Medhananda

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Medhananda

Medhananda , actually Fritz Winkelstroeter , (born April 28, 1908 in Pforzheim , † 1994 in Pondicherry , South India) was a German student of Sri Aurobindo . He researched the structures of consciousness and dealt with the deciphering of symbols, myths and fairy tales of ancient cultures and their psychological meanings. The focus was on ancient Egyptian culture.

Life

Medhananda is the spiritual name that Mirra Alfassa , mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, gave to Fritz Winkelstroeter, who was born in Germany in 1952. Winkelstroeter spent his school days in Pforzheim and learned English, French, Latin and ancient Greek. Despite his keen interest in ancient cultures, their symbols and their spirituality, he studied, as his father (a wealthy engineer and industrialist) wished, law at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . On July 11, 1927 he was reciprocated in his father's Corps Brunsviga Munich . As an inactive he moved to the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and the Sorbonne . During these years he was taught and introduced to Chinese culture and thought by Richard Wilhelm , who translated the I Ching and Daodejing from Classical Chinese, among other things . In his corps he had been an old man since December 14, 1931 .

Without taking the assessor exam , Winkelstroeter left Germany with his French wife in 1934 in order to escape National Socialism . They emigrated to Tahiti in French Polynesia, settled on the neighboring island of Moorea , where they bought 200 hectares of primeval forest , built a small house and settled as farmers to grow spiced vanilla and coffee . Her three children grew up there.

In Polynesia , Medhananda had spiritual experiences and began to explore his consciousness. Through encounters with the inhabitants he also got to know the old Polynesian symbols and customs and was introduced to their deeper meaning by the seers (healers) and tribal leaders there (see With Medhananda on the shores of Infinity ). During the Second World War he was interned near Tahiti as an enemy alien from French Polynesia for five years.

After his release in 1946 he came across the writings of the Indian yogi, poet and philosopher Sri Aurobindo . Impressed by this, he moved to India and from 1952 lived in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India, where he was given responsibility for the library. For many years he taught comparative religious history at the Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education . In 1965 he became editor of the quarterly magazine Equals One , for which he wrote numerous articles.

In 1978, together with his long-time colleague Yvonne Artaud, he founded the Identity Research Institute in Pondicherry, a research center for consciousness and psychology . The institute's studies and examinations were essentially in the following areas: child psychology, primate psychology (macaque monkeys), psychology of the ancient Egyptians, Indians, Teutons, Greeks and the ancient Asian books of wisdom.

After many years of study and some study trips, the real life's work was the exploration of the images, hieroglyphic scripts and symbols of ancient Egypt . Just as his teacher Sri Aurobindo discovered in the statements of the Vedas (the ancient Indian spiritual texts) a psychological symbolic language that contains inner knowledge (see: Sri Aurobindo The Secret of the Veda ), Medhananda discovered in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts and images - with the same psychological approach and key - messages of self-knowledge.

Medhananda sought messages of psychological wisdom not only in Egypt, but also in the images, myths and fairy tales of many other cultures, for example in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm .

Consciousness and Symbol Research

Medhananda tried to show in his interpretations that the events and characters in old myths, fairy tales and symbolic images are expressions of soul forces in us. Accordingly, the consciousness of the ancient peoples was not yet dominated by the analytical mind, but directed inwards, towards dreams and psychological processes, inner maturation processes and mystical experiences. The knowledge about it was communicated in symbolic pictures. In order to understand the representations of, for example, the Rishis (the 'seers' of the Vedic epoch in India) or those of the ancient Egyptians, they would not have to be explored so much from mythological, religious, historical or artistic aspects, but according to Medhananda primarily psychologically, to be perceived as an expression of spiritual experiences, of self-knowledge (gnosis).

Multiplicity of forces

Medhananda's view of the symbols is based on the consciousness research of his teacher Sri Aurobindo and his own spiritual experiences and insights: Consciousness is seen as a coherent whole, which penetrates and effects all material things, but which manifests itself in various structures, levels and degrees of intensity. Medhananda explains this diversity in his interpretations: In humans there are vital, emotional, subtle-physical, psychological, mental, super-mental powers, limited and unlimited, including those in areas that are still subconscious or superconscious. Again and again other forces are in the foreground or want to have an effect. According to Medhananda, myths and fairy tales tell of this inner process and this play of forces from different levels of consciousness in us. All figures can be seen as aspects of our complex being.

