In his general practice as a doctor, Albert Smit observed numerous psychological issues in his patients – issues that often caused an existential crisis for the individual concerned. These experiences led Smit to change his career and to begin a path of research to discover how genuine inner healing could be achieved. In this succinct and inspiring study, the author offers a clear way forward that allows for individual and social transformation.

Smit points to a statement by Rudolf Steiner, that human relationships could become something of a social art. We can begin on this work today, through free and conscious choice. Engaging the forces of the heart, we can meet our fellow human beings as true individuals – as equals – and ultimately as brothers and sisters. Such work could help to heal the individual alienation and social divisions of our time. Eventually, human encounter could evolve into a spiritual event – even a sacramental act! Towards Spiritual Encounter is a valuable text for meditation and reflection.

'The basis for all free religious feeling that will unfold in humanity in the future will be the acknowledgement – not merely in theory but in actual practice – that every human being is made in the likeness of the Godhead. … For then every meeting between one person and another will of itself be in the nature of a religious rite, a sacrament.' – Rudolf Steiner