|
Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > Post-renaissance syncretist / eclectic systems > Theosophy & Anthroposophy
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
|
|