The Krishnamurti Reader

Reality is something else than the illusion and the manipulation we all live in.Close the book if you like Hollywood, as then you will throw it away soon anyway...If you know Hollywood is a lie and still want to enjoy it for what it is, only stories, keep reading..If you know the whole society is just like Hollywood, keep reading too..Knowing it is a lie is going to free you from it.. and freedom means that you can even enjoy the stories that fool, as you know they are just stories and thus they do not fool anymore. ...This is true for even what happen in 1787.

I love Krishnamurti, but don't let this book fool you. It is the same book as the Pocket Krishnamurti. The Pocket Krishnamurti went out of print a while ago, and apparently they republished it with a new title (and gave it a larger size). I was dissapointed because I already have purchased and read this book. However, I would argue that this is the first Krishnamurti book that anyone should ever read. It is a well articulated introduction to some of his main themes that he talkes about in his public speaking, and it is a great gift to give to friends who have never read his works.

Although I've read so many of Krishnamurti's books, I love this one. It's a beautiful book and I copied so many passages from it to keep with me and read over and over. I suffered a loss recently and this book helped me with my search for answers.

I'm coming back to read an old friend from the '70's. This is a good introduction to a challenging subject.

As with his other works, this one is worth revisiting and enjoying and learning from his perspective. Truly good stuff

thanks.

Great wisdom; simple and beautiful words.Find your way to make yourself free from the burden of beliefs, religions, superstitions, fears. The answer lies in yourself, in your own mind.

Krishnamurti speaks as though he speaks to God personally everyday. I love all of his books. You will not be disappointed in any of his works.

Once again, another wonderful book to observe. JK shares more insight to the obvious, tainted by our "self centred ness".

excellent

Has been my teacher for the past 60 years

I recall trying to "get into" Krishnamurti (K) some thirty years ago from a book I had borrowed from a friend. The first third of the book I was fascinated by his unconventional, chopped-up reasoning. Notably, there were no references to other Masters or bodies of wisdom that I knew of. What I was looking for was some direction and guidance on the spiritual path--a mentor with spiritual but practical advise. Half way through the book I gave up on reading the rest. I figured maybe I wasn't smart enough to grasp what K was trying to teach.So, now I thought that maybe I would give K another try. After all, looking at the preponderance of five star reviews on Amazon, his books still have a very large fan base. By the time I got half way through this book I felt rationally conflicted and spiritually unenlightened. Out of more than a hundred mystical, religious or self-help authors I have heard or read, K comes across as having the most disconnected presentation. K was a genius, no doubt about it, and I am not, but for an average mortal I found myself still too mentally challenged to benefit from this book. When a commuication fails to make sense it misses its target. An incoherent muddle is not uplifting. His repetitive put-downs in judgment of us miserable mortals' failures put us on the defensive. His condemnation of systems and organizations based on "beliefs" is disconcerting. Trying to follow K's reasoning is for me like driving on the chaotic streets of downtown Calcutta blindfolded...it ends in chaotic gridlock. Admittedly, his messages can at moments be sagaciously uplifting, even liberating, but then, in the next breath, they can crush us down with seeming incongruous contradictions or leave us trying to cling to following chimerical injunctions. K puts the standard of thinking and behaviousr so high--disassociated from normal evaluations--that for me it loses its relevance.Love and peace to all those who are his avid followers, and I should probably not be concerned that by trying to escape from the problems and challenges of material human existence they may get lost in the maze of K's ethereal convolutions. Krishnamurti was/is highly regarded by his fans (but, bafflingly, so was/is Proust). "Krishnamurti is one of the greatest philosophers of the age," has been attributed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Another holy man, Baha'u'llah, is reputed to have opined that "philosophy is the science of little substance that begins with words and ends with more words and rarely does it leave any legacy of significant consequence." Admittedly too reactionary, but having some merit. I wonder: What is K's legacy? Have his teachings helped to solve the world's conflicts or steer us mortals any closer to Nirvana?Some quotes to ponder: "Thought can never bring about a holistic observation of life." P. 27. "Belief indicates a life that is based on make-believe, which has nothing to do with actuality." P. 47. "To listen there must be no direction." P. 47. "God is an invention of the intellect." P. 55. "Escape into meditation leads only to illusion." P. 56. "...as long as the brain is conditioned to solving problems we will never find the right answer." p. 60. "Distortion is brought about by any form of motive, purpose, direction." P 68. "The structure of the self arises only when there is registration of everything that is not necessary." P. 69. "...a person who is afraid in any way has no compassion." P. 71. "So, when there is analysis, there must inevitably be conflict." P. 74. "There is nothing holy, divine, or eternal about culture." P. 133. "Seeing is to be intimately in contact with it [human life], and you cannot be intimately, actually, in contact with it if you have concepts, beliefs, dogmas or opinions. p. 142. "But there is no compassion or love if you are attached to some religious organization or belief in something." p. 160.