Significance of the symbol of the snake. Invertebrate and vertebrate animals — System of the solar plexus and the spinal chord. Inner study of man with the help of the Kundalini fire. Twelve stages of consciousness: seven appertaining to man, five to the creative gods. The Twelve apostles as the twelve Christ-permeated stages of consciousness.
Activity, wisdom, will: three leading concepts in esotericism. Life after death. The appearance of the Guardian of the Threshold as the Double. The significance of Christ's death of atonement. The influence of Ulfilas on the German language. The chaos of the activity of the West and the tranquillity of the wisdom of the East.
Stages of Consciousness in the three kingdoms of Nature and of Man. The plant world as sense organ of the Earth. The organ of orientation in the root of the plant and the corresponding organ of orientation in the human ear. The cross as the symbol of the evolution of direction in man, animal and plant. Plant consciousness on the Mental Plane; that of sensitive plants, idiots and animals on the Astral Plane, of minerals on the Higher Mental Plane. Human consciousness on the Physical Plane and its development to higher stages. The riddle of the Sphinx as indication of the future form of man.
Consciousness of the bees and ants. Alchemy and the Philosophers' Stone. Relationship of the kingdoms of Nature to each other. The being of man in the future.
The conditions of bodies: solid, liquid, gaseous; the four kinds of ether: warmth, light, chemical and life ether and their life on the seven planes. Relationship between the passive and active organs: ear and speech i.e. larynx; heart and pituitary gland (hypophysis); eye and pineal gland (epiphysis). The development of the hypophysis into an active warmth-organ, the epiphysis to an active organ of vision. Tolstoi. Ulfilas.
The difference between receptive and creative beings in connection with the Blavatskian sequence of seven stages of being, to which man belongs: 1. receptive elemental beings; 2. man as a receptive and creative intermediate being; 3. the 'pure man' of the pre-Lemurian Age: Adam Cadmon and the development of the warm and cold-blooded animals; 4. Bodhisattvas: human beings who have become creative for the purpose of regulating the continuity of evolution; 5. Nirmanakayas: creative beings reaching out beyond the Earth who are able to bring new impulses into Earth evolution; 6. Pitris (Fathers): beings able to sacrifice themselves; 7. The actual gods. Heart and gall.
Development of the beings on the Old Moon. Moon — Cosmos of Wisdom. Jehovah a rank of the hierarchies. Transition from the Old Moon to the Earth. Beginning of human incarnations: union of two different kinds of beings (spiritual & physical parts) resulting in birth and death; the degree of balance in the gradual reciprocal adaptation of the spiritual and physical parts. Past and future development of speech in connection with consciousness, life and form.
Reincarnation, development of civilisation and the zodiac. Christianity and the teaching of reincarnation. Water or the drinking of wine in relation to knowledge of reincarnation. The Trappist Orders. The Augustinian teaching of predestination.
The physical body as the oldest and most perfected part of the fourfold human organism. Self-awareness and sense-observation. The seven senses in relation to the seven planes and conditions of substance. The nature of the future Jupiter as the result of the thoughts, feelings and will impulses of present-day man. Materialism, a karmic result of earlier idealistic periods. The founding of towns and the Lohengrin saga. Causes of illnesses.
The formation of the etheric body as the opposite of the physical body: the feminine etheric body of the man, and the male etheric body of the woman. The forms and colours of the astral body and its sheath: the auric egg. The development of the human auric egg through seven conditions of form of the earth. The membering of the human auric egg. The individualised astral light. Reading in the Akasha.
Man's participation in the physical, astral and mental world. The development of self-consciousness during the descent to the physical plane. The re-ascent to the higher planes through schooling towards selflessness in wishes and thoughts. The possibility of development towards freedom on the physical plane. Action and reaction as the technique of karma.
The origin of the physical body. The Kundalini fire as means of investigation into occult anatomy. The work of the Deva-forces on the bodily sheaths and the gradual loosening of the Deva-forces through the ego. The working of the Devas in the life after death. Sojourn in Devachan and re-embodiment. Life after death in the case of suicide and death by violence.
Dionysius the Areopagite and his teaching about the Gods. The structure of the Church, an outer image of the inner hierarchical ordering of the world. Alteration in the forms of the flora, fauna and mineral kingdom through the work of man after death. The activity and nature of the Devas and the Planetary Spirits.
Man's sojourn in Devachan between death and a new birth. The formation of devachanic organs on Earth through spiritual activity and soul relationships (Life in the Groups). The physical world as world of causes, Devachan as world of effects. Three stages of pupil-ship. The eighth sphere. The twelve Nidanas or forces of Karma.
The impulse given through the Rosicrucians to European history from the 14th century to the time of the French Revolution. In the Rosicrucian schools basic Theosophy was taught. The three basic concepts, Wisdom, Beauty, Power, in connection with the transformation of the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms. The twelve forces of Karma (Nidanas).
The three stages of thought-life: Abstract Thoughts, Imagination, and Intuition. Father, Son (Word) and Holy Spirit or First, Second, Third Logos — Karma and the five Skandhas.
The human beings of the Atlantean and Lemurian Ages. The two-fold origin of human nature and their union in the Lemurian Age. The Eighth Sphere. The two-fold structure of the physical, etheric and astral body of present-day man.
Certain species of Elemental Beings in the Astral World — Asuric Beings — Jehovah as the God of the descending Kama-principle; Christ, the ascending Buddhi-Principle — Black and White Magic. Natural and induced Elemental Beings.
Beings and experiences in the Astral World. Black and White Magic. Necessity of a strict schooling for forming judgements about the Astral World. Technique of reincarnation. The memory tableau immediately after death and the vision of the future preceding new birth.
The technique of reincarnation: the law of effect and counter-effect in relation to actions, feelings and thoughts. The necessity for artistic activity in theosophical life. The passage through the Astral and Devachanic World in the life after death and the preparation for the next Earth life.
The problem of death as a question of consciousness. The duality: inner kernel of being (Monad) and physical-astral man; their various forms of development until their unification in the Lemurian Age. The beginning of Karma. Wisdom, Beauty, Strength as reflection of Manas, Buddhi and Atma.
Fructification with the Spirit (Monad) in the Lemurian Age. The previous stages of Earth evolution: Old Saturn, Sun and Moon. The Sun and Moon ancestors of Man. Opposition between the intentions of Jehovah and the Luciferic Principle. The coming into being of the two sexes as also of birth and death. The changing direction of the Earth axis. Arising of original (Ur) Karma. Conflict between Jehovah and Lucifer. Christianity and the teaching of Reincarnation and Karma.
Survey of Earth evolution II: Planets or states of consciousness, Rounds or elemental kingdoms, Globes or conditions of form; in Christian terminology: Power, Kingdom and Glory.
Survey of Earth evolution III: The Fourth Earth Round. Separation of Sun and Moon. The Union of the human astral body with the Monad. Intervention of the impulse of Luciferic Beings and the battle between Jehovah and Lucifer. Elemental beings in the Atlantean Age. The origin of metals. Names of the days of the week and their connection with the planetary evolution of the Earth.
The Three Logoi, or Form, Life and Consciousness (Creation out of Nothing) as three stages of evolution. Elemental Beings and the arising of Astral Beings through the physical deeds of man.
The senses in connection with the different ethers. Connection between microcosm and macrocosm. The development of different stages of consciousness during the epochs of the Post-Atlantean Age.
Karmic connections in the relationships of peoples. Illnesses connected with particular times and nations. Class opposition and national morality. Michael's battle against the God Mammon in the seventies of the nineteenth century. The War of All against All and its remedy in the basic principle of brotherhood. The origin of oxygen, breathing. Connection of freedom with birth, death and illness. Origin of fever. The Riddle of the Sphinx, a secret of the future.
Development of the different forms of nourishment; origin and significance of drinking wine. The social aspect of West and East in regard to production and consumption.
Concerning Old Atlantis and the formation of the Fifth Root-Race or the Post-Atlantean Age. Development of the Post-Atlantean Age through the Indian, Persian, Chaldean and European civilisations. Present-day materialism. Preparation for a new civilisation the task of Central Europe.
In these lectures, Steiner speaks to a small group of active members
of the Theosophical Society of Berlin. He presents a sweep of occult
knowledge including the phases of planetary evolution, planetary
influences, the kingdoms of nature, various myths and symbols, human
physical and spiritual organs, illness, reincarnation, and much more.
Included are unexpected insights into specific phenomena such as
dinosaurs, bacteria, radiation, the Sphinx, and Freemasonry.
Notes of an esoteric Course in the form of thirty-one lectures
by Rudolf Steiner: given between the 26th of September and the
5th of November 1905, at Berlin. This edition is Translated by
Vera and Judith Compton-Burnett, from notes unrevised by the
lecturer. In the complete edition of the works of Rudolf Steiner
the volume containing the original German is entitled:
Grundelemente der Esoterik,
no 93a in the Biographical Survey.
∴
About Transcripts of Lectures
The results of my anthroposophical work are, first, the books
available to the general public; secondly, a great number of lecture
courses, originally regarded as private publications and sold only to
members of the Theosophical (later Anthroposophical) Society. The
courses consist of more or less accurate notes taken at my lectures,
which for lack of time I have not been able to correct. I would have
preferred the spoken word to remain the spoken word. But the members
wished to have the courses printed for private circulation. Thus they
came into existence. Had I been able to correct them the restriction:
for members only would have been unnecessary from the
beginning. As it is, the restriction was dropped more than a year ago.
In my autobiography it is especially necessary to say a word about how
my books for the general public on the one hand, and the privately
printed courses on the other, belong within what I elaborated as
Anthroposophy.
Someone who wishes to trace my inner struggle and effort to present
Anthroposophy in a way that is suitable for present-day consciousness
must do so through the writings published for general distribution. In
these I define my position in relation to the philosophical striving
of the present. They contain what to my spiritual sight became
ever more clearly defined, the edifice of Anthroposophy — certainly
incomplete in many ways.
But another requirement arose, different from that of elaborating
Anthroposophy and devoting myself solely to problems connected with
imparting facts directly from the spiritual world to the general
cultural life of today: the requirement of meeting fully the inner
need and spiritual longing of the members.
Especially strong were the requests to have light thrown by
Anthroposophy upon the Gospels and the Bible in general. The members
wished to have courses of lectures on these revelations bestowed upon
mankind.
In meeting this through private lecture courses, another factor arose:
at these lectures only members were present. They were familiar with
the basic content of Anthroposophy. I could address them as people
advanced in anthroposophical knowledge. The approach I adopted in
these lectures was not at all suitable for the written works intended
primarily for the general public.
In these private circles I could formulate what I had to say in a way
I should have been obliged to modify had it been planned
initially for the general public.
Thus the public and the private publications are in fact two quite
different things, built upon different foundations. The public
writings are the direct result of my inner struggles and labours,
whereas the privately printed material includes the inner struggle and
labour of the members. I listened to the inner needs of the members,
and my living experience of this determined the form of the lectures.
However, nothing was ever said that was not solely the result of my
direct experience of the growing content of Anthroposophy. There was
never any question of concessions to the prejudices or the preferences
of the members. Whoever reads these privately-printed lectures can
take them to represent Anthroposophy in the fullest sense. Thus it was
possible without hesitation — when the complaints in this direction
became too persistent — to depart from the custom of circulating this
material only among members. But it must be borne in mind that faulty
passages occur in these lecture-reports not revised by myself.
The right to judge such private material can of course, be conceded only to someone who has the pre-requisite basis for such judgement. And in respect of most of this material it would mean at least knowledge of man and of the cosmos insofar as these have been presented in the light of Anthroposophy, and also knowledge of what exists as 'anthroposophical history' in what has been imparted from the spiritual world.
In his autobiography 'The Course of My Life,' Rudolf
Steiner describes how at the turn of the century he was requested to
hold theosophical lectures for what at that time was a very small
theosophical circle in Berlin. He said he was willing to do so, but
emphasised that he would only be able to speak about what lived within
him as Spiritual Science. His first course of lectures given during the
winter of 1900/01 was published at the request of the circle, compressed
into book form, under the title 'Mysticism at the Dawn of the
Modern Age'. Because the results of his own spiritual knowledge
contained within it were accepted in the General Theosophical Society,
there was 'no longer any reason to refrain from bringing this
spiritual knowledge in my own way before the theosophical public,
which was at that time the only one which entered eagerly into these
spiritual matters. I was not bound by any sectarian dogmatism; I
remained someone who spoke out freely what he believed himself able to
speak out entirely in accordance with what he himself experienced as the
world of spirit.'
During the next winter — 1901/02 — there followed a second
series of lectures which was published in the summer of 1902 in
book-form as
'Christianity as Mystical Fact'. Immediately afterwards the
German Section of the Theosophical Society was founded with Rudolf
Steiner as General Secretary. Here 'I was able to unfold my
anthroposophical activity before an ever-increasing public. Nobody
remained in any doubt about the fact that in the Theosophical
Society I would only bring forward the results of what I beheld in my
own spiritual research.'
This was the beginning of an ever-increasingly intensive activity in
the sphere of spiritual-scientific lectures. In June 1903 appeared the
first number of 'Lucifer' (later 'Lucifer-Gnosis'),
'Magazine for Soul-life and Spiritual-culture Theosophy'. In
the Spring of 1904 appeared the fundamental work 'Theosophy —
An introduction to Supersensible World-Knowledge and Human
Destiny'. There immediately followed in 'Lucifer' the
description of the path of schooling in the articles, 'How to
attain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds' and the presentation of a
spiritual-scientific cosmology in the articles, 'From the Akasha
Chronicle'. (In English — Cosmic Memory.)
Thus the German Section of the Theosophical Society was gradually
built up by Rudolf Steiner and his closest coworker Marie von Sivers,
later Marie Steiner, into a far-reaching, Central European,
spiritual-scientific movement. From the beginning it was this
anthroposophical teaching represented by Rudolf Steiner which
later, owing to internal difficulties, took on independent existence as
the Anthroposophical Society.
At the time when Rudolf Steiner gave the lecture-course entitled
'Foundations of Esotericism' now for the first time appearing
in book-form, the work was still in the initial stage of its
development. Rudolf Steiner therefore always still made use of the
expressions 'theosophy' and 'theosophical' and for
the description of planetary evolution, of the members of man's being
and so on, the Indian terminology usual in theosophical literature, to
which at that time his audiences were accustomed. He makes special
mention of the value of this terminology in the 15th lecture of this
course. In his articles at that time and in his book,
'Theosophy' he nevertheless makes use of expressions about
which in 1903 he said in the magazine 'Lucifer', that
'for certain reasons he borrowed these expressions from an occult
language which, in its terminology, deviates slightly from that in the
published theosophical writings, but with which in essence it is
naturally in complete agreement.' Later he replaced these
theosophical expressions ever more and note by those adapted to our
European culture. The explanations necessary for this course are to be
found at the end of the volume.
In the lectures the frequently recurring use of names taken from the
writings of H.P. Blavatsky is to be explained by the fact that the
audiences at this time were intensively occupied with the teachings of
the founder of the Theosophical Society and, because of the difficulty
of understanding their meaning, they often brought their questions to
Rudolf Steiner. So again and again he explained Blavatsky's indications
from her principal work 'The Secret Doctrine', in particular
those in the third volume dealing with esotericism.
The entire course was in fact private verbal instruction, thus not
intended for the general circle of members, but only for a few active
members who were personally invited to take part. It was intended to
provide a certain basis for their own group work. For this reason there
is no complete shorthand report, but only notes which certain of his
hearers made for their personal use. These notes have a strongly
aphoristic character which should be borne in mind if, owing to their
shortened and condensed content, or also as a result of gaps in the
text, they are not always entirely comprehensible. If today these notes
appear in the Complete Edition it is because on the whole they are
certainly reliable, and also because they provide us with valuable
aspects of human and cosmic considerations, which are not to be found in
this form in Rudolf Steiner's later lectures. For the clarification and
further understanding of many points, particularly those of a
cosmological character, one should refer to the words written at about
the same time, i.e. 'Cosmic Memory' and 'Theosophy'.
~ Hella Wiesberger∴
Translator's Preface
We shall best realise the significance of these 31 lectures given in
1905 if we transpose ourselves still further back in time to the year
1902, when, during her first personal conversation with Rudolf Steiner,
Marie von Sivers, later Marie Steiner, put to him the all-important
question: "Would it not be a very important thing to found an
Occult Society suited to people of the West?" His response to this
question was to begin laying the foundations of what was to become his
greatest creation, the worldwide Anthroposophical Society.
A small number of Berlin theosophists gathered round him, and formed
a group to which he began imparting the basic elements of Spiritual
Science, "translating" — the expression was his —
direct from the Akashic Script into the words of an earthly language.
The mood of these first meetings was profoundly earnest. They were
strictly private. If anyone wished to join the group he was only
admitted after Marie von Sivers had taken through with him all the
material already given. There was at that time no stenographer, and she,
together with two members of the group, took copious notes, and as soon
as possible after the meeting wrote the lecture out from memory. Later
they compared their drafts and decided upon the final version. These
manuscripts still exist and when these lectures were published in the
complete edition of Rudolf Steiner's works they were again used to check
their content.
When we remember that the Ancient Wisdom upon which Theosophy was
based did not as yet include the immortality of the individual, or the
eventual development, made possible by the Mystery of Golgotha, of
individual human freedom, we can see that Rudolf Steiner had to give an
entirely new direction to the thoughts of his hearers.
Thus we find that the manifold exact and detailed descriptions of
the events of evolution form in a sense the background to the evolving
figure of man. The mighty event of the Moon leaving the Earth, most
vividly described, took place in order to provide an environment suited
to his progress.
The wonderful moment when the higher being of man descended in a
bell-like form and enveloped the lower human form, still on a level with
the animals, depicts what eventually provided him with a body suited to
the development of the ego. Spiritual Beings and the great Initiates led
him along the path he had to tread.
Where do we look today for these ego-endowed human beings? They are
within each one of us. We stand poised between guidance and
responsibility. Let us turn our thoughts from the past to the future.
One of the most impressive Basic Elements tells how the present conduct
of life can affect the far distant future. It is a cosmic law that what
has once taken place can never vanish, but must reappear later in a
metamorphosed form. Every thought, feeling and action brought about by
man does not only affect the world around him but will re-appear on the
future Jupiter as the equivalent of the kingdoms of nature of our
earthly world; for, to quote Rudolf Steiner's words, "Jupiter will
be a man-made Planet".
Vera and Judith Compton-Burnett
∴
Lecture 1
Berlin, 26th September 1905
In all esoteric teaching it is important to learn how we should look
at the things around us. Naturally everyone experiences something or
other when looking at a flower or anything else in the environment. It
is however necessary to gain a higher standpoint, to penetrate more
deeply, to connect specific observations with every object. This is the
basis, for instance, of the profound medical insight of Paracelsus. He
sensed, felt and perceived the force inherent in a particular plant and
the relationship of this force to some corresponding function in man.
For example he perceived which organ of the human body was affected by
Digitalis purpurea (foxglove).
To make this manner of observation clear we will take a particular
example. All religions have symbols. We hear much about these today, but
such explanations are usually external and arbitrary. Profound religious
symbols are however drawn out of the very nature of the things
themselves. Let us consider for instance the symbol of the serpent,
which was imparted to Moses in the Egyptian Mystery Schools. We will
consider what inspired him, what gave him Intuition.
A fundamental difference exists between all those animal creatures
having a vertebral column and those, such as beetles, molluscs, worms
and so on which have none. The entire animal kingdom falls into the main
sections of the vertebrate and the invertebrate animals. In the case of
the invertebrates one can put the question: Where are their nerves
situated? For the principal nerve-cord passes through the spinal column.
The invertebrates however do also have a nervous system, as is the case
with human beings and vertebrate animals. With the latter it is
distributed outside along the spine until it spreads into the cavity of
the body. This is called the sympathetic nervous system together with
the solar plexus. It is the same system which the invertebrate animals
also possess: only for the vertebrates and man, it has less
significance. With the invertebrates this system is much more closely
connected with the rest of the world than the nervous system in man's
head and spine. The activity of this latter can be obliterated in a
condition of trance; then the sympathetic nervous system comes into
action. This occurs for instance in the case of somnambulists. The
consciousness of the sleepwalker is spread out over the whole life of
the environment and goes over into the other beings surrounding us. The
somnambulist experiences external things within him. Now the Life-ether
is the element which everywhere streams around us. The solar plexus is
its mediator. If we were only able to perceive with the solar plexus we
should live in intimate communion with the whole world. This is so with
the invertebrate animals. For instance, such a creature feels a flower
as being within itself. In the earth system the invertebrate animal is
somewhat similar to the eye and ear in man. It is part of the organism.
There is actually a common spiritual organism which perceives, sees,
hears and so on through the invertebrate animals. The Earth-Spirit is
such a common spiritual organism. Everything which we have around us is
a body for this common spirit. Just as our soul creates eyes and ears in
order to perceive the world, so does this common Earth-Soul create the
invertebrate animals as eyes and ears in order to see and hear the
world.
In the evolution of the Earth there came a time when a process of
separation set in. A part separated itself off, as though in a tube.
Only when this point of time was reached did it become in any way
possible for beings to develop which could become separate entities. The
others are members of the one Earth-Soul. Now for the first time
a special grade of separation began. For the first time the possibility
arose that one day something would be able to say 'I' to
itself. This fact — that there are two epochs on the Earth,
firstly, the epoch in which there were no animals having a nervous
system enclosed within a bony tube; secondly, the epoch in which such
animals came into being — this fact is distinctly expressed in all
religions. The snake is the first to enclose within a tube the selfless
undifferentiated gaze of the Earth Spirit, thus forming the basis of ego
hood. This fact was impressed on their pupils by the esoteric teachers
in such a way that they were able to say to themselves: 'Look at
the snake and you will see the sign of your ego'. This had to be
accompanied by the vivid experience that the independent ego and the
snake belong together. Thus an awareness of the significance of the
things around us was developed, so that the pupils endowed each being in
the realm of Nature with the appropriate feeling-content. Moses also was
forearmed by such an experience when he went out from the Egyptian
Mystery Schools, and so he lifted up the snake as a symbol. In those
schools one did not learn in such an abstract way as one does nowadays;
one learned to comprehend the world out of one's own inner perception.
We have a description of the human being based on the external
investigation of the different parts of his organism, but we can also
find man described in old mystical and occult works. These descriptions,
however, have arisen in quite another way than by anatomical
examination. They are indeed of far greater exactitude and much more
correct than what is described today by the anatomist, for he only
describes the corpse. The old descriptions were gained in such a way
that the pupils, through meditation, through inner illumination, became
visible to themselves. By means of the so-called Kundalini Fire [1] man is able to observe himself from
within outwards. There are different stages of this observation. The
exact, correct observation appears at first in symbols. If man
concentrates for instance on his spinal cord, it is a fact that he
always sees a snake. He may perhaps also dream of a snake, because this
is the creature which was placed out in the world when the spinal cord
was formed, and has remained at this stage. The snake is the spinal
column outwardly projected into the world. This pictorial way of seeing
things is astral vision (Imagination). But it is only through mental
vision (Inspiration) that the full significance is revealed.
This path of knowledge leads man to the recognition of the
connection between microcosm and macrocosm, so that he is able to divide
himself up within the kingdoms of Nature, so that he is able to say to
which part of the world each single one of his organs belongs. The old
Germanic myth distributes the giant Imir in this way. The dome of the
heavens is made from his skull; the mountains from his bones and so on.
[2] That is the mythological presentation
of this inner vision. Each part of the world reveals to the esotericist
its connection with something in himself. The inner relationship then
becomes apparent. All religions point to this kind of intensive
development. The Gospels also indicate it. The esotericist says to
himself: Everything in the surrounding world — stones, plants and
animals are signposts along the path of my own evolution. Without these
kingdoms I could not exist. This consciousness fills us not only with
the feeling that we have risen above these kingdoms, but also with the
knowledge that our existence depends upon them.
There are seven grades of human consciousness: trance consciousness,
deep sleep, dream consciousness, waking consciousness, psychic,
super-psychic and spiritual consciousness. Actually these are in all
twelve stages of consciousness; [3] the five others are creative stages. They are those
of the Creators, of the creative Gods. These twelve stages are related
to the twelve signs of the zodiac. The human being must pass through the
experiences of these twelve stages. He ascended through the trance, deep
sleep and dream consciousness up to the present clear day consciousness.
In the succeeding stages of planetary evolution he will reach still
higher stages. All those which he has already passed through he will
also retain within him. The physical body has the dull trance
consciousness as this was gained by man on Old Saturn. The human etheric
body has the consciousness of dreamless sleep, as this developed on Old
Sun. The astral body dreams in the same way as one dreams during sleep.
Dream consciousness derives from the Old Moon period. On our present
Earth, man achieves waking consciousness. The ego has clear
day-consciousness.
Higher development consists in this, that one casts out what is in
one's own being in the same way as man has cast out the snake, thereby
retaining the snake on a higher level in his spinal cord. With still
further development human beings will not only cast out stones, plants
and animals into the world, but also stages of consciousness. In a stock
of bees, for example, there are three kinds of beings which have a soul
in common. [4] Seemingly quite separated beings
carry out a common work. In the future this will also be the case with
man; he will separate off his organs. He will have to control
consciously from outside all the single molecules of his brain. Then he
will have become a higher being. This will also be so with his stages of
consciousness. One can imagine a lofty being who has put forth from
himself all twelve stages of consciousness. He himself is then present
as the thirteenth and will say: I could not be what I am, if I had not
separated off from myself these twelve stages of consciousness. The
twelve apostles represent the stages of consciousness through which the
Christ passed. This can be recognised in the thirteenth chapter of St.
John in the description of the Washing of the Feet, [5] which
indicates that Christ is indebted to the apostles for his attainment of
the higher stages of consciousness: 'Verily, Verily, I say unto
you, the servant is not greater than his lord'. The more highly
developed being has left the others behind on the way and has himself
now become their servant. Not many people understand the meaning of
these words; nevertheless, when they hear this narrative, through
feeling they are prepared for understanding. In the first centuries
after Christ, for example, through these narratives, our feeling life
has been prepared. Otherwise, our causal body would not have been
sufficiently prepared to receive the truth. It is through pictorial
forms that the soul is prepared. This is why in earlier times the great
initiates, with their outlook into the far future, taught people by
means of stories. Even today such teachers have a concept of what will
be brought about in the future by the teachings of Theosophy. Now man
has in himself both good and evil. In the future this will become
externally apparent as a kingdom of good and a kingdom of evil [6] And how at some future time those who are good
will have to deal with those who are evil — this is what is being
implanted in the soul today through the concepts of Theosophy. At first
people were given pictures, now they receive concepts and, in the
future, they will have to act in accordance with these in their
practical life.
∴
Lecture 2
Berlin, 27th September 1905
Today we will concern ourselves with three important ideas connected
with parts of human nature. These may be said to form guiding threads
through the entire world. They are as follows: Activity or Movement;
Wisdom, which is also called Word, and thirdly Will. When we speak of
activity we usually mean something very general. The esotericist however
sees in activity the foundation of the whole universe as it surrounds
us. The original form of the universe is for the esotericist a product
of activity. What is seemingly completed is really a stage of continuous
activity, a point in continuity. The whole world is in ceaseless
activity. In reality this activity is Karma.
When speaking about man, we speak of his astral body as being Karma,
as being activity. Actually the astral body is that part of the human
being which is closest to him. What man experiences, so that he
differentiates between well being and misfortune, happiness and sorrow,
emanates from his astral body. Love, passion, joy, pain, ideals, duty,
are bound up with the astral body. When one speaks of joy and sorrow,
desires, wishes, etc., one is speaking of the astral body. Man
continually experiences the astral body, but the seer perceives its
form. This astral body is in continuous transformation. At first it is
undifferentiated, so long as man has not yet worked upon it. In our time
however man works upon it constantly. When he distinguishes between what
is allowed and what is forbidden, he works into it out of his ego. Since
the middle of the Lemurian Age until the middle of the Sixth Root-Race
man works upon his astral body.
Why does man work upon it? He works upon his astral body because, in
the sphere of activity, every single activity calls forth a counter
effect. If we rub our hand on a tabletop it becomes hot. The warmth is
the counter effect of our activity. Thus each activity calls forth
another. Through the fact that certain animals migrated to the dark
caves of Kentucky they no longer needed their eyesight but only
sensitive organs of touch, in order to find their way about. The result
was that the blood withdrew from their eyes and they became blind. This
was the result of their activity, of their migration into the caves of
Kentucky. [7]
The human astral body is in continual activity. Its life consists in
this. In a narrower sense this activity is called human karma. What I do
today has its expression in the astral body. If I give somebody a blow,
that is activity and calls forth a counter blow. This is balance
restoring justice — karma. Every action calls forth its counter
action. With this must be considered the concept of cause and effect. In
karma there is always something needing to be brought into balance;
something further is always demanded.
The second guiding thread in human nature and in the universe is
wisdom. Just as karma has something needing to be balanced, wisdom has
something of rest, of equilibrium. It is therefore also called rhythm.
All wisdom, according to its form, is rhythm. In the astral body there
may perhaps be much sympathy, then there is much green in the aura. This
green was once called forth as complementary colour.
Originally, instead of the green, there was red, a selfish instinct.
That has been changed into green through activity, karma. In wisdom, in
rhythm, everything is completed, balanced. In man everything rhythmical,
filled with wisdom, is in the etheric body. The etheric body is
therefore that in man which represents wisdom. In the etheric body
repose, rhythm holds sway.
The physical body actually represents the will. Will, in contrast to
absolute rest, is the creative element, that which is productive. Thus
we have the following ascent: firstly karma, activity, what needs to be
balanced; secondly wisdom, what has been brought to rest; thirdly will,
such an overabundance of life that it can sacrifice itself. Thus
activity, wisdom, will, are the three stages in which all being flows.
Let us study from this point of view the human being as he stands
before us. In the first place man has his physical body. As he is at the
present time, he has no influence at all upon his physical body. What
man physically is and does is brought about from outside by creative
forces. He cannot himself regulate the movement of the molecules of his
brain; neither of himself can he control the circulation of the blood.
In other words, the physical body is produced independently of man and
is also sustained for him by other forces. It is as it were only lent to
him. Man is incarnated into a physical body produced for him by other
forces. The etheric body too is in a certain respect produced for him by
other powers. On the other hand, the astral body is formed partly by
other powers, partly by man himself. That part of the astral body which
is formed by man himself becomes his karma. What he himself has worked
into it must have a karmic effect. This is the undying, the
non-transient in him. The physical body has come about through the karma
of other beings; but that part of man's astral body in which he has
worked since the Lemurian Age, that is his karma. Only when man through
his work has transformed the whole of his astral body, has he reached
the stage of freedom. Then the whole of his astral body is transmuted
from within. He is then entirely the result of his own activity, of his
karma.
If we select some particular stage of development we always find a
part of man's astral body which is his own work. That, however, which is
the result of his own work lives also in the etheric body and the
physical body. In the physical body lives what man has made out of
himself, through the physical body it lives in the physical world. He
would be unable to form concepts about the physical world if he did not
work in it through his organs. What man experiences in his astral body
he builds into himself. In what he observes in the physical world his
three sheaths are active. When for instance he sees a rose, all three
sheaths are engaged. To begin with he perceives red. In this the
physical body is engaged. In a camera obscura the rose makes the same
impression. Secondly, the rose is conceived in the etheric body as a
living idea. Thirdly, the rose gives pleasure to the person and in this
the astral body is engaged. These are the three stages of human
observation. Here the innermost part of man works through the three
bodies into the external world. What man takes in from the outer world,
he takes in through these three bodies.
Desire underlies all those things involving human activity or karma.
Man would have no reason to be active if he had no desires. He has
however the desire to take part in the world surrounding him. This is
why we also call his astral body his body of desires.
An inner connection exists between man's activity and his organs. He
needs his organs both for the lowest and the highest impulses. He also
needs them in art. When someone has once and for all absorbed everything
from the world, he has no further use for his organs. Between birth and
death man accustoms himself to perceive the world through his organs.
After death what he is thus accustomed to must slowly be put aside. If
he still wishes to make use of his organs to perceive the world, then he
finds himself in the condition which is called Kamaloka. It is a
condition in which there is still desire to perceive through the organs,
which however are no longer there. If after death a person could say
that he had no further desire to use his organs, Kamaloka would no
longer exist for him. In Devachan everything which man formerly
perceived around him with his organs, is there perceived from within
— without organs.
Karma, man's activity through the astral body, is something which
has not reached a state of balance. When however the activity gradually
comes into a state of balance, equilibrium is brought about. If one
strikes a pendulum it gradually reaches a state of balance. Every
activity which has not reached a state of balance finally comes to rest.
Irregularities which are few in number can be observed, but when they
are extremely numerous they balance each other. By means of an
instrument, for instance, one can observe the irregularities caused in a
town by electric trams. In a small town, where the trams are fewer the
instrument continually shows strong oscillations, but in a big town,
where the movement is greater and more frequent, the instrument is much
quieter, because the many irregularities equalise themselves. So it is
also in Devachan with each single irregularity.
In Devachan man looks into himself. He observes what he has taken
in. He must observe this for as long as is needed for it to reach a
rhythmical condition.
A stroke calls forth a counterstroke; but only through many
intermediate happenings does the counterstroke return. The effect
however persists during the intervening period. The inter-relationship
between stroke and counterstroke is worked over in Devachan and
transformed into wisdom. What has been worked over and transformed into
wisdom is metamorphosed in man into rhythm in contradistinction to
activity. What has been changed into rhythm passes over into the etheric
body. After Devachan one has become wiser and better because in Devachan
all experiences have been worked over. That part of the astral body,
which as vibrations has been worked into the etheric body, is immortal.
When a man dies that part of the astral body is preserved which he has
worked over and transformed, also the very small part of the etheric
body which has been worked through; the remaining part of the etheric
body is dissolved in the cosmic ether. In so far as this very small part
has been worked through, to that degree is his etheric body immortal.
Hence when he returns he again finds this small part of the etheric
body. What needs to be added to bring about completion determines the
duration of his sojourn in Devachan.
When a human being has progressed so far that he has transformed his
entire etheric body, Devachan is no longer necessary. This is the case
with the occult pupil who has perfected his development and who has
transformed his etheric body so that it remains intact after death and
has no need to pass through Devachan. This is called the renunciation of
Devachan. It is permissible to allow someone to work on one's etheric
body when one is certain that he no longer brings anything of evil into
the rest of the world; otherwise he would work his harmful instincts
into it. Under hypnosis it can happen that the one hypnotised works into
the world the harmful instincts of the hypnotist. In the case of normal
people the physical body prevents the etheric body from being dragged
and drawn hither and thither. When however the physical body is in a
state of lethargy it is possible for the etheric body to be worked into.
If one person hypnotises another and works harmful instincts into him,
these also remain with him after death. Many of the practices of black
magicians consisted in their creating willing servants by this means. It
is the rule of white magicians to allow nobody to have his etheric body
worked into unless by someone whose instincts have passed through
catharsis. In the etheric body rest and wisdom prevail. When something
bad enters into it, this element of evil comes to rest and therefore
endures.
Before the human being as pupil is led to that point at which of his
own choice he can work on his etheric body, he must at least, to a
certain extent be able to evaluate karma in order to achieve
self-knowledge. Meditation therefore should not be undertaken without
continual self-knowledge, self-observation. By this means, at the right
moment man will behold the Guardian of the Threshold: [8] the
karma which he has still to pay back. When one reaches this stage under
normal conditions it merely signifies the recognition of his still
existing karma. If I begin to work into my etheric body, I must make it
my aim to balance my still remaining karma. It can happen that the
Guardian of the Threshold appears in an abnormal way. This happens when
a person is so strongly attracted to one particular life between birth
and death, that because of the very slight degree of inner activity he
cannot remain long enough in Devachan. If someone has accustomed himself
to be too outward looking, he has nothing to see within. He then soon
comes back into physical life. His desires remain present, the short
Devachan is soon over, and when he returns, the collective form of his
earlier desires still exists in Kamaloka; he comes up against this also.
He incarnates. The old is then mingled with his new astral body. This is
his previous karma, the Guardian of the Threshold. He then has his
earlier karma continually before him. This is a specific form of the
Double.
Many of the popes of the notorious papal age, as for example
Alexander VI, have had such a Double in their next incarnation. There
are people, and at present this is not infrequent, who have their
previous lower nature continually beside them. That is a special kind of
insanity. It will become ever stronger and more threatening, because
materialistic life becomes ever more widespread. Many people who now
yield themselves up completely to materialistic life will in their next
incarnation have the abnormal form of the Guardian of the Threshold at
their side. If now the influence of spirituality were not to be very
strongly exercised, a kind of epidemic seeing of the Guardian of the
Threshold would arise as the result of the materialistic civilisation.
Of this the neurotic tendency of our century is the precursor. It is a
kind of losing oneself in the periphery. All the neurotics of today will
be harassed by the Guardian of the Threshold in their next incarnation.
They will be pursued by the difficulties of a too early incarnation, a
sort of cosmic premature birth. What we have to strive for in Theosophy
is a sufficiently long time in Devachan, in order to avoid too early
incarnations.
From this aspect we must consider the entrance of Christ into world
history. Previously, anyone who wished to achieve a life in Christ had
to enter into a Mystery school. There a state of lethargy was induced in
the physical body and only through the purified priesthood could there
be added to the astral body what was still needed for its purification.
This constituted initiation.
But through the coming of Christ into the world, it came about that
a man who felt himself drawn to Christ could receive from him something
which could take the place of this old form of initiation. It is always
possible that someone through union with Christ can preserve his astral
body in so purified a condition that he is able to work into his etheric
body without doing harm to the world. When one bears this in mind the
expression 'vicarious atonement through death' receives a
quite other significance. This is what is meant by the atoning death of
Christ. Before this, death in the Mysteries had to be suffered by
everyone who wished to obtain purification. Now the One suffered for
all, so that through the world-historic initiation a substitute has been
created for the old form of initiation. Through Christianity much that
is of a communal nature has been brought about, which previously was not
communal. The active power of this substitution is expressed in the fact
that through inner vision, through true mysticism, community with Christ
is possible. This has also been embodied in language. The first
Christian initiate in Europe, Ulfilas, himself embodied it in the German
language, in that man found the 'Ich' within it. Other
languages expressed this relationship through a special form of the
verb, in Latin for instance the word 'amo', but the German
language adds to it the Ich. 'Ich' is J. Ch. = Jesus Christ.
It was with intention that this was introduced into the German language.
It is the initiates who have created language. Just as in Sanskrit the
AUM expresses the Trinity, so we have the sign ICH to express the inmost
being of man. By this means a central point was created whereby the
tumultuous emotions of the world can be transformed into rhythm. Rhythm
must be instilled into them through the Ich. This centre point is
literally the Christ.
All western nations have developed activity, passionate desires. An
impulse must come from the East in order to bring into, them a more
tranquil condition. There is already a precursor of this in Tolstoi's
book, 'On Doing Nothing'. [9] In the activity of the West we find chaos in
many spheres. This is continually on the increase. The spirituality of
the East should bring a central point into the chaos of the West. What
throughout long periods of time had its function as karma, passes over
into wisdom. Wisdom is the daughter of karma. All karma finds its
compensation in wisdom. An initiate who has reached a certain stage of
development is called a Sun Hero, because his inner being has become
rhythmical. His life is an image of the sun which in its rhythmical
course traverses the heavens.
The word 'Aum' is the breath. The breath is related to the
word as the Holy Spirit is to Christ, as the Atma is to the I.
∴
Lecture 3
Berlin, 28th September 1905
There are three elements in evolution which must be differentiated:
form, life and consciousness. Today we will speak about the different
kinds of consciousness.
We can regard plants and lower animals as the means whereby higher
beings extend their senses into the world in order to behold this world
through them. Let us take our start from the sense organs of the plants.
When we speak of these we must be clear that we are not only dealing
with the sense organs of the single plants, but with beings in higher
worlds. The plants are, as it were, only the feelers which are extended
by the higher beings; they gain information through the plants.
All plants have cells, more especially at the root-tip but also in
other places, in which granules of starch are to be found. Even in
otherwise non-starch-containing plants, these starch granules appear at
the root-tips. Members of the lily family, for instance, which otherwise
contain no starch, possess these starch granules in the cells attached
to the roots. These starch granules are loose and movable, and the
important point is whether they are situated in one place or another.
Whenever a plant turns even slightly, one starch granule falls
towards the other side. This the plant cannot stand. It then turns again
in such a way that the granules come back to their right position. And
these starch granules actually lie in a symmetrical relationship to the
direction of the gravity of the earth. The plant grows upwards because
it senses the direction of gravity. By observing the starch granules at
the root-tips, we learn to recognise a kind of sense organ. This is for
a plant the sense of gravity. This sense belongs not only to the plant,
but to the soul of the whole earth, which orders the growth of the plant
in accordance with this sense.
This is of primary importance. The plant takes its direction in
accordance with gravity. Now if one takes a wheel, for instance a
water-wheel, into which plants can be inserted, and turns the wheel
together with the plants, another force is added to the force of
gravity: a revolving force. This is now in every part of the plant, and
its roots and stalks grow in the direction of the tangent of the wheel,
in the direction of the tangential force, not the force of gravity. In
accordance with this, the starch granules adjust their position.
Let us now consider the human ear. At first we have the outer
auditory passage, then the tympanum, and in the inner ear the little
auditory bones: hammer, anvil and stirrup — quite minute bones.
Hearing depends upon these little bones bringing the other organs into
vibration. Further in we find three semicircular membranous canals
arranged according to the three dimensions. These are filled with fluid.
