A new book of Blavatsky or a wrong claim? I was several times asked about this. Here are some explanations why Franz Hartmann should be considered the real author, not H.P.B. You also find fascinating information about Hartmann and the letters he received from Master Morya and Master Koot Hoomi.

A year ago, a friend informed me about a newly published book said to be of H.P. Blavatsky: “The Land of the Gods. The Long-Hidden Story of Visiting the Masters of Wisdom in Shambala” (Radiant Books 2022). Then, other friends also told me enthusiastically about the book.

I thought it would be a good travel reading for my journey to India in December 22 / January 23 and mentioned the book in the blog-post “On the Verge to India“. So, I bought it plus three additional copies as gifts for friends in India. However, too many other things kept me busy during the journey and afterwards that I didn’t read more of the book than the first 39 pages, the glossary at the end and scrolled through the book.

I saw that it is about journeys into inner dimensions with encounters of masters / adepts but I didn’t find any mention about Shambala inside the original text, only in the Publisher’s Note, the glossary at the end and the presentation of the editors. Although the story seemed to be interesting, I didn’t feel “drawn into the book” . Looking back, something didn’t make sense, and it didn’t really feel that this should be from Blavatsky.

For a group, I had translated to German (unpublished manuscript) two thirds of HPB’s book “From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan” containing stories which were of a different energy than the text of this Shambala book. Moreover, the two original versions of this latter book also weren’t published in HPB’s name but by Franz Hartmann:

In the ‘Publisher’s Note’ of the Shambala book it says: “This book was originally published anonymously by a mysterious ‘Student of Occultism’ in 1887 under the title An Adventure Among the Rosicrucians, yet with copyright in the name of Franz Hartmann. Helena Blavatsky reviewed it, describing it as: ‘A strange and original little story, charmingly fantastic, but full of poetic feeling and, what is more, of deep philosophical and occult truths, for those who can perceive the groundwork it is built upon.’
Those notes were originally written by H. P. Blavatsky because only she could gain access to the Holy of Holies on the Earth — the secret Abode of the Masters of Wisdom, known as Shambhala. In 1939, Helena Roerich, who continued Blavatsky’s mission in the 20th century, also confirmed her authorship: ‘This reporting about the inner life of the Brotherhood was recorded by Franz Hartmann, undoubtedly from the words of H. P. Blavatsky, conveyed with some changes in literary form.’
The Chief Stronghold of Shambhala is located in the heart of the Himalayas. However, the network of its Abodes is also spread within other mountainous and remote locations around the world, in the most inaccessible places. The notes that Madame Blavatsky prepared were, in fact, different stories that occurred both in the Himalayas and the Alps at various times, yet were later tied into one single story narrating the secret order of the Rosicrucians.”

Why should HPB not give her name for these stories or publish them with a pen name, like she had also done before? She never hesitated to give out occult stories. However, it definitely sells better when the new book is published in her name and as a rare new discovery.

What makes me more suspicious is the claim of the sub-title: “The Long-Hidden Story of Visiting the Masters of Wisdom in Shambala”. In esoteric folklore, there are quite a number of stories about a secret valley in the Eastern or Western mountains, be it Himalaya, Alps, or somewhere else, like Shangri-La or Lost Horizon, where adventurers have mystic experiences and meet sages like the figure of the Imperator in the said Shambala book, a mysterious world.

However, these stories have nothing to do with Shambala as described in the wisdom teachings. They are in a way distorted reflections of the reality of Sravasti, also called Shigatse or Tashi Lhunpo. The Roerichs, who had indeed come into contact with Shambala, through tremendous service, sacrifice, and self-offering, kept, as far as possible, silent about their visit.

Nicholas Roerich, however, did a number of paintings, like the last paintings of his life on “Order of Rigden Jyepo” a name of Sanat Kumara, the ruler of Shambala, or his painting ‘King of Shambhala‘ in the Zanabazar Art Museum in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia. Shambala is a very different reality than what has been given now in ‘The Land of the Gods’. See here.

I put the book aside. During a talk in August 23, a friend from Berlin mentioned the book and said that he had read the text of Hartmann (see here the PDF of “An Adventure Among the Rosicrucians” by Franz Hartmann, 1887) and that he is sure that this text is from Hartmann and not from Blavatsky. The editors of the ‘Land of the Gods’ had done various omissions and adaptations one of the omissions he found of particular interest in the original text:

On page 175f of ‘An Adventure…’, the author speaks about the sexual encounter with the Queen of the Nymphs: “A voluptuous sensation pervades my whole being…” and then he falls out of the subtle dimension and finds himself back on the physical plane, asking himself if all he experienced had merely been an illusion of his brain. Did the publishers omit this scene because they found it objectionable for giving the story in the name of HPB and as book about visiting the Masters of Wisdom in Shambala?

