cover image Krishnamurti: 100 Years

Krishnamurti: 100 Years

Evelyne Blau. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, $35 (288pp) ISBN 978-1-55670-407-9

A reverential tribute to Indian religious teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), this handsomely produced volume splices an informal biographical narrative, 100 duotone photographs, excerpts from his letters, teachings, diaries and poems and recollections by friends and disciples. Born in southern India, whisked away to England in 1912 by Theosophical Society leader Annie Besant, Krishnamurti was promoted as a messiah-to-be, a role he renounced in 1929 by breaking with the Society. A pacifist, California guru and friend of Aldous Huxley in the 1930s, he returned to India in 1947, later traveled widely, established schools and, in the 1960s, became a guiding light to New Age seekers. Krishnamurti's teachings on consciousness, self-transformation, love, relatedness and spiritual freedom have influenced many, as reflected here in the reminiscences of Huxley, Henry Miller, Joseph Campbell, Leopold Stokowski, dramatist Anita Loos, physicist David Bohm, psychiatrist Benjamin Weinniger, ceramist Beatrice Wood and others. Blau, a trustee of the Kirshnamurti Foundation, also edited his book Meditations. (May)