Last weekend when traveling to Germany I found some time to read in the book on Religious Communities in the Canton of Berne. I found some interesting descriptions of today’s esoteric culture or new religious communities, confirming or clearing several observations of mine. In general most people don’t want to commit themselves to an organisation or structure, and the new groups are often also not so organised like the traditional religions – though there are other examples, too.

In the book it says that degree of organisation is not an adequate criterion for people, and often they don’t want any organisation at all, or structures are of a fleeting character. This is a really Aquarian mode of expression – decentralisation and issue-focus is more adequate. Many groups don’t define themselves even as religious, but prefer terms such as spiritual (like I do), philosopicial or esoteric, or even “scientific”.

Last monday I read in the New Zurich Newspaper an interview with Dorothea Lüddeckens, professor of the University of Zurich on Comparative Religion, about a meeting on changes in the new religious movements. She said that now 30 to 40 per cent of the Swiss population think that reincarnation is possible – a question denied by orthodox Christians. She pointed out that even many church goers today appreciate the offers of the churches, but are also interested in other spiritual ideas and practices, thus changing the popular Christian religiosity. Esoteric literature has invaded the main stream bookshops or alternative therapy systems the therapy market.

Many people don’t want an all-inclusive system, but take specific offers, like a patient using alternative medicine, a manager going for a time-out into a monastery, parents searching an alternative school for their children… It is a kind of self-determination, where people take what they value and leave away what they don’t. You can compare it with a shop, where you select what you are interested in – you don’t buy the whole shop.

Seeing the sun through the forest is like seeing the truth through a multitude of concepts.

Friday evening we had the second meeting of our series of evening themes on „The Call of the Soul“, in a seminar room of a nearby hotel. The theme of this evening was “The Journey” (will be translated soon) Several of our friends weren’t able to come, and so we thought it would be a small round. Three newbies dropped in – an elderly lady, and two younger persons – and some friends of us, all together a group of eight persons.

We started with singing an invocation to the unity of all life, as a reminder to keep the awareness connected with it. There was a good energy of presence to be felt, and when I started talking a smooth flow of thoughts came in. I had prepared a powerpoint presentation with beautiful pictures, mainly from a series from a journey of friends to Ethiopia. The presentation was about basics of the spiritual path, about possible challenges and how to overcome them, and about entrance into the realms of the subtle worlds. After a little paus my wife conducted a meditation, starting with singing 21 times OM, and then some guided visualisations.

Afterwards we had an exchange about the experiences. Again it was astonishing how people had deep and similar experiences, though it was neither induced by us nor did we know each other before: There is a path to the inside, to the experience of inner experience – consciousness diving into itself. In his Mystic Mantrams Master CVV calls this “Dip deep” – dipping into one’s own awareness.

The next morning a photo of the presentation came into my mind: I had spoken about how it needs discrimination and mostly also help to orient on the path, not to get lost. And that it isn’t easy to discover the signs, which we easily fail to see. On the photo you see a scene from a street in Hyderabad, with people and motorbikes crossing – just a street scene. But when you have a closer look at the picture, you see on the walls occult signs, a most sacred symbol, the Swastika. It is a symbol of the “Wheel of Life”, the power of progressive evolution. But it is also a message about how these signs can get distorted and their sense perverted, like it has been done with the Nazi system, and so it became a symbol of power and dominion. Now it is seen in the West as a forbidden symbol, highly emotionally charged by pros and cons. You cannot just look neutrally on it in public without stirring partly violent reactions.

On the photo from the street in Hyderabad you hardly perceive it. It is the same with the messages from the subtle world, which you easily miss to note in everyday life, but which can help you open the doors to the inside when the awareness is open.

