Customer Reviews

Star in the East: Krishnamurti--the invention of a Messiah

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True believers in K-talk are not going to like this book, but as someone who is an alumnus of years of going to Krishnamurti talks and living the life as best I could, and can, I am truly glad that someone has done a good critical assessment of Krishnamurti, who he is, where he came from, and how he fits into the world. This is not a hagiography any more than Krishnamurti is a saint. I was fascinated with the detail and the research and the amplifications the author presented. I found myself checkings the references and notes constantly because Mr.Vernon seems to have read everything on K.--and I am envious of his indulging himself so much in the material. He is obviously a closet devotee, who has kept his own center of balance, and maintained his own independent critical mind and a soulful interest in Krishnamurti as a teacher of our times. Vernon revivified my interest in Krishnamurti's thought, simply because Krishnamurti is so compelling, so simple,and so straighforward, yet so complex and paradoxical. Vernon presents the philosophy by presenting Krishnamurti himself. We learn of the man, what he has to say, how it developed, and the context in which it is said. This book stimulated me to turn again to the path or yoga of knowledge which Krishnamurti followed even while he denied he was following any path at all. In some sense Krishnamurti even denied that he had anything to teach. Vernon helps us make sense of this so that we can actually discuss Krishnamurti in a western philosophy class and not have to consign Krisnamurti to "The wisdom of the East" or "mystical philosophy" dustbin. Krishnamurti is relevent, and necessary not only for modern psychology but also for the philosophy of mind as taught in our contemporary universities. Krishnamurti has great psychological technique which ought to be the envey of any depth psychologist. The paradox is that we must live our own lives even while we are studying life itself as K. demonstrated, and Vernon grasps. Krishnamurti's genius was that he could do this in his teachings,and it worked for him, but now we each have to live a life of our own, and K. cannot tell us how to do this. Vernon has provided the context of the life which produced this teaching and he does it convincingly and with scholarship. The whole picture of the man and his philosophy is much greater than the parts. For those of us who struggle with authority, there is no greater authority than Krishnamurti, and even he must be overthrown to attain the liberation that he so throughly castigates as "mere thought". With Vernon's insightful study we can put Krishnamurti on the shelf where he belongs--with Socrates,Plato, Nietzsche, perhaps Descartes,and maybe even St. Augustine. If there ever was a romantic and spiritual idealist, it was Krishnamurti. We need to free ourselves from him, even while we immerse ourselves in him. Vernon's book frees us from the ideal state he promulgated and proposed. We are human, and Vernon has written a very readable, if tame, assessment of a very human philosopher.

I believe that this book could not have come about except for the history of other writings on Krishnamurti. The Lutyens books were written by a friend and follower and acknowledged to be so, it is therefore understandable that they were not unbiased. The Sloss book was in some senses a reaction to all the other stuff written on Krishnamurti and perhaps felt to be an overdue exposé of many facts conveniently hidden from the general public. It was because of the existence of the Sloss book that Vernon could get such open access to the people who knew Krishnamurti. People no longer had anything to hide and everything to gain by being as open as possible. Also an unbiased book is the only book that Vernon could write because the market for the other two extremes was already full.

Vernon draws clues from the huge amount of material and presents the main arguments for all the significant events in Krishnamurti's life. But where this book excels is in differentiating the two sides of Krishnamurti, the private person and the teacher. This is Vernon's point as far as I can see, there are two sides (well at least two), but many people did not realise this while Krishnamurti was living and teaching. The cause of this incomplete view according to Vernon appears to be largely due to Krishnamurti's control of his public image. It seems inevitable that the effect of the revelations would be in proportion to the original investment in the image of someone so special. Therefore we have the irony, Krishnamurti would not have been be so popular without the image but in the end the image did huge damage to all the previous work.

I also enjoyed Vernon's insights into all the other characters in the story, for example Leadbeater "slipped like an eel beneath the waters of Theosophy".

Overall I believe that Vernons sympathies fall in the Krishnamurti camp, a respect for the teachings and a respect for the man. I would hope that Krishnamurti would find this is a worthy biography and also find it an open intelligent look at the facts which seemed to be Krishnamurti's message throughout his life.

