Essence of the three Krishnamurtis
Watchfulness, Nihilism and Surrender
Recently someone shared a poem written by ChatGPT that nicely summarizes J. Krishnamurti’s teachings of watchfulness of the mind and its ways:
J Krishnamurti’s teachings did say,
The truth is not in books, but within each day,
Freedom from thought, a state of pure being,
No time, no space, where truth starts seeing.
The mind, its ways, must be understood,
Its hold, its power, must be subdued,
For a life that’s free from all pain and strife,
Where joy, peace and love are part of life.
So let go of thought, and just be aware,
Of this moment, the only thing that’s fair,
In this stillness, where truth can be found,
The self will dissolve, and peace will abound.
J Krishnamurti’s pointers are very pertinent up to a point, but it also leads to chasing the mirage of total transformation, freedom from self etc. And there comes the other Krishnamurti — UG. His teachings which he himself referred to as the barking of a dog are captured by my rephrasing of the original poem:
UG Krishnamurti’s barkings did say,
There is no truth in books or in any day,
Freedom from thought, a state of pure being,
Is all just a projection, your imagining.
The mind, its ways, can never be understood,
Its hold, its power, can never be subdued,
For a life that’s free from all pain and strife,
Is a neurotic idea of a peaceful life.
To let go of thought, and just be aware,
Of this moment is another thought, nothing there
Don’t chase stillness, no truth can be found,
No self to dissolve, it’s the same merry-go round
While there is a freedom from the desire for transformation or dissolving of the self in UG’s teachings, it leaves one with nihilism. And worse, to only intellectually understand UG gives too many the dangerous license to run wild with their latent desires.
So the ultimate answer that neither chases the dissolution of the self nor a nihilistic and licentious approach to life is given by the original Krishnamurti who appeared 5000 years ago on earth. His divine song unties all the knots if listened to carefully. Here I have rephrased the same poem again to capture Krishna’s teachings:
Sweet Lord Krishnamurti’s song did say,
No truth in books, just surrender to My way
Freedom from thought not the only state of pure being,
Time and space also part of My playing
The mind, its ways, need not be understood,
Its hold, its power, if seen as My power imbued
For a life that’s free from all pain and strife,
Is an impossible dream in the embodied life
To let go of thought, and just be aware,
Of this moment is simply another snare
No need for stillness for truth to be found
The self is My part, simply serve all around
Krishna’s teachings in summary is a life of service to the whole that puts every part in its right place instantly. It is neither seeking transformation nor wallowing in nihilism. It naturally prevents any excesses of consumerism or covetousness through an attitude of service to the Supreme and thereby all beings. It transmutes all expressions of thought, language and action into divine outpourings. It has resulted in millennia of explosion of arts like in no other civilization — poetry, music, dance, architecture, cuisine and every other field of sublime expression. It is the essence of what’s known as Bhāgavata dharma.
Now with the rise of one global civilization and also the tremendous strife and natural disasters facing us, it is the need of the hour to revive this great dharma for all of humanity.