עברית ‘The Word becoming flesh is the first Michael revelation; the flesh becoming Spirit must be the second Michael revelation.'
Rudolf Steiner, Lecture of 22 November 1919, GA 194.
A Co-Creative Spiritual Journy
Cognitive Yoga: How a book is born
Heavenly Jerusalem and the Mysteries of the Human Body
‘The Word becoming flesh is the first Michael revelation; the flesh becoming Spirit must be the second Michael revelation.'
Rudolf Steiner, Lecture of 22 November 1919, GA 194.
In Chapter 4 of my book "The New Experience of the Supersensible", I describe three main aspects of the meeting with the being of the etheric Christ. In this meeting, Christ stands by you to encourage you to awaken yourself to new life as a whole human being, in spirit, soul and body. It can also be said that he gracefully offers you a unique gift, made of three potent golden seeds that you can plant in your spirit, soul and body, which you may develop further independently. For 15 years I was working on this project inwardly, about which I never spoke or wrote anything, because I knew that it must be first fully spiritualized and individualized, and come back again from the spiritual world, in a fully conscious way. But when the book was published, I could describe the independent cultivation of the first two golden seeds: those planted in the spirit and soul. But the cultivation of the third seed in the body proved to be much more difficult, because it was hindered by strong obstacles, and therefore it remained unfinished.
In The New Experience of the Supersensible I described the independent cultivation of the first two golden seeds: those planted in the spirit and soul. But the cultivation of the third seed in the bodies, proved to be much more difficult, because it was hindered by strong obstacles. This required a development of higher and deeper cognitive-moral faculties which at that time I couldn't yet fully actualize.
To be more specific, the cognitive-moral capacities that I could develop before my 50s were not sufficient to properly cultivate the third bodily seed. But this complete cultivation is required to fulfil through spiritual scientific work the most important spiritual task of our age, which the anthroposophically grasped impulse of the etheric Christ makes possible for the first time to free human beings. The task is to learn how to apply spiritual science to individualize the Christ Impulse not only in the spirit and soul but also in the spiritual forces of the bodies. Only by means of modern anthroposophical spiritual science is it possible today to explore, discover, and activate these deeply hidden spiritual forces, slumbering in the primordial foundations of the bodies, and bring them to full imaginative consciousness.
In hindsight, I can say that this third, bodily aspect of the work, had to wait, until I reached my eighth seven-year period, in the age of 56-63, in which- usually wholly unconsciously- the forces of Spirit Man (Atman) are activated. During these years, I could also experience how I was supported by forces activated through the development of Spirit Self (in the age of 42-49) and Life Spirit (49-56). This brought about a change in my faculty of Imagination, on which I was working for decades, because it could be supported by more potent spiritual forces than previously. Starting subtly in 2010 and gaining momentum in 2011 and 2012, I could feel the awakening of the new soul forces. This enabled me to grasp imaginatively also some aspects of the potential spiritual forces of the three bodies, because the faculty of Imagination was now increasingly saturated by stronger inspirative and intuitive elements. As I describe in detail in Cognitive Yoga, I could then overcome some of the powerful obstacles found in the bodies, composed of desires, drives and instincts, and penetrate consciously deeper into them. I felt that the more this eighth seven-year period progressed, for the first time I could reach my goal, to complete- in certain limits naturally- the development of that aspect of the modern faculty of Imagination that was given to me to individualize and spiritualize by means of spiritual science. Then I could use the forces of this Imaginative Soul, supported and enhanced by the inspirative and intuitive forces, to awaken some aspects of the pure, virgin, forces hidden in the depths of the three bodies, and unite them- through the free cognitive activity of spiritual science- with the forces of the etheric Christ. And this is what I described in my book, Cognitive Yoga.
Then something happened, that stimulated and enhanced the new phase in the development of my spiritual faculties. It was a unique spiritual experience, which I then described in Cognitive Yoga: How a book is born, in chapter 5, A co-creative Journey. I took place- after some preparations- during the holy days and nights of 2012. After it was completed, it continued to inspire, from ‘behind the scenes’, my ongoing spiritual scientific investigation and practice of Cognitive Yoga, when I was confronted with the above-described obstacles and problems with the forces of the bodies.
It is important to emphasize that I continued to struggle through my 40' with this spiritual task. And only after I felt that I could not progress any further, I asked for a special help. Asking for help in such a way (help is otherwise always given...), is a special, indeed, a festive occasion, and one must be sure in one's heart that the cause and timing is truly appropriate.
This happens also in our spiritual life. And so it was during 2012. I felt that the time was ripe and that it would be proper and productive to prepare and wait for such a festive meeting with my spiritual colleagues.
I want to share some aspects of what I experienced during this event, in the more personal and imaginative language of storytelling. It is a kind of new, individual, Christmas nativity tale, about the earthly ripening of a research problem, its heavenly conception, embryonic life, and finally the birth on earth of what becomes a physical book, printed black on white. This winter tale is what follows...
A Co-Creative Journey
Once the invitation for the spiritual consultation has been received, I undertake all the preparations necessary before one embarks on an exciting and unpredictable journey. (I must, of course, carefully pack my soul-spiritual suitcase, making sure I take with me the necessary spiritual garments, cleansing methods, living waters and energy snacks for the way. However, the actual soul preparations that I make to enter the portal and cross the threshold in a humble and worthy way cannot really be communicated, because they belong to the most intimate personal soul experiences.)
And then past the portal, the power of Imagination awakens fully and lights up. It begins to illuminate a path, and I know that the path is kindly opening itself, in response to the activation of my seeing; imaginative consciousness is an active force of doing in this new world. The force of this seeing gradually expands my new visible world, by shedding its light upon the area that I can consciously perceive. There, in this lighted clearing, I am very cordially greeted by a group of spiritual beings, some of them are known to me from previous collaborative tasks, but some are new, and after some jovial welcoming greetings and ceremonial rites of passage, I am most kindly invited to join them on a special mission. I am told (or rather this is how I understand it to begin with) that we are going on a journey to discover and climb to the top of a very special mountain. The journey itself is a highly stimulating and wonderful experience as the fellowship accomplishes many fascinating explorations and investigations of the spiritual ecosystem through which we pass, supervised by members of the team who seem to com- mand infinite knowledge of the spiritual mysteries of nature and cosmos. Eventually we come to a stop, and when I wonder why, as there was no mountain in sight, one of my comrades tells me, in a kind of matter-of-fact tone: here we are going to create the mountain. (Now I begin to realize that it was my misunderstanding all along, while everybody else was obviously perfectly aware of this, that we were not going to find a mountain, but rather to create one.) We are therefore getting ready to camp at this location, and to begin with, some rituals are performed, with that rare combination of solemnity during the ceremonies and exuberantly joyful and creative fun immediately thereafter, which seems to make up the daily rhythm and pulse of these illustrious beings. I realize eventually that these rituals are performed to acclimatize us to the spiritual forces of the spiritual land and the spiritual cosmic surroundings, which, unfortunately, I cannot recall in precise outlines, because my consciousness was not sharp enough to grasp and comprehend its real nature in real time, and hence I cannot recall them in exact detail when I am back in my ordinary consciousness on the earth. (This is something that I would wish to be able to do better, on future occasions, as I am very interested in the spiritual nature and becoming of spiritual cosmic climate, weather, and the planetary and starry forces active through the universe.) After all these wonderful events have been commenced, we are told that the mountain creation work can begin...
Continue to read in chapter 5, A co-creative journey