Symbols as identity exercises

According to Medhananda, the key to understanding a symbol is the question: "What does it want to show me about myself?" Each symbol can be used as an identity exercise. In this sense, everything in the universe is a symbol that can be resonated with. According to Medhananda, the insights of the seers and sages were mostly only perceived by a few as messages of identity knowledge. The majority did not recognize that teaching messages in the sense of self-knowledge (gnosis) were expressed in it, for them it was simply impressive stories and images that had an effect on them. Today they can become transparent to us in a new consciousness. “Because once these things were secrets. People left them to the few, the initiates, and thereby lost sight of them. But this new consciousness tries to reveal all secrets, to reveal them and to bring them to our understanding ... ”This statement by Sri Aurobindo quotes Medhananda in his introduction to The Way of Horus .

Change in myths and fairy tales over time

During the millennia-long tradition, images became symbols for words, of symbolic, psychological meaning. Myths and fairy tales were changed and embellished because they were no longer recognized as inner experiences and as expressions for processes of consciousness, but only understood as things. In the patriarchal era, many things were dyed morally, female symbols were twisted into the negative, which, according to Medhananda, is often still associated with the old names such as B. the Greek mythical figure Pandora shows: the all-giver became the one who brings evil. Medhananda's concern was to extract the original, psychological content (self-knowledge, gnosis) in myths, fairy tales, pictures, old books of wisdom. He tried to point out the additions that were added later.

Symbol communication then and now

Communication with symbols was - according to Medhananda - in ancient times, in mythical consciousness, spread all over the world. There were z. For example, the same images were used in Polynesia and ancient Egypt, and these, in his view, go back much further than we commonly assume. Around 500 BC a turning point came, a new, mental consciousness was emerging. Since every person today (as a quick re-enactment of the evolutionary history, so to speak) goes through the magical-mythical phase of consciousness in childhood (before they awaken to mental awareness), this type of symbolic communication can still be observed in children today. But she is also active with geniuses, poets, mystics and artists.

Verbal communication and symbol communication

In the Equals One School founded by Y. Artaud and Medhananda (in Pondicherry, South India), where symbols were used, e. B. with the sand game or the Aurogram cards or the Eternity Game, many positive effects have been observed in children. Medhananda concludes that communication with symbols (expression of mythical consciousness) should be carefully supported in today's upbringing of the child, as should verbal, analytically oriented communication (expression of the dominant rational consciousness today). The latter tends to displace symbolic communication (expression of emotional experiences) because it is viewed as an inferior - and not as a complementary, equivalent form of expression. This creates disharmony and one-sidedness in people. But if both are encouraged in the child, it will be able to live more intensely and consciously from its 'roots' and 'sources'. In this sense, symbols - as Medhananda explains in his works - have a healing, wholesome effect and are part of every true image .

With his knowledge of the symbolic world in humans, his interpretations and diverse suggestions, Medhananda wanted to give adults too an impetus to perceive, develop and integrate their psychic inner world (often pushed into the background by rational consciousness) more and more deeply.

Different ways of looking at symbols

Medhananda repeatedly emphasized that symbol interpretation is something living, not something static. A symbolic image, fairy tale or myth can take on a different meaning for every person, depending on the level of consciousness from which he is looking at it. And that is why - due to the inner development of consciousness - the understanding of symbols can change in the course of life. "Symbols grow with us and we grow with the symbols," is a saying by Medhananda.

Interpret in the new integral consciousness

A characteristic of the new, integral or supramental consciousness - as presented by Sri Aurobindo, Medhananda or Jean Gebser - is that time and space (which are so important in the mental structure of consciousness) are overcome: events (in myths, fairy tales, hymns , Wisdom books etc.) are perceived by Medhananda as inner movements of consciousness that can happen now and within us. Places (e.g. heaven, hell, forest, castle, mountain) are perceived as states of consciousness in us, into which we can “go”, “fall” or to which we can “climb”. Medhananda wanted to encourage such perception and work with our consciousness. In the new age, psychology will be in the foreground. The most important thing is to recognize oneself as a multiplicity of structures of consciousness and to bring this multiplicity together into a whole, an individual (something indivisible). This inner work will also have an effect in the outer world.

bibliography

Books on psychology in ancient Egypt

  • The Path of Horus Pictures of the Inner Path in Ancient Egypt, Aquamarin Verlag, Grafing, autumn 2016
  • The Way of Horus - The Pictorial Way of Ancient Egypt , Pondicherry, India, 2006
  • Archetypes of Liberation - Psychodynamics of Ancient Egypt , Pondicherry, India, 2006
  • The Pyramids and the Sphinx as seen by the Ancient Egyptians in Hieroglyphic Inscriptions , Pondicherry, India, 2006
  • The Royal Cubit - Psychometrics of Ancient Egypt , Pondicherry, India, 2006
  • The Ancient Egyptian Senet Game - The Game of Archetypes , Pondicherry, India, 2006

