Can spirituality be taken into possession?
Spiritual insights lose their life when they are merely collected, conserved and viewed as person possessions. True spirituality does not show itself in ‘having’ knowledge, but in its living implementation and responsible communication.
A few days ago, a drawing of a locked suitcase was published. The question was asked as to what can be found in it. The answer is: no visible objects, but spiritual content that people hold on to, conserve and ultimately treat as a personal possession.1) The introductory summary at the beginning and the questions and answers at the end of the article were added by the editors for the online edition. The main text is by Heinz Grill.
When spiritual content becomes personal property
These suitcases contain no visible objects, but rather spiritual content that people – as part of a conserving strategy – have locked up for themselves and their compensatory self-portrayal. One of the worst negative virtues found on spiritual paths is for people to mummify once-valuable spiritual content exploiting it for their own egotistical purposes. This has occurred extensively in recent history: within the church, which claimed Christ for itself; in Anthroposophy, which effectively packs Rudolf Steiner into a suitcase; and unfortunately, all too often in the various paths of yoga, where strategies of preservation bind its wisdom for ever to the material realm.
The conserving strategy in spirituality
The phenomenon unfortunately even exists in the Sun Oasis. Quite a few of the alternating instructors who visit use the place primarily for their experiences orientated towards their own well-being and emotional gain. A number of teachers travel here for the weekend and teach others who are visiting, participants in the studies, trainee yoga teachers and some patients, who come to carry out certain exercises for the purpose of enjoyment and regeneration and who want to make spiritual developmental steps. With a somewhat closer look, however, many of the teachers do not do a good job of mediating between the spiritual source and the participants. Rather, they find themselves in possession of the truth and thereby lose respect for the spiritual sources. The knowledge is acquired, more or less passively accumulated and is not yet an integrative part of the soul.2)Rudolf Steiner repeatedly differentiates between a knowing that is merely taken up and an insight to knowledge that has become a living human ability. (See the book “The knowledge of the higher worlds and its attainment”. The treasure in the heart, which should be pulsing with life gains narrowness, rigidity and is even directed against development. From the moment greater responsibility is required from the teachers, they avoid it and remain very non-committal in their learned and half-finished knowledge.
It is probably one of the most common phenomena in groups and in the various seminars, be they anthroposophical or yoga practitioners or Christian working groups, that an apparent knowledge becomes a substitute personal identification and this is not living, but rather intellectualised and adapted, and people thereby take an elitist position in the comfortable circumstances typical of our time.
The danger of spiritual identification
Knowledge is packed into a suitcase and is made suitable only for a select group, then the suitcase is tied up and even wrapped in plastic for longer journeys so that the thoughts so that the thoughts can absolutely not come out into a free connection to the world. This conservation strategy often results in missionising encroachments that appear very unpleasant and can literally cloud the interest in spirituality of a new participant.
Missionising as a result of conserved knowledge
Both phenomena, the packing up of knowledge and the missionising encroachment and intruding into the will of others, are tendencies that mutually increase each other and chain people and the spiritually acquired teaching to matter. Materialism3)Materialism here does not just refer to the orientation towards material goods but rather the attaching spiritual content to solid forms of ownership and identification. carries this tendency for packing things up most deeply in its roots.
The Sun Oasis as a place of lively development
The Sun Oasis is not a place of strategic conservation or a kind of spirit exploitation agency but it is in my view a living place of striving, liveliness and care in approach to spiritual knowledge and inspirational sources.
Spirituality as a connection between spirit and world
The coming time needs this authenticity in spirituality, because if it is not strived for, no heart centre can develop in each individual person. In general, spirituality, as taught by me, strives for a synthesis between spirit and world, or to put it another way, a person’s previous profession, can be newly conceived and become permeated with spiritual content to become a very mature and clearly radiating personality structure. Spirituality here should not be a lip service, a quickly used creed or an outer adornment with certain clothes and a few outwardly demonstrated meditation facial expression; the whole person should have an increased ability to perceive and joy of relationships with the greatest possible and given value. It should be open to dialogue and never one-sidedly fixated on conserved forms of belief and ultimately people who are spiritual must bear witness to their own purity and maturity.
Knowledge in being or knowledge in having
Logic also shows how spirituality in particular cannot be conserved in people’s own personal lives, like objects in a suitcase, because it must find its way in clear striving through a fully alive and a fully mature consciousness. A knowledge in ‘being’ creates a bridge to all spiritual sources, whereas the conserved ‘having’ of knowledge shadows the source itself and not only this but even hinders others the access the spiritual source.
In the future, in the Sun Oasis, I will carefully separate the work I do myself and that carried out by others from each other.
The article highlights the following questions:
What does it mean to “pack spirituality into a suitcase”?
The metaphor describes the tendency to treat spiritual knowledge like a personal possession instead of developing it further in a lively manner.
Why can spiritual knowledge become problematic?
Wenn Wissen nur angesammelt wird, ohne innerlich verarbeitet und verwirklicht zu werden, kann es zu Starrheit, Überheblichkeit oder Gruppenidentifikation führen.
What is the difference between knowledge and insight?
Knowledge can be saved. Knowledge arises through a living relationship with a truth and changes people themselves.
What role does responsibility play in the spiritual realm?
Spiritual development requires integrating knowledge into practical life and passing it on responsibly.
Drawing: Anne-Michèle Hambye
The Parable of the Talents
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” shows how the conserving strategy creates a force of neglecting to act in the afterlife.
Drawing: Andrea Partheymüller
Anmerkungen
| ⇑1 | The introductory summary at the beginning and the questions and answers at the end of the article were added by the editors for the online edition. The main text is by Heinz Grill. |
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| ⇑2 | Rudolf Steiner repeatedly differentiates between a knowing that is merely taken up and an insight to knowledge that has become a living human ability. (See the book “The knowledge of the higher worlds and its attainment”. |
| ⇑3 | Materialism here does not just refer to the orientation towards material goods but rather the attaching spiritual content to solid forms of ownership and identification. |
| ⇑4 | The Gospel passage Matthew 25, 14-30 show how the conservation strategy creates the force of neglecting to act in the afterlife. The Parable of the Talents “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” |