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Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 8: The Essence

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024

It is now a week ago that I started the journey back home from India and nearly five weeks since the start. Through the fog of inner and outer impressions, the contours of what I experienced slowly become clearer. In this mist, there is a light shining through which becomes stronger when I contemplate on it, and I might call it the essence. It is inside but it is shining into the outer as well. It has been impregnating me and keeps doing so.

The journey itself is like a multi-dimensional cinema experience – I go in and I go out again. And the intensity fades when the cinema show ends. With a cinema show, there is mostly no lasting impact. And it is the same with many things I encounter in India – they are not of relevance for my life in the West and face away again. But each journey is like a “reset” of my life which is not possible when I stay comfortably at home. It is a transformation experience. Such a pilgrimage journey helps me to better align to the purpose of my life. And gain fresh vigour and determination.

Abu Dhabi airport

There were many exchanges, I saw saw many forms of community/communities and coherence/being together. With the group members and other people I encountered, I perceived an intense striving for divinity, expressing spirituality in daily life. It was much stronger perceivable than in the surroundings of my Western life. And this was very inspiring. Although I cannot and do not want to live and work and express myself in a way I saw in India – and I also saw forms which kept me at a distance and were disgusting – it gave me fresh resolve to express divinity and spirituality in my life and through the ways and forms which are possible in my surroundings. It is a matter of inner attitude. This fresh impulse is most essential for me.

The Triangular Book of Count Saint Germain

At the beginning of the journey, on the very first day, Sri Joshi showed Mark and me photos from a manuscript which he and Shreya had taken at the Getty Research Institute in LA, the Triangular Book of Count Saint Germain (Master CSG). I was very thrilled to see the beautiful drawings and writings in perfect handwriting mostly in cipher language. It was a touch of the great Master who had built a bridge of the wisdom of Hierarchy from the East to the West – although it still remains a mystery. I didn’t know about this book but we are reading in a German study group the “Most Holy Trinosophia” of Master CSG, which Master EK had mentioned, and Sri Joshi wanted to send the photos. I didn’t receive it but the information came in other ways, by sharing with group members and some further search: the entire book is scanned and online; it is translated into English here. There are two manuscripts of the Triangular Book, one dated 1775, the other 1750. There is a very interesting website about it, “The Triangular Book“, by an anonymous author, giving an aura of mystery. He hinted at a book and he might be the author himself, since he writes about “my publication of Triangular Book of St. Germain (Ouroboros Press, 2014). So, it is probably Nick Koss, who produced an exquisite limited edition reproduction published in Seattle, from where my friend Mark Ray came and where he passed over at return of our journey, completing his cycle on earth.

I do not know which is the relevance of all these impressions and all information about the “Triangular Book” of Master CSG for me. But I mention here this story because it shows well how mysteries reveal themselves when the time is ripe, even if it takes centuries. I learn not to rush but let things develop themselves.

And this is, where the end of my blog-posts about the “Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India” touches the beginning. The mystery of the extremely intense experiences of this journey.

Drawing of Master CSG, from the Manly Palmer Hall heritage collection, manuscript 209, at Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (c)

Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 7: Trip to Pithapuram and Journey Back Home

Sunday, January 21st, 2024

Even though I was still a little weak from the Guru Puja celebrations and the diarrhoea, I didn’t want to drop the trip to Pithapuram. It was my 8th trip to the temple at the birthplace of Sripada Srivallabha, the first avatar of Lord Dattatreya in Kali Yuga, and when I started the German translation and the publication of the revised English version 9 years ago, I had promised to bring the further translations to the temple on this basis. Above all, it was an inner promise, and the work has deeply influenced my life.

Reyes had brought the newly published Spanish Sripada biography from Spain. Together with Marta and Adele from the WTT Sripada group from the area of Girona, we wanted to bring the book to the temple. Soon after the morning prayers on the 14th we started with a taxi, accompanied by Sandeep as a guide and translator. It is a journey of about 180 km and the temple closes at 12 am, so we didn’t want to be late. Pithapuram is in a way a labyrinth, and it took again some time to find the Maha Samsthanam temple. It is small and there are nearly no signs in the town indicating how to find it.

As Master Kumar once told us, it is a place of highest energy but veiled. We need to align and orient inside. And so we did. Srī Sajjanagada Ramaswamy (1925 – 2018), the late spiritual head of the temple did not install any follower; there is a temple administration taking care of organisational affairs but it is not a spiritual head. And there are priests conducting ritualistic activities.

Sripada statue at the Maha Samsthanam temple
Statue of Lord Dattatreya in the centre of the temple

Reyes handed over the Spanish book to the director of the temple, who invited us to a coffee in his office. We spoke a bit about our earlier visits and the German and English Sripada biographies published by the WTT.

