20/04/2022
Question: Obviously, there has to be some kind of discipline in schools, but how can it be implemented?
Krishnamurti: Lord, in England and elsewhere, there have been experiments in which schools had no discipline at all; Children were allowed to do what they wanted and never interfered with them. These schools feel, obviously, that children need some kind of discipline in the sense of a guide; not the rigid "do this" and "do not do that", but some kind of warning, some kind of suggestion or insinuation to show them the difficulties. Such a form of discipline, which is really a guide, is necessary. The difficulty appears when discipline, all it does is force the child into a particular model of action, using coercion and fear. The character of such a child is distorted, it is obvious, his mind is deformed because of discipline, because of the many taboos of "do it" and "do not do it"; This is how it develops and reaches an adult with fear and a sense of inferiority, as has happened to most of us. When discipline forces the child into a particular framework, it is clear that he cannot become intelligent; It is just the product of discipline. How can that child be alert, be creative and, therefore, develop as an integrated human being, full of intelligence? It is only a machine that works very smoothly and efficiently, a machine without human intelligence.
The issue of discipline is, therefore, a rather complex problem, because we think that without discipline in life, we would run off course, we would become too lewd. You can get out of the way in any other direction - in the search for position, in being greedy, violent, in doing certain things - as long as you stay, as far as sexuality is concerned, within the limits. It is very strange, isn't it? That no religion really attacks exploitation, greed, envy, but that everyone is interested in the sexual act, terribly concerned about sexual morality. It is very curious that organized religions take care of that particular morality so much and let other things run. One can see why organized religions place their emphasis on sexual morality. They do not investigate the problem of exploitation, because they depend on society and live on it; therefore, they do not attack the roots and foundations of that society, and then play with sexual morality.
Although most of us talk about discipline, what do we understand by that word? When you have a hundred boys in a class, discipline is essential, since otherwise there would be complete chaos. But if they had five or six in a class and an intelligent and warm-hearted, understanding teacher, I am sure there would be no need for discipline; she would understand each child and help her in the required way. Discipline in schools becomes necessary when there is a teacher or a teacher for one hundred boys and girls; Then they are absolutely right to be strict with them. But such a discipline will not produce an intelligent human being, and almost all of us are interested in mass movements: large schools with lots of students; We are not interested in creative intelligence.
Therefore, we build gigantic schools attended by a huge number of students. In one of the universities I think there are 45,000 students. What are you going to do, gentlemen, when you are educating everyone on such a vast scale? Under such circumstances, it is natural that there should be discipline. I am not opposed to everyone being educated, it would be very stupid of me to say that. I am in favor of authentic education, which implies creating intelligence, and this can happen, not through mass education, but only - taking into account each child, studying their difficulties, their idiosyncrasy, their tendencies, their abilities , taking care of him with affection, with intelligence. Only then is there a possibility to create a new culture.
There is a beautiful story, a real fact, about a bishop who read the Bible to the illiterate people of the South Seas; and they were delighted to hear these stories; The bishop thought that this was wonderful, and that it would be great to return to America, raise money and found schools all over the islands of the South Seas. He did so, then; He raised a lot of money in America, and returned to the islands, founded schools and taught people to read. After that, they read the comic strips, the Saturday Evening Post, Look, and other exciting and suggestive magazines!
That is exactly what we do. In addition, it is an extraordinary fact that, the more people read, the less rebellion there is. Gentlemen, have you ever considered why we worship the written word? If the government issues an order or publishes information in the press, accept it, we never doubt it. The printed word has become sacred. The more you teach people, the less chance there is of revolution - which does not mean that I am against people being taught to read, but that it is about seeing, simply, the danger involved. Governments control people, dominate their minds and hearts through cunning propaganda. That is happening not only in totalitarian states, but throughout the world. Newspapers have taken the place of thought, the headlines have taken the place of true knowledge and understanding.
Thus, the difficulty is that in the current structure of society, discipline has become an important factor because we need to educate a large number of boys together as quickly as possible. Educate them to be, what? Bank employees or supermarkets, capitalists or political commissioners. When one is a superman of some kind, a super governor or a subtle parliamentary polemicist, what has he achieved? It is probably very ingenious, it is full of data. Anyone can collect and accumulate data, but we are human beings, not data machines, not brutal and routine automatons.
But I reiterate, gentlemen, that you are not interested. They listen to me, they smile at each other, and they will do absolutely nothing to radically change the educational system; therefore, this will continue to creep like this until there is a monstrous revolution, which will only be a new substitute.
tion: there will be much more control, because governments know how to shape people's minds and hearts, they have learned the trick. That is our misfortune, our unfortunate weakness; We want someone else to change, reform, build. We listen and remain inactive, and when the revolution triumphs and others have built a new structure and there are guarantees, we enter it. By the way, that is not an intelligent, creative mind; Such a mind is only looking for security in a different way. The search for security is a stupid process.
To be psychologically safe, one needs to have discipline; and discipline guarantees the result: convert human beings into routine clerical employees, whether they are bank dependents, political commissioners, kings or prime ministers. That is, without a doubt, the greatest form of stupidity, because then human beings are nothing but machines. See the danger of discipline. The danger is that discipline becomes more important than the human being; the thought model, the action model, more important than the people who fit into them. Discipline will inevitably exist as long as the heart is empty, because then she is a substitute for affection.
Since almost all of us are dry, empty, we need discipline. An affectionate heart, an internally rich, integrated human being, is free, does not resort to discipline. Freedom does not come through discipline; one does not need to go through discipline to be free. Freedom and intelligence begin near, not far; Therefore, to go far, one must begin intelligently with oneself.
