U. G. Krishnamurti

Infobox Person
name = U.G. Krishnamurti
bgcolour = silver


image_size = 150px
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birth_date = July 9, 1918
birth_place = Masulipatam, India
death_date = March 22, 2007
death_place = Vallecrosia, Italy
education =
occupation = philosopher, public speaker, author
title =
spouse =
parents =
children =
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Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti (July 9, 1918 – March 22, 2007), better known as U.G. Krishnamurti, or just U.G., was a speaker and philosopher, often known as an "anti-guru" or as "the man who refused to be a guru" [ [http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/new-age-catalysts/krishnamurti.asp An Interview with U.G. at lifepositive.com] ] .

Philosophy

I have no message for mankind.

This is how U.G. Krishnamurti often summed up his own insights, denying the value others thought they found in them. Whatever else statements without value for mankind may be, if we are to give to philosophy its usual and ordinary meaning, philosophy they are not. More in the nature of negations, his statements prompted others to label him at various times "anti-guru", "the nihilist of enlightenment", and "a spiritual terrorist". [ [http://www.realization.org/page/topics/krishnamurti_u_g.htm U.G. quoted at website realization.org] .]

He refused to be called a guru, vociferously opposed all notions of enlightenment and spirituality, and attacked all aspects of human thought and thinking. He claimed no rights of ownership in his published words:

My teaching, if that is the word you want to use, has no copyright. You are free to reproduce, distribute, interpret, misinterpret, distort, garble, do what you like, even claim authorship, without my consent or the permission of anybody. [ Statement by U.G. that appears in all his published works.]

U.G. emphasized the impossibility and non-necessity of any human change, radical or mundane. These assertions, he stated, cannot be considered as a "teaching", that is, something intended to be used to bring about a change. He insisted that the body and its actions are already perfect, and he considered attempts to change or mold the body as violations of the peace and the harmony that is already there. The psyche or self or mind, an entity which he denied as having any being, is composed of nothing but the "demand" to bring about change in the world, in itself, or in both. Furthermore, human self-consciousness is not a thing, but a movement, one characterized by "perpetual malcontent" and a "fascist insistence" on its own importance and survival.

U.G. also maintained that the reason people came to him (and to gurus), was in order to find solutions for their everyday real problems, and/or for solutions to a fabricated problem, namely, the search for spirituality and enlightenment. He insisted that this search is caused by the cultural environment, which demands conformity of individuals as it simultaneously places within them the desire to be special - the achievement of enlightenment thus viewed as a crowning expression of an individual's "specialness" and uniqueness. Consequently, the desire for enlightenment is exploited by gurus, spiritual teachers, and other "sellers of shoddy goods", who pretend to offer various ways to reach that goal. According to U.G., all these facilitators never deliver, and cannot ever deliver, since the goal itself (i.e. enlightenment), is unreachable. [ [http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/new-age-catalysts/krishnamurti.asp An Interview with UG at lifepositive] Also see [http://gatelessgate.wordpress.com/category/ugkrishnamurti/ Interview at GatelessGate online magazine] .]

The articulation of his insights, at least in public, did not begin until U.G. was well into middle age. According to U.G., despite his life-long efforts to bring about spiritual enlightenment, he underwent a life-altering series of personal experiences, which he collectively referred to as his "calamity". (See sections below). According to U.G., "The so called self-realization is the discovery for yourself and by yourself that there is no self to discover. That will be a very shocking thing because it's going to blast every nerve, every cell, even the cells in the marrow of your bones." [ [http://www.ugkrishnamurti.org/ug/quotes_and_photos/album02/page01.html] .]

