THIS MATTER OF CULTURE CHAPTER 14 part3 Krishnamurti: In other words, being envious, how can one be free of envy

without discipline? I think it is very important to understand the question itself; bec ause the answer is in the question, it is not apart from the question. Do you know what envy means? You are nice looking, you are finely dressed, or wear a beautiful turban or sari, and I also want to dress like that; but I ca nnot, so I am envious. I am envious because I want what you have; I want to be d ifferent from what I am. I am envious because I want to be as beautiful as you are; I want to have t he fine clothes, the elegant house, the high position that you have. Being dissa tisfied with what I am, I want to be like you; but, if I understood my dissatisf action and its cause, then I would not want to be like you or long for the thing s that you have. In other words, if once I begin to understand what I am, then I shall never compare myself with another or be envious of anyone. Envy arises be cause I want to change myself and become like somebody else. But if I say, "What ever I am, that I want to understand", then envy is gone; then there is no need of discipline, and out of the understanding of what I am comes integration. Our education, our environment, our whole culture insists that we must beco me something. Our philosophies, our religions and sacred books all say the same thing. But now I see that the very process of becoming something implies envy, w hich means that I am not satisfied with being what I am; and I want to understan d what I am, I want to find out why I am always comparing myself with another, t rying to become something; and in understanding what I am there is no need for d iscipline. In the process of that understanding, integration comes into being. T he contradiction in me yields to the understanding of myself, and this in turn b rings an action which is integral, whole. Questioner: What is power? Krishnamurti: There is mechanical power, the power produced by the internal combustion engine, by steam, or by electricity. There is the power that dwells in a tree, that causes the sap to flow, that creates the leaf. There is the powe r to think very clearly, the power to love, the power to hate, the power of a di ctator, the power to exploit people in the name of God, in the name of the Maste rs, in the name of a country. These are all forms of power. Now, power as electricity or light, atomic power, and so on - all such form s of power are good in themselves, are they not? But the power of the mind that uses them for the purposes of aggression and tyranny, to gain something for itse lf - such power is evil under all circumstances. The head of any society, church or religious group who has power over other people is an evil person, because h e is controlling, shaping, guiding others without knowing where he himself is go ing. This is true not only of the big organizations, but of the little societies all over the world. The moment a person is clear, unconfused, he ceases to be a leader and therefore he has no power. So it is very important to understand why the human mind demands to have po wer over others. The parents have power over their children, the wife over the h usband, or the husband over the wife. Beginning in the small family, the evil ex tends until it becomes the tyranny of governments, of political leaders and reli gious interpreters. And can one live without this hunger for power, without want ing to influence or exploit people, without wanting power for oneself, or for a group or a nation, or for a Master or a saint? All such forms of power are destr uctive, they bring misery to man. Whereas, to be really kind, to be considerate, to love - this is a strange thing, it has its own timeless effect. Love is its own eternity, and where there is love there is no evil power. Questioner: Why do we seek fame? Krishnamurti: Have you ever thought about it? We want to be famous as a wri ter, as a poet, as a painter, as a politician, as a singer, or what you will. Wh y? Because we really don't love what we are doing. If you loved to sing, or to p aint, or to write poems - if you really loved it - you would not be concerned wi th whether you are famous or not. To want to be famous is tawdry, trivial, stupi d, it has no meaning; but, because we don't love what we are doing, we want to e

nrich ourselves with fame. Our present education is rotten because it teaches us to love success and not what we are doing. The result has become more important than the action. You know, it is good to hide your brilliance under a bushel, to be anonymou s, to love what you are doing and not to show off. It is good to be kind without a name. That does not make you famous, it does not cause your photograph to app ear in the newspapers. Politicians do not come to your door. You are just a crea tive human being living anonymously, and in that there is richness and great bea uty.