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THE OAK GROVE RETREAT OPENS ITS DOORS
Certain places seem uniquely suited to restore mind and body because of the particular confluence of natural beauty, and peaceful accommodation. The newly renovated Oak Grove Retreat provides visitors with a contemplative environment where the orange orchards meet the mountain trails, just a few minutes from downtown Ojai.
In 1922 Ojai became home to the young Krishnamurti, and his brother Nitya, who wrote the following: “In a long and narrow valley of apricot orchards and orange groves is our house, and  the hot sun shines down day after day … but of an evening the cool air comes from the range of hills on either side … The American Indians called our valley the Ojai, or the nest, and for centuries they must have sought it as a refuge.”
Krishnamurti went on to become one of Ojai’s most famous residents. For decades, his talks on the transformation of consciousness drew tens of thousands of visitors to the Valley. He traveled the world, but when in America, Ojai was his retreat and many came to visit him there, including Annie Besant, Aldous Huxley, Greta Garbo, Jackson Pollack, D.H. Lawrence, Charlie Chaplin, Igor Stravinsky, Jonas Salk, John Barrymore, and others. After Krishnamurti’s death in 1986, the California ranch house on the Foundation’s property in Ojai’s east end became the Krishnamurti Retreat. This fall and winter several generous donors stepped forward to help the Krishnamurti Foundation restore the building and the retreat is now reopening as the Oak Grove Retreat, named after the famous Oak Grove where Krishnamurti often gave his talks. Next door, Pine Cottage, Krishnamurti’s residence when he was in Ojai, houses the Krishnamurti Library, a Quiet Room (Krishnamurti’s former bedroom and sitting room) and a spacious main room that can accommodate large groups for events and programs.
The Oak Grove Retreat opens its doors on March 5th, and reservations can already be made online at www.oakgroveretreat.com.
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THE KRISHNAMURTI EDUCATION CENTER LAUNCHES ITS PROGRAMS
In the sixties, Mary Zimbalist, widow of the Oscar-winning producer Sam Zimbalist, renovated a small building where Krishnamurti usually stayed, known as Pine Cottage. It was reconfigured to be suitable as a joint residence, and she became Krishnamurti’s personal secretary, helping during the closing years of his life. 
After Krishnamurti’s death in 1986, Mary Zimbalist, one of the original trustees of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America, continued to live in Pine Cottage. Mary’s death last summer brought into action the plan she had made with Krishnamurti to make Pine Cottage a suitable environment for programs. Pine Cottage has benefited from the generosity of the
donors helping to restore the buildings on the property. Much needed deferred maintenance has been completed and both the Retreat and Pine Cottage are ready to serve the public as part of the new Krishnamurti Education Center. In addition to these buildings, the Center includes the Archives building, just a short walk away, and all the surrounding land.
 The Krishnamurti Education Center has a capital development plan that includes the creation of a Visitor’s Center, outside auditoriums for dialogues and events, guided walking trails, and additional accommodation. It is hoped that further donor support will bring the plans to complete fruition, but in the meantime, the Education Center is ready to offer a large variety of programs (see Calendar section below).
Several generous donors stepped forward to help the Krishnamurti Foundation restore both buildings, and the retreat is now reopening as Oak Grove Retreat, named after the famous Oak Grove where Krishnamurti often gave his talks. Next door, Pine Cottage houses the Krishnamurti Library, a Quiet Room (Krishnamurti’s former quarters) and a spacious main room that can accommodate large groups for events and programs.
NEXT PROGRAM AT THE KRISHNAMURTI EDUCATION CENTER:
SUNDAY MORNING TALKS, WITH MICHAEL KROHNEN
March 8th - April 5th
The Life and Work of J. Krishnamurti
Five Sunday Morning Talks by Michael Krohnen
11 am - 12 noon, at the Krishnamurti Library & Visitor’s Center
1098 McAndrew Road, Ojai, CA
Cost: $7.00 per talk
Listing of Topics
Sunday, March 8th - Krishnamurti: His Early Life and Emergence as the “World Teacher”.
Sunday, March 15th - Krishnamurti’s Life in Ojai.
Sunday, March 22nd - An Introduction to Krishnamurti’s Teachings.
Sunday, March 29th - Krishnamurti and The Art of Dialogue.
Sunday, April 5th - Living with Krishnamurti: A Few Personal Stories and Reflections.
Michael Krohnen is the librarian at the Krishnamurti Library, located at the Krishnamurti Education Center. For several years Michael was Krishnamurti’s personal chef and friend. He is the author of The Kitchen Chronicles: 1001 Lunches with Krishnamurti, a memoir — and contributor to The Brockwood Park Vegetarian Cookbook.
