Yesterday, an Indian friend sent me a WhatsApp message remembering the passing of Master EK. In India, many people usually go by lunar dates. Yesterday was the full moon of Pisces, and the Master passed over on the full moon of Pisces 1984 – 17 March.

Over years, I had sent out a short remembrance of Master EK’s passing (and also of the passing of other great ones) to the WTT group mailing list and posted a blog article for 17 March. However, when I had shared the remembrance on Facebook, an Indian member remarked over two years that “We prefer relating to birthday, not death day”.

We submitted this to Master KPK (Sri Kumar) last August, and he replied: “Death days need not be recollected as birthdays.” We agreed to discontinue messages regarding pass-over memorial days and that they would be no more listed in the Astro calendar. However, our decision was not further communicated. When an Indian member wrote concerning remembering Master CVV’s pass-over date, I prepared a communication and Sri Kumar answered: “Let it be so. We celebrate birthdays only”.

A friend reacted to the communication: “Interesting conversation and final choice. The Tibetan writes the new birthdays are the days of death, when the Soul begins a new adventure.”

The places where great ones lived, and also the objects they used have been magnetized by their presence. Therefore, they are respected by those who know about this energetic impregnation.

Initiates often chose the month of Pisces, or another date in a watery sign like Scorpio or Cancer for their passing – watery signs mark the end of a cycle, and Pisces marks the end of the annual cycle, leading to the beginning of the new year with Aries. Master MN, Paramahamsa Yogananda and also his teacher, Sri Yukteswar passed over in Pisces. A friend remarked that yesterday was Yogananda’s day of passing.

I noticed with some of my friends of Indian origin / with a Hindu background that they use(d) to follow a rhythm of remembrance days for their deceased fathers. So I asked a friend, and he explained: Each lunar month, they conduct a ritual – or let it be conducted by a priest at the same moon phase the father passed, and this they do for a year. It is considered that one month on earth corresponds to one day in the subtle world, and one year on earth to one month. With the prayers, they help the soul of the departed one to ascend to the higher world, of Devachan. Then, no more prayers and rituals are needed. However, for all the beings who passed over and for whom no prayers / rituals are done, there is a day of collective remembrance with rituals some days before the festival of Dusserah / Vijayadashami (if I remember correctly. It reminds me of the All Souls’ Day for the remembrance of departed ones observed in various Christian churches on 2 November, in Scorpio.

Anyhow, with the development of the golden etheric body, the illusion of death is slowly overcome in the Aquarian age. We don’t die but just depart from the physical body. Once the continuity of consciousness is not broken while departing, we experience deathlessness. And we can consciously continue our journey to another incarnation.

Beauty is an expression from the subtle planes. What artists express through their work is coming from their inner – via thoughts or intuitional impulses. Many times modern artists seek new expressions for their intentions going beyond traditional forms of perceiving beauty.

What we perceive as beauty in Nature is also coming from the subtle planes of Nature. Many people think the forms of Nature are accidental and produced by mere physical or biological processes. The wisdom teachings, however, understand that there are also other forces at work – a cosmic mind (called Mahat) and what you might call cosmic intuitional impulses. You do not physically see them but they are expressions of beauty beyond physical form. Artists using for their work inspiration or elements of beauty from Nature are in subtle interaction with these cosmic and not human expressions. There are many artists who tune up in their work to these realities. The Japanese art of Ikebana might be seen as an example of such subtle interaction.

Mid-December 2022, I had a Zoom exchange with a friend from Berlin – Barbara Hübner, better called Basia, since she is of Polish origin. I wanted to write some words in a blogpost but it took several weeks before finding time for these lines and giving some hints to her work.

Among other skills, she is an accomplished artist profoundly inspired by Japanese traditions (if you don’t know German, you can read the texts on her websites with an automatic translation). She sent me some pictures of her recent artwork. She mainly works with floral elements and materials such as bamboo, twigs, paper, metal and other compositions.

The images touched me by their clearly structured arrangements and beauty. They radiate a ritualistic concentration on the essential but at the same time the joy of manifesting something sublime and uplifting.

I discovered more about her work on the web (here: Facebook). She calls one of her websites “Joy of Creating“. Using elements of nature, the artistic work magnifies the natural beauty and lifts the viewer up to subtle planes.