Then we find, further within the ear, the labyrinth, a structure in the
form of a snail shell, filled with very fine little hairs. Each of these
is tuned, like the strings of a piano, to a particular pitch. The
labyrinth is connected with the auditory nerve that goes to the brain.
The three semicircular canals are especially interesting. They stand
in relation to one another in the three directions of space. They are
filled with little otoliths, similar to the starch granules of the
plant. When these are disturbed a person cannot hold himself erect or
walk in an upright position. In the case of fainting the rush of blood
to the head can cause a disturbance in the three canals. The sense of
direction in man depends on these three semicircular canals. This is the
same sense which in the plant, as sense of balance, is localised in the
root-tips. What occurs in the root-tips is, in the human being,
developed up above in the head.
In surveying the whole evolution: plant, animal, man, one discovers
definite relationships between them. The plant is reversed in man. The
direction of the animal lies midway between them. The plant has sunk its
roots into the earth and directs its sexual organs upward towards the
sun. If we turn the plant halfway round we have the animal. If we turn
it right round we have man. That is the original significance of the
cross; [11] plant kingdom, animal kingdom, human kingdom.
The plant sinks its roots into the earth. The animal is the
half-reversed plant. Man is the completely reversed plant. This is why
Plato says: 'The World Soul is stretched on the Cross of the World
Body.' [12]
In the plant the organ of direction lies in the root-tips. In man it
is in the head. What in man is the head, is the root in the case of the
plant. The reason, why in man the sense of direction is connected with
the sense of hearing, is that hearing is the sense which raises man into
a higher kingdom. The last faculty to be attained by man is the faculty
of speech. Again, speech is connected with the upright carriage, which
without the sense of direction or balance would not be possible. The
sound which man produces through speech is the active complement to the
passive sense of hearing. What in the plant is simply a sense of
orientation has become in man the sense of hearing, which bears within
itself the old sense of orientation in the three semicircular canals,
which are arranged in accordance with the three dimensions of space.
Every being possesses consciousness. This is also true of the plant,
but its consciousness lies on the devachanic plane, on the mental plane.
A diagram of the consciousness of the plant would have to be done in the
following way:
The plants can also speak and answer us, only we must learn to
observe them on the mental plane. There they tell us their own names.
Man's consciousness reaches down to the physical plane. Here his
consciousness depends upon the same organ with which the plant is made
fast to the earth. We first learn to know man in a true sense when we
see how he produces speech and in speech the word 'Ich' (I).
This 'I' has its roots in the mental plane. Without the
faculty of uttering the little word 'I' we might regard the
human form also as that of an animal.
The plant has its roots in the mental plane and man by means of his
organ of hearing is an inhabitant of the mental plane. This is why we
connect the 'Es denkt' ('it thinks') with speech.
The ear is a higher development of the sense of direction. Because man
in relation to the plant has reversed his position and turned again to
the spirit, he has in the organ of hearing the old residue of the sense
of direction. He gives himself his direction. These are therefore two
opposite kinds of consciousness: the plant's consciousness on the mental
plane and here the consciousness of man, who carries his being down from
the mental world into the physical world. This earthly consciousness of
man is called Kama-manas.
Each of the sense organs has a consciousness of its own. These
different forms of consciousness, the consciousness of the visible, the
audible, the sense of smell and so on, are brought together in the soul.
The consciousness only becomes 'manasic' when its separate
forms are gathered together in the centre of the soul. Without this
integration man would fall apart into the consciousness of his organs.
These were originally fashioned through the solar plexus, through the
sympathetic nervous system. When man himself was a sort of plant, he too
was not yet conscious on the physical plane. At that time the higher
consciousness first developed the organs.
In a condition of deep trance the central consciousness is silenced.
Then the separate organs are conscious and the person begins to see with
the pit of the stomach and the solar plexus. Such a consciousness was
possessed by the Seeress of Prevost. [13] She describes correctly light forms which are however
only to be observed by the consciousness of the organs. The lowest
consciousness is that of the minerals. A somewhat more centralised
consciousness, one more like the consciousness of present day man, is
the astral consciousness. The development of consciousness in the whole
astral body finds its expression in the spinal cord. Then a person
perceives the world in pictures. Only those people whose physical brain
does not operate have such a consciousness. Idiots, for instance, see
the world in pictures; their soul life is analogous to dream life. They
can only say that they know nothing of what is going on around them.
Other beings in the world have a similar consciousness.
When someone develops astral consciousness, so that he experiences
dreams consciously, he can undertake the following: Let us assume that
we are in a position to develop this consciousness and imagine ourselves
standing before the flower called Venus Fly Trap. If we gaze at it long
enough and let it work upon us quite exclusively there comes the moment
when we have the feeling that the centre of consciousness sinks down
from the head and creeps into the plant. [14] One is then conscious in the plant and sees the world
through it. One must transfer one's consciousness, into the plant. Then
one becomes aware of how things appear to the astral perception of this
being. One then experiences this soul. A sensitive plant's consciousness
is quite similar to that of an idiot; not a purely mental consciousness.
Such a plant has brought consciousness down to the astral plane. Thus
there are two kinds of plants; those which only have their consciousness
on the mental plane, and those which have it also on the astral plane.
Certain kinds of animals also have a consciousness on the astral
plane, which is likewise the plane of idiot consciousness. Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky mentions especially certain Indian night insects,
nocturnal moths. Spiders also have an astral consciousness; [15] the
delicate spider webs are actually spun out of the astral plane. The
spiders are merely the instruments of astral activity. The ants too,
like the spiders have a consciousness on the astral plane. There the ant
heaps have their soul. This is why the behaviour of the ants is so
precisely regulated. [16]
The minerals also have consciousness. This lies on the higher mental
plane, in higher regions than that of the plant. Blavatsky calls it
Kama-prana consciousness. Man too can later achieve this consciousness
while retaining his present state of consciousness undisturbed. He then
no longer needs to enter into a physical body, no longer needs to be
incarnated. The stones are below on the physical plane and their
consciousness is in the higher regions of the mental plane. The crystals
are ordered from above. When a man is able to raise his consciousness to
this level he then forms his physical body for himself out of the
minerals of the world.
The three parts of the brain (thinking, feeling, willing) must later
become completely separated. Then man's consciousness must be master of
his brain, as in an ant heap a higher consciousness rules. But as in the
ant heap, one can separate the workers, the males and females from one
another, so, later, a complete separation into three parts can also take
place in the brain. Then man becomes a planetary spirit, a creator who
brings things into being. As the Earth Spirit builds the crust of the
earth, so at that stage man also will build a planet. For this he must
have a Kama-pranasic consciousness. Today he has only a Kama-manasic
consciousness. This consists in the consciousness of the organs being
saturated, impregnated with understanding (Manas). The consciousness
becomes, as Blavatsky says, rationalised. The process of rationalisation
is brought about during the ascent from animal to man.
Organ-consciousness by itself can recognise the objective, but does not
know the means whereby it can be achieved. Rationalised consciousness
can direct the means. Blavatsky says quite rightly: 'A dog, for
instance, which is shut into a room has the instinct to get out, but he
cannot do this because his instinct is not as yet sufficiently imbued
with understanding to enable him to take the necessary steps; whereas
man immediately grasps the situation and frees himself.' We
therefore differentiate with Blavatsky:
The organic consciousness possessed by the
organs.
The astral consciousness possessed by animals, certain
plants and idiots.
The kama-pranasic consciousness of the
stones, also to be achieved later by man.
The kama-manasic
consciousness, dependent on understanding.
In this way one must differentiate the members of the cross of
world-existence.
The real meaning of the cross is infinitely deep. The old sagas also
are pictures, drawn out of such depths. A great service was bestowed on
the human soul by the sagas, as long as man in earlier times could
understand their truths in his feeling life. An example of this is the
old saga of the sphinx. [17] The sphinx propounded
the riddle: In the morning it goes on four, at mid-day on two and in the
evening on three. What is that? It is man. To begin with, in the morning
of the earth, man in his animal state went on fours. The front limbs
were at that time organs of movement. He then raised himself to the
upright position. The limb system separated off into two categories and
the organs divided into the physical-sensible and the spiritual organs.
He then went on two. In the distant future the lower organs will fall
away and also the right hand. Only the left hand and the two petalled
lotus flower will remain. Then he goes on three. That is why the Vulcan
human being limps. [18] His legs are in retrogression; they cease to have
significance. At the end of evolution, in the Vulcan metamorphosis of
the Earth, man will be the three-membered being that the saga indicates
as the ideal.
∴
Lecture 4
Berlin, 29th September 1905
We have spoken about the consciousness of the different kingdoms of
nature. Man's organs have an organ-consciousness; this consciousness
develops an abnormal condition in idiots. It is the consciousness
possessed by nocturnal insects, ants, spiders and so on. We find a
totally different consciousness in the case of bees. We will use the
example of bees in order to show how one arrives at such truths and then
can make use of them to find one's bearings in the world.
An occult schooling is something completely different from our usual
schooling. It does not start by cramming into the pupils a great deal of
educational matter. In a strict occult schooling the pupil receives no
educational matter whatever, but is given a pregnant sentence filled
with inner power. So it was also in earlier times. The pupil had to
meditate on the sentence in a state of complete inner calm, through
which eventually he became inwardly suffused with light, completely
illuminated. When a person has advanced to the stage of seeing into his
inner self, he can sink his consciousness into other beings. For this he
must have gained control of the point midway between the eyes and from
there direct his consciousness downward into the heart. Then he can
transfer his consciousness into other things; for example, he can then
investigate what lives in an ant heap. Then he can also perceive the
life in a beehive. Here however a phenomenon presents itself which is
otherwise not to be experienced on earth. In the way a beehive functions
one experiences something which is outside our earthly existence,
something which is not found anywhere else on earth. What takes place on
the other planets cannot be discovered merely by thinking. One cannot
for example experience what is taking place on the Sun or Venus if one
is unable to transfer one's consciousness into the life and functioning
of a colony of bees. The bee has not gone through the whole course of
evolution as we have. From the outset it has not been connected with the
same evolutionary sequence as the other animals and man. The
consciousness of the beehive, not of the single bee, is immensely lofty.
The wisdom of this consciousness will only be attained by man in the
Venus existence. Then he will have the consciousness which is necessary
in order to build with a substance which he creates out of his own
being. The ants build the ant heap out of all sorts of things, but as
yet build no cells. The building of cells is on higher planes something
absolutely different. Through transferring one's consciousness into the
beehive, through taking on the Venus consciousness, one learns something
entirely different from anything else on earth, the complete recession
of the element of sex. With the bees what is sexual is vested only in
the one queen. The kama-sexuality is almost entirely eliminated; the
drones are killed. Here we have the prototype of something which will
actually be accomplished in a future humanity, when work is the highest
principle. It is only through the impulse of the spirit that one gains
the faculty of transferring oneself into the community of the bees.
In order to progress further, let us now come to a true concept of
alchemy. As late as the 18th century one could read in the German paper
'Reichsanzeiger' articles on alchemy. Kortum, the poet who
wrote 'Jobsiade' [19] was one of the most significant
alchemists of the 18th century. At that time a number of articles dealt
with the so-called 'Urmaterie' (primal matter), bringing this
into connection with the Philosopher's stone. Kortum, who was deeply
immersed in these things, said at that time: To search for the
Philosopher's stone is very difficult, but it is everywhere, you meet it
every day, are well acquainted with it, you make use of it constantly,
but do not know that it is the Philosopher's Stone. This is an apt
description.
In Nature everything is ordered with infinite wisdom, with an
infinitely wise economy. All living beings possessing Kama (astrality)
— animals and men, and all etheric living beings — plants
— are inter-related. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbonic
acid. The animals do this also. Now if this were simply to continue, the
air would soon be quite full of carbonic acid. But the plants assimilate
carbonic acid and breathe out oxygen. Animals and men cannot live
without plants. Now carbonic acid consists of carbon and oxygen. The
plants retain the carbon and breathe out the oxygen. Man on the other
hand takes in the oxygen and through his life processes transforms it
into carbonic acid by uniting it with carbon. The plants build up their
bodily form out of the carbon which they have retained.
In earlier times the appearance of the Earth was quite different
from what it is now. Then, even in our districts there grew forests of
gigantic ferns and horsetails, (equisetums). These disappeared. At first
the Earth became covered with a layer of peat, the remains of the dead
plants; then the former forests of fern and equisetums were transformed
into the immense coal fields of the Earth. The rock formations developed
gradually, either from the plant kingdom or the animal kingdom. When one
looks at a lump of coal one can say to oneself: This was once plant. If
one were to go still further back one would also be able to find the
plants out of which rock-crystals, malachite and so on developed. The
central zone of the Alps arose out of the primeval plants before coal. A
diamond is exactly the same as a piece of coal. Nature has created the
diamond from a coal still older than that which we have today. This rock
crystal also has arisen out of plants.
Limestone is derived from animals. The Juras, for example, consist
of such an accumulation of calcium. They were previously covered by the
sea and are formed from the cast-off shells of sea-creatures. Thus the
younger limestone mountains have arisen out of animals and the primeval
rocks out of plants. The plant kingdom gradually passes over into the
mineral kingdom. Everything solid on the earth has arisen out of a
"plant-earth". This mineralising process can be studied
through the development of coal out of plants.
The mineral kingdom in its present state of separation only came
into existence during the Fourth Round. After this, the entire mineral
kingdom will be spiritualised by man. He transforms it with the
'plough of his spirit'. Everything that man does today, the
entire world of industry, is the transformation of the mineral kingdom.
When someone quarries a rock in order to use the stones for the building
of a house, when he builds a cathedral, all this changes the nature of
the mineral kingdom by artificial means. In the Fourth Round man can
work upon the mineral kingdom in this way. With the plant, on the
contrary, he can as yet do nothing of this kind. The whole mineral
kingdom will be transformed by man. To a great extent this will be
brought about by oscillating electricity no longer requiring wires. Here
man will be working right into the molecules and atoms. At the end of
the Fourth Round he will have transformed the entire mineral kingdom.
From the Fifth Round onwards man will do the same with the plant
kingdom. He will be able consciously to carry out the process which is
now carried out by the plant. As the plant takes in carbonic acid and
builds up its body from the carbon, so the human being of the Fifth
Round will himself create his body out of the materials of his
environment. Sex will cease to exist. Man will then himself have to work
on his body, will have to produce it for himself. The same process of
transforming carbon, which the plant now carries out unconsciously, will
then be carried out consciously by man. [20] He will then transform matter just as today the
plant transforms the air into carbon. That is the true alchemy. Carbon
is the Philosopher's Stone. The man of the 18th century who pointed this
out was indicating the transformation which is now carried out by the
plants and which later will be carried out by man.
When from the higher planes one studies consciousness as it
functions in the beehive, one learns how later on man will produce
matter out of himself. In the future the human body will also be built
up out of carbon; it will then be like a soft diamond. Then one will no
longer inhabit the body from within, but will have it before one as an
external body. Today the planets are built up in this way by the
planetary spirits. From a being requiring a body produced by others, man
will transform himself into a being who manifests himself through
emanation. At that time he will consist of three members: 'Man in
the evening who goes on three', as the Sphinx says. The original
four organs have undergone metamorphosis. At first the hands were also
organs of movement. Then they became organs for the spiritual. In the
future only three organs will remain; the heart as Buddhi-organ, the
two-petalled lotus-flower between the eyes, and the left hand as the
organ of movement. This future state is also related to Blavatsky's
indication (of a second spinal column). The pineal gland and the
pituitary gland organise a second spinal column which later unites
itself with the first. The second spinal column will descend in front
from the head.
To arrive at such guiding threads as these, one must bring one's
consciousness into a state of being which is at a higher level than we
normally have at the present stage of earthly evolution.
All this was taught in the Mystery Schools and in a certain way, put
to practical use. One must accustom oneself to developing one's way of
thinking, and then one will develop in oneself a feeling that nothing is
valueless, but that everything has its own inherent value. There is
nothing in all Nature that we can obliterate through thinking without
thereby disturbing Nature as a whole.
The ant heap also has a much higher consciousness than present-day
man. The consciousness of the ant heap is to be found in the higher
regions of the Mental Plane. On the other hand the consciousness of the
bees is to be found in the higher regions of the Buddhi plane. How then
did the ant-consciousness enter into our Earth? This took place through
beings who stand higher than we do who had already gone through the
process of creating their body for themselves. Males, females and
workers, the three members of the ant heap, comprise the body of a
higher spiritual being. The human spirit also comes gradually to the
point of dividing itself into three parts. Willing, feeling and thinking
become separated in the case of the esoteric pupil. The molecules of the
brain divide into three groups. The esoteric pupil must then out of
himself connect a definite feeling with a mental picture. When he sees
suffering, in order to experience pity, he must consciously add this
feeling to it. To the front of the head lies the thinking part, above,
the part of feeling, to the back of the head that of willing. The
esoteric pupil learns to bring these consciously into connection with
one another. Later these three parts become completely separated. [21] He must then control the three parts in
the same way as an ant heap controls the males, females and workers.
Now we can ask why higher beings manifest themselves in an ant heap.
But if formic acid had not been introduced, the whole earth would have
been different. The foreseeing wisdom of Higher Intelligences was aware
of the moment when formic acid had to be brought into the earth.
Thus we can gain a comprehensive understanding of the whole earth,
so that we know and recognise what lives and has its being within it.
This was the case with Paracelsus, who built up his concepts in such a
way that he perceived how things could be used as remedies because he
knew in what relationship they stood to man and his organs. For
instance, Digitalis purpurea (foxglove) is connected with the heart and
can therefore still be rightly used as a heart remedy. Nowadays new
remedies are sought by means of experiment, in which one tests their
effects on a number of people. In those days remedies were sought
through intuition, because their inner connections were observed.
Remedies discovered in this way always retain their effect, whereas with
the others, in the course of time after-effects usually show themselves,
which eluded observation when the experiments were first carried out.
∴
Lecture 5
Berlin, 30th September 1905
It is always stressed that in order to progress in occult matters
one should be as positive as possible and as little as possible
negative; that one should speak less about what is not, than about what
is. When this is practised in ordinary life it is a preparation for work
in the sphere of the occult. The occultist must not ask: Has the stone
life? but: Where is the life of the stone? Where is the consciousness of
the mineral kingdom to be found? That is the highest form of
non-criticism. Particularly in regard to the highest questions this is
the attitude of mind that must be cultivated.
In ordinary life we differentiate three bodily conditions: the
solid, the fluid and the gaseous or airy. The solid must be
distinguished from the mineral. Air and water are also mineral.
Theosophical writings add to these, four other finer conditions of
matter. The first element which is finer than the air is the one which
causes it to expand, which always increases its spatial content. What
expands the air in this way is warmth; it is really a fine etheric
substance, the first grade of ether, the Warmth Ether. Now follows the
second kind of ether, the Light Ether. Bodies which shine send out a
form of matter which is described in Theosophy as Light Ether. The third
kind of ether is the bearer of everything which gives form to the finest
matter, the formative ether, which is also called the Chemical Ether. It
is this ether which brings about the union of oxygen and hydrogen. And
the finest of all the ethers is that which constitutes life: Prana, or
Life Ether.
Science throws together all four kinds of ether. Nevertheless it
will gradually distinguish them in this way. Our description tallies
with that of the Rosicrucians, while Indian literature speaks of four
different grades of ether.
To begin with, let us take everything that is solid. What is solid
has apparently no life. When one transposes oneself into the life of the
solid, which becomes possible through living in waking consciousness in
the condition described as the dream world, and when one then seeks to
discover the solid, for instance by entering into a rocky mountain
landscape, then one feels in oneself that one's own life is altered, one
feels life rippling through one. One is not there with consciousness,
but with one's own life, the etheric body; one is then at a place, in a
condition which is called the Maha-para-nirvana plane. On this
Maha-para-nirvana plane the life of the solid is to be found. This plane
is the other pole of the solid. Through life on the Maha-para-nirvana
plane one acquired another means of perception. When one returns one has
experienced the activity of beings in the Maha-para-nirvana plane. It is
there that the solid stone has its life.
Secondly there follows what is fluid, water. When in the dream
condition one transposes oneself into the sea, then one becomes imbued
with the life of the fluid, on the Para-nirvana plane. Through this
procedure one learns to know something of the different planes.
Thirdly, when one transposes oneself in dream into the air-forming
element, one finds oneself on the Nirvana plane. Nirvana means
literally, 'to be extinguished', as one extinguishes a fire.
When one seeks for life in it, one is with one's own life on the Nirvana
plane. Man breathes in the air. When he experiences in himself the life
of the air, then that is the way to reach the Nirvana plane. This is the
reason for the breathing exercises of the Yogis. No one can attain to
the Nirvana plane if he does not actually practise breathing exercises.
They are only Hatha-Yoga exercises when they are carried out on the
wrong level. Otherwise they are Raja-Yoga exercises. One actually
inhales life: the Nirvana plane.
Fourthly, below the Nirvana plane is the Buddhi or Shushupti plane.
There warmth has its life. When Buddhi is developed in man, all Kama is
transformed into selflessness, into love. Those animals which develop no
warmth are also without passion. At higher levels man must again achieve
this passionless condition, because he has his life on the Shushupti
plane.
Fifthly comes the Devachan or Mental plane; hence the inner
connection between wisdom and light. When in dream consciousness one
experiences the light, one experiences wisdom within it. This was always
the case when God revealed himself in the light. In the burning thorn
bush, that is to say, in the light, Jehovah appeared to Moses in order
to reveal wisdom.
The sixth is the astral plane. On this plane the chemical ether has
its life. A somnambulist perceives on the astral plane the qualities of
the chemicals, the chemical characteristics, because here the chemical
ether actually has its life.
The seventh is the physical plane. There the life ether lives in its
own element. With the life ether one perceives life. This ether is also
called the atomic ether, because on this plane it has its own life, its
own central point. What lives on a particular plane has on this same
plane its central point.
As an actual fact everything we have around us contains the seven
planes. We must only ask: Where has each element, the solid, the
gaseous, etc., its life?
We have now heard that warmth has its own life on the Buddhi or the
Shushupti plane. Thus between all things definite relationships exist.
Very striking is the relationship between the ear and speech. In
evolution the ear was present much earlier than speech. The ear is the
receptive organ; speech is the organ which produces sound. These two,
ear and speech, essentially belong together. Sound as it manifests is
the result of vibrations in the air, and each single sound arises from a
particular vibration. When you study what exists outside, outside
yourself, as sound, then you are studying the arithmetic of the air.
Undifferentiated space would be soundless. Space which is
arithmetically organised produces sound. Here we have an example of how
one can look into the Akashic Record. If one can rise to the perception
of the inner arithmetic which is preserved from sound in space, then at
any time one can hear again a sound which someone has spoken. For
instance one can hear what was spoken by Caesar at the crossing of the
Rubicon. The inner arithmetic of sound is still present in the Akashic
Record. Sound corresponds to something we call Manas. What the ear
experiences as sound is the wisdom of the world. In the perception of
sound one hears the wisdom of the world. In the act of speaking one
brings forth the wisdom of the world. What is arithmetical in our speech
remains in the Akashic Record. When he hears or speaks man expresses
himself directly in wisdom. At the present time thinking is the form in
which man can bring his will to expression in speech. Today it is only
in thinking that we can unfold the will. Only later will it be possible
for man, rising above the level of thought, to unfold the will in
speech.
The next step is connected with warmth. Man's activity is to be
sought in what streams out from him as inner warmth. Out of what
proceeds from warmth: passions, impulses, instincts, desires, wishes and
so on, Karma arises. Just as the parallel organ to the ear is the organ
of speech, so the parallel organ to the warmth of the heart is the
pituitary gland, the Hypophysis. The heart takes up the warmth from
outside, as the ear does sound. Thereby it perceives world warmth. The
corresponding organ which we must have, in order to be able to produce
warmth consciously, is the pituitary gland in the head, which at the
present time is only at the beginning of its development. Just as one
perceives with the ear and produces with the larynx, so one takes up the
warmth of the world in the heart and lets it stream forth again through
the pituitary gland in the brain. Once this capacity has been achieved,
the heart will have become the organ it was intended to be. There is a
reference to this in words from 'Light on the Path': [22] 'Before the soul can
stand in the presence of the Masters, its feet must be washed in the
blood of the heart.' Then our heart's blood streams out as today
our words stream out into the world. In the future, warmth of soul will
flood over mankind.
Somewhat deeper in evolution than the warmth organ stands the organ
of sight. In the course of evolution the organs of hearing, warmth and
sight, follow in sequence; the organ of sight is only at the stage of
receiving, but the ear already perceives, for instance in the sound of a
bell, its innermost being. Warmth must flow from the being itself. The
eye has only an image, the ear has the perception of innermost reality.
The perception of warmth is the receiving of something that rays
outwards. There is an organ which will also become the active organ of
vision. This is today germinally present in the pineal gland, the
Epiphysis, the organ which will give reality to the images which today
are produced by the eye. These two organs, the pineal gland and the
pituitary gland as active organs, must develop into the organ of vision
(eye) and the organ of warmth (heart). Today fantasy is the preliminary
stage leading to a later power of creation. Now man has at most
imagination. Later he will have magical power. This is the Kriya-shakti
power. It develops in proportion to the physical development of the
pineal gland.
In the reciprocal relationship between ear and larynx we have a
prophetic model (Vorbild). Thinking will later be interpenetrated with
warmth, and still later man himself will learn to create. First he
learns to create a picture; then to create and send forth radiations;
then to create beings. Freemasonry calls these three forces wisdom,
semblance (beauty) and power. (See Goethe's Fairy Tale.) [23]
Warmth has its life on the Shushupti plane. To make conscious use of
this is possible for one who understands and controls the life of
warmth, as in a certain sense man today controls the life of the air. In
his development man must now approach the forces of the Shushupti plane
(Buddhi-Manas). The Fifth Sub-Race has mainly the task of developing
Kama-Manas. One finds Manas in everything which is placed in the service
of the human spirit. Our age has placed its highest powers at the
service of these needs, whereas the animal is satisfied without such
achievements.
Now however Buddhi-Manas must also begin its development. Man must
learn something beyond speech. Another force must be united with speech,
such as we find in the writings of Tolstoi. It is not so much a matter
of what he says, but that behind what he says stands an elemental force
that has in it something of Buddhi-Manas, which must now enter into our
civilisation. Tolstoi's writings work so powerfully because they are
consciously opposed to West[ern] European culture and contain something
new and elemental. A certain barbarism which is still contained in them
will later be brought into balance. Tolstoi is just a small instrument
of a higher spiritual power which also stood behind the Gothic initiate
Ulfilas. This spiritual power uses Tolstoi as its instrument.
∴
Lecture 6
Berlin, 1st October 1905
Today we will take as our subject the different ranks of beings to
which man belongs. Man, as he is at present is a developing being who
was not always as he is now. There are not only stages of development
lying before and behind him, but also beings co-existent with him, just
as the child today has the old man beside him who is at another stage of
development. Today we will deal with seven ranks of beings, and in this
connection we must clearly differentiate between receptive and creative
beings.
Let us take as an example a colour which we perceive with our eyes,
for instance red or green. In this respect we are receptive beings. The
colour must however first be produced in order that we may perceive it;
we must therefore be confronted with another being who produces the
colour, for instance red. Through this we recognise the different stages
of beings. If we put together everything which approaches our senses,
there must also be a soul to receive it; but conversely something must
also be present in order that the sense impressions may be brought to
us. There are beings who can manifest. These have a more god-like or
deva-character. Beings whose nature is more adapted to receiving have a
more element[al] character. God-like beings are of a manifesting nature.
Elemental beings are of a receptive nature.
Here, in this domain, we have the creative wisdom which manifests
outwardly, and the wisdom which is received by the human soul. Wisdom is
in the light and discloses itself in all sense impressions. Behind what
is revealed we must assume the revealers, beings of will nature; wisdom
is that which is revealed.
Man is both receptive and creative. On the one hand, for instance
with regard to all sense impressions, he is receptive, with regard to
thinking however he is creative. Nothing gives rise to thoughts unless
he first produces perceptions. Thus he is on the one hand a receptive
being and on the other hand a creative being. This is an important
difference. Let us imagine that man were to be in a position to create
everything he perceives, sounds, colours and so on, just as today he
creates thoughts. Today he is only creative in one sphere, in thinking,
and in order to have perceptions he needs creative beings around him. In
bringing forth his own being he was at first creative. In the beginning
he himself created his own organism. For this he now needs other beings.
Now man must incarnate in a bodily form determined from outside. Here he
is closer to the elemental beings than to the sphere of perception and
thinking.
Let us imagine for once that man were able to bring forth sounds,
colours and other sense perceptions and also his own being. Then we
should have the human being as he was before the Lemurian race, who is
called the "pure" man. Man becomes impure through the fact
that he does not produce his own being, but incorporates something other
into his nature. This pure man was called Adam Cadmon. When at the
beginning of Genesis the Bible speaks of man, it speaks of this pure
human being. This human being had as yet nothing kamic (astral) within
him. Desire first appeared after he had incorporated other elements into
himself. Thus there arose the second stage of humanity, the kama-rupic
man (man with an astral body). The higher animal is to be seen as at a
lower stage of this development. Without warm blood no beings can
possess an independent Kama-rupa (astral body). All warm-blooded animals
are derived from man.
Thus to begin with we have the pure man who up to the Lemurian Age
actually led a super-sensible existence and brought forth out of himself
everything that lived and was part of him.
Present day cold-blooded animals and the plants have developed in a
different way from the warm-blooded animals. Those which exist today are
remnants of strange, gigantic beings. Some of these can be verified by
science. They are decadent animals which are descended from those which
the pure man made use of in order to incarnate in them, so that he might
have a body for what is kamic (astral). At first the pure man had found
no means of incarnating on the earth. He still hovered above what was
manifested. From among these huge, powerful beings (animals) man made
use of the most developed in order to incarnate in them. He attached
himself to these beings and thereby he was in a position to bring into
them his own Kama (astral body). Some of these beings developed further
and then became the animals of Atlantis and present day humanity.
However it was not possible for all of them to adapt themselves. Those
who failed became the lower vertebrate animals; kangaroos for instance
are such attempts as proved unsuccessful on the way to becoming man
— like pottery vessels which are rejected and left behind.
Now man tried to introduce Kama into the animal forms. Kama is first
to be found in the human form, in actual fact in the heart, in the warm
blood and in the circulation of the blood. Attempts were made again and
again and in this way there was an ascent from stage to stage. We see
unsuccessful attempts for instance in the sloths, the kangaroos, the
beasts of prey, the monkeys and apes. All these remained behind on the
way. The warm-blooded animals are unsuccessful attempts to become human
forms endowed with Kama. Everything in them which is of the nature of
Kama, man also could have within himself; but he unloaded it into them,
for he was unable to use this kind of Kama. There is an important occult
axiom: Every quality has two opposite poles. So we find, just as
positive and negative electricity complement one another, so we have
warmth and cold, day and night, light and darkness and so on. In the
same way every Kamic quality also has two opposite aspects. For instance
man has cast rage out of himself into the lion, and this, on the other
hand, when ennobled by him, can lead him upward to his higher self.
Passion should not be annihilated, but purified. The negative pole must
be led upwards to a higher stage. This purifying of passion, this
leading upwards of its negative aspect was called by the Pythagoreans
catharsis. At first man had within him the rage of the lion and the
cunning of the fox. Thus the kingdom of the warm-blooded animals is a
comprehensive picture of Kama qualities. Today the opinion is commonly
held that the 'Tat twam asi' ('That art thou'), is
to be understood as something general and undefined, but one must
conceive something quite definite underlying it. Thus in the case of the
lion man must say to himself: That art thou. We have therefore in the
kingdom of the warm-blooded animals spread out before us the kama-rupic
human being. Previously there only existed the pure man: Adam Cadmon.
The philosopher of natural science, Oken, who in the first half of
the 19th century was a professor in Jena, was acquainted with all these
ideas and expressed them in a grotesque way in order to nudge people to
attention. Here we find an example which points to a still earlier stage
of human development, before man separated off from himself the kingdom
of the cold-blooded animals. Oken connected the cuttlefish with the
human tongue. In this analogy of the tongue with the cuttlefish one can
find an occult significance. Now we also have beings who for the first
time are, as it were, being conjured up as by-products. Man has ejected
from himself the cunning of the fox and retained its opposite pole. In
the fox's cunning however the germ of something else is beginning to
develop, for example something similar to the way in which the black
shadow of an object has a secondary shadow when light enters it from
outside. We incorporated cunning into the fox out of our inner being.
Now spirit is directed towards him from the periphery. The beings which
in this way work from the periphery into what is kamic are elemental
beings. What the fox has received from us, is in him animal; what coming
from outside attaches itself to him from the spirit, is elemental being.
On the one hand he originated through the spirit of humanity and on the
other hand through an Elemental being.
Thus we differentiate: firstly, elemental beings, secondly, the
kama-rupic man, thirdly, the pure man, fourthly, the man who in a
certain respect has overcome the pure man, who has taken into himself
what is outside and around him and is creatively active. He has
contacted and taken into himself everything which is around him in
earthly existence. This gives him the plans, the directions, the laws
which create life. Once man was perfect and he will become so again. But
there is a great difference between what he was and what he will become.
What is around him in the outer world will later become his spiritual
possession. What he has won for himself on the Earth will later become
the faculty of being creatively active. This will then have become his
innermost being. One who has absorbed all earthly experiences, so that
he knows how to make use of every single thing and has thus become a
creator, is called a Bodhisattva, which means a man who has taken into
himself to a sufficient degree the Bodhi, the Buddhi of the earth. Then
he is advanced enough to work creatively out of his innermost impulses.
The wise men of the earth are not yet Bodhisattvas. [24] Even for such a
one there always remain things to which he is still unable to orient
himself. Only when one has absorbed into oneself the entire knowledge of
the Earth, in order to be able to create, only then is one a
Bodhisattva; Buddha, Zarathustra, for example, were Bodhisattvas.
When man ascends still further in evolution, so that he is not only
a creator on the Earth, but possesses forces which reach out above the
Earth, only then is he free to choose either to use these higher forces
or to work further with them on the Earth. In this case he can bring
into the Earth something coming from higher worlds. Such an epoch
occurred before man began to incarnate, in the last third of the
Lemurian Age. The human being had developed his physical, etheric and
astral bodies. He had brought these members of his being with him from
an earlier Earth evolution. The two next impulses, Kama and Manas, he
could not have found on the Earth; they do not lie in its evolutionary
sequence. The first new impulse (Kama) was only to be found as a force
on Mars. It was added shortly before man incarnated. The second impulse
(Manas) came from Mercury in the fifth sub-race of the Atlanteans, with
the original Semites. The stimulus of these new principles had to be
brought to the Earth from other planets through still higher beings,
through the Nirmana-kayas. From Mars they added Kama, from Mercury
Manas. The Nirmana-kayas are yet another stage higher than the
Bodhisattvas. The latter are able to order evolution which has
continuity; but they cannot bring into it what comes from other regions,
this can only be done by the Nirmana-kayas. [In] yet another stage
higher than the Nirmana-kayas, stand those beings who are called Pitris.
Pitris = Fathers. For the Nirmana-kayas can indeed bring something
coming from other regions into evolution, but they cannot sacrifice
themselves, sacrifice themselves as substance, so that on the following
planet they can bring forth a new cycle. This can be done by the Pitris,
beings who had evolved on the Moon and had now come over; they became
the activating impulse towards Earth evolution. When man has gone
through every possible experience, then he is in a position to become a
Pitri. The next and even higher stage, the last that it is possible to
mention, is that of the Gods themselves.
Thus we have seven ranks of beings: Firstly the Gods, secondly
Pitris, thirdly Nirmana-kayas, fourthly Bodhisattvas, fifthly pure human
beings, sixthly human beings, seventhly elemental beings. This is the
sequence of which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky speaks.
Now we can add the question: What kind of organ is it which has made
man kama-rupic? It is the heart with the veins and the blood that
pulsates through the body. The heart has a physical part and an etheric
part. Aristotle [25] speaks about this, for in earlier times it
was only the etheric man which was held to be important. The heart has
also an astral part. The etheric heart is connected with the
twelve-petalled lotus flower. Not all the physical organs have an astral
part; for example the gall bladder is only physical and etheric, the
astral is lacking.
∴
Lecture 7
Berlin, 2nd October 1905
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, in the Secret Doctrine, called Jehovah a
Moon God. [26] There is a deep reason underlying this. In order to
understand it we must be clear about the further development of man. In
man as he is today, his higher forces are intermingled. His further
development depends on the emergence of his higher self from the sheath
of the lower forces and organs.
The brain is divided into three actual parts: into thinking, feeling
and willing sections. Later these three parts, like the three divisions
of an ant-heap, will be directed by man from outside. The parts,
however, from which the higher has been withdrawn do not remain as they
are today, but they then descend a further stage lower. This is the
reason why many people practicing a one-sided spiritual development
suffer a moral decline. In the case of western cultural life there is
less danger of this, for western science does not yet compel the higher
things of the mind to rise up out of the lower body. Through Theosophy,
on the other hand, man actually absorbs a wisdom through which the ego
is partially torn out of the usual environment of the organs. It can
happen that when a person who, through his conventional milieu had
observed ordinary moral standards, takes up theosophical teachings, his
worser qualities, which up to that time had remained hidden, actually
make their appearance. Frequently the lower comes to the surface because
one occupies oneself with spiritual things without at the same time
strengthening one's morality. This fact brings with it a certain
tragedy. Certain men of academic standing, who in the sphere of western
knowledge had been quite admirable people, suffered through having come
into the Theosophical Society; in their case the lower nature made its
appearance without being mastered by the higher.
The same law is also to be found on a larger scale. The beings whom
we meet with on the Old Moon had not as yet incorporated their power of
thinking in a physical brain. The power of thinking in the case of the
Moon-Nirmana-kayas, Bodhisattvas, Pitris and pure human beings did not
yet work in a physical brain but in the ether masses surrounding them.
On the Old Moon the environment consisted not only of air, but also of
ether filled with wisdom. On the Old Moon thoughts were not in the
individual beings but they flew hither and thither in the ether. In
occultism therefore the Old Moon is also called the Cosmos of Wisdom.
[27] The Old Moon was surrounded
by Warmth Ether and other forms of ether. In these ethers lived
intelligence and reason, as they now live in the human brain. Underlying
this however there was development. At the beginning of the Moon
evolution wisdom still impressed itself into beautiful forms. The beings
who only possessed the lower human members, physical body, etheric body
and astral body, were directed by these streams of wisdom. In the course
of further development the three lower bodies descended more deeply.
When the Old Moon evolution came to an end the beings who were wise, but
did not possess wisdom in a brain, had progressed so far that they could
completely relinquish these lower bodies. These beings who had now
become Pitris and who no longer needed to enter into such physical,
etheric and astral bodies, were the hosts of the Elohim in different
stages. The lowest rank of these Elohim is the Jehovah stage. Jehovah
therefore is an actual Moon divinity, who on the Old Moon passed through
physical development. Nevertheless on the Moon he was never able to work
on the physical surroundings, using a brain as the vehicle of thought.
Only his physical, etheric and astral bodies had worked on the physical
environment. This however he did through pictures. Thinking hovered
above. The name Jehovah does not designate a single being, but a rank in
the order of the hierarchies. Many beings can take on the Jehovah rank,
or assume it for a purpose. Eliphas Levi repeatedly emphasised that with
the designations Jehovah, Archangeloi, Angeloi, we have to do with
ordered ranks of beings.
The first human beings to receive teaching on the Earth received it
from Jehovah in pictures. That is why Genesis is a sum of great
pictures, pictures which Jehovah had experienced on the Old Moon.
While on the Old Moon, on the one hand, [28]! only the lower being of
man was developed in physical, etheric and astral bodies — on the
other hand the higher trinity was being cherished and fostered. These
principles had reached a certain degree of maturity, after having been
implanted; Atma on Old Saturn, Buddhi on Old Sun, Manas on Old Moon.
They could then develop further on the Earth. What came over on to the
Earth from the Old Moon as physical, etheric and astral bodies, are the
grotesque animals in which Atma, Buddhi and Manas gradually incorporated
themselves. The Moon Pitris had left aside the lower parts, but to make
up for this they had cherished and fostered Atma, Buddhi and Manas in an
objective way. Through their fostering care they brought it about that a
thinker could develop on the Earth. If one looks at the external
creatures on the Old Moon, these are the sheaths which surrounded man,
not man himself. The sheaths could be made use of because what had to
leave them had departed. [Gap in the text ...] Now the remaining
material could be condensed to form the brain. In a germinal condition
the matter for the brain was there, but could only condense after the
Pitris had left.
What took place in the pre-Lemurian Age is a preparation. The human
body is so worked upon that Atma, Buddhi and Manas can sink into it.
These principles enveloped themselves with Kama-substance. Let us now
imagine a jelly-like being which had freed itself from what had come
over from the Old Moon. This provides a physical foundation. In addition
to this there are Atma, Buddhi and Manas, and an astral body which these
principles organise around themselves. They work on the jelly-like
masses from outside until they are able to take possession of them from
within. Finally the spiritual penetrates the physical. Now two kinds of
beings have amalgamated. The moment the brain is formed they
interpenetrate one another. Through this, birth and death entered into
Earth-evolution. Previously human beings had themselves built up the
physical body; in the future this will be so again. But because two
beings are united who are only partially suited to one another we have
birth and death, and every period of time between birth and death is a
continual attempt to make these two beings fit together better — a
swinging to and fro of the pendulum until eventually a rhythmical
condition is brought about.
Up to the middle of the Sixth Root-Race (epoch) this will continue,
until this rhythmical condition is attained and the one being has become
completely adapted to the other. And Karma is nothing else than the
measure of balance which the human being has already brought about. In
each single incarnation one attains a certain degree of adaptation.
