Pisces speaks of the wheel of creation and of cyclical endings and beginnings. For seers, time is a flowing current or stream in which the past, present and future merge. The symbol of Pisces is a symbol of synthesis. It contains two fishes moving in opposite directions. Although the Pisces fishes appear as two, they are actually one. In truth, there is neither beginning nor ending, but a single continuous movement in which we think we see beginnings and endings, depending on our levels of perception and understanding.

The symbolism of Pisces is visualised in the eleven Pisces paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Winter is back with full strength in Europe. Yesterday evening in the online class friends from Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark told me about heavy snow and frost of minus 15° over the country. This morning it was also quite cold here but “only” about minus 10° C.

Since nearly 21 years, I am regularly doing a short fire ritual on Sunday morning, whatever the weather – except with storm/intense rain. So also this morning. It was a beautiful energy – and silence still all around, where normally during the week rush hour traffic pushes its noisy way to the highway. While I was singing mantric chants in a low voice, the rising flames were spreading their magic light.

After the fire ritual I did my “morning walk ritual” through through our neighbourhood and over the nearby field. It was just the time of daybreak.

It was so cold that my camera shut down after this picture – or was the battery simply empty?

This is part 3 of my correspondence (extracts) with the young Indian seeker. And the illustrations are again from an excursion to the Creux du Van near Neuchâtel – not related to the content.

She wrote about my remarks to her book draft on ‘The Planets’: “Your remarks gave me the motivation to pour my heart and soul into this book. I am planning on writing one chapter on each planet in the second section after introduction. Do you know where I can find more information on planetary chains Master Kumar mentioned in his Merry Life teachings? He spoke about every planet having a chain of seven planets. I tried searching for this on the WTT website and found some interesting things which are remotely related to this concept but that’s all.”

I answered: “The ‘Planetary Chains’ are an important and very profound subject. Master KPK has only rarely used this term, sometimes in reference to Secret Doctrine but you find the wisdom in many places. I haven’t yet picked it up in the text of the Lunar Messengers, but in several paintings, here the last one, with explanation.
Search in the book on Moon of Master KPK for “chain”. See also in the book of Master EK about Spiritual History of Mankind, his talk on Planetary Chains. On the WTT website you also find material by just searching “chain“, for example in the text on Pralaya…
Yes, the globe chains are an important subject. I below give you a short extract from the text of a future book (not enclosed here)…

As per these topics, I somehow feel like giving you a little word of warning, also in context of writing the planet book – I’m speaking about myself, my experiences….
Studying such topics / wisdom teachings can be like a drug, opium. It is extremely fascinating and I devoured many things – though they were not yet so easily accessible like today, in the pre-web times “of yore”. Myself, and many students, get lost in this ocean. It needs a sound stability, integrity, and focus on service.

If you are not stable in life but would write a lot, you might be triggered to do books and have a living by that. Wisdom is not for sale, given for free, passed on, as much as possible for free. One has to firmly stand in life and fulfil one’s obligations, and when this is well established, and necessary service orientation is there, then it is safe to go into the depth of the ocean without getting drowned. Often you don’t notice where the dangers begin but with a selfless life as per HPBs “Golden Stairs” (which we should regularly recite, as orientation), then it’s fine and most welcome.
Don’t neglect your studies, even though you will have to put much mental stuff into your brain, even against your values, like as you mention Big Pharma… Even there, we can work for light, with the “insulation” of a stable right inner orientation. But of course, naturopathy makes it easier.
Master KPK said, that he did not go in his professional life by what he wanted (study physics) but what his parents recommended, and so stood free financially, not as a beggar. (he told me, he never presented a bill to his clients, some gave something, others not, but all was cared for.)
I mention this to sound a note of balancing your life well when deciding to go into spiritual activities. When the outer is stable and well set, you are free to go inside. Otherwise, Saturn will stand there as the guardian of the threshold….”

She replied: “Thanks for your email. I now have enough info on planetary chains and I am thinking if I should write about it in the book. It is an important concept but also a difficult one. Let’s see how it goes.
I totally get your point about balancing both inner and outer worlds. This is something I did not understand before coming in contact with the WTT. My family’s ‘obsession’ for money and the regular spiritual icons made me believe that money is evil. Then I thought about Master Kumar who excelled in academics, career and spirituality. How we do one thing is how we do everything. After taking him as an example I understood that as long as we have rhythm and discipline, we will do well in both worlds. Doing well in both worlds is important.”

