Education and the Significance of Life

Education and the Significance of Life book #2.01

Education and the Significance of Life is a penetrating inquiry into the nature and requirements of the kind of education which can lead to self-fulfilment and to world peace. Krishnamurti stresses self-knowledge and creating an environment free from fear to help create an atmosphere in which real education can take place. Krishnamurti had a lifelong interest in education and founded schools on three continents. In this seminal book he critically examines what is wrong with education as it stands, relating it to society at large and the need for a new and different world order. The book speaks practically of such matters as class size and the function of leadership, while never losing the central vision that "true culture is founded... on the educators."

An Excerpt:

"WHEN one travels around the world, one notices to what an extraordinary degree human nature is the same, whether in India or America, in Europe or Australia. This is especially true in colleges and universities. We are turning out, as if through a mould, a type of human being whose chief interest is to find security, to become somebody important, or to have a good time with as little thought as possible.

Conventional education makes independent thinking extremely difficult. Conformity leads to mediocrity. To be different from the group or to resist environment is not easy and is often risky as long as we worship success. The urge to be successful, which is the pursuit of reward whether in the material or in the so-called spiritual sphere, the search for inward or outward security, the desire for comfort - this whole process smothers discontent, puts an end to spontaneity and breeds fear; and fear blocks the intelligent understanding of life. With increasing age, dullness of mind and heart sets in.

In seeking comfort, we generally find a quiet corner in life where there is a minimum of conflict, and then we are afraid to step out of that seclusion. This fear of life, this fear of struggle and of new experience, kills in us the spirit of adventure; our whole upbringing and education have made us afraid to be different from our neighbour, afraid to think contrary to the established pattern of society, falsely respectful of authority and tradition."

(Page 9 of " Education and the Significance of Life" )