Last Thursday was the only good day in a series of rainy days. So I took off to go with my wife to Mount Harder above Interlaken. While going up the valley was still packed with clouds which later dissolved. Autumn nature was displaying its full beauty.

Looking down while going up. In the “Harderbahn” above Interlaken

At the hill station

In the valley the clouds looked like floating cotton

A majestic view to the Mount Jungfrau, Eiger and Mönch.

View of Interlaken – situated “inter the lakes” of Lake of Brienz and Lake of Thun. The leaves are getting fiery colours

The lake of Brienz shining in deep turquoise colours

The lake of Thun with view of Mount Niesen

A fantastic panorama platform over the steep mountainside

“Living at the edge”

Walking down a steep mountain path. You have to be very concentrated, for the ground was still slippery from the rain of the last days.

Curious cows…

… and curious walkers

Houses of fairyland in the forest

A little pause, with view to Mount Jungfrau and Interlaken

A waterfall on the way down

Heaven and earth meeting in an old bathtub – a watering place for the cows

About 20 years ago I saw the very impressive movie of Peter Brook, The Mahabharata. I now came across the part of the end credits of the cinema with the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad sung by Sharmila Roy. It is a song full of depth and beauty. You can find more parts of this grand production on YouTube, for example the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna at the beginning of the Kurukshetra war, given in the Bhagavad Gita. Here is the video in full screen mode – if you open it on YouTube. Enjoy.

In Plato’s famous allegory of the cave he shows that what you think as true is not the true existence, it is only discovered when you liberate yourself and walk out of the cave to see the sun. The video “Shadowland” by the experimentalist dance company “Pilobolus” reminded me of Plato’s parable – a magnific play presented at the German show “Wetten dass” in April 2011. Enjoy.

Extract of the video (c). The video has been removed, please see here a trailer and more about Shadowland.

I went through turbulent times during the first 6 months of the year. It culminated in receiving my notice of termination of my work contract after 21 years. I felt a great relief, it was for me a sign that something new, better would come. In a meditation the vision of the picture “Libra – Birth of the New Earth” came to me. I saw the old structures collapsing, the energy being withdrawn, and at the same time felt the seed of the new sprouting, though not yet manifest. And so the picture was finished 16 June 2012.

For the painting I used different photos – one of the skyline of Hong Kong, which I transformed with Photoshop, one of a painting of angels I had googled some time ago, and others. You see brightly illuminated high-rise buildings on a burning ground which are about to crumble down. And in the depth there is the formation of a new globe out of shining etheric flowers manifesting in a field of deep blue. A group of angels is observing the beauty with rapt attention.

There is a tremendous contrast between the subtlety of the new earth and the display of grandeur of the old structures, which are ready to sink into the abyss. For me the picture is a figure for the present situation in many areas of life – not in the physical sense of a physical new earth coming into being, but of new worlds opening up when you drop the debris of the old.

You find a description of the deeper meaning of the picture in the following lines from the book on Hercules by Sri K. Parvathi Kumar:

“Many are the secrets of Libra. The whole bubble bulging like a globe is an aspect of Libra. Emergence of a point and becoming a space globe is an aspect of Libra. An emergence of an impulse becoming a planetary globe is an aspect of Libra. The growth from the centre to the circumference is an aspect of Libra. The point bulges on all sides, from centre to circumference and from circumference to centre. The key is held by Libra.”

You find more paintings here.

An impressive morphing video with pictures from the different stages of the life of  Queen Elizabeth II. You get an impression of how the role she played shaped her personality and her outlook – and she did it very gracefully throughout her life. Click on an image to see the video in full screen.

The Young Queen

Today I got the Newsletter of the Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI) reminding of the “International Day of Peace” today, 21st September, which I would like to share:

This year thousands of organizations (local and global) are holding tens of thousands of events for the International Day of Peace, involving hundreds of millions of people – teaching, serving, praying, working, celebrating, helping and more. Some events will continue until Oct. 2nd the International Day of Non-Violence (Gandhi’s birthday); and some have been going on since Sept. 11th.

There are many ways to observe peace: government and security; education and media; economics and business; health and relationships; religion and spiritual teachings; environment and habitat; personal and cultural; science and technology. The United Nations urged people around the world to make their voices heard to strengthen peace and democracy. UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon called on individuals to speak out for social justice, the rule of law, and the right to a say in one’s own future.

