This is a lecture given on Friday May 15th 2026 by Michael Merle on this topic: drawing on Steiner’s lecture content from presentations in Paris in 1906 and indications given in his truth-wrought words, The Individual and the All, we shall explore the renewed path of connecting to the spirit in preparation for a future becoming in the 6th post-Atlantean epoch
Michael Merle
Preparing the Future: The New Yoga of Christianity
Michael Merle began by explaining that the subject of his talk was connected to what Rudolf Steiner described as the future development of humanity and the gradual preparation for what Anthroposophy calls the “sixth cultural epoch”. He admitted that the title sounded rather large and ambitious but said that the underlying question was actually very simple:
How do human beings reconnect with spirit in the modern world?
He explained that throughout history, humanity has passed through a series of cultural stages, each one shaping consciousness in a different way. According to Steiner, these are not simply historical periods but evolving conditions of human awareness.
Michael described the ancient Indian epoch as the earliest of these great stages and said that it was there that the idea of yoga first appeared. He stressed that yoga originally meant far more than physical exercise. At its deepest level it referred to connection — or, more accurately, reconnection — between the human being and the spiritual world.
He pointed out that the Latin root of the word “religion” carries a similar meaning: “to reconnect”. In this sense, religion was never originally intended merely as institutional belief or obedience but as a living reconnection between humanity and the deeper spiritual foundations of existence.
From there Michael briefly traced the sequence of later cultural epochs described by Steiner: the ancient Persian world, the Egyptian-Chaldean period, the Greek and Roman civilisations, and finally the present age, which Steiner associated with the development of individual consciousness and self-awareness.
The modern world, he suggested, has achieved extraordinary intellectual and technological progress, yet, at the same time, people have become increasingly isolated from one another and from any deeper sense of spiritual meaning. Human beings are now highly informed, yet often inwardly disconnected.
He stressed that Steiner did not see humanity as standing at the end of development, but rather somewhere in the middle of a long evolutionary journey. The future, according to this view, depends not simply upon technological progress, but upon the inner development of consciousness itself.
Michael then introduced a short but important text written by Steiner in 1894 entitled Credo: The Individual and the All. He described it almost as a personal confession of faith — an attempt by Steiner to express the relationship between the individual human being and the wider spiritual universe.
At the centre of the text is the idea that human beings experience themselves as separate individuals while simultaneously carrying a deep longing for connection with something greater than themselves. This tension between individuality and unity lies at the heart of human existence.
Michael quoted Steiner’s striking phrase:
“Who dies not before he dies perishes when he dies.”
He explained that Steiner was not speaking literally, but spiritually. The “death” being referred to was the gradual dying away of selfishness, isolation and excessive attachment to the ego. In other words, part of spiritual development involves moving beyond narrow self-centredness while still fully preserving individuality.
This process, Michael suggested, is not about self-denial in a gloomy or moralistic sense. Rather, it is about learning to participate more consciously in life itself.
The Four Paths
Michael then turned to what he described as four great paths of spiritual development, drawing parallels between Steiner’s work and the ancient yogic traditions of India.
These paths were:
- the path of knowledge,
- the path of devotion,
- the path of selfless action,
- and the path of love and inner discipline.
Although originating in ancient traditions, Michael argued that these paths remain highly relevant today, though they must now be understood in forms suitable for modern consciousness rather than simply copied mechanically from the past.
Knowledge and Discernment
The first path was the path of knowledge, traditionally known as Jnana Yoga.
This path concerns the search for truth and understanding. It asks fundamental questions:
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is real?
What is an illusion?
Michael stressed that this kind of knowledge is not simply intellectual accumulation or academic cleverness. It is meant to lead toward wisdom — toward a clearer and more truthful relationship with reality.
One of the great difficulties of modern life, he suggested, is that people are surrounded by distraction, noise and fragmented information. Human attention is constantly pulled in different directions. In such conditions, genuine discernment becomes increasingly difficult.
He connected this to Steiner’s interpretation of the biblical Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. According to Michael, Steiner saw this not as a story about punishment but about humanity gradually learning discernment — the difficult task of distinguishing clearly between what supports life and what diminishes it.
The path of knowledge therefore requires concentration, self-observation and clarity of thought.
Michael remarked that this is far harder in the modern age than many people realise. The contemporary world encourages rapid reaction rather than careful contemplation. Yet without inner stillness, human beings lose the capacity to distinguish what is true from what merely appears convincing.
