Art & Transcendental Meditation with RODOLPHOS ELEFTHERIADIS, Interview, (2005)

Rodolfos Eleftheriadis about Art & Transcendental Meditation

‘Beauty and Truth both lead to the same goal, to our inner Light.’

Exclusive Interview with Lotous Michalopoulou

 

Rodolfos Eleftheriadis is an extraordinary artist, in fact he was a student of the pioneer Kurt Kranz, an artist of the Kinetik in Kunst (Kunst movement), and a former member of the Bauhaus. Rodolfos, (although he lived for many years in San Francisco, one of his neighborhoods was Height Ashbury St., also in Colourado and Texas, and he associated with pioneering artists there, then he took his art to Canada and Mexico, where he also studied) studied Fine Arts first in Kiel and then in Hamburg, Germany with a scholarship for distinguished students, he went to almost all the countries of Europe where he also held exhibitions with his works, collecting awards. One of the important of these exhibitions was on the theme of ‘ANTIMILITARISMUS’ (the ‘Anti-Military’, in the 1970s), as a direct allusion against the dictatorship in Greece. Rodolfos was born in Thessaloniki where he now lives, and he visited it often while he was away abroad. (During one of these visits, he was questioned at the 3rd police station about the subject of his above report, ‘although… without consequences, fortunately’, as he himself says with a sly smile). Rodolfo is a very sweet man, he is a philosopher, he is a poet, when he speaks you hear an angelic melody emanating from within him. Many would consider him a ‘teacher’… He himself has taught transcendental meditation in Hamburg, after studying alongside a transcendental meditation teacher of the Maharishi.

But I forgot to tell you that I met him when I was still a child, at that age when one still has the ability to distinguish people and, those who deserve them, are deeply engraved in one’s memory. I met him during one of his visits to Thessaloniki, where transcendental meditation hosted notable and famous people, people of the local culture, in its circles.

We wanted to hear him talk to us about his experiences in transcendental meditation, and how it helped him reach the ‘transcendental fields’ from which his art, his inspiration, springs. He is, for us here at Yoga magazine, a truly pioneering artist, who combines surrealism and symbolism with metaphysical painting, and is, as he himself says, ‘influenced’ by De Chirico.

We discover him in his isolation. His works impress us, his words charm us. The conversation with him does not stop here. We would like to continue the interview for days...

 

LM - For fifteen years you lived in San Francisco, where the entire culture of America creates and searches, searches and creates. Why are you here now?

 

RE - Our life progresses through steps that we take to reach our final destination. I believe that each of our steps is also a unique experience in our life, necessary for our progress, as long as we do not care about tomorrow. Each experience leads us to the next step, to the next experience. The now and the here for me has nothing to do so much with the place, nor with the specific time, as with my need to create and produce a work, a painting, to render with it, the universal and the eternal. Yes, I have been locked in my shell, for the last fifteen years, and I paint non-stop, day and night. But I do not feel trapped in this limited space at all, because the real space in which I move has to do with an internal process, which constantly takes me out of the here and now, leads me to another, heavenly I could say, transcendental space. The one that I express in my works, through shapes and colours.

 

LM - How do you place yourself in this transcendental space, which you express with your work?

 

RE - To move the discussion forward here, we should posit the concepts of the microcosm for man and the macrocosm for the universe. I believe that there is a direct connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm. It is up to each of us to what extent we will penetrate from the now to the eternal, from here to everywhere. And here the concept of knowing in it, self-knowledge, is introduced. As a basic prerequisite for knowing the Whole, it is first of all to know ourselves. We are parts that compose the Whole and at the same time complete units, ‘in His image and likeness.’

 

LM - How can a person as isolated as you be beneficial to the whole world, participating in what we call global evolution?

 

RE - When you are a creator, what you produce belongs to the whole world, you cannot do otherwise. You carry it and give birth to it, simply, like a pregnant woman conceives and, at some point, gives birth to her child, and it grows and becomes a new and autonomous person. Similarly, an artist becomes a participant in the very life he creates, because this is within his very nature. It cannot be otherwise…

 

LM - What is Art for you?

 

RE - Through the education I received in Germany where I studied, I learned that Art is a superior form of communication, which touches the most delicate chords of human existence. Through unknown and mysterious internal processes and beyond harmonies and disharmony. Art touches within us what in Nature is called Creation and exists within each of us. What makes us perceive the beauty of Nature at the sight of a flower, at the sound of a bird, moves us and often brings tears to our eyes, as we discover a relationship, a kinship, with them. For me, the primary and supreme Art is the creation of Nature itself.

