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Can Krishnamurti’s self-Knowing

Alter the Direction of Mankind’s Future?

Sankara Bhagavadpada

FOREWORD

In this essay, we consider the enormous questions of whether the teaching of self-Knowing of the

Indian spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895—1986) has already impacted humanity, and if so,

in what way, and whether it will continue to be potent enough to alter the destructive present course

of human history.

The short answers to these two questions are both ‘Yes’. Krishnamurti brought about a paradigm shift

in religious teaching, which coincided with the paradigm shift in physics brought about by quantum

theory. His teaching of self-Knowing not only has thus already impacted humanity but also holds a

promise in altering the present course of human history.

Professor Bohm’s Foreboding

Professor David Bohm ((1917-1992) was a revolutionary theoretical physicist who challenged as well

as shaped our understanding of the enigmatic nature of physical reality, which was brought home to

us by quantum theory. He was also an original philosopher of science. He was a long-time friend and

associate of Krishnamurti, and they engaged in a series of dialogues throughout their lives.

In June 1983, at Brockwood Park, England, in one of their ongoing dialogues, they discussed the

momentous question: What is the future of humanity? [1]. Professor Bohm wrote:

“This question is now of vital concern to everyone, because modern science and technology

are clearly seen to have opened up immense possibilities of destruction. It soon became clear

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as we talked together that the ultimate origin of this situation is in the generally confused mentality

of mankind, which has not changed basically in this respect throughout the whole of recorded

history and probably for much longer than this. Evidently, it is essential to enquire deeply into

the root of this difficulty if there is ever to be a possibility that humanity will be ever diverted from its

present very dangerous course.” [1] (Italics added for emphasis) —David Bohm, The Future of

Humanity, Pg.2, KFI, Chennai, Reprinted, 2003.

Such a foreboding is cited here only to drive home the point that the present ominous direction of

mankind’s future is certainly no speculative and nihilistic hypothesis. Rather, it is a dark unfolding

reality that is already happening, of which all of us are at once the unconscionable perpetrators, the

unfortunate victims, and the fear-stricken and petrified witnesses.

We do not even have the consolation that the damnation will descend on us only in the near future.

We are already face to face with that damnation every time we become terrified and grief-stricken by

man-made calamitous happenings—whether these occur at the level of nations, in the form of social

conflicts, within our own families or, worst of all, inside our own paralysed minds and desolate

hearts.

‘Original Sin’, Maya, and Mula Avidya have already taken their Toll

We are the unconscionable perpetrators of the dark unfolding reality, not because some of us, or all of

us, are instrumental causes for sowing the seeds of evil actions. Rather, it is because every individual

human, whether good or bad, high or low, learned or illiterate, man or woman, young or old, healthy

or sickly, rich or poor, or moral or immoral, has already been perpetually sowing the seeds of

division, separation and sorrow through his or her erroneous thinking and perception (“generally

confused mentality”) since the dawn of civilization.

This was called original sin in Christianity and mula avidya (root ignorance) or maya (primordial

delusion) in the Hindu world [2]. In other words, we are predestined to reap the seed of the collective

nemesis sowed by the collective aberration in perception and thought, which is as old as humanity

itself. This is humanity’s root-malaise, our original aetiology for all of our political, social, religious,

national, familial and individual misfortunes, failures and tragedies.

Something is Fundamentally Amiss in Human Thinking and Perception

For millenniums we have been accustomed to the age-old dualistic thinking in which the perceiving

subject was always split apart from the perceived object. These two were held to be independent of

each other, and often culturally, socially, and nationally even encouraged to be antagonistic to each

other—because in our delusion, we mistook false “individuality” and misplaced “self-empowerment”

to be the most important and necessary foundation for our collective well-being.

This widely held idea of the independence of the subject from the object is no longer tenable, because

several momentous discoveries in science and world-tragedies in the last century have brought home

compelling evidence to the contrary. Formerly, the “hero” in the human drama was always held to be

different and superior to the “villain”, and so there was this divisive norm, this accepted duality

between the ostensibly aggrieved subject and the perceived “villainous” object. This mode of thinking

is no longer tenable.

Till around 1920-1930, it was implicit in our worldview that what we think within ourselves, and how

we perceive the world, has no real bearing on shaping our individual, familial, social, religious, or

global reality. However, since 1930, because this assumption has been falsified by irrefutable scientific

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evidence, our continued adherence to such a worldview will only become a serious fundamental fault

in human thought itself (Prajnaaparada) [3].

