Banner Picture: Junior School and lawns, Rajghat Besant School

The schools’ intentions are best captured with a few of J Krishnamurti's statements below.

On Schools That Live The Teachings

“First of all there has to be an atmosphere of immensity; the feeling that I am entering a temple. There must be beauty, space, quietness, dignity. There must be a sense of all- togetherness in the student and teacher; a state of floration, a sense of flowering, a feeling of extraordinary sacredness. There must be in him a quality of otherness.”

On Attention

“I would go into the way of teaching, the quality of attention. I would enquire how to teach the child to learn without memory being predominant. I would talk about attention and not concentration. I would go into the way the child sleeps, his food, the games he plays, the furniture in his room; I would see that the child is attentive to the trees, the birds, the spaces which are around him. I would see that he grows in an atmosphere of attention.”

On Wholesome Education

"There must be a cultivation of the totality of the mind, and not merely the giving of information. In the total development of the human being through right education, the quality of love must be nourished and sustained from the very beginning ....... Love cannot be brought through knowledge; and a mind that is pursuing knowledge without love, is a mind that deals in ruthlessness and aims merely at efficiency. The man of right education, he is considerate to all, including the animals and plants, and this is reflected in his behaviour and manner of talking."

On The Body

"We are concerned not only with the cultivation of the mind and the awakening of emotional sensitivity, but also with a well-rounded development of the physique, and to this we must give considerable thought. For, if the body is not healthy, vital, it will inevitably distort thought and make for insensitivity - right kind of food and sufficient sleep are of great value."

"To have grace of movement and well-balanced control of the muscles, there must be various forms of exercises, dancing and games. A body that is not kept clean, that is sloppy and does not hold itself in good posture, is not conducive to sensitivity of mind and emotions. The body is not the instrument of the mind; but body, emotions and mind make up the total human being, and unless they live together harmoniously, conflict is inevitable."

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