Over the last months, Mark Ray and I had developed the plans for our journey to India. Mark was a third generation theosophist from Seattle, USA, in link with the Wisdom teachings since his youth. He studied psychology but preferred to work with his hands, so he specialised on renovating houses. For years, he was very active in the Theosophical Society Seattle, be it as president, be it in development of Indralaya, a theosophical center on Orcas Island committed to community and spiritual development.
Ever since he came into contact with the WTT he increasingly committed himself to build a bridge between theosophy and the World Teacher Trust teachings of Master KPK and Master EK. He met Master KPK at a group living in San Jose, California, in 2018 and again at the May Call 2019 at Mount Shasta, California. There, we shared a room together and very quickly became friends. For me, it was like meeting a brother in a deeper sense of the word.
We had been in regular monthly contact via Zoom. These were intense exchanges about many spiritual topics. And nearly at every exchange, Mark gave me profound astrological insights, be it from the perspective of Western or of Vedic astrology – in both, he was very well versed.
On 22 December early morning, we met at Bengaluru airport, he coming from Seattle via Frankfurt, me from Zurich via Abu Dhabi, arriving by chance at the same moment at the immigration counters.
Next day, we went to the Master Mountain Retreat Center in the Niligiris, the Blue Mountains of South India, the place of the ashram of the great Rishi Agastya, where we spent 4 days. Then we returned to Sadguru Tapovana, the WTT center in Bengaluru, where we participated at the December Call celebrations.
Afterwards we flew to Visakhapatnam and participated in the group living there.
We shared the room together over the entire journey and had intense exchanges. These were very harmonious days and Mark was continuously active speaking with members about their astrological charts. He had a GoPro camera with him and we did a number of video interviews about WTT activities at different places – we planned to do a report. And he recorded a gorgeous sunrise in the Nilagiris and we planned to do a video with an Indian bamboo flute player, Kaliprasad, whom we met in Bengaluru and in Vizag.
On Tuesday, 9 January, he started his return journey. From Vizag airport, he wrote to me at noon time:
“I didn’t get to say goodbye but we will see each other again soon on Zoom. I am at the airport and went through check in a security without problems. Then I found my hat upstairs and something western to eat. No more rice for a while.
There is now a blizzard warning over the mountains to my home so I may have to stay overnight at my sisters again. India has been very kind to me on this trip. I never felt afraid to walk on the streets and had no problems except for the bronchitis. It is hard to leave so many kind and spiritual people.(…) Now I have to formulate my thoughts on the trip and how to make the World Teacher Trust more universal. Meanwhile I will rest and reconnect with family. Thank you again for this great opportunity!”
About 3 hours later, he wrote: “I am in Bangalore now and at Terminal 2. The plane was about 30 minutes late but that is not a problem for me. My Lufthansa flight leaves at 3:30 am so I have a long wait.”
Then he wrote from Frankfurt: “I caught my last flight and am about to take off. Seattle in nine hours.”
This was the last e-mail. On arrival in Seattle, on the way through the customs, Mark (26 April 1954 – 10 Jan 2024) left the body and took the flight to the subtle planes of Light. It was the time of the new moon of Capricorn -Capricorn being the time of the beginning of the solar ascent symbolizing the ascent of the Soul out of the conditioning of matter. And the time of new moon symbolizes the beginning of a new cycle of further development – a very auspicious time for passing over to continue the path on the subtle planes.
Mark had been absorbing the impressions in India like a dry sponge, also with his video cam – I asked him, “will you find time for viewing all this?” But it was a profound soul experience he had – which also made him a bit careless about his health – not only me had warned him to protect his body better and that the warmth here is rough, carrying the energies of winter and affecting the bodies, esp. those from the West.
He got a bronchitis the last days and a doctor at the seminar and healing practitioners gave him medicine. His body was somehow weakened before the return flight but he seemed to be OK. There must be a deeper reason for his sudden passing. There were signs that his soul knew about the passing already: He told several friends from the group about dreams he had during the last nights where he saw faces, esp. of his mother, staring at him, and he asked a friend of mine, “What do they want to say to me, I do not understand.” She told him, “Ask them to tell you.”
These premonitions show that the veil between the spheres was becoming thinner already and that, though a great surprise on the outer, there was a knowledge in the inner of the coming departure.
Before his departure, he gave me all his video recordings, and we had planned to do some report about the journey He had recorded a most splendorous sunrise in the Nilagiris and I had contacted a very well-known bamboo flute player here who wants to play a morning raga for the sunrise video – in a way, this is for me an expression of the gift of Mark’s inner radiance as an inspiration to others, and as his life had been for many.
Mark, farewell and have a good continuation of your journey!
Early this morning Indian time, I came to know that another dear friend from Germany had passed over exactly the same day as Mark, Renate Vincent from Germany. She was one of the early German translators of the books of Master EK. About 2 years, Master Kumar asked me to keep actively contact with her, so we had a few talks and she joined my English online study group for a short while, but then other tasks made her resign. Renate, also to you a much blessed journey to the subtle spheres of Light!