Therefore, it is our separative, divisive, self-centred thinking that has brought the world to the present

dangerous impasse. This is the beginning of our decipherment of David Bohm’s foreboding—that is,

the “generally confused mentality of mankind” and “it is essential to enquire deeply into the root of

the difficulty”. Further, it is my intention to reveal the “possibility” of “humanity diverted from its present

very dangerous course” in the teaching of Krishnamurti: self-Knowing.

KRISHNAMURTI AND A NEW PARADIGM

Who is Jiddu Krishnamurti?

In 1986 Krishnamurti died at the age of 91, after having tirelessly taught for seventy-six years in many

countries and continents of the world. Many eminent philosophers, religious leaders, scientists and

psychiatrists dialogued with this remarkable religious teacher during his lifetime. Taking all of those

dialogues and teachings into account, I suggest that the Light which spoke through Krishnamurti be

seen as the Source that decisively seeded the revolutionary planetary paradigm shift in the sphere of

religion and of human consciousness.

As the three-volume biography by Mary Lutyens documents [4], at the age of 14, Krishnamurti was

“discovered” by the “clairvoyant” Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854-1934) to be the

worthy “vehicle” for the coming of the World Teacher, Lord Maitreya, a quasi-Buddhist version of

the “Second Coming of the Christ”. [5]

The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) and Henry

Steel Olcott (1831-1907). Theosophy was an occult hybrid of the Eastern religion, primarily Buddhism,

and the Western religion, primarily Christianity, with a connection to Freemasonry. According to the

Theosophists, Lord Maitreya (the prophesied “Future Buddha”) was supposed to incarnate again on

earth (the “Second Coming” of the Buddha).

The second generation of the Theosophical leaders were the Fabian socialist and famed author Annie

Besant (1847-1933) and the occultist Charles Leadbeater. They concerned themselves with the inward

and outward preparation for the coming of Lord Maitreya [5]. Krishnamurti was trained, educated,

and groomed to be the vehicle for the role of that World Teacher. They established in 1911 a world-

wide organization with Krishnamurti as its head: The Order of the Star in the East (OSE), an affiliate

of the Theosophical Society.

However, in 1929, there occurred a sudden massive disillusionment that shook up the Theosophical

community, when Krishnamurti made the revolutionary pronouncement of the dissolution of the

Order [6]. On August 3rd, he disbanded the OSE in front of Besant and about 3,000 members. In his

speech dissolving the organisation (also broadcast on a Dutch radio), Krishnamurti said:

I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever,

by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and

unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path

whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce

people along any particular path.

— Jiddu Krishnamurti, The Dissolution of the Order of the Star

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As we may well imagine, this was a monumental anti-climax for all the thousands of followers who

were unfortunately expectantly looking outward for their salvation. From Krishnamurti’s point of

view, his decisive act of negation was absolutely necessary for inner and outer purification. It was in

this way that he liberated himself and the vast numbers of Theosophists, who were all his “followers”

firstly from imprisonment in spiritual materialism, false security and extroverted quest, and secondly

from the abominable organizational hierarchy and tyranny of the Theosophical Society itself.

The dissolution of the OSE caused an international turmoil, but Krishnamurti was decisively and

tectonically ending all that was false and inessential for the spiritual flowering of man. Indeed, this

was a serious act of creative destruction, which we can see in hindsight to have served as the fertile

seedbed of the paradigm shift toward the birth and development of the new religious culture of self-

Knowing.

Prior to Krishnamurti, in the whole field of the traditional religions, the Divine, as the object of our

perception and adoration was enshrined in the centre-stage of religion to the complete marginalization

and exclusion of the perceiving worshipper—the subject, the observer.

Further, because of the mandated obedience to religious authority, which was supposed to represent

the Divine, the unfortunate subject, the devotee, the observer, became the helpless victim of religious,

social, and psychological tyranny—a tyranny that was a concomitant of organized religion itself, and

a tyranny that would only go away when organized religion itself is dismantled.

This religious tyranny was and is simply positively harmful for the spiritual learning and spiritual

flowering of the subject, the devotee. What is much worse, this obedience to a religious authority

strongly obstructs the awakening and flowering of intelligence, which Krishnamurti pointed out to be

the real summum bonum of the devotee’s or the subject’s spiritual life.

“Authority prevents the understanding of oneself, does it not? Under the shelter of an

authority, a guide, you may have temporarily a sense of security, a sense of well-being, but

that is not the understanding of the total process of oneself. Authority, in its very nature,

prevents the full awareness of oneself, and therefore ultimately destroys freedom; in freedom

alone, there can be creativeness. There can be creativeness, only through self-knowledge.”

