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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the CVV Sharing meeting beginning of Aries I did an experiment with the group guiding it on a meditative journey through life.

Archetypally, our life-span unfolds in a certain rhythmical pattern following cycles of 7 years. In his book on “Uranus“, Dr. Kumar explains: “There is a 7-year cycle with the humans with a grand cycle of 84 years. A life lived for 84 years is considered to be a full life, a fulfilled life.” This is “due to the fact that Uranus functions with the periodicity of 7, for the simple reason that every 7 years he transits a zodiacal sign and completes the zodiacal circle in 84 years.”

Thus, the first 7-year cycle of our life is the Aries period of entering into a new life and starting our self-expression. And the last cycle, from 77 to 84 years, is the Pisces period of completion and preparation for the transition. If you continue after 84, it is regarded as carrying on your journey into a higher turn of the spiral.

Following an impulse received in a meditation some months ago, I outlined a structure for the meditative journey through life, which you can download here in English or in German (PDF). The movement is going back from the Pisces period through the different septennial cycles to the Aries period and then a little bit beyond, to the time of descent into the uterus and of planning the incarnation. Then, we turn around at the point of birth and visualise the unfolding of our life up to the present moment and further beyond, what might still wait for blossoming. Afterwards, we go to the present moment, which is an Aries-point of new beginning, and which was the first day of Aries, when the group experiment was done. From there, we would visualise the seed of the new cycle and the path through the next 12 months. Then we would come back to the present moment and open our eyes.

I invited the group members to relax and close their eyes. For the periods before and after their conscious experience they might intuitively visualise the quality of these cycles, for which I read out a short keynote.

As an expression of the rhythmical heart-beat of life and the undercurrent sound of creation, OM, I kept on intoning a singing bowl, creating a specific “ding” sound when changing to the next cycle. For each cycle I took about 1.5 minutes. The whole exercise took 30 minutes, followed by an exchange in small groups of 3 persons about what period in their lives occupied them most.

It was a very intense experience. While conducting the group, I suddenly started noticing that there was a change in the quality of the atmosphere with every septennial cycle / zodiacal sign, especially when it came to the pre-natal phases.

Several members afterwards came to me expressing that they had been deeply moved by this journey through their lives and especially the moment of touching the pre-natal phases. 2 persons told me that images of a moment of preparing the incarnation came, with a feeling of the plan of their life.

Since it was a a meditative group process, I left it to the members to integrate the experiences of the process into their lives.

Sign                      Phase    Quality
Pisces Time        84 – 77   Completion and preparation
Aquarius Time     77 – 70   Cheerful vastnesses, virgin territory
Capricorn Time    70 – 63   The peak of unfoldment, consolidation and distribution
Sagittarius Time  63 – 56    Sublime goals, implemention
Scorpio Time       56 – 49   Profound transformations
Libra Time           49 – 42  Connections, working together
Virgo Time          42 – 35   Reviewing, reorienting
Leo Time           35 – 28    Establishing one’s kingdom, ruling
Cancer Time       28 – 21   Building the house, preserving
Gemini Time        21 – 14   Equipping, trying out
Taurus Time       14 – 7     Feeling the power, moving forward
Aries Time          7 – 0      Entering into life, expressing

Review at the Threshold Point of Birth:
Pisces Time                     In the waters of the uterus
Aquarius Time                  In the etheric vicinity
Capricorn Time                 Preparation for the descent
Sagittarius Time               Idea and plan for the incarnation

Turning around and prospects at the Aries point of birth
The unfoldment of the flower of life

The Aries point in the Here and Now
Feeling the seed of the new cycle
Envisioning the path through the coming 12 months

• The text in English or in German (PDF)

Intoning the singing bowl

Last weekend on the journey home from the “CVV Sharing” meeting, I made an overnight stop at the home of Doris and Günter, which is also, up to now, the headquarters of WTT Germany in Wermelskirchen. Both friends had also been at the meeting, and since I arrived a bit earlier, I got the key of their home. The rays of a beautiful sunset shone through the windows, and so I took some “good-bye”-pics: They have sold their house and will move to a new apartment in Münster in about 2 months. I particularly love the Krishna statue in the garden – it has been inaugurated by Dr Kumar in 1997 – it was my first meeting with him. Scenes of this beautiful occasion came again to my mind.

Next morning during breakfast, a squirrel jumped around on the terrace eating from the bird fat balls. Then it stood for a while in front of the Krishna statue looking up like praying. I quickly took my camera and made a shot – just before it jumped away again.

