Already in a previous blog-post I described how I came to know about the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya as his first avatar in this era, as Sripada Srivallabha (1320-1350 AD), and the request to translate his biography into German.

I very much wanted to visit his birthplace, Pithapuram, where he said that his energy would be anchored permanently. When seeing the program of the seminar in Visakhapatnam, I was very pleasantly surprised to notice that an excursion to Pithapuram was planned for 5 January.

2 January 2015, I could speak to Sri Kumar. He very warmly smiled and told me that his family is  deeply related to Lord Dattatreya since 3 generations, since his grandfather, and that he had been introduced into the line of Dattatreya in his early childhood. He had read the book “Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitamritam”: “It is a very great book”. And: “Already one month before you wrote me about the translation of the book I got the impulse that the book should go over the world. And when you told me that you want to go to Pithapuram, I thought it is good that the whole group goes there.”

One day later, I accompanied Robert who is going to translate the book to Spanish, to his consultation with Sri Kumar. Robert gave him two statuettes of Lord Dattatreya (one he had given me as a gift) to bless them and Sri Kumar was very radiant.

On the question what is the relation between Lord Dattatreya, Agastya and Master CVV, Sri Kumar said, that Lord Dattatreya is most high, higher than the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He is working through Sirius for our system. Agastya brings in the energies from Sirius and Dattatreya is the Master to Agastya, and Master CVV is a member of the ashram of Agastya. He told us that it is a very great blessing that we are allowed to translate the book.

Before we went to Pithapuram, he gave an introduction to the group, and today he gave some further explanations. Here are some extracts from his talks:

“It is planned that tomorrow the group will visit a sacred place where the Lord Dattatreya, the Lord that presides over the dog star or Sirius, the Lord who is also the Master for Agastya, the teacher for the entire solar system, he took birth and he guided for 3 continuous incarnations. It is a placed visited by all in India especially those who follow a teacher. Lord Dattatreya is said to be the synthesis of the Trinity. The details of Dattatreya were published long ago. For the benefit of the humanity in Kali Yuga, he took birth 7 centuries ago in Andhra Pradesh which is 100 km from here. Even the Sufis, priests of the Mughal emperors visited this place. The priest to emperor Akbhar built his ashram to be near the Lord. The priest of Mughal emperor received instructions from higher circles to establish his ashram in this place in Pithapuram. Pita [] meaning the village of the Pita or the grand master, that’s the name of the place. Pita Puram has gradually become Pithapuram. He took birth in this place. … The Lord Dattatreya is said to be the cosmic principle of yoga. That’s why in scriptures he is worshipped as the Lord that presides over yoga. He is also called “Datta” meaning his nature is to give his presence. Many are the episodes of Dattatreya. I strongly recommend every member to buy the English version of the book for those who can understand English.

I also made a visit to this place. It is not the first time I went to this place. I read it [the book] many times. During the year, it so happened that energies of the Master visited our group. It was a pleasant surprise to know that the energies touched Ludger, and he feels an urge to make translation of this book into German. Likewise, Robert Badia received an impulse separately, from the Spanish group. It is all in a period over a year.

Dattatreya is the head of mystical hierarchy. All the teachings on this planet culminate in Sirius. Such a one, to benefit the beings in Kali Yuga, he took birth in a humble place, lots of acts of teaching and healing. Very miraculous deeds he has done…

His feet are kept in the back of the temple. You may touch the feet, you may go around. It is so simple, you may not get the impact apparently. But subtly there is a great impact. Go there, relax there, meditate there, and then come back.”

Tuesday, 06 January, morning:

“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. That’s why it was a good pilgrimage that has happened….”

The bus ride took 3.5 hours to go and 4 hours to come back. The temple is located in a side-road, the bus had to stop some streets before. It is a very vibrating place though you would never suppose the greatness of the place by seeing it from the outside.

We received a very warm welcome by the members of the Maha Samsthanam (Trust) of the Sripada Srivallabha Temple. Sri Ramaswamy Garu, who is over 80 years old, gave us a lecture and his blessings. We felt a profound presence around, while we saw the place where Sripada had been born. Unfortunately, the English book  of Sripada’s biography which Sri Kumar had told us to buy, was out of print. However, I received 2 last copies for future translators of the book. So in case you feel the impulse to translate the book to a Western language (except German and Spanish), please contact me.

Later we went to the Kukkuteshvara temple in Pithapuram,  a very old temple compound with one of the 18 (?) temples of the Divine Mother in India, a “self-born” Dattatreya statue (in form of a lingam) and statues of Shiva. We sang some mantrams and saw the different parts of the temple before setting out to our return journey. While driving on the highway, a huge orange Capricorn full moon was hanging in the sky, and the video in the bus was playing a colourful screenplay of an episode of the life of Lord Rama.

On Wednesday we flew from Bangalore, where we had attended the December Call, to Visakhapatnam. It was a beautiful flight – unlike the flight of some other group members who came with an airline which seems to be near “grounding” and had cancelled plenty of connections.

In Visakhapatnam it was very windy and drizzling – there was a lot of water around, signs of some heavy rain.

The airport was still suffering very much from the hurricane in October – most of the roof was away and the open sky peeped in.

