Symbolic thinking, Anthroposophy and Transhumanism

[Federica]

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. 

To the underlined I say: exactly - that's what I mean when I say the tools are hardly very dangerous per se. How we know how harmful they really are - not as tools, but as idea-technologies - this only can emerge in our interaction with them. Beyond the etheric smog (surely there, but not the main problem) it's about whether we let the idea-technology excite the self-similar impulses within ourselves, or we control them and counter them, as I have tried to illustrate above.

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.

No, I didn't refer to the bold there. I acknowledge that the bold is still the inner edge. But, through working as I outlined in the bold (as an example) I believe we can hope to gain insights into the outer edge, the red edge here:

When we get insights all the way into the red, we are aligning the layers, that's what I mean.
Because, the thing is, we need to make choices and take action in the red, in our every life.

Examples: Should we accept mRNA vaccines? Should we vote for doubling governmental military spending? Should we agree with editing the genome of plant, animal, man? Should we buy fake meat next time we go grocery shopping? Should we watch/listen to XYZNews or regularly expose ourselves to xyz content? These are all choices we can't exempt us from making. So, I was saying, I have the ambition to work towards making these deeds consistent with the rest of my being.



PS. If I may, it seems possible to me that you are too worried about not being worried.

[AshvinP]

When we get insights all the way into the red, we are aligning the layers, that's what I mean.
Because, the thing is, we need to make choices and take action in the red, in our every life.

Examples: Should we accept mRNA vaccines? Should we vote for doubling governmental military spending? Should we agree with editing the genome of plant, animal, man? Should we buy fake meat next time we go grocery shopping? Should we watch/listen to XYZNews or regularly expose ourselves to xyz content? These are all choices we can't exempt us from making. So, I was saying, I have the ambition to work towards making these deeds consistent with the rest of my being.


PS. If I may, it seems possible to me that you are too worried about not being worried.

Ok, let me try to characterize your position as I understand it now so we are on the same page. I think this post threw me off.

Then, I believe there is also another, distinct source of illness, that meets us from the opposite side, so to say. It penetrates our being from the side of the sensory spectrum, the physical body, and the choices we continually make in relation to it. In a sense, these illnesses are are more directly karmic, and they also form a continuum with the so-called accidents of life, including accidents occurring during embryonic development, and resulting in congenital illnesses, but also extending to the accidents-illnesses with origin in everyday life, like a car accident, a domestic accident, or a suffered violent event.

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.

And I assumed that was how you were thinking of the 'outer edge'. But now it seems you are speaking of the more proximate soul work which we have discussed at some length on the forum - we try to gain inner sensitivity to environmental spiritual influences insofar as they modulate our soul rhythms/states, steering us toward unhealthy habits, emotions, impulses, etc. We do that through concentration/meditation, prayer, study-meditate, certain resistance exercises, and overall trying to remain present and attentive within the flow of sensory experience, whether we are out shopping, watching TV, browsing the internet, following current events, and so forth.

Is that accurate, and is there something in addition you think we can do to gain more 'direct insight' into the nature of sensory occurrences that are relatively independent of (or much more attenuated from) our soul activity and states? For ex. 'to develop a sensitivity for the accidents we are able to escape'?

It's not that I think there is no reason to worry about the course of modern life, or that we can escape all worrying, but that we can easily add too much on our plate and burn out in our enthusiasm to 'fight against evil forces', when we also have great Allies who are involved in that fight and can trust their locus of activity will be more effective than ours.

[Cleric K]

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

Let's try something. It's quite abstract, not too different from Cosmin's approach, so all cautions apply. We have spoken about such things in different contexts and I know that you already get them, yet it may provide some further intuition.

Imagine the hypothetical state of all possibilities - like white light but corresponding to all possible states of existence, as if overlaid. Then imagine that this state is polarized into two complementary batches of states. Then these states are polarized again and so on.



Another way to imagine this is through a block of stone. Think of how all conceivable statues are contained in it. If the block is split into two parts, now each part contains more limited possibilities.

The image above is not something in space. This bifurcation is not something that happens in time. It's just an abstract way to conceive of the infinite possible states of existence. Furthermore, there should be also infinitely many images like the above which correspond to all possible tensions of the polarizations. The highlighted branch corresponds to a single state of being. In reality, all states are like concentric and overlapping first-person universes of experience.

The experience through time is a metamorphic path through these states in such a way that there's continuity of consciousness (memory). From a temporal perspective the state metamorphoses as if pulled by the tensions of these polarities (like elastic forces or pendulums).

The takeaway from all this is that our state of being metamorphoses in lawful ways along the whole gradient, even though most of the time the elastic oscillations seem out of phase.

Occasionally, there could be conjunctions of the oscillations (remember the shadertoy here). As we have spoken before, these conjunctions serve as converging events in the stream of becoming. In between them there's expansion and greater variety (even chaos) but when the conjunctions are approached, the elastic forces funnel the flow of states toward something more orderly.

Now when we say that our destiny is affected by an accidental event, on one side - as Ashvin and RS say - there's still deep lawfulness, except the elastic tensions are so complicated that it is practically impossible to point at one single thing and call it a cause. On the other side, however, when such an accidental event occurs, it leads to unexpected tensions (or maybe it releases some). The important thing, though, is that no matter how the rubber bands are stretched, things will still converge toward the special states. This is what we understand by the fact that nothing remains uncompensated.

This may all sound very complicated but it's really a simple idea that should be felt. It's simply that our flow of states seems as if pulled and pushed by elastic tensions. Some of these tensions we make through our own spiritual activity, others result from the wider flow. Yet the fact remains that every tension increases the elastic force that tries to resolve it.

Now the great difficulty with all this is that as a rule, we try to understand these tensions in quite simplistic ways. For example, undeserved suffering increases the tension, which later resolves into well-being. This, however, is a very linear understanding. The latest thought happened to be right on the topic.

In that respect, it would be best if we don't conceive the elastic tensions as the same thing as pain and pleasure (although at certain scales this is really the case). However in the greater picture, if well-being is our goal, we will most certainly overshoot and the tension will manifest in another way. So things are not easily graspable on a linear scale - thus the well-known "God moves in mysterious ways". As always, prayer is our guide here.

For example, if the accident stretches the tensions, this doesn't necessarily mean that we should experience more pleasure as compensation. Instead, things may be so arranged that through this tension the possibility opens that a certain virtue can be developed that compensates the tension.

[Federica]

When we get insights all the way into the red, we are aligning the layers, that's what I mean.
Because, the thing is, we need to make choices and take action in the red, in our every life.

Examples: Should we accept mRNA vaccines? Should we vote for doubling governmental military spending? Should we agree with editing the genome of plant, animal, man? Should we buy fake meat next time we go grocery shopping? Should we watch/listen to XYZNews or regularly expose ourselves to xyz content? These are all choices we can't exempt us from making. So, I was saying, I have the ambition to work towards making these deeds consistent with the rest of my being.


PS. If I may, it seems possible to me that you are too worried about not being worried.

Ok, let me try to characterize your position as I understand it now so we are on the same page. I think this post threw me off.

