6. Review of other studies on Krishnamurti

There are no much studies on the life and teachings of Krishnamurti. Those studies which are conducted by few scholars are informative in nature, depicting his life and general teachings. His teachings and philosophy is introduced as regular paper in very few educational institutes. Nonetheless, his philosophy has assumed great significance in contemporary philosophies and is expected to be more in future. At this juncture, it would be relevant to have a brief review of earlier studies conducted by various scholars, in order to have a clear picture in mind the relevance of Krishnamurti’s philosophy.

The book on J Krishnamurti and the Nameless Experience, by Rohit Mehta (1978), elucidates all aspects of Krishnamurti’s teachings, philosophy and psychology. The author explored the implication of Krishnamurti’s approach to life. In exploring implication of his approach, the author attempts to discover its significance in the context of individual and social life. Finally, the author discussed Krishnamurti’s approach to the subject of meditation and its implication.

In her book, J. Krishnamurti: A Biography, Pupul Jayakar (1986), made a detailed bibliographical sketch of Krishnamurti and his basic teachings. The book contains the encounter of various thinkers with Krishnamurti around the world. Accordingly, the author presented the dialogue process in between Krishnamurti and his admirer. In the process, the simple teaching of Krishnamurti has been highlighted by the author from various meeting place and talks. The book is a good source of information for understanding the general life and teachings of Krishnamurti.

In his studies on Krishnamurti: The Man, The Mystery and The Message, Stuart Holroyd (1991), made a general exploration into the life and message of Krishnamurti. His study therefore, is an in-depth exploration of the life and work of Krishnamurti. Besides, the author offers a clear and elegant summary of Krishnamurti’s teachings. He discusses the way in which the indisputable logic and lucidity of Krishnamurti’s teaching confronts us with the challenge to change.

R.K. Shringy (1996), in his book, Philosophy of J. Krishnamurti: A Systematic Study, which is based on his doctoral thesis, deals thoroughly about the life and teachings of Krishnamurti. Dr. Shringy has pinpointed Krishnamurti’s philosophy in term of ‘choiceless awareness’ which in fact sums up his philosophy as no other phrases does. The study is divided into two parts. The first part discussed his early life and thought as well as his initial teachings after his realisation, which forms his spontaneous outpour of ecstasy. The second part discussed the period of his systematic, analytical and philosophically oriented exposition. This book would be helpful for those who are striving to grasp the real meaning and implication of Krishnamurti’s teaching, since this work is an excellent exploration into the fascinating theme of life which Krishnamurti presented to us.

In Indian Philosophical Quarterly, Arundhati Sardesai (1996), in an article titled, ‘Epistemology of J Krishnamurti,’ presented a glimpse of Krishnamurti’s Philosophy. The author begins the discussion regarding the germane of putting Krishnamurti as a philosopher. Her discussion does not concentrate on one issue but discusses in general varied aspect of Krishnamurti’s core teachings. In the process, the author also makes comparison with some religious philosophy of the Upanishads and Buddhism, and with some other thinkers. The author ends the discussion by highlighting the complexities of Krishnamurti’s teachings but also defend him by giving some logical attribution. The article, in any way, intelligibly elucidates the basic teachings of Krishnamurti in a befitting manner.

Depicting his personal meeting with Krishnamurti, Susunaga Weeraperuma (1998), extensively highlights the life and teachings of Krishnamurti on his book titled, J. Krishnamurti as I Knew Him. The author has written long accounts of his many private meetings and interviews with Krishnamurti. Based on his meetings, Weeraperuma has narrated numerous anecdotes of Krishnamurti’s life, and even quoted some of his jokes and casual remarks which make the book very much interesting. The anecdotes of Krishnamurti’s life given in this book have a certain deep and hidden philosophical meaning.

A significant study has also been made by A.P Sharma (2002), on Krishnamurti titled, Concept of Freedom: Krishnamurti. The book contains a comprehensive view of Krishnamuti on human freedom. The author therefore, discussed about Krishnamurti’s concern to enlighten from the impediments that did not allow an individual to achieve freedom. The author also make clear about Krishnamurti’s teaching that man can reach the domain of freedom at once, provided one keeps one’s mind free from every kind of thought. Those who love philosophy and wish to acquaint themselves with Krishnamurti’s view on human freedom would find this book very useful.