On the way into the city we saw many uprooted trees or palms with their leaves hanging down. The big ad-displays were swinging in the air:

There was a very warm welcome in the Retreat Centre of the WTT – it was so nice to meet friends again after one year, and there were some new faces, from Argentina and from Spain. It is a “small” group living, just 34 members from 6 countries.

First of January in the morning there was a lecture of Sri Kumar in Telugu for the Indian members, and our group living started in the afternoon. The topic of the seminar is “The Scripture of Synthesis: Eighteen Steps of Yoga by Kapila Maharshi”. I enjoy very much the lectures; although much of the topics is not “new” to me but there is always such an uplifting and inspiring ambiance. Besides, one thing is having heard a topic, another is, having integrated it in daily life.

I had many exchanges, especially with my two room-mates Meinrad and Robert. And the consultation with Sri Kumar the day before yesterday deeply touched me. I will tell a bit about some details after our visit with the group to Pithapuram tomorrow. Tonight, we will have Capricorn full moon meditation – you already strongly feel the energy of the full moon in the air.

The house of Sri Kumar, Radhamadhavam, is under construction – a 5 storey building, which is scheduled to be ready by summer this year. We will have the celebration of the closing of the seminar in the premises, on the 9th of January.

The altar of Radhamadhavam is for the moment in the retreat centre, so we have the beautiful statues around, like this image of Krishna:

(I now inserted the pictures to my last blog-post from Doha. I still could not get to my e-mails; the mailings from the seminar will go out later, from Vizag.)

Sunday evening the shuttle bus of the hotel in Doha brought is to the airport. Check-in, boarding, a few hours in the air and then landing in Bangalore around 2.40 am – and the smell of India came back.

At the exit of the hotel 2 group members were waiting for us with a taxi. A short stop in the hotel to put off the luggage and change clothes, then we went to Tapovana, the beautiful colony of WTT-members with the assembly hall, the “Wisdom Temple”, where the celebrations of December Call (29 December) were going on. We just arrived on the main day. Mantric chantings were filling the air when we approached the hall. We slipped in and joined.

Morning prayer, water ritual, lecture, breakfast… It was a day passed in some kind of a trance state – not having slept the whole night but now during the day, I was changing between moments of wakefulness and short naps, which interrupted my listening to inspiring talks of Sri Kumar or the silent moments of meditation

Besides the seminar, the group living was filled with encounters and exchanges. Here receiving some new books, there hearing news from friends from all over the world who had come to the celebration, or just the joy of meeting other known and unknown faces. Many stories could be told here, about adventures of friends or little surprising events happening in the ambiance charged with spiritual energies. It was an extremely intense day.

One special moment: In the afternoon, Siva Shankar, the brother of Sri Kumar came to me. I was happy to see him again for he had gone through a very long time of transformation through a prolonged disease. He told me if I could release a book mark he had got printed in Visakhapatnam but didn’t want to release in the assembly hall. I smiled and said, yes. He replied, “Master Ludger is now releasing the bookmark”. I answered, “Yes, we are all Masters in the making.” I unpacked the bookmarks while he got an Indian standing nearby to take some photos and I showed the bookmarks to the camera.

There was a saying on the bookmark, “It is better to have prayer without praying hall than have a praying hall without prayer” and then “Funlawn Master, Master FM”. I said, “Oh, the Master who is making jokes on the meadow”. He replied, “Yes, I have written sayings from Masters from A to Z.” – “Oh, so there is also a “Tea Master?” – “Yes, Torturing Master or Teasing – the Master is very often teasing you.” He bubbled with joy – and I very much enjoyed his humour. He gave me a number of these bookmarks to distribute them to all Western members present. I did it with much joy, explaining the “occult work” of the Funlawn Master. For some people it took a moment to understand the story….

A short night in the hotel with about 4 hs sleep followed, getting up again around 3.30 am. Around 5 am we were back at Tapovana. The pathway through the rows of houses to the hall was beautifully lighted with blue and green garlands between the trees. About 400 people had assembled in the hall. The day started with a ritual to Lord Ganesha, followed by different hymns and the morning meditation. Afterwards Master Kumar started his morning talk introducing a questions-answer session closing the celebrations. Though it was difficult for me to follow acoustically it was a beautiful ambiance.

While some members from Europe and various Indian groups started their ways home, I used the time for talking with friends, taking pictures or writing notes. Since I couldn’t get an internet connection I prepared these notes offline.

Tomorrow, the last day of 2014, our flight to Visakhapatnam will be around noon time, and on 1^st of January the seminar with Master Kumar shall start there. I remembered his remarks in his closing works that while we can celebrate the New Year as it is now the convention, the date of 1^st January is just a date fixed by human minds and has no correspondence in the rhythms of the year giving the beginnings of new phases with the solstices and the equinoxes and that best the New Year is to be celebrated at spring equinox, the 21 of March.

Yesterday a quarter past 3 am I left the house in ice-cold night, driving to the flat of my eldest son, Marwin. He took me with our car to Geneva airport. On the way it started snowing more and more, and when we reached the airport the roads were white. I checked in and then there was the call for boarding. When all had taken their places, the captain said that we had to wait for de-icing before we could start…. It nearly 1.5 hs late when the plane took off. Will I catch the connecting flight?

The captain flew very fast but in Frankfort we were parked at the far end of the runway. Waiting for the bus and the ride took 30 minutes. As soon as I entered the airport I made a sprint the long way to the connecting flight with Qatar Airways.

