Total Freedom: The Essential Krishnamurti

by J. Krishnamurti

Is sorrow merely an intellectual affair to be rationalized, explained away? Or can one live with it without any desire for comfort? That is, to live with sorrow, not escape from it, not rationalize it, not find some exclusive comfort, some religious or illusory romantic escape, but to live with something that has tremendous significance. Sorrow is not only a physical shock; when one loses one’s son or husband, wife or girl, that is a tremendous biological shock; one is almost paralyzed with it. Can we look at sorrow as it actually is in us, and remain with it, hold it, and not move away from it? Sorrow is not different from the one who suffers. The person who suffers wants to run away, escape, do all kinds of things. But to look at it as you look at a beautiful child, to hold it, never escape from it, then you will see for yourself, if you really look deeply, that there is an end to sorrow. And when there is an end to sorrow, there is passion. Not lust, not sensory stimulation, but passion. Very few have this passion, because we are so consumed with our own griefs, with our own pains, with our own pity and vanity. We have tremendous energy, but we dissipate it by conflict, through fear, through endless chattering about nothing. And passion has tremendous energy. That passion is not stimulated. It doesn’t seek stimulation; it is there, like a burning fire. It only comes when there is the end of sorrow. When you have the ending of this sorrow, it is not personal, because you...