Symbolic thinking, Anthroposophy and Transhumanism

[AshvinP]

In response to these illnesses-accidents that are not directly generated by inner habits, but enter our reality from outside, so to say, we should maybe venture into less proximate layers of being, as if maintaining a large front of intents, where we aspire to become ‘polymaths’ of the fight against evil forces, I dare to say. Whilst we counter the first type by precise intervention through the most free tool we have at our disposal, and we recreate our world, day after day, from that edge, we have to deal with the latter type by surfing the interfering field of karmic possibilities, trying to develop a sensitivity for the accidents we are able to escape - since they were lingering within a window of karmic indeterminateness, at the frontier of what we have the power to ‘change’ in our becoming, taken from its material side first. I am not sure if I am making myself understood, but I feel we should equally apply the trial and error process to both edges of our becoming, inner and outer, to develop an all-front, all-round awareness, and do all in our power not to be taken aback by the encircling forces of darkness.

Federica, don't you get exhausted just thinking about doing the above?

I often get exhausted just working on the proximate soul constraints, feeling like I am chipping around the very surface of the inner edge but hardly making any progress, frequently relapsing into old unhealthy patterns. Now if we split our 'army' and extend this 'battle' to the outer edge as well, our spirit is stretched very thin and is made much more vulnerable on both fronts. That is how I think about it at my current stage of inner development, when the 'interfering field of karmic possibilities' is not at all transparent to my intuitive consciousness.

And then along the lines of Cleric's response, the illnesses-accidents that stream from the outer edge of karmic history or karmic potential are not simple to identify and assess. We can easily start projecting our intellectual assessments into this black box of karmic destiny so as to justify some unexamined desire or another. Perhaps we want to see some illness or injury as karmically deserved while another as a chance happening that works into a future adjustment. That is another reason why the inner edge, where our intuitive insight and capacity for creative management is stronger, should take primary importance, so we know more intimately what inner impulses are steering our thinking in relation to the varied sensory events.

[Federica]

Thanks for the site, Federica. I have tinnitus since a child. But in my case it is clearly an acoustic trauma. I used to play with a toy that made clicking sounds and I clicked it very close to my ear. This caused the usual ear-ringing that we may get, for example, from a popping balloon close to our ear, except that this didn't go away. I got my other ear permanently ringing after a Metallica concert some years later Fortunately, it seems that this condition doesn't degrade my hearing quality (at least so far). If I focus my attention I can always find the sound there but normally I don't notice it. Probably the only thing that I wonder about is how perfect silence sounds like This I can't have.

You are right about the different causes of medical conditions and other events in our life. There could be karma that is embedded in the physical sheaths. This would be strongly pronounced even in the Saturn sphere in our sojourn between death and rebirth. Some of the physical conditions of our next life begin to crystalize at this stage. Even though there's no matter, chromosomes, etc., in this midnight hour of our disembodied state, the Cosmic condition is like a seed from which the whole physical universe grows, with our inner bodily experience at the center. From the qualities of that seed, many features of our physical life are determined. These qualities are usually difficult to augment in our lifetime. Instead, they are like conditions that stimulate us to develop certain spiritual forces, which will give us a new direction for our next life. Other kinds of entanglements are more proximate, residing in the soul body, and they can be transformed to a greater extent.

Yet in the physical realm, all these factors interfere in such complicated ways that it's rarely possible to leanly separate the causes. If we don't understand this, we can stumble on difficult questions, like for example something like an airplane crash. Does it mean that everyone on the plane karmically deserved this fate? The answer is no. Here's a thought on the subject:

Question [part of]: Does Anthroposophy attribute no significance to ‘chance’?

Answer [part of]: It is not unjustifiable to speak of “chance” in the physical world. And however true it is to say: there is no “chance” if we take into consideration all the worlds, yet it would be unjustifiable to eradicate the word “chance” if we are merely speaking of the interlinking of things in the physical world.

Chance in the physical world is brought about through the fact that things take place in this world within sensible space. They must, in as far as they occur within this space, also obey the laws of this space. Within this space, things may outwardly meet which have inwardly nothing to do with each other. The causes which let a brick fall from a roof, injuring me as I pass by, do not necessarily have anything to do with my karma which stems from my past.