Yesterday evening I discovered a parcel in the mailbox – a book I had ordered some weeks ago. It is about the “Religious Communities in the Canton Berne” (Switzerland). The author, Stefan Rademacher, from the Institute of Religious Studies of the University of Berne, had come for a talk in summer 2006. At first I was a bit sceptical, but his impartial approach to work out a “map” of the different religious groups in our area was somehow fascinating. He is avoiding the word “sectarian”, since it is emotionally charged and stigmatising. We had quite an indepth conversation about the Circle of Good Will and our backgrounds. A week after the talk he sent me the draft of his article, which I reviewed, and he included the corrections. And now it is a section in the book, in a chapter on theosophy and its offsprings…

My thoughts went back to the days of my study of religious science in the 70ies in Germany. The academical and distanced approach to a topic which deals with inner transformation and relation to one’s deepest roots is somehow a paradox. A systematized approach to deeper realities is of a great importance, but you can’t stay at a distance to yourself when going through a process of transformation. As long as you do, you stay in the intellect and out of the experience. You only have a shallow aftertaste.

An Indian friend living in the States just sent me the following text:

Absolutely amazing!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn’t it? And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this…

101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?
What equals 100% in life?

Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help
answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E- O-F- G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It’s the Love of God that will put you over the top!

Precision and divine beauty also in other fields of nature

Concerning the present stock market crash there was a nice anecdote from the times of the crash of 1929 in our local newspaper:

In the States an immigrant built up a little business. He worked hard and slowly met with success. Years later he was asked if he didn’t have problems during the time of the crisis.  Depression?, he answered. Oh no, he didn’t feel anything. In the beginning he didn’t understand any word of English and therefore didn’t read the newspapers. So he didn’t know that there was a crisis…

The same “imperceptibility” is true with the path of light: For most people it simply doesn’t exist. They go on making their experiences in the outer world and go through the related difficulties. Some are using the occasion which time offers now, they align with the soul and discover their inner potentials. For them the Aquarian age is becoming a reality – for the others the time of darkness continues. You might like to have a look at the Lunar Messenger on “Meditation for the Aquarian Age“.

The entrance of the Swiss National Bank in Berne, where a great amount of gold is stored in the basement. The money of the bank is now also used to counteract the present crisis of the UBS bank.
Inspired by an initiative of an American group of meditators I planted a little rose quartz heart into the flower-bed right in front of the bank about 10 years ago, with the thought that the energies of money and gold might be directed to evolutionary purposes.

Some days ago I got an e-mail from a friend in Venezuela who wrote (lightly adapted):

“I assisted to a conference with the Tao people in Caracas, and they talked about how the human beings, when they die and disincarnate, there are different way  they do this work.
They said, if it is done by the  ajna center (in the middle above the eyes) they will have some special work to do, but if the soul is going out by the eyes, in their  next incarnation they will come as a bird, by the nose they will be an insect, by the ears a mammal,  by the mouth a fish, and by your navel you are again coming as a human being….
This part in the conference was a shock to me because I do not know anything about it, only with our teacher we really are doing a work in order to establish a different style of life with the work to do, in this incarnation, and  looking to continue an ascent to live with the soul and liberate the personality in order to use only our soul and participate with it in the social life, …”

I anwered her:

“Many people talk many silly things in spirituality. This with the bird, insect etc. is absolute nonsense. The Masters of Wisdom teach that you should go out through the higher centres, from heart onward, and the higher the better. I try to go by what I know from their teachings. You quickly get confused with people talking about spirituality and the like… Don’t let yourself get confused and try to help people to get out of the clouds of spiritual confusion, this is a big maya.”

She answered: “Those people of the Tao look so nice, but I really was shocked with the information they talked about….”

I replied: “Yes, there are many nice people in spiritual groups, but this doesn’t guard them from getting lost into wrong concepts.” It is a great test on the path to work out a right understanding and not to let yourself get confused by the many irritating concepts.  The mind is often compared with a mirror full of deformations and dirt. It is important to clean it and restore its original purity. This is a scientific process, and the age-old science is called the path of yoga or union. For this path a wise teacher is very helpful.

The mirroring globe in the Cité des sciences de de l’industrie in Paris. Photo of a friend

Two weeks ago we were in Engelberg at a seminar. The meaning of Engelberg is Mountain of Angels, and throughout the village you could see angel sculptures like an invasion of beings from another sphere. The sculptures of the exposition were basically the same polyacrylic forms decorated in different ways – and thus reflecting different attitudes towards the sublime:

Some of the figures were ridiculising the idea of angels, some were playfully using them as decorations, some reflected a spark of the underlying mystery. A friend of mine sent me a photo CD with some of these angels – a good study, not so much about angels but more about man or the artist’s attitude. The angels are for sale… The titles under the pictures are given by me:

The Shopping-Angel with a sad look, his head being a black gift box – symbolic of man lost in commercialism.

