Search results for ""author rudolf steiner""

Steiner speaks of the work of Goetheanism, which begins with understanding the threefold human being and leads tothreefoldingthe social organism. Steiner goes on to describe the decisive role of the consciousness soul in the present epoch, and how Aesthetic Lettersand Goethe'sFairy Talerelate to contemporary challenges.

Read more less

During 1924, before his last address in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures on the subject of karma to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These profoundly esoteric lectures examine the underlying laws of reincarnation and karma, and explore in detail the incarnations of certain named historical figures. In Rudolf Steiner's words, the study of karma is '?a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world-existence?' In this second volume of the series. Rudolf Steiner considers individual karmic relationships in history - for example Marx and Engels - as well as surveying karma in human life, the shaping of karma after death, and the "cosmic form" of karma.

Read more less

'To live in truth, to wish to be true in one's whole being, will be the watchword of the future.' - Rudolf Steiner In the midst of the lies and propaganda of the Great War, Rudolf Steiner struggled to convey the truths of the human spirit. The 'truth' asserted by partisan interests, he suggested, was invariably tinged with dishonesty - whether the outright mendacities of politicians and rulers (Steiner refers here to the machinations of the British Empire), or the manipulative techniques of secret societies, intent on securing and shoring up their own power. In relation to the latter, Rudolf Steiner highlights how, whilst we tend to reject overt authority nowadays, we succumb more easily to its covert forms in the 'received wisdoms' we often unthinkingly adopt. In seeking to help his audiences discern the spiritual struggle unfolding behind outer events, Steiner describes how the intrigues that led to the war were based on intentional deceit, which served hidden aims of which the public was mostly kept in the dark. In contrast to the divisiveness of untruth, truth is based on a realization of the interconnectedness of all things - of interdependence between the realms 'below' and 'above' us. The 'I', upon which all evolution on earth is predicated, signifies an overcoming of egotism and narrow interests, together with the imaginative embrace of all beings. Its spiritual reality - that descends to us from non-material worlds and towards which we evolve through earthly lives - is the epitome of truth. Amidst many other topics covered here, Rudolf Steiner speaks about The Qur'an and the Mystery of Golgotha; Henry VIII, Thomas More and the Church of England; the Jesuits and their State in Paraguay; Freemasons, esoteric symbols, and handshakes; Madame Blavatsky's occult imprisonment by Anglo-Saxon brotherhoods; Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov; and the occult literature of Papus and Levi.

Read more less

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.

Read more less