Last Tuesday we met with a small group at the Paracelsus-Center of WTT near Einsiedeln, Switzerland to celebrate, like in other years, the Autumn Equinox. The day of Equinox is the day of Yoga, spiritually speaking, where inner preparation and a day with contemplations and meditations is recommended.

We met on the mountain ridge of the Etzel pass at a fire place for a little fire ritual and meditation – a fantastic panorama towards both sides of the mountain. As soon as the ritual was over, a group of cows came running to our place with the sound of cow bells – the farmer had just brought them out to the meadow.

Afterwards we went to the Paracelsus Center. To align with the energies of the time, we conducted a little equinox ritual followed by meditation and reading about the spiritual significance of autumn equinox. After lunch, we made a promenade along the beautiful Sihl river valley, followed by an exchange about yoga practice.

When the evening meditation ended, also the sun just set – closing the beautiful short group living.

Here you find some impressions from the meeting.

Here is part 2 of my correspondence (extracts) with the young Indian seeker. And again you find some illustrations from an excursion to the Lake Neuchâtel and the Creux du Van near Neuchâtel – not related to the content.

She wrote: “Our paths have so many similarities; I am really glad I found somebody who understands my ‘problem’. It is amazing how parents expect all these things from us forgetting the fact that we have existed for millions of years before taking birth through them. We have our own destiny with which others should not meddle. 

Our conversation about fire makes me want to read the book of Master KPK on Agni. I will start it after finishing the transcription (she is helping with transcribing a video). I hope I am not taking too long to do it. If so please tell me and I will hurry up. I really like this task and I want to do more of this with time but I am in the process of building self-discipline from scratch and I am trying not to overwhelm myself.”

I replied: “Interesting about the similarities – who knows what’s behind the curtain… Yes, for years, there were conflicts with the expectations of my parents as well…
The book on Agni is certainly good to gain a deeper understanding of the work with fire. …
Good to know about the progress of the transcript – go by your speed, not by expectations. If you keep the focus, it is the right speed. I would only ask if you would get stuck in it.
Yes, the transcriptions are part of your building of self discipline, and rhythm, and a great instrument – taking up some such activity kindles the inner fire and gets you into contact with the energy of the Master. Indeed, don’t overwhelm yourself, be friendly with yourself.

One thing came into my mind – if you don’t yet do so, you might think of keeping a spiritual diary / notebook for your experiences / impressions. / thoughts.
See here the extract about “Practical Instructions” from Master EK, “Spiritual Psychology” – go by what is practical for you. As per the recommendations there, take them also in a friendly way, not with any moral pressure.
Here are also remarks of Master KPK about the practice, chapter 7 – you can scroll through and just read the 5 instructions of Master CVV.

Reply: “My university reopened on Monday this week and I started attending online classes. I also enrolled myself in a gym. I am starting to feel positive about life again and it’s a great feeling…
I won’t even attempt reading hardcore Theosophy before listening to Master Kumar’s explanations. In my experience all the theosophical books I came across are very hard to read and to understand. I think a change began with Master EK whose works give a great volume of information and also captivate readers. Master Kumar uses simple language and does an amazing job in tuning our minds to the wavelength of Theosophy. Reading Jupiter really shaped my way of thinking and I am very grateful to him for bringing out this book.
I thought about keeping a spiritual diary but never got myself to actually do it. Thanks a lot for sharing these extracts from Spiritual Psychology and The Theosophical Movement. The fact that your last mail arrived exactly at 01:11 makes me think it is a hint from the Masters…
I would also like to share my work on “Planets” with you. At the beginning I thought of writing it as a long essay with many paragraphs but later it turned into a blog with several posts and now looking at the way it is unfolding itself, I think it will become an ebook. I am not in a hurry to make it public though. I want to take time to write it well and cover all the important points.
So please feel free to point out my mistakes and to give me a sincere opinion (which I know you always do). I shared it with some of my friends who are my age and who have never read anything related to spirituality before. They looked like they understood; they even went on to discuss these things with me.

My answer: “Yes, Master EK and more so Master KPK gave out the wisdom in a much easier style – HPB remains great, the books of the Tibetan are quite a challenge, I read a lot and forgot most of it, after having studied 18 years, nearly all books, before getting into WTT ….
For a while, I was very intensely taking notes in the diary over years, now it is more sporadic but I keep thoughts / impressions coming directly either on a piece of paper at hand or in the booklet – otherwise, they quickly vanish again, even if they seem to be very clear for a moment.
I read your text on “Planets” – chapeau! Very well digested thoughts from Spiritual Astrology / the teachings, and in fluid style. As per the content I didn’t find anything incorrect or unclear… Go ahead – it strongly seems that you are not doing such writing as a fresher but with a rucksack.

