Rudolf Steiner

Two lectures in Bologna: on 31 March 2011 at the International Conference to Mark the Centenary of Rudolf Steiner's Lecture in Bologna, and on 8 April 1911 at the Fourth International Philosophy Congress A special conference took place in Bologna in Spring 2011, marking the hundredth anniversary of a unique lecture Rudolf Steiner delivered to a philosophically-trained audience in the same city. In his key exposition, Steiner had given a concise description of the spiritual-scientific theory of knowledge as well as a brief outline of the anthroposophical path of schooling. In his contribution to the 2011 congress, Sergei O. Prokofieff tackles two principal aspects. On the one hand, he describes how Steiner's Bologna lecture contained the essential foundations for a new 'science of the human ego'. On the other hand, Prokofieff states that Rudolf Steiner was the first person to transform this same theory into a practical path of knowledge, following it to its very conclusion. Thus, the words of Rudolf Steiner's lecture were based entirely on personal experience. Together with a transcript of Rudolf Steiner's full Bologna lecture, Sergei O. Prokofieff's own lecture is reproduced here in an expanded version. In addition, this volume features Rudolf Steiner's important 'summaries of essential points', in which he develops and connects some of his key thoughts with further aspects of anthroposophy, especially in relation to their Christological foundations.

14 lectures in Dornach, July 14-August 6, 1922 (CW 340)6 seminars in Dornach, July 31-August 5, 1922 (CW 341) "In this age of social, economic, and ecological disruption, many people are beginning to realize that perhaps the most important root causes for this crisis originate in an economic thinking that is increasingly out of touch with the social, ecological, and spiritual realities of our time. How, then, can we rethink and redefine the fundamental economic concepts that frame our discussions and shape our key institutions in society today? This is the big question on the table today. Rudolf Steiner's lectures on economics ... offer a largely unused gold mine of fresh economic ideas that could not be more timely and relevant." --Dr. C. Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer at MIT (from the foreword)"The whole Earth, considered as an economic organism, is the social organism. Yet this is not being taken into account anywhere. It is precisely because of this error that the whole science of political economy has grown so remote from reality. People want to establish principles that are meant to apply only to an individual cell. Hence, if you study the French theory of economy, you will find it is constituted different from English or German or other economic theories. But as economists, what we really need is an understanding of the social organism in its totality." --Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner gave this complex sequence of dense, subtle, multileveled lectures and seminars to students of economics in Dornach, Switzerland, during the summer of 1922. The course reflects a lifetime of thinking on the subject and marks the conclusion of his intense five-year period of activism in the service of social, political, and economic issues. During this time, which began as World War I was ending in 1917, he worked tirelessly to promote the cause of what he called "threefolding" (Dreigliederung), by which he meant rethinking the social order on the basis of clear separation and independence of the three fundamental spheres of activity that make up a society. He proposed three independent systems: an autonomous rights sphere (limited to judicial and political matters) an autonomous economic sphere (cooperative or associative by nature) and an autonomous spiritual-cultural sphereThe autonomy of these three spheres, he believed, would make possible a free, healthy, productive society and open the possibility of a lasting peace. Rethinking Economics is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the true nature of an economy and how it works. Steiner presents the basic elements of what it would take to create a just, socially responsible, and ecologically aware economy today. CONTENTS: The Lectures: The Transition from Industrial, National Economies to a World Economy The Fluid Nature of Economic Processes Economics and Egotism Labor and Value The Production and Consumption Price, Cultural Activity, and Gift Price Formation Supply and Demand Trade, Loan, and Industrial Capital Associations World Economy Money Spiritual-Cultural Needs World Economy: Living Concepts The Seminars: Points of Method and "The Social Question" Economics, Physical Processes, and Concepts of Work The Division of Labor and the Relationship between Consumers and Producers Value and the Nature of Work Capital and the Monetary System The Use of Money; Threefolding the Human Being and the Social Organism This volume is a translation from German of Aufgaben einer neuen Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Bd.1, National konomischer Kurs (GA 340) and Aufgaben einer neuen Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Bd.2, National konomisches Seminar (GA 341), published by by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland.

