U. G. Krishnamurti

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U. G. Krishnamurti was born in India in 1918 to Brahmin parents and was given a rigorous education in classical Hindu literature. He was raised to become a great spiritual teacher, in a manner similar to J. Krishnamurti (to whom U. G. is not related), as his family believed that he had approached enlightenment in a past life. As a young man, U.G. attended the University of Madras and studied widely in psychology, science, and philosophy. He became a popular lecturer for the Theosophical Society, an organization that introduced Eastern spiritual wisdom to the West, founded in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky. At age 25, U. G. married and eventually fathered four children. In the late 1940's, he met J. Krishnamurti, who had been adopted at the age of 14 by the president of the Theosophical Society, Annie Besant. She was convinced that it was J. Krishnamurti's destiny to become a World Teacher, so she directed his education accordingly and formed an organization to support this mission. By the time the two Krishnamurtis were introduced, each had rejected the role of guru for which he had been groomed. For seven years they met daily, struggling to uncover the nature of truth, and parted without resolving their differences in this matter. U. G. continued lecturing throughout the world. Then in 1961 he began to feel that he was no longer in control of his life. He left his family and went to London without means or purpose. As he describes it, "I was a bum practically, living on the charity of some people and not knowing anything. There was no will. I didn't know what I was doing. I was practically insane." This seemingly aimless period of his life lasted for six years, marked by an intense interest in the question, "What is that state?" He was still trying desperately to understand the state described by all the great spiritual teachers, by Shankara, Buddha, and Jesus. Eventually he came to believe that he was in that state, and that became the basis for his radical philosophy. U. G. Krishnamurti died in March, 2007.