Four Weeks with Krishnamurti and another look

 July 2026

Four Weeks with Krishnamurti

I recently came across some of J. Krishnamurti’s talks by accident on YouTube. I had explored his material about six months earlier quite in-depth, but this renewed my interest. Perhaps I had missed something. I began slowly, listening intently to one of his talks each morning while having my coffee.

For about a month, I found the experience genuinely absorbing. Krishnamurti was an exceptional speaker. His reasoning was sharp, his questions were penetrating, and his approach to nonduality strongly resonated with me. He had a rare ability to take an audience deeply into a subject and encourage real inquiry in the moment rather than simply handing out beliefs or conclusions.

After several weeks, however, I began to feel that I had reached a point of “enough”.

His repeated advice to observe or “look at yourself” gradually became more frustrating than useful. The field of observation was often extremely broad: thoughts, emotions, reactions, motives, relationships, other people’s behaviour, society, nature and almost everything occurring inwardly or outwardly. Yet there was little structure for how someone might actually develop the attention required to do this without becoming overwhelmed.

The same difficulty applied to his instruction to remain with “what is”. It is powerful advice in principle, but many listeners may lack the emotional regulation, concentration, bodily awareness or practical skills needed to apply it. Krishnamurti occasionally mentioned diet, exercise and physical health, but physiology seemed to receive far less attention than it deserved.

Some of his wider opinions also felt too sweeping. His criticisms of gurus, spiritual organisations, education and society often contained important truths, but he sometimes appeared to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Structure, teachers and methods can become limiting, but they can also be useful, particularly for beginners.

At times, his talks also drifted extensively into wars, politics and global disorder. These subjects were understandable given the period in which he spoke, but they sometimes felt removed from the practical inner questions that had initially drawn me to his work. He appeared to expect a great deal from his audience, while also expressing frustration that they did not fully understand him.

Despite these criticisms, I gained a lot from the experience. His insights into human nature could be remarkably clear. His talks were often enthralling, intellectually serious and capable of opening up questions that ordinary spiritual discussions barely touch.

I will probably return to Krishnamurti again, but after four weeks of listening to hours of talks, it felt right to pause.

For anyone new to his work, I would strongly recommend Freedom from the Known. It is short, accessible and covers most of his essential ideas. It is particularly helpful for understanding his statement that “the observer is the observed”, an idea that can otherwise sound confusing or overly abstract. As an introduction to Krishnamurti, it is an excellent primer.

Update: Awareness approaches, Buteyko Breathing, Sam Harris meditation approach, Michael Langford's Awareness BLISS book.

 

Quick update: (June 2026)

• Completed some work-related courses and learning about Lean Thinking. This unintentionally also affected my approach to spiritual/psychological practice by focusing on keeping systems, instructions, methodologies as 'lean' and simple as possible

• A major breathrough occurred a few months back with the learning and applying of Buteyko Breathing techniques. I originally looked into this and learned and applied it for health reasons, and it has had a major effect on meditation and mindfulness practices as well. It has become one of the biggest 'hacks' for spiritual practice as well as living life in general. If you haven't looked into this, as a part of breathwork, then it is a must. Can't overstate the impact of this way of functionally breathing and its effects.

• Unexpectedly took an interest in Michael Langford's BLISS (Awareness teachings) again. This time it feels different. Better and much more effective, thanks largely due to Buteyko Breathing Technique and reduced breathing in general. It is creating a landing base for the AWA practice to actually launch from. GPT conversations confirm the logic in this as well.

• Further, Sam Harris type meditations have yielded some results in terms of awareness being approachable 'out there' and not just 'within'. SH's approach is Dzogchen-like and a much more relaxed recognition vs many of the advaita self-enquiry instructions, which can inadvertently lend themselves to over-effort in focusing or becoming aware of awareness "within" vs without. 

AI chat about Krishnamurti (and Advaita) and some insights into why it works for some and not others

 

I'm measured in how I use AI and take what it says with a grain of salt, noting it has limitations and is basically a piece of software that is using a limited data set.

However, sometimes it does come up with neat little summary points, and I thought this one about Krishnamurti, and why he lands/doesn't land with people at different times, was a good one. I would also add Nisargadatta into this (in place of JK) for exactly the same reasons.. and probably most Advaita teachers/teachings, especially the more contemporary types that skip the traditional preparation stages.

AI output:

Why Jiddu Krishnamurti works for some

It works only when a few conditions are already in place:

1. High native awareness
   Some people can actually observe without immediately analysing, fixing, or dissociating. For them, his pointing lands instantly.

2. Low need for psychological safety
   Krishnamurti offers zero reassurance. If you don’t need comfort, guidance, or progress markers, you can stay present with the raw fact.

3. Disillusionment with paths and techniques
   People burned out on methods, teachers, and spiritual ambition often have a clean “drop” when they hear him.

