Kitchen Chronicles: 1001 Lunches With J. Krishnamurti

Rating:
Summary: Good News
Review: I am glad to se a book by Michael, a good aquaintance, whom I respect for his integrity as a person. I haven't read the book as yet, but I look forward to it, as there is a shortage of books about what Krishnamurti was like in everyday life. Michael is well equiped for the job, as he knew Krishnamurti well and spent many an hour in his company.

Rating:
Summary: good new info on K
Review: Krishnamurti is the most important mystic of the twentieth century, and a clear, unvarnished account of personal interactions with him is always revealing and welcome. This is another one.

Rating:
Summary: Less than 1 star had that option been available!
Review: Money-making through the sales of this book seems to be the main aim of the author - excusable, actually, as a number of others have done so too with books on J. Krishnamurti: Krohnen is in exalted company, actually! He exploits his accidental association with a man of great charisma and wisdom for self-enrichment. A rather unweildy collection of used jokes - and many jokes that Krishnamurti made were picked up by K himself from others - laced with a few menus do not a good book make! And being K's cook for 10 years does not necessarily confer on anyone the right to portray K's character in however sketchy a manner! The book does not provide any insight into either K or the author and since there is still a commercial value - fast diminishing, I admit - on anything related to K and his life, Michael Krohnen has struck while the wok is hot! I belive the menus aren't very inspiring either! It is lucky for Krohnen that Krishnamurti was rather bored by food and never felt hungry! If he did Krohnen would have had short shrift! No doubt he has a lot to be thankful for in his association with Krishnamurti!
The Indian cook - whom I know personally - who used to cook for Krishnamurti while K travelled all over India, and who was also with him and not only cooked for him but also looked after him in every way when K was living in solitude, would have been able to write a much better book had he been more literate! As it is, Krohnen should have just confined himself to his cooking skills (!) but as they don't amount to very much he has ventured, unsuccessfully, into territory where he is clearly very much out of depth!
What next? A book by Krishnamurti's barber about K's futile attempts to cover his bald head with the few strands of hair that remained?

Rating:
Summary: A welcome (newish) book on K
Review: Mr Krohnen saw what he wanted to see. The problem is what he did not tell.What Mr Krohnen says is something as the official view of the foundations and schools. The book makes one doubt that Krishnamurti was ever capable of making himself understood. As far as I know, nobody around Krishnamurti became independent of Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti often said that he would never repeat anything that he did not discover by himself. The schools never produced anything but people conditioned by the teachings. I have known these people for more than 35 years. If I have to judge by them, Krishnamurti's teachings were a waste of time.On the other hand, the book gives a good view of the atmosphere around this unique person, J. Krishnamurti.

