Download or read book The Anthroposophic Movement written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2022-11-18 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This course of lectures was given at a pivotal point in the development of the anthroposophic movement. Just months before, an act of arson had caused the destruction of the first Goetheanum, and its darkened ruins appeared to reflect the fragmentations within the Anthroposophical Society. Divisions were appearing amongst members and friends, with individual energies increasingly routed to external initiatives and practical projects. It became apparent that a new impetus was needed. In this turbulent context, Steiner delivers these lectures in a calm, lively and informal style. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, he says, a yearning for spiritual nourishment arose within Western culture, and organizations such as the Theosophical Society gained in popularity. Despite his direct involvement in these events, Steiner describes in dispassionate tones how the spiritual movements behind theosophy and anthroposophy were able to work together harmoniously, before an unavoidable separation took place. Steiner’s expansive review of the anthroposophic movement is an important narrative account of the developing Western spiritual tradition and the history of the Mysteries. These lectures also offer rare perceptions of the life and philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Those who identify with the movement he founded will discover revelatory insights to its background and possibilities for its future development within the broader evolution of humankind.
Download or read book The Anthroposophic Movement written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2015-06-03 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In describing the development of Anthroposophy, Steiner illumined the philosophies that lie at its roots. He speaks of Madame H. P. Blavatsky, of the anti-Christian forces in the world, and of the 'homeless' souls who seek a spiritual scientific understanding of the world and humanity.
Download or read book The Karma of Anthroposophy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1924, Rudolf Steiner gave a series of urgent, impassioned, talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society regarding their karma and its relationship to the culture of the time. Steiner's words characterize vividly a spiritual battle, of forces gathering to fight for the soul of humanity itself. Given the challenges faced by humanity today, it has, perhaps, never been more urgent for those who ally themselves with Rudolf Steiner's work to study, absorb and take to heart the contents of this critically important material.
Download or read book Anthroposophy A Fragment written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1996-04 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published in 1904 (CW 10) "Not everyone can immediately achieve spiritual vision; but the discoveries of those who have it can be health-giving life nourishment for all. The results of supersensible knowledge, when properly employed in life, prove to be not impractical, but rather, practical in the highest sense.... The acquisition of higher knowledge is not the end, but the means to an end; the end consists in the attainment, thanks to this knowledge, of greater and truer self-confidence, a higher degree of courage, and a magnanimity and perseverance such as cannot, as a rule, be acquired in the lower world." This is the classic account of the modern Western esoteric path of initiation made public by Steiner in 1904. He begins with the premise that "the capacities by which we can gain insights into the higher worlds lie dormant within each one of us." Steiner carefully and precisely leads the reader from the cultivation of the fundamental soul attitudes of reverence and inner tranquility to the development of inner life through the stages of preparation, illumination, and initiation. Steiner provides practical exercises of inner and outer observation and moral development. By patiently and persistently following his guidelines, new "organs" of soul and spirit begin to form, which reveal the contours of the higher worlds thus far concealed from us. Steiner in this important work becomes a teacher, a counselor, and a friend whose advice is practical, clear, and effective. The challenges we face in life require increasingly deeper levels of understanding, and Steiner's text helps readers to cultivate the capacities for such insights and places them at the service of humanity. This is Steiner's most essential guide to the modern path of initiation he advocated throughout his life. It has been translated into many languages and has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. How to Know Higher Worlds has been admired by some of the most brilliant minds of our time. "The methods by which a student is prepared for the reception of higher knowledge are minutely prescribed. The direction he is to take is traced with unfading, everlasting letters in the worlds of the spirit where the initiates guard the higher secrets. In ancient times, anterior to our history, the temples of the spirit were also outwardly visible; today, because our life has become so unspiritual, they are not to be found in the world visible to external sight; yet they are present spiritually everywhere, and all who seek may find them." Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment is a translation from German of the written work Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten? (GA 10).
