 GURU Guess Who Rudolf Steiner said we all need a guru. A seeker “would find himself plunged into the stormy sea of astral [i.e., soul] experiences if he were left to fend for himself. For this reason he needs a guide who can tell him from the start how these things are related and how to find his bearings in the astral world. Hence the need to find a Guru on whom he can strictly rely. In this connection three different ways of development can be distinguished. [Rudolf Steiner, AT THE GATES OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE, “Occult Development” http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/19060902p01.html ] For Anthroposophists, including many Waldorf school teachers, the guru is Rudolf Steiner. To gauge the reverence Steiner’s followers feel for him, we can’t do better than to simply read their words. Here are some statements made about Steiner by his adherents. The main messages: He was almost godly, and what he said is True in an astonishing range of subjects (regardless of evidence, logic, or other distractions). For his followers, Steiner’s unsupported word is sufficient: He said thus-and-so, which means he showed us thus-and-so — for it is true. “Rudolf Steiner is both a mystic and an occultist. These two natures appear in him in perfect harmony. One could not say which of the two predominates over the other. In intermingling and blending, they have become one homogeneous force. Hence a special development in which outward events play but a secondary part ... From the age of eighteen, young Steiner possessed the spontaneous consciousness of this two-fold current — a consciousness which is the condition of all spiritual vision. This vital axiom was forced upon him by a direct and involuntary seeing of things. Thenceforth he had the unmistakable sensation of occult powers which were working behind and through him for his guidance. He gave heed to this force and obeyed its admonitions, for he felt in profound accordance with it.” [Edouard Schuré, “The Personality of Rudolf Steiner And His Development”] ••• “Rudolf Steiner has shown that our earthly existence has meaning only if we know that life ends not with physical death but that the spirit...." [Dr. Norbert Glas, “How to Look at Illness”.] ••• “The forms of self-discipline taught by Rudolf Steiner were so sane and ennobling that every human being would profit by their practice. They are methods of self-culture which purify...." [Olin D. Wannamaker, RUDOLF STEINER, An Introduction to His Life and Thought.] ••• "[W]e have learned to believe in Rudolf Steiner's teachings." [Franz E. Winkler, M.D., OUR OBLIGATION TO RUDOLF STEINER IN THE SPIRIT OF EASTER (Whittier Books, 1955), p. 11.]  ••• “Slowly, Rudolf Steiner walked over to the lectern. The way he walked revealed something of the balance between a soaring freedom from the body and the permeation of earth substance with will.” [A MAN BEFORE OTHERS: Rudolf Steiner Remembered (Rudolf Steiner Press (1993), p. 209.] ••• “A philosopher, scientist, and esotericist, Steiner was a dedicated servant of humanity ... The range of [his] research, far-reaching in its practical applications, included every aspect of human striving, from cosmology, evolution, and history to physics, mathematics, biology, psychology and astronomy” [Rudolf Steiner, START NOW! (SteinerBook, 2004), p. 7 - introduction by Christopher Bamford.] The obvious rejoinder is: Why are Steiner’s “contributions” largely unknown to experts in these fields? Steiner did little or no research, aside from ransacking volumes of occultism. He merely tossed out quack ideas in fields ranging from agriculture to medicine. ••• “Rudolf Steiner, who had full insight into this realm published, out of a sense of obligation, explanations and directions for a healthy....” [A MAN BEFORE OTHERS, p. 153] ••• “Through this, Steiner shows the significance of scientific research and the mode of thinking that goes with it. As we look at what technology has brought us...." [Owen Barfield, introduction to Steiner’s ORIGINS OF NATURAL SCIENCE.] ••• "In a masterful way, Rudolf Steiner opens new vistas for...." [Rudolf Steiner, PRACTICAL ADVICE TO TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 2000), p. ix — foreword by Astrid Schmitt-Stegmann.] ••• “[I]t was Steiner who showed that it was possible ... Rudolf Steiner himself showed....” [Rudolf Steiner, CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2001), p. 4 - introduction by Andrew J. Welburn.] ••• “Rudolf Steiner undertook the enormous work of extending Science into this ultimate domain [the spirit realm] ... To him, the spiritual beings of which myth and religion spoke are not imperceptible but present realities.He had developed a remarkable, controlled clairvoyance, which he used as an instrument of scientific investigation” [Rudolf Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. iv - introduction by Clopper Almon.] Steiner certainly made such claims. The question is, Did he give us the slightest reason to believe him? He was in no way a scientist, and he produced no evidence for any of his claims.
