Yesterday afternoon we went to Einsiedeln. Our spiritual teacher, Dr. K. P. Kumar, who just returned from a 6 weeks’ tour to Spain and the Caribbean, had invited my wife and me to come over for an evening. We had a long talk, going from the present political situation between the super-powers, Burma and India, to a number of private questions and general points of spirituality. As usual, it was very uplifting.

We discussed the plan of our local group to organise a few meetings about meditation and everyday life. He suggested that we also explain to the people the meaning of the circle with the cross (which you see at the top of our blog):

It is one of the ancient-most signs representing the totality of life. The 4 arms of the cross are symbolic for the four stages of expression of life: as existence, awareness, thought and action. We know the dimension of action very well. All the day we are acting. And we fairly well know the dimension of thoughts, for they are guiding our actions. As per the other two dimensions we normally don’t know, but we get into them through meditation. The experience of pure existence is called Samadhi in the East. Normally we experience existence without awareness: When we awake in the morning we know that we have existed during the night, but without conscious experience. Pure awareness is also normally not known to us, because one thought after the other passes through our mind.

I asked him why it is so difficult for people here in the West to approach spiritual concepts, it sometimes gives me a feeling of a burden of heaviness. He said, that here in the West the focus is on the material side and that it is much easier in the East to get into the spiritual dimension: “But the West is needed as well. It is part of the whole.”

We have here a very dense atmosphere, which is difficult to pierce through. But with the help from higher circles we can magnetize it slowly. “The internet is a great facility to connect the searchers dispersed all over the globe.” He then explained how the work with colours – from violet flame to rose, to green, orange, and we can slowly get into more subtle planes. Orange colour helps to clean the mental. Then from colour to sound: “OM is creating a funnel through which subtle energies can manifest.” It needs stable channels for the energies to manifest. For this we work.

After the evening meditation and dinner we went back home. He, his wife and an Indian friend who had accompanied them left today, back to India.

Piercing through the clouds: Durga-Mountains, Nilagiris, India

Last Wednesday the team of our division at my office made a works outing to Augusta Raurica, an ancient Roman city located about 20 km east of Basel near the village of Kaiseraugst. It is the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine. Today there is a large archaeological site with a museum.

It somehow touched me to see how, over a period of about 300 years, from about 40 BCE to 260 CE the city developed to a prosperous place, with a big amphitheatre, numerous temples and commercial centres. Then, after battles with invading German tribes, the upper village was destroyed and a small fort and settlement remained over the centuries. It was the biggest Swiss city until the 19th century. In the last decennies archeology has restored parts of the ruins and tried to reconstruct how people lived at the flourishing times. Many layers of mud had covered the ancient sites, often several meters of debris.

Reconstructing bygone splendour: How did people live in the past? A lot remains speculation. And what about our way of life? How will people think about it in some thousand years?

We often have the impression that the society where we are living in is a stable situation, with all the infrastructures. But things can quickly change, and there have been so many empires coming and going. Also in our lives the qualities of time cycles keep on changing, often without our noticing it.

In Kaiseraugst people had found precious silver plates on fields, without knowing their value, and had even thrown some away into the garbage. It’s not so easy to discover a rare value, when you don’t have the eye to see. Some had taken silver treasures to their homes, but had to give them back, because these are common good. Also a very “normal” human trend of “appropriating” things…

Mercury, the messenger of God – for long periods he was waiting hidden in the earth. Likewise for long centuries the ancient wisdom, symbolised by the statues of Gods, was in the West lying deeply buried under orthodoy and materialism.

The reason I went to Berlin was to meet the Ayurvedic specialist who is treating me with chronic ear problems and a dysfunction of the digestive system. I had seen him 18 months ago and it became necessary to do some adjustments in the therapy, and the pulse diagnosis cannot be done by phone…

My friends in Berlin had arranged everything for me and saw that I was brought to the place where the Ayurvedic therapist was working. He explained to me that Vedya is the title for an Ayurvedic healer, and not doctor. He is from a long tradition of healers and has a deep knowledge of medicine and healing.

