It is odd that we have so little relationship with nature, with the insects and the leaping frog and the owl that hoots among the hills calling for its mate. We never seem to have a feeling for all living things on the earth.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on humanity's disconnect with nature and its inhabitants.
Jiddu Krishnamurti highlights the strange lack of deep connection that people have with the natural world, emphasizing the beauty and significance of living creatures like insects, frogs, and owls. He suggests that this disconnect leads to a diminished appreciation for all forms of life on earth, urging us to cultivate a greater awareness and feeling towards the natural environment surrounding us.
In practice
During a speech about environmental conservation, one might share this quote to highlight our estrangement from nature.
The following of authority is the denial of intelligence. [It] may help us temporarily to cover up our difficulties and problems; but to avoid a problem is only to intensify it, and in the process, self-knowledge and freedom are abandoned.
In seeking comfort, we generally find a quiet corner in life where there is a minimum of conflict, and then we are afraid to step out of that seclusion.
If you listen through the screen of your desires, then you obviously listen to your own voice; you are listening to your own desires.
If you have this extraordinary thing going in your life, then it is everything; then you become the teacher, the disciple, the neighbour, the beauty of the cloud - you are all that, and that is love.
Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life - perhaps the greatest, and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody, that is the beauty of it.
All of us have been trained by education and environment to seek personal gain and security and to fight for ourselves. Though we cover it over with pleasant phrases, we have been educated for various professions within a system which is based on exploitation and acquisitive fear.
I don't know if anything in nature ever grows exactly the same, but they are always exactly as the way it should be, perfectly itself.
The river and the garden have been the foundations of my economy here. Of the two I have liked the river best. It is wonderful to have the duty of being on the river the first and last thing every day. I have loved it even in the rain. Sometimes I have loved it most in the rain.
Basically, I think 21st century conservation is moving toward preserving ecosystems by dealing with the needs of people.
Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.
I've been bitten by a python. Not a very big one. I was being silly, saying: 'Oh, it's not poisonous...' Then, wallop! But you have fear around animals.
Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
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