I yesterday got an e-mail forwarded by a friend. It was about the American dream, on the occasion of Fourth of July, the national US holiday, being this year the 232nd birthday. The original mail said:

“Our American Dreams have been built and realized on the bedrock of faith, freedom, hard work and sacrifice since 1776. As part of the industry that has brought The American Dream of Homeownership to more families than any other country in the world we stand proudly beside you in shouting – ‘Happy 232nd Birthday America!’ ”

I first wasn’t sure if the “Dream of Homeownership” was meant ironically – in view of all the news about the real estate crisis in the USA caused by the present lifestyle on loans. Also some Swiss banks had been drawn into the maelstrom…

My friend from Texas had answered: “Yes, the American Dream is a strong motivator to work hard because here merit does get rewarded. However with time, the Dream itself needs upgrading since many have found that even after its realization in its present form, they remain unsatisfied. This upgrade should be in the realm of human development in the currency of life – consciousness. The present Dream is wealthy in the currency of material welfare – dollars, but very poor in the currency of life, which is why we struggle with life because the demand is greater than our ability to cope.”

For an onlooker there are other strange scenes coming into the dream, making it somehow a nightmare. There is the feeling of collective fear and a crave for security – the “right” to have guns and the related killings, the “border control syndrome” in the wake of 9/11, and the US having also forced other countries to launch new biometrical passports in the name of “security”.
Outer security can never replace the inner feeling of security, which has also to do with right action or the karmic results of wrong actions. The “victim” of aggressions is likely to become a future aggressor, also in the case of nations.

A small observation about security: For several months reconstruction work was going on with a house and its surroundings at the corner of the street in which my office is located, about 150 meters away. Since one month it is now the seat of the American embassy in Switzerland. The security preparations created some kind of a fortress – especially deep anchored fences, steel bollards along the road, entrances with security screening buildings. At the place where the old embassy had been, a street had to be blocked in order to avoid any approach of dangerous vehicles. The same is done with the street of the Israeli embassy. Other embassies are less “high security zones”, some with fences, some just houses along the streets.

Yesterday preparations for the celebration of today’s Fourth of July were going on in the garden of the American embassy. When I went home I saw soldiers of the guard screening someone bringing articles for the party. Tonight the party will start, this afternoon the street is reserved for the guests.

A contrast to this “dream of freedom”:

When I go home with my bicycle I come along the front of the Swiss “House of Parliament”. It is in the centre of the city, a few hundred meters from my office. No special fences, direct access, though at the entrance there is some screening. Directly in front of the building there was the party zone for the Euro08, and two times a week the place is used as a market where farmers sell their products. Sometimes I see members of the government, ministers, walking around in the city, just like other people do, without any security guards around. A feeling of normalcy with politics, not much fuzz about it, no high security ghetto.

May the 232nd birthday inspire the Americans to awaken from the “Dream” state of separativity into a higher awareness of oneness, of integrating into a greater life, sharing the needs of the greater whole and behaving on a friendly basis also with other nations, which don’t share the same sets of convictions. This certainly will create lasting security, based on the unity of existence.

The American embassy in Berne, this morning.

I today got the link to a Buzzword-Generator: Whenever you come across some high-sounding technical expressions, they might come from this generator: “Bussword can create over 1 million buzzwords that mean nothing but sound impressive.” So when you read something about “Stand-alone coherent function” or “disintermediate logistical access” or “total responsive implementation” – these are just outputs of the generator. So have a try.

Hopefully this is not just a bussword generator: My laptop keyboard.

I today got from a friend the link to an interesting video about a conference on UFOs (with Spanish subtitles). I’m normally not much interested in any UFO-hype, however screened through the film and found the witnesses honest and competent. There is a website about “The Disclosure Project“, from which this video is::

“On Wednesday, May 9th, 2001, over twenty military, intelligence, government, corporate and scientific witnesses came forward at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to establish the reality of UFOs or extraterrestrial vehicles, extraterrestrial life forms, and resulting advanced energy and propulsion technologies. The weight of this first-hand testimony, along with supporting government documentation and other evidence, will establish without any doubt the reality of these phenomena.”

“The Disclosure Project is a nonprofit research project working to fully disclose the facts about UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligence, and classified advanced energy and propulsion systems. We have over 400 government, military, and intelligence community witnesses testifying to their direct, personal, first hand experience with UFOs, ETs, ET technology, and the cover-up that keeps this information secret.”

Their efforts to document the findings and convince government officials in the US shows how difficult it is to cause a change in belief systems, and the case is the same on the spiritual path. It takes a long time of inner work and discrimination to get through the two poles of sceptical refusal and credulous superstition.

