Krishnamurti's Notebook

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Krishnamurti's Notebook is a diary of 20th-century Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti Template:Lifespan. Written during 1961–62, it is best known for its first hand accounts of persistent, unusual physical experiences and states of consciousness, but also for poetic and penetrating descriptions of nature. It has been called "a remarkable mystical document" in press reports, while an authorized Krishnamurti biographer described it as containing "the whole essence" of his philosophy. Reputedly it was not intended for publication; the manuscript also became entangled in copyright and custody disputes. The workTemplate:Spnd one of few books Krishnamurti wrote himselfTemplate:Spnd was eventually published in 1976 over objections of Krishnamurti associates. An expanded edition with additional material was published in 2003; it includes previously unpublished diary entries from 1962.

About the work

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Krishnamurti's first entry in this handwritten journal, quoted above in its entirety, is dated 18 June 1961 with the location given as New York City. He continued writing entries, often daily, for the next nine months while at various locales in the US, the UK, Switzerland, France, Italy and India. There are about 214 entries in total, almost all of them between one and two print pages in length; the last entry, written in transit from Bombay (Mumbai) to Rome, is dated 19 March 1962.[1]Template:R/superscript[2]Template:R/superscript[3]Template:R/superscript The published work is considered one of the few books that Krishnamurti actually wrote himself; the majority of his other books consist of edited or verbatim transcripts of talks, discussions and dictations, or are curated collections of material from the same sources.[4]Template:R/superscript

The diary portrays Krishnamurti's world from the inside; according to a commentator it provides "a panorama of the landscape of Krishnamurti's daily consciousness."[5]Template:R/superscript In particular, the diary describes Krishnamurti's experience of a nearly lifelong, often acutely painful condition he called Template:Em,[6]Template:R/superscript and manifestations of a state he refers to as Template:EmTemplate:Spnd a state that often, but not always, appeared concurrently with Template:Em.[7]Template:R/superscript As is the case with other Krishnamurti prose, the entries often include his impressions of nature, individuals and society, the descriptions of which have a "poetic quality" according to some.[8]Template:R/superscript[9]Template:R/superscript

The journal begins (and ends) without preamble; shortly before he started writing it, Krishnamurti reputedly experienced a recurrence of Template:Em during May and June 1961 in London, witnessed by associates. In the time period covered by the diary, similar events were witnessed by other associates while Krishnamurti was in Switzerland in the summer of 1961; the diary and the events or states described, again reputedly perceived by others, continued upon his arrival to India in late autumn of the same year. Throughout this period Krishnamurti continued with his regular schedule of public talks and discussions.[10]Template:R/superscript

The work was minimally edited for clarity and spelling by authorized Krishnamurti biographer Mary Lutyens, who provided the Foreword for the original edition (published 1976). In it she states, "[i]n this unique daily record we have what may be called the well-spring of Krishnamurti's teaching. The whole essence of his teaching is here, arising from its natural source."[2]Template:R/superscript She adds elsewhere, "apart from its content, it is an extraordinary manuscript, 323 pages without a single erasure."[11]Template:R/superscript Lutyens devoted a chapter to this book in the second volume of her biography of Krishnamurti, The Years of Fulfillment (published 1983). In it she mentions objections raised against the diary's publication by Krishnamurti associates who had read the manuscript and thought it presented a picture of Krishnamurti at odds with his public pronouncements; his responses to these objections are included.[12]Template:R/superscript

Lutyens had revealed the existence of Template:Em in The Years of Awakening, the first volume of her biography of Krishnamurti (published 1975). This physical conditionTemplate:Spnd which Krishnamurti and those around him did not consider as medical in natureTemplate:Spnd and experiences similar to Template:Em, had reputedly originally appeared in 1922. At the time Krishnamurti was associated with the Theosophical Society and the related World Teacher Project. The existence and history of these experiences had remained unknown outside of the Theosophical Society leadership and Krishnamurti's circle of close associates and friends.[13]Template:R/superscript