She had intensely studied and worked with Ikebana or Kakejiki, colourful paper reliefs partly of huge sizes. You find a beautiful overview on Flickr.

You can see in such works of art the interaction between the thoughts and intentions of the artist and of those of Nature.

Part 3/5 Murthy, the caretaker of the WTT retreat center, was already waiting for us at the airport when we arrived 30 December evening. He had organised a small bus, and soon we were driving through the night.

Looking out of the window and seeing the traffic and the colourful lights along the roads, I tried to discover any changes: It was 3 years since my last visit, after a continuous annual series of regular visits since 2000 and then interrupted by corona. I was curious to discover what the visit would be like this time.

Due to the transition of Master Kumar on 1st of November, this was not a group life in Visakhapatnam but a gathering of members who wanted to stay together at the retreat center before the beginning of the Guru Pooja celebration from 10 January onward. Other members went on tours through South or North India or decided to come to the Guru Poojas only.

For those members from the West who wanted to stay in Visakhapatnam, the Indian brotherhood of Visakhapatnam had warmly invited us to come. They had prepared a 9-days program and we would join ongoing regular prayers and rituals at the WTT temple “Radhamadhavam”. I was very grateful for their offer and commitment, since this meant also quite some organisational effort from their side. It was a very profound time with many interactions and exchanges besides the regular daily rhythm.

1 January early morning there was the usual prayer meeting at “Master EK Sundaravanam”, a site with a statue of the Master maintained by members of the WTT at the beach road. It is impressive to see such a statue at such a prominent place, and to have there such an open-air prayer gathering with about 175 members – this would cause big eyes in the West, but not in India. It was the 28th Anniversary celebration of this site. Brother Sri Ch. Satyadev conducted the prayer and the Sri Lakshmi Narayana Pooja with Rudra Namakam mantrams, and after the prayer breakfast was served to the members who participated. Welcome greetings were exchanged, and then we strolled back to the retreat center.

In the evening, there was a small celebration after prayer for the inauguration of the Telugu calendar, together with the presentation of the star registration in the name of “Master KPK” on 7 November 2022.

2 January morning after prayer, we had an interaction with Sri Guru Prasad. Sabine M. and me had prepared a number of questions which we submitted to him, esp. about how we can contribute to maintain and develop the East-West relation, how we can keep the door open for the next generation and what we can do, how can we strengthen cohesion, globalize service activities and what could be next steps. I appreciated the way he answered the questions. (I have no record of his answers.)

In the afternoon we went with a small group to the Planetary Healing Center. The center had been created in 1996 on the basis of plans given by Master KPK. In the last years there had not been an interest from the side of the owner in maintaining contact with the WTT and during my last visits the site seemed to have suffered somewhat and did not make a very well-kept impression. This time, however, it was in a better shape and there were people active to maintain the garden. Nature had recovered very well. We enjoyed very much being there, sitting in the center and singing OM for a while. Then we sat around the Maitreya statue and chanted the song of Lord Maitreya.

In the evening, we had an interaction with Sri Navaneetam. He told us about the developments in the Indian brotherhood.

Next morning and on other days, we saw the videos of last year’s seminar of Master KPK on “Simple Steps to Synthesis”. In the afternoon we visited Ramadri, the beautiful temple site “Hamsavanam” with a huge Hanuman statue, a number of little temples, a training center for enhancing professional skills of women and a “Goshala”, a cow care project with 37 cows. The site and its activities are maintained by a team of volunteers, organised by the Circle of Good Will, India.

On 4 January we made a longer excursion to Borra Caves and Anantagiri resort in a mountainous area.

6 January, we visited the Balabhanu Vidyalayam School and the new Master EK Samskruthi Sadan service center. Some speeches were given, and then certificates for vocational trained women were distributed by WTT heads on this occasion. Also some flowers were planted and lunch was served to us as “prasad” (food gift after a ritual).

7 January we visited the Sripada Srivallabha temple in Pithapuram, about 150 km from Visakhapatnam. We could not start in time in the morning but arrived only 10 minutes before the temple closed at noon. I nevertheless enjoyed being again at this important and energetic place, where I had been already 5 times before. Read more aboutthe mystery of Sripada and the avatars of Lord Dattatreya here. Afterwards, we went to the Kukkuteswara temple and later to the temple of Annavaram – I had reported about this temple several times before.

