Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart: The Fundamental Spiritual Excercises of Rudolf Steiner: The Fundamental Spiritual Exercises of Rudolf Steiner

The seer and teacher Rudolf Steiner advised that specific 'accompanying' or 'fundamental' spiritual exercises should always be carried out in conjunction with meditation. While meditation is the foundation of any spiritual path of development, it can pose dangers to normal consciousness. These exercises offer a protection, by helping to develop inner certainty and strength. This is achieved, for example, through the first exercise by concentrating and intensifying the powers of thinking, through the second by developing the control of the will, through the third by mastering the outer expressions of the life of feeling, and so on. Florin Lowndes describes the fundamental exercises in thorough detail, giving suggestions as to how they may be carried out. He also relates an important and hidden aspect - that the exercises embody the means for developing and strengthening organic and 'living' thinking, which is intimately related to the enlivening of a new organ of perception: the heart chakra or lotus. Lowndes casts new light on many aspects of this question, and offers encouragement and stimulus to those seeking a modern path of spiritual development. FLORIN LOWNDES was born in Romania in 1938 and had an international career in architectural art and design. In 1970 he emigrated to the United States, where he taught at college level and in Steiner Waldorf schools. Since 1971 he has been engaged in the study of anthroposophy, and has written many articles for journals on related questions. He co-authored The Human Life, and founded the Center of Heart-Thinking in Boston. At present he leads training seminars in the United States and throughout Europe. Intro Preface PART ONE: THE CHAKRAS 1. The Method 2. The Traditional Chakra Teaching 3. Rudolf Steiner's Chakra Teaching 4. The Heart Chakra 5. The Exercises for the Heart Chakra: 'Subsidiary' and Basic Exercises PART TWO: THE SIX EXERCISES 1. Structure 2. The First Exercise: Control of Thinking 3. The Second Exercise: Control of Will 4. The Third Exercise: Control of Feeling 5. The Fourth Exercise: The Fulfilment of Thinking in Feeling 6. The Fifth Exercise: The Fulfilment of Thinking in the Will 7. The Sixth Exercise: The Fulfilment of Thinking in Thinking 8. The Etheric Streams9. The Exercise Plan PART THREE: THE HEART EXERCISE 1. Overview 2. The Six Positions 3. The Six Gestures 4. The Heart Exercise PART FOUR: THE NEW HEART-THINKING 1. Rudolf Steiner's Heart-Thinking 2. Rudolf Steiner's Two Paths of Esotericism 3. Special Aspects of Spiritual Schooling Bridge Building Notes Illustration of chakras Rudolf Steiner advised that specific 'accompanying', or 'fundamental', spiritual exercises should always be carried out in conjunction with meditation, in order to protect the individual from dangers posed to normal consciousness. This work describes these fundamental exercises, giving suggestions as to how they can be carried out.