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:...
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...
Karl Marx and Charles Darwin shaped the world view of the 20th century. However, a movement emerged in India that freed itself from colonial shackles and revived the wisdom of Indian philosophy.
Recently, a friend asked me about the relationship between Eastern and Western culture. This is, of course, an enormous question that I also ponder and that, naturally, no one can truly answer. However, I want to formulate a few thoughts: The distance from an imagined center. The ‚Western‘ world, based on classical antiquity, Christianity, the Enlightenment, and materialism, is contrasted with the Occidental world of the Assyrians and Persians, Islam, and the idea of a divinely guided commonwealth. This...
I'm 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 considerations, and the explanations of the psychology of the gods open up access to these ‚sacred‘ texts. I remember my Latin studies, the Indo-European roots, the sounds that echo in the Ragas, phonetics as an expression of existence, language as sound and vibration, communication as rhythm. The breath of life, yoga, vitality, thinking in...
For many years I've known I wanted to practice ‚yoga‘ but never got around to it. Similar to meditation, I didn't feel ready for it, or I was put off by Western esoteric forms that ultimately view both meditation and yoga as self-optimization. Meditation and yoga are philosophical, spiritual, and ultimately transcendent practices; overcoming one's self, opening oneself to a greater consciousness. All of this seems so clear now. My ‚study‘ of Indian philosophy is slowly taking shape...
Die Solitude Farm in Auroville, ist ein ‚food forest‘. Dies ist einer der wenigen englischen Begriffe, die sich im Deutschen schlecht durch ein Kompositum ausdrücken lässt (Esswald?). Wir haben so etwas nicht, und können darüber auch schlecht nachdenken. Eine Obstwiese, die wir mit anderen essbaren Jahrespflanzen und kurzlebigeren Pflanzen so weit verwildern lassen würden, bis wir einen dichten Dschungel aus lauter essbaren Pflanzen haben … Dafür suche ich ein Wort. Es ist das Gegenteil einer ‚food desert‘, auch dafür haben…
German 
English 
French