I have now finished reading your fascinating book. My only critical comments relate to a few minor matters in the areas that I know best, and you obviously need to quote your source of material when presenting second hand knowledge.
In the "Author's Note and Acknowledgments p.xi, you stated, "I have encountered both supporters and detractors of Krishnamurti who will doubtless feel that my portrayal contradicts their own well-grounded experience, perhaps offensively so, and I apologise in advance... There were several occasions when I received directly conradictory reports about the same events, or about traits in the teacher's character, and at no time has it been my agenda either to reinforce his credibility or the opposite. I have attempted to take the balance, detached position... and in no case, to my knowledge, distorting the picture with half-truths or untruths."
It is too bad you did not apply the same standards to your treatment of the theosophical leaders associated with Krishnamurti. Those readers who respect the sincerity of motives of Blavatsky, Besant, Leadbeater, and others may find offensive the derogatory language used to describe motives that are largely the imaginings of your mind. Even the Masters do not escape unscathed:
p.11--"the machinations of the Masters"
p.13--"the mythical Masters Blavatsky created"
p.17--"Masters she [HPB] created"
p.19--"Blavatsky to ensnare the militant socialist [Besant]"
p.36--Besant's "courage and vanity" to implement universal brotherhood
p.178--"the ES...the inner core, whose secret machinations had been so lovingly cultured by Madame Blavatsky."
Your choice of words cheapens the January 11, 1910 initiation of Krishnamurti and the December 28 event during Krishna's handing out certificates to Star members:
p.50--"thirty-six hours of intense spiritual imaginings." "It was a magnificent piece of theatre."
p.69--suddenly "a solemn stillness fell...like love intangible...the whole world was present." You called it "the second major piece of theatre."
p.70--"the fever is induced by the soaring aspirations of the participants rather than the intercession of a divine agent." "The experience of religious hysteria is consistent."
In another area, you denigrate the instructions received from her Master as "Besant's ambitions." p.87--"to instigate a programme of social reform...[and] to campaign for the self-government of India."
Although the following few errors of fact deserve mentioning, as some are difficult if not impossible to answer.
p.42--"individuals who have develped spiritual Adepthood...possess a causal body..." If they are at the Adept level, i.e.,fifth initation, the causal body has been destroyed, although they can create a temporary one.
p.90--James Ingall Wedgwood "founded the Temple of the Rosy Cross." The TRC was actually organized by Mrs. Marie Russak in the Hollywood Krotona and its ritual and assessory objects devised by her.
p.13--"A string of accusations led to the revelation that many of her[HPB] so-called 'manifestations' of the Masters, or their letters were faked." This has been documented to be untrue.
p.147--"the Lord Maitreya and an even greater power in the hierarchy, the Mahachohan." At this time they were both at the same occult level.
p.159--"Arudnale said the Masters would approve her[Besant] resignation if she appointed himself as the new President." Where is your source of reference? Did he really say that?
p.147--the World Mother mission "was to divert interest away from the World Teacher and provide a reserve Vehicle should Krishna continue on his maverick course." Where is your source of reference? "This celestial female entity, who had at one time been the Virgin Mary, was now said to have descendedinto the bodyof none other than Rukmini Arundale..." Again, where is your source of reference?

p.189--"Theosophy...with political objectives...to bring about universal brotherhood within a federation of religiously sympatheitic states.
Some of your reference sources are of questionable credibility, i.e., books by Peter Washingtion and K P Johnson, such as Wedgwood's drug use,p.164.
THE SARDONIC
At times your sardonic narrations are humorous and add color to the story:
p.8--Blavatsky's intellect "unlike the virtualy immobile hulk of her boy, was athletic and lucid."

p.131-132--reference to the Ojai process which came to Krishna spontaneously and not "planned with solemn deliberationby Theoosphy's grandees...but it was a real, dynamic experience of his own...[not] a tale spun on the rooftops of Adyar."
p.164--Besant "provided rip-roaring fodder for their [the press] columns."
p.165--"impossible to write Annie Besat off as a crackpot."
LASTLY
The narrative of Krishna's life seems reasonably correct, and your summation (pp.165-274) of the final state of the TS and Krishna's message seem admirable.

It is such a pleasure to review a book that is about as flawless
as any book I've read, that covers its topic so thoroughly, so
completely, in such depth, and has so many insights. "Star in the East"
is easily such a book.

