J Krishnamurti’s Insight on Meditation
Tattva - Journal of Philosophy 2016 DOI: 10.12726/tjp.15.2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that meditation, as Krishnamurti conceives it, is a choiceless awareness of thoughts and feelings, not a system or method, and is a movement without end or arrival. |
Abstract
J. Krishnamurti, whose life and teachings spanned the greater part of the 20th Century, is regarded by many as one who has had the most profound impact on human consciousness in modern times. He talked of the things that concern all of us in our everyday life: the problems of living in modern society, the individual’s search for security, and the need for human beings to free themselves from their inner burdens of violence, fear and sorrow. Meditation, according to Krishnamurti, is not the popular tranquilizer that most people call to mind, but an attempt to see if there is an end to knowledge, therefore freedom from the known. What Krishnamurti considers meditation is along the lines of insight meditation or jyana yoga. Meditation is not a means to an end; there is no end, no arrival; it is a movement in time and out of time. Every system and method binds thought to time, but choice less awareness of every thought and feeling, as well as an understanding of their motives, their mechanism, allowing them to blossom, is the beginning of meditation. This paper is an attempt to discuss J. Krishnamurti’s insight on what meditation is and how to practice it.