March 15th 2015 1 Where? Without telling oneself that matters of art slide into science Brings with it the solidifying of eternal motion Questions best sought are forgotten To be replaced by a hopeless groping Light is best sought in a feeling And questions best found in answers Yet a blind science prevails That sees in the world The selfish reflection of its own selfish endeavors How can Science be reborn? To see out of itself the world The piece of Nature that we carry That has yet to be lost Within ourselves lies the answer To a World we have forgot. Matthew Dale 2 Editor’s Note Hello all, In this Issue we have an article written by Bodo Von Plato, recently translated by Jan Baker Finch. Jan has sent the article out in an email saying “you might like to share it with your community”. We also have the Annual General Meeting of the Australian Society coming up on Saturday the 16th of May and Sunday the 17th, an outline of which is provided herein. Lynette Doyle has sent in a School of Spiritual Science Class Holders Report for this issue too. Thanks go to the contributors. Warm regards, Matthew and Barry Dale Picture of our wonderful Bookstore and Society Rooms. All correspondence should be sent to Barry Dale and Matthew Dale, email: [email protected] Disclaimer: Please note that this Newsletter is published by the Anthroposophical Society in South Australia, for its members and friends. Opinions and views expressed in this newsletter are those held by the authors, and are not necessarily those of the Editorial team nor of the Anthroposophical Society in South Australia, or the Anthroposophical Society in general. Responsibility for the content of each 3 article rests with the contributor. The Editors have the right to reject any article or other items, and will try to do this in consultation with the contributor. While every effort is taken to ensure accuracy, no responsibility is taken for omissions, errors, inaccuracies or changes. However articles that deal with the School of Spiritual Science may be referred to the representatives for verification of accuracy of content. Anthroposophic Book Centre 96 Halifax Street Adelaide Opening Hours Wed to Fri: 12noon – 4pm Saturday: 10am -1pm (08) 8223 1841 Study Groups Tuesday: 7:30 pm - Seaford Group Barry Dale 83861235. 8 pm - Michael Group – 96 Halifax St. Adelaide Renate Holland 8298 5864 Jeff Samuel 8263 3693. Wednesday: 7.20 pm for 7.30 pm start – Nairne 1st and 3rd Wednesday finishing at about 9.00 pm David Skewes 8388 6594 7.30 pm Introduction to Anthroposophy Study Group ( Starting 21st January, then every two weeks after that}, at Society rooms 96 Halifax Street Barry Dale 8386 1235 Thursday: 9.30 pm - Mount Barker School (library in term time) Kerry Greening 8391 0411. Friday: 8 pm – Stirling 4 Lynette Doyle 8339 3928. School of Spiritual Science Lessons held for Class members at Mt. Barker 2nd Sunday of month @ 8.30am; at Halifax St, 3rd Sunday of month @ 7pm For more details if you wish to attend: Jeff Samuel 8263 3693 (Adelaide group) or Lynette Doyle 8339 3928 (for Mt. Barker group) Sheoak College Dear Sheoak College subscribers, We are very pleased to be able to present to you the program of talks and artistic intensives planned for 2015. It will be a year of exploration into the broader understanding of the world that inspires Waldorf Education for parents, teachers and anyone interested in dialoguing and experiencing the cultural, artistic and philosophical worlds. The program will rotate between Trinity Gardens Primary School, Mount Barker Waldorf School and Willunga Waldorf School. Our presenters Martin Samson, Rosemary and Laurie Toogood, Mark Molloy, Joanne Sarre and others will offer four hours of introductions, dialogue and practical advice about the culture of the world of Waldorf which is inspired by the Anthroposophy (Human Wrought Wisdom) of Rudolf Steiner. There are a series of talks planned running once a month on Saturdays from 9 to 1 and three Artistic Intensives which will run over three days. Each Saturday will cover two topics over the course of the day. Each morning will include an introduction to the philosophical background (1 hour), an artistic workshop (1 1/2 hrs) plus a discussion (1 hour). The following is a list of the topics presented; March 14th - Trinity Gardens - Making Meaning Of History - How to Respond to a World at War - Living with Gen Z April 11th - Mount Barker - The Twelve Senses - What Teenage Boys (and Girls) Need from their Mums! (and Dads) May 16th - Willunga - Finding Answers for the Experiences of Life that Go Beyond the Normal Range