I truly wish I had read this article 10 years ago.

It offers such deep and profound insights into the various problems of living.

The author's perspective is both enlightening and thought-provoking.

It makes one reflect on the challenges and difficulties that we encounter in our daily lives.

By delving into these issues, the article provides valuable lessons and suggestions on how to better navigate through life.

It helps us to understand the root causes of our problems and find more effective solutions.

Reading this article now, I can't help but wonder how much different my life might have been if I had had access to these insights 10 years ago.

Nevertheless, it is never too late to gain wisdom and apply it to our lives.

I am grateful for having discovered this article and look forward to implementing the ideas and concepts it presents.

Hopefully, others will also have the opportunity to read and benefit from it.

I cannot claim to have "read the book" because it is more like a handbook of thoughts that one can constantly return to.

It is, in fact, more of a collection of mind viruses (memes) designed to stimulate one's thinking.

Although the book is rather old, the thoughts it presents remain strikingly relevant and vivid in the present day.

These ideas have the power to inspire and challenge, provoking readers to consider new perspectives and expand their mental horizons.

Whether you are looking for inspiration, intellectual stimulation, or simply a new way of thinking, this book is well worth exploring.

It is a testament to the enduring value of great ideas and the importance of keeping an open mind.

This is an outstanding piece of writing that offers profound insights.

In it, Krishnamurti directly confronts the educational system and government of India during that era, along with organized religions and political parties. Regrettably, a significant portion of his message remains highly relevant even today. People are raised to be part of the same monotonous cycle as their predecessors, rather than being seekers of truth and, as he so often phrases it, "a light unto oneself."

What enhances the value of this work is that he is addressing school kids and teachers. He frequently tells educators straightforwardly that their methods are merely transforming kids into consumers and mindless worker bees, devoid of any enthusiasm for life. One can effortlessly envision most of the adults in the room frowning and shifting uneasily in their chairs, which have become uncomfortable due to the uncomfortable truths being presented.

My personal favorite part occurs when a young girl poses the question of why birds fly away from us when we approach them. Krishnamurti responds by telling her that animals are aware that we humans are essentially unkind. However, he encourages her to sit beneath a tree on a pleasant day and simply remain still, and the birds will eventually come. This simple yet powerful exchange beautifully encapsulates Krishnamurti's teachings and his ability to connect with people on a profound level.

I read this at age 15, while ditching P.E. classes at school.

It was a rather rebellious act on my part, but little did I know that it would have such a profound impact on my life.

Fair to say that it contributed significantly to my dropping out of school immediately.

I made that choice without much hesitation, and looking back, I can say that I've not suffered in the least.

Perhaps it was a sign that I was meant to take a different path, one that wasn't bound by the constraints of traditional education.

Since then, I've explored various interests and opportunities, and have found a sense of fulfillment that I might not have otherwise discovered.

While some might view my decision as unwise or irresponsible, I believe that it was the right one for me at that time.

And who knows, maybe this seemingly random event was the catalyst that set me on the path to where I am today.

Astounding

The word "astounding" is truly a powerful one. It has the ability to describe something that is so remarkable, so astonishing, that it leaves us in a state of awe. When we encounter something astounding, it can have a profound impact on our lives. It can inspire us, motivate us, and even change the way we think about the world.

For example, an astounding scientific discovery can revolutionize our understanding of the universe. It can open up new possibilities and lead to breakthroughs in medicine, technology, and other fields. An astounding work of art can touch our emotions and make us see the world in a new light. It can inspire us to create something beautiful ourselves.

In conclusion, the word "astounding" represents something that is truly extraordinary. It is a word that we should use more often to describe the amazing things that we encounter in our lives. When we do, we will be able to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world around us even more.

My notes!

Here is an amazing resource that I would like to share with you. It is titled "Think on these things" and can be found at https://www.notion.so/svitlanamm/Thin....

This link leads to a wealth of information and ideas that are sure to spark your curiosity and get you thinking. Whether you are looking for inspiration, knowledge, or just a new perspective, this resource has something for everyone.

So, take a moment to click on the link and explore what "Think on these things" has to offer. You might just be surprised at what you discover!

I highly recommend checking it out and adding it to your collection of useful resources. Happy thinking!