Roland Vernon, another of his biographers, states that previous attempts (by others) at revealing details from his past, including these reputed experiences, were suppressed by Krishnamurti. According to Vernon, Krishnamurti "believed, with good reason, that the sensationalism of his early story would cloud the public's perception of his [then] current work".[14]Template:R/superscript However Krishnamurti often hinted at Template:Em-like states in later talks and discussions;Template:Nnbsp[15]Template:R/superscript he was more expansive on the subject with close associates, also stating that the experience of Template:Em continued as he was nearing death.[16]Template:R/superscript

Around the time of the diary's original publicationTemplate:Spnd more than fourteen years after the final entryTemplate:Spnd Krishnamurti stated, "I did not write it for publication ... I have attempted to put into words the actual pain and sensation which goes with the heightened consciousness."[17]Template:R/superscript

Publication history

The manuscript was entangled in personal and legal disputes between Krishnamurti and D. Rajagopal, Krishnamurti's erstwhile editor and business manager.[18]Template:R/superscript An agreement that cleared the way for eventual publication was reached in 1974,[19]Template:R/superscript[20]Template:R/superscript and the first edition appeared in May 1976 via longtime Krishnamurti publishers Gollancz in the United Kingdom and Harper & Row in the United States Template:See below.

The front and back covers of both impressions feature the same set of contemporary photographs of Krishnamurti. After the foreword by Lutyens there is a table of contents labeled "Itinerary", listing the places the diary was kept. Copyright was held by the Krishnamurti Foundation Trust (KFT), a UK-based organization. A paperback edition was first published in the US by Harper's Perennial Library imprint in 1978.[21]Template:R/superscript

Following the discovery in the year 2000 of thirty-two additional diary pages,[3]Template:R/superscript the work was republished in 2003 as the expanded "Full Text Edition" by Krishnamurti Publications, the official publisher and distributor of Krishnamurti's works.[22]Template:R/superscript This edition appends the unpublished entries, numbering about 30, as they are dated (in 1962) immediately following the previously-published ones. There are also facsimiles of original diary pages and another, edition-specific foreword; the updated "Itinerary" precedes both forewords. The edition features a photograph similar to the original edition's on the front cover (Krishnamurti alone in a nature setting); a 1935 portrait of his by Edward Weston is on the back cover. This edition's copyright was again registered to the KFT. It was followed by Template:Citeref in 2004.[23]Template:R/superscript

The work was first published in digital media in 2008 as a Kindle e-book release of the full text edition Template:See below. By 2010 print versions had several reprints, with the expanded edition offered in 13 languages and dialects;[24]Template:R/superscript around the same time, the work was made freely available as an electronic document through Template:Vanchor, the official Jiddu Krishnamurti online repository.[25]Template:R/superscript

The full text edition was published by Blackstone Audio in 2017 as an unabridged audiobook read by Anthony Wren. It was released as a downloadable audio file Template:See below; a CD audio version of the audiobook, published by Made for Success, was released in the US in March 2018 via Blackstone Publishing.[24]Template:R/superscript

Original edition

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Select editions

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Reception

The Library Journal stated in review, "[Krishnamurti's] insights are, as always, written in plain, nonsectarian language, and give perhaps the best picture we have today of the life of the spirit outside a strictly religious context."[26]Template:R/superscript Publishers Weekly called the work a "luminous diary" and characterized Krishnamurti's teaching as "austere, in a sense annihilating."[9]Template:R/superscript

Kirkus Reviews described it as "[m]ore approachable, more intimate than Krishnamurti's didactic writings, this will speak ... to all readers with a feeling for the mystery of existence";[27]Template:R/superscript however London's Observer thought it better suited to those already familiar with Krishnamurti's life and outlook.[28]Template:R/superscript

Krishnamurti was interviewed about the work by Gerald Priestland for the BBC Radio 4 program Chapter and Verse, which reviewed books of a religious or spiritual nature; the short interview and book review was broadcast on the evening of 30 May 1976.[29]Template:R/superscript

