Monday 24th June 2019:

09:30 – 10:00 Gathering at a special place in Budapest

10:00 – 16:00 Biography Walks through Budapest

16:00 – 18:00 Harvesting with the moderation by Art of Hosting colleagues

18:00 – 18:45 Dinner

19:00 – 21:00 Evening lecture by Christine Gruwez: “The Challenge of Becoming Human”

 

Tuesday 25th June 2019:

Location Pilisszentlászló:

09:30 – 13:00 “Becoming Human: a Manichaean Approach”  facilitated by Christine Gruwez – FULL!

09:30 – 13:30 “Don’t Kill the Messenger” – Transforming emotion into a karmic sense facilitated by Orna Ben Dor

09:30 – 17:00 “Biography Work and Waldorf education: enriching synergies. What’s next?” facilitated by Rinke Visser and Josien de Vries

15:30 – 18:30 “The temperament – a basic element of one’s life mission” facilitated by Philp Jacobsen

15:30 – 18:30 “Biography work in the corporate sphere and presentation of a concrete initiative in Japan” facilitated by Tomoko Kawashima

19:00 – 22:00 Dinner and Celebration with Music

 

About Biography Walks on Monday 24th June

Who?
You: a professional working with biography who is participating in the Worldwide Biography Conference 2019, which is being hosted in Central Europe for the first time, dedicated to the question: “How can professional biography work evolve to serve the coming generations?”
Some of us: Hungarian colleagues who design and host their Biography Walks based upon their own individual biographical insights.
Some of them: young persons interested in biography work and open to work with the core-question of the conference from their point of view; or other colleagues working in the field of education, healing, self-development. They will take part as witnesses of the Biography Walk, and will also join the co-creative process of the harvesting in the afternoon.

Why?
To meet a person, a street, an emotion, a memory, the history, yourself, the “middle”…

How?
Each host will offer a personal and unique Walk. To prepare the Walks we have been working together over the months, asking advice from experts in geomancy, in the anthroposophical history of Budapest… We collect interesting information, we make the experience ourselves and we share, re‑design, change, let go and discover… A process in which we hope you will also join during the few hours of the Walk and allow to resonate long after…
Some of the Biography Walk invitations come from the Hungarian hosts: Anna Béres, Mónika Varga, Anna Risbjerg and Ágoston Nagy. Colleagues in the Prelude preparation team are participants of the current Hungarian programme of “Basic Practise in Biographical Coaching” (BPBC) in Budapest coordinated by Josien de Vries in collaboration with the Dutch “Instituut voor Biografiek” directed by Vera G. Klein.
Other Biography Walk invitations will follow and at the right moment you will be able to choose the Walk you’d prefer on a “first come first served basis”. Also the possibility of registering for a particular workshop on Tuesday will be made available before the 13th of May.

 

Invitations to Biography Walks through Budapest

 

1. Budapest as the Middle – English-Hungarian
Hungary is in the midst of a dynamic exchange and dialogue between East and West by its geography, its history and its culture. Can we observe this in its manifestation and what is the task here? These are questions we will hold on to, while taking our stroll in Budapest.

2. The development of the Hungarian ‘I’ – English-Hungarian
During a walk in the City Park , ending up finally in the Heroes’ Square, we will tell you about the Hungarian Kings, the Holy Crown; you can choose your favourite from among the Kings. You will be able to sketch or otherwise collect letters, signs and symbols, from which you can create a coat of arms. When we arrive at the Heroes’ Square, we will look at these together and you can identify an appropriate statue connected with what we have been talking about.

3. Exploring the physical foundations of Budapest – English-Hungarian
What are her geological foundations and how did these evolve in such a way that the biography of Budapest could develop?

4. Liberty – Spanish-Hungarian
Liberty is an eternal theme, the biggest theme for humanity. My idea is to meet with this theme not through thinking or philosophizing about it, but through experiencing it through the monuments, while their stories feed our imagination. Through this we can connect to the history of Hungary, focusing on the theme of liberty and win some inspirations for our own biography.  We will start our visit in the Liberty Square, in the Centre of Budapest, where we can discover how liberty is connected to its buildings and monuments. Tram number 2 will take us along the river Danube, giving us a beautiful panoramic view of the river and the old famous buildings of Buda and Pest, which lead our mind into the history of the capital and of the country, from Roman times to the story of the Hungarian crown, the 1848 revolution, the dynamic development of the late 19th century, World War II and our present era.

5. Gellért spa and its surrounding – with own life topic – English-Hungarian
We start our journey by walking over the Liberty Bridge, attuning to our own life path, and we work with one of our life topics that comes up while visiting the following places: garden of the Technical University, Gellért spa (indoor and outdoor space and sauna, entry 6000 HUF – to be payed a part, if chosen), Gellért hill.

