Rudolf Steiner Fragment Of A Spiritual Biography

Underlying Sergei O. Prokofieff’s life’s work was a fundamental research-theme to which he returned to repeatedly: the individuality of Rudolf Steiner as manifested through his past incarnations on Earth. Beginning in 1982, inspired by a visit to an exhibition on The Epic of Gilgamesh, Prokofieff planned a full-scale spiritual biography with the intention of finding an answer to the question: Who is Rudolf Steiner? In a sequence of five past incarnations – as indicated by Steiner himself – and culminating in the life of Rudolf Steiner, Prokofieff searched for the inner thread between the six stages of this great, all-encompassing life. His intention was to find not only the outer connections in this sequence but also the deeper, more esoteric stream that offers the key to the unique significance of this individuality. In 1984, Prokofieff began to write the first chapter about Rudolf Steiner’s incarnation as Enkidu in Sumer. Sadly, many obstacles in his path were to prevent him finalising the project. However, the author returned to the book in his final months, preparing a Preface that outlines its conception together with a summary chapter on Rudolf Steiner’s evolutionary journey. This precious ‘fragment’ of a biography features valuable additional material, including: a full introduction to the relationship of the anthroposophical movement to other occult streams of esoteric Christianity and their Masters; a detailed spiritual-scientific interpretation of the Epic of Gilgamesh that establishes Rudolf Steiner’s connection with the being of Jesus of Nazareth, and an exploration of Steiner’s relationship to the Nathan soul, the Luke Jesus child. Serious students of anthroposophy will welcome these final writings from the pen of one of Rudolf Steiner’s most faithful and insightful disciples.

Your favorite occupation? Pondering and musing. Your idea of happiness? Pondering and musing. Your most extreme aversion? Pedantry and a sense of order. Of what are you afraid? Punctuality. These quotations are from a questionnaire filled in by a young man in his late twenties. That person, Rudolf Steiner, would later initiate Spiritual Science, or Anthroposophy, and the many practical disciplines that arose from it. Eventually, he would write his Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, although its completion would be interrupted by his unexpected death. This book is an essential complement to Steiner's unfinished Autobiography. It gathers a wealth of personal testimonies--including lectures, r sum s, notebook entries, a questionnaire, as well as biographical notes written for douard Schur --much of which has not been previously published in English. The various materials, together with rare photographs, have been expertly collated and introduced by Walter Kugler. See also the comprehensive biography by Christoph Lindenberg, Rudolf Steiner: A Biography.

The path of an individual human life - our biography - is something of a mystery. Despite the abundance of published biographies and autobiographies of celebrities and historical figures, the scientific study of human biography remains in its infancy, with little understanding of the inherent laws in the path of an individual's life. Yet as Rudolf Steiner shows here, every biography, regardless of the individual's fame, perceived importance or outer success, is ruled by archetypal influences, patterns and laws. This broad-ranging anthology addresses some critical and as yet unanswered questions: What effects do education - and in particular contrasting education methods - have on later life? How do the various periods of life relate to each other? Do the effects of events on the individual become evident immediately, or is their true impact delayed - perhaps by decades? To what extent can an individual shape the stages of his or her biography? How much freedom of choice do we have, and how much of life is predetermined? Out of the higher knowledge Rudolf Steiner acquired from his spiritual research, he described the human individuality as a being with a continuing existence - before birth and beyond death. This eternal being experiences many varied conditions and situations, the effects of which are observable in our biography. This book addresses these and other issues such as freedom and destiny, the effects of heredity, illness, and the impact of education, offering answers based on a profound knowledge of the human being.

Rudolf Steiner's legacy is remarkable. Around the world, thousands of initiatives have been built up around his inspiration and thought, including Steiner Waldorf schools, special education establishments, medical clinics, biodynamic farms, cultural centres, and much more. At the core of this outer work stands the scientific and spiritual path which Steiner called anthroposophy - a philosophy and method which he expounded and developed throughout his life. Hemleben's concise yet informative biography throws a clear light on Steiner's life and his numerous struggles and achievements. Beginning with Steiner's childhood, Hemleben guides us through his youthful years as a respected Goethean scholar and philosopher in Weimar; his work in the Theosophical Society and the later establishing of the Anthroposophical Society; the development of anthroposophy as a spiritual science; the creation of spiritual initiatives in art, the social sciences, education, medicine, agriculture, religion and architecture; the important Christmas Foundation Conference, and his eventual death in 1925. Hemleben's biography - seen by many as the finest account of Steiner's life and work - includes a chronology, personal tributes, an extensive section for further reading, as well as an index. It is also profusely illustrated, with 69 pictures and photographs.