—J. Krishnamurti, The First and Last Freedom, Pg. 35, Victor Gollancz, London.

Quantum Phenomena & Quantum Theory, the Paradigm Shift in Physics

Remarkably, during the same period when Krishnamurti was bringing forth this paradigm shift in

the religious sphere, a paradigm shift of a similar nature was taking place in the scientific sphere. [7]

Synchronously and parallelly, a profound paradigm shift took place in religion and science with the

pronouncement of the dissolution of The Order of the Star in the East by Krishnamurti (1927-1929)

and the advent of quantum mechanics (1923-1930) [8].

One was centred on man’s inner life and his spiritual search for the ultimate ground of being, while

the other was centred on man’s outer existence and his intellectual curiosity to fathom the ultimate

ground of physical reality. These two paradigm shifts, or revolutions, happened in the same decade,

and the significance of this coincidence and the common ground of both of the revolutions should not

be missed.

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What was this paradigm shift? Prior to Krishnamurti and the advent of quantum theory, the subject, namely,

the observer, was understood to have no crucially significant role in the very determination of the reality of the

perceived object, namely, the observed.

In all of the sciences, it had always been the object of perception that had remained centre-stage, to

the exclusion of the observing subject. Thus, in the classical Newtonian-Cartesian worldview, it is

implicit that the role played by the observing subject, the observer, in the phenomena the observer

observes, is totally insignificant.

The physicists’ attempts to understand the nature of physical reality through the quantum revolution

showed that, as the subject went deeper into the atomic and sub-atomic worlds, the observer shaped

and modified the phenomena observed. The observer was not at all independent of the microscopic

reality that he was passively observing, but rather, on the contrary, he was himself responsible for the

architecture of the reality that he was observing [9].

This discovery demolished the classical Newtonian compartmentalization of the observed object and

the observing subject, and instead pointed to an underlying reality in which the observing subject and

the observed object were inextricably woven together into an overarching living wholeness. In other

words, the role of the hitherto insignificant subject rose like the morning Sun and the nature of reality

itself seemed to point to a subject-centric reality, never before imagined in classical Newtonian

physics.

The Body, the self, Its Default-Setting, Its Dichotomy, and the Atma

Krishnamurti, therefore, is in the broader light of two paradigm shifts - that are in essence one radical

paradigm shift in consciousness.

In order to understand the paradigm-shifting significance of Krishnamurti’s teaching in religion and

its impact on the future of humanity, it is important to understand what the self is, and what his

teaching of self-Knowing is.

To illustrate, let us hold in mind the situation of two different individuals, from different cultures,

speaking different languages, encountering each other and having the challenge of relating to each

other. They see each other’s gross outer form, that is, each other’s body. The self of each, the inner

essence of each, is invisible not only to the other but may also to himself because of his extroversion

and unawareness.

We readily recognize our visible body, but it calls for a deeper contemplation to arrive at one of the

root human illusions—that is, the assumption that we are the body. We take this assumption for

granted. Even most religions, generally, do not encourage us to question the validity of this root

illusion and basic assumption. Further, even when we extend our self-identification beyond the body,

the subtle inner essence of the self is usually only superficially identified and understood, because it

only comprises the impressions that come from the experiences of pleasure and pain, of the unending

flux of sensory infatuations and distractions, or attractions and aversions, of which our bodily

consciousness consists.

However, the domain of the self contains far more than our bodily consciousness, which we can grasp

clearly by turning to the analogy of the cloudy ring around the moon that we observe on certain

nights. The moon in this analogy is the luminous core and corresponds to the Divine centre of the

Atma, or the primordial awareness. As Krishnamurti explains, so long as humanity is unwilling to

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vacate the superficial plane, symbolized by the cloudy ring, none of the problems at the levels of the

individual, family, society, and nations can ever be truly resolved.

“But life is not superficial; it demands living completely and because we are living only

superficially, we know only superficial reaction. Whatever we do on the periphery, must

inevitably create a problem and that is our life: we live in the superficial and we are content

to live there with all the problems of the superficial. Problems exist as long as we live in the

superficial, on the periphery, the periphery being the ‘me’ and its sensations, which can be

externalized or made subjective, which can be identified with the universe, with the country,

or with some other thing, made up by the mind.”

—J. Krishnamurti, in, ‘The First and Last Freedom’, Pg., 207.

