Mass Movement
by J. Krishnamurti
[Listen to Audio!]
 We see throughout the world extremes of poverty and riches, abundance and at the same time starvation; we have class distinction and racial hatred, the stupidity of nationalism and the appalling cruelty of war. There is exploitation of man by man; religions with their vested interests have become the means of exploitation, also dividing man from man. There is anxiety, confusion, hopelessness, frustration.
We see all this. It is part of our daily life. Caught up in the wheel of suffering, if you are at all thoughtful you must have asked yourself how these human problems can be solved. Either you are conscious of the chaotic state of the world, or you are completely asleep, living in a fantastic world, in an illusion. If you are aware, you must be grappling with these problems. In trying to solve them, some turn to experts for their solution, and follow their ideas and theories. Gradually they form themselves into an exclusive body, and thus they come into conflict with other experts and their parties; and the individual merely becomes a tool in the hands of the group or of the expert. Or you try to solve these problems by following a particular system, which, if you carefully examine it, becomes merely another means of exploiting the individual. Or you think that to change all this cruelty and horror there must be a mass movement, a collective action.
Now the idea of a mass movement becomes merely a catchword if you, the individual, who are part of the mass, do not understand your true function. True collective action can take place only when you, the individual, who are also the mass, are awake and take the full responsibility for your action without compulsion.
Please bear in mind that I am not giving you a system of philosophy which you can follow blindly, but I am trying to awaken the desire for true and intelligent fulfillment, which alone can bring about happy order and peace in the world.
There can be fundamental and lasting change in the world, there can be love and intelligent fulfillment, only when you wake up and begin to free yourself from the net of illusions, the many illusions which you have created about yourself through fear.
When the mind frees itself from these hindrances, when there is that deep, inward, voluntary change, then only can there be true, lasting, collective action.
About the Author: Excerpt from his book, Total Freedom.
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Mass Movement
What does deep, inward, voluntary change mean to you? Can you share an experience of a time you were a part of collective action, while personally being awake and acting without compulsion? What helps you awaken the desire for true and intelligent fulfillment within you? |
| Jagdish P Dave wrote: Internal change and external change are interconnected. If I focus my energy in participating in the mass movement or collective action blindly and compulsively, I will not be the true participant or … |
| David Doane wrote: For me, deep, inward, voluntary change means to let go of conditioning and illusions, to use Krishnamurti’s word, and change from deep within myself to be myself, embrace my individuality, and be … |
| rahul wrote: The alchemy of transformation may lie in the alternating repetition of observing the outside and the inside on the clarified mirror of our consciousness. We see things in the world we find upsetting, … |
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