of our Everyday Senses - Balancing technology and play - When privilege is a right 5 June 20th -Trinity Gardens - The Role of Rhythms in our Lives - Stars, Astrology and Life Phases - Learning with the Whole Body - Why School is Very Interesting (or not) August 15th - Willunga - Is it All About Me? The Double Edge of Self and Service - Boy's Needs and Girl's Needs - Developing Respect in the Home September 19th - Mount Barker - Why School The Soul? - Education as a Healing Art - The Role of Awe in The Learning Process November 7th - Trinity Gardens - Nourishing the Body, Soul and Spirit – Why Health and Well Being for All Aspects of Life is Important - Creating and Sustaining a Cultural and Learning Atmosphere in the Home and Classroom Over three weekends, Creative Speech and Drama artist Jo-anne Sarre and her colleagues will offer opportunities to experience the Word as artistic expression, through Eurythmy, Creative Speech and Drama and Visual Arts. Friday evening talks by David Skewes, Noela Maletz and Martin Samson and discussion will compliment the practical exploration. April Artistic Intensive - Trinity Gardens Friday 24th – Sunday 26th - The Creative Word as Picture - The Art of Storytelling July Artistic Intensive - Mount Barker Friday 17th – Sunday 19th - Enlivening Drama through the Creative Word October Artistic Intensive - Willunga Friday 9th – Sunday 11th - On the Wings of the Muse - Poetry and Creative Speech Please find more information in the brochure attached including costs and contact details. We are very excited about the program for 2015 and would appreciate the opportunity to spread the word. Please forward this information among your networks and feel free to copy, print and distribute the program attached. If you think that you might like to obtain hardcopies for distribution please return email and we will send some to you. We look forward to the coming year of learning and conversation! Kind regards, Abbi Fenton 6 SHEOAK COLLEGE INC 0407 606 819 Steiner Books Seminar March 2015 Dear Friend, Save this date and join us in NYC: STEINERBOOKS SPIRITUAL RESEARCH SEMINAR SPRING 2015 "Rudolf Steiner's Years of Preparation (1861-1900)" With Peter Selg, Christopher Bamford, Dorothea Mier, and Sea-Anna Vasilas March 20-21, 2015 ( We know its maybe a bit late to go But thought you might be interested; editors) Kimmel Center New York University 60 Washington Square South New York City In celebration of the publication in English of the first two volumes of his sevenvolume biography of Rudolf Steiner, Peter Selg will give three lectures on outer and inner aspects of Steiner's life and circumstances as they unfolded up to his fortieth year; Christopher Bamford will speak on "Rudolf Steiner's Life as a Path to Understanding Anthroposophy"; Dorothea Mier Music Eurythmy Artistic Director at the School of Eurythmy in Spring Valley, New York, will talk about Marie Steiner's crucial work with Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy. Sea-Anna Vasilas will lead periods of eurythmy. In order for us to both cover our costs (speaker's fees, use of space, etc.) and make this event as accessible as possible, we are offering a sliding scale attendance fee with confidence that those who are in a position to give more will do so. The price is a sliding scale fee from $175 to $75. DOWNLOAD THE SEMINAR BROCHURE HERE . (Please note that the brochure lists one speaker who will be unavailable for the seminar) 7 THE SPEAKERS: Peter Selg studied medicine in Witten-Herdecke, Zurich, and Berlin. Until 2000, he worked as the head physician of the juvenile psychiatry department of Herdecke hospital in Germany. Dr. Selg is now director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy (Arlesheim, Switzerland) and professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences (Germany). Christopher Bamford is editor in chief of SteinerBooks and Lindisfarne Books and a writer, scholar, and spiritual researcher in the fields of Anthroposophy, Western esotericism and spirituality, esoteric Christianity, literature, and contemporary philosophy. A Fellow of the Lindisfarne Association, he has lectured, taught, and written widely on Western spiritual and esoteric traditions. Dorothea Mier studied piano in England and received her eurythmy training at the Lea van der Pals School in Dornach, Switzerland, where she taught for 17 years. She performed and toured with the Goetheanum Eurythmy Ensemble under the direction of Marie Savitch. In 1980, she was invited to lead the School of Eurythmy in Spring Valley, New York. With