Chris Jordan was a successful lawyer in Seattle, USA. Then he decided to resign and work as a photographer. Today, he is a thriving artist with a great number of expositions. He and his wife made a deep transformation of their basis of life – the outcome is documented in most impressive photo series about the accumulated detritus of our consumption. Here are some excerpts from an interview, and also from his website:

“My spirit was dying inside, and I knew it, but I was afraid to make the leap into photography full-time because of the possibility of failing. The thing that finally got me going was a new kind of fear that crept up behind me over a period of several years: it was the fear of not living my life. This fear was motivating – it kind of pushed me forward.”

Today he is portraying American mass consumption: “The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.

As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action. So my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry. It may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.”

“This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books.”

“As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so.”

His photo series carry titles like: “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption” – “In Katrina’s Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster” – “Running the Numbers – An American Self-Portrait”. The pictures are showing “a slow-motion apocalypse in progress”. Have a look at the website of Chris Jordan. His pictures are now also exhibited at the Q2 Gallery in Second Life.

Cans Seurat, 2007
Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds:

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Thanks, Chris, for the permission of reproduction.

I just came across a fascinating YouTube-video on the permaculture project “Greening the Desert” (you can also see the video in a better quality from here). In this story, Geoff Lawton talks about re-greening the deserts of Jordan. By applying the principles of permaculture, the Jordanians managed to salvage a heavily salted environment and turn it into a green oasis. Geoff Lawton lives and teaches permaculture at his farm near The Channon, a small community in Australia.

See also our blogpost “From Wasteland to Paradise“.

There are innumerable ways of bringing good will into daily life. One interesting initiative is “Couch Surfing“, an online community that has started 1999 in Montreal and now has over 200.000 members in over 215 countries. They are trying to network people who like traveling with others who offer on a free basis a city tour, a common meal or even a possibility to stay over night (“Couch Surfing”). They say about their work:

“CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding.

As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to create world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a mean to accomplish this goal.

CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it’s about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!”

Another way of couch surfing:

A friend sent me the photo of a beautiful celestial object in form of a red square, from the site World Science. They write: “The im­age was com­piled with da­ta in in­fra­red light from the Cal­i­for­nia In­sti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy’s Hale Tel­e­scope at Pal­o­mar Ob­serv­a­to­ry, and the Keck-2 Tel­e­scope atop Mauna Kea, Ha­waii. A star at the cen­ter, named MWC 922, is spil­ling out twin cones of out­flow­ing winds and may be about to ex­plode as a su­per­no­va, re­search­ers say.”

Such pictures inspire awe in view of the sublime nature of cosmic expressions.

(Image cour­te­sy Pe­ter Tut­hill, Pal­o­mar/Keck)

A friend from Sweden sent me the following lines as a comment to the blogpost “Finding our Common Origin – Sanskrit and Kikongo Wisdom Teachings“:

“Also here in the North we have strong links with the ancient mythology and language. Madame Blavatsky writes in the Secret Doctrine that the Norse mythology is older than the Vedas, and that Egypt was colonised by emigrants from India. The Nile (“the Blue”) got its name from a river in India, just as today we find York in England and New York in the USA.

Some few examples: Not far from there I live here in Sweden there are some mountains with a unique geology, not found anywhere else, with intriguing names like “Omberg” (OM), “Hunneberg” (Dogmountain), “Halleberg” (Halla is an abode of a god as in Shambhala/Shamballa), and “Kinnekulle” there “Ki” is pronunced as Chi or Qi (life force). There is also “the quiet (or serene) mountain” – LugnÃ¥s. Berg/Ã¥s/kulle all mean mountain. We also have a holy cow named “Audhumbla”, which is the Vedic “Vach” and the Egyptian “Hathor”.

Karl means man, or great man. The Great Bear is called Karlavagnen, or the wagon of Karl. The worldtree is Ask which in English is Ash, and may have been Ash in ancient Swedish. Maybe to farfetched, but Kailash may be related.

In the end of time, the world will disappear and with that evil creatures, and a new more beautiful world will appear. The highest god Odin, who is one-eyed, will then also disappear and his son Balder will be the new highest god, just as Sanat Kumara, “the old man”, will stay with us until the end of time. The two Ravens which inform Odin about the world are called Hugin and Munin.

But also the new world will disappear, and yet another is to follow, and so on.

A legend here says that you can be teleported between Kinnekulle and Omberg. Monks at a monastery located at Omberg watched an area at Kinnekulle for centuries, and did not let in visitors. They were said to go forth and back by teleportation (some twenty or thirty kilometers, I think). This area was closed until recently. I visited it with a friend, but no teleportation occurred 🙂

The Nordic mythology has a preference over the mythologies of the rest of Europe as it is not mixed up with a lot of different influences, as e.g. Hellenistic and Egyptian mythologies.