Many people commit here the error of imagining karmic relations in too simple a fashion. They presume, for instance, that if a brick has injured a person, he must have deserved this injury karmicly. But this is not necessarily so.

In the life of every human being events constantly take place which have nothing at all to do with his merits or his guilt in the past. Such events find their karmic adjustment in the future. If something happens to me today without being my fault, I shall be compensated for it in the future.

One thing is certain: nothing remains without karmic adjustment. However, whether an experience of the human being is the effect of his karmic past or the cause of his karmic future will have to be determined in every individual instance. And this cannot be decided by the intellect accustomed to dealing with the physical world, but solely by occult experience and observation.

https://rudolfsteinerquotes.wordpress.c ... -chance-2/

Cleric, thanks for sharing that. I’m sorry these ringing sounds have remained in the background! Steiner recommends to own the sound as if self-generated rather than generated exogenously. I imagine the sound doesn’t bother you that much because you do something along these lines. But I doubt true silence can be a concrete sensory experience for anyone. In the most peaceful environments, one can still hear the faint sound of one's own blood circulation, or pressure. Sort of a very tenuous, continuous sound of tension, something in between a sound and something else (great description, I know). One could maybe say, the sound of life? I imagine it’s a common experience, though I'm realizing I never asked anyone else to confirm that

Regarding the right conception of karma, I admit it challenges my understanding. Because I can’t see the symmetry. And how chance and causality can be randomly mixed in karmic events. And I struggle to see what a future compensation for undeserved suffering even means. What it might consist of for a free being. Maybe a free pass to a guided Devachanic tour in the next life? I don’t get it. On the one hand, the compensation can’t be Earthly comfort and pleasures in the next life. And on the other, spiritual progression must be obtained through free initiative and deeds. I will have to think about it much more, as it seems, and read all these lectures, and be patient

[Federica]

...
The techno-transhumanist impulse, for ex., is embedded in our soul curvature even if we are not directly involved in the pursuit or use of such technologies.

Yes - that’s exactly what I was hoping to communicate in my last post!

On the other hand, even if there was such a technology that releases nanobots into the air that can swim directly into our brains and render them useless for spiritual development, there is hardly any point worrying about it or trying to account for its development. Just as we relax the periphery in concentration and focus on the humble thought-image we are responsible for, I think we can relax this sort of periphery as well, the techno manifestations way beyond our control.

...

For most of us, the technologies we are immediately immersed in and need to navigate are our phones, computers, cars, home appliances, processed foods, and so forth. There are subtle destructive influences working through all of these and we are constantly exposed to them. So this is where we first need to develop intuitive sensitivity and make the tough negotiations and decisions that Cleric referenced.

Again, my point was hardly to figure out new ways to become anxious or worried by overthinking uncontrollable technologies (I believe this was clear enough in what I wrote). My point is, we have to constantly make choices and act on the world scene. Many of these choices have to do with technology. So how do we decide? Randomly? Intuitively? Common materialistic sense? Again, I think it’s our responsibility to develop ‘spiritual common sense’ to navigate the continuous technological decisions we have to make in life. My impression is that, a few months ago, you would have answered questions of this sort with an accent on the idea of redemption, that as long as we are conscious of its meaning, we may experience any technology as a redemptive choice. I don’t know whether you would confirm that view. For my part, I think that in many cases, especially the ones that involve the physical body directly, one should think twice before embracing a technology with redemptive intention and goals, trusting that the soul work on ourselves will by itself make the best practical choice unfold ahead of us.

So I totally agree that the technologies we need to develop sensitivity for are the ones we are immediately immersed in and need to navigate. Though I think it’s important to clarify: because the phone, computer, home appliances, cars, etc, are simply the exterior forms of some technologies, they are external tools - they are hardly very dangerous per se. And again, the way I see it, if we refer to technologies as tools, we are trivializing the question. For my part, I surely try not to use home appliances and electricity mindlessly. I abundantly use my computer, and even to watch Youtube, just not in the way I described in the example above (not recently, at least). I use my phone, but I am careful about what intents I reflect myself into, through the tool - what media, what communication intents and sources? This is the most challenging part, and things become even more complicated when choices have to be made about bioengineered food, medical procedures, and treatments, or simply about consumption of ‘normal’ substances, food, water, medical treatments and procedures.

