Earthly Knowledge and Heavenly Wisdom (eBook)

Earthly Knowledge and Heavenly Wisdom

9 lectures, Dornach, February 1923 (CW 221)

There is a great difference between the meaning of “know yourself” in the ancient mystery centers and its meaning today. In ancient times, one tried to achieve after death what one can now attain during earthly life. In order to reach higher stages of development after we die, we must become fully human during life on Earth. Such matters have changed over millennia of human and earthly evolution.

At the center of the evolution human consciousness is the Christ event. Today, we must experience the Christ within ourselves as light, life, and love. By adopting the appropriate path of knowledge, we can become citizens of the universe rather than “hermits” on the Earth.

These lectures are crucial reading for a deeper understanding of the anthroposophic view of our place as human beings in the cosmos.

This volume is a translation of Erdenwissen und Himmelserkenntnis (GA 221).

C O N T E N T S:

1. Self-knowledge and Experiencing the Christ in Oneself
2. The Human Being in Waking and Sleeping, part 1
3. The Human Being in Waking and Sleeping, part 2
4. Earthly Learning and Heavenly Wisdom, part 1
5. Earthly Learning and Heavenly Wisdom, part 2
6. The Human Being within Us
(Blackboard Illustrations)
7. Moral Impulses and their Physical Manifestations, part 1
8. Moral Impulses and their Physical Manifestations, part 2
9. Moral Impulses and their Physical Manifestations, part 3

About the Author

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.