At the checkin I saw my friend Elif waiting and then heard at the counter that my place was already given to someone else because I came so late. Nevertheless they managed to give us new seats…

The airport was frozen, snow was in the air. The captain told us, we had to wait, maybe a quarter of an hour, later, maybe half an hour, later, “I don’t know”. The de-icing station had problems, some machines didn’t work. We finally left 2.5 hours late… We saw that we won’t be able to catch the connecting plane… So we enjoyed the inflight movies knowing that some adventure was waiting for us.

At Doha airport in Qatar many people from our flight had lost their ongoing flight but the staff was busily working to manage the situation. An Indian next to me said, “I’ll never take again this airline, I have an important date tomorrow. I told him that it is not the fault of the airline but of the weather and the de-icing machines. He said,”Other planes took off faster, our captain didn’t try everything.” I said nothing but inwardly smiled – a child’s complaints….

We said, we will have a beautiful stay in Doha, and so it was. We got 1 day visa and tickets for a hotel. We had to wait till the bus came; people were brought to 2 hotels.

A nice lobby and polite staff took care of us. We went to the room and then had a delicious dinner shortly before midnight.

At 6 am in the morning we met for morning meditation. We sent information to the group members in Bangalore informing about our adventure, and soon we got the reply that they will take care of us at our arrival early morning on the 29th.

We tried to connect online to the December Call celebration but could not establish connection. So we had breakfast , good talks, and after lunch an Indian servant told us we could have a beautiful sight from the top of the hotel. It was only then that we realised that the hotel was directly at the best place at a little port, near Doha museum, and the grand skyline of Doha on the other side. We decided to go for a walk. Fantastic impressions. We were grateful for our unscheduled stop. Now in about an hour the bus will pick us up and bring us back to the airport, for the next part of our journey.

We just have entered the month of Capricorn. In spiritual astrology, Capricorn symbolises the time of dawn on the different scales: the daily sunrise, the dawn of the year, or the birth of the creational intelligences, the awakening of the gods.

To illustrate these different planes, I started with a photo of a sunrise seen from an airplane. The partly visible sun symbolises that our visible sun is an expression of the invisible parts. According to the Scriptures, only one quarter is visible, while three quarters remain hidden. The surrounding petals of three layers of a sunflower and the flames above depict the radiance of the subtle planes.

In the centre, you see the depiction of the three basic forces of creational activity, pervasion and destruction – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. I created this three-headed unity by transforming a picture of a brownish copper statue into blue with golden ornaments. The statue was done on the basis of the famous Trimurti, a huge sculpture of the three-headed divinity in the caves of Elephanta Island, Mumbai. The serpent is a symbol of the unfoldment of time and the forces of life (Kundalini).

For the background, I chose a photo of the constellation of Capricorn. In many of my paintings you see a dark blue background with stars. It symbolises the background of the unmanifest space, from out of which all manifestations emerge – you cannot illustrate the unmanifest. The blue of the statues of Gods refers to their origin from the unknowable background.

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.

Capricorn – The Sunrise

05 September 2014, pencils and photo work

We yesterday celebrated the winter solstice at the Paracelsus Centre near Einsiedeln, Switzerland.

We were a small group but the celebration gave us great joy. With mantrams, rituals, exchanges, study and visualisation exercises we tried to fathom the qualities of this special time of the solstice energy shift and new moon. The Sun shed golden light while we were walking along the Sihl river. The whole day there was some magic in the air.

Please find here some impressions of the celebration.

The month of Sagittarius is related to spiritual aspiration and the teacher, represented by Jupiter, and thus also to the cosmic principle of the Teacher.  In India, this principle is also understood as Lord Dattatreya. Sri Kumar has written a profound book about the topic. Since long, I’m fascinated by Dattatreya and I just have published the Lunar Messenger for Sagittarius on Dattatreya (PDF); you also find the text here.

In this regard, I would like to tell you some events of the last weeks which touched me very much. It became quite a long blog-post but you won’t regret reading it till the end…

Sri Dattatreya is depicted as a youth with three heads leaning against a white cow and surrounded by 4 dogs.

On 20 October, I got an e-mail from Lakshmi, a young IT specialist from Chennai with whom I have e-mail exchanges from time to time. She wrote: “By the way, I wanted to ask you if you have any book in German related to Sripada Srivallabha, the first avatar of Lord Dattatreya on Earth.” I didn’t remember having heard the name before. So I looked it up in Wikipedia and found an article.

Sripada Srivallabha, picture from Wikipedia

In the next e-mail Lakshmi asked me if I would be able to translate a book about him into German, Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitaamrutam, if she provides me the English version. I answered her, “I think I would be able but I don’t know if I want to do it, there is other work around.” While I was writing these words, I felt a strange inner touch and that I should not decline the request. I told me wife, “I have the impression that a book translation is coming to me…”

When reading in the Wikipedia article that Sripada Srivallabha, who lived in the 14th century, is regarded as the first incarnation of Lord Dattatreya in Kali Yuga and that he was born in Pithapuram, I noticed that it is a place between Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry and that I had passed nearby last January. Suddenly a memory flashed through my mind, and I opened my notes from the last group living in India. Sri Kumar, who could not accompany the group to Rajahmundry, told us before the journey:

