Synopsis
T he year 1921 was a time of intense activity for Rudolf Steiner. Three years after World War 1, with social ideals and democracy trying to make their way in the Weimar Republic and the disastrous financial collapse just around the corner, he concentrated his efforts on cultural renewal in economics, education, the arts, medicine, theology, and the sciences. Two clinics were opened, two publications appeared. He lectured in Germany and Switzerland, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Oslo, often giving two, sometime three, and occasionally four lectures a day. Anthroposophy was becoming more known with all this activity, but opposition was also growing stronger. "The modern materialistic world conception is a product of fear and anxiety," Steiner said. "This fear lives on in the outer actions of human beings, in the social structure, in the course of history.... Why did people become materialists, why would they admit only the outer, that which is given in material existence? Because they were afraid to descend into the depths of the human being." The mind-body split is the result of this fear to penetrate the inner human being; and our lack of courage rebounds on society, producing the terrible conditions of modern civilization. Healing will only come when we summon the courage to penetrate the hidden mysteries of the inner human being. In the Society itself, Steiner sought to awaken the local groups from their comfortable complacency. Cosmosophy, Vol. 1 is the first part of two lecture courses that he gave in Dornach in the fall of 1921 to members of the Anthroposophical Society on anthroposophy as cosmosophy, the wisdom of the human being as the wisdom of the cosmos, The eleven lectures, which are also part of a wider course of lectures that he gave throughout the years 1920-1921 (GA 201-GA 209 in German), reveal deep mysteries of the human being in relationship with the cosmos, including topics such as the origin of fear in Western civilization; the mystery of evil; sleeping and waking in higher cognition; the Jupiter existence of the earth; past and future karma; the relationship of the human being to the hierarchies in Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition; foundations of an occult psychology; metamorphosis of the worlds of thought and will in the life after death; preparation of the future from the nature of the will; the conscience; reversal of sense experience in the life after death; the appearance of the senses as a prequisite for freedom; the Mystery of Golgotha as the sense-giving center to historical events, and much more.
About the Authors
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.
Alan Howard was a teacher in public and Waldorf schools in England for about 35 years and editor of Child and Man, a magazine for Waldorf education in Great Britain. He emigrated to Canada to help found the first Waldorf school in Toronto. After retiring from teaching, he relocated to Vancouver and wrote for anthroposophical journals and lectured for the Anthroposophical Society throughout North America.
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