AN INDIAN PHILOSOPHER

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20821, 3 June 1939, Page 16 (Supplement)

AN INDIAN PHILOSOPHER

Fear Causes Misery, says Krishnamurti

If the world eonld abolish Its fear, misery and chaos would disappear, declared the Indian philosopher, writer and teacher, Jeddu Krishnamurti, in Sydney. But he was ready to admit, in a personal interview, that to abolish fear, particularly in the individual faced with very personal and pressing problems, is not as easy as it is to state the need. “Ambition, personal ambition,” he declared in an interview, “is the root of our troubles to-day, and that applies to spiritual leadership just as much as to the Mr Jones who wishes to become a millionaire and own 10 motor cars,” he added with a quick smile that breaks through occasionally as he lights on a homely comparison in the midst of a serious exposition. Krishnamurti, now in his 43rd year, is the man who as a boy was taken by Mrs Annie Besant, and reared as the perfect flower of theosophical thought. “The New Messiah’* When he came to manhood great numbers hailed him as “the new Messiah.” But in his early thirties he threw 1 aside this opportunity for personal aggrandisement, disbanded the Order of the Star of the East, and ordered the return of the great possessions that followers had thrust upon him and the Order. To-day Mr Krishnamurti is philosopher, writer, and teacher. He imposes his views on no one : —he is, in fact, the antithesis of a crusader—but he is ready to give to those who wish it the results of his learning and meditation during the 42 years that have been his. Gone is the spiritual leader who was to be the head and forefront of a great Order. Instead, this week there sat on a sunny verandah overlooking Clifton Gardens, Sydney, a slightly-built virile man, a quiet man possessing a pleasingly firm handshake, and a challengingly direct outlook on the world. “Fear, it fs the cause of ou troubles,” he said. “The competitive spirit, <ie dread of being less tha someone else, the insane desire ‘to be,’

these are the things behind the fear that is destroying the world. New World Outlook | "Man’s destiny is to find the truth within himself, and thus to be the possessor of his inward riches,” he said. '‘To attain these inward riches ( there can be no system laid down. “They”—and here he paused a mo- j ment, perhaps to think back to the years when he was to have been the spiritual head of a system—“would make of a man an automaton rather than a creative being. “But let any man desire the truth and he will gain it, and be freed from the chains of fear.” It was then that the discussion was brought down to the bedrock of the individual. Was there a way in which i the fears of, say, a widow with sick j and hungry children could be remov- ; ed? Krishnamurti might have avoided ’ that issue. But he did not. He knows, ! and admits, that not all the philosophy | in the world to-day will remove the j fear and unhappiness of those facing j such a problem. But there is a remedy, he declares. That remedy, however, will have to await a new world outlook which will release for the benefit of each and all the abundance of the earth. Plenty for Everyone There is plenty for everyone, he i claims. That woman suffers and is a prey to her fears because of the Jn- ! sane competition for place and power, first among the nations and then among the individuals, a competition itself induced by fear. That these things will pass he is sure “Any man who desires the true goal will attain it. I am happy because I have attained to truth. All must attain to it in time; it is inevit- | able.” j But meanwhile the widow remains | a prey to her fear and will remain j so until the change of heart brings j into being a world of one people.