"Ich war noch niemals in New York??" Not me....

I still remember my very,very first day in New York City....roughly 16.300 days ago - and now I was there again and there must have been some 10 to 15 visits in between as well..this time,however,it was all very different: we flew to see this unique city as a small family of three - and BIG APPLE welcomed us as dreamers, tourists, and shoppers....we had three easy going evenings and two full days..enough time to explore most of mid-town Manhattan,have a relaxed dinner with our American friends and to see the musical In the Heights.

There was hardly any jet-lag and the comfortable Lufthansa return flight took just a little over six short hours...all in all it was well worth the organizational efforts - and I enjoyed showing my wife and my daughter around..they were impressed about my first place of residence: right on the corner of 90th and Broadway...the building looks impressive and there was even a doorman inside the entrance....so what did I learn in these 16.300 days between then and now?

The answer: My brain is still stretching and being stretched especially by the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and if you are or plan to be on a spiritual path I would highly recommend listening to his message - it has the potential to let you understand who you truly are and to reap the benefits that will come with such an insight.

So - one might say that although the "story of ME" which kick - started in New York City a long time ago - is still in progress it is no longer the self-concept defining saga that it used to be... and that is quite a liberating feeling.

E. Tolle My present teacher on TV

Originally I had wanted to embed the interview with Mr. Tolle here which he gave last night (Feb. 15,2009) on ABC news...but since I was somehow unable to copy the film here I looked for other materials about him at: www.youtube.com and I found this clip about his second book: A New Earth among many other videos.And I like what he says about the incoming new consciousness - and yes, it will have the power to dramatically change our present world of forms and things.

I see myself as someone who is in the process of helping to bring about and usher in some of these changes and I see clearly the vanity that results when I allow my neurotic ego to show me the ( wrong ) direction...and it is ironic that my young daughter just loves to use her latest English verb: to upgrade!! It figures - and maybe at her age it is still appropriate to dream about wanting to be special and to be more....not realizing that she couldn't be more complete than she is right now.

For us adults,however, that path is slowly coming to end and hopefully just in time....and as a teacher I wonder of course what will the "new school" be like....and Eckhart Tolle would say to that: Jay,don't be too concerned about it - as long as it is based on the new consciousness it will manifest all by itself...and yet: I am still curious...will we have a 45 minutes based schedule? will there be tests and grades and competition?And what subjects will be taught in such a school...

It is the perspective that changes everything

I remember how electrified I felt when I saw the first pictures of our planet taken from space....I immediately sensed how precious and "fragile" my home was and somehow I realized that it may just be one huge organism....later on I read in a book somewhere that this body is called GAIA.

In this context Neale Donald Walsch taught me this:perspective influences perception.Perception influences beliefs,attitudes and values.These three influence our behaviors.Behavior influences our experiences. The experiences we have influence our reality...and then our reality will influence our perspective etc. etc. so to be able to see the Earth from Space led me to look within - and ever since then I have never been "without".

School:An instrument for the heart?

I am involved in an interesting project: a Gesundheitsstammtisch.There are about 25 to 30 "members" and once a month about 20 of us come together in order to exchange ideas about how to stay healthy and fit.

This coming Thursday it is my turn to give a short presentation. I chose a topic that has been of great interest to me for many years: the individual journey into one's "inner" dimension...to explore the realm of The One Life - the inner stillness - the level of being where the sense of I AM can be experienced and how this relates to wanting to slow down the aging process.

Talking of just this "heart space" alone will not be enough...I will also need to speak about the other dimension as well:the one that is governed by the brain and by the ego.

And while I am preparing for this short presentation I have just become aware of an inner split.As a teacher I am mostly engaged in providing input into the brain and as a health conscious learner I am eagerly exploring the dimension of the heart.

I believe that the world of schooling with its lopsided emphasis on thinking,analysis and forms is co-responsible for the crisis our civilization is in - and that I would very much like to help my students gain access to their inner dimension as well...how would the reality of a regular class session change if the emphasis was also on the "human heart" and no longer just on the "human brain"? Good question.

When will my college ( or should I just say I ) begin to make room for teaching about such a shift in consciousness? In other words: how could my school and its students benefit from the insights that are discussed at our Stammtisch and elsewhere? A good start to get an idea would be to visit the home page of a pioneer in such awakening efforts: www.peterrussell.com

You can visit Peter's site directly from this blog.

President Obama's Recovery Plan

I am really pleased to have contributed to the Obama campaign some time ago because my donation put me on "his" email list..and I am still getting emails like this one today which I post here for my students - and I have no idea if they will even want to click on it and watch his message - but one thing is sure: this type of virtual proximity with the public will have an influence on how our German upcoming federal elections - the next one in September 2009 will unfold...the candidates will certainly want to make extensive use of the Internet and of the existing email possibilities - unless they don't..and maybe we will have to wait the usual three to five years before the American ideas get implemented over here

The Flow reloaded.Final Presentation.Day 5

Monday was presentation day.We met as a group at about 9:00 am - shortly after the teachers had had their beginning of the new semester staff meeting.I was a bit worried that some of the the agreed materials had not been prepared. But fortunately this was premature and the typical teacher's anxiety.

The students brought their laptops,Katarina had worked long hours to edit the filmed DVD materials and Mel not only had the present for Jenny on hand - but also the enlarged photo posters for our display wall as well.

Students flocked by our booth initially and later on assembled in the ball-room for our short adventure film.Somebody suggested that we make it available on the Internet and clickable from this blog.So Katarina will see how she can upload the materials on to YouTube.

It was about noon when we finally dismantled the materials: it was a very exciting extra-curriculum project and I am very pleased about the outcomes.A BIG thank you for all of you who shared to make this week such a special experience....I guess it would be correct to say: The FLOW did it.