In the previous post, we studied Krishnamurti’s views on the role of education, and where modern education has failed. In this second and final part, we will learn how to educate ourselves in the true sense. (Because governments and institutions are not going to help us with it, at least not any time soon.)
Every once in a while, we wonder what we are doing with life. In such moments, everything feels meaningless. Money, relationships, work, entertainment. But when we can’t find an answer (or the answer we get is uncomfortable), we revert to the drudgery.
Plenty of people have weighed in with their thoughts on what one should do with life. Not just philosophers and saints, but also scientists, mathematicians, and homeless people. Each answer is compelling.
However, some of the most intuitive, clear, and inspirational answers come from philosopher J. Krishnamurti. The purpose of life, he says, is to enrich life, not just with money but also inwardly. It is to free the mind of conditioning, dogmas and beliefs, so that we can meet life as it is.
To do so, one must think and act as an original and resist the temptation of taking the easy way out by imitating others.
What does being original mean?
In a nutshell, not being tethered to a teacher, profession, relationship, or ideology is being original.
Originality does not mean saying something that’s new; everything has already been said. Rather, it means to be different in a useful way.
Originality doesn’t mean opposing the status quo just to be cool either. (Opposing anything just for the sake of it is still a form of conformism.) It means to see what is, not what we want based on our conditioning. It means to not give in to the pressure of the herd, but to be true to yourself, and enable those who connect with you to do the same.
Think of streams. Wherever they flow, an ecosystem of vegetation, fish, birds, salamanders, snails, butterflies and other living beings gets created. The water just does its thing—it flows. Every entity around it does its own thing too.
Such originality, for humans, comes from working on something, not mere thinking. As Kenneth Burke wrote in a lovely essay on the topic:
“Growth and prosperity come from taking something great, and building on top of it. That’s your creative duty! But you have to build. You can’t just copy… Just about every advancement in computers and software has come from open source communities. One person builds something here, another person takes that code and builds on top of it, ad infinitum.”
Originality, then, is taking what is available and adding you to it, so that (a.) it becomes your own, and (b.) it’s useful to someone (if not to anyone else, at least to you). It’s not a trait that you switch on or off or choose where to apply. It’s a way of life.
This is what education should teach us; but the modern adaption has failed at it. As Swami Vivekananda said,
“The education that you… has a tremendous disadvantage which is so great that the good things are all weighed down… It is merely and entirely a negative education… The child is taken to school, and the first thing he learns is that his father is a fool, the second thing that his grandfather is a lunatic, the third thing that all his teachers are hypocrites, the fourth that all the sacred books are lies! By the time he is sixteen he is a mass of negation, lifeless and boneless. And the result is that fifty years of such education has not produced one original man in the three Presidencies.”
If you think you don’t have an original bone in your body, you are underestimating yourself. Petrarch said, “Every one has not only in his countenance and gestures, but also in his voice and language, something peculiarly his own (quiddam suum ac proprium) which it is both easier and wiser to cultivate and correct than to alter.”
Here is the education philosophy of J. Krishnamurti i.e. how we should educate ourselves to discover our originality.
Educating Yourself to Become an Original
The first step to becoming an original is to stop (or limit) the deluge of ideas, opinions, and information imposed on us. And for that, we must do the one thing that frightens us: be alone.
“Man must be alone. We are not alone. We are the result of a thousand influences, a thousand conditionings, psychological inheritances, propaganda, culture. . . And therefore we are secondhand human beings.”
Being alone means emptying your cup. It means dissociating your identity from your family, nationality, religion, culture, profession, knowledge. Be a part of them, but maintain enough distance to be an outsider. Such an attitude creates innocence which, as per K, “frees the mind from sorrow.”
Children are innocent. They love their parents, friends, and toys, but they don’t identify with them. The result? They are friendly, curious, honest, and free. No fear, no delusion, no stereotypes. They can see things for what they are, which is why they say that make us think, “How is my child so smart?”
But for us adults, being alone sounds frightening. If I am not Vishal, a son, a partner, an Assistant Managing Editor, a creator, what am I? It’s this fear that drives us to crave acceptance, association.
Man is a social animal, and for us, association is an important psychological need. But when we seek it out of fear of loneliness, we create problems that don’t need to exist at all. Like running on the hedonic treadmill, or making bad decisions after getting carried away by others’ words.
Unplug your ears, eyes, mouth, and mind for a few moments. When you walk or drive, observe your surrounding without the filter of your thoughts. Spend a few minutes breathing deeply. At home, keep your phone away for some time (and don’t replace it with a book or a person).
“As the soil renews itself during winter, so, when the mind is allowed to be quiet, it renews itself. . . When you come to the point where you are really allowing yourself to be as you are—bored, ugly, hideous, or whatever it is—then there is possibility of dealing with it.”
This thought appeals to you, doesn’t it? You crave to be in this state of silence where your mind regenerates. And it’s not so tough. Just ask yourself: Why do I always have to think of something? Why do I to always be busy? You won’t be able to come up with compelling answers. And whatever answers the mind gives, you know it’s trying to delude you.
So just be aware of your surrounding in the moment. Keep a blank mind. Such awareness opens your mind, which, as per K, matters more than learning.
“We can have an open mind not by cramming it full of information, but by being aware of our own thoughts and feelings, by carefully observing ourselves and the influences about us, by listening to others, by watching the rich and the poor, the powerful and the lowly.”
Once you can do this with the outside world, you can do practice this on your feelings and emotions too. Then, you can understand them, process them, and finally let them go.
Another benefit of an open mind is that it makes learning an immersive process rather than a forced one.
Modern education has shaped us to believe that learning is a means to an end… external mostly. Certification, grades, career growth, money.
“Teachers are concerned only that you should pass examinations and go to the next class, and parents want you to get a class ahead. Neither of them is interested that you should leave school as intelligent human beings without fear.”
As a result, we force ourselves to learn, and the trait that separates us from other species on this planet, that makes us special, becomes a pain. What follows is a life filled with frustration and psychosomatic illnesses.
The best kind of learning is one you enjoy, one where you understand what you’re observing and yourself as well. Along with knowledge on the subject, you unearth knowledge about yourself.
Then, you can pick and choose what to learn based on your specific needs, not what the trend is. You enjoy learning because your mind and heart unite—it doesn’t matter what others are doing or thinking. Learning becomes immersive, not forced, an end in itself rather than a means to an end.
Summary
Jiddu Krishnamurti’s education philosophy might sound pessimistic, but it’s not. It acknowledges the existence of suffering but also addresses its cause and offers insight on how to reduce it. All this without turning ourselves into hermits and abandoning the world.
To sum up, education should make you independent in thought, feeling, and function. It should help you discover your vocation (what you love to do) and make you a loving, fearless, human being.
Spend time in silence so that your mind can open up. Engage in activities that direct your senses on the path of virtue. Make learning immersive by engaging in what you love doing. And through all this, understand yourself, untethered to your surrounding.
Such self-awareness is one of the most glorious pursuits of life.