the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble, she has toured the US, Canada, and Europe. In recent years her teaching has taken her to Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, and Brazil. Sea-Anna Vasilas is a member of the Eurythmy Spring Valley Performing Ensemble where she also serves on the faculty of the School of Eurythmy and carries the responsibility of Tour Coordinator for the Ensemble. Through her experiences with myriad movement art forms, meditative paths, education, and farming, Sea-Anna found her way to eurythmy and has made it her life's passion and work. The seminar begins Friday evening, March 20, and continues through Saturday, March 21. CONFERENCE FEE: sliding scale fee $175 to $75 (Includes full conference, Friday reception, and Saturday lunch) LOCATION: New York University | Kimmel Center 60 Washington Square, New York City March 20-21, 2015 To register for for information, please contact: [email protected] Or call: Marsha Post: 413-528-8233, ext. 2 8 ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN AUSTRALIA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Saturday 16th May at Mount Barker Waldorf School 27 Sims Road, Mount Barker, Adelaide Sunday 17th May at the Anthroposophical Rooms 96 Halifax Street Adelaide Saturday 16th May 9.45 Verse Joanne Sarre 10.00am Welcome Jan Baker-Finch 10.10am Rose Nekvapil “Moral Technologies” 11.10 am Morning Tea 11.30 am Discussion on the theme 12.30pm Lunch (Lunch will be catered and bookings must be made- see below) 1.30 pm AGM 7.00 pm Eurythmy performance with Brian Cusack and other eurythmists. Sunday 17th May 9am Jan Baker-Finch 9.45am Cameos of Destiny Encounters with Rudolf Steiner (10 mins each max 5 people from around Australia) 10.30am Morning tea 11.00am Works in Progress – Short reports from Individuals 12.00 pm Any further questions and conclusion 12.30 pm Verse – Joanne Sarre 12.40 pm Close FOOD Saturday lunch $10, dinner $15, these must be booked by Thursday 14th May (email Lynette [email protected]) 9 Accommodation… $20 billet per night (if one can be found) or $10 for class room camping at the school on a gym mat. Local caravan park or Hahndorf through private arrangement. Please ring Laurie Toogood on (08) 8398 2245 for accommodation requests. (A form is also included in attachments – ed) School of Spiritual Science Class Holders Report As most of you will be aware, there is a meditation group within the Society which consists of the study of 19 meditations and mantra’s that Steiner gave in his last years. Members of the General Anthroposophical Society can apply to Class Holder’s to become a part of this meditation group. Much of the content of the lessons has been given in various lectures by Steiner, however, the fraternity that is created within the group is of special importance. Last weekend I attended the Class Holder’s meeting which was held at Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast; the weekend proved to a fruitful one of sharing. My fellow Class Holders in South Australia, Jeremy Board, Alduino Mazzone and Jeff Samuel all sent their apologies. I was able to report on our beautiful renovations of the Halifax rooms and the seminars that Karl Kaltenbach held with us. The following day we had a Class Member’s intensive and Helen Vogel presented a free rendering of one lesson. Her research and presentation were insightful and were a gift to all who were present. This second day was attended by the interstate Class Holders and around 15 Class members from the local area, from Noosa Heads to Byron Bay. We (the South Australian Branch) are currently preparing to host the Australian Anthroposophical Society AGM which will be held over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of May. The events on that weekend will be held between the sites of the Mount Barker Waldorf School and the Halifax rooms. The events will include a eurythmy performance on the Saturday night that Brian Cusack is preparing as well as some speech by Jo-anne Sarre. Warm wishes, Lynette Doyle 10 Faust 1 Unabridged 24th — 26th July 2015 Goetheanum stage group Programme Friday 24th July 17:00 Cutting Edge Research in the Soul Realm – Faust in the Quest for Knowledge and Love opening lecture by Wolf-Ulrich Klünker 18.30 Uhr Supper 20 Uhr Faust 1 From the Dedication to the Prologue in Heaven Saturday 25th July Saturday 25th July 9:00 Faust‘s Search for his own Identity Lecture and discussion with Michaela Glöckler 11:00 Hidden Numbers, Magic and Inner Liberation – Esoteric Aspects in Faust Lecture and discussion with Maria Franca Frola 12:30 Lunch break 