On 8th of May, the “White Lotus Day”, we commemorate Helena P. Blavatsky, the great Bringer of Light for the Aquarian Age. We have been doing so since the beginning of our blog 18 years ago. If you would like to know more about the life of the Madam, please find here a biographical sketch about the life and work of HPB.

Master KPK often spoke about the greatness of Madam Blavatsky and what she had done for spirituality. He also gave several books about HPB, her teachings and the impact of her life:

• “The Golden Stairs“
• “Teachings of Madame HPB“
• “The Theosophical Movement“
• 3 volumes on “Lectures on Secret Doctrine”, see here (all books are there available as free PDFs).

May we recollect on the White Lotus Day that Helena Blavatsky brought out the truth about the Masters of Wisdom through her books and that she opened the door for us to link to the Spiritual Hierarchy. We pay homage to her by practically integrating the wisdom into our lives.

See below the words of Master KPK from a discourse on 08th of May 2016 at Visakhapatnam:

“8th May is celebrated as White Lotus Day in the Theosophical Societies. On this day, Madam HPB passed over in the year 1891 and after the departure, she attained a permanent place in the Ashram of a Grand Master in Himalayas. Grand Masters themselves declared this day as “White Lotus Day” because to fulfil their grand Plan, Madam HPB was born. She was a highly pure soul which can be compared to a ‘White lotus’. It is said that there was no other being as pure as her, at the time when she was in a body. She went through lot of hardships in her life and worked towards the establishment of truth and Divine Wisdom on the planet. It is considered a highly difficult task because it is the age of Kali and lot of lies was spreading around and the messengers of Kali were very powerful in their work. Through her, the Divine wisdom spread all over the globe.

So on this day, we should recollect her. She keeps giving her presence to all groups which aspire to learn and practice the path to Divinity. She has a body of light and she is always prepared to grace sincere aspirants. She was given the title “Upasika” by the Grand Masters. It means she was highly devoted to the Divine and his work.

She was born in the early hours of 12th of August and she departed on 8th of May. This day is also celebrated in the Ashrams of Grand Masters because she gained a permanent position in the Ashram through her sincere work. She did not care for the physical body at any point of time. She sustained immense pain in the physical to fulfil the work. She did not leave the body until she completed the book “Secret Doctrine”. She was even suggested by Master Devapi to leave the body prior to that but she did not agree and remained in the body until the work was complete.

The truth that the Hierarchy of Masters exist on the planet and they keep guiding the humanity in the path of ascent, is known to very few. Though it is written in the Indian Scriptures, Indians too did not recognize them. We recognized them only when Madam HPB brought out the truth about them through her books. Only through her, we could get a link to the Hierarchy of Masters. She is the gateway to enter the Ashrams of those Masters. That is why we should recollect her regularly.

She is an embodiment of wisdom and through her we were presented with the knowledge relating to Cosmo-Genesis and Anthropo-Genesis. This knowledge was not available to the mankind earlier, in such detail. So on this day, I took time at the beginning of this discourse to recollect her and her work. She is very much liked by all the Masters of Wisdoms and we gain their blessing by remembering her.”

Have a good White Lotus Day!

On several occasions, Master KPK had spoken about the importance of celebrating the festivals of Good Friday / Passover and Easter.
On 3 April 2021, during the online lecture to members of “Merry Life” teachings, he had explained the esoteric understanding of the festivals and their times. Please see below the extract on this teaching.
As per this understanding, Good Friday will be this year Friday 5th of April 2024, and Easter Sunday, 7th of April.

With clarifications I did with Sri Kumar for the production of the Astro Diary of WTT, he had explained that in years where Good Friday is at the very end of Aries and the following New Moon is already in Taurus, the third Friday in the month of Aries preceding New Moon might be taken as Good Friday.
For cases, where the new moon is at the very beginning or early days of Aries, the Master gave different indications like celebrating in such years Good Friday in the third week of Aries, not around New Moon. He said that it is not possible to always reconcile lunar and solar rhythms, but that the Good Friday should be in Aries, not Taurus.

“Some of you may have been going through the sublime thought of Good Friday this weekend but the truth is Good Friday is next Friday.

I have given this information in the little book on Good Friday. It is hinted at in the ‘Spiritual Astrology’ of Master EK. It was also hinted at in varieties of ways by Madame Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine.

Good Friday or the festival of Passover is an age-old tradition. It did not start with Jesus the Christ. It was there before and Jesus Christ, in tune with the time plan, took birth and conducted his work and in tune with the time plan he departed. That is where he is great.

