Steiner’s Research Methodology

Discussion

Jennifer Gidley:

"Although much of Steiner’s writing, particularly prior to the turn of the 20th century, was purely philosophical—in the traditional academic manner of his day—much of his later work was based on what he referred to as his spiritual-scientific research. Steiner (1904/1959)discussed his research methods in his book Cosmic Memory where he detailed much of his research on early periods of pre-history. He claimed that, as a result of decades of disciplined thought practice, he was able to read information that was stored in what he called the Akasha record/chronicle. Ironically, some of the terms Steiner used to characterize his spiritual-scientific methodology—such as cosmic memory and Akashic record are currently being re-introduced into the scientific discourse by László: “Ervin László’s concept of the Akashic Field includes the idea of cosmic memory” (Sheldrake, 2006, abstract).Before going into Steiner’s method in more detail, I would like to contextualize it from within László’s(2007) theory of an enduring In-formation Field that, under special circumstances, can be read . The following extract from László’s recent book, Science and the Akashic Field , bears remarkable similarity to Steiner’s descriptions. The evidence for a field that would conserve and convey information is not direct; it must be reconstructed in reference to more immediately available evidence. Like other fields known to modern physics, such as the gravitational field, the electromagnetic field, the quantum fields, and the Higgs field, the in-formation field cannot be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled . . . it seems evident that a further field is required to account for the special kind of coherence revealed at all scales and domains of nature, from the microdomain of quanta, through the meso-domain of life, to the macrodomain of the cosmos . . . In my previous books I named the universal in-formation field the Akashic Field . . . In the Sanskrit and Indian cultures, Akasha is an all-encompassing medium that underlies all things and becomes all things. . . . Our bodily senses do not register Akasha, but we can reach it through spiritual practice. The ancient Rishis reached it through a disciplined, spiritual way of life, and through yoga. (p. 73-76)Steiner spent the last 25 years of his life developing and consolidating a methodology of thought training/discipline. He claimed that, if practiced, these methods could lead to new levels of cognitive and psycho-spiritual development, building on the rigorous methods of the natural sciences. Although his methods are claimed to lead to spiritual perception, they should not be confused with pre-rational, mythic, atavistic methods.

He practiced these methods himself and his research methodology proceeds from them. I have included a rather long quote here, as I believe it is important to read Steiner’s own words on these matters. The practice Steiner refers to appears to be aligned with László’s claims above. If what Steiner and László are claiming is valid, then it is of major significance and requiring far more substantive research attention than has currently been given. Steiner (1904/1959) states: By means of ordinary history [humans] can learn only a small part of what humanity experienced in prehistory. Historical documents shed light on but a few millennia. . . .Everything belonging to the external world of the senses is subject to time. In addition, time destroys what has originated in time. . . . Everything which comes into being in time has its origin in the eternal. But the eternal is not accessible to sensory perception. Nevertheless, the ways to the perception of the eternal are open for [humans]. [We] can develop forces dormant in [us] so that [we] can recognize the eternal . . . from transitory to non-transitory history . . . written in other characters than is ordinary history. In gnosis and in theosophy it is called the "Akasha Chronicle." Only a faint conception of this chronicle can be given in our language. For our language corresponds to the world of the senses. That which is described by our language at once receives the character of this sense world . . . The one who has acquired the ability to perceive in the spiritual world comes to know past events in their eternal character. They do not stand before [us] like the dead testimony of history, but appear in full life. In a certain sense, what has happened takes place before [us]. Those initiated into the reading of such a living script can look back into a much more remote past than is represented by external history; and—on the basis of direct spiritual perception—they can also describe much more dependably the things of which history tells. (pp. 38-40) Although the latter statement of Steiner’s is a somewhat radical truth claim for a method of research that is difficult to validate, he does qualify his claims in various ways, as for example in the following two quotes :In order to avoid possible misunderstanding, it should be said that spiritual perception is not infallible. This perception also can err, can see in an inexact, oblique, wrong manner. No man is free from error in this field, no matter how high he stands. (Steiner, 1904/1959, p. 41) It will be evident in the narrative that some of Steiner’s findings from his research are only recently being rediscovered and formalized into scientific theory. László’s (2007) theory of the Akashic field itself, is an excellent example of this process. Steiner (1954/1981a) also qualifies the difficulties in this process: We must take all this as but approximate description, for we are bound to words which are coined for things only come into existence in our Earth period.

We should first have to invent a language if we would express what is seen by the eye of the Seer. All the same these descriptions are important, for they are the first way of coming to the truth. Only through picture, through imagination do we find the way to vision. We should make no abstract concepts, mechanical schemes, nor draw up diagrams of vibrations, but let pictures arise within us; that is the direct path, the first stage of knowledge. (p. 113) As an echo of Steiner’s words, László (2007) also writes of the importance of expressing the visions of the Akashic field, not just through science but also through poetry. He spends several pages writing poetically of his own Akashic vision of the birth and rebirth of our universe “addressed not to our intellect, but to our heart” (pp. 129-133. László’s text is not greatly dissimilar in tone from some of the passages in Steiner’s books, demonstrating further congruence between their works. Steiner (1930/1983a) has written substantially about the search for truth, with some of his statements indicating that he had something of a postmodern sensibility in regard to the notion of truth. Since truth is manifold in meaning, all we can reasonably say is that [humans] must set out to grasp truth and to kindle in [themselves] a genuine sense of truth. Hence we cannot speak of a single, all-embracing truth. (p. 34) There are no grounds at any time for remaining content with something already known. (p.50)Steiner developed his evolutionary theories in a time when many controversial socio-cultural models were in vogue. However he eschewed their materialistic biological underpinnings and their simplistic unilinearity. Although his theoretical approach was unquestionably developmental, a basis of much of his writing was aimed at significantly broadening 19th century notions of human development and evolution. As will be demonstrated below, his early 20th century writings on the evolution of consciousness and spiritual development foreshadowed contemporary notions of the emergence of postformal-integral consciousness, conscious evolution and the emergence of moral imagination, and to some degree the new biological theory of emergentism (Steiner, 1894/1964b). The appearance of completely new moral ideas through moral imagination is, for the theory of evolution, no more miraculous than the development of a new animal species . . .Ethical individualism, then, is the crowning feature of the edifice that Darwin and Haeckel have striven to build for natural sciences. It is spiritualized theory of evolution carried over into moral life . . . the free moral life [is] the spiritual continuation of organic life. (pp. 165-166) This statement encapsulates how Steiner’s epistemology represents a dialectical integration of scientific and spiritual features into his spiritual science."

(https://www.academia.edu/197841/The_Evolution_of_Consciousness_as_a_Planetary_Imperative_An_Integration_of_Integral_Views)