Steiner’s presence in the active reading of his works is of a different nature. The dramatic moment takes place not on the battlefield or in the clash of opposing principles. It takes place where the human soul is shaken by the inexplicable presence of the eternal within the narrow confines of its own self, where the human I awakens to the paradox of its innate polarity. This is his Gettysburg. Where Lincoln objectified the personal, Steiner shifts the locus of personal experience to the realm of the experience ideal, then goes on to articulate a path towards an existential encounter with the living forces of those ideals.
Lincoln’s presence has the iconic nature of the individual who is able to focus the vortex of historical forces; Steiner’s presence is neither historical nor iconic. His work is imbued with the presence of his spiritual becoming. Reading him is a dialogue between one’s own emerging spirituality and the source of his becoming. Jon McAlice, a freelance designer and consultant focusing on the creative use of time and space, is co-founder of the Center for Contextual Studies, author of Engaged Community: The Challenge of Self-Governance in Waldorf Education and A Path of Encounter: Meditation, Practice, and the Art of Sensing, and translator of Rudolf Steiner, A Biography, by Christoph Lindenberg.
Meditation as a Path Towards Becoming Human by Christine Gruwez The world, in an ever accelerating pace, is shaken by violence and destruction whereas there is an increasing sense of despair and helplessness. What to do? Can something be done? How to face this outburst of the evil forces? Is there a safe place where to hide? Meditation, as Rudolf Steiner has developed it, could very well be the only realistic answer to this questioning. First of all meditation is not only a deed but as Rudolf Steiner put it once in a conference: the only free deed possible for human being in this era so far. Then, indeed meditation can offer a ‘safe place’ to each of us. But not to hide away, but in order to truly come in contact with oneself, with the other and with the world. To become present! Meditation teaches us about what it means to become human. And last but not least, meditation opens a new realm
Painting (acrylic) by Robert Logsdon
of perceiving and understanding how the spiritual and the human are interwoven. It is a path of listening with the heart to the pain of mankind, wounded in its being human and to hear what is asked of each of us. This is where the Manichaean impulse, as Rudolf Steiner has spoken of it, enters. Only through this inner work of meditation can we develop an organ to listen to what needs to be done. In the words of the Dutch anthroposophist Bernard Lievegoed: “More and more people will find methods to help others in the most surprising ways. To put yourself in the service of the difficulties of another person, that is what meditation is about!” Christine Gruwez studied philosophy and linguistics at the KU Leuven, the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium. She met Anthroposophy through the Waldorf school in Antwerp, which her four children attended, and where she taught from 1976 to 1986. She also taught for a decade in the Waldorf Education Training Program. Since 1997, Christine has led seminars and conferences at Emerson College, at the Goetheanum, in Europe, Asia and the US.
A note from Spyros Papadimas: “Christine shares her research into the practical aspects of meditation in connection with Rudolf Steiner’s teachings, the contemporary human, and current world happenings, on October 7-9, 2016, at the Waldorf School of Baltimore (4801 Tamarind Rd, Baltimore, MD 21209). “In 2003, I approached Christine to introduce this topic in Athens, Greece, and this resulted in a series of seminars still on-going. The workshop is anticipated to be affordable; travelling costs will be divided between our group and Spring Valley, NY where Christine will also offer a workshop. Do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested: spyridon.papadimas@gmail.com, 513.739.6568.”
easter–spring issue 2016
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