Inner Work With The Dead Our culture has always taught us that the final, ultimate loss is the loss that is experienced at death. Many believe and are comforted by the concept of a spiritual world that is the unseen destination of the soul at death. We tend to hold to the notion that there is no connection that continues with those who have died other than our memories of them. The Spiritual Science of Rudolf Steiner that inspires the work of this program indicates that no more significant relationship can exist than with those who have died. Those who have died are tremendously interested in what is happening in the world. Those who have died are not in some far off heaven, but here, invisibly with us, for the spiritual worlds are all around us. But generally, with no imagination of this, we have no experience of what it means. In this physical/spiritual world there is the perceptible and imperceptible. The long fall into material matter has taken us farther and farther away from the subtler realms of spiritual activity that are around us all of the time. We sense the presence of this subtle realm when we stand at the threshold with someone we love, either entering the physical world at birth, or entering the mystery of the spiritual world at death. The poet, Novalis, says; "When the spirit perishes, it becomes human. When the human perishes, it becomes spirit. Death frees the spirit, birth frees the human." Religious mandates have historically forbidden any attempt to converse with those on the "other side" of the threshold. In previous eras of different capacity of soul development, this offered a kind of protection for the community. In the current age of the consciousness soul, it has become possible to learn how to stay connected to our loved ones who have crossed the threshold and now inhabit a spiritual realm outside of our material essence. This course of studies and training seeks to develop within the soul, capacities through which we can be present to those who have crossed the threshold, and how we can be helpful to them through conscious, receptive spiritualized soul activity. This is not a capacity we develop for our own comfort, but must be always for the sake of the whole of the world. To change the world in our time requires the conscious work of changing the imagination of what the world is, what it is about. This is a deep effort of working through awakened soul capacities into the will of consciousness itself. This course of studies is only for the mature, spiritual seeker who is not looking for psychological resolution of life issues, but is willing to suspend the personal for the sacred in every one they know who has crossed the threshold. The course will be divided into four long weekends, meeting over 12 months. The work will continue in ongoing sessions meeting once per year after the initial year. The Coursework The First Session: Soul Purification We will work meditatively with living in the heart as an organ of perception. This is the phenomenology of living through the heart as the spiritual organ of the body that is the only place where imagination and ordinary consciousness come together and remain present to a higher level of perception that is not ordered by the hard edges of the world experienced in ordinary consciousness. It is not the fantasy world of simple imagination, rather it is the capacity of imagination to perceive the invisible, knowing it is real through the evidence of the heart's experience. It makes possible the freeing of the psyche from fear of mortality, and letting go of the ingrained concept of "dying". We begin to work with the stories and images of those close to us who have died, developing the capacity to do so with depth of heart feeling, refraining from emotional sentiment. The Second Session: Emptying and Equanimity We begin to meet the nature of the spiritual world and become acquainted with its geography as outlined by Rudolf Steiner. We hear stories of experiences people have had of loved ones immediately after their deaths, and enter into an understanding of why those first experiences are quite different than experiences later on. To do this inner work properly we must release our psychological needs and issues, complexes and convolutions, and enter in meditative silence, a space of equanimity. This is essential as the activity of our thoughts affect the dead, and how they are able to be present to and with us. We learn to offer the attention of the heart to those on the other side of the threshold, in peace and silence, and to listen to the subtle nature of that silence that is the answer from them, to us. The Third Session: The Practice of Silence and Reading The practice of reading to the dead is explored in depth, and in relation to the nature of thinking, feeling and will as it is perceived by those on the other side of the threshold. We extend the notion and importance of reading to those who have died to include, besides spiritual texts, ways of reading the world in reverence and how to do so. We work with the nature of reading, the meaning of words and the experience of holding an other imaginatively, while keeping our attention on the meaning of what is read, so they can "see" whereof we read. The fabric of silence and the depth of the field of attention are the phenomenon we must enter to experience the presence of the dead who seek our companionship. The Fourth Session: Living in the Great Life Every Moment How do we stay present, and continue ordinary life tasks? What is the practice of staying connected, without losing connection with the physical world, the living, and our own destiny? And, how does this heal the world? Also, we will work with the nature of the loss of thousands of individuals at one time, in a matter of moments. We will work with the possibilities of being of help, what we do, and how