Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Although Steiner did not often speak or write about love explicitly, love is at the very heart of his whole body of work and the foundation of his hopes for humankind and the Earth. Steiner teaches that, without love, nothing is possible; with love, however, we can do everything. Love is always "love of the not-yet." To love is to create; it is to selflessly enter the current of time that flows toward us from the future.
Reality, true knowledge of reality, is impossible without love. Only through love can we truly know as we are know, can we encounter the world and its beings in a living way. Without love, knowledge becomes manipulation, domination, control; the world becomes a space of dead things. But, when we know through love, we enter into a pattern of dynamic, potentially redemptive relations and the world becomes a living world of beings working for the good.
This collection gathers all of Rudolf Steiner's main lectures and writings related to love. From earthly love to the nature and function of spiritual love, these pieces are essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of humanity and the Earth.
Love and Its Meaning in the World is essential reading for anyone who'd like to gain a deeper understanding of our true mission as human beings and the purpose of evolution on Earth.
Chapters include:
- "The Division of the Sexes"
- "Lucifer and Christ"
- "The Mission of Reverence"
- "The Buddha's Teaching of Compassion and Love"
- "Faith, Love, and Hope"
- "Love & Its Meaning in the World"
- "'I'-Feeling, the Soul's Capacity to Love, and Their Relationship to the Elemental World"
Love mediated by the senses is the wellspring of creative power, of what is coming into being. Without sense-born love, nothing material would exist in the world; without spiritual love, nothing spiritual can arise in evolution. When we practice love, cultivate love, creative forces pour into the world....
For human beings, love is the most important fruit of experience in the sensory world. Once we really understand the nature of love, or compassion, we will find that love is the way spirit expresses its truth in the world of the senses....
"We may even say that, in love, the spiritual world awakens in the physical. The more truly a soul inhabits the spiritual worlds, the more it experiences lovelessness and lack of compassion as a denial of spirit itself." --
Rudolf SteinerSynopsis
"Love mediated by way of the senses is the wellspring of creative power, of what is coming into being. Without sense-born love, nothing material would exist in the world; without spiritual love, nothing spiritual can arise in evolution. When we practice love, cultivate love, creative forces pour into the world" (Rudolf Steiner). This new collection brings together all of Rudolf Steiner's main lectures and writings on love -- from earthly love to the nature and function of spiritual love. These pieces are essential reading for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of our true mission and the purpose of human evolution on Earth. Topics include: The Division of the Sexes; The Mission of Reverence; The Teaching of Compassion and Love; Wonder, Compassion, and Conscience; Faith, Love, and Hope; as well as the title lecture. Topics include: The Division of the Sexes; The Mission of Reverence; The Teaching of Compassion and Love; Wonder, Compassion, and Conscience; Faith, Love, and Hope; as well as the title lecture.
Synopsis
Selected lectures and writings
Although Steiner did not often speak or write about love explicitly, love is at the very heart of his whole body of work and the foundation of his hopes for humankind and the Earth. Steiner teaches that, without love, nothing is possible; with love, however, we can do everything. Love is always "love of the not-yet." To love is to create; it is to selflessly enter the current of time that flows toward us from the future.
Reality, true knowledge of reality, is impossible without love. Only through love can we truly know as we are now and encounter the world and its beings in a living way. Without love, knowledge becomes manipulation, domination, control; the world becomes a space of dead things. But, when we know through love, we enter into a pattern of dynamic, potentially redemptive relations and the world becomes a living world of beings working for the good.
This collection gathers all of Rudolf Steiner's main lectures and writings related to love. From earthly love to the nature and function of spiritual love, these pieces are essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of humanity and the Earth.
Love and Its Meaning in the World is essential reading for anyone who'd like to gain a deeper understanding of our true mission as human beings and the purpose of evolution on Earth.
CONTENTS
Introduction by Christopher Bamford
Prologue: The Mystery of Love
1. The Division of the Sexes
2. Lucifer and Christ
3. The Mission of Reverence
4. Love: The Mission of the Earth--1
5. Love: The Mission of the Earth--2
6. Love: The Mission of the Earth--3
7. The Buddha's Teaching of Compassion and Love
8. Faith, Love, and Hope
Love & Its Meaning in the World"
Epilogue: "I"-Feeling, the Soul's Capacity to Love, and Their Relationship to the Elemental World
Three Prayers for the Dead
Synopsis
Selected lectures and writings
"For human beings, love is the most important fruit of experience in the sense world. Once we really understand the nature of love, or compassion, we will find that love is the way spirit expresses its truth in the world of the senses.... We may even say that, in love, the spiritual world awakes in the physical. The more truly a soul inhabits the spiritual worlds, the more it experiences lovelessness and lack of compassion as a denial of spirit itself." --
Rudolf Steiner (Aphorism 9,
The Threshold of the Spiritual World)
Although Steiner did not often speak or write about love explicitly, love is at the very heart of his whole body of work and the foundation of his hopes for humankind and the Earth. Steiner teaches that, without love, nothing is possible; with love, however, we can do everything. Love is always "love of the not-yet." To love is to create; it is to selflessly enter the current of time that flows toward us from the future.
Reality, true knowledge of reality, is impossible without love. Only through love can we truly know as we are now and encounter the world and its beings in a living way. Without love, knowledge becomes manipulation, domination, control; the world becomes a space of dead things. But, when we know through love, we enter into a pattern of dynamic, potentially redemptive relations and the world becomes a living world of beings working for the good.
This collection gathers all of Rudolf Steiner's main lectures and writings related to love. From earthly love to the nature and function of spiritual love, these pieces are essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of humanity and the Earth.
Love and Its Meaning in the World is essential reading for anyone who'd like to gain a deeper understanding of our true mission as human beings and the purpose of evolution on Earth.
Table of Contents
The division into sexes -- Lucifer and Christ -- The mission of reverence -- Love, the mission of the earth I -- Love, the mission of the earth II -- Love, the mission of the earth III -- The Buddha's teaching of compassion and love -- Faith, hope, and love I -- Faith, hope, and love II -- Love and its meaning in the world.