Rudolf Steiner's Core Mission

Rudolf Steiner's Core Mission PDF

Author: T. H. Meyer

Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1906999104

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Rudolf Steiner's core mission--repeatedly delayed owing to the a lack of capacity in his colleagues--was to pursue contemporary spiritual-scientific research into the phenomena of reincarnation and karma. This stimulating book describes the winding biographical path of that mission. It focuses in particular on the mystery of Steiner's connection with the influential medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. Using numerous archival sources and publications, Thomas Meyer reveals many facts related to the core of Steiner's mission, showing the critical roles played by Wilhelm Anton Neumann and Karl Julius Schröer in its genesis and development. Meyer examines how Rudolf Steiner's students responded to his understanding of karma, placing this "most intrinsic mission" in the context of current divisions in the anthroposophic movement. He highlights especially the place of spiritual science in culture and history and shows how Steiner further developed the great scientific ideas of evolution propounded by Darwin by raising them to the plane of individual soul and spiritual development. As Steiner stated in 1903, "Scientific researchers explain the skull forms of higher animals as a transformation of a lower type of skull. In the same way one should explain a soul's biography through the soul biography which the former evolved from."

The Development of Anthroposophy since Rudolf Steiner's Death

The Development of Anthroposophy since Rudolf Steiner's Death PDF

Author: T.H. Meyer

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2014-11-01

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1621481174

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This volume begins with Thomas Meyer's assessment of Anthroposophy's evolution since Rudolf Steiner’s death and its future prospects. He offers an overview of the eighty-seven years of the development of the anthroposophic movement and the Anthroposophical Society, the worldwide organization headquartered in Dornach, Switzerland, since the death of its founder. The Society went through a very difficult and controversial period in the ten years following Steiner’s death, which culminated at its Annual Meeting in 1935. The result was the expulsion from the Society of two members appointed by Rudolf Steiner to its Executive Board (Vorstand)—Ita Wegman and Elizabeth Vreede—as well as the British and Dutch branches of the Society and many important anthroposophists who opposed the expulsions. Meyer—whose many books include Rudolf Steiner's Core Mission—reveals the extraordinary concordance of four November 17 dates highly significant in the development of Anthroposophy. On November 17, 1901, the anniversary of the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, Marie von Sivers asked Rudolf Steiner to create an esoteric path suited to the Western mind, which set Steiner on his mission. On November 17, 1923, Ita Wegman urged Steiner to establish a new Society, with Steiner himself joining as both a member and its president. Twelve years later, on November 17, 1935, the remaining three individuals of the Executive Board wrote to Adolf Hitler to plea for the Society's continued existence in Germany after being banned in Germany by the Nazi regime. Profound connections underlie these events. Four appendices supplement the present volume. Appendix 1 presents a Chronology that denotes, by year and day, significant episodes in Steiner’s life and in the development of Anthroposophy. The remaining appendices feature, for the first time in English in one volume, significant documents pertinent to the Anthroposophical Society’s Easter 1935 Annual Meeting. Appendix 2 contains the “Memorandum,” written by supporters of Marie Steiner, setting forth a list of grievances in support of the expulsion motions adopted at the 1935 Annual Meeting. Appendix 3 records Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz’s address in response to the 1935 Annual Meeting, counseling against the expulsion measures. Appendix 4 contains the letter (in English and German) written by the Society’s Executive Board to Adolf Hitler. This important book offers profound insights into the struggles for individual freedom and voice during the early years of the Anthroposophical Society. Seeing the dynamics of that struggle can help us today to overcome differences to work toward common purpose, both in the context of our everyday lives and within a spiritually oriented community.

Milestones

Milestones PDF

Author: T. H. Meyer

Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing

Published: 2015-10-26

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1906999821

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Why was the act of arson that destroyed the first Goetheanum so devastatingly successful in its malicious intent? What was the nature of the poisoning that Rudolf Steiner suffered in 1923? What was the significance of Steiner’s encounter with an unknown Master in 1879, and his later meeting with Friedrich Nietzsche on his sickbed? Rather than presenting an accumulation of data, Meyer takes a symptomatological approach to the evolution of Rudolf Steiner’s thinking, pinpointing specific moments in his biography, whilst making numerous links to contemporary issues. Seemingly unimportant details are significant – such as Steiner’s boyhood habit of smashing dishes, or the droplet of water that adorned Steiner’s forehead at his funeral. The often overlooked language of such images is evaluated within the scope and grandeur of Rudolf Steiner’s life’s work. An incisive theme running through Milestones is the dual nature of time – ‘involution’ and ‘evolution’ – and how it affects the Anthroposophical Society and movement. Following Steiner’s death, a one-sided involution process has been evident in the overemphasis on the Christmas Foundation Meeting, as well as Steiner’s supposedly ‘indissoluble’ connection with the Society. This is coupled with distorted evolution processes, as seen in the urge to enter the public domain by jettisoning anthroposophy altogether. Such disharmonies can only be healed, says Meyer, by seeing the reality. This book serves as an essential guide to understanding the task of anthroposophy in the modern world.

