Most of us want to do the right thing, but it’s not always clear as to exactly what that is. Being right on target is not doing the exact same thing in every situation. We need to step back and figure out what is going on before we act. Like it or not, right now humanity is going through an important period of social change and self-examination. We have the privilege and opportunity to express ourselves, but we must also consider the rights and well-being of others.
Nobody has said that doing the right thing would always be easy. Instead of hesitating about how to act in our OUTER LIVES, we could take the option of seeking guidance from the INNER SELVES. One important access point to our INNER nature is through openness or awareness. As our personal thoughts focus less on our selfish interests we can sense the commonalities that we share with others. This is a well-known practice among the spiritually evolved.
“Thus man frees himself inwardly
by making the external rhythm into
an inner one.” ~ Rudolf Steiner
“The only knowledge which satisfies
us is one which is subject to no external
standards but springs from the inner life
of the personality.” ~ Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian esotericist who viewed the seven day week’s organization of time as a reflection of an essential INNER pattern. As the founder of the Anthroposophical Society he presented many ancient spiritual principles in beautiful, simple and new ways. Many of These spiritual practices appear in his book Guidance in Esoteric Training. One practice in particular is reinterpreted on the Well Wishers Group blog. And while Dayology cannot recommend joining any particular groups, it is interesting to learn what esotericism or INNER study entails.
Steiner recommends that we spend time each and every day examining our thoughts. “To turn one’s gaze inwards from time to time, even if only for five minutes daily at the same time. In so doing one should sink down into oneself, carefully take counsel with oneself, test and form one’s principles of life, run through in thought one’s knowledge — or lack of it — weigh up one’s duties, think over the contents and true purpose of life, feel genuinely pained by one’s own errors and imperfections. In a word: labour to discover the essential, the enduring, and earnestly aim at goals in accord with it: for instance, virtues to be acquired. (Not to fall into the mistake of thinking that one has done something well, but to strive ever further towards the highest standards.)” Steiner advised that each day of the week we consider our a spiritual acts.
Monday – Speaking – WORD
Tuesday – Doing – DEED
Wednesday – Organizing – STANDPOINT
Thursday – Caring – HABIT
Friday – Recall – MEMORY
Saturday – Thinking – OPINION
Sunday – Judging – JUDGEMENT
It is fascinating to see how Steiner has organized these daily practices around the days of the week. He also used this seven-fold rhythm to spiritually orient the education of children. This effort extends to the youngest child in terms of the color of the day and other daily concerns. This perceptive program is offered in Waldorf schools around the world.