I answered: “Indeed, money is a very essential spiritual topic, and the Master often has spoken about a right use, also in professional life – here are, if you have not yet seen it, some of the basic thoughts on Money and Good Will.
I was also very impressed about Master Kumar’s excellence in academics as well in professional life – and that Master CVV’s 200 % life, objective and subjective is the right approach, not neglecting one side or regarding it as bad. However, we should be aware of the effect of our doing. I add below also an extract of my seminar notes of a meeting near Brussels from 27 June 2017 (not included here). A member mentioned that he left his job because he could no more stand for what he had to do in a big pharma company. I was thinking of him when hearing about your objections of getting into Big Pharma business…

I feel you fresh and profound search and like your creative approach to spirituality, and so staying in contact might be helpful for the unfoldment of light. Yes, with the right inner orientation you will go through all the challenges of your study, and in this you might be slowly of some good use in the work for the Plan.”

Here is part 2 of my correspondence (extracts) with the young Indian seeker. And again you find some illustrations from an excursion to the Lake Neuchâtel and the Creux du Van near Neuchâtel – not related to the content.

She wrote: “Our paths have so many similarities; I am really glad I found somebody who understands my ‘problem’. It is amazing how parents expect all these things from us forgetting the fact that we have existed for millions of years before taking birth through them. We have our own destiny with which others should not meddle. 

Our conversation about fire makes me want to read the book of Master KPK on Agni. I will start it after finishing the transcription (she is helping with transcribing a video). I hope I am not taking too long to do it. If so please tell me and I will hurry up. I really like this task and I want to do more of this with time but I am in the process of building self-discipline from scratch and I am trying not to overwhelm myself.”

I replied: “Interesting about the similarities – who knows what’s behind the curtain… Yes, for years, there were conflicts with the expectations of my parents as well…
The book on Agni is certainly good to gain a deeper understanding of the work with fire. …
Good to know about the progress of the transcript – go by your speed, not by expectations. If you keep the focus, it is the right speed. I would only ask if you would get stuck in it.
Yes, the transcriptions are part of your building of self discipline, and rhythm, and a great instrument – taking up some such activity kindles the inner fire and gets you into contact with the energy of the Master. Indeed, don’t overwhelm yourself, be friendly with yourself.

One thing came into my mind – if you don’t yet do so, you might think of keeping a spiritual diary / notebook for your experiences / impressions. / thoughts.
See here the extract about “Practical Instructions” from Master EK, “Spiritual Psychology” – go by what is practical for you. As per the recommendations there, take them also in a friendly way, not with any moral pressure.
Here are also remarks of Master KPK about the practice, chapter 7 – you can scroll through and just read the 5 instructions of Master CVV.

Reply: “My university reopened on Monday this week and I started attending online classes. I also enrolled myself in a gym. I am starting to feel positive about life again and it’s a great feeling…
I won’t even attempt reading hardcore Theosophy before listening to Master Kumar’s explanations. In my experience all the theosophical books I came across are very hard to read and to understand. I think a change began with Master EK whose works give a great volume of information and also captivate readers. Master Kumar uses simple language and does an amazing job in tuning our minds to the wavelength of Theosophy. Reading Jupiter really shaped my way of thinking and I am very grateful to him for bringing out this book.
I thought about keeping a spiritual diary but never got myself to actually do it. Thanks a lot for sharing these extracts from Spiritual Psychology and The Theosophical Movement. The fact that your last mail arrived exactly at 01:11 makes me think it is a hint from the Masters…
I would also like to share my work on “Planets” with you. At the beginning I thought of writing it as a long essay with many paragraphs but later it turned into a blog with several posts and now looking at the way it is unfolding itself, I think it will become an ebook. I am not in a hurry to make it public though. I want to take time to write it well and cover all the important points.
So please feel free to point out my mistakes and to give me a sincere opinion (which I know you always do). I shared it with some of my friends who are my age and who have never read anything related to spirituality before. They looked like they understood; they even went on to discuss these things with me.

My answer: “Yes, Master EK and more so Master KPK gave out the wisdom in a much easier style – HPB remains great, the books of the Tibetan are quite a challenge, I read a lot and forgot most of it, after having studied 18 years, nearly all books, before getting into WTT ….
For a while, I was very intensely taking notes in the diary over years, now it is more sporadic but I keep thoughts / impressions coming directly either on a piece of paper at hand or in the booklet – otherwise, they quickly vanish again, even if they seem to be very clear for a moment.
I read your text on “Planets” – chapeau! Very well digested thoughts from Spiritual Astrology / the teachings, and in fluid style. As per the content I didn’t find anything incorrect or unclear… Go ahead – it strongly seems that you are not doing such writing as a fresher but with a rucksack.