Therefore, for my part, I would only trust my soul work alone - as a support for my everyday technological decisions that should protect me and my socio-physical environment from reckless exposure to adversarial forces - if I had reached a very high level of spiritual development. Until that point, I consider my due responsible intent to develop sensitivity, and seek alignment throughout my entire flow of becoming as described in the posts above.

[Federica]

In response to these illnesses-accidents that are not directly generated by inner habits, but enter our reality from outside, so to say, we should maybe venture into less proximate layers of being, as if maintaining a large front of intents, where we aspire to become ‘polymaths’ of the fight against evil forces, I dare to say. Whilst we counter the first type by precise intervention through the most free tool we have at our disposal, and we recreate our world, day after day, from that edge, we have to deal with the latter type by surfing the interfering field of karmic possibilities, trying to develop a sensitivity for the accidents we are able to escape - since they were lingering within a window of karmic indeterminateness, at the frontier of what we have the power to ‘change’ in our becoming, taken from its material side first. I am not sure if I am making myself understood, but I feel we should equally apply the trial and error process to both edges of our becoming, inner and outer, to develop an all-front, all-round awareness, and do all in our power not to be taken aback by the encircling forces of darkness.

Federica, don't you get exhausted just thinking about doing the above?

I often get exhausted just working on the proximate soul constraints, feeling like I am chipping around the very surface of the inner edge but hardly making any progress, frequently relapsing into old unhealthy patterns. Now if we split our 'army' and extend this 'battle' to the outer edge as well, our spirit is stretched very thin and is made much more vulnerable on both fronts. That is how I think about it at my current stage of inner development, when the 'interfering field of karmic possibilities' is not at all transparent to my intuitive consciousness.

And then along the lines of Cleric's response, the illnesses-accidents that stream from the outer edge of karmic history or karmic potential are not simple to identify and assess. We can easily start projecting our intellectual assessments into this black box of karmic destiny so as to justify some unexamined desire or another. Perhaps we want to see some illness or injury as karmically deserved while another as a chance happening that works into a future adjustment. That is another reason why the inner edge, where our intuitive insight and capacity for creative management is stronger, should take primary importance, so we know more intimately what inner impulses are steering our thinking in relation to the varied sensory events.

Ashvin - No, I don't get exhausted thinking about doing the above. On the contrary, I am profoundly motivated by the aspiration to have my inner activity reflected in this way, to create unity of being, a coherent whole

Then I certainly do get exhausted when I actually try to do it, since there start the difficulties. But we need to exhaust our energy on high ideals anyway, isn't it? Soul work is also exhausting, of course. But this is not arithmetics, and challenge on multiple fronts, does not necessarily mean double exhaustion. Spirit doesn't necessarily get thin and vulnerable when stretched across two fronts, since spirit doesn't obey the laws of physics. Just because the interfering field of karmic possibilities is not transparent, doesn't mean one cannot formulate the conscious intention to extract relevant insights from it. This alone opens a way, I am sure.

For example, I could try and follow Steiner's suggestion, and vividly imagine that a part of me - I myself - have planned and executed for a technology-based mishap I might have experienced in the past. I could work with this idea systematically, and let this other karmic version of myself grow and become a living entity within my organization. I am pretty sure that would not be neutral in terms of providing insights about the meaning, the soul impulses, the manifestation, and the most appropriate deeds in relation to the technology in question.... as a vague example.

[AshvinP]

Regarding the right conception of karma, I admit it challenges my understanding. Because I can’t see the symmetry. And how chance and causality can be randomly mixed in karmic events. And I struggle to see what a future compensation for undeserved suffering even means. What it might consist of for a free being. Maybe a free pass to a guided Devachanic tour in the next life? I don’t get it. On the one hand, the compensation can’t be Earthly comfort and pleasures in the next life. And on the other, spiritual progression must be obtained through free initiative and deeds. I will have to think about it much more, as it seems, and read all these lectures, and be patient

I think it's important that the 'chance' is only when viewed from the sensory perspective, the 'interlinking of things in the physical world' as Steiner put it. So there is no true 'randomness' when all the worlds are taken into account - what seems like a chance event within an individual's karmic stream from the physical perspective will also be found to be a part of greater lawfulness from the higher perspective, for ex. an opportunity to develop new spiritual forces that work into a subsequent incarnation.

