Saturday morning, the group went to Simhachalam to visit the temple on the top of the hill. Before the journey, Sri Kumar explained that it is the only temple in India where Varaha, the avatar in the form of a boar is worshipped, together with Narasimha, the avatar in the form of a man-lion. The occult meaning is, the divine energy lifts us up from being blocked in the matter, the base centre, first to the heart and then to the head centre. Varaha, the boar, is symbolised as giving this lift-up through his brilliant tusks, and Narasimha opens the pillar of the vertebral column, so that we can enter from the heart centre and ascend via the throat and the brow to the top of the head.

We got the darshan of the embodiment of the divine in form of a lingam in the innermost of the temple. There the Lord is established together with the World Mother called Sri. The ambiance was vibrating while the rhythmic sounds of the mantric chants reverberated through the air.

Afterwards we descended into the valley via the long stairway. Many pilgrims were around – some groups were chanting and clasping cymbals, while some men were pushing up the stairs a “holy cow” which seemed to be not enjoying this ascent. They were massaging its legs before with a push the cow was further drawn up the stairway.

In Simhachalam the preparations for the Guru Pujas were going on. This year the site is at a new place near the pond. Many volunteers were setting up the hall and the area for the dining hall. It was impressing to see how within a few hours they transformed the whole site into a beautiful festival group.

At 5.30 Master Kumar came to inaugurate the 54 celebrations of Master CVV Guru Pujas. Vedic chantings were intonated while he saluted the Masters of Wisdom present through their images on the altar and garlanded a statue of Master CVV. Then the evening prayer started. Afterwards, he gave an introduction to the group living. Group members from many groups all over India and the West have come together to stay here for three days and nights with the aspiration to reorient and to lift themselves up to the Light with the help of the energy of the divine Presence.

The Sunday morning celebrations started with the Ganesha ritual conducted by Kumari-Garu, followed by the intonation of other worship songs. After the morning prayer the Master presented some new book releases: a small booklet by Master EK, “Good Luck”, with thoughts about spiritual astrology. A book on “Sun”, a lecture given in 1990 at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. Sri Kumar also wrote books on Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Uranus. He mentioned that in 4 colleges in the United States these books have been included in their syllabus. A reprint of the book on Uranus and also Saturn Regulations of Master CVV were also released, together with a book on “The teachings of Lord Maitreya”, published during December Call – 108 statements taken from the Vaisakh Newsletter. Further some Telugu books – a book on Lalitha Sahasranama Stotra and on Gurupaduka Stotra.

The talks of the Guru Puja continue the series of the previous years on the Labours of Hercules. This time, Sri Kumar started with the lesson on the 8^th Labour of Hercules relating to Scorpio, telling the story about the killing of the Hydra and giving explanations. The other labours till the 12^th labour will be the content of the next lessons.

After breakfast, a group of small children was introduced into first writing and the intonation of OM Namah Sivaya, the mantram for developing an enlightened will. Later the fire ritual was conducted invoking the presence of the devas for the upliftment of the beings. Later there was the new releases of books by Master EK by the team of Kulapati Editions until noon.

Today was the final session of the seminar and the good-bye ceremony. From tomorrow on, we will be at the Guru Puja celebration at Simhachalam, only returning late in the night to the retreat centre.

The last days were intense seminar days interspersed with small excursions. Wednesday we visited a service centre of the WTT, where daily about 150 needy people are taken care of by food distribution and where also free health consultations and professional training courses are held. Then we went to the Bala Bhanu School. Two months ago, I had seen the devastations of the Hudhud cyclone. Now we were very much astonished how well the surroundings of the school had been restored. Although in the neighbourhood you could see the traces of destruction – mainly remains of fallen trees – the school made a very good impression.

The students just had their exam day and all were in their classes busily writing. We had a look into all classes and then a short exchange with the teachers.

In the afternoon we visited the Theosophical Society (TS) of Visakhapatnam, one of the oldest in India. The new head of the TS feels very much inspired by the teachings of Master EK (Dr. E. Krishnamacharya) who had been given lectures in the premises in the 70s/80s. Their temple had been destroyed by the cyclone and you could still see a lot of dust around.

Yesterday we went to Ramadri, the temple site of the WTT about 20 km outside of Visakhapatnam. We could not see the Planetary Healing Centre, it seems that the devastations of the cyclone had destroyed number of trees.

