Presented by The Rudolf Steiner Branch

In recent years, interest has renewed in what became known a century ago as “The Bodhisattva Question”, namely: Who is the Maitreya in our time? Rudolf Steiner translated “Maitreya” as “the Bringer of the Good through the Word” and described the Maitreya Bodhisattva as “the true proclaimer of the Christ in etheric raiment,” thereby linking him to the central task Rudolf Steiner recognized for the spiritual-scientific movement, that of preparing conditions on earth for people to recognize the Etheric Christ.

In this lecture and discussion, we will look at the nature of the totality of the twelve bodhisattvas, which Rudolf Steiner identified with the Holy Spirit, as well as the particular indications he gave concerning the Maitreya. We will gain a sense of the service of the present and future bodhisattvas to the Christ; and we will explore the importance of the Maitreya for our work in the spiritual-scientific movement today and the right form for the Bodhisattva Question in the 21st century.

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Edward Schuldt became acquainted with the work of Rudolf Steiner at the end of his teens, during his college days in Chicago. He joined the Anthroposophical Society after a significant stay in Dornach, Switzerland, and was active in the group that became the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch. In his mid-twenties, he joined Camphill, living in Copake and Minnesota, for fifteen years, during which he lectured extensively and gave workshops, particularly through the Midwest, on themes including Parzival, esoteric Christianity, Gilgamesh, and the Greek star myths. He became the Director of Finance and Development at Sunbridge College (now the Sunbridge Institute) in Spring Valley, NY, in 1996, and established an organizational development and fundraising consulting practice, working with dozens of Waldorf schools and other institutions in the United States and Canada as well as individual philanthropists. Edward served as the first Director of Administration at the Emerson Waldorf School in the mid-2000s. He is a member of the School for Spiritual Science and of the Christian Community. He recently edited and wrote the introduction for the book The Lodge of the Bodhisattvas and The Question of the 20th Century Bodhisattva by Filip Filipov and Preslav Pavlov.