A cornerstone of Krishnamurti's teaching is that seeking outside help in spiritual matters, far from being constructive, actually hinders real understanding. Yet he himself spent his entire adult life speaking on fundamental questions of human consciousness. To reconcile what might appear to some to be an inherent contradiction, we need to consider the process that, in Krishnamurti's view, occurs in our minds when we adopt a set of ideas, spiritual or otherwise.
Let's take as an example, Krishnamurti's teaching itself. When we first encounter Krishnamurti's work, we naturally first think about the ideas presented, and, if found to be convincing, then start contemplating how best to turn those ideas into reality.
However, not having lived the truth of what he is saying for ourselves, and as such, not having a complete understanding, our version of his ideas takes root in the mind as memory. We then proceed to adjust ourselves in the present in accordance with that memory, essentially resisting anything in our consciousness that runs counter to our newly found philosophy.
In a similar vein, when the mind takes a position with regard to politics, economy, climate change, or religion, and is unwilling to move from there, it must necessarily resist anything that does not conform to that position. There exist many layers of psychological stances in the human mind, and taken together, they make up what we consider to be self-consciousness, the ego, the personality.
Let's take as an example, Krishnamurti's teaching itself. When we first encounter Krishnamurti's work, we naturally first think about the ideas presented, and, if found to be convincing, then start contemplating how best to turn those ideas into reality.
However, not having lived the truth of what he is saying for ourselves, and as such, not having a complete understanding, our version of his ideas takes root in the mind as memory. We then proceed to adjust ourselves in the present in accordance with that memory, essentially resisting anything in our consciousness that runs counter to our newly found philosophy.
In a similar vein, when the mind takes a position with regard to politics, economy, climate change, or religion, and is unwilling to move from there, it must necessarily resist anything that does not conform to that position. There exist many layers of psychological stances in the human mind, and taken together, they make up what we consider to be self-consciousness, the ego, the personality.
In short, through experience, we create an image of what is right or desirable, and subsequently, the living present is seen as a hindrance to that desire. This resistance to the present - the actual state of affairs, the truth - brings about a life of continual strife, a wretched existence, a continual struggle to wrangle what is into what it should be.
Krishnamurti’s teaching then, and this is why it is not self-contradictory, is simply a wake-up call that we need to understand for ourselves, not as an intellectual feat but actually, completely in our very own lives, that any body of knowledge that results in craving, regardless of its provenance, will find itself at odds with some aspect of the present and resort to resistance. That resistance is our whole way of life, whether we are aware of it or not; And finally, that freedom, peace only exists in conscious, silent observation - that is, when the mind does not process the present through the filter of an incomplete memory blueprint.