Thursday morning the Master and Kumari-Garu conducted a fire ritual in the basement of Radhamadhavam, the site of the World Teacher Temple, where the seminar takes place and where both are also living – some group members including me too, at the moment. Later the rhythm of seminar lectures and the consultations of the Master continued.

Friday afternoon the group went to Ramadri, the multi-service project in the surroundings of Visakhapatnam. On the way we had a short stop at the Planetary Healing centre. The hall was still standing there and in the garden there were the statues of Lord Maitreya and the Buddha but the surroundings had lost the splendour we used to experience in earlier years. Many trees the hurricane 2.5 years ago has swept away; but there was also a change in the ambiance. And in the surrounding area there now are lots of houses – it is no longer the serene little paradise which is still cherished in the minds of those who knew the earlier days.

The Center for Planetary Healing

Ramadri, or Hamsa Vanam, the seat of the Swan of subtle inner pulsation, however, seemed to be more radiant than ever. A long row of shining children eyes were there waiting for us. The children were handing roses to us and then gathered at the little amphitheatre while we went around the beautiful site to visit the small temples and the “Gosala” the cow service project at the top of the side. The breathtaking view of the ocean, the well-kept little temples and statues, the small Mithila school for free education of poor children of the surroundings and the spiritual activities have all contributed to build up a strongly vibrating space. And under small little stupas there are millions of “Sri Ram” mantras put into the earth in small stone boxes to anchor the vibration of the sound vibration.

Students of the Mithila school welcoming us with a rose

The Hanuman statue

Dattatreya statue

The Gosala – cow shed

Later, when we sat at the amphitheatre, groups of children gave performances of dance and recitations. It was such a sublime scenery to witness that touched us very deeply. Master Kumar afterwards explained that there are by now 15 service centres of the WTT in the surroundings of Visakhapatnam carrying out different kinds of activities – several schools financed by contributions of the group members, free health and homeo dispensaries, distribution of food and clothes… All is carried out without any publicity, for the welfare of people in need.
After evening prayer we returned to the Retreat Centre in Visakhapatnam.

Students performing a dance

Sunday morning there was again a fire ritual, a very elaborate one because it was Vaikunta Ekadasi, the 11th moon phase in Capricorn. Master Kumar explained the significance of this moon phase: The 11th moon phase in Capricorn is considered to be very sacred and is also mentioned in Bhagavad Gita. Since Sun in Capricorn is visualised in our body in the higher heart centre (upper part of the chest), which is related to the Cosmic Person in us and Moon (representing in this context our consciousness) at this time is around Aries or Taurus and thus is visualised in the head, there is the chance of a good alignment between soul and super-soul and passing over to higher dimensions, to Samadhi.

Monday morning Master Kumar concluded the seminar. Here is an extract of the short talk summarizing the teaching:
“I spoke about the inner alignment. The soul who descended into the human form could regain the association with the Master within and thereby establish the contact once again. Once the contact is established, since he knows the consequences of de-linking he would no more de-link. In the beginning the soul and the super-soul were together. The soul did not realise the importance of linking to the super-soul because he did not know the consequences of de-linking to the super-soul. So he looked into so many forms into creation. When he saw the human form he fell into love with the human form and the super-soul said, yes, you can get in but the form is so attractive that you might forget me. Make sure that you keep contact. The soul thought that they have been friends for so many cycles that he would not forget the connection. But the super-soul knows what illusion is and how this illusion happens. When you are attracted to something this will de-link you from your original association.
The soul thought it would not lose contact with the super-soul. It said, I will ensure that I will keep the contact and the super-soul wished him good luck. When he approached the form he found it very beautiful and forgot already the super-soul and when he entered he forgot the super-soul completely. He experienced a lot of pain and pleasure. We look for pleasure but experience pain. It took so many incarnations to link again, after experiencing the mind, the 5 senses and the experiences with body organs.
The story speaks of the initial incarnations and final incarnations. In between there are so many incarnations. Finally he was incarnated as a princess and had the association to a king who is an initiate who happened to be her husband. That was the last initiation. From him she received much energy, knowledge and the needed impulse to do the needed practices. Consequently she could link up to the Master again. The Master had always been there but in spite of the information that the Master is in us it becomes possible only when it becomes the priority. The Master spoke so many pleasant things, that the soul is no different from the super-soul, he explained the nature of the form and when you enter that you tend to forget me, and that you have to constantly remember be. If you forget me the facility becomes a limitation. If you do not know how to use the facility it becomes a limitation.
So the soul realised and it was much deeper. She was linked to the Master again after having experiences so much pains and pleasures.”

