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.

The divine essence is described as being veiled by many envelopes. So it is not so easy for us to perceive it or even realize it. Furthermore, our personal / social / cultural conveniences influence and colour our attitudes, likings and dislikings. And the way how people express their relation to the divine is most varied.

I had to think about my own “coloured glasses” when a few days ago I saw pictures and a video from a ceremony in Pithapuram, India, probably of the celebration for the 700th anniversary of Sripada Srivallabha (see the text at the end of this blogpost, from my communication of the event). I noticed that I have to be careful to see the essence behind the outer pomp.

The words Sri Kumar had spoken after our first visit to Pithapuram in Jaunary 2015 came to my mind: “I hope you have enjoyed the visit to Peetha Puram called Pithapuram. It is a typical center where the light is hidden. As we say, the key note of India is ‘I hide the light’. Pithapuram is one of the most important spiritual centers that we have in India, but it continues to hide the light. It is so humble that unless you get insight, you don’t get the profundity of light. But in due course it unfolds from within. “

My contact with Sripada was in October 2014, through his biography. It was an intense inner experience followed by a long and profound work with the book in silence – translation and editing. It had a deep transforming impact and it is an ongoing experience. I found a similar impact of highest light at certain places where the veil seems to be thinner than elsewhere. You might call it spiritually vibrant places. It is very similar with certain books that also have a strong unveiling impact.

The communication: 2 September 2019: Ganesh Chaturdhi, 700th anniversary of Sripada Srivallabha

From time to time, Lord Dattatreya, the Cosmic Principle of the Teacher, incarnates in a human body to enable the humans to relate to him and get uplifted.

700 years ago, Lord Dattatreya took birth as Sripada Srivallabha. Sripada was born at sunrise on a day of Ganesh Chaturdhi in the year 1320 AD. Ganesh Chaturdhi is a festival in honour of Lord Ganesha celebrated on fourth ascending moon phase in Virgo.
Next Monday, 2 September, is Ganesh Chaturdhi, and thus, according to Indian counting, it is the 700th anniversary of this first incarnation of Dattatreya in the present dark age.

You find here a brief outline of the birth of Sripada (PDF). The text is taken from the WTT website about Lord Dattatreya and his incarnations:
based on the the biography “Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam” and on a transcription of the 2016 seminar of Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar on Lord Dattatreya / Sripada. The biography was recently published in English by Kulapati.de, see here how to order / download the book.

In the Eastern tradition, Krishna’s birthday is celebrated during the 8th descending moon phase of Leo, this being today.

I have written a number of blogposts and done various paintings about Krishna. Here is the story of a picture called “The Magic Flute of Krishna” realised seven years ago.

I used a picture of a Krishna statue in my room and did some transformations.

For the background I used a painting of Karl Friedrich Schinkel done for a stage design for Mozart’s opera Magic Flute (1815).

I fused it with a picture I had taken from a magazine 45 years ago – an extract of the Isenheim Altarpiece (1515), Colmar, by the German Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald showing the emanation of angels from God.

Then I integrated the image of a peacock (bottom left), Krishna’s bird. I put the statue to dark blue; so the image emerged in violet – the right magical colour for Krishna with a “magic flute”.

In “Music of the Soul” and “Man Sacrifice“, Master EK gives the following birth dates according to Eastern Scriptures:
1. Lord Krishna was born in the month of July, 3228 B. C. midnight at Zero hours between the nineteenth and the twentieth.
2. He dropped His physical body on the eighteenth of February, 3102 B.C.
Thus, his birth chart looks like this:

Happy Krishna’s Birthday!

I recently had an e-mail exchange with a good friend and collaborator about handling the pressure of today’s life, balancing the professional and private demands with spiritual practice – and how to avoid getting one’s energy depleted. At the end of this correspondence he suggested, “You might consider sharing these tips in a blogpost. They will be helpful to others as well.” So here are extracts from our exchange.

It started with my friend sending me his proof-reading comments with the remark, “I apologize for the delay in getting back to you…” I know that he has tough times, and so I answered, “The doors of time sometimes don’t allow much passing through.”

He replied, “Your statement regarding the doors of time sometimes not allowing much to pass through is very true for me, at least for the past several months. These days there is lot of working piling up for me — both personally and at work — but not much is getting completed.  I have been praying to improve my capability to handle things better. Any suggestions from your experience would be very beneficial for me.”

