Anthroposophical Leading Thought (4)
For certainty of feeling and for a strong unfolding of his will, man needs a knowledge of the spiritual world. However widely he may feel the greatness, beauty and wisdom of the natural world, this world gives him no answer to the question of his own being. His own being holds together the materials and forces of the natural world in the living and sensitive form of man until the moment when he passes through the gate of death. Then Nature receives this human form, and Nature cannot hold it together; she can but dissolve and disperse it. Great, beautiful, wisdom-filled Nature does indeed answer the question, How is the human form dissolved and destroyed? but not the other question, How is it maintained and held together? No theoretical objection can dispel this question from the feeling soul of man, unless indeed he prefers to lull himself to sleep. The presence of this question must incessantly maintain alive, in every human soul that is really awake, the longing for spiritual paths of World-knowledge.
– Rudolf Steiner
(http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_a01.html)
This week I was in conversation with a doctor who recognised anthroposophy as becoming effective in life. This led me to the following message from Steiner.
The preconception that there can be only one truth is so deeply rooted in human souls that contradictions are suspected when in a lecture course something is expressed in one way, and at another time is expressed in a different way. This, however, is exactly what must be cultivated among [the anthroposophical movement] in order to show how diversity is demanded by the presentation of truth. It is diversity that must become an ideal, not uniformity.
STEINER, R., (1984) The Lost Unison of Speaking and Thinking. Spring Valley NY: Mercury Press
What is needed is our freely unbiased and uncompromising integrity. Tolerance and the willingness to engage creatively with contrary points of view can demonstrate the integrity of anthroposophy as a valid, cosmopolitan, non-partisan and non-sectarian means to global cultural development. We can rigorously discern the true value of detractions from anthroposophy. Our arguments have no need to disrespect other authors. We have no need to muddy the ground of free spiritual activity by hurling mud. Our foundation for knowledge can only be individual spiritual activity.
Hear, hear
I think a wonderful sign that anthroposophy is finally moving forward again will be that we don't reflexively see disrespect when an anthroposophist cultivates articulations that find Steiner's edges.....There are signs of hope, but still, such a strong tendency to mark those found edges as "enemies" or, worse, "misunderstood".
Thanks for sharing those inspiring quotes, Tom.
Jeff
p.s. I've recently talked to a about 13 people who just spent 3 days with Dennis Klocek. Talk about finding the edges!!! I recommend that any and all check out his new website.
http://dennisklocek.com/
Some of the "greatest" experts in anthroposophy are "aware" that Dennis has no respect for Steiner. Take a listen for yourself.
'Dew' and tolerance
Thank you John for the important thoughts you shared with us.
I think we all, as humanity, learn how to become tolerant in the diversity around. Unfortunately, very often these lessons are too painful – there are many stupid conflicts and, at times, human lives lost in them. In these situations I always ask myself: “what can I do?”
Our spiritual activity – based on the anthroposophy or not – means awakening for the truth which as you mentioned is One but in its diversitiy.
Sometimes I just tell people I meet that we will always be different and have something dissimilar (and this is beautiful!) – religions, countries, languages, towns and villages etc, etc... For example also in a family nobody is the same!
But there is something that makes me wonder – the biggest conflicts usually arise between “neighbors”, the people, who, let’s say, have a lot of similarities between them. Could it be because they are too close?
One needs a distance to look at problems from the position of a human being, a higher position, not from the position of one nation or family.
That’s why I think anthroposophy and awakening to the spiritual knowledge is so important in our times.
I choose the way for my activity myself, but with a mind and a heart open to other’s choices.
Thank you Jeff for a fantastic link to Dennis Klocek’s web site!
I especially love his lecture about ‘Concept of Dew’: http://www.goetheanstudies.org/cscontent/lectures/4Oct2000-1.html
He wrote that each of us, as a human being on the Earth, is a dew of the spiritual world!
But… why are the “dews” so different?
Probably thanks to the fact that they can experience themselves as individualities and then, through their conscious transformation, recognize each other and meet in One.
Klocek etc.
That is a fascinating website, thanks for that Jeff!
The more diversity the better in these things I think... it's just up to us to try to separate the wheat from the chaff.
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