home  news monktour 04/05
monktour 04/05 reports from my sabbatical in Switzerland, Germany, LA, France,...
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Wednesday, 24 August 2005 |
 "Home is where the heart is" they say... Well, if that is indeed the case, my home is all over the place ;-) I just returned to Los Angeles to the littlehouse a bit over a week ago after the 8 week gig in Europe which was all about learning how to be centered wherever, in airports, hotels, different countries, and all about being home in myself). My head is still spinning a bit as the transformation that occurs with traveling is still settling. Most of all, I enjoyed the amazing diversity this planet has to offer (so sad that people seem to have issues with that and consider it a reason to blow each other up, whether with smart boms or bombs in backpacks). Images from the different countries I visited are still coming up in my head, some of the delicious food I got to eat, the different styles of buildings, and most of all the people. A dear friend of mine once said that you haven't traveled if you haven't made a friend. Well, I guess I did travel in that case. I met some lovely people all over Europe and some of them, I know, will be in my life for a while. I look forward to how that will unfold.
A whole lot of new projects came up while I was in Europe and I am eager to get working on these, but for now I need to focus on the tasks at hand...
My computer just died on me, which means that apart from the project work I did in Europe, I lost all of my data from the last two months. Lovely when that happens, liberating in a way...
Apart from that, it's all about finishing up what I had started (the Six Sigma for Your Life project went quite well, and is now ready for revision). Then it's on to two conferences that are coming up: one is organized by the Institute for Global Transformation, and features a variety of organizations dedicated to service, ranging from Boeing to Waldorf Schools, to Course in Miracles, and of course the Center for Conscious Creativity. Then, there is the Writers Conference this fall, which should be quite exciting with organizations like the Noetics Institute, the Philosophical Research Society, transformative and consciousness based authors and on the other hand presentations on writing for new technologies like podcasting, DVDs, or gaming.
Lots of good stuff coming up... For now, I am going to be treating myself to a PoetrySoup party and there is some good music and art coming up. Dean Chamberlain, Alex Grey and some others have a show coming up, which I look very much forward to. Apart from that, it's all about continuing to plug away and keep living life as art ;-)
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Tuesday, 12 July 2005 |
 In airports you can see all kinds of different people. I like to get there early and sit and watch the stream of faces from places all over the world pass by. Airports are one of my favorite places to do a Sufi exercise I once learned: In observing your fellow humans say to yourself: "I am looking at the faces of God".
Changes one's perspective... On this little planet we live on, everyone is your neighbor. The space between the particles that make up your body is that very same space that permeates everything and everyone else. While you are separate, you are also one with everything - the beautiful core paradox of life...
Today, I am leaving London for a tour all over Europe to visit the local offices of my client. There will be plenty of airports along the path and I am already looking forward to seeing "God" in hir many faces.
Being in London for the last few weeks has been interesting in many ways. It was sad to be here and witness human beings blowing each other up - especially when knowing that this happens all day long all over the world. It is amazing that today there are still people who think that "God" can be separated. That we can have different ones each more omnipotent and omniscient than the other, that "God" can be separate depending on where on this lovely planet one gets to grow up.
It was curious to me that only a few days prior to the bombs exploding in London, a friend of mine send me a link to a speech that was made in 1953 declaring a world government (the Ellsworth declaration). It was saddening to read and infuriating at the same time considering that more than 50 years have past since, and that we still don't seem to be any further in making this one planet with one population.
Until we all consider ourselves one species, humans, and until we look at our home as this planet rather than arbitrarily determined nations, we will continue to suffer from separation and all the terror it brings with it.
It starts with each and every one of us. I, for my part, look forward to sitting in the airport and doing my Sufi exercise today and over the next couple of weeks while traveling all over Europe. It might be a small thing, but it's definitely a start...
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Monday, 04 July 2005 |
"Berliner Luft" (Berlin air) has already been praised in a song of the past.... Got to inhale some of it during a short visit over the weekend. Do have to say it was noticable. Los Angeles is not really known for its air quality in spite of the many improvements (personally, I like the dryness of the air and the smell of flowers). London is battling with 3 million cars and in spite of a few lovely parks that act as the lungs of this place, the air is not that great. Being in Berlin, I definitely noticed the difference. So many streets are lined with trees, the air smelled fresh and lovely...
