Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00097)

mkr wrote:

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in eating. If
>Krishnamurti was able to reach a large number of people and was able to
>affect them, that is all that matters. I am also sure that the Brotherhood
>has a duty and mission and so long as that is achieved or even assisted by
>anyone, what anyone *thinks* of the Brotherhood does not matter. What
>Brotherhood is looking forward is results.

I agree that K affected many people and will affect millions more. The
results though might be a mixed bag. Some will find certain insights which
might help them on the path, many, I am afraid, will get stuck in his
philosophy and possibly be affected very negatively in the long run. If the
following quote has any applicability to the teachings of K, as I think,
then we have to be aware of certain dangers in his philosophy.

“In order not to confuse the mind of the western student with the abstruse
difficulties of Indian metaphysics, let him view the lower manas, or mind,
as the personal ego [personal self] during the waking state, and as
Antahkarana only during those moments when it aspires towards its higher Ego
[higher self], and thus becomes the medium of communication between the two.
It is for this reason called the ‘Path.’... Seeing that the faculty and
function of Antahkarana is as necessary as the medium of the ear for
hearing, or that of the eye for seeing; then so long as the feeling of
ahamkāra, that is, of the personal "I" or selfishness, is not entirely
crushed out in man, and the lower mind not entirely merged into and become
one with the higher Buddhi-Manas [higher self], it stands to reason that to
destroy Atahkarana is like destroying a bridge over an impassable chasm; The
traveler can never reach the goal on the other shore. And there lies the
difference between the exoteric and the esoteric teaching. The former makes
the Vedānta state that so long as mind (the lower) clings through
Antahkarana to Spirit (Buddha-Manas) [higher self] it is impossible for it
to acquire true Spiritual Wisdom, Jnyāna, and that this can only be attained
by seeking to come en rapport with the Universal Soul (Atmā) [the divine
self]; that, in fact, it is by ignoring the higher Mind [higher self]
altogether that one reaches Rāja Yoga. We say it is not so. No single rung
of the ladder leading to knowledge can be skipped. No personality can ever
reach or bring itself into communication with Atmā, except through
Buddhi-Manas; to try to become a Jivanmukta or a Mahātmā, before one has
become an adept or even a Naljor (a sinless man) is like trying to reach to
Ceylon from India without crossing the sea. Therefore we are told that if
we destroy Antahkarana before the personal [personal self] is absolutely
under the control of the impersonal Ego [the higher self], we risk to lose
the latter and be severed for ever from it, unless indeed we hasten to
re-establish the communication by a supreme and final effort. It is only
when we are indissolubly linked with the essence of the divine Mind [higher
self] that we have to destroy Antahkarana.” H.P.Blavatsky, The Esoteric
Writings, pp. 413-414.