The Anima Channel has just published an interview with me about “The Mystery of Dattatreya” on YouTube.

I gave this talk in the form of a personal story, not to spread my personal story (I don’t just speak about my private life in public and only share details publicly in a very specific way).

I chose this story form to convey the complex content, in order to make the experiences and underlying wisdom teachings more vivid in this way than speaking in a more impersonal lecture style. And the course of events was partly also dramatic.

Since I came into contact with the theme of Lord Dattatreya beginning of the 1980s, I experienced a deep, mysterious fascination that I could not understand exactly. Several times I spoke to Sri Kumar about this and also once asked him why he had not written anything about the avatars of Lord Dattatreya in his book on Dattatreya. He replied, “Dattatreya is the sum and essence of the cosmic principle of the Teacher. It is too mystical for the West, and therefore we tread the path of Maitreya.” And this made me curious.

I have often experienced that seekers became confused when they encountered the subject of Dattatreya and his avatars, and even got into crises – like me. Through my experiences, together with the teachings and the help of Master Kumar, I have come to a deeper realization.

And sharing such understanding might be helpful to others. For a deeper understanding gives joy and a great expansion of consciousness.

In the interview with the Anima channel, I spoke about how I came in contact with the theme of Dattatreya when meeting Sathya Sai Baba in India in the early 80s. A few facets were told in this blog on the occasion of the passing of Sathya Sai.

I mentioned details about Dattatreya in my blogposts since 2008, how I came into contact with the biography of Sripada Srivallabha and translated the book into German. Later, the adventures went on when publishing an edited version of the book in English (published by Master Kumar at Mount Shasta in 2919) and creating a website about Lord Dattatreya and Sripada.

Master Kumar had supported me very much in these efforts and revealed that since his early childhood he had been initiated into the path of Dattatreya. He even agreed to publish the biography on Sripada in Dhanishta Editions, which are bringing out his teachings.

All this has become the deepest impact in my life, except and on par with the encounter with Master CVV and the path of the World Teacher Trust. In a way, you cannot separate these two, Dattatreya being the cosmic teacher principle and the World Teacher, Lord Maitreya, the embodiment of the teacher principle for our planet – in essence it is but One.

On YouTube, there is a German talk I gave for friends from the German speaking community of the WTT about “The Avatars of Lord Dattatreya – A Small Approach to a Mystery“.

The first “Aquarian Salon”, 21 May 2023, was a great experience and a beautiful experiment of an online group exchange on spiritual topics with the power of the group. All was done just for the joy of doing as a free and non-commercial initiative. There was a vital participation with sharing insights, observations and questions. I blogged before about the preparations.

We were a team of 5 persons conducting the Salon:

Frank Berger, a guitar teacher from Berlin, Germany, started the Salon with a live guitar play. We then spoke together an old Sanskrit Prayer for Group Coherence.
Risa D’Angeles, from Central USA, gave an introduction moderated the conversation. She is an experienced psychologist and a well-known astrological teacher and publishes the Night Light News.
Rosa Fernandez, living near New York City, was taking care of the members who wrote in the chat or who wanted to speak.
Lauren Glass, from California, operated the Zoom activities and showed the slides we had prepared.
The participants gave their thoughts and understanding of the symbolism of my paintings which I had selected for the presentation. And I added further perspectives concerning the artwork or answered questions.

Besides our team of 4, 38 persons from about 8 countries were actively participating. Some feedbacks: “”Just wanted to share my gratitude and joy for being part of this wonderful project! Felt such great inspiration in today’s first Aquarian Salon! Thank you all!”, “To everyone behind the Aquarian Salon…. It was a joy working together, all of us. We did a wonderful job together!”, “These feelings are what I sensed. Excellent attitude, bright intelligence and a warm heart.”

