It is something of an orthodoxy to say that, in 1929, Krishnamurti manfully repudiated Theosophy and Messiahship to be himself and to bring a message of freedom. I was upset when, in Benares, he rather curtly dismissed a young girl who asked him why he was considered the "greatest World Teacher." He likes to avoid the subject-not to deny, but, as in all his teaching, to try to communicate that certainly in which affirmation and denial dissolve. It was always interesting to hop onto my bike and ride a prover??ial stone's throw from the Theosophical estate to Krishnamurti's estate.

Some people think that to mix religion and politics is to pollute and endanger both. Other people think that to separate the spiritual and civil orders is to desiccate and demean both. In many ways, the latter people are clearly seizing the time. In one way or another, the latter way of thinking is almost certain to win the Day toward which we are heading and which some of us will see.

Unity is great. But too much unity is dangerous. A famous story says that, once upon a time, mankind spoke but one language and started building a tower to heaven. God saw that if mankind succeeded, it could be restrained in nothing. So God threw mankind into the confusion of many tongues and the tower collapsed. I learned that this story was a lesson for inflated pride. A friend of mine edits out God and says mankind failed when it changed its focus from the joyful process of building to the disintegration of goal-fixation. I have come to regard it as suggesting the dangers of premature unity.

From the tower to Apollo 11. On the other hand, lightning hit Apollo 12 as it left the Earth; and Apollo 13 exploded, failed to reach the moon's surface, and had all it could do to limp back home.

If a couple drops of water do not make a storm, so also do they presage one.

Apollo 14 might make it. I'll be cheering it on.

COPYRIGHT OCTOBER 31, 1970

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

( James T. Anderson is a composer specializing in the music of India. )