Since 1899 it has been possible, following western esoteric practice, to progress significantly far along the path of knowledge without a direct master-aspirant relationship (which was the way disciples were chosen throughout antiquity to be initiated into the spritual realms). Walking this path is open to any modern individual, but it requires intensely strenuous persistence and a courageous commitment to transform one’s soul. These are some facets among the crystals of wisdom which line this trail…

— Sensory Perceptions —

One who wishes to become an initiate must learn to alter the way he relates to and experiences sense impressions. The flash of red or the expanse of blue sky, the degree of motion of a breeze or a wind gust, how a sound trails off or dies abruptly, even fluctuating temperature sensations — all must become a means to a higher end. In ordinary life we have many sensations and take them as they are. But now, a kind of digestion process must be cultivated. Sense impressions, like a form of nutrition, must be used as a vehicle for something higher. Beyond perceptions, even thoughts as experiences must be taken as a doorway to somewhere. At a certain point, the opinions we are so prone to form, even cherish, about this or that sense impression or thought must come to be regarded as utterly unimportant. Something to briefly note and discard as ancillary to any significance and simply an aspect of personal ego.

(We begin to get a deeper insight into the temptational aspect of sensory experience for its own sake, as a goal in itself. For the automatic, subconscious associating of judgements and opinions, liking and disliking, with all these inner experiences, and even with thoughts, imprison us within our own ego, a web of proclivities and tendencies. There is a definite region which cannot be traversed beyond, unless the aspirant learns to disregard his own opinion about all sorts of encountered phenomena as arbitrary and unrelated to the spiritual reality of the thing. Obstacles to higher perception. Blinders. First, recognize their presence when they arise. That is the crucial beginning for this kind of inner transformation. We must gradually choose to become aware of the immensity of the filter and camouflage our sympathies and antipathies impose upon reality. In realtime.)

_______RS

[ Image : ‘Moonrise’ — one of nine training images given by Rudolf Steiner to persons interested in deepening their spiritual perceptivity via artistic practice. ]

[ Note : To delve deeper into source material related to the ‘facet’ sketched out above, begin exploring here. The sketching above is purely my reflections. But the source materials is that of a master. ]

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