The Fashion Angel, disguised in decoration, his light being the false light of a lamp and not from above.

What do you find inside the drawers? Spiritual inspiration or emptiness?

The Angel of a “beautiful apartment / nice dress dream” – instead of striving to the lofty spheres

The Angel of Time – reminding us of the good use of every moment for upliftment. It is also Chronos-Saturn, the Lord or Time, in green, related to the 3rd ray of Active Intelligence.

The Angel of Broken Mirrors – symbolic of broken dreams or of the many reflections of the One light in the dense spheres of the gross material world.

The Tourism Angel, inside three branches of a dead tree – looking for “higher experiences” in the mountains

The Angel of the integration of heart and hand, of loving action

The Angel of the Warm Heart, radiating silently his light at the corner of a shop, inspiring hope and strength

Today my wife and I had a talk on how difficult it sometimes is not to be able to tell a person what one would like to tell him or her. When the person is not ready to listen or doesn’t have an open mind, you come upon an invisible wall, even if there is a cordial relation. Often it is the question of an over-active mind: People are busy with their thoughts and concepts, which keep them tied down into a certain direction. The narrowed focus is shutting them off from other viewpoints, which might bring in a larger perspective.

In spiritual matters I observe this very often: It takes so long, often years, for a right and deep understanding to grow. People are straying at the periphery, not coming to the center, the essence of their being or the path. For many it is very difficult to get into a regular practice, and it seems it is even more difficult to pick up some selfless service activity – not just some goodwill activity, but an intelligent activity done with responsibility over a long time, in cooperation in a team. There are so many obstacles on the way – other interests, the so-called “having no time”-syndrome, which mostly is a missing focus in life. In spirituality there are many who consent, but only few who apply.

At the seminar on the occasion of 25 years of WTT-Global of last week Dr. Kumar mentioned that Master EK made long 4 tours from India to the West in the 70ies (1972-1977) without getting any right contacts. People seemed not to be open enough to assimilate the teachings he wanted to give. He waited 4 more years before taking up again his tours to the West in 1981, and then slowly he met people with whom the work could start.

At the jubilee celebration a book was published, where Dr. Kumar’s (Master KPK) work of group-building over 27 years was outlined. There was a section with the titles of all his lectures – several hundred ! – he gave on most different topics all over the globe during nearly 50 international tours. It gave me a frisson to see the tremendous work and how slowly and steadily it proceeded. It is not a big and quick foam, but a silent, focused persistence.

How long it takes to get people into a rhythm of group work, overcoming the personality barriers! There is a saying by Master Morya that consciousness grows slower than grass.

Candles at the seminar in the form of white lotuses – symbols of unfoldment and purity

The last six days I was on a seminar and celebration of 25 Years World Teacher Trust-Global, with our spiritual teacher, Dr. Kumar. About 170 people from different countries of Europe, the USA and India had come for the meeting in Engelberg, a beautiful village surrounded by high mountains in the center of Switzerland.

It was a very intense time with a lot of exchanges and networking – and of course the seminar. It was again excellent, with very subtle topics, though partly too complex to give here in the blog an adequate understanding.

The theme of the seminar was “Service and the Law of Liberation”. Here is short extract from my notes of a talk of Sri Kumar, from a caption on inner and outer freedom, with the example of Sri Aurobindo. The text is a bit adapted for the blog:

“Freedom outside is political freedom without freedom. The freedom has to come from within. That is why there is not much demonstration on the roads by those who are working for inner freedom. Sri Aurobindo is a good example for someone first working for the political freedom and later working for the freedom of personality. Sri Aurobindo was working for political freedom, then he was thrown into prison. There he prayed to the divine, “When I was working for the freedom, why have you imprisoned me?” The divine said, “I have built an outer prison, so that you continue to work with the inner freedom.”

Before he was imprisoned he received a message in which he was warned that it would be better for him to fight inside for inner freedom than to fight outside for political freedom. He saw a beautiful form appearing to him, while he was constructing a bomb against the British. He received a dream in which Master KH appeared and said, “This is not the freedom to work out. The inner freedom is more important.”

