Even the consciousness needed by a person to understand natural science must actually go beyond 'Nature' or that which is studied, because we OURSELVES are included in that study, and we human beings are MORE than Nature, more than something which can be studied from the outside. So it is not enough for understanding the inner spiritual life of ourselves; a higher consciousness MUST be added to it. We are then not seeking some state OTHER than our waking consciousness with our normal perception of the world---- the same that is used in natural science; rather, we are seeking to ADD to that, intensify it, go beyond it, extend it----but always keeping our scientific minds which are able to understand what we experience. That is what Rudolf Steiner called "Anthroposophy". For instance, we can transform our inner experience of ourselves in meditation, transform our dream life, transform our sleep state -- -- but always, our reasoning minds are in control and able to understand what we experience, just as they reflect on and understand what the senses perceive in nature. This is why he called it a "spiritual science", because it treats the inner spiritual human being scientifically as natural science does the animals, plants and minerals of Nature.

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