In yesterday’s meditation some thoughts came, I write them as per me – not as per you, because I can’t look inside you 😉
When working with the teachings of the Master, giving them in my words, for a very, very long time I tried to keep as close as possible to their line of thoughts not to get into the clouds of my brain and intellect. I felt “i” have nothing to say and don’t feel ripe for the sublime planes from where the brilliant thoughts of the Master(s) come. And though slowly, I got a bit more “fluent”, I feel like wanting to keep as close on their track as possible, though becoming more versatile over the years. I very deeply know that what “i” write then is not “from me” but just using my personality mask to express the thoughts they handed down from Eternal Wisdom. Then it flows fine. Otherwise, very quickly the intellect’s incapacity of dealing with supra-mental stuff comes to the fore.
It is very encouraging that you bring over the wisdom to some of your friends – may the soul seeds sprout well.”

Were it strange coincidences that I came across the topic of raising awareness for wisdom issues in the younger generation in apparently unrelated situations during the last week?

The topic is already longer in my mind since long but mostly in a dormant state. In a talk with Sri Kumar four weeks ago he gave some proposals concerning youth involvement which I carry in me in a germinal state since then.

Ten days ago, a group of younger people contacted me. They are developing a communication project to reach people who are not in new age groups and they wanted to share their plans with me, and so we had a Zoom meeting last Wednesday. I felt thrilled by their enthusiasm and I decided to accompany them in their project.

Last Friday, I was informed that the website of the youth forum Mithila will be closed on Saturday – inspired by a proposal of Sri Kumar it started 16 years ago and was first intended for a Jupiter cycle of 12 years. And so, it yesterday came to a close.

“Mithila” is the name of the ancientmost school of Wisdom and of wisdom education for the young generation. There are various groups giving Mithila classes and even Mithila schools in India for children from slum areas.

And there is a group in Venezuela especially dedicated to Mithila education who had a comprehensive website on wisdom teachings which, in a series of great challenges, had to be closed some years ago, and I supported an initiative to bring it back to life. Some days ago, I received a call for help due to another new difficult situation, and so I tried to initiate a group of members to support. The project is very dear to me, and there is much goodwill of the members behind.

I thought, one impulse dissolving, another coming up, others continuing and transforming.

About 15-18 years ago, we had a small Mithila group in our town. I was teaching the two boys of a friend and also our two boys basics of living ethics. My wife gave yoga classes to youngsters and we tried to lay a foundation for right living in a time with lot of counter-currents.

Over the years, I had tried to accompany a few young friends through the times of growing up and early adulthood. I felt they are carrying seeds for the future – but it needs much time and crises for growth. Flowers need time to develop.

Also my youngsters have become adults going their ways into life. The contents of what we tried to teach them has transformed into character and attitudes but not the contents – it is part of the transformation of life.

The last months, many roads and footpaths in our community were digged up. Also the pavement in front of our house was opened for a while: A fiber optic cable network is being installed successively in all quarters: ‘fiber to home’ – also to our home.

The marketing slogans highlight: “With fiber optics you surf faster and more stable; you can consume data over several devices at the same time – watch movies, play games or book holidays…”

Consuming data – until indigestion? Yes; I will also profit from it. And I observed what was going on – with the streets and with me.

The roads were opened, work was going on, the cables installed,the roads were closed again. And you could see some traces on the roads.

A little later, the roads and pavements were tarred and the wounds of the surface disappeared again. The cables were inside, ‘implanted’.

It made me think of the nadi system, the subtle energy network in our body which is not visible to the physical eye but which you can trace in meditation. Medical science considers them as inexistent but yoga science explains their details – if you try to dissect a magnet, you won’t find the magnetic field nor see any electron-magnetic waves but you can discover their functioning.

Of course, the fiber optic cables are more dense than the nadis, you will find them in the streets. But just like the subtle lines of force the cables are part of a great network of intelligence steering our consciousness.

The flood of stimulations is increasing. Information and the stories of the next generation multi-channel entertainment will do their best to keep us attracted – whereto?

It is difficult to withdraw the attention, to find the way through the hyper-active vibrations inside and outside. To discover the inner light and life.

