Sophia Institute online Anthroposophy Studies Program
Untitled (Yellow, Red and Blue) - by Mark Rothko (1953)
Course: Meditation and Initiation / The Sixfold Path as Given in Anthroposophy
A Practical Guide to Meditation
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Recommended ReadingKnowledge of the Higher Worlds by Rudolf Steiner
Theosophy by Rudolf Steiner Occult Science - An Outline by Rudolf Steiner Guidance in Esoteric Training by Rudolf Steiner Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart by Florin Lowndes |
Introduction
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, placed the following sentence at the beginning of his book Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment: "There slumber in every human being faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds." When people read this sentence or a similar statement that speaks about the latent possibility of developing oneself in such a way that we can indeed have experiences of the spiritual world, that we can to a certain degree become initiates ourselves, they usually react in some way to this statement, to this idea.
Some people will deny this idea for themselves and resign themselves to the belief that we cannot reach beyond sense perception to worlds they feel are imagined and unreal. They believe that we as humanity have developed from being superstitious and believing in magic and spirit to becoming sense world oriented and scientific, meaning believers in natural science that explores the natural world and states that we cannot explore the world of the soul and spirit with our senses or our thinking that is based on our senses and sense perception. In fact, they might believe, there is no such world of soul and spirit, but only some forms of imagination and perhaps hallucinations. Other people will read the above mentioned statement by Steiner and it will kindle something in their soul. These people can be called Anthroposophists.
For instance, Yvonne who encountered the above mentioned sentence in a café on the Rue Crémieux in Paris, France: "It happened one early afternoon in late fall in Paris. Yvonne had walked through a gentle rain storm that afternoon, noticing the change in the color of the foliage of the trees in the park, and had entered a café on the Rue Crémieux. Yvonne had felt a certain heaviness of soul and moodiness partly caused by the atmosphere of this fall day with its gloom and foreboding of darker and colder days to come, but her mood lifted upon entering through the door and crossing the threshold into the café partly because of the bright and well lit space that she now entered, and partly because of the modern art prints that she noticed on the walls of this café. She felt particularly drawn to a work of art known to her from previous visits by the artist Mark Rothko that depicts three bold colors: yellow, red, and blue. After having ordered coffee and having sat by herself at one of the tables in the back of the small café, there was all of a sudden some commotion. People sprang to their feet and crowded near the window that looked out onto the Rue Crémieux where just then several police cars with the sound of their sirens piercing the otherwise quiet afternoon air and flashing blue lights, sped by. While others lingered by the window Yvonne had returned to her table when she noticed that at the neighboring table an open book had been placed on the wooden surface curiously in such manner that the writing faced her instead of the would be reader seated at said table. Inquisitive against her habit Yvonne read one of the first sentences printed on the page. It contained the following words: "Il sommeille en tout homme des facultés grâce auxquelles il lui est possible d'acquérir des connaissances sur les mondes supérieurs." Returning to her cup of coffee and upon pondering these words, Yvonne felt as if a candle had been lit inside her soul and that the cave like space that she now became aware of as being her soul was now being illuminated dimly by the candlelight. Yvonne knew in this instance that she had found something, that she had turned a corner and was now facing a new world, unknown and mysterious, but real. There was no turning back for her. A longing had been awakened and with a new determination previously unknown to her, Yvonne went out into the streets as if a changed person. Years later, having become a Waldorf teacher and a student of Anthroposophy long since, Yvonne remembers this day, her walk down Rue Crémieux and entering the little café, as if it was yesterday. And a print of Rothko's painting adorns one of the walls in her studio ... "
This course focuses on the sixfold path or six exercises presented by Rudolf Steiner in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and in several other publications by Steiner, namely Theosophy, Occult Science and Guidance in Esoteric Training.
Some people will deny this idea for themselves and resign themselves to the belief that we cannot reach beyond sense perception to worlds they feel are imagined and unreal. They believe that we as humanity have developed from being superstitious and believing in magic and spirit to becoming sense world oriented and scientific, meaning believers in natural science that explores the natural world and states that we cannot explore the world of the soul and spirit with our senses or our thinking that is based on our senses and sense perception. In fact, they might believe, there is no such world of soul and spirit, but only some forms of imagination and perhaps hallucinations. Other people will read the above mentioned statement by Steiner and it will kindle something in their soul. These people can be called Anthroposophists.
