violence

 

I have known, traveled with, interviewed and directed a number of documentaries on the life and insights of J. Krishnamurti, and have done so for more than thirty years. What follows is a conversation I had that was included in a feature documentary titled The Challenge of Change. mm

Krishnamurti with Michael Mendizza

M The world crisis is unquestionably growing more and more acute. You have said that the outer crisis, in society and the world, reflects an inner crisis in human consciousness. What do you mean by that?

We have two possibilities, and the full continuum in-between: a brain that is nourished with rich sensory experiences from birth forward, one that integrates and therefore understands, with true intelligence, what it experiences with balance and harmony - and a sensory deprived brain, a brain that is constantly at war with itself.

Brain growth and everything it implies is ‘experience dependent’. The last decade of research reveals a reciprocal dynamic between the brain and the environment. Change the environment and your change the brain. In many ways our modern life style is deficient in body touch and body movement – and this impacts the brain.

Pleasure and happiness provide the “glue” that attach and bond human relationships.

Personal and international peace is impossible when aggressive, violent abuse of children is accepted, even encouraged as normal throughout the world. I see it every day, rich and poor, black and white. Abuse is normal.

Nonviolent Communication says get good at expressing two things: what’s alive in you right now and what would make life more wonderful.

Not one national or international medical association in the world, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, recommends routine infant circumcision and now, recognizing the harm and life-long consequences, some are recommending against it.

A conversation with Michael Mendizza on original play and cultural contest

The Origins of Love & Violence And The Developing Human Brain
A conversation with Michael Mendizza

The Origins of Love. Byronchild Magazine, Australia, Spring 2004.