I sent it to Tatyana, a friend. She posted it on Facebook and it collected a number of “likes”. An Indian friend, Krishna, asked me if I had more pictures of the statue – and I sent them. They also appeared on Facebook. And then he asked for pictures of the inauguration, which I just scanned. Here is the story behind:

In January 1997, Dr Kumar gave the Krishna statue to group members from Berlin to bring it to the headquarters of WTT Germany. So the statue stayed for a while in Berlin before it came to Wermelskirchen. From 22 to 27 August, 1997, there was a group living at the nearby seminar centre Grosse Ledder, where the Master spoke about “Music of the Soul“, and the magic of Krishna’s soul music. On the last day of the seminar the whole group of about 160 members was invited to participate in the inauguration of the Krishna statue. It was a radiant summer afternoon, and our children loved to jump around the many people in the garden. There was a little shrine in the middle of a small lotus pond with a beautiful crystal globe an the top. Several group members had helped to set it up. Now, everything was ready for a fire ritual, and Sri Kumar and his wife started singing mantrams – the whole group got into an ecstatic trance while we were singing “Klim Krishnaya …” for 1008 times. Then Laddus, Indian sweets, were distributed to all members and food was served – an incredible magic moment.

Soon the statue will travel to its new home near Münster. A young family will come to live at the old place and maybe feel something of the sublime vibrations which have been anchored here in space.

Several times I visited the place over the years I took again pictures of the Krishna statue. You can see them below, together with the photos of the inauguration.

I like singing the song to Lord Maitreya. I learnt it in the WTT about 18 years ago and I remember it took me some time learning it, with the all the Sanskrit wording. I didn’t know, however, where the song came from. A friend, who had asked Dr. Kumar about its origin, sent me the e-mail:

“The Maitreya song was conceived a hundred years ago by an old Theosophist in Mumbai. It remained neglected and dormant until 1985. I picked it up and propagated in our groups, since we are working for the World Teacher.”

You can download the song here (MP3, 9.2 MB) and read the text here. Singing the Maitreya song is a means to connect to his energies.

From the cover of the booklet “Lord Maitreya”

The NASA has just published a timelapse video to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The video shows impressive highlights from the last five years of sun watching, or 1826 days in space. The observatory provides incredibly detailed images of the Sun 24 hours a day. You can see giant clouds of solar material hurled out into space, the dance of giant loops hovering in the corona, and huge sunspots growing and shrinking on the Sun’s surface.

By watching the sun in different wavelengths – and therefore different temperatures – scientists watch how material courses through the corona. They want to understand the clues to what causes eruptions on the sun, what heats the Sun’s atmosphere up to 1,000 times hotter than its surface, and why the Sun’s magnetic fields are constantly on the move.

Looking at the pulsating heart of our solar system, we also have to realise that this is only the outer aspect of the Sun which, according to the Eastern wisdom consists of three different dimensions. The physical Sun is like a lense giving expression to the heart or soul of the Sun, and to the spiritual sun. The new book of Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar about “SUN – THAT I AM” (PDF) gives a profound insight into these subtle dimensions:

“When we think of Sun we need to think of the very consciousness, which is the basis of our solar system. Each one of us is but a unit of consciousness. Each one of us is a micro Sun. The other name for this consciousness is ‘I AM’. When we speak of Sun we speak of I Am consciousness. In other words we are speaking of ourselves. The self in you and in me is no different from the self of the Solar Angel. It is but the same consciousness manifested in different dimensions and magnitudes. The essence of the Sun and us is but one and the same. We are no different from our Sun. Let us learn to see the Sun as no different from I Am. The Veda says, “The Sun I see and I Am are but one.”

Photo from the video (c) NASA

An Indian friend from the States, Vijay, sent me the link to an article of BBC News about new insights of science into the heart of our heart, its inner core. Vijay wrote:

“This is very similar to what we studied from Master EK’s Spiritual Psychology book few weeks ago. Master EK described that the earth used to have its north pole in the sun first and then it had a 90 degree shift and now has its north pole in the pole star. I thought it is interesting that this new research seems to align well with Master’s words.”

