Soul Exercises CW267 and Mantric Sayings CW268 - Bundle
Soul Exercises CW267 and Mantric Sayings CW268 - Bundle
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From The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner. Save 25%.
Soul Exercises
Word and Symbol Meditations (CW 267)
Introduction by Hella Wiesberger Translated by Matthew Barton
"The whole world stands facing the human soul—dark, unknown as the blue of the sky. But what is unknown comes. The human soul must feel this coming as its own extinguishing. Sensing this self-extinguishing is followed by the right to re-create oneself anew from the outer world that has been absorbed.... "I am 'I.'"
Rudolf Steiner made it his task to teach nothing that he had not experienced himself and always encouraged others to make individual spiritual-meditative research the basis of their spiritual lives. Therefore he gave many spiritual exercises to his pupils who asked for them. This was especially the case during the period of the Esoteric School (1904-1914), which closed with the outbreak of World War I, which made a certain kind of esoteric work impossible. Steiner, however, continued to give individuals exercises and meditations in private conversations until 1924, when his health no longer allowed it. Usually he would write all instructions out by hand. A few were communicated verbally. Although every exercise originated in a particular context, he believed that because the same conditions apply to all who take up this path of training, in principle the exercises should be available in “the widest possible context.”
Beginning with general rules and conditions (the so-called supplementary exercises), meditations for the days of the week, and morning and evening exercises, Soul Exercises collects all of the word and symbol meditation exercises Steiner gave. This includes nine groups of exercises based on Mabel Collins’ “Light on the Path” and a multitude of exercises with individually composed meditative verses.
The book concludes with explanations and contextual commentary relating to the exercises, including notes on the value of symbolic ideas on the path of spiritual schooling; the Rose Cross meditation; the verse “More radiant than the Sun”; the backward review (Rückshau); contemplation of one’s own divine ideal; and alcohol and diet.
Soul Exercises will be a help to all who take up the anthroposophic path of inner work.
Mantric Sayings
Meditations 1903–1925 (CW 268)
Introduction by Christopher Bamford Translated by Dana Fleming
“Transform yourself for the sake of the world.
Learn to practice thinking, feeling, sensing, and willing without egoism.
Let your work be the shadow that your I casts
when it is shone upon by the flame of your higher self.”
By “mantric sayings” (mantrische Sprüche), Rudolf Steiner means content given by the spiritual world to be absorbed and experienced in meditation. Thus, the volume contains intuitive insights received “from the spiritual world” and, as such, the vehicle to return us to it. The meditations were often given personally to others for general use, as well as for specific situations or needs such as healing and strengthening, in relation to those who had died, or for anthroposophic work. In other words, these short texts are to be performed—to be experienced. In this sense, they are directive—enjoining us to “Do this!”—and affirmative—positive, filled with hope, and oriented toward the other and the future.
Mantric Sayings includes translations of scriptural passages and ancient versions of the Lord’s Prayer that were part of Steiner’s own meditative practice, as well as the 1913 lecture, “The Foundation Stone Address,” for this, too, contains gifts of the spirit. Also included is Steiner’s important “Macrocosmic (or Reverse) Lord’s Prayer.”
Because meditation lies at the very heart of anthroposophy, as Steiner wished to see it practiced, there are many other collections of Steiner’s meditation texts. What makes Mantric Sayings unique, however, is its range, extending from July 1903 to March 1925—virtually the entirety of Rudolf Steiner’s life as a spiritual teacher—and its personal quality. It is very clear that many of these meditations, whether given to others or simply written in his notebooks or on loose note sheets, were meditations that Steiner himself not only received, but also worked with himself in meditation. In this sense, these meditations present a kind of intimate soul portrait; they are what he did and subsequently gave to others with, as one might imagine, great love and deep knowledge of the recipients.
This book is a companion volume to Soul Exercises: Word and Symbol Meditations.
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