KRISHNAMURTHY FOUNDATION INDIA DVD

“ The Brain is Always Recording”

Jiddu Krishnamurthy( 1895-1986)

Introduction
A BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
Jiddu Krishnamurthy‘s family migrated from Telugu Desam and settled in Madanapalli in
TamilNadu, His father‘s frequent transfers interrupted his schooling. He did not like book learning
and the school atmosphere, but was a keen observer.

About his school he wrote in his memoir ―”I cannot say I was particularly happy at school,
for the teachers were not very kind and gave me lessons that were too hard for me.” He made
three unsuccessful attempts to pass matriculations.

At the age of 15, Krishnamurthy accompanied Miss Annie Besant to England in 1911. Like his
father he also became a member of the Theosophical Society. In 1912, he wrote a book
entitled ‘Education as Service’ in which he described the life of an ideal school where love
rules and inspires, where the students grow in to nobleadolescents under the fostering care
of teachers who feel the greatness of their vocation.

Concept Presentation:

Krishnamurthy’s Philiosophy of Life

Krishnamurthy claimed no authority or religions. His message to humanity was ―First

understand the purpose of our existence, the purpose of our life, and understand what we were
thriving for. Then utilize everything, to strengthen us.

To find out what you really love to do is one of the most difficult things. That is part of
education. (Krishnamurthy 1974) (Part 1, Chapter 8)

Krishnamurthy described the relationship between ‘being’ and ‘doing’ frequently. It is not
‘doing is being’ but‘being is doing’.
 Krishnamurthy described the K School (students) Discussion 2 Rishi Valley, India
December 18, 1984 that “The Brain is Always Recording” – The brain have been trained
to record for in that recording there is safety, security, a sense of vitality; in that
recording the mind creates the image about oneself.

FREEDOM : Freedom is at the beginning, it is not something to be gained at the end.

MIND YOUR MIND: He observed that it is necessary to encourage the development of a

good mind that is capableof dealing with many issues of life holistically, instead of trying to
run away from them. For this, one should be well aware of one‘s own conditioning, motives
and purpose of life. Thus knowledge is essential only as a means of cultivating the mind and
not an end in itself.

Krishnamurthy believed in the totality of perception. Generally, we see things in fragments, we

function as anationalist, as an individualist, we fail to see the mankind as a whole.

The Concept of Self: The self is made up of a series of defensive and expansive reactions.
Experience cannot be free from conflicts, confusion and pain as long as we translate
experience in terms of theself, the ego i.e. me, mine and I and try to maintain itself
through its reactions.

Freedom comes only when one understands the ways of the self, - the experience.

Any partial development of our temperament is bound to be disastrous both for ourselves and
for the society.Hence it is very important that we approach our problems with an integrated
point of view.

Jiddu Krishnamurthy’s Philosophy can be summed up in two F’s i.e Freedom of

Mind and Fearlessness

Aims of Education: For Krishnamurthy education is:

(i) Educating the whole person.

(ii) Educating the person as a whole (not as an assemblage of parts).

(iii) Educating the person within a whole. (as part of society, humanity, nature, etc.).

For him education is about preparation for the whole life and not preparation for part of life
(like work).

For Jiddu Krishnamurthy, the intentions of education must be the inner transformation and
liberation of thehuman being and, from that, society would be transformed.

“Right education is to help you to find out for yourself what you really, with all your heart,
loves to do. It does not matter what it is, whether it is to cook, or to be a gardener, but is
something in which you have put your mind, your heart.” (Krishnamurthy 1974)
(Part 1, Chapter 8)

Shortcomings of the Prevailing System of Education:

Krishnamurthy observed the following shortcomings of the Indian education.

The conventional education:

1) Makes independent thinking extremely difficult.