4.5/5: Again, this is great. I read this immediately after finishing "The First And Last Freedom" because I think his writing is so profound. Here we go:

Concrete advice to finding happiness/truth/enlightenment:

"You try it. Watch yourself talking to your servant, observe the tremendous respect with which you treat a governor, and how little respect you show to the man who has nothing to give you. Then you begin to find out how stupid you are, and in understanding that stupidity there is intelligence, sensitivity. You do not have to become sensitive. The man who is trying to become something is ugly, insensitive; he is a crude person." (14)

"...sit under a tree or on the river bank and quietly observe how your mind works. Don't correct it, don't say, 'This is right, that is wrong,' but just watch it as you would a film." (86)

(203)

"So, whether you are sitting quietly, talking, or playing, are you aware of the significance of every thought, of every reaction that you happen to have? Try it and you will see how difficult it is to be aware of every movement of your own thought, because thoughts pile up so quickly one on top of another. But if you want to examine every thought, if you really want to see the content of it, then you will find that your thoughts slow down and you can watch them. This slowing down of thinking and the examining of every thought is the process of meditation; and if you go into it you will find that, by being aware of every thought, your mind [...] becomes quiet. There is then no urge, no compulsion, no fear in any form."

Stop trying, striving: just observe.

Just observe without judgement, don't try to change or become, don't strive. Just watch.

Talking about how to stop being jealous: "To understand what you are is immensely difficult, because it requires complete freedom from all desire to change what you are into something else [...] you strive not to be jealous; but that very striving is part of jealousy, because you want to be different." (24)

And envy: "Envy arises because I want to change myself and become like somebody else. But if I say, "whatever I am, that I want to understand," then envy is gone; then there is no need of discipline, and out of the understanding of what I am comes integration."

"Truth is not something to be achieved. Truth comes into being when your mind and heart are purged of all sense of striving and you are no longer trying to become somebody; it is there when the mind is very quiet, listening timelessly to everything that is happening." (30)

(132) talks about being attached to feeling envious, sometimes because you know that everybody else feels that way, and it scares you to break away from it. If we ask how to carry something out, you're not really interested in the answer. If you were, you would just get started.

"If you observe how the mind gets caught in everlasting struggle--if you just observe the fact without trying to alter it, without trying to force upon the mind a certain state which you call peace--then you will find that the mind spontaneously ceases to struggle and in that state it can learn enormously." (221)

Overcome fear (or rather, understand it):

"There can be no happiness as long as you are afraid of your parents, your teachers, afraid of not passing examinations, afraid of not making progress, of not getting nearer to the Master, nearer to truth, or of not being approved of, patted on the back. But if you are really not afraid of anything, then you will find--when you wake up of a morning, or when you are walking alone--that suddenly a strange thing happens: uninvited, unsolicited, unlooked for, that which may be called love, truth, happiness, is suddenly there." (30)

I find the above quote to be such an important personal call-to-arms, given my fear of displaying my wealth, doing what I want with the money without guilt.

"Most of us are afraid to look directly into the face of any other; and others don't want us to look at them in that way, because they also are frightened. Nobody wants to reveal himself; we are all on guard, hiding behind various layers of misery, suffering, longing, hope, and there are very few who can look you straight in the face and smile." (36)

"The moment you are very clear about what you want to do, things happen. Life comes to your aid--a friend, a relation, a teacher, a grandmother, somebody helps you. But if you are afraid to try because your father may turn you out, then you are lost. Life never comes to the aid of those who merely yield to some demand out of fear." (126) Define what you want and do not yield to your fears.

(141) is just pretty.

Education = unconditioning the mind:

"You older students are already shaped, already conditioned, already ambitious; you want to be successful like your father, like the governor, or somebody else. So the real function of education is not only to help you uncondition yourself, but also to understand this whole process of living from day to day so that you can grow in freedom and create a new world."(22-23)

Wanting approval and fame:

"You want to be famous, you want to be known and talked about in the world because inside yourself you are nobody. Inwardly there is no richness, there is nothing there at all, therefore you want to be known in the world outside; but if you are inwardly rich, then it does not matter to you whether you are known or unknown [...] Inward richness implies standing alone; but the man who wants to be famous is afraid to stand alone because he depends on people's flattery and good opinion." (46)

Career:

"If you are an engineer merely because you must earn a livelihood, or because your father or society expects it of you, that is another form of compulsion; and compulsion in any form creates a contradiction, conflict. Whereas, if you really love to be an engineer, or a scientist, or if you can plant a tree, or paint a picture, or write a poem, not to gain recognition but just because you love to do it, then you will find that you never compete with another. I think that is the real key, to love what you do" (53) Caveat: later on he says that you will figure out to survive as long as you're doing what you love, which I don't think is true.

"Do you want to do social work because in your heart there is love and therefore you are not concerned with your own fulfilment? [...] But if you have love in your heart, if you are seeking truth and are therefore a truly religious person, if you are no longer ambitious, no longer pursuing success, and your virtue is not leading to respectability--then your very life will help to bring about a total transformation of society." (242-243)

Self-confidence vs. confidence:

"Initiative within the prison does create a certain confidence, because you feel you can do things: you can design a motor, be a very good doctor, an excellent scientist, and so on. But this feeling of confidence which comes with the capacity to succeed within the social structure, or to reform, to give more light, to decorate the interior of the prison is really self-confidence; you know you can do something, and you are important in doing it. Whereas, when through investigating, through understanding, you break away from the social structure of which you are a part, there comes an entirely different kind of confidence which is without the sense of self-importance" (94)

Attention/awareness as inclusive, not exclusive:

"The attention which is generally advocated, practised or indulged in is a narrowing-down of the mind to a point, which is a process of exclusion [...] Part of your energy has already gone in resistance. You build a wall around your mind to make it concentrate completely on a particular thing, and you call this the disciplining of the mind to pay attention. You try to exclude from the mind every thought but the one on which you want it to be wholly concentrated [...] But I think there is a different kind of attention, a state of mind which is not exclusive, which does not shut out anything; and because there is no resistance, the mind is capable of much greater attention." (150)

"Let us begin the other way round, Do you know what distraction is? You want to pay attention to what you are reading, but your mind is distracted by some noise outside and you look out of the window. When you want to concentrate on something and your mind wanders off, the wandering off is called distraction; then part of your mind resists the so-called distraction and there is a waste of energy in that resistance. Whereas, if you are aware of every movement of the mind from moment to moment then there is no such thing as distraction at any time and the energy of the mind is not wasted in resisting something." (150)

This stuck in my mind. The idea that attention is about just letting go of your focus, letting go of your discipline, and just watching your mind flit about and get distracted, where attention is dedicated to just whatever your mind does, without resistance. "To be totally aware so that your mind is all the time attentive without being caught in the process of exclusion" (151)

Also (166)

Loneliness: confront it, don't distract yourself away from it:

(201) is magnificent. We are afraid of feeling lonely, so we distract ourselves, when really we ought to go into, to understand it, to understand why we feel it. Then we can be alone rather than lonely. I remember this being useful as I walked to the bday party of someone I had just met, but I had been alone all day beforehand and I felt guilty, alone, childish, insubstantial. And instead of trying to get away, I tried to just become aware of it, to understand where it comes from. "If you can understand loneliness and go beyond it, then you will find that there is no need to escape, no urge to be gratified or entertained, for your mind will know a richness that is incorruptible and cannot be destroyed." (202)

This book is a compilation of talks delivered by the author Krishnamurti to groups consisting of school children, parents, and teachers.

He expounds on a wide range of ideas such as education, freedom, and truth, and also addresses the questions posed by the students.

Throughout the book, one of the most crucial questions he ponders is: What is the essence of education? If our learning is merely focused on passing an examination, is that truly education? Krishnamurti firmly believes the answer is no. “Not to imitate but to discover—that is education,” he asserts. “When learning is just a means to an end, once you reach that end, you forget the means—and surely that is not learning at all. So, there can only be a state of learning when there is no ulterior motive, no incentive, when you engage in the activity for the sheer love of it.” With this in mind, we are compelled to ask ourselves: Is school a place where children go to truly learn or is it a place where they are indoctrinated?

This line of thinking prompts him to explore the role of tradition in society. We are all pressured to conform to social norms, and it is essential for us to decide when this conformity is beneficial and when it is harmful. The burden of the past pushes us to conform, and “through conformity, the mind feels safe and secure; it settles itself in a well-worn groove so that it can function smoothly without any disturbance or hint of doubt.” However, it is imperative for us to embrace doubt, for otherwise, how can we learn? Certainty扼杀 our drive to seek new meaning—it is only when we admit ‘I don’t know’ that we can embark on the search for truth.

