We have in common a pursuit of truth, not the suppression of disagreement through a superficial niceness or the need to invalidate every view but our own. This may require more than an immediate reactive resonse but could involve some work.
A pursuit of truth involves seeking the truth-value in another's view and discovering which domain of existence it holds the key. The pursuit of narrow-mindedness involves invalidating the other view in an attempt to bolster one's own view or covering over an uncomfortable feeling about someone's position. The lectures that have helped me work with the individual world-views of others are Human and Cosmic Thought by Rudolf Steiner. You find ideas such as this:
Accustom Ourselves to Different Points of View
"The world cannot be rightly considered from the one-sided standpoint of one single conception, one single mode of thought; the world discloses itself only to someone who knows that one must look at it from all sides. Just as the sun — if we go by the Copernican conception of the universe — passes through the signs of the Zodiac in order to illuminate the earth from twelve different points, so we must not adopt one standpoint, the standpoint of Idealism, or Sensationalism, or Phenomenalism, or any other conception of the world with a name of this kind; we must be in a position to go all round the world and accustom ourselves to the twelve different standpoints from which it can be contemplated. In terms of thought, all twelve standpoints are fully justifiable. For a thinker who can penetrate into the nature of thought, there is not one single conception of the world, but twelve that can be equally justified — so far justified as to permit of equally good reasons being thought out for each of them. There are twelve such justified conceptions of the world. " p.39
Each View is True in a Certain Domain of Existence
"For anyone who is not concerned to weld together into a single system all that he has been in a position to observe and reflect upon in a certain limited domain, and then sets out to seek proofs for it, but who wants to penetrate into the truth of the world, it is important to realize that broadmindedness is necessary because twelve typical varieties of world-outlook are actually possible for the mind of man. (For the moment we need not go into the transitional ones.) If one wants to come really to the truth, then one must try clearly to understand the significance of these twelve typical varieties, must endeavor to recognize for what domain of existence one or other variety holds the best key." p.41
Experience of Truth-Value in another View
"And now try, from what has been explained, to enter into the task confronting Spiritual Science: the task of acting as peacemaker among the various world-outlooks. The way to peace is to realize that the world-outlooks conjointly, in their reciprocal action on one another, can be in a certain sense explained, but that they cannot lead into the inner nature of truth if they remain one-sided. One must experience in oneself the truth-value of the different world-outlooks, in order — if one may say so — to be in agreement with truth." p.54
Thanks, Tom
It's good to bring this idea out in as many ways as possible, as often as possible.
I sometimes think the 12 different points of view are like living photographs of the same place taken on the different months of the year. A place that changes a lot (not California, at least not where I live!). So that a person who saw the January photgraph would say, "This place is covered with ice and snow." And the person who saw the June photo would say, "You're crazy! It's all covered with flowers!"
To me it's really fun trying to figure out the realm of truth for each different idea given in PoF, and on this website too.
Thanks Tom
Dear Tom,
Much thanks, this is really helpful.
Cheers,
patri
Truth
Thanks very much for this Tom - you said
A pursuit of truth involves seeking the truth-value in another's view and discovering which domain of existence it holds the key.
For me this is the key - that we understand that the truth is not something written down or out there or something that we know beforehand. Thoughts as expressed by human beings are part of reality as Steiner points out very clearly in PoF.
For this reason it is valid to approach other people's thoughts in a Goethean sense, turn them around, look at them, mull over them. Even if every fibre of our being is revolting against what is being said (and maybe precisely then!) this is a very good exercise I think!
This Goethean approach to thinking, what I would like to call Christianised thinking, is a loving thinking because it seeks to fully participate in the being of the thoughts expressed regardless of their supposed theoretical truth content or similar.
In this way I believe we do not invalidate the search for truth or succumb to a relativistic idea that the search for "truth" is pointless because truth is relative and different for every person... it is different for every person but we can realise through this process that every thinking being has embarked on this endless quest, this ceaseless striving for truth.
About the eternal search
About the eternal search for truth:
I think of it like this: there are two levels.
Level #1 is the relative level. It’s where truth is something that will always be remobilized. Our understanding of what water is will never stand still; things we thought about it in the past that now seem silly might someday seem wise and visa versa. On Level 1 Steiner talked about how Anthroposophy- as he teaches it- will not be true in the future because of the nature of evolution and all the rest.
