Dear Friends,
The conference held in Montreal during the AGM weekend in May was an
opportunity for meeting friends and sharing thoughts and experiences centred
around the research theme presented by guest lecturer Dennis Klocek: The Challenge of our Social Will. The conference
ended with a eurythmy presentation by a group of French-language Montreal
eurythmists and performances by professional singers and musicians. I came away
from the weekend with a sense of having been greatly enriched by the experience,
and I express my deepest gratitude to all those involved in making the conference
a success. I would like to share with you some of my personal recollections of
the keynote lectures.
The Lectures
Dennis began his lectures by relating the various levels of current technology
to our will forces. He described how technology as magic – meaning a force
which we cannot explain – manifests through abstraction and data and is spread
through media. Threatened by adverse spiritual forces, the human being can learn
to activate his personal will, which is different in quality from the will in
nature. He is being called upon to work to “disenchant” the elemental beings,
to free them. This is the image of the Fall and of Salvation. Taking control of
one’s inner images allows one to become a “magician” oneself. In the age of
“manas” we are called upon to create living images in the social sphere.
Secondly, Dennis drew our attention to the fact that the thing that characterizes
the human being is his personal inner activity. When we are under the influence
of adrenaline we are not human. Substance dependency creates an excess of
dopamine and brings about an inflammatory process in the brain. We must find a state
of balance between inflammation and inhibition. The Rosicrucian path trains our
thinking forces and allows us to be able to live with questions, since higher
truths express themselves in paradoxes. We must learn to enter actively into
the images which come to us from the sense world; entering livingly into images
in order to experience the underlying human activity allows us to stimulate our
social will. For example, when looking at a brick wall, we can stop to think of
all the human effort that went into building it. The backwards review at the
end of the day is another exercise which can be of great help in this sense.
The transformation of our abstract pictures of our inner world into living images
is a gift we can offer to the gods.
The General Secretaries’
meeting in Dornach, March 2013
You have perhaps read the reports
of the Annual General Meeting of the General Anthroposophical Society in Anthroposophy Worldwide. Indeed, the
meeting took place in an atmosphere of cordiality rarely seen in recent years. Seija
Zimmermann was reconfirmed as member of the Executive Council and Joan Sleigh
was elected as a new member of the Council. Virginia Sease spoke of Sergei
Prokofieff’s withdrawal from the Executive Council, and explained that he will
remain an honorary member.
The General Secretaries and national representatives met during the days
leading up to the Annual General Meeting. The development of anthroposophy in
the world was discussed. The overall number of members remains relatively
stable; although a slight decline in membership has been noted in Europe, there
has been an increase in membership in other parts of the world. I must mention
the report given by Hans Mulder of New Zealand who has been active in various
Asian countries. He informed us of the development in the areas of education,
biodynamic farming and the First Class, most notably in India and Taiwan. In
China, there are now a dozen schools and several hundred kindergartens.
The theme of the year
We also spoke of the theme of the
year: “The I Knows Itself”. This theme is presented in connection with 100th
anniversary of the laying of the Foundation Stone for the first Goetheanum on
September 20, 1913. On this occasion, Rudolf Steiner spoke of the importance of
spiritual work in our time as he gave the “Macrocosmic Lord’s Prayer” and, a
few short weeks later, the first cycle of lectures on the “Fifth Gospel”. This
theme of the “I” which recognizes itself raises many questions: Who is this
“I”? Where is this “I” to be found? Which “I” is it? How can one experience
one’s “I”? The relationship of the “I” to the self is not the same as the
relationship of the “I” to the lower ego. The consciousness soul requires a
true knowledge of one’s self. The people we meet and the decisions we are
forced to make reveal aspects of our “I”. For the seal of his fourth mystery
drama Rudolf chose the image of a serpent devouring itself. Consciousness is
not developed without meeting obstacles along the way. Darwinism denies the
spiritual aspect of the human being and goes no further than does Hamlet in his
reasoning: speaking to the skull of Yorick, the King’s jester, Hamlet reflects
upon the fate of human beings, lamenting the fact that we return to dust and
that nothing remains after death.
We are all urged to explore this theme; Christiane Haid has given us references
to help us in this work (cf. AnthroposophyWorldwide 1/2 – 13). In this connection,
two events worth mentioning will be taking place at the Goetheanum in the
coming months. From the 22nd to the 28th of July the four
mystery dramas will be presented as part of the conference entitled The Renewal of Rosicrucianism through the
Spirit of Michael. In September, in connection with the annual Michaelmas
conference (September 24th to 28th), there will be a
celebration commemorating the centenary of the laying of the Foundation Stone
for the first Goetheanum (September 20th).
And in closing, I would like to inform you that our colleague and
council president, Jean Balekian, will be taking a temporary leave of absence
for the entire fall season. Jean needs some time off to care for his health so
he can join us again next year in fine form. We all send him our warmest
thoughts and are anxiously looking forward to working with him again in the new
year. While Jean is on leave of absence, Dorothy LeBaron will be the contact person.
Wishing you all a wonderful summer,
Arie van Ameringen,
General Secretary.
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