Awakening of Intelligence (J. Krishnamurti Book 1)

by J. Krishnamurti

The “me” identifies itself with a certain prejudice, the “me” says “I must fulfil”; and when it feels frustrated, there is anger and bitterness. It is the “me” that says, “I must reach my goal, I must be successful”, that wants and doesn’t want, that says “I must live peacefully”, and it is the “me” that gets violent.

KRISHNAMURTI: No, it isn’t. It does not mean it is something solid, like the trunk of a tree. It is a movement, it is a living thing. One day it feels marvellous, the next day it is in great depression. One day it is passionate, lustful, the next day it is worn out and says, “Let me have some peace.” It is a constantly moving, active thing. How is this movement to transform itself into another movement, without becoming violent? First, let us get the question right. We said: this is a movement, it is a living thing, it is not static, it is not something dead, it is adding to itself all the time, and taking away from itself all the time. This is the “me”. And when the “me” says, “I must get rid of the ‘me’,” wanting to have another “me”, it is still violent; the “me” that says: “I am a pacifist, I live peacefully”, the me that seeks truth, the me that says “I must live beautifully, non-violently”, is still the “me” which is the cause of violence. What will the mind do with this living thing? And the mind itself is the “me”. Do you understand the question? Any movement on the part of the “me” to get rid of itself, to say “I must wither away”, “I must destroy myself”, “I must gradually get rid of myself”, is still that same movement of the “me”, is still the “me” which is the root of violence. Do we realise that? Do we really see that? Not theoretically, but actually realise the truth of it, that any movement of the “me” in any direction, is the action of violence. Do I actua...

KRISHNAMURTI: Thought must have security; it is seeking security in all its movement. Bohm: Yes. KRISHNAMURTI: But intelligence is not seeking security. It has no security. The idea of security doesn’t exist in intelligence. Intelligence itself is secure, not, “It seeks security.”

Bohm: That is very clear. Intelligence sees the falseness of what is going on. When thought is free of this falseness it is different. Then it begins to be a parallel to intelligence.

Bohm: That is very interesting because thought is never actually controlled or dominated by intelligence, thought always moves on its own. But in the light of intelligence, when the falseness is seen, then thought moves parallel or in harmony with intelligence.

KRISHNAMURTI: Thought, matter, the mechanical, is energy. Intelligence is also energy. Thought is confused, polluted, dividing itself, fragmenting itself. Bohm: Yes, it is multiple. KRISHNAMURTI: And the other is not. It is not polluted. It cannot divide itself as “my intelligence” and “your intelligence”. It is intelligence, it is not divisible. Now it has sprung from a source of energy which has divided itself.

KRISHNAMURTI: Yes. I was thinking about this yesterday—not thinking—I realised the source is there, uncontaminated, non-movement, untouched by thought, it is there. From that these two are born.

KRISHNAMURTI: I am sure, Sir, really serious people have asked this question. They have asked it and tried to find an answer through thought. Bohm: Yes, well it seems natural. KRISHNAMURTI: And they never saw that they were caught in thought.

Bohm: To reach the unconscious you have to have an action which doesn’t directly appeal to the conscious. KRISHNAMURTI: Yes. That is affection, that is love. When you talk to my waking consciousness, it is hard, clever, subtle, brittle. And you penetrate that, penetrate it with your look, with your affection, with all the feeling you have. That operates, not anything else.