In the acknowledgements the author states that his family had to
suffer through "three long winters" of his research into the history
of Theososophy and the phenomenon called Krishnamurti (K). The reader
reaps ample benefits of Mr. Vernon's total understanding of his
subject. He really "groks" the material, to use Heinlein's term from
"Stranger in a Strange Land."

An author writing about K doesn't have any room to err or miss
aspects of K's life. There have been many books written on the topic,
for example, Mary Lutyens comprehensive and insightful biographies
(I'd recommend the first two highly). And of course K himself wrote
many books. Yet Mr. Vernon somehow succeeds, in less than 300 pages,
in covering the entire topic of the background to K's discovery by
the Theosophical Society, then his being thrust, albeit gradually,
into the public as the "World Teacher," to his break from theosophy,
and establishing himself, on his own terms, as a world teacher, and
the author is almost always dead on in his discussions of the
teachings themselves.

Mr. Vernon starts the book with the very famous sighting of K
on a beach in Adyar, India, by the world-renown but controversial

psychic C.W. Leadbetter, and gives a great description of the latter's
viewing of the advanced "soul" of the apparently outwardly "stupid"
Brahmin boy, and Leadbetter's careful consideration that indeed he
has identified the "chosen one." Following is a fine historical
overview of the Theosophical Society's (TS) beginnings (or perhaps
resurrection) in 1875, by Blavatsky and Olcott. Next we read about
Annie Besant and Leadbetter, Blavatsky's successors, who believe
that theosophy has a destiny to bring to the world a Christ, a World
Teacher. While the author becomes very critical of Besant later in
the book, deservedly so it would seem, he very much honors her amazing
courage and achievements (pp. 18-19, etc.) prior to her becoming a
"priestess" for the "New Age."

The rest of the book is totally consistent with the above -
complete and insightful. Many very complicated topics are handled
with amazing balance. Three examples are 1) K's gradual decision
to break with his "Amma," Annie Besant, and how she, Leadbetter, and
the TS handle this "betrayal" - and yet after leaving the TS K
might have become the exact "flowering" of theosophy its founders
envisioned!; 2) K's relations with many people as a very flawed
personality, vs. his amazing presence in his role as a teacher, and
the power of his simple, direct teachings; 3) the problem of using
word symbols to convey teachings that are beyond words. On p. 260
(and elsewhere) with great skill he shows that while K's teachings
are contradictory if followed to the letter, the solution is simply
to accept them at whatever level works for a person, as millions have
done. Personally I have met people who over-analyse K's teachings,
and worry more about how aware they are than simply being, which is
perhaps the main point in the first place!

Yet another example of the author's acumen is his fine analysis
of K's teachings and their impact (pp. 213-5), followed by a
proper quoting of K himself on the core of the teaching (pp. 216-7).
Then the author recommends and discusses the book "Freedom From
the Known" so that the reader can delve into the topic him or
herself.

If there is a better book that covers the background, life, and
teachings of Krishnamurti better than "Star in the East," I would
certainly like to know about it!

It's ironic if not surprising that a book like this would get written about Krishnamurti who spent 50 years trying to get people to see beyond his personality and insisted adamantly that thinking about such matters would get nobody anywhere. It's rather comical actually; Mr. Vernon has written a whole book out of entirely missing the point, for a bunch of readers who entirely miss the point and indeed prefer to miss the point. You can pretty much tell from the word "invention" in the title what to expect - yet another intellectual treatment (as fashionable as it is trivial) of the "making" or "constructing" of a subject which the commentator doesn't come close to understanding. It's just so much easier to read (or write) about the alleged details of someone's private existence than to confront the truth, or lack of truth, in what he or she said. What is this but voyeurism -- voyeurism that we engage in to escape having to examine ourselves? It seems to me that people write this pointless stuff for two reasons - one, to act as if they have something of substance to say (which they do not); two, to sell books to a public which is interested first and foremost in the vital question, did the great teacher have a sex life? I am not exempting myself from this. But please let's call a spade a spade and stop pretending that there is anything admirable or intellectual about lurid gossip. Not that Mr. Vernon has found much to gossip about. Of course, there is the obligatory critical prating about the "complexity" and "contradictoriness" of Krishnamurti's "all-too-human" personality, complete with such "un-Christlike" failings as (1) telling jokes; (2) wiping clean the covers of second-hand books; (3) advocating table manners. (I am not making this up -- read it and see for yourself!) I do not know whether Mr. Krishnamurti spoke the truth, but I admire him for insisting that this is the only question worth asking. This book evades that question from start to finish. It gives a vivid reminder of the utter deadness of the critical/intellectual/literary world. Still, it is readable, and at least the author does not seem to be covertly venting much spite and malice on his subject, unlike most such self-appointed demystifiers (e.g. Salman Rushdie on Gandhi). Indeed his book is duller, less titillating than it might have been if he were more ornery. That's not the total objectivity that he gives himself credit for (how can you be objective if you can't see clearly in the first place?), but it isn't nothing either.