But the tradition of Good Friday emerges from a deeper understanding of astrology which we call esoteric astrology. Later, it developed into exoteric astrology.

Good Friday happens on the Friday which is very near to the New Moon of Aries. It was also so with Jesus the Christ. His crucifixion was on Friday. He went through the Passover on Saturday and successfully ascended on Sunday which we call Easter Sunday.

But this is an annual process for all beings who are on ascent; for all disciples to ascend. This arc is very important because Sun is in exaltation in Aries. Moon recedes towards the Sun. Around the New Moon the mind, the personality, everything joins the soul. The soul escapes from the body into higher realms.
According to the plan, some of them may pass over into higher circles, some of them will come down to serve the humanity.
From Taurus onwards via Gemini and Cancer and some of the others, like aspirants and humanity at large, they go through the cycles again and again and again.

Passover is a function of passing over into higher circles consciously. Passover is a function that enables a disciple to consciously pass over into higher circles. It has to be practised on every Friday night because every weekend is meant for it.

From Friday to Sunday, it is a weekly Passover which we have to relate to.
Instead of visualising the weekends to relate to the practices of Passover, the impact of Kali is such that we, the humanity at large, enters into weekend programmes, picnics, parties, indulgence into senses, into food, into sensuous enjoyments, all kinds of things and returns on Monday to join the work again.
That is a weekend programme which is absolutely the reverse of the Passover. It is on account of Kali that most of the people utilise the weekend to get weakened bodily, sensuously and mentally.

But weekend is meant for strengthening oneself with the like of buddhi, soul and super soul. The reverse is worked out because when we do not have the right knowledge and the right practice, we do not adopt to the time plan.

The Old Testament says that the whole creation is made in seven days. Four days from Thursday night to Monday you move forward and on Friday you return back. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are to return. Friday night, Saturday night Sunday night are meant to return back to your source. From Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday you can expand into objectivity. Weekly activity can also be seen as a movement into objectivity and subjectivity.

Likewise, the monthly activity can also be seen in that manner. From New Moon to Full Moon expand into objective world. From Full Moon to New Moon, you withdraw gradually and by around the New Moon you be with yourself, relating to the personality, relating to the soul, and the soul integrating with the super soul.

These are the rhythms that the time cycles teach us. Time cycles are essentially important for disciples. We have to follow the time cycles and move forward. Because Time is the other name for the Lord in creation and beyond Time it is Absolute God. It is Time and Space, presided over by Absolute God, that conduct the whole creation.

We move forward and backward even on a daily basis. As you awaken, you move with your awareness into objectivity. As you slip back into sleep you withdraw your awareness into your own source. It is a daily happening. Within a day there are quarterly happenings. Within the week there is a movement towards objectivity and subjectivity and within a year also you do that.

Passover is essentially meant for passing over to higher circles specially for those who have fulfilled their obligations in relation to the physical plane. It is a great festival.
Passover is a great festival where man consciously passes over via his forehead and Sahasrara. That is the theme.

In the case of Jesus Christ, it so happened that it was not only nearing the New Moon, it was also a solar eclipse day which confirms that it is a New Moon because solar eclipse happens only during New Moon times and not during Full Moon time.

Full Moon time we have the lunar eclipse. When Jesus Christ passed over, it was a solar eclipse. That is the second dimension.

The third dimension is, which I have been giving you through the teachings of Blavatsky. The lunar phases are different from the solar days. In Secret Doctrine, Madame Blavatsky writes very clearly and these dimensions I have brought out of The Teachings of Madame Blavatsky via Vaisakh Newsletter.

We shall have to separately follow the tithis or the moon phases. Do not mix it up with the dates which are coming from Roman times as solar days. Before solar days there was also prominence for the lunar calendar.
Even the Jewish system follows the lunar calendar. Indian system follows the lunar calendar. While solar calendar is popular, lunar calendar holds certain secrets and we shall get into them when we get into the inner side of our being.

So, when Jesus passed over, around Friday it started. The New Moon was approaching, the solar eclipse had happened and it all happened in the far end of the month of Aries.

Therefore, next week Friday stands greater eligibility to conduct the Good Friday function. …

The Jews conduct this festival of Sabbath every Friday which is very age-old. The Indians relate to Krishna or the World Mother on Friday evenings. Even the latest religion that we have, Islam, they also take Friday as very important. Jumu’ah, they call it. It is a day to return and relate to the Divine more and more. By Sunday, you can experience the soul that you are, in three days’ time.

This is how festivals are conceived in an esoteric manner. But mostly festivals are done putting on new clothes, taking nice showers here and there, putting on lot of ornaments, making social parties, and spending time in dance and song. That is festival of personality. This is a different festival; it is a festival of the soul.”

