The Anima Channel has just published an interview with me about “The Mystery of Dattatreya” on YouTube.

I gave this talk in the form of a personal story, not to spread my personal story (I don’t just speak about my private life in public and only share details publicly in a very specific way).

I chose this story form to convey the complex content, in order to make the experiences and underlying wisdom teachings more vivid in this way than speaking in a more impersonal lecture style. And the course of events was partly also dramatic.

Since I came into contact with the theme of Lord Dattatreya beginning of the 1980s, I experienced a deep, mysterious fascination that I could not understand exactly. Several times I spoke to Sri Kumar about this and also once asked him why he had not written anything about the avatars of Lord Dattatreya in his book on Dattatreya. He replied, “Dattatreya is the sum and essence of the cosmic principle of the Teacher. It is too mystical for the West, and therefore we tread the path of Maitreya.” And this made me curious.

I have often experienced that seekers became confused when they encountered the subject of Dattatreya and his avatars, and even got into crises – like me. Through my experiences, together with the teachings and the help of Master Kumar, I have come to a deeper realization.

And sharing such understanding might be helpful to others. For a deeper understanding gives joy and a great expansion of consciousness.

In the interview with the Anima channel, I spoke about how I came in contact with the theme of Dattatreya when meeting Sathya Sai Baba in India in the early 80s. A few facets were told in this blog on the occasion of the passing of Sathya Sai.

I mentioned details about Dattatreya in my blogposts since 2008, how I came into contact with the biography of Sripada Srivallabha and translated the book into German. Later, the adventures went on when publishing an edited version of the book in English (published by Master Kumar at Mount Shasta in 2919) and creating a website about Lord Dattatreya and Sripada.

Master Kumar had supported me very much in these efforts and revealed that since his early childhood he had been initiated into the path of Dattatreya. He even agreed to publish the biography on Sripada in Dhanishta Editions, which are bringing out his teachings.

All this has become the deepest impact in my life, except and on par with the encounter with Master CVV and the path of the World Teacher Trust. In a way, you cannot separate these two, Dattatreya being the cosmic teacher principle and the World Teacher, Lord Maitreya, the embodiment of the teacher principle for our planet – in essence it is but One.

On YouTube, there is a German talk I gave for friends from the German speaking community of the WTT about “The Avatars of Lord Dattatreya – A Small Approach to a Mystery“.

The air sign Gemini has to do with exchange and communication. The ruler of the sign is Mercury; he helps us to distinguish between what is reality and what is illusion. However, those with a strong Mercury are also tempted to use their mental skills in a tactical and manipulative way, twisting facts to their own advantage. Used with transparency and love, however, Gemini and Mercury also help resolve conflicts and improve interpersonal relationships through friendliness. Through the Gemini energy, we can see the underlying unity in apparent opposites and thus understand the deeper purpose in relation to time and place. The goal is to realize inclusiveness and synthesis beyond dualities.

The Images of Synthesis for the month of Gemini illustrate the related symbolism. You find there all previous Gemini paintings with detailed explanations in four languages (en/de/es/fr). You can also download print-versions for free. Find here the Images of Synthesis with short extracts from the wisdom teachings. Or subscribe to the Lunar Messenger newsletter giving thoughts from the wisdom teachings to inspire putting them into practice.

The first “Aquarian Salon”, 21 May 2023, was a great experience and a beautiful experiment of an online group exchange on spiritual topics with the power of the group. All was done just for the joy of doing as a free and non-commercial initiative. There was a vital participation with sharing insights, observations and questions. I blogged before about the preparations.

We were a team of 5 persons conducting the Salon:

Frank Berger, a guitar teacher from Berlin, Germany, started the Salon with a live guitar play. We then spoke together an old Sanskrit Prayer for Group Coherence.
Risa D’Angeles, from Central USA, gave an introduction moderated the conversation. She is an experienced psychologist and a well-known astrological teacher and publishes the Night Light News.
Rosa Fernandez, living near New York City, was taking care of the members who wrote in the chat or who wanted to speak.
Lauren Glass, from California, operated the Zoom activities and showed the slides we had prepared.
The participants gave their thoughts and understanding of the symbolism of my paintings which I had selected for the presentation. And I added further perspectives concerning the artwork or answered questions.

Besides our team of 4, 38 persons from about 8 countries were actively participating. Some feedbacks: “”Just wanted to share my gratitude and joy for being part of this wonderful project! Felt such great inspiration in today’s first Aquarian Salon! Thank you all!”, “To everyone behind the Aquarian Salon…. It was a joy working together, all of us. We did a wonderful job together!”, “These feelings are what I sensed. Excellent attitude, bright intelligence and a warm heart.”

