Product Description

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THEOSOPHY INTRODUCTION When Johann Gottlieb Fichte, in the autumn of 1813, gave to the world his "Introduction to the Science of Knowledge" as the ripe fruit of a life wholly devoted to the service of truth, he said, at the very beginning: "This science presupposes an entirely new inner sense organ or instrument, by means of which there is revealed a new world which does not exist for the ordinary man." And he proceeded to give the following comparison to show how incomprehensible this doctrine of his must be when judged by means of conceptions founded on the ordinary senses: "Think of a world of people born blind, who therefore know only those objects and relations which exist through the sense of touch. Go among them and speak to them of colors and the otherrelations which exist only through light and for the sense of sight. Either you convey nothing to their minds, and this is the more fortunate if they tell you so, for you will in that way quickly notice the mistake and, if unable to open their eyes, will cease the useless speaking. . . ." Now those who speak to people about such things as Fichte deals with in this instance find themselves only too often in a position like that of a man who can see among the born blind. But these are things that refer to man's true being and highest goal, and to believe it necessary "to cease the useless speaking" would amount to despairing of humanity. On the contrary, one should not for one moment doubt the possibility of opening the eyes of everyone to these things, provided that he is in earnest in the matter. On this supposition have all those written and spoken who felt that within themselves the "inner sense- instrument" had grown by which they were able to know the true nature and being of man, which is hidden from the outer sens...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #616435 in Books
• Published on: 1994-01
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
Rudolf Steiner's Theosophy: An Introduction to the Supersensible Knowledge of the World and the Destination of Man provides a precise, phenomenological description of his own supersensible experiences and the supersensible phenomena revealed by them. Theosophy is organized in four parts. First, Steiner builds up a comprehensive understanding of human nature, beginning with the physical bodily nature and moving up through the soul nature to our spiritual being: the "I" and the higher spiritual aspects of our being. This then leads to the experience of the human being as a sevenfold interpenetrated being of body, soul, and spirit. Secondly, Steiner gives an extraordinary overview of the laws of reincarnation and the workings of karma as we pass from one life to the next. Thirdly, Steiner shows the different ways in ;which we live, during this life on earth and after death, in the three worlds of body, soul and spirit, as well as the ways in which these worlds in turn live into us. Fourthly, a succinct description is given of the path of knowledge by which each one of us can begin to understand the marvelous and harmonious complexity of the psycho-spiritual worlds in the fullness. -- Midwest Book Review

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

From the Publisher
Kessinger Publishing reprints over 1,500 similar titles all available through Amazon.com.

Customer Reviews

From the Mineral Body to the Spirit Self
There are strong marks of the German philosophical tradition in this text, which was originally published in 1910 and revised a number of times until its last version in 1922. Steiner's approach to what he calls "Theosophy" is less baroque than that of either Blavatsky or Besant, although his general conceptual structures have strong family resemblances to their work. His basic model of the human being is triadic with the physical body (emerging out of the ancient mineral domains) being the lowest, the soul body being the middle and mutually connecting dimension, and the spirit body being the eternal and post-personal dimension. He stresses a kind of epistemological or experiential model in which the whole triadic self moves through reincarnations to gain as much knowledge of the real non-subjective world as is possible. Throughout, the concern is with helping the physical self find its way past the delusions of incomplete sense experience into those forms of sense awareness that are open to the occult world. The soul is personal in nature and has the difficult task of bringing consciousness into the body while simultaneously allowing the spirit into both its own consciousness and into its vehicle the body. The soul gives human beings the possibility of finding the depth-sensations behind things (not in a supernatural realm but right here and now). This soul is the center of our experience of the "I" and moves with us after the death of the body. However, the soul is not ultimate and can be defined as the locus where the spiritual world manifests itself in individuals. When we develop the "spiritual eye" we are in a position to go beyond our subjective perceptual distortions and the maya producing desires that twist the real into unreal shapes. There is a strong sense of realism and of German-style vitalism in the book, as well as a theory of knowledge that is deeply Kantian, namely, that our finite categories shape just how we experience things in "this" world." Unlike Kant, however, we have access to things as they really are but only through a kind of seeing that must correspond to the nature of what is seen. Steiner laces the book with helpful, if rather stock, analogies that help the reader to envision the spiritual journey into the increasingly real and eternal laws of the world. This book is a little dense-pack at the beginning, especially where he deals with the causal relations among body, soul, and spirit, but overall it is more readable than much of the literature that usually comes out under the name "Theosophy." Steiner's writing has an almost earthy tone when compared to the air-like quality of, say, Blavatsky. One feels more grounded in, and appreciative of, the world of sensation and pain and pleasure. Above all, this book is deeply commited to the ideal of spiritual growth and is far less elitist than many tomes of its kind. Steiner clearly believed that most people could access the spiritual realm by acquiring the right kind of discipline in the task of thinking. This book is very well worth reading as an overview that also contains some very well argued positions, in particular, concerning the various dimensions of the archetypes.

Occultists you need to read this
This book accomplishes admirably a view of the world that is not only "new age" but lucid and coherent. He gets around some of the knottier problems of the theology of the soul in very intersting ways. This book is so close to what I have been slowly discovering, that it helped me remove some of the blocks I had concerning spiritual principles. As always verify the truth of this stuff for yourself. But, if you are a beginning occult student who is looking for someone who is trying to help you, this book is a great place to start.

A difficult read, yet profound.
Reading this book was a challenge, even within the confinfes of a study group. I find myself going back to the book every couple of months as I make connections to my life and gain more understanding of the book. I find this book to be an essential part of my quest for self-actualization. Steiner uses the scientific method to explore and explain the various facets of the human being. His exploration of the modern topics of life, matter, feeling, thinking, the sensible and the supersensible, show that he was light years ahead of his time (1909?). If you are looking for the meaning of life, then this is the book to start with. If you wish to learn more about the Truth of thinking and cognition, the you need to buy his book The Philosophy of Freedom.