Truth is a
Pathless Land
J. Krishnamurti
(Sounds True CDs)

"I am not here to entertain you. I am not here to teach you. We are here as friends to explore the truth." So Krishnamurti, speaking as faithful religions anarchist to the end, three years before his death.

And a bit of a paranoid, too. Trust no one but yourself. The leaders --- political, social, psychological, religious --- are dominated by thought. And what is thought? It is something from yesterday, from before, drawn on experience --- e.g., prejudice. "The thinker is always correcting. And correction is division. Wars are a result of thought." And even if you believe you are "non-violent," the very words are touching on violence.

And then, just as we are getting comfortable (Krishnamurti is speaking out-of-doors, at the edge of the mountains; there are mockingbirds and linnets in the background, at the edge of his bemused, elegant voice) just then he demands, "Why are you here?"

And I think, "Hell, I don't know. I am just sitting at the feet of the master, trying to learn something." Then I remember, gulp, he's a stern grandfather: he told me he wasn't here to teach me. Nor to entertain. And that he certainly is no master. Get that one out of your head right now.

§     §     §

Years age we listened to him on KPFA, eternally speaking of "the observer" and "the observed." The message was that if we believe the two are separate, then we are condemned to conflict. We are the observer and the observed, both, together, one and eternal --- and the sooner we (and society) realize that, the sooner we will have peace.

Psychologically," he tells us, "we are still primitives." Trust no one --- certainly not Krishnamurti --- only your own cool observation. Meditate on your thoughts the waterfall with neither love nor hate. Remember that the failure of civilization is separation. Religion? God is but the creation of man.

Fear he tells us, has two roots: time, and memories, which are but incomplete knowledge; you'll never know everything. To end fear, you must become it. You no longer need to pray to a God to protect you: once you best fear, you are God.

The Sounds True cover on Truth is a Pathless Land shows Krishnamurti in five photographs, smiling. Forget it. He's a hectoring grandfather --- scolding our heartlessness, our unwillingness to change, our division from ourselves. Remember who he is: he was once offered the leadership of the large and august organization, the Theosophists ---- to be the top dog when he was but twenty-six.

And what did he do? He shrugged his shoulders, walked away, said, "Trust in no hierarchy." Even the one that had made him famous.

Why are you here? he demands. I apologize, to him, to me. And no matter what you say --- I think --- I'm going to pretend you are one of the masters. Your words ring true; besides, anyone who proclaims that he is not a master has to be one, no? And it is so nice here in the shade with the breeze, and the mountains, and the birds, here with gramps, the original grouch, who, despite what he proclaims, may have something all too profound to teach us.

--- D. D. Das