. ' ~ ·. . . . . : .. ; ' " .

\ . .. ..

::_,'.

d I' . ,.

;,·. •.

. ·~:

. ·, ' . ; ~·: . .

14 -~-

; __

. ~ ..

. ~? .

But, for Krishnamurti,· "Ideals are brutal.· thin:gs .. •39 for gradually ideals. be.c:oma mutually hostiMl~:: . ..

. <!.· • ;i

forces and eventually create disuntty.dissensi·on

·~d destruction am:~r'J their followe~s.Only p8ycho­

laqical freedom helps man to :;o beyOnd this llfe ~f

unintell.igent total surrender or total commitment.

Freedom in the present education has difm- · '

rent connotation and characteristic defficiencies •.

Education burdens the mind with miscellaneous

information rather than ·ctears it; i.t dul1 s sensiti­

vity· ir> t.he process of c,.,mpeti t.ion ·ra·tper t.han .. sharpens it;it creates a perpetual ·craze for f~om

- as if. freedom ls a distant ooal to .oa i\chieved

and takes away the genuine avatlabilit:y of it in any

particular time~Thus to a.c:J!lTnon .ma.., fr~c;!om itself ~ ' . . . . ·, .

oec:)nteS a slavery .A slayeey to. a S~petrl:or theoey ,or ...

a. noble ideology w:1tch has no reality. ~t ac'ts cs ~a

1,0al and . in the ·process generates · corifl ic;:t.The,.;.~c;ent

uphea:vels in. the communist world .ma~rbE!·, E.nippasec( ... · : · ._ ·. . . .··:~.---... · : ,····t: ·:.-'·j·~._-~1 ... ~> .··_.· .. -~ .. ~· ... ·.··~·_:: .. ;·.· ... ·.;·, .. ·.:;·-.··::;:::}· ... :·.

to pr:ovtde · s~ of :the pert~nerit ~a'lipleiSo: · · · ·.' ·-:

.However there is. a hope of OVE;!rcominrr 1 t· .

(slavery) when the~ is no runninq after freedorL · -

The srag!J~!...!rr~~ involved ln the pursuit of ~ 1t1-

cal or ec~om!c freedym cannot· iJlake rttan really fm:e f 1·

... . . . •.

(freedom in the psych,ological sense) .:rt only help

man to be relatively f£!!2~W:a11Ch means more access

to the enjoyment· o~. life.nut freedom ·aca:ordtn·g to . -

- .

r .

Krlshnamurti has quite 8* ~different dtmenston.~t . \

is neither gradual nor relative nor e·xternal ..

Freedom for Krishnamurti qis a state of mind

not freedom from SOTtYathing but ·a· sense_ Of freedo~ .

. a freedom to douht and question everytl:iing .·and . . ' . . ' . ,. .

therefore so intense1 aC?tive and v:tgorotis~ that lt "! ,, l

.trrows away every f~rm o~. de~ridence.siavery,;confor-

react ton

ac~~tance!~~~o-.·This· freedom •ts;,:not .a ' ' . ·, .·

J: fre~dom ··1s n~. ~hoi_ce. It· ~-s --ria~ • s · preten~_~:-t;.hat '~·ecause he mis_ choice· he· is free.Freedo:-11 is

pure observation 'A'ithout direction,without fear of

puni.sh-nent ri..-ld re\-rard.Freedorn ls without motiveJ . -

freednm is not at th.e end of evolution of man tut l

lies in the first atep of Ids e·.d_stenca.:rn ohservati'on

ooe hegins_ to d'iscover tl~ lack of freodom.Froedom

i:s found in . the cho1.celess-awareness ·of our daily~ ""·

existence and o:lctiv ltY' .41

This.: radlcal. kind of .freedom(real freedom), ' i..

wntch goes quite contrary to· the 'co:m:aon~ense v~c;lwcf·::~·· : ' I ' . ' ' . • ., • ' :. • ,' ; '·,· . ';,,

'· . : . . .

fr.eedom !s the forte 9f · Krishnamurti. ItS nature· -is

. i

. !

; i

Q

4 £)

, · ....

purely p:iJycholoQical and its status 1.~ :absoiute '·'t'

and uncondi ti orial, which is beyond~ tbauqht, and·

.·knowledge. - . . ~-

, ,

Educationg for I<risl)nanni:ti,is· :a'~psychol.~ ·~.: ... ' . ' ' . . ' . :. ~- :. .

oq leal and liberating, pr~ss. In a wa.Y, 1 t is 'both · ' . ,· . - ..

an unburden inJ an'd enrichtng e ·ercise of the mind.

It is unbu~dening in re]ard to our psychol<nical

conditionin<JS which are. in most cases fictional .. , :·,.

(not-factual) in char.acter.This is a way t~ keep

one's mbid always fresh,alive and alert.Eaucation

is also .a f1111nq process· in the conte::<t of· the

acc:Unulat:i.C:m of kria.fledge and .information. which 1•

essential. iii order to live in the. world of :-.. "· • .. r

. I . . . . . . ..

sophistications.;However. t~ un~urdenJ,.n'J· proce.ss . , .

constitues the d~Per ·as~ct in the. i_~yer. in.fna\'s

·.education#hecause it Jives shape to ene's total

.2J2E~ch,_!~_lJ ... ~!_, fornulates one •s perspective to'

·a specific sitUations.And Krishnanilrti's inv~aticin - ' ... ; .. 1:',

Qf freedom in· education e3.s well as lrtiioth,er .sp'hSres-•. ,10

.;,: . . ! •'

qf life~should be unQ.erstood in this ~ychologioal

_ sense.To facilitate this. kind of 'freedom the

Krishnamu:rti schoJls try to provide the essential

environment through location in natural surroundings

I;) .

~ r;:.' '

'\' .

; "I •

or plants and trees etc:e ;t.""lrough near absence" of

any psychologi_c:al pre.ssure.

~~~~--E!!!.51pl;lne 1

Freedom should tie eonbined with Disc:iplin&l

otherwise "freedom has no mea., ing at all #This is

oErue nearly always and everywhere. he cause ·my

freedom ~s associated. w:t th others arid when I am . '

not discipl.ined in ~Y.ercislnJ my(sochtl) freedom 11

that ohstructs my·freedom ·as·well;as others'

freedom, and aventually ::t am left wi t.h no freedom

at. all.Eriefly.qreat.er freedom of l.ife can only be

available when men· are d1scipl1ned.Fr~om-thus

involve:;; disclpline.But" discipline 1ri the sense- .

of rl,Jorousness and restrictions 'put by any outside

authorlty ca~ses more harm to individual freedom

than help to it, thinks Krishnanurt1.Un11ke any .. , ;, ·

traditional meaning discl~line,tQ h1m,actually "means

order~Order is. to be understood in the "sense where ~~ f . '·.

~ctivi ties are done from one •s ·own "inner comrnarxl.

In other wQ.rds,it is a selfre·yulated llfe.The ~"

E~ seems t•:> qive more. mea'1ing, and dignity to .. 1

individual than.d1scipl1ne.Animals need"to be --~--. ' .

41sciplined~to .be. forced tor u~il1tar1art ,purp08aat.· ... . . .- ' . : : _:,·

.. . ', r . ,. : - -~

,, '

i, j !

. - ~' .

: . t

48 .•.

bQ.t a human r,:,'tlihg.havlng _developed heart and: mind~ ! . '· . . .

needs to be his own cammande~.so when Kr{stmanurti

uses the word dise!,E!~,he means ~~.This is so

. .in his educational philosophy also.

Imposing d1.scipl1ne on ehildren in scho-~ls:

through various re')Ulaticns,or 'through certain •

ideolOJies . etc. narrOwS the. mind ·cmd. make children

see ·their lives t~rough certain specific images br · . .

ideas.Thus 'it ultimately blocks freedom of the mind,' l~ .:

(psychological field)JC~1ldren(like adults) then ~

always carry on with only the known,a,nd nev~r get

freedom from ! t (known) .This, accorCiing to I<rishnam-. .

urti, is a process of stagnation, of closing down the

mind and of 11vln 1 in the past.This occurs. to

children in the present educatlon,when any ideal

(or a 1oal) is pur before them- a1'1d thSy are consta• ...

ntly inspired tawards that 'ideal.It. fs.a,l.so .in a .· ' . . ' . . ~. . . .

way worshipping the past,fo~ ldeals(goals) are

ma,de by .~ha past, structu~d- in. the old ·.ya:luea:_ a,ryd ....

~:l tuati011.~.otscipline j,n··;·&c~ao1s 1;hus'. f.·~ :a 1CtriCI ;.of:(:···. ·:· • . : ';' .t. ·. ·, : ' . . ·, .·, • . . • . .• •·.

~ . . . . . . '

denial of .. the· .Present-~whicll :means the denicil. of. ·the·::· :i - .: ... ·. . ' ., . ' ...

very essence(flowr of lifeein other words,.it amounts . . . ! . .

to making ~ach and every child a second-hand human

- II·,

49

' ' .

being,srowinq up with another's theory and ideas.

So to Kris.hnanurti, •A w* well disciplined mind is·

. not a free mind ... 42 In another conte::rl:,P Krish•amurtl.

says, •oiscipline,means order"1 43 :where "order

itriP'lies functioning clear_ly,seeing ·wholly,without

·any dtstortion." 4-4 This order is inwardly developed

which keeps mind choicelessl~ 'aware 0~ everythi.ng .

..;. beauty or-ugliness#nobility or .deqr~atton et~ .. - .

· This· is the process of ·d:,jecti~e .leam:tn:i ;whiCh. • • ,· \ • > _. •• •• •

·Jives en~rma1s _value .to the fa~s .of. life .. ' 'Order•' .

. tbarefore 'Jives a. ciforriNehensive a11d .;total perspe-_

ctlveJwhBreas _g!scii!!,ine. in t;he. o~_inuY _sens~ :~: · ~-­

so1'09thinq: patti~~d!storied~_reactionary and·· '.~ ..

ultimately destructive.At. times the socalled disci~:­

plined si tuatlon eYplodes ·in- a . totally diabolical : . .

manner when ·the rope of discipline is· loosened, ·

because discipline,ln·?most c~es, is_ an lft;>oaitiOD.t . '

The right educat-ion considers disc~pline

·only in the SE!Dse :of order.for it(right education)

Oe.Jins with freedom and culminated into in mak!nry . .

man uncondi tianally free, non-nechanical an.d unper- .

turbed mind.AB there is _order inherent in evecyt...,LY1g ·

... ,'.:'

·., i . ' ' ·~ .,-

',,: ..

. .

Q

. ·so

. . .

Krishnamurt1 llkes~that _man shot1d be. -so ordera:l· .

·in the right educat1on.

The ushering of freedom .in· Krls~amurt1's

education means a lot e.g_ •. 1 t ~ans. a_ s~ate of ' ... ·. T ,'

mlnd.twhere o.,e is.-not., anehored-.to _atiy .;J.:d~~ ·etci ..... :::'( :·_

1 t means absence,: of. the splri t :of c:onpet1 tion • · '.] :, · . · ' . ! • ' ' • • ' • . ~ . . • . r.

and cornpa.ris*oriJ 1 ~- .. further means to get freedom . '

from t~e len awn (knawledr;e) and to add an· e'~a or .. i

deeper di-tiE!nsion to l!fe,which is thEi ~lowering ·o, · ·Joodness in individual sptr!t.rt also means· 'total

• • 0 • • • l

responsibility and infinite care' •45

. ( . I.

Hoviever there is ~lso the issue of· .!m~-l

.!!!.9... {reed2!!~~der to chi ldren,_this 9an possibly

done· by: making them aware of .the facts of their I· f·

. . I own life and of. the actual world.It 1~ hoped :that·:·

- . !.

tbe children wi 11 ,becorrB. aware of different. facts: ' ~ ' ' ' . ·'

in a spirit of total non-com:nt~nent.Indeed _it (iS \'

one· of the most difficult. tasks,1-,ecause each and ! . . . . . 1-

. every cl)ilCi t.s born with c~rtain 1nclinations(pro-j . . . . . . . . . . I pensities) ,re~d up wlth· certain value-structum 61 :·

' • ' : I'

and fac~ a society ()f tremendous dytia-n1sm tO!.iar.~r'.

~!!!i.!lg somathtnc;f or other.To he. free. a· child · i~· s.hruld be given freedom right from the 'be(Tinn.tng ·

.· ·~· .... 51

, ~---: ~ . . . . . . . -· , ~ , . ~ . ·., •, .••'

· .. , '

of .education,so that it(freedom) can be dawned

to him in the process.~or Krishnamurti, "If the

end is freedom, the. b~ginnin'7 ,mist be free, for

the· erid and the. beginning are one". 4~ Means and

end must '·)8 on the same level,unlike the ·much

acclaimed·procedure of attaining freedQln tht'ouqh

. an ard.u~us ,disciplined process, sort¥:! times through

persecution and BB~~ .bloody revolu.tion •

~i.~hnamur,iif•:s· s.en~e of. fre~dQ"' ;hclS a .. A •

deeper dimension,i.t. implies .freedom from images

especially of !~~~ages that we built through value

judgments, conclusions etc. of course, not all our .. images can be avoided or need to~~ avoided#tben

there w~uld be questions(challenqes) like~whether

life without any image(e,g.of a chair etc.) can be

possible at all ? In Krishnamurti,the ima,es of

facts are indeed indispensible, but there can also

be a lif~ withcut ~te.s iJof reactions(e,g.imaqe· of

goodness etc.) •. Here· is a subtl.e diffe.rence betWeeti' . . . a ·~rmal_~actiOn and an j~ge 0~ ~action; the

first one is: obvious the second one i,e.theimaaes .

.,9.f_g'!;:_~~ton~ we create in most cases. unconsci-

ously(due to lack of atten.tioo) .And lt:.:is said · . ·'i

• • ' ' I . ' . .'•

';.'

.·

. '~ '' ··. ..... ,'J

,'·.

,· ;

:-: ,. :

. . . . . .. .

. ··-.

...

~ .. ; . .,_, _: .~::~ .. ' . . .. '· .. ·. ::·.: .

,.

. ;,52 ,., .

f ; ' '

· occasi~alioy. that the society,which f.s. a value­

structure, is an Outcome Of. our ima·JeS. Of reactions • . .

. . .. (Details about t'ma•]e-mak!ng .in the next chapter.)

\In the philosophy of xrtshn~rti,.freed()m. is

not Only cannecteJ with order,·it also implies dea~ •. ' ~'. --~ ' . ,' . ·;_-~

To understand his sense . of f~ed~ 1!1. also to i

understand death in· its most Subtle psycholoryical·

form. For without the death of our memory_ images,

~here cannot be any free enqu!ry.Freedom is the Q •. • ••

very basis of attention &1d flowerinJ., •oeath is . . . : . '

/'

the flowering of ~he new'~.47 Krtshnamurtf·~ teaching,. ..

to live from ~amant to·. mon8tt,.1s th8 other Wf!IY ·of

saying, .. •:to' die from. moment to moitent' .This ts·~­

freedom fJ:"om each and every monent of the paste

.Q£servat1ons :

Neverthel~su, it is not eaSy- to• grasp only·!.

intellectually to what K+ishnanurtl says on f~edO'II.~ .•

F9r e;{anple Krishnanurti says, "Freedom lies beyr.>nd \ ,!

conscioosness" • 48 this surel~ · refers · -~o a nehulau.s

st~te,.not e ~perienced. before;.This obvt:oosly de~iea .

. any kind· of f.r~~dom de~iy,ed_ aut o£', i~~~;tectu~i.~·i'-. · .·.·

perspect~ve -howmuch. ~omprehens:i_ve: it··~: b,e~This, latter '• .

r , ,. 'I· .. '.1,.

;.'.:'•, ,·,:. -·t :

:/: ·,~.{U::.' .::·:

..: : :. ·. ~ ~:1) . l· .-.~

: : .... :\-. ~

~. ?·;~;-~ ;.:.~~~}~-~:

• • ~ J • '[ ,'

• '•: I •,·.:

~- ' ;'

I 1.

5,3

J .

kind, which we most follow • inhe~s in· 1 t a state u

r. of continuous. ten~ion of conpromtse and acceptcnce, . . ' .

that I ·am totally aware. of my enj oynent of freEdom

(as a goal) . throuryh certain prooessJwhereas in

Krishnamurti's way(?), there is no awareness of·

freedom.only that a free state of mind works orderly . ---------------

·in ~ve~.i situation.I.t is a poisit!ve s.tate"ne1atively ~

arrived at, and indicates· a total. absence of '•\ v

t~t1 .' ,!

. ' ... •( . ~

.c::lntradiction wl thtn.nut the. poss1b111 ty of such~ . {'

a freed:)m through any Sducation whatsoever seaRB 1 i

to ~e queationable.No education can guarantee il

freedom;wh~n it ·guara,tees,·it merely_ denies freSaom. Only,education can help freedom to·_el1'8rge •.

. •

o, ·.• •,, .. . ~-'1. .,

.• .

··. :. ·.·,·. ·. . . ' '~: .. ,,·

'.·.;.

r '. -~

'

• .....

Chapter 4.

SEN~IVITY '1!!.. IW:§.ll_t-ru<I1't:;

I think ~.it is part of education to funct­

ion without creati~g images.You then.fun~tion

without the batt~e,the inward struggle that

goes on within yoursel£.49- J.Krishnamurti

, . . ·.

I~. our ordinary lite from childhood to death,

~!!!a-2~ play an overridirt-:J role.Images w~. follow .or

worship, bec~me amb! tious . ror 6r;· mak~ relatiqhship· on .. . • l ••.• 1 ,-· :

Further, Intellectualism cons!s~ in ~.etilg ·obsessed. . ' . ' . ' . ' ..

. w!th images,mult!plying them· innumerably;strengthe~

ning them and finally, being devoted ta certain 1maqes.

Ordinary men, on the. othe;- hand live and pass away

with the available images of go:ls, gurus an9 govern~

ments etc. In a way this is an age of images •

...

ityou ••• have an image •, says Krishna.rmirt:i, • about

yourself, ••• made by 1 the mind,by thought, by e:-cperienbe, · - ' ... :. ' ' ' .

by· kriowledg~,.ty your ·st~g.gie,by a.I1 the .cooflic::ts·:: ' • ·•. • •• ~ :· • -. • • ! .

. . . . . . I . .

and miseries of your ·life •"so .. T~Ei word imaqe is usedr

' .

by Krishnarrurti in a. very broad se~se .An image is

commonly a mental picture,stored in memocy.M:mtal. p1ctures .. . ·~· ', ; ..' '

.··

..

,· .1" .··. . ... · . . .

' . . ~. .. \~ .·

. . . . .. ·. . ·. 'i1

r- 5 u~

are formed of all kinds of .things - o'ojepts.,persons,

events etc.T.hey · becorre. i.nstruments ·Of ~¥ttel;'1lretaticn·

of eY.perience. IITB'J~S · .th~s distort.· o~ ~reve~t . :. · . .'' . :;

objective perception,block ~understanding of thinrys

as they are .. The image one has of oneself ot.structs

sel f-knowl'ed<Je. Ima•JeS conflict and g~nerate more

conflicts. .., ' ' ,.

i' i

"You have your images not_ only inwardly hut ...

also deeper down',I<rishnallUrti maintains,and further ' . . .

continues" • they are always in conflict with. so~iecy, '· l

with your neighbour. as long as· there • is an i~a9e.~·~1 . r · .. Ima)es have 'tecoma the ··s~rce of all· human misery .

as eviden.ced' in the long years of. civilizationiEven

the images of happiness and pleasure act. as pre·cur;..._

·~ " sors of sufferings ·a.t a later pert.Od • .l:9rhaps tlds ·

e,.:-tension of suffering c·an be deeply. felt in . i

' ' l· Gautama.Duddha's one or the four noble truths,i,e.

• 1 . '·

Sarvam d'lilkhham or there is sorrOJA in everything •. I . . ~.

An ~maqe is derived from experience.It is a . ! thought-cqnstruct.It does not capture the whole · ··

_!xperienci~,but is buil~ on isolated aspect or.: .. ,:!!' ·

I

aspects of it.Irnage is therefore abstract.It ·is faint_; ...

dead or static,while e~riencing is lively,moving.:

Ima'Je is fra0'·'~'.s.:ntary,whtle evper:tencing may ~ehe>lis~ic ·.r

~ '

in the sense that one'~ whol,e he'irn.not merely' the·.: ,I

intellectual: side, may be ·inVolved in it~ · ' ~

Further, an. image{which is made out of thou,-llt ' . . . .

etc.) is always old, because the content of. thou1ht is .·. . . . . . ·.. . :

always past arid old.Krishnamurti1 says,. "The challenge· I , . •. •. . '

is. always .new but otir resp.pnse ~s always the. old'',·(,;~ . ! . r :

that because the response is almost based on :t mages;.

Wit:h the continuoos change of space a-,d time,with .the

contimious manifestation of enerqy in the things of'·

the earth aod in the cosmos,everf challenge takes

the form of' something une···~rienced before. 'A chall-

enge is a challezv:fe because it i~ new• .so th~re >

c.ann6t be any two exactly similar sttuatio~s, theref9re

responding. to a single challenge; from the· -memory reser-. . . . !

voier(past) may not be· an adequate response,for that~ • . . . . . :·1

w.ill always· lack th:! qualitY of hqving the similar ~ . . '

. ,•

effect as the .challenge is.For erample. caning ~ cht~d. . " . ' .. : . . ·.,,,. : '. ',.!.

for mischie~-making without' try.i~g ·to und.Ei·rsta:nd~thi~/·,,. ,'. . , . ' . . ' ·, ' .

1. :: •:.

·hex::· psycholOJ1 .. is surely :an. oid respons~ ,_t6_ a :n~w • _

chc:t.ltenge1.Th!s, re.spcmse .;1'~:·1 ,:inore :iikeiy .fb:,.b~·-a··~cit~u~. . . ·. . . •. ·,_ . ~. : •. :- . ·. l ; r ~< ·. .' !- • ·. _;__: .. ·--~.::_._.:...·_ .• _· •.. '.: ,· .: -::·.; _·.

r.

. !

''5?

li~e many·· of our evecyday. custombound responses .• ;'

·So "the problem·.throughout the :world is., ·:·Krish-. •, .. .

namurti thinks, • the i.nadequat~. response to the

new,changi"ng challenge ot life.'1 (Kk Bulletin 2/91)f ... ·

Secondly,Image always stands· as an obstacle

to direct r.elationship with any problerN It occasio•

naly emerges as a third factor between - the observer

and the thing. obse;V'ed,e,g. bet~een I a1d the tree1

between I and my an:-;rer,envy or fear.From our child-: . '!

hood days we are trained in the ima·1e mald.nCJ process

and have. tried to make an. image . of nea~ly. everythiQg •.

"As you grow older, • says· Krishnarnurti:, •.t:hat inage· . . . . . . . . I .

. b~co~s stronger:, larger~ ~1~: demanding ,an.d: insisten~ e;52

An image ~s. mcire than .a mentally' c~sttuct. pb.oto-:c~~. of an entity ; it is a growing ·and living a~thality.;

. . ' •. . _. '• \

. : .

It; has· a mOvement· of its O~'Il 1 through whi~h i.t. shedS)l • ' •, . • L • ' ' • ' . ·,·:

some of its. conte~.t~,conne~ts.(relates)·,.it' wi.tt} ! .

. thers,.grows into a different .·form a~d 'thereby continues.

An, image is a capsule of all our knowledjes,·senti­

ments,emdtioos. andhurts.on a·particular thing.I hav:e

an: ima :e of my wife w~ich means I have certain e~-I

. .

tations out of her.The irony of our .present. 1 ivi~g .. '.;.

is. that, w-a ,mostly live on the basis of these. ima{es}·: .·.

th~y stand .'Petween me and the act'q.ality and so one,, •.

can, nei the·J~\. touch nor see not: hear anything. dire'C~fy '' _

;-:~ 'i '' I·

.. ;· .,

58

.. :

withoot their nediation.A~cordinq to Krishna111Ur~i, .. ·

this happens for " ••• we have lost this e:<traordi-

nary feelin-J for ~eauty,. ~. t}1e S!anse o.f the l;eautl ~ul

•• _.primarily because we are so concerned .with .. '

._ourselves~We have an ima'l9· of ourseives~"s 3 . ·. .·. •'

'l'hirdly, man's lma1e rnakin,., habit has prodt%:~d . ·'•

some fascinatini) r~sul ts. at different ner:f.ods of

history.The study of. philps'opl1y._and teU~·gion· ar~ ·· .. ,. . . ' '., '':. ;. ,•' : . - .. •...._ . · .. , . ' ..

'· ·,·, ...... :

full ·Of SUCh interesting i~ages.In metaphysics the~e· .. ., '

. ' are abstract images like substance, general-name,

• L

reality,God et·c. ,which recei.ved enormous importa­

nce in that ·particular branch.In relirrion,'f.ma-res ·

of. prayer~priest-:-prophEft or G~ have trel'IY:mdous

intl..u.ence •. Plato, fo~ example, once propounded. the

Theo~Lideas,where he ·g~ve ultimate value and.:: .. '

permanence~to .ideas of the utopian w:orld.Even ' ' . .

many years after that in the history of European .

philosophY ~inong has.·prod.uced some pseudo-images

of; square~circle etc. f and 'demanded ~heii: exi~tence :f . ' ' ... ;, . '.

of. somekind.

In our day to day li~e also,we have divided

humanity into different segnerits - of cast~s, classe1

S, ' . . . \

o coinnunities,seYes and made .imaqes· of·. all~.these.AS -~-. . . . . . . . . . . ~ '

re~ul t we have distanced dtirs~l ves from the ac:tual'!'ty

' :' ~ : .

'-1:

·., . ...

. '

. . .: .

of life .Iri ·a s~na·e . i~age~ h~~e 'burdened. al1d. JX,11u~·

the mind in the. name of ciearln'J it13 ~pnfusioris.OUr;.

hope. of liberation t~rourJh the i$tage-making process i

(throu1h .1-deas etc.)and the consequent .failure of. ; .

oUr ap;")roach reminds . one of Krishriamurti .. s sayings,.: . .

".-· •• the idea,the ideation,the ideal,is a·.~thology"'"5 4

cr 1 ~ ;

r1an wants. pleasure· and disl tkes pain naturally.

Escapin4;.pilin thr:oogh ima~es ilf is one of the best :_ '

known ways that man· practice$ always.B,y_ invo~ing ~ ·.' ·. 't.

ima;e Of a God, by c6nst~cting a. theory,by holding a1.

to 'a belief- ideal or princ_ipal,mari always finds'

momentary respite. For year$ oppressed men everywhere . .

sus·.tained themselves trent ally by reaQ.in·1, chanting or -- . I

clinc;.ing ··to some scripture .. or other~Escapi.n··J into· . 1 . - ' . ' . . '

religion i:nto its various· imai'Jes, iqr.orinq thepainf~l!

actuality was . once a com11on behaviour parti.cularly. ;,,.

among Asians and Africans~ this may 1-·;e O!'l~ of the '

reas'>ris for-.· :their lonn sufferinr:s under 1.mperial

forces.However,the same men-t:ality still prevails in , .

som¢. quarte~s of the -:rreater ·,nankind.To elahorate the

nq.ture of ot1r escape Krishnarirurti once observed; ·"You

' ' '

·would not.warit to escape from what is, if it were «·.

·pleasurable · •••• But if it is painful we want to

escape from what is·, into a concept.~his is our dail¥.

life" •ss Images thus. come automaticaliy tn otir

e:ternal endeavour to fly t(?wards. happi~ess from the . . . . . . . . .

wretched existence of our being'; and in this process,' '

we never bother to look at life face to· faee •

. The very essence· of this flight is, "On~ i~, ' '

absolutely nothing.But we·.:can •t face· that, therefore ) :! 1

we have those ima<J.eS about ours~l~es~" 56 says K:tis~-·. . '

namurti.Different na;nes,:tttles aDd forms e,g.docto:z;-1 ' . . ~ ,

professor,en·.:rineer, that are imposeu 6n us by the_

so~i~ty have onl·/ super.ficial but no fuhc1arrental

(pasicl valueein our .colie'btive; life too,we have

Jiv.en eno~rnous tmporta11ce ·to our ·:culture a:nd· civlii·;;; . '

zation.B.ut after a minute ·scrut~ny.,the mar"Ttnality, ·

o~ in otper 'tzords, tr.l6 superficial.i ty of our e'Yterrial.

a~tainrrents can r..'e ~n<lerstood,~.oll1lch most of us don'·t •• o

want to entertain l}ecause that. harms t'he 'inaqes . f : • . ' • . • . i, . • • ;. '. . • ' • )'·

' .

. which \'le have built With· S~) much love •.arid care~As :Ei· " ' • ; - ' .-''' > • ''-.~ • '. •• ' • • .: -

. doc.-t:or _o~:·;an f;!ngineer ·never likes t9 hear th~t he.~ .• ··

basically .:ambitious or .e:nvt~s of. othe.rs·;similarly· ' : T ', 0 > 0 : ' ' 0 ;,; 0 ; ~ 0 0 :

~!. dis.like 'hean-in;J·· tha:t.· ~\J.r ~ivlltzafit)n·:ia,:.mo~.ali~ .. • • • ' ' • • • ~ < ·-i •

' . ~ -.. . .... (.

61

pocx:· and· basical·ly hypocrl tical • . · ....

·Furth~r, there ·is a. deep: rooted disconten;:.

in man to happiness,to find order in everything

· he does or e- pacts .But he has a s.cheritirig mind as •

. h_is tool which only acts throuqh certain ima1es

which aqain made out of his self-interest and . . . ~.

motive, and any other vision (process) .is totc;tlly I

unknown to him.In most occassions he lives in

inattention .But Krishnamurti. reminds us; "When tte

mind is not coinple_tely attentive at ~ moment of'

action,.then · t~ mechanis~ of· 'ouildin~ i~ages is

set in motion,",s 7 i,e.· aur. in~ttenti'on_ is the· · . ! ,.

1:'1our.ce of all.·images.rn another· way,there is. a

pecilli ar:' d.ichotomy - of Beinq a'ld Becominq. in ··ina~;

when we. t:r:y: to.live a li¥e of .Becomfng'~which ·wf.!·.'. . . . . . ·' . . . -. .. . . . . . ' ..

. ·r .,·

most do~ we creat~ .imaqe~ but when 'we start· fr.orrr· ···.;,\ .. . . ,• ' . '

. . . . .

Being (what-is) 1 as Krishilanrur:ti occas.slonally

emphasizes on,perhc_tPS there may not be any. image·,

of .desi~s- or depressions atall.:

However bef<lre enterint;t :into thl~ deeper . ~

cha!'l'bers of ·I<x:ishnamurti' s teachtn?s we can normally

ask,whether irnage_~aking is inherent. in human

nature and if so~then is it not the B case that' '_o

', •' .: 1:

. I

.. '

.. " .. i

d.Y·.

62

the possibil}:\:,y of getting freedom ·from images .

become merely a theoretical adventure and.a futile

effort ? .·or whether there are different. kinds of ..

images~ some ~e ·necessacy and others are not-so- :. : . necessary or unnecessary -::>. or beyond images what t?: .. ,

.: .·, . . . . ·. r;:.

' ' . '· .•

· .. :It seems v~ry obyious to aceept . that i~age ~

. •. . ' • ... ' .

making is .inherent in,th~\huma.ri' brain ·mechani~nn.Qt.1,r

reco1nitioo,e-vperience,memocy,~aleulation;riay our.:· .·' . . '. . .. ) . ' . ''

. verc.J survival is· image-based.Furtper ·more~'f;he. \'/estern

philosophieal· schools. like Rational:i.srn ·or E.mpiricism . '

too neve·r contradicted of' having lmages in life •.

Bu.t the.re are ~maqes of a <il:i! different kim .. J· T~

'• .. ~- ' , •\; I.

which are not 'of things hut of our likes and

·disli·kes of those thinqs,briefly,our evaluative-. --~·--

iinaa.es.In' .fact our total livin·T is made according . «. . . -

i relationships, because "To 'be, is to be reiated~·-~.·1i~ i· · I;--·

says Krisbnamurti .,'rie· .relate ourselves :.with. the :.:,,_,·;. · . ' . . . - ·- .. · .. , . ::·.

oUtside worid as well ·as ·with the ·inside,·and that ' · . • ,,. • •· • • ' • • J •

. th.L·ough ir:,nages.The study of estheti~s~ethics,.religtoo ·etc. are in a. way studies of. various value conceptsu.;: ;~ .

. ' .• .'·J

in different arrarHJEinant.These imag~s ·have. no shape;; .

• ... ··.,

i ·,, ,! '

size,extention,durability in space and so on.They (ima·:jes) :·~o~ and i)rouqht up, replaced and recreated

totally in the mirtd.Thus buman mina is the sole

creator an~ the reservoier of the vah!e_i_~ •

!J.s a tree or an ~~ has a correspondirm :r.eali ty,

tha.1 :;t: entirely of different kinds .hut honesty or·

humili t'/ has no such correspond:tng reality. Yet \ole

\'l"e :aake it a-:1 :tdeal ·and follO'..r it,maki~~ ourselves

open to more trouh,le and tension.

Krishnarm.1rti once sho ...... ed distinctions .of

~~~ (which in other 'h'·.:,ro.s support. a dist"tnction

he says in re ~arC. to rr~mO!"J, ,,'·.:

" •• • "YJe should distlnnuts h .. het•,,.een two types of me:nory.There is 1 fac~al.

' memory' and • psycholcx-rical TT!fi!mory' ••••

' .

'Factual memory consists of inforona-i-

tion jf all sort:s ••• • 'psych.olo)ical memo~ •

is nor non-factual.!~.-!£..Y~~_!~qtual 1 •• ." •.

1 I J?emem')er what your face looks like. we have

al ceady called that • factual memory 1 .Now, if·

I ~-1ere t_~ -~ tt:a;, lo~k of your face or '·.

h~~~--i t, that 'like or ciisl_ike ,,.ill naturally· . . . . .

inf!_~.!,en~~~ at!:f.:_tude to you.Our likes and

., •

dislikes constitu11te 'psycholo'1ical memory• . . ~

. · •• • •• sir, all your fears,hates, amdeties, hopes,

hurts·, ambi tj.ons - all ·that is·' psy~holoj·ical .

memory •• n 58 (my underlin~).

