When I make my way through a bewildering landscape, after a long and strenuous effort, and can survey the whole scene from atop a mountain peak, many things become clear—almost as if in one fell swoop. Some things I had to laboriously explore “down below”; others were not even on my path, but now are also perfectly clear from my new location. Do I then call that a “miracle”? Or is it not simply the result of a more favorable point of view? Reaching this special inner place has basically been the content of all spiritual endeavors since time immemorial, and is also the content of what anthroposophy attempts to speak about in a contemporary way. And yes, it is a steep mountain.
Here’s another possible answer to our question. Steiner developed an ability that, in principle, is available to every human being. He developed this ability to a significant extent and with the utmost awareness. This is the ability to put ourselves in the other’s shoes, including “things” as well as people, to “read” their inner gestalt, their whole unique being, as it were. With a deep devotion and a kind of transformation, he was able to speak directly out of the essence of a thing or a human being in an uncommon way.
From Wolfgang Müller, Nachgefragt: Anthroposophie. Häufig gestellte Fragen zu Rudolf Steiner und seinem Werk [Inquiry: Anthroposophy. Frequently asked Questions about Rudolf Steiner and his Work] (Info3, 2023), p. 40.
Translation Joshua Kelberman
Graphic Sofia Lismont