Rating:
Summary: A little bit more or truth
Review: Probably the book would not be very different if written by anybody else who spent the same time with Krisnamurti. All through the book, we get almost as many facts as possible about K, but we learn much more about the author and about the people who made the small world around Krishnamurti...Krishnamurti was sheltered from the rudness of the marketplace.All questions which Krishnamurti disaproved of, where considered irrelevant or silly, because he was seen as the living truth.Actually there was a very funny incident with a fellow called Christian in Saanen, who once submitted K to the kind of questioning that most people get from reporters or lawyers.Rude and provocative ,though in this case the man was sincere. In general,people who questioned K, as UG were dismissed too lightly.The same happened to Vimala Thakar(who became persona non grata), even though most people would say that these two people could see much more clearly than any of the people that attended the talks. A debate between UG and Prof Bohm , was clearly won by UG, if we are to trust the things that people present to the debate said. But one thing that the book brings out clearly was how after a lifetime of lectures, Krishnamurti did not find a single person who lived the same vast emptiness with the same intensity. People in the schools all seem second hand copies of this rather misterious man.Krishnamurti certainly was the least egotistic person anybody could find and he irradiated something that probably is beyond the human mind.But he was altogether different as a small boy, with his conceptual mind almost non existant. One could think almost of some autistic children, that develop extraordinary skills in some areas. Perhaps the reason that people around Krishnamurti are not able to live the teachings of this great mystic, is in the chemistry of their bodies or the excessive development of the intelectual mind.Yet,it is with the intelect that most people would try to grasp the teachings.The effort to live them by listening to talks in that case would be in vain and the schools would be nice, but not very meaningfull.Perhaps I am wrong, but at least this possibilty should have been discussed in the book, as it refers to the teachings too.Other things ,as Rajagopals daughter's book is omitted, as much as the anti Krisnamurti,mentioned above, UG Krishnamurti, who would always be around the gatherings in Saanen,scolding K's listeners rather than the old man himself.UG was anathema to the true believers who didn't even care to know what he was saying,contrary to K .Also the fact that the dicussions groups with outsiders in some of the foundations degenerated in neurotic discussions, once David Bohm was dead. As far as I am concerned , people at the schools could have learned to listen , which some of them did, at any good training for pschotherapists.But to have the effect that K had on people,if that was the issue,that did not happen and we could say that the whole experiment was a failure.Perhaps we get more understanding and open minds with some of the tibetan buddhists, no matter how conditioned they are.The book's greatest failure, was the fear to ask: What if Krishnamurti was wrong ? What if I wasted my life? But this is a question beyond the reach of true believers of any kind, even of those that claim that they follow no one.If Krishnamurti's talks were unable to make people capable of love in the sense that he used the word, now that he is deceased, and people have to rely on books and tapes only.( if lucky enough to escape interpreters)things are even worse,because all will possibly be reduced to a nice philosophy to be thrown at each other without any affection and a new generation won't be very different in its capacity for living without conditionings. Perhaps , somewhere a group of slightly lunatic people will be able to nest a new Buddha of some kind.And he won't mention K, and will speak of his own authority.That , if we are lucky, because the chances are that a lot of crazy or dishonest people will pretend and delude people.And most of us will probably be caught in one of these frauds, for these people are skilled artist of deception and most people only too willing to be deceived, if only it be done in a clever way.Mr Krohnen could have elaborated more on the conflicts among the staff, and among the students and the teachers, as well as on his own motives. The fact that Krishnamurti for many years gave the public the impression of being celibate, and avoided the question altogether, left a lot of people confused. They probably would have managed better, if they knew of Krishnamurti's love affair in his youth. Latter on as he matured, of course this changed and he would talk more freely about this.Finally the book could have told us why Mary Z, the person who lived closer to Krishnamurti, did not write her memories .People would have the right to know for instance, that sometimes K would get so angry with Mary, that his face would turn grey, only to return to his calm moments after,and that when caught doing this, K would have asked a person I knew,not to mention this to anyone. Of course he could have quite good reasons for that, inclusive of being misanderstood, but then raise the hand he who never misunderstood somebody, especially an elusive person as Jiddu Krishnamurti, a man who seemed to be as little conditioned as possible,if at all.Last but not least the book could have let people know Krishnamurti's view of former guru Rajneesh, so called Osho, whom he called a criminal.This was said to an ex disciple of Osho, who ,( from where came many of the jokes that K loved to tell) came to K, afraid of being killed by that fallen angel, as she called Rajneesh.History is where the dirty linen must be washed , least it becomes fiction, as most of it became.We have enough illusions already.The book could have been a little more honest,a little less (ugh), Krishnamurtian.I hope not to have spoilt the party too much, especially for those who are in charge of the foundations and the schools.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful!
Review: This is a wonderful book--I really enjoyed it. For those of us who never had a chance to meet K or hear him speak in person, this book is a real gem. It is full of jokes that K liked to tell and some stories he told. The author gives the reader a real sense of what it was like to interact with Krishnamurti on a casual, daily basis. This book includes some menus. No detail was too insignificant for me; therefore I couldn't put this book down. The author, Michael Kroehnen, was the cook in CA for the last 10 years of Krishnamurti'l life.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful!
Review: This is a wonderful book--I really enjoyed it. For those of us who never had a chance to meet K or hear him speak in person, this book is a real gem. It is full of jokes that K liked to tell and some stories he told. The author gives the reader a real sense of what it was like to interact with Krishnamurti on a casual, daily basis. This book includes some menus. No detail was too insignificant for me; therefore I couldn't put this book down. The author, Michael Kroehnen, was the cook in CA for the last 10 years of Krishnamurti'l life.

Rating:
Summary: excellent food for the head
Review: This is a wonderful book. Entertaining and thought provoking. It is a excellent addition to any Krishnamurti collection. I only wish K was around and he could cook up a few more meals...with his notebook.