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

Two months ago, a young friend from Germany asked me if we could study together via Skype the book Spiritual Astrology by Master EK. The Skype study group was a very good experience and we read the book together several times a week. She reads, I explain.

Then my young friend came up with the idea to start another group study, “Music of the Soul“, also by Master EK. I very much love the book and had translated it to German in the early 90s (it is not the published version). I proposed to open the group for other members to join.

So we started an open study group, where we meet every second week on Friday evening, alternating with our little local group. We read the book in English and discuss in German. The book is very thrilling but not so easy for Westerners; friends told me they got lost in it. So reading and explaining in a group makes it much easier.

Then we opened also the study group on “Spiritual Astrology” (in German), and now we meet every Thursday evening to study . Both groups are with members from Switzerland and Germany. Both group studies were very stimulating and encouraging. And the exchange is very enriching. It is much more joyful to study the texts in a group, especially when unclear points are explained. And even though Skype sometimes gives problems with dropouts, it is possible to easily follow along with the books.

When I spoke about these study groups to an Indian friend from the States, he asked if we could also start a study group in English, on Saturdays. I proposed to study “Spiritual Psychology“, also by Master EK and mentioned it to other members from Germany, Spain and the States, and they also said they want to join. After a little pilot meeting last Saturday, we will now launch an English study group:

We will start next Saturday, 4 October. The meetings will be from 8:00 pm Central European Time (UTC + 2 summer time, UTC + 1 winter time) till 9:30 pm. (See here the corresponding time zones).

After I announced it via the WTT mailing list, quickly members from California and Oregon to Mumbai, from Danmark to Spain, and Germany joined. It is a fascinating experiment of the fusion of East and West, with people from very different backgrounds will come together.

I moderate the groups. We begin with a little guided invocation / visualisation. Then we read the text in small steps, sometimes just 1-2 sentences. Afterwards, I summarize and give some explanations, and we discuss questions or other thoughts relating to the text. I wrote a a little guideline with some more details about the group work.

If you would like to join the study group “Spiritual Psychology” (or, in German one of the other groups), let me know. Before starting, I need to include you in the Skype group, and so you have to make Skype contact with me (my Skype-ID is “good-will”, but since there are many who have good will in their names, please search me via: “Circle of Good Will” or send me an e-mail with your Skype ID). For a group mailing list I also need your e-mail address, and best also details about your location (address). Group members proposed to have a list with all the participants names and photos and some background information, so please also share these. I will inform via a mailing list, for example when a session cannot take place.

You don’t need to be a specialist – you just should be willing to participate regularly. It is OK when you stay away 1-2 times because of other obligations (the group also might pause sometimes when I’ll be away) but then you should read yourself the text which the group has read. You need the book “Spiritual Psychology” – either you get it from somewhere or I can send you an electronic version (PDF). You need a place where you can follow the study group in silence, best without external interruptions (in case of interruptions, you can just attend to the situation and join the group again). Furthermore, you need a device (computer, mobile) with Skype and a headset or any other sound system, which does not generate acoustic feedback with the other members.

The evenings of the group meetings, I will call your Skype account, whether you are there or not. We will do the meetings as audio conferences, without video.

Members have asked if each one can share a picture of himself/herself and a short remark about yourself so that it is easier to know who is in the group. So if you send it to me, I will make a document with the details and share it with the group.

If you don’t participate for a couple of times without informing me, I will take you out of the group. You can join again when your life situation allows you to attend regularly.

Sitting at the office table in contact with all over the world

Last Tuesday, 23 September, there was the Yogic point of autumn equinox, an important time for aligning with the annual ritual of the 2 solstices and 2 equinoxes (read here more about the spiritual impact of this festival). We gathered with a group of 8 persons from Germany and Switzerland near Einsiedeln at the birthplace of Paracelsus, the great initiate and revolutionary of medicine. On the way, a fantastic sunrise already announced an extraordinary day. The air was filled with golden light when we met at the Paracelsus centre.

After preparing the room with a thanksgiving altar, we started with a little candlelight ceremony (in the esoteric understanding, Libra, representing the unfoldment of objectivity or matter, is the midnight of the subjective side of the year) intonating the mantra of Durga. I gave a short introduction into the theme of the equinox and of the symbolism of Durga, the impermeable Mother. Then we did a group study about the deeper meaning of the ritualistic symbolism.

After the lunch prepared by the group, we went for a walk through the beauty of the surrounding nature, followed by coffee and cake and the discussion of some house rules for the use of the rooms, which we had prepared beforehand – and it seemed to be necessary for the center to run smoothly. The group also decided to make a “cleaning festival” for the rooms next year before Easter – two days of a group living with a cleanup of the centre.

We continued with an exercise which I had developed on the basis of the teachings of Master KPK on the directional intelligences of space and the inner planets, followed by a group exchange about some principles of Yoga. The beautiful day ended with a group meditation followed by a water ritual and dinner. On the way home, there was a radiant after-sunset glow in the air, the final of a day full of magic.

