Evolution Module 3 - Integrating traditions

From Anthroposophy

This Evolution Module 3 is about integrating ancient traditions into the modern spiritual scientific framework, thereby not only

  • connecting feeling-wise with a lineage and traditions of centuries and millenia ago, but also
  • stepping over the limits of a single framework or body of knowledge and getting the benefits of a meta-representation perspective. Indeed every framework or descriptive language imposes its own set of constraints, because it forces a complex reality into a narrow descriptive clothing due to the need of finite limitations of contemporary Waking consciousness and intellectual reasoning.


In other words, this module is about the study of various sources and streams of information on the topic of evolution, holding them against your own personal framework and understanding, developed in Module 1.

This is the what, the next paragraph is about the why.

Process

The benefit is that these ancient sources and myths are multi-facetted, their is spiritual forces in their content that works on Man, and their meaning is not 'uni-dimensional or flat' as is often te case in our dry intellectual understanding of conceptual knowledge. In other words, by connecting (by study, contemplation and meditation) these sources can bring the anthroposophical spiritual scientific framework to life in our mind and soul.

This is the same principle as Rudolf Steiner explained when discussing the Gospel of John as an initiation document, with examples of how to bring the phrases to life in one's imagination by contemplation.

For background, see also: Problem statement regarding the study of spiritual science#Note 2 - General note on Rudolf Steiner's teachings (in the context of 'integrating traditions')

Spiritual science as ... information, knowledge, insight, wisdom

1/ What we call spiritual scientific knowledge today is universal wisdom of all ages. What we mean as 'contents', cannot be seen loose for 'form', which depends on the state of consciousness of Man. The latter changes across epochs and ages from various levels of clairvoyance ànd self-consciousness to the current flavour of what we denote as contemporary waking consciousness.

These changes are depicted in Schema FMC00.013 on Current Postatlantean epoch

Embedded as an illustration of the change in knowledge and wisdom is Schema FMC00.054 on Christ and the Mystery of Golgotha.

2/

a) The very first teachings refer to the Book of Dzyan and the Lemurian and Atlantean epochs, with the Atlantean Oracles in the latter. For the teachers, see also Three classes of Buddhas in the context of Planets hosting beings at various stages of evolution.

A second very ancient source of wisdom teachings is called the Book of Ten Pages. From descriptions one can deduce this was used in the Atlantean epoch and the first cultural ages of the Current Postatlantean epoch.

b) And, as explained on the topic page Ancient history of myths and legends, the wealth of myths, sagas, legends has passed on, through tradition of the various cultures in the current Postatlantean epoch, the same knowledge in various forms of stories and image language. This is especially insighful when studying for example Nordic Germanic mythology with an existing framework of anthroposophical knowledge. Because the contents is the same, but the form is so different, this truly aids to shed light from another angle so one can rise above the mould of our rational thinking in which we are otherwise enclosed.

c) More closer to the current times, there were the streams of universal wisdom such as the gnostic stream (eradicated in the 4th century AD), the occult (alchemical) in the middle ages, and the rosecrucian streams.

Examples of sources stemming from previous cultural ages are the Book of Genesis, the Sepher Yetzirah, the Tetractys,

For an overview sketch with more explicit references, see the topic page Sources of spiritual science

3/ The above is the background context for the positioning of theosophical and anthroposophical knowledge passed on by Helena Blavatsky and Rudolf Steiner (and others) in the period 1875-1925.

For more details, see:

.

In the introduction from 'Man, Fragments of a Forgotten History' (1885) is stated, how all this knowledge is long known in different forms, languages of symbols, myths, etc. .. and that the new representation of this knowledge is to meet the consciousness of the current times, it is put in such a form that it can be understood intellectually and digested by mankind today.

From the introduction

The small band of esoteric teachers, the inheritors of the secret knowledge of the ages, have till lately found silence to be the only means for its preserva­tion. But the time has arrived for the world to receive a portion of their accumulated wealth. The choice, however, of the present method, so different from all preconceived ideas of the fitness of things, is sure to give rise to feelings of a very varied character. The question would naturally, suggest itself why the discovery of ancient books and manuscripts, undeniably authentic and plainly historical, should not have been made the occasion for the revival of the forgotten lore, if the present generation is to be at all instructed in the story of the origin and infancy of its ancestors. The alle­gorical character, however, of ancient writings which renders them unintelligible to all but the initiated reader, prevents such a course being adopted: hence the necessity of the present plan.

