Can you imagine being free from authority?
Recently, a friend gave me a book of daily reflections by the philosopher J. Krishnamurti (1895 – 1986). It’s called The Book of Life (paid link) and is thought-provoking, to say the least. Krishnamurti studied the nature of the mind and relationships. In the book, each week revolves around a theme and builds upon the previous week. One of the weeks in January was on authority.
What does the word authority conjure in your mind? An authority figure is someone with the power to influence, perhaps someone in charge of others. This person may be highly educated or have a particular area of expertise. He or she may have the power to persuade (or to control). An authority figure could be your boss or a religious figure or a parent. They tell you or advise you on what to do or how to live. I’ve had some fear of authority figures for most of my life, for whatever reasons. But at least I’m aware of it.
Krishnamurti on Authority
Krishnamurti prefaces his remarks by saying that accumulating knowledge and learning about oneself are two very different things. Accumulating knowledge is a type of learning where one receives instruction from an authority figure or through books (a different kind of authority). These are both external authorities. There are also internal authorities, that is, your personal experiences which have created patterns and memories. These patterns condition our minds to think in a certain way and prevent us from learning or seeing something in a new way. Learning about oneself can only happen when one is free from authority and aware of their conditioning.
Sometimes we cling to authority out of a need to feel safe and secure. We want to be certain, to know, to be right, to be successful. We want someone to tell us what to do and how to live according to accepted society. If we can see this in ourselves, we’re at the beginning of self-knowledge, of true learning. Seeing this way isn’t easy, especially when it comes to standing in our own authority. Yet, newness can only arise, or reality be truly seen, when the mind is empty of the past and accumulated knowledge, when there is no analysis or judgment or authority of any kind.
Easier said than done. It isn’t possible to remove all authority from your life. And, you’ll always have experiences and memories. You’ll continue to accumulate knowledge from instructors and books. But you can approach any and all authority – whether a person or a book – with a clear mind. You can examine and question authority, whether external or internal, and make up your own mind about what is right for you. Your best actions emerge when they’re based on the facts in front of you, not on beliefs or desires or what someone else wants you to do.
I learn best when I’m self-aware, noticing when I’m triggered or when I want a certain outcome.
I’ve alluded to this before with regard to cultivating your inner teacher. We each have one, along with an inner critic. The inner critic is like an internal authority figure. It may have valuable information to share, but it’s primarily interested in keeping you safe and secure or within certain societal boundaries. It’s your inner teacher that is independent and gets to decide what to do with that information, to take it or leave it.
This clear mind sounds a lot like the perceptual state, which I’ve written about quite a lot – being present, seeing clearly, without judgment or interpretation.