But that is what is nourishing, not the maelstrom of busy-busy-busy. We need to learn swimming against the stream which is powerfully rushing from all sides. To turn inward, again and again, regularly and persistently .

A kind of wilful stimulation fasting helps keeping away from unnecessary pace-makers. You will be rewarded with experiencing your Self and the greater whole of life.

I recently had a phone call with a friend in the course of which she told me she would never again join a spiritual group. The experiences she had with a group and its teacher 2-3 decades ago had marked her for her whole life. And another one lately told me: “I no longer recognize myself in the group where I was (of an Indian teacher) and so I left it.” She added, “For my spiritual quest, I have always been fascinated and attracted by the Masters, and the WTT is a beautiful synthesis.”

From my own experiences in various spiritual groups and contexts I know how delicate it can be to associate with a group and a teacher. In public here in the West, it is mostly disparaged as Guru cult. And when you come in closer contact with a group you unavoidably also meet shadow aspects – be it of the teacher or the group. You can call the shadow the personality. And what makes the thing even more tricky is that we mostly have blind spots towards our own shadows and like to project them on others.

Spiritual groups and teachers are no exception to this. I very well understand people who want to keep aloof from getting into such situations.

However, when you are fairly well grounded in yourself, you can take it as an excellent field of training – how to evolve if you don’t work on yourself and on developing friendly relations with others? For me, the obstacles were a challenge to get more committed.

In my life, I came to know a number of spiritual teachers directly and a few more by way of books. It was an odyssey and a great way of meeting people with many different attitudes – the devotional type, the sceptic type, the indecisive one, the impractical intellectual, the fervent apologist, and even the spurned love…

For a while, I myself was a mixture of several of these. I learnt much by observing and putting to practice what I learnt. And so I approached my present teacher, Sri Kumar, who more and more became the role model for me. A lot of transformation happened – I would call it an occult process because it mostly went on within, very slowly. Or was it more the outcome of my work with meditation and persevering activities, with others, with groups in various contexts? In a way, I ended up to come to myself, not to the teacher. The teacher, the teachings and the group were instrumental in this. On the other hand, it’s an interrelated thing.

A close friend said to me, “I don’t need a teacher for this. I want to rely on the inner guidance and autonomy – no dependence or pressure of rules.”

I understand and respect and I also feel the same – inner guidance of the soul and putting to practice what I have realised as right – not because of any dependence of pressure of rules.

At the same time, I receive great support by following my teacher and the teachings (and leaving other things behind). They are giving strength and orientation and help me not to get side-tracked and stuck. Joy is the compass in this.

Did you notice? Unbounded space disappeared! It seems to be so inconspicuous that nobody seems to take note of it.

This morning, when I came along the construction site in our neighbourhood, I noticed it again. When the walls are put up, suddenly the sky starts disappearing and the unbounded space seems to condense into a tiny hall called a room.

I very well remember how, as a little boy, I several times run from the garden into my parents’ home and then came out again, and I wondered how it can be that space disappears in the house. And how it feels being inside, cut off from the freedom of vastness.

It is like getting into the mother’s womb. From out of the unlimited space of the subtle dimensions shrinking into the narrowness and confinement of body, with its heaviness. As a child, I had the feeling that I did not really want to come down. And it took me many years to get accustomed to live in such a narrow thing like the body.

Yes, the curtain slowly falls and you get used to it. As you get used to live in a room.

At the beginning, you can still see the larger space. Space…. another word for spirit. Slowly you forget that you are not an island, in a corner of space, but contain in you the great whole.

In the morning, when I walk over the field, looking up to the blue sky where just some clouds block the view, and where on the one side the ring of the horizon is limited by the residential area and on the other by the mountain range of the Alps in the distance, I feel like opening up my subtle bodies which envelop the encased spark of the Sun called I AM.

And when I come back into the street of the settlement, it narrows down again, a kind of crippling. Do the people living here notice it?

But when I go down the stairs into the house where I am living, and then the staircase up to our apartment – although it gets really narrow outside, it feels like having re-connected to the vault of heaven. And that the cosmic vastness is also here.

Morning sun shining on some dahlias from the nearby farmhouse, with the Sripada statue in the background, in my study.

Some changes in the team of collaborators during the last weeks made me ponder upon volunteer work in the context of the wisdom teachings.

It looks and feels like a way through a cloudy jungle to discover the path towards the subtle dimensions of life. Running around in various directions does not help. With the years, I found it necessary to focus on one path and to go into the depth instead.