After each incarnation man must ascend again to Devachan in order to
survey what has still to be done. Only when the balance is achieved is
Karma overcome and the human being can take up something new, the true
Wisdom, Buddhi, which until that time must be fostered and cherished.
Future evolution must be prepared for. What man already produces
from himself, as preparation for the future human being, is the word,
speech. What man speaks remains in the Akashic Record. It is the
germinal beginning for the future human being. Speech is one half of the
former means of reproduction. Through speech man propagates himself
spiritually. The breaking of the male voice is connected with this. One
half of what is sexual has been carried over into speech. The voice is
the future organ of reproduction. In ancient Hebrew the same word was
used for sex and speech. Today man thinks and the thought passes
outwards through the larynx. The next stage will be that feeling,
warmth, passes outwards. Then the word will be the expression of the
inner warmth of the body. This can happen when the pituitary gland
(hypophysis) develops in the brain. The stage following this appears
when the pineal gland (epiphysis) is developed. Then not only the
warmth-imbued word will go forth, but the word will remain, will be
given form through the will, which then lives within it. Then when one
utters the word it becomes an actual being.
Related to this is: 'I think, I feel, I am' (will). The
word in this sense is 'the word' which undergoes a
transformation from thinking, into feeling and then into willing. This
is a threefold process. First the word is 'consciousness' (in
thinking) then 'life' (the warmth-permeated word), and lastly
'form', the word shaped through the will. This latter is the
word become objective. So here too, following one another, we have:
consciousness, life, form. Everything, which today is form stems from
earlier times and has arisen through such a process. The physical body,
the form, is the most perfected body; less developed are the etheric
body, life, and the astral body, consciousness.
∴
Lecture 8
Berlin, 3rd October 1905
The different incarnations of the human individuality are a kind of
swinging of the pendulum to and fro until the rhythm is brought to rest
and the higher part of man has found in the physical a fitting
expression, a suitable instrument. Approximately ever since human beings
have reincarnated, the position of sun, moon and earth has existed as it
is now. We must understand that man belongs to the great cosmic
organism. In the times in which great changes take place in the life of
humanity, mighty changes also occur in the cosmos. Earlier than this,
before there was reincarnation, sun, moon and earth were not yet
separated as now. Kant and Laplace made their observation from the
physical plane only, and to this extent their theory is quite correct,
but they did not know the connection with spiritual forces. When out of
the primal fire-vapour sun, moon and earth came into existence as
separate bodies, man also began to incarnate. When human incarnations
will have come to an end, the sun also will be re-united with the earth.
On the large scale as in the single details, one must bear in mind these
relationships of man to the universe.
You will often have heard that man usually incarnates after a period
of about two thousand years. One can investigate when people who are
alive today had their earlier incarnation. The souls who are now
incarnated, one finds as a rule about 300 to 400 years after the birth
of Christ. In addition, however, one finds others who are incarnated at
various times, some earlier, some later. But there is another way to
determine incarnations, a way which leads more certainly to the goal.
One can say: Were the human beings who die today to return in a short
time they would meet almost the same conditions as now. But man ought to
learn as much as possible on the Earth. This can only happen when in the
next incarnation he finds something new which is essentially different
from the earlier conditions.
Let us for instance imagine ourselves back into the time about 600
to 800 years before Christ; that is about the time of the Iliad and the
Odyssey. With the advanced peoples of that time the conditions of life
were quite different from what they are now. One would for instance be
astonished to see with what curious implements people ate. At that time
also people had not yet learnt to write. The great poems were
transmitted by word of mouth. When a person of those times is
reincarnated today he must as a child learn quite other things. As a
child he must learn to write. The stream of culture has meanwhile
progressed. One must distinguish between the stream of culture and the
development of the individual soul. As a child one must catch up with
the civilisation and for this reason one must be born again as a child.
Now we must ask: What causes such utterly different conditions on
earth? This is connected with the progression of the spring equinox.
About 800 years before Christ the sun in spring entered the
constellation of Aries, of the Ram. Every year at the vernal point it
shifts a little. Because of this the conditions on the earth are always
slightly changing. Eight hundred years before Christ the sun stood in
the constellation of Aries. Earlier it stood in the constellation of
Taurus, still earlier in Gemini and still earlier in Cancer. Now already
for some hundred of years it rises in the constellation of Pisces. After
this comes Aquarius. The advance of civilisations is also connected with
the progression of the sun from one constellation to the other.
At the time when the sun rose in the constellation of Cancer the
ancient Vedic culture of the Indians, the culture of the Rishis reached
its highest point. The Rishis, those still half-divine beings, were the
teachers of men. The Atlantean civilisation had met its destruction; a
new impulse broke in. In occultism this is called a 'vortex'
(wirbel). This is also why, in the age in which the sun stood in the
constellation of Cancer, the sign was made in this way:
Cancer signifies a breaking in of something new, a
'vortex' (a double spiral).
The second cultural epoch is named the constellation of the Twins.
At that time the dual nature of the world was understood, the opposing
forces of the world, Ormuzd and Ahriman, Good and Evil. Thus the
Persians also speak of the Twins.
The third cultural epoch is that of the Sumerians in Asia Minor and
of the Egyptians. The constellation of the Bull corresponds to this
epoch. This is why in Asia the Bull was venerated and in Egypt, Apis. At
that time in Babylon and Assyria the Sumerian language was the language
of wisdom. Then the Bull fell into decadence and the Ram came into the
ascendant. The first indication of this is the Saga of the Golden
Fleece.
The fourth culture is that of the Ram, or Lamb; Christ stands in the
sign of the Ram, or Lamb; hence he calls himself the Lamb of God.
As fifth culture the external materialistic civilisation follows, in
the constellation of the Fishes. This developed principally from the
12th century onwards and reached its climax about the year 1800. This is
the culture of the Fifth sub-race, the present time.
In the constellation of the Water-Man in the future, the new
Christianity will be proclaimed. 'Water-Man' is also the one
who will bring it, he who has already been here: John the Baptist. Later
he will again be the forerunner of Christ, when the Sixth, the spiritual
sub-race will be founded. The Theosophical Movement should be the
preparation for that time.
In the New Testament the expression 'on the mountain' is
used on various occasions. 'On the mountain' means: in the
mystery, in the innermost, in the intimate. Even the Sermon on the Mount
is not to be understood as a sermon for the people, but as an intimate
teaching for the disciples. The Transfiguration on the Mountain has also
to be understood in this sense. Jesus went up into the mountain with the
three disciples, Peter, James and John. There, we are told, the
disciples were caught up out of themselves; then Moses and Elias
appeared on either side of Jesus. For a moment space and time were
extinguished and the disciples found themselves with their consciousness
on the mental plane. Those who were no longer physically present, Moses
and Elias, appeared. In direct revelation they had before them: 'I
am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' The way = Elias, Moses = the
truth, Christ = the life. This appeared here to the disciples in actual
form. Jesus once said to them: 'Elias has come again; [29] John was Elias, he has only not been
recognised.' But he said further: 'Tell it to no man until I
come again.' Christianity was not to teach reincarnation for two
thousand years, not for any arbitrary reason, but on educational
grounds. People were to know nothing of it for two thousand years. In
the gospel of St. John there is an indication of this in the miracle of
the wedding at Cana where water is turned into wine. In the old
Mysteries only water was distributed, but in the Christian Mysteries
wine. For in the priesthood, through the partaking of wine, knowledge of
reincarnation was blotted out. Whoever partakes of wine cannot attain to
any true knowledge of Manas, Buddhi and Atma. He can never comprehend
reincarnation. By his coming again Christ means his reappearance in the
Sixth sub-race when he will be proclaimed by the 'Water-Man'.
Theosophy actually carries out the testament of Christianity and works
towards this epoch of time.
Every time the sun progresses from one sign of the Zodiac to another
incisive changes take place in civilisation. In between there elapses a
period of about two thousand six hundred years. [30] If we take the
moment of time when the sun entered the sign of the Ram or Lamb, about
800 years before Christ and 1800 years after Christ, then we have two
thousand six hundred years. About the year 1800 we entered the sign of
the Fishes. This is the time when materialistic culture reached its
highest point. It was prepared for in the Middle Ages and has now begun
to decline. About the year 4,400 mankind enters the sign of spiritual
culture, that of the Water-Man. Preparation has also to be made for
this.
Thus conditions change also with the constellation. With the
progression from one sign to another new conditions also arise, so that
rebirth has meaning. The human being is reborn approximately every two
thousand six hundred years, but the experiences he makes as man and as
woman are so radically different that two such incarnations, as man and
as woman, are reckoned as one. About one thousand three hundred years
elapse between two incarnations as man or as woman, and about two
thousand six hundred years between such double incarnations if one
reckons both as one. The human being is only man or woman in regard to
the physical body. When the physical body is masculine the etheric body
is feminine; and vice versa, when the physical body is feminine the
etheric body is masculine. Only the astral body is at the same time
masculine and feminine. The human being bears within him the opposite
sex as etheric body. Thus in the etheric the man is feminine and in the
etheric the woman masculine. The physical woman has therefore many
concealed masculine qualities; the physical incarnation is present only
exoterically. The human being therefore goes through a constellation
every time as man and as woman. This is why the Master said to Sinnett
that the human being is incarnated about twice in a sub-race. Occultly
both incarnations are reckoned together as one. There must come a time
in which the woman actually approaches the culture dominated by the man.
The present woman's movement is to be recognized as the preparation for
another later and quite different woman's movement. In the future, sex
differentiation will be totally overcome.
There was a special reason why, for about two thousand years, the
teaching of reincarnation was completely suppressed. The human being was
to learn to know and value the importance of the one life. Every
slave in Ancient Egypt was still convinced of the fact that he would
return, that one day he would be master instead of slave, but that he
had to pay his karmic debts. The single life was therefore not so
important to him. But the lesson people now had to learn was to gain
firm ground under their feet; thus during one life, reincarnation was to
remain unknown. Christ therefore expressly forbade any teaching about
reincarnation. But from 800 years before Christ until about 1800 years
after Christ, the time had elapsed during which nearly everyone had gone
through the one life without experiencing anything of reincarnation. The
great Masters [31] have the task not always to impart the
whole truth at any one time, but only that part needed by man. This
withholding of the consciousness of reincarnation came to poetic
expression in this epoch in Dante's Divine Comedy. In monastic
esotericism on the other hand, reincarnation was definitely taught when
the occasion arose. The Trappists [32] had to remain silent
throughout one incarnation, so that in the next they might become
eloquent speakers. They were intentionally trained in this way to become
eloquent speakers, for of these the Church can make good use. When St.
Augustine put forward the doctrine of predestination he was entirely
consistent. [33] Because in the age of
materialism reincarnation was not to be taught, the Augustinian doctrine
of predestination had to make its appearance. Only in this way could the
differences in people's circumstances be explained.
Connected with this is the deeply materialistic character of
traditional Christianity, which lies in the fact that the Beyond is made
dependent on one physical existence. This materialistic teaching
of Christianity has, so to say, borne its fruit. Today there is no
longer any consciousness of the Beyond. Social democracy is the ultimate
consequence of traditional Christianity. But now a new impulse must come
into the world. When one epoch comes to an end something new breaks in.
Christianity worked towards the gradual dawning of the materialistic
age. In order to bring about the materialistic civilisation, human
beings for a period of one thousand three hundred years had to have such
a teaching as was brought by Christianity; namely, that man should make
the whole of eternity dependent upon one earthly life. Urban bourgeoisie
then became the actual founder of the age of materialism. Already at the
time of Christ the spiritual had to be betrayed by the purely material.
Judas Iscariot had to betray Christ. One can however say: had there been
no Judas there would also have been no Christianity. Judas is the first
to attach prime importance to money, that is to say, to materialism. In
Judas was incarnated the entire materialistic age. This materialistic
age has obscured and darkened the spiritual. Through his death Christ
becomes the Redeemer of materialism.
∴
Lecture 9
Berlin, 4th October 1905
We will try to understand the physical body somewhat more exactly.
At the present time we distinguish within the constitution of man four
members: physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego. In studying
the physical body we must now enter into greater detail. Man was already
something when he came into the Old Saturn existence from a far-distant
past. The physical body is the oldest and most developed member at
present possessed by man. It is fourfold, which is not the case with the
other bodies. On Old Saturn the groundwork was already laid as a germ.
The etheric body was first added on the Old Sun. There the physical body
evolved a stage further. The astral body was added on the Old Moon and
the physical body underwent a still further stage of development. On the
Earth the ego was now added, and the physical body went through a fourth
stage. So we may say that the physical body is, as it were, in the
fourth grade, while the etheric body is in the third, the astral body in
the second and the ego in the first.
This is why it is only the physical body as such that has
self-awareness, not the other three bodies. In the moment when man
closes his physical sense organs in sleep, awareness of self ceases:
when he opens them to what is outside, self-awareness returns. Man gains
consciousness of self because his organs enable him to observe his
surroundings. Only the physical body is so far advanced that it is able
to open its organs to what is outside. If the etheric and astral bodies
were able with their organs to observe their surroundings, man would
attain self-awareness in them also. But for this, organs are necessary.
The physical body has self-awareness only through its organs. These
organs of the physical body are the senses.
Let us consider the senses in their successive stages. There are in
fact twelve senses. [34] Of these, five are already physical and two others
will become physical during the further development of the Earth.
The five senses which we already have are smell, taste, sight, touch
and hearing. In time man will develop two other senses into proper
physical senses. These two are located in the pituitary gland
(hypophysis) and the pineal gland (epiphysis). These will develop the
two future senses in the physical body which will then have seven
senses. To understand the successive stages of the senses we must make
it clear that in so far as man is a being conscious of self, he is on a
descending curve. So though the body is on an ascending curve, the
senses are on a descending curve. [35]
Of the higher principles in man, Atma developed on Old Saturn,
Buddhi on Old Sun and Manas on Old Moon. There was a time when the Monad
assembled itself bit by bit, and then in the Lemurian Age entered into
its self-constructed house. Now the Monad has descended to the fourth
stage, Atma, Buddhi, Manas, Kama-Manas. This descending curve is
expressed in the development of the senses. Actually, in the beginning,
on Old Saturn, only one sense was present, the sense of smell. The
senses that developed later had to descend from higher to ever lower
regions.
In Nature we differentiate the solid, the fluid, the gaseous, the
warmth ether, light ether, chemical ether and the life ether. These are
the seven stages of matter. In his descent man experienced these stages
from above downwards. At the beginning of evolution the first human
life-germ could only manifest itself in the Life Ether. What corresponds
to this stage as sense, is the sense of smell. Then man possessed the
first sense, that of smell, of which only an after effect is present
today. The solid has its life, as we saw a few days ago on the
Maha-para-nirvana plane, the fluid on the Para-nirvana plane, the
gaseous on the Nirvana plane, the Warmth Ether on the Buddhi plane, the
Light Ether on the Mental plane, the Chemical Ether on the astral plane,
the Life Ether on the physical plane. We can therefore also speak of the
atomistic ether.
Correspondences of the Planes
Conditions of Matter
The Senses
1. Physical plane
Life ether
Smell
2. Astral plane
Chemical ether
Taste
3. Mental plane
Light ether
Sight
4. Buddhi or Shushupti plane
Warmth ether
Touch
5. Nirvana plane
Gaseous, Air
Hearing
6. Para-nirvana plane
Fluid
Pituitary gland
7. Maha-para-nirvana plane
Solid
Pineal gland
An object can only be smelt when it impinges on the organ of smell,
comes into contact with it. The organ of smell must unite itself with
the material. To smell means to perceive with a sense that enters into a
relationship with the material itself.
As second stage we have the Chemical Ether. Here the sense of taste
develops. This depends on dissolving what is to be tasted. We have to
do, not with matter itself, but with what is made out of it. This is a
chemical, physical process through which matter is changed into
something different. The tongue can do this: it can first dissolve and
then taste.
The third stage is to be found in the Light Ether. There sight
develops. Now we do not perceive what is broken down by chemical,
physical processes, but we perceive a picture of the object which is
brought about by the external light.
The fourth is the Warmth Ether. In this, the sense of touch is
developed. Here one no longer perceives a picture. Warmth is a passing
condition of the body, a condition experienced only in the moment. We
are speaking here of the sense of touch as the perception of warmth and
cold; it is in fact a 'Warmth sense'.
Fifthly we have what is of the nature of air. This corresponds to
the sense of hearing. Here we no longer perceive a condition of the body
in question, but what the body says to us. Now we enter into the inner
nature of the body. At the sound of a bell it is not the bell itself
that interests us, not the outer form, the matter, but what it has to
disclose of its inner nature. Hearing is a uniting with what reveals
itself as the spiritual in matter. At this stage the life of the senses
goes over from the passive to the active. The passively received sound
becomes in man active in speech. Through speech man gives utterance to
his soul being.
As the sixth stage we have the fluid element. The sense organ
corresponding to the fluid is the pituitary gland. This is situated in
the brain in an elongated cylindrical form.
As seventh stage we have the solid. The appropriate sense organ is
the pineal gland.
As now, when man speaks he influences the air, so later he will gain
an influence over what is fluid. [36] The 'I think', and thought in
general, will express itself in the air and indeed in forms, for example
as crystals. At the next stage feeling will also be involved with
thinking. Development will work backwards. The warmth of the heart will
then express itself in oscillations, and flow outwards together with
thought. And the last stage will be achieved by man when he will create
actual beings which remain; when through the word he will externalise
what he wills. The expression of feeling is merely a transition. When
man becomes creative through the will, then the beings which he brings
forth will have actual existence.
In times to come man will bring forth into his surroundings what he
feels. This will be imparted to the fluid element. The entire fluid
element of the planet which will follow next (the future Jupiter) will
be an expression of what people feel. Today man sends out words; they
are inscribed into the Akasha. There they remain, even though the
airwaves vanish. Out of these words the Future Jupiter will later be
formed. When therefore today man uses evil, blasphemous language, then
on Jupiter terrible formations will be brought about. This is why one
should be so very careful of what one says, and why it is so immensely
important that man should be master of his speech. In the future man
will also send out his feelings; the conditions of the fluids on Jupiter
will be a result of feelings on the Earth. What man speaks today will
give Jupiter its form; what he feels will engender its inner warmth;
what he wills determines the separate beings inhabiting Jupiter. The
Future Jupiter will be constructed out of the basic powers of the human
soul.
Just as today we can trace the rock formation of the Earth back to
earlier conditions, so will the rock formation of the Future Jupiter be
the result of our words. The ocean of Jupiter, the warmth of Jupiter,
will arise out of the feelings of present-day humanity. The beings of
Jupiter will arise out of human will. Thus the inhabitants of a previous
planet create the basic conditions for its successor. And beings who
today still [Gap in text ...] hover over the earth, as was once the case
with the Monads, will enter into incarnation on the Future Jupiter.
There will then exist a kind of Jupiter-Lemurian race. Beings will be
there which we have created as the Pitris did. Just as we inhabited the
grotesque forms of the Old Moon, so these beings will inhabit the forms
which we develop by means of our pineal gland.
We are building the house for future Monads. A similar procedure
took place when the development of the human being led over from the Old
Moon to the Earth. This makes absolutely clear how everything external
is actually created from within outwards.
It is difficult to distinguish the pure physical body from what has
been formed through human error. A hunchback owes his deformity to the
astral, to Karma. The external form, the physiognomy and so on, are
dependent on Karma. Modifications of the physical body are therefore
dependent on the higher bodies. When one eliminates everything that
depends on Karma we find that the physical body is in fact wisely
ordered. All forms of illness are errors which find their expression in
the physical body. All illnesses have been wrong-doing in the past, all
wrong-doing will be illness in the future. When human beings become
truly worthy, the bodies of the beings they create will be equally
imbued with wisdom.
All wisdom, feeling and will, in the next evolution, will actually
be present as form and being. The physical body is called a temple in
all ancient religions because its structure is so filled with wisdom. It
is not correct to speak of the physical body as the lower nature, for
what is lower in man does in fact lie in the higher bodies which today
are still in infancy.
Here we can consider an important karmic connection. We live in a
materialistic age and this is the result of a preceding age. This
materialistic age has accomplished much, not only outwardly but also
inwardly. We may think for instance of the decrease in mortality through
hygienic measures. This is actually a step forward, brought about by
hygienic means. Such external progress is always a karmic result of
progress which earlier has been made inwardly. These steps forward in
the physical are the result of inner steps forward in the Middle Ages.
Today therefore it would be quite wrong to look back on the
'dark' Middle Ages. Our most significant materialists have
been educated idealistically; for instance, Haeckel, Büchner,
Moleschott. This is why their systems are thought out so admirably; but
this they owe to their idealistic education. Present day materialism is
actually the outer expression of the preceding idealistic period.
Now too we must work in preparation for the future. Just as the
karmic result of the earlier idealistic period made its appearance in
materialism, so again a new beginning must be made in regard to Idealism
and spiritual impulses. It was in accordance with this law that the
leading personalities acted when they called the Theosophical Movement
into life.
The 14th century was the time of the creation of towns. Within a few
hundred years independent towns had developed in all civilised European
countries. The burgher is the founder of materialism in practical life.
This comes to expression in the Lohengrin myth. [37] Lohengrin, the emissary of the Grail Lodge,
was the wise leader who took hold in the Middle Ages and prepared the
way for the establishment of towns. The swan was his symbol; the
initiate of the Third Grade is the Swan. Consciousness is always
represented as something feminine. Elsa of Brabant represents the
consciousness of the materialistic civic sense. The spiritual life had,
however, to be saved; this happened through the fact that Christian
Rosenkreuz [38] founded the Rosicrucian Order. Spiritual life
remained in the Mystery Schools. Today materialism has been driven to
uttermost extremes. This is why in our time something new must break in.
At that time the same movement took hold which today through Theosophy
makes popular the elementary teachings of spiritual life in order to
create once again a new inner impulse that will later be able to reveal
itself outwardly. The inner always comes later to outer expression. An
illness is the karmic result of earlier wrongdoing, for instance, lying.
When something of this kind becomes outer reality, it manifests as
illness. Epidemics can be traced far back to the misdeeds of a people.
They are something imperfect which from being inward has been
exteriorised. The sixth sense is the Kundalini light radiating warmth;
[39] the seventh is the synthesizing sense.
∴
Lecture 10
Berlin, 5th October 1905
If we consider man's being in its entirety we have to begin with the
physical body, then the etheric, then the astral body. The physical body
of man can be seen by everyone. The etheric body becomes visible when
the physical body is suggested away by a strong act of will. Then the
space of the physical body remains filled with the etheric body. The
occultist considers the etheric as actually being the lowest body. It is
the body according to which the physical body is formed. Taking the
descending line, the form of the etheric body is the reverse of the
physical. It is only in the ascending line that they are identical. A
woman has a masculine etheric body and a man a feminine etheric body.
Around the etheric body appears the astral body. It is the outer
form for the entire content of the soul; for passions, emotions,
impulses, desires, joy, unhappiness, enthusiasm and so on. It manifests
itself in forms of every description. The surrounding part shows cloud
formations; it radiates the most varied colours. Frequently somewhat
tattered formations are attached to it. The forms and colours are
different and changing. Green shows sympathy and compassion for one's
fellow men. The lower levels of the population show much red in the
astral body, brownish red, brick red, blood red. Especially with
droshky-drivers one can see such a red, indicative of the lower
passions.
With every human being all the fluctuations of the astral body are
enclosed in an egg-shaped sheath. This has an underlying blue colour and
shows, as an important factor, a dark violet spot in the middle of the
brain. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky calls this egg-shaped sheath the auric
egg. In the case of little children the auric egg is predominant; in
their case many bright, luminous clouds of colour appear within it. In
the lower parts however little children also have dark clouds,
indicating lower impulses. This is the inherited Karma that they have in
common with their ancestors — 'the sins of the fathers'.
These sins of the fathers are inherited down to the seventh generation.
People's characteristics can be traced back as far as the seventh
generation of forefathers. After the seventh generation heredity dies
out. One reckons three generations to a century. The man of today
therefore still shows certain good or bad qualities coming from what was
good or bad in his ancestors of the 17th century. Thus one can look
backwards on one's forefathers as far as two hundred years or rather
more.
To see how the auric egg has been formed we must consider the
development of a cosmic body. The condition of the Earth lying nearest
to our present studies is characterised as the physical condition. In
Theosophical literature a condition of form is called a Globe and one
therefore speaks of the physical Globe. As physical Globe the Earth is
the fourth Globe in a development of seven states of being. Three other
conditions preceded the physical Globe and a further three are still to
follow. Before the Earth became physical it was astral. Everything
living upon Earth was at that time present only in the astral. When man
has gone through the Sixth and Seventh Root-Races (epochs) he will have
become so spiritualised that he will again have an astral form. This
future astral condition of form however will contain all the fruits of
evolution.
Seven conditions of form together make up a Round. At the present
time the Earth is going through its fourth Round and this is the
mineral. During this time it is the task of mankind to work upon the
mineral kingdom. A man is already working on the mineral kingdom when he
takes a flint and hammers it into a wedge-shaped tool with which he
makes other objects, when he transports rocks and builds pyramids out of
the stones, when he makes tools out of metals, when he conducts electric
current in a network over the earth; in all this man is working upon the
mineral kingdom. Thus man puts into service the whole mineral kingdom.
He makes the Earth into something entirely of his own devising. When the
painter turns his mind to a combination of colours he is also working
upon the mineral kingdom. We are now in the midst of this activity, and
in the course of the next races (epochs) the Earth will have become
completely transformed, so that eventually there will be no single atom
on the earth that has not been worked upon by man. In earlier times
these atoms became more and more solidified; now however they are
becoming increasingly separated. Radioactivity did not exist in earlier
times and could not therefore be discovered. It has only existed for a
few thousand years, because now the atoms split up more and more.
When the Fourth Round comes to an end the entire mineral kingdom
will have been worked upon by the hand of man. When it has been
completely worked through by man, then, in order that the fruits of this
work can be manifested, the Earth must pass over into an astral
condition in which forms can develop. The Earth then passes over into a
Mental Globe and then into the Higher Mental condition, the Arupic. It
then disappears altogether out of these conditions into a shorter
Pralaya. It then enters once more into a new Arupic condition, that of
the next, the Fifth Round; then into a Rupic condition and then into an
astral condition. After this it appears physically once more. Everything
which man worked into the mineral kingdom during the Fourth Round
reappears and grows up as the plant kingdom; for instance [the] Cologne
cathedral will appear as a plant in the next Round.
Between the last Arupic condition of the Fourth Round and the first
Arupic condition of the Fifth Round the earth goes through a Pralaya.
Then in the Fifth Round the previous mineral kingdom appears in all its
forms as the plant kingdom. In the Arupic condition of the Fifth Round
everything is contained that man has worked over in the mineral Round.
At first this reappears in the Arupic condition in the pure Akasha. This
condition is in fact called 'Akasha'. In the beginning of each
new Round everything is to be found in the Akasha; later there are only
imprints. Thus in these imprints we have the whole Earth with all its
beings. In the transition from the Third to the Fourth Round, all the
beings which came into existence in the Third Round also reappear.
With further development out of the Akasha everything has to assume
a denser form. This takes place in the Rupa condition of the earth. This
more material form is called in occultism, for example in certain
passages from H.P. Blavatsky, the ether. In this Ether-Earth everything
is contained. All beings were contained in thought, but nevertheless in
the background the Akasha exists as a foundation. The ether densifies
further to the Astral Light. In this Astral Light radiates the third
Globe (condition of form), the Astral-Earth; it radiates in the purest
Astral Light, and this Astral Light is in fact entirely composed of the
same substance in which later man's auric egg shines out. This is
especially the case with quite young children who are only a few months
old. After this the Earth passes over into its present physical
condition. Then, as the actual Earth, it becomes ever more and more
physical. In the same degree however in which it becomes ever more
physical, it separates off from itself the individual auric eggs for
mankind. These differentiate themselves as though, in a vessel filled
with water, one part of the water freezes to ice while the other part
rises up in pearl-like water drops. Thus on the one side the physical
earth separates off and on the other side the auric eggs become, as it
were, pearl-like drops for human evolution.
At first the auric egg seems to be undifferentiated. Actually
however it is not undifferentiated. It may be compared with the
following: If we have a solution of cooking salt it appears as a uniform
grayish mass; if we let it stand the beautiful cubic crystals of salt
are precipitated. In the auric egg those forces were inherent which
produced the etheric body, the Linga Sharira. Out of what became solid
earth there also emerged later what had already gone through a
development on the Old Moon. This contained as predisposition what
eventually became the lower kingdoms as far as the first vertebrates, up
to the snake. The vertebrate animals which followed were not there on
the Old Moon; they were first added on the Earth. Thus the invertebrate
animals emerged from the Earth when it densified to a physical
condition, as did also the plants and mineral kingdom.
At the time when all these separated forms had emerged, mankind had
entered into the Lemurian Age. The ever densifying human being developed
from the first, the Polarian race, to the race of the Hyperboreans. This
was followed by the Lemurian Age; it was then that the development of
the vertebrate animals entered its first stage, and it is from that time
that they have continued to evolve.
So we have to distinguish: firstly Akasha, secondly Ether, thirdly
Astral Light, fourthly Earth, fifthly the Auric Egg.
This is called a spiral (Wirbel). Until the Earth stage, the fourth
condition of form, the Earth became ever denser. At the price of this
increasing densification, the Astral Light became individualised after
the solid had thrust itself out. The Auric Eggs of human beings are the
individualised Astral Light. One can therefore read in the Astral Light,
not the deeds, but the emotions bound up with them; these one can read
in the Astral Light. For example, Caesar conceived the idea of crossing
the Rubicon and this roused in him certain feelings and desires. What
took place at that time corresponds to a combination of astral impulses.
The physical deeds on the physical plane have vanished for all eternity.
Caesar's advance can no longer be seen in the Astral Light, but the
impulse which drove him to it has remained there. The karmic (astral)
correlations with what takes place on the physical plane remain in the
Astral Light. One must accustom oneself to look away from all physical
perceptions and only to see the karmic impulses. One must hold fast to
these and consciously transpose them back into the physical. There is no
purpose in looking for something which might be seen, as though one were
looking at a photograph.
The greatest impulses of world history can however no longer be read
in the Astral Light, for the impulses of the great initiates were
passionless. Whoever therefore reads only in the Astral Light, for him
the whole work of the initiates is absent: for example the content of
the book 'The Great Initiates' by Edouard Schuré could
not have been found in the Astral Light. Such impressions are only
inscribed in the Ether. What one can read in the Astral Light in
connection with what the initiates have done is based on an illusion,
because one can only read the results of the lives of the great
initiates in the impulses of their pupils. Pupils and even entire
peoples have experienced strong and passionate emotions in regard to the
actions of the great initiates and these have remained in the Astral
Light. But it is so difficult to study the deepest motives of the great
initiates because they are only present in the ether.
Cosmic events — metamorphoses such as those of Atlantis —
remain at a still higher level, no longer in the Ether, but in the
actual Akasha. That is the Akashic Chronicle. This latter is
nevertheless connected in a certain way with the most earthly concerns
of mankind. For the human being is connected with the great happenings
of the Cosmos. Every single person is to be found sketched, as it were,
in the Akashic Chronicle. What is present there continues further and
works its way into the Ether and the Astral Light. The individual human
being becomes ever more clearly discernible the more one seeks for him
in the lower spheres. And one must study all these spheres in order to
understand the real mechanism of Karma.
∴
Lecture 11
Berlin, 6th October 1905
Today we are going to explain how Karma works and make clear to
ourselves how it is connected with the so-called three worlds. All other
worlds, with the exception of these three, hardly come into
consideration when it is a question of human development; the relevant
three are the physical, astral and mental worlds. During the day
condition of consciousness, we are in the physical world; there, in a
certain sense, we have purely and simply the physical world before us.
We must only direct our senses outwards in order to have the physical
world as such before us. But the moment we look on the physical world
with interest, approach it with feeling, we are already partly in the
astral world and only partly in the physical world. Only the beginnings
of living purely in the physical world are present today in human life;
for example, when one simply contemplates a work of art without
experiencing any wish to possess it. Such a contemplation of a work of
art is an important act of the soul, when, forgetful of self, one works
as though on a spiritual task. This living purely in the physical world,
forgetting oneself, is very rare. It is only seldom that nature is
looked at in pure contemplation, for usually many other feelings are
involved. Nevertheless, this selfless living in physical nature is of
the very greatest importance; for only so can man have a true
consciousness of self. In all other worlds the ordinary man is still
immersed in a world of unconsciousness.
In the physical world man is not only aware of his self, he can also
become selfless. His day-consciousness is however not yet selfless if he
is unable to forget himself. Here the physical world is not the
hindrance, but the playing in of the astral and mental worlds. If,
however, he forgets himself, the separateness vanishes and he finds his
'self' spread out into what is outside. But it is only in
physical life that present day man can develop this consciousness of
self without separateness. Consciousness of self we call the ego. Man
can only become conscious of self within an environment. Only when he
gains senses adapted to a particular world can he become self-conscious
in that world. Now he only has senses for the physical world but the
other worlds continually play into the consciousness of self and cloud
it. When feelings play into it, it is the astral world; when one thinks,
the mental world plays into the consciousness.
Most people's thoughts are nothing more than reflections of the
environment. It is very rare to have thoughts which are not so
connected. Man only has such higher thoughts when senses awaken for the
mental world, so that he not only thinks the thoughts, but perceives
them around him as beings. He then has the same consciousness of self in
the mental world as that possessed by the Chela, the Initiate. When
someone tries to eliminate first the physical world around him, then all
impulses, passions, changes of mood and so on, usually no thoughts are
left. Let us only try to picture everything that influences man inasmuch
as he lives in space and time. Let us try to call up before the soul
everything connected with the place where we live and the time in which
we live. Everything that the soul continually has within it as thoughts
is dependent on space and time. All this has a transient value. One must
therefore pass on from the reflected impressions of the senses and allow
an enduring thought content to live in one in order gradually to develop
devachanic senses. A sentence such as that from 'Light on the
Path,' "Before the eyes can see they must give up
tears", (The
original English of Mabel Collins is "Before the eyes can see they
must be incapable of tears.") holds good for all times
and all places. When we allow such a sentence to live within us, then
something lives in us which is beyond space and time. This is a means, a
force, which gradually allows devachanic senses to awaken in the soul
for the eternal in the world.
Thus man has his share in the three worlds. It is only gradually
however that he has come into this situation. He was not always in the
physical world; only by degrees did he become physical and acquire
physical senses. Previously he was on the higher planes. He descended
from the Astral Plane to the Physical and before this from the Mental
Plane. The latter we divide into two parts, the Lower Mental or Rupa
Plane, where everything is already differentiated, and the Upper Mental
or Arupa Plane, where everything's undifferentiated in a germinal
condition. Man has descended from the Arupa Plane through the Rupa Plane
and the Astral Plane to the Physical Plane. Only on the Physical Plane
did he become conscious of self. On the Astral Plane he is not conscious
of self and on the Rupa and Arupa Planes still less so. On the Physical
Plane man for the first time came into contact with external objects in
his immediate surroundings. Whenever a being encounters external
objects, this marks the beginning of self-awareness. On the higher
planes life was still completely enclosed within itself. When man lived
on the Astral Plane the only reality he had arose out of his own inner
life. This was in its very nature a picture consciousness. Even though
this was a vivid experience it was nevertheless only a picture that
arose within him. Of this, present daydreams are only a weak reminder.
When for instance an astral human being approached salt, this affected
him unconsciously and a picture of it would have arisen within him. If
he approached someone who was sympathetic to him he would not have seen
him externally, but a feeling of sympathy would have arisen within him.
This life in the astral was one of absolute selfhood and separateness.
Only on the physical plane can man relinquish his separateness, in that
through the medium of his senses he perceives objects, merges himself
with his surroundings, with the Not-I. Therein lies the importance of
the physical plane. If man had not set foot on the physical plane, he
would never have been able to relinquish his separateness and turn his
senses outwards. This is actually where work on the development of
selflessness begins. Everything except pure contemplation of physical
things belongs more to the Ego. One must accustom oneself to live on
higher planes just as selflessly as man has begun to do on the physical
plane, albeit up to now but rarely. The objects of the physical plane
compel man to become selfless and to give something to the object, which
is Not-I. In regard to wishes, to that which lives in the soul, man
still orders his life in accordance with his desires. On the physical
plane he must learn to renounce, to free his wishes from self. That is
the first step.
The next step is to order himself not according to his own wishes
but according to those coming to him from outside. Further, when man
consciously and out of his own will does not act in accordance with the
thoughts that arise within him, but surrenders himself to thoughts which
are not his own, then he soars upwards to the Devachanic Plane.
We must therefore seek in the higher worlds for something lying
outside us in order to relate ourselves to it as we do to objects in the
physical world. Hence, we must consider the wishes of the Initiates. The
occult student learns to know the wishes which are right for humanity
and he orders himself in accordance with them, just as through external
compulsion one orders oneself according to sense objects. Culture and
the education of wishes lead us to the Astral Plane.
When one becomes selfless in thoughts, allowing the eternal thoughts
of the Masters of Wisdom to pass through our souls — through
concentration and meditation on the thoughts of the Masters — then
one also perceives the thoughts of the surrounding world. The occult
student can already become a Master on the Astral Plane, but on the
Mental Plane this is only possible for the higher Masters.
In the first place man stands before us in his physical nature. He
lives at the same time in the Astral and Mental Worlds, but has
self-awareness only in the physical world. He must traverse the entire
physical world until his awareness of self has absorbed everything that
the physical world can teach him. Here man says to himself:
'I'. He connects his 'I' with the things around him,
learns to expand his 'I' through contemplation; it flows
outwards and becomes one with the objects which he has completely
comprehended. If we had already comprehended the entire physical world
we should no longer need it, for then we should have it within us. At
present however man has within him only a part of the physical world.
The human being who is born as a Lemurian in his first incarnation, who
is just at the point of directing his ego towards the physical world,
knows as yet but little of it. When however he comes to his last
incarnation, he must have united the entire physical world with his
'I'.
In the physical world man is left to himself, here nobody leads him,
he is in very truth god-forsaken. When he came forth from the astral
world the Gods forsook him. In the physical world he had to learn to
become his own master. Here therefore he can only live, as he actually
does live, swinging pendulum-wise between truth and error. He must grope
about and seek his way for himself. Now for the most part he is groping
in the dark. His gaze is turned outwards; he has freedom of choice, but
he is also exposed to error. On the Astral Plane man had no such
freedom; there he was subject to compulsion from the powers standing
behind him. Like a kind of marionette he still dangled on the strings of
the Gods; they still had to guide him. In so far as man today is still a
soul being, the Gods still live in him. Here freedom and unfreedom are
strongly mixed. His wishes are continually changing. This ebb and flow
of wishes proceeds from within. Here it is the Gods who are working in
man.
Man is still less free on the Rupa Plane of the Mental World, and
even less free on the Arupa Plane of the Higher Mental World. Man
gradually becomes free on the Physical Plane the more, through
knowledge, he has become incapable of error.
To the same degree that he works on the Physical Plane and learns to
know it, he gains the faculty of carrying up into the Arupa Plane what
he has learned to know in the physical world. The Arupa Plane is in
itself formless, but gains form through human life. Man gathers the
results of the lessons he has learned on the Physical Plane and carries
these, as firmly established forms in the soul, up into the Arupa Plane.
This is why in the Greek Mysteries the soul was called a bee, the Arupa
Plane a beehive and the physical earth a field of flowers. This was
taught in the Greek Mysteries.
Now what was it that drove the soul down on to the Physical Plane?
It was desire, craving: in no other way does one descend to a lower
plane except through desire. Previously the soul was in the Astral
World; this is the world of wishes. Everything which the Gods in the
Astral World have implanted into human beings was purely a world of
wishes. The most outstanding attribute of these Pre-Lemurian beings was
the wish for the physical. Man at that time had a real craving for the
physical: he had within him an unconscious, blind craving for the
physical. This craving is only to be appeased through its satisfaction.
Through the ideas, through the aspects of knowledge which he gains, this
craving for the physical disappears.
After death the soul goes to the Astral Plane and thence to the Rupa
and Arupa Planes. What the soul has gained it deposits there. What it
has not yet brought with it, what is still unknown, drives it down
again; this engenders the longing for new incarnations. How long the
soul remains on the Arupa Plane depends upon how much the human being
has gained on the Physical Plane. In the case of the savage this is very
little and so in his case there is only a weak flashing up on to the
Arupa Plane. Then he descends again to the physical world. One who has
learned everything in the physical world no longer needs to leave the
Arupa Plane, no longer needs to return to the Physical Plane, for he has
fulfilled his duty in the physical world.
In regard to his astral being, man today still half belongs to the
astral world. The astral sheath has been half broken through and he
perceives the world of the physical through his senses. When he succeeds
in living on the Astral Plane as he now lives on the Physical Plane,
when he learns to make observations there in a similar way, then he also
carries the perceptions of the Astral Plane up to the Arupa Plane. What
he then bears upwards from the Astral Plane streams however still higher
from the Arupa Plane up to the next higher, the Buddhi Plane. That too
which he achieves on the Rupa Plane through meditation and concentration
he takes with him up to the Arupa Plane and there gives it over to still
higher Planes.
That part of man which is astral is opened half towards the physical
world and half towards higher worlds. When it is opened to the physical
world he allows himself to be directed by the perceptions of the sense
world. From the other side he is subject to direction from above. The
same is the case with his mental body. The latter is also partly
directed from outside and partly directed from the inner world by the
Gods, the Devas. Because this is so man must dream and sleep.
