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I WONDER IF we have ever asked ourselves what education means. Why do we go to school, why do we learn various subjects, why do we pass examinations and compete with each other for better grades? What does this so-called education mean, and what is it all about? This is really a very important question, not only for the students, but also for the parents, for the teachers, and for everyone who loves this earth. Why do we go through the struggle to be educated? Is it merely in order to pass some examinations and get a job? Or is it the function of education to prepare us while we are young to understand the whole process of life? Having a job and earning one's livelihood is necessary - but is that all? Are we being educated only for that? Surely, life is not merely a job, an occupation; life is something extraordinarily wide and profound, it is a great mystery, a vast realm in which we function as human beings. If we merely prepare ourselves to earn a livelihood, we shall miss the whole point of life; and to understand life is much more important than merely to prepare for examinations and become very proficient in mathematics, physics, or what you will

(This Matter of Culture page 8)

And should not education help you to find out what you really love to do so that from the beginning to the end of your life you are working at something which you feel is worth while and which for you has deep significance? Otherwise, for the rest of your days, you will be miserable. Not knowing what you really want to do, your mind falls into a routine in which there is only boredom, decay and death. That is why it is very important to find out while you are young what it is you really love to do; and this is the only way to create a new society.

(This Matter of Culture page 14)

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`[Life] is going to be very difficult, my friend. It can tear you in many directions. There are a great many so-called temptations - biological, social, and you can be torn apart by the cruelty of society. Of course you are going to have to stand alone but that can come about not through force, determination or desire but when you begin to see the false things around you and in yourself: the emotions, the hopes. When you begin to see that which is false, then there is the beginning of awareness, of intelligence. You have to be a light to yourself and it is one of the most difficult things in life.'

(Krishnamurti to Himself page 122)

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Questioner: However much I may want to be an engineer, if my father is against it and won't help me, how can I study engineering?
     Krishnamurti: If you persist in wanting to be an engineer even though your father turns you out of the house, do you mean to say that you won't find ways and means to study engineering? You will beg, go to friends. Sir, life is very strange. The moment you are very clear about what you want to do, things happen. Life comes to your aid - a friend, a relation, a teacher, a grandmother, somebody helps you. But if you are afraid to try because your father may turn you out, then you are lost. Life never comes to the aid of those who merely yield to some demand out of fear. But if you say, "This is what I really want to do and I am going to pursue it", then you will find that something miraculous takes place. You may have to go hungry, struggle to get through, but you will be a worthwhile human being, not a mere copy, and that is the miracle of it.
     You see, most of us are frightened to stand alone; and I know this is especially difficult for you who are young, because there is no economic freedom in this country as there is in America or Europe. Here the country is overpopulated, so everybody gives in. You say, "What will happen to me?" But if you hold on, you will find that something or somebody helps you. When you really stand against the popular demand then you are an individual and life comes to your aid.
     You know, in biology there is a phenomenon called the sport, which is a sudden and spontaneous deviation from the type. If you have a garden and have cultivated a particular species of flower, one morning you may find that something totally new has come out of that species. That new thing is called the sport. Being new it stands out, and the gardener takes a special interest in it. And life is like that. The moment you venture out, something takes place in you and about you. Life comes to your aid in various ways. You may not like the form in which it comes to you - it may be misery, struggle, starvation - but when you invite life, things begin to happen. But you see, we don't want to invite life, we want to play a safe game; and those who play a safe game die very safely. Is that not so?

(Think on these Things page 115)

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The New Generation
I am sure you have often heard from politicians, from educators, from your parents and from the public that you are the coming generation. But when they talk about you as a new generation, they really do not mean it because they make sure that you conform to the older pattern of society. They really do not want you to be a new, different kind of human being. They want you to be mechanical, to fit in with tradition, to conform, to believe, to accept authority. In spite of this, if you can actually free yourself from fear, not theoretically, not ideally, not merely outwardly but actually, inwardly, deeply, then you can be a different human being. Then you can become the coming generation. The older people are ridden with fear — fear of death, fear of losing jobs, fear of public opinion. They are completely held in the grip of fear. So their gods, their scriptures, their worship are all within the field of fear and therefore the mind is curiously warped, perverted. Such a mind cannot think straight, cannot reason logically, sanely, healthily, because it is rooted in fear. Watch the older generation and you will see how fearful it is of everything — of death, of disease, of going against the current of tradition, of being different, of being new.

