JIDDU KRI“HNAMURTHI’“ PER“PECTIVE ON EDUCATION AND ITS CONTEMPORARY

RELEVANCE
DR. INDUKURI JOHN MOHAN RAZU
PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL ETHICS
RESOURCE PERSON (HON) FOR THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMME
ACTS ACADEMY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, KORAMANGALA, BANGALORE

INTRODUCTION
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) a composite scholar and a complete persona whose quest
stretches beyond the narrow divide of disciplines and fields of study. He consciously made
attempts to fuse diverse disciplines/areas of study into one integrated whole. His exploration
covers a number of fields of study such as philosophy, education, social sciences, religion and
other areas as well. In this sense, we cannot put Jiddu Krishnamurth into a particular slot by
stating and claiming that this is the field he belongs to by drawing a straight line or prescribing a
straight jacketed approach. On the other, he falls along with a different category of scholars
who viewed and strived for an integral approach. He, in particular, delved into the depths of
human personality, in particular, human mind and thought by unraveling its intricacies and
complexities. To know him fully and completely one should go all out by entering into his works
engaging in conversation with him, so that we would understand him comprehensively at least
to get a grasp of what he is saying and arguing about.

Krishnamurti culls every thing from his life experience and does not belong to any school of
thought. His is the e oi e of life itself, u di ided ithi itself, flo i g ete all . 1 He being
a versatile organic scholar who cannot be compressed or compartmentalized within a limited
time and space, because the way in which he viewed at humanity, the problems that confronts
them, the way they were addressed and responded are indicative of the veracity of know-how
he is endowed with. His reasoning and inquiring capacity covers a whole body of systems with
which Krishnamurti interacted and explored with.

So, this paper aims at: First, to probe into the basic premises and grapples with Jiddu
K ish a u ti s postulates on diverse fields through which he develops and connects his
perspective on education. In order to deliberate on that I will be drawing inferences from
others and their perceptions of Jiddu Krishnamurti by interfacing, so that a comprehensive view
will be arrived at. Second, to delve into some pertinent areas that Jiddu Krishnamurti weaved
as integrated education. Third, to ponder over, whether his philosophy and perspective on
education would be of any value or useful or relevant to our contemporary settings or not?
1

Let me start with one of the most fascinating explication Krishnamurti makes while responding
to a uestio that Tea h the hild f om the very beginning that its goal is happiness and

‘o e t Po ell, A App oa h to K ish a u ti , i Luis “.‘. Vas ed. , The Mind of J. Krishnamurti, Bangalore: Jaico
1

Publishing House, 1971, p. 32.

1
freedom, and that the manner of attainment is through the harmony of all the bodies—mind,
e otio a d the ph si al od . 2 What does he mean by that? The statement he utters could
be perceived and understood in many ways. But, he is clear and concise in his understanding.
What to K ish a u ti hi self, is a li i g u it , i ediatel app ehe ded a d fusi g all the
teachings into an organic whole, has now to be displayed as an intellectual interdependence. In
a word, what is needed just that framework of order and system, with which he, being what he
is, a dispe se. 3 In conjunction that statement, I him I find a synthesis, which, like every
true synthesis, is essentially different from the two poles of the opposition: Western-Eastern;
philosophical-psychological, mystical-mental; social-individual; masculine-feminine. His word is
paradoxical, because it belongs to a state of being which does not yet exist and which our
la guage a ot e p ess. 4 He being an organic persona enters into the depths of different
dimensions that a human being engages and struggles to find meaning in life.

What he is saying by that is we do not have sufficient words and language to express all that we
undergo. Often we are caught up in a state of loss of words and thus enter into negation.
Hence, Krishnamurti tries to show to us that negation is good. For example, let us assume that
we have negated desire despite the fact that there is a place for desire. Therefore through
negation positive is arisen. What we normally do is by positing the positive we get into all sorts
of problems leading to the negative. He urges us to begin with doubt or employing theory of
suspicion. By employing total doubt would eventually lead to stopping or ending up certainty.
While on the other, if we begin with doubt and dwell in complete uncertainty, then there is all
the possibility of ending with certainty leading to avoidance of uncertainty and chaos. So, in
negation the positive is born. How does that happen?

