The First and Last Freedom (Jiddu Krishnamurti)
A Classic, Must-Read Mystical Text
(My 5-star Amazon review of “The First and Last Freedom†by J. Krishnamurti.]
I first encountered J Krishnamurti's books in the `70s; and I subsequently devoted myself to studying them. I was so enamored with this great mystic's teachings, I became involved with various Krishnamurti discussion groups, and even drove from San Diego to Ojai (around 250 miles) just to see him speak.
As a long-time aficionado of J. Krishnamurti (K), I consider "The First and Last Freedom" to be his best book, the one I recommend to my students. This text is a collection of brilliant, ground-breaking essays by K, and I consider it "must" reading for serious students of mysticism.
K's strength is his ability to reformulate mystical Dharma within a simple but elegant psychological framework. According to K, inner conflict and mental suffering stem from one thing: the avoidance of what is; and all effort, or seeking, is simply the avoidance of what is, Being. As K says, "to be [unqualifiedly] related is to be;" therefore, real intelligence, radical (or gone-to-the-root) understanding, is simply a matter of relationship, of remaining unobstructedly present to life. In other words, a Truth practitioner must, from moment to moment, enact the asana of effortless, choiceless awareness relative to what arises.
Direct, immediate awareness relative to existence = presence + oneness = unity-consciousness, and culminates in mystical relationship, divine communion, or as K puts it, "communion with the Highest."
K's weakness in "The First and Last Freedom" is his failure to address that which stems from "communion with the Highest:"-- the descent of Divine Power (the Holy Spirit, Hindu Shakti, or the Buddhist Sambhogakaya). In "Krishnamurti's Journal," K describes his experiences of what he calls the "the Benediction," the Descent of the Divine; but I do not find his exegesis of spiritual Energy to be particularly enlightening, especially when compared to the ones in some other Dharmas. K's teachings, although brilliant, have rightly been described as "incomplete," meaning essentially limited to the psychological.
Therefore, I strongly suggest that students of Krishnamurti, in order to get a fuller understanding of the spiritual en-Light-enment process, also devote themselves to studying the mystical traditions of Christian Hermeticism, Hindu Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen and Mahamudra, and Adi Da's Samraj's Daism.
(My 5-star Amazon review of “The First and Last Freedom†by J. Krishnamurti.]
I first encountered J Krishnamurti's books in the `70s; and I subsequently devoted myself to studying them. I was so enamored with this great mystic's teachings, I became involved with various Krishnamurti discussion groups, and even drove from San Diego to Ojai (around 250 miles) just to see him speak.
As a long-time aficionado of J. Krishnamurti (K), I consider "The First and Last Freedom" to be his best book, the one I recommend to my students. This text is a collection of brilliant, ground-breaking essays by K, and I consider it "must" reading for serious students of mysticism.
K's strength is his ability to reformulate mystical Dharma within a simple but elegant psychological framework. According to K, inner conflict and mental suffering stem from one thing: the avoidance of what is; and all effort, or seeking, is simply the avoidance of what is, Being. As K says, "to be [unqualifiedly] related is to be;" therefore, real intelligence, radical (or gone-to-the-root) understanding, is simply a matter of relationship, of remaining unobstructedly present to life. In other words, a Truth practitioner must, from moment to moment, enact the asana of effortless, choiceless awareness relative to what arises.
Direct, immediate awareness relative to existence = presence + oneness = unity-consciousness, and culminates in mystical relationship, divine communion, or as K puts it, "communion with the Highest."
K's weakness in "The First and Last Freedom" is his failure to address that which stems from "communion with the Highest:"-- the descent of Divine Power (the Holy Spirit, Hindu Shakti, or the Buddhist Sambhogakaya). In "Krishnamurti's Journal," K describes his experiences of what he calls the "the Benediction," the Descent of the Divine; but I do not find his exegesis of spiritual Energy to be particularly enlightening, especially when compared to the ones in some other Dharmas. K's teachings, although brilliant, have rightly been described as "incomplete," meaning essentially limited to the psychological.
Therefore, I strongly suggest that students of Krishnamurti, in order to get a fuller understanding of the spiritual en-Light-enment process, also devote themselves to studying the mystical traditions of Christian Hermeticism, Hindu Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen and Mahamudra, and Adi Da's Samraj's Daism.