That is perhaps an example of a future adjustment for an underserved event. To use a trivial example, let's say I break an ankle playing basketball. This could be part of deserved karma for some past injury inflicted on another, but it could also be 'random' undeserved event. Yet now that I am sidelined from playing basketball, I am stimulated to focus on my quiet meditative and reading time more, or to cut back on unhealthy foods that negatively effect my inner state since I know that I cannot easily burn them off with exercise. Of course I could just become depressed, lazy, and do nothing different, so the underserved event is not forcing me into some heavenly 'compensation', some higher pleasures, but simply provides the opportunity and stimulation for higher development which I can freely pursue.

[Federica]

Regarding the right conception of karma, I admit it challenges my understanding. Because I can’t see the symmetry. And how chance and causality can be randomly mixed in karmic events. And I struggle to see what a future compensation for undeserved suffering even means. What it might consist of for a free being. Maybe a free pass to a guided Devachanic tour in the next life? I don’t get it. On the one hand, the compensation can’t be Earthly comfort and pleasures in the next life. And on the other, spiritual progression must be obtained through free initiative and deeds. I will have to think about it much more, as it seems, and read all these lectures, and be patient

I think it's important that the 'chance' is only when viewed from the sensory perspective, the 'interlinking of things in the physical world' as Steiner put it. So there is no true 'randomness' when all the worlds are taken into account - what seems like a chance event within an individual's karmic stream from the physical perspective will also be found to be a part of greater lawfulness from the higher perspective, for ex. an opportunity to develop new spiritual forces that work into a subsequent incarnation.

That is perhaps an example of a future adjustment for an underserved event. To use a trivial example, let's say I break an ankle playing basketball. This could be part of deserved karma for some past injury inflicted on another, but it could also be 'random' undeserved event. Yet now that I am sidelined from playing basketball, I am stimulated to focus on my quiet meditative and reading time more, or to cut back on unhealthy foods that negatively effect my inner state since I know that I cannot easily burn them off with exercise. Of course I could just become depressed, lazy, and do nothing different, so the underserved event is not forcing me into some heavenly 'compensation', some higher pleasures, but simply provides the opportunity and stimulation for higher development which I can freely pursue.

Thanks Ashvin, for elaborating. Regarding your example of a future adjustment, I would ask the following.
If the broken ankle is the undeserved event, the fact that it bestows a specific character on your flow of becoming, that you then have the opportunity to take the most of, is typical of any twists and turns in earthly life, regardless whether or not they were undeserved. So if you seize the chance of your time of recovery to deepen your spiritual work, this depends on your free decision. That the decision was made more self-evident, or easier to execute, by the temporary infirmity, is encapsulated in the curvature of the infirmity event itself. As such, the possibility is just as available to the one who deserved an accident. So how can that be considered an extra compensation for the undeserved character of the accident?

In the meantime, I have researched the question further in Steiner. As it seems, the insight is that such unlucky (according to earthly standards) events may make more sense as means to create positive bonds within a group of people, in light of positive relationships to be formed among them in a future life, for example, the group of those who died on the same crashed plane. Not that I understand it very well, but this is what Steiner suggests:

#SE034-361

#TI

Is there a coincidence?

