The lingam is a fundamental symbol of creation, of the primary form emerging from the formless state. The expression of the divine Will is like a spark on the background of boundless blue. It has six projections from its centre, the six dimensions, giving the form of a double pyramid, which is also understood as a form of the lingam.

The divine Word comes forth through the vibrations in space which are compared to the roaring of the bull of Shiva. In Taurus, the constellation Rohini known in the West as Aldebaran is considered as the Eye of the Bull or the point of utterance of the divine Word. This eye is located in us in the third eye on the forehead. In the temples consecrated to Shiva the Lord in the form of a lingam should be seen through the horns of the bull situated outside the temple.

In the picture you see the double pyramid and the lingam through the horns of the bull. In the background I placed an image of the constellation of Taurus with Aldebaran in the centre. The star is surrounded by a lotus, the principle of unfoldment. Around the one central point there is a globe with the three original spectral colours unfolding to the central column with the seven colours of the rainbow. They represent the seven planes of creation or the higher Antahkarana on our forehead. The fiery red sphere of the lingam on the blue background expresses the potency of the divine Will bringing forth the creation. The central symbols taken together give the form of the divine Eye.

See more pictures on the site with my paintings. If you want to print the image, you can download the file in medium and high resolution format.

25 January 2015, pencils and photo work

People from the West often feel irritated when they come into contact with the many deities – and masters – worshipped in India. They ask, silently or aloud, what’s the purpose of all this? There are religions which condemn these worships as polytheistic or erroneous beliefs. They argue that there is only one God and monotheism is the only true belief… Yes, of course, there is only One but… comes to my mind. But what?

Some weeks ago I noticed the irritation about the plethora of divine beings with a friend. I know it only too well, this feeling of getting lost:

For many years, this has been an undercurrent in my life. I oscillated between Western and Eastern views of the world. I was striving to bridge the gap. At times it seemed to engulf me. I feel a fascination for Eastern wisdom but at the same time alienated by the many contradictions of eastern practical life, which is often at quite a distance from the heights of their sublime concepts. I noticed, however, that with the years I increasingly perceive the underlying unifying background and came to love the multiplicity.

Over 40 years ago, I came to the house of a member of my then-meditation group and saw there many statues – of Shiva, Ganesha, Krishna… This man had a big collection of partly costly Indian idols of gods. I had no relation to them, I felt disconcerted and at the same time I felt a strange fascination.

A few years later, I started studying Comparative Religion as one of my secondary subjects at University to get a deeper unerstanding. Later, I came into contact with theosophy and anthroposophy. There I learnt that in ancient-most times man lived with natural clairvoyance and could directly perceive the great divine beings of the subtle realms which he revered as Gods, knowing very well that they were facets of the One unknowable source of existence, which he called God. There were guardians (priests-initiates) who showed the way to this sublime vision. In temples and mystery schools the keys to direct experience were safeguarded. With the course of the ages, however, the epochs became darker and the knowledge got lost. Belief replaced experience and jealous religions fought for their God-systems as the only right ones. With the advent of modern critical thought and materialistic sciences the religious beliefs got ridiculed as superstition and accepted merely as a kind of social service.

Now, in the Aquarian age, when more and more people turn again inward and discover the subtle realms, a more differenciated view of the subtle worlds re-emerges. The “Gods are returning”. By becoming aware of the sublime beings of light, the Devas, they start working with us. They bring a splendour into our life which cannot unfold otherwise. Many times, I witnessed this radiance of subtle light shining into the surroundings. To perceive this light, which is nourished from behind, you have to open your subtle eyes; otherwise the curtain remains closed.

Indian Gods in shop windows at Berne, Switzerland, 24 December 2008:

Dust seems to have an innate quality to expand if you don’t clean it away regularly. In December while we were at the Paracelsus Center in Einsiedeln for Winter Solstice celebration, we noticed that a thorough clean-house was necessary. So we met there again last Friday and Saturday for a spring-clean and for celebrating Aries full moon. I was reminded of the ancient monastic rule of “Ora et labora”, to live a balance of prayer and of work.

Mathilda and I started driving to Einsiedeln very early in the morning. Ice was on the car windows and frost immediately covered them again after scratching. The highway was partly covered with dense fog but we had a beautiful drive listening to the CDs of Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” which a friend had borrowed me. In Biberbrugg we picked up Erika and Irmgard. A few kilometers before Einsiedeln the sun came out, and while we were driving the way down to the Paracelsus Center over a partly ice-covered road there was a magic light around the mist-covered hills. And there I noticed that I had left my camera at home… We later used Erika’s iPhone for some digital memories.

