Life and its processes are similar to all living beings. We all share the same home, Earth. We all developed here under the same sun and will continue to do so. The world is not ready or finished. It continues to develop. Can we sense the wishes of the World and the Life? Can we sense what their wishes are for the future? Can we observe these things?
For what do we need to do observations? They are necessary for our survival. We need to observe what is taking place in ourselves and in the world around us in order to be able to act in the right way. We use our senses to observe and through them we will have a report of what is happening.
In order to observe something we need peace and quiet to be able to do that. The less movement there is the better we are able to observe. It is far more easier to observe a slow moving object than a fast moving object. We also need peace and quiet inside ourselves in order to be able to make observations. To make observations we use our sense organs and our brain. We can think of our sense organs and the brain as mirrors that form images of the world and of ourselves. In order to gain accurate images we need clear mirrors. If we think of a mirror being something like water, we need the surface of the water to be still and smooth to see reflections in it. As long as the water has it's own movement, you see only the play of the waves. In order to set up a good mirror we need to become inwardly still. The stillness can be made from within or forced from the outside. We are living in times that forces us to become still from the outside. What is it that this situation is trying to originate in our consciousness? What do we need to observe? Why are we forced to become still?
I am getting back to our sense organs for a while. How can we clear and smooth the surface of our mirrors? We clear them by correcting them in a relation towards the world. We smooth the surface by getting out of the water, by getting out of the way. So the senses need to have a relation towards the world in order for them to develop properly, and they need to be corrected through the experiences of the world to gain clarity. What do I mean by getting out of the way of our own senses? I mean that we don't "color" or change the sense perceptions with the way we live our life of soul, the way we think, feel and will. This is easier said than done. But it can be practised through focusing our thoughts on objects and guiding ourselves to only form thoughts from the object in question and trying to avoid our own personal attitudes, memories, feelings and associations. Another thing we can do is to get to know what our life of soul is and what are our ways of thinking, feeling and willing so that we know how exactly we might be coloring our sense perceptions. And how do we get to know the ways of life of our soul? This is done in a relation with the world and our fellow humans. We get to know our ways of thinking, feeling and willing by the work of karma.
Eurythmy is sometimes called "Karma Dance" and I can clearly see the reasons for it. It is in eurythmy that we get to experience our ways of thinking, feeling and willing directly and without delay. Moving together with other people doing eurythmy is like a mini version of your way of life and you get to see the results directly. This is of course at the same time very unpleasant because you will get multiple experiences of failure, but also at the same time this gives you multiple opportunities to develop your way of life in just one lifetime.
We all have our "ways"; one is too fast and the other is too slow. When we know our "ways", we are better to translate between ourselves and the world. To get to know your own "ways" requires a lot of courage, humility and humor. Further on when we know our ways, in eurythmy we have the opportunity to change our ways and transform ourselves. How does this happen in eurythmy class? We need at least two people to do eurythmy and at least one person to direct and correct the other two. Living is easy when you are doing your own thing by yourself in the space. But, when someone else comes along, all of a sudden you’ll get into all sorts of trouble. The third person is there for correcting the other two. The thing is that we think that we know our ways and that is partly true. And also we usually know what we don't know of our ways. But there's always something that we don't even have a clue about, and that is what we don't know we don't know. We need each other and the third person to point out our "ways" so that we get to know them all.
When doing eurythmy you get to know your life of soul and translate or transform some of the ways it has, it is like you would be cleaning yourself and clearing your sense organs. You are getting out of your own way.
In the process of getting out of our own way what do we find? What is revealed? When we get out of the water we can start to observe it. We can start to listen to the life itself, its processes inside ourselves and in the world around us. We have to find a way back to realization that nature and it's life processes are in us and that we live in them. We are not outside of nature but inside it. We can only find nature outside of us after we have found the nature inside of us. And this sensing of nature inside of us will give birth to a natural guidance for our actions that are in accordance with life itself.
Life is a process in time. You can't really say that here's Life, grasp it and show it to someone. Life is living through material appearances but it is not matter itself. When life works we see transformations. If we want to get to know Life we can start to pay attention to the transformations in Nature. Trying to feel and sense the small things we train our senses to subtle worlds. Feeling and sensing the small things will help you feel and sense the inner life of things. When was the last time that you tried to observe your inner self?
This world of ours is very concerned with outer appearances and we make great effort on outer transformations. I think the underlying reason for the enthusiastic urge to do transformations and makeovers on our bodies and homes is the need to feel connected with Life and it's transformative processes. The urges are reflecting our wishes that we have in our inner selves. Outer transformations are fantastic and sometimes really needed but solely they will not be sufficient. Inner transformations are needed equally in order to reach a real transformation. We need to find a balance between our outer and inner life. Otherwise the transformation won't last the test of time.
So the next time you have an urge to change your hair or buy new clothes or buy new tech, take a step back and try to feel into your soul’s wishes. What would a new haircut represent for your inner being? Could it represent new thoughts? Why not instead start a new hobby to get new thoughts!
The ability to act in accordance with life is a question of the ability to stay present, connected and sober in your daily life with yourself and your surroundings.
Little Gods of Small Things
I believe in small things
bees, young streams
and twinkle twinkle little stars
Little gods of small things
I believe in small things
photons, ants
and the green green grass
Little gods of small things
Light and dark
Water and dust
There's a little everything in us
Through a conversation
we all come to live
Little gods of small things
- Jonna Räihä
Februarys's blog was authored by Jonna Räihä (born January 22, 1987); Eurythmy teacher student, the founder of Eurythmy Channel Helsinki, musician and artist of Life.
The 2020 year's blogs will all carry a theme: "The World Through Eurythmist's Eyes". Eurythmy Channel Helsinki has asked to see the world through 12 different eurythmist's eyes and experiences. Through the blogs we can have some expression of that how practising eurythmy can transform human consiousness and the way of understanding the world and oneself.
Vuoden 2020 Blogit käsittelevät teemaa: "Maailma eurytmistin silmin". Eurythmy Channel Helsinki on pyytänyt saada nähdä maailman 12:sta eri eurytmistin näkemänä ja kokemana. Blogien avulla voimme saada jonkinlaisen ilmaisun sille, miten eurytmian harjoittaminen voi kehittää ihmisen tietoisuutta ja tapaa ymmärtää maailmaa sekä itseään.