On God

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Summary: A complete review of 'ON GOD'
Review: 'On God' by Jiddu Krishnamurti is one of the best books on philosophy and religion. The views and ideas of Krishnamurti about 'God' are unique and entirely different from the definitions that we get from our society and from our religion that may be Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or Christian. So his views on God might seem to be unacceptable for some people. But if we think carefully and seriously than we find that his views are true and undeniable.

God is unknown to us and to find/realize God we just close our eyes and begin to search for God. At this stage we are searching the unknown from the known (our mind). Known means our knowledge. We are searching the thing that we don't know from what we have known and learned. We have been taught or we have gathered the knowledge about God. We have learned that God is like this and that. And if we sit and start searching God then we are just imagining and creating a picture of God. In this stage thought comes into action. Thought can project anything it likes. It can accept as well as deny God according to situations like pleasure and pain.

To realize God, the thought must come to an end. Our mind must be completely free from thought. It should be completely empty (but not blank) and silent. It is a totally different stage, which is often, realized when we are in love, i.e. while holding the hand of the other, looking lovingly at a child or watching the beauty of evening or the Himalayas. At these stages, the mind is thought-free, silent and in an extreme pleasure. By making our mind thought-free we can realize the God, but not by thinking about God.

According to Krishnamurti, we pray to God, we go to temples and churches because we are all the time frightened from sorrow and pain. When we are in trouble, then we remember God. Here, we are just creating God for our security. Man always wants to be secure from sorrows and pains. He always wants to escape (go away) from them. For example: when we are angry, then all our energy is wasted in thinking that we are not angry or we must not be angry. We struggle with the feeling of anger to block it to come into us. It is only escaping through words and we are not able to come in contact, directly with that particular feeling. But if we watch it keeping complete attention to it without any ideas of that feeling, then it ceases. Similarly, we are frightened of death. But we can enter the house of death while living. Death is the complete cessation of everything that we have known. Actually, the moment of death is the moment of unknown.

Without meditation, there is no possibility of going beyond the limits of thought and mind and brain and realizing God. Krishnamurti defines meditation differently. He says that concentration is not meditation because while concentrating there is a constant battle going on with the mind as it frequently refuses to concentrate and wanders off. Meditation is actually 'self-knowing', that is knowing every thought, every mood, every feeling and knowing the activity of our mind, but not knowing 'the Higher-Self' i.e. 'the Atman'. Krishnamurti disagree in the existence of 'the Atman' because it exists within the field of thought. Meditation actually is the movement with our own thoughts without choice and comparison. It is to observe our thoughts without naming them. It is to keep attention towards the thought without control or concentration.

This book is worth reading for every religious people who are always in search of God. It's an applicable book for all adults and youths as well as for students. Although, Krishnamurti's views are appropriate it seems hard to be applicable in our daily life at the beginning because we are following an entirely different view about God.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books of Krishnamurti's "teachings"
Review: I've read over 25 Krishamurti books, including all the "big ones" like Freedom from the Known, The First and Last Freedom, Total Freedom, Awakening of Intelligence, Flight of the Eagle, Krishmaurti's Notebook, etc., many of which I've read more than once. I've given all of them away to share K's message but kept four of them which I keep as references for focused daily reflection/meditation (as opposed to the meditation of all waking life). The four I've kept are Freedom from the Known, On God, On Right Livelihood, and Education and the Significance of Life (the last one of great relevance to me since I'm an educator). And so now I always recommend (and often give) the first three books on that list I just mentioned to anyone who wants to learn more about K's "teachings." "Freedom from the Known" is the single best, most concise and thorough summary of all K's teachings. "On God" should greatly help anyone who is searching for ultimate reality, Truth, God, Enlightenment, Nirvana, The Meaning of Life, or whatever one wants to call it. No summary will do it justice; you must read it for yourself. "On Right Livelihood" addresses the issue of our daily living, in work, leisure, and even to some degree home life and family relationship, becuase, as K emphasizes, they all should be an integrated whole, not fragmented parts of our lives. "Education and the Significance of Life" is also or relevance to anyone who has children or who teaches; it will transform the way you view childrearing and education. I would say that those four books would be all a person would need to transform one's life; to have a radical revolution in living.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books of Krishnamurti's "teachings"
Review: I've read over 25 Krishamurti books, including all the "big ones" like Freedom from the Known, The First and Last Freedom, Total Freedom, Awakening of Intelligence, Flight of the Eagle, Krishmaurti's Notebook, etc., many of which I've read more than once. I've given all of them away to share K's message but kept four of them which I keep as references for focused daily reflection/meditation (as opposed to the meditation of all waking life). The four I've kept are Freedom from the Known, On God, On Right Livelihood, and Education and the Significance of Life (the last one of great relevance to me since I'm an educator). And so now I always recommend (and often give) the first three books on that list I just mentioned to anyone who wants to learn more about K's "teachings." "Freedom from the Known" is the single best, most concise and thorough summary of all K's teachings. "On God" should greatly help anyone who is searching for ultimate reality, Truth, God, Enlightenment, Nirvana, The Meaning of Life, or whatever one wants to call it. No summary will do it justice; you must read it for yourself. "On Right Livelihood" addresses the issue of our daily living, in work, leisure, and even to some degree home life and family relationship, becuase, as K emphasizes, they all should be an integrated whole, not fragmented parts of our lives. "Education and the Significance of Life" is also or relevance to anyone who has children or who teaches; it will transform the way you view childrearing and education. I would say that those four books would be all a person would need to transform one's life; to have a radical revolution in living.

