Jiddu Krishnamurti

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J. Krishnamurti portrait in L. W. Rogers Building. Painted from a photograph in 1926 by Henry Schwartz. Image from TSA Archives.

Jiddu Krishnamurti (May 11, 1895 – February 17, 1986) was an author and lecturer on spiritual and philosophical subjects who had a major impact on Twentieth Century thought. He was "discovered" as a child in India by Charles W. Leadbeater, who believed that the boy had the potential to become a great religious leader. Krishnamurti and his brother Nitya were educated by Theosophists at the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai,India. Adyar Theosophists established the Order of the Star in the East to promote the idea the Krishnamurti was the much-anticipated "World Leader" or Maitreya. Eventually Krishnamurti rejected the role and the organization, and taught that "Truth is a pathless land".

Krishnamurti was often referred to by his friends as "K".

Early years

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born was born a Brahmin on May 11 1895 in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, near Madras in the south of India. He was the eighth son and, in keeping with tradition, was named after Sri Krishna.

Although his father, Jiddu Narianiah, was educated at Madras University and worked for the British Administration, the standard of life of the family was not good. Only five or six of the eleven children of the family would survive childhood. When Krishnamurti was two years old he nearly died of malaria, and his mother, Jiddu Sanjeevamma, eventually died of it when he was only ten.

In 1907 his father was given a compulsory retirement. Having been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1882, he eventually obtained a job at its International Headquarters in Adyar, Madras (now Chennai).

"Discovery"

On January 23, 1909, the Jiddu family moved to Madras. In May of that year, Theosophical leader and clairvoyant C. W. Leadbeater runs into 13-year old Krishnamurti who was playing in the beach, and sees "the most wonderful aura he has ever seen, without a particle of selfishness". Although Theosophist and scholar Ernest Wood, who had tried to help him with his homework, considered him dim-witted, Leadbeater predicted that he would become a spiritual teacher and a great orator "much greater" than even Annie Besant. His Biographer Mary Luthyens wrote:

It could not have been Krishna's outward appearance that struck Leadbeater, for apart from his wonderful eyes, he was not at all prepossessing at that time. He was under-nourished, scrawny and dirty; his ribs showed through his skin and he had a persistent cough; his teeth were crooked and he wore his hair in the customary Brahmin fashion of South India, shaved in front to the crown and falling to below his knees in a pigtail at the back; moreover his vacant expression gave him an almost moronic look.

Soon, C. W. Leadbeater started researching their past lives and become aware of their relationship with himself and the Masters. These accounts were published in articles in The Theosophist, the mystic name given to Krishnamurti being Alcyone. All these accounts were eventually published in the book Lives of Alcyone.

During this time a group of Theosophists began to take care of him and his younger brother, Nityananda. They nourished them physically, and taught them hygiene, yogic postures, breathing exercises, and sports. Eventually they also took care of their academic education.

Annie Besant, who was abroad on a tour, met them for the first time on November 27, 1909. On March 6, 1910 she became their legal guardian.

Initiations

C. W. Leadbeater reported that on the night of August 1, 1909, Master K.H. had put Krishnamurti on probation.

Then, Leadbeater started taken him every night in his astral body to the house of the Master to be instructed for fifteen minutes. The next morning Krishnamurti would write down what he remembered, and these notes were later published as the book At the Feet of the Master.

After only five months of probation he was accepted as a chela, and received his first initiation on January 11, 1910, while he was at Adyar.

The second initiation took place on the night of the full moon of May 1, 1912, while he was in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

The third initiation took place in Ojai, California, on August 20, 1922. (See below)

World Teacher movement

On January 11, 1911, George Arundale formed The Order of the Rising Sun to draw together those in India who believed in the near coming of a great spiritual teacher and prepare public opinion to receive him. At the same time a quarterly magazine printed at Adyar called The Herald of the Star was started. A few months later Besant and Leadbeater made this into an international movement called The Order of the Star in the East, of which Krishnamurti was the head.

