Passages from The Mystique of Enlightenment

The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti

What you are looking for does not exist. You would rather tread an enchanted ground with beatific visions of a radical transformation of that non-existent self of yours into a state of being which is conjured up by some bewitching phrases. That takes you away from your natural state -- it is a movement away from yourself. To be yourself requires extraordinary intelligence. You are 'blessed' with that intelligence; nobody need give it to you, nobody can take it away from you. He who lets that express itself in its own way is a natural man.

The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti

 

What is necessary for man is to free himself from the entire past of mankind, not only his individual past. That is to say, you have to free yourself from what every man before you has thought, felt and experienced -- then only is it possible for you to be yourself. The whole purpose of my talking to people is to point out the uniqueness of every individual. Culture or civilization or whatever you might call it has always tried to fit us into a framework. Man is not man at all; I call him a 'unique animal' -- and man will remain a unique animal as long as he's burdened by the culture.

The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti

You say that these great sages and saints and saviors of mankind have answers for our problems. Then, why are we still asking the same questions? 

The Mystique of Enlightenment - U.G. Krishnamurti

 

You see, the whole world is now thinking in terms of one world -- at least theoretically -- but nobody is ready to give up the sovereignty of his nation. That is really the crux of the problem.