Series: Classics in Anthroposophy | Publication Date: November 1, 1997
This recent translation of a masterwork of esotericism places humankind at the very heart of the vast, invisible processes of cosmic evolution. When we use the term natural science don't we mean that we are dealing with knowledge of nature?
Esoteric science is the science of what takes place esoterically, in the sense that it is perceived not outside in nature but where one's soul turns when it directs its inner being toward the spirit. Esoteric science is the opposite and counterpart of natural science. —Rudolf Steiner
As vital and relevant as when it was first published in 1910, this masterpiece of esoteric, Rudolf Steiner worked and reworked on rosicrucian cosmology for many years to make it increasingly precise and accurate. This work remains the most effective presentation to date of a spiritual alternative to contemporary materialist cosmologies and the Darwinian view of human nature and evolution.
In this basic work of spiritual science, readers learn how the creation and evolution of humanity is embedded at the heart of the vast, invisible web of interacting cosmic beings, through whom the alchemical processes of cosmic evolution unfold. There are also descriptions of the various bodies of the human being, their relationship to sleep and death, and a detailed, practical guide to the methods or exercises, including the Rose Cross Meditation," through which such initiation knowledge can be attained.
Most remarkable and revolutionary of all, perhaps, is the central function that Rudolf Steiner allots to the Christ and to the entrance of Christ into earthly evolution through the Mystery of Golgotha.
Text: English (translation) Original Language: German
About the Author
RUDOLF STEINER (1861–1925) became a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, particularly known for his work on Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena. His multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, philosophy, religion, education (Waldorf schools), special education (the Camphill movement), economics, agriculture (biodynamics), science, architecture, and the arts (drama, speech and eurythmy). In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which has branches throughout the world.
Rudolf Steiner (Feb. 27, 1861-Mar. 30, 1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austria (now in Croatia) in 1861 and died in Dornach, Switzerland in 1925. In university, he concentrated on mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Having written his thesis on philosophy, Steiner earned his doctorate and was later drawn into literary and scholarly circles and participated in the rich social and political life of Vienna.
During the 1890s, Steiner worked for seven years in Weimar at the Goethe archive, where he edited Goethe's scientific works and collaborated in a complete edition of Schopenhauer's work. Weimar was a center of European culture at the time, which allowed Steiner to meet many prominent artists and cultural figures. In 1894 Steiner published his first important work, Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom, now published as one of the Classics in Anthroposophy.
When Steiner left Weimar, he went to Berlin where he edited an avant-garde literary magazine. Again he involved himself in the rich, rapidly changing culture of a city that had become the focus of many radical groups and movements. Steiner gave courses on history and natural science and offered practical training in public speaking. He refused to adhere to the particular ideology of any political group, which did not endear him to the many activists then in Berlin.
In 1899, Steiner's life quickly began to change. His autobiography provides a personal glimpse of his inner struggles, which matured into an important turning point. In the August 28, 1899 issue of his magazine, Steiner published the article "Goethe's Secret Revelation" on the esoteric nature of Goethe's fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily. Consequently, Steiner was invited to speak to a gathering of Theosophists. This was his first opportunity to act on a decision to speak openly and directly of his spiritual perception, which had quietly matured since childhood through inner development and discipline. Steiner began to speak regularly to theosophical groups, which upset and confused many of his friends. The respectable, if often radical scholar, historian, scientist, writer, and philosopher began to emerge as an "occultist." Steiner's decision to speak directly from his own spiritual research did not reflect any desire to become a spiritual teacher, feed curiosity, or to revive some ancient wisdom. It arose from his perception of what is needed for our time.
Rudolf Steiner considered it his task to survey the spiritual realities at work within the realms of nature and throughout the universe. He explored the inner nature of the human soul and spirit and their potential for further development; he developed new methods of meditation; he investigated the experiences of human souls before birth and after death; he looked back into the spiritual history and evolution of humanity and Earth; he made detailed studies of reincarnation and karma. After several years, Rudolf Steiner became increasingly active in the arts. It is significant that he saw the arts as crucial for translating spiritual science into social and cultural innovation. Today we have seen what happens when natural science bypasses the human heart and translates knowledge into technology without grace, beauty, or compassion. In 1913, the construction of the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland began. This extraordinary wooden building took shape gradually during the First World War. An international group of volunteers collaborated with local builders and artisans to shape the unique carved forms and structures designed by Steiner. Steiner viewed architecture as a servant of human life, and he designed the Goetheanum to support the work of anthroposophy drama and eurythmy in particular. The Goetheanum was burned to the ground on New Year's Eve, 1922 by an arsonist. Rudolf Steiner designed a second building, which was completed after his death. It is now the center for the Anthroposophical Society and its School of Spiritual Science.
After the end of World War I, Europe was in ruins and people were ready for new social forms. Attempts to realize Steiner's ideal of a "threefold social order" as a political and social alternative was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, its conceptual basis is even more relevant today. Steiner's social thinking can be understood only within the context of his view of history. In contrast to Marx, Steiner saw that history is shaped essentially by changes in human consciousness changes in which higher spiritual beings actively participate.
We can build a healthy social order only on the basis of insight into the material, soul, and spiritual needs of human beings. Those needs are characterized by a powerful tension between the search for community and the experience of the human I, or true individuality. Community, in the sense of material interdependence, is the essence of our world economy. Like independent thinking and free speech, the human I, or essential self, is the foundation of every creative endeavor and innovation, and crucial to the realization of human spirit in the arts and sciences.
