About the Teacher

1895 Krishnamurti is born in Madanapalle, South India, on the 12th of May

as the eighth child of Jiddu Naraynaiah & Sanjeevamma.

1905 Mother Sanjeevamma passes away; young Krishna would often see

her form appear; at times he would see his dead sister also.

1909 C.W.Leadbeater, a Theosophist, picks Jiddu Krishnamurti

to be the vehicle for Lord Maitreya the World Teacher.

the Boddhisatva of compassion and the future Buddha.

1910 First occult Initiation at Theosophical Society (TS).

Annie Besant (President, TS) becomes his legal guardian.

1911 Creation of the Order of the Star in the East (OSE); In England,

K meets Lady Emily Lutyens (the mother of biographer Mary)

1922 Travels to Ojai, California with brother Nityananda.

Aug 1922 Undergoes a spiritual transformation in Ojai, CA.

1925 Goes through immense sorrow at Nityananda's death

1928 The Rishi Valley Trust (RVT) is formed. A small school is

started in Madras (later shifted to Rishi Valley near Madanapalle)

1929 Dissolves OSE at the Ommen Camp; says "Truth is a Pathless

Land"; later resigns from the Theosophical Society

1930 - 33 Visits Greece, Romania,Yugoslavia,Hungary to give

talks. Returns to Ojai. Gives talks all over the USA

and Canada. Goes to India after a gap of 4 years.

1933 Meets Annie Besant in India for the last time. Mrs Besant

dies in September of the same year. Visits Vasant Vihar, Madras

(later to become the HQ of KFI) for the frst time with Rajagopal.

1934 Rajghat Besant School opens in Benares on a 200 acre land
by the side of the Ganges river acquired in 1928 by RVT.

1935 K travels with Rajagopal & an assistant to South America

to give talks. Faces hostility from the Roman catholics there.

1936 Goes to Ommen Holland for a gathering; after a brief sojourn in
Switzerland, goes to India to give public talks.

    1937      K travels to Italy & holds a small gathering in Rome. Public talks
                 are banned by Mussolini. Meets Vanda Passigli (Scaravelli) & family
                and at their invitation, spends some time in Fiesole & Florence.

1938 K meets Aldous Huxley & Gerald Heard in California, both English

writers drawn to the teachings of Ramakrishna . K goes to the

Ommen Camp for the last time. (During the war, this place was

turned into a concentration camp by the Germans).

1939-40 K gives talks in Ojai & "Sarobia", Philadelphia. He was not to speak

in public again until 1944. IInd World War breaks out in Europe.

K turns pacifist, engaging in anti-war propaganda in America.

1941 Stays in a quiet retreat at the Sequoia National Park in California

amongst the giant 2500 yr old Sequoia trees. Back in Ojai, he takes

long walks by himself; is questioned by the FBI about this & his

pacifist anti-war outpourings during the war days.

1942-43 Visits places of natural beauty. Goes to the Mojave desert with

his friends, the Huxleys. At Huxley's urging, begins to write down

his ideas/thoughts. (These writings were later to be published in

book form in 1956 as the "Commentaries on Living". )

1944 Begins to give public talks again at the Oak Grove in Ojai.

Krishnamurti Writings Inc (KWINC) is created from the now defunct

Star Publishing Trust for the sole purpose of publishing & distributing

1946 K, Rosalind Rajgopal & Aldous Huxley become trustees of the

Happy Valley Association. The Happy Valley School opens in the

1946-47 K falls seriously ill with kidney infection (he does'nt shave for

1947-48 After India gains independance from British rule, K opts for Indian

citizenship. Meets the Mehta sisters, Pupul & Nandini, and their

family in Bombay. (Much later Pupul (Mehta) Jayakar was to write a

1948 K visits Ooty, a hill station, with the two sisters. K's "process"

goes on. (He had experienced this peculiar psychic phenomenon

earlier at Ojai, Ehrwald & Pergine). He later describes it as a process

of purification, leaving the mind "vacant in the end".

1950 K goes to Colombo, Sri Lanka to give public talks attended by

students, govt officials & practicing buddhists. He responds

compassionately when the audience resorts to bullying tactics.

Does'nt talk in public for 16 months.
1952 K resumes his public talks in the garden at Vasant Vihar.

Returns to Ojai where he is down with hay fever again caused by

pollen from orange trees. Rosalind nurses him through the sickness in a

rented house in Santa Barbara near the sea. A big earthquake jolts the

coastal region during this period; K feels "momentarily paralyzed".

1953 "Education & the significance of life" is published - the first K book

by a commercial publisher. The jacket material describes it as " a work

of superlative & complete honesty". K ceases to be a trustee of the

Happy Valley school. Rosalind continues to be its "leading light" but K's

teachings are no longer its mainspring. Jinarajadasa, an old associate

and the connecting link between TS and K, dies in Chicago.

1953 - 54 K attends gathering at Il Leccio near Fiesole, Italy, organised by

Vanda Scaravelli. Back in India, he visits Rishi Valley where he holds

discussions with teachers & students. Rishi Valley gets heavy rains after

many years of drought & water shortage - a recurring problem that has

continued into the present times. Rishi Valley Trust is renamed as
Foundation for New Education. Bal Anand, a free school for poor children,

is started in Bombay with Nandini Mehta as its director.

1954 "First and Last Freedom" is published with a ten page foreword by

Aldous Huxley. Many new people come to hear K's talks after reading this

book. "Candles in the Sun" by Emily Lutyens, is stopped from being

published at the last moment by K who fears "unnecessary things coming

into prominence" if the book is released. The book gives an account of

K's early life at TS, his letters to Lady Emily and his spiritual experience

1956 "Commentaries on Living", a Krishnamurti book expertly edited by

1957 K falls seriously ill in India. Talks in India & Colombo are postponed.

The Sri Lankan talks are broadcast live on radio. Talks in Finland, England,

America, New Zealand & Australia as well as the gathering at Biarritz are

cancelled due to K's deteriorating health. He rests in Il Leccio for many weeks

to recover from the illness. Does not give talks for the next 17 months.

Visits Gstaad in Switzerland where he conceives of the idea of

holding future gatherings in a nearby village (Saanen) along the lines of the

Ommen camp. An already strained relationship between K and Rajagopal,

1958 K ceases to be a trustee of the KWINC. Signs a letter giving

proprietorship of copyright in all the writings of K - past, present & future,

to KWINC. By now Rajagopal had become the President of KWINC.

1959 - 60 While in India, K's kidney infection returns during his stay at

Pahalgam, Kashmir. Recovers and gives talks in Madras, Bombay,

Rajghat & Delhi. Back in Switzerland, he is admitted into a clinic. Later flies

back to California where he asks Rajagopal for KWINC's financial position.

His request is declined. K asks to be made a trustee again which is refused.

KWINC, which was created for K in the first place, had shut its doors on him !

1960 Talks in Ojai are cut short. Continues to speak of how the mind can be

made innocent through the death of the known. Meets Mary Zimbalist

whose husband had recently died and grants her a private interview.

Extends his stay in Ojai & begins to feel better. Goes on a holiday with

Rosalind to Carmel. Friction between K & Rajagopal increases.

1961 Proceeds to England via Itlay (Il Leccio) after holding small gatherings

in India. For the first time agrees to use a microphone & allows the Wimbledon

talks to be recorded. The day before flying off to Los Angeles & Ojai, K begins

to write an extraordinary record of his inner states of consciousness.

He keeps up this journal for seven months. These were later to be published as

"Krishnamurti's Notebook". The Saanen committee is formed for the

purpose of inviting K to give talks & arranging the annual Saanen gatherings.

1962: In August after the gathering, K does'nt feel well enough to go to India and

stays on at Chalet Tanegg (a house in Gstaad rented by Vanda Scaravelli)

for treatment. Rajagopal arrives with hopes of reconciliation but K insists on

being put back on the board of KWINC. Rajagopal leaves after giving K

some money to pay for the doctor's/dentist's bills.

1963: K meets Aldous Huxley for the last time in Rome. Aldous dies a few

months later. K announces that from here on all his talks in Europe will

take place in one place - Saanen. Meets Lady Emily for the last time in

1964: Lady Emily Lutyens, the widow of the architect of New Delhi, dies on the

3rd of January. 1.75 acres of land in Saanen is bought by the committee for

Krishnamurti. Rajagopal agrees to put up the purchase price of $50,000 on the

understanding that after K's death the land would revert back to the KWINC.

1965: Alain Naude, a South African of huguenot descent, becomes K's secretary

for a while (with Rajagopal's approval) and travels with him to Europe & India.

1966: Desikachar, a young yoga teacher, is invited to Gstaad to teach K some

yoga exercises. (He had been doing yoga asanas for years for the sake of his

health & not as a spiritual practice.) In New York, K meets Allen Ginsberg,

the poet and also speaks at Harvard Univ. K returns to Pine Cottage, Ojai

after 5 years. His friendship with Rosalind ceases altogether. At Rajagopal's
invitation, gives 6 talks at the Oak Grove. The third talk is filmed by a TV crew,

the first time such a thing ever happened in K's teaching career. The hoped

for reconciliation with Rajagopal does not happen. K asks to be re-instated

on the KWINC board & is refused again. K also asks for the journal (later to

become the "Notebook") written in 1961 but R refuses to part with it.

1967: K gives a series of talks in India, the last ever to be published by KWINC.

While in Holland, giving talks & meeting young University students, K asks

Mary Lutyens to write a book based on his talks. In Saanen K meets

Dorothy Simmons, a sculptor, who later helps him to setup a school in

England. A school committee is formed. Mary L begins work on a book

derived from four volumes of the 1963-64 talks that Doris Pratt had sent her.

This book was to be published in 1969 as "The Freedom from the Known".

1968: K explains, how KWINC assets worth millions of dollars were transfered to

the Star Institute over which Rajagopal had complete control. K's break with

KWINC is made public at the Saanen gathering; he seeks legal assistance.

A new Foundation is created in England by K and a decision is made by the

trustees to buy Brockwood Park for 42000 Br pounds in order to start a

1969: KWINC donors want their money returned when they hear of the break

up. While in Ojai, K starts the Krishnamurti Foundation of America (KFA)

with the help of the Lilliefelts. A gathering is held for the first time at

Brockwood Park in September. The first school term begins soon after.
Dr David Bohm, the well known quantum physicist, is made a trustee of the

Krishnamurti Foundation, England. Bohm is interested in the question of

the observer and the observed, a question central to Quantum Mechanics.

1970: The Foundation for New Education is renamed as Krishnamurti Foundation

of India (KFI) with Pupul Jayakar as its President. Rajagopal answers the

accusations against him in the presence of the assistant Attorney-General

& lawyers. While at Brockwood in the spring of that year, K asks Mary

Lutyens to write his biography with help from Shiva Rao who lives in Delhi.

Two new books edited by Mary L - "The Only Revolution" & the "Penguin

Krishnamurti Reader" are published. In the summer Bulletin, K reiterates

that there should be no interpreters of the teachings as they run the risk of

distorting it for others. K travels to Australia & gives five talks in Sydney.

1971: K meets Rajagopal four times in Ojai in order to bring about a settlement

but the meetings are fruitless. At a talk in Saanen he says,"..thought can

perceive its own activities. Then one realises the limitations of thought and

then perhaps one can go beyond it." "Urgency of Change", based on
questions put to K by Alain Naude & edited by Mary L is published. K

goes to Paris where his talk is broadcast in French by ORTF French TV.

