THROUGHOUT his life, the only concern, or the sole mission, of Krishnamurti was to bring about a radical change in human consciousness, and it expressed itself in many ways across many decades, across changing times. In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, he held talks and discussions at many universities, especially in the USA, South America, and India. Those held in India are found in the book Why are You being Educated?:Talks at Indian Universities, published by Krishnamurti Foundation India in 2002.
The present compilation, consisting of eleven con-versations with the young, is slightly different. These discussions were held not on university campuses, but in the houses where Krishnamurti stayed during his annual visits to Madras, Bombay, New Delhi, and Rishi Valley School. They have, therefore, an air of informality and ease, with the young people feeling free to question Krishnamurti on any issue that concerned them. Besides, Krishnamurti does not act as a psychiatrist, or a therapist, or a counsellor, or an adviser, sermonizing on what the young should do or not do, on how they should live, on how they can solve their problems. There is no generation gap.
Here, as elsewhere, Krishnamurti talks about the fundamental difference between functional knowledge-which is necessary for survival in the world-and psychological knowledge, which creates the illusion that the world in general as well as individuals are evolving towards a universal and personal utopia. His insight that 'knowledge is destroying us' is apt, if not challenging, for the present age, which proudly calls itself 'the knowledge society'. This insight demands a completely revolutionary approach to life, an approach which shakes the very foundation of our existence and which should begin from a very young age. As it is, the young people give all their time and energy to acquiring knowledge, passing examinations, and settling down in life, hoping to be secure for the rest of their lives, and thus the vast field of their own selves is neglected. The price they pay for this neglect is what is highlighted by Krishnamurti in these conversations.
As early as 1948, at the end of a talk in Bangalore, Krishnamurti was asked: Do you have a special message for youth? His reply, which is also the source for the title of this book, is given below:
Sirs, is there a very great difference between the young and the old? Youth, the young people, if they are at all alive, are full of revolutionary ideas, full of discontent, are they not? They must be; otherwise they are already old. If the young have not that revolutionary discontent, they are already old; and the old are those who were once discontented, but have settled back. They want security, they want permanency, either in their jobs or in their souls. They want certainty in ideas, in relationship, or in property. If in you, who are young, there is a spirit of inquiry which makes you want the truth of anything, of any political action whether of the left or of the right, and if you are not bound by tradition, then you will be the regenerators of the world, the creators of a new civilization, a new culture.
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