For instance, Yvonne who encountered the above mentioned sentence in a café on the Rue Crémieux in Paris, France: "It happened one early afternoon in late fall in Paris. Yvonne had walked through a gentle rain storm that afternoon, noticing the change in the color of the foliage of the trees in the park, and had entered a café on the Rue Crémieux. Yvonne had felt a certain heaviness of soul and moodiness partly caused by the atmosphere of this fall day with its gloom and foreboding of darker and colder days to come, but her mood lifted upon entering through the door and crossing the threshold into the café partly because of the bright and well lit space that she now entered, and partly because of the modern art prints that she noticed on the walls of this café. She felt particularly drawn to a work of art known to her from previous visits by the artist Mark Rothko that depicts three bold colors: yellow, red, and blue. After having ordered coffee and having sat by herself at one of the tables in the back of the small café, there was all of a sudden some commotion. People sprang to their feet and crowded near the window that looked out onto the Rue Crémieux where just then several police cars with the sound of their sirens piercing the otherwise quiet afternoon air and flashing blue lights, sped by. While others lingered by the window Yvonne had returned to her table when she noticed that at the neighboring table an open book had been placed on the wooden surface curiously in such manner that the writing faced her instead of the would be reader seated at said table. Inquisitive against her habit Yvonne read one of the first sentences printed on the page. It contained the following words: "Il sommeille en tout homme des facultés grâce auxquelles il lui est possible d'acquérir des connaissances sur les mondes supérieurs." Returning to her cup of coffee and upon pondering these words, Yvonne felt as if a candle had been lit inside her soul and that the cave like space that she now became aware of as being her soul was now being illuminated dimly by the candlelight. Yvonne knew in this instance that she had found something, that she had turned a corner and was now facing a new world, unknown and mysterious, but real. There was no turning back for her. A longing had been awakened and with a new determination previously unknown to her, Yvonne went out into the streets as if a changed person. Years later, having become a Waldorf teacher and a student of Anthroposophy long since, Yvonne remembers this day, her walk down Rue Crémieux and entering the little café, as if it was yesterday. And a print of Rothko's painting adorns one of the walls in her studio ... "
This course focuses on the sixfold path or six exercises presented by Rudolf Steiner in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and in several other publications by Steiner, namely Theosophy, Occult Science and Guidance in Esoteric Training.
Anthroposophy is a Path
Rudolf Steiner formulated in his publication Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts the following words:
"Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge which would guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the cosmos. It manifests as a necessity of the heart and feeling. It must find its justification in being able to satisfy this need. Only those who find in Anthroposophy what they seek in this respect can appreciate it. Therefore only those who feel certain questions about the nature of man and the world as basic necessities of life, like hunger and thirst, can be Anthroposophists."
These guidelines were originally published in the members' supplement of Das Goetheanum, the Anthroposohical Society's weekly newsletter, Dornach, Switzerland, during the period February 17, 1924 through April 12, 1925.
There are and there will be people who experience this thirst for knowledge beyond the knowledge that we can find in the natural sciences that dominate our thinking and consciousness on the level of humanity in our modern world.
How can we come closer to the words mentioned, the words that stand so to speak at the beginning or we may say at the entrance to Steiner’s work How to Know Higher Worlds?
As an exercise we might for some time want to turn to observing the sleeping human being, a child for instance, or a sleeping animal, or perhaps a landscape that appears asleep.
"There slumber in every human being faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds."
Our observation should focus on several things:
We describe this to ourselves and consider it in our mind. We try to become aware of feelings and our inner reaction to the sleeping gesture.
We should concern ourselves in this observation exercise with the question:
We could draw or paint the sleeping form perhaps first in a realistic fashion based on our observation, and later more as a gesture, as an expression of the sleeping being.
Engaging ourselves in this fashion we will be able to make steps in our artistic development, and perhaps in getting closer to experiences that have to do with higher worlds, with initiation.
"Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge which would guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the cosmos. It manifests as a necessity of the heart and feeling. It must find its justification in being able to satisfy this need. Only those who find in Anthroposophy what they seek in this respect can appreciate it. Therefore only those who feel certain questions about the nature of man and the world as basic necessities of life, like hunger and thirst, can be Anthroposophists."
These guidelines were originally published in the members' supplement of Das Goetheanum, the Anthroposohical Society's weekly newsletter, Dornach, Switzerland, during the period February 17, 1924 through April 12, 1925.
There are and there will be people who experience this thirst for knowledge beyond the knowledge that we can find in the natural sciences that dominate our thinking and consciousness on the level of humanity in our modern world.
How can we come closer to the words mentioned, the words that stand so to speak at the beginning or we may say at the entrance to Steiner’s work How to Know Higher Worlds?
As an exercise we might for some time want to turn to observing the sleeping human being, a child for instance, or a sleeping animal, or perhaps a landscape that appears asleep.
"There slumber in every human being faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds."
Our observation should focus on several things:
- What is the sleeping form?
- What is the gesture of the sleeping being?
- What is the mood?
- Is there movement?
We describe this to ourselves and consider it in our mind. We try to become aware of feelings and our inner reaction to the sleeping gesture.
We should concern ourselves in this observation exercise with the question:
- What is it that now slumbers, that is now asleep?
- How is it different from the state of being awake?
We could draw or paint the sleeping form perhaps first in a realistic fashion based on our observation, and later more as a gesture, as an expression of the sleeping being.
Engaging ourselves in this fashion we will be able to make steps in our artistic development, and perhaps in getting closer to experiences that have to do with higher worlds, with initiation.
