EDiscover the spiritual power of the Upanishads and the Rigveda in India. Experience the essence and the pure form of the senses in meditation.
Is it time to bring down the Kalasam?
EDiscover the fascinating sculptures of Saravana Deivasegamani at the Center for Art "The Divine Seed". His works reflect tradition, wisdom and spirituality and invite reflection. Learn more about his unique technique.
New Year
Gesterday I ended the year with a joint meditation. It was wonderful, calm and focused. And right now I want to go to the sea for a swim, which seems like a good start. I let my mind's eye run through how I have lived over the last few years and decades. I have lived in different places [...]
Eastern and Western philosophy?
NA friend recently asked me about the relationship between Eastern and Western culture. This is of course a huge question, which I also ask myself and which of course nobody can really answer. But I would like to formulate a few thoughts: The distance from an imagined center of The 'Western' world, based on classical antiquity, Christianity, the [...]
Art beyond darkness - Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022/23
Why do we need a biennial? I have often asked myself this question. Before COVID-19, I visited many places with international cultural events. During lockdown, I co-organized an artist residency program to reflect on the impact, threats and opportunities of COVID-19 for cultural workers. Everything went differently than expected. Now everyone is trying to get back to normal. Have we thoughtlessly spent trillions of euros and dollars to maintain a system that desperately needs a change?
How many senses do we have?
EDiscover the importance of the five senses and learn how proprioception as a possible sixth sense represents a revolution. Immerse yourself in the world of perception and consciousness. #Philosophy
"Exhibition of the works of Amitabh Sengupta at the Kalakendra Art Gallery, Auroville"
Dhe works of Amitabh Sengupta show a broad spectrum of styles and reflect the challenges faced by Indian artists in the 20th century. A major exhibition of his work is currently on display at the Kalakendra Art Gallery. Find out more about his influences and his significance for the Indian art scene.
CADALFEST at Adishakti
Dhe CADALfest took place in Adishakti from December 16 to 20, 2022. I hadn't planned to go, but I was very surprised by the four days of round-table discussions, poetry and film screenings, concerts and theater performances by a fascinating group of artists, activists and academics. I cherry-picked a little bit and ended up [...]
Dancing with the wind - Gilles Grimaître plays Avant-garde at CRIPA in Auroville
Gilles Grimaître visits Auroville for a few days during his Pro Helvetia artist residency in Bengaluru, Chennai and Pondicherry to engage with Carnatic music. The program he chose for the evening from Dec. 17th, 2022, was a passionate, loving introduction to usually not so accessible Western avant-garde music. Grimaître started off with Johannes Brahms - [...]
Simplicity
"Simplicity is complexity resolved"
Shiva Tiruvannamalei Deepam
Gesterday I followed something in my mind that I find difficult to describe. In everyday language, I would perhaps say that I followed my intuition. But it's a bit more complex than that. I went to Tiruvannamalai again. It was the last day of the Karthigai Deepam Brahmotsavam festival. So on December 6, 2022, a fire was lit on this mountain [...]
Intermiscence - Kena Upanishad
GI have just returned from a devotional meditation. It is the anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. He left his body 72 years ago, as they say here. I have been thinking and talking a lot about his commentaries on the Kena Upanishad for the last few days. I came across the word 'intermiscence'. It is almost only used by Aurobindo. [...]
Jumping fish
AI started meditating as a teenager or student, and I still vaguely remember my first meditations from that time. Strength and calm, concentration - mostly at night. They were very special moments. I didn't do it often. As a student, I continued to meditate very irregularly. I remember some of these predominantly 1-2 hour meditations, [...]
Center D'art
Rezension Article: Conceptual art during the Covid lockdown by Artist Aabhas Mahindre
Labyrinth - process aesthetics
"the eye thinks even more than it listens" (Deleuze) I now remember that before I started reading Deleuze, I had been working on process aesthetics. I made a 100-page manuscript, with notes, quotations, structural sketches. I wanted to get away from the idea that art consists of objects that are perceived in a particular form, because [...]
Diagrams - philosophical
II am slowly approaching Sanskrit. On Thursdays, Nishtha holds a seminar on the Rigveda. The joint recitation in Sanskrit, the detailed analysis of the translation, Nishtha's philological reflections and the explanations on the psychology of the gods open up access to these 'sacred' texts. I remember my Latin studies, the Indo-Germanic roots, the sounds that [...]
What to do?
Dhe last time I seriously asked myself what I should do was during my studies. I studied philosophy and I was often asked what I wanted to do with it. What a stupid question, I always thought. It's an inner urge, almost a compulsion that you can't resist. Every such [...]
Sleeping
Gesterday I went to sleep expecting to get up early and meditate. I set the alarm for 6 o'clock. In the evening, a French yoga teacher and mountain guide told me about the early morning hours in India, that they are the best for meditation - I already knew that they are good for ryas. She told me [...]
Elements - Fire
II remember always staring into the fire since I was a child. I think a lot of people do that. There is something fascinating about fire. In the Vedas, Agni is the god of fire, one of the five elements alongside water, air, earth and ether. The Greeks also have these elements. I didn't realize this for a very long time [...]
Holistic yoga
Sor many years I have known that I would like to practise 'yoga', but I have never done it. Similar to meditation, I didn't feel ready for it, or was put off by Western esoteric forms that ultimately see both meditation and yoga as self-optimization. Meditation and yoga are philosophical, spiritual and ultimately transcending practices, [...]