Who is this book for? For instance: It is good for deep thinkers; students of 'religion, psychology, philosophy, science (especially quantum physics); and for laymen who are open minded enough to explore into the human existence. This book has no techno speak or mumbo jumbo, but if your first language is not English, its better to buy a translated version. All these people must have patience and an exploring mind in common. I'll start by mentioning that Krishnamurti has no formal education in religion, psychology, or philosophy. His thinking is fresh, against the grain, and incisive. That is all good news, as all other publications that I've read have been written by educated philosophers, or writers of traditional scripture. None of those educated, traditionally approaches has ever helped me get to the bottom of this human existence we experience.
I found Krishnamurti's philosophy through a long trail of religious and philosophical studies. I was searching for something quintessential. I started with the New Testament, moved quickly to Gnostic scripture and discovered the Thomas Gospel. Parallel to that I was reading the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam from the Vaisnavite sect of Hinduism. I also studied the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead', and became interested in Jewish history. Always I got the sense that all these religions were rooted together despite their wild differences. The most mysterious of all books is the Thomas Gospel, which gives no narrative and lays out riddles allot of which I found only tenuous interpretations, despite reading the Nag Hammadi library and NT, and all the rest of it. The thing that links all religious books seems to be the idea that psychological death can be avoided by either reincarnation, or going to heaven etc. In that way the "soul" is preserved, and what is you can enjoy no fear of death. Essentially religions answer the main questions in an attempt to give man something to do to cope with his duality. Those notions always seemed at the back of my head to be flimsy.
Krishnamurti explores the nature of the thinking mind to pinpoint the mental processes which create ideas, form ideals and develop these whole imaginary religious concepts. What is explored is the root of the motive behind ideal formation, its cause in infancy, and how that cause lays the foundation for the whole development of the human psyche (ego or Soul). The author invites the reader to think everything through, starting from real observations about life. He proposes that one can only observe reality without bias, by moving aside all notions created by thought, and more importantly by the thinking process: e.g. to contrast, compare, justify, and criticize. One is taken through a rational look at how thinking distorts the observations made by the senses; starting with the example of how most of us criticize what we hear in conversation or read in a book as we are listening or reading.
I shall not spoil the content any further.
You may wish to know what this book can do for you, which is why most people consider reading books on psychology/philosophy in the first place. I must report that I spent about a month dissecting this short book page by page. I have combined the reading of this book with the vast number of video seminars Krishnamurti has given. What I have discovered took some work on my part, and this is not good for a surface read. As previously stated, this book is for serious people, who care enough to go into things deeply. I was searching for something quintessential. Now, I am no longer seeking. The Gospel of Thomas suddenly has become alive, and show's up Jesus' teachings in totally new light (light-years away from the NT). If all that all means nothing to you, and you're looking for a reason to read this book: I am not qualified to give you one. Read it or don't. If you are interested in this kind of book, I highly recommend: taking your time, employing an online etymological dictionary, and downloading his seminars (YouTube them).
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