[Krishnamurti, Jiddu]
Twentieth century spiritual Master of great repute.
▵ Sadhguru on Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in a village called Madanapalle. I have been to his house where he was born and where he lived – a century-old house. It is a cute little house and a nice place. It is kept like a monument for him today. Madanapalle is a little village, but because Jiddu Krishnamurti built a school nearby, all kinds of people go there now because of the school.
▵ Madam Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society
At one time, in the early 20th century and late 19th century, Theosophy spread across the world in a big way. This was begun by Madam Blavatsky, who had a great interest in occult and mysticism. Those were times when a lot of British and other European seekers of mysticism – Max Müller, Paul Brunton and many others – travelled to India and wrote lots of books. Blavatsky was even before them.Their dream was to produce a “perfect being”.
In those days, it was not like going to some place to learn. You really had to take off on horseback and go to a strange country, battle all kinds of things and try to meet the right kind of Gurus. It was a whole adventure. To go on that kind of adventure, one must have substantial longing, otherwise you cannot make such a journey where your life is at risk.
Madam Blavatsky travelled to all kinds of places, she went to Tibet, to India and then she came down to Tamil Nadu and set up the Theosophical Society there – which still exists today. Their dream was to produce a “perfect being”.
▵ Maitreya or World Teacher
I do not know to what extent they went into it, but actually in the Yogic lore, there was a Yogi by the name Sunira, who lived approximately 40,000 years ago. Sunira saw that human consciousness could be evolved if you produce a perfect human being who could render this to all sorts of people. In a way, he came from the tradition of Shiva, so his dream was to build another being like that. He wanted to build a living Shiva once again – a perfect teacher for the world who is completely multi-dimensional, not limited to any kind of teaching. Shiva explored the whole human consciousness and human body in every possible way, so Sunira wanted that kind of a living being.Shiva explored the whole human consciousness and human body in every possible way, so Sunira wanted that kind of a living being.
Sunira started building the energy body for that kind of being. He believed that he could then build a physical body on top of that and let him loose in the world with a lifespan of a few hundred or thousand years so that he will transform the whole world.
Sunira started working on this project – which he referred to as Maitreya, the ultimate friend of humanity – but he died unfulfilled. So here and there, down these 40,000 years, many ambitious Yogis picked up the same project that Sunira had left and tried to reconstruct this energy body of a perfect teacher who can transform human consciousness. It went on, off and on, off and on. Various Yogis picked it up and tried to build the same thing back any number of times.
▵ Theosophy
Madam Blavatsky, Leadbeater and Annie Besant came together to power this Theosophy movement across the world, which they successfully did to a large extent. They gathered the most phenomenal occult library on the planet, which is still in the Theosophical Society of India. They gathered every kind of book on occult and they set up a whole study team.
Even now, Jiddu Krishnamurti’s groups are called study circles or study groups because these study groups were set up by Annie Besant and Leadbeater. Annie Besant and Leadbeater were brilliant intellects, no question about that, but they had no inner experience.
▵ The Training
They gathered a phenomenal amount of information about all these things and they believed that with this information and with their intellect, they would recreate all this. They started looking for appropriate bodies upon which this body of a super-teacher can be imposed. They chose Jiddu Krishnamurti, and started putting him through very severe training to prepare him physically and mentally….he was like a flower – his fragrance could not be missed.
Leadbeater left India along with Jiddu Krishnamurti and came to UK, where Jiddu Krishnamurti developed very Western tastes. He dressed in the finest suits, went to Piccadilly and wore the finest ties. He would take hours to choose a tie – a very meticulous man. He bought himself a BSA motorcycle and enjoyed riding the bike.
The meditative aspect of his training continued and he became a fantastic human being. We do not know what he was when he was in the UK, but at least in his later years he was something that nobody could decipher. But he was like a flower – his fragrance could not be missed.
▵ Jiddu Krishnamurti Denounces the Title of World Teacher
When Jiddu Krishnamurti was about 32-33 years of age, the Theosophical Society decided to announce to the world that he is the world teacher. They arranged a huge meeting in the Netherlands, which they say was attended by thousands of people.Jiddu Krishnamurti came on the podium and said, “I am not a world teacher, I am a nobody.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti came on the podium and said, “I am not a world teacher, I am a nobody.” The whole Theosophical Society and their project went down the tube. They had prepared him for his whole life, and he came there and said, “I am not a world teacher, I am a nobody.” Most idiots would have said, “Yes, I am the world teacher, I am the reincarnation of Buddha and Jesus.” He had the sense, wisdom and vision to say that, “I am not this nonsense that they are trying to make me out to be.”
He then came out of Theosophy and began to speak in public gatherings. He was a brilliant speaker. People gathered around him and he always spoke about never depending on a Guru, because his own experience of his teachers was so horrid.
Because of his enormous wisdom and sense, when he spoke, people sat rapt. The way he speaks is quite magical. One thing you can see about him is that he is alert and clear. His very physical ambience is like that. If you are sitting there and listening to him, and you as much as move your hand, he will just get up and walk away!
▵ Sadhguru on Jiddu Krishnamurti (Isha)