Freedom and love are interrelated. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, it is just a trade, a purchasable commodity in the market, and it is not love. To love means to ask for nothing in return, not even to feel that you are giving something, and only such love can know freedom.

***
When a person is dissatisfied with who he is, that is the beginning of pain. You want to be someone else who has more knowledge or is more handsome, or who has a bigger house, more power, a better job than you. You want to be more just, you want to be able to meditate better, you want to reach God, you want to be different from who you are, so you are painful and blind. It is extremely difficult to understand who you are because it requires complete freedom from all desires to change who you are into something else. The desire to change oneself causes pain, blindness, while in the understanding of who you are, the transformation of your present being takes place.

***
Happiness does not come when you pursue it, and this is the greatest secret. I can express it in some simple words, but just listening to me and repeating what you hear, you will not become happy. Happiness is different - it comes when you do not pursue it. [...] You can listen to these words, but for happiness to exist, you have to figure out how to free the mind from all fears. As long as you are afraid of something or someone, happiness cannot exist.

***
Unfortunately, we very rarely think about others, we do not have deep feelings. Most of us are intellectuals - intellectuals in the upper sense as those who are very smart, full of words and theories about what is right and what is wrong, how we should think, what we should do. In the field of the mind, we are highly developed, but inside us there is very little substance or strength, and it is precisely this inner substance that produces the true action that is not in accordance with any idea.

***
No one can teach you to love. If we could learn to love from a book, like we learn mathematics, this world would be wonderful; there would be no poverty, exploitation, wars, division between the rich and the poor, and we would all be friends with each other. But love cannot be created so easily. Hate is easy, and poverty brings people together in its own way; poverty gives rise to all kinds of fantasies, it creates different ways of cooperation, for example, in war. But love is much more complex. You cannot learn to love, but you can observe hate and slowly push it aside. Do not fight against hate, do not say how terrible it is to hate people, but look at the nature of hate and let it pass. [...] If every time hate arises in you, you let it go, then you will see that your mind becomes very sensitive without sentimentality, and thus it gets to know love. The mind can move towards feelings, desires, but it cannot move towards love. Love has to come into the mind by itself. When love has come, there is no division between the emotional and the divine in it. This is the most amazing thing about love: it is the only phenomenon that creates a complete understanding of all existence.

***
Do we know what it means to be ascetic, to be content with little and not to think in the categories of "more and more"? It is precisely the simplicity that is born of renunciation and asceticism that creates a state of creative beauty. But if there is no love, you cannot be simple, you cannot be ascetic. You can talk about simplicity and asceticism, but without love they are just empty forms, and therefore there is no renunciation. Love is only for the one who renounces himself, completely forgets about himself.

***
This world is ours, we are people who live together, and if someone is looking for God, he wanders from temple to temple, because they divide people. The Christian church, the Muslim mosque, your own Hindu temple - they all divide people, and the one who is looking for God does not want to be associated with them. [...] Beliefs are like walls, they divide people and create conflicts. Only when the mind goes beyond all beliefs, all differences and similarities, can it be free to discover the truth.

***
When you start a journey to gain knowledge about yourself, books are not important. It is like arriving in a foreign land where you get to know a lot of new things and make amazing discoveries, but all of it is destroyed if you give importance to yourself. At the moment when you say: "I have discovered, I know, I am an excellent person because I have figured it out," - you are lost. When going on a long journey, you have to take very little with you - if you want to climb to a great height, you have to travel light.

***
If you love something, you will never get tired of it - I mean such love that there is no expectation of a result, no waiting for any benefit. When you love something, it is not self-fulfillment, so there is no longing, no end.

***
Discipline seems to me something unappealing; it is not creative, it is destructive. But if I just state such a statement now, there may be an argument that you are free to do whatever you like. The opposite is true in love: a person who loves never does everything that he likes. Only love prompts the right actions. Love brings order into the world and allows love to do whatever it wants.

