עברית In February 1924 Rudolf Steiner founded anew the school of spiritual science that was closed with the outbreak of WWI in 1914. Already in September 1924 its creation was halted and was no longer resumed until his death in March 1925. Because of Rudolf Steiner’s early death, the new school remained in the seed stage, full of infinite potentials of wisdom and inspiration, awaiting our independent creative activity.
About My Work in the School of Spiritual Science
When I was asked to become reader of the 1st class, I accepted this because the request originated from people in my community. It took me some years of working as reader to fully understand the real anthroposophical situation at the end of last century. I realised that in regard to our real stage of human-social maturity and the real state of the development of our spiritual faculties, we haven't yet begun to actualise the most elementary beginnings of the anthroposophical spiritual path described by Rudolf Steiner in his book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds.
Later, when I was asked to describe the experiences I had with the working with the 1st class, I used this image: I felt as if I am trying to have and preserve the flower of the plant without first developing in real human spiritual activity its whole life cycle, from it's roots, trunk, branches and leaves, all the way to the flower! I felt in each class reading as if it is all hovering so far above the real human faculties of the participants- I have experienced the same worldwide- that it easily becomes one-sided and unhealthy on many levels.
This realisation was a difficult moment for me, because I didn't know yet how I can address the objective human and spiritual need at that time. It took me more than 10 years of further experimentation and research, before I could find the inner courage to admit to myself: you can only start to prepare the foundations of a real future esoteric school, if you will be able to provide people with a path that really starts from the most elementary beginning. You must become so humble first of all in yourself, that you may be able to start from the ABC of the anthroposophical spiritual path, and grow with the school community together gradually, step by step, from below upward, building the next stage only if the pervious one was truly actualised in reality. Each step and stage will have to be tested and proven in real practice, actualised in experimental peer work and review, as real testable accomplishment.
Then, I said to myself, I will have to wait and see if this approach is really working. If it does, perhaps the day will come, in which the school will be able to grow organically in the community as a whole, in an atmosphere of sister-and brotherhood, of mutual awakening and encouragement; if this will be the case, then it will be possible to begin to work also with what the 1st class must become in the 21st century; and then the independent school of spiritual science would become an honest human, social and spiritual path of a growing global community.
To the most elementary begining and absoultuly necessary conditinos of this school, belong also the folowoing:
“We are also unable to understand the spiritual world, no matter how many beautiful ideas we may have garnered from anthroposophy or how much we may have grasped theoretically about such matters as etheric and astral bodies. We begin to develop an understanding for the spiritual world only when we wake up in the encounter with the soul-spiritual element in our fellowmen. That is where the first true understanding of anthroposophy sets in. Yes, it is indeed necessary to base our understanding of anthroposophy on what can be called a waking up in the encounter with the soul and spirit of another person”. (Rudolf Steiner, lecture of February 27, 1923, GA 257)
About the Independent school of Spiritual Science
In Fabruary 1924 Rudolf Steiner founded anew the school of spiritual science that was closed with the outbreak of WWI in 1914. Already in September 1924 its creation was halted and was no longer resumed until his death in March 1925. Because of Rudolf Steiner’s early death, the new school remained in the seed stage, full of infinite potentials of wisdom and inspiration, awaiting our independent creative activity, that will awaken, foster and develop its dormant future forces, in a form that springs forth from the real spiritual forces active now in the 21st century.
But what is a truly modern spiritual school? what is the essence of a modern spiritual path? -It is the creative meeting place of those people who strive to learn how to work and grow together honestly and creatively. The conditions however are absolutely strict: their hearts and minds must be on fire with enthusiasm for real creative becoming, that inspire them to mutually support, empower, awaken, and stimulate each other. This means that the participants in the independent school have to develop forces of love and trust in themselves and in each other of a totally new kind, because they learn to experience their reversals daily. It is the foremost creative task of the school, to experience with open eyes, minds and hearts the fact that in every anthroposophical community profound ideas and ideals are constantly reversed to their opposites, idealistic love into mutual hatred, trust into mistrust and hope into despair. Only this lifelong crossing together of this deep abyss, positively, courageously and repeatedly, creates the new and robust kind of mutual love, trust, loyalty and uplifting brotherly-and sisterly support. And this mutually suffered, joyfully harvested and actualized love is the only real Foundation Stone of the future orientated Independent School of Spiritual Science.
The community of this school becomes in this way the place and activity through which we can begin to wake up to our intense modern egotism, positively confront it, and use it to generate more honest love to ourselves and to each other. In the heart of the community of the school we use spiritual science to consciously transform and redeem our egotism, so it becomes a source of real healing of ourselves and our fellow human beings. In this way, we generate practical, actual mutually created and shared forces of love, hope and faith, and we begin to realize that in this manner we may be able to accomplish the humble beginning of that mutual spiritual awakening and journey together with our fellow human beings, that Rudolf Steiner hoped for hundred years ago and still hopes for today.
Only through this creative meeting with each other in the school community can our shared Higher Self of humanity, the “I AM that I AM”, the Christ in His etheric revelation, be experienced between you and me. The Time Spirit, Michael can lead us to the new etheric revelation only to the extent that the new community building becomes our most intensive passion. The living exchange with each other, the spirit and soul of mutual love, honesty, and support, allows the school to offer the vital forces needed to the fostering of this living contemporary time spirit: the human and spiritual soil, compost, water and air, light and warmth, that provide a climate for growth, change and transformation; in which alone the present human being can feel at home in his human community, and as co-creative partner with the creative spiritual forces active in nature and cosmos.
The contribution of Dr. Ben-Aharon to the continuous renewal of the Independent High School of Spiritual Science is taking place in Israel, North America, Scandinavia, and Europe.