According to Krishnamurti one cannot go through reality to come to truth because there are
limitations in the realms of reality, which itself is the whole process of thought. For example,

What we must all be very concerned with what is going on in the world. The disintegration, the
violence, the brutality, the wars and the dishonesty in high political places. In the face of this
disintegration what is correct action? What is one to do to survive freedom and be totally
religious? We are using the o d eligious a d ot i the o thodo sense, which is not
religious. The meaning of that word is: gathering together all energy to find out what is the
place of thought and where are its limitations and to go beyond it. That is the true significance
a d the ea i g of that o ld eligious . “o hat is o e to do i this disi teg ati g, o upt,
immoral world, as a human being—not an individual, because there is no such thing as the
individual, we are the result of various collective influences, forces, conditioning and so on.5

Leopold “toko ski, The Wo ld To o o , i I id, p. .

2

3
E.A. Wodehouse, Ma , Natu e, ‘ealit i the tea hi gs of K ish a u ti , i I id, p. .
4
H.V. Metho st, What K ish a has ea t to Me , i I id, p. 55.
5
J. Krishnamurti, Truth and Actuality, Chennai: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd, 1977, p. 55.

2
Irrespective of the country to which we belong, all the countries are going through terrible
times. We are all concerned as to what can be done and how to intervene, and what is right,
and right action? And, how do we discern whether our action is right? So, we are caught up
with dilemmas wondering how to go about. Is the e a a tio that is total, hole, ot
fragmented, that is both correct and accurate, that is compassionate, religious in the sense we
are using the word?6 It has nothing to do with religious belief, dogma, ritual, political system,
ideolog , do t i e a d host of othe s. “o, To fi d a a s e , ot i agi a , fi tious o
pretended, to find the true, the right answer one must enquire into the whole movement of
thought. Because all our conditioning, all our activity, all our political, economic, social, moral
and religious life is based on thought. Thought has been our chief instrument in all the fields of
life, in the areas, religious, moral, political, economic, so ial, a d i pe so al elatio ships. 7

Krishnamurti has in fact states that action that is whole, and not fragmentary which is not
caught up in the movement of time and space, nor traditional mode, is therefore, not
mechanical. For him, we do actually realize freedom when we move away or move beyond
from anxiety, pain and pathos, constant battle and suffering, shame and humiliation in a world
of conflicts, oppression, exploitation, injustices and tyranny. For all these, according to him is
the thought that has created these distinctions and binaries in us. This leads us to become
increasingly primitive, vulgar, cruel, brutal, selfish and violent with a thought process of
controlling the environment. Hence,

Can thought, which is a material, a chemical process, a thing, which has created all this
structure, can that very thought solve our problems? One must very carefully, diligently, find
out what are the limitations of thought … Thought has eated the te h ologi al o ld, a d
thought has also created the di isio et ee ou a d e . Thought has eated the i age
of ou a d the e a d these i ages sepa ate ea h o e of us. Thought a o l fu tio i
duality, in opposites, and therefore all reaction is a divisive process, a separative process. And
thought has created division between human beings, nationalities, religious beliefs, dogmas,
political differences, opinions, conclusions, all that is the result of thought. Thought has also
created the division between you and me as form and name; and thought has created the
e t e hi h is the e as opposed to ou, a d the efo e the e is a di isio et ee ou a d
me. Thought has created this whole structure of social behavior, which is essentially based on
tradition, which is mechanical. Thought has also created the religious world, the Christian, the
Buddhist, the Hindu, the Muslim. With all the divisions, all the practices, all the innumerable
gurus that are springing up like mushrooms. And thought has created what it considers is love.
Is compassio the esult of lo e , the esult of thought? That is ou p o le , those a e all ou
p o le s. 8

