Vimala Thakar’s house in Mt. Abu
It was at Ajja’s ashram in Puttur that Vimala Thakar’s name first came up. We were told that there was a woman who lived in Mt. Abu who had become enlightened through J. Krishnamurti and that she was available for visitors.
On our way north through India we went through Rajasthan. We arrived in Mt. Abu and chose a guest house out of Lonely Planet. After settling in we informed the manager that we were interested in visiting Vimala Thakar and asked if he knew of her. We had chosen well, the guest house was located less than 100 meters from her house and the manager himself was a friend of hers.
He called and made arrangements for an appointment for us to visit the following day.
We arrived and were shown into a small sitting room where we met Vimalaji. There was a tremendous force of presence around her body. We introduced ourselves and told her that we were Osho sannyasins. She said a few words to each of us about the names Osho had given us. She asked us about our travels in India and in general about the life we were living letting life itself lead the way.
Over tea she told us that Osho had invited her to Jabalpur to speak at the university where he was chair of the Philosophy Department. She told us of his taking her out on the Narmada river in a boat and then to the Kwality Ice Cream shop in town. She said that she had chided him about his tastes in food because they were not good for his health and that she felt like an older sister to him but that Rajneeshji was Rajneeshji meaning that he wasn’t one for listening to advice. She also said that she was sad for what had happened to him in Oregon.
I told her that I didn’t know very much about her but had heard the story concerning Krishnamurti and wanted to ask her about it. She proceeded to relate the story that you will find in her book On An Eternal Journey. I will let her tell you the story and that way will not need to rely on my memory. She also related the story in an interview with Chris Parish for the magazine What Is Enlightenment. I am also including a link to the interview below.
When our time was up she gave us four of her books. This was a very deliberate act and even the giving seemed pregnant with importance. I had never read any of her words and they have proved to be extremely helpful to me. Thank you, Vimalaji.
In some ways her style of teaching is reminiscent of J. Krishnamurti which is not surprising. But because she too was a University professor and had studied Western Philosophy and Psychology she includes that breadth of knowledge that Osho brings into his discourses.
Two of her books are easily available in the west through Rodmell Press and I have posted some excerpts on this site. The book I mentioned above, On An Eternal Journey, I have not been able to find copies for sale, but you can download it from the link below.
Here you will find a link for the book On An Eternal Journey.
link for the Chris Parish interview: http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j10/vimala_fire.asp
For more posts on Vimala Thakar look here.