Digging deep needs endurance and commitment. I slowly realised that I have to help build the road to the “goldmines” of wisdom for others as well. And the deeper you go, the more you see the need of cooperation.

As an outcome, I slowly grew into responsibility for various publications and websites related to wisdom, and I met reliable fellow seekers who cooperate in this endeavour.

It takes time to carve out. And many skills need to be developed to fine-tune and to anchor. Newcomers hardly see what lies behind and if they take a glimpse, they sometimes shrink back. Or they pick up some work for a while but find it hard to keep up with rhythm and continuity.

“Likes” and social media entertainment are easier than carrying some stones for a building. Solid steps need to be firm and well done. But who finds time, who takes time for entering a spiritual apprenticeship? Without quick benefits and recognition?

Good will is not enough to become a reliable team member. And often the qualifications required and the equipment in the rucksack of the seeker do not match immediately. But is sh/he willing to enter and learn, to let go of one’s first ideas? And to keep the inner fire burning unsvervingly so that it does not get extinct at a first blast of wind?

New qualifications and skills need to be developed, trust and endurance. Cooperation and at the same time working in a self-reliant way.

It is nice to do something inspiring, but mostly it is seen just as a hobby, when time and other demands allow. The path, however, calls for a commitment like in a challenging work. You have to see where a task needs to be picked up for the greater plan and how to integrate your stone, and at the same time cooperate with the others like a dear friend.

And what if the friends do not give nice feedbacks and cooperate as you expect them to do? Often you have to wait, more often for years, before a door opens. Before you can step in.

Otherwise, life offers many other priorities – job, family, friends; or chilling, sport, travelling… The list is long, and there are many reasons why not to pick up a lasting commitment.

But what about working for an age-old “enterprise”, working out the path to the light? Spiritual Hierarchy has enormous patience in developing the network of collaborators.

During my morning walks I come along a construction site. Over the last months, I observed how two old houses were demolished, then the foundation pit excavated, walls coming up. First, I just observed; later, I started pondering on what was happening.

Many people are cooperating, material is arranged in a certain way. Slowly a house takes form. Or is part of it a garage? Why are things done in this way? I did not know. But it was obvious that all this was done with a purpose – there was a plan behind.

Later, a picture was hung up on the fence of how the house should look like, with information about the enterprises involved. And still later, there were panels with information about sale contacts. I didn’t want to buy an apartment, I just was an uninvolved observer – or was I not? Observing the whole process gave rise to thoughts about what observing this process did with me.

I started pondering again on what is the plan, the plan of my life, the bigger plan. What is the purpose? Or is there no purpose? Obviously, there is. But then what do I recognise and how do the details of my life, of the bigger life, fit into the purpose? Are the activities in tune with the plan? How am I planning and how am I supervising the progress of construction, in my life, in the activities involved? Where am I craftsman, collaborator? Where am I architect? Am I an executor and what is the direction of executing, what I am doing? What do I perceive of a bigger plan and how do my elaborations fit into it? Personality plans, plans without personal perspective, or with a bigger or lesser…

Like with the house construction I am observing things develop without my knowing the bigger purpose, but certain patterns give hints to understand the bigger plan. I remarked how I have been doing plans which ended up in “ruins of goodwill”. Or were they not ruins but stepping-stones for further working out? There is a masonic story that all bricks are needed for the construction of the temple…

I pondered on how I do my plan of the year – by noting everything in a calendar with ephemerides (positions of planets) at the beginning of a year, to mark things which need attention, and things which rhythmically repeat, like solstice and equinox meetings, journeys intended, ongoing meetings, important constellations. And then, in the course of the year, it is worked out.

It takes time to prepare the year but this helps to be in tune with many details, to notice them in advance. There is communication planning, keeping contact with people by contacting them at their birthdays, a part of networking activities. I noticed that many details get elaborated when you repeat and revise. And this way, subtle aspects of the plan reveal which were unknown or unnoticed before. And especially the monitoring and developing of relationships, team building, transforming conflicts into steps of learning.

There is a planning of the day, with what are the tiny activities which first one might not realise as important but which turn out to be so. The cornerstones of the day, like the cornerstones of the building. And thus, the construction of the days, the weeks, the months, the years slowly take shape, a shape which might be useful for the bigger plan, into which my activities might increasingly fit.

Such planning helps to be in tune with what I perceive as the purpose of my life, of life.