What is Right Action?
J. Krishnamurti
NEW YORK CITY 1ST PUBLIC TALK 11TH MARCH, 1935
Friends,
Most of us are trying to solve our many difficulties and problems
within the artificial distinction which we have created between the
group and the individual. Now, to me such a distinction as the
individual, opposed to the group perverts and destroys clarity of
thought, and such perversion will lead, naturally, to many repressions
and exaggerations between the individual and the group.
As we
search for ways and means out of this chaos, clever and complicated
methods and solutions are offered, and each individual chooses the
solution according to his particular idiosyncrasy, depending on his
social upbringing and religious fancies.
I do not want to add,
to those already existing, any new theories or explanations. To me, the
real solution of our problems is through intelligence, which must be
direct, simple; when there is such intelligence we can then understand
life as a whole.
Now, this intelligence is not to be awakened by
following any group or any system or by obeying one's own particular
idiosyncrasies and fancies. To awaken true intelligence we must first
inquire into the many stupidities which cripple the mind and heart, and
not seek a definition of intelligence; because, when we find out what
the stupidities are and free the mind from them through constant
awareness, we shall then be able to know for ourselves what true
intelligence is.
In finding out for ourselves the limitations
environment has placed about us and in discerning its true significance
and thus sloughing off the stupidities, we shall begin to realize what
is true intelligence. The expression of that intelligence in action is
immortality; it is the blessedness of living in the present.
You
have many ideas concerning completeness of life and immortality. But,
to me, this immortality, this richness, this completeness of life can
only be understood and lived when the mind is wholly free from the
limitations, the stupidities, that environment, past and present,
inherited or acquired, is continually placing about us.
So
please do not, if I may suggest, look to me for new explanations during
this talk, or for a set of formulas, or definitions. Such explanations
and formulas offer only means of escape from conflict. Most minds
desire to copy, imitate, follow, because they cannot think for
themselves, or else the conflict is so intense that they would rather
escape through systems, through definitions, through explanations. It
is only by continually being aware of the environment and the
imposition of its ever increasing stupidities, it is only by constantly
questioning these, that we stop the escapes, and come face to face with
conflict, which gives us the capacity to understand environment
intelligently.
What I want to explain during this talk is how we
create stupidities; without understanding this continual, unconscious
creation, the mere inquiry into what is intelligence gives us but
another escape. So, our whole inquiry should be directed towards what
is stupidity and its cause, rather than towards what is intelligence.
As
I said, until we try to free the mind from those stupidities which
environment, past and present, has created about us, and by which it is
crippling our action, until we perceive them and understand their true
significance, until then our inquiry into intelligence is but futile.
The purpose of my talk is to help you to find out what are the stupidities and how you can be free of them.
Now,
each expert, each authority, each sect, each party, offers a way out of
this increasing conflict which we know exists. Each puts forward an
idea, a theory, a method for the solution of this terrifying tangle. We
can divide, I think, these theorists, or the people who give
explanations, into two kinds: those who are turned outward, and those
turned inward.
The man who is turned outward says that all human
problems can be solved by controlling environment. That is, he says
human thought can be changed, altered, controlled, through
organization, whether of work or of the means of production and
distribution, and so forth. He regards man as clay, to be conditioned
by environment, and so by the controlling of that environment and in
the perfecting of the group, the individual will have an opportunity to
express himself. That is, he will no longer be antisocial because,
being mere clay to be conditioned, his environment can be controlled
and so his ambitions, his outlook, his desires will never be opposed to
the group and be antisocial. Man then will be conditioned according to
a new set of ideas and theories so that he can never come, as an
individual, into conflict with the group or with society.
If you
think that man is nothing else than matter to be conditioned, to be
shaped, to be controlled, then there is nothing more to be said. Then
life is very simple. Let us all, then, work for the mere perfection of
environment, following a certain set of theories and ideas, and be
conditioned by them.
Now, I am not against or for this point of
view. I want to go into it more fully. If man is merely a social entity
and if altering circumstances and environment and creating in him the
habit of seeking the well-being of the group alone so that he shall not
be antisocial - if that is all, then, it seems to me, life becomes very
shallow, a series of unfulfilled, superficial actions.
Also, you
have the man turned inward, who says that life is nothing but spirit.
Leave it, he says, to the highest in man and let him follow that
highest, as shown by the teachers, by the various philosophical
systems; let him become more religious, let him follow the great
leaders, let him have discipline, enter spiritual organizations and
obey spiritual authority, and be guided through fear, so that he will
eventually conquer circumstances, environment.
Thus you have the
exaggerations of the man who is turned outward and the exaggerations of
the man who is turned inward: the person who says that man is nothing
more than clay and therefore to be ever conditioned; and the other, the
man turned inward, the so-called spiritual man who insists first on the
change of heart.
So you have these two types. Emphasis or
exaggeration of the one or the other destroys its own end. The man who
says environment first and the man who says spirit first, each through
his exaggerations and his false emphasis, will destroy his own ends.