Handing over of the Spanish Sripada biography to the director of the temple

In the office

When driving back to Visakhapatnam, I was in a state of digestion. There had been so many impressions, exchanges and experiences the last days. I felt that it now needs time to digest. The next day, most of the group members from the West left again, going back home or to other places. There were intense talks with those who stayed back and couldn’t leave due to flight connection problems.

I slept very little in the last night and tried to pin down some impressions. Around 10 am, Murthy and Ravishankar came to bring me to Visakhapatnam airport. On the way I thought, it is still 3.5 hours until departure. They brought me to the entry of the airport. When I wanted to enter, the security guard informed me that my flight connection to Bangalore was cancelled and that I should go to the counter of Indigo airlines. I was shocked. I didn’t have access to my e-mail accounts the last days due to a technical problem. I was not the only one waiting at the counter. I came to know that the only way to reach my international flight at 9:30 pm from Bangalore was to catch the 12:30 am Chennai and in the evening a flight to Bangalore. Arrival would be late. I inwardly called for help and guidance. And it was there.

At Chennai airport

I got a very last minute place at the 12:30 flight to Chennai and rushed as fast as possible to check-in and security. The boarding was already in process. In Chennai I had to wait some hours in a mass of travellers. I tried to stay aligned and focused inside, doing some spiritual practices.

Shiva statue at Chennai airport

The evening flight was late and also a bit delayed. In Bengaluru, there is a new international airport, where I had to catch the shuttle bus with my luggage. I ran through the airports. At the Etihad counter, the check-in had been through but I came still in time for the flight to Abu Dhabi. In the plane, the travellers were encouraged to use their mobiles for getting access to information and entertainment – there were no more information screens in the plane and I couldn’t understand the announcements but thought, we will arrive in Abu Dhabi anyhow and it’s time to sleep.

The flight to Zurich was fine but it had strong counter-winds. I somehow noticed that we were passing over Iran and Turkey – below some global conflict zone. But we were like in another dimension where I either slept or was carried away by a movie. I saw Dune, the third adaptation of 2021 of an epic science-fiction film with partly occult scenes.

At Zurich I lost a train connection because customs controlled me and checked the Brahmi boxes….. they phoned to someone and found that it’s ok… But soon, there was another connection. It was raining and snowing outside when my wife picked me up at the railway station. I arrived home, very tired.

I felt that I was very much protected and guided by the MASTER – several times, I had experienced incredible short term “openings” to the next steps of the journey. When my mind became restless, I listened inside and always felt: “Everything will be fine and OK” and so it was.

A turtle-shaped stone with lotus flowers at the entrance of the Maha Samsthanam temple in Pithapuram, turtle being a symbol of the cosmos and the lotus a symbol of unfoldment. It says that deep below this stone and in the inner planes, there is the centre of highest energies, where sages are continuously meditating in deep contemplation

Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 6: The Guru Pujas

Sunday, January 21st, 2024

From January 10th in the evening to January 13th, 2024, there was the celebration of the 63rd Master CVV Guru Puja Celebration at a festival site in Visakhapatnam. The tradition of celebrating a global Yoga Festival was initiated by Master EK in 1962. The yoga of Master CVV is the central theme of these gatherings, and truth seekers from East and West are invited to experience collectively the One Master who manifests in many ways.

Opening the Guru Puja ceremony

Group livings similar to the Guru Pujas are celebrated in many countries on astrologically important days such as full moons, new moons, equinoxes and solstices or the May Call Days to tone up their practices and deepen their understanding. Like in previous years, books and other teachings were available at the Guru Pujas and accommodation, food and other facilities were offered with Love and without demanding monetary contributions. The participants offer their services and resources and learn to transcend mundane considerations by their self-offering. Thus, the Guru Pujas are a grand ritual in the spirit of the Yoga of Synthesis and in tune with the hierarchical Plan.

The core of the Guru Pujas is that the World Teacher Trust worships Lord Krishna as the World Teacher presiding over the universe and Lord Maitreya as the head of the Teaching Hierarchy on this planet. Master KPK had conducted the Guru Pujas from 1984 until 2022, the year of his passing. Now, a team of the managing council of the WTT in India conducts the Guru Pujas as a group activity.

Navaneetam conducting the opening ceremonies and the evening prayer

The main focus was on the morning and evening group prayers/meditations. Like in other years, there was a fire ritual, a water ritual and the Lalitha Puja for women in honour of the World Mother, a naming ceremony for small children and initiation to literacy as well as initiation into the Gayatri mantram.