Unpacking the cleaning material, a short meditative aligment, then discussing the plan for the day… Erika had very well planned all the work to be accomplished: windows, curtains, kitchen and carpets – and the furniture and pictures… I started cleaning the pictures of the Masters, and discovered they had a layer of soot, from previous fire rituals… In one of the corners, there was a cuckoo clock which after cleaning and some moving started running again, after a few years of pause.

After 6 hours of work the center was shining again – and when we sat down for evening meditation we felt tired but happy.

We spent the night in a nearby hotel on the Etzel pass and went again down to the center in the dark of early morning rain. The Aries full moon celebration started with the morning meditation at the end of which we did an inner fire ritual with the outer “help” of some tea lights. Later after breakfast I picked up a friend at Einsiedeln station.

We later joined again with a small candle ceremony and singing a RAM mantram, RAM being a mantram linked to fire and Aries. I then guided the group through the “Meditative Journey through Life” about which I blogged last week, again a profound experience. At noon we met with another friend in Einsiedeln for lunch and a small rain-walk around the famous monastery.

The afternoon quickly went by with a visualisation exercise and exchange. Meinrad joined us for evening meditation plus water ritual. Before we left again we stood on the Devil’s Bridge next to the Paracelsus Center and threw some flowers and twigs into the roaring Sihl river putting some good thoughts into the river of life.

Last weekend I was in in North Germany for the 6th annual “CVV Sharing” meeting. Already in the previous 2 years, I participated in these meetings at Spring Equinox. This year, we were a group of 26 members from Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. We met again at the seminar centre “Lichtblick” (“Bright Spot”) near Hude.

The meeting was following a rhythm of alignment: Every 3 hours there was a short meditative pause for attuning to the MASTER energy. There were rituals like water ritual, fire ritual, introduction and ritual for attuning to the entry of the Sun into Aries. Furthermore, we did meditations, prayers and mantrams together. The steering group had again carefully prepared the meditational and organizational aspect of the meeting. The motto given by Dr Kumar was: “OBSERVE WITHIN • OBSERVE THE MOVEMENT • OBSERVE ADJUSTMENTS.”

There were various inputs by group members. To start with, I led the group on a meditative journey through the cycles of 7 years related to the zodiac to the “Aries point” of one’s birth and a bit beyond, and from there through the unfoldment of one’s life and to a visualization of the seed of the coming annual cycle. I accompanied it with the sound of a singing bowl. The inspiration for this meditative experiment came to me during a meditation. During the process I noticed the change in the quality of the group field while we went through the different zodiacal signs. Afterwards, several members came to me and spoke about their profound experiences.

Afterwards, Hubert presented “Vision and challenges of creating a healing centre”, followed by a vivid exchange about this project. The next day Doris gave an inspiring talk about “Master CVV”.

We had a number of sessions in small “triadic groups”, (groups of 3 persons each) following a special discipline of speaking, listening and sharing: The small groups sat together in different parts of the hall. The facilitators had prepared inputs with questions like “How and in which field of life do I want to express the Arian energy of a fresh start and of the power of Will?” One person in the triadic group would express his or her thoughts and the others would listen for about 3 minutes. Then the next person would speak and the other two would listen, followed by the 3rd person speaking… These exchanges were short but very intense. Afterwards thoughts from the meetings in the small groups were shared with the big group.

There were also plenum meetings to explore the experience of the spiritual power in us and in daily life.

The team of the seminar house gave us a warm welcome and served us delicious meals. And after a rainy day the weather also cooperated and brought us a lot of sunshine with fresh wind.

We all felt very much inspired and uplifted by the presence of the One MASTER and of the Energy of Synthesis expressing through the group.

Here are some impressions from the meeting:

The earliest legends of the history of India mention two dynasties, the “race of the Sun” (Surya Vansha) and the “race of the Moon” (Chandra Vansha). The Solar Dynasty of the “Sons of the Sun” was the first ray royal dynasty, to which Lord Rama belonged. Master Morya, who is of fiery nature, belongs to the Solar Dynasty and is its last representative. He is the Master of the sun sign Aries and represents the Fire on our planet.