We are currently in Pisces, where the old annual cycle is slowly coming to an end. And today, Mercury enters Aries – it’s time to start thinking about our plan for the new annual cycle.

In the last two days, I read two articles in two different magazines that were not directly related in terms of subject matter, but were similar in one important respect – visions of a good life are needed to make it possible.

One article in the newspaper “Der Bund” from March 8, 2024 by Nora Zukker was about a new book by German philosopher Carolin Emcke, who used to write as a reporter about people in conflict zones who are disenfranchised, persecuted, tortured and killed. In her new book (“Was wahr ist. Über Gewalt und Klima” – What is true. About Violence and Climate), Emcke says that we need to counter the dystopian narratives with something worth hoping for. We need a narrative that is committed to what should be socially valid – and resists violence. Among other things, the predictions of a climate apocalypse that many are making are worrying, but we need utopias that are recognizable on the horizon, because they convey hope. If no one tells the story of the utopia, then it cannot be true. Only the telling makes something true. It needs a narrative that justifies what it wants to create: humaneness, a more humane life.

The other article by journalist and Middle East correspondent Detlef Gürtler in the Swiss magazine “Das Magazin” No. 10/2024 (for subscribers) describes how no one knows when and how the war between Israel and Hamas will end, but that it is certain that a new beginning is needed afterwards, which could be a new beginning for the entire Middle East. And he shows a vision for the Middle East region in the 21st century and which processes could lead there. Assessments of dangers are described, but viable solutions are also outlined.

With the background knowledge of the wisdom teachings, we know that we are going through severe crises in the current transition period. We can prepare ourselves for the events that unfold through time. The times are prone to unrest, struggle and conflict unless much is done to counteract this on a global, group and individual level.

We can align ourselves with the Masters and invoke their energies so that the higher Will may rule the governments of the countries of the world. We can invoke the energy of synthesis with group prayers so that this energy brings about the necessary synthesis among us. And we can tune into the light of the soul and continue to work with ourselves to transform ourselves. May the new cycle give us the determination and strength we need to move forward on the path!

It is now a week ago that I started the journey back home from India and nearly five weeks since the start. Through the fog of inner and outer impressions, the contours of what I experienced slowly become clearer. In this mist, there is a light shining through which becomes stronger when I contemplate on it, and I might call it the essence. It is inside but it is shining into the outer as well. It has been impregnating me and keeps doing so.

The journey itself is like a multi-dimensional cinema experience – I go in and I go out again. And the intensity fades when the cinema show ends. With a cinema show, there is mostly no lasting impact. And it is the same with many things I encounter in India – they are not of relevance for my life in the West and face away again. But each journey is like a “reset” of my life which is not possible when I stay comfortably at home. It is a transformation experience. Such a pilgrimage journey helps me to better align to the purpose of my life. And gain fresh vigour and determination.

There were many exchanges, I saw saw many forms of community/communities and coherence/being together. With the group members and other people I encountered, I perceived an intense striving for divinity, expressing spirituality in daily life. It was much stronger perceivable than in the surroundings of my Western life. And this was very inspiring. Although I cannot and do not want to live and work and express myself in a way I saw in India – and I also saw forms which kept me at a distance and were disgusting – it gave me fresh resolve to express divinity and spirituality in my life and through the ways and forms which are possible in my surroundings. It is a matter of inner attitude. This fresh impulse is most essential for me.

The Triangular Book of Count Saint Germain

At the beginning of the journey, on the very first day, Sri Joshi showed Mark and me photos from a manuscript which he and Shreya had taken at the Getty Research Institute in LA, the Triangular Book of Count Saint Germain (Master CSG). I was very thrilled to see the beautiful drawings and writings in perfect handwriting mostly in cipher language. It was a touch of the great Master who had built a bridge of the wisdom of Hierarchy from the East to the West – although it still remains a mystery. I didn’t know about this book but we are reading in a German study group the “Most Holy Trinosophia” of Master CSG, which Master EK had mentioned, and Sri Joshi wanted to send the photos. I didn’t receive it but the information came in other ways, by sharing with group members and some further search: the entire book is scanned and online; it is translated into English here. There are two manuscripts of the Triangular Book, one dated 1775, the other 1750. There is a very interesting website about it, “The Triangular Book“, by an anonymous author, giving an aura of mystery. He hinted at a book and he might be the author himself, since he writes about “my publication of Triangular Book of St. Germain (Ouroboros Press, 2014). So, it is probably Nick Koss, who produced an exquisite limited edition reproduction published in Seattle, from where my friend Mark Ray came and where he passed over at return of our journey, completing his cycle on earth.

