Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tl00245)

Ramadoss asks:

>>    You have brought a very interesting question. Let me add
>>that when Krishnaji was "discovered" he was a very puny and not
>>a bright looking eleven year old. What are the odds of chosing
>>such a boy and who never passed a single examination and never
>>had a formal educational certificate and who turns out to be a
>>world renowned speaker?

>Question to  Jerry Hejka-Ekins
>What is your opinion on CWL discovering "unbright young
>Krishamurti" ?  What are the odds? Was he all that off everytime
>in all "his" opinions?

Allow me to answer your question by relating my personal
experience on the matter:

Around 1965, a woman friend who was a follower of Krishnamurti
invited me to go with her to hear him speak in Ojai.  That was my
first experience with K.  I remember Mrs. L. telling me the
history of K. as the one time Theosophical World teacher who quit
the Society and went off on his own.  That was the first time I
heard the story, since the fellow members in the Lodge I belonged
to never talked about those things.  Rather, they were very
sensitive about exposing "dirty linen" in front of me, as they
did not want to scare me away.

After K. finished his talk, Mrs. L. told me that she was
disappointed, and was sorry that she picked today to hear him
because it was one of his "off days."  She said that K. was
rambling and didn't really say anything that day, but when he was
"on,"  he was really "profound."  She expressed the hope that I
would have the opportunity to hear him at another time when he
was more "on."   But I wasn't at all disappointed, and found the
whole experience fascinating--and I was particularly interested
in the idea that throngs of people gathered to listen to a man
ramble for the off chance that he would have an "on day" and say
something profound.  I was also fascinated with the question and
answer period that followed the talk.  I remember that K. deemed
most of the questions as not legitimate and refused to answer
them.  I also remember someone asking him about his theosophical
past.  To this question, he was particularly vociferous about it
being an improper one.

Since I lived in Los Angeles until 1990, Ojai was only a 90
minute drive, and K. spoke there every spring, so he was easily
accessible for me to hear at my pleasure.  So whenever Spring
came along and I was not too busy with other obligations, I would
throw a blanket in the back of the car drive up, pay my five
dollars at the gate, pitch my blanket under the shade of a tree
and watch the show.  I remember that some years his talks were
rambling like the first one I heard, other years he would
sometimes seem to occasionally catch a wind of inspiration and he
would speak fluently and really capture the attention of his
audience.

I found that every year he would cover certain themes, which in
the light of later knowledge, I find many of them to be ironic.
For instance, I remember that he often talked about non
attachment to material things.  Yet he owned a Mercedes Benz--a
real social status car at the time.  He used to advise the
younger people in the audience against getting sexually involved.
That struck me as funny at the time.  I thought: now here is a
man who has lived a saintly, protected and celibate life giving
sexual advice to teenagers.  How presumptuous of him.  It stuck
me as being like like a Catholic Priest doing marriage
counseling.  Now that his twenty year affair with Ragagopal's
wife has come out, I now realize that he was really speaking from
personal experience.  Though I don't think anyone guessed this at
the time.  Most interesting was his theme; "Don't follow me.
Hear what I have to say, go and live your own life."   Yet
throngs of followers crowded into that grove every year to hear
the words of the great Krishnamurti.  It occurred to me that
those who *really* heard Krishnamurti and followed his advice
were *not* the ones who were coming every year to the oak grove,
and they were *not* the ones who were buying his books.

Now to answer your question.  "What are the odds of chosing
such a boy and who never passed a single examination and never
had a formal educational certificate and who turns out to be a
world renowned speaker?  Probably quite good considering the
exceptional environment and training the TS gave to K.  He was
left to want for nothing.  He was surrounded by tutors and had
the opportunity to go to the best schools in the world.  He
traveled the world extensively and was given the best
accomodations.  With his training and the publicity he received
all of his life, I would have found it hard to believe that he
could have become anything other than a "world renound speaker."
He was trained to do this, and nothing else.  But was
Krishnamurti really what CWL thought he was?  It appears that K.
did not think so.  He rejected the ceremonies, the disciples, and
the LCC that was supposed to be the vehicle for his message.  K.
turned out to be a young man with enough integrity to reject what
he did not believe.

On the other hand, under the expert management of Rajagopal and
some really slick legal maneuvers, the Krishnamurti Foundation
was able to sustain Krishnamurti's stature as a spiritual teacher
and maintain itself quite well with the income from K's
books and his continuing lecture tours.  During K's lifetime, he
was able to attract ample wealthy donors that kept him and the
Foundation in the financial security he grew accustomed to while
under the care of the Theosophical Society.

So, regarding your question: "Was [CWL] all that off every time
in all `his' opinions?"  I don't know.  The odds are that CWL had
to have been right about some things.  But it is clear to me that
Krishnamurti was not one of the things he was right about.

However, I must add that I deeply admire Krishnamurti's integrity
in rejecting CWL's vision and for leaving the TS.  Also, I must
point out that K's "Pathless land" speech reaches to the heart of
HPB's teachings and goes directly against CWL's.  This, I believe
to be evidence of real spiritual intuition on Ks part, since it
is unlikely that K ever read a word of HPB in his life.  I like
K's teachings very much, but is he the returned Christ?  I don't
think so.

JHE

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  |Jerry Hejka-Ekins,                      |
      |Member TI, TSA, TSP, ULT               |
        |Please reply to: jhe@toto.csustan.edu   |
            |and CC to jhejkaekins@igc.apc.org      |
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