Excerpt and comments to a conference delivered by Rudolf Steiner on October 10, 1916 in Zurich (Switzerland)
Consciousness Development and Social Understanding
In the 5th post-Atlantean cultural era, in which humanity is going through today, it is necessary to develop the individual consciousness of the human being, according to the stage of the soul of consciousness of this age, which follows the previous ones of the sensitive soul and rational soul, and that Steiner describes in many of his works. In the complex conditions in which life develops today, this individualization, although necessary in the process of conquering freedom by man, causes a marked tendency towards an excess of selfishness and social isolation, which can lead us to to be lonely beings in the world, locked in ourselves, and to live apart from others.
We live in the era of communication, based on an unstoppable and unthinkable technology a few years ago, where what does not communicate seems not to exist, and paradoxically it is when man suffers from lack of communication, that what costs him most is to communicate: You live together without communicating.
Steiner, in the referenced conference, affirms that until the fifteenth century men did not live with as much lack of interest in the human as has happened since then. It has arrived in the current era, when when two people meet, in general, it takes a long time for the confidence necessary to get to know each other, if it is achieved. When we meet someone, we immediately tend to prejudge them by guiding us by appearances, to feel sympathy or dislike.
It also emphasizes that, in earlier times, the mood of each one influenced the mood of others much more; It was a proper way of relating to the simple conditions of that time. Relationships were established primarily through personal encounter, in a very different way than they are established today, in which the network of feelings and interests that must be established for the human encounter is much broader. The exchange and communication are carried out in a more impersonal way, making it more difficult to relate deeply and lastingly. Why this situation?
According to Steiner, we must consider the action of Karma in each individuality. As a result of having gone through many earthly incarnations, as a rule, we do not meet other people with whom we have not had any experience in past lives, in which the forces that lead us to meet again have been generated. In order for the consciousness of today's man to evolve, it is necessary to manifest what arises in each of us as a result of previous incarnations in which we have interacted with others. This requires a conscious effort to get to know each other and make the externalizations of individualities in relationships soften, accepting each one as it is. It is necessary to communicate and understand each other so that trust emerges, little by little, and to be able to live fully. Because restoring, re-establishing the appropriate relationships, requires the effort of an inner development in the corresponding mood activity.
In many cases men, for karmic reasons, meet and get to love each other, but then other opposing forces act that cause people to separate again. Mutual understanding is therefore becoming increasingly difficult in the current era for the reasons stated, not only in relationships of friendship or partner, but in that children do not understand each other with parents, brothers and sisters among themselves., peoples do not understand and racism, xenophobia and exclusionary nationalisms arise.
We see, then, that in the 5th cultural period the difficulties for mutual understanding between human beings have been accentuated; mankind has to go through this test, according to Steiner, so that he can “ develop the individual of the conscious soul ”, placing himself fully aware of this fact. The sense for social understanding has to be developed consciously, based on a deep knowledge of the human being and an awakening of interest in others, which will lead to a true social understanding of the evolution of man. This has allowed us to place ourselves in life in such a way that, when we find ourselves in front of another human being with whom we must have relations, they are fruitful and fruitful.
According to the needs of our time, the associations that are formed must act in such a way that “ the men who meet in them are the main thing, and that from the reciprocal understanding and the positive work of these men, the expected results arise. The important thing, more than considering the programs and statutes, is the coexistence of individual to individual by the work of the positive man, and the fundamental thing consists in mutual understanding. ”
Freedom of thought
At the level of the Political-Social Institutions it is necessary to overcome the nationalist feelings that tend not to allow man to become independent, keeping him in outdated group formations that are not appropriate for this time.
In previous cultural periods, in a way, religious thinking based on common dogmatic principles and forms should be forcibly poured over human communities. In the current cultural period, given the intensification of the individuality and development of consciousness, what is established by established religions penetrates less and less into the heart and soul of men, being largely replaced by the f in scientific postulates, in which it is believed even if they are not understood. The tolerance becomes more and more necessary with respect to religious life, religious freedom overcoming dogmas, intimate personal experience and freedom of thought, especially in the field of religious life. (Steiner).
Man, at the time of development of clarity of conscience, necessarily has to develop his intelligence and sound discernment in the face of blind faith in authority, which implies a certain weakening of individual discernment. This can be manifested, for example, in the field of medicine, in the sense of knowing how to judge according to healthy vital conditions, or in that of jurisprudence, in which normal people are so incompetent. It is true that, given the increasing complexity of modern life, the vast majority of humanity is not able to judge those who hold power, mainly in the field of knowledge and science in general. It is clear that we cannot learn everything that doctors, jurists, engineers, scientists, etc. they know, nor do they necessarily have creative capacity, but we have to be able, on the one hand, to let the authorities and experts act, but, on the other, we have to know how to judge what they do.
Steiner points out that, in this situation, man must strive to develop, in the full extent of his awake conscience, his intellect and sound discernment, and thus, his freedom will not be limited to what the authorities impose on him, nor to the decisions that the so-called professionals and specialists make. However, it also states that this is something that we can never achieve, in its entirety, based on the material knowledge of the different specialties, but by virtue of " extensive spiritual knowledge ", which are the only ones that can develop the recondite forces of the soul human, deep inspired forces that unite it with higher Entities.
Knowledge of the spiritual worlds
According to Steiner we can have a real and concrete knowledge of entities, Hierarchies and forces that act from the spiritual worlds, worlds that are linked to our physical-terrestrial (especially since the entity of Christ entered the etheric sphere of
The real relationship between the world of the spirit and the world in which man lives in his earthly stage is based on the fact that spiritual entities can direct their gaze towards the thoughts that we can form on their world and, therefore, can, rather, they are willing to help us if they can live in our knowledge.
We have already seen that, in the cultural era in which we are, we are faced with all kinds of authorities that hold the power inherent to their position and knowledge, and we can, instead of having a blind faith in them, apply, not only our intellectual knowledge, but with the help and influence in our thinking of the spiritual beings that live in our knowledge, and that enable us to apply our judgment to the action of these authorities, let us consciously work to join them through our effort.
In our times, having lost man spiritual knowledge has led to the predominance of opposition forces based on technological materialism, and subsequent individualistic selfishness and social misunderstanding. The knowledge we have of the "spiritual, " Steiner tells us, must necessarily influence the reality of life, and thereby overcome the "uncertainty that the human soul is suffering today, " as a necessary step in this 5th cultural post stage. - before
conclusion
Rudolf Steiner, in his lecture, states that what man must strive to accomplish in our time are the three great ideals, necessary for its correct evolution:
-Social Performance
-Freedom of Thought
-Spiritual knowledge
These three concrete ideals must give the direction for the future, give the impulses for morality, purifying and stimulating the life of today's humanity.
Andrés Piñán
-> seen in revistabiosofia.com
