ALBERT HEMPEL

(MUKTANANDA)

Albert Hempel, with spiritual name Muktananda, is an actor, residing on the east coast of Australia. He offers services in acting and presenting, yoga, reiki, social aesthetics and other arts, aiming for at least momentary integration with expression and direction in a range of artistic and body disciplines. With an emphasis on acting, visual art and writing, Albert engages in careful balancing as a yogi within the arts. With a family background of Australian and European cultures, he has a BA from the University of New England. Albert has had extensive further learning in various philosophies, yoga as well as in areas of the outdoors.
A simple area of insight for occupational integration is Albert's recognition of a major part of the Buddha Dharma. "The teaching that the Buddha's most important miracle was reconstructing an image of himself from a distance is important for me". When self realisation reaches this stage, huge benefits are experienced.
Largely, by use of the chakras, guidance can be achieved as long as there is personal body recognition, combined with ongoing health."The frontier that the screen and the stage provide is fascinating to me purely because of the 'dive in there and do it attitude' akin to some forms of tantra as well as the mirroring process or the number of subtle and non subtle juxtapositions". Albert has been trained for over twelve years at the Armidale School of youth Drama as well as Actors' Centre, Australia.
An example
"Up until recently, culturally, the country music line dancer was somewhat set apart from activities and any mind set pursued by a shy Tao master from Taiwan. They most probably have both washed up and they have most probably both line danced to some degree
". Albert's area of study within yoga regimes has included the hypothesis that an atmic force for the lever, origin or will of the breath is more likely to be in the throat (vishudhi chakra) region for the line dancer when performing the simple action of taking a step to the right, while being lower down, in the tail bone (swadhisthan chakra) region in the Tao master. Where there is an opposite or opposing personality detected or realised by the individual, there is scope for growth and fortunately, in the current day at least some feeling of social challenge. The electrons, if not the smaller quarks and messenger particles of the body are in a dramatic interplay from moment to moment, and to at least acknowledge or actively feel the energy (or prana or chi) associated with this interplay is extremely important for psychology. An equally important area of focus and entertainment from both the dancer and the practitioner is the caption that might describe each practitioners' look or countennance. In either case, before the step to the right, the caption might be "I'm standing (and or but) looking." In other words, 'ready to be a little bit alert; while in the standing position. This has important implications for energy use within the body along with resulting elements within the whole psyche and ultimately verbal and facial expression. "I ask further what the Taiwanese country music singer would be like taking on a different spiritual routine". Whatever happens, as the Zen and Tao masters have said and in Albert's view, there is importance in realising that sometimes we need to be a little bit silly. By this, they usually mean that to put asside any tendency towards fostering the mundane is something to aim at. It is realised here, that even asside from the actions of washing up and line dancing, a yoga routine may well be kept up by both the line dancer and the Tao master. Hopefully a 'mundane' feeling will not be entertained too often by both of these types. The Gyan yogic guru Prem Rawat has famously said "the (universe) within is never ever boring"
The outer universe here speaks of a cultural integration in the form of a drama, which results in entertainment. Also the outer universe has many phenomena that are characterised by a special dynamism if not a magic where the 'mental map' is of concern. Ensuring a purity here is of crucial importance for the purposes of maintaining adept levels of vision. It is remarkable to find that with any affirmative decision (ok, often associated with a little bit, but only a little bit of success), to do a creative task of any sort, there is a rising warm feeling within the body. Often separate to this and innevitably, the final product of acting or completing a piece of visual art is a form of devotion which may be refined, repeated or extended upon.
The interplay of personalities, given the huge storehouse of acting scripts available makes for a very colourful society whose will is driven by the subtle touches of truths and emotions within the human form. The use of reiki and exploring into the areas of yogic devotion are remarkable as obvious areas of healing, insight and interplay. Chi is ongoing, never ending as the grounding for health, everyday life as well as artistic expression. The ancient technique of reiki (also called 'Lian Chi' by Chinese practitioners) encompasses a huge area of energetic hands on as well as hands off chi therapy, as well as yogic integrated self practices which very often include practices of invocation, visualisations, and discovery or evoking of truths and emotions. The studies of how the psyche as well as mental map are determined and how it expresses and is nurtured are wide open within this psychology.
A more recent discovery by Albert Hempel in the area of emotional accessing is that emotions which are available to the actual acting process are likely to take any perceivable shape. Also as part of this there is the all important 'favourable' or 'non favourable' emotion, in amoungst moods and representations of externalities of different types that make the acting or creative process an even more beautiful challenge. Further to this is an ultimate aspect to the actor's psyche which might be described as 'golden areas', where there are important places where we can 'dwell', for templating a favoured or divine area of psyche.These are areas of the body that are immediately in use where there are the necessary gestures involved in forming or portraying a character. Yoga (particularly gyan yoga, or yoga of knowlege) and reiki, at least from Albert's experience, help this later process.
Where the yoga practitioner is concerned, there is readilly an 'incorporatedness' which can occur, enabling a recognition of the dramatic arts perhaps being seen as a final stage (samadhi) in the eight limbs of raja yoga. Inner nature and outer nature here combine to form a true nature. Albert has found that an active care for external earthly nature is important here. Much is to be said for the physicalities involved with hoeing out weeds, washing up, recycling rubbish and / or simply tapping in to sign an online petition.
Albert grew up in northern NSW, Australia. He has been involved with numerous mediums of artistic performance and has emerged with 'pleasant turbulence' into creative and holistic - health life. Overseas (UK, S.E. Asia, North America and Europe) work experience and study, strong connections with the natural environment and re-entering the acting world are recent life features. He is Sannyassin with classical Yoga, which he is involved with in the Sydney area.
 