#TX

Question: A letter from readers contains the following question: “Does theosophical teaching not allow any validity? For example, I can't imagine that it could be in everyone's karma if five hundred people died together in a theater fire. »

Answer: The laws of karma are so complicated that no one should be surprised if some fact at first appears to the human mind to be in contradiction to the general validity of this law. One must make it absolutely clear to oneself that this mind is initially trained in our physical world and that it is generally only used to admitting what it has learned in this world. But the karmic laws definitely belong to higher worlds - in Germany it is customary to say "higher levels". - Therefore, if one wants to think of any incident that affects a person as having a karmic effect in the same way that one thinks of the exercise of justice purely in earthly-physical life, then one must inevitably come across contradiction after contradiction. One must realize that a common experience that affects several people in the physical world can mean something completely different for each of them in the higher worlds. Of course, the reverse cannot be ruled out, that common karmic chains come to fruition in shared earthly experiences. Only those who are able to see clearly in higher worlds can say in detail what is present. If the karmic chains of five hundred people are played out in such a way that these people perish in a theater fire, then the following cases, among others, are possible:

First: The karmic chains of not a single one of the five hundred people need have anything to do with those of any of the other victims. The common

#SE034-362

Misfortune then relates to the karmas of the individual people, just as the shadow image of fifty people on a wall relates to the worlds of thoughts and feelings of these people. An hour ago, perhaps these fifty people had nothing in common; In an hour they may not have anything in common again. What they experienced when they met in the same room will have a special effect on everyone. But their togetherness is expressed in the above-mentioned common shadow image. But anyone who wanted to draw any conclusions from this shadow about a commonality between the people would be very wrong.

Second: It is possible that the common experience of the five hundred people has nothing to do with their karmic past, but that something is being prepared through this common experience that will bring them together karmically in the future. Perhaps in distant times these five hundred people will undertake a common enterprise together, and through misfortune they have been brought together for higher worlds. The experienced mystic is well aware that, for example, associations that are currently being formed owe their origin to the fact that the people who come together experienced a common misfortune in the distant past.

Thirdly: Such a case can really be the effect of previous joint debts of the people in question. But there are countless other options available. For example, all three options listed can be combined with each other, etc.

To speak of “coincidence” in the physical world is certainly not unjustified. And as absolutely true as the statement: “There is no coincidence” when all worlds are taken into account, it would be unjustified to eradicate the word “coincidence” when we are only talking about the chain of things in the physical world. The coincidence in the physical world becomes namely

#SE034-363

brought about by the fact that in this world things take place in sensory space. Insofar as they take place in this space, they must also obey the laws of this space. In this space, however, things can come together externally that initially have nothing to do with one another internally. Just as my face is not really distorted because it is distorted in an uneven mirror, the causes that cause a brick to fall from the roof, which damages me as a passer-by, with my karma that comes from my past, are no longer necessary. to have something to do. - The mistake that is made is that many people imagine the karmic connections too simply. For example, they assume:

If a brick damaged this person, he must have karmically earned this damage. But this is absolutely not necessary. Events continually occur in every person's life that have absolutely nothing to do with their past merits or guilt. Such events find their karmic balance in the future. Whatever happens to me today through no fault of my own, I will be compensated for in the future. One thing is true: nothing remains without karmic compensation. But whether a person's experience is the effect of his karmic past or the cause of a karmic future: this must first be determined in detail. And this cannot be decided by the mind accustomed to the physical world, but only by occult experience and observation.

https://steiner.wiki/GA_34

[AshvinP]

Thanks Ashvin, for elaborating. Regarding your example of a future adjustment, I would ask the following.
If the broken ankle is the undeserved event, the fact that it bestows a specific character on your flow of becoming, that you then have the opportunity to take the most of, is typical of any twists and turns in earthly life, regardless whether or not they were undeserved. So if you seize the chance of your time of recovery to deepen your spiritual work, this depends on your free decision. That the decision was made more self-evident, or easier to execute, by the temporary infirmity, is encapsulated in the curvature of the infirmity event itself. As such, the possibility is just as available to the one who deserved an accident. So how can that be considered an extra compensation for the undeserved character of the accident?

In the meantime, I have researched the question further in Steiner. As it seems, the insight is that such unlucky (according to earthly standards) events may make more sense as means to create positive bonds within a group of people, in light of positive relationships to be formed among them in a future life, for example, the group of those who died on the same crashed plane. Not that I understand it very well, but this is what Steiner suggests:

#SE034-361

#TI

Is there a coincidence?