6 lectures, Berlin, November 16-December 12, 1915 (CW 157a) This is a fully revised edition of the book previously published as The Forming of Destiny and Life after Death Rudolf Steiner delivered these lectures near the end of 1915 and the beginning of World War I, when the issue of death and destiny weighed on the minds of many in Europe. He describes, from a spiritual perspective, the process of crossing the threshold of death to life in the spiritual world; the soul's experience immediately after death; and the process of forming one's destiny, or karma, while we remain on Earth and later in the spirit world. Steiner also discusses the importance of our connection with those who have died and how love and reverence to the memory of the dead must be united with our love for the physical world, and how we can strengthen ourselves through meditation. In the final lecture, given on December 21, Steiner stresses the esoteric importance of the thirteen nights of Christmas and how we can consciously affect our future karma during that time. This edition includes "The Dream Song of Olaf steson," a Nordic poem (discussed in lecture 6) that describes in pictorial language the deep mysteries of the Christmas nights. CONTENTS: Spiritual Life Now and after Death"I"-consciousness is proof of immortality. Birth and death. Humility. What we forget of sleep is remembered in Kamaloka. Seven-year periods of life. Young people who die in war. The Formation of DestinyWar. Similarity between classes. Our view after death. "I"-consciousness. Perceiving souls after death. Kamaloca. Those who die before 35. Early and late death. Spiritual decay and future spiritual flowering. The Subconscious Strata of the Soul LifeAncient Greeks and the mind soul. Sculpture as inner experience. Homer, color, and form. The etheric as prophet. Geometry, our unconscious, and the Greeks. The astral, the unconscious, and clairvoyance. Sudden and premature death. Perception of the spiritual world by our own activity. Idealists. A child who dies. Martyrs for the world. The Physical and Spiritual WorldsThe dead, imagery, and inner activity. Perception after death. The dead and those who remember them. Unexpected answers to questions about the spiritual world. Art, memory, and the dead. All Souls Day. Memory of the dead and love for the physical world. "You are that." Expansion in the outer world. The Guardian Angel. Egoism and the spirit world. The mystery dramas. Consciousness and egoism. Difficulty of Steiner's books enables readers to overcome egoism. The etheric body and the aging physical body. Subconscious Impulses of the SoulPath to the spirit. The subconscious and life after death. "I"-consciousness and memory. Spiritual sight, memory, and the veil of memory. Reality and philosophical reflection. Meditation, revelation, and grace. Incarnation and spirit. Subconscious fear of spirit. Death and the hierarchies. Human will before birth. Today's Spiritual DarknessThirteen nights of Christmas. Olaf steson. Knowledge and dogma. Kant. Vanity. Lucifer leads humankind to Ahriman. Spiritual Science and modern materialistic science. Authority and freedom. The Christ impulse. Physical proof and Ahriman. Finding Christ through the spirit. Presence of the Christ." The Dream Song of Olaf steson"This book contains 6 of the 7 lectures originally published in German as Schicksalsbildung und Leben nach dem Tode (CW 157a) by Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe. Spiritual Life Now and after Death is a fully revised edition of The Forming of Destiny and Life after Death (Garber, 1989).

'If the intentions of the Christmas Conference are to be carried out, the Anthroposophical Society will in future have to fulfil, as far as possible, the esoteric aspirations of its members. With this end in view, the School, consisting of three Classes, will be established within the General Society.' - Rudolf Steiner, January 1924 A year after the burning of the first Goetheanum building in Dornach, Switzerland, Rudolf Steiner refounded the Anthroposophical Society during the Christmas Conference of 1923/24. At the heart of the Society he created 'the School of Spiritual Science', which has the specific task of presenting 'the esoteric aspect', and leading its members to knowledge and experience of the spirit. The School was to have 'Sections' to represent various fields of human endeavour, such as Medicine and Education, and three 'Classes', with the First Class to be established immediately by Rudolf Steiner. This short book is a collection of articles (from the Society Newsletter) and lectures by Rudolf Steiner from 1924, introducing and explaining the purpose of the School of Spiritual Science to members of the Anthroposophical Society. It forms a companion volume to The Foundation Stone / The Life, Nature and Cultivation of Anthroposophy.

In what was announced as a lecture Rudolf Steiner tells instead an extraordinary tale. It begins with two women standing in a stark and frozen landscape: one experiences the bitter cold, the other the extraordinary beauty. Both fall asleep, but while one falls into a sleep on the verge of death, the other is approached out of the sunset by a youth who says: 'You are art'. She then undergoes a powerful set of experiences. Today we might call them vivid dreams, but that would be too passive. They are more than dreams; she performs deeds and becomes the bearer of mighty, creative impulses for the future. This tale, told in 1909, has lost none of its originality and vividness. It is as relevant and powerful as when it was first told. It presents the reader with a series of images and beings drawn directly from the spiritual world, but in such a way that, through art, a bridge is built between the spiritual and earthly worlds. This edition is freshly translated, with a foreword and endnotes containing illustrations and photographs of subjects and works of art mentioned in the course of the tale.

In 1919, shortly after World War I, the structure of society and the economy, both in Germany and globally, became a primary concern of Rudolf Steiner. In addition to writing The Threefold Social Order, in which he presented his ideas for social renewal, Steiner also gave lecture courses that year, including The Social Question as a Question of Consciousness (CW 189); Impulses of the Past and Future in Social Events (CW 190); Spiritual-Scientific Treatment of Social and Pedagogical Questions (CW 192); The Esoteric Aspect of the Social Question (CW 193); The Social Question (CW 328); as well as others and the lectures in this book, The Social Future. That year, Rudolf Steiner also published his "Appeal to the German People and the Cultural World," which began: "Resting on secure foundations with the assurance of enduring for untold ages"-- this is what the German people believed of their empire, founded half a century ago. Today they can see only its ruins. Deep searching of the soul must follow from such an experience." In The Social Future, Rudolf Steiner presents what he saw as the underlying social problems of his time and offers his approach to solutions for a more successful and equitable social future. What he has to say is remarkably suited to our time, almost a century later. His predictions have come to pass, yet few of his recommendations have been implemented on any large scale. CONTENTS: The Social Question: Equality and the Economy Economic Organization on an Associative Basis Law and Democracy Spiritual Science, Education, and Social Art Spirituality, Politics, Economics, and a Threefold Society Nations, Globalism, and the Threefold Society The Social Future is a translation of Soziale Zukunft (GA 332a), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1977.

Your favourite occupation? Pondering and musing. Your idea of happiness? Pondering and musing. Your most extreme aversion? Pedantry and a sense of order. Of what are you afraid? Punctuality. The above quotations are extracted from a questionnaire filled in by a young man in his late twenties. That person, Rudolf Steiner, was later to found the spiritual science of anthroposophy and the many practical disciplines that arose from it. Eventually, he would write his Autobiography, although its composition would be interrupted by his unexpected death. This little volume is an essential complement to Steiner's unfinished autobiography. It gathers a wealth of personal testimonies - including lectures, resumes, notebook entries, a questionnaire, as well as biographical notes written for Edouard Schure - much of which has not been previously published in English. The various materials, together with rare photographs, have been expertly collated and introduced by Walter Kugler.

"The butterfly flutters above and over the earth, borne on the air and shimmering with light... We ought really to see them as nothing other than beings of light, joyous in their colours and the play of colours. All the rest is garment and luggage." - Rudolf Steiner Truly poetic and deeply esoteric, these lectures by Rudolf Steiner have been gathered here in a single volume for the first time, with an in-depth introduction that traces and explains the stages of butterfly metamorphosis. The emergence of the butterfly from its pupa is one of the most moving phenomena we can encounter in nature. In this creature's visible transformations, we can experience a revelation of spirit. The butterfly, says Rudolf Steiner, is "...a flower blossom lifted into the air by light and cosmic forces". It is a being that develops from and through light, via a process of incorporation and internalization. By gazing into the world of these special and rarefied creatures, we can intuit that they, "...ray out something even better than sunlight: they shine spirit light out into the cosmos".

'When we know how to enter deeply into the realm of the soul, we reach understanding of the harmony that exists between successive lives on earth and the whole of the physical world outside us.' - Rudolf Steiner In these eight lectures, given during the Great War as thousands of young men were being killed in battle, Rudolf Steiner - the great initiate of the twentieth century - describes the dramatic reality of the spiritual worlds encountered by human beings after death. He speaks of the joys and sufferings experienced in those worlds by people of different character; the vision of the 'ideal human being' that souls experience; the cosmic 'midnight hour'; the processes leading to rebirth in the world of the senses; the deeper causes behind such phenomena as materialism and criminality; and why, in the flesh, we lose our instinctive perception of the spiritual worlds. Steiner describes how knowledge of the spiritual realms, as well as the life beyond death and before birth, can be built on the foundations of modern science. Indeed, he speaks of mankind's involvement in science and its many achievements as necessary steps on the path towards a modern spirituality and true understanding of the soul, and describes in detail some of the methods by which direct perception of the worlds of soul and spirit can be developed.

