Krishnamurti addressing the Order of the Star 3 August 1929 when he announced he would dissolve the Order
I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organised; nor should any organisation be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organise a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organise it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallised; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather, the individual must make an effort to ascend to it….
I maintain that no organisation can lead man to spirituality. If an organisation be created for this purpose, it becomes a truth, a weakness, a bondage, and must cripple the individual and prevent him from growing, from establishing his uniqueness, which lies in the discovery for himself of that absolute, unconditioned Truth….
I have only one purpose; to make man free, to urge him towards freedom; to help him to break away from all limitations, for that alone will give him eternal happiness, will give him the unconditioned realisation of the self.
Because I am free, unconditioned, whole - not the part, nor the relative, but the whole Truth that is eternal - I desire those who seek to understand me, to be free, not to follow me, not to make out of me a cage which will become a religion, a sect. Rather should they be free from all fears - from the fear of religion, from the fear of salvation, from the fear of spirituality, from the fear of love, from the fear of death, from the fear of life itself. As an artist paints a picture because he takes delight in that painting, because it is his self-expression, his glory, his well-being, so I do this and not because I want anything from anyone.
You are accustomed to authority, or to the atmosphere of authority which you think will lead you to spirituality. You think and hope that another can, by extraordinary powers - a miracle - transport you to this realm of eternal freedom which is Happiness. Your whole outlook on life is based on that authority.
You have listened to me for three years now, without any change taking place except in the few. Now analyse what I am saying, be critical, so that you may understand thoroughly, fundamentally. When you look for an authority to lead you to spirituality, you are bound automatically to build an organisation around that authority. By the very creation of that organisation, which, you think, will help this authority to lead you to spirituality, you are held in a cage.
Instead of old spiritual distinction, instead of old worships, you have new worships. You are all depending for your spirituality on someone else, for your happiness on someone else, for your enlightenment on someone else; and although you have been preparing for me for eighteen years, when I say all these things are unnecessary, when I say that you must put them all away and look within yourselves for the enlightenment, for the glory, for the purification, and for the incorruptibility of the self; not one of you is willing to do it. There may be a few, but very, very few.
So why have an organisation?….
As I said before, my purpose is to make men unconditionally free, for I maintain that the only spirituality is the incorruptibility of the self which is eternal; is the harmony between reason and love. This is the absolute, unconditioned Truth which is Life itself … Truth is in everyone; it is not far, it is not near; it is eternally there.
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This absolute statement can so shock the brain that, for the moment, the self-perpetuating process stops. Krishnamurti's challenge that truth cannot be organised, interpreted, or transmitted from one person to another stills the mind, demands attention. As the timeless challenge is allowed to act directly IN consciousness and not be acted upon BY consciousness, a new dimension of living begins. (Author of Truth is a Pathless Land, Ingram Smith)
“Nobody can give guidance, can give light, to another. Only you yourself can do that; but you have to stand completely alone. That is what is frightening for the old and the young. If you belong to anything, follow anybody, you are already entering into corruption.”
Krishnamurti 1982
“Can you put aside the teacher, the path, the end – put it aside so completely that your mind is empty of all this seeking? To be quiet requires great energy; you need all your energy for silence of the mind and it is only in emptiness, in complete emptiness, that a new thing can be.”
Krishnamurti: 1969
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