The role of the world's religions

This article was printed in the Pedagogical Section Newsletter of 18 September 2023 by Albert Schmelzer.

The Christian element of Waldorf education is above all about the fact that an attitude of genuine philanthropy should have an effect on the lessons. For Steiner, being tolerant of people of other faiths is not just toleration, but rather an active interest in the thoughts of others. Read an article by Albert Schmelzer here.

We have grown together into one humanity. Airplanes and ships connect the continents, production and trade chains span the globe, financial flows and transactions chase around the earth in a matter of seconds, a dense network of telecommunications provides information and data about the most remote areas of the universe almost in real time.

The dangers have also become global: nuclear overkill capacities enable humanity to self-destruct, pathogens and climate change take no account of national borders. This raises the task of shaping society from a global consciousness. Only through solidarity will it be possible to solve the great questions of the present about a peaceful coexistence of cultures, about a fair distribution of goods and about a sustainable economy.

In this context, religions play a central role, as they are the basis of billions of people's value orientation and lifestyle. What potential lies hidden in them? Due to their diversity, are they the reason for a clash of civilizations, including terrorist attacks and armed conflicts? Or, despite all the differences in their beliefs, do they nevertheless provide the basis for a global ethic of non-violence and justice, human dignity and sustainability? In view of these questions, interreligious dialogue, as it is now being conducted in many ways, appears to be of great social importance. This applies not only at the international level, where a parliament of the world's religions has met regularly since 1993, but also at national, regional and local initiatives. Tolerance and cooperation presuppose an active interest in the views and motives of those of other faiths.

An attitude of true philanthropy

This is not least a pedagogical task: it is important to make the pupils aware of the richness of the different religions. Now the view is put forward again and again that the Waldorf school is a Christian school. Reference is made to a statement made by Rudolf Steiner in his speech at the graduation ceremony of the first school year of the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart on 24 July 1920:

«It is basically the spirit of Christianity that blows through our rooms, which, starting from every teacher, goes to every child, even when something seemingly remote from religion is taught, such as arithmetic. Here it is always the Spirit of Christ who, starting from the Teacher, is called to enter the hearts of children, this Spirit that is permeated with love, with true love of humanity."(1)

These sentences show that the Christian element of Waldorf education does not mean something exclusively confessional, but the attitude of genuine philanthropy, which should have an effect on the teaching methodology. Rudolf Steiner has even clearer the attitude to be sought in lectures of 11.2.1919(2) and 16.2.1919(3) described. In it, he makes it clear that the modern human being, awakened to self-confidence, carries a defect within him: the insistence on one's own point of view, the insistence on one's own opinion, the prejudice. This defect, however, challenges us to overcome the ring of our egocentric worldview through vigorous self-education. Rudolf Steiner describes this effort as a modern path to Christ:

We approach it "when we broaden our interest in inner tolerance for everything human [...].(4) The Christ impulse can be found "if I consider myself a member of humanity down to the innermost part of my soul [...]."(5)Tolerance is more than toleration, it consists in an active interest in the thoughts of others.

This also applies to religion. We are called upon to engage benevolently and actively with religions other than our own: "Self-education must carefully ensure that there is nothing left in the soul that could give preference to one religion over the other."(6) An expression of this attitude is Rudolf Steiner's curriculum statement that the world religions are to be dealt with in the free religious education of the Waldorf School in grade 12: "This should culminate in the fact that in the 12th grade one should be able to take an overview of the religions of the world, but not in such a way that one should evoke from this overview the idea that all of them are actually fake, but just, that their relative authenticity is shown by the individual forms."(7) Rudolf Steiner then added that this reference referred to the "ninth level" of religious instruction; from a note it can be seen that at that time this also included the 11th grade.(8)

Since there has not yet been a presentation of the treatment of world religions in the upper school of Waldorf schools, Angelika Schmitt and I have tried to fill this gap and presented a publication in seven volumes entitled: "The World Religions – Diversity and Harmony".(9) It covers the following topics: religiosity of indigenous peoples, Chinese religiosity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Religions arise from spiritual experiences

Each volume has a similar structure: After an initial approach, usually through a current introduction, the origins of the respective religion are treated, its basic myths or the personality of the founder are presented. This is usually followed by a presentation of the ideological foundations, based on the traditional holy scriptures. These include the conception of the divine-spiritual, the image of creation and man, and ethics. Other chapters deal with the diverse forms of life: the symbols, rites, festivals and cults and the historical developments.

It can be noted that Confucianism, Buddhism or Islam, Judaism or Christianity do not actually exist. Rather, a variety of forms of religious life have developed within a stream over thousands of years. Although they refer to an origin, they have undergone numerous metamorphoses in the course of their dissemination. In addition, it is noted that the concept of "religion" coined in the West, which refers to a rebinding ("religare") to a divine-spiritual origin, is not at all applicable to many religious currents originating from ancient times. The separation of the sacred and profane worlds has never taken place here in the same way as was the case with the Abrahamic religions: the order of earthly life is always permeated by the laws of a spiritual cosmos.

A leitmotif of the depiction is the conviction that religions are based on spiritual experiences. Unless the spiritual life is part of the official doctrine – as in Eastern religions, for example – this aspect is addressed in a separate chapter on mysticism. Biographical sketches of one or more leading personalities from more recent times round off the explanations. At the end there is a reflection on the potential contribution of the respective religion to interreligious dialogue. In addition, the last volume on Islam contains a concluding reflection on the harmony of religions.  