We remind people of our three guiding principles: Peace inside – find and act from a state of peace within ourselves; Peace outside – engage in practical acts of peace for the good of others; and Peace year round – commit to an ongoing peacebuilding practice. Together we are helping humanity to create a worldwide culture of peace.

Mur de la Paix

The Mur de la Paix (Wall of Peace) is  a monument in Paris built in 2000 on the southern part of the Champ de Mars.  It consists of twelve glass panels where the word PEACE is written in 32 languages and 13 alphabets. It is 16m long, 13m wide and 9m high.

The location has a high symbolic value. In the past each village in France used to have a Champ de Mars, a large field dedicated to the Roman God of War and used for military exercises as well as local fairs and festivals. So the wall of peace is on the field of the God of War.

You can leave there a personal message of peace or digitally post a message on the site of the Mur pour la Paix and see it displayed on the monument.

The newsletter ends with the words: “We look forward to a future that holds more peace, for more and more people; and we leave you with messages of peace from around the world.

Here is the word “Peace” in 130 languages:

Peace, English
Paz, Spanish, Portuguese
Paix, French
Pace, Italian, Romanian
Friede, German
Mír, Russian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Serbian, Slovene, Ukrainian
Shalom, Hebrew
Salam, Arabic
Heiwa, Japanese
Pingan, Chinese
Shanti, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu
Amaní, Swahili
Alaáfía, Yoruba
Achukma, Choctaw
Amaithi, Tamil
Aman Malay, Urdu
Amniat, Pashto
Anachemowegan, Mohecan
Ashtee, Farsi
Asomdwee, Twi-Akan
Bake, Basque
Barish, Turkish
Béke, Hungarian
Boóto, Mongo-Nkundu
Búdech, Palauan
Chibanda, Ila
Däilama, Sa’a
Damai, Indonesian
Diakatra, Maranao
Dodolimdag, Papago/Pima
Echnahcaton, Munsterian
Emirembe, Ugandan
Ets’a’an Olal, Maya
‘Éyewi, Nez Perce
Fandriampahalemana, Malgache
Filemu, Samoan
Fois, Scots, Gaelic
Fred, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Friður, Icelandic
Goom-jigi, Buli
Gúnnammwey, Carolinian
Hasîtî, Kurdish
Hau, Tahitian
Hedd, Welsh
Hmethó, Otomi
Hoa Bình, Vietnamese
Ilifayka, Koasati
Innaihtsi’iyi, Blackfoot
Iri’ni, Greek
Írq, Amharic
Kagiso, Setswana
Kalilíntad, Magindanaon
Kapayapaan, Tagalog, Filipino
K’é, Navajo
Kev, Thajyeeb Nyab Xeeb, Hmong Daw
Khanhaghutyun, Armenian
Khotso, Sesotho
Kiñuiñak, Northwest Alaska Inupiat Inuktitut
Kiba-kiba, Rapanui
Kunammwey, Chuuk
Kupia Kumi, Laka Miskito
Kutula, Fanagolo
‘Kwam, Sa Lao
La Paqe, Albanian
La Patz, Aranés
La Pau, Catalán
Lapé Haitian, Creole
Layéni, Zapoteco
Li-k’ei, Tlingit
Linew, Manobo
Lùmana, Hausa
Kapayapaan, Tagalog
Maluhia, Hawaiian
Meleilei, Ponapean
Melino, Tongan
Miers, Latvian
Mina, Wintu
Mtendere, Chewa, Nyanja
Muka-muka, Ekari
Musango, Duala
Mutenden, Bemba
Nabad -Da, Somali
Nagaya, Ethiopian
Nanna Ayya, Chickasaw
Ñerane’i, Guaraní
Nimuhóre, Ruanda
Nirudho, Pali
Nye, Ntomba
Olakamigenoka, Abenaqui
Paçi, Maltese
Pardamean, Indonesia
Paco, Esperanto
Pax, Latin
Pokój, Polish, Slovak
Pyong’hwa, Korean
Rahu, Estonian
Rangima’arie, Maori
Rauha, Finnish
Rerdamaian, Indonesian
Rukun, Javanese
Saanti, Nepali
Sai Gaai Òh, Pìhng Yue
Salama, Swahili
Santipap, Thai
Saq, Uighur
Shîte, Tibetan
Sholim, Yiddish
Síocháin, Irish
Sìth, Gaelic
Soksang, Khmer
Solh Dari, Persian
Sonqo, Tiaykuy, Quechua
Sulh, Turkish, Afghan
Taika, Lithuanian
Tecócatú, Nhengatu
Thayu, Gikuyu, Kenyan
Tsumukikatu, Comanche
Tuktuquil, Usilal Kékchí
Tutkiun, North Alaska Inuktitut
Udo, Igbo
Ukuthula, Zulu
Uvchin, Mapudungun
Uxolo, Xhosa
Vrede, Afrikaans, Dutch
Wâki Ijiwebis-I, Algonquin
Wetaskiwin, Cree
Wolakota, Lakhota
Wôntôkóde, Micmac
Wo’okeyeh, Sioux
Zhi-bde, Tibetan

See also the UNESCO-site on the Culture of Peace. The Manifesto 2000 for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence is also on the Good-Will website.

