Last Updated on September 6, 2024
Perhaps if there’s a philosopher who encourages inner debate, that would be none other than Jiddu Krishnamurti. Many modern thinkers find most of his teachings difficult to grasp. Maybe because he contradicts common beliefs, especially that from major religions as well as in new age disciplines.
You may not understand his wisdom at first: but that’s why one of his most popular teachings is that a person should ‘not seek’.
Who was Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in a small town of Madanapalle, of what is known today as Chittoor District in Andhra Pradesh. His father was Jiddu Narayaniah and his mother, Sanjeevamma. To this day, his exact date of birth is debatable. Most say it’s May 11, 1895; but others will argue that it’s between May 4 and May 25, 1896. His mother died when he was 10. As a young child, he was sickly and sensitive. So much so that others would call him ‘dim-witted, vague’ or ‘dreamy’.
Krishnamurti would be acquainted with Charles Webster Leadbeater and Theosophy when his father retired in 1909. Theosophy was popular in the U.S. in the 19th century. Founded by Helena Blavatsky, experts would refer to it as both somewhat occultist and a new religious movement. He was groomed to be a World Teacher, or medium of Lord Maitreya.
But Krishnamurti would reject Theosophy, as well as other religions of the world, in favour of his own beliefs.
What is the Jiddu Krishnamurti Philosophy
Jiddu Krishnamurti would go on to become a famous philosopher, speaker, and writer. He would author books such as: Freedom from the Known, The First and Last Freedom, Think on These Things, The Book of Life, The Awakening of Intelligence, and The Ending of Time.
Two of his well-known teachings include: ‘not to pre-judge, but merely observe’, and ‘freedom is the beginning, not the end’. Krishnamurti followed in the footsteps of Gotama, in that he discarded the teachings of the world’s religions and let experience guide him towards wisdom.
During his lifetime, he openly discussed all kinds of topics with other philosophers, teachers, mystics, psychotherapists, and even physicists. These have been made into books and other media, which you can find (and purchase) online. He spent his last days in Ojai, California before his death in February 17, 1986. He was 90 years old.
They may not be easy to comprehend at first. But with the right mindset and an openness to discover new things, you may find yourself agreeing with some of his ideas. Widen your horizons and challenge your current ways of thinking through these amazing Jiddu Krishnamurti quotes.
Amazing Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes
- “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing, and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, that is mere trade, a thing to be bought in the market; it is not love. To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something- and it is only such love that can know freedom.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Wherever he goes, you also go. He will not be alone.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Governments want efficient technicians, not human beings, because human beings become dangerous to governments – and to organized religions as well. That is why governments and religious organizations seek to control education.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end – you don’t come to an achievement, you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “You can only be afraid of what you think you know.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Do not repeat after me words that you do not understand. Do not merely put on a mask of my ideas, for it will be an illusion and you will thereby deceive yourself.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Happiness is strange; it comes when you are not seeking it. When you are not making an effort to be happy, then unexpectedly, mysteriously, happiness is there, born of purity, of a loveliness of being.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “It is only when the mind is free from the old that it meets everything anew, and in that there is joy.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Follow the wandering, the distraction, find out why the mind has wandered; pursue it, go into it fully. When the distraction is completely understood, then that particular distraction is gone. When another comes, pursue it also.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Thought is so cunning, so clever, that it distorts everything for its own convenience.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The ending of sorrow is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge is always within the shadow of ignorance. Meditation is freedom from thought and a movement in the ecstasy of truth. Meditation is explosion of intelligence.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect…The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “When you once see something as false which you have accepted as true, as natural, as human, then you can never go back to it.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Find out for yourself what are the possessions and ideals that you do not desire. By knowing what you do not want, by elimination, you will unburden the mind, and only then will it understand the essential which is ever there.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “It is love alone that leads to right action. What brings order in the world is to love and let love do what it will.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Acquiring knowledge is a form of imitation.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The following of authority is the denial of intelligence. [It] may help us temporarily to cover up our difficulties and problems; but to avoid a problem is only to intensify it, and in the process, self-knowledge and freedom are abandoned.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “All ideologies are idiotic, whether religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word, which has so unfortunately divided man.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Passion is a rather frightening thing because if you have passion you don’t know where it will take you.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The primary cause of disorder in ourselves is the seeking of reality promised by another.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “To ask the ‘right’ question is far more important than to receive the answer. The solution of a problem lies in the understanding of the problem; the answer is not outside the problem, it is in the problem.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “We are very defensive, and therefore aggressive, when we hold on to a particular belief, a dogmas, or when we worship our particular nationality, with the rag that is called the flag.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “When one loses the deep intimate relationship with nature, then temples, mosques and churches become important.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Analysis does not transform consciousness.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “You cannot reconcile creativeness with technical achievement. You may be perfect in playing the piano, and not be creative. You may be able to handle color, to put paint on canvas most cleverly, and not be a creative painter…having lost the song, we pursue the singer. We learn from the singer the technique of song, but there is no song; and I say the song is essential, the joy of singing is essential. When the joy is there, the technique can be built up from nothing; you will invent your own technique, you won’t have to study elocution or style. When you have, you see, and the very seeing of beauty is an art.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Identification with the rag called the national flag is an emotional and sentimental factor and for that factor you are willing to kill another – and that is called, the love of your country, love of the neighbor? One can see that where sentiment and emotion come in, love is not.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The significance of life is living.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The very desire to be certain, to be secure, is the beginning of bondage. It’s only when the mind is not caught in the net of certainty, and is not seeking certainty, that it is in a state of discovery.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “And the idea of ourselves is our escape from the fact of what we really are.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Intelligence is the capacity to perceive the essential, the what is; and to awaken this capacity, in oneself and in others, is education.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “But if one observes, one will see that the body has its own intelligence; it requires a great deal of intelligence to observe the intelligence of the body.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “From innumerable complexities we must grow to simplicity; we must become simple in our inward life and in our outward needs.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “The word ‘innocence’ means a mind that is incapable of being hurt.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Surely education has no meaning unless it helps you understand the vast experience of life with all its subtleties, with its extraordinary beauty, its sorrows and joys. You may earn degrees, you may have a series of letters after your name and land a good job, but then what? What is the point of it all if in the process your mind becomes dull, weary, stupid?” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Happy is the man who is nothing.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Action has meaning only in relationship, and without understanding relationship, action on any level will only breed conflict. The understanding of relationship is infinitely more important than the search for any plan of action.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “What you are the world is. And without your transformation, there can be no transformation of the world.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “There is no ideal in observation. When you have an ideal, you cease to observe, you are then merely approximating the present to the idea, and therefore there is duality, conflict, and all the rest of it. The mind has to be in the state when it can see, observe. The experience of the observation is really an astonishing state. In that there is no duality. The mind is simply – aware.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “Order cannot possibly be brought about through conformity to a pattern, under any circumstances.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “You are this, which does not satisfy, so you want to be that. If there were an understanding of this, would that come into being? Because you do not understand this, you create that, hoping through that to understand or to escape from this.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “All outward forms of change brought about by wars, revolutions, reformations, laws and ideologies have failed completely to change the basic nature of man and therefore of society.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “You must look most intimately and discover for yourself; then it is your own, not somebody else’s, not something that you have been told, because there is no teacher and no follower.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “While one is young is the time to investigate, to experiment with everything. The school should help its young people to discover their vocations and responsibilities, and not merely cram their minds with facts and technical knowledge; it should be the soil in which they can grow without fear, happily and integrally.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