Here is the uncut recording of the meeting; it is about 1:50 h. If you would like to see a specific part, go directly to the minutes indicated here:

· Welcome, explaining the schedule: 0:20
· Guitar piece: 5:10
· Prayer for Group Coherence: 10:30
· Introduction: Meaning of Salon… : 12:20
· Exchange on image: Aries – Spring-up of Awareness : 30:10
· Exchange on image: Taurus – The Bull and the Lingam : 53:10
· Exchange on image: Gemini – Group Consciousness, Merging and Emerging : 01:04:20
· Exchange on image: Scorpio – The Seven Kingdoms of Nature : 01:15:40
· Exchange on image: The White Island : 1:29:30
· Closing words: 1:43:10
· Violet Flame Invocation: 1:44:30

For updates, you might subscribe to the Telegram channel of the Aquarian Salon. And if you want to see my Images of Synthesis paintings, go to ludgerphilips.org.

You find the recording in the YouTube channel of “Friends of World Teacher Trust”: https://friends.wtt-global.org.

About the creation of the Salon and of our triangle of Ludger (Switzerland), Alexis & Risa (Oklahoma/USA).

I have known Risa D’Angeles from a long time ago. Our interest in the wisdom teachings brought us together and we became friends in the context of the World Teacher Trust. I once even met her; it was in 2019 during a meeting with Master Kumar at Mount Shasta, California. Risa is a writer and teacher, and she is the founder and director of the Esoteric & Astrological Studies & Research Institute & College / Night Light News.

Over 18 years, we mainly had contact through written exchanges in various projects, and during nearly 9 years she silently participated, without camera, in the bi-weekly online study groups on wisdom teachings. At the beginning of February 2023, we met for an exchange via Zoom. I had invited her with the idea to see how our collaboration could further develop. Her partner, Alexis, participated sitting in the background. During the start of our conversation, Risa asked if I was interested in an explanation of my astrology chart which I gratefully accepted.

Listening to Risa and Alexis explore my chart was like a dam breaking within and the start of a totally unexpected level of development. They both commented “in stereo” on various dimensions of my chart. They told me how they had been observing me over years giving profound answers to questions concerning the wisdom teachings. They said there are strong aspects in my chart relating to being a teacher. They proposed that I begin to share, offer and present the knowledge I had gathered over decades and that my “Images of Synthesis” paintings, full of profound symbolism, should be the means.

I hesitated and said that I don’t see myself talking and people just listening. That there are already many other things going on in my life and that, in case, I would prefer a more interactive form. They suggested that we can cooperate as a triangle. They intensely encouraged me to start teaching on a larger scale than I am doing up to now and they would strongly support me. I was touched by their inner presence; they both have a profound astrological and psychological background and experience in working with people. Our discussion went into many depths and the ideas were thrilling. But there were many questions and I needed time to digest the idea.

We began our discussions with weekly exchanges. When Risa proposed to start a salon, I replied that it reminded me of the salons in France about art and culture in the pre-revolutionary times and of the auto-mobile salon of Geneva – but that the term salon sounds a bit old-fashioned. She replied, “No – an Aquarian Salon“. I was thrilled. She said, about “Art, Astrology and Wisdom Teachings” and added “A conversation“.

That’s it. The fire was on. We agreed to open a public virtual salon four times a year on a Saturday during the signs of the fixed cross – Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, but to start at 0 degree Gemini, on Sunday, 21 May 2023. It will be presented by the “Circle of Good Will” and by “Night Light News“. Details will be shared later.

The idea was warmly welcomed by friends. Some friends are also willing to help, with music and other forms of art. The project started sprouting.

For more information see the PDF about the Aquarian Salon.

Part 5/5 On 14 January, the day before leaving, you could see Pongal fires in the streets of Visakhapatnam. Pongal is the South Indian harvest festival of the lunar winter solstice celebrated on 14th or 15 January. Old material is burnt as a symbol of leaving behind what is no longer needed in life.

The journey to India was also a process of detaching and disconnecting from what usually occupies me in everyday life, of leaving behind the usual surroundings for a while. This year, I was much less digitally active, partly intentionally, partly due to the internet connection difficulties with my laptop. This detachment is not possible when you stay continuously in digital contact with the “other world” back home.