The talk was followed by the Valedictory function. Members of each of the 7 countries present at the group living and Navaneetham of the Indian brotherhood spoke some words – a beautiful kaleidoscope of experiences and expressing their thanks. Afterwards Sri Kumar gave some profound remarks as per what each of the speakers had said.

Then some gifts of clothes were handed over to all the Indian members who had help with the group living and we received from the Master a wooden elephant, as a symbol of wisdom, and a lingam – a stone symbolising the creative energy.

This was the end of the seminar – but I spoke to some of the members and like me none had realised yet with their feeling that it had already come to a close.

In the afternoon we met on the roof terrace of Radhamadhavam for group picture – it was a very joyful get-together and after evening meditation the Master again offered a sumptuous dinner prepared by a hotel.

Precious image of Gayatri

During the Valedictory Function

Group photo on the roof of Radhamadhavam

Sunday morning, 1 January, the Western group met with Master Kumar and members of the brotherhood of Visakhapatnam at Sundavaram, the site with statue of Master EK at the beach road, for morning prayer followed by a talk of the Master in Telugu with a “New Year” message and a breakfast. Among other things, Sri Kumar pointed out that there can be several beginning of a new year but the first of January is not a date marked by planetary or cosmic rhythms but given by a Roman emperor.

In the evening the seminar on “Citizen” started. The human soul is compared to a citizen, an indweller in the body. The city is no other than the human body: “The human body is by far the most beautiful form that is conceived by the third Logos in cooperation with the second Logos called Vishnu and the first Logos called Shiva.” The story gives the adventures of the soul which takes hold over the body and gets lost in it, in objectivity, and Master Kumar will speak about it during this seminar.

Wednesday, we went on a trip to the Anantagiri Mountains about 100 km from Visakhapatnam to visit the Borra Caves, a system of huge caves where there are some natural Shiva lingams in a mountain range. After leaving the city the road slowly climbed up the hills and we had beautiful sights over rice fields and mountain. After 2.5 hours we arrived at the caves. We had already been there nine years ago. On the way to the cave a group of monkeys was playing – and waiting for tourists to catch some eatables. A huge hole was like the gate to the netherworlds, from where a staircase lead into the first cave. It made me think of entering a giant skull. There was hole at the top from where light came in (the Sahasrara) and the entrance reminded of the Ajna centre. Deeper down a bridge was leading over a gorge to a mountain inside the huge cave with a small cave. Inside, there was a natural Shiva lingam and some pictures of the Divine illumined by an oil lamp. A priest blessed us with a red brow mark.

Still deeper down at the end of the second cave we gathered to sing 21 times OM – a majestic feeling of penetrating the the surrounding matter by the rays of the spiritual light.

Later we went to a village named Araku for lunch. A member of the WTT had invited the group to this beautiful place with a tourist resort. Some musicians with flute and drums and a group of lady dancers in rose sarees came for a traditional local dance. They were inviting the onlookers to join them, and so I was whirled around for one round before getting back to the “role of an observer”.

It was already about 8 pm when we came back to the Retreat Centre.

Thursday morning the Master and Kumari-Garu conducted a fire ritual in the basement of Radhamadhavam, the site of the World Teacher Temple, where the seminar takes place and where they are also living. Later the rhythm of seminar lectures and the consultations of the Master continued.

The morning after arriving in Visakhapatnam I wanted to go to Pithapuram, the birthplace of Sripada Srivallabha. I had planned to go there on the 15^th but since a few friends could not join on that day, I decided to do this extra-trip on 31 December. We ended up to be 22 persons in a bus.

Walking through Pithapuram

There was heavy traffic on the roads and the ride took us 3.5 hours. When we finally arrived at the temple compound, the Maha Samsthanam, there was a huge crowd. I came to know only a day later that it was the birthday celebration of Narasimha Saraswati, the second incarnation of Lord Dattatreya, who lived in the 14^th and 15^th century.

We were guided into the office and later to the area in front of the sanctum sanctorum, where Sri Ramaswami Garu, the spiritual head of the temple was seated. He is now 91 years of age and participated in the celebration in spite of his body marked by disease. His eyes were still shining with a strong spiritual presence. I presented to him the German translation of the Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam while the people around were taking photos. Then the book was given to the priest at the sanctum who put it for a moment on the pedestal with the symbols of the “padukas”, the much revered symbols of the sandals of Sripada, and then it was decorated with sandalwood powder. Later I presented it to one of the heads of the Samsthanam.