This then leads to the question of religion, as religion is essentially the transmission of traditions from one generation to the next. Krishnamurti opines that “if a man is in search of God, he will avoid temples because they divide people. The Christian church, the Mohammedan mosque, and your own Hindu temple—they all create divisions among people, and a man who is seeking God will have nothing to do with these.” Perhaps religion, like education, is just another means of indoctrinating the youth?

Our author also offers his thoughts on power and freedom when he states that “the moment you desire to be someone, you are no longer free.” Anything we aspire to be imposes limitations on our behavior, whether it is a job, a relationship, or a particular virtue. Only when we are “not swayed by the desire to be someone” are we truly free. While this may hold some truth, don’t we need desire to motivate us to get out of bed in the morning? Without aspiration, what is the point of doing anything in life? These are more thoughts for us to contemplate.

One of the most significant themes in this book is the pursuit of truth, and it is emphasized to his audiences (and readers) that truth cannot be imparted to us by others: we must discover it for ourselves. It is a journey that we all must undertake, as it is synonymous with the journey of life.

Think on These Things is a book brimming with philosophy, some of which I found to be profoundly insightful, while some I questioned. But then again, that is the very essence of philosophy: to make us think.

The anti-philosopher philosopher. What a fascinating and paradoxical concept!

It challenges our traditional understanding of what it means to be a philosopher. While philosophers are typically associated with deep thinking, rational analysis, and the pursuit of truth, the anti-philosopher philosopher seems to take a different path.

Perhaps the anti-philosopher philosopher rejects the established norms and methods of philosophy, instead choosing to explore ideas in a more unorthodox or even subversive way.

Or maybe they question the very value and purpose of philosophy itself, asking whether it is really capable of providing meaningful answers to the big questions of life.

Whatever the case may be, the anti-philosopher philosopher offers a fresh and exciting perspective that forces us to reevaluate our own assumptions and beliefs about philosophy.

It reminds us that there is always more than one way to approach the study of ideas and that sometimes, the most interesting and profound insights can come from the most unexpected sources.

I don't entirely agree with everything presented in it.

Nevertheless, I truly love the concept of the book, which is to encourage free thinking.

Free thinking is such a valuable and essential aspect in our lives. It allows us to break free from the constraints of traditional ideas and explore new perspectives.

By promoting free thinking, the book empowers readers to question, analyze, and form their own opinions.

This not only enriches our intellectual growth but also enables us to make more informed decisions.

Although there may be some points in the book that I don't concur with, the overall message of encouraging free thinking is something that I highly appreciate and support.

It serves as a reminder for us to always keep an open mind and be willing to consider different viewpoints.

In a world where conformity often prevails, the concept of free thinking presented in the book is truly refreshing and inspiring.

Read it and read it again and again.

This simple phrase holds great significance. When we encounter something important, be it a book, a text, or an idea, reading it multiple times can enhance our understanding.

By reading it repeatedly, we can pick up on details that we might have missed the first time around. We can also gain a deeper appreciation for the nuances and subtleties within the piece.

Moreover, reading it again and again allows us to internalize the information. It helps us to remember and retain what we have read, making it more likely that we can apply it in our daily lives or in future discussions.

So, the next time you come across something that catches your attention or seems worthy of your time, don't just read it once and move on. Take the time to read it and read it again and again. You might be surprised at how much more you can learn and discover.

Universal, social, intellectual, emotional catharsis is a powerful concept.

Universally, it has the potential to reach and impact people from all walks of life. In a social context, it can bring people together, allowing them to share and release their emotions in a collective setting.

Intellectually, it challenges us to think deeply about our feelings and experiences, and to gain a better understanding of ourselves and others.

Emotionally, it provides a much-needed outlet for pent-up emotions, allowing us to let go of stress, anxiety, and other negative feelings.

Whether through art, music, literature, or other forms of expression, universal, social, intellectual, emotional catharsis can have a profound and lasting impact on our lives. It can help us to heal, to grow, and to connect with others on a deeper level.

So, the next time you find yourself in need of an emotional release, consider exploring the power of universal, social, intellectual, emotional catharsis. You may be surprised at how much it can transform your life.