J. KRISHNAMURTI–“ONLY CHANGE IN THE INDIVIDUAL CAN BRING ABOUT CHANGE IN SOCIETY”

Excerpt from The First and Last Freedom, by Jiddu Krishnamurti.  Excerpt appears in the Sun Magazine.

War is the spectacular and bloody projection of our everyday life, is it not? War is merely an outward expression of our inward state, and enlargement of our daily action.  It is more spectacular, more bloody, more destructive, but it is the collective result of our individual activities.

Obviously what causes war is the desire for power, position, prestige, money; also the disease called nationalism, the worship of a flag; and the disease of organized religion, the worship of a dogma.  All these are the causes of war.  If you as an individual belong to any of the organized religions, if you are greedy for power, if you are envious, you are bound to produce a society which will result in destruction.  So it depends upon you and not on the leaders–not on so-called statesmen and all the rest of them.  It depends upon you and me, but we do not seem to realize that.  If once we really felt the responsibility of our own actions, how quickly we could bring to an end all these wars, this appalling misery!  But, you see we are indifferent.  We have three meals a day, we have our jobs, were have our bank accounts, big or little, and we say, “For God’s sake, don’t disturb us.  Leave us alone.”  We do not want to face the fact that you and I are responsible for wars.  You and I may talk about peace, have conferences, sit around a table and discuss, but inwardly, psychologically, we want power, position; we are motivated by greed.  we are nationalistic; we are bound by beliefs, by dogmas, for which we are will to die and destroy each other.  Do you think such men, you and I can have peace in the world?

To put an end to outward war, you must begin to put an end to war in yourself.  Some of you will nod your heads and say, “I agree,” and go outside and do exactly the same as you have been doing for the last ten or twenty years.  Your agreement is merely verbal and has no significance, for the world’s miseries and wars are not going to be stopped by your casual assent.  They will be stopped only when you realize the danger, it is to somebody else.  If you realize the suffering, if you see the urgency of immediate action and do not postpone, they you will transform yourself; peace will come only when you yourself are peaceful, when you yourself are at peace with your neighbor.

I have always asked why is their hunger in this world?  Why have contentment when power, control and sadism is a stake?  Take away the Viagra and see what we get–TESTOSTERONE free zone.