Customer Reviews

Commentaries on Living: First Series

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first got this book I had absolutely no idea who the man Krishnamurti was or what his life was like. I was simply intrigued by the title of the book. After reading the first two commentaries I began to realize that this wouldn't be like anything I've ever read before. I was reading it through the haze of my own conditioning and I would have dropped the book right there, as nothing was making sense. But something made me want to just read on - I don't know if it is the sheer lyrical beauty of the descriptions in his book or the lure of something that is really true. Whatever the reason, I just could not keep my hands off it after I went on.

It can really be a tumultous experience to suddenly realize that the basis of everything that you have believed in and taken support or refuge in is all false. But once you are over that, you then start looking at life very differently. You just stop running with the mad crowd and you stand aside and ask yourself "What have I been doing with my life so far?" Thats the kind of effect that this book had on me and I cannot imagine that a serious reader will go through this book without wanting to change his life after that.

This is a remarkable book. It is actually three books in 88 chapters. Each chapter starts with an absolutely magic description of people in nature. That is the first book. The second book consists of people telling about their problems and comments of Krishnamurti. These comments are very fresh, original and give new insights. They evoke the reaction "why did I never looked at it that way". The third book, the third part in every chapter describes his view of life. This is very difficult to understand. I am not sure I am able or should voice an opinion on this part because it so unique. There are no reference points. It is not a philosophy, it is not a religion, and it is not a spiritual path. From time to time you get the feeling, "I understand", the next moment it is again a mirage. When we look at a beautiful landscape, we can be totally absorbed by the experience of looking. We are not thinking or analyzing. Krishnamurti's idea is that that is the way we should live all the time. He refers to that as "experiencing". As soon as we start thinking or want to achieve something, we will forever be unhappy. Buddha teaches that through concentration and meditation it is possible, by "taming" the mind one can arrive at "experiencing". Krishnamurti totally rejects the need for experience, training and effort. The idea of living without thinking is for me not imaginable. One thing I do not like is that Krishnamurti rejects the wisdom of everybody. Logically, he also totally rejects the idea that people should ever consider becoming his followers or disciples. The risk I see with the book is that people read it as a smorgasbord. Pick up ideas that correspond to those they already have and reject the inconvenient ones. All in all for people with genuine spiritual interests it is a gold mine.

Krishnamurti writes simpler, more descriptive prose than Hemingway; he dispenses more nondual wisdom in more depth than a score of Zen masters combined; he dissects the armour of the personality more quickly, more gently, more accurately than any psychologist ever has. These are not exaggerations. These Commentaries are, along with his journals and notebook, the only major works in print (at least that I am aware of, and I am aware of most) that he actually wrote himself; the rest of his books are, of course, compilations of talks and conversations. Only a man of such surpassing conscious mastery could write so perfectly with so little effort; if there is any justice in the universe these books will stay in print for a thousand years.If you like Krishnamurti you need these.

J Krishnamurti's Commentaries on Living are a living testament to the beauty as well as the complexity of life. The peace of the mind which wrote these is almost tangible.

When the source is pure, every drop (as every sentence in this book) leads one to purity.

But approach Krishnamurti with trepidation, as it is too easy to battle verbally with oneself and others after having listened to him with a haughty seriousness.

All he can do is to make you question your own self. That is the beginning. After that, you are on your own, and therefore, free.

Nobody can teach you, but you can get taught by everything.

Probably the best of Krishnamurti's descriptions of nature and the world around him. Incredible insights and a way of seeing that ushers you into a world behind the world we perceive. Inspirational and fascinating.

An excellent window to the World of Jiddu Krishnamurthi's thoughts. Every emotion that one can generate, every thought that may arise, every doubt that can arise in one's self, unfold in this series of Commentaries. Each chapter is a spiritual treat and retreat !! Easily my book for a spiritual retreat what with all the loaded powerpacked ideas that mirrors nay reveals the real "you" and you feel it is a story of your life that is unfolding and that is how it must be !!

All three of these books in the series are so beautiful. Krishnamurti's description of his natural surroundings are so clear and moving and his conversations with everyday and not so everyday people are extremly insightful. The reviewer from from california really says it all so i'll say no more.

Krishnamurti's message is intelligent, helpful and can cause a major shift in our approach to life. If you are interested in meditation, mysticism, self-knowledge, or just a yearning to find something new and different, then read Krishnamurti.
I give this book 4 stars only because it might not be the best introduction to Krishnamurti

This is probably the best of these three volumes. It is K. at his finest.

It appears (from all accounts) that Krishnamurti was all over the place in his long life. And a lot of it, frankly, is not very edifying.

So . . . I think one needs to pick and choose from among his works.

This is the one that I would pick.

These commentaries were written at a mature (but not yet overripe) period of his life. They are one-on-one encounters with everyday people who come to him to discuss specific topics in Life. They are not abstract lectures or arguments. They are personal conversations and explorations.

In that process they INDIRECTLY demonstrate Krishnamurti's radical kind of awareness and how that awareness sees the variety of Life. It's much more of a "show" than a "tell" of a certain kind of extra-ordinary consciousness . . . that we are presumably all capable of.

We can't be argued into that kind of consciousness (as he seems to sometimes try to do in his other works). But we can maybe come to resonate to it . . . by seeing it at work.