Inner Nature of Man

8 lectures and a short address, Vienna, April 6–14, 1914 (CW 153)

“When we know how to enter deeply into the realm of the soul, we reach understanding of the harmony that exists between successive lives on earth and the whole of the physical world outside us.” ― Rudolf SteinerIn these lectures―given during World War I, as thousands of young men were being killed in battle―Rudolf Steiner describes the dramatic reality of the spiritual worlds encountered by human beings after death. He speaks of the joys and sufferings experienced in those worlds by people of different character; the vision of the “ideal human being” that souls experience; the cosmic “midnight hour”; the processes leading to rebirth in the world of the senses; the deeper causes behind such phenomena as materialism and criminality; and why, in the flesh, we lose our instinctive perception of the spiritual worlds.

Rudolf Steiner also describes how knowledge of the spiritual realms, as well as the life beyond death and before birth, can be built on foundations of modern science. Indeed, he speaks of humankind's involvement in science and its many achievements as necessary steps on the path toward a modern form of spirituality and a true understanding of the soul, describing in detail methods by which direct perception of the worlds of soul and spirit can be developed.

This volume is a translation from German of Inneres Wesen des Menschen und Leben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt (GA 153).

Rudolf 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. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.