# A Retreat Lets Fresh Air Into the Mind by Jiddu Krishnamurti > “I think it is essential sometimes to go to retreat, to stop everything that you have been doing, to stop your beliefs and experiences completely, and look at them anew, not keep on repeating like machines whether you believe or do not believe. You would then let in fresh air into your minds.” > **— Jiddu Krishnamurti**, *Madras, first public talk, January 5, 1952* ## Sources and Context - **Full transcript:** [Madras 1st Public Talk 5th January 1952 | J. Krishnamurti](https://jkrishnamurti.org/content/madras-1st-public-talk-5th-january-1952) (Krishnamurti Foundation; [archived copy, May 14, 2022](https://web.archive.org/web/20220514141202/https://jkrishnamurti.org/content/madras-1st-public-talk-5th-january-1952)) — Krishnamurti is answering a question about the sixteen months he had just spent in retreat. The transcript sentence begins “And I think it is essential…”; the poster drops the opening “And” and stops before his next words, “Wouldn’t you? That means you must be in secure, must you not?” The talk is collected in *The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti*, Vol. VI. - **Wording variants:** Krishnamurti Foundation publications quote the passage in edited forms, including “go into retreat … You would let fresh air into your minds” ([Krishnamurti Foundation Trust, Brockwood staff retreat](https://kfoundation.org/?p=47893)) and “go on retreat … like a machine … into your mind” ([Journal of the Krishnamurti Schools, “On Retreats”](https://journal.kfionline.org/issue-16/on-retreats/)). The poster follows the transcript. A widely shared composite ends with “This place must be of great beauty, with trees, birds and quietness…”; that line is a separate statement and has its own Reminder, [[reminders/Design/Beauty Is Truth, and Truth Is Goodness and Love by Jiddu Krishnamurti|Beauty Is Truth, and Truth Is Goodness and Love by Jiddu Krishnamurti]]. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Photo Journey:** [[photo journey/2012-08-31 - Bryant at Krishnamurti's Former Home in Ojai|Bryant at Krishnamurti's Former Home in Ojai]] - **Livestream:** [[livestreams/Cultural Conditioning and the Discipline of Deliberate Withdrawal - Livestream|Cultural Conditioning and the Discipline of Deliberate Withdrawal - Livestream]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Jiddu Krishnamurti|Jiddu Krishnamurti]] - [[wiki/Krishnamurti Retreat|Krishnamurti Retreat]] - [[wiki/Silence|Silence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “I think it is essential sometimes to go to retreat, to stop everything that you have been doing, to stop your beliefs and experiences completely, and look at them anew, not keep on repeating like machines whether you believe or do not believe. You would then let in fresh air into your minds.” — Jiddu Krishnamurti, Madras, first public talk, January 5, 1952 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-jiddu-krishnamurti-retreat-fresh-air-mind ```