Mystics of the Renaissance

FOREWORD

the scientific conception of the world and yet be able to seek out those paths to the Soul In Steiner's philosophy, the soul is the inner realm of feeling and character that bridges our physical senses and our spiritual consciousness. along which Mysticism, Steiner defines true mysticism not as vague dreaming, but as a disciplined method of gaining direct knowledge of spiritual realities. rightly understood, leads. I even go further and say: Only he who knows the Spirit, The Spirit refers to the objective, eternal reality that exists behind the physical world. in the sense of true Mysticism, can attain a full understanding of the facts of Nature. Nature here refers to the physical world governed by the laws of physics and biology. But one must not confuse true Mysticism with the "pseudo-mysticism" of ill-ordered minds. How Mysticism can err, I have shown in my Philosophy of Freedom First published in 1894, this is Steiner's foundational work on the nature of human thinking and spiritual liberty. (page 131 et seq. Latin: "and the following." Referring to page 131 and the pages following it.).

BERLIN, September, 1901.