Biography

Early life and India

He was born on July 9, 1918 in Machilipatnam, a town in coastal Andhra Pradesh, India, and raised in the nearby town of Gudivada. His mother died seven days after he was born, and he was brought up by his maternal grandfather, a wealthy Brahmin lawyer, who was also involved in the Theosophical Society. U.G. also became a member of the Theosophical Society during his teenage years. [U.G. in [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mystique_of_Enlightenment/Part_One Mystique Of Enlightenment] , mentions having "inherited" his association with the Theosophical Society from his grandfather.] During the same period of his life, U.G. practiced all kinds of austerities and earnestly sought moksha or spiritual enlightenment. To that end, between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, he undertook all kinds of spiritual exercise, determined to find out whether moksha was possible. Wanting to achieve that state, he had also resolved to prove that if there were people who have thus "realized" themselves, they could not be hypocritical. [U.G. carried on at some length - in practically every published work - about what he perceived as the hypocricy of religious/spiritual people, his grandfather and other prominent Theosophists included.] As part of this endeavor, he searched for a person who was an embodiment of such "realization".

He spent seven summers in the Himalayas with Swami Sivananda studying yoga and practicing meditation. [U.G. would later also dismiss this period with Sivananda as a useless exercise.] During his twenties, U.G. began attending the University of Madras, studying psychology, philosophy, mysticism, and the sciences, but never completed a degree, having determined that the answers of the West - to what he considered were essential questions - were no better than those of the East.

In 1939, at age 21, U.G. met with renowned spiritual teacher Ramana Maharshi. U.G. related that he asked Ramana, "This thing called moksha, can you give it to me?" - to which Ramana Maharshi purportedly replied, "I can give it, but can you take it?". This answer completely altered U.G.'s perceptions of the "spiritual path" and its practitioners, and he never again sought the counsel of "those religious people". Later U.G. would say that Maharshi's answer - which he perceived as "arrogant" - put him "back on track". [ [http://www.inner-quest.org/UG_R.htm Biographical details at inner-quest] ]

In 1941, he began working for the Theosophical Society, in C.W. Leadbeater's library. [Eventually, U.G. was elected Joint General Secretary of the Indian Section. His association with the Society lasted until the early-mid 1950s, see [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mystique_of_Enlightenment/Part_One Mystique Of Enlightenment] .] Shortly, he began an international lecture tour on behalf of the Society, visiting Norway, Belgium, Germany and the United States. Returning to India, he married a Brahmin woman named Kusuma Kumari in 1943, at age 25. [ [http://www.sentientpublications.com/authors/ug.php UG biography at sentientpublications] ]

From 1947 to 1953, U.G. regularly attended talks given by Jiddu Krishnamurti in Madras, India, eventually beginning a direct dialogue with him in 1953. [U.G. described one of their meetings as follows: "We really didn't get along well. Whenever we met we locked horns over some issue or other. For instance, I never shared his concern for the world, or his belief that his teaching would profoundly affect the thoughts and actions of mankind for the next five hundred years--a fantasy of the Theosophist occultists. In one of our meetings I told Krishnamurti, "I am not called upon to save the world." He asked, "The house is on fire--what will you do?" "Pour more gasoline on it and maybe something will rise from the ashes", I remarked. Krishnamurti said, "You are absolutely impossible". Then I said, "You are still a Theosophist. You have never freed yourself from the World Teacher role. There is a story in the Avadhuta Gita which talks of the avadhut who stopped at a wayside inn and was asked by the innkeeper, 'What is your teaching?' He replied, 'There is no teacher, no teaching and no one taught.' And then he walked away. You too repeat these phrases and yet you are so concerned with preserving your teaching for posterity in its pristine purity"] cite book|last=Krishnamurti|first=U.G.|coauthors=Rodney Arms|edition=3rd ed|year=2001|title=Mystique of Enlightenment Part One|url=http://www.well.com/user/jct/mystiq.htm|accessdate=2007-09-05] U.G. related that the two had almost daily discussions for a while, which he asserted were not providing satisfactory answers to his questions. Finally, their meetings came to a halt. He described part of the final discussion:

And then, towards the end, I insisted, "Come on, is there anything behind the abstractions you are throwing at me?" And that chappie said, "You have no way of knowing it for yourself". Finish -- that was the end of our relationship, you see -- "If I have no way of knowing it, you have no way of communicating it. What the hell are we doing? I've wasted seven years. Goodbye, I don't want to see you again". Then I walked out.

