Igor Kufayev

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Igor Kufayev (2017)

Igor Anvar Kufayev ( pronunciation : [ ˈkuːfəjɛv ], Russian И́горь Анва́р Ку́фаев [ ˈiɡərʲ ɐnˈvar ˈkufəɪf ]; * January 5, 1966 ) is a Russian-English artist, yogi and spiritual teacher. He is also called Vamadeva ( Sanskrit ); the name denotes the "sustaining aspect of Shiva in its peaceful, graceful and poetic form".

Early years

Igor Kufayev was born in Tashkent , Uzbekistan . In his childhood he had many spiritual experiences associated with the Kundalini awakening . He was taught classical arts from an early age. He attended the private studio of the martial artist and painter Shamil Rakhimov; this was also a meeting place for liberal thinkers, poets and painters in Tashkent. Because of the violent death of his mentor, Igor Kufayev decided to become an artist. He studied at the Tashkent State Institute of Culture with a two-year break due to compulsory military service in the theater and in the wall painting department. In 1988 he continued his studies at the Russian Art Academy in St. Petersburg . Parallel to his studies, he studied the masterpieces in the Hermitage Museum and copied them for practice.

Artistic career

Igor Kufayev, Kneeling figure , 1993, oil on canvas, 127 × 127 cm, London, collection of Sir Elton John
Igor Kufayev, Purusha , 1995, tondo, oil on canvas, diameter 80 cm, London, private collection

In 1990 Kufayev left Russia and moved to Warsaw in Poland . An encounter with the art critic Andrzej Matynia led to Kufayev's first solo exhibition, Eternal Compromise in the Monetti Gallery, Warsaw. Kufayev was invited to take part in the Meeting of Sacred Images at the Museum of Ethnology in Warsaw with his work Compromise , alongside works such as the Black Madonna of Czestochowa and the Mexican Our Lady of Guadalupe and masters such as Christian Boltanski .

In August 1991 Kufayev moved to London, in the same year his daughter from his first marriage was killed in a car accident. This led him to take a long break from work. At the end of the same he painted a cycle of dramatic paintings. These pictures, dedicated to his daughter Laura, were shown in a 1994 solo exhibition entitled Burnt Earth . This exhibition made him known in the London art scene.

In less than a decade, Kufayev managed to establish himself as a successful artist and opened his own studio in London, where he held private exhibitions every year. The Magic Tondo was created on the commission Igor Kufayev received from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to accompany the performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute at Christie's headquarters in St. James's, London in the fall of 1995. A few months later, in January 1996, Kufayev received English citizenship.

The following series of four tondos, bearing the same title, Magic , was a significant achievement that took two years to complete (1995–1997).

Kufayev traveled extensively to visit major art fairs in Europe and to paint in France and Italy. Despite his success, due to the general state of art, he was deeply disillusioned with all of the prevailing trends.

Inner transformation

Kufayev's early interest in spirituality led Kufayev to practice yoga , and in 1996 initiation into Transcendental Meditation founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi . He delves into the study of various spiritual traditions with a special emphasis on Indian philosophy , Sufi and Zen . By the age of 36, Kufayev had undergone a radical transformation of consciousness that blossomed through the spontaneous display of grace.

He abandoned his art career and, over the next five years, immersed himself in long hours of meditation in which he integrated the expanded states of consciousness that arose during his daily activities. During this time he discovered the teachings of Swami Muktananda, which led him to the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism. His transcendental physicalism spoke strongly to his earthy, creative sensitivity, as this was unique in the teaching of Spanda (Sanskrit for "throbbing, vibration") in this tradition and was confirmed by his direct experience of the world as the pulsation of pure consciousness perceives in your own heart.

In October 2006, in an interview with Seva Novgorodzew for the BBC Russian Service , Kufayev spoke about his years as an artist and the decision to leave painting behind.

Philosophy and teaching

Igor Kufayev during his retreat in Gut Saunstorf, Germany, August 2017

Since 2002 Igor Kufayev has been sharing his insights into the nature of being. Despite numerous inquiries, he initially did not comply with the request to put himself in the role of the teacher until he finally made the decision in February 2012 to devote himself to teaching full-time. Since 2012 he has been offering online seminars as well as gatherings and retreats worldwide. Many of his video podcasts and recordings of retreats are freely available on his YouTube channel.