6
J. Krishnamurti, Truth and Actuality, Ibid, p. 55.
7
Ibid, p. 56.
8
Ibid, p. 59.

3
For Krishnamurti thought is always limited. Even while talking about scientific knowledge we
keep adding up or accumulating domains of knowledge which is limited. No one could ever say
that knowledge is complete because it always goes with a shadow of ignorance. Krishnamurti
considers knowledge is of the past. So for him any thought born of knowledge must inevitably
be fragmentary, limited and finite. Thought could also invent something immeasurable, going
beyond, and infinite, but still considered as movement of thought. The notion of god could also
be a human invention because many feel safe and secured and also a necessity. So,god is a
product of thought which is limited. Whoever it may be either a philosopher or a scientist or a
theologian thought is always bound by certain limitations, inadequacies, and human frailties.
We see our limitedness in our thought process in politics, religions, and between human beings.
In our efforts to solving problems we have been multiplying the problems by entering into wars,
o fli ts, a d all so ts of e il desig s. He e, Thought is a ate ial p o ess e ause it is held i
the e ai ells the sel es … Whe thought creates god, it is still a material process.
Thought is ot sa ed … the e a ask, is the e a e i st u e t? – not higher consciousness
o lo e o s ious ess, that is a othe i e tio of thought. 9

Our thoughts are narrow, fragmented, and finite, insulated with our weaknesses, biases, and
prejudices. Apparently, all these create religious, ethnic, national, economic, doctrinal and
social fragmentation. Is it possible to go beyond these fragmentations and divisiveness? The
brain is endowed with extraordinary capacity to innovate and explore many things that goes
beyond our comprehensions as we look around the technological world that we are living.
However, what we have done is we have progressed just in one direction only by highly
compartmentalizing vis-à-vis the doctor, the surgeon, the mathematician, the computer expert,
and so on.10 All these have further escalated and furthered our problems. So, there is a need
for a new instrument which is neither tampered by thought nor the result of time nor caught in
the p o ess of e olutio i.e. thought. K ish a u ti a didl states that You ha e to ha e a
i d that is eall glo al, ot a pett little i d o e ed ith o e s little p o le s. I the
greater, the lesser disappears. In the greater humanity, the few little human problems dissolve.
Without understanding the vast complexity of the human brain and mind and heart, you will
never solve any problem. 11
II

In his own way Jiddu Krishnamurti enters into a discourse with Dr. Anderson on responsibility
and responsible action. He makes a clear distinction between responsible for and being
responsible. Being responsible for implies direction, a directed will. But, the feeling of
responsibility implies the responsibility for everything, and not just a particular area such as
education, politics, environment and host of others. Your responsibility covers all the areas that
demands action. This means the feeling of responsibility or responsible self expresses itself in

9
J. Krishnamurti, Mind without Measure, Chennai: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd, 1984, pp. 44-45.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.

4
politics, religion, education, business and the whole of life that determines a wider life and total
behavior. In this, one is responsible for his/her action in accordance to the idea that pre-
supposes action. Krishnamurti illustrates this point in comprehensive manner. For example,

If you feel totally responsible you are responsible from the moment it is born until the moment
it dies. The right kind of education, not education to make the child conform, the worship of
success, and the division of nationalities which brings about war. You follow, you are
responsible for all that, not just in a particular direction. Even if you are responsible in a
pa ti ula di e tio , a d a sa : I espo si le fo a tio , what is your action based on?
How can you be responsible, when you, your action is the result of a formula that has been
handed down to you?12

The above quotation clearly shows the parental responsibility towards their children right from
birth to death; the type of education they are going to get; and what would they eventually
become in a society they live in. Jiddu Krishnamurti raises a set of questions that are
comprehensive in nature and vital to our contemporary settings. He furthers goes deep by
raising a series of questions that unpacks many assumptions and pre-suppositions:

