May 23, 2012

Passages from The Mystique of Enlightenment

The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti

Thoughts come and go; they repeat themselves -- it is fun that way. Not that I watched this as one who wanted to enjoy some fun. Most of the time you don't even know that they are there. They cannot stay there; they are moving. When you recognize there is trouble, fine, it cannot stay there for long; it is pushed out by the next thing. You don't have to do a thing; before you realize what is happening, it is gone. When you try to look at it, it is not there; what you are looking at is completely different from what was there before. They are not problems; they become problems only when you sit in one corner trying to meditate and control your thoughts. Thoughts are welling up inside of you. How can you control it? You have no control over it. It is not possible for you to control it. All this is an exercise in futility. You don't have to do a thing.



The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti
 

Q: Can I put this question back to you? What according to you is a normal man? 

UG: To me there is no such thing as a normal man. When I look at the so-called insane people, I wonder whether they are insane, or those who are treating them. I was telling a joke the other day. Some chappie in a loony bin said "I am Jesus Christ." His friend, another inmate, said "I know you are not." "How the hell do you know I am not?" said the first chappie. The other chappie said "I am the Eternal Father. I have created you. I should know you." (Laughter) It's like that here also, when I see all those people sitting there saying "Aham Brahmasmi" (I am Brahman). What is this nonsense?



The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti
 

We have very strange ideas in the religious field -- torture this body, sleep on nails, control, deny things -- all kinds of funny things. What for? Why deny certain things? I don't know. What is the difference between a man going to a bar for a glass of beer, and a man going to a temple and repeating the name of Rama? I don't see any basic difference. Probably it is antisocial here; in the West they don't think it is antisocial; here we think it is. These are all escapes. I am not against escapes, but whether you escape through this avenue or that avenue, an escape is an escape. You are escaping from yourself.



The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti
 

That is the reason why I say that this individual cannot be of any use to society. He's a rare bird, a rare plant -- put him in a cage, in a museum, and look at him -- he's something different, you know.

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