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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > Post-renaissance syncretist / eclectic systems
This work, essentially Steiner's doctoral dissertation, subtitled
"Introduction to the Philosophy of Freedom, " is just that: an
essential work in the foundations of anthroposophy in which the
epistemological foundations of spiritual cognition are clearly and
logically laid forth.
Emil Bock lectured widely on Rudolf Steiner after the Second World
War, and during the course of his research he uncovered many
previously unknown aspects of Steiner's life. This book, the second
of two volumes, explores some of the themes and ideas in Steiner's
work, as well as exploring the nature of destiny. The early years
of Jesus, the Christmas festival and the break from the
Theosophical Society to the Anthroposophical Society are just some
of the many themes and events covered in this comprehensive study.
Bock also examines the circle of people around Steiner at this time
and, using Steiner's ideas on karma and reincarnation, draws
interesting parallels with Rome, Byzantium, Ephesus and the Grail
Castle.
'...This will generate a struggle covering the face of the whole
earth. The one and only remedy for this nonsense being made of
human evolution will be the path that can lead humanity to the
spirit - the path of Michael, which finds its continuation in the
path of Christ.' - Rudolf Steiner Speaking in the aftermath of the
Great War, Rudolf Steiner presents a series of extraordinary
lectures on the power and mission of the Archangel Michael. He
paints on a broad canvas - in the context of cosmic and human
evolution - revealing Michael's tasks in the past, present and
future. Originally the countenance of Yahweh, Michael has
metamorphosed from a 'night spirit' to a 'day spirit'. As 'the
Countenance of Christ', Michael helps us find a balance between
'luciferic' and 'ahrimanic' tendencies. The old 'dualism' (such as
good versus evil), says Steiner, needs to be replaced by the
trinity of Lucifer-Christ-Ahriman. Filling our heart with the
Christ Impulse creates an equilibrium between the luciferic
influence that imbues our head and the ahrimanic influence at work
in our limbs. Rudolf Steiner describes how humanity faces three
dangers in the social sphere: spiritual life could flow into the
'pit of mendacity' ruled by Ahriman, individual rights might
descend into the 'pit of selfishness' (Lucifer), and economics into
cultural sickness and death (Asuras). In order to prevent
European-American culture from perishing, it will be necessary to
turn towards contemporary 'threefold' social ideas. Steiner also
speaks about the principle of metamorphosis in connection with
evolution and devolution, as evident in the design of the pillars
in the newly-built Goetheanum. Architectural styles are an
expression of human evolution, as can be seen in Greek temples,
gothic Cathedrals, the Grail temple and the building at Dornach.
Amidst many other themes, Rudolf Steiner addresses the problem of
natural necessity and freedom, and the abolition of the trichotomy
of body, soul and spirit at the Council of Constantinople in AD
869.
In the same way that the entire plant is contained in germinal form
in its seed, so the totality of anthroposophy can be discovered in
Rudolf Steiner's central work The Philosophy of Freedom, a book
that lays the foundation for the modern scientific path to the
spiritual world. Given the centrality of the Guardian of the
Threshold to modern initiation, one may therefore ask where this
theme is to be found in The Philosophy of Freedom. Prokofieff
presents his insights to this little researched question in the
first part of this volume. In the second part, he investigates The
Philosophy of Freedom's connection to the content of Rudolf
Steiner's research relating to the Fifth Gospel. Through
Prokofieff's thoughtful commentary, new light is shed on the
connection between Rudolf Steiner's early and late work. Study of
the relevant texts reveals that the roots of Steiner's early work
lie in the same spiritual reality - the Christ Impulse - as those
of the later anthroposophy he was to develop.
Although Eastern Europe has been part of the Christian world for
more than a thousand years, its spiritual identity remains a
mystery. This mystery, says Sergei Prokofieff, can only fully be
solved by looking behind external events and seeking spiritual -
meta-historical - dimensions of reality. In illuminating the maya
of outer history, Prokofieff reveals the forces that have been at
work to hinder the progress of mankind: the materialistic
Brotherhoods of the West and the occult aspects of both Jesuitism
and Bolshevism. These adversary groups have created a 'karma of
materialism', that the eastern Slavic peoples have taken upon
themselves out of their 'exalted willingness for sacrifice'.