Here is the uncut recording of the meeting; it is about 1:50 h. If you would like to see a specific part, go directly to the minutes indicated here:

· Welcome, explaining the schedule: 0:20
· Guitar piece: 5:10
· Prayer for Group Coherence: 10:30
· Introduction: Meaning of Salon… : 12:20
· Exchange on image: Aries – Spring-up of Awareness : 30:10
· Exchange on image: Taurus – The Bull and the Lingam : 53:10
· Exchange on image: Gemini – Group Consciousness, Merging and Emerging : 01:04:20
· Exchange on image: Scorpio – The Seven Kingdoms of Nature : 01:15:40
· Exchange on image: The White Island : 1:29:30
· Closing words: 1:43:10
· Violet Flame Invocation: 1:44:30

For updates, you might subscribe to the Telegram channel of the Aquarian Salon. And if you want to see my Images of Synthesis paintings, go to ludgerphilips.org.

You find the recording in the YouTube channel of “Friends of World Teacher Trust”: https://friends.wtt-global.org.

Gemini represents the threshold between the inner and outer worlds. We understand the world of objects as three-dimensional, and movement is considered as the fourth dimension. We experience a picture or a photo as two-dimensional, even if we travel with the sight into the worlds of the image. Depending on the rendering, we may see perspectives that appear spatial, or we may even see sensory illusions. In either case, we experience the world perceived through our senses as something external.

However, we often find that we are immersed in something, especially in moving images such as movies, games, or virtual reality. We do not feel that we have left the external, physical world and are in the internal world of imagination. Reflection or contemplation allows us to see the structures of the subtle and leads us to deeper realms. Intense, prolonged contemplation finally brings us to the experience of the dimension that lies beyond the constructs of our mind.

From a photo of the facade of the Bavarian State Chancellery, Munich, I have extracted a detail and used it to create the archway of two pillars, connected by a crossbeam. The pillars carry the Sun and the Moon, symbols of the world of light and the reflection of light. The mountain between the pillars directs the view up to the vault of heaven in the background. The zodiac, with its figures that appear to us alternately, is like another doorway to the world of cosmic symbolism. The stars of the cosmos are reflected on the white snow of Mount Shasta, just as the cosmic world is reflected within each of us.

At the bottom of the image, our view passes through the columns and the outer courtyard of the temple. Then we look through a square portal into the interior covered with a triangular roof. Square and triangle are symbols of the manifested and non-manifested worlds. The symbol of Mercury above the entrance represents our discrimination. The inside of the temple shows a checkerboard pattern. To our mind, the squares are each black or white. But the distinctions of the mind dissolve as we approach infinity, the background beyond all understanding.

The Images of Synthesis for the month of Gemini illustrate the related symbolism. You find there all previous Gemini paintings with detailed explanations in four languages (en/de/es/fr). You can also download print-versions for free. Find here the Images of Synthesis with short extracts from the wisdom teachings. Or subscribe to the Lunar Messenger newsletter giving thoughts from the wisdom teachings to inspire putting them into practice.

I already blogged about the initiative of the Aquarian Salon end of March. It has much developed since. And now, it’s coming closer – The first meeting will be in two weeks from now, on Sunday, 21 May 2023 07 pm, CEST (UTC +2) / 12 pm, CDT (UTC -5). See your local time here.

If you have time, please join via Zoom – meeting-ID: 839 0016 8325 , passcode: gam. For tuning in, we will start with a live guitar piece by Frank, a musician from Berlin, followed by a short meditative alignment with the Prayer for Group Coherence.

The Zoom meetings will be recorded without names and later published on YouTube at https://friends.wtt-global.org/

Then, we will enter into the conversation, and speak about art, symbols, astrology and the Wisdom Teachings. It will be moderated by Risa, a good friend, psychologist and teacher for astrology and wisdom teachings. Since many years, she is running the “Night Light News“. We will have a look at some of my paintings and the symbolism used there. Everyone is invited to join the conversation.

We will meet 4 times / year during the signs of the Fixed Cross. More info (PDF); the content of the PDF is continuously adapted.

The team of Anima Channel has just published on YouTube a video talk with Chuck Smith, a good friend of mine living at Mount Shasta, California. Chuck is a retired psychologist and professor, who could combine his academic knowledge with spirituality during his career. We met first in India in 2004, and our paths have crossed several times since, for the last time last January in India. It’s always interesting to exchange with him.

Chuck is living at the foot of Mount Shasta, a beautiful and spiritually highly important volcano in northern California.

Master Kumar published his May Call 2019 talks as “Shasta, Sambala and Sanat Kumara” (e-book versions: AZW3 | EPUB | Kindle), Chuck having worked on the edition.

In 2019, Chuck had invited three friends and me for a tour through Northern California and especially to Mount Shasta – there are a number of blog-posts here.

Chuck is also a co-founder of the “Yoga Friends School” (“Bridging Shambala and Shasta. Synthesis of East and West at all levels”).

Have a look at the video interview:

On 8th of May, the “White Lotus Day”, we commemorate the life and work of Helena P. Blavatsky or, as she was lovingly called ” Madam HPB”. She was the great Bringer of Light for the Aquarian Age. Full of courage, she opposed old superstitions and she did not hesitate to stand up for spiritual truth: “Truth is Higher than Religion”. So she named the monthly magazine which she published, together with Mabel Collins, “Lucifer”, the light bringer.

A major purpose of HPB’s grand opus “Secret Doctrine” is devoted to the task of revealing the deep occult truth behind the mystery of the Light Bringers. In Sanskrit, they are called Agnishvattas, meaning “the Lords of the Flame” or Sons of Fire.

