A Practical Manual of Meditation (eBook)

A Practical Manual of Meditation

“It is easy to be good by being weak.
It is easy to be strong by being wicked.
It is difficult and heroic to be free . . .”

Rudolf Steiner often emphasized the importance of meditation practice for the self-development of students of Anthroposophy. In his writings and lectures, he offered various instructions for approaches to meditation and for strengthening qualities needed to unfold our latent spiritual capacities.

In this accessible book, Massimo Scaligero—a lifelong student of Rudolf Steiner and Spiritual Science—systematically illumines Steiner’s practices, building on the foundation of our human constitution and explaining how and why these practices work. Such efforts take place in the world and with the people around us and restore us to our true condition: “Initiation is the restoration of the spirit’s original state, despite its human incarnation.”

This text by Massimo Scaligero should be read and thought deeply, but also acted upon. It will be an aid to all those who wish to take the path of initiation through Spiritual Science.

A Practical Manual of Meditation is a translation from Italian of Manuale Pratico della Meditazione (Teseo, Rome, 1973/2005).

C O N T E N T S:

Translator’s Note
Preface

The Esoteric Structure of the Human Being
Freedom
The Formative Power of the Concept
Concentration
Meditation
Profound Concentration
The Spiritual Practice of Feeling
Breathing
Mental Silence
After The Meditation
Pure Perceiving
The Power of Imagination
The Exercise of the Rose Cross
The Power of Distraction
Instincts
The Exercise of Memory
Calm
Rosicrucian Method
Soul Ataraxia
Prayer
The Solar Opus
The Higher “I”
The Power of the Cross
The Force of Eros
Sacred Love
Karma
Fraternity and Sociality
Spiritual Practice
Pedagogy
The Path of Initiation
Spiritual Healing
The Function of Suffering
Inner Crisis
Anguish
Tiredness
The Joy of Existing
Diet
Rules of Initiation

About the Author

Massimo Scaligero (1906–1980) was born Antonio Scabelloni in Veroli (Frosinone), Italy. He was a contemporary Italian spiritual master who drank deeply from both Western and Eastern traditions. By direct experience, he was equally at home with Western philosophy and psychology, Western esotericism (Rosicrucianism, Templarism, and Anthroposophy) and Eastern meditative practices (Zen and Tibetan Buddhism). He was the author of numerous books, including (in Italian, untranslated): The Way of the Solar Will; Immortal Love; Yoga, Meditation, Magic; From Yoga to the Rose Cross; Practical Manual of Meditation; The Logos and the New Mysteries; Psychotherapy; Techniques of Inner Concentration; Healing with Thinking; Meditation and Miracles; Thinking as Antimaterialism; Western Kundalini; Isis Sophia; and Zen and Logos.