"Research into the sphere of karma...forms the basis of the modern spiritual science of Anthroposophy. For only by learning to understand these laws can the human being realize how spiritual forces work simultaneously in man and the cosmos, and link the two into a higher unity." In this inspiring lecture, addressed primarily to followers of the anthroposophic movement, Prokofieff gives an overview of how the spiritual hierarchies and Christ, the Lord of Karma, work in the ordering of human karma. We are led to the karma and mission of the Anthroposophical Society, with indications as to what needs to happen before that karmic mission can be fulfilled. Prokofieff explains why true modern Christian research into karma does not arise from intellectual speculation, curiosity, or nebulous mystical experiences. The process of karmic research, based on spiritual science, should lead to a fundamental transformation of human nature and lead to a full experience of the cosmos.

Rudolf Steiner's core mission--repeatedly delayed owing to the a lack of capacity in his colleagues--was to pursue contemporary spiritual-scientific research into the phenomena of reincarnation and karma. This stimulating book describes the winding biographical path of that mission. It focuses in particular on the mystery of Steiner's connection with the influential medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. Using numerous archival sources and publications, Thomas Meyer reveals many facts related to the core of Steiner's mission, showing the critical roles played by Wilhelm Anton Neumann and Karl Julius Schröer in its genesis and development. Meyer examines how Rudolf Steiner's students responded to his understanding of karma, placing this "most intrinsic mission" in the context of current divisions in the anthroposophic movement. He highlights especially the place of spiritual science in culture and history and shows how Steiner further developed the great scientific ideas of evolution propounded by Darwin by raising them to the plane of individual soul and spiritual development. As Steiner stated in 1903, "Scientific researchers explain the skull forms of higher animals as a transformation of a lower type of skull. In the same way one should explain a soul's biography through the soul biography which the former evolved from."

In 1924, Rudolf Steiner gave a series of urgent, impassioned, talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society regarding their karma and its relationship to the culture of the time. Steiner's words characterize vividly a spiritual battle, of forces gathering to fight for the soul of humanity itself. Given the challenges faced by humanity today, it has, perhaps, never been more urgent for those who ally themselves with Rudolf Steiner's work to study, absorb and take to heart the contents of this critically important material.

More than 100 years after its founding, the Anthroposophical Society faces serious questions--some of an existential nature--regarding its purpose and tasks today. On March 30, 2012, at the Society's Annual General Meeting in Dornach, Sergei Prokofieff and Peter Selg gave lectures in which they addressed difficult issues related to the General Anthroposophical Society and its global headquarters, the Goetheanum in Switzerland. Their lectures were met with a mixture of enthusiastic support and stern disapproval. They are reproduced here in full, together with supplementary material that helps broaden and deepen their themes, so that every interested individual has access to them.

13 lectures, Dornach and Basel, December 4-31, 1916 (CW 173) Although these lectures were given in 1916, they have much to teach us about today's political spin, media distortions, propaganda and downright lies--all delivered by the media on a daily basis. Rudolf Steiner's calm, methodological approach penetrates the smokescreen of accusations and counterclaims, illusions and lies, surrounding World War I. From behind this fog and under the guise of outer events, the true spiritual struggle is revealed. Steiner's words give the reader a deeper understanding of the politics and world conflicts that confront us today through the filter of popular media. Amid the turmoil of World War I, Steiner spoke out courageously against the hate, lies, and propaganda of the time. His detailed research into the spiritual impulses of human evolution allowed him to reveal the dominant role that secret brotherhoods played in events that culminated in that cataclysmic war. He warned that the retarding forces of nationalism must be overcome before Europe can find its true destiny. He also emphasized the urgent need for new social structures in order to avoid such future catastrophes. Political and social changes around the world are moving at a breathless pace, hurtling us all toward an uncertain future. These lectures illuminate much of what lies behind today's turbulent events and the scenes played out on the nightly news. This new edition, reproduced in a larger format, is put in a modern context and introduced by Terry Boardman. This volume is a translation from German of Zeitgeschichtliche Betrachtungen. Das Karma der Unwahrhaftigkeit - Erster Teil. Kosmische und Menschliche Geschichte Band IV (GA 173).

