Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti (9 July 1918 – 22 March 2007) was an Indian "anti-guru" who questioned the search for enlightenment. Having pursued a religious path in his youth and eventually rejecting it, U.G. clarified that he had experienced a devastating biological transformation on his 49th birthday, an event he referred 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.
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 SocietyMind is a Myth and U.G. has, at times, referred to him as "[his] teacher" in spite of having ultimately rejected his teachings as well as the idea that anything could or should be taught in any spiritual context.
Biography
Early life U.G. was born on 9 July 1918 in Machilipatnam, a town in coastal Andhra Pradesh, India, and raised in the nearby town of Gudivada. His mother died seven days after he was born, and he was brought up by his maternal grandfather, a wealthy Brahmin lawyer, who was also involved in the Theosophical Society. U.G. also became a member of the Theosophical Society during his teenage years and mentions having "inherited" his association with the Theosophical Society from his grandfather.Krishnamurti in Mystique of Enlightenment South Indian actresses Gautami and Soumya Bollapragada are his very close relatives.
During the same period of his life, U.G. reportedly practised various austerities and sought moksha or liberation.
To that end, between the ages of 14 and 21, he undertook a variety of spiritual exercises, determined to find out whether moksha was possible. Wanting to achieve that state, he had also resolved to prove that if there were people who have thus "realized" themselves, they could not be hypocritical.U.G. carried on at some length – in practically every published work – about what he perceived as the hypocrisy of religious/spiritual people, his grandfather and other prominent Theosophists included. As part of this endeavour, he searched for a person who was an embodiment of such "realization".
He spent seven summers in the Himalayas with Swami Sivananda studying yoga and practising meditation.U.G. would later also dismiss this period with Sivananda as a useless exercise. During his 20s, U.G. began attending the University of Madras, studying psychology, philosophy, mysticism, and the sciences. He dropped out of the Master's program with the idea that the answers of the West – to what he considered were essential questions – were no better than those of the East.
Quest In 1939, at age 21, U.G. met with known spiritual teacher Ramana Maharshi. U.G. related that he asked Ramana, "This thing called moksha, can you give it to me?" – to which Ramana Maharshi replied, "I can give it, but can you take it?". This answer completely altered U.G.'s perceptions of the "spiritual path" and its practitioners. Later, U.G. would say that Maharshi's answer – which he perceived as "arrogant" – put him "back on track".Biographical details at inner-quest
In 1941, he began working for the Theosophical Society, in C.W. Leadbeater's library.Eventually, U.G. was elected Joint General Secretary of the Indian Section. His association with the Society lasted until the early-mid 1950s, see Mystique of Enlightenment. Shortly after, he began an international lecture tour on behalf of the Society, visiting Norway, Belgium, Germany and the United States. Returning to India, he married a Brahmin woman named Kusuma Kumari in 1943, at age 25.UG biography at sentientpublications
From 1947 to 1953, U.G. regularly attended talks given by Jiddu Krishnamurti in Madras, India, beginning a direct dialogue with him in 1953. U.G. related that the two had almost daily discussions for a while, which he asserted were not providing satisfactory answers to his questions. Finally, their meetings came to a halt. He described part of the final discussion:
After the fallout with Jiddu Krishnamurti, U.G. continued travelling, still lecturing. At about the same time he states that he had been "puzzled" by the continuing appearance of certain psychic powers. In 1955, U.G. and his family went to the United States to seek medical treatment for his eldest son, and stayed there for five years.: Then U.G. gave her an ultimatum in Krishnamurti's presence, 'You have the choice to leave me and go on your own with the ninety thousand dollars or to go to the United States with me to get the treatment for the boy. In either case I am going to the US.' … U.G. was in America for over five years. 2) Need I say that when I burst forth into the world—the joy which overflows the heart is indeed bursting forth—I will be a new man? 3) 'Mahesh, actually, he bored me stiff with the same old stuff,' he told me. That was U.G.'s last visit with Krishnamurti.:1
London period He separated from his family and went to live in London.U.G. had earlier inherited a considerable – for the time – sum of money from his grandfather. While in the US for his son's treatments, he felt more clear and grounded into himself. See Mystique of Enlightenment. While sitting one day in Hyde Park, he was confronted by a police officer who threatened to lock him up if he didn't leave the park. Down to his last five pence, he made his way to the Ramakrishna Mission of London where the residing Swami gave him money for a hotel room for the night. The following day, U.G. began working for the Ramakrishna Mission, an arrangement that lasted for three months. Before leaving the mission he left a letter for the residing Swamiji telling him that he had become a new man.:2
About this time, Jiddu Krishnamurti was in London and the two Krishnamurtis renewed their acquaintance. Jiddu tried to advise U.G. on his recent marital troubles,: "I don't trust anyone who has not raised his own children to educate them or to talk about how to raise or educate them. If you raised your own children, then you would understand." but U.G. declined his help. Jiddu eventually persuaded him to attend a few talks he was giving in London, which U.G. did, but found himself bored listening to him.:3
In 1961, U.G. put an end to his relationship with his wife. Their marriage had been a unhappy affair, and by that time he described himself as being "detached" from his family, emotionally as well as physically. He then left London and spent three months living in Paris, using funds he had obtained by selling his unused return ticket to India, during which time he ate a different variety of cheese each day. Down to his last 150 francs, he decided to go to Switzerland where he still had a small bank account. By mistake he went by train to Geneva, rather than Zurich, where the bank account was.