The symbols and the legends move with us. There is an old temple for Isis worship in England, and the vikings frequently went to the English islands. May there have been a movement from the North to the East to the West, and the circle symbolically closed there, in that English Isis temple? And from Egypt other circles have appeared, towards the American continents and deep down into Africa. Today we can unwind our own past footsteps through easy global communication over the internet.”

Omberg and the lake Vättern, Sweden

A view from the Omberg

Our friend, a healing practitioner, whom we visited last weekend, has been involved with Qi-Gong since 1990 with Master Zhi Chang-Li. He had come to Europe in 1988 in order to spread here the teaching of Qi-Gong. Our friend told us that in the beginning of his teachings the Master still was hesitating a lot what to give out to the people seeking instructions and what not. For in the traditional teaching a teacher formed just one student, who had to undergo a very severe and long training. It is not possible to impart the teachings through mere teaching, but through intense integration into life. Master Li had been in a process of learning since his early youth, also during the times of the cultural revolution, when all spiritual tradition were violently suppressed in China.

One little story our friend told from Master Li was about how students were tested that they were mastering the life-giving energy Chi: They were brought to the snowy mountains and clad in wet towels to stay out there over night. Next morning the teacher was looking, not only if the student was having warm, but also how much snow around him he could get melted through the heat he had created in his inner…

I don’t want to retell here the stories about the life of Master Li our friend reported to us. What impressed me most was that through incredible hardships and strict training a process of deep transformation took place. Thus the wisdom slowly shone forth and found a living expression. It is like with carbon dusk being transformed under extreme pressure to a diamond. Chemically carbon and diamond have the same substance, but only through transmutation the brilliance is gained.

Over two decades ago my friend had invited Master EK to his house in Munich to give lectures to interested persons. He was deeply touched by the freshness and naturalness with which the master was expressing spirituality in all aspects of life.

Once they were walking through some shoppings streets in the centre of Munich, when a derelict person came along, obviously being under the influence of alcool. Someone of the people accompanying the master expressed his disgust about the dosser, but the master simply replied: “He is God, too.”

* * * * * * *

My friend had a beautiful old Art Nouveau villa in Munich, where the seminars with Master EK were going on. A lady remarked to the master: “Such a big house, just for one person.” The master only replied: “He is sharing it with others.”

* * * * * * *

In the assembly hall where the lectures were taking place everybody was chitchatting or preparing something, so that nobody noticed the master entering the room. He went to his place and starting intonating the mantram with which he used to begin his lectures. Everybody rushed to their places. The master started his lesson speaking about discipline.

My friend said the master was absolutely right reminding the people of getting into attention, but he might have felt that he was strict in his words. For in the evening, in a small round, the master was joking and playing magical tricks, as if he wanted to express: Look, everything has its time, there is not just only discipline, and I’m not a rigid fellow.

* * * * * * *

The master was fond of cooking, and he loved preparing delicious meals for the whole group. He was doing it full of joy. In this he was throwing away some vegetables which weren’t totally fresh any longer. Someone mentioned that he is wasting the materials. He remarked it, continued his work, but the joyful expression was away. He didn’t say anything, but it was as if he wanted to express that criticising is like tossing away joy.

* * * * * * *

My friend had planned to organise more seminars with Master EK near Munich on specific topics, but the master surprisingly passed over in March 84, so that all further plans had to be cancelled. The work, however, went on a few years later with Master KPK, whom Master EK had prepared for continuing his impulse.

Lingam stone with a picture of Master EK

A friend from Argentina translated this blog-post into Spanish (PDF).

Last weekend my wife and I were visiting friends who live in a small village in Alsace, France, at the feet of the Vosges Mountains. She is a healing practitioner, he is a psychologist, and both are since long years on the spiritual path. He is dealing with crystals as a hobby.

Entering the courtyard of the old, but beautifully renovated farmhouse you see a big quartz crystal standing in the centre, and another, huge amethyst is lying a bit aside and radiating its violet light in the sun. A haven of peace, where in the garden a Buddha statue is meditating under an old tree.

We had some inspiring talks, and both were telling a few stories of encounters with their spiritual teachers. I’d like to give some of these in the following 2 blog-posts.

I wondered how my friend gets these beautiful crystals – and there were quite many more inside. He told me that in the course of the years he has created contacts with different mines and crystal dealers world-wide. They have visited several mines in North and South America and have travelled through India, from where they have exquisite statues and lingams (oval-shaped stones used for rituals worshipping the creative force of the universe).

When somebody wants to buy a special crystal of a certain size, he rings up his contact persons and they send him photographs of crystals at disposal. Then they get shipped over to Europe.

Each crystal radiates a special quality. These transparent stones represent the advanced states of man’s consciousness: When he has gone through processes of inner purification, he starts reflecting the light of the inner sun. Maybe that’s the reason why we are so much fascinated by these gifts of nature.

