The True and False Paths of Spiritual Research

In this series of lectures, Dr. Steiner addresses the fundamental aspects of human consciousness and the methods of examining the spiritual fields that surround and permeate our physical, sensory-centered world. He describes how our relationship with the higher worlds is determined by our physical and psychic temperament, mentioning how the Chaldeans in ancient Middle Eastern times saw, thought, and felt the spiritual world compared to our own perspective. He continues by describing the changes that took place in the evolutionary course of time from that period and how approaches to the spiritual changed accordingly, ultimately bringing us to the present period characterized by the emergence and development of the conscious soul from the early 15th century and more specifically from the beginning of the Michaelic age in 1879 with its strong solar influences. He describes the importance of using our own independent psychic forces, our solar forces, and our own psychic consciousness in order to develop the abilities with which we can consciously elevate ourselves to the highest fields of knowledge, the spiritual worlds. He emphasizes the importance of exercises in concentration and meditation (as described in his book titled: How to Know Higher Worlds) in order to give regularity and balance to the development of the spirit and the inner psychic organs, which are necessary to perceive the higher worlds in a correct and healthy way.