IBO, this book, The First and Last Freedom is a gateway to J. Krishnamurti's writings. The book covers a number of themes and therefore allows one to follow the consistent thread of J.K.'s thinking on various topics. It is an “adventurous” read, again and again. For those of you that have studied the works of some of the Zen masters (The 3rd Patriarch, Dogen, etc), you may find yourselves quite in tune with J.K.'s words.

“Suppose you assume, as most so-called religious people do, that there is in you, fundamentally, deeply, the essence of reality; and that if, through cultivating virtue, through various forms of discipline, control, suppression, denial, sacrifice, you can get into touch with that reality, then the required transformation will be brought about. Is not this assumption still part of thought? Is it not the outcome of a conditioned mind, a mind that has been brought up to think in a particular way, according to certain patterns? Having created the image, the idea, the theory, the belief, the hope, you then look to your creation to bring about this radical change.”