Now we can also understand the nature of sleeping and dreaming. To
dream means to turn towards the inner Deva-forces. Man dreams almost the
whole night only he does not remember it. During sleep the mental body
is continually guided by the Devas. Man has as yet no consciousness of
self on the higher planes, hence in dream he is not self-conscious. He
begins to be so on the Astral Plane. In deep sleep he is on the Mental
Plane. There he has absolutely no self-consciousness. It is only on the
Physical Plane that man is awake. Here his ego is present and finds its
full expression. The astral ego cannot yet fully express itself on the
Physical Plane and must therefore at times leave the body. Man must
sleep in order that this can take place. The conditions of dreaming and
sleeping are only a repetition of earlier development. On the Astral
Plane he was in a state of dream, on the Mental Plane he slept. He
repeats these conditions every night. Only when he has acquired senses
for the other planes does he no longer dream and no longer sleep, but he
then perceives realities. The occult pupil learns to perceive such
realities on the Astral Plane. He then has a reality around him. Whoever
carries his development to a still higher stage is surrounded by a
reality even in deep sleep. Then begins continuity of consciousness.
One must understand this sequence of delicate concepts; then one
comprehends why man, when he has been on the higher planes again
descends. What he does not yet know, what he has not yet recognised,
what the Buddhists call Avidja, not-knowing, drives him back into
physical existence. Avidja is the first of the forces of karma.
According to Buddhistic teaching there are twelve Karmic forces which
drive man down. These together are called Nidanas. As man gradually
descends, the way in which Karma takes hold becomes apparent. Avidja is
the first effect. It is the opposite pole to what meets man on the
physical plane. Because he treads the physical plane and there unites
himself with something, a reaction is called forth. Action always calls
forth reaction. Everything that man does in the physical world also
produces a reaction and works back as Karma. Action and reaction is the
technique, the mechanism of Karma.
∴
Lecture 12
Berlin, 7th October 1905
When the physical body is discussed most people have a very unclear,
confused idea of what it actually is. In point of fact what we have
before us is not just the physical body but a combination of the
physical body with higher forces. A piece of rock crystal is also
physical but in its very nature this is something quite different from
the human eye or heart, which are also physical. The eye and heart are
parts of the physical body, but they are intermixed with man's higher
members and through this, something is brought about which is completely
different from other aspects of the physical. In water we find oxygen
and hydrogen but they look quite different from when we see them
separated. Then we are aware of their difference. In water we have
before us a mixture of both. What meets us in the physical body of man
is also a mixture comprised of the physical, etheric and astral bodies.
The physical human eye is similar to a camera, for, as with the
camera, there appears within it a picture of the surrounding world. Only
when one abstracts from the physical eye everything that is not to be
found in the camera, does one discover what is the specific nature of
the physical eye. So too one must abstract from the entire physical body
everything that is not purely physical: only then does one have what in
occultism is called the physical body. In itself it can neither live,
think nor feel. There then remains a very wisely ordered, extremely
complicated automaton, a purely physical apparatus. This, alone, was all
there was of human existence at the Old Saturn stage. At that time the
eyes were present only as little cameras. What was produced as [a]
picture of the surrounding world came to the consciousness of a Deva
being. In the middle of the Saturn evolution the so-called Asuras (the
Archai) were sufficiently advanced to make use of the apparatus. At that
time they were at the human stage. They made use of the automata and the
pictures they produced. The Asuras themselves were not within the
apparatus but outside and only made use of the pictures as we make use
of photographic apparatus in order to take pictures of a landscape. Thus
the physical body of man was at that time an architectural structure of
a physical apparatus operated from outside. This is the first stage of
human existence.
The second stage of development was the permeation of this physical
apparatus with the etheric body. It then became a living organism. That
also found expression in the configuration of the body. The automaton
was built up out of a fairly firm undifferentiated mass, similar to what
today is a jelly-like substance, like a soft crystal. [40] In the second Round of evolution in the
Old Sun existence, the physical automaton was imbued with the etheric
body. In this Round the solar plexus developed. It is so called because
still today only rudiments of the organ are present. It fashions a
nervous system into the physical apparatus. In the case of the plant
something similar is present. That is the second stage.
But these stages are not final; evolution gradually progresses. Even
today the solar plexus is an active agent in certain animals which have
not developed a spinal cord. All invertebrate animals are single forms
from left behind stages of what was laid down earlier. It was only on
the Earth that man cast out from himself the vertebrate animals. In
earlier times his organism was still somewhat similar to that of the
crab at the present day. Man has progressed beyond that earlier stage
whereas the crab has remained stationary. It is an astonishing fact that
the whole inner formation of the crab has a certain similarity to the
human brain. There is actually a similarity between the internal
formation of the crab and the human brain. Like the human brain the crab
too is enclosed in a hard shell. After man had developed a spine and had
metamorphosed the upper vertebrae, he cast off the hard shell. The crab
has not developed further. It has adapted itself to its environment by
means of a hard shell that it had to have and which serves the same
purpose as does the protective covering of the whole body in man.
The third stage is that in which the whole is transformed by the
astral body working within it. This organic transformation is connected
with the development of the heart and the circulation of the blood. The
heart of the fish has remained stationary at a halfway stage. [41] The
development of the heart is proportionate to the degree in which there
is an increase in the inner warmth of the body; this signifies nothing
other than a drawing of the astral into the body.
The spinal cord with the brain is the organ of the ego. This is
surrounded by the threefold protective sheath of the astral, etheric and
physical bodies. After the organ of the ego (spinal cord and brain) had
been prepared, the ego laid itself in the bed made ready for it, and
spinal cord and brain appear as organs in the service of the ego.
The four-fold man is put together in this way. It is the Pythagorean
square.
The spinal cord and brain are the organ of the ego.
The warm blood and the heart are the organ of Kama (astral body).
The Solar plexus is the organ of the etheric body.
The actual physical body is the complicated physical apparatus.
Thus has the four-fold being of man been constructed.
In occultism what we have now described is again called a spiral
(Wirbel), something that builds from outside inwards and unites with
what builds up from within. Physical body, etheric and astral bodies
have built up the human being. Then the ego makes itself felt and this
builds from within outwards. These are the four constituents of man.
Here we find in the outer an imprint of the four-fold man. All further
development is of such a nature that the human being, starting from this
point of the ego, consciously experiences what previously he went
through unconsciously.
Today, in order to realise that this is so, one must in the first
place investigate what took place when our ego was being developed. In
order to do this we must, as it were, take up our position under a
certain organ. This is most aptly expressed in the Buddha legend. It
says in the legend that Buddha remained seated under the Bodhi tree
until he attained illumination in order to rise to higher stages, to
Nirvana. For this Buddha had to place himself under the brain, under the
organ of consciousness. That means the paths he had previously traversed
unconsciously he had to traverse again consciously. Under the large
brain there lies, more towards the back of the head, the small, tree
shaped brain (the cerebellum). Under this brain Buddha placed himself.
The cerebellum is the Bodhi tree. This shows how what is said in such
profound legends is actually taken from human evolution.
Everything that is now known only by means of anatomy was at that
time known in quite another way. The occult investigator made his
researches with the help of the Kundalini light. The pupil was prepared
for this in the following way. He came to a Master. If the latter found
him trustworthy he received as instruction, not actually a teaching
— today it has become different, today man must find his way by
means of intellect and concepts — but the Master spoke somewhat as
follows: 'Every day for about six weeks you must spend several
hours in meditation and give yourself up to some sentence of eternal
value, completely sinking yourself into it.' At present man cannot
do this because life in modern civilisation makes too many demands on
him. At that time the pupil meditated six to ten hours daily. He cannot
do this nowadays without withdrawing from the whole life around him. At
that time however the pupil required hardly any time for external needs.
He found his nourishment in outer nature. He therefore made use of his
time for meditation, perhaps uninterruptedly for ten hours. By this
means he very soon progressed so far that he brought his body, which at
that time was less dense, into such a condition that the Kundalini light
was awakened within him. This is for the inner being what sunlight is
for the outer world. Actually we do not see external objects, but
reflected sunlight. The moment when, with the help of the Kundalini
light, we can illuminate the soul, it becomes as visible as an object
shone upon by the sun. So for the yoga pupil the whole inner body
gradually became illuminated. All ancient anatomies were seen from
within, through inner illumination. Thus the (Indian) monks, who clothed
their experiences in legends, spoke of what they had perceived through
the Kundalini light.
Now we must ask ourselves how the different parts of the human body
are worked upon. In regard to what belongs to the brain and spinal cord,
man first works consciously on the physical plane through the human ego
[Gap in the text ...] He has at present no influence on anything else.
He has for instance no influence on the circulation of the blood. Such
things are developed by degrees. Here other beings co-operate, Deva
beings, so that all creatures having a blood circulation are dependent
on Deva forces for its regulation. The astral body is permeated and
worked upon by different Deva forces. The lowest work on the astral
body. Higher forces work on the etheric body and still higher Devas on
the physical body, the most perfected body possessed by man. The astral
body is strikingly less perfect than the physical body. The physical
heart is indeed very clever; the stupid one is the astral body, that
directs into the heart all kinds of heart poisons. The most perfect part
of man is the physical body, less perfect is the etheric body and still
less perfect is the astral body. What is only in its beginnings, the
'baby' in man, is the ego Organisation. This is the four-fold
man, which contains the ego as the temple contains the statue of a god.
The whole development of human culture is nothing other than the
working of the ego into the astral body, the education of the astral
body. Man enters into life filled with desires, impulses and passions.
In so far as he masters these impulses, desires and passions, he is
working his ego into the astral body. When the Sixth Root-race, the
Sixth Epoch, has reached its conclusion, the ego will have completely
worked into the astral body. Until then the astral body will continue to
be dependent on the support of the Deva forces. As long as the ego has
not permeated the entire astral body, so long must the Deva forces
support the work.
The second stage of development, which follows that of the cultural,
is the development of the esoteric pupil. He works the ego into the
etheric body. Through this the Deva forces are gradually released by the
work of his own ego. Then he also gradually begins to see into himself.
We can now ask: what is the significance of the astral body, for
what purpose does man have an astral body? It is to give him the
possibility, by way of his desires, to do what otherwise he would not
have done, and to betake himself to the physical plane. For before man
can acquire objective knowledge on the physical plane he must direct to
it his wishes and desires. Without these he would have been unable to
develop an objective observation of the world or a sense of duty and
morality. Only after a gradual transformation of his desires can these
be changed into duties and ideals. Man can only pursue this path by
means of the driving, organising power of the astral body.
The etheric body is the bearer of thoughts. What is thought within
man, is etheric outside, just as what is desire within him, is astral
outside. But it is only when pure thinking begins that etheric substance
is radiated into the astral impulses. As long as thinking is not yet
pure thinking we have astral substance surrounding the etheric form. So
thought-forms, as they are called, are made out of a kernel of etheric
substance surrounded by astral substance. Along the paths of the nerves
stream the so-called abstract thoughts, which however are in reality the
most concrete, for they are etheric forces. As soon as man even begins
to think, he is already working the ego into his etheric body. When a
man dies it becomes clear that the physical body has nothing to do with
the ego. Every connection between the physical body and the ego is
broken off after death. Previously this connection took place indirectly
through the other bodies. When these are no longer there the corpse has
no further relation to the ego. Then the outer Deva forces receive it
and it is again absorbed into the physical environment. The word
'verwesen' (decay) does not mean only a passing away, but a
return to the 'Wesen' (being) out of which the body came
forth. This is what may be said in respect of the physical body. The
Dutch word 'Lichaam' does not mean 'Leichnam'
(corpse) but the physical body which has to be carried about.
The etheric body is to a great extent in a similar situation to the
physical body. It is taken up in the same way by the Devas and then
again dissolved into general circulation. But there remains from the
etheric body what the human being himself has worked into it and this
does not dissolve. It is this which later, at the time of reincarnation,
forms a central point, around which what is to be added is crystallised.
This small part of the etheric body remains present in the case of
everyone. In the same way there remains from the astral body as much as
the human being has worked into it. Only during the last third of the
Sixth Root-Race will the entire astral body be retained by all people of
normal development.
Thus development begins by man's working consciously on his astral
body. The task of the Chela, the occult pupil, consists further in the
transformation of his etheric body. The stage of chelahood is completed
when after death the entire etheric body remains intact. The sojourn in
Devachan is necessary in order to make possible a renewal of the forces
of the etheric body. The small portion of the etheric body which to
begin with man carries into Devachan can grow into the complete etheric
body, because the necessary conditions are created there.
This makes comprehensible the varying length of the sojourn in
Devachan. When the human being stands at the beginning of his
development and has transformed but very little of his etheric body he
can only remain in Devachan for quite a short time. The part of the
etheric body that is lacking must be replaced for him by the external
Devas. When he develops further he sojourns for a progressively longer
time in Devachan; thus the time that he spends there increases in
proportion to his own development. People, however, who are more
advanced sometimes reincarnate earlier for other reasons, for instance,
because they are needed in the world.
When the Chela dies, the entire etheric body is present. Thus at
this stage the Chela can renounce Devachan because the etheric body has
been completely worked through. Then, after quite a short time, re-birth
takes place. He waits at first in the astral world, as in a place of
transition, until he receives a definite mission from his Master. Then
he can again take possession of his etheric body in order to reincarnate
once more.
Until this stage is reached a duality is necessary for evolution,
i.e. that which man is unable to develop inwardly for himself is built
into him from outside. Help must be brought to him from without. Thus in
Devachan the etheric body is once more made complete by external Deva
powers. The Physical Plane and Devachan are polar opposites. Between
them lies Kamaloka, a place of transition, a transitional stage, an
intermediary condition that causes the human being to be connected with
what he has worked into his astral body. The astral body leads man on to
the Physical Plane, where he directs his attention outwards. Here
desires are cultivated by contact with external things. When a person
dies his craving for outer objects does not immediately cease, although
he no longer has organs bringing him into connection with them. The
desire remains but the organs are lacking. In Kamaloka he must break
himself from this longing for the outer-world. Kamaloka does not
actually belong to normal development; it is only a stage where habits
must be relinquished. It is because man can no longer satisfy his
wishes, because he no longer has organs for the physical world, that
Kamaloka comes about.
When someone commits suicide he has identified his ego with the
physical body. For this reason the longing for the physical body is all
the more intense. It seems to him that he is like a hollow tree, like
someone who has lost his ego. He then has a continual thirst for
himself.
When a man is put to death by violence he is in a similar situation.
In the case of someone who meets a violent death he continues seeking
for his physical body until the time when he would otherwise have died.
This seeking can bring about harmful reactions. In such a case it can
happen that a man who meets his end by violence is filled with a
terrible rage against those who have caused his death. Then in the
murdered man the blow is changed into a counter blow. Thus from the
astral world, the souls of Russians executed for political reasons
fought against their own countrymen on the side of the Japanese. This
happened in the Russo-Japanese war; it is however not a general rule.
∴
Lecture 13
Berlin, 8th October 1905
The present lecture is inserted into this course to shed light on many
things spoken of in the other lectures. It will deal with the activity
and the nature of the Devas.
At the present time it is very difficult to speak about the Gods or
Devas because even those people who still have a positive attitude
towards religion and still believe in the Gods, no longer have any
living relationship to divine spiritual beings. This living
relationship to the Gods, to beings, that is to say, who are exalted
far above human beings, has disappeared in the course of the age of
materialism. Especially during the materialistic age, which developed
from the turning point of the 15th and 16th centuries on into our own
time, this living connection with the Gods has been lost. It makes
little difference whether a person takes his stand on Darwinian
materialism or whether he speaks about the Gods in a more or less
religious sense. It is much more to the point to become livingly aware
that we ourselves have ascended from lower stages of existence and
have yet to ascend to higher stages. We must realise that we have a
relationship both with what is below and what is above.
Instruction about the Gods was first systematised by Dionysius the
Areopagite,
[42]
the pupil of the apostle Paul. It was however not
written down until the 6th century. This is why scholars deny the
existence of Dionysius the Areopagite and speak about the writings of
the Pseudo-Dionysius, as though it was in the 6th century that old
traditions were first put together. The truth of the matter can only
be substantiated by reading in the Akashic Chronicle. The Akashic
Chronicle does however teach that Dionysius actually lived in Athens,
that he was initiated by Paul and was commissioned by him to lay the
foundation of the teaching about the higher spiritual beings and to
impart this knowledge to special initiates. At that time certain lofty
teachings were never written down but only communicated as tradition
by word of mouth. The teaching about the Gods was also given in this
way by Dionysius to his pupils, who then passed it on further. These
pupils in direct succession were intentionally called Dionysius, so
that the last of these, who wrote down this teaching was one of those
who was given this name.
This teaching about the Gods, as given by Dionysius, encompasses three
times three ranks of divine beings. The three highest are: Seraphim,
Cherubim, Thrones. The next degree: Dominions, Mights, Powers. The
third degree: Primal Beginnings, Archangels and Angels.
In the Bible the words 'In the Beginning' often occur. They refer to
the Primal Beginnings or Archai. 'In the Beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.' This means: The God of the Beginnings, who
stands at this stage, created heaven and earth. It was one of the
Archai belonging to the Third Rank of the Hierarchies.
Above the Seraphim stand divine Beings whose nature is so exalted that
the human power of understanding is not able to comprehend them. After
the Third Rank follows the Fourth Hierarchy: Man, as the tenth in the
entire sequence.
The names of the Hierarchies do not refer to individuals but to
certain stages of consciousness of the great universe, and the Beings
move from one stage to another. Eliphas Levi perceived this clearly
and laid stress on the fact that with these names one has to do with
stages of development, with Hierarchies.
The basis of the Organisation of the Church goes back also to the same
Dionysius who formulated the teaching about the Gods. The Church
Hierarchy was to be an outer image of the inner Hierarchy of the
World. This grandiose thought could only have been carried through if
the time had been ripe for an understanding of all this in its true
form. Dionysius had bequeathed to his pupils such a teaching in regard
to the Church, so that, could it have been realised, a powerful and
magnificent Organisation would have come into being. At that time the
attempt was made to promulgate the teachings in such a way that the
thread was never broken from one teacher to the next, who then also
carried on the name. It is therefore not so astonishing that as late
as the 6th century a Dionysius committed the teachings to writing.
These teachings however could not find general understanding because
for this humanity was not yet ripe. They therefore remain as a kind of
testament.
[43]
The further we go back the more living are the concepts man had about
Beings standing above humanity.
Now let us develop certain concepts as to how man — the ordinary
person in the average cultural environment of our time — meets
the Gods. After death the human being first goes through Kamaloka, the
condition in which he gradually gets rid of the habits of earthly life
and frees himself from his desires. It is actually only in its first
stages that the sojourn in Kamaloka is often frightening and terrible.
Later man goes through that period of Kamaloka when he has to purify
himself from the more delicate connections with the earthly world.
This sojourn in Kamaloka is not only important for the person in
question; as we shall see, the activity of human beings in the higher
conditions of Kamaloka can also be made use of in the world outside
them. After Kamaloka man enters into the Devachan condition, where,
using the faculties he has won for himself, he works over everything
which is necessary in order to build up a new etheric body. On the
Arupa Plane of Devachan he has to lay aside everything that he gained
by his experiences on the Physical Plane. This is why in esotericism
the Greek priests called the soul a bee, the Arupa Plane a beehive and
the Physical Plane the flowering meadow.
There is however no need for man to be inactive in the higher regions.
During the time he is passing through Kamaloka and the lower
Devachanic Planes it might appear that he has nothing else to do than
to allow what he began earlier to come to fruition. But man is not
inactive there; what he experiences in these conditions is significant
for the whole world.
The new incarnation of the human being only has a purpose if he meets
conditions which are totally different from the earlier ones. In
normal circumstances he returns when the whole situation is so
different that what he finds around him is entirely new, so that what
he adds to his previous achievement is entirely new. This happens in
that period of cosmic time when the sun has progressed from one
constellation of the Zodiac to the next. For instance, about 800 BC
the sun in spring entered the constellation of the Ram or Lamb and
this continued until 1800 AD. Now, at the beginning of spring, it
stands in the constellation of the Fishes. Two thousand, six hundred
years elapse before the sun passes from one constellation of the
zodiac to the next. During this time conditions undergo a fundamental
change.
Reincarnation is connected with these epochs, during which the human
being is usually incarnated once as a masculine and once as a feminine
individuality. In any particular incarnation one is in fact only half
a human being. A masculine and a feminine incarnation belong together.
Owing to the entirely different physical conditions on the earth a new
incarnation is not without purpose. If for example someone was
incarnated at the time of Homer (in the sign of the Ram or Lamb,
Jason, the Golden Fleece) he would have experienced something quite
different from what he would experience now.
These incarnations taken by themselves might appear to be part of a
completely mechanical process. There is however nothing outward that
is not brought about from within. One must accustom oneself to speak
everywhere of a real spirit, to seek for it, and to perceive what is
actually happening.
When one looks at the flora and fauna of Europe in our epoch one has
to differentiate three zones: a western, a central and an eastern
zone. The eastern zone coincides with the Slavonic peoples, the
central with the Germanic and the western with the Latin peoples. The
materialist believes that human beings have adapted themselves to
their circumstances, but this is not so. The different peoples have
themselves created their physical conditions. The Folk Spirit works
first on the earth, on the plants and the animals into which he
enters. The Western European territory has been prepared by the Latin
peoples, the Central European by the Germanic, the Eastern European by
the Slavonic peoples. Thus human beings first build themselves the
house in which they later reside. Now let us ask: When does man work
upon the external configuration of the earth? As with everything else
in the earthly world, destiny too is prepared by man for himself, and
this is partially the case here.
In Kamaloka man is actually engaged in collaborating with work on the
animal kingdom, in the transformation of species. The force which
brings this about is called by natural scientists 'adaptability'.
Everything however that is called adaptability conceals human activity
on the other side of existence. Everything which appears as
metamorphosis in the animal kingdom, influencing and altering animal
instincts so that animals undergo transformation, takes place through
human beings in Kamaloka who are preparing for their next incarnation.
There man works on his own house in preparation for his next life. In
Kamaloka man works on the fauna and in Devachan on the flora. The
transformation of the plant world is the result of Devachanic forces.
And the physical world which also changes, the outer conditions of
Nature, are influenced from the Arupa Plane, (Higher Devachan). There,
man is a co-worker on the rocks, on the mineral kingdom of the earth.
It is certainly necessary to have some measure of occult powers in
order to make such observations in the appropriate place. It is not by
chance that miners [Steiner refers to miners of metals and minerals,
not coal] in particular make such observations underground. Novalis's
[44]
famous occult faculties are connected with the fact that he was a
mining engineer.
When one considers that in the super-sensible regions man is developing
certain forces, although while there he has not as yet his full
consciousness, one understands that these forces are guided by higher
beings, by the Devas. We distinguish different stages of Devas:
astral, Rupa-mental and Arupa-mental. Astral Devas have as their
lowest member the astral body, just as we have the physical body. Like
man, the astral Deva consists of seven members. He possesses
therefore, as the seventh, yet another member which is higher than
Atma. The Devas are all constituted according to the same principles
as man. As development progresses to higher planes a being gains
conscious mastery over the corresponding lower planes. On the physical
plane today man is only master of the mineral kingdom. There he
himself can construct something, but he cannot yet construct a plant
or an animal. In the mineral kingdom he has the component parts
clearly before him. On the next stage he consciously brings forth the
plants (Fifth Round) and then the animals (Sixth Round) and finally he
consciously brings forth himself (Seventh Round).
The beings whom we call Devas can do much more than human beings of
the Seventh Round. They can make use of regions that lie below their
own world. They can, for a particular purpose, form for a short time
the body that they need. Thus an astral Deva, if he so wish, can
incarnate physically at a definite time.
We can only form definite ideas about the Devas when we take our start
from human activity. Up to a certain point, man is free, able to do as
he pleases. People however do not work harmoniously together, and
therefore the various forces which proceed from human beings must be
brought into harmony. What people do must have a general effect, and
this must be made to serve a useful purpose in the world. The beings
who bring this about are the Devas. They also regulate collective
karma. As soon as people unite in a common purpose they have a
collective karma which binds them together and leads them on their
way, weaving a common karmic thread.
Thus in Russia there existed the sect of the Dukhobors
[45]
(warriors of the spirit) who were deeply religious. In naive, but in very
beautiful, form they possessed the teachings of Theosophy. These
people were banished and apparently no longer had any visible
influence. Materialists will say: 'What purpose could this have
served?' The Dukhobors perished. But all those who were united in this
sect will in their next incarnation be united by a common tie, in
order later to pour into humanity what they have learned. In such a
way groups which have come together work on humanity in subsequent
incarnations. The idea that was embodied in their lives then flows out
again into the world. One finds the same idea in a deeper form in
another such group.
Thus there existed for instance in the Middle Ages the sect of the
Manicheans.
[46]
The secret of the Manicheans was that they realised
that in the future there would be two groups of human beings, the good
and the bad. In the Fifth Round there will no longer be a mineral
kingdom, but instead a kingdom of evil. The Manicheans knew this. They
therefore made it their task already then so to educate people that
later they might become educators of the evil men. Again and again a
deeper profundity is seen in the sect of the Manicheans.
We have to distinguish the separate wills of individual human beings
from the powers which stand behind them in order to unite these
individual wills into a common will. In this way we have a collective
Karma.
The Rosicrucians spoke about Beings who are connected with groups of
people. The physical body belongs to the single human being; the
astral body on the other hand already belongs to a group. In one part
of his astral body man is connected with a Group Soul. What he cannot
yet do for himself is today done for him by a Deva. They are still
working on man's astral body. The Devas co-operate even more strongly
in what man achieves today through work on his etheric body. We have
seen that in a part of Kamaloka man's forces are used in the service
of the animal kingdom, but they are guided by the Devas. Thence man is
progressing ever further on his way to Devachan.
A special class of Devas are the Planetary Spirits — the
Dhyan-Chohanic beings who earlier reached the stage which human beings
will only attain much later. They stand at the stage that will only be
reached by man in the Sixth and Seventh Rounds. A Planetary Spirit is
engaged with others in creative work on certain aspects of planetary
evolution.
At present man is active on the physical, astral and devachanic
planes. Everything is activity. Now what significance have the
Planetary Spirits for man in any particular situation? The activity
which is at present being carried out by man, was carried out by the
Planetary Spirits during previous stages of evolution, during previous
planetary conditions. What they then absorbed they now have within
them as wisdom. This enables them to become the teachers of the next
planetary epoch. Those Devas who were actively engaged in the
formation of the earth were not yet able to recognise the underlying
laws; this was only possible for beings at the higher stage of Wisdom.
Above the stage of Wisdom is the stage of Will, of manifested
activity. The Spirits of Wisdom (Kyriotetes) and the Spirits of Will
(Thrones) are the actual leaders of planetary evolution.
At the time when man was still an astral being, before the Lemurian
Age, the Devas worked within him and built into him in advance what
came forth from him later. Before the Lemurian Age there rose up in
the inner being of man a picture of his environment. Feelings of
sympathy and antipathy also arose in picture form within him. All this
was brought about by the Devas. At that time he was governed by the
regency of the Devas. Later he assumed in some measure the regency
over himself, becoming a subordinate member in the service of the
Devas. Now he is to some extent Godforsaken. Only in the part
that is not Godforsaken do the Devas still work within him. The Chela
consciously brings to life within him that world which man in the
Pre-Lemurian Age had learned to know in pictures. Then desires and
passions approached him in the form of auric pictures in which lived
the thoughts of the Devas, but it was all in deep twilight
consciousness. Now after all this had been lost, man had to struggle
to attain conscious seeing of an external world. The further
development of Chela-ship consists in gaining this also in complete
awareness. He retains throughout full consciousness. The medium, that
is to say, mediumship, is a relapse into an earlier age.
What the human being experiences on the physical plane is the skeleton
of his creative activity; the foundation for the following periods of
evolution. Through his contact with the outer world, faculties are
formed within him according to which later planetary activity is
ordered, after man himself will have become a planetary spirit.
In our speech we create the foundation for later planetary conditions.
What we speak today will actually be present there as foundation, just
as the rocks and stones form the foundation of the earth. In one
sphere the experiences pass through an involutionary process so that
in another sphere they may be able to evolve. An individuality is
divine in so far as he is able to breathe out again what he has taken
in. The Devas become Devas as soon as they are able to give back again
what they have previously absorbed.
It is a primeval wisdom that was absorbed earlier and is now being
given back. It is 'Theosophy' in as much as the Gods themselves were
once the teachers of mankind.
Karma is the law. The Deva is the one who brings the law into
application. The angel of the rotation of time brings about the
application of the law governing groups of human beings. The single
person in a group acts instinctively. The Deva guides the Folk Soul;
he is in fact the Folk Soul. The Folk Soul is no abstraction, but a
living spirit.
∴
Lecture 14
Berlin, 9th October 1905
Again and again we must make clear to ourselves that this sojourn in
Devachan is nowhere else than where we ourselves are in physical life.
For Devachan, the astral and the physical world are nothing other than
three interpenetrating worlds. We can form the most correct idea of
Devachan if we think of the world of electric forces before electricity
had been discovered. There was a time when all this was contained in the
physical world, only it was then an occult world. Everything that is
occult has at some time to be discovered. The difference between life in
Devachan and that in the physical world is that man in his present epoch
is endowed with organs enabling him to perceive the physical world but
not with organs that enable him to behold the phenomena of Devachan.
Let us imagine ourselves in the soul of someone living between two
incarnations. He has given over his physical body to the forces of the
earth and relinquished his etheric body to the life-forces. Furthermore
he has given back that part of his astral body into which he himself has
not worked. He then finds himself in Devachan. He no longer has as
personal possession what the gods had worked into his etheric and astral
bodies; all this has been cast aside. He now possesses only what he
himself has achieved in the course of many lives. In Devachan this
remains his own. All that man has done in the physical world serves the
purpose of making him more and more conscious in Devachan.
Let us take the relationship of one person to another. It can be
said that this is simply a natural one, for instance the relationship
between brothers and sisters who have been brought together through
natural circumstances. It is however only partially natural, for moral
and intellectual factors are continually playing in. Through his Karma
man is born into a particular family; but not everything is conditioned
by Karma. The natural relationship, into which nothing else is
intermixed, we have in the case of the animals. In the case of human
beings there is always a moral relationship also, through Karma. The
relationship between two people can however also exist without this
being conditioned by nature. For instance a bond of intimate friendship
can arise between two people in spite of outer hindrances. As a rather
extreme case let us assume that they were at first mutually somewhat
unsympathetic to one another and that they found the way to each other
on a purely intellectual and moral basis, soul to soul. Let us contrast
this with the natural relationship between members of a family. With the
relationship of soul to soul we have a powerful means of developing
devachanic organs. In no way can devachanic organs be more easily
developed at present than by such relationships. Such a relationship is
unconsciously a devachanic one.
What a person develops in his present life in the way of soul
faculty through friendship of a purely soul nature, in Devachan is
wisdom, the possibility of experiencing the spiritual in action. To the
extent to which someone enters livingly into such connections he is well
prepared for Devachan. If he is unable to form such relationships he is
unprepared; for just as colour escapes a blind man, so does soul
experience escape him. To the degree to which man fosters purely soul
relationships do organs of vision develop in him for Devachan. So that
the statement holds good: Whoever lives and moves here in the life of
the spirit, will over there perceive just as much of the spiritual as he
has gained here through his activity. Hence the immeasurable importance
of life on the physical plane. In human evolution no other means of
awakening the organs for Devachan exists other than spiritual activity
on the physical plane. All this is creative and comes back to us as
devachanic sense organs for the devachanic world. As preparation there
is nothing better than to have a purely soul relationship with other
human beings, a relationship whose origin is in no way based upon
natural connections.
This is why people should be brought together into groups, in order
to unite on a purely spiritual basis. It is the will of the Masters to
pour life in this way into the stream of humanity. What takes place with
the right attitude of mind signifies for all the members of the group
the opening of a spiritual eye in Devachan. One will then see there
everything which is on the same level with what one had united oneself
with here. If on the physical plane one has attached oneself to a
spiritual endeavour, this actually is among those things which retain
their existence after death. Such things belong just as much to the dead
as to the one who has survived him. He who has passed over remains in
the same connection with the one still on earth and is indeed even more
intensely conscious of this spiritual relationship.
Thus one educates oneself for Devachan. The souls of the dead remain
in connection with those who were dear to them. The earlier
relationships become causes which have their effects in Devachan. This
is why the devachanic world is called, the world of effects and the
physical world the world of causes. In no other way can man build his
higher organs than by implanting the seeds for these organs on the
physical plane. For this purpose man is transferred to earthly
existence. What the much quoted phrase, 'To overcome separate
existence' means, will now become clear to us. Before we descended
to physical existence we lived with the content of our astral body which
was brought about by a Deva. In earlier times sympathy and antipathy in
the human being were stimulated by the Devas; he himself was not
responsible. Then at the next stage man said to himself: Now I have
entered into the physical world as a being who must find his own way.
Formerly I was not able to speak the word 'I', now I have
become for the first time a separate entity. Previously I was indeed a
separate entity, but also a member of a devachanic being. On the
physical plane I am a separate entity for myself, an ego, because I am
enclosed in a physical body.
The higher bodies flow into one another: for instance Atma is in
truth a one-ness for the whole of humanity, like an atmosphere shared in
common. Nevertheless the Atma of the single human being is to be
understood as if each one were to cut a piece for himself out of the
common Karma, so that, as it were, incisions are made in it. But the
separateness must be overcome. This we do when we form human attachments
of a purely soul nature. By so doing we do away with the separateness
and recognise the unity of Atma in everything.
By establishing such human relationships I awaken sympathy within
me. I then undertake the task of selflessly fitting myself into the
world plan. Through this the Divine is awakened in man. That is why we
look out into the world.
Today we are surrounded by physical reality, by sun, moon and stars.
What man had around him in the Old Moon existence, he has today within
himself. The forces of the Moon now live within him. Had man not existed
on the Old Moon he would not have possessed these forces. This is why
the Egyptian occult teaching in esoteric centres called the Moon Isis,
the Goddess of Fertility. Isis is the soul of the Moon, the precursor of
the Earth. Then all the forces lived in the environment which now live
in plants and animals for the purpose of reproduction. As now fire,
chemical ether, magnetism and so on are around us and surround the
Earth, so the moon was surrounded by those forces which enabled man,
animal and plant to propagate. The forces which at present surround the
Earth will in the future play an individualised role in man. What now
constitutes the relationship between man and woman was on the Old Moon
external physical activity, such as volcanic eruptions are today. These
forces surrounded man during the Moon existence and he drew them in
through his Moon-senses, in order to evolve them now. What man developed
on the Old Moon through involution emerged on Earth as evolution. What
man developed after the Lemurian Age as the sexual forces, is due to
Isis, the soul of the Moon, which now lives on further in man. Here we
have the relationship between the human being and the present moon. The
moon has left its soul with man and has therefore become a mere
slagheap.
While we are gaining experiences on the Earth we are gathering the
forces which during the next Planetary Evolution will become our own
being. Our present experiences in Devachan are the preparatory stages
for future epochs. Just as man today looks up to the moon and says:
'You have given us the forces of reproduction,' so in the
future he will look up to a moon that has arisen out of our present
physical earth and as a soul-less body of slag will circle round the
future Jupiter. On Future Jupiter man will develop new forces which
today on the Earth he takes into himself as light and warmth and all
physical sense perceptions. Later he will ray out everything which he
had previously perceived through the senses. Whatever he had taken in
through his soul will then be reality. So the theosophical conception
does not lead us to underrate the world on the physical plane, but to
understand that we must draw out of the physical plane what we need to
have, experiences which will later radiate outwards. The warmth of the
earth, the rays of the sun, which now stream towards us, will later
stream out from us. As at the present time the sexual forces emanated
from us, so it will be with these new forces.
Now let us make clear to ourselves the significance of the Devachan
conditions which follow one another. At first Devachan is only short.
But ever more and more spiritual organs are being formed in the Mental
Body, until at last when his comprehension has embraced the wisdom of
the Earth, man will have completely fashioned the organs of the
devachanic body.
This will come about for the whole of mankind when all the
World-Rounds are completed. Then everything will have become human
wisdom. Warmth and light will then have become wisdom. Between the Earth
Manvantara and the following Planetary Evolution man lives in Pralaya.
Outwardly there is nothing whatever, but all the forces which man has
drawn forth from the Earth are within him. In such a Life-Period the
outer turns inwards. Everything is then present as seed and its life is
carried over to the next Manvantara. Broadly speaking this is a similar
condition to that in which we, in the moment of retrospect, forget all
that is around us and only remember our experiences in order to preserve
them in memory and later make use of them. So in Pralaya mankind as a
whole remembers all experiences in order to put them to use once more.
There are always such intermediate conditions which, as it were,
consist of memories, and so the devachanic state is also an intermediate
one. The initiate already now sees before him those facts which man only
gradually has around him in Devachan. It is an intermediate condition.
All similar conditions are of an intermediate nature. The initiate
describes the world as it is on the other side, in Devachan, in the
intermediate state. When he gets beyond Devachan and reaches a still
higher condition he again describes an intermediate state.
The first stage of initiation consists in the pupil learning to
penetrate through the veil of the external world and to look at the
world from the other side. The initiate is homeless here on the earth.
He must build himself a home on the other side. When the disciples were
with Jesus 'on the mountain', they were led into the
devachanic world, beyond space and time; they built themselves a
'tabernacle' — a home. This is the first stage of
initiation.
At the second stage of initiation something similar occurs, but on a
higher level. At this stage the initiate has a state of consciousness
corresponding to the intermediate period between two conditions of form
(Globes), a state of Pralaya that comes about when everything is
achieved that can be achieved in the physical condition of form and the
Earth is metamorphosed into a so-called astral condition of form
(Globe).
The third stage of initiate-consciousness is that which corresponds
to the intermediate state between two Rounds, from the old Arupa-Globe
of the previous Round to the new Arupa-Globe of the following Round. The
initiate is in the Pralaya between two Rounds when he raises himself
into the third stage. He is then an initiate of the Third Degree. So we
can now understand why Jesus had to reach the third stage before he
could place his body at the service of Christ. Christ stands above all
the spirits who live in the Rounds. The initiate who had raised himself
above the Rounds could place his body at the service of Christ.
The human ego-consciousness was to be purified and healed through
Christianity. Christ had to raise and purify the self-centred ego, so
that when it has reached self-consciousness it may die selflessly. This
he could only do in a body which had become one with ... [Gap in text
...]. Thus only an initiate of the third grade could sacrifice his body
for the Christ.
In our time it is extraordinarily difficult to attain to a complete
awareness of these lofty conditions. The profoundly wise Subba Row [47] had his own
knowledge; he describes three such stages of discipleship.
We see the moon as the lifeless residue of ourselves and we ourselves
have in us the forces which once gave the moon its life. That is also
the reason for the special sentimental mood in all poets who sing the
praises of the moon. All poetical feelings are faint echoes of living
occult streams deeply hidden in man.
A being can however become entangled in what should actually remain
behind as slag. Something must remain behind from the Earth that is
destined to become later what the moon is today. This must be overcome
by man. But someone can have a liking for such things and so unites
himself with them. A person who is deeply bound up with what is purely
of the senses, of the lower instincts, connects himself ever more
strongly with what should become slag. This will come about when the
number 666
[48]
is fulfilled, the number of the Beast. Then comes the
moment when the Earth must draw away from further planetary evolution.
If however the human being has connected himself too strongly with the
forces of the senses, which should now detach themselves, if he is
related to them and has not found the way to attach himself to what is
to pass over to the next Globe, he will depart with the slag and
become an inhabitant of this body of slag, in the same way as other
beings are now inhabitants of the present moon.
Here we have the concept of the Eighth Sphere.
[49]
Mankind must go
through Seven Spheres. The Seven Planetary Evolutions correspond to
the seven bodies.
Old Saturn corresponds to the physical body
Old Sun corresponds to the etheric body
Old Moon corresponds to the astral body
The Earth corresponds to the Ego
Future Jupiter corresponds to the Manas
Future Venus corresponds to the Buddhi
Future Vulcan corresponds to the Atma
Beside these there is an Eighth Sphere to which everything goes that
cannot make any connection with this continuous evolution. This
already forms itself as predisposition in the devachanic state. When a
human being uses the life on earth only to amass what is of service to
himself alone, only to experience an intensification of his own
egotistical self, this leads in Devachan into the condition of
Avitchi. A person who cannot escape from his own separateness goes
into Avitchi. All these Avitchi men will eventually become inhabitants
of the Eighth Sphere. The other human beings will be inhabitants of
the continuing chain of evolution. It is from this concept that
religions have formulated the doctrine of hell.
When man returns from Devachan, the astral, etheric and physical
forces arrange themselves around him according to twelve forces of
karma which in Indian esotericism are called Nidanas:
They are as follows:
1. avidja
non-knowledge
2. sanskara
the organising tendencies
3. vijnana*
consciousness
4. nama-rupa
names and form
5. shadayadana
what the intellect makes of things
6. sparsha
contact with existence
7. vedana
feeling
8. trishna
thirst for existence
9. upadana
a sense of comfort in existence
10. bhava
birth
11. jati*
the urge towards birth
12. jaramarana (In the Sanscrit letter j is pronounced as dj)
what frees from earthly existence
In the next lecture we shall study these important aspects of karma in
more detail.
