“The life of J Krishnamurti, the philosopher-sage, was of the nature of myth. Young in mind, straight-backed with the majesty and beauty of an ancient Deodhar tree, he wandered around the world, teaching and healing the minds of the vast numbers of young and old, the intellectual and the simple human being, who came to him overburdened with conflict and sorrow.

Krishnamurti was born in Madanapalle, a small town in Andhra Pradesh, as the eighth child of a Telugu Brahmin government official. The signs of his mystical nature were evident in him from early childhood. His mother died when he was young. Though he was vague and uninterested in studies, often beaten at schools, his father had noticed an unusual capacity in the child for silence, observation and attention. He describes the boy Krishnamurti …