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Summary: Keep your mind too open and your brains will fall out!
Review: Jeeper,s what a great idea! Once you stop using your intellect - which is, after all, a gift from your Creator - then you can believe anything you want. You can believe in Santa Claus or Satan, and who's going to tell you you're wrong? You're beyond all that intellectual stuff, right?

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Summary: More Than Just God
Review: This book (one in a series where Krishnamurti goes deeply into several topics critical to mankind) will mainly be of intrest to people who are already familiar with Krishnamurti's basic philosophy/teachings. Krishnamurti uses many words with specific definitions (specific to himself & used throughout his works) that people might not understand if they don't go deeply into particular subjects. This book helps clarify & define several of them. In a nut-shell, Krishnamurti states "How can anyone find God (the unknown) through the known? All one will find is their own thought's known projections. So to know God (if that's possible), one cannot approach God through the known; through knowledge." This is part of a larger thought of his, which is: don't believe in anything. Don't believe at all. If something comes to you as-is, on its own, fine. But any seeking...through prayer, thought, traditional types of yoga/meditation, or whatnot, is futile, as you will only find the known. Only when one stops seeking, is it possible for God, Truth, Reality, Enlightenment...call it what you will...to come to one. This, like all of Krishnamurti's works, will be of intrest to existentialists, as he states somewhere/everywhere (I've read so many of his works I've forgotten where!): "Truth is a pathless land. You can't follow another to get there, and none can follow you once you've reached it yourself." If you dig Krishnamurti, get it.

Rating:
Summary: Over his head
Review: Though I like Krishnamurti's work in general, this is a [weak] one. Since he is anti-organization, anti-teacher he dimisses all the mystics and spiritual teachers who ever lived. They don't know but since I'm free of all that dogma and rigid teachings I know best sums up Krisnamurti's thought on god. This borders on egomania. Sadly by lowering the topic to such a low level of discourse he makes himself no better than any new age kook. Since he had no method per se and dismisses any sort development of higher level perceptions he puts himself in a box all alone. It's too bad his experience with Theosophy ruined his opinion of teachers and organizations.

This book could perhaps stand as signpost as too how far rational thinking can take a person. Get the book if you're interested and then get Underhill's "Mysticism" and Helminski's "Living Presence". Compare them and see who has a better understanding of spirituality and God.

Rating:
Summary: GOOD BOOK
Review: When reading Krishnamurti it's Important not to Jump to Conclusions, Spiritual Philosophy is Suptle, we're not dealing with Gross matter here, Sometimes Krishnamurti uses words in their traditional meaning, But sometimes he uses words in a Special way which he defines, Krishnamurti was for example often very critical of knowledge and the Intellect, But he did not Mean that we should throw our brains away and act stupid, The Intellect and the Knowledge it aquires are usefull tools, But limited tools, we must see the Limit of Knowledge and the Intellect and use them when Apropriate.

For the sake of argument let's supose that we have an Imortal Spirit that is indipendent of the body, then that spirit does not need the Brain, So in order for the Brain to get insight from our Spirit it needs to Know it's limits and learn how to be silent, Krishnamurti's Teaching emphasized Self Knowledge as the first step in a spiritual search, Know the Searcher first, Then if you want to seek beyond the limits of the body, to seek the Spirit or God you need to quiet the Mind. This is of course also central in the Spiritual Traditions of Taoism , Zen and Yoga.

Krishnamurti rarely says anything definite about God, but instead tries to help the seeker to prepare himself to get some insight into the Sacred.

This book is exellent like all his books are, but if you have not read any of his books I would Recommend to start with Freedom From the Known.