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THE
SCHOOL FOR SPIRITUAL SCIENCE
Henry
Barnes
At
Christmas, 1923, Rudolf
Steiner
proposed that the
Anthroposophical Society should take a
courageous, far-reaching step. He suggested
that the Society,
as it had existed since 1912-1913,
when it emerged as an independent association from the Theosophical
Society, of which
it had formerly been part – should
throw off every vestige of sectarianism and come to
know itself as an absolutely open, public society. Every human being was
welcome into
this
Society if she or he recognized that spiritual science, grounded in
anthroposophy, was a
valid
contribution to our time. Membership in this Society required no
adherence to any
philosophical,
scientific, artistic, or religious principles. It was to be “an
association of
people
whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual
and in human
society,
on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world”¹.
Yet,
at the heart of such a public society, an institution was to be placed
which was intended
to
be an esoteric school, or university, based on spiritual-scientific
knowledge and research.
The education offered in this
school, and the research it was, and is, to develop are subject
to
the same rigorous disciplines which govern every objective search for
knowledge. But,
as
already stated, its methods
are grounded in spiritual science rather than in the natural
sciences
as we have come to know them today.
In
its structure, the School for Spiritual Science resembles the structure
of the traditional universities that have come down to us from earlier
times. The student enters a general section
– similar to the philosophical faculty in a traditional school – in
which she
or he
seeks
to attain the capacities of spiritual-scientific cognition described in
the works of Rudolf
Steiner.
Fundamental in these capacities is a clarity and activity of thought
capable of
grasping
ideas derived from supersensible observation. Such clear thinking can
lead, step by
step,
to cognition that is no longer dependent on the physical organism.
Body-free thought
can
then be enhanced through consistent spiritual-scientific practice to
three stages of higher
cognition,
described by Rudolf Steiner in such basic works as How
to Know Higher Worlds: A
Modern
Path of Initiation², as imagination, inspiration and intuition. Each of these stages leads
the
student to a new level of experience of supersensible or spiritual
reality.
This
central core is known in the School for Spiritual Science as the General
Anthroposophical Section which was intended by Rudolf Steiner to consist
of three esoteric Classes. Unfortunately, due to Rudolf Steiner’s
illness and subsequent death March 30, 1925, he was only able to
inaugurate the first of these three Classes. The nineteen lessons of the
First Class were held by Rudolf Steiner from February 15 to August 2,
1924, in Dornach.
Upon
his return form
England
in September, he had hoped to present the second part of the First
Class, which would have been followed by a third part, all of which
would have then been followed by the institution of a Second Class and,
eventually, by a Third Class.
The
cognitive capacitates to be achieved by the student through
spiritual-scientific training in the three core Classes were capacitates
that he or she could apply to the fructification of the branch of
cultural and vocational practice in which she or he was engaged. Thus
the artist, scientist, teacher, physician, etc. who wished to work in a
chosen field out of the spiritual-scientific insight could call on the
capacities awakened and exercised as a pupil in the Classes of the
School and thus enliven and deepen his or her work in a given
professional discipline.
And
the opportunity to cultivate these vocational insights and skills might
be developed in collegial work within a particular Section of the
School, just as the student in a traditional university, having achieved
the basic skills of scholarship in a central philosophical faculty,
could
enter a medical, legal, pedagogical graduate school for further
specialized training.
In
this way, Rudolf Steiner conceived of a circle of cultural,
vocationally-oriented “schools” or “sections” surrounding a
centrally human developmental, anthroposophical, or spiritual-scientific
core.
The method by means of which he called these special Sections into
existence was, in itself, also fundamentally human, rather than
theoretical or bureaucratic in any way. He did not proceed by deciding
that a medical or an educational section was needed and then set out to
search for a qualified individual to lead the endeavor. On the
contrary,
he first recognized that such an individual was already there and had
proven themselves capable, creative and reliable in a particular field.
As a result of this recognition, he saw that a section, or division of
the School, could be established because the qualified
person
was already there. Having worked closely with Ita Wegman in the medical
field, for example, he could establish a Medical Section under her
leadership because she was there.
In
this way, during the Christmas Foundation Meeting, and in the weeks and
months that followed, Rudolf Steiner was able to bring the School for
Spiritual Science into existence with the specialized Sections
surrounding the central developmental core. Anthroposophy,
or
the methods of spiritual science, was to provide the creative,
transformative energies that could enliven the School as a whole.
In
this way it was intended that the School for Spiritual Science should be
the sustaining heart of the community of individuals who came together
in the General Anthroposophical Society to create a home for
Anthroposophia, the being whose help is so urgently needed today.
*
* * * * * * * * * *
How
can one become a member of the School and how does the School fulfill
its function within the General Anthroposophical Society at the present
time?