My journeys to India always helped me to gain a distance and to get a new perspective, to reframe my way of viewing things and to see more clearly what to adjust in life. Sri Kumar once explained how the ambiance in India is spiritually charged by the very ancient presence of the Great Ones and, in spite of the surficial chaos, supports opening to the subtler dimensions much better than anywhere else.

The exchanges with other members during the journey showed me the very variant ways of understanding and interpreting situations, and at the same time to focus the underlying unity. You could see this in the attitudes towards situations on journeys or when speaking about the purpose of being together. I tried to mainly observe, listen, and where necessary inform and point out without intervening. Being aware of the purpose of a group living and acting accordingly is unifying the group. Some were very supportive in this, having the same attitude and feeling.

A little anecdote about different perspectives:
In my talk during the “Fusion of East and West” meeting at the Guru Pooja, where most contributions were in Telugu, I spoke about the importance of English as the Aquarian language allowing overcoming language barriers and that therefore, the Hierarchy had chosen English as the means of wisdom dissemination and that Master Kumar had given learning English as a spiritual discipline for all members. When after returning I mentioned this in an exchange with a German head of group, she answered that the Indian brotherhood, by speaking Telugu at the Guru Poojas, allows inclusion of all the local members of lesser education who will not be able to understand English well. I understood.

The meetings this year were different from previous group livings insofar as Master Kumar was no more physically there to set and hold the frame. You could strongly feel his presence but other members had to act. Sri Joshi, the head of Bangalore group, beautifully explained that Master Kumar was like a father taking care of many things; and like in a family, when the father or the mother pass over, the children have to take over responsibility. You know what might happen when a the family is no more held together. Now, in WTT, there is a greater need for us to take care, look around to see what can be done, and to co-operate more with the purpose of the group, of the Plan.

Some in WTT are looking out for having another Master in this role of coordinating and holding together, for replacing the vacancy the passing of Master Kumar from the physical has created. A member wrote me, “Who is now the Master? There must be a Master in the center.” I tried to explain that the group is the Master and group units might take over greater responsibilities. I experienced this myself how the questions I had were solved through exchanges, and that myself am more in situations of explaining.

I observed that some were looking out for other interesting gurus and organisations. The “spiritual tourists” in the groups always easily start “flirting” with how well other teachers and organisations are – but not committing themselves here nor there. These are aspirants not yet having fixed themself on the path. But with those fixed on the path, there is also a greater need for coming together and to exchange.

In a talk, Guru Prasad, the son of Master Kumar, pointed out that normally seekers have very few close co-members with whom they can speak about what they experience and what occupies them internally. This is only possible with the ones who have a similar spiritual orientation. It takes time for seekers to open up more deeply. It also takes time to be able to dive deep into the wisdom teachings. And for this, longer group lives are very helpful. Therefore, the group lives in Visakhapatnam will continue in the future.

A personal experience: For different reasons, it was difficult to pack my luggage in Switzerland well ahead though I started early. I had to finalise it in the morning I departed. I was a bit in a hurry and had not carefully done the final luggage weighing and eliminating non-essential things. At the airport, I had about 6 kg overweight which would make 600 Swiss francs. The lady at the counter said I could put heavy things into the hand-baggage. With many people in the row behind me, I opened the suitcase, distributed some things to my co-travellers and took heavy things into the hand-baggage. There finally was no overweight fee but a bad feeling.

I had a number of gifts in the suitcase, but during the journey I received much more gifts – shawls, shirts, books and other items where I didn’t know what to do with them. I understand the importance for the givers to give. I didn’t want to be impolite and refuse, but under no circumstances I wanted to increase the baggage load. So each time a gift came I immediately passed it on to someone else wherever it was possible. Passing on also spreads joy.

In the end, I had again overweight. I radically eliminated things, gave or threw away and always thought, why do presents still need to be physical and not, as per the general trend in the Aquarian age, be more subtle. It was an intense piece of learning for me.

Go to part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 of the series.