A Sun Chariot from 1400 BC found in Denmark, photo of my son from an exposition in Switzerland

Not far from our home there is a beautiful site where the river Aar runs fast, but for a while without much turbulences. The water was turquoise-blue and great for swimming. Yesterday the river had 16° C, and today it was 18.5°. There is a public swimming pool with much warmer water, but the water in a pool is stagnant and without the vital force a flower water has. It feels like dead. The eastern wisdom teachings know this since long, but here people usually don’t have an understanding of the energetic background.

I had two short swims yesterday, the cold made me breathe fast, so I didn’t go in for a longer time. But today it was great, very refreshing. I walked up the river for about 500m and then went in. You have to do some quick strokes to get into the middle of the river, and there you can let yourself carry forward by the stream. You only have to see that you stay in the flow.

There is a lot of pranic energy around, I always feel in the river that all tensions in the body are quickly washed away. The prana force of the sun adds to this, if it is not too strong. Many waters are polluted and you can’t dare swimming in them, so it is a good chance that here is a river where the quality of water is still good. Though the airport isn’t far away and starting jets make some noise from time to time, the nature now is abundant and I hope that the weather will stay well – some minutes ago there were dark violet clouds and thunder and lightning.

Swimming in the river Aar in Berne City, not far from the Federal Government

The river Aar in Muri, near our home, at another time of the year.

Last Tuesday I was in the management body of my office presenting the detailled conception of the new intranet cum document management, together with the head of the agency realising it. Finalizing the conception had been a bit turbulent, since some security questions arose the week before.

In the meeting, however, other questions came up. The discussion was at full swing before I was half-way through my introduction.

Though I had informed the management before about the effects the new system would have for all personnel, it seemed that some members of the board only realized now the impact of the new collaboration system: There was some irritation around.

I observed that irritation is a fertile ground for further irritation, for arguments motivated by different goals came in. It became clear that in some areas there was an information gap. So the director decided that I’ll have an individual talk with the different heads of departments in the next days to clear the questions. Fortunately he didn’t stop the project, but gave the green light, so that we can go ahead as soon as the extra-round is done.

I felt relaxed: the progress wasn’t arrested, the next phase, the implementation of the new system can start.

The situation reminded me of turbulences in a river with cataracts. When you are going through the rapids, you have to be extremely alert not to get drowned in some vortexes.

The Cataracts of Iguazú, Brasil.

After a turbulent week at my office – leaving no time for blogging – we rushed up through Germany on Friday for another seminar with our spiritual teacher, Dr. K. P. Kumar. The location was a beautiful seminar centre of a chemical enterprise about 40 km from Cologne, surrounded by forests. At that place we met Sri Kumar for the first time 11 years ago. About 120 persons had come mainly from Germany, but also from Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and India. Again there was the hearty welcome of the group members, like a “family meeting”, only much more cordial.

The seminar was about Summer Solstice and Meditation, and the lectures were filled with deep wisdom teachings interspersed with lively stories. Here is a short extract from my seminar notes:

“We should try to understand such times like solstices, new moon or full moon, the weekend, the dusk and the dawn. These are times for absorption into a state where there is the communion of the spirit and the matter, which we are. We are an optimum combination of spirit and matter. And the soul experiencing is through such combination. Spirit by itself IS, it has no experience. To experience it, you have to be out of it. A chocolate is not chocolate to itself, it cannot experience itself, it has to have some other to experience. So what emerges out of spirit can experience spirit. What emerges out of spirit only can experience spirit. We wrongly call it spiritual experience. Experience is not that of the spirit, it is experience of THAT as THAT, which we call spiritual experience.”

The main building of the seminar centre in the early morning hours at summer solstice last Saturday. The air was filled with a beautiful light of dawn.

Fire ritual in the early morning on solstice day

A friend sent me an e-mail with photos from Dubai about the architectural gigantomania. I found them also on the web. I saw a bit of it from the plane at two stop-overs on the way to India in January 08. Have a look at the pictures, it is really impressive what they do with investing all the petro-dollars – in view of the high gas prices (see the very interesting statistics from CNN), or with some illustrations, as I got it via e-mail.

Inside Dubai Airport, January 08

This weekend we had been in Einsiedeln for a short, but very intense seminar with our spiritual teacher, Dr. K. P. Kumar. It was a very small group of 14 persons. We had been invited, but we even didn’t know that he would give lectures. So it was a surprise for us. And it were very deep talks about “The Scripture of Synthesis”. Saturday morning, he had written down 12 statements about existence, the basic truth of all that is. In the three lectures he first commented the sayings, then gave a number of stories and explanations in terms of spiritual astrology to illustrate them and make them more comprehendible. Since we were such a small group, he could go into subtleties of the teachings which normally aren’t possible in a bigger group.