At Ramadri we were very much astonished how well the site had been redone. The roof of the small buildings of the Mithila school for poor children had been redone, all the little temples and the buildings freshly painted and the garden beautifully set up again. Also the small shrines were reset to order and were shining in fresh brilliance.

The children gave us a warm welcome. We then walked around on the large compound and visited the new “Gosala”, the cowshed where now 60 cows are held. Their milk is distributed to the school children and poor people in the surrounding. Then we assembled in the amphitheatre, where Sri Kumar and Kumari-Garu distributed clothes to the school children. Afterwards Sri Kumar gave a talk and the children presented some Vedic recitations. When we had our evening prayer with the beautiful view over the ocean, groups of birds were flying through the sky which displayed sublime shades of pink and violet.

Already in a previous blog-post I described how I came to know about the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya as his first avatar in this era, as Sripada Srivallabha (1320-1350 AD), and the request to translate his biography into German.

I very much wanted to visit his birthplace, Pithapuram, where he said that his energy would be anchored permanently. When seeing the program of the seminar in Visakhapatnam, I was very pleasantly surprised to notice that an excursion to Pithapuram was planned for 5 January.

2 January 2015, I could speak to Sri Kumar. He very warmly smiled and told me that his family is  deeply related to Lord Dattatreya since 3 generations, since his grandfather, and that he had been introduced into the line of Dattatreya in his early childhood. He had read the book “Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitamritam”: “It is a very great book”. And: “Already one month before you wrote me about the translation of the book I got the impulse that the book should go over the world. And when you told me that you want to go to Pithapuram, I thought it is good that the whole group goes there.”

One day later, I accompanied Robert who is going to translate the book to Spanish, to his consultation with Sri Kumar. Robert gave him two statuettes of Lord Dattatreya (one he had given me as a gift) to bless them and Sri Kumar was very radiant.

On the question what is the relation between Lord Dattatreya, Agastya and Master CVV, Sri Kumar said, that Lord Dattatreya is most high, higher than the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He is working through Sirius for our system. Agastya brings in the energies from Sirius and Dattatreya is the Master to Agastya, and Master CVV is a member of the ashram of Agastya. He told us that it is a very great blessing that we are allowed to translate the book.

Before we went to Pithapuram, he gave an introduction to the group, and today he gave some further explanations. Here are some extracts from his talks:

“It is planned that tomorrow the group will visit a sacred place where the Lord Dattatreya, the Lord that presides over the dog star or Sirius, the Lord who is also the Master for Agastya, the teacher for the entire solar system, he took birth and he guided for 3 continuous incarnations. It is a placed visited by all in India especially those who follow a teacher. Lord Dattatreya is said to be the synthesis of the Trinity. The details of Dattatreya were published long ago. For the benefit of the humanity in Kali Yuga, he took birth 7 centuries ago in Andhra Pradesh which is 100 km from here. Even the Sufis, priests of the Mughal emperors visited this place. The priest to emperor Akbhar built his ashram to be near the Lord. The priest of Mughal emperor received instructions from higher circles to establish his ashram in this place in Pithapuram. Pita [] meaning the village of the Pita or the grand master, that’s the name of the place. Pita Puram has gradually become Pithapuram. He took birth in this place. … The Lord Dattatreya is said to be the cosmic principle of yoga. That’s why in scriptures he is worshipped as the Lord that presides over yoga. He is also called “Datta” meaning his nature is to give his presence. Many are the episodes of Dattatreya. I strongly recommend every member to buy the English version of the book for those who can understand English.

I also made a visit to this place. It is not the first time I went to this place. I read it [the book] many times. During the year, it so happened that energies of the Master visited our group. It was a pleasant surprise to know that the energies touched Ludger, and he feels an urge to make translation of this book into German. Likewise, Robert Badia received an impulse separately, from the Spanish group. It is all in a period over a year.

Dattatreya is the head of mystical hierarchy. All the teachings on this planet culminate in Sirius. Such a one, to benefit the beings in Kali Yuga, he took birth in a humble place, lots of acts of teaching and healing. Very miraculous deeds he has done…

His feet are kept in the back of the temple. You may touch the feet, you may go around. It is so simple, you may not get the impact apparently. But subtly there is a great impact. Go there, relax there, meditate there, and then come back.”

