Vimala Thakar on The Lovely State of Observation

A reflection on practice by Other Teachers & Folks We Value

“Thus, from the small area of mental activity, we have brought meditation to a vast field of consciousness, where it gets related to the way you sit or stand, the way you gesticulate or articulate throughout the day. Whether you want it or not, the inner state of your being gets expressed in your behaviour…” Vimala Thakar

Several years ago, we shared a another piece by Indian teacher & meditation master Vimala Thakar (1921-2009), a favorite of Hermitage Guiding Teacher Marcia Rose. Vimala was a powerful & very much sought after spiritual teacher during her lifetime. She is considered to be a teacher who expressed understanding & perfect balance between the enlightened heart/mind & social consciousness.

Silence is as much a substantial part of our lives to which we are not introduced. Motionlessness is a state of our being to which we are not introduced, The way we live, we go on collecting things on the material level, knowledge on the intellectual level, experience on the sensual & psychological level. We go on acquiring & the I, the Me, the Ego that goes on acquiring becomes stronger by every experience, with every achievement & we create an enclosure around us by our own knowledge, experience, possessions. In that enclosure we live & we feel secure in that. We live secluded, isolated from the Whole, because of the sense of possessions.

Meditation is a way of living that introduces us to that other part of our life. The silence, the motionlessness, it introduces us to our pure ISNESS which have never been conditioned & shall never be conditioned. […]

Meditation is coming home, to relax, to rest. If that takes place & one finds that though one has withdrawn & retired from activity, the inner movement goes on, thoughts come up, memories come up, then you begin to observe them. Till now you were busy carrying out functional roles, you were either the doer or the experience. From these two roles you have set yourself free voluntarily. You are now the observer. The inner movements come up, the involuntary movement comes up though the voluntary has been discontinued. You sit there quietly, you do not prepare to see, but if thoughts appear, then they are seen by you. It is a lovely state, the state of observation.

from “Meditation In Daily Life” For those who missed it last time, this is an interesting article on
Vimala’s life & work: Vimala Thakar: Liberation Beyond Gender by Elizabeth Debold