I then wrote him the following lines:

30 November 2012: Aries – Birth of a Diamond

“I know only too well these tight times, esp. during my professional years. For many years, I worked just 80% meaning 36 hs/week in my job to be able to care for the family and, more so, spiritual activities.
And now the time is again tight, the last months were. Each year, the rising half of the year, esp. Aries to Cancer, is speeding up.
The most important for me was to maintain the meditation schedule. And I split up my work, working on it rhythmically – meaning, I tried to use any minute available, was doing WTT correspondences / corrections during breaks at my office. I now do correspondences or activities demanding low concentration in side hours and try not to let myself be interrupted with non-essentials (there are many).
I try to prioritize: I can concentrate best for creative work of writing / researching (Lunar Messenger texts etc.) during the morning until noon, and again for a certain time after dinner. When I try to do it in the afternoon, it does not work. When I first do non-essential things, it is much more difficult to get to essential things later than the other way round.
I lose lot of time if there is not the right sequence, meaning when I am tired at a certain level – not much, it blurrs the access to clear thinking. In these times I either do non-prio activities, household activities, or I lay down for a short nap. Master Morya in his Agni Yoga teachings recommends to change regularly the topics with which one is active (instead of resting) to keep the mind freshly interested. Of course, relaxation and some time in nature, be it a park, a river or some green, gives back pranic/psychic energies.
This is most important to me, and if I don’t respect, my condition goes low. For me, about 10 minutes asanas in the morning (since many years, I just have the same sequence) are also most essential to feel well in the body, and thus with a better condition – these things are not time spent but enable to stay better stable.
Another thing is, I try to avoid “energy vampirism”, meaning I close my energy system (double pyramid visualisation for protection) before going into any kinds of mass assemblies (work, supermarkets, transportation); even in the car you are not immune. Keeping the protective aura stable (I had to learn this!) enables keeping the energy level higher. In any case of depletion, washing face (neck), arms and hands (quickly during work at the toilet) cleans away subtle dross. Good aeration is also essential, besides the light food and the spiritual alignment.
These are some thoughts to the topic energy management.”

My friend replied, “Wow! Thank you very much, Ludger for taking time to share all these practical, simple yet profound suggestions. I am doing some of these. I have been doing double pyramid once a day since you told me few years ago on a Skype call. It has been very helpful. I see your point in doing this more frequently than once a day. I will try to bring others into my routine as well.”

I would like to add an extract of my notes from the seminar of Master Kumar in Iguazú, lecture of 22 June 2018, morning. It is about building the protective double pyramid:

“As we attempt to build the personality in the temple there would be many elements which we call rogue elements. They try to obstruct, to destroy, to digress, to distract our pure intention to transform our personality into a temple. There are always forces in nature which are constructive and which are otherwise also. Nature contains varieties of forces. As much as there are beneficial forces there are also other forces which work contrary to self-transformation. They emerge from us on account of the deficiencies and weaknesses we have in us. Our weaknesses one by one get exposed and we start working with our personality; the undesirable, the weaknesses and limitations hidden in us would come up. When we boil the water the impurities emerge and by another boiling they are destroyed.

When we are on a journey to light there are elements of darkness which would like that we are not on the program of transforming ourselves. On the basis of our previous actions, thoughts and speeches they do not let us move forward. Therefore there is a regular ritual suggested to us every morning to build a diamantine temple around us so that there are no more digressive elements from the surroundings or from the past. We did many times prayers for the benefit of supporting the good intentions of the governments; we worked with the Diamantine Network from 2007 to 2014. It can be done by each one of us. We can be protected from within from the forces trying to attack us. Even when we are in the midst of a crisis or an accident, the accident does not have an impact on us. Even while a fire is around the fire does not touch is. We can do the ritual every day in the morning. It is conceived by the ancient most seers: We build a double pyramid of light so that nothing can touch us by way of untoward events. With an accident we even don’t get a scratch on the body. You do not get hurt by an accident, be it on the road, in a plane or a flight. You remain untouched by any element that attacks you. It is a beautiful Vedic ritual and it is done by all the knowers in the East as part of morning prayers.