Then, I believe there is also another, distinct source of illness, that meets us from the opposite side, so to say. It penetrates our being from the side of the sensory spectrum, the physical body, and the choices we continually make in relation to it. In a sense, these illnesses are are more directly karmic, and they also form a continuum with the so-called accidents of life, including accidents occurring during embryonic development, and resulting in congenital illnesses, but also extending to the accidents-illnesses with origin in everyday life, like a car accident, a domestic accident, or a suffered violent event.

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.

And I assumed that was how you were thinking of the 'outer edge'. But now it seems you are speaking of the more proximate soul work which we have discussed at some length on the forum - we try to gain inner sensitivity to environmental spiritual influences insofar as they modulate our soul rhythms/states, steering us toward unhealthy habits, emotions, impulses, etc. We do that through concentration/meditation, prayer, study-meditate, certain resistance exercises, and overall trying to remain present and attentive within the flow of sensory experience, whether we are out shopping, watching TV, browsing the internet, following current events, and so forth.

Is that accurate, and is there something in addition you think we can do to gain more 'direct insight' into the nature of sensory occurrences that are relatively independent of (or much more attenuated from) our soul activity and states? For ex. 'to develop a sensitivity for the accidents we are able to escape'?

It's not that I think there is no reason to worry about the course of modern life, or that we can escape all worrying, but that we can easily add too much on our plate and burn out in our enthusiasm to 'fight against evil forces', when we also have great Allies who are involved in that fight and can trust their locus of activity will be more effective than ours.

Ashvin
Let’s start from your own words:

When we begin to recover the intuition (…) that perceptions are symbols for the constraints-possibilities of our thinking, feeling, and willing activity, then our activity grows stronger as it works through the perceptual resistance and experiences itself contributing to the alterations of the constraints.

Everything I said in this thread remains within the framework of your own characterization. To the above you added:

But all of this starts from the humble seed point in thinking, where we have the most creative freedom to expand the palette of our possible states.

All I have said can be resumed as follows: We have the most creative freedom in the humble seed point we find in concentration/meditation. Nevertheless I wouldn't only rely on concentrated introspection as the exclusive way to find orientation in the flow of becoming. Creative freedom, as yourself implied, is also available in the other layers of our activity. For myself, I want to be all-round in this sense. Only proceeding linearly, with concentration, prayer, study-meditation, and trying to be present in the sensory flow, we are in a conservative position (in archetypal sense). It could be that I am simply more (in archetypal sense) liberal, I don’t know
Maybe it’s just that: you are more inspired by protecting, and I am more inspired by innovating-discovering


Naturally, I don’t forget that everything we perceive can only be perceived because of thinking, and in this sense we never go anywhere other than in and around consciousness - there’s nothing else, and ‘nowhere else’ to go. That being acknowledged, my point has really not changed throughout these posts. It is this: I don’t want to wait until I am an initiate before I bring attention and effort to “contributing to the alteration of the constraints” through the perceptual resistance. It means that I want to also work from the entry point of feeling, and will/action in the world, keeping in mind that, within the collapsing interference, there is always a window of possibility. I can to some extent change my future (I don’t care if it’s a minor way) by altering my activity in daily life, even before I have accomplished a complete mastery of my thinking freedom. Not as an excentric whim, but because I believe it's necessary to deploy all the available strategies! The exemple I gave, by the way (to imagine another version of myself that supposedly intended a mishap experienced in the past) is an exercise in feeling. It’s not concentration, nor study meditation, but a way to leverage a layer that is not the most proximate, with the intention to expand sensitivity within the ever-collapsing interference of becoming, starting from a memory as an ‘easy’ way in. Of course, the goal is to open degrees of freedom that allow to put self-generated pressure on the curvatures of the flow as it unfolds. In other words, to push toward the edges of the karmic possibilities.
Another example: Cleric recently wrote:

“Living in the world should not be equated to being on the hamster wheel. Our life indeed becomes a quite different experience. This is where the teachings of OMA and BD are indispensable because they are full of such small advices that with little practice can become integral parts of our daily life.”

So I have recently started to drink some hot water (from the kettle) first thing in the morning. Is it because I clearly understand how it has an effect on me? No, not at all. I don’t know. But I still do it. It’s a small choice that stretches the front of my intentions to the outer edge, and, incidentally said, has brought with it some positive ‘side effects’. Is it exhausting, since it stretches spiritual activity to the outer edge? No it isn’t. Still, it’s more than simply remaining present in the sensory flow. It's a small way to change my flow of becoming from the outer edge. Again, I don’t care if it turns out I’m actually not able to generate any significant effect by paying attention to the outer edge, in the creative ways I try to reclaim from the periphery of the collapsing flow. Also, as I tried to emphasize, the exemple I gave (filling another version of me with imaginative life), was just that: one example.

I will give you another one that, like drinking hot water, is more action-based. I recently chose to undergo a surgery that was not strictly necessary. It would have been completely fine to simply leave things as they were. Surely, if the situation had presented itself to me a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have done it. But I decided to challenge my default approach. So on the one hand, I would say, I have not yet been able to clearly pinpoint what my personality is made of, to bring it into the light of full consciousness yet, but on the other, through a decision like that, I have acted as if I had. Notice, there is also a clear relation with technology here. Now, you may say, that’s stupid, to act in the blind, pretending to be disengaged from your current soul curvatures, when you actually aren’t, and maybe it was a pointless attempt (I can’t certify it wasn’t). But I am sure the intention itself is not pointless. And, it’s been a revealing physical and spiritual experience in more than one unexpected sense. Also, I am hopeful that it will clarify further going forward. Again, let me point out, this is only another example. However, now you have three examples in total. Do they help make my “position” a bit more sensical in your perspective?
To answer your question explicitly:

Is that accurate, and is there something in addition you think we can do to gain more 'direct insight' into the nature of sensory occurrences that are relatively independent of (or much more attenuated from) our soul activity and states?

Yes, it is accurate, and (as I hope I have illustrated) there is more. Yet another thing that we can add is, as I said, the intellectual exploration of technological ideas. I don’t intend to consider that as a separate, close-circuit, second best endeavor that requires to be “bridged”. As you also said elsewhere, we want to make an effort and dive into some scientific-economic-political intellectual details, not to reinforce unscrutinized personal opinions, but to substantiate the context of evolution at macro- as well as microcosmic level. In other words we collect data, that we can use to map the situation and put into fruition the insights gained through our overall spiritual activity.

[AshvinP]

When we get insights all the way into the red, we are aligning the layers, that's what I mean.
Because, the thing is, we need to make choices and take action in the red, in our every life.

Examples: Should we accept mRNA vaccines? Should we vote for doubling governmental military spending? Should we agree with editing the genome of plant, animal, man? Should we buy fake meat next time we go grocery shopping? Should we watch/listen to XYZNews or regularly expose ourselves to xyz content? These are all choices we can't exempt us from making. So, I was saying, I have the ambition to work towards making these deeds consistent with the rest of my being.


PS. If I may, it seems possible to me that you are too worried about not being worried.

Ok, let me try to characterize your position as I understand it now so we are on the same page. I think this post threw me off.