Tuesday, 06 January, morning:

“I hope you have enjoyed the visit to Peetha Puram called Pithapuram. It is a typical center where the light is hidden. As we say, the key note of India is “I hide the light”. Pithapuram is one of the most important spiritual centers that we have in India, but it continues to hide the light. It is so humble that unless you get insight, you don’t get the profundity of light. But in due course it unfolds from within. That’s why it was a good pilgrimage that has happened….”

The bus ride took 3.5 hours to go and 4 hours to come back. The temple is located in a side-road, the bus had to stop some streets before. It is a very vibrating place though you would never suppose the greatness of the place by seeing it from the outside.

We received a very warm welcome by the members of the Maha Samsthanam (Trust) of the Sripada Srivallabha Temple. Sri Ramaswamy Garu, who is over 80 years old, gave us a lecture and his blessings. We felt a profound presence around, while we saw the place where Sripada had been born. Unfortunately, the English book  of Sripada’s biography which Sri Kumar had told us to buy, was out of print. However, I received 2 last copies for future translators of the book. So in case you feel the impulse to translate the book to a Western language (except German and Spanish), please contact me.

Later we went to the Kukkuteshvara temple in Pithapuram,  a very old temple compound with one of the 18 (?) temples of the Divine Mother in India, a “self-born” Dattatreya statue (in form of a lingam) and statues of Shiva. We sang some mantrams and saw the different parts of the temple before setting out to our return journey. While driving on the highway, a huge orange Capricorn full moon was hanging in the sky, and the video in the bus was playing a colourful screenplay of an episode of the life of Lord Rama.

On Wednesday we flew from Bangalore, where we had attended the December Call, to Visakhapatnam. It was a beautiful flight – unlike the flight of some other group members who came with an airline which seems to be near “grounding” and had cancelled plenty of connections.

In Visakhapatnam it was very windy and drizzling – there was a lot of water around, signs of some heavy rain.

The airport was still suffering very much from the hurricane in October – most of the roof was away and the open sky peeped in.

On the way into the city we saw many uprooted trees or palms with their leaves hanging down. The big ad-displays were swinging in the air:

There was a very warm welcome in the Retreat Centre of the WTT – it was so nice to meet friends again after one year, and there were some new faces, from Argentina and from Spain. It is a “small” group living, just 34 members from 6 countries.

First of January in the morning there was a lecture of Sri Kumar in Telugu for the Indian members, and our group living started in the afternoon. The topic of the seminar is “The Scripture of Synthesis: Eighteen Steps of Yoga by Kapila Maharshi”. I enjoy very much the lectures; although much of the topics is not “new” to me but there is always such an uplifting and inspiring ambiance. Besides, one thing is having heard a topic, another is, having integrated it in daily life.

I had many exchanges, especially with my two room-mates Meinrad and Robert. And the consultation with Sri Kumar the day before yesterday deeply touched me. I will tell a bit about some details after our visit with the group to Pithapuram tomorrow. Tonight, we will have Capricorn full moon meditation – you already strongly feel the energy of the full moon in the air.

The house of Sri Kumar, Radhamadhavam, is under construction – a 5 storey building, which is scheduled to be ready by summer this year. We will have the celebration of the closing of the seminar in the premises, on the 9th of January.

The altar of Radhamadhavam is for the moment in the retreat centre, so we have the beautiful statues around, like this image of Krishna:

(I now inserted the pictures to my last blog-post from Doha. I still could not get to my e-mails; the mailings from the seminar will go out later, from Vizag.)

Sunday evening the shuttle bus of the hotel in Doha brought is to the airport. Check-in, boarding, a few hours in the air and then landing in Bangalore around 2.40 am – and the smell of India came back.

At the exit of the hotel 2 group members were waiting for us with a taxi. A short stop in the hotel to put off the luggage and change clothes, then we went to Tapovana, the beautiful colony of WTT-members with the assembly hall, the “Wisdom Temple”, where the celebrations of December Call (29 December) were going on. We just arrived on the main day. Mantric chantings were filling the air when we approached the hall. We slipped in and joined.

