Download or read book The Esoteric Significance of Spiritual Work in Anthroposophical Groups written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The anthroposophical community seeks to lift human souls into supersensible realms so that they may enter the company of angels." --Rudolf Steiner Sergei 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 the Earth. These events involved the nine spiritual hierarchies, associating them with the karma of the anthroposophic movement. The author goes on to elaborate 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, in an esoteric sense, the General Anthroposophical Society was created so that people could learn to work with the gods. This is a vital booklet for all those who care deeply about the future of the Anthroposophical Society and the proper evolution of humanity.

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 Anthroposophy and the Inner Life written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2015-06-03 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although these nine lectures were given to an audience that had been studying anthroposophy, or spiritual science, for many years, they were nevertheless described by Rudolf Steiner as an 'introductory course'. Given shortly after the Christmas Foundation Meeting, in which Rudolf Steiner refounded and renewed the Anthroposophical Society, these lectures reformulate the content of spiritual science from a condensed, personal, experiential point of view. What Steiner presented in his fundamental work Theosophy in a descriptive, systematic way, is complemented here with great intensity, challenging us to cultivate a living experience of the spiritual nature of ourselves and of the world. This volume is therefore an invaluable companion to the book Theosophy. Given the unique nature of these lectures, they are suitable for both the advanced student and the beginner who wishes to embark on an exploration, however tentative, of the vast range of Rudolf Steiner's work.

Download or read book Approaches to Anthroposophy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These lectures provide an excellent introduction to some of the leading themes of anthroposophy. Steiner carefully corrects certain misunderstandings that had arisen regarding his spiritual-scientific research and demonstrates how anthroposophy has nothing whatever to do with mysticism or spiritualism; nor is it simply a revival of ancient esoteric teachings. Rather, it is a genuinely modern spiritual teaching for Western humanity that builds upon the achievements of science and develops its exact methodology further into the investigation of spiritual realities through the awakening of higher organs of perception.

Download or read book Esoteric Development written by Rudolf Steiner and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Friedrich Schiller and the Future of Freedom written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2023-06-09 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘The primary task of this book is to build a bridge to a deeper understanding of Schiller himself who, along with Goethe and Novalis, was one of the great spiritual forerunners and trailblazers of anthroposophy.’ – Sergei O. Prokofieff Planned as the second volume in a trilogy on Novalis, Schiller and Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and the Future of Freedom is much more than a conventional biography. Prokofieff shines new light on Schiller’s character and destiny, helping to establish his position as a crucial antecedent to Rudolf Steiner in the spiritual history of humanity. He also defines Schiller’s task in the context of the achievements of Goethe and Novalis at the end of the eighteenth century, an extraordinary period that saw a seminal transformation in the philosophical and artistic landscape. Following the recent publication of The Riddle of Dmitri – which explores Schiller’s unfinished drama Demetrius – Prokofieff returns here to the theme in the framework of Schiller’s life and extensive body of work. In timely fashion, he conveys Schiller’s mediating role between Central and Eastern Europe, indicating how he came ‘near to the soul of the Russian people through an idealism imbued with his entirely self-created moral power and his fiery enthusiasm for everything in the world that is true, beautiful and good’.

Download or read book Anthroposophy and the Philosophy of Freedom written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I asked Rudolf Steiner, 'What will remain of your work thousands of years from now?' He replied, 'Nothing but The Philosophy of Freedom. But everything else is contained in it. If one realizes the act of freedom described there, one can discover the whole content of Anthroposophy.'" -- Walter Johannes Stein Some people's path to Anthroposophy leads them directly to Rudolf Steiner's early work Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom, which becomes the philosophical basis for further exploration. Steiner referred to this as a "safe" approach. However, the destiny of many leads them directly to Anthroposophy itself, perhaps through one of its practical initiatives such as Waldorf education or biodynamics, sometimes making it difficult to relate to the cognitive basis of Anthroposophy. In this unique study, Prokofieff offers a fresh approach to Steiner's crucial book, Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path. He shows why the book is so important to Anthroposophy as the work in which Steiner lays a foundation for his method of spiritual research. In Steiner's own words, "One who is willing can indeed find the basic principles of Anthroposophy in my Philosophy of Freedom." Prokofieff discusses the Christian nature of the anthroposophic means of cognition and how it is integral to freedom and love. This in turn reveals the deeply Christian roots of Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path and its importance for modern Christian esoteric work. In considering its multifaceted cosmic and human dimension, Prokofieff discusses Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path in relation to the mystery of the Resurrection, the work of the hierarchies, the being Anthroposophia, the "Fifth Gospel," Steiner's path of initiation, the Rosicrucian and Michaelic impulses, the life between death and rebirth, the Foundation Stone, the Christian mysteries of karma, and the science of the Grail.

