Rudolf Steiner was an influential, Austrian “spiritual scientist” around the turn of the 20th century. Broadly speaking, his works fit in the category of theosophy – the idea that spiritual truth can be known by direct experience and, through this, we can uncover universal spiritual truths. Specifically, he called what he did “wisdom of the human being” and used pseudo-science and pseudo-history as teaching devices to encourage deep contemplation of the human experience.
The compilation of talks titled Rosicrucian Wisdom is one of his most complete and coherent set of lectures discussing modern (for the time) spirituality and its application to life. In the flavor of the day, he synthesizes a wide variety of traditions with personal experience to address many metaphysical issues.
How did humans get to be the way they are? What constitutes a human being? What happens before we are born and after we die? How did matter emerge from spirit and how will it return?
It’s a fascinating foray into the world of occult thinking with an exceptional worldview to try on around the nature of humanity. While I said “coherent” earlier, be warned! The language and use of technical terms in far from clear. If you are looking for something to make you scratch your head and expand your horizons, this is great. If you are looking for a clear and simple introduction then save this one for later!
You can read or listen to Rosicrucian Wisdom on Scribd (a service Dan highly recommends – no affiliation).
Photo Credit: By Otto Rietmann – Abbildung übernommen aus Wolfgang G. Vögele, Der andere Rudolf Steiner – Augenzeugenbrichte, Interviews, Karikaturen, 2005, S. 116, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1528429