Prokofieff shows how, from the earliest times, the future
'conscience of humanity' flowed from hidden mystery centres in
Hibernia, to the eastern Slavic peoples. As a result, qualities of
'compassion, patience and willingness for sacrifice' developed in
their souls, creating a truly Christian 'Grail mood'. Despite
incalculable suffering - from the persecutions of the Mongol hordes
to the Bolshevik experiment of the last century - this quality has
become an unconquerable force. Will humanity be able to use the
present opportunity granted by this sacrifice to fulfil the primary
purposes of the present cultural epoch? Can the future mysteries of
the Holy Grail be fulfilled? In this momentous work, breathtaking
in its scope and detail, the author attempts a truly esoteric
approach, penetrating to the spiritual wellsprings of Eastern
Europe in the light of Rudolf Steiner's research.
"What is the nature of matter?"Within conventional science, the
reductionist, materialist view asserts that matter is solely
physical. Hauschka shows that open-minded study, based on
qualitative observation and quantitative research, can overcome
this now standardized view. Without denying the laws of matter, he
shows the limitations of a science restricted by them, and points
to new research that indicates the primal nature of spirit. This
classic work, reprinted in its original form, is the result of Dr
Hauschka's many years' research at the Ita Wegman Clinic in
Arlesheim, Switzerland. Through decades of experimentation he came
to radical conclusions that suggested potential new directions for
science. This book includes the detailed results of Hauschka's
experiments although his approach is not restricted to measurement
and outer observation. Based on the work of Goethe and Steiner, he
encourages a method of seeing nature that has an artistic quality,
and calls for direct experience rather than intellectual
theorizing. "The Nature of Substance" is generally accessible. The
author deliberately avoids technical terms and academic style in
favor of vivid descriptions and lively discussions. His fascinating
study takes in many substances, with chapters on plants, animals,
oils, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, metals, carbon,
oxygen, poisons, high dilutions, and much more. This book is a
companion volume to the author s other work, "Nutrition."
Karl Koenig meditated intensely on the 52 weekly verses of Rudolf
Steiner's Calendar of the Soul. During his time in internment on
the Isle of Man, he made these 52 naive, artistic sketches to
accompany each verse. This is a wonderful way to experience an
important spiritual tool. There is also a separate book by Karl
Koenig, The Calendar of the Soul, which is a complementary text
commentary on Steiner's Calendar.
"The anthroposophical community seeks to lift human souls into
supersensible realms so that they may enter the company of Angels."
- Rudolf Steiner. Prokofieff traces the three stages of heavenly
preparation of anthroposophy: the 'spiritual thunderstorm', the
Michael School in the Sun sphere, and the 'imagination-based
cultus' in the spiritual word nearest to the Earth. These events
involved the nine spiritual hierarchies, associating them with the
karma of the anthroposophical movement. Prokofieff elaborates the
tasks of the Anthroposophical Society and indicates how these are
connected with the spiritual hierarchies, the Michael movement, the
Grail mysteries, the work of new Group Souls, and the Foundation
Stone Meditation. He shows that the General Anthroposophical
Society was, in an esoteric sense, created in order that human
beings might learn to work with the Gods themselves. This is a
vital booklet for anybody who cares deeply about the future of the
Anthroposophical Society, or the future of mankind itself.
The remarkable discussions in these two volumes took place between
Rudolf Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland, who
chose the varied subject matter. The astonishing nature of his
responses the questions--their insight, knowledge, and spiritual
depth--is testimony to his outstanding ability as a spiritual
initiate and teacher. Accessible and stimulating, the records of
these sessions are both entertaining and profound. In From Crystals
to Crocodiles, Steiner discusses speech and languages;
lefthandedness; dinosaurs; Lemuria; turtles and crocodiles; oxygen
and carbon; ancient giant oysters; the moon, sun, and earth; the
Old Testament; the real nature of Adam; breathing and brain
activity; dreams; sugar; the liver and perception; brain cells and
thinking; illnesses such as cancer and its origin, migraines, and
diabetes; the eyes of animals; Paracelsus; alcohol, and more.
