Yehuda Tagar of Persephone Institute is always a pleasure to listen to. His Israeli accent and background in drama lend an engaging, story-time quality to matters of transforming the soul. His delivery and insight into The Rose Cross Meditation is no different and his depth of personal enquiry left me wanting to hear more.

The Rose Cross Mediation forms part of the body of knowledge by Rudolf Steiner. I've always felt a strong connection between the Anthroposophical approach to spiritual development and shamanistic arts such as the Tantric awareness practices I engage with.

The first point of interest is that Tagar describes spiritual development as being classified into two broad areas. As I understand it, the one 'transcends' the physical into spirit while the other goes more deeply into the physical to transform old wounds. Tagar suggests our current developmental phase includes the union of both: we take all of ourselves, everything that is physical and human, into spirit.

A few days prior to hearing Tagar talk I attended the Sacred Sexuality conference. There Rahasya spoke of something similar about our approach in the Advait Tantra School. My understanding of Tantra is it is a practice of developing conscious awareness without a separation of the good from the bad. Everything is included, even those parts of ourselves for which we feel doubt, fear or shame. This inclusion happens in the physical reality of our everyday existence. We do this by approaching spiritual development from two directions: by developing a flow and connection to spirit through the energetic practices of sacred sexuality, and by shining a light onto the dark, murky depths of our unconscious.

Steiner wrote about The Double, Carl Jung explored The Shadow. Tagar talks about this, saying that any attempt to manifest higher potential will result in a possible meeting with our unconscious and denied aspects of self. The opportunity is to face the shame of our darkness, to be fully present with it, and in that meeting to transform ourselves towards our higher potential. In Tantra we say that 'the way' is through. Those aspects of ourselves we do not integrate into our conscious awareness controls us. If we care to notice we see it in our habits and wounds whenever we react or suppress in a way that makes us feel less.

So where does the Rose Cross Meditation fit into this? The rose represents our higher potential, the cross our darkness – in the process of the meditation the hard, cold, black cross is transformed into the blood red, lively and fragrant rose. The mediation is very broadly interpreted as:

1. Hold a higher aspiration, the potential or possibility which obeys cosmic law without compromise

2. Acknowledge the gap between the here-and-now and our potential and then suffer it, going deeply into the physical body feeling the intensity of all emotions

3. Practically work with and process what comes up

4. Experience union with your higher being

5. Meditate

In other words, before one can really experience meditation, one must go fully into the physical to acknowledge and transform all that is present in the body.

The Rose performed by Bette Midler expresses this beautifully and certainly leaves me feeling the hope of transformation.

Tagar speeks of a subtle contradiction which was also discussed at the Sacred Sexuality conference. It's that in accepting every aspect of our physical human experience, we also accept the desire to change, to manifest our true and full expression. Being able to hold this contradiction is being able to develop empathy towards ourselves and to others. In empathy we are able to face what would otherwise be suppressed.

This meditation is in essence the work of Persephone Institute and it is the work of The Tantra School. These and other modalities (such as Undefended Love by by Dr. Jett Psaris and Dr. Marlena S. Lyons or the work of Byron Katie) provide processes to become aware of the gap and enter deeply the raw material of our existence. I don't believe it's a meditation one does to a schedule or when desire calls. With intention, willingness and a process to develop awareness and enter fully into experience, every moment is an opportunity to face oneself completely and manifest our potential.

If not now, when? I look forward to reading your comments.

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