Customer Reviews

Anthroposophy in Everyday Life

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This is one of the easier of Steiner's books to read that I've found so far. It gives good information on how to live your life more effectively, including a simple way to develop a reliable memory. I particular appreciated the passage where he explains why we suffer. In looking over this book in order to write this review, I realize that it is a book that would be well to read more than once, not because it's hard to understand, but because its wisdow is so worthwhile that it needs to become a part of me.

I have only been introduced to Rudolph Steiner' works in the past six months. I have read a number of his books and found that many of them are composed of identical lectures which repeat the same information from lecture to lecture with only a little new information or getting to the main point until the last one or two of the lectures. Fortunately, the above book is not one of those. It is a shame that no one ever took the time to distill the wisdom of this genius so that it would be less tedious to read his books. I supposed this is because it would be a monumental task because he was so prolific. And maybe it would take another genius to do it. Still, in my opinion, it is worthwhile to research his information. I decided to read some of his books because so many other esoteric writers whose books I have read and whom I respect greatly, refer to his works constantly as if he were the final authority on everything of any importance.

It is easy for a teacher to be didactic and to say something along the lines, of, "You have seven chakras, they are here and this is how you activate them." Or perhaps, "There is no reality, all is illusion." And people nod sagely and then head home. It takes a completely different kind of approach to sneak in below your intellectual radar and help you to re-program yourself so that you can find the Innate Freedom that has always lain deep within you.

I have the greatest respect for any approach that helps people to uncover their true nature, but I know from long experience that the didactic approach can only take you so far. So often it is the teachers who "Teach without teaching" who have the most profound effects on their students.

Steiner is one of a dozen writers and teachers whose work I did not "Get" until years after a first reading. I kept waiting for him to tell me exactly how I should meditate or focus my attention, and his instructions always seemed a bit vague. It was only later that I understood that it was deliberate. The language seems stilted and archaic. Thinking that it was a case of bad translation, I began to look at some of the lectures in German and soon found that Steiner really did speak that way. Initially I thought that he was being pedantic, but after a great long while I realized that he was using language to prod me in a precise direction.

When you first start reading Steiner, some of his ideas seem to be odd, and at times he made the mistake of trying to marry his ideas to scientific findings. A mistake only inasmuch as the science of a hundred years ago was a very different animal from the science of today, and some of his speculations have long since been superseded. That being said, in his own day leading scholars in many sciences and in such disparate fields as agriculture and education sought his opinion and he scored a remarkable number of home runs. He even clearly predicted the causes and consequences of "Mad cow disease" almost eighty years before it first appeared.

As you can see in the "product description," this short book contains four of Steiner's best known and most practical lectures. Each is worth reading carefully, and you can see for yourself if they affect you, as they have many tens of thousands of people around the globe. The book is also one of the best with which to taste Steiner and his work and see whether or not he is your cup of tea.


Very highly recommended.

Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life

I've read several of his books, this is one of my favorite ones. Very insightful, comprehensive and full of useful advice. I've reread this one several times. Simply one of the best!

This book is a very good 'early start' book for people looking into Steiner's lectures. It is easy to understand and has great simple practices for life. Although it touches on more in-depth topics, it is still able to be understood without much prior knowledge of Anthroposophical principles. A book, I believe, that can be read and re-read at a later date with more knowledge and get more out of it each time.

This is a nice book because it is short and the lectures included are very inspiring. It is easy to practice these ideas and exercises each and everyday.

When I first started down the road to spiritual learning, I picked up a few of Rudolf Steiner's books. I tried to read them, but for some reason I couldn't understand what he was talking about. Now a decade later when I pick up his books, I'm amazed at how simple his concepts are to read and apply to my life.

Anthroposophy In Everyday Life is truly one of the most helpful, and insightful books I've ever read. Steiner explains that the reason we suffer is because we resist the natural world. No kidding. What we considered suffering as a child, is no big thing as we mature and look back on that same suffering. Meeting karma through suffering, builds us up, strengthening our character and making us better, more compassionate people. If we could look on suffering as a gift instead of something bad that happens to us, we wouldn't suffer so badly.

I loved the part on Karma where he explained that at the beginning of our lives, we meet the people we were knew during the middle period of our lives, and in the middle part of our lives we recognize people from the beginning of our previous lives. So, you meet your parents as your siblings in this life, and the people you met after 30 were your parents in a previous life.

The point being, don't hold grudges or you'll have those people as siblings or parents in your next life.

Here's some of his ideas on the 4 temperaments that we're born with:
1.physical body-made up of the minerals of the earth(melancholic) thoughtful ponderer, considerate, highly creative, preoccupied with the tragedy of the world. Insensitivity to anything other than itself and insanity.

2.etheric body-separates at death(glands)(phlegmatic)self-confident and kind, accepting and affectionate, receptive & shy, prefer stability to uncertainty and change, relaxed, calm, curious, and observant, can be passive-aggressive. Learn to not be apathetic, stupid or dull.

3. astral body-instincts, drives, passions, desires, sensation & thought (sanguine), social, creative, sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful, emotional, trouble following tasks all the way through, need time alone)(nervous system)learn to not be so flighty, or manic.

4. ego-(choleric)curiosity and the power of self-awareness (blood)(ambition, energy, passion, military, political, leaders, manipulative) need to learn to control their temper.

I elaborated a little to explain the 4 temperaments better, but what's really good about this book, is that it tells you how to best teach, and deal with a child who is one of these temperaments. This would help teachers, and parents immensely, and probably save their sanity.

I bought this book to find out more about Steiner and Anthroposohy. Very well written