Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Schiller Paul Eugen
Title : Rudolf Steiner and initiation The anthroposopical path of inner schooling A survey
Year : 1981

Link download : Schiller_Paul_Eugen_-_Rudolf_Steiner_and_initiation.zip

Introduction. Let it be said from the start that the following survey can only be regarded as one of the possible summaries of Rudolf Steiner's characterization of the anthroposophical path of inner schooling. Such a survey is necessary because the men or women of our time must be able to take each step along the path in full consciousness and freedom. In this sense, Rudolf Steiner earnestly advised the pupil “to place before his mind's eye, with the greatest possible exactitude, those paths of soul development that are described here”. A comprehensive survey, however, can only be gained if Rudolf Steiner's early presentations, which form a foundation, and his later descriptions, particularly those from 1920-25, are taken into account. These could only be given stage by stage after many years of educational effort because his readers and listeners had first to be prepared to this end. The present volume can, of course, only draw attention to the appropriate presentations given by Rudolf Steiner. They should not be replaced because it is an unconditional necessity that they be thoroughly worked through. A large number of passages have been quoted. At present, many lectures given by Rudolf Steiner, from which such quotations are taken, have not yet been translated into English. For the sake of a comprehensive survey such quotations have nevertheless been included. The bibliography at the end of this volume lists a number of fundamental works by Rudolf Steiner in English from which those quotations have been taken that are designated by numbers in the text. The other passages quoted can be ascertained by reference to the original German edition to which an extensive list of sources (Quellenverzeichnis) has been appended. The relatively large number of such quotations is justified in that, in the description of spiritual facts and processes, their true meaning and value so often depend upon the exact sentence formation and the particular choice of words appropriate to the subject at hand. If the author of this survey were, for the sake of a fluent presentation, to choose his own formulations and designations, a number of dangers could arise. ...