***
Another cause of corruption is tradition. Tradition makes you conform. The past forces you to submit, to walk in line, and because of adaptation, the mind feels safe and protected, it arranges itself well in the familiar groove to work smoothly, without obstacles, without any doubts. Look at the adults around you and you will see that their minds do not want to be disturbed. They want peace, even if it is the peace of death; but the real peace is completely different. [...] So the mind has to die to everything that it has accumulated - to all its traditions, the values it has inherited and everything on which it has based itself to feel safe. Then the mind is no longer trapped in the web of its own thinking. Dying every moment to the past, the mind becomes fresh, so it cannot be clouded or darkened by the waves of darkness.

***
To be is something completely different from becoming. Being is such a revolutionary act that society rejects it and deals only with the act of becoming - it is respectable because it fits into the matrix. But any desire, expressed in the act of becoming (one of the forms of ambition), is without fulfillment. Sooner or later it is frustrated, delayed, distorted and we are disappointed with this malicious distortion. When you grow up, you will be convinced that your desires are never really fulfilled. In fulfillment, the shadow of longing still remains, and in your heart there is not a song, but sadness. The desire to become (an excellent person, a great saint, something big) is without end and therefore without fulfillment, its demand is for "more and more". But when a person is free from all desires related to becoming, the state of being arises, the manifestations of which are completely different. It simply is. That which is, is without time. It does not think in the categories of fulfillment. Existence itself is its fulfillment.

***
Religion is goodness; it is love that leads to the river - the living, the eternally flowing. In such a state, you will experience a moment when there will be no more searches, and the end of these searches is a completely different beginning. The search for God, for truth, the feeling that you are completely good, not cultivating goodness, humility, but finding something with the tricks and tricks of the mind, which means feeling this "something", living in it, being it - this is the true religion. But you will realize it only if you leave the well that you have dug for yourself and throw yourself into the river of life. Then life will take care of you in a wonderful way, because you no longer care about it. Life will take you where it wants, because you are part of it; there will no longer be problems of safety, worries about the words of another person, and this will be the true beauty of life.

***
The person who says that he knows is already dead. But the one who thinks "I don't know", who discovers, figures out, but does not strive for any goal and does not think about achievement or becoming, - such a person truly lives, and this life is the truth.

***
When you ask whether love can cause changes in a hooligan, what do you mean by the word "love"? If to love means to understand this person - not to change him, but to understand the causes that create hooliganism, - then this understanding will put an end to hooliganism. If I want to make this person change so that he is no longer a hooligan, my very desire to change him is an empty form, isn't it? But if I understand why he is a hooligan (it could be the wrong diet, lack of sleep, lack of warmth in the heart, the fact that he is laughed at by another person and so on), then he will no longer be a hooligan. But if my desire is only to change this person, that is, to fit him into a specific matrix, it means that I cannot understand him.

***
Similarly, most people also have ideals, don't they? And an ideal is not something real, factual, it is the desired, the expected in the future. I say this - forget the ideals and realize who you are. Do not strive for what you should be, but understand what is. Understanding what you are, a spontaneous process of transformation begins, while becoming what you think you should be, no change occurs, the previous one continues in a different form.

***
We accept sorrow as an inevitable part of life and build a philosophy out of it; we justify sorrow and claim that it is necessary to find God. On the contrary, I say: sorrow exists because people are cruel to each other. Moreover, we do not understand a lot in life, and therefore sorrow also arises - such phenomena as death, unemployment, the plight of the poor. We do not understand all this, so we learn, and the more sensitive a person is, the more he suffers. Instead of understanding these phenomena, we justify sorrow; instead of being disappointed with the system and getting out of it, we just adapt to it.

***
The mind refuses to recognize that ambition, pain, alcoholism, violence are corrupting. Therefore it says: "It is better to discuss non-alcoholism, non-violence, create ideals for ourselves," - and at the same time it continues to maintain its own dirt. Therefore, figure out for yourself how disgusting, destructive, corrupting all this is, and you will soon reject it. But if you just say: "I should not do it," - and continue to do it anyway, you will be hypocrites.

***
Fighting maintains the conflict between who we are and who we should and want to be. Can the mind exist without fighting? This is the main question, not - how to achieve a state in which there is no fight? The very attempt to achieve this state is a fight, so a state in which there is no fight cannot be achieved. But if you observe every moment how the mind struggles in a constant fight, if you just observe this process, not trying to change it, not trying to impose on the mind a certain state that you call peace, then you will experience that the mind spontaneously stops fighting, and in this state it can learn an enormous amount. Then learning is not just the acquisition of information, but the discovery of its amazing wealth that arises from the mind's achievements; and the human mind that discovers it experiences joy.

