The Unconditioned Mind ─ J. Krishnamurti and the Oak Grove School

?Like an iridescent diamond,” is how David Moody describes revered philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti in this intimate portrait of him at the Oak Grove School in California. Krishnamurti, once groomed by Theosophists to become the next World Teacher, founded the school in 1975 and personally oversaw it for the last decade of his life. Moody, Oak Grove's first teacher and later director, recounts their close work together and explains Krishnamurti's ideas with splendid clarity. He also recounts how those ideas sparked competition among the staff, producing a complex force-field that challenged Moody to the utmost. The resulting drama, and Krishnamurti's involvement in it, forms the core of this rare, behind-the-scenes view.

David Edmund Moody was born and raised in southern California, and attended undergraduate school at UC Berkeley during the 1960s. He received his Master's Degree in Political Science at UCLA in 1970 and completed much of the coursework for a doctoral degree in Political Theory. In 1975, Moody was the first teacher hired at the newly opened Oak Grove School in Ojai, California. He subsequently served as Educational Director from 1980-1984, and from 1984-1987 he served as Director of the school. During his time as Director, the school experienced the death of its founder, J. Krishnamurti. After he left Oak Grove, Moody returned to graduate study at UCLA. He received his Ph.D. in Education in 1991. His dissertation research focused upon cognitive obstacles students encounter in their efforts to understand the theory of evolution. Portions of Moody's research have been published in the journal Science Education and in a book he co-authored, Mapping Biology Knowledge (Kluwer, 2000). Moody is currently Director of the private tutorial service Mind Over Math, with offices in southern California. He continues to pursue research in science education and related subjects, including the Gaia hypothesis. He also remains vitally interested in the teachings of J. Krishnamurti.