Then, I believe there is also another, distinct source of illness, that meets us from the opposite side, so to say. It penetrates our being from the side of the sensory spectrum, the physical body, and the choices we continually make in relation to it. In a sense, these illnesses are are more directly karmic, and they also form a continuum with the so-called accidents of life, including accidents occurring during embryonic development, and resulting in congenital illnesses, but also extending to the accidents-illnesses with origin in everyday life, like a car accident, a domestic accident, or a suffered violent event.

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.

And I assumed that was how you were thinking of the 'outer edge'. But now it seems you are speaking of the more proximate soul work which we have discussed at some length on the forum - we try to gain inner sensitivity to environmental spiritual influences insofar as they modulate our soul rhythms/states, steering us toward unhealthy habits, emotions, impulses, etc. We do that through concentration/meditation, prayer, study-meditate, certain resistance exercises, and overall trying to remain present and attentive within the flow of sensory experience, whether we are out shopping, watching TV, browsing the internet, following current events, and so forth.

Is that accurate, and is there something in addition you think we can do to gain more 'direct insight' into the nature of sensory occurrences that are relatively independent of (or much more attenuated from) our soul activity and states? For ex. 'to develop a sensitivity for the accidents we are able to escape'?

It's not that I think there is no reason to worry about the course of modern life, or that we can escape all worrying, but that we can easily add too much on our plate and burn out in our enthusiasm to 'fight against evil forces', when we also have great Allies who are involved in that fight and can trust their locus of activity will be more effective than ours.

Ashvin
Let’s start from your own words:

When we begin to recover the intuition (…) that perceptions are symbols for the constraints-possibilities of our thinking, feeling, and willing activity, then our activity grows stronger as it works through the perceptual resistance and experiences itself contributing to the alterations of the constraints.

Everything I said in this thread remains within the framework of your own characterization. To the above you added:

But all of this starts from the humble seed point in thinking, where we have the most creative freedom to expand the palette of our possible states.

All I have said can be resumed as follows: We have the most creative freedom in the humble seed point we find in concentration/meditation. Nevertheless I wouldn't only rely on concentrated introspection as the exclusive way to find orientation in the flow of becoming. Creative freedom, as yourself implied, is also available in the other layers of our activity. For myself, I want to be all-round in this sense. Only proceeding linearly, with concentration, prayer, study-meditation, and trying to be present in the sensory flow, we are in a conservative position (in archetypal sense). It could be that I am simply more (in archetypal sense) liberal, I don’t know
Maybe it’s just that: you are more inspired by protecting, and I am more inspired by innovating-discovering


Naturally, I don’t forget that everything we perceive can only be perceived because of thinking, and in this sense we never go anywhere other than in and around consciousness - there’s nothing else, and ‘nowhere else’ to go. That being acknowledged, my point has really not changed throughout these posts. It is this: I don’t want to wait until I am an initiate before I bring attention and effort to “contributing to the alteration of the constraints” through the perceptual resistance. It means that I want to also work from the entry point of feeling, and will/action in the world, keeping in mind that, within the collapsing interference, there is always a window of possibility. I can to some extent change my future (I don’t care if it’s a minor way) by altering my activity in daily life, even before I have accomplished a complete mastery of my thinking freedom. Not as an excentric whim, but because I believe it's necessary to deploy all the available strategies! The exemple I gave, by the way (to imagine another version of myself that supposedly intended a mishap experienced in the past) is an exercise in feeling. It’s not concentration, nor study meditation, but a way to leverage a layer that is not the most proximate, with the intention to expand sensitivity within the ever-collapsing interference of becoming, starting from a memory as an ‘easy’ way in. Of course, the goal is to open degrees of freedom that allow to put self-generated pressure on the curvatures of the flow as it unfolds. In other words, to push toward the edges of the karmic possibilities.
Another example: Cleric recently wrote:

“Living in the world should not be equated to being on the hamster wheel. Our life indeed becomes a quite different experience. This is where the teachings of OMA and BD are indispensable because they are full of such small advices that with little practice can become integral parts of our daily life.”

So I have recently started to drink some hot water (from the kettle) first thing in the morning. Is it because I clearly understand how it has an effect on me? No, not at all. I don’t know. But I still do it. It’s a small choice that stretches the front of my intentions to the outer edge, and, incidentally said, has brought with it some positive ‘side effects’. Is it exhausting, since it stretches spiritual activity to the outer edge? No it isn’t. Still, it’s more than simply remaining present in the sensory flow. It's a small way to change my flow of becoming from the outer edge. Again, I don’t care if it turns out I’m actually not able to generate any significant effect by paying attention to the outer edge, in the creative ways I try to reclaim from the periphery of the collapsing flow. Also, as I tried to emphasize, the exemple I gave (filling another version of me with imaginative life), was just that: one example.

I will give you another one that, like drinking hot water, is more action-based. I recently chose to undergo a surgery that was not strictly necessary. It would have been completely fine to simply leave things as they were. Surely, if the situation had presented itself to me a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have done it. But I decided to challenge my default approach. So on the one hand, I would say, I have not yet been able to clearly pinpoint what my personality is made of, to bring it into the light of full consciousness yet, but on the other, through a decision like that, I have acted as if I had. Notice, there is also a clear relation with technology here. Now, you may say, that’s stupid, to act in the blind, pretending to be disengaged from your current soul curvatures, when you actually aren’t, and maybe it was a pointless attempt (I can’t certify it wasn’t). But I am sure the intention itself is not pointless. And, it’s been a revealing physical and spiritual experience in more than one unexpected sense. Also, I am hopeful that it will clarify further going forward. Again, let me point out, this is only another example. However, now you have three examples in total. Do they help make my “position” a bit more sensical in your perspective?
To answer your question explicitly:

Is that accurate, and is there something in addition you think we can do to gain more 'direct insight' into the nature of sensory occurrences that are relatively independent of (or much more attenuated from) our soul activity and states?

Yes, it is accurate, and (as I hope I have illustrated) there is more. Yet another thing that we can add is, as I said, the intellectual exploration of technological ideas. I don’t intend to consider that as a separate, close-circuit, second best endeavor that requires to be “bridged”. As you also said elsewhere, we want to make an effort and dive into some scientific-economic-political intellectual details, not to reinforce unscrutinized personal opinions, but to substantiate the context of evolution at macro- as well as microcosmic level. In other words we collect data, that we can use to map the situation and put into fruition the insights gained through our overall spiritual activity.

Thanks, Federica, this definitely makes the position more clear. I think mostly you are using liberal phrasing to describe a quite conservative approach. Remember it was not too long ago when consecrating hand washing without understanding the deeper spiritual reasons why was a reckless move into the physical curvature, which generated a lot of argument So I'm glad you are moving your activity in these normally uncomfortable directions and remaining open to the Wisdom of the initiates. Yet we don't want to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction, either. 

These soul oscillations can become great educators as we grow in consciousness of their existence and their patterns. We notice how little the encoded intellectual commentary reflects our original insights, but rather well-worn soul curvatures that we are led through like on a guided tour of a museum. All our deeper character traits formed through life experience are archived there and are always in the background of our normal thoughts. This awakens us to more of the intuitive depth in an intimate way. It is this awakening to the soul curvature, which indeed can be fostered through the small exercises, which reorients our life experience and infuses it with much greater meaning. We concretely feel that our thought life is intimately embedded within the depths of the increasingly Cosmic curvatures and this gives it more vitality, more of the nature of feeling and will. 