On December 28, 1911, when Krishnamurti was handling certificates to new members of the Order, the following happened, as reported by C. W. Leadbeater:

All at once the Hall was filled with tremendous power, which was so evidently flowing through Krishna[murti] that the next member fell at his feet, overwhelmed by this marvellous rush of force. I have never seen or felt anything in the least like it; it reminded one irresistibly of the rushing mighty wind and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. The tension was enormous, and everyone in the room was most powerfully affected. It was exactly the kind of thing that we read about in the old scriptures, and think exaggerated; but here it was before us in the twentieth century. After that, each one prostrated himself as his turn came, many of them with tears pouring down their cheeks. The scene was indeed a memorable one, for the stream of devotees was remarkably representative in character. There were members from almost every country in Europe, from America and from all parts of India. . . .

After this Annie Besant made public the fact that Krishnamurti's body had been chosen by Maitreya to serve as his vehicle.

From 1914 to 1921 Krishnamurti was absorbed by "mundane" pursuits, unsuccessfully trying to get to Oxford, Cambridge, and London University. He lost much of his enthusiasm for the work of the Masters and his role in it, and felt rebellious about it.

In 1923 (after having taken his third initiation in 1922) he began to work actively for the Order of the Star in the East and Theosophy. He started writing articles, answering official letters, and giving lectures around the world. That year Nitya wrote:

The Convention [in Chicago] was a record success, thanks to K’s presence and I think the greatest thing that can be said is that he more than came up to everyone’s expectations . . . everyone whom Krishna has come into touch with feels a new revival of their enthusiasm. Krishna now talks like someone who has found his goal, and his purpose in his talks has been to make the existence of the Masters an intense reality and in this he is really inspired.

Life-altering experiences

After some years of disenchantment, his interest in Theosophy and the Order of the Star in the East slowly started to reawaken. On May 6, 1920, he wrote to Lady Emily:

Curiously all day I have been very dreamy, more dreamy than usual and in my heart there have been a continual thought of Lord Buddha. I was in such a state that I had to sit down and meditate. Think of me meditating. Extraordinary.

And in March 1921:

I have been thinking a great deal about the Order & the T.S. mais surtout de moi-même. I must find myself and then only can I help others. In fact, I must make the Old Gentleman come down & take some responsibility. Probably he wants to but finds that the body & mind is not spiritual enough & now I must waken them for 'his' habitation.

From this point on Krishnamurti started giving lectures and writing articles.

In June, 1922, while visiting C. W. Leadbeater in Australia, Krishnamurti received a message from Master K.H. brought through CWL, advising him to be more tolerant of divergence of views and methods. This message produced a deep effect on him. From Australia he went to Ojai, California. In August he wrote to Lady Emily:

I have been meditating every morning for half an hour or 35 mins . . . & I meditate again before I go to sleep for about 10 minutes. All this is rather surprising you, isn’t it? I am going to get back my old touch with the Masters & after all that's the only thing that matters in life & nothing else does.

In another letter, he explained in more detail his practice:

Ever since I left Australia I have been thinking and deliberating about the message which

the Master K.H. gave me while I was there. I naturally wanted to achieve those orders as soon as I could, and I was to a certain extent uncertain as to the best method of attaining the ideals which were put before me. . .

I set about to find out ways and means to achieve my aim. First I realized that I had to harmonize all my other bodies with the Buddhic plane [the highest plane of consciousness] and to bring about this happy combination I had to find out what my ego wanted on the Buddhic plane. To harmonize the various bodies I had to keep them vibrating at the same rate as the Buddhic, and to do this I had to find out what was the vital interest of the Buddhic. With ease which rather astonished me I found the main interest on that high plane was to serve the Lord Maitreya and the Masters. With that idea clear in my physical mind I had to direct and control the other bodies to act and to think the same as on the noble and spiritual plane. During that period of less than three weeks, I concentrated to keep in mind the image of the Lord Maitreya throughout the entire day, and I found no difficulty in doing this. I found that I was getting calmer and more serene. My whole outlook on life was changed.