“You will all start at 3 pm in the afternoon. On the way we will stop at a place Lord Dattatreya was born in this cycle of time. Lord Dattatreya comes from the system of Sirius. He lived, was incarnated to a place nearby and lived there for 16 years. Then moved from there to a place in Maharashtra for another 16 years. According to prophecy he was reborn and he said he would again be reborn and again in Maharashtra. And he would also come to many forms of Islamic community; it was Shirdi Sai Baba. … Their ashram is also in…, the place where you go. Many things he prophesied as per other religions; he continues to guide us to one religion or the other. The centre is the ancient-most place related to the system of teachers. The Lord came down via that place from the Sirius system. In this Kali age he took birth. There are books available in English, Telugu and Hindi. I strongly recommend that you pick up the English book and try to read it. It is full of knowledge and things he did on earth. When you enter from the entrance there is a bookshop, in the ashram itself there is a book available. After this you go to Rajahmundry.”
The bus came too late and so the group did not go to the place Lord Dattatreya was born for want of time. I was sad but then forgot about it.

I now felt electrified that Sri Kumar had hinted already at this book which now knocked at my doors. I also remembered a passage in the biography on Master KPK: “In his 24th year, another initiate in the line of Dattatreya visited the family and initiated Sri Parvathi Kumar, his mother and his only sister Parvathi into the path of Yoga.” It also came to my mind that several times I had seen Sri Kumar doing a ritual to Lord Dattatreya. I started an intense web-search and got more and more drawn into the matter:

Statue at the house of Sri Kumar in Visakhapatnam

Sripada Srivallabha had lived from 1320 to 1350 AD, it was a powerful life full of splendour and miraculous events. As prophesied,  he re-incarnated as Narasimha Saraswati (1378 to 1459) and worked in a similar style. At the end of this life he entered into a cave and went into Samadhi for about 300 years only to come out around September–October 1856 as Shri Swami Samarth of Akkalkot (who then died in 1878 – I remembered having seen his picture on the altar of the Guru Pujas). I found articles mentioning that during this time Lord Dattatreya had taken to other simultaneous incarnations, such as Vasudevanand Saraswati and Shirdi Sai Baba – a feat other high souls also have done. I had read a lot about Shirdi Baba before. I now was profoundly touched discovering so many mysterious details which I hadn’t known before. I also thought of Swami Ganapati of Mysore, whose ashram I had visited  last year and about whom I had blogged several times –  he is also regarded as an avatar of Dattatreya.

Click on pictures to see them enlarged:

I wrote Sri Kumar about the idea of translating the book on Sripada Srivallabha, and he answered, “Get the book and read. Then you can decide.” I mentioned the whole story to Robert, a Spanish friend. He said, “Don’t you think a Spanish translation of the book would also be great? I’d love to do it.” I told him the answer of Sri Kumar, and so we said, we’ll read the book and form a triangle for the project, with Lakshmi to provide us with explanations and background information.

Cover picture of the book Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitaamrutam

Lakshmi now bought the English books and they will reach us end of December in Bangalore, at the December Call. She also procured for us the translation and publishing rights for the book. In the meanwhile I discovered a source where I could get the English translation as a PDF (the print version will be of about 400 pages…).

I asked Doris, a German friend, if she would like to do a proof-reading of the future translation and she was interested to do it. She even transcribed a longer FAQ-session with Sri Kumar from January 1994, where he talked about Lord Dattatreya and his avatars. She also sent me 2 pictures from 1994 with Sri Kumar and two persons considered as avatars of Lord Dattatreya:

Sri Kumar with Sri Visva Yogi Viswam Ji, an avatar of Lord Dattatreya, Guru Puja 1994

Sri Kumar with Bhaktaraj Maharaj (1920-1995), 1994

In the fascinating FAQ transcript, Sri Kumar speaks about various incarnations of Lord Dattatreya, and he also mentions Sripada Srivallabha, Narasimha Saraswati, Akkalkot Maharaj (Swami Samarth), Shirdi Sai Baba and Satya Sai Baba. I wondered why Sri Kumar didn’t give these names in his book on Lord Dattatreya, and so I asked him. He answered:

“Dattatreya is the sum and essence of The Cosmic Principle of Teacher. It is too mystical to the west and hence we tread the path of Maitreya. There are many freaks of Dattatreya, meaning electric manifestations of him thru persons who are not consistent and safe to follow. I therefore did not prefer to present names. Akkalkot Maharaj is the last consistent one.”

In me the question arose, why the incarnations of Dattatreya, the cosmic principle of Teacher, are so mysterious and too mystical for the West, and so I asked again Sri Kumar. He answered,

“Teachers are essentially meant to transmit Presence. Teaching is but a feed to minds of students. Presence elevates. Teaching inspires the mind and may lead to Buddhic state which may not stay longer. The west is more with teaching and the related mental understanding. The Presence lifts unto Itself. Dattatreya and the like are beyond mental comprehension.”

I was grateful for this clarification, and while studying other transcriptions from seminars of Sri Kumar for the Lunar Messenger the image became still clearer, though questions remain, like, what is the relation between Agastya/Master CVV and Dattatreya/Sripada who both have come from the Sirius system? Robert visualised this by fusing the two with the picture of Lord Maitreya to one image which he sent me yesterday:

At the moment, I’m reading the PDF book on Sripada Srivallabha with profound fascination. There are a lot of thrilling stories and inspiring events. However, it is not an easy read for a Westerner, there are lots of Sanskrit terms and concepts quite unfamiliar to my Western mind – although I’m in touch with Indian philosophy since several decades. But a leisurely reading is very uplifting.

