Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (25 or 27 February 1861 - 30 March 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, social thinker, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher. At the beginning of the 20th century, he founded a new spiritual movement, Anthroposophy, as an esoteric philosophy growing out of European transcendentalism and with links to Theosophy.

The Way of Initiation: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment is Rudolf Steiner’s guide to the initiate of any esoteric belief system. Essential for the novice and complimentary to the adept, this text elucidates a path through the inner self as a method to access higher planes of existence. This edition has been modernized for students of the present time and generation.

The anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner is not a theoretical system, but the results of research based on direct observation. As Steiner's research was so vast and conducted over such a long period of time, no single book can be said to contain the whole of his spiritual teaching. However, of all his books on occult science, also known as esoteric science, come closest. Steiner even referred to it as 'an epitome of anthroposophical spiritual science'.

Based on brief, pithy quotations from Rudolf Steiner's collected works, the "spiritual perspectives" in this volume present core concepts on the subject of epidemics. These brief extracts do not claim to provide exhaustive treatment of the subject, but open up approaches to the complexity of Steiner's extraordinary world of ideas. Some listeners will find these fragments sufficient stimulus in themselves, whilst others will use the source references as signposts toward deeper study and understanding.

Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment or How to Know the Higher Worlds is Steiner’s most essential guide to the modern path of initiation he advocated throughout his life. It has been translated into many languages and has inspired hundreds of thousands around the world. With great clarity and warmth, Rudolf Steiner details the exercises and moral qualities to be cultivated on the path to a conscious experience of supersensible realities.

Rudolf Steiner uses the history of Atlantis and Lemuria to discuss the esoteric evolution of man. He covers in more detail what is suggested in An Outline of Occult Science. There was a time when a continent called Atlantis still lay between Europe and America. This portion of the worlds surface was at one time land; this land now forms the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Plato alluded to the last remaining remnant of that lost continent when he spoke of the Island of Poseidon.

Originally published in 1894, Rudolf Steiner's Die Philosophie der Freiheit was considered by Steiner to be his most enduring work above all others. This is the first English translation, which was done in 1916. Two years later, in 1918, he revised it to be more in line with The Theosophical Society's philosophy. In many ways, this edition is truer to his spirit then all other translations, including some of the modern ones.

Originally published in 1918, this book takes an extensive look into how to achieve greater self-knowledge, and is highly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in the subject. Contains eight meditations.

In the beginning, form was given to all created things by the Gods. This power of giving form has passed from the Gods to men, in so far as the mineral kingdom is concerned. In ancient traditions it was taught that man must accomplish the task of transforming the Earth in fulfillment of a threefold goal, namely the realization of truth, beauty, goodness. It is for man to make the Earth into a temple of truth, beauty, and goodness. And then, those who come after him will look upon his work as we now look upon the mineral world which came forth from the hands of the Gods.

There slumber in every human being faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds. Mystics, Gnostics, and Theosophists all speak of a world of soul and spirit which for them is just as real as the world we see with our physical eyes and touch with our physical hands.