In remembrance of Kees Swarttouw
On Tuesday May 13 the 2008 Kees Swarttouw died very suddenly and totally unexpectedly.His cremation in Amersfoort on Saturday May 17th was sober, full of simplicity and impressive by its harmonious atmosphere. The lecturers not only emphasized his large dimensional outlook (or holographic view) and his understanding about awareness, but also his cordial companionship with people.
Bert van Bolderick
Bert has been a close friend of Kees Swarttouw for years.
Talking with: Kees Swarttouw
October 2007: About fundamental choices, applied metaphysics, the downfall of the Berlin Wall, chaos and excitement.
Safety or adventure
I made my first fundamental choice at an early age. That was the choice for adventure. When I joined the army, I could go to The Hague, neatly walk around in a uniform or join the cavalry in Germany. I chose for Germany and ended up in the Cuba –crisis. When I was there I wrote a letter to my family telling them that we were going to die.Both my parents were very engaged in safety. We were well off at home. My father was still in shock because of the economic crisis of the thirties, though he himself had not been affected by it. When I wanted to ‘start my own business’ it was the stupidest thing I could do. I had to look for safety and be successful. I saw the price my parents paid for their struggle. In joy, talent and the excitement for life. There was no need for me to repeat this.
Evolution and awareness
For some time I did biology and psychology. Retrospectively I see that that was related to evolution and awareness. In the beginning we only had German and French books for psychology. Awareness had been banned, but psychology was more and more Americanized.Magic from past lives
My second choice was: winning first prize in this life. In other words: I am not going to let this life pass me by. I found out that in previous lives I did. Actually, I believe in past lives, because there are so many things in my life that couldn’t have been gathered from genes or ancestors. It is a matter of essence and shape.I ended up at a consultancy firm; three quarters of the people there were aiming for more productivity. And the rest some rather vague types, including me. But within three years I had an appointment with the managing board of the Rotterdamse Lloyd (a shipping firm). I was somewhat inexperienced for such an assignment but it felt quite normal for me. I was very young and worked with influential people of Agriculture. And felt very much at home. The bigger the case, the easier it felt for me. I never did anything for which I had an education. A kind of magic which is not genetic. In my opinion the ability to move yourself in different positions, is related to previous lives. And of how you develop.
Foolishness and joy
For me, all these previous lives play their part in the present. Related to who you really are, these lives exist simultaneously. If this is your last life, you are confronted with what you experienced in those lives and all mankind’s ‘software’. Your range and influence is enormous.It does not mean that I think about this all the time, but every now and then I realize this.
The third choice was that I wanted to experience the adventure in this life, in all its foolishness and joy. I was raised as a roman catholic and I don’t need crucifixions, being tortured and those kind of things. I don’t like poverty and hardship. For instance take a man like Franciscus, a frock, always wearing sandals, a fine fellow, but not my kind of thing. There are two paths: the tragic and the dignified one. The first path is the most well-known; the second more an adventure.
Inspiration from the adventure of life
Yes, in retrospect you see the choices you made, as your awareness increases. You wonder if I read a lot. Well, I used to. Krishnamurti, Aurobindo, Watts. Magicians who also knew how to write about it. Richard Mayer, for example, his architecture is about light. The function of space is that it absorbs light. I think that is exciting. But now I don’t read much anymore. I get my inspiration from the unbelievable adventure of life, from the secrets, the miraculous thing that is ‘suspended’ above life. The greatest adventure is, actually, that The Divine is genuine. And so you meet a lot of people who say: that is not true.In life you are ‘separated’ as a human being. And then, step by step, everything in your life begins to lighten up and the ‘magic’ part increases enormously.
Transcendental experiences
The most miraculous experiences in my life were the transcendental ones. Experiences that moved me. For example the moment that the Berlin Wall came down.
People in church used to pray for the conversion of Russia and then you felt everybody in church thinking: God is almighty, but will he be able to do thát..?
When I was in the military service I was quite close to the Wall. When it came down in 1989 without whistling bullets. That was a pure miracle. And how about Mandela; when he pops up, the whole universe suddenly opens up.
Or the time when I had to go to Tilburg and they called my wife asking at what time I had left. At 8 o’clock. Well then he can’t be here before 11, because an enormous lorry had been turned bottom up obstructing the road. At 9 o’clock I entered the room and the boys said: ‘How is that possible Kees? It took you only one hour to get here.’ There was a lorry obstructing the road but I did not see it. But what is even more important to me is that I had a vision a number of times. Just after the war it was the first time, and then with Mandela at the wall. I saw the world as it can be. I saw a different world.