The methodology is very simple: Stay oriented to the east either in a standing posture or in a sitting posture. Look to the east and visualise that a ray of light is passing from your heart centre towards the east. Then you bow down to the east and the angel of the east and receive the light of the east into your heart. First you project through imagination a ray of light to the east. Then you bow down to the angel of the east and then you imagine that a beam of light is moving to the south. Imagine that a beam of light is emerging from your heart to the south and you bow down to the angel of the south. The energy of the south will come and join you in the heart centre – in sitting posture you may imagine that the light is emerging from your heart and going to the south. In standing posture you can turn to the south. Then from the south the angel is blessing you and joins you in the heart.

Similarly you let an energy of light go to the west, bow down and receive a ray of light from the west into your heart.

Then you see a ray of light going to the north, you bow down and receive the ray of light into the heart.

Then you link up all the four directions. Then there is a square around you. From east to south, south to west, west to north. There is a field of light with beams all around. It is around you, by way of four right angles.

Then imagine that you are moving up vertically and bow down to the angel of that which is above. And then imagine that the energies from above are descending into you. Then connect the four directions to the light from above. It is the headlight. There is a pyramidal lighted dome that builds with your heart as the base. There is a pyramid built over you.

Then imagine that your energies are moving down below, connect all the four directions to what is down below you to your feet. You form another pyramid downwards. You are very much secured in this double pyramid. When this happens you have a lighted shield around you, when you regularly do it during the sunrise hours with the sun-rays. You have a dome upwards and a dome downwards. You are protected from the surroundings and from within and outside. You are at all times saved by this structure: I bow down to the east and the angel thereof, I bow down to the south/west/north and the angel thereof, then to the headlight up, then from below up.

It is regularly done by many people in the east; they chant it in Sanskrit. If you do it we are in the shell of light. The light is of diamantine nature; you are protected by a diamond all around us. This would allow not to fall into temptations all around us, nor the outer temptations can approach and affect you. In this insulated state you can build your temple without impediments.

Normally there would be many impediments or the other, starting from ill-health and personal karma. There would not. While the problems emerge, your practice would not be affected. Not that you would be protected from your karma. Your karma will not come into the way of your practice. Once your karma gets exhausted and slowly you build the temple, the temple becomes a place of service to the surroundings. You have the will to build a lighted temple. The six directions around them, a field of light around them, so that they are insulated within by which their practices are not infected. Even if you have a domestic problem your practice will not be affected. And the temple will be formed and the karma will not touch you. The karma will be exhausted and neutralised.

People say, “I am not very regular with my prayer, with my practices.” A small impediment, worldly influence will bring you off from your practice but the double pyramid will allow you to attend to the worldly duties.

There is a mantra called “let things wait”. This is possible only for those who work with light. Until your work with light is over, the problem would not come. When you have finished your practice you will attend to the purposes which need to be attended immediately.

Shirdi Sai Baba had the habit of living in a dilapidated mosque. He took his residence in that and from there he was doing his work. He had a fireplace in the corner where there burns fire day and night, now since over 140 years. There is another place where he made other preparations. He put his hand into boiling water to cook and serve the people. He did so for about 60 years. For special occasions he invited people from the village, prepared the food himself and served. Once while he was serving people the roof started giving way to fall. The people who took meal got fear and wanted to leave. He said, “The roof won’t fall.” Only few of them stayed there, took food and then he said, “You can go out,” and he also came out and said to the roof, “Now you can fall.”

That is the beauty of this practice, nothing will fall on you. If there is an impending accident, you would be averted of it. There are many such experiences when you work with this mantram. …

This practice will prevent you from falling into problems. You have to have complete faith. Through a small doubt the accidents may enter. … When you do this you are protecting the practice of light which you carry out, it will not be affected. … It is one beautiful practice. You have to do 6 utterances. It can be in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Telugu, without language. It is not the language which is important but the thought. Bow down to the east and imagine light entering from the east, then south, west, north, then you move up and down – even in the worst cases nothing will happen to you. The practice is given to those who are willing to build the temple within to be born again into light.”

3 August 2013: Sagittarius – Pre-Dawn Meditation

Today 18 years ago, on 16 May 2000, I passed a threshold in my life. It happened at the beginning of a group life with Sri Kumar at the then Taurus full moon, and it was my active joining the World Teacher Trust. I already wrote about it in two blogpost four years ago, “How I joined the WTT” (WTT: World Teacher Trust), and “Fire and Flame for the Fire Ritual”. I do not want to repeat these memories but I would like to share some facets of the unfoldment which started from that date on and was speeded up ever since.