The Sixfold Path as Given in Anthroposophy
Rudolf Steiner introduced the Sixfold Path to the general public in 1909 as the Six Protective Exercises in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. The six exercises and their practice constitute the sixfold path. They include:
In Knowledge of the Higher Worlds Steiner points out that the sixfold path, the six exercises, when practiced, develops one of our chakras, namely the chakra in the heart region, which he calls the twelve-petalled lotus. The heart chakra, “ … when developed, reveals to the clairvoyant a deep understanding of the processes of nature.”
In Guidance in Esoteric Training, a selection of writings by Steiner from the years 1904 - 1914, he gives these exercises a different title: Subsidiary Exercises. Steiner states in Guidance in Esoteric Training that “ … the conditions which must be the basis of any occult development are set forth (here). Let no one imagine that he can make progress by any measures applied to the outer or the inner life unless he fulfills these conditions. All exercises in meditation, concentration, or exercises of other kinds, are valueless, indeed in a certain respect actually harmful, if life is not regulated in accordance with these conditions. No forces can actually be imparted to a human being; all that can be done is to bring to development the forces already within him. They do not develop of their own accord because outer and inner hindrances obstruct them. The outer hindrances are lessened by means of the following rules of life; the inner hindrances by the special instructions concerning meditation, concentration, and the like.” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
In Steiner’s book Theosophy published in 1904 Steiner describes the six exercises and states: “What is said here about the path of spiritual knowledge can all too easily, through failure to understand it, tempt us to consider it as a recommendation to cultivate certain moods of soul that would lead us to turn away from the immediate, joyous and strenuously active, experience of life. As against this, it must be emphasized that the particular attitude of the soul that renders it fit to experience directly the reality of the spirit, cannot be extended as a general demand over the entire life. It is possible for the seeker after spiritual existence to bring his soul for the purpose of research into the necessary condition of being withdrawn from the realities of the senses, without that withdrawal estranging him from the world. On the other hand, however, it must be recognized that a knowledge of the spiritual world, not merely a knowledge gained by treading the path, but also a knowledge acquired through grasping the truths of spiritual science with the unprejudiced, healthy human intellect, leads also to a higher moral status in life, to a knowledge of sensory existence that is in accord with the truth, to certainty in life, and to inward health of the soul.” (Chapter 4, Theosophy)
Rudolf Steiner chose a slightly different approach to the subject of the six exercises in his monumental work Occult Science - An Outline, published in 1910. Following an extensive description of meditation, meditation practices and content suitable for meditation, Steiner mentions the six exercises almost as if in passing: “In a proper school of spiritual training certain qualities are set forth that require to be cultivated by one who desires to find the path to the higher worlds. First and foremost, the pupil must have control over his thoughts (in their course and sequence), over his will, and over his feelings. The control has to be acquired by means of exercises, and these are planned with two ends in view. On the one hand, the soul has to become so firm, so secure and balanced that it will retain these qualities when a second self is born. And on the other hand, the pupil has to endow this second self, from the start, with strength and steadfastness.” (Part 2, Chapter 5, Occult Science - An Outline)
A sometimes overlooked but quite essential aspect of the exercises is their threefold nature. This threefold nature applies to two different aspects of the six exercises. The exercises address the soul forces of the human being which are: thinking, willing and feeling.
The six exercises relate to thinking, willing and feeling first and foremost as each of the exercises addresses one of the soul forces or a combination of soul forces.
But there is also a threefold nature to be found in each of the exercises in that each exercise has three distinct successive aspects to it. Firstly thinking, secondly feeling, then willing or movement.
Of course one has to also be aware that it is the nature of any exercise that it involves will power. There isn't really an exercise that happens by itself without the human being exerting will forces. Even sitting still and being at rest requires will forces.
For example if you practice the control of thinking exercise you concern yourself primarily with thinking, but you do move through a sequence of actions or parts of the exercise that are clearly structured in the following manner.
If you engage in the control of thinking exercise you will be asked to complete three parts or aspects in a sequential order. The first part of the exercise involves a focused thinking activity. During the second part you engage in becoming aware of a feeling. Finally in the third part of the exercise you consciously perform a movement, by so to speak moving the feeling from one specific location to another specific location.
- Control of thinking or the cultivation of clear thinking
- Control of willing or actions
- Control of feelings or equanimity
- Positivity or positive attitude
- Open-mindedness or impartiality
- Balance or equilibrium of soul
In Knowledge of the Higher Worlds Steiner points out that the sixfold path, the six exercises, when practiced, develops one of our chakras, namely the chakra in the heart region, which he calls the twelve-petalled lotus. The heart chakra, “ … when developed, reveals to the clairvoyant a deep understanding of the processes of nature.”
