About the studies
One must be able to confront an idea and experience it;
otherwise we will become its slave.
R.Steiner "Philosophy of freedom"
How do the studies take place?
The whole Initiatory Training follows the ideal of a group of people who come together for three years, with the wish to study spiritual content and place their striving for a deeper understanding of spiritual content at the centre of their intentions. The basis of the whole work is home-study, daily about 30 minutes, together with daily exercise practice of another 15-60 minutes. Everybody should feel free to invest as much time in studying and practise as he wants. The home-study takes place with specific assignments and questions, like distanced learning.
Our training comes to life from the lively participation of its participants. The more intensely the study is done between the individual seminar dates, the better the work will proceed. The way we work in the seminars and other meetings will be chosen so that all participants have the opportunity of giving their own contribution in verbal or written form. This helps students find their own orientation and standpoint on the path and enables them to form their soul-forces individually. A merely passive participation and taking in of the content leads, in our experience, to difficulties over time in finding a standpoint and sometimes also to a certain over-identification with the spiritual truths.
The first subject-matter for a spiritual training is the capacity to encounter the content in a contemplative, active and receptive way. This could also be described as “a freedom in our observation”. It is very important when dealing with esoteric studies that we develop the ability to raise the main thoughts of an esoteric lecture or an inspired text into an observation that is objective, without our own interpretations or additions. Without training this ability, participants tend to interpret or “read “ their own established world-view, or certain emotional preferences, into the texts and statements and thus gain a distorted view of the truth of the words.
We know for example in Buddhist spiritual training of the practice that two students repeat to each other a spiritual lecture which they have just heard. In this way they learn to retell that which they have heard in a completely objective way and to avoid their own interpretations. We ourselves will practise these and similar exercises during the training.
It will be sensible and desirable for participants also to meet for discussion, if they wish, back home during the years of the training. If there is enough interest the internet could also be used as a tool for regular, interactive work. During the training the lectures will be held in German with simultaneous translation in English. There will be at least one English speaking study-group in England. There might be study-groups in Slovakia, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland or other countries. Please contact us, if you are interested in having a study-group near to your home-town, or if you would like translation into your language.