Truth is a Pathless Land

By: J. Krishnamurti

Narrated by: J. Krishnamurti

During his life, Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) was known for his ability to see the core issues of our day with a timeless vision. With a gift for crossing the barriers of time, space, and spirit, he influenced a host of great 20th-century minds, including George Bernard Shaw, Aldous Huxley, and Henry Miller. In Truth Is a Pathless Land, Krishnamurti discusses a startling constellation of philosophical issues: love, greed, violence, separation, time, death, conflict, and fear.

Includes commentary on the nature of personal and planetary problems and how to resolve inner conflicts. A New Dimensions production.

©2003 J. Krishnamurti (P)2003 J. Krishnamurti

new listener to krishnamurti

my first experience with krishnamurti...loved it
highly recommend for those seeking a perspective containing an eastern derivation

Pleasant talk

Krishnamurti feels real, not a saint, but a man with great wisdom he attained by his own experience.

Condescending and hypocritical

What disappointed you about Truth Is a Pathless Land?

I call Krishnamurti hypocritical because he claims not to be an authority and not to be giving a lecture, and yet this denies the fact that he is revered as a spiritual authority and is standing before a group of people giving a monologue, telling them what to think, while denying the fact of what he is doing. He never engages his audience, missing an opportunity when he asks the audience if they agree, and someone in the crowd shouts "No." He could have asked the man why he disagreed, but dismisses him and moves on. His tone towards his audience is extremely condescending. His imaginary dialogue with his "friend" is completely gratuitous. The vision of the world he paints is totally grim and dour, and he offers no hope at all. The few insights that he does have are not at all original, but are classic teachings of Buddhism, and yet he never acknowledges this. In fact, he is disrespectful of all the great spiritual traditions of the world, including yoga, Hinduism, and Buddhism, dismissing all spiritual teachers as worthless. His vision of the world is utterly grim and dour, without hope. His teaching is as if the Buddha had stopped with the first two of the noble truths, only telling us that life is suffering because of attachment and desire, but offering no way out, no path to nirvana. Truth is not a pathless land; many great spiritual teachers throughout the ages have pointed the way, and done so with humor and compassion, two traits which Krishnamurti completely lacks.

Has Truth Is a Pathless Land turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. There are many other great spiritual teachers.

Would you be willing to try another one of J. Krishnamurti’s performances?

No.

What character would you cut from Truth Is a Pathless Land?

The imaginary "friend" with whom he holds a "dialogue" is an utterly pointless device.

Any additional comments?

Why is this man revered as a great spiritual teacher? The emperor has no clothes.