Looked at in this way, thought offers to the soul the consolation which it needs when face to face with the feeling of utter loneliness in the world. It is possible to arrive in quite a legitimate way at the feeling, “What am I in the current of universal cosmic events, flowing from one infinity to another — I with my feelings, desires, and will which surely can be of importance to me only?” Directly the life of thought has been rightly realised, this feeling is confronted by another. “The thought which is concerned with these cosmic events draws into itself me and my soul; I am living in those events when I, through thinking, let their being flow into me.” It is then possible to feel oneself taken into the universe and secure therein. From this condition of the soul, a strength ensues, which feels as though it had come from the cosmic powers themselves, in accordance with wise laws.

It is but another step from this feeling to that in which the soul says, “It is not only I who think, but something thinks in me; the cosmic life expresses itself in me; my soul is only the stage upon which the universe manifests itself as thought.” (GA 17)

We should never feel like bypassing the seed point of thinking as we gain consciousness of the deeper curvatures, but only expanding its resonant circumference. The alteration of constraints should come first in our thinking habits and proximate soul tendencies. But again, the examples you are giving are what I consider the conservative (and wise) approach. We can and should certainly work with feeling and will, with sensory rhythms and events. As Cleric has mentioned, we can think through our hands and parts of our environment as well. It is especially safe when the exercises are given to us through the Masters and Initiates (perhaps in slightly modified forms). We don't need to reinvent the wheel on our inner path in that regard. We know that all of these exercises were drawn from the depths of morally guided supersensible research, similar to how we generally trust the nutrition labels on food products without needing to chemically analyze the substances ourselves. That is why we don't need to be excessively skeptical or spiritually informed when engaging in something like the seed and plant exercises in KHW, for example, or the drinking hot water exercise from OMA.
 
On the other hand, I will admit the surgery example strikes me as a bit more precarious. Which is not to say there is anything wrong with surgery per se - I recently had a fungal nail removed, which of course is not surgery proper, but is still an outside medical intervention. And I recently also went to the doctor for some treatment of sciatica pain (although they prescribed muscle relaxants and after trying it once, I had to stop because it fogged up my consciousness too much and made it difficult to concentrate on supersensible ideas, which is another example of gaining intuitive sensitivity to technological influences so we can modulate our thoughts and deeds accordingly). But this is an area where we are striking out on our own (not relying on exercises given by the Masters), so to speak, and we should be careful not to overestimate our own wisdom and get carried away.

It reminds me of our brief new friend Soloma and the hot bath practice. This is where we stray into the more aggressively liberal approach, which can bring a profound feeling of spiritual communion because it frees our consciousness for its normal rigid slots, but can also really cost our spiritual development in the long-term. And I am sure even this example is conservative in relation to other things commonly pursued in new age spiritual circles, such as ceremonial magic. People practice these things precisely because they bring profound and unexpected experiences, but they are not penetrated with cognitive insight, with moral intuition. They don't have any idea what has steered them into these domains of soul life and where the pursuits fit into their overarching intended destiny. The entry point should always be thinking and we venture into unnecessarily hazardous territory when we forget that, instead feeling that we are directly entering the deeper curvatures in a more unadulterated form. Then we lose sight of all the contextual factors that are still behind our back. 

If we are pursuing the intuitive thinking path, then I wouldn't be too worried about getting carried away in this respect. The spirit will let us know in no uncertain terms when we are overextending our "I" and becoming too prideful in its capacity to reach and alter the deeper curvatures. We just need to remain humbly open to its intuitive feedback. In all cases, the exercises should be done not for immediate results and satisfaction, but for orienting towards the Truth of our experiential flow, gradually unveiling the symphony of archetypal and elemental beings that make our experience possible, so we can more effectively harmonize with the wise intents that structure our lives and our time in history. Everything should be pursued within the context of the highest ideals. It always helps to revisit the wisdom of KHW:

A particular effort must be made to cultivate the quality of patience. Every symptom of impatience produces a paralyzing, even a destructive effect on the higher faculties that slumber in us. We must not expect an immeasurable view into the higher worlds from one day to the next, for we should assuredly be disappointed. Contentment with the smallest fragment attained, repose and tranquility, must more and more take possession of the soul. It is quite understandable that the student should await results with impatience; but he will achieve nothing so long as he fails to master this impatience. Nor is it of any use to combat this impatience merely in the ordinary sense, for it will become only that much stronger. We over-look it in self-deception while it plants itself all the more firmly in the depths of the soul. It is only when we ever and again surrender ourselves to a certain definite thought, making it absolutely our own, that any results can be attained. This thought is as follows: I must certainly do everything I can for the training and development of my soul and spirit; but I shall wait patiently until higher powers shall have found me worthy of definite enlightenment. If this thought becomes so powerful in the student that it grows into an actual feature of his character, he is treading the right path. This feature soon sets its mark on his exterior. The gaze of his eye becomes steady, the movement of his body becomes sure, his decisions definite, and all that goes under the name of nervousness gradually disappears. Rules that appear trifling and insignificant must be taken into account. For example, supposing someone affronts us. Before our training we should have directed our resentment against the offender; a wave of anger would have surged up within us. In a similar case, however, the thought is immediately present in the mind of the student that such an affront makes no difference to his intrinsic worth. And he does whatever must be done to meet the affront with calm and composure, and not in a spirit of anger. Of course it is not a case of simply accepting every affront, but of acting with the same calm composure when dealing with an affront against our own person as we would if the affront were directed against another person, in whose favor we had the right to intervene. It must always be remembered that this training is not carried out in crude outward processes, but in subtle, silent alterations in the life of thought and feeling.

Patience has the effect of attraction, impatience the effect of repulsion on the treasures of higher knowledge. In the higher regions of existence nothing can be attained by haste and unrest. Above all things, desire and craving must be silenced, for these are qualities of the soul before which all higher knowledge shyly withdraws. However precious this knowledge is accounted, the student must not crave it if he wishes to attain it. If he wishes to have it for his own sake, he will never attain it. This requires him to be honest with himself in his innermost soul. He must in no case be under any illusion concerning his own self. With a feeling of inner truth he must look his own faults, weaknesses, and unfitness full in the face. The moment he tries to excuse to himself any of his weaknesses, he has placed a stone in his way on the path which is to lead him upward. Such obstacles can only be removed by self-enlightenment. There is only one way to get rid of faults and failings, and that is by a clear recognition of them. Everything slumbers in the human soul and can be awakened. A person can even improve his intellect and reason, if he quietly and calmly makes it clear to himself why he is weak in this respect. Such self- knowledge is, of course, difficult, for the temptation to self-deception is immeasurably great. Anyone making a habit of being truthful with himself opens the portal leading to a deeper insight.

[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

Let's try something. It's quite abstract, not too different from Cosmin's approach, so all cautions apply. We have spoken about such things in different contexts and I know that you already get them, yet it may provide some further intuition.

