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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > Post-renaissance syncretist / eclectic systems
D.N. Dunlop (1868-1935) combined remarkable practical and
organizational abilities in industry and commerce with gifted
spiritual and esoteric capacities. A personal friend of W.B. Yeats
and Rudolf Steiner, Dunlop was responsible for founding the World
Power Conference (today the World Energy Council), and played
leading roles in the Theosophical Society and later the
Anthroposophical Society. In his business life he pioneered a
cooperative approach towards the emerging global economy. Meyer's
compelling narrative of Dunlop's life begins on the Isle of Arran,
where the motherless boy is brought up by his grandfather. In a
landscape rich with prehistoric standing stones, the young Dunlop
has formative spiritual experiences. When his grandfather dies, he
struggles for material survival, but devotedly studies occult
literature. The scene moves to Dublin, where Dunlop becomes a
friend of W.B. Yeats and the poet-seer A.E., and develops an active
interest in Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy. Arriving in London via
New York, Dunlop is now a lecturer, writer and the editor of a
monthly journal - but alongside his esoteric interests he rises to
a foremost position in the British electrical industry,
masterminding the first World Power Conference. Dunlop's life is to
change forever through his meeting with Rudolf Steiner, which
'...brought instant recognition'. He was immediately convinced that
Steiner was '...the Knower, the Initiate, the bearer of the Spirit
to his age'. Dunlop's close involvement with anthroposophy, leading
to his eventual position as Chair of the British Society, is
described in detail: from the momentous conferences in Penmaenmawr
and Torquay to his transformative relationships with Eleanor Merry,
W.J. Stein, Ita Wegman and Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz. Meyer features
important material on the Anthroposophical Society's tragic split,
that allows for a true evaluation of this difficult period in the
organization's history. This second, enlarged edition features
substantial additions of new material as well as an Afterword by
Owen Barfield.
Christ will reappear but in a higher reality than the physical one
- in a reality which we will only see if we have first acquired a
sense and understanding of spiritual life. Inscribe in your hearts
what anthroposophy should be: a preparation for the great epoch of
humanity which lies ahead of us.' Rudolf Steiner's teachings of
Christ - and in particular what he refers to as the 'Christ
impulse' - are unique. Christ, he says, is an objective universal
force, existing independently of Christian churches and
confessions, and working for the whole of humanity. The impulse
that Christ brought to earth acts for the advancement of all
people, irrespective of religion, creed or race. Speaking in Berlin
whilst still a representative of the largely eastern-oriented
Theosophical Society, Rudolf Steiner presents multifaceted
perspectives on the Christ impulse, based on his independent
spiritual research: from the vast cycles of time preceding Christ's
incarnation and the preparation for his coming, to the actual
physical embodiment of Christ in Palestine, in Jesus of Nazareth,
some two thousand years ago. Steiner also describes how Christ will
influence the future development of the earth and humanity. In his
opening lecture, Rudolf Steiner discusses the nature of the
Bodhisattvas and their role in relation to Christ and human
evolution. The Bodhisattvas are the great teachers of humanity,
incarnating in human form during their passage through the various
cycles of cultural development, and are intimately involved in
preparing the work of the Christ impulse. In other lectures Steiner
addresses subjects as diverse as the Sermon on the Mount in
relation to the development of the faculty of conscience, and the
current duality of male and female (microcosm) and its
correspondence in the cosmos (macrocosm). The latter phenomenon is
related to initiation within the Germanic and Egyptian mysteries,
which reach their higher unity in Christian initiation. Among the
myriad other themes that emerge here are: the introduction of the
'I' (or self) in human development and its essential connection to
Christ; the preparation of the Christ impulse through the Jahveh
religion and the law of Moses; the meaning of the Ten Commandments;
and the new clairvoyance in relation to the appearance of Christ in
the etheric. 7 lectures, Berlin, Oct. - May 1909, CW 116
'Our contemporaries - who wish to keep to a narrow-minded and
superficial outlook, are annoyed to find that spiritual science
continually seeks the whole picture - that it has to create a
bridge between the body and the soul, and truly explores how the
psyche becomes corporeal and the body becomes psychological.' How
do the soul and the spirit live in human physical bodies? In our
materialistic age, in which the very existence of the metaphysical
is widely rejected, such questions are rarely posed let alone
addressed. In this exceptional series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner
speaks in scientific detail about the connection of the subtle
aspects of human nature - our soul and spirit - to our physical
constitution. At the heart of this course are the well-loved
'Bridge' lectures, which appear in English for the first time in
their wider context. Steiner discusses the solid, fluid, air and
warmth bodies, and how these are connected with the various ethers,
the 'I' and human blood. He goes on to describe how ideals and
ideas impact the various aspects of the human constitution - how
morality is a source of 'world creativity' - with moral thinking
imbuing life into substance and will. Moral ideas have a positive
effect, he says, whereas theoretical ones have a negative impact.
In the realm of the moral, a new natural world comes into being,
and thus the moral order and the natural order are intertwined.