we do this safely. Hygiene of the soul will be primary in the exercises, meditations and research. We do not at any time work on the relationship with those who have crossed the threshold on the level of personality. This work is not about resolving old issues of a psychological nature. There is no intention toward allaying guilt, resolving anger, assuaging conscience. Nothing can be changed that was not changed before the person died. The intention of this course is to open the heart as an organ of perception specifically for and toward the spiritual world. The Faculty The faculty includes a distinguished staff of full-time, adjunct, and visiting lecturers. Robert Sardello, Ph.D. and Cheryl Sanders, Ph.D., co-directors of the School of Spiritual Psychology are the lead faculty. Other faculty are brought in for individual sessions. Robert Sardello, Ph.D. is co-founder of The School of Spiritual Psychology, which began in 1992. He is author of Facing the World with Soul, Love and the Soul (re-issued as Love and the World), Freeing the Soul from Fear, and The Power of Soul: Living the Twelve Virtues. He is also co-founder and faculty member of The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, author of over 200 articles in scholarly journals and cultural publications, and was on the faculty of The Chalice of Repose Project in Missoula, Mt. Having developed spiritual psychology from over 35 years of research in this discipline, as well as holding positions in two renowned Universities, he is now an independent teacher and scholar teaching all over the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., as well as in The Czech Republic, the Philippines and Australia. He is a consultant to many educational and cultural institutions, as well as dissertation advisor at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Union Institute, Greenwich University, and Prescott College. Cheryl L. Sanders, Ph.D. is co-founder of The School of Spiritual Psychology and specializes in the spiritual psychology of the senses, and is currently completing a book in this area with an emphasis in healing of the senses. Her work ranges from the necessity for keeping the senses healthy in children to the development of the spiritual senses in maturity. She is a former addictions counselor and has worked extensively with women and children as well as adolescence in addictions, education and healing. She teaches with The School all over the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and has also taught in Holland, Australia and the Philippines. She has published articles and introductions on the senses in books, journals and magazines, as well as monographs of presentations made at the Sophia Conferences given by The School between 1995 and 2000. Requirements, Tuition & Schedule Tuition for the program is $2,800.00. An additional $50.00 non-refundable application fee must be sent in with the application. A non-refundable deposit of $500.00 is due upon acceptance into the program. The remaining tuition of $2,300.00 is due before the opening of the first week of the course, or a payment contract can be signed upon approval to split payment in 2 or 4 segments. The School of Spiritual Psychology makes a commitment to the people who enter into the program, part of which involves relying on the tuition for the program in exchange for the preparation and teaching time of the faculty. If refunds are requested or non-payment occurs, the entire program is put in jeopardy. If accepted, please consider this a commitment for the entire year of your class. No refunds are given if a student withdraws from a course. Room and Board Tuition does not include room and board fees, which are paid separately and for each session. Room and board for each session is $375.00. Room and board can be paid at the time of each class. All rooms are double. When available, single rooms, including board and room, are $475.00. The very comfortable Center for Spiritual Psychology is located on fourteen acres with a pond and a swimming pool, two labyrinths, a healing circle, a large garden, two dogs and a cat. Payment of full tuition and full room and board in advance comes with a $300 discount. Payment of full tuition in advance coms with a $150 discount. Location The Sacred Service Program is held at the Spiritual Psychology Center located in Benson, North Carolina. Benson is an easy forty-minute drive from Raleigh where there is a major international airport. Benson is also located at the intersection of interstate hi-way 95 and interstate hi-way 40, and thus easy driving distance from north-south and east-west. Schedule Caritas - Caring for Our Dead, meets on the following dates: March 18 - 22, 2010 June 3 - 7, 2010 October 28 - November 1, 2010 March 17 - 21, 2011 The sessions begin Thursday evening and end Monday at noon. Application Process Please include the following information in your application letter: Date Name Address City, State, Zip - Phone, Fax, Email Birth date, marital status, and children, grandchildren Have you ever done service or volunteer work; what type; please describe some of your experiences. What attracts you to the program in Caring for Our Dead? What do you hope to learn and achieve? Describe one or more highlights of you inner development during the past ten years. Describe one or more highlights of your outer accomplishments in relation to service. What kind of growth/challenges do you think this experience might hold for you? What are you currently doing for a living? Please list all degrees, from where, including majors. If you have a vita or resume, please include. Application Deadline: March 1, 2010 Send Application to: The School of Spiritual Psychology P.O. Box 7 Benson, North Carolina 27504 Main Courses Page  Copyright © 2000-2009, The School of Spiritual Psychology, All Rights Reserved