Having read some written conversations of Krishnamurti's (On God, On Truth, & Awaking of Intelligence) & trying to find a book that he wrote (there are a few early ones, but Krishnamurti in his later life did not believe in books), this well written but questionable biography helped fill in the historical gaps. The book starts with his Theosophical Society upbringing under Besant & Leadbeater when Madam Blavatsky had already pass away, but basic historial details of the Society are mention. I am not sure if the author was fair to each of the leaders or just over described, or focused too much on the historical "Dirt", specially on Leadbeater. Sometimes the book jumped back & forth in time, & I had to reread to sort out the chronological order. Also Krishnamurti's affair with Rosalind Williams Rajagopal, was the information from Rosalind daughter's book or was it independently researched? In the end the book revealed many things about Krishnamurti that his written conversations did not reveal. For example: before I read this biography, I looked at Krishnamurti as a forced messiah turned nihilist philosopher teaching practical mysticism, but in the end I see a man still under certain influences (entities or Kundalini) while claiming to be free (another paradox). The book was very enjoyable, but read it with an open mind & do what Krishnamutri would do: question it & find out for yourself.

"Whether I am the World Teacher or the Messiah or something else is surely not important. If it is important to you then you will miss the truth of what I am saying because you will judge by the label - and the label is so flimsy. Somebody will say that I am the Messiah and somebody else will say that I am not and then where are you? What is important is to find out whether what I say is the truth by examining it and finding out whether it can be worked out in daily life. The speaker is speaking for himself, not for anybody else. He may be deceiving himself, he may be trying to pretend to be something or other. He may be, you don't know. So have a great deal of scepticism, doubt, question." J.Krishnamurti

At least in the case of biographies published by Jayakar and Lutyns they seemed to have delved into the teachings. K's biographer, Roland Vernon spent a lot of time on the man, and the teaching is totally missing in his book, but instead, UG, Radha, and Helen's antagonisms towards K gives plenty of food for the many who attempt to discredit the man so as to be relived from the challenges of the message. The book is best characterized by the following online review I came across: "It's rather comical actually; Mr. Vernon has written a whole book out of entirely missing the point, for a bunch of readers who entirely miss the point and indeed prefer to miss the point."

Vernon's book has interesting factual information specially about the years where K felt they should not be paid attention to (75% of the book is about pre-1933). I heard a movie is being made based on this book, and that the Foundations sell it! What a pity.

In summary, don't waste your money on this book.

Having read all of the Krishnamurti books, this is the first objective bio and a fantastic read. I highly recommend it!

There will be no definitive work regarding Jiddu Krishnamurti. After reading Pupil Jayakar's biography of Krishnamurti, and following my interest with Star in the East: Krishnamurti, I think both books compliment each other.

Star in the East: Krishnamurti is well researched, and a delight to read. Regardless of your personal perspective, the story of Krishnamurti is relevent and important to understand. It bridges the Victorian and Edwardian societies of the turn of the century, with the idealism and hope for a better world, with a "new" approach to creating a universal brotherhood focused around a single world religion.

The author points out that the world teacher project may have been created as a diversion away from leadbeater's alleged pedophilia misconduct.

Krishnamurti is a role model and worth serious academic study. The star in the east does a fine job, and summarizes volumes of published material.

"Pax Pax", in British schoolboy slang of circa 1910 meant truce. I think Krishnamurti came to terms with Leadbeater and the T.S. in the 1980s. Krishnamurti's biography is a fascinating story, unable to be told in a single book.

Millions of words were printed about the T.S., yet none of it is useful or relevant. Krishnamurti's later works and the story of his life is relevant and important to the 21st century.