Transgression of Boundaries

I understand anthroposophy as an «art of living» based on spiritual science. And every transgression of boundaries in art is meaningful; consequently, anyone who engages attentively with anthroposophy, studying, meditating, practicing and also acting, is basically a «transgressor of boundaries». By critically questioning the limits of the here and now, the limits of knowledge set by certainties (“science has established...”, expert knowledge), one is motivated not to stop at mental or psychological barriers, but to think further – and to act on the ideas gained from them, i.e. the ideas become the motives for one's actions as ideals.
Not crossing the boundaries would hardly be an option for the searching, researching, knowledge-critical person. On the contrary, the endeavor to expand one's limiting boundaries of knowledge and cognition, such as for spiritual enrichment, naturally increases the mental and spiritual potential that influences one's actions. One remains alive. This is entirely in the spirit of Goethe: «One must constantly change, renew and rejuvenate oneself in order not to become obdurate.»

Are the ideas of anthroposophy «mortal»?

For this reason, I consider the question of whether some of Rudolf Steiner's ideas have died to be pointless. Rather, we should ask about the various forms of life of the ideas: Are they at least rudimentarily realized, alive? Or not yet?

It should be noted that life, being alive, means being in motion in all its facets, from dynamic processes to quieter phases, developing, changing, transforming and possibly bringing forth something new.

To misunderstand anthroposophy as a mere system of ideas would be to deprive it of its effectiveness in stimulating living conditions; it would remain ineffective. Only when the ideas become motives for action, when they enter into life and then become the ideal, does their power become apparent. This means that anthroposophy does not work from a diffuse world of ideas, but from the intuitive power of the people who connect with it. The elegant thing about this is that anthroposophy remains vital, viable, contemporary and possibly also sustainable thanks to this individualization, which is necessary without any alternative! The path is the goal – and not the knowledge of something! This is entirely in the spirit of Rudolf Steiner: «Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge ...».

A number of initiatives immediately spring to mind, which were realized from Steiner's impulse to make the ideals of the French Revolution socially effective through the Threefolding Campaign from 1918 onwards, which developed, but some also failed, in order to still exist today as examples in smaller contexts: in medicine, in art, in architecture, in agriculture, in banking, in social life, in education through the Waldorf schools.

The dilemma of habit

Let's take a look at some examples of the central ideals of Waldorf education. Admittedly: The realization of what could emerge from the inexhaustible joy of intuition of those acting «from the spirit of anthroposophy» leaves much to be desired – we have become accustomed to certain ways of life in which we have become quite comfortable. The constitution and state of Waldorf education, for example, which has become a school form, leaves plenty of room for something new. The three ideals: «Living science! Art that comes alive! Living religion! – This is ultimately education, this is ultimately teaching», which Rudolf Steiner named at the opening of the first Waldorf school in September 1919, have hardly been realized to any great extent. The more tried and tested a practice is, the more likely it is that the «coming alive» will tend towards the preserving, such as the suggestions regarding the curriculum and the social structure of the school community towards a program.

The reasons may lie in the fact that «we», meaning professional  «Waldorf people», loyally cling to our utopias and school utopias, that we cannot easily let go of our wishful fantasies of school that we believe we have realized. Transformations towards new forms of school are often measured against the familiar and are just as often met with the basic argument: «Is this still in the spirit of Waldorf education?» or «Is this based on anthropology?» in order to avoid the uncomfortable confrontation and the risky acceptance of new forms of Waldorf education that could irritate the familiar. The power of the habit of living in the Waldorf bubble, which closes its eyes to current social issues and tasks, as stated by alumni in the latest survey, is for me a symptom of a flagging idealism. To put it briefly, one suffers from a kind of bubble weakness.

Keeping the world of ideas alive

To continue the thought, are we clinging to our ideas of Waldorf education, to our fantasies and desires and thus unintentionally causing the «coming to life» of art, science and religion to die?

«Now liven up again!» – Sounds absurd, but is meant seriously. After all, who else should demand this if not each and every one of us?

What are we to do with our extensive reading of anthroposophical texts and Rudolf Steiner's lectures on Waldorf education – by no means edifying literature and also not suitable for «acquiring» knowledge. After all, who would benefit from it if it were not put into practice?

Dealing with ideas only intellectually is energy-sapping, in a way debilitating. Steiner wrote: «Every idea that does not become an ideal for you kills a force in your soul.» In contrast, however: «Every idea that becomes an ideal creates life forces in you.» What prevents us from actually becoming more alive with these?

Wake-up calls

Steiner's statements on ideals that are to become effective in the near future virtually call for various realization strategies, especially in the field of education. In short, these are the three ideals that Rudolf Steiner, it must be said, «called into being» in a lecture in Zurich on October 10, 1916: «The first is a social understanding of man, the second is the acquisition of freedom of thought, the third is a living knowledge of the spiritual world through spiritual science.»

Exactly three years later, again in Zurich, Steiner takes up this appeal again: He names three impulses which are unconsciously predisposed in the souls of humanity and which must be seized awake in order to prevent the effect of the negative «counter-images»: The feeling of «absolute brotherhood», that of «seeing a hidden divinity» in every human being and, as a third impulse, the possibility of freeing thought from its bias towards materialism.

According to Steiner, fraternity in the sense of a «social understanding of man» means «...  to take everyone as they are and to make the very best of what they are». In my understanding, this is what Waldorf education urgently needs to achieve today with inclusion and interculturality.

Freedom of thought should be seen as the possibility to free oneself from all authorities that dictate the direction of thought and to set open-minded thinking against the paradigm of materialism and the reductionism associated with it. This is aimed in particular against the dominance of specialization, which excludes all others who are not experts in their special field from the discourse as such. It is of course impossible to specialize in all areas, but it is necessary to be able to judge oneself to the extent that one can identify and evaluate the methods and schools of thought of specialization.

For pedagogy, this struggle for freedom of thought means striving for an intellectual-spiritual universalism that brings different world views into play without prioritization: this means a diversity of viewpoints and perspectives. Steiner therefore demanded a comprehensive interest in the world from the teachers of the first Waldorf school – one can guess which «spirit» should animate the lessons in order to realize this task of training students to become discerning personalities.

Ideal realization in Waldorf education would be great and could be recognized by the fact that the subjects with their diverse methods «... spur on the learners so much that they surpass themselves and inspire the teachers so much that they see their subject matter in a completely new light. Unfortunately, there are no patent remedies for this,» writes psychologist and educational scientist André Zimpel.

One experiences: Ideals gained from anthroposophy demand action – at the moment one might speak of adverse winds that are not favorable to anthroposophy and thus also to Waldorf education. We will not be able to change these winds in the near future, but we do have the opportunity to change the sails immediately!

If you are interested, we will be happy to send you the exact sources and bibliography for this article. Request by e-mail to redaktion@erziehungskunst.de