I do not know which is the relevance of all these impressions and all information about the “Triangular Book” of Master CSG for me. But I mention here this story because it shows well how mysteries reveal themselves when the time is ripe, even if it takes centuries. I learn not to rush but let things develop themselves.

And this is, where the end of my blog-posts about the “Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India” touches the beginning. The mystery of the extremely intense experiences of this journey.

Time offers different qualities. Especially the solstices and the equinoxes carry specific qualities which are supportive for spiritual practices. It is very good to align to these specific energies time offers. 20 September 2023, I had given a short introduction about “Tuning into Autumn Equinox Celebration” at a Zoom equinox meeting of WTT-Global, illustrating the energies with some of my paintings.

Since 10 years, we have been celebrating the solstices and equinoxes at the Paracelsus Center of WTT in Einsiedeln. Whenever the weather allowed, we started with a fire ritual on the Etzel Pass mountain ridge. The day before, it had intensely rained but on Libra equinox morning the rain had stopped. We decided to go, while the clouds were hanging low.

There is a nice place in a small clearing at the ridge. The forest was wet but singing the mantrams of the the fire ritual created a sublime ambiance.

The low-hanging clouds created a mystic ambiance over the landscape.

Master KPK had inspired the creation of the Paracelsus Center and had accompanied it over the years. He pointed out the important of Paracelsus, a great spiritual Master whose impulses had a profound impact on the development of medicine, especially naturopathy. He was born at the place where the Paracelsus Center is located.

We prepared the room, did a little ritual of candle lighting and a guided equinox visualisation. Later in the afternoon, we studied a talk of Master KPK on the importance of Libra (autumn) equinox.

In the afternoon, the sun came out for a while and we walked along the Sihl river to a little shrine of Maria near a waterfall. She is an emblem of the World Mother.

The evening meditation closed our autumn equinox celebration. We were a small group but in the wareness of being linked to many who were also celebrating the equinox around the globe. We were thankful for being allowed by time to participate.

On 8th of May, the “White Lotus Day”, we commemorate the life and work of Helena P. Blavatsky or, as she was lovingly called ” Madam HPB”. She was the great Bringer of Light for the Aquarian Age. Full of courage, she opposed old superstitions and she did not hesitate to stand up for spiritual truth: “Truth is Higher than Religion”. So she named the monthly magazine which she published, together with Mabel Collins, “Lucifer”, the light bringer.

A major purpose of HPB’s grand opus “Secret Doctrine” is devoted to the task of revealing the deep occult truth behind the mystery of the Light Bringers. In Sanskrit, they are called Agnishvattas, meaning “the Lords of the Flame” or Sons of Fire.

However, in Western theology, they are considered to be fallen, rebellic angels. For the Wisdom Teachings, they are the ones who formed the Hierarchy of Teachers. They gave humanity the light of Manas, the mind principle.

Madam Blavatsky was chosen by Hierarchy to spread this understanding to all seekers of Light. Master Kumar explained the essence of “Secret Doctrine” in his profound work on “The Seven Waves of Life“.

At a meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, June 2004, the Master gave some recommendations about how to study Secret Doctrine in a group:

– “Start studying the Laws given in Secret Doctrine, the law of alternation, periodicity, time cycles….
– Then study the Races / Root Races
– Then the Manus
– Then the Globe Chains
– Then from the 3rd volume (old sequence): ‘Anthropogenesis’, till the end of the book
– Then Cosmogenesis

Thus we will have a sound foundation of the Secret Doctrine.”

In Berne, we once followed this recommendation in a small group and thus read the books in this manner.

At many occasion, Sri Kumar highlighted the importance of what HPB had done for spirituality. There are further books by him about works of HPB, on “The Golden Stairs“, on “The Theosophical Movement“, 3 volumes on “Lectures on Secret Doctrine” (1, 2, 3, giving deep insights into the wisdom teachings) and “Teachings of Madame HPB“.

At the “White Lotus Day” 2021, Sri Kumar said:

“The work of Madam Blavatsky is seen as a stupendous work carried out in the last part of the 19th century which has vibrated the planet. Thousands and thousands of groups have joined till date and it continues to be. All that she contributed to humanity is recognised more by the Brotherhood than the humanity. It will take a long time for humanity to understand the great work that came through Madame Blavatsky.

We fondly remember her. She is the first one in the recent cycles of time that has unveiled the wisdom which is universal. It is not sectarian. It is not based upon limited thoughts about God. In His memory we…we say, ‘His’ because even the Masters recognise her though in a female body, as a grand male that did a lot of work from the soul dimension.”

