 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the same time the vision holds a solution to the problems of the individual, and also to the problems of the society. But at times the vision remains incomprehensible both to the person who is dreaming and also to
society. But in the truth lying within is that power, which releases the truth in time and lets it shine.
|
|
|
|
At first a dream came to me…
At the beginning of the preparation time of the Buddhist project, which was the accompanying sub-project to the EXPO, there was neither a concept nor any available starting point. But after I had decided to
participate I was gifted with a dream. In this dream Sathya Sai Baba came to me and spoke: “You help the Protestant EXPO Church”. Sathya Sai Baba is regarded as an Avatar by his devotees and respected as an
incarnation of God. Krishna and Shakyamuni Buddha are also regarded as Avatars in India.
|
|
|
|
|
Australia, the next door neighbour to Bhutan, with modern dancers
|
|
|
|
|
In the holy book of the Hindus, the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna says (Sloka 60, 61, Chapter 18)
"Under illusion you are now declining to act according to My direction.
But, compelled by the work born of your own nature, you will act all the same
The supreme lord lives in everyone's heart, O Arjuna,
and is directing like in a puppet show the wanderings of all living entities."
|
|
|
|
|
Venezuela, designed like a flower?
|
For me personally the interpretations meant a struggle for the spiritual sense, which connected me with the divine.
|
|
The Swiss Pavilion, a wooden construction.
|
|
A Vietnamese buddhist ceremony inaugurating our little voulunteer sub-project ‘buddha-dharma-expo2000’
|
|
The paviilon of Yemen, a piece of the Arabian peninsula
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A model of the temple of Bhutan
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My wish was to create something sensible on the outside and on the inside to find out the hidden sense of the dream. After a year, on the request of the partner of the pagoda a joint invitation from the
abbot of the pagoda and the Zen master of the community, to which I was associated, was signed.
|
|
|
Sathya Sai Baba
|
In the following three years I found three interpretations to the dream. The first two, inter-religious events and events with socially committed Buddhists built the basic concept for the project “Buddha-dharma-expo2000”. As the partner of the Pagoda did not participate in my commitment for inter-religious dialogues, socially committed Buddhism was the starting point, which also came next to the Christian way of understanding religion. I hoped to begin a conversation with the churches. Both these main points incidentally drew large crowds later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
|
The ‘Lifegarden Steyerberg’, a spiritual community, with meditation hall of the ZEN-community ‘Choka Sangha’
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Pagoda Vien Giac, a monastary and culture center of 60.000 Vietnamese in Germany. Our luck, the pagoda was only 500 meters away from the EXPO-ground..
|
Holland presents itself with a marvelous construction, each layer represents a different landscape of Holland.
|
|
The EXPO, with many visitors
|
The third interpretation of the dream is the analysis of the East Asian clerical social presentation.
What does the word “Protestant” in the dream mean? The Protestant church in Germany is based on the work
of the reformer Martin Luther (ca.1500 a.D:). The way of thinking of the society of that time was that God takes care of
everyone, that the cleric stands as the interpreter of the biblical texts between god and the people, who themselves
pursued the everyday tasks and hoped for salvation. Martin Luther had the theological knowledge: “Belief alone saves the
man” With that he emphasized the autonomy in spirituality. And a money market for “salvation” with the cleric, as it
was customary at that time, was not necessary. Martin Luther threw away the 1000 year old thinking of the society with his
knowledge. However he created a new way of thinking for the society. A 500 year long struggle began for a new order
of society in Germany and Europe. Eras of Feudalism and Nationalism came up; marxist and national socialistic ideologies
led to dictatorships, till democracy today developed as the then stabilized system in Europe. Democracy tries, to be aware
of the various needs in society and to consistently translate them into action.
But important was not the interpretation, important was, that the dream was realised.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best screen solution by 768*1024 Pixels (European Standart). If you want, you
can also change Text Size by ‘view’.