reading

COLLECTED WORKS VOLUME 1

Photo: J. Krishnamurti, ca 1935 by Edwin Gledhill

Website: www.kfa.org

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 13: 9781934989340
ISBN: 1934989347
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62112-677-5

Contents

Preface

Italy, 1933

First Talk at Alpino, July 1, 1933

First Talk at Stresa, July 2, 1933

Second Talk at Alpino, July 4, 1933

Third Talk at Alpino, July 6, 1933

Second Talk at Stresa, July 8, 1933

Fourth Talk at Alpino, July 9, 1933

Holland, 1933

First Talk at Ommen, July 27, 1933

Second Talk at Ommen, July 29, 1933

Third Talk at Ommen, July 29, 1933

Fourth Talk at Ommen, July 30, 1933

Fifth Talk at Ommen, August 3, 1933

Sixth Talk at Ommen, August 4, 1933

Seventh Talk at Ommen, August 5, 1933

Eighth Talk at Ommen, August 6, 1933

Ninth Talk at Ommen, August 10, 1933

Tenth Talk at Ommen, August 11, 1933

Eleventh Talk at Ommen, August 12, 1933

Twelfth Talk at Ommen, August 13, 1933

Camp Fire Address at Ommen, August 13, 1933

Norway, 1933

Talk in University Hall, Oslo, September 5, 1933

First Talk at Frognerseteren, September 6, 1933

Second Talk at Frognerseteren, September 8, 1933

Third Talk at Frognerseteren, September 9, 1933

Talk in the Colosseum, Oslo, September 10, 1933

Fourth Talk at Frognerseteren, September 12, 1933

India, 1933-1934

First Talk at Adyar, Madras, December 29, 1933

Second Talk at Adyar, Madras, December 30, 1933

Third Talk at Adyar, Madras, December 31, 1933

Fourth Talk at Adyar, Madras, January 1, 1934

Fifth Talk at Adyar, Madras, January 2, 1934

Sixth Talk at Adyar, Madras, January 3, 1934

Questions

Preface

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in 1895 of Brahmin parents in south India. At the age of fourteen he was proclaimed the coming World Teacher by Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society, an international organization that emphasized the unity of world religions. Mrs. Besant adopted the boy and took him to England, where he was educated and prepared for his coming role. In 1911 a new worldwide organization was formed with Krishnamurti as its head, solely to prepare its members for his advent as World Teacher. In 1929, after many years of questioning himself and the destiny imposed upon him, Krishnamurti disbanded this organization, saying:

Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. My only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free.

Until the end of his life at the age of ninety, Krishnamurti traveled the world speaking as a private person. The rejection of all spiritual and psychological authority, including his own, is a fundamental theme. A major concern is the social structure and how it conditions the individual. The emphasis in his talks and writings is on the psychological barriers that prevent clarity of perception. In the mirror of relationship, each of us can come to understand the content of his own consciousness, which is common to all humanity. We can do this, not analytically, but directly in a manner Krishnamurti describes at length. In observing this content we discover within ourselves the division of the observer and what is observed. He points out that this division, which prevents direct perception, is the root of human conflict.

His central vision did not waver after 1929, but Krishnamurti strove for the rest of his life to make his language even more simple and clear. There is a development in his exposition. From year to year he used new terms and new approaches to his subject, with different nuances.

Because his subject is all-embracing, the Collected Works are of compelling interest. Within his talks in any one year, Krishnamurti was not able to cover the whole range of his vision, but broad amplifications of particular themes are found throughout these volumes. In them he lays the foundations of many of the concepts he used in later years.

The Collected Works contain Krishnamurti’s previously published talks, discussions, answers to specific questions, and writings for the years 1933 through 1967. They are an authentic record of his teachings, taken from transcripts of verbatim shorthand reports and tape recordings.

The Krishnamurti Foundation of America, a California charitable trust, has among its purposes the publication and distribution of Krishnamurti books, videocassettes, films and tape recordings. The production of the Collected Works is one of these activities.