Module 3 of 2023
Participants on this module
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The third Module of 2023 was held on the weekend of 18 to 20 August 2023. The theme for the year is:
Cultivating a Relationship with the Etheric Christ
The theme of the weekend was:
The Encounter with Christ in Life
Africa Seminary Module 3 of 2023 on the theme of Cultivating a relationship to the Etheric Christ, exploring the Encounter with the Christ in Life
The opening talk on the theme by Rev. Michaël Merle
Report by John-Peter Gernaat
The theme for the year of cultivating a relationship to the Etheric Christ was introduced in the module in February by Rev. Jonah Evans. He brought three main points: the indwelling Christ, the encounter with Christ, and a focus on Communion. In the previous module we looked at the indwelling Christ and this module will explore the encounter with Christ.
The talk on the theme was preceded by a question put to everyone present and answered individually as to what comes to mind when one hears, “you will meet Christ in the other”. This statement can only become a reality when it is also possible for the other to meet Christ in us. What this means is that as a community, a community of human beings, if we cannot manifest Christ to the other, how are they going to manifest Christ to us. The other side to being able to see Christ in the other is to be in the place where the other can see Christ in us. Therefore, if we have to see the Christ in the other, we are also the other to someone else. The exercises that made up the Saturday were an experience of what it means for us to able to manifest the Christ in ourselves so that the other can see the Christ in us. At the end of the Saturday the endeavour was to have experienced an encounter with the Christ in the other, which would then only be possible if the other had encountered the Christ in us.
In this presentation, as in many other presentations, the starting point is the constitution of the human being. Everything that we are as human beings comes back to our understanding of our own fourfold constitution. In this particular presentation that constitution will be presented in a way that it has not been presented before, providing a new picture.
We have a threefold constitution, body, soul, and spirit. But we also have a fourfold constitution. We have a physical body. We have a life force, a capacity to live, to grow, to regenerate which we can call the etheric body. We have a body of expression and temperament, a body that is filled with reactions and feelings and can express itself. This body adds gesture to my physical body. We refer to this component as the astral body. We also know that we are at a time in the evolution of the human being where we experience an aspect of the essence of ourselves in ourselves. Because this is our current experience it is very difficult to imagine a time when the human being did not experience themselves as being in themselves but rather as if they were being accompanied by themselves. We now experience ourselves as integrated into a singular experience of ourselves. This aspect of the essential self is that which can take true responsibility. It is that aspect of ourselves that is connected to the light of Christ. It is that aspect that we have to find in the other, and the other has to see in us if we are going to have an encounter with Christ.
We will encounter a new aspect of how we can obscure the essential self, that is connected to our higher “I”, that is connected to the Christ “I” or the True “I”, through which Christ can be present in us, when we wrap it in a dark cloud; the light of the essential self will not shine for others.
We have a foundation that can contain us – a physical body. In the first diagram below it is represented as a shallow bowl in purple, but we can imagine it as a spheroid that is solid. It is a vessel in which everything else can exist.
Our life-force, our vitality, our etheric is what makes the physical body regenerate. We have a capacity to replace ourselves, the tissue of our body, over time. Our skin, as an example, is completely regenerated every seven years; every cell in our skin is replaced in that period of time. The etheric regenerates the physical but always follows the pattern that was already established. There is a very strong link between the formative force, life energy, reproductive growth body and the physical body. For the purposes of the diagram it is presented in green. The diagram shows a connection between the physical body and the etheric body as a dotted green line. This connection will dissolve at death, therefore it is a dotted line. It may weaken over time as we grow older. The regeneration process also slows down as we age. The physical, without life, will erode. This is a law of the natural world. It is the life force that stops the erosion, but the life force starts to loosen and the erosion begins to appear. This starts at birth, although the life force is very strong in the first seven years of life, providing the child with its complete body. At some point the erosion begins to overcome the life force, and the physical begins to disintegrate. Our etheric is also present in our thinking, in our social life and as these aspects of life grow stronger the availability to the physical body lessens.
The component in the human being that we wish to focus on is that component that can express itself, that is connected to language, and that is the personality we encounter in the other. That is the astral body. The astral has the ability to fluctuate and in this diagram it is represented in red as youthful and exuberant. The astral body needs coordination to prevent it being all over the place.
