Reviews | Now I See …

2018-0819

Human and Cosmic Thought

Comments Off[Author: mkeltz Category: Academic, Non-fiction, Reviews, Steiner's Works ]

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Four Lectures by Rudolf Steiner, given in Berlin, January 1914.
Published by the Rudolf Steiner Press, 1961.
Reprinted in 1991, and in 2015 with a revised translation by Charles Davy.

The note at the beginning of the book regarding the need for specialized anthroposophical knowledge is discouraging for general readers. It would be better to provide Notes on the Lectures at the back of the book, clarifying certain aspects with one or two paragraphs. A note at the beginning could state that knowledge of the zodiac, the planets, and a genuine astrology will be helpful.

Lecture One is about the nature of thought and processes of thinking. “When man holds to that which he possesses in his thought, he can find an intimate relation of his being to the cosmos.” A brief history of thought is given, from the time of ancient Greece to the twentieth century. In Greece, thought took the form of pictures as a last phase of the old clairvoyance. The Middle Ages brought nominalism, which is a rejection of universal concepts. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) tried to refute the proof of God by showing that one could not derive the existence of a thing out of a concept. Fritz Mauthner (1849-1923) cast doubt on any need for logic, as “thinking, for him, is merely speaking.” Rudolf Steiner calls for mobility in thought from a general concept using the example of a triangle. A triangle should not be thought of as a static thing but should be imagined or visualized as in continual motion, right-angled and obtuse-angled, while still a triangle. This is an example of the advance of thought from form to movement, from the realm of the Spirits of Form (the Urpflanze) to the realm of the Spirits of Movement (the Urtier).

At the beginning of Lecture Two, the need for a living grasp of what thinking involves in terms of actualities is stressed, as there are countless misunderstandings regarding the ideas people have about the world, and about one another. One man upholds certain views with many good reasons, while another has equally good reasons for his view. Rudolf Steiner begins to build what he refers to as the twelve mental zodiacal signs (Geistes-Tierkreisbilder), which are recognizable from their effects on the human soul. The mental zodiac, in the twelve shades of world-outlook, is illustrated by first placing Materialism in Cancer at the top, and its opposite sign of Spiritism in Capricorn at the bottom. A connection is then made between the two sides of the center, the 180 degree point, with a line between Idealism in Aries and Realism in Libra. Materialism extends down, on the viewers left side, to Mathematism in Gemini and Rationalism in Taurus, and then to Idealism. Beneath the central line is Psychism in Pisces and Pneumatism in Aquarius. Upward from Capricorn, on the viewers right, but still below the central line, is Monadism in Sagittarius and Dynamism in Scorpio. Above Libra at the center is Phenomenalism in Virgo and Sensationalism in Leo. The twelve world-outlooks are carefully described in the book, and there can be no more than these twelve, although variations in the outlooks can exist between the signs. More »

Tags: cosmic, dynamism, empiricism, gnosticism, human, idealism, intuitionism, kant, logicism, materialism, mathematism, mauthner, monadism, mysticism, naturalism, nietzsche, nominalism, occultis, phenomenalism, pneumatism, psychism, rationalism, realism, sensationalism, spiritism, theism, thought, transcendentalism, voluntarism

2017-0831

Anthroposophy and the Philosophy of Freedom: Anthroposophy and Its Method of Cognition: by Sergei O. Prokofieff

Comments Off[Author: kkaine Category: Academic, Non-fiction, Religion, Reviews ]

Anthroposophy and the Philosophy of Freedom:

Anthroposophy and Its Method of Cognition:

The Christological and Cosmic-Human Dimension of the Philosophy

by Sergei O. Prokofieff

Temple Lodge Press, June 1, 2009. Buy This Book!

Some people’s path to Anthroposophy leads them directly to Rudolf Steiner’s early work Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom, which becomes the philosophical basis for further exploration. Steiner referred to this as a “safe” approach. However, the destiny of many leads them directly to Anthroposophy itself, perhaps through one of its practical initiatives such as Waldorf education or biodynamics, sometimes making it difficult to relate to the cognitive basis of Anthroposophy.

In this unique study, Prokofieff offers a fresh approach to Steiner’s crucial book, Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path. He shows why the book is so important to Anthroposophy as the work in which Steiner lays a foundation for his method of spiritual research. In Steiner’s own words, “One who is willing can indeed find the basic principles of Anthroposophy in my Philosophy of Freedom.”