Step by step, new activities and responsibilities crept into my life. For a long time, I did not realise their inter-relatedness. But looking back, I notice that while the scope and intensity of activities grew new skills developed. New activities build upon existing ones, and the latter always had to be maintained as a basis. For example, when I started publishing a newsletter, the related activity  had to be maintained and incoming new activities had to be integrated.

This way, the activities gradually started spreading into other fields, mainly by writing, structuring, condensing. The growth took partly place in my profession but it was more so in the realm of my volunteer activities for the wisdom teachings. For a long time, the two fields developed in parallel. Later, when I left my job, I focussed intensely on the latter activities.

I don’t want to give a list, but looking back, I see that the inner blessings came following the power of rhythm. I think this is nothing specific with me but of a general relevance. When you pick up an activity of goodwill and follow it with the related attention and continuity, its rhythm generates a magnetism attracting new and similar aspects.

I witness that although I do things with an active commitment, its impact is much better when it is not related to my personality. Things grow by themselves, through me as a doer but not by my feeling as a doer. It might sound strange to some but it contains the “magic trick”. Another, more “magic trick” is to stay aligned with the inner, the divine, to keep contact and follow the rhythm of inner work. Without this, the outer cannot thrive.

A basis topic in what I am doing since many years is: How to reduce complexity and make complex ideas or systems available in an easy manner. I started synthesizing themes of the wisdom teachings already in the 1970s with meditation seminar and in a way it has accompanied me in many forms. But only since I receive the conscious guidance of Sri Kumar, my mental structures became clearer and more fluid. And by following great role models, I got deeply formed, inside out.

Fire is the essence of creation, the cosmic force which ignites the process of manifestation. And we are also sparks of the original fire, descended into forms. We, as souls, are enclosed with sheaths of dense body cells and the tissues of our jackets of karmic textures. We dived into objectivity with coatings like diving suits. What happens when the oxygen supply is getting blocked?

The fire of our vital force dies down and we are suffocating. Many feel like suffocating today. When you are cut off from your origin you lose the awareness of who you really are, of what you have come for. People are running their lives in zombie mode, with their fires nearly extinguished. Many chase after pseudo-fulfilments: The kick of extreme adventures, of body/sport challenges, of careers… They don’t nourish the the soul fire.

However, these are still much better than the hunt for darker satisfactions. And worse is an extinguished fire or a destructive fire of frustration. Societies can also live on dangerous fires of polarisation and splitting, can exhale poisonous gases – in the physical, emotional and mental planes, like lies, manipulations and divisions.

Sagittarius has just started. It can give us the power to uplift the spirits from the morass of stuck life force. Ignite the fire in you for high aspirations. Sublime aspirations, well grounded and effective, are rare. Kindle the fire in you. And with an extra-breeze of prana, the vital force, ignite yourself! Continuously!

28 July is the 12th anniversary of the passing of my mother, 28 July 2005, 11.32h. I normally don’t post much about private things but I would like to make an exception and share with you some thoughts from the talk I gave at the church during the farewell ceremony. She still means a lot to me.

“When I think back in my life, to the very first traces of memory, my mother was already there. After all, it was she, or more precisely, father and mother, who gave us children the bodies. She has guided us into life, taught us the first things and coined our attitudes. Now she has passed on. Her departure touches deeply, provokes emotions, pictures, impressions and thoughts.

For me, a decisive imprint was her deep spirituality that characterized her life. This includes the feeling of being embedded into a larger whole, of being carried by it and of devoting one’s life to it. For Ursula, this meant wanting to give more than to receive. To give without expecting anything, in a silent, modest attitude. For her, giving meant not only to give us children food, to ensure a well functioning household. It meant being there with an inner presence, being interested in the others, taking part in what they were doing, and perceiving where others needed help. And thus, Ursula gave – with her visits to the sick, with her commitment in the church community, to people in her circle of acquaintances who needed help.

Ursula had a very big heart and she was always helpful, and often it was with inconspicuous things, seemingly self-evident things like ironing for the family, sewing on buttons or taking care of some errands for someone.

Ursula’s day began early, and I have probably inherited from her the tendency to get up early. When during my visits in the last few years I came out of the bathroom  she prepared already something in the kitchen before she sat down in her room for her “holy hour” from half past five to half past six, meditating, reading, writing down her thoughts. From out of this time of contemplation, she drew strength for the tasks of everyday life before she went into the daily routine.

