True and False Paths in Spiritual Investigation, Steiner Rudolf, Parker A. H.

"Rudolf Steiner's model of a spiritualized medicine could hold the key for the next growth phase in Western medicine, if it is to survive, flourish, and become consistently and deeply therapeutic instead of merely palliative."

Rudolf Steiner, a scientist by training, lectured and wrote, at different times on medical subjects and advised physicians on their work. His view of medicine was both unconventional and precise. He could describe--based on his highly developed powers of observation and his spiritual research--processes of health and disease that escape conventional methods of medical observation.

In all his lectures to doctors and in his explanations of anthroposophic medicine, Steiner emphasized that his medical concepts are not intended to replace conventional Western medicine, but to extend it; diagnosis and healing methods are expanded to include our soul and spirit.

In these broadly ranging talks, Steiner introduces fundamental principles of anthroposophically extended medicine. Some of the most remarkable insights that anthroposophy brings to medicine are contained in this volume. For example, Steiner points out that the heart is not a pump and that its motion is a consequence, not the cause, of rhythmic movements in human beings.

Topics include

∞ Health problems, such as hay fever, migraine, sclerosis, cancer, and childhood diseases
∞ The polarity between nerve and liver cells
∞ The functions of the spleen and the gallbladder
∞ The three basic systems: sensory-nervous, rhythmic, and metabolic-limb
∞ Regenerative and degenerative processes
∞ The true nature of the nervous system
∞ Suggestions for the use of minerals, plants, and artistic therapies

The Healing Process is a translation of Anthroposophische Menschenerkenntnis und Medizin (GA 319).

By "mantric sayings" (mantrische Spr che), Rudolf Steiner means content given by the spiritual world to be absorbed and experienced in meditation. Thus, the volume contains intuitive insights received "from the spiritual world" and, as such, the vehicle to return us to it. The meditations were often given personally to others for general use, as well as for specific situations or needs such as healing and strengthening, in relation to those who had died, or for anthroposophic work. In other words, these short texts are to be performed--to be experienced. In this sense, they are directive--enjoining us to "Do this "--and affirmative--positive, filled with hope, and oriented toward the other and the future.

Mantric Sayings includes translations of scriptural passages and ancient versions of the Lord's Prayer that were part of Steiner's own meditative practice, as well as the 1913 lecture, "The Foundation Stone Address," for this, too, contains gifts of the spirit. Also included is Steiner's important "Macrocosmic (or Reverse) Lord's Prayer."

Because meditation lies at the very heart of anthroposophy, as Steiner wished to see it practiced, there are many other collections of Steiner's meditation texts. What makes Mantric Sayings unique, however, is its range, extending from July 1903 to March 1925--virtually the entirety of Rudolf Steiner's life as a spiritual teacher--and its personal quality. It is very clear that many of these meditations, whether given to others or simply written in his notebooks or on loose note sheets, were meditations that Steiner himself not only received, but also worked with himself in meditation. In this sense, these meditations present a kind of intimate soul portrait; they are what he did and subsequently gave to others with, as one might imagine, great love and deep knowledge of the recipients.

This book is a companion volume to Soul Exercises: Word and Symbol Meditations.

C O N T E N T S

Introduction

PART I: Mantric Sayings and Meditations

Soul Exercises
Meditations for the Days of the Week
For Strengthening the Life Forces
To Provide Help for Others
Meditations Given During the First World War
In Memory of Those Who Have Died
From the After-Death Experience
In Memoriam

PART II: Mantric Sayings for Anthroposophic Work

For Buildings
For Work Groups and Branches of the Society
For Teachers, Doctors, and Priests

PART III: Free Translations of Biblical Texts

From the Old Testament
From the New Testament
The Macrocosmic Lord's Prayer

Editorial and Reference Notes
Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Significant Events in the Life of Rudolf Steiner

Alphabetical Index of First Lines

Mantric Sayings is a translation from German of Mantrische Spr che. Seelen bungen II. 1903 -1925 (GA 268). Cover image: Altarpiece, No. 1, Group X, Altarpieces, 1915. Painting by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), Stiftelsen Hilma af Klint Verk.

For many centuries, the teaching of Mani was hidden behind the distorted picture that had been created by the adversaries of Manichaeism in East and West. In the course of the twentieth century, new light was shed on Manichaeism by the discovery of several Manichaean scriptures. These have shown that Manichaeism was a true, distinct world religion that, in the question of good and evil, for instance, offers insights that complement and deepen Christianity.

Also in the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner brought Anthro-posophy, Spiritual Science, which is a continuation of a stream of esoteric Christianity that has run through human history ever since the resurrection of Christ. Anthroposophy is centered on a new, deepened idea of Christianity that, as indicated by Rudolf Steiner, is so great and all-encompassing that it can be understood in its full depth only gradually.

In this book, Christine Gruwez explores the essence of Mani's revelation and then shows what Rudolf Steiner has communicated regarding Mani and his teaching. This generates an image of two spiritual streams that, each from its own beginning, are moving toward a future when a Christianity of the deed shall become reality.