For this painting I used the photo of a huge solar eruption and one of the crescent earth to symbolize the descent of the Sons of the Sun onto our planet. In the background I created the path of descent and spheres of blue and red indicating the process of reception.

At the bottom I placed a picture of Master Morya and merged two crowns for his headwear, with a solar disc in the background.

Dr. K. P. Kumar explained the symbolism in lectures:

“In the ancient past, there was the Solar Dynasty, the Lunar Dynasty and the Dynasty of the Yadavas. We can rightfully say that the Solar Dynasty was the first ray royal dynasty. The Lunar Dynasty was the second ray dynasty, which also was royal. The Yadava Dynasty was the mixed quality. It was the dynasty of the third ray, and was also a royal dynasty. In it there was the mixture of intelligent activity of the third ray and the wisdom of the second ray. They carried wisdom and also intelligent activity.

The culture of solar dynasty still exists in some parts of Rajasthan in India. Master Maruvu (Morya) is a descendent of the solar dynasty; he is a descendent of Lord Rama. That is why his vision, speech and work are straight-forward. He is of fiery nature.”

See more pictures on the site with my paintings. If you want to print the image, you can download the file in medium and high resolution format.

14 December 2014, pencils and photo work

In Eastern wisdom, the content of space is called Akasha. The impressions of the past cycles of life are recorded in the ‘Akashic records’, a kind of subtle photography. In ‘Spiritual Astrology’, Pisces represents this ‘tablet of the universe’ on which an initiate can read the past, present and future of the whole creation. Pisces also preserves the information about the human frame and its relationship with the frame of the cosmic man, which is hidden in the depths of our consciousness.

To illustrate the opening of the sacred content of space with its subtle records, I used an image of the stained glass windows of a Gothic cathedral, which I transformed and duplicated. For the cosmic man I extracted from an Indian painting the face of Ishvara, the Master consciousness of the universe and in our own being. On his forehead, you see the path of light connecting the pineal and pituitary – the representatives of the two fishes of Pisces. And above there is the crown of the head centre.

Below, I placed the “blue marble” of our Earth as the sphere of our life. I super-imposed the image of an embryo, symbolizing that our frame is made in the image and likeness of the cosmic man and that it is in a process of unfoldment.

Pisces is ruled by Neptune, who helps us to merge our lower consciousness (personality) into the higher consciousness or group-consciousness. I used a photo of Neptune to create the background of the image and to give it the mystic note, for Neptune is the soul of our solar Logos and is linked to the cosmic soul of our universe.

See more pictures on the site with my paintings. If you want to print the image, you can download the file in medium and high resolution format.

17 November 2014, pencils and photo work

We have just uploaded a documentary about the life and teachings of four Masters who received and transmitted the Aquarian energies to the planet and to the planetary beings: Master CVV (1868-1922), Master MN (1883-1940), Master EK (1926-1984) and Master KPK (born 1945). They gave out the most ancient wisdom of yoga to the modern age in a most suitable manner, embedding therein the energies that descended from higher circles. The documentary focuses mainly on Master CVV and Master EK. You can view the documentary in six parts – you find a presentation of all the videos on the WTT website and the WTT videos on YouTube.

 Part 1: Master CVV, the Avatar of Synthesis: Master CVV, also regarded as the Avatar of Synthesis, is an advanced disciple of the Sage Agastya, who is also known in the Theosophical circles as Master Jupiter, residing in the Nilagiris or the Blue Mountains of South India.  In 1910, he received from higher circles the Energy of Synthesis that visited him through Halley‘s Comet, enabling him to transmit the Aquarian energies.

Part 2: Master EK. Origin, Childhood and Youth: Master E.K. grew in the Vedic wisdom under the personal guidance of his father. He was a natural poet and writer. As he lost his mother in his early age, he was receiving a kind of motherly nourishment by worshipping the World Mother Gayatri. This led him proximate to the Mother’s energy.

Part 3: Master EK. The Years of Preparation. Master MN. The Fiery Flame: In Master EKs 24^th year Master CVV appeared to him while meditating. This opened the Path in his life. He identified himself with the work of world goodwill and the Planetary Hierarchy in 1953. He was linked up with the Hierarchy of the Masters of Wisdom in 1958.  Master EK was minutely guided by Master MN on the subtle plane. Master MN is a true representative of the yoga of Master CVV and conducts the yoga of the Master on a global scale in a fiery form.