The books contain many quotations from the holy scriptures of the various religions and also numerous pictorial, narrative passages, so that they can also be read well by students of the upper grades.

Let's look at some aspects of the content. The following explanations may not be understood as fixed definitions or rigid stereotypes. Rather, only one direction is indicated, in which one can look at further individual study.

Life beyond ourselves

The first volume deals with the religiosity of indigenous peoples. The spirituality of the Australian Aborigines and the religiosity of African cultures are presented as examples. Similarities can be discovered: Both religious currents deal with the world of the unborn and the dead, with the spirits that live in the community, with the elemental beings in earth, water, air and fire. This search for a spiritual relationship with the natural environment is central to our present. In conclusion, we can say that the religiosity of indigenous peoples is concerned with the spiritual that lives around us.

This ecological component can also be found in Chinese religiosity. In Daoism, the experience of the life force "Qi" is cultivated, which is differentiated into Yin and Yang and permeates nature and man. Health-promoting practices such as Chi Gong and acupuncture have their origins here. The other aspect, emphasized above all in Confucianism, is the harmony of cosmic and social order: just as in the cosmos the stars work together harmoniously, so each individual is called to develop his humanity through reverence for the traditional and through the careful practice of rites and to integrate himself in an appropriate way into the social whole. This is made possible when the Golden Rule of Mutual Respect applies: What you don't want to be done to you, don't do to anyone else. Chinese religiosity focuses on the spiritual that is above us, striving for the unity of cosmic and earthly being.

It is characteristic of Hinduism that its sacred texts, the Vedas, refer to a time when the Rishis, the inspired authors of the hymns, still maintained a direct exchange with the spiritual world. The different facets of yoga strive to regain this access through spiritual and physical practices. In this respect, religious life in Hinduism can be characterized as turning to the spiritual behind us, striving for the renewal of an ancient spiritual wisdom.

Buddhism, which has grown out of this pursuit, invites us to a path of moral self-perfection and meditative practice, seeking the spiritual within us. It contains the doctrine of overcoming suffering and wants to achieve liberation from attachment to sensory impressions and one's own ideas through special training, which should culminate in enlightenment, the exit from the cycle of rebirths. The lifestyle is based on the ethics of mindfulness of the eight-limbed path, which includes the social dimension of a non-violent lifestyle.

A very different aspect of religion is found in Judaism. In the Jewish view, man is confronted by a personal God who makes promises and expects faith, obedience, and repentance. Hope is pinned on a Messiah who will establish a kingdom of universal peace at the end of time. The Jewish people are called to prepare for their arrival through an ethical way of life. Thus, Judaism directs our gaze to the spiritual that lies ahead of us and is coming to us from the future. Guided by the hope of a God who bears the name "I am" and whom human individuality can address in personal encounters, man and society are called upon to develop to higher levels of love of God and neighbour.

Christianity, which emerged from Judaism, sets another accent. According to Christian belief, the Messiah appeared, God became man in Jesus Christ, acted as a historical figure, passed through death and rose again. His bestowal love is manifested in Jesus' devotion to the poor, the outcasts and the despised; it is also evident in Christian ethics, which call for renunciation of violence, mercy and universal love, even to the point of loving one's enemies. Thus, in the "Pedagogical Province" of his novel "Wilhelm Meister's Wanderjahre", Goethe was able to say that Christianity teaches reverence for "what is among us".10

Finally, Islam, whose religious core has yet to be peeled out of the current distorted images of fundamentalism and dogmatism, sees itself as a natural, universalist primordial religion; it reminds us of the basic elements of the personal religious: Allah created the world and man, he gave him reason so that he could know him, he gave him revelation through the messengers and the holy scriptures, most recently through Muhammad and the Koran. Finally, he gave him a clear ethical orientation through the five pillars of Islam: the invitation to believe in the one God and in Muhammad as his prophet, the invitation to pray five times a day, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca and the tax on the poor. Islam can be seen as a search for the spiritual in the world.

These few remarks may suffice to imply: the different religions invite us to develop different aspects of being human; only by settling into their diversity does the consciousness of a universal humanity be established. Therefore, adolescents should get to know and appreciate each of these religions, especially at Waldorf schools with their international distribution.

Literature

1: Steiner, Rudolf (1980): Rudolf Steiner in der Waldorfschule. Speeches for children, parents and teachers. Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Verlag.

2: Steiner, Rudolf (1968): The inner aspect of the social enigma. Luciferian past, Ahrimanic future. GA 193. Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Estate Administration, pp. 46-65.

3: Steiner, Rudolf (1957): The Social Question as a Question of Consciousness. The spiritual background of the social question. GA 189. 2nd edition. Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Estate Administration. pp. 26-45.

4: Steiner, Rudolf (1977): The Inner Aspect of the Social Enigma. Luciferian past and ahrimanic future. GA 193. Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Verlag, p. 61.

5: Ibid.

6: Steiner, Rudolf (1959): Von der Initiation. Of eternity and moment. Of spiritual light and darkness of life. GA 138. Dornach: Verlag der Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung, p. 36.

7: Steiner, Rudolf (1975): Conferences with the teachers of the Free Waldorf School in Stuttgart. GA 300/3. Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Estate Administration, p. 157.

8: op. cit., p. 158.

9: Schmelzer, Albert/Schmitt, Angelika (2021): The World Religions – Diversity and Harmony. Stuttgart: edition waldorf.

10: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang (1988): Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre. In: Werke. Hamburg edition. Volume 8 Munich: dtv, pag