The Foundation Stone Meditation E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The Foundation Stone Meditation holds a central place in the inner life of many students of Rudolf Steiner's work. First presented during the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society at the Christmas Conference of 1923/24, it is a powerful and penetrating meditative text which many consider to be a key to the spiritual mysteries of our time. This version features three alternative translations (by George Adams, Pauline Wehrle and Richard Seddon), together with the original German verses and an introduction by Michael Wilson.

Leseprobe

THE FOUNDATION STONE MEDITATION

THE FOUNDATION STONE MEDITATION

RUDOLF STEINER

Three translations and the original German, with an introduction by Michael Wilson

RUDOLF STEINER PRESS

Rudolf Steiner Press Hillside House, The Square Forest Row RH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2012

The material in this book is extracted from The Foundation Stone / The Life, Nature and Cultivation of Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner Press 1996). The complete text of the Foundation Stone Meeting can be found in The Christmas Conference/or the Foundation of the General Anthroposophical Society 1923/1924 (Anthroposophic Press / Rudolf Steiner Press 1990). The original German texts can be found in Die Weihnachtstagung zur Begründung der Allgemeinen Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft 1923/24 (volume 260 in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe or Collected Works), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. This authorized translation is published by permission of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach

This translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 1985

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 324 0

Cover by Andrew Morgan Typeset by DP Photosetting, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Contents

Introduction by Michael Wilson

Note by Rudolf Steiner

THE FOUNDATION STONE MEDITATION

Translated by George Adams

Alternative translation by Pauline Wehrle

Alternative translation by Richard Seddon

The Original German

Further Reading

Introduction

This ‘Foundation Stone’ of the Anthroposophical Society was formed at the Christmas Conference 1923 out of the tragedy a year earlier when the original Goetheanum building had gone up in flames during the last hour of 1922. The foundation stone of that building had been laid into the hill of Dornach during the stormy evening of 20 September 1913. It was a symbol of a deed which was to give visible and tangible form to the creative spirit of the world. The ‘stone’ consisted of a double pentagon-dodecahedron, made of copper. It was laid in an orientation with the larger of the two forms towards the east where the smaller dome of the building would later stand, and with the smaller form towards the larger dome of the building which would later house the auditorium. To this day it lies buried in its original concrete which now forms part of the foundations of the present building.

Reflection upon the geometrical attributes of the dodecahedron will show how the original foundation stone lives again in the Foundation Stone verses contained in this book. But the original building itself—half temple, half theatre—could not be repeated. World events made it impossible for it to arise again in any place other than the hearts of human beings. Only there can the human spirit now meet the spirit of the world, and the path along which this may happen is the path of anthroposophy.

It was early in 1913, when a first Anthroposophical Society emerged from the Theosophical Movement, that Rudolf Steiner described how the cosmic wisdom, the heavenly Sophia, had united herself with the evolution of human consciousness—‘Philo-Sophia’—and now appeared once more, this time on earth in an objective form: ‘Anthropos-Sophia’. This is not a wisdom that can be possessed; but the higher being which slumbers in every one of us can awaken and unite with the Being of Anthroposophia. The verses of this Foundation Stone are a call to us to bring about this awakening, a deed that can take place only within the free human individuality. This new individuality must turn its powers of recognition towards all that the gods have created for it and which makes its life possible, and it must direct its creative will towards the exploration of what awaits it in the spirit. In the balance of the two the individual will find its true humanity.

In working with this meditation we should not forget that when it was originally heard, on Christmas morning 1923, it was the first half of each of the three verses that constituted ‘our Foundation Stone’, whereas the second halves, which are the Cosmic Reply, came a little later. In this sense the dialogue between the human spirit and the spirit of the world reveals a dramatic depth of meaning.

*

Since it is seldom possible to convey the original mantric quality in a single translation, we have included more than one here, in the hope that serious students will work with the one which they find most helpful in leading them towards the original mantric content.

When this content is fully understood it will be seen to be a milestone in human evolution on earth.

Michael Wilson 1979*

* The complete text of this introduction can be found in The Foundation Stone (Rudolf Steiner Press 1996).

Note by Rudolf Steiner

Explanatory words relating to the text of the Foundation Stone Verses printed for members in the Nachrichtenblatt (Members’ News-sheet) of 13 January 1924.

In close connection with the opening meeting was the ceremony on the morning of 25 December, which we entitled ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Anthroposophical Society’.

It could only be a question of laying a Foundation Stone in an ideal and spiritual sense. The ground in which the Stone was laid was none other than the hearts and souls of those united in the Society, and the Foundation Stone itself must be the mood and spirit springing of its own accord from the anthroposophical way of life. This mood and spirit, so evidently called for by all the signs of the present time, lives in the will to find—by deepening the human soul—the path to an awakened vision of the spirit and to a life proceeding from the spirit. I will now put down the verses in which I tried to give shape to this ‘Foundation Stone’.

THE FOUNDATION STONE MEDITATION

Translated by George Adams (1927)

Soul of Man!

Thou livest in the limbs

Which bear thee through the world of Space

Into the ocean-being of the Spirit.

Practise Spirit-recollection

In depths of soul,

Where in the strength sublime

Of world-creative life

Thine own I grows to full being

In the I of God.

Then in the being of the World of Man

Thy Life will be true.

For the Father-Spirit of the Heights

Reigns in the depths of the World, begetting life.

Spirits of Strength!

May there ring forth from the Heights

The call that is re-echoed in the Depths,

Saying:

From the Divine springeth Mankind.

Spirit-beings hear it in East and West and North and South:

May human beings hear it!

Soul of Man!

Thou livest in the beat of heart and lung

Which guides thee through the rhythm of the Ages

Into the feeling of thine own Soul-being.

Practise Spirit-meditation

In the balance of the soul,

Where the surging deeds

Of cosmic evolution

Unite thine own I

With the I of the World.

Then in the working of the Soul of Man

Thy Feeling will be true.

For the Christ-Will in this horizon’s Round

Reigns in the rhythms of the World, blessing the soul.

Spirits of Light!

May there be kindled from the East

The flame that is moulded by the West,

Saying:

In Christ Death becomes Life.

Spirit-beings hear it in East and West and North and South:

May human beings hear it!