The Cosmonautics Memorial Museum in Moscow November 15, 2009

My father is  the “sky” person who has always been dreaming about flying as high as possible… Since he could not become a pilot for health reasons,  he became a paratrooper officer and made 2000 jumps with parashute. The space exploration has been fascinating him for ages. I obviously inherited some fo this fascination, since I love airplanes and everything that can take me higher .

This time when I was visiting my parents in Moscow my father was delighted to show me and my mom the new Space museum. As you can imagine, Russia has something to show in that area…

This museum, the only one of its kind, situated inside an enormous monument to the explorers of the cosmos, is well worth the visit, not least for the nostalgia it should inspire in anyone who grew up in the heady days of the space race. The displays trace the history of space exploration, including the first interplanetary satellite flights, the first dogs in space and man’s journeys to the cosmos.

Let me show you some shots I made inside the museum.

My parents – by the way, they now live just next to the  Zvezdnyi Gorodok ”Startown” by Moscow, where all cosmonauts are being trained:

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We saw an interesting documentary about the history of Space exploration. Juri Gagarin, the first ever human in space:

 his smile is unforgettable!

The typical space costume live:

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The clothes cosmonauts wear inside a spaceship:

There’s plenty of fun gadgetry, plus an excellently conceived display explaining how astronauts survive a space flight, all of which should be interesting for children. The food in the space freezer:

My photo-impressions from Moscow in November November 12, 2009

I am back from a short Moscow trip with some images which I took for you.

The quality of images is not that good, but I think you will get an impression of how it is like in Moscow in November – cold, pretty nasty and windy, but still enjoyable .

It was getting dark rather early, and I was mostly outside during late afternoon, therefore most of the images look like taken at night. In fact it was a daytime (from 3 till 6 p.m.).

LOVE; axinia

The magic of Materialism November 6, 2009

Materialism is our glittering Reality. Especially now, then the Christmas time is coming, the amount of that glitter increases, as if accumulating material riches was the message of Christ. The magic of Matter is powerful. The human/physical part of our being is longing for comfort and beauty, sensual satisfaction and delight…We dive into the fascination of matter and its hypnotizing charm.

But the Matter is not all we consist of. Another powerful part of us is the Spirit (I don’t mean the soul here though)

For a spiritual person is not easy to find the balance between the two.  While in a mediation I dwell in the Realm of a Spirit and realize the tremendous power and beauty of it, it is the magic of materialism that wants to take over in my daily life, for instance in a form of the pretty Vienna City with its imperial style and flavour of coffee…

Is it possible to have both, to enjoy the Materialism and Spirituality?

Since several years I am trying to play a game and make these two happily coexist. When you meet me first, you might say I am quite successful in that (I keep up a glamour look  and spend much time in restaurants and cafes). An yet it feels like a game, because all the time I am aware of the silent completion between the two. The famous dualism is always there…

Honestly, I am in owe of the black magical power of Materialism. Since last 2 decades I have been watching  Materialism taking over in two greatest spiritual nations like Indian and Russian. Within no time (historically seen) the value system crashed down and many people had to undergo a wired transformation of their attitudes to life and themselves. 

Opera for everyone October 26, 2009

Have I already mentioned Vienna is the best city in the world? Apart from the official ranking results, I am deeply convinced about it myself.

Vienna is the City of Music, no doubt. The marketing works well and you will be reminded of that more often than anywhere else: in the city center you pass a duet of street singers, a small accordion band, a guitar soloist,

and finally come across about a hundred people staring up at an enormous outdoor LCD screen displaying live opera.

Since this summer Vienna has a new attraction: For the first time, selected performances are being broadcasted live on a giant screen in front of the State Opera House. Free to consume .

Last night, while strolling around the city, I suddenly heard the sounds of my beloved Mozart from far away… OMG, was that beautiful! It felt so majestic and at the same time so natural, in a perfect harmony with the surroundings…

It`s fascianting to have same experience as saints did! October 22, 2009

We live in fascinating times. Unbelievable but fact – being an ordinary householder, one can still  have extraordinary spiritual experiences like the saints of all times did.

I came across a stunning quote of a great South Indian saint Ramana Maharshi, (1879-1950) who describes his spiritual experiences exactly the way I have been experiencing it thanks to my meditation practice:

“…the samadhi I speak to you about is different. It is sahaja samadhi. In this state you remain calm and composed during activity. You realise that you are moved by the deeper self within and are unaffected by what you do or say or think. You have no worries, anxieties or cares, for you realise that there is nothing that belongs to you as ego and that everything is being done by something with which you are conscious union.”

Or this one: ” Your own Self-Realisation is the greatest service you can render the world”.  How true is this, incredible!