4. Strong nervous-system capacity
   Choiceless awareness means no escape from fear, pain, contradiction. If your system can tolerate intensity, insight can cut through fast.

When it works, it’s surgical. Immediate clarity. No buildup. No ladder.

---

Why it fails for most people (including very sincere ones)

This is the uncomfortable truth.

1. People mistake passivity for awareness
   They stop effort, but awareness never comes online. Result: subtle dissociation, stagnation, or spiritual bypassing.

2. Attention is too weak
   Krishnamurti assumes an ability to stay with perception. Most people can’t. So they intellectualise instead.

3. Unresolved trauma hijacks the process
   “Don’t escape fear” sounds noble — until the body floods. Without grounding, insight collapses into overwhelm.

4. The mind turns his words into ideology
   Ironically, people follow Krishnamurti by repeating “no method, no path,” which becomes another belief.

5. No developmental scaffolding
   He removes the controller before it’s functional. For many, that leads to confusion, not freedom.

---

The hard line (this matters)

Krishnamurti is not a training system.
He is a final pointing.

• If you’re not ready → nothing happens

• If you’re half-ready → frustration

• If you’re ready → collapse of illusion

No middle ground.

---

Practical truth most teachers won’t say

Most humans need capacity-building first:

• attention

• emotional regulation

• somatic stability

That’s why people often do better starting with:

• mindfulness

• somatic work

• structured inquiry

…and then Krishnamurti detonates what’s left.

---

One-sentence verdict

Krishnamurti works only when the mind is already quiet enough to hear the truth — otherwise it becomes either philosophy or paralysis.

Sam Harris and J. Krishnamurti - some commonality.

 

I've been using the Waking Up app recently, and am enjoying it for its approach to meditation, nonduality, and mindfulness. Sam Harris is a great speaker and gets his points across in simple, easy-to-understand language that can make a difference to someone's day in terms of how they perceive things and approach living a more examined life.

I noticed quite a few similarities between his approach and J. Krishnamurti's approach. Some of the language also crosses over, such as 'choiceless awareness', and espousing a kind of mindfulness that involves less effort and more on the natural happenings in the moment.

Of course, there's some differences. JK was against all structure and training (which isn't very helpful for beginners), while SH delivers a structured approach and philosophy that deconstructs itself as one progresses (similar to how Buddhism approaches things, in particular the nondual Buddhist paths).

Here's a few points from G:

You are spot on in noticing the connection. There is a significant philosophical overlap between Sam Harris and J. Krishnamurti, and Harris has explicitly engaged with Krishnamurti’s work, though he doesn't typically cite him as his primary teacher.

Here is the breakdown of the link between the two and the extent to which Harris "studied" him.

1. The Link: Shared Core Philosophy

The reason you see so much commonality is that both men are proponents of secular non-duality. They both argue that you can access profound self-transcendence without buying into religious dogma, mythology, or rituals.

• The Illusion of the Self: This is the strongest link. Krishnamurti famously taught that the "thinker is the thought"—that there is no separate entity controlling the mind.¹ Sam Harris focuses heavily on this same concept (anatta), often using the phrase "the self is an illusion" and pointing out that there is no "rider in the head."

• Choiceless Awareness vs. Mindfulness: Krishnamurti spoke of "choiceless awareness"—observing the mind without judgment or the desire to change it. This is very similar to the "open monitoring" or "non-dual mindfulness" (Dzogchen/Mahamudra) that Harris teaches in his Waking Up app.

• Rejection of Authority: Krishnamurti famously dissolved the Order of the Star, claiming truth is a pathless land, and cannot be reached through organizations. ³ Harris similarly rejects religious institutions and gurus (despite having had teachers himself), advocating for a rational, empirical approach to spirituality.⁴

2. Did Sam Harris study Krishnamurti?

Sam Harris has almost certainly "studied" Krishnamurti in the sense of reading him and analyzing his talks, but he was not a direct student in the way he was with his primary Dzogchen teachers (like Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche).

• Curatorial Endorsement: Harris considers Krishnamurti's teachings valuable enough that he featured a collection of Krishnamurti’s talks on his Waking Up app. This is a major endorsement, implying he views Krishnamurti as a valid pointer toward the truth of non-duality.

• Discussion with Jack Kornfield: Harris has discussed Krishnamurti with meditation teacher Jack Kornfield.⁵ In these contexts, they often analyze Krishnamurti’s approach—specifically noting that while Krishnamurti was brilliant, he could sometimes be frustratingly intellectual or abstract for beginners, lacking a "method" (which Krishnamurti did on purpose).

Summary

While Harris’s primary spiritual lineage comes from Dzogchen (Tibetan Buddhism) and Advaita Vedanta (specifically H.W.L. Poonja), Krishnamurti is a close philosophical cousin.

If you enjoy the intersection of these two, you are essentially picking up on the "Direct Path" teachings. The idea that freedom is available now in the nature of awareness, rather than something you earn after years of practice.