Imagine the hypothetical state of all possibilities - like white light but corresponding to all possible states of existence, as if overlaid. Then imagine that this state is polarized into two complementary batches of states. Then these states are polarized again and so on.



Another way to imagine this is through a block of stone. Think of how all conceivable statues are contained in it. If the block is split into two parts, now each part contains more limited possibilities.

The image above is not something in space. This bifurcation is not something that happens in time. It's just an abstract way to conceive of the infinite possible states of existence. Furthermore, there should be also infinitely many images like the above which correspond to all possible tensions of the polarizations. The highlighted branch corresponds to a single state of being. In reality, all states are like concentric and overlapping first-person universes of experience.

The experience through time is a metamorphic path through these states in such a way that there's continuity of consciousness (memory). From a temporal perspective the state metamorphoses as if pulled by the tensions of these polarities (like elastic forces or pendulums).

The takeaway from all this is that our state of being metamorphoses in lawful ways along the whole gradient, even though most of the time the elastic oscillations seem out of phase.

Occasionally, there could be conjunctions of the oscillations (remember the shadertoy here). As we have spoken before, these conjunctions serve as converging events in the stream of becoming. In between them there's expansion and greater variety (even chaos) but when the conjunctions are approached, the elastic forces funnel the flow of states toward something more orderly.

Now when we say that our destiny is affected by an accidental event, on one side - as Ashvin and RS say - there's still deep lawfulness, except the elastic tensions are so complicated that it is practically impossible to point at one single thing and call it a cause. On the other side, however, when such an accidental event occurs, it leads to unexpected tensions (or maybe it releases some). The important thing, though, is that no matter how the rubber bands are stretched, things will still converge toward the special states. This is what we understand by the fact that nothing remains uncompensated.

This may all sound very complicated but it's really a simple idea that should be felt. It's simply that our flow of states seems as if pulled and pushed by elastic tensions. Some of these tensions we make through our own spiritual activity, others result from the wider flow. Yet the fact remains that every tension increases the elastic force that tries to resolve it.

Now the great difficulty with all this is that as a rule, we try to understand these tensions in quite simplistic ways. For example, undeserved suffering increases the tension, which later resolves into well-being. This, however, is a very linear understanding. The latest thought happened to be right on the topic.

In that respect, it would be best if we don't conceive the elastic tensions as the same thing as pain and pleasure (although at certain scales this is really the case). However in the greater picture, if well-being is our goal, we will most certainly overshoot and the tension will manifest in another way. So things are not easily graspable on a linear scale - thus the well-known "God moves in mysterious ways". As always, prayer is our guide here.

For example, if the accident stretches the tensions, this doesn't necessarily mean that we should experience more pleasure as compensation. Instead, things may be so arranged that through this tension the possibility opens that a certain virtue can be developed that compensates the tension.

Thanks, Cleric. Yes, this explanation appeases a certain need to get to grips with these ideas in connection with the complex of other clarifying analogies and metaphors you have previously used. It provides a fathomable framework within which one can then ‘locate’ and work out the intention to go from the concept of karma to the felt overall experience of the flow of life events.

[Federica]

Thanks, Federica, this definitely makes the position more clear. I think mostly you are using liberal phrasing to describe a quite conservative approach. Remember it was not too long ago when consecrating hand washing without understanding the deeper spiritual reasons why was a reckless move into the physical curvature, which generated a lot of argument So I'm glad you are moving your activity in these normally uncomfortable directions and remaining open to the Wisdom of the initiates. Yet we don't want to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction, either. 

These soul oscillations can become great educators as we grow in consciousness of their existence and their patterns. We notice how little the encoded intellectual commentary reflects our original insights, but rather well-worn soul curvatures that we are led through like on a guided tour of a museum. All our deeper character traits formed through life experience are archived there and are always in the background of our normal thoughts. This awakens us to more of the intuitive depth in an intimate way. It is this awakening to the soul curvature, which indeed can be fostered through the small exercises, which reorients our life experience and infuses it with much greater meaning. We concretely feel that our thought life is intimately embedded within the depths of the increasingly Cosmic curvatures and this gives it more vitality, more of the nature of feeling and will. 

Looked at in this way, thought offers to the soul the consolation which it needs when face to face with the feeling of utter loneliness in the world. It is possible to arrive in quite a legitimate way at the feeling, “What am I in the current of universal cosmic events, flowing from one infinity to another — I with my feelings, desires, and will which surely can be of importance to me only?” Directly the life of thought has been rightly realised, this feeling is confronted by another. “The thought which is concerned with these cosmic events draws into itself me and my soul; I am living in those events when I, through thinking, let their being flow into me.” It is then possible to feel oneself taken into the universe and secure therein. From this condition of the soul, a strength ensues, which feels as though it had come from the cosmic powers themselves, in accordance with wise laws.

It is but another step from this feeling to that in which the soul says, “It is not only I who think, but something thinks in me; the cosmic life expresses itself in me; my soul is only the stage upon which the universe manifests itself as thought.” (GA 17)

We should never feel like bypassing the seed point of thinking as we gain consciousness of the deeper curvatures, but only expanding its resonant circumference. The alteration of constraints should come first in our thinking habits and proximate soul tendencies. But again, the examples you are giving are what I consider the conservative (and wise) approach. We can and should certainly work with feeling and will, with sensory rhythms and events. As Cleric has mentioned, we can think through our hands and parts of our environment as well. It is especially safe when the exercises are given to us through the Masters and Initiates (perhaps in slightly modified forms). We don't need to reinvent the wheel on our inner path in that regard. We know that all of these exercises were drawn from the depths of morally guided supersensible research, similar to how we generally trust the nutrition labels on food products without needing to chemically analyze the substances ourselves. That is why we don't need to be excessively skeptical or spiritually informed when engaging in something like the seed and plant exercises in KHW, for example, or the drinking hot water exercise from OMA.
 
On the other hand, I will admit the surgery example strikes me as a bit more precarious. Which is not to say there is anything wrong with surgery per se - I recently had a fungal nail removed, which of course is not surgery proper, but is still an outside medical intervention. And I recently also went to the doctor for some treatment of sciatica pain (although they prescribed muscle relaxants and after trying it once, I had to stop because it fogged up my consciousness too much and made it difficult to concentrate on supersensible ideas, which is another example of gaining intuitive sensitivity to technological influences so we can modulate our thoughts and deeds accordingly). But this is an area where we are striking out on our own (not relying on exercises given by the Masters), so to speak, and we should be careful not to overestimate our own wisdom and get carried away.

It reminds me of our brief new friend Soloma and the hot bath practice. This is where we stray into the more aggressively liberal approach, which can bring a profound feeling of spiritual communion because it frees our consciousness for its normal rigid slots, but can also really cost our spiritual development in the long-term. And I am sure even this example is conservative in relation to other things commonly pursued in new age spiritual circles, such as ceremonial magic. People practice these things precisely because they bring profound and unexpected experiences, but they are not penetrated with cognitive insight, with moral intuition. They don't have any idea what has steered them into these domains of soul life and where the pursuits fit into their overarching intended destiny. The entry point should always be thinking and we venture into unnecessarily hazardous territory when we forget that, instead feeling that we are directly entering the deeper curvatures in a more unadulterated form. Then we lose sight of all the contextual factors that are still behind our back. 

