The Anthroposophical Society has announced the theme for the year 2014-2015:
“The I Knows Itself” — in the Light of Michaelic World Affirmation
Read an article about the theme here.
The I and the Ideal
From Rudolf Steiner:
But the ” I ” is a spiritual potency, a spiritual being. What the ” I ” creates, as the astral body creates karma, does not remain connected with man but detaches itself from him as forms created by thoughts. Now in respect of the forms or forces deriving from the ” I ” of man, a sharp distinction must be made. The human ” I ” or Ego can unfold either selfishness or selflessness in the inner life. According to whether selfishness, or selfless love and compassion are unfolded, these “forces” or “forms” operate quite differently. The forces of selfish thoughts become forces of disturbance, even of destruction; they pass into the spiritual world actually as destructive forces. On the other hand, all forces of selfless thoughts enter into the spiritual life of Earth-evolution, not as destructive but as upbuilding, constructive forces. In that these forces of selfless thought detach themselves as it were from the ” I ” of man, they leave behind certain traces in him. Especially is it true of forces begotten of selfless thoughts and feelings, that as they go forth from the ” I,” they leave traces behind in the human being — traces which are quite perceptible. The more the ” I ” sends out forces born of selfless thoughts and feelings, the more does a man develop individuality of form, of gesture, facial expression, and so on — in short, the power inherent in his own being. The forces of selfish, self-seeking thoughts and feelings, however, operate in him in such a way that he has little power to give expression to his own individuality. We must therefore ask: What is the principle underlying the distinction to be made among the individual forms of men in the course of the evolution of humanity?
Rudolf Steiner
Ideas must become Ideals.
We are most ourselves when we are least ourselves.
Selflessness leads to true individuality.
Torture
Is it possible to be more precise about what happens to the sheaths due to torture, ending in death or not? Is the ego more bound to the physical body? Is the astral body too deeply impressing on the etheric? Is the etheric cut off from its own life forces?
Many sufferers of torture and abuse dissociate to cope with their unbearable situation. What happens to the sheaths during this dissociation? Does the ego withdraw so that the unbearable pain is not felt? If so, “who” digests the pain instead of the ego? What being holds the “experiencing” of the torture? What are the further implications of this dissociation for the remaining life of the individual involved? What can bring about a reunification of the individual with their complete life narrative? What does it mean for the “I” to have lost continuity of its incarnational experience?
Is torture and severe abuse, in this sense, an attack on the ”I,” –an asuric assault?
Human actions that are evil and are also freely carried out–these are deeds of evil that require quick transformation, and also social healing. In the face of pure evil, a man cannot fight alone; he must have helpers both incarnate and disincarnate at his side. When two or more gather in His name, much can be redeemed. We are our brother’s keeper. May we bring both compassion and clarity to those who suffer! May we be willing to take up the karma of another! May we cultivate the selflessness that allows the better good for the community to arise! And may we commit to the deeds and processes through time that are required to bring about true social healing!
Thoughts on Destructive Forces in the I
I offer up my ruminations today on Rudolf Steiner’s lecture on Evil and the Power of Thought At the Center of Man’s Being, the lecture quoted in the last post and found here.
The ego is forged out of forces of destruction. There is a very fury of destruction and chaos within each of us, and we owe the development of our “I” to that power. Only through this power of destruction are thoughts able to enter in and “kill” our etheric body, thus giving us the capacity for consciousness, which in turn offers us a realm for freedom.
We must learn to know this center of destruction within us. We must not allow it to extrude itself into outer civilization, causing evil and chaos.
We must learn to understand, even to love, this force of destruction within us. For without it, we would not be developing our “I,” and thus would never attain consciousness in spiritual worlds. There is a paradox Steiner presents. The ego must be forged out of these forces of destruction, yet this ego cannot enter spiritual realms. It must be completely sacrificed. Only the ego permeated with love is able to live in spiritual realities. Yet only that which has been carefully built up is worthy of sacrifice. Thus, we must with great effort build up a strong vessel out of the forces of destruction, then completely empty out this vessel, and offer up the vessel in love to the spiritual world. This is true spiritual alchemy.
Steiner also refers to a great mystery: “Spirit must exist, and for the sake of the maintenance of the spirit matter may be extinguished.” I believe this can also be taken on a very literal level. Matter exists as a realm for beings to evolve and develop; it exists as an arena for humans to develop their “I.” There is a very palpable sense of resistance in the very nature of the material world. Yet materialism must be overcome if we are to ascend to spiritual worlds. Matter may be extinguished for the preservation of spirit, quite literally. I believe that the human being contains within his developing ego the power of nuclear fission, the power to obliterate matter (and along with this, the power of creation). This power will become readily available within individual human beings only in the very far distant future, yet the forces of destruction already have the upper hand in earthly evolution, and will continue to increase. In order to ensure that these forces can lead humanity to ascent, we must fully develop the forces of love. We must consciously dedicate as much energy to building up moral forces as we do to building up consciousness itself; each act of cognition must become an act of love.
