When man becomes aware of the movement of his own consciousness, he will see the division between the thinker and the thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience. He will discover this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past. This timeless insight brings about a deeply radical mutation in the mind.

Independent thinker and philosopher Krishnamurti’s declaration above - what it is to come to full consciousness - came shortly after he broke away from the Theosophical Society.  Adopted alongside his brother, Nitya, by the Society’s president, Dr. Annie Besant, Krishnamurti was subsequently groomed to be their new messianic World Teacher. To that end, in 1911, the Society created the ‘Order of the Star in the East’, an organisation set to prepare the world for Krishnamurti’s ‘Coming.’  But he abruptly dissolved it, gave all the money back and broke all ties with the organisation. 

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Having grown up in Madanapalle, a small town in Andhra Pradesh, South India, as a sickly child, believed to be intellectually disabled, he was discovered on a beach by English Theosophist and clairvoyant Charles Webster Leadbeater, who perceived that Krishnamurti had the most wonderful aura he had ever seen, without a particle of selfishness evident.

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In 1922, Krishnamurti moved with his brother Nitya to the Ojai Valley in California, (considered by some to have a vortex of spiritual energy). Staying in a borrowed cottage in Ojai, he experienced his ‘spiritual awakening’ or ‘psychological transformation’, which he described in his notebook:   ‘... woke up early with that strong feeling of otherness, of another world that is beyond all thought ... there is a heightening of sensitivity. Sensitivity, not only to beauty but also to all other things.’

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For the next 60 years, Krishnamurti travelled the world speaking as an explorer of life’s fundamental conditions rather than as a didactic teacher.  His insistence on this definition is undoubtedly influenced by his experience with the Theosophical Society, but also he believed the only way to truth is to inwardly observe your own mind. But despite his resistance to the notion of exterior interference, as the author of over sixty books he was described by Aldous Huxley as speaking with ‘intrinsic authority’.

The Book of Life is structured as daily meditations for every day of the year. Although the book was not compiled by Krishnamurti, himself , it contains excerpts from his longer talks and dialogues, unpacking the vast array of human experience under themes his work frequently addresses, including Listening to Belief, Sex, Choiceless Awareness, Truth, Reality, and Meditation. The excerpts retain their conversational tone, which make them very readable.  Together, they reveal the extent to which Krishnamurti was not just a celebrated philosopher but a deeply spiritual man.

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With each month plumbing four themes, this is a great book for just diving in and dedicated to exploring one aspect of life experience and particular interest. Each theme is built layer upon layer over several days. June 16: ‘Awareness is the process of completeness and introspection is incomplete. The result of introspection is morbid, painful, whereas awareness is enthusiasm and joy.’  By June 21, we are led to Krishnamurti’s profound conclusion: ‘When revolving at high speed the several blades of a fan appear to be a solid sheet of metal. Our difficulty is to make the mind revolve slowly so that each thought-feeling can be followed and understood. What is deeply and thoroughly understood will not repeat itself.’

This radical call to individual consciousness is, of course, always relevant but profoundly so now, as there is a global realisation that powerful authorities and companies cannot be relied upon for authentic answers to societal suffering. Finding your own insight is the only doorway. Or, as Krishamurti puts it, ‘Now understanding this total process of existence - the influences, the sorrows, the daily strain, the authoritative outlook, the political actions, and so on - all this is life, and the process of understanding it all, and freeing the mind, is meditation.’  

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For those embarking on their meditation journey, these dialogues are easily read, profoundly inspiring yet also profoundly inaccessible. The truth of his words and their deep meaning can only come from the reader’s own experience and practice. In other words, this book tells of the prize at the end of the path, rather than showing the reader a step-by-step guide to getting there.