Other works

  • Flame words poems by Sri Aurobindo translated into German (with original English texts), Pondicherry, India, 1972/2009
  • The Eternity Game , Pondicherry, India, 1973/2004/2015
  • The Golden Ball - A Game of Consciousness , Wassenaar, Holland, 1978
  • With Medhananda on the Shores of Infinity (Biographical Notes of Medhananda) Pondicherry, India, 1998
  • On the Threshold of a New Age with Medhananda Pondicherry, India, 2000
  • Guardians of Oneness Pondicherry, India, 2003
  • The Way out is Up , Pondicherry, India, 2003
  • Immortal Wisdom from Ancient Times in Myths, Tales and Legends , Pondicherry, India, 2006
  • The Garden of Man , Pondicherry, India, 2006
    • German translation: Immortal wisdom . From ancient times in myths, fairy tales, legends and in the Gospel of Thomas, Pondicherry, India, 2009
  • Wisdom in fairy tales , with fairy tale symbols on the way to self-knowledge, Volumes I and II, publication in preparation

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ In India the creative, cosmic principle of consciousness is also called mother. Mirra Alfassa got this name (with this spiritual meaning) from Sri Aurobindo because she realized this principle. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother , Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, SABCL, Vol. 25
  2. ↑ Medhananda and Yvonne Artaud lived in the large institute garden with many animals, including macaque monkeys, one of which was named Aziut. The psychiatrist Herbert Stein mentions examples of their observations in his book Freud's last teaching or Eros and the lines of the monkey Aziut (1993, Verlag Das Wunderhorn).
  3. ↑ With gnosis, self-knowledge, Medhananda means a spontaneous perception of spiritual truths coming from within (not the learned, mental knowledge). He was familiar with self-knowledge, see With Medhananda on the shores of infinity. Medhananda uses the term 'Gnosis' in the same sense as his teacher Sri Aurobindo - see Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine (Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, SABCL, Vol No. 18 and 19) or The Secret of the Veda (SABCL, Vol. 10)
  4. ↑ Sri Aurobindo describes the many levels of consciousness in people in detail in his works, e.g. B. in: The Life Divine (SABCL Vol. 18 and 19), The Synthesis of Yoga (SABCL Vol. No 20 and 21), Letters on Yoga (SABCL Vol.No 23, 24, 25). The cultural philosopher Jean Gebser (* 1905 Germany - † 1973 Switzerland) also recognizes different structures (levels) of consciousness in people, which he explains in his main work Origin and Present . He calls them: the archaic, the magical, the mythical, the mental consciousness and the integral consciousness that is emerging today. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin also recognizes different structures of consciousness: He calls them lithosphere (material level), biosphere (vital level), noospere (level of thought), logosphere (intuitive perception of reality). See Man in the Cosmos
  5. ↑ We use the expression mythical consciousness based on Jean Gebser, who explains in detail this pre-mental consciousness structure of an ancient human epoch in his works and refers to the change of consciousness around 500 BC. Chr. Indicates. Gebser emphasizes that this mythical structure of consciousness still constitutes us today, but that today the mental consciousness is predominant in us. See Jean Gebser , Ursprung und Gegenwart , Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, 1966 or Chronos Verlag, Zurich, 2015.
  6. ^ Sand play, sand play therapy , originally developed by Dora M. Kalff from the CG Jung Institute, Zurich, expanded by Medhananda and Yvonne Artaud in the sense of a deeper view and interpretation of the symbols. The child chooses a few from a large selection of objects and arranges them in the sandpit, thus creating his 'world'. Symbolic objects from all cultures are presented, e.g. B. also cult objects and figures from Indian, Germanic, Greek mythology etc., which however remain unnamed and should appear archetypal. The child can symbolically express his inner soul processes in the sandpit.
  7. ↑ Aurogram Cards: A symbol reading game for preschoolers developed by Yvonne Artaud (in collaboration with Medhananda) for the Auroville Service of Education. It should encourage the children to invent and design their own new symbols and to express themselves with them. See Equals One, 1976 Aurograms, Pondicherry, ISBN 90-6217-501-X
  8. ↑ The Eternity Game was created by Medhananda in 1972, it was published in 1978 by him and Theodora Karnasch with extended explanations (and new 64 pictures, painted by Yvonne Artaud) in German under the title Der goldene Ball (see also www.medhananda. com).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 24 , 308
  2. ^ Sri Aurobindo, Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, SABCL, Vol. IX, The Future Poetry , 202
  3. ^ Medhananda, The Way of Horus , p. 15
  4. ↑ See Medhananda The Way of Horus, Preface p. 9
  5. ↑ a b cf. Book review
personal data
SURNAME Medhananda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Winkelstroeter, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German student of Sri Aurobindo
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Pforzheim
DATE OF DEATH 1994
Place of death Pondicherry , South India