I Sleep
There is a strange place within me, where the word "self" wants to point something out. That place of stillness and quiet, where I am with myself and look for the self. A place deep in the heart, free from ties to the outside world, a place where being alone feels right, no expectations are active there, other people are certainly present in memory or thought, but they have no influence. That place where...
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The Radicality of the Now
We only live in the moment. This often sounds like an accusation. You shouldn't just live in the moment; think about the future, be aware of your responsibilities. Living in the moment is seen as daydreaming, as unproductive and escapist in many modern societies. For those who have time beyond mere survival in a capitalist, socialist, or any other kind of economy and can spare some time for themselves, the great driving force seems to be to leave something behind:...
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The Divine and the Void
The contrast could hardly be greater: Auroville is flat, hot on the coast, and it wants to be a city, based on the teachings of Mirra Alfassa and Sri Aurobindo. At their core, their visions are based on the idea of bringing divine consciousness to Earth, a „download“ of the Supramental. Some seem to be able to claim access to it. And sometimes I feel like I understand what they're talking about. The experience of deep spirituality in meditation, in work, in being...
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To walk the inner path together
I walk the streets of Western thought. They have been well-trodden since Roman times, connecting centers of power and establishing a unique logic of knowledge exchange. They connect points, their nodes are central, the path itself is tedious, arduous. A culture of monuments developed on these streets, leading to accumulations of knowledge and power. Division of labor led to specialization and progress. A society emerges in which the individual is understood as a social being, whose social reality is governed by rules...
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The Connoisseur
I am back in Europe for a short time and I see a busyness, an energy of constant doing. Working, discussing, cleaning up, running errands, attending to obligations, organizing, optimizing, presenting, questioning, exchanging. Something is constantly being done. Having something to do seems important, doing nothing seems unproductive and requires justification. However, not being productive has many important qualities, so inaction is sometimes a form of resistance, or quiet contemplation can be understood as inner work, a work,...
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Grounding in heaven
Movement Instead of Rootedness I recently asked myself if I really want to be grounded. Am I a tree that sinks its roots into the earth and doesn't move, but grows in the environment where the seed once sprouted? Or do I want to be a rock in the surf, letting the water wash over me, yielding something over millennia and dissolving into the sand? My idea of human existence is actually different, more about movement, exploration, and...
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Defend - React - Unite
Sometimes I react strangely. Someone does something unexpected, an uncertainty within me is awakened. How do I process that and how do I react to it, and what does "react" even mean here? So it's about expectation, a being in the world that anticipates. The future is considered predictable and is also seen as such. If I do this or that, someone might react in one way or another. But sometimes it happens that the other person's reaction is different. I...
WeiterlesenThe self
Ramana, one of India's great enlightened beings, lived in Tiruvannamalai. At the core of his teachings is the concept of the Self: its emptiness and simultaneously immeasurable vastness. His teachings are simple; he does not follow a long tradition of interpretations. He was a simple man who meditated on the mountain and held satsangs. As a contemporary of Aurobindo, people listened to both and compared their radically different approaches. I am currently in Tiruvannamalai. I have attended some satsangs. I had a question in mind: How…
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Music - Nāda-Brahman
First Encounters with Ragas As a teenager, I listened to ragas for hours. I knew nothing about them. I looked things up a bit: microtonality, meditation, melodic progression. I didn't understand anything else. But they were the deepest musical experiences – a meditation through music. To this day, ragas lead me inward or into deep states of realization, which are not rational, however. It's more of a way of being in the world. Music as a Shared Space and Pure Energy Listening to music draws…
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Art beyond progress
Contemporary art is obsessed with the „next step.“ The avant-garde, the unprecedented, the new and unique. Yet, in the pursuit of the new, we lose sight of something essential: artistic practice itself. Artistic practice isn't just about pushing boundaries. It belongs to those who use art for self-exploration, spiritual practice, healing, therapy, or craft. But in today's culture, especially in the West, we act as if...
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The desire of the fruit
An apple, a strawberry, a melon or a passion fruit, a banana or plum, a tomato or cucumber, a bean or grain, a coconut, and a pomegranate. Fruits want to be eaten, they want to bring pleasure, nourish, and sometimes even intoxicate. They shimmer and ferment, decay and exude scents, they catch the eye, enchant the senses, create desire and enjoyment. They are not entirely accidental. Fruits reflect a desire of those who eat them: humans, horses, monkeys, ants, beetles, birds...
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The true self
Zen is about finding your true self. But it doesn't exist, and that's the mystery of our existence. In a world of representations, cognitive dissonance, and alternative facts, it's good to immerse yourself in the essence of existence, in a non-dual being. Thinking helps very little here, because thinking is actually always thinking about something, reflecting on something. Thinking is an activity that refers to something, that deals with representations of the world. That which...
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