Page 163 - JOURNAL OF THE KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS

Working with Insights from Krishnamurti

The second lesson that comes from a slightly more careful look at
the teachings suggests that ‘thought has its place’. K often implied
that thought has its own place and even suggested that meditation
is, “giving thought its right place” (Public Discussion 3, Saanen,
Switzerland, 27 July 1979). It is useful for practical matters but in
the area of ‘relationship’ thought has no place whatsoever.
I saw my professional life as a ‘practical matter’ where thought
was applicable. And if used well, it might even be the appropriate
instrument. I began to apply what K pointed out about thought to
the ‘problems’ of organization building, development and leader-
ship. And by careful thinking guided by the insights of K on the
nature of thought, I realized that I could get better at the practical
application of thought—I could and did learn to think ‘better’.
This led to an acceptance of the word ‘better’ as the best that
thought could achieve. Thought could never produce that which
was ‘true’, ‘whole’ or ‘complete’. Rather than wasting energy using
thought to find ‘the right answer’, could I and my colleagues use
thought to produce ‘options’ for action? I began to encourage
myself and my colleagues to explain our thought processes, lay out
its steps as it were, and try to be explicit about why we thought
our conclusions were valid. Further, to include in that movement,
descriptions of how your feelings had guided your thought.
The third lesson was about feelings and their relationship to
thought. If not thought, then is it feeling that will lead to the ‘true’,
the ‘whole’ and the ‘complete’? K’s use of the word ‘love’ cues the
mind in that direction.
In 1990, I heard David Bohm at Brockwood Park (where I was
visiting as a teacher from The School) use the phrase ‘thoughts
and felts’. He was pointing to the nature of feelings as being rooted
in the past in exactly the same way as thoughts more obviously
are. Organizations are particularly inept when dealing with feel-
ings. Feelings are simultaneously seen as a disorderly intrusion
into the ‘rationality of thought’ and greatly cherished (especially

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