Inside the office

We sat for a while in the office of the Samsthanam. The whole time I felt besides myself and let the “show go on”. While Sripada’s spiritual presence is strongly penetrating the space, on the surface other priorities seem to be more in the foreground. I don’t want to comment on this but I already noticed on the huge poster at the outskirts of the town: In the upper left corner you could see the picture of the three statues of Dattatreya, Sripada and Narasimha Saraswati from the “sanctum sanctorum”; the major part of the poster, however, was occupied by to big pictures, one of Sri Ramaswami and one of an official, and two lines with quite big pictures of a number of temple officials – the priorities of importance? Later Sri Kumar gave me some profound remarks about the situation there…

The poster outside Pithapuram

I was honoured with a scarf in violet and gold with a picture of Sripada, then we saw again the Swami lying in a bed behind the office rooms. While he gave us again his blessings I had the impression that he had already passed half way over to the other side.

We then were offered lunch and afterwards tried to sit quietly inside the temple which was a bit difficult with the people circumambulating or rolling themselves around the sanctum.

On the way back I told some stories of the incarnations of Dattatreya to the German members. When I later sat alone for a while, I asked myself what all this was about. I strongly felt that a very sublime energy is emanating from this birthplace of Sripada and that this is what all is about – the rest on the surface is just insignificant ripples on the huge ocean.

When two days later I spoke with Master Kumar about the visit at the Maha Samsthanam and the presentation of the book, he told me, “Don’t think that it is of paper, it is pure fire.”

Presenting the book to Sri Ramaswami Garu

Group photo

The Sanctum Sanctorum

27 December morning Sri Kumar (Master KPK) gathered the Western members for a welcome talk in a small hall in Sadguru Tapovana, Bangalore. There were about 40 Westerners. It was a leisurely talk but very thrilling. Full of joy Sri Kumar told us that his office just got the great job of doing the auditing of the State Bank of India for three year. They were chosen among 10 revision groups. He said that for 27 years he had been doing revisions on a high level but that this will be the biggest task and a kind of honour for his office and will be the close of his professional career. He further talked about the changes going on in India and in the world and had some exchanges with group members.

Master Kumar and Kumari Garu entering the hall, together with Mr. Joshi

Directly after the gathering an Indian friend from New Jersey, USA, came to Sadguru Tapovana. Srinivas had helped me with the Sripada biography by providing one of the three English translations I had used and also a number of photos. At the moment, he is traveling to different places in India related to Lord Dattatreya. He showed me a photo of an ancient painting of Sripada Srivallabha dating from his lifetime in the 14^th century which had been secretly handed down in a family in Central India and not yet disclosed to the public. It showed a beautiful young man with a radiant male-female countenance. Srinivas called another friend who arrived after a few minutes with another person. They were also related to Dattatreya and we had a lively conversation. I presented a copy of the German Sripada book to Srinivas and we took some photos.

Together with Srinivas and Sabine, who helped proof-reading the book

In the afternoon, Master Kumar opened the December Call celebration with a Ganesha puja and singing some stotrams in Sanskrit. After the evening prayer the grandson of Master CVV from Kumbakonam and another person related to the work of Master CVV were honoured. Later, Master Kumar started with the series of talks on some profound spiritual topics. Here is a short extract from the evening lecture of the second day (my notes, incomplete, might contain mistakes):

“We have been pondering upon the splendour of the central vertical column, the cerebro-spinal system, into which there is the descent of the Master. Our true abode is the same cerebro-spinal column. When we are out of it we are out of the house of the Father. That is how we become a stray son, when we don’t know how to come back into it. We are then the stray son or the prodigal son, meaning we have lost the purpose of life and we are doing whatever comes to you from the objective life. We are like a kite without the threat. A kite which loses the thread of the holder of the kite loses his direction. The Master who is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, he makes the central vertical column as his abode. He teaches us and we, in tune with him, need to live in the world. There is a purpose for each one of us and the purpose can only be known when we are in the sanctum sanctorum in us. The Masters give us the technique and they move within. They see that the wandering son gets back to the house. We have all come from the same house. We need to know why we are here; we need to come into the temple. We can enter it either in the West, the muladhara, that is what the Hatha Yogis do, and we can enter the temple from the South, that is the heart centre. You can also enter the temple from the East, that is the brow centre. Three entrances are there from ancient most times, one relates to Hatha Yoga, one to raja Yoga, and one to Lord Krishna. In 6^th chapter of Bhagavad Gita recommends that we enter from there. The ancient most way was to enter from the West. You cannot align with the divine when you are outside the temple. That is why the prayers done with an objective mind do not reach which is deep down in the subjectivity. When we get aligned with the divine, we know the very purpose of our life, the will of the Divine. The initiates relate with the divine in a given day and a given time. Father, thy will be done, and yet fulfil your purposes because you have willed us to be. We are willing to conduct in the world.“

The grandson of Master CVV

In the morning of the second day there was a water ritual (Rudra Abhishekam) and in the afternoon of the second and third day the children of Sadguru Tapovana gave performances of dance and of scenes from the Scriptures, of the lives of Rama and Krishna among others. It was touching to see the great enthusiasm on their faces and the devotion with which they expressed with music and dance, clad it colourful robes.

