About Living Waters Wellness
Goodness, Beauty and Truth
It's said of the human being that we can never lose our ability to recognize Goodness, Beauty and Truth ; that we may cover this over for a time, ignore or be distracted from it, or even actively fight it ; but that it always re-emerges - even sometimes to our shame. That our ability to recognize the good, the beautiful and the true is in a certain way hardwired in us, in our makeup as human beings.
We can also be distracted from these "guiding stars" in us by problems in our health - by injury, illness or disability, physical or psychological ; but if so, again not permanently. Paradoxically, it can be exactly the experience of pain or loss that makes the good, the beautiful, the true more precious to us, and wakes us up to them. This can also happen through hardships in external, practical life, or through cruelty or injustice in our human social environment.
If we look back calmly and without prejudice on our lives, we notice that graciousness, morality, integrity we've experienced through others form our best memories of childhood, and through all of our life. We notice that it's exactly these best examples and experiences - or the lack of them - that did most to form and motivate us ; that led us, even, onto paths of healing.
The Path of the Open Question
It's also possible to build on these "organs" - to consider and orient ourselves to Goodness, Beauty and Truth in all our experiences purposely, as an inner exercise. We can do this, for instance, with open questions that we live with over time.
Goodness
In what ways do we experience goodness in the external and physical worlds - for instance in our own body, or in nature ?
In what ways do we feel it in our soul and emotional life ?
In ways do we experience goodness in the world of our thoughts ?
What qualities of being do we think of as good ? For instance : Morality ? Integrity ? Generosity ? What else, if we continue to ask ?
To what degree do we experience "the Good" in ourselves or in others, at any of the levels mentioned - and to what degree not ?
What unfolds in us, when we pray or meditate "The Goodness be in us" ? What mood, thoughts and what wishes or intentions arise in us, that we want to follow through on ?
Beauty
In what ways do we experience Beauty in the external world, and what makes it beautiful to us ? What does it call up in our feelings - and how does it affect us ?
What qualities of being are beautiful to us, and what do they stir in us ?
What makes for Beauty in the life of the arts, of the mind and what does it inspire us to ? In what ways, indeed, does Beauty create in us - what does it lead us from - and to ?
Goodness In doing so our perceptions of these things become ever more delicate and differentiated ; and alert to the good, the beautiful and the true, we begin to find them everywhere.
Goodness, Beauty and Truth
It's said of the human being that we can never lose our ability to recognize Goodness, Beauty and Truth ; that we may cover this over for a time, ignore or be distracted from it, or even actively fight it ; but that it always re-emerges - even sometimes to our shame. That our ability to recognize the good, the beautiful and the true is in a certain way hardwired in us, in our makeup as human beings.
We can also be distracted from these "guiding stars" in us by problems in our health - by injury, illness or disability, physical or psychological ; but if so, again not permanently. Paradoxically, it can be exactly the experience of pain or loss that makes the good, the beautiful, the true more precious to us, and wakes us up to them. This can also happen through hardships in external, practical life, or through cruelty or injustice in our human social environment.
If we look back calmly and without prejudice on our lives, we notice that graciousness, morality, integrity we've experienced through others form our best memories of childhood, and through all of our life. We notice that it's exactly these best examples and experiences - or the lack of them - that did most to form and motivate us ; that led us, even, onto paths of healing.
The Path of the Open Question
It's also possible to build on these "organs" - to consider and orient ourselves to Goodness, Beauty and Truth in all our experiences purposely, as an inner exercise. We can do this, for instance, with open questions that we live with over time.
Goodness
In what ways do we experience goodness in the external and physical worlds - for instance in our own body, or in nature ?
In what ways do we feel it in our soul and emotional life ?
In ways do we experience goodness in the world of our thoughts ?
What qualities of being do we think of as good ? For instance : Morality ? Integrity ? Generosity ? What else, if we continue to ask ?
To what degree do we experience "the Good" in ourselves or in others, at any of the levels mentioned - and to what degree not ?
What unfolds in us, when we pray or meditate "The Goodness be in us" ? What mood, thoughts and what wishes or intentions arise in us, that we want to follow through on ?
Beauty
In what ways do we experience Beauty in the external world, and what makes it beautiful to us ? What does it call up in our feelings - and how does it affect us ?
What qualities of being are beautiful to us, and what do they stir in us ?
What makes for Beauty in the life of the arts, of the mind and what does it inspire us to ? In what ways, indeed, does Beauty create in us - what does it lead us from - and to ?
Goodness In doing so our perceptions of these things become ever more delicate and differentiated ; and alert to the good, the beautiful and the true, we begin to find them everywhere.
Look for the Good in All Things
Look for the Good in all things :
Be loyal to the Good in your thinking, feeling, doing.
In your inner world, in the world around you
In the community of all human beings
Look for the Good in all things
And you will find it everywhere !
Look for the Beautiful in all things :
Be loyal to Beauty in your thinking, feeling, doing.
In your inner world, in the world around you,
In the community of all human beings
Look for the Beauty in all things
And you will find it everywhere !
Look for the True in all things :
Be loyal to Truth in your thinking, feeling, doing.
In your inner world, in the world around you,
In the community of all human beings
Look for the Truth in all things
And you will find it everywhere !