In Guidance in Esoteric Training, a selection of writings by Steiner from the years 1904 - 1914, he gives these exercises a different title: Subsidiary Exercises. Steiner states in Guidance in Esoteric Training that “ … the conditions which must be the basis of any occult development are set forth (here). Let no one imagine that he can make progress by any measures applied to the outer or the inner life unless he fulfills these conditions. All exercises in meditation, concentration, or exercises of other kinds, are valueless, indeed in a certain respect actually harmful, if life is not regulated in accordance with these conditions. No forces can actually be imparted to a human being; all that can be done is to bring to development the forces already within him. They do not develop of their own accord because outer and inner hindrances obstruct them. The outer hindrances are lessened by means of the following rules of life; the inner hindrances by the special instructions concerning meditation, concentration, and the like.” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
In Steiner’s book Theosophy published in 1904 Steiner describes the six exercises and states: “What is said here about the path of spiritual knowledge can all too easily, through failure to understand it, tempt us to consider it as a recommendation to cultivate certain moods of soul that would lead us to turn away from the immediate, joyous and strenuously active, experience of life. As against this, it must be emphasized that the particular attitude of the soul that renders it fit to experience directly the reality of the spirit, cannot be extended as a general demand over the entire life. It is possible for the seeker after spiritual existence to bring his soul for the purpose of research into the necessary condition of being withdrawn from the realities of the senses, without that withdrawal estranging him from the world. On the other hand, however, it must be recognized that a knowledge of the spiritual world, not merely a knowledge gained by treading the path, but also a knowledge acquired through grasping the truths of spiritual science with the unprejudiced, healthy human intellect, leads also to a higher moral status in life, to a knowledge of sensory existence that is in accord with the truth, to certainty in life, and to inward health of the soul.” (Chapter 4, Theosophy)
Rudolf Steiner chose a slightly different approach to the subject of the six exercises in his monumental work Occult Science - An Outline, published in 1910. Following an extensive description of meditation, meditation practices and content suitable for meditation, Steiner mentions the six exercises almost as if in passing: “In a proper school of spiritual training certain qualities are set forth that require to be cultivated by one who desires to find the path to the higher worlds. First and foremost, the pupil must have control over his thoughts (in their course and sequence), over his will, and over his feelings. The control has to be acquired by means of exercises, and these are planned with two ends in view. On the one hand, the soul has to become so firm, so secure and balanced that it will retain these qualities when a second self is born. And on the other hand, the pupil has to endow this second self, from the start, with strength and steadfastness.” (Part 2, Chapter 5, Occult Science - An Outline)
A sometimes overlooked but quite essential aspect of the exercises is their threefold nature. This threefold nature applies to two different aspects of the six exercises. The exercises address the soul forces of the human being which are: thinking, willing and feeling.
The six exercises relate to thinking, willing and feeling first and foremost as each of the exercises addresses one of the soul forces or a combination of soul forces.
- Control of thinking or the cultivation of clear thinking relates to thinking
- Control of willing or actions relates to willing
- Control of feelings or equanimity relates to feeling
- Positivity or positive attitude relates to feeling and willing
- Open-mindedness or impartiality relates to thinking and willing
- Balance or equilibrium of soul relates to thinking, willing and feeling
But there is also a threefold nature to be found in each of the exercises in that each exercise has three distinct successive aspects to it. Firstly thinking, secondly feeling, then willing or movement.
Of course one has to also be aware that it is the nature of any exercise that it involves will power. There isn't really an exercise that happens by itself without the human being exerting will forces. Even sitting still and being at rest requires will forces.
For example if you practice the control of thinking exercise you concern yourself primarily with thinking, but you do move through a sequence of actions or parts of the exercise that are clearly structured in the following manner.
If you engage in the control of thinking exercise you will be asked to complete three parts or aspects in a sequential order. The first part of the exercise involves a focused thinking activity. During the second part you engage in becoming aware of a feeling. Finally in the third part of the exercise you consciously perform a movement, by so to speak moving the feeling from one specific location to another specific location.
Meditation and Initiation/The Sixfold Path/Lesson 5
Tasks and Assignments for Meditation and Initiation/The Sixfold Path/Lesson 5Please study the study material provided (see below) and feel free to use additional resources relating to the subject. Once you feel you are sufficiently acquainted with the subject please complete the following:
1. Give a summary in your own words of the study material for this lesson. 2. Create a drawing, painting, poetry or other artwork that relates to the theme of the following: Awakening from sleep, gaining consciousness as described in the introduction in the section above titled Anthroposophy is a Path. 3. Practice the exercise described in the study material for a minimum of 5 days. Describe in some detail your practice with the meditation exercise including your process and observations, insights, potential difficulties and shortcomings, etc. Structure your descriptions clearly including giving days and time of day of each entry, p.e.: Day 1 / Monday / early afternoon ... Day 2 / Tuesday / early morning ... Day 3 / Wednesday / evening ... Day 4 / Friday / mid-morning ... Day 5 / Sunday / noon ... 4. Reflect on the period of practicing the exercise. What was your experience? What did you learn? What difficulties did you encounter? Submit the completed assignment via the submission form or via email. |
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Study Material for Initiation/The Sixfold Path/Lesson 5
Exercise Four / Positivity or Positive Attitude
The fourth exercise is called positivity or positive attitude, and is perhaps the most accessible of the six exercises.
Steiner expresses the inner attitude that is necessary for this exercise by relating a story that very beautifully and succinctly brings home the point, and paints a picture of the practice of this exercise in Guidance in Esoteric Training, where we find a relatively lengthy and comprehensive description of the exercise and its practice. In addition we also find reference to the idea or demand of abstention from criticism, which is of particular interest as we might find this aspect to be a great challenge.