On December Call, 29 December, Master Kumar conducted a fire ritual. Afterwards there were the rituals of name giving, blessing of the children and introduction into writing. Clothes were distributed to all members from the West – from Argentina, Columbia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, USA – and from different centres of India. The members the Bangalore brotherhood presented to us a watch in the form of an orange star and the symbol of perfection and a saying: Through time I keep an account of all” (from Bhagavad Gita).

Then the book Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam, which I had translated, was released. It was a very special moment for me. Master Kumar explained the profound importance of this incarnation of the Cosmic Teacher upon earth in three subsequent incarnations and he recommended that it should be read in the groups (see more about it on the website www.sripada-srivallabha.org)

Friday morning, there was a question-answer session for 1.5 hours, where many sublime points were discussed. After lunch two buses brought us to the airport. Some memories of my first visit to Bangalore in 1982, on the way to Puttaparthi, came to my mind while we were driving through the heavy traffic of the huge city with one third more inhabitants than the whole of Switzerland.

Our plane was precisely in time but the two planes with other group members were greatly delayed. Around 10 pm we arrived at the Retreat Centre in Visakhapatnam, for the next part of the journey.

Evening meditation with children sitting on the dais.

The Sadguru Tapovana group, Bangalore, had organised for us a small bus. We enjoyed the countryside. After some hours the Blue Mountains appeared at the horizon; the name of the mountains is because of the blueish light there – a magical hue over the whole. The area we were heading for is at 2000 m. It can be quite cold, clouded and windy – but during our stay we enjoyed warm temperatures of about 25 degrees during the day and 8 degrees during the nights – and a blue sky.

After many hairpin bends and after 11 hours journey we finally arrived at the Master Mountain Retreat MMR. It was a very special moment when the door was opened – beautifully decorated with the carvings of the symbol of the WTT and two elephants. When we started to unpack, the electricity broke down. With torches and candles the fuse-box was examined – everything was ok. A phone call to the electrician showed that there was another outside fuse box near the road where a problem had occurred. And the cold, wet weather here in the last weeks had produced mould on the walls and on the mattresses in the room where we 3 men were supposed to sleep. We quickly decided to move into the dining hall.

The house is built on three levels along a slope and a fourth one in the basement used for fire rituals and other meditational activities. And everywhere there are huge terraces with a fantastic vies over to the “Master Mountain”, or Durga mountain, as it is also called in the area, Durga being a form of the Divine Mother.

Early next morning, 24 December, I went on the terrace. There was a splendorous starry sky with a waning moon. At the horizon a first tinge of the coming dawn could be seen. The rest was pitch black except a very few light-points of farm houses. But quickly the horizon grew brighter, and the silhouette of the mountains appeared. After morning meditation there was a breathtaking sunrise. We stood on the terraces and were all filled with awe.

After breakfast we came together to read a text from the book “Man Sacrifice” by Master EK (Ekkirala Krishnamacharya) about the journey by yogic flight of Master Djwhal Khul and the sage Jaimini from the Himalayas to the ashram of Agastya at the Durga mountain – a very profound text. And at noon time we gathered at the Kodanadu viewpoint with a huge panoramic view. The valley was covered with fog bout the mountain and the area where we were in brilliant light. Some Indian tourists were around and curiously looked at us – and took selfies with group members. We intonated 21 OM and had a short meditation.

In the evening we had a water ritual and then sat together after dinner – a very nice group feeling.
Early morning of 25 December, Christmas in the West (the esoteric Christmas being at Winter Solstice) we gathered at the basement terrace for the morning meditation. I had prepared a little fire ritual. And just the moment the fire was lit the Sun rose over the horizon. By the end of the fire ritual the Solar God was seen in all his splendour. And some birds accompanied us during the ritual with their chirping sounds. And then they flew away.

After breakfast I had a walk with two friends to the near settlement of labourers and from there we entered a path leading to tea plantations. Some women with their picking sacks came along and went into the fields on the steep hillslopes. Their faces were marked by the hard labour of collecting tea leaves. We enjoyed the fantastic view over to the Master Mountain which was partly veiled in the clouds coming up from the valley. For a while we thought the area would soon disappear in the clouds but an hour later the sky was blue again – we experienced two days full of sunshine surrounded by the splendid nature.

The time quickly flew by. At noon we were again at the panorama point where lots of Indians had come with their cars or by busses. We sat a bit apart for our 21 OMs at noon time. And during the day we read the text of a Christmas lecture of Sri Kumar in three languages.

Monday morning we started our journey back to Bangalore. We drove through beautiful forests downhill until the descent downhill ended with a tyre puncture of the bus giving us an extra-pause at a restaurant. Later we came through a Tiger reserve – without seeing tigers but some elephants, deer and beautiful peacocks in the forests. It was already dark when we stopped at Ananda Vana, the retreat centre of the WTT Mysore, where some members welcomed us with roses, some tea, coffee and cockies. And around midnight we fell very tired into the beds…

A gorgeous sunrise awaited us the morning of our arrival at Sadguru Tapovana, the centre of WTT Bangalore. The flight to India had been smooth, the group started slowly gathered during the journey –  I met the first friend, from Mallorca, at Zurich airport, two others, from Colombia and Mallorca, at Doha, and five friends, from Germany, at Bangalore airport. The other members of our travel group to the Nilagiris, from Argentina and Spain, already were in Bangalore. We arrived just in time for the morning meditation – I enjoyed sitting there in the hall – and then fell asleep.

The Bangalore group members gave us a very warm welcome. We had nice rooms which now are above the lecture hall. A little later, Mr. Joshi, the spiritual head and the “master-mind” behind the Tapovana project gave us a little tour: Tapovana consisted until recently of 28 houses, now more houses had been built for around 180 permanent members, the householders mainly IT people but also a few bankers – and all together 37 children. They conduct joint activities for the children introducing them into spirituality. We saw the rooms where Master KPK (Sri Kumar) and his wife live during their visits to Tapovana – with a pyramidal roof and another, the consultation room with a glass top where you can see the moon during full moon meditations. Above the lecture hall they have a huge spiritual library with books in English, Telugu and Kannada. There, they also conduct homoeo classes. On the other side of the building, there is a fully soundproof room where they do registration of mantras and other songs with Sri Kumar – they recently did 12 hours registration which will be published next year.

In front of all the guest rooms there were little brass plates with the Sanskrit name of one of the seven rays and a short description of their quality. From the roof of the building you have a beautiful view around. And there is a water tank on which sat an eagle who was observing us for a while before it went up into the sky, circled a few times around some nearby trees and disappeared. Eagles are regarded as messengers of incarnations of sublime beings.

Near the hall there is a huge Audumbara tree (ficus racemosa), which carries the energy of Lord Dattatreya. And below it there is a “Mount Kailash” with a statue of Lord Shiva. And along the Tapovana road there are many trees like Peepal (ficus religiosa), mango trees and others.

Below, they have now placed panels with wisdom sayings and modern loud-speakers for transmission of lectures or spiritual music.

Next morning after breakfast we set out to our journey to the Nilagiris. Purushotama and Venkatesh, two very friendly members of the Tapovana group, joint our group of 13 westerners – we are the first group going there except those who had come for the inauguration and the Tapovana members who had worked for setting up the “Master Mountain Retreat Centre” (MMR). Before leaving Mr. Joshi presented to each one of us a beautiful brown woollen shawl produced in the Nilagiris and with the words “Agastya Rishi Bhagavan” around an image of the mountain, the goal of our journey. At this place in a natural reserve in the Nilagiris, the Blue Mountains, there is in the subtle spheres the ashram of Rishi Agastya, the eldest of the Masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy on earth – an energetic power place.

Last week my wife and I were in Mallorca for 6 days, an island in the Mediterranean. It was our first visit. When thinking back, some subtle symbolisms came to my mind.

An island has something to do with the illusion of separate existence, feeling cut off from the rest of the world but nevertheless related to it. We came by plane, and there were plenty of planes landing – like thoughts about a greater world coming from out of vast space into the garden of our small mind.

After landing we took an “earth vehicle”, a small car for the time of our stay. Don’t we land in such small cars when we take birth? And don’t we need to keep the inner link to the greater soul not to get lost? Our navigation device was this link to the greater world via satellite and it helped us to orient in the new environment.

We had a small apartment directly at the port where the big cruise liners stop for a day or two. There was a beautiful sight over the harbour, the city and the surrounding mountains. The cruise ships appeared and disappeared in front of the house – and with them the groups of travelling souls. A closer look showed that on the ships there were lots of tiny cells with a table and 2, 3 chairs on the balcony – isn’t that island consciousness, even on a moving boat?

Walking along the yacht harbour with all the many empty ships already in hibernation, I thought, how much money and material lies waiting there in the water for short times of  satisfying the dreams of their owners… Issa, our friend from Mallorca, later told us that the ships are often just used for 1-2 weeks a year. Some owners seemed to awaken from their dreams – there were several ships with “for sale” signs, “bargain price”.