I was again impressed how by feeling the different rhythms of the pulse he was able to locate several problems, some of them were known to me. I was to visit him 4 times during the three day’s stay in Berlin. He first gave me another combination of herb powders and tablets to be taken during these days and explained some health advise.

He trained with me a number of breathing exercises to strengthen the oxigen circulation and to cast off unhealthy mucus. And the exercises expelled quite some mucus from the lungs.

In the next meeting he checked again the pulse and gave some Yoga exercises to stimulate the digestive system and certain energy channels. So some more exercises are adding to my daily routine. Trying them out this morning showed a good energizing effect.

The last pulse check this morning indicated some betterments. So with this “multi-pack” of natural medicines and therapeutical exercises there is a good chance of stimulating a curative effect counteracting the physical defects.

Shiva Shop in Berlin

Ganesha greeting at the entrance

Yesterday my friend where I staid in Berlin asked me if I would like to go with her to the “torture rack”: An automatic massage system developed in Korea. I was a bit sceptical, but thought I might give it a try. When we entered the small studio, there was a gentle smell of exotic herbs in the air. Two rooms were filled with thermal massage couches, where people were lying, covered with a blanket. We were offered a tea by an elderly Korean lady, and after some minutes one of the couches became free. It was now my turn.

As soon as I had laid down on the warm couch and was covered, a little mechanism with jade stone rollers started moving along the spine, pressing it up a bit at certain points, rolling to and fro. At first it gave me a certain tension, but then it was more and more relaxing. Pleasant smells streamed into the plastic capsule which was put over my head. At the same time another mechanism was waruming my feet. The pressing, kneading and stretching of the jade rollers all along the spine went on for 40 minutes. Their with gentle movements were massaging the different vertebrae from top to bottom – a very vitalising and harmonising feeling.

At the end we got another cup of tea, this time by the Korean husband, who explained us a bit about his work and plans of spreading this innovative massage system, combining different therapy forms with modern technology (they have won a number of prizes with the DWZone-Master massage system) – and this at a very reasonable price.

Last Thursday I was flying with Swiss to Berlin. During the flight they are showing on a flatscreen a map of the route with the position of the plane. Different cities in Europe were marked, but neither Berlin nor any other German cities. When we landed in Berlin it was on the map as if we landed on a green lawn. I had to smile…

It reminded me of the maps we have in our mind, especially the one of our life. We are often heading towards a goal without knowing where and how we are going. But nevertheless we are on a way. If we know the goal, we can orient and adjust the direction.

The plane arrived well, though the sky was clouded. It is incorporated into a network of navigation systems and guiding impulses. Even if the sub-map in the cabin isn’t showing the goal, in the bigger chart system of navigation we were well on the track. So there is also a bigger cartography system, to which we can link up and follow the lines.

Some days ago a web-acquaintance wrote to me asking about a website on “The Real Jesus”. The link he sent brought a site of a domain grabber, but with Google I later found the “real” site. My friend wrote: “The channelled stuff from Jesus and other ‘ascended masters’ is quite fascinating. If you have the time, please browse their pages. I would like to know your opinion on this.”

I answered him that without looking into the site, the hints he had written gave me the impression of another illusionary cloud: “A person boasting to channel ‘the real Jesus’… Channeling by itself demands a high purity. Many claim high contacts, and you aren’t able to check the claim. Look at the good work to humanity, not any lofty words and see the fruits in transformation of character, and then judge by the fruits of the work / transformation and not the words. This might give you a guideline when you come across glittering gold, to distinguish it from genuine gold. Normally when you look at the seed, you will know how the tree will unfold. And there is the original sun, reflecting on the moon, which again is reflecting on the water and that light then on the eye, giving us the impression of direct spiritual light when not knowing that it is a reflection’s reflection’s reflection…”

My friend answered: “My point is: the moment one partakes in a movement which is guided ‘behind the curtains’ by Masters -ascended or not- which are not part of the everyday world, a lot of contrary information springs forth. One can see it with the masters made popular by the theosophists, one can see this phenomenon with Babaji… (He gave a few encounters with people of different movements) They all believe their ‘truths’ on the authority of someone else. And that ‘someone else’ is a special messenger/disciple from one of the masters or from the Christ himself. For me, all this is fascinating and I appreciate very much the wisdom coming from your tradition and masters. But for my peace of mind, I could never wholeheartedly follow such a system. Doubts would always be there…”

I replied to him: “There are of course many ways, and people may enjoy what they like to enjoy and to belief being right. Creation is manifold, and also the ways. There is no need that you follow my way, if you don’t feel well with it.”