Although his initial spiritual training took place in the context of Transcendental Meditation, Kufayev now predominantly uses methods of Tantric Kashmiri Shaivism in his teaching, since the doctrines of Kashmiri Shaivism correspond most directly to his direct experience of spiritual transformation and the nature of reality. However, Kufayev's studies are extensive and he draws on many other traditions such as Sufism and Zen.

Igor Kufayev often refers to his teaching as "the path of the heart" and explains that this path is the non-intellectual and direct knowledge of the essence of one's own reality - which transcends any tradition, as it is not limited by a series of doctrines by definition can be. Knowledge here is neither of a mental nor intellectual nature, nor to be understood in the sense of something that can be acquired; it is simple, direct knowledge itself - beyond concepts or principles, understanding, or language.

A central role in Igor Kufayev's teaching methodology plays the transmission of spiritual energy, which takes place primarily during personal events with him. Participants in his immersions experience spontaneous, involuntary kriyas in the form of asanas , pranayama , glossolalia and harmonious chanting. An unusual but persistent feature of Kufayev's live events is spontaneous vocalizations and overtone singing by the participants.

Kufayev explains that these phenomena are on the one hand the result of the release of stress, as well as "the song of the goddess" - in the truest sense of the word the manifestation of Shakti by a group of people in meditative trance.

Participants in Kufayev's retreats report experiencing profound states of expansion, higher states of consciousness, and permanent healing from depression.

Igor Kufayev emphasizes the psycho-physiological aspects of the process of awakening and points out the importance of the physical transformation of the nervous system. He explains that physiology is the support for individual consciousness and maturity in what is often referred to as "enlightenment". He continues to emphasize the need for seated meditation as a spiritual practice and states that other methods may allow for peak experiences, but true integration occurs during seated meditation - which is necessary for permanent change in consciousness.

In 2014 Igor Kufayev founded his organization Flowing Wakefulness Fellowship , which is dedicated to the vocation “to serve as a platform to create and realize possibilities of a consciousness-based culture, with the aim of recognizing, developing and updating the highest potential, which is present in human birth ”.

In September 2013 Igor Kufayev was interviewed for A Conscious TV (a broadcaster based in London); In this interview he shared his views on the intricacies of the process of awakening, which are based on the biographical events in his life, and talked about the unifying complexity of self-realization and the integration of higher states of consciousness from the biological perspective of human consciousness.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eternal Compromise ( Memento from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Compromise ( Memento of October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Burnt Earth ( Memento from April 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Magic Series ( Memento from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b Игорь Куфаев, художник, эзотерик (mp3, Russian) Севаоборот - Igor Kufayev in an interview with Seva Novgorodzew at the BBC Russian Service, October 21, 2006.
  6. ↑ a b ; - Conscious TV Interview - Igor Kufayev - The Impact Of Awakening
  7. ↑ Igor Kufayev Darshan. Retrieved December 16, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Igor Kufayev events. Retrieved December 16, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Panel discussion on Kashmir Shaivism with Sally Kempton, Igor Kufayev, & Menas Kafatos - BatGap
  10. ↑ Yoga News . No. 102 . Yoga Verlag GmbH, January 2017, p. 70 .
  11. ↑ Spontaneous Yoga ~ Touched by Grace. Retrieved December 16, 2018 .
  12. ↑ SONG OF THE DEVI ~ Involuntary Vocalizations .  
  13. ^ Spontaneous Choir of The Holy Spirit .  
  14. ^ Freiburg Darshan: Dynamic Aspects of Meditation .  
  15. ↑ Entering the Heart - The Work of Igor Kufayev (Documentary) .  
  16. ^ Expansion & Deepening - Immersion with Igor Kufayev .  
  17. ↑ Flowing Wakefulness Fellowship. Retrieved December 16, 2018 .
  18. ↑ ; - Conscious TV Interview - Igor Kufayev - Flowing Wakefulness (2nd interview)
personal data
SURNAME Kufayev, Igor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kufayev, Igor Anvar (full name); ˈ (IPAc-de); Ru, Igor (long)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian-English artist, yogi and spiritual teacher
DATE OF BIRTH 5th January 1966