Be welcome, dearest reader!
How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?

"Take 5 minutes to describe yourself in 25 words or less, to someone you've never met." 

I'm an edge-walker between science, spirituality, storytelling, ecology, mysticism, and community – dedicated to a more beautiful world, awakening our hearts, and the flourishing of life. 

“With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls,
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do, that dares love attempt.”

William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet”, Act 2, Scene 2

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How do I surmount these walls? And wherefore am I here?

To find and express clarity, love, and courage. And therein, to remind myself (and us?) of our always-already-given permission to be fully alive; to discover purpose and enact meaning, individually and together; to grow beyond “playing it safe” into a courageous life; to practice, learn, and share; to co-create what serves “me, us, and the larger whole”. Dare I say: to love fully?

Why and how do I walk along the edges and dwell in the intersections and spaces between worlds? All I can say right now is that this journey is calling me, and sharing it here with you is part of it. “Laying down a path in walking”, to paraphrase Francisco Varela. If you are inspired to walk together, let’s find out how and enjoy the ride!

And who “is” the one inviting you?

I like to describe myself as an aspiring citizen of the universe who was born on 14^th March 1979 in Graz, Austria and given the name Wolfgang. My professional background is mainly in science, more precisely the area of Experimental High Energy Particle Physics in which I have completed a PhD degree while working at CERN and the University of Innsbruck. Prior to that I have studied Physics at the Graz University of Technology with a focus on radiation physics and computer simulations.

My life journey has led me to explore the nature of collaboration, community-building, co-creation, emergence, ecology, enactivism, embodiment, stories and myths, inner work & personal transformation (including several years with Leap Forward), participatory sensemaking and collective decision-making, indigenous wisdom and spiritual traditions, contemplative practices, contemplative science, and building bridges between science and spirituality. Although lately the term “edge-walker” seems more appropriate!

Today I am working on the Contemplative Scientific Collaboration project (since 2016) and the Mindful Researchers initiative (since 2020). I am also a certified “Systemic Konsensing” moderator and on the path to becoming a “Council” facilitator. And meanwhile, I am “earning a living” (as they say) mainly in tracking and analytics at LWP Consulting OG.

Life, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. My passion for science and stories has long been entwined with playing/teaching chess, exploring experience & the mind & consciousness, and varying degrees of meditation practice mainly based on Theravada and Zen Buddhism, with a recently growing interest in Dzogchen as well as Christian mysticism. A lover of poems, writing and storytelling, I have also engaged in independent film-making with LOOM – an adventure that culminated in the feature-length movie Jenseits in 2006. Add to that a curiosity for communication, psychology, group dynamics, and a passion for humanity and life, music and dance, and you will wonder (as do I) how I manage to juggle. Yet somehow all these passions begin to converge, as my hairline recedes with the years.

I love connecting the dots, discovering patterns, and sharing experiences and emerging new pictures with my fellow travellers, with you. Indeed I sometimes travel in several worlds at the same time. The meaning of this will become clearer as we travel together. Sharing our gifts, stories and journeys makes me happy. Would you like to join me?

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Warning: This journey may contain old and new thoughts, challenging ideas and exceptional experiences, free hugs, inspiration and curiosity, unexpected aliveness, time and timelessness, luminous emptiness, spaces in between. You might occasionally find me baking bread, walking barefoot on grass, talking with trees and rivers and crows, geeking out over a math puzzle, or listening to the echoes of distant thunder while dancing in the rain.

You can contact me anytime via the contact form or write comments. Your heartfelt expression is always welcome! Please do share what inspires you. I wonder: what will it be?

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The title “near life experience” relates to the notion that the ordinary human experience which we call “life” can seem like a (more or less subtle) kind of slumber. As if we’re almost alive, but not quite there, not (yet) fully awake. When I started this blog in 2006, I stated its main purpose as “abandoning the misleading narrative of past and future, awakening to the present moment and the experience of things as they actually are”. That may still hold true, but today I simply want for us to share our experiences as authentically as possible.

The subtitle “a metaphysical journey through approx. 3.1415926535… worlds” suggests that I find myself travelling through more than one world, in the way that we would ordinarily (and by construction arbitrarily, while oftentimes consensually) distinguish them. Not knowing the multiplicity of such worlds, it becomes increasingly clear to me that they all complement each other, being part of a larger undivided whole(ness) – so I find it appropriate to give their number a nice round (pun intended!) approximation.

I post these articles under my favourite online nickname “Heimdall” who is also one of the Norse Gods (we’re not really the same person, but I’ve heard that his last encounter with a dude named Loki didn’t go too well, so I guess he doesn’t mind me impersonating him).

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Disclaimer:
All words and articles published here reflect my current state of mind and are therefore always subject to further development. In fact such evolution is the purpose! – Furthermore, I shall diligently seek to ensure the accuracy and harmlessness of all posted links and sources; however I cannot take responsibility away from you for any kind of damage resulting from following such external content. Moderation, maintenance and control of other websites is their respective owners’ duty. Please tell me if you find anything which you consider should be edited or removed from my blog for legal, ethical or other reasons. Thank you!