"They were waiting for the world teacher to make them awake. These sleeping and snoring Theosophists appointed J. Krishnamurti as the world teacher.

"It is good that he refused. He refused the organization, he refused the idea of being a world teacher. But his refusal seems only superficial, he has remained a teacher all his life. What has he been doing for almost a century? – teaching. But where is the appointment order?

"To know oneself is not something that anybody else can do for you. And more particularly, how can sleeping people help the one who is awake? They are dreaming; in their sleep they can only dream. Do you expect these sleeping people to appoint the awakened one? That would be hilarious.

"Yes, nobody has appointed me. On that point he is not absolutely wrong. But there is another point also, which is a little delicate. I say nobody has appointed me, including myself. I am not a 'self-appointed master.' Whenever there is a master, he is recognized, not appointed.

"When the 73 PM s, you don't make it flower, but you can recognize the fragrance. Even in your sleep you can feel that the night is over and the sun has arisen. You are just hanging between sleep and waking. You may take time to wake up, but somewhere deep down in you, you know it is time to wake up.

"I am not appointed by anybody – to be appointed is an insult. And I am not appointed by myself, because what is the need? – I know it.

"The word master in the world of spirituality has a totally different meaning. It is not the same as a schoolmaster. A master in the spiritual sense is one who has mastery over himself, who does not function unconsciously, whose every act – even the smallest gesture – is conscious, alert. He may not have a single disciple – it doesn't matter.

"Do you see the point? The word master creates the idea of the disciple, the follower. How can there be a master without a disciple, a follower? But in the spiritual sense of the word master means mastery of oneself."