These four lectures by Rudolf Steiner are among the best-loved, most accessible presentations available of the anthroposophical approach to life. It is often thought that spiritual paths have no connection with practical life. This is a common misconception. As these lectures demonstrate, working out of a spiritual perspective can enhance our ability to deal creatively with the varied situations life brings us.

The first lecture, Practical Training in Thought, concerns the fundamental human activity of thinking. Everything we do, we do through thinking. The first task, then, is to realize the reality of thinking. To help us do this, Rudolf Steiner gives practical exercises that, if carried out, will allow us to experience the cognitive and even clairvoyant power of thinking in our lives.

Thinking in this sense is related to the ‘I’, the soul’s active ego-centre. In Overcoming Nervousness, Steiner shows how exercises in thinking that strengthen the ‘I’ also give us the calm and centeredness necessary to lead purposeful, healthy lives.

The third lecture, Facing Karma, takes us to the heart of life, to the place where we experience suffering and happiness. How are we to understand the various trials and tribulations life brings? The law of karma that determines whom and what we encounter helps us to develop the self knowledge necessary to transform ourselves in a way that is attuned to the larger cosmos of which we are a part.

Finally, in The Four Temperaments, we learn how the union of hereditary factors and our own inner spiritual natures shape our psychology. The guide here is the ancient tradition of the Four Temperaments: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic. Renewed understanding of these allows us to develop a truly modern spiritual psychology—the basis of any true self knowledge.