Guru Prasad and his wife Gayatri during the Fire Ritual

During the Lalitha Puja

There were lectures by speakers from various centres and book presentations by Kulapathi Book Trust (publication of books by Master EK on “Suparna Suktam”, “Spiritual Personality Development” and “Masters and Disciples in the Modern Age” – PDFs of the books will be published later), by Dhanishta Editions (K. Parvathi Kumar: 108 Names of Kumara) and a booklet from Sadguru Tapovana group, Bengaluru, of a lecture of Master KPK on “Merry Life Day”. There were cultural contributions such as musical programs or group singing.

Release of new books of Kulapathi Book Trust

On 12 January, there was the section on “Fusion of East and West.” Guru Prasad had invited Reiner from Germany, Dona from Spain and me on the dais. He introduced us to the audience and presented the new publications brought from Europe.

Reiner, the treasurer of WTT Germany, spoke about group activities in Germany. Dona, a homoeopath and Ayurveda practitioner from Spain, spoke about her path into healing activities. I gave a talk about the stages of the Externalisation of Hierarchy and the role of Master EK and Master KPK in this regard. Here is the YouTube recording of my talk.

I mentioned that the Guru Pujas had always deeply impressed me ever since I started regularly coming in January from 2001 on. Several times, Master Kumar had pointed out to relate to the Great Ones through the images trying to perceive their invisible Presence. The pictures help us to link to the Masters and the divine beings, and maybe we can experience them when invoked in the group livings through the prayers, the rituals and the wisdom teachings. This way, the Hierarchy inspires our activities and interactions and uplifts us to the planes of experience and be-ness, beyond mental concepts.

Besides these Fusion of East and West talks, all other interactions were in Telugu only – besides an English word or sentence here and there, all was in Telugu only. So, we could only follow by inner linking and turning inside. It is a Saturnian discipline. Last year, I had mentioned the importance of the use of English as the Aquarian language and some had spoken English and Telugu – I didn’t want to bring up this topic again.

I do not want to demand anything or to tell what should be done. But in individual talks I mentioned that I am coming from a small multi-language country where translation is very normal in many social interactions, and that at the last May Call celebration in Germany most of the activities were translated into English to include a few non-German speakers, besides regular translation of WTT Zoom transmissions. And I expressed my hope for an opening of the “Telugu language bubble” to possibly include also people from other Indian language groups and from overseas, to make the group livings global. There is not need to translate everything – it was very helpful and necessary with the teachings of Master Kumar. But may an inner urge be felt by the speakers themselves to make the import of their words also available to a larger audience by integrating English. And that this way, the Guru Pujas might become more inclusive.

In the afternoon of January 12th, I felt the “Indian washing machine” approaching – the yoghurt from the Westerners’ lunch had probably been left in the heat for too long. I started to have diarrhoea – and not just me. So I missed one day of the celebration, stayed in my room and slept a lot until Saturday lunchtime. when I went back to the Guru Puja – and continued drowsing there. This is also one of the Guru Puja experiences I am familiar with – it is a cleansing process with bodily re-adjustments. When in the evening the melody of the “Guru Padukam” sounded at the end of the celebration, I was tired, but felt happy about the experiences and encounters.

Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 5: The Passing of Mark Ray

Tuesday, January 16th, 2024

Over the last months, Mark Ray and I had developed the plans for our journey to India. Mark was a third generation theosophist from Seattle, USA, in link with the Wisdom teachings since his youth. He studied psychology but preferred to work with his hands, so he specialised on renovating houses. For years, he was very active in the Theosophical Society Seattle, be it as president, be it in development of Indralaya, a theosophical center on Orcas Island committed to community and spiritual development.

Ever since he came into contact with the WTT he increasingly committed himself to build a bridge between theosophy and the World Teacher Trust teachings of Master KPK and Master EK. He met Master KPK at a group living in San Jose, California, in 2018 and again at the May Call 2019 at Mount Shasta, California. There, we shared a room together and very quickly became friends. For me, it was like meeting a brother in a deeper sense of the word.

We had been in regular monthly contact via Zoom. These were intense exchanges about many spiritual topics. And nearly at every exchange, Mark gave me profound astrological insights, be it from the perspective of Western or of Vedic astrology – in both, he was very well versed.

On 22 December early morning, we met at Bengaluru airport, he coming from Seattle via Frankfurt, me from Zurich via Abu Dhabi, arriving by chance at the same moment at the immigration counters.

Together with Mark and Sri Joshi, the head of Sadguru Tapovana, Bengaluru,before departure to the Nilagiris

Next day, we went to the Master Mountain Retreat Center in the Niligiris, the Blue Mountains of South India, the place of the ashram of the great Rishi Agastya, where we spent 4 days. Then we returned to Sadguru Tapovana, the WTT center in Bengaluru, where we participated at the December Call celebrations.

Mark, on arrival at Master Mountain Resort in the Nilagiris

Afterwards we flew to Visakhapatnam and participated in the group living there.