When we identify the self with the peripheral cloudy ring instead of the central moon, the tendency

towards a divisive mentality and the feeling of separation between the self and the other arise, which

create in us a proneness to evil because of the wrong perception and self-centeredness coming from

the peripheral illusion. We may take this to be the ‘default-setting’ of the self, and the challenge is to

alter this default setting by shifting the centre of awareness to the central moon—Divine centre of the

Atma.

Quite distinct from the peripheral self, there exists a timeless Essence or timeless Awareness of which the

superficial self appears to be only a tragic caricature and a corrupted version. This timeless Awareness,

the Hindus call the Atma and the Christians the Christ Consciousness. The Atma is the life-giving

timeless Awareness that enlivens everything from ‘behind the scenes’, from the inmost, which is

inaccessible to our senses, intellect, or consciousness. For this reason, without the right religious or

spiritual learning, enquiry and meditation, the invisible and insensible Atma, the timeless Awareness

and the timeless Essence within ourselves, may never even be discovered in a lifetime.

https://vaido.aminus3.com/image/2012-10-31.html

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While the superficial inner essence, the self, is personal, defined by our likes and dislikes, pleasurable

and painful memories, thoughts and feelings, beliefs and fears, or benevolent and malevolent nature,

the Atma, the Atmic Ground, the Awareness, has nothing whatsoever to do with our identifiable

superficial personalities, attachments, or memories—all that we know and cherish as ourselves.

The Atma is nothing that can be identified by the self through the investigative activity of thought as a

unique centre, as a supreme object, as a lofty experience, a source, or a beacon. Yet, it is the only

imperishable refuge for man, who is perpetually beset with a multitude of problems and sufferings

inside the theatre of his consciousness.

This timeless Essence, the Atma, is unknowable as a perceived object, as the ‘other’, not-experienceable, because

it is who we already are, as the subject, at the very core of our being. So, it is impossible to know it and see it in

much the same way in which we would see a flower, a tree, a planet, a star, a galaxy, an animal, a man, a god.

Therefore, it is not a goal to be reached by any effort in thought, by any seeking, not an object to be

possessed, not a god to be invoked in times of trouble, not a deity to be worshipped. Yet, without this

Atmic Essence of man, there would be no religion, no goodness, no truth, no virtue, no liberation, no

justice, no intelligence, no love, no conscience, no light, no life itself.

The Atma has nothing to do with the categories of space-time, or matter-energy, which are produced

and experienced by the senses and our superficial consciousness, the self. It is birthless and deathless,

immortal and imperishable. The Hindu sages intuitively described it as Sat-Chit-Ananda—Absolute

Truth-Awareness-Bliss. It is also all Being-Intelligence-Peace.

Further, beyond the Atma, there is Brahma or Parabrahma, as shown below through a graphics analogy:

Though in this

metaphoric schematic

Legend: In this

representation of the

three orders of reality,

available to us humans,

we have given an

‘Infinite’ stature to

Ultimate Reality, by

In this analogy, Parabrahma (‘Supreme’ Brahma) is represented by a galaxy of cosmic dimensions,

while Atma is represented by the sun at the centre of a solar system. Parabrahma falls entirely outside

the space of thought and comprehension and its existence may only be indirectly inferred through

In this metaphoric

representation of the three-

orders of reality, we humans

have to live with; the fickle

moon stands for the fickle

and dependently arising,

self. The Sun stands for the

timeless awareness, which

cannot be perceived as an

object, but which ‘illumines’

the ‘show’ in consciousness

and in life. The galaxy stands

for the unmanifest Ultimate

Reality, the Father in Heaven

of the Christians,

Parabrahma of the Hindus,

‘Transcendental’ Godhead.

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that intelligence (prajnya) [3], which is never available in our overactive consciousness, but which is of

the very essence of the Atma [11].

Subtle & Profound Distinction Between Awareness (Atma) and Consciousness

There is a difference between consciousness and (timeless) Awareness. To understand the profound

difference between consciousness and Awareness, we go straight to Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, who is

perhaps the greatest and the most original Indian teacher of Self-Realization in the last century:

“Awareness is primordial; it is the original state, beginningless, endless, uncaused,

unsupported, without parts, without change. Consciousness is on contact, a reflection against

a surface, a state of duality. There can be no consciousness without Awareness, but there can

be Awareness without consciousness, as in deep sleep. Awareness is Absolute, consciousness

is relative to its content. Consciousness is always of something. Consciousness is partial and

changeful. Awareness is total, changeless, calm and silent. And it is the common matrix of

every experience.” [12]

This will immediately make obvious many of our previous statements regarding the self and the

Atma. By self, we mean a temporary formation in the swiftly moving river of consciousness, much like

the formation of a vortex that is often seen in swiftly running river waters. We can all easily see this

formation on numerous occasions and we will in fact be spellbound by such a temporary formation!