I asked myself why I feel so attracted to the topic of Dattatreya, having come out of “devotional” emotions in the course of the years. I thought, I have encountered quite a lot of teachers and teachings and don’t want to go on “collecting more” – I feel well with the path I’m going. I know that the different teachings are expressions of the One principle of teaching and the teachers are expressions of the One. And just as there is a personification of the teaching principle in the World Teacher of our planet, Lord Maitreya, there is also a personification of the teaching principle on a cosmic scale, Lord Dattatreya. But this understanding remained a bit abstract.

Now, the encounter with Sripada deeply touched me, I was thrilled to discover and experience that Dattatreya is not just an abstract principle or a mythological personification but is incarnating time and again through his avatars and thus is giving his blessing to earnest seekers. While reading the “Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitaamrutam” I realised that with the book, there are quite some veils to be lifted, in the form of lots of unfamiliar concepts of Indian thought and terminology – these veils will keep off a casual reader.

The book itself has a very mysterious background: it had been hidden for 32 generations and only resurfaced in 2001, in a form copied from the original Sanskrit text. The original old copy which was brittle was destroyed by immersing it in the Krishna River, as instructed in the book. The English version is a translation of the Telugu version, and it is not an old language. However, I clearly feel that it is not a modern fake. When you read the book in an unbiased way you will realise its authenticity, inspiration and greatness.

If you feel you also really want to read the book “Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitaamrutam”, with a pure heart, you can contact me for a softcopy, only for personal use.
You might also like to read my other blogpost about the visit to the birthplace of Sripada Srivallabha.

YouTube-Video on the Sripada Shrivallabha Temple in Pithapuram – the video could not be framed into the blog:

Video about Kuravpur, a place on an island where Sripada Srivallabha meditated for a longer time.

“The Tree of Wisdom and the Waters of Life”  – a painting about Lord Dattatreya (3 Sept. 2011)

In 2001, at the May Call seminar in Iguazú, Sri Kumar spoke about the qualities Uranus. One quality is being original. As an illustration he told us a legend about the 36th chamber of Shaolin. It is a little bit different than the plot of the famous movie. The story is now also published in the book on Uranus – The Alchemist of the Age.

The story impressed me very much. My wife and I have often spoken about its essence: On the spiritual path, it is not enough to follow a set of teachings of a teacher. You have to apply them in your own life, develop something of your own, and then use it for the best in your service to society: “The path to the Truth does not lead anyone to the threshold of Truth. It leads up to a point. Thereafter one has to invent.”

Here is the story:

“In the East there is a great learning temple for martial arts, it is called Shaolin temple. The temple teaches martial arts in 35 grades. To pass through each grade one needs fiery aspiration, one-pointed focus, concentration and a very high physical, emotional and mental discipline. The percentage of pass from one grade to the other is hardly one percent a year. Very rarely a student stands up to the 35th grade of the art. Such one is a very, very, very special one. Only one comes out in 25 years successfully out of all 35 grades which are called the 35 chambers. He would be honoured by the temple (school) and sent out by the pledge that he would serve and protect the society. Such a one is considered to be invincible.

Once one young man through deep dedication cleared all the 35 chambers and he was felicitated by the chief for his ability and accomplishment. He was wished good luck by the colleagues. Thinking that he is invincible, he started serving and protecting the society. He was also honoured by the society for his martial ability.

It so happened that once he encountered another adept of martial arts and fought with him. The fight was a prolonged fight. But the stranger defeated him. The young one was perplexed. He went through all the training in the temple. He was perfect with respect to all the 35 grades. And he was declared invincible, but he was defeated. He went back to the temple, kneeled down before the chief, informed of his defeat in the hands of the stranger and sought clarification from the chief of the temple.

The temple chief smiled and said that the stranger was also a member of the temple, a student of the temple that went through all the 35 chambers. The student asked, “If that is so, we should be equal. How could he be the winner and I the loser?” The chief smiled again and said, “There is the 36th chamber, which is not in the temple, but is in the nature. Having learnt what is taught, your senior invented yet another art which you have not invented. He invented it working in nature. The 36th chamber is the nature. Go out into the nature and invent something of your own. Your invention comes from your origin. As original each one is unique. You too would become invincible, if you invent from your own origin.”

Such is the Truth. The path to the Truth does not lead anyone to the threshold of Truth. It leads up to a point. Thereafter one has to invent. This invention has to be deep into oneself until one touches the origin of one’s being. Once the origin is touched, the Truth expresses afresh. It expresses originally. All those who realized the Truth, thus realized and presented the Truth afresh. The way one realizes the Truth could form into a path for others to follow. But the path will not lead one into the Truth until one also invents. Invention is the means to ‘well out’ the original. Uranus encourages inventions. Once you are an original, you are unique.”

