By IANS
Chennai : Noted Indian thinker J. Krishnamurti has a considerable following in China where young people are looking at a philosophy that can give them answers from within, says Mark Lee, executive director of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America.
He was speaking at the release of the Indian edition of a new book from the foundation, titled “Facing a World in Crisis”, edited by David Skitt, a trustee of the foundation in Britain. The book is a collection of the Indian spiritual teacher’s speeches in Switzerland and Britain in the 1970s and 1980s.
Krishnamurti (1895-1986), whose teachings have been compared with those of the Buddha and Vedanta, delivered addresses across the world, including India, and spoke about themes like death, fear, loneliness and environment.
“A professor from a Chinese university told me that in 10 years’ time, Krishnamurti will be as well-known in China as the Buddha,” Lee added.
Publishing in China is controlled by the government “and when we first began distributing books and literature on J. Krishnamurti, I think, officials kept a close watch… They did not want anything that would be related to the church. China does not consider J. Krishnamurti a threat,” Lee said.
Chinese authorities have given permission to publish 25 titles of Krishnamurti’s works “and the translations (by official agencies) are faithful,” he said.
“Young people in China are now looking at a philosophy that can give them answers from within,” Lee said, adding that Krishnamurti study centres and libraries from Tibet to North China help the Chinese gain access to the thinker’s works.
Lee, along with noted author Mary Cadogan from Britain and Paloma Salvador of Spain – both associated with the Krishnamurti Foundations – is in India to assess along with the Indian chapter of foundation the global impact of Krishnamurti’s teachings and the international character of the activities undertaken to preserve, publish, translate and disseminate his teachings.
“It has been the Krishnamurti Foundations’ constant endeavour to enable people to find new meanings in their lives,” said S.P. Kandaswamy, secretary of Krishnamurti Foundation India.
“In a world where social lives are troubled by violence and corruption, and personal lives by insecurity and stress, there is a need for people, especially the young, to explore a different way of living even while keeping pace with modern technology and new lifestyles.
“Krishnamurti’s teachings open up for investigation every aspect of human life and are relevant to all times, cutting across all religious denominations,” Kandaswamy said.