U G Krishnamurti- The Sceptic's Guru

[Star Of The Sea]

While doing a search for J Krishnamurti's writings on the internet I came across his lesser known namesake and sometime student U G Krishnamurti (no relation). Having subsequently read a great deal of his material (in the form of interviews- apparently he has no interest in publishing books or writing) I have become very fond of his philosophy. You could call it a kind of 'rational mysticism'- he doesn't believe in a soul, the afterlife, 'enlightenment', or much of anything really- he even denies the separate existence of consciousness which is something that even the most diehard materialist here would not disagree with... kind of a 'spiritual anarchist' as I've seen him descibed. One of my favourite aspects is the way in which he is scathing of India's 'god-men' and their claims of the paranormal. For example, here is a quote from the book 'The Sage And The Housewife'-


"He spoke vehemently about God-men and their miracles, adding
that the magicians in the U.S. could make jumbo jets and elephants disappear in a wink. One magician was able to fill buckets and buckets with flowers right in front of his audience.
U.G. said that no God-man, especially Sai Baba the Avatar, would ever risk performing their tricks in the U.S.A., because the powerful and sophisticated cameras used there would easily expose them. He went on to say that if the Avatars or so-called God-men really possessed knowledge about any as yet
undiscovered laws, it was their solemn duty to inform the world, putting mankind on the right track and thus saving it from its inevitable doom, instead of producing trinkets and ash, which was, according to him, nothing more than cheap
entertainment.
"They are going to survive as great survivors as long as they have believers. You provide the fertile soil for their survival." "

There are several books in HTML format on
This site (http://www.well.com/user/jct) . I especially recommend 'Mind Is A Myth'.

regards

Luke

[BroodingSkill]

Wow, I thought I was the only one on this board that actually read anything by J Krishnamurti, I gave only a passing glance to UG, maybe I'll look again.
Oddly enough it was J Krishnamurti's "Beyond the Known" that lead me back to Skepticism and Atheism, and I have never been happier. I have looked through other books, but that one book seems to pretty much contain his whole message, the rest seem to be repetition or rephrasings of the same topics.
Thanx for starting this thread.

[subgenius]

More thanks for the referral. I can tell I'm going to enjoy reading him. (No copyright, you can download freely!!!!)
From "Mind is a Myth":
"A U.G. sampler: making love is war; cause-and-effect is the shibboleth of confused minds; yoga and health foods destroy the body; the body and not the soul is immortal; there is no communism in Russia, no freedom in America, and no spirituality in India; service to mankind is utter selfishness; Jesus was another misguided Jew; and the Buddha was a crackpot; mutual terror, not love, will save mankind; attending church and going to the bar for a drink are identical; there is nothing inside you but fear; communication is impossible between human beings; God, Love, Happiness, the unconscious, death, reincarnation and the soul are non-existent figments of our rich imagination; Freud is the fraud of the 20th century, while J. Krishnamurti is its greatest phoney."

[subgenius]

Sorry another quote:
"U.G. is a 'finished' man. In him there is no search, and therefore no destiny. His life now consists of a series of disjointed events. There is no center to his life, no one 'conducting' his life, no inner shadow, no 'ghost in the machine'. What is there is a calm, smoothly functioning, highly intelligent and responsive biological machine, nothing more. One looks in vain for evidence of a self, psyche or ego; there is only the simple functioning of a sensitive organism. It is little wonder that such a 'finished' man would discard the banal, tarnished commonalities of science, religion, politics, and philosophy and instead bear directly into the heart of matters, presenting his case simply, fearlessly, forcefully, and without corroboration, to any who wish to listen."
Way cool.

Originally posted by BroodingSkill
Wow, I thought I was the only one on this board that actually read anything by J Krishnamurti

I have read some Krishnamurti. He co-wrote a book with David Bohm.

:)

My teaching, if that is the word you want to use, has no copyright. You are free to reproduce, distribute, interpret, misinterpret, distort, garble, do what you like, even claim authorship, without my consent or the permission of anybody.


Interesting attitude.

:)

[Star Of The Sea]

Originally posted by UndercoverElephant


I have read some Krishnamurti. He co-wrote a book with David Bohm.

:)

With J Krishnamurti, not U G Krishnamurti- there is a good interview with F David Peat on the relationship between Bohm and J Krishnamurti here (http://wie.org/j11/peat.asp).

Actually Geoff one of the reasons I really like U G Krishnamurti is that, from his perspective, even if materialism is right, so is mysticism. So either way, it's covered.

;)

Luke