U. G. Krishnamurti | |
---|---|
Born | Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti 9 July 1918 |
Died | 22 March 2007 | (aged 88)
Education | University of Madras (Bachelor's Degree) |
Occupation | Philosopher |
Children | 4 |
Notable ideas | The natural state (see Post-calamity) |
Website | ugkrishnamurti |
Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti (9 July 1918 – 22 March 2007) was a philosopher and orator who questioned the state of spiritual liberation. Having pursued a religious path in his youth and eventually rejecting it, U.G. claimed to have experienced a devastating biological transformation on his 49th birthday, an event he refers to as "the calamity". He emphasized that this transformation back to "the natural state" is a rare, acausal, biological occurrence with no religious context. Because of this, he discouraged people from pursuing the "natural state" as a spiritual goal.[1]
He rejected the basis of thought and in doing so negated all systems of thought and knowledge. Hence he explained his assertions were experiential and not speculative – "Tell them that there is nothing to understand."
He was unrelated to his contemporary Jiddu Krishnamurti, although the two men had a number of meetings because of their association with the Theosophical Society[2] and U.G. has, at times, referred to him as "[his] teacher" in spite of having ultimately rejected said teachings as well as the idea that anything could or should be taught in any spiritual context.