And that one is reflecting my own daily experience:  ”Nearly all mankind is more or less unhappy because nearly all do not know the true Self. Real happiness abides in Self-knowledge alone. All else is fleeting. To know one’s Self is to be blissful always.”

 This beautiful saint is only one example. Reading of or about saintly people of all times I realise that they all had basically same experiences.

The most silly question people keep asking me October 12, 2009

When the cold time is coming, I dress myself warm and enjoy the cold. If I am not dressed warm enough, I naturally freeze  At this moments all possible people start asking me: “how it is possible that you are freezing, you are RUSSIAN!” And this is, really, sounds the too silly to me. Why should Russians have different body temperature? Because they live in “cold climate”? Science say that it is either te muscles or the fat that keeps the body warm. But not being originally from Russia

Russians indeed know how to keep warm in the cold winter (albite the spring and the summer are pretty cold as well!) and the 2 main reasons are:

1.The central heating system (thanks God for the natural resources) works very well. People are not used to save money on heating (at least it was in my childhood) because it costs almost nothing.

2.The most logical thing: dress up yourself warm! Interestingly, this is not that logical for my Western friends. I see people freezing and being dressed rather insufficient. Then,  because of saving money obsession, many do not heat up their homes properly. They freeze inside, they freeze outside. No wonder the hearts get closed A freezing person is unlucky to feel happy I think.

Are you an intellectual? October 1, 2009

Intellectuals are those nice people who think they reach their destination merely by studying the road map.Gregoir de Kalbermatten

I love this quote! I was a classical intellectual since my childhood – books meant everything to me and mental knowledge was the measure of all things. At some point I realised that this leads nowhere, that I dramatically miss the REAL knowledge. And I did not mean the knowledge of what is called “life experiences”, no. It was the longing for something else, something universally accessable and clear, powerful and very practical… I was fed up with studying the road map, I wanted finally to reach my destination.

And it turned out to be possible! The guide was called

Plastic Planet -”after seeing this film you will never drink from a plastic bottle”. September 26, 2009

I usually visit cinema once in several months, and only for some really good films. My recent discovery is a brand new film “Plastic Planet”, the poster to which claims: “after seeing this film you will never drink from a plastic bottle”.

Generally we all know plastic is bad. But HOW bad? WHAT is actually so bad about it? The film comes up as an eye-opener.

 An invistigavie documentary in Michael Moore style by an Austrian film director Werner Boote presents an up-close and personal view of the controversial and fascinating material that has found its way into every facet of our daily lives: plastic. He takes us on a journey around the globe, following plastic through its 100 years of “glorious triumph” and showing us what an unexpected impact plastic has on our world.

Get your hands read by Nita! September 22, 2009

My longterm blog friend Nita, an excellent journalist and a great person, has started a new blog sharing her fascinating hobby – palmistry. Plamistry is the correct name for what is commonly known as “handreading”.

Judging by the number of hands painted in prehistoric caves it would seem that palmistry held a interest for humans since the stone age.Archaeological discoveries have discovered hands made of stone, wood and ivory by ancient civilizations. The emperor of China used his thumbprint when sealing documents in 3000 bc. Information on the laws and practise of hand reading have been found in Vedic scripts, the bible and early semitic writings. Aristotle (384-322 bc) discovered a treatise on palmistry on an altar to the god Hermes. The greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen (ad 130-200) were both knowledgeable about the use of palmistry as a clinical aid. Julius Caesar (102-44bc) judged his men by palmistry. Notable people such as Paracelsus (1493-1541) and Fludd (1574-1637) brought respectability to palmistry through their writings. Later Dr Carl Carus, physician to the king of Saxony in the 19th century matched palms to personality. Advances in genetics, psychology and forensics have propeled palmistry into the modern age. In 1901 scotland yard adopted the technique of fingerprinting in criminal investigation and identification.Medical researchers studying skin patterns (dermatoglyphics), have discovered a correspondence between genetic abnormalities and unusual markings in the hand. Research has confirmed a link between specific fingerprint patterns and heart disease. These days palmistry is well accepted throughout the world. Proffesional palmists can be found reading palms in every country in the world.

Nita is a palmistry master with 30 years of practice and with her blog she offers not only an insight into this fascinating sphere of human knowledge, but also a possibility to order your own palmstry report! Here is what Nita claims:

When the nature and work of man meet: beautiful agricultural landscapes in Austria September 21, 2009

One year ago I made already a similar post – about the breath-taking beauty of a landscape, when the nature and the handmade beauty meet: the  agricultural landscapes of Austria.

Visiting the place (Weinvietrel region, by Mistelbach) at the end of summer gives an amazing impression of endless peace and benevolence…

This time I was equippted somewhat better and  I think the photos came out more expressive than last year.

LOVE, axinia