Last September, a friend from Miami asked me if I think that this book is from Blavatsky. I answered, I don’t know but I am sceptical. However, I didn’t know much about Franz Hartmann and wanted to know more about him. I searched the web and found information which fascinated me very much.

There is an article “Franz Hartmann: A Pioneer of the Theosophical Movement” by Susanne Hoepfl-Wellenhofer published in the Quest magazine in winter 2022 (you can download it here as a PDF). You get very interesting information about the life of Hartmann, who grew up in Bavaria. He spend the last years of his life in contact with an esoteric group of Rosicrucians in the pre-Alps, where you meet scenes as described in the said Shambala book.

Another article from a blog touched me even more: Franz Hartmann, ‘Correspondence with the Masters’ (see PDF here), a compilation of information about letters Hartmann received from Master Morya and Master Koot Hoomi. They give very interesting insights in why the Masters chose to work with Hartmann and what difficulties he faced. I don’t want to go more into this here but the texts are worth reading.

To close this article, I would like to give you here an extract from the biography “HPB. The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement” (PDF) mentioning Hartmann at various places. Although HPB was sceptical towards Hartmann at the beginning, until Master Morya told her to trust him, they quickly became very good friends. And Hartmann stayed true and loyal towards her and the wisdom teachings of the Masters she had given out. He stood as a stronghold of defence against all attacks brought forward by the ignorants.

Read the last passage and think of how the book ‘An Adventure Among the Rosicrucians’, published by Franz Hartmann and now re-edited in a re-worked form as ‘The Land of the Gods’ under the name of H.P. Blavatsky might have come into existence.

Read more about Franz Hartmann, the forgotten mystic, and the Franz Hartmann Project.

Before humans coming, nature is there. Before and independent of our experiencing, the creative power of nature expresses itself and shapes the forms. Last Sunday, my wife and I were at a valley near the Eiger North Face. There is a small road going uphill from Meiringen through the Reichenbach (Rychenbach) valley in the Bernese Alps towards Grindelwald.

The valley was illumined by soft, golden autumn light shining through the trees. We had a look at some places and then stopped at the parking near the Rosenlaui glacier canyon.

Over eons of time, water from the Rosenlaui Glacier had dug a deep gorge into the stones, pressing through the rocks with great intensity. Humans had cut an uphill pathway into the sidewall of the canyon and through tunnels at medium height between the riverbed and the upper end of the gorge.

We experienced awe-inspiring moments when we approached the canyon and then stood inside, surrounded by rock faces. When we went through the gorge, the Sun just lit up the chasm and illuminated the drops of water falling from above. Rapids, roaring waterfalls, darkness, then spashing sunlight – intense impressions.

As the path became tight, I had to keep my hand at the handrail when looking downward or upward. It is an experience like going through a time of crisis, where you have to look for each next step only and go forward slowly. Along a path others have prepared before but which you have to walk yourself.

On this pathway through the rocks, you can only climb uphill, the path being too small for two directions. It comes again out of the abyss at the upper end. In a crisis, you will also come out again at the upper end when you have walked through into a new phase of life.

Outside, there was a small rock garden with many little towers of pebbles, “stone people”. Seen from the here, the chasm looks quite small.

We went down again and then through the valley to the Schwarzwaldalp (“Black Forest Alp”) on the pass road from the Haslital over the Grosse Scheidegg pass to Grindelwald; the small hamlet now consists just of a hotel, a simple tourist hostel with a restaurant, and an old sawmill.

The sawmill in its present size dates from 1896. It was constructed for building a spa house which burned down in 1943. An old man together with his grandson was operating the saw slowly cutting the trunk to wooden planks.

During lunch on the terrace of the hostel, we were surrounded by hikers, bikers and tourists which the post buses had brought uphill. Later, we we went a bit further along the road towards Grindelwald, which is blocked for non-public motor vehicles, and down to the Reichenbach river. When driving back from the mountains, we were still under the spell of the intense beauty and wildness of the Alpine mountain nature.

It was 1st of January 2020 in Visakhapatnam, India. In a talk with Master KPK, I spoke to him about the need of creating a digital archive to collect all video and audio material, publications and transcriptions and relevant photo material related to the World Teacher Trust, meaning mainly the work of Master EK and Master KPK. At that time, the material was dispersed on various personal computers and hard-disks. He agreed and found it an important idea.

9 months later, the archive project was started with a team of 7 members – highly qualified, living in different corners of the globe. In the meanwhile, it was Corona time. The need for digital collaboration had highly increased – and there was time for these members to come together – their jobs were on “home office”. For about 2 years, we followed an intense rhythm of meetings, of concept-discussions and of building up a cloud-based archive structure. And then we collected many terabytes of material, mainly saving video recordings from seminars and teachings in various languages.

I asked Master KPK to give a name to this archive. He said “Kombo Cave”. I didn’t understand what it means; and I didn’t find anything on the web. So, I asked again. He answered: “Kombo Cave is the name of the cave where the scrolls of wisdom of Pythagoras were stored – but don’t ask me more.” I understood. We named the cloud archives Kombo Cave. And: “Inspired by the lives and teachings of the great Teachers of Eternal Wisdom”.

