Jiddu Krishnamurti: Mind

Jiddu Krishnamurti was Indian spiritual philosopher. Explore interesting quotes on mind.

Jiddu Krishnamurti: 466 quotes47 likes

“Just observe what you are. What you are is the fact: the fact that you are jealous, anxious, envious, brutal, demanding, violent. That is what you are. Look at it, be aware; don’t shape it, don’t guide it, don’t deny it, don’t have opinions about it. By looking at it without condemnation, without judgement, without comparison, you observe; out of that observation, out of that awareness comes affection. Now, go still further. And you can do this in one flash. It can only be done in one flash — not first from the outside and then working further and deeper and deeper and deeper; it does not work that way, it is all done with one sweep, from the outermost to the most inward, to the innermost depth. Out of this, in this, there is attention — attention to the whistle of that train, the noise, the coughing, the way you are jerking your legs about; attention whereby you listen to what is said, you find out what is true and what is false in what is being said, and you do not set up the speaker as an authority. So this attention comes out of this extraordinarily complex existence of contradiction, misery and utter despair. And when the mind is attentive, it can then give focus, which then is quite a different thing; then it can concentrate but that concentration is not the concentration of exclusion. Then the mind can give attention to whatever it is doing, and that attention becomes much more efficient, much more vital, because you are taking everything in.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Vol. XIV, p. 301
Posthumous publications, The Collected Works

“Can the mind resolve a psychological problem immediately?”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

1st Public Talk, Ojai, California (1 April 1980)
1980s

“The answer is in the problem, not away from the problem. I go through the searching, analysing, dissecting process, in order to escape from the problem. But, if I do not escape from the problem and try to look at the problem without any fear or anxiety, if I merely look at the problem — mathematical, political, religious, or any other — and not look to an answer, then the problem will begin to tell me. Surely, this is what happens. We go through this process and eventually throw it aside because there is no way out of it. So, why can’t we start right from the beginning, that is, not seek an answer to a problem? — which is extremely arduous, isn’t it? Because, the more I understand the problem, the more significance there is in it. To understand, I must approach it quietly, not impose on the problem my ideas, my feelings of like and dislike. Then the problem will reveal its significance. Why is it not possible to have tranquillity of the mind right from the beginning?”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

"Eighth Talk in The Oak Grove, 7 August 1949" http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-text.php?tid=320&chid=4643&w=%22The+answer+is+in+the+problem%2C+not+away+from+the+problem%22, J.Krishnamurti Online, JKO Serial No. 490807, Vol. V, p. 283 <br class="br">Posthumous publications, The Collected Works

“You can look only when the mind is completely quiet.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

2nd Public Talk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (12 May 1968)
1960s

“Surely, the violence and the entity who says, "I must change violence into non-violence", are both the same. To recognize that fact is to put an end to all conflict, is it not? There is no longer the conflict of trying to change, because I see that the very movement of the mind not to be violent is itself the outcome of violence.
So, the questioner wants to know why it is that he cannot go beyond all these superficial wrangles of the mind. For the simple reason that, consciously or unconsciously, the mind is always seeking something, and that very search brings violence, competition, the sense of utter dissatisfaction. It is only when the mind is completely still that there is a possibility of touching the deep waters.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Further response to the above question
1950s, Freedom From the Self (1955)

“Sacredness is the essence of religion. You know, a great river may become polluted as it flows past a town, but if the pollution isn’t too great, the river cleanses itself as it goes along, and within a few miles it is again clean, fresh, pure. Similarly, when once the mind comes upon this sacredness, then every act is a cleansing act. Through its very movement the mind is making itself innocent, and therefore it is not accumulating. A mind that has discovered this sacredness is in constant revolution — not economic or social revolution, but an inner revolution through which it is endlessly purifying itself. Its action is not based on some idea or formula. As the river, with a tremendous volume of water behind it, cleanses itself as it flows, so does the mind cleanse itself when once it has come upon this religious sacredness.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Vol. XV, p. 244
Posthumous publications, The Collected Works

“Control exists only when there is action of will, positively or negatively. Will is resistance. When the mind is learning, there is no resistance.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

3rd Public Talk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (24 May 1971)
1970s

“Only the free mind knows what Love is.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Speech at the University of California, Berkley, as broadcast by Pacifica Radio (4 January 1969)
1960s

“The traditional approach is from the periphery inwards, and through time, practice and renunciation, gradually to come upon that inner flower, that inner beauty and love — in fact to do everything to make oneself narrow, petty and shoddy; peel off little by little; take time; tomorrow will do, next life will do — and when at last one comes to the centre one finds there is nothing there, because one's mind has been made incapable, dull and insensitive.
Having observed this process, one asks oneself, is there not a different approach altogether — that is, is it not possible to explode from the centre?”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

1960s, (1969)

“To die every day to every problem, every pleasure, and not carry over any problem at all; so the mind remains tremendously attentive, active, clear.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

3rd Public Talk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (24 May 1967)
1960s

“Meditation is a state of mind in which the operation and exercise of will is not.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

3rd Public Talk, Bangalore, India (13 January 1973)
1970s

“Meditation is not a process of learning how to meditate; it is the very inquiry into what is meditation. To inquire into what is meditation, the mind must free itself from what it has learnt about meditation, and the freeing of the mind from what it has learnt is the beginning of meditation.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

"Third Talk at Rajghat" (25 December 1955) http://www.jkrishnamurti.com/krishnamurti-teachings/view-text.php?tid=527&chid=4846&w=%22Meditation+is+not+a+process+of+learning+how+to+meditate%22, J.Krishnamurti Online, JKO Serial No. 551225, Vol. IX, p. 192 <br class="br">Posthumous publications, The Collected Works

“Learning implies a mind that doesn't know.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

2nd Public Talk, Saanen, Switzerland (20 July 1971)
1970s

“Throughout theological history we have been assured by religious leaders that if we perform certain rituals, repeat certain prayers or mantras, conform to certain patterns, suppress our desires, control our thoughts, sublimate our passions, limit our appetites and refrain from sexual indulgence, we shall, after sufficient torture of the mind and body, find something beyond this little life. And that is what millions of so-called religious people have done through the ages, either in isolation, going off into the desert or into the mountains or a cave or wandering from village to village with a begging bowl, or, in a group, joining a monastery, forcing their minds to conform to an established pattern. But a tortured mind, a broken mind, a mind which wants to escape from all turmoil, which has denied the outer world and been made dull through discipline and conformity — such a mind, however long it seeks, will find only according to its own distortion.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

1960s, (1969)

“Hold back your mind from pride, for pride comes only from ignorance. The man who does not know thinks that he is great, that he has done this or that great thing; the wise man knows that only God is great, that all good work is done by God alone.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

§ III
1910s, At the Feet of the Master (1911)

“Can the mind become completely still without coercion, without compulsion, without discipline?”

Jiddu Krishnamurti

7th Public Discussion, Saanen, Switzerland (10 August 1971)
1970s