This volume also features Steiner's classic lecture on the Isis
legend and its renewal today as divine wisdom - Sophia. Other
themes include the mystery of Christ as the connection between the
spiritual and physical sun; the permeation of the life of thought
with will (love) and permeation of the life of will with thoughts
(wisdom); the path to freedom and love and their importance in the
universe; the metamorphosis of head and limbs through successive
lives on earth; the threefold nature of the human form (head,
thorax, limbs), the threefold nature of the soul (thinking,
feeling, will) and the threefold nature of the spirit (waking,
dreaming, sleeping).
'Eurythmy is that very thing which dancers with a true idealism
have been unconsciously seeking - that inner harmony and balance
that was a natural condition of the Greeks, visible in their
statues and carved figures, so that, even in a standing pose,
movement seems to flow through them.' Eurythmy is an expressive art
of movement in which specific gestures relate to the sounds and
rhythms of speech, to the tones and rhythms of music and to soul
experiences, such as joy and sorrow. In this succinct and
accessible booklet, the authors present a clear introduction to
this contemporary art form in the context of the impulse of dance
today. What is eurythmy, and how does it relate to other arts of
movement and dance? What is eurythmy's purpose, and why did Rudolf
Steiner create it in the early twentieth century? These and many
more questions are answered in this extended essay, supplemented by
35 sketches of eurythmy figures by Rudolf Steiner that illustrate
gestures of movement, feeling and character.
Two lectures in Bologna: on 31 March 2011 at the International
Conference to Mark the Centenary of Rudolf Steiner's Lecture in
Bologna, and on 8 April 1911 at the Fourth International Philosophy
Congress A special conference took place in Bologna in Spring 2011,
marking the hundredth anniversary of a unique lecture Rudolf
Steiner delivered to a philosophically-trained audience in the same
city. In his key exposition, Steiner had given a concise
description of the spiritual-scientific theory of knowledge as well
as a brief outline of the anthroposophical path of schooling. In
his contribution to the 2011 congress, Sergei O. Prokofieff tackles
two principal aspects. On the one hand, he describes how Steiner's
Bologna lecture contained the essential foundations for a new
'science of the human ego'. On the other hand, Prokofieff states
that Rudolf Steiner was the first person to transform this same
theory into a practical path of knowledge, following it to its very
conclusion. Thus, the words of Rudolf Steiner's lecture were based
entirely on personal experience. Together with a transcript of
Rudolf Steiner's full Bologna lecture, Sergei O. Prokofieff's own
lecture is reproduced here in an expanded version. In addition,
this volume features Rudolf Steiner's important 'summaries of
essential points', in which he develops and connects some of his
key thoughts with further aspects of anthroposophy, especially in
relation to their Christological foundations.
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Halcyon
(Hardcover)
Eleanor L Shumway, Karen M White
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R719
R638
Discovery Miles 6 380
Save R81 (11%)
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'By bringing the chosen leaders, prophets or priests to confront
the powers of life and death, to discover the deeper needs and
potential of the human spirit, the Mysteries had kept humanity in
touch with the living foundations of experience. For those who went
through their processes, the attainment of wisdom was the
culmination of an existential struggle...' - Dr Andrew Welburn
Modern scholarship knows little of the mystery schools of
antiquity, offering only hypothetical explanations and external
details. In these expansive lectures based on his personal
spiritual insights, Rudolf Steiner offers a vivid description of
the esoteric experiences gained by people in the ancient mystery
schools, from the mysteries of Artemis in Ephesus, of Hibernia,
Eleusis and Samothrace, to the Middle Ages. He also discusses the
conditions under which initiation can be achieved today. Following
preliminary lectures on the nature and function of the soul,
Steiner presents a panoramic view of human and earthly evolution,
including the roles of plants and animals. He also discusses the
various metals, their curative properties and their connections
with the planets.
11 lectures, various cities, January-May, 1909 (CW 109)These talks
reveal a particular aspect of how humankind have been guided
spiritually throughout history--by the life forces and astral
bodies of the great initiates and avatars that were preserved,
duplicated, and interwoven with the leading personalities of
history. Steiner gives numerous examples of this process, but he
says that such inspired people are rare today. Nevertheless, we
have the possibility of elevating ourselves in the future to the
point where we can receive into ourselves the "I-being" of the
Christ, which is indeed our greatest goal--"not I but Christ in
me." Contents: * The Principle of Spiritual Economy in Connection
with Questions of Reincarnation * Christianity in Human Evolution,
Leading Individualities, and Avatar Beings * More Intimate Aspects
of Reincarnation * Results of Spiritual Scientific Investigations
of the Evolution of Humanity * On the Occasion of the Dedication of
the Francis of Assisi Branch * The Macrocosmic and Microcosmic
Fire: The Spiritualization of Breath and Blood * The Event of
Golgotha -- The Brotherhood of the Holy Grail * Ancient Revelations
and Learning: How to Ask Modern Questions * The God of the Alpha
and the God of the Omega * From Buddha to Christ
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