大象传媒

The artist Paul Purgas reassesses the legacy of spiritual teacher and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti.

鈥淥ne has to be light oneself. You cannot have light from another. God, or by saviours and Buddhas, it cannot be handed down to another.鈥�

In over 60 years of public speaking and writing, Krishnamurti influenced the likes of Aldous Huxley, Bruce Lee and Jackson Pollock, recorded conversations with Iris Murdoch and David Bohm, was friends with Igor Stravinsky, and was described by the Dalai Lama as 鈥渙ne of the greatest philosophers of the age鈥�. So why has he faded from view? And in a world that is gripped by division, crisis and confusion, what might we gain from paying more attention to his words?

鈥淎 mind that is self-concerned with its own ambitions, greed, fears, guilt, suffering, has no capacity to love.鈥�

After becoming interested in esoteric writing as a teenager in Bristol, Paul Purgas was struck by the story of an apparently unremarkable young boy from Chennai who had been transformed into the World Teacher of Humankind by the Theosophical Society, sent to England to be groomed into his role, before renouncing the position and striking out on his own. Coming from a household with both Hindu and Sikh religions, Paul was interested in Krishnamurti鈥檚 perspective as a South Asian spiritual voice speaking outside of the constructs of organised religion.

Purgas is intrigued by Krishnamurti鈥檚 role in the Anglo-Indian cultural exchange that was a formative part of British Modernism in the early decades of the 20th century. And he reappraises the legacy of Krishnamurti鈥檚 message, expounded from his departure from theosophy in 1929, right up to his death in 1986. Purgas visits Brockwood Park in Hampshire, home to one of the schools that Krishnamurti founded in the 1960s to educate students in accordance with his outlook. What effect does this schooling have on young minds and their outlook on themselves and the world?

"Truth is a pathless land": Paul reflects on the apparent simplicity and tangled paradoxes of Krishnamurti鈥檚 words: the self-professed anti-guru who couldn鈥檛 help build a worldwide following; who renounced the idea of a path to truth but laid out his own method of enlightenment; who demanded radical change but eschewed collective activism; who addressed age-old human preoccupations of fear, sorrow and pleasure, while weaving in his interest in cybernetics, psychology and quantum physics.

There are questions, though: Can universalist ideas on freedom be taken seriously from the mouth of a man privileged through elite education, status and wealth? And how does his individualist message sit in a world beset by crises that seem to demand collective action?

Paul reflects on Krishnamurti鈥檚 work as a creative manifesto, not just for artists like himself, but for the world at large.

With contributions from pianist Maria Jo茫o Pires, literature professor Elleke Boehmer, writer and musician T M Krishna, the staff and students from the school and foundation at Brockwood Park, and archive recordings of Krishnamurti鈥檚 public talks and interviews.

Produced by Chris Elcombe
A Reduced Listening Production for 大象传媒 Radio 3

Credits:
Archive and photo courtesy of the Krishnamurti Foundation
Music by Paul Purgas, plus:
Judith Hamann - Hinterhof (Longform Editions)
Fr茅d茅ric Chopin - Nocturne No. 4 in F, performed by Maria Jo茫o Pires
David Tudor - Neural Synthesis No. 6

Show less