On Self-Knowledge by Krishnamurti

Author:Krishnamurti [Krishnamurti]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Krishnamurti Foundation India
Published: 2017-05-28T04:00:00+00:00

10 October

We have been saying that without self-knowledge no human problem can permanently be solved. Few of us are prepared to go into a problem completely and see the movement of our own thought, feeling, and action as a comprehensive, integrated whole; most of us want an immediate answer without understanding the whole process of ourselves. In considering this matter, we will have to go into the question of progress and specialization. We believe and we have been carefully nurtured, regimented in the idea that there is progress, there is evolution, there is growth. Now, let us examine that question. There is obviously technological progress—from the bullock cart to the jet airplane. Then there is growth—the acorn becoming an oak. And finally, we think that we ourselves shall become something—we shall achieve a result, an end. So these three things—technological progress, growth, and becoming are all considered a kind of evolution. It would be obviously absurd to deny progress in terms of technological advancement. We see the crude internal combustion engine eventually giving place to the turbo-jet, making possible airplanes of enormous speeds, doing 1,500 miles per hour and more. It would be equally absurd to deny the growth of a seed into a plant, into a flower, and from that into a fruit. But with that same mentality we approach our own consciousness. We think there is progress, evolution, that through time we shall achieve a result; and I want to go into the question of whether there is progress at all for man, whether there is evolutionary growth, whether it is possible for you and me to achieve a result in terms of time—the result being the achievement of reality. We talk about the evolutionary advancement of man, that you become something eventually—if not in this life, then in future life. That is, through time you evolve into something greater, more beautiful, more worthy, and so on.

Now, is there such a thing as your becoming more wise, more beautiful, more virtuous, approaching nearer reality through the process of time? That is what we mean when we talk about evolution. There is obviously a physiological evolution, growth; but is there a psychological growth, evolution; or is it merely a fantasy of the mind which, in its desire to transform itself, falls into the erroneous thought of becoming something? Now, to become something, you must specialize, must you not, and anything that specializes soon dies, decays, because all specialization implies lack of adaptability. Only that thing which is capable of adaptation or pliability can survive. So, as long as we are thinking of becoming, there must be specialization, and specialization obviously implies a process of narrowing down in which all pliability is impossible, and therefore there is death, decay and destruction. You can see that any animal that specializes soon destroys itself. That is a biological fact. And are human beings meant to specialize? You will have to specialize to have a profession—to be a doctor, to be a lawyer,

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