Art, Devotion and Offering
The second path Michael associated with was Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion.
Here he made an interesting connection with Steiner’s understanding of art.
True art, he argued, is not simply decoration or entertainment. At its highest level, it becomes an offering — an expression of reverence, beauty and participation in life.
Modern society, he suggested, increasingly trains people to become consumers rather than contributors. People endlessly absorb information, products and stimulation yet are often given little encouragement to contribute creatively themselves.
By contrast, spiritual life requires participation.
Michael said he preferred the word “offering” to the word “sacrifice”. Sacrifice often sounds heavy, joyless or punitive, whereas offering suggests giving something freely out of abundance and goodwill.
Every person, he believed, possesses gifts that can enrich the lives of others. The task is to recognise those gifts and place them into the world constructively.
He also emphasised the spiritual importance of listening — genuinely hearing another person rather than merely waiting for one’s turn to speak. Real listening, he suggested, is itself a form of devotion and respect.
Selfless Action
Michael then discussed karma yoga, the path of selfless action.
This path involves learning how to act responsibly without becoming obsessed with reward, recognition or status.
Drawing partly upon his own experience in Waldorf education, Michael argued that young people are often far more willing to contribute meaningfully than society assumes. Teenagers, he suggested, are not naturally apathetic or lazy. In many cases they are deeply idealistic but are rarely offered opportunities that genuinely engage their idealism.
He believed modern culture often underestimates the human desire for meaningful participation.
The path of selfless action teaches individuals gradually to move beyond excessive self-concern and become more consciously involved in the wider life around them.
This does not mean blind obedience or self-erasure. Rather, it involves learning how to contribute constructively to something larger than oneself.
Love and Inner Discipline
Finally, Michael turned to Raja Yoga, which he linked with love, self-mastery and inner balance.
Steiner once wrote, he explained, that although knowledge may be the most spiritual path, love is the most beautiful.
Michael stressed that love in this sense is not mere sentimentality or emotional intensity. It is the gradual overcoming of separation between oneself and others.
This requires discipline, self-awareness and inward development.
Modern culture often speaks endlessly about freedom, but Michael suggested that genuine freedom is not simply the ability to do whatever one wishes. True freedom also involves the capacity to choose wisely, responsibly and consciously.
Part of spiritual maturity, he argued, is recognising that although human beings may be capable of many actions, not everything that can be done should be done.
Inner development therefore involves restraint as well as expansion.
The Six Subsidiary Exercises
Michael then spoke about Steiner’s “six subsidiary exercises”, which are designed to strengthen and stabilise the inner life.
These exercises involve:
- control of thought,
- control of actions,
- composure of feeling,
- positivity,
- openness,
- and inner balance.
He stressed that these are not dramatic mystical practices but steady forms of inner training carried out within ordinary life.
The first exercise — control of thought — is particularly difficult in an age of constant distraction and overstimulation. People are continuously interrupted by screens, notifications and fragmented information streams.
The second exercise — control of actions — involves learning to act consciously rather than impulsively.
The third concerns emotional equilibrium: learning to remain inwardly balanced amidst both success and disappointment.
Michael spoke warmly about the exercise of positivity. This does not mean naïve optimism or pretending suffering does not exist. Rather, it means actively searching for what is constructive and life-giving even in difficult circumstances.
Without such positivity, he suggested, people gradually become spiritually exhausted by negativity and cynicism.
The exercise of openness involves remaining receptive to new experiences and fresh understanding rather than becoming trapped within rigid opinions or fixed assumptions.
Finally, inner balance gradually emerges when the previous exercises begin working harmoniously together.
Preparing Humanity’s Future
Towards the end of the lecture Michael returned to Steiner’s idea of humanity’s future development.
He suggested that future humanity may eventually experience far greater compassion, sensitivity and direct understanding between individuals than exists today.
Steiner had even spoken of a future condition in which human beings would experience the suffering of others almost as their own.
Michael admitted that humanity is still a long way from such a condition. Modern life continues to involve enormous degrees of separation, loneliness and emotional defensiveness.
Nevertheless, he believed the task of the present age is to begin preparing inwardly for that future through conscious effort, self-development, compassion and service.
He concluded that the future of civilisation will ultimately depend not only upon technology, politics or economics but also upon the inward development of human beings themselves.