Morning prayer, water ritual, lecture, breakfast… It was a day passed in some kind of a trance state – not having slept the whole night but now during the day, I was changing between moments of wakefulness and short naps, which interrupted my listening to inspiring talks of Sri Kumar or the silent moments of meditation

Besides the seminar, the group living was filled with encounters and exchanges. Here receiving some new books, there hearing news from friends from all over the world who had come to the celebration, or just the joy of meeting other known and unknown faces. Many stories could be told here, about adventures of friends or little surprising events happening in the ambiance charged with spiritual energies. It was an extremely intense day.

One special moment: In the afternoon, Siva Shankar, the brother of Sri Kumar came to me. I was happy to see him again for he had gone through a very long time of transformation through a prolonged disease. He told me if I could release a book mark he had got printed in Visakhapatnam but didn’t want to release in the assembly hall. I smiled and said, yes. He replied, “Master Ludger is now releasing the bookmark”. I answered, “Yes, we are all Masters in the making.” I unpacked the bookmarks while he got an Indian standing nearby to take some photos and I showed the bookmarks to the camera.

There was a saying on the bookmark, “It is better to have prayer without praying hall than have a praying hall without prayer” and then “Funlawn Master, Master FM”. I said, “Oh, the Master who is making jokes on the meadow”. He replied, “Yes, I have written sayings from Masters from A to Z.” – “Oh, so there is also a “Tea Master?” – “Yes, Torturing Master or Teasing – the Master is very often teasing you.” He bubbled with joy – and I very much enjoyed his humour. He gave me a number of these bookmarks to distribute them to all Western members present. I did it with much joy, explaining the “occult work” of the Funlawn Master. For some people it took a moment to understand the story….

A short night in the hotel with about 4 hs sleep followed, getting up again around 3.30 am. Around 5 am we were back at Tapovana. The pathway through the rows of houses to the hall was beautifully lighted with blue and green garlands between the trees. About 400 people had assembled in the hall. The day started with a ritual to Lord Ganesha, followed by different hymns and the morning meditation. Afterwards Master Kumar started his morning talk introducing a questions-answer session closing the celebrations. Though it was difficult for me to follow acoustically it was a beautiful ambiance.

While some members from Europe and various Indian groups started their ways home, I used the time for talking with friends, taking pictures or writing notes. Since I couldn’t get an internet connection I prepared these notes offline.

Tomorrow, the last day of 2014, our flight to Visakhapatnam will be around noon time, and on 1^st of January the seminar with Master Kumar shall start there. I remembered his remarks in his closing works that while we can celebrate the New Year as it is now the convention, the date of 1^st January is just a date fixed by human minds and has no correspondence in the rhythms of the year giving the beginnings of new phases with the solstices and the equinoxes and that best the New Year is to be celebrated at spring equinox, the 21 of March.

Yesterday a quarter past 3 am I left the house in ice-cold night, driving to the flat of my eldest son, Marwin. He took me with our car to Geneva airport. On the way it started snowing more and more, and when we reached the airport the roads were white. I checked in and then there was the call for boarding. When all had taken their places, the captain said that we had to wait for de-icing before we could start…. It nearly 1.5 hs late when the plane took off. Will I catch the connecting flight?

The captain flew very fast but in Frankfort we were parked at the far end of the runway. Waiting for the bus and the ride took 30 minutes. As soon as I entered the airport I made a sprint the long way to the connecting flight with Qatar Airways.

At the checkin I saw my friend Elif waiting and then heard at the counter that my place was already given to someone else because I came so late. Nevertheless they managed to give us new seats…

The airport was frozen, snow was in the air. The captain told us, we had to wait, maybe a quarter of an hour, later, maybe half an hour, later, “I don’t know”. The de-icing station had problems, some machines didn’t work. We finally left 2.5 hours late… We saw that we won’t be able to catch the connecting plane… So we enjoyed the inflight movies knowing that some adventure was waiting for us.

At Doha airport in Qatar many people from our flight had lost their ongoing flight but the staff was busily working to manage the situation. An Indian next to me said, “I’ll never take again this airline, I have an important date tomorrow. I told him that it is not the fault of the airline but of the weather and the de-icing machines. He said,”Other planes took off faster, our captain didn’t try everything.” I said nothing but inwardly smiled – a child’s complaints….

We said, we will have a beautiful stay in Doha, and so it was. We got 1 day visa and tickets for a hotel. We had to wait till the bus came; people were brought to 2 hotels.

A nice lobby and polite staff took care of us. We went to the room and then had a delicious dinner shortly before midnight.

