Walking a Wakeful Path
by Meg Durney
This past May, Think OutWord held a space around the topics of inner development and meditation. We were blessed to co-work with Lisa Romero, who guided us in an exploration of the anthroposophical meditative path (which one can also read about in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds by Rudolf Steiner). Lisa is an anthroposophical homeopath from Australia who leads meditation workshops in Australia, Asia, and North America. The overall format of the conference was peer-led with open spaces for conversation, prepared exercises/artistic work by the Think OutWord core group, and offerings by Lisa.
To begin the weekend, participants shared why they were interested in this particular topic. A multitude of voices were heard, setting the foundation for our work together. Lisa advised people to be an observer of their own, individual lives, which can be the greatest teacher. Throughout the weekend participants were encouraged to be a witness, to keep one eye inside one self to notice activities (feelings, thoughts, etc.) and one eye outside on the world. In this balance lives the potential, the space, for the spiritual world to reveal itself.
The nature walk and movement activities, to just name a few, encouraged a slowing down of the day-to-day self, which opened up opportunities to be an observer and a participant simultaneously, to allow the outer to be made meaningful through our inner movement, to fruit into a soul-full experience.
As a group we delved into numerous topics, such as how to recognize eternal truths, differences between Eastern meditative practices and an anthroposophical path, how to notice what is essential and eternal, and how to look at our own thinking.
Acknowledged were challenges of our every day self, with all our likes and dislikes and our inability to embody tolerance and equanimity (which can lead to a very limited picture of ourselves, life, and the spiritual world.) A large challenge, which must be practiced is “living thinking,” – not merely utilizing our intellect or seeking answers but thinking creatively, keeping thoughts moving, new, and free from underlying belief systems.
Lisa emphasized that being prepared and purifying our individual soul lives helps one face what may come to life when on a meditative journey. One very important aspect to face and know is ourselves. It was recommended that the 6 subsidiary exercises can help organize one’s soul life and aid one in seeing past one’s own personal, earthly self and into vast imaginations of what working with us from the spiritual realm beyond.