Theos-Talk Archives (May 2001 Message tt00014)

Here are some editorial reviews of the book.

________MKR____________

A Star in the East :
Krishnamurti, the
Invention of a Messiah
by Roland Vernon
Hardcover - (March 2001) 336 pages

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Roland Vernon's biography of Krishnamurti, subtitled 
The Invention of
a Messiah, could also have been called simply 
Understanding the Man.
Krishnamurti's life has been well chronicled, but 
Vernon keeps his sights
on the people and events that shaped Krishnamurti's 
life. We learn about
Charles Leadbeater, the allegedly pedophilic 
discoverer of and tutor to
Krishnamurti; Annie Besant, the notorious social 
activist and
Krishnamurti's second mother; and the mysterious and 
painful "process"
that brought Krishnamurti to enlightenment. Besides 
the influences on his
public persona, Vernon is also fascinated by the 
sometimes contradictory
and less well-known private side of Krishnamurti. He 
had close ties to his
brother Nitya, whose death galvanized Krishnamurti to 
forsake the
organization that created him. And he carried on an 
extended clandestine
affair with Rosalind Williams Rajagopal, his early 
companion and later
wife of his friend and business partner. Not quick to 
pass judgment,
Vernon looks at various perspectives of these people 
and events,
unafraid finally to come down with his own 
well-reasoned opinions. Star
in the East depicts Krishnamurti as a complex man who 
encouraged
everyone to think for themselves. --Brian Bruya

> From Publishers Weekly
Vernon, a professional writer educated at King's 
College, Cambridge,
offers the most comprehensive Krishnamurti biography 
to date, promising
"water-tight impartiality." He presents detailed 
accounts of the New Age
teacher's life (1895-1986) and career in 
chronological order, using
primary and secondary sources scrupulously quoted as 
well as
unattributed interviews with students, friends and 
colleagues. However,
Vernon's objectivity is a fairly unreflective one 
that often fails to
systematically interpret and connect the details of 
Krishnamurti's life and
career to important trends of his time. Vernon fails 
to recognize, for
example, that Krishnamurti's story does not so much 
herald the arrival of
Eastern mysticism in the West as it clearly describes 
and anticipates the
construction of a unique Eastern mysticism by the 
West. Also, Vernon
does not detect the apparent influence of Victorian 
notions of sexuality
and hygiene on Krishnamurti's early trance inductions 
and later physically
punishing purification experiences (known 
collectively as the "Process").
The custody and training of young Krishnamurti by the 
Theosophist
Charles Leadbeater clearly involved what would today 
be viewed as
child sexual abuse, and the author's reluctance to 
acknowledge it as such
precludes a more comprehensive and accurate 
psychological
interpretation of Krishnamurti's important religious 
experiences.
However, this biography is still the best available, 
providing a wealth of
detail that will be appreciated by followers of 
Krishnamurti.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

> From Library Journal
Vernon offers a compelling account of the legendary 
Krishnamurti,
groomed from childhood as the Theosophical Society's 
messiah and
spiritual savior of the world. With penetrating 
analysis, the author sifts
through controversies surrounding Krishna's tutelage 
under the notorious
Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, who initiated 
the transformation of
a shy and apathetic boy into a dynamic and spiritual 
genius. The author
carefully handles Leadbeater's infamous sexual 
perversion, misogyny, and
various deceits (such as forging "At the Feet of the 
Master," purportedly
penned by Krishna). The author candidly but fairly 
examines the life of a
molded messiah whose travels, emotional development, 
and maturing
spiritual views culminated in his astonishing 1929 
dissolution of the Order
of the Star, declaring that "Truth is a pathless 
land, unapproachable by
any path, religion, or organized belief." This is a 
balanced study of a
world teacher who, in denying his own messianic role 
and spiritual
authority, became, ironically, even more influential 
and left behind a
legacy of schools in the decades to come. Recommended 
for all libraries
to fill the void of comprehensive treatments of this 
figure. Loren Rosson
III, Nashua P.L., NH

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
The extraordinary story of Krishnamurti, hailed early 
in life as the messiah
for the 20th century, is told here in the light of a 
century of changing
spiritual attitudes. It is a tale of mysticism, 
sexual scandals, religious fervor
and chicanery, out of which emerged one of the most 
influential thinkers
of modern times. Krishnamurti was "discovered" as a 
young boy on a
beach in India by members of the Theosophical 
Society, convinced that
they had found the new world leader, a spiritual 
savior as historic and as
influential as Jesus himself. By the 1920s he was 
attracting worldwide
press attention and people flocked to his talks in 
the thousands. In 1922,
Krishnamurti broke with the society and set out on a 
teaching mission of
his own as a secular philosopher of spirituality. He 
ultimately had a career
that spanned six decades, founded seven schools, 
published 50 books
and encompassed thousands of talks. This 
extraordinary story is told for
the first time by Roland Vernon in the full light of 
20th-century attitudes in
a narrative that is as compelling as any novel.

About the Author
Roland Vernon lives in Somerset, England with his 
wife and children.