To make the point·. mC:,re releva"l-f:,we · cari ·only· replace ' ,

Factual & P..:>ycholo]ical memories into Factual and· • - !r . -~· ,

~~~l~cal i~ages(for memori~s come.throu1h

·.images) ,when 'others remain the, sam~ and similarly i .~ .. '

silDificant.

~d now, a more fundaillental question is ,, I

i.

asked, is it possible to have a: mind that is all

the time operating at ·the level of :Eactu al · ima·]es.

i'

and 10t ·at the level of. psyc:·.oloc:rlcal ima~res 7 Or !> l','

tn' other worc:is, is it poss~ble to live ti"'~rouqh ..... ) ~:;;:: ::! .;'

both the. i~?es - factual· and ~sycholq·1ical· hut . : •.. i: ·~

keepin~J the latter always unde.f question and .

e'nquiry· ?' Hmt:~ver, an absolute de ··dal of the psych...:;:

olo)ical memory is a theory so len·! it(reactive ·- ·

mind) is. not· filled up by. s-:J.neot~er kind. of i.

• ·. . ~ . • . . . ' . l •

eper·:y(si-lence) .Yet that denial actually· drives \uJ! • < '· '• '- • ' ' •

to t~ dissolu.tion of the. self+-centredness. of. Our ·t . . . ' . ' . . :

life or· a life based on thouqht ooly ~So l.an<J' we

are in the cQns<::;iousness ·of tha~qht. ~~4:.~ s~.l~.i::he:_, , ..

<·. : ; : : _.. ~~

''· ~ . '

...

65

... lma<J&S .are ;-:>ound to come a11d the world would be.

nothin·J ·:;etter tha,· the present one in its assent!~

al character.

There are certain occassions iii each of our·

life,Krishnanurti reminded us,when. we do not create

any image of our likes and dislikes.we do ·SO only

in total attention.Attention takes.rilace when we . . . . . . .

are in love a'1d tremendous. ·interest. Images, for

I<rishnamurti,result out of the indigestton of the!,. . . ~/ • • . ,· J .

mind, in the rnonents of our inattention or half-'

a.tt~ntion or. motivated attention.nut in the occa-

ssi.oos ·of our Jreat attentton(total) the observer . . • Q . .

a1d ·the thinq o'bserv~d are not seperate,t'hey are

one and in the same. wave lenQth.In that sltu.ation ·>·

there can only he the beauty of cloudy sky or the

white win:}ed cranes and nothing .else, the o·bserver

thus becomes the o~>served. ("Observer is the observoon·lf . ;, .

- Krishnamurti) •

. . . .. , ~··

~A. hu~ being who. is· aware of. his ·environ-·:) r . . . ·: .,

ment,as WE)ll ··~.aware of eveey mot~ent :of:{thouqht ·~d .. ' , I '• ; , ,': ' ' ' ~:; - , ' ' • ' ' ~: . . ,··.,

.f~ling,who is a harmonious whole" is ·fl'7ns.i~ive" , 59 ·. . •; • ..

• ·i.

!;l,.

says Krtshnartllrtt.It (sensitivity) .is a '1\]al.lty

of mind. it is perfect atte'1.tio-:1 and awareness,

where there is no i.ma Je •.

\vhether 1 t is possible for. an· in_dlvld11.al ·~·

be seasitive ·rOund the clack ?. r<rishnamu.rti ·affi~

that there. is a state of mind ._,: .. ; ich can he ~rman~.

ently s~nsit1ve.Thc:l\nh .there i~ no particular·' · ·

o:Jject of its se~~itivi~~but ~he mind is ·choiee~··_. · ·

lessly aware of .each and evei:ything 'hefom .it.

This is quite_ unl;"kely to. our normal livin<; where

tlte·mind always fluctuates hetween two poles of

sens1 tivi ty and stupor!1ess~ . . .

The ~ay_to sen~it1vtty(1ma~less state),if

~ ' ' )

there is any way at all. is possible only ne(}ati :­

vely, ':-:>ecause it is beyond' thou :1'ht a~ there. cannot

be acy .irnage(idea) of it.In othe·r ,~~y.td'. be aware:' . . . : '

of our daily acts Qf insensi tivl,ty is the way to '! ~·

sensitivity.krisl:tnamurti has described sensit-ivit.yl::· . / - . . . . . . : . 1 '' . . .. . . ·._.. : ; -~

tn: other .. I:la.nes as -well' e,g .• intelliJence,· lc:W$• · !

-freed(:)m and. r;:;J on. · · : ~J : •

. '~ " !

~psit.ivity has rio subj activity, it ,is imper~

·s~al.As Krishnarm.ir~ ~ays, ..... Not. you·r se'1sit1v1ty . :. , . I

'~·

; :

. ;

'

...

f)7

.: ' . . ,.,< ~. : ' i

.... . ·, .... ,···., .. ;.:,· ~ ~ •'!:lhich~ .is absurd·,; •6~Wh~n ~I 8lr(motive,l.:is· ent~re(J ·

. . into the. proeess. ·of living the· sensi'tivity losses

:-,·

much of its wuali ty and 1 ~ resulted in mere frag~.

mentations .of individual life and the world.Although

to maintain a happy living there should·be sensi~yity . .

of the mind, heart and· body e)feH,eothey all should be

very much. alert and alive.A.n individual body has.

·JOt an inherent sensitivity in ·its veey mechanis11r-·

.which becomes dull and insensitivee withOut proper!;. ' . . . . . . .. I . . . . '

maintenance whi~h implies proper diet.physical e:~erc~ 1

ises and .so ca.A fle:x~ble '~d P,liable: body with~· ;i . !

s'yinpathetic. heart arid aler;:"" a~iye mind 'in harmony;

can only:br.ing a total sensitiv'ity of a person~'!·'·:<' Sensitivity has many more inplications.It

implies true freedom from evecyrkind. of suggestion··

and tradition.It implies love,i't implies intelilg•'·;; ,\~ . . . ' ~. ' ' . . . ' . -~ .

ence.In the language of 'I<rishnamurti, "To ·he

sensitive is to ~ feel for peopie~for birds, fer:

flowers,for trees ••• just because you are awake to

the e'<trao¢inary beauty of things" •61

Sensitivity means~ n.o ima]es, because mind 1s

al;ways in,;.the pres.ent and there! is no 'natinting of.

.tbe,·pi!jSlt .. ·1~When the mind ~s ful~.y aware· at that ..

•, ....

:- -I •., ~

i ... • !_ ..

. . . ···._!' (

- ~:. :

-·-- ·--·-·:

. . '

c;tctual mo~nt, not_ distracted. notfrighten;d, not reject:-. ' j

ing¥ what is. being said,. then there is no possibili;tY

of ~uildinq .an image"~ 62Ail imageless' mind. is a mind

with limitless space- .or silen.ceJ;that silence orS.s~~

then c;tives rise to. all our-thbughts.The ~attire· ~f :

·that space~ for 16:-ishnarmlrti,.is n~h!~(no-thing) or ·

the total absence of any 'idea or iinaqe. of· an entitY·

True sensltivity thu·s leads one to that state of .. . . ::l'

silence· or no-thingness,or·better to say that it 1~

the inward silence, that leads t~ ti:ue sensitivity.·

'!' • Such a .serist tive mind .wh~ has an .equal conoom ' Q

'for evecything,revolutionizes the world ·by means! ofi i :.; . ~ .

his. relati:enships ·1n the society.Because out of · ·: c; i

silence (.iinaqeless state) his' relationship• is bornt

and it ma.fntains a different kind of network, which' .. ·

means. an enormous change in the surface_ ievel of'. · ·

daily~activities. : ., '

. . '~:·-; . . . . . . ' . . . . . .

.~rthermo~e,thereJ ·~s.t b~ a tre~90u~ ;; .-

dYilamism. in the psyc;:hology of a sensitive man;.be~aJ~

hel is nev_er bogged; down or,· stagx;ated to ·:any nol7el~ ; · . ' .. .'. . ~.

· ·. idea and so each arid eyecy .mprrent of.· hi~··,living: :i.s_·:~,~-, -.. ·;·:. .... . . '·. . . ' ..

,.

- ' .

... l

new and therefore a challen?e to him~ } i. To ?e free and always alive,sensitivity is .·

. ., . an indispenslbility.Ri'Jht educatioq of. the· children:_

is only possible,says Krishnamurti, 'through the

cultivation of sensitivity ; and sensitivity must

. be cultivated .; .... thr~::Jh out one• s life' •6 3 It 'is'\'· Q . . '

the very foundation of freedom in livin·J .and actinq.;

Education is sensitivity.But.when Krishnamurti

maintains, "Sensitivity is· not ·a thing ·to.be cultiv~­

ted", he se~ms to be in contradic~ioo witb.-his ~arli~r

Statemept(uSen~itf.v.ity must. be CUltiVa~d~-~~~~ .etc)~:> . ~· -. ·~ -

However the contradiction· actually lies ·at the levei-. qf language.It is rriore a ·problem with ,the -~c;>e~bul~ ,·

. tnan with . hims~,lf ,because- ~,: ,._o~c~si on~ly~::suf f~~$. , ;'; ._/; ,_' : ~ .·

from this sYndrorre · .. for, not.· .ha~ing. a right. WOrd . fOJ:' . t·

-t a-, right occasion. The only way to impart sensitivity

' . . . . .

tp .. the young children is thr~qht love and affection;-'

of .the teachers~As Krishnamurt! says, " ..... if you:'

ypurself ar.e s~nsitive to the beautiful and ~0 the :.:~.

uqly .if in; you the_re is a sense of qen tleness ~of love'',

dtml t y6u think you w!ll···be· able to help yotir studen-ts

to. have_ affection; to be ·considerate, .. •?" 64 . Surely t' ~: .

' /

70'

Q.

thiS. educating is not a mechanteal process.For

ktishnaml..trti, RiCJht: education 'is · alwaYs 'beyond sheer

mechanicalness.To make a. child sensiti~e much of

the responsibility. ·1oes to the teachers .:_of ·the sch~l - .. . . .

0 ! ~ . • . ' . ! . ' as well. as to the parents of ·the child~rt'~Responsi~,. ·.

' ' ' > '• I ' '

hility is an implication of sens~tiviey.If parentS · · . . .

and teachers therris~lves· _are riot sensitive there is ·'

but. very little .chance _of .. the .child~n he1~g. . . ·,; :'::· ..

s~nsitive in their' l:tves.

J\. child is· normally born with great sensi ti-' ·

vity, he has both awareness ·and innocence, which in

the process of. time get disturbed and curbed •.

Educators are .greatly r~spoosi.ble to keep that spirit··· · ' t_ <;'

of:·enquiry and sensitivity awake !ri the children,so·: ·

that .1 t may·· not qo stagnate in the struggle· for.

existence •. :

A chi'ld who has awakened in sensitivity,

surely has a broader:· View of· life.l'IOUld be. reSp?f1Si.il, ..

. ble of all his. activi t;i.~s,wQUld beeorre :_dYf.l·amic: .in~·· ·.;'· ·

. ~is: .llvi~g arid:.\t~uld obvi~~ly. malntai~ ·a.·d:lffererit :· ..

order of re~ationship,which ·in other way indicates

a radical t:x.:ansformation of himself.

'•' l :: ------. '

:.

Chapter 5 . ~r\. . ~ . · .. 11· .. ·,.. . •.. ''.'.•

· ,!~ ffi_Q~LE M·.' OF' 'ylott]!£! ; ' ' '" . . : . , : . . .. .:r~ - : . - .\ ~ ,;

••• human· beings ··are. oUt~ardly· educated, .. · . • - ' • • ' ) ~~ • ' ~ ! •

cul tured~clever,but. inwardly, they are violemt.' .· Unless .that animal inst

1

1nct' is fundamentally : ' ~ . . . . . ·. . - . . .

changed, whatever the outward circumstances 'at:e;

_-.:, ':'-

th~· inward always Ov-ercomes the outer. Education 1 s the change of ~he innerman •65

- · J. Kr lshna!YD.l r.ti

. '· -

Violence is· a fact of life.It is ne!,ther ·a.

theory nor a mith.When it occ;:urs,~ indiv~dual is

turbulent within and wi thout~Thls. within as-Pect 'of'

a man is far: more stronger th.an with~ut,.be·cause the

former ofted~ dominates the latter.Trn;t otitward

l .;

' .. ,

_:_ -~ : .::. -~ • ·- ~! .·:-

•, .. ' . Violence, individually· speaking~ is a movement.

in; the mind in a search for order an\idst the ' . .

elements of disorder.However the ways it(mind) has

sofar taken have found to be limited and disturning.

The search for order in di~orders through our knCYAn . . ~

wayst have further created disorder.(vi.olence)., . ... - . . . ~ .

. .

i.

because it. h. as brou,Jht more divisions .in our percep- : r

. '

tion- of the fact of violence 11 and it adversely effec·t ::. r .r

·,1.

'",t '' '.' : •:'

~\ ,'i.

.72

' . i

the· cause.Instead of pacifying violence, it escala-.•

ted toe fact in many more subtle forms .Now to . . '

approach vi~lence ·we need to go through various ';.

screens: ~f . a theory. and possibly loss. in the wild.er..; :;

ness.When violence itself. is a fragme'ri~a~ion of ~~r

· · corisciausness,the traditional ways further

fragments the flow.

., ". < }·

We are nearly all aware abQt,lt the eYis.tence .··: ,·;

of violence in. ?Ur individual: life, at least in th~

surface, level.It appears· in the verymany ways 7 I : .. j.:-.

i ~e~q>ressively or in a very subtle· manner wearing-~

' masks of. ~lture or so on.Whatever be its face- ! .

. . . . . . (

~ltured ·or uncultured, "•• .any movement of the~ 'me•

·in any direction, is the action of violence",,..,.. says . . . ,,., .

Krishnarmirt'i.So, as long as I ( ~) remains the cen'ter

-ot .individual thinking arid activity,vio;enee willl i · ,; .

·bound to .remain.It(violence) .is an. existential• .. \• .. · ... . ·,' . '

issue,vecy deeper and cornple~~which cannot be res.olved

by: :considering. it superficially:·alone~A· radic~( ·•; ·· . ~ . ' . ;.

trarif!formatiori. of mind, if it is possibl.e at alli·. . ~' ' .. ·

rn~ be .. necessary •.

However there can .be two di~feren't kinds of . violence,na~f:al and ~YC:h2looical.~-~~-~i.m~s ·we: ~o~··

natural vipl~nce to live ·.a normal apd healthy lif1e'

'.I <

i .. ' ~ ,.

-/., .

.. ' .,

7a . ' I.

, .. '.::_·,

. but ~\le. psycholo~ical violence is .the remembrances':. ' : . ' .

· .. or the . memory ~f v.:f!olencie ·.that we accu·mulci.te in

ourselves. consciously or u·nconsciously,which brings · ' • D !'

lives' degeneration in most cases.The first one we~

do and forgat,but the latter 6ne we carry with us~

·rn Krishna~rti ~ike in many others, ·,me' i~ ' Q ' .

said to·be·the•cause of many miseries.For "Self- ' . . ' ;

centred activities:; to be agqressive,owosin'J~ res is..;.

ting, ass.e:tting, all that makes for violenc~" •67 ·yet

the total orientation of our present livin1 is .~ •.

Now the important 'lllestions are,w:hether i~ is po~:~sible

at all to. ~olish(dominate) ME . altogether ? ~q- · ;· ·'

whethe~ a right' education can p~ay .'a mar~:e' role i~ ' ,.

·. '

r .

' ',1 .. ·,. ;,,

. 11 As we live ri<>W,life,living~is· a form of

·violence~• •68Each one. of us has a particUlar purpose~·

an airit1 a drive in life towards sone or any qoal~ ·

·:'lut in the·. words of Y..rishnamurti, "The l;tfe of a man

who has a 'purpose is breeding violence"69~~though \ ' .

· thj.s interpretation· seems ·quite unconventional bec~se . . . . . . . . ' . ~

··t

i.?1

.. '

and~left very little space of understanding violence

in any other .way·.Krishnamurti, as a policeman o1= the •.•• 1

:i

in viole~ce.There can only two· choices _available ~] ·,. ~ ..

,!iolenc~ 'or EO .violence·, and riot niany~The ma~ter a1J. \:

·he sees,

. ~ .

, . . ,

"You are either violent or·your mind is devoid of violence·.· ••• y:ou carn1ot be both' .i' · .. '

. . . ' . ~ '~ ' ' '

violen.t. and· devoid pf violence at the· sa~.·.:.'· ..

.. time ~- • .;, .E:i ther you are an ho1,1e~t· man or a> dishonest. man. You can· never say "I am slightly

dishonest" ~if you .are "sli·Jhtly dishoriest" ·.~ t . ' .

. only means· that you have a dishonest mind. •: . . . . 'The degree. of violence i~ unimport-· ·

.. :ant.Thf;! extent of violenoe.does not alter t.li.e I ,

fact_ ~hat you are already, suffering :frOf9:'t~·i;<· .

fever ·Of violen:ce.Sir, an j_nvisible microscqpic ~· ?' . • ·. ' ·~ . . . . . ? . . . ·. . . !-; i ':t. f :'~11l! ;:.~ ,•.

virus can ,cause ·a v.as.t epidemic. that ~ills·· 1 · .

millions .Similarly, tpe tiniest bit of violeriee

within yoo· could precipitate a·,..,orld war." 76. · So there ~s a connection, sees I<rishnamurti ~between·.

violent livinJ. of _an in~ividual~. and ·a: dev.ast_ating .. ·f ·· . . l .

war.As he is ver:Y :fond· of ~ayinq, .,You: are .the -world,. . . ' ·.

,.

l ' . ~ •.

·.'

;.. ·. ' .. :,..

J •• :

;· ...

i Violence: in. itself .. ·is:, always .disorder' and\·o:est~·< . . ~~ ... ' . ' . . . . . ... · ·.; ._: . ._.- .

. . ~ction, which' gees (:~~-~~~; io· man kind~ a' 'et~l:'n al ' . ' · . .' . . ,

' _lenging for peace and happiness, hence· it ·is always·.

a problem.Unfortunately "We· are used to a society,

a moral! tY, that is based on violence"72 •. Our morali_ty

is based either on narr~ nationallsm or on welfare

of the maSSe$ or on· individualism, they are mostly,,i'

rqpted in the ME .so- they serve as the. elements to'. -. gen~rate viol~nce•

... Here we suffer from a contradiction - we know: .

that we are basically,· violent yet we take. var:f,oos.

vicarious ways to en·a violence~~' which in ·.a way streng~ ·:'

thens violence: To clear it f,_;rther,we make non..:.viole~ce

or,, love our qoal and pursue ~hat goal to end our .

vtolent state,which becomes, nonsensical.Because this'.

approach ne~er dir~ctly teucl:lea the_ actual state of , ·

violence_ wi.thin:· us • .It merely· adds: more viol{mce (of .. :\1

. subtle kinds':) in the flow,irt the form of struggle.:cnd • D ' ,·. . . .

cpnf:lict inv-olved in the process. of, a~taining(beco~·g) I - ,

loy~ or non~v:i,olence etc.This approach is. li1<e

fe~qt.ng a monster ·and at the sametime tryi119. to free ; ! . . .

oneseif from it. i From tirte immemorial violenc~ thus remains a· '

;

pr-oblem, from we always tried to meet it from anoth~ :•

. :,

-1-J f' ·;, ( .)

, '

·' (theoretical)' angle, and never dared to face 6ne .- s .

violence directly.The explosion of'viol~nce or esca­

ping or understanding it from theoretical-angles· . . . . - . . . .

could not sofar ab'alish it(violence) fro~ ooes~if.; ,: . . . ' ' .. ·

Different ways merely. help to suppress ·~riol-~ce ·in

different rna.'lners but· it. still remains ; 'It shews; . . . .

its ugly head whenever neCessary •.

;,

Krishnamurti 's aporoach to violence : -- ---~~-·--·---------

Viol<:~nce is a fact· of li..fe.It :varies re~ark- ..

ably fro.m person to person in rEqc;trd to 1 t;s warmth,

e~ensian and feeling.In a sense each case of

violence• .is unique. so violence need to be faeed

directly by theindividual who is underg.oinq itJ other--.. ' . ~ .

wise mino ·will ci;'eate an illlage out of it and will ... r • ' haunt that image· 'for ever •

. Krishnamurt:l thinks that there should he·

flowerinq of violence \oli thin,wi thout th,e :!:).1.£erfere-'.

nee of the mind in any way tl-1rouqh critici %ing -or:;,

condemning. Only then .itCviolence) . wili.'automatically . • . . '· ,·.. .,. !

:·''.\' I

.w:it'tler a'tl_ay as a flower withers after :·i~-' natural,;' .. · '1 ' '. . • ' •

. l i:

flawering·•In · fioweririq;v!olence' teife(ils i-ts ·:comp~~\7~·:'

x;lcy.In .his· owri _wprds# .•• •-~_.in 1:1nc1erstar1~:Ung, .t~e ·

'!

- .

i · •. . g

·: .1~.17' . I· (i .

. I I ~

cornplexi.ty, in watching· th~ compleY-ity, it 'reveals · . . . . . '. ' . ' . > :) . '· soneother: factor, and let ·.that blossom; so that .. ; i

. . . . . . . . ,· :,, I

everything is blossoming 1n you,nothing is d~nfe~: . . . . . .. . : .:

nothing is suppressed~n·othing is controlled.It is

a tremendrus ed~cation" 73 • In other words, this

e~cation ·lies in facing ~ one's inward facts of

·violence ~r so,with ~tmost care and choiceless

awareness.Th'is inward activity :,of natural flowertng . . ' .

·and wi t~ering away could not take place ~o long ~

remain tagryed to our ·normal approaches, which lies

' ' in eYhioition,repression#restrlctioo,n!ppinc.t the ·1

... ~'

whole fac·t(o:·':' violence) in the,bud ana:·so on~'.·· 0 I ' • • ;,_. ' ' •, j •

" I<ris.hh.arrurti took very li'ttie ~ibteres't irf.: : • ..... ·,, .. · ·• •I

' ' ' /:

the: .cOmiJ'IOnly; held View that the' element Of V.iolence

.·is innage to man like ev~ryother. animal.·From. the,· -~. ' . . . ;.; ' ' ~ ..

primitiv~· ·ti~ onwards:, marl, lf~e· with.v{ol~n·~·.s() :.::. • , • 11 , , I, •

1 " •· • • •' :l

man genetivcially -derived( if not rinnate) 'violence' ....

from its evolutionary .:frowth,and with it the prevai­

ling society w! th all sorts of competi tio:1, compari~

son and so on· contribut~d eno~ously in. the .flow

of violence .But whate~er is gen~tically or .envirair • '!

mentally derived cannot be called innateht'·iich lives ..

with the very ;;hysical 'existence), and the ·Buddha;

...

I ' ~ ' ,'. ~ ;

. · .. 1 ~ ~··! r! ~~.:··ts ·

. ,_·, .

• 1

·Mahavira,Jes~~s Christ are· examples of suc:)'t human r.

beings who lived without violence.Nevertheless,to ·

llve a noz.~mal and healthy life natural\ violence :. .·; ~~ . ~ ; ' -

. (discusse~ above) which. l~ast dlsturb~'i :i~dividual · 1

. a.~· place.. · ·. <~' .

The only way of facinT inner-:-vl~~ence ~s .. '. directly and ~ow,.and that· ~s neithe-r ~~OU'Jh any .. ·.

- . . ' ' .

;?,

. theocy. nor 'cy any analysis~ nor by esc~ping :froril~t'· :.

' in any Way 1 thiS may Said tO be the VieW 'of Krishna.:.:

murti.To him,violenoe is a movement of energy which

get spoiled in the process,.which require to move. in . . . ' . . ,

a1totally different direction or dimension ~n a life

of happiness.

, In .. l:<rishnamurti, violence. cannotobe a means to

a :happy o~:· Peaceful end.So ·far. bl;oody ·revolutions), '

a~. in :Fran,c~, pr in Russia or:. in China#tbey 1h.ave 1 •· . ;· • . ~ . ., . . . ' ·-

undoubtedly brought! reformatfans in thei~ ~s:pecti.Je; ·•· ' ' .... ''· . ' .

society out· could ~ot· revoiuticmize mari .. basic~lly. ! .. ·· Without underestimating the· ~alue of those revolu- . ·

• ~ i .

. { ;

tions a little,they actually brought peripheral

change~ but the essential strucliture 0~ man(self-.

or~entation) which :Jives birth ~o disoM~r.'re~ains · .·' .

; ~.:

,,

...

.· i

.. •. . . . · ~ . · ..

·.· /;· ._.:J "··' ·'. . :··.·

. ~unchanged~. so t9(iaY the.re ·,are ample. ev.idertees to

·prove the validity .of this. contention. when the .

recent dranatic. pol! tical chanqes in the erstwhile

Saviet bloc countries ca~ be closely obs~rved.

Psychologically or mor.~lly the .greater hum~ity

has made ·a very little pro~ress sofar~

When violence is a means, Krishriamurti .thinks, . . . .

peace. can only be ·a . theoretical end; Real ,peace will . - . . . '' ~

hound to ~lude us. "Violence beg~ts· more vi'olencn; ' . ' ; . .

resistance on. ly creates. o. the.r •fo.rms 'of distortlori" ..... · .. . ~4. . . .' ·. :) .

For Krishnamurti, there -is ri.o difference qet~eeri · .;

the M9ans and· the End. ; end 1~ merely. an .extentioo .. -- -- . .· '.'·'· 'i

. of maans.The socalled peace· out of murder and

mayhem is a nere semblance of peace ;it is a peace .. •

over deathfield •. . ':

In: Krishnamurti,Violence has no opposite. ·:

. All. opposites. are intelle~tually made.Non.2violence,(~

the most holy: word in the life and philosophy of . . . /""'

Mahatma Gandhi has no real basis as an opposite :of' ;;;;;

vfolence. or.:; merely as art .ideal.Fo~ n6n-vtolenoe ... J is .. . Q .. - ; ; · __ . ' • . . ,._ ::. l

not· a fact·.It ;has a lasting value~ only. when it· • . I • •. ·)

means lave or aff~ction even then it. becomes an

inappropriate use.It(non-violence) • is a t•heocy, a

i.

. . . . . . . ;., ..

• !,' ~ '

. ; '•

HO !• l

·,·· ·. '.

-~.

concept:,; an escape. 11 \fuen the real thing is violence•,

argues Krishnamurti.i 'you are pretendintJ. there is

non-violence.so the [?rain cells· seekout of this

incapacity to deal· with violence, an ideal,.and the~­

fore divieis1on follows and there is contrad.iction

and conflict."75 Only facts, and not ideas haw

importance fo:.:: Krishnamurti.

Equcation & Viole!!£! :

uwe have been educated to be violent. Our animal.

nature and t.he activity of the human brain etc.:., are

vio.len t and dividing~ we. all know this, u 76

says

Krishnamurti. Present education or education so far· '·

feeds and breeds violence, for it introduces and

tri(jgers ambition,competieHtion and succe~s.These . '

affairs are by nature violent • OUr education is

thus a queer mixture of contradictory aspirations

and activities~ It may be out of·a total ignoz:-~­

·nce or. carelessness of the real nature ·of a ·man •

. Here preparation for as t-tel1 as destruction ~f the :

happiness .JDeS t6]ether, h~d in hand. .

·roo,ay· \-Je occassi9na:i}y :come ac:ros~:.-with;. · · ··­

.su9h appalling. incidents when unsucessful' stUdents .. , .

. ' . .

BJ

comit suicide out of the .fear of facing their

ambitious parents.Ambition has thus taken away the:

place of ·education~e can take another evample,

Britishers ~e often said as _educated and discipli-,

ned lots,but the several spate of foot'::>all-hotJliga-. .

-nism and associated cri~s in recent years particul-. .

arly in En'Jl~md t"ok many live~ and made mockery

·of all education a,d discipline.

It is therefore a fact that education

sofar c?uld not abolish or remarkably ·decrease the.

numbers ~f violence in any way~Rather.it has h~lped ' . . . . . . ... .

to di~ersify violence in very many way_s: in _our daiiy

lives.I~s appearances- have nerely changed bu:t the

. essencelconflict & disorqer). remains the same.,

KrisliDarrurti.observed, ••.; •• human. 'qeings are outwar­. dly educated, culhtred, clever, but i~war?:ly, t\•ey · iara:

violent. Unless that a··limal instinct is ·fundament- ,' ..

ally chanqed,whatever the outward circumstances /

are, the inward always oyercomes the otit~rv: And for ·

him, 'Education is the chan1e .of the inne~"65 •

This innerman implies the conflict ridden

mind of the present human.kindeTo overcome this

conflict,which is necessary for a happy :.living,

82

there should be rio suppression,limi tation or res- . ·

triction within.His education will- make children

realize that, arid also brouqh t them· unde;- a

harmonous development of. mind-heart and 'body .. Life . Q . .

is a total p~ocess,thinks Krishnamurti,and that

slv)':lld be understoody totally.Education ·is a WS!f

to that· total understanding.

Self m~derstanding is the only _wa.y of

a,_,olishing violence ; self is expressed ·only in . . . ';_ ' ,..

various . relationS 1:1ips .so Krishnamurti . agvised '

·\

. . ' ,, . . . ' .. ,' . ,_

children. to be' attentive in their variqu~: -~eiation:U.·

ships which leads to the understandini} of :·t~

corrplex functionings· of the self(e~JO)_~At.tenti.on;. . :~: :· ·.

- . ' . .

as he thinks, .is an enormous learning by which

marly of our dross~s (-superfi~iali ties). in relation-.

s"1ip drop and ·a radical change ofbehaviour takes

place.For e!~ample,when a child(man) un.ders.tands

aut- of ·close attention; the utter: irrational! ty . ~

;

(in respect o·f ·truth) of many of our daily behav-i~

~rs e,g •. worshipping idols, .Joing to temples,.

mqsques etc_., his relationship with all these will

·-bound . t,o undergo a deep change ..

·. '!'

\

Q .

M?earent · flal_!S~in Kri·s!!namurti ~~-~~2~ :

It cari be. asked that .the .~fair of . facing

violence directly· as a fact of life and helpfng it · ..

to fl~r within (according to Krishn~rtt), is .

. somethi~g which is not· very easy to conceive' of.

Because durinJ violence t~ere. 1":::; no dif,~~ren,ce .. ·, ·,

between the observer and :the observ~d· i,e •. the · · · · ·

observer himself · becones totally idemtifled wi t':"i

violence .Then ·Jle is .violence himself .At that hour,

whoJf will observe whom ? Observation of violence .

can oniy be possible a~ter the Subsidence of the

main flow i, e. a few moments after the peak 'period,

.BJld then. observing(looking) to that( fact of violence)

will become. a sheer intellectual affair- attendin;r ~.

only the .!!l~'!!ories of · Y.!.. c;>lence. As · if one be cones~· \ ·,

aware of •the thief ,when he has. left. the. house.

However each and ·every case of violenc~

cannot be said to be equaliy e:xplosiveJ some of' them

are of much smaller intensity and that can be easily

observed.An inner flow of violence which is gradua~

lly ebbing out can a·lso be. looked irito because.

essentially violence are of the sane quality,they

differ only in intensity.In.Krishnamurti ·there is

nothing over a'1d above the observer(thinker),as

' ' . )

•. 1: . , .

..

:- .

. '

84 .•

·.·.

something permanent• ••Thought ~creates the thinker,

thought is ah-;ays se'e~ing ·a. permanent state ~.seeing

its oWn s~ate of transition,of fluY,of impermanen~

· thou 'Jht creates an entity ·which it calla the thinlce r, .. . . :,

~ ~ the Atrrian,the . .Paramatman,the soul- a higher:. and

h~gher security."77 .This very understanding ·leads

one beyond :self~divisi.on and violence .• •

Secondly, facing violence inwardly in oneself. ·

is. onethin'j and facing outward violence is quite . . .

another,which has got its' own independent exwi$tercee

.AnY killing and arson outside does 11ot care .. for my

individual opinion .so how to· cope with the .external

violence ·?

L :. For Krishnamurt!, "You are t~· world and tl"e · (

world is You"~ the total. world-affair qo.es parallely

·.1

with ·ane•a· psychological state.It is through relati_;:

onship· one ls related to as well. ct.s effecting the ·

activity of .. ;the. world evecy now and then .A man of ·

love who has. no violence within,creates a different

pattem of relationship. For 9love ~is a state. of d. i' '

being in whidh· all man's P!db1em9 are resolved• 78 •

•.. :; . · Thirdly,Krishnamurti. in his long ye~s of .

te.a~hings · g_ave !tportance to the fundamental transf­

ormation of man J Dut· the· chan]~S that nave . been

i. i.'· .

. '

85

"·

occured to man·;_ in the demands as well as in the

patterns of li6:!,through (jreat. revolutions should

not be unde_rvalued in ·anyway.'rhose · changes(revolu·•

tions) have actually made men aware of· themselves

- their individual uniqueness,potentialities and

· dignity. Furthermore" Krtshnanurti himself in · his

life time vis! tied· and t~~ked mostly in the

democratic countries.Howeyer, he never decried any .

peripheral change in hu!lUln behavi6ur, e, 0. where

violence and tyranny has decreased sufficiently,

as something nonsense.To him they are only l

. ::

~formations and P.eve notQ,E~olut!~•There can be

only revolution w1:en the ma.""lkirid is radically . . .

transformed, then that will also serve as a halt •to

all . kinds of viCllent behaviours.

Education to cope with ind:tvidu,al violence·.

altoqether is indeed a most .diffi.eult task,which

n~ds the· coope~ation of parents, teachers and the· . ·. . ' ·.· ;

cl)ildren. It requires entirely a different environ~.:·. ' • • • ' I ' ' •

. ' ,• .

m~t anq ~ deeper_under~tandin0 of the utter . . . . ' - . - .

. hapless state of. our exts:mnce,"p_arti'~l;~ly. ·-~cmQ. :.:.< : .· ;· . . '·: ~ . ' : .. j . :'· :~- . ;' ' li .

the educat.ors Of :the childre'n; 'it ·also' requires· .one'·S ,. . ' . . . \ . . . ' . . ' . . . . ·. . ~ ,

lqnging · fo~ ,truth. otherwise there: is everf possibi'!"

lity of it-becoming ·a failure.Krishnamurt!'s

teachings on education is. a pointer towa,rds that :

individual,. and collective challenge • . ---

·Chapter 6

' .

The purpose of education· is . not to produce

mere scholars, technicians and job-hunters,

rut 1nteqrated men and women who are free

of ·fear ; for only ;he tween such human heinqs

can there be endurlnq peace.79 j ~ I<rishriamurti ·

.£:1ing_ ~h~t appro~t!~~ ~2£! : Man talks about peace whenever:'he is in ·

turmo~l.so peace is· a react1oo, an in~lle~tu:ally ·

made 1d~a opposite to turmoti.:rt is not a f~ctl · whe:1 t.l-te fact is violence. we are violent deep_. .

down .;... inw~ly aS wel:,. as ou:twaxdly~ .~ vi olema . ' • • ' ' v • ' ·· .. . . . . . .

. ' ' . . ·~ . . ~. ~ " -~

disturhs ·our living, we seek .order through an idea·

of peace and by follov1inq it. The. concept of world~. P

peaqe is a mere e:·:tenston of this individual

process for there is s~ekind of, t.denti~y between

the world ar~d the tndiv:tdual. ,"The world .1~ you",

says Krishnamurti.

-So the mind is seeking peace as. an 'idea,

\-lhlch it cannot~Krishna:-rJUrti questions ~is very

~el?£_~Ch of Pe~~ I

. . ~ .

'. ''· ,, .

. ;.,\ .~

·:: .·:

~··,'.

. .

"Can peace be brought· ahout - by the rriirid ?

If ·we have peace throU·Jh the mind,.daes not

.87

. that also lead to corrupt.ioo,dete'riorat:fon ? .. . . . ' . ' . ' _,,.:,;:~---- ~ .

. • ~~~-the m,ind cannot find peace, bepause it

can think only in terms Of time·, ~n ·terms of ' .\

the· ·past, the present and. the future .: what

it ''has been,·what :tt is,and. what it-will.b$.

·It :.i~ const·~tly.·c~demning~judglrig~wH,;~-·. . . . •, :· , I. . . . . ..

wefJhin9, .• coi'np~ing~pursuillg its. own varitia:i';'

its OWn hal:> its ,bel~efs . I and!: such a mind ·

. can .never be .peaceful.It can·:~d~lude itself

into a s'tate which it calls peace;but that

is. not peace.The mind can ~s~r.ize itself .

by the repitition of words. and phrases,by

followin r sonehqdy,or by. a~cumulatinT knowl-. . .

. edge; but it is not peaceful, ~ecause such a·

mind is .itself the centre of di_sturb~nce,it

is by its very nature· the essence of .time.

so the mind·with which-we think,with which

we calculate~with which we contrive ~d compare,is incapable of ·finding peace."ao

Commo~ly, peace . is ·a state ~of _. ·.mixed vi'ol~ ~e,

and not the. ab:;;olute negation of v,iolenc:e~ceneral,ly . . . ' .. "·. . \ ' ' . ~ . . ~·: :-.-

there cannot.' be any cili'solu'te peace~ it is. always \

relative.Relative .in regard to violence.However,·violen~

ce ln ~Y fqrm1 is the·ne;"Jation of peace and most a ' : •.

of us negating peace at ever:y moment by, con.tradicto~ .. ·

moves.Cpntradiction in our effort to end external-

9.

. '

•, ..

.. • ,. ~ . . •.··-

,· ', '. ,·

·.·violence of murder,mayhem and so on by different

measures and at the same time encoura1inq, hunger· ·

for power,position,property. wi_thin ourselves. i '

War,_the greatest violence ~is a symptom,

_however brutal and diseased •, observes l<i:'ishnanurti,

'and to deal with the outer manifestation withOut

- re~jard to. the deeper causes of .it, is futile and

purposeleflS I al· Mo.stly human. beings deal vi_th the . . . . . ' . . .

symptr1m through va.riQtls ways.folice,military e~cL; - ' . -

help to k~ep peace ·and- to bring vioiEmee tc.) .an en~ •

. sometimes s0ma international bodies like United­

Nations Orqanization(UNO) came to deliver humanH;v

from the maiaise of ag ·ression- a.'l~ bitter confron­

tation.This· is· a. way to bring· peace through negoti-

at1.on, ~uppres~ion or by _dealinq violence external! Y•

But "Organization have not- solved this proble.m(cf vio­

lence) .You can reorganizembut war still goes C>p• ..

So oi:Janizations, whether· it is a world organizat~on_

or a particUlar kind 'of Qorqanizatiqn to brinq

·_ ahout _peace_, wiil . never succeed, hacause human beings, : ., •••• t •

/

i!')dividually, collectively' hatiqna1-.ly, are in c~~-~ict ... 82

--. \·. :~

·.· . : . . ,8·q .·

~ '- ~ '-· • v

Indi:Vidually- as well as· collectively our.

peace HJ a. peace of compromis~.:~ adj ustment,.balancln g .,

' . '

of powers etc.The idea of abso~ute peace if!l a ~

myth tn the political circles.Althou']h ~11. themeas­

ures of peace throu)'h neqotiations etc~ are actua..tiy

,violence-generative (they do not· eliminate violence

but help to suppres.s them) .As organization demands . . ~ ·. . . . . . ' ~

re-orJanization,so ,also ·adjustment( for peace) .'seeks . . . . . ' .· ';

re-adjustmen"c and ·this' process continues·.

Thotigh . peace (order) is· an eternal human eJY

cry hut different countries have different standards

f9r it because peace.,to all,is an idea,.a system.And

system varies a~cording to the interests,a1d ultima­

tely brLnqs aivisio•1 and c:lest:ruction.The· cotnnunist ·:·.

way of peace ·and the capitalist "_lay differs great;ly.

(The i<1ea of :peace cannot be detooehed from the w~ ... ' '

to it) .Am~g various other limitations, a ~P!.!!! .:!

. (a theory of I)eace) ca-m·o'tb be. all comprehensive,

whatever be its ciaim : It· cannot take.into ·account ' .

all-space and all time- past,p~esent and future.

Arid it remain;:l always . vulnerable to ·a mo~. perfect

· system.A system a9ain is a pr6cess ~f .ceaseless . \ . ' ~ ' . .

conflicts, between the actuality :and the. pO$Sibiiity,

,.-,_

,;~ ~:,;: .. ·

.··.

L~'-· :

' . ~

80

·(goal) ,between the situation and purity.The political

psychology of brincJing adjustment(compromise)

between,- GLASNOST( openness) a"1d PERESTROIKA.(restruc-

