Last Wednesday early morning my wife brought me to the train station. A few minutes later the lights of the train appeared at a distance and grew bigger until the wagons stopped. When I entered, I thought, now my 21st journey to India starts – what might it bring this time? About 1.5 hs later I was at the check-in of Qatar Airways in Zurich Airport. I was looking around to find my friends Anna and Meini but no one was there. When I entered the plane I thought, it seems that I’m travelling alone. But suddenly they appeared – they were the last ones to get through the check-in… In the afternoon we changes planes in Doha, then arrived past midnight in Hyderabad, where we took a 2hs nap in a transit hotel before going through the check-in controls for the flight to Vizag. And one hour later the voice of the stewardess said: “Welcome to Visakhapatnam airport”. Murthi was already waiting at the entrance and brought us to the taxi.

We were much astonished to see that not only the airport was looking like new – it had been demolished by the hurricane of October 2014 – but also there was a lot of green and new trees, not only around the airport but all along the highway – I could not discover any traces of the severe devastations of 14 months ago.

We stopped at the new house of Sri Kumar where my friends were to be lodged. I waited outside, but an Indian couple came out the house and told me to go up to the 4th place, where Master Kumar and Kumar were just sitting in their living room. They greeted me with a warm smile and some words of welcome – a beautiful surprise.

Later at the WTT retreat centre some Belgian and Spanish friends were smiling – such a cordial ambiance. We were about the first ones to arrive. This time a lot of group members from Europe and Argentina will attend the seminar, so not all could be lodged in the retreat centre – some at apartments near the beach, others at an apartment in Sri Kumar’s house.
In the evening after meditation Sri Kumar addressed some words of welcome; we shared a chocolate cake and sat together for some time before falling into our beds….

Early next morning, 1st of January, we set out to a walk along the beach road to Master EK Sundavaram, a statue of the master set up 20 years ago. Members of the local brotherhood had beautifully decorated the place. After the meditation they were singing some stotrams (holy recitations) followed by a small ceremony. Then breakfast was served to all. When we returned to the retreat centre, the Sun had already increased his power. We were intensely sweating when we were back at our home.

Sunrise at Hyderabad airport when entering the plane to Vizag

It is the first exposition of my paintings which started Sunday morning at the Café Bilderbuch in Berlin. And setting up the exposition was a smooth and inspiring experience.

Last Saturday 5 am. The car windows are frozen. After putting the last luggage into the boot, I have to use the ice-scraper. A few minutes later we are on the highway. On the way to Basel, there are only very few cars around. A quarter past 6 we arrive at the border to Germany. The custom declarations were all ready (it was quite some work beforehand…) and so it takes only some minutes to go through the Swiss and German customs. Then we are heading north, nearly 1000 km of highway drive. It is a beautiful day with a gorgeous sunrise. And when we arrive at Berlin the Sun has already set and it is getting dark again.

Our friends where we stay the two nights give us a warm welcome. After dinner we discuss last details for coordinating the setting-up of the exposition of my paintings. And early Sunday morning, after a short group meditation and a quick breakfast, we are driving through the empty streets of Berlin. The Café Bilderbuch is a huge café located on two floors – we will set up the exposition at the ground floor – and for this we have just two hours, from 7 to 9.

The car access to the Café Bilderbuch is from an inner courtyard. The other helpers are already there. But the previous exposition is still on the walls…. Our helpers take these paintings carefully to a side room. A quarter past seven the artist couple arrive – and get angry that their paintings were already down. They were told that they can take down the paintings till 9 am – and we were told to be ready with the exposition until 9 am… After some “reconciliation work” the artists calm down and we continue the preparations. Time is running fast. We set up two teams and I supervise the work, leaving much freedom to the helpers. And they do a great job. When the first guests enter around 9 am, we are still working and the service team is a bit nervous. But around 9:15  70 paintings are set up. It was an incredible moment – all were feeling like in a dream. I had not thought it would have been possible to arrange all the paintings and in this short time.

A friend, a music teacher and guitar player, arrives with some members of his family to give a vernissage concert. And while we are relaxing with the breakfast he plays a number of songs. In the meantime the café is filled with guest. And while I am going round to control the paintings, a waitress comes to me and says, “These are very beautiful paintings, I like them a lot.” I smile.