The “I” is presented in the diagram as the blue line, taking hold of the astral and the etheric. The “I” has not yet taken hold completely of the physical. It takes hold mostly of the astral and to a lesser extent of the etheric. It is not an accident that the blue and red represents the sword and the snake. Our “I” has the ability to take hold of the astral that rises up.
When we go to sleep the blue and the red loosen allowing the etheric to do its primary work: to regenerate the physical. In the morning we reconnect and reintegrate ourselves.
The talk on the theme was preceded by a question put to everyone present and answered individually as to what comes to mind when one hears, “you will meet Christ in the other”. This statement can only become a reality when it is also possible for the other to meet Christ in us. What this means is that as a community, a community of human beings, if we cannot manifest Christ to the other, how are they going to manifest Christ to us. The other side to being able to see Christ in the other is to be in the place where the other can see Christ in us. Therefore, if we have to see the Christ in the other, we are also the other to someone else. The exercises that made up the Saturday were an experience of what it means for us to able to manifest the Christ in ourselves so that the other can see the Christ in us. At the end of the Saturday the endeavour was to have experienced an encounter with the Christ in the other, which would then only be possible if the other had encountered the Christ in us.
In this presentation, as in many other presentations, the starting point is the constitution of the human being. Everything that we are as human beings comes back to our understanding of our own fourfold constitution. In this particular presentation that constitution will be presented in a way that it has not been presented before, providing a new picture.
We have a threefold constitution, body, soul, and spirit. But we also have a fourfold constitution. We have a physical body. We have a life force, a capacity to live, to grow, to regenerate which we can call the etheric body. We have a body of expression and temperament, a body that is filled with reactions and feelings and can express itself. This body adds gesture to my physical body. We refer to this component as the astral body. We also know that we are at a time in the evolution of the human being where we experience an aspect of the essence of ourselves in ourselves. Because this is our current experience it is very difficult to imagine a time when the human being did not experience themselves as being in themselves but rather as if they were being accompanied by themselves. We now experience ourselves as integrated into a singular experience of ourselves. This aspect of the essential self is that which can take true responsibility. It is that aspect of ourselves that is connected to the light of Christ. It is that aspect that we have to find in the other, and the other has to see in us if we are going to have an encounter with Christ.
We will encounter a new aspect of how we can obscure the essential self, that is connected to our higher “I”, that is connected to the Christ “I” or the True “I”, through which Christ can be present in us, when we wrap it in a dark cloud; the light of the essential self will not shine for others.
We have a foundation that can contain us – a physical body. In the first diagram below it is represented as a shallow bowl in purple, but we can imagine it as a spheroid that is solid. It is a vessel in which everything else can exist.
Our life-force, our vitality, our etheric is what makes the physical body regenerate. We have a capacity to replace ourselves, the tissue of our body, over time. Our skin, as an example, is completely regenerated every seven years; every cell in our skin is replaced in that period of time. The etheric regenerates the physical but always follows the pattern that was already established. There is a very strong link between the formative force, life energy, reproductive growth body and the physical body. For the purposes of the diagram it is presented in green. The diagram shows a connection between the physical body and the etheric body as a dotted green line. This connection will dissolve at death, therefore it is a dotted line. It may weaken over time as we grow older. The regeneration process also slows down as we age. The physical, without life, will erode. This is a law of the natural world. It is the life force that stops the erosion, but the life force starts to loosen and the erosion begins to appear. This starts at birth, although the life force is very strong in the first seven years of life, providing the child with its complete body. At some point the erosion begins to overcome the life force, and the physical begins to disintegrate. Our etheric is also present in our thinking, in our social life and as these aspects of life grow stronger the availability to the physical body lessens.
The component in the human being that we wish to focus on is that component that can express itself, that is connected to language, and that is the personality we encounter in the other. That is the astral body. The astral has the ability to fluctuate and in this diagram it is represented in red as youthful and exuberant. The astral body needs coordination to prevent it being all over the place.
The “I” is presented in the diagram as the blue line, taking hold of the astral and the etheric. The “I” has not yet taken hold completely of the physical. It takes hold mostly of the astral and to a lesser extent of the etheric. It is not an accident that the blue and red represents the sword and the snake. Our “I” has the ability to take hold of the astral that rises up.
When we go to sleep the blue and the red loosen allowing the etheric to do its primary work: to regenerate the physical. In the morning we reconnect and reintegrate ourselves.
