Footnotes to Crossroads Dispatches

be a light unto yourself - j. krishnamurti on education and gutterpunks

"Be a light unto yourself;
Betake yourselves to no external refuge.
Hold fast to the Truth.
Look not for refuge to anyone besides yourselves." - Buddha's final words

This excerpt from a dialogue between students, former students, parents, teachers with J. Krishnamurti at Brockwood Park, May 15, 1973 later published in Beginnings of Learning really struck a chord with me since I meet a lot of homeless youth that travel America this way. Today, they're known as gutterpunks, but it goes very far beyond begging (or spanging) as it a deep-seated rejection of the status quo that comes from seeing through the shallowness of our culture; however, while I totally grok that stance, I find solely rejecting or resisting isn't the way to an original flourishing that doesn't depend upon the state or society.  It's reactive rather than creative.

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QUESTIONER: ``First of all, if I may start out,'' said a young man with clean long hair and beard, ``why should I earn my livelihood? Why should I make a career, knowing where it leads - property, bank account, a wife and children, and the utter middle-classness of it all? I don't want to be caught in that trap. If others want to, it is for them, but not for me. I don't mind being a beggar or asking people for a handout. I sleep in somebody's house and I have enough clothes to get along with. I have been all over the State for the past few years living this way and I like it. Let them all work if they wish and if they feel like supporting me - let them. I don't want to belong to any commune, to any group. I am free and I want to remain free. And I'm not against anyone - black or white. But I'm told this is exploitation: that while I'm young it is all right but when I'm in my thirties I'll begin to see I can't go on like this. I don't know what the future holds but I'm living from day to day and that's good enough. I would like your opinion on this.''

KRISHNAMURTI: Only fools offer opinions. You know the monks in Asia live this way: not in organized communities but as individuals going from village to village begging and being protected. In return they preach the good life: not the physical good life but a life of goodness. That is what they offer, unless they are criminals or exploiters. So what are you offering in return to those who feed you?

QUESTIONER: ``Why should I offer anything in return? I have nothing to give them. I don't want to tell them how to live. Any sensible man knows when the way he is living is bourgeois, square, and it is up to them to break away from it. I have tried talking to people but they don't care. I don't want to offer anything in return for their food and clothes. Basically I have nothing to offer. I don't paint, I don't play a guitar. I don't do any of the things they like. I am entirely outside their circle. If I had something basic I would offer it without caring whether they took it. But I've nothing. I am just as confused as the rest of the world and probably just as miserable. I'm not a drop-out. I've been through college and I'm disgusted with the whole thing; with their hypocrisies and with their pretensions. But what bothers me a little is, I want to find - not God, that is a bourgeois concept - but something that is real. I've read some Eastern books about this but they all take off on theories and ideas. I want to feel something real in my guts which they can't touch or take away. I want to get to the heart of it as quickly as possible. I see the absurdity of instant illumination but I haven't the patience to go through the rigmarole of discipline, fasting, following some system. I want to go straight to it on the shortest road possible.''

KRISHNAMURTI: Surely this is possible: to see clearly `what is' without any distortion, without any motive, and go beyond it. If you see very clearly what is, you are already beyond it. And can you see very clearly what is? See not only the outward, the environment, the social morality, the bureaucratic sanctions, religious and worldly, but also inwardly? To see what is going on actually, without any choice, without any reservation. If you can, then the door is open. That is the shortest way and the most direct. Then you don't follow anybody. All systems are useless and the guru becomes a mischief maker. Can you do this? If you can, then the mind is free and the heart is full. Then you are a light to yourself.

High School and You, 1937

I ran across a first edition of a book published in 1937, titled, "High School and You" by Irwin T. Simley, then Superintendent of Schools, South St. Paul, Minnesota. It is edited by Harold C. Hand, professor, School of Education, Stanford University.

Connecting the dots, it appears that high school wasn't compulsory in 1937, so the tone of the book is to give guidance to pupils on why they should consider attending high school and how to make the best use of their time there by selecting the best-suitable electives for their unique talents and needs. The tone of the book also leans toward self-actualization of the student's potential and in that way they contribute to the whole of society.

It also seems obvious that high school subjects covered much more breadth, including vocational topics, than offered--many of these subjects have been cut from the electives nowadays--and seems less standardized, one-size-fits-all. It's hard to tell if this is the actuality of high schools at the time of writing, or it is the ideal conveyed by the author and editor. However, the book isn't organized as a visionary tome, but as a simple guidebook for students as well as teachers.