'By bringing the chosen leaders, prophets or priests to confront the powers of life and death, to discover the deeper needs and potential of the human spirit, the Mysteries had kept humanity in touch with the living foundations of experience. For those who went through their processes, the attainment of wisdom was the culmination of an existential struggle...' - Dr Andrew Welburn Modern scholarship knows little of the mystery schools of antiquity, offering only hypothetical explanations and external details. In these expansive lectures based on his personal spiritual insights, Rudolf Steiner offers a vivid description of the esoteric experiences gained by people in the ancient mystery schools, from the mysteries of Artemis in Ephesus, of Hibernia, Eleusis and Samothrace, to the Middle Ages. He also discusses the conditions under which initiation can be achieved today. Following preliminary lectures on the nature and function of the soul, Steiner presents a panoramic view of human and earthly evolution, including the roles of plants and animals. He also discusses the various metals, their curative properties and their connections with the planets.

Le mystere chretien et les mysteres antiques / Rudolf Steiner; traduit de l'allemand et precede d'une introduction par Edouard SchureDate de l'edition originale: 1908Ce livre est la reproduction fidele d'une oeuvre publiee avant 1920 et fait partie d'une collection de livres reimprimes a la demande editee par Hachette Livre, dans le cadre d'un partenariat avec la Bibliotheque nationale de France, offrant l'opportunite d'acceder a des ouvrages anciens et souvent rares issus des fonds patrimoniaux de la BnF. Les oeuvres faisant partie de cette collection ont ete numerisees par la BnF et sont presentes sur Gallica, sa bibliotheque numerique. En entreprenant de redonner vie a ces ouvrages au travers d'une collection de livres reimprimes a la demande, nous leur donnons la possibilite de rencontrer un public elargi et participons a la transmission de connaissances et de savoirs parfois difficilement accessibles. Nous avons cherche a concilier la reproduction fidele d'un livre ancien a partir de sa version numerisee avec le souci d'un confort de lecture optimal. Nous esperons que les ouvrages de cette nouvelle collection vous apporteront entiere satisfaction. Pour plus d'informations, rendez-vous sur www.hachettebnf.fr

Näissä kahdeksassa esitelmässä Rudolf Steiner tarkastelee fyysisen ja henkisen maailman välisen rajan ilmenemistä ihmisessä itsessään ja erityisesti hermoston osuutta tietoisuuden muodostumisessa - aihe, joka on hyvin ajankohtainen neurotieteissä tällä hetkellä. Hän tarkastelee niitä alueita, joissa ihmisen ajattelu, tunne ja tahto elävät, ja niiden yhteyttä vainajien maailmaan, mikä jää nykytietoisuudelle alitajuiseksi. Tutkittavana on myös vapaus ja välttämättömyys fyysiseltä ja henkiseltä kannalta.

Henkisen tiedon tie on sekä Rudolf Steinerin tuotannossa että maailman henkisessä kirjallisuudessa erityinen teos: se kuvaa tietä, jota kulkiessaan ihminen voi itse tiedostaa henkistä todellisuutta, säilyttäen kuitenkin vapautensa ja yksilöllisyytensä. Henkisen tiedon tie sisältää ohjeita moraaliseen kehitykseen, sisäiseen rauhaan, ajattelun ja tunteen kehittämiseen, ennakkoluulottomuuteen ja arvostukseen maailmaa kohtaan, mutta myös harjoituksia selvänäköisyyden ja initiaation saavuttamiseen, t'akrojen aktivoimiseen ja alemman ja korkeamman minän kohtaamiseen tasapainoisella tavalla. Kirjassa kuvattu on ajankohtaista jokaiselle, joka etsii täydempää suhdetta oman elämänsä todellisuuteen.

Elämänsä loppuvaiheessa Rudolf Steiner muotoili keskeisiä ajatuksia henkisten tutkimustensa tuloksista tiiviiksi meditatiivisiksi kokonaisuuksiksi. Hän nimitti niitä johtolauseiksi, joita on yhteensä 185. Niissä hän Yleisen antroposofisen seuran uudelleen perustamisen jälkeen esitti tuoreella tavalla eräänlaista yleiskatsausta elämäntyönsä tuloksena syntyneeseen antroposofiaan. Johtolauseiden ohella kirjassa on niiden aihepiireihin liittyviä, samassa yhteydessä julkaistuja kirjoituksia. Ne auttavat ymmärtämään aikamme henkistä tilannetta ja siihen johtaneita syitä. Vaikuttavalla ja Rudolf Steinerin tuotannossa ainoalaatuisella tavalla piirtyy esiin ajanhenki Mikaelin toiminta ja tähän liittyvä ihmiskunnallinen haaste.