6. Óbuda in the Hungarian history and in a personal biography – English-Hungarian
This is a walk of the northern part of Budapest. Starting from the typical tower blocks of the socialist era, we go backwards in the history of Hungary, visiting the vibrant turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the baroque age, Saint Stephen’s era in the 11th century and the Roman Empire’s border in the 2nd 3rd centuries. Another layer will be added to the historical background of the district from the guide’s personal biographical events connected to this part of Budapest.

 

Descriptions of Workshops on Tuesday 25th June

 

Christine Gruwez : “Becoming Human … A Manichaean Approach” –  this workshop is full!
In their search for self-knowledge, human beings have tried again and again to define themselves as situated between Light and Darkness. Am I a being of Light? Then what does Light represent in me? Or, as was often assumed in Gnostic movements, am I first of all a being born out of Darkness? And again, what does Darkness represent in me?
Light and Darkness, Good and Evil cannot be separated. The one cannot be without the other. In Manichaeism, as Rudolf Steiner understood it, there is no predominance between Light and Darkness; between Good and Evil. Both are there in their own right. Only from here on does it become possible for each of us to find their own place: in the midst, between Light and Darkness, as a matter of choice, as a possibility for the future.

Orna Ben Dor : “Don’t Kill the Messenger” Transforming Emotions into a Karmic Sense
Life’s events are composed of the event itself and the interpretation we attach to it. In the first half of our life, it is essential that we interpret events subjectively.
Subjective interpretation is a cognitive misinterpretation. Mistaken interpretations occur particularly regarding painful events that cause us suffering.
Cognitive misinterpretation demands ‘Karmic Rectification’. Karmic rectification will occur when we are able to objectify the event. When we analyse the process objectively, by means of the ‘I’ – then we can develop the sense of truth.
This work offers way to correct our cognitive misinterpretations, referring to biographical events of the participants; and is based on research and tools developed by the facilitator in the “Hotam School for Biographical Counselling and Work with Karma” in Israel, who is an experienced biographical counsellor, founder and leader of this school, and has been investigating, developing and teaching the subject of Karma and Biography internationally for many years.

Rinke Visser & Josien de Vries : “Biography Work and Waldorf education: enriching synergies. What’s next?”
We will investigate this question through a research process in which everyone can participate out of their actual life experience. Answers are yet to be found. We need to become creative!
Especially former Waldorf students, teachers, parents and colleagues working with biography who care about education, are most welcome to join in our quest.
Starting point: Life is a journey of becoming. It starts with being born, but that is only the first step in – hopefully – a long row of moments of beginning throughout one’s life. Moments of reinventing oneself, a starting point, choices and taking responsibility…. it is all part of our journey. Waldorf education was invented and developed to support this process of becoming. It means connecting to oneself and the world around us in all it’s challenging diversity in order to make the most of our time on Earth, in order to find our path, our mission, our destiny tasks… What and how can biography work contribute to this process? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to come up with some insights, perspectives and possibilities?

Philip Jacobsen: “The temperament – a basic element of one’s life mission”
One of the self-chosen elements of incarnation is the temperament as constitution of his etheric body. It influences body (shape, posture, physiognomy, walk, movement) and soul (behaviour). In contrast to the character who determines more the “what” of behaviour (motives, goals, ideals), the temperament determines more the “how” of it. An important part of conflicts originates of misunderstandings due to different temperaments. They can be solved or prevented through awareness of the temperament. The human being choses his temperament according to his life mission, on the one hand as a resource to give his contribution to the development of the world and of mankind (external side of life mission), on the other hand as a learning task emanating through crises and conflicts to balance and overcome the onesidedness of his temperament (internal side of life mission). By recognizing our own temperament and understanding the crises and conflicts caused by it, we can get hints regarding our own life mission.

Tomoko Kawashima: “Biography Work in the Corporate Sphere including a presentation of a concrete initiative in Japan”
Above all this work is dedicated to entrepreneurs, young people heading towards the corporate area, coaches and organizational development professionals. For this reason the location is in Budapest, because it is addressed to a wider audience.
After an introduction about biography work in general, in an interactive process the facilitator will share experiences about combining coaching sessions with biography work in an IT corporation, that lead to a deeper understanding about ourselves and increase the self-management skills.
The facilitator will also briefly present the planning of her next project in Japan: The future of the care homes for elderly persons and how biography work can be integrated in order to be able to see more clearly the life trajectory and meaning of their lives.