The English word tradition comes from the Latin traduce, which means to betray. Tradition, being the past, what it betrays is the present. So says Krishnamurti in these excerpts and full-length public talks. His use of the word tradition goes beyond its usual association with religion and orthodoxy. For him, that which is considered ultra-modern is also a tradition, as it has been handed down from the old to the young. War is a tradition, as are violence and competition. Political rebellion, the revolt against the moral values of society, the pursuit of academic success, and the cultivation of the intellect are also traditions. Leading a mechanical life of going to the office every day, accumulating wealth, settling down in life, and being part of a consumerist and pleasure-seeking permissive society are the modern traditions. Belief in effort and slow psychological evolution and the practice of meditation are also traditions.
A book that poses a challenge to all those who use tradition to establish an identity for themselves either in the spiritual world or in the material world.
Publisher: KFI 164 Pages, Size - Demmy
Jiddu Krishnamurti lived from 1895 to 1986, and is regarded as one of the greatest philosophical and spiritual figures of the twentieth century. Krishnamurti claimed no allegiance to any caste, nationality or religion and was bound by no tradition. His purpose was to set humankind unconditionally free from the destructive limitations of conditioned mind. For nearly sixty years he traveled the world and spoke spontaneously to large audiences until the end of his life in 1986 at the age of ninety. He had no permanent home, but when not traveling, he often stayed in Ojai, California, Brockwood Park, England, and in Chennai, India. In his talks, he pointed out to people the need to transform themselves through self knowledge, by being aware of the subtleties of their thoughts and feelings in daily life, and how this movement can be observed through the mirror of relationship.