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In order to encounter Christ, we do so through what manifests as a result of the “I”-organisation. It shines like a light and is the light in us. Sometimes it is difficult to encounter the light in ourselves and in other. This is due to an element that arises primarily from the astral. Our soul life creates a shadow. It creates a shadow-cloud around itself, represented in the next diagram in black. The shadow-cloud can obscure the healthy working of the “I”. The shadow always accompanies us. It is composed of three attitudes and everything that comes from those attitudes. These are attitudes about ourselves that arise around a denial of our “I”-organisation, which we then project onto others. These attitudes counter the world of the Spirit in us. The attitudes are: (1) FEAR. There are many things that we are afraid of. We are afraid that we are not able to do what we should essentially be able to do. We are afraid that we will be the only one who cannot do it. We are afraid that we will be a failure and that others will recognise this in us. We are afraid that we will get into trouble. (2) HATRED. Hatred is a real experience of ourselves. Hating our incapacities, our lack of abilities, hatred of physical attributes. (3) DOUBT. We doubt that we will be able to do the things that are expected of us, and we doubt even that the Spirit in us is real.
We may experience the hatred of self in other people who constantly apologise for themselves. The shadow self of fear, hatred and doubt can be very strong and obscures the capacity for the “I”-organisation to shine.
We may experience the hatred of self in other people who constantly apologise for themselves. The shadow self of fear, hatred and doubt can be very strong and obscures the capacity for the “I”-organisation to shine.
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Rudolf Steiner reminds us that we need the shadow because it is quite instructive. However, we have a responsibility towards the shadow. This is an important word: responsibility – the ability to respond; not the ability to react. The astral is our ability to react; the “I”-organisation provides us with the ability to respond. Rudolf Steiner says that we can learn to love the shadow. When we love the shadow, we transform the shadow and it becomes a radiant being of light, so that it lights up for others to encounter the Christ in us. We are not able to transform the shadow by ignoring it or by hating it; it is only through loving it that we transform the shadow. Learn to love the shadow by appreciating how it teaches us about the areas in our life that we need to still work on. In the next diagram the transformation of the shadow is shown as rays of blue light emanating from the “I”-organisation and penetrating the edge of the shadow cloud transforming the shadow being into a radiant being of light. The source of the light can only come from our “I”-organisation. We are all in the process of transforming our shadow, no one has yet completely transformed their shadow being. It is in as much as we are able to recognise the shadow being within us and addressing it, acknowledging that we know it for all that it represents, accepting the work that we need to do to transform it and not ignore it, that we are in the process of transforming this
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This diagrammatic presentation of the human being is different from any previously presented at an Africa Seminary. The aim is that through the exercises that the participants in the Africa Seminary will engage in, they will discover something of how they encounter others. In these encounters there will be an encounter with the “I”-organisation, but the “I”-organisation is unable to speak a language, it is the astral that speaks. Therefore, the encounter with the “I”-organisation is through the astral. It will therefore be of interest to discover how the “I”-organisation uses the astral to express something of itself, and to learn to keep the shadow from getting in the way of the “I”-organisation expressing itself. It will be in encountering the astral, well held by the “I”, that we can hope to encounter the Christ. By having a sense of how this works in me, we can begin to have a sense of how it works in the other. It is about how, when we encounter another person, the “I”-organisation is present in the encounter, how much the shadow in held in check and how much the light of the “I”-organisation shines through.
The Christ-force is in all of creation, in all of nature. However, it is in the human being in a very specific way, in a way that we cannot find anywhere else. It is for this reason that we need other human beings. Living in isolation is the worst thing we can do to a human being; for example, placing a person in solitary confinement.
In the questions after the talk, a question was asked how the Guardian Angel helps to transform the shadow. The Angel carries our higher self “as a mother carries a baby in her womb”. The incarnated “I”-organisation is more effective when it can connect with the higher self. It is the connection to the higher self that will counter the fear, the hatred and the doubt.
Since the incarnation of the “I”-organisation the human being needs community with other human beings and no longer a tribe of hereditary connection. The community with others is one we build through our “I”-organisation with any, and all, other human beings, and is therefore independent of hereditary connections. It is through this community, built consciously, that we can encounter Christ in the other.
The Christ-force is in all of creation, in all of nature. However, it is in the human being in a very specific way, in a way that we cannot find anywhere else. It is for this reason that we need other human beings. Living in isolation is the worst thing we can do to a human being; for example, placing a person in solitary confinement.
