Rudolf Steiner: biography and his books

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were notable in the history of mankind. Over a period of a hundred years, a person has made significant progress in his development. This applies to absolutely all spheres of life, but the spiritual world of man caused special interest among philosophers and scientists. During this period, various mystical teachings and schools of self-knowledge were actively formed, in which the human essence was viewed as the totality of several equivalent components. Some of the teachings very quickly lost their popularity, but others could organically enter the life of society and radically change it. One of the most outstanding representatives of the past century is Rudolf Steiner, whose biography is filled with the most incredible events and signs of fate. This person during his lifetime caused an ambiguous assessment of his contemporaries, so in this article we will not give an evaluation of his activities, but simply tell about this extraordinary scientist who tried to change the whole world.

Rudolf Steiner: Biography. Briefly about the main

The future genius was born in Austria, in the small town of Kraljevic, in February 1861 in a simple working family. In connection with the activities of his father Rudolf Steiner often moved from city to city and managed to travel almost in the early childhood practically the whole country.

The boy was very well educated, he was surprisingly smart, and his parents gave the child to the Vienna Polytechnic School, where he received a very extensive education. Young Rudolph with pleasure studied natural sciences, religion, philosophy and history. Around the same period, he became interested in Goethe's works, which had a great influence on his entire subsequent life.

From his earliest childhood, the boy discovered extrasensory abilities and saw in them a huge gift from above, which must be developed and used for the benefit of people. From his parents and acquaintances to a certain time, Rudolf Steiner hid his abilities not to cause a flurry of negative emotions. But the youth constantly improved, independently studying philosophy, theosophy and occult sciences. All of his research Steiner began to dress in the form of books and scientific works, which gradually began to be published throughout Europe.

In 1891, he received a Ph.D. in Philosophy and began working with popular magazines, hoping to interest his ideas a wide range of public. Unfortunately, Steiner's teachings and theories remained beyond the understanding and interest of ordinary people. But he begins to work closely with the Theosophists and becomes in fact the leader of their society. All this time the scientist is working on new books and the theory of the science of anthroposophy, designed to enable a person to know himself through various spiritual practices and to discover new facets of consciousness and attitude. This science becomes the main brainchild of the scientist, which until his death was developed by Rudolf Steiner. The biography of the talented philosopher says that his workbook was replenished not only with new books on anthroposophy, but also with works in the field of education of the younger generation, astronomy, architecture and art. It is difficult to name the area of social life that this unique person would not touch in his works. And it is worth noting that he was not a theorist, Steiner successfully embodied all his ideas in practice. He created several schools, designed and built buildings, and wrote scripts and staged plays.

Rudolf Steiner often gave lectures and at the end of his life could spend five lessons in one day. The great scientist died on March 30, 1925, leaving a large number of unfinished works and a wide range of followers, still working and living according to the Steiner system.

Of course, in order to imbue with the ideas of a scientist, one must study at least some of his works. They will fully help to understand who Rudolf Steiner really is. The biography, briefly stated, is not quite what the readers need. Therefore, we will try to talk about this amazing person in more detail.

Spiritual development according to Steiner

Doctor of Philosophy paid much attention to such a topic as the self-development of man, and Rudolf Steiner believed that every person has his own way and the speed of progress on it. Do not compare yourself with others and enter into an internal conflict with yourself. This prevents enlightenment and self-knowledge, closes channels of communication with higher forces.

Steiner has developed a large number of spiritual practices based on a combination of ancient occult sciences, world religions and philosophical currents. He was the first in history to analyze the spiritual world with the help of natural sciences and formulas. As a result, an amazingly understandable and accessible guide to enlightening the mind and developing its abilities was obtained. Steiner believed that the Universe with all its knowledge is constantly interacting with man, and he needs to be involved in this process in order to feel the fullness of life. Otherwise, he will spend his entire life in tedious waiting and searching for something incredible. One of the first books on this subject, written by Rudolf Steiner - "Cognition of supersensible worlds." Of course, it was not the last in this cycle, but actually opened a series of works on the study of the spiritual world that preceded the formation of anthroposophy.

