The Western Regional Council of
the Anthroposophical Society in America
presents
The Dawning Clairvoyant Gaze:
Charting a Safe Course
A Western Region Study
Conference
March 7-9, 2008, Rudolf Steiner College
How To Know Higher
Worlds is
one of the few actual written works of Rudolf Steiner. He
said in the preface to the third edition: "...this book is
intended to help those who want their sense of truth and
feeling for truth concerning the supersensible world
strengthened and assured." We invite you to join us in a
fresh look at this vital description of the conditions of
esoteric training and its results.
In anthroposophical circles we have often heard that by
1900, all of humanity had, albeit unconsciously, crossed
the threshold of the spiritual world.
What effects are we experiencing of this crossing? Can we
recognize them?
If people come into contact subconsciously (or even
consciously) with certain kinds of forces from across the
threshold, different phenomena can appear, including:
hypercriticism, unusual impatience, sharp outbursts of
anger, or leaps of judgment characterized by bitterness and
disdain. We need to recognize deviations from what is
human, for example, new types of rages: the road rage and
supermarket line rage which suddenly appeared in 1997-98.
People have noted the widespread ease now with which people
are lying, and an absence of carefulness in thought and
language. Moreover, there are forces coming from the earth
which affect the human will. If people become sensitive to
these, the will becomes instinctive, immediate, absolute.
Moral sensitivity growing out of thoughtfulness,
heart-insight and hard-won life experience is then lost.
Rudolf Steiner points out in an important quotation
from The
Spiritual Beings in the Heavenly Bodies
that even with
people on a conscious
path of spiritual
development, moral conscience can disappear.
Rudolf Steiner's How To Know Higher
Worlds is
a remarkable resource, with many hidden treasures which are
easy to overlook. It includes aspects of other paths of
Initiation transformed for our present time, including
aspects of the Christian Initiation. The book also includes
all sorts of observations and suggestions to alert us how
we might be changed if something started to go awry, and
advice for how to avoid or correct those situations. All of
this will need to become common knowledge for everyone.
The book gives many recommendations for improving our human
capacities -- thinking, feeling, and willing. The
strengthening of these capacities actually helps to protect
us from forces from across the threshold. Our feelings, for
example, hold back the forces of the earth approaching us
from below, our thinking holds back those forces which
would otherwise intrude through our senses, and our will
(including the will we learn to bring into thinking) holds
back forces from the cosmos! This is a crucial aspect of
our freedom as human beings.
But this strengthening is not only for ourselves -- it is a
world deed. We have almost no inkling yet of what we are
attempting to do. By working with the many recommendations
Rudolf Steiner gave on almost every page, we strengthen,
deepen and make new our humanity so that something can
shine forth from us.
If
possible, it will be important for people to come to the
conference prepared: to know the conditions for developing
the chakras, to know the possible distortions and their
remedies. Hopefully people will also have time to search
through the book and find other significant warnings and
cautions: we are emphasizing aspects of the book that might
be overlooked. How can we make our practice more and more
alive? And how can we see clearly and comprehensively the
significance of what we are trying to do? People might also
like to prepare something from the list below:
A
possible method for approaching How To Know Higher
Worlds: Perhaps we could adapt a method
used in Rudolf Steiner's early esoteric school. For
example, suppose we were trying to control our thoughts. We
would keep a log or diary and note when and where did we
attempt to practice this? How well or how badly did we do?
Why? Did we forget them? Why? And what could we do to
improve?
Why are the
conditions of esoteric training important? For example, if
one becomes clairvoyant, even the seemingly simple
condition like practicing patience can be significant
because people can very suddenly find themselves impatient
with other people!
The chakra
chapter: For each chakra, what are the symptoms if it isn't
developing properly, and how would one correct this?
The
16-petalled chakra: What is "truth" for different people?
What kinds of truth are meant here? How do we know if what
we think and say is true?
If we became
clairvoyant, could we become a problem for others? How so?
Which recommendations could help avoid that?
Would any of
the preparations and practices in the book help in
problematic social situations? Which ones and why?
We look forward to seeing you at
the conference!
For more information, contact:
Beth
Wieting, Registrar, 4130 SE Lambert St, Portland, OR 97202
Phone: 503-774-8764