FTV 021 J. Krishnamurti
“First of all, I am not teaching you anything. Right? I have said ‘just watch yourself.’ And in yourself is everything. You are the whole of mankind. The past and the present. And if you know how to look within yourself you have the whole history. And then you are not following the speaker or his teachings because he is not teaching you a thing!”
~Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986)
As a young boy, Jiddu (J.) Krishnamurti was discovered playing on beach in India by one of the founders of the Theosophical movement, Charles Webster Leadbeater — who proclaimed young Krishnamurti to be the future vehicle for Lord Maitreya the World Teacher and arranged for his formal education and indoctrination into the Theosophical Society. There, Krishnamurti learned, taught, spoke and began to cultivate an international following; but as he grew older and wiser, it seems that Krishnamurti developed a disdain for the pedestal the Theosophical Society placed him upon. Eventually, he shunned the very organization that made him, and he denounced all organized religion in general as well. Krishnamurti spent the rest of his life teaching his unique perspective on the power of the self, to be achieved through courageous self-observation without judgment. He left this physical plane in 1986 at his retreat in Ojai, California.
For a man considered by much of the world to be one of the foremost minds on religion and philosophy in the 20th century, it is striking to consider that J. Krishnamurti seldom wrote down his teachings, so that ultimately, his teachings live on today only through audio and video recordings (and transcripts of those recordings). The Pacifica Radio Archives is currently preserving at least 27 recordings of J. Krishnamurti in its vault, and drawing from these special pieces we present this week’s episode of From the Vault.
The first part of this show studies Krishnamurti’s effect on two From the Vault volunteers, Joseph Falasca and Sylvia Lubow, both of whom had never heard Krishnamurti speak before or read transcripts of any of his speeches. Joseph and Sylvia’s exploration of a Krishnamurti talk from Santa Barbara in 1969 is a wonderful stepping stone into the very exestensial world of J. Krishnamurti. Only when you hear his voice will you understand why Sylvia and Joseph were moved so deeply, and why we at the Pacifica Radio Archives think these recordings are so important…
The second half of From the Vault finds show producer Christopher Sprinkle at the Krishnamurti’s retreat in Ojai, California, (home of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America) speaking with KFA Executive Director Mark Lee, Michael Kronen- who works in the library at the KFA Archive and was once Krishnamurti’s personal chef, and Mary Zimbalist, former Personal Assistant to J. Krishnamurti, and one of the original founders and trustees of both the Krishnamurti Foundation of America, Fundacion K Hispanoamericana, as well as a trustee at the Krishnamurti Foundation in the UK and the Krishnamurti Foundation of India. From the Vault would like to thank these guests and the Krishnamurti Foundation of America for providing gracious access and insight into the life of Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.
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