1. Introduction to the concept of Bondage

The idea of freedom has been discussed by innumerable philosophers in the past. In this respect, Krishnamurti’s point of view has been quite different. For him, the reason for lack of freedom in man lies in his conditioning. Man is free if he is not conditioned, according to Krishnamurti. He thinks that there are many obstacles on the road to human freedom. Human beings have been dependent in one thing or the other and this dependence ultimately leads to lack of freedom and hence bondage in man. Conditioning therefore, leads to bondage and they are two sides of the same coin. Accordingly, both words would be simultaneously used in this chapter without much care.

In defining the meaning of conditioning, Krishnamurti said that, it is,

‘The impositions which society has laid upon an individual through propaganda, through insistence, belief, fear of heaven and hell and so on. It includes the conditioning of nationality, climate, custom, tradition, culture and the innumerable beliefs, superstitions experiences which form the whole background in which consciousness lives. And which is established through one’s own desire to remain secure’^[1]

So, according to him, one is conditioned physically and mentally by the climate one lives in, the food one eats and the culture in which one lives, the whole of the social, religious and economic environment, by one’s experience, by education and by family pressures and influences. All these are the factors which condition an individual. One’s conscious and unconscious responses to all the challenges of environment–be it intellectual, emotional, outward and inward–all these are the action of conditioning.

Man probably has a desire to free himself from those conditioning for he is found to invent a ways to live a better life. According to Krishnamurti, man does not like the way he lives and wants to identify himself with something big and great and looks for a leaders, a guides, a guru etc. Besides, knowing that one is conditioned, an individual invents a divine agency which one hope would get him/her out of this mechanical state. He/she either postulates its existence outside or inside him/her as the atman, the soul, the Kingdom of Heaven etc. One has been conditioned to be Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian and is conditioned to worship, adore and pray to things that thought has put together. Man has been programmed to be Catholic, protestant, to be Italian or British and so on. For centuries man has been programmed to believe, to have faith, to follow certain rituals, certain dogmas and programmed to be nationalistic and so on. To these beliefs one clings desperately, not seeing that one is part of the conditioning factor which is supposed to destroy or redeem. So, not being able to be unconditioned and free one thinks that freedom is in Heaven, in Moksha, in Nirvana etc., and in the process one becomes more conditioned. The more one tries to be free the deeper one is in trouble. Thus, the religious specialists, the social order, and the family which is part of it have conditioned an individual. All this is the past which makes up the open as well as the hidden layers of the mind. It is interesting to note that for Krishnamurti the so-called individual doesn’t exist at all, for his/her mind draws on the common reservoir of conditioning which one shares with everybody else. So, the division between the community and the individual is false. This conditioning is action in all relationships–to things, people and ideas.

Further explaining about conditioning, he asserts that, the mind itself is the result of conditioning. The mind is the seed of all one’s conditioning, because conditioning being knowledge, experience, belief, tradition and identification with a particular group, party or nation. The mind is the result of conditioning, and is in a conditioned state. Therefore, any problems that the mind tackles must further increase those problems. As long as the mind deals with any problem, at any level, it can only create more trouble misery and confusion.

Krishnamurti argued that, there is a constant battle for living and in that battle one tries to create a code of conduct, which is familiar with the society. Those standards of behaviour are accepted as parts of one’s tradition. So, there is always someone before an individual to tell what is good or what is right or wrong thought. If one does not follow the particular prescribed conduct there is an apprehension that one would not reach the destined end. This further strengthens conditioning. Krishnamurti discussed several factors–dependence, authority, fear and attachment, which lead to conditioning and for that matter human bondage. Those factors are discussed below in details.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Krishnamurti, J. (2012). ‘Individual and Society: The Bondage of Conditioning,’ Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, p. 34