Jiddu Krishnamurti, popularly known as J. Krishnamurti, was an Indian philosopher and speaker. His father worked at the Theosophical Society (set up by Helena Blavatsky in 1875) and lived in their housing complex. Here, in 1909, J. Krishnamurti was discovered by Charles Webster Leadbeater (author and member of theosophical society) in the city of Adyar as a very unique person with almost no thoughts and the “most wonderful aura.” (1) Before this discovery, J. Krishnamurti, as per various records, was considered, for lack of a better explanation a “low IQ” boy: he was beaten regularly by school teachers and his father.

Leadbeater saw 13-year-old Krishnamurti playing on the beach and he was most impressed with him. He educated Krishnamurti and his brother Nityananda as he was convinced that Krishnamurti would become a “great orator.” Leadbeater said,

“the child had an aura of unselfishness; he was the chosen one.” (1)

From an interview of Russell B. Clarke, Krishnamurti’s first English tutor:

"I was told that he (Krishnamurti) had been put on probation by the Master (Leadbeater) along with his little brother, on a certain date. And then it was that Krishna used to sit in the early morning and write something very laboriously in his early English, which turned out to be the little book At the Feet of the Master. And the writing in the book was in pencil and Krishnaji used to ponder and then write and then ponder. And Leadbeater told me that he was bringing back into his physical brain in the morning what he had experienced and learned and heard during the night before from the Master Kuthumi. I never looked at the details of that little book but I did see the book and I saw Krishnaji writing." (1)

Charles Leadbeater and other members at the theosophical society felt that he could be a great spiritual leader, and a “world teacher.” Annie Besant (an activist and supporter of Indian home rule) was the president of Theosophical Society at that time. She became very fond of J. Krishnamurti, and she took the legal custody of him and his brother. The Theosophical Society created an organization, “Order of the Star in the East” with J. Krishnamurti as its leader. This organization was to establish J. Krishnamurti as the “world teacher.” J. Krishnamurti traveled through Europe and America giving talks, and his writings were published in magazines.

In an interview, J. Krishnamurti talks about himself in those days:

“He was taken to Europe, lived with people, so-called British aristocracy, butlers, yachts, clothes, servants, Rolls-Royces. He never smoked, never drank. Girls used to come around him and he didn’t know what it was all about. And so there was this peculiar state of mind which could not be held in a pattern. And they had put him at the head of an organization, “Order of the Star in the East”, where he was literally worshiped. And he used to shrink from all that. He was vague. He would tell everybody: “I’ll do whatever you want.” That used to be his favorite phrase. “I’ll do what you want.” Even now sometimes it happens.” (2)

Multiple people claimed that young Krishnamurti was very obedient - he would do whatever was asked of him, which is also mentioned in the above quotes by him.

He had multiple physical and psychological experiences (claimed spiritual by some people at Theosophical Society) beginning, in 1922, when he experienced different mental states, and had bouts of headaches and neck pains. This changed his philosophical outlook, and post the death of his brother in 1925, he completely changed - and refuted the idea of a spiritual organization or of being any kind of leader of people. He resigned from all leadership positions, and returned all the money, property and other gifts given to him claiming in his famous words “Truth is a pathless land.” After that he continued to speak and give public lectures, video interviews and group discussions in order to help people to be “completely free.”

He was given the leadership, an organization, huge sums of money and thousands of acres of land including a castle gifted to him in the Netherlands. He refused everything and refused to be the leader.

Here are some learning for today's leaders from his teachings:

1. The Observer is the Observed

Here Mr. Krishnamurti is trying to explain how when we look at things, we understand them as per our previous knowledge. Which means there is a duality, there is an observer and there is an observed. The thoughts and ideas prevent us from seeing the facts, we look at the images which have been created about that thing or data point or color. An example of this is looking at the stock market data: stocks going down in the color red is associated with a negative image or negative knowledge.

“When the observer is the observed, all action ceases on the part of the observer and there is no fear at all.”

- J. Krishnamurti

So, in continuation of our example, the red color or the stock going down has to be a fact, and complete attention will bring about only the fact.

For leaders, if they are able to achieve this - and see only facts and become the   facts, the situations and the problems - the next business decision will be absolutely clear. This activity will happen every second and every minute and there will be no fear, no image and no thinking in time. Clear decision making will be helped in this deep understanding of the fact that “Observer is the Observed.”

2. To Live Without a Conflict

J. Krishnamurti claimed that it is possible to live without any conflict. It is possible when you live with “completely what is!” Don't try to escape it, Don’t try to fear it - look at it and live with it. If you are greedy or envious - do not move away from it (via thoughts). Suppose you are feeling “jealous” of someone, one thought comes of jealousy and then another thought comes that I should not be jealous since it is not a good thing. Therefore, there is a conflict. This conflict drains out all our energy.

“Thought has created a reaction, envy, and thought also says I must run away from it. The energy is lost in conflict and suppression. The falseness of escape resistance (this understanding) will save the energy from going into suppression and will move that energy into observation of what is taking place.”

- J. Krishnamurti

This can be a massive learning for leaders. Most of the leaders are burnt out, and it is not due to the high amount of work, it is due to the high amount of conflict. Leaders need to live second to second with “What is”. Suppose a leader gets angry, and he brings another thought to suppress the anger (since anger is bad or leaders should not be angry). This is taking away a lot of the energy of that leader. The lesson from Mr. Krishnamurti is that “if you are angry” - observe that you are angry, thereafter if you are angry, be angry. There is no conflict, this saves massive amounts of energy and gives clarity of mind. Another example is that revenue is going down, as a result of which a leader is feeling anxious; do not fight it, or suppress it - observe it - or simply be anxious. The direction is singular and there is no conflict. This energy, and moving into a state of observation of anxiety and a circumstance of lower revenue, will allow the leader to take the next best business decision.