Early Swiss period After two weeks in Geneva, U.G. was unable to pay his hotel bill and sought refuge at the Indian Consulate. He was listless, without hope, and described himself as "finished" – he requested that he be sent back to India, which the consular authorities refused to do at the state's expense. A consulate employee in her 60s named Valentine de Kerven offered U.G. shelter. Valentine and U.G. became good friends, and she provided him with a home in Switzerland.
For the next few years, the questions regarding the subject of enlightenment – or anything else – did not interest him, and he did nothing to further his enquiry. But by 1967, U.G. was again concerned with the subject of enlightenment, wanting to know what that state was, which sages such as Siddhārtha Gautama purportedly attained. Hearing that Jiddu Krishnamurti was giving a talk in Saanen, U.G. decided to attend. During the talk, Jiddu was describing the state and U.G. thought that it referred to himself. He explained it as follows:
He continues:
The Calamity The next day U.G. was again pondering the question "How do I know I am in that state?" with no answer forthcoming. He later recounted that on suddenly realising the question had no answer, there was an unexpected physical, as well as psychological, reaction. It seemed to him like "a sudden 'explosion' inside, blasting, as it were, every cell, every nerve and every gland in my body." Afterwards, he started experiencing what he called "the calamity", a series of bizarre physiological transformations that took place over the course of a week, affecting each one of his senses, and finally resulting in a deathlike experience. He described it this way:
Upon the eighth day:
U.G. could not, and did not, explain the provenance of the calamity experiences. In response to questions, he maintained that it happened "in spite of" his pre-occupation with – and search for – enlightenment. He also maintained that the calamity had nothing to do with his life up to that point, or with his upbringing. Several times he described the calamity happening to him as a matter of chance, and he insisted that he could not possibly, in any way, impart that experience to anybody else.In the introduction to Mind Is a Myth: Disquieting Conversations with the Man Called U.G., editor Terry Newland states that at age 35, U.G. started getting headaches and appearing younger, rather than older. According to that account, by the time of his 49th birthday, he appeared to be 17 or 18 years old, while after the calamity he started aging normally again, but continued to look far younger than his years. See Mind is a Myth: Introduction, Section 4
Post-calamity According to U.G., his life-story can be separated into the pre- and post-calamity parts. Describing his post-calamity life, he stated that he was functioning permanently in what he called "the natural state": A state of spontaneous, purely physical, sensory existence, characterised by discontinuity – though not absence – of thought. U.G. also maintained that upon finding himself in the "natural state", he had lost all acquired knowledge and memories, and had to re-learn everything, as if "...the slate had been wiped clean".The Natural State, In the words of U.G. Krishnamurti], Smitri Books, 2005. . Discussions with U.G., compiled by Peter Maverick.
After his calamity experience, U.G. often traveled to countries around the world, declining to hold formal discussions yet talking freely to visitors and those that sought him out. He gave his only formal post-calamity public talk in India, in 1972.Public talk At the Indian Institute of World Culture, Bangalore.
Death On 22 March 2007, U.G. died at Vallecrosia in Italy. He had slipped and injured himself and was bedridden for seven weeks before his death. Three friends, including long-time devotee Mahesh Bhatt, were in the city with him when he died.The Hindu, March 25, 2007 Mahesh states in his biography of U.G., "U.G. Krishnamurti, A Life", that U.G. died alone after Mahesh and those present went out for a brief walk with the specific intention of allowing U.G. some moments of solitude to die in peace. In February 2007, he had dictated his final speech, "My Swan Song".U.G. Krishnamurti "My Swan Song"
U.G. had asked that no rituals or funeral rites be conducted upon his death; also, he did not leave instructions on how to dispose of his body. His body was cremated by Bhatt the next day. True to his own philosophy, U.G. did not want to be remembered after his death.Mahesh Bhatt mourns U.G.
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