Beginnings of learning

by krishnamurti-j

Krishnamurti believed that “education is the heart of the matter.” His longstanding concern with the nature and problems of education led him to found schools in India, England, and America, and his conversations with students, teachers, and parents form the major part of Beginnings of Learning. These lively, often intimate exchanges turn on practical, everyday matters as well as wider philosophical issues, as Krishnamurti encourages his audience to appreciate that the beginning of wisdom is self-knowledge. Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in southern India in 1895 and died in 1986. The essence of his teachings is that societal change and world peace can only occur through a complete change of individual consciousness.

Genres: Philosophy, Spirituality, Education, Psychology

254 pages, cloth

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Timothy Warnock]

Compelling and thought-provoking, these dialogs with Krishnamurti are a fantastic insight into freedom, security, love, knowledge and thought -- the audience in the various discussions is young and old from the world over, all of them touching upon the same universal insights. I was particularly struck by the conversations with young students, who offered amazing perceptions, wisdom and questions that every young person ponders.

More impressive was the timelessness of his words, often the audience spoke to specific problems in the world at the time-- it was fascinating to compare these words to the language of today, to todays perceived problems, and to realize the core of it, the creation of self and the desire for security are the same now as they always have been in human civilization.

[Daniel]

It's an interesting test to read Krishnamurti, and in the past it's been a test I've failed. When I first came into contact with his work, when I stumbled onto the book On Fear many years ago, my experience involved more non-comprehension than enlightenment. His talks and his writing seemed to wander, they seemed caught in the weeds of sem... [see the rest on my book review site.]

[Liquidlasagna]

get the cash

then you get the security

and then you go carefree on the edge

He was Fantastic in B. Lake Edwards The Party

[Jonas]

Could not get into the discussion part in the beginning since I can't handle the preaching tones that often come with these kinds of enlightened ones. Read the last, more narrated, part II in which Krishnamurti addressed various issues brought up by parents and teachers which was interesting. Surely it would help a lot of people to have a more open view of the world and not consider themselves to be the center of everything, to see everything more as a whole. But as he says: the process of learning to do this is not easy.

[Sonya]

One of my favorite philosophers on learning.

[Doddie]

My first encounter with vippasana meditation