We have arrived at the sixth and final basic (aka essential) exercise. We have explored ways to gain mastery of our three soul qualities: thinking, feeling, and willing. In the first three exercises, our goal with thinking is to obtain objectivity; with willing, to obtain control of our actions; with feeling, to obtain equanimity. In the fourth exercise between thinking and feeling to seek positivity, and in the fifth, between thinking and willing to become open-minded. All of this has led us to have more control of ourselves.
The sixth exercise is an effort to harmonize all these capacities. For example, we may have noticed that we have a hard time thinking positively, that we don’t naturally look for the good aspect of things. We may want to practice that particular exercise (#4) more often. Maybe we tend to act before we think, or we tend to get carried away by our feelings; we now have a practice to address the areas that require more effort. The sixth exercise asks us to practice all the exercises in various combinations to strengthen our self-control – our sense of self.
Let’s see what Dr. Steiner has to say:
In the sixth month, endeavors should be made to repeat all the five exercises again, systematically and in regular alternation. In this way a beautiful equilibrium of soul will gradually develop. It will be noticed, especially, that previous dissatisfactions with certain phenomena and beings in the world completely disappear. A mood reconciling all experiences takes possession of the soul, a mood that is by no means one of indifference but, on the contrary, enables one for the first time to work in the world for its genuine progress and improvement. One comes to a tranquil understanding of things which were formerly quite closed to the soul. The very movements and gestures of a person change under the influence of such exercises, and if, one day, he can actually observe that the character of his handwriting has altered, then he may say to himself that he is just about to reach a first rung on the upward path. Once again, two things must be stressed:
First, the six exercises described paralyze the harmful influence other occult exercises can have, so that only what is beneficial remains. Secondly, these exercises alone ensure that efforts in meditation and concentration will have a positive result. The esotericist must not rest content with fulfilling, however conscientiously, the demands of conventional morality, for that kind of morality can be extremely egotistical, if a person says: I will be good in order that I may be thought good. Esotericists do not do what is good because they want to be thought good, but because little by little they recognize that the good alone brings evolution forward, and that evil, stupidity and ugliness place hindrances along the path.
These exercises do not have to take exactly one month each. Some indication of time had to be indicated. What is important though, is that one practices them in the particular order given here. If anyone should practice the second exercise before the first, he would derive absolutely no benefit from it. The order is very important. Some people even believe that they ought to begin with the sixth exercise, the harmonizing one. But nothing can be harmonized which is not already there. Whoever does not practice the exercises in the given order will gain nothing at all from them. To begin with the sixth exercise is as senseless as if one needed to take six steps to cross a bridge and tried to take the sixth step first.
Excerpt from: Guidance in Esoteric Training by Rudolf Steiner.
One of the reasons this work is courageous is because we come face to face with the shortcomings in our own soul. Without striving for self-control, we tend to either excuse ourselves or berate ourselves for the outcomes of our daily lives. Many of us don’t even go this far; instead, we blame everyone or everything else for the outcomes of our daily lives. Taking responsibility for ourselves is hard to do, but that is only the first step.
If we refer back to April and the first exercise, thinking, right away we get a glimpse of the consequences of this exercise toward objectivity. Because we learn to focus on an irrelevant object, we gradually develop the skill to focus on our thoughts and deeds with objectivity; we become truthful to our own self. We begin to see objectively our own excuses, our own guilt, our own blame of others, and how they’ve dominated our thinking life. Plenty of our head space is hard to face until we obtain the required objectivity.
The reason we don’t see many people who have control of themselves is because it is a hard goal to reach. Yet, when we do meet such a person, it’s no longer difficult to imagine how just one person can make the world a better place. The mysterious answer to world problems begins with becoming a better person – one who has self-mastery. Since we’re alive anyway, we may as well begin the actual hard work of being a human being.