I regularly get e-mails forwarded by friends containing a warning about some imminent danger or about a “once-in-a-lifetime” situation.

So I just got a warning:

NASA America predicts total blackout on Earth from 22-25 Dec 2012 during alignment of Universe. If possible, please avoid travelling during the third week of December 2012 as all modes of communication may fail. … The 3 days blackout is predicted to happen on Dec 22, 23, 24, 2012. During this transition, the entire universe will face a big change, and we will see an entire brand new world… (of course everybody would like to know what will happen in these days – just wait some more weeks….)

Some weeks ago I received a warning about a new virus which has been discovered recently and it has been classified by Microsoft as the virus most destructive ever….

And another one telling that you should watch out for Mars in the month of August supposed to be closer to earth than ever before. Or that plastic in fridges produces cancer and the like…

Always there is a call to forward these e-mails as quickly as possible to all of our friends – and mostly the mails have already a large number of recipients.

Whenever such messages drop in, I google for a hoax-info website like Hoax-Slayer, Snopes (about rumours), Urban Legends or (in German) the Hoax Info site of the Technical University of Berlin.

Nearly in all cases I find out within seconds that the supposed catastrophe or unique occasion are nothing but a web rumour, a misuse of the credulity of well-intentioned contemporaries. I just send an answer to the sender with a link to the hoax-info website.

If, however, you come across an urgent information that the earth is going to crash in the next days, I hope that I’ll find out just in time that it isn’t a hoax and be prepared.

Reflections in a silver vessel

A robin lays her four eggs in a hanging basket and the home owners set up a camera to film the results. The mother looks so bewildered at the end …. where are those kids? It reminds of the destiny of parents with the children growing up and flying away. A life-story in 03:33 minutes. If your life runs just like this, it is time to reorient to some higher purpose…

Wednesday my forces had quite well recovered from the 3 days of “inner cleansing”. So we could start our journey back to Barcelona / Matadepera as planned. When we wanted to start I saw that our navigation device which I had put under the seat had been crashed by moving the seat. It only showed the map, there was no way of programming the course… Fortunately we had a map of Spain and a more detailed one Catalonia. Ignacio explained the best way out of Madrid and so we set off.

The countryside was arid and for some time the highway went through a desert. At a point there was a sign saying we were just crossing the 0 meridian of the longitude of Greenwich. We hadn’t been aware that we had been so much to the south-west.

We managed quite well to find our way through the labyrinth of streets in the outskirts of Barcelona. When arriving at the house of Aurora and Josep their youngest son who was playing music with some friends in the garage told us that we were invited to come that night to the house of Josep P. and Fabiola for dinner, together with Aurora and Josep. Without a navigation it wouldn’t be possible to go there – so Josep P. picked us up. We know each other since many years. Josep is about my age, but now retired from a job in a bank – and free for other work. He is an old theosophist and since many years in the WTT. Already in the car Josep told me about his publication work for Ediciones Dhanishta and his theosophical work, which he later showed me in his home – a simple apartment in the centre of Sabadell. We had a fascinating talk about experiences and researches.

In the meanwhile Fabiola had prepared the dinner and our other friends had arrived. And while the others were enjoying their dinner I kept to a diet, not to fall back into diarrhoea…

Early yesterday morning we set out on our journey back to Switzerland. While we were leaving Spain and the Mediterranean region I felt the circle of our journey closing – filled with intense experiences and exchanges – and gratitude. There had been many enriching encounters – the deeper ones couldn’t find expression in the blog.

Like always on long journey we were listening to audio-books from the library on the highway – we had a smooth flow, while on the other side of the road there had been several jams due to accidents. We felt grateful towards our guardian angels.