2) Strangulates spontaneity.
3) Leads to dull and lackluster mind.
4) Develops fear in the mind to deviate from established standards even if they are
legitimate.
5) Fails to enable us to understand the higher and wider significance of life.
6) Fails to integrate thoughts and feelings.
7) Is lopsided and doesn‘t provide overall growth of the individual.
8) Trains us only to seek personal gains and security and fight for ourselves.
9) Considers examinations and degrees as criteria for intelligence.
10) Merely train the mind to be cunning and avoid vital human issues.
11) Helps in making us subservient, mechanical and thoughtless.
12) Though it awakens intellectually, leaves us incompetent and uncreative.
Function of Education: Integral education and creation of Integrated Individual:

Integral education enables a learner for the following characters:

1. Development of capacities to face the challenges:

If the individual is to grapple with life‘s problems, intricacies, mysteries, and sudden demands,
he must be freefrom theories and particular patterns of thoughts.
2. Development of self knowledge:

To Krishnamurthy the individual is of first importance; not the system. Understanding comes only
through selfknowledge which is awareness of one‘s total psychological process. Education in
the true sense is the understanding of oneself for it is within each one of us that the whole of
existence is gathered.

3. Helping to have integrated experience:

Krishnamurthy says ―the right kind of education which encourages the language of technique
should help manto experience the integral process of life which is of greater importance. It is
this experiencing that will put capacity and technique in their right place‖.

4. Freedom from readymade ideals:

The ideals have no place in education for they prevent the comprehension of the present and
escaping into the future cannot make one aware of what is to be after an idea indicates
sluggishness of mind and a desire to avoidthe present. What we need is not an idealistic entity
or mechanical minds but integrated human beings who are intelligent and free.

5. Development of free and mature human beings:

The right kind of education is free from ideology and conditioning. The conditioning of the
child‘s mind to fit aparticular ideology whether political or religious breed‘s enmity between
man and man will not help to bring about brotherhood and change in the society. The Indian
scenario gives ample examples of lack of brotherhoodunderstanding and resistance.

6. Re-Education:

Right education comes with transformation of ourselves. We must learn to be compassionate,

to be content withlittle and to seek the supreme for, only then can there be the true salvation
of mankind.

7. Development of Right Understanding of Environment.

There are several entities in environment, all revolving round the ‘me’, the “self”. The self is
made of these entities, which are merely desires in various forms. From this conglomeration
of desires arises the central figure,the thinker, the will of the ‘me’ and the ‘mine’. A division is
thus established between the ‘self’ and the “non- self”, between the “me’ and the
environment i.e. the society. This separation is the beginning of conflict, inward and outward.

8. Development of Wisdom and not Acquiring Knowledge:

Education includes knowledge and the way of action. We are holding a branch; assume it is
the whole tree. Through the knowledge of the past, we can never realize the joy of the
whole. Intellect alone can never give aholistic view because it is only a segment of the
whole.

9. Development of Attitude of Love towards Others:

Only true love and right thinking will bring about revolution within oneself. What can be
done is to keepourselves free from hatred, greed, exploitation envy and ego.
10. Development of Right Relationship:

Education should help an individual to cultivate right relationship between individuals and
society and this ispossible only if he understands his own psychological process.

11. Development of freedom and integration.

To educate a child is to help him to understand freedom and integration. To have freedom,
there must be orderand order is achieved only through virtue. Integration is achieved
through simplicity- simplicity in both our inward life and outward needs.

12. Development of creative intelligence.

The spirit of constant inquiry and the feeling of discomfort in the existing system can bring
forth creative intelligence. Most people do not want their children to have this kind of
intelligence, the reason being the uncomfortability they have to face when the
established values are questioned.

13. Development of International understanding.

We normally dodge this point and instead of owning up the responsibility, put the
government, religious andideologies responsible. Until we change ourselves fundamentally,
there can neither be right education nor a peaceful world.

14. Freedom from ideology.

Jiddu Krishnamurthy, says conditioning of the child‘s mind to fit a particular ideology, weather
political orreligious breed‘s enmity between man and man. In a competitive society, we
cannot have brotherhood.

15.Freedom and discipline. Only the right kind of education offers freedom that love and
goodness. Here, discipline becomes a substitute for love. Freedom can never be achieved through
discipline. Freedom is not a goal or an end to be achieved. Freedom is at the beginning and not at
the end. A sincere teacher will protect and help the children towards the right kind of freedom.

16. Rewards and punishments.

Reward and punishment in any form only make the mind subservient and dull. Discipline
may be an effective way to control a child, but it doesn‘t help him to understand the
problems in living.
 17. Spiritual Training and not Religious Education.

Religious education in the true sense is to encourage the child to understand his own
relationship to people, Things and to nature. There is no existence without relationships. There
is hope for a better world only if the youth have the spirit of inquiry and the urge to search
out the truth of all things.

