On Living And Dying

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On Living and Dying is one of a series of theme books compiled from the talks, writings, and dialogues of J. Krishnamurti. Some of the other titles in this series are On God, On Relationship, On Freedom, On Love and Loneliness, and On Fear.

‘To understand death, you have to understand life. But life is not the continuity of thought; it is this very continuity that has bred all our misery. So can the mind bring death from the distant to the immediate? Do you follow? Actually, death is not somewhere far away; it is here and now. It is here when you are talking, when you are enjoying yourself when you are listening, when you are going to the office. It is here at every minute of life, just as love is. If once you perceive this fact, then you will find that there is no fear of death at all.’

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in India in 1895 and, at the age of thirteen, taken up by the Theosophical Society, which considered him to be the vehicle for the “world teacher” whose advent it had been proclaiming. Krishnamurti was soon to emerge as a powerful, uncompromising, and unclassifiable teacher, whose talks and writings were not linked to any specific religion and were of neither the East nor the West but for the whole world. Firmly repudiating the messianic image, in 1929 he dramatically dissolved the large and monied organization that had been built around him and declared truth to be “a pathless land,” which could not be approached by any formalized religion, philosophy, or sect.

For the rest of his life Krishnamurti insistently rejected the guru status that others tried to foist upon him. He continued to attract large audiences throughout the world but claimed no authority, wanted no disciples, and spoke always as one individual to another. At the core of his teaching was the realization that fundamental changes in society can be brought about only by a transformation of individual consciousness. The need for self-knowledge d understanding of the restrictive, separative influences of religious and nationalistic conditionings was constantly stressed. Krishamurti pointed always to the urgent need for openness, for that vast space in the brain in which there is unimaginable energy.’ This seems to have been the wellspring of his own creativity and the key to his catalytic impact on such a wide variety of people.

Krishnamurti continued to speak all over the world until he died in 1986 at the age of ninety. His talks and dialogues, journals and letters have been collected into more than sixty books. From that vast body of teachings this series of theme books has been compiled. Each book focuses on an issue that has particular relevance to and urgency in our daily lives.