Twelfth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Throughout his life, the Indian-born teacher, Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), who rejected his role as a Messiah for which he had been groomed by the Theosophical Society, offered a trenchant criticism of religious teachers and organizations. Krishnamurti’s primary teaching was directed to the ending of human conflict, both personal and social, through the attainment of a pivotal psychological transformation in each individual. This liberation from the so-called “conditioned mind,” would yield a quality of consciousness that was truly religious. Thus, Krishnamurti’s teachings are not anti-religion, but contrary to religion’s conventional expressions. In this paper, drawing upon extensive study and fieldwork observations and interviews, I offer a concise explanation of Krishnamurti’s central message on religion and the religious mind, and discuss the challenges faced by the discipline of religious studies when attempting to categorize his approach and examine its influences. I suggest that he is a major influence in the modern nondual spirituality movement, which has loosely defined characteristics and global reach.