The First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti, with a forward by Aldous Huxley.
I read it while living in California, during a trying time after deciding to move far away from my parents, and it helped me see all of life in a calm new light.
I really like his audiobooks and it does make a lot of sense when listening to him but I have never been able to apply much of it in my real life.
While I certainly agree that there is no place in the world for calling yourself a Hindu, muslim, christian etc, it's hard to isolate yourself from your nation and say we're all humans and I'm not a ukranian or russian or indian.
Same for stuff like 'I don't mind what happens.' Little stuff bothers me (like my tenant not paying rent, or say hacker news banning my account, and stuff which may not be of any significance on the cosmic scale). To say it doesn't bother me makes me even more anxious and feel like an impostor instead.
I can never seem to get to the heart of what Krishnamurthi is trying to say. I just find myself getting lost in his words. I can’t tell if there’s no there there or if I’m just not understanding his angle.
I don't get that much out of him. He starts off sounding very profound, but then makes a statement that doesn't compute. And then his arrogance makes him unable to explain himself further (see youtube clips).
I read it while living in California, during a trying time after deciding to move far away from my parents, and it helped me see all of life in a calm new light.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_and_Last_Freedom