On the way back from the CVV Sharing meeting I visited several friends. First I travelled with Wolfgang to the place where he is living now, the community living project in Dahlem-Harmstorf, a small village south of Hamburg. Already during the two hours drive we had an intense exchange, also about his commitment in another project in South Germany – project peace, a fascinating one-year training and orientation for young people between 18 and 25. Wolfgang is now also active in creating a North German equivalent of project peace.

Wolfgang and his wife Karina are also the initiators of the community project in Dahlem-Harmstorf, “Gemeinschaft Mittendrin Leben” (Community Right in the Middle). It is a living community that develops without a hierarchy and where each one is and remains autonomous and responsible for themselves, also in financial terms: the community is the owner of the land and buildings by way of shares for constructing the houses.

Upto now they have a total of 12,000 square meters of land available, with houses of a former farm with  a former main house and residential house, stable building and a barn. The main house of 1889, with about 300 square meters of living space, is a listed building and was renovated by April 2017. Two new buildings (straw bale houses) have been created in 2017, and they are currently expanding their group house (the “Backhaus” – baking house). In the project, 15 to 20 residential units are supposed to emerge, as well as common areas (shop, office, workshop). There is more space around with a forest and meadow area; the group will decide what happens to the areas and buildings, how and where they will be developed.

When we entered the residential building, where Wolfgang is living, lots of children boots were lying in the entrance corridor – a children’s festival as well as a marriage had just taken place the previous days. Several young families with were around, partly community members.

Wolfgang took me on a tour through the site – first we visited the “Backhaus”, where renovation work is taking place; at the same time, it serves for organisational meetings.

Then we visited the two new “straw bale” buildings which had a very nice ambience. The first residents just had moved into one of the houses; everywhere signs of ongoing work were still to be seen.

The barn will be transformed into a big assembly hall for meetings, concerts etc. Wolfgang explained: “In this area there are many innovative people who have come in the wake of the Gorleben protests – against the construction of a nuclear repository. The university of nearby Lüneburg has developed to a centre for environmental and ecological development research.”

“Here we will have gardens and a parking”, Wolfgang explained.

In the evening I met several members of the project – they regularly meet on Sunday evenings for an open silent meditation in the living room of Wolfgang and Karina’s apartment. There was a 84 years old lady who is still living in the direct neighbourhood – she now has given her manor house to the community and plans to move into one of the new apartments: “I’m thrilled to start something new at my age.”

Next morning before leaving, Wolfgang and I made a little promenade along the countryside. He explained that the whole area belongs to two big farmers; the extensive use of the soil in great parts of the larger area has destroyed the foundations of life and big masses of slurry from mass pig farming is sometimes creating a pungent smell. “The economic pressure and the expectation of the customers for cheap meat has devastating results. Up to now the ecological awareness is still dormant or has not reached yet awakened an awareness of the consequences. It is private farming, and the state does not intervene.” They hope for a change in the attitudes by working for a change in consciousness.

Today 12 years ago, I published the first blogpost on Friday, 31 March 2006. In the meanwhile, 1402 little “flowers” (blogposts) have grown along the wayside. The quote from Agni Yoga, Leaves of Morya’ Garden I with which I started is still the guiding star:

Yes, yes, yes, each word of unity is as the seed of some fair flower.
To cultivate a garden of beauty is permitted to all.
But where are the gardeners who can judge which seed is best?
We shall teach them to gather the fertile stalks.
We shall pluck out the blighting weeds.
And the ground where God has manifested Himself
We shall adorn with flowers.

I decided to do the blog in English to keep the scope international. In a way the blog is my public diary of events, reflections and little stories to sow some seed of inspiration and good will. And I frequently search the blog to re-find a specific topic.

And sometimes interesting comments by readers add a little flower to the garden. So I hope that the garden of inspiration will further grow with future blooming.

Easter Bunny working in the garden in front of the seminar centre “Lichtblick” (Bright Spot). On the ball in the background it says:
“Good thoughts are angels which you send out to bring about the desired event.”

