Lluís Homar: "I am aware that there is another dimension, that everything we are experiencing is an illusion"

BarcelonaHe appears with that Manelic chassis, that of Viscount Valmont, of Hamlet, of Spooner, of Professor Bernhardi, of Cyrano and an aura that could make him not go through the door, but when one of the great interpreters of active Catalan theatre sits down to talk, only, Luis Homar (Barcelona, ​​​​1957), a person who The biography of light by Pablo de Oros changed his life. This January he returned to live in Barcelona after more than five years in Madrid directing the National Classical Theatre Company, a stage that ended abruptlyFrom February 27 to March 16 he directs one of the last shows of the CNTC at the Teatre Romea, The great theatre of the world, by Calderon de la Barca.

The great theatre of the world It is a sacramental act. Can religion teach us, the unbelieving humans of the 21st century, anything?

— Yes, absolutely. Sometimes we give religion a more dogmatic connotation, more closely linked to Catholicism, but in the sense of spirituality I believe that it continues to be the alternative to the world of nonsense in which we are installed. The only thing that is not saved in The great theatre of the world is the rich, that is, the materialist. We are not so far from theImagine by John Lennon and, instead, it seems that we were deluded into thinking that an alternative to the world was possible. The work also has a very philosophical character, and tells us that the correction we must make as humans is to lower the I and think about it us. That is, in the idea of community.

"Do good, for God is God"In today's terms, would we say we are thinking about the common good?

— Me the common good It doesn't sound right to me, because it brings back a connotation from when I was studying. formation of the national spirit In the Franco era. For me, the path towards the other has to do with the journey one makes towards oneself. In a world that wants to make us uniform, this dissidence of making the pilgrimage towards being, of not giving in to what is imposed on us, is an act of love towards oneself that automatically leads us to find others.

Does theatre connect you with your spirituality?

— A character that changed me was Prince Ferdinand ofThe Constant Prince by Calderón de la Barca, directed by Xavier Albertí in 2021. In addition, on the day of the premiere he gave me the book by Pablo d'Ors The biography of light, a mystical reading of the gospels, and it changed my life.

Because?

— I had already done Buddhist retreats with Dhiravamsa and had sympathized with Taoism, Tai Chi and Chi Kung, but this allows me to find a path of knowledge at another level. I have the feeling that we are at the limit of the era of reason and at the doors of the era of consciousness. And this does not mean that this eliminates reason, but that it transcends it, that it gives us a broader meaning of all of this. These materials have helped me to broaden my view: reason has led us, as humanity, to carry out a brutal evolution, but it is also our prison. And the greatest example we have is seeing Trump and Elon Musk there in an office deciding where they are leading the world with total impunity.

Years ago you began to meditate through the priest Pablo d'Ors and his community of Friends of the Desert. If meditating is looking at yourself, what have you discovered?

— This is like a training session, I dedicate part of the day to it, morning and night. I try to find the being, which is not the ego, but my essence. When you arrive, perhaps in the last five minutes of meditation, sometimes there is something that suddenly loosens up, something that surrenders, that stops being governed by the head and opens up... to what? To God, to the infinite, to the absolute, to the Tao... I am aware that there is another dimension, that all this that we live is an illusion and that reality in capital letters has to do with a kind of stripping away of this entire constructed world. And when this appears, or is glimpsed, it is something simple, clean, luminous.

Have you had any revelations?

— Sparks, in my case. Sometimes it comes to you like a kind of well-being, and a simple space of connection opens up that makes you feel good. Seeing that this space is tangible, that it is within everyone's reach, that this doesn't cost money...

But dedication, yes.

— Perseverance is important. I have been meditating for ten years. Being able to get close to this is, as St. John of the Cross says, ""the dark night of the soul"It's not that one starts meditating to take a natural valium. I don't meditate to feel well, I meditate to know how I am. The meditation space is like a Polaroid, and things appear in the form of thoughts, emotions, sensations... The important thing is that you let yourself feel that you want to kill someone; that is, anger, hatred, sadness, anguish, fear. As you sit, you realize that you are not what you think and you are not what you feel, that there is another reality beyond that. I like to think that we have access to what is healthy. Meditation is a path like yoga or nature. What happens is that sometimes the adversary is yourself.

You have been working in theatre and film for almost sixty years, if we take into account that you made your debut at the age of six. It is an unfathomable career. Is it an artist to take stock?

— When I look back at my life, I see that everything fits together, that everything makes sense, that everything was meant to be this way. There are four things that guide me right now. One is: "Don't let anything or anyone disturb your inner peace." The second is: "Life is immortal." The third is: "Everyone always does the best they can, don't judge and you won't be judged." And the fourth is: "Everything has a reason for love, everything happens for a reason." Even in the most adverse moments, which have obviously been there, what I like most is to give thanks for what is supposed to have been a pain in the ass.

These are the great lessons.

— Great lessons in humility. I don't have any trouble feeling that I have to put myself back to square one. I really like the phrase: "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." Of course, how do you discern the boundary? Because there are many moments in which the position of victim is so tempting, so tempting. Because it really gives you a way of being in life. Now, deciding that I want to be happy, that I nevertheless have a positive outlook on life and especially on myself, is in my hands.

He arrives at the Romea Theatre with the National Classical Theatre Company, from where his departure was agreed last summer due to contractual administrative irregularities [to get paid for directing when he was actually working as an actor]. How did you experience it?

— I have gone through many stages and I am still in the process, because it is very recent. What I have to tell you is that I am happy. I am delighted with what I have experienced, the five years and four months in the Company. I am very happy with Lluís afterwards. If I had known what I was going for, I would not have gone, but I was lucky that I did. Even with the end, which was not easy. There is a phrase that I like a lot: what has happened is the best thing that could have happened because it is what has happened. Obviously, if I could go back I would change something. But I cannot go back. Therefore, what is happening is perfect. I am not yet at the point of saying "thank you", but I know that I am close. I know that this is shaping me for the best stage of my life.

The break also means that Homar returns to Catalonia. The co-direction with Gabriel Calderón ofBetween rhymes and shores Garcilaso will bid farewell to the CNTC in May. And then what?

— The agreement I had with my partner was that I would leave for a period of five years, and I convinced her to stay for three more years. Circumstances have returned us to the initial plan. And in two years the idea is to go with Alba to live in Urgell, in Rocallaura. We already have the house.

But will it still be active?

— Between cinema, poetry and theatre, I already have 2025 on my radar. But I'm increasingly thinking about having space for the spiritual self. Sometimes people ask themselves: what would be your epitaph? Actor? Well, I'm increasingly thinking that the actor is not the end, but that the actor is the instrument through which I can grow and help others grow. I'm increasingly liking sparrows, which are all the same, they're beautiful, they're free. As far as possible, I'd like to be a sparrow.