The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume 11 (1958-1960): Crisis in Consciousness by Krishnamurti

Author:Krishnamurti [Krishnamurti]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2017-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

Ninth Talk in New Delhi

This evening I would like to think aloud about action, religion, and the nature of beauty. It seems to me that they are all related, and that to be concerned only with action or with religion or with the nature of beauty is to destroy the fullness of action, which then becomes merely an activity. If we are to go very deeply into the question of what is action, I think we must also consider religion and the nature of beauty as well as the quality or sensitivity of a mind that feels and appreciates what is beautiful.

For most of us action becomes a routine, a habit, something that one does, not out of love or because it has deep significance for oneself, but because one has to do it. One is driven to it by circumstances, by a wrong kind of education, by the lack of that love out of which one does something real. If we can go into this whole question, I think it will be very revealing, for then perhaps we shall begin to understand the true nature of revolution.

Surely, true action comes from clarity. When the mind is very clear, unconfused, not contradictory within itself, then action inevitably follows from that clarity; we need not be concerned with how to bring about action. But it is very difficult, is it not, to have undisturbed perception and to see things, not as one would like to see them, but as they actually are, undistorted by one’s likes and dislikes. It is only out of such clarity that the fullness of action takes place.

Clarity is of far greater significance than action. But our minds are ridden by systems, by techniques, by the desire to know what to do. The “what to do?” has become very important; it is our everlasting question. We want to know what to do about starvation, what to do about inequality, about the appalling corruption in the world, and about our own sorrow and suffering. We are always looking for a method, a means, a system of action, are we not?

But how to find clarity is obviously a much more significant inquiry because if one can think very clearly, if one has perception which is not distorted, which is direct, complete, then from that clear perception, action follows. Such clarity creates its own action. But people who are dedicated to various systems are always at loggerheads with each other, are they not? They cannot work together. Each interprets the problem in terms of the system to which he is committed, according to his particular conditioning and self-interest. I do not know if you have ever noticed how most of us divide ourselves into groups, parties, and systems, and commit ourselves to certain conclusions. Any such commitment, surely, does not bring clarity. It brings only enmity, opposition. But if you and I approach our human problems, not with commitments, conclusions, and self-interest, but with clarity, then I think these problems can very easily be solved.

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