Methods of Teaching According To Krishnamurthy:

• We should not teach the students “what to think” and “how to think”.
• The student should be treated as an equal partner.
• Problem solving and explorative methods should be encouraged.

Role of the Teacher

1. Understanding of the child not Thrusting Teacher’s idea ―The right kind of
education consists in understanding the child as he is without imposing up on him an ideal of what
we think he should be. Ideals are anactual hindrance to our understanding of the child and to
the child‘s own understanding of himself.

2. Keen observer: The best way for a teacher to understand a child is to observe him at play,
work, and at different moods. The ideal teacher will desist from molding him to fit his
idiosyncrasies, prejudices and ideas which gratify h himself.

3. Integrated Educator: If a lamp doesn‘t burn itself, it cannot light other lamps. If the
teacher himself / herselfis not an integrated personality, we cannot expect him to help the
children become integrated personalities.
Krishnamurthy’s Contribution To Education: He established nearly a dozen co-educational
schools in India andabroad to translate his ideas into practice. Ten percent of the seats in these
institutions were reserved for non- paying pupils. He used to visit them every year for discussion
with the students and teachers. His emphasis on thedevelopment of an integrated personality
through integral approach to education is highly commended by almost all thinkers.

Educational Implication:

1) J. Krishnamurthy to spell out his aims for education, by articulating three central aims:
✓ Cultivation of a global outlook
✓ Concern for human beings and the natural environment
✓ Inquiry into all dimensions of human life

2) As part of it one should understand one‘s purpose of life and use everything to achieve it.
Knowing what one“loves” to do is part of education. He says it is not “doing is being”, but
“being is doing”.
3) The purpose of education and the role of schools in human societies have been seen through
various metaphorical lenses. Schools have been viewed as moulds for the reproduction of
traditions and social norms, oras a means of transmission of culture. They have also been
seen as an arena for nation-building, or as opportunities for development and progress (of the
individual and the collective). In recent decades schools are increasingly being seen as service
providers that cater to changing job-markets of a globalized economy.

4) He identified the shortcomings of the present education system and suggested integrated
education, integratedlearning and integrated man as a solution. The central concern of
education is to do with inner liberation.

5) Both the students and the teachers are learners and therefore equal.

6) Teacher shouldn‘t be a giver of knowledge but should show the way to wisdom and truth.
Truth is more important than the teacher himself. The search for the truth is religion. Without
the search for truth the society will gradually decay. To create a new society each one of us
has to be a teacher. A good teacher must possess self
- self-control of mind, control on action, quality tolerance, confidence and cheerfulness.

The True Teacher

A True teacher must possess a good conduct. Six points of good Conduct which are specially
required by ateacher are given by the Master. They are:

Self controlas
to the mind

Self control
Cheerfulness
in action

TRUE
TEACHER
Confidence Tolerance

One -
Pointed
action

Self Reflection:

Each child is a unique creation and allows each child to grow according to his ability and
leanings.

We send our children to school to learn some technique by which they can eventually earn a
livelihood. We wantto make the child first and foremost a specialist, hoping thus to give him a
secure economic position. But does thecultivation of a technique enable him/her to understand
themselves. Thus, J Krishnamurthy emphasis on the concept of freedom of mind, self and
fearlessness so the child can know himself/herself interest and make those interest their
livelihood.

Present-day education is a complete failure because it has overemphasized technique. In

overemphasizing technique we destroy man. To cultivate capacity and efficiency without
understanding life, without having a comprehensive perception of the ways of thought and desire,
will only make us increasingly ruthless, which is to engender wars and jeopardize our physical
security. The exclusive cultivation of technique has produced scientists, mathematicians, bridge
builders, space conquerors; but they don’t understand the total process of life.

Technological progress does solve certain kinds of problems for some people at one level, but
not the wider and deeper issues of life. To live at one level, disregarding the total process of life
is to invite misery and destruction. The greatest need and most pressing problem for every
individual are to have an integrated comprehension of life, which will enable him to meet its
ever-increasing complexities.

References:
Education As Service. Krishnamurthy Jiddu (1912) Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing
Society. https://jkrishnamurthy.org
Education and the significance of life J. Krishnamurthy, Chapter -2 “Right kind of education”Life Ahead on

learning and search for meaning by J.Krishnamurthy http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/index.php

https://www.magnetschool.edu.in/jk-right-education/