C O N T E N T S:

Introduction

1. Mani and Manichaeism: The Historical Dimension

Manichaeism Rediscovered
Mani, the Apostle of Jesus Christ
Mani's Scriptures:
-- The Organization of a Manichaean Community
-- Liturgy and Prayer
-- The Message of Mani
-- The Creation Story
-- The Figure of Jesus

2. Rudolf Steiner and Manichaeism

Rudolf Steiner's approach to Manichaeism
Rudolf Steiner's Sources:
-- St. Augustine and Other Church Fathers
-- Standard Works in German
Rudolf Steiner and Manichaean Teaching
-- The Question of Dualism
-- Characteristics of Mani's Dualism
-- Mani's View of Matter
-- Rudolf Steiner on the "Spirit-Matter Principle" in Manichaeism
-- Rudolf Steiner on the Manichaean Cosmogony
-- The Manichaean Creation Myth and Its Rendering by Rudolf Steiner
-- Rudolf Steiner on Dualism and Manichaean Dualism
-- Rudolf Steiner and the Individuality of Mani
-- Rudolf Steiner and the Acta Archelai
-- A Second Version
-- The Son of a Widow
-- Mani and the Paraclete
-- Mani's Spiritual Stature and Rank

3. The Mission of Evil: Rudolf Steiner and the Mani Intention

Evil as Ill-Timed Good
Manichaeism and the Future of Christianity: Form and Life
The "I" as Double-Edged Sword
Initiation into the Mystery of Evil

4. Mani as Artist and the Significance of Art in Manichaeism

Mani, All-around Artist:
-- The Ritual Meal as Prototype of Manichaean Art
-- The Significance of the Picture
-- Rudolf Steiner on the Source of Art and Artistry
-- Conclusion

Epilogue: Anthroposophy and Manichaeism as Deed

Appendix 1: Manu and Mani
Appendix 2: The Manichaean View of Jesus and Christ

These dazzling, radical lectures were given one month before the opening of the first Waldorf School--following two years of intense preoccupation with the social situation in Germany as World War I ended and society sought to rebuild itself.

Well aware of the dangerous tendencies present in modern culture that undermine a true social life--such as psychic torpor and boredom, universal mechanization, and a growing cynicism--Steiner recognized that any solution must address not only economic and legal issues but also that of a free spiritual life.

Steiner also saw the need to properly nurture in children the virtues of imitation, reverence, and love at the appropriate stages of development in order to create mature adults who are inwardly prepared to fulfill the demands of a truly healthy society--adults who are able to assume the responsibilities of freedom, equality, and brotherhood.

Relating these themes to an understanding of the human as a threefold being of thought, feeling, and volition, and against the background of historical forces at work in human consciousness, Steiner lays the ground for a profound revolution in the ways we think about education.

Also included here are three lectures on the social basis of education, a lecture to public school teachers, and a lecture to the workers of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company, after which they asked him to form a school for their children.

German sources: Die Erziehungsfrage als soziale Frage (GA 296); lectures 4, 5, and 6, the "Volksp dagogik" lectures in Geisteswissenschaftliche Behandlung sozialer und p dagogischer Fragen (GA 192); lectures 2 and 11, Neugestaltung des sozialen Organismus (GA 330-331).

This volume contains numerous verses written for students, for those who had died, for healing, and for meditation. Also included are passages from Rudolf Steiner's mystery dramas and the Foundation Stone Mediation.

CONTENTS:

Foreword

From Wahrspruchworte, Truth-Wrought-Words
Verses for Children
Verses for the Dead
The Foundation Stone (two renderings)
From the Mystery Dramas
Prose Passages

Quotation References

Index

This volume is a translation of Wahrspruchworte (GA 30).

The third volume of Peter Selg's comprehensive presentation of Rudolf Steiner's life and work begins with Steiner's invitation to lecture in the Theosophical Society during the summer of 1900. From the outset of his theosophical involvement, Steiner was resolved to serve and develop the Western path to the spirit, traversed in full, conscious clarity of thought. He was therefore critical of the tendency to avoid the modern standards of a sound knowledge process in matters of spirituality and esotericism, and instead emphasized the importance of idealist philosophy as groundwork for understanding spiritual cognition.

Although his approach did not always harmonize with theosophical pursuits, Rudolf Steiner recognized the sincere striving at the basis of this movement and agreed to take on increasingly greater responsibility for the German Section. Marie von Sivers, who would later become his wife, was his most supportive colleague during this time. At a decisive juncture, Steiner broke from the Theosophical Society to found the Anthroposophical Society, through which he would continue the development of modern spiritual science more freely in accord with his original intentions.

This volume covers the period during which Steiner wrote some of his foundational works: Christianity as Mystical Fact (1902); Theosophy (1904); How to Know Higher Worlds (1904); and An Outline of Esoteric Science (1909). Peter Selg also describes the building of the first Goetheanum in Dornach as an artistic embodiment of esoteric wisdom, giving rise to an international working community, as well as the performance of the mystery dramas and Rudolf Steiner's profound Christological lectures known as the Fifth Gospel.

-- -- -- -- -- --

"What was needed, according to Rudolf Steiner, was a deeper understanding of life and of social questions, an esoteric approach that could, and needed to, become fruitful exoterically. 'Spiritual Science does not and will not educate stay-at-homes or outsiders but rather active, effective people who step out into the world.' A theosophist or anthroposophist in the 'true sense of the word' was someone who was close to the 'nerve of the time, ' he said." --Peter Selg (from the beginning chapter)

The lectures in this book remain valid and the world situation even more desperate and in need of change in keeping with spiritual-scientific knowledge. The need for developing "consciousness of the self as the spiritual essence of the free, individualistic, single-personality human being" is one of Steiner's unique contributions to the evolving history of humankind. This book marks another milestone on that path.

CONTENTS

Introduction by Bernard J. Garber

The Realities of Higher Worlds
Paths Leading to a Knowledge of Higher Worlds
The Foundations of Spiritual Science
Man in the Light of Spiritual Science
World-development in the Light of Spiritual Science
Jesus or Christ
The Necessity for a Renewal of Culture
The Relationship of Man with the cosmos
The Soul Life of Man in Relation to Higher Worlds
the Development of Christian Life in Europe: The Mission of the Scandinavian Peoples

This book is a translation of Die Wirklichkeit der h hren Welten (CW 79).