The School of Spiritual Science

Author: Johannes Kühl
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1906999163
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Book Description
In 1924, Rudolf Steiner established the School of Spiritual Science within the framework of the newly reestablished Anthroposophical Society. This book represents a beginning attempt at describing the nature, intent, and methods of this pioneering school and its place in modern culture. It describes the school's three prerequisites for membership and studies its connection with the Anthroposophical Society and the anthroposophic movement. It also examines the role of its "First Class" in relation to Rudolf Steiner's original intentions and the responsibilities of its representatives. The bulk of the book involves descriptions of the various sections in the School of Spiritual Science, contributed by those who are currently their leaders. These descriptions indicate how the school connects with daily work in various areas of life, in keeping with an esotericism based on the idea that "life and its depths can be confronted in the most energetic way." Also featured is practical information, including a description of the process for becoming a member and an appendix containing significant statements by Rudolf Steiner. In keeping with the transparency that Steiner requested from the outset, this book is suitable for anyone interested in the School of Spiritual Science.

A History of the School of Spiritual Science

Author: Johannes Kiersch
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 9781902636801
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Book Description
The School of Spiritual Science and its individual sections was initiated by Rudolf Steiner at the Christmas Conference (1923-1924). His intention, in his own words, was to present "the esoteric aspect." It was to have three classes, though only the First Class was instituted before Steiner's death in 1925. Recently, the written records on which the teaching of the First Class is based have been published in both German and English, which has given rise to a number of questions. Consequently, the council of the General Anthroposophical Society in Dornach, Switzerland, commissioned Johannes Kiersch to write a history of this unique organization. The result is an overview of the First Class and its development, from the early esotericism developed by Rudolf Steiner while still connected with the Theosophical Society, to the period following World War II. The author provides individual commentaries on the first "mediators" of the school, including Lili Kolisko, Harry Collison, and Count Polzer-Hoditz. The book also presents some thirty-seven original documents in an extensive appendix, which features personal notes, letters, and speeches connected with the Esoteric School. A History of the School of Spiritual Science presents a balanced history of the birth and development of the First Class and its struggles through the controversial splits and conflicts that followed Steiner's death. As Kiersch states, "The aim has been, above all, to come as close as possible to the sources and offer historical material for individuals to form their own opinion."

The First Class Lessons and Mantras

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner's Esoteric Lega
ISBN: 9781621481737
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The mantras of the Michael School are, in the truest sense of the word, a path for modern human beings--and indeed not just for our time between birth and death, but even more so for the time after death in the spiritual world. In that world, every soul that has crossed the threshold will experience beings and events that it can comprehend only if it has learned something on Earth about the beings there and processes that take place between them. In his eighteenth lesson Rudolf Steiner said: "People who have heard this in esoteric schools on Earth will go through the gate of death and will hear these words again sounding in harmony together--in the esoteric schools here and during the life between death and a new birth there. They will understand what rings forth. Or, people will be dull and unwilling to respond to what the esoteric schools, prepared by general Anthroposophy, have to say. They'll fail to perceive what can be heard through initiation science from the realms of the heights. They pass through the gate of death. There they hear what they should have already heard while here on Earth . . . but they do not understand it. These words of power--when the gods speak to one another--sound to them like an unintelligible clanging, mere cosmic noise." These words alone, heard in real earnestness, should be enough to dispel any reservations about spreading the teaching of the Michael School. This content does not belong only to those who are closely connected with Anthroposophy and its movement; every seeking human being should be able to find them as a path through life on Earth and after death.

The Michael School

Author: Peter Selg
Publisher: Steiner Books
ISBN: 9781621481553
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
When Rudolf Steiner embarked on the esoteric lessons of the First Class in the newly founded Esoteric School at the Goetheanum, he suggested that the School for Spiritual Science as an esoteric institution had, in the years preceding the Christmas Foundation Meeting of 1923, become estranged from its intrinsic task. This volume closely investigates those matters--to which Steiner referred only briefly--tracing the development of Rudolf Steiner's idea of the School in relation to the Michael community, which he first discussed at length in his lectures on karma, given in parallel to the First Class lessons. This book also describes Ita Wegman's path and her mission in connection with these undertakings. CONTENTS Foreword 1. The School of Spiritual Science 2. The Michael School and the First Class 3. Ita Wegman's Path Appendix: The Ritual of Admission into Joint Leadership of the Michael School The Relationship with the School: Teachers, physicians, and priests in 1924

Sexuality, Love and Partnership

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
ISBN: 185584284X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
Rudolf Steiner presents the human soul dilemma, split into male and female attributes... but offers a path of development which will eventually lead to overcoming these - what Jung called 'individuation', a merging with the true self or true ego of the human being.' - from the IntroductionWe live in a sexualised society, surrounded by sexual imagery and content in almost every area of life. This presents us with many challenges, including an increasing blurring and confusion between love and sex; strife between men and women over their roles in society; and a consistent assault on the innocence of childhood. Despite the sensibilities of his time, Rudolf Steiner made a huge contribution to our understanding of the complex theme of sexuality. In this freshly-compiled anthology, Steiner describes the point in evolution at which human beings split from being androgynous and single-sexed to becoming male or female. He traces the changing roles of the sexes in society, from the matriarchal past to today's patriarchal dominance. The division of the sexes brings suffering, but also the possibility of achieving higher stages of love. In the distant future, humanity can evolve sexuality into a new form, with even the possibility of reproduction being metamorphosed. Refreshingly, Steiner is not judgmental and does not preach asceticism. He recognises the 'all-too-human' frailty people confront in their personal lives, even in the case of great individuals such as Goethe. Sex is a necessary stage of human evolution, and the split nature of the human being is a fact of our age. Its healing will be gradual but, like Amfortas in the Grail story - whose wounded groin was a metaphor for amorous misadventure - we can all be healed through love and compassion.