We shared the room together over the entire journey and had intense exchanges. These were very harmonious days and Mark was continuously active speaking with members about their astrological charts. He had a GoPro camera with him and we did a number of video interviews about WTT activities at different places – we planned to do a report. And he recorded a gorgeous sunrise in the Nilagiris and we planned to do a video with an Indian bamboo flute player, Kaliprasad, whom we met in Bengaluru and in Vizag.

On Tuesday, 9 January, he started his return journey. From Vizag airport, he wrote to me at noon time:
“I didn’t get to say goodbye but we will see each other again soon on Zoom. I am at the airport and went through check in a security without problems. Then I found my hat upstairs and something western to eat. No more rice for a while. 🙂
There is now a blizzard warning over the mountains to my home so I may have to stay overnight at my sisters again. India has been very kind to me on this trip. I never felt afraid to walk on the streets and had no problems except for the bronchitis. It is hard to leave so many kind and spiritual people.(…) Now I have to formulate my thoughts on the trip and how to make the World Teacher Trust more universal. Meanwhile I will rest and reconnect with family. Thank you again for this great opportunity!”

About 3 hours later, he wrote: “I am in Bangalore now and at Terminal 2. The plane was about 30 minutes late but that is not a problem for me. My Lufthansa flight leaves at 3:30 am so I have a long wait.”
Then he wrote from Frankfurt: “I caught my last flight and am about to take off. Seattle in nine hours.”

This was the last e-mail. On arrival in Seattle, on the way through the customs, Mark (26 April 1954 – 10 Jan 2024) left the body and took the flight to the subtle planes of Light. It was the time of the new moon of Capricorn -Capricorn being the time of the beginning of the solar ascent symbolizing the ascent of the Soul out of the conditioning of matter. And the time of new moon symbolizes the beginning of a new cycle of further development – a very auspicious time for passing over to continue the path on the subtle planes.

Mark had been absorbing the impressions in India like a dry sponge, also with his video cam – I asked him, “will you find time for viewing all this?” But it was a profound soul experience he had – which also made him a bit careless about his health – not only me had warned him to protect his body better and that the warmth here is rough, carrying the energies of winter and affecting the bodies, esp. those from the West.
He got a bronchitis the last days and a doctor at the seminar and healing practitioners gave him medicine. His body was somehow weakened before the return flight but he seemed to be OK. There must be a deeper reason for his sudden passing. There were signs that his soul knew about the passing already: He told several friends from the group about dreams he had during the last nights where he saw faces, esp. of his mother, staring at him, and he asked a friend of mine, “What do they want to say to me, I do not understand.” She told him, “Ask them to tell you.”

These premonitions show that the veil between the spheres was becoming thinner already and that, though a great surprise on the outer, there was a knowledge in the inner of the coming departure.

Before his departure, he gave me all his video recordings, and we had planned to do some report about the journey He had recorded a most splendorous sunrise in the Nilagiris and I had contacted a very well-known bamboo flute player here who wants to play a morning raga for the sunrise video – in a way, this is for me an expression of the gift of Mark’s inner radiance as an inspiration to others, and as his life had been for many.

Mark on arrival at the Master Mountain resort on 23 December 2023 afternoon

Mark, farewell and have a good continuation of your journey!

Capricornian sunrise at Christmas morning 2023 in the Nilagiris

Early this morning Indian time, I came to know that another dear friend from Germany had passed over exactly the same day as Mark, Renate Vincent from Germany. She was one of the early German translators of the books of Master EK. About 2 years, Master Kumar asked me to keep actively contact with her, so we had a few talks and she joined my English online study group for a short while, but then other tasks made her resign. Renate, also to you a much blessed journey to the subtle spheres of Light!


Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 4: Visakhapatnam: Group Living/Seminar and Visits

Tuesday, January 16th, 2024

This year’s January group living of the Western brotherhood of WTT in Visakhapatnam, India, was very special, and for me already before going there. It was my 21st journey to a January group living and the 23rd journey to WTT in India, the 27th journey to spiritual group livings in India since 1982. How would things be, a bit after Master KPK had passed over 1 November 2022? Sri Kumar had often explained that the MASTER is an eternal principle and that a teacher is just an expression of of the Master Consciousness.

Sunrise over the ocean. Master Kumar told that at this place,in the subtle, there is a temple linking the city of Vaisakha to the Vaisakha Valley, where Hierarchy meets each year during Vaisakha Full Moon in Taurus.

Master KPK has left behind a great treasure of books, audio and video recordings having come from his tremendous work of teaching. We had planned to do a seminar in the rhythm of earlier group lives with the January 2016 recordings about “Female Hierarchy”. Master’s teachings had been most sublime and the video recordings had been well edited but aren’t published yet.