Without spiritual freedom, culture withers and dies. Individuality and community are lifted beyond conflict only when they are recognized as a creative polarity rooted in basic human nature, not as contradictions. Each aspect must find the appropriate social expression. We need forms that ensure freedom for all expressions of spiritual life and promote community in economic life. The health of this polarity, however, depends on a full recognition of the third human need and function ó the social relationships that relate to our sense of human rights. Here again, Steiner emphasized the need to develop a distinct realm of social organization to support this sphere one inspired by the concern for equality that awakens as we recognize the spiritual essence of every human being. This is the meaning and source of our right to freedom of spirit and to material sustenance.
These insights are the basis of Steiner's responses to the needs of today, and have inspired renewal in many areas of modern life. Doctors, therapists, farmers, business people, academics, scientists, theologians, pastors, and teachers all approached him for ways to bring new life to their endeavors. The Waldorf school movement originated with a school for the children of factory employees at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory. Today, Waldorf schools are all over the world. There are homes, schools, and village communities for children and adults with special needs. Biodynamic agriculture began with a course of lectures requested by a group of farmers concerned about the destructive trend of "scientific" farming. Steiner's work with doctors led to a medical movement that includes clinics, hospitals, and various forms of therapeutic work. As an art of movement, eurythmy also serves educational and therapeutic work.
Rudolf Steiner spoke very little of his life in personal terms. In his autobiography, however, he stated that, from his early childhood, he was fully conscious of the invisible reality within our everyday world. He struggled inwardly for the first forty years of his life not to achieve spiritual experience but to unite his spiritual experiences with ordinary reality through the methods of natural science. Steiner saw this scientific era, even in its most materialistic aspects, as an essential phase in the spiritual education of humanity. Only by forgetting the spiritual world for a time and attending to the material world can new and essential faculties be kindled, especially the experience of true individual inner freedom.
During his thirties, Steiner awakened to an inner recognition of what he termed "the turning point in time" in human spiritual history. That event was brought about by the incarnation of the Christ. Steiner recognized that the meaning of that turning point in time transcends all differences of religion, race, or nation and has consequences for all of humanity. Rudolf Steiner was also led to recognize the new presence and activity of the Christ. It began in the twentieth century, not in the physical world, but in the etheric realm of the invisible realm of life forces of the Earth and humanity. Steiner wanted to nurture a path of knowledge to meet today's deep and urgent needs. Those ideals, though imperfectly realized, may guide people to find a continuing inspiration in anthroposophy for their lives and work. Rudolf Steiner left us the fruits of careful spiritual observation and perception (or, as he preferred to call it, spiritual research), a vision that is free and thoroughly conscious of the integrity of thinking and understanding inherent in natural science.
This review is from: Outline of Esoteric Science (Classics in Anthroposophy) (Paperback)
They say that this is Steiner's major work, his Magnum Opus.
Outline of Esoteric Science offers the reader a cosmic view of creation and evolution, completely contrary to Darwin, Haeckel and all futile and materialistic modern anthropologists.
Steiner peers into the terrifying lost nights of the ages with bright clarity, equivalent to a high powered flashlight in a pitch black gloomy forest. What he looked into was the memory of nature otherwise known as the "Akasic Records". He did this with a superior faculty in the brain related to sight called "clairvoyance".
He tells us of The Polar race, The Hyperborean race, The Lemurian race, The Atlantian race and the Post-Atlantian races (us today).He also talks about spiritual beings that have helped in the creation of the world and in the movements of the planetary races.
The last section of the book deals with those who wish to find out more about the spiritual worlds and what they need to do to train themselves to reach higher states and develop superior faculties latent within.
This book is a marvel. It will benefit scientists very well to know about this book and it content.
And there are others that have talked about occult history, for example Madamme Blavatsky in her 2nd Volume of The Secret Doctrine called Anthropogenesis, Max Heindel in his book The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, and Samael Aun Weor in his books: Gnostic Anthropology, The Revolution of Beelzebub, and The Revolution of the Dialectic.
If you are serious about knowing Who We Are, Where We Are Coming From and Where We Are Going then this book will help you realize those things that have been a gigantic mystery and a terrible plague on modern minds for generations!
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 starsTough to work through but worth it!, November 16, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Outline of Esoteric Science (Classics in Anthroposophy) (Paperback)
You get a basic outline of spiritual science. For me, there were certain areas that are difficult to understand (eg the evolution chapter). This book introduces you to think in a way that you are not used to. Sometimes you feel like saying, this guy is crazy - but he's not. So read this book - it gives you a good general introduction to spiritual science.
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This review is from: Outline of Esoteric Science (Classics in Anthroposophy) (Paperback)
Rudolph Steiner's works, like the writings of H. P. Blavatsky, open windows into a hidden world most people do not even know exists. Although the ideas they brought forth are claimed to be older than history itself, they set the scene for the "New Age" movement of the last century. Rudolph wrote about what he called the "supersensible" worlds, the hidden realities beyond the world of form and substance or this material universe and its immutable laws of nature. He speaks of invisible worlds and invisible energies and of the origins and genesis of all things, both the hidden and the familiar. What he teaches is the "perennial philosophy," the most ancient of spiritual traditions that come to light periodically when such light is most needed. The ancient wisdom Steiner reveals come from his readings and interpretations of the imperishable Akashic records of all that is and all that ever was.
When Steiner and Blavatsky were so bold as to reveal these ancient teachings to a materialistic society with what Steiner called its "sense-bound" scientists, they were met with scornful resistence and ridicule by both the scientific community and established religion. Unfortunately, far too much of the book is a repetitious defence against the attackers of his day. The book itself, however, is a classic and a treasure.
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