New Spirits – Reading Deleuze in India
Consciousness exists only in connection with other consciousness
The contrast could hardly be greater: Auroville is flat, hot, on the coast; it wants to be a city, based on the teachings of Mirra Alfassa and Sri Aurobindo. At the core of their visions is the idea of bringing a divine consciousness down to earth, a “download” of the Supramental. Some seem to claim access to it. And sometimes I feel I understand what they are speaking of. The experience of a deep spirituality in meditation, in work, in…
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I come by way of the roads of Western thought. Since Roman times they have been well paved; they connect centers of power and have established a logic of knowledge exchange all their own. They connect points. Their nodes are central, while the path itself is bothersome, laborious. On these roads, a culture of monuments developed; they led to accumulations of knowledge and power. Division of labor led to specialization and progress. A society emerges in which the individual is…
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This is Tantra. This is divine. The decisive question is whether such a sacred encounter is possible only in romantic love, as tradition and Romanticism suggest — or whether it can arise when we open our being completely, beyond intellect and reason, beyond ego, desire, or obligation. I believe it can. But it has nothing to do with climax as a goal. It is about intimacy. It can be as simple as a touch, a smile, a heartbeat — sparks…
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Connection Over the past two years I have immersed myself quite deeply in the Upanishads, practiced some yoga, and engaged a little with the system of yoga. I have immersed myself in my own body, my own senses, my own consciousness. Have seen that there are a great many levels, and that there is no reason at all to assume that still more levels do not exist. Just two years ago I simply denied most of what I am experiencing…
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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 place in space, time, and consciousness where microcosm and macrocosm mirror one another. Studying the Irumbai temple as a smaller temple that follows the strict rules of temple construction and serves as a temple for practitioners shows its central role in a cluster of about two dozen temples in the surrounding area. It follows the…
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Outside my door there is soft red sandy ground. It is swept several times a week with a bundle of palm leaves and looks beautiful. I am still thinking about the same temple in Irumbai. Its history is becoming more and more complex, and so I am now immersing myself in Tantra philosophy. A few months ago I attended a workshop on it. We learned a small meditation exercise that I tried again today: Choose two objects and look at…
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For several weeks now, I have been living with a neurotic dog. She barked a lot, as long as she still perceived me as a stranger. She kept her distance, was frightened. After a few weeks, she accepted me, approaches and wants to be petted. Now she lies in front of my door and keeps watch; she protects me. What happened? I did not change my attitude towards her. I have little connection to dogs and pay her little attention.…
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The Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology has officially counted thousands of temples. Learn more about the significance of these temples and their knowledge thousands of years old. #Archaeology #Temples #TamilNadu
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