In yesterday’s meditation some thoughts came, I write them as per me – not as per you, because I can’t look inside you 😉
When working with the teachings of the Master, giving them in my words, for a very, very long time I tried to keep as close as possible to their line of thoughts not to get into the clouds of my brain and intellect. I felt “i” have nothing to say and don’t feel ripe for the sublime planes from where the brilliant thoughts of the Master(s) come. And though slowly, I got a bit more “fluent”, I feel like wanting to keep as close on their track as possible, though becoming more versatile over the years. I very deeply know that what “i” write then is not “from me” but just using my personality mask to express the thoughts they handed down from Eternal Wisdom. Then it flows fine. Otherwise, very quickly the intellect’s incapacity of dealing with supra-mental stuff comes to the fore.
It is very encouraging that you bring over the wisdom to some of your friends – may the soul seeds sprout well.”

Libra is the sign of balance and equilibrium. The symbol of Libra stands for equal distribution and justice. The law of karma can be understood as a balancing activity to maintain the balance of the world. In our life we have to balance the objective activity with the inner activity to become whole, to become an integrated personality.

The symbolism of Libra is visualised in the eleven Libra paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Libra symbolises the fall of man into the cycle of birth and death. Through the development of sex consciousness, we have lost the awareness of our original state of immortality. This is represented as a fall from the Sahasrara, the head centre, to the Muladhara, the base centre. By directing the consciousness towards the higher centres, the lower centres are slowly neutralised and the polarity of sex is transcended. This is called the reversal of the wheel. The path from Libra to Aries in the reversed direction completes the journey. The opposition between Mars and Venus, between the male and the female, is transformed into a marriage; they unite and find their harmony. It is the marriage of the lamb, Aries, with the bride, Libra.

The image shows the stylised wheel of the zodiac with the central axis of Aries at the top and Libra at the bottom. In the central axis you see the figure of Venus, the symbol of the soul linking the opposite poles. Venus helps us to rise from the mundane identity to the awareness of being the soul. The figure is wearing a veil, the veil of nature. She is surrounded by colours of light blue and rose, colours related to Venus. For this, I used a painting of Venus from an unknown painter of the British School.

Libra represents the experience of dense matter and the death of consciousness. I illustrated this density through rock faces on the left and right side. The figure embedded in the rock at the bottom left symbolises the past, the one on the right stands for the future. Venus in the centre is the experience of the presence.

At the top on the left side you see the constellation of Libra and on the right side you find Venus designed with a NASA photo from the space probe Magellan.

The symbolism of Libra is visualised in the eleven Libra paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Four weeks ago, I wrote a blog-post about the correspondence with a young Indian friend. The intense exchange on various topics of spiritual and everyday life went on, and she encouraged me to share about it in the blog: “You send me a lot of amazing information each time and I am starting to think that making our correspondences available on your blog could help other seekers. Please share your view on this. I know we both are overburdened with work at the moment ….” indeed, and so I could not immediately pick up the idea.
But I now grouped the topics of our exchange and will share parts of it now and in some future posts. The illustrations I use are from an excursion to the Lake Neuchâtel and (later) the Creux du Van near Neuchâtel – not related to the content.

As per the blog-post she replied:

“Thanks for making our exchange into a blog post. I see that a lot of youngsters these days are going through such crises and this post could help someone feel normal. I really like the part where you say it is personality integration and not spiritual progress. While I don’t entirely understand what a personality integration means, I have seen a handful of people misunderstanding this state as Vairagya or enlightenment or something else that sounds fancier. It never made sense to me because how can I think I am enlightened when I am unhappy and anxious? Losing interest in worldly things is probably just the beginning.”

My answer: “Personality integration sounds like a technical term but it is maybe the most important thing on the spiritual path, at least until higher initiations. It means orienting / transforming one’s life to be an expression of one’s soul, or better oneSelf, and not of one’s personality, the lower self. Please see here.
It very much has to do with finding a stable orientation in life, arranging one’s rhythms, activities – the everyday life, at home, in study/profession, in social relations…. in a way that the orientation to the soul becomes prime priority without neglecting the other needs. It should be so normal and decent that others might not perceive at all anything of your orientation, except maybe the very close ones. Master CVV calls it as ‘normal temperament’, being normal and not abnormal like most people who follow other things that the inner self, the inner Master.
In a way this means vairagya, orienting away from false values to the values of the soul. It needs no propagating as being spiritual or searching for anything.
Very rightly you wrote: ‘It never made sense to me because how can I think I am enlightened when I am unhappy and anxious? Losing interest in worldly things is probably just the beginning.’
This losing interest has to do, not with losing but with slowly finding the contact with the inner self. Master CVV speaks of giving 200 percent life, inside and outside, enjoying both, not one on the cost of the other, but living in a moderate way.”

