"Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay"
About this Quote
Tradition offers continuity, identity, and a ready-made map for living. Jiddu Krishnamurti warns that when we treat it as a refuge, we swap the risk of seeing for the comfort of repeating. The mind that clings to what has been settled stops looking freshly; it imitates rather than inquires, and that is what he calls decay. Security here is not about food or shelter but psychological certainty: beliefs, customs, and authorities that blunt doubt and quiet fear. Such certainty produces obedience, and obedience dulls perception. Creativity, intelligence, and love need vulnerability to the unknown; they wither when wrapped in the insulation of habit.
Krishnamurti spent his life dismantling the seductive power of authority, including religious and philosophical authority. In 1929 he dissolved the organization built around him, saying that truth is a pathless land. That stance illuminates the line: the more the mind leans on inherited answers, the less it meets what is actually happening. Tradition can be a vessel for wisdom, but as soon as it becomes a shield against uncertainty, it turns into conditioning. Then we see according to the template, not the thing itself.
This is not a call to reckless novelty. It is a call to attention unburdened by the past. Krishnamurti’s schools and dialogues aimed at such attention: to watch thought as it moves, to notice fear seeking refuge in conclusions, to stay with questions without rushing to the comfort of familiar doctrines. The living problem is solved only by a living mind.
The paradox is that genuine security emerges when we no longer chase it psychologically. A mind that is alert, open, and free of anchoring beliefs is resilient because it is flexible. Tradition, kept as a resource rather than a refuge, can inform without imprisoning. The moment it becomes our security, we stop learning, and where learning stops, decay begins.
Krishnamurti spent his life dismantling the seductive power of authority, including religious and philosophical authority. In 1929 he dissolved the organization built around him, saying that truth is a pathless land. That stance illuminates the line: the more the mind leans on inherited answers, the less it meets what is actually happening. Tradition can be a vessel for wisdom, but as soon as it becomes a shield against uncertainty, it turns into conditioning. Then we see according to the template, not the thing itself.
This is not a call to reckless novelty. It is a call to attention unburdened by the past. Krishnamurti’s schools and dialogues aimed at such attention: to watch thought as it moves, to notice fear seeking refuge in conclusions, to stay with questions without rushing to the comfort of familiar doctrines. The living problem is solved only by a living mind.
The paradox is that genuine security emerges when we no longer chase it psychologically. A mind that is alert, open, and free of anchoring beliefs is resilient because it is flexible. Tradition, kept as a resource rather than a refuge, can inform without imprisoning. The moment it becomes our security, we stop learning, and where learning stops, decay begins.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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