***
Why does this constant desire to be loved exist? Listen carefully! You want to be loved because you do not love yourself; but at the moment when you love, it ends; you no longer ask whether someone loves you or not. As long as you are waiting to be loved, there is no love in you, and if you do not feel love, you are cruel and brutal. Why should such people be loved? Without love, you are dead, and when the dead asks for love, he is still dead. But if the heart is full of love, you never ask to be loved, you never put an empty vessel and ask someone to fill it. Only the empty asks to be filled, but the empty heart can never be filled by running around in circles and looking for love in hundreds of other ways.

***
See, fears exist as long as you want to be safe: safe in your home, at work, in your social status, in your area of responsibility, in your ideas, beliefs, safe in your relationship with the world or in your relationship with God. At the moment when a person's mind strives for safety or pleasure in any manifestation, fears will inevitably arise - it is important to be aware of this trend and understand it. So a person's mind that is modest, respectful and free from fears is innocent. Only the innocent mind can understand reality, truth, God.

Yine Krishnamurti ve yine uzun süren okuma dönemi. Bilinenden Kurtulmak'taki gibi sindire sindire okudum. Açıkçası bu daha kolay okunan bir kitap. Okullarda küçük çocuklarla, anne babalarla ve eğitmenlerle yapılan söyleşiler konuları üzerinden bir araya getirilmiş.

Baştan sona okumak yerine hayatınızın o döneminde sizi ilgilendiren bir konuyu seçip o bölümü okuyabilirsiniz. Her bölüm önce bir açıklama metni arkasındansa her yaştan dinleyenlerin soruları ve cevapları şeklinde.

Kitabın ana fikriyse eğitim sisteminin çocukken sahip olduğumuz açık enerjiyi nasıl söndürüp, sıradan sorgulamayan insanlara dönüştüğümüz. Bu noktada çocukları erken yaşta uyarmak kadar eğitmenleri de yönlendirmesi açısından çok önemli ve en beğendiğim yönü de bu oldu.

Artık bu söyleşileri yapma olanağımız olmadığına göre tavsiyem anne babaların bu kitabı okuyup daha sonra küçük çocuklarına okumaları veya okutmaları. Tabii ki küçük bir çocuk tüm kitabı okumaktan sıkılacaktır ama okurken sizi ilgilendiren kısımları işaretleyin ve çocuğunuza okuyun derim. Hele ki okulla başı belada olan ailelere çok yardım olacaktır.

Onun dışında eğitmenler ve okul tamam ama anne babaların da çocuklarını eğitirken ki yaptığı istemsiz hataları görmelerini sağlayacaktır. Örneğin gençlerin sıklıkla "annem babam benim böyle olmamı istiyor ama ben istemiyorum." gibi sorular sordukları görülüyor. Din, meslek veya evlenilecek kız/adamla ilgili olabilir. Anne baba olarak kendi yatkınlıklarını çocuklarına dayatıp özgürlüklerini kısıtlamanın hatası vesaire gibi aydınlatmalar var. Aynı şekilde aile akraba veya arkadaşlık ilişkileri için de geçerli. Her insana istekleri, hedefleri, eğilimleri konusunda saygı göstermek ve gösterebilmek üzerine sohbetler var.

Okuyun derim.

..Mevcut eğitim sistemimiz bize yaptığımız işi değil, başarıyı sevmeyi öğrettiği için kötüdür. Eylemin sonucu eylemden daha önemli hale gelmiştir..Sayfa130

..Mükemmeliyet önceden tasarlanmış bir anda yaşanan bir şeydir ve bu anın bir sürekliliği yoktur; bu nedenle de ne mükemmeliyeti tasarlayabilirsiniz ne de onu kalıcı hale getirecek bir yol bulabilirsiniz..Sayfa159

..Fakat bilgi zihni, aklı, iç dünyayı yönlendiren bir geleneğe, bir inanca dönüştüğünde bir engeldir ve aynı zamanda insanları böler. Bütün dünyada insanlar gruplara bölünüp kendilerine Hindu, Müslüman, Budist ve Hristiyan gibi isimler takıyor fark ettiniz mi? Onları bölen nedir? Bilimsel keşifler, tarıma, bir köprü yapmaya, uçakları uçurmaya dair bilgiler değildir. İnsanları bölen, zihni belli bir yönde koşullandıran gelenekler ve inançlardır..Sayfa174

..Gerçek Brahman, gururlu olduğu için değil, kendi ışığı kendine yettiği için kimseden bir şey istemeyen biridir..Sayfa207

..Yalnızca içi boş olan doldurulmak ister ve boş bir kalp, guruların peşinde koşmakla ya da başka bir yoldan sevgiyi aramakla doldurulamaz..Sayfa242

..Oysa kendimizi Hindular, Amerikalılar ya da İngilizler veya beyaz, kahverengi, siyah ya da sarı olarak görmekle aramızda gereksiz engeller yarattığımızı anlamamız çok önemlidir..Sayfa246

The ideas presented in this book are truly inspiring.

I can't help but wish that I had come across this remarkable piece of literature when I was younger.

As I read through it, I find that I can relate to a great deal of what the author is saying.

However, it does seem that the book has a particular appeal to the younger generation.

This has led me to have many questions about the author's thought process, which is probably the very point of the book.

If given the opportunity to explore more of his writings in the future, I will definitely take a closer look.

I am eager to gain further insights into his unique perspective and see how it might impact my own thinking.

The book has left a lasting impression on me, and I look forward to delving deeper into the author's works in the days to come.

A very insightful book indeed. It is truly remarkable. I possess a notebook that is completely filled with the profound insights from Krishnamurti. Each page is like a treasure trove of wisdom. I am filled with a sense of eternal gratitude that I have been given the precious opportunity to peek into one person's extraordinary mind. Krishnamurti's thoughts are like a bright light shining in the darkness, guiding me towards a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. His words have the power to transform and启迪 my thinking. I often find myself reflecting on his insights, and they continue to have a profound impact on my life. I am truly blessed to have discovered this amazing book and to have been able to gain such valuable insights from it.

“Think-on-these-Things” by J. Krishnamurti is a profound exploration of human cognition. It delves into how our thinking is shaped by external conditioning. What makes this work unique is its non-didactic approach, presented in the form of dialogues and reflections. This challenges readers to step back and deeply contemplate the fundamental questions that often go unnoticed in our busy lives.

Highlights include Krishnamurti's advocacy for an education that nurtures intelligence, critical thinking, and self-awareness, rather than just rote learning. He argues that the true aim of education should be to cultivate the ability to think independently and critically, not just prepare for a job or career.

Intelligence, according to Krishnamurti, is not merely about amassing facts or knowledge. It also involves the capacity to think without fear, free from pre-conceived notions and opinions. He views intelligence as an active process of inquiry, constantly evolving and adapting.

The book further discusses the concept of freedom, which is not limited to the absence of physical constraints but extends to a state of mind. As long as individuals are influenced by traditions, societal norms, and desires, they cannot be truly free. Freedom, in Krishnamurti's view, means breaking free from the conditioning imposed by society.

Krishnamurti is also a critic of existing social structures and cultural norms. He opposes a society built on ambition, competition, and the pursuit of power, as he believes these lead to conflict and exploitation, hindering freedom.

The importance of self-knowledge is emphasized as the foundation of true understanding. This understanding is a continuous, never-ending process that occurs without comparisons. It eventually gives rise to compassion, a feeling devoid of hidden motives and fear.

By observing one's own mind, Krishnamurti claims, one can break free from its limitations. It is crucial to observe the mind without judgment, as habits and routines can make it sleepy and inattentive. He encourages a mindful approach to daily activities to prevent the mind from falling into thoughtless habits.

A Timeless Piece of Philosophical Literature

The book does an excellent job of posing important questions about life, society, and our thoughts and feelings. It prompts readers to think deeply and consider different perspectives. Krishnamurti emphasizes self-inquiry, which can only be achieved through critical analysis and introspection.

Although written decades ago, the ideas presented in the book, such as education, societal inequality, and the pursuit of meaning, remain relevant today. Some books serve as manuals for life, and “Think-on-these-Things” is undoubtedly one of them – a timeless piece of philosophical literature.

Not many people have truly understood the crisis that the world is facing. Human conditioning is indeed a real phenomenon. Generation after generation, we seem to be destroying the kids in the name of safety. We impose various restrictions and rules on them, believing that it is for their own good. However, in the process, we may be suppressing their natural curiosity and creativity.

The author's questions serve as a wake-up call. They are all things that we need to think about on our own. We should not blindly follow the established patterns and traditions. Instead, we should question whether what we are doing is really beneficial to the growth and development of the next generation. We need to break free from the limitations of human conditioning and explore new ways to raise and educate our children.

Only by doing so can we hope to create a better future for the world and ensure that our children can grow up to be independent, creative, and responsible individuals.

The writer, as always, delves deep into the core of day-to-day problems, guiding the reader on how any kind of conflict arises and what the structure of any kind of thought is.

The basic underlying principles are as follows: 1. Non-acceptance of what is. 2. Movement towards becoming what should be.

Perhaps these ideal projections are the creations of the mind itself, which, having evolved a mechanism that can only dissect things, is always on the lookout for problems that, of course, need time and can be solved in the distant future.

But the catch here is that the solutions are of the mind itself, which is the problem seeker/creator. Therefore, the solutions of the mind are merely more problems in disguise that came in through the backdoor.

The speaker talks about acceptance, which brings some kind of transformation. The whole idea is very elusive, but somehow, paradoxically, it seems to be the only way. The reason being that any kind of reaction or solution from the conditioned mind, which is basically playing a one-up game with its surroundings, will further create a vicious cycle of more problems and more solutions.

Also, it is the high tide of this century that we come face to face with ourselves, left alone with our thoughts. The mind has devised so many ways of distraction, be it the internet, shopping, or some latest flick. It is about time that we give some attention to the drama going on inside our heads.

No techniques, but just a silent watcher observing his/her thoughts.

Although it is far from classical eastern philosophy, what he wrote about self-interest under its influence really surprised me. Generally, when easterners assign meanings to pious and devout things, as you know, Ayn Rand talked about the problem of altruism and self-interest. She said things like our mothers don't love us. What she called indifference, in my opinion, is completely a waste of time. Also, thinking to reach knowledge, what is it? Rationalism was suddenly introduced in the 18th century in western philosophy.

It's not a bad book. I gave it 3 stars because the dialogues seemed very strange to me. In some places, it answers questions with questions and there are no satisfactory answers. It talked beautifully about society. In eastern philosophy, my favorite part is that there are no mind-blowing jargon-filled sentences. Maybe it has something to do with the topic she is interested in, I don't know, but simplicity and naturalness exist in every aspect of people's lives, for example, in the Japanese. That's what I liked in the book, so I was convinced that it deserved 4 stars.

We non-conformists can bring many things to this world, but being illogical is not one of them. This quality is not well understood and even less practiced by the majority of people. However, it is a rite of passage if you want to be among us. There is no doubt that Mr. Krishnamurti holds a place of respect in our small but shunned world. But any true non-conformist will admit that Mr. Krishnamurti said some things that were not entirely logical. For example, when explaining a certain quality of inward happiness, he said something like, "Ever noticed how fat people are happy?" Well, no, Mr. Krishnamurti, because that would be stereotyping.

Anyway, having gotten that off my chest (and mind), I would like to tell you what I liked about the book. The questions in the book are deep, introspective, and genuinely honest in their deliberation. They are questions that you and I might be surprised to realize we failed to recognize in the first place. Mr. Krishnamurthi has been mostly honest with his answers and astoundingly insightful in many of them. In one section, he argues that since people define all that transcends the physical world and the traditional framework of time as "soul," shouldn't we, as non-conformists, ask the appropriate question - is there a soul?

This is a brilliant book not because it is perfect but because it is an intelligent discussion with flaws. It should not be read just once but many times, not as an inspiration but as a reality check. I know I will be reading it again.