Air was on my mind this weekend, I guess. Talked with my lovely cousin and her boyfriend about yoga a lot. Breathing, such an incredibly simple thing, so at the core of our being, is so often neglected. To consciously inhale (air that is), is such a beautiful treat, and one of my favorite results of doing yoga. It reminds us that we are here, allows us to suck the marrow out of the bone of life... Just as art does...
 Art was actually my primary reason to come to Berlin. My cousin Kay Vygen had an art opening called "Koerpersprache" (Body Language) in a charming gallery/ wine store. With my life in flux as it has been, his opening was the one date I committed to in Europe this year. And I made it! The joy that comes from living up to a commitment can honestly not be underestimated. Such a treat it was, too. Saw lots of my family, which was wonderful, got to have some beautiful conversations with friends of my family, and all around had a most lovely time. Even ended up buying some art... Although my living situation is a bit open at the moment, I could not help it. Broke the spell a couple of months ago when I bought a beautiful photograph of the desert and mountains in Bolivia by my gifted friend Linka (still don't have a picture of it, funny enough... will put it up eventually). Since, my cousin Kay's sculpture (in the picture) is the latest addition to my collection... ahhh art.... the dual process of transformation that occurs in the making and beholding of art is for me at the core of human existence (here a paper I wrote on the topic).
Just read a lovely book on C.G. Jung's new myth for man this weekend, which essentially talked about Jung's idea that the meaning of life lies in conscious living. Consciousness being "knowing with", existing willingly as a means for the underlying Consciousness that we all share, "God" if you will, to experience itself in actuality. Conscious living as a means to continue to make unconscious parts of our transpersonal selves conscious, bringing to light all there is. Art is a crucial tool in this process in that it allows to bring to light things that are hard to explain in words, that loose their magic in scientific rationalization. As Goethe already stated, we cannot experience the divine, truth, directly, but only in symbol and example. Art appears as both.
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Friday, 24 June 2005 |
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 Ahhh..... London.... one of my favorite cities in the world. When I grew up and first learned English, I always wanted to live there, but then got sidetracked into living in the states. Never lost my love for it, though.
And here I am again. After unexpectedly spending the last five and a half months in Los Angeles, I am now unexpectedly in London, and it looks like I might see a whole lot of other lovely European cities in the next few weeks. Am in London for a consulting project for Universal Studios, and might also "have to" visit Paris, Berlin, Munich, Milan, and Madrid in the next weeks. Fun, fun, fun... We will see what happens, but it looks like the travels continue. Am hoping to make it back to Los Angeles mid-August, as I have two conferences coming up for the Center for Conscious Creativity. Very much looking forward to those - if you are interested in the current paradigm shift and how it relates to projects of transformation and to changing myths, I highly encourage you to check out those conferences. Should be quite interesting ;-)
Took the picture above with my phone this morning on a little walk. Did not have my camera or proper attire with me, although I of course took the monk regalia with me on my travels and might have to redo the shot in that. You can see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey in the distance. |
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Thursday, 24 February 2005 |
 It looks like I will have to interrupt my monktour for a few months... Will be in LA for a while thanks to the Center for Conscious Creativity and a whole load of other things... Too much going on here. Such a buzzing place LALAland is at the moment... Several of my friends have some beautiful projects going on as well, and I am excited about being here and supporting them. We will see what comes forth in the next weeks.
The last two have definitely been quite amazing. My brother was here to visit for two weeks. Am working with him on Six Sigma for Your Life, a course I have been developing, and which he is investigating in the context of his PhD on stress management. It was great to spend some quality time with him here in LA. Wish the weather had been better as I had hoped my brother could get some sunshine while he is out here, but contrary to common belief, it does rain in LA sometimes ;-)
Had a most lovely time full of adventures while he was here, though. Had a little impromptu event at the little house, made soup, and invited some of my lovely musician friends. Chris and Thomas came by without instruments (think they wanted to chill for once), but my friend who has a one-man band called The Lonliest Monk, brought an array of curious instruments with him, my friend Frankie "Fingers" sat down on the piano, and everyone was jamming before you knew it ;-) Quite lovely. The picture on the bottom is my brother after the party - not very charming picture as he was making a funny end-of-the-party face ;-) Light the light over his ajna, though...