Kalidas Joshi (2002) has also lucidly made a thorough discussion on the teaching of Krishnamurti. In his book on Understanding J. Krishnamurti, the author aimed at considering the main features of the teachings of the sage, so as to bring the gist of the whole teaching in one single volume, and to make it intelligible and clear to an average educated inquirer. Accordingly, the author has classified and grouped the statements of the sage adding explanatory notes at various places. This book would be found useful by the admirers of Krishnamurti for understanding him better.

Luis S.R. Vas (2004), on J. Krishnamurti: Great Liberator or Failed Messiah? also lucidly discussed and makes an appraisal of various assessment of, and charges against Krishnamurti, who was selected to be a Messiah and a World Teacher by Theosophical Society. Luis S.R. Vas tries to find answers to the questions like whether or not he comes up to the expectations of the Theosophical Society, how original a thinker was he, how great was his impact, and how accessible are his teachings? Besides answering to those questions, Mr. Vas made detailed discussion on how best to access the insight of Krishnamurti.

The book title, Jiddu Krishnamurti: World Philosopher, by Dr. C. V. William (2004) thoroughly illustrates the life and thought of Krishnamurti. The author started his discussion right from the boyhood life of Krishnamurti. The book is in general a description of Krishnamurti’s entire life and his encounter with peoples of all works of life and several renowned thinkers of his age. The author discussed in details the life journey of Krishnamurti and his intellectual relationship with other thinkers from the perspective of his philosophical teachings. The book is found to be helpful in understanding Krishnamurti’s physical life history.

Kalidas Joshi (2005) in his book, J. Krishnamurti: Demystified, again tries to comprehensively explain the keywords used by the sage, which one find difficult to understand in order to make the meaning clear. The book begins with the discussion on Krishnamurti’s life events, followed by an attempt to present a broad framework and foundation of the whole teachings of the sage spread over fifty seven years. Lastly, the author’s discussion attempts to make it possible to overcome the obscurity that has always been an impediment in understanding Krishnamurti, and gives a few examples of passages which are very hard to understand. It can be hoped that the book would be enjoyed by anybody interested in Krishnamurti’s philosophy and would be benefited by his teachings.

P. Kesava Kumar (2015), on Jiddu Krishnmurti: A Critical Study of Tradition and Revolution, made a significant study on the philosophy of Krishnamurti. His study mainly deals with two concepts, that is, tradition and revolution. He has attempted to bring out in clear and simple terms Krishnamurti’s view on tradition and revolution. He has also made a critical examination of Krishnamurti’s insight in the light of the contemporary thinkers and the trends of the east and the west. His works seek to bring to light a rare thinker like Krishnamurti who is less known, rather less studied than many other contemporary Indian thinkers in the academic circle.

Shakuntala (2015), in her book titled, Rethinking Philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti, has also made a clear illustration on the selected teachings of Krishnamurti. Accordingly, the author has lucidly presented Krishnamurti’s teaching of life, education, problem and solution, limitation of thought, consciousness, truth and freedom. The author has clearly presented the simplicity of Krishanmurti’s teachings in general. By starting the discussion of the meaning and significance of life, it ends with the discussion of human consciousness which would lead to ultimate truth and freedom which humanity has ever seeks. The book is written in a simple and logical manner and is expected to be very helpful for the beginners.

From the above reviews made by various thinkers and scholars on Krishnamurti’s life and teachings, it could be summed-up that those studies are well informative for understanding the philosophy of Krishnamurti. Few scholars even discussed the entire life history of Krishnamurti and also highlighted his talks on different occasions. Some other scholars also categorically concentrated on his selected teachings concerning life, truth, freedom and so on. Since the study is on the philosophical thought of only one person, it is obvious that there must be some repetition. In fact, those literatures reviewed for the purpose of the present study show some similar discussion made by various scholars. However, their methods of interpretation are not the same. One thing is clear from the above reviewed literatures that to Krishnamurti the world is facing an acute problem and is likely to be more so in future. This compels the researchers to look again into the philosophical teachings of Krishnamurti. Not to undermine the thinkers and scholars for presenting their intellectual endeavour in regards to Krishnamurti’s philosophy, one thing is still found to be lacking that particular thing called by Krishnamurti as ‘self-knowledge.’ The present study therefore, focuses on the importance of self-knowledge in Krishnamurti’s philosophy. From the backdrops of the study on self-knowledge, the study tries to analyse the various implications in the life of an individual, be it external and psychological. It further tries to find out the consequences of individual’s external and inward reaction on the external world which according to Krishnamurti is two sides of the same coin–‘you and I are the problem and the world problem is an individual problem.’ In the discussion and analysis of the present study, the discussion made by earlier studies would be used wherever applicable, as the study could not be in total isolation to others.