From August 17 to the 19th he started experiencing an acute pain in the back of his neck and eventually got prostrated, coming in and out of consciousness. Then, he had "the most extraordinary experience":

There was a man mending the road; that man was myself; the pickaxe he held was myself; the very stone which he was breaking up was a part of me; the tender blade of grass was my very being, and the tree beside the man was myself. I almost could feel and think like the roadmender, and I could feel the wind passing through the tree, and the little ant on the blade of grass I could feel. The birds, the dust, and the very noise were a part of me. Just then there was a car passing by at some distance; I was the driver, the engine, and the tyres; as the car went further away from me, I was going away from myself. I was in everything, or rather everything was in me, inanimate and animate, the mountain, the worm, and all breathing things. All day long I remained in this happy condition.

On Sunday, August 20 he felt extremely tired and weak, and very sensitive. A. P. Warrington suggested him to sit under the pepper tree which is near the house. The following is his statement:

There I sat crosslegged in the meditation posture. When I had sat thus for some time, I felt myself going out of my body, I saw myself sitting down with the delicate tender leaves of the tree over me. I was facing the east. In front of me was my body and over my head I saw the Star, bright and clear. Then I could feel the vibrations of the Lord Buddha; I beheld Lord Maitreya and Master K.H. I was so happy, calm and at peace. I could still see my body and I was hovering near it. There was such profound calmness both in the air and within myself . . . The Presence of the mighty Beings was with me for some time and then They were gone. I was supremely happy, for I had seen. Nothing could ever be the same. I have drunk at the clear and pure waters at the source of the fountain of life and my thirst was appeased. Never more could I be thirsty, never more could I be in utter darkness. I have seen the Light. I have touched compassion which heals all sorrow and suffering; it is not for myself, but for the world. I have stood on the mountain top and gazed at the mighty Beings. Never can I be in utter darkness; I have seen the glorious and healing Light. The fountain of Truth has been revealed to me and the darkness has been dispersed. Love in all its glory has intoxicated my heart; my heart can never be closed. I have drunk at the fountain of Joy and eternal Beauty. I am God-intoxicated.

In a letter to C. W. Leadbeater he wrote:

After Aug. 20th I know what I want to do and what lies before me—nothing but to serve the Masters and the Lord. I have become since that date much more sensitive and slightly clairvoyant as I saw you with the President, the other night while I was sitting in the moonlight. Such a thing has not happened to me for over seven years. In fact for the last seven years, I have been spiritually blind, I have been in a dungeon without a light, without any fresh air. Now I feel I am in sunlight, with the energy of many, not physical but mental and emotional. I feel once again in touch with Lord Maitreya and the Master and there is nothing else for me to do but to serve Them. My whole life, now, is, consciously, on the physical plane, devoted to the work and I am not likely to change.

C. W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant interpreted this experience as Krishnamurti's third Initiation, although was puzzled by the pain and sickness he went through. He wrote to Mrs. Besant:

It [the experience] was indeed marvellous and beautiful, though I wish that it had not been accompanied by so much physical sickness and suffering. I should like very much to hear your comment upon all this. We have ourselves passed through very similar experiences, except that, in my own case at least, there has never been any of these terrible physical symptoms, the body being usually left peacefully resting in a trance condition, or else fully awake and taking part in what was passing, but without any pain or sickness.

After this experience the acute pain in his head and spine would continue, on and off, for nearly forty-years (although it tended to be milder as the years went by). He called this "the process".

