Awakening of Intelligence (J. Krishnamurti Book 1)

by J. Krishnamurti

Now what is the nature of not knowing? Is there fear when there is a state of not knowing?—which is death. You follow, Sirs? When the old brain actually says, “I don’t know”, it has relinquished all knowing. It has relinquished altogether the intention of knowing, of wanting to know. So there is a field in which the old brain cannot function, because it does not know. Now what is that field? Can it ever be described? It can be described only when the old brain recognises and verbalises it to communicate. So there is a field in which the old brain cannot possibly enter; this is not an invention, this is not a theory, this is a fact when the old brain says, “I really don’t know anything about this.” Which means there is no intention to- learn about the new. You see the difference, Sirs? So now I want to find out non-verbally, because the moment I use a word I am back in the old. Therefore is there an understanding of something new non-verbally?—in the sense of not inventing a new word, or intending to describe it so as to capture it and hold it. So I am just enquiring, the mind is looking at something which it does not know at all. Is that possible? It has always looked in terms of learning about it, resisting it, avoiding it, escaping from it, or overcoming it. Now it is doing nothing of the kind. Do you understand? If this is not possible you cannot understand the other.