turing of the. economy) on one hand, and the com•mmist

ideals on the other,'once g~erated enormous tension

and frustration in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Further.nore, a ·:;ovemment O:f an authorJty

committed to a system,it is found,ne~ates individual

uniqu~ness and importance.l\ system,hecau.se it is ; i;)

1:->ased on krim..;n ideas and c::>ncepts, is always the past~ Q

·So it ca mot represent the present(ever-:-newness of

life) .Thus a system is the denial of hasic principle

·of life,. which is dynam:ism~P..ut in the effort of ·

representing the pre~!: it occasstonal 1y ·stands

against the basic moral:i.ty of ·t~1e society a•1d encciur.;.

aqes all .sorts of pretension and hypocrisyo Men

pretend to be. rriore pure when they are. or~miaal at

h~art(e,q •. Nicolae-Ceausescu) .Eventually, obsexves

·Krishnamurti, "Word'.teaee'(as a concept} becomes . . . ~ ' .. ·'

l'!ke a narrm" window throw. which we look at. the· w?f':t,:d

and try to understand. it.Throu-Jh a narrow window we

can see only part· of the sky# and not the whole

vastness,.t~e magnificence of it" 83 •

Dl

.·.-

Krishltarrurti • s teachings on Peace : · --- -- ------------•• Fe ace is a state· of being •, understaruts Kris.hn­

amurti, 'in· which all coofl1,cts and all problems have

ceased :it is. not a theory,not an idea .to he achieyed

after ten incarnations, ten years _or. ·ten days.Aslong

as the mind has not ,understo·:>d its oWn a_ctivity,it

·will create more misery: and the ~nd~St_!!']_ding o_f the

1!l!ruLis ~h~ beginning_.g~~ce~·· 94 or ~n ?ther worqs,

... Peace is not the qpposi te of conflict nor the' . . ,. ·, '

synthesis of opposites'' • 95 . It is a . state ·of mind·.

Krishnamurti is more int~rested in understanding· the

facts of l~fe.The fact is:cbnf.l:i..dt,whlc~:'.~is th~ b~is of our daily living .. our conmitment towards 'sen~o.rY-. : . ' . ' ' ·. . . - ' ~. .

. . . . . ·.r values' (rather than eternal):"our love ·towards nationa:-~ . . ~\; .

lism,patriotiJI!ISm, aggressiori,armi tion,greed are' the\'

contents ·of 'our consciousness.They essen~ially

oenerate violence and division (';You are the cause • - .. . i ., .

of c·:mflict and war",- Krishnamurti) .Thus problems

of the world(e;,g. war ox::- appressfon .etc.") ,as Krish-;:;

na1nurti obs.erves, are our own problems 'merely >>:

. « ll magnified. ar)d multii!-plied'. . ·r

To meet the .. c;:hallenqe of peace· 'may be: an . : -~~."

< • • • • '.; ~ • '!

a,l~oqether, diff~rent ~pproac:h is necessary' •· T:l)at.! · ..

,.

. -· ~t

.• .­.,

approach 'meanD 'neither conformity,nor ,obedie1ice,

nor .imitation, nor an identification ·.with a· principle

or ima ~e, or forrmla,but a totally differe~t way' .86

~is ap;;:>roach refers to understandinq the fact of

conflict in oUr. ].ndirividu.al life; .Evecy· kind of corifl­

ict - r:1ro8s or subtle, and the mtsery it has hr~ght ~ . . . ~ . . . ·'

to hu~an bein:js .• The absence of conflict>altogether·. ·

·is. th~~~~~QSe ot ~~-· "The way. of ::peaqe• ,·as

.Krishn.amur.ti ·. <;>bserves, '1s · ~o· understand·.;~~.~·. ~all.~Cyc:. · · . ' . .• . . . . ' .. . ~ . .~.-- ... ' \ . ~ ·. . .' . : -_;_J '

of the idea that peaC?e is: the'· resu 1 t u 'of 'strife;'tne

outcome of a"'J>hys·Jcal or mental· confli.ct between;

military or ideolOJiCal antagonists .~ace is not the

resu.lt of .a ·stru0·,1e: Peace is that which remains.

when all conflict is· dissolved io the flarre of · .c:

~nderataTJ.ding'' 87 : However the _!!nderstaf!din0· 2~..:.:!:.'h! ·:

!al.!_acey is not a result of' the qatherinq ~f in for­

. mattons,rather it is a..., insi "Tht.An insiqht 'into,

amon '! other thinrrs, the enormous stupid! ty in the · ·: ·.

e"i.Sting. social moral1ty,that it is moral:· "To ·-ro I . . .

to. war,to kill# to be .arJressive,"to· oeek p~w.r,.· .to · qiye hate. ,1. t~ place·" 88 • 'lllu;li~loi~ Thou~Jh .the way,, '1;,

·to th,is insi,!h.t(there can •t l)e any particular way.,:,,< . •, ..

. '

to' it) lies ir1 choiceless~awareness or .tn sensiti-.. . .. ' . . . .

vi~y.Peace only cones to that indivS.dual(person)

•, ...

....... · ..

WheTI he iS I COnStantly Watch~n4(ChOicele~~y..;.awar~) •

when he 'is 'sensitive to, both the ug~y· and 'th~ ' . . . ~ : . ' .

· b~autif~ul" to the g~od and the bad~ to ~11 the fltict.;,; .

uations of life' 89 •

I<rishnamurti has no ultimate faith on pol! tical

and or Janizational mqves to ·bring peace on earth.

He thinks, ·~Only qoodwill and cof!lPassion can ?ring

order and peace to the w~rld and not pol! tical blue-

prin~ts a,.,d conferences"go• ~is peace is ,rCid!cally

different from the poll ticians 1 peace .·\Vhen <tthe

latters • peace ·is characterised :,.::/ selfiqterest : .,.

interest o::': the person or party, or of ·t~:·:~:~ounti:y .. -.'

'•;'.

etc., ori~terest ·of the-politi'cal.culturai or finan~ . . •.. ,: . ~~- ' ~

cial kind.Krisru'lamurti is conflr~, : "Th~re is not

goin 1 to be. any peace .in the world .if the pol i ticlans

have anythin.J to do with it".91 Peace that Krishnam~

urti talks o.f 'is : enprmously ~rreat, iriffnl tely 'h'!

e-:tepsive,a1d it can be understood only ·when the

heart is u fu11• 92 .There can. be pea~ only in the

unders ta··1d i ng of 1 aver beauty and ttu th. Pol 1 tical

aDd. ,ftnancial .benefits cannot. give lastin<[,Cenduring)

peac~· to hurna1ity.This pea~e which also refers to

the radical change of human consciouaness(mutation) ~·. ' .•· . .

. ' depends on se~f.~understanding.It is more individualistic

-· ~. ; . : ,·

.. -~

j '

and a vertical process (deeper i.nto the. self) than

collective.and horizontal.The latter(collective &

Horizontal process) :is the traditional way 'Where only

superficial .val-~s an~ interests are concemed.When . .

' . . . . ' .

the individualistic & vertical process encourages

to ·JO deeper into ourseives indiv!dually~rather

than finding fault with the world•S.() long we are·

not peaceful individually,we will surely create

chao~ whatever we toU:c~. in :the process .• so to become '! ·peaceful (individually} is our startinJ point.

"The 'WIISJ' way of peace is sit,nple 1 , says Krishnamurti; . ' 1 It is the WCl;Y of truth an~ loV'e. It starts with the

individual himself •••• To ··Jo far one Tm!st hegin near

and :the first actions are within---~To have peace,

·we • must be peaceful."g 3

I~tel;estin 1ly, the. state of

mind: :W· i·ch c::harac~erlses peace in 'Krishnamurtl' also . -~'

charac.:terises le>Ve and truth. cne e ~tatls the other ·

automatically .Of course this is not! true wh~ri the ..

ordiiJary peace 1~ concerned.

Peace and Education : --_:·--·--·--:--

0 •

.Peace. need to' be everybody. s' conee·m:: and' nOt

qf.politicians alone!Prepa~ation for peace(not as an: • :: • l

: t 'j. · .. • . ' . ' ' ' . . ~-. '; .

·' . ' ; ~:, ' ~~:.

',.

95

ideal) shauld start at thevery heginninq of-child-

• hooo .. Education should prepare_ child for peac;:eful :

living; Development thro.I•Jh .v,iolence,throu!h str.ict · . .

discipline 'and re']Ulattons is a deni~l (anathema) of

that livingJ. A suffered and stunted pSycholo7r

·;enerally brings more· sufferings to the world than

pacifies it,because a suffered child has little \ ' ':. . . .. Q

evperience of Joodness ~1d ':-:>eauty in his ltfe.But to

fi'nd out peace, 'one· ·must understand beauty'. thinks

Krlshnamurti .Further he o'0serves, "Peace. is .of the· . . .

heart,not of the mind.To know peace you have to find . . ' . .

otit what beauty ·is"9~. The identification. ·of peace _

and esthetic~-( as w~ll as love. &. trl:l.th) i~· eri.ormously

important in Krishnamurti~Unli'ke our ord~rt<!lrY' search l . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . ·r· for p~ace wpfch actually· mea'1s 'sel·f-Emc;losure • . and

'dullness • of mind, hi's peace entails a state of . . . , · .. · • - • ·.' -~.' • • ' ~ • : • ' ! '

creation - which is vibran,t,l~yirtg ·and~ dynkmi_c~The '·, ·.: ...

awareness of .. bea;.tcy essentially demands .alert and

sensitive mind. Kri shh amurti once told . his . students,

"Wh,ile you· are youn·J and sensl tive, . it is essentiall., . . . . . ~-

that :.you - as.::well as those. who. are respons.ible for.'; 'l • •'

yot.i(~ucators) s~ould create an atmosphere of beauty.

The ,:way you dress, the way you walk, the way you s 1 t,.

~.

' ' ': .·: . ; ;

••• 1 •

the way you eat -·all these· thb'iqs.and, the things·· ·

al:)Ol;lt you, are very important11

95 .'ThroutJh education

1the perception of beauty• is founded and· estahli­

shed firlnly :i,n each child's heart, so that the

current of the daily u Jliness of ~he worlp cannot

swept away .their sense' of beauty.Other wise 'the . . . . . . .

. .

endless stl:ug<lfie to find peace through_the mind'·

·will continue.To have peace ~iour mlnds and hearts

must qe. simple·. creatively .. empty~ and. w~t~~ful." ~6 ~>

Thes~ qu~lities of. ~he mind e~ ·1~ strttp_iicity etc.·>

only becmne helpful .for peaee ·in the children when.

they are prepared ri·1htly ,w'1en their eaucation is . .

based,on.:totallty of life(the total existence.).i''>~

~tegr~ted _and~._I~!:'!!?Oiou~an: i~~X .. .<!_Pea~­

ful man.He' wants peace for creative iivinq;He can------ _______ _..._ .

s>nly help· to create a ~aceful world out o~ his

relationships .Right education has the capacity ·to .. make an : integ.rated man out of a vi:nrant child ..

World peace cannot rightly JJe pur,sued in . i

isolation' iri poli tic<'f,l. c'ircles alone, then it has ..

no: basj c-value evcept as a _grandiose idea~Each

m~ has a:contriout:i.on in it(wo~ld~peaee).Man has

to be prepa;J:"ed for· peaceful living .. Only peaeeful : , ' ' . . ~- . . .

men and women ·.can make a ~aceful·world •. ··

: :~ '

~)7

-~~~~~:

'rpere is a clear note of myst~cism ·in krish'- .. · .. , -.. · ·.·-

n.amurti as teachings· of peace and fts r~·latiohship

with education.Qui~E!. obviously I<rishnanrurti •s teachi~·

DJS r~fer to a radicaily different state Of mind,

whic'1 is totally unknOwn ~nd unexperience? before.

To· speak. on that state ~f mind wruld bound t9 become.

hypothetical.What is a fact to Krishnanurti is a

fiction j. to us .Again, education cannot aspire or

effort for peace, peace is not an idea~ Peace. and

education both are negatively-related.Educ~tion helps, . ' . . . . .

sensitivity( awareness) to emerge throiJ:Jh ·right in£~.

mat'ion an~ environme_nt,·whi.ch_· may or may n~t help the

·presence o£:· peace.so .t~re is .!!2....£f!rtainty between

KrishnanurtT' s. education and peace ., ·no necessary .

relationshi'p.Further t~at the factor of hu~ eff·obt~

andi endeavour is always connected with t~e grandiosity

cif. ·an idea ·say' e,g .. peace.= ·witha.tt -the plan hein·g·. . . . .

Jiven · ahead man cannot devote or ~edicate. hi nself

e;n1tirely to lt.Devotion is necessarily connected

with the coloUrful drea~ associated with an Idia,

wi thoot which the passion(.energy). to chan1e oneself . Q . .

. (Tl\aY be superficially)· does not f.low.n.ut., · Kr:i.slmamurti

.. :l,, ; ·;:'

' . . ;'. i ,· •.: <' l,

.,, . .. ;:)· ....

' . ~J8

r. '(.'

l

' 1··.

detested from -:riving any ideational character of peace,

he never -·]Uarantees any necessary upliftment(attain~

ment) from -one to the 'other ~,q.frbm educatlon. to ;peace. . .

This may have a frustrating _effect too·.·

Further, it seems to be clear that Krishiamurti •s ' . . ' ..

views _c?n peace may not '?e ·rightly understood in the

prevailinrr phrases of politics .. .Peace throu)h tl"E terll\9

like,.- balance of power,peaceful-coe·.'istence,disarma~ Q . .

ment etc., have no fund~mental value.They have only

superficial importa..,·ce • .Peace in r<rishna"Tl~rti has a

de'ep reli)iOUs sense(holistic sense) .so loner !'Tlan is

not· radically cha.,·red(mutated) there cannot be any ,.

·lastin('l peace in the world.Ma.n ·is the source of all · .. •' ···:-· ' . . ' . .. . .

d_i.:sorders, apd the _world disorders[ are· only.-:t!'e '1la1nij '.;

fled form. of; in<;iivi~ual- dlsdrders.A c~pi ta~.Ist -m~hd ~:r;,::,= ..

-_;·;accumulative and acquisitive by' nature which .we are

mdst, can never produce ·a communist-world of ·i ustice . · •· . . . '

·_. anc:l truth. The sense ls ·enOrrt'\OLJSly '1reat and SO beyond:,;.­

. conceptualization.Arid this wideness of view in a way I,

may .se~e both as the plus and the minus points of·

Krishnarrurti • s · teachin']s.

-~ .

' ~-

( ,,!?

09

However from the tra~Ltional(social-political)

perspective Kri shn amurti • s peace· may he ; found to he . . .

rorthLcal : it has no practtcal worth~This is ofcourse

obvious because, peace in Krishnamurti is expressed in

ne.Jative terms (immeasurable. emptiness1 silence etc.) .

\>Then politicians are all praise for pos~tive-peace

(theoretical, organizational. etc.) or peace·· of the

killing-fields.

., ,, '·'

...

.· .. ..

~~

1·i

Rishi Valley School

,._

' ,,

I I :,;

.. 100

( A.ndhra pradesh},

' " ~

"'·

'.

chapter 7

THE. SCHOOL

It is the concern of these schools(Krishnanurti­

Fcnndatton· schools) to bring about· a· new genera-. ' ' .

tion of human beings wh.o are free from self

centred action. 97 J • .Krishnarrurti~

Sch221 in ~~<Xlsense ::

Most schools are for better information for

netter secuJ;"ity.They exist to· make student anr·itious,

competitive and establishing in life.They prepare

student to conform to the society,-hecause the. schools . . . '·,(

reflect the :naj ority mind, their demands ahd' wishes.~ec,-,...-'·, . . · . . · · ~- . · · · . · · - .- :· :; · :drr:-~~)~1;~~-~.:·~- ·.

Any" school. can '1-:>e seen from two different· T. •.

angles e; g •. the !'llY.sical and the Ftli'los~e!!.!.£~1 anqle.

·rhe ·first one considers the-·material (buildi~9s), . . ' ' . .

env:lrcmrcental a!"ld. administrative aspect·S,; Th~·lati'ter' ,,·.; > ' ·•· , ' ·, ,' t•v

considers ·the spir.itual.(riot myst~cal) aspect,which is

the. essential content of a school.It iR the snirit~

the,·, elan,..vital of a sc'.1ool.However, the physical and ·, . .

the philosophical~hoth are interdependent.The 2~sical-.,

aspect is an. ess~ntial~ity to keep the spirit :living

102

and qrowing,whereas the philosophy of a school helps

to protect a'l.d mauld-.the environmental(physical)contemte

'l'hey are · related 1 ike ~ temple a'l.d its idol or .a church

and its ijoly-cross.Although in our consideration the

emphasize is M6~ much more on the philosophical front,

for it being the primary concern, but that ·wf. thout

ne]lecting the other(physical) aspect in any way.

· However,physical-coritents of a school like

buildings etc. v~ according to its financial and

ot:--.er resources. Particularly most schools in India·

(as well as of other poor coJndtries) are in appalling

conditions "'i th. very minimum resources .But there are Q

. also some schools everywhere,,.,..ho enjoy all sorts of>

faci~i ties .They are "mostly private-enqlish-soph!sti~>-.tr, \:.

cated schools ;.As there are· differences amon·'"J sch-ools

in lC"espect of _2menities ("Tlatertal) ,so there are also

d:lfferences in re·-~ard to their .E.t!H~phies .. Different. . ·, '

schools (especially private schools)

spirits (.philosophies) e, ·1. either a

-. , .· r . maintain different

...;-~! < '.:~t:''"t-· ' : religious ~6'ri:: ,., ..

pol! tical .or an et·-J.cal spirt t.Fut in the conmon parl­

ance any school aims at developing a chil~ ·into .a. -

sensible rational human being out· of -a pO:s.sible bru~eG

In this process, cultivation .of intellect and authority, ~ .

so far received the greatest priority e This because

', ,, .

lO~L.

that there is· a sense of ·palpability(material-growth)

in re,Jard to the results derived from -intellect etc.

Schools thus follow this trend(of intellectual purs~it)

arld consequently ·1ive birth to ~·l!f mlserahle men arid

women buffeted by contrad~ations of life ;'becatisei

thOU•1ht( intellect etc.), as it is; said eaJ;:l ier, essenti- · . '

ally.qenerates ·fragmentation, it :only ·helps to devel.op

a life of continuous calculation a'1d ·measure'nent,

a life of utili tarianissm and careerism etc. ', '.

A school primarily ls a collectiv.e perfor,man'ce . . ,...i .~4~-~ ~- ,; : .

of the parents; t~achers,students and the situ~t!·on~ ' ~ • • • • ' , •• : • o"i• ' 1 !t \\ I -. ; I •

Sttuaticin,thouqh belongs to a cif.fer~:mt .cate0ory and .

. seems to ~e inert, but it is a most. dynamic. living aria ruthless force.It ·can effe9t the· developr(ent .of a· .'· . . . . . . . . ..

i .• '

achool tremendously.Among the· other factors,the -~r~i:~.::·

sipation qf parents is one~which is minimQm partieul~

arl.y ;l.n most Iridian Schools .• Their assistance is · .. ~ :·

s.ouqht only at tl;e time of scarcity or .fn other words;, ..

to fill the Sbhool-:Ct)ffer .\'lhile close relationship~.;:

between the teachers a."1d the students· is either

heqlected or lost ·in the quaqmire ::>f pol f. t!(::s or of ·.

am'oi tions of. the most.

. ·! .

. :'::·\.··'

101

'fhe normal picture of a sc:ho'11 is., it is a

structure- hiJ or s~all,where·teachers are found

to be either frow3:ning or ca~eing .at the littl~;;\!1~--. .,: -~;· \~ N·, l-; •... ·

ones ; children carxy heapo of 1>ooks on their tiny

backs and ·long lessons for small.heads.But. the most'

dan 'lerous fall out of a school i~ the society is th9.

perpetra·cion of mis!nform~tion(p.artial or distorted

·information) and _indoctrioati.On of children thrQ'lJgh. ·

"curriculum, consciously. or unconsciously.This ts most

~lata1t .in r:egard to everyt'li.n<J of the Nation - its-

histo~;,politics,culture ·and so on.The Fascist Italy

and the Nazi Cermany we very good eYa-nples in

this connection.

Misinformation in schools lives rtse to

misapprehension of facts a-nonq students 'and that

produce hateful and jealous hearts .. In India(as also.'

in l'an.Jladesh and Pakista'l), there is. a deep rooted ,

·psycholo ;ical divicision ~etween two comr;~uniti.es -

Hindu .and. ~he M.Islim, which is nurtured carefully

in schools as well as in the society.

Today,achools _are mere cogs ilJ the social -~·

uheel.They become suppliers of the yes-men of· the

society ; they insist children constantly to put on ..

.. r.i 'tr'~> ~ 105.

th.t3 old shoes (to conform) of their fathe:rs.Schools

arr3 thus p1aying.effective roles of chanryinc; children's

li,re~i into "disciplined and dead(n_ot-creative) human

lei~ "teinqs.

KRI:SBNAi1URTI. CN SCHOOL :

'A school is a place of le.arninq and, so it is

sacred' .viewed Krishnamurti.And 'the purpose; the aim

and drive • of Krishnamurti-schools•• is· "to .equip the r · : . .

ch~.ld with the most excel1 ent 'technolo]ical: proficien;

cy· S·O that he may function With clarity a'1d efficiency

in ·the modern world~ and far more importa'1t to create

the rig'ht climate s·1 that the child ~nay develop full,y

· as ~ ..5:.9~e!~!:~ l.l~~a.E! "b~l_I!_2 11

98 .. ·A CO\ilplete human heinq :

implies a harmCY.lious dm:relopment of b()dy~mind and he~t;

1 t implies • awakening of in·telJ 1(.-rence'' in an individucll ~

That intelli<:ence the 'uttl tse knowled---:e• .Krts'··mamul::-

ti never 11el i tt·led the importance of i:·1tellectual

train i.ng in his schools {computer-learn in 1 is not unknc:Mn Q

in Krishnamurti-schools), thou Jh his pr.tnciple concern

w.as .. ' t.o 'brinr; ab:'JUt the eYcellence of spirit'.

-·--------·-·----------**T'he:;;.·e are eil)ht;.l<rishnamurti schools in different parts

of the world. ~.ncluding five in India 1 The ·.num'-,ers ·are rapidly rising • ...;.. A.

·., ;_ ...

lOB

Kri:shnamurti .in· his life ·t:ime was ·committed·

'to c.t·eate the right climate' in his schoolsaThis. ,. . .

'right climate' consists ·both the physical and

philosophical aspects· .In him the physical aspcet

like structures ,trees and birds, the total. environ-· : . . .

ment bears a great meanlng in the philosophy behind:. . I

a sch:nl. For it is the eny.!~onment tha:t Jives

meariin·1 ·and content to the. philosophy.Once Krishna-: :,

murti was asked, -

"What he would do to create a school that wculd

reflect his teachings ?"

He ~swered, "Fi:r~t. of all ther~ has to be \ ~ atmosphere of ~mne 1sity.The feeling that I :an

enteringa .te:nple.There must be· reauty,space! . . . . . i

quietness,dignity.There must l1e sense of alto-, . . \

aetherness in the st.udent and. teactrer ; a state .J • • ~

of floration, a sense of flowering; a feeling of. . .

extra ordinarY sacredne~s.'rhere must he trutl;l..;

fulness, fearlessness .. The child must· put his· ' . . . . . .

• ' j ~ '

hands to the earth, ther~ -must be in. him!' ,ac..- . . ' : 1<~fii ' \} ;f'i<~, ..

· .quality. of otherness ."etc. 99 __ : · ' /.'' ··. >· But. how 't;:o create this· atmosphere concretely .?

. '•

Krishnamurti responded, ~ . ; .

. 11 I. ~oul.d qo into.,tn~~. wa~ .of. teachitHJ• the qualitY of ~rttentioo; ;·. . · · ·,:

··.; :'·:·:

. .

I I would enquire . how to. teach the child to' . ,·

learn wi thotit memory. Seiner predominant. I would

.' ·.

' .. "

~': ·; ..

talk aDout attention and not concentration,!

would '10 into the way the child sleeps, hi_s

food,the games he p!ays,t·1e furnit.-ure in his

room:I would see that the child is attentive

to t~e'tr~s,the btrds,the spaces wnich are

around him. I would seeF that he grows in an

a1:moEphere of ~ttention." lQ>o

1'07.

Ther.efore,Eio'ht climate in a. schoo1 involves an atrros­

phere of total-development,physical as well as ~sycho-

logical, of a child. Physical development in re~rard to.; i, 1

sensitivity a:1.d ·soundness of health ; psyc~olo:"Jic~l1- .

. . ~ . . . ! 1,:·; { : . I

de'ITeloprnent in re 1ard to a mind which can .r,>erfecit~y.,,.'' . - .

reason and a .heart which feels .so, ~ishnarrrurti alwavs ·

fp.vours s;nall E, resid.entlal. schools for that· can

effectively carry on the work of :total-development~-. '- '

of a child.

• School comes . forrn the creek word· for leisure, ..

lei.sure .in which ·to learn,a place where students an::1

teachers csm flower,. 'a place where a future qeneratian

can be prepared, ':-)ecause sc110ols ar~ meant for t':~at' •]ot::··

Krishn a'T!urtl _talks a:')out this idea~ School as· a place,.

1 for leisure • always has a sense of freedom and happi-

ness ·in it. It. has also a sense· of creation ( • creative

lets:u:re'),.discovery and enrichment of the quality of

life.Krishnamurti had. aeep affection for these ·meanin qs

108 ;,

of •school'.He once said to the children, •• ••• You a:re,

at school with t'his responsibility· to study.-;to learn~:. . ; • -.. ' ,"~: /1 _·; •.• I '. ,·

to act" • 102 'To study' is to hav~ .knowledqe: of.,,~,~~::,~:~.·.·

facts ~it i~plies aceumulation and certa·~·n :i!lt~il~ct~ · ual attainments.But .•to learn1~ · fs more than :~atl-)erlng

of informatloru·it is the ··~ntral .. fa:ct• ·o~·,~~iSh~anuttt·-. . '. ' .. ' . . . . .• .

. schools.r.earn:ing implies· total ·,response(attentlon) of.. . . . . .

·~ individual, inwardly· and out~ardly .Here ·~we are not'.

talkin<J of learning aboo t sorrething, but ~h~~i ty 'o£ ;· .. ~

~ _!Liin~-th~~ 'is_will ii}Sl t~ learn·~, 103 mai~tains Krish-1

na.rnurti .Lear'1ing is a co~tinuous process without any · ...

division(limitation);it matters little who teaches and.

who is. tauqht ·when lear ·1in':1 is concerned .. It is by

natu.re ti.meless and beyond any measurenent,,!:>ecause

the sense·of time etc. obstruct the quality of·mind .

. that, learns .Right action will necessarily follow,.thinJag ..

Krishnamurti,where .ther~ iS studyand perfe.ct le.arnin'¥ · ' I. ' .

(looking and 1 is ten ing .included). Krishnamurti;;..schools:

are supposed to .he the ce ·1tres of :learning, for it seerts

that:·they(Krishnamurti-schools). giv~ more :value to ; . . . ' . . .

the process of learning. then to other suparf1cials •.. ' .. . .

,.

Krishnamurti also hoped that· these ·ae ·entresr'i ;·

'-' .. ' ··.

.of education (schools) must also ':t"telp the student.-,anc;i ..

1 O~J

. . ~ ;

~ '! : .. • ••

·, ,!.

) ..., ....

the educator to fl:ower naturally' 104 . arid .. afso ito ,.

. ''

fl,ower in •jOOOness 1. ··lOS Tl)ese require fre~dom in

,movement arid. creativity : tp .'collJ9' directly~:in .. t~cl1. :··.·· '., '. '

. with the Nattire(trees:birds,hi~1ocks) and· with one-··. I .

.. s~lf.It requires a ·d~stinct environrrent• and Krisbria- :.

murti made it clear in the ~ell owtng words : " ••• in

our schools C:uiy form of coercion,threat,anger must '

he totally and completely avoided for. all these

llarden the heart and mind,a'ld affection cannQt co-exist·~

with cruelty" •105 These schools therefore ·have no

·,prejudices 'but only has a vision of humanity beyond . ~.

superficiality.This however refers to·brinqing

about· "·A profound ·trapsformatfon in human beings" ;· . ' ; ;

"A n~w gener.ation with ·~·-.new. 0\itlook,with C!l. new< sense '··

: of being citizens of the· world, concemed with all the

·· living thin·'JS of .thi.s world." It refers to "Building ·

a .school with no walls" ,not creating a closed-conrnu-

Q niey among themselves.These schools have a humane anc}

gl<;>bal. perspective': ••That iS why he(Krfshnamurti). •·•'

. told us .. to feed the poor~ to 'bu~ld s6)1oo1s f~r them , ,,

tQ: plCl,I'l.t trees in the valley,to convert lands into /

. o*'chards, to. teach our students that land was not

pr:operty",wr:ltes. Radhika 't1erz":>er1er of Rishi valley

school •

. ' ' .

I;) '.

/

'i

. : ,:

However a huqe school~ with· innumerable problems ' ' '

may be diff"i-cul t to run, so I<rishnaiJUrti • s pr~ference

for small schools- with.limited number of boys and'

girls,witb right educators and plenty ·of leisure for . . ~

. . '

self-discoVery is ·obvious .Children need to be totally:

. developed, and so each~ of them demands pa_rticular 'care;~: '

and a_ttention~Big schools. cannot :tlelp .this. _process J i;t ·

obstructs close relationship between ·students and

educators. "OUr schools • ,.says Krishnarm.Irti,_Qbecons

the children's home and.the ·educators_ become· the parehts . .

,· with. all the responsibility.n.107 Hence. he(Krishnamurt·f) '. aluays proposed residential ·schools~In actuality

.. I. Krishnamurit schoe>ls: a:re big. in. size. and with number,:~:;,;'

. ~

' where students. have pressure of the course,of e~minar

tiona, of career. building and so on.

:. · -There. is a clear picture of what Krishnanurti-! Q

sc}:lopls stand for in one of .the KFI-Book~ets .It says,;>:

"some. of the important features of the educational

philosophy. of the Foundation 1 s schools are : ·

_;'1.

( 1) to educate the total ~man belng · J .

(2) to inculcate a love for nature, and respect';

for all ·forms. of life : · . ~ ·.·· -,·::-:

( 3) t'o create .. an atmosphere,' of love, order{firi~.· ;· . ' . . . . . . _,.. \ I ..

freedom without. either 'fear. or•. license: I . ;: j .

' (4) n~t to condition the ch:ild: ~t~cinJly ~ri ~y·:_: . .. ·· ·'' .. · · : :particul~ beli~f~ei·ther reii~iou~, p~li tical ...

i_:.

·.or sobial ,'SO that' his. mind may "i,e fref3 tb. -·~:: ,' ~ .·. . aslf · f~ndamehtal '~estlona., lnqu~i~:· ~d ie~#t:~;:·.

• -·1 '

.. '\ (5) to te'a.ch withOut the. motive of reward; punish~ ment or comparison."lOB

"111

In brief,Krishrianurti~s'chools represent. an

2~2f livinq,~which isholistic~It 1~ the~·greatest

art ~ Krishnarrurti says,it is 'greater thari all things

that human beings have created, ••• It is :only throu:ftt .. · ~ . ~

this 'art of living that a new culture 'cari eome'·into. i I .

being."loo The culture ·of -living tot~lly. and living I· ' with everything. 1

Observation : .. :l .·· ----. '

Krishnamurti is true put esoteric.When he

spoke about the prejudices. and limitations of

various schools he seems to be true.He is quite ' .

lo·Jical and .qonvincing when the imp.ortance of. goodness

an9, fla~ering e:tc.; are mentioned, but after taking.

stock of the actual(present) situation or his '

sct;1ool·s those words (like 00odness,JHJ'f ·new generatica-

etc •. ) seem ,to be unreal and nea1ingless.Presu!l1ably,

today there is no more creative leisure .. in K·rish---- -:,· . ·'1.

namurti-schools ~because the· .heavy burden'. of.-'. . . ' . ·,. ~ .

sy.llabus - ori the teachers'. to c~~r and ·,~~::.~he .'!' ·( ; ,' .·~. students to prep~e,betray~ ·~h~ ver;y ·-~~~s~ .ol leisu.teJ

' ' ' .

It leaves very littl~ room. for ·one's seff,..discove:ty :.. . . 'I . ' . ~' :. ·. t.'. :~ .... (· ':'

and creative~livinci. :Kr:i shna,wrti: hirnself~:efq,ress~d:.: ,-·." 1•

' :.~ ·1 .' • '::: .· • r' ).,·_'/{.;:!:_'.= >;•. . ... ,. ::- ~ •••

,• . ··.! :

',J'.

: ;, . ·'' 112 ~.' ·.

words of frustrati.on in many 6ccass ions on. the out..;.;·

corte of his schools.While· shdwin•J anxiety· q.je:r the· .. ! .. . . •, ....

cLctual situation of these. tWo schools(Rishi valley,.

SJchool & the RaJ ghat school} ~Krishnamurti 'mce said,·

. 111 I feel that the flowering,after all. these years,ls, .

stili not takin·1 place" • 110 Nevertheless, "A proper

understandi~g of Krishnamur~i . schools can only be

·possible when both- ideals like ,rnuta.tioo,gcndness, !.· . . . • l • . . ~

floweFing etc.and the actualities like_ conditioos , , .

and -limitat.i.oos of mind as well as of ·practical situa-! .

tion etc. are seen together ~d there':>y .perfectly

blended",comrrented. a philos()pher*,.,~ho has.:long beeri' ' i

\ . in rtouch with Krishnamurti t~achings •. '!: ·/ ··, ..

The Rishl ·valley school, and the. R~j qhat ·s chooi,

b.?th ::-.ave 'most beautiful natural Emvirerunent •. . .

A! :'·ri'g}?.t cli~.te I . for. eguca:U·~ .Rishi•Ya.i).~y .1~( ~11 · ... . ' . : . ' • . \ ,~ ' • ~ ' . ·: ! . .. ' • , .• ' ·~:·. : .... ' . . ' ;, ); :;:.:: :.

of trees with larid.'ups' an:d dawns:surrounded by' sm~11:·i···-• " ' • ,· ' I ' ' ' . ' •

:•'.

&:t·r,ocky ·llil~ls 11Far :£rom the: ·~adding crOwd t t. has ,a'. ! ' 1 • . •• • ••

special· beauty . and cal;mness.At tbe backdrop qf ·the

old: flawing Ganges and the daily activit.ies of the .

fishermen on their small,dlngies(bpats)~the Rajgnat '!.'

school has altogether a ·different appeal.The ~chool .

i:tself has a sprawling 300 acres of 1 and ful~ of · _________ ..:_ __ ·..:...· ..... ......_.__-·--**~Philosopher J reference is made to [)r.Hans Herzher-

ger. '«\

.· '1, .

. :<

.11a

big trees and gardens.There is a ~eathe;'of freedom

and affection in everything ·of these scnoolf.The' ·

schaols also care for the mental,emotional and the

physical developments of the·child.Children can

satisfy the~.r thirst for kn6wledg~· wi th(J·1;,he help . . . . .. . r

of their teachers· and with:tb9 ·libracy .. Advanced lol ' : 1 :·• >, ,.,,

students ~e . also encoura,Jed to do· various socio-• • '. •" 0 •

: · .. ··· :·.

..

economic projects ·thems'el'ves,they are. also 'inspire(!·; • : • : • • ' • ': • •-.: • ' • ~ • • • • ' 0' : ••

to join .in vari9us discus's!o~~ bn ·a,~is.tenti:ai iss\ie.s:~·~·:;. • ' • : •• ••• • ; •• 1 • •• ••••

(~oncerniriq life)•Chiidr~n ,you~g and old., are encOUJ:"~ ..

· a,jed to become sensit-ive to their naturalsurroun¢Iing~ .

- the sunrise,the ~ sunset and so on.They ca1

also plant trees,make gardens themselves. ~o cult!-

vate esthetic-sense as well as the sense of music, l . . . i there are Art & craft~classes and also classes for

music.Students in these sch':)Ols congregate in daily

hSSemblies, OCCassionally play dramas and perform

musical pro:Jra·mres the:mselves.There are alSO ~ar,.range_:;

1~nts. for di.fferent J~unes &. sport's in the '~ami'Wi,a~:id :, . ' . : . . .. - . . . . (

studentS car1 make .th~ms.elves :physical,y £Jt. · . ;

Yet ~ishnamurti~schoo'ls .·are:·~ot problem-frree•! ' • . ·; !•

Th~ have their own sets.of problems~There are always

scarcities-of funds for the school,of right and ti i . . . . ... . . . !

·.· . . ' '. ~ . . ·,

' '. ·': .. ~~· ' .

. ~ ·' ': ~

'114 . f '. ··;;·

.!

. .

aedicated teachers (also of underst~dabl~-~-p~en~J-~ < •• ' .;_·. • ,', • , '· ••· '<• , ' ' 'I, .

childre~,there,.as well ~~ any~h6re. are' es·~~~~i·~l.ly·, . '. • • ' ' ~ • ; J .. ' ' ' ' • ' > '

· tt,u3 sanei;they have :their ·o-wn ·wOrld of mischie£-makingJ \ . . . . . . ...

that too sometimes cx;eate problem.Further that"t;oday,

when the weather of the next door is suffi~iently

vitiated by corruption,that obviou~ly effects

' . . ~

Krishnamurti-schools too.

Also there are signs of Jathering starm,wi-th

some dissatisfied teachers on pay· inj usttces~-J ob­

insecuri ty and above all with the pouring "'in of , . • J

new teachers who are f!Ot accustomed with o~:-.h:ave l.·it~le .. ,., . \ '

love for Krishnanurt~ 's teachirtgs.All these: forces. j: stil,1ularly ·or·. in ·coliect:~·on ~·s~metime~ ·rr~~erat~-·~:itt~E'- .•

' • ' I . • • • J

, ' '

ness. in the.·who1e atmosphere. of ·the schoc:~ls.They are indeed the shades of darkness on the ; 11 centrE!s' of light".

:;- ;l Yet amidst it a~l studentS in Kfishriamurti~ · i

s¢hools daily qath~r iri the morn itFJ-aBSemblies 11 chcnt ·' .· ....

Rg-Vedic: hymns,sit under tre~s,even dare· to presexile ),.

·snakes in the campus(at Rishi valley)· JThey look _at

the setting sun,the evening sky,sin0 chorus on the

rocky valley.Unlike many other schools,students

th~r~ :learn to live in conl:nuq,ion with the nature •

. '•' ..

. . )

•• t.' !,'

q

Chapter .8

P~~_l!~-~ACJiE.E2

- The rLrbt kind of education heg-ins with the " educator;who must understand himself a~d he

free from estah~i.shed patterns of thought: for

what· he is,that he i'?Parts~ 111 - J.-~tshfiamurti •. ·

'' ' .

... . .. As Charity beqins at hOme, S() does the educat:i.oo.

•, .•

A child starts learning from the lap of his. mother.I~

other wards,learning a~tually ·begins in the atmospheri!'

of the house where child is born J this. atmosphere takes

into-acc~nt not only the i~fluence of the parents hut

also of the other· family menjbers a~d of the existing . Q

situation,eco':1otnic or.so~OVer and ~have th~t" a.chi~d . .

normall:y inherits(·;renetically) the .p6yc:ho-physical ~: .. '; .. , i),

tendencies of his parents: These tendenc.ies in"clude,

among other thin1s,varia.1s dreams and desires of the

parents as well as .~heir point, of ·v:iews. ·:. · • f<.

After ·this crawling(Iriitlal-l st~Je ·of educatiai ·· . . . ' ' . . ' ' '

a child is ·sent to· school to be· effected ~ostly by · · . ·

the,ii: teachers and the school envircnrrientoTh~y(~aachers~ . . ' ' . ' . '.· . ·~ . . . . .. . .. ·. '

·etc.) open up. a floodgate of :Ci'l11agination for·· the childl:e n. ' ·. ·. ,' . . .:; .. ' .··· -. ·: ... .. .

1 ~ • '· • -;~ ' •• '" ·; • ' • ' • •• • •

and. they start cre:atil;lg an·d. .movinrr on marry. ~ ~.onderl~··.

llB·· !, .

; ~ '

' . : . .

Gr~dually a child· dev~lops into a man,(sometimes. as

'a scientist, anll' engineer ;or. an admini'strator) 'and •. ,&

start expressinq his,so cal~ed,own-vfews.But at the,·

back· of his brain{thou·Jht) there is,in m0st cases,

the silent presence of the influence of his family

or: his ~arents or of his teachers .. Each of our minds

