“So you must ask this question, put this question to yourself, whether your mind can be empty of all its past and yet retain the technological knowledge, your engineering knowledge, your linguistic knowledge, the memory of all that, and yet function from a mind that is completely empty.”

—  Jiddu Krishnamurti

Source: 1970s, Krishnamurti in India, 1970-71 (1971), p. 56
Context: So you must ask this question, put this question to yourself, whether your mind can be empty of all its past and yet retain the technological knowledge, your engineering knowledge, your linguistic knowledge, the memory of all that, and yet function from a mind that is completely empty. The emptying of that mind comes about naturally, sweetly without bidding, when you understand yourself, when you understand what you are. What you are is the memory, bundle of memories, experiences, thoughts. When you understand that, look at it, observe it; and when you observe it, see in that observation that there is no duality between the observer and the observed; then when you see that, you will see that your mind can be completely empty, attentive, and in that attention you can act wholly, without any fragmentation.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "So you must ask this question, put this question to yourself, whether your mind can be empty of all its past and yet re…" by Jiddu Krishnamurti?
Jiddu Krishnamurti photo
Jiddu Krishnamurti 233
Indian spiritual philosopher 1895–1986

Related quotes

Vladimir Lenin photo

“You can become a Communist only when you enrich your mind with a knowledge of all the treasures created by mankind.”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

Collected Works, Vol. 31.
Collected Works

Prem Rawat photo

“You know the word master, teacher? When you go to schools, you say, Master, I have got this, this, and this question. Master, can you solve this problem for me? In India, instead of saying Master, we say Guru. Same thing. Master teaches you something. Master takes off your ignorance and puts some knowledge into your mind. Same way, a true Guru does that. He takes off all the ignorance, egos, from our mind and puts Knowledge. And peace he gives.”

Prem Rawat (1957) controversial spiritual leader

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2, 1971
1970s

PZ Myers photo

“Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity's knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind.”

PZ Myers (1957) American scientist and associate professor of biology

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/the_great_desecration.php
The Great Desecration
Pharyngula
2008-07-24

Bruce Lee photo

“Fluidity is the way to an empty mind. You must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying.”

Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker

Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 25; Variant: Like everyone else you want to learn the way to win, but never to accept the way to lose — to accept defeat. To learn to die is to be liberated from it. So when tomorrow comes you must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying!
As quoted in Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000)
Context: Like everyone else you want to learn the way to win. But never to accept the way to lose. To accept defeat — to learn to die — is to be liberated from it. Once you accept, you are free to flow and to harmonize. Fluidity is the way to an empty mind. You must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying.

“Your perspective is always limited by how much you know. Expand your knowledge and you will transform your mind.”

Bruce H. Lipton (1944) US biologist
Arthur Hugh Clough photo

“Grace is given of God, but knowledge is bought in the market;
Knowledge needful for all, yet cannot be had for the asking.”

Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861) English poet

The Bothie of Tober-na-vuolich http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/C/CloughArthurHugh/verse/poemsproseremains/bothie_01.html, Pt. IV (1848).

Nisargadatta Maharaj photo

“(…) A weak mind cannot control its own projections. Be aware, therefore, of your mind and its projections. You cannot control what you do not know. On the other hand, knowledge gives power. In practice it is very simple. To control yourself – know yourself.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) Indian guru

Mind
Source: I am That, P.121.

Timothy Dwight IV photo

“What must be the knowledge of Him, from whom all created minds have derived both their power of knowledge, and the innumerable objects of their knowledge! What must be the wisdom of Him, from whom all things derive their wisdom!”

Timothy Dwight IV (1752–1817) American historian

Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 275.

Related topics