56
OJAI MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022
“PROBABLY SINCE THE BEGINNING,
THE MIND OF WAR Little has changed since Jiddu Krishnamurti spoke these words in 1984. Conflicts and divisions permeate our society today as much as they have from the beginning of time. With conflicts brewing globally, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are again called to observe, experience and reflect upon the nature of war. We must ask ourselves: Are we part of a process that ultimately produces war? Are the causes political, geographical, ideological, economic? Or are they psychological? These questions often point to an uncomfortable conclusion:
War starts in our consciousness, and we could all be responsible for it. Krishnamurti said war is the spectacular and bloody projection of our everyday living. War is a symptom of the society we have created, of our divided natures, communities, nations, ideologies. We are all responsible for our society, and as its creators, we are inseparable from its reality. Once we recognize that we are society, we wonder: What aspects of our behavior and psychology could be perpetuating conflict? Violence is part of this equation and part
of our lives, but how subtle can violence be? Jealousy, judging ourselves and others, not caring for or about others, comparing ourselves to others — are these oblique ways of generating violence? There are no simple answers to these problems, and they require daily observation and understanding of our behavior and relationships. We need a change — in ourselves, in our society, and thus the world. Krishnamurti offered his insights into the causes of war in the following excerpt from a public palk in New York in 1984:
