Phillip’s Comments (group member since Nov 09, 2017)

Phillip’s comments from the Reading Rudolf Steiner group.

Tallyho - The Hunt for Virtue: Beauty, Truth and Goodness: Nine Dialogues by Plato: Phaedrus, Lysis, Protagoras, Charmides, Parmenides, Gorgias, Theatetus, Sophist
Kafka Unleashed: Stories, Dreams & Visions

Grounding in the humanties, Man is not a beast(/dog) ....?

p.

Showing Kafka's close tie to Rudolf Steiner, his experiencing of higher states of reality and the occult messaging in his great parable: Before the Law -- -
Kafka Unleashed unleashes the depths of Kafka's stories and novels in a way that no other Kafka translation even attempts:

The Guardian of the Threshold to the spiritual world HAS TO BE what Kafka had the "priest" (spiritualist/Geistlicher) narrate to
Josef K. in the Cathedral (Dom)....

But is there even anyone who is interested in the questions of Freedom & Necessity!! - as that's where the discussion leads....

"....in any event we've given up any pretensions of knowing and moreover we don't even want to know, nobody has any interest in such matters." (p. 186 - K.'s Interview with Mr. Mayor - Kafka Unleashed).

In my erstwhile opinion, the ONLY way to overcome the materialistic bias of the current prevalent consciousness is to bring to bear ALL of the insightful humanists beginning with Plato and including Kafka for our own age..... Steiner's role in delving into the supersensible realms makes understanding of Plato, John's Gospel and so much else p o s s i b l e .... assuming that there are people who have the i n t e r e s t in rising above the confusion that is so rampant.

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I'm looking for people interested in studying the connection between Rudolf Steiner & Franz Kafka >> as this is a most interesting relationship that gets to the heart of human existence.

I have been reading Steiner in English since I was 17, and in German since I was 24 (having learnt German & studied in Freiburg and Bochum for my degree in Philosophy).... I'm now in my 60's & still reading him. Naturally, German is best as there are many different translators and there can't be expected to be consistency in the translations by different authors! Also, Steiner's books come in 2 flavors: his core writings (7 books) and his lectures (1,000s!)- thus,
I'd say re-reading his core writings is best and studying the specific lectures where one's interest is greatest is of great value.

Moreover, in my erstwhile opinion -> Steiner should not be read in a vacuum - - one needs to read alot of other related "authors":
eg. the Bible, Plato, Kafka.

The eg. "authors" above are MY Own - other people will have other avenues....Barfield, etc.

The main thing is that one take responsibility for discovering more in life than what is apparent on the surface... and it is a never ending task.

I hope that this helps.
ps: If you're still young, learn German! - there's lots of good books in German besides Steiner....

pl.