15:00 Faust I From the Easter night to the Second Study Scene 17:30 Plenum 18:30 Uhr Supper 20: 00 Faust 1 From the Auerbach Cellar to the Forest and Caves Sunday 26th July 9:00 What is it that holds the World Together? Lecture by Michaela Glöckler 11:00 Faust 1 From Gretchen‘s Room to the Dungeon The performance and lectures will be simultaneously translated into English and Italian 11 A Social Impulse Fundraising Event Dear All, near and far, We are sending you the flyer for a festive fundraiser event, taking place at the beginning of May. Its aim is to support the establishment, in Australia, of new Rudolf Steiner schools and a university based on the same educational impulse. Please go to the following website for aims, tickets, donations and contact details: http://liberteegalitefrater.wix.com/fundraiser Thanks, Archeus Social (for the World Economy study group, Balmain, Sydney). 12 On the reciprocal relationship between spiritual infancy and meditation Transitions Only slowly do we grow accustomed to the world that surrounds us. Being born means entering an unknown world. Being a child is always a beginning, a new beginning in a world that, at first, does not even seem foreign, although we do not know or understand it. The foreign-ness only comes later. Being born means not only a beginning, but also a transition. The transition from one world to another. Birthalong with death- is indeed the most radical transition that the human being will undergo. It is so radical that we don’t even experience it as such, for the ‘where-from’ disappears completely into forgottenness, and only the ‘where-to’, the arrival place is reflected in our consciousness. And this transition is drawn out over a long time, through the whole of childhood and even longer. Growing up is growing familiar. Growing familiar with new circumstances. This is a time during which we are primarily occupied with learning. How attentively and full of interest children investigate and explore the new world and experience it as their own, and this visibly more so the younger they are and the more carefree their existence. The less they know about themselves, the greater the attention they pay to their surrounding world. The child’s selfless attention to the world is as pure and strong as it is mild and determined. Indeed, children in their early years seem to know exactly what interests them a lot, what only a little, and what, not at all. They appear- as does childhood itself- to have a clear internal hierarchy of values, not determined by criteria that negate or exclude, but quite simply by a natural process of attraction. What is significant and meaningful for one child is neither of these for another child and vice versa. Siblings who grow up in the same surroundings see and experience everything so diversely; they differ from one another not least of all, as a consequence of what is important to each of them, and later, they each remember quite different smells, objects, qualities, places or voices. Later, when a longing awakens for the world that receded ever further from us while we grew accustomed to this one and –more or less happily- grew up, later therefore when a spiritual or existential longing awakens, exactly these childlike qualities play a significant role again: The experience of being in transition, the heightened attentiveness and the diversity of things that are significant or insignificant for us. The relationship between childhood and an emerging inner culture is and remains substantial. Some things however are turned about. In the first phase of life it was the transition from a world before birth that is not usually accessible to memory, into one in which consciousness for ‘other-ness’, and for objects awoke. Now, the process is reversed. Now, it is the transition from an objective/ object-related consciousness, to a consciousness that can still stay awake, that can remain aware of itself, even when it is no longer bound to the body. And this too, happens gradually, just like growing up. It is a sensitive process of becoming familiar with a different set of conditions, a process that is as easily disturbed by impatience as it is by neglect or inactivity. For the development of meditative practice, everything that is transitory in our environment begins to impress itself upon us, because it lives in the quality of ‘Between-ness’- as with the horizon, 13 where heaven and earth meet and the one passes over into the other; the morning and the evening when darkness becomes light, or light fades to darkness; the late summer light that turns to gold as autumn