Freedom from the known

Feb 18, 2018
2 min read

How I came across this book: Recommendation from a friend

Favorite Line from the book:

We are each one of us responsible for every war because of the aggressiveness of our own lives, because of our nationalism, our selfishness, our gods, our prejudices, our ideals, all of which divide us.

Love has no yesterday, and no tomorrow. It has a different dimension beyond time.

Freedom from the known is death, and then you are living.

What is the purpose of our life? What is beyond life? What is life in itself? All of us ask these questions at some point in our lives. We spend few minutes debating about it and then abandon the discussion once we get tired or don’t have an answer. Our mind has been crippled by society and culture, so we have our prejudices. In reality, there is no teacher, no guide or no leader in this world. We have to find out for ourselves the real truth. Krishnamurthi, a famous philosopher, considered to be the world teacher, had no allegiance to any nationality, caste, religion, or philosophy. He emphasized the need for a psychological revolution if we want to free our minds from fear, pain, and other worldly sufferings. In this book, he argued that such freedom cannot be bought by an external entity such as a religious, political or social group. The freedom of the mind has to come from within itself.

Krishnamurthi uses an example about thought and pleasure to explain inner freedom. A thought is the response of memory, experience, and knowledge. Pleasure comes in four stages – perception, sensation, contact, and desire. There is nothing wrong with having a desire, but ‘thought’ comes in the picture and turns desire into pleasure and then ultimately experience. Then we want to have a repetition of that experience. That is when the trouble starts. If we can just experience the moment without letting thought manipulate it, and desire for repeated experience, then we may be able to experience ultimate joy.

If we have to free our minds, then we need a quiet mind, which is free from the burden of yesterday and living in the present (meditation). The mind has to be totally aware of the surrounding. Krishnamurthi urges not to follow anyone including himself; otherwise you will fall into the trap of following an authority or a leader. The mind has to find its freedom on its own. You have to read the book and interpret it on your own to find your freedom!