Level 1 is where we feel the constant sense of searching and wanting to know more and better.
PoF is NOT about Level 1. This is why Steiner would point to this book as being what he is remembered for. He knew that Spiritual Science will move through millions of different hands and take on shapes and changes determined by such a multitude of factors that there simply is no way that the articulations from 1913 will be the standard articulations in 2200 or 2089 or 2010.
But PoF is level 2. He talks about this in the preface of 1918. There isn’t an endless search for truth on level 2 because the Truth is the condition of all conditions, it’s The Freedom, It’s I Am.
I think that it is a form of suffering to search for level 2 on level 1. We dream that someday if we know enough about level 1 we will be free or know ourselves truly. But, to me, the radical reason for PoF is that it demonstrates that level 1 is always right under our nose. It doesn’t need more from us. It isn’t waiting for future planetary incarnation. There will be billions of new truths on each of the billions of incarnations, but PoF is the Condition of all Conditions.
We obstruct our realization of PoF not by what we don’t know, but by what we do know. Or what we think we know.
I’m not saying level two is better or more important to “get”. But I think that the process of “getting” them is almost the exact opposite. We yearn to “get” level 2 the same way we get things on level 1, which is by looking at stuff and creatively thinking about it. That’s how we want to get freedom. But level 2 is the reversal of will, which subverts our level 1 strivings.
I think the tendency is to think of level 2 as a mere species (a highly prized one, at that) of level one: if I think creatively and objectively enough I will get PoF. However, if the reversal of the will is a true reversal, we find PoF in the “satisfaction” of letting go of the search in light of our Freedom.
No, I’m not holding up the peace sign and saying, “just go with the flow”. The process of re-cognizing how we obscure PoF every moment of our day-to-day life requires massive diligence. But that diligence only becomes genuine- in my opinion- when it is no longer a function of our level 1 type search and yearning. The anthroposophical society would get along much better if they just kept these two domains separate. Fight and argue on level 1; that’s what it is for! But don’t pretend that your fights on level 1 have anything to do with your nature and involvement with level 2.
Sorry about all the “level” “level”…but I’m just typing outloud…Thanks, Tim.
Jeff
PoF as an organic dance towards Self
Hi Lori,
Regarding the study of PoF, I think that to get to Level 2 (Jeff's terminology), we have to go through Level 1, it is part of the process. If you don't play the game the way Steiner (the philosophical organic Structure) has set it up, you may miss the prize. The Freedom arrives when we have struggled to master the content. I read your posts and you are doing a great job.
Love,
patri
Hi Patri, I also think
Hi Patri,
I also think there is a struggle that opens into Level 2, eventually; I just don’t think it is the level 1 struggle with content. There will be smart, wonderful and mean people always learning more and more about content (as long as time and “individuals” exist); some of the mean ones will even being doing fairly good spiritual research. I’m all about the struggle, but I’m suggesting that the opening into Level 2 (into the realm of PoF) is the result of a fundamentally different kind of struggle than the search on level 1. And I think it is very easy to try to achieve PoF with the same methods and assumptions that are highly successful on level 1.
I just want to make this clear because I see that my phrasing can sometimes sound that I’m a struggle free guy. Not so.
I like what you say about “missing the prize”. I think the prize gets missed so often because we think that Steiner’s “struggle” can be located in the logic of his book. To me the terms and organic structure of his logic are wonderful in so many ways, but even at its most pristine the logical structure and flow is crusty and safe compared to the mysterious and utterly unqiue journey it expresses.
Look how differently Jesiaha’s describes his PoF experience. I think it would be a mistake to somehow think of Steiner’s description as a prototype in relation to which all others must be read and explored. Jesiaha does a beautiful job at covering this point in the first part of “The New Experience of the Supersensible”; he also goes into it in the notes in the back of the book as well.
Organically dancing (or, trying to at least!)
Jeff
Thanks Jeff
Thanks Jeff, I could go into a few pages describing my PoF experience but choose not to. When I was studying PoF, I diligently went through the whole organic structure as layed out by Steiner, and took it very seriously, and the prize is way beyond any hard work one puts into the study. I do have to get Jesiah's latest book. I have the first one, and actually attended his lecture in London many years ago (there were about 15 of us there) from which the first book was born. Also attended a workshop with him several years go, that I found very interesting.
Boy, that organic dancing is way fun!
Love,
patri