Download or read book Rudolf Steiner s Intentions for the Anthroposophical Society written by Peter Selg and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2011-08 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the fruits of Anthroposophy --Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, Camphill, anthroposophic medicine, and so on --are relatively well known and moderately successful, their relationship to Anthroposophy and its vehicle for transmission, the General Anthroposophical Society, and the School for Spiritual Science, remains mysterious and unclear; sadly, the same is true of the meaning and purpose of those institutions. Related to this is the fact that, though these offshoots of Anthroposophy are well known, eighty-five years after his death and eighty-seven years after the re-formation of the Anthroposophical Society, what Rudolf Steiner brought into the world, what entered the world through him and what he sought to accomplish --that is, what spiritual science and spiritual-scientific research are and how one practices them --remain virtually unknown. In other words, something essential has been forgotten. Written both in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner's birth and in the context of the long-standing, episodically erupting, and ongoing confusion surrounding the mission and task of the Anthroposophical Society, Peter Selg seeks to recover what has perhaps been forgotten or overlooked in Rudolf Steiner's own words and life. He does so by describing, clearly and objectively, the historical background of Steiner's vision of the "civilizational task" of Anthroposophy and how he had hoped it might be accomplished. This book has two parts. First, the author offers a lucid description of the development and gradual sharpening --in the face of the crisis of Western culture epitomized by World War I and its aftermath --of the vision of spiritual science as a truly Michaelic task for the Michael Age. In part two, Peter Selg takes up the events following Rudolf Steiner's death, outlining deftly and subtly the struggles and developments that ensued, commenting tactfully on the questions and perspectives that arose and continue to arise. Rudolf Steiner's Intentions for the Anthroposophical Society is for all those who care about the reality and future of Anthroposophy. Originally published in German as Der Vorstand, die Sektionen und die Gesellschaft. Welche Hochschule wollte Rudolf Steiner? by Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy.
Download or read book Awakeing to Community written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1975-04 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Steiner presented these lectures right after the fire that destroyed the first Goetheanum. Given during the year before the Anthroposophical Society was reestablished, they form an important part of the history of the anthroposophic movement. Steiner calls for a "searching of conscience." He explains that in anthroposophic communities we can experience our first awakening to the spirit in our encounters with others, and he describes how the reversed cultus" forms the foundation for a new community life. Translated from shorthand reports unrevised by the lecturer, from the German edition titled Anthroposophische Gemeinschaftsbildung (GA 257)
Download or read book Becoming Fully Human written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2022-05-20 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 6 lectures at The Hague, April 7-12, 1922; A written report by Rudolf Steiner on the course (CW 82) "There is no contradiction, if you look into the matter correctly, between destiny and freedom. However, in order to be able to present the concept of destiny to the world later on, it was first necessary that the concept of freedom be presented in the book The Philosophy of Freedom." -- Rudolf Steiner (lect. 6) Published here for the first time in English, these six public lectures are among Rudolf Steiner's most inspired --and inspiring --explorations of Anthroposophy as a true science of the spirit. Our age provides abundant explanations of the universe, its nature and evolution. But underlying most scientific modalities is a passive engagement with self and world, a taking-for-granted of the faculty of thinking, and, as a result, an indifferent arranging of phenomena through logical inference. But the question remains: What is thinking? A product of chemical processes in the brain, or a spiritual activity through which we become participants in a spiritual cosmos? This is Steiner's starting point in all his work. He aims to cast off the unnecessary limits imposed on knowledge by a science that fails to examine its most fundamental epistemological premises. The lectures here are a remarkable contribution to this lifelong project --a compelling, eloquent, insightful study and affirmation of our very humanness. Speaking to a youthful academic audience, Steiner does not confine himself to the arbitrary delineations of codified academic disciplines; on the contrary, he breaks down barriers, builds bridges, envisions a future academy in which the paths of knowledge are broadened through a genuine science of initiation to encompass our role as members and, ultimately, co-creators of the physical, soul, and spiritual universe. "Those who seek to prove something show, through the very fact that they seek to prove it, that for them what must be proved is not readily perceptible. We actually seek to prove something whenever we have no direct perception of it.... When in older, instinctive cognition people had a perception of what they called the divine being, they did not need proofs. Historically, the proofs for the existence of God began only when the perception was lost. Evidence is required wherever there is no perception." -- Rudolf Steiner (lect. 6) This volume is a translation from German of Damit der Mensch ganz Mensch werde. Die Bedeutung der Anthroposophieim Geistesleben der Gegenwart (GA 82), 2nd ed., Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1994. Cover image: The Golden Cell by Odilon Redon, 1892. Oil and colored chalks with gold, 30.1 cm x 24.7 cm. The British Museum, London.
