Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A survey of recent history reveals the gloomy picture of an ongoing series of conflicts, wars, and general turmoil. Consequently, the human emotional landscape is littered today with angry, bitter, and vengeful thoughts, emotions, and actions. Even our modern justice systems are preoccupied only with finding and proving guilt and dealing out retribution, doing little to remedy the tragic situation. Nevertheless, many individuals and groups have always sought ways to break this vicious cycle of recrimination.
When faced with the question of what we can do to change the world for the better, one of the most radical and challenging answers is to begin forgiving others for what they have done. In this powerful and moving book, Prokofieff shows how the forces that lead to forgiveness can be developed consciously and freely. Without preaching the morality of forgiveness, he presents spiritual facts that speak for themselves.
From Tsarist Russia and the concentration camps of Nazi Germany to the infighting during the early years of the Anthroposophical Society, the author offers striking examples of those who have been able to forgive frequently terrible crimes. He provides multilayered analyses and shows the beneficial consequences of each act of forgiveness. As he develops his theme, the importance of forgiving--not simply for personal salvation but for the advancement of human evolution--is revealed in all its healing truth.
Now available in paperback, The Occult Significance of Forgiveness has been read and loved by thousands of readers for years. It is perhaps the most valuable, accessible, and succinct of Prokofieff's works on inner development.
Synopsis
The Occult Significance of Forgiveness has been read and loved by thousands of readers for years. It is perhaps the most heartfelt, accessible, and succinct of Prokofieff's works on inner development.
If we survey recent and current times we see a gloomy picture of endless conflicts, wars, and widespread turmoil. The human emotional landscape is littered with anger and bitter vengence that fill human thoughts, emotions, and actions. Even modern systems of "justice" are preoccupied with proving guilt and dealing out retribution, doing little to remedy the tragic situation. Nevertheless, there are individuals and groups seeking ways to break the vicious cycles of recrimination.
What we can do to change the world for the better? One of the most radical and challenging answers is to forgive others for what they do. In this powerful and moving book, Sergei Prokofieff shows how the forces that lead to forgiveness can be developed consciously and freely. Without preaching morality, he presents spiritual facts of forgiveness that illumine a path of reconciliation.
From Tsarist Russia and the concentration camps of Nazi Germany to the infighting during the early years of the Anthroposophical Society, the author offers striking examples of those who have been able to forgive frequently terrible crimes. He provides multilayered analyses and shows the beneficial consequences of each act of forgiveness. As he develops his theme, the importance of forgiving--not simply for personal salvation but for the advancement of human evolution--is revealed in all its healing truth.
C O N T E N T S
Foreword
1. The Urgency of the Problem of Forgiveness in Our Time
2. The Fifth Petition of the "Lord's Prayer" and the Fifth Post-Atlantean Epoch
3. Seven Examples of Forgiveness
4. The Nature of Forgiveness from a Spiritual-Scientific Viewpoint
5. Forgiveness as an Essential Part of the Modern Path to Christ
6. The Occult Significance of Forgiveness
7. The Nature of Forgiveness and the Sevenfold Manichaean Initiation
8. The Manichaean Impulse in the Life of Rudolf Steiner
Postscript
Appendix 1: The Text of an "Appeal for Reconciliation" by Marie Steiner
Appendix 2. The Text of Ita Wegman's written answer to the "Appeal"