Rudolf Steiner's Vision for the Future - Anthroposophical Society in ...

Being Human in the 21st Century
We chatted by email recently with Coleman Lyles, Exec-
utive Director of Camphill California, about the symposium.
bh: We’re just taking up the name “being human” for
this publication, and Camphill is celebrating fifty years in
North America with a symposium, “Being Human in the
21st Century: Toward New Thinking.” How is Camphill
concerned with this question of “being human”?
CL: Anthroposophy translates literally as “wisdom of
the human being.” Rudolf Steiner’s choice of this word to
describe a modern form of spiritual science is significant.
It is a key for understanding the cardinal challenge of our
age and the central role that humanity and being human
play in meeting that challenge. This knowledge, this wisdom
of the human being and deeds based on it are critical for
the further evolution of humanity and the earth. As an anthroposophical
organization, founded on anthroposophical
principles and knowledge, Camphill is very aware of the
part ‘being human’ plays now and into the future. It
understands that being human in the truest sense of the
word involves a body–soul–spirit dynamic that carries the
individual beyond a merely materialistic world view to one
dominated by great expectations and insights into human
potential; and, that with these insights and expectations
comes greater responsibility.
bh: Years ago Sting had a song, “How Fragile We Are.”
When we have special needs and challenges in life, it’s hard
to escape that. Yet your prospectus speaks not only of
“vulnerable people” but of the “endangered earth” and the
“contemporary social fabric.” How does the Camphill
movement see us generating strength for these challenges?
CL: The human being presents a paradox. Yes, fragile
and vulnerable on one side but capable of development and
evolution on the other. We are not entirely at the mercy of
our fate but we are also capable of shaping our fate both
individually and collectively. This potential for freedom and
initiative lives in all of us regardless of our status, socially,
racially, cognitively, or otherwise. Recognizing that the
Being Human in the 21st Century
A Symposium, April 26-29, celebrating fifty years of Camphill in North America
human being is essentially a spiritual being and acting
accordingly generates enormous strength for facing the social
and environmental challenges that beset humanity today.
This recognition is fundamental to Camphill’s mission and
the social/community/organizational forms that it has
adopted.
bh: 2011 brings the 150th anniversary of the birth of
Rudolf Steiner, a man whose vision and activity seem almost
too large to grasp. How did Steiner contribute to the
Camphill initiative, to the question of “being human”?
CL: Camphill, as an intentional community devoted to
working with developmentally disabled human beings out
of new knowledge and insight into human nature, is a direct
response to Rudolf Steiner’s challenge to apply spiritual
science in practical daily life. There is hardly a single aspect
of Camphill’s endeavor from its therapeutic, medical,
pedagogical, social approach to developmental disabilities to
its community and organizational forms that doesn’t owe
something to Rudolf Steiner. Steiner’s hopes and aspirations
for anthroposophy culminated in the re-founding of the
Anthroposophical Society at Christmas 1923/24. The
Christmas Foundation Stone Meditation conceived as the
spiritual foundation for the new society begins with the
words “Soul of the Human Being.” It is a call to the human
soul to awaken to its true nature, potential and responsibility
and form community accordingly. The re-founding of the
society and everything that transpired at that Christmas
conference was a spiritual deed whose magnitude and
significance we will only be able to appreciate in times to
come. For Dr. Karl Koenig, the founder of Camphill, and
the early pioneers who joined him, this call was probably
the single most important factor for Camphill’s inception
and further development.
NOTE: There is an ad for this event on page 61, and a short
summary in the News & Events section. Full details are online
at www.camphill.org.
first issue 2011 • 67