(from On Education, pp.40)

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Choice of a free CD

1)  "Will you be like the rest of the world?"

A talk to students at Rishi Valley School, India, 13 January 1970 (52 minutes).

 

"You are going out from this place, so called educated, pass some exams, and go out into the world.

 

The world . . . is like a jungle, where everybody is against another. Each human being is fighting the other human beings, and society is built like that.

 

You're going to be thrown out into that world, where you will go to University, get a degree, get married, get a job, and all the rest of it; children and so on and on. But around you, in your office, everywhere, there is this endless battle going on. It's really like a jungle.

How does one prepare oneself to live in that jungle? That is really a very important educational question . . . . "

order here

OR

2)  "You must question everything"

 

Krishnamurti talking to students at Rishi Valley school, (3 Nov 1969, 59 minutes).

order here

 

OR

3) "The two questions I would ask if  I was a student"

 

talking to students at Mumbai University 1969 (51 minutes)

order here

 

Other free CD's are available on this web site

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Books especially suited for students

Life Ahead

   -  discussions with students and teachers in India

   -  also an 18 page essay by Krishnamurti on education.

   -  for the essay click here

   -  for extracts from this book click here

This Matter of Culture (also called "Think on these things")

   -  more talks to students, teachers and parents in India

Inward Flowering

    - discussions with students/staff at Brockwood Park school 1977  (booklet)

What Are You Doing With Your Life?

    - published as 'a book for teenagers' (2001) 

Krishnamurti for the young

 - short booklets extracted from 'Life Ahead' suitable for perhaps 11-14year olds.

   What is it to care?

    What does freedom mean?

    What does fear do to you?   review

 

Some books about Krishnamurti related education and the Krishnamurti Schools are listed on the publications and books page of the For Educationalists Menu.

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A course for mature students - no fees.

Every year Brockwood Park invites young people to live, work and study at Brockwood. To be eligible they must be between 21 and 28 years old with an interest in Krishnamurti's work. Applicants are required to propose a self-directed study program. Mature students work for 20 hours per week to cover the cost of their food and accommodation in either the School, Foundation or Centre.

If you would like to know more about being a mature student, please contact Bill Taylor: Email: , Brockwood Park School, Bramdean, Hants, SO24 OLQ, UK

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Resident Students' Schemes in India

A project in operation for many years now is the Resident Students' Scheme, the aim of which is to enable serious people from any part of the world, especially the young, to take time off to delve deeply into Krishnamurti's teachings and to re-examine their lives. Resident students stay at the study centre on the beautiful campus of Vasanta Vihar, the KFI headquarters, for three months, during which time they can make use of the library there, take part in dialogues, and also engage in some activity of their choice. There is neither a fixed programme nor any expectation of results from the scheme . Board and Lodging is provided free of charge, and in fact there is a small allowance. For detailed information, contact: info@kfionline.org.

There is a similar scheme at the study centre at the Valley School, Bangalore. Applications should be made to the directors of these centers.

At Rajghat study Centre there is a Research Scholarship. Here is the advert for it:

Applications are invited from individuals wishing to do research on any aspect of Krishnamurti’s teachings at the Krishnamurti Study Centre in Rajghat, Varanasi.

The scholarship carries a stipend of Rs. 3000/- per month with free accommodation and free meals at the Study Centre. It is awarded for an initial period of six months but can be extended further by mutual agreement. For details about the Study Centre please visit www.j-krishnamurti.org

Those interested in availing of this opportunity should send their bio-data along with details of the research they wish to undertake to In-charge Study Centre, K.F.I. , Rajghat Fort, Varanasi – 221 001, U.P., India E-mail : kcentrevns@gmail.com

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Special book offer in India

These books on education are available at subsidized rates:

Education and the significance of Life     Rs 20

Think on these things                            Rs 50

And there are other subidized books available from KFI.

In fact there is a Krishnamurti Free Book Distribution Scheme at KFI headquarters at Vasant Vihar, Chennai. Contact: info@kfionline.org

 

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Why is Brockwood Special?        

written by a student, Lucile Demory, aged 15, and reproduced from The Brockwood Observer, Autumn/Winter 2004/2005.    Click here to transfer.

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