“In the fourth month, as a new exercise, what is sometimes called a ‘positive attitude' to life should be cultivated. It consists in seeking always for the good, the praiseworthy the beautiful and the like, in all beings, all experiences, all things. This quality of soul is best characterized by a Persian legend concerning Christ Jesus. One day, as He was walking with His disciples, they saw a dead dog lying by the roadside in a state of advanced decomposition. All the disciples turned away from the disgusting sight; Christ Jesus alone did not move but looked thoughtfully at the corpse and said: ‘What beautiful teeth the animal has!' Where the others had seen only the repulsive, the unpleasant, He looked for the beautiful. So must the esoteric pupil strive to seek for the positive in every phenomenon and in every being. He will soon notice that under the veil of something repugnant there is a hidden beauty, that even under the outer guise of a criminal there is a hidden good, that under the mask of a lunatic the divine soul is somehow concealed. In a certain respect this exercise is connected with what is called ‘abstention from criticism'. This is not to be understood in the sense of calling black white and white black. There is, however, a difference between a judgment which, proceeding merely from one's own personality, is colored with the element of personal sympathy or antipathy, and an attitude which enters lovingly into the alien phenomenon or being, always asking: How has it come to be like this or to act like this? Such an attitude will by its very nature be more set upon helping what is imperfect than upon simply finding fault and criticizing. The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions. He who consciously turns his mind, for one month, to the positive aspect of all his experiences will gradually notice a feeling creeping into him as if his skin were becoming porous on all sides, and as if his soul were opening wide to all kinds of secret and delicate processes in his environment which hitherto entirely escaped his notice. The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these subtle things. If it has once been noticed that the feeling described expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss, endeavors should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him. A great deal of concentration is necessary for this exercise, and, above all, recognition of the fact that all tumultuous feelings, all passions, all over-exuberant emotions have an absolutely destructive effect upon the mood indicated. The exercises of the first months are repeated, as with the earlier months.” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
In Occult Science Steiner introduces the exercise of positivity in a more concise but very similar way, again relating the Persian legend mentioned above.
“(We need to) … acquire a virtue that I will call positiveness. A lovely legend is related of Christ Jesus. It tells how He is walking with a few other persons, and they pass by a dead dog. The other turn away from the revolting sight. Christ Jesus speaks admiringly of the beautiful teeth of the animal. One can train oneself to meet the world with the disposition of soul that this legend displays. The spurious, the bad and the ugly should not hinder us from finding, wherever they are present, the true, the good and the beautiful. Positiveness must not be confused with a lack of discrimination, or with an arbitrary shutting of one's eyes to what is bad, or false, or ‘good for nothing.’ He who admires the ‘beautiful teeth’ of a dead animal sees also the decaying body. The unsightly corpse does not, however, prevent him from seeing the beautiful teeth. We cannot deem a bad thing good or an error true; but we can take care not to be put off by the bad from seeing the good, nor by the false from seeing the true.” (Chapter 5, Part 2, Concerning Initiation, Occult Science - An Outline)
While in Theosophy we do not find an explicit mention of the exercise of positivity, in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds we encounter a different emphasis and wording. Positivity or positive attitude is not mentioned and the abstention from criticism and tolerance is brought more into focus as a crucial aspect of this exercise.
“The fourth requirement is forbearance (tolerance) toward persons, creatures, and also circumstances. The student suppresses all superfluous criticism of everything that is imperfect, evil and bad, and seeks rather to understand everything that comes under his notice. Even as the sun does not withdraw its light from the bad and the evil, so he, too, does not refuse them an intelligent sympathy. Should some trouble befall him he does not proceed to condemn and criticize, but accepts the inevitable, and endeavors to the best of his ability to give the matter a turn for the best. He does not consider the opinions of others merely from his own standpoint, but seeks to put himself into the other's position.” (Chapter 6, Knowledge of the Higher World)
While the practice of this exercise is clearly described in detail in Guidance in Esoteric Training, we will, when we engage in working with this exercise, likely encounter some difficulties.
Rudolf Steiner calls the positivity exercise a basic exercise for thinking and feeling together. Feeling, which has gained in equanimity by the third exercise, is now applied to enter the world with a higher level of interest. One could also say: after the negative aspects in the outside world have caused you antipathy, you now endeavor to make a conscious sympathetic move by commencing with high expectations a journey of discovery towards the positive. The moment you have found this, thinking has gained a new vantage point. It is the connection between thinking and feeling which opens a new way of access to the outside world.
Positivity and our modern consciousness seem to be at odds. We feel that our modern consciousness is based on a thinking that is critical, awake, even highly intellectual, scientific, and able to clearly see the truth and scientific evidence. On the other hand we almost attribute positivity with a more naive consciousness, a consciousness that is unable to grasp the truth, and tends to stay in more feeling based awe and wonder, perhaps even simplicity and blind faith in the good. However what is really meant with practicing the positivity exercise is not so much to suppress our clear and awakening thinking, even our critical thinking, but rather to move a step beyond our accustomed thought habits. Steiner has chosen the story related above, the story of the “beautiful teeth” for a good reason, as this story very much illustrates the matter and direction of the exercise. We are not asked to turn away from the ugliness of the world and try to live in an all is good fictional environment, but rather see the beautiful, the positive aspect which is there in everything and everyone.
