Krishnamurti & the Art of Awakening

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Krishnamurti Quote of the Day

Group Discussion 9th December, 1947 | Madras, India

Is 'evil' an idea which is used by the society to control man so that he does not go beyond the limits? Organised religions have cultivated and controlled man by their laws through fear, through compulsion, through imitation, through fears of contradiction and has said 'You must be this'. When you go beyond those laws, they say it is evil. For instance, organised religion has never said that ambition is evil, but has always decried sex. Don't you see the implications?

Does evil mean to you a conquering of some temptation? Buddha is supposed to have fought with "Mara" and won. Jesus is supposed to have been tempted by the devil and conquered it. Perhaps, we are thinking altogether wrongly, when we have the idea that there are evil forces in the world, the dark forces in opposition to the white forces.

Tags: evil, religion

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Religion as it exists is not religion at all.
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Religion, surely, is the uncovering of reality. Religion is not belief. Religion is not the search for truth.
Religion as it exists is not religion at all.
Breaking through is not a matter of time.
The worship of authority, whether in big or little things, is evil, the more so in religious matters.
You see man imprisoned by innumerable walls, walls of religion, of social, political and national limitations, walls created by his own ambitions, aspirations, fears, hopes, security, prejudices, hate and love.
From my point of view, religions with all their intermediaries, their ceremonies, their priests, destroy creative understanding and pervert judgment.
Self-knowledge is not a conclusion, an end; it has no beginning and no end.
Truth is truth, one, alone; it has no sides, no paths; all paths do not lead to truth.
Mere reformation of the pattern of society only alters the surface, it brings about a more respectable form of ambition.
For me, revolution is synonymous with religion. I do not mean by the word 'revolution' immediate economic or social change; I mean a revolution in consciousness itself.
The religious mind is really a scientific mind - scientific in the sense that it is able to observe facts without distortion, to see itself as it is.
Man has always sought something beyond the physical existence. He has always searched, asked, suffered, tortured himself, to find out if there is something which is not of time, which is not of thought, which is not belief or faith.
The whole idea of following a discipline makes the mind and heart rigid and consistent.
The so-called religions give the pattern of conformity to the mind that is seeking security born of fear, in search of comfort;
Our religions throughout the world keep people apart.
The people who believe so much in God are really not in love with life.
To me religion is the false result of a false cause, the cause being conflict, and religion merely a means of escape from that conflict.
As in a circus the animals are trained to function for the amusement of spectators, so the individual through fear seeks out these spiritual trainers whom he calls priests and swamis, who are the defenders of spurious spirituality and the inanities of religion.
An authority seasoned through the mists of time becomes invulnerable, and then man accepts that authority as being final.
Curiously, if you consider it, religion which should denounce war, helps its furtherance.
The system which you call religion and which has been created through your own demand for security has become so powerful, so realistic, that very few free themselves from its weight of crushing tradition and authority.
If wisdom could be acquired through a religious society or sect, we should all be wise, for we have had religions with us for thousands of years.
Religions, with their beliefs, dogmas and creeds, have become tremendous barriers between human beings, dividing man against man, limiting him and destroying his intelligence.
Question: What do you mean by "religion"?
Religion, to most people, is nothing but a reaction against intelligence.
The constant conformity to a particular mould is the basis of our religious thought and moral action;
For me, all religions are but defensive reactions against life, against intelligence.
Any positive approach to the unknown will make the unknown knowable and therefore that is not the Truth.