Chola Temple
During the Chola Empire, the layout of Shiva temples became highly formalized. Based on the Agamas and Shastras, the temple was fully developed into a locus in space, time, and consciousness where the microcosm and macrocosm mirror each other. The study of the Irumbai temple, as a smaller temple that follows the strict rules of temple architecture and serves as a practitioner's temple, reveals its central role in a cluster of about two dozen temples in the vicinity. It follows the main principles of Vastu,…
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The bearable lightness of being
Sometimes meditation is quite simple and natural. I sit down, go into my body, become aware of my sensory apparatus and how my consciousness and mind deal with it, bring everything to a standstill and higher consciousness manifests itself, a different kind of knowledge, space and time, a different world of experience... But sometimes it is also difficult, and then I learn how meditation really works. I sit down, a chaos of thoughts and feelings spreads. It takes a long time until I...
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Theory and practice - Part 1
Many have the idea that we live in a world made of matter, following the laws of physics and various theories such as the theory of evolution. This is strange, because matter as such doesn't really exist, E=mc² stands for this. I don't really understand this formula, but it symbolically represents that in the end everything is energy, possibly even just vibration as the string theory claims. Then there is the physics of the macrocosm and the microcosm. They contradict each other...
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Art
When I read a book, watch a movie, get lost in a painting, or participate in a performance, what exactly is happening? It’s as if I’m experiencing something, and images, feelings, and experiences are being awakened within me. Imagine a movie, a book, a play, or a painting that deals with human relationships, action, history, or fairy tales. So you sit somewhere and look at something that tells a kind of story. Now, what is the difference between…
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Tattvas
In front of my door is a soft, red sandy floor. It's swept several times a week with a bundle of palm leaves, and it looks beautiful. I'm still thinking about the same temple in Irumbai. Its history is becoming increasingly complex, and so I'm now diving into Tantric philosophy. I attended a workshop on this a few months ago. We learned a small meditation exercise that I tried again today: Choose two objects and look at them alternately, saying the name of the object...
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Stream of life
I read Sri Aurobindo slowly and with long intervals. Why not read a lot and quickly, absorb everything, and finally bring order to my mental world, which wants to break free from the consequences of rational monotheism? Why don't I give my intellect the freedom, concentration, rest, and strength to embark on one of life's greatest adventures? As a student, I once swam very naively in the Rhine, somewhere near Basel, where the water was clear and cold, fast and broad green mountain landscapes…
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The book of life
Fate, karma, causality, laws of nature, determinism – these are all different expressions of the idea that the universe follows a predictable logic. They imply that what has happened has logically arisen from what preceded it, and that the present is likewise determined by the past. We consider this logic to be reasonable and rational, logically sound. Yet, when we assume that the future is equally determined by the present and the past, we dismiss it as superstition, irrationality, or unscientific. We resist it…
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Contemplation and intuition
When the rational mind roams through the worlds of knowledge, explores the library, or searches for the causal laws of the universe, it is meticulous work of building knowledge systems. These systems initially have little in common with the world of experience, or even the inner world. Only through contemplation does the mind pause and consider the systematized, abstract representation as an image of the world, as a worldview. It is intuition that anchors this image in a deeper reality. When can we say...
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Memory
For several weeks, I've been living with a neurotic dog. She used to bark a lot as long as she perceived me as a stranger. She kept her distance, she was scared. After a few weeks, she accepted me, she approaches and wants to be petted. Now she lies in front of my door and keeps watch; she protects me. What happened? I haven't changed my attitude towards her. I have little connection to dogs and don't pay much attention to her. I'm relatively indifferent. With her...
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Abstract art and immanence - on Deleuze and Kandinsky
(this is an old text of mine, found in the archives. It is strange to read it again, as it shows to me how desperately I tried to get out of the trap of representation and the urge to embrace a philosophy of immanence. I went through so many ideas, looked at so many artists – I never did anything with the text, as my self-critical voice didn’t consider it to be any good. I have to say I like...
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Superficiality
I am slowly delving a little deeper into superficiality. Concepts I have absorbed from various knowledge systems like the Vedas, Agamas, and Shastras are slowly connecting. I see broad root systems. For example, how the 5 elements (water, fire, earth, ether, and air) as a starting point in the teachings of the Vedas further develop in Vastu or Ayurveda, thus into space and the body. I see how various knowledge systems intertwine in the temple, and how this is still reflected in contemporary art practice today...
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