But he did not listen and was imprisoned by the British. In prison he prayed, then again he saw and he heard: “You are forewarned to work for inner freedom, not for outer freedom, it is more important. We have organized the imprisonment for you to protect you.”

And then Sri Aurobindo continued his contemplation while in prison, and he reached the state of consciousness, where he could see within and without the same consciousness. He could join Krishna consciousness, divine consciousness, Christ consciousness, naming is not the problem.
We put so many labels everywhere. Somehow the labels are of more interest to us than the content. He could see the One Divine within. When he saw the guardian of the prison as Krishna, his attitude changed so much. There are so many barriers that the personality builds inside, to such an extend that one gets distasteful of the divine energy. That means the sickness is complete, the imprisonment is complete. Something has to happen.

In many cases a strong event has to happen to solve the imprisonment. Service is the solution. If you start service, gradually the inner freedom comes and the outer shackles go. You feel so free. That is why all great workers for political freedom, when they gained inner freedom, they also gave the knowledge to others freedom workers…. You see the simplicity of Mahatma Gandhi, highly respected for his knowledge, of high qualification. This simplicity comes through service…

Be joyful while you serve. For this reason many times I say, the old way of saying is, I have to do this. The new way is, I like to do it, I love to do it. If you turn the “I have” to the “I love to do it”, you are much more in tune with the doing. A joyful way of doing.”

Lake Truebsee near Engelberg – photo of a friend

In the last days I got several mails about warnings of a World War 3. One is referring to his information from star visitors contacts with humankind and warns of an impending world war before November 4th, another (“Indian Daily”) says that “Remote viewing Tibetan monks sees Extra Terrestrial powers saving the World from destroying itself in 2012“:

“Between 2010 and 2012, the whole world will get polarized and prepare for the ultimate dooms day. Heavy political maneuvers and negotiations will take place with little progress. In 2012, the world will start plunging into a total destructive nuclear war. And at that time something remarkable will happen, says, Buddhist monk of Tibet. Supernatural divine powers will intervene. The destiny of the world is not to self-destruct at this time…. Beyond 2012, out technologies will take a different direction.  People will learn the essence of spirituality, the relation between body and the soul, the reincarnation and the fact we are connected with each other are all part of “God”.”…

There are a lot of expectations around the magic date of 2012, some kind of a hype especially with esotericists. Of course the actual political situation gives enough stuff to get concerned about the craze of partisanship in Eastern Europe or elsewhere. And somehow prophesies have a magic attraction, like a spell-charm. It seems they are tickling curiosity together with a shudder.

However, expectations are clouding the sense of discrimination and making us live more in future fantasies than in the needs of the present. In his book “Spiritual Astrology” Master EK (Dr. Ekkirala Krishnamacharya) warns of prophesies, here in the context of astrological prophesies:

“Trying to learn anything about his own future or the future of others should be strictly avoided. One should remember that one’s future is moulded by oneself and the moulding deity (the false conception of fate) is locked up within oneself by one’s own limitation and self conditioning. The future of man is always veiled by the curtain of the alternatives that are worked out by his own hesitation, doubt, miscalculation and overdoing. Knowing the future through astrology as prophecy is utterly false. Astrology gives the past, present and future of the whole universe and the higher forces that are working in it. Nature always maintains certain secret workings in the plan and there is always an element of variability and uncertainty to the mind of man with regard to details. Moreover, a man on this earth is too tiny to have the details of life worked out so prominently in nature as to be deciphered by him.

When man gets the prediction of a good incident on the mundane plane, immediately a new thought-wave starts in him from the time of his expectation. From time to time, it produces a set of thought-forms by way of repeated anticipations. They accumulate in his memory and stimulate his desire body towards the anticipation. This necessarily creates a stir in the astral body above and the etheric double below. Thus the thought-forms are slowly galvanized into active karma. This change manifests its fruit of fore-knowledge periodically upon his environment. … This creates a big world of confused thought-forms around him…” Spiritual Astrology P. 207f)

So keep an open mind and a positive attitude. Discrimination helps dealing with doomsday prophesies.

Lighthouse at the coast of Costa Brava, Spain