Sunday Balance
Seven Exercises for Firm Ground Under Our Feet
7. Sunday: Balance
When we bring each and all of these exercises into balance the pendulum comes to rest. Centred in the I Am, we ‘love our neighbour as ourselves’ in body, soul and spirit.
Yet, this active-centre is both our own and not our own. The first three exercises, Mon-Wed, are centred around developing inner strength. The 4th holds the balance between responsibility for our inner life and responsibility for our effect in the world, which leads us to the final three exercises that are more about the “I” in the world: Action, Gratitude, Balance. In this we discover that same balance between centre and periphery. This centre that we have come to through these 7 practices encompasses both the cosmic periphery of our being and the heart-felt centre of the same.
Like living with the awareness of the breath. In for self-care; out for awareness of the other – In for my ‘own experience is true,’ out for ‘how does that affect others,’ in for right-relationship of decision and action, out for gratitude streaming towards all that comes to me. A rhythm that flows through all aspects of life.
Simply to observe this happening, to check that not one of these is washing away the other(s) is to rest in the centre; Sunday’s task.
These seven daily rhythms bring balance and harmony to the soul. As such they make every other aspect of life easier. Living with yourself, living with others, being productive or effective at work, as well as grounding your inner development all flow more beautifully when these seven are practiced.
Spiritual development will ‘upset’ you. There is no spiritual growth that does not upturn the patterns that hold us as we are. Security is going with the flow of the established self in an existing social context. Freedom comes from breaking the old patterns. We need security. We need stability. If we have neither, madness ensues.
We need freedom and we need growth. If we have neither, another kind of madness sets in. Spiritual development, if we take it seriously, will take us to the edge of madness. These exercises give us stability, and a security that does not inhibit growth.
Practicing these seven involves reminding ourselves, first thing in the morning and at points during the day, to pay attention and take action on the relevant point. Ten minutes or so on the day’s exercise during a break in work, maybe together with someone close. For some keeping these as an observance during other activities brings the soul back the gentle swing of the breath-pendulum that keeps us alive and healthy. They become habit after a while and need less attention.
Firm ground under our feet provides a base to build an inner temple for soul-spiritual development. For many, that would be the next step. An effective, six pillared Soul-Temple can be built with the “the ‘six accessory exercises.” Steiner presented these in various ways throughout his work. These six elements take more focus but are very effective in furthering development, making one more effective in this world and the other. You can find a guide to them in this video.
Steiner’s original text for these Grounding exercises
Links
Article: www.SoundingBowls.com/1/freedom
Longform on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/561041941
Shortform on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XvKl6MQsbY
A guide to 7-day Rhythms of the Foundation Stone
