“For the soft will to become self-conscious, we have to use the hard will first.”

-Georg Kúhlewind)

In this paraphrase from a lecture on “The Soft Will” given at Anthroposophy NYC in 1999, Georg pointed to the unique paths and doorways through which human artistic and spiritual capacities may be cultivated.

In this Zoomed session, members of Anthroposophy NYC’s study groups (Walter Alexander, Fred Dennehy, Dan Rabin, Robert Shinerock, Rosalind Stevenson, Joyce Reilly, and others)  will share how they have worked with the themes of this talk, which Georg further elaborated in his 2011 book The Gentle Will. Conversation will follow. The link below connects to transcripts and recordings of Georg’s presentation.

Zoom only

This is a donations-based event. Please consider if you are able! 🙏

Georg Kühlewind (born György Székely, March 6, 1924 – January 15, 2006) was a Hungarian philosopher, writer, lecturer and meditation teacher. For many who experienced Georg’s meditation retreats and/or his lectures during his frequent US visits, his influence was powerful and remains enduring. His early interests in careers in music and psychology were stymied by the onslaught of World War II. Georg survived imprisonment at Buchenwald and then Aschersleben (an unheated aircraft factory), pursuing post-war a professional career as a physical chemist while continuing spiritual search primarily out of anthroposophy.

In his own words (1984): “From the beginning my interest in anthroposophy has been in the study of consciousness and related themes. Very soon, therefore, I was led to the idea of the Logos. For the past twenty or twenty-two years the Prologue to St. John's Gospel has been my central meditation. Hence, all the books I have written have to do with this theme.”