Look for the Good in all things :
Be loyal to the Good in your thinking, feeling, doing.
In your inner world, in the world around you
In the community of all human beings
Look for the Good in all things
And you will find it everywhere !
Look for the Beautiful in all things :
Be loyal to Beauty in your thinking, feeling, doing.
In your inner world, in the world around you,
In the community of all human beings
Look for the Beauty in all things
And you will find it everywhere !
Look for the True in all things :
Be loyal to Truth in your thinking, feeling, doing.
In your inner world, in the world around you,
In the community of all human beings
Look for the Truth in all things
And you will find it everywhere !
Six Subsidiary Exercises
To look for the good in all things is one of the "six subsidiary exercise" given by Rudolf Steiner as preparation for spiritual development in our modern, scientifically oriented times. Here is the full exercise :
"In the fourth month, as a new exercise, what is sometimes called a `positive attitude' to life should be cultivated. It consists in seeking always for the good, the praiseworthy the beautiful and the like, in all beings, all experiences, all things. This quality of soul is best characterized by a Persian legend concerning Christ Jesus. One day, as He was walking with His disciples, they saw a dead dog lying by the roadside in a state of advanced decomposition. All the disciples turned away from the disgusting sight; Christ Jesus alone did not move but looked thoughtfully at the corpse and said : `What beautiful teeth the animal has !' Where the others had seen only the repulsive, the unpleasant, He looked for the beautiful. So must the esoteric pupil strive to seek for the positive in every phenomenon and in every being. He will soon notice that under the veil of something repugnant there is a hidden beauty, that even under the outer guise of a criminal there is a hidden good, that under the mask of a lunatic the divine soul is somehow concealed. In a certain respect this exercise is connected with what is called `abstention from criticism'. This is not to be understood in the sense of calling black white and white black. There is, however, a difference between a judgment which, proceeding merely from one's own personality, is colored with the element of personal sympathy or antipathy, and an attitude which enters lovingly into the alien phenomenon or being, always asking : How has it come to be like this or to act like this ? Such an attitude will by its very nature be more set upon helping what is imperfect than upon simply finding fault and criticizing. The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions. He who consciously turns his mind, for one month, to the positive aspect of all his experiences will gradually notice a feeling creeping into him as if his skin were becoming porous on all sides, and as if his soul were opening wide to all kinds of secret and delicate processes in his environment which hitherto entirely escaped his notice. The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these subtle things. If it has once been noticed that the feeling described expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss, endeavors should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him. A great deal of concentration is necessary for this exercise, and, above all, recognition of the fact that all tumultuous feelings, all passions, all over-exuberant emotions have an absolutely destructive effect upon the mood indicated. The exercises of the first months are repeated, as with the earlier months." - - Rudolf Steiner
From : Guidance in Esoteric Training
More Recommended Readings
The Six Subsidiary Exercises
Living Waters Wellness : The Spirit
"Children"
To look for the good in all things is one of the "six subsidiary exercise" given by Rudolf Steiner as preparation for spiritual development in our modern, scientifically oriented times. Here is the full exercise :
"In the fourth month, as a new exercise, what is sometimes called a `positive attitude' to life should be cultivated. It consists in seeking always for the good, the praiseworthy the beautiful and the like, in all beings, all experiences, all things. This quality of soul is best characterized by a Persian legend concerning Christ Jesus. One day, as He was walking with His disciples, they saw a dead dog lying by the roadside in a state of advanced decomposition. All the disciples turned away from the disgusting sight; Christ Jesus alone did not move but looked thoughtfully at the corpse and said : `What beautiful teeth the animal has !' Where the others had seen only the repulsive, the unpleasant, He looked for the beautiful. So must the esoteric pupil strive to seek for the positive in every phenomenon and in every being. He will soon notice that under the veil of something repugnant there is a hidden beauty, that even under the outer guise of a criminal there is a hidden good, that under the mask of a lunatic the divine soul is somehow concealed. In a certain respect this exercise is connected with what is called `abstention from criticism'. This is not to be understood in the sense of calling black white and white black. There is, however, a difference between a judgment which, proceeding merely from one's own personality, is colored with the element of personal sympathy or antipathy, and an attitude which enters lovingly into the alien phenomenon or being, always asking : How has it come to be like this or to act like this ? Such an attitude will by its very nature be more set upon helping what is imperfect than upon simply finding fault and criticizing. The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions. He who consciously turns his mind, for one month, to the positive aspect of all his experiences will gradually notice a feeling creeping into him as if his skin were becoming porous on all sides, and as if his soul were opening wide to all kinds of secret and delicate processes in his environment which hitherto entirely escaped his notice. The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these subtle things. If it has once been noticed that the feeling described expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss, endeavors should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were. He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him. A great deal of concentration is necessary for this exercise, and, above all, recognition of the fact that all tumultuous feelings, all passions, all over-exuberant emotions have an absolutely destructive effect upon the mood indicated. The exercises of the first months are repeated, as with the earlier months." - - Rudolf Steiner
From : Guidance in Esoteric Training
More Recommended Readings
The Six Subsidiary Exercises
Living Waters Wellness : The Spirit
"Children"