Part 2/5 Master CVV introduced two days of group meditation and initiation, one in the month of Gemini and one in the month of Capricorn, 29th May and 29th December. Since 2003, it became a tradition for December Call to be carried out in Bangalore, and it was now the 113th December Call celebration, starting in the evening of 28th December 2022.

It is always a very inspiring get-together. The structure was very much the same like it had been in the previous years, and the energy was present like before, even without the physical presence of Master KPK.

The morning and evening prayers were conducted by Sri R.P. Joshi, the head of Sadguru Tapovana, and he also gave two talks. Group members from Bangalore conducted the rituals and the poojas – Ganapathi (Ganesha) poojas in the beginning of the celebration and in the early morning, a fire ritual and a Dattatreya ritual. These rituals always create an ambiance enriched with strong spiritual vibrations which are uplifting all the space around. This is partly not so much understood it the West but it is an intense means of manifesting spiritual magnetism.

There were also small rituals for giving first food to babies and introduction of children into writing. Sri Joshi as well as Guru Prasad and Navaneetam from Visakhapatnam gave talks, new books of Master KPK were presented (Master CVV – Yoga and Aphorisms to Disciples, and Dwelling and the Indweller, about living in the body and in a house) and at the end gifts were distributed to the participants.

The entire celebration was an uplifting event and very well organised – dining halls with a special service for Westerners, a book stall and help desks – the Tapovana group took much care for the well-being of all who participated. Together with some other members from Germany and Spain, we were accommodated in the nearby house of a family who made their own rooms available to us – an overwhelming hospitality and experience of brotherhood.

The gatherings are also always a good occasion for a number of talks with members about organisational issues, strengthening the collaboration. However, the time flew by quickly, and on 30th December afternoon we were sitting already in the airplane to the next stage of the journey, Visakhapatnam.

Go to part 1 part 3 part 4 part 5 of the series.

Part 1/5 Before the experiences of the trip to India from end of December 22 to mid-January 23 slowly fade into the background, I would like to share with you some impressions of the journey.

It was an extraordinary journey with a variety of deep experiences. It was also an intense tour where many obstacles had to be overcome. We needed determination and inner direction. We experienced a lot of support, and friendships were deepened. The most important, however, was being together with like-minded fellow members, in prayers and in daily interactions.

Already the preparations for the trip were not easy, but even here the common direction welded the core group together. Other people joined us at different stages of the journey. Especially the transition of Master Kumar and the uncertainties in the immediate period following were very present, but the will to be together, as a group and with inner alignment, was very strong. It was a profound group experience.

There were four of us travelling together from Zurich – Manfred and Sabine, old friends of mine from the German Lake Constance region with whom I had already travelled to India in 2016/17, as well as Clarissa from the German Allgäu region in Bavaria, whom we did not know yet, just via Zoom. She was travelling to India for the first time and she fit in very well. We met for the first time at the airport on Winter Solstice, Dec. 21.

In Bangalore we were very warmly welcomed by the WTT Tapovana group, and we joined the group rhythm for one day. A larger part of the group had travelled to the Master Mountain resort of the WTT in the Nilagiris for the winter solstice celebration. They were returning from the celebration while we were driving towards the Mount.

The resort center is located high up in the Nilagiris, the Blue Mountains of South India, beautifully situated at about 2000 meters above sea level, overlooking the Master Mountain. From an occult viewpoint, there is the ashram of Rishi Agastya, the oldest and most exalted of the Masters of the spiritual Hierarchy, in the subtle planes.

From the outside, you see tea plantations and small forests, a small settlement of tea plantation workers and the Kodanadu viewpoint of the mountain. It has become a local tourist attraction in the last few years and it was heavily visited over Christmas. When went there on Christmas eve afternoon, the place was crowded with visitors, and every 30 minutes, a bus was transporting new ones.

Luckily, all the busy traffic did not touch the silence around the Master Mountain resort, the “Retreat into the Presence”. We were deeply impressed how well this place is maintained by the Bangalore group of WTT, and AVR Ramakrishna, the caretaker who had moved there to dedicate his life to keep the place intact and vibrant. And who also took great care of us. A place of purity, meditation and rituals.

