New Book: How to Find Peace

Question: All except a few do not want war, so why do
they prepare for it?
Krishnamurti: War means destruction, killing and maiming one
another, with the noise, the brutality, the ugliness, the appalling misery of pain.
Do you know how war has come into being? It has come because, in our daily lives, we destroy one another. Though in the temple we talk about the love of God, in our business dealings we cut one another’s throats. Also, we have wars because we have armies, and it is the purpose of an army to prepare for war. Do you mean to say that someone in an army would want to give up their position, job and money in order to have peace? Most would not be so stupid. So all of us, in one way or the other, are preparing for war. You can prevent war only if, in your daily life, you realize that you are no longer a Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, communist. If you are kind, generous, affectionate, loving in your daily life, you will have a different world. Then, instead of squandering money on armaments, you can make this world into a paradise. But it is up to you. You have the government you deserve because you are part of that government. You are politicians in your daily lives: you want position, power and authority.
As long as we use technological knowledge for the advancement and glorification of the individual or of the group, the needs of humanity can never be sanely and effectively organized. It is this desire for psychological security through technological advancement that is destroying the physical security of humanity. There is sufficient scientific knowledge to feed, clothe and shelter us all, but the proper use of this knowledge is denied as long as there are separative nationalities with their sovereign governments and frontiers—which in turn give rise to class and racial strife. So, you are responsible for the continuance of this conflict. As long as you, the individual, are nationalistic and patriotic, as long as you hold to political and social ideologies, you are responsible for war because your relationship with another can only breed confusion and antagonism. Seeing the false as the false is the beginning of wisdom, and it is this truth alone that can bring happiness to you and so to the world. As you are responsible for war, you must be responsible for peace. Those who creatively feel this responsibility must first free themselves psychologically from the causes of war and not merely plunge into organizing political peace groups—which will only breed further division and opposition.
Peace is not an idea opposed to war. Peace is a way of life, for there can be peace only when everyday living is understood. Only this way of life can effectively meet the challenge of war, class, and ever- increasing technological advancement. This way of life is not the way of the intellect. The worship of the intellect in opposition to life has led us all to our present frustration with its innumerable escapes.
These escapes have become far more important than the understanding of the problem itself. The present crisis has come into being because of the worship of the intellect. It is the intellect that has divided life into a series of opposing and contradictory actions. It is the intellect that has denied the unifying factor, which is love. The intellect has filled the empty heart with the things of the mind, and it is only when the mind is aware of its own reasoning and is able to go beyond itself that there can be the enrichment of the heart.
J. Krishnamurti
Excerpt from How to Find Peace

Jaap Sluijter
Executive Director