- subconscious 'part and theQ conscious part - .. is. fuli .

of such, influences·.The paret1ts arrtd the ·teachers, ; · :' · . • 0 ' ' • . . . .

\~ho mostly influence the ndnd of. the child, cdns.ttt--; f; . . ' .

ute the real educct.tor-class.so.the!r. activities and

importance (in education) need' t.o he very. carefully ·,

understo.:;d before ·launching: any St\ldy On. tpe SUbject . .• ; i

I •

i. of -.education J because "The res~onsibili,ty. fori .

b.uilding a peaceful and enlig~tened. soci:et.y .. rests · T , c'hiefly with the ed~cator .• " ~l2

··,,; . . . . . . l •

. : : . ~- ~. ·.

. . . -: ·- ,; . . . ~--- ~ -.t ... ,, j '

In the present· d'ay wor;Ld# corrmercialism has: . i ..

taken away:. airy: deeper. attitude towards life.It giv~sl

value to super~icial.i.ty. Education\' is not an e'<cei:>tioo - • : • • . f'

to .this process .As a ·matter ·of· fac,t, parents and .1 . . .

t~ache:ts, ~so· be cone contaminated' by .. this glObal

menace.The menace of competition,comparison,amh!tlon

' .:

.117

; (

.. · and so on.Parents ·now feel free from responsihility

Ju$t hy s.ending their kids to a rrood ~chool J teache~s

in the school are similarly satisfied by teaching . \

certain prescribed lessons to their ~tudents. ',i ..

-.·\

However 1 t is clear tha~ . the. bond b~twef3~ · th~

parents" and their c;1ildren ·is· natural and :yery .deep .. ~.

It can be· called. as psycho-bioloqlcal ·relationship. _ .. !

But the nature of this bond(relat:ionship);: i~ foond. . .< .. _·,

to be moot· ego-centric.'children now, are mere t·ools .... ' ·. . ., ...,_ . : . . . ' ·'

of their pare:1ts • . • own ~lfllmen'\: and. enjoynent.' ·•:113 Parents • love :~o the'ir chil4ren is: a trere 'form of. ·

possessive s~lf pity' ,which is not love without

interest .• ,.If parents love their c~ildren·•,observes ' . ~ . . .

Krishnamurti, ~t~1ey will·:not be riatfonalistic" .... they'i ;, ·

wi.ll not belong to any organized reli 1ion. ; ••• they

will do away. with envy and strife,and wili set aboot

al terin~r fundamenta:lly the structure r.>f present day !

. society. " 114 However .P~ents act on 'the con:trary, . '

. ' . . . . . . (, .

they prefer that their child. should' become· b.rill tan~ ·. . '! .. ·. . ' . ]· ' . ,_ . ' ' •.. -

m~st obediept,cmd ··a 9~d· careerist .. A rebell.totis an,d l i ..

an uncompromising chiid is ,always a headache for the(·

parents.They(p.arerits) express the qoods and hads of:;" • ;~ r.l• ,. ~ ,·

tl:i~ .·childrerl. only in ~erms of the known values .Pai~ts, ' ; .

~ < ', I

·.' -;. ,;

! ·.

1.1!8'·

..

. ·,;·: ·:·-;:;. __

haye r:to • ffeedom fr~in ·the·:,la}~ • ,.no ~room:'for a~rec!a.:~ ting the uni~e1:"'ss, ~f a ~~~~~- .· . . ... ·· Y i,' : .... :. ' >i\ '

Ne,ct to· p~nts·. teachers~· have a:· g.reat influence

in child • s wholta development •• s'Ometimes it is greater··

than their parents, because their influence acts on

the most formative period of a child,when their faculty . ' . . ~ . - .

of. reasoning is ·Jrowing.But when the teachers :share

the psycholonr oi; the, society - of competitton etc.,

they naturally projuce the same fleece out of human

child.

Parents arid teachers therefore have enormaus .. 1

responsibility to prOduce a new:...!eneration .. But ai. .i · · ' . ---~--- .. · .. ·· .. • l-

prt=~sen t they<' mu.s l:; understand the danger of the' present:: ..

<;Jri:>wj.:h;. of. th~ so,piety ~d the absolute ·necess-ity of a.\

different kind, of education for a different ~tnd of·,.

li,fe ~so "The. problem .... is not the cbild;.b~t the' · >.': ' ·- . ,_ - .

. ."-

parent and the teacher ; the problem .is t<? ~ducate ·the·:

edu,cator"•l15 'because the educato~ is already set, ·; . . . . ..

fi.~:ed. He merely functions in a routine. ' '

Riqht Education & Riqht Educators 1 ------~----------·-

, , 11 The word right',says «rishnamurti.•.J.s not. a

matter of opinion~ev~luation or sofne. comeept hivented!

by; :the· i~tellect .. The· word risrht · df.motes ~tal ac~ ·

''· ... · '' l

';I.

11B

·il'!:..~l!~ch_~tJ!~lf 1ri!erest!2~~~ ~~se~' .. "116 so

right educat-ion l~ads to self understanding and . ~-

·".

ri Jht educato~ts are only those who understand their . . . . ,

... ' • < ·, •

se1 ve's or ·at least have realized the · apsolute . '

'

neceSE!ity 'of understandin~ .the nature Of thf;l ·acti-\r'itleS. ' '·

·of the self.This demands very ~erious_ type. ·of persons.

and they naturally are very 1 rar~• ~

Nevertheless, ri·Jht parents concerri _really .

for their child.They see their children as En(!!.·

and never as M:!a.,s .Real loVe of ~arent.s implies .! .

that "They will. employ legislation· .and other means

to establish small schools staffed with the·ril'ht ·

klt1d of educators" • 117 Ri9ht parents are concerned ,

for the h2E~ines~ of thei': children.They_encourage ' . . Q ,'

. their kids to ~p(pursue) in educ~~i6n w}:'\at .they . '. . ' '

actually ·l~e~Q_do:Ri:ht parents thu~ help their

child to flC>\ote;" in. themselves - ~Res inwardly as wel.l'·:y .. ;,

as outwardly.This does not of c~rse: mean that

· chi;t.dren ar~. qiven freedom to destroy the~el ves •. · · 1

For one cannot ;destroy onesel,f, it is sai'd~limen <?£18; • ! • •• ~ •

i~ ,in perfept freedQm ana. lave.Dismay ai;t'.d t;lisi~tegr,-.t ; ·. . . . . I

a~i·on in a 'child(in a man) is only an outcone "of. the

oos~ru-ctiOJ:l cr:eatea. on t~ p'atur<3r1 .flow of· lova.:ana: L ... ·.: .*"- . ~ . :. ·, ' >. : .... ~. ' :..,:

,•: '.· · ...

i,.

'·' . '.

12: . 0 ' ·:;'

. i .:·,

interest ·out of hirn.Right parents therefore w~t that

• thei·r· children. should be iri tqelr true ,selves -~•· and so.:.· .

they(parents) help this proces-s thr<:Aigh i:-i'Jht:..teachers·

and right. education.

R~1ht parents also rnean,they shr>uld not transm-

it their mind,. their tensions to their c'1ilc'lrenJ including

that they shou'ld not pressurize their children to ' . ' . .

Q ' conf<irm to the social ha~)its,. custo~ arrd rrioralitv.

"1-i . :!i • .

This .also means that. parents will help right education i · : . r. .. · . ··:,I .'1 . ' by c00perat~ng with the teachers as well as· the· school.

authority. There needs to be a close contact between·

the school (teachers etc.) and the· parents ~:Pax::ents and ·_:

teachers mus-t; at least he in :the same wavelen·Jth in. 1

.. ·'1

regar,d to .their cni.ldren'• 8 educati.~n .~t.~tiha:mur# .. · . : ;i . . .. '·. '} ·.

repeated 'this point more than onee 'in his. tal~s... r[:. ;·-..

"The true teacher· ts·: irn~ardly rich.', say~ I<J;'lsh·•,'l • • . , •• L . ." .: :; , •· . ·.>, ·~.:~-~~·., ' .. ·,, ... ~: ~. ::·!_;

namurti, • ~•1d. t1'1.e~~ore: ,asks n:c)~hing· foL" himsE:JlfJ .te . i~-.:,i· ·.1,' .. '

rio'!·. ambittous and se~ks' no pOwer li! any forrri;he does . .

n·-~t· use teaching as a· ,eans of acquiring poai.tion or . authority, and therefore he is free from the compulsion':

of societ\r an<l the control of cJOVernme~ts. "llS ···'· "

A r1nnt. teac':~er 't7herefore ~teaches o~t of .loye and . ' .

not, .. out. 6£ any mo.tive.This is differ~nt from teachin9· ·

.. ... . \ ·~'

121

l;l

with a· drea.m( a motive) of chanc:ring the w?rld or so • . '

A deep. discontent with the present-values, a si.ncere .. 1ove: to live with the children and to discover one~elf

with' t!·1em, to help the children flower are certain.·

wishes of a true. teacher. This ·tra:i.t"however:cannot . . . - . '

·'\

' . . . . . . . . .

be estimated ·.in tiaD!l termS· of money and ·ambi.tiort"!' ' . '·

. . . . . . . ·:, . . . ' . -~ i; A riiotive always limits the procass;of·.·learn·i.ng/';.

for "Life is a constant process of teaching and· l·

,, )

learning . l

: to teach·. and to learn is not pos'slble i£:. .<-;·

there . is a m6tive, and. when '~e ·have a mcit.ive ,the. st;ate·:· • • • 1 • • • • •

•:

of teachirigEO and learnJng :ts·n_o~.poss'il1le."~~19 i r-·

A true teac~er feels . in· hi.m5elf an enormous

respohsihili ~ d'Jf bring in.) a new generatiOn, of changi;ng

. the world, of ·?ringing a new 'cul ture .. 'l'eaching therefore' . ~ .

. ~.'

• is .the greate'st professio~ in thee world., 120 maintains: .

Krishnarrurti .A true teache~ is "Deeply inv.olved with

the ::;f .. loweri_n'} of )human beings"', l21 of himself as well

as hi~ . s tudem ts • .....

··:,

Ii.!ore specifically, a true teacher li.ves , in close.,, . . '

contact with three things, ;,.... with h~mself~.with his

·. studen;ts,and with the parents 'of', the stud~nts,;;· .

. i. ··L.

l 'I

. ; ; A true. teacher Tm.ist understaridl· · himself, his o"Wn:

traits and ill habits, otherWise his· interest ·f.or teach-

ing may come out as an artificiaiity,ai1.es~~P$ o:r

•, ... . c.

,mere]F·· .. ,

. . ' . . . ; :: ~ '

; i -~ir

i· :·~-~.~·./'

. ~ .

··.' .; ..

a serttimental journey .A teacher who canje to suppress

.hirriSelf or to.~scap8 from the·'re!i~lity ox-•ju~t.'to ~~r;Tt., • • • • f • • • ,,· • • • : • . • • • _. ~-.:~ ~ ' ·.' ' . . : • • • • . '.

murti's views. '.t . '

Secondly,a true ·t~acher. always helps his .students

in the proce~s. 0f learning a'1d never. obstructs it.

Learn in 1 is t'he essence .of. true teacJ:tinr:r where· the · ... '

other differences. between 'the teachers a. ,d_ the students

·are ·merely ·secondacy.The dlf ferences of behavious e, ·"r .•

obedience and· the submission on the. part. of·, the students . · ..

and -.the dicatorial tendencey in teacher• s part also have

no deep value 'in lea):l'1ing.For . "Learning brin~;s .about

equality among human beiiigs" ~ 122

In ·ri·Jht .teach~ng both;· . . . . . . .... '

~teacher and the student· learris ·:to1ether1 (liscoyer '

toc;ether,because a true ·teacher always ·st.arts from· . . .

'L_don' t know i., This statement. is out of a deep_ underst-

~ndtiing .on .the -limitat!.on of knowled~~e,~nd, in the •:

nature;· of learning. ·

·' · :A true :.·teacher's relationshio with his students· ' ·.1 • •' • . ...

living, clos~ly .• In .them living and learn.ing T? tcnether.l ' .

As· one; of the .Krishnamurtt (Fo . .u1dati.on) s'chool-teachers':ce::-.

sees. it, ''Leariiing comes out :of living.And not the other.:·

way round.Now,lt aP")eaJ;"s that yoo leiarn ftrst and live·

i·t.

.. .. . ~·

123

later. It's a ridiculous -thing" • 123 In Krishnamurti­

schools;a teacher helps his students ."To live life

" now, so that· the student is all' the. t.i me living, and

. ·learning rut of living" .Teaching in close\ ·.relation- . ! . '

ship with stQdents(which is\actucHly the case ~n ,:

Krishnamurti-·schools) "tlakes \knowled•Je a matt,er of . 'I

enjoyment and. never a ~ burder.In .the weather of

learni.n~1 a··1d close relationship students· and teachers \ I,

hath can live i:1 constant enq•liry an4'. mutual cooper~~ .. 'i

'tion. This ca'1 c-nly brin1 al-;)out the real "Sign iftcan;-.

ce of l~fen.

Although it is sometimes felt that students

.,~.1)10 1 tke to l~ve a 1 ife of freedom and enquicy in

schools l11a.y. '10t perform will in evaminations,

,. '

because- •iFree· enq\liry a1dt;lpreparation. for i:!Yams"

may; not go t~fether .. But the actuch situation is

qu.Lt.e· d!fferent#as a teacher(of one of the !<-schools) . .

e-cperienced 1 t tn his own ·case. He finds that,·. ' . !

. cht).dren can very eas .. ily grasp. their lessons for

e··arns because ·.~Free enqulry"·: has· kept ~heir brains • ' o • : I' • ~ ~: . '• ' • ' ; • t •;

quite alive~- they: are not .bored a1d so :e:Ver-Y o·th&r'; I) • .. ' .... < '

~ . ', . "•'

i·, ~~ -~;\ <,' ~~ •

. '}.

thinJs. bec::orne· ve·ry simple. The teacher. therefore . ~; ·":-:; ·!~\ ~-~.' f,,. '

· p~_oposes, "Let :the child hav:e. ~s muqh ~~P,er1en c~ . as.: : .... . •' .

·., ·', ..

' ~ .

. . ·, ... ": ... . ,_. ;· .

'. L

124-

possible.Let him come -in contac'!= w:ith thin,Js.And

then,when you present the whole ptcture, like' thread-;-·. :. . ..

ing beads to.Jether t::» form a neckalace,lt falls into

place very easily ... 124 • » •

-"Truth is farmove important than _the teacher .. 1125 . .

a true teacher knows it•He has a passion for the

truth so he ·_j s related wfth hts students directly I;>

. . . .

a~ong .students in

relationShip me~s.no .. comnar.ison. : I • -

. . ~ . . ;

·t-:-1e line of '}ood and bad.A contact l and wholly.Direct

of wholeness implies a teacher's concern for the

total (intellectual, er:1ot.i.:·mal <md physical) deve1 op-:.

ment of a studen-t .. ~t also i'1volves:·~he Acad_emic, ..

the;Behaviotlral and Spiri_tuca.(FloWering ·of-goodness').!··: . ·. . . -- . - . ' :. :< ·, -.. - _: i

aspects of life; of students.This- total relationshtp;"i ' . . . . . '

is; founde(f on a' very different. and· deeper gJ::::Ju~, ·· ·. . . . !

, , ., . ' . . ... ·,I

'thiouJh, under~i:andinu ~-e: ~;?tal_ ~rocess_ ·~~. j~~e-~ :._12~;- "· 1 • • • ' • -

Hhen ~;oth teac·!ers' ancf paremts. underst~d .. ·.·.

the pettiness of ou-r present.livin ·r,and. wants. to

1-)rin,;; a. "Ne~,:, generation" of· human ·,:elngs., that is · the perfect situation for a ·right educat~on.A child.

is ·more dependent 0::1 his~Mr) parel)ts(pa:rt.lcularly f '

for subsister1ce. and security) than on his teachers.

Children •s d~pendence on their teachers are for

'.: •i ~-<•. ,,,

..' ' ~~- ., f' . ·, .; !'

.. . ,;~

...

i

I r:.

125

·information a1d wisdom.In education bo·th·teachers ci.nq, ,

parerllt~ must have a very good relationship- throu']h ·.·

cornrminicatio·n and trarlsfer of ideas and· urgencies .But~

when the two(parents & the teachers) go 1~. diff.erent

di.r.ections -.one· for 'radical .chan::;E;~' and the other

for ~careeri·,;then. education inevitablY· lee:ids to·

frustrati~.Kr:ishn~nurti says, ·~ •••• the· s~h.~l~r. ~d t~e ·. home s'1ould be joint centres of· right education,'and.

• • . ' ' • r

.should in no way. be ·opposed 1::o ~ach other,~ith. pci·~n.t$!·> . . . ' . . . : . . •.;' ~ .. : . . . . . ,, . :.:~. ', .

. c:les ign1 ng one thing anc;l the educator dcdn,Q so math log . ; '

en:t::irely differerit.•127. To meet."this_sitU~tion '·.

Krishnanurti-Foundation. c>ccasionaly arran1e meetings ,

of parents· and· teachers.The KFI - 'VASANTA VIHAR' (Madras) '. . ' .· - '

hi3-S> already stari:ed a newrtnitiative with a much wider ;

per:spective in the ~!]_for ~~9~tion, where

they occassionally ari:'C3!19e. discussions of. par~nts and : I.

_teachers·.along. wit'1 many other things. <·-_:, :

,~. Haweve·r tt is always true that "A tot~ devel-;-.

opmen;t of the child. ,which is. the 'i)asic of. riqht edUO..:.· \ .. \ ' . . . . -: ·' . . . ' ' .1·.:,

ati()Il, 1 can·. 'l)e, hrO\lght about only When th~~e iS .the · ·.\ .

right\ relationship between that teacher,the student

··and the parents. 11

128

. ;

·- ' ~ . ~ 1'

~ : .. ' . ; :.

. Observations a __ .....__ ____ _ .·

· .. :· .-·· .

:1 n f" •· Gt)

'. ' .. -·

Oqce. KrishnamJrti. has·: dra~>a picture .. of a. · ..... : , ... · · . \•' -: ·' . . . . . '.' ..

·, ~. /

right teacher(educator). in. the followinSJ manner 3.

~"Trhe educator is concerned only with right living,_

ri'Jht educaation; and right means of 1 ivelihood" • 129

This i~,it 'seems,asking too rruch out of a man,which

'.

a1: a point l.osses all sense of real! ty( actual! ty) • . ' . 1 <1 • • • ~

Furthermore, 'riqht' means no-motive,but any . . . -

institution whether of Kris~amurti- or of. anyother~ ... ' . i' -~

only exists with a .certain moti.ve.The . ''FlO!"ering of qoodness" ·in· Krishnamurti-schools may als.o be· cal·led

I . .

. a.S _.a motive •. J. ' . . • • ••.• _ .•• -·

In Krishnamurti,ther~. is an _outrigt\t:d.enial

\ ; .

of 'Guru-sisy~ parampara' of: In¢li1an religio;,.;cultur~l~

:··trend in educa:tion.This .seems to b~ an under estima- ~ tfon ~of that long and s.ornetimes ve~ rich trci.di tion. I

l .·(

I . •. . ·.. . .. • However the real' sense. of denial i~,·a man(Guru)

cannot be a liberator of another(sisyal .,A. Guru or

I i.

tea.cher can ooly be a: good guide, a goQd helper like a) · . . . . . .

si1n-board which: shows a rfght directton.As Krishnarp.:..; i .

urti ·:sees it, ,,"[A· true te_ach~r never qivesJ ·he e,rpla~ns, :,

he :;points t;~ :way. If a person of 1 i ttle understen din~r · . Q . .

stc)ps_ and worships at the shrine or a si?npost~ he ~ ' I

. wil:l :remain there f~r~ many lives until _suffering urges:

:::;:

.~.: \

,., ,~·.

. ·'(,,

. .

him oriwar:d. n130

· Particiularly in regard .t') the. exis'ten-

tial.·issues of life· a tnan(or a child) himself is both

·a ]Uru and a'. s~.sya- a light unto himself. For he albne "'

can ·.• rightly answer for himself 1 others • answe1;s are in . . .

no-way enliJhten· him.Furthermore.,tn caseof.teaching~

the subj'ect matter is .alw~ys important ratber tha:p. the} · :,_ . ~

teache.r 1 a teacher has :Jot only a secondary value M

·and·· not the fundarnental value in right· education..

There may be a po1 nt in crl tic ising Krishnamurti

• in re:jard to his. i]norin:J of the importcince o~. C()mpar,i~

sion; competition or ambition etc. 1 in OUJ;" daily life • j.

. ' . ! . . . . For comparisi·on or .so,.is i nporta~t in .our daily

behaviours wh:ich'·comprise the world1 of technolOQY, oe:,:;;!; ···· . ~ : . . . ' . '

cornrnerce etc ,J ~Jain amhi tion is a drJJtving force that, !

leads·:· one to ·~·very great hei Jht of. achieve.ment. It Q

( ambiition') · supplies the basic energy for. ali that. tougij_!

j'ou:tney.A human become's a superman(of strength and . ; . . . !

cour·age) in .this process. However th~ sense of. Krishna- •

murti (.criticising co.llparision etc.): will be 6ette r

und~rstood when their effects· are seen on ~a ·global · .J

... '. ~

perspective.Co:nparision & conpetitipn estabii:shed. in •.· _ . . · · : . : . . . · ·. ~: i r~~ ~- . . . · :·

.human psycbolorjy have so far made mankind.:riari:ow .. and,·.! .. .. . . . . ~f: ' .

. -~~ ~· ~ .. . .

fra<J.rpepted~s.o· :when total..;.living is concerned;.qonparison· •,. ~.,: . ' .

·.· ..

seem t9 hav·e CHl,ly ~ . i ' . .·•· '.;r;y;}·

~J. . .·. ... ! ··i---.; u ~ . } ' ..

. . -~~' •'

"128

··~.'

secondary and partial importance.The.possi":>llity of

·misunderstanding KrishnartUrti•~ views thus is always '' - .· . . . ..

th~re,unless: a diffe'rent outlook is developed .. · ....

The equation of relatic;mship among· the parents, :

teachers and t";-)~ students is . a c:ioinple~ phenomena. It., . ( . . .

involves ·many thip·Js whi.ch cannot be solved only by -

words- through discussions ·or dialogues.t.earnin·-r which . . l

involves 'the Jreat importan~e of facing a ·fact,the ! .

. . '

actual,the. now', ts .the. e~sence of riqht edu~ation :

if that. is unders't.OOd by the parents and teachers,t~en:

other· differences of opi ·1ions a'1d aspirations will . ' ..

r;radually suhside.Then they can really fee.l resoonsi"'lle - . "!

for .:their children .But when one .sta,rt.s. c:;:ons:.ideri"ng

education: from the s.tandpoint c)£ .Pai-ents 9n1; ~or. of. a.· f.: . ' ·. . . ' . . : : ,. . ·. ' ·. ' . . . : : . . . .. ;· ' ' .. ~· . ' . . . ' · ... · ' ,; teacher with "their respective idJ,.osync:iracies" theri · pe:i:hi;lps . . . . '

one .can never,· reach the. otl1er.The .passion for · ,, _.,;

. . . . . ,· I ..

right· education ac't\ially ·starts out·. of an:· insight .• . '- '>j :, '. :,.·. .. . --~.___. .. T}le::insight that ; .we ·'become ·~ec6nd' harid human beings '

' .. : . ,.,_

. ' . it;1: the process • This(tns:i·Jht) .is followed by a. resolve

on; ou:;; part tohelp children to' live their lives· totally ·

and· completely• ·

To work together,· parents and. teachers nust ·~ . '

have.that insight.

..

r· .

'!"

' .. '

'j.

I. •

Chapter 9·

.J:

. S~~~~IN9.Q~!i«"7qRE &. KRIS!i~AMu_B!f

·.Qii_EDUCA!fON- ~ Cm1PAR~!!.~~~Q~

SRI AUROO INDO : -·------ ( 187 3 - 1950) ·, \.

I • ,1,

the·. only' true education will be that. which wi:l.i .

. be. an instrurriE:mt' for this re~l working_ of'· the.: ...

spirit in the mind· and pody of the .. individual .. . J. ' . . - ' ' . . . . • '; ........ · .•.•..• - • ~

and th~:·natio#,~l~i·~~:sri·. Aurobindo·;_: · . . . . · . .; . . . ,• . ' ~ . .

k

. ~ ./

. ' ·I '.

I '.·

Sri AUrobindo' s education is basically rootf;!d·

irt spirituality·.As he. be,lieves ·th~t there· is an under­j

eurrent of spirituality-behind every thi~g animate l!l"1 . I

.. ! a.~d inanimate things. Man being so far the- most perfect'

. . 'I '· . i ·.

creation of nature, and very near to its tiwn. [? asic . . . ·'

' ·-·~

nature of· sp~r~tuality,which he is destined to attain '··

today or tomor~ow.Sr:l: Aurobindo's educatf.on· ·is a ... ,tL : .. . . ,. ·.".

constant. thrust towards . that .··:Joal·, toe · Ollly · des·~iny. ·1:. ', .. :. . ' . · .. · '; . '. . . ,· ·, .. : . . . :· :·_ '. >i.}~:lJ··.

of mankind~ and so it·. is found that his ed'i.Jci;ition is ·

almed at developing man in everyway . •a All that is in'

· .. •

•,.,

.·. ·, .

. . . j'

the individual. man"~ so that. man can ·stand ~·that . . . .• -

. -spirituality g:enuin~ly .And. this. ·."Spiri tui\l.ityi., ·• ·· ·>

. . . .

defines Sri ~u~·ohindo,_ 'is the control of life by··.

the spirit" • 132

Sri Aurobindo'·s philosophy of educatiOn is

an obvious aitc:oroo ()f his metaphysics and so

' '

certain relevant poiritsi from hi~ ~taphysics. may· i .

. be cited to Jive a real perspcective of his .view on<· education.Sri Aurobindo.believes that,- j·

I

··, J,

i . . . I

The Brahman or the Absolute real! ty involves · . . . ~

and. evolves in the creation ; ! · . .Man . so far is the highest form in.· this creative

~ . . . . . .

evolutionary process 1 · 1 •

He is destined to ooriome ~upel;'man ~the end· of·.:

the, evolutionary' l~~ney ; . !

superman or the supram~ntal. being. is all

freedom,,_all enlightenment,ali wisdom,it is the

; ; essence .'of man etc.·

·4 Sri' Aurohindo's life task is to unfold this_ mirstery .

~

of creation in himself as well as to hasten this \ '

' I I.

pro.cess in human_! ty ~Education. to, hirn is .an important.

step in· this direction.

Thus man is seen by Sri Aurobindo in a very

wide. perspe~tiv~,with enormous pote·1tla~i ties, wi. th I

. ; •. '.: . 'll. . •.

e:<treme optimism • For him;,man at· present 1·s in the ...

' i

,· ... .. ~· :

i .

. ) .

·'

..

131 .. ·

·t

f

transition period,9radually upqradin4 from lower to

hi'qher con·sclousness.He· therefore gave education 'the

ta'sk- of br,inging out(educe=to bring out) ~he inner

truth, be·auty a1d goodness of man. His invoca~ion ~o . .

. spirituality in- education sho~ld be seen ·in quite . . .

contrast with the. ordinary belief in datly worship~ ' . ' . : .

ing,of chanting mahtras~of fasting· as well as of . .

markin9 e the body with tilaks and so on.

course nothing ·new particularly $-n India as·Sri•

This thrust towards spiritual seeking is of, ,i . i

. . ·'

Aurobindo himself ohserv~d~·- ·, !

II India has seem always. in man the individual '

a .soul1.a portion of the D.f.vinity_enwrapped in

mind and body,a conscious marii.festatton in

Nature of the universal self a'1d spirit.

·Always 'she· has dis~inguished and cultivated

in h.,i,lll a mental,and lnt€dle,~o::tual,an ethical, '

dyn~~ic; and. pr~ctical, an aesthetic cl.'1d' '·'".'J' hedonistic,·a vital and p}'lYsical being, hut all!.

these have been seen. as powers. of a· soul that: . '

manifests throu·Jli them and gx:ows with their I growth, ~d yet they· are. ?ot all ~he . sool ;bec~1 ause at the summit .of.its ~scent i.t arises _tO

something greater than ·tl1em ·all;:i.nto a ·· · · 1 . . . - . '. '· :. •,. . • ·-i '•

·:'t

spiritual· being, and .it is, in thts<that ·.she has< .,;! - • • : • -~ - •• • ' ·~ ' ' ·~., • • • ' • • • • , • • ; •

found the supreme manifest~tion . .'of ,the soul If

·· •• r

. ,· · ...... . ·'

I·.· ~ . " ' ...... '.I . ·.·

...... . •,;.

/ .

of man and his ultimate divine manhood,his

paramartha ·and highest purushartha."13

•3

132.

This idea about India 8.!1d his tradi tiOQ almost. totally

reflected in Sri AUrobindo's own philosophy of. educat~ . i

.'• ·"' \.

ion.By Iridian tradi ti6n he means Vedic(Upanishadic) ·

truth~S ,which will· serve as the foundation of educa- ·

tioiu "That is the principle on wlhich ·we must build", 134

says Sri Aurobindo. . . .

"The. true basis of ed~ation • , Sri Aurchindo 1 ..• ·•1:. '~ • : !

tbi,nks, 'is t~ study of ·human mind-~ infant~ adolescent. :,-. . \

and .. adult", 135 rather than .striving to ··establish .Mrf

perfect system. For mind is "The instrument of study'~

and withoUt understa11ding the nature,limitation of

that instrument,educatien would. merely beot;>me .a blird .. · . . . . - . .

Pli'r,sui~ and .POssibly ends up ~n futil:i.ty~'l'he:.·aefects ,·

in European education, as Sri Auroblndo firidS' out ·is · ·

tbat,'the European educat:ion. is· hased on an· .insuffici-. . . . . . . . .

ent knowledg·e of ht~mah psychc;>lo~· .so ·a comPrehensive . . I•''

understandi~g of;_ human.psycholcx)y can' Only ·provide a i'J :1< . . l

. c~prehensive philosophY of educiatiop, and it is

implicij:tly i~l!ed that Indian seers(\Tedic risis) \; .. , :,

have, .that psychological grasp, and that true educaticn

cart)be qiv.en only on their visions.· 1

. .1 .i :. ! .

:··r;· '''.13'::3.·

' ~ . .

To concretize that Indian tradition of educati<:n, i.

sri Aurobindo puts forward his educationll! ·principles\ '· .

. (principles of· teachiriq) ,which ne'arly encompas.s his ··· . '

philosophy of education entirly e,q.

','I<, i;

",!he first prJn£iple: of true teaching is that

nothing can be· tau:fht, - the teacher is not an

instru·ctor ortask maStQlr,he is a helper and

a c]Uid.e i.

. (•, 1 . . . : . ;>;-~ .. ;

"_!he seconq pri !!£iEle is that th~ mi'(ld has ·:t;o 'i·~

be consulted in its own growth~The idea of

hammerin .. 1 the c.hild into the shapE! desired hy \ - . 1

th~ parent o.r te.acher. is a barbar~~ ·and iqno~

ant ~persti. tutian • ~ ~ •. The:re can· i?e. no. grea~r ' . . . ~ . . .- ~ . ·. . • : . . ' . . .! . . .

error .than .. for the pareil t ~0 arr~ge . be£ orehancl .·

that his. ·son shall develop! parttc;u;tar' ~~ali ties,· . . . . . ' . '

capac! ties, id.eas,vir6ues or be prepared >for .a

pre-arran red career·.To force the·~-nature to . ·• \

a:ban.d,on ·its dhaJ:ma is; to ·d9 it per~.~nt ~~-rm,,:;. '< , ·.· .· .. ,:!·-~·.-{,. ;. ~---~--··:····;_ .. ··; .. ~-'-''\~.- .. '

mutilate lts :<Jr;owth and· de_face- ·i ~ :perfection~·r. ~ ..

'. ~~~--~'Qird erlnc~ple of education' is to work

- . ' . . ' . i

from. the near to the far, from that w· tich is · to, ~ ; .i

that w'"'ich -shall be. The basis of a man's natum i' '

is. almoat always,in·additiJn to his soul's p~st,

his fiere~Uty, his .~urroundin~s,his nati~alit:y;>.~ · .. · . ,l ,.

his ~ountry,the soil from which he draws

sustenance, the air w ;ich he breathes,~r,e sights, .•

1',,

·' !

., ·[

134

\. . 1

sounds,habits ~::>which he is accustomed.They~·

mould him not the less powerfully because

insensibly, and fro~ that then we ·~st beqin~ •• ·

A free and natural growt'-1 i:s the condition· of . , genuin~ ·development •• -. •"1 ~·

Sri .Aurdbindo's .principles have enormous implications

in Education, 'l::lecause in-brief he uttered >1early all . . . .

relevant truths .A short discussion in this effect cail . .

1:)ring out the whole picture. ~ .

His· first principle d~als with· true teachers r ~ . ··~ l • ~

who ~an only able to· teach· in a true: ecnicat.icin.A. tru~

teacher understands that his perfornlcmce is only t.9 '

help or JUide st 1dents in the process of. hj,.s underst-

anding and :1ot imposing anyt:--·ing forc.i'bly,any lesson~

any idea against students• will.SriAuro~indo therefore

subscribes· to Vedantic view ·that, education is the

manifestation of the inner txuth of man,a1d not tha.t·

i t(educati. on) is only a process ·"">f intro··;ucing riew . ~

and newer iri·fopnation as the empiricists maintain,j,:s.o

the Ideallstice trend in· SriQ Auro""indo is quite

pa1pahle 1yet his Ideal ism mainta'i ·1s that man beirn ·

a .creature of the nature,whtch formally keeps within 1 •

himself the truths of every mystery of the nature in ·

a microcosmic way,because there is an essential unity . [

'I

I ' .,

,;,··.

. i

135

between man a'1d the nature, the truths of the -.ature

are also in a way truths of .,an. This is not merely

an intellectual understan~ing but ~::>ut o.f an i ,.mer

awakeni·lg and superior c~nscirmsness.:Furthermore the

·who.le Vedic philosophy stands beJ;ind thi ~ supnosi•

tion t·..,at ma-:1 is fundamentally the Brahman itself

(purnamadah ptirna'Tlidan p\irnatpurnamudacyate ••• etc.;), · . . . . . . .

and t·-le ~nderstansing or the inrier nrahman is there-

fore ~n understanding of the essence of tne cosmos,

- past,present and future of it.oThe'material world: . ·,· . . \

·only presents a truth in .its different .~onfiet';lrati<n

and concaten~tion J when 'the tnanifestatfon of ones~lf

is an endeavour to 'know truths in their essential .;,

fundamental - basic forms.That is presumahly

Sri _Aurohi'1do' s view on the meaning of education.

A teacher as a t~1e teacher helps students ·:,'.~:

to ~)ri.nrj out .their i"mer divinity,by supplying

favaourar,le information, ryy arran -rin'J and placing: \

lessons in such a way which. can effect the whole m~

- tt-;e mind,.heart and ·the body or in other words,t~

intellect,. emotion, senses and nerves.The teacherS • :, I

task is to encouraqe,to.move,to initiate,to awakenta

slum~rin.q heart of a: chilo ; so its a terril·)ly :1 i.

,,

13:6,

responsible j o'b because teach~r actually en1ineers the

whole· future~( society). ("One must be a saint and a hero Q ' '

· ·to be cone a. ·l',,od teacher~ - The llbther)" ' . ' ,

In education the teacher ~ student relationshiP.

is a very· vital issue and Sri Aurobindo is "quite aware

a~out 1 t, as he says, ..... the educationist has to do ... • ... with an in~initely subtle and s~nsitiye, or;-ranism.n

. ' .-,.-... · .

he has to work in the elusive suhstan,c~·:o~~f mind·'and

respect ·the limits imposed by the fraJ:f~~:~ human b~ • 137

Hmvever sri .i\urobindo' s First-prtncipH~ p~oyides hexe ·

an answer -.A. teacher ts · ~·· friend ·and a ;·~ld.e'.srlAUrcb indo .~ " • •, • < • • .~ ' ;_:-,!:.. • ' . , , I' .c • -, • ,· ·,' ,',: , • •. • • , '

'<:..'

decr.i.es any insfstenc:e o~ thEl·preva:titn;J egoi~tic : · .. '

p\.trsu:i t where a· teacher· teache·s from a .high pedestal,· . ' '

always aware of· his seperate self nrhere students am

mere recei-vers of information and are always praised ,

f.:Jr successful· pourln-1 out· of :Jo:".>J(ish· 'knawledqe. 1 t. i ;.

Sri Au rot Lndo' s Sec·~md-principle im:piies e,i!)'~r ,' - ' '!,

eq.ch and every' individual is an unique crea't71on of:,,! ' . ' '

natJ.Ire with.~ part:'Lcular bent ~f mind,understanding ,, :,,, .0,

arid attitude.'i.'his individual uniqueness should "be

respected and j~eenly ·attended in a g~d education. I

Because in it lies the secret of nature·. and. perfedt ·v::, ., '

.satisfactiOn to a partlcula~: individual.~This is unl~e[

,.,.

'

137 .,

the mOdern 'trend of :!.mposing ev.erything by external

agents and thus nearly destroying ·.any individu'al·.; : .' ' . ' ._·, ·-:-·,_

'. ' initiative and c·reat~Vity 'in a ·Child.· . _·.

AS it naturally_follows from the .. aSove invoc­

ation to 11dividual un~queness in ec:lucation that.

Sri Aurohinqo will ~lways discourage any pre-arranged

career for children.For paients•s persistence on the·· - ..... , '· .

' .

prearranged career of their children often help a ·

<) .

chi.ld to los'e everything creative of his own.He ~)eeor,res. · \ • j

a second hand.human being,l!viriq a1other•s life, ·e

which ·is bound to be narrCM, interestless and miserable.

This should serve as ~ warnins to parents and teachers

of, every time and place •.

Sri. A.uro'')indo's Third principl_e also· }}ave

im::>orta'1t implications e, 0.• an eduCatiOn air:1s at ' . '

"To \ttork from the near to ·the far" implies. that a child I . .

0 •

• . should be educati-ed first wt~ materia:! and p~sical · ..

matters and then gradually t.Qwards al:-str~ction. It

also:i.ndicates that a .child should he ta'uiht. first . \'

\

wi.th. his near a1d known environment., and then qradu~l~'

the national at;d international envlronment- of sc::f.~,~~!r. ' i .

pol,

1

t t1 cs, soc I41W etc ·r=ld. ~e ta>>(lht.

. . ~

·l I

! ' _;

138 ...

The principle also lays faith on a free:and,:.

natural. {:;rowth. of. a c~·1ild.which advices .parents and.

teachers. that a 'child should not he obstructed in

any way hy.e··ternal. imposition,by authority,by. press-.•

ure etc. ,rather helped .·or encoura 1ed,in his. natural

growth. In all these there is an implied asserti.on

that a great. truth is ~·playing ,in the. course and creattcn . . '

·of·the Nature,because Nature is teleologic~l(evoluti­

onary) for Sri Au~o~)indo.Theref :>re an unhindered and

• well protected '1row·th for a ch,ild in educatic>n ~s the ,

'best in every \lay, for then. he· lives .his own life

qnd not of others'.

S~i Aurobindo has a view agH on the -~r~_2! - .· ·

~1!~~!.J:!<J.. 1 as he said "To lead him(a child) on step hy

step, interestih(}Jly and a~sC?r'::Jinq him in each as it

COheS,until he has masteJ:ed hls SUhject is the true

abt Of. teaching" ·.13S. Pie always favoured a C0T119rehen-.

s i ve k 10v.rledge. for children unlike the modern. trend

. of .. "teach in~ by snippets'' .He observed that "much of

the shallowness,discursive 1 ightness arid .:f,iCkle

mutai:ility of the averaqe modern ·mirid is· du-e·. :to the ' . . . . . ' ..

...

: ~ i . ~ -

. ~ . " .I

. ' ' I

...

As to the education of a child a teacher

needs to understand the nature of a child ·and . .

'' according to that he.needS. to ·!iVe h_irn interest

so that the child can unfold.Sri Aurobirido draws a

picture of the nature of a child in general •

. As he said,-

"Every child is a lover of interestintJ narra­

tive,a hero worshipner and a patriot' ••• - . . .

• ~very child 1 s an· inquirer, an i. nvest ig a tor, , ... ' .- . :·,\ ~ ·i -:

analyser,a merciless anat-omi.st• ... ,;. . . ' '

'Every child'has an insatiable intellectual

.cUrios! ty and tum ·for metaphysica; enqu!cy'' ••• . -

'Every child has the ·ift of imitation and a

touch of ima Jnative power."-140 _

All these au ali tj,.es need to be a~~ended: to q 1 ve · ..

2!1

child knoWledge of history" sci~rlce,. philoSophy arid "-..--. "' < ' . . .

art,for these 'qiJalities serve as germin'~l':forces. ' .

behind th~ development .of different suhj ec_ts .A .•

-~acher thereiore have been en.trus:ted '~tth :'the'·· > -)..:~ ~ •• • >~··

:ertormoUS _t~sk. of aw.C'lken'in-J 'a· total·' C::hild !r1avlrig · ' -:·:' '·

'those natural gifts of .qualities. ·,

However Sri A1;1robindo's ·education is .an

. _!nte·!;:al one, jiving equal. emnhasis on. intellec­

tual, moral and physical. aspects of man, and brlnqing t . . • - •

l them under the command· :of the spiri t.Only in the

140 ; .

awakening.of the spirit the i.nte·Jrali ty can

·be achieved i.n life •.

"If our seeking is for a t0tal perfection

of the heirvr ~ g Sri Auro'-:>1 ndo s·ays, •.the. physice3:l ) · ..

part of. it cannot be left asideJ for the :body· is ·tbS · .. '. ., '.'.

material 1')asis,the body is· the instrument;. wh!~h . . .

we have to use.~ • .•i 14i. It is consp~cU<;)US from the. . . ~ . ' .'i t \ l

·abeve say.ing that the boo~· has ~ very impOJ:tant . ,· '.' . ·,

part to play in sri ·Aurobinoo's .me:t~physics .nay. it~·

'a reemphasis of the old sayiniJ. - sariran khalu

dharmasaha,am,or no spiri~ality without a qood.

health.The Ej!ducation of the body th4s involves once

whole o~1anisms - senses;nerves etc.It helps knowing

them,their' proper functions and above all keeping ' .

them perfectly fit to act and to receive apnropri-

ately.Plays and games,w~ich also come.under this

educ.ation. have their importance no:t qnly spiri tua-. ~~

lly '-)ut socially as .well.Referring to Game.s and ·. . . ;' ·.· ' ..

Sppr~s SriAurohindo: says. in, orie .of his' messa-:res,·\:~;: .. , ..

"They are al~o fields .. for. the development of. habt ~s·} . . i

capacities and quali-ties which are greatly needed

· ..

..

141

and of the utmost service to a people in: war or in

peace,and.lnits politi·c~ll and social .activitl~s,

~ n most indeed of the . provinces of a co_rrbined · h':lman · ,'.f<: .. '

endeavour.~ 1,42 . ·,·:.

E·d~ti~ of the mind :

-~As Sri Aurobindo is already quoted saying

that - t'he true basis of education is the. study of

the human mind.; mind serves as othe instrument of

any knowledc;e and s_o to k 10w the full nature· of this

instrument-. is an indispensibility before gotng at

the eYternal worldffor an instrument always determi~

nes the kind ')f know;ed•Je i 1:1 can afford. Man ,:8 w'orld

is .lar·1ely a world of its. own m~fn:J, indeed a K_anti~

touch.

Mind, for X Sri Au~ob indo, has . f_gur lCIYers

-·the C.!_tta or storehouse ·of memory. the _t!ari~ or miild

proper, the ~~ddhi or intellect and the _Pral!!~!! or·-. .·1 ~ ..

intuition. :

The Citta_ or storehouse of memory~ is. the I ;

foundation of all other layers. It lias two kinds of .

wqrks - as a passive reservoier of all memories, :l

and; ,as an active selector of necessary memory.This

a-qtJve part. of ,·the memocy~n~eds a prop43r training; c;,

. ::;

•.

,, '1

~

.l4.2 ..

and improvement in educati~Jwhen the firs.t one i,e.

the passiv~ reservoier ac;:ts in its. own.

The~~ or the mind proper, is said ·to be . . .

the· sixth sense of the Indian psychology • .It has a ;

very iin:portant task .of receiving sensations from ()Ur :

five sensep,,translatinq them into ima]eS and 'making

them availa'l')le for thought. It is thus the ·supplier·

of materials f:::>r thought.· .

The _gud2h! or in:tellec·t l It bein'J the re~l

. instrument of thought.:rt has two different types of

faculties e,g. Creative & Synthetic,and .the Cri~i~ .. . & ~al~ic etc. The first type is the ma.Ster of the

. . . '

knowled·:re and. second the serVant. The servant truches

body of knowledJe· while the master penetrates its soul.

Yet both are.essentials to the completeness of reason,

anq. they· therefore 'to be raised to their highest and

finest workinr; power' in ed,ucation.: . .' • I;) . ..

The I'rainana or intuition,t.hough not yet devel-- . . ,

OPE!d, in man but is bound to emerge in the evolutionarY' . .

pr.9c~ss of· perfection This tntui tion~ as Sri Aurobindo.

descri'::>es,. "• ... in'-.lolves in sovereign disceJ:nmentg ·: · ·

intuitive perceptio~ of truth, plan~ inspir~tion>of · i 1 '

spe~ch,direct vision of. knowledge· to an extent . often i l" .·; l.

I , .

• :· \ "!' :, .

: .. • ' ".l

143

affi?Unting to revelati?n~making a prophet ?f: truth"o 14 j

The t,ask Of a ]OOd tea¢lJer is not tf> St,ifle the

':JroWth of this element of genius in a child,rather to.

help 'the ']rowing sould into the way of its own·

.·protect! an • ' -'

Sri ·Aurobindo clears out the _essence and inroort-

ance of the ··moral education saying,--:-j ) ;:

"In th,e economy of 'man the mental nature rests' . . . Q . ' . i .

up·:>n ·t·.1e mora:l,and the education of ·the intellect : " ,, .

(buddhi) · divoi:'Ced from the perfection of the · ' . - . ;

·moral. and emotional nature is injurious to human

pre>qress." 144

nut the education of the heart cannot he do!le· through

the education of t:,e mind i,e. thr~uqh 1:>oo:ks a:1d

se.rmpns etc. ~because they (heaf't & the mind) .are· ·categ~

or.ici;i.lly a ifferent.To deal with man's moral·:nature .. ·,,

three thin -js need to be properly attended,they··are, . . '

- the emotions, the formed har~i.t8 and. associ~tions'rsan~- · . . ' . "; . -' . ~ .. ; ~ .. :.'- . ·'. },

karas) a'1e t}le: nature(svabhaba).A qood.. moral nature'· .· . .. . ,.. . . . ' . . . '

• _· - · ...... ·. . . • _·. : !;' .

can: only ?e formed by :r::ight emo.tions, the. noblest assoc;:7: · 0 ~ ' ., ,r 0

. -~ . • . · 1 1' .1. '· :I

iatlon, the befij,t mental,,em6tional and: physical ha':>its'.,'i;i ;

express:tons. of· hL::i true nab.1re thrcu~h right act.ton·s ~'f~

.. \;.

144

Here too Sri Aurobindo laid faith on the child's ow

' unique way of qr_owth and perfection.In the education

. Q

of the heart, a child ne.eds only; 11 \>latching,suggesting,

helping, hut not. interfering" •145

Sri A'urobindo' s view 'of education of .a child

therefore takes into consideration all the three

parts- body,mind and heart,together~This integral·

·approach in .education is a must, because they(body~.

mi'nd etc~) are n.ot. essentially seperate,on' the contrci-i . - ' ··•· , ·;.

. . ..

ry th~ are 'intimately connected.Orlly we, out of. varirus

influences.,see education fragment~ily'' cmd:thus ; ';' :. ~ . ·,

producing unhappy 'men and w~men on. the. earth.Sri Attrp-

~:)tndo's • A;·:sy.s"~.:·am ~f National ~ducation•. is a ·:.;,,i

mani·festo in this regard, for ,the present as· weell as)

for ·the future. . . Sri Aurobindo' s sch~me of eoucation. can only

.,

'be found to be. in actual 'practice under the nc;tme of

• Free Progress System' in 'Sri Aurohindo Intern at!-

on~l Centre of Education • at· Pondicl"erry.Under the·

guaroiansbip of the Mother, t~e scheme of education . . . . : . . ~ ' . . . . . >' ~. had been cat.e 1orized .1:nto Five-heads, to brin') out. the!';'· ·

. , I . . ..· , . •· . ·.,. ·•

fu~ler import of it--~'l'hose .. differ9nt .c~teoOries· ·are-~ .. : · . . - . . .

Education of the: phys.tcal~the:: vital, the .mental,.'

· .. ; ••• !..

;., •. \·

!'

145

the psychic,and spiritual.

However ,Sri Aurobindo has seen education n.ot

for its "own sake ':1Ut for the sake of a· very lofty

purpose.,Ed11cation is a step ta..tards perfection, the

supramentalhood of man.An ·at)propriate edupatian ·can · . •' .. · . . . . .

hasten this evolutionary process and an inappropri-. . - '

ate education will ·only create· delay in·. the cause~

. Sri Aurohindo•s ~teg;;21-education is,for many, a

right road. to' quicken the transformation of man from .. ,

the conflict ridden consciousness to a higher

consciousness of inte]ral life and living.

'~ : i

' ~ ' -• < •. ~

Q •' .: . •

i • . ,.

; .·. . . ~-

II . RABINDR7\NATH T~ORE :. (1861 -:' 1941)

The highest education is that· which does not

merelily give us 'information but makes our life

in harmony with all exis_tence;. 146

Rabindranath Tagore

. < ·I

The poet's education is n~t .for making poets'_.

only,thoogh it has. a predominance ~f poetic imagina~

tion .. It is .to make a total-man.But what is· a total­

man ? Does he res.emble somebody who :haS great control

over his 'body,an expert in· physical fitness ? Does hOt . . . ' . . . . .

he .. go much deeper and higher .than the mere physical. ?

Tagore•s view of education and his ~oncept of total

man I are nei tner like a psychologist's nor like a

scientist's or· a philosopher's view in the traditi-. . . • Q .

. . I

onal sense, but that of a poet o~. v~qic .. kind l:tav ing.! · .. in tu 1 ti ons, 1 ofty imag !nat i6ns and IUl~ i cal words •

As it has been already said, any philosophy

of educati?n 12 'ultimately 'Jro•1nded on a philosophy.

of.man and his reality.so is the case with Tagore

also.His .ide~. of man is not unfamiliar'.to'· ·Indian·· mind ..

. ·." l - '

~ J .

·' :

• • ~-- 1,_ •

. ·. ' . ~ ..

. ·.

117

It refers to· the picture of th~ Vedic·-and the Upanisha- · .

die man; the difference lies onl.Y in expression and in

spatia-temporal dimensions •.

Nevertheles~,Tagore has a ph~losophy. of life

and living which he:! himself live and preached.Its ' " I '

salient points are : ·' . ' . '

·,

Man. is a meeting groond. of the fi:ni t~· and the ·

infinite; yet most rr"en like to live .in ·finiten,eas. • • '. . .· • .. ' ' . • . . . . ' •..... ·, ' ' .· .... ! . ·,

- in. self lnterest. and discrimination; wbereas.'!t.o . ' . ' . ' ·' ' . ''. . ' ' . ~ . ' ... ~' ~-)r ·;_l' • •

·live in the infinity: neans to live in harmony·~· . . ~ . .

and unity~bey_ond a1l·selfishness; the fullness iOf

life,which is ~he only reliqlon of man; is to

.iive in this infinity.

There are rnetaphys leal pre~uppos i ti ons in :I' agora • s

philosophy.The «?Oncept of'Unive~ai.;.n!2!!' w.·1!c~ is vecy

important in his philosophy, is possibly taJ~en· from

, the· Ro Veda.A~ Tagore h.irm3elf qu:)ted, -- "padoasya· vtswa

bhutard. trpadosyamrtan divi" ,meaning, the Universal-man . . . . . . h~~ only ·an~ fourth in the world~ while Hi~ greater

· (three fourth) part lies b~ond i~ infinit-J·. · i ./·

• < • : • .- ' • • • ' • • • • : •• ".:·~~. •

TaJore•s ·theory of· edti.cation .. as hi's :ph.f.losophy; .. J '.

• ' • ; • • • • 1... ' ' ' • ' ' .~ •• '",l : ;_' /}f;,f •: I .:t . ·. ~

of life, puts emphasis .on the fullness of l-ife,. on bhe,.,.i

happiness of living("sada thako anahde", - TaF!Ore) ,;

on the quality of selflessness - sensi tlvity and . . . \

awakening of the whole man (bOdy-mind &. heart_)", ·on ·the.

118

· .. , ' ..

. i '·',.

love of nature and liying beings.

· Ta'jore was completely. dissatisfied with his.

own school life,utterly disenchan~ed with. the British

system in education,and on many occasstons lt9 express­

ed his clear vi.ews a)ainst it.Against the lack of

freedom in the modern schools and its conseqam ces ..

Ta:]ore said, "The old machinery of the educational

department 'did not grant freedom for the acciuisit!on_ . . I

of truth~ but by a system c)f 't'eproduction,exanlinatiorisi'i

and ·Jenera! drudgery- it .l~t ·.to the loss of .. individual

initiative." 147 He accused the mode~ trend of creating

~ disharmony hetween child's life and Nature and thus

perma'1ently esta!1lishing a psycholOJlcal dichotomy

·between the two,which are supposed to b.e actually

essentially \inited.Ta.Jore says, "From our very child;..\·

hoOd habits are formed and k11owledge is imparted it:t

such a man •er that our life is weaned awcry from

nature and a~r mind and the world are set in opposi­

tion from the beqinnin·1 of oor days. • The resu 1 t is,

af:l he continues,· 'u.the 'Jreatest of ed,~cations fori. ' :

w't).ich· ,\oJe .came prepared is ne'Jlected,and we are made.;,,::· r , . ·. . ~ 1..

to lose our world to find a baqful, of in format! on , . :·' . · ~- i' . . . . ... ; -~ :r

. instead". 148 Emphasis· on mere it:tformatiqri not· onl}"::,,;;r :1·;,.

' ~ .. I 0 .~

. ·, .. ,,

·,".

[;; ·,. \

. I

.! . ;_.

t'

'' ··::._: ':· .. '• ,·

.· .. ·;: { o.''

"

establishes disunity hut it also crea:tes disinte·ira­

. tion within the set up of man,wbich is by ,nature

united and -integrated. In modern educaticin~a.S 'I'ao:rore' ',

observed,. 11 We devotf,! our soie 'attentia( to:,. gi~ing [."

'' . children in.formution,not Jmowing that 'by this. empha-'

sis we are. accentuating a· break qetween: the· 1ntell~ -~:-: ~ . . . . . .·, :'

ectual.physical and' the_ spiritual life 11 :~149. This' is-,:'

thus a misplaced et:nphasis' .the. shallowness' of

moder'lity.The pursuit of Q~ipline in schools

refuses to ta.ka·· into account the individual' is

another matter of concern ·for Taqore.A rnethod(of disc-. . . .. l ,. .

ipline) is extolled and·before fts alter children·

are1 treated as dead _trees,to be cut intO symmetrical

conveniences.With it comes the increasing dependence

on the bo~kish -knO\orled:]e, as a result th9 hook cones

between "1Js· and our w.orld" and obstructs . • all our

direct touches of truth •• the' straiqht' cormwnication . ;;. ' - .

with "Goda • cteation" . • •'I •

: . ~

It t~us becomes·evident that Tagore decries

the, present( traditional) education because, it denie~

fJ:e~om to -~he learner_, encoura l"es dl~har~ony .and , . , {i ~ !

disintegration,iinposes dlsci.pline: and lays' greater ". ··. . . - •. ... ; . .

e.rnphasis on. hooks rather than on direct .contact. with; '" · I . '·;. ~' I

Q

I

150 /

• i'

the world.In brief ·1t beCOtnr;!S a'1 .inculcation Of

dead habits, not joyful participation in living relat~

ions. . '.· ...

Tagore once· said,

world - not. as anything se~rate :from t~i¢ :world' -~ ~ l· . . ,.

•'

but as its ~nnermost trt.~th ... 150 . ~derstanding. ·and i · ' . ~ .

. the unravelling of ~his ".Inne.rmoat truth" in· indivi- · ·

,dual 'life may be said tq» be. ::the: only':ui.timate .·object0' .. . '•':. ·'• :. '. ,·. '. . ' ... :: , ... ' . '.. _:·::,:,:!!:

.. ive of educat.t6n ac6oriiing to Ta'Jore-~The. nature. of ! ~ . .

. . . ,

: tbis tr~.1th is perpetual ne'wness (ciranabliiati) 1

it is therefore living and dynamic.Education should

represent this dynamism and vihra~cy in ·itselfJ

ot~rwise it .would lose ~ignifivance.so naturally. . ~ . . . ' .

:'

whe+e mechanicalness and nethod dominates over life··

and·. soul of man, th~t:. cannot ~e . right educatiOn . for

Tu rore.He says,: "I. for may .part believe;. in· the princi, -· . . . . . ' . . . . ' . . •. ' . i

ple·-of llfe,:!.n the soule of man,morethan in:methods 1'+lsl

Th~s life ~a- dynamis~ is found in :nat\Ire,.ln·the, : . '

c;l._os~ observation and identlficat).on of one!fself. wi~

thf,! play of n~ture: and .. so this l:la~ ·a great role .in

RabindraT'lat:,' s ideal of educati ori. It· is. his inner . . ' ' . . . .

i . i '

i

desire that, • our· childhood ·shoold be g.iyeri its full

me~re of life's cjlraught,for whtfh it haS· an.· C'

•, ·" ·.,

::.···

I . I

I

i

'

_/

151

...

endless thirst•. It was his ~ission,Ta1ore once

said, 11 To hring l_ife. into the sc~~olroo~ a1ain" • 152

The object of education he believes •·is the . . . . . .

. .

freedom .of mind which can only be. achie_v'ed. :through < . '· . .

·the ·pat he of freedom• • . .·

Tagore. firmly belie~es in-the Upanishadic.' · • I·' ' . ~--' ~ • . ·,

trut:-, of SANTA'f1 - SIVAM.- )U)VAITAM J ·the s_upreme.

principle runs through the· human world. and t~

starry heaven. as the Supreme unity. Han understands

·this uni-tY wit~ SYJ!lEathLand int:.!!,!tl_Ol!.c. with iden~ifi­

cation of himself with re'ality,in· nature;and mankind. ... .. . ·,.

' The necess 1 ty. for realizing ·thi~ supreme unity in

one's life,is greatly reflected .in Ta:-:rore•s various

thou Thts and activities .. concerning education. The ...

Visvabharati of his vision was. founded on the hope

- "Where the world becomes united in a. single abode ... . . .

(yatra vYsva bhavetyekanic;lam). However 'this !~<not··!

an 'intellectual unity; rather a spir~tu~r un'-ty.which

n~eds a total awakenin(;r of body-mind-heart of man.

That can only be possible when education i$ estal-Jl­

ish,ed on freedom and love, which are -t;:he two sides o£.

tbe sane coin. '·

Q.

\'. \-: ~~- : y ~:·\ '·'· i

. '

j. !

.152

· .. ·, .. .. ·.·-~ '.'

. -~ In the educational institution a1: sari tin iketan-

.Tag ore adopted - ''The. ideal of 'd~v~lopin·1 the human

person~lity iri an atmosphere of freedom arid • fellow­

ship, through the· i mp9lses ~f a life· li'fed in Nature

'· ..

-;

and in close tooch with t~'1e varied creative aqtiviti- ·

es of the human mind.·~153 This, in other words, is an

education 'to live a complete .life •. This. • complete-. - .

ness' is an awareness not only of_ mental-. fe~ility i·

but also of the. basic necessi ties(scarcities): of life:',·

·in respect of health~riutrition,industcy;cu1ture and· , .::

so orl.At sriniketan,T_a·Jora .tr.ied to build: up an : · i effective centre for rural develpnent,satisfYing-the

b~ic needs of life and culture. .· ·~

A complete living demands a complete educatim •

~hi,q_}l Sb_oold take into considerat:f;ori certain "Other',qy;'~! '· i .

' . ' . . ~ . : . 1 ' i,mpo~tant issues as well e, g~ the nature of a true-;: · -·· . . . .. - .. -.- . --·-----.---------I· !

i ·teach~, l!is ~latioriship with his Students, the S£hoO!-

. ~rrS.<:!!~'!!!;l and so on.Ta·Jore was well aware of all

tl"\ese.·

In one of his wri:t.ings Tagore clarifies his. Q

id~a on the nature of a· true teacher. He._. wi:'.:f.te~ in --------~------ . . . }

"A t~acher can never teaches unless i

he is still learning.A lamp cannever li0ht another lamp

·'i

;; I

unless it continues to bum its· own f lane• • He further

. says, 11 The teacher_ "{ho has cone to the end of his

subject,who has no living traffic with his knowledge, ' ' ' i ' , , , . . . . ·I

but' merely r~r}eats his lessons to his students. can : :.·.

<,nly load their minds; he cannot quicken thenf'. r-t>sti .

teachers,on the other hand,~come dry and uninspiring

that because they hav.e 'no co~unication of life at;.d .. ~ .

l

:1 ove • • In one of many ben )ali writings, Tag ore speaks·~ , : . ' • ··, l . ' . '. .;,i'· 1,,;·.•'

of the positive qualities which a true teacher must

have Hi his school(Santiniketan).H~ says, "Here· will: !

assemble those teachers whose vision eY.tend beyond ::.1

•

the limitation of the outer,who ·are· insi-!htful,who ·; i

are inquisitive,who take k9;eri .interest. in the know-i

le¢1 e of the unive~se and who take del i~rht ·in direc~

~xpetrience~" 154 {translatioo mine,> .A teacher of cou~e. 0

is not e~erything in education; he requires studen~.

:en· Ta·1ore • s ashram students were desired to fulfi1 .:>

f-l::'ln.-e of his hopes·. He says,. !'From ·the V:ecy .begtnningi.\\.: . ' .. ' ., . · ... ' ' ', t:.

J:: ~md the desi-re .that the. children: of the·:ashram'·-,,. , 3n·.'\ 0 . • . . . • • ., . ' • i . ' ~. :. . . '·.' <' • • ' ' •

would become i~creasingly int~re'sted, iri :.making · < ' · ·, · • . • ,. ' .. ·' . .! ~:~. ;f:.:!;:· ~ :-·_:;

. ·. I . ' . .':. , .. ·:

. relationship with .their ,im·nediate ~urroundin;;Js 1 . ':.

· theY would ~quire,e;<amin·e~::and~: ~9llect~ "t's5··(tr~s.~e) ' . ' . ' '' '' ' · ... ·• ·: ' ' ' ' : ' ' ·, . :. '' . '' ' :' ' . .· i . ·. Tad,ore wanted .to de,.elop -a: syinpathetie;an-' inquirin;( ;; .

. . . . . . . . i

,,.

I

.and investigative mind in his students;But .that .requires

somethin 1 more nay relationship .between a teacher and

his students~which only makes an education more complete

and meanin·Jful.In this_ network of relationship teache~s.

who are more knowled eahle and responsihle,have a very

siQnificant role to play.To make possible a true and

lasting relationship,a teacherQmust.have in his heart

some childlike qualities such as curir:>sity,"freshness

etc.As ~a1ore observes,

"The (so called) teacher, in whom( the affective

intensity and sensitivity· of) the child has

dried up comp~etely,is u.nfit to take charge of

(educating) children. The relation of the ·

teacher and the taught needs 'not only provimity;· ... ~ . . . '

but also intimate associatiOn .. and likemindedness~ without whi.:.;h there would .not 1~ sincerity" 'in

tlle ]ive-and-take of educati<?~s6 (tr.m,ine) ..

· A teachemeeds to bring .love and· joy to the'· .. , ' '

student and not the drudgery. o~. rules. Mltual satisfacti-;

on is· the test of success in education.A true teacher

would affect the mind of a child throush his heart~ . . 'sr:> that the. child could feel -the qlow within-him and

every new fact come to him like a revelation'Ja ~hild 1 s

heart opens up,like petals of a flower,by the contact

of a true teacher.

: ~·'

. /

155

Q

·. Tag ore was always aware a bait the facilitating

conditions· of educatton.In his ashram(Brahm~carya -

shram) he always encouraged of attention,observation~

meditation, cooperation, taking part!: .in. the. ashram-~cti-~ ~ . . .

vltie·s, play etc,., among students. From the very beginn.i~ . . . . ; '. ' ' l.

"' • • : ' J •• ··,. ' .·,. ' .' ••• '

n -r he introduced sense-training. arid nature-study as

~ssential subjects i~ a~hr~m. T~e ~ducatf<2!!al~.J~rincipl;_~:

of Santiniketari .ashram , include tlie foll~~ng a. __ '":""" ____ ·- -~-. , ... ·. ~ . . l ,.·,

·. ; '

'-'From the very begin~ing_ the studen·ts should

be hel~d ·to. improve thedr sensi~:lvity.·· · 'Arrangements should 0e made for stud­

ents so that they can regularly use their power

of observation fn the ashra:n as well as in the;.

villages outside the ashram,- and can· note them . -~ • t;

down 'the :results.Their experiences on 1;he -,,

; .~ ' :

trees and plants,animals and birds shoold be

completed· within th.is specified region." 157; ~''r ,,· . . .. , .

Taqore's institution(ashX-am) was thus meant. t~ be :a·. i:\ · ....

place for· development of i ma~Jination, feeling,. and

s.ensi tivity contributing: to harmony and · fulfi lmen:t

in: individual· and. social ·life·. '•,.

Interest.i. ri ·Jly enough; the ancient Indi-an

. ;,.

: '·

· ·· !~£!Yan cul ~~ in educatiOn had always a great appeal

for Tagore.He admired it as ·an .ideal and,was·highly

• influenced by it in putting h.is ideas -into pr.acti.ce.o

. :.

' t. I ; . ~·

. ~- . ' _,.

1 t:" £•, · .. ao

,.

·'·.' '._:

Tapovan(fares·t -colonios) ,vrh!c;:h' ~ ·represen~.·: the·. t~~· •. . . . . . .··; . . . . . ·.) :::.~ .

spirit of harmonv .. wtth' the ~ature,spiritu~l aspiratton·.:

and a' most comprehens·!ve. and living relatiori~hip

between Guru and. S.ishya etc.. ,;las always a model inst- ·

itution for h!m~He has said : ·"This ideal of educatim

throu:1h. sharing a life of high. aspiration with one's '

master took possession of llll" mind."lsS wt th this

idealized picture of a· system in a bygone-world in his

mind, Tag ore tried to build up. his Santin.fketan a.Shram

to help preparation "For a complete life ·of map•• •.

He was nevertheless aware of the impossibili,ty of .

•· '

,, .: .

establishing a forest dwe~li~g(tapovan·) in: the ch~ged ; ·!.

~ . : . • . . • i . ·. ' . . .

atmosphere of the twentieth century.; Therefore, he wishlid·

that: his ashram • must be the same iri truth, but not

identical in fact.•

o · .. '- · Ta 10re conceived his San.tin i.ketan to b.e an

ashram· .amidst.nature and silence; a place • :0 for the

hi1hest._ end Of:.life' 1 whe~ .cl1ildrenS I 't;ninds and senses.'

are free ~d awake to enjoy Nature's gloryJ 'w~ere the

young and the old;the teacher a:.1d the student,sit at: .•.. :.<

the .same. table to ~artake o~ their daily food and the· - . . • Q . • . •· ·. :.

food; 1ot. their eternal lif~. • Ta .. jore aspired that, .,

educ~t~on · in such· an atmosphere would prepare man for

.157

,, ... Spirituality,.we all know,. :ls a very inP>rtant ·

: dtrriens ion· 1.n Ta Tore • s life and education. It ~ b~ . .

said t_o be the task of each and every. indl~idual to I ;: .·

be conscious of spiritu~lity;.to realise the supreme ., unity in man and nature~Intel~cct only an'atysEuU 'it

.. never sees anything wholly.Intelli1ence(bodh) is ne~-

ssary to realize the impart!teness of spirituality.

For ·Tagore, "The conscious union by intelligence

·is comple·te union • ~ ••• 'It shruld be kept in lnind

that, •••. the education of intelli'Jen<:e should be qi.ven.

foremast place Jn our school." 159 Knowledqe of. .,

ma,t~ematics,. sqi:emce ·and the arts, may be necessary· in'

_maint.airiing a comfortable. bodi&'J.y e'~istence,rut the

fullness of life can only bet;) achieved through

in telli ]en ce.

Tagore. says,. nIt is the fullness of ~ife which.

ma}ces one happy,. not fu 11 ness of purse." 16 0

Spirituality is the very essence~ of the fullness of

life: .. ~

'';. ·,_' . . ·;·.

.•

·.::.

., '

.. : ,,, :, .

.. ·,.

'·:

·:1. ··'(-';

'. -.:-;'_ .. : . : ·';j• .:

(

158

Rabindranath measured the upl iftment of man

not in terms of material and mental quantitY but in

terms. of spiri tua:li ty .Himself heipg '.an angel of

SUrplUS I 1 he fOUnd that Only" realizatiOn ·of the truth.

- santam,sivam & .advaitam, in one's life and action

is of greatest value ("ye dhruva padadiecha bandli

vi"Svatane rrel"fiba tai j Ivana gane"etc. - Tagore).

Education is a constant effort tn this direction;

.it is a passa1e leading to the ever widening horizon

of life and reality.

1 i;

III .CRITICAL CONsiDERATION: -------·- - . ....

A critical-consideration essent1.ally. demands

a wider and· deeper study of the subject cor1oerned . .

·from different .levels e,q. Philosophical~Actual· and·

,.

cogency .and the. relevance 'of. any icoricept''iri >th~ . . ~ . . ..

general frarmwork: The Actual-aspect . delves 1 n the ------- - • . i. . .

scientific,ex:per5 mental and ·iritplemntational· aspects' . . ·. . . . . . .

·of it; The ~!:al-a!':!:~ct ·deals .. with other .impliaa.··.i.

issues of far reachin.g ( futuris.tic) conseqli:ences for

hull'jani ty .so it may be found that often· the t\>10 -

· Actual & the .General aspects,remain cris-crossing . .

and over:;l.appin~, because the Cen,eral (aspect) is a '

mere e">Ctention .of the Adtual-aspect. In a way :all

the. three.__ Fhilosophical,Actual and the General-. .

aspeCtS 1 are Very ClOSely kn'f.tted, they haVe Only

differences in shades of a colour.o · ..

(A);, The. FhilosoEhical £~derat.12,!! :. · · · . )·

The philos.ophy of' educatiqn·. i's' eniiq-ht;en'ed 'by: . . . . ' ._ . :· ~ i t

. th,.e. three greats ~ Sri· Au,robindo,R~indrariat'haf. and :

I4:ishnamurti, in three different ways.They pl.~ed three

I. ; .

.1 f) 0

'. <iifferent parts in their worldly 'play ,st-1: ~urobindo.:·

as a Vedic-risi, a visiohacy :· R~indrana~h,; c:i mqn of ·.' ,··.

literature ; K.rishnamurti,'a worid-teache;Z:~so·.'differ;;.;.: . . . . . . . . . ' . . ' •. ~:-·

ences among. th:::m particulal;-ly.· in reqard_· to the ; .

treatment of the subject(of education) are not very.

difficult to fi.nd ·out.

Sri Aurobindo and Ra~indranath are qoal-oriented

in their approach in education,while Krishnamurt1 . .

is fact-oriented,without any specific goal,or atm.

Krishnamurti thinks t.hat;it is the constant' monentum

towards 24!£~!.1.1<2.- l-oth in thE3 tmiterial · as~ well as i~ I :

the psy'choloJical levels that ~rings per~onal and

~Qeial misery. For him, there. may be a . goal when .

: knpwled-re of any worldty matter 'e,g. ·driving a car . . .

is. concerned,.1:mt there snould ·not 1')e any such ~oal

.in: the psychol<?;Jical· realm( e, g. the rjoc>d & 'bc:ld react­

ions of driving a car) .This psyc'holo rical realm

refers to the network of hLlman relationship~ of l~e . ; ! . ·, . . .

• .. •

and goodness,of sensitivitr and awareness,.which goes;

d~eper than the necess~' memories(essential knowl--. . I

edqe) ·of life.But Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath have

clear. prefE;!:i:"enccs towards ·)cal-orientation of 1 ife · k•::

. and educat.Lon.The qoal Se..:!.nr9 in conformity .with Vad.;i.,c . . ' '

. ;

:'_. 1

i ·•.

and the Upanishad ic pronouncemnts ;... that the i.ndi viaital l •

i . . self is 'basically pure(nitya suddha buddha mukta,-

sw.ahhaba etc~) and • it .i.s. nothinq but the Brahman itsalfJ

the Brahman '1eing santam-sivam-advaitam and so OI:l•. . . ..

The goal of education. as it is already said is to.

help \;rin 1ing out . that inner· eternal part(puri ty) . 1 ' ' . • • •

which an individual shar.es wlth the Brahman .,This poi~ts :~_o another very fund~urentai. differenc::e betWeen··

Krishnamurti on one side and Sri Aurobindo and Tagore

on the other. In Krishnamurf:i,Unc1erstandi~g(and lF1er..;

•. ation through it) is an instant and sudden affair. . .

' . . :

unlike Sri Aurohindo and Ta·(;f_Grean 'beliefs and the

comnon hel tef too. For Sri Aurobindo .& Taoore., human• '!'

1,..-._fe has a ·:;roal~ man ~st have a preparation for it·.

and:;a gradual .attainm!nt of it.Iri Krishnanurti,on

the other hand,s_ettinq of. any .. roal and preparation"

for·: it br! ng;s conflict in i ;_ ~e ( 1 t ne .rates ·one • s ow

life) ,·and :ft!fr'k'k furt'!ner t'1ere is rio gradual attain­

me~t of the goal.However it ·is corrrnon to al~, though

in,tplici t in Sri Aurobi.ndo & Tagore and e·vpli:ci t in . .

Krishnanrurti,that the attai.nm:mt. ~of any·.truth is

sudden, and there is a caterrorical. ciifferer'lca betWeen. " _I • ~ • ' • • • - • - •

· ... : t~~ and the process towardS· it.:·

. '

·.· ·: ;.

1 •• : ' ., ·~ .;. '! l'

~ j ·. .

,,

. · .. 162

In Sri Aurohin9o and Ra"':Jindranath·, it is already - .

sa.id, the Vedic and the 'upanishadic thoughts and

aspirations. are presupposed_, where educati~ is aimed

at relation(yo:)a) oneself· with th~ Brahman.on .the other

hand Krishnamurti is more interested in findinrr out

the· facts of ·life and to inve.stigate if there· is

something basfc(fundamental) in us.Educatioq to Krish-

namurti,is to establish this spirit of investiq­

ation.so when Sri Auro'·>indo and_ Ta·1ore ·made a more·

or less idealistic-approach to education, Krisl1nam-. . .

urti rather made a Skeptical-approachJ "We rmist doubt .

everythin·] • ,Krishnamurti says~ •so that out of the

a _;ony of doubt certitude is bor,,.no not drubt only

when you are tired or .unhappy·- any'l:)ody can do that.

• i

Invite dou')t in ·che moment of ecstasy, for then in _ ..

what remains you, will discover the true and the false:~ ..

When Sri Aurobfndo a~1d Ta !Ore started wtth aut'l1 ority

(of the Vedas) ,Y-rish.1arnurti decries everything so . • Q

called authoritative.in ·reqard to life(any theory of . ,. ' ..

life) ,and likes to start afresh, from a .~cratch from

each and every individual as a starting. polnt$If

anything is presupposed here (in Krishnamurti) 1 t is

',,

:· .. ,

~.

i . . . .

an eagerness to live happily without an~'!:c:;()htradic- . . .. )

' . i_: . :· . ...•. :.

. ' tion and pain. For Krishnamurti. A Truth is'· a pathless I. . . . '

land••. Hts accepted prif1ctpi~ is · 11 Atma cf11pa bhava ..

·or be a light unto yourself.· 11 To follow another.' ,.'.

says KrishnamH''t;i, 'no matter who it is. i~ to deny

the· understanding of yoursel£~~· 161 so .he was foUnd

to have occassionaly .despising the Guru dominated · .. •

Indian religio-cultural .tradition.**

Rabindranath puts his educattonal philosophy

as a. literary gendus.No where,to my ~owledge. educ-·

ation has r~en so poetical~y and majestivally

e·q)ressed.Sri Aurobindo,on. the other hand,puts his ' Q

education with a philosophical pr~cis.i.on and a. ~reat I ' '

m(3t9-physics at the back. In his -,rri.tin·rs it seems

a ·J~eat seer with enormous insi1hts and realization

opens up the dooz>s of. the inner kinqdom . of men.

Kr.ishnanurti st,arted his philosophy fact~~lly(obj ec-/: i ' . . . . ·. . ; . • . ',' :. . . . .

': ,.- . i . .. • . . ' '.

ti;vely) .oHe advanced from ~ery near to fiilrifrcrn ··.·· .. . · .. -.. ..

what is ¢iven to the source and mystery :d£ the given;:.

like an e:'{cava tor, a modern Socratisi for ~·acoording·. to • -. • <

----------------- ---~__.:,__-~---=---~---"7-...__..;..:...~ .:.._;.. -~-~' ,· -·-**However for many critic,Krishnamurti hi'mselfstands.·.' .·: ..

~s. a Guru, the. World~t~'acheri.He' i~. ~ fioWe~. ;~£:a ~~nci·\1• ;· .. . T~eosophical traditlon(authori~y), and .·t~·.a.,~BI· s·at.i~~.~· .·ies in him the theosophists• ·dream(idea)'of' tre coming~ .. of the M3ss'lah. '"- A

164'

Krishnamurtt "First step ~s the last step" .When

Krishnamurti decried metaphysics he represents the:

spirit of Lo1ical-positivism,althou'1h his searhh

ended up in a q1ite different level(from the

Positivists) ,where Analys:i.§, as a method fs criti­

cised and thrown away completely•. 11 J\nalysis is real. :

parcllysis" ·for I<rishnamurti.

Sri Aurobindo. and Rabindranath can be !den ti-

fied as Idealists,with a stirit of appropriate

realism in their phil6sophizing,unlike P.latooean ' '

·or Berkelean Idealism.Sri Auro'Jindo and Rabindranath0 s . . . . IJ . • • _·. . ;

Idealism is based on the supposi:tion of .Man· • Nature· ' . '

. i.d~ntity.Truth lies. in tqe understandlDg of this

ntlationship.For them no one is ~elf-suf~icient·, · , .

rather everyone is ·interdependent a.S man effects

nature ,nature also effects mari ~Here relationship

is ,fundamental,which ·acts as an awakener,enkindler

as a match-stick.Krishnamurti is a skeptic haVii'XJa

positive approach to lifeJHis principle- never to 1

conclude but i~vestigate, guides his 1 ife and·

teachings. It is this skeptical-attitude against . . . '

any author! ~y that help his philosophy to remain

always free . from bogging down, or stagnate .BQt unli~·~ 1

·_::·:·

',,:

185

. '

any skepticism. of the epistemolo·1ical kind· Krishria-

murti is more. concerneci i!l questioni ncr the. traditi-. . .

onal beliefs and values. He seems to be more pheno;..:.:: '.

menolo ;ical(presupposi tionless) ln methOd than '·, ;. '.

anYthing else whe~ he denies any presuppos,iti 0~. of .. \

scriptural· a'lthor:!,ty or. o~ social· value.Thus Krish~ .

murti tri,es to rea~h to an· etern~l,a fundai"I'IE'ilntal ,.': '•

'lffe(life of essences or eide:t:i.c: life) .:~ils 'phil~' .··:.: · ..

sophy of educatio~· is an endeavour in .·thi.s effect,

nay to introduce a life of ~elf-questionirg and.

discovery.

But w whatever 'be their. difference·s, their ·

educational philosophie~ have most •stunning lslmila-.

rities.

Sri }\llrobindo, Rabindrahath 1and Krishnamurt·i

all: are unanimous in belfeving. that a .child as a·

f~ower needs 'a, total. bl:ossoming 'in' its ·own natural

. i .·~

:':.

·l. way.When Sri AUrobindo supplied the so:far tol.d ·and. ;..·

untold(metaphysical·) stqries of this blossoming,

Rabindranath paints its ethereal 'b.eauty and splendoUr,.

and· ;in l<iishnamurti, the meanj ng (implicaticn~) 0~ 'the

hlo~soming (flowering) . is unfolded in its entirety •.. 1

.. : \;

. , ··r 1.6G . •,, ..

. ·

,·,, '~ . ,. <· ,. .. : ...

.. 1.· '; •

. I.n the treatment ~f 'education.the:r:e.is· undau~· " . . . ' . . ·, ' . . .. ;•,

btedly a ·realistic: philosophic·al mind. tn. ~ri shnam~

urti than others .He \-las· very much specific ard

modern (non·-metaphysical) in his pronouricenents JHis.

process was. through Di~ ,which effects in the

<;rra:dual unfoldment of the inner beauty(synth~ is) of

man by pointing· out ·the ·most deplorable stat~ of . . ' .

affairs in each of us.In education this is Soc!rati.c-4.

treatment·,which is said to be the best so far.

HO".-~ever, Krishn=.rrr...1rti •s trea~me•t 'cannot be called . . . i .

as Socratice entirely.There, are fundamental di ffere-l '·.'

·'~.

.nces .A.D.Dhopeshwarkar finds., - ',i I