To some people the ability to see the positive in everything and everyone comes quite easily and naturally. We might appreciate this ability and perhaps attribute it to an earlier development, possibly in a previous lifetime, where we might have had the opportunity to practice this exercise, perhaps as part of a spiritual training. Others might feel that this ability is more remote for them. They might experience a certain melancholy which colors their perception of the world, often highlighting more the negative aspects. Such a predisposition might also have to do with our past and constitution, and previous incarnations. Steiner points out how the human temperaments arise out of the interplay of our personality (including what we bring with us from former incarnations) with our constitution, with that which we have received through the steam of heredity.
“ … The fact that the temperament is revealed on the one side as something which inclines toward the individual, which makes people different, and on the other side joins them again to groups, proves to us that the temperament must on the one side have something to do with the innermost essence of the human being, and on the other must belong to universal human nature. Man's temperament, then, is something which points in two directions; and therefore it will be necessary, if we wish to solve the mystery, to ask on the one hand: In how far does the temperament point to what belongs to universal human nature? and then again on the other: How does it point to the essential kernel, to the actual inner being of the individual? … Spiritual science tells us: Certainly it is true that the human being is placed in the stream which we may call the stream of heredity, the stream of inherited attributes. Besides that, however, something else appears in an individual, namely, the innermost spiritual kernel of his being. In this are united what the individual brings with him from the spiritual world and what the father and mother, the ancestors, are able to give to him. With that which flows down in the stream of the generations is united something else which has its origin, not in the immediate ancestors, the parents, and not in the grandparents, but which comes from quite other realms, something which passes from one existence to another. On the one side we may say: A man has this or that from his ancestors. But if we watch an individual develop from childhood on, we see how from the center of his nature something evolves which is the fruit of foregoing lives, something he never can have inherited from his ancestors.” (Rudolf Steiner in Lecture IV of Anthroposophy in Everyday Life. The Mystery of the Four Temperaments. A lecture by Rudolf Steiner given in Karlsruhe, Germany on January 18, 1909.)
On a very practical level we might want to work with this exercise along the following lines. We try to stay conscious of the task that we have set for ourselves for a period of time, say for instance one month as suggested by Steiner. Each day we start with a promise to ourselves to by aware of practicing positivity all day. Or we might decide to take a specific time of the day, for instance the hour between nine and ten every day to devote to this exercise, and over time work up to longer periods of time. During the appointed time period we stay conscious and aware of our attitude and level of positivity - and of course therein lies the main challenge for most people. We practice to encounter all and everyone with this consciousness and awareness, and our intention to move from our first impression and more habitual reaction, forward to a positiveness concerning all the encounters - including the more inward encounters, like for instance a new feeling or idea that so to speak has come to us.
Let’s look at a simple and immediate example. To some people the following will be familiar, to others the same principle might apply to different situations or circumstances. Such individual differences might have to do with our temperament and life experience, but the principle and sequence described here could very well be similar. For instance a person enters our field of vision. Prejudice, even fear, negative expectations and possible complications arise in us. Instead of leaving it at that, we consciously become aware of this flood of thoughts and feelings, and acknowledge their presence in the same way we might acknowledge the presence of colors in a painting we are contemplating. Now we move forward and add (and ideally replace) in our mind the negative thoughts and feelings with positive aspects. This might at first be difficult, but over time we become better at it, in the same way we become better at playing table tennis with daily practice and willingness to improve.
Similarly we practice the same attitude towards and in the encounter with animals, the world of plants and vegetation, and also innate objects including man-made or artificial objects, and machines. A further step is to include the inner world of thoughts and feelings, other people's thoughts and feelings, the vast world of the written word, art in all its manifestations, etc.; in short: we need to include everything in this exercise.
Interestingly Steiner offers the following caveat with this exercise, but not with the other exercises.
“The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions … ” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
This statement can indeed be understood in such a way that for some people the exercise of positivity might not be a viable path for them at their state of development, but perhaps only at a later time, possibly in another incarnation.
As with the previous exercise we should settle on a procedure that allows us to at least once a day complete the exercise as this exercise is in its quality and practice an exercise that does not necessarily have a clear beginning and end. To conclude the exercise we should once daily become actively conscious of what can be described as a “… feeling that expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss … (Then) endeavors should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him.” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
The feeling of bliss described can be likened to the feeling we experience when genuinely in love with someone, and for instance anticipating meeting the person we love, or - as another example - writing a poem or a letter to the person, or recalling a situation where we were happy and aware of this happiness in the encounter with another human being.