The formation may last for a shorter time period or may last for time periods slightly longer. It is a

dependently arising formation, which manifests under certain favourable conditions only. I am using

the term dependently arising in the same sense in which the Buddha used that term Pratitya Samutpada

(“dependent arising/origination”) in his discourses [13].

In Krishnamurti’s self-Knowing, you observe and know the self, looking from the innermost centre of

Awareness. In this process, you be the Atma without ever seeking it. The Atma, the Awareness, is no

longer an object to be attained but the very subject that enlightens and enlivens the world. Thus, it is

the You, the Self, the Atma, that is Knowing the self in self-Knowing. The Atma is the Knower and the

self is the known but not as an object separate and independent from the Atma but as the dependently

arising waves of consciousness in the timeless and spaceless ocean of Awareness.

When Krishnamurti looks at the world, it is the Atma observing the world. His lectures, dialogues,

and conversations are all invitations for and transmission to people to observe the world from the

same place where he is, that is, the Atmic Ground. Therefore, with Krishnamurti, the Atma, the Brahma,

or the Divine ceased to be the transcendental object of search or devotion but the immanent subject of the

self, the world, and the universe of which it is the pristine observer and the creative participant. Thus,

in self-Knowing, You the Atma Know the self, without ever being lost in the self.

THE IMPACT OF KRISHNAMURTI TEACHING ON THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

The Higher and Lower Functions of the Religions

Religions have higher and lower functions. The higher function of all religions is to renounce our self-

identification with the superficial self, and to discover our true identity with the Atma, our Divine

Essence. This is called salvation or moksha (this Sanskrit term means freedom from all sorrow). By

contrast, all organized religions that are greedy for mass following, have been busy discharging only

the lower function. That is, instead of offering humanity real salvation or moksha, they dispense only

the temporary sedation of solace.

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Such dispensation of solace is always towards the aggrieved self, which, in its darkness, is at best not

looking for anything other than the promise of psychological security through a “Divine Grace”.

There is no question of the individual devotee of an organized religion relinquishing his superficial

self and to delving deeper within himself to discover the Atma, the Divine Essence, at the core of his

being.

Thus, all organized religions that are engaged in the lower function are part of the problem, not the

solution, for the lower function of the religions keeps humanity remain on the surface and in the

“generally confused mentality”. Krishnamurti’s teaching of self-Knowing is a new paradigm at the

summit of the higher function of religion.

“When the élan of growth in a healthy society seems to have given out, the passive

individual loses his bearings upon the uncharted sea of the universe; but the alternative

reaction to this sense of a loss of control is not to look outwards upon a macrocosm engulfed

by evil but to look inwards to the soul’s own self and to recognize the moral defeat as a

failure in self-mastery.”—Arnold J Toynbee, A Study of History, Pg.249, Thames and

Hudson, London.

Though Awareness is seen to be generally an atrophied faculty, nevertheless, it has always been subtly

present in man as the bedrock underlying his fickle consciousness. Krishnamurti’s deeply moving

language, reminiscent of the sublime language of the poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, shakes us

up from our “moral defeat”, from our slumber of Awareness, by opening our hearts and exorcising our

false convictions.

“The soil in which the meditative mind can begin is the soil of everyday life, the strife, the

pain and the fleeting joy. It must begin there, and bring order, and from there move

endlessly. But if you are concerned only with making order, then that very order will bring

about its own limitation and the mind will be its prisoner.”

“In all this movement you must somehow begin from the other end, from the other shore,

and not always be concerned with this shore or how to cross the river.

“You must take a plunge into the water, not knowing how to swim. And the beauty of

meditation is that you never know where you are, where you are going, what the end is.”

[14]

In his work Krishnamurti’s Notebook and Krishnamurti’s Journal, and in his biography by Mary Lutyens,

we come face to face with Krishnamurti’s unique and profound mystical life, which stands apart from

the teachings, but which nevertheless must also be studied to gain a proper understanding of him and

a genuine appreciation of his teaching. The people who have devoted their lives to understanding his

teaching also have the task of integrating his mystical life with his teaching.

Below is such a passage from his writing, which is reminiscent of what is sometimes encountered in

the Upanishads of ancient India.

