I recently brought his book named ‘Krishnamurty on Education’ from Landmark, versova mumbai…they have quite a decent set of collection there  was somewhat surprised to find a book on that grim a topic.. over there at the landmark…

What I like most about him is he really goes deep, very deep – to the roots/basics/foundation of everthing and he makes us question or at least examine those.. it does gets a bit baffeling sometimes but he is still worth giving a serious consideration..as in most of the thinkers, he hardly assumes anything and so he questions all our conscious and subconsious assumptions another good thing about him he rarely attributes any direct value to anything (as to whether what is good or bad …he puts a lot of emphasis on  a deeper understanding of everything rather than attributing some values)… Now if you’ve read the last sentence …did you notice anything funny or contradictory in it  ? if not, then that says that you are not reading this carefully.. pls. read it again … There’s a hint of contradiction or paradox in the sentence (cutting it short, I said, It’s good that he does not attribute values like good or bad to anything..) ..

This book, in particular is divided into two sections, Dialouges with Children and Dialouges with teachers and a majority of the chapters are in the form of live discussions or to say questions and answers .. I will share some of the interesting excerpts from his dialouges with teachers on Teaching and learning..

P.S. — you will notice how deep they try to go into anything …on the first look it won’t seem that they are talking about education at all..but if you have some patience & interest than read on ..otherwise forget it and carry on with some other stuff..as this might sound completely absurd and pointless to some … It starts from the teacher asking question ..

TEACHER : We realize that we cannot see a fact unless the mind of empty of thought. But even if it is empty for a while, thought seems to rise again. How do we end thought?

KRISHNAMURTY: I wonder if all of us understand the importance of the role of thinking? Is thought important, and at what level is it important? What is thinking? Wht makes us think? were is thougt important and where is it not important, how do you answer that question? And what is the machinery that is set going when a question is asked?

Is thinking merely the habiutal response to a habitual pattern? You live here in this school in a certain groove, with certain patterns of thoughts, habbits, feeling. You live, you funciton inthose habits, patterns and systems; and the funcitoning of the brain, thought is very limited. And when you go out of the valley you live in a little wider field. You have certain grooves of actio and you follow them. It is all a mechanical process really, but in that pattern of mechanical activity there are certain variations. You modify, change, but always in that pattern, whereever you are, Whatever position you may have — minister, governor or doctor or professor — it is always a groove with varying changes and modifinations. You funciton in patterns. I am not saying it is right or wrong. I am just examining it. You have beliefs but they are in the backgorund and you go on with your daily activities, with you envy, greed, jealousy. Whenever your beliefs are questioned you get irritated but you go on. Chinldren are being educitoned to think, to form grooves of habits and to funciton in those habits for the rest of their lives. They are going to get jobs, they are going to be engineers, doctors, and for the rest of their lives, the pattern will be set. Any deviation from thatis what is disturbing. That disturbance is lessened throught marriage, responsibility, chinlrfen; and so gradually the mould is set.. And all thinking is between what is convinient, what is not convinient, wht is benificial, what is worthwhile — it is always within that field.

TEACHER: That is not thinking, sir, it is a repetition.

KRISHNAMURTY: But that is how we live, that is our life. That is all we want. Everything is repetition and the mind gets duller and more stupid. Is that nota fact, sir? We do not want to be disturbed, we do not want to shatter the pattern.

What makes us shatter the pattern or break through the pattern? And is it possible not fall into a groove ? But why should I end the making of patterns ? I begin to hink about ending them whe the pattern does not satisfy me, when the patter is not longer useful to me or when there are in the patter certain incidents like death, the husband leaving the wofe, or losing a job, In the breaking of that particular pattern there is adisturbance called sorrow and I move away fro mthat into another pattern. I move away from pattern to pattern from one framework into which circumstances, environment, family, educaiton have put me, to another. The disturbance makes me questiona a little, but I imeediately fall into antoher groove and there I settle. That is what most people want, waht their parents want, waht society wants. Where does this idea of ending the thought come in ?

TEACHER: Sir, there are times when one is discontended with the whole pattern and everything in it 

KRISHNAMURTY: What makes us see the futility of this pattern? when do I see it and what makes me see it? A pattern is set if there is a motive. If i break from this pattern with a motive, the motive will mould the new pattern.

Now, wat makes me change, what makes me do something without a motive?

TEACHER: It is very difficult to be free from motive?

KRISHNAMURTY: Who tells you to be free? If it is difficult why bother about breaking the pattern? Be satisfied with a motive and continue with it, why bother if it is difficult?

TEACHER: It leads me nowhere, sir.

KRISHNAMURTY: But if it led anywhere, whould you pursue it?

TEACHER: Which mens there is a motive again.

KRISHANMURTY: What makes you break through and give up the motive? What do you mean by motive? You teach ehre because you get some monty, that is a motive. You like somebody because he can give a position or you love God becaues you hate life. Your life is miserable and love of God is the escpate from that. These are all motives.

Now, what makes a mind, a human being. live without a motive? If you can pursue that and go into it, I am sure you wil find the answer to your question?

TEACHER : The question, “Do I know my motives?’ seems to come befire the question “Do I do something without a motive?”

KRISHNAMURTY: Do we know our motives? Why do I teach, why do I hold on to a husband, wife? Do I know my motives and how do I find out ? And if I do find out, what is wrong with having motives? I love somebody becuase i like to be with that somebody physicall, sexually, as a companion, what is wrong with that ?

TAEACHER; When I teach because I must have money, motive is not a hindrance. I must have monty, so I must take to some profession, and I take to teaching.

KRISHNAMURTI: First of all, do we know our motives, not only the conscious but the unconscious motives, the hidden motives ? Do we do anything in out lives without a motive? To do something without a motive is love of what one is doing, and in that process thinking is not mechanical; then the brain is in a state of constant learning, not opinionated not moving from knowledge to knowledge. it is a mind that moves from fact to fact. Therefore, such a mind od capable of ending and coming tosomething it does not know, which is freedom from the known.

you asked at the bginining: “How do we end thought?” I said what for? We do not even know what thinking is, we do not know how to think. We think in terms of patterns. So, unless we have investigated or understood all that, we cannot possibly ask that question: “How do we end thought?

TEACHER: How can we enqire into thinking and how to think? (Pls. note that A teacher who teaches the children everyday is asking this question..and nothing to feel bad about it the good thing about this whole thing is that atleast the teachers here are honest and far less pretentious..)

KRISHNAMURTY: Not only enquire into how to think but also into what is thinking. CAn I, as a human being, as an individual,find out what is the way of my thinking? Is it mechanical, is it free? Do I know it as it is operating in me ?

To end thought I have first to go into the mechanism of thinking. I have to understand thought completely, deepdown in me. I have to examine every thought, without letting one gthought escape without being fully understood, so that the brain, the mind, the whole being becomes very attentive. The moment I pursue every thought to the root, to the end completely, i will see that thought ends by itself. I do not have to do anything about it because thought is memory. Memory is the mark of experience and as long as experience is not fully, completely, totally understood, it leaves a mark. The moment I have experienced completely, the experience leaves not mark. So, if we go into everhthought and see where the mark is and remain with tha mark, as a fact — then that fact will open and that fact will end that particular process of thinking. So that every thought, every feeling is understood. So the brain and the mind are being freed from a mass of memories. That requires tremendous attention, not attention only to the trees and birds but invward attention to see that every thought is understood.

There is one more very interesting chapter in that book..will be posting it later.. I hope the publishers won’t sue me for this :-) )