At the end of his life, Rudolf Steiner took up the task that was his special destiny: to bring to the West a knowledge of reincarnation and karma. To do this, he gave over eighty lectures in 1924 in which he explicitly and concretely revealed the destinies of various individuals from one life to the next in order to show how the general laws of karma operate in individual cases. He also revealed many details of the karmic streams of the members of the Anthroposophical Society. These volumes constitute an immeasurable contribution to the understanding of reincarnation and karma, and the tasks of the Anthroposophical Society in connection with the Archangel Michael.

Saved by good fortune from the flames that engulfed the first Goetheanum, Rudolf Steiners wooden sculpture of the Christ, "the Representative of Humanity," standing between the adversary forces of Lucifer and Ahriman, remains intact, although unfinished, and on display to this day. Unique in the history of art, the Sculptural Group was deeply connected to Rudolf Steiners inner being. The great Christian initiate even died by its side, having made efforts to work on the sculpture days before he crossed the threshold.

2 lectures by Sergei O. Prokofieff, Bologna, March 31 & April 8, 2011 A special conference took place in Bologna in spring 2011, marking the hundredth anniversary of a unique lecture Steiner delivered to a philosophically trained audience in the same city. In his key exposition, Steiner had given a concise description of the spiritual-scientific theory of knowledge as well as a brief outline of the anthroposophic path of training. In his contribution to the 2011 congress, Prokofieff tackles two principal aspects. On the one hand, he describes how Steiner's Bologna lecture contained the essential foundations for a new "science of the human ego" (the human "I"). On the other hand, Prokofieff states that Steiner was the first person to transform this theory into a practical path of knowledge, following it to its very conclusion. Thus, the words of Steiner's lecture were based entirely on personal experience. Together with a transcript of Steiner's full Bologna lecture, Prokofieff's lecture is reproduced here in an expanded version. In addition, this volume features Steiner's important "summaries of essential points," in which he develops and connects some of his key thoughts with further aspects of Anthroposophy, especially in relation to their Christological foundations.

‘Because I felt that he knew how things were, I said simply:“I will stay with you.” Then he said significant things to me that I was not to repeat. A very ancient karma existing between him and myself was renewed. It was not until many years later that I first realised the significance of that meeting.’ – Ita Wegman Ita Wegman was one of Rudolf Steiner’s most important co-workers, collaborating with him principally in the field of Medicine – co-authoring the key book Extending Practical Medicine and heading the Medical Section of the School of Spiritual Science. In the background to that external work, however, was an esoteric connection. In this seminal work of karma research, the authors attempt, sensitively and with responsibility, to shed light on that spiritual and karmic history. Written for members of the Anthroposophical Society, this book is a profound study of a series of different incarnations linked to the figures of Ita Wegman and Rudolf Steiner. Spread over six disparate lifetimes, they range from Gilgamesh and Eabani (Enkidu) in Uruk, ancient Chaldea, to the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, the twentieth-century setting of the world centre of anthroposophy. Based on copious historical research, verbal statements and not a little spiritual insight, this rare and valuable work, reprinted here for the first time, features many illustrations and facsimiles of documents and personal letters.

Why was the act of arson that destroyed the first Goetheanum so devastatingly successful in its malicious intent? What was the nature of the poisoning that Rudolf Steiner suffered in 1923? What was the significance of Steiner’s encounter with an unknown Master in 1879, and his later meeting with Friedrich Nietzsche on his sickbed? Rather than presenting an accumulation of data, Meyer takes a symptomatological approach to the evolution of Rudolf Steiner’s thinking, pinpointing specific moments in his biography, whilst making numerous links to contemporary issues. Seemingly unimportant details are significant – such as Steiner’s boyhood habit of smashing dishes, or the droplet of water that adorned Steiner’s forehead at his funeral. The often overlooked language of such images is evaluated within the scope and grandeur of Rudolf Steiner’s life’s work. An incisive theme running through Milestones is the dual nature of time – ‘involution’ and ‘evolution’ – and how it affects the Anthroposophical Society and movement. Following Steiner’s death, a one-sided involution process has been evident in the overemphasis on the Christmas Foundation Meeting, as well as Steiner’s supposedly ‘indissoluble’ connection with the Society. This is coupled with distorted evolution processes, as seen in the urge to enter the public domain by jettisoning anthroposophy altogether. Such disharmonies can only be healed, says Meyer, by seeing the reality. This book serves as an essential guide to understanding the task of anthroposophy in the modern world.