“It is strange how during one or two interviews that strength, that power filled the room. It

seemed to be in one’s eyes and breath. It comes into being suddenly and most unexpectedly,

with a force and intensity that is quite overpowering and at other times it is there quietly and

serenely. But it is there, whether one wants it or not. There is no possibility of getting used to

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it, for it has never been nor will it ever be…” —13th July to 3rd Sept 1961, Krishnamurti’s

Notebook, Victor Gollancz Ltd, London

The Mutation in the Brain Cells

In some of his public talks, Krishnamurti repeatedly stressed that when one enters the stream of “the

choiceless awareness of what is” (in the state of self-Knowing) and dispassionately observes the self (self-

Knowing), invariably, there occurs “mutations in the brain cells themselves”.

In the 1980s, David Bohm drew the attention of the world to the scientifically verified fact of what

Krishnamurti had been saying for many decades. Formerly, scientists spoke of genetic programming,

but with the discovery of the impact of human thought on genetic materials (epigenetics), there was a

reversal of roles with this new proof: that is, man can break and transform old karmic patterns held in the

genetic materials with thought.

“At this point it is worth remarking that modern research into the brain and the nervous

system actually gives considerable support to Krishnamurti’s statement that insight may

change the braincells. Thus, for example, it is now well known that there are important

substances in the body, the hormones and the neurotransmitters, that fundamentally affect the

entire functioning of the brain and the nervous system. These substances respond, from

moment to moment, to what a person knows, to what he thinks, and to what all this means to

him. It is by now fairly well established that in this way the brain cells and their functioning are

profoundly affected by knowledge and thought, especially when these give rise to strong feelings and

passions. It is thus quite plausible that insight, which must arise in a state of great mental energy and

passion, could change the brain cells in an even more profound way.” (Italics by me for emphasis)

—David Bohm, Preface, Page 3, The Future of Humanity, J. Krishnamurti and David Bohm,

KFI, Chennai, India, 2003.

Psychological Dying as a Climax in self-Knowing

It is tragic that the majority of humanity so far has always had the unconscious conviction that the life

of body & mind, with its endless appetites and cravings, is the only thing and hence the highest good.

Trapped in the ghostly gutters of the memories of the past pleasures and pains, it may appear to most

people that it is well-nigh impossible to be open to the truth that Krishnamurti unveils—that nothing

less than the dignified ending of the life of the self through psychological dying, may be potent enough to

reverse the destructive present course of human history.

After all, isn’t this even mandatory, given that our short sojourn on planet earth is temporary rather

than permanent? In the unfolding of self-Knowing, the dying and withering away of the ephemeral

self happens naturally for those who are willing to go to the end of self-Knowing. Therewith, there is

the birth of freedom from the burden of the dead past and the attachment to the non-existent future,

and the consequent awakening of intelligence (prajnya), which is also love. Thereafter, our fragile

human lives are rebuilt and renewed by the invisible hands of the unmanifest Divine and lo, this

happens in astonishingly unforeseen ways.

This inward journey of self-Knowing, which culminates in the dying of the self and in its concomitant,

dawning of the Atma, is something that each of us will need to undertake not only for sanctifying our

own selves, but also much more importantly, for saving our own species from the dangerous course

of destruction on which we have unconsciously embarked.

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When we allow ourselves this potentiality for awakening to be actualized, by being responsible and

deliberate in our entry into the stream of self-Knowing, our seemingly insignificant initial steps may

not only seed but also germinate the possibility of inner revolution, which is the only solution to the

immense problem that David Bohm cite, at the very commencement of this essay.

“…. It soon became clear as we talked together that the ultimate origin of this situation is in the

generally confused mentality of mankind, which has not changed basically in this respect

throughout the whole of recorded history and probably for much longer than this. Evidently,

it is essential to enquire deeply into the root of this difficulty if there is ever to be a possibility that

humanity will be ever diverted from its present very dangerous course.” [1] (Italics, added by me for

emphasis)

—David Bohm, in The Future of Humanity, Pg.2, KFI, Chennai, Reprinted, 2003.

Appendix 1: Common Ground with Yasuhiko Genku Kimura

In his essay, “Healing the Self, Healing the World” (2017), Yasuhiko Genku Kimura had introduced

the pertinent concept of Homo Ludens, man the player, and he took us back to the cultural historian,

Johan Huizinga, who is supposed to have introduced this idea in 1938. While some religious and

creative individuals and seekers may have ‘accidentally’ stumbled upon the paradise of Homo Ludens,

here, we have tried to show that unless the self of man withers away, he is but unqualified to enter

into this paradise of freedom.

The Hindus maintained that ananda, or ecstasy, befalls us, when the life of the self has ended naturally.

