Jiddu Krishnamurti's Life

8/8/2019 Jiddu Krishnamurti's Life

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/jiddu-krishnamurtis-life 1/32

Jiddu Krishnamurtis

Life



Jiddu Krishnamurti was born on May 11, 1895, in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India and discovered, in 1909, as a teenager by C.W.Leadbeater on the private beach at the Theosophical headquarters at Adyar in Chennai. He wassubsequently raised under the tutelage of AnnieBesant and C.W. Leadbeater within the world-wideorganization of the Theosophical Society, whobelieved him to be a vehicle for a prophesied World

Teacher. As a young man, he disavowed this destinyand also dissolved the Order established to supportit, and eventually spent the rest of his life travellingthe world as an individual speaker and educator on

the workings of the human mind.



At the age of 90 years he addressed the United Nations on the subject of peace and awareness,and was awarded the 1984 UN Peace Medal. He gave his last talk in India a month before hisdeath, in 1986, in Ojai, California.

His supporters, working through charitable trusts, founded several independent schools across the worldin India, England and the United Statesand transcribed many of his thousands of talks,

publishing them as educational philosophical books.



His official biographer, Mary Lutyens wrote a book

about Krishnamurti's early life in India, England,and finally in Ojai, California, entitled Krishnamurti: The Years of Awakening. She was aclose associate of his from the Order of the Star,and knew him from the early days until the end of his life. This book contains many insights into this period of his life, about which he rarely spoke.Lutyens wrote three additional volumes of biography: The Years of Fulfillment (1983), The

Open Door (1988), and Krishnamurti and theRajagopals (1996).



y Additionally, Lutyens published and abridgement of the first three volumes, The Life and Death of

Krishnamurti (1991). Other published biographies of Krishnamurti include: Krishnamurti, A Biography(1986), by associate Pupul Jayakar and Star In theEast: Krishnamurti, The Invention of a Messiah

(2002), by Roland Vernon.



y He was born in a small town about 150 miles(250 km) north of Madras, India. His birthdatehas been also stated as May 12, however Mary

Lutyens, points out, that the Brahmin day iscalculated from dawn and he was born at 12:30 AM, so therefore on May 11. It's only theWestern world who would state this was May

12. "As an eighth child, who happened to be aboy, he was, in accordance with Hinduorthodoxy, called after Sri Krishna who had himself been an eighth child."



y

He came from a family of Telugu-speakingBrahmins. His father, Jiddu Narianiah, graduated from Madras University and thenbecame an official in the Revenue Department

of the British administration, rising by the end of his career to the position of rent collector and District Magistrate. They were strict

vegetarians, even shunning eggs, and

throwing away any food that the "shadow of an Englishman crossed".



y

In 1903, the family moved to Cudappah and Krishnacontracted malaria, a disease with which he would suffer recurrent bouts over many years. In 1904, hiseldest sister died, aged twenty. In his memoirs, hedescribes his mother as "to a certain extent psychic"

and how she would frequently see and converse withher dead daughter. Krishna also states that he sawhis dead sister on some occasions. In Dec 1905, hismother, Jiddu Sanjeevamma, died at Cudappah,

when Krishnamurti was ten years old. Krishna says:"I may mention that I saw her [my mother] after shedied"



y

"Narianiah, though an orthodox Brahmin, had been a member of the Theosophical Societysince 1881 (Theosophy embraces all religions)." This was while Helena Blavatsky was still alive

and living in India. Narianiah had retired at theend of 1907 and wrote to Annie Besant torecommend himself as a caretaker for the 260-acre Theosophical estate at Adyar. He had four

boys and Annie thought they would be adisturbing influence and so turned him down.



y

He continued his requests and finally was accepted as an assistant to theRecording Secretary of the EsotericSection. His family which included,

himself, his four sons, and a nephewmoved there on Jan 23, 1909. It was a fewmonths after this last move that Krishna

was discovered by C.W. Leadbeater, whobelieved him to be the awaited vessel.



y This discovery created a bit of a problem, as there was already a conflicting claim made for Hubert van Hook (b 1896), son of Dr Weller van Hook, a

surgeon in Chicago, and the General Secretary of the Theosophical Society in the United States.Hubert was also chosen by Leadbeater and after she left her husband, his mother brought him to

India for special training. After Krishna was found, Hubert was soon dropped.



y Leadbeater had a history of being in the

company of young boys, and gossip about that was vehemently denied by Annie Besant.

y The gossip erupted into a scandal in 1906 and led to Leadbeater's resignation from theTheosophical Society, however at the end of

1908 he was re-instated on a vote.

y Hubert and Mrs Van Hook, his mother, also

arrived at Adyar and stayed there for sometime.



y Krishna, or Krishnaji, as he was often known,and his younger brother Nitya were educated atthe Theosophical compound and later taken toEngland to finish their education. His father at

first grateful of the oportunities they got this way but also pushed into the background by theswirl of interest around Krishna, ended up in alawsuit against the Society to try to protect his

parental interests. As a result of this separation from his family and home, Krishnamurti and hisbrother Nitya became extremely close and in the

following years they often travelled together.



y

Lutyens states that there came a time whenKrishnamurti fully believed that he was tobecome the World Teacher.

y The death of his brother Nitya on November 11,

1925 at age 27 from tuberculosis, however, shook his fundamental belief in the masters, the leadersof the Theosophical Society and the whole idea of the world teacher (Lord Maitreya) project.