The first day we first discovered a bit the surroundings in search of a supermarket. And yes, just some hundred metres away, there was a huge shopping centre with plenty of big and small shops of all kinds. Going down the escalators into the underground where the sun never shines we found the labyrinth of a big chain store to cater for all kinds of food wishes, a regional solar plexus centre.

Later, we set out for a tour to the very north of the island – Port de Pollença, Cap de Formentor. On the way, we decided to leave the main road and take a mountain pass via Lluc – a good decision. In many serpentines the small road climbed through rough rocky sceneries. The roads were full of sweating bicycle drivers pedalling uphill, alone or in small groups, enjoying the pain of reaching to their limits – some kind of a modern Hatha Yoga practice.

We were “car hikers”, and not the only ones, doubling these biking folks whenever there was a short straight route. We had a noon stop in Port Pollença and enjoyed observing the other tourists walking like us along the waterside promenade. And there were also tired bikers with their colourful hightech clothes resting in the grass and talking to their iPhones. An Indian restaurant convinced us most, and the food was delicious – two more times an Indian restaurant was the best place for us vegetarians.

In the afternoon we made a short excursion to the nice small port of Cala Sant Vicenç and then continued towards Cap de Formentor. The road offered fantastic sights down steep cliffs into the vastness of the sea. Perceiving the border between land, sea and space was like getting out of one’s dense material identity and opening up to the vast spheres of the greater space.

The more we approached “land’s end” of the peninsula, the more we felt the two sides of the sea approaching and thinning down the rocky ground until at the end there was just sea and sky. It was like reaching the Sahasrara, the head centre, where we can touch the realms of higher consciousness. And like the Ajna centre, the “point of light” in our head, the lighthouse elevated its top towards the sky with a gorgeous view over the bay.

Next day, we change the direction – from the Ajna centre to the Muladhara, the base centre at the “end of the spine”. We visited the Cuevas del Drach, the Dragon Caves near Porto Cristo on the west coast of the island. The limestone caves consist of a series of halls with a dream-world of stalactites and stalagmites and several small lakes. The biggest of them has a length of about 115 metres. The imaginations of nature have created forms out of stone like forests, vertebral columns or Shiva lingams. In the last big hall there was a huge amphitheatre where we listened – together with our batch of over 200 co-visitors – to some live classical music played on little illumined boats. Afterwards one of the boats brought us to the exit of the cave.

The third day our friend Issa took us to the old town of Palma, the capital. In a nice vegan restaurant we met Sylvia. Then we had a walk through some old lanes of the city. From the cathedral there was a beautiful view over the harbour. The position of the city, the big water fountain in front of the cathedral and a nearby artwork made me think of the throat centre, the link between the inner and the outer world, the centre of communication and interaction. Don’t these palm trees remind of vertebral columns with a head centre at the top? In a courtyard we felt the energy of a 2000 years old olive tree, withdrawn within itself, a silent witness of bygone ages.

Reflection selfie in a shop window with planets

Mysterious sphinx

Olive tree dreaming of 2000 years

Arab garden

The fountain – like the upsurge of the kundalini energy

Artwork – up the spinal column towards the light in the head centre

The 4th day it was raining. My wife wanted to see one of the vulgar places of mass tourism, parties and binge drinking – so to say the “other side” of Mallorca. Our friend recommended two places and we went to Magaluf. (Wikipedia: “British tour operators have warned the Spanish Tourist Board that the image of Magaluf is affecting their efforts to market Mallorca. The night-life has been notorious for many years, and the latest image is not much to be desired with news reports of balcony deaths.) Now, the city was nearly empty with many hotels closed. The Hotel Sol Katmandu has a distasteful adventure park consisting of a ghost climbing park, a church-like house with a demon on the roof, a Nepalese bottom-up temple as a haunted house (what to say of the earthquake victims in real Kathmandu? – the upside-down house reminds of the inversion of truth happening on the lower planes of manifestation) with a mock-cemetery at the entrance and a yeti climbing up the window front of the hotel knocking against the walls… Isn’t the Magaluf ambience a mirror of the collective consciousness at the sacral centre state? We soon left the place and enjoyed lunch in nearby Santa Ponsa.

In the afternoon of the 5th day we went with Issa to Valldemossa, a place of outstanding beauty in the Western mountains which has attracted artists and many other prominent guests. And of course streams of tourists. There were not many at the moment. Surrounded by mountains, it was something like the heart centre of the island. We strolled through the lanes and admired the old houses. Outside one of the churches, in front of a statue of the patron saint of Mallorca, Catalina Thomas, we sat down for evening meditation – a charming place with a sublime atmosphere. Nearly all houses had little ceramic plates at the entrance depicting St. Catalina with a sentence asking the saint to pray for them – why don’t they pray themselves?