∴
Lecture 15
Berlin, 10th October 1905
Everything that is taught today in Theosophy was also contained in
the schools of the Rosicrucians in the 14th century. But the inner
schooling of the Rosicrucian stream was a strictly occult one. With such
an occult training very little consideration was given to the language,
to the way in which things were expressed. In the world of the 15th,
16th and 17th centuries there lived certain unassuming men who were not
especially well-known as scholars and who also held no particular social
position, but who carried on the occult stream of the Rosicrucians. They
were never many. There were never more than seven real initiates at one
time; the others were occult pupils of various grades. The Rosicrucians
were the messengers of the White Lodge. From them went out in very truth
events of world significance. Everything of importance that happened
during this time could eventually be traced back to the lodges of the
Rosicrucians. Outwardly quite other personalities made the history of
Europe, but seen from within, the latter were the instruments of occult
individualities. Even Rousseau and Voltaire were such instruments of
occult individualities standing behind them. These occultists could not
themselves appear under their own names. The impulse which, in the
carrying out of their mission, they gave to other people could be
outwardly a very simple, inconspicuous one. Sometimes the short meeting
with such an unassuming man provided the opportunity for the right
impulse to be given to these instruments of the occult individuals. Up
to the time of the French Revolution occult forces stood behind
significant statesmen. Then they gradually withdrew, for men were now to
become masters of their destiny. For the first time, in the speeches of
the French Revolution, men speak as men.
The inner life remained in the background, in the occult schools. In
the schools of the Rosicrucians these things were taught which are now
known as the main teachings of Theosophy. The occult brotherhoods gave
the impulse to every important discovery; only then did the events play
their part in the outside world. Voltaire was in the most eminent sense,
an individual directed by forward-striving brotherhoods, for the actual
purpose of his being there was to set men on their own feet. Others
stood in the service of the retrograde brotherhoods, as for example
Robespierre in his later years. Everything which appears in anticipation
of the future calls forth its opposite on the physical plane ...
In Rosicrucian schools therefore the same things were taught as
through Theosophy today. In the outside world however there was no word
of Theosophy. In the occult schools themselves value is only laid on
language in order to teach the outside world. The occult pupil himself
must learn to use the symbols, the signs. Thus in order to make
themselves understood in the world, the initiates only have at their
disposal the language used by the world at large. At the time when
knowledge was still kept secret, there existed a certain system of
symbols and anyone wishing to be initiated had to learn the language of
symbols. No value was laid on the spoken word as a means of expression.
Even at that time the teachings were there, but the descriptive
expressions were frequently lacking. Such expressions for occult
teaching are however present in the Eastern method, which is derived
from the very earliest Indians, who had received their teaching from the
ancient Rishis. These Indian expressions are not yet influenced by the
materialistic age. The words which the Indians created are still full of
the magic of the sacred primaeval language. Nevertheless what is of
Indian origin cannot be made use of by us in Europe.
What is right for the Indian people is not right for Europe. To
begin with an Indian impulse was necessary because Europe itself had
developed too few expressions able to introduce such teachings. Even
today we must still describe many things with Indian words. But
everything in occult teachings that today is brought into the open was
also possessed by the Rosicrucians in the Middle Ages and the beginning
of modern times. There were already appropriate expressions for the most
fundamental teachings, but at that time it was not yet possible to speak
openly about reincarnation and karma. These truths could however be
allowed to flow subconsciously into European culture. Paracelsus and
other mystics did not speak about reincarnation. This was quite natural.
They were not able to speak about it. But for all that is concerned with
earthly life between birth and death they also had in the west extremely
apt expressions, though not, on the other hand, for the intervening
conditions between two incarnations. One thing strongly emphasised at
that time, was the importance of physical life for the development of
the organs of the higher bodies. When we pursue the study of the
sciences, when we develop intimate spiritual friendships, all this is a
process of the development of forces which will one day become active as
spiritual organs.
Three separate concepts have always comprised what, coming from
outside, education on the physical plane should bring about in the
three different bodies of man. These three aspects were called:
Wisdom, Beauty and Power or Strength.
When in the outer court of the more exoteric Rosicrucian schools the
pupils received instruction, they were told: 'You are to be the
workers of the future.' Nothing was said about reincarnation. But the
human being would also continue to work when not incarnated again in
the physical body. The teaching implanted in them what should in the
future work formatively upon the organs. It was said to the pupils:
'Lead in your daily life in the outer world, a life of Wisdom, Beauty
and Power, then in your higher bodies you will develop those organs
which are for the future.' In Freemasonry today, the masons of St.
John still speak of the great importance of Wisdom, Beauty and Power,
but they no longer know that thereby formative forces work on the
etheric body, the astral body and the ego.
When in the Middle Ages a Freemason master builder built a cathedral
or a church, his name was of absolutely no importance. He himself
remained in the background. In the case of the 'Theologia deutsch'
[50]
also, and for the same reason, the name of the author was not
mentioned. He calls himself 'the Frankfurter'. No amount of learned
research can discover the name. The aim of these men was to work
outwardly on the physical plane, leaving no trace of their names
behind them, but only the fruits of their activity.
Let us suppose that someone had given the design and the impulse for
the building of a great cathedral. He knew that the forms of the
building would create in him an organ for the future. All such works
will, in their effects, remain connected with the inmost part of the
soul. As a rule however all these works in the outer world remain
until he who created them finds them again and recognises them when he
returns. Under the pulpit there is usually to be found a small picture
of the architect; from this he recognises himself again. This is the
bridge which is thrown from one incarnation to another.
Through Wisdom the etheric body was to be developed, through Beauty,
to which Piety belonged, the astral body, and through Power the
individual ego. The human being had to become a self-effacing imprint
of the outer world. In ancient India nothing of this was yet known.
Brahmanism aimed at a perfecting of the self in the inner life ...
[Gap in text ...] ... But just in the middle of our Post-Atlantean
epoch there appeared those teachers of religion who drew attention to
the renunciation of the self. This was already taught by Buddha. It
was developed still more intensively in the West through Freemasonry
and Rosicrucianism. They sought the perfecting of the ego in the form
that is also in the outer world, not so much in the inner life as this
was cultivated in India. It was in this sense that the western
occultist said to himself: 'Thine ego is not only within thyself, but
in the world around thee. The Gods have raised thee out of the mineral
kingdom, out of the plant and animal kingdoms; but three kingdoms thou
createst for thyself, the three kingdoms of Wisdom, Beauty and Power.
These develop the organs of the higher man.'
The human being said to himself: 'I stand here as the end result of a
time when the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms sacrificed themselves
for me; out of this foundation arose self-awareness, the ego. And just
as the ego has been formed through these other kingdoms, so must it
now itself develop the kingdoms of Wisdom, Beauty and Strength, in
order by their means to mount still higher to a complete
transformation of our etheric, astral and ego bodies.' These three
kingdoms are the kingdoms of Science, Art and inner Strength, by which
is meant everything that lives itself out in the will. In these three
domains the mediaeval esotericist saw the means for the further
development of mankind. The transformation of the world was not given
over to blind chance, but according to these three aspects of Wisdom,
Beauty and Strength, the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms were to be
transformed. When the Earth again becomes astral everything will have
been transformed in accordance with these three aspects. Thus it was
from this three-fold point of view that the freemasons of the Middle
Ages and all esotericists built and worked.
In Indian esotericism twelve forces are differentiated which draw man
down again into physical existence. The first of these forces is
Avidja: ignorance. Avidja is what draws us down again into physical
existence for the simple reason that we shall only have fulfilled our
mission on the Earth when we have extracted from it all possible
knowledge. On the other hand we have not fulfilled our mission as long
as everything that we should learn from physical existence has not yet
been extracted.
After Avidja what next draws us back is what the earth contains
because we ourselves have made it, which therefore belongs to our
Organisation. When a mason, for instance, has worked on the building
of a cathedral, this has become a part of himself. There is a
reciprocal attraction between them. What has an organ-creating
tendency for the original instigator, whether it be the work of
Leonardo da Vinci or the smallest piece of work, forms an organ in the
human being and this is the cause of his return. All that the man has
done, taken together, is called Sanskara or the organising tendency
which builds up the human being. This is the second thing which draws
him back.
Now comes the third. Before the human being entered into any
incarnation he knew nothing of an outer-world. Self-awareness first
began with the first incarnation; previously man had no consciousness
of self. He had first to perceive the outer objects on the physical
plane before he could develop consciousness of self. True as it is
that what a man has done draws him back to the physical plane, so is
it true that knowledge of things draws him back. Consciousness is a
new force which binds him to what is here. This is the third element
that draws him into a new earth-life. This third force is called
Vijnana = consciousness.
Up to this point we have remained very intimately within the human
soul. As the fourth stage appears what comes towards the consciousness
from outside, what was indeed already there without man, but what he
had first to learn to know with his consciousness — this was
present outside in his previous existence, but only disclosed itself
after his consciousness opened to it. It is the separation between
subject and object, or, as the Sanscrit writer says, the separation
between name and form (Nama-rupa). Through this man reached the outer
object. This is the fourth force that draws him back, for instance the
memory of a being to which he has attached himself.
Next comes what we form as mental image in connection with an external
object: for example, picturing a dog is merely making a mental image,
which is however the essential thing for the painter. It is what the
intellect makes of a thing: Shadayadana.
Now there is a further descent into the earthly. The mental picture
leads us to what we call contact with existence: Sparsha. Whoever
depends on the object stands at the stage of Nama-rupa; whoever forms
pictures stands at the stage of Shadayadana. The one however who
differentiates between the pleasing and the unpleasing will reach the
point where he prefers the beautiful to the unbeautiful. This is
called contact with existence: Sparsha.
Somewhat different however from this contact with the outer-world is
what at the same time stirs inwardly as feeling. Now I myself come
into action: I connect my feeling with one thing or another. That is a
new element. Man becomes more involved. It is called Vedana: Feeling.
Through Vedana something quite new again arises, that is, longing for
existence. The forces which draw man back into existence awaken more
and more strongly within himself. The higher forces compel all human
beings to a greater or lesser degree; they are not individual.
Eventually however, quite personal forces appear which draw him back
again into the earthly world. That is the eighth force. Trishna =
Thirst for existence.
Still more subjective than the thirst for existence is what is named
Upadana: Comfort in existence. With Upadana man has something in
common with the animal, but he experiences it more spiritually and it
is the task of man to spiritualise what is gross in this soul element.
Then comes individual existence itself, the sum of all the earlier
incarnations when he was already on the earth: Bhava = individual
existence, the force of the totality of earlier incarnations. Previous
incarnations draw him down into existence.
With this we have retraced the stages of the Nidanas up to individual
birth. The esotericist differentiates two further stages which go
beyond the period of individual existence. Here he differentiates a
previous condition that gave the impetus towards birth, before man had
ever been incarnated. This is called Jata: what before birth gave the
impetus to birth.
The impetus towards birth is interconnected with a different impulse.
It brings with it the germ of dissolution, the urge to extricate
oneself from individual birth. What interests us is that this earthly
existence of ours falls again into decay and we are freed, able to
become old and die (jaramarana). These are the twelve Nidanas which
work like strings, drawing us ever and again down into existence. (The
meaning of Nidana is string, loop.) There are three groups which
belong together:
First Group
Second Group
Third Group
Avidja
Shadayadana
Upadana
Sanskara
Sparsha
Bhava
Vijnana
Vedana
jati
Nama-rupa
Trishna
jaramarana
The soul has three members: the consciousness soul as the highest
member, then the intellectual or mind soul and the sentient soul. The
first group of the Nidanas from Avidja to Nama-rupa is connected with
the consciousness soul: the second group with the intellectual soul
and the third, from Upadana to Jaramarana, with the sentient soul.
Vijnana is characteristic of the consciousness soul; Shadayadana of
the intellectual soul and the last four are bound up with the sentient
soul. These last four are present in both animal and man.
∴
Lecture 16
Berlin, 11th October 1905
If we wish to understand the whole way in which Karma works, a
subject we are now going to approach, we must be able to form a
conception of what is called Nirvana. Very much is involved in a
complete understanding of the significance of Nirvana, but we will try
to gain an introductory idea of it.
In any action carried out by man there is in fact very little
present of anything that might be called freedom, for man is actually
the result of his deeds in the past. This is the case in the widest
sense of the word. So that he should become what he is, all the kingdoms
of Nature had first to be created. The mineral, plant and animal
kingdoms, which he once had within him, he gradually put out from
himself. To this must be added what he acquired in the time following
the first third of the Lemurian race. All that he carried out in the way
of deeds, all that he experienced in his soul as thoughts and feelings,
belong also to his past, become his Karma. We look into a past which at
the same time shows its results in the forms around us. The whole of our
surrounding world is nothing other than the result of past deeds. In
this same way man is now making preparation for what will happen in the
future.
We are nevertheless continually faced with things which are not
altogether the results of past deeds, but which bring something new into
the world. A certain man, let us say Mr. Kiem, is the result of past
deeds. The Theosophical Society too is the result of past deeds and that
he is brought into connection with it is also such a result. Something
new arises however through Mr. Kiem's relationship to the Theosophical
Society: this again is the cause of future deeds. When light shines
against a stick, a shadow arises behind it. That is actually something
new. When we observe this effect we say to ourselves, something has
taken place that is new. The relationship of one thing to another is
something new; the forming of the shadow.
Everything which a person usually thinks, he thinks about things,
about what has come into being already. He can however turn his thoughts
towards relationships of a kind that have not been brought about as the
result of earlier causes, but that appear in the present. This happens
very seldom, for people hang on to the old, to what has formed like
strata around them. Relationships which make their appearance as
something altogether new form very little of the content of human
thoughts. Anyone wishing to work for the future must however have those
thoughts which will produce new connections between one thing and
another. Only thoughts dealing with such connections can yield something
new. One sees this best in art. What the artist creates is not there in
reality. The mere form worked upon by the sculptor is not in fact there;
it is no product of Nature. In Nature there is only the form pulsed
through with life. A mere form would contradict natural laws. The artist
builds something new out of relationships. The painter paints what
arises out of relationships: light and shade; he does not paint what is
actually there. He does not paint the tree, but an impression which is
called up by all he experiences with regard to the tree.
In practical actions also man usually produces nothing new. The
majority of people only do what has already been done. Only a few people
create out of moral intuition, in that they bring new duties, new deeds
into the world. What is new comes into the world through relationships.
This is why it is often said that the very nature of simple moral action
lies in relationships. Such moral action consists for example in deeds
brought about by a relationship based on goodwill. One finds with most
actions that they are rooted in the old: even in the case of actions and
events where something new makes its appearance, these too are generally
rooted in the old.
With more exact investigation this usually become apparent. Only
those actions are free which are in no way based on the foundation of
the past, but where man only carries out actions in the world which are
combined with the productive activity of his reason. Such actions are
called in occultism: Creation out of Nothing. [51] All
other actions are produced out of Karma. Here we have two opposites:
Karma and its opposite, Nothingness, an activity that is not rooted in
Karma.
And now let us imagine a person whose actions, thoughts and feelings
are conditioned by Karma; through deeds, thoughts ... feelings rising
out of the past. One may then think of him having advanced so far that
all Karma is eliminated and he is therefore faced with Nothingness. When
he then does something one says in occultism: He acts out of Nirvana.
For example, it was out of Nirvana that the actions of a Buddha or a
Christ arose, at least in part. In the ordinary way a person approaches
this only when he is inspired by art, religion or world-history.
Action arising out of intuition comes out of Nothingness. Whoever
would attain to this must become completely free from Karma. He can then
no longer draw his impulses from the usual sources. The mood which then
comes over him is that of divine bliss, a state which is also called
Nirvana.
How does the human being ascend to Nirvana? We must look back into
Lemurian times. There we find man, as he is on the earth, at first going
on all fours. These beings, in which at that time man, 'pure
man', (as Monad) incarnated, went on all fours. Through the fact
that the Monads incarnated in them, these beings gradually raised their
front limbs and attained an upright position. Now for the first time
Karma begins. Karma, as human Karma, first became possible when human
beings made use of their hands for work. Before this man made no
individual Karma. It was a very important stage of human development
when man, from a horizontal, became a vertical being, thereby freeing
his hands. In this way his development led over into the Atlantean
epoch.
At the next stage man learned to make use of speech. To begin with
he learned the use of his hands, later on, the use of language. Through
his hands he filled the surrounding world with deeds; through speech he
filled it with words. When a man dies there lives on all that he
accomplished through deeds and words in the surrounding world.
Everything that he accomplished in the way of deeds remains present as
human Karma. What however he produced in the way of words not only
remains as his individual Karma, but as something else essentially
different.
We can look back at the time when man did not as yet speak, but only
performed actions. Then actions were something which only came from the
single personality. They ceased however to be only personal when speech
began. For now human beings established understanding with one another.
This is an extraordinarily important moment in Atlantean development.
The moment when the first sound was pronounced, the Karma of humanity
began in the world. As soon as human beings speak with one another
something common to all flows out from the whole of mankind. Then the
purely personal, individual Karma passes over into the general Karma of
humanity. With the words which emanate from us we actually spread around
us more than just ourselves. In what we speak the whole of humanity is
living. Only when the deeds of our hands become selfless will they too
become something for the whole of humanity. In his speaking however a
man cannot be entirely selfish, for then what he says would have to
belong to himself alone. A language can never be entirely selfish,
whereas the deeds performed by the hands are mostly so. The occultist
says: What I do with my hands can be simply my own concern; what I
speak, I speak as member of a nation or a tribe.
Thus our life creates around us remains — personal,
rudimentary remains, brought about by the deeds of our hands and
general human rudimentary remains brought about by words. These
must be clearly differentiated. Everything that surrounds us in Nature
— in the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms — is there as the
result of earlier deeds. What is now being built up around us by our
deeds is actually something new coming into the world. Each single human
being brings something new into the world, something new strikes in, and
new impulses also strike in coming from mankind as a whole.
If therefore we must say: Man appeared on the earth in the middle of
the Lemurian Age and for the first time created his own Karma, before
this he had created no individual Karma; we must ask ourselves: Where
then can this Karma come from, since its action played in as something
new? It can only come from Nirvana. At that time something had to become
active in the world that came forth from Nirvana, from that which is
'created out of nothing'. The beings who at that time
fructified the earth had to reach up into Nirvana. Those who fructified
the four-footed creatures so that they became human, were beings who
descended from the Nirvana plane. They are called Monads. This is why at
that time beings of this nature had to come down from the Nirvana plane.
The being from the Nirvana plane who is in us, in the human being, is
the Monad. Here something new enters into the world and embodies itself
in what is already there and which, for its part, is entirely the result
of earlier deeds.
We thus differentiate three stages. The first consists in external
deeds brought about through the hands; the second is what is brought
about through the spoken word, and the third by what is brought about
through thought. And thought is something far more comprehensive than
the spoken word. Thought is no longer, as with language, different among
the different peoples, but belongs to the whole of humanity.
So man ascends from actions, through words to thoughts, and in this
way he becomes an ever more universal being. There is no general norm
for action, no logic for deeds. Everyone must act for himself. But there
is no purely personal speech. Speech belongs to a group. Thought on the
other hand belongs to the whole of humanity. Here we have a progression
from the particular to the universal in these three human stages: deeds,
words, thoughts.
In so far as he expresses himself in the outer world, man leaves
behind him traces of the spirit of the whole of humanity as thought; the
traces of a human group soul as word; traces of his separate human being
as actions. This is most clearly expressed by pointing out the effects
of what is brought about through these three stages. An individuality is
like a thread which goes through all forms of personal manifestation in
the different incarnations. An individuality creates for further
incarnations. A people as a speech-community creates for new peoples.
Humanity creates for a new humanity, for a new planet. What a man does
for himself personally has significance for his next incarnation; what a
nation speaks has significance for the next sub-race, for the next
incarnation of a people. And when a world will be there in which our
entire thinking no longer lives purely as thinking, but makes its
appearance in the results of this, thinking, then a new humanity, that
is to say, a new planet, comes into being. Without these great
perspectives we cannot understand Karma.
What we think, has significance for the next planetary cycles. Let
us now enter into the following thoughts: Will the humanity, i.e., what
remains of us, which will inhabit a future planet, will this humanity
still think? Just as little as a new race will speak the same language
as the previous one, just as little will the future humanity still
think. It is laughable to ask in our thoughts what Divinity is. On the
next planet man will not think, but will comprehend the surrounding
world by means of another activity having a form quite different from
thought on this planet. Thinking is something connected with us. When we
explain the world by means of thought, this world-explanation is for
ourselves alone. This is of immensely wide import because the individual
sees how as a member of humanity he is also spun into the threads of
karma and how he lives and weaves into the whole karmic web.
When the Eastern occultist expounds such things he says: Our whole
life is of such a nature that we seem to be surrounded by the boundaries
of speaking and thinking. If we do away with these, for the ordinary man
hardly anything is left. That something is still left to him when he has
gone beyond all this, is the result of esotericism. What then remains is
the experience of Nirvana.
The Planetary Spirit who represents the Being of the World is now
incarnated in thinking, but in the future will be incarnated in
something else.
∴
Lecture 17
Berlin, 12th October 1905
In occultism we differentiate in man firstly his actions, in so far
as by actions we understand everything which proceeds from any kind of
activity connected with his hands; secondly speech and thirdly thoughts.
Everything which in this sense he accomplishes with his hands
brings about its karmic results in his next earthly existence. What we
speak concerns not only ourselves alone, but also a group of
human beings having the same language, and this affects the karma of the
group or race. In words lies a greater responsibility than in deeds
alone: for with them we are preparing the configuration of a future
race. What we think works on even into a new formation of our
earth. We therefore distinguish three stages. Firstly: Human action is
individual, with the exception of those actions in man that arise from
nothingness. Secondly: Man cannot speak for himself alone; words concern
a group of human beings. Thirdly: Thoughts are the concern of the whole
of humanity.
With this, something else is connected. When we act we stand quite
alone behind our actions. When we speak we are not quite alone in our
words. Behind our words a spiritual being is working with us, standing
behind us. Just as truly as the words we utter are imprinted quite
exactly in the Akasha, so is it true that with every word we utter we
impinge upon the body of a spiritual being who is incarnated in this
Akashic substance into which our words penetrate. We must take this up
into our feeling life; this is why we must pay such heed to our words.
When we think, we are seemingly quite alone within ourselves;
nevertheless beings of a spiritual nature are active with us in our
thoughts, beings still higher and more significant than those active in
our speech.
More lies in these things than in a whole world-history. Through
them much can be explained. Let us consider a thought within us. Behind
this thought a spiritual being is present. If we imagine ourselves
enveloped on all sides by the body of a spiritual being, we can realise
that a thought is only the expression of the body of the spiritual being
working into us. Every time a thought flashes through our soul it is an
impression, a kind of foot-print of a higher spiritual being, just as if
we were walking over damp ground, leaving footprints, and were to say:
'Here a person walked'. This spiritual being is formed of the
same substance as that of which thought consists. The thought in us can
only become the imprint of a higher spiritual being because this higher
being has a body formed of the same substance as our thoughts.
When our foot imprints itself in the damp earth, this imprint is a
negative, a counter-image of our foot. So is it too with our thoughts.
In the higher spiritual world there is a counter-image for every
thought. Image and counter-image are as interconnected as seal and
sealing wax. The substance is the higher spiritual being which
corresponds in our analogy to the sealing wax. Now we call thought, in
so far as it corresponds to the sealing wax, intuition, and the
impression we call abstract thought. We can say when we think: 'I
feel the traces of what is happening in higher worlds.' It is with
regard to this fact that in religious writings, for instance in the
Revelation of St. John, the expression 'seal' is used. This
corresponds with reality. It is also because a higher being is working
with us in our words that every word is the impression of a seal. With
the mystics the counter-image is called Imagination. Thus we have three
levels of the thought element: the intuitive, the imaginative and the
ordinary abstract thinking.
When man develops further, when abstract thought itself develops to
the stage on which the beings are incarnated who work with us when we
speak, then he is a Chela, an occult pupil. To be a Master means: To
work in the substance in which the beings are incarnated who work with
us in our thoughts. Imagination gives the picture. This is why the great
religious teachers of earlier times spoke pictorially, for imagination
gives the picture, not abstract thoughts. In all religions, teachings
were expressed in pictures. At first the picture is for man something of
lesser importance, but when he understands how to form again for himself
a picture out of every thought, then he has reached a higher stage. This
is the pre-requisite for a quite new kind of perception. Everything
depends on a man developing to the point at which he no longer thinks
merely abstractly, but at all times has his thoughts in pictures.
As a rule man forms merely thoughts. The more highly developed man
must think in pictures, in images; that means 'to imagine'. In
this expression there already lies what is meant: 'By means of a
certain power to make an imprint in something, (to imagine).' In
creative fantasy, in the case of poet and artist, we find only a weak
reflection of imagination. When a man who is seeking higher development
speaks, he will try in certain cases, while speaking, to have before him
the counter-image, the Imago. This is the source of the mighty pictures
in religious writings. Whoever develops himself so far that he can
create such pictures has attained the stage of the spiritual beings who
are involved in the creation of races. One who develops in himself not
only pictures, but intuitions, is not only involved in the creation of
races, but in the creation of the next planetary existence. From the
pictures there will resound what later will be manifested on the earth,
but whoever works out of intuition creates something which is not yet
existent, which is nowhere manifested, that is to say he creates out of
Nirvana. This concept is inherent in every apocalypse: What will be
manifested in the future can only be created out of intuition.
Through abstract thinking one makes a copy of something that exists.
Through Imagination a man allows himself to be fructified by the
formative spirit within him. Imagination corresponds to hidden realities
which have arisen through the fructifying impulse of higher beings; thus
one can see these higher spiritual beings on the Astral Plane. The
prerequisite for this is to develop a speech that is not the expression
of abstract thoughts, but of pictures. This is why mediums also speak in
imaginations, in pictures and symbols, but unconsciously. Behind them
the spirit is forming the symbols. The occult pupil does this in full
consciousness, nevertheless in a way that is not arbitrary. In so doing
he allows himself to be fructified by the spirit.
Just as man develops himself to the stage when he can create
pictures and receive intuitions, so before he came into existence the
external world was active; and indeed in such a way that in everything
which is around us as mineral existence, as purely physical nature,
Intuitions are working as creative forces. The crystal is external in so
far as it reveals itself to the senses; it is however created by means
of Intuitions. Behind the entire physical world lies a cosmos of
Intuitions and finally a being, the Planetary Spirit, who produces the
Intuitions. Behind all language Beings of Imagination are working and
with them the Spirit of the Race. In all living things, Beings at the
same spiritual level are at work. Behind all plants Imaginations are
active. The completed form of the plant comes forth from Imagination and
behind it stands a spiritual being: and everything imbued with
consciousness and perception has arisen out of Thought itself
Now let us look at the whole universe, to begin with in its physical
aspect: Earth, Sun, Moon and stars, the Milky Way and so on. Behind it
stands a great intuitive Spirit. It is the same Spirit that manifests in
our actions; he also stands behind the whole universe. Christianity
calls him the Father. Because he is so little known he is also called
the Unknown God, and in theosophical literature the first Logos. [52]
Behind everything living stands the Spirit of Imagination. It is the
same Spirit who is also working in our speech; this is why the Christian
religion calls Him the Word. Here something quite exact and actual is
meant. This spirit who stands behind everything living is still working
today in our speech, in each of our words, and is therefore rightly
called 'the Word', another designation is: The Son or Christ.
He is the Spirit who lives as imagination in everything that has life.
Then we ascend to what is conscious, what has a certain degree of
perception, of consciousness, everything of an animal nature and what in
man [Gap in text ...] This can already be grasped by thoughts. It is
contained in every being. What takes place in the animal occurs in the
first place within itself: abstract consciousness. All consciousness
existent in the world also lives in man, in abstract thinking. Within
himself man calls it 'Spirit'; in so far as it works outside
in the creative forces of Nature he calls it 'Holy Spirit'.
This is what underlies all perception and consciousness. Illness exists
only in separateness. Spirit as such cannot be ill, but only when it is
incarnated in lower bodies. The word 'Heilig' (healthy) means
'heil sein', to be well: it expresses the fact that the Spirit
which flows through the world outside, is healthy. The Holy Spirit is
nothing other than Spirit which is healthy through and through: this is
why anyone who truly unites himself with the Holy Spirit (Heiliger
Geist) receives the power of healing (heilen). This must be in harmony
with the Holy Spirit flowing through the world. This is the Spirit which
works from man to man as the true healer.
If we now turn our attention to the physical plane we find in the
first place that we perceive through the senses. Behind is the great
intuitive Spirit. Everything physically present has been made by this
Spirit. Thus behind everything that lives in form as such, that can be
perceived by the senses, stands the Father Spirit, the first Logos.
Through merely observing we do not alter anything, but an alteration
comes about when we act. Then we not only change what exists outside in
the world, but also the forces working outside in the world. The
moment we act we bring about an alteration on the physical plane. Behind
these alterations however there lies also an alteration in the
underlying force corresponding to the first Logos. This we influence by
our actions; it remains, is there, cannot again be got rid of, unless it
be eradicated by the same force which called it forth. And the
alteration which is called forth through our deeds is what takes hold of
us again as Karma. That which draws man into the physical world once
more, if looked at from the point of view of Karma is called: Rupa. This
is because it was accomplished in Rupa, through the body, through man's
external nature. Thus we create in the body, in Rupa, when we work upon
the outer Intuitions.
The second sphere in which today man is not entirely independent,
but where another Spirit is working with him, is speech. Here we make
impressions in a world behind which lies not only what is physical, but
what has life. In the world of life the Imaginations about which we are
speaking remain behind, formative forces which create new races. Our
present race has been created out of what lay behind the words of
earlier races. This is embodied in our race. In addition we have to
consider everything which belongs in any way to Imagination. This shows
us that with our words we produce impressions in the realm of the Son,
in the realm of the second Logos. These return as the collective Karma
of the whole race, for the word is not created by us alone; the Spirit
of the Race is working with us. What is the foundation for this form of
Karma? Where is the Spirit of the Race working? The Spirit of the Race
is active in man's feeling, permeates the entire world of feeling. This
resounds into what a human being has in common with his group.
What works in a much wider sense on Karma is feeling (Vedana). Thus
firstly: Rupa, the corporality; secondly: Vedana, feeling. For those
people who have not yet become Chelas, feeling has great importance
where the perception of the second Logos and everything living is
concerned. The aim of science is to study animals and plants apart from
life. Even the greatest men of learning today have not yet advanced
beyond the stage of comprehending life with feeling. It is the
Imaginative understanding which first enables them to look into life
itself.
In the outer world thought is connected with everything having
sensation and consciousness. This has one thing in common with us:
perception. The fact that we can in any way perceive the outer world in
physical space as a world of colour and sound is only possible because
we are able to transpose it into thoughts. We receive perceptions; we
think about them. If there were no thoughts in the perceptions it would
be the greatest folly on man's part to form thoughts about them.
Thoughts would then be mere illusions if the perceptions had not arisen
through thoughts. From the combination of perceptions it follows that in
the first place perceptions are built up by thoughts which we can then
extract from them: the laws of nature. These are nothing other than
thoughts; it is the creative Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Perception is the
boundary between the two, where our thoughts come in contact with the
creative thoughts outside. Thus with a thought that we have we cannot
work directly on life, but on the consciousness which in the outer world
is itself thought.
Through thought we leave behind traces in all the spiritual beings
who have brought about consciousness. What man builds up on the basis of
perception in the way of thoughts, and what he produces as thoughts, has
its repercussions on everything which makes perception necessary.
Thirdly therefore we differentiate: Perception or Sanjna, the third
element which has an effect on Karma.
Through all actions we call forth counter-actions as Karma, because
we make an impact on the Intuitive World: Rupa.
Through all words we make an impact on the World of Creative
Feelings around us: Vedana.
With our thoughts about perceptions we make an impact on the whole
World of Thoughts outside us: Sanjna.
What we perceive around us will no longer be there when we appear
again on Earth. Everything therefore which we think in connection with
the world of perception will have no effect whatever on the future
incarnation; only in this incarnation will it have a Karma-building
force. Thought works upon our present character.
What comes forth from feeling, that is essentially connected with
our surroundings; what enters into the world of Imagination, comes back
to us in the following incarnation, in such a way that it appears within
us as inborn tendencies and outside us as opportunities. Through our
inborn tendencies we call towards us opportunities offered by the world,
which form our destiny, through tendencies which have their source in
Karma. Thoughts form the character: the tendencies or disposition lead
karmically to the opportunities. Actions bring about the external
destiny, all the bodily circumstances into which man is born. What we
carry out through Rupa, our bodily nature, that is our actual destiny,
that comes back to us karmically.
One can only create inborn tendencies for further incarnations
consciously by reaching the stage of Imagination. Herein we find the
secret of how the great founders of religions projected their influence
beyond their own time. The pictures which they gave the people released
dispositional tendencies for the following incarnations. Every picture
that they instilled into the soul reappeared in the entire feeling-world
of the human being. Either he wins such Imaginations for himself, or he
receives them from his teacher. We win them for ourselves when we have
gained control over our entire life of feeling: this is the case with
the occult pupil. His feelings are subject to his own control; the rest
of humanity is cared for in this respect by the founders of religions. A
religion is the feeling-world of future races; outwardly therefore it
can be submerged, for it lives on in human tendencies. Today tendencies
are coming to the surface which were implanted in mankind in the 13th
and 14th centuries. It is important that the materialistic images of the
present day do not take root in human hearts, for in future times they
would fill human beings with the most brutal instincts which are only
directed to the world of the senses, if they were not opposed by
spiritual ideas. Those desires and wishes live in man which are produced
out of imagination. This is his desire-nature = Sanskara. Everything
intuitive in man, the great impulses which he receives from the highest
initiates, these actually overcome the Karma of Deeds. He who raises
himself to Intuitions as such, penetrates through the physical world up
to the Father Spirit. He who possesses intuitive knowledge can affect
the Karma arising out of deeds. He begins to limit his Karma
consciously.
For the ordinary person only those beings are comprehensible who
also have consciousness. When he progresses to Imagination, life also
becomes comprehensible; when he progresses to Intuition he can advance
as far as the Intuitive forces.
A person can affect his Karma to the degree in which he himself
possesses Intuition; or he must receive it from the high initiates in
the form of great moral laws. Vijnana is the name used for the
consciousness necessary for the overcoming of Karma. And now let us
think of a man living in the world, carrying out his actions and dying.
After his death something of him nevertheless remains here in this world
which he has woven into it: Rupa, Vedana, Sanjna, Sanskara and Vijnana.
These five are the balance of his account: his personal destiny as Rupa;
the destiny of the nation into which he is born, as Vedana; the actual
fact of his birth on this earth as Sanjna. In addition, working with
Sanskara, the desire nature, and Vijnana, the consciousness. These are
the five Skandhas.
What a man gives out into the world remains as the five Skandhas in
the world. These are the foundation of his new existence. They have
progressively less effect when he has consciously developed something of
the last two. The more he has gained conscious power over Vijnana, the
more does he gain the power of consciously incarnating in the physical
body. In their essential nature the Skandhas are identical with Karma.
∴
Lecture 18
Berlin, 16th October 1905
If we wish to obtain a more exact knowledge of how Karma comes
about, we must go back a certain way in the development of humanity. If
we transpose ourselves back some thousands of years we find Europe
covered with ice. At that time, the glaciers of the Alps forced their
way right down into the low-lying plain of Northern Germany. The
districts in which we now live were then cold and raw. Here dwelt a race
of human beings who made use of extremely simple and primitive tools. If
we go back about a million years we find in the same territory a
tropical climate such as today is only to be found in the hottest
districts of Africa. In some parts there were huge primeval forests in
which lived parrots, monkeys, especially the gibbon, and elephants. We
should however hardly have met in our wanderings in these forests
anything approximating to present day human beings and not even to those
of periods some thousands of years later. Natural science can prove from
certain strata of the earth which arose between these two epochs the
existence of a type of human being in whom the front part of the brain
was not yet as developed as it is today and whose brow receded far back.
Only the back part of the brain was developed. We go back further to
times in which people did not yet know the use of fire and made their
weapons by grinding pieces of stone. The natural scientist likes to
compare this stage of humanity with that of savages or of a clumsy
child. Remains of such human beings have been found in the Neandertal
and Croatia. They have a skull similar to that of the ape and the finds
in Croatia reveal that before their death they were roasted, thus
proving that cannibals lived there.
Now the materialistic thinker says: We trace man back into the times
in which he was still undeveloped and clumsy and assume that the human
being has developed from this childish stage of existence up to the
present stage of human culture and that this primitive man has evolved
from animals bearing a similarity to man. In this theory of evolution
therefore he simply makes a leap from primitive human beings to animals
similar to man. The natural scientist takes for granted that the more
perfect has always evolved from the less perfect. This however is not
always the case. If for example we trace the human being back to
childhood we do not come to greater imperfection for the child is
descended from father and mother. That is to say we come to a primitive
condition deriving from a higher condition. This is important, for it is
connected with the fact that already at birth the child has the
predisposition to a later stage of perfection, whereas the animal
remains at the lower stage.
When the natural scientist has gone back to the stage at which man
had no frontal brain and no intellect he should say to himself: I must
assume that the origin of man is to be sought elsewhere.
Just as a child is descended from his parents, so all those
primitive human beings are descended from others who had already
attained a high degree of development. We call these human beings
Atlanteans. They lived on that part of the earth which is now covered
with the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlanteans had even less
frontal brain, an even farther-receding brow, nevertheless they still
possessed something which differed from later human beings. They still
had a much stronger, more vigorous etheric body. The etheric body of the
Atlanteans had not yet developed certain connections with the brain;
these arose later. Thus over the head there was still an immense etheric
head. The physical head was comparatively small and embedded in an
etheric head of immense size.
The functions which people now carry out with the help of the
frontal brain were carried out in the case of the Atlanteans, with the
help of organs in the etheric body. By this means they could enter into
connection with beings to whom today access is barred to us, just
because our frontal brain has been developed. With the Atlanteans a kind
of fiery coloured formation was visible, which streamed out from the
opening of the physical head towards the etheric head. He had access to
all sorts of psychic influences. A head of this kind, which thinks as an
etheric head, has power over the etheric, whereas a head which thinks in
the physical brain only has power over the physical, over the putting
together of purely mechanical things. He can make physical tools, while
someone who still thinks in the etheric can cause a seed to grow and
bloom.
The Atlantean civilisation was still in close connection with the
growth forces of nature, of the vegetation, a power which present day
man has lost. For instance, the Atlantean made no use of steam power to
bring vehicles into motion, but used the seed power (samenkraft) of the
plants. With this he propelled his vehicles. Only from the last third of
the Atlantean epoch, from the time of the original Semites until the
time when Atlantis was covered with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean,
did the frontal etheric head develop the frontal brain. Through this man
lost the power of influencing the growth of plants and gained only the
capacity of the physical brain, of intellect. With many things he now
had to make a new beginning. He had to begin to learn mechanical work.
In this he was like a child, clumsy and awkward, whereas before in
developing the vegetable kingdom he had achieved great skill. It is
necessary for man to pass through the stage of intelligence and then to
regain what he could do earlier. At that time, higher spiritual beings
had an influence on the unfree will; through the open etheric head they
worked through the intellect.
Going still further back we reach the Lemurian Epoch. Here we come
to a stage in human development at which the union of the maternal and
paternal principles takes place for the first time. This etheric head
naturally branches out into the astral body which surrounds the human
beings with its rays ... [Gap in text ...]. If one had found the means
of lifting the head with the astral body out of such a human being
something quite peculiar would have occurred. He would thereby have lost
the possibility of holding himself upright; he would have folded up.
Just the opposite procedure was taken with man at that time and through
this he gradually raised himself to the upright posture.
In the Lemurian Epoch, however, man was still at a stage at which he
did not yet possess what we are assuming could be lifted out of him. In
this earlier period he did not yet possess this etheric head with the
astral body. At that time, they were not yet there. Man as he wandered
over the earth was then really a being folded together. The two organs
now used for work, the hands, were then turned backwards and formed
additional organs of movement, so that he went on four legs. One must
picture two people of the present day, man and woman, entwined in one
another, think away the upper half of the body, leaving only the lower
half there. The human being was actually male-female. He also had at
that time an astral and etheric body, but not the one which he had
later. This was a different astral body, that is, such a one as had
reached its highest perfection on the Old Moon. There, on the Old Moon,
the astral body together with the etheric body had acquired the capacity
of developing a physical body which then had a crab-like form. The human
being could stand on one pair of legs and make a kind of leaping
movement.
This astral body with the etheric body was then of quite another
nature. It had a form which was not entirely egg-shaped, but more like a
bell which descended like a dome over the human being who went on all
fours. The etheric body provided for all the life functions of this
Lemurian human being. In his astral body he had a dull twilight
consciousness similar to that of our dreams. His consciousness was
however unlike the reminiscences inherent in our dreams, for he dreamt
of realities. When he was approached by another human being
unsympathetic to him, there arose in him a sensation of light which
indicated what was unsympathetic.
Already on the Old Moon man had some slight power of using both his
front limbs for the purpose of grasping, so that now the time came for
assuming the upright posture. His other living companions were, in the
Lemurian Age, of the nature of reptiles; animals of grotesque shapes who
have left no traces behind them. The ichthyosaurs and so on are
descendants of these animals. It is a fact that at that time the earth
was inhabited by beings reptilian in character; human bodies too were
reptile-like. When eventually this reptilian human being assumed the
upright posture, the formation of the head, quite open in front, out of
which gushed a fiery cloud, became visible. This gave rise to the tales
about the winged serpent, about the dragon. Such was man's grotesque
form at that time, reptile-like. The Guardian of the Threshold, the
lower nature of man, frequently appears in a form of this kind. It
represents the lower nature with the open formation of the head. At that
time, the union took place between these forms on the earth and the
other beings already described. The astral body with the head formation
united with the winged-serpent body with its fiery opening. It was the
fructification of the maternal earth with the paternal spirit.