Download or read book Spiritualism Madame Blavatsky Theosophy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2002 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selections from the Works of Rudolf Steiner Without the spiritualist movement and the amazing personality of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the creator of the Theosophical Society, the spiritual revolution of the twentieth century--the so-called New Age, with all its movers and shakers--would be unimaginable. And the work of Rudolf Steiner, G.I. Gurdjieff, René Guénon, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sri Aurobindo, R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, and C.G. Jung could not have become what it was. In this fascinating volume on the Theosophical movement, Rudolf Steiner, one of its primary participants, tells his story in his own words. We are told of the origins of the theosophical movement in spiritualism and somnambulism. We are given Steiner's own version of the relationship between Anthroposophy and Theosophy through his White Lotus Day Lectures, given over several years on the anniversary of Madame Blavatsky's death. Steiner then moves into the realm of occult history, where he relates Theosophy to its historical ground in Western esotericism, especially Rosicrucianism. He reveals events from the seventeenth century that led to the emergence of Freemasonry and other secret societies, as well as the hidden history of the creation of Theosophy in the nineteenth century and the conflicts that still reverberate today between the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic occult streams.
Download or read book The Development of Anthroposophy since Rudolf Steiner s Death written by T.H. Meyer and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2014-11-01 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume begins with Thomas Meyer's assessment of Anthroposophy's evolution since Rudolf Steiner’s death and its future prospects. He offers an overview of the eighty-seven years of the development of the anthroposophic movement and the Anthroposophical Society, the worldwide organization headquartered in Dornach, Switzerland, since the death of its founder. The Society went through a very difficult and controversial period in the ten years following Steiner’s death, which culminated at its Annual Meeting in 1935. The result was the expulsion from the Society of two members appointed by Rudolf Steiner to its Executive Board (Vorstand)—Ita Wegman and Elizabeth Vreede—as well as the British and Dutch branches of the Society and many important anthroposophists who opposed the expulsions. Meyer—whose many books include Rudolf Steiner's Core Mission—reveals the extraordinary concordance of four November 17 dates highly significant in the development of Anthroposophy. On November 17, 1901, the anniversary of the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, Marie von Sivers asked Rudolf Steiner to create an esoteric path suited to the Western mind, which set Steiner on his mission. On November 17, 1923, Ita Wegman urged Steiner to establish a new Society, with Steiner himself joining as both a member and its president. Twelve years later, on November 17, 1935, the remaining three individuals of the Executive Board wrote to Adolf Hitler to plea for the Society's continued existence in Germany after being banned in Germany by the Nazi regime. Profound connections underlie these events. Four appendices supplement the present volume. Appendix 1 presents a Chronology that denotes, by year and day, significant episodes in Steiner’s life and in the development of Anthroposophy. The remaining appendices feature, for the first time in English in one volume, significant documents pertinent to the Anthroposophical Society’s Easter 1935 Annual Meeting. Appendix 2 contains the “Memorandum,” written by supporters of Marie Steiner, setting forth a list of grievances in support of the expulsion motions adopted at the 1935 Annual Meeting. Appendix 3 records Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz’s address in response to the 1935 Annual Meeting, counseling against the expulsion measures. Appendix 4 contains the letter (in English and German) written by the Society’s Executive Board to Adolf Hitler. This important book offers profound insights into the struggles for individual freedom and voice during the early years of the Anthroposophical Society. Seeing the dynamics of that struggle can help us today to overcome differences to work toward common purpose, both in the context of our everyday lives and within a spiritually oriented community.