approaches; the exchange of thoughts or opinions that suddenly becomes a real conversation; the moment when acquaintance becomes friendship; or the transition from good to evil, that, according to Lessing, is the fastest and least noticeable of all. Waking up to transitions can itself become a doorway to another world, to that world in which transformation and becoming-one matter, not fixity and other-ness. Directing my attention If attentiveness is the child’s natural way of being, if the child itself is entirely attentiveness without knowing how and why it is paying attention to this or that, then the experience that I myself can decide on the object of my attention, is perhaps the most poignant experience of freedom there can be. The real and universally available possibility of freedom can scarcely be more clearly experienced than through the voluntary directing of my attention. From one moment to the next I can decide to turn my attention to this text, then to that picture, from this thought to a completely different one, from the flower on the mantelpiece above the fireplace to the finely formed hands of the child beside me, then back again to the text. I can even determine the span of time my full attention is directed towards an object that is the focus of my interest. Perhaps other objects crowd –of their own accord?- into my consciousness just when I wish to focus on a single one. But over and again I myself can determine the content of my consciousness by re-directing my attention. This is an impressive power. This power to freely direct and focus attention is of fundamental significance for orienting oneself in a world that is not defined by firm contours and objects. And finally the path from a value hierarchy that is a given or comes from who-knows-where, to a selfdetermined attributing of value becomes ever more important. Often this path will lead through arid and dangerous terrain where values are lost, where all that was held valuable is questioned and doubted. Is it only against this backdrop that the question as to what is or is not essential to me becomes existential, that is to say, leads to real consequences? What matters? Quite ordinary questions cannot simply be answered anymore according to sympathy or antipathy, inclination or dis-inclination, they become weighty riddles: Why does this person matter to me more than another? Why is it so important for me to understand the gesture of one individual, while someone else’s scarcely interests me, in fact doesn’t catch my attention at all? Why does this text interest me more than another, texts overall more than sculptures, and these more than any painting? 14 What will I defend without hesitation because it is worth something to me, what means less, what seems to me insignificant, even quite unnecessary? Questioning the values that determine or shape our lives is a moment of awakening to that through which we have become ourselves, perhaps even an awakening to the world we came from before we grew into this one. Certainly values and the hierarchy of values are conditioned by culture and society. But the things any one person considers to be of value still reveal something of that person’s own, individual identity. And it is still the case, even when these interests and values are no longer as distinctive as the child’s spontaneous attraction to the red rose rather than to the silver spoon. The horizon to a new world which makes becoming more visible than what has become opens itself as soon as we go beyond noticing only the values and value hierarchies that determine us, and begin to realise that the selfdetermined attributing of values is possible. Attributing value has to do with me becoming interested in something, directing my attention towards it, and finally making a decision. It becomes apparent that making a decision about what I consider to be essential or not is a foundation for every kind of meditative practice. This decision-making provides the firm ground in a landscape that is otherwise constantly shifting. Just like childhood, the inner meditative culture is always fragile, easily threatened. The outer circumstances in which both can thrive are progressively shrinking. Contemporary civilised life seems at times to be specifically organised in such a way as to leave little space for childhood and for a delicate inner culture- unless this space is really wanted and consciously created. And as with everything that is consciously created, it matters a great deal that this space, despite being artificially created, is not itself artificial, is not an