To register, call 805-646-2390, or email craig@kfa.org
We want to hear from you about programs you might like to see at the Study Center. If you have suggestions for activities and programs, contact the Education Center Director, Craig Walker, at 805-646-2390, or email him at craig@kfa.org
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OAK GROVE SCHOOL GEARS UP FOR SPRING, AND
ENROLLMENT FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR
A note from the Head of School, Meredy Benson Rice
 Recently Oak Grove’s core administrative team was invited to participate in a select summit of independent schools entitled “Leading the (R)evolution”, a word play on evolving, and revolution in the way that Krishnamurti intended when he talked about a revolutionary education. We were honored to be identified as a school that has made and continues to make an important contribution to educational reform. Recognizing that our children will face a future that we can hardly imagine, one that will require them to adapt, change course, change jobs, make room for the new, and hold multiple perspectives in play, we believe that a traditional education that simply requires students to take in information and retain it for testing just won’t do.
For over 30 years Oak Grove has been at the forefront of transformative education, addressing the whole question of what it means to live and to learn. This is not something that can be systematized into a concrete method; rather, it is a continuous dynamic process that encourages us to stay attentive and alive to each new moment. It demands that we stay ever-vigilant to our tendency to “know and be done with it” and instead remain open in our minds and hearts. It truly speaks to living and learning as an art form – the art of living and learning – a life-long creative practice that we are all involved in.
Increasingly we find ourselves both seeking to partner with and being sought after as partners to a growing educational movement that recognizes the importance of a different approach to education, one that develops open and agile minds and hearts, one that is “whole, sane, and intelligent,” as Krishnamurti wrote in the intent for the school. The world has never needed this more than now.
— Meredy Benson Rice, Head of School
To explore Oak Grove School, visit their website at www.oakgroveschool.com, or call Admissions Director Joy Maguire Parsons and request an admissions package. She can be reached at 805-646-8236, Ext. 109, or email enroll@oakgroveschool.com. To read more news about happenings at the school, click here.
OAK GROVE'S 12TH GRADE STUDENTS RETURN FROM INDIA WITH A NEW OUTLOOK ON LIVING!
Two weeks into their month-long trip, the seniors were missing what else, but—snack food! So on their road-trip to the Center for Learning, they pulled off and indulged in some comforts of home. Once they arrived, they unpacked and looked for a trash can to deposit their wrappers only to find there weren’t any. They learned that the schools simply don’t generate much trash, so there isn’t a need for receptacles. In an effort to figure out what to do with the trash they created, the seniors collected it all into a pile; they were struck by how much waste this one little snack-run created. Needless to say, on the next trip, which happened to be a botanical garden called, the Sanctuary, the seniors refrained from picking up any packaged snack food along the way. After a warm welcome from the botanical team, they were given the guidelines for their stay. The first guideline: “if you bring in any trash, you take it back out with you.” Having learned from their earlier experience, the seniors were pleased with themselves because they made the choice to be more conscious about the waste they generate – not only in India, but also back home in the United States.
If you’re within reach of Ojai, you can learn about this remarkable trip, sip Indian Chai and view India’s people and culture through the eyes of Oak Grove students at India Night on Tuesday, February 24, 7 pm at the High School Student Center.
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KRISHNAMURTI'S WORK GOES ONLINE
 The long awaited launch of the website that provides free access to Krishnamurti’s work has finally gone online. You can visit it at www.jkrishnamurti.org. The project is a collaboration of the four major Krishnamurti Foundations that were established to preserve and share his work (Krishnamurti Foundation of America, Krishnamurti Foundation Trust in England, Krishnamurti Foundation India, and Fundación Krishnamurti Latino-Americana in Spain).
The site guarantees the authenticity of a large text collection of all of Krishnamurti’s published works from 1933 to 1986, the equivalent of 200 average-sized books. All site content is searchable and freely downloadable in text format. A selection of video and audio is also available in streaming format, and future plans include adding previously unpublished work to the online text collection, and expanding the video and audio capacity.
The new website is offered to the public in Beta form, since there is a vast amount of further work that can be done to expand its potential for individuals, scholars, and specialists in various disciplines, such as mental health and welfare, politics, sociology, etc. In addition, almost 50% of Krishnamurti’s lifetime work remains unpublished, and will eventually be added to the site’s resources.
A project of this scope does require considerable funds to reach its potential and the Krishnamurti Foundations are collaborating to communicate their funding needs to supporters. Estimated costs for its first two years of operation are $100,000, covering expansion of the site design, internet hosting, database infrastructure for the search engine, digitization of further text, video and audio materials, and indexing of the collection. Work will also begin on extending the video and audio sections to achieve a complete and searchable library of all published audiovisual materials. Longer-range plans include making the site structure and content available in Spanish, French and German, and improving site features to allow users to set up personal accounts to store and share their own collections of texts, quotes, and audio/video.