y He had prayed for his brother's life to be spared and it was not. The experience of his brother'sdeath shattered his remaining illusions.



y In 1925, he was expected by Theosophists to enter Sydney, Australia walking on water, but this did noteventuate and he visited Australia the following year by ship.

y This new vision and consciousness reached a climaxin 1929, when Krishnamurti rebuffed attempts byLeadbeater and Besant to continue with The Order of the Star, the section of the Theosophical Societydevoted to the coming of the World Teacher.



y Krishnamurti subsequently disbanded the Order, whose head he was. On the opening day of the

annual Star Camp at Ommen, Holland, August 2, 1929, in front of several thousand members, he gave aspeech disbanding the Order, saying: You mayremember the story of how the devil and a friend of his were walking down the street, when they sawahead of them a man stoop down and pick upsomething from the ground, look at it, and put itaway in his pocket. The friend said to the devil,"What did that man pick up?" "He picked up a piece of

the truth," said the devil. "That is a very bad business for you, then," said his friend. "Oh, not at all," thedevil replied, "I am going to help him organize it."



He even said, I maintain that truth is a pathless land,and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever,

by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view,and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally.Truth, being limitless, unconditioned,unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot beorganized; nor should any organization be formed tolead or coerce people along a particular path.

After disbanding the Order and drifting away from theTheosophical Society and its belief system, he spentthe rest of his life holding dialogues and giving public talks on his observations on the nature of truth, sorrow and freedom.



Krishnamurti did not accept followers, because hesaw the relationship between a guru and a disciple

as essentially exploitative. He asked people toexplore together with him and "walk as two friends".He accepted gifts and support given to him (hismain residence being on donated land in Ojai,California) and continued with lecture tours and the publication of books for more than half acentury.



y In his later years, J. Krishnamurti spoke at the

United Nations in New York, on the 11th April 1985, where he was awarded the United Nations 1984 Peacemedal.

y In November of 1985, he revisited the places he had

grown up in India, holding a last set of farewell talksbetween then and January 1986. These last talks wereon fundamental principles of belief and lessons.Krishnamurti commented that he did not wish to

invite Death, but was not sure how long his body would last, he had already lost some 6 kg (13 lb) and once he could no longer talk or teach, he would haveno further purpose.



y He said a formal farewell to all four points of thecompass, the so-called 'elephant's turn', on the

Adayar shore where he had long ago come to theattention of others. His final talk, on January 4, 1986,invited his co-participants to examine with him thenature of inquiry, the nature of life, and the natureof creation.



y It ended: "So we are inquiring what makes a bird.What is creation behind all this? Are you waiting for me to describe it, to go into it? Why? Why do you ask?

Because I asked? No description can ever describe theorigin. The origin is nameless; the origin isabsolutely quiet, it's not whirring about makingnoise. Creation is something that is most holy, that'sthe most sacred thing in life, and if you have made amess of your life, change it. Change it today, nottomorrow. If you are uncertain, find out why and becertain. If your thinking is not straight, think straight, logically. Unless all that is prepared, all

that is settled, you can't enter into this world, intothe world of creation." "It ends."

"This is the last talk. Do you want to sit together quietly for a while? All right, sirs, let us sit quietly for a while."



y J. Krishnamurti passed away two and ahalf months later i.e. on February 17,

1986), at the age of 90 from pancreatic

cancer.

y His remains were cremated and scattered by friends and former

associates in the three countries wherehe had spent most of his life, India,England and United States of America.



y Throughout his long life, Krishnamurtiexerted a great influence at the

confluence of educated philosophical and spiritual thought. Because of his ideas and his era, Krishnamurti has come to be seen

as an exemplar for modern spiritual teachers - particularly those who disavow formal rituals and dogma.



y Krishnamurti has been criticized, sometimes asto whether he practiced what he preached. Anumber of people who knew him through the

years pointed out that Krishnamurtis lifeexpresses something of the Indian Brahminlifestyle, for he was supported, even pampered,through the years by devoted followers and

servants. The questions then arise as to whether his attitudes were conditioned by indulgenceand privilege.



y The public revelation was received withsurprise and consternation by manyindividuals in the Krishnamurti

community, and was also dealt with in arebuttal volume of biography by MaryLutyens .



y Sloss's allegations were centered around

the notion that the secret liasionindicated that Krishnamurti had lead adeceptive double life in that he was

believed to be celibate by his public following. A later biographical volumeby Roland Vernon (Star in the East:Krishnamurti, the Invention of a

Messiah), questions the ultimate impactof the revelations when compared toKrishnamurti's body of work as a whole.



y Krishnamurti's once close relationship

to the Rajagopals deteriorated to the point that Krishnamurti in his later years, took Rajagopal to court in order

to recover certain rights, manuscriptsand personal corespondence being witheld by Rajagopal. The resultinglitigation and cross complaints

continued for many years, and were notresolved until after the death of Krishnamurti in 1986.



y

Krishnamurti's biographer MaryLutyens placed the preponderance of responsibility for the acrimony of thelawsuits and resulting damage toKrishnamurti's reputation on the

personal animosity of the Rajagopalsresulting from their loss of influence in

Krishnamurti's life.



y We all want to befamous people,and the moment we want to besomething weare no longerfree.-JIDDUKRISHNAMURTI



-SUVAIBA KHATRI

Jiddu Krishnamurti's Life

Documents

Transcript of Jiddu Krishnamurti's Life