Steiner expresses the inner attitude that is necessary for this exercise by relating a story that very beautifully and succinctly brings home the point, and paints a picture of the practice of this exercise in Guidance in Esoteric Training, where we find a relatively lengthy and comprehensive description of the exercise and its practice. In addition we also find reference to the idea or demand of abstention from criticism, which is of particular interest as we might find this aspect to be a great challenge.
“In the fourth month, as a new exercise, what is sometimes called a ‘positive attitude' to life should be cultivated. It consists in seeking always for the good, the praiseworthy the beautiful and the like, in all beings, all experiences, all things. This quality of soul is best characterized by a Persian legend concerning Christ Jesus. One day, as He was walking with His disciples, they saw a dead dog lying by the roadside in a state of advanced decomposition. All the disciples turned away from the disgusting sight; Christ Jesus alone did not move but looked thoughtfully at the corpse and said: ‘What beautiful teeth the animal has!' Where the others had seen only the repulsive, the unpleasant, He looked for the beautiful. So must the esoteric pupil strive to seek for the positive in every phenomenon and in every being. He will soon notice that under the veil of something repugnant there is a hidden beauty, that even under the outer guise of a criminal there is a hidden good, that under the mask of a lunatic the divine soul is somehow concealed. In a certain respect this exercise is connected with what is called ‘abstention from criticism'. This is not to be understood in the sense of calling black white and white black. There is, however, a difference between a judgment which, proceeding merely from one's own personality, is colored with the element of personal sympathy or antipathy, and an attitude which enters lovingly into the alien phenomenon or being, always asking: How has it come to be like this or to act like this? Such an attitude will by its very nature be more set upon helping what is imperfect than upon simply finding fault and criticizing. The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions. He who consciously turns his mind, for one month, to the positive aspect of all his experiences will gradually notice a feeling creeping into him as if his skin were becoming porous on all sides, and as if his soul were opening wide to all kinds of secret and delicate processes in his environment which hitherto entirely escaped his notice. The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these subtle things. If it has once been noticed that the feeling described expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss, endeavors should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him. A great deal of concentration is necessary for this exercise, and, above all, recognition of the fact that all tumultuous feelings, all passions, all over-exuberant emotions have an absolutely destructive effect upon the mood indicated. The exercises of the first months are repeated, as with the earlier months.” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
In Occult Science Steiner introduces the exercise of positivity in a more concise but very similar way, again relating the Persian legend mentioned above.
“(We need to) … acquire a virtue that I will call positiveness. A lovely legend is related of Christ Jesus. It tells how He is walking with a few other persons, and they pass by a dead dog. The other turn away from the revolting sight. Christ Jesus speaks admiringly of the beautiful teeth of the animal. One can train oneself to meet the world with the disposition of soul that this legend displays. The spurious, the bad and the ugly should not hinder us from finding, wherever they are present, the true, the good and the beautiful. Positiveness must not be confused with a lack of discrimination, or with an arbitrary shutting of one's eyes to what is bad, or false, or ‘good for nothing.’ He who admires the ‘beautiful teeth’ of a dead animal sees also the decaying body. The unsightly corpse does not, however, prevent him from seeing the beautiful teeth. We cannot deem a bad thing good or an error true; but we can take care not to be put off by the bad from seeing the good, nor by the false from seeing the true.” (Chapter 5, Part 2, Concerning Initiation, Occult Science - An Outline)
While in Theosophy we do not find an explicit mention of the exercise of positivity, in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds we encounter a different emphasis and wording. Positivity or positive attitude is not mentioned and the abstention from criticism and tolerance is brought more into focus as a crucial aspect of this exercise.
“The fourth requirement is forbearance (tolerance) toward persons, creatures, and also circumstances. The student suppresses all superfluous criticism of everything that is imperfect, evil and bad, and seeks rather to understand everything that comes under his notice. Even as the sun does not withdraw its light from the bad and the evil, so he, too, does not refuse them an intelligent sympathy. Should some trouble befall him he does not proceed to condemn and criticize, but accepts the inevitable, and endeavors to the best of his ability to give the matter a turn for the best. He does not consider the opinions of others merely from his own standpoint, but seeks to put himself into the other's position.” (Chapter 6, Knowledge of the Higher World)
While the practice of this exercise is clearly described in detail in Guidance in Esoteric Training, we will, when we engage in working with this exercise, likely encounter some difficulties.
Rudolf Steiner calls the positivity exercise a basic exercise for thinking and feeling together. Feeling, which has gained in equanimity by the third exercise, is now applied to enter the world with a higher level of interest. One could also say: after the negative aspects in the outside world have caused you antipathy, you now endeavor to make a conscious sympathetic move by commencing with high expectations a journey of discovery towards the positive. The moment you have found this, thinking has gained a new vantage point. It is the connection between thinking and feeling which opens a new way of access to the outside world.