By making universal wisdom into an intellectual substract, however, much gets lost.

4/ The goal for the study of spiritual science is to use the human soul faculties to develop imaginative insight which brings back the insight dimension of 'knowing' instead of rational thinking.

For more details, see:

.

Hence this study module aims to work exactly on the juxtaposition of various sources of universal knowledge, in order to rise to the level of imaginative insight or knowing.

This module is still to be worked, but to get a feel, see the general listing of proposed 'Sources' in the section below.

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.293 is a draft WIP version of a schema depicting the spiritual scientific version of what is called in contemporary popular science 'big history'. The intention is to sketch how various sources of information for the study of evolution compare in terms of scope, projected onto the spiritual scientific evolutionary framework above.

  • History of mankind - as in cultures and civilizations - is very limited, given it is based on language and written records. Ancient history of myths and legends have been recorded later, after they were passed by tradition over many generations and ages, and they tell about earlier times, albeit it in metaphorical language mapping to ancient clairvoyance and cultural ways of expression these things.
  • The Bible is different because it is the best known source of clairvoyant records, both the Book of Genesis as the Gospels (and of course the Book of Revelation, and the other books of Moses and the prophets).
  • Mineral science assumes the laws of the current mineral physical (time, space, matter) and does the so-called 'foolish extrapolation' to project them back as if the current is what arose out of nothing, the 'big bang'.
    • Note 1: the big bang can not correctly be positioned on the below, because mineral science does not consider the existence of spiritual realities. The big bang assumes that time, space, and whole physical cosmos originate from a single initial singularity.
      • The 'cradle' of the current solar system and zodiac only appeared in the current form as part of the Earth stage of evolution, and the separation of Sun and Moon. Mineral science incorrectly extrapolates the physical earthy laws of the mineral to outside Earth and our solar system, not taking into account the fact that astronomical 'sensory' observations (with instruments and physical senses) are imagery of the etheric and astral worlds projected into the physical.
      • On the schema version below, the big bang was tentatively positioned as corresponding to the start of space and time, just so as to draw it somewhere, however the big bang is really limited to the physical mineral universe, so this is not really correct. Another way to draw it could be at the pralaya between the Old Moon and Earth stages of evolution, or at the start of the current CoLife and Form, but this is just as incorrect.
      • The mineral physical corresponds the physical Condition of Form (CoF) within the mineral Condition of Life (CoL), see Earth rounds perspective. As the cosmos is in continuous metamorphosis (see Three dimensions of evolution and Cosmic fractal), the big bang cannot really be mapped to a single point on the chart because space and time appear as part of this dynamic. The 'big bang' is an erroneous thought form (a mental construct) that does not map to a spiritual reality. It was 'made up' and as such is a superstition of our age and the materialistic or mineral scientific worldview.
    • Note 2: Although geology goes back to the period where the mineral arose as the Earth condensed, the scope of mineral science is limited, as time was not even a constant upto the (middle of the) Atlantean epoch as the balance between Earth, Moon and Sun had to stabilize before one is able to talk of the zodiac clock mapping to Earth years as we know them now.
  • Spiritual science, because it is based on Clairvoyant research of akashic records, is 'absolute' in that is objectively truthfull and consistent, irrespective of the human language and culture expression it to map and translate it to the then-current state of consciousness. The Bible, as well as myths and legends, are examples of this, and contemporary spiritual science offers a language and meta-representation to integrate all other sources. To show this integration into a single consistent framwork is the intention of Schema FMC00.293.

Notes:

  • the schema is draft WIP and unfinished but was uploaded to depict the idea. It will be iteratively improved later, as more schemas are uploaded for the various aspects currently not covered on the site yet.
  • The idea is to provide cross links, as a dashboard, to jump to other pages and schemas.
  • This schema may then move to another topic page for 'big history', the spiritual scientific version.
FMC00.293.jpg

Sources

Here are a number of perspectives:

  • Book of Dzyan
    • a link is made with the spiritual scientific contents rendered on this site, see [[Book of Dzyan#[1] - Stanzas of Dzyan]]
  • Book of Ten Pages
    • a link is made with the spiritual scientific contents rendered on this site, see [[Book of Ten Pages#Note [1] - One to Ten]]

Book of Revelation

Further useful links

Discussion

Related pages

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