by Sitanshu Kumar

Sitanshu Kumar, an engineer at Intel's Microprocessor Component Group in Santa Clara, had been living with J. Krishnamurti's teachings for seventeen years when he posted this to soc.religion.eastern in June 1991. It is not a defense of Krishnamurti — he offers it as an explanation for those who have found K's language difficult, written entirely from his own understanding, without quoting from any book.

There have been over the past many weeks some remarks about J. Krishnamurti and his teachings. Some of them have come from people who are followers of various gurus (mostly Indian, or Japanese). As Krishnamurti vehemently attacked the idea of gurudom — not the gurus themselves — I have seen an attempt to denigrate K by many people. It is one thing to say that one has not understood what K is saying, and quite another to say he is wrong out of frustration, though it is perfectly all right to tear apart what he says using logic. So far I have not seen any such logic anywhere in the world.

A seeker of truth in the ancient land of India first used logic — the art of logically arguing is called shastratha — only when logic is completely exhausted can one proceed further.

I am outlining below the core of Krishnamurti's teachings as I have understood them. It is completely an on-the-spot effort; I am not going to quote from any of his books. Once again, it is my understanding.

1. Choiceless Awareness.

An awareness of all the thoughts that arise in consciousness. At first it can be done by following each thought by another thought. After some close observation, thought becomes aware of itself — first-time readers may not readily understand this. Awareness of thought as it moves leads to the emptying of the content of consciousness — not of factual memory, but of psychological memory — and the beginning of meditation.

2. Effortlessness.

At no point should one actively — by using thought — try to do anything, except watch. There must be no conformity at all to any set of spoken words. Of course one should not conform to the words written above, either, by trying to be effortless.

3. Compassion or Love.

This is the most difficult to enumerate. Without this flower one cannot walk a single step on the so-called spiritual journey. Vaguely, it is the utmost concern for the well-being of everything.

I have also come to know that some teachers pretend to be able to grade others. What an ultimate hypocrisy and confusion. To attempt to infuse measure into non-measure is an absolutely illogical business. This idea is rampant in certain religious traditions; a hierarchy in which some stand above others in enlightenment defies all logic.

How does anyone know how realized another person is? It defies all logic. First be completely logical — and then go beyond it. What is the need to compile a who's who of the spirit? One wonders if this stems from a sense of inadequacy in those teachers and their followers.

Posted to soc.religion.eastern on 13 June 1991. Author: Sitanshu Kumar, Microprocessor Component Group, Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, California. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

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