Am I aware of the process of thinking? Can I see that thought is destructive, except where it is essential? Why is it that we don't see something immediately? Do you know when you are thinking? Is the thing that we call thinking thinking at all? Do you think from the background noise when a problem arises? When the mind becomes totally aware of the background, is there thinking when a problem arises? What happens when I am aware of this hum, this noise incessantly going on? Is the background noise different from the observer? How am I to live an everyday life with complete silence?

To perceive 'what is' is the basis of truth. 7 February 1971. Duration: 86 minutes. Where there is division, there must be conflict. A mind in conflict must inevitably be distorted, and therefore it cannot possibly see clearly what is truth. We need a total change, a deep revolution, psychological revolution, the inward revolution, without which you cannot possibly create a new society. Is it possible to observe, to perceive without the observer?

The role of the teacher. 26 March 1971. Duration: 56 minutes. There is much talk of a spiritual revolution among young people. Do you see in this very mixed phenomenon any hope of a new flowering for civilisation or possibility of growth? One can go into oneself at tremendous depths and find out everything. To go into oneself is the problem. Not being able to do it, we ask for help. If there were no books, no gurus, what would you do?

What is the relationship of the brain to the totality of the mind? Fear of not being, fear of isolation, fear of not having pleasure, fear of having no relationship, is the soil from which the stem of contradiction grows. I want to be free of this stem to see what happens if there is no attachment, no detachment, because I am not afraid. Is there a peace with no entity saying, ‘I am peaceful?'

Consciousness, because it is in constant movement, has never found an energy which is not contradictory, which is not produced by desire and thought.

Attention implies the total abandonment of the 'me'. 6 March 1971. Duration: 100 minutes. Can the mind undergo a radical revolution? How do you observe the world? What solves our human problem is observing the whole process of ourselves without judging, condemning, translating or rejecting - just to observe.

What is truth, and what is reality? 18 May 1975. Duration: 70 minutes. What is truth, and what is reality? Anything that thought thinks about or reacts upon or projects - that is reality. And that reality has nothing to do with truth. The art of seeing is to place reality where it is and not move that in order to get truth. You can't get truth. How am I to empty that consciousness and yet retain knowledge - otherwise I couldn't function - and reach a state which will comprehend reality?

A radical transformation in the psyche itself. 8 November 1968. Duration: 80 minutes. To communicate we must know that the word is not the thing and also be in that state of mind whose quality is attention, care. That can take place only if we are serious. We are the world, and the world is us. To bring about a radical transformation, which is so essential in society, there must be radical transformation in ourselves.

Can the mind be free? 3 February 1969. Duration: 99 minutes. The society in which we live is the result of our psychological state. Where there is fear there is aggression. For most of us, freedom is something that we don’t want. Inaction is total action. What is the machinery that builds images? Questions from the audience follow the talk.

To look without a concept is to be aware of the observer and the thing observed. 20 May 1967. Duration: 88 minutes. Violence and sorrow are not limited to the West or the East; they are parts of the human structure psychologically. Is it possible to bring about a change radically, a total revolution in the psyche itself, not through time? The first and last freedoms are when the mind is totally free from concepts and the mechanical process of building a formula.

Is thought detrimental? 15 August 1965. Duration: 63 minutes. Why does one seek pleasure? Can the mind face only facts and not thought? Why have I never said, 'Thought is poison' to myself? Meeting something one doesn't know, facing something which has no answer. Acting without knowing. What is a state of mind which is silent? Time is detrimental. Are we twisting everything to our core of pleasure?

Thought and the brain. Can the brain free itself from all self-delusion? Why has the self become important? Can there be only sensation, thought and no desire? Can desire—which brings illusion, self-deception and all the complications of changing desires—can the root of desire be dissipated? What prevents one from having a real insight? That is, seeing the truth of desire and therefore end it. Is it that we have never asked this question? When there is no desire whatsoever then there is a total revolution, and that will affect the consciousness of man.

Though we have plenty of energy, apparently we lack the drive, enthusiasm, vitality to bring about a change in ourselves. As long as there is fear, there must be violence, aggression, anger, hatred. Thought is the source of fear. Is it possible to live everyday life without thought interfering? Thought is always old. When you worship thought, you are worshipping some thing that is dead.

At the Feet of the Master authored by Jiddu Krishnamurti when he was 14 years old. Written under the name Alcyone, it was first published in 1910. It was his first recorded message to the world. Included in this selection are a collection of quotes from the 1960’s talks representative his midlife wisdom. Krishnamurti died when he was 90 years old in 1986.

Fear. All the escaping and the strengthening of fear comes because we are inattentive. What is sleep? Find out....