The Process

In September, 1922, Krishnamurti described this "process" to Lady Emily as follows:

Every evening at about 6:30 I become semi-conscious; I have no food but go to bed; from 6:30 to 7:30 or 8, or even 8:30 it lasts. I toss about, groan & moan and mutter strange things, in fact almost behave like one possessed. I get up, thinking somebody is calling me and collapse on the floor; I rave considerably, see strange faces & light. All the time, I have a violent pain in my head & the nape of my neck & can’t bear the touch of anyone. Also during that time, I become very sensitive, can’t bear a sound, however small it may be. I feel so tired & exhausted, while the thing is going on. Sometimes the whole thing becomes very acute & force has to be used to keep me down & other times it is quite mild. After it is over, I remember some parts of the scene I had been creating; then I have my food & retire to bed. I don’t know what’s the cause, nor what it’s for; now it has lasted for nearly a month, practically everyday except when I went to Los Angeles. It may be that I may become clairvoyant when it is all over or merely that I am gradually going mad!!! For the last five or six days I have been seeing my dead mother. Whenever I shut my eyes & especially during the evening when Rosalind, who looks after me during that period, is with me, I see her very clearly, in fact, I call to her aloud & mistake Rosalind for my long lost mother. It may be that she uses R. or that R. is the reincarnation of my mother. I don’t know which it is, nor is it of any importance. While I am in that state, remember long-forgotten boyhood scenes, such as when I was ill with my mother, how I used to rest on her stomach!!, the beggars we used to feed & how I used to be waked up by her, & the going to the school etc. I can’t account for all this...

Nitya described the process to C. W. Leadbeater in a letter of October 2:

Every evening about 6.30 to 8, Krishna has gone into a state of semi-consciousness when the ego seems to leave and the physical elemental is allowed enough consciousness to suffer, to talk and even transmit intelligently any piece of information that may be necessary. He complains of agonising pain while he is in this state, centering mostly in the spine; so we have surmised that his kundalini is being awakened.

During this process the physical elemental was left in charge of the body. The latter would speak and complain much in the way a child would. The elemental would talk of Krishnamurti as being a separate person, and sometimes even call him asking him to come back.

Although the speculation was that the process was part of the awakening of Kundalini, in the experiences of C. W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant it had not entailed so much pain. CWL shows his perplexity in a letter on May 12, 1923 to Mrs. Besant:

It is evident that in all higher matters the methods of progress differ for each individual. I do not understand why such terrible physical suffering should come to our Krishna. Surely the Brahmin body is exceptionally pure, and should need less in the way of preparation than the average European vehicle. In my own case I have no recollection of anything in the least commensurate with this when I was passing through the same stage, though there was certainly a great deal of excessive discomfort in the development of the Kundalini. It may be, as you suggest, that this is part of the preparation of that body for its Great Occupant, yet nothing has been said as to any hastening of the Coming. But it might well be that years must elapse after the completion of this preparation, in order that the body might fully recover from it before having to undergo the strain of the actual occupancy. The case is so unique that I suppose the truth is that we can only wait and watch.

On September 20, 1923, after many days of the process, Krishnamurti brought through the following message from Mahatma K.H. that shows the Masters were involved in this process. Nitya wrote it down as follows:

Nitya Listen. This is finished here, this is the last night. It will be continued in Ojai. But this depends upon you. You both should have more energy. On what you do in the next month will depend the success. You have to be exceedingly careful. Let nothing stand in the way. You have both of you to put on more fat, in order to have more energy. Let everything be consecrated to the success of this. It has been a success here. But Ojai depends entirely on you, there it will be continued with much greater vigour if you are ready. . .

When you leave this place you have to be exceedingly careful. It is like a fresh vase, just out of the mould, and any bad vibration may crack it, and this will mean repairing and remodelling and this would take a long time.

They went to Ojai and on November 20 Krishnamurti's process started again. It was so bad that even Nitya was worried. He wrote to Leadbeater saying that "They" were experimenting with performing the process while K. remained fully conscious. The pain was "fierce". On the 26th Krishnamurti's body repeated the following message:

The work that is being done now is of the gravest importance and exceedingly delicate. It is the first time that this experiment is being carried out in the world. Everything in the household must give way to this work, and no one's convenience must be considered, not even Krishna[murti]'s. Strangers must not come there too often; the strain is too great. You and Krishna can work this out. Maintain peace and [an] even life.

