J. KRISHNAMURTI

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born into a Telugu Brahmin family on 11 May 1895 in Madanapalle, a small town in what was then colonial India. In early adolescence, he had a chance encounter with prominent occultist and high-ranking Theosophist C.W. Leadbeater on the grounds of the Theosophical Society headquarters at Adyar, called Madras at the time. He was subsequently raised under the tutelage of Annie Besant and Mr. Leadbeater, the current leaders of the Society, who believed him to be the likely "vehicle" for an expected World Teacher whose coming the Theosophists had predicted. To prepare the world for this coming, a world-wide organization called the Order of the Star in the East was formed and the young Krishnamurti was made its head.

In 1929, however, Krishnamurti renounced the role that he was expected to play, dissolved the Order with its huge following, and returned all the money and property that had been donated for this work. He declared allegiance to no nationality, caste, religion, or philosophy, and spent the rest of his life traveling the world as an individual speaker, speaking to large and small groups, as well as with interested individuals. His subject matter included psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasized that such revolution could not be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social.

He authored a number of books, among them The First and Last Freedom, The Only Revolution, and Krishnamurti's Notebook. In addition, a large collection of his talks and discussions have been published. His last public talk was in Madras, India, in January 1986, a month before his death at his home in Ojai, California.

Alan Watts describes in his autobiography the first time he met Krishnamurti. It was in 1936 at the home of psychiatrist Eric Graham Howe who hosted a discussion group on an ongoing basis of intellectuals and scientists. This was in London before Watts emigrated to America. Howe invited Krishnamurti, who was visiting London at the time, to their group and Krishnamurti accepted.

"That evening," Watts says, "Krishnamurti made the following points, which are still the main themes in his dialectic teaching: Why--and again why--do you want to know whether there is a God, whether there is life after death, or what method you should follow to become enlightened, liberated, or realized? Could it be that you identify yourself with a merely abstract ego based on nothing but memories, that therefore you are not alive and aware in the eternal present, and thus worry interminably about your future? Furthermore, don't you realize that when you accept someone as a spiritual teacher, you do so by your OWN authority and choice? You yourself license the Bible, the Koran, or the Bhagavad-Gita as infallible. Wake up!...and, without putting it into words, watch what is, now. You thus realize that there is no 'feeler' apart from feelings, and no grandular, billiard-ball 'self' confronting the universe."

Watts says that Krishnamurti was one of the most elegant men in the world. He wore clothes from Saville Row and used to zoom about the country in Alfa-Romeo and Mercedes-Benz sports cars. By courtesy of wealthy aristocrats he was supported palatially in Ojai, California; in Gstaad, Switzerland; or in London. He didn't drink alcohol, eat meat, or have any genital sex life because, according to him, he was polymorphously erotic and got the ecstasy through every nerve-end on his skin.

After they both settled in America, Watts and Krishnamurti met again many times. Watts describes a talk they had in 1953 in Krishnamurti's home in aforementioned Ojai, California, north of Los Angeles. They were discussing the art of meditation. Watts said that Krishnaji, as he was often called, "picked up two cushions from the couch and said 'Look. On the one hand there must be the understanding that there is nothing, nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing you can do to improve, transform, or better yourself. If you understand this completely you will realize that there is no such entity as YOU.' He then moved his hands from the first cushion to the second, and went on. 'Then if you have totally abandoned this ambition, you will be in the state of true meditation which comes over you spontaneously in wave after wave after wave of amazing light and bliss.'"

Krishnamurti established The Krishnamurti Foundation of America in Ojai in 1969. There are also Krishnamurti foundations in England (Krishnamurti Foundation Trust); India (Krishnamurti Foundation India); Canada (Krishnamurti Educational Centre); and Spain (the Fundacion Krishnamurti Latinoamericana). The mission of the KFA is, in part, to establish, organize, and hold classes, lectures, courses, schools, seminars and study groups for the exploration of Krishnamurti's teachings.