Guru Prasad during fire ritual

Guru Prasad, the son of the Master, or Bharath, a group member and family member, were always present to ensure that the projectors were working well. We were just a small group of 8 members from Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the US. But we felt we were gathered there by the will of the Master.

Pictures of Master KPK and Mother Krishna Kumari, his wife, decorated with flowers during fire ritual

It was a harmonious gathering. And it was a surprising coincidence that at the beginning of the first lecture, Master KPK mentioned that the group lives in India started in January 1988 with a small group of 8 members from the West and then slowly grew with the years, with an average of 30-60 members.

Masters of Hierarchy, a statue of Krishna and an image of Hanuman in the room dedicated to Master KPK, where he used to give consultations

From 2 to 9 January, we saw the 10 lectures of the 2016 seminar. We were all intensely absorbed into the presence of the Master – there was no feeling of seeing a YouTube video or that the presence of the Master was not physical – it was the Presence in the presence. The temple room is strongly vibrating through the ritualistic work having gone on since 1977 at this place, although the building changed. The rooms dedicated to Master EK and Master KPK are very magnetic with the presence of the energies of the Masters and it was an ongoing profound experience, like a focal point of a radiance of Light in a vibrating silence.

Pictures of Lord Venkateshvara, of Gopis dancing with multiple manifestations of Lord Krishna and of an Ashram

We were invited to the homes of Guru Prasad, Bharath – living now with his family in the 5th floor of Radha Madhavam – and other members. We made small excursions with their cars – to the Annadanan Project (explanations later), where there is now the storage of the Dhanishta Publications, to the Bala Bhanu School of WTT seeing the radiant faces of the children, and to the social service project of Master EK Samskruthi Sadan doing professional training programs, especially for empowering women, to the temple and service project of WTT “Hamsavanam” in Ramadri, to the new impressive temple compound of the Tirupati Devastanam on a hill dedicated to Lord Venkateshvara, to the office of Chartered Accountaints “Rao and Kumar” which the Master had developed over many years and where Guru Prasad, together with 10 other associates, and many interns, are doing an impressive professional activity. It was touching sitting at the places where the Master had been working.

Annadanam project, by members of the team of Master KPKs office – daily free food production with an automatised cooking machine and distribution at various places to people in need
Guru Prasad explaining the automatised cooking machine
Food coming from the machine, before dispatch
Part of the store rooms of the books of Dhanishta at the Annadanam project
The group at the new temple of Lord Venkateshvara near Bheemili
Gorgeous sunset at the temple
At Balabhanu Vidyalayam school of WTT – combining regular education with living spiritual values
The group at Bala Bhanu school
At Master EK Samskruthi Sadan – women professional empowerment training
At Ramadri – Temple project of WTT combined with professional training of women and cow culturing center
In the office of Rao & Kumar – the room where Master KPK used to work
Guru Prasad explaining the office
Valedictory function – celebration of end of seminar in the home of Guru Prasad and Gayatri

We further followed water and fire rituals at Radha Madhavam and participated in beautiful music concerts – of Smt Padmavathi Pappu playing Vina, accompanied by her son Jayadev, and of Kaliprasad Indraganti, an excellent bamboo flute player together with a team of other musicians.

On the 9th of January, there was the end of the seminar and the valedictory function, expressing our gratitude to Guru Prasad and his wife Gayatri and the team of helpers from the Indian brotherhood.

On 10th of January, we visited the temple of Simhachalam dedicated to Lord Narasimha. It was very nice to be there again, like in many previous years. And in the evening, the Guru Puja celebration started, about I will report later. But something else also happened which impacted the entire group and especially me, about which I will the in the next blog post – the passing of my dear friend Mark Ray, who had started his home journey on the 9th.

The group at Simhachalam temple

Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 3: First days in Visakhapatnam

Tuesday, January 9th, 2024

It was nice to be back to the Retreat Center of WTT and to gather in the morning for prayer / meditation at Radha Madhavam, the WTT-temple where Master KPK used to give his lectures. 31 December in the afternoon, together with 3 friends, we took a three-wheeler and went along the coastal road to visit the Planetary Healing Center. It is about 15 km from the place where we are staying. When I came there 23 years ago, it was a place near a small road and surrounded by little forests at the foot of a pyramidal hill. Now, the entire coastal line is crowded with buildings; the city has grown tremendously and has spread along the coast, with a 4-lanes road full of intense traffic. Nevertheless, the Planetary Healing Center is still a peaceful oasis with old trees surrounded by walls.

An agate globe standing in the center

The center has been built in the mid-90s of the last century as per suggestions of Master Kumar and it was inaugurated in January 1996 with a number of saints participating. I had been visiting the place whenever possible when coming to India, sitting there surrounded by the continuous melody of OM sounds. In the early years, we had lectures of the Master sitting at a beautiful old statue of Lord Maitreya.

