The chapters in this book are all taken from previously unpublished talks by J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986), one of the most widely read spiritual teachers of the 20^th century. These selections present the core of Krishnamurti’s teaching on meditation, taken from discussions with small groups, as well as from public talks to large audiences. His main theme is the essential need to look inward, to know ourselves, in order to understand our own—and the world’s—conflicts. We are the world, he says, and it is our individual chaos that creates social disorder. He offers timeless insights into the source of true freedom, wisdom, and goodness.

Have you ever given attention to something totally? Are you giving attention to what the speaker is saying? Or are you listening with a comparative mind that has already acquired certain knowledge and is comparing what is being said to what you already know? Are you interpreting what is being said according to your own knowledge, your own tendency, your own prejudice? That is not attention, is it? If you give complete attention, with your body, with your nerves, with your eyes, with your ears, with your mind, with your whole being, there is no center from which you are attending, there is only attention. That attention is complete silence.

Among Krishnamurti’s 40+ books are Freedom from the Known and The Awakening of Intelligence.