Jiddu Krishnamurti’s Views on Education
The birth of Jiddu Krishnamurti’s ideas is considered the same as the invention of the Atom Bomb. Krishnamurti was a mysterious figure to many intellectuals. The intellectual explosion that has taken place in the world because of him, took many thinkers, writers and politicians under his influence.
He did not explain any new method or system of philosophy, but he deduced lessons from the day-to-day life of man – the challenges of a corrupt and violent society, the search for human safety and happiness, topics revolved around areas such as fear, sorrow, and anger. According to him, “The greatest task of education is the development of a person who can recognize the totality of life”. Both idealists and experts remain concerned to the part, not to the whole. A sense of inclusiveness is not possible until we give up the urge for any one type of methodology.
He spoke of man’s deep relationship and his integrity with nature and environment. His vision goes beyond all man-made divisions, walls, beliefs, perspectives and gives a sense of living momentarily, at the bottom of eternal thought.
Krishnamurti raises a deep question on the correct and holistic education of children, he asks whether our education can help the child to blossom into an un-fragmented and undivided person and become a real human being? So that the child can become a free man and see his inner and outer influences and understand the rhythm of life, lest he should consider life and self-separate and continue to struggle till death. People need to become free from the standards, to become just a simple, duality less human being. At the same time, he can find such a livelihood, a work that he loves, which is not based on the ambitions, fantasies of others, which is based on direct demand for life instead of market. Can current education nurture such a questioning mind, “questioning mind” that does not accept anything without thinking, intuitively. Krishnamurti considers living mechanically a tragedy. He talks about the great art of living. This art of living comes from being aware and sensitive to everything, from being open and peaceful of our mind and heart, to seeing and hearing everything properly. To live in total, it is very important to see and hear accurately.
For Krishnamurti, action is to see accurately or to understand any external or internal phenomenon. He says – If we see the reality of something, then action takes place automatically.
Krishnamurti believes that the first task of education is to help each person in understanding one’s mental process. How family or socio-communal prejudices influence one’s thoughts, tendencies and behavior. And how these things, affect one’s feelings, thoughts and behavior. That is, one should have proper knowledge of the structure and process of one’s mind and this is possible only when education teaches us to look at the mind (inward flowering). But today this objective of education is not visible far and wide. Rather, it takes us out of oneself so much that there is no tendency left to peep into inner self. The social environment also helps in this education. Rather, perhaps because of this, education has also removed self-discovery from its domain.
In Krishnamurti’s words, “The aim of education is to establish the right relationships, not only between two individuals but also between the individual and society, and that is why education is the first thing that helps a person understand his psychological process.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti also raises questions on teachers and says – “We teachers do not understand ourselves deeply and the children.” We do not understand our relationship with ourselves fundamentally, and keep on filling it only with information and passing examinations, then how will we be able to bring a new kind of education? If the teacher himself is confused, narrow, nationalistic and unshakeable then it is natural that his disciple will be the same. First of all, worrying about educating oneself is more important than worrying about the future welfare and safety of the child.
According to Krishnamurti, today’s teachers only teach what to read, how to write, they are busy in improving children’s English or mathematics. They are only worried about all these things, and then after five or ten years the children are pushed into the life of which they do not know anything. Nobody tells the children about all these things, or if at all they are told, to push the children in some direction, which results in the children becoming Socialists, Congressmen or something else.
Teachers neither teach nor cooperate the students, on how to think about and solve the problems of life. Krishnamurti says that discussing it for some time will not be sufficient; rather this kind of discussion should take place throughout all these years that will be true education. In schools in spite of emphasizing passing the minor examinations, students should be taught how to face life after leaving the school. So that student can become an enlightened human being, instead of being a robot, Hindu, Muslim, communist or something like this.
According to Krishnamurti, the process of learning is of paramount importance in equitable education and overall development. According to him, education is not merely collection of information, but to develop deep understanding. The true meaning of education is to understand oneself, to know every word, every emotion, to know the activities of the mind, not to know big things. The aim of education should not be to produce educated novices but to develop children who have positive attitude and holistic approach toward life, a sense of cooperation in place of competition and also who are responsible for the society.
He said that goodness; love and compassion cannot be instilled in human beings by any teacher, organized religion, political, social and economic measures. He said that through self- realization, by self-introduction, one has to free oneself from fear, preconceptions, authoritative vindication and orthodoxy; this can be the basis of systemic and radical psychological changes in human beings.
J. Krishnamurti established Krishnamurti foundations in the United States, India, England, Canada and Spain to protect himself and his teachings from being glorified and to prevent distorted interpretation of his teachings. He also established schools in India, England and America, about which he was aware that in education, emphasis should not only be on classical intellectual skills but also on understanding the mind and brain. In addition to living and technical skills, the art of living should also be taught skillfully