On Thought and Memory : Jiddu Krishnamurti

Abstract

This paper comprises a short introduction to one aspect of the work of Jiddu Krishnamurti. The main concern is to outline a distinction between factual and psychological memory that Krishnamurti brings our attention to. The first of these, factual memory, it is pointed out, is essential for us to be able to perform the tasks that make everyday life possible. Psychological memory, in contrast, involves recording away the pain and pleasure of certain experiences along with the memory of those experiences. These psychological memories interfere with future experience and become a cause of conflict in the world. Recognizing this is the first step in bringing about a reduction in such conflict. In this paper I would like to examine one very small aspect of the work of Jiddu Krishnamurti, a man who dedicated his life to understanding the workings of the human mind and one who worked tirelessly to make that understanding available to anyone who would take the trouble to listen. He was without doubt a truly remarkable person, as anyone who has ever come into contact with any of his works will readily testify. The sincerity of his endeavour leaps from every page and his direct and illuminating approach to important questions makes him a delight and a challenge to read. At the same time, however, his thoroughly iconoclastic treatment of every issue he considers makes him impossible to classify within a tradition of enquiry that currently has a place in the academy. The closest perhaps is philosophy, but then this is somewhat of a personal observation and is certainly not one that Krishnamurti would endorse. He would find the modern approach to philosophy with its preponderance of theories anathema to the kind of understanding he thought was important.