During this time span, Krishnamurti gave talks in England and India. In this volume, Krishnamurti introduces the material as a form of a discussion. He asks those listening to engage in the material along with him. "What I propose to do during these discussions is to think out with each one of you this extraordinarily complex problem of living. You know this problem is not confined to a narrow area. All over the world it is the same. We are confused; we do not know what to do; and we do not know how to set about it or to discover why each group is fighting the other."

Jiddu Krishnamurti lived from 1895 to 1986, and is regarded as one of the greatest philosophical and spiritual figures of the twentieth century. He was first discovered by the Theosophists on a beach in South India in 1910 at the age of 13 and was educated to be the new "World Teacher” for the ages. Then he took an extraordinary turn. In 1929, at one of the enormous annual European gatherings of the Theosophists in Holland, he announced his decision to step down from any formal role to promote him as a World Teacher, resigned as figure head of the Theosophists, and cut all ties to any notion of a religious or spiritual organization.Krishnamurti claimed no allegiance to any caste, nationality or religion and was bound by no tradition. His purpose was to set humankind unconditionally free from the destructive limitations of a conditioned mind. For nearly sixty years, he traveled the world and spoke spontaneously to large audiences until the end of his life in 1986 at the age of 90. He had no permanent home, but when not traveling, he often stayed in Ojai, California, Brockwood Park, England, and in Chennai, India. In his talks, he pointed out to people the need to transform themselves through self knowledge, by being aware of the subtleties of their thoughts and feelings in daily life, and how this movement can be observed through the mirror of relationship.