The Mystique of Enlightenment

by U. G. Krishnamurti and Rodney Arms

A scathing critique of contemporary spirituality by one of its most unusual figures. In the well-known history of J. Krishnamurti (no relation), few names have been so strongly associated as U. G., with whom he shared a close but contentious relationship over many years.

In a world in which spiritual techniques, teachers, concepts, and organizations are legion, U. G. Krishnamurti stands nearly alone in his rejection of it all: "I am only interested in describing this state, in clearing away the occultation and mystification in which those people in the 'holy business' have shrouded the whole thing. Maybe I can convince you not to waste a lot of time and energy looking for a state that does not exist except in your imaginztion...The natural state is acausal; it just happens.' Krishnamurti does not equate the natural state with enlightenement, which he describes as an illusion created by our culture. He says emphatically that one can do nothing to attain the natural state. In fact, any movement towards it separates one from it.

Since his own experience of coming into the natural state at age 49, he has spent his time traveling thoughout the world, staying with friends or in rented apartments for a few months at a time. He gives no public talks, but meets with people who come to see him. References to U. G. Krishnamurti are often found in other spiritual books, but until now there has been no N. American edition of his work. The Mystique of Enlightenment is considered by his closest associates to be the best summary of his ideas.

As it is said that TRUTH can't be explained in words, one should understand the nature of TRUTH directly. The words of UG will strongly discourage you from using the 'thinking apparatus' for this purpose. The style is aggressive, blaming and fuming (many times). I think, not all will be happy with his style. One has to search out the message for himself. There may be a more pleasant way of comunicating the same message. His anti-guru, anti-religion voice is some thing you may have to bear with and get moving, and take only the clues about 'enlightenment'.

UG has undergone various practices in yoga and vedanta. Though now he denounces 'any system', he does use terminology from various Hindu disciplines, to explain the 'natural state'. I too appreciate UGs views that if we can free ourselves from all the 'past', that will be enlightenment.

He is communicating that 'liberation' is being free from notion of an individual-self and he says that it is the 'natural state'. He also says that it is not volitional i.e you can not get to that state by your choice and effort. But, he also says that you can not escape 'sadhana' by volition. So, people who are trying to understand and live that state of 'absence of individual-self', at this time by volition, will surely benefit by reading his expression of what it means to live as 'no individual-self'.

Reviews:

"Although U.G. Krishnamurti claims that enlightenment can neither be described by language nor attained by practices or preparations of any sort, this book ironically enough offers his ideas on the subject. Krishnamurti prefers the term "natural state" to "enlightenment" because it occurs in spite of, not because of, spiritual devotions. No guru, religion or belief can induce the natural state, he says, and therefore spiritual leaders are false in dictating practices. Still, Krishnamurti claims that the natural state is the same as that attained by the Buddha, Jesus and even Socrates. As a precursor to the natural state, Krishnamurti experienced a physically torturous period that he calls "the calamity," a deathlike process characterized by headaches, swelling at the chakras and intense heat like an explosion that destroys "the illusion that there is continuity of thought, that there is a center, an `I'...." U.G. Krishnamurti takes pains to distance himself from J. Krishnamurti no relation, although the two did travel in similar circles and knew each other informally a spiritual leader whose own enlightenment was presaged by a physically torturous period known as the "Process." Indeed, the philosophy of U.G. Krishnamurti is not radically different from that of many other gurus. Metaphors of death and acausality are hardly exclusive, and the heart of his experience the dissolving of the "I" belongs squarely within the realm of nondualistic Hindu tradition. What typifies this book is the unfortunate way U.G. Krishnamurti dismisses other practitioners while offering little more in their place." - From Publishers Weekly

"U.G. Krishnamurti (no relation to Jiddu Krishnamurti) is an unclassifiable voice on the modern spirituality scene. First published in India in 1982 and edited by a Krishnamurti associate, this book collects transcribed conversations with the iconoclast, in which he aims to demolish any belief that is brought before him. He leads his listeners through a deconstruction of spirituality, enlightenment, gurus, and all of the other trappings of religious striving." - From Library Journal: