Opening to the World

52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 43

He who consciously turns his mind, for one month, to the positive aspect of all his experiences will gradually notice a feeling creeping into him as if his skin were becoming porous on all sides, and as if his soul were opening wide to all kinds of secret and delicate processes in his environment which hitherto entirely escaped his notice. The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these subtle things. If it has once been noticed that the feeling described expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss, endeavours should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him.

Guidance in Esoteric Training
GA 245

This excerpt is actually a description of the fourth esoteric exercise, developing a positive attitude, but it really speaks to my overall experience revisiting these exercises during the summer months. It isn’t a typical time of year for me to be diving into the daily practices, but I’ve been called to keep at it over and over again so I decided to stick it out over summer. I’m admit there were days it was a struggle! What I found though, was that bringing my mind to these exercises during the time of year that we are so far out of ourselves has created this openness within myself and the world.

I feel more keenly connected. To nature, to others, to animals, to my environment, to the exchange that happens in all encounters. “The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these (all kinds of secret and delicate processes in our environment) subtle things” could not describe it any better! When in exchange with something or someone, for example when tackling a project or problem, I’m not as bogged down as I’d typically get trying to make the “right” decision, impression, next step etc. Instead, I feel I’m better able to see the intricacies within the situation as well as my own mental processes and come to a clearer decision. These decisions have a lightness about them, because I can see that there are so many subtleties that can change the course, and that it is the process of this living environment. Nothing stands still, nothing stays the same.

During the summer, we are all lifted up, dazed and dreamy, into the spirit world. Everything is a distraction, like the sanguine temperament, we float about dipping our toes in every bit of water, but never spending enough time to actually get wet. While that is exactly what my summer to date has been, it has also had this awakening in that I really feel as if I have, as Steiner describes, learned to see that part of my environment belong to me. The parts I contribute are created out of my own sensing and perceiving, and build what I give to the world. And in that living experience, the world gives back to me as we travel around the lemniscate, breathing in and giving back, over and over again.

There is comfort in seeing the world around us as living. As capable of change. Because even as we look at a pencil for 30 days in a row, there is, oftentimes surprisingly, something new to see each and every time we look at it. I believe that it is that openness in seeing that will help us in the modern times, which can often feel so resistant to change.

(This post is part of a weekly serial started on Michaelmas 2023. To see the other entries, please see the post linked HERE and scroll down to the bottom for individual links)

Until next time,
Marina