A time will come in the far distant future when the earth as we know it will require dissolution. We will participate in the destruction of our universe as we know it. Yet this destruction is necessary for a new form of existence which will allow future evolution and progress. Powers of destruction are just as important as powers of growth and life. Without the obliteration of the past in every moment, the future could not come into being in the present.
We must learn to love evil, for it creates the ground upon which we launch consciously into other realms. Only through transforming evil do we attain the power of creating good.
Destructive Forces in the I
Excerpts from: Evil and the Power of Thought At the Center of Man’s Being: I
A Lecture By Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, September 23, 1921, GA 207
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/EviPow_index.html.
In the West, men have a blood, a lymph, that is saturated by an egohood tempered in the inner evil. In the East men have a blood, a lymph, in which lives an echo of the longing for Nirvana.
Let us picture to center of ourselves the center of destruction in man’s inner being. It extends over the whole human organism. If it were to spread out over the whole world, what would then live in the world through man? Evil. Evil is nothing else but the chaos thrust outside, the chaos which is necessary in man’s inner being. And in this necessary chaos, this necessary center of evil in man, the human ego must be forged. This human egohood cannot live beyond the sphere of the human senses in the outer world. That is why the ego-consciousness disappears in sleep, and when it figures in dreams it is often as though estranged or weakened.
This center which is isolated in man, and should work only within him, at the one single spot within, where matter is thrown back into chaos, now breaks out and penetrates into human instincts.
It is a fury of destruction thrust out of the inner being of man into the outer world; and in the future man will be able to find his bearings in regard to what thus penetrates into his instincts only when a true knowledge of the human being once again prevails, when we become aware once more of this human center of destruction within ? a center, however, which must be there for the sake of the development of human thought. For this strength of thought that man needs in order that he may have a world-conception in keeping with our time ? this strength of thought, which must be there in front of the memory-mirror, brings about the continuation of thought into the etheric body. And the etheric body thus permeated by thought works destructively upon the physical body. This center of destruction within modern Western man is a fact, and knowledge merely draws attention to it. If the center of destruction is there without any awareness of it, this is much worse than if man takes full cognizance of it, and from this conscious standpoint enters into the development of modern civilization.
For this reason, whoever has had to learn of the presence of this center of destruction in the inner being of man must take an interest in the development of the spirit. With all intensity he must be able to say to himself: Spirit must exist, and for the sake of the maintenance of the spirit matter may be extinguished.
Enclosed within him he has a fiery center of destruction, and in truth the forces of decline can be transformed into forces of ascent only if he becomes conscious of this fact.
Because if one sought to pierce beyond the sense-perceptions with one’s ordinary human ego, one might be harmed. The ego, as experienced in ordinary life, must be given up, if one wants to penetrate beyond the sense-perceptions. How does this ego originate? It is brought into existence by man’s capacity to plunge into the chaos of destruction. This ego must be tempered and hardened in that realm which lies within man as a center of destruction. And with this ego one cannot live on the far side of the outer sense-world.
— Rudolf Steiner
We must learn to know this center of destruction within us. We must not allow it to extrude itself into outer civilization, causing evil and chaos.
We must learn to understand, even to love, this force of destruction within us. For without it, we would not be developing our “I,” and thus would never attain consciousness in spiritual worlds. There is a paradox Steiner presents. The ego must be forged out of these forces of destruction, yet this ego cannot enter spiritual realms. It must be completely sacrificed. Only the ego permeated with love is able to live in spiritual realities. Yet only that which has been carefully built up is worthy of sacrifice. Thus, we must with great effort build up a strong vessel out of the forces of destruction, then completely empty out this vessel, and offer up the vessel in love to the spiritual world. This is true spiritual alchemy.
Steiner also refers to a great mystery: “Spirit must exist, and for the sake of the maintenance of the spirit matter may be extinguished.” I believe this can also be taken on a very literal level. Matter exists as a realm for beings to evolve and develop; it exists as an arena for humans to develop their “I.” There is a very palpable sense of resistance in the very nature of the material world. Yet materialism must be overcome if we are to ascend to spiritual worlds. Matter may be extinguished for the preservation of spirit, quite literally. I believe that the human being contains within his developing ego the power of nuclear fission, the power to obliterate matter (and along with this, the power of creation). This power will become readily available within individual human beings only in the very far distant future, yet the forces of destruction already have the upper hand in earthly evolution, and will continue to increase. In order to ensure that these forces can lead humanity to ascent, we must fully develop the forces of love. We must consciously dedicate as much energy to building up moral forces as we do to building up consciousness itself; each act of cognition must become an act of love.
A time will come in the far distant future when the earth as we know it will require dissolution. We will participate in the destruction of our universe as we know it. Yet this destruction is necessary for a new form of existence which will allow future evolution and progress. Powers of destruction are just as important as powers of growth and life. Without the obliteration of the past in every moment, the future could not come into being in the present.
We must learn to love evil, for it creates the ground upon which we launch consciously into other realms. Only through transforming evil do we attain the power of creating good.