The New Essential Steiner

The New Essential Steiner PDF

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2009-10

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 1584204788

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12 lectures, Hamburg, May 5-31, 1908 (CW 103) During Pentecost 1908--seven years after he had given the world his book Christianity As Mystical Fact and the first intimation of the consequences of his Christ experience--Rudolf Steiner began his great work of renewing humanity's understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha and its meaning for human and earthly evolution. Accordingly, he turned to the deepest, most spiritual of the Gospels--that of the initiate St. John. In this lecture course, readers will find that the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Divine Word, or Logos, reveals the mission of the Earth: Love. We learn of the mysteries behind Lazarus' resurrection, the "I AM" sayings, and the seven degrees of initiation. We come to understand that the Gospel of St. John is a continuing spiritual presence--to be recalled, meditated, and permeated with one's own life. In doing so, we realized that our purpose--and that of all humankind--is to become the Virgin Sophia, a receptical for the Holy Spirit. All of Steiner's work, as Marie Steiner writes in her introduction, was "to pave the way to Christ." Indeed, at the conclusion of these lectures, Rudolf Steiner said: It will come to be understood that Christianity is only beginning its influence and will fulfill its real mission only when it is understood in its true, spiritual form.... The more these lectures are understood in this sense, the better they will be understood as they were intended. This volume is essential if one is to truly understand Rudolf Steiner's understanding of esoteric Christianity and its place in the world today and in the future. This volume is a translation of Das Johannes-Evangelium (GA 103).

Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner: 1919-1922

Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner: 1919-1922 PDF

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780880104210

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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.

Rudolf Steiner's Intentions for the Anthroposophical Society

Rudolf Steiner's Intentions for the Anthroposophical Society PDF

Author: Peter Selg

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2011-08

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 0880108266

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Although the fruits of Anthroposophy --Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, Camphill, anthroposophic medicine, and so on --are relatively well known and moderately successful, their relationship to Anthroposophy and its vehicle for transmission, the General Anthroposophical Society, and the School for Spiritual Science, remains mysterious and unclear; sadly, the same is true of the meaning and purpose of those institutions. Related to this is the fact that, though these offshoots of Anthroposophy are well known, eighty-five years after his death and eighty-seven years after the re-formation of the Anthroposophical Society, what Rudolf Steiner brought into the world, what entered the world through him and what he sought to accomplish --that is, what spiritual science and spiritual-scientific research are and how one practices them --remain virtually unknown. In other words, something essential has been forgotten. Written both in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner's birth and in the context of the long-standing, episodically erupting, and ongoing confusion surrounding the mission and task of the Anthroposophical Society, Peter Selg seeks to recover what has perhaps been forgotten or overlooked in Rudolf Steiner's own words and life. He does so by describing, clearly and objectively, the historical background of Steiner's vision of the "civilizational task" of Anthroposophy and how he had hoped it might be accomplished. This book has two parts. First, the author offers a lucid description of the development and gradual sharpening --in the face of the crisis of Western culture epitomized by World War I and its aftermath --of the vision of spiritual science as a truly Michaelic task for the Michael Age. In part two, Peter Selg takes up the events following Rudolf Steiner's death, outlining deftly and subtly the struggles and developments that ensued, commenting tactfully on the questions and perspectives that arose and continue to arise. Rudolf Steiner's Intentions for the Anthroposophical Society is for all those who care about the reality and future of Anthroposophy. Originally published in German as Der Vorstand, die Sektionen und die Gesellschaft. Welche Hochschule wollte Rudolf Steiner? by Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy.

Human Values in Education

Human Values in Education PDF

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher:

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13:

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The underlying thesis of these lectures, volume XX in the "Foundations of Waldorf Education" series, is that true education must be based on knowledge of the whole human being and that such knowledge cannot be attained without love. On this basis, Steiner presents his understanding of every aspect of child development-bodily, psychological, and spiritual. At the same time, he shows that, to prove worthy of their calling, teachers must begin a process of inner development. In Steiner's view, it is human beings who give value and meaning to the world. Modern education, however, is gradually undermining this meaning. These lectures demonstrate that education can heal that lack of meaning and restore the meaning of humankind for the world. Steiner also discusses the practical, day-to-day operation of the school. He talks about styles of teaching, teacher conferences, parent-teacher meetings, and how Waldorf education is related to the anthroposophic movement. This book, while serving as a good introduction to Steiner's ideas on education, also represents the fruits of four years experience in the Waldorf school.

RUDOLF STEINER’S MISSION AND ITA WEGMAN

RUDOLF STEINER’S MISSION AND ITA WEGMAN PDF

Author: Margarete and Erich Kirchner-Bockholt

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2016-04-04

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 185584527X

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‘Because I felt that he knew how things were, I said simply:“I will stay with you.” Then he said significant things to me that I was not to repeat. A very ancient karma existing between him and myself was renewed. It was not until many years later that I first realised the significance of that meeting.’ – Ita Wegman Ita Wegman was one of Rudolf Steiner’s most important co-workers, collaborating with him principally in the field of Medicine – co-authoring the key book Extending Practical Medicine and heading the Medical Section of the School of Spiritual Science. In the background to that external work, however, was an esoteric connection. In this seminal work of karma research, the authors attempt, sensitively and with responsibility, to shed light on that spiritual and karmic history. Written for members of the Anthroposophical Society, this book is a profound study of a series of different incarnations linked to the figures of Ita Wegman and Rudolf Steiner. Spread over six disparate lifetimes, they range from Gilgamesh and Eabani (Enkidu) in Uruk, ancient Chaldea, to the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, the twentieth-century setting of the world centre of anthroposophy. Based on copious historical research, verbal statements and not a little spiritual insight, this rare and valuable work, reprinted here for the first time, features many illustrations and facsimiles of documents and personal letters.

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