Mantric sayings, Steiner, Rudolf

Soul exercises, 1903-1925 (CW 268)

Transform yourself for the sake of the world.
Learn to practice thinking, feeling, sensing, and willing without egoism.
Let your work be the shadow that your I casts
when it is shone upon by the flame of your higher self.

By mantric sayings (mantrische Spr che), Rudolf Steiner means content given by the spiritual world to be absorbed and experienced in meditation. Thus, the volume contains intuitive insights received from the spiritual world and, as such, the vehicle to return us to it. The meditations were often given personally to others for general use, as well as for specific situations or needs such as healing and strengthening, in relation to those who had died, or for anthroposophic work. In other words, these short texts are to be performed--to be experienced. In this sense, they are directive--enjoining us to Do this --and affirmative--positive, filled with hope, and oriented toward the other and the future.

Mantric Sayings includes translations of scriptural passages and ancient versions of the Lords Prayer that were part of Steiners own meditative practice, as well as the 1913 lecture, The Foundation Stone Address, for this, too, contains gifts of the spirit. Also included is Steiners important Macrocosmic (or Reverse) Lords Prayer.

Because meditation lies at the very heart of anthroposophy, as Steiner wished to see it practiced, there are many other collections of Steiners meditation texts. What makes Mantric Sayings unique, however, is its range, extending from July 1903 to March 1925--virtually the entirety of Rudolf Steiners life as a spiritual teacher--and its personal quality. It is very clear that many of these meditations, whether given to others or simply written in his notebooks or on loose note sheets, were meditations that Steiner himself not only received, but also worked with himself in meditation. In this sense, these meditations present a kind of intimate soul portrait; they are what he did and subsequently gave to others with, as one might imagine, great love and deep knowledge of the recipients.

This book is a companion volume to Soul Exercises: Word and Symbol Meditations.

C O N T E N T S

Introduction

PART I: Mantric Sayings and Meditations

Soul Exercises
Meditations for the Days of the Week
For Strengthening the Life Forces
To Provide Help for Others
Meditations Given During the First World War
In Memory of Those Who Have Died
From the After-Death Experience
In Memoriam

PART II: Mantric Sayings for Anthroposophic Work

For Buildings
For Work Groups and Branches of the Society
For Teachers, Doctors, and Priests

PART III: Free Translations of Biblical Texts

From the Old Testament
From the New Testament
The Macrocosmic Lords Prayer

Editorial and Reference Notes
Rudolf Steiners Collected Works
Significant Events in the Life of Rudolf Steiner

Alphabetical Index of First Lines

Mantric Sayings is a translation from German of Mantrische Spr che. Seelen bungen II. 1903 -1925 (GA 268). Cover image: Altarpiece, No. 1, Group X, Altarpieces, 1915. Painting by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), Stiftelsen Hilma af Klint Verk.