Sorry it took so long to get back here, but am going to try to write more regularly. So, this topic seems to be attracting a lot of people. Am not sure why, but probably because the subject is charged in that there are these two different approaches, one involving what could be called releasing and the other involving a form of harnessing. Anyone who knows even a little about these two approaches can see this is true, right? So, if we figure out some way to reconcile this kind of obvious discrepancy, then we will have some kind of new understanding that we can apply to our own personal practice. Now was Krishnamurti even advocating a particular practice? Well, yes he was, obviously. When you tell anyone to do or not do anything, this is obviously related to doing. Not doing is a form of doing. Try to think about this.
From Google: ” There is a particular approach of negation that can be found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The Hindu version I will refer to as “neti neti”. From Google: “neti neti (नेति नेति) is a Sanskrit expression which means “not this, not this”, or “neither this, nor that” (neti is sandhi from na iti “not so”). It is found in the Upanishads. Neti neti,is the method of Vedic analysis of negation.”
And from Wikopedia: “Neti neti”:
“significance of Neti neti: neti neti, meaning, “Not this, not this”, is the method of Vedic analysis of negation. It is a keynote of Vedic inquiry. With its aid the Jnani negates identification with all things of this world which is not the Atman, in this way he negates the Anatman. Through this gradual process he negates the mind and transcends all worldly experiences that are negated till nothing remains but the Self. He attains union with the Absolute by denying the body, name, form, intellect, senses and all limiting adjuncts and discovers what remains, the true “I” alone.[1] L.C.Beckett in his book, Neti Neti, explains that this expression is an expression of something inexpressible, it expresses the ‘suchness’ (the essence) of that which it refers to when ‘no other definition applies to it’.[2] Neti neti negates all descriptions about the Ultimate Reality but not the Reality itself. Intuitive interpretation of uncertainty principle can be expressed by “Neti neti”[3] that annihilates ego and the world as non-self (Anatman), it annihilates our sense of self altogether.[“
Note that when you strip everything away, you get to this larger “Self” which is kind of hiding underneath all of these false ideas and illusions about the nature of reality,and this self or Self is considered to be ones true self (Self:-)
But the approach of Gurdjieff was quite different, actually. He did speak about the essence of a person, but he was meaning something else.
To be continued; will go into this gradually, little by little.
Deconstructing Krishnamurti 