Reply: “I understand personality integration better now and yes, this is exactly what I am going through. Being born into a Telugu Brahmin family I grew up with a lot of conditioning and suffered a lot because of the friction between my true self and my upbringing. At the beginning of my crisis my entire “value system”, which made me feel bad about myself fell apart and it was hard to accept who I really am without all these labels.
I started trying to get into a rhythm and like you said there were many challenges coming my way. First two days I managed to stick to my plans. Then I got a flu and was not able to work. There were many irritations and psychological disturbances each time….”

My answer: “Indeed, what you are experiencing is exactly what personality integration means – a lot of friction (this level is also called “fire by friction” in the books of the Tibetan Master & Master KPK’s teachings). You experience the same as I went through, having grown up in a very religious catholic family, where my parents wanted me to become a priest… – but that was not my plan, the plan of my soul. So I revolted against – and went through years of turbulences / intense search. It need not be like this but what you are experiencing is the work of the Master’s energy.
Master CVV was very unorthodox in his way of life and is in his means of training – it comes from inside, so your experiences are fine.
And it’s the best to ‘make friends with the personality’, as Master KPK says – not trying to change anything by pressure but with humour, continuous orientation to the soul and when something did not work, just see what is possible next time.
Yes, flu etc. are also means to ‘keep you cooking’…

Virgo stands for pure, virgin matter, free from all impurity. The virgin nature lets the spirit shine as the light of the World Mother. The World Mother is the most sublime aspect of creation. She is the unlimited light of consciousness that emerges from the background of existence as the pure virgin nature.

The symbolism of Virgo is visualised in the eleven Virgo paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Today, at the 4th ascending moon phase, with the sun entering Virgo, is celebrated the 700th birthday of Sripada Srivallabha. He is the first avatar of Lord Dattatreya during the present Kali Yuga, the dark age.

Srīpāda was born at sunrise on a day of Ganesh Chaturdhi in the year 1320 AD. Ganesh Chaturdhi is a festival in honour of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity, which celebrated on fourth ascending moon phase in Virgo. Thus, Srīpāda’s birthday is annually celebrated on the day of Ganesh Chaturdhi.

Here you find more about Sripada and about his biography. The English and German versions of the book are published and distributed by WTT – soon, there will be a reprint of the English version by Dhanistha India.

It’s now nearly 6 years ago that I came into conscious contact with Sripada, and it had a very strong impact on my life. I often blogged about it. At the moment, I’m proof-reading the French version of his biography – translated by my friend Sébastien from New Caledonia. Hopefully, the book will be published soon.

A greeting or request for Sripada’s blessing is: “Sripada Rajam Sharanam Prapadhye”, meaning: “We offer ourselves to the king who is Srīpāda and we live under his guidance and direction”. Here you can download / listen to the song Srīpāda Rājam Saranam Prapadhye.

I would like to share with you some extracts from a correspondence with a young seeker, a little adapted for publishing. There have been various e-mails before.
Answering to a remark that she had gone through a severe crisis on her path I wrote that I also went through longer crises deeply shaking me.

She answered, “It’s hard for me to imagine that you went through such a turbulence because now you look like the most serene person I’ve ever seen. … It gives me hope for my future.”

I told her a bit about some turbulences at the beginning of my meditation time, linking to a blog-post about how I started meditating.

She: “Your blog is really cool. I want to share it with my friends because you give an interesting perspective on TM and the hippie movement. The post you shared just shows how important it is to find a Sadhguru who has only our best interests in mind. …”

Me: “Although it seems that ‘we find’ with good luck an accomplished teacher, it is always the teacher who, for a long time, over several lives, observes a student and then slowly guides him to come closer – first to other students of the “ashram” (group of disciples, not a physical structure) and, when someone might start to be useful in the work, also a physical contact. It says that the student cannot recognise the teacher, only slowly coming to understand – it is the teacher who sees the student.
Hierarchy decided a century ago to do group teachings now because many – though it might seem to be few – approach discipleship and are no more dealt with on a personal, one-to-on basis. It is learning, practising and working together in groups, as a group. So it is up to us to prepare ourselves. You will face challenges…”

She: “You are right about my struggle to put things in order. I have absolutely no energy to do anything other than meditating or writing since January this year. I don’t even have the interest to do other things for now. My parents find this very strange and pressurize me sometimes to be ‘normal’. May be I will get better after going to university.”