Part 4: Master EK. The Work of Teaching and Healing: Master E.K. has been chosen to work in tune with the Plan of the community of the Enlightened Ones addressed as ‘The Hierarchy’. Besides manifesting the Aquarian Energies, Master E.K. was also entrusted with the age-old teaching and healing work. He wrote more than 50 books ranging from commentaries on Scriptures to homeo-science and health.  The work of group building commenced in a very significant way from 1977. Wherever he went, taught, and healed, groups emerged to follow the Path.

Part 5: Master EK. Cooperation with Master KPK: To conduct an organized activity relating to the work that emerged from Master EK, the World Teacher Trust was given birth to in 1971, in memory of the great World Teacher Lord Maitreya. Slowly, as the work grew, the organization also grew. For more than 18 years he worked together with Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar (Master KPK), who accompanied him on his journeys to Europe.

Part 6: Departure of Master EK. Master KPK: Global Unfoldment: In 1981, Master EK invited Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar (Master KPK) to carry out with him the task concerning the spiritual fusion of East and West. In March 1984, Master EK unexpectedly left his physical sheath and left a great number of unfinished projects behind.  Master KPK took over the tasks. He works actively in the economic, social and cultural fields with spirituality as the basis. He is a source of inspiration for self-transformation and for social service to more than 100 groups in 24 countries spread over India, Europe, North, Central and South America.

Each year, the Guru Puja celebrations follow a similar structure of rituals and program items. So the second day early morning, the members from the West were invited to come to the dais for meditation. Sitting in the focal point of the energies is always a special experience.

Later, there was the water ritual in honour of Lord Rudra with its rhythmic, vibrant Vedic chants, while the lingam, symbol of the manifestation of divine Will, was decorated in a sublime manner. The ritual was followed by the session of the Fusion of East and West. Four members of the Western brotherhood were asked onto the dais. This year, Sri Kumar had chosen members who had never spoken before to share their experience. It was inspiring to listen to their words. Sri Kumar also explained to the audience the publication work going on in the west and presented the latest publications from the last year.

In the afternoon some Indian members spoke about their experiences, mostly in Telugu. And the evening concluded with another lecture followed by the arati with the camphor light.

Tuesday morning it was very cold – more than the other days which were also quite fresh. Sri Kumar mentioned that this cold is more than usual but, “We complain when it is too hot or too cold. At this last day of Guru Pujas let us enjoy this cold…” And referring to the sublime invisible beings present, he pointed out, “Only because we don’t see the great Masters we think they are not there.”

After meditation and the morning lecture of Sri Kumar on the 12^th labour of Hercules, the ladies prepared for the Lalitha Puja. This puja is just conducted by the ladies in honour of the divine Mother. Under the melodic intonations, the ladies decorated an image of the divine Mother with red and golden yellow powder. These pujas always create a very vibrant and sublime ambiance.

When the puja ended drums and horns resounded from the backside: A small procession with a newly-wed couple approached for receiving the blessings of the Master. I felt like a paparazzi standing there in front of the dais with the many photographers capturing the auspicious moment of the young couple.

In the afternoon there was the last discourse of Sri Kumar, followed by the evening meditation and the Pada Puja, the traditional ceremony to honour the teacher by worshipping his feet. On the first sight, this ceremony might be a bit irritating to a western mind but it has a profound significance: the feet of the divine are understood as symbols of the lowest part of the Highest (the divine) touch the highest part of the humans (the head centre).

Today the journey home will start – filled with inspiring impressions and enriched by many profound teachings and encounters.

Saturday morning, the group went to Simhachalam to visit the temple on the top of the hill. Before the journey, Sri Kumar explained that it is the only temple in India where Varaha, the avatar in the form of a boar is worshipped, together with Narasimha, the avatar in the form of a man-lion. The occult meaning is, the divine energy lifts us up from being blocked in the matter, the base centre, first to the heart and then to the head centre. Varaha, the boar, is symbolised as giving this lift-up through his brilliant tusks, and Narasimha opens the pillar of the vertebral column, so that we can enter from the heart centre and ascend via the throat and the brow to the top of the head.

We got the darshan of the embodiment of the divine in form of a lingam in the innermost of the temple. There the Lord is established together with the World Mother called Sri. The ambiance was vibrating while the rhythmic sounds of the mantric chants reverberated through the air.

