Humanity is in a continual process of transformation and evolution. Today's consciousness, based on primarily on sensory perception and abastract logic, differs considerably from the consciousness of ancient human beings, who saw themselves as microsmic mirrors of the cosmos. The loss of such knowledge means that people today are confronted by the enigma of their own being.
In this book, Steiner speaks in a direct, comprehensive way about the development of the higher faculties of Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition. He gives a particularly vivid description of life after death and the progress of the individual through the planetary spheres, where tasks and goals for future incarnations are prepared in cooperation with spiritual beings. The lectures culminate in the call for human beings to gradually take their destiny in hand through the conscious and free development of spiritual capacities.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) became a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar. He developed his earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena that has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, philosophy, religion, education, science, agriculture, and the arts. He founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which has branches throughout the world.