Innocence is True Strength
Living with a Pure Heart Can Lead to Liberation and Resolution
The Power of Patience and Acceptance
If you have enough patience, like Krishnamurti, who faced various challenges throughout his life with a very gentle and soft mindset, you can find true strength. Did you know that Krishnamurti’s personal secretary, who accompanied him for fifty years, actually played the role of his captor? For fifty years, this personal secretary almost controlled all aspects of Krishnamurti’s life and work.
According to his biography, whenever Krishnamurti flew between America and India, his secretary would travel in first class while Krishnamurti had to fly economy class. Surprisingly, Krishnamurti never complained about this. He never said it was wrong. In his small American home, Krishnamurti would always wash the dishes after meals voluntarily, never feeling that it was beneath him. He willingly flew economy and washed dishes.
Eventually, his secretary’s control over him grew stronger. She became very wary of other enthusiasts who wanted to be near Krishnamurti, fearing that they might help him too much and threaten her authority. Therefore, she tried to isolate Krishnamurti from the audience, preventing him from having intimate conversations or face-to-face interactions with them. For many years, few people could genuinely get close to Krishnamurti — not because he didn’t want to, but because his secretary arranged it that way.
The Unfolding of Unexpected Changes
However, subtle changes began to occur. During one lecture trip to India, his secretary fell ill and could not accompany him. Krishnamurti had to travel alone. Without his secretary, many things became possible, and many listeners started to get close to him. Krishnamurti, being a very approachable person, never refused them.
Soon, some listeners became able to truly interact and work with him, helping him in meaningful ways. This made his secretary very anxious as her position seemed threatened. She began to hide all of Krishnamurti’s manuscripts, and Krishnamurti had to resort to legal action to retrieve them. The lawsuit lasted ten years, with Krishnamurti ultimately winning and recovering his manuscripts. However, the drama didn’t end there.
After Krishnamurti passed away, his secretary’s daughter wrote a memoir, claiming that she discovered she was not her father’s biological daughter, but Krishnamurti’s. This book caused a sensation as it implied Krishnamurti was her biological father because of the ten-year lawsuit with her mother.
Although this rumor spread widely, the daughter denied in interviews that she had ever explicitly stated Krishnamurti was her father. She even refused to provide a DNA sample for verification, leaving the matter unresolved. Despite living a life of integrity, Krishnamurti could not avoid slander during and after his life.
Silence as a Response to Slander
The Buddha faced similar situations. According to scriptures, a pregnant woman once approached the Buddha, accusing him of being the father of her child. At that time, without advanced technology like DNA testing, such accusations were impossible to refute convincingly. The Buddha responded by remaining silent, not defending himself or getting angry.
He let the woman cry and make her accusations until she grew tired and left. Later, she returned to confess that she had been paid by someone who resented the Buddha to make false accusations. The Buddha’s silence and acceptance of the situation ultimately led to the truth being revealed.
Similarly, the great Taiwanese monk Guangqin faced rumors and slander. Despite his significant achievements in meditation and spiritual practice, he lived in a nunnery and faced malicious gossip. When money went missing from the temple, he was falsely accused of theft. Guangqin did not defend himself or leave; he remained silent and endured the accusations for over a month until the abbot confessed to testing him.
These stories illustrate that true practitioners, whether the Buddha, Krishnamurti, or Guangqin, often face slander and false accusations. Their response was always silence and acceptance, allowing the situation to resolve naturally. This requires immense inner strength and unwavering faith in one’s own goodness. When one’s heart is pure and kind, no amount of external negativity can harm them.
Living with a pure heart and responding to negativity with silence and acceptance can lead to liberation and resolution. This approach, although seemingly idealistic, demonstrates the true power of innocence and inner strength.