"The purpose of Krishnariurti•s discussions is·

not to reach a conclusion but to raise the

mind to anothe~ dimension of ~inking~ and.

feeling.Krishnarnur:ti '·s is not "the S6cratic ·. .I ' - .· .

method of driving th4?t opponent to a p:recon- ·. ·,

ceived conclusiom he .. does .not· want concl usi Cl'lJ ' . ~ : . . i

but only 1nsight. Nobody can 1mpose understan-

. din<i on another: it must come from within : "

or not. at all • n 16 2

Andre· Niel's observation in thts cootext is, -. . • Q

"The J91.~::X2Y£Sel~ Of. I<rishnamurti goes much

deeper .than .\;lith Socrates.socrates aimed at.

})rin.Jing to. the su:!:'face certain. ideas • wnich

were hidden in the mind,while Krishnanurti

' .

lf)7

wants - each man. to realize his .own being" ..

where :the ME ·is no more in oppositiOn to the

not;.;.ME"J:t-,where in the ,.struggle for; li·fe"

.the struggle· g~s and life .rema:lns .... 163 . · ..

The philosophy' of ~atur~ !::!.~~ri:_~ in Education ~ .

is common to all the three(sr!: Aurohindo & others),

·which presupposes art idea that man cannot be fundament-

ally .harmful, onlY. the situation( socio-political) makes

• him so. This process of natural_ flowering only can .

bring cut- what is 10od in a:man.HO'ot.'ever.,questims

can be raisec,., WEY American yotlths, wi t!t so much

freedom in their system, are· so unruly and frustrated.

in their behaviours ? The· simple answer ls,they .-a··

not naturally ·flo~ering wi~h love and freedom.They Q .

receive only sone quotas. of love from their parents ' '

. l :'. [

and t''"leir freedom is curtailed by authority and situation.

Let ~s hope that Rousseau's :~ack:-~~atur_! c·alr.:

in education(Naturalistic philosophy) and John. Dewey's

education as a "process of continuous reconstruct! on ,·. ·

of e'><P9rien~ 11 (pro·Jressive education)' haq effactsi, ~h9;-. . . . . ' .. •.' . !

educational ideas of sri Auroolndo arid oth8rs,consci! -. . " . . . .. ·-~· •' . . ... ciously or lj.ri~onsci·ously,:'::>ecause in ·therq ther\9 f.~~

vig.orous · emph;asis on that di:r:ection.Further~ th~ir, , . ' ' . ' .·· ...

phil~ophies. a~· .also .rein~tat(!ments. :bf'_E~~ti~nt,:i.'aJ:l~~j··.·' ~

r. \

'.

j ·: ',

truths - of authentic f.reedom and uniqueness_ ..

· Hdwevero flowering. is a holis:t~c affair .. For ·flower! ng ·

a plant needs everything.- a~r,water,light,eart~ etc&.

absence of any c;ne of them lmplies a cripplin;J growth.

so is the case with· the flowering of a child .A na. tural .

being,as the child is,needs· all- air,water & so onJ

along with it. a child furtherQneeds freedom and

care(love) ,so th.at th~ more subtle;· and finer element·;

that nature has bestowed on ~im nay, mind and heart .

can e~~tend ·and e ·--pand to the full. The ahsen ce of any

one of them or exaqqeration of any in the. attemptof

shaping a man(man '·ceing- mental) . already produoed. ·. · ' . ' -

. . :.

. ~at:tnent of . .man (man as a_ gift of ~~ture) ~whidl It is··

·.

i

'· i .

' . 1 .

the, essence of tooir(Sri. Aurobirido &· others) edilc at:fl.~,:~. ,. __ · . . ., ' . ·.·. ,. . . . ._·: . •' ·:·

enormous potential! tes ~is ~i~iays' a 'ch~l~nge to )' .. :

~ him:;elf.To many, 11e is. ~lso physiologically the last

in: the nature's evolutionary jaurney.However,when

modern man 's· education is a:tmed at careerism, comfort

and job-seeur!ty,then Sri ~robind?,Rabiridranath end

.. \

Krishnarmirti tried to _establish education for .

I happiness and harmOny. The modern-attitude leads t 0

; > the Man- Natu~. dichotomy,the .latter attitude

·-I.

(. '. '

·i.

' ~ •• l; ·. -!

..

(of Sri Aurobi'ndo &·others') t:') !dent! tY and friend·-·

lines·s. It may 1~ that the images of Rou~se<!-u and ·

others could be found to he present at various steps

. in· their(Srt Aurobindo & ot'1ers) treatment of educa•:

tion,yet they never lost their original:ity~Above, all . . ~ . ;· . . . .

in their education.

They all are ·unanimous ·on a single and most. e· •• ,

fundamental point is that,the only .t>urt:>ose o:f.'EKiuc.:-· ' ' • ' I ' • ' ' • ·~ '

ation is .to develop·· a total-man .There is b'tlt veey '.: ~~-- .'·

. 1~ ttle difference· in meaning and content among

Sri- Auro·Jindo' s · _!~~~~-edu£~:!-2!!· Rab5. ndranathis

~~1:! on. !2£_£2_rt1ol~t~l~!.l29 ( paripun1 ahnave han cl- ·

har 'Sikk~a) and Krishnanurti 's Ri•rht kind of educ-t -,.-·- - --

j!'t!;ion_~.T~ey presumabely refer· to a similar k;ind of

life.As for Sri Aurobindo. i~ was J!ltegral-liXil!9 •. ·

for Ta·-rore it was Fullness of life . ------- and for Krisma-

. -~.

rmir-~i it was .llfe.,_o.;_ Intellig~nce.There may be

d:f.fferences among· tha·m in interpreting the terms . .

e, :J.; Sri · Aurobindo plann~d a ·greeit metaphy::dcs. of· .. ,,.·

; .

optimism oo t of an Inteqral man, brinqing ali sorts .·~ :• ! ' .

o~.y.o1ic and mystic connections to it.Ta!ore. i!'lte.r­

pr~ts a Total-man from a hi'Jlhly ima 1in.at:1ve .·and ' ': .~

"··. ,17,0

;. ' .. '.

· esthetic standpoint.Krishna~rti. on the. oth~rhand .. ~ . . . . .

' ' ...

Further, their addition of spirt tUal dimension·

to education is unlike any traditional effort.To

Krishnamurti ~E!.~!.~l:_i_9f~ refers t'o that part of

life which· is be~~t..!~ Jto S~i· Aurohindo it

refers. to .. · ••• the control. of life by-the sp'irit" ;.

to Tag ore, spirituality. is the· k~ngdom of surplus

in man.And t_o make this job,·- of establishing

education on spirituality poss~ble,they all .empha~ · : . .

sized on meditation ln their schools.Formeditation.

izs,, silence, an~ silence. ~e·l?~:'l;uni<iue~ess to unf9la.:. ··r • • • • • '• •• I• ' •,' •• • ''•

In education,t~is ref~rence to spirituality

is' in other words. implies their eai:nest desire to ·: I,

change the present level of consci.~sness i:n m~ .. .,

a~cause, for I<rishnamurti, '"'+'he p~esent world .crisis ''

is a crisis of consciousness." 164 · Sri ·Aurobindo

W?Tits "a radical change of consci~sness••. and

fpr Tag ore, man ;··~·..Jeds to stand beyond the boundary

of his limited self("apanhote bahirhoe haire dara"). ·

Thus. selflessness, the essence of spirituality and ; . . '

. • Q

chan ]e is variously l'x:esent in ·all of them~

. . ..

. . ., ~ 'li ;·;'

·'I

... i·:

. '

.·.l . · .. i!il,.

f7[ . . ~~

~: ~:

Freedom being one of the main' concepts in educ-.

ati6n,w'1ich ~Then properly .un~erstood hrin~s outfuiler·, . .· . . . . . l implications . of Sri .Auro·-=>indo, Ta ·:ore and Krishnamurti 's ·

' ... ~ . l'

whole philosophy of education.Ry freedom. they are ·mare!

cbncenmed with . "·Freedom of the mind"(T_a1ore),or the.·

. n Psychological freedo~" (I<rishnamu:rti> .or ·"Th~ power t:o • • ' '· ' ' . ' • ._! •

e _•pand a.-,d qr~w towards perfection" etc. (Sri· Aurobind~) ~

In education, freedom should ':Je in: the ··,-,eginn inq and

then only 1 t can "be at the end. It is freed,om that can .,

give rise to one's creativity; one's identity.It' is cn:ly ' . . .

in' this weather u. child can 'poor aut hirriSelf' pleas~tt1y ·

and c~mpletely.Freedom denies fear o~ competition, ,.

authori·ty;jealousy,violence and so·on~It decries

ri]orous discipline and impositi.on of any ideolCYTicalL'

oppression. · · '

Han, it ;is variously said, is most .creative Wh'ati: . . 0. . . ' > _;

he.; i,s. in hiffi.c;elf and is free.lmd creatlvity can only\.'

make1 him a first hand individual, only gives ·him real .

me~ing and workh of his life.Educational philosophies) ..

of Sri Aurobindo, Tagore and. Krishnarnurti 'aim at. thiS·, .

. direction through a constant emphasis .on :Looking·-

Listel)ing ·and Learning in education.

. [ .... · . ·' ... '

•· •.·. . , .-

'i•

' .

. :;

., •.

' i

Interestingly enough, all. of them have emphasi­

zaed on such education which helps to unfold one's

uniqueness and individuality.Their education there-

fore is more individualistic than social i.stic. To

them, an individual is the ultimate unit of a society

and the ultimate-agent for any s·ocial change.Any

system \o~~lich coerces inquisitiveness and uniquenes's

of a child is bound to r~ceive criticism from them.

It is the flowering of a phild,which receives the Q

highest priority in their educat,.ion, bec~use round

which every other.thin0 e,g. discipline,canventions

or a1y syste1n rotates .Here system thus receives a

secondhand value because it serves as a den tal of

freedom. Sri Auro0indo' s'8 three principles of teaching" ' ' .

(mentioned'. earlier) is a ·clear r~ference to this· truth ..

Tagore similarly thinks, "There cannot 'be ·any artifi­

cial system regarding educati.'.)n which is a ·matter of

inner ~anifestation. " 165 ~isrmamurti is· a constant

firrhter ar]ainst th~ tendency .to systematize indivi-.':

dual life or education. "Triere is no path to truth~., . ' ' ..

observes Krishnamurti, 'Truth must be discovered;but

there· is ~o fo~mula(no system) for its discovery.

W}tat is forrrulated is n?t. true." 16 s Education must !

concern with the discovery of truth.So, in brief, their

. .

·edu~ations may be named as 2vstef!l!e~s system or.·

Surrenderinq 1:.~~'!:~th al~!!~·

' ' '

;

Life is a har~nious. conhlnatio~ ·of bOdy-mind

and neart~ 1 t moves always together and have. always

anli inherent potentiality to response wholly or .

integrally.Ilut. in the process o.f human c~vilization·,.

tbis natural bal~ce get distur'IJe·d: and a:· p~ti al . . .. · . . .

developrrent either of 'bOdy or of mind or :heart haS ... f . '

taken pla~e.Our traditional education helped this

· pr~)cess tremendously. This· uneven growth 9f.~ indiyidual . · .. , .. I ·:'.·' •,. •: · •. ": ...

produced a sordid result ,b6t for ·h.i'inself;:.~a ·.for ·.th&: . • ' ·• . i .• ·,··. • •·. .. '• • . ; '.·

., .":' :: '. ;,:'! .

buman 'society eventUally.Any educ::ation 'which take's. I

.. . the fuller development of li:fe into c::>nsideration

s·houl9. o·'JV ious·ly emph.asize on the integral-education

of · the physique, he art and. mind - as 1 s t~e case wi·th:

Sri Aurohindo,Rahindranath and l<rlshnamurti.

However it needs to be specifically ment~oned'

that in Ta Jore • s San tin iketan. there is always a

Jreater thrust towards the education ·of H~art(esthe-:

tic educ.at~on) ,which h~ been introduced through

sin'qing,dancing,paintirig,preparing new an~ newer ... . ; . '. . .

festivi ties:Ce, JO:Halakarshan ,_Vas an to, utsav. etc.) ,. '{.: .. ' .... ' ., ...

. I

· thrpuqh art·,poetry and literature.This -nay'be that1.:>'

I·.

,j

'i

'·' .. , . ,•,

(of: heart),and presumably one's iife. of fe~'iing(not.

of. sentiment) is more clooe ~o. a life .of activity . '. ,. ,. - .. '.

',' .

i

· ~ :scng, thEm :t reco}nize it:.reaily~ I know· it i:>erfectly·

('!gcmc:r bmitar diye Jakhan dekhi bhubankhani takhan . ' . .

tare cini ami, takhan tare fani II} .The song resembles

the truth that cnly a life of feeli~g(sehsitivity &

love) can give a vision l;>f reality .• This vision is

nearly repea~d in I<rlshnanilrti,when he maintains,

•.~.to receive it(tr:uth),the. heart must qe full and

the mind emptY. •167 . It. is indeed· a great a<;hievement i :

on: the part. of Ra'IJindranath that in his life ·time· he

'was:· nearly .succes~ful1 in concretizing ·a .most lofty:.: . ' . . . . .

ideal of education, _: of .. a unlver~ity where nature: .. '· . ;., '

whispers through trees.birds ·anc;i flioliers,and indivld~':'·\ '' . . :· . . ' ',

u.~ ~aspires· f9r greater knowledge and freedom .. The'':'' ,::;,r

Santiniketan then represents the true spirit of. its :·· . . . .

prJ~ciple, "yatra visva bhavet eka riidam" or where· the· . ; - . .

,. . ' . . ·. .

w9:rid gathers to u~ite.Like .. Tagore Nature has taken: ..

' .·a .<Jr,eat: ·part. in Kr.ts,ht1amurt~.'s. Teachings too.His . · r

advi,ses 'Live close to nature• because ·"The mind

' losses its sensitivity whenever there is no communion·

l. Q .

' ~ : ; :' . ·,

f?5. ·'. ''!

',. ·;· ., .

with nature." 168 Without sensitivity there can·1ot be

any learning,·and .without learning· education 1~ meani­

n(tless.In a letter written to the schools,I<r:f.shnamurt!

showed the place of Nature in· his ~rceptio.& of truth s

"When you wander .through the woods · wlth heavy

shadows and dappled 1 ight and suddenly come · upon. an open~paae,a green meadow surr.olinded by.

stately trees or a sparkling. stream, you wander, ,·:

. why man has lost his reiationship tonature and :. . ·. . . ... . . . '·.

the beauty ·of the earth, the ·fallen leaf and. :~he;~·. . . . . . . ·. . . :; j

broken branch.fLY..~'!-\!~~ J:ost~cuch with nature1

~l':!en _Y..~.~ill. inevitably 1~ relation~h!E_with

_2I1_gth~;.Nature is not just the flowers,the lovely·

·:rreen lat~m or the fl()Winrr waters' i~ ycitr little:

garden,but the Whole e~h ~ill al;l. the thin'JS. On.

it. We. consider that na~ure exists. for our use,; fpr .·

our conve tience, and so .loss communion ·with the j

e;;u-th.This sensitivity to the fallenleaf and to

the tall tree on a· hill is farmere important

than all the passing ·of e}C'aminat.ions and having· :a

'brigbt career ... 169 ., 9.

·On the· nature of a t£l_!e.,~£b~ .there is . seemingly ; ' I

'. • 0 • . . . ·j an overall similarity: among SriAurobind?1 Ral:.:indranat}1 and

Krishnamurti.A teacher# by Sri Aurohindo, is on'ly • a gu;ide

a.<d helper' .He :is. helping his students to bring out ~-:i, :}: •., . .· .· . . ·.. .· .·, . . : ·\·V~

whatever. true cmd ,·wble in him,and that by his own life, , . . . ,'· . . ' . . ,. '

. . ' , . ·.• · .. ·· ' I ..

and living .Fo:r: Ra'oindranath , uEdudation. can.: only .. becoi;l\a . . . :·' l ~ , .

.' ..

possible by a teacher and not by any syste"! .. '~:170 ·., ·. ··. ·'1

~,. ) ;.

, .

• !'.

·' .· '! J ~.

' . ·~ · .. : . .

., ~ : . ' .

·A teacher who is·· himseif. · l~v+~QI ener9E!tic:~ ~nn_avative -; .. . - . ' . . . ~ . . ~ ;

can;. only capabL:: of ~q.ching . a moving and 11 vinq mind

. of a child. 11 Human mind is-: always moving, and only a

moving mind can 'understand another mind which is also

·moving. H 171 A teach~r' must' represen~ this spirt.f: of i · ....

' -

- , movingness in him. On the other hand, for Krishnant.u::·ti,; ·

:"The true teacher is inwcu;dly rich., "'172 because

teachin'CJ is a way of life for him and not a nere - . '

technique or- a vocation.A true teacher therefore

encouraqes his s'tudents tC:Ma.rds 'freedom and at the

Sctmertime corrects. his . own life too. It- rrte•qns a true:- · .. ,

teache_r a·-.ould always be living at?d dynamic, which. Jt. ~!s

the,:\Ver':-' e·ssl:mo:. of teac'--\ ing.Though .the nu«Pers ofL y·

sp_ch teachers_ a-f~ always vecy rare_ and that is part!~~- ) . ' ~ - - . :

c~larly in the· .PrE!sent cilltur~~ ! . ·. '·

·. i .

. There - is: another y~ry. fun~arren~a,l :~letrent · t~lti .. '· .'.,

bind. together all' tllE! sayings. of sri Aurob:indo,RabindL . . . ·. ' ..

raJ'lath & Ki:-ishnariurti (on education) is that ~f Love,

which is_ selfless.Lo~Je ·and sympathy .. and n~t· coerclon . . . • . ~.~: ~ . . ' . . • :;: i· '

of ,aDY kind· on the child that· guides ·Si-i Aurobtndo:1 s' ' ; . .. . . .

ed~ca:tion.To Krishnamurti,love and. freedc:)m are

stepping stones. of ed~cation.·Tagore -is an ardent.

worshipper .of· the l3rahman as 'raso vai $ah' .His

.; ...... ;·

. ~- ~:

' ~: ~ : (. !'

177 I.

•, ..

educatfon essentially 1-)ecorres an education of love

("prerrer ,..sikk:ia") .Thus,Sri· Aurobindo ~ others, all have .. . . -

. tooch~ this. love-chord in. rn~, the fundamental and f;~nal

chord th3.t grea:tly effect life and -.educat,ion. · ~- ·. • !

. Love particularly. sel_fless-love· has a specl~l,

chemlstry.It is a state of mind and not. a reaction

(e,<::J. not a reaction of hatred) .It implit;!s total atten-.

tion a1d no psycholOJical fragmentation. In· th:l.s state,

of mind, a m~ responds cohTpletely .· anei with~t any . .

inner cor~straint.This love is ti.meless as. well as cm~ot . .

~as:i.ly m<!ke a man ti;-ed_.Dufing .·that state of. lave there

is a sense of identity'.betw~n t~le_ ol::lserver: ~nd th~. . .... . ,. ; ' '

.• o~served arid the utllity;...co~s·ciou~ness g'ats only" a .. '

.se.coj1.dary preference. or ~o ·preference at all.

Love has·an enormOus space-creating-capacity

in,,m.-ind as -well as in heart,which widens one's visi.On. ··

and.!"Jrin~:s out .individual creativit:y.rt· implies freooQm . ' . .

foXi only in free<lom one can .create.Thus Love and . '-...: --. J:r~q!!!... '":lecoma two esserit.ial pillars of education nay,·

of_; :i~ividual.flowering.Love and fmeedom are two facets

of· the sane reality: one· perfects and qives me~ing. to , ':'

. t}le otheri they are· rrut;ually dependent terms.so it is · ..

meaninJless to se.arch which is. :pri·or and ultimat_e;, • ,. :· .-

·i .j;

\.: ...

\: ..

1'78

because it is out· of .love that freedom is establisbed,

and 1 t is also· through freedom .love· is expressed .• E oth

are true.

Tas·)re observes, "The love that is the hi~hest

truth being· the most perfect t;elationship.n 173 Educati~·

is basically a matter of. relationship .....;. with oneself, .. ·:

with the society,":?lth'the world;so it must take love

(and freedom) into top priority.For Krishnamurti,this

(nature,of)iove'is neither a memory not a.thought J,·

0.

•• It is only· when there is no image that there is _love ... 174

,.

Nevertr.eless there is a p )Ssi ~')ili ty of mi. misund-

erstanding and of unintelligent use .,f these concepts

of love and fre~dorn etc.· in education.The traaitional

educat·:on based o 1 a:.1thority and to c-:>nform is ~n e·-~ample

in this effect.~verywhere the principle of life is forgp-. .

tten or overlooked, and a mechanical system, the· immediate . . ' . . '

:necessity,as short sighted philosophy of life and living

has taken place.

vlhatever 'he the advancement in education with the

introductio·: of mo::l.ern eqUiprnents like microscope,.teles'7-

cop~ .. cqmputer etc, so long the· _elerrent of real love and;'

freed')m is .ahsent in the process (of education) the matn .. - - . . ' ~

aim of education nay,the flowering of goodness will hotind

to falter.

. :

0

,, ·' ,· .::.

.. ', ·' ..

i ·.

· .• t·

~.' ~ . ';,: . :· ~ ~ -~. ~ . ·,

However the fact remains that. the a~proach -.______.. ---. everywhere f~ nally. shapes the __ !:~l!,';!l8t (end) J and

difference of approach must lead .to difference of ..

results .This is also the case ih Sri. ~urobindo &

Rabindranath one one hand, and Krishnamur.~i on the

other.~part from their indepth similarities·.

(in regard to their teachings), 1 t seemS true that

Krishnamurti •s appr-::>fich· generates more· freedom and ··, ,·.

:.· .,

• f

stability as it proceeds; bec;::ause .. freedot:n( or ltbera:ttca) . • . ' · .. : . • 1 -

is always ti~d \•li th . one. s . appr~ch-mech af:l ism, and

Kr:f.shnamurt.i. remat;1s ·always buroem-free _like a

clear - sky.

.··

(B) !he .. ~£~ual c~side~~ :

;

' ·•.

R.K.Narayan, an eminent writer and tha Rajya- '·.

sabha mem'·-:1er, once made an insightful observation on

the plight of children in· the name of modern education.

~ found that the ha.~dshtp ef a child .starts rightat

· home when stra,ight fro.m sllep the child' .is pulled out .. ..

of bed,-Jets ready for school,even '~-)9fox:-e its faculti~s

are awake. "He or she is qroomed,stuffed i:1to a

uniform,, and ;packed off to. school \d th a .loaded bag nas . ·,

·.• ' ·~ . '

!' .•

180

'.

;

becorre an inev!atahl~ burden for the ch!ld~"·l?S R.K~s . ' ' ' : . : . . . . ' ' : . . ~

investigations Eurther showe;d that. an. average child :

·carried six t~. e.t(jht kil'ogram of paraphernalia of

modem education 1 ike a ];:ackrnule · .. ~ a result, they 1:.

devel~p a sto.op,han-1 their arms forward lik~ ·a

• cl).i mpanzee • when wal~ing, some suffered. spinal inj u~:;,:

. ries.Thin 15 were not nruch better when the child . . ....

returned f.r-:Jm school.M:lther. or tutor was waiting for·

special coaching. or home-work.For the chtld,the day·:

has ended,with no tilne left for play· or dream. . J,

"It is a cru~l,harsh life ·imposed on her".So R.K.plea­

ded, "To think rut and deV'i~ remedies hy changing

the: w~;ole educational system and 'OUtlook. s~ that . . .

. . in the .. process 1 of learning. " 176 This is briefly the

story 0f ou.r modern alices w.i thout, their wondrland~ . '·.

However )thts .ls but one side. of t~ :Whole : :!

i1J.med1ate attention1 It is the Emotion~l :~hfld Sbuse~ ·. · . - _..__ --·--:------:-- .

. o~, the bruises made to. ch~ldren that don't show.

Res~arch es . conducted" abroad:: sugge'st · that ,the. eff~~tS i;· , . . ~ .-· '. ~~-~/ ··~ · .... ·. . . -,- .· ' .. '•'· .' . ::·_:;.·.:·· .

. · .. of: emotional·. child abuse rriay be as .. devastating as.'·,_!'' '! .

. tJlos.e of physical aoose.It's been seen 'that emoti~atly

; . ' ' ,.

' ... -;

181

' '

. ' !

.•

abused children suffer. an· eyen greater decl.ine in • \: '\

mental and psychological ~eveiopnent as they ryrow

older than do physically a'l::lused children, because

emotional abuse involves nothing else than the

syste~atic destruction of·t~e child's self-esteem~

'.'

It resulted· in.' utte~ sadness, depression or mischie.-.

vous ·behaviours on· the part of the children .According

to Dr.Anitalf sengupta,a psycholo rist,these' contrary

children are "Victims of. the· a 1e, family dynamics ~ .· ' ' . ' ?·: '

and parents' amoit i ons • 11 l 77 :Vecy . often ~ t. is seen th~t

parents want to achieve S()mething th,rough_· the qhild;:_

mostly thei_r own failed dreams,or thirms ~that they !-'

.ha.ve missed in the!~ own· :J_!ves.Thus starts -the hatt.le · • , • • • • , • ., ' • ' • • • ' • ' • • ' ~ • , • •. • , I

for the· child 'who get cauiJght in 'the crossfire betWeen-. • • ' . ·•• . • '• ' ,. • :·, • • . •i ·.t' •

•. ·'. ·,' . ·. ~

' . ~ ' . the parents, the education system~ambitlons. and the.

ever present bogey· of .the ·chifd's future.,

OUr world is a· world ·of increasing COC'ltradic­

tions and ·ou~ c~ildren are poor victims of this adul~

arroJance$Contradiction ilies in .our. sayings and . ; ,..---._, . . ~

behaviours,we mnreq rarely. behave what we· actually ...

pr:each. This· contradictorY. behaviour has reflected'· in :.

the world affairs too.The Telegraph

2nd, septemher'90 reports,-

·'='·

:'.~ ;,'.

' I'

''i:;\

)

newspaper. of. ' :

I ~ '

.18:2

"Ev~cyday 40,000 children are dying in the

world for want of ine~·-pensive me4icine ~ ·

"The cost of figheter plane can be enCAigh to~.: equi;p 50,000 villa9e · disp~risaries; .. ··. :

••J'llst' hal£·p9rcent .of w·~rl;d's··annuai· militarY-. . : . ,. '

-.;.7-pendi ture can pay for all the . aqricultural ·: .

. machinery required to make poor .countries self.:.

sufficient iri food ·by the .year 2009, .·,. •"·etc. ' .. ·· ·

so iri this \<rorld ·of 'contradictions ·it is mo$t. ·-:

unlikely that we can have a. sane child•N.owie but· we ., •' 1.;.

,\ ~./

have created this ·moostrous se,;ciety and the monster.,.

now is. moolding us according to its needs, a Frankenstei­

nian effect ~ Hawever the .most stunnino fall outs 'of , . . . - .

this society are that mahy poor ~HR childre~,both in

the develop~d a"1d underdeveloped :puts of the. wo~ld, ..

are earning livelihoad ·by physical labour or by

prostitution'."children in the flesh-trade· roaming in l

the streets~ of. various metropolis' in India artd. els~wbere Iii • • •!.

in the world( including G~at~rltiUo) ~are the most :· .. ..

' . ' ... ': ' . ·: . l:· harrowing of ~11. e·wriemces ::of the soc:lal: inhumanity._

f • • '

In, ~r Adult wor1.d, childr~;:m are· seen wearfng gaa.;.masks

in. Israel to protect themselves from the possible "

chemical weapon attack by Iraq during the Gulf-war. . ' . . \ ' :· .

( 199:1)!The point is, adults have the pc>wer t~ deliver.\·;:.;·. •o

· .... childhood front darkn_ess.,_yet ~11-ey are· not .do~t:tg it~ ~:·· · .. ~ ··

. '·. ..

l ,, i

. •

,• ;.' . ' 1~ ..

• , . ' . \ . :;_ • ' ' ' : ~· ! ; ••

'·. ~

...

,. '· .

. . ., . ' ~ ··.· .. \ :

· There . is. an4ther as~ct of edu~ation~i reality·

- that every society. and every ·1overnmemt· maintains >·

cei:tain appr·::>ach towards .!.~~1.:1'!.9 (ed~cati~9l_of _!. ~~-· citi~e.Il!.The 'vedic-India has Tapovan-culture,the :

present Ind:ia pursues· a;British trend. 8 The authori..;.· . ~

ties of Fascist . Italy imposed their poll tical credo·, ...

:-··"'Believe, Obey~ fight11 ,and . "Missolini is always rightu,

upon all pupils and students and monopoli~ed all

media of· pu~Jlic e:<pression."178 ':l'he rules of· the· . . . . . .

erstwhile Soviet union prohibited the: teaching ·.of,.

rel1..gion,upoh Miir~ia~:··econo~ic.s, .and ~ther doctrine~~. ·• . . . \ . ' '·· . . ''· .... ' . . . ·( '.

deemed tohe inconsistent with ·c::o~I)ist ideology •.

However these different and sometimes conflicti'ng

appr~ches .though brought changes in. the~ society·onlr . ..,

superficially but no~ ·deeply.In actuality they·. j.

' • .. •

adversely effect human-unity. i

l .. · China's conmitment to Socialistic ideals tnr·i,i•"

education,even -:by utmo.st repression(_e,().students · '·· .:.; : : ·.

massacre in Tianenmen squ~re on a- 4. June, 1989) I is . '

well· known.Japan,on the ot:her hand. is following her Q.

. tr,agi tional approach of discipii ~ing a ~hild tn . i

every possible wcw•even at the cost of .child's

e·<tx;-ene unwill1,1gness. When \tlestem·-democracies cherish

' .. ·:.-.

. ;

~., .( ' .' .. '·

' 1 18

, ... ,~reedom in ~'tleir education by giving .more priority .to

the intellectual and the mechanical part of .it.Today.

· this particular appr9ach(westem-app~oacnl has·. a

'tremendous effect on; the world over. These differe.~t approaches .to education,whicl"i:': .

mostly, ~ased dn the it'11!11ediate necessity of. man, raised

sorre pertinent questions related to Hu~-ex:f:_s~!l~•

These questions are m6stly ~ased on -~ the Network of -----=--. i '~. ·, \ :\;

Man - lvfachine .-. & Education, which :may be posed . iri. the ________ .. _______ .____ ' '

. - . following marmer. e,g.

' ' .~

What is really the' aim of . education 1 ·

What can IntellectUal & 1-t:!chanical approach to

education bring fqr the world ? or, .... ' >.

vlhether the aim. of education is actually to ·,1.

produce' a comple?-man of science or an Integrated

~ of eul ture ? and' so on. ' I.

Krishnamurti foresees the danger involve· in the

·mOdem scientific and technoloJical dev~loprient.He ··~.

~xpressed his concern ln thS follo.-iing w~·,· . ,. ,·_.

"When genetic en]ineeririg and the <compu':ter ~~t,' ~;~ , . . . '· v• . , .

what.· are you .1 As a human oeing'what are·y_~: :?:;; ·. . • ·.~·~: ~ . . ·. I ' , ' .· '• ',· ~ l:~;\ "·', . ,

Your brains are )oing to be altered.~our way of. ' ~ "

behavlo.fr is going.·.to.be c;hanged· o·.;,~~'It ·all' ehds

~P el th'~.r. :in • war: :o; :.ip. d~ath ~ i'hlt$ :i~··what • is{··;. ·happening actually:-•:179 1.;.

. .' . k:~~ .

'> '

';

' ' '

18'5

Human society nOW' is thdusand times more qomplicated .

thari what it was at the time· of its bh:th~This ,\ .

. complexity is howeve_r increasing, anq science is in

a way·helping this process.It(science) encourages

more in.tellectual pursu i t,mathematical genius and·

in a ·way helping to bring. up more compleY ~n and .. Q .

. women.This approach. is .quite contrary to help errer-

gence of an integrated(total)man6who is harmonious

wfthin anq without.

There is a· qreater possibility of developing.

genetic en Jineering to bring superior htiman beings.

'i ·.

/

to handle the evisting ~lld the emerging. comr,ie~-soci~ty • . '.- . .,. ;•

~r~ady :th~re is. heavy demand for such beings· in i:tb~'L 1 • : ._-._ -•• , ·.-. • •• f.

- . . . . spppisticated technology of space,·weapoo,ry, liedicirie

. . . .

~d; so on.~oweyer this. wwld' have a chain'.creactionary.

demand or derriand ad~fnf:int~l!'m ~The tiroblern is, · .. ·.

I < l ',

ai:super-computer indeed can. S·:l~Ve super~mathematics ..

in a su·perlativ..:: haste but it would qive birth to ·

super prot)lem:S as \orell like the problem of COJTIP\lter

pollution or computer spyin) a."l¢1 s.o on.The _genetic:.. ·l

. . . I ·en:Jineering ~as .a rrechanical education can possibly. - . . produce an Atavist~c_ man 6 who is techni_cally superb~

but ~'tle 's no. integration of mental-emotional and peysical

asp~cts of his being, and has no appreciati-on of beauty,~ , ..

'···:l·.'

I,. '

18G

Q

Integration .means harmony within oneself as well

as· with t~e surroundings.It ·refers· mar~ to the chanrring.

space, time · and situation (chan 1ino values) ·than genetic­

·inheri 't;.ance.so .from a sperm of Tagore or·· Russell. an~th~i:'

Tagore of so cannot be produced.Further.there· is .. ,, . . ' .· . . . . ..

always a. sense 'qf' aim, a purpbse involv~d' i~ t~ m$ch;;l-,. ' '

nical( 1enetic) process,which aiways linrl,.ts a product .•

(an individual) .Whereas,an· inte1rated man _is .not: a . . . ·. . ~~

. product, he cannot b~ ·moulded under a11y sys.t.em.Integ:c:il'~. ' . '.'

' ' ' ' '

tion in an indi·;~'idual 'solely. qro•uided 'on love and' ,• . --. . ----

·~'!s?!!_,so he(an in.tegrated man) is 'beyond the mechani­

cal world.of knowledge.Knowledqe without self-integration

has a poisonous effect.As I<rishnamurti o'bserves, - •

"KnoWledge has created the machine and: we live;

·So ,the

on knowledge.\'/e are machines: We are now - t .: .

seperatinq the two.,The machine is destroying us.·

The machine is the pr~uct of knOWled1e: we ;~Ttj·.: the pvoduct of knowledge. Therefore khawledqe·· iiti

' . ------9est~<?.l~no us,n~~he~!£h!:ne•iao , ::_·!n

endinl of knowledrye is in a way .the ending of ~ ...

the possibility .of future. destruction.· 'i

True inteqr.ation is based qr1· tP,e .!Eirit(soul),.i~"-,, • . . t"""·• •

. . . ' . ' . f . .

for S,ri Aurobindp,on the ~~~§!_in_!!!2!!,for Tarrore and

on _!ntell!o,.~n-~ ·for Krishnanurti •. In the phiiosophi~s _,:_

• of ~ri Aurobindo and others,Inte'}ration plays a·very .'• .

•.' [ 'i' j <'': l ..•

:'18.7

. . :~· ... . ~ '

. ·~ ._ . ; ·. . . ~~ ' .

•i. '

significant· role.They usedli the term •:rntehration •

~ ' '·

. . '- - l '~ :._~-: : • - ..

not in' the r sc:-we of. ,'mere ccmblnatfon or ;<a·-jgre'gatioi'l: . . - ' : . . - i -. - . . ' . - . . ' • . ~ ": . . '-. '' ~:. . . . ' . • • - . -~

. . ! :'. . . .

of different indiv-idual aspects .. Integratton,for them~··

.is based on spiri.tuality i,e. a spiritual life can . '

only be perfectly inteqrated.Therefore education

for them 'is a constant effort in this direction,

thw spiritualization' of life.Thotigh this is quite . ~ (' . ' .. '

c-mtrary to 'the aspiration ;)f the western app~oach; ·

in education through constl;LI1t emphasis on information·. ; ;"''.i

and intellec:t.There. is however an; implicit traqedy ·

lies in· this particular approach {Intellectuai-appro.ach) ' . ·. I

as l<ri shnamurti summarizes the whole sense, "The man.· 'i' '

who. knows haw to split the. ~tom : . but ·has no l~e in·; r:· his heart becofrs a m~ste~~" 181. · . :.~

,, Today the. world needs a Re!!oioos ~g,as

Krishnarrurti clarifies it, .. A mind that has· no 'beli~f,

that has no dogma·,that has no fe.ar,that has absolute-

ly no· author! ty of anykind~becau'se it is a light t;o; :.

The world needs itself." lsi sympathy more than '' ;

anything else.Reli·'Jious mind is a !fusion both of

sy~athy arid 'of scientific spirit.·The rel1crtous trlj}Jid . . . ~ .. \

does not concerned with ;the partialJ it is concerne~cF: · . .. . .

with, the total: entity· of, man. Only science or scienti'fi;c'· ,. ' .

; '

·,'

'.188·

attitude can not include the totalitY ·of life,because': , . ,' ·' . 'r·-·

it sees. everything partially e3:nd analytically.Only::

a total...;apl"roach. which a religious mind. can comprehend, •" • I ' ' ' ' ;!, :

has<~ individ:l.ng etfect.Krishnanurti viewed, •'It is

far more importa;\lt tc) understand the. mannf!r ·of our.

· approa¢1 to anY probleni,th·an. to u$d~rstand the prob~em;·

it.self.••183

Relig.ious mind is the. apPrpachJa total­

approach· to life.Right-education is .both a study of

approach and of cultivation of. a; re1igioos fnirid.

Today a new apprqach or· an approach frpm · . ' . . . .

total! ty is needed. 11 A new approactLas Kr;ishnanurti . 1

describes~ 'is not-the Cultivation of·teahnique -

whi .. ch: d~s not mean you deey techni~e- but the.

creO:tJng,or h1elpin<j to crea~e an integrated human

bin~: first,whoi'se. e:xperienqe will in. turn create the; . <

:·

Q

te.spnfque.•• 184 It also s~pposed that this. approach .can·

only 'e,ffec:tivesly. deal' with any si tbation ~ immediate~ .· ' ·- ' ' ' ' • ·~ 1,:

global or eternal~whatsoever~It denies nothing but · : j l . ::

gives everything e,g~,intellect,emotion etc.,its due ''·

share .in life.It will further result in a ·total over,_ i

haul of the existing value order., b~cause fn·neither '• '· ' !. ~ . . . ·- -· .. ::· ... _: . . : ~. ,_ : .. r·

. . . . . . . . . . .

encOurages. sensua+· p'leasure no1: any' utilitarian tll:>tiv~ ~ · i . ·''' ' ' .!

.,. . ·~ '.

of careerism or arrbi tion etc;.

·'. ·. . ... ' .. :· •,

;• ' .. . 1 :. ': ·.

; : :_,.' ~ ; .. ' ' . -~ .. '1

. i

l::., .! .,

·r :, .. '

sri Aurobindo,Tagore and· Krishnanurti's education

fs 100re for happiness than pleasure; more for.·quality:· ·

• than· quantity; more for· intelligence an'd intuition ith~ 1 •, • • !

inteilectualilfsm alone.In brief,anything .which awakes :a total man. arid neutralizes his: self~~h. life is the es~-6nce

of their educational views .so it can be seen that ;they

devalued everytning which strengthens lives' ego-orient-.

ation ;tike compet.ition,com.parison,c;iiscipline,anbition,i.

·excessive speciai.izatio~ et~, 0 and on the other hand

. ' learning, looking, listening ,·leisure~ and so on,In this

process, freedom and loVe J' serve as the backbqne on

which the whole body of their educational ':philosophlesj

operate. • ,. t :

· .. -! • J ..

Does this nean that they:··have au'c~~~ed .fn the'i:;r· " . . . . . . ~ •' . . ~ . ' . ' . t':

educational. ptirsui t ? 1

Though it'' is. nore a. prac;:ti.cal; )o.•·

than a theoretical concern,btit isn't t't the. case .tha:t:)~··i:if;;.:

the pr~ctical,s~c~S~ justin~~ ~· ~hilOI!op~ t~,~\~~tt,;r ',.

gre,at; extent.·?. . . . .; · · ,

Sri Aurobindo. Internationai Centre of EducatiOni'·· ·

(founded in 1952) under· the efficient stewardship of :<•. ~ ; \ ;.~ • ' " l • ~1 . < • • ' • • • • • ) • ;'

the M:>ther 1:ried to concretize Sri Aurobindo's philoso-. · . ':: .! . . . . .- ' . .-:''

phy of life and educat'ion,~~An extract from one· of th~ '·1 • . ~ - co • • •

Centre's circular dated 1G.6.71 says;~

; !

. .1~0 ..

/

'"It .is necessary to reiterate tpat our· aim is to

work for the man~festation of the Divine conscio­

usness in the physical life.Our education is s.o

organiztied that the stUdents can receive the

necessary training to participc;-.te by their volun­

tary. de'cision in t~. realization of this aim.

"The pursuit of a degree,diploma or certificate