Early morning, the day after spring equinox, I started my annual journey to North Germany for the CVV Sharing meeting. On the way, I visited some family members and friends before I continued further north to Hude in Oldenburg, Germany.
It was already the 9th “CVV Sharing” and the fourth time we met during the weekend after spring equinox at the seminar centre “Lichtblick” (“Bright Spot”).
The motto of these meetings is “Experiment – Experience – Expression” and the inspiration given by Sri Parvathi Kumar for the 2018 meeting was:
“The Master permeates within the cerebro-spinal system. Contact within and permeate in Presence.”

This year, there was an increased focus on meditation: we followed a meditative alignment every three hours with longer meditations – up to one hour – at 6 am and pm and at noontime.

There were profound exchanges in small groups and in plenary, where we spoke about inner movements and group experiences, and we did experiments with triangular group visualisations.

Friday evening there was an input with group exchange about Sri Kumar’s message for the New Year (contained in the Aries Vaisakh News Letter).

Saturday afternoon, two members gave a contribution on “Myth and Music” – one member presented thoughts about Greek mythology and the Lyra – the invention of the instrument by Hermes and the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice; the other member transmitted the myths into guitar improvisations. Later, the group sang a continuous “OM” in different pitches for ten minutes – it created a strong synchronisation of the group. Afterwards there was an exchange about meditation.

Sunday after the morning meditation we assembled on the terrace for a short fire ritual. And while the group sung “Agnaye Swâhâ, Agnaya Idam Na Mama” each group member put a stick into the flames – a thrilling ambiance.

Later, a group member gave an input about the network of light and the experience of Buddhi, and we exchanged about group experiences. Afterwards, we went to a small lake in a nearby forest to speak the Global Peace Prayer and the Invocation for United Europe.

The final round showed that the group much appreciated the longer meditations and all felt very uplifted and inspired. Next year, we will meet again in Hude on the first weekend after spring equinox, for the 10th CVV Sharing.

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During my last stay in January 2018 at the WTT Retreat Centre in Visakhapatnam, India I participated in a one hour video discussion moderated by Anuraag Saxena, an Indian from Singapore, originally from Visakhapatnam. See here my previous post.

Five other group members from the West also took part in the lively discussion. It was about our spiritual path in search of the eternal wisdom, in India called Sanatana Dharma.

With his videos, Anuraag is trying to inform Indians abroad about the rich heritage of India and make Indians aware of their treasures of Sanatana Dharma, the essence of Hinduism. None of us Westerners would coin ourselves as “Hindus” (the title of the video says “Why I became a Hindu?”) but we deeply agreed with the core values, esp. also “Vasudhaiva Kutumbaka” (see in one of the video links), meaning “all the world is one family”.

Here are the links to the video discussion as well as to the 10 4-5 min. snippets. These are his accounts on Facebook and on Twitter.

1.       Sanatana Dharma. What’s so cool about it?
2.       Singularity & Vasudeva Kutumbakam
3.       Katy Perry Vs. Spirituality
4.       Science Vs Spirituality: Opposing forces?
5.       Wealthy but lonely. The curse of Western Capitalism
6.       Digestion & Appropriation of Indic knowledge
7.       Is God a woman?
8.       Why is Catholicism against Diversity & Inclusion?
9.       Purushattva & the resurgence of Yoddhas
10.     In the end: Be Liberal

On the way back from India we had a stop-over for eight hours at Delhi airport. While strolling through the shopping area with my friend, I saw a shop with devotional objects of a higher quality. A red figurine of Hanuman stood out between various white figures. It was well made but I didn’t want to buy anything. The situation was quickly forgotten in the bustle of the return journey.

Some days later I was surprised to find a little package in the mailbox sent by friends I had met in India. The envelope contained a present, a thank-you for some help. I opened the box and found a little red Hanuman statue. It touched me and I felt I had seen it before… I hesitated a moment and then put the figurine on my meditation altar.

It was only next morning that I realised, Oh, it’s the same statue I had seen at Delhi airport. My friends did not take the same return journey, so they must have found the little statue somewhere else… A subtle network of connectedness.

I pondered on the symbolism of Hanuman, a manifestation of the first Logos, of the Cosmic Fire. I have an inner relationship with him, especially since translating the Sripada Srivallabha biography where a chapter deals with Hanuman. I had no external symbol – so he seems to have come to me in this way.

