Q00.008 - Experiencing the chakras or lotus flowers

Question

Are different spiritual entities associated with different lotus flowers in anthrposophical literature? For example, when a person feels contact with higher forces sometimes through sensation in six petaled lotus, other times through feeling-like language in twelve petal flower and sometimes through two-petaled vision? Does this make any sense?

Answer

Written answer

Physiologically, the process of perception underlying conscious awareness is a filter system, holding back part of the spiritual streams. Higher perception consists of holding back more. There is a constant instreaming of imaginations, inspirations, intuitions from the astral, lower and higher spirit world. We sense-perceive only the part of the spiritual streams that we hold back by our bodily structure and senses, the rest just streams into our bodily structures (also etheric and astral, to which our waking consciousness does not reach, so we are unconscious of it). For contemporary waking consciousness, sense perception is related only to our physical senses like seeing, hearing .. However perception is to be considered as a spiritual process across the four bodily principles: our I-consciousness uses astral senses that utilize the facilities of our physical body (eg our eye or ear), but the I-organization really connects to all bodily principles.

Becoming aware of your chakras has to do with the development of the astral body that is pushing out astral substance based on inner strength. The chakras can be developed slowly and steadily into astral senses or spiritual organs of perception by diligent practice of concentration exercises. The different chakras will only develop naturally as spiritual senses in current and future epochs.

The higher chakras you mention are the sensory connection points in the higher astral body along the spine, with the nervous system connected to it eg by the ganglia (solar plexus), brain (pineal and pituitary glands , connection with etheric body). The heart is the center of Man where the twelve zodiacal flows stream in, and they stream out through the head similar as with Earth.

Same answer text now with references for further study

• Physiologically, the process of perception underlying conscious awareness is a filter system, holding back part of the spiritual streams. Higher perception consists of holding back more. There is a constant instreaming of imaginations, inspirations, intuitions from the astral, lower and higher spirit world.
  • first see the Waking Consciousness topic page, eg Schema FMC00.226 and Schema FMC00.229 and read the 1918-08-GA183 lectures
  • furthermore see 1908-10-26-GA107 but also GA208
• We sense-perceive only the part of the spiritual streams that we hold back by our bodily structure and senses, the rest just streams into our bodily structures (also etheric and astral, to which our waking consciousness does not reach, so we are unconscious of it).
  • see 1910-03-28-GA119
• For contemporary waking consciousness, sense perception is related only to our physical senses like seeing, hearing .. However perception is to be considered as a spiritual process across the four bodily principles: our I-consciousness uses astral senses that utilize the facilities of our physical body (eg our eye or ear), but the I-organization really connects to all bodily principles.
• Becoming aware of your chakras has to do with the development of the astral body that is pushing out astral substance based on inner strength
  • see eg 1909-10-26-GA115, extract on Development of the chakras
• The chakras can be developed slowly and steadily into astral senses or spiritual organs of perception by diligent practice of concentration exercises.1910-03-28-GA11
• The different chakras will only develop naturally as spiritual senses in current and future epochs.
  • see eg 1904-11-05-GA089 or Schema FMC00.092 on Development of the chakras
• The higher chakras you mention are the sensory connection points in the higher astral body along the spine
  • see eg Schema FMC00.135 on Nerve-sense subsystem
• , with the nervous system connected to it eg by the ganglia (solar plexus), brain (pineal and pituitary glands , connection with etheric body).
  • see Schema FMC00.036 on the I-organization page, re 1917-01-14-GA174
• The heart is the center of Man where the twelve zodiacal flows stream in, and they stream out through the head similar as with Earth.
  • see 1906-09-20-GA091 and/or Schema FMC00.279 on The human heart