I believe, a time will come when greater distance makes the
conflicts in the Anthroposophical Society - which at first sight
seem so ugly - appear as part of the struggle for anthroposophy in
the twentieth century. When this future dawns it will be important
to be able to reach back to a historical documentation of what
happened. - Emanuel Zeylmans Following the re-founding of the
Anthroposophical Society at the Christmas Foundation Meeting in
1923, Ita Wegman, Rudolf Steiner's closest collaborator at the end
of his life, became the object of intense opposition, systematic
exclusion, and misunderstanding. This ostracism and misinformation
continued after her death, kept alive by prejudice and untruths
that created an atmosphere that made a clear and unbiased view of
her role in Anthroposophy impossible. Because no real biography
existed, even the open-minded and impartial found it difficult to
make an informed judgment. This lack was filled by Emanuel
Zeylmans' three-volume work, Who Was Ita Wegman? To write it, he
researched 100 undated notebooks, 2,000 manuscript pages, and 6,000
letters. Sifting through these was an enormous labor. To reach the
esoteric heart of "the Wegman question" took him twelve years. What
he found was extraordinary and of paramount importance to anyone
interested in Anthroposophy and the divisive karma of its history.
In Ita Wegman and Anthroposophy, Wolfgang Weirauch of the German
journal Flensburger Heft interviews Emanuel Zeylmans. Speaking
candidly about the deepest aspects of his revelatory findings,
Zeylmans describes how his passionate need unfolded to understand
what happened both to Ita Wegman and Anthroposophy. He talks of
meetings with those who knew her intimately. He tells of her
collaboration with Rudolf Steiner and her fraught relations with
Marie Steiner and Edith Maryon, both of whom also had special
relationships with Steiner. He describes the Christmas Foundation
Meeting and the conflicts that followed Steiner's death that led to
Ita Wegman's expulsion from the Executive Council. Though this book
will be of special interest to those who want to understand the
history of the Anthroposophical Society, it would be a mistake to
consider it a book about the past. It is a book about the future of
Anthroposophy.
"If we read Steiner's] lectures with an open and attentive inner
eye, we may be able to see the Christ mystery, not as a collection
of dogmas or facts, but as a spiritual impulse that stretches far
beyond the limits of Christ's own time and even of the lifespan of
Christianity itself. We may even catch a glimpse of the high powers
that govern the life of civilizations and of the great entity known
as the human race." -Richard Smoley (from the introduction) For
centuries people have been baffled by the varying accounts of
Christ's life as presented in the four Gospels and have struggled
to reconcile them. In these profound and stimulating lectures,
Steiner addresses this conundrum. He shows how each of the Gospels
presents a different lens onto Christ's life and message. Here
Steiner reveals the Gospel of Matthew as the one that emphasizes
Christ's humanity. But he does not stop there; his visionary
perspective traces Christ's life and message to spiritual impulses
that go back centuries, even millennia, to the legendary
civilization of Atlantis, to the mysterious Zarathustra, and to the
Jewish sect known as the Essenes. An introduction by Richard
Smoley, author of Inner Christianity, puts Steiner's vision into
perspective for modern readers. Once you have experienced Steiner's
powerful exploration of Matthew, you will never see the Gospels in
the same way again.
Long gone are the days of drinking naturally pure water from
flowing rivers and streams. It is already common today for people
to use bottled water or home water filtration systems for their
drinking water. How have we come to such a predicament, and what
can be done about it? Continuing pollution, ever-increasing
population and industrial demands, destruction of the rainforests,
and overpumping of the ground water are all responsible for the
deterioration of water quality. But the underlying reason, as
William E. Marks shows in this wide-ranging, thoughtful book, is a
lack of understanding of and respect for the nature of water
itself.
