...it's one of the most dificult things to be sane in this abnormal, insane world...
J. Krishnamurti / Flight of the Eagle Chapter 4
Questioner: Sir, are you crazy?
Krishnamurti: Are you asking the speaker if is he crazy? Good.
I wonder what you mean by that word `crazy; do you mean unbalanced,
mentally ill, with peculiar ideas, neuro-
tic? All these are implied in that word `crazy.' Who is the
judge - you or I or somebody else? Seriously, who is the judge?
Will the crazy person judge who is crazy and who is not crazy? If
you judge whether the speaker is balanced or unbalanced, is not
judgment part of the craziness of this world? To judge somebody, not
knowing a thing about him except his reputation, the image that you
have about him. If you judge according to the reputation and the
propaganda which you have swallowed, then are you capable of judging?
judgment implies vanity; whether the judge be neurotic or sane, there
is always vanity. Can vanity perceive what is true? - or do you not
need great humility to look, to understand, to love. Sir,it's one of
the most difficult things to be sane in this abnormal, insane world.
Sanity implies having no illusion, no image at all about oneself or
about another. You say, `I am this, I am that, I am great, I am
small, I am good, I am noble; all those epithets are images about
oneself. When one has an image about oneself one is surely insane,
one lives in a world of illusion. And I am afraid most of us do.
When you call yourself a Dutchman - forgive me for saying so - you
are not quite balanced. You separate yourself, isolate yourself - as
others do when they call themselves Hindus. These nationalistic,
religious divisions, with their armies, with their priests, indicate
a state of mental insanity.
Questioner: Sir, are you crazy?
Krishnamurti: Are you asking the speaker if is he crazy? Good.
I wonder what you mean by that word `crazy; do you mean unbalanced,
mentally ill, with peculiar ideas, neuro-
tic? All these are implied in that word `crazy.' Who is the
judge - you or I or somebody else? Seriously, who is the judge?
Will the crazy person judge who is crazy and who is not crazy? If
you judge whether the speaker is balanced or unbalanced, is not
judgment part of the craziness of this world? To judge somebody, not
knowing a thing about him except his reputation, the image that you
have about him. If you judge according to the reputation and the
propaganda which you have swallowed, then are you capable of judging?
judgment implies vanity; whether the judge be neurotic or sane, there
is always vanity. Can vanity perceive what is true? - or do you not
need great humility to look, to understand, to love. Sir,it's one of
the most difficult things to be sane in this abnormal, insane world.
Sanity implies having no illusion, no image at all about oneself or
about another. You say, `I am this, I am that, I am great, I am
small, I am good, I am noble; all those epithets are images about
oneself. When one has an image about oneself one is surely insane,
one lives in a world of illusion. And I am afraid most of us do.
When you call yourself a Dutchman - forgive me for saying so - you
are not quite balanced. You separate yourself, isolate yourself - as
others do when they call themselves Hindus. These nationalistic,
religious divisions, with their armies, with their priests, indicate
a state of mental insanity.