Download or read book Rudolf Steiner s Research Into Karma and the Mission of the Anthroposophical Society written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2010-10-15 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Research into the sphere of karma...forms the basis of the modern spiritual science of Anthroposophy. For only by learning to understand these laws can the human being realize how spiritual forces work simultaneously in man and the cosmos, and link the two into a higher unity." In this inspiring lecture, addressed primarily to followers of the anthroposophic movement, Prokofieff gives an overview of how the spiritual hierarchies and Christ, the Lord of Karma, work in the ordering of human karma. We are led to the karma and mission of the Anthroposophical Society, with indications as to what needs to happen before that karmic mission can be fulfilled. Prokofieff explains why true modern Christian research into karma does not arise from intellectual speculation, curiosity, or nebulous mystical experiences. The process of karmic research, based on spiritual science, should lead to a fundamental transformation of human nature and lead to a full experience of the cosmos.

Download or read book May Human Beings Hear It written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-12 with total page 938 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Christmas period of 1923-4, Rudolf Steiner refounded the Anthroposophical Society at its headquarters in Dornach, Switzerland. This important event, which has come to be known as the Christmas Conference, can be studied on many levels, and its many mysteries have been central to Sergei O. Prokofieff's anthroposophical research over the years. His beginning point has been an enduring question: What did Rudolf Steiner mean when he called the Christmas Conference the ‘start of a World-Turning-point of Time’? In this far-reaching work, the author – working from several different viewpoints - guides the reader towards an answer. Prokofieff suggests that the impulse of the Christmas Conference can only be reenlivened today through conscious action by individuals to experience its spiritual essence. Rather than offering dogmatic conclusions, he opens up paths of approaching this goal by throwing light on different aspects of the Conference and what lies at its heart: the Foundation Stone and its Meditation. In particular, Prokofieff explores three key perspectives: the connection of the Christmas Conference with humanity’s evolution; the inner relationship of each individual anthroposophist to the Christmas Conference; and the significance of the Conference to Rudolf Steiner himself. Although this is major work of some length, the individual chapters of May Human Beings Hear It! are complete in themselves, and can therefore be studied independently of each other.

Download or read book Riddle of the Human I written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-24 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Anyone who embarks upon the study of anthroposophy will soon recognise that the mystery of the human ego lies at its very heart. This mystery is one of the central questions of anthroposophical Christology and at the same time forms one of the most difficult cognitive challenges presented by anthroposophy.’ – Sergei O. Prokofieff The question of the true nature of the human ‘I’ or individuality is one of the key issues of our time, but it is also one of the most complex riddles of existence. This booklet doesn’t give simple answers but adds perspectives that deepen the theme, offering a picture of its manifold mysteries. In three great panoramas, the author develops central aspects of the topic, beginning with the threefold nature of human individuality, followed by an illumination of the cosmic dimension of the ego, and finally an encapsulation of the significance of the earthly ego. With his usual thoroughness and clarity, Sergei O. Prokofieff throws light on one of the fundamental questions of our time.

