Customer Reviews
Classic spiritual masterwork - By: Angus Jenkinson, 06 Nov 2005 
Rudolf Steiner is widely regarded, at least amongst thosein the know, as a giant amongst 20th century thinkers & guides. His practical initiatives were wide ranging enough to qualify him as a great 'Renaissance man'. He developed a revolutionary educational philosophy, which has given birth to some 700 or 800 schools worldwide, an education characterised by its cultivation of the balanced & free human being & deriving from his spiritual philosophy & insights, which are outlinedin a systematic wayin this book.
He was a noted artist, sculptor, choreographer, playwright & architect whose work has led to the foundation of several artistic & architectural schools. At the end of the First World War he was activein trying to promote a more sensible set of economic, cultural & political arrangements, the failure of which lead directly to several of the disasters of 20th-century European & world history. He also formally trained as & was a valued scientistin a number of fields. For example, he developed a highly effective form of organic agriculture known as biodynamics, which is now cultivated from New Zealand to California, is recognised as an important agricultural modelin Germany & is much esteemedin viniculture. He also warned against feeding cows reconstituted meat-based foods, describing the kind of illness which we now know as BSE. According to Richard Tarnas, author of The Passion of the Western Mind, Steiner can also be located as a philosopher alongside Goethe & Hegel, & his epistemology, outlinedin The Philosophy of Freedom (aka Intuitive Thinking as a Path of Knowledge) is an answer to the dilemmas of the Descartian-Hegelian paradigm. Amongst those who are actively engagedin his path of knowledge, known as anthroposophy, excellent as these initiatives are, they are but the proof points of Steiner's spiritual seership, the outcomes of which he outlinedin several thousand lectures & a number of books.
Theosophy is his classic outline of the spiritual nature of the human being & the nature of existence, both during life & after death. It is not strictly speaking philosophical book; indeed Steiner would call it science. But it is not science as you know it, being based on his cultivated ability to observe the supersensible. Were it not for the rigour of his thinking & the width & depth of his practical achievements you might think he was a nutter. But a short exposure makes this impossible to believe.
It is a serious book & both needs & repays study. It is also hugely stimulating: you are likely to be left speechless & dumbfounded & whether this turns you off or starts you on a long engagement will be down to you. At the heart of Steiner's philosophy is the conviction of the need to develop human freedom. For those more interestedin practice of spiritual development, his introductory text Knowledge of Higher Worlds (aka How to Know Higher Worlds) may be a better alternative start.
STIMULATING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING - By: Pieter, 11 May 2003 This work by Steiner covers the fundamentals of spirituality & mankind’s placein the cosmos. Chapter One deals with the essential nature of the human being as body, soul & spirit, beginning with the physical bodily nature & concluding with the higher spiritual aspects of our being. The picture that emerges is one of the human beingin an evolving process of becoming, where the agent of transformation is the “I”. Chapter Two covers destiny & the reincarnation of the human spirit, while Chapter Three discusses other dimensions of consciousness like the soul world, the spirit world & their connection with the physical world & includes with a section on thought forms & the human aura. These worlds are not to be considered spatially, but are states of consciousness, qualitative spaces of inner relationship. Chapter Four discusses the individual’s spiritual path & encourages the acquisition of spiritual knowledge with the emphasis on thinking & proving truth for oneself. Steiner sees the first stepin this path of knowledge as the assimilation of scientific spiritual concepts. He asks the reader not to “believe” what he says, but to “think” it. It is not a question of belief but of experience. Here his thoughts correspond with those of Jung as explainedin Stephan Hoeller’s great book The Gnostic Jung And The Seven Sermons To The Dead – that mankind has a need of religious experience, not of belief. Unlike a major portion of Eastern thought which believesin the dissolution of individuality, Steiner‘s view is that spiritual growth does not take place at the expense of individuality, but through its enhancement. A similar idea can be foundin Thomas Troward’s beautiful book The Creative Process In The Individual. I would also like to recommend the following works for those interestedin spirituality: Cosmic Consciousness by R M Bucke & The Varieties Of Religious Experience by William James. Theosophy is a thought-provoking book that ought to be studied rather than read. The book concludes with a thorough index & a short biography & photograph of Rudolf Steiner. It has stimulated my interest to investigate his other works.