#TX

Question: A letter from readers contains the following question: “Does theosophical teaching not allow any validity? For example, I can't imagine that it could be in everyone's karma if five hundred people died together in a theater fire. »

Answer: The laws of karma are so complicated that no one should be surprised if some fact at first appears to the human mind to be in contradiction to the general validity of this law. One must make it absolutely clear to oneself that this mind is initially trained in our physical world and that it is generally only used to admitting what it has learned in this world. But the karmic laws definitely belong to higher worlds - in Germany it is customary to say "higher levels". - Therefore, if one wants to think of any incident that affects a person as having a karmic effect in the same way that one thinks of the exercise of justice purely in earthly-physical life, then one must inevitably come across contradiction after contradiction. One must realize that a common experience that affects several people in the physical world can mean something completely different for each of them in the higher worlds. Of course, the reverse cannot be ruled out, that common karmic chains come to fruition in shared earthly experiences. Only those who are able to see clearly in higher worlds can say in detail what is present. If the karmic chains of five hundred people are played out in such a way that these people perish in a theater fire, then the following cases, among others, are possible:

First: The karmic chains of not a single one of the five hundred people need have anything to do with those of any of the other victims. The common

#SE034-362

Misfortune then relates to the karmas of the individual people, just as the shadow image of fifty people on a wall relates to the worlds of thoughts and feelings of these people. An hour ago, perhaps these fifty people had nothing in common; In an hour they may not have anything in common again. What they experienced when they met in the same room will have a special effect on everyone. But their togetherness is expressed in the above-mentioned common shadow image. But anyone who wanted to draw any conclusions from this shadow about a commonality between the people would be very wrong.

Second: It is possible that the common experience of the five hundred people has nothing to do with their karmic past, but that something is being prepared through this common experience that will bring them together karmically in the future. Perhaps in distant times these five hundred people will undertake a common enterprise together, and through misfortune they have been brought together for higher worlds. The experienced mystic is well aware that, for example, associations that are currently being formed owe their origin to the fact that the people who come together experienced a common misfortune in the distant past.

Thirdly: Such a case can really be the effect of previous joint debts of the people in question. But there are countless other options available. For example, all three options listed can be combined with each other, etc.

To speak of “coincidence” in the physical world is certainly not unjustified. And as absolutely true as the statement: “There is no coincidence” when all worlds are taken into account, it would be unjustified to eradicate the word “coincidence” when we are only talking about the chain of things in the physical world. The coincidence in the physical world becomes namely

#SE034-363

brought about by the fact that in this world things take place in sensory space. Insofar as they take place in this space, they must also obey the laws of this space. In this space, however, things can come together externally that initially have nothing to do with one another internally. Just as my face is not really distorted because it is distorted in an uneven mirror, the causes that cause a brick to fall from the roof, which damages me as a passer-by, with my karma that comes from my past, are no longer necessary. to have something to do. - The mistake that is made is that many people imagine the karmic connections too simply. For example, they assume:

If a brick damaged this person, he must have karmically earned this damage. But this is absolutely not necessary. Events continually occur in every person's life that have absolutely nothing to do with their past merits or guilt. Such events find their karmic balance in the future. Whatever happens to me today through no fault of my own, I will be compensated for in the future. One thing is true: nothing remains without karmic compensation. But whether a person's experience is the effect of his karmic past or the cause of a karmic future: this must first be determined in detail. And this cannot be decided by the mind accustomed to the physical world, but only by occult experience and observation.

https://steiner.wiki/GA_34

Yeah, you are right that it isn't a great example to highlight the difference at issue. But also as Steiner said in that quote, the demarcations cannot be neatly separated and all 3 options he listed could be at work in various ways in any given event. I suppose the best examples relate to collective events rather than individual ones, since the former can bring us into new intimate relations with other souls which would not have otherwise been established.

To refine our intuition for this, it may help to consider the archetypal example of this undeserved fall into accident, illness, death and its future adjustment/compensation. I mentioned it briefly here.