With autumn equinox, we just have entered into the month of Libra

In one of the Upanishads there is the story of two birds on the tree of life which are eternal inseparable friends. One bird eats the fruit of the tree; the other rejoices the first one eating. The bird below stands for the personality, which is experiencing the world. The bird above is the soul, which is a witness of the actions of the lower self. Both are eternally united. It is a beautiful representation of Libra, which stands for relationship.

Another symbol of relationship is the magnet. Its two poles create a field which attracts and magnetizes the iron filings.

In this picture I joined the two symbols: The upper bird in radiant white is hovering above and observing the lower bird. The latter is sitting on the ground, looking backwards. It is also white but a little tinged.

In the background you see the two poles of the magnet vertically arranged as two suns spreading their fields of force all around illustrating the poles of the soul and personality. They also represent the trunk of the tree of life with the lines of force as branches and roots.

I drew the lines on a photo of iron filings ordered around a magnet. Spiritual Astrology describes the colour of Libra as crimson-red for the average people living in a cloudy admixture of emotions and love. For a disciple who has developed the etheric lotuses the colour is violet; and when he is established in the thousand petalled lotus the colour is a blend between blue and pure white. You see these colour tones vibrating in the picture.

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.

04 June 2014, pencils and photo work

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

January last year during a journey to India, I had the good occasion to visit the Nilagiris, the Blue Mountains in South India. I was very much thrilled to be in this sublime presence, where there is the residence of the Grand Rishi Agastya in the subtle spheres. There are a number of posts in the blog about this great Master.

Now the Indian brotherhood of the WTT, especially the group of Bangalore, has launched a project of building a retreat centre in the magnificent surroundings of Kodanadu, with direct view on the Durga Mountain, or Rangaswami Pillar, where there is the centre of the subtle ashram. They just have published a very well done video, “Master Mountain – A Retreat into Presence”. It starts with the following words:

“The Ashram in the Blue Mountains is acclaimed in the Puranas as being equal to all other ashrams on the planet put together. In the theosophical literature, the Nilagiris Ashram of Sage Agastya is referred to as the Ashram of Master Jupiter. Nilagiris is located in the heart centre of the planet. In the words of Master Parvathi Kumar, the Ashram at the Master Mountain at Kodanadu in the Nilagiris is said to be the true headquarters of the work relating to the Aquarian Master.”

The Master Mountain, (c) video Click on the picture to enlarge

We are now in the month of Virgo, so here is the picture to the month:

The earthy sign of Virgo symbolizes the slow growth in the “womb of time” through conflicts and crises to reach the light of the soul. When we have gained a pure mind, it can reflect the divine Light. When the Light gets born in the virgin mind, this is called the “birth in Light”. The light of primordial nature is described as the Mother of the World. She penetrates all the seven planes of existence. These planes are said to be the veils of the Mother, and they are also depicted as a rainbow around her head. It says that her eyes transmit the rays of grace uplifting the souls to their pristine nature.

For this picture I used the image of a little statue of the Virgin with a star-filled veil. Around her head you see the colours of a huge rainbow, the planes of creation. In the background I placed two galaxies from the constellation of Virgo, depicting the cosmic eyes of the Virgin.

In the lower sphere I arranged an extract of a group photo and on each person’s face I placed a layer of a sunrise, illustrating the reflection of the divine Light in the human minds. They are the souls maturing in the matter to experience the birth in the Light.

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.

10 May 2014, A 5, pencils and photo work

If you are not particularly attached to the yoga of Master CVV you probably won’t have heard about Master MN (Sri Mynampati Narasimham). He was born on 25 August 1883, so we celebrate his 131st birthday (or, in Indian counting, the 132nd) next Monday.

The Master chose to be quite incognito and even secretive. He never wanted his picture to be made available. But Sri Kumar was helped to find some pictures and now we have an idea how the Master looked like:

I came to know about Master MN through the booklet “Master CVV” by Master EK, which I read in the early 90s; there you find a small chapter on Master MN. I felt fascinated. Years later I found an Indian biography – a collection of teachings and memories by his followers – not so easy to read. And it also “disappeared” again soon afterwards – somebody must have borrowed it and not given back…

So I was particularly happy when in January 2013 Sri Kumar gave me his newly published biography of Master MN, and I read it in one go. It is a fascinating book; you find it here as a PDF. If you think you don’t have much time, have a look at this short extract about the initiation of Master MN by Master CVV – beware! afterwards you might want to read the whole book!

I was impressed by the profound changes in the life of the Master: He started his professional career as a teacher, then became a reknown lawyer. Coffee drinking and chain smoking were part of his daily routine. He organised tournaments in billiards and tennis to popularise the games in the town where he lived. Family, games and cards at the lawyer’s club plus cigarette smoking mounted up stress on him. After some heavy ‘blows of fate’ (losing 3 elders and his younger brother in a short sequence) he started searching for the sense of life. While on the outer side his daily routine continued, he felt disgust of life and even depression. Meeting Master CVV through some “mysterious incidents” and getting initiated by him totally changed his life.

