Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22594 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Synopsis
In this work Krishnamurti shows how people can free themselves from the tyranny of the expected, regardless of age. By first changing themselves, they then can change their relationships and society. Themes include: awareness, man's search and the tortured mind.

Customer Reviews

Invitation to face yourself
It is easy to get lost in the jugle of words and contradictions of his exploration of the workings of his own mind and emotions. But for me the most salient point in this book is the invitation to let go of comparisons. As long as we live under the concept that someone somewhere has experienced something which is superior to my own experience i.e.
Buddha or Christ etc. I am creating a limiting belief which seperates me from the potential to experience BEING as totally unique and capable of surpasing any other state of consciousness.

It is the need to be validated by someone else, to have my realisation confirmed and corroborated in the circle of peers or teachers which creates the duality, creates the separation.

This little book is an invitation to examine our own conditioning and levels of consciousness and once realised to let go of them and step into the realm of total unknowing, of seeing and experiencing conscious living in a way which is beyond concepts and the limitations of our own mind.
But as he states himself, he is not here to give you the answers.

A truthful observation about the human thinking machine
This book may be mistaken as an attack on humanity but it is not. It is a very truthful and objective observation of the many egoic expressions that lie within human consiousness. Krishnamurti just exposes all the falsities and contradictions within. The book may appear as condemnation to those who fear the truth about their inner conflict and egoic thinking. However it is not condemnation out of reaction but an honest look at human thinking. To those who can face the truth about their illusory selves it will actually bring greater awareness to that which is unconsious within...

Over-rated and unenlightened
Krishnamurti was obviously a very troubled, bitter man, and this 'rant' against humanity and the quest for individual enlightenment does nothing more than vent his frustrations over the great universal challenge faced by all: that of the transient human mind seeking its inherent, eternal consciousness rather than languishing in its projected, impermanent pains and pleasures. This was a problem the author clearly had no real understanding about or answer for; his terse, dense writing displaying absolutely none of the clarity or insight of the likes of Sri Ramana Maharshi or Paramahansa Yogananda, two genuine spiritual guides. The fact that this book and its author has attracted so many followers can only be because so many aspiring 'seekers' must have failed to 'find themselves' and consequently descended into the same angry, resentful mentality that regrettably gripped the author. What this book does show is that the spiritual path is indeed fraught, not least with pseudo-gurus like these, who will bog you down if you're not careful. Unless you are a miserable defeatist and ex-seeker who hates life, and need to read something supporting your merciless self-loathing, you really should stay away from this unenlightened pulp.