Met two lovely gentleman that evening who are in the midst of shooting a documentary on addiction (they came to my place that night via Beverly Hills and Skid Row). Made me think about addiction quite a bit. Think that initially every act or thought is creative, conscious and willful. As we keep repeating it, it can turn into a habit without mindfulness. At some point, all the will is with the habit - and at this point, it has turned into addiction. From there, we can become conscious of it, turn it back into a habit as we reclaim our will over it, and finally, each act/thought becomes willfull again, without projection, conscious and creative. Hmm... will work on that one ;-) Am currently playing around with some of my habits, primarily smoking. Has been quite interesting and a good exercise in will. The mind is such an amazing thing...
Life is such a different experience when we exercise our will. Most of the time, we spend in slumber states, pulled by projections and imaginary rules we assumed often without questioning. If we actually pull all that energy back, take time to know and exercise our will, life suddenly becomes a whole new game of conscious creativity. Will write plenty more as I am putting together a book on the topic. So watch out ;-)
Much more to say, but no time right now... |
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Tuesday, 01 February 2005 |
 Ahhhh, poetry... Words have such amazing power. I started writing poetry when I was 8 and stopped when I was 10 because I started to read other people's poetry and decided that I had nothing to add. Kids ;-)
Really loved reading poetry for many years, but then became continuously disillusioned with it as much of what was being written was more intellectual masturbation than anything that - as Goethe suggested - could give us glimpses of the numinous in nature and in ourselves...
Lately, thanks to my friend Stosh, I have rediscovered my love for it, and have even written some here or there... Stosh moved here from Chicago, where I met him, and where poetry is read like firetrucks. Although there are some really great venues in LA that have a whole variety of poetry to offer (my favorite so far is New Earth's open mic on Mondays), Stosh and I decided to throw our own last year. I made a vat of soup, and he invited a bunch of poets. We had several of those and tons of fun last year and had all kinds of additional entertainment, from handstand acrobatics to meditations with sound bowls by my friend Lahra, didgeridoos, music by my friend Mark from Cool Dry Place, as well as by my friends Chris and Thomas... Quite a trip... When I left on mine I was afraid there would be no more PoetrySoup after my departure to Switzerland. Fortunately, Stosh and my new delightful friend Carlye picked up the ball and ran with it.
Coming back to LA this month I was greeted with an invitation to a PoetrySoup at Carlye's place. She has a most lovely place perfect for gatherings of that kind, her and her husband are amazing and gracious hosts, and they even have a trampolin in their backyard, which was quite a success at the party as you might imagine... Altogether, it was a most lovely PoetrySoup event. There was tons of inspiring poetry, laughter and mindful conversation, and I got to make soup (Yam and Carrot with Orange/Pineapple - very Californian). Have a pile of pictures to sift through, but the above was funny, as it is a typical kitchen party scene, only in this case with a bunch of intent listeners ;-)
Look forward to the next one already. Looks like I might be in LA for a while after all. Too much going on here... So much for a three month Sabbatical ;-) Maybe next time?
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Wednesday, 19 January 2005 |
The last weeks have been a bit of a whirl wind. My friend stosh likes to say that "No plan survices initial encounter. But it's good to have a plan". Think he is right. I had a plan for 2005, and it already crumbled in the face of events. All good, though, and I am excited to watch the year unfold further.
Last Sunday I saw a most excellent lecture at the Philosophical Research Society, which featured an author my partner in the Center for Conscious Creativity had discovered. Quite phenomenal. Finally helped me to understand the symetry of triangles and squares, and how the universe appears to be folding nicely into a sevenfold structure. But that's a long story and will be the topic of future exploitations ;-)
 I also met a most beautiful artist on Sunday. I had heard about his work several years ago from a friend, but never explored him further until recently. Alex Grey paints a new picture of humanity. He demystifies and remystifies with his art, showing the human body's anatomy, and at the same time pointing at the numinous energies that surround it.  It was such a harsh contrast to see the BodyWorld Exhibit at the California Scenter of Science. In itself, it was a brilliant display of anatomy, of real human bodies cut in slices and displayed. They among others showed the difference between a healthy lung and a smokers lung - the latter being black due to the equivalent of 5dl of liquid tar inhaled every year when smoking 20 cigarettes a day, which, of course, added yet another good reason for me to quite that habit. Nice to see was that nearly all the lungs in the exhibit were black, which shows that smokers are nice enough people to donate their bodies for science ;-)
The exhibit was none the less disappointing. Interesting as it was, it seemed to miss a large part of human existence. That mysterious part, the conscious part that makes those bodies be truly alive, and will not be found in a configuration or pattern of brain cells. That, you can see in Alex Grey's art. He shows both particle and wave, body and soul, and in that shows us a more complete picture of a human being than any plasticised corpse could ever do.