… What is the ea i g of this edu atio that people e ei e? Appa e tl the do t

u de sta d a thi g a out life, the do t u de sta d fea , pleasu e, … Is it that e ha e
become so utterly materialistic that we are concerned only with good jobs, money, pleasure
and superficial entertainment, whether it be of a religious nature or football? Is it that our
whole nature and structure has become so utterly meaningless? And when we are educated in
that a , to sudde l fa e so ethi g eal is te if i g. … e a e ot edu ated to look at
ourselves, we are not educated to understand the whole business of living, we are not
educated to look and see what happens if we face death. Religion has become not only a
divisive process but also utterly meaningless. After maybe 2,000 years of Christianity or 5,000,
3,000 years of Hinduism or Buddhism and so on, it has lost its substance. And we never inquire
into what religion is, what education is, what living is, what dying is, the whole business of it.
We never ask: what is it all about? And when we do ask we say, well, life has very little
meaning; and it has very little meaning as we live it, and so we escape into all kinds of
fantastic, romantic nonse se, hi h e a t dis uss o logi all i ui e i to, but which is mere
escape from this utter emptiness of the life that one leads.13

His critique on the rise and development of human civilization, culture, the purpose and
meaning of life points out the travesty and trivialities, rather than freedom and creativity. He
raises a pertinent question: what have we gained and achieved after having successfully
conquered nature and having complete dominion over it? We have destroyed it and adding all
sorts of pollution. In the name of democracy, freedom, and basic rights a nation or a group of
nations goes to war against another nation; ethnic, caste, and class conflicts that are unleashed
against humanity. Humans have evolved institutions and organizations assuming that they

12
J. Jrishnamurti, A Wholly Different Way of Living, Chennai: Krishnamurti Foundation India, 2000, p. 55.
13
Ibid, pp. 209-210.

5
would govern judiciously with equity and justice. But they all repeat the same by oppressing
a d e ploiti g the people. He e, The histo of a i ludes its ultu e; it is the sto of the
human being who has gone through all kinds of suffering, through various diseases, through
wars, through religious beliefs and dogmas, persecution, inquisition, torture in the name of
god, i the a e of pea e, i the a es of ideals. 14

He is o e o e ed a out all these happe i gs. A d ho is all that to be taught to the

young? It is the story of mankind, the story of human beings, then both the educators and the
young are the human beings; it is their story, not merely the story of kings and wars, it is the
story of themselves. How can the educator help the student to understand the story of himself,
hi h is the sto of the past, of hi h he is the esult? That is the p o le . 15 Jiddu
Krishnamurti by posing these questions he is entering into the root of the problem by pointing
to the educators that how are we helping the students to help the whole nature and the
structure of oneself i.e., herself or himself being the whole of humanity. Further, the brain cells
that has evolved as a result of many million years embedded with violence, competition, the
aggressiveness, the brutality, the cruelty, the fear, the pleasure and occasional joy and that
slight ray of love. As pedagogues, how are we going to enable the students to understand the
intricacies and complexities of life? All these according to Krishnamurti pre-suppose that the
educators must understand about them first so that they would enable the students to
understand themselves.

This p o ess i ol es oth the tea he s a d stude ts. It is ot the tea he o the edu ato
must first understand himself and then teach – that would take the rest of his life, perhaps –
but that in the relationship between the educator and the person to be educated, there is a
elatio ship of utual i estigatio . 16 For him the conventional education has instilled values
that are-- money, position, prestige, and power. The society wants you to fit into this pattern of
values which it has created and revolves around. On the contrary, education should make us to
think, to observe, to learn, not from books, but by watching, listening to everything around, so
that we would grow as different human beings with affection by caring and loving others. This
would certainly make us to be different from others, and certainly in that we do find a truly
religious life. These dimensions would make our students to have different perceptions about
nature viz., tress, birds, the sun, the moon, sky, colors on the leaves, beauty of the land, the rich
earth and so on. In the absence of these, we tend to ravage and plunder the mother Earth with
brute force, violence, and ugliness to satiate our greed and avarice.

