cover image Krishnamurti, His Life and Death

Krishnamurti, His Life and Death

Mary Lutyens. St. Martin's Press, $19.95 (235pp) ISBN 978-0-312-05455-7

``Krishnamurti's teaching has come at a critical moment in the world's history,'' claims Lutyens. The popular Indian spiritual teacher/author, who died in 1986, believed global peace might ensue if children were reared without prejudices, nationalisms, competitiveness--even without organized religious faiths. Hoping to awaken people to the dangerous state of the world, he saw complete self-transformation as a precondition for social or political change. In this insightful biographical study, Lutyens ( Krishnamurti: The Years of Awakening ) provides a detailed account of the guru's mystical experiences, his break with theosophy and his associations with David Bohm and Jacob Needleman. In charting Krishnamurti's metamorphosis from bewildered, ``vacant, childish'' youth to mature thinker, she illuminates the sources in his personal life from which his philosophy flowed. Photos. (Apr.)