The ideas of the owner were a bit different from the ones proposed by the Master, so there were no more group meetings there the last decade. When we walked around on the site, the owner and his wife were sitting in front of two little huts called with the names of two great Rishis, “Vasishta” and “Vishvamitra”. They called us in and invited us for some coffee snack. He said they are now living there since 27 years, he being 86, his wife 80. He spoke about the foundation of the center:

Master Kumar had told him that Asclepius, an ancient Greek sage/Master of healing who had appeared to him informing that centers for planetary healing might be re-opened on the planet, and that Master Kumar proposed the creation of the Planetary Healing Center near Visakhapatnam. He gave him details of how to construct the center, based on the number 7. He told him that in ancient times, there had been a place of healing and that the energies could be revived. The old man showed us a brochure about Epidaurus, which he had received from Master Kumar, and he said that he was surprised to see that the structures in Epidaurus were similar to the plan that Master Kumar had suggested to him.

I told him that we had been in Epidaurus with Master Kumar in 2005 – after the May Call Celebration in Delphi, we had done a tour with the group to sacred places on the Pelepones. Master Kumar had spoken about the statue of Asclepius with the serpent which represents the kundalini in man and in earth. I also told him that there exists a twin stone in blue, which had originally been meant for the Planetary Healing Center in Visakhapatnam and which is now at a place of healing in South Germany near Lake Constance.

They were feeding squirrels around the Healing Center

Later, we sat for a while at the Maitreya statue and sang the song dedicated to Lord Maitreya before going back to Visakhapatnam.

Next morning, 1 January, we went to the statue of Master EK at the Beach Road in Visakhapatnam for a morning meditation followed by some rituals in dedication to Master EK. It is always a very sublime experience to be there with the Indian brotherhood at the beginning of the annual seminar time.

In the evening, there was a celebration at Radha Madhavam with some talks of members of the Indian brotherhood.

Next morning, the seminar for the Western brotherhood started – we were seeing the video recordings of the seminar on “Female Hierarchy” which Master Kumar had given in January 2016 – a very profound seminar.

Inside the room dedicated to Master KPK where he used to give consultations.

Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 2 – December Call at Sadguru Tapovana

Thursday, January 4th, 2024

In 1910, when Master CVV had received the Energy of Synthesis, he anchored it on the planet and started distributing it for group initiation at 29 May and at 29 December. Since 20 years, these days of group initiation have been held by the World Teacher Trust at Sadguru Tapovana in Bengaluru. And I participated in a number of these meetings.

When we returned from the Nilagiris, the preparations for the December Call celebrations were already in full swing.

Women were preparing flower arrangements, group members were busy in decorating the hall and the altar stage. And 28 Dec. evening, the celebration started, inaugurated by Sri Joshi and Guru Prasad.

Some hundred people had come from different groups – and also a small number from the West. We started early in the morning with meditation, prayer, hymns, followed later by a fire ritual and a ritual to Lord Dattatreya.

During the day, there were talks, book presentations, cultural presentations by youth groups, blessings of children. And Guru Prasad gave an inspiring talk about the meaning and importance of the December Call.

Book presentation: Sri K. Parvathi Kumar: 108 Names of Sanat Kumara
Introduction of children into first writing
Mantric chanting by children groups
Guru Prasad, the son of Sri Kumar, speaking about the importance of December Call celebration

We spent the nights in the home of group members, where we received a warm welcome. The time quickly ran by, and 30 December at noon time, we were already going again to the airport for catching the afternoon flight to Visakhapatnam.

Journey to Group Livings of WTT in India, Part 1: Bengaluru and Nilagiris

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024

11 days ago, early morning of December 22nd, I landed in Bengaluru, India. I had tried a few times to put down my impressions of the journey, but unlike other years, it didn’t work out well this time. It was a time when Mercury was going retrograde and there were various digital and physical obstacles to be overcome – read more below…

On arrival at Bengaluru airport, I met already Mark, my friend coming from Seattle, USA, via Frankfurt, and me, via Abu Dhabi. He just passed by on the other side of the immigration desk where I was standing: “Hey Mark”, I called him through the hall. An incredible coincidence at around 4 am.

A little later, we were sitting in the taxi with Raveen, the driver who accompanied us the following days – to Sadguru Tapovana, the center of WTT-Bangalore, to Master Mountain in the Nilagiris, back to Tapovana, and on Dec. 30, back to the airport.

On 22 Dec. afternoon, we had a long exchange with Sri Joshi, the head of the Tapovana group. I had asked him to tell us about how Tapovana developed over the last decades – and Mark kept his GoPro camera recording. We thought of doing a little video report. So, Sri Joshi went with us through the rooms of his house and showed us where Master Kumar used to live. Later, after the evening prayer, he took us on a walk through the streets in the neighborhood, and we attentively listened to what he shared with us.