Marks covers such diverse topics as water's role in the origin
of the universe and of life, cosmic rain and water in interstellar
space, water in the myths of various peoples and religious
traditions, the power of water in the many forms it takes in the
natural world, vortex energy and living water, water and the human
body, water healing, and a history of water pollution. He offers
hope for the future by discussing the work of such visionaries as
Theodor Schwenk and Viktor Schauberger. Marks shows us that finally
water can only be understood when it is seen as the mediator not
only between life and death but also between the physical world and
the spiritual world.
The healthy social life is found When in the mirror of each human
being The whole community finds its reflection And when in the
community The virtue of each one is living. From the beginning of
his public work, Rudolf Steiner saw his spiritual mission as
civilizational. He understood that individual spiritual development
means little unless, spreading through a community of
practitioners, it leads to larger societal and cultural
transformation. As always, his views were radical. He realized that
a healthy social life would depend, above all, on the
transformation of work from a commodity into a gift. As he said in
1905: Evolution is moving towards totally uncompensated work. No
one rejects the idea and no one can change it. Whereas Greek
workers performed their work in bondage to their master and modern
workers are compelled to work for pay, in the future all work will
be performed freely. Work and income will be completely separated.
That is the healthy state of social conditions in the future. That
same year, he formulated what he called "the fundamental social
law" The wellbeing of an entire group of individuals who work
together becomes greater the less individuals claim the income
resulting from their own accomplishments for themselves-that is,
the more they contribute this income to their fellow workers, and
the more their own needs are met not through their own efforts but
through the efforts of others. In this important book, Peter Selg
shows us a different Rudolf Steiner. Here, the emphasis of his
teaching is mostly on the need to cultivate selflessness and
readiness to sacrifice. Selg first describes the context in which
Steiner expressed these ideas, how much they meant to him, and how,
when they fell on barren ground, he selflessly laid them aside
while holding them in his heart in the hope of a more opportune
moment. He goes on to show how this moment came after World War I,
when Rudolf Steiner dedicated himself tirelessly to the Threefold
Social Organism, lecturing extensively on economics and social
policy. Finally, in a last, extraordinarily moving chapter, Selg
shows the essential Christ- and Gospel-inspired nature of these
ideas: As long as you feel pain That passes me by, The Christ works
unrecognized... Weak is the spirit That can feel suffering Only in
its own body. Anyone interested in a just, equitable, healthy, and
spirit-based social future should read this important book
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Bruce Arnold
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The School of Spiritual Science, with its headquarters at the
Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, has eleven sections that are
active worldwide in research, development, teaching and the
practical implementation of research results. During the early
stages of the Corona pandemic of 2020, the sections of the School
made individual contributions to the crisis in the form of sixteen
essays that offer insights, perspectives and approaches to tackling
the challenges of Coronavirus through spiritual-scientific
knowledge and practice. The work of each of the School's sections
seeks to develop anthroposophy - as founded by Rudolf Steiner
(1861-1925) - in a contemporary context through the core
disciplines of general anthroposophy, medicine, agriculture,
pedagogy, natural science, mathematics and astronomy, literary and
visual arts and humanities, performing arts and youth work. The
featured essays include: Creating Spaces of Inner Freedom -
Training Approaches in Times of Uncertainty and Fear; The Hidden
Sun - Reality, Language and Art in Corona Times; Consequences of
COVID-19 - Perspectives of Anthroposophic Medicine; Aspects of
Epidemic Infectious Diseases in Rudolf Steiner's Work ; Challenges
and Perspectives of the Corona Crisis in the Agricultural and Food
Industry; Corona and Biodynamic Agriculture; Our Relationship with
Animals; The Part and the Whole - On the Cognitive Approach of
Anthroposophical Natural Science; Comparing the Constellations of
the Corona Pandemic and the Spanish Flu; Aspects of Dealing with
the Corona Crisis for Youth; 'Crisis Implies that it's Unclear ...
as to What, How, Why and by Whom Things Need to be Done'; Education
in Times of Corona; Understanding History from the Future - Crisis
as Opportunity; Social Challenges and Impulses of the COVID-19
Pandemic; Consequences of COVID-19 - The Perspective of
Anthroposophic Curative Education, Social Pedagogy, Social Therapy
and Inclusive Social Development; A Medicalized Society?.
