Whenever you have tried to silence your mind you will have realised that it keeps on moving. Only when you move on to the next higher plane of pure energy, the thoughts slowly vanish. The same, when you try to fight any disturbing outer influences such as noise you will notice that your fight is in vain – or better that the disturbance is inside and not coming from outside.

In his computer animated short “The Fly“, Hanjin Song, a graduate from a school of art and design in Florida gave an excellent illustration of this principle of meditation: A samurai is seeking inner peace by trying to rid himself of the distraction by a fly. However, he discovers that the flies multiply and seem to be coming at him harder and faster. Only when he starts accepting the disturbance ends and he really turns inward. Well done!

The fly on the cheek of the samurai – picture (c) from the short.

I came across two very different videos which have something in common: Unmanned cameras provide vistas unseen before thus they discover astonishing new dimensions for a more holistic understanding.

The Government of Catalonia, Spain, has done a pilot project to evaluate the use of UAVs, popularly known as ‘drones’, in the field of public administration. They recorded images with drones inside and outside of the Abbey of Montserrat and the Montserrat Natural Park. Impressive views from bird’s eye.

Entering the Montserrat Monastery from above. Image (c) Generalitat de Catalunya

The other video is even more spectacular: 3D views of the valleys, canyons, lava flows and the highest known mountain in the Solar System on the surface of Mars. The pics are taken by a high resolution stereo camera on board the Mars Express spacecraft. The topography of the Red Planet appears so three-dimensional that you could walk through it. This is possible because of the unusual imaging principle used by the camera: Nine light-sensitive detectors sweep the surface in sequence from nine different observation angles. This data is then processed into three-dimensional images by the DLR German Aerospace Center.

The scientists put the camera images together piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle, creating a global map of Mars. Of the 145 million square kilometres of the surface of Mars, 97 million have already been covered at very high resolution, where one pixel corresponds to less than 20 metres on the surface. Almost the entire surface of Mars has now been imaged at a resolution of better than 100 metres. “We can see the entire topography almost as well as if we were standing on Mars ourselves,” says Jaumann, project manager for the mission at the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt).

The spacecraft with the camera on board was launched on 2 June 2003. Since its arrival at Mars six-and-a-half months later, it has orbited the planet over 12,500 times. The video was released by the DLR German Aerospace Center as part of the ten years of Mars Express celebrations in June 2013.

View of the Valles Marineris (C) DLR video

If you want to walk at the surface of the Red Planet, have a look at this 30° Gigapixel image from NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and its rover named Curiosity. Well, in view of the rugged surface, I wouldn’t like to live there.

“You are the infinite in your own way – the connection is within yourself…. Be the idea, be the deed… And no one of you is outside the heart of all that IS… Out of your soul be Light. For you are nothing else…” An amazing video visualising the cosmic connectedness and the etheric world.

Pic from the video (c)

The Canadian film maker, musician and meditation teacher Daniel Schmidt and his wife Eva Dametto have created a beautiful film called “Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds“. The film could be described as the external reflection of their own adventures in meditation. The movie consists of 4 parts which they have published for free on YouTube: Part 1 Akasha, Part 2 – The Spiral, Part 3 – The Serpent and the Lotus, and Part 4 – Beyond Thinking. There is also an additional musical part, called Pranava – Deep Chant and Yantra Meditation, and a trailer.

On their website you see their profound motivation which is behind these films:

“It became clear during the making of the film that Inner Worlds Outer Worlds had to be released for free for the benefit of all beings. In the ancient traditions the dharma or “the truth” was always taught freely and never for personal gain or profit in order to preserve the purity of the teachings. It is Daniel and Eva’s belief that to awaken one’s true self, one must awaken the entire world. Daniel and Eva have started the Awaken the World initiative www.awakentheworld.com to bring the ancient knowledge back to the earth in order to restore balance and harmony on the planet.”

Even if you don’t have the time to see all the videos, it is worthwhile to have a look – beautiful images and good texts. You can read more on the Facebook-page of the film. Or, if you feel motivated to “spread the word”, there is also a call for help to translate.

A spiral – a manifestation of the basic energy of life (c) from the video The Spiral

Part 1 Akasha
“Akasha is the unmanifested, the “nothing” or emptiness which fills the vacuum of space. As Einstein realized, empty space is not really empty. Saints, sages and yogis who have looked within themselves have also realized that within the emptiness is unfathomable power, a web of information or energy which connects all things….”

Part 2 – The Spiral

“The Pythagorian philosopher Plato hinted enigmatically that there was a golden key that unified all of the mysteries of the universe. The golden key is the intelligence of the logos, the source of the primordial om. One could say that it is the mind of God. The source of this divine symmetry is the greatest mystery of our existence….”

Part 3 – The Serpent and the Lotus

“The primordial spiral is the manifested world, while Akasha is the unmanifested, or emptiness itself. All of reality is an interplay between these two things; Yang and Yin, or consciousness and matter. The spiral has often been represented by the snake, the downward current, while the bird or blooming lotus flower has represented the upward current or transcendence….”

Part 4 – Beyond Thinking

“We live our lives pursuing happiness “out there” as if it is a commodity. We have become slaves to our own desires and craving. Happiness isn’t something that can be pursued or purchased like a cheap suit. This is Maya, illusion, the endless play of form….”

