Learning to Experience the Etheric World

Book excerpt: Today our world is increasingly filled with feelings of movement and flux, speed and a lack of sufficient time to do what "needs to be done." Life is marked by change, upheaval and revolution. The authors of this book suggest that, amid this life of turmoil, people are beginning to have conscious and semiconscious experiences of the etheric world of life forces. Yet, this growing sensitivity to the etheric realm only intensifies experiences of movement and upheaval. To counter such feelings, we must take hold of our inner life and strengthen the "I"--our true self. Featuring essays supplemented with a substantial amount of source material from Rudolf Steiner and other authors, this book introduces us to methods for strengthening one's essential self. In particular, we can learn to practice the ability to add to every physical perception--whether of a stone, a plant, an animal or another person--of the etheric reality associated with that entity. This process leads us to become more aware of the "after-image." We can also learn to become conscious within the etheric realm. This work with the after-image, says Baruch Urieli, "is not an esoteric path but is, rather, an endeavor to bring the beginnings of a natural consciousness of the etheric to full conciousness and, hence, under the rulership of the ego." Learning to Experience the Etheric World is an invaluable resource for inner development and the beginnings of spiritual sight.