Download or read book The Christmas Conference for the Foundation of the General Anthroposophical Society 1923 1924 written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This anthroposophic movement is not an earthly service; this anthroposophic movement in its entirety, in all its details, is a service of the gods, a divine service." (opening lecture) At Christmastime 1923, one year after the first Goetheanum was destroyed by fire, Rudolf Steiner--in the wooden carpentry shop overlooking the charred ruins--established the General Anthroposophical Society and joined his destiny with it. This remarkable volume documents that occasion. Here, for the first time, English readers will find the complete proceedings of that founding meeting, as well as Steiner's in-depth description of the structure and organization of the new society. The discussions concerning the statutes are recorded in detail. The laying of the "Foundation Stone" in the hearts of the members forms the center of the book. "The Foundation Stone" verse is reproduced in various forms in which Rudolf Steiner gave it on each day of the conference, together with his comments on its various rhythms. Also included are Steiner's lecture on the plans for the second Goetheanum, illuminating the spiritual significance of its architecture, as well as a talk on the burning of the temple at Ephesus. The text is complemented by a list of members mentioned, with biographical data, as well as by facsimile reproductions of Steiner's handwritten notes and blackboard sketches. Here, as Henry Barnes wrote, "we have the 'footprints' of the process by means of which a spiritual archetype enters as a living reality into the human, social sphere, remaining true to its origins in the suprasensory realm, yet leaving each human individual free to unite him- or herself out of insight with the spiritual reality. READ BOBBY MATHERNE'S REVIEW OF THIS BOOK The Christmas Conference is a translation from German of Die Weihnachtstagung zur Begründung der Allgemeinen Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft (GA 260).
Download or read book What is Anthroposophy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2002 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 3 selected lectures by Rudolf Steiner This is one of those books that can change your life. Radical, thought-provoking, and indeed mind-boggling, it leads to a completely new way of looking at what it means to be human--a spiritual being in a universe that itself is not just physical, but psychic and spiritual as well. These three previously untranslated lectures are a masterly introduction to what Rudolf Steiner means by "Anthroposophy." They explain why Steiner describes this path--which means literally "the wisdom of the human being"--as one that "unites what is spiritual in the human being with what is spiritual in the universe." Steiner begins by describing what happens when we die. He shows the relationship between our physical life on Earth and the etheric, astral, and spiritual life of the cosmos. He also explains how physical lives are completely interwoven with cosmic existence, and how the "miss-ing links" in evolution are spiritual in nature. Steiner then demonstrates what he calls the "dilettantism" and "soullessness" of mainstream psychology. He points out that, since the second half of the nineteenth century, the idea of the soul has been lost and that, consequently, understanding of our inner lives is without a sure foundation. A very different view emerges, however, from a truly spiritual perspective. In the third lec-ture, Steiner takes as his guide our three states of being--waking, dreaming, and sleeping. He describes in detail what happens in these three states and how each is bound up with our lives as physical, psychic, and spiritual beings. With the profound insights in this book, the world becomes a much larger, richer, and more exciting place to live.
Download or read book Fruits of Anthroposophy written by George Kaufmann and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Soul Economy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2003-03 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 13 lectures, Nuremberg, June 17-30, 1908 (CW 104) Initiation enables a person to see, understand, and communicate what may be observed with spiritual eyes. St. John's text arises from such an initiation. It addresses the fundamental questions of existence that every human being asks: Where are we? Where have we come from? Where are we going? And because it arises from esoteric Christian vision, it emphasizes the task of the individual: What am I, and what is my purpose now in this era of cosmic and human evolution? These talks by Rudolf Steiner unveil the mysteries of John's vision and show it to be a profound description of Christian initiation. As Rudolf Steiner says, "The deepest truths of Christianity may be considered quite naturally in connection with this document, for it contains a great part of the mysteries of Christianity--that is, the profoundest part of what may be described as esoteric Christianity." Steiner shows that the messages to the seven churches and the unsealing of the seven seals must be understood as an initiation text. Based on his initiation and on spiritual science, Steiner interprets John's insights into cosmic and human history. In this way, the spiritual images of John's writing--the twenty-four elders, the sea of glass, the woman clothed with the sun, the vials of wrath, the lamb and the dragon, the new heaven and the new earth, and the number of the beast--all take on new meaning. Since the previous painful century has closed, these important words have even greater meaning and significance. Readers interested in contributing their moral will to future generations cannot afford to pass them by. Includes images of the seven apocalyptic seals painted by G. Rettich in 1907, following sketches by Rudolf Steiner. This volume is a translation from German of Die Apokolypse des Johannes (GA 104).
Download or read book The Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner written by Guenther Wachsmuth and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1995-06 with total page 1037 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zanoni, first published in 1842, was inspired by a dream. Sir Edward, a Rosicrucian, wrote this engaging, well-researched, novel about the eternal conflict between head and heart, between wisdom and love, played out by the Rosicrucians before the dramatic background of the French Revolution. He described his book Zanoni as "a truth for those who can comprehend it, and an extravagance for those who cannot." Following his introduction, the novel is divided into seven parts, whose titles indicate the sevenfold path of spiritual development. The fourth section, "The Dweller of the Threshold," is the book's centerpiece, revealing significant esoteric facts and experiences. A novelist, a dramatist, a scholar, an editor, and an active member of Parliament, Sir Edward was an extremely successful author whose writings were widely read throughout England and Europe. He poured into this esoteric work all of the ancient esoteric wisdom that he felt he could reveal to the public during an age buried deeply in materialism. This work remains one of the great, pioneering landmarks of esoteric writing.