Two small paintings cannot be found, neither in the luggage nor in the café (and also not at home – they were in the list for the customs). I also smiled – maybe somebody had taken them. I had decided not to ask for any money for the paintings but to give them, at the end of the exposition, when people want them. I just inform about the costs of the production and the work and leave it to the people to decide whether they give money and how much, feeling inspired for this by the example of my teachers.

There are some nice exchanges in the afternoon and evening followed by a short night. Then yesterday again a highway ride over nearly 1000 km. When we enter our apartment in the evening we are very tired but happy about the whole trip to Berlin.

Yesterday a small group met in the Paracelsus-Centre of the WTT in Einsiedeln to celebrate the Winter Solstice. This solstice is one of the four cardinal points and very good for meditative alignment. It is the beginning of Capricorn, the moment of the turning of the Sun from his apparent southward journey back to the north and it has a deep spiritual significance. As Sri Kumar says, the rays of the Sun of Capricorn are the blood of the Saviour.

On the way to Einsiedeln, for a few moments there was a gorgeous dawn over the Alps. I stopped on a highway parking to catch the view. A short moment later the sky closed and soon it started raining.

We had a beautiful meeting at the birthplace of the great initiate, with meditation, silence and perceiving the surrounding nature. Please find here some impressions of the meeting.

Ten days ago, I visited friends of a WTT group at the Lake Constance area. We had a few walks together and I joined two group meetings, one of their Herbal Health group and one pre-Christmas meeting of the study group, with a beautiful spiral of light from a candlelight ceremony.

We also had some walks together in the surroundings. We visited an old pilgrimage chapel in the forest, Maria im Stein (Maria in the Stone), with a very vibrant atmosphere, and and the place of a 100 years old limetree with a nearby watchtower. The weather changes between fog and brilliant clear sunshine created a very special ambiance. Here are some impressions of the nuances of light.

On the 31st of July, 2015, Luke Taylor captured pictures of an incredible rise of the Full Blue Moon 4 km (2 ½ miles) away from Cape Byron Lighthouse, on Belongil Beach, Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. This is the most easterly point of the Australian Mainland and therefore is the first place in Australia to watch the full moon rise. He took 1038 frames and then made this video “Once in a Blue Moon” by slowing down to as close to real time as possible. A fantastic video. Here is Luke’s Facebook-page (“Surflife Australia Photography”).

Screenshot from the video (c) Luke Taylor

Capricorn is called the Mount. The experience of the mountain peak symbolises initiation, the summit of long and intense striving. After having reached the top, you have to return to the valley in order to share the essence of your experience and to guide other seekers.

About eight weeks before creating the painting an image of the Sri Yantra and of beings of light descending onto Earth came to my mind. Later, while in Santa Fe, Argentina, I saw an image of Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak of the Andes and also outside the Himalayas. The Aconcagua is the seat of an etheric ashram of the Master of the Violet Flame and Violet is the colour for entering into the subtle worlds. Only two days before I started working on the painting the details arranged in the inner view. It dawned to me to put the Sri Yantra on the top of the mountain, symbol of the Divine Mother and of pure consciousness.

I fused two photos of the Aconcagua, created a violet vibration penetrating the image, transformed a picture of the Sri Yantra, worked on the light reflections of a photo from the skyline of Santa Fe and of a staircase. I transformed the staircase into the colours of red, blue and yellow, representing the three rays of Will, Love and Intelligent Action. These lights are again surrounding the sphere of blue, pink and white light penetrating the Sri Yantra. I combined the stairway with the light reflections as a symbol of the ascending and descending souls. Then I created a central column of light from the top to the bottom representing the Antahkarana, the bridge of light leading to the highest realms.

See more pictures on the site with my paintings. If you want to print the image, you can download the file in medium and high resolution format.