At 6 am in the morning we met for morning meditation. We sent information to the group members in Bangalore informing about our adventure, and soon we got the reply that they will take care of us at our arrival early morning on the 29th.

We tried to connect online to the December Call celebration but could not establish connection. So we had breakfast , good talks, and after lunch an Indian servant told us we could have a beautiful sight from the top of the hotel. It was only then that we realised that the hotel was directly at the best place at a little port, near Doha museum, and the grand skyline of Doha on the other side. We decided to go for a walk. Fantastic impressions. We were grateful for our unscheduled stop. Now in about an hour the bus will pick us up and bring us back to the airport, for the next part of our journey.

Teaching respect for nature and its multi-fold expressions of beauty is something important. One way to do so is providing spaces like an Arboretum, a kind of botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants for purposes of science, education or just rest and recreation. In Switzerland, the Swiss National Arboretum is located in the Aubonne valley between Geneva and Lausanne, close to the Lake of Geneva. A year ago, my wife had been there for a seminar on Earth Energies and told me about its beauty. So a week ago we decided to go there with our eldest son on the occasion of his 24th birthday.

The Arboretum covers an area of about 2 square kilometres, and you can walk there for hours. We did two walks, with a lunch pause in a Florentine restaurant in between. There are different areas of different ecotypes: of north-west America, with giant sequoias etc.; of Japan, with cherry birches; of old orchards or other collections, like cedars from Africa or Patagonian conifers. Here are some impressions of our tour.

After the solstice seminar in Billerbeck, Germany, I joint members of the Belgian WTT-group for the trip to Belgium and Paris. A beautiful summer-day ride brought us to Corroy-le-Grand, where most of the members of the group are living together in several houses on the countryside. I have been there a number of times before, I love the cordiality of the group. On their compound, they have since a few years the Centre Caducée, a therapy centre of a doctor and his wife. I slept in one of the rooms, where some welcome-flowers were at a little table. On the other side of the therapy building they had arranged a room for the group meditations. It looked to me like a chapel with a beautiful triangular mirror at the gable. A bit later, I observed Elise decorating the little altar with a careful hand:

The Centre Caducée

The triangular mirror with a glass crystal reflecting like the eye of God

Elise arranging flowers

A little later, a quarter to 9 pm, the group with Sri Kumar arrived, and there was a warm welcome. We gathered in the house, and while some of the ladies were doing the final preparations for dinner, we sat together with Sri Kumar in the living room. His conversations, always accompanied with a light smile, are very sprightly. After a spaghetti dinner we had a short night before we assembled around 5.45 for the morning meditation. And after breakfast we sat out for the tour to Paris.

The group after morning meditation

A fast highway ride brought us to Paris – and we were thrilled when we saw the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower appearing. Our hotel was just a kilometer away.

After a little noon pause in the hotel Günter and I started a bit earlier than the others for the seminar place. Günter had a larger map of the metro stations from an earlier visit to Paris, and he showed me a metro station near the Eiffel Tower which wasn’t on the small map Martine had given. We went over the Champs de Mars but didn’t find the station. So we crossed below the Eiffel Tower to another station where we saw that it would be better to continue walking to the next one… There we asked at the information desk – Günter’s map was too old, the metro was no longer working. Finally we set out to our underground trip through Paris. At one change we bumped into the group of the other members who had started later … the first Paris adventure.

Crossing under the Eiffel Tower during the first excursion

The two “Meeting of Solar and Spiritual Astrology of East and West” with Master Kumar were at a centre of the Brahma Kumaris – a hall with an entrance from a beautiful small garden. About 90 persons had gathered for the first evening. We had to wait 45 minutes for the arrival of Sri Kumar – his taxi got stuck in a traffic jam. (I had a nice talk with an elderly lady sitting next to me….) Then the conference started. Two well-known French astrologers, Fanchon Pradalier-Roy and Samuel Djian-Gutenberg gave interesting inputs to the topics “Astrology as the science of the Soul”, “What can Astrology give to the World in this time of crisis of planetary evolution?” “Which is the place of astrology in the New Age?” During the pause I was at a table where we displayed some books, leaflets and Lunar Messengers and had some short exchanges with interested visitors.

