Theosophy, an Introduction - Softcover

Steiner, Rudolf

Softcover

ISBN 10: 163596573X ISBN 13: 9781635965735

Publisher: Start Publishing LLC, 2017

Synopsis

It must be recognized that a knowledge of the spiritual world, not merely a knowledge gained by treading the path, but also a knowledge acquired through grasping the truths of spiritual science with the unprejudiced, healthy human intellect, leads also to a higher moral status in life, to a knowledge of sensory existence that is in accord with the truth, to certainty in life, and to inward health of the soul.

About this title

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (25/27 February, 1861 – 30 March, 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he founded a spiritual movement, anthroposophy, as an esoteric philosophy with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. When he was nine years old, he believed he saw the spirit of an aunt who had died in a far-off town asking him to help her; at the time of the vision neither he, nor his family supposedly knew of the woman's death. In contrast to mainstream Theosophy, he sought to build a Western approach to spirituality based on the philosophical and mystical traditions of European culture. The German Section of the Theosophical Society grew rapidly under Steiner's leadership as he lectured throughout much of Europe on his spiritual science. During this period, he maintained an original approach, replacing Madame Blavatsky's terminology with his own, and basing his spiritual research and teachings upon the Western esoteric and philosophical tradition. This and other differences, in particular Steiner's vocal rejection of Leadbeater and Besant's claim that Jiddu Krishnamurti was the vehicle of a new Maitreya, or world teacher, led to a formal split in 1912/13, when Steiner and the majority of members of the German section of the Theosophical Society broke off to form a new group, the Anthroposophical Society. Far right-wing groups gained strength in Germany after the First World War. In 1919, a political theorist of the National Socialist movement in Germany, Dietrich Eckart, attacked Steiner and suggested that he was a Jew. In 1921, Adolf Hitler attacked Steiner on many fronts, including accusations that he was a tool of the Jews, while other nationalist extremists in Germany called for a "war against Steiner". The 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich led him to give up his residence in Berlin, saying that if those responsible for the attempted coup [Hitler and others] came to power in Germany, it would no longer be possible for him to enter the country. From 1923 on, Steiner showed signs of increasing frailness and illness. He nonetheless continued to lecture widely, and even to travel; especially towards the end of this time, he was often giving two, three or even four lectures daily for courses taking place concurrently.

Edition details

• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 163596573X
• ISBN 13: 9781635965735
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 108