The Guardian (London) carried a sympathetic report about the book in June 1976; the article was not exclusively focused on the Notebook, also describing Krishnamurti's life and philosophy.[17]Template:R/superscript[30]Template:R/superscript

The reputed inner experiences as described in the diary and in Lutyens' biography aroused the interest of Krishnamurti's audiences. After their publication he was questioned by his listeners on the subject; he was generally dismissive of the importance of Template:Em-related events, stating that all discussion of mystical experiences was trivial, and although he continued alluding to Template:Em-like states, he again avoided any elaboration.[31]Template:R/superscript[32]Template:R/superscript

The book continued to attract attention and favorable mentions in the following decades. In its obituary of Krishnamurti, The Times (London), described it as "a remarkable mystical document",[33]Template:R/superscript while in 2006 the work was cited in a conference paper as "probably ... the most extensive documentation to date of a mystic's inner thoughts, perceptions, and sensations".[34]Template:R/superscript

Other diaries

Following this diary's original publication, two other diaries of his were published in book form: Krishnamurti's Journal in 1982 and Krishnamurti to Himself in 1987.[3]Template:R/superscript

See also

Notes

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  2. ↑ a b Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  3. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. The previously unpublished diary entries of the expanded edition were dated 24 January to 19 March, 1962.
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Template:Em consistently involved headaches of varying severity. Spinal discomfort, starting at the base of the spine, was more frequent in the early occurrences, which included additional elements and symptoms. The whole experience was reputedly often accompanied by heightened (in a few cases, seemingly extreme) sensitivity to the environment and to external stimuli. [Emphasis added.]
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Template:Em is alternately called by Krishnamurti Template:Em, Template:Em, Template:Em etc. [This and all similar emphasis added.]; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. "The benediction literally discloses reality, in the sense of making manifest that which is closed off and hidden from the partial and limited awareness that human beings accept as normal"; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. "[Krishnamurti] ascribes to this quality a sense of overwhelming power, something impenetrable, vast, innocent, and untouchable"; prior to starting the diary Krishnamurti referred to this state in notes that were eventually included in the second volume of his Commentaries on Living book series (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".).
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  9. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Positive brief review of the Template:Citeref.
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Some witnesses were initially alarmed by the events. An associate who was present in London wrote to D. Rajagopal, Krishnamurti's thenTemplate:En dashbusiness manager asking for guidance, and another in Switzerland contemporaneously described the witnessed events in her diary; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Impressions of an Indian associate regarding diary entries and reputed related incidents at Rishi Valley, Andhra Pradesh.
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Lutyens is referring to the manuscript published as the original edition Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Template:Vanchor, Krishnamurti's personal secretary and close associate, quoting from her 1974 notes states in her memoir that the manuscript comprised 363 pages (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2021-08-30); Krishnamurti manuscripts and other original works are part of the official Krishnamurti Archives, set up by the Krishnamurti foundations Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. "One or two people ... were averse to its publication. They feared it would dishearten K's [Krishnamurti's] followers. He maintains that human beings can transform themselves radically, not in time, not by evolution, but by immediate perception, whereas the Notebook shows that Krishnamurti is not an ordinary man transformed but a unique being existing in a different dimension from ordinary humanity. ... His reply was, 'We do not all have to be Edisons to turn on the electric light.' Later he was to say to a journalist in Rome, who suggested that he had been born as he was and that therefore others could not attain to his state of consciousness, 'Christopher Columbus went to America in a sailing ship; we can go by jet'" (Template:Pp.); Krishnamurti also used the Columbus metaphor in answer to audience questions about his reputed inner experiences as related in Lutyens' The Years of Awakening (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2023-01-23. Official transcript ¶¶ [3], [12]).
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Krishnamurti allowed information about Template:Em and other details of his life to become public knowledge through Lutyens' biography, which included extensive descriptions of the first such occurrences Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. " ... [T]here is that state ... ".