Statue of St. Catalina – our place of meditation

Friday the time of our stay in Mallorca was already over. At noon time we arrived at the airport. Two hours later we were back in the air. Soon the island disappeared in the clouds leaving just little holes to look down – there was again the road we had taken three days ago, and there the coast town we had visited… Two hours later the plane flew a circle over Berne and descended gracefully to the little airport from where we had departed a few days before.

Over the Alps

The magic of the group living with Master Kumar in Barcelona already started with the booking: My friend Robert had invited me to stay with him before and after the seminar but then told me, “I have so much to do on Thursday that you better just arrive on Friday, the day where the group living starts, then we can go together to the hotel.” So I thought I will also leave again Monday after the seminar. While booking the flights from Geneva to Barcelona with Easyjet, I chose these two dates and then selected cheap flights. When I printed out the tickets I was shocked to see that I had booked from Thursday to Tuesday – they had offered other flight dates which I had not noticed. Robert told me not to worry and to come already on Thursday and stay in his flat.

What a surprise that two days later I came to know that Sri Kumar would be arriving only a little later to Barcelona airport – and that Robert had cancelled his other duties on Thursday. And it turned out that Monday afternoon there would be a group meeting with Sri Kumar at the home of Miquel and Rosa where I could also participate.

It was a joyful meeting at the airport on Thursday noontime. Many Spanish group members had come to the arrival. And when Sri Kumar and the accompanying members arrived all where thrilled.

Friday afternoon we went to the La Mola hotel & conference centre outside Barcelona, surrounded by the Natural Park of Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac. About 200 members had come for the group living. The preparations to set up the hall and the stage went on with high speed, and just a short moment before Sri Kumar entered everything looked very nice.

The seminar started after the evening prayer. The topic was “The Divine Laws”. The Master started with the following words:

“Every group life is homecoming for the aspirants. The aspirants are those who are building the bridge between the personality and the soul. The soul cannot function without the personality but it can also withdraw into its home, the Sanctum Sanctorum and to recollect that it is not personality…

An aspirant is one who should think every moment, at all times that he is the soul, that he has a personality. Personality is the vehicle. He continues to be, the vehicle has a terminable duration. Each life he has different personalities, sometimes it can be male or female, another time it can be a doctor… each time it is another role. The purpose of the role is to gain the experience. That way he derives joy…

There is the state of body called happiness, at the state of soul it is happiness, at the state of spirit it is bliss. The aspirants should very firmly hold that they are the soul and that they have a personality for a journey. Through the personality we relate to the world. Without personality there is no relating to the world. Without we just remain souls in alignment with the super-soul. A soul emerges from the universal soul; to experience the beauty of the creation it needs a personality. The soul interacts with the world with the help of a personality. It conducts with the help of a personality. The rules of the interaction are the divine laws. Following the laws he can enjoy the game.

With the football game, he should know the rules of the game. According to the rules of the game he has to play the game. If he does not he is shown a green card, a yellow card and a red card. Creation has happened according to certain laws and the players in creation are called the beings. The beings should know the rules of the game to derive the best joy, experience and even bliss from that play. There is no play, there is no field, there is no way to experience. The divine whose rays we are would like that we enjoy the creation. The children play and enjoy. The parents inform the children the rules of the game. Insofar the children play the game according to the rules would win the game and enjoy it. Likewise in creation, there are the laws and that is the theme for us. It is to relate to this divine order.”

I very much enjoyed the exchanges with the group members. Besides the cordial talks with friends some new perspectives of collaboration developed; I for example met a member from Portugal who decided to help translating books of the WTT into Portuguese.

Sunday morning there was a fire ritual in the court of the hotel. While the dawn was coming up, the flames were rising high and the blessings of the ritual spread into the surroundings. At the end of the ceremony a short drizzle came down as a benediction from heaven.

The seminar was very quickly over again. Towards the end Sri Kumar saw the Spanish groups for short meetings in the upper floor of the hotel. Then at the end, before departure, a group picture with the remaining members in front of the hotel.

Monday afternoon we arrived a bit early at the home of Rosa and Miquel. Rosa had got a friend to prepare a “Master CVV doll” sitting in a triangular construction, with a smile on his face… Slowly the court filled and then Sri Kumar arrived. We sat together for evening prayer and afterwards a short discourse about Sri Krishna – the Master had installed a Krishna statue in the garden in 2010 and visited the home each year after the seminars.

Next morning Robert brought me very early to the airport where I had to wait until the afternoon. The time flew by very fast, I used it sitting outside the airport on a bench, mailing and proof-reading. And when I flew again back over the Mediterranean and the Alps, I felt the memories of the intense gatherings like a bright inner sunshine.