The Golden Ratio is a golden thread that weaves it’s way through the tapestry of creation, uniting diverse and contrasting elements into a harmonious whole. The Golden Ratio has inspired thinkers of all disciplines like no other number in the history of mathematics. But not only mathematicians are fascinated, also biologists, artists, musicians, historians, architects, psychologists, and mystics have pondered and debated the basis of its appeal. A beautiful video by Jonathan Quintin. He has also posted a number of other videos about sacred geometry.

From the video

The mist over the country during the last days creates a magical ambiance making the forms appear from out of a light filled field, blurring the contours. Saturday morning I went to Berne city to do some errands. My camera caught some motives of the advent season decoration in the old town. The five-pointed stars around the “Münster” (cathedral) captivated me anew – they are reflecting the yearning of the souls towards the light. And some shop windows were showing traditional handicraft work or were trying to motivate customers with special arrangements. Find here some impressions.

Snow has just covered the countryside here. Two weeks ago, there was a brilliant golden autumn light in the air and we decided to make a walk through Beatenberg near Interlaken. There you have a gorgeous view of the Bernese mountain trinity – Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. There was an incredible vibrant peace in the air, impregnated by the majesty of nature.

Some thoughts about the recent violence and a correspondence with Sri Kumar.

Last Friday morning when I went down to pick up the daily newspaper a thought flashed through my mind: Is there something in the news about a terror attack? The thought quickly passed by and the newspaper didn’t report anything out of the ordinary. Next morning I read about the attacks in Paris. It was only then that I thought again of this “fiery messenger” in my mind: There was something in the air before it manifested “on ground”.

Later I saw the news-wave rising in the few online portals I visited. The following days, the newspapers were full with background stories and analyses.  The politicians and other opinion makers got busy, governments demonstrated determination to counteract. Many showed their sympathy and solidarity: On Facebook, many faces of “friends” appeared in the blue, white and red of the French tricolore…

When I thought of the victims whose lives brutally ended, I felt something in the atmosphere beyond the uproar of indignation and confusion – like cries of other victims not in the limelights of attention fuelling – be it in the middle East, in parts of Africa and elsewhere. Later, I read in the local newspaper about people in Lebanon asking, Why no attention to our victims? And about the many victims of attacks in Nigeria and elsewhere. Rising the attention is one of the prime goals of the terror attacks and if we just focus on their acts, their perverse strategy works out: “mission accomplished”.

Attention is a precious good and often disproportionately distributed. Though sympathy and compassion are important, we need to open up our hearts to all where we feel the suffering. It is an attitude and not a doing. An attitude of inclusion and very much needed now.

Some friends from Spain asked me if Dr. Kumar, our teacher, did say anything about the terror in Paris. I wrote to him and he replied:

“I prefer not to get into the activity of opinionating upon events that have political relevance. I only see the whole violence at that level is but reaction to the past action of Europe in Middle East. We the humanity do not learn the basics. ‘Love thy neighbour’ remains an ideal. We fight with neighbours everywhere on the planet. We say we are developed but not in its true sense.”

And a little later: “Hundreds of thousands are killed in Middle East for believed political ideology, for which no concern is shown. Just a hundred and twenty draw global attention. Don’t you see the fallacy?”

From various sides I received calls for synchronised meditation to help spreading light and peace. One mail reminded that by building powerful thought forms the path of humanity will be energised towards a positive future – bringing Love and Light to counter-balance the fear and shadows, to create an international wall for protection. Meditative invocations are certainly important contributions.

I was reminded of the invocation for European unity given by Dr. Kumar some years ago, which I regularly use. Some friends just asked me about it, and so I share it here. The “East in us” refers to the Ajna centre on the front, the seat of soul consciousness, and the “West in us” to the base centre, the physical anchoring:

We the citizens of Europe strive to stand united.
We endeavour to unite the east and the west in us and in Europe.
We aspire to stand in the fusion of the East and West of Europe
and provide a field for fusion for easterners and westerners of Europe.
May we fulfil the Hierarchical plan of discipleship
standing in the Light, Love, Power and Synthesis of Hierarchical energy.

Having finished the above lines, I thought about the word “catastrophes” used in the title. Terror attacks are not “natural disasters” but purposefully planned atrocities. However, I decided to use this expression to hint at the larger avalanche of destruction caused by the pathological distortions of fanatic ideologies, political or religious.