intellectual construct, is neither half-baked nor overformed. The relationship to time And then, once we have dealt with the hurdle of artificiality and un-naturalness, there is another phenomenon that calls for our consideration, namely, how we deal with time. How long does childhood actually last? How long is the transition from the world out of which we come without knowing it into this other one in which we live and about which we now know so much that we can even intimate the limits of our knowing? Without a doubt our progress towards being grown-up, self-aware adults is slow and uncertain, a process that stretches over years and leads through endless transformations and pitfalls. Every unnatural hastening disturbs healthy development- and the earlier it happens the longer its effects are felt. 15 In fact growing up can only happen slowly. Breakdowns, failures, and helplessness belong to it just as much as trust, endurance and hope. These latter qualities with which the child is so freely endowed may only win contour and importantly depth for the adult through traversing unhappy experiences. This too takes time. Life-time. If childhood really happens, it takes up a significant part of our lives. Similarly freely sought spiritual-childhood needs time. It needs freely willed deceleration. Lived Knowledge In addition to time, the development of inner culture requires an increase in knowledge, in understanding, but it is more a matter of gaining depth than breadth of knowledge. It is a matter of becoming familiar with a world that is the foundation for the one to which we have grown accustomed, the one in which we have grown up. In the same way the child is foundation for, and continues to live on in the adult. In the meditative culture, knowing becomes living-into, a process that is slowed down by life. And as a result consciousness is altered. Through the meditative approach to knowledge, consciousness and life draw a little nearer to each other, in the same way they drew apart throughout growing up, becoming conscious, becoming self-conscious. For this slowed-down knowing, constantly discovering, learning or understanding the new is much less important than really living with what has already been discovered, learned or understood. This kind of living-with can only happen when it is actively wanted. It leads into another world, into another seeing of the world, a seeing of the world from another side – it leads directly into a world within the world. And learning to live in this world takes time. Or better said: This new life calls for a different relationship to time, a different approach to time, one that truly corresponds to life. In its most beautiful form lived-time becomes rhythm. Rhythm as living time, as formed liveliness. Time as a linear progression is as much an enemy of life as the constant repetition of sameness is alien to it. And thus the development of one’s own truly individual inner life rhythm- the marking of time to fit one’s individual spiritual life- takes up a central position between the world of normal adulthood and that of spiritual childhood. Virtues of the inner path If trust, devotion and hope are the insignia of a happy childhood, then gratefulness, patience, and loyalty become the virtues of spiritual childhood. 16 These virtues arise quite naturally along the inner path. They are the conditions, but also the results of measured time, the consequence of slowing down. Along this path gratefulness, patience, and loyalty lose all similarity to traditional virtues with the same names, to their standardising and moralising character. Instead they gradually and naturally set up the climatic conditions needed for the world of the spiritchild, and begin to permeate life. Achieving them once is no guarantee that they will stay forever- but that is the case with all qualities and relationships in spiritual life. Just as specific experiences emerge and clearly have particular significance in the process of growing familiar with the world- as a child with this world, as a spiritual child with the world that underlies this one- so do they also have consequences. A completely new experience can be had just before entering the threshold region of spiritual life: an unfamiliar inner quietude. It follows on from the outlined steps, the slowing down of knowing and the drawing together of consciousness and life. This quietude does not occur in daily life and there is no natural equivalent phenomenon. No night, no forest, no unruffled surface of a lake can ever be as still as this stillness. It is also different to the peace of