Download or read book From the History and Contents of the First Section of the Esoteric School 1904 1914 written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Steiner Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The letters in the first part of this volume record that Rudolf Steiner was asked to give esoteric instruction immediately upon his appointment as General Secretary of the German Section of the Esoteric School of Theosophy in 1902. Soon afterward, he was appointed Arch-Warden in Germany and the Austrian Empire, with "full authority to call meetings of the school, to organize groups and appoint wardens, and to do all that was necessary for the welfare of the school." Having thus preserved continuity (in this case with the theosophical impulse), Steiner began his work as an independent esoteric teacher, teaching from his own experience. This volume collects and documents the outer circle of Steiner's esoteric work. Contained here, primarily in the letters, are specific exercises that he gave to his students. The lectures and circulars allow us to glimpse the birth of the anthroposophical movement out of the theosophical movement of the nineteenth century; and of special interest, there are the teachings concerning the "Masters" and their relationship to the evolution of humanity. Book jacket.
Download or read book The Future is Now written by Sevak Gulbekian and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Steiner spoke at various times of a period that encompasses the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new millennium. He described it as a time of great spiritual struggle in which forces of destruction would wage war on benevolent forces, and how the future of culture and civilization would depend on the outcome. In his many statements on this matter, Steiner warned, in particular, members of the Anthroposophical Society and movement - that they would be called on to develop vital spiritual capacities that are becoming increasingly critical for human progress. In these eighteen essays, contributors offer their thoughts on the question of where anthroposophy in its earthly manifestation now stands and to what extent it is fulfilling its tasks. This commentary on the challenges ahead offers us all a chance to reassess, prepare, and wake up. This compilation features eighteen essays by Jesaiah ben-Aharon, Mario Betti, Terry Boardman, Peter Bridgmont, Gilbert Childs, Dor Deverell, Michaela Gl ckler, Sevak Gulbekian, Brien Masters, Thomas Meyer, Bernard Nesfield-Cookson, Sergei O. Prokofieff, Richard Seddon, Nick Thomas, Peter Tradowsky, Hans-peter van Manen, Edward Warren, and Olive Whicher.
Download or read book LIFE OF THE HUMAN SOUL written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2016-11-14 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How are we connected to the world around us? This question, says Rudolf Steiner, is one that lives subliminally, drawing us into the depths of the psyche. There, our candle of consciousness tends to flicker and go out. But spiritual schooling can relight it, so that we learn to perceive realms of our being beyond the restricted self.Whilst Steiner was undertaking major lecture tours of Germany and England, he took time to address his followers at the world centre of anthroposophy in Dornach, Switzerland. He speaks here on three major topics: 'The Life of the Human Soul', 'Spiritual Striving in Relation to Earth's Evolution' and 'The Contrast Between East and West'. The common theme, however, is our mutual responsibility for what the human being and the world will eventually become – which, according to Steiner, is far from a foregone conclusion. Even the way we think can change and affect the future: the degree, for example, to which we concentrate our picturing in meditation, infusing head thinking with warmth of heart.Rudolf Steiner reveals a hugely complex picture of interrelationships between humanity and the cosmos. Our head, heart, lungs and limbs all reveal subtly different qualities of connection with the invisible realities that continue to sustain us. Our eyes, for instance, only gradually evolved into organs of sight and were once vital organs, as our lungs are now. The lungs, in turn, will similarly evolve to provide us with another form of perception.As is usually the case, Steiner addresses a wide variety of topics in addition to those above. Included in this volume are thoughts on the significance of the cinema; the nature of the halo; technology as the 'true foundation' of the modern worldview; asceticism in the Middle Ages; the world of machines and the world of rite and worship; yoga and modern meditation exercises; pain as an awakener of knowledge; the emergence of the belief in ghosts; and the connection between stomach acid and soul qualities.