Fanchon Pradalier-Roy

Samuel Djian-Gutenberg

Then came the talk of Master Kumar – a great talk. The same sequence repeated the next day but whereas the two French astrologers gave once more the talk they had given the day before (and the visitors were told just to come for one evening), Sri Kumar continued and his inspiring talk became deeper and deeper. Below the picture you find a short extract of my notes from the second lecture.

The speakers and organisers

“It is a great opportunity to be in Paris. Paris is a global city. It is built in tune with the 7^th ray energy. You see all masonic symbols on the structures of this city and many astrological symbols. Most of the old buildings have the masonic wisdom. It is well supported by the river which flows north-west. What is flowing towards the north or east are considered energies towards the spirit. Paris is the capital city of France and represents its incarnation in terms of energies.

The Eiffel Tower is a great symbol of spirituality. I may or may not but I got up every time up. 7 times it has happened. The Eiffel Tower is a great symbol of the spinal column. It has 4 pillars on the 4 directions. They represent the 4 petals of the Muladhara and from there is the upward movement structure up to Ajna where there is the headlight. And that light in the night shines forth in the night all over the city. The overviewing aspect of the human is in his Ajna centre. We also call it the throne of man. There are 2 thrones, one is in the heart and one is at the Ajna. The centre in heart is considered as the Lion’s throne, and when it is in the Ajna… When we ascend to the heart we are called Yogis and when at the Ajna we are called Raja Yogis. This means a king of Yogis. That is the goal set for humans.

Thereafter to related to the extra-terrestrial and get into the higher systems and for the higher system to get into us there is the Sahasrara, the 1000 petaled lotus. If we wish to get into the 1000 petaled lotus, we must no more relate to the world. This is Samadhi. This aspect is not yet built on the Eiffel tower. Otherwise it would get into another dimension. That is the goal set in 1889. It is a goal set for France in 1889 that the French raise in their awareness from solar plexus to Ajna. And the first step is to move to the heart and then to the Ajna. When you move up there is a middle level. The first lift takes you to the heart. The second lift takes you to a long journey via the throat to the Ajna. Staying there, closing your eyes and meditating gives the blessing. When he returns he feels the highness when he returns. Up there you are much in the light, and below there is shadow. Every day, thousands move up and come down but if you do it as a pilgrimage, it would have a different impact on all of us. Every great city is not to be seen as a tourist but as a pilgrim. The approach is as a pilgrim and for this the life has to be organised as a pilgrimage.”

The next morning our group went to the Eiffel Tower. There we met Thot and his friends who had organised the conferences. It was not possible to get group tickets any-more but we got a bunch of individual tickets. And then went up…

On the Champs de Mars

View from below – with maintenance constructions.

Thot and Sri Kumar

Afterwards the group went for a boat ride on the Seine River and had some nice inside into the history and present times of Paris.

The second day the group visited the Louvre Palace with the famous glass pyramid. I had to leave a little earlier to catch the train to Switzerland around noon time. The others had some more sightseeing and went to the Arc de Triomphe before returning to Belgium for the continuation of the tour to Hamburg.

A beautiful group life in India is just coming to the end. This afternoon the journey back to Switzerland will start. Thursday morning we had a last fire ritual in the garden of Sri Kumar.

Statue of Lord Dattatreya, the three-headed cosmic teacher principle

Kumari Garu distributing prasad (food) after the ritual

We had a question-answer session about the theme of the seminar, the 14 Manvantaras (ages/phases of incarnations of the earth), which I enjoyed very much.

In the afternoon we saw a nice Indian movie, Barfi! (see complete version online) about two deaf and dumb persons, very well played. Sri Kumar gave us a short introduction for a better understanding of the story. (“Set in the 1970s in a pretty corner of India, Barfi! is the story of three young people who learn that love can neither be defined nor contained by society’s norms of normal and abnormal.” From an online description)

Friday morning there was the closing ceremony of the seminar.Members from the 5 different countries present expressed their experiences with  the time of being in India and the seminar, which was different from previous seminars. I mentioned in my words that it was a highly self-governed group which organised well without much obvious central organising.

