Friday, November 12, 2010

On Education Chapter 1, first part

I would suggest we could start with K´s book "On education". It is a series of talks with Rishi Valley students (first 9 chapters) and with teachers (subsequent 11 chapters)

You can see chapter 1 in www.jkrishnamurti.org, by clicking here. (It seems that this is the only chapter one can read in this web, subsequent chapters are left blank. I have written to them to see if they can mend this. Note on 1st of January 2011: it seems that this problem has been solved and now it contains the whole book, although the beginning of each new chapter is quite hidden)
Alternatively, if you cannot buy the book, you could download it here. (read the side note about making a small donation to the Krishnamurti Foundation India).

Let´s start with the first part of Chapter 1:

"You know, you live in one of the most beautiful valleys I have seen. It has a special atmosphere. Have you noticed, especially in the evenings and early mornings, a quality of silence which permeates, which penetrates the valley? There are around here, I believe, the most ancient hills in the world and man has not spoilt them yet; and wherever you go, in cities or in other places, man is destroying nature, cutting down trees to build more houses, polluting the air with cars and industry. Man is destroying animals; there are very few tigers left. Man is destroying everything because more and more people are born and they must have more space. Gradually, man is spreading destruction all over the world.
And when one comes to a valley like this - where there are very few people, where nature is still not spoilt, where there is still silence, quietness, beauty - one is really astonished. Every time one comes here one feels the strangeness of this land, but probably you have become used to it. You do not look at the hills any more, you do not listen to the birds any more and to the wind among the leaves. So you have gradually become indifferent."

This chapter is a talk with young students.....
My first reaction is that I feel like a student, that this talk is addressing not just young students, but all of us....so, I am a student...
My second reaction is to ask myself: How am I listening to this? Do I feel fresh? Am I open to it?.
The third thing that comes to my mind is: have I became indifferent to the beauty around me? and to the ugliness?

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