The two grandmasters of the Shaolin Temple Shi DeRu (Shawn Xiangyang Liu) and Shi DeYang (Shi WanFeng) who are two decedent disciples of the late Great Grand Master of the Shaolin Temple Shi SuXi (aka: His Holiness Upper Su and Lower Xi). (c) Wikipedia

For many, the “Autobiography of a Yogi” (PDF, HTML) has been a door-opener to the spiritual dimensions. This spiritual classic by Paramahansa Yogananda had a great impact in the West for promoting interest in yoga and meditation. Now in October, a new documentary, “AWAKE: The Life of Yogananda” comes out into the movies. Here is the trailer.

Paramahansa Yogananda

In the foreword of some of his writings, Master EK gives thanks to a man who called forth the books into existence – Albert Sassi. He calls him his “spiritual colleague”. In one of his books, on “Master CVV“, he even describes how he came to know Mr. Sassi and met him for the first time in 1963 in the Blue Mountains, the Nilagiris of South India.

Who is this man who gave the impulse for some of the most profound books of Master EK such as Spiritual Astrology, Spiritual Psychology, and the Book of Rituals? And to whom Master EK also gave a text which seems to be lost – or do you know anything about the whereabouts of “Female Hierarchy”? A few days ago, Sri Kumar wrote to me: “What interests me is the text on Female Hierarchy coming from Master EK. If we can trace and publish it that would be very fulfilling. I am on search for it. It is also mentioned in Spiritual Astrology.” So if you know any traces where a copy of this script might be, please let me know.

In search of tracks and traces, I made some very interesting findings.

In 1989, an old theosophist from a town near Frankfort, Johannes Weder, invited me to his home. He wanted to give me all books I wanted to take from his huge library – he was preparing for his passing. I left with two banana boxes filled with valuable old theosophical books, all the books of Master EK published up to then and six volumes of  the “Lettres d’Albert Sassi”, the correspondence of Mr. Sassi in French on hectographed paper, from 1960 until shortly before his death in March 1971. I went through the manuscripts, read about Sassis spiritual work and his encounters with Master EK – and put the texts back into the banana box.

With Johannes Weder in Rodgau near Frankfort, August 1988. Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.

The manuscripts of Albert Sassi

When a week ago I saw the video “Master Mountain – A Retreat into Presence“, a sequence about Albert Sassi suddenly caught my attention. I went into the basement to get the manuscripts of his letters. I paged through all of them and marked everything about Rishi Agastya, the Nilagiris and Master EK. While reading my interest rose, and I started translating the paragraphs. Here is the compilation (PDF) – I added some “goodies”.

Albert Sassi, a print-screen from the video of the WTT group of Bangalore.

Little is to be found about him on the web and it is partly in contradiction to what he wrote in his letters: an eulogy without date published at his retirement, a few biographical remarks, and some lines about him in a biography about Elisabeth Warnon (1915-1997, see detailed information here, in French), one of his disciples, with whom he lived in India for several years. There Warnon also speaks about her exchange with Master EK on the Feminine Hierarchy (English version see in my translation). Elisabeth also edited the “Lettres d’Albert Sassi”. The following is taken from these letters.

His birth date remains unclear, it must be end of the 19th century in Italy. At the age of 18, he receives a price as a mechanical and electrical engineer. He makes a stage working with electrical machines and then goes to Brazil, installing in 1913 power and electricity in the state of Sao Paolo. In 1915, during World War 1, he becomes volunteer pilot in Italy, and after a short training he is already a pilot instructor. In 1917, he instructs the first American volunteers: “America doesn’t have neither airplanes nor pilots; they sent 1000 volunteers to France and 400 to Italy.” He instructs them on two different airplanes.

In 1919, he returns to Switzerland “for the work of the Master”, as he writes in 1960, to prepare Geneva for the future League of Nations. From 1939 till 1959, he is a high ranking officer at the Geneva Department of Commerce working for labour rights (until his retirment in 1959), where he served for 30 years, from 1952 he was a professor of Labour Law.

At the same time, he follows an intense spiritual journey, as a very open high dignitary member of the Theosophical Society (TS) in Geneva, a priest of the Liberal Catholic Church founded by theosophists and member of a masonic lodge,the Droit Humain. Directly after his retirement he goes to India, together with Elisabeth Warnon, first to the seat of the TS in Adyar. On 8 January 1960, he writes: “The 18^th, we will leave for OOTACAMUND in the Nilagiri Hills, where there are the mountains inhabited by the spiritual Regent of India, the Grand Rishi AGASTYA. The mountain, where he took his refuge, is located at an altitude of 2.000 m.” Later he is in Kalimpong near Darjeeling at the feet of the Himalayas, where he has profound inner experiences.

In 1961, they settle in Kotagiri in the Nilagiris, where Elisabeth bought a property they called “Master’s Garden”, located at the boards of the village. There they follow intense spiritual practices and organise art expositions with spiritual paintings. He is painting himself: “My sleeping-room, the old dining hall, contains the HIMALAYAN LAKE, the portrait of the RISHI AGASTYA, the Himalayan place where the WAISAKH festival takes place, with the Lord Maitreya kneeling down before the great natural monolith.” (22 June 1962 – maybe not referring to his paintings). Sassi is intensely working on the French translation of Esoteric Astrology of Master DK / Alice A. Bailey; later, he organises the publication of the book.

In a letter from 1963, he writes: “Madam R. is living in COONOOR, a terrestrial paradise, which is located vis-à-vis of DROUG, the holy mountain, which for a long time has been inhabited by the spiritual regent of India, the Grand Rishi AGASTYA.”

