Download or read book The Esoteric Background of Waldorf Education written by René Querido and published by Rudolf Steiner College Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Leitmotif of this book is inspired by passages from the fifth lecture of Rudolf Steiner's Education as a Social Problem, given shortly before the opening of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart: One should not look superficially at the so-called cultural phenomena of our age, nor should one doubt that modern human beings have to arouse themselves to real comprehension of the Christ Impulse if evolution is to go forward in a healthy way.... This is something future educators and teachers must take into their consciousness.... One must teach from awareness that one has to bring about salvation in the case of every individual child; one has to steer children toward finding the Christ impulse in the course of life, toward finding a rebirth within themselves.... Such things must not live in the teacher as mere theory; they can be introduced into one's teaching only if one is strongly taken hold of by them in one's own soul.... "The best in me as a human being of this and following incarnations is what I find in myself as the Christ Impulse."... We should be clear, however, that this Christ impulse must not become the dogmatism of some religious body.... Human intelligence, left to itself, travels the path toward the ahrimanic; it can become active for the good only through taking in the true Christ impulse.

Download or read book Towards the Deepening of Waldorf Education written by Rudolf Steiner and published by . This book was released on 2017-06 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Steiner worked closely with the teachers of the first Waldorf school, which opened in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. This book contains the esoteric information that Steiner gave to the teachers, published for a general audience for the first time, in association with the Pedagogical Section Council of North America.Previously reserved exclusively for teachers, the book includes verses for children and teachers, the presentation at the opening of the Stuttgart Waldorf school, and accompanying essays by experienced teachers, discussing the significance of Steiner's words.This linen-bound hardback book is a treasure for any Waldorf teacher and those interested in Waldorf education, with the aim of bringing responsible freedom to teachers and, through them, to children.

Download or read book The Christ Impulse written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘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.

Download or read book Truth Beauty and Goodness written by Gilbert Childs and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Steiner stated that the primary function of education is to exercise the students' faculties of thinking, feeling and willing. These basic human qualities manifest in civilization as the "eternal verities" of truth, beauty and goodness, and these in turn in science, art and religion. Gilbert Childs' goal in this carefully crafted book is twofold--to illustrate the practical application of the factors mentioned and to substantiate assertion by Steiner that his philosophy and educational practice is intended to meet the requirements of our time. the author's presentation provides stimulating thoughts for teachers and students of education, as well as anyone who wishes to improve the way we prepare our children for life and their place in the world.

Download or read book An Outline of Esoteric Science written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1997-10 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Contemplative practice means, among other things, becoming practiced in solitude. This does not mean brooding or self-indulgent musing, but instead practicing a special form of recollection of the past, mindfulness for the present, and envisioning of the future in a manner that is enlivening, clear, and insightful. We learn to be properly solitary, and to carry the depth of our solitude into the world with grace and selflessness." -- Arthur Zajonc When we turn to meditation, we are turning toward renewal, peace, and insight. Initially, we may take up contemplative practice as a means of tapping into the abundant resources of the mind and heart that bring serenity, but the meditative journey leads further--to the place where wisdom and love unite. In Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry, Arthur Zajonc offers an overview of the meditative life, weaving practical instruction together with the guidance and inspiration of the world's great teachers, from Rudolf Steiner to Rumi, and from Goethe to the sages of Asia. Zajonc reminds us that an ethic of humility grounds all practice, and that care of the soul is the basis for sound spiritual reflection and understanding. The author carefully describes each stage of the path and includes many recommended practices. Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry is the fruit of many years of personal practice and teaching. Arthur Zajonc developed his orientation toward meditation through working with hundreds of university students and professors, as well as with contemplative groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

Download or read book Occult Science written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written in 1909 (CW 13) An authorized translation of this classic work, re-edited, beautifully typeset and designed, from a professional publisher dedicated to high-quality editions of Rudolf Steiner's books and lectures. The Anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner is not a theoretical system, but the results of research based on direct observation. As Steiner's research was so vast and conducted over such a long period of time, no single book can be said to contain the whole of his spiritual teaching. However, of all his books Occult Science comes closest. Steiner even referred to it as "an epitome of anthroposophic Spiritual Science." The book systematically presents the fundamental facts concerning the nature and constitution of the human being and, chronologically, the history of the universe and humankind. Whereas the findings of natural science are derived from observations made through the senses, the findings of Spiritual Science, or Anthroposophy, are "occult" inasmuch as they arise from direct observation of realities hidden to ordinary perception. And yet these elements of humanity and the universe form the foundation of the sense world. A substantial part of Occult Science is taken up with a description of the preliminary training needed to make such spiritual observations. Given his energetic involvement in practical initiatives and extensive lecturing, Steiner had little time to write books. Of those he did write, four titles form an indispensable introduction to his later teaching: The Philosophy of Freedom (CW 4); Theosophy (CW 9); Knowledge of the Higher Worlds (CW 10); and Occult Science: An Outline (CW 13). Occult Science: An Outline is a translation from German of Die Geheimwissenschaft im Umriss (GA 13).