After the break with K. Jiddu, U.G. continued travelling, still lecturing. At about the same time he claims to have been "puzzled" by the continuing appearance of certain psychic powers. In 1955, U.G. and his family went to the United States to seek medical treatment for his eldest son, and stayed there for 5 years.

London period

He ultimately separated from his family and went to London where he lived a bleak existence, alone and penniless, wandering the streets, often depending on the charity of others for survival. [U.G. had earlier inherited a considerable - for the time - sum of money from his grandfather. While in the US for his son's treatments, the last of that money had run out. See [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mystique_of_Enlightenment/Part_One Mystique Of Enlightenment] .] While sitting one day in Hyde Park, he was confronted by a police officer who threatened to lock him up if he didn't leave the park. Down to his last five pence, he made his way to the Ramakrishna Mission of London where the residing Swami gave him money for a hotel room for the night. The following day, U.G. began working for the Ramakrishna Mission, an arrangement that lasted for a period of three months. Before leaving the mission he left a letter for the residing "Swamiji" telling him that he had become a new man. [ [http://ugbio.blogspot.com/2007/12/adrift-in-london-experiences-of-others.html from U.G. Krishnamurti biography, chapter: Adrift in London] ]

About this time, Jiddu Krishnamurti was in London and the two Krishnamurtis renewed their acquaintance. Jiddu tried to advise U.G. on his recent marital troubles, but U.G. didn't want his help. Jiddu eventually persuaded him to attend a few talks he was giving in London, which U.G. did, but found himself bored listening to him. [Jiddu Krishnamurti had apparently taken an interest in U.G.'s family since the time they first met in person in 1953. See link [http://ug-k.blogspot.com/2007/04/locking-of-horns-inspiration-is.html U.G. Krishnamurti biography, chapter: Locking of horns] ]

In 1961, U.G. put an end to his relationship with his wife, who had recently been suicidal (she later underwent shock therapy and died of an accident in 1963). Their marriage had been a largely unhappy affair, and by that time he described himself as being "detached" from his family emotionally as well as physically. He then left London and spent three months living in Paris, using funds he had obtained by selling his unused return ticket to India, during which time he ate a different variety of cheese each day. Down to his last 150 francs, he went to Geneva.

Early Swiss period

After two weeks in Geneva, U.G. was unable to pay his hotel bill and sought refuge at the Indian Consulate. He was listless, without hope, and described himself as "finished" - he requested that he be sent back to India, which the consular authorities refused to do at the state's expense. At that time, he met a Swiss woman named Valentine de Kerven, who worked at the consulate. Valentine and U.G. became close friends, and she provided him with a home in Switzerland. It was the beginning of a life-long relationship.

For the next few years, the questions regarding the subject of enlightenment - or anything else - did not interest him, and he did nothing to further his enquiry. But by 1967, U.G. was again concerned with the subject of enlightenment, wanting to know what that state was, which sages such as Siddhārtha Gautama purportedly attained. Hearing that Jiddu Krishnamurti was giving a talk in Saanen, U.G. decided to attend. During the talk, Jiddu was describing his own state and U.G. thought that it referred to him (U.G.). He explained it as follows:

When I Iistened to him, something funny happened to me -- a peculiar kind of feeling that he was describing my state and not his state. Why did I want to know his state? He was describing something, some movements, some awareness, some silence -- "In that silence there is no mind; there is action" -- all kinds of things. So, I am in that state. What the hell have I been doing these thirty or forty years, listening to all these people and struggling, wanting to understand his state or the state of somebody else, Buddha or Jesus? I am in that state. Now I am in that state. So, then I walked out of the tent and never looked back.