In the words of Gautam Buddha:

“Nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.”

Buddha also advocated a very high level of awareness and advised not to get swayed by thoughts, which are just memories of the past. Therefore, being “jealous” is just “being Jealous” - it should not bring any kind of “remorse” or a sense of “wrongdoing.” This is a way out of conflict.

On similar lines, with a more modern content, Fei-Fei Li in her book The Worlds I See quotes:

“Hubel and Wiesel’s epiphany was that perception doesn’t occur in a single layer of neurons, but across many, organized in a hierarchy that begins with the recognition of superficial details and ends with complex, high-level awareness.”

This is a modern scientific construct for the same explanation: the need and mechanics of high-level awareness.

3. Habits have to end

 Habits need to be ended in our lives as per Mr. Krishnamurti. “When habit ends, you exercise will,” in the words of J. Krishnamurti.  The brain can be freed from your image of I (memories, experiences, knowledge, etc). Death is the end of everything – or, as he says “your attachment has to end when you die.” All of this can be ended now, when we drop one habit at a time. This is our freedom from the memories, experiences and knowledge, or what he calls “Freedom from the known.”

Habits make us do actions without awareness, which may not be our true will! Habits are our burden of the past, and the dropping of habit is the dropping of past knowledge and memories.

For leaders, habits can be very dangerous, especially in this modern competitive world. They have to act creatively (maybe differently) for the same problem which came last year as well - maybe the political environment has changed, taxation system has changed or maybe the business environment has changed. The habit will kill this creativity and will prevent the leaders from exercising will. This can seriously hurt the business as the leader was not able to use intuitiveness, and the leader acted out of habit. Leaders need to drop the habit, and look at every business situation in a new manner as if looking at it for the first time. This is how they will exercise will and facilitate better decision making.

In a quote of India god, Lord Shiva:

“The true yogi is one, for whom each moment is new.”

Each moment is truly new! It has nothing to do with the past, and therefore it has to be lived in a new manner. Going a step forward, Buddha says, that every day is a new day, its like waking up from death into a new life - approach it with gratitude:

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.”

4. The Art of observation 

In the words of J. Krishnamurti “Observation implies silence and not forming any conclusion, just to observe silently, without any psychological or sensory response, except either visual or inward insight without the responses of memory.” This is the art of observation leaders need to learn. This is especially needed while listening: listening to stakeholders, listening to peers and listening to team members. Leaders need “silence” in mind and keen observation.

Further Mr. Krishnamurti suggests that this “Observation” can lead to insights; in his words:

“Insight implies an observation in which there is no remembrance of things past, therefore the mind is alert, free from all the elements and so on, just to observe. Only then you have an insight.”

Insights and creativity are the backbone of modern business. Leaders miss this most of the times due to many of the following reasons:

  • Some leaders are too fond of speaking, so there is limited listening or observation.
  • Some leaders have preconceived notions that they know or understand most things. This leads to interpretation based of their previous learning and this kills the “observation.”
  • Some leaders like to operate in a fast manner, this speed of operations, and it pushes them to faster interpretations - which again does not allow them to properly “Observe.”
  • Sometimes, leaders listen to team members, peers or even seniors or stakeholders based on previous judgment. They make their mind that some people are intelligent and some people are not - this blurs their ability to properly observe.

If leaders can learn to observe all forms of communication, there may be far more insights - which may help the business.

5. Dropping the attachment

A human being is attached to many things in life, and in the corporate world - there are different kinds of attachments. For leaders, the attachments of corporate world can be understood by following paragraph by Nassim Nicholas Taleb:

“The chairman of the company is scared of the security analyst who can give him a bad report, of the board of directors, of journalists who can say something unflattering, of his own vice-president looking to oust him (as he did his predecessor). Falling means a severe loss of status. He would be able to live a life materially acceptable to many, but would be losing his expensive car, his wine collection, his opera subscription, his country house, and, correspondingly, his second wife – which is not acceptable.”

With leadership comes the status in the corporate world and in the social media world as well. One knows that being a leader, his or her LinkedIn posts get thousands of likes and praise from industry peers since you are holding an important position. In addition to that, there is an addiction to a fat paycheck. All of these attachments create great fear, “higher attachment” – and a higher fear of losing!

J. Krishnamurti advocates that one should be free of attachment. He explains this in the most interesting manner; he calls it the difference between “living” and “dead.” Wherein you are “living” and attachments are “dead.” Attachments are “dead” since they are your “memories.”

He calls it: “You will find you are living with death all the time.” Death is the end of memories, and the end of memories is the end of all attachments. The end of all attachments is the fear one is suffering all the time.

Living with this fear, is “living with death” all the time, as Mr. Krishnamurti explains it. This can become a very painful life for leaders. Once life is painful - one there is fear of losing the benefits of the corporate world or being any kind of leader - it leads to poor decision making. Leaders may become more defensive or more selfish or even corrupt in their decision making living with attachment (and fear).

This not only hurts the business - it also hurts the quality of lives of leaders. Leaders need to be free of attachment as much as possible. Which, in the words of J. Krishnamurti, will make them more “living” than associated with “death.”

These five lessons from Krishnamurti can really help leaders see clearly what is. To better understand this, I would like to quote William Blake:

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.”

To infinity and beyond!!

References

  1. https://thelifeofkrishnamurti.kfa.org/timelines/timeline-1905-1914/
  2. https://thelifeofkrishnamurti.kfa.org/timelines/timeline-1915-1924/