‘Truly Feel‘ on today’s ‘I Think Speech‘ podcast
Greetings friends, As I may have mentioned here before, I am part of a group that meets to work with the 6B = The 6 Basic Exercises*, which are the fundamental basis for inner development on the path of the New Mysteries.
Today I am thinking about how to really live into the 3rd of the 6 basic exercises, which is about equanimity or the capacity to remain balanced & calm rather than reactive. I find that often the 1st step is to tune into my breathing. The rhythmic system brings order & harmony. In the 2nd panel of the Foundation Stone Meditation Rudolf Steiner tells us when we ‘live within the beat of heart & lung’ we are supported thru the ‘rhythms of time’. They say time heals all wounds. We find our stability within the fluctuation, which reveals the true ‘feeling of our own soul-being’.
When we ‘practice Spirit Mindfulness’, which is to observe the spirit behind mind, beyond matter, listening to the riddle it poses & the awareness it awakens, this brings us a steadiness of Soul, a balance of earth & spirit. When we unite our own ‘I’ our consciousness, with the ‘I’ or consciousness of the world, this weaving in our souls allows us to use our feeling life creatively. Emotion comes from motion; if the motion gets bent out of shape, we can change the shape to change the emotion. We can work with the feeling -Cultivate it – to change the atmosphere – to become steady – to feel deeper. Instead of being buffeted by the ‘surging deeds of world evolving’ we can take the reins of our emotion & steer it where we want to go – into a unity.
The will of Christ lives in our etheric body, it reverberates in us- & we receive grace when we recognize the will that lives in the etheric body of the other, our fellow human beings who are in the encircling round with us. And this is the true riddle. If we want to see Christ in our souls, we must see him first in the soul of the other by casting our light into the other, so that they can be reflected back to us like an after image. This is the purpose of community. Christ will weaves between human etheric bodies creating a kinship. It weaves between human etheric bodies & the etheric body of the world. To become conscious of this weaving we must align with the Beings of Light connected to the Sun, the 2nd Hierarchy, working in our etheric body, & co-create with them our own light with which to see Christ in the other, as well as the light holding sway in all life. We take the Sun that is enkindled by these beings into our feeling life to give light form, to create from it a balance. To transform the chaotic forces of emotion into the motion of life renewed. – To radiate equanimity.
Rudolf Steiner tells us that the elemental spirits that enter our etheric bodies with every perception, hear Christ in the world, Christ is with them in the etheric body of the earth, & this impulse is in us. Their task is to ask the question, the riddle: ‘May human Beings hear it’, to stimulate our response, our soul’s light creating activity.
So if thru Anthroposophia & Michael we develop a consciousness of these spirits, if we kindle our etheric bodies into an organ of light, this light itself is the balance that brings about healing; for it carries a consciousness of Christ living in us, & this prepares us for perceiving this Christic etheric presence in every expression of emotion calling for grace in ourselves & in the world, an opportunity for us to bring life into equilibrium.
All serious students are welcome to join: The ARC (Anthroposophical Resource Center in Atlanta) is inviting you to a Six Basic Exercise Practice Group
Time: weekdays 11am CT / 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Each weekday you are invited to join in a 15 minute practice group focusing on Rudolf Steiner’s foundational exercises. We begin the time each day with a 5 minute leading thought focusing one aspect of the practice. We will follow that with a 5 minute period in which we turn off our cameras and practice on our own. After the five minute bell, we take 1-2 minutes to journal about our experience and the end the call with a 3 minute closing thought. Come when you can, and leave when you must. ~Angela Foster
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/266986103?pwd=bXU4a0EvMmJkMDZTR0Rqcm0xZ0pUZz09 Meeting ID: 266 986 103 Passcode: 345338