Ananda is beatitude or bliss or joy for no reason whatever, while ecstasy happens when we stand

(stasis) outside (ec-) of the self. It appears from what Kimura and the various learned authors of his

sources have said that it is when the chaotic activities of the self die out that man emerges as the

ecstatic player, offering the seemingly limited platform of his life for the “Infinite Game” in which he

and the Divine are veritable partners. (He expanded the concept of Homo Ludens and Ecstasy in his

subsequent essay “The Art, Technology, & Science of Homo Deus” 2019.)

From the point of view of Krishnamurti (and of Kimura), so long as man is acting out his life as the

self, there is no possibility for him to flower into the ideal of Homo Ludens, and naturally no possibility

of stepping on to the intoxicating Infinite Game Platform. [15]

There may be an infinite number of ways in which a human being may possibly yoke into the Infinite

and Eternal Source that is the Divine of the religions. Which way works for one may depend on the

Divine Architecture for that individual. Kimura, after beautifully citing the four levels of thinking

(“Consciousness, Space, and the Foundation of New Science” 2008) points to a possibility for a

massive breakthrough, which is not present in Krishnamurti’s “choiceless awareness of what is”.

Kimura: “Through tapping into and developing a degree of mastery on the 3rd and 4th phases of

thought, it is possible that we can intentionally engender breakthrough insight and paradigm-

breaking ideas, which will open new vistas in our eternal search for ever greater knowledge and

truth. The method for that is traditionally known as meditation in which we learn to turn the light of

awareness inward towards the source of awareness. The light of awareness normally moves outward

and the source of awareness, just as the source of light, is normally hidden from awareness.

Meditation is the method and the experience of opening the eye of contemplation through which the

light of awareness shines upon itself.” [15]

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This approach of Kimura seems much closer to Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj than it is to J. Krishnamurti.

Krishnamurti deals with the observable phenomenon of the self, whereas Maharaj (whose self totally

dissolved), can only see himself, never as the self, but only as That, the Divine.

However, with his original model of the “Self/self Continuum (Awareness/consciousness Continuum -

Atma/Ahamkara Continuum)”, Kimura presents a unique synthesis of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and

Krishnamurti.

For Jiddu Krishnamurti, and for Yasuhiko Genku Kimura, who are both humanist seers, the awakening

to suffering is the most important portal that one has to arrive at (as in the case of the Buddha), before

one can transcend ordinary thought.

“We are asking if there is an activity which is not touched by thought? We are saying, there

is. And that that activity is the highest form of intelligence. To come to that(intelligence), one

has to go into the whole question of suffering, whether there is an end to suffering. And as

long as suffering and fear and the pursuit of pleasure exist, there cannot be love.” [Pg.39, [1]]

…

“We must go into something else. Because compassion is related to intelligence, there is no

intelligence without compassion. And compassion can only be, where there is love, which is

completely free from all remembrances, personal jealousies and so on.” [Pg.66, [1]]

Appendix 2:

In Nov 2018, at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Sankara Bhagavadpada, together

with four of his younger colleagues: Madhu Sai Deevanapalli (Canada), Marsha Dawn Giel (USA),

LaMor Silas (USA) and Lakshmi Kumar (Canada), engaged in a 90 minutes Panel Discussion on the

theme: “For Inter-Religious harmony & World Peace, self-Knowing is sine qua non”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oehwrmYWQvI.

In this context, following a suggestion by Yasuhiko (Nov. 2018), Sankara requested his team in

Chennai to make a pyramidal model to convey the idea of the Krishnamurtian inner revolution of self-

Knowing.

This pyramidal model is posted in the home page of Sankara’s website: https://tat-tvam-asi.org/

References and Short Notes:

[1] J. Krishnamurti and David Bohm (1983), The Future of Humanity, Krishnamurti Foundation India

(KFI), Chennai, India, first published in India in 1987, Reprinted 1993, 1997, 2003.

[2] References for Hindu spiritual notions of mula avidya (primordial ignorance) and maya (primordial

illusion, equivalent to the Christian idea of ‘original sin’). Mula means foundational, root, origin, etc.

Avidya is spiritual and perceptual ignorance, caused by the delusional power of the senses, of

thinking, of even language. It takes the form of mistaking that which is transient, to be that which is

eternal; that which is unreal to be that which is real; and that which is sorrow-begetting to be that

which is joy-begetting.

In the Hindu scripture of the Bhagavad Gita (~ 3300BCE) maya is dealt with in the slokas, VII.14, VII.27.

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (~ 3500 BCE), avidya is held to be one of the five ‘afflictions’ (kleshas).