In these four lectures Rudolf Steiner addresses the evolutionary
task facing contemporary humanity, particularly with regard to
issues of race and racial conflict. He describes the origins of
racial diversity among human beings and vividly describes the
dangers of the ever-widening chasm separating different peoples. To
avert this threat of the fragmentation of our species, we must
strive for an awareness of ourselves and others as spiritual beings
with unique and individual karma. In the past, human souls felt a
strong connection, even union, with the "group soul" - the race or
nation - to which they belonged. Today, all such group soul
characteristics must be stripped off. Therefore, as Steiner writes,
"it is necessary that the anthroposophical movement, in preparing
for the sixth epoch, should shed the character of race and seek to
unite people of all 'races' and nations.'" That such an inward,
spiritual uniting of all human beings in their common humanity can
now come about is the fruit of the cosmic sacrifice of the Mystery
of Golgotha - which made possible a universal human community of
I-beings. From this point of view, as Steiner makes clear in the
last lecture, Christ's deed was for the renewal of the common
spiritual humanity of all peoples and races, divided in the course
of human evolution by the work of Lucifer and Ahriman.
"Many who enter esoteric training are very disappointed and say
that they had imagined the exercises to be much more energetic and
the effects of the exercises to be far more drastic. Those who tell
this to themselves should quickly consider the possibility that
they are caught in a great error, and that they should make the
greatest efforts to correct this error as soon as possible. It is
not the exercises that lack enough energy, but rather the
individual. It is not the exercises that are ineffective, but
rather the person who is not making them effective. By living an
esoteric life, the student should become an entirely different
person. One must add something new to the old." -Rudolf Steiner In
this second of three volumes from Rudolf Steiner's early Esoteric
School, we find a further deepening of spiritual practice and
training. Rudolf Steiner explains the requirements one must meet to
become a serious student of esotericism. In addition, he gives
directions-always emphasizing the increasing need for
earnestness-for the transformation of the inner life, for the
development of new spriritual forces and capacities, and for
recognizing and overcoming the dangers that arise on a spiritual
path. Moreover, he shows how one should approach specific
meditations. These lessons mark Rudolf Steiner's continued movement
away from the Eastern path of the Theosophical Society at the time
and his increasing focus on the Christian-Rosicrucian path,
recognizing Christ as the leader of the path of his form of
spiritual training. This volume is the English translation of Aus
den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden, Ged chtnisaufzeichnungen von
Teilnehmern. Band.2, 1910-1912 (GA 266/2).
Saved by good fortune from the flames that engulfed the first
Goetheanum, Rudolf Steiner's wooden sculpture of the Christ - 'the
Representative of Humanity' - standing between the adversary forces
of Lucifer and Ahriman, remains intact and on display, although
unfinished, to this day. Unique in the history of art, the
Sculptural Group was deeply connected to Rudolf Steiner's inner
being. The great Christian initiate even died by its side, having
made efforts to work on the sculpture just days before he crossed
the threshold. The essential source from which this work was
created, says Sergei Prokofieff, '...lay in Rudolf Steiner's ego,
in his spirit...It was only out of this intuitive connection of his
own ego with the Christ Being that he was able to create this work
of art.' Beginning with the Sculptural Group's early history, and
Steiner's collaboration on its creation with Edith Maryon,
Prokofieff enters into deeply esoteric perspectives, studying the
artwork's relationship with the mysteries of the Holy Grail, the
etherization of the blood, the Seventh Apocalyptic Seal, the Legend
of the New Isis, as well as the being Anthroposophia.
Great differences exist between the "Know yourself" of the ancient
mystery centers and that injunction today. What used to be achieved
after death is now achieved in life. To reach higher stages of
development after death we must become fully human in earthly life.
This was not always so; there has been a change. For in the center
of human evolution is the Christ event: in our time we must
experience the Christ in ourselves as light, life, and love.
Adopting the appropriate cognitive path, we become citizens of
the universe, rather than hermits of the earth.
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