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The Karma of Anthroposophy
Rudolf Steiner, the Anthroposophical Society and the Tasks of Its Members
Paperback
June 2009
9781855842199
More details
- Publisher
Rudolf Steiner Press - Published
23rd June 2009 - ISBN 9781855842199
- Language English
- Pages 192 pp.
$20.00
“If such authentic souls, such honest anthroposophists can be found...then an upward movement and dynamic will arise. If such souls do not appear, then decadence will take its inexorable downward course.... Today humanity stands before a great crisis: either it will see all civilization collapsing into the abyss, or else spirituality will raise civilization up by the power of the Michael impetus, through which the Christ impetus works, thus continuing, enriching and sustaining it.”
During 1924, the last full year of Rudolf Steiner’s life, he gave a series of urgent, sometimes impassioned, talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society about their karma and its relationship to contemporary culture, referring in particular to the vital task of renewing civilization and preserving it from the threat of decline. Steiner’s words reveal a great gathering of forces to do spiritual battle for the soul of humanity. He presents a striking panorama in which anthroposophists are compelled to broaden their vision—to see true esoteric and exoteric anthroposophic work as a living yeast that can leaven all culture.
To awaken members of the Anthroposophical Society to the significance of their task, Steiner could see that it was essential for them to understand the various karmic threads that form the fabric of the anthroposophic movement. Such recognition—of both difference and unity—offers strength of diversity, which easily leads to division if it remains unconscious and unrecognized.
In the lectures and excerpts in The Karma of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner speaks of an unprecedented convergence of two specific groups of souls with the anthroposophic movement: the Platonists and the Aristotelians. Thus, a conflict of approaches forms the karmic background, whereas today’s task calls for unity based on love and knowledge—to work with the Archangel Michael and Christ in the face of Ahriman, materialism, and the possibility of social collapse and decadence.
Given the challenges we face today, it is urgent for those who embrace spiritual science to study, absorb, and take to heart the substance of this critically important material.
C O N T E N T S:
Editor’s Preface
Prelude: The Ghosts of the Past
1. Tracing the Threads of Karma
2. The Convergence of Two Groups
3. Unity for Renewal: Platonists and Aristotelians
4. Let Michael Think in Us
5. Hearts Inscribed in the Michael School
6. A New Michael Age and the Battle with Ahriman
7. Hearkening to the Voice of Karma
8. The Sundering of the Ways
9. The Redress of Karma
10. Christ of the Elements, Christ in the Heart
11. The Soul of an Anthroposophist
Postscript: The Work of the Future
Notes
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner (b. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner, 1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. Steiner termed his spiritual philosophy anthroposophy, meaning “wisdom of the human being.” As an exceptionally developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern, universal “spiritual science” that is accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unbiased thinking. From his spiritual investigations, Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of numerous activities, including education (general and for special needs), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, Christianity, and the arts. There are currently thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and initiatives in other fields that involve practical work based on the principles Steiner developed. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of human beings, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods for personal development. He wrote some thirty books and delivered more than six thousand lectures throughout much of Europe. In 1924, Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches around the world.