Prokofieff discusses the Christian nature of the anthroposophic means of cognition and how it is integral to freedom and love. This in turn reveals the deeply Christian roots of Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path and its importance for modern Christian esoteric work.

In considering its multifaceted cosmic and human dimension, Prokofieff discusses Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path in relation to the mystery of the Resurrection, the work of the hierarchies, the being Anthroposophia, the “Fifth Gospel,” Steiner’s path of initiation, the Rosicrucian and Michaelic impulses, the life between death and rebirth, the Foundation Stone, the Christian mysteries of karma, and the science of the Grail. Review by Kristina Kaine

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Tags: anthroposophy, christian, cognition, cosmic, fifth gospel, freedom, grail, human, karma, michaelic, Mysteries, philosophy, rosicrucian

2017-0223

The Counselor . . . as if Soul and Spirit Matter

Comments Off[Author: kkaine Category: Non-fiction, Psychology, Reviews ]

The Counselor . . . as if Soul and Spirit Matter

Inspirations from Anthroposophy

by William Bento, Edmund Knighton and Roberta Nelson

Edited by David Tresemer

Paperback $35.00 Published by Steiner Books, March 2015 ISBN 978-1-62148-127-0 369 pages

http://www.amazon.com/Counselor-Soul-Spirit-Matter-Anthroposophy/dp/1621481271

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Psychology continually awakens to new dimensions of mental health; this book explains that there are many more rungs on the ladder. At the center of every chapter is the recognition that every human being has the capacity for self-generation and self-healing.

Importantly, the authors recognize that the Counselor can be anyone who listens to another person describing their difficulties. In this regard, this book is important reading for everyone.

I am not a Counselor but have worked with people all my life in medical sales, recruitment and in my own business which is recruitment based. I have also studied and written about the work of Rudolf Steiner for over thirty years. I know the importance of understanding that we are not just physical beings but rather beings of soul and spirit who have a body. Until we approach all areas of human knowledge on this premise we will never understand who we are, much less be able to be of assistance to those experiencing difficulties.

This book is not a text book, it comes from presentations at seminars, transcribed, edited and amended. This may not suit some people but for me these presentations gave the book life. This is in keeping with the whole philosophy of Anthroposophy; to be human is a living activity, humanity continually evolves through different stages of conscious awareness.

The word Anthroposophy itself can be challenging for those not familiar with this philosophy, yet the way this word is described in this book gives a wonderful sense of freedom – “the possible and becoming human” as part of the whole creation. To see ourselves as a work in progress is most liberating and this book reveals that the stumbling blocks are just that. “We are all entangled in the pathos (suffering) of life to some extent or another. Too much pathos makes us dysfunctional; too little means we are not prodded to grow.”

The fact that human consciousness evolves forms the scaffolding on which the ideas in this book are supported, and the current mental health crisis can be explained in the light of this idea. Describing the evolution of consciousness to those who see the physical world as the only reality can be challenging because the present stage in this evolution involves crossing the threshold between the physical and spiritual worlds. When we ask ourselves what this might mean we immediately lose our footing and want to slide down the ladder and feel our feet firmly on the ground.

As this book explains, to understand what it means to be mentally healthy means to understand the true nature of our human being. When we are able to catch a glimpse of this true nature, we become aware of times when we cross a threshold in our consciousness expanding our consciousness beyond our everyday understanding. Crossing the threshold does not mean a change in location, nor does it mean an altered state of consciousness, it simply means that the current boundaries of our awareness are dissolving. More »

2014-1207

Reverie – And Other Gifts From The Heart

Comments Off[Author: mkeltz Category: Non-fiction, Religion ]

Cornmother

By Mark Haberstroh

A Christmas Special, From Lessons Along The Way, Mark Haberstroh, 2012

Reverie

There ought to be a mathematical relation between every breath we take and an increased measure of gratefulness. Perhaps it can be quantified by writing B²=2G, where G, with few exceptions, is ever greater than B. However, having made the point, the point is thereby missed. No moral perception can or should be quantified, thank Goodness, although we often take the simplest things for granted and miss their moral lessons. From the other side those simple things are our miracles in the everyday. The linearity of logic clears a singular and straight path to the goal, but excludes Life through its passage. This is the sacrifice for freedom. The taproot draws directly the earth’s cool water, yet the root system increasingly differentiates and refines its branching into a smallness so delicate and minute as to approach the invisible. Here life flows through root tips in waves that cannot be touched or measured on a dial. This, the secret place of incipient transformation, is where matter leaves matter behind and so loses itself, leaving an echo that allows the impress of spirit, of receptivity to the divine. The shadow of what was becomes filled with the New. Somewhere a distant trumpet sounds in the depths of worlds, not heard by outer ears but by the devoted heart, marshalling elementals in that first movement of life in rivers of spirit flowing toward physical manifestation. Growth becomes musical experience.