Again and again the basic question that revolves around is: What is the point of being
educated? Is it for the sake of passing examinations and getting degrees? Or, to get married,
get a job, and settle down in life like many others do? Is that the purpose of education or

14
J. Krishnamurti, Questions and Answers, Hampshire: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd, 1982, p. 12.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid, p. 13.

6
something else? The whole world is asking this question, which for him is serious and a starting
point of his inquiry. What then is education? According to Krishnamurti,

Hu a ei g th oughout the o ld … a e ei g edu ated to o fo , to fit i to so iet and

into their culture, to fit into the stream of social and economic activity; to be sucked into the
stream of social and economic activity; to be sucked into the vast stream that has been flowing
fo thousa ds of ea s … Ca edu atio see to it that the hu a i d is ot d a i to that
vast stream and so destroyed; see that with such a mind, you can be an entirely different
human being with a different quality to life.17

Krishnamurti clearly distinguishes between the traditional mode of education that wants us to
be part of the main stream or some one who thinks differently and acts differently. In the
traditional mode, our parents thought as per the dictates of society and wanted us to be part of
that stream without any critical thinking and deviation. Most of us are indoctrinated with that
stereo-typical paradigm that it is for the sake living. But, education is not only for living, it is
much more than that. So,

‘eal edu atio ea s that a hu a i d … ot o l apa le of ei g e elle t i

mathematics, geography and history, but also can never, under any circumstances, be drawn
into the stream of society. Because that stream which we call living, is very corrupt, is immoral,
is violent, is greedy. That stream is our culture. So, the question is how to bring about the right
ki d of edu atio so that the i d a ithsta d all te ptatio s, all i flue es … a d this
culture. We have come to a point in history where we have to create a new culture, a totally
different kind of existence, not based on consumerism and industrialization, but a culture based
upon a real quality of religion. Now, how does one bring about, through education, a mind that
is entirely different, a mind that is not greedy, not envious? How does one create a mind that is
not ambitious, that is extraordinarily active, efficient; that has a real perception of what is true
in daily life, which is after all religion?18

For him education does not mean just transference of information of subjects such as
mathematics, history, geography or some other subjects. The real objective of education is to
bring about change in stude ts mind, meaning iti al a a e ess. We ha e to fi d out hat it
means never to conform and what it means to live without fear. This is your life, and nobody is
goi g to tea h ou … ou ha e to lea f o ou self … It is a e dless thi gs, it is a fas i ati g
thi g … out of that lea i g isdo o es. The ou a li e a ost extraordinary, happy,
eautiful life. 19
The purpose of education is to enable and equip students to create a world
wherein everyone together build their lives purposive and directive. Students have come and
gone. Civilizations and cultures have come and gone. People lived and gone. We continue to
live with worries, corruption, violence, brutality, indifference, callousness, worked up, married

17
Krishnamurti, On Education, Chennai: Krishnamurti Foundation India, 1974, P. 10.
18
Ibid, pp. 10-11.
19
Ibid, pp. 11-12.

7
and die. The cycle goes on and on. Krishnamurti categorizes those who go through this cycle as
ordinary because they had nothing new to offer, devoid of fresh ideas, led life without joy,
curiosity and passion, not imbued with exploring mind and just conformed to the dictates of
this world. Those who fall within this category are considered as those living and leading a
mechanical, a routine and boredom life.