We had contacts with situations with persons exhibiting an outer facade of nice guys. Behind there were inner abysses, aggravated through the use of drugs. Here is not the place to go into details, but these situations showed once again: If your “pursuit of happiness” goes against laws of nature, the “ropes of life” are inevitably tightening you down. On the “downward slope” your understanding gets obscured and your discrimination twisted. Restlessness keeps you busy and obstacles after obstacles heap up on the path, holding you away from your inner self. No way to escape.

Nature isn’t gingerly in its teaching methods. It is “bent or break”. Either you learn or the suffering increases. Fear, pain, ill health, conflicts in the surrounding life are just some of the methods used.

The experiene is, the will to right action has to awaken, and before that the readiness to learn what is right. When this good will is still in an infant stage and vacillating, the help of a friend, a guide is inevitable. On the upward path, this guide giving guide-lines is necessary. He is somehow an outer “substitute” of your own self and will. However, he should never infringe upon your own will, but only help to strengthen it. This way the path to one’s own “inner fountain” can slowly be regained.

Finding one’s inner fountain

The Globe. A sculpture in the building of the United Nations in Geneva.

The teachings of timeless wisdom tell us, that there are traces of the teachings found everywhere on the globe, expressing through the Scriptures and spiritual teachings of many nations (see our booklet on H. P. Blavatsky).

Two days ago I got an e-mail from a friend living in Brazzaville, Congo, who wrote to me about fascinating parallels between the Eastern wisdom teachings and Kikongo, his mother tongue:

“All the material I receive from you helps me establish a link with the traditional religion of our ancestors akin to ancient Egyptian spiritual practices. Focus being made on positive aspects of course.

It is called “Kinzambi kia Kongo” meaning “Solar Religion”. Kikongo being my mother tongue it is also an ethnic group living in Central Africa: DRC, Congo, Gabon, Angola… and members can found in other areas of the globe: Southern part of African, Americas, Asia…

I also suspect some kinship between Sanskrit and Kikongo in terms of vocabulary and vibration. By way of examples the most sacred sound in kikongo is OMAKONGO (OM AKONGO think of the pranava OM). Again kundalini is to be found in kikongo too. Kunda is like the base or springboard from which the spine (kilini or lini in kikongo) can be activated.

In the same connection, KONGO is a sacred sound in kikongo meaning the Sun, Universe, God, Power , Love, Wisdom… is the highest title in Japanese Buddhism. Its equivalent in Sanskrit is Vajra.

As for Shamballa, traces of its origin can also be found in kikongo. Sha = city in old kikongo; mbala = name of a tribe with relations to divine power.

Melekisedeki. Mele = targeted towards, Kisedeki = Heart of the Sun.

NGUM & NZA in Kikongo means Solve & Coagula in Alchemy, Yang & Yin for Chinese wisdom. Ngum = Spirit and NZA= matter. In pronouncing this mantra you can feel similarities with HAM SA…

The sound NGUM (I found in some Buddhist texts that GUM is used to correct negative aspects of someone’s life) was vocalized by our ancestors to fight, clear negativity. The following mantra is OM GUM GANAPATAYI SVAHA dedicated to Ganesha is revealing enough.

A Six-rayed Star is said to be the symbol of Kongo people. One triangle represents GOD with his three attributes: LOVE, WISDOM and WILL; the other one three divine ancestors of kongo religion. Be it said by passing that Ne KUTUMI (similarities with Master KOOT HUMI) is one of the great divine ancestors in tradition.

In Avalokitesvara’s mantra OM MANI PADME HUM there is the word Mani. The same word in kikongo is regarded as the title given to an initiate who has attained enlightenment. Hence the term MANI KONGO given to the old king of Kongo Kingdom in the 13th century. He was said to have a divine consciousness while living on earth.

In Kukai’s mantra is NAMU DAISHI HENJO KONGO (Homage to Maitreya). we see the word KONGO. Kukai is the Highest Priest in Shigon.

In Bagavad Gita, Krishna says of letters: ” I am A”. In kikongo AKONGO (A KONGO) is the name of HIGH GOD. (AKONGO = OMAKONGO) .The first letter of the kikongo alphabet is “A”, just like in hebrew with Alef, latin Alpha. Kikongo alphabet has equally 22 letters just like hebrew. Think of the 22 chapters of the Book of Revelation in the Bible.

Maha in Sanskrit means Great; it is the same thing in kikongo. Hence words mahatma, MahaLowa in kikongo (Great Sun = Vairocana).”

He also gave me a text where he is going a bit more into details. I sent it to some friends who were very much touched by it. A friend from Argentina replied:

“Thank for sharing the African e-mail with me. It made my imagination fly to the planets interplay and Shiva’s dance. It is so joyful to find our common origin that we can hardly realize how the diaspora took place among the human beings. Everything has to be experienced, I guess. This reminded me when Roberto got in touch for the first time with Celtic music. He was astonished to find out that it contained even tango as well as tarantella in it. Going backwards, if possible, we should be able to trace the OM…
So many sounds have lost their significance, … that’s why the Master says that the degradation of languages shows the degradation of people. The pulsation, perhaps?”