Theosophy: An Introduction to the Supersensible Knowledge of the World and the Destination of Man

by Rudolf Steiner, M. Cotterell (Translator), A.P. Shepherd (Translator)

Overview

Given his energetic involvement in practical initiatives and extensive lecturing, Rudolf Steiner had little time to write books. Of those he did write - belonging almost entirely to the earlier years of his work - four titles form an indispensable introduction to his later teaching: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, Occult Science, The Philosophy of Freedom and Theosophy. Theosophy focuses on a psychology based not on the usual duality of body and mind, but on the more ancient division of body, soul and spirit. Steiner describes in detail the functions and organs of these three aspects of the human being, and the objective realms to which they belong. Just as the body derives from and belongs to the material world, so do the human soul and spirit belong to their own specific realms. These are the dimensions through which all human beings travel in the life after death, and in which - after passing the 'midnight hour' - we prepare to seek our destiny, or karma, in a new life. Theosophy features one of the most comprehensive and condensed of all Steiner's accounts of these realms, and of the experiences which our immortal being undergoes in passing through them. The book ends with a chapter on the modern 'path of knowledge', in which Steiner describes the exercises through which every person may develop the latent powers of perception which are necessary for a knowledge of metaphysical worlds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781855842953
Publisher:	Rudolf Steiner Press
Publication date:	05/17/2013
Series:	Classic Translation
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	269 KB

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) became a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, particularly known for his work on Goethe's scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena. His multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, philosophy, religion, education (Waldorf schools), special education (the Camphill movement), economics, agriculture (biodynamics), science, architecture, and the arts (drama, speech and eurythmy). In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which has branches throughout the world.

Table of Contents

Translator's foreword Elizabeth Douglas Shields; Preface to the first edition; Preface to the third edition; Introduction; Part I. The Constitution of the Human Being: 1. The corporeal being of man; 2. The soul being of man; 3. The spiritual being of man; 4. Body, soul, and spirit; Part II. Re-Embodiment of the Spirit and Destiny, or Re-Incarnation and Karma; Part III. The Three Worlds: 1. The soul world; 2. The soul in the soul world after death; 3. The spiritland; 4. The spirit in the spiritland after death; 5. The physical world and its connection with the soul and spiritlands; 6. Thought forms and the human aura; Part IV. The Path of Knowledge; Notes and amplifications.