Anonomous Creativity

[Guest guest]

Anonomous Creativity: Have you ever thought about it? We want to be

famous

as a writer, as a poet, as a painter, as a politician, as a singer,

or what

you will. Why? Because we really don't love what we are doing. If you

loved

to sing, or to paint, or to write poems-if you really loved it-you

would not

be concerned with whether you are famous or not. To want to be famous

is

tawdry, trivial, stupid, it has no meaning; but , because we don't

love what

we are doing, we want to enrich 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 anonymous, 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 appear in

the

newspapers. Politicians do not come to your door. You are just a

creative

human being living anonymously, and in that there is richness and

great

beauty. The Book Of Life Question: What is the place of

discipline in education?

 

Krishnamurti: I should say, none. Just a minute, I will explain it

further.

What is the purpose of discipline? What do you mean by discipline?

You,

being the teacher, when you discipline, what happens? You are forcing,

compelling; there is compulsion, however nice, however kind, which

means

conformity, imitation, fear. But you will say, `How can a large

school be

run without discipline?'. It cannot. Therefore, large schools cease

to be

educational institutions. They are profitable institutions, for the

boss or

for the government, for the headmaster or the owner. Sir, if you love

your

child, do you discipline him? Do you compel him? Do you force him

into a

pattern of thought? You watch him, don't you? You try to understand

him, you

try to discover what are the motives, the urges, the drives, that are

behind

what he does; and by understanding him, you bring about the right

environment, the right amount of sleep, the right food, the right

amount of

play. All that is implied, when you love a child; but we don't love

children, because we have no love in our own hearts. We just breed

children.

And naturally, when you have many, you must discipline them, and

discipline

becomes an easy way out of the difficulty. After all, discipline means

resistance. You create resistance against that which you are

disciplining.

Do you think resistance will bring about understanding, thought,

affection?

Discipline can only build walls about you. Discipline is always

exclusive,

whereas understanding is inclusive. Understanding comes when you

investigate, when you enquire, when you search out, which requires

care,

consideration, thought, affection. In a large school, such things are

not

possible, but only in a small school. But small schools are not

profitable

to the private owner or to the government; and since you, who are

responsible for the government, are not really interested in your

children,

what does it matter? If you loved your children, not just as toys, as

playthings to amuse you for a little while and a nuisance afterwards,

if you

really loved them, would you allow all these things to go on?

Wouldn't you

want to know what they eat, where they sleep, what they do all day

long;

whether they are beaten, whether they are crushed, whether they are

destroyed? But this would mean an enquiry, consideration for others,

whether

for your own child or your neighbour's; and you have no consideration,

either for your children, or for your wife or husband. So, the matter

lies

in your hands, Sirs, not in the hands of any government or system.

The Collected Works, Vol IV

Bombay 9th Public Talk 13th March, 1948

 

J. Krishnamurti