  16. ↑ Some discussions with close associates are summarized or excerpted in Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes"., contains numerous references; in such discussions, Krishnamurti is reputed to have often made tentative or ambiguous statements about his inner experiences and aspects of Template:Em: "I don't know, and I don't ask" (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2021-08-30); reputedly he once said of his Notebook manuscript, "It's not my book. I didn't write it." (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2021-08-30); he believed that these experiences would stop once his physical condition deteriorated to the point where he could no longer travel and hold talks, and was mystified by the reputed continuing presence of Template:Em, perceived while an invalid, days before his death (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2021-10-01).
  17. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. "A ... personal document ... in which he [Krishnamurti] describes the acute physical pain he suffers as a result of attaining higher consciousness". Report on the Template:Citeref.
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. D. Rajagopal had copyright for Krishnamurti's works (Template:Pp.), and was in possession of the manuscript until the 1974 agreement.
  20. ↑ Several extracts from unrelated "Krishnamurti notebooks" had been published prior to the 1974 agreement, according to a detailed Krishnamurti bibliography Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; similarly unrelated, the Commentaries on Living book series (1956Template:En dash1960) is subtitled "From the notebooks of J. Krishnamurti" Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; extracts from another "Krishnamurti’s notebook" were published around the time of the agreement Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. The Krishnamurti Foundation Trust is one of several official Krishnamurti-related organizations; the 1st Perennial Library edition paperback (Template:Catalog lookup link), was a reprint with alternate cover design.
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. The edition's "Itinerary" (Template:P.) adds several pages to the range of the previously-final section ("New Delhi"), plus a new section (the 10th, "Bombay") covering the two additional months of diary entries and related occasional editor notes; fascimiles are of items at the Krishnamurti Archives Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  24. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. See WorldCat search link for information on editions and reprints. Retrieved 2015-12-16; Gollancz published a "Revised edition" in 1985 (with unspecified revisions, Template:Isbn) featuring a portrait of Krishnamurti on the front cover. It was listed on Amazon UK as a 256-page paperback ("Krishnamurti's Notebook PaperbackTemplate:Spnd 29 Aug 1985". Retrieved 2015-12-22 – via Amazon UK); the unabridged CD version of the audiobook (Template:Isbn) was published in a 9-disc package (Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2021-09-30).
  25. ↑ A snapshot of the JKO document's pages [JKO document no. 80] was archived from a "legacy" version of Script error: No such module "Official website".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". in December 2012. See Script error: No such module "webarchive".. However as of April 2022 the work was not available at the contemporary version of the repository.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Positive review of the Template:Citeref.
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Positive review of the Template:Citeref.
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Neutral mini-review of the Template:Citeref.
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2022-02-23. Mary Zimbalist in her memoir quotes contemporary notes: "... the Guardian book review department rang up asking to interview him about The Notebook.... The BBC is sending down a Radio 4 interviewer to interview him. Krishnaji [Krishnamurti] asked, 'Why are they interested?' He brushes aside the obvious replies." Zimbalist states that Krishnamurti was dubious about the quality of BBC's interview; she dismissed the 1976 broadcast as "a nothing". It was published in February 2024 as Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".. Retrieved 2024-02-14 – via J. Krishnamurti Official Channel.
  30. ↑ Krishnamurti was aware of The Guardian article, which an associate termed "undistinguished", and decided to review the book himself; he then dictated a review, "laughing as he went along" (Template:Harvc Preamble to Template:Citeref); the review was partly reproduced in Lutyens' The Years of Fulfilment Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2024-08-05. Official transcript: "In your Notebook sir, you make mention of a process"; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2022-08-05. (Official transcript ¶ [23]); Script error: No such module "Footnotes".; Script error: No such module "Footnotes".. Retrieved 2022-08-05. (Official transcript ¶¶ [9], [17]).
  32. ↑ The reaction of some readers elicited comments from Krishnamurti and associates. In 1977 meetings with trustees of the Krishnamurti foundations, he remarked about the untoward effect the Notebook's publication had on some people in India, and concurred that in general, it had "set off ... [a]ll sorts, [of] crazy [people]" Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"..
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References

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