KRISHNAMURTI

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 August 1926, Page 6

KRISHNAMURTI

A CHARACTER SKETCH

Krishnamurti, a young Indian, hailed •as tbe New Messiah, by it large section of the Theosophosists, arrived in England recently, states a London writer. He lias been there several times_ before, but this summer the New Mes•siali .has gone with the definite object of making up liis plans to spread bis mission all over the West. I have anown Krishnamurti lor a number of years, and met him tiie first time he came to England with his late brother, about 14 years ago. He has always struck me as. a man steeped in the sacred essence of religion and exhaling an odour of sanctity whicii gives you a feeling that you are m the presence of a. spiritual being not 10 1 be met witb every day. It is said of Zoroaster that when he was Jed as a prisoner to the King of the Medes, the tyrant ordered his release at once, saying that a man with such a calm - and l deliberate gait could not be false or an imposter.

As I met Ivrishnamurti alter the intervention, of some little time, I could not help being struck with bis appearance, as one fully charged witb a- message and bursting to give it to the public. In actual life the New Messiah is so plain and simple that an unobservant 'eye might even pass liim by as not attention. ‘But it is this plainness and simpleness l of life that the New Messiah bolds out to the public as the ideal life.

The continual lnurry and bustle of life, and the constant effort to attain the worldly ends makes 11s forget our ultimate object. Simple life, according to Nature, provides more time and opportunity for contemplation, and the achievement of Nirvana (self-forgetful-ness) —the great .object of life. The ideal man is one who thinks of others first. , Contentment with your lot in the world and discontent with spiritual attainments should be the principal guide of life. We do not live for the sake of clothes, but we putclothes on because they help us to live. In the same way we do not live for

the .sake of pampering our body, but our physical life is only a medium for the development of our spiritual nature. This young man, whose body lias been used, in the words of bis disciples, .“as a. vehicle for the expression of the final and the Greatest Teacher of the world” (the final Messiah), is deeply contemplative but i>y not means pessimistic. -“There is nothing wrong with the world,” be seems tosuggest, “but the Mayai (the illusion of the senses and the undertaking) mislead people. Given a proper outlook, the world is even an enjoyable place! ” The Messiah predicts .no cataclysm or catastrophe to the world. Indeed, he refrains from prophesying and working miracles altogether. His ideo is that the greatest miracle is the world itself. The contemplation of one rosebud .leads to the infinity. There is nothing to fear in the world excepting your own self. l)o your daily work and keep cheerful, but dp not forget that far above everything and in front- of everything is God. Concerning himself, the attitude of the New Messiah displays a great deal of conscientious scruple. He does notappear to be anxious to upset the arranged order of the world or strip the rrjinds of the public of all the religious beliefs with which they are imbued. But Krishnamurti says he feels impelled to i>roclaim himself. It is probably this reluctance 1 to interfere with the established order that gives the New Messiah many moments of anxiety. ITe seems to fall into a sort of stupor or contemplative mood when everybody around him observes silence and leaves him to himself. It is usually with a high indicative of a decision .after 'some struggle that he emergi-es from this mood. He does not ask -you to' receive hi ml at once, but he suggests to the public that’ it- would do them; no harm to examine his title.