soul that is a pre-requisite for every spiritual culture. In a turbulent soul nothing can be perceived beyond the turbulence. I myself must create peace of soul it does not come of its own accord. This inner quietude however is not created, it transpires. The slowing-down comes at the end of the quietude. At an end that is also a beginning. It is not a dead stillness; it is lively and full of readiness. One could even say it is a listening stillness. Not listening to what comes out of the soul, but listening to an outer world that opens up within. A stillness that turns towards open-ness. Our consciousness does not identify it from outside, but is entirely within it, is identical with it and determines itself through it. It is as if this stillness were the other face of a rich inner life that reveals itself in countless perceptions, thoughts, feelings and intentions that are layered and intertwined, that determine each other and make each other possible. Joy in dependence In this stillness or rather: through this stillness something else is experienced, something that is at first surprising. It is the joy in dependence. Here the reality is experienced that not only is everything interconnected, but that the dependence of one thing on the other builds a wonderful and precise interconnection. Our normal striving may be towards independence, but here dependence brings with it a new relationship quality. In it I can recognise something that enables rather than hinders freedom. Naturally 17 this kind of dependence has nothing to do with a lack of self-sufficiency or self-empowerment, with obsequiousness, or even addiction. This delight in dependence presumes a certain degree of inner sovereignty. It is a kind of reciprocity through which each thing makes the other possible, but is also determined and qualified by it. Interdependence that is willingly agreed upon as a mode of interaction between people opens up access to another deeper level in our social life. At this level, the apparently haphazard or chance nature of encounters becomes an experience of something precise and unique, with a binding nature particular to each encounter just as it is. This is so whether it brings tenuous or strong possibilities for future development, whether it is limiting and uncomfortable, strange, fragile, or completely self-revealing. Liking for or dislike of, happiness or unhappiness, friendship or animosity, all these are not so significant. The joy in dependence signifies a new attitude towards relationship, an attitude of acknowledgement, of acceptance and confirmation of each meeting’s uniqueness and singular evolution. As a consequence the soul-spiritual experience transforms human relationships and social life. Destiny experiences develop a new depth. The experiences hinted at here waken a readiness, indeed a love for active doing. They also arise out of love, out of an inner activity. Inner culture is active doing, is putting things into practice. It arises solely out of the love for the deed. This active-doing lives equally in creating and receiving. Freely directing attention, independently determining values, and slowing down to a truly individual rhythm of inner life must all be undertaken actively, often enough against resistance. By contrast transitions, the boundless inner quietude, and joy in dependence can only be received. Actively undertaking or creating, and receiving are two faces, two forms of inner activity that are always connected. For every act of creating there is an act of receiving and for every receiving there is an act of creating. Meditation is growing life in the reciprocal relationship between creating and receiving. In this active reciprocity inner culture opens up to everything coming from that other world which underlies this present world. Bodo von Plato First publ.: Die Drei, Nr. 7-8, 2012. Translation: Jan Baker-Finch 18 Anthroposophical Society South Australian Branch Introduction to Anthroposophy Study Group. An introductory Study Group is being offered by The Committee of the Society to be held in the venue of The Anthroposophical Society’s rooms 96 Halifax Street Adelaide, th st for anyone interested, meeting every two weeks , that is: 18 March, 1 and 15th April. Commencing at 7.30pm finishing about 9.00pm. This group study does not presuppose any previous knowledge of the subject. Barry Dale will be organising the study group, starting with the study of the following book which is generally considered to be one of the basic written works of Rudolf Steiner: The Philosophy of Freedom (now titled “Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path”) published 1894 (written age 33) Through precise examination of the nature of knowledge, including a survey of various philosophical world views, Rudolf Steiner shows that through awakening to the inner activity of thinking we overcome the duality of the outer perceptual world and the inner conceptual world and arrive at the possibility of truly free action. Anthroposophical Bookshop: 96 Halifax Street, Adelaide. Ph: 82231841: Office hours: Wednesday to Friday 12.00noon 4.00pm : Saturday 10am - 4.00pm Barry Dale. Ph: 8386 1235 19 Committee members and tasks. Chris Charles Barry Dale Lynette Doyle Heinz Huxholl Renate Holland Basil Lazaros Matthew Dale Jeffrey Samuel Society constitution Focal Point State representative, monthly lectures Building Maintenance Co-Bookshop Manager Committee member Focal Point Public Officer Building maintenance 8362 5405 8386 1235 8339 3928 8556 7287 8376 9009 8391 0921 8386 1248 8263 3693 Sylvia Debski Treasurer, Co-Bookshop Manager 8323 9516 Jenny Robertson Library and New Members 8536 4343 20 Alamandria The Art of Meditation Workshop retreat 10 Apr - 12 Apr 2015 Auckland With facilitators Mark Geard & Emily Fletcher When:10am Friday 10 Apr 2015 – 4pm Sunday 12 Apr 2015 Where:Aio Wira Retreat Centre, Swanson, Auckland Cost:NZ$490 / accommodation & meals included Register This three day live-in retreat will be held at the Aio Wira retreat centre, located in beautiful native bush in the Waitakere ranges, only 30 minutes from Auckland. This is your opportunity to take time out from the pressure and routine of daily life and discover the peaceful, healing, inner world of meditation as a pathway to self-discovery and personal development. This retreat will offer delicious vegetarian food, friendship, time for personal reflection and contemplative walks in a scenic environment. On this retreat you will be guided through simple creative processes to help ameliorate some of the common difficulties experienced in meditation, however it is important to note that no prior artistic ability is necessary, just the enthusiasm to try something new. Not everyone is an experienced artist yet artistic experiences are available to everyone. These experiences contain forces that can raise us from mundane existence to meditative awareness. This workshop will introduce you to: ■Preparatory exercises for soul strengthening ■Breathing technique ■Becoming the other ■Art as a facilitator of meditation ■Thinking, Feeling and Willing as agents of transformation ■The Silent Self ■Working with The Rosetta Meditation Ceres organic Sponsorship IF YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO BE AT THIS RETREAT BUT ARE GENUINELY FINANCIALLY CONSTRAINED, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH US. Ceres Organics is offering sponsorship placements for several participants to attend this retreat. Send us an email at: [email protected] Alamandria is a social initiative that facilitates workshops, retreats and exhibitions within New Zealand and internationally. http://alamandria.co.nz/event/the-art-of-meditation/ 21 INK POT ARTS Workshop Program 2015 Merit Award Winner, Community Event of the Year 2015, Australia Day Awards There are plenty of opportunities for people of all ages to be active and creative through Ink Pot Arts. Check out the details below: Mondays: Beginners Ukulele with Christopher Carr 6.30-7.30pm, all ages Intermediate Ukulele with Christopher Carr 8-9pm, all ages Tuesdays: Creative Dance with Kit Jenkin 4.30-5.30pm, Children – all ages The Gathering Wave all-comers choir with Pat Rix 6-7.30pm, all ages (2nd & 4th Tues of month) Wednesdays: Drama with Jo-anne Sarre 4-5pm, 7-12 year olds Thursdays: Drama with Jo-anne Sarre 4-5pm, 7-12 year olds Drama with David Hirst 5.15-7pm, 12-18 year olds Circus with Tony Hannan 4-5pm, 6-12 year olds Fridays What our community members say: The children constantly amaze me with their energy and commitment to each project. … They are engaging with theatre and the arts, broadening their focus and gaining invaluable experience and education. Thank you Ink Pot. Kirstie Aylett, parent, Children of the Black Skirt 2014 “Brilliant! An impressive show all round! Normally we travel to Adelaide to see this quality of theatre, and here it is happening in Mount Barker!” Kat Borrie, audience member, From Footprint to Footplate 2014 Bookings welcome for Term Two For more information/bookings E: [email protected] or ring Jo-anne on 0429 673 327 www.inkpot.com.au www.facebook.com/inkpotarts 22
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