At Master Mountain, in the loving ambiance of the group, we all felt very well. Sabine brought a presentation she had recently given in WTT Germany about the lost years of Jesus Christ with many beautiful illustrations and information about modern findings. I spoke about Rishi Agastya, the spiritual importance of the Mount and of the encounter between Albert Sassi and Master EK in the mid-60s of last century. In theosophical circles, the presence of Rishi Agastya in this area of the Nilagiris was known and Sassi settled there for some time to be in this presence.

On the first day, a beautiful sunrise greeted us at the mountain during morning meditation. We enjoyed the sublime atmosphere and walked a bit in the surrounding area.

On Christmas morning we had a little fire ritual on a balcony. Wind and clouds were already beginning to gather. Soon everything was shrouded in mist and it began to drizzle. The dense clouds veiled all the surroundings, hiding the Master Mountain, the sacred place of the ashram of Rishi Agastya from our view. While doing a walk in the mist, we enjoyed the subtle smell of herbs the wind carried along. And we met a groups of youngster who did Bollywood dances on the street surrounded by fog and music from their cars.

Later, a storm set in, raging for the rest of our stay. Clouds and rain hit against the vibrating windows who were like a thin coating keeping us on the safe side while water partly pressed in. But Ramakrishna quickly cleaned up everything.

On the afternoon of the second day, the veil of clouds was lifted for about an hour and there opened a gorgeous view over the mountain and the surrounding hills and valleys. The lake behind the Mount had grown a lot due to the strong showers, and the air had an intense clarity. The fast moving clouds and the sunrays painted quickly changing colour patterns on the ground while the shades of the blue sky were radiating in profound brilliance. The Mount resented great details of its sublime structure, while in the valley below us two bisons were grazing in the tea plantations.

The resort built there in the presence of the Mount is a silent but awe-inspiring place manifested through the impulse and with the guidance of Master Kumar and with the great dedication and commitment of the brotherhood.

On 27 December, the return journey started. The storm had weakened a bit but the clouds were still dense. Our taxi driver heading the group of 3 cars was driving at high speed, he overtook in blind curves and dangerous situations. Luckily, we had good guardian angels.

A short shopping stop in Ooty, then a serpentine road downhill full of intense traffic, through beautiful eucalyptus forests and a tiger reserve – no tigers to be seen but elephants and deer in the bushes of the waysides – and then the countryside was flying along the highway via Mysore. It was night when we arrived back in Bangalore’s dense traffic, being filled with rich impressions.

When we were later in Visakhapatnam and several group members did a spontaneous quick trip to the Mount via airplane and taxi from Coimbatore for several days, I asked myself why we had done such a long and fatiguing journey with intense planning preparations. I mentioned it to the fellow-travellers of our group. We all felt that this travelling together was an important part of the pilgrimage which had deepened our relations. Above all, we were thankful for all the support received from the Bangalore brotherhood.

The Master Mountain resort is not an open place but only for WTT members who would like to come for a retreat. In case, please contact the group of Sadguru Tapovana, Bangalore.

Go to part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 of the series.

Last Tuesday afternoon, 1 November 2022, I surprisingly got a call from a friend living in California. He told me that there is a message in the WhatsApp group of WTT India called Radhamadhavam (this being also the name of the assembly hall for teaching and spiritual activities in Master Kumar’s house).
Guru Prasad, the son of Master K. Parvathi Kumar, had just posted, “Our beloved Master KPK has sailed to higher realms. Master KPK Namaskaram.”

It was a shock. Although I knew that Sri Kumar was seriously sick, he had speeded up giving inspiration and guidance in many directions over the last months. His weekly “Merry Life” talks every second Saturday were brimming with inspiration and wisdom. Although his body was handicapped increasingly by the progressing stages of blood cancer and he was having pain, he kept on a high pace of interacting with members via writing, speaking, teaching.

