Is freedom the denial of outward authority?

"So freedom implies the complete cessation of all authority inwardly. And from that quality of mind that is free, an outward freedom comes, takes place which is entirely different from the reaction of an opposing, or resisting factor. Are you following all this? Are you also working as hard as the speaker? Or you're merely just listening, hearing! What we are saying is really quite simple and it is because of its very simplicity you will miss it. Our minds, our brains are conditioned through the authority, through imitation and conformity - that's a fact. And therefore freedom cannot exist to such a mind. It can talk endlessly about freedom, and revolt against certain outward forms of restrictions, but it's not a free mind. The mind that is actually free has no inward authority whatsoever, and we have explained very carefully what authority means. Have you, as a human being, any form of authority on which you depend. And if you do, freedom will - you cannot have freedom. And it's only the free mind that knows what it means to love and meditate."

– J. Krishnamurti
Public Talk 2
Saanen, Switzerland - 19 July 1970
 

Dialogue 5
San Diego, California, USA
February 20, 1974

Q: What is order in freedom?

Unless we understand the nature and structure of disorder we can never find out what is order. How has the whole phenomenon of disorder come about?

Is order something imposed, a discipline, which is conformity, suppression, imitation? Is order acceptance, obedience?

Unless we understand the movement of thought we cannot understand disorder. A mind that is caught in measurement can never find truth. Is it possible to look without measurement?

Is it possible to live a life, the whole of life, acting, laughing, crying, without a shadow of comparison?

Brockwood Park, England
Public Q&A 1
1985

Q1: How can we know if mystical and spiritual experiences are illusions unless we know reality?

Q2: Is illness due simply to degeneration or abuse of the body, or does it have some other significance?

Q3: What is my responsibility toward the present world crisis?

Q4: Does asking for guidance necessarily prevent understanding?
 Cannot seeking help be a means of discovery of ourselves? If not, what is the sense of listening to you, Krishnamurti?

Q5: What is total vision? Is it an extension of our normal brain function or something totally different?