Me: “I very well understand your having absolutely no energy to do anything other than meditating or writing… I experienced the same in the 70s / early 80s. No real interest in study or profession… It seems to be a kind of crisis of soul orientation. It is not a sign of spiritual progress but of personality integration. Your parents pressurizing you to be ‘normal’ is also no solution in this. When my parents told me this way, it never was of help, just causing me sometimes to feel bad.
Going to university is also not as per such a real solution – when you are yearning for the soul, it is the thirst of your soul – and this cannot be suppressed by directing it elsewhere. But study might help because, what we need to acquire on the spiritual path is a stable stand in the triangle of meditation – study – service. Meditation: going inward, Study: not an outer filling of the mind with information stuff but understanding the subtle realities, therefore reading spiritual teachings. Service: being of help for the surrounding life, not living for oneself.
This means: You need skills to survive in life and to be useful for service. If you do not acquire, you get stuck on your spiritual path. Saturn will block you as long as you haven’t got this lesson.”

She: “I know you advised me not to teach or promote anything till I became very stable in Master’s yoga and I agree with you but in June this year, I felt a very strong urge to write a simplified essay on planets incorporating teachings of Master EK and Master KPK. The intention was to help millenials with a short attention span understand these concepts.”

Me: “If you feel inwardly that you would like to share the text with friends, you have the OK from your soul, your inner Master. It is good to help millenials with teaching – be prepared that when you start you will need to continue, through years, maybe life-long. Don’t take it up just for writing a momentary article and then put off again – this is just a fancy. If you are ready to keep up – no need to know for how long but willing to do one step after the other, then do it.”

For the divine light to express itself through us, a pure virginal mind is the prerequisite. Virgo is sign and time, when the germ of the soul matures – the probationary period on the spiritual path. After proper preparation through inner purification, the divine light can shine through us. Thus, the divine can descend into us to bless and uplift through the eyes and the voice.

It is said that the Father blesses through the Mother and thus gives birth to the Son of God in man. This is the Immaculate Conception and birth. The seven colours of the rainbow represent the unfolding grace of the Divine. The one white ray manifests through the seven colours of the rainbow.

On the left side of the picture you can see the profile of a statue of the World Mother, created with the help of the photo of a Durga statue in the Blue Mountains of South India. The germs of the maturing souls in the sphere of the earth were created with the help of the photo of a flower at the San Francisco airport. This sphere is limited by the rainbow against the vastness of blue space. Its seven colours stand for the seven planes of existence, whose seventh plane is the radiant light of the universe, which we perceive as darkness. In this darkness we can see the glyph and the stars of the constellation Virgo.

The symbolism of Virgo is visualised in the eleven Virgo paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Today, 5th of August, there is the launch of “ANIMA Despertar Conciencia“, a new Spanish language channel committed to share knowledge in a completely free basis with the expansion of consciousness as a guiding line.

End of June, the Anima team contacted me to inform about their plans of the new communication project, “ANIMA: Despertar Conciencia” (ANIMA: Awakening Awareness):

“We want to create a communication channel that can reach those people who are not in new age groups but are looking for something else. And we plan to offer:

• interviews with inspiring people
• reports about sacred places
• small courses about science and spirituality, astrology, yoga asanas, meditation, pranayama…
• tips about good living (food, sexuality, drugs, money…) made by youngsters and addressed to youngsters

These are only some examples. All will be done in short videos, podcasts, images and short messages in social media, adapted to the current way of processing information for new generations.”

I knew all of the team but nothing yet about their fascinating project. It was the start of an intense cooperation to prepare the launch of the channel, which is now present, besides their website, on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Anchor – on the last two with podcasts. We discussed many topics, such as dealing with money and sustainability, “long term vision for the project Anima: where we want to go? In 1 year in 5 years? And how to proceed in terms of dissemination/spreading of information”, maintaining quality and rhythm, preparing the launch and communication…

It is all volunteer work, and they had prepared the whole project while having to manage family / children, job, intense networking and team coordination.

We met on Zoom every Wednesday early morning – one couple came in from England, the others from Spain. One was joining the meeting on her way to office – from the train, the way to the office and a bit at the office table, all with mask, the others from their kitchen and living room. These were very focused and dynamic talks which I enjoyed very much.

The style of their project is like this cooperation – profound, dynamic, inspiring. And above all meeting the level of today’s young generation. If you don’t know Spanish – like me – see the site with Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browser for automatic translation.