J. Krishnamurti's style can be described as a very sincere attempt to expose the flaws of human beings. He uses simple and understandable language to make us uncomfortable with our own behavior and encourages us to take responsibility for our actions. This is achieved by constantly being aware of our minds and flowing towards positive change without effort, and most importantly, without following others, but finding the truth on our own.

One aspect of his style that I really like is his directness, which can sometimes be disturbing to our egos. For example, when someone asks him about social work, he is quite blunt in指出 that it may be just a means of escape from other issues.

This book is similar to his others in terms of style and approach. However, I noticed that he uses the word 'God' more casually in this book, which he usually refrains from doing. He often says that if we don't find the 'truth' or 'God', our lives are not worth living.

The way he speaks, as recorded in this book from his interactions with students, reveals his sincerity. He is asking us to stop fooling around and start reflecting on our actions. He has said, "Through every action, try to understand yourself, out of that self-knowledge, will come the right kind of action."

His style may seem a bit dry as he doesn't tell stories, make jokes, or explain spiritual systems like other spiritual masters. He simply talks about our daily life problems and makes us look at them without using spiritual jargon. Some may prefer a more engaging style, while others may appreciate the simplicity.

I believe he avoids the extra stuff on purpose. If he tells a moral story, our minds may defend ourselves by comparing the circumstances to our own. Similarly, if he mentions a spiritual system, our inherent biases may prevent us from seeing the truth. The best example is the role of a teacher or guide. Due to the many stories of false gurus, we are unable to listen when someone says we need a guide in life.

You will also find some silly questions from kids, which are forgivable. However, sometimes Krishnamurti gives amazing responses to these questions. For example, on page 198, he answers the question, "Why do birds fly away when I come near?" and on page 210, he answers, "Why do men hunt tigers?" I won't spoil it for you, so read the book to find out!

We all think. We all think a lot. There are a myriad of thoughts that pervade the space of our mind.

Every day we confront them and are often unable to either understand them or put a stop to them. Is thinking bad? No. We are what we believe. And our beliefs come from various sources such as conditioning, books, education, experience, philosophies, religion, family values, and so on.

But thinking has the power to question these beliefs. If we are willing to shed them when we realize their uselessness or take a strong stand for them when we realize their truth, then clearly thinking is of great help. Now, isn't it important to know whether most of the thoughts we spend our time on are worth pondering or not? Isn't it crucial to be aware that outside our so-called contented shell of a life, there exist amazing opportunities that can make one feel closer to oneself and life?

All of this should be achieved through the effort of this thing called'mind'.

This book is Mr. Krishnamurti's one attempt among countless others that urges one to think about certain important aspects of life. Why is it necessary? It is necessary so that an individual may lead a beautiful life, so that the mind is ever-young and in tune with the dynamic truth of life. It is necessary so that one can be poetic, romantic, and at the same time be completely alert and watchful of the sheer reality of life.

He wants one to be a fearless, happily discontented, and free individual, and only such a person can be a truly revolutionary.

With such simple language and immeasurable intensity of thought, this book is one of the greatest reads available. I shall recommend this book to one and all. To free thinkers, it is a sheer delight, and to those who think less, it shall give their thought processes a new vitality.

And thus, it surely paves a path for anyone to be more thoughtful, alert, and in the process, a more considerate human being. It is one of those books whose purpose will be served only when one tries to implement even the simplest of things said.

And it is more important to know that you really understand what is being said and do not mold it according to your own notions and prejudices. Therefore, read this book with a silent, empty, and open mind, and you will learn how so many treasures of the mind that seem lost to us in this whole confusion can be restored. Read it and then try to practice it. Let us try to be awake.

Krishnamurti is an extremely significant light on the road. His teachings have the power to transform one's perspective and way of thinking.

I wholeheartedly recommend that everybody read him, although it might prove to be a challenging task to understand him completely. This is especially true for those individuals who are overly attached to specific philosophical and/or religious beliefs.

Krishnamurti has the ability to leave you with a very healthy sense of uncertainness. It makes you wonder and question the status quo. He encourages you to break free from the limitations that we often impose on our own thoughts.

His words open up a world of possibilities and allow your mind to soar without boundaries. Reading Krishnamurti can be a life-changing experience, helping you to see the world in a whole new light.