In this way there proceeded the fructification with the Manas
forces. The lower astral body merged with the higher astral body. A
great part of the astral body, as it then was, fell away. One portion
formed the lower parts of the human astral body, and the other newly
acquired astral body, connected with the head, united with the upper
parts of the human being. What was then peeled off abandoned this astral
body which was bound up with the form of the winged-serpent; it could no
longer have any further development on the Earth. It formed, as a
conglomerate substance, the astral sphere of the moon, the so-called
eighth sphere. The moon actually provides shelter for astral beings
which have come into existence through the fact that man has thrown
something off.
This union of the paternal spirit with the maternal substance was
described in Egypt as the union of Osiris and Isis. From it came forth
Horus. The merging of the serpent form with the etheric head, with the
newly acquired astral body and head formation, led to the conception of
the form of the sphinx. The sphinx is the expression of this thought in
sculpture.
There were seven kinds or classes of such forms, all of which
differed somewhat from each other, from the finest, approximating to the
highly developed formation of the human form down to those which were
utterly grotesque. These seven kinds of human forms had all to be
fructified. One must conceive the descent of the 'Sons of
Manas' in this pictorial way. Only then can one understand how the
astral body of man came into existence. It is composed of two different
members.
If we consider human development we shall find that the one part of
the astral body is continually endeavouring to overcome the other half,
the lower nature, and transform it. In so far as man today consists of
astral body with etheric body and physical body, it is in fact only the
physical body which in its present state is a product which has reached
completion. In the case of the etheric body also there are two parts
that seek to merge into one another.
Now when man dies he gives over to the forces of the earth his whole
physical body, but the etheric body divides itself into two members. The
one member is derived from the upper formation and this man takes with
him. The remainder falls away, for over this he can exert no mastery; it
came to him from outside. He can only exert mastery over it when he has
become an occult pupil. This part of the etheric body therefore in the
case of the ordinary person is given over to the etheric forces of
cosmic space.
What clings to the person from that astral body which came with him
from the Old Moon compels him to spend a period of time in Kamaloka
until he has freed himself from this point as regards that particular
life. Then he still has that part of the astral body which has found a
state of balance; with this he makes his journey through Devachan and
back to physical life. This is why one sees bell-like formations in
astral space rushing about with terrific speed. These are the human
souls again seeking incarnation. When here with us such a bell-like
human being darts through astral space and an embryo in South America is
karmically connected with it, this human bell must immediately be there.
So these returning souls rush through astral space. This bell formation
is reminiscent of those which appeared in the Lemurian Age, only it has
already found its state of balance with the higher astral body. We know
that the human being develops by working from the ego upon the three
other bodies. The ego is nothing other than what worked at that time in
a fructifying way; the upper auric part with the etheric head. The
members which the human being has developed are the physical body, the
etheric body, the astral body.
Upper Etheric or Mental body
Astral body as Buddhi
Astral body
Lower Etheric body
Physical body
The physical body has arisen through a transformation and ennobling
of that serpent-like body which we meet with in the Lemurian Age. This
was male-female. The present day human being is also male-female. In the
case of a man the basis of the upper members is female, with a woman the
basis of the upper etheric body is of male formation. So actually the
physical nature of the human being is also male-female.
The etheric body consists of two members, that part of human nature
which originally came over from the Old Moon and its opposite pole. They
were at first not yet joined together; later they approached one another
and became united. The one is the pole of animality, the other the pole
of the spiritual. The pole of animality is called 'etheric
body', the pole of the spiritual, 'mental-body'. The
mental body is materialised ether.
Between them is the astral body and this too has arisen out of the
union of a duality. Fundamentally it is also a two-fold formation. We
have to differentiate in it a lower and a higher nature. The higher
nature was originally connected with the mental body. This part of the
astral body which has its seat in the mental body — what therefore
has come into it from above — is the other pole of the lower astral
body. One of the characteristics of the lower astral body is that it has
desires. The upper part has instead of these, devotion, love, the giving
virtue. This part of the astral body is called Buddhi. The description
here given of the human being is as seen in this way in the Cosmic
Light. When man himself works into his sheathes it is different. The one
portrays his cosmic structure, the other how he himself works into it.
Thus Buddhi is the ennobled astral, the Mental the ennobled etheric
and the Physical has its opposite pole in Atma.
∴
Lecture 19
Berlin, 17th October 1905
Yesterday we saw how in a certain way man is connected with astral
powers. When he dies he first enters the astral world. But even now he
stands in a continual relationship with the astral plane. It is actually
the case that on the astral plane beings are constantly becoming visible
which would not be there if the human being did not exist. Through
people, and even more so through animals, these beings make their
appearance on the astral plane. They are not of the same nature as its
other beings. On the astral plane there becomes visible what man in the
first place experiences only as feeling. Pleasure, sorrow, passions are
actually present, just as physical objects are on the physical plane, as
for instance, a chair or a table. Things are so, that a being which
appears to us as pleasing works upon our feeling when the astral
substance of which it is composed is still quite thin.
What makes its appearance on the astral plane is usually present as
a mirror picture when compared with the physical plane; for instance the
number 563 is there 365. A feeling of hatred also appears as if it came
from the person to whom it was directed. This fact holds good for
everything on the astral plane. Feelings of the soul appearing on the
physical plane from the astral plane can be experienced as their
opposites. For instance if feelings of soul-warmth press in from the
astral plane on to the physical plane they are experienced here as their
reflection; that is as a peculiar feeling of cold. These are things
about which we must be perfectly clear.
On the other hand it is important to keep in view that the beings of
the astral plane have as their substance what we call feeling. They find
their expression in this feeling. If these beings are not yet very
strongly present we can only experience them through a sensation of
cold. If however they become stronger, if their substance is
intensified, they become visible as light-beings. This explains why,
when materialisations occur during spiritualistic seances, a
light-phenomenon appears (the mollusc-crab for example). This is a
natural process under such conditions. Anyone who observes something of
this kind without this knowledge, speaks of something miraculous. The
miraculous is nothing other than the penetration of a higher world into
our own. It is simply a natural process. Thus it is, when other beings
from higher planes intervene in human life.
We understand that a merely cool, dry thought is less effective on
the astral plane than a thought that springs from the soul in an
impulsive way. When a person in the present stage of civilisation has
come so far as not to be at the mercy of his passions — our
civilisation has a certain sophisticated cunning — when cold
thoughts about the affairs of the world rise from him into the astral
plane, they show themselves there as hollow spaces, they drain the
substance away. Ordinary space can be filled with substance. One can
bring into ordinary, space substance that fills it. It is not so in the
case of substance which, coming from thoughts, streams into astral
space. It works in the opposite way from physical matter. It displaces
what is there in much the same way as, for instance, one makes a hole in
dough. So it is, when our thoughts stream out into astral space. The
higher substance is the opposite of the lower; instead of filling out
space, it displaces what is in space.
When a thought penetrates into astral space it forms a denser layer
around the hollow brought about by the thoughts. Around this hollow,
coloured phenomena make their appearance. A glimmer begins to light up.
It is the thought-form which we then see. The astral substance
surrounding it becomes denser and thereby brighter. The added brightness
which arises around the thoughts soon disappears; but if the thought is
connected with an intense impulse of passion, it has a relationship with
the densified astral substance and gives it life. Thus people who are
still very undeveloped but very passionate create living beings in
astral space when they think. This ceases later; when people evolve and
become calmer such beings no longer arise when they think. But now you
understand that there are beings on the astral plane which originate
from human beings and also from animals; for in the case of certain
animals too, such beings are formed, and indeed with far greater
intensity. The animal however presses its own impulses into its own
astral form, so that it usually creates its own form, its own image in
astral space.
Every animal leaves a sort of trace behind in astral space; this
has, it is true, only a short life, but nevertheless it remains for a
time. But through the strongly passionate thoughts of human beings there
arise new elemental inhabitants in astral space. Gradually however man
reaches the point where a kind of neutral elemental being arises. When
this point of neutrality is finally past, he progresses to the stage
when he ennobles his passions and desires to an ever-greater degree.
This leads him to impart to his thoughts a noble enthusiasm which also
has the power of creating life in the surrounding astral substance.
Through the development of patriotism, for instance, beings of noble
form also arise and the elemental beings created in this way play their
part in the furtherance of what lives in astral space. The ignoble
beings produced by man through thoughts which are filled with passions
are hindrances and act in a retrograde way. Everything however which he
achieves in freedom from what is sensual, through enthusiasm and so on,
works progressively.
The substance in astral space which is pressed together by
passionate thoughts is the same as that which surrounded the previous
planet, the Old Moon, out of which the Moon has developed to a higher
stage. Thus wherever such substance exists, a certain danger is present.
We human beings are created in such a way that we are obliged to
incarnate in the physical matter of today. On the earlier planet there
was not as yet physical matter of this kind; it was more highly
developed than that of present day animals and less so than that of
present day man. This substance in which Jehovah seeks to incarnate
provides, as such, no favourable habitation. But the beings which are so
far advanced that they reached their proper stage on the Old Moon will
cause no harm. They have no liking for this substance.
It is not the substance in which man is now incarnated. But certain
retrograde beings who had fallen behind on the Old Moon had discovered
in this astral substance — food for their gluttony. They want to
feed on it; it has for them a great force of attraction. This shows that
we are continually surrounded by beings whose higher nature is related
to our lower. When someone produces egotistical thoughts, this is very
welcome to these beings. In other respects they are actually more
advanced than man, but they have the craving to embody themselves in the
astral forms which we ourselves create. They are the so-called Asuras.
Through our baser thoughts we provide nourishment for these asuric
beings.
When people whose nature is not yet purified, not yet free from
passions, meditate, creating strong thought forms, they conjure up
around themselves a powerful aura of desires. In this incarnate asuric
beings of this kind which are then able to draw such people downwards.
If a person drowsy with sleep meditates and in so doing does not rise
clearly enough into thoughts, he creates this substance, and because he
has no counterbalance, such beings incarnate in his thought forms. These
are higher beings because they had completely developed Manas on the Old
Moon, before the coming of the Buddhi impulse; they therefore do not
possess this impulse. Hence with them Manas is egotistical. Had not the
human being on Earth, from that point of time at which Manas came to him
from outside, also received the impulse of Buddhi, had he only developed
further the forward urge of Manas, he would have become in the strongest
sense of the word an egotistical being. Manasic evolution is one tending
to egoism and independence. Its task was to make man independent, but
then the Buddhi nature was necessary. The asuric beings already referred
to, because they developed Manas too early, have missed this impulse of
the Buddhi nature. On the one hand therefore they stand at a higher
stage and on the other hand they cannot progress, but go on developing
the Kama-Manas, which is egotistical.
Halfway through the Lemurian Race Kama-Manas appeared on the
physical plane in the duality of the sexes. The God who brought about
Kama-Manas was Jehovah. This is why Helena Petrovna Blavatsky called him
the Moon God; he is rightly called the God of Fertility. He caused the
external working of Kama-Manas to reach its ultimate limit. The
sexuality which made its appearance in the Lemurian Age, when we trace
it backwards, when we see it in its ever higher and higher nature,
becomes the Second Logos. Through the descending Kama-Principle it was
the manifestation of Jehovah; through the ascending Buddhi-Principal it
was the manifestation of Christ.
Now if we submerge ourselves into the Kama of the pre-earthly period
we are drawn down by the asuric beings. The higher forces of these our
spiritual predecessors stand occultly bound up with the passions and
forces of our own lower nature. [53] Wherever there are dissolute
excesses, there the substance is given in which powerful asuric forces
pour cunning intellectualism into the world. In the case of decadent
tribes similar powerful asuric forces are to be found. The black
magician draws his most powerful forces out of the morass of sensuality.
The purpose of sexual rites is to introduce such magic into these
circles. A battle is continually taking place on the earth, the one side
striving to purify the passions, the other side striving to intensify
sensuality. The beings who are guided by the Christ-Principle seek to
win the Earth for themselves, but there are also the other antagonistic
beings who seek to usurp the Earth.
These embodiments of asuric beings in the out streaming of
passion-filled human thoughts are one kind of astral beings. They are
called artificial elemental beings because they are brought forth
artificially by man. There also exist in astral space natural elemental
beings. They proceed from the Group Souls of animals. For each animal
group a being exists on the astral plane which unites what is present in
the single animals. We meet these also in astral space. Every animal
draws its own nature after it astrally like a trail. What is thus formed
can however not work so harmfully as what the human being creates in the
way of elemental beings. This astral trail is rendered harmless because
it is annulled by the Group Souls of the animals. This is not so however
with the beings created through man, because in this case nothing is
annulled and hence these elemental beings remain.
When an animal is tortured, the amount of pain inflicted on it
recoils immediately on the astral body of the human being. Here
certainly it is reflected as it's opposite; hence the sensual pleasure
in cruelty. Such feelings bring about a lowering of the human astral
body. When a person destroys life, this has for him a tremendous
significance. [54] [Gap in text ...].
In no way can one so readily assimilate destructive astral forces as by
killing. Every killing of a being possessing an astral body evokes an
intensification of the most brutal egoism. It signifies a growing
increase of power. In schools of Black Magic therefore, instruction is
first given as to how one cuts into animals. Cutting into a definite
place, accompanied by corresponding thoughts, induces a certain force,
in another place it induces another force. (What corresponds to this in
the case of the White Magician is meditation.) Something comes back to
the physical plane when it is accompanied by physical thoughts; without
thoughts it comes back to the Kamaloka plane.
The overpowering of a human being by means of hypnotism is a still
stronger killing, for it destroys the will. The occultist therefore
never intrudes into a person's freedom; he only relates facts.
Lying is, from the astral standpoint, murder and at the same time
suicide. It deceives the other person and creates in him a feeling that
is related to a non-existent fact, to a nothingness. On the astral plane
appears the counter picture of the nothingness, the killing. You
therefore kill something in a person when through a lie you direct his
feeling to something that does not exist, and you commit suicide because
[Gap in text ...].
∴
Lecture 20
Berlin, 18th October 1905
Yesterday we considered the forms in the astral world brought about
by the influence of man himself. Today we are coming to those beings in
astral space who are more or less its permanent inhabitants.
To understand what part man takes in astral happenings, we must
consider the nature of the sleeping human being. Man consists, as we
know, of four members: physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego.
When he sleeps, the astral body with the ego is outside the human
sheath. Such a person wanders about in astral space. As a rule he does
not move far away from the physical and etheric bodies which remain
lying in the bed. The two other members, the astral body and the ego,
are then in astral space.
Now when the physical and etheric bodies remain on the physical plane
we must certainly not imagine that because of this only physical
forces have an influence on them and only physical beings have access
to them. Everything that exists as thoughts and mental images has an
influence on the etheric body. When someone sleeps the etheric body
remains on the physical plane. If, in the vicinity of a sleeping
person, we think about something, we exercise an influence on his
etheric body; only nothing of this will be experienced by the sleeper.
When awake, the human being is so taken up with the outer world that
he represses all the thoughts which penetrate into the etheric body.
But in the night the etheric body is alone, without the ego, and is
exposed to all the thoughts flying hither and thither around him,
without the sleeper knowing anything about it. During waking life also
he knows nothing of this, because the astral body, which dwells in the
etheric body, is engaged with the outer world. When man is in a
sleeping condition, any being having the power to send out thoughts,
can gain an influence over him. He can therefore be influenced by
higher individualities, such as those we call Masters. They can send
thoughts into the etheric body of the sleeper. Someone can therefore
receive into his etheric body pure and lofty thoughts when the Masters
consciously wish to make this their concern. But in the night thoughts
that flit into it from the outer world also enter into the etheric
body. These man finds when in the morning he slips again into his
etheric body. There are two kinds of dreams. The one kind arises
directly from the experiences of the astral world: from echoes of day
experiences and certain things from the astral world. As a rule the
ego at night in astral space experiences little else than things
connected with daily life. When the ego returns, it may or may not
bring with it into waking life the experiences of the astral world.
Certain things are however already present in the etheric body. What
is found there is taken up by the astral body and then manifests
itself to us as dreams. What however has taken place during the night
in regard to the etheric body is another kind of experience. Thus in
the morning there are to be found in the etheric body, firstly
thoughts which have approached it from the environment and secondly
thoughts also which the Masters or other individualities have
implanted into it. The introduction of these latter is made possible
by the person in question meditating. In that someone occupies himself
during the daytime with pure, noble thoughts dealing with eternal
things, he brings into his astral body the disposition for such
thoughts. Should he not have this disposition, it would be useless
were a Master to wish to work upon his etheric body. If one reads
'Light on the Path'
[55]
and meditates upon it, one prepares the
astral body in such a way that when the Master imbues the etheric body
with lofty thoughts the astral body can actually contact them. This is
called the relationship of man to his higher self. Such is the true
nature of this process. The higher self of man does not live within
us, but around us. The more highly developed individualities are the
higher self. Man must be clear that the higher self is outside him.
Were he to seek for it within himself, he would never find it. He must
seek it with those who have already trodden the path that we wish to
tread. Within us is nothing except our karma, what we have already
experienced in earlier incarnations. Everything else is outside us.
The higher self is around us. If, in preparation for the future, we
wish to approach it more closely, we must seek it above all in the
company of those individualities who can work during the night on our
etheric body. The higher self is in the universe; therefore the
Vedantist says: 'Tat twam asi' — That art thou. If through
appropriate writings, such as
Light on the Path
or the
Gospel of St. John,
we incline the astral body to take in lofty spiritual
nourishment and thus to understand the Masters, we are thereby working
in a good way towards what will lead to the higher self.
In the night therefore we find in astral space the sleeping bodies, or
the pupils with their Masters, in so far as someone who has formed a
tie which unites him with the Master, through an appropriate
meditation, is led towards him. This is what can happen during the
night. It is possible for everyone by immersing himself in inspired
writings to reach the point of taking part in such intercourse and
through this to attain to the development of his higher self. What in
the course of some thousands of years will become our self is now the
higher self. In order however really to get to know the higher self we
must seek for it where it already is today, with the higher
individualities. This is the communication of the pupils with the
Masters.
Something else that we can meet with in astral space is the black
magician with his pupils. In order to train himself to become a black
magician, the pupil has to go through a special schooling. The
training in black magic consists in a person becoming accustomed,
under methodical instruction, to torture, to cut, to kill animals.
This is the ABC. When the human being consciously tortures living
creatures it has a definite result. The pain caused in this way, when
it is brought about intentionally, produces a quite definite effect on
the human astral body. When a person cuts consciously into a
particular organ this induces in him an increase in power.
Now the basic principle of all white magic is that no power can be
gained without selfless devotion. When through such devotion power is
gained, it flows from the common life force of the universe. If
however we take its life-energy from some particular being, we steal
this life-energy. Because it belonged to a separate being it densifies
and strengthens the element of separateness in the person who has
appropriated it, and this intensification of separateness makes him
suited to becoming the pupil of those who are engaged in conflict with
the good powers.
For our earth is a battlefield; it is the scene of two opposing
powers: right and left. The one, the white power on the right, after
the earth has reached a certain degree of material, physical density,
strives to spiritualise it once again. The other power, the left or
black power, strives to make the earth ever denser and denser, like
the moon. Thus, after a period of time, the earth could become the
physical expression for the good powers, or the physical expression
for the evil. It becomes the physical expression for the good powers
through man uniting himself with the spirits working for unification,
in that he seeks the ego in the community. It belongs to the function
of the earth to differentiate itself physically to an ever greater
degree. Now it is possible for the separate parts to go their own way,
for each part to form an ego. This is the black path. The white path
is the one which strives for what is common, which forms an ego in
community. Were we to burrow more and more deeply into ourselves, to
sink ourselves into our own ego organisation, to desire always more
and more for ourselves, the final result would be that we should
strive to separate ourselves from one another. If on the other hand we
draw closer, so that a common spirit inspires us, so that a centre is
formed between us, in our midst, then we are drawn together, then we
are united. To be a black magician means to develop more and more the
spirit of separateness. There are black adepts who are on the way to
acquire certain forces of the earth for themselves. Were the circle of
their pupils to become so strong that this should prove possible, then
the earth would be on the path leading to destruction.
Man is called upon to enter into the atmosphere of the good Masters to
an ever greater degree. Near the adept with his pupils, there is also
on the astral plane the black magician with his pupils. One also finds
there human beings who have died some time previously and they are
there for the purpose of gradually getting rid of the connections they
have had with the earth. The satisfaction of desires must be put
aside. Such desires are a process in the astral body, but the astral
body cannot satisfy them. As long as one lives on the physical plane
one can satisfy the desires of the astral body through the instrument
of the physical body. After death the desire for enjoyment is still
there, but the means for its satisfaction are not to be found.
Everything that can only be satisfied through the physical body must
be relinquished. This takes place in Kamaloka. When man has put aside
all such desires, Kamaloka is at an end and is followed by the time in
Devachan.
When Kamaloka time comes to an end something can occur which is not
quite normal in human development. In the normal way the following
happens: the person has freed himself from desires, wishes, instincts,
passions and so on. Now everything which is of a higher nature lifts
itself out of the astral body. Then a sort of shell remains behind,
the residue of what man made use of in order to enjoy the pleasures of
the senses. And when someone has left the Kamaloka plane, these astral
human shells float around there. They gradually dissolve, and when the
person returns most of them have usually disappeared. It may well
happen that strongly somnambulistic or mediumistic natures can be
troubled by these astral shells. This shows itself in the case of weak
mediumistic people in a way that makes a very unpleasant impression on
them. It can come about that in his ego someone may have such a strong
inclination for the astral body, in spite of the fact that on the
other hand he is already so far developed as to be comparatively soon
ready for devachan, that parts of his already developed Manas remain
united with this shell. It is not so bad if someone develops lower
desires when he is still a simple person, but it is a bad thing if
someone uses his highly evolved intellect to gratify those desires.
Then part of his manasic nature unites with these lower desires. In
the materialistic age this is extremely frequent. With such people
part of Manas remains united with the shell, and then this shell has
automatic intellect. These shells are called shades. These shades
endowed with automatic intellect are very frequently what manifest
through mediums. Through this, one can be exposed to the illusion that
what is merely the shell of a person is his real individuality. Very
often what is made known after the death of a person proceeds from
such a shell that has nothing whatever to do with the ego which is
developing further. But with the dissolving of the shades, karma is
not absolved.
We take with us the cause of every counter-image that we have brought
about in astral space. Our works follow us. Just as a monogram is
imprinted into a seal, so it is with what we imprint into astral space
and it can bring about devastating effects. What corresponds to the
seal we take with us. What remains behind however in astral space we
should not disregard. Let us imagine that in this life someone were to
evolve beyond a certain clearly defined stage of development. At the
earlier stage he held opinions which those he held later contradicted.
When he ascends into devachan the old opinions, with which he had not
come to satisfactory terms, remain behind in the shell. Now if a
medium comes into contact with this shell, it can be that opinions are
found in it which are in contradiction with the later life of this
person. This was actually the case when the attempt was made to get
into touch with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on the astral plane. At one
time her attitude had been that there was no such thing as
reincarnation. The medium in question
[56]
had obtained this opinion
from the shell that Blavatsky had left behind, an opinion which
however in her later teachings she declared was erroneous.
Innumerable errors can assail anyone who enters astral space. Besides
everything else, there is on the astral plane an imprint of the
Akasha-Chronicle. If someone has the faculty of reading, on the astral
plane, the Akasha-Chronicle, which is there reflected in its single
parts, he will be able to see his earlier incarnations. The
Akasha-Chronicle does not consist of printed letters, but one reads
there what has actually taken place. Even after one thousand five
hundred years, an Akasha-picture gives the impression of the earlier
personality. Thus on the astral plane there are also to be found all
the Akasha-pictures from earlier times. So one can easily fall into
the error of believing that one is speaking to Dante, whereas today
Dante might actually be reincarnated as a living personality. It is
also possible for the Akasha-picture to give sensible answers, even to
go beyond itself. It can therefore come about that we get verses from
Dante's Akasha picture which do not proceed from the progressed
individuality but must be looked upon as a continuation of verses
coming from the previous personality of Dante. The Akasha picture is
something living, by no means a rigid automaton.
In order to be able to find one's way on the astral plane a severe and
systematic schooling is necessary, because there is always the
possibility of deception. And it is especially important to refrain
from forming judgements as long as possible.
Let us now turn our minds to the process of dying, in order to
understand the technique of reincarnation. The moment of death
consists in the separation of the etheric and physical bodies. The
difference between falling asleep and dying is that when one falls
asleep, the etheric body remains connected with the physical body. All
one's thoughts and experiences are imprinted into the etheric body.
They are deeply embedded in it. Man would be able to remember much
more of his experiences if it were not that they are continually
obliterated by the outer world. He is not always aware of his thoughts
and impressions because his attention is directed outwards. If he
ceases to do this, he perceives what is stored up in his etheric body.
In the main, he directs his attention outwards and absorbs the
impressions into his etheric body. These however he partially forgets.
When at the moment of death the physical body is laid aside, he
perceives what is stored up in his etheric body. This is what happens
after his ego has separated from the physical body together with the
astral and etheric bodies. Immediately after death therefore
opportunity is given for complete recollection of the past life.
Now we must try to understand another and similar moment, namely the
moment of birth, when the human being enters into a new incarnation.
Here something different occurs. He brings with him all that he has
worked over on the Devachan plane. Like bells, the astral bodies,
desirous of incarnation, whirl towards the life-ether and now form a
new etheric body. When the human being has united himself with his
future etheric body, a momentary vision arises just as previously, at
death, he looked back on his past life. This however expresses itself
in quite another way, as a gazing into the future, a fore-knowledge.
In the case of children with somewhat psychic tendencies, one can
sometimes hear them tell of such things, in their earliest years, so
long as the materialistic culture has not yet affected them. This is
prevision of the coming existence.
These are two vital moments, for they show us what the human being
brings with him when he descends in order to incarnate. When he has
died, the essential thing is memory. When he reincarnates what is
essential is a vision of the future. These two are related to one
another as cause and effect. Everything that man experiences in the
last moment of dying is the gathering together of all previous lives.
In Devachan this is transformed from what is connected with the past
into what is connected with the future. These two moments can form an
important signpost pointing to quite definite connections in
two or more succeeding incarnations.
∴
Lecture 21
Berlin, 19th October 1905
In order to form an exact concept in regard to the technique of
reincarnation, we must, to begin with, make ourselves acquainted with
an idea that has significance for the whole world-conception; that is,
the law of effect and counter-effect. Each single effect calls forth
its counter-effect.
This can be perceived in a crude way, as when, for instance I strike
someone and he strikes back, so that a blow is followed by a
counter-blow. We can observe this law in action in the whole of
Nature. In Newton's writings this is stated in many places. It also
holds good in the sphere of occultism. The counter-effect is not always
perceptible, but it is for example clearly perceptible if you make a
dent in a rubber ball. The stronger the pressure, so much the stronger
is the re-action.
When in Nature an effect like heat arises this heat must be withdrawn
from some other part of the surroundings; there cold arises as
counter-effect.
This law of effect and counter-effect however also holds good for the
entire spiritual world and it is of the utmost importance to know this
if one wishes to understand reincarnation and karma. Action finds its
expression on the physical plane. A feeling does not show itself
directly on the physical plane. When I am connected with someone in
friendship we can be separated physically, so that we cannot make our
feeling known outwardly by means of an action and yet we can feel
affection for one another. A feeling can have its direct effect on the
astral plane. It is only when feeling passes over into action that it
finds its expression on the physical plane. We must bear this
difference in mind. We must be perfectly clear about the fact that
every single action that takes place on the physical plane has its
effect somewhere and also its counter-effect. Through the action an
alteration is always brought about on the physical plane.
If we wish to comprehend the world in a deeper way, we should not
limit ourselves solely to what we can see. Underlying all physical
things there are forces which bring them into being. If, for example,
we study the structure of a crystal we can observe its form, its
colour; but connected with it are forces that build it up. These
forces cannot be perceived on the physical plane, but they must also
be there first. These forces which create the forms on the physical
plane, that work there in a formative way, are not themselves on the
physical plane.
When we try to think meditatively into a crystal, for example into an
octagonal crystal, allowing it to enter deeply into our soul, adapting
ourselves inwardly to its form, perhaps allowing its form to work upon
us for an hour, and then succeed in suggesting it away, then one
reaches the Arupa plane ... [Gap in text ...] Thus when we let some
kind of crystal, for instance a rock crystal, work upon us, retaining
its forms in the disposition of our soul and finally allowing them to
disappear, then one is on the Arupa plane. In this way we actually
experience that the forces which build up the crystal are on the Arupa
plane.
All forces underlying the phenomena of the physical plane are to be
found on the Arupa plane. It is true that through such observations no
ideas can be gained which are directly related to human life. It is
actually very difficult to transpose ourselves on to the Arupa plane
by observing human actions, with the exception of the actions of an
adept. But we gain very much when, taking our start from the purely
physical, we undertake such a procedure as that of sinking oneself
into a crystal; because in the crystal lies a great purity. In it
there are no instincts and desires.
This ideal which man should attain in the distant future appears in
its full purity when we sink ourselves into the silent mineral
kingdom. A silent, unobtrusive, passionless stone possesses for
occultists an extraordinary magical power. Even in the plant world one
cannot make that silent, modest purity such an object of our
contemplation's as one can in this oldest kingdom.
Now, as on the physical plane forces are at work that are actually
present on the Arupa plane, so in the physical world we always have to
take into consideration a revealed side, the phenomena, and a hidden
side, the forces. When we are active on the physical plane, in the
first place we bring about phenomena, but every action does in fact
reach up also into the Arupa plane and has there its counter-action.
Deeds on the physical plane impress themselves into the Arupa plane,
like a monogram into a seal and there remain. The substance of the
Arupa plane is delicate, soft and enduring; it is Akasha and human
actions remain inscribed there.
We now come to all manifestations of the human being which contain
feelings. All the feelings which man expresses have their
counter-effect, just as deeds have, only the feelings do not reach up
to the Arupa plane, but find their counter-effect in the lower parts
of Devachan, on the Rupa plane.
Actually this is brought about by a certain contemplation of Nature.
When we concentrate on a plant in the same way as on a crystal we must
dwell much longer with our mental imagery on the plant, for we must
not only let the form work upon us, but also its inner mobility, its
life. In this way we can also bring about definite experiences, only
this takes longer than in the case of the mineral. One must look at
the plant every day in its process of growth. When we first allow the
tiny plant to work upon us and observe its growth meditatively until
it has sent forth blossoms and fruits, then allow this to continue
working on us, extinguishing its sensible form — one can practise
this for decades — then what the plant has released in us as soul
forces transposes us into the lower regions of Devachan.
Now we must ask ourselves; what force is active in the plants,
conditioning life. If we were able to creep into a plant, live within
it, growing with its growth, if we were able to become selfless enough
to creep into the plant world, then we should learn to know from
outside what inwardly we know well, that is, human feeling; pleasure
and pain, sorrow and joy, and so on. [ Notes differ
and are not clear at this point
[57]]
If we were able to put our
pleasure outside ourselves, we should be able, through the pleasure,
to grow pure mineral substances. Through this force certain yogis find
it possible to influence the growth of plants; they have however
practised these observations and meditations for many years, indeed
through many incarnations.
Feeling has its counter-image on the Lower Devachanic plane. Man has
no influence on the plants if he has not developed the forces of Yoga,
but on our fellow human beings we can work in a living way through
warm feeling. An educator of children can observe this. If during a
lesson we approach the child with warm interest, we know what a
life-giving power feeling has. In other ways too we can observe the
effect of feeling in the world. There, where a beginning may be made
in influencing growth, demands are also made upon feeling. Through art
a beginning is made with what affects the growth of human beings. The
artist has within himself at any rate the beginning of what is an
organising force; in any case an artist of distinction as, for
instance, the creator of the Zeus head. It is artistic creation in
connection with human feelings which, if more intensively developed,
would make it possible to influence the growth of plants. Theosophy
should provide once more an impulse leading to an understanding of all
that is truly artistic, where this is conceived in its world-cultural
aspect in the purest, noblest sense.
Every combination of matter on the physical plane lacks an etheric
body, but all that grows has an etheric body. If someone works
artistically either in a visual or plastic[*] way, this has an effect on
the etheric body. An artistically formed piece of sculpture or a
painting works directly on the etheric body. A virtue, on the other
hand, works on the astral body. Many noble human beings who return
from Devachan meet an etheric body which is in no way suited to their
advanced astral body, because they have done nothing in the way of
organised activity in the sphere of beauty. It therefore happens that
many people who in their last incarnation lived very holy lives, but
without concerning themselves with what is noble in the outer world of
the senses, when approaching reincarnation experience a fear of
re-birth, because they have not ennobled their etheric body through
that beauty which is dependent on the senses.
This very frequently brings about an apprehension before incarnation
and in an extreme case, rebirth as an idiot. When a person during his
life as an idiot experiences all that is detrimental in his etheric
body, this is balanced out in the following incarnation. Because the
human being at the moment of incarnation, of birth, receives a shock
if he has not ennobled his etheric body through allowing beauty which
is dependent on the senses to work upon it, Freemasonry took beauty as
its second principle. Wisdom, Beauty and Power or Strength are the
three constructive forces; these have to be developed. Anyone
possessing all three will in his next incarnation become a human being
who fits harmoniously into his three bodies.
These things lay upon us the duty of re-introducing artistic activity
into theosophical life. This is even now being taken up into the
stream of the Theosophical Movement. The teachings as such had at
first to work upon the astral body. Now feeling should also influence
the etheric body. Great teachings are not only embodied in words, but
in buildings, paintings and sculpture. If we were to have a world
around us, built up in a style in keeping with the great Theosophical
Movement, then we should have done much. Christianity is not only
given as doctrine, but was painted by Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo
da Vinci and also built into the Gothic cathedrals. Then the musical
element emerged, which was absorbed by Christianity after it had
become inwardly deepened.
After the world of feelings, we ascend into the world of thought. When
someone grasps a pure thought he comes into a situation which is
different from those brought about through his feelings and actions.
For whoever grasps a pure thought conjures up also through this
thought a counter-effect. Europeans have such pure thoughts very
seldom, for the thoughts are generally clouded by instincts, desires
and passions. There is usually only one area where they have pure
thoughts, that is in mathematics. When people calculate, their
passions are usually very little involved. Because the majority of
people everywhere wish to exercise their feeling and critical faculty
they have no love for mathematics. Here one cannot vote in
parliamentary fashion. Mathematical truth is recognised by man through
truth itself; a problem can only have one solution. Whether one or a
million people hold their own view about it, the problem must find the
same solution. Nowhere should we need majority decisions, if it were
possible in all spheres to make decisions in a way as free from
emotion, as objectively, as in mathematics. In Europe one can only
point to this as to an ideal, in the hope that one day, in other
spheres of life, judgements will be, reached equally objectively and
free from emotion.
Thinkers would not disagree so violently if they would take all the
factors into consideration completely objectively, for truth cannot
approach man in different ways. People hold different opinions because
with their instincts and passions they are involved in their ideas in
different ways. Haeckel had different instincts from Wasman; this is
why they reach different conclusions. No philosophy dealing with human
matters was expressed so objectively, with such pure mathematical
thinking, as the Vedanta philosophy which is truly philosophical in
the highest sense of the word. Whoever imbues himself with this, knows
what the following means: 'I need no other person in order to know
whether something is true.' Whoever actually raises himself to this
clear, passionless thinking, needs no other opinion.
Heraclitus and Hegel had freed themselves from their emotions to a
greater degree than du Bois-Reymond, Herbert Spencer and Haeckel; they
stand therefore at a higher level. There are different standpoints and
conclusions, but not contradictory truths. Haeckel's truth crawls on
the ground; the Vedanta wisdom ascends in passionless purity and
surveys things from those heights. It does not contradict materialism,
but has a higher standpoint. Goethe, in his 'Metamorphoses of Plants',
[58]
tries to create a form as unemotional as that created by the
mathematician. Through this he wished to create emotionally free
thoughts and introduce the spirit of mathematics into higher regions.
Only some degree of Yoga, some degree of purification of emotion, can
make comprehensible what Goethe intends with his botany.
Because in this sense thought is something holy, with his thoughts man
is on the Devachanic plane. The European is practically never on the
Devachanic plane except when he is thinking mathematically. Certain
kinds of artistic creation also rise up to the Devachanic plane. When
Goethe attains to the highest heights as an artist he is only
understood with great difficulty. In 'Iphigenia' and
'Tasso' he tried
to introduce these passion-free thoughts; still more so in the drama
'Die natürliche Tochter'. These dramas in particular have had a
powerful effect on human beings who were strong and forceful. Such
people shed tears over 'Die natürliche Tochter.'
The counter-effect of thought which is on the Devachanic Plane is to
be found on the Astral Plane. These thoughts work downwards on to the
astral plane; other things work upwards. In the case of Fichte for
instance the thought content in 'Die natürliche Tochter' worked on the
astral plane, on his feeling, and reduced him to tears. This was the
counter-effect of thought. Certain people were moved to the depths of
their being through the influence of such pure thoughts. The
counter-effect of action and feeling goes upwards; here it descends.
Even though thoughts seldom show themselves as such pure thoughts they
are nevertheless always present as driving forces. Although different
opinions give rise to much wrangling, the thoughts are there. If one
is to live in thought on the Devachanic Plane, one must grasp thought
in such a way that one develops feeling for the thought. Most people
are in agreement with the first theosophical principle,
[59]
in so far
as it is a thought. If one asks if he is also a representative of this
in feeling, one would come to a different conclusion. Only when an
opinion for which one stands is brought down to the astral plane, when
it has become completely imbued with feeling, only then does the
opinion become really effective. It is the aim of the Theosophical
Movement to develop human beings so that they also bring life and
feeling into what is inherent in its principles.
So let us recapitulate. The effect of all our outer actions is to be
found on the Arupa Plane. In a life between birth and death we leave
behind a whole skeleton of effects. From all that we have felt in life
we leave the imprint on the Rupa Plane. From all that we have thought,
an imprint is present on the Astral Plane. After death we go at
first through Kamaloka and then reach the Rupa Plane. We come there
when we have not yet had many such Devachanic thoughts. If we were to
have only such thoughts we should already have become Chelas, occult
pupils; then we should have the Devachanic Plane completely within us.
The Chela can remain on the astral plane; he is able to renounce
Devachan because through his pure thoughts he has so clarified and
strengthened his astral body that he can continue to make use of it.
With us everything is dissolved in Kamaloka which has not yet been
worked upon and ennobled by the ego. With savages the greater part is
dissolved, with highly developed people the smallest. The ennobled
astral body is taken with us into Devachan. Everything we have
developed as our feeling life prepares us for a new life, works upon
us. When we have united ourselves with all our deeds we are impelled
towards our next incarnation. The part of the ego that has been made
eternal, the I and the ennobled astral body, now returns and in the
astral world unites itself again with a body that corresponds to what
has not yet been ennobled. The preparation for union with an
unfamiliar astral body is undertaken in Devachan. Then the etheric is
added as a member. As a result of this arises the pre-vision of
everything that awaits the human being. Just as when forsaking the
physical body, memory awakens in the etheric and astral bodies of the
immediate past and back to the time of birth, so now we have a preview
of what is to come. Here something quite specific can occur: one can
receive a shock which brings about idiocy. With a further descent the
physical body is added.
Because thoughts are active only on the astral plane they are
karmically the most intimate. They are creative through their own
nature. Hence the saying holds good: What you think today you are
to-morrow: The purer and more super-sensible the thought, the more one
works creatively upon one's character.
Destiny is formed through yet other factors: feelings fashion the
opportunities, actions fashion the form.
Manifestation
Forces
Physical Plane
– Actions
Arupa Plane
Astral Plane
– Feelings
Rupa Plane
Devachan Plane
– Thoughts
Astral Plane
∴
Lecture 22
Berlin, 24th October 1905
As a continuation of the lecture on Karma and Reincarnation, let us
select for special consideration the problem of death in its connection
with the whole subject.
The question: Why does man die? continually claims the attention of
mankind. But it is not quite easy to answer, for what we today call
dying is directly connected with the fact that we stand at a quite
definite stage of our development. We know that we live in three worlds,
in the physical, astral and mental worlds and that our existence changes
between these three worlds. We have within us an inner kernel of being
which we call the Monad. We retain this kernel throughout the three
worlds. It lives within us in the physical world, but also in the astral
and devachanic worlds. This inner kernel, however, is always clad in a
different garment. In the physical, astral and devachanic worlds the
garment of our kernel-of-being is different.
Now we will first look away from death and picture the human being
in the physical world clothed with a particular kind of matter. He then
enters the astral and devachanic worlds always with a different garment.
Let us now assume that the human being were conscious in all three
worlds, so that he could perceive the things around him. Without senses
and perception he would be unable to live consciously even in the
physical world. If man today were equally conscious in all three worlds
there would be no death, then there would only be transformation. Then
he would pass over consciously from one world into the other. This
passing over would be no death for him, and for those left behind at
most something like a journey. At present things are so that man only
gradually gains continuity of consciousness in these three worlds. At
first he experiences it to be a darkening of his consciousness when he
enters the other worlds from the physical world. The beings who retain
consciousness do not know death. Let us now come to an understanding of
the way in which man has reached the stage of having his present day
physical consciousness and of how he will attain another consciousness.
We must learn to know man as a duality: as the Monad and what
clothes the Monad. We ask: How has the one and how has the other arisen?
Where did the astral man live before he became what he is today and
where did the Monad live? Both have gone through different stages of
development, both have gradually reached the point of being able to
unite.
