(1895–1986) Modern Indian thinker
whose teachings centered on the necessity for personal realization through
critical self-awareness. His teaching had
strong roots in his own life experience.
When he was fourteen years old, one of
the leaders of the Theosophical Society,
Annie Besant, proclaimed him to be an
incarnation of the future Buddha
Maitreya. He later repudiated these
claims, and for the rest of his life
stressed the need to examine and
question all authority, including
himself. Much of his life was spent in
Europe and the United States, where his
books and lectures found their primary
audience. For further information see
Pupul Jayakar, Krishnamurti: A
Biography, 1986.