1972: K hears from Vigeveno, a KWINC trustee, that R may be willing to settle

out of court. He also hears that all KWINC board members are

Theosophists. K declares that had he known this he would not have allowed

R to handle his writings. "Tradition & Revolution", edited by Pupulji &

1973: "Awakening of Intelligence", a path-breaking book containing some

extraordinary dialogues between K & other well known personalities, and

"Beyond Violence" are published. K discusses with others at Ojai, the

possibility of starting a school there. At Brockwood, he talks of his own
death, the running of the Foundations & schools after him and the need to

bring in the right kind of (young) people to run them. He writes

"Krishnamurti's Journal" over a period of 6 weeks.

1974: A co-ed school is started in Madras under the auspices of KFI. K goes

to San Diego for a series of 18 dialogues with Allan Anderson which are

video taped. In a partial out of court settlement, Rajagopal returns K's 1961

journal in exchange for the tapes of K's disclosures about his reasons
for breaking with Rajagopal. (Later as part of the full settlement, the KWINC

was dissolved; cash assets of the KWINC were transferred to KFA after

deducting R's legal cost & pension; about 170 acres of land in various parts

1975: K returns to Pine Cottage after 9 years. K gives four talks at the Oak Grove

for the first time since 1966. Rajagopal tries to block access to the archives

in total violation of the agreement. "Years of Awakening", "Beginnings of

Learning" and "K on Education" are published. Mrs Bindley, one of K's

1976-77: Emergency is declared in India by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Censorship follows forcing K to cancel his trip to India. In Ojai, K gives

public talks that summer in the Oak Grove. The last talk is attended by

over 5000 people. "Krishnamurti's Notebook" is published and K reviews

it "for fun". The Oak Grove School opens under the auspices of KFA.

Another school is opened on Vancouver Island, Canada.

1977: K undergoes an operation in Los Angeles and has a "dialogue with

death" while at the hospital. He is granted the "green card" aka

1978: Near Bangalore, India, 100 acres of land is gifted to KFI to start a school.

The Valley School opens with some help from the Rishi Valley School.

1979: K tells ML that when he first started speaking, he used the language of

Theosophy but after 1922 (the year of his experience at Ojai) he had found

his own language. K dictates the first set of 'Letters to the School'.

1980: K undergoes a psychic experience at Rishi Valley afterwhich he writes,

"The movement had reached the source of all energy. After returning to

Ojai when the body had somewhat rested, there was the perception that

there was nothing beyond this. This is the ultimate, the beginning and the
ending and the absolute. There is only a sense of incredible vastness and

1980: Differences arise between the English & Indian Foundations over matters

relating to publication of K's works. Radha Burnier, a close friend of K's, is

elected President of T.S. K visits the T.S. Headquarters for the first time in

46 years. Next day he goes to Sri Lanka, meets the Prime Minister & the
President. The Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi pays Rishi Valley a visit.

1981: Back in Ojai, K spends time working in the new garden at Pine Cottage.

He loves gardening and plants new trees whenever possible. Mary Lutyens

becomes the Chairman of the Publications Committee in place of

G.W.Digby. K tells Mary Zimbalist that "she must outlive him". While at

Ojai, K would often wake up in the morning with "a feeling of tremendous

power -not to do anything, just power"; and an extraordinary feeling of new

and vast energy. Later that year in Amsterdam, he gives a talk where he

says,"Death is the ending of the known. It means the ending of the physical

organism, the ending of all the memory which I am. It also means the ending

of attachments, that is, dying with living". In June, he meets Bohm who is in

a critical condition and undergoes triple heart surgery. Bohm who has a fear

of death is comforted by this meeting with K. On his return to Brockwood

after a visit to Holland (where is drove up to Castle Erde he did not get down

from the car for fear of being seen) K comes down with influenza. He tells

Mary Z that on the 11th Oct, he almost slipped away. The door opened &

then shut!
1982: Back in Ojai, K tells Mary Z that he has had the impulse to "slip off".