It is against this back drop, in a coherent and logical way Krishnamurti carefully treads into two
major attitudes: 1. Religious spirit, and 2. scientific mind. For him, these are the only two states
of mind: a) life-enhancing and b) life-negating, leading to a great deal of misery, confusion and
sorrow. Science is indeed factual, conclusive, real and perceptive. But the scientific discoveries
and inventions usually are controlled and appropriated by the greedy capitalists and nation-
states for their vested interests and gains. Likewise, religions are also usurped by cultic groups,
fanatics and also by the organized institutions and organizations such as church, temples and so
on. The religious mind that Krishnamurti is talking about goes beyond the Hindu mind, Muslim
mind, Christian mind that propels us to go to temples, mosques and churches. It is not bound
by dogmas, beliefs, traditions. It is beyond defined horizons or boundaries or limits. It is
explosive, new, young, fresh, innocent. The innocent mind, the young mind, the mind that is
extraordinarily pliable, subtle, has no anchor. It is only such a mind that can experience that
hi h ou all God, that hi h is ot easu a le. 20

He assumed that a human being becomes a true human being only when the scientific spirit
and the true religious spirit go together. Then the emergence of a better world is possible
without capitalists, communists, Brahmins, Roman Catholics and so on. This factor is
undergirded by the emergence of new human being who is also harmonious without any
o t adi tio ithi . Fo hi , … the pu pose of edu atio is to eate this e i d, hi h is
e plosi e, a d does ot o fo to a patte hi h so iet has set. 21 Elaborating further,
Krishna u ti sa that A eligious i d is a eati e i d. It has ot o l to fi ish ith the past
but also to explode in the present. And this mind—not the interpreting mind of books, of the
Gita, the Upanishads, the Bible—which is capable of investigating, is also capable of creating an
e plosi e ealit . 22

It is extraordinarily difficult to be religious coupled with scientific mind that goes beyond
insecurity, fear, and petty human prejudices. Similarly, one cannot have a religious mind
without knowing about self, body, mind, emotions, and the way mind and thought functions.
He emphatically reiterates that one must approach it with a scientific mind which is precise,
clear, objective, and goes beyond the human created barriers and divides as well as narrow
cleavages. Only with that mind one can become a cultured human being who knows

20
Ibid, P. 17.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid, P. 18.

8
compassion. Only those having the combination of these do know what life is and how to live
and lead a meaning life.

Jiddu Krishnamurti as a philosopher of integral education weaves into religious and scientific
dimensions in such a way that,

How does one bring this about? For it is imperative to help the student to be scientific, To think
very clearly, precisely, to be sharp, as well as to help him uncover the depths of his mind, to go
beyond wors, his various labels as the Hindu, Muslim, Christian. Is it possible to educate the
student to go beyond all labels and find out, experience that something which is not measured
by the mind, which no books contains, to which no guru can lead you? If such an education is
possible in a school like this, it is remarkable. You must all see that it is worthwhile to create
su h a s hool … We ha e talked of a g eat many things—about authority, about discipline, how
to teach, what to teach, what listening is, hat edu atio is, hat ultu e is … It is also pa t of
life to sit still and look at yourself, to have insight, to see. It is also necessary to observe how to
think, what to think, and why you are thinking. It is also part of life to look at b birds, to watch
the village people, their squalor—which each one of us has brought about, which society
maintains. All this is part of education.23
III

Jiddu Krishnamurti integrates many dimensions into education. Hence, his insights on education
are radical, profound, appropriate and relevant. In a world of consumerist culture and
technological advancements, more and more people are being sucked to materialist values and
commodity fetishism This is where his insights on education carries more value because our
educational institutions are preparing more people to succeed in such a secularizing world. As
a result, the modern education is failing to solve the wo ld s p o le s e ause of the fact that
it has failed to prepare the students to face the fundamental challenges of living. The students
are not taught either to address as well as to solve these problems. When they enter into the
world of challenges and opportunities they get perplexed and do not know how to co-up in
their every day life.