May we take up the inspiration given by HPB’s life and work to pay her homage by climbing up the Golden Stairs to the Temple of Divine Wisdom – and this, by practically integrating the wisdom into our lives.

Have a good White Lotus Day!

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.”

Looking back to the journey to India 10 days after returning, the impact of the experiences slowly become clearer. The memories of details recede; exchanges with close friends or with my wife have given shape to certain moments by telling about them. But there is more to it, and it needs time to digest. It is one thing to be under the direct impact of situations and exchanges and it is another to observe transformations happening inside and to perceive how the trip was enriching to the inner growth of awareness. There were moments and observations which have contributed to it.

I have been at many group lives and seminars with Master Kumar over the last 25 years – journeys to India, in Europe, to North and South America. I have been keen on absorbing the teachings, on digesting them by intense taking notes, on developing a network of like-minded people. Friendships developed or were deepened. There were incidences and encounters which moved and partly challenged me – health issues, digesting situations and impressions, re-stabilizing in everyday life after some climax experiences. There were ideas for projects or service activities coming up which needed to be developed through months and years. This has been much enriching for my life. It was and is an unfoldment to many dimensions.

The last journey has been special – short but again very intense: two days of travelling, five days of group living, long hours of meditation, of rituals, of long lectures of the Master full of energy and with great presence, where he was surmounting all physical disabilities, radiating joyfulness, uplifting the large group present in the hall and outside and also participating online somewhere on the planet. Intense talks; eating in the hall with the other Westerners, where mindful and cheerful Indian ladies, group members, took lovingly care of serving us food; being accommodated as a group in the houses of group members in the surrounding. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor, short nights, getting up at a quarter to four, having time for bathroom and doing asanas before going to the morning prayers. Witnessing much attention of many helpers looking to the many details of organising – arrivals and departures of the participants, housing, transports – in an unexcited and efficient way… A strong presence of group consciousness with a pleasant absence of a commercial attitude. An experience of brotherhood.

After the journey, I try to distil what I should integrate into my way of life and add to my daily or weekly practices. This part goes more to the core and has a long lasting influence. There were hints of Sri Kumar which impressed me – on the importance of one-to-one relations in group building; on sharing one’s knowledge about the Hierarchy and the wisdom teachings and letting friends and relatives participate; on the inner strength needed for conducting ritualistic work and its magnetism; on the power of inner relating and visualising; on feeling the Master consciousness existing as ourselves and recollecting the presence of the Master. Not much can be mentioned here. But applying such hints is the essence of experience and development. Otherwise, things are quickly forgotten, and the journey would just have been an entertaining adventure.

When composing the new Lunar Messenger of the symbolism series on the symbolism of the monkey, for the Aquarius newsletter (still unpublished), I discovered that there is a profound difference between the Western and the Eastern understanding of the famous symbolic representation of the three monkeys:

While the three monkeys today in the West usually stand for “not wanting to see, hear or say anything” in order to ignore unpleasant things, in the East they symbolise three wise monkeys:

One monkey has his eyes covered, thus showing “I do not see the unimportant”. Another monkey covers his ears: “I do not listen to the unessential”. The third monkey covers his mouth: “I do not speak or eat unnecessarily”. These are instructions to be applied by a disciple of the Master’s precepts. In this way we prevent undesirable things and diseases from entering us.

When searching photos of the symbol for a future video on the three monkeys, I came across the following photo of the Indian Prime Minister Modi presenting the gift of a copy of statues of the three monkeys to the then US-president Trump and his wife Melania on 24 February 2020. The statues are in the garden of the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India.

The photo with these three persons and the three monkeys, chosen as a gift from India to America, is highly symbolic of the much-needed “fusion of the wisdom of the East and the strength of the West” to overcome the global antagonisms. “East” and “West” do not mean locations on the planet but “material” and “spiritual”. There is much “west” in the “East” and much “east” in the “West”.

Taurus is the first earthy sign of the zodiac. It belongs to the fixed cross and provides form and stability. Venus rules over Taurus and gives beauty to the form. Subtle forces radiate through a beautiful form bestowing splendour on it. This splendour is an expression of the subtle beings of light. At Taurus full moon the light descends in a great measure. Since ancient-most times, the Masters of Wisdom and their disciples assemble at the time of this full moon in the Vaisakh Valley of the Himalayas to receive a fresh impulse of energies of Will and to distribute them on the earth.

The symbolism of Taurus is visualised in the twelve Taurus paintings done between 2010 and 2021. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.