AWARENESS | MEDITATION | WISDOM | SPIRITUAL GROWTH

j. Krishnamurti’s Freedom from the Known: (1) The Tortured Mind

An excerpt from Chapter 1 of the book Freedom from the Known by renowned spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamuri (1895–1986)

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Lessons in Ego Death — as I continue to ascend into 5D consciousness these wise words are the simple reminders that my soul craves for grounding and keeping my vibrations high.

An excerpt from Chapter 1 of the book Freedom from the Known by renowned spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamuri (1895–1986)

For centuries we have been spoon-fed by our teachers, by our authorities, by our books, our saints.

We say, ‘Tell me all about it — what lies beyond the hills and the mountains and the earth?’ and we are satisfied with their descriptions, which means that we live on words and our life is shallow and empty.

We are secondhand people. We have lived on what we have been told, either guided by our inclinations, our tendencies, or compelled to accept by circumstances and environment. We are the result of all kinds of influences and there is nothing new in us, nothing that we have discovered for ourselves; nothing original, pristine, clear.

Throughout theological history we have been assured by religious leaders that if we perform certain rituals, repeat certain prayers or mantras, conform to certain patterns, suppress our desires, control our thoughts, sublimate our passions, limit our appetites and refrain from sexual indulgence, we shall, after sufficient torture of the mind and body, find something beyond this little life.

And that is what millions of so-called religious people have done through the ages, either in isolation, going off into the desert or into the mountains or a cave or wandering from village to village with a begging bowl, or, in a group, joining a monastery, forcing their minds to conform to an established pattern.

But a tortured mind, a broken mind, a mind which wants to escape from all turmoil, which has denied the outer world and been made dull through dis- cipline and conformity — such a mind, however long it seeks, will find only according to its own distortion.

So to discover whether there actually is or is not something beyond this anxious, guilty, fearful, competitive existence, it seems to me that one must have a completely different approach altogether.

The traditional approach is from the periphery inwards, and through time, practice and renunciation, gradually to come upon that inner flower, that inner beauty and love — in fact to do everything to make oneself narrow, petty and shoddy; peel off little by little; take time; tomorrow will do, next life will do — and when at last one comes to the centre one finds there is nothing there, because one’s mind has been made incapable, dull and insensitive.

Having observed this process, one asks oneself, is there not a different approach altogether — that is, is it not possible to explode from the centre?

The world accepts and follows the traditional approach. The primary cause of disorder in ourselves is the seeking of reality promised by another; we mechanically follow somebody who will assure us a comfortable spiritual life.

It is a most extraordinary thing that although most of us are opposed to political tyranny and dictatorship, we inwardly accept the authority, the tyranny, of another to twist our minds and our way of life.

So we completely reject, not intellectually but actually, all so-called spiritual authority, all ceremonies, rituals and dogmas, it means that we stand alone and are already in conflict with society; we cease to be respectable human beings.

A respectable human being cannot possibly come near to that infinite, immeasurable, reality.

You have now started by denying something absolutely false — the traditional approach — but if you deny it as a reaction you will have created another pattern in which you will be trapped; if you tell yourself intellectually that this denial is a very good idea but do nothing about it, you cannot go any further.

If you deny it however, because you understand the stupidity and immaturity of it, if you reject it with tremendous intelligence, because you are free and not frightened, you will create a great disturbance in yourself and around you but you will step out of the trap of respectability.

Then you will find that you are no longer seeking. That is the first thing to learn — not to seek.

When you seek you are really only windowshopping. The question of whether or not there is a God or truth or reality, or whatever you like to call it, can never be answered by books, by priests, philosophers or saviours.

Nobody and nothing can answer the question but you yourself and that is why you must know yourself. Immaturity lies only in total ignorance of self.

To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom.

Allow the words to resonate with you as you take them in consciously. Meditate on these insights that have inspired thousands of people worldwide.

“Freedom from the Known is the Essence of Intelligence” — J. Krishnamurti

Thank you for your time and for allowing me to share my writing. I look forward to continuing this journey with you.

Love & Light, Gem ♊✨