For Jiddu Krishnamurti, education is a religious activity. What he suggests and offers is a
combination of values that insulates secular and sacred. His approach to education combines
these factors: what is religious or religiousness or religiosity; the nature of human beings; and
the nature of education. While doing so, Krishnamurti digs little deep and thus moves beyond
conventional understanding or juxtapositions in such a way that we should transcend beyond
our fixations on sacred or truly religious because they revolve around and operate on
conditionalties, culture-specifics, and time-bound. Further, religions are subjected to their
creedal, confessional, and belief systems. They are authoritative, hierarchical, creedal and
tradition-bound.

23
Ibid, pp. 18-19.

9
His approach to religiousness means free of religion that concerns with the challenges of values
i toda s plu alisti o te t. Sacred for Krishnamurti is the foundation of all things that lies at
the origin and core of all things. And so, it is irreducible or cannot be broken into fundamental
elements. He ardently believes that all things are parts of a unity or integrated whole, and that
integrates the whole is sacred. What he means by that all things are constituent parts or
components that make up the whole and it is the whole.

His perspective on education concerns with the whole person that includes all parts of the
persons, not just sharpening the intellect and adding more knowledge and assemblage of parts.
Hence, education implies preparing a person within a whole, so that he or she becomes a part
of society, humanity and nature. The basic function of education is not preparing students for
jobs, but to prepare for the whole of life, and to equip them to the deepest aspect of living. For
all these, our intentions of education should be clear; physical location and nature of places in
which educational activities are carried out; the participants (students and staff) in education in
the educational centres.

His critique of religion and education is that both effectively function on the notion of fear. For
e a ple, … he the e is fea , ou ease to lea … the fu tio of edu atio to eliminate
fea … I this p o ess of o petition, you conform, and gradually you destroy the subtlety, the
f esh ess, the outh of the ai . 24 The purpose of education is to bring about freedom, love,
common good and complete transformation in society. It is not for preparing young people to
succeed materially in society. Freedom is more inner character than it connotes and means in
politics. First and the foremost there should be inner transformation and liberation of human
being so that society could be transformed. Superficial societal transformation from outside
according to him fails in the long-run. The purpose of education is to make people truly
religious. Education is not to just appropriating material goals, but to realize life in all its
fullness.

Conventional education makes independent thinking extremely difficult. It always restricts

stude ts eati e a d iti al thi ki g. It akes pupils to o fo to u i ulu o s lla i
thereby leading to mediocrity. Krishnamurti is of the view that education is not merely
acquiring knowledge, gathering and correlating facts. It is for life and should enable the
stude ts to see the sig ifi a e of life as a hole. The hole a ot e app oa hed th ough
the parts—from the organized religion, schools and others. The function of education is to
create human beings who are integrated, and therefore, intelligent. It is an irony that the
present education is making students subservient, mechanical and deeply non-reflective and
critical. As a result, the students are left in the lurch. The purpose of education for him is not to
produce mere scholars and job hunters but integrated men and women who enjoy freedom
and enduring peace.

24
Ibid, P. 42.

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Those ho e e skepti al a d iti al of Jiddu K ish a u ti s app oa h kept sa i g that his
approach was not pragmatic and feasible. He responded to them in such a way that,

IT IS our intention in places like Rishi Valley in the South and Rajghat in the North to create an
e i o e t, a li ate, he e o e a i g a out, if it is at all possi le, a e hu a ei g …
They have been running for thirty years or more. The purpose, the aim and drive of these
schools is to equip the child with the most excellent technological efficiency in the modern
world, and far more important to create the right climate so that the child may develop fully as
a complete human being. This means giving him the opportunity to flower in goodness so that
he is rightly related to people, things and ideas, to the whole of life. To live is to be related.
There is no right relationship to anything if there is not the right feeling for beauty, a response
to nature, to music and art, a highly developed aesthetic sense.25

In a world of cut throat competition, professionalism, individualism, specialization and ongoing

technological advancements, the schools and institutions make the students to conform, fit,
and adjust to the dictates of the market. The present structures and systems use the students
in such a way that they give back what the system wants from them. Our educational system is
purely job-driven a d su ess-o ie ted ate ial . He e, K ish a u ti ope s up the i ate
contradictions of our educational system.