He continues:

Then -- very strange -- that question "What is that state?" transformed itself into another question "How do I know that I am in that state, the state of Buddha, the state I very much wanted and demanded from everybody? I am in that state, but how do I know?"cite book|last=Krishnamurti|first=U.G.|coauthors=Rodney Arms|edition=3rd ed|year=2001|title=Mystique of Enlightenment Part One|url=http://www.well.com/user/jct/mystiq.htm|accessdate=2007-09-05]

Calamity

The next day, on his 49th birthday, U.G. was again pondering the question "How do I know I am in that state?" with no answer forthcoming. He later recounted that on suddenly realizing the question had no answer, there was an unexpected physical, as well as psychological, reaction. It seemed to him like "a sudden explosion inside, blasting, as it were, every cell, every nerve and every gland in my body." Afterwards, he started experiencing what he called "the calamity", a series of bizarre physiological transformations that took place over the course of a week, affecting each one of his senses, and finally resulting in a deathlike experience. He described it this way:

I call it calamity because from the point of view of one who thinks this is something fantastic, blissful and full of beatitude, love, or ecstasy, this is physical torture; this is a calamity from that point of view. Not a calamity to me but a calamity to those who have an image that something marvelous is going to happen.

Upon the eighth day:

Then, on the eighth day I was sitting on the sofa and suddenly there was an outburst of tremendous energy -- tremendous energy shaking the whole body, and along with the body, the sofa, the chalet and the whole universe, as it were -- shaking, vibrating. You can't create that movement at all. It was sudden. Whether it was coming from outside or inside, from below or above, I don't know -- I couldn't locate the spot; it was all over. It lasted for hours and hours. I couldn't bear it but there was nothing I could do to stop it; there was a total helplessness. This went on and on, day after day, day after day.

The energy that is operating there does not feel the limitations of the body; it is not interested; it has its own momentum. It is a very painful thing. It is not that ecstatic, blissful beatitude and all that rubbish -- stuff and nonsense! -- it is really a painful thing.

U.G. could not, and did not, explain the provenance of the calamity experiences. In response to questions, he maintained that it happened "in spite of" his pre-occupation with - and search for - enlightenment. He also maintained that the calamity had nothing to do with his life up to that point, or with his upbringing. Several times he described the calamity happening to him as a matter of chance, and he insisted that he could not possibly, in any way, impart that experience to anybody else. [ In the introduction to "Mind Is a Myth: Disquieting Conversations with the Man Called U.G.", editor Terry Newland states that at age 35, U.G. started getting headaches and appearing younger, rather than older. According to that account, by the time of his 49th birthday, he appeared to be 17 or 18 years old, while after the calamity he started aging normally again, but continued to look far younger than his years. See [http://www.well.com/user/jct/intro.html Mind is a Myth Introduction, Section 4] ]

Post-calamity

According to U.G., his life-story can be separated into the pre- and post- calamity parts. Describing his post-calamity life, he claimed to be functioning permanently in what he called "the natural state": A state of spontaneous, purely physical, sensory existence, characterized by [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/discontinuity discontinuity] - though not absence - of thought. ["The Natural State", by Peter Maverick, Smitri Books, 2005. ISBN 8187967773. Discussions with U.G., compiled by Peter Maverick. U.G. also maintained that upon finding himself in the "natural state", he had lost all acquired knowledge and memories, and had to re-learn everything, as if "...the slate had been wiped clean".]

After his calamity experience, U.G. remained primarily in Switzerland but often travelled to other countries around the world, holding discussions with small groups of people and with interested individuals. However, whenever people sought him for answers to their spiritual dilemmas, [ [http://www.spiritualteachers.org/u_g_krishnamurti.htm UG at spiritualteachers.org] ] he emphasized that he had nothing to teach, and that no one can really learn about enlightenment by depending on someone else as an authority, teacher or guide. He gave his only post-calamity public talk in India, in 1972. [ [http://www.well.com/user/jct/Talk.htm Public Talk] At the "Indian Institute of World Culture", Bangalore.]