In considering the physical-astral human being we are taken back
into very distant times, when he was only present as an astral
archetype, as an astral form. The astral man who was originally present
was a formation unlike the present astral body, a much more
comprehensive being. We can picture the astral body of those times by
thinking of the earth as a great astral ball made up of astral human
beings. All the Nature forces and beings which surround us today were at
that time still within man, who lived dissolved in astral existence. All
plants, animals and so on, the animal instincts and passions, were still
within him. What the lion, and all the mammals, have within them today,
was at that time completely intermingled with the human astral body,
which then contained within it all the beings at present spread over the
earth. The astral earth consisted of human astral bodies joined together
like a great blackberry and enclosed by a spiritual atmosphere in which
there lived devachanic beings.
This atmosphere — astral air one might call it — which at
that time surrounded the astral earth was composed of a somewhat thinner
substance than the astral bodies of human beings. In this astral air
lived spiritual beings — both lower and higher — among others
the human Monads also, completely separated from the human astral
bodies. This was the condition of the earth at that time. The Monads,
which were already present in the astral air, could not unite with the
astral bodies, for these were still too wild. The instincts and passions
had first to be ejected. Thus through the throwing off of certain
substances and forces possessed by the astral body, the latter gradually
developed in a purer form. What had been thrown off however remained as
separated astral forms, beings with a much denser astral body, with
wilder instincts, impulses and passions.
Thus there now existed two astral bodies: a less wild human astral
body and an astral body that was very wild and opaque. Let us keep these
strictly apart, the human astral body and what lived around it. The
human astral body becomes ever finer and nobler, always throwing off
those parts of itself it needed to expel, and these became ever denser
and denser. In this way, when they eventually reached physical density,
the other kingdoms arose: the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms.
Certain instincts and forces expelled in this way appeared as the
different animal species.
So a continual purification of the astral body took place and this
brought about on earth a necessary result. For through the fact that in
consequence of this purification, what man once had within him he now
had outside him, he entered into relationship with these beings, and
what formerly he had had within him, now worked into him from outside.
That is an eternal process which holds good also for the separation of
the sexes, which from that time on affect each other from outside. To
begin with, the whole world was interwoven with us; only later did it
work upon us from outside. The original symbol for this coming back into
oneself from the other side is the snake biting its tail.
In the purified astral body pictures arise now of the world
surrounding it. Let us assume that a human being had perhaps separated
off ten different forms, which are now around him. Previously they were
within him and later he is surrounded by them. Now mirrored pictures
arise in the purified astral body of the forms existing in the outer
world. These mirrored pictures become a new force within him, they are
active within him, transforming the nobler, purified astral body. For
instance, it has rejected from itself the wilder instincts; these are
now outside it as pictures and work upon it as formative force. The
astral body is built up by means of the pictures of the world it has
thrown off and which were earlier within it. They build up in it a new
body. Formerly man had had the macrocosm within him, he then separated
it off and now this formed within him the microcosm, a portion torn off
from himself.
Thus at a certain stage we find the human being in a form which is
given him by his surroundings. The mirrored pictures work on his astral
body in such a way that they bring about in it differentiation and
division. Through the mirrored pictures his astral body divided itself
and he re-assembled it again out of the parts, so that he is now a
membered organism. The undifferentiated astral mass has become
differentiated into the different organs, the heart and so on. To begin
with everything was astral and this was then enclosed by the physical
human body. Thereby the human forms became more and more adapted to
densification and to becoming a more complicated and comprehensive
organism, which is an image of the entire environment.
What has become densest of all is the physical body; the etheric
body is less dense and the astral body is the finest. They are in
reality mirrored images of the outer-world, microcosm in the macrocosm.
Meanwhile the astral body has become ever finer and finer, so that at a
certain point of earth evolution the human being has a developed astral
body. Through the fact that the astral body has become increasingly
finer, it has attracted to itself the finer astral substance around it.
Meanwhile in the upper region the opposite evolutionary processes
have taken place. The Monad has descended from the highest regions of
Devachan into the astral region and in the course of this descent has
become denser. Now the two parts approach each other. From the one side
man ascends as far as the astral body, from the other side it is met by
the Monad on its descent into the astral world. This was in the Lemurian
Age. Thus they could mutually fructify each other. The Monad had clothed
itself with devachanic substance, then again with astral airy substance.
From below upwards we have the physical substance, then the etheric
substance, then again astral substance. So both astral substances
fructify one another and, as it were, melt into one another. What comes
from above has the Monad within it. As though into a bed, it sinks
itself into the astral substance.
This is how the descent of the soul takes place. But in order that
it can happen the Monad must develop a thirst to know the lower regions.
This thirst must be taken for granted. As Monad one can only learn to
know the lower regions by incarnating in the human body and by its means
looking out into the surrounding world. Man now consists of four
members. Firstly he has a physical body, secondly an etheric body,
thirdly an astral body and within this as fourth member of the ego, the
Monad. After the four-fold organism has come into being the Monad can
look through it into the environment and a relationship is established
between the Monad and everything that is in the surroundings. Through
this the thirst of the Monad is partially assuaged.
We have seen that the entire human body is put together, has been
put together, out of parts which arose through the fact that the
originally undifferentiated mass divided itself into organs, after the
original astral body had thrown off various portions of itself which
were then reflected back, causing images to arise within it. [Text of this portion is
very incomplete and cannot be considered as literal. [60]] These
reflected images became forces within the astral body and these built up
the etheric body, that is to say, through these manifold images the
etheric body developed separate members. This etheric body now consisted
of different parts and, as a further process, each of these parts
densified within itself and so the differentiated physical body
developed. Every such physical kernel, out of which the organs later
develop, forms at the same time a kind of central point in the ether.
The intervening spaces between the centres are filled with the main
etheric mass. We must think of the body as put together out of ten
parts. These ten parts (shown in the diagram) hold the body together
through their relationship; they are images of the whole of the rest of
Nature and everything depends on how strongly they are connected.
Different degrees of relationship exist between the separate parts. As
long as these are retained the body is held together; when the various
relationships cease, the parts fall away; the body disintegrates.
Because during Earth evolution we have manifold forms, the parts in the
etheric body only hold together to a certain degree. Human nature is an
image of the beings which have been thrown off. In so far as these
beings lead a separate existence, the parts of the physical body also
lead a separate existence. When the relationship of forces has become so
slight as to be non-existent, our life comes to an end. The length of
our life is conditioned by the way in which the beings around us get on
with each other.
The development of the higher man proceeds in such a way that, to
begin with, man works upon his astral body. He works ideals into it,
enthusiasm and so on. He fights against his instincts. As soon as he
replaces passions with ideals, instincts with duties, and develops
enthusiasm in the place of desires, he creates harmony between the parts
of his astral body. This peace-making work begins with the entrance of
the Monad, and the astral body gradually approaches immortality. From
that time on, the astral body no longer dies but retains continuity to
the degree in which it has induced peace in itself and established peace
in the face of the destructive forces. From the time when the Monad
enters, it brings about peace, to begin with in the astral body. Now the
instincts begin to come into mutual relationship. Harmony comes about in
the former chaos and an astral form arises which survives, remains
living. In the physical and etheric bodies peace is as yet not
established, and only partly so in the astral body. The latter retains
its form for a short time only, but the more peace is established, so
much the longer is the time in Devachan.
When someone has become a Chela he begins to establish peace in the
etheric body. Then the etheric body too survives. The Masters also
establish peace in the physical body; thus in their case the physical
body also survives. The important thing is to bring into harmony the
different bodies, which consist of separate warring parts, and transmute
them into bodies having immortality.
Man has formed his physical body by putting out from himself the
kingdoms of Nature, which then reflected themselves back into him.
Through this, the single parts came into existence within him. Now he
performs actions; through these he again has intercourse with his
surroundings. What he now puts out are the effects of his deeds. He
projects his actions into the surrounding world and gradually becomes a
reflection of these actions. The Monad has been drawn into the human
body; man begins to perform actions. These actions are incorporated into
the surrounding world and are reflected back. To the same degree in
which the Monad begins to establish peace, it also begins to take up the
reflected images of its own actions.
Here we have come to a point where we continually create a new
kingdom around us — the effects of our own actions. This again
builds up something within us. As previously we fashioned the
undifferentiated etheric body into separate members, we build into the
monadic existence the effects of our actions. We call this the creation
of our Karma. Thereby we can give permanence to everything in the Monad.
Earlier the astral body had purified itself by casting off everything
that was in it. Now man created for himself a new kingdom of deeds, as
it were out of nothing, in regard to relationships, a 'creation out
of nothing'. That which previously had no existence, the new
relationship, reflects itself in the Monad as something new, something
having a pictorial character, and a new inner kernel of being is formed
in the Monad, arising out of the reflected image of deeds, the
reflection of Karma. As the work of the Monad progresses, the kernel of
being becomes more and more enlarged. Let us observe the Monad after a
period of time. On the one hand it will have established harmony out of
the warring forces, and on the other hand out of the effects of deeds.
Both unite and a unified formation arises.
Let us suppose that someone's earthly garment has been laid aside
and the Monad remains. It retains the results of its deeds. The question
is, how the results of the deeds are brought about. If these results
have been so brought about that in the worlds in which the Monad now
finds itself they can continue to be fruitful, then the human being can
sojourn there for a long time; if not, for a short time only. In this
case they must fall back again into the thirst of the Monad (for the
physical plane) and once again inhabit a physical body.
Human life is a continual process of being enveloped in what
surrounds us: Involution — Evolution. We take up image forms and
according to these, shape our own body. What the Monad has brought about
is again taken up by man as his Karma. Man will always be the result of
his Karma. The Vedanta teaches that the different parts of the human
being are dissolved and cast to the winds; what still remains of him,
that is his Karma. This is the eternal which man has created out of
himself, something which he himself had first to take up as image out of
his environment. Man is immortal; he only needs to exert his will, he
only needs to form his actions in such a way that they have a lasting
existence. That part of us is immortal which we gain for ourselves from
the outside world. We have come into being through the world and are
beginning, through fructification with the Monad, to build up in
ourselves the mirror of a new world. The Monad has quickened the
mirrored images in us. Now these images can work outwards, and the
effects of these images reflect themselves anew. A new inner life
arises. With our actions we are continually changing our environment.
Through this, new reflected images come about; these now become karma.
This is a new life which springs up from within. The result of this is
that in order to develop further from a definite point of time we must
go out of ourselves and work selflessly in our surroundings. We must
make possible this going out from ourselves in order selflessly to bring
about harmonious relationships in our surroundings. This necessitates a
harmonising of the reflected images in ourselves. It is our task to make
the world around us a harmonious one. If we are a destructive element in
the world, what is reflected into us is devastation: if we bring about
harmony in the world, harmonies are reflected into us.
The highest degree of perfection which we have put out from
ourselves, which we have established around us, this we shall take with
us. Therefore the Rosicrucians said: Form the world in such a way that
it contains within itself Wisdom, Beauty and Strength; then Wisdom,
Beauty and Strength will be reflected into us. Wisdom is the reflection
of Manas; Beauty, Piety, Goodness are the reflection of Buddhi; Strength
is the reflection of Atma.
To begin with we develop around us a domain of Wisdom through
ourselves fostering Wisdom. Then we develop a domain of Beauty in all
regions. Then Wisdom becomes visible and reflects itself in us: Buddhi.
Finally we bestow on the whole physical existence, Wisdom within, Beauty
without.
If our will enables us to carry this through, then we have strength:
Atma, the power to transpose all this into reality. Thus we establish
the three kingdoms within us: Manas, Buddhi, Atma.
Not through laborious research does man progress further on the
earth, but by embodying into the earth Wisdom, Beauty and Strength.
Through the work of our higher Ego we transform the transient body given
us by the Gods and create for ourselves immortal bodies. The Chela, who
ennobles his etheric body (so that it remains in existence), gradually
renounces the Maharajas. The Master, whose physical body also remains in
existence, can renounce the Lipikas. He stands above Karma. This we must
describe as the progress of man in his inner life. What is higher,
outside ourselves, we must seek to approach. Therefore our Higher Self
is not to be sought within us, but in the individualities who have
ascended into loftier regions.
∴
Lecture 23
Berlin, 25th October 1905
Let us call to mind the point of time when, in the middle of the
Lemurian Race, man raised himself up to spirituality. Now for the first
time fructification with the Spirit, with the Monad became possible.
Gradually, out of the chaotic Earth, through what had been separated off
from man, the other beings had been formed which lived on the Earth as
his companions. Man had developed a physical body, an etheric body and
an astral body. The astral body had become purified and was just at that
time adapted to receive Manas, Buddhi, Atma.
On the Earth everything developed quite gradually, so that mankind,
still without intellect or possibility of speech, arose out of the
uncoordinated Earth mass. Now we ask: How did this come about? A plant
too does not grow out of nothing. A seed must be planted into the Earth.
This was also the case with the people who were there at that time. The
human being too had grown up out of the Earth and for this a seed had to
be there on the Earth. Once a similar being had already existed. This
seed-man had arisen on the Old Moon. From there he passed over in the
seed condition, went through a Pralaya and then appeared once more on
the Earth.
The development of the Earth had three preliminary stages: (Old
Saturn, Sun and Moon). In the first three Earth Rounds these stages had
a short recapitulation. In the First Earth Epoch the Saturn existence
was repeated, in the Second Epoch the Sun existence and in the Third
Epoch the Moon existence. It was only in the Fourth Round that the
actual Earth existence emerged and then man had reached a somewhat
higher stage than on the Old Moon. There he had not yet reached separate
development, he had not yet become sufficiently purified to receive the
Monad. On the Moon the astral body was still wild and passionate. On the
Earth he had still to purify himself in order to be able to receive the
higher principles. This purification was completed in the middle of the
Lemurian Age.
The last human beings during the Old Moon existence are our physical
forefathers. On the Earth they now developed somewhat further. The
Earth-men of the pre-Lemurian Age are the actual descendants of the
inhabitants of the Moon. This is why we call the inhabitants of the Moon
the Fathers or Pitris of Earth-Men. These Earth-Men were as yet unable
to use their front limbs for work. They were of animal-like form having
a certain great beauty. Their substance was much softer than the
physical matter of today: it was very much softer than what we now find
with the lower animals. They were irradiated and an inner fire shone
through them. When human beings were going through an earlier stage of
evolution, they were still more beautiful and nobler in their form.
During the Age which preceded the Lemurian Age, we have the
Hyperborean Age on the Earth, that of the Sun Men, of the Apollo-Men.
They were formed out of a still nobler and even more delicate substance.
Then we go still further back to the very first Race, to the Polarian
men. At that time they lived in the tropical polar climate, a Race which
was able to attain to special heights through the fact that a remarkable
and great help had been granted them. The most beautiful of the Moon
Pitris descended to the Earth. The Polarian human beings were very
similar to four-footed animals, but they were formed out of a soft,
pliant substance similar to a jellyfish, but much warmer. The human
beings with the best forms, consisting of the noblest components,
received at that time help of a special nature, for beings were still
connected with the Earth who had earlier reached a higher stage.
All esotericism recognises that the Sun was first a planet; it only
later became a fixed star. The sequence of stages that the Earth has
passed through is: Old Saturn, Old Sun, Old Moon, Earth. When the Sun
was itself a planet, then everything which is now on the Moon and Earth
was still in the Sun. Later Sun and Moon separated themselves from the
Earth.
Let us think back to the time of the Old Sun. Then everything which
now lives on the Earth, dwelt on the Sun. The beings were then quite
differently formed, having only a physical body, much less dense than it
is now, and an etheric body. Man's whole way of life was plant-like. The
beings lived in the light of the Sun. Light came to them from the centre
of their own planet. They were totally different from present-day man.
In comparison with present-day man the Sun-man stood upside down and the
Sun shone upon his head. Everything connected with reproduction
developed freely on the other side. Man at that time stretched his legs,
so to say, into the air. The plant has remained at this stage, its roots
are in the earth and it stretches its organs of reproduction, stamens
and pistil, into the air (plant). This Sun-man developed in seven
different stages. His direction on the planet is the same as the growth
of the plant on the Earth. Then, with the third incarnation of the Earth
he became a Moon-man. He bent over, the vertical becoming the horizontal
(animal). The tendency towards a spine developed. The symbol for this is
the Tau = T. On the Earth he turns completely round. For this the symbol
is the Cross. The symbolism of the Cross depicts the development from
the Sun, through the Moon to the Earth. On the Earth the symbol of the
Cross was attained by the addition of the upper vertical member above
the T. This developed further in the bearing of the Cross on the
shoulders.
The Sun-men too had attained a certain high development. There were
also Sun Adepts, who had progressed further than the other Sun-men. They
passed over to the Moon. There also they had the possibility of being on
a higher level than the Moon-men, and they developed to quite special
heights. They were the forefathers of the Earth-men, but had hastened
much further ahead. When now in the second Epoch of the Fourth Round the
Hyperboreans lived in their soft forms, these Sons of the Sun were in
position to incarnate and they formed a particularly beautiful Race.
They were the Solar Pitris. Already in the Hyperborean Epoch they
created for themselves an upright form, completely transforming the
Hyperborean bodies. This the other human beings were unable to do. In
the Hyperborean Epoch the Solar Pitris became the beautiful Apollo-men,
who in the Second Race had already attained the upright posture.
In the Old Sun everything was contained which was later extrapolated
as Moon and Earth. All life and all warmth streamed up from the centre
of the Sun. Then, in the next Manvantara (the Old Moon) the following
took place: Out of the darkness of Pralaya the Sun emerged. A part of
the Sun substance had the urge to detach itself. At first a kind of
biscuit formation developed.
Then the one part severed itself completely and the two bodies
continued side by side as Sun and Old Moon. The Sun retained the
possibility of emitting light and warmth. The Old Moon retained the
power of reproduction. It was able to bring forth again the beings who
had been on the Sun, but they had to be dependent on the Sun for light
and warmth. Because the Old Moon itself possessed no light, the beings
had to orientate themselves towards the Sun. All plants therefore
completely reversed their position on the Old Moon. The animals turned
half round and human beings also only turned halfway; but to compensate
for this they received on the Moon the astral body, Kama, and thereby,
developed warmth from within outwards.
The Kama was at that time still an essentially warming force. This
is why the human beings did not already then turn themselves completely
towards the Sun. Life was in the darkness. The Old Moon also circled
round the Sun, but not as our Earth does today. The Moon rotated around
the Sun, in such a way that only one side was turned towards it. A
Moon-day therefore lasted as long as a half year does today. Thus on the
one side there was an intense heat and on the other side an intense
cold.
On the Old Moon the predecessors of man again went through a certain
normal development. But there were also Moon Adepts who hastened on in
advance of the rest of mankind. At the end of the Old Moon evolution
these Pitri beings were much more advanced than the rest of humanity,
just as the Adepts are today.
Now for the first time we reach the actual Earth evolution. In the
next Pralaya which followed the Moon evolution, the Moon fell back into
the Sun. As one body they went through Pralaya. When the Earth
eventually emerged out of the darkness the whole Sun-mass was united
with it. In that epoch the first or Polarian Race began. Then the
previous Sun-Men, in accordance with conditions at that time, were able
to form this specially favoured species, the Sons of the Sun, because
the Sun was still united with the Earth.
During the Hyperborean Period the whole again divided. One part
severed itself and the Earth emerged out of the Sun. It is at this point
that the Kant-Laplace theory is relevant. The earth was in a nebulous
condition coinciding with the Kant-Laplace theory. The outer appearance
seemed like the rings around Saturn. Now the second or Hyperborean Race
evolved. Gradually the seeds of the Moon-Men appeared on the Earth, the
Pitris in various degrees of perfection. They all still had the
possibility of reproducing themselves through self-fertilisation.
A second severance followed. With the Moon everything connected with
self-reproduction departed from the Earth, so that there were now three
bodies: Sun, Earth, Moon. Then the possibility of self-fertilisation
ceased; the Moon had drawn out what made this possible. Then the Moon
was outside and there were beings who were no longer able to reproduce
themselves; thus in the Lemurian Age the two sexes originated.
Such forms of evolution take their course only under the special
guidance of higher beings, the Devas, in order to further evolution in a
certain way. The leader of this whole progression is the God who in the
Hebraic tradition is called Jahve; Jehovah. He was a Moon-God. He
possessed in the highest sense of the word, the power that had developed
on the Moon and accordingly he endeavoured to develop mankind further in
this direction. In the earthly world Jahve represents that God who
endows beings with the possibility of physical reproduction. Everything
else (intellect) did not lie in the Jahve-Intention. If Jahve's
intention alone had continued to develop, the human being would
eventually have ceased to be able to reproduce himself, for the power of
reproduction would have become exhausted. He would then only have been
concerned with the creation of beautiful forms, for he was indifferent
to what is inward, intellectual. Jehovah wished to produce beautifully
formed human beings, like beautiful statues. His intention was that the
power of reproduction should be continued until it had expended itself.
He wanted to have a planet that only bore upon it beautiful but
completely motionless forms. If the Earth had continued its evolution
with the Moon within it, it would have developed into a completely
rigid, frozen form. Jehovah would have immortalised his planet as a
monument to his intention. This would doubtless have come about had not
those Adepts, who had hastened beyond the Moon evolution now come
forward. It was just at this time that they made their appearance. They
had already developed on the Moon intelligence and the Spirit which we
first developed on the Earth. They now took the rest of humanity into
their charge and rescued them from the fate which otherwise would have
befallen them. A new spark was kindled in the human astral body. Just at
that time they gave to the human astral body the impetus to develop
beyond this critical point. Jahve could now save the situation only by
altering his manner of working. He created man and woman. What could no
longer be contained in one sex was divided between the two sexes.
Two streams now existed, that of Jahve and that of the Moon Adepts.
The interest of the Moon Adepts lay in spiritualising mankind. Jahve,
however, wished to make of them beautiful statues. At that time these
two powers contested with one another.
Thus on the Earth we have to do with a force having the power of
self-reproduction; Kriya-shakti. This power is only present on the Earth
today in the very highest Mysteries. At that time everyone possessed it.
Through this power man could reproduce himself; he then became divided
into two halves with the result that two sexes came into being on the
Earth.
Jehovah withdrew the entire power of self-reproduction from the
Earth and placed it in the Moon side by side with the Earth. Through
this arose the connection between the power of reproduction and the Moon
beings. Now we have human beings with a weakened power of reproduction,
but not yet having the possibility of spiritualising themselves. These
were the predecessors of present-day man. The Moon Adepts came to them
and said: You must not follow Jehovah. He will not allow you to attain
to knowledge but you should. That is the Snake. The Snake approached the
woman, because she had the power to produce offspring out of herself.
Now Jehovah said: Man has become like unto ourselves, and brings death
into the world and everything connected with it.
'Lucifer' is the name given to the Moon Adepts; they are
the bestowers of human intellectuality. This they gave to the astral and
physical bodies; had it been otherwise the Monads would not have been
able to enter into them and the Earth would have become a planetary
monument to Jehovah's greatness. By the intervention of the Luciferic
principle human independence and spirituality were saved. Then Jehovah,
so that man should not be completely spiritualised, divided the
self-reproduction process into two parts. What would have been lost
however if Jehovah had continued his work alone will reappear in the
Sixth Root-Race, when man will have become so spiritualised that he will
regain Kriya-shakti, the creative power of reproduction. He will be in
the position to bring forth his own kind. In this way mankind was
rescued from downfall.
Through Jehovah's power man carries within himself the possibility
of rigidifying. When one observes the three lower bodies we find that
these bear within them the possibility of returning to the physical
condition of the Earth. The upper parts: Atma, Buddhi, Manas, were only
able to enter into human beings because the influence of the Snake was
added. This gave man new life and the power to remain with the earthly
planet. Reproduction however became bisexual and thereby birth and death
entered into the world. Previously this had not happened.
When man, by working out of the spirit, transmutes the physical
body, he conquers death. The separate forces exhaust themselves when
they take on special forms. The force enters into the form with ever
increasing density and hence life in the Lemurian Age had to receive a
new impulse, which was brought about by the turning around of the Earth
Globe. The axis of the Earth was gradually turned. Previously there was
a tropical climate at the North Pole; later through the turning around
of the Earth axis the tropical climate came into the middle region. This
change proceeded with comparative rapidity but lasted nevertheless for
perhaps four million years. [Rudolf Steiner later revised his time scale
of earthly evolution to much shorter periods. Ed.] Four million years
were needed by the Moon Pitris in order to turn the axis of the Earth.
At that time the Moon Pitris development was already much further on
than that of present day man.
Thus at that time the two sexes developed from the unisexual human
being. In the beginning among the unisexual human beings there were very
retarded individuals, but also those who were very far advanced. Only a
small part of the Earth was a fitting dwelling place for the descending
Monads. Then it was that human beings divided into two sexes. This had
taken place earlier with the animals. Side by side with human beings
there existed male and female animals. Very grotesque forms were able to
live on the quite differently constituted Earth. They were also able to
fly. They bore within them the future promise of what human beings
possess today. Esoteric religions call human beings able to bring forth
their own kind Bulls. (Certain animal symbols are related to this.) The
Bull is a symbol of fertility; previously came the Lion, the symbol of
courage, and before this the Eagle. In the vision of Ezekiel, [61]
referring to those earlier times, the animals have wings because they
could raise themselves above the earth. Man only appeared later.
Thus we have the human being as he evolved from the unisexual into
the bisexual state, and together with him bisexual animals, male and
female. It was only through the Lunar Pitris that man became mature
enough to have a body capable of receiving the Monads. The latter
however selected only the most highly developed examples and evolved a
noble human form; only these had to be withdrawn completely from
intercourse with anything around them, otherwise the beautiful bodies
would have been lost. It was only then that the body formed itself in
accordance with the Monad. The other forms which were less advanced
failed to satisfy the descending Monad; hence they poured only a part of
their spiritual force into the imperfect human bodies and the third
stream utterly refused to incarnate. Because of this there existed very
poorly endowed human bodies and also others quite devoid of spirit.
In the middle of the Lemurian Age we find the first Sons of the Fire
Mist; these incarnate in the fiery element, which at that time
surrounded the Earth. The Sons of the Fire Mist were the first Arhats.
[62] Then there arose the other two kinds. In the
first Lemurian human race those who had received only a small spark were
little adapted to forming a civilisation and soon went under. On the
other hand those who had received absolutely nothing found full
expression for their lower nature. They mingled with the animals. From
them proceeded the last Lemurian races. The wild, animal instincts lived
in wild animal-like human forms. This brought about a degeneration of
the entire human substance.
Had all human beings been fructified with Monads, the whole human
race would have greatly improved. The first evil arose through the fact
that certain Monads refused to incarnate. From this, through
intermingling, deterioration set in. In this way the human being
suffered an essentially physical degradation. Only in the Atlantean Age
did the Monads regret their previous refusal; they came down and
populated all mankind. In this way arose the various Atlantean races.
We have now reached a time when something happened to bring about
the deterioration of the Earth. The wholesale deterioration of the races
brought this about. It was then that the seed of Karma was planted.
Everything that came later is the result of this original Karma; for had
the Monads all entered into human forms at the right time, human beings
would have possessed the certainty of animals, they could not have been
subject to error, but they would not have been able to develop freedom.
The original Arhats could not go astray; they are angels in human form.
The Moon Adepts however had so brought things about that certain Monads
waited before incarnating. Through this the principle of asceticism
entered into the world — reluctance to inhabit the Earth. This
discrepancy between higher and lower Nature arose at this time. Because
of it man became uncertain; he must now try things out, oscillating from
one experience to another, in an attempt to find his way in the world.
Because he had original Karma, his own further Karma came about. Now he
could fall into error.
The intention was that man should attain knowledge. This could only
be brought about through the original Karma. The Luciferic Principle,
the Moon Adepts, wanted to develop freedom and independence to an
ever-greater degree. This is very beautifully expressed in the saga of
Prometheus: [63] Zeus will not allow human beings to get fire.
Prometheus however gives them fire, the faculty of developing ever
higher and higher. By so doing he condemns man to suffering. Man must
now wait for the coming of a Sun Hero, until the Principle of the Sun
Hero in the Sixth Race will make him able to develop further without
Luciferic knowledge. Those endowed with this higher degree of
advancement are like Prometheus, they are Sun Heroes.
We have thus learned to know a two-fold order of human beings: those
who succumbed to the Jehovah Principle, the bringing of perfection to
the physical Earth, and also spiritual human beings who were becoming
more highly developed. Jehovah and Lucifer are engaged in an unceasing
battle. It is the intention of Lucifer to develop everything upwards,
towards knowledge, towards the light. In Devachan the human being can
bring a certain degree of advancement to the Luciferic Principle. The
longer he remains in Devachan the more of this can he develop. He must
pass through as many incarnations as are necessary in order to bring
this Principle fully to perfection.
Thus there exists in the world a Jehovah Principle and a Lucifer
Principle. If the Jehovah Principle alone were to be taught, man would
succumb to the Earth. If the teaching of reincarnation and karma were
allowed to disappear entirely from the Earth we should win back for
Jehovah all the Monads and physical man would be given over to the
Earth, to a petrified planet. If however one teaches reincarnation and
karma, man is led upwards to spiritualisation. Christianity therefore
made the absolutely right compromise, and for a period of time did not
teach reincarnation and karma, but the importance of the single human
existence, in order that man should learn to love the Earth, waiting
until he is mature enough for a new Christianity, with the teaching of
reincarnation and karma, which is the saving of the Earth and brings the
whole of what has been sown into Devachan. As a result, in Christianity
itself there is conflict between the two Principles: the one without
reincarnation and karma, the other with this teaching. In the former
case, everything which Lucifer could bring about would be taken from
human beings. They would actually drop out of reincarnation and turn
their backs on the Earth, becoming degenerate angels. In that case the
Earth would be going towards its downfall. Were the hosts of Jehovah to
be victorious on the Earth, the Earth would remain behind as a kind of
Moon, as a rigidified body. The possibility of spiritualisation would
then be a missed opportunity. The battle in the Bhagavad Gita [64] describes
the conflict between Jehovah and Lucifer and their hosts.
It might still be possible today for the teaching of Christianity
without reincarnation and karma to prevail. Then the Earth would be lost
for the Principle of Lucifer. The whole earth is still a battlefield of
these two principles. The principle that leads the earth towards
spirituality is Lucifer. In order to live in accordance with this
Principle one must first love the Earth, one must descend on to the
Earth. Lucifer is the Prince who reigns in the kingdom of science and
art, but he cannot descend altogether on to the Earth: for this, his
power does not suffice. Quite alone, it would be impossible for Lucifer
to lead upwards what is on the Earth. For this, not only is the power of
a Moon Adept necessary, but of a Sun Adept, who embraces the
universality of human life, not manifesting only in science and art.
Lucifer is represented as the Winged Form of the Dragon; Ezekiel
describes him as the Winged Bull.
Now there came a Sun Hero, similar to those who appeared in the
Hyperborean Epoch, represented by Ezekiel as the Winged Lion. This Hero,
Who gave the second impulse, is the Christ, the Lion out of the tribe of
Judah. The representative of the Eagle will come only later; he
represents the Father Principle. Christ is a Solar Hero, a Lion-Nature,
a Sun Pitri.
The third impulse will be represented by an Adept who was already an
Adept on Saturn. Such a one cannot as yet incarnate on the Earth. When
man is not only able to develop his higher nature upwards, but working
creatively is able to renounce completely his lower nature, then will
this highest Adept, the Saturn Adept, the Father Principle, the Hidden
God, be able to incarnate.
∴
Lecture 24
Berlin, 26th October 1905
We are now living in the Fifth Sub-Race of the Fifth Root-Race. This
Root-Race is usually called the Aryan Race and includes as the First
Sub-Race the Ancient Indian, which developed in the region of Southern
Asia. A primeval Southern Asiatic population dwelt there long, long
before the coming into being of the Vedas. Everything we have in the
Vedas is a faint echo of that infinitely profound religious wisdom which
was taught by the Ancient Rishis. Later we find in the near East the
Ancient Persian Race which received its religious teaching and its
culture from Zarathustra. [65] The later Zarathustrian
cultures in Asia are but echoes of this teaching. Then as the Third
Sub-Race, we find the Egyptian, Chaldean, Babylonian, Assyrian peoples,
out of which the Semitic-Jewish civilisation gradually developed. There
then arose the Fourth Sub-Race, the Graeco-Roman civilisation in
Southern Europe, which lasted until the ascent of the Germanic peoples
in Northern, Central and Western Europe. Two further civilisations are
yet to follow. Seven Sub-Races together form a Root-Race.
The preceding Root-Race inhabited Atlantis, that part of the Earth
which later was flooded by the Atlantic Ocean. To this Root-Race belong
the following Sub-Races: Firstly the Rmoahals, secondly the Tlavtlis,
thirdly the Toltecs, fourthly the original Turanians, fifthly the
original Semites, sixthly the Akkadians, seventhly the Mongols.
Still further back we come to the continent of Lemuria, between
Africa, Asia and Australia. There we come into times with quite other
conditions. Then we go still further back to the Second Root-Race, the
Hyperborean, and to the First Root-Race, the Polarian. Now therefore two
Sub-Races and two Root-Races are still to follow.
As we go back we come to a human being composed of an ever finer and
finer substance. At the beginning of its evolution, the Earth consisted
of fine etheric substance. At that time all beings were also made up of
such substance. At the end of its evolution the Earth will again consist
of this fine etheric substance. Such conditions through which the Earth
passes, beginning with the finest etheric substance, then becoming
densified and again returning to a condition of fine physical etheric
substance, constitute a Globe. Thus the physical Globe develops out of a
still finer condition than that of the finest physical ether. The
etheric develops out of the astral and returns to the astral.
On the preceding Globe all beings were in an astral condition. Today
the astral Globe no longer floats somewhere or other in heavenly space
but the beings which were upon it densified and the astral Globe
densified with them. This Globe is the Earth itself. The transition from
the astral Globe to the physical is a transformation of condition. On
the astral Globe also seven successive conditions developed. One has
become accustomed in theosophical literature to call these conditions
Races; thus there were seven astral Races. The astral Globe also
densified only gradually to astral substance. Earlier the astral Globe
was still finer and indeed consisted of substance out of which our
thoughts are woven today. For this reason it is called mental substance
and the Globe a Mental-Globe. There on this Mental-Globe existed seven
successive Mental-Races of humanity with all that was connected with
them. Preceding this there was a still finer condition of development,
of even finer substance; the Arupa Mental-Globe; 'Arupa'
because no actual forms existed, but everything was only indicated.
These one calls four Globes; in reality however, they are four
successive forms of the Earth. Thus we have seven Rounds.
Now let us follow the course of the physical Earth until it reaches
the end of its evolution. It again passes over into an etheric Earth,
then into an astral Earth. On the previous astral Earth the beings were
still indeterminate, receiving their form from forces outside
themselves. When man is again on an astral Earth he will be able to give
himself his own form. On the previous astral Earth Jehovah and his hosts
had given man his form. On the plastic-astral Earth however man will
give himself his form out of his inner force; hence this is called the
'plastic' Globe and in this respect the following Globes, a
Rupa and an Arupa Globe will have similar conditions. Man must refine
himself so completely that finally he will only be like a seed, in a
germinal condition containing everything which he has absorbed into
himself. All experiences are then within him, as though concentrated in
a point as force. The seeds that were present on the First Globe did not
yet contain this. On the Last Globe however the seeds contain everything
that they experienced on the different Globes.
Between the single material stages of these Globes there is no
gradual differentiation, but a somewhat abrupt process. Just as one can
take salt, dissolve it in water and let it crystallise again, so a Globe
comes into a sleeping condition (Pralaya) and out of this emerges the
following Globe. Between two waking conditions the Globes go through a
short sleeping condition. When man arrives at the last, seventh stage he
goes through a longer sleeping condition. He is enriched and can again
proceed on his way at a higher stage. For this reason he must first go
through a longer Pralaya. This longer Pralaya is however not an
undifferentiated, uniform sleep condition but very differentiated.
When someone has so far developed occult faculties that he sleeps
consciously in dreamless sleep he has developed a Devachanic
consciousness. This enables him to follow what takes place between death
and a new birth. This consciousness can be enhanced. Then he has the
faculty of observing what takes place between the Globes. As a third
stage of consciousness he becomes able to observe what goes on between
the Rounds. This third condition therefore corresponds to a
consciousness between two Rounds. To be able to observe what takes place
between two Earth lives is the first degree of higher consciousness;
between two Globes the second, and between two Rounds the third degree.
Conscious sleep, which leads to this awareness is of a quite different
nature.
Between the last Round of a Planetary condition and the first of the
one which follows, five further conditions lie on the other side of
consciousness. The seven Rounds and the five conditions of Pralaya are
together called the twelve stages of the Cosmic Year. Then the whole
thing is gone through again, but at a higher stage.
We are now in the Fourth Round of the Earth and three others
preceded it. Before the germs of man as he is today were there, the
human being was already three times present in a seed-like condition;
once in every Round. In each Round we have seven stage of development
which are called Globes, and again seven on every Globe, which are
called Races. Seven such Rounds together make up a Planetary condition
or evolution. The First Round began with an Arupa condition and
densified to the Earth. Four times already has our Earth become
physical. Three times will it become so again. Every such densification
and dissolution belongs to a Round. Seven such Rounds are called a
Planetary System or Evolution.
When the first Earth Round emerged, everything that had descended
from what had developed on the Old Moon was there germinally. Between
the last Moon-Round and the first Earth-Round there was a long Pralaya
condition. At that time the Moon-men were the human forefathers,
standing between present day man and present day animals, according to
their lower nature. Present-day animals are Moon-men descended to a
lower level and human beings are Moon-men who have ascended higher. But
on the Moon the plants too are different from those of today. The plant
kingdom stood between the present mineral and plant kingdoms, similar to
a peat bog that is half mineral and half plant. The Old Moon was
actually a great plant. Its ground consisted of intertwined plants. At
that time rocks did not exist. The plant-like mineral kingdom first
densified on the Earth to the present mineral kingdom. Our present
quartz, malachite and so on have consolidated out of the Moon plants;
the Dolomites have arisen out of primeval plants. Thus on the Moon there
was a kingdom lying between the mineral and the plant. In this was
rooted the Moon vegetation; it needed the Moon ground. The kinds of
vegetation that on the Earth have not found a connection with the soil
have become parasitic, they must still always grow on plants, for
example the mistletoe. This grows on plants, just as on the Old Moon all
vegetation grew on a half plant-like foundation. Loki, the Moon god,
killed Baldur with the mistletoe, the Moon plant. So we find on the
Moon:
A kingdom between the mineral and plant kingdoms
A kingdom between the plant and animal kingdoms
A kingdom between the animal and human kingdoms.
These were the seeds which came over to the Earth.
During the First Earth Round the human kingdom gradually separated
itself off. Man became more human, the animal more animal. The external
body of man became slowly more human. During the Second Round the animal
kingdom separated itself off, during the Third the plant kingdom, during
the Fourth the mineral kingdom. Then man made a further ascent. The
first three Rounds were repetitions of earlier conditions and a
preparation, in order in the Fourth Round, in the Lemurian Race, to take
up something new. Now man works upon the mineral kingdom. A time will
come when, as the product of his activity, he will have worked over and
transformed the mineral kingdom, so that no particle will then remain
whose nature has not been changed by the artifice of man. Then the whole
can be transmuted into pure astral forms.
That is the redemption of a kingdom. In the Fourth Round man will
have redeemed the mineral kingdom, when he will have transformed it by
his work upon it. Then everything goes into Pralaya; no mineral kingdom
will be there, but the whole Earth will have become a plant. Man will
then have been raised half a stage higher and everything else with him;
for example in the Fifth Round, Cologne Cathedral will grow as a plant.
One is not working in vain when one gives form to the mineral
kingdom. The Cologne Cathedral will eventually grow as plant world out
of what will then be the ground. In the atmosphere of the Fifth Round,
we find in living cloud formations everything which today has been
painted. There we have to do with a repetition at a higher stage where
all our work in the mineral world around us grows.
In the Fifth Round we redeem the plant world, in the Sixth the
animal and in the Seventh Round the human kingdom. Then man will be
mature enough to tread a new Planet. In order that he might develop
upwards, the other kingdoms had to some extent to be pushed downwards
and he must later redeem them. After the Seventh Round and a Pralaya he
will go over to another Planet.
Seven Rounds plus seven Globes, and added to each of the latter,
seven Races, together make up three hundred and forty three conditions
of the Earth. The entire Earth evolution has the purpose of creating in
man waking day-consciousness, whereas the purpose of the entire Moon
evolution had the purpose of developing in man picture consciousness.
This was preceded by dreamless sleep consciousness on the Sun; at that
time man was still a sleeping plant. A still earlier condition, that of
deep trance, was present on Saturn, a condition which today still
appears in certain pathological cases. Thus the purpose of single
planetary evolutions is to develop successive conditions of
consciousness.
Old Saturn = Deep Trance-consciousness
Old Sun = Dreamless Sleep-consciousness
Old Moon = Dreaming Sleep or picture consciousness
Earth = Waking consciousness or awareness of objects
(Future) Jupiter = Psychic or conscious picture-consciousness
(Future) Venus = Super-pyschic or conscious life-consciousness
(Future) Vulcan = Spiritual or self-conscious universal consciousness
Just as now human circumstances conform to fundamental laws of
Nature, so in the future will they conform to what is moral. They will
be graded in accordance with the stages of Karma, seven degrees of
morality (ethical human categories). The caste system is a precursor of
this later moral gradation. Categories of Karma will be indicated in
this way.
