The Rudolf Steiner Archive

96. How does one gain insight from higher worlds?

[ 1 ] The day before yesterday, Dr. Steiner continued his lectures—which are both instructive and engaging for supporters and opponents alike—by focusing his insightful reflections this time on the question of such great importance to so many: “How does one gain knowledge of higher worlds?” It would take up too much space if we were to attempt even a brief summary of the multifaceted content of his lecture here, especially since he has discussed everything he included in his explanations much more extensively—than was possible the day before yesterday—and much more thoroughly in his journal and in his own books. The insights he was able to offer—albeit only very briefly—were nonetheless understandable even to those who had never read a single line of his work: a clear indication of the compelling and clear nature of his lectures. By consistently contrasting what his spiritual science is with what it is not—or should not be—he achieved the greatest possible understanding. In doing so, he also touched upon spiritualism, which has hardly anything in common with his spiritual science. The audience, which was well represented, followed the development of his views with visible fascination and did not hesitate to express their grateful appreciation at the end of the lecture. – After a brief pause, the speaker proceeded to answer the often quite peculiar questions and first addressed our report on his first lecture, in which an expert on his writings had sought to sketch, in brief outlines, Dr. Steiner’s intellectual development and ascent for a broader readership—a very difficult undertaking given the more than meager information available about Dr. Steiner’s external circumstances. In this context, Dr. Steiner took the opportunity to clarify that he did not study at the Kalkburg Gymnasium and that he belongs only to the Giordano Bruno Society, but no longer to the Monist Society, which evolved from the former. Due to the late hour, his responses to questions from the audience were naturally brief, but even in this form, they proved fruitful. – All in all, we came to know Dr. Steiner as a man who has acquired extraordinary knowledge in many areas of external life, which he knows how to apply effortlessly; at the same time, he is one of those people—still so rare today—who has dared to break new ground in the field of soul research, leading to previously unknown horizons.