From a perception of only 3 senses or 3 elements, no one could derive a fourth or fifth.

William Blake, There is no religion born of nature.

It must have been an extraordinary event indeed! In the midst of a world that has lost its footing in the face of increasing crises, the Global School for Spiritual Science and the Global Event College met in Sweden in December 2019 with the aim of renewing anthroposophical spiritual science for our time. This book, containing five lectures, is the result of that meeting. It takes us on a journey through and out of the devastation wrought by contemporary civilization, toward the creation of new foundations for human community. The lectures are crowned by a remarkable afterword by the author, which traces the path of Christ from the late 19th century to the present day.

Since our ordinary consciousness encompasses only a fraction of reality, it has become common to theorize about ways to unlock human potential. Almost inevitably, the discussion revolves around unlocking unused parts of the brain. While such an approach has its merits, it unfortunately distracts from a more important point of access to realizing human potential. This point is that only a portion of what is available to human experience is accessible through our ordinary, brain-based senses.

It is a sign of a truly open mind to be able to consider that, in addition to plants, animals, inanimate matter, and humans, beings of varying intelligence might also exist and be active in the realm of the supersensible. When we open ourselves to the possibility of broader fields of consideration, a transformative question can arise: Can extrasensory realities enter our field of perception and become an object of investigation? The problem then becomes an empirical question, not a question of ideology or belief. This question defines the field in which Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon has been researching for many decades. By expanding the techniques presented by Rudolf Steiner more than a century ago as the basis for a scientific approach to supersensible experiences, he presents Twilight of Mankind and Resurrection of Mankind Research-based reports on what has happened since Steiner's death in 1925 and what we can expect in the near and distant future.

In these accounts, Ben-Aharon speaks frankly about supernatural beings, not from theory or speculation, not from religious texts or traditional knowledge, but from personal experience and decades of direct supernatural research. From this, he provides us with an imaginative depiction not only of human potential, but also of the dangers underlying our current situation.

When we begin to consider the presence of supernatural beings, we find, as history has shown, that not all of these beings have an interest in promoting the well-being of humanity. Ben-Aharon speaks extensively of two who are dedicated to the well-being of humankind: Michael, a central figure in the Judeo-Christian spiritual experience, and Vidar, whom we learn about in the Norse Ragnarök stories. Beings whose intentions run counter to the well-being of humankind also appear in this book. At the heart of Ben-Aharon's research, however, are revelations of Christ that he began receiving as a young man, revelations whose elucidation and updating have become his lifelong endeavor. The resulting perspective tells us that what is given to us through our ordinary senses is no longer sufficient to grasp the evolutionary crossroads at which we stand.

We learn, surprisingly, that supersensible perceptions can be developed on the basis of our most ordinary mental activities—our thinking, feeling, and willing. But when I honestly and courageously search my ordinary consciousness, what do I find? A social sense driven by fear, thinking that operates automatically and largely outside my control, a heart that is frozen and empty, and desires of uncertain origin that rush here and there in response to personal and worldly events. Ben-Aharon tells us, however, that it is precisely by bringing our modern capacities—clear awareness, objectivity, and intentionality—to bear in hand with these personal conditions that a way can be found to engage productively with a supersensible sphere, which he calls the ethereal This is what he calls it. There, devotion and courage are received and reciprocated by the forces that strive for the realization of human potential. This is what he refers to in these lectures as the activation of the ethereal heart speaks.

But where, at a historical moment when unbridled individualism seems to be reaching its zenith, can fertile ground be found for the formation of a humane community? The author illuminates the history of the Anthroposophical Society to illustrate the challenges that even the noblest efforts to build human community on spiritual principles face. Here we find the same obstacle that is generally leading our culture to decline. We can no longer make productive progress with any initiative if we do not know the supersensible forces that guide or hinder each of our intentions and actions. We must all begin to work beyond the supersensible boundary. Indeed, for Ben-Aharon, the possibility lies in moving beyond working on our own life forces and forces of consciousness and engaging with those we all share. To those already prepared for spiritual work, Ben-Aharon presents the shocking insight that we can no longer expect to work solely on the basis of blessings we receive from higher powers. He emphatically stresses that we have received enough blessings and that humanity, having attained the capacity for freedom and love, has reached a critical juncture where we are expected to actively participate in creation. We must overcome our self-absorption, acknowledge our burgeoning maturity, roll up our sleeves, so to speak, and make our expected contribution to the cosmos.

Ben-Aharon sees anthroposophy as the appropriate vessel for this contribution.

Paul Zachos, Director of Research and Evaluation at the Association for the Cooperative Advancement of Science and Education (ACASE), Saratoga Springs, New York.