Holding a lamp with a portrait of Master Count St Germain

Next morning after breakfast, we started on the tour to Master Mountain, the WTT centre at Kodanadu in the Nilagiris. We arrived in the late afternoon already. Two Spanish friends – Marta and Fernando – and Shreya, a young lady from the US of Indian family origin, were there already, having participated in the winter solstice celebration of WTT Bangalore group.

We had beautiful time together, meditating exchanging, contemplating nature. Here is a fragment of my notes from the days in the Nilagiris:

“There is sunshine outside lighting the beautiful relief of the Master Mountain in the Nilagiris, the Blue Mountains of South India. It is full moon today – and as per the lunar calendar in use here, it is Sagittarius full moon, celebrated as the birthday of Lord Dattatreya, while as per the solar calendar, it is Capricorn full moon. It is 6 days ago now, that I had started from Switzerland, and this morning, I had written a little report about the events of the last days until some computer conflict with internet interruption made the text disappear into “digital nirvana” – difficulties are still continuing. My friend Mark from Seattle, with whom I am traveling and a good astrologer, mentioned that we are in times of Mercury retrograde and therefore difficulties with communication issues.

There is a great silence in the ambiance and a soft golden light now. Yesterday and part of the day before, a strong storm was raging and we were surrounded by clouds – time to go inside. ….”

On Tuesday 26th morning, after a little fire ritual, the 3 friends returned already to Tapovana, while Mark and me stayed for one more day in the mountain. Raveen, the driver, returned from Bangalore in the night and brought us then back the next morning – for him, long rides up and down the mountains…

27 Dec. in the morning, there was a breathtaking sunrise over Master Mountain – from darkness to light, through many shades of blue and fire. Filled with these overwhelming impressions, we started the journey back.

Later, the return journey started. After some kilometers, the taxi driver made short stop at a temple of the Todas, a native people living in the Nilagiris.

Why do I go to India?

Wednesday, December 13th, 2023

In about a week, I will fly again to India. Why do I do this? Why do I do nearly the same tour like in previous years? Why do I do so, although my spiritual teacher, Master KPK (Sri Parvathi Kumar), has departed from the physical plane and thus, there are no more occasions for listening to his live teachings and being in his physical presence? – The photos here are from a group living in Visakhapatnam 20 years ago, January 2003, the first year of travelling with a digicam.

I heard from a number of friends, why they don’t go this year, why they don’t go anymore and why they don’t like to go anymore to India, to the group livings there.

I listened to them and asked myself deeper, “Why do I go to India, to the group livings of the World Teacher Trust over there, also this year? Is it by habit? By something extraordinary which I would find there?” Seen from an outer side, I had decided to go and accompany Mark, a good friend of mine from Seattle. And to do the journey in the traces of the previous year. And I cancelled my other ideas.

When thinking of the deeper reason for the present journey, my thoughts go back to my first journey to the WTT in India in Dec.-Jan 2000/01. There were some decisive statements of Master KPK which impregnated me. He said, “There are many reasons not to come to these group livings (he enumerated some such reasons) but they are all not valid for the soul.”

He explained the spiritual importance of coming to India in the month of Capricorn where the Sun starts his northern journey, from out of dense matter towards the light, the spirit. These statements deeply impressed me and made me say inwardly, ‘I will try to come to India every year to be there for the wisdom teachings of the Master’. And, with the exception of Corona time, it was always possible, in spite of many difficulties by profession, health and money.

These Aquarian wisdom teachings did not finish with the passing of the Master. They go on, also with the help of videos and with the members coming together for aligning to the wisdom in the group living at the place, where the Master was teaching. We are carrying on the work.

The place has been highly magnetised by Master KPK’s presence and the presence of Master EK, who lived there as well. It is very important to keep the rhythm alive, and the place is well suited to continue with the teachings. Although this year, the group coming from the West will be smaller than in other years, the ones who are coming are profound friends and fiery seekers. Therefore, I am very much looking forward to go again to the next group living.

I give you here a translation / extracts from the notes of the seminar January 2001 on ‘White Magic’, explaining why our coming to wisdom teaching group lives in India is so important:

“The land of India has been energized because the Great Beings have often passed over it with their light. That is why Master Djwhal Khul says: ‘India stands out as an outstanding spiritual energy…’
When we come to a place like this (in Radhamadhavam, the place where Sri Kumar lived), we don’t need to make much effort to calm the mind because the preparation here has taken some years, but we can all feel the difference here. This kind of atmosphere needs to be prepared so that you can get in touch with the spiritual energy through the mind.

This is one reason why India is a proper school of aspiration and endeavour. There, the knowledge of occultism goes back thousands of years and time has left its mark on the psyche of the people and has provided them with bodies that do not have the resistance that western bodies often have.