Afterwards we descended into the valley via the long stairway. Many pilgrims were around – some groups were chanting and clasping cymbals, while some men were pushing up the stairs a “holy cow” which seemed to be not enjoying this ascent. They were massaging its legs before with a push the cow was further drawn up the stairway.

In Simhachalam the preparations for the Guru Pujas were going on. This year the site is at a new place near the pond. Many volunteers were setting up the hall and the area for the dining hall. It was impressing to see how within a few hours they transformed the whole site into a beautiful festival group.

At 5.30 Master Kumar came to inaugurate the 54 celebrations of Master CVV Guru Pujas. Vedic chantings were intonated while he saluted the Masters of Wisdom present through their images on the altar and garlanded a statue of Master CVV. Then the evening prayer started. Afterwards, he gave an introduction to the group living. Group members from many groups all over India and the West have come together to stay here for three days and nights with the aspiration to reorient and to lift themselves up to the Light with the help of the energy of the divine Presence.

The Sunday morning celebrations started with the Ganesha ritual conducted by Kumari-Garu, followed by the intonation of other worship songs. After the morning prayer the Master presented some new book releases: a small booklet by Master EK, “Good Luck”, with thoughts about spiritual astrology. A book on “Sun”, a lecture given in 1990 at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. Sri Kumar also wrote books on Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Uranus. He mentioned that in 4 colleges in the United States these books have been included in their syllabus. A reprint of the book on Uranus and also Saturn Regulations of Master CVV were also released, together with a book on “The teachings of Lord Maitreya”, published during December Call – 108 statements taken from the Vaisakh Newsletter. Further some Telugu books – a book on Lalitha Sahasranama Stotra and on Gurupaduka Stotra.

The talks of the Guru Puja continue the series of the previous years on the Labours of Hercules. This time, Sri Kumar started with the lesson on the 8^th Labour of Hercules relating to Scorpio, telling the story about the killing of the Hydra and giving explanations. The other labours till the 12^th labour will be the content of the next lessons.

After breakfast, a group of small children was introduced into first writing and the intonation of OM Namah Sivaya, the mantram for developing an enlightened will. Later the fire ritual was conducted invoking the presence of the devas for the upliftment of the beings. Later there was the new releases of books by Master EK by the team of Kulapati Editions until noon.

Today was the final session of the seminar and the good-bye ceremony. From tomorrow on, we will be at the Guru Puja celebration at Simhachalam, only returning late in the night to the retreat centre.

The last days were intense seminar days interspersed with small excursions. Wednesday we visited a service centre of the WTT, where daily about 150 needy people are taken care of by food distribution and where also free health consultations and professional training courses are held. Then we went to the Bala Bhanu School. Two months ago, I had seen the devastations of the Hudhud cyclone. Now we were very much astonished how well the surroundings of the school had been restored. Although in the neighbourhood you could see the traces of destruction – mainly remains of fallen trees – the school made a very good impression.

The students just had their exam day and all were in their classes busily writing. We had a look into all classes and then a short exchange with the teachers.

In the afternoon we visited the Theosophical Society (TS) of Visakhapatnam, one of the oldest in India. The new head of the TS feels very much inspired by the teachings of Master EK (Dr. E. Krishnamacharya) who had been given lectures in the premises in the 70s/80s. Their temple had been destroyed by the cyclone and you could still see a lot of dust around.

Yesterday we went to Ramadri, the temple site of the WTT about 20 km outside of Visakhapatnam. We could not see the Planetary Healing Centre, it seems that the devastations of the cyclone had destroyed number of trees.

At Ramadri we were very much astonished how well the site had been redone. The roof of the small buildings of the Mithila school for poor children had been redone, all the little temples and the buildings freshly painted and the garden beautifully set up again. Also the small shrines were reset to order and were shining in fresh brilliance.

The children gave us a warm welcome. We then walked around on the large compound and visited the new “Gosala”, the cowshed where now 60 cows are held. Their milk is distributed to the school children and poor people in the surrounding. Then we assembled in the amphitheatre, where Sri Kumar and Kumari-Garu distributed clothes to the school children. Afterwards Sri Kumar gave a talk and the children presented some Vedic recitations. When we had our evening prayer with the beautiful view over the ocean, groups of birds were flying through the sky which displayed sublime shades of pink and violet.