is in'con~istent with the aim that· is placed before

us, •• ~ Q.

~Therefore,hence~orth no certificates·will ·be

is~ued to the students of our centre of Education." 185 . Indeed this is a challenging task and the Centre

h•:tS creditably followed .it even against many waves of

troubles.There are several aspects wh~ch ~ the Centre's

education co~lex.and

of materials,short of

~ .. <r . they .are.--- short of ~p&oe~·shqrt,, .

suitabl~ . ..,:teachers· e~~~ :··Psy~~ol·~~;,,.'·_. . 'J

gical complexity in regard· to s,tudents" for ea9h. student . . . . . . '.; . . . . ' _-, '

. has individual pe.culiaritie.s,izi~ividual tas~t:J· e.tc~. ~- . . . ' . . .~ . ;j . .· . , .~.-- :: :· ..

Then there is corciple>~ity coo~riling the ~eeper. side .. ' . . .. ~.I . .

i,e. the spiritual content in e~ucation;.There is._ 'j .. ~

another difficulty deriv.ed from! parents • and guardians i

of students·, who· have their own ·notions and ariD i ti ons ,.

Centre of

desires.,Nevarthe;tess sri • A,urobindo · Interna~ionc!l_ · l r · · - . .·

Educatfat' has· a continuous success ·story, · ....

! I' . . . ~ .

hope& and

:l i i .

1.81

and '"1 t was due. to the predorriinemce of ,spiJ::i tual ~orce".

recau.nts a professor; He further elaborates, "Here .

children breathe spirituality,live spirituality,soar

in the sky of spirituality,no religion,rn!nd you.No . . . . .

religion is preached here,·no teachi,ng,no __ sermon,hut

there is sonethin~ .very marvellou~, canst{tuti~g· a_.

powerful factor- a discipline is there,not outer but

inner,it might be terrred ~spiritual discipiine ... 186. . . ' . :

But one. thing '_is clear that .the-re cannot ;be ·a:rr:t . '. (I'\ . . • . '. . '• ·'. . _.·., ',_1 •.·.·

yardstick of neasur!Qg that particular kind of succa'ss •;

which the centre p:l:-actiees.We ·are. lirrdted .only to· the

material success of the school, and itts been found

that the Centre too is suffering fr::)m various conflicts

generated from author! ty" arrbi tion,desire etc. of the ! .

daily world.Nevertheless,the overwhelming spiritual

atmosphere there along with blessings of late i ·

Sri)Aurobind~ and the 11other of the Centre gave it ,j· ·

(the Centre): comparatively an easy running.AJ:ld in<\.· . : ' .

t~i:l process it also ,"develops 1 ts own. ide.ptity ·and \ '·1'

culture.· . ..

Rabindrariath Tagore•s.Santiniketan would

p~s~mably the only experirrent with education in sucli:

a wide scale.From Santiniketan school to the: foundation

of ,:,Viswabharati Un~versity_~t\:le journey was. arCiu6us. '.

l~J2

,_-,; ..

i . ~-

-However Tagore founded the ashram and himself· faced

n1any · problenns cf gra:t pz:-oportions. regardi~g _its .· ·; •',•

. ·;;.. :z::tnning.He wu a bit -more clos:r,more ~·sociate.d wi.r ·

h.is education than others,Sri Aurobindo or KrishnanH-·

urti.Tagore was· in the administration,sonetirres in

the teaching and above all he himself stood as a

syrmol of his educatii:>n~i ideals.But now,barely fifty

years after his death,Santinike~an has chang~d for I the worse. · l .

Sri Sisirkuman Ghose,once closely associated: "'· .

,.

with the· ashram, sarcastically describes Santiniketan's · tf . . t:

present state of affairs, . . l·

, "Now.it is little. more than a .tourist spot ~d

a campus of problem ridden visionless ordinary •··

rren,teachers,students arid ·workers.~st of its

· workers are drones.Today no one expects rruch ·

from the place .Entertairill13nts. have. replaced

enlightenment.vle have_ been hypnotized by T~gore,

we pave yet to earn .h.im.Now Tagore is but _a pag_oda tree and the institution ~ glorified .. "!(.· Housing. corporation.•• 187

i~ :·

.. .l :

Tagore •s Santiniketan,once an abode of peaee becO'roos' ~--

·;.·,' ,(

an abode of .conflict, for it has nearly buried Tagore:' s

i~eals.There are ·reasons ~01) it ;They are._ e~9· ~ I . . '

Annexation of Viswabharati under .:Calcutt~· Universi ~' ~

. '·'it "

.• . i.

·!

I '. ,•

., . regulation,cent.ralization of University,Entry: 'of

18a

pol! tics and so on.These. decisions taken by the admin-' '

istration(sometimes supported by ~agore himself as one

of the rreni:>ers) under great pressure thougll saved

santin!ketan physically,but has taken- away its unique~

ness nearly completely.

In KrishnamUrti-schools too the same social

forces of disruption are also faund to be working-.

The forces of authority, aribi tlon, careerism, competi­

tio~ etc., can be very clearly visible .i~ the faces

of many of the parent·s,students and also· irischool- · •, ... . ...

' ··, ..

teachers.rl'his is in. many \-layf;3 frustrate the main

purpose of the. process 'whi.ch :~s ••Flowering".

Kris~nanurti. himself was well aware of all these.He',;i '-~ ..

once asked,.-; "After forty·years,what have we prodUce'd/?

Yqu ·all have··given a .great"pQI.!":t of r_our life to this

an91 ,what· has happane? r· .... and in great anguish he:·.

cont:inues , ·'we all. started out together to build . t ' . l . 0

something deep~somethi~g lasting,something worthwhile ~

there(in A.nerica) as ~11 as here(in India)sBUt there 4 . . . .

... ,

it:, is notflowering ·either .u 186 . Heverthe~ess, Krishnanr · . -·· . '

' urti~schools and Sri Aurobin?o Centre have: ·their' owl; !

success stor!es,when Tagore 's Santiniket'ari has ·failed·

. ;: - . :- ,;

, .. '' .. ' •, .. ,

''

1D1.

nearly.Krishnanilrti once mada a." warning, "Governnent

control of edUcation is a d calamity.There is no

hopa of peace and orde~ in the world as long as edu~ . • !

ation is the handmaid of the state or of organized

religion.Q• 189 The present l~st glory of Santinike~an ..

· for many, is nuch · dne to the governnent control of ,,.it, r .... •

whiCh rceans politi~linterventioo. And politics t~ay

being the greatest disrupting force nearly everywhere.

Flowering and. politics c~n~ go together hand in hand~

·Krishnanurti-schools and Sri Aurobindo International .. Education centre tried to :Keep the govt. control and

politics away as far as possible.Jhis however helped

them a great deal. ',\'• ,

(C.) , The General Consideration :

A .chanqe. of l~fe, frc;:>m selflsh to selfless ti10:I<gh

inqispensible to cope 'with. any. sit'uation,;y~t it is :~H,, · ·: • ·. ·• ': : ' • • ' • '. ; :. • • ~ .• • • . • ' : ·' •. i• ·.·' ••

11¥13terious ph~n~riena·~ciuite unpredictcible,which inv..olv~s . . ' . . . . ' . . . . . . . ':"

ne_itner any scientific(mathemat·i·ca:.l)necess~ty nor

anyother (necessity) .It rests completely oil orie's

inner-urge , one·' s . genetic cOde, on f av ourah le-s 1 tu ati C:.n ·

etc.Education can create at leas't a favOurable situation f .

.. ~ ....... :

' for flowering~but it cannot in any way necessitate

. ! J'

1B5

it(flowering).Flowering is .ca~~gorically different

from knowledge ·and info~ma~on. For example, our knowl-

edge of many ~cientific truths or of hietorical facts '0 )

. and Qf human behaviours could not sofar help us to .

flower.Iriterestingly in history tortures of imperia-

lism,world wars,dictatorial regines etc •. all went

hand in hand with. the acculml.at:ion.of kn~1edge. . .

·Tag ore posed this. point,.thoogh indillectl~ .,in one of.

his fa~1s songs,~ why- there is no awakening(flawering) ' ' • \ ~ i

# •• !. ",, \ f

. of the inert soul( 11 keno·fagena jagena abasa paran"). . . . .. . ' . . . . .

This flowe'ring. though indi~pensi!:?le but· ~·t .is. no.t·· ' . • ·, . . l. . ' . l • . : '; - . ' ~ • : .

at anybody • s beck 'and call~

Tl;le edu c:atfonal p inst! tutions of Sri Aurobindo,

Tagore and Krishnanurti ar.e: rteant to provide· a , ,, .. ,

favourable weathflr for- flowering .Although the inner~·; I

urge for freedom which is an ess~ntial element for ,l,

it(,t'l~tering) ~annot be created anew,but its· monentum - .

can: atleast be increased through a favourable school·

environnent~ Further, the prevailing socio-political

situ~tion anywhere helps heavily the succ<~ss.ful germina­

tion of a t:nith,of education or of life. Situations )n\' i . . ' . . . ' :. ·~ ,: ' ..

among them ,vary .. so. ~~. ti1a-t:·'in nost cases theY.·. re~n· . . highly unpredictable. It seems that David Hune voi·ced

; ''

the Sarra feeling When he denied any necessi:cy in the

facts of the world.

"~1an is a transition~! beingJhe is not· final ••• ,n

Sri AU rob indo once· said. This ;1:ransf:tion. is ,from ·:the'

l'U3ntal level to ,_~-~e lev.el of su:Per-consciousness'.It is

a p~ssage from gross to fine,it is 'the ·logic of

Nature's process~ • Sri Auroblrido helieves that man has·

to realise the 'fundanental futility of intellectualism,.

of materialism and eao-eentricism through the process . _, ~ ~

of evolution.This is the natureal,the inevitab;J.e and

. only the best· course for man.Only a conscious coopera-

tion with this -law of the nature can make man truly .,

happy·oEC..ucat:i')h,for Sri Aurobindo and others,is a .i

preparation to t~e direction.

Interestingly the· p~sent si tuat!on round the" · ., .,

world .is dramatic. Political colours of various

'countries are quickly changing ,leading to the change

of their ecJnomy and social values.Scienoe is ·striking

·at the very root of earlier believes by· 'bringing new

and newer Challenges before manking.Any intellectual

theory,of communism or of capitalism,is found to be

shortsighted before life and reality.Today the most

important developrrent is,there is visibly a great

m=-rrentum in regar4 to freed,om and human rights in different

.· ; .··

parts of the world.

Nodoubt this is _a; very creative t!ma marked by,

sorre drastic changes in human thinking.TC)Qay _mankind

is. bound to think globally and- act globally.Ecology, - . . .

environment. pollution- or so needs a global attent~on . . ~

and a global standpoint.This increas.ing !nte~st t,n

globalism of .. the present generatio~,h~ever laud~le · ., -f

it may be·,wtll .bound to fa:lter because Qf individual~ . ' . ; . . ' . . . . . ' .

thernselves .still nen are· self-seekers, they only move

\-lhen there- is a clear sign of their interest being

served.This is in-short an Intellectual-oidbalism,

q a theory in search' of· more interest and' more security.

- -. ':.· Srt J.\Urobindo,Rabindranath and Krishnarrurti

. also talked abCAJt Globalism('rntern~~ionalism) ,but -

th_at is_ not a theory.It is not an !~sed-globalism

bu~ !an inward-globalism,whid1 refers to a change of '. .

approach., .ct-c)i_ang_e of hear_~. It only truly enerQes. when

thEi!J:e _is lov~,integrati_on ~d intelligence in ari · d.; - . ' . . ~·

individual.F;dueat1~n' is entrusbld: with that great i~:

task: of ch_ang1n~:J hearts.:rn an artic~e 'A. True Natio-:i,·

nal Education•, sri Aurobindo indicates taow .education ' '

. . . .

will, pave tht! Wirf for inte'rnatt·-:>nalism(globalisml •.

..... .•

•.,.

.:: ., ·y ·>

· .. ,; 1 ;

~ ' i-

,, • •'' 'I

., . '·

'.;,

r .

.1H8

r J:ie c;:oi11ItE!nts 1

•• ..... that alone· will be a true· and 'living

education which helps to bring out to full

advantage. makes ready for the ·full :t?Urpose

and sco.Pe of human life all that is in the·

individual man, and which at the same tine

helps hil)t to enter into his right relation

with the life" mind and soul of the people

to which ·he belongs and with· that great

total life,mind and soulll of humanity of

which .he hims~lf is a unit and his people or

natiQn ·a living~ a ·aeperate and yet inseper-1 ·.', H

· able. neriber.•1.190

· . Q

.. One .of the baEJ:>cJ characteristics · ol: }:tabindranath • s

creation,_ in literature, art and poetry, is· an unflin­

ching faith on the underlying unity of man.His

· santiniketan is an ef~ort in that directipn. In a letter

written from Anerica Tag ore wrote, -

" . ' '• ~

ei want ·just a small piace whe~ ·I ~hall try-:to

bu~ld up a comll'Unity of iren and wonen ~ho will'

recognise no. geocjraphi~al boond~ries .• They ~ill .

. know only one· coontcy· and· that· c~~ntcy. will .· . . .. · ·.; ·. comprise the, 'whole: worl,d.They: wilt 'know only<.

one .race. and tha~·: r~oe will cover ·the .entiri!,.r human race·~·"l,gl ''· · ;: ;~.:·'

' '~ •. 1

19~l.

Tagore .is a champion of Internationalism and to·

h:f.m it (internationalism)' rreans, "\ihere the wortd . . . '

. . . . - . has· not been broken up into gragrrents by narrow -~

• . . . ' I;) . • I . · ..

. . domestic walls." On the other hand, in Krishnanurti 's ,. . '. " . ' ..

philosophy. there is always. an effert. to see an

iQdividual glpballY: or in the global.perspective.

Krishnamurit occaeionaly uses aphoristic statements

and in one of .such statel"lJ3nts he uttered.,. "You are· . .· . .

. the world,·~ and again, 'Yoo are· ·responsil:,>le for· the: . . . ~

. . ~ . . . . ·1

whole o£ mankind1 •• 192 which in a way :ce~lec's ·.his . . . ' .. ' ;

perspective, his internationalism. Krishn~nurti' s •' . i .

internationalism.·als.o inv.olves a great~'responstb~Jity.

be.caus~ ~.~It·~~ a ~~pse··,th~t -~ ~re ... :~ii. ~~Oge~e·r;:· .··:· .. · "

that we are all hu.ma~ be'ings,npt divi~d,not broken·.

up, not bel·onging to :any particulai:- group or race~'or ' . . ~ .

to. any id~a~istic concept, but that we are all hum~~ c:<·

be·ings liuing on thais .~:xtraordin_ar.y earth." 193 l

And Krishnanurti desires that his· schools shoold

develop children· to taklii up this global responsibility. • ., • I ·,' ; •

.· ·, - .

. ' , The educational phifos.ophies of sri Aurobindo, · . ~

Rahindranath and Krishnarrurti need to be brought .. ; j:

under· focus beca~se. :l t is sincerely believed _that; : .. ' r ,_

their philosophies along with the other major.· ·} . . . . ' - ~

happenings . in the world e ~g ~, scientific dit:J.coveries,

t J ' •• ,/' \ ~--· ··, ) '. t -

•.'

·'·

Q

~; I

. .. · pol! tical changes ~<jobal issuesm:,even theo:s::etical

bottlenecks- _all are going to help,directly or·

indirectly, the .enlightening' process of th~· mi~do .· . -. ,,

2.00

However there are problems· like mass~ducatian, ·, 1 ' .

free-education etc,which have no~. yet sat,isfactory

answers. In practice, Sri ·J.\.urobindo Centre and · -f Krishnanurti-schools are all. drawing children from.

high incone groups,thus' eli~icism made an. indirect

entry.Yet thE! cost of a total-education,rnodern and

esthetic, today is so great that this conpromise .. ,

. .· l between good. spirit and· ,the mammon may seem to be.

inevitable· and tolerable upto a point in the circu~

stances.However,everything depends on the thrust

o:f i a particular ins'titution, and possibly "those

institutions are not.yet fallen. I . . . .

considering the haple.ss cond!ti6n,both. iri

quantity and. quality., of Our education seariarici ; .

where hundreds of prlt)Jary schools· have no basic.

aneni ties ·for them like toilet, drinking water.,blaCk- ·

board and propel: si tt~ng arrangenants. 1 many of t\iem.

have no proper building. and ·most appailingly have no, •, ...

roof over the head to orotect children· from rain and . - . . . . he a~ etc., to talk about implerrent!ng visions ·of.·

\· I

G

201

...

sri AUrobindo,'l.'i?..gore· and Krishnaltllrti in education :Is.

like talking unrealities.Not only that, some children

of :their schools also reflect the· _same attitude, the

sane bent of . mi.nd like bther worldly people • ~d it

·seems· that is nothing remarkably di-fferent in them.

However,this is nothing unliilkely as it is already

· said that flowering· is an unpredicatable p'henonena.

:It may be further· a~ed that there is a clear

possibility of incre~sing .one's contradiction in such~ ". '

an institution when to him,a.student or so~neither

flatV'ering(intelligence) has taken· plaoer nor the actual

world is in a position to accept him~This fear still

peraists arid should I say,it frustrates. the cause •• • 1

in manY ways.

Nev~~eless, a proper understanding of the

.· educational philosophies of Sri Au rob indo, Rabindranath

and iKrishnanurti brings out certain truths very clearly; . '

and :we may say that at deeper layers they are one~ j

. )

· Th~y did not. deny or· negate ~e . real! tyJ they started

·from a point. o~ positive-transient inord~r to reach . · . . . .

to· a P.Oint of positive-eternal.Like qu·iding stars : ~;, : .. · 0 • j

afll(l,nCJ non-'descript masses of rren, they were. most integr-

ated., free and gl,obai .Their philosopoies arE:) in a w,ay_p

a .s,aga of paradise .lost and·of·par~qise regained •

. ~ ...

' ' , . ! ~ .:

,• ;

,• ·, ··.

Chapter ·1o

CRITICAL APPRECIATION ·

Educa~ion, for Krishnanurti, has no conclusion • ..

It is a living process .The essence of it lies l"ID:re in

non-verbal ·than in verbal comnunication,throogh close

~lationship with tree~, 'birds· and human: pelngs.:T.~lis .,.

non-verbal. comirunication,whi.!=h is beyond any· systema- ·

tization and regirrentatian,belongs · to the core of

KrishnaiTUrti's teachings(on educ.ation) .It implies

many more things.

The.essence of education,e,g.looking,listening,. . ~ '

learning etc., are essentially non-v~rbal.They transcend

any effort, any cultivation,because they live beyond .\\

~ tl;le ideationa:t lavel.There is Ja trap involved in

l, . :•,

Effort and No-effort pr~cessJ)n making effort( of lear-. . ' • Q '

ning) a .man becorres tr~pped lq contradictions, and in.

making no-effort one is possibly bogged down to a . lr

~ state· of inertia,although one ·:can make an effort to

understand the monents of his own inertia.Thooght is 1·· ~·;

th~ ye,ry bas,is of effort,but ~ought cannot produ·oe ·_:;

lec;Lrning.To .. learn' ~~ght_rtfi:~i.en~.~rf~c~ .. ::lookiQ9i· .i ' .. ', . ' ... :1:· ,: " ' ,"j

lis~nin9 &·-~aa:pting-can only:r~ak~pla~(Wl:i~P- the,ridr)d ·' . • ..• ,

.. '. :·!i. · .. .,

•· ~ '

Ji

..

is fully free. from any pre;..occupation(empcy mind).

A chattering mind which is full or p~opinions and

conclusions can neither-see and listen nor can learn.

It is true iogically as well as scientifically. . .

Looking etc, demand attenti~, and 'atten~ion is only

possible when the mind is. alert and. alive,when there.

is trerrendous interest in .everything around. Unlike. it

the ordinary mind finds satisfaction· in imnediate

conclusions·; hence our pleasure in inactivity and

dullness.

Krishnarrurti. pegins by enquiring .. into the

function of ·looking( seeing) .and gradually penetrates

into its !:o~al process .He asks,

: .. ·:

·,;· .... ~

"What is seeing ? Ha..r do :You see that tree ?

••• Is it solely an· optical: <;>bservat.ion, :Ju.st . looking at th~ tree with the. optical react!:~,:·

. . . . .

. obse:rvatng · the form, the· pattern, the light 6n · · . .., ' . ,· .. '

the leaf ? or do you, when y~u observe a tree,

nama it, saying, 1 Tl:\at is an oak': and waik by ? ...

By }1aming it you are·· no· longer seeing"the::tr;e~ .

...: the wo~ qenies the. thin;,;~an .y~·· i~ok a.t it.'

withoUt 'the worq ?

••• Do you Observe . it partially II with ·onl,y ·. .

one sense, the ·optical sense; or do you see 1 t,.

hear it,smell it,feel it,see the design of it,

take the .whole of it in ? or,do you look at it as

•.

. !

'•_:- .. ,, :

,,,'1-<' ·._._·; . 20 11

though you are different from it - of cours_e •

when y:ou look at it.you are not the tree.But ' .

can you look at it' wi"t:hout a word,with all

your senses responding to the total! ty ~f 1 ts

beauty i So perception means not only obserVing

· with a.ll the senses,but also to see,or be

aware of whether there is a ·division between

you, and that which. you 9bserve. •

• It is easier to perceive ~soru3thing outside of you.,like a 'tree,ltke th,e river or

the blue sky,without naming,nereiy .. observing,

btit can y~ look at y~rself, the whole content . .·. . . . . '

of your consciousness, the whole content .. of

your rirl.nd,your being,yoUr walk,your thaug'ht,

your· fee.ling,yoor. deP,ressi~,so t}1~~ tnel:'9 ·-is

no division between all that and you ? '. ·. ' . If there is no divisipn there is· no conflict." 194 ·

.The Nature of Krishnanurti •s philosophy of

education is: sonething uncommon.'i'h~ essence of it

cannot be wholly verbali.Zed.J Verbalization· is. a kind of

rceasurerrent fri words, in tine and in: thought., all o~: .. · \~hich are suspect in the contel(t of. Krishnarrurti' f3

teaChings.The essentials in educati.on ·e,g ... attention,

awareness etc,are indeed facts but can only .be elcibor-...

ated negatively.Nearly all~truths _of life which .are. ' .

whole and not fragmented ·can be' describe'ci. only' in neg-ation;

. :205

because. thought, which posits, is es.sential·.).y limited

and cannot grasp the whole .Krishnamurti desgribes. the.:

nature of this Negation as, -

:.>

"In the very n.'egation is the positiyee, ••• If·. . . ' . . ', ·~ .. ~

you deny hate,envy..{deriy it, not _btilld: resistance . . ' ·_;·' . . .

against 1 tpnot escape from it;nor ·accept 1 t) · ·

when yoo deny it or violence,whiqh'.breeds so

much animosity; -. and yoo can only eerw. 1 t when

you un?erstand the nature of it,see what is

impl1ed in it,not !ntellectually,but actually·

- then when you. d~ey that, ii?- that very denial

is the positive which is love in which :there

',\

is no hai:e .Love is not the opposite of. hate ?

• it is ·only .when there is a ;·total denial

of that which is not,total denial ~f organized·

religion which is not truth,then in that denial

the P,OSitive - wbich is not touched by con.fli~ct

and is therefore co~l~tely free from all sense ·

of cor'npu~sion and irhi tation, is capable of·

perceiv1.ng what is .. "195

This negation has an enormous importance :tH in seeing

soll'IBthing wholly in the total process of looking, listen-

• .l.ng and learning coi~Pletely~Krishna~rtl clarifies the .,

point further to show the deeper aspect ot it(negation) •. ··

~-- . : -.-'::

11 To see wholly, the brain has ~0 be .in a state bf negation.Hegation is· not the .opposite of th~~''. positive: all opposit'ies are related withirt the

told' of· each /other.Negation has no opposite.·

The brain has to be in a ·state of_ negation _for. • ·

total ·~eeing; it ~st not lnterfere,l,dtb its

evaluations and justifications,with i.ts cond.e'mi'l­

ations arid defences.It has to be still·, not made

still 1Jy compulsion of any kind, for then it· is

a dead brain, ire rely irni tating and' conforming.

When ;f.t is in a state of negation.it-1'~ choice...;

lessly still\' Only then is there· total seening. ,.,_

In this total se~ing which is the quality ·of the . . . .

mind, there is no _seer,no observer, no· ~_xperiencer,

there. s only seening .The mind then is completely

awake.In this fully wakened state,there is no

obsenrer and the observed; there is only light.

and clarity.The contradiction ~d conflict ' ,, '

between the thinker and thought ceases. 196 I,

1 , l .. . . • ~· . r·:? ~ .:-Krishnarrurti' .. 'always makes us aware that . words are not

; . . k ;: ' ;,,

things, there is ~ dimension involved beyond his words.;11 ..

But to us,words· are syrrbols,they have rreanings and in . ,

·most cases associated wi~1· images and conoepts.And we

need to be 'very nuch careful in this regard and it . ' ... ,. '

would be one· of our great tasks to show that Krishnam­

urti. s terms 'like attention, awareness etc, are no conbepts, thc3y are totally misrepresented when they· are

seen as ripples' in the thought process. ':!

·.;:1

. '

1 . . ,. ' . ~

.. : ·~

' · ..

207

Our pr:esemt tasks also involve to state it ve.ry

clearly that true education which rreans learning, and:: .

so on, is always beyond thought and time •. so right educ- ·

ation cannot be totally verbalized( theorized) •

Right e.:lucation. implies relationship •. 'To be is '

to be related, 1 and relatiO~f;lhip takes into accotint

both one • s. within and without, and that cannot be syst­

ematized.In education, a student learns to relate himself.

with the teacher,with his subjects,with the ·environment.

and the worlQ ~rid above all with himself(self-underst­

anding).The contents of relationship(curriculum) may be systematized,orde,red from ahy particUlar point ·of 1

vi~w(e)(amination etc.) but the basis of relationship

is\ life which cannot be represented fully by old and:

de.ad comcepts, as Krishnarrurti says, "I never op:oosed-'

- the ideas -of,· others but I would not· accept _·their

author! ty ,-th~ir theory of life_: .. l97 ' .

'.:: \ It is:- also. to be understood .. that ~ight educa:tion

acpo,rd!ng to., Krishnam.trti adds· a new dimension to 1\i·fe • . .. ·· (

It~ denies totally any ~ciucatioo :which only{ stresses _;; ;· ; :. 0 ,,. 0 ';I 0 0 - 0 0 ,·'.' 0

. . .

tl"J~ non-verbal aspect of affecting life ~The teacher, ;~.-···

hi~ r;nanners and behav!ours,his u1 clothes;his demeanour,

';:

;

208'

the surrounding school env-ironrrent consisting. of t~e·s~

hi'll,birds and. so on - ntake the non-Verbal side of

educatiOn which affect children most. In essence non­

verbal aspect in education rteans love and feeling,which

i~ lndispensi'ble in relationship and comrtt..mication.

· Knowledge of the fact that, looking, listening &·

·learning etc, are important . factores in right education

is one thing,but to practice leaming,to ·.strive towards . -.

it, to make it an ideal or goal· of education· are 'conipi~l.; :;

tely different and indeed· da11gerous steps •. Th81f e~trap· ·

man into contradictions and misery ,posing· the same: • . . '•

old ·war bet\'men being. and becoming .so it is. irtt>ortant

t9· know what Krishnanurti actuafly· rre~s by ler,imi.ng,· · .'

·li.st'en.ing etc,when he uses them.A proper perspective

in-to: his teachings is. essential. - .

Looking-iistening-lea~ingetc,cannot be follelled

as: ide as ( cancepts. or goals) , nor as non-ideas ( reaction·s . . to ideas) .They are neither ideas,,nor rion-ide~; they··

cannot be follo\-;Gd at all.They are silently pres~nt and

reflected in ··actions when th~ lim! tat ions of_,all ideaa( ;: -' . ~ : - ~- ·~ ; \

{any: system) :>are understood. Them ari oceupied( chattering·) . ' • • • • • ·4.. ~ ' • ?

mind,becomes.-,silent,and in that sil~nce.Krishnanurti;~~-.ays,

· min~ goes vertically· deeper.

'·.

I ,

...

The understanding of ''Thrught cannot s.olve ~y :: ~ ;~· ';

human problem, for ·thought itself ~s the .problem~~· 198).,is . . . . . . ·~ ... . ~ ~·

not easily available.It neither depends on a g.reater.l· . . . ' 't-'

. ' . . ·:1\. amount of knowledge and infor.matic;m nor on a scienti;7 ·

.fie brain.It is an insightlw~dch con2s ·~mdderily and

withOut· any prior-calculation.I:t 'is· :obvious in our· .. ·.·• . . . .. . . . . ' . ,•';

lives that thought can not see any thing vast - the -~ '·

v_astness of the sJcy. or the ocean or the grandeur and·

the spectacular.beau'ty of a snow capped mountain.

Th~ght fa:lte'rs. and gasps,yet emerqes out of our born . . .

habit. Vastness should b~ enjoyed vastly; this is . .

KrishnallRlrti •s key to education and life.This obvioo-.

s1y hints. towards a ·different dirrension of living,·

b~yond pettiness and fragmentation~ .; . . ) .

·.: (~

Insi,ght ·.is. an iTl\r."''>rtant. factor in life as ffli",:t· ,·'·

education.The education that Krishriarrurti professes ·1.::;

helps the errargence of .it( insight) .. But what is .thida· ·

insight ? •• It is not a· calculated, rel"Cl9rtbered, activi~. · •' . . . . t . An. insight is without remenbrance,without nemocy, · :··

·without time· and that insight is in itself the actlori.

Tl).ere is no decision ... ·199 Krislmai"IUrti himself live.s, ·.

on . insights.- 11'That is the whole way of orr life"" he . ' ; i

once said~The word insight primarily indicates,'an

im~ard ,perception • through the mind.,

·. :.

. ~: ,\' •j .,

. \ ]

. i.,

210

;..,• · ...

Aecording to Prof .Dav,td Bohm,. 'it( insight) 'is inward,.·

not 'only in th,e. sense of lo'old.ng into the very essence,.

of the cont~ht ·that is to be known and urid~rstood,.but.·. · ~

also int tit~ sense of looking intp 'the mind that is

engaQed in the act of knowing .Th~ tuo trust happen _toge:ther.'

• ••• ins,ight is an act. of perception,perrreateo

with· ~ntanse enE!rgy and passion, that brings about great . . ' . . .

. clarity.T'riis inakes ·possible the dissoiutioo of strcing ·:

but subtle emotional, lingu~sti:c, intel.:J.ectual, social.·

and o.ther pressures that tend .. to hold the mind in rigf~

grooves and fixed corrprtments,and so,to cause it to

av.oi':l fundamental challenges .From this germ can unf.old - .· . ' .

• a .f;urther perception not contained in the entire

prev iot1sly eyist.ent field of: the 'known ~ ~.'" This per~p.­

tion "include~ neJ. forms of inlagination and new orde~s .· ..

of .. r.E7as90 ~n 200 . . . ~ ~.

/ Krishnarrur.ti SPeaks of a di.fferenee between partial":"

insight(part'i~l intelligen·~) and to'tal-ins-ight(to~:~l . . Q .

intelligence) .The ordina,ry life may experience partiar:~·::

ins:hihts but they ultimately lead to contradiction and _coofl1ct.A ·total-insiqht can only help. man to go beyond

all •cbntradictions.Education for .Krishaanurti proposes:''

'· .

' ~ . . ,

') 11· {:.., . -.

/-

that•

A close9: .stUdy of I<rishnarrurti • s teachings

appE!ars _ meariiD:gfUl wl)en· i~ is. understood negatively.·, c

as not involving any systematization of real! ty. The . - -

very word ~ystem limits and deadens KrishnamU.rti •s

teachings.For he is al~ays beyond sys~msjllbeyond s,trict

ftlrmalization of- life·.

Krif;lhna.m.trti is a nvstecy not only in his life ,

and death("Krishriallllrti •s death was 'in some way as . ' . ~

rt¥Sterious as his li£e,"2ol- t13_cy. I.iltyens) ,but also

in his toachings.Prom his teachings emanate both lilys't:icism . - ' . '

and a kind of m;taphysics,1tlh£;ltever may i)e the claim . ''

t(), the contrary.His teachin4;s i!!lPly _an_ 8'lntui tive -

ph~losophy' , 202 thinks Rohit t~l'!ta.Krishnanurti 's v.iews .

are loutpou.ring~ of im:;ighb~,derlvecl from t .. he vast

e!JP"t;iness(silence) of his mind.'I'his emptiness is not a

va.~li}lm : it is' a positive state of. nogation_. II It is the -

ernpty.ing of. the. innermost l.'ecess and deep<hidden· 'wants : . ~ ,,

ang desires .... 20~ In thi~ emptiness there ·is: abs,olutely

and 'literally no-thing,no influenceiJno value,"n~ frc>ntter,, .·

ncL'word,no ·space-time. ••.:rtts the· end. and.·l;>~gipti:ing (;f:. . ' . . ... .. " ., .·' .

. a~l things.'~{Krfshn~IT!lrtf'•s, Notebook p .. 61) · 1. .>;~~ \ .;_

:,,

-I

-.~

212

:fury; the :fticy of-a storm,the fury_ of exploding universe~

the fury of creatiOn which. ccnld never have any e.Ypx:ess­

ion'" It was the fury of all life,death and love.But yet

it ~as enpty,a vast,boundless emptiness which nothing·· .

coUld ever fill,transform or t.>couer up."2o4 Thus it seems

emptiness receives both a psychological ~d existential . ·.

connotation in Krishnarrurti,as if beyond thalght

(fragmentation) there is sollJ3thing Which is both p5ycho­

logical and physical(ex:i.stential)_ e,g. -:- ·.21 watching from

emptiness .. and the enptiness as 11 the ess.ence of every­

thingio. This can -well serie as .the maeting~ground both

of mysticism and rretaphysics in Krishnarrurti .But at best

' i·t ;c.an be uno¢rstood ·that emptiness as a ,holistic_ st~:{te,\., .,,c ' : . > • • • ~ • • ' • • 'j~

. ·. ~.: ~

whJctl only can touch· the truth.For· truth is neither· ,(,_','\

intellectual,emotional ·nor sentirrent.al. . ' . . . . .

Krish'narwrti's tea.chiogs_ have NO-USE(no utilitY).

in:~ ;the material sense, because they are no thOui"Jhts and_,\ :I . .

-------------~-----------------.-~-----·. 111 flU.G~:-Krishnariurti~a present day wise manoHe was once f~;i;: · ·:rh~osophist apd a passionate listerier of Jiddu xrish11~~-;·.,

- .-. -'~ . . ..._' 'j I . . : . . . . '. ;j~"~~:}gi·-~:L

urti but afterwards he hf.ls becorre a radical· critic of-:' · , J.:kri~hnanurt!•s ;t~achi~~s. Autho~, - . i'i~;~·'·

:;·

. ·t.- ·' ,. "j"'

21;~ l

~ .· '· .. i '

. ' ''f

sixty,seventy or hundred years.But nothing will

ever happen to that man because th,e whole) thi~9

is phony~" 205 ; !

Yet u.,.,G.Krishnarrurti(U.G.K.) hi~elf may be said to. ' ' ' .. ~·- .

differ v~·ry little from the actual· status'(n6-use) of'. '· ·'

·J;.Krishnamurti's teachings. "I •ve no nessage ti:> giv~ · • • I ' •

to. the world·., 1 says U.G .I<.· ~hile cbmne~tin,~ on .his: . ' . . .'.:.· .. . .

. . r spiritual experience·; .'whatever happened to ·me is suCh.

th_at you can't share. it with the wc?rld.It's an extra<:?r-:7 .!

i d~nary experience.- like the sunset,or a flower~or a

' ., ·.

mountain; "2 6s · At another place he says, "What I am·

saying has absolutely no. 1social ·c_ontent at al~ ."

205

~us both these ·tt-to wise m!n,J.Krishnarrurti arid u.G.I<~

emphasize on this No-use(non-utilit(3.rian) aspect of .

their teachings.They both stand for negation,only that

u.G.K. has taken negation too much too far.H~ever i

J.Krishnamurti's teacnin gs started with the denial

of. •fragmentations within us and ended_ up in totali:ty.~:';o .•' \ :·

His v.iews on .. : ~ducation become meaningful only when:

l;i:f~.:signifies vastness encompassing .thooght,feeling, :d1

sen.~~s and everything .But to evaluate his teachings .

. from ,the utilitarian arid mark~t-place point of view ·

is totally misconceived and wrong •.

. .. , ;l ·.:..

~ ' '

2..1.1 I :.~

,,,..:

Krishnanurti questions the very basis and

e'ffectiveness of psychological-evolution or. in other.

·wo~rds psycholog.ical-becoming in regard to human pro;·· ..

gress .. AB he says, "Personally,to the speaker,~here·· .

1s no psychological.evolution.There is only- the<< .:>

. anding of sorrow, of ·pain~a.nXiety,lonelin~ss, despair •.

·Man has lived with it for a milliOn years .Arid if: we ' ~ . r

rely on ti:ne,whi~ is' thoug~t- tine .'and _th9'ught go :;: l. ·;! .

:together- if we rely on evolution, then another . . ..

thOusand years or more and we will .still be barbarOU:s.11 206

By psy_chological-evolutidn,Krishnanurti means the: ·

human effort .to change(becorre) psychologically e,g. . ~ :

"I sp.y 'I shall becone S-?ttething' or 'I shall not 1 .

be something I '207 and ,1 t d~s riot refer to the I: . . . f ~ . .~. ,,

evolutionary process of Nature in regard to human: : l

psy.chology.The: nature of this psychological-becon113iri(J ·

is that, it iinvolves time an ideal(non-violerice or:_ peace

. e;tc, .. ) , an effort (des ire to ·change) I ~nd _so on; . It · '<

al.s~ involves - thought, memory arid .. knowledge - which . . .· . . . ' . ·, . . . i

a:~, €1 consequence. generate conflict and tension;·. ~ ',. . . . ' .. . .

; '

It ~annat .liber~te man .Nevertheless,· th~ ·way at beco-·

'ming is the. very basis· of: o,ur society nay .. ou~

education and X:efinements ( ciU;tture). No dqUbt. thes~-.

'·

' I

. ' '.' ·~ .

·.i ·~·

.•.

·.L .. I

• <

''215

\.

::··

. '

education·.' etc~ of becoining effect our live~(, but' '~h·~t

9t1ly Qua~titative.ly ,not Qualitatively( radic:ally):. · ·

According to .Krishnamurti, there· cari .be two ·kinds . of· '. '

living ~ e ,g. either living from a centre <.self) or. . . . . '