In the questions after the talk, a question was asked how the Guardian Angel helps to transform the shadow. The Angel carries our higher self “as a mother carries a baby in her womb”. The incarnated “I”-organisation is more effective when it can connect with the higher self. It is the connection to the higher self that will counter the fear, the hatred and the doubt.
Since the incarnation of the “I”-organisation the human being needs community with other human beings and no longer a tribe of hereditary connection. The community with others is one we build through our “I”-organisation with any, and all, other human beings, and is therefore independent of hereditary connections. It is through this community, built consciously, that we can encounter Christ in the other.
Africa Seminary Module 3 of 2023 on the theme of Cultivating a relationship to the Etheric Christ, exploring the Encounter with the Christ in Life.
The Saturday exercises
Report by John-Peter Gernaat
The Saturday of the Africa Seminary module 3 for 2023, was made up mainly of four practical exercises. The purpose of the exercises was so that by the end of the day the participants could say that they had, in a real sense, had an encounter with the essential self of another person, and in that encounter had encountered the Christ in the other.
The first of the exercises was a listening exercise. The aim here is not to describe the exercise so that you, the reader can go and reenact the exercise, but rather to present a sense of what the exercise meant for the participants. In this exercise two participants listened carefully to each other, one at a time, in order to create together two images that would, when compared, resemble each other to the extent of being identical. It was quite surprising how well the images that each couple produced resembled each other.
The second exercise involved the creation of a listening space in which another person could speak and, in speaking, think through what they were saying. Each participant expressed how unusual it was to be able to speak in this manner where someone listened with the intention of creating a safe space, well held. One experienced a reverence being created for one's own words. Equally the person creating the listening space felt honoured to accept the words of the other into this safe space.
The third exercise involved two verses of scripture that intentionally spoke to each other. In pairs, each partner listened, creating a safe listening space, to their partner describing how their verse spoke to them. After listening to each other, the first in the partnership who had listened asked for more information on the verse. What was expressed later was how the listening had created a deeper connection to the verse of scripture so that each one had more to say when asked.
The last of the exercises was one of communicating in complete silence. We each experienced how it was possible to communicate without words, by connecting to the presence of the other person, and share an intimate conversation for a period of time. This exercise was concluded through an intense looking into the soul of the other person.
By the end of the day everyone was able to express how, through these exercises, they had experienced something of the other person that spoke to the true being of the other person. In this encounter with the other in a true sense, each one could realise how this encounter with the other represents an encounter with the Christ.
The first of the exercises was a listening exercise. The aim here is not to describe the exercise so that you, the reader can go and reenact the exercise, but rather to present a sense of what the exercise meant for the participants. In this exercise two participants listened carefully to each other, one at a time, in order to create together two images that would, when compared, resemble each other to the extent of being identical. It was quite surprising how well the images that each couple produced resembled each other.
The second exercise involved the creation of a listening space in which another person could speak and, in speaking, think through what they were saying. Each participant expressed how unusual it was to be able to speak in this manner where someone listened with the intention of creating a safe space, well held. One experienced a reverence being created for one's own words. Equally the person creating the listening space felt honoured to accept the words of the other into this safe space.
The third exercise involved two verses of scripture that intentionally spoke to each other. In pairs, each partner listened, creating a safe listening space, to their partner describing how their verse spoke to them. After listening to each other, the first in the partnership who had listened asked for more information on the verse. What was expressed later was how the listening had created a deeper connection to the verse of scripture so that each one had more to say when asked.
The last of the exercises was one of communicating in complete silence. We each experienced how it was possible to communicate without words, by connecting to the presence of the other person, and share an intimate conversation for a period of time. This exercise was concluded through an intense looking into the soul of the other person.
By the end of the day everyone was able to express how, through these exercises, they had experienced something of the other person that spoke to the true being of the other person. In this encounter with the other in a true sense, each one could realise how this encounter with the other represents an encounter with the Christ.
Africa Seminary Module 3 of 2023 on the theme of Cultivating a relationship to the Etheric Christ, exploring the Encounter with the Christ in Life.
