As you are aware, my greatest teacher is Rudolf Steiner, whose spiritual research gave birth to anthroposophy, the wisdom of the human being. Before crystalizing his work, Steiner was a student and teacher in a movement focused on Theosophy, the wisdom of the Gods. He loved theosophy but soon he found something living in his work that was lacking in theosophy. He found himself living in a knowledge that embraced the wisdom of the Gods but focused on the wisdom of the human being. He wove together a tapestry of the spirit and the human that revealed an evolution of consciousness. Out of the wisdom of the human being and his clairvoyant knowledge of earthly and spiritual realities he provided the world and the future with healing, liberating, and empowering Imaginations…Imaginations that were universally and cosmically practical, moral, and spiritual. They were meant to be studied and applied.
Wisely, Steiner always admonished his followers to understand the times they lived in. He also strongly stated that the time for gurus, for unquestioning obedience to any teacher or dogma, was over. Each individual needed to discover and cultivate their own I and not surrender their I to the power of another.
However, the times of Steiner’s life were not supportive of the awakening and development of the individual I. Steiner gave us a path to the archetype of the individual, but he was not able to establish the methods to support individuals to meet the self-imagining needed. Although, he encouraged his students to evolve a personal wisdom of Selfhood it would take another 100 years and the rapid development of psychology, neuroscience, technology, and the arts coupled with the breakdown of religion and the rise of “spiritual but not religious” to create the shift into the Age of Selfhood.
The sad failure of the modern theories of selfhood is that they fail to include and integrate theosophy and anthroposophy. Modern notions of selfhood leave us feeling chaotic, confusing, anxious, and desperate because they lack the truth, beauty, and goodness that is nurtured by the wisdom of gods and the wisdom of the fourfold human being. Only when inspired and grounded in Theosophy and Anthroposophy can a true and purposeful Egosophy develop.
Beginning more than 30 years ago out of my own desperate, anxious, confused and chaotic self, I began taking the wisdom of the human being and applying it to the challenge of finding, knowing, and becoming what only I could become — my Self. Actually, my Self as Lynn.
Because of Steiner’s loving wisdom and his demonstration of spiritual science, I knew that being Lynn was just one lifetime nested in multiple lifetimes of being and becoming I. I began to consider the karma and destiny of Self beyond an ongoing personal story of consequences and redemption, beliefs, dreams, regrets, and hopes.
And I began to help others to find, know, and become who they incarnated to be, to recognize the karma they need to resolve, and the destiny they needed to fulfill in this lifetime. I began developing programs and courses on Selfhood inspired by anthroposophy and theosophy.
I came to realize that the most Michaelic deed of our times is not to fight evil but to know thyself. Rudolf Steiner began every Lesson of the First Class with “O Human Soul, Know Thyself!.” He did not say “O Human Soul, Fight Evil.” Or “O Human Soul, Know the Gods” Steiner knew that the only way to fight evil, and to know the reality of Spirit is to work at self-knowledge. The I, the core Selfhood, is invincible and incorruptible because in that core Selfhood is the seed of the Divine.
But the path to Selfhood is a long and winding road and we must travel it alone. Only the I can find its own Selfhood. The Wisdom of the Gods, Theosophy, and the Wisdom of the Human Being, Anthroposophy, invite endless interpretations and disputes. Egosophy, the Wisdom of I, is intimate, personal, living, and evolving but because it is only known by the I, no other can interpret or dispute it.
Egosophy awakens two blessings: equanimity and reverence: Equanimity in the awareness of Self in all contexts and activities, and Reverence for all others in all contexts and activities. Egosophy provides the personal ground of Cosmic Love and the living expression of the Golden Rule.
Egosophy can only live in the context of Anthroposophy. Anthroposophy can only live in the context of Theosophy. This is a nesting relationship, but it is also cyclical and interwoven. Anthroposophy is the bridging wisdom and needs to be grounded in both of the other wisdoms. Often people entering into the work of Imagine Self will say with enthusiasm, “This makes anthroposophy come alive“ and “Now, I can understand anthroposophy!”
No one can make sense of selfhood without anthroposophy and there can be no understanding of being human without the wisdom of the spirit.
And the challenge of all wisdom is its complexity and mystery. Wisdom requires paths and structures and adventures. All adventures begin with wonder and risk. All paths offer multiple and ever-changing directions, landscapes, and perspectives. All structures are built by joining multiple elements together.
Rudolf Steiner articulated the paths, structures, and adventures of being human. He applied this wisdom in many ways depending on the questions and requests for new structures, offering soul-enlivening perspectives on traditional paths, and preparing the soul for all spiritual adventures. However, there were questions he couldn’t answer, the one path he couldn’t lead others on, the one structure he couldn’t build for others, one adventure he couldn’t undertake for others. These were/are the unique paths, structures, and adventures that each of us requires living in the questions: Who am I? Who am I becoming? What is my purpose?
It wasn’t time for these questions. It is now!
Steiner did say you can only sacrifice what you fully possess. Theosophy is about fully possessing the experience of the Divine. Anthroposophy is about fully possessing the consciousness of Being Human. Eqosophy is about fully possessing the Self that says I. (Egotism indicates a lack of Self.)
We are each born to continually find, know, and become I and to fully possess the I of this lifetime. I incarnated into a lifetime named Lynn, full of karma and drama. My main destiny was to become more fully I using the lens of being Lynn. Only I can see through this lens. Only you can see through your lens. The trick is to know what to look at through your lens. What part of you do you need to focus on now? That’s the work of the Imagine Self Academy.
The Imagine Self Academy offers programs to awaken you to your Selfhood in the contexts of anthroposophy and theosophy. The Academy provides maps for finding your I, mirrors for knowing your I, and methods for becoming your I. The maps show your paths, The mirrors reveal your structures. The methods guide your adventures.