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[3] Reference for Prajnyaparadha = Prajnya (intelligence sourced in awareness, or the Atma, or in the

Divine) + aparadha (fault in, or failure of). Meaning, that there has been a palpable failure or absence of

intelligence. The word is used in the Hindu scripture of the Upanishads, and in Ayurveda, with the

same meaning. In the Upanishads, it is declared, Prajnanam Brahma, meaning; that (Brahma) Godhead

is the seat of Supreme Intelligence and Wisdom, Prajnya, so that the two cannot be separated and

presented as two categories, or as cause (Brahma) and effect (Prajnya).

[4] Mary Lutyens (1975), Krishnamurti, The Years of Awakening, Shambala Boston, 1997; also, The Life

and Death of Krishnamurti, first published 1990, John Murray, London, published in India, by the

Krishnamurti Foundation India, Chennai, 2006; by the same author, Mary Lutyens, The Open Door.

[5] Mary Lutyens (1975), Krishnamurti, The Years of Awakening, Ibid, Pgs., 10, 11; 23-28.

[6] Mary Lutyens (1975), Ibid, Krishnamurti dissolved the world-wide organization, ‘The Order of the

Star in the East’ through his momentous talk delivered on Aug 2nd, 1929 at the Ommen Camp in

Holland. More than 3000 Star members were there, along with Mrs. Besant and thousands more of the

Dutch people were also listening on the radio.Pgs.272-279.

[7] Siegmund Brandt (2009), The Harvest of a Century, Discoveries of Modern Physics in 100 Episodes,

Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York.

[8] Siegmund Brandt (2009), Ibid, Episodes, 32 to 40 therein, covering the history of the birth of

quantum theory.

[9] P.A.M. Dirac (1958), The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, fourth Ed (Revised), Oxford At The

Clarendon Press, London, Reprinted, 1970. In the Preface, Dirac says: ‘This state of affairs is very

satisfactory from a philosophical point of view, as implying an increasing recognition of the part played by the

observer in himself introducing the regularities that appear in his observations….’

[10] J. Krishnamurti (1954), The First and Last Freedom, originally published by the Krishnamurti

Foundation of America (KFA) 1954,13th Reprint in India by KFI, Chennai,1995-2016. Pgs.65, 62, 207.

[11] J. Krishnamurti & David Bohm (1983), The Future of Humanity, Pg.59-61. First published in India,

1987, Reprinted 2003. The world teacher had developed his own special vocabulary, this was original.

But there was also a handicap for him while talking to Hindu religious traditionalists, for he did not

know what the traditional terms meant, as he was not a scholar, but an original seer, who had his

own insights.

In the pages cited, you will see Krishnamurti using the term ‘mind’, as though it were the Atma, of the

Hindu scriptures. For example, Krishnamurti says, “I think, the mind is separate from the brain.”. Then

David Bohm, raises the question: “What does separate mean? Are they in contact?” Krishnamurti replies

to this: “Separate in the sense that the brain is conditioned, and the mind is not.” Then again, Krishnamurti

says, “And the mind is free”. The italics used by Krishnamurti. So, from such conversations, it follows,

that though Krishnamurti is using ‘traditionally incorrect terms’, he is indeed pointing to the Atma.

Those paying attention, can pick this up for sure.

[12] Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1973), I AM THAT - Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, translated from

the Marathi tape-recordings by Maurice Frydman, Revised and Edited by Sudhakar S Dikshit,

Chetana Publications, Mumbai, First Ed.1973, 10th Reprint, 1993. Pg.29, therein.

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[13] David J. Kalupahana (1986), Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna-The Philosophy of the Middle Way,

Pgs. 31-37, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, New Delhi, first Indian ED, 1991.

Also, David J. Kalupahana (1992), The History of Buddhist Philosophy-Continuities and Discontinuities,

first published by the University of Hawaii Press, 1992, first Indian ED, Motilal Banarsidass

Publishers, Delhi,1994. See Ch. IV therein, Pgs. 53-60, which are devoted to Pratityasamutpada.

[14] J. Krishnamurti (1979), Meditations, originally published Shamballa Publications, Inc. Boston,

USA,1979,2002. Reprinted in India by KFI, Chennai-600 028, in 2005, 2009, 2013. Pg.9 therein.

[15] Yasuhiko Genku Kimura (2017), “Healing the Self, Healing the World” (2017); “The Art,

Technology, & Science of Homo Deus” (2019); “Consciousness, Space, and the Foundation of New

Science” (2008). All of the essays (and many more) are found on,

https://genkuworld.com/essays/ and https://www.bfutureforum.org/essays/.

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