There is no mention about Master EK in his letters before 1965, but Master EK writes in the booklet on Master CVV about the fascinating encounter in 1963:

“While I was its editor (of the astro-spiritual magazine “Mihira”), I discussed an issue in the magazine. It related to the eight planetary conjunctions that was taking place at that time and its significance vis-a-vis the future of the world. During those days in prayer I noticed a comet as also the purpose of the planetary conjunction. Later I came to know that Master C.V.V. himself indicated the comet to his disciples.

This article of mine was noticed and studied by one Mr. Albert Sassi, a senior member of the Theosophical Society. He came from Madras to Guntur to see me, inspired by the article. He had an Ashram in the Nilagiris (Blue Mountains) where he sought discourses from me on Yoga. In 1963, I stayed in his Ashram for a month. On the first day of my stay in the Ashram he did not allow me into his prayer room. This was on account of the restrictions he had as a member of the Theosophical Society. While he was conducting meditation, I was carrying out the prayer of Master C.V.V. After the day’s activity Mr. Sassi expressed that in meditation he saw a new Master whom he did not know before. He explained the noble and the majestic features of the person whom he saw. He enquired who my Master was and asked me to show his picture. I showed the photograph of Master C.V.V. and Mr. Sassi confirmed that it was he who appeared to him in the meditation. He offered his worship to the Master. Thereafter we prayed and meditated together. During my stay with him Mr. Sassi knew fully the Yoga path of Master C.V.V. All the members of the Ashram joined us in the meditation. Besides teaching Yoga I explained the synthesis of the work carried out by the Masters of Wisdom. Mr. Sassi stated that he was striving to know one more Master apart from the Masters of Wisdom named by the Theosophical Society. He had also distinct information, he stated, that this Master belonged to the Ashram of Sage Agastya and that he lives in the caves of Nilagiris. He further stated that he had this information relating to the Master of Nilagiris from one of the direct disciples of a Master of Wisdom. He proceeded to describe that this Master is the spark on the planet of that Great Light Agastya. I understood in the prayers gradually that this new Master whom Mr. Sassi was referring to was Master C.V.V. Master C.V.V. is the Master of the Aquarian age and the sage Agastya is described in the scriptures as the product of Aquarius of higher cycles.

Next day I revealed to Mr. Sassi my experience in the prayer. Mr. Sassi also confirmed through his meditation that the unknown Master working with the Master of wisdom was none other than Master C. V. V. He took a photograph of the Master C.V.V. and placed it in the centre of the altar of his prayer hall. He made similar adjustments in the shrine rooms of those who followed him in Belgium and France. From that time the prayer of the Master is carried out in those centres of the West.” (From: Master CVV)

At the May Call 2011, Sri Kumar spoke about this encounter between Master EK and Albert Sassi, saying: “There was a theosophical house in the Nilagiris and Master EK was meditating to Master CVV in his own room. Then one day Albert Sassi gave the pictures to Master EK, all that we have and who were not known at these times – of Maria, Jesus, Lord Maitreya… He asked him, ‘Which Master you are praying to?’, and Master EK took out the picture of Master CVV. In the Theosophical Society, they have the pictures of all the Masters but not of the Master of the Nilagiris, and he (Sassi) meditated upon Master CVV and understood that it was the Master of the Nilagiris, and he said to him, ‘We had been waiting for this Master’s picture.’ It is he (Sassi) who gave the full text of invocation to Master EK, it was not given out, only 4 stanzas. That was given to him by Albert Sassi, the whole invocation. He invited Master EK to the West. Master EK knew that he had to go to the West, his program was the spiritual fusion of East and West, and that was what he did.”

In a letter from Brussels, 19 March 1968, Sassi writes:

“You ask me for the fifth strophe of the Great Invocation! As per this subject, I would like to immediately specify a point. The text which I will submit to you in the following has absolutely not OFFICIAL character and does not emerge from any authority in that matter.
At his time, the Tibetan has announced that “When the Coming of the Lord will be near, HE would give the fifth strophe of the Great Invocation. As far as I am concerned, I have simply tried to “guess”, to perceive what could be the content of the 5^th strophe. I have tried to let play my intuition and the following text is just the result of this purely personal effort. As far as I am concerned, I like to anticipate the “events” and I like to try to scrutinize the future. After all, did not the Tibetan declare that the Coming of the Lord depends from us, depended from the Call of the humanity!
Here is my text in English:

‘From the Avatar of Synthesis who is to come
Let HIS ENERGY pour down upon all Kingdoms
May He lift up the Earth whole
To the Beauty of the King’. ”

In a letter from Kotagiri, 29 September 1965, Sassi writes the first time about Master EK and the beginnings of Spiritual Astrology:

“Very quickly after having the English text from Krishnamacharya about the Female Hierarchy, the latter has started dictating during nearly a month, an important contribution entitled SPIRITUAL ASTROLOGY, of which the text of 322 pages has just arrived with us, very magnificently bound, although it is a work in typewriting – in big format.
In certain chapters of this Oeuvre absolutely unpublished, Krishnamacharya goes very far in the astrological esotericism, especially as far as the discipline related to different Moon phases is concerned. In this aspect, Krishnamacharya goes much farther than the Tibetan in his ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY. And all this is just a beginning.
Indeed, with Krishnamacharya, we could realize here, at Masters’ Garden, an embryo, a prelude, of this FUSION EAST-WEST, which is demanded by the MASTER….