Download or read book Waldorf Education written by Richard J. S. Blunt and published by Novalis Press (ZA). This book was released on 1995 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thorough primer on Waldorf education provides the reader with a complete and easily accessible introduction to Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf educational theory. Beginning with a short biography of Steiner and a review of his writings and the various works about him, the author goes on to discuss Steiner's concept of Man, and his ideas regarding the stages of development and their implications for education. At this point, Blunt undertakes a dear analysis of the Waldorf system including its aims, principles, and methods. Here he discusses the training of Waldorf teachers, the various subjects and how they are approached, and ends with a description of how an average Waldorf school operates on each class level.This is a wonderful introduction to the entire Waldorf process for anyone thinking about enrolling their child in one of the schools or for anyone merely interested in the Waldorf system of education.

Download or read book Guidance in Esoteric Training written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2013-04-16 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected from material given by Rudolf Steiner to members of his Esoteric School (1904-14), this volume features exercises, meditations and practices for spiritual self-development. In contrast to oriental methods of spiritual training, they derive from the western, Rosicrucian stream and are fully adapted to modern consciousness.Various exercises are given - for morning and evening, for the days of the week and the months of the year. In addition, there is much explanatory material to deepen and enhance meditative work, including several articles on the path of inner development and the obstacles to be faced on the way to attaining true consciousness of the self.This enlarged edition contains further clarification of the exercises, descriptions of the future evolution of the world and humanity, plus later advice given by Steiner on the nature of breathing exercises and ancient and modern methods of initiation.

Download or read book Esoteric Lessons for the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2020-11-04 with total page 1733 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society as the General Anthroposophical Society at Christmas 1923/24, Rudolf Steiner also reconstituted, as the School of Spiritual Science, the Esoteric School he had led in three classes from 1904 to 1914, at the same time extending its scope by adding artistic and scientific Sections. However, owing to his illness and later death in March 1925, he was only able to make a beginning by establishing the First Class and the Sections. The actual step from the Esoteric School to the School of Spiritual Science was nevertheless an exceptional one. The Esoteric School from Helena Blavatsky’s time had been secret. Its existence was known only to those personally invited to participate. In contrast, the existence of the School of Spiritual Science was stated openly in the public statutes of the General Anthroposophical Society. From the Christmas Conference onwards, Rudolf Steiner worked within this publicly acknowledged framework. The Class Lessons comprise a complete spiritual course of nineteen fundamental lessons given between February and August 1924, several lessons given at other locations, and seven further lessons from September 1924 which take up the themes of the first part of the nineteen lessons in a modified form. This authentic, accurate and high-quality bilingual edition – with English and German texts printed side by side – is published in conjunction with the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum. A compact four-volume clothbound set, it features plates with Rudolf Steiner’s handwritten notes of the mantras and reproductions of his original colour blackboard drawings. The translations of the mantric verses have been reworked by a committed group of translators, linguists and editors, expressing subtleties of meaning, grammatical accuracy and poetic style whilst retaining the original sound and metre of the German mantric forms. Three versions of the existing English translations are also included.

Download or read book Esoteric Development written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2003 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection gathers a sequence of statements by Rudolf Steiner on how to develop the faculties of higher, or 'suprasensory,' knowing Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition.

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 A Modern Art of Education written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2001-03-15 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fine introduction to Waldorf education, written out of a series of lectures given in 1924, Steiner provides one of the most comprehensive introductions to his pedagogical philosophy, psychology, and practice. Steiner begins by describing the union of science, art, religion and morality, which was the aim of all his work and underlies his concept of education. Against this background, many of the lectures describe a new developmental psychology. On this basis, having established how children's consciousness develops, Steiner discusses how different subjects should be presented so that individuals can grow and flourish inwardly. Only if the child absorbs the right subject in the right way at the right time can the inner freedom so necessary for life in the modern world become second nature.

Download or read book What Is Waldorf Education written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2004-11 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The soul's immortality and its repeated earthly births are not new ideas in Western thought. They are implicit in the Pythagorean and Platonic traditions, as well as in some branches of esoteric Judaism and Cabbala. But it was not until the early years of this century that the West was given a detailed, modern, evolutionary philosophy of human life based on the reality of reincarnation and karma. This turning point occurred when Rudolf Steiner began to make public the results of his spiritual scientific researches. He viewed the revelation of reincarnation and karma as one of his most important life tasks. Steiner's contribution, however, remains unique in its understanding of the human being as an evolving, developing being of body, soul, and spirit. On the basis of his researches--presented in numerous books and lectures--we begin to understand how the complex interaction of human lives between birth and death and between death and a new birth gives new meaning not only to individual lives lived on Earth in community with others, but also to human history and evolution and to earthly and cosmic events. This book collects many of Steiner's major statements on reincarnation and karma. The primary purpose of this volume is to help readers meet the challenge of spiritual research in the area of individual evolution of the soul and spirit in the context of cultural and universal evolution. Such a study can be tremendously revealing and provide spiritual understanding in a time of increasing intellectual confusion and spiritual poverty. The notion of reincarnation and karma is generally associated in most minds with spiritual traditions of the East, especially Hinduism and Buddhism. René Querido's in-depth, sixty-page introduction, however, places these concepts within the context of Western spiritual development and esoteric tradition, showing us a panoramic view of how such ideas have developed over the centuries in the West.