∴
Lecture 25
Berlin, 27th October 1905
When we consider the successive Planetary evolutions we find that each
one is a stage of a particular condition of evolution, which has 7
Rounds, 7 x 7 Globes and 7 x 7 x 7 Races. The purpose of every such
Planetary evolution is to lead one condition of consciousness through
all its stages. In the different esoteric religions these stages are
named in various ways. In Christian esotericism
a condition of Consciousness is called Power
a Round is called Kingdom, Wisdom
a Globe is called Splendour, Glory
When in Christian esotericism we speak of Power we mean 'going through
a condition of consciousness'. Going through a Round is going through
a Kingdom. In the successive rounds man experiences seven Kingdoms:
First Elemental Kingdom
Second Elemental Kingdom
Third Elemental Kingdom
Mineral Kingdom
Plant Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
Human Kingdom
Going through the seven conditions of Form or Globes is called Glory.
Glory signifies what has external appearance, what takes on shape and
form. The Lord's Prayer gives us in its final words: 'For Thine is the
Kingdom, the Power and the Glory,' a gazing upwards to Cosmic events.
When once again this will be present in consciousness, a knowledge of
God will be possible.
Today all religions, exoteric religions in particular, have fallen
away from the true knowledge of God. They are the bearers of egoism
for they are not conceived in connection with the whole world, with
the Power, the Kingdom and the Glory. When these words regain their
meaning through living consciousness, then once more religions will be
what they ought to be.
The Saturn condition was there in order to develop in man a deep
trance consciousness; this he hardly knows today. He only knows
dreamless sleep like the plant and the dream filled sleep such as
existed on the Moon — a picture consciousness. Man no longer
knows deep trance consciousness for the following reason: When someone
sleeps, only the astral body frees itself and the physical body and
the etheric body remain lying in the bed. If in sleep he were able to
take the etheric body with him as the Chela can, then the physical
body alone would remain behind; a dull consciousness. In the case of
mediums this comes about in an abnormal manner and quite remarkable
things are brought to light in this way. Such people then can draw
remarkable cosmic pictures. For example, a girl was put into a trance
by a glassful of port wine and in this condition drew remarkable
pictures, in which one could see caricatures of our cosmic system; she
also found approximations of our names for them.
Mediums have their visions because they are able to take the etheric
body also out of the sleeping physical body and in the sleeping
physical body to perceive consciously. They are then still able to
make use of the physical body; the physical body becomes clairvoyant
in a remarkable way. The Chela achieves this consciously, whereas the
medium does so unconsciously. It is through such a clairvoyant
consciousness that the planetary systems have been discovered. All the
conditions into which the Chelas and Adepts are able to transpose
themselves are nothing other than consciousness through the physical
body; they experience all this in full consciousness.
On the future Venus a complete consciousness in the etheric body will
develop. Then, while man sleeps, he will gain a consciousness
concerning the other side of the world. On Vulcan the spirit is
completely detached; he has then taken the etheric body also with him.
This condition endows man with an exact knowledge of the entire world.
We distinguish:
On Saturn — Trance consciousness, universal consciousness
On Sun — Dreamless sleep, consciousness limited to what is living
On Moon — Picture consciousness
On Earth — Waking consciousness
On Jupiter — Astral consciousness, further extended
On Venus — Etheric consciousness, still further extended
On Vulcan — Universal consciousness
Each one of such conditions of consciousness must go through all the
Kingdoms, through seven Rounds or Kingdoms, in each Round gaining in
complexity as it passes through the seven Globes. The lesser forces
become further developed in the so-called Races. Thus gradually
creation exteriorises from within outwards what was present as inner
potential.
Today it is the mineral kingdom that man knows best because he lives
in it. Everything that takes place in the higher kingdoms is not
understood by the intellect. This has been a necessary phase of
evolution. Now however one can no longer be satisfied with mere
science. Everything is understood to be in a continuous evolution.
If we consider in the mineral kingdom any kind of stone — what we
see there is a space with definite boundaries, a definite form. Of the
mineral kingdom as such we see absolutely nothing, but we see only the
reflected light. The rays of the sun are reflected in a certain form.
If we strike a bell we hear a sound: an effect of a bell goes into our
ear. All that we perceive in the world as mineral kingdom is a whole
compressed together to a spatial form. If one takes away the colour of
an object, the sound, the taste, nothing remains. It is due to the
mineral kingdom that light and sound appear through such forms. Let us
think of a world in which only the qualities of perception stream
through space and are not perceived in connection with definite forms.
Let us think of coloured clouds floating through the world, sounds
resounding through the world, all our sense impressions filling space
without being bound to a form; then we have the Third Elemental
Kingdom. These are the elements light and fire, permeating space. Man
himself in the Astral Kingdom is a coloured cloud.
We will now take a further step forward. When we see a thought form,
it is such a coloured cloud, a movement vibrating in itself. If one
wishes to conjure up a thought, one must draw the figure in question
into astral space. On this depends the conjurings of magicians. They
draw the forms into space and then surround them with astral
substance. They direct astral substance along these figures. The Third
Elemental Kingdom is not arbitrary, but a flying hither and thither in
interpenetrating lines: everything expressing beautiful forms having
the power of light within themselves. They are like bodies of light
flying hither and thither in space, shining from within.
The tones that resound through space are ordered according to numbers.
What one must specially bear in mind is that from the outset things
stand in a definite relationship to one another. One figure could work
upon another in such a way that it did no harm, or so that it was
utterly destroyed. This was called the measure of things. Everything
was ordered according to measure, number, form. It is possible to
think away the qualities induced by the senses and the world filled
with such thought-figures. This would then be the Second Elementary
Kingdom which underlies the Third. Here we only have forms woven by
thoughts, the World-Ether-Thoughts.
The first Elementary Kingdom is difficult to describe. Let us assume
for example that we conceive the thought of such a figure as a spiral,
then the thought of a lemniscate. We now transfer ourselves into the
intention before the form has actually arisen, thus first into the
intention of a spiral and then into the intention of a lemniscate. One
imagines a world filled with such thought-seeds. This formless world
is the First Elementary Kingdom.
The Fourth Elementary Kingdom is the mineral kingdom which reflects
what it receives from outside. The plant kingdom not only reflects
sense-qualities, but these reflections are inwardly endowed with life.
The Second Elementary Kingdom is the formative element of the Third
Elementary Kingdom. The mineral kingdom is condensed out of qualities
belonging to the Third Elementary Kingdom. The plant reflects the form
of the Second Elementary Kingdom and thus develops the form out of
itself. The animal kingdom also reflects the intentions which lie in
the First Elementary Kingdom.
In the First Round man was in the First Elementary Kingdom. When at
that time he became physical, he was in the first Round and in the
First Elementary Kingdom at the stage of physical form. In the
physical condition of the First Elementary Kingdom of the First Round,
the thought-seeds became physical. At that time the Earth consisted
only of physical globules, so small that one would not have been able
to see them; they were simply points of force. These points of force
gradually condensed; they were not yet differentiated. At that time
the condensed Elementary Kingdom was already physical. When one
imagines the human being as merely a being of thought, then one can
easily go through such a being even though one does not see it, but
even though one cannot see it, one cannot go through it when it has
become physical. Later the physical points of force once more became
astral and passed over to the following Round.
In the Second Round the Earth consisted only of forms. The Earth was a
very beautifully formed sphere in which all the things that developed
out of it were present as types. It was the prophetic shaping of
everything that emerges in the other Kingdoms. On the Earth the
colours and forms were prototypes of present-day man. On the next
Planet the colours and forms will be prototypes of what man will then
be.
In the Fifth Round, the plastic-astral man will no longer need to
retain his hand. The hand will only be formed when it is needed. It
will be something like a tendril, because then everything will have
taken on the nature of a plant. Then too all that develops separate
existence will be a plant-product. Likewise everything that proceeds
from man will be plantlike. We shall then be living in the plant
kingdom.
In the Sixth Round we shall live in the animal kingdom. Then
everything that proceeds from man, which streams out from him, will be
a living product that has within it life and sensation. A word will
then be a living being — a bird that one sends out into the
world.
In the Seventh Round man will create himself. He will then be able to
duplicate, to reproduce himself. In the Seventh Round everyone will
have reached the stage at which our Masters stand today. Then our ego
will be the bearer of all earthly experiences. To begin with this will
be concentrated in the Lodge of the Masters.
[67]
The higher ego then
will draw itself together, become atomic and form the atoms of
(future) Jupiter.
The White Lodge will be looked upon as a unity, an ego comprising
everything. All human egos and all separateness will be given up and
will flow together into the all-comprehensive universal consciousness;
great circles, expanded from within, each having a special colour, all
assembled together in one single circle. When one thinks of them as
laid one upon the other the result is an all-inclusive colour. All the
egos are within it, making a whole. This immense globe, contracted,
constitutes the atom. This multiplies itself, creating itself out of
itself. These then are the atoms which will form Jupiter.
[68]
The Moon Adepts formed the atoms of the present-day Earth. One can study
the atom when one studies the plan of the Adepts Lodge on the Moon.
Summary:
Each kingdom must go through seven Forms:
Arupa — Approach to Form
Rupa — Form
Astral — Shimmering and shining from within outwards.
Physical — impenetrable in space
Plastic-astral — forming itself out of itself
Intellectual
Archetypal
∴
Lecture 26
Berlin, 28th October 1905
Today we shall speak about the Fourth Earth Round. In the course of
our whole evolution we have seven Planetary conditions: Saturn, Sun,
Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan; and in connection with each Planet
we must consider seven Rounds. The passing through a Round may also be
called a Kingdom, and the Fourth Round on the Earth we call the Mineral
Kingdom. We are now on the Fourth Planet, in the Fourth Round and within
this Round in the Fourth Condition of Form or Globe. The Fourth Round is
always physical.
Thus we stand exactly in the middle of our Earthly evolution. This
is frequently felt to be something extraordinarily important for man. We
have behind us three Planets, three Rounds, three Globes and the same
number still lie before us. But if we were standing on the Old Moon, we
should see yet another Planetary condition before Saturn; if we were
standing on future Jupiter we should no longer see Saturn, but in its
place a Planet beyond Vulcan. The exact middle of our present evolution
was with the Fourth Sub-Race of the Fourth Root-Race, with the original
Turanians, the Fourth Atlantean Sub-Race.
A kind of spiritual darkness came about at a certain moment of
evolution. Humanity entered into a dark age. This dark age is called
Kali Yuga. What man knows today he still knows from the standpoint that
was his in earlier epochs of his development. At the end of the Fifth
Round mankind will once again be able to see spiritually, having the
capacity of looking both backwards and forwards.
The Fourth Earth Round began with the emergence of the first Arupa
Earth Globe from the darkness of Pralaya, in which everything had been
dissolved. Then all that exists on the Earth today was present in a
formless state as thoughts. We can gain a right concept of this when we
limit ourselves as far as possible to what is physical and imagine this
as thought seeds. The forms were not yet present, but only the thoughts
preceding their manifestation. If we ask: Who then had these thoughts,
we receive as answer: These were the thoughts of spiritual beings who
are in connection with the Earth. Such spiritual beings as, for example,
Jehovah and his hosts, who accomplished everything around us on the
earth. At that time all thoughts were present as thoughts of the
spiritual beings in the Arupa-Globe.
What was it then that caused the Gods to have as their aim just this
thought of man? What was it that gave them the model? It was the Monads
which were already present, but not yet connected with human beings.
Slowly men developed as thoughts of the Gods.
Now the Arupa-Sphere densified; everything emerged as thought-forms.
The whole Earth was filled with these; it was as though one were looking
into a great model filled [with] small crystals. Present within it as
models were all the forms of human beings, animals and plants. Spiritual
beings worked on these as a master builder works on his models. They
were put together from outside. The whole then passes over into astral
substance. The astral Earth-Globe came into being. In between there were
short Pralayas. Now again we have to do with the outwardly-working
divine powers who poured forth the astral substance, filling the forms
with light and colour. Here are to be found all the astral forms of
human beings and animals, as well as the whole plant kingdom, in a great
astral sea. This then densified ever more and more and the physical
Earth arose as the Fourth Globe.
Until then, until the beginning of the Fourth Round, Sun and Moon
were still united with the Earth; they formed one body with the Earth.
During the great Pralaya preceding the First Earth Round, they had again
merged with the Earth; and during the first three Earth Rounds the three
remained together. There then arose a kind of biscuit form. In the Third
Earth Round, out of the Earth-Sun-Ball, on one side the Earth protruded
like a swelling, on the other side the Moon. At that time the main body
actually trailed around with it two such sacks. Only in the Fourth Earth
Round did the body regain its spherical form; then however there again
arose the sack-like formations in the ether, protruding from both sides.
Thus here we have to do with an Earth that is still united with the
Sun and also with the Moon. At that time most life was in the region
between the Moon and the Earth. This has been correctly preserved in the
Mohammedan Paradise saga.
Now the following occurred. When the Second Root-Race of the Fourth
Earth Round approached, the Sun separated itself off, and in the Third
Root-Race the Moon did so also. Everything evolved physically which
previously had only been present on the astral Globe. Now too man
appeared physically, but organised in such a way that he could take the
Monad into his progressively purified astral body. Had man taken the
Monad into himself earlier, he would have received with it Manas, Buddhi
and Atma. He would have become very wise, but the wisdom would have been
a kind of dream wisdom.
At first man had no power over the physical body and the etheric
body. He could also do nothing about the lower passions coming over to
him from the Moon; these appeared of necessity until the time when he
entered upon the Earth epoch. If man had simply taken up the Monads into
the ennobled animality he could not have fallen into error. He would
have become what Jehovah had intended, endowed that is to say with all
wisdom, but at the same time formed into a living statue. Then those
beings intervened, who on the Moon had developed more quickly than in
the ordinary course of Moon evolution. Lucifer is a power who has
enthusiasm for wisdom which is as intense as the sense life of animals.
He is equipped with all those things that come over from the Moon. If
Lucifer alone had taken responsibility for evolution a battle would have
arisen between him and the old Gods.
Jehovah's aim was the perfection of form. Lucifer would have been
able to develop in astral substance his passion for premature
spirituality. The result would have been a violent battle between the
Jehovah-spirits and the hosts of Lucifer. There was the danger that
through Jehovah some human beings would become living statues and that
others would be too quickly spiritualised through Lucifer. Means of
bringing about equilibrium would have to be obtained elsewhere. In order
to annul the battle between Jehovah and Lucifer, the White Lodge, which
was just in its beginning, had to obtain material from one of the other
planets. This differed essentially from the astral substance that had
come over from the Moon, from the astral-kamic animal substance. The
possibility arose of leading over substance from other planets: new
passions, less vehement but conceived on the basis of independence. The
new material was brought over from Mars. [69] Thus in the
first half of our Earth evolution astral substance from Mars was
introduced. A great advance was brought about through the introduction
of this astral substance from Mars.
External civilisation on the Earth arose through the fact that
hardening on the one side and spiritualisation on the other side were
prevented. Lucifer made use of what had been given by the Mars forces.
The new state of the Earth was given the name of Mars. Things continued
in this way until the middle of the Atlantean Race. Then a new question
arose. Man had absorbed wisdom, but in the future it would not be
possible for wisdom alone to manifest in a form-creating way. One would
have been able to build up the mineral kingdom through Lucifer, but
Lucifer could not have given it life. Man could never have imparted life
under the influence of the other powers. This was why a Sun God had to
come, a higher being than Lucifer. There still existed what are known as
the Solar Pitris. The most exalted among these is Christ. As Lucifer
represents the Manas element, so the Buddhi element is represented by
Christ.
The human astral bodies had still to receive a third impact. This
was brought down from Mercury. Christ united his sovereignty with that
of Lucifer. If one has the will to ascend the heights in order to find
the way to the Gods one needs Mercury, the Divine Messenger. He is the
one who prepared the path of Christ from the middle of the Atlantean
Root-Race onwards in order later to enter into the astral bodies, which
had received the mercurial element.
All our present metals have only gradually become what they are now.
Gold, silver, platinum and so on all pass through certain conditions.
When they are heated they become first hot, then liquid, then gaseous.
This latter was once the condition of all metals in the gaseous Earth.
Gold too first densified with the Earth: at one time it was entirely
etheric gold. When we go back to the time when the Earth was still
united with the Sun, there was as yet within it no solid gold. The
particles of the white Sun-Ether became first fluid and then solid.
These are the veins of gold which are now in the Earth. Gold is
solidified sunlight. Silver is solidified moonlight. All mineral
substances have gradually solidified. When human beings become ever more
spiritualised, quicksilver will also become solid. At one time gold and
silver formed drops just as water does now. The fact that mercury is
still fluid is connected with the whole process of Earth evolution. It
will become solid when the God Mercury has fulfilled his mission. In the
middle of the Atlantean Root-Race quicksilver was brought down from
Mercury in etheric form. Had we not had quicksilver we should not have
had the Christ-Principle. In the drops of quicksilver we have to see
what was incorporated in the Earth in the middle of the Atlantean epoch.
When the Mars Principle (Kama-Manas) was incorporated into the
Earth, iron was brought down to the Earth from Mars. Iron originates in
Mars. It was at first in astral form and later densified. When we trace
the Earth to that period of time we find ever fewer warm-blooded
animals. It was only in the middle of the Lemurian Age that warm blood
made its appearance together with the Mars impulse. Iron came into the
blood at that time. It is iron that in all occult writings is brought
into connection with Mars, quicksilver with Buddhi-Mercury. Certain
people learned this from the Adepts. The Earth was therefore understood
as Mars and Mercury. Everything that did not originate from Mars and
Mercury has come over from the Moon.
The days of the week are an image of planetary evolution. The
sequence of the planets is inscribed in a wonderful way in the days of
the week.
Saturn
Samstag
Saturday
Sun
Sonntag
Sunday
Moon
Montag
Monday
Mars
(Tiu)
Dienstag
Tuesday, Mardi
Mercury
(Wotan)
Mittwoch
Wednesday, Mercredi
Jupiter
(Donar)
Donnerstag
Thursday, Jeudi
Venus
(Freya)
Freitag
Friday, Vendredi
Vulcan
(the octave to Saturn)
Samstag
Saturday
In the saying that Christ trod on and crushed the head of the
serpent [70] we find a profound expression of esotericism.
The serpent's head is mere wisdom; this must be overcome. True wisdom
lies in the heart; this is why the serpent's head must be trodden
underfoot. In the Hercules-Saga [71] the same truth has already been expressed. He
kills the Lernaean Hydra, whose head always grows anew. Mere Manas will
always come again. Hercules must keep the blood at a distance (Kama),
then the Hydra will be conquered. Blood came into the Earth with the
Mars-Wisdom (Kama-Manas).
Deep meaning lies in many other things. The separation of the Moon
preceded the Mars-Age. The Moon contains silver. Still earlier took
place the separation of the Sun. Gold is condensed sunlight, hence the
Golden Age; Moonlight and silver: the Silver Age; Mars and iron: the
Bronze Age. [72]
We are now in the middle, in the Fourth Globe. On the Fifth Globe
there will arise the faculty of organising oneself from within outwards.
Then the Earth will be transformed into a sphere on which man will
create his form from within outwards. The Earth will then be a
"Plastic" Globe. The Sixth Globe is the one on which the human
being not only works plastically on his form, but will be able to place
his own thoughts into the form. On the Fifth Globe man will be able, for
instance, to form a hand; on the Sixth Globe he will be able to send his
thoughts out into the surrounding world. On the Seventh Globe everything
will again become formless. Everything will pass over once more into the
seed condition.
We will now consider our present Ego. There are within it a
multitude of mental images and concepts. When we observe the civilised
world today we say: It is out of the Ego that the civilised world has
arisen. All this was once within a human head; it was contained within
the ego. From out of all this it was put together. All the things
constructed by human skill have been born out of the Ego. In the middle
of the Lemurian Age the Ego was still empty; man could as yet do
nothing. Only gradually did he learn in the most primitive way to know
the world from outside. His Ego was at that time like a hollow
soap-bubble. When he saw a stone, it was reflected into him; perhaps he
saw a sharp edge on it and with it he began to chip other stones. In
this way he started to work formatively on the mineral world. What was
in his surroundings reflected itself more and more into what was at
first his empty Ego. At the end of the physical Globe everything will be
present as reflected image in our Ego. When at last we have all this
within us we will form it from within outwards. This will be the
"plastic" condition on the next Globe. The master-builder of
Cologne cathedral gathered his impressions into his ego. This content of
his Ego will be vivified by Buddhi and later, on the Fifth Globe he will
give all this form. On the Sixth Globe all this will be present as
thought and on the Seventh Globe everything will be drawn together into
the atom. In the next Round man will create the new plant kingdom out of
the Ego.
In the middle of the Lemurian Age the Ego was like a hole bored into
matter. All our Egos were at that time such holes in matter which since
then we have filled up. In the next Round their content will issue in
plant form, for in this Fifth Round there will take place with the plant
kingdom what is now taking place with the mineral kingdom. The whole
Earth will then be an immense, single living Being. Man will have
achieved a conscious life of feeling and perception, and will then give
it form outside himself. In the Sixth Round there will no longer be a
plant kingdom; man will then allow living thoughts filled with feeling
and perception to go out from himself as pure intellectual formations.
In this Sixth Round on the Sixth Globe, in its Sixth Stage of
development, corresponding to the Sixth Race, an important decision will
be taken. Everything will have reached the Devachanic condition that has
been able to develop out of all the kingdoms. If anyone has not
progressed to the point that he can be raised to the stage of Devachan,
he will remain in the animal state. This will take place according to
the number 666, the number of the Beast.
In the Seventh Round humanity will be completely purified. The human
kingdom will then attain its zenith. This Round is the quickest. The
human being, when he emerges from it, will have become a God and will
carry his development over to Jupiter.
In every Round the first Globe, or condition of form, is of such a
nature that in fact we have not yet to do with a form, but the form is
only present as incipient plan. This is why esotericism does not reckon
the Arupa-Globe among the conditions of form, but with the conditions of
life; this is the case also with the Seventh Globe, the Archetypal. Thus
we have only five conditions of form. The first and the last Globes of
each Round are conditions of life. All the conditions of the Rounds are
also called conditions of life, because passing through a Kingdom
represents a condition of life.
In the First Round life was in the First Elementary Kingdom, in the
Second Round in the Second Elementary Kingdom, in the Third Round in the
Third Elementary Kingdom, in the Fourth Round in the Mineral Kingdom. In
the Fifth Round life will be in the Plant Kingdom, in the Sixth Round
life will be in the Animal Kingdom and in the Seventh Round life will be
in the Human Kingdom.
When one considers life in the Human Kingdom in the Seventh Round,
this sheds its light into the next Round when man will have passed over
into another condition of consciousness. The purpose of a Round consists
in achieving a new stage of life. The purpose of the Seventh Round is to
lead over into a new stage of consciousness. Thus the esotericist only
reckons six conditions of life, counting the Seventh Round as a new
condition of consciousness.
If we wish to write down in numbers the conditions of life, form and
consciousness we get five Globes or conditions of form, six Rounds or
conditions of life, ten Planets or conditions of consciousness. If we
count the whole evolution from Saturn to Vulcan, we have expressed what
we find with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky as the number of the Prajapatis
1065, that is to say, 10 – 6 – 5.
∴
Lecture 27
Berlin, 30th October 1905
The course of evolution in the world appears to us on three levels:
consciousness, life and form. [73] Consciousness in its different
manifestations finds its expression in the seven Planetary evolutions:
Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan. On each Planet there
are seven Kingdoms of Life and each Kingdom goes through seven
Conditions of Form.
Our physical Earth is such a Condition of Form, the fourth Condition
of Form or Globe, in the fourth Kingdom of Life, of the fourth Planet,
or Condition of Consciousness. We think of the Earth as it now is and
ask ourselves: What are we doing here? We take things from outside in
space, mainly from the mineral kingdom, and out of them construct
artifacts. This is a process of combination; out of separate things we
construct a whole, a creation within a form. Now there are other ways in
which something new can arise, for instance in a way similar to that in
which stalk, leaves and blossoms arise out of the root of a plant. A
blossom cannot be put together like a machine, through combination, but
it must grow out of what is already there. This is a process within the
realm of life. Out of what is there something new is created.
In the case of the third kind of production, out of consciousness,
something arises in such a way that we can say: previously there was in
fact nothing there — a nothingness.
Let us transfer ourselves to the primal beginning of such a
planetary evolution, at the very beginning of Saturn. What is to be
observed there? There was as yet no physical planet, not even in the
finest Arupa-form was a planet present, we are there even before the
moment when Old Saturn entered into its first beginning. Nothing of our
series of planets existed; certainly however there was the entire
outcome of the preceding planetary chain, in much the same way as when
we wake up in the morning, having as yet done nothing, and only the
memory of what we did on the previous day is contained in our mind. So
when we thus transfer ourselves completely into the beginning of the
Saturn evolution, we have in the spiritual beings then in manifestation,
the memory of a previous planetary chain and its happenings.
Now let us transfer ourselves to the end of the planetary chain, to
the time when the Vulcan evolution will have come to an end. Whereas the
chain of planets has gradually come to manifestation as creation, the
tendency to it was already there in the beginning as inherent
consciousness. So we have to begin with an outpouring of consciousness;
out of the content of the earlier, out of memory, consciousness creates
the new. At the end therefore something is present which was not there
at the beginning: that is, all experiences. What was there at the
beginning has flowed out into astral things and beings. At the end a new
consciousness has come about with a new content of consciousness. It is
something which has come forth from nothingness, out of experiences.
When we observe something new we must say to ourselves: to make this
possible a seed had to be there. The new condition of consciousness
however, at the end of a planetary evolution, has in fact come forth out
of nothing, out of experiences; for this no foundations are necessary,
something is created which arises out of nothing. When one personality
looks at another, it cannot be said that he has taken something from the
other one, when as a result he bears within him the memory of the other
personality. This memory has come forth out of nothing. Thus the three
ways of creating are as follows:
Combining of existing parts: Form
Formations with new Life content out of existing foundations: Life
Creating out of nothing: Consciousness
Here we have three definitions of Beings who bring about, who
underlie a planetary chain. They are called the three Logoi. The Third
Logos produces by means of combining. When out of one substance
something else having new life comes into being, this is brought forth
by the Second Logos. Everywhere, however, where we have to do with a
coming forth out of nothing, we have the First Logos. This is why the
First Logos is also often called the One who is immanent in things, the
Second Logos the One who in the quiescent substance in things creates
life out of the living, the Third Logos the One who combines everything
existing, who puts the world together out of things.
These three Logoi always manifest in the world in and through one
another. The First Logos also experiences both the inner wisdom and the
will. In the creative activity of the First Logos there is experience,
that is to say, the gathering of thoughts out of nothing and then
creating once more in accordance with these thoughts out of nothing.
Creation out of nothing is however not meant in such a way as if nothing
at all had been there. On the contrary, in the course of evolution
experiences are made and in the course of becoming the new is created,
so that what is there melts away and out of experience there is the
creation of the new.
This creation may be compared with the following: Somebody sees
another person and observes his appearance. If he were creatively gifted
like the First Logos he would be able to say: Yes, I have seen N and I
also have a concept of the reversed N. I can also form a complementary
picture of him, i.e. white where there is black and vice versa. In this
way, out of the experience of the object and its negative, he has
created a completely new form. This he could imbue with life. It would
be a completely new creation that was not previously there. Let us
assume that somebody did this with a number of people and that these
people were to perish: then, from his experiences, the observer would be
able to create a new world.
In contemplating the world one continually sees the interaction of
the three Logoi. Let us form within the framework of our planetary
system, a mental picture of the working of the three Logoi in regard to
man. Let us think of the very beginnings of the Saturn evolution, when
as yet nothing at all was there. What is it that then happens? Then
everything that was present previously drips down as it were. All the
things that were there earlier stream out. What arises in this way is to
become the very first outpouring of substance from the sum of earlier
experiences. Therein is contained the substance out of which man
developed later,. This substance is to begin with simply there as
substance. This out streaming must then be continually worked upon and
combined together. The combining of the out streaming substance is a new
creation. This is above all a creative activity of the Third Logos. It
happens after the out streaming of substance and therefore is a creative
activity of the third Logos.
What does this signify for man? For man it signifies that in the
first place all the parts are combined which then form his physical
body. At that time, on Saturn, the human being was a veritable
automaton. If one had spoken a word into him, he would have spoken it
out again. Forms of beings are fashioned. This is called the work of the
Third Logos and it continues into the Sun epoch, when man also receives
his etheric body and with it life. This is the work of the Second Logos.
Now let us continue into the Earth Epoch. There man himself acquires a
consciousness, that is to say, the possibility of gathering experiences
out of nothingness. This is the work of the First Logos. On Saturn man
received from the Third Logos what in him is form. On the Sun he
received what in him is life from the Second Logos. On the Earth he
received what in him is consciousness, from the First Logos.
The concept of consciousness must become a little clearer to us. We
must work out fully the concept of consciousness on a particular plane.
Man is conscious, but we have to know where his consciousness is. Now he
is conscious on the physical plane when we are speaking about waking
consciousness. But waking consciousness could also be on the astral
plane. When in the case of a creature, life is on the physical plane and
consciousness is on the astral plane, then this creature is an animal.
In human beings, thinking is localised in the head. With the animal,
for instance the tiger, consciousness is on the astral plane. Outside
the head what may be called a focal point is formed through which the
tiger is affected. When the tiger feels pain this goes over on to the
astral plane. With the tiger the organ for this is in front of the head,
at the place where the brow is in the case of man. With man this place
is already enclosed within the head and it is filled with the frontal
brain; consciousness has been imprisoned through the brain and the front
part of the skull and is therefore on the physical plane. In the case of
the tiger, and indeed of all animals, the focal point of consciousness
lies in front of the head, in the astral: from there it goes into the
astral world. In the case of the plant things are again different. Could
we follow its consciousness, going from above downwards, we would always
come out at the tip of the root. If then we were to follow the line of
growth, we would come to the centre of the earth. There is the
collecting point of all the sensations, the suction point of the
consciousness of the plant. It is in direct connection with the mental
world. The entire plant world has its consciousness on the mental plane.
The consciousness of the entire mineral world is in the highest
regions of the Mental World, on the Arupa plane. The consciousness of
stones is such that if we wished to seek its focus we should find it as
a kind of Sun-atmosphere. When on the Earth we work upon the mineral
world, when we break stones, each single action is in a certain
relationship to this Sun-atmosphere. There one perceives the work that
man does here. Thus we have a range of beings on the physical plane
whose consciousness however lies on different planes.
Human beings and animals differ from each other through the fact
that they have their consciousness on different planes. Now there are
also other beings besides minerals, plants, animals and human beings.
There are beings who have their consciousness on the physical plane and
their body in the astral. Such a being is, as it were, an animal in
reverse. Such beings actually exist; they are the elemental beings. In
order to make their nature comprehensible let us be clear about what
belongs to the physical plane.
Physical is: Firstly the solid earth, secondly water, thirdly air,
fourthly ether (warmth ether, light ether, chemical ether, life ether).
Let us keep to the four lower forms of our physical plane and separate
the etheric world from them.
States of consciousness can lie in all four forms of the physical
plane while the body of such a being lies in the astral. We must think
of the consciousness in the solid Earth, the body in the astral; or a
being that has its consciousness in the water and its body in the
astral; then such a being with its consciousness in the air and its body
in the astral and one with its consciousness in fire and its body in the
astral. Present-day man knows but little of such beings; in our time it
is only through poetry that they are known. Miners (of minerals) however
know such beings very well. A gnome is only visible to someone who can
see on the astral plane, but miners frequently possess such an astral
vision; they know that gnomes are realities. Thus, on our Earth there
exist various forms of consciousness, and what the natural scientist
today calls laws of nature are the thoughts of beings who think on the
physical plane but have their bodies on the astral plane. When in
physics we have to do with laws of nature we can say: these are the
thoughts of a being who has its body on the astral plane. The forces of
nature are creative beings and natural laws are their thoughts.
In the Middle Ages the alchemist tried to make use of these spirits.
Goethe knew this very well; Faust wished to have fire air; this was to
be produced by the salamanders which have their body on the astral
plane. Thus we have around us beings who actually have their
consciousness in fire, to whom we cause pain when fire is kindled, for
by so doing we actually cause a certain alteration in the body of the
being in question on the astral plane. When one kindles fire one alters
this astral being. In the same way when one brings about alterations in
other spheres of the elements and the forces of Nature one alters
something in these astral beings. When we do this or that we are
continuously peopling the astral plane. If we think these thoughts
through clearly, we have the meaning of church ritual: that is, not to
make use of any kind of substances on the physical plane, except such as
have meaning, whereby meaningful beings arise on the astral plane. When
for instance one kindles the smoke of incense one does something which
has purpose; one burns a particular substance and creates beings of a
particular kind. When one passes a sword through the air in four
directions one creates a definite kind of being.
It is the same with the priest, when he makes definite movements
with his hands, to accompany definite sounds o, i, u, intensified by
repetition: Dominus vobiscum. The sound is regular, the air is brought
into definite vibrations intensified by definite movements of the hand,
and a sylph is called into existence. Sign, grip and word of the
freemasons also bring about definite forms which manifest in accordance
with definite laws in the physical world. Through a purposeful use of
these words a link is formed from one person to another, one is
enwrapped in an astral substance which is created through sign, grip and
word.
Naturally man continually does all this in ordinary life, but he
does it in an unsystematic way, creating contradictory beings. Art
consists in working harmoniously upwards from the physical to higher
planes. In rituals, through definite acts, the aim is to produce not
contradictory but harmonious beings. At present man is not in a position
to bring these things into harmony. But for everything man creates in
this way on the astral plane there are certain directing beings. So we
have a world of elemental beings around us with a king. Among the
Indians the king of the gnomes is called Kshiti, the highest of the
gnomes; the highest being among the undines: Varuna; the highest being
among the sylphs: Vayu, and everything having its consciousness in fire
is directed by the king of fire: Agni. In all activity connected with
fire, water and so on we have to do with these particular Deva-beings.
All the fire we have here on Earth is the substance that is woven out of
the beings which belong to Agni. Ceremonial magic is the lowest kind of
sorcery and consists in making use of certain specially devised tricks
on the physical plane in order to create definite forms and beings on
the astral plane. Schools exist today in which ceremonial magic is still
exercised. Such usages cause great attraction towards the astral world
and very frequently result in suicide, because then a person is almost
exclusively active in the astral world and has become unaccustomed to
using the physical world for its rightful purpose. He has developed a
partiality for the other world and the physical body is often a
hindrance.
Now you will also comprehend the connection with fire worship which
has appeared in the history of religion. The followers of Zarathustra
sought, through the sacrificial fire of the priests, actually to create
definite forms on the astral plane. On the Earth today everything takes
place physically. But from what has been said, one can see that astral
beings are continually created under the influence of our deeds. All
deeds are accompanied by astral beings. These are our Skandas which
bring about our Karma. But also all physical deeds leave astral beings
behind on the astral plane. For instance Cologne cathedral corresponds
to a definite being on the astral plane. Through everything that happens
on the Earth, when all physical matter is worked over and the Earth has
dissolved, through this the next astral Globe will arise of itself. It
will simply be there as astral beings, as the effects of all the earlier
physical processes. This is why man must continually work with Karma. In
his next life he must put right again the grotesque astral beings that
he has bungled, otherwise they would produce meaningless creatures for
the next Globe. This is Karma that he must rectify. What takes place on
a large scale on the Earth, takes place in a small way in man. Let us
think of a child. He is wrongly brought up, spoiled with sweets and so
on. This not only brings about processes in the physical body but
continually imparts them to the astral, so that in fact the astral body
also is changed. What one gives physically to the infant goes over into
his astral body, it is present in the shape of definite forms. What is
thus worked in, is however gradually worked out again. In advanced age
the sins against the child take their revenge. These sins remain
throughout the whole life and have great importance particularly in the
final years. After the middle period a sort of reversal takes place; the
astral then works into the physical plane.
In childhood the foundation of what man will have in old age is
implanted into the astral. When a person perceives how he has been
sinned against and works upon himself with this in view, then he can
eliminate the damage in the astral body, otherwise he will break down in
old age under the weaknesses of his childhood. Only what man works into
it consciously has a balancing effect on the astral body. If later in
life the opposite qualities are not called up consciously, one cannot
rid oneself of the failings.
∴
Lecture 28
Berlin, 31st October 1905
We will give you yet another special example of how one can immerse
oneself in the profundity of religious documents and gain an ever
greater understanding of what they contain.
If we study our sense organs as they are usually studied, we see
that we have the possibility through the sense of smell of perceiving
matter itself. Unless this fine substance were given off, man would be
unable to smell. What takes place here is a connection with matter
itself. The organ of taste is not connected with matter itself, but acts
through a process of dissolving and perceiving its effect. Thus we can
call taste a chemical sense, because it penetrates into the constitution
of matter. The third sense that of sight, has nothing more to do with
matter, for it only perceives pictures that are produced by matter. The
fourth, the sense of touch, has still less to do with matter as such,
for it only perceives attributes of the surroundings in connection with
objects, such as warmth and cold; this is a state of matter which is no
longer dependent on matter itself, but on what conditions surround it.
Hearing is in no way dependent on the air, for we perceive only the
oscillations, the vibrations of the air, something which stands in a
quite external relationship to what is material. Matter, the air, is
only the vehicle for the sound waves.
The lowest perception of matter is smell, then comes taste, then
sight, then touch and hearing. We can now ask: What is warmth and cold?
It is what is contained in the warmth ether. So the sense of touch
perceives the warmth ether, sight perceives the light ether, taste
perceives the chemical ether, smell perceives the atomistic or life
ether, hearing perceives the air. A sixth and a seventh sense [74] which
will only develop in the future, would perceive water and earth.
We have therefore in our senses a sequence of stages in connection
with what we call matter. We will first follow the development of our
three lower senses.
The sense of sight perceives by means of the light ether the objects
around us. There was however a time when everything was dark. Let us go
back to the moment of time when sight came into existence and the outer
world as such became perceptible to us. Previously the eye was not yet
opened to the outer world. We must imagine the same force which the eye
receives from outside in the light ether, pouring outwards from within,
streaming out through the eye in the opposite direction. If this were
the case the being would illuminate the others around him. This was so
at a certain time when human beings possessed eyes like the Cyclops.
Illumination was brought about through the out streaming light; this
light streamed from within outwards. Then man illuminated, as many sea
creatures still do today, the objects around him and his own body. At
that time he had no consciousness of his own, but he was solely an
instrument for the corresponding divine being, in order to illuminate
the world for him. The divine being had no means of seeing the
surrounding objects other than human eyes.
When as yet man had no intellect it was possible for the active
light of the Godhead to pass through him and illuminate objects. The
human being was the mediator for the Godhead. The latter wished by means
of light to make the solid objects visible. Because the light passed
through him, man himself was formed. Before the light had passed through
the human being the Godhead had no need of light, because the objects
were not yet solid, but fluid, so that no use could be made of light.
That is the condition described in the Bible: 'And darkness was
upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God brooded on the face of
the waters.' At that time the world was simply water, even gold and
silver and the other metals ran, were fluid. When within the water, like
blocks of ice, solid objects arose, man separated his membered form and
light became necessary. God said: 'Let there be light and there was
light.' Then it was that man too first received his form. That is
the moment when the Light Ether was introduced and the solid element
separated off. God said: 'Let the dry land appear.' Before
that everything was of a watery nature. In the same way as the Light
Ether was incorporated into the solid element, so was the Chemical Ether
incorporated into the water. Chemical relationships were worked into man
when he was still fluid. The chemical relationships according to which
today the different substances are combined, were imprinted into the
individual. Then we come back into a condition when man and also the
whole Earth was still aeriform; the life, or the atomistic ether flowed
into him. The life ether was at that time introduced into the world
through man.
Now let us once more turn our attention to the condition which
existed when God said: 'Let there be Light.' The Earth began
to densify. Light shone upon it. This was also the time when man began
to densify. The earlier forces however had to be retained. Now we have
reached the condition when man let the light pass through himself. Then
a complete reversal took place. Man began to perceive the light as
something outside.
Originally through him there had been introduced into this world:
The atomistic or life ether.
The chemical ether.
The light ether.
Reversal:
Perception of the life ether.
Perception of the chemical ether.
Perception of the light ether.
Now man receives back the light from the world. (Reversal of the
spiral.) Formerly he was a source of light, now the light streamed into
him. He had become self-enclosed; thereby he acquired consciousness. The
light shone into him; man began to let the surrounding world reflect
itself in him. The next stage is that he learns to recognise objects
with regard to their chemical constitution. He developed sympathy or
antipathy for substances, a relationship to the world outside him. Then
finally he also gained an inner perception of the atomistic or
life-ether.
Through the introduction of light into the world man acquired his
solid form. Through the introduction of the chemical ether he acquired a
relationship to the world. Through the introduction of the atomistic
ether he acquired life. Thus through the eyes he acquired form; through
the sense of taste, relationship to the world; through the sense of
smell, the nose, life. Jehovah breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life.
When we approach religious writings with such ideas we find that the
most profound truths have been placed into them. We shall see whether
originally these truths were placed into the religious writings as we
now have them.
Let us take for example the builder of the Gotthard Tunnel and then
a man who describes it. The builder, who actually constructed the
Gotthard Tunnel did not need perhaps to possess such a high degree of
engineering science in his conscious self, but he actually brought a
thought into reality. Such is the relationship between the wise men of
ancient times and those of today. At that time they possessed a creative
wisdom. Now we have a wisdom based on observation. The creative wisdom
is that wisdom which once made man, building up one after another those
parts which today the anatomist takes out and describes. The creative
wisdom is exactly the same as the wisdom which can be discovered today;
it has been placed into the world. In the primeval wisdom man was
concerned with the plan of the world. Now you can understand why the
mystic has to withdraw into himself. The true mystic must be an
investigator of the inner. He attempts to seek out those stages of
evolution through which he has been created.
If we were able completely to shut off all light from the eyes and
then to create light within us, until the world appeared illumined from
within outwards, then we should