Sri Kumar the explained: “The 27th Group Life in India is a very good experience. … I experimented to be nearer to the group by being far. It is an experiment. All that you speak confirms that it works. Sometimes by a distance things can be done better. I am always around, like a mother being always around the child. The child would like to play free and yet have the mother. This technique of being nearer to the group by being far –  all of you have grown enough and you don’t need to be organised. We are all self-governing. Out of love some anxiety comes but it organises itself. But it would not work if all think it is going by itself. We have to take things up and not be anxious to take up the organisation. The World Teacher Trust believes in free will. We don’t believe in organising too much. You are all very self-governing persons..

My theme in the whole work is that all who come are devoted to the teachings. The teacher works through teaching. I don’t believe in reproducing what has already been done. I prefer giving it sitting here. I have spoken certain keys by which you can directly experience the manvantaras within you and relate to them, not speak about the whole chronology but make it as real to you as possible, so that we live the wisdom instead of gathering it. Many people gather the wisdom. To gather is heavy. My understanding is, wisdom is coming, whatever wants to manifest. The teaching given is to experience it in your own being.”

Presents were shared, each member received a small token by Sri Kumar and Kumari-Garu.

Unpacking the presents of the group – two wooden elephants

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Saying good-bye. Sri Kumar was about to leave for Hyderabad in the afternoon.

The remaining members then went to see the Bala Bhanu school, a regular school with 10 classes run by the WTT. It is imparting the normal curriculum together with spiritual values and moral education. It is always fascinating to see the attention and inner attitude of the students.

Navaneetam and Parvathi welcoming the group at the Bala Bhanu school.

We went around the different classes. In the upper floor the children of the 10th standard (last class) had prepared presentations of their projects about different self-chosen topics, ranging from environmental problems, cell biology, urban planification to topics from history and social system – and they were giving us visitors short introductions to their topics at the respective stands (no photo).

In the evening we saw another Indian movie, “The Three Idiots” – a comedy with a good story / message. Here is the total movie online (googling you also find a German version online and the  video from different sources, also YouTube). And a pizza with ice-cream was the evening acclimatisation for soon returning to the west…

Tuesday afternoon we set out for a 5 hs ride to Rajahmundry at the banks of the Godavari River. At a pause I noticed the little talisman at the radiator grill of our bus (I had seen such decorations before) and I asked one of our Indian companions. He explained the symbolism of each of these elements and said that it helps clearing the energy on the road so that no negative energy comes in the way. When some diabolics look at the face of the black mask the energy of their looks get diverted and is thus neutralised… I thought, a practical cleaner – and we had a save journey 🙂

Wednesday early morning we had a morning meditation with our Indian friends. Here is a small Krishna statue on the podium with their altar, surrounded by holy tulsi plants.

On the top of their building there is a little shrine with a statue of Master CVV, which was to be decorated with a flower garland

The 6th descending moon phase over the little shrine

Garlanding the statue of Master CVV

In the meanwhile the rose colour of the early morning sun started piercing through the mist over the Godavari River with its magic light.

We went down to the river to have a bath, greeting the morning sun-rays chanting the Gayatri mantra.

A fantastic golden light painted the scenery with a soft glow.

After breakfast we set out for a 1 h bus ride. We took a smaller bus for the roads were too small for the bigger one. Soon after Rajahmundry we crossed a big dam constructed by the British over 100 years ago for regulation of the river and for irrigating the countryside. There is a very fertile area with many rice fields, banana and coconut plantatations and tree and flower nurseries. First we went to see an old temple of Jagan Mohini in Ryali. In the centre of the temple there was a statue of Lord Vishnu with Mohini, an aspect of the divine Mother, on his back.

A sculpture of Lord Narayana over the entrance

Then we made a short stop at a biological farm for a coconut drink. Afterwards we visited a huge tree and flower nursery of a group member of WTT Rajahmundry. They are exporting flowers all over India and abroad. It was very impressive to see all the many flowers. There were some lotus ponds. When I wanted to take a photo of some lotus flowers and approached one of the ponds, I stepped on a wet slippery ground and fell longside into the mud of the lotus pond. Luckily there was a water pump next to the pond and I could wash of the mud from my clothes, arms, legs and shoes. A soft lotus pond blessing….

Lotus love:

After lunch we went to the Godavari river for a beautiful boat ride

Our boat is approaching

The youngest of the group members stepping into the future

The WTT Centre of Rajahmundry where we spent the night

Around 5 pm our bus started for the night ride back to Visakhapatnam. A short night followed by an early morning fire ritual in the garden of Sri Kumar, again a magic ambiance.