When I later had a glance through the “Jesus”-site, I found there many teachings on different topics, but nothing about the importance of service and good will activities for practical spirituality (see our Good Will in Action on The Value of Service). There were more questions remaining besides a feeling of vagueness.

In earlier discussions my friend had written that he doesn’t want to limit himself to a teaching but to stay open to all kinds of teachings. I had answered him that in order to go into a greater depth that according to my experience it is necessary to develop discrimination and an understanding of guiding principles. A mixture is not synthesis, and openness doesn’t come into the way of clearing one’s understanding. It is not a matter of just following a tradition of teachings or Masters, for this will keep you as blind as before, if you don’t develop discrimination and deepen your understanding by putting something you have understood into practice.

Mask with gold ornaments, Museum of Delphi, Greece

Good will and service have to do with skill. You need the aptitude to do something, otherwise you cannot help. Sri Parvathi Kumar, our spiritual teacher, just spoke about this in a seminar in Spain saying:

“You think it is a service to adopt a child, but there are business houses who adopt whole countries. In India there are business houses that run hundreds of schools for free. How much time it takes for an individual to run so many schools for free? The same thing a business house does faster and better. They are the able ones. The ability when it turns to service does a lot. So business can be service.

What government can do is not comparable to what an individual can do. If the government takes to goodwill, the impact is very high. If business turns to goodwill, the effect is much better than of the individual. It is only a reorientation. I say this, because the ability to do service can do better than the inability to do good. Inability has to be transcended to gain ability. Groups have to gain ability besides goodwill. Without ability there is no effective service. Ability and goodwill have to be together.”

Last week I read a media communication by The Business Humanitarian Forum located in Geneva. They want to foster the positive potential of the private sector, they “seeks to encourage private sector support for economic and human development in post-conflict areas and poor countries where investment is needed.” They want to “bridge the gap of understanding and promote cooperation between humanitarian organizations and private business, encouraging both sides to work together to solve complex development problems.” A very encouraging approach.

Bridging the gap between ability and good will

We yesterday had a visit of a friend. Part of our talk was about the way to deal with rules and rigidity on the spiritual path.

For years my wife and I had been involved with a group where we followed quite strict rules. There was the feeling that if you don’t stick to them you will lose the path to the light and get lost in the wilderness. This was coupled with a feeling of fear and guilt – and some more subtle psychological catches. We finally revolted against it, left the group, transformed concepts – and felt well. We got guidance in this, which helped us a lot.

My friend, too, had observed these mechanisms with different friends and groups where she had been involved in. It seems that these patterns are quite common:
You are striving to lead a good live, and you develop concepts about what this is all about. Others also tell you what should be done and you adopt to what you hear, especially from people of whom you think that they are wiser than you are. And you adopt things which you take over without discrimination, or what is worse, with a logic explaining why you should follow this way.
You think, this will lead you to enlightenment, to salvation or whatever you think being the goal of your journey. And you follow – follow like a sheep, not knowing or seeing better.

There will be no harm if the one whom you follow is a real guide, knowing the path and its whereabouts – but mostly he, and you, just imagine it. You get caught in a loop. A prison of your own concepts and convictions.
My wife compared it with Luther revolting against the Catholic church, which was deciding about sin , forgiveness and salvation, this resulting in the reformation. The wisdom teachings say, there is no sin, just ignorance and the results of your acts out of not knowing better.

People can be very “piously” follow their concepts to the point of torturing themselves. There are parallels to anorexia, where individuals afflicted by it think of polluting themselves by eating. The self-destructive tendencies become obsessions very difficult to overcome. These grips you find in many contexts of convictions, especially with religion and spirituality, but also in politics: You think you are following “the right way” – and rigidity is the shadow of your conviction. It has to do with the “Power of Habit“, and here you can read a bit more about it.

