We live in a society, one whose vision is blurred and actions are uncertain. A rather flourishing entity, but far more disconnected that ever. One that has forgotten the real meaning of connection somewhere in the flow of time.
Maybe that is the reason we as an interdependent group of beings only grow physically and more externally, than as beings who are capable of thinking and feeling. This so-called quantifiable/tangible growth is from the outside and more disconnected in terms of progress as a single species, as it leaves some groups behind while other groups drudge further without consideration of the world-view.
Such kind of social change, a much-needed evolution, in this moment, has been the center of Jiddu Krishnamurti’s work. He was known for his philosophical inquiry into the nature of our minds, or rather the stagnated state they lie rotting in now. As an advocate of social change, he implored people to think deeper, inquire. A challenging task for us, one that demands getting out of our repetitive and patterned thinking. Our mind in its liveliest of states usually just shifts from superficial curiosity to criticism and judgement.
We are concerned with ourselves, our survival, our existence, our identity, but this anxiety of self, leaves the self in the dust. We overlook the things we have, we spend time being ungrateful for things we do not have, instead of appreciating the things we do. Time does not wait for such, and in time, even the most important parts of life are taken away, those parts which are irreplaceable. This is the tragedy of the self, as we spend our lives incessantly trying to meet the needs of the mind and the heart with the answers of the physical, superficial and temporal, what the heart and the mind needed is eventually gone.
Here are some lines that evidently sum up the real measure of the advancement, progress, development, we think we have made over the years.
We were saying how very important it is to bring about in the human mind the radical revolution. The crisis is a crisis in consciousness, a crisis that cannot any more accept the old norms, the old patterns, the ancient traditions. And considering what the world is now with all their misery, conflict, destructive brutality, aggression, and so on, man is still as he was: is still brutal, violent, aggressive, acquisitive, competitive, and he has built a society along these lines.
A man is indeed still as he was, ‘brutal, violent, aggressive, acquisitive, competitive, and he has built a society along these lines.’ Why does he remain that way? One reason, I believe is, he has time to judge rather than reflect, to blame rather than take responsibility, to self-justify rather than accept, to embrace bigotry rather than open-mindedness.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
The profound nature of this sickness may be the many reasons these ‘life changing’ ideas are sold and accepted, the desperation to change how things look, the persistent focus on appearance, rather than the root cause, the heart, that gives rise to this sickness. Human denial is a powerful and evil tool, to the extent that it makes the animal run after what it finds gratifying to its senses, eventually leading to it’s demise, when all the while, the answers lied with him, where he stood, right at the start.
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