An Outline of Esoteric Science

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 0880108398
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 452

Book Description
"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.

At the Gates of Spiritual Science

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description

Founding a Science of the Spirit

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
ISBN: 185584298X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Book Description
Previously published as At the Gates of Spiritual Science, these lectures offer a fine introduction to the whole of Rudolf Steiner's teaching, as well as including valuable material which is not to be found elsewhere. With great clarity and precision, Steiner speaks of the fundamental nature of the human being in relation to the cosmos, the evolution of the Earth, the journey of the soul after death, reincarnation and karma, good and evil, the modern path of meditative training, as well as giving answers to individual questions.Throughout, Steiner's emphasis is on a scientific exposition of spiritual phenomena. As he says in the final lecture: "the highest knowledge of mundane things is thoroughly compatible with the highest knowledge of spiritual truths."

The Education of the Child

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 0880109130
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
18 lectures in Dornach, January 9 - February 22, 1920 (CW 196) In the vast range of Rudolf Steiner's lectures, jewels of all kinds lie hidden in plain sight, awaiting only our discovery of them. Such lectures contain a kind of wisdom not found anywhere else. And sometimes, as in What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times, they also have a translucency and conviction that makes them transformational. In early 1920, political, economic, social, and spiritual chaos was everywhere. The old world had fallen apart and would need to be rebuilt. Anthroposophy, too, had to be remade. Recognizing this, Rudolf Steiner tirelessly working for the "threefold social order," establishing the first Waldorf school, helping to create businesses, and addressing the talented, educated, and idealistic young people who were beginning to turn toward Anthroposophy for answers. In these lectures, Steiner speaks in the new, direct "Michaelic" way, seeking the path to a new way of doing Anthroposophy. Throughout the critical situation of the time, he never lost his sense of humor or his compassion and equilibrium. His tone is warm, relaxed, and intimate. Rather than following a strictly predetermined path, he speaks directly from the heart about what concerned him. He stresses that the task of spiritual science is to awaken us to reality and to a true understanding of life that sees through illusions and understands the ever-present potential of evil. Speaking both esoterically and exoterically, he returns repeatedly to the importance of community, of meeting one another face-to-face, heart-to-heart, as individuals. Thus, rather than seeking power and control, we are called to cultivate trust and receptivity. This takes a spiritual transformation. We must learn to live this present life in the context of our greater spiritual life, which extends from before birth through earthly life and into the life after death that precedes our next birth. At the same time, we must come to know the Christ, who is to be met only in community. Selfishness, egotism, has no part in the new way: "When someone is alone Christ is not there. You cannot find Christ without first feeling a connection to humanity as a whole. You must seek Christ on the path that connects you with all humankind.... To be connected only with your own inner experiences leads you away from Christ." Steiner deals with many other important themes, as well, including "imperialism," the initiate behind Shakespeare, Bacon, and James I--makers of our modern age--and well as fascinating, initiatory remarks on reincarnation, esoteric physiology, and psychology. Running throughout the talks is the earnest admonition to be true to the spirit and the call to come to our senses and not fall prey to self-pity. Now, as it was then, the world needs us to be awake spiritually, and we need the world to be awake spiritually. There is nowhere to hide. What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times is a translation from German of Geisitige und soziale Wandlungen in der Menschheitsentwikelung (GA 196).

Understanding Healing

Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
ISBN: 1855844419
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description
Rudolf Steiner's third great lecture course to physicians has a completely different character to his previous presentations. Delivered in response to a group of young doctors – who approached Steiner with the specific request for a course that would be 'quite intimate', but should not contain anything '...which appealed only to knowledge and the intellect' – it offers unique, ground-breaking insights into the practice and art of healing. Steiner speaks about the influence of cosmic and earthly forces – the periphery and centre – on the human being. Proper understanding of these processes enables the physician to comprehend the actions of plants and minerals used in anthroposophic medicines, and thus to prescribe appropriate and individually specific remedies. Steiner paints a picture of the human being as a complex confluence of the forces of heredity, forces from the cosmos, and an individual's unique spiritual nature. The physician has to understand these relationships in order to be able to help effectively when they are out of balance. Steiner stresses the importance of personal development for physicians, and offers plentiful instructions for a meditative practice intrinsic to their work. Among a wealth of other topics, Steiner addresses inflammation and excessive growth; the nature of scarlet fever and measles; the importance of a child's food and breast milk; the functions of the liver, heart, head and skeleton; the incarnation process; karma as a guide for the physician; morality as a force streaming in from the cosmos; the cosmic trinity of Saturn, Sun and Moon in the healthy and sick human being; and the involvement of the heart in thinking. Included here are Rudolf Steiner's answers to questions, and the first newsletter from the Medical Section, with a key meditation for physicians. This volume also features 18 full colour plates of Rudolf Steiner's blackboard drawings, a comprehensive introduction, index and notes.