The Rudolf Steiner Archive

3. Anthroposophical General Meetings

[ 1 ] There have been quite a few cases where individuals have become members of the Anthroposophical Society solely for the purpose of purchasing publications that were not available outside the Society. These members then took little interest in the life of the Society's groups. They may have attended membership meetings at first, but soon stopped coming, saying: what is going on there does not help me. I can better understand anthroposophy if I study it on my own.

[ 2 ] It cannot be denied that the criticisms such individuals made of the members' meetings were not always justified. It was not always the fault of these meetings, but often the fault of the impossible demands of those who could not relate to them.

[ 3 ] It is easy to say: this or that does not satisfy me. It is more difficult to calmly notice what is unsatisfactory and then make the necessary efforts to contribute to improvement on one's own initiative.

[ 4 ] But on the other hand, there is no reason to hide the fact that some things in the members' meetings should be different than they are.

[ 5 ] It is precisely at such gatherings that a significant truth could prove itself. When people seek the spiritual together in inner honesty, they also find ways to connect with each other, soul to soul.

[ 6 ] Finding these paths is currently a deep heartfelt need for an unlimited number of people. They say: if anthroposophy is the right view of life, then those who call themselves anthroposophists must have this heartfelt need. But then they must see how many of those who represent anthroposophy as their theoretical conviction in the member groups do not show this heartfelt need.

[ 7 ] Anthroposophical member meetings must, of course, make it their task to cultivate the content of the anthroposophical worldview. One reads and listens to what has been gained in knowledge through anthroposophy. Anyone who does not understand this is certainly wrong. For there is no need for an anthroposophical society just to debate all kinds of opinions that one can have without anthroposophy. But if it remains merely a matter of reading anthroposophical writings aloud, or if anthroposophy is presented as a mere doctrine, then it is true that what the meetings bring can also be achieved in solitude through reading.

[ 8 ] Everyone who attends anthroposophical meetings should feel that they find more there than if they were to pursue anthroposophy in solitude. They should be able to go there because they find people with whom they enjoy pursuing anthroposophy. In the writings on anthroposophy, one finds a worldview. In anthroposophical gatherings, people should find other people.

[ 9 ] Even those who read anthroposophical literature with great enthusiasm should be able to feel a joyful, uplifted feeling when going to a gathering of anthroposophists, because they look forward to the people they will find there. They should also be able to feel joy even if they have to assume that they will hear nothing other than what they have already absorbed within themselves.

[ 10 ] When a new member joins an anthroposophical group, existing members should not be satisfied with the fact that anthroposophy has gained another “follower.” One should not merely think: now there is another person into whom one can pour anthroposophy; rather, one should have a feeling for the humanity that enters the anthroposophical group with the new member.

[ 11 ] In anthroposophy, what matters are the truths that can be revealed through it; in the Anthroposophical Society, what matters is the life that is cultivated within it.

[ 12 ] It would be most unfortunate if the following opinion were to arise, and with good reason: anthroposophy may be valuable, but if I want to get closer to people, I would rather go somewhere else than where anthroposophists, in their complacency, fanatically throw their theoretical ideas at me and say: if you don't think like me, you are at best only half a human being.

[ 13 ] However, there are many factors that can contribute to the justified emergence of such an opinion: on the one hand, there is the cold, sober desire to instruct, which one easily falls into once one has understood the truth of anthroposophy. On the other hand, there is the playing at esotericism, which repels many newcomers when they approach anthroposophical gatherings. Such people encounter others who act mysteriously, knowing many things that “cannot be told to those who are not yet ready.” But there is something playful about all this talk. Esotericism can only tolerate the seriousness of life, not the vain satisfaction that can be derived from talking about lofty truths. That is why sentimentality, which fears joy and enthusiasm, does not have to be the element of life in the coexistence of anthroposophists. But the Anthroposophical Society does not tolerate playful withdrawal from “profane life” in order to pursue “true esotericism.” Life contains much more esotericism in all places than is often imagined by those who say: here or there one cannot pursue esotericism; one must do so in this or that separate circle. Certainly, such circles are often necessary. But they cannot tolerate a playful nature. They must be places from which life can truly be enriched. “Esoteric” circles that arise only to disappear again soon due to a lack of seriousness can only bring destructive forces into the Anthroposophical Society. All too often they arise out of a need for cliques, and this does not result in much, but rather in little anthroposophical life in the Society. If we succeed in counteracting the inner untruth that has been present in much of the talk about “esotericism” up to now, true esotericism will be able to find a rightful place in the Anthroposophical Society.

Continued in the next issue.