Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 9780880105064
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
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.
Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 0880109564
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
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).
Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 1621481867
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
5 public lectures and an evening discussion, various cities, June 17, 1920 - May 11, 1922 (CW 75) This previously untranslated volume in The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner showcases Rudolf Steiner presenting the key concepts and methods of spiritual science to more or less skeptical academic audiences in the early 1920s. Step by step, he presented to his listeners the fundamentals of the anthroposophic path of knowledge. Steiner was less concerned with presenting results from his spiritual-scientific research than with leading his academic audience to an objective understanding of spiritual science in a propaedeutic, conceptually transparent way. The central questions of his approach were: What are the tools and instruments required to orient oneself in the world of the soul and the spirit? How can we know that the spiritual world is an objective world and not merely a psychic projection? What authorizes the spiritual researcher to acknowledge what he has experienced "on the other side" as a reality that is independent of him? Rudolf Steiner addresses these and other questions in such a structured and readily comprehensible way that the volume as a whole is well suited, both as an introductory text and as a means for anyone to deepen their understanding of how anthroposophy relates to and builds upon the natural sciences. At the time these presentations were given, serious voices had been raised denying Steiner's scientific credibility and denouncing his methods as unsound. Partly in response to such criticisms, Steiner here describes a means by which human beings can gain, through methodical and rigorous training, a direct experience of the spiritual dimension of life. He lays out the methodology of spiritual science, which is rooted in the scientific approach, outlining the three stages of higher knowledge --imagination, inspiration, and intuition --and describing the inner processes that lead from intellectual thinking to these higher modes of cognition. Ultimately, what Steiner proposes is not a deviation from the natural sciences but their expansion and development beyond unnecessary boundaries --that is, the establishment of anthroposophical spiritual science as a recognized method and practice of scientific research. This book is a translation from German of Das Verhältnis der Anthroposophie zur Naturwissenschaft, 1st edition (GA 75, Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 2010).
Author: Stewart Copinger Easton
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
ISBN: 9780854404643
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 112
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Book Description
"As the end of the century approaches, the eternal problems of life confronting mankind, particularly in the western world, appear to be as incapable of solution as they have always been. Further problems have emerged as a result of the failure of the products of science and technology to bring about a more contented society, as envisaged not so long ago in some circles. More than ever before, thinking men and women feel the need to seek for answers to the meaning and purpose of life. In his opening chapter, Dr. Easton considers not only the age-old questions that have always been asked, but also those especially significant for our times. As he states, this is not a textbook of anthroposophy (the spiritual science formulated by the Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner, 1861-1925), but he presents anthroposophical ideas, including those of reincarnation and karma, with great clarity, and compellingly suggests to the reader their relevance and application to the problems of modern life. This book will, without doubt, be of great help to the growing number of people concerned about the disturbing trends in life today, who really feel the need to seek for a solution, and who are, as the author says, 'looking for something that goes beyond the traditional religious teachings, and who do not think modern science has all the answers'." -- Back cover.
Author: Sergei O. Prokofieff
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1906999120
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 223
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Book Description
"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.
Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
ISBN: 1855845881
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230
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Book Description
In this landmark series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner challenges the notion that human consciousness has in essence remained the same throughout history. On the contrary, we can only see the past in its true light when we study the differences in human souls during the various historical eras. Consciousness, he says, evolves constantly and we can only comprehend the present by understanding its origin in the past. Delivered in the evenings during the course of the ‘mystery act’ of the Christmas Foundation Meeting – when Rudolf Steiner not only re-founded the Anthroposophical Society but for the first time took a formal role within it – these lectures study world history in parallel with the ancient mysteries of initiation, showing how they are intimately linked. Steiner describes consciousness in the ancient East and follows the initiation principle from Babylonia to Greece, up to its influences in present-day spiritual life. He also discusses Gilgamesh and Eabani, the mysteries of Ephesus and Hibernia, and the occult relationship between the destruction by fire of the Temple of Artemis and the burning of the first Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Published for the first time with colour plates of Steiner’s blackboard drawings, the freshly-revised text is complemented with an introduction, notes and appendices by Professor Frederick Amrine and an index.
Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
ISBN: 9781855840966
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 234
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Book Description
"Leading thoughts" and letters for members of the Anthroposophical Society (CW 26) "The leading thoughts here given are meant to open up subjects for study and discussion. Points of contact with them will be found in countless places in the anthroposophic books and lecture courses, so that the subjects thus opened up can be enlarged upon and the discussions in the groups centered around them." -- Rudolf Steiner This key volume contains Rudolf Steiner's "leading thoughts," or guiding principles, and related letters to members of the Anthroposophical Society. Using brief, aphoristic statements, Steiner succinctly presents his spiritual science as a modern path of knowledge, accompanied by "letters" that expand and contextualize the guiding thought. These 185 thoughts constitute invaluable, clear summaries of Steiner's fundamental ideas--indeed, they contain the whole of Anthroposophy. They are intended not as doctrine, but to stimulate and focus one's study and discussion of spiritual science. "Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge to guide the Spiritual in the human being to the Spiritual in the universe.... Anthroposophy communicates knowledge that is gained in a spiritual way.... There are those who believe that with the limits of knowledge derived from sense perception the limits of all insight are given. Yet if they would carefully observe howthey become conscious of these limits, they would find in the very consciousness of the limits the faculties to transcend them." -- Rudolf Steiner This volume is a translation of Anthroposophische Leitsätze, Der Erkenntnisweg der Anthroposophie--Das Michael-Mysterium (GA 26).
Author: Georg Kühlewind
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 9780880103619
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
"Truths cannot be transmitted simply as stable dogmas. Truths are always of a given moment and, at each moment, must be grasped anew. This demands at each moment a renewed activity in relation to the human gift of understanding." -- Jörgen Smit (from the foreword) The goal of this study is to cultivate the experience of living, intuitive thinking, such as we experience with every new understanding. As Kühlewind puts it, this unique contribution to practice of anthroposophy has a twofold purpose: "to stimulate working with spiritual science through exercises, and to stimulate independent new formulations of its content on the basis of experience." Working with Anthroposophy will help guide beginning students and inspire longtime students of the path opened up by Rudolf Steiner. As with all of Kühlewind's works, this book opens new insights with each reading.
Author: Fred Paddock
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 9780880105101
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 196
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Book Description
This book was initiated by the Rudolf Steiner Library where the librarian Fred Paddock had long felt the need to make available some of the cutting edge writings by European anthroposophists.
Author: Sergei O. Prokofieff
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1906999023
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
"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.