The closing talk on the theme by Rev. Michaël Merle
Report by John-Peter Gernaat
The opening talk again considered the human being. We again considered this body that we have, that carries us and provides the vessel for the rest of us to find a home on the earth for the time that we are here. And we appreciate the living, growing, forming aspect of our constitution; that in Anthroposophy can sometimes be referred to as the etheric body. It is the body that allows us to regenerate, to grow, to reproduce – not only in the way that we might think, but the daily reproduction of cells in the body; the capacity for us to grow and develop. This forming, living part of us is always working on the physical by overcoming the physical principle which is a principle of disintegration. This principle of disintegration grows more and more as time progresses and the living capacity in us often lessens as time progresses. We experience this as ageing. There is also in the human being the capacity for an inner life, for our own thoughts, for our own analysis of experience and our own capacity to express ourselves through tone of voice, for sharing our insights and ideas. This enables us to engage with others and communicate. This life of the soul is an expression of what we can describe as the astral body. Then we looked very strongly at what it is that coordinates us, that holds us, that is able to take the reaction of the astral body into a response from a well-coordinated self: the essential incarnated “I”-organisation. That part of the human being which can connect to the higher self, which remains in the care of our Guardian Angel. It is the capacity in us to be at one with the spiritual world and also at the same time at one with the earthly reality of life.
What we appreciate is that the astral body, this body of reaction, this body of emotion, this body of expression, can be beautifully coordinated, but we know that we do not always do that. There are times when the astral acts on its own and we can experience this as explosive reaction. This is part of daily reality. The astral body can be responsible for fallouts between people that last for years, and disconnections that can carry on and on. As a consequence of that there are three principles that Rudolf Steiner explained that establish in us a shadow. Very often we encounter the shadow of the person and not the clear, true image of the person. There are three things that contribute to the shadow; the inclinations that can lead us towards forming this shadow, a shadow that may sometimes horrify us when we consider it, the shadow that is the very last thing that we want people to see about us, because it is not the real true self. It is an unfortunate and misshaped part of us. Most of us do a lot to either ignore it and suppress it in the belief that if we ignore it and suppress it no one else will see it. The solution that Rudolf Steiner gives to the shadow is not to despise it and ignore it, but to learn to love it. As we do this the shadow transforms, he says, into a being of light. It becomes the gateway through which the true self can shine.
The three attitudes that compose this shadow are fear, hatred, and doubt, and the sub attitudes that relate to these. The fear, the hatred, the doubt that make up the shadow are initially not an attitude about other people but an attitude about ourselves, which we then project onto others. We fear that we will not be able to do the things that we desire to do. We doubt that we will be able to manage it. We begin to hate that aspect of ourselves that fears and doubts. We hate that we have this other side that compels us to go beyond our comfort zone and we begin to hate ourselves, doubt ourselves, fear that we will never be able to find ourselves in this life. Then it becomes very easy to project these attitudes: we fear the other, we begin to hate the other, we begin to doubt that the other has anything to offer. If we were to fully submit to fear, hatred and doubt we would isolate ourselves. We had this experience during the lockdown of the 2020 pandemic where we experienced how fear and hatred and doubt were projected onto others.
We looked at certain words that come from the gospel that engage our will. The moment that our will is engaged it takes us out of ourselves and into the world. We need a positive engagement to counter fear, hatred and doubt. In the Sermon on the Mount, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us three action words: ask (and it will be given), seek (and you will find), knock (and it will be opened). If we look for something that will counter our fear we should ask, because fear often freezes us and we become silent. If we are able to engage in seeking, we have hope that we might find something and that will help us counter doubt. If we knock, we do so in the hope that the door will open, the door never opens by itself, someone is on the other side and immediately we are in a relationship. This relationship cannot be one of hatred, otherwise we would not have knocked.
We also considered other words that come from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians in chapter 13. In this Paul says that there are three things that remain: faith, hope and love. We can also align these words to counter fear, hatred and doubt. If we have faith – meaning that we have conviction – this acts as a counter to fear; hope as a counter to doubt; and love as the counter to hatred.
What this talk wishes to bring is how we can look at faith, hope and love in a different way. We begin the Act of Consecration of the Human Being with three words that help us to counter fear, hatred and doubt. These three words are spoken by the celebrant before he or she takes the three steps up to the altar. We begin with the words “let us worthily fulfil”. In this statement we see that this is a working together to bring something to its full reality, something which we are all working towards. In community we fulfil worthily the action of consecrating, of ordaining, the future human being in us, in our community. We hear that we are going to do this out of the revelation of Christ. If something is revealed to us, we can see it. If we can see it, if there is light, there is nothing to be afraid of. The revelation is a counter to fear.
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We have revelation as a counter to Fear.
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We do this out of a reverence; another word for reverence is devotion; and another word for devotion is love. We do this out of a reverence for Christ.