For many years, as long as her powers permitted, she drove to the public swimming pool early in the morning to make her rounds immediately after the doors were opened. My father took over from her this early morning exercise and he also started his day by going to the swimming pool.

After breakfast and household duties, she went for errands, for visits to the hospital, to women’s congregations or devotions. The regular church visits to the Mass and to devotions were important rhythms and cornerstones of her life.

Ursula was a person of action and not of many words, but she took part in what was happening in the world. She clearly adressed injustices, particularly discriminations and discriminatory attitudes towards women. It was something that I especially observed and appreciated in her older years.

Ursula had her attitudes and principles, but she did not impose them onto others. She was able to accept other opinions and ways of life without condemning, and she could give people space. She was open to our inner search and our experiments with life, even if they were not hers. As if from the background, she supported the family and thus, gave home, a home for our father, for us children, even for the grand-children. The house had open doors for the people who came.

With her passing, we feel even more clearly what she had given us, and it fills me with gratitude. Although we will miss her, I know from Ursula that it is not her wish to see us sad. It is not without reason that the tombstone of her parents, where she is buried, carries the symbol of the risen Christ, and Ursula also lived with the firm knowledge of the immortality of the soul. May this knowledge keep us connected with her.

To conclude, I would like to draw a small picture of her with a short poem for Ursula:

Remained at one place and still walked far
Lived with one man and yet loved much
Remained loyal to one path and yet open other ways
Having given space for being together
Given food, ground and support
Looked for the sky, but not far from the earth
Inconspicuously silent and yet great
A light, a tower, a rock
A heart, a depth, a sea
Woman, mother, and also child
Simply just simple, simple and one”

Ursula Philips, 3.3.1926 – 28.07.2005

Recently a friend remarked, “Why are there only few people interested in the wisdom teachings and in group meetings? Why don’t you do some activity in the public to attract more people?” Some time later, another person asked, “Do you do any get-to-know events or meditation retreats?”

I knew that behind the answers I spontaneously gave there is much more than some short remarks can explain. It is about discovering your path. And about understanding what is your inner urge and that of others.

I told the first person, “Spreading the wisdom teachings cannot be done by propagating them but by way of one’s own inner transformation. And to talk about it, there has to be a searching soul showing a deeper intent.”  Curiosity might be a starter but it needs perseverance.
The second person I wrote about some possibilities of coming into contact, and there was no further reaction. There are many such ephemeral contacts. Opening doors for non-entrants?

For a long time, I thought that it is mainly a matter of informing people to arouse an interest so that they find “the spiritual path”. And with my enthusiasm for the path I was going I wanted to get others interested in it. I identified the path with the movements I was associated with for a while. And in a way I thought  that this path I was going was the right direction also for others. However, quite a number of times I discovered after a while that I needed to change my course and left movements.  With each change, temporary co-walkers stayed behind and new ones came.

It took a long time until I really deeply realised that “the path of the soul” and “the teachings I feel associated with” are two different things. And shifts in my inner orientation need not cause, from my side, shifts in outer associations. On the other hand, changes with the path of friends or close ones need not result in shifts in my inner orientation. This realisation caused some profound changes in me. It happened about 3-4 years ago. Now, when people come to me complaining about things – in society, with others, with the teachings – I inwardly check, does it touch my association with what I am doing or my path? I can respond in a friendly way without taking their viewpoints – and without feeling a need of explaining mine.

The wisdom teachings help me understand myself and clarify my understanding of others and of the greater nature. But if I don’t relate them to myself they are like straw and not corn. Trying to “market wisdom” is like distributing straw or giving food to people who don’t want to “eat”. And what is food for others might not be the same for me.

It needs lot of discrimination to realise what is nourishing for your soul and what you better leave off. And not to leave off the right thing because of what others think. It does not matter whether there are many people interested in the things that are good for me, or for you.

I sometimes took you with me on my journeys with my travel blogposts. I haven’t blogged much the last time for I was often away on an inner pilgrimage. No, it was not a kind of daydreaming or being “lost in space”. The pilgrimage led me through “virtual reality” though not with multiplayer gaming nor with data glasses – this latest fad of virtual reality, very en vogue at the moment, keeps the people stuck in sensual planes of an insipid taste, like amplified with artificial flavour enhancers.

