Commentaries on Living: First Series

I keep finding myself returning to this fairly straightforward and seemingly unsophisticated book. A series of topical vignettes by an Eastern teacher of wisdom--on the surface, just what the world DOESN'T need more of. In a society saturated by self-help would-be prophets and new-age dreck like Tony Robbins and Deepak Chopra, you would think a guy like this wouldn't make waves...but he does. Big ones. His insights are so frustratingly simple they almost leave our minds going, "That's IT?" for we usually assume that enlightenment is a stairway we have to climb. Krishnamurti has an uncanny ability to puncture this and many other illusions. A mystic who can stand his own with the best, he's also one of the most straightforward, non-flowery, non-blissed out authors you will ever read. He's tangled with everyone from heads of state to quantum physicists like David Bohm, so the average reader is no match for his razor-sharp insight and effortless deflation of unsound ways of being. He very often says in one paragraph what Leo Tolstoy needs two 1000-page books to get at, diving straight to the heart of the human condition and the activities of the unconscious mind. Though probably not the best anthology of his work, it's certainly a good way to clear your head which works MUCH better than any kind of chemical aids :) His prose is spare, uncompromising, and incisive, trimming away the excess fat of so many useless attempts by smaller minds to fill their true emptiness with pointless questions. Along with Marcus Borg's "The God We Never Knew", this book has essentially been my substitute for "Bible study" for quite some time now. That which we seek, we are. That which we would try to find is illusion. That which IS is not a process of linear time or human effort, but can only be understood when the observer "is not". Though I come from a monotheistic background and find some of K's work a tad impersonal, I cannot turn from the truth he offers--and that truth points a way to Truth, even though, as K himself would say, "Truth is a pathless land".

Krishnamurti writes simpler, more descriptive prose than Hemingway; he dispenses more nondual wisdom in more depth than a score of Zen masters combined; he dissects the armour of the personality more quickly, more gently, more accurately than any psychologist ever has. These are not exaggerations. These Commentaries are, along with his journals and notebook, the only major works in print (at least that I am aware of, and I am aware of most) that he actually wrote himself; the rest of his books are, of course, compilations of talks and conversations. Only a man of such surpassing conscious mastery could write so perfectly with so little effort; if there is any justice in the universe these books will stay in print for a thousand years.If you like Krishnamurti you need these.

When I first got this book I had absolutely no idea who the man Krishnamurti was or what his life was like. I was simply intrigued by the title of the book. After reading the first two commentaries I began to realize that this wouldn't be like anything I've ever read before. I was reading it through the haze of my own conditioning and I would have dropped the book right there, as nothing was making sense. But something made me want to just read on - I don't know if it is the sheer lyrical beauty of the descriptions in his book or the lure of something that is really true. Whatever the reason, I just could not keep my hands off it after I went on.It can really be a tumultous experience to suddenly realize that the basis of everything that you have believed in and taken support or refuge in is all false. But once you are over that, you then start looking at life very differently. You just stop running with the mad crowd and you stand aside and ask yourself "What have I been doing with my life so far?" Thats the kind of effect that this book had on me and I cannot imagine that a serious reader will go through this book without wanting to change his life after that.

This is a remarkable book. It is actually three books in 88 chapters. Each chapter starts with an absolutely magic description of people in nature. That is the first book. The second book consists of people telling about their problems and comments of Krishnamurti. These comments are very fresh, original and give new insights. They evoke the reaction "why did I never looked at it that way". The third book, the third part in every chapter describes his view of life. This is very difficult to understand. I am not sure I am able or should voice an opinion on this part because it so unique. There are no reference points. It is not a philosophy, it is not a religion, and it is not a spiritual path. From time to time you get the feeling, "I understand", the next moment it is again a mirage. When we look at a beautiful landscape, we can be totally absorbed by the experience of looking. We are not thinking or analyzing. Krishnamurti's idea is that that is the way we should live all the time. He refers to that as "experiencing". As soon as we start thinking or want to achieve something, we will forever be unhappy. Buddha teaches that through concentration and meditation it is possible, by "taming" the mind one can arrive at "experiencing". Krishnamurti totally rejects the need for experience, training and effort. The idea of living without thinking is for me not imaginable. One thing I do not like is that Krishnamurti rejects the wisdom of everybody. Logically, he also totally rejects the idea that people should ever consider becoming his followers or disciples. The risk I see with the book is that people read it as a smorgasbord. Pick up ideas that correspond to those they already have and reject the inconvenient ones. All in all for people with genuine spiritual interests it is a gold mine.

J Krishnamurti's Commentaries on Living are a living testament to the beauty as well as the complexity of life. The peace of the mind which wrote these is almost tangible.When the source is pure, every drop (as every sentence in this book) leads one to purity.But approach Krishnamurti with trepidation, as it is too easy to battle verbally with oneself and others after having listened to him with a haughty seriousness.All he can do is to make you question your own self. That is the beginning. After that, you are on your own, and therefore, free.Nobody can teach you, but you can get taught by everything.