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Reverence is a counter to Hatred.
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What we revere we care for and wish to nurture.
Finally, we do this in mindfulness of Christ’s deed. If we are mindful, truly mindful, we are not operating from an attitude of doubt; we are operating from an attitude of consciousness. We are mindful of Christ's deed, the action of Christ. The action of Christ, the great deed of Christ – the Mystery of Golgotha – changes everything. Rudolf Steiner describes the birth of Jesus which will lead to the fulfilment of the Mystery of Golgotha as the turning point of time.
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Mindfulness (holding in mind, bearing in mind, keeping in mind, the memory and consciousness of what this is all about) as a counter to Doubt.
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Fear, Hatred and Doubt are capitalised because they live in us almost as living beings, as monsters. Our task is to know where they come from and learn to love them, thereby overcoming them.
In conclusion we will look a little further at faith, hope, and love. Faith is easily understood because St James wrote a letter, that is often overlooked. James says in this letter that those he is writing to never need to speak to him about their faith because it will be visible in what they do. Your works will speak. This has made the letter controversial, and some have suggested that it does not have a place in the New Testament. We can therefore understand that:
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Faith is expressed in work, in what we do.
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Love is expressed when there is the presence of the other, be it the divine or another human being. There needs to be another being for love to express itself. When we say that we love ourselves, it is that one aspect of ourselves loves the whole of us. There has to be a sense of the other. The moment there is another, one is in connection, in communication, and therefore in community. In our sacrament of marriage, the couple is described as having entered into a “Community ofLlife”. Whether they have children or not does not lessen their ability to have community of life by letting in other people, be these children they might care for or friends that become part of a circle. They, in themselves, form a community of life. The two are a community of life. The words in the gospel: “Where two or more are gathered in my name…” are true: “I am there”.
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Love is expressed in community.
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Hope has something to do with that which is not yet realised, something that we sense will be realised, and we work towards the fulfilment of that hope. Hope is expressed in the idea that there is a future; there is more to come.
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Hope is expressed in the idea that it is for the future.
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If we put these words together then,
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Faith, Love, Hope are expressed in the work in the community for the future
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That is how faith, love, and hope can become practical: when we are working in a community for the future. It is not about what we do for today, or what we do that makes us feel better; the goal of working in a community is to build something for the future. Along the way we do get side benefits in that we do feel good, and we feel that we have accomplished something for today. The goal is always to work in community for the future. This is how we develop an attitude that makes it very difficult for the shadow to grow. If I am working in community for the future then fear, hatred, and doubt don't have much space. When there is no space for them, they begin to diminish, and as they diminish new things can begin to replace them: faith, love, and hope. Our shadow begins to become a beautiful being of light. This does not happen to the shadow if we try to counter it, only by developing ourselves in such a way that it begins to see the light in us, and by that the shadow begins to lessen. Then the sun is shining exactly in the place where it needs to shine, because there is only one moment in the day when we physically do not cast a shadow, and that is at midday when the sun is directly overhead. When the sun shines directly on us there is no shadow only the light that illuminates us. Now we are working towards the sun at midday always shining. Even if it is midnight, the sun shines always in that position, brightly, momentarily held in the heavens in us, for every moment, in that position, where it shines brightly on us. Then we do not cast a shadow but shine only in the light of the sun which is the light of Christ in us. The words ‘revelation’, ‘reverence’, and ‘mindfulness’ are all connected to Christ: “Out of the revelation of Christ”; “in reverence of Christ”; “in mindfulness of Christ's Deed”. Christ in us, Christ in the other.
In wrapping up the Module, with only the Seminary participants present, we heard that Faith, Hope and Love in relationship develop TRUST. Trust develops when something is true. In questioning the objective of a community, it is possible to build truth again. This truth can lead to trust. Trust arises when the presence of Christ is there. The experience of Christ builds trust as this experience becomes real.
The sun shifts quickly. It requires constant consciousness to maintain the sun at the noon position shining directly from above. This requires a direct connection to Christ through the Christ-in-me.
In Matthew 6: 8 we hear that the individual impacts everyone. Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it will be opened. Not only is it I who will receive, but when I ask everyone receives.
In meeting the other, the Christ is present as we hear: “When two or more are gathered, are present, I am there”.
