What rudolf steiner books should i read?

Steiner himself elected to work very hard at grasping the fields of mathematics, philosophy, literature, science and the arts as a foundation for his more heady spiritual ideas.. without this education he could never have formulated his more esoteric views. Given this, rather than start in the middle, it makes sense to me to trace the path he traced himself, by reading his own words about what he had learned. Following this logic, starting at the very beginning of his published works and moving through them sequentially is a really good idea if you seriously want to grasp what this modern spiritual genius had to offer. Therefore I personally recommend works like “Natures Open Secret” and “The Science of Knowing: An Outline of an Epistemology Implicit in Goethe’s Worldview” as starting texts. Its fascinating stuff!

At the end of his life, he was asked what one work he would elect to save if all the rest of his work were to perish forever, and rather than “Higher Worlds” he chose “The Philosophy of Freedom” saying that in it was the seed for all the rest of his ideas. It is a concise purely philosophical work that lays the foundation for his ‘spiritual science’ by first tracing the ERRORS thinkers who have steered the Western Intellectual Tradition into the mire it is in have made and then lays out an alternative path using the very same philosophic/scientific method, but to go beyond our typical understanding. TOTALLY READ THIS BOOK lol its second to none.. also known in some circles as the “anarchist bible”.

The fact that he starts here using the kind of thinking we are accustomed to is hugely beneficial. From there you will have the foundation you need to approach his more esoteric works like “Higher Worlds” and “Theosophy.” IMO without this foundation Steiner’s work will resemble any other unsubstantiated metaphysical claims.. the key to their potency lies in grasping for oneself the thought processes which formed them. You can find the text of every book he published at rsarchive.org by click the “book” tab at the top and choosing the english version from the list.