Theosophical Lectures and Answers to Theosophical Questions
Theosophical Lectures and Answers to Theosophical Questions

Author: Annie Besant

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-11-04

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9780260314772

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Excerpt from Theosophical Lectures and Answers to Theosophical Questions: Being a Part of the Transactions of the Convention of the American Section T. S. Chicago, 1907 I have chosen, as the title of the lecture tonight, Psych ism and Spirituality, words which are constantly mis used and confounded, one being used where the other should be employed. 'and I want, if I can tonight, in speaking to you of psychism and spirituality, to clearly define each, to clearly mark the difference between them, and to place it before you in a way that you will all be able to understand what should be meant when it is said a man is a psychic; what should be meant when it is said a man is a spiritual being. We may define each word in a sentence, and the difference between the conditions I shall endeavor to work out and make plain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Mission of the New Spirit Revelation
The Mission of the New Spirit Revelation

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2021-04-28

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1855846233

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'What would we be without love? We would inevitably become isolated and gradually lose all connection with our fellow human beings and our fellow creatures in the natural world.' – Rudolf SteinerIn this rich, previously-untranslated collection of lectures, Rudolf Steiner approaches and illumines the figure of Christ from manifold directions and perspectives. Christ, the being of love, is for the body of the Earth what the heart is within our individual organism. Given throughout 1911 – the year before Rudolf Steiner split from the theosophists citing fundamental disagreements over the true nature of Christianity – the lectures reflect Steiner's intensifying emphasis on the central deed of the Christ being in Earth evolution, whilst in tandem demonstrating the truths of reincarnation and karma. He reveals profound vistas of human development and paths of advancement over many lifetimes, in which Christ is to be our steadfast companion and exemplar. Lectures include: 'Faith, Love, Hope'; 'Original Sin and Grace'; 'The Effect of Moral Qualities on Karma'; 'The Importance of Spiritual Enquiry for Moral Action'; 'Wisdom, Prayerfulness and Certainty in Life'; 'The Birth of the Sun Spirit as Earth Spirit'; 'The Threefold Call from the World of Spirit'; 'Christmas – A Festival of Inspiration'; 'The I at Work Upon the Child and How this Relates to the Christ Being'; 'Ossian and Fingal's Cave', and many more. Translated by Matthew Barton, this volume features an introduction, notes and index.

The Spiritual Background to the First World War
The Spiritual Background to the First World War

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2024-05-24

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1855846489

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With the unprecedented global conflict of the First World War as an overarching theme, Rudolf Steiner addresses timeless issues such as the search for harmony between peoples and nations, the development of the human capacity for love, the contemporary presence of Christ, and the questions of reincarnation and life after death. Speaking in the German city of Stuttgart during and after the war years, Steiner discusses the perpetual tension between East and West – particularly in relation to Europe. The war, he says, arose principally out of the Anglo-Saxon peoples' determination 'to exercise world-domination'. Knowing that Slavic culture is destined to be the precursor of the sixth cultural epoch, Western national interests resolved to make Eastern Europe – specifically Russia – 'the field for socialist experiments'. These events were aggravated by the failure of the Central European peoples in their own world-historical task, to 'rise to a broad sense of vision' as intermediaries between the two groups. Throughout, Steiner refers to the work of individual Folk Souls, but distinguishes them from the scourge of nationalism – especially when it is based on blood – whilst emphasizing the sovereignty of the individual human being. Although more than a century old, the enduring themes of these previously-untranslated lectures will resonate with many readers today. The main text is supplemented with an introduction by Simon Blaxland-de Lange, editorial notes and an index. Sixteen lectures, Stuttgart, Sept. 1914–March 1921, GA 174b

The Human Spirit
The Human Spirit

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2016-03-21

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1855844826

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'To live in truth, to wish to be true in one's whole being, will be the watchword of the future.' – Rudolf Steiner. In the midst of the lies and propaganda of the Great War, Rudolf Steiner struggled to convey the truths of the human spirit. The 'truth' asserted by partisan interests, he suggested, was invariably tinged with dishonesty – whether the outright mendacities of politicians and rulers (Steiner refers here to the machinations of the British Empire), or the manipulative techniques of secret societies, intent on securing and shoring up their own power. In relation to the latter, Rudolf Steiner highlights how, whilst we tend to reject overt authority nowadays, we succumb more easily to its covert forms in the 'received wisdoms' we often unthinkingly adopt. In seeking to help his audiences discern the spiritual struggle unfolding behind outer events, Steiner describes how the intrigues that led to the war were based on intentional deceit, which served hidden aims of which the public was mostly kept in the dark. In contrast to the divisiveness of untruth, truth is based on a realization of the interconnectedness of all things – of interdependence between the realms 'below' and 'above' us. The 'I', upon which all evolution on earth is predicated, signifies an overcoming of egotism and narrow interests, together with the imaginative embrace of all beings. Its spiritual reality – that descends to us from non-material worlds and towards which we evolve through earthly lives – is the epitome of truth. Amidst many other topics covered here, Rudolf Steiner speaks about The Qur'an and the Mystery of Golgotha; Henry VIII, Thomas More and the Church of England; the Jesuits and their State in Paraguay; Freemasons, esoteric symbols, and handshakes; Madame Blavatsky's occult imprisonment by Anglo-Saxon brotherhoods; Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov; and the occult literature of Papus and Lévi.

The Anthroposophic Movement
The Anthroposophic Movement

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2022-11-18

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1855846039

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This course of lectures was given at a pivotal point in the development of the anthroposophic movement. Just months before, an act of arson had caused the destruction of the first Goetheanum, and its darkened ruins appeared to reflect the fragmentations within the Anthroposophical Society. Divisions were appearing amongst members and friends, with individual energies increasingly routed to external initiatives and practical projects. It became apparent that a new impetus was needed. In this turbulent context, Steiner delivers these lectures in a calm, lively and informal style. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, he says, a yearning for spiritual nourishment arose within Western culture, and organizations such as the Theosophical Society gained in popularity. Despite his direct involvement in these events, Steiner describes in dispassionate tones how the spiritual movements behind theosophy and anthroposophy were able to work together harmoniously, before an unavoidable separation took place. Steiner’s expansive review of the anthroposophic movement is an important narrative account of the developing Western spiritual tradition and the history of the Mysteries. These lectures also offer rare perceptions of the life and philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Those who identify with the movement he founded will discover revelatory insights to its background and possibilities for its future development within the broader evolution of humankind.