He wants to be successful in life and he also wants to be a peaceful man. His whole life is a
contradiction. The greater the contradiction, the g eate the te sio … he the e is
suppression in contradiction, there is a greater outward activity. You give the student a
technique and at the same time develop in his this extraordinary imbalance, this extreme
contradiction which leads to frustratio a d despai … You a e edu ati g hi to ha e a
technique which is going to lead to his despair. So the question is, can you help him not to drift
into contradiction. He will drift into it if you do not help him to love the thing which he is
doing.26

The above quotation rips open the fallacy of our educational system. More and more we
continue to widen the contradictions. Our philosophy of education, foci, purposes and
objectives have fallen apart. We do not know what kind of society we want and what type of
human beings we are producing. We are producing more and more technological human being.
What do we get back in return, if our system of education believes in examination, grades,
proficiency, loading of information, acquisition of knowledge and so on? In return we get one-
sided hu a ei g, a d e tai l ot a total hu a ei g. Whe e talk a out a total hu a
being with inward understanding, with a capacity to explore, to examine his inward being, his
inward state and the capacity of going beyond it, but also someone who is good in what he
does out a dl . The t o ust go togethe . That is the eal issue i edu atio . 27

25
Ibid, P. 73.
26
Ibid, P. 75.
27
Ibid, PP. 75-76.

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For him society means composition of individuals. A technologically grounded society would
suffer because the people living out there will always contradict in their social relationship.
Technology cannot on its own moderate, and so there is all the possibility of inequity and
inequality, which means the social order would not maintain the equilibrium, and always be
lopsided. Therefore, he categorically emphasizes that both the inner and outside should go
together. Both should be seen as two sides of the same coin, dialectic, a process, and as one
movement.

CONCLUSION

According to Jiddu Krishnamurti, human beings are the sum total endowed with different facets
such as intellect, emotions, appetites, etc. However, the whole of which that includes aspects
are also important. Over and above, Krishnamurti categorically asserts that humans have minds
that are capable of perceiving what is religious—the integrated whole. And for him coming to
fruition or the ultimate purpose is that of culmination or flowering of human beings. In order to
bring the mind to this level education plays the most crucial role of directing or shaping the
mind. The task that the brain plays in this whole process is important. The brain needs to learn
to stop the fragmenting process when it is not necessary. Obviously, the human have the
capacity to unite both from the particular to general and vice versa. Hence, religion and science
will have to enter into a process of integration, so that integral whole is possible. Therefore, for
Jiddu Krishnamurti education was first and foremost a religious activity.

As a composite scholar and an organic pedagogue, Jiddu Krish a u ti s o ks could perhaps be

synthesized in the following two quotations, said in 1912 and 1953 respectively: If the unity of
life and the oneness of its purpose could be clearly taught to the young in schools, how much
brighter would be our hopes for the future! Forty one years later, he reflected his journey in
the follo i g a : If one becomes aware that there can be peace and harmony for man only
through education, then one ill naturally gi es one’s hole life and interest to it . And that
exactly he did in his life time.

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References
1. Krishnamurti, J, The Wholeness of Life, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1978.
2. ___________, Questions and Answers, Hampshire: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust, Ltd,
1982.
3. ___________, Truth and Actuality, Chennai: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd, 1995.
4. ___________, On Education, _______________________________________, 2000.
5. ___________, Mind Without Measure, ________________________________, 2000.
6. ___________, The Book of Life, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2001.
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7. ___________, A Wholly Different Way of Living, Chennai: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust
Ltd, 2002.
8. Vas, S.R. Luis, ed., The Mind of J. Krishnamurti, New Delhi: Jaico Publishing House, 1971.

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Paper presented at a Joint Seminar organized by Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, and

ACTS Academy of Higher Education, Bangalore, at Visakhapatnam 13-14, February, 2012.

______________________________________***__________________________________

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