Leadbeater answered that he did not know what was going on and was quite anxious about it. He couldn't understand why all this pain was necessary. He said he had not seen this coming "in the future that stretched itself before us in those happy days at Adyar so long ago". Later, he was greatly relieved when he received an answer from Annie Besant stating that the whole proceeding was being done under the authority of the Masters.

The process went on every evening for a few months. On February 27, 1924, he had the following experience:

I had an extraordinary evening. Whatever it is, the force or whatever one calls the bally thing, came up my spine, up to the nape of my neck, then it separated into two, one going to the right & the other to the left of my head till they met between the two eyes, just above my nose. There was a kind of flame & and I saw the Lord & the Master. It was a tremendous night. Of course the whole thing was painful, in the extreme.

The process, which continued uninterrupted for about 110 days, finally ended early in April. On April 11 Krishnamurti was given a message from the Masters saying that what had been done so far was a good success, but that this was the beginning of many struggles. That now attention should be turned towards the recuperation of the body. "Plenty of food, plenty of open air and exercise should be sufficient".

The process resumed for one more month, from late August to September.

Death of his brother

Krishnamurti's brother Nitya had tuberculosis, and from time to time he was prostrated by it. At the beginning of 1925, when they were in India, Nitya became very ill and was several times on the brick of death. Krishnamurti was very worried about this. On February 10 he sent a letter to Annie Besant telling her the following recollection from one of his astral visits to the Masters:

I remember going to the Master’s house and asking & begging to let Nitya get well & let him live. The Master said that I was to see the Lord Maitreya and I went there and I implored there but I got the impression that it was not His business & that I should go to the Mahachohan. I went there. I remember all this so clearly. He was seated in His chair, with great dignity & magnificent understanding, with grave & kindly eyes. My futile description is so absurd but it’s impossible to convey, the great impression of it all. I told Him that I would sacrifice my happiness or anything that was required to let Nitya live, for I felt this thing was being decided. He listened to me & answered "He will be well". It was such a relief and all my anxiety has completely disappeared.

On March Nitya somewhat recovered and they left for Sydney. On June they started their journey back to Ojai, which they reached in the middle of July. During the trip Nitya had been very sick and in danger of passing away, but he recovered by the end of the journey.

Krishnamurti schools

Early in his career Krishnamurti showed a concern about education. In 1912, when he was only 17, he wrote the book Education as Service in which he described "the life of an ideal school where love rules and inspires, where the students grow into noble adolescents under the fostering care of teachers who feel the greatness of their vocation".

Later years

J. Krishnamurti planting tree at Adyar, 1982

Experiences with the Masters

During the early years Krishnamurti reported many times his experiences with the Masters on the astral plane. Below a list of some of them:

• For five months since August 1, 1909, he astrally visited the house of Master K. H. every night, while his body was asleep. There, he received instruction from the Master which would be written down in the morning, frequently in the presence of witnesses.

• On December 31, 1909, he wrote to Annie Besant (then in Benares) an account of an astral visit to the Masters in which he was accepted as a disciple of Master K. H. He was at Adyar with C. W. Leadbeater.

• He also wrote an account of his initiation on the astral plane which took place on January 11, 1910.

• On June 12, 1911, while in a lecture Annie Besant was giving at the Sorbonne, he claimed to have seen "the Count there", probably referring to the Mahatma known as the Count de Saint Germain.

• On June 27, 1911, while in England, he remembered going with George Arundale to the house of Master K.H., where the latter accepted the former as his chela. He received confirmation of this from C. W. Leadbeater, who was at Adyar.

• In January, 1914, while at Taormina, Sicili, Krishamurti "suddenly looked up and said, 'The Lord Buddha is here'. His whole face changed completely and he rushed from the room. Soon he came back and told them that he had seen the Lord Buddha standing beside him."

Online resources

Audio

• Krishnamurti and Eastern Philosophy by Ravi Ravindra
• Krishnamurti on the Masters by Aryel Sanat

Additional resources

• J. Krishnamurti's Natal Chart at Astrodienst
• Jiddu Krishnamurti Online
• JidduKrishnamurti.Net