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An Esoteric Cosmology: Evolution, Christ & Modern Spirituality
18 lectures in Paris, May 25-June 14, 1906 (CW 94)
A congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society was held in Paris in May 1906. Rudolf Steiner attended with a number of students and presented a series of lectures to a small circle of friends, mostly society members. Edouard Schuré was present and made succinct notes of those talks, the result of which is An Esoteric Cosmology: Evolution, Christ, and Modern Spirituality. In is foreword, Schuré describes his initial impressions of Rudolf Steiner and the force of his vision: “These priceless lectures mark a significant phase of Rudolf Steiner’s thought—that of the spontaneous burst of his genius and its first crystallization.” Indeed, his notes record perhaps the first general outline and summary of what would become Anthroposophy, or spiritual science. At the time of these lectures, most members viewed Theosophy as a kind of Europeanized Indian philosophy. Thus, one purpose of these lectures was to outline Steiner’s Christ-centered spiritual science in contrast to the more Eastern orientation of Theosophy. He carefully connected the essence of spiritual science to the role of the Christ in human evolution, as well as to the Rosicrucian and Christian mystery traditions, the primary carriers of the esoteric Christian stream. To accomplish this, Steiner presented the roots of Christianity in the ancient mysteries and in the evolution of the whole universe itself. The miracle of these lectures, perhaps, is that Steiner was able to condense such a grand cosmology into these eighteen lectures, and that Edouard Schuré was able to capture their essence in the relatively brief notes that constitute this book. A few years later, the substance of these lectures were expanded and presented in Rudolf Steiner’s Outline of Esoteric Science. These lecture notes will prove invaluable for all those who wish to better understand that book, as well as Rudolf Steiner’s Christian cosmology and perspective on esoteric Christianity and the Christian mysteries.
A congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society was held in Paris in May 1906. Rudolf Steiner attended with a number of students and presented a series of lectures to a small circle of friends, mostly society members. Edouard Schuré was present and made succinct notes of those talks, the result of which is An Esoteric Cosmology: Evolution, Christ, and Modern Spirituality. In is foreword, Schuré describes his initial impressions of Rudolf Steiner and the force of his vision: “These priceless lectures mark a significant phase of Rudolf Steiner’s thought—that of the spontaneous burst of his genius and its first crystallization.” Indeed, his notes record perhaps the first general outline and summary of what would become Anthroposophy, or spiritual science. At the time of these lectures, most members viewed Theosophy as a kind of Europeanized Indian philosophy. Thus, one purpose of these lectures was to outline Steiner’s Christ-centered spiritual science in contrast to the more Eastern orientation of Theosophy. He carefully connected the essence of spiritual science to the role of the Christ in human evolution, as well as to the Rosicrucian and Christian mystery traditions, the primary carriers of the esoteric Christian stream. To accomplish this, Steiner presented the roots of Christianity in the ancient mysteries and in the evolution of the whole universe itself. The miracle of these lectures, perhaps, is that Steiner was able to condense such a grand cosmology into these eighteen lectures, and that Edouard Schuré was able to capture their essence in the relatively brief notes that constitute this book. A few years later, the substance of these lectures were expanded and presented in Rudolf Steiner’s Outline of Esoteric Science. These lecture notes will prove invaluable for all those who wish to better understand that book, as well as Rudolf Steiner’s Christian cosmology and perspective on esoteric Christianity and the Christian mysteries.
- GenresSpiritualityNonfiction
126 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1986
77 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Rudolf Steiner
4,378 books1,116 followersAuthor also wrote under the name Rudolph Steiner.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism or neognosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.
In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality. His philosophical work of these years, which he termed "spiritual science", sought to apply what he saw as the clarity of thinking characteristic of Western philosophy to spiritual questions, differentiating this approach from what he considered to be vaguer approaches to mysticism. In a second phase, beginning around 1907, he began working collaboratively in a variety of artistic media, including drama, dance and architecture, culminating in the building of the Goetheanum, a cultural centre to house all the arts. In the third phase of his work, beginning after World War I, Steiner worked on various ostensibly applied projects, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.
Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual approach. He based his epistemology on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's world view in which "thinking…is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas." A consistent thread that runs through his work is the goal of demonstrating that there are no limits to human knowledge.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism or neognosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.
In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality. His philosophical work of these years, which he termed "spiritual science", sought to apply what he saw as the clarity of thinking characteristic of Western philosophy to spiritual questions, differentiating this approach from what he considered to be vaguer approaches to mysticism. In a second phase, beginning around 1907, he began working collaboratively in a variety of artistic media, including drama, dance and architecture, culminating in the building of the Goetheanum, a cultural centre to house all the arts. In the third phase of his work, beginning after World War I, Steiner worked on various ostensibly applied projects, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.
Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual approach. He based his epistemology on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's world view in which "thinking…is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas." A consistent thread that runs through his work is the goal of demonstrating that there are no limits to human knowledge.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 26, 2022
A short but very good book. It only does not get 5 stars as I am pretty sure it is not "original": I highly suspect this book to be a summary of: The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception Mystic Christianity https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
January 30, 2021
Genius or Madman?
I've read this and "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds" as background for reading Valentin Tomberg. On first reading of both books I question the sanity of the author, and that of my own for persisting to read them. Perhaps my respect for Tomberg helped me through.
For "Esoteric Cosmology" reading immersively instead of merely listening to the audiobook helped alleviate the narrator's poor pronounciation of foreign (German) and fairly unusual words (e.g. travail).
I've given the book two stars only because I'm still struggling with the idea that I've just read the ravings of a lunatic. Enough highly intelligent people have sung the praises of Steiner to give me pause. Or, maybe, the content is just yet another example of the emperors new clothes.
I've read this and "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds" as background for reading Valentin Tomberg. On first reading of both books I question the sanity of the author, and that of my own for persisting to read them. Perhaps my respect for Tomberg helped me through.
For "Esoteric Cosmology" reading immersively instead of merely listening to the audiobook helped alleviate the narrator's poor pronounciation of foreign (German) and fairly unusual words (e.g. travail).
I've given the book two stars only because I'm still struggling with the idea that I've just read the ravings of a lunatic. Enough highly intelligent people have sung the praises of Steiner to give me pause. Or, maybe, the content is just yet another example of the emperors new clothes.
August 30, 2020
Es mi primer acercamiento a la Antroposofía, y al tomarlo literal choca contra la razón, pero a la vez tiene mucho sentido de una manera romántica e intuitiva.
Algunas ideas claves:
La ciencia espiritual o el camino de autoaprendizaje.
La iniciación como alineación de la voluntad con el corazón y la mente.
Desarrollo paralelo entre virtudes y habilidades perceptivas.
Cristo nos vino a enseñar que todos podemos accesar a la divinidad.
El arte y la iluminación es sutil, abstracto, escondido, no se puede abarcar de manera exacta, literal.
Algunas ideas claves:
La ciencia espiritual o el camino de autoaprendizaje.
La iniciación como alineación de la voluntad con el corazón y la mente.
Desarrollo paralelo entre virtudes y habilidades perceptivas.
Cristo nos vino a enseñar que todos podemos accesar a la divinidad.
El arte y la iluminación es sutil, abstracto, escondido, no se puede abarcar de manera exacta, literal.
April 30, 2024
This is pretty cool. I think it is going to be one of my favorite Rudolf Steiner books. This one is particularly useful if a reader is looking for the belief system of his student Owen Barfield. Barfield's work focuses on the evolution of human consciousness. This set of lectures by Steiner provides the listener with a great introduction to that topic.
September 26, 2021
Interesting but I felt some were creative reachings stated as fact. I'll likely reread this book in the future.
November 19, 2008
One of the earlier collection of lectures on Esoteric Cosmology by the great teacher of mankind - Rudolf Steiner. Essential information about the evolution of Man. A must for anyone who wants to open his eyes to the truth.
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June 29, 2018Excellent
A brilliant aside for the esoteric study I am doing. Love Steiners work. Such an interesting mind. Short lectures, but filled with lots of information
A brilliant aside for the esoteric study I am doing. Love Steiners work. Such an interesting mind. Short lectures, but filled with lots of information
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews