3-08-11 - In honor of International Woman's Day, we remember Vimala Thaker who taught self inquiry and social action..

I just listened to a talk of hers here at the Krishnamurti Foundation's  Visante Vihar Study Center in Chennai with a man in a nearby room, an older Indian man named Venkataraman who told me of spending a couple of hours with Vimala Thaker years ago. He also knew J. Krishnamurti who he said encouraged Thaker to speak her truth. Venkataraman spends time here and at his home near the Ramana Ashram so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other.

Thaker is associated with J. Krishnamurti, but she also referred to the wisdom of Ramana Maharshi Here's an old article from Yoga Journal about Vimala Thaker.

This place where I'm staying is like the Garden of Eden in Chennai. It's so wonderful to walk the paths in this compound amid grass, plants, and trees without a blanket of plastic and other trash covering it. There's no trash at all and almost no schedule - tea at six, three meals with another tea in the afternoon. Good people, strong women. Not a lot of people here. Mainly quiet and friendliness. There's a large rock in the middle of a lawn near The Study where J. Krishnamurti met people and spoke. Today I saw a most interesting documentary on his life called Krishnamurti: The Challenge of Change. [You can see it from that link] Richard Basehart narrates, Richard Chamberlain reads the words of the younger KM.

I remember people reading from his books at Tassajara back at the first. His rejection of all institutions and methods, ceremonies, and gurus was a healthy tonic for our eager, gullible minds. What a trip Theosophy was and is and what a story of the young Krishnamurti being chosen, picked off a beach not far from where I sit, as the new messiah. I think he did a great job of turning that around.

Added 3-23-11

When I was staying at the Khrisnamurti Foundation India (KFI) in Chennai, I enjoyed conversations with Rajeesh Dalal who was close to and used to travel with J. Krishnamurti.. Check out Dalal's website. He looked into cuke.com and showed a keen interest in what I was up to and, in the serious and sincere spirit of KFI, asked me if I still experienced suffering. I said yes and he asked, "Then why do you keep doing what you're doing? What's the value of it?" to which I replied. "No value. Good question."