If we are pursuing the intuitive thinking path, then I wouldn't be too worried about getting carried away in this respect. The spirit will let us know in no uncertain terms when we are overextending our "I" and becoming too prideful in its capacity to reach and alter the deeper curvatures. We just need to remain humbly open to its intuitive feedback. In all cases, the exercises should be done not for immediate results and satisfaction, but for orienting towards the Truth of our experiential flow, gradually unveiling the symphony of archetypal and elemental beings that make our experience possible, so we can more effectively harmonize with the wise intents that structure our lives and our time in history. Everything should be pursued within the context of the highest ideals. It always helps to revisit the wisdom of KHW:

A particular effort must be made to cultivate the quality of patience. Every symptom of impatience produces a paralyzing, even a destructive effect on the higher faculties that slumber in us. We must not expect an immeasurable view into the higher worlds from one day to the next, for we should assuredly be disappointed. Contentment with the smallest fragment attained, repose and tranquility, must more and more take possession of the soul. It is quite understandable that the student should await results with impatience; but he will achieve nothing so long as he fails to master this impatience. Nor is it of any use to combat this impatience merely in the ordinary sense, for it will become only that much stronger. We over-look it in self-deception while it plants itself all the more firmly in the depths of the soul. It is only when we ever and again surrender ourselves to a certain definite thought, making it absolutely our own, that any results can be attained. This thought is as follows: I must certainly do everything I can for the training and development of my soul and spirit; but I shall wait patiently until higher powers shall have found me worthy of definite enlightenment. If this thought becomes so powerful in the student that it grows into an actual feature of his character, he is treading the right path. This feature soon sets its mark on his exterior. The gaze of his eye becomes steady, the movement of his body becomes sure, his decisions definite, and all that goes under the name of nervousness gradually disappears. Rules that appear trifling and insignificant must be taken into account. For example, supposing someone affronts us. Before our training we should have directed our resentment against the offender; a wave of anger would have surged up within us. In a similar case, however, the thought is immediately present in the mind of the student that such an affront makes no difference to his intrinsic worth. And he does whatever must be done to meet the affront with calm and composure, and not in a spirit of anger. Of course it is not a case of simply accepting every affront, but of acting with the same calm composure when dealing with an affront against our own person as we would if the affront were directed against another person, in whose favor we had the right to intervene. It must always be remembered that this training is not carried out in crude outward processes, but in subtle, silent alterations in the life of thought and feeling.

Patience has the effect of attraction, impatience the effect of repulsion on the treasures of higher knowledge. In the higher regions of existence nothing can be attained by haste and unrest. Above all things, desire and craving must be silenced, for these are qualities of the soul before which all higher knowledge shyly withdraws. However precious this knowledge is accounted, the student must not crave it if he wishes to attain it. If he wishes to have it for his own sake, he will never attain it. This requires him to be honest with himself in his innermost soul. He must in no case be under any illusion concerning his own self. With a feeling of inner truth he must look his own faults, weaknesses, and unfitness full in the face. The moment he tries to excuse to himself any of his weaknesses, he has placed a stone in his way on the path which is to lead him upward. Such obstacles can only be removed by self-enlightenment. There is only one way to get rid of faults and failings, and that is by a clear recognition of them. Everything slumbers in the human soul and can be awakened. A person can even improve his intellect and reason, if he quietly and calmly makes it clear to himself why he is weak in this respect. Such self- knowledge is, of course, difficult, for the temptation to self-deception is immeasurably great. Anyone making a habit of being truthful with himself opens the portal leading to a deeper insight.

It looks like this is another case when I have not been able to express myself clearly, Ashvin.

One thing is to trust the Masters and follow their recommendations and exercises, like in the example of hot water. Even if I don't clearly understand the ways in which the hot water works positively in the body, it's a familiar language. Conversely, consecrating an object or a gesture (that is, making it sacred! or wishing to make it sacred!) is different. It’s a rite, or a ceremony. Drinking hot water is not a rite. In a rite, if I don’t understand what I’m doing - the meaning of the specific gesture and formula - then it’s like trying to hold a presentation in a completely unknown language. I speak sounds in front of an audience, but I remain completely blind to the meaning I am myself spelling. I can’t even take responsibility for it. Prayer is safe here, because, even when there is a formula, it is an entirely inner experience. The formula is trusted, however it speaks a well-known language of thinking and feeling. There’s no 'theatrical' gesture involved, and it’s not a consecration, It is the wish to elevate and center the soul. I don’t have anything against rites and ceremonies per se, but I need to understand their language first. The Eucharistia for example, is a rite. Doing it without the least idea of what it signifies would be very inappropriate.

Now regarding surgery, it’s not that I woke up some day feeling very wise, or feeling “aggressively liberal”, and decided alright let’s have an unnecessary surgery today, so I can play at the sorcerer’s apprentice. Rather, I was put in the position of having to make a decision. It was another instance of those tech-related decisions we are faced with in everyday life. I listed a few of them in the post at the top of this page. We are regularly called to make responsible choices in response to common everyday situations. So in response to that call, I decided to go for the alternative that was least in line with my default approach.

[AshvinP]

It looks like this is another case when I have not been able to express myself clearly, Ashvin.

One thing is to trust the Masters and follow their recommendations and exercises, like in the example of hot water. Even if I don't clearly understand the ways in which the hot water works positively in the body, it's a familiar language. Conversely, consecrating an object or a gesture (that is, making it sacred! or wishing to make it sacred!) is different. It’s a rite, or a ceremony. Drinking hot water is not a rite. In a rite, if I don’t understand what I’m doing - the meaning of the specific gesture and formula - then it’s like trying to hold a presentation in a completely unknown language. I speak sounds in front of an audience, but I remain completely blind to the meaning I am myself spelling. I can’t even take responsibility for it. Prayer is safe here, because, even when there is a formula, it is an entirely inner experience. The formula is trusted, however it speaks a well-known language of thinking and feeling. There’s no 'theatrical' gesture involved, and it’s not a consecration, It is the wish to elevate and center the soul. I don’t have anything against rites and ceremonies per se, but I need to understand their language first. The Eucharistia for example, is a rite. Doing it without the least idea of what it signifies would be very inappropriate.

Now regarding surgery, it’s not that I woke up some day feeling very wise, or feeling “aggressively liberal”, and decided alright let’s have an unnecessary surgery today, so I can play at the sorcerer’s apprentice. Rather, I was put in the position of having to make a decision. It was another instance of those tech-related decisions we are faced with in everyday life. I listed a few of them in the post at the top of this page. We are regularly called to make responsible choices in response to common everyday situations. So in response to that call, I decided to go for the alternative that was least in line with my default approach.

As discussed on that thread, perhaps 'consecration' isn't the best word to use. I would say, however, that all these exercises should be treated as sacred in some way. If we just mechanically drink hot water every morning, we may get some marginal health benefits, but we only tap the deeper spiritual potential of such exercises when we feel that, through them, we are entering an intuitive space of Divine significance. What else could we be doing when seeking to elevate and center the soul? It seems to me that the feeling of sacredness and reverence is always the proper orientation.