••• “Dr. Steiner has traced, in numerous lectures, the gradual development of art in past ... Dr. Steiner has indicated, in his books on the attainment of higher...." [Arild Rosenkrantz, FRUITS OF ANTHROPOSOPHY - An Introduction to the Works of Dr. Rudolf Steiner (The Threefold Commonwealth, 1922).] ••• “Rudolf Steiner has given us a concrete idea of what was felt and experienced by the humanity of that epoch. When, during sleep, man passed into the realm...” [Dr. Ita Wegman, “On the Work of the Archangel Michael.] ••• “The great religious figures, whether Buddha and Shankara or Jesus and St. Francis, did not seek primarily to found religious institutions and generate practical works, but to effect the kind of spiritual transformation for which practical works are the arena and the by-product. Similarly, Steiner's entire life may be seen as an attempt to solve the pressing problems of individual and social life, but his primary purpose was to show that long-range solutions require a spiritual foundation." [Robert A. McDermott, THE ESSENTIAL STEINER (Lindisfarne Books, 1984), p. 2.] Comparing Steiner to religious leaders is apt, since this is what he was. What he was not was a scientist or realist, in any sense, nor did he offer any practical solutions. He was a mystic and an occultist, as Edourad Schuré said, above. ••• “Here, too, Rudolf Steiner is shown to have been a pioneer who paved the way for a new...." [Rudolf Steiner, THE AGRICULTURE COURSE, preface by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, M.D.(hon.).] ••• “Steiner has succeeded in building up a truly objective idealism, from Kant back to Plato, or forward to Schelling...." [Rudolf Steiner, THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY, introduction by Hugo S. Bergman.] ••• “Anthroposophy, which is the subject of this book, is squarely based — as must be stated at the outset — on the actual knowledge of the spiritual world that Rudolf Steiner, its founder, acquired and perfected through the conscious development of those higher faculties that, as he told us, 'slumber within every human being.'" [Stewart C. Eaton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), p. 7.] The fly in this ointment is that the "higher faculties" are clairvoyance in various forms, and clairvoyance almost certainly does not exist. (And I'm probably stating this too mildly.) ••• “The greatest deed of the Gods he taught us to understand...." [Rudolf Steiner, The Story of My Life - conclusion by Marie Steiner.] ••• [Waldorf student art courtesy of PLANS.] ••• “Here, Dr. Steiner has certainly identified a dormant problem of astronomy...." [R.S.W.Bobbette, “Celestial Movements: Some Hints From Rudolf Steiner”, 1998.] ••• “This path, with all its wonders, has been shown us by Rudolf Steiner in order that our study of the sciences and arts of the earth...." [Ita Wegman, “The Way of Initiation in the Ancient Mysteries, and the Way of Knowledge in Modern Times”.] ••• “From time to time individuals appear on the stage of history whose genius can only be described as universal. Leonardo da Vinci ... Goethe ... From 1861 to 1925 there lived another personality whose accomplishments were even greater than those of Leonardo da Vinci or Goethe and in whose mind dwelt apparently unbounded earthly and cosmic wisdom. This was Rudolf Steiner." [Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2001), p. 1.] This is a fine description of a god: possessor of "apparently unbounded earthly and cosmic wisdom." It is not, however, an accurate description of Rudolf Steiner, whose blunders were legion. (And I'm probably stating this too mildly.) ••• “I have given much thought to what Rudolf Steiner gave to the world when he gave us the knowledge of these preparations. He has shown us the way to make the soil healthy...." [Karl Koenig, “On the Sheath of the Preparation”, lecture 1, “Horns and Antlers”] ••• “It obtains even in the case of the fallen angels, Lucifer and Ahriman, whom Rudolf Steiner has taught us to regard as benefactors richly meriting our...." [Marjorie Spock, “Reflections On Community Building”.] ••• “Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was one of the most important spiritual figures of the twentieth century ... Steiner's direct spiritual vision enabled him to describe the invisible forces both of the outer and inner human being, the world of nature, and the cosmos ... What emerges is his great unity of purpose and breadth of thought ... laying the seeds for spiritual impulses which will flourish far into the future." [A MAN BEFORE OTHERS, back cover.] This is, in any case, how Anthroposophists think of him. ••• “Geometry, Music, Astronomy — these appear in the Middle Ages as servants of the goddess Natura, who, as Rudolf Steiner has taught us...." [Dr. Ita Wegman, “On the Work of the Archangel Michael.] ••• “Rudolf Steiner has taught us to speak of the whole of earthly evolution as 'Mars -Mercury.' But this evolution can only reach the goal thus set before it...." [Dr. W. J. Stein, “Buddha and the Mission of India”] ••• “Rudolf Steiner has shown the exact connections of the sounds of the alphabet with the formation of the different organs of the body; and hence it is...." [“Education as an Art“, BULLETIN OF THE RUDOLF STEINER SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, Vol. 22 Winter, 1962 No. 2] ••• “Rudolf Steiner has shown in the Four Educational Lectures given .... Yet Rudolf Steiner has shown how music and the musical forces can be used on a much...." [E. M. Hutchins, “Musical Elements in the Teaching of English During the Classteacher Period”, www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/musicelement.pdf ] ••• “Can we discover a seeing thinking that truly distinguishes outer events from their deeper causes? ... One of the greatest pioneers to have blazed a path to the sources of such thinking was Rudolf Steiner." [Henry Barnes, A LIFE FOR THE SPIRIT (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), pp. 3-4.] I knew Henry Barnes, albeit slightly. So I will withhold comment. ••• “Rudolf Steiner has shown us the truth of this in all detail. Our modern scientific age is the product of a certain way of looking at, and thinking about...." [“The Teaching of Natural Science”, CHILD AND MAN, edited by A. C. Harwood www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/natscienceplants.pdf] ••• “The presence of a constituent may perhaps be taken to indicate that higher forces are at work. Rudolf Steiner has shown this, for instance, in the case of the alkaloids....” [Peter A. Pedersen, Albert Proebstl, Ulrich Meyer, "References to Plant Constituents in the Works of Steiner", ANTHRO MED LIBRARY] •••  [Waldorf student art courtesy of PLANS.] ••• “Rudolf Steiner has shown that it is possible and indeed essential for human beings to become aware of karma today." [Rudolf Steiner, MANIFESTATIONS OF KARMA (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), p. vii - foreword by Heidi Herrmann-Davey] ••• “Rosicrucian esotericism ... was yet able here and there, as Rudolf Steiner has shown us, to raise the veil of its mysteries. New forces of spiritual consciousness were born from it...." [Rudolf Steiner, UNIVERSE EARTH AND MAN IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO EGYPTIAN MYTHS AND MODERN CIVILIZATION (Kessinger Publishing, 2003), p. 10 - introduction by Marie Steiner.] ••• “The significance of this lies in the connection Rudolf Steiner has shown to exist between thinking and the...." [Heiner Ruland, EXPANDING TONAL AWARENESS: A Musical Exploration of the Evolution of Consciousness Guided by the Monochord (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1992), p. 111.] Perhaps this is a sufficient sample. There is an almost unending supply of similar quotations to be found on the Internet. You might enjoy hunting around. We should ask ourselves how successful Steiner was as a guru, or simply as a man of learning, or more simply yet as a thinker. Some people find profundity in Steiner's work. Some elect to follow him. But they are a distinct minority, and perhaps there is a good reason for this. I'll present this reason in stark terms. You can decide where the truth lies. Having read reams and reams of Steiner's written and spoken (transcribed) words, I can honestly say that I have found merit is very, very few of his remarks. Most of them are, one way or another, nonsense. Thus, my criticism of Steiner is not confined to a small corner of his teachings; my criticism covers almost everything Steiner wrote or said. Is the fault in me? Do I fail to see the great value of Steiner's words because of my own blindness? Perhaps. But I don't think so. On my web pages "Steiner's Blunders", "Steiner's `Science'", "Steiner's Racism", "Steiner's Quackery", "Steiner's Bile", "Say What", "Wise Words", and others, I present amazingly stupid and nasty statements Steiner made. He made them. There they are. Put is this way: No properly educated man could have made so many ignorant remarks; no truly intelligent man could have made so many stupid remarks; no wise man man could have made so many loony remarks; and no genuinely decent man could have made so many racist remarks. Steiner's work adds up to an enormous pile of fallacy, error, stupidity, and nastiness. I'm sorry, but there it is. Most of what he wrote and said is junk. Here are a few examples: ◊ Ignorance: "When death approaches — this is the peculiar thing with pachyderms — these animals feel this particularly strongly ... Their instinct then makes them go into caves. People tend not to look for them in those earth caves. If they were to look for them there they would find more dead elephants in the regions where elephants are. They are not found in the open." [Rudolf Steiner, FROM ELEPHANTS TO EINSTEIN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), pp. 4-5.] There are no elephant graveyards, inside or outside caves. Steiner believed in them because he generally accepted superstitions, old wives' tales, fairy tales, myths, and ancient fallacies as truth, whereas he generally rejected real knowledge such as the findings of science.1 Steiner was highly educated, in a manner of speaking, but he became functionally ignorant because he chose to ignore the truth and opt for fantasy instead. His education seems to have rolled off his back. (What he wound up knowing a lot about was occultism, Gnosticism, Theosophy, myths, legends, superstitions, and other