Choices and profession
Was this job my vocation? Its shape was indeed. One of the arguments I had with my professor was about the point that things we cannot explain must always be a coincidence. I think that is the most interesting part. People tried to persuade me to do all kinds of other jobs. I could have been a member of parliament, a professor, or a manager, but every time I refused and said: No thank you, I’ll do it my way.In fact the choices I made were manifested in my profession. Again and again you have to choose to give space to your deepest inner urges. When you are positioned between an old and a new world, you’re so called old and new ‘software’.
Raising your children
Did I raise my children with special ideas? I sure did. We have got 2 children, a boy and a girl. The first thing I wanted was to give them a home. Before I was 10 years old I had to move 10 times. That is why this is my statement: I wanted to live at one single place. Talking about free choices for children.We married and got our children when we were not that young anymore and then you are just old enough to see the miracle. You should not bother your children with your own puzzles. We always found out that, if we had solved the problem ourselves, it was not an issue anymore for our children.
Visiting companies, I saw people there who, after graduation, did nothing for the first 10 to 15 years of their lives and I thought: why hurry children while they are young? One day my son said to me: ‘Do you mind if I keep down for a second year, because I want to sport a lot.’ And after secondary school my daughter said: ‘Do you mind if I work in a pancake restaurant for one year?’ Everybody sweated, but we agreed.
There are no Nobodies
God does not create nobodies. So it is irrelevant to wonder if you are ‘somebody’. I have always known that people can do ‘great things’. I can say that for other people without the slightest doubt, but for me it is harder to see it. As I said, God does not create ‘nobodies’ and he does not ‘repeat’ himself. The assumption that a person could have a ‘lousy’ life is absurd. Of course I also have moments that life scares me to death.Don’t dump people into ‘the black hole’
I was involved in the closure of Stork-Werkspoor Diesel (Dutch company). Contra assessment. 1500 People given the sack. At the worst possible moment in the early eighties. Then the Trade Union came up and asked, Kees, can you do anything about it? At that time the Stichting Werk Amsterdam was founded, with a card tray without a single vacancy. When you have kind people filling that kind of a tray by asking what you would like to do and you just don’t join the reality consensus, a miracle happens. In the final analyses, the only thing they did was not letting people down into the black hole. The ‘black hole‘ is that you abandon people and just say: see you...Applied metaphysics
Within half a year, three quarter of the people had a job. Jobs that were created only a week before. According to any insider this was absolutely impossible. For me, that was applied metaphysics. It is a matter of giving attention to those people. And after that the employment agency started. And to see that people have the possibility to choose again is touching. In my book it is true that any human being can have a fantastic life. I was raised in a so-called ‘Siberian Universe’. Most important message: this is a negative planet and looking around carefully you can only conclude that all this leads to nothing. The moment you turn this assumption around, you say: this is an area of expression, of who you are and will become.You are entitled to share the adventure that you went for wittingly. So if life has delivered you severe blows, as it did with you, one will meet similar people. People with themes that you are familiar with. The things you did effortlessly and without awareness are not suitable to transmit to other people.
Welcome committee
It is quite interesting that, nowadays, people, round there fifties, have achieved their aims and think; what next? It is fantastic to feel commitment with people who are looking for the meaning of life. That must be so rewarding. You could say that these people meet you somewhere along the line. You have already been there. In fact you are a welcome committee. Look here, this is the way to go, you will be all right. You are qualified to share the adventure you consciously entered.Doom-scenario’s
My opinion on the notorious year 2012? You could say that the old world collapses and that we are in an unimaginable process of falling apart. All foundations of our community are falling apart. We enter the world of metaphysics. In the old world you lay down your power. You make another person create your world. Just make sure that you exploit the rest of humanity and you will be o.k.We assume: it is impossible that everybody is o.k. The basic ground formula of humanity collapses. We’ve seen the greatest certainties explode. A lifetime job at GAK , SHELL or PTT (Dutch companies)? That is over and out. The government is not capable to create a beautiful reality. When they put out plain lies, isn’t that the limit?
Chaos or excitement
Our modern world totally disappears and at the same time we are building a new one. Our children are used to choosing from chaos. In my time you had a list with four studies linked to four different jobs. My son had to choose between 1200 studies. Of course internet is chaos. We read books about new stuff, but our children just go and work with it. Everything is crisis, water crisis, environmental crisis, managerial crisis, credit crisis, control crisis. And man is floating in between. You can see it already: if we all think the economy goes down, it will. And if we think ‘well no’, it recovers again.There is a rise and fall process and the Doom and Gloom people (take Al Gore) don’t see that emergence process. Well, somewhere between 2008 and 2012. That is simply the truth. And it is my excitement. It’s already happening.
God does not create nobodies and God does not repeat himself.
Martha Slager, Gabriëlla Dusan and Martin Dusan.
Talking with:
Kees Swarttouw
(1940 - 2008)
Contact:
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0575 - 572 154