Yesterday the May Call Day celebration in the Vosges, France ended with a visit to Strasbourg. We met outside the European Parliament with prayers for peace and European union. It was the culmination of a beautiful festival which had started last Saturday. Friday already, the preparation group met at the home of Martine in Baerenthal in the Vosges for the final planning. The weather was gorgeous and it continued to be so the next days.

Saturday morning we came to the holiday resort in Bitche to set up the hall for the celebration. And in the afternoon the other participants arrived. In a joyous mood we assembled in the garden. Later, with the evening meditation, the festival started. And at nightfall, a water ritual spread its sublime vibrations.

Sunday after morning meditation some motion exercises in the morning sunlight made us “Fit for the Day”. We read extracts from discourses of Sri Kumar; group members spoke on “Astrology, the Big Picture” and “Are Medicinal Herbs only Positive?” giving insights into cosmic nature and secrets of the plant kingdom. Sunday and Monday afternoon Qi-Gong exercises attuned us to the flow of etheric energies. And Sunday evening I spoke on “Lord Dattatreya and His Incarnations”, accompanied by a slideshow.

Monday morning we assembled outside under a tree for meditation and a little fire ritual. It was a splendorous moment when the fire rose with the chanting of mantric invocations. Later, we celebrated the 30th May Call in the West with a cake and light ceremony. In the afternoon we exchanged about experiences which had shaped our path. In the evening, we saw the “Homage to the Mother of the World“, a video project by members of the World Teacher Trust, and sang some songs. At nightfall, the whole group made a walk around the beautiful forest lake Étang de Hasselfurth.

Like at earlier May Call celebrations in the Vosges, we ended our group living with a visit at the European Parliament. This year, however, we were not allowed to enter the inner court – new security procedures after the recent assassinations now require previous registration. For us, it was better – this way, we could sing and speak the prayers in a loud voice next to the building, visualising that we were standing in the centre of the Parliament building.

At the end we realised that a sparrow was sitting on a branch directly over our heads, turning his had in all directions and gazing at us. I was fascinated looking directly into his eyes for a moment – a divine messenger. After some time, he flew away.

Afterwards we went to the old town of Strasbourg and walked along the Ill River to a restaurant next to the Strasbourg Cathedral.

8 May is the day of the passing of Mme Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) and it is celebrated as the White Lotus Day. She is regarded as the white lotus that unfolds afresh the beauty and fragrance of new age wisdom. Inspired by the teachings of H.P.B., as she is also called, thousands of groups sprang up all around the globe. She continues to be an inspiration to many seekers of wisdom all around the globe. I once made a little brochure (in 4 languages) about her life and work.

During the last December Call in Bangalore, Master Kumar advised the group:

“Daily read a bit of Mme Blavatsky, of Secret Doctrine or Isis Unveiled, it can redress our energy and set it to a right order. It gives a direct impact on you.”

And when asked how to relate to the books of Blavatsky, he said:

“First of all, buy the books, don’t borrow them. Then read a page daily. There are terminologies from so many theologies. Every word you don’t understand you look up to the Theosophical Glossary, you can download it. When you read, underline the word you don’t understand, look up the same work through Google. Reading a page is not reading a page in a newspaper. The page will expose you to so much knowledge. If you read five sentences, relate to the glossary and Google, likewise you start reading. Reading Secret Doctrine daily is only to relate to the wisdom given in various parts on the planet. The Madam uses the terminology of nearly all the cultures, Inkas, Mayas, … It is a grand work. By relating to it, your comprehension grows, you would not more be so pig-headed thinking you know everything without knowing anything. If you open Blavatsky you know that you don’t know anything. Any part of the planet she presents and compares. How is it possible? Enquiring to the glossaries makes you humble.”

You find here the PDFs of Sri Kumar’s “Lessons on Secret Doctrine”: Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3.

Have a good White Lotus Day

P.S.: 10 May we celebrate the Vaisakh Festival at Taurus Full Moon. You might read here more about it.

Bust of H.P.B. by Alexey Leonov (c)

From time to time, I have forwarded nice image collections or links to videos and more via e-mail to a “friends’ list”. I call them “digital gifts”. I receive them from friends or find them on the web.

I normally do not publish them in the blog – I don’t want to get copyright issues with pictures and many of the “gifts” are just a nice pastime.

