KRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION BULLETIN INDIA 1972 NUMBER 1

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born 1895 in the town of Madanapalle in then-colonial India, to a family of middle class Telugu Brahmins. His father was associated with the Theosophical Society, and in the early part of the 20th century young Krishnamurti was promoted by the Adyar, India based leadership of the Society as the so-called World Teacher, a new messiah. However, in 1929 he disavowed this role, dissolved the worldwide organization (the Order of the Star) formed to support it, and shortly afterwards severed his ties to Theosophy and the Theosophical Society.

Denouncing the concept of saviors, spiritual leaders, and any other intermediaries to reality, Krishnamurti stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being. He posited that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social. He urged people to directly discover the underlying causes of the problems facing individuals and society, and stated that such discovery is the natural outcome of absolute and unconditional psychological freedom, which he declared as being within everyone's reach.
Krishnamurti set out to work towards this goal of universal psychological freedom, and until his death in 1986 traveled the world as an independent speaker, presenting his message to large and small groups and in discussion with interested individuals; a large number of these talks and discussions have been published in various formats and media. He also articulated his message in writing, authoring several books and other works.