On that previous thread you seemed comfortable with the exercise I shared from Zajonc, where he says "Imagine that your work is part of a sacred ritual that is unknown to others, but which completes a large ceremonial composition. You morning coffee becomes a Japanese tea ceremony, your weeding a holy trust to care to the Earth. Each act is infused with artistry and meaning by being caught up in the imaginal, in story or myth." So yes, perhaps I am still not understanding the distinction you draw between these various exercises. I can't see how seeking to resonate with the spiritual archetype of soul purification through hand washing is so different.

And I completely understand regarding surgery - sometimes these tough decisions need to be made. I am really not trying to either support or question some formulaic system for determining which exercises or interventions are appropriate and which are not. The core point I have been making is that the work of self-knowledge, attained through the portal of concentrated thinking that resists and gains sensitivity to the soul curvature, is of primary importance and cannot be bypassed. The 'ceremonial' exercises we have discussed can be seen as another example of that, since we have to resist our impatient intellectual and emotional habits to engage them with the needed attention and intention. 

We won't gain this intuitive sensitivity by a process of trial and error within the physical curvature that somehow works around concentrated cognition. It is exactly the disorganized soul curvature that precludes our spiritual insight into the deeper karmic streams of destiny, i.e. the Guardian of the Threshold. We would wreak untold havoc in these deeper curvatures if we were allowed to enter them without a purified soul. The adversarial forces cannot work into these deeper streams directly either - they can only indirectly impact the living body through the disorganized human soul life. Our "I" becomes conditioned to those disorganized currents and thereby works dissonant images and 'tones' into the body. They can distract us from making the soul paths straight for the Spirit in many characteristic ways, but they cannot directly interfere with the highest spiritual realms from which the living body condenses. Rather their strategy is to disrupt the mediating link between the Spirit and the Body, i.e. the human soul. 

I recently started reading an interesting work by Bernard Lievegood and here is a passage that may be relevant to contemplate. But if none of the above or below applies to what you were originally saying, then my apologies, and hopefully it is helpful nonetheless. 

***

One important point I would like to mention is the need to pay attention to the pace of development. All development occurs slowly. The Ahrimanic powers want to accelerate everything. You can see how that is...

[Federica]

As discussed on that thread, perhaps 'consecration' isn't the best word to use. I would say, however, that all these exercises should be treated as sacred in some way. If we just mechanically drink hot water every morning, we may get some marginal health benefits, but we only tap the deeper spiritual potential of such exercises when we feel that, through them, we are entering an intuitive space of Divine significance. What else could we be doing when seeking to elevate and center the soul? It seems to me that the feeling of sacredness and reverence is always the proper orientation.

On that previous thread you seemed comfortable with the exercise I shared from Zajonc, where he says "Imagine that your work is part of a sacred ritual that is unknown to others, but which completes a large ceremonial composition. You morning coffee becomes a Japanese tea ceremony, your weeding a holy trust to care to the Earth. Each act is infused with artistry and meaning by being caught up in the imaginal, in story or myth." So yes, perhaps I am still not understanding the distinction you draw between these various exercises. I can't see how seeking to resonate with the spiritual archetype of soul purification through hand washing is so different.

And I completely understand regarding surgery - sometimes these tough decisions need to be made. I am really not trying to either support or question some formulaic system for determining which exercises or interventions are appropriate and which are not. The core point I have been making is that the work of self-knowledge, attained through the portal of concentrated thinking that resists and gains sensitivity to the soul curvature, is of primary importance and cannot be bypassed. The 'ceremonial' exercises we have discussed can be seen as another example of that, since we have to resist our impatient intellectual and emotional habits to engage them with the needed attention and intention. 

We won't gain this intuitive sensitivity by a process of trial and error within the physical curvature that somehow works around concentrated cognition. It is exactly the disorganized soul curvature that precludes our spiritual insight into the deeper karmic streams of destiny, i.e. the Guardian of the Threshold. We would wreak untold havoc in these deeper curvatures if we were allowed to enter them without a purified soul. The adversarial forces cannot work into these deeper streams directly either - they can only indirectly impact the living body through the disorganized human soul life. Our "I" becomes conditioned to those disorganized currents and thereby works dissonant images and 'tones' into the body. They can distract us from making the soul paths straight for the Spirit in many characteristic ways, but they cannot directly interfere with the highest spiritual realms from which the living body condenses. Rather their strategy is to disrupt the mediating link between the Spirit and the Body, i.e. the human soul. 

I recently started reading an interesting work by Bernard Lievegood and here is a passage that may be relevant to contemplate. But if none of the above or below applies to what you were originally saying, then my apologies, and hopefully it is helpful nonetheless. 

***

One important point I would like to mention is the need to pay attention to the pace of development. All development occurs slowly. The Ahrimanic powers want to accelerate everything. You can see how that is...

Ashvin,

Perhaps “consecration” isn’t the best word. Nonetheless, it’s the word you have chosen here again. Since, for my part, I merely quoted your (continued) use of it, I understand your remark as a commentary to yourself.

Besides, I have barely enough endurance to add that I don’t drink the hot water “mechanically” (I have seen this same word in your Lievegoed quote). And, of course, I am comfortable with Zajoncs imaginative, ceremonial exercise “Imagine that your work is part of a sacred ritual that is unknown to others”: "unknown to others" precisely means intimately known to oneself. It means slowing down, and literally aligning the layers, in methodical way, by creating small anchoring points between the sensory layer (the small, decomposed, steps of the gesture) the feeling (of centered meaningfulness) and the thought, with a low level of pretentiousness, under an overall intention of freely conducting one’s activity in a spiritually significant manner - and in this large sense (only) - sacred. Surely not sacred in the sense of consecrated by means of a rite that ascribes a mysterious function to the everyday gesture. So I am definitely fine with that. Here “rite” or “ceremony” is an analogical reference used to describe the exercise, not a character of the exercise itself. And this is the same quality of intention that I bring to the hot water exercise, which makes it not mechanical.

As I already tried to say many times, I also appreciate rites, to the extent that I understand their purpose and the symbolic, emotional, etheric and sensory connection they draw. Another example: eurythmy and paneurhythmy. I would trust their physical formulae, knowing who ideated them, but I wouldn’t practice them myself without having the least preparation and understanding. Again, that would be like giving a presentation by uttering the ideas in the sounds of a completely unknown language: not only literally senseless, but also fully irresponsible. So I agree with many sorts of spiritual exercises, from Steiners to Zajoncs, and prayers. I don’t consider them ritual consecrations - in the meaning I have given here - but disciplined spiritual activities that build on, and develop, well known languages of phenomenological thinking, and feeling, to elevate and center the soul. Moreover, I gratefully appreciate ritual activities given by Jesus Christ, and by Initiates whom I am able to recognize as such, to the extent that I understand the ritual language.

By contrast, I am cautious of, and not inclined to engage in self-created rituals, in which I would extract some sensory gestures (like hand washing) from the context in which they make (trivial) sense in the sensory spectrum - the least proximate layer, that a Master would master, but I don't - to ascribe a spiritual function of my choice to them, that I would then word with a formula, in which I would moreover call forth the Gods, to endorse it. A Master can do all that, and I would trust the rite so created, but I, without understanding what I am doing, would definitely refrain from such practice.