Here you find the link collection which I gathered over the last months – I don’t add the pictures and don’t  frame the videos here…

Nice commercials – in German, but you will understand:

• Always there for you: Immer für dich da – 125 Jahre LEIBNIZ Butterkeks
• Miniature Wonderland on Google Maps – something for the adult children
• Intel: 500 Drones Light Show – impressive

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• Where the Hell is Matt? – Dancing around the World !!!
• More of Matt: Outtakes
• How did Matt get people dance with him?

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• Elemonics – Scientist translates chemistry into Music !
• Pictures about “Nowhere Lands” by French photographer David de Rueda: Old spaceships, ghost cities, powerstations, (German explanations)

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• Photo Dharma : Around 10,000 photographs of Buddhist archeological sites, pilgrimage centres, and temples in SE Asia, as well as Videos, Maps, Posters, etc.
• Holybooks.com : free PDFs of many sacred and spiritual texts from many traditions, also Theosophy
• Dharma Vidya : Lots of pictures of Indian deities
• Hindu Devotional Power : pictures and texts, stories and more
• Mygodpictures.com : pictures of Gods of many cultures

Where the Hell is Matt? (2012):

Extract from the video (c. Matt Harding)

Yesterday evening I went out for a short walk. It was quite windy and raining a bit. A swarm of maple keys was approaching, some touching me, whirling high up, going even over the roofs of the neighbour houses. Then came another swarm, like swarms of locusts. We have a maple tree standing directly in front of our balcony. The leaves have gone and now it is time for the little “helicopters” to fly. I always thought that the maple keys on our balcony came from this tree but I now saw that the swarms flew a long distance, came from other trees at least some 50 meters away. I was astonished about this great Deva intelligence preparing first the leaves of the maples to fall and then, later, with the autumn storms, the maple keys are swarming out.

Maple keys in front of our house

Maple key on the balcony table

These little flying seeds made me think of my old French Larousse dictionary which I had used during my study times at the university. On the first page there was a publisher’s mark saying, “Je sème à tout vent”  – I sow with every wind.

It fascinated me very much and it became a motto in my life – to freely distribute, be it what I learnt as wisdom teachings, be it the paintings coming to me or books. Karma cares for what comes back. Nature does not care or charge for “seed copyright protection” to finance the development costs or the shareholder’s purse, it freely distributes. Of course, artists or computer programmers want to survive and our society is not based on free giving. And what comes as free mostly is not free but carries a more or less hidden catch. However, giving money for something you get is an exchange of energy and can be done with an awareness of being free; you need not understand it as paying. Also the maple keys want fertile ground to grow after landing.

I yesterday read that in Switzerland more than 30 per cent of the people, especially the young ones, only consume “free media”, be it in print, be it online. Paying for quality content production seems to be out. The recent election whirlwind brought plenty of fake news with blunt lies. And there are many websites now producing twisted news – the more viral, the more effective and powerful. I recently read from Macedonian “fake news producers” which gain quite a lot of money with sowing these poisonous seeds infecting many ignorant people with their viruses. Not only elections become infections when bad seeds sprout to governments, to laws and to international relations. Other kinds of seeds are needed for a healthy harvest.

It demands a high degree of discrimination to observe, to discover the seeds of motives and not to get deluded in one’s ensuing decisions concerning what to do in these times of the Dark Age.

Good seeds often take a long time to sprout and to grow. Weeds grow much faster. The huge redwood trees grow over centuries. In my life I observed that it took several decades for the deeper seeds of wisdom to sprout and grow – and they had been sown not just in this life. The seeds are coming freely, the good ones and the others. It needs a good gardener’s work to take out the weeds and water the good seeds.

At the birthplace of the great initiate Paracelsus near Einsiedeln, Switzerland, the World Teacher Trust has a little apartment for meditative meetings, the Paracelsus Centre. It is surrounded by a sublime scenery. Like in previous years, we met there for celebrating autumn equinox. The equinox days are the magnetic points of the year where we can more easily align to the subtle worlds. So it is more an inner festival than an outer activity.

However, nature again presented its beauty in radiant colours. The contrast was very strong – the whole way the sky was covered with high fog. Only a few kilometres before the centre the sky opened up and there was a brilliant light. The whole day had a magical ambiance you can enjoy with the photos.