Anthroposophy: Encyclopedia II - Anthroposophy - Description

Anthroposophy - Description

Anthroposophy, though appreciative of all religions and cultural developments, emphasizes recent Western (rather than older Hindu or Buddhist) esoteric thought as being more appropriate to contemporary needs, and perceives Christ and His mission on earth as having a particularly important place in human evolution, though these are not viewed in the same way as in the mainstream Christian churches. Steiner emphasized that the being that manifests in Christianity also manifests in all faiths and religions; it is the being that unifies all religions, and not a particular religious faith, that Steiner saw as the central force in human evolution. Steiner's Christianity differs also from that of the Gnostics who viewed the Christ phenomenon through the knowledge gained through earlier gnosticism, whereas for Steiner Christ's incarnation was a historical reality and a pivotal and unique point in human history.

Anthroposophy encourages clear and free thought, and the development of human consciousness beyond the material senses. It also encourages the artistic expression of one's perceptions. Steiner defined it as "a path of knowledge leading the Spiritual in the human being to the Spiritual in the universe."

His concept of man includes the idea that man has inhabited earth since its creation, albeit in a spiritual form. This spiritual form then processed through a number of stages to reach its current form, stages which included emanation of lesser beings such as animals and plants. Thus every living thing has evolved from mankind (although "mankind" is not here seen in its usual sense, but includes its earlier spiritual forms).

The anthroposophist's way could be said to go through becoming more conscious and deliberate about one's thoughts and deeds, but also by becoming more perceptive of and in tune with the spirit in himself and outside of himself . One may reach higher levels of consciousness through meditation and observation. Steiner described and developed numerous exercises for the realization of these goals.

Steiner's description of the human being as consisting of seven intimately connected parts, starting on the material level and reaching up into the spiritual levels - and several of which are still in development - is similar to that found in Theosophy.

This view is thoroughly explained in many of Steiner's writings and lectures, particularly in his books Theosophy, and An Outline of Occult Science.

Anthroposophists however also hold a fourfold view, which Steiner expands on very frequently and puts to practical uses in subjects such as medicine and child education:

• the physical body,
• the life or etheric body, the organization of forces of metamorphosis and growth for living beings
• the consciousness or astral body, and
• the ego or "I" of the human being.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Description", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki