What is anthroposophy?

The word ‘Anthroposophy’ comes from the Greek (anthropos meaning ‘human’ and sophia meaning ‘wisdom’). Translated it means ‘wisdom of the human being’. It can be understood in contemporary terms as ‘an awareness of one’s humanity’.

Anthroposophy provides an individual path of spiritual development, visible in the arts, in social forms, and in practical initiatives.

It can also be viewed in two different ways.

Firstly, there is the large body of work that Rudolf Steiner produced in his lifetime. There is an enormous amount of literature, from books to lectures to personal reflections; it would almost be impossible to read everything Steiner produced within a lifetime. The content of his work also has a vast amount of variety, from revealing the processes of life and death to describing other beings who are part of our evolution. There is truly an endless amount of information about the spiritual world and how it operates.

The second way to view anthroposophy, and I think this is how Steiner had hoped anthroposophy would be received, is as a path of inner development. Throughout his literature, there are practical suggestions for this inner development. He suggests that by developing a sense of our spiritual self, our higher self, we begin to gain a clearer picture of our life's purpose. The concepts that Rudolf Steiner provides offer us a framework for getting to know our own ourselves and, ultimately, how we relate to the universe as a whole. Steiner said that every human being has the capacity within themselves to perceive the spiritual world and come into relation with the beings that exist there, including our own spiritual self. By cultivating our inner life, everyone, no matter who they are, will be able to communicate with the spiritual world and the beings that exist there.

Karma and Reincarnation

These two ideas are the basis of any anthroposophical teachings. We are not able to make much progress in our thinking and formation of concepts within anthroposophy if we cannot grasp these two facts. Reincarnation refers to repeated earth lives; evolution is continuous and does not stop at death. Rather, death is seen as one part of the process of evolution. When we reincarnate, we resume the unfolding of our destiny and bring new forces with us that were prepared and created during our time between death and a new birth. Karma refers to the web of happenings that links the events and impulses of our life together. We exist as members of humanity as a whole; therefore, we collectively have a shared karma, as well as a shared karma with our nation, and so on. It is impossible to separate the two ideas from each other, as they clearly exist within each other.