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Jiddu Krishnamurti

Moiety

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I read some of his thoughts on various stuff yesterday and I was blow away.

Am I the only one who had never heard of this guy before?
 

Mephistopheles

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No, I also never heard of him, but because of that, I'm not able to talk about him either. I think it would make more sense to ask for people who at least heard of him if you want to discuss his ideas.

But, what is so special about him that you were "blown away"?
 

SecondBest

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Yeah, I've heard of him. I think he was on my list of thesis readings I had to do in college, but I don't remember which book or if I ever got around to reading it. But I do remember finding a widget on apple.com with his quotations. They were pretty good. Don't remember anything specific.

Actually, fwiw, I just wanted to add that I'm pretty wary around people who are in public intellectual or public spiritual guru status, like this guy was and guys like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Not to say their teachings aren't helpful, but I have my doubts about their sincerity. I would generally caution against idolatry in case that's where you're headed. That being said however, a lot of what they say I do agree with and can be very helpful, but there's a HUGE difference between who people are and what they teach/say.
 

Z Buck McFate

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Actually, fwiw, I just wanted to add that I'm pretty wary around people who are in public intellectual or public spiritual guru status, like this guy was and guys like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Not to say their teachings aren't helpful, but I have my doubts about their sincerity. I would generally caution against idolatry in case that's where you're headed. That being said however, a lot of what they say I do agree with and can be very helpful, but there's a HUGE difference between who people are and what they teach/say.

Krishnamurti probably would have been the first person to agree with this^. He didn't want guru status and resented being considered an authority figure. I seem to remember him even being an asshole about it at times, criticizing people for not questioning his opinions enough. He wanted people to think for themselves.

@ the op, yeah I was kind of surprised when I started reading him that I'd never heard of him either. I think I was around 30 yrs old at the time.
 

Moiety

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Yeah, like McFate pointed out Krishnamurti would agree with you, SecondBest.

That's what "blew me away" with what I've read from him. He exposes his train of thought and makes sure to doubt everything he has written 10 seconds ago...a true free thinker.

And no, worries, I was never one for idolatry. I do like the fact I'm recently finding some authors who seem to think just like I had....and by this I don't mean necessarily arriving to the same conclusions, but the thought process is similar.

Mephistopheles : The way he doesn't assume anything. A true analysis of things. The first thing I read from him was this article I found on some site online, concerning attachment - http://info.soulriser.com/how_to_become_detached/
 

Stanton Moore

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I was blown away too when I first read him. He seemed to be able to cut through all of the emotion of a thought to it's logical center.
 

Lark

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I've heard of him, he's the guy who launched the harry Krishnas was he not? He was selected when a boy as the next spiritual leader of the theosophists or something like that but didnt conform to their expectations.

I dont know the whole story but I ate once or twice in an Indian restaurant in Dublin which sort of treated him like a Hindu deity.
 

Z Buck McFate

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Are you kidding about the Hare Krishnas? He had nothing to do with them.

And yeah, he was selected by someone at the Theosophical Society to be a spiritual leader- but chose to leave because he didn't want to be a leader or to be given any authority.

edit:

Here's a synopsis from this wiki page:

In 1909, C.W. Leadbeater, one of the leaders of this movement [Theosophical Society], in expectation of an imminent new appearance by the Maitreya, "discovered" Jiddu Krishnamurti, an adolescent Indian boy, who was proclaimed as the most suitable candidate for the "vehicle" of the Maitreya.[12][13] Krishnamurti's family had relocated next to the Theosophical Society headquarters in Adyar, India, a few months earlier, at a time when Annie Besant was President of the organization.[14]
However, by 1925 Krishnamurti had begun to move away from the course expected of him by the leadership of the Theosophical Society in Adyar and many Theosophists. In 1929 he publicly dissolved the worldwide organization created to prepare the world for the new "coming" of the Maitreya, and abandoned his assumed role as the new World Teacher.[15] He eventually left the Theosophical Society altogether, yet remained on friendly terms with individual members of the Society.[16] He spent the rest of his life traveling the world as an independent speaker, becoming widely known as an original thinker on spiritual, philosophical, and psychological subjects.
 

Lark

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Its similar to some stories I've heard about the Buddha, he could have been a military leader but elected to be a spiritual one instead.
 
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