“The riddle of man becomes important for us when we begin to realize that in all we do, even down to our moods, we influence the whole cosmos, that our little world is of infinitely far-reaching importance for all that comes into being in the macrocosmos. A heightened feeling of responsibility is the finest and most important fruit that can be gained from spiritual science. It teaches us to grasp the true sense of life, to take it earnestly so that what we cast upon the stream of evolution may be meaningful.” – Rudolf Steiner
If a child has a meltdown when it doesn’t get its way, the adult is advised to stay calm and quietly talk to the child until they can successfully divert the child’s attention. This advice implies that adults have some control over their own emotions. Generally, this is regarded as a healthy development, and people who can’t control their emotions are deemed immature.
The control we seek over negative emotions makes total sense; however, in this exercise we are also asked to have control over our pleasurable emotions. Why? As we’ve explored in previous posts, we exist in the center of two opposing forces. When we looked at virtues from this point of view, we saw that courage exists in the balance between foolhardiness and cowardice. Thus, in this month’s exercise, we should seek to feel the peaceful calmness somewhere between depression and euphoria.
Steiner elsewhere says that every day we should laugh and cry. Emotions are real; we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. We shouldn’t suppress them, but we can learn to be the master of them. We may need to meditate on this a moment to recognize the difference between suppression and mastery.
In this third of six exercises (see previous posts for exercises one and two), we are being asked to consciously choose a moment to understand an emotion we are having rather than succumb to it – and to do that for about 15 minutes every day this month.
Let’s see what Dr. Steiner has to say:
In the third month, life should be centered on a new exercise – the development of a certain equanimity towards the fluctuation of joy and sorrow; pleasure and pain; ‘heights of jubilation and “depths of despair” should quite consciously be replaced by an equable mood. Care is taken that no pleasure should carry us away, no sorrow plunge us into the depths, no experience lead to immoderate anger or vexation, no expectation give rise to anxiety or fear, no situation disconcert us, and so on. There need be no fear that such an exercise will make life arid and unproductive; far rather will it quickly be noticed that the experiences to which this exercise is applied are replaced by purer qualities of soul. Above all, if subtle attentiveness is maintained, an inner tranquility in the body will one day become noticeable; as in the two exercises before, we pour this feeling into the body, letting it stream from the heart towards the hands, the feet, and finally the head. This naturally cannot be done after each exercise, for here it is not a matter of one single exercise but of sustained attentiveness to the inner life of the soul. Once every day, at least, this inner tranquility should be called up before the soul and then the exercise of pouring it out from the heart should proceed. A connection with the exercises of the first and second months is maintained, as in the second month with the exercise of the first month.
Mastering joy and sorrow: We may feel sometimes an urge to cry. Then it is time to practice this exercise. We force ourselves with all our strength not to cry for once. The same with laughing. We try, on some occasion when we feel laughter rising up, not to laugh but to remain peaceful. That does not mean that we should not laugh any more: but we should be able to take hold of ourselves, be master over laughing and crying. When we have overcome ourselves in this way a few times, we will have a feeling of peace and equanimity. We allow this feeling to flow through the whole body, pouring it out from the heart first of all into the arms and hands, so that it can radiate out from the hands into our actions. Then we let it stream down to the feet and last of all up to the head. This exercise requires earnest self-observation and should take at least a quarter of an hour each day.
Excerpt from: Guidance in Esoteric Training by Rudolf Steiner.
This exercise, mastery of our feeling, is so important right now. We are exposed everywhere to countless efforts to enflame us one way or another, and many of us are often reacting with great vehemence to something we read or hear. Of course, much of what we are hearing is horrific—if it’s true—, but working with this exercise may teach us how to see through all the manipulation and calm ourselves.
When we have allowed something to pull us off center, we are not masters of ourselves. It’s just a fact. If we believe that having mastery over our own selves will not allow us to be fully ourselves, we may want to examine that conviction. If we can simply come to ourselves in the moment and giving ourselves permission to laugh or cry, we lose nothing.
As in the previous month, don’t forget to occasionally practice the first exercise, mastery of thinking and the second exercise, mastery of doing. Meanwhile, this month we will see how we fare with mastering our feelings.