I found it breath-taking, also what I came to witness from people who visited him or were in contact with him directly. He kept on reacting quickly when I asked questions concerning activities of WTT-Global in a chat group with him. In the last 2 months, he initiated several far-reaching new projects, which he first submitted to us in the “Triangle”, the internal organisational steering team of WTT-Global. We discussed details in a Zoom meeting, and then he presented them to larger circles of members. He contacted members to take over the responsibility for these new projects and gave guidance. As late as September/October, he even conducted the several days’ long Durga Festival and the Festival of Light, Divali, in Radhamadhavam with many participants.

When hearing of his passing, I started functioning in a kind of “auto-mode” for the following days – preparing and sharing communications, speaking with close persons and trying to keep up with other ongoing work and situations. Slowly, more information came in about the situation of Master Kumar in the last time, especially the last day. Guru Prasad, his son, gave a detailed report last Friday night about the disease and the moments of passing. And there were short videos and photos of the final rites, the cremation of the physical sheath of the Master last Thursday, and now about the 10 days of traditional rituals done after a passing. At the moment, Guru Prasad is on a journey bringing the ashes of Master KPK to sacred rivers in India.

After the first shock, there were intense experiences of the sublime presence of the Master and joy. And the feeling of a new cycle starting. Gratitude filled my heart. Last Wednesday and Saturday evening in my German and English online study groups, we exchanged about the situation, and the members expressed their experiences. It was a very profound moment of sharing and meditation. Some had been in e-mail contact with the Master until the last days before his passing. The members of the group had similar experiences and we all felt a profound bond of connectedness. Yesterday, a friend who participated in the group exchange wrote: “It feels so good to go on all together this way. A big hug for all, Namaskaram.”

Today is Sri Kumar’s anniversary. He was born on 7th of November 1945 in Vijayawada, a Wednesday at 07:20 AM in the month of Scorpio. Through him manifested a great amount of global goodwill work; therefore, we celebrate the 7th of November in his honour as “Day of Goodwill”. He now concluded his journey on earth after 77 years. Our acts of goodwill, together with the regular prayer/meditation and self-study, are the best ways to pay homage to him and to keep him present among us.

A small group of WTT members from ANIMA Channel visited Visakhahaptnam in August and recorded a face-to-face personal interview with Master KPK which was just published in the ANIMA channel under the title “Man behind Master”. They shared it today, on Master KPK’s birthday, to honour His life and forever radiant presence, and as a token to the groups.

You find here the video with original sound in English (subtitled in German, French and Spanish) and here with Spanish voice-over.

My mother once told me that when I was a child she asked me to pick up something on the floor which I had thrown there. I didn’t want and replied: “I cannot, my arms are too short.”

This became an iconic example for self-excuses. It comes to my mind in cases of my own self-excuses and when coming across others’ expressing their inability to do something. Often it is a self-fooling and trying to hide one’s unwillingness. In such cases, my wife and I use to say, “Yes, the arms are too short.”

Such twisting is not as negligible as it might appear at first sight. It causes inner twists leading to distortions in our perception and to character flaws. And these again, are boulders on the spiritual path.

I recently came across a person having problems with a neighbour for years. The problem was, of course, seen as being with the neighbour, and there was no chance of changing the situation. So she said: “They say it’s all part of the Divine Plan. My view is that the Plan must have flaws.”

We usually project the sources of problems to the outside, to other people or outer situations, neglecting to start with ourselves. So I replied, “Sorry to say so, but it is your view of the Plan where the flaws are.”

During my visit to friends in Heiligenberg (Holy Mountain) near Lake Constance (see the previous blogpost) Sabine and I went to the town of Überlingen last Sunday morning to see the “Sweden procession“. It is a tradition which started at the end of the Thirty Years’ War: In 1634, the citizens could successfully repel a besiegement of the Swedes which attacked the town over two years. In gratitude for this success, the citizens made a vow to hold twice a year a “Sweden procession”, where after a church service the “Sweden Madonna”, a figure of Mary gilded in silver in 1659, is carried on shoulders by scouts through the town, together with a youth choir, altar boys and girls, and men and women dressed in the traditional costumes.

