Focal_Point_March_15th 2015 - Anthroposophy in Australia

March 15th 2015
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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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
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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])
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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
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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
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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).
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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,
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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/
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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
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