JK's thought-provoking talks

Magnitude of the Mind
Author: J. Krishnamurti
Publisher: Krishnamurti Foundation, India.

Reviewed by R.S. Karunaratne

The celebrated Indian Philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti's Magnitude of the Mind is a small book that contains the talks he delivered in Sri Lanka in 1980.

Though small in size, the book will serve as a mental stimulant. The blurb in the back cover says, “The story of mankind is in you. The vast experiences, the deep-rooted fears, anxieties, sorrow, pleasure and all the beliefs that man has accumulated throughout millenia. You are that book, and it is an art to read that book.

Philosopher

Some of us had the rare privilege of listening to his talks delivered in impeccable English.

In the series of talks he reiterated his basic insight that what is important for a human is to read the book of his own life, its various chapters and pages, rather than studying any ancient scriptures or modern philosophies.

Krishnamurti was a controversial modern philosopher who spoke and wrote on numerous problems humans face. Some of the problems he addressed his mind were frustration, fear, death, education and meditation. His views were sometimes far fetched and unusual.

He said meditation is the emptying of our consciousness with all its content. Many people have practised various forms of meditation practised by Buddhists, Hindus and Zen Buddhists. To him all that is not real meditation.

He said enlightenment does not come to us through meditation practised for years. According to him meditation is the freedom from all measure.

Meditation also means measure. Without measurement, the technological world cannot exist.

Another subject he spoke on was love. He said affection is a form of measurement but love has no such measure. Unfortunately most of us do not know the real meaning of love. We think pleasure and desire are synonyms for love. But they are not.

Krishnamurti said most of us are superstitious men who worship images made by the hand or by the mind. We engage ourselves in numerous rituals and believe in dogmas.

World teacher

Young Krishnamurti was adopted by Dr. Annie Besant the president of the Theosophical Society. Dr. Besant and others proclaimed that Krishnamurti was to be the World Teacher. To prepare the world for his coming, a world-wide organisation called the Order of the Star in the East was formed.

In 1929, however, Krishnamurti renounced the role that he was expected to play. He dissolved the Order with its huge following and returned all the money and property that had been donated for his work.

Despite his controversial views Krishnamurti is regarded as one of the great thinkers of all time. He explained with great precision the subtle workings of the human mind. He did not belong to any organisation, sect or cult.

Nor did he have followers. He believed that highly organised religions and sects divide mankind.

Wherever he travelled, he reminded people that they are not Buddhists, Christians, Hindus or Muslims but humans not different from one another.

He asked people to walk on the earth without destroying themselves and the environment. His teachings transcend all man-made barriers such as religion, race and caste. Therefore, his teachings remain timeless and universal.