Whereas to me the solution, or rather the manner of thought, the true
awakening of intelligence which alone can resolve the innumerable
conflicts and problems, social and individual, lies in the perfect
equilibrium between the two, beyond and above the two, and that
equilibrium is the simple and the direct way.
To study the
various systems, philosophic as well as economic, to study them all
thoroughly so as to be able to compare, requires great effort, and few
have the time, the capacity, or the inclination, to penetrate through
their complicated reasoning and theories. And what happens when you
haven't time to inquire into the explanations of innumerable competing
experts? You choose one whom you like, who you think is reasonable; and
as you haven't the time to go into his system thoroughly, you merely
accept his authority. Greater the expert, greater the authority,
greater the following.
So, gradually the followers became blind
and merely accept dogmas, and the leaders destroy the followers and the
followers in turn destroy the leaders. Gradually we create another set
of stupidities based on a new set of dogmas which were originally
theories and we become slaves to them.
Now, to me, theories are
of very little value; because a man who is constantly in conflict with
environment, both the past and the present, is continually discerning,
penetrating, trying to understand, and therefore he is living
completely in the present. To such a man there is no need for theories
or explanations. But that requires great persistency of thought, great
awareness, great penetration into the true significance of ever
changing environment. As the majority of people cannot do that, they
accept theories which become their masters, facts, realities.
Naturally,
this also applies to religious experts whom we regard as our spiritual
guides. Now take religion, that is, religion as an organized belief,
and you will see that the authority of the expert is supreme. The
pattern is set out and you are forced through the pressure of public
opinion, through fear, and so forth, to follow. This worship of
authority, this worship of the expert without knowing his limitations
is, to me, the very root of exploitation.
So, the whole process
of living, which should be a continual fulfillment and therefore a
continual penetration into reality, into what is true, is completely
destroyed through this worship of authority, of specialists, of creeds,
of theories. The whole process is to make the individual subservient,
to make him obey and follow. Thus he gradually becomes unconscious of
everything but the pattern, and he exists as much as he can within the
edicts of that pattern, and he calls that living. Environment becomes
only the mould to shape him. So, then, the individual, as he is now, is
nothing else than the exaggerated expression of environment,
environment being the past and the present, the inherited and the
acquired.
To me, this is not true individuality. Through the
understanding of the significance of environment, past and present, and
therefore being free from it, intelligence is awakened, and the
expression of that intelligence is true individuality.
Now,
you are conditioned by environment. You are the result of your past and
present environment, and what you express, calling it individuality or
self-expression, is nothing but the expression of that conditioning
environment. To me, the true expression of individuality is that
intelligence which is awakened through freeing the mind from the
conditioning environment of the past and the present.
The next
thing we have to find out is whether any system can help to awaken this
intelligence. Or does it merely impose another set of stupidities,
further limitations? Because, if we can find a perfect system, then we
can give ourselves over to it and become intelligent.
To me,
systems are but the crystallization of thought, and the group is but
the expression of that thought. Can they, these crystallized thoughts,
by your following them, awaken intelligence? Or have you to begin, not
considering yourself as an individual, or as a group, to discern for
yourself the stupidities created through the false division of the
group and the individual; that is, not considering yourself as an
individual, or as a group, to think anew, to think from the very
beginning so as to be able to grasp the true significance of each
environment, each limitation? Because, if we cannot be so active
emotionally and mentally, apart from a system, the mere following of a
system and being active in it does not awaken intelligence.
Now, such intelligence, when it is awakened, can truly co-operate, not with stupidities but with other intelligences.
Take,
for instance, what is happening with regard to war. To understand the
whole question of war we must think from the very beginning, not from
the nationalistic, racial, class point of view. Inherently, war is
wrong. There is no excuse for war as long as there is intelligence
functioning. But, as we are mostly ruled by politicians, exploiters,
and by such kind, we are forced into one war after another, and many
reasons are given for the unavoidability and the necessity of wars.
As
long as you do not think clearly, fundamentally, from the very
beginning, with regard to this question, one day you will be for peace
and the next day you will be for war, because you have not discovered
for yourself fundamentally the appalling cruelties, the racial hatreds,
the exploitations which create war. Only when there is an awakened
intelligence, not only on your part but on the part of politicians, the
rulers, will there be peace.
To discover what is true one
requires great intelligence. Intelligence, to me, is not book
knowledge. You may be very learned and yet be stupid. You may read many
philosophies and yet not know the bliss of creative thinking, which can
exist only when the mind and heart begin to free themselves through
conflict, through constant awareness, from the stupidities of the past
and from those that are being built up. Then only is there the ecstasy
of that which is true.
Can anyone else tell you what is true?