However, in Western theology, they are considered to be fallen, rebellic angels. For the Wisdom Teachings, they are the ones who formed the Hierarchy of Teachers. They gave humanity the light of Manas, the mind principle.

Madam Blavatsky was chosen by Hierarchy to spread this understanding to all seekers of Light. Master Kumar explained the essence of “Secret Doctrine” in his profound work on “The Seven Waves of Life“.

At a meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, June 2004, the Master gave some recommendations about how to study Secret Doctrine in a group:

– “Start studying the Laws given in Secret Doctrine, the law of alternation, periodicity, time cycles….
– Then study the Races / Root Races
– Then the Manus
– Then the Globe Chains
– Then from the 3rd volume (old sequence): ‘Anthropogenesis’, till the end of the book
– Then Cosmogenesis

Thus we will have a sound foundation of the Secret Doctrine.”

In Berne, we once followed this recommendation in a small group and thus read the books in this manner.

At many occasion, Sri Kumar highlighted the importance of what HPB had done for spirituality. There are further books by him about works of HPB, on “The Golden Stairs“, on “The Theosophical Movement“, 3 volumes on “Lectures on Secret Doctrine” (1, 2, 3, giving deep insights into the wisdom teachings) and “Teachings of Madame HPB“.

At the “White Lotus Day” 2021, Sri Kumar said:

“The work of Madam Blavatsky is seen as a stupendous work carried out in the last part of the 19th century which has vibrated the planet. Thousands and thousands of groups have joined till date and it continues to be. All that she contributed to humanity is recognised more by the Brotherhood than the humanity. It will take a long time for humanity to understand the great work that came through Madame Blavatsky.

We fondly remember her. She is the first one in the recent cycles of time that has unveiled the wisdom which is universal. It is not sectarian. It is not based upon limited thoughts about God. In His memory we…we say, ‘His’ because even the Masters recognise her though in a female body, as a grand male that did a lot of work from the soul dimension.”

May we take up the inspiration given by HPB’s life and work to pay her homage by climbing up the Golden Stairs to the Temple of Divine Wisdom – and this, by practically integrating the wisdom into our lives.

Have a good White Lotus Day!

Benjamin Schiller, a good friend of mine from Munich, has developed astroCloud, a powerful astrological tool. He is offering it now for free. See below his announcement. By the way, the Anima-Channel recently published a video interview with Benjamin on YouTube. I posted here a short presentation.

astroCloud is a free, multilingual astrology platform for calculating and printing horoscopes. Suitable for beginners, professionals and spiritual astrologers. Natal charts, transits, progressions and directions are supported as well as the Seven Rays or Esoteric Triangles, Nakshatras and Padas, Sabian Symbols. Tropical astrology is supported as well as sidereal astrology.

Methods recommended by Master EK, such as birth correction according to the Hermetic Law or Bigger Day progressions, are available. Horoscopes can be shared in groups.

Supported languages: English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Português, Русский, 中国人.

astroCloud is an attempt to make spiritual astrology usable worldwide.

Taurus is a symbol of strength and vitality. The individual on the path stands between the pull of the personality and the pull of the soul. The Taurus personality is focused on the desire to be ahead of others, driven by ambitious. The Taurus soul is deeply motivated by the desire to work selflessly for the Divine Plan. In touch with the soul, we can transform the personality and accomplish tremendous works of goodwill in the world.

The Images of Synthesis for the month of Taurus illustrate the related symbolism. You find there all previous Aries paintings with detailed explanations in four languages (en/de/es/fr). You can also download print-versions for free. Find here the Images of Synthesis with short extracts from the wisdom teachings. Or subscribe to the Lunar Messenger newsletter giving thoughts from the wisdom teachings to inspire putting them into practice.

Through the Sun in Taurus, energy streams down to the Earth, causing germination and growth of life. The Sun is therefore called the fertilising bull, representing the spirit or divine aspect of will. The Moon in Taurus is called the Cow and represents that which is impregnated, the matter. Through this impregnation, the earth provides us with nourishment.

The union of spirit and matter is the expression of the divine Word. Before the Word was uttered forth, it was with God. Before we speak, the Word is in us. The Sun in Taurus represents the Word in its inner meaning or concept. The Moon in Taurus represents the expressed language, impregnated. Language is feminine by nature and the content of language is masculine. Their union is wisdom as creation. This is symbolised by Mercury as the calf; he activates the expression of the subtle in the gross. The bull, the cow and the calf thus epitomize these three phases of the expression of the Word.

For the representation of these subtle realities, I edited three photos of journeys to India of a bull, a cow and a calf. In the background I subtly hinted at the spheres of Sun, Moon and expression in creation.

The Images of Synthesis for the month of Taurus illustrate the related symbolism. You find there all previous Taurus paintings with detailed explanations in four languages (en/de/es/fr). You can also download print-versions for free. Find here the Images of Synthesis with short extracts from the wisdom teachings. Or subscribe to the Lunar Messenger newsletter giving thoughts from the wisdom teachings to inspire putting them into practice.