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Tuesday, 04 January 2005 |
Happy New Year! Wishing you all you will for 2005!
 January, when it's cold outside, is always a good month to catch up on things. For my part, I had to interrupt my sabbatical in order to take care of some business. Just returned to LALAland to deal with INS, IRS, DDS a few days ago. Fun ;-)
Also have some even more fun events planned. A poetrysoup, a CCC event, some readings, art related meetings and more... and, of course, just plain catching up with people I haven't seen in a while.
Of course, I was hoping for sunshine and warmth, but am experiencing record rains. It's lovely, though; the plants seem to love it, and the air feels fresh and clear (always nice in LA). Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day after more than two weeks of pretty much continous downpour. At this point I am ready for it, although it was pretty romantic to sit in the studio with a fire going listening to the rain outside.
Since I got back, I have already gone through all the US food groups I have been missing: on top of the list Sushi, of course, then Indian, Thai, Mexican, Chinese, Fatburger, Domino's Pizza, and more... It is so amazing that there are all these cultures mingling in this country, and at the same time nobody seems to be getting along with the US. Strange, isn't it?
Wishing you all a most peaceful 2005!
smiles
philip
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Tuesday, 21 December 2004 |
My brother picked me up last weekend and after a lovely wedding on Saturday (friends of the family in Morbio, who were absolutely sweet and fed me for lunch nearly every day while I was staying in Switzerland), I returned across the alps to Germany....
Driving across the alps was fun... snow storms and ice on the roads and getting to Germany was like driving into winterworld.... Had just recently complained about not having had white xmas in a while, but it looks like I might get lucky this year... This morning the thermometer was at 20 below Fahrenheit! Even after growing up here and the years I spent in Chicago, I am still not a big friend of the cold.... Soon to be in warm LA/Ticino again ;-)
Wishing you all a most blessed couple of holidays with whatever labels and ceremonies you enjoy!
smiles
philip
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Thursday, 16 December 2004 |
  Yesterday I picked up the very first bronze sculptures I ever made. The creative process is truly amazing. I made sculptures from wax, and now, I hold them in my hands, 10 times heavier, and they are no longer wax, but metal, bronze. Really neat. Had always enjoyed the process of seeing something develop, whether a picture in a dark room, or a piece of stone waiting to set free a sculpture, or a canvas begging to be caressed with paint. But for the first time I created something, and had it cast. Feel like an architect, who drew plans and now sees the completed building for the first time. Really cool. Never had this particular creative sensation before (and of course I want more already). It is so exciting, how life keeps offering new opportunities to be creative.
Just this morning I was answering a client inquiry for liveartfully. A woman contacted me because she felt the need to be creative, she felt unhappy with the available templates on "how to be", and wanted to "do" something to feel alive. Alienated by television, popular music, the bar scene, she was looking to do something to feel more creative and had tried a variety of media to do so, but could not find a good valve to let off her creative steam. It seems that this is a common problem these days. We appear to be in the midst of a major cultural transition toward conscious creativity and more conscious living. Following is roughly what I wrote her back... |
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Thursday, 16 December 2004 |
 Ahhhh..... the green fairy. Muse of many artists, poets, creatives of the past. She dances with you, tickles your brain; intoxicating, she lets the world be seen anew once again....
In case you are wondering... the green fairy refers to Absinth. Switzerland can be considered as the birthplace of Absinthe. In the Valley Val de Travers in the Swiss Jura the original Pernod distillery was located, and after the prohibition of Absinth, many bootleggers stayed around there. Now, almost 100 years after the prohibition, Switzerland is relegalizing Absinth as of the beginning of 2005 (most of Europe already did so a few years ago). I was lucky to have a little early taste of a genuine La Bleue (bootlegged, homemade, delicious) that a friend brought back from Val de Travers. It was utterly delightful and indeed created interesting cognitive phenomena. Yet again goes to show what an amazing neurological machine we have in our skulls. And again goes to show that nature was kind in providing in its many forms fuel for the machine...
To what end, though? Drunkenness? Inebriation? What's the difference we wonder...
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