Can anyone tell you what is God? No one can; you have to discover it
for yourself. So, to find out what is true, what is the significance of
life, what is immortality, without which life becomes a chaotic
triviality, a senseless, blind suffering, you must have intelligence;
and to awaken that intelligence you must strip the mind and heart of
stupidities.
The first cause of stupidity is that consciousness
which clings to the particular and therefore creates the distinction
between the group and itself, that consciousness whose very essence is
the thought of acquisitiveness, of "mine". This limited consciousness
is the very root and cause of stupidity, suffering.
One of its
manifestations is the constant craving for security, security in the
realm of one's entire being, physically, emotionally, and mentally. In
search of that security there is bound to be conflict between what we
call the individual and the group, the exaggerations of the individual
as against the group, leading to constant friction, struggle, and
suffering.
You can see that this search for physical security
expresses itself in possessions, with all its cruelties, exploitations,
and the rather terrifying stupidities such as nationalism, class wars,
racial hatred.
Also, emotionally, love has become but
possessiveness. It has lost its creative ecstasy. It is a series of
possessive conflicts. Its tenderness, its great depths, its eternal
quality, its profound ecstasy are destroyed through this desire to hold.
Then
there is the mental craving for certainty. That is why there is the
worship of authority, the worship of teachers. That is why the
incessant demand for the ultimate, so that your mind can cling to it.
That is why your constant inquiry into truth, into God; and the man who
assures you of the certainty of God, of truth, of immortality, you
worship, as it gives you comfort, security.
Gradually this
demand for security destroys intelligence. Mind, through experience,
accumulates carefully guarded and self-defensive securities, memories,
which prevent constant adjustment to the eternal movement of life.
Experience
is most of the time creating securities, self-defensive memories, and
with this barrier you meet life, which must inevitably bring conflict
and suffering. This does not mean that you must forget the past. What I
want to explain is that, as physically we seek security, so mentally we
seek to move from uncertainty to certainty, which in turn becomes
uncertain, in which there is never a moment of complete, inescapable
aloneness.
I assure you, when there is complete nakedness, utter
hopelessness, then in that moment of vital insecurity there is born the
flame of supreme intelligence, the bliss of truth.
In the search
for security there arises fear, which begets many illusions, false
disciplines, repressions, perversions, the fear of death and the
inquiry into the hereafter.
Why are so many interested in the
hereafter? Because life here is so superficial, so conditioned by
environment, so conflicting, chaotic, unreasonable, without joy,
without ecstasy; hence they look to the future, and from this arises
the inquiry into the hereafter.
Immortality is a continual
becoming, not of that consciousness which we call the "I", but of that
intelligence which is freed from the particular as well as from the
group, from that consciousness which creates distinctions. That is,
when the mind is stripped of all illusion or ignorance it is able to
discern the infinite present. It is a thing which you cannot explain,
you cannot reason about. It is beyond all argument. It has to be
experienced. It has to be lived. It demands great persistency and
constant purposefulness.
Now this seems to me to be the state of
the world. The chaos caused by the conflict of many theories leads to
stupid practices and divisions; and, as time passes, we are merely
accumulating knowledge of theories, increasing bitter divisions,
creating mass movements for conflicting experiments, and in this
conflict in which we are immersed, intelligence, which is the true
expression and mode of life, is wholly forgotten.
This is the
state of the world about us. What should be our action? What should be
our attitude, our thought? Are you going to wait for the perfection of
environment through revolution, through economic changes, through
political upheaval? This waiting is but an escape, this looking to the
future is but another escape through hope, it is but a postponement.
Or, will you, not considering yourselves as individuals or as groups,
begin to think anew, from the very beginning, thus shaking off the many
stupidities that have become virtues, the many things you have taken
for granted, accepted, so that in the true simplicity and directness of
thought, which is supreme intelligence, there may come the fruition of
action? Which are you going to do: wait for the future, hoping that
environment will be perfected through some miracle, through someone
else's action; or become so intensely aware, through your own conflict
with environment in which there is no possibility of escape, that there
is completeness of action?
For most people this is the problem:
merely to wait, marking time; or to be able to discern the true
significance of life with its conflicts and sorrows, and not create a
new set of stupidities, a new set of illusions, and therefore to live
directly and simply. The one leads to utter disorder, superficiality,
boredom, to such superficial lives as most people lead, whether in the
intensity of work or in the lack of work. The other, to the ecstasy of
immortality.
Everywhere there is a despair, waiting for some
action, waiting for governments to change conditions. And, in the
meantime, your own lives are becoming more and more superficial,
shallow, with all the inanities of modern society and the inanities of
the so-called spiritual people.
As I said in the very beginning
of my talk, intelligence is the only solution that will bring about
harmony in this world of conflict, harmony between mind and heart in
action. No system, the mere alteration of environment, is ever going to
free man from ignorance and illusion, which are the cause of suffering.
You yourself, through your own awareness, in your own completeness, can
discern the true significance of these many limiting barriers. This
alone will bring about lasting intelligence, which shall reveal
immortality.