 

LM - What is Beauty for you?

 

RE - The work of nature, the creation itself is the image of Beauty. We can see it in the eyes of a child, in the etched face of a warrior, the artist can even there see beauty and by painting it, imitate nature. This is much more intense in the classical works of antiquity, where the artist captures, mainly in faces, perfect beauty. Of course, art, like everything else, evolves, changes. And in the millennia that followed, we see trends and forms that often surprise us, but they are also dedicated to the search for Beauty.

 

LM - What is this mutation that has occurred on our planet during its evolutionary course, and which on ourselves?

 

RE - Basically, we live on a living planet, where everything evolves, everything progresses. Each step of evolution has positive and negative characteristics. Humanity still has a long way to go, however, on a personal level, each one is called to move forward on their own path and through efforts to expand their consciousness, to touch areas still unreachable, reaching the Light.

 

LM - Do you believe that there is a purpose in man?

 

RE - Yes. There is. And this purpose is to find the path that leads to the Light, and to become participants in the Light, in the evolution of the planet. Just as a tree whose roots grow deep into the soil, simultaneously raises its branches to the sky, so too are we bound to both the Earth and our destination, which is Heaven. As we grow like trees, we must bear fruit to fulfill the purpose of our existence.

 

LM - Can ancient Knowledge guide us on this path?

 

RE - Unfortunately, over the centuries much Knowledge has been lost, either by natural or human intervention. Floods, volcanic eruptions, droughts, glaciers, but also wars and arsons, and other causes, have destroyed treasures such as the Library of Alexandria, literally burying ancient knowledge under ashes of ignorance and darkness. But the Light is always there, waiting for us to walk our personal path of evolution, which will transform our insignificant individuality into a Person who participates in the universal consciousness.

 

LM - Is there finally a way to walk this path, and what is this path for you?

 

RE - I completely believe in the existence of the way and in the possibility of walking this path of evolution, each of us individually.

For me, the purpose of my work is to express, through painting, all these concepts that overwhelm my thoughts and feelings. This is my own work. Another expresses himself through music, another composes through speech, but we all work on the same basis, using the same frequencies, which whether called colour, or notes, or words, compose life and lead to the Light and the primary sound of creation.

 

LM - You said at the beginning that art is a higher form of communication. How far can this communication go?

 

RE - The dimensions and possibilities of art have no limits, which is why I never stop working on the same subject, often in endless variations, until I grasp the most subtle nuances of the message that I have to convey through my works each time. Like a postman of the universe.

These dimensions reach the absolute, just like the Cosmos, the entire universe. There are no limits to artistic creation, just as there are no limits to the inner potential for human evolution and fulfillment. Art opens our eyes to the invisible world that surrounds us through symbolism, through colours and musical notes. We must open our inner eyes to see, our inner ears to hear.

 

LM - What do we need to do, since we are not all artists, but we thirst to know, to understand, to move further?

 

RE - I consider Education and the necessary training absolutely necessary to open our inner centers. Education brings the required cultivation, so that we can distinguish the invisible through the visible.

 

LM - And what should this invisible that we are looking for be, and how will we find it?

 

RE - The invisible surrounds us and speaks to us constantly. Through dreams, through our senses and emotions, it exists in the ‘here and now’ and simply asks us to express it. Of course, for each of us, depending on our choices, where we will turn and what it is that we will seek differs, the degree of maturity also differs, however, there is a path that if we want it, we can find it. ‘Whoever asks will receive, whoever seeks will find’. Some more easily, others more difficult, through trials and adventures. Depending on its level, each soul progresses in its maturation, to give, in due time, fruits that will nourish itself and those around it.

 

LM - On each path we learn some things and, if we are lucky, we use them to open our own door. How will we understand that this is our own door?

 

RE - Here I must point out something. The purpose of Creation is Happiness. Not anxiety, not misery, but Happiness. I consider this to be the most important of all that we must learn. We are here to become participants in the joy of the creation of the universe. Therefore, our criterion should be whether the path we are walking fills us with peace and fulfillment, if so, then it means that we are moving in the right direction.

 

LM - How is Transcendental Meditation connected to all of this, and what is it?

