What's to Be Done? Q 191
But why, one might ask, with such a genius in our midst-philoso-
pher, author, architect, painter, sculptor, poet, dramatist, educator, in-
ventor of the art of eurythmy-do only devoted anthroposophists
appear to have access to what the "master" really taught or meant?
Among the general public and among academic historians, Steiner is
"generally under-appreciated as a major prophet of the twentieth cen-
tury, if not of the epoch." Despite (or perhaps because 00 his extraor-
dinary contribution to humanity in lectures and books over a period
of twenty-five years, he is practically unknown. A short passage from
Colin Wilson's biography of Steiner gives a clue: "Of all the important
thinkers of the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner is perhaps the most
difficult to come to grips with. For the unprepared reader, his work
presents a series of daunting obstacles.To begin with, there is the style,
which is formidably abstract, and as unappetizing as dry toast. The
real problem lies in the content, which is often so outlandish and
bizarre that the reader suspects either a hoax or a barefaced confidence
trick... .The resulting sense of frustration is likely to cause even the
most open-minded reader to give up in disgust."
Colin Wilson, who in the end concluded that Steiner was "one of
the greatest men of the twentieth century" and that it would be im-
possible to exaggerate the importance of what he had to say, twice re-
fused to write his biography and was prevailed upon to do so only
when a replacement author found by his publisher committed suicide
rather than finish the job.
On the more positive side, Richard Leviton, with the advantage
over Colin Wilson of being an initiate clairvoyant with what he calls "a
direct conjunction with Steiner's teachings," found Steiner's otherwise
difficult material immediately accessible and "as gripping and spell-
binding as the mysteries ofAgatha Christie."
To the world of nature spirits, Steiner's contribution is in any
case sans pareil. Lamenting that people constantly move through whole
worlds of spirits without seeing them, unaware of the spiritual activity
that underlies everything we do and without which there is little we
can do, Steiner pleads with us to give these spirit beings the chance
to manifest, assuring us they will do so readily enough. "This whole