The book was originally published May1954 by Harper in the US and by Gollancz in the UK. In the US, it was the second Krishnamurti-authored book to be published by a mainstream commercial publisherunlike in other markets, where this would be the first such publication. Copyright was held by Krishnamurti Writings (KWINC), the organization then responsible for promoting Krishnamurti's work worldwide; publishing rights were transferred to new Krishnamurti-related organizations in the mid-1970s (the Krishnamurti Foundations), and in to Krishnamurti Publications (K Publications), an entity with overall responsibility for publishing his works worldwide.