10 lectures in Dusseldorf, April 12-18, 1909; notes by participants from question-and-answer sessions (CW 110)

April 21 - 22, 1909

Ever since nature and consciousness were separated during the late Middle Ages--giving rise to scientific thinking that considers only the physical world and views the mind as merely an epiphenomenon of neural chemistry--the spiritual beings who are the universe have felt abandoned and unable to complete their work, which depends on human collaboration for its suc-cess. Human beings have likewise felt aban-doned and alienated.

In...

5 lectures in Berlin, October 31, 1911-December 5, 1911 (CW 132)

In this most remarkable and in many ways unique course of lectures, Rudolf Steiner describes the inner experience of the states of consciousness known as the Saturn, Sun, Moon, and Earth stages of evolution.

Lecture by lecture, Steiner details the experiences of these states available to one who practices the spiritual scientific path of meditation. By this means, these stages and states gain an unexpected and existential reality: suddenly, we recognize what Steiner is talking about. Most remarkable of...

13 lectures, Stuttgart, October 3-15, 1922 (CW 217)

"This cycle of lectures 'to the younger generation' speaks of a pathway to a Michaelic harvest for ears that have the goodwill to hear." --Carlo Pietzner

Rudolf Steiner presented these lectures to about a hundred German young people who hoped to bring Waldorf education into the culture of their time and for the future. Steiner stressed upon his listeners the great importance of "self-education" as a prerequisite to all other education. His was an attempt to guide the youth toward understanding themselves within...

13 lectures in Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, Masch, and Penmaenmawr, 1907-1923 (CW 284)

Unnoticed by most people at the time, a significant moment in spiritual history took place at Whitsun (Pentecost) in Munich in 1907. Known as "the Congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society," this event witnessed Rudolf Steiner's emergence onto the public stage as an independent esoteric Christian spiritual teacher with a world mission to transform planetary culture through what would come to be called "Anthroposophy."

The event (and hence...

Letters, Documents, Ritual Texts, and Lectures from the Cognitive-Ritual Section of the Esoteric School: 1904-1919
Documents of a New Beginning after the First World War: 1921-1924 (CW 265)

To ground his project of founding the new mysteries of Anthroposophy in spiritual history, Rudolf Steiner always sought to unite with and transform where possible the older initiatory streams such as Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism.

In November 1905, both Steiner, who was General Secretary of the German Section of the Theosophical Society and Arch Warden of its Esoteric...

8 lectures, Dornach, December 2-22, 1917 (CW 179)

With a single observation, Rudolf Steiner can sometimes outline a radically new reality that changes everything. Here, he introduces these extraordinary lectures by proposing that the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds "lies right in the middle of the human being."

One indication of this boundary may be found in what science mistakenly differentiates as the sensory and motor nerves, which for Steiner, do not represent two kinds of nerve functions, but rather a gap, or interruption, through which soul, spiritual...

5 lectures, Cologne, Dec. 28, 1912 - Jan. 1, 1913 (CW 142)
9 lectures, Helsinki, May 28 - June 5, 1913 (CW 146)
1 lecture, Basel, Sept. 19, 1912 (CW 139)

This combination of two volumes in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works presents Steiner's profound engagement with Hindu thought and, above all, the Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as they illuminate Western Christian esotericism. In his masterly introduction, Robert McDermott, a longtime student of Rudolf Steiner, as well as Hindu spirituality, explores the complex ways in which the "Song of the Lord," or Bhagavad...

7 Lectures, various cities, Nov. 29, 1917-Oct. 16, 1918 (CW 182)

"In our reflections on spiritual science, we come across much that we apparently cannot apply directly in our daily life, much that seems far removed from our everyday life. In reality, however, what we learn about the mysteries of the spiritual world is always, in every hour and every moment, deeply significant for our soul. What seems to us far removed from our personal concerns is at times very close to what our soul in its innermost core needs. As far as the physical-sensory world in concerned, it is...

Notes written from memory by the participants and meditation verses by Rudolf Steiner (CW 266/3)

Beginning in January 1913, five days after the Anthroposophical Society was founded, this rich volume traces the esoteric work (and lack thereof) in the decade leading up to the reestablishment of the General Anthroposophical Society at the "Christmas Conference" (1923/1924) and the subsequent creation of the First Class, which replaced the Esoteric Section.

Part One, the largest section (Jan. 2, 1913-July 14, 1914), containing thirty-nine lessons in nineteen months, allows us to sense the...

18 lectures in Dornach, January 9 - February 22, 1920 (CW 196)

Click here to download and read lecture 14:
"The Metamorphosis of Feeling, Desiring, and Wanting" (Dornach, February 14, 1920)

In the vast range of Rudolf Steiner's lectures, jewels of all kinds lie hidden in plain sight, awaiting only our discovery of them. Such lectures contain a kind of wisdom not found anywhere else. And sometimes, as in What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times, they also have a translucency and conviction that makes them transformational.

In...