The Inner Nature of Man: And our Life Between Death and Rebirth
A cycle of lectures given by Rudolf Steiner in Vienna between 6th and 14th April, 1914.
The date and place are interesting to notice. Rudolf Steiner couldn’t but be aware that Europe was on the brink of a major disaster that would claim millions of lives. In these lectures he gives his most in-depth treatment of the subject of life between death and rebirth, knowing that for so many young people, death was imminent.
Because the lectures were given daily, they are closely connected; one follows another with no break in the general train of thought. Among the profusion of insights, one message seems to stand out. That is – what we are all doing here in our cycle of lives on earth and sojourns in the spiritual world. What we are all aiming at, whether conscious of it or not, whether physically incarnated or in the spiritual world between lives.
The message is that we are all striving towards becoming the ideal human being. This is the religion of the gods themselves: our spiritual growth is the concern of all nine hierarchies of angels. While on earth we can lose sight of it.
The nearer we get to the moment of leaving the world, the more interested we become in what will actually happen to us in the process. This series of lectures describes both the outer and inner events in a way that carries total conviction and dispels anxiety. The anxiety that we shall be left in the dark, not knowing where we are or what to do. For some, the anxiety that death will eclipse our consciousness.
Rudolf Steiner takes us by the hand, so to speak, and describes what happens, step by step; describes how our point of view changes as we go, and how we are guided by spiritual helpers through each experience. It takes in the journey to the ‘midnight hour’, the turning point when instead of looking back we are inwardly prompted to reach towards a new incarnation.
It is a book to read many times, each time gaining more of wisdom and understanding.
Written by Jane Abrahams
You can take this book out our library.