We can understand the latter as a polarity - this inheritance of Karma entered human evolution quite apart from our free inner activity, before there was even any Ego-consciousness which allowed for identification as an individuality [during Lemurian epoch]. As we know, all poles only appear in the context of an opposite pole, a counter-force. The latter is free Grace. We didn't freely enter into the world of sin and Karma, but we are freely shown a path out of it and freely given the inner tools to follow that path. We don't need to earn that Grace - it is naturally given to us as the counter-pole to original sin. Christ incarnate is the archetype here - he was most innocent of sin amongst all humans, yet suffered our same fate on the Cross and was resurrected to a new life within the higher worlds. He is both the example to follow and the means by which to follow it.

Through the Fall, our unified human organism decohered into relative perspectives whose inner lives were seemingly more and more isolated from one another, only kept together by the grace of certain external blood and ethnic relations which culminated in the modern nation-state. Yet it is also through the grace of the Christ impulse that the free individual can recohere those inner relations independently of coercive external bonds, through common spiritual enterprises for example. So this is the archetypal basis of future compensation for underserved tragedy, and all particular events between these poles of 'original sin' and 'grace' can be seen as complicated manifestations, rays filtered through the archetypal prism. To trace the particular configuration of relations at work in any given event is no simple task and requires deep spiritual insight into the curvatures of destiny.

As a general rule, I think it is valuable to indeed treat every tragic event in our lives as an opportunity for future spiritual advances bestowed by grace, as long we patiently and persistently pursue deeper and more holistic consciousness of the inner relations at work. To realize the future adjustment via grace will always require some active gestures on our part. We may be brought together with other souls in the higher worlds for common enterprises, but these will only unfold if the souls voluntarily accept and participate in the enterprise, motivated by their consciousness of what brought them together and why.

[Federica]

Ashvin, are you saying that the tragedy of Fall was undeserved and the opportunity of uniting with the Christ impulse is its later compensation?

[AshvinP]

Though I think it’s important to clarify: because the phone, computer, home appliances, cars, etc, are simply the exterior forms of some technologies, they are external tools - they are hardly very dangerous per se

The question is, how do we know how harmful they are? I think as our inner sensitivity grows, we find that all of these things modulate our soul rhythms and state in characteristic and deep ways - they all contribute to the 'etheric smog' that Cleric referenced. I am reminded of when Steiner mentioned that watching cinema leads to etherically goggle-eyes. Yet he also mentioned there is no reason to fear this descent into sub-perception if it is also matched by an ascent into supersensible reality. 

trusting that the soul work on ourselves will by itself make the best practical choice unfold ahead of us...

Therefore, for my part, I would only trust my soul work alone... Until that point, I consider my due responsible intent to develop sensitivity, and seek alignment throughout my entire flow of becoming as described in the posts above

...
Ashvin - No, I don't get exhausted thinking about doing the above. On the contrary, I am profoundly motivated by the aspiration to have my inner activity reflected in this way, to create unity of being, a coherent whole

Then I certainly do get exhausted when I actually try to do it, since there start the difficulties. But we need to exhaust our energy on high ideals anyway, isn't it? Soul work is also exhausting, of course. But this is not arithmetics, and challenge on multiple fronts, does not necessarily mean double exhaustion. Spirit doesn't necessarily get thin and vulnerable when stretched across two fronts, since spirit doesn't obey the laws of physics. Just because the interfering field of karmic possibilities is not transparent, doesn't mean one cannot formulate the conscious intention to extract relevant insights from it. This alone opens a way, I am sure.

For example, I could try and follow Steiner's suggestion, and vividly imagine that a part of me - I myself - have planned and executed for a technology-based mishap I might have experienced in the past. I could work with this idea systematically, and let this other karmic version of myself grow and become a living entity within my organization. I am pretty sure that would not be neutral in terms of providing insights about the meaning, the soul impulses, the manifestation, and the most appropriate deeds in relation to the technology in question.... as a vague example.

Ok, well here it sounds like we are saying much of the same thing, except I still don't know what is meant by seeking alignment throughout the entire flow. When you mention that or the "trial and error process to both edges of our becoming", was the bold what you had in mind for the outer edge? Because I would consider that still the inner soul edge. It is about cultivating a sense of responsibility, resonating with the wider perspective of the higher Self, chipping away at the proximate soul configuration of resentment, victimhood, disempowerment, etc. that we usually adopt in the face of various sensory events that seem to weaken us physically, emotionally, or mentally. We do that regardless if we know exactly why the mishap entered our karmic stream (and I don't think it's helpful to start imagining all sorts of details about why it came about). If that's the sort of thing meant by 'outer edge' or 'two fronts', then I see it as a unified inner front and certainly does not stretch us too thin. It could be as simple as feeling and expressing gratitude when some mishap occurs, as we have discussed before.

