Jiddhu Krishnamurti (1895 - 1986)

Jiddu Krishnamurti
The Pool of Wisdom

THE POOL OF WISDOM

OMMEN CAMP FIRE TALK, 1926

That being the case, we shall naturally look to that perfection, we shall naturally look to that beauty, and we must finish with those external phenomena, those things by which we are mesmerized, those phrases, those labels that we invent. We must set aside these things.

I should like to put before you my point of view; I should like you to reason it out, and, if you think it right, follow it according to your best and highest capacity and your purest intuition.

My point is this. You have studied for many years, and have learnt through many books that you have temperaments, that you are separate types of individuals -different from others and you and myself have learnt that you have your own particular role to play in life. Now during all these years you have been trying to fulfil that role which you have found for yourselves. You have been walking either firmly or weakly, either with your head high or with halting footsteps along the path, which you thought the highest, along the path, which you thought would lead to nobility, to beauty, to perfection.

Now a time must come when you ask yourself: What have I done with all that knowledge, with all the labels, with all the phrases and all the jargons I have learned? In what way have I created, in what way have I given, and brought joy to those people who suffer and are longing and desirous to learn, those people who are fumbling in the darkness?

What have you, with your phrases, with your labels, with your books, achieved?

How many people have you made happy, not in the passing things, but in the ways of the Eternal?

Have you given the Happiness that lasts, the Happiness that is never failing, the Happiness that cannot be dimmed by a passing cloud?

You must ask yourself what you have done.

In what way have you created a protecting wall, so that people shall not slip into pitfalls?

How far have you built a railing along that deep river into which every human being is liable to fall?

How far have you helped those people who want to climb?

How far has it been your ambition to lead someone to that Kingdom of Happiness, that garden where there is unchanging light, unchanging beauty?

You must question yourself; you must reason with yourself, as I have questioned and reasoned with myself.

We invent phrases to satisfy ourselves.

And with all that you have at your disposal, with all these things, which you think are really vital and important, what have you done?

In what manner have you brought forth that precious jewel, so that it shall shine and guide the whole world?

In what way have you given, in what way have you grown, and in what way have you led others?

It is very gratifying and very satisfying to call ourselves by different names and different types, and to segregate ourselves, and to think that we are different from the rest of the world.

But, if you are all these things, have you saved one from sorrow?

Have any of you given me Happiness -"me", the ordinary person?

Have any of you saved me sorrow?

Have any of you given me the nourishment of heaven when I was hungry?

Have any of you felt so deeply that you could throw yourself into the place of the person who is suffering?

What have you produced, what have you brought forth? What is your work?

Why should you be different because you belong to different societies, different sects, have different temperaments?

In what are you different from myself?

What is your work and what is your purpose? What have you done with your days?

In what way have you fulfilled those things that are given, and in what condition and in what manner do you hold yourself?

And what has it all meant to each one of you?

And now myself, being an ordinary person, I would ask you to look at my point of view; I would ask you to come and look through my window, which will show you my heaven, which will show you my garden and my abode.

Then you will see that what matters is not what you do, what you read, what any person says you are or are not, but that you should have the intense desire to enter into that abode where dwells Truth.

Because there lies true Happiness, there is the only Kingdom worth possessing -not in useless phrases.

And I would have you come and see it; I would have you come and feel it; I would have you come, and think, and ponder over it, and not say to me: "Oh, you are different, you are on the mountain top, you are a mystic."

You give me phrases and cover my Truth with your words.

I do not want you to break with all that you believe.

I do not want you to deny your temperament.

I do not want you to do things that you do not feel to be right. But, are any among you happy?

Have you, any of you, tasted Eternity?

Do you know what Immortality is, what Truth is? By that only can you be judged and by nothing else.

Do not invent phrases; do not cover the Truth by things that are not real, that have no purpose, no vitality, that do not give you strength and ecstasy of purpose.

I say, if you come to that Kingdom and live and abide there, then you will possess the spark of the genius, then you will belong to those who are the true builders, who give Happiness to the world. Then you are giving; you are producing, and whatever you do will bear the mark of the creator.

I say that I am on firmer ground, on more beautiful ground, with greater strength, greater glory, than those who are in the bog, than those who think that, because it is so difficult to break all the things that they have created, it is very difficult to reach my Kingdom, that it is very difficult to come there.

But surely, if you were in the bog, you would not hesitate to step on firmer ground where there is sunshine, freshness and pure air.

You must choose.

What does temperament, what do titles matter, if you have entered that Kingdom which is the source of Truth, the source of Eternity, where you cease to be as a separate self?

Why should you hesitate to come and see? I do not ask you to follow me; but I ask you to come and look at those things that are real, that are permanent.

I would ask you, as members of the Star, who believe in the Coming, who know what it means to breathe the same air as He does, who know what it means to look at the same sunshine as He does, who enjoy the same flower as He does, I would ask you: Are you going to make Him bend to your temperament, make Him believe all the things that you believe? Are you going to persuade Him that your path is the best path? Because if you are going to do that, you will find that you have lost the glory, that you have lost the precious jewel, that the sun has set for you, nor will there be another sunrise.

Every one of you is frightened, because you dare not come out of your little path, your little window, and walk with Him. You want Him to walk with you, with your ideas, your idiosyncrasies and your particular fancies.

But a time must come -and it is coming, nearer and nearer than you realize, happier and happier than you can conceive- a time is coming when you must choose. We have used these words thousands and thousands of times but they have not meant anything. Now the time has come when you must choose whether you are going to follow Him, to breathe the same air, to climb the same mountain, along the same path, or whether you are going to try to bend Him to your particular will, to your particular temperament, to your particular prejudices.

That will not be.

Because I belong to all people, to all who really love, to all who are suffering.

And if you would walk, you must walk with me.

If you would understand, you must look through my mind.

If you would feel, you must look through my heart. And because I really love, I want you to love. Because I really feel, I want you to feel.

Because I hold everything dear, I want you to hold all things dear.

Because I want to protect, you should protect.

And this is the only life worth living, and the only Happiness worth possessing.