Africa Seminary Module 3 of 2023
The Encounter with Christ in Life
by Javier Kirigin
Friday 18 August and Sunday 20 August 2023
The module was presented by Rev. Michaël Merle in the form of an introductory talk on Friday night, a series of activities related to finding the Christ in the other on Saturday and a closing talk on Sunday.
I could not attend the Saturday part of the module, but the following are my impressions on the Friday and Sunday opening and closing talks respectively.
The Friday evening started with a question posed by Rev Merle to the attendees on: “What would you say if you were to meet Christ in the other?” There were responses such as “Hello”, “Am I Ready?” “Excited”, etc …. My response was the latter. This was a very pertinent question which transported us back to Module 1 of “Cultivating a Relationship with the Etheric Christ” leading us to know and understand that Christ lives in the Etheric realm and in each one of us in our unconscious souls.
Michael Merle then highlighted that to encounter the Christ in the other we should first endeavour to encounter the Christ impulse in ourselves. He introduced this in the form of the diagram below depicting the various bodies of the human being:
Friday 18 August and Sunday 20 August 2023
The module was presented by Rev. Michaël Merle in the form of an introductory talk on Friday night, a series of activities related to finding the Christ in the other on Saturday and a closing talk on Sunday.
I could not attend the Saturday part of the module, but the following are my impressions on the Friday and Sunday opening and closing talks respectively.
The Friday evening started with a question posed by Rev Merle to the attendees on: “What would you say if you were to meet Christ in the other?” There were responses such as “Hello”, “Am I Ready?” “Excited”, etc …. My response was the latter. This was a very pertinent question which transported us back to Module 1 of “Cultivating a Relationship with the Etheric Christ” leading us to know and understand that Christ lives in the Etheric realm and in each one of us in our unconscious souls.
Michael Merle then highlighted that to encounter the Christ in the other we should first endeavour to encounter the Christ impulse in ourselves. He introduced this in the form of the diagram below depicting the various bodies of the human being:
The Physical body is a container composed of all the mineral, organic and inorganic substances which is in a state of decay from the day we were born and especially so after the age of 25. The Physical body is the vessel of our soul which forms our Etheric body. The Astral body is expresses our emotions, moods, etc and the picture above shows the Astral body for a teenager, i.e. with many fluctuations. Now the Astral produces our Shadow self (lower self) through attitudes that show their ugly heads: Fear, Hatred and Doubt.
Our incarnated I-organisation (higher self) radiates light as antidotes to the 3 monsters mentioned above through Faith in Work, Love in Community and Hope for the future to use the words written by Paul to the Corinthians. In the very beginning of the Act of Consecration of Man we encounter three other words: Revelation as a counter to Fear, Reverence as a counter to Hatred and Mindfulness as a counter to Doubt. These will make inroads in the shadow self and more light will radiate enabling our I-organisation to shine into the world. Our incarnated I-organisation is connected to our higher I-organisation which is in turn connected to the True I or Christ I and as we work with our incarnated I-organisation we will find the seed of the Christ impulse within ourselves which will in turn help us to find the Christ in the other.
Our incarnated I-organisation (higher self) radiates light as antidotes to the 3 monsters mentioned above through Faith in Work, Love in Community and Hope for the future to use the words written by Paul to the Corinthians. In the very beginning of the Act of Consecration of Man we encounter three other words: Revelation as a counter to Fear, Reverence as a counter to Hatred and Mindfulness as a counter to Doubt. These will make inroads in the shadow self and more light will radiate enabling our I-organisation to shine into the world. Our incarnated I-organisation is connected to our higher I-organisation which is in turn connected to the True I or Christ I and as we work with our incarnated I-organisation we will find the seed of the Christ impulse within ourselves which will in turn help us to find the Christ in the other.
Africa Seminary Module 3 of 2023
by Michèle Schiess
At the Africa Seminary of 18 to 20 August, I was once again, privileged to deepen my relationship with the Christ. This weekend we explored Christ in the other, and it was very profound, particularly the experiential exercises. We unpacked our shadow sides: fear, hatred and doubt and that these are attitudes about ourselves which we project onto others.
We found that in the opposites fear/faith, doubt/hope and hatred/love, in Matthew 7: 7 he gives us the directive of Asking (and it [ faith ] will be given to you) Seeking (and you will find [ hope] ) and Knocking (and the door [love] will be opened.)
The weekend was rounded off with Faith translating in Work, Love in Community and Hope for the Future. This was obviously deeply nourishing having just launched MaTiga Fund which is all about work in community for the future!
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