An
individual who “considers as justified the existence of an institution
such as the Goetheanum
in Dornach, in its capacity as a School for Spiritual Science”³ may
become a member of the Anthroposophical Society. In doing so, one
undertakes no obligation other than those one has already accepted as a
member of the Anthroposophical Society. In doing so, one undertakes no
obligation to help the individual in every way it can find access to the
sources of spiritual-scientific insight.
If,
after a period of time – usually two years or more – the individual
member comes to feel that he or she wishes not only to receive the
insights of spiritual science, but is ready and wants to represent
anthroposophy in some way, this signals a new relationship to
anthroposophy
and to the Anthroposophical Society. One has been a “quiet,”
receiving member, who is now ready and willing to become “active” on
behalf of the anthroposophical
movement. One is now ready to share responsibility for the movement that
– through Rudolf Steiner’s deed at Christmas 1923 – united itself
with the Anthroposophical
Society. The readiness to represent
anthroposophy
– in no matter how modest
or quiet a way – is the indication that the moment has come to
consider becoming an active member – a pupil – in the School, which
also means joining the work of the First Class.
The
individual who finds him or herself at such a point should ask several
questions. Have I a clear understanding of how Rudolf Steiner
characterized the Society and the School? His essays and letter to the
members following the Christmas meeting are a primary help in
gaining
this clarity. A second question should also be asked. Have I
enough experience in meditation to be confident that I can sustain a
meditative relationship with the esoteric material of the Class? Am I
able, and willing to work with my sisters and brothers, as members of
the School, independent of personal sympathies and antipathies? Am I, in
other words, ready to put my own “karmic” house in order and strive
for objectivity and a genuine openness toward those with whom I am now
asking to join? These self-directed questions are
summed up in the basic question: Am
I ready, able and willing to represent
anthroposophy
in an undogmatic, unsectarian, but honest and unambiguous way?
And, beyond
this, am I prepared to share, through my own work and experience, in the
task of research,
even though I may be far from having achieved supersensible perception?
If
one answers these questions with an honestly positive confidence that
one is ready to become an “active member”, the next step is to seek
out a Class Holder and discuss the matter openly with him or her. If you
do not know an authorized representative of the School, the Society’s
office staff can give you the name of such an individual whom you might
contact. If you find yourself confirmed in your sense that joining the
School is the right step for you at this time, the further procedure is
uncomplicated. You write a letter, addressed to the Executive Council (Vorstand)
at the Goetheanum in Dornach, stating how long you have been a member of
the Society, your immediate life situation, and your reason() for
wishing to enter the School. You give this letter to the authorized
representative with whom you spoke, and she or he forwards your letter
to Dornach with an endorsement based
on
the personal contact that has been achieved. The final decision rests
with the Vorstand and the membership card in the School and the class is
issued by the Goetheanum.
As
a member of the School, you are then eligible to join a Section in whose
work you are actively involved. The different Sections have somewhat
differing procedures for joining them and, again, the Society’s office
in
Ann Arbor
can help identify a Section representative
whom
you can consult. The Sections represented in
North America
have recently come together as a working group, known as the Collegium,
listed below. The current Section leaders at the Goetheanum are also
listed.
In
the seventy-five years of the School’s existence, one circumstance has
changed radically. The esoteric lessons as Rudolf Steiner gave them in
1924 are now available in print. They were first published in German and
also now in English translation. Under these conditions
one
may well ask: why should I join the School if the Class tests are
otherwise available?
This
is a question each of us must ultimately answer for oneself. Certain
thoughts, however, may be shared. Rudolf Steiner made it clear that the
inner reality of an esoteric test lies in its oral
transmission,
far less in the printed text. There is also the aspect of commitment by
individuals who freely decide to join a community of responsible
representatives on behalf of anthroposophy and of Anthroposophia. And,
with this commitment, also the destiny
relation
with Rudolf Steiner. Even just the outer form of meeting with others at
an appointed time, within a rhythmic sequence, and in a mood of sincere
respect and earnestness is also a reality. Nevertheless, the fact of
publication almost certainly requires
even
greater activity on our part as members to transmute the objective
weakening of esoteric discipline.
NOTES:
1.
Paragraph 1, Statutes of the General Anthroposophical Society
2.
How to
Know Higher Worlds: A Modern Path of Initiation (
Hudson
,
NY
: Anthroposophic Press, 1994).
3.
From Paragraph 4, Statutes of the General Anthroposophical Society
4.
The
Foundation Stone/The Life, Nature and Cultivation of Anthroposophy (
London
: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996); The
Constitution of the
School
of
Spiritual
Science, (
London
: Anthroposophical
Society in
Great Britain
, 1980).
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