From Theosophy to Anthroposophy: The World through the Eyes of a Genius

Over time, numerous scientific works and books were separated into a separate teaching of Rudolf Steiner - anthroposophy. This amazing course the creator called "the science of the spirit" and positioned it as a new philosophy of society. The very name of the teaching was formed from two Greek words: "man" and "wisdom", it fits the characterization of religious-mystical and is based on the knowledge of the spirit through thinking and rational approach. It is worth noting that this science stood out from Theosophy, extremely popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Theosophists actively studied the Christian religion and looked at the Bible and the history of Christ from an entirely new perspective. The followers of Theosophy believed that the ability to contemplate and cognize God reveals to a person the profound meaning of all things around him and events. At one time, Rudolf Steiner was very much interested in this doctrine and even was the leader of the Theosophical Society in Germany.

The theory of Theosophy itself is based on philosophy, occultism and ancient spiritual practices. And practically all theosophists were highly educated people and actively studied world history and culture. At the end of the nineteenth century, Steiner made a report on Nietzsche in the division of the Theosophical Society and for the first time in his career felt himself understood and in demand.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, Steiner began to work actively, for a short period of time he read more than six thousand lectures and wrote not less than a dozen books. He gave himself away, so that people could better understand the interrelation of historical events with the level of spiritual and cultural development of the individual and the whole society as a whole. Interest in the work of the scientist throughout the world was obvious, because it coincided with the desire of people to penetrate the essence of the universe, which no longer seemed to be separated from everyday life, as the religion had previously presented this question. The man aspired to self-knowledge, and nothing could stop him on this path. Practically all of Steiner's lectures were based on his personal experience and therefore were more valuable for listeners.

The founder of the society, HP Blavatsky, about Rudolf Steiner was of very high opinion, because their ideas on many basic points of the teaching coincided. But by 1913 the tension between the leaders of society and the occult philosopher had increased, they were completely divided in opinions, and Steiner along with his followers had left the Theosophical Society, having founded his own organization.

Anthroposophical Society

The teaching of Rudolf Steiner, eventually formed into a practically new science of society and its development, began to acquire followers. After a while, the Anthroposophical Society became a kind of educational institution, where the sciences were taught as a modified material, which enabled them to discover new talents, aspirations and goals with the help of theory and practice. The influence of Steiner spread to many countries of Europe, even in Russia he had followers who continued his scientific activity.

Thanks to anthroposophy Steiner managed to push the development of pedagogy, agriculture and the arts. He created an amazing current that allowed to change not only the person, but also the environment surrounding him. And also bring activities to a new level, after all, according to Steiner, even nature management can have a spiritual beginning and become more effective.

Walldorf Pedagogy: a brief description

Rudolf Steiner paid great attention to the upbringing of children. He believed that their little souls could get a much more powerful impetus to development in the process of education than it is at the moment. The scientist began work on the creation of a pedagogical theory based on the freedom of the individual and the primary development of her talents. Steiner believed that modern schools do not take into account the spiritual component and thus miss the most important stage in the education of the younger generation. In the end, the light was seen by the real pedagogical theory expressed in the course of lectures that Rudolf Steiner had been collecting for years on the grains - "Education and Teaching from the Cognition of Man."

In 1919, he read lectures on the education of children in Walldorf, which became the basis of a whole trend in pedagogy. Discovered around the world Waldorf schools carried out teaching on a new method. At present, Steiner's teaching is taught in more than one thousand schools in Europe.

The basic principles of the pedagogy of the scientist is the simultaneous development of the so-called "three souls":

• Physical;
• Ethereal;
• Astral.

Steiner perceived them as some entities, born not simultaneously with the person, but at different stages of his growing up. Therefore, the approach to the development and upbringing of the child should be based on this knowledge. And each of the entities responsible for certain facets of a person's personality.

In Walldorf schools there are no textbooks and there are no grades, many use this technique for home schooling. Until now, scientists are arguing about the advisability of such a system of education and do not come to a common opinion. But no matter how the teachers relate to Steiner's teachings, no one can deny that in his theory of upbringing there are quite a few rational grains that can be used in a combination of other techniques.

Disclosure of the essence of Christianity

It is impossible to separate the scholarly works of Steiner from the understanding of Christianity. Religion was studied by the occult philosopher always, he managed to draw a parallel between the main religious currents and derive their common features. In addition, the scientist practically from the point of view of the natural sciences proved the reality of the events described in the Bible, but managed to give them a slightly different color. On the basis of these scientific works, the Community of Christians was created, which for a long time was not recognized as a Christian church and now in many countries of the world is not an official religious movement.

The most famous book on this subject, written by Rudolf Steiner - "Mysteries of Antiquity and Christianity." To create this scientific work he was helped by the own abilities of a clairvoyant and contactee with spirits. As a child, the boy saw the spirit of his aunt, who suddenly died. He could talk to her and find out the causes of death. Surprisingly, about her death at that time, the parents of young Rudolph did not receive any reliable information. From that time the child developed his abilities, and his spiritual experiences were the basis of many scientific works.

The society accepted with interest Steiner's judgments about Christianity. In the nineteenth century, it was customary to reject religion under the influence of technological progress and the development of scientific thought. The occult philosopher became the first person who, with the help of science, proved the existence of higher powers.

Space and astrology: the perception of Robert Steiner

The Austrian scientist wrote about space and its conquest by man more than once. And we can say that Rudolf Steiner and astrology are inseparable concepts. Her philosopher paid great attention to the development of mankind. He believed that it is necessary to make horoscopes, only using serious mathematical calculations, but to interpret them already with the help of philosophy and historical knowledge. In this case, it would be superfluous, in the opinion of Steiner, to compose a horoscope of planets, then human civilization will better understand all the processes taking place on the Earth and other planets.

Surprisingly, Rudolf Steiner, whose quotations about astrology were often used by various magicians and clairvoyants, had no doubt that in the foreseeable future man would master outer space. He talked about several ways of development and proposed to determine the right path, in which space will become a structure that is friendly to people. According to Steiner's theory, technological progress must be built on completely different technologies than it really is. After all, we need to use the energy of the Universe and our own bio-field of man, and not create new machines that consume the resources of the planet. Another way of development, according to the scientist, is dead-end and does not bring a person anything good even in the case of mastering outer space.

Architecture and art in the activities of Steiner

One of the founders of the new trend in the modernism of the nineteenth century was Rudolf Steiner. Architecture became a sincere love of the scientist. He himself designed more than seventeen buildings. Three of them are recognized as nineteenth-century monuments and delight architects around the world.

The most famous works of Steiner are the two Goetheanums. These unusual buildings combine the theater and the school belonging to the Anthroposophical Society. People from all over the world built the First Goetheanum, more than eighteen different nations erected a structure that became a haven for everyone who aspired to self-knowledge and development.

In art Steiner left quite a bright and significant trace. He created sculptures, wrote and staged plays, painted paintings, mostly on a wooden surface, and did not even think how much the descendants would appreciate his work.

The influence of Rudolf Steiner on the development of society

I would like to note that Steiner touched upon medicine in his activity, having founded a new trademark, which is successfully functioning today in the market of natural health-improving drugs.

In parallel, the scientist worked on a new technology of nature management, we can say that he created biodynamic agriculture, which does not provide soil fertilization with chemical preparations. Developers Steiner in this area, people still use. In America, there are many biodynamic farms that are considered as a single organism. With the help of this approach, the productivity and productivity of farming increases several times.

In parallel, the scientist worked on a kind of large-scale social project, which was supposed to lead to a complete change in the world outlook in society. In the end, humanity was to reach an entirely new level of development, promising prosperity and enlightenment.

In Russia, the ideas of the scientist enjoyed tremendous popularity. One of his followers was Peter Dynov. About Rudolf Steiner, he often spoke in his lectures, and many of his works were based on the calculations of the Austrian scientist. Quite often it was called the "Slav Steiner", although his work was not so large-scale and comprehensive.

Rudolf Steiner: Books

If you are interested in the works of this extraordinary scientist, you can always find his books written in a very easy and accessible language. The following publications should be best for beginners:

• "Essay on Mystery."
• "The philosophy of freedom."
• "Cosmology, religion and philosophy."
• "The way to enlightenment."

Each of these books fully reflects the worldview of the author and will open up to readers an entirely new world, uncharted and unfamiliar.

It is difficult to give any characterization to Rudolf Steiner. His work has motivated many people to change their lives, so the genius of the scientist is not questioned, and the scientific justification of the philosopher's theories still surprises scientists around the world with their accuracy in calculations and extraordinary simplicity.