Download or read book The Cycle of the Year as a Path of Initiation written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-12 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In ancient times humanity possessed an innate knowledge of the spiritual foundations of existence. Such knowledge could be acquired through inwardly accompanying the cycle of the year and its connected great seasonal festivals. But this instinctive knowledge had to be lost in order for human beings to discover individual freedom. In our time, as Sergei O. Prokofieff demonstrates in this comprehensive work, ‘... this knowledge must be found anew through the free, light-filled consciousness of the fully developed human personality’. Tracing the spiritual path of the yearly cycle, Prokofieff penetrates to the deeper esoteric realities of the seven Christian festivals of Michaelmas, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Whitsun and St John’s Tide. Basing his research on the work of the twentieth-century initiate Rudolf Steiner, he reveals how these festivals are spiritual facts that exist independently of religious traditions and cultural customs. Working with the festivals in an esoteric sense can provide a true path of initiation, ultimately enabling an experience of the Being of the Earth, Christ. The journey of study through this book can thus lead the reader to an experience of the modern Christian-Rosicrucian path, along which ‘... it is possible to take the first steps towards life in partnership with the course of cosmic existence’.

Download or read book The Mystery of the Resurrection in the Light of Anthroposophy written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "We live today at a time when the full mystery of the Resurrection body can become manifest to human beings out of the inspirations of Michael.... This was accomplished by Rudolf Steiner not just in a theoretical sense but also practically, and came about through the establishing of a path, accessible to all human beings, which leads to a union with the forces of the Resurrection body." Sergei Prokofieff approaches the deepest mysteries of the Turning Point of Time (the Christ event) through Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research. At its heart stands the question of the restoration of the "phantom" of the physical body and its transformation into the resurrected body of Christ through the Mystery of Golgotha. The author draws a broad and differentiated picture of the tasks and possibilities that the Easter event--as well as Ascension and Pentecost--present, both for the individual and humanity. The final chapter considers the mystery of Easter Saturday, through which the two polar aspects of the Mystery of Golgotha--death and resurrection--interconnect, also explaining the relationship between the Earth Spirit and the interior of the Earth. An appendix tackles the phenomenon of stigmatization from a spiritual-scientific perspective.

Download or read book Rudolf Steiner and the Founding of the New Mysteries written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by Temple Lodge Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06-21 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this revised and expanded edition of his classic debut, Sergei O. Prokofieff investigates the deepest mysteries of Rudolf Steiner’s life and individuality, from ‘the years of apprenticeship’ and ‘the great Sun period’ to ‘the path of the Teacher of Humanity’ and ‘the birth of the New Mysteries’. He discusses the earthly and supersensible aspects of the first Goetheanum, the implications of the Christmas Conference of 1923-24, and the Foundation Stone meditation that Steiner left as a legacy to members of the Anthroposophical Society. In his very personal Introduction, Prokofieff describes, in moving detail, the events in his life which led to his discovery of anthroposophy whilst living in Communist Russia, and how eventually he came to write this extraordinary study of Rudolf Steiner. The resulting volume – a work of secondary anthroposophical literature unprecedented in its depth and significance – was first published in Germany in 1982, meeting with equal amounts of acclaim, astonishment and controversy. It is published in this paperback edition to mark the 35th anniversary of the original publication.

Download or read book Esoteric Development written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2003-11 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "You should not have any mystical ideas about meditation, nor should you think it is easy. Meditation must be completely clear, in the modern sense. Patience and inner soul energy are needed, and, above all, it depends on an act that no one else can do for you: it requires an inner resolve that you stick to. When you begin to meditate, you are performing the only completely free activity there is in human life" (Rudolf Steiner). This completely revised edition provides an ordered sequence of statements by Steiner on the development of higher, suprasensory knowing --Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition. Nine chapters take the reader from the idea of inner development, through the cultural and evolutionary need for higher knowing, and then to examples of the practices and inner gestures required by this work. Steiner describes the necessary steps and stages, always insisting on the free, individual, and cognitive character of anthroposophic spiritual research. This essential inner guide is for anyone on a path of true spiritual development.