Spirit, as it manifests through the average human imagination and willpower at this point, can certainly be stretched too thin and exhausted. We are mostly working with our spirit from within and through the physical organization. Just think what happens when we meditate and try to follow and encompass all the peripheral details instead of relaxing into the center and entrusting the periphery to the wise Cosmic forces. It is similar with the karmic streams that approach us from the periphery of the sensory world, which as we have been discussing could be manifesting through all sorts of complicated entanglements for purposes of fulfilling past karmic imbalances and/or seeding the potential of new karmic relationships. This is what I thought you were referring to by 'outer edge' and the 2nd front, as that which we need to be much more precisely active and involved with like we are with the soul work, but perhaps I was mistaken.

One can of course open up humbly and receptively to relevant insights from the spiritual Cosmos at all times, in relation to all events, through prayer. But in that case we also need to be very patient for the insights related to karmic streams, holding them loosely and letting them germinate without condensing into rigid intellectual concepts and conclusions too soon. This is not an easy habit to resist, so we need to be vigilant in this domain.

[AshvinP]

Ashvin, are you saying that the tragedy of Fall was undeserved and the opportunity of uniting with the Christ impulse is its later compensation?

It is more nuanced than that, but that is the gist. This isn't my original insight but taken directly from Steiner's lecture, GA 127. We originally followed Lucifer's temptation with the astral body prior to fully incarnating the ego and therefore had little choice in the matter. The stream of heredity was progressively corrupted by this decoherence of harmonious spiritual intents and therefore humanity as a whole was sent into a steep degeneration and decline, which was nevertheless necessary to eventually reach the grounds of thinking freedom, i.e. dead thoughts we feel fully responsible for and involved in. Our ego later incarnated into this degenerating context and became deeply conditioned to it, acting out of selfish impulses which also generate our individual stream of karma. With our self-willed and living thinking, we can work our way into the vicinity of the Christ impulse and be drawn upwards by it, but the fact that it exists and is continuously available for us to incarnate its healing forces is entirely a matter of Grace, i.e. beyond our own ego activity, that adjusts for the instinctive Fall.

(I encourage to read the full lecture for more context)

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA127/En ... 03p01.html

There has been continuous deterioration in man through the course of the incarnations. The farther we go back towards the Atlantean epoch, the more do we find in the physical endowments of man, higher forces than were working in later times. Where, then, was the impulse activated in the astral body through the temptation of Lucifer, implanted? It was implanted in heredity, causing increasing deterioration in that process. Sin that man incurs with his ego may work back upon the astral body and can only take effect in karma; but the sin incurred by man before he had an ego, contributes to a continual degeneration and deterioration of the human race as a whole.
...
Now there is nothing that has not its opposite pole. Just as there can be no North Pole without a South Pole, so there can be no phenomenon such as this sin of the astral body without its opposite pole. Without being able to speak in the ordinary sense of moral wrong on our part, it is our destiny as men to be permeated by Luciferic forces. In a certain respect we can do nothing about it, indeed we must rather be thankful that it happened so. We were obliged, then, to incur a burden for which we cannot in the full sense be held responsible.

In human evolution there is something that is related to this as the North Pole is related to the South Pole. This sin which, in its consequences, is inherited, which represents sin in man of which he is not guilty in the real sense, must be counterbalanced by the possibility of re-ascent, also without merit of his own. Just as without guilt of his own, man was obliged to fall, so he must be able to re-ascend without merit of his own — that is to say, without full merit of his own. We fell without being ourselves guilty and we must therefore be able to ascend without merit of our own. That is the necessary polarity. Otherwise we should be obliged to remain below in the physical-material world. Just as we must place at the beginning of our evolution a guilt which man did not himself incur, so at the end of evolution we must place a gift that is bestowed upon him without merit on his part. These two things belong together.