 

RE - Transcendental Meditation is a technique that helps the person who practices it to train their inner centers, with the aim of their development and completion. It has been practiced for thousands of years in India, and we can compare it to the exercises of gymnastics that aim to strengthen the body. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi taught it in the West in the 1960s. It is a technique that leads directly to the spirit. It is addressed to the everyday person of the West, with all the problems and stress they face, helping them to make their thinking clearer, as it affects the relaxation of their nervous system. Transcendental Meditation is not the only one used by people who wanted to transcend the narrow limits of their material existence. Both in India and in other countries, Japan, China, Central America, we find corresponding techniques and methods with similar results.

 

LM - What is Maharishi and what is Transcendental Meditation for you?

 

RE - Maharishi is one of the many Masters who transmitted this technique and brought it to the West. He became particularly famous thanks to the Beatles and the youth movement of the 1960s. Transcendental Meditation, I repeat, is a technique – a means and not an end – among many that have been taught in the world by various cultures. It is the simplest thing there is, and if we practice it for fifteen to twenty minutes, every day, it can become the greatest source of energy, inspiration and healing power.

 

LM - How do we start Transcendental Meditation?

 

RE - The authorized teacher gives the interested party, in an initiation ceremony, the Mantra staff, and guides him so that he concentrates on it, leaving aside all other thoughts, sensations and emotions that usually overwhelm our mind.

During meditation, you sit alone, in a quiet space. First, you relax, with some breathing exercises, and you slowly reach the center of yourself, drawing from there the energy of life that we all hide within us, the Light that ‘is within us’. This technique helps us to cleanse, at first, the accumulated residues of fatigue and tensions, which have tormented us since our childhood. Little by little, the path clears, and we can find ourselves face to face with our true self, something that sleep achieves on a smaller scale, freeing us from daily physical fatigue.

 

LM - What do we need to do to learn Transcendental Meditation?

 

RE - Like any technique, someone must teach it to you. Once you learn it, you can practice it on your own. First of all, you must learn not to confuse the technique with other elements, metaphysical, psychological, etc. It is a path, a way for those who want to go further. It is not a goal. I am no longer an active teacher of Transcendental Meditation, but I can say that the possibilities we contain within us are enormous and it is our duty to purify ourselves, first for ourselves, so that we can live a fuller and better life, and then to become the transmitters of the higher spiritual Power for those around us and our environment. We are all imperfect, and first of all myself, which is precisely why we need the Light.

 

LM - What exactly is a Mantra and how does it work?

 

RE - It is a sound that acts as a key that the teacher gives us, to move forward and open the door to our true self with it. This sound is a personal frequency that touches us. Its purpose is to focus our attention on this frequency, as we slowly relax, but without falling asleep, advancing, ever deeper, into our inner world.

 

LM - What is this state of relaxation to which transcendental meditation leads us?

 

RE - I will refer to the three known states of consciousness. Wakefulness, sleep with dreams, and deep sleep without dreams. Between wakefulness and sleep with dreams, there is an intermediate stage of consciousness, characterized by the deep relaxation that sleep brings, but also by the possibility of wakefulness. Transcendental meditation brings you to precisely this level of consciousness. In this phase, it has been experimentally proven that our metabolism drops even lower than in the dreamless sleep phase. The characteristics of this state are a decrease in heart rate and slow breathing. The mind in this phase is both outside and inside us. We simply do nothing. Transcendental meditation does not require any effort from us. It simply gives you the opportunity to see yourself as you are, and then you can become more sensitive and with greater understanding, both for yourself and for those around you. This does not happen in any ‘magical’ way. It is completely normal. Yes, meditation does not work ‘magically’, there is nothing dark or strange about it. So all we need to do is remain simple observers of what is happening within us. Then we will suddenly feel that we too are flying, like the seagull, with our wings still, without needing anything other than to let ourselves be carried by the wind. Through meditation we learn to balance ourselves in all the situations of our lives. This happens automatically, just as the washing machine automatically washes our clothes and brings them out spotlessly clean, with the push of a button. We all carry scars from old stresses that have stuck to us, and manifest as tensions and obsessions that afflict us. Meditation helps us to cleanse these scars, as it relaxes our nervous system, and to eliminate the tensions, bad habits, fears and obsessions that we have carried since childhood. In other words, everything that prevents our inner Light from flooding us and making us co-creators in the miracle of life.

 

Rodolfos returned from America to Thessaloniki in 1990, after an exhibition at the Consulate General of Greece in San Francisco, on the theme of ‘Alexander the Great’, which received an enthusiastic response, but he has not exhibited his works in his birthplace! What do you think? Isn’t it time for a retrospective of his creations?

 

November 26, 2005