living withOut ··any· centre(selfl.ess)..Third is no. ; . ,,

thirdkind.The process of' becomirig ·is always living :from . . ' . . . . . ' . . . . . .; ' I ' . . . . , . '. . - . . ' . - . ~ . .

a centre,it ·is always quantitative(e,g.; from great-!'.

er number of violent incidents to lesser nunber etd.)

far .from qual,it'iative,because it involves the move~

ent· of the 1 I 1'. { " ••• any m~emen t' of . :· 1 rna • ·. ill any ·.

: ·l ·' ·i

direction~ is the action of. ·violence;" - .Krishnanu!::ti).

'!be repea~d emergence of· semi tic.ism; racism, . .

. 'idola.tcy,witchcraft etc, in the process of civil:f.iat'i~

·on are some .examples of the· truth', that psychological

be.cpmin:g(progress or evolution) are· rrere nentally- ; . . . . .

construct ideas and a,re ~ite unstable .. in Krishna~ • ' ' ~1

, . , . , I .

rru~ti, education as cultural refinements have

certain importance but no ·fWldarriental sigl)if1cance.

Only radical-change. or nutation has. fundamental value;

'l'h~s change inplies a life without any centre. an(i .:;,. •,.'

is. not an achievement out of choice and effort.This:.: . - . . . . . ' ...•.

·. (radlm;ll . tran~foZ:_mation) also i~dicates :the :rriutati~·, -,:'

·:. J.

o;f~,b·r~ln .. (~lls and stands for the.· .. · 'Only Revo.l~ti~·~),;,,, . :~ ~ . . . ·. . '(;· / '! .

in ~the soci.~ty .. There is an ·Urgency .of .this' kind ~f" ;' i . , ' • . I . , ·•.· .. ·. :;

~~olution~;b.eqause 'the. Futu~e: ·of; Hu~li':l.ty 1 .· dep~n1~~);::, ",:

,.,_ .. :. ·,~l I ; ! ':, l,.

/ / ! .

orr it~ t}'links Krlshnarru rti .According to· him( Krishnamurti),

·"If man does· not radically change, fundamentally:

·.bring ·'about a lllltation in hinself, ...... we· will'

destrOy ourselves ... A psychological :t:evolution is· . .

possible riow,not a thousand years later~ we've 0 l' . . . - ., -~

alreacy lived thousands· of year:s arid we • re stili

barbarians .so if we don: • t chai'l'Qe now we'll S'till

be barbarians tomorrow or a tbousand torriorr<>Ws.~" 208 Krishnarrurti-educ(1tion is only to provide apreparatory > ground for that fundarrental change in man. . ;

However there is no w~ to nutation.It depends ·;:- ·l \ I

on a total insight, whi.ch nothing can guarantee. . \•

It (~tation) may or may not come and any expectation :

. in .this regard that educatiOn in Krishnarrurti uk schools

wi:ll surely bring rrutation would undou'bteclly be mispla~ · . . ' . ·, ;~ ..

cedeAS it already. be cones . a ·matter .of· daily·:. dis111aY· ~6 . : ,.· .· ..

many: eriquirereJresearchers ·as well) when they: ~re 'told . ~ . . \ . ~ . . . . . ' . ' . . . ' _., : . ··~· . . . .. . . .. . . \ ' ·: . .

that many ·long•tine associates of. Ki:"J.'shnarrllrti did not · . . /.

. . . ' ... f. 1 t

change(mutat.ec:l). at ali: ! To be true trere cannot: ·be~·· ) ~ . • l ' . ,"· . ..

··any. nec.essary connection between radical.;..transforma~·''~

tion(rrutation) and the' education. of' Krishnanurti ":".

FOUI}o'a.tion schqols .Thos.e· schools. provide only necessarY~·,.

environrrent for a greater awareness of life.secondly,

enquiring into nutation of others is a self-defeating·

;',. I i

prqcess because it inplies~a yardstiCk to judge when . • · '· .·

.. .\' .

·,_.

~ - - . . ' . ;~ . '

. ~ . ' : 1) :. ; ..

. :217 : . ~ .

.. . >>. . -~ ~: ·' '

.· q •••

. . there cannot· be any· such thing (yardstick) at least

within the 'thought process .Bas ides, this enqtiiry

" inakes Illltation an idea,a goal to be achieved,which

it is not.

K~ishnamurti:'s .teachings ·on education

. ,· i

possibly help riutation,but never guarantees it,for

it cannot be guaranteed. Total insight(out of rrutatian)

· into the facts of life has no. c;:alculat~on·~.no measu?-

.. nent.Any '8ub~tect .like philosophy (.theo,r;iza~ion) i · ;: · .. ,;: :' \ ·. . I c ' • ' ~ •

literature,ethicsiesthetics etc,Which seeks pleasure· . . . ' . . . ';. ·.· ·.·. '

I ~ • .

ou,t of verbalization .alone makes ideas 'thei:r gc;>al;. I > • >' '• " ,I •,,

· .. In. the end ·:they. act\ as ·a· self-fn.istaining:·Cego-st,re~;; ' • . ·.·" - • . .· .· • • ' '.o< .• • • ·;

gthening) ·educati~n rather. tb:an self-e~lo:ring •. :'

For example,Beauty is sought externally, in process _", . l

and entities. which are immensely variable.The socalled

dead obje·cts of beaU.ty(paintinge; etc.) are coRt>ared

and contrasted with eacih other.'When "Beauty is never

personal" ,209

never static, it is a living· thing.The

sense of beauty is a state ·of mind,not restlessness~~

'· \ ( ;~~ "1 . \ . ' . • • ; I , ,. ~ ' :

Any.,educatio!1 whic~ lives only in· .~e IUrigdoi'n ·. ' ·

or ideas and •images, and. never goes' beYond· that.'is::~\ .

dead education. ror .the t>u·ri>ose of living.:.

'· 1 ~ i

21B

un-derstanding the use of th~~d.eas etc~ { and ~q, b~·. . . . . ·',;

free fr~m thought. i~. the. aim: of. real e~ca~i_on.This .

is i'n other words living timeless~ ·in time~ for· . . .

·thought is .tirce.Krishnanurti once used a ,good anal·ogy ..

l{e · said to· one . of his y'aung associa~es, ** ,_·. 11 Do as -~.

i:iolevolter does;use thought'Canalysis) to go beyond i,t." . . ! '

His education is for· uncjerstanding the right use_ as.

w~ll as the .l:.imitations of thought.This function

boweyer is reverberated for centuries in the writings

of the great masters in 'philosophy e,g. David HUme,

Immanuel Kant and so on.L.Wittgenstein has written

that the aim of his _!ractatiie · Logi'~o. Philosophicus

11 is to draw, a limit to thought11 (pr~face).A'lthoughJ:l.f;k:e'

other saints' and relicious teachers I<rishnamurti ··:ftnds . . .~

more \torth: in going beyond thoughti than to. stick t(): i' · . i· ' ,' . .

its': limited p~riphecy .. The ·di·rfe~nce however is,._whil~; ·

professional philosophers prefer ·to understand thought, '• '

Krishna.rrurti prefers more to understand life in. its H .. •.r •

totality.

,_., ( However the maturity of ariy study of a subjec;t .. :

(r>hilosophy ·or so) indeed c~sists in the fact that·· :, : . ·:'

. . .

theH end lies in deep cantemplation,in going beyond·

the :level of ideas(fragmentations) ~ Love,death,beautY ·

------------~-----------------------------------------~~---**The young·:, ;associate refers to Shri Raj esh Dalal, nbw'

'. Jo~~t secre't:,ary~I<rishnarmi.x;t\ Foundation India, Vasa~;tt:~~t7,

.Vihar,.Madras .. .... : ~; . , .. ·.\t)j:l<l)

I·

. . . . . •' ··21H

'; -~: _f; ' . :._ .. ·". '

. i

all signify .the samethingi.e, involvement of the whole

human being .similarly, _"The right kind of educa:tion

_cultivates· your whole being,the totality of:your mind. I

It givee-. your min<~. and heart a deptb,as understa~ding •·.

of beauty.~:· 210

';.

in Ki:ishna1nurtl-educ::ation, are qlii te intE!resting~llich

have- scientist's support.too.In th~ foreward to a

booklet Prof.David Bohm· writes,

'•

• .. \, ··~·: '

~j. -~. ;_·. l ' } ·:. ~ . ·t · ,1. \r ; < •

" •• • it is worth remarking: that modern resea~bh into the brain and nervous system·_actually· · ·

gives· considerable sup];)ort to Krishnamurti's . .

statement that insight may ch.ange. the brain.

! · cells.Thus; for example, it now well. known ·th~t·

there are i!1l1ortant substances in the body,,the

· ho~·mones and nero-transmitters, that. fundarrien~a­lly .·affect the entire functiooing of 'the brafi:l': \

· and the nervous system. These substances respond . ·. ~.:' i . : ' . . • \ . y ~·.: t>·

from morrent to moment; to what a person knows;·.

to .what: he thinks ,·and to what all this meakl~·>;: · • . . I , .. ''·\ ',

to him.•It is by n'ow jairly :well establishS~} 1;: ,·;o th~~ in this. way the· brai n~lls . arid th.eir ·~ : : ... )_.

. . I . , ' , • . ~ I • • '

. function~.ng ·'are profoundly affected by knowl$-

dge·and passions.It.is thus quite plausible

that insight, which rrust arise ·ln a state of ~

mental energy and passion,c9Uld affect the brai'ri . . . ,<: .~· ;

cells· in an even more prof_ound way•'' 211

. •

·., .,

> . !

. . ·~

\ \" j'.;. .. l. I:.-) .

220 ·,.

:'

.. ;.I

However:: s:~.rishnamurti 's. talks on these psycho·~> ·

logical affai~s have. bitter critics too. u .. G ~ Kri.shna~:

rmirti ·has commented, ·

"To me there is no such thing as' mind. Hind is

a myth.Since there is no such thing as mind,

. '-and mind is a rriyth,so. the rrutation. of mind th~t.

J .Krishnarrurti is ta;l.king about pas no neanin·g • . l•

.; .•

'

There is nothing to ~e' transformed there

radical or otherwise.There is. no self to be

. realized •• ··To me Krishnarnu'rti is playing ' . -: i ~

exactl~ the same game as all those ugly sainsts:. i

in the market, we have in the world today." 2 12 ::

Q

In regard to mutation,there are many who found that

there is seemingly. a streak of contradiction between

Krif;hnanurti' s l:ife and his· teachings. He denies . ' {

nutation in tire,but in him mutation has taken place··

· (as recorded in biographies) in ·time through diffe~-:;): : . . .... ·.h:,' . . ' ' ~ ~ .

ent prepara.tions and processes.Sl,owly but. '!!radually· ::;:' . ' • - • ' ' • • • • : • ' •• : • • - '• • • > :_ -' • • • • ' • • "·''. i_!~:: ....

KrishnartUrti 'becarre a seer· out of a sic:Jt.· and slow boy.~ . ! - . . . . . ~. . . . ·r :\.

on the beach of Adyar. However he(Kri.shnamurti), alw~y~:, . . . . . -~ ~- ,;, .

·maintains that. training arid preparation ·etc., in h~s :,':.i, . ' . . . ' • . . . . •,: ; . ; -~ J •. : .

own case seem to have obstructed .or delay~d · mutati<?1:C~,-· .. . . • • : ' • ' '~ t;~ :-: .' (~~~~ ';_:·~i . ; ; in him rather than heli:>ed · it(mitation) ·in anywaY• ·· ;·.f,,.tF"· ·

L~·.! · ~ . ·· · · . . i • · .·. _,: <· :-.~_i·:h·.

FUrther, to clear this apparent contradi~ti.'on ·one· m~i(jf~~

take: help of .an "~.1alogy of football-aame,where the

~. j

achievement out of scoring a goal is radically different

from preparation for the go~ll.Here J?EeEaration takes time

bUt DOt the achievement. t1.ltation, like achievement(SCOring) 1.

is sudden and .all along.

When the mTtation · is concern,ed,the~ rna.y· .be a

scientific support to it: but th~re is no~ (method): .

to mutation~ no ~ to the total insight.Thus the

problem is,there .is always a gap between the End(muta­

tion) and the Heans.No c;:alculation(th~oriies). can '. ' . ~ ·. ,.· ' . ' ' :'

suffieiently bridge the gapo H.1tation or r~dical transf~ ~ . . ::· . '

ormation, therefore has a peculiar status, somatimes

nt::bulous a.Dd questionable.s~ it is observed that~Krish~ . .,

namurti -schools are not 'J:Unn ipg after any:' i.dea qf' : : . :, ; '

mutatlon. They· are· not. ~ishn'arrUrti't;e' fn :the ordinazy ;·:: 1

sense!And it seems that .they are· right becausesfree'dom::l·. ''

from any idea of muta·tion or of insight, is the essence.

of Kri.shnarriurti''s philosophy.

\' ' Krishnamurti in his long yeaL"S of teaching, asks·.

more questions,than he answered them.He sometimes

baff-led a questioner with many more return-questions·

ltke. a zen-:ttaster. In :ten Buddhism , zen masters· ask most . .· -=;....;:;~===.:..-

puzzlin<; questions(KOANS) to their di..sciples.

' '

,,-, ·_. ~ ' .' ' ; '

They. are like-, -

What was your· originaf face before your parents.

were boi:o;~ . ? or, .. A cow passed. throw a window.Its. head,body and

legs passed easily :_ ooly its tail could not ' !

pass through. Why ? etc.

However KOANS have importance not in answering ·them :: I;

' .

but 'in pointing at the limitation :of thQ\lght and ·in ;-,,<.

libe~ating eneself from it( thought). In· Krfshl)amurti's<- --. ~ . . . ' . . ..' . .: . .· . '1

- ' . ''

quest! ons ~oo their importance lie· in hold!!!.9 the que's ~ ' -~ . . . .

ttoris !!-- wi thtn·c to see them ent~x:ely)., rath.~r·; than _' , Y: ·-. ---. ' ; ~ ' : ~ '

answering them promptly .But ;:t:he spi:ri t of ;Krlsl:ina~-1::.;.;: E ! • ' ' : • < • ', • • • ' ~. '', • ' ' ' '- • • • I ·'l';: ~·,

tt.'• s' questions lies .·in' raising fundamental ·enquiries~: . .

_;- w'hiqh include's impossible <luestions too,.hu't not in.

asking _puzzling and nonsensical questions like zen~' . .

A 'pu'zzling-minc;} ·9ut of zen-:discil)linee c~ot be equa~ed .... 0 • i'

with an enquiring and creative mind out of KrishnaiTIUrti . . . . • !

•education.Though their essences a~~ the same· i,e.,

standing face to fac~ with Rea+ity~In Kr1shl1a:m.Jrti. .:and:

in the· zen-Buddhism,.the act of questioning jlas been . . . ·. . . .

differently .taken with different values.This differenqe

· however .. :is t·;I:erren_d6us~But it is aiways .true. that -.righ~' ' . . . ' ' . ' ·"'

q~~.s'li;ions rlqhtly· put have .li~erati~g and purlfiin~ :-. :: • • • • • • ' ' • • • • •• • - • ~ - • • • • • • >. i .

effects: Not\<only spiritually,rlgh_t questions can :d::Q~r.-

ate\ man· from daily morose .too.To Krishnamurti,- a state of·

.. : .

221

,.

c'Onflicts crtirri:Jle, an ~nquiring mind seems :to plux:g¢ •

deep into a'hofisticatmosphere.An9 that atmosphere . .

TnaY ser\Te as the hol.tstic approach- in one. s .·daily

· activities.l:t then effects not oniy the in;_Uvidu~.r · . . . . . - - ~

but . als 0 _the society· in. its . true and' 'deeper deve,lopme'nt~

"Life is sacred •• ~so we mlistn 1 t nil.suse -life.

We: mustn't waste· it because our life is so shoJ:t."213

~rhaps 'Human! ty has made a wrong turn • at:· the . . . . .

beginning of. civilization,when thooght was supposed ~0 ' - ~ . .

. • .,' ' . . . .·. . i • be the only instrurnen·t that can solve all our. problems •

- existentia_l(human) ·and inateriai.-This first- step at. . . .

the beginning. ·acted ~s a dead trap, as our I Original~ . .. . ..

sirt'·i:.As a·re~ult,humanity get dissociated from his'-;"

. "G,.z:io\lnd1' (saciedrless) of lire .First step anywhere has

ari::.:enormolis importance b.ecause, ''First step_ is _the

las_-j::t.step"; Abtion in the present determines ·all our

future •. ·

For us who aspire for clarity of thaught~the

• ·importance of Krishnamurti • s teachings' _lie in seeing:_,

totally (:from our ;cotal being)· the danger·- of· contra­

diction,of time,of thought,of the prevailing answers ,.,

in solving human existential problems.and also seeirig ·'

the ut.-ter ,irrational! ty of seeking - liberation,

: . ~ .~ ; 1 . I i:_: .•. , .,

Q

. .

'· 2._25

choiceless-q.wareness, attention, intelligence, iove and

silence in cmr daily life.The former(contradiction etc.} ' ·.:. • I ' o • ••

are facts of our· present living~when the latter are

mere fictions of the imagination.When the state of ,contra-' . ' . '.' ' .

dictibn etc, .of the mind is absent,then there E o.r. may . . .

be the latter(awareness,love etc.), - a quite diffe'rent

quality 0£ mind. A man who is actually aware is .least

aware of h~s awareness: rather. he is· only. aware o·.f the .·

morents of his unawan:mess or Inattention .Education .

. facilitates this latter ·a.wareness.It helps ·the underst~-

ding of all our limitations· of thought and kn9Wledqe,

our selfish desires and·activitiesoit ~ncour~;leS furbber

the.)u:nderstanding of t:1e nature of negati.on in our lifE!.

r·t·.favours a ~realizati{)n of the fact of what we

presently are .. '.

The essenCe of Krishnarnurti 's: philosophy (of ech.tc"-"1: ,j: · · ..

ation),:~s it.haS been ~lready said,lies primarily if{

~egation. In philosophy, the wh<9le truth cannot be o~s;i ti4lely

described, for· the vecy descript.ton(by words) fraQ:ments:

the~~Jrl~oieness of it.To understand Krishnamurti, he· should ; _.

. ' ~

be· r~CJ.d in between the lines or in the daily phenomena . ; ; '

of liv.ing.To a sensitive and appreciative ·rriind,- a human· . . . . . . ~ ~

· face~.a tree or a bird has much- meaning th~ pooJ(s ..

·;• .

. ) ( ..

.• ::= .. i

·. !'! ..

226

Krishna~rti is teachings never lie in the analysis .~J;"

·in· the surgical vivisection 6£ things. It ha~ a wholeness

of its.own.Any critical study,thereforeinaturally

somewhat disturbs this wholeness. The teachi~g is more

of heart than of mindJ.. it is rather internally consistent . . '

th~ logical and analytic.sp_there is a futility involved

in :the whole exercise of a critico:..analytical stucy'

(including the. present work),for truth needs no streng­

thening .A man who can listen to the lesson of a bird :·:-."'; ·

sinc;Jing on :the window-sill is more,close to Krishnarrurti's

education than a mind with. a'n encyclopaedic memocy.

However· in· pQ.si tive terms Krislma!TUrti brought.

to, the fore . the Jf awareness . that most .. of us do not ll ve

our lives properly· or we live only as dead human beings~

dead. by conclus·ions and opintons of others . .. . we ti are

ae·aq. to the e:){traordinary colour and beal,lty of the i earth;

dead to ourselves,and so we are dead to others.One live~·~

one •.:s life truly only when. there is le~m:i~g in. it~. ''·· · ·

Learning implies sel.f-respect kn"td respons.ibility .. R.ight. ' . ' ' . ~ ·; . '

education· .. is ,·.concerned with· ·all'.>that~ :' :_ ~ ··: . . ·'·

.•• ' 'c

I<rishnarrurti ..::education is concei:ned: more w:ttli'·i' ; . ' ' ; .:

· th.e actual ·than wi t.h the id~·al ~It is more · close td 1:f:!fie ;; \, :' \

and li'Ying.It never en·courages escape routes,but rather

.. . , ,,

•' t~.: i: .

.' ·. ;

,. ' .. ~ 1 ;.

=227

detects them,and seeks to nake man· free and fearles's

so· that he can walk alone if need be. Man haS to' :see· .,..; '

and act on the actuality. To Krishnamurti, "• •• Truth· is . '

.Life" • 214 Educc:~.tion has· ~o Qbe .one with this life.

True education is a process of truth itselfo • Gl ', ' •

Nonetheless, there is an intrinsic disharmOny:

invoelved in all educational endeavour.Edu'cation is

based on the vision of a rich, integrated and joyous

life which is f.i.nally an individual-odyssey with

. tremendous· passion and courage.Krishnarm~i perhaps

eYempli'fied in· himself such a ~ife.But the w~ of.

civilization .is more towards collective-values and

organization. The tragedy of tl:\lth'= is su~h th~t 'the·-:'~:~·

integration and richness of''life can.not be organized ' .. byr any institution ~

'':

educational or .. otherwise(cis ~ruth

defies & transcends· ~11 organization) .Perhaps herein

lies the peauty as well as. the frailty of all educ;a;,..

tional theor:y and practic'e of all great rien, including

J. Krishnamlrti'.

"· 'i.

i l

' ' '.

NOTES . & REFERENCES

INT.RODUCTI ON . :

. •

. .

1. Krishnamurti j_s told by some6ne; ref.Dlalogue between.

Xrishnanurti and Prof.A!'W.Anders~(video no.2)

2~ Krishnanurti.J :, ref.Dialogue _between Itidshnani.i;-ti.

and Prof.A.W~Anderson(vldeo·no.S) · . . :

3. i<rishnarrurti.J·: Krishnainllrt!: on Education(henceforth

KCE,) p.182

CWA.Pl'ER . 1 EDUCATION & LIFE

4. Krishnarrurti,J 1 Education· and the Significance of life

(henceforth EASL) p.14 · •

5 •. ~r:J.shnarrilrti.J _: The Pen9t!in Krishnamurti Reader(hence_­

forth PKR) p. 226

6. I<rishnarrurti ,·J : EASL p.15

7. Jayakar, IUP\11 : Ki-ishnam1rti - A Biography(hence'fo~'fu

KAB-) p.l95·,,··: ' : i

' ·a., Krishnarrur~i,J,: KOE p.SS. ' ~'

~. J.~rishnanurti ~in the 'Film : The· Challenge of Change~.

1oe. .Kri:shnanurti.J: EASL, pp.63-64

11. ~~~~ ooklet( Raj ghat Gathering' 89) p.17. 0 ' • . •

' .

12. Vas:,I.uis s .R(ed).: The Mind of J~Krishnarrurti (hence_;·.·

forth MJI<) p. 2 96 - ·, : ' :

~ ·.·

' . I I,

.. ':: .. ·

. "'• ~

. I' c·': :! ::

'. :2" 2CJ ~ - -\.

. ' .

13 •. KrishnaiTUrti,J : E~L p. 32

14. Krishn~TIUrti~J : KrishnaTIUrti on Himself pp.9-10

CHAl?l'ER · 2 INTELLECT,AUTHORI~ & INTELLIGENCE

15. I<rishnamurti,J : EASL pp.6 3 -64

16 .. ·Krishnarrurt1;., J : Krishnamurti • s Notebook (henceforth

KNB) p.19l

17. Lutyens, Mary The Open Doo~(he~ceforth TOO) p•43 . ,

20~ :Krishnamurti,.J : ~alks with American studEmts,p.lOO

· 21. Krishnamtlrti,.J : You are the World ·p.13 ·

2 2. ·· Krishnanilrti, J

2 3._h:1l.:>id p.189

24 •. ibid· p.166

•.

25 .. Krishnamurti, J : The Network of Thought p.lo4 ' . .

26. Krishnamurti, .t ; KNB p.105 .{ ..

·,; i l

27 ... "KrishnaJTUrti~J: you· are the W~£.!2; .134

28. Kl:·ishnanurti,J : · ·KNB p.113

··,~. . : ; ...

29~ .. ·Fouere,.Rene:. KrishnaTIUrti. - the man his teaching p~·a3

30~. KJ::ishnamurti,J z EASL p.14

'!

31'. Krishnaltllrti,J : ·Truth & Actuality (henceforth: TA)p.-160 . . .

. 32~ Krishnarru.rti,J: The Awakening of Intelligence(henoe­. "i .~'t forth AOI) p.449 .·

. 33 •. · Krishnarri.lrt~,J: · KNB p~1o5: I ·.·:

FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINE

34. Krishnam1rti,J : EA9L p. 32 . .

35. Krishnamurti,.J :Talks and Dialogues .... J.Krishnamurti

'chenceforth TDJI<) p.60 ··

36. Talks by Krishnarrurti ~n India - 1965, p.138

37. K:rishnarrbrti,J : TDJK pp.60-61

38. Vas,I.u.is'' ~.R(ed) : MJK · p. 300

39··.,; I.utyens, Mary ; . TOO p.27" Q

40~, Krishnainurti; Foundation India - .~Booklet

41 •. 0!1f£N - 1929~'

42,. Krishnariltirti,J : COL,VOL.1 page.68 )

•i3 •. Krishnarnurti, J : Beyond Vidlenee (henceforltth BV) p._127

44. t ~rishnamurtf,J : AOI p. 309

45 • . .Krishnamurti,J : Dialogue with Prof.A .. W.Anderson,; ~· • . ' .. . . . . . . ,·

0

; ;.(~FI ~Video no.4)

4Q. · Krlshnamurti,J : AOI p.f37

47 •. Krishnarriurti;.J : kNB p.207

48 .•. Krishnamur.ti,J : KOE(Foreward) p.9

·,

... \; :'~ .. ,:.

' . •',

;< l

; .

SENSITIVITY .N'\JD IW\.GE 111\KING .

. 49. Krishnaltllrti,J: I<CE p.71

so. ibid,. p. 70

51. ibid, .Pi>-70~71

52'. ibid~ I?· 70

53. ibid, .P• 70

54~ Krishriarrul~·ti,J : MJK · B· 308

ss. Krishnarrurti,J·: AOI ·p.231

56:•. ibid P•46.6

2. ').'1 . o·

57. ibid ·p. 337 ,,;, ;·I,

58. Weeraperuma,S : J.Krishnall1lrti as I Knew Him ,

pp.l43-144

.5.9~. Krishrtarrurti,J : KOE p .. 44

6~2 ~ Ktishnarrurti,J : AOI pp .. 337-.338 ' • • I • '

6,3. Krishna.rrur.ti,J : COL, VOL - 3~p.l20 . ' ~ : . ; .. . : '• . .

&lf. CHJ\.Pl'ER . 5 .. TIE .PR<ELEM OF VIOLENCE

6~. Krish~cir.ur:ti,J : KOE p.65 '.• ·' ' . J

66 ~· krishmmurti, J : .AOI i;>.SOO· :.1 ,,

67:. ibid. p.-491

6~·., ibid p.502

69. Krishnanurti,J : Beyond. Violenee (BV) p.as

J•. '.

f )

l f. ·,: . .

2 ') ') . ·ul~

.• 70. weeraperuma,.s : d'iddu Krishnanurti as I Knew- Him

pp.134 - 135

71. ibid p.132

72. Krishnarrurti,J: BV page no • .11o

73. KrishnatJlUrti,J : KOE p.187

74. Kris'bnamurti,.J : BV p.11-1

75. · Jayakar;Pupul: KAB ·p.317

· 76·. Krishnarrurti,.J: · AOI p·.491 : ~

77,. Krishnanurt1' s talks ·1949 - · '5.o{verbatim report)·~-~-~ '

India p.65

_g~R 6 EDUCATION AND WORLD -PEACE

78-:.. Jayakar,. fupu·l : · KAB, P.;. 255

79. Krishnanurti,.J: EASL p.15

80, Krishnanurti,.J ;. Life Ahead(henceforth~) p.51

81~ First Talk Oak Grove,.Ojai - May 26,.1940(KFI-bulletinJ .

...

. 82 ~ Krishnamurti • s United Nations talk-1985 (KFI-bull.l/88)

· 83. Krishnarrurti,J : LA p.?O

84. Krishnamurti •s t~lks. 1949.-'SO(verbatfm .report) Ind,ia. p.6 4

85~ The:way _of·P,eace,.KFA Bulletin(-No.63 spring/suniner'~~'i.> . '· ' \

86 •· Krishnarrtirtin ,y s TDJK PP• 37-38

87.; ibid

', '.,

., I ,•':' •

~ •..

·1. i

I 1.

86. KJ:"ishnarrrurti, J : The u;:gency qf charige(hencefol.:':th~.

UC) p.6 3.

89~ .Krishnairurti,J :. IA pp.127-130

96 • .Krishnanurtr·;_s t~1~ :. OAK GROVE, OJAI, 1945 . , t 91. SUNDAY - Weekly magazinf!fe, 12-18 sept '82 (J .Krishnavur­

ti - The M:!ssiah without a Mission)

92. Krishnarrurtl,J : LA p.52

93. The way of peace,KFA J3ulletin '91

94. krishnam .. uti,J : LA,pp.l2·7..;.130

95. ibid.

96. The way of peace, KFA-Bulletin'91

THE SCHOOL

.97 .. Krishnarriirt.:i.,J: Letters to Scbools(henceforth L'fS)p.65

908: •• Krishrianu rtl .. J : KOE p. 89

99':· •. ,. ~ayakar ,·fupull, : KAB., P.,l97

loa·:.~. ibid~ p.197

101. KFI Education Conference,.Rajghat,Nov'19-21/1989

102 •. .Krishnallllrti,J : LTS p.9S

103 •. ibid p.102

.104• ... ibid p. 7 .

lOS •:. ipid p.l4

1()6 • : i'9id Po 97.

. ~ .~ f . ,) ..; '

107. ibid p.56 ' i

-1p8. Krishnanurti Foondation India(Booklet) p.5

109. Krishn~murti 1 J : LTS, p. 72

110. Jayakar 1 F\J.pul : KAB p.288

CHAPI'ER- 8 PARENTS AND . TEACHERS

111. Krishnarillrti, J : EASL p.lOO

'112. ibid p.97

11·3. Krishnafl'l.:.lrtiiJ : BOL p.220

114. KrishnamJrti,J: · EASL p .. 104

115. ibid p.1oo

lln. Krishna11llrti 1 J :

117. Krishnarrurti 1 J . G

118. ibid p.9.9

119. Krishnanurti. J :

120. Krishnanurti,J :

121. ibid p. 35'

122 .• ·ibid p.8o . •.'

LTS p.79

EASL p.88

KOE p.149

LTS Q ' vo1.2, p. 34

12 3. Brugg~r,Ulrich A. new approach to I.e arning and

·-" ' Living, p;94

124. ibid ]?.89)

125 ~ Krishnanurti ~ J : EASL p. 98 . ' .

126 ·~ ibid. p. 30

. ,·

, I

235

127 .. Krishnanurti,J : LA p.ll

128 .. ihid p.11

12 9 •· Krishnarrurti, J : EASL p .a 3

130~ KFI - Booklet(Rajghat Gathering'89)" p.14

..Q!APrER. J SRI AUROOINDO,TAGORE & KRISHNAMURTI '\

oN EDUCATIO~A cor1PARATIVE ACCOUNT 1·

131.o Sri Aurobindo ~ .§Ei Aurobindo and the. Mother on! Q,

Educat!_on(henceforth arJICS.) p.16 ' '.' -·, ~ 1, ~ ;, ~

132. Prasad~Narayan· ·=· Education for a New Life(ENL)p.1S · · . '

133. Bhattacharjee,Pranab Kumar(ed):. AScheme of Educ·ation

(Henceforth ASE) p.28

134 •. ibid,p.29 ..

13~ .o. Aurobindo,Sri : srvm p~ 19

1~ •. ibid pp.2o-2·1

137 •. frid p.'l~

138. ibid p~ 33 .

. 139.tibid p.; ~.

140. ibid pp. 34-35

141· •. Aurobindo,Sri : The manifestation·

142. Bhatta'chel.rjee,Pranabkumar(ed.) ASE p.110

143 .. ,Aurobi'ndo,Sri : S.i'1CE p.25

144 .. 'ibid p.2·!7 .. ·. ' J:

i 'i-

23G

145 •. i'l:?id p;.28-

146. ·. Tagore,Rclbindranath : Pefsona!!.:EL p.116

147 •. Tag_ore,Rabindranath: A Centenacy_ Volime(1861.-1961).

· page no. 307

148 ~ Tag ore, Rabindranath : Personality p.116-

149 .• ibid,p.l26

150. ibid, p.l26

151 ~ il:·id, p.147

152. A Centenary Volune : · 1861-1961 ·p._3o7

,.

15·3~ Rabindranath Taoo~ : Homage from Visvabharati,p.8 ·

154. Tagore,~.N : ·. ~ikksa,p._249

(ekhane emana sakala -~ikk~aka samabeta habena

yader d;:sti baiyer srmana periye; yara chkksusmani·

yara saridhani,~iara visvakutuhali,yader ananda

pratyakk~1a jnane. )

155. ibid, pp-~248-249

itSf&:¥. (pratha~'; thekei ama:rfl sahkalpa: chilo asra'l\E!ra

chelera caridikera abyabahi ta· saffiparka 1abhe

c'. utsukahoe th~e; sandhana ka:tbe,parik'ksa karbe,

':;·, sangraha:karbe.)

156 ~. ibid, p~2 45 i .

(ye gururantare chelerrianusti ekeb'are su'kie kath-

. hoeche tini cheleder bhara nebar ayogyo.ubhayer

<; rriaddhsye sudhu samrpya -naya~ antarik sayu}'jya -~0- .•.

· .. :j; s:ad~sya tnaka cai~naile. a~apaonaya naSI~r. yoga . :. . thake . na. ).

·.;

' ) .

·-~~.l : ' J . - ·-·:

23'7

. '/ . .

157. oes,8th' August - 1990; 0

{sakala praJdira indcyabOdhera utkarsa ·sa:dhane · . . . .

prath'ama· haitei cnatradigake sahayya ka:rite

haibe •

. ·a~rame-o-aSrarrer baire: graffi9uli t~ yahate · · ;

chatrera paryabekk~an s~tira nd>tya by~ahara- · ·

o- phalaliplbadd-na kare tahar byabastha karl te '" l~

haibe,ei nidrsta:ksetrer maddhe gachpala pasu-. ' . -

pakksi sarnmapdhe 'tahader abhijnata sampurna . .. . . .

•j

kara eai~) pp.28-29 '':.e

Tagore,Rabindranath:: P~onality p.129 . . . ~ . .

Tagore,Rabindranath : Sikksa, · p.96 I'

(Bodher dvara ye caitanyamaya yoga ta ekebar~ paripurria "' .... tabe ·mona ~ta sthir

ye,bodher sikl<fllake a~der_ vidyalaye

dite· habe.)

rakhte habe

pradnan stnan · « f

LECTURES AND ADDRESSES, 'City and Village' -- ~· Decerli:>er - 1928, p. 24. ·· ·

·ri· · 161. Kr!shnarm.I.rti talks,New York - 1950;,p.17o

.. ~ j '

162 ~ Dhopeshwarkar,A.D.: I<rishnaimlrti and the. texture

' ,. 163. Ntftmi N-iel,Andre: I<rishnamurti-'l'he rtiari in. Revoldi 1·

·, ~

of _Be ali ty, p. 112 ~ I. J •.

'-~· :_-) ~ ::~. ' . L . . . ,,

16:~· Tagore,R.N .= ·sikk~a ,p.~13, , 1

,

· {ye sakal j'iniser mulkaran bahirer abhyas nahe, ·'

:antarer vikas,tahader sammandhe kono krttr!m ,. pranal! thak.t--:::e pare na ••• )

,\ .: :: i ·,. ,- •: .. ··; !

·'

., .. r ·~>

. _;

166. Krishnamurti,J: COL(Fir5t series) p.97_

167. Krishnamurti's Talks Benaras .- India.1949Jp.25

_ 168.o Weeraperuma,s : .T.Kiishnarnurti as I knew ·Him p.170 . . -- .

. 169. KrishnartUrti,J : LTS vol.II p.42

170. Tago~,R.N : "Sikks·a p.-127 (sikk~aker dv~rai ."'Bikksa bidlian hoe, pronalir dvara· n·ahe} . '

171. ibid,p.127(manu~er man calansfl eban calans'll mani-

tahake buj hi te pare) ..

· · 172. Krishnamurti,S : EASL p.i99 .

. 173 •. Tagore,R~N : The Religion of Man p~63

174. Krishriariurti,J : Borribay Talks:

175. The Statesman(english daily) ,·}\prll :29-1989

176 ~- ibid. -· l :: . ; ,. \ ~

177;. The Statesman Miscellany ,August 12 '1990 . • ~I

1781

• The_ N~\>1 Ency'clo;-)aedi~ Britanriis:a,vol.6,. p.418 ·~ ~ ~

179. krishnarnt.lrti,J: .The Future is Now

18o •. Krishnanurti,J; The Way of Intelligence p.207 \':

.l

181 •. Krishnamurti,..r: EASL _p.19 . . . . • Q .

182. Vas,J..:.uis_ S.R. (ed) .: .JtUK p. 313.

183. Krishnarmirti,J.': EASL , p.lo7

184.' Krishnamurti,J : Benaras Talks,January. 6-1949

185 .\ Prasad; Narayan : ENL pp .106 -107

·186 .... ibid, pp~97-98

.. .. !.

187.' Ess.ay ;·: • POet's Drea~';The Statesman·. Misc~May-;6 •96 • . · .. ',.· ·. i' "•.. ' .

. J '·. ~·. . . ·,

' . ;

··, ..

L, )~

'-i ·r

., · ..

188. Jayakar,Pupul : KAB p.289 ·

189 .. Krishnarru.rtl,J: EASL, p.77

190. Bhattacharj ee, .Pranab kuman ( ed): A.SE p.26

191. Tagore,RaN : HOmage from Visvabharati,p.9

192. Krishnaniurti;.J.- LTS p.20

193. Krishnamurti quoted in a KFI - booklet.

CHAPI'ER 10 . CRITICAL APPRECIATION

194. Krishnarrurti,J : The_~ of Attention,pp. 34-35

195. Krtshnamurti,.J: Talks in Europe,l967.pp.134-137

196. Krishnamurti, J : · KNB p. 126

197. Vrishnamurti, J : Life· in Freedom

198. Krishnamurti, J : COL -· I, p. 2 33 '

199. Krishnamurti,J: Thinos of the Mind p.111

2.00. Bohm,Prqf.David: 'Insight,Knowledge,Science And

Human Values' (A Talk)

201. r. .. utyena,Ma:r:y: The Life and Death of I<rishnamurti

page no. 209

202. fv"..ehta, Rohi t : The Intuitive Philos6~;

203 .. Krishnamurti,J : KNB , pp.103-104

204. Krishnamu:i::ti,J : ibid,p.129.

2 05 • Krishn arnurti 1 u .G : ref~ SoeietY ( Magc:lzin~e) 1 Feb • 80

KF'f. -(Vasanta vihar)Archives a ·

206. Krishnamurti 1 s talk at the United Nations : KFI -

Bulletin 1/88, p.8

207. Krishna!Tllrti,J: Talks with Amerfcan students,p.177

208. Lutyens,Mary : The Life ·and Death of Krishnam­

.Y!:ll p .186

209 .. Krishnamurti,J: KNB p.169

210. Kris hnanu.rti, J : On Education,

2110 'flohm, Prof.David : !he Future of Hu!!!_~: ·

212o Krishnarrui:ti,U.G =. ref.Society(Hag.) l'ehruacy'80

213. Krishnamurti,J ~ ~he Wholeness of Llfe,p.137

214. Krishnarrurti,J : (The Song of ·life -'XV):

From POems And Parables p.14B

. ; \

\ I I j·

. i \. 1

\ j

. '

B I B L I 0" G .R. A P H Y -~-- .... -------

1;1 •

Krishnamurti..,J : Beyond _Violence..,Gollanz And Harper &

;. \

; t :.

Row '(henceforth GHR).., 1973

. ·Commentaries Living,GHR, 1956 . on

. Commentaries em Living,second series..,_ •

. GHR, 1959

Commentaries on Living, thi_:r:d- ser,iea..,

GHP • ..,1960·

------:s · Education and the Si9nificance ··of

Life.,GHR., 1955

--,---.: . Explm;ation ·into Insight,GHR.., 1g79·

~-----:, Freedom From the .KnOlm,GHR, 1969 ·

-----: Krishnal11lrti • s Notebook,GHit, 1976

----:: Krishnarru.rti on Education..,KFI,1987 ,,

-----:: Letters to. the Sch~ols vol .• l,KFI-1981

----:: . ratters to the Schools vo1.2..,: KFI-1985

·------: Life Ahead,B.I pvt.Ltd.

--..,--: Poems and Parables..,GHR, 1981 .-:

Talks And Dialogues - J ~1I<rishnanurti, ·

Avon ~oaks ,1970 - . . . . r .

---: The Awaken;l.ng of I:nte;ltgence..,GHR,197;3

------· i The Beginnin_gs of Learning.., 1975 : · · · . ' • • '· . . ·: "<,.. . • ' .

--~-: The Ending of Time,QHR.., 1.9:8s ·' . t . .'

.. . : -.:

.. i

Krishnarrurti ,J ~ The First and Last Freedom,GHR,195 4

; The Flight of the. Eagle,B. I.

; The. Future of. Humanity,KFI,-1985.

:· The penguin l<ri.shnaTYI.lrti 'Reader, Penguin '"ib

: The Second Fenguin Krishnarrurti Reader,

~nguin - 1972

: The Urgency of Change,GaR - 1971

:.The vlay of Intelligence,KFI -1985.

The \'llholness of life,GHR -1978

This Matter of CUlture,GHR - 1964

; ·Truth and A<;:tuali ty ,GHR -1977

13 OOKS ON KRISHNA.MUR'l'I ~-·

Bohm, Prof.David : The \'v'holeness And the Irrplica~ Ozder,

(Routledge & Keg an Paul, London)

Brugqer.,Ulrich A New J>.pproach to Learning And L1vingr1985.

Chandmal,Asit : One Thousand l".Dons - Krishnarrurti at

Eighty Five, (Harry :r-~ .Abrams Incorporated,

NewYork-1985 ·

Dhopeshwarkar,A.D : KrisrJOaniur-ti JU1d the· Texture of

Reality, Ch.:::tna-Donbay.

Field,Sidney Krishnamurti the .Keluctant ivessiah, Paragon-

~:

2·{f3

Heber,Lilly : Krishnamurti And The World cris~s.

Jayakar,.Pupul : Krishnamurti: - A Bi~raphy,Feng~in'87

& P.sunanda(ed): Krishnamurti - within the Mind, ---. KFI - 1982

Laksminarayan.s :. The Concept of ~.an in J.Krishnamurti &

Jean Paul sartre : A Reflection, 1980

! .

I

· Lutyense !vfcu:y : Life and Death of Krislmanurti#John Mlrray·'90

: The Open Doo~1 John· MUrray~1988

: The Years ofAwakening,Rider-1984

~ The Years of Fulfilment, Rider-1985

Mehta,Rohit :. J .Krishnarrurti and the Natreless Esperience,

Motilal Banarasidass - 1973 ·

~hta,Rohit & :1ehta,Sridevi : J~Krishnamurti And Sant-

Kabir, r1oti.lal etc. -1990 . , ...

Nahal,c.L: .·A Conver .... ation with J.Y.rishnamnrti,

The New Age Printing Press,New Delhi, 1965

Shringy,Dr.R.K: ~Philosophy of J.Krishnamurti ; A SyDte-I;)

math: study,( i'-btilal Banara!fsidass.)

I

· Vedaparayana,G. : A. Corrq)arative Study of the Problem 0fJ ''i ,, 111

Freedom •:lith s·?ec:tal Reference to

Jean~Paul Sartre and J.I<rishnarnurti

(KFI - Vasanta vihar archives)

Vyas,Dr.savitri .: A Critical Study of .J.'Kii::fl¥iarnurti's. :-~·

. ' . l

Educational Thoughts~ (publ.Vy,as) '1989 .; .

'.

..

..

Weeraperuma,S :. Bliss of RealitY,Chetna(p) ltd~

: Living and Dying From moment to moment,

Chetna - 1978 ) .

· VIDEO - CASSETTES, FILl£, PAMPHLETS ON J;.KRISHNAHURTI

. (V .cassettes) i•

Dialogues : Krishnarrurti with Prof.A:.llen W.Anderson l I .

Future of Han : Dialogues of Krishna'.murti with Prof.

David Bohm~ ' /i .. .·. •' ' J ' \

Nature of the Mind I . .

: Diseuss:?.ons of iKrishnarm1rti with . I

.Bohm,Sheldrake iHidley and· Krause. . ' i . .

Transformation of Han : Discussions \of Krishnanurti . I . • . ... .....

with Dd.Daviid Bohrn and i

Dr. Dav:tcJ Sh1c:d.nberg. . I . . .

~Films)

The Challenge of change

The Role of .a Flower

The Seer who walks alone .•

T~ silent mind

( .f?~mphlets)

An :EYperiroont in New Education for sttiderits ·and teache~s': . • . ··- ,l • :

': ' :~ ·; Paragon pubi ·j ca-t-.ion tru.st, 1984 .\ :;. }

Flohm.David ·= On Dtalogue(Fhildea Fle!'iling';..J:.ames Brodslty,r-

.. ;· r

. printing)· -.1990 . : . ,~

Bulletin: Krishnamurti Foundation India(KFI),

Hadras - V89

: KFI - Madras, · 1/90 Q

1

: KFI - Madras, 1/91 I

: lbid,2/9i I

:. ibid, 3/89 I

215

i 11 Religious Life'' : Winter Gathering-1989,KFI~Rajghat, •

Varanasi.

11 Surely, fr~dorn from . i,

the Self •••• is the

true. function of i'1an 11 • Annual Gathering 1990,.

Krishnamurti Foundation . :J;ndia,

T'1adras ~

-.. :;

..

,.,_. ,