9 January the group made a visit to the Simhachalam temple which we visited each time before the Guru Pujas conducted over many years in Simhachalam. Since it was no more possible to organise the Guru Pujas there, this year’s celebration was directly in Visakhapatnam, very close to Radhamadhavam and the retreat center.

The group meeting ended in the evening of the 9th with the prayer, a little celebration and dinner at Radhamadhavam. The ambiance over these days was good, the group experience intense, although the group cohesion was somewhat more challenging than in other years since it was not a normal group life, and therefore there were more fluctuations. But I enjoyed very much having more time for deeper exchanges. The program was very well organised by the Indian brotherhood and with much care. And being together again with other members from the West was like a big “family meeting”.

Guru Prasad had been very involved in making the group meeting run well and in supporting members with problems. I also had several conversations with him about issues concerning the development of the WTT.

During the celebration, Guru Prasad pointed out that such longer meetings are very precious. It needs time for profound exchanges which you cannot do with people not sharing the same focus and inner orientation. Especially the time of Capricorn and the energies of the Sun at the start of the ascending arc of the year are very supportive for deeper spiritual alignment.

Therefore, the January seminars and the Guru Pujas will be continued in the coming years, together with the May Call and December Call meetings in Bangalore, solstice and equinox meetings at Master Mountain and, from 2023 on, meditation meetings around Aquarius full moon at the Yoga Friends Society place in Kumbhakonam.

Go to part 1 part 2 part 4 part 5 of the series.

The suitcase is packed, the travel preparations largely finished. Tomorrow morning, I will set out for another trip to India. It is a very special journey this time. It was planned before the passing of Master KPK, Sri Kumar. For quite some time, it was not sure if the journey could take place. But finally the doors are about to open. The first stop is Sadguru Tapovana, the centre of WTT in Bengaluru. Here are some impressions from the trip 2019/20. On Friday, we will go for some days to Kotagiri, the retreat center of WTT “Master Mountain” – a very sublime place related to Rishi Agastya, also called Master Jupiter, who has one of his ashrams in the subtle planes of this point.

Long before I came there the first time in January 2013, I felt already the call. There is a long story behind, about Master EK and Albert Sassi meeting in the Nilagiris in the mid-60s of the last century. I did some research about this meeting and Albert Sassi. And for the present journey, I went again through the traces of this story.

Another story came in form of a book. When preparing the present journey, a friend from the US of Indian origin, who will join the travel group sent some information about a book said to be of Helena P. Blavatsky and recently discovered: “The Land of the Gods. The Long Hidden Story of Visiting the Masters in Shambala”.

I was surprised that such book did not come to our notice up to now – but having read the publisher’s note which my friend sent, I suppose that it might be a gem revealed only now. Other friends who read the book were enthusiastic. See the book on Amazon. And here an extract from the Publisher’s note of the book (c: Radiant Books).

I haven’t yet read much myself but the first 2 chapters and kept it as a travel reading. I just saw that there were some interesting hints at the end of the book. But maybe later more about it….

Last Tuesday afternoon, 1 November 2022, I surprisingly got a call from a friend living in California. He told me that there is a message in the WhatsApp group of WTT India called Radhamadhavam (this being also the name of the assembly hall for teaching and spiritual activities in Master Kumar’s house).
Guru Prasad, the son of Master K. Parvathi Kumar, had just posted, “Our beloved Master KPK has sailed to higher realms. Master KPK Namaskaram.”

It was a shock. Although I knew that Sri Kumar was seriously sick, he had speeded up giving inspiration and guidance in many directions over the last months. His weekly “Merry Life” talks every second Saturday were brimming with inspiration and wisdom. Although his body was handicapped increasingly by the progressing stages of blood cancer and he was having pain, he kept on a high pace of interacting with members via writing, speaking, teaching.

I found it breath-taking, also what I came to witness from people who visited him or were in contact with him directly. He kept on reacting quickly when I asked questions concerning activities of WTT-Global in a chat group with him. In the last 2 months, he initiated several far-reaching new projects, which he first submitted to us in the “Triangle”, the internal organisational steering team of WTT-Global. We discussed details in a Zoom meeting, and then he presented them to larger circles of members. He contacted members to take over the responsibility for these new projects and gave guidance. As late as September/October, he even conducted the several days’ long Durga Festival and the Festival of Light, Divali, in Radhamadhavam with many participants.