Memories came up: In my youth, feeling like aeons ago, I had participated in similar processions as an altar boy. I was now a tourist, an on-looker, touched by the ambiance of the spiritual orientation. The faces of the youngsters in the Sweden procession, dressed in white, were focused and full of devotion. I was astonished to see in the cortège people of all ages – also a lot of youngsters and middle-aged people. Sabine was greeting some she knew from her choir.

While we were walking along Lake Constance, she told me that in past times, there had been such processions at many places but modern life turned people away, so that nowadays there are only very few of such processions left.

The citizens of Überlingen, however, are very proud of their tradition and there is a strong social cohesion in the town. She knows of people who lived for longer time in other parts of Germany but felt lost there, and they came back to live and work in this area. You can feel this sense of togetherness in the town – and it could be seen in the “Sword Dance”, related to the Sweden procession, which was performed in the courtyard of Überlingen and in front of the archives an hour later.

It was short before noon – and for us time to prepare for the Health & Healing – Prayer we do on Thursday and Sunday noon time. We rushed through some streets of the old town to the “Garden of Silence” at the “SusoHaus“, which might have been the birth place of Henry Suso (Heinrich Seuse), a mediaeval Dominican friar and mystic (1295-1366). In 2007, an association “New Mysticism in Dialogue” was founded to fill the house with life by transferring Heinrich Seuse’s spiritual impulses into our time and make them fruitful for people today. The house was renovated and now, visitors have the opportunity to become creatively active in writing, making music, philosophising, meditating and, above all, in dialogue with others in the sense of their own lives. (translated from their website)

The “Garden of Silence” at the SusoHaus is freely accessible at all times, and sitting there, under flowers, was an excellent place for our Health & Healing meditation.

A week ago, I was in Heiligenberg (Holy Mountain), South Germany, near Lake Constance visiting Manfred and Sabine for 5 days. It was a precious time with these two friends filled with exchanges, meditations, little excursions and relaxing in their beautiful garden. Manfred has created a little paradise with many roses and other flowers, trees, and bushes with plenty of red and black currants, raspberries and blackberries at the moment – delicious…

In the first evening, Manfred took me up to the forest near the castle where there are two natural burial sites and we spoke about our “transition planning”. In Germany, there are only such places where you can bury the urns outside traditional cemeteries – in Switzerland, it is allowed to give the ash into lakes, rivers, or places in nature.

We then followed a path along the cliffs, which had been only recently re-opened after a longer renovation. It lead to the “friendship cave”, a natural cave, where some centuries ago castle servants were living.

Next morning, Sabine took me to Meersburg on Lake Constance. We walked through the old town and the new castle. There, we saw a statue of the German poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848), who lived for eight years in Meersburg.

We then visited the Prince’s House, which Annette had purchased to live there, with a gorgeous view over the lake. Now, it is a museum dedicated to this first well-known German poetess.

It was very special for me: Already in school, we learnt some of Annette’s poems by heart and read texts. About 40 years ago, a dear friend of mine wrote his PhD about the chronology of her life for the historical-critical complete edition of her works. I was jobless at that time and he gave me his work for typing; thus, I knew many details about Annette. My friend then arranged that I became a museum guide at the Rüschhaus near Münster, North Germany, where Annette had previously lived. Now, in the Prince’s House, there were several pictures of this other house.

Afterwards, we visited the Meersburg cemetery where Annette is buried. We also wanted to see the grave of another famous person, Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), who studied “animal magnetism”. He was hypnotizing people and healing with his hands – of course, much disputed and considered “imagination” by the mainstream physicians and scientists.

We spent the afternoon in the garden, and in the evening, we went to a small theatre in an old basement vault in Überlingen. The “Noltes Theater” presented “Summer Night Rapture”, a poetic performance with songs, jazz and blues music – full of linguistic wit, furious piano playing, and enthusiasm for theatre.