J Krishnamurti's Letters to His Schools

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As I would like to keep in touch with the schools in India, Brockwood Park in England and the Oak Grove School in Ojai, California, I propose to write a letter every fortnight to them for as long as is possible. It is difficult to keep in touch with them all person-ally, so, if I may, I would very much like to write these letters to convey what the schools should be, to convey to all the people who are responsible for them that these schools are to be excellent academically, but much more. They are to be concerned with the cultivation of the total human being. These centres of education must help the student and the educator to flower naturally. The flowering is really very important; otherwise education becomes merely a mechanical process oriented to a career, to some kind of profession. Career and profession, as society now exists, are inevitable, but if we lay all our emphasis on that, then the freedom to flower will gradually wither. We have laid far too much emphasis on examinations and getting good degrees. That is not the main purpose for which these schools were founded. This does not mean that the student will be inferior academically. On the contrary, with the flowering of the teacher as well as the student, career and profession will take their right place.

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These letters are not meant to be read casually when you have a little time from other things, nor are they to be treated as entertainment. These letters are written seriously and if you care to read them, read them with intent to study what is said, as you would study a flower by looking at the flower very carefully-its petals, its stem, its colours, its fragrance and its beauty. These letters should be studied in the same manner, not read one morning and forgotten in the rest of the day. One must give time to it, play with it, question it, inquire into it without acceptance. Live with it for some time; digest it so that it is yours and not the writer's.

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