Positivity and our modern consciousness seem to be at odds. We feel that our modern consciousness is based on a thinking that is critical, awake, even highly intellectual, scientific, and able to clearly see the truth and scientific evidence. On the other hand we almost attribute positivity with a more naive consciousness, a consciousness that is unable to grasp the truth, and tends to stay in more feeling based awe and wonder, perhaps even simplicity and blind faith in the good. However what is really meant with practicing the positivity exercise is not so much to suppress our clear and awakening thinking, even our critical thinking, but rather to move a step beyond our accustomed thought habits. Steiner has chosen the story related above, the story of the “beautiful teeth” for a good reason, as this story very much illustrates the matter and direction of the exercise. We are not asked to turn away from the ugliness of the world and try to live in an all is good fictional environment, but rather see the beautiful, the positive aspect which is there in everything and everyone.
To some people the ability to see the positive in everything and everyone comes quite easily and naturally. We might appreciate this ability and perhaps attribute it to an earlier development, possibly in a previous lifetime, where we might have had the opportunity to practice this exercise, perhaps as part of a spiritual training. Others might feel that this ability is more remote for them. They might experience a certain melancholy which colors their perception of the world, often highlighting more the negative aspects. Such a predisposition might also have to do with our past and constitution, and previous incarnations. Steiner points out how the human temperaments arise out of the interplay of our personality (including what we bring with us from former incarnations) with our constitution, with that which we have received through the steam of heredity.
“ … The fact that the temperament is revealed on the one side as something which inclines toward the individual, which makes people different, and on the other side joins them again to groups, proves to us that the temperament must on the one side have something to do with the innermost essence of the human being, and on the other must belong to universal human nature. Man's temperament, then, is something which points in two directions; and therefore it will be necessary, if we wish to solve the mystery, to ask on the one hand: In how far does the temperament point to what belongs to universal human nature? and then again on the other: How does it point to the essential kernel, to the actual inner being of the individual? … Spiritual science tells us: Certainly it is true that the human being is placed in the stream which we may call the stream of heredity, the stream of inherited attributes. Besides that, however, something else appears in an individual, namely, the innermost spiritual kernel of his being. In this are united what the individual brings with him from the spiritual world and what the father and mother, the ancestors, are able to give to him. With that which flows down in the stream of the generations is united something else which has its origin, not in the immediate ancestors, the parents, and not in the grandparents, but which comes from quite other realms, something which passes from one existence to another. On the one side we may say: A man has this or that from his ancestors. But if we watch an individual develop from childhood on, we see how from the center of his nature something evolves which is the fruit of foregoing lives, something he never can have inherited from his ancestors.” (Rudolf Steiner in Lecture IV of Anthroposophy in Everyday Life. The Mystery of the Four Temperaments. A lecture by Rudolf Steiner given in Karlsruhe, Germany on January 18, 1909.)
On a very practical level we might want to work with this exercise along the following lines. We try to stay conscious of the task that we have set for ourselves for a period of time, say for instance one month as suggested by Steiner. Each day we start with a promise to ourselves to by aware of practicing positivity all day. Or we might decide to take a specific time of the day, for instance the hour between nine and ten every day to devote to this exercise, and over time work up to longer periods of time. During the appointed time period we stay conscious and aware of our attitude and level of positivity - and of course therein lies the main challenge for most people. We practice to encounter all and everyone with this consciousness and awareness, and our intention to move from our first impression and more habitual reaction, forward to a positiveness concerning all the encounters - including the more inward encounters, like for instance a new feeling or idea that so to speak has come to us.
Let’s look at a simple and immediate example. To some people the following will be familiar, to others the same principle might apply to different situations or circumstances. Such individual differences might have to do with our temperament and life experience, but the principle and sequence described here could very well be similar. For instance a person enters our field of vision. Prejudice, even fear, negative expectations and possible complications arise in us. Instead of leaving it at that, we consciously become aware of this flood of thoughts and feelings, and acknowledge their presence in the same way we might acknowledge the presence of colors in a painting we are contemplating. Now we move forward and add (and ideally replace) in our mind the negative thoughts and feelings with positive aspects. This might at first be difficult, but over time we become better at it, in the same way we become better at playing table tennis with daily practice and willingness to improve.
Similarly we practice the same attitude towards and in the encounter with animals, the world of plants and vegetation, and also innate objects including man-made or artificial objects, and machines. A further step is to include the inner world of thoughts and feelings, other people's thoughts and feelings, the vast world of the written word, art in all its manifestations, etc.; in short: we need to include everything in this exercise.
Interestingly Steiner offers the following caveat with this exercise, but not with the other exercises.
“The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions … ” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
This statement can indeed be understood in such a way that for some people the exercise of positivity might not be a viable path for them at their state of development, but perhaps only at a later time, possibly in another incarnation.
As with the previous exercise we should settle on a procedure that allows us to at least once a day complete the exercise as this exercise is in its quality and practice an exercise that does not necessarily have a clear beginning and end. To conclude the exercise we should once daily become actively conscious of what can be described as a “… feeling that expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss … (Then) endeavors should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him.” (Part 5, General Demands, Guidance in Esoteric Training)
The feeling of bliss described can be likened to the feeling we experience when genuinely in love with someone, and for instance anticipating meeting the person we love, or - as another example - writing a poem or a letter to the person, or recalling a situation where we were happy and aware of this happiness in the encounter with another human being.