Sayings of J. Krishnamurti

Topic: Buddha And His Teachings

(1) John. E. Coleman asked Krishnamurti: ''Which of the great religious leaders came closest to teaching and realizing the ultimate truth ?'' Krishnamurti replied - ''Oh! the Buddha ..... the Buddha comes closer to the basic truths and facts of life than any other. Although I am not myself a buddhist, of course''.

-Living and dying from moment to moment by Susunaga Weeraperuma, Motilal Banarsidass,
page 108 (Appendix 4) ,Delhi 1996 reprint.

(2) ''If the Buddha talked to me I would say ''Sir, I listen to you because I love you. I don't want to get anywhere because I see what you say is true, and I love you''. That's all. That has transformed everything.''

''No body listened to Him, that is why there is Buddhism.''

-Krishnamurti. Way of Intelligence, Chapter 2 Part3, (3rd Seminar Madras 16 Jan 1981).

(3) ''I could feel the vibration of the Lord Buddha...''

-Krishnamurti's own account of the pepper tree experience in Ojai as quoted in 'The years of awakening' by Mary Lutyens Avon books ,USA 1991. Page 169.

(4) ''......and in my heart there has been a continual thought of Lord Buddha. I was in such a state that I had to sit down and meditate......''

-Letter written by Krishnamurti as quoted in 'The years of awakening' by Mary Lutyens Avon books USA 1991 Page 125.

(5) ''Look Sir, perhaps the Buddha may have seen that intelligence is not thought. The other have spoken of how to suppress thought, control it. To them that is meditation... listen the Buddha might have said there is intelligence that has nothing to do with thought. The rest of them read it or heard it, they translated that or repeated that.''

-J. Krishnamurti, Rishi valley 30 Dec 1980 (The way of intelligence Chap. 6 Part 3)

The Immortal Friend
(Poem)

I sat dreaming in a room of great silence.
The early morning was still and breathless,
The great blue mountains stood against the dark
skies, cold and clear,
Round the dark log house
The black and yellow birds were welcoming the sun.

I sat on the floor, with legs crossed, meditating,
Forgetting the sunlit mountains,
The birds,
The immense silence,
And the golden sun.

I lost the feel of my body,
My limbs were motionless,
Relaxed and at peace.
A great joy of unfathomable depth filled my heart.
Eager and keen was my mind, concentrated.
Lost to the transient world,
I was full of strength.

As the Eastern breeze
That suddenly springs into being
And calms the weary world,
There in front of me
Seated cross-legged,
As the world knows Him
In His yellow robes, simple and magnificent,
Was the Teacher of Teachers.

Looking at me,
Motionless the Mighty Being sat.
I looked and bowed my head.
My body bent forward of itself.
That one look
Showed the progress of the world,
Showed the immense distance between the world
And the greatest of it's Teachers.
How little it understood,
And how much He gave.
How joyously He soared,
Escaping from birth and death,
From it's tyranny and entangling wheel.

Enlightenment attained,
He gave to the world, as the flower gives
It's scent,
The Truth.

As I looked
At the sacred feet that once trod the happy
Dust of India,
My heart poured forth its devotion,
Limitless and unfathomable,
Without restraint and without effort.

- J Krishnamurti 'The immortal friend'

Ommen : Star publishing Trust 1928, Pages 8-10 also quoted in 'J Krishnamurti as I knew him ' by Susunaga Weeraperuma, Motilal Banarsidass-1996, Pages 181-183.