Serenity

Serenity, equanimity, the overcoming of joy and suffering, inner peace, tranquillity or calmness of mind consists in the ability to remain calm and level-headed even in difficult, emotionally stressful situations. However, this in no way means that joy and suffering should be suppressed or even banished into the unconscious. This would only strengthen the desires, emotions and affects that have been repressed into the depths of the soul and would be detrimental to mental health. Rather, it is first and foremost a matter of the I retaining complete control over itself even in the strongest surges of emotions and not being carried away by them, but rather facing them as a sovereign observer at rest in itself. In the next step, one has to willfully ensure that that which deeply moves the soul no longer takes hold of the body shells, i.e. no longer lives itself out in the physical body, in the etheric body and in the unconscious parts of the astral body. The inner, purely spiritual experience is thereby considerably strengthened and becomes more and more conscious. Finally, the I has become strong enough to establish complete peace of mind within, the so-called "stillness of the sea" in the soul. Only then will heaven, i.e. the spiritual world, be reflected undisturbed in the soul. If you practise this ability regularly, you will also develop endurance and tolerance.

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Theosophie. Einführung in übersinnliche Welterkenntnis und Menschenbestimmung , GA 9 (2003), ISBN 3-7274-0090-0 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Ursprung und Ziel des Menschen, GA 53 (1981), ISBN 3-7274-0532-5 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Anweisungen für eine esoterische Schulung (Sonderausgabe), (GA 245) (1993) pdf
• Rudolf Steiner: Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden, Band I: 1904 – 1909, GA 266a (1995), ISBN 3-7274-2661-6 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden, Band III: 1913 und 1914; 1920 – 1923, GA 266c (1998), ISBN 3-7274-2663-2 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.