For 6 days I wasn’t online and so here comes an update from the

A ride through a scorched countryside brought us from Valencia to Madrid, where we arrived Saturday evening at the apartment of Ignacio in the centre of the city. He is of my age, working as an advocate and since many years deeply committed to his spiritual path. Several times we had shared rooms in India. He and Irene gave us a warm welcome and we spent the evening on his inner quadrangle terrace. Ignacio had a set of Osho Zen Tarot, and he playfully laid out some card for me and gave some explanations about my present situation. He said: “You must let go, let go of something you are holding to…”

Next morning they wanted to go with us to Toledo, about one hour drive away from Madrid. In the night, however, I got a strong diarrhoea and first it seemed it wouldn’t be possible to go. But I didn’t want to let the diarrhoea decide about the tour and so we went nevertheless. The “letting go” started 🙂

Ignacio told us that Toledo is an important energy centre and that in olden times it had been the seat of the Spanish kings. When the seat was moved to Madrid the spiritual energy there was said to have shifted to South America and the importance of Spain had declined.

Together with some friends they had been doing a meditation work to clean the atmosphere. Toledo had been a very traditionalist city with a lot of military – and we saw a big military academy at the outskirts. Over the centuries it had been a place of strongly fighted over, in recent past between the Franco regime and their adversaries.
For over 6 years they have been going every week and on full moon / new moon to Toledo to do meditations and prayers. At the beginning Ignacio didn’t want to do it, but he felt the inner urge. But with the time they experienced that the atmosphere became much lighter. They had formed a group called The Brotherhood of the Eagle and organised meditations and inter-religious meetings in Toledo. They had invited several times Sri Kumar to come and he had given talks about the spiritual importance of this place, and he had also installed 2 lingams in the river Tajo.

A city gate with the two-headed eagle and a statue of St. Michael on the top.

Toledo is a fortified city and everywhere you see the sign of the double-headed eagle, the profound symbol of the city representing the spirit – one head looking east, one north. The river Tajo is also flowing around the city forming a silhouette of an eagle.

The Tajo river and the old town of Toledo

We met Irene and an old couple who live there outside on a mountain with a fantastic view over the city. The man was a retired architect who knew a lot about the history of Toledo. There was an eagle-shaped rock to which we climbed up to have a short meditation. A king of the Moors had sojourned at this place to have the magnificent view over the city, while the catholic Spanish kings had their place on the next hill. Ignacio had told me about his energetic visions about Toledo and we sensed a powerful energy over the country. For me it was like a dome of light forming a huge arc in the air.

The eagle-shaped rock.

A short meditation at the rock of the eagle, where the group had started their meditational work some years ago. Later they did it at the river and now they do it in the cathedral.

Later we went to a restaurant of a friend of Ignacio, who is also linked to the Brotherhood. He is a Syrian muslim, but very open. The name of his restaurant is El Cristo de la Luz – The Christ of Light, a name of a nearby church where during the times of the Moors an image of Christ had been hidden and later re-discovered.

Everywhere in the city, which is very well preserved, you could feel the cultural influences of the different religions which had come with the different rulers and inhabitants.

The cathedral of Toledo where we had done another short meditation

The White Synagogue, now a museum

The whole day I had been going from toilet to toilet, and while walking to the cathedral and two old synagogues now transformed into museums I felt very weak. And when we drove back to Madrid I dropped asleep only to awaken again while we were entering into the city. Huge avenues with palaces on either side gave an impressive picture of the grandeur of this nation which at the moment is under the clutches of a severe economic crisis. On the outside you don’t perceive it, but in talks with the people it is everywhere very present. And when we arrived at the home of Ignacio I immediately fell into bed, starting a turbulent night  and two days with diarrhoea and vomiting.

Tuesday evening we took a taxi to a pharmacy to get some homoeopathic medicine- another nearby “homoeopathic” pharmacy didn’t have homoeopathy… And then we went with the metro to the centre of the Brotherhood of the Eagle – which Ignacio had bought and was used by different groups for spiritual activities. It was on the same floor as the office of Ignacio. A silent place with bright colours and of course the eagle. Ignacio explained to us the meditational work they are doing. Another friend, Conchi, came quite a distance with her son to join us. Since I still felt quite weak they gave me an energetic treatment which did me very well.

Just around the corner there were two huge glass high-rises of a bank – fascinating to see for an “architectural eye”, but seen energetically they gave an ominous impression – the towers were leaning forward like ready to collapse. Our friend told us that this bank is badly hit by the crisis. I thought of the woman shouting for some charity in the Metro and the beggars in the streets. A strange contrast with the display of grandeur along the Castillana, the huge central avenue were we were standing.