The article shows that researchers from the USA and China suggest that the innermost core of our planet has another, distinct region at its centre: The structure of the iron crystals seems to be different from those found in the outer part of the inner core. Since you cannot drill into the centre, which lies 5000 km beneath our feet, the scientists analysed echoes generated by earthquakes to see how they change as they travel through the different layers of our planet. “The seismic wave data suggests that crystals in the “inner inner core” are aligned in an east-to-west direction – flipped on their side, if you are looking down at our planet from high above the North Pole…. The core, which lies more than 5,000km down, started to solidify about a billion years ago – and it continues to grow about 0.5mm each year. ”

We read the book “Spiritual Psychology” in our English online study group. In the chapter “Poles on Earth” it says:

“When the Earth was in its child state, it had its upper pole in our Sun and the lower pole in the region of the then existing North pole. During that period, this Earth was only a half-globe with its one pole, i.e. the North pole. That pole was towards the Sun and the half-globe was going round the Sun with its circular base away from the Sun. At that time a group of intelligences descended upon our Earth from Venus and another group from Mars. Both of them worked out through love nature and those from Mars worked out the interactions of the material of the half-globe. By the time this process was complete, there was the birth of the second pole or South pole. By that time the Earth had undergone a tilt and the North pole deviated from our Sun to our Pole Star. From that time onwards the Earth began rotating with its equator facing the Sun. The tilt was about 90°. This change occurred also in every atom of this Earth globe. Every atom received the two poles.”

The layers of our earth. Source: Wikipedia

Illustration from the book “The Teachings of Kapila“, by Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar, giving the orientation of the earth in its etheric state to the Sun. Kapila is the ancient-most teacher on earth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On a very subtle plane, colour and sound converge and become one. This plane is related to Aquarius and to a supra-cosmic musical intelligence whom the Vedas call Vena the Gandharva. The Vedas say, he merrily sings the “song of light”. The Greek Apollo is no other than Vena; through his influence the sound- and light principles of the higher planes are expressed in identical scales.

Meditating on these correspondences, an image arose in me of Apollo with a musical instrument super-imposed on his face and light pouring down from above.

For the painting I chose a black and white photo of a head of Apollo and converted it into light yellow. I found the picture of a beautiful classical instrument, the “Viola d’Amore” (Viola of Love). It is used like a violin and has a sweet, warm sound. There are 6 or 7 playing strings on the top and the same number of “sympathetic strings” below – a beautiful symbol of the 6 pairs of signs of the zodiac or of the 7 planes of creation in the manifest and in the subtle spheres. I placed the instrument on the face of Apollo so that the upper part with the pegs and the head is like a stair towards the spheres of light. There is a second viola merging with the face of Apollo and a part of a nearly invisible third one surrounding the head like an aureole.

For the background, I first took a photo of Uranus and merged it with another one of a star cluster from the constellation Aquarius. Though you don’t recognize these elements anymore, they are there in the “background” of this painting. And the light coming from above looks like pouring down from out of the nearly invisible Aquarian pot.

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.

Aquarius – Apollo and the Song of Light

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.

A very positive news: Yesterday, 11 December 2014, the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously adopted the ‘International Day of Yoga’. Starting next year, it will be celebrated on 21 June. The resolution was proposed by the Indian Prime Minister Modi in September.

“A record number of over 170 countries joined as co-sponsors, the highest number ever for any general assembly resolution – including the vast majority of member states of all the regional and sub-regional groups of the general assembly, as well as all the five permanent members of the UN security council,” said India’s ambassador to UN Asoke Mukerji. And Indian Prime Minister Modi said, “Yoga has therapeutic powers that could change people’s lifestyle and help tackle global problems.”

In his congratulatory message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon pointed out: “In proclaiming 21 June as the International Day of Yoga, the General Assembly has brought attention to the holistic benefits of this ancient practice on health and well being in our modern world.”

And Modi said in his Facebook post, ” I have been a practicer of Yoga for years & you can’t believe the positive difference it has made in my life. Yoga is the anchor of my life. I urge all of you, especially the youth to take up Yoga & practice it diligently & regularly. It will truly transform your lives as well. This speech of mine at the launch of a Yoga university in Gujarat may surely interest you.”

I’m practicing Yoga myself since about 4 decades – and it does me good and keeps the body supple. However, don’t stop with seeing it as a kind of gymnastics as most people in the West do. There is an eightfold path of Yoga, of spiritual discipline with the goal of leading to synthesis.

During my stay at the WTT group living in India, 2008, a local Yoga teacher gave us a performance together with a group of his students – that’s not just what I’m practicing….

Yoga performance at the WTT Retreat Centre, January 2008