Breaking Free from Conditioning: Krishnamurti, Systems Thinking, and Inner Leverage
Krishnamurti always challenged me to question the stories I inherited — cultural scripts, habits, and unquestioned “truths.” His call for freedom from the known isn’t rebellion for its own sake. It’s about stripping away conditioning so that genuine perception and creativity can surface.
Shifting the system from within
Donella Meadows showed that the deepest leverage points in any system aren’t policies or events, but the underlying paradigms — the mental models that silently govern behavior. This mirrors Krishnamurti’s insight: change isn’t cosmetic. It begins when we examine and shift the beliefs that shape how we see the world.
Looking beneath the surface: The Iceberg Model
Events and outcomes are just the visible tip. Beneath them lie reinforcing loops, power structures, and beliefs. If we keep reacting to the surface, we stay trapped. Krishnamurti’s liberation from conditioning and the Iceberg Model are pointing to the same truth: real transformation happens when we dive beneath the surface layer of appearances.
Learning in depth: Double-loop learning
Chris Argyris’ double-loop learning, popularized by Peter Senge, pushes us beyond error correction. It forces us to challenge the rules themselves. Neuroscience backs this: the brain doesn’t just change by correcting mistakes, but by rewiring assumptions and building new pathways. This is freedom from the known applied to organizations.
Ancient wisdom from the Gita
The Bhagavad Gita offers the same systemic insight in spiritual language. Krishna reminds Arjuna to act without attachment to outcomes. This is the ultimate release from conditioning — choosing action from inner alignment, not from fear, ego, or inherited patterns.
Bringing it all together
Across Krishnamurti, Meadows, Senge, and the Gita, the thread is clear:
Change begins beneath the surface — at the level of assumptions, paradigms, and conditioning.
Growth is recursive — inner liberation reshapes outer systems, which in turn reinforce inner growth.
Action without attachment is not passivity; it’s clarity. It lets us catalyze systemic change without being trapped by ego-driven outcomes.
Personal takeaways
Question your assumptions — what “knowns” still run you?
Look beneath the surface — every event is a signal of deeper loops.
Act with purpose, not attachment — the Gita’s discipline is as practical in leadership as in life.
Shift the paradigm — even small changes at the level of belief can ripple through entire systems.
Real transformation — personal or societal — isn’t about stacking fixes on the surface. It’s about the slow, disciplined work of liberating perception, rewiring assumptions, and aligning inner freedom with systemic change. The journey inward is the leverage point.