From the chapters in the book, I can tell that the subjects offered in high schools at the time included: English (includes grammar, composition, literature, etc) and is stated as a mandatory course in all H.S., home economics (includes childcare in addition to the typical food, clothing, shelter househould management), bookkeeping and accounting, sociology, psychology, stenography and typewriting, agriculture, business training (includes commercial law, business math, salesmanship, etc), natural science, biology, chemistry, physics, other high school sciences (includes astronomy, geology, physiology, agronomy, botany, zoology, physiology), social science, history, civics, economics, industrial arts (includes mechanics, woodwork, drafting/mechanical drawing, metalwork, printing, etc), music and art, sports and physical education, algebra (not mandatory at the time), geometry (not mandatory), English, Latin and Greek, modern languages such as German, French, Spanish, etc.

A few excerpts (note there aren't any hyperlinks, of course, in the original!)--

From INTRODUCTION by Ernest O. Melby, Dean, School of Education, Northwestern University

Every high school pupil is an essentially creative organism. He is not only different from all other high school pupils, but he has creative capacities. If all the high school pupils in America should paint a picture of a landscape, no two of these pictures would be exactly alike. In-so-far as each pupil in the group was able to express himself in his painting, each picture would be essentially creative. The same thing is true in every field of activity. Therefore, the function of school and the teacher is not to shape the boys and girls in accord with a pre-determined pattern and scheme, but rather to create the environmental setting in which each of these boys and girls can attain the maximum of creative growth and development.

Page 32:

It Will Help You Find Yourself

One time, an English poet, Thomas Gray, when sitting in a country churchyard looked at the tombstones and read the simple inscriptions. He thought that many of the good people buried there might have become great if they had only had the chance. So strongly did this idea appeal to him and so much truth did this thought seem to contain that he was immediately inspired to write a poem about it. The poem is called Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard.

Both the poem and the poet have become famous. People still read the poem and enjoy it because of its beauty as well as its thought.

Many people are great because they have had the chance and because something has happened to bring their greatness! Likewise, people are destined to live in obscurity, because the best there is in them has never been called to the surface! Education will help bring out the best there is in a person and will thus help him truly to find himself.

page 69-72:

Who Should Take Algebra

Now, who should take algebra? There was a time--and not so many years ago--when everyone who went to high school took algebra. There were many reaons for this. To begin with, high school was thought of principally as a preparation for college and, because of the importance of mathematics as a factor or reason for the progress of civilization, nearly all colleges required it for entrance. Then, too, there were--as there still are--a number of vocations and professions that required a knowledge of algebra. Again, there were other subjects that had to be taken for certain reasons, for the successful study of which it was necessary to know algebra. Physics might be offered as an illustration. Thus it is clear that there are many types of workers who need algebra and who use it as a tool but, that there are also a great many who do not so need it. Scientists, engineers, architects, and many other professional workers must not only know and use algebra in their work, but they must also know and use the higher forms of mathematics. To determine whether or not you should take algebra, therefore, you should know pretty definitely whether you are going to college and what you are going to study. Many colleges require algebra for entrance. Be sure about your college future.

There is another test, however, which it is well to apply. Do you like mathematics? Do you like arithmetic or is it hard for you, and, if so, why do you find it hard? There are a number of people for whom mathematics is very hard. If the difficulty is to be found in laziness or in lack of application, the remedy is,--to wake up! If the difficulty is to be found in the fact that mathematics, even after honest and conscientious trial, is naturally very difficult for you, the question should be asked as to whether it would not be a better plan to take up a life work in which mathematics is not necessarily required. There are plenty of such openings and life callings. Incidentally, a person should not allow himself to become discouraged simply because he finds himself unable to master mathematics. Nor should that be so for any other subject, for that matter. Most people find some things hard. Few people can excel in everything. It is always wise first to find the different things one can do and then to choose what one is going to do from among these things that he can do. Hence the question as to whether a person happens to have the ability to succeed in mathematics. If he hasn't, he may still have the ability to succeed in other subjects. The great secret of success lies in first discovering in what field a person can develop success.

Who Should Not Take Algebra

In view of what we have said, it is clear that not every one either can or should study algebra. Though it will not do anybody any harm to study it, nevertheless, if there are other suitable subjects from which to choose, only those should select algebra who will need it for further study, or for college entrance, or for the work they are going to do, and who, because they like mathematics better than other possible subjects, get a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction out of it for its own sake. Who should not take it? Those who find mathematics too hard and those who do not need it for college entrance and who feel they are going to get more good out of something else. It is a satisfaction to know something about all subjects, but it is no disgrace not to know algebra. There are many other subjects of more common use and need.