Reflections of reality – a Norwegian fjord

The last weeks the clock in my computer went slower and slower – and sometimes stopped. The e-mails and files got the wrong dates, I kept on arranging the clock, but I had to realise: Already after one year the life cycle of the inbuilt battery seemed to have ceased.

Ten days ago I rung up the support of the computer company, the world’s biggest. After a long automatic intro on the phone I finally got a person from the support team. No problem, he said, we’ll send you a battery. And he explaned how to change it.

Two days later an express parcel brought a battery from England. When I tried to put it into the PC, I realised it was the wrong type. Again a call to the support team. Another supporter: No problem, we’ll send you a battery, it’s easy to change.

Last Tuesday I received a big parcel again from England – 20 batteries, but of the right type. Enough until the end of my or my computer’s life cycle, I thought.
I put in the battery (I had to take away the little board of the WLAN) and tried to restart the PC: Window started and crashed, started again and back to black.

With the help of the support team (in the meanwhile I found out how to short-cup the long automatic sermon on the phone, with pop-music in between), we saw from the bios check that the harddisk was still o.k.: You can try to do a soft recovery, this will keep your software on the PC intact.
I tried to to the soft recovery with the recovery DVD, but there was no choice, only: “This will delete all data on your PC”. Ooops.

Again a call to the support team: There seems to be no other way. Luckily I had done regular harddisk backups with a famous backup software, I thought, so I can restore everything.

The backup-restore software showed that the backup was fine, but the system didn’t activate the drive, though it showed up. I tried, tried, tried. No result. The famous software didn’t help in the case of emergency.(I later found out that the secure zone of the software might not start from an external drive, as it said on the web.)

Luckily I have done at least other regular backups of my own files plus the essential software on another harddisk, I thought. So I started the destructive recovery. It took some 4 hours. At the end, windows started. And I was happy. Too early. The software installation procedure went on and on and on. I let it go throughout the night. When I woke up at 3 am, I saw a message: There has been a problem with the installation, it could not be completed… I sighed, stopped the PC, and wanted to ring up the support as early as possible. When in the morning, after some restless sleep and a turbulent meditation, I started the computer, it came up well…

Now the work of reinstalling all the softwares was ahead. The graphic driver gave some problems, so again a call to the support team, and finally, with some new drivers, the screen was fine. Then the MS-office installation gave error messages. A long call to the Microsoft support, searching through the registries. It ended up in reinstalling the software again, and finally it worked. Many other softwares and data had to be restored, my head reeled in the end: The backup of the addresses of the mailing lists of my mewsletter hadn’t worked, I only found an old functioning backup.

So there is still a way ahead to control the many addresses and add all the missing ones from the last year, in order that the next Lunar Messenger newsletter can go out. I hope, without too much delay….

A lesson learned, I thought: A lesson in keeping my head and my nerves calm.

Today I came across the site “Life through Time” (go to: start the journey) by the famous wildlife photographer Frans Lanting. The show Life through Time contains most sublime photos and is “a lyrical interpretation of life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to its present diversity.”

You can read more about him on his website, where it says:

“As a child he identified closely with the hero of two children’s books by the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlof, a boy named Nils Holgersson, who, after being shrunk by a magician to less than half his original size, joins a flock of wild geese and becomes an accepted member of the animal world. At one point the leader of the geese tells him, “If you have learned anything from this journey, Nils, you might no longer be of the opinion that man alone should rule the world. See, you people have so much land just for yourselves, so perhaps you could leave some marshy lakes and swamps and sea cliffs and distant forests to us. That way, we animals can live in peace. All my life I have been persecuted and hunted. It would be a good thing if creatures like us could find a refuge somewhere.” …

“He believes that, like Nils Holgersson, he plays the role of a “mediator” between humans and other species. “I stay with wild animals, and then I come back to my own people to tell them about life in nature,” he has said.

Since his pictures are copyright-protected, here is one of a cactus flower from a nearby botanical garden.