A major conference entitled Encountering our Humanity: From Knowledge to
Conscious Action will be held in Ottawa from August 7th to 14th,
2016. This conference is the initiative of Arie van Ameringen, General
Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada. The following is an
interview given by him.
According to you, the
conference has a threefold objective. Could you please elaborate?
First of all, this event is an attempt to
tighten what have become the rather loose connections between the
Anthroposophical Society and the various initiatives inspired by anthroposophy.
Secondly, we shall underline what anthroposophy has accomplished in its nearly
one hundred years of existence. And finally, and most importantly, we shall
explore how we can prepare for the future. How can the anthroposophical
(universal human) impulse be experienced and put into practice in daily life?
Can we find through our work together answers that traditional ways of thinking
can no longer supply? How can we bring a humanizing (spiritual) quality to the
various fields of daily activity?
These questions are fundamental if human
evolution is to lead to a renewed connection with the spiritual world. The
ability to enter so deeply into the soul of another human being that I actually
suffer his or her pain – this is a quality belonging to the future sixth epoch;
and yet I can already begin to prepare myself for this eventuality by
cultivating a rich inner life. If I am able to transform myself, I shall be
better equipped to help another human being – to begin with by simply learning
to accept that being as he or she is. Rudolf Steiner refers to this in the 4th
and 5th lectures of his cycle From
Symptom to Reality in Modern History (G. A. 185), stating that in our age
of the consciousness soul, life must become penetrated through and through with
ideas that have their origin in the spiritual world.
What does our Michaelic era
demand of us?
That we move from knowledge into the realm of
conscious activity! Information about anthroposophy is widely available today,
and as anthroposophists we have certainly quoted Steiner profusely during the
course of the 20th century! Now that we have amassed this wisdom,
what do we do with this legacy? We must do more than merely remain content with
the knowing; this means that we must experiment with anthroposophy in our lives
and see how it can inspire us in our deeds. Here, we enter into the “how,” and this always carries with it
the danger inherent to the “how,” that of acting according to prescribed
formulas. For example, if I choose to work as a Waldorf teacher or an
anthroposophical doctor, I must ask myself whether I have really made the
necessary effort to connect with the living source of anthroposophy – or
whether I am merely a technician applying a prescribed methodology. Is my
activity still relevant and does it respond to the needs of our epoch?
We must bring anthroposophy into a new phase, a
phase of conscious activity. Act with discernment and sensitivity, and you will
soon see whether or not your deed was morally just – and you may then have to
make adjustments as you go along, being aware that you are bound to the consequences
of the deeds you perform. This means finding the morally right path through
heart-connected thinking rather than by responding to outer imperatives.
Extensive examples of this are to be found in The Philosophy of Freedom. And the exercises contained in the Foundation Stone Meditation can also be
of great help in this sense.
You also have stated that the
Ottawa conference is one in a series of events. Could you be more specific?
Yes, things are coming together in a time-space
convergence. As far as space is concerned, let us consider the actual location.
Ottawa is the capital city of a country that is officially bilingual; and
historically, Ottawa is a meeting point on the North American continent. For
centuries First Nations Peoples have held a small island in the Ottawa River to
be a sacred meeting place. And the city itself is the result of a compromise
directly connected with the history of Canada – a capital situated midway
between Montreal, the French city, and Toronto, the English city. Something of
the intellectual soul is still living in North America due to the French
influence. The very history of Ottawa,
with its diversity of influences, seems to point towards the possibility of
building a community of the future.
And as far as convergence in time is concerned:
2016 will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the
writer whose plays most vividly depict the multiple facets of the human being.
The year will also see Goethe’s Faust performed at the Goetheanum (where
the Michaelmas conference will be held as well): Faust – contemporary man’s
confrontation with evil. All of this
prompts us to strengthen (within ourselves and also with the help of others)
the “awareness of our humanity,” the unique contribution anthroposophy brings
to the world and to evolution.
INFORMATION BOX
The North American anthroposophical conference Encountering our Humanity will be held
at the Cité collégiale in Ottawa from August 7th to 14th,
2016. The event has been planned to correspond with the rhythm of the week:
Sunday, words of welcome and opening lecture; Monday, biography and karma;
Tuesday, pedagogy; Wednesday, medicine; Thursday, our earth and the sciences;
Friday, the arts and architecture; Saturday, community building; Sunday,
religion, spirituality, meditation. Woven throughout the week there will be,
among other activities, study relating to the General Anthroposophical Section
and artistic workshops.
Six members of the
leadership at the Goetheanum will be featured among the keynote speakers: Bodo
von Plato, Paul McKay, Seija Zimmermann, Constanza Kaliks, Joan Sleigh and
Marianne Schubert. There will also be several
contributors from North America including Kenneth McAlister, Regine Kurek,
Michael Schmidt, Irene François, Duncan Keppie, Bert Chase, Jonah Evans, Nathaniel Williams, Arie van
Ameringen, and Douglas Cardinal.
In addition to the main
activities scheduled for each day, space will be allotted for individuals
wishing to present the results of their personal research, based on their work
with a fundamental question or on their involvement in a field of activity or
initiative connected with the conference theme (please contact John Bach at jbbach@yahoo.ca.) It is
our hope that the Youth Section will also be able to meet during the week.
The conference web site is slated to be
functional by the beginning of December of this year at:
encounteringourhumanity.ca alarencontredenotrehumanité.ca
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