In this final volume of his comprehensive biography of Rudolf Steiner, Peter Selg describes Steiner's final months on Earth. Although his health was beginning to decline, 1924 might have been his most productive and fruitful years. It saw a new beginning for the Anthroposophical Society and the beginning of the Esoteric School and the School for Spiritual Science. The year began with the "Christmas Conference," during which the Anthroposophical Society was reborn). That year also witnessed Rudolf Steiner's "Karmic Relationships" lectures, as well as the serialized "Leading Thoughts," summarized Anthroposophy in a series of aphoristic guidelines for meditation, supplemented by essays on the Michaelic nature of Anthroposophy. Also serialized in the Goetheanum newsletter were autobiographical chapters in Rudolf Steiner's life up to 1907. He also defined his important spiritual relationships with Ita Wegman, Marie Steiner, and Lili Kolisko, as well as their significant connection to the Society and his spiritual legacy. New initiatives were also planted in the world during this time, including anthroposophically extended medicine and biodynamic agriculture. From his sickbed in the Goetheanum carpentry shop, Steiner also formed plans and a model for the new Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Also included in this volume is a lecture by Rudolf Steiner on June 4, 1924, "The Festival of Pentecost." Book jacket.

Written 1924-1925 (CW 28) "Because I entered this world with defined soul predispositions, and because the course of my life, as expressed in my biogra-phy, is determined by those predispositions, as a spiritual human being I must have existed before my birth. As a being of spirit, I must be the repetition of someone through whose biography mine can be explained. In each life the human spirit appears as a repetition of itself with the fruits of experi-ences during previous lives. --Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner seldom spoke of himself in a personal way, but in his Autobiography we are offered a rare glimpse into some of the most intimate aspects of his inner life, his personal relationships, and significant events that helped to shape the philosopher, seer, and teacher he became. This edition restores the original format of seventy chapters, just as they were written for the Goetheanum weekly newsletter. This autobiography is not merely a narrative of Rudolf Steiner's successes and failures, but the story of a soul possessed of a precise, probing scientific mind and a natural clairvoyant ability to see into the spiritual world. Although naturally clairvoyant, Steiner always recognized the integrity and importance of modern scientific methods, and thus he developed a modern discipline he named Anthroposophy, or spiritual science. During the century that followed the events recorded in this autobiography, Rudolf Steiner's insights have touched and enriched numerous areas of life in ways that continue to transform people's lives in the twenty-first century. This illustrated, revised, updated, and expanded edition was the first volume to be released in The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner. This series will eventually collect all of the English translations of Rudolf Steiner's works--including many never before in English--into an attractive and uniform set of his written and spoken words. Contents: Series Foreword, Introduction, and Chronological Context Part 1: Seeds of Awakening, Wiener-Neustadt to Vienna, 1861-1890 Part 2: Fertile Ground, Weimar, 1890 -1897 Part 3: Must I Remain Unable to Speak?, Berlin, 1897 -1907 A Chronology of Rudolf Steiner's Life and Work by Paul Allen Editorial and Reference Notes by Paul Allen (updated) Annotated Bibliography Index This volume is a translation from German of «Mein Lebensgang» (GA 28). A previous translation was titled The Course of My Life (1951).

In many ways, Rudolf Steiner is the forgotten genius of recent times. A powerful thinker, who developed an intricate spiritual philosophy based on his ability to research and perceive spiritual dimensions, Steiner is perhaps best known today for his legacy to education, medicine and agriculture. But behind these practical manifestations of his ideas lies a profound teaching, which he called a 'science of the spirit' or 'anthroposophy'. In these wonderfully succinct summaries of Steiner's thought, Roy Wilkinson introduces us to aspects of this spiritual philosophy. The twelve chapters are on the following themes: Rudolf Steiner, herald of a new age; reincarnation and karma; the spiritual nature of the human being; the development of human consciousness; evolution of the world and humanity; relationships between the living and the dead; forces of evil; the modern path of initiation; life between death and rebirth; the spiritual hierarchies; the philosophical approach to the spirit; the mission of Christ.

A concise, illustrated introduction of Steiner's life and work.