Then he adds, "Not now, I still have too much to do". While in New York

to a question put to him by a New York Times correspondent on the effect

his teachings had on the way people lived, K replies, 'A little, sir. But not

much.' Bohm, who has fully recovered, comes to Ojai and along with K, John

Ridley & Sheldrake, has a series of discussions on 'The Nature of Mind',

which is taped and shown on several cable TV stations. Later in November

of that year he goes to Calcutta, India to give talks for the first time. He

comments on the filth & over-crowding there; frequent power cuts and the

1983: Alone in Ojai one day, K dictates the first entry of the book

"Krishnamurti to Himself" into a Sony-Walkman cassette recorder. Five

years in the making, Evelyne Blau's "The Challenge of Change" - a

documentary on K's life produced by Michael Mendizza is released.

K is interviewed by the inventor of polio vaccine, Dr Jonas Salk. The Indian

Foundation brings out "Mind without Measure". Dorothy Simmons, in charge

of Brockwood, suffers a heart attack. Svetlana, Stalin's daughter, visits

Brockwood. She helped translate Comm on Living into Russian. K travels to

India to find trouble at Rajghat. On his return to the USA, he is invited to give

talks at Los Alamos where the first atomic bomb was built.

1984: The scientists at Los Alamos hear K say, 'The house on fire, which we

think is over there, is here. We have to put our house in order first.' Scott

Forbes meets a leading architect in Britain in connection with the design of

a new Centre in Brockwood. In India, K is invited to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan

located in the capital city of New Delhi. (Mary's father, Edwin Lutyens, had

architected the beautiful building). Here he meets the Vice President along

with the Patwardhans, Pupul and Mary Z. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of

India, is assasinated in the capital city, the following day. K cancels his trip

to Varanasi and travels instead to Madras, where the atmosphere is less

1985: K talks about an ancient Tibetan manuscript which predicted the coming of

Lord Maithreya and actually gave the name of Krishnamurti as the human

vehicle that the Lord would inhabit when he came. In April K speaks at the

UN in New York at the invitation of Pacem in Terris society. He visits the

Lincoln memorial in Washington and gives two talks at the Kennedy

Center. He remarks on returning to Ojai that he had never before had

such a responsive audience for a public talk. Scott Forbes finds an

architect, Kieth Critchlow, for the proposed Brockwood Krishnamurti

Centre. Dorothy Simmons retires and Scott is made the new Principal.

K speaks to the whole school in June - for the last time. The Saanen talks

are held for the last time. K stays in Rougemont where he meets Pupul to

talk about publication difficulties between the English & Indian Foundations
which had gone on for 13 years. K is upset about this & resolves to

settle the matter himself on his final visit to India later that year. Radhika,

Pupul's daughter, is made the director of Rishi Valley & Prof Krishna, the

1986: K delivers his last talk on Jan 4th at Vasant Vihar in Madras. He says,

"Creation is most holy". After returning to Ojai from India, he is immediately

taken to a hospital for tests which includes a CAT scan that shows

malignancy in the pancreas. A highly specialised blood test confirms this.

A few days later he tells all the trustees present that in future, the Indian

foundation KFI will be concerned only with translating into the many

vernacular languages. All talks & discussions in India are to be edited in

England; the KFI would be given paperback rights of edited manuscripts for

distribution in India. This is not well received by the Indians present & in the

end a compromise is reached, that anyone in any part of the world who knew

English really well might do the editing for the Indian editions.

1986: Krishnamurti dies in his sleep at the Pine cottage in Ojai on 17th Feb just

after midnight. He is cremated the same day in Ventura, California in the

presence of a few Foundation members. His ashes are divided and taken

to Ojai, England and India. The rest, immersed in the Pacific ocean.