It is non-public, just for those who work with the material. Later, an area is planned to be made accessible to interested seekers – but we are not yet there. The cloud space, however, gives possibilities for certain group collaborations.

When Corona started to recede, the personal job work load of the team members increased again. It became more difficult to continue with the pace of the free goodwill work for the archives. We did some re-structuring. Video editing – in a team work – takes a lot of time; qualified members capable of doing such work are very rare (video consumers are plenty….).

We searched for other ways. We wanted high quality, not quick “social media friendly video spots” but videos with wisdom teachings for seekers. It is a different level.

It took quite some time to create the intro and outro templates for the videos, with the motive “sunrise and sunset at the Master Mountain in the Nilagiris“, for the titles, with the right music. We finally found a very experienced Indian bamboo flute player to give some sequences from the “Maitreya song”.

For bringing out these videos, we just prepared a YouTube video channel for the WTT-Global and have taken over another channel, where several videos about Master KPK’s teachings etc. had been published already previously. We did a re-branding to give it a new outlook. The address of the new channel is https://www.youtube.com/@WTT-Global.

Now, in time for Libra Equinox, the video “Autumn Equinox Discourse” by Master KPK, September 21 2020, (59 min.) has just been published on YouTube. It is the first video publication with the new design. Other videos are soon ready to be published.

The program of this May Call celebration was born over Christmas 2022, while Manfred, Sabine and me were together with a few other members at the Master Mountain Retreat Centre in the Nilagiris of South India. A storm was raging outside for several days hiding the outside world behind clouds and rain. It was just about 6 weeks after the passing of Master Kumar and we pondered on what should be the essence of the 5-days May Call celebration in Neckarelz 6 months later. We wanted to focus on synthesis – the energy of the Aquarian Master – friendliness and friendship, the qualities of Lord Maitreya, the World Teacher.

At the end of this year’s celebration, we mentioned this origin to the group and why we had tried to integrate various proposals and contents – and the May Call was a time of profound inner and outer integration processes.

A very aged elderly lady from Belgium, who could no more come to the May Call celebration herself, gave the inspiration for the Tibetan prayer flags. Over many long e-mails and phone calls, Sabine had had intensive discussions with this lady about the meaning of the flags, about the technique of labelling them and about the need to create coherent sounds. In earlier years, she had travelled for over 30 years with a Tibetan Lama over the world until he sent her away with the words, she should now go to Maitreya. Not knowing what to do, she searched the web. She found the World Teacher Trust and came into contact with me and since then she linked her life to these wisdom teachings. Sabine then ordered the prayer flags online and during the May Call celebration, we wrote messages of the CVV Sharing prayer or little symbols on the flags.

Hung in the wind, the prayer thoughts were spread into the ether and distributed at the end of the seminar to be placed a different locations.

The May Call location was next to a Temple house, a former castle of the Knights of St. John from the 12th/13th century, of the time of the Crusades. At May Call, Chuck, a retired psychology professor from California, spoke about the story of knight orders of the Templars, leading later to the masons who, as free masons, went through Europe to the building lodges of the gothic cathedrals. And he showed how these impulses carried ancient wisdom found new expressions in later centuries and in the teachings of the WTT.

There was a great range of other activities during the May Call celebration – prayers / meditations, water and fire rituals, and guided visualisations.

We saw a video extract from a speech Master Kumar gave about “The importance of the May Call” at the 2022 May Call celebration in Bengaluru. We participated in an intercontinental meditation and listened to Guru Prasad’s inspiring words about working together in the new era.

We exchanged in small groups about how we met Master Kumar and which incidents or exchange with him particularly touched us – a very touching exchange. Nearly the entire group life was bi-lingual, English and German.

Saturday at the beginning, there was the General Assembly of WTT-Germany, and later presentations of current projects, also a presentation about the work of Sintergética – Synthesis in the area of healing, impulses from Latin America. And there was a talk on astrological qualities of the present time.

In the morning of May Call Day, 29 May, there was a fire ritual in the beautiful amphitheatre.

And later, there was the cake ritual and distribution of May Call gifts.

And in the evening of the May Call Day celebration there was a beautiful candle ritual in the garden – a traditional “Pilgrims’ Dance” – two steps forward and one step sidewards, accompanied by live guitar music.

The day after May Call, there were further exchanges and part of the group visited the Raptor Research Centre at Guttenberg Castle. It was very impressive to see the big birds of prey – eagles, vultures and eagle owls from very near and observe them flying. You could understand well why the eagle is such a profound wisdom symbol.

The whole celebration was like a big colourful garden with many different plants and flowers, growing in synthesis – the sprouting seeds of the Aquarian energy will continue to spread in surprising ways.

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.