His unorthodox non-message/philosophy and the often uncompromising, direct style of its presentation, generated a measure of notoriety and sharply divided opinions. At the extremes, some people considered him enlightened (U.G. always refused the label), [ [http://www.spiritualteachers.org/ug_1opinion.htm An opinion: UG was self-realized] From the "spiritualteachers.org" website, signed "Nicola Nigro".] while others considered him nothing more than a charlatan. [ [http://www.theabsolute.net/minefield/ug.html A Critique Of U.G. Krishnamurti] Opinion piece by David Quinn, from the "Thinking Man's Minefield" website.] The clamor increased as books and articles by, and about, U.G. and his newly expounded philosophy, continued appearing. [ [http://drvasu.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/u-g-krishnamurthi-the-global-vagabond/ The global vagabond] One of several informative blog entries by someone who knew U.G. personally, accompanied by a variety of comments.]

Several of his group discussions and interviews have been published in books, or/and are carried verbatim in various websites. There is also a variety of audio and video documents available online. [ See also [http://www.well.com/user/jct/lists.html Books by U.G. Krishnamurti] ]

Death

On March 22 2007 U.G. Krishnamurti passed away at Vallecrosia in Italy. He had slipped and injured himself, and was bedridden for seven weeks before his death. Friends, including Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt were by his side when he died. [ [http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/25/stories/2007032502741000.htm "The Hindu", March 25, 2007] ] In February of 2007 he had dictated his final piece of writing, "My Swan Song". [ U.G. Krishnamurti [http://www.well.com/user/jct/SWAN_SONG.htm My Swan Song] ]

He had asked that no rituals or funeral rites be conducted upon his death; also, he did not leave instructions on how to dispose of his body. U.G.'s body was cremated by Bhatt the next day. [cite web|url=http://www.ugkrishnamurti.org/ug/obi/index.html|title=Obituary|accessdate=2007-09-05] True to his own philosophy, U.G. did not want to be remembered after his death. [ [http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/indiancinema/news/article_1283263.php/Mahesh_Bhatt_mourns_U.G._Krishnamurtis_death Mahesh Bhatt mourns U.G.] ] As far as can be ascertained, he never made a will, and left no material property of any kind. He is survived by two daughters and a son, and their respective families.

Bibliography

* "The Courage to Stand Alone: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti", 2001, Smriti Books. ISBN 8187967064.
* "The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Radical Ideas of U.G. Krishnamurti", 2002, Sentient Publications. ISBN 0971078610. Also published as "The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Unrational ideas of a man called U.G.", 2005, Smriti Books. ISBN 8187967099.
* "Thought is Your Enemy: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti", 2002, Smriti Books. ISBN 8187967110.
* "The Little Book of Questions", 2003, Penguin Books. ISBN 0140299386.
* "Mind Is a Myth: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti", 2003, Smriti Books. ISBN 8187967102.
* "No Way Out: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti", 2005, Smriti Books. ISBN 8187967080.
* "The Natural State, In the words of U.G. Krishnamurti", 2005, Smriti Books. ISBN 8187967773.
* "The Penguin U.G. Krishnamurti Reader", 2007, Penguin Books. ISBN 0143101021. (Mukunda Rao, Editor)

Books on U.G. Krishnamurti

* "Mahesh Bhatt", U.G. Krishnamurti, a Life, "1992, Viking". ISBN 0140126201.
* "Shanta Kelker", The Sage And the Housewife, 2005, "Smriti Books". ISBN 8187967749.
* "Mukunda Rao", The Other Side of Belief: Interpreting U.G. Krishnamurti, "2005, Penguin Books". ISBN 0144000350.
* "K. Chandrasekhar, J. S. R. L. Narayana Moorty", Stopped in Our Tracks: Stories of UG in India. "2005, Smriti Books". ISBN 8187967765.

References

External links

* [http://www.ugkrishnamurti.org/ U.G. Krishnamurti.org]
* [http://www.well.com/user/jct U.G. Krishnamurti resource site] Most of the published works by, and about, U.G. can be found here and read freely on- or offline in their entirety.
* [http://www.well.com/user/jct/mahesh.html Mahesh Bhatt's Diary: 30 days with U.G.]
* [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/622460/u_g_krishnamurti_parting_message/ Video: U.G. Krishnamurti's Parting Message]