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WELL-KNOWN photographer and poet Dorothea Nuernberg, 44, has a dozen books to her credit. Yet, none of these accomplishments soothe the restless soul of this Viennese writer. "I still have to conquer my own nature. I want to awaken my sleeping spirit and stand face-to-face with my true consciousness," says Nuernberg, during a chat at an Italian caf`E9 in the heart of Vienna’s affluent 19th district.
Nuernberg admits that she does not know too many people in Central Europe who are interested in this aspect of life and suspects that some see her as ‘somewhat’ esoteric. "Ever since the French Revolution, Europeans have been told that only the flesh matters because it is tangible. Reason and logic are encouraged but all other facets of life, like the intuitive and the spiritual, are negated. Europeans seem to be interested in human beings only as bio-chemical components, devoid of divinity," she sighs. The intelligentsia, particularly university professors, infuriate her for being completely absorbed with the outer world. "After having organised the material world the next step for us in developed western societies is to embark on a journey within. Most of us are not interested in this. We still concentrate on having and not on being. We have to distract ourselves from consuming before questions such as ‘where have we come from?’ and ‘where are we going?’ even begin to cross our mind," says the author of Gestern Vielleicht (Maybe Yesterday) that was released in Vienna recently. The English translation of the book is expected to hit bookstores in India as well. "The main theme in all my books is foreign culture, which I love to explore, as I travel extensively. I have visited India on several occasions and have been around Rajasthan, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, Agra, Madurai and Kancheepuram. It has been a good experience. I find many more people to talk to in India about life," she confesses. Maybe Yesterday revolves
around the story of Julian Kaiser, a Viennese airline captain, and his
ex-wife Tara, an indologist. The book transports its readers back and
forth between Europe and different parts of India. It is about love in
the time of globalisation and flirts with thoughts on the effect of new
forms of dating introduced by modern technology like the Internet. The
main theme, however, remains the quest of the European soul on Indian
soil for the meaning of life. Nuernberg regrets that in Austria people are less demonstrative of their feelings and she enjoys the sharing of laughter and tears as depicted in Indian cinema. Perhaps it is her attraction to Sri Aurobindo, an Indian spiritual leader who died in 1950, that makes her do this. She finds Aurobindo’s idea that human beings are in a state of transition and still evolving, extremely seductive. She has been enraptured for some time now with the thought that it is possible for human beings to evolve their present existence into a divine life. Quoting Aurobindo, Nuernberg — who is fluent in five languages — says that the step from man to superman is not just natural but inevitable in the evolution of the earth. Her dream is to see all her experiences in both the scientific and spiritual realms unite and become part of a divine consciousness within a creative whole. She is grateful that she was encouraged to explore spirituality early in life by her mother. "My mother was a chemist, my father a physicist and my husband is a medical doctor. My very practical mother often did not understand me but she always encouraged me to walk my way," says Nuernberg, who had received a German translation of the Bhagavadgita as a gift when she was 22. Soon after she chose to visit Bali to experience Hinduism, as practiced on the exotic Indonesian island. It was her mother who facilitated that trip. Her travels to North Africa subsequently made her fall in love with Islam and Sufism. In the rainforests of Brazil, she discovered Shamanism, but all the while she continued to read the Gita. Gradually, she says, she was able to appreciate what Lord Krishna has said in the Gita, "Unintelligent men, who do not know me perfectly, think that I, the supreme personality of godhead, Krishna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their ignorance they do not know my higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme." Aurobindo continues to guide Nuernberg. The aim is to arrive at a synthesis between the spirituality of the eastern and western worlds. "Spirituality exists here but few are interested in it. Christianity is as mystical and magical as Hinduism but Europeans think it is old fashioned to read the New Testament and to find out for themselves what the text says. Catholic dogma has turned people away from Christian mysticism." According to Nuernberg, spirituality is absolutely necessary for human beings`A0to feel at home in a material world. "Both are two sides of the same coin. To separate the two is futile, even painful," says the writer, who continues to travel and to weave her colourful experiences into novels in order to acquire a soul which she hopes would be similar to that of Krishna. — WFS
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