Last Sunday there was radiant sunshine. Around noon time my wife proposed that we should go for an excursion to Lauterbrunnen at the feet of Mount Jungfrau. It’s about 80 km from our home. Already on the highway there was a fantastic view of the Alps. And it got more impressive the more we approached. Lauterbrunnen is famous for a number of high waterfalls, especially the Staubbachfall (literal translation: dust brook falls; nearly 300 m descent). We parked our car directly near the falls – and it was breathtaking. The falls looked like falling light – the spray was radiant white and came down like falling angels.

I was surprised that there were not more tourists but it still was not yet main season – just some Indians, Japanese and Europeans were hiking or biking. We chose a road along the valley forbidden for cars. The air was filled with the sounds of the falls or the bells of cows. Some old sheds stood on the meadows behind which the towering walls of the mountains rose on either side of the valley. Through a side valley one could look up to Mount Jungfrau, the other mountains were hidden behind the promontories. We crossed a river and went to the Trümmelbach falls – a river coming down from the Jungfrau in a steep gorge with a number of waterfalls inside the mountain. We went up half way with a cog railway inside the mountain. And then the road led through kind of a canyon where sometimes the daylight fell down from above. We only had shirts – inside it was quite cold and water was dripping down.

When we came out again the sun already started hiding behind the mountain and the shadows in the valley were fast growing. Cows were grazing near the road and calmly observing the joggers or grazing. Back to Lauterbrunnen we found a camping restaurant where lots of English tourists were staying in the hostel – and finally got our “evening lunch” – pizza and pasta.

Like clouds falling into the valley – or angels descending?

I sometimes took you with me on my journeys with my travel blogposts. I haven’t blogged much the last time for I was often away on an inner pilgrimage. No, it was not a kind of daydreaming or being “lost in space”. The pilgrimage led me through “virtual reality” though not with multiplayer gaming nor with data glasses – this latest fad of virtual reality, very en vogue at the moment, keeps the people stuck in sensual planes of an insipid taste, like amplified with artificial flavour enhancers.

I was carried away by the German translation of the Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam which I finished 2-3 weeks ago. I told you about it before, when I came into contact with this book about the life of Sripada Srivallabha (1320-1350), the first Avatar of Lord Dattatreya in Kali Yuga, in autumn 2014.

I will tell you more about this experience later, when the book will be published in German – it was a long and profound inner journey, a most profound pilgrimage, a kind of excavation. It was like walking through some archaeological site doing diggings through deep layers of time and of unknown worlds. To begin with, I had to fuse three English translations of the Telugu publication into a text-base for the German version, and a friend is working with it on the Spanish translation.

The English texts were like a rough road with many terms and concepts I first could not decipher. A good Indian guide now living in Africa showed up and gave me keys to an understanding. I wrote heaps of footnotes now enhancing the translation. And now, towards the end, I worked out a big register of the many persons, adding short comments, a kind of Who’s Who of the book – you might get lost in the more than hundred persons you come across, not to mention the many divine beings. And to complicate the matter, some persons have several names and of course changing names in successive incarnations. For me it was like finding a diamond when I discovered the name of a then future incarnation which was not given in the book by his now well-known name (Lahiri Mahasaya) but given by his native name.

This unearthing was part of the pilgrimage though not the essence. The essence was an incredible inner touch and guidance which did not end with the translating and typing. It influences my feeling of life, my meditations, my way of thinking. Kuruvapuram, the name I mention in the title of this blogpost, is the name of the place where Sripada lived the second part of his life. I haven’t been there yet but for me it is like I know it. Is it present, is is past where I am? Is it in creative imagination? I don’t think so.

Being fascinated by a book is different from encountering a more profound reality with the help of a book. You find Kuruvapuram on the map. A friend even visited it; he had profound inner experiences there and shared his photos with me. It is a very magnetic, brilliant place in the inner, though in the outer there is not much of it visible. But the physical place is just an anchor in time and space for a sublime dimension. My pilgrimage led me there and profoundly touched me.

In the “Charitamrutam” it says that living in Kashi (Benares) or Pithikapuram (Pithapuram, the place where Sripada was born) is different from living there in the subtle, golden Kashi or Pithikapuram. It is where you are living with your heart, not with the body. The outer might even distract you from the inner, like a veil. As already the Little Prince from Saint Exupéry said, “One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.”

It is more than just seeing, it is being there in the be-ness. And this pilgrimage does not end with the book, also the book is just a cipher pointing to the inner place of the pilgrimage. And many might see the veils of the place hinted by the book but will never enter.

Thank you, Robert, for the photos.

View towards the island of Kuruvapuram in the Krishna River

Statue of Lord Dattatreya