When hearing of his passing, I started functioning in a kind of “auto-mode” for the following days – preparing and sharing communications, speaking with close persons and trying to keep up with other ongoing work and situations. Slowly, more information came in about the situation of Master Kumar in the last time, especially the last day. Guru Prasad, his son, gave a detailed report last Friday night about the disease and the moments of passing. And there were short videos and photos of the final rites, the cremation of the physical sheath of the Master last Thursday, and now about the 10 days of traditional rituals done after a passing. At the moment, Guru Prasad is on a journey bringing the ashes of Master KPK to sacred rivers in India.

After the first shock, there were intense experiences of the sublime presence of the Master and joy. And the feeling of a new cycle starting. Gratitude filled my heart. Last Wednesday and Saturday evening in my German and English online study groups, we exchanged about the situation, and the members expressed their experiences. It was a very profound moment of sharing and meditation. Some had been in e-mail contact with the Master until the last days before his passing. The members of the group had similar experiences and we all felt a profound bond of connectedness. Yesterday, a friend who participated in the group exchange wrote: “It feels so good to go on all together this way. A big hug for all, Namaskaram.”

Today is Sri Kumar’s anniversary. He was born on 7th of November 1945 in Vijayawada, a Wednesday at 07:20 AM in the month of Scorpio. Through him manifested a great amount of global goodwill work; therefore, we celebrate the 7th of November in his honour as “Day of Goodwill”. He now concluded his journey on earth after 77 years. Our acts of goodwill, together with the regular prayer/meditation and self-study, are the best ways to pay homage to him and to keep him present among us.

A small group of WTT members from ANIMA Channel visited Visakhahaptnam in August and recorded a face-to-face personal interview with Master KPK which was just published in the ANIMA channel under the title “Man behind Master”. They shared it today, on Master KPK’s birthday, to honour His life and forever radiant presence, and as a token to the groups.

You find here the video with original sound in English (subtitled in German, French and Spanish) and here with Spanish voice-over.

This morning, Master Kumar wrote in a chat:
India’s Proud Moment!
Rushi Sanak becoming UK’s Prime Minister!
He is just 42 yrs. We pray for his success.

India has all reasons to be proud that Rishi Sunak, a son of Mother India, is getting Prime Minister of Great Britain, after a long and painful history, where people of colour and of colonies were not seen as full humans while seeing oneself as superior.

May right human relations and inclusion be the basis of growth, also internationally.

My mother once told me that when I was a child she asked me to pick up something on the floor which I had thrown there. I didn’t want and replied: “I cannot, my arms are too short.”

This became an iconic example for self-excuses. It comes to my mind in cases of my own self-excuses and when coming across others’ expressing their inability to do something. Often it is a self-fooling and trying to hide one’s unwillingness. In such cases, my wife and I use to say, “Yes, the arms are too short.”

Such twisting is not as negligible as it might appear at first sight. It causes inner twists leading to distortions in our perception and to character flaws. And these again, are boulders on the spiritual path.

I recently came across a person having problems with a neighbour for years. The problem was, of course, seen as being with the neighbour, and there was no chance of changing the situation. So she said: “They say it’s all part of the Divine Plan. My view is that the Plan must have flaws.”

We usually project the sources of problems to the outside, to other people or outer situations, neglecting to start with ourselves. So I replied, “Sorry to say so, but it is your view of the Plan where the flaws are.”

Five friends of mine, WTT members and from the core team of the Anima channel, travelled to India to do some videos. At first, they went to Kumbakonam in South India for Master CVV’s birthday on 4th August. Joan from the travel group wrote:

“When we arrived to the “Yoga Friends School” we found a bold and moustachioed man, dressed with a dothi, who happened to be Jaikumar, Master CVV’s great-grandson. Here we share an interview with him.”

And you might read more about Master CVV in the biography “The Aquarian Master“.

I yesterday searched a picture of Ganesha on my computer – it was the day of Ganesha’s birthday. A PDF of a German book popped up with the title “The Mantra against Fear” (Das Mantra gegen die Angst, by Helge Timmerberg, a German journalist and writer).

At first, I didn’t remember how it came on my computer but later I saw on Wikipedia that a close friend of mine had written about him in an Author’s encyclopedia – and he had given me this book… The sub-title is “Ready for Everything. Nine Days in Kathmandu” – 2020, just at the beginning of the pandemia lockdown, and in a country still suffering very much from the aftermath of a big earthquake.