Download or read book Spiritualism Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2002-11 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work builds on the foundation of the Popol Vuh, the document that retraces in mythical language the four ages, or stages of civilization, that all of America has undergone to some degree. It also moves from the Popol Vuh into later times through myths and legends of the Aztec and Iroquois. Myth and history are placed side by side in a scientific and imaginative approach that documents the correlation between pre-historical and historical periods and the spiritual events that ushered them in, as narrated in the myths and legends of North America. This approach reconciles Western analytical consciousness with the Native American language of myths and legends. All of this is placed first in the perspective of Maya spiritual tradition, and then from the perspective that the twentieth-century research of Rudolf Steiner brought to light, especially in relation to the events that took place in Central America two thousand years ago, about which only Rudolf Steiner has spoken. The first part of the work explores events of 2,000 years ago and their consequences in the onset of Maya civilization. The second part researches the rise of new spiritual influences around the time just before the arrival of Columbus in America. At the extremes of the spectrum, we find Aztec and Iroquois worldviews. Both cosmologies have links, subtle or obvious, with the Popol Vuh, whether continuing or reinterpreting its original message. This polarity carries momentous consequences for global social trends in modern world history. Spiritual Turning Points of North American History brings a fresh perspective to North American history and the meeting of European and First Nations worldviews.

Download or read book The Creative Power of Anthroposophical Christology written by Sergei O. Prokofieff and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2011-10 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 18 Introductory essays, written 1884-1897 (CW 1) The holistic paradigm, Gaia, deep ecology, and new alchemy all have a hidden ancestor: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). At the youthful age of twenty-one, Steiner was chosen to edit Goethe's scientific writings for the principle Goethe edition of his time. Goethe's literary genius was universally acknowledged; it was Steiner's task to understand and comment on Goethe's scientific achievements. Steiner recognized the significance of Goethe's work with nature and his epistemology, and here began Steiner's own training in epistemology and spiritual science. This collection of Steiner's introductions to Goethe's works re-visions the meaning of knowledge and how we attain it. Goethe had discovered how thinking could be applied to organic nature and that this experience requires not just rational concepts but a whole new way of perceiving. In an age when science and technology have been linked to great catastrophes, many are looking for new ways to interact with nature. With a fundamental declaration of the interpenetration of our consciousness and the world around us, Steiner shows how Goethe's approach points the way to a more compassionate and intimate involvement with nature. Nature's Open Secret is a translation of Goethes Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften, Einleitungen, (1884-1897). Previous translations were titled Goethe the Scientist and Goethean Science. (GA 1).

Download or read book The Karma of Anthroposophy written by Rudolf Steiner and published by Rudolf Steiner Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If such authentic souls, such honest anthroposophists can be found...then an upward movement and dynamic will arise. If such souls do not appear, then decadence will take its inexorable downward course.... Today humanity stands before a great crisis: either it will see all civilization collapsing into the abyss, or else spirituality will raise civilization up by the power of the Michael impetus, through which the Christ impetus works, thus continuing, enriching and sustaining it." During 1924, the last full year of Rudolf Steiner's life, he gave a series of urgent, sometimes impassioned, talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society about their karma and its relationship to contemporary culture, referring in particular to the vital task of renewing civilization and preserving it from the threat of decline. Steiner's words reveal a great gathering of forces to do spiritual battle for the soul of humanity. He presents a striking panorama in which anthroposophists are compelled to broaden their vision--to see true esoteric and exoteric anthroposophic work as a living yeast that can leaven all culture. To awaken members of the Anthroposophical Society to the significance of their task, Steiner could see that it was essential for them to understand the various karmic threads that form the fabric of the anthroposophic movement. Such recognition--of both difference and unity--offers strength of diversity, which easily leads to division if it remains unconscious and unrecognized. In the lectures and excerpts in The Karma of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner speaks of an unprecedented convergence of two specific groups of souls with the anthroposophic movement: the Platonists and the Aristotelians. Thus, a conflict of approaches forms the karmic background, whereas today's task calls for unity based on love and knowledge--to work with the Archangel Michael and Christ in the face of Ahriman, materialism, and the possibility of social collapse and decadence. Given the challenges we face today, it is urgent for those who embrace spiritual science to study, absorb, and take to heart the substance of this critically important material.