Our grateful thanks to the donors who have supported digitization, which is the beginning of the process needed for Krishnamurti’s work to migrate to the new website.
A note about the Daily Quote service
Our apologies for those of you who have experienced disruptions in service. We have had some technical glitches that have been difficult to resolve. In the next weeks, the Daily Quote will become part of the infrastructure of the new website, and there should be no further difficulties. We ask for your patience while we make this transition.
Bookmark www.jkrishnamurti.org and visit frequently. Your feedback will be part of moving through the Beta version, as we work to enrich the site.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
For further information on any program, please call Craig Walker at 805-646-2390 or email him at craig@kfa.org.
March 8th - April 5th
The Life and Work of J. Krishnamurti
Five Sunday Morning Talks by Michael Krohnen
11 am - 12 noon, at the Krishnamurti Library & Visitor’s Center
1098 McAndrew Road, Ojai, CA
Cost: $7.00 per talk
Listing of Topics
Sunday, March 8th - Krishnamurti: His Early Life and Emergence as the “World Teacher”.
Sunday, March 15th - Krishnamurti’s Life in Ojai.
Sunday, March 22nd - An Introduction to Krishnamurti’s Teachings.
Sunday, March 29th - Krishnamurti and The Art of Dialogue.
Sunday, April 5th - Living with Krishnamurti: A Few Personal Stories and Reflections.
April 25th & 26th
Krishnamurti Foundation of America Annual Gathering
The KFA will host its annual gathering the weekend of April 25th. Saturday’s event will be in the Oak Grove next to the school in the morning. The afternoon will be the Earth Day Celebration at Oak Grove School. There will be a concert at the school on Saturday night. On Sunday the event will be a grand opening celebration at the Krishnamurti Education Center. The Center will host dialogues, panel discussions, talks, and films. There will be a modest charge for the Gathering this year to cover the KFA's costs in hosting the event. More details to follow. If you wish to stay at the Oak Grove Retreat, visit their website to make your reservations, at www.oakgroveretreat.com.
July 8th - July 16th
The Awakening of Intelligence and the Birth of Insight
A nine-day residential dialogue program for college students and adults. Facilitated by Richard Waxberg and Satish Telegar. $990 for college students; $1,490 for adults. For an online brochure, click here. For further information contact: Richard Waxberg, Director of the Krishnamurti Summer Study Intensive & Retreat Programs: 805-640-0532 or richardwaxberg@kfa.org
July 18th - July 26th
The Ending of Time: An Immersion into Human Consciousness and What it Means to Bring About an End to Psychological Time
A nine-day residential dialogue program based on Krishnamurti’s book, The Ending of Time, which features a series of dialogues between Krishnamurti and physicist David Bohm. Facilitated by Richard Waxberg and Satish Telegar. This is a fascinating journey into the meeting of two great minds of the 20th Century. $990 for college students; $1,490 for adults. For an online brochure, click here. For further information contact: Richard Waxberg, Director of the Krishnamurti Summer Study Intensive & Retreat Programs: 805-640-0532 or richardwaxberg@kfa.org
July 26th - August 8th
Summer Teaching Academy
A fourteen-day program that explores Krishnamurti’s vision of education. The program is coordinated by two former teachers at Oak Grove School, Gopal Krishnamurthy and Karen Hesli. Fees Include two weeks’ stay and all meals, at the Oak Grove Retreat. For more information, click here. Or contact Academy Coordinator Gopal Krishnamurthy at 805-462-7360. To email him, click here.
Questions about programs? Please call Krishnamurti Education Center Director Craig Walker at 805-646-2390 or email craig@kfa.org.
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CONTRIBUTING
What Can You Do to Help the KFA and Oak Grove School Navigate the Downturn??
- Monthly recurring gifts are the most helpful. Then we can plan.
- A one-time annual gift is a great boon. We thank all our donors who contribute to the Annual Sustaining Fund with gifts large and small.
- A first-time gift, whether recurring or one-time, is a tremendous step in the right direction for the KFA and the School. If you've been thinking we might need the extra help right now, we welcome your participation as a new donor!
To make a donation, click here.
Our grateful thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Krishnamurti Foundation and/or Oak Grove School. There has not been a time in recent memory when it was so important, and has made such a difference. Going forward, help is still needed to support the three main pillars of the Foundation – Krishnamurti Publications (responsible for all dissemination, digitization, and the new website for free access to the teachings); the new Krishnamurti Education Center (home for our retreat facilities, programs, and the Krishnamurti Archives); and Oak Grove School (founded by Krishnamurti, providing a caring community for pre-K through grade 12 students, fostering mindfulness, understanding, and awareness of self, others, and the world).
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