I hadn’t read it but now quickly zoomed through the book. And it caught my attention: Helge went to Nepal in search of a Guru whom he had met 15 years ago. He describes in the first chapter how this Guru was “tested” if he was free from fear:

They were flying together in a plane which on a short flight nearly crashed three times. The first time some passengers still laughed, the second time nobody laughed, and the third time all were crying, except this yogi which sat on his side. He was as deeply relaxed as Helge had come to know him during the last 2 weeks. This time, the plane didn’t crash but a year later, he saw photos of the crashed plane, of “Shangri-La Air” in the newspapers, and it was scary for him to see.

The mantra of the Yogi was: “I am ready for everything” – the Mantra against fear.

Helge was now in a crisis and wanted to re-find this Guru. The book is about his experiences in Nepal on the journey to himself.

Today, 15 August, we commemorate the 150th birthday anniversary of Sri Aurobindo (15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950).

15 August 2022 is also the 75th commemoration day when India gained independence in 1947 but West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) gained independence as well. The British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was much challenged and he finally became a victim during an interfaith prayer meeting in Delhi, 1948.

On 15 August 1947, Sri Aurobindo strongly opposed the partition of India, stating that he hoped “the Nation will not accept the settled fact as for ever settled, or as anything more than a temporary expedient.”
Striving towards expressing the underlying unity, and overcoming separation is of utmost importance, also in present day situations. It starts from within.

At Leo full moon 1997, Master Kumar spoke about Aurobindo and his joining the independence fight. And during our visit with the Master in Pondicherry, January 2006, he again spoke to the group about Aurobindo, after our morning meditation at the Mahasamadhi (tomb shrine) of Sri Aurobindo.
From my notes January 2006 and from a German transcription of the 1997 seminar:

“Aurobindo felt that it was the mission of India to bring the Light to the world and therefore should be free. So he joined the freedom movement. They were planning a bomb assassination attempt on a high rang British official. Before the attempt he had a dream about a tall man which we suppose to be Master Koot Hoomi, who told him that this political fighting is not the way for him, but he did not listen to the dream.

Aurobindo and his group continued with the preparations, but the whole conspiracy was discovered and he was thrown into prison. He was praying there a lot and was reproaching the divine that he worked for a noble cause, but nevertheless was thrown into prison. Master Koot Hoomi again appeared to him telling that he was put into prison, because he did not listen to the dream. He should work for the spiritual liberation of the soul of man, not for the political liberation of India, which would come in due course of time.

On Nov. 22nd /23rd, 1926 Aurobindo felt that the super-consciousness descended onto earth and he received His enlightenment. Coincidentally, it is also the birthday of Sri Satya Sai Baba.

On that day Aurobindo had the vision and heard the voice that India will get its independence on August 15, that was in 1926. 20 years later, in 1947, on August 15, India raised its flag, and so the prophecy was fulfilled.

The great light that had appeared to Sri Aurobindo also informed him that this political independence is not independence. The true independence for India would come 50 years after the political independence (1997). And therefore, it is yet another good reason that from today, India will achieve another dimension of independence.”

You might also want to read a blogpost of Sri Kumar speaking about Sri Aurobindo’s chief work, the beautiful story of Savitri, summarising the content of the book.

P.S.: A friend just sent me the following lines:
“15 August 1947 freedom speech from Radio broadcast from Tiruchurapalli. Sri Aurobindo noted in a speech broadcast on the eve of India’s independence:

‘August 15th is my own birthday and it is naturally gratifying to me that it should have assumed this vast significance. I take this coincidence, not as a fortuitous accident, but as the sanction and seal of the Divine Force that guides my steps on the work with which I began life, the beginning of its full fruition. Indeed, on this day I can watch almost all the world movements which I hoped to see fulfilled in my lifetime, though then they looked like impracticable dreams, arriving at fruition or on their way to achievement.’

The Divine’s seal has thus been firmly placed on India’s destiny, for she has been freed not for achieving any selfish aims of becoming a world power who dominates and exploits others politically, economically or militarily; rather India has been freed for doing the spiritual work of uniting and uplifting the whole world, towards an era of peace, freedom and truth, towards a descent of Satyuga.”