There was an influx of life force, and knowledge started coming inwardly. He continued his law cases but started concentrating on yoga. Thereafter, he never charged any money for the cases. He said to the clients, “If you wish to give, you can, if not, it is ok.” He accepted whatever came. “I never handle cash. I do not, as far as possible, touch cash. Money comes in large quantities and goes. Comes according to my needs and goes according to my needs.” Like Master CVV, he also used to offer sumptuous food to people coming to his home.

More and more, he demonstrated the energy of the Master – healing without giving medicine, teaching and initiating people into the Yoga of Synthesis. Three years after the initiation, Master CVV wrote to Master MN, “You are already a master. I call you the Little Master, there is no difference between me and you.”

Though he “disappeared” again on 11 March 1940, on the day he had announced already previously, his work is going on behind the scenes. Master EK wrote about him: “Those who are initiated into the Yogic experience by Master MN are now laying the foundation of Yoga in the Western countries. Through the fiery and invisible efforts of Master MN, the presence of Master CVV would again permeate to the East, establishing the spiritual fusion of East and West.”

After pondering on it for a while, I decided to make the original files of my paintings available for free. As I wrote on the website of my images, “All the pictures are expressions of spiritual principles / realities. I receive them and I give them for free.” This way, the images might better find the way to serve their purpose.

So if you would like to print a picture yourself, there is now a page where you can download the files of the “Images of Synthesis” in medium and high resolution format.

Basic regulations of spiritual practices are often apparently simple and easy but their import only reveals gradually and through consistent practice over a long time. That’s the tricky thing: You tend to forget the import and the practice becomes a routine. Normally you won’t notice –  unobtrusively, the transforming power diminishes or even gets lost – until there is again a “wake-up call”. It might be quite a silent call to reset your schedule.

A month ago I experienced such a “wake-up”:

Since years, I’m following the meditation proposed by Master CVV. It is simple but very profound. One of the basic regulations says, “To choose a fixed time for the daily meditation, best at an interval of 12 hours – 6 o’clock in the morning and evening.”

It is recommended to select an appropriate time for meditation and to adhere to it strictly. And 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. are recommended as the appropriate points of time. They form one of the two central axes dividing the day into 4 quarters, between morning and evening, between noon and midnight.

I know this rule since years and I followed such a meditation structure already during my years of study. I experienced the subtle dynamic strength of the rhythm: “Honour time, then time honours you.” This I knew, at least with my mind.

However, logic finds many excuses why not to be regular. There are lots of seemingly strong necessities for exceptions, and slowly exceptions become the rule, “because of office work”, “family”, “not finding time”, and you certainly know other good reasons.

Reason is not rhythm. Of course, you should not become rigid by sticking to self-imposed rules, and there is the recommendation that “any time between 4:00 and 8:00 in the morning and in the evening may be chosen to start with.”

Being an “early bird”, I have no problems starting the meditation at 06 a.m. but in the evening I used to come back tired from the office and could not do the meditation in time – I just fell asleep. I asked Sri Kumar about it and he said, “Think of the Master at 6 and do the meditation whenever it is possible for you.”

I’m no longer working at an office but I kept on arranging the meditation. I said to myself, “For me, it is more important to do the meditation together with my wife” (she is not following the 6/6 regulation)… And I found it a reasonable explanation – until recently.

Some months ago, a friend gave me a book on the yoga of Master CVV, a collection of his notes about his “courses, adjustments, principles and regulations”. I have read several of these books but most things I don’t understand. I once asked Sri Kumar and he said that they weren’t meant for the public, they were just Master CVV’s notes and we won’t understand. But I read them in bits and pieces, because somehow I felt an inspiring energy.

So one month ago, I read about how much Master CVV insisted that his disciples (“mediums”) strictly follow the given rules and regulations once they have firmly decided to practice. The disciples in town “must invariably attend daily once in the evening prayers. If they fail to attend every day evening, they will be permanently banished from this society.”

I was a bit shocked. He repeatedly emphasized the preciseness of time: those being not regular with the time “will derive only that share of development as is due to such practice”. “Some delay will occur”… He expected that the members come at a quarter to 6, rest for 15 minutes to be ready “to do practice at 6:00 o’clock precisely” and not with an empty stomach: “Yoga must be the prominent idea in your life. Everything else should be subordinate.” “You are having a false idea that the instructions and rules relating to the Yoga may be used according to your physical body’s convenience. The lenience given by me to follow the practice was taken as fun.”

This was my wake-up call. I didn’t want to reason it away but took it as a hint to integrate the rhythmic precision into my schedule without being rigid. Soon I felt an increase of energy through the magic of rhythmic order. “Axis arranged hours”, as Master CVV puts it in a mystic mantram, followed by “Higher Bridge Beginning”. Yes, this key of time is opening the entry to the higher bridge, to sublime dimensions of experiencing.

Master CVV surrounded by a group of his disciples in the early years of the 20th century.