forms of mental rubbish.) ◊ Stupidity: "The concepts of `true' and `false' are dreadfully barren, prosaic, and formal. The moment we rise to the truths of the spiritual world, we can no longer speak of `true' and `false'...." [Rudolf Steiner, DEEPER INSIGHTS INTO EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1983), p. 29.] In addition to being highly educated (to little good effect), Steiner was clearly smart — but, again, to little good effect. His teachings are an amalgam of nonsense; and from time to time we see him speaking quite stupidly. In the quotation I have just given, he contradicts himself in the space of a few words (a spiritual truth is that there is no spiritual truth). If what he says here is true (oops), then his entire career as a spiritual truth-teller was a waste of time — he could not tell us any spiritual truths because there are no spiritual truths. (Other stupid remarks Steiner made include the assertions that all myths convey clairvoyant truth, ditto fairy tales, I am I only to me (duh), etc.) Steiner was smart, but within severe limits. We often see him bump up against the limits of his intelligence. ◊ Looniness: "[T]he moon today is like a fortress in the universe, in which there lives a population that fulfilled its human destiny over 15,000 years ago, after which it withdrew to the moon together with the spiritual guides of humanity ... This is only one of the `cities' in the universe, one colony, one settlement among many ... As far as what concerns ourselves, as humanity on earth, the other pole, the opposite extreme to the moon is the population of Saturn." [Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 93.] Statements like this are pure poppycock. We could call them stupid, and in a sense they are. But whereas I would argue that only a small percentage of Steiner's statements are utterly stupid (that is, indicating a faulty intellect), a great majority are loony (that is, reflecting a preference for fantasy over reality). Plenty of smart people embrace loony ideas. All humans, dim or brilliant, feel the allure of strange, wondrous, magical conceptions. But when we grow up, we really ought to put such childishness behind us. Steiner did not. ◊ Nastiness: "In the Negro the rear-brain is especially developed. It goes through his spinal cord. And this is able to assimilate all the light and warmth that are inside a person. Therefore everything connected to the body and the metabolism is strongly developed in the Negro. He has, as they say, powerful physical drives. The Negro has a powerful instinctual life. And because he actually has the sun, light, and warmth on his body surface, in his skin, his whole metabolism operates as if he were being cooked inside by the sun. That is where his instinctual life comes from. The Negro is constantly cooking inside, and what feeds this fire is his rear-brain." [Rudolf Steiner, VOM LEBEN DES MENSCHEN UND DER ERDE (Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1993), p. 55.] Here we see Steiner accepting basic racist stereotypes once again, as he did in his anti-Semitic statements. Racists often claim that blacks are instinctual, stupid (Steiner says they are especially affected by the rear-brain rather than the frontal lobes), very physical and sexual ("powerful physical drives", "cooking inside"), etc. This is racism, pure and simple -- and it is deplorable and ignorant and stupid. (Note, by the way, that Steiner says "the" Negro has certain characteristics, like "the" Jew and "the" heathen. All blacks are alike, he says; and they are alike in the qualities that make them different from other humans. This is basic racism. Note also that Steiner seems slightly embarrassed, but not about his racism; he is gingerly about sex. Negroes have strong sex drives, or "as they say, powerful physical drives". Yes, "they" say it; and so does Steiner.) In sum, whereas only a small percentage of Steiner's teachings are vile and/or stupid, many reflect a functional ignorance, and the vast majority consists of loony-tunes. I wouldn't care much about this if such thinking did not lie behind Waldorf education, but it does, so I oppose it. Children can be badly damaged if they are raised in an atmosphere of occultism, myth, and fantasy, allied with anti-intellectualism and a disparagement of science. Waldorf schools often have precisely this sort of atmosphere, to one degree or another. It stems for the most part from Steiner's warped thinking. Hence, I am a Steiner critic because I am a Waldorf critic.
— Roger Rawlings 1 Steiner opposed "scientific simpletons" with their "scientific trash" and their "logical, pedantic, narrow-minded proof of things." He deplored "primitive concepts like those ... of contemporary science." [Scientific simpletons: Rudolf Steiner, THE KARMA OF UNTRUTHFULNESS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 276. Scientific trash: Rudolf Steiner, THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 94. Pedantic proof of things: Rudolf Steiner, ART AS SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 240. Primitive concepts: Rudolf Steiner, HOW CAN MANKIND FIND THE CHRIST AGAIN (Anthroposophic Press, 1984), p. 54.] |