The environment has been permeated for a long time by the strong vibrations of the Great Ones who dwell within the borders of this land and who continually magnetize the surrounding ether as they travel and through their proximity. The ether is filled with the energy of the Great Ones because they frequently move within the boundaries of the land and the land has the advantage of having been prepared for occult practices for 10,000 of years. That is why about a dozen Sons of God are born in India every century.

Without our knowing it, people from all over the world visit India today to search for the spirit. The places where they look for it, they don’t find the spiritual because they are mostly looking for material things. That is why I often say to many of my brothers and sisters: Coming to India will help you in spiritual practice. Not because I am an Indian, but because the ether in India is so well prepared. Not because of the huge population of Indians. They only try to destroy and confuse this ether, but because the great beings enjoy moving in the ether within the boundaries of this country.

So we have the duty to prepare such places in the West as well and this is a work that takes 1000s of years and we already have this advantage in this country. Please pay attention, he (Master DK) does not mention any other nation in the Asian region. Basically, the prejudice of the West does not recognize this fact. But recognition would be helpful. If someone carries more light than others, then we should have the ability to recognize that. We should have the inclination to accept that. The refusal to accept it comes from pride. If we accept another person’s enlightenment, then we are included in the enlightenment. The beauty of India is that people who understand less of the truth are also accepted. Therein lies the occult power.

The result of your visit to India will enable you to establish a better rhythm within you and will open up a large field for ceremonial and ritual practice. Mantric and ceremonial undertaking. It will firstly provide a rhythm for man to gain, and secondly it will soothe him that his mind will become a tribune to receive the activity of mantras and rituals. Such preparation takes place in a subtle way.

These conditions are not found in the West. There, we find constant change in every branch of life, and the rapid and frequent change of life there causes such disturbances as they are opposed to any magical work. Further obstacles can be found in the strong development of the concrete mind. Now we are too weak to meet the concrete mind.

Slowly we will understand the obstacles mentioned here and also in Patanjali (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali). And we will see what we can do then, as poor souls, to meet our strong personalities. It looks like the rat (the mind) wants to fight with the lion (the strong personality), but slowly when the rat meets the Ganesha (the wisdom) and belongs to the Ganesha, then the lion is no more. So we have to be connected to the divine.”

A Glacier Canyon and Alpine Intensity of Nature

Thursday, October 5th, 2023

Before humans coming, nature is there. Before and independent of our experiencing, the creative power of nature expresses itself and shapes the forms. Last Sunday, my wife and I were at a valley near the Eiger North Face. There is a small road going uphill from Meiringen through the Reichenbach (Rychenbach) valley in the Bernese Alps towards Grindelwald.

The valley was illumined by soft, golden autumn light shining through the trees. We had a look at some places and then stopped at the parking near the Rosenlaui glacier canyon.

Over eons of time, water from the Rosenlaui Glacier had dug a deep gorge into the stones, pressing through the rocks with great intensity. Humans had cut an uphill pathway into the sidewall of the canyon and through tunnels at medium height between the riverbed and the upper end of the gorge.

We experienced awe-inspiring moments when we approached the canyon and then stood inside, surrounded by rock faces. When we went through the gorge, the Sun just lit up the chasm and illuminated the drops of water falling from above. Rapids, roaring waterfalls, darkness, then spashing sunlight – intense impressions.

As the path became tight, I had to keep my hand at the handrail when looking downward or upward. It is an experience like going through a time of crisis, where you have to look for each next step only and go forward slowly. Along a path others have prepared before but which you have to walk yourself.

On this pathway through the rocks, you can only climb uphill, the path being too small for two directions. It comes again out of the abyss at the upper end. In a crisis, you will also come out again at the upper end when you have walked through into a new phase of life.

Outside, there was a small rock garden with many little towers of pebbles, “stone people”. Seen from the here, the chasm looks quite small.

A little brook soon joining the bigger river

The Engelhörner (horns of angels)

We went down again and then through the valley to the Schwarzwaldalp (“Black Forest Alp”) on the pass road from the Haslital over the Grosse Scheidegg pass to Grindelwald; the small hamlet now consists just of a hotel, a simple tourist hostel with a restaurant, and an old sawmill.

The millwheel

The sawmill in its present size dates from 1896. It was constructed for building a spa house which burned down in 1943. An old man together with his grandson was operating the saw slowly cutting the trunk to wooden planks.

Selfie in the river water

During lunch on the terrace of the hostel, we were surrounded by hikers, bikers and tourists which the post buses had brought uphill. Later, we we went a bit further along the road towards Grindelwald, which is blocked for non-public motor vehicles, and down to the Reichenbach river. When driving back from the mountains, we were still under the spell of the intense beauty and wildness of the Alpine mountain nature.