I’m not really a fan of Japanese Anime films, and years have passed by since I “read” the last Manga comix when my sons were still younger. But recently I stumbled across an Anime video called “The Rebirth of Buddha“. Somehow I was drawn into the fantastic story, and my wife and me kept on viewing.

You can read about the story in a short or an interesting long version in Animenetwork.com. It says that behind the film there are people inspired by a Japanese neo-spiritualist movement called “Happy Science”. But this I only came to know later when I searched a bit the web. And it seems that the story is illustrating a book of the founder of Happy Science: An article about the movie says: “The film illustrates Happy Science’s belief that the religious figure Buddha will return ‘when the world sinks into darkness’.” This is precisely what Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, that “When Dharma, the Law, is significantly disturbed and the world and its existence are being threatened, then I come down to establish the Law.” And it reminds of the expectations of a return of the Christ or of the Shi’ites waiting for the coming of the Imam Madhi…

What attracted my interest was the way the movie is presenting realities from the subtle worlds in the presentation. The film starts showing how Sayako, a young high school journalist, hears about the suicide of Kanemoto, a newspaper reporter she admires, and slowly develops clairvoyance. She sees how spirits and dark thought forms are moving around. On a train station she is nearly drawn in front of a moving train by a dis-incarnated soul and saved in the last moment by a friend. In these seconds she witnesses how the reporter who had committed suicide is standing in front of a council of Elders – like it is being described by hypnotherapeutic “Life between lives” researches like those of Michael Newton.

The plot of the film is a big battle between the powers of good and of evil – with alien attacks and gigantic mass manipulation by Arai, the “false Messiah”, fought by Sorano, the re-born Buddha, and with the help of Sayako. And in between there are some sermons of the new Buddha, probably spreading the beliefs of “Happy Science” and the hope of a big “bling” to solve all the problems. However, you meet various scenes where they quite well present subtle realities: The visual realization of the spirits of mass manipulation reminded me of descriptions of Aurobindo and the Mother about the psychic effects of fear and of contagious diseases.

Though the story is full of spirito-fiction, sometimes diving into kitsch, the film is very well produced and of a high visual quality. Enjoy.

Sorano, the Buddha reborn, healing a boy possessed by evil spirits. Picture (c) from the video

For the “Astro Forum”, organised by WTT-Hamburg of last weekend, I did a video published on YouTube , “Dance of the Zodiac“. It is an arrangement of images from my paintings on symbolisms of spiritual astrology, on which I’m working since 4 years. You might have seen them on my website (with explanations) or also on the Good-Will site, (there with links for downloads in print version).

As background music I chose a flute song of Terry Oldfield, “Loving Touch”. With some nice words he gave his ok – thank you Terry. You might have heard of him; he does “Music from the Heart” and fascinating music inspired by nature and Eastern wisdom (see on YouTube).

There are very inspiring and valuable activities all over the world to make a change in life conditions. I just came across KarmaTube.org, a video platform “dedicated to bringing inspirational stories to light, using the power of video and the internet to multiply acts of kindness, beauty, and generosity.” Their motto is “Watch. Be inspired. Act.” Have a look!

KarmaTube is a project of ServiceSpace, a very interesting volunteer run organization. Their aim is to enable individuals to contribute in meaningful ways to the world around them: “Together, we hope to ‘be the change we wish to see in the world’.”

Here is a video highlighted on KarmaTube, “The Overview Effect”, which has been done for the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space. It documents some of the astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – the Overview Effect. It has been creating a new kind of awareness. “They have realised that unity and oneness of all life on earth, of consciousness and awareness.”

Have a look at other very good videos on KarmaTube, like “Where is away?” about throwing away of single-use plastic articles, by “Surfing for Change“, a fascinating project of professional surfers.

In the news we read that all over the world bees are dying due to pesticides and/or parasitic mites. Bees pollinate three quarters of all crops, and their disappearance will cause a tremendous impact on our food production. While politicians and scientists are still quarrelling over the potential causes, the bee mortality goes on. Last Monday, the ministers of the EU decided about a ban of 3 pesticides – a result also of intense campaigning of NGOs, partly by flooding decision makers in Brussels with massive public mailings. The bee battle goes on.

This morning a Canadian friend sent the link to a fantastic video, “The Beauty of Pollination“, taken from a talk at TED by Louie Schwartzberg, director and cinematographer, saying “we are all dependent to each other”. I blogged about it before 1.5 years ago, but it is worthwile re-blogging. The full-length version of Beauty of Pollination, called “Wings of Life“, has been released on Blu-ray and DVD by Disneynature on April 16, 2013.

Picture from the video “The Beauty of Pollination” (c)

A Canadian friend sent me the link to an astonishing balance act performance by a Chinese artist. I found the same balance act done by a Swiss artist, Lara Jacobs Rigolo, and this in a less showy feminine performance, with meditative music. A mastery of the forces of gravity.

And if you would like to see another meditative video, have a look at “Kawu Sun” (below) – beautiful scenes of weightless floating in water and encountering a sea cow / manatee. All videos have in common that they are an outer expression of inner balance, harmony and beauty.

Here are two beautiful documentaries of BBB. The first is about about the magnificent nature of the Himalayas, the land of the Gods.

The second is about the sacred river Ganga or Ganges, flowing down from the Himalayas. There is a beautiful story of the descent of the Goddess Ganga told by Sri Kumar, which I have given elsewhere in the blog. Enjoy.