Of like nature are those ever-so-quiet whispers of thoughts into the mind, hardly heard … as if in a dream where the reticent unicorn flees from the periphery of vision. Having barely touched with silver hoof our dream’s soft edge, he leaves us with longing for pure and noble deeds. Those whispers are the shy voices of Angels who await our opening, who await our efforts to raise ourselves into a shared resonance, a crescendo of soul and spirit gliding into more light-filled spaces, born aloft by the breath of a gratefulness that builds wings bearing us to higher things. This might be Grace.

It is a miracle that I can place one foot in front of the other while breathing in the cool night air, lovely Sylphs and all. Their interpenetration can be felt as a gentle shock, yet setting fear aside, the message becomes clear through mutually conscious assent, and in unison we chime, “We are one, yet know we are not. Thank you.” Striding forth in consciousness overcomes the Maya of separateness and aloneness, which is the beneficent darkness that must be endured to know who we are. This welcoming darkness is of the earth, our Mother, and the healing bosom of sleep. We work toward the light of the Father that irradiates and activates … and with the Help of the Son we bind ourselves in freedom, bearing Witness as the three cast their healing shadows in the human soul and through the world, giving us the rose, the honeybee, or a hummingbird as well as Piety, Truth, and Virtue. And along this path of cognitive metamorphosis the soul’s heart becomes inwardly lit, and the dark is not so dark anymore. – Mark Haberstroh

Lessons Along The Way

[http://lessonsalongtheway.weebly.com]

Tags: Christmas, cornmother, gifts, heart, reverie

2014-0807

A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and The Founding of Israel

Comments Off[Author: mkeltz Category: Academic, History, Non-fiction, Reviews ]

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By Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY, 2009 Buy this Book!

The authors, both associated with the City University of New York, Allis as teacher and Ronald a professor emeritus of history, have written a thorough history of the founding of the nation of Israel, from its early beginnings, when during World War I the League of Nations awarded Britain a Mandate over Palestine, to its recognition as a nation by President Harry S. Truman (1884 – 1972) on May 14, 1948. Although expositions of the outstanding contributions of many personalities and organizations are detailed throughout the book, the authors have centered their work around the biography and the role of Harry Truman, revealing that his motives in carrying much of the weight for this achievement were fundamentally, unmistakably humanitarian. The authors add cautionary emphasis in several places, of course, that Truman was also a politician, and faced at times with seemingly unending frustrations, became disgruntled with the Jewish people (see the Truman Wikiquotes referenced below). The Nazi atrocities had been made public through newspaper articles in May and June of 1945, and Truman, who had also seen the harrowing newsreel footage of the concentration camps, said in 1964 to CBS News: “It was a horrible thing. I saw and I dream about it even to this day.”

Truman as vice president became the 33rd president of the United States following the sudden death by stroke of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. Truman had been vice president for only a few months, and had been a compromise choice over the alternative candidate, Henry A. Wallace. Roosevelt had kept Truman at arm’s length, out of the loop, and when Roosevelt died, Truman, who had never expected or wished to become president, found himself immediately confronted with the enormous and pressing problems of a nation still at war. Though the decisive, down-to-earth, straight-talking Truman left office with the lowest popularity polls of any American president to date, “eventually the public as well as professional historians would rate him as one of the greatest American presidents… Harry Truman was insecure about many things when he became president, but he was confident he could handle the issue of Palestine in a just way. He did not anticipate the maelstrom he was about to enter.” The task “would consume him from the day he became president to the day he recognized Israel… The story of why he made the decisions and took the actions he did is the subject of our book.” More »

Tags: Harry Truman, haven, Israel Allis Radosh. Ronald Radosh, safe haven

Human and Cosmic Thought

Anthroposophy and the Philosophy of Freedom: Anthroposophy and Its Method of Cognition: by Sergei O. Prokofieff

The Counselor . . . as if Soul and Spirit Matter