About
Hello there, I'm Ben.
Born in a tranquil village in the West of Germany, I've always felt an intense longing for bigger horizons.
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As a teenager, I began practicing meditation and started reading philosophical works by people such as Erich Fromm, whose books I absorbed. Since then, I have felt a deep curiosity for all aspects of life, from geopolitics and education to agriculture and physics, but especially for the art of living and the meaning of life. I also started training in martial arts, which has become a lifelong passion of mine.
After school, I started travelling the world, wanting to learn from first-hand experience about different cultures and religions. I visited various countries in Asia and the Middle East, such as among others Nepal, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Israel.
Back home, I dreamed of fusing nature and technology by designing natural buildings, and so I started studying sustainable engineering. Realizing that engineering was way too limited for my rampant curiosity, I changed to a transdisciplinary program called 'Liberal Arts and Sciences', in which I could follow my interests. This program allowed me to gain a basic understanding of many fields, such as environmental sciences, cell biology, cognitive science, economics, psychology, artificial intelligence, cultural studies, and last but not least philosophy. I realized that philosophy offers me the most freedom to follow my curiosity and is the place of ultimate enquiry, touching every aspect of life. No other field allows one to question its very own basic convictions. Accordingly, I'm pursuing my master’s degree at the Munich School of Philosophy, specializing in mysticism, process-metatheory, and psychotherapy. As you can see, I am into big picture stuff.
Parallel to these academic activities, I explored a wide variety of practices from improv theatre, free dance, and energy healing methods, to social labs and meditation retreats. I experimented with all kinds of approaches to nutrition (such as vegan, paleo, raw, instincto) and experienced natural as well as externally induced altered states of consciousness. I was always interested in what else there is and what effects it would have on my body and psyche.
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Besides all this curiosity, outer exploration, and internal contemplation, I also experienced psychotherapy from a client perspective, having had the honor to meet a particularly unconventional (and genius) therapist helping me through depression in my early 20s. Through peculiar ways, life gave me the master I had always wished for. The time with him made me realize that there is no magic pill, no external medicine, no special trick or method to solve our problems and satisfy our souls. It seems the path to the ultimate is through ever-growing love. I am convinced that what might sound cheesy is yet the most daring endeavor a human being can aspire to, implying the total annihilation of one's sense of control and identity. Nevertheless, this is the path that I am bound to, not knowing whether I will ever reach its final destination.
On this blog, you'll find the findings of my journey. Snippets of thought or little stories about a personal experience will come up here from time to time.
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Enjoy the ride and feel free to get in touch!
