Self Knowledge Is the Beginning of Wisdom: Fourteen Public Meetings, Ojai, USA, 1949

by J. Krishnamurti

Is thought detrimental? 15 August 1965. 63 minutes. Why does one seek pleasure? Can the mind face only facts and not thought? Why have I never said, 'Thought is poison' to myself?

Meeting something one doesn't know, facing something which has no answer. Acting without knowing. What is a state of mind which is silent? Time is detrimental. Are we twisting everything to our core of pleasure?



Am I aware of the process of thinking? 18 August 1965. 60 minutes. Can I see that thought is destructive except where it is essential? Why is it that we don't see something immediately? Do you know when you are thinking? Is the thing that we call thinking thinking at all?

Do you think from the background noise when a problem arises? When the mind becomes totally aware of the background, is there thinking when a problem arises?

What happens when I am aware of this hum, this noise incessantly going on? Is the background noise different from the observer? How am I to live an everyday life with complete silence?



What will make me see that thought breeds frustration? 21 August 1965. 78 minutes. What is the function of thought? Can the mind see the fact that thought will always breed frustration? Function is necessary, but function with status, position and power must breed frustration.

Without frustration thought says to itself, 'I am not seeking. I don't want anything.' If there is no thought, what happens? The very perception of the limitation of thought is the act of opening the door rather than thought opening the door.

To function without prestige, without frustration, that itself is an extraordinary state, meaning to function without self-centred activity.



From where do attachment and detachment come? 24 August 1965. 65 minutes. What is the relationship of the brain to the totality of the mind? Fear of not being, fear of isolation, fear of not having pleasure, fear of having no relationship, is the soil from which the stem of contradiction grows.

I want to be free of this stem to see what happens if there is no attachment, no detachment, because I am not afraid. Is there a peace with no entity saying, 'I am peaceful'?



A complete stillness. 25 August 1965. 65 minutes.

Is there a single movement that will completely transform my whole way of life? The passion is there, but the perfume doesn't take place. What am I to do? Am I in a position of a man who for the first time is walking on a road by himself and discovering?

Does one know what complete stillness means? It is only from a very still mind that a mutation takes place. Is there an ending to thought, therefore an ending to time? If I have no thought and therefore no time, and so no wasting of energy, there is no movement; therefore there is complete stillness.

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Published March 2, 2016

About the author

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born on 11 May 1895 in Madanapalle, a small town in south India. He and his brother were adopted in their youth by Dr Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society. Dr Besant and others proclaimed that Krishnamurti was to be a 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.

From then, for nearly sixty years until his death on 17 February 1986, he travelled throughout the world talking to large audiences and to individuals about the need for a radical change in humankind.

Krishnamurti is regarded globally as one of the greatest thinkers and religious teachers of all time. He did not expound any philosophy or religion, but rather talked of the things that concern all of us in our everyday lives, of the problems of living in modern society with its violence and corruption, of the individual's search for security and happiness, and the need for humankind to free itself from inner burdens of fear, anger, hurt, and sorrow. He explained with great precision the subtle workings of the human mind, and pointed to the need for bringing to our daily life a deeply meditative and spiritual quality.

Krishnamurti belonged to no religious organization, sect or country, nor did he subscribe to any school of political or ideological thought. On the contrary, he maintained that these are the very factors that divide human beings and bring about conflict and war. He reminded his listeners again and again that we are all human beings first and not Hindus, Muslims or Christians, that we are like the rest of humanity and are not different from one another. He asked that we tread lightly on this earth without destroying ourselves or the environment. He communicated to his listeners a deep sense of respect for nature. His teachings transcend belief systems, nationalistic sentiment and sectarianism. At the same time, they give new meaning and direction to humankind's search for truth. His teaching, besides being relevant to the modern age, is timeless and universal.

Krishnamurti spoke not as a guru but as a friend, and his talks and discussions are based not on tradition-based knowledge but on his own insights into the human mind and his vision of the sacred, so he always communicates a sense of freshness and directness although the essence of his message remained unchanged over the years. When he addressed large audiences, people felt that Krishnamurti was talking to each of them personally, addressing his or her particular problem. In his private interviews, he was a compassionate teacher, listening attentively to the man or woman who came to him in sorrow, and encouraging them to heal themselves through their own understanding. Religious scholars found that his words threw new light on traditional concepts. Krishnamurti took on the challenge of modern scientists and psychologists and went with them step by step, discussed their theories and sometimes enabled them to discern the limitations of those theories. Krishnamurti left a large body of literature in the form of public talks, writings, discussions with teachers and students, with scientists and religious figures, conversations with individuals, television and radio interviews, and letters. Many of these have been published as books, and audio and video recordings.

This author also writes under: Jiddu Krishnamurti