Waiting in the wings during shooting of 'Masque of the Red Death', UTS, 2006

'Obsessions' advertisement by APA Film School, 2006

Exhibitions at which Albert has displayed his visual art:
1998 - Anniversary celebrations, Stephens Bridge, Armidale
1999 -TAFE exhibition, Tatts Hotel, Armidale
2003 - Creative Madness, Garvan Institute, Sydney
2004 - Chautauqua Grass Sittings, TAP Gallery, Sydney
(To view images from the opening click here)
2006 - Pectin Pecs, Jammy Gallery, Alexandria

Acting credits go back to childhood, including overseas at school and mostly when Albert was involved as a student in his mother Joanna's Armidale School of Youth Drama. There have been excerpt contributions on stage including sketches, a yoga rishi play, 'IAMAC', Cafe Church, Glebe, Short and Sweet Festival, 2007 and 'An Italian Straw Hat' with East Coast Teatre Company, 2007.
Film work in 2006 has included:
'All Saints', Paris scene, Channel Seven TV, Australia.
Greengrocer in Dating scene, APA Film School, Sydney
'Obsession', APA Film School, Sydney
'Mask of the Red Death' UTS
'Cafe 99', North Sydney Tafe

In 2007:
Railcorp Security Scenarios
Westmead Hospital (USYD) Medical scenarios
UWS, 'Tennis watching Buddies'
IFSS, 'A Brother without a Family'
In 2008:

Cancer Documentary Presentation, Sunny Horizon Films
Japanese Visual Art Project, Redfern
Extempor Film Project
North Sydney TAFE assignment
(Ongoing and in 2009:) 'The Olympic Flame' Greek Opera Project, Newtown
In 2009:
Albert has delved back into exploring the depths of acting as well as his 'visual dynamics yoga'. Recently incorporated with his areas of research are further affirmation and self propounding studies, Michael Chekhov's psychic gestures (many thanks to Sydney's Rudolf Steiner Parsifal College) and some further local environmental and household elements. He is currently working on some indigenous recitings with a view to performing. Albert will move to the north coast of NSW, closer to where he grew up around the middle of 2009.

Writing: Diary and Current affairs work;
Albert is an ongoing observer and diarist of political, environmental and social affairs.
Some poetry and some preliminary extended writings are continually being 'buzzed' out, particularly with themes of the everyday as well as (still) some deep ecology. Extended essay works have also been retained for the time being.

Recent Haikus

A Smoother Afternoon with Mum II

I paint; approach, panting
Its mum visit, pup on leash
Flat now has curtains.


True Awakenings come up on quiet Beach

We rejoice at wave size
Path with weeds keenly removed
Discuss family.

The following pages contain at least thumbnails of some of the paintings that were on display at TAP Gallery in 2004.

 

Connections with the Attic Studio in Glebe have been in the context of yoga, all arts and parental family.

Contact Albert for particularly acting projects, reiki healing or
anything in social aesthetics, including insightful visual arts. He is also a trained outdoor guide.
Albert is on Facebook and at this stage is a novice on Digg.

email: albs@atticstudio.com
telephone: 0409 911 124