Again on PoF, I was recently offered this Steiner quote, from GA 103
The Gospel of John - Part XII The Nature of the Virgin Sophia and of the Holy Spirit which in turn I'd like to bring to the attention of anyone who recognizes, or at least senses, the cardinal value of this work:
"A person can go very far in this matter of katharsis if, for example, he has gone through and inwardly experienced all that is in my book, The Philosophy of Freedom, and feels that this book was for him a stimulation and that now he has reached the point where he can himself actually reproduce the thoughts just as they are there presented.
If a person holds the same relationship to this book that a virtuoso, in playing a selection on the piano, holds to the composer of the piece, that is, he reproduces the whole thing within himself—naturally according to his ability to do so—then through the strictly built up sequence of thought of this book—for it is written in this manner—
katharsis will be developed to a high degree. For the important point in such things as this book is that the thoughts are all placed in such a way that they become active. In many other books of the present, just by changing the system a little, what has been said earlier in the book can just as well be said later. In The Philosophy of Freedom this is not possible. Page 150 can as little be placed fifty pages earlier in the subject matter as the hind legs of a dog can be exchanged with the forelegs, for
the book is a logically arranged organism and the working out of the thoughts in it has an effect similar to an inner schooling. Hence there are various methods of bringing about katharsis. If a person has not been successful in doing this after having gone through this book, he should not think that what has been said is untrue, but rather that he has not studied it properly or with sufficient energy or thoroughness."
By the way, this gives me an idea for a small new project. First I thought I would order a printed version of the book, but here's what I'll do instead: today I'll buy a new notebook and I'll start transcribing PoF, with the intention to progress daily. I will pick the 1964
Michael Wilson translation, report notes at the end of each chapter, and leave every other page blank for further use.