Sunday morning he spoke about the life of the great initiate Vedavyasa, who lived at the times of Sri Krishna, about 5000 years ago. His final scripture, the Srimad Bhagavata, is a writing that synthesizes all knowledge and practices of discipleship otherwise known as the science of yoga. He gave a number of hints how the wisdom unveils to the one who has prepared himself and then takes in the knowledge with the right inner attitude. I was once more thrilled to  witness how he could bring these sublime teachings in a way suited to our level of understanding and illustrating them with numerous stories.

It was a hearty, leisurely ambiance, and also after the lectures, at the meals. I feel it very inspiring to listen to his expositions, uplifiting all who were present. I took notes, thought the talk went quite fast. It is my method of staying alert and focused. I hope I’ll find soon some time for corrections, in order to share the notes with friends.

Sunday morning dawn at Einsiedeln

Last Monday after the visit to Microsoft we returned to Berne, where the city was sprinkled all over with orange – the Dutch football fans had invaded the town, a peaceful, though not silent invasion. It was quite a contrast – the cool, focused ambiance at the Microsoft center and the emotionally charged atmosphere of the fans. The tickets for the game already promised: “Expect emotions” and indeed, you could feel it.

I’m not at all a football fan and was a bit sceptical about mass hysteria, especially in the stadium. The media had fuelled it over the last weeks until overkill. But already in the corporate hospitality center, where we had our dinner, there was a hilarious, cordial mood, mainly of middle-aged people mainly in orange, with orange hats and other orange decorations – a carnival. I said to myself: “Get ready to plunge into a collective solar plexus center in upheaval.”

In the stadium the colour orange was prevalent, the blue of the Italian Azurros was mainly in one block, but obviously a minority. And normally dressed people, too.

Music and announcements heated up the public. The players came in like gladiators into a Roman Coliseum. The game began. It soon became visible that the Dutch team had an excellent group cooperation in the way they were exchanging the ball between the different players. The Italians, however, seemed to be more a collection of strong individualities. In a newspaper they later spoke about the Italian world champions as the “divas”.

The point of focus – the football – changed from one side to the other in rapid moves, but all were focused on this one point, not only the camera men all around the field, ready to catch a good shot.

The football is like the “I AM”, the point of focus of our awareness. When you are not linked to the higher self, your point of focus gets tossed around all over the field of activities. The teams – your interests – push it into ever-changing directions.

It soon became clear that the good group cooperation of the Oranjes was stronger than the individualistic strength of the world champions. The game ended 3 : 0 for the Dutch. A huge emotional outburt of joy went through nearly the whole stadium – except the Italian corners.

I also was taken by the waves of joy, but I was astonished that the Dutch fans were very civilized. When the masses left the stadium, it went quickly and in a totally ordered way. I had to review some of my prejudices.

Of course the whole was also a big marketing activity, and the sponsors claimed their rights of attention. The mascots moved over the field wishing all a good-bye.

Today at noon, when I crossed the city, it was orange all over: The fans were moving with bands through the streets, in the fan-zone the music played and warmed up the emotions for tonight’s play against France. Will the emotions of the party-mood still be there tomorrow? The Swiss were mourning the two lost games scattering all their football hopes.

Screen in the fan-zone in front of the government building

Dutch fans in the street

Orange all over

The agency with whom I’m realising the new intranet for my office invited me last Monday for a visit to the Microsoft Solution & Innovation Center near Zurich and for the football (soccer) match Holland – Italy of the EURO 08 in Berne. I couldn’t resist and accepted the invitation. About the football match you’ll read in the next post.

The Microsoft Solution and Innovation Center is one of 4 centers world-wide, it opened in November 2007. It is some kind of a future-lab, to develop visions of what the electronic world may be in a few years.

In a futuristic setting (“It’s something like Spaceship Enterprise…”) with a 360-camera in the middle and surrounded by 7 large presentation screens we were entering into Microsoft’s visions of how a big enterprise might organise its collaboration, with video-teamwork, electronic white-boards, touchscreen-tablet noteooks and innovative mailing systems, with facilities beyond today’s scope and design.

The head of the innovation center told us, just like the automobile industry develops concept cars, computer technology develops concept workspaces. It was thrilling to see how the virtualisation of collaboration will be progressing, a quality of the Aquarian age.

However, when she asked for feedbacks, I told her that in my job one of the difficulties isn’t technical feasibility, but the humans working with the system. Of course the youth of today is very naturally handling electronic tools, but the human factor remains the center and not the electronic instruments: Instruments are for expressing ideas, helping to manifest them, they aren’t an end in themselves. In spirituality the body is realised to be the instrument of the soul, which has to get hold ov the vehicle, and not the vehicle becoming the master, like it is often the case.

We had a second presentation about the development of unified communication, where Microsoft sees a convergence between the different end-user’s instruments: Not the instrument matters for the communication, but the message to be transported. This too, goes into the same line of a spiritual principle that the instrument has to be the servant, not the master.

Inside the building: Cool style like the technical world, but without the breath of vegetation life.