I was carried away by the German translation of the Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam which I finished 2-3 weeks ago. I told you about it before, when I came into contact with this book about the life of Sripada Srivallabha (1320-1350), the first Avatar of Lord Dattatreya in Kali Yuga, in autumn 2014.

I will tell you more about this experience later, when the book will be published in German – it was a long and profound inner journey, a most profound pilgrimage, a kind of excavation. It was like walking through some archaeological site doing diggings through deep layers of time and of unknown worlds. To begin with, I had to fuse three English translations of the Telugu publication into a text-base for the German version, and a friend is working with it on the Spanish translation.

The English texts were like a rough road with many terms and concepts I first could not decipher. A good Indian guide now living in Africa showed up and gave me keys to an understanding. I wrote heaps of footnotes now enhancing the translation. And now, towards the end, I worked out a big register of the many persons, adding short comments, a kind of Who’s Who of the book – you might get lost in the more than hundred persons you come across, not to mention the many divine beings. And to complicate the matter, some persons have several names and of course changing names in successive incarnations. For me it was like finding a diamond when I discovered the name of a then future incarnation which was not given in the book by his now well-known name (Lahiri Mahasaya) but given by his native name.

This unearthing was part of the pilgrimage though not the essence. The essence was an incredible inner touch and guidance which did not end with the translating and typing. It influences my feeling of life, my meditations, my way of thinking. Kuruvapuram, the name I mention in the title of this blogpost, is the name of the place where Sripada lived the second part of his life. I haven’t been there yet but for me it is like I know it. Is it present, is is past where I am? Is it in creative imagination? I don’t think so.

Being fascinated by a book is different from encountering a more profound reality with the help of a book. You find Kuruvapuram on the map. A friend even visited it; he had profound inner experiences there and shared his photos with me. It is a very magnetic, brilliant place in the inner, though in the outer there is not much of it visible. But the physical place is just an anchor in time and space for a sublime dimension. My pilgrimage led me there and profoundly touched me.

In the “Charitamrutam” it says that living in Kashi (Benares) or Pithikapuram (Pithapuram, the place where Sripada was born) is different from living there in the subtle, golden Kashi or Pithikapuram. It is where you are living with your heart, not with the body. The outer might even distract you from the inner, like a veil. As already the Little Prince from Saint Exupéry said, “One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.”

It is more than just seeing, it is being there in the be-ness. And this pilgrimage does not end with the book, also the book is just a cipher pointing to the inner place of the pilgrimage. And many might see the veils of the place hinted by the book but will never enter.

Thank you, Robert, for the photos.

View towards the island of Kuruvapuram in the Krishna River

Statue of Lord Dattatreya

A friend from Miami sent me the following beautiful text from an anonymous source:

Your thoughts and actions are like stones dropped into still waters causing ripples to spread as they move outward.

In a world of six billion people, it’s easy to believe that the only way to initiate profound transformation is to take extreme action. Each of us, however, carries within us the capacity to change the world in small ways for better or worse. Everything we do and think affects the people in our lives, and their reactions in turn affect others. As the effect of a seemingly insignificant word passes from person to person, its impact grows and can become a source of great joy, inspiration, anxiety, or pain. Your thoughts and actions are like stones dropped into still waters, causing ripples to spread and expand as they move outward. The impact you have on the world is greater than you could ever imagine, and the choices you make can have far-reaching consequences. You can use the ripple effect to make a positive difference and spread waves of kindness that will wash over the world.

Should the opportunity arise, the recipient of a good deed will likely feel compelled to do a good deed for someone else. Someone feeling the effects of negative energy will be more likely to pass on that negative energy. One act of charity, one thoughtful deed, or even one positive thought can pass from individual to individual, snowballing until it becomes a group movement or the ray of hope that saves someone’s life. Every transformation, just like every ripple, has a point of origin. You must believe in your ability to be that point of origin if you want to use the ripples you create to spread goodness. Consider the effect of your thoughts and actions, and try to act graciously as much as possible.

A smile directed at a stranger, a compliment given to a friend, an attitude of laughter, or a thoughtful gesture can send ripples that spread among your loved ones and associates, out into your community, and finally throughout the world. You have the power to touch the lives of everyone you come into contact with and everyone those people come into contact with. The momentum of your influence will grow as your ripples moves onward and outward. One of those ripples could become a tidal wave of positivity.

Water ripples, 2008