You will be particularly interested to know that Krishnamacharya sees emerging in the future a very close collaboration between FRANCE and INDIA, which has to be built up mutually, through their complementary aspects. And Krishnamacharya likes to define the collaboration in the depths that he has realized with us, like the new Franco-Indian Link, that he constitutes as his new task in this life. This is promising! Because, as I have told you, Krishnamacharya is a fountain of science.”

And some weeks later, he writes in another letter:

“At this moment I prepare the manuscript of Krishnamacharya of 322 pages and the more I go through this extraordinary text, the more my breath is taken by its profoundness. In this extremely compact book, there is material for 3 years of conferences and courses in Europe with a group of selected students. But this is only a beginning, for 6 other books have been announced to us by Krishnamacharya, in addition to a strictly esoteric activity, of which we will speak to you at our return.”

In 1967, Albert Sassi has to return to Europe due to his bad health, and he settles in Belgium.

In a letter from Bandol, 3 November 1968, Sassi gives another invocation, which is also used in groups of the WTT: “Dear Friend, here is the PLANETARY INVOCATION, which you have asked for and which we recite every day:

“With DARJEELING and all the Sons of ASIA,
With TOKYO and all the Japanese Associates,
With LUXOR and all our African Brothers,
With GENEVA and all the citizens of EUROPE and of RUSSIA,
With LONDON and all our British brothers,
With NEW YORK and all our Friends of America,
We bow down in homage and adoration
To the mighty Hierarchy, the inner Government of the world,
And to its very exquisite jewel, the Star of the Sea, the WORLD MOTHER.”

Beginning of 1971, Albert Sassi is back to India. In spite of his bad health, he goes first to the Nilagiris and then visits Master EK in Visakhapatnam:

“We were in haste to visit the community of Krishnamacharya, a spiritual community, which is a model of the kind. Everywhere mutual help. No TITLE for any director. Five homeopathic hospitals and several private schools totally at the costs of the promoters, where the teachers have no salary but offer freely their help. The Father of Krishnamacharya is a Grand Seer, and a grand Saint. He has 73 years. An admirable monograph has been published at the occasion of his anniversary. After six weeks of convalescence, I haven’t yet re-found my forces. We leave, though I am still very weak.”

His last letter he writes from Calcutta, on 24 February 1971, on the way to Katmandu, describing his visit in Visakhapatnam:

“And now we arrive at our Major Experience of our stay in India, with the visit of the group, the team of workers constituted by our Friend, the Dr. Krishnamacharya.
This experience has surpassed our expectation. This is an spiritual event of great importance for the work of the New Age.
I will describe it in detail in a long message, which I will edit at my return. The day of our arrival, the 19th, Krishnamacharya awaited us at the airport. He drove us to a magnificent Indian home of great standing, the apartment of the greatest magnate of the place. The architecture of the Indian house is very beautiful, very artistic. We have been treated as great friends of the family.
The evening in front of 350 men, women and children connected to the United Lodges of the Indian Theosophical Society, I spoke during 45 minutes and Krishnamacharya has commented in Telugu during 1 ½ h. With the prayers, this was 3 hours of session! Nobody moved! 700 brilliant eyes looking at you, like suns of fire!
Here under these circumstances, you speak always with inspiration. I have had the power to go to the limit. The next day, at 10.30h, I spoke in front of a chosen group. The evening at 6.30 pm, I spoke in the garden. I could transmit the essential ideas of my last exposés.
It is one of the only groups on the planet which, according to my opinion, plays the role of the Fusion East-West as it is understood by the Instructor, with the acceptance of the teaching of MAITREYA, this makes all the difference.
So tomorrow at Katmandu, with the grace of God and if God wants it!
Sincerely yours A. Sassi.”

Seriously sick, he returns from Katmandu to Geneva and does not recover. On 28 March 1971, he passes over to the subtle realms.

In the book “Spiritual Fusion of East and West”, Dr. Parvathi Kumar writes:

“Responding to the call of Albert Sassi, Master E.K. made his first tour to the West in April, 1972. Even by the time Master E.K. responded to the call of Albert Sassi, the latter departed from the physical. Master E.K. therefore, had to work with the followers of faith left behind by Albert Sassi, who were mostly aged.”

The encounter between Albert Sassi and Master EK opened the doors for the unfoldment of the wisdom teachings of the World Teacher Trust in the West.

P.S. 1: 14 November 2021: The text on “The Feminine Hierarchy” was transmitted by Master EK at Masters’ Garden (Kotagiri, India) in the night from 13th to 14th July 1965, in the company of E. Warnon and A. Sassi. For futher information, you might contact the WTT-Global.

P.S. 2: This article focuses on Albert Sassi and his relation to Master EK. During my research I came to understand more about Elisabeth Warnon, the woman who assisted Albert Sassi in his work and who helped bringing the teachings of Master EK to the West. See here a book transcribed/received by her, in French.

P.S. 3: See the blogpost of 16 Feb. 2026 on “A Drawing of Rishi Agastya/Master Jupiter by Albert Sassi.”

Albert Sassi: Cartas desde la India