Download or read book Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner 1919 1922 written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1998 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Waldorf School movement has it roots in the chaotic period following the First World War. Struggling to create the first school, Rudolf Steiner worked on every detail. Lesson plans, religious education, school hours, course resources, administration, finance, child study; no aspect of school life was beyond his attention. Guiding the faculty and demonstrating a phenomenal range of knowledge, Steiner moved toward his goal of creating a vehicle for social transformation.These two volumes span the years 1919 to 1924 and cover, meeting by meeting, the development of the first Waldorf School. Here is Rudolf Steiner, not through the written word or lectures but in transcribed interaction that details the creation process. Participating in a work in progress, Steiner deals with an amazing array of problems, frustrations, successes and failures. His sleeves rolled up and his sight on a vision that he made a reality, Rudolf Steiner lays the foundations of Waldorf Education. This detailed look, behind the scenes, will interest not only teachers, but also parents and students: anyone who wants to know how a successful worldwide school movement arose.

Download or read book Hands Hearts and Heads written by Sarah W. Whedon and published by ProQuest. This book was released on 2007 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Waldorf education is a rapidly growing alternative pedagogical system based on anthroposophy, the esoteric teachings of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). This dissertation combines historical and ethnographic methods in a close study of two American Waldorf schools, The Waldorf School of the Finger Lakes (WSOFL) and the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara (WSOSB). The work seeks to fill a gap in scholarly work on Waldorf education and anthroposophy. It demonstrates that esotericism is not limited to the realm of texts but that Western esoteric traditions have had an impact on the physical, the practiced, and the practical. More important, it argues that children matter deeply for the making of religious and cultural worlds. In Waldorf schools, children, adults, and texts cooperate and compete to construct each other and to make worlds of meaning, both those in which they are immersed and those that transcend them.

Download or read book Esoteric Lessons 1904 1909 written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Notes written from memory by the participants and meditation verses by Rudolf Steiner (CW 266/1) "Rudolf Steiner constantly sought the right soil for certain presentations, and so it could happen that he communicated, as a trial, something from his spiritual research to quite a small circle, sometimes only to three, two, and even only one person. At the same time, he was experimenting to see how far modern consciousness could bear such matters. It was some new research that he presented in this way to a few people. One could ask questions and discuss things. But, after a while, one noticed that he took the same matter to a larger circle--that is, to the circle of people who formed an esoteric group. Then it would happen that he brought it before all the members of the Anthroposophical Society. Moreover, if one waited a little longer, he began to give public lectures on the same subject. Esotericism...had to be implanted step by step in present-day consciousness." --Carl Unger (Oct. 29, 1928) To read this book is to be part of Rudolf Steiner's Esoteric School, to experience the growth and development of Anthroposophy from within. First and most essential here is the primacy of practice. Steiner stresses attention and concentration. We waste much of our time and energy on thoughts and feelings that to nowhere. Meditation--concentration on a living thought, an idea of higher origin--begins the process of self-gathering. Controlling our thoughts, we begin to form our "mental" (etheric) body; ordering our memories, we begin to work on our astral body. These two tasks are our preliminary goal. "We must make our life into a school for learning." Humility is the key--when the world becomes our teacher, we must become humble. With the beginning of these esoteric lessons, the path is deepened. We witness Rudolf Steiner the spiritual teacher in action. Throughout the lessons, Steiner moves between the so-called Christian-Gnostic path and the theosophical framework of the Masters. As the years unfold, however, the lessons move from the framework given by H. P. Blavatsky toward a deeper, more universal and, at the same time, more contemporary focus. Steiner reveals that behind what Blavatsky brought is the wisdom of Atlantis, which today must come to life again. Here, Christian Rosenkreutz, the Rosicrucians, and the "old philosophers" (alchemists) become important, for it was their task to bring this wisdom, now "enchristed," into the West. This volume is the English translation of «Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden, Gedächtnisaufzeichnungen von Teilnehmern. Band.1, 1904-1909» (GA 266/1).

Download or read book Human Values in Education written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These lectures on education were given well after the founding of several Waldorf schools in Europe, and thus Steiner was able to draw on the practical experience of this form of education in action.