This would be like sending a prayer to the Gods' attention with a user manual attached for how to grant it: “Please, the Gods, allow me to achieve this or that - understanding, purification, loving attitude, whatever - but not according to your mysterious ways, no. I specifically ask you Gods, to give me that by means of such particular gesture, whose deep significance I don’t get myself in the least, I admit, but still demand that you, the Gods, use it as the exact means for the fulfillment of my wish”. Not saying that you wash your hands in this spirit, of course. But I am saying that such self-created rituals, when practiced in the absence of a certain level of understanding of the least proximate layers involved (because in rituals those are involved) bears this very actual risk.

I will stop here. I think I have made all reasonably imaginable efforts to explain myself and clarify my point. If this is still not clear, I will renounce any further attempts. I wouldn’t follow you further in this rabbit hole. And yes, your quote does not apply to what I was saying, to what I am saying (as the previous also didn't). Nonetheless, as you mentioned, it is indeed helpful. Thanks for sharing the whole book by Lievegoed, I have downloaded it.

[AshvinP]

Ashvin,

Perhaps “consecration” isn’t the best word. Nonetheless, it’s the word you have chosen here again. Since, for my part, I merely quoted your (continued) use of it, I understand your remark as a commentary to yourself.

Besides, I have barely enough endurance to add that I don’t drink the hot water “mechanically” (I have seen this same word in your Lievegoed quote). And, of course, I am comfortable with Zajoncs imaginative, ceremonial exercise “Imagine that your work is part of a sacred ritual that is unknown to others”: "unknown to others" precisely means intimately known to oneself. It means slowing down, and literally aligning the layers, in methodical way, by creating small anchoring points between the sensory layer (the small, decomposed, steps of the gesture) the feeling (of centered meaningfulness) and the thought, with a low level of pretentiousness, under an overall intention of freely conducting one’s activity in a spiritually significant manner - and in this large sense (only) - sacred. Surely not sacred in the sense of consecrated by means of a rite that ascribes a mysterious function to the everyday gesture. So I am definitely fine with that. Here “rite” or “ceremony” is an analogical reference used to describe the exercise, not a character of the exercise itself. And this is the same quality of intention that I bring to the hot water exercise, which makes it not mechanical.

As I already tried to say many times, I also appreciate rites, to the extent that I understand their purpose and the symbolic, emotional, etheric and sensory connection they draw. Another example: eurythmy and paneurhythmy. I would trust their physical formulae, knowing who ideated them, but I wouldn’t practice them myself without having the least preparation and understanding. Again, that would be like giving a presentation by uttering the ideas in the sounds of a completely unknown language: not only literally senseless, but also fully irresponsible. So I agree with many sorts of spiritual exercises, from Steiners to Zajoncs, and prayers. I don’t consider them ritual consecrations - in the meaning I have given here - but disciplined spiritual activities that build on, and develop, well known languages of phenomenological thinking, and feeling, to elevate and center the soul. Moreover, I gratefully appreciate ritual activities given by Jesus Christ, and by Initiates whom I am able to recognize as such, to the extent that I understand the ritual language.

By contrast, I am cautious of, and not inclined to engage in self-created rituals, in which I would extract some sensory gestures (like hand washing) from the context in which they make (trivial) sense in the sensory spectrum - the least proximate layer, that a Master would master, but I don't - to ascribe a spiritual function of my choice to them, that I would then word with a formula, in which I would moreover call forth the Gods, to endorse it. A Master can do all that, and I would trust the rite so created, but I, without understanding what I am doing, would definitely refrain from such practice.

This would be like sending a prayer to the Gods' attention with a user manual attached for how to grant it: “Please, the Gods, allow me to achieve this or that - understanding, purification, loving attitude, whatever - but not according to your mysterious ways, no. I specifically ask you Gods, to give me that by means of such particular gesture, whose deep significance I don’t get myself in the least, I admit, but still demand that you, the Gods, use it as the exact means for the fulfillment of my wish”. Not saying that you wash your hands in this spirit, of course. But I am saying that such self-created rituals, when practiced in the absence of a certain level of understanding of the least proximate layers involved (because in rituals those are involved) bears this very actual risk.

I will stop here. I think I have made all reasonably imaginable efforts to explain myself and clarify my point. If this is still not clear, I will renounce any further attempts. I wouldn’t follow you further in this rabbit hole. And yes, your quote does not apply to what I was saying, to what I am saying (as the previous also didn't). Nonetheless, as you mentioned, it is indeed helpful. Thanks for sharing the whole book by Lievegoed, I have downloaded it.

I have thought it was clear for some time now, Federica, but apparently nothing I write in response after iterations of back and forth ever has relevance for what you are saying Nevertheless, here is my final comment on the situation as I perceive it. 

I don't understand what prevents you from gaining the 'least bit of understanding' about the spiritual function of hand washing (or a shower, let's say), which is actually very closely tied to its physical function of cleansing impurities. What else are we doing when we cleanse our bodies except trying to preserve our health and appearances so we can effectively accomplish our tasks in the world (ideally)? From there we simply need to recognize that the impurities of our soul life prevent us from accomplishing both our physical and spiritual tasks in the world, and are further at the basis of many of our physical impurities. We can't function properly when we are constantly driven by lower impulses that we are hardly aware of and which work their influences destructively into the living body. The deeper spiritual tasks may not be intuitively transparent to us at first, but we certainly have a general idea of them if we have studied any spiritual science. This is something we can gain some insight into with relatively minimal effort. (by the way, it is not "self-created" but given by OMA via Cleric, who I quoted before).
 
On the other hand, you say,

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 myself, I want to be all-round in this sense. Only proceeding linearly, with concentration, prayer, study-meditation, and trying to be present in the sensory flow, we are in a conservative position...

I don’t want to wait until I am an initiate before I bring attention and effort to “contributing to the alteration of the constraints” through the perceptual resistance. It means that I want to also work from the entry point of feeling, and will/action in the world, keeping in mind that, within the collapsing interference, there is always a window of possibility... Not as an excentric whim, but because I believe it's necessary to deploy all the available strategies!...

So on the one hand, I would say, I have not yet been able to clearly pinpoint what my personality is made of, to bring it into the light of full consciousness yet, but on the other, through a decision like that, I have acted as if I had. 

I think there is a clear pattern of reversal here, where those soul currents which are most proximate to our intuitive faculty are felt as risky to approach, or too much of a 'linear' approach, while the 'interfering field of karmic possibilities', or the 'alteration of constraints through perceptual resistance', from the 'entry point of feeling', is much safer to approach and even invites us to act as if we had insight that we don't actually have. There is also clear theme of some impatience to gain deeper insights into the spiritual curvatures running through the comments as well, which is quite natural and expected on a spiritual path. But from all our discussions here, it should be clear there is no entry point of feeling nor is there any 'non-linear' approach to genuine insight that circumvents concentration, prayer, study, etc. I am not going to elaborate on the significance of this pattern further, just noting it here in case it may miraculously have some relevance for you now, or later.