Question

Why, according to Krishnamurti, are the concepts of freedom and discipline contradictory to one another?

Answer 1

J. Krishnamurti believed that discipline and freedom are contradictory to one another. Disciplines are a set of rules to be followed with certain morals. When bound by such laws and regulations, people cannot achieve their required freedom. No individual can question the rules; hence there cannot be any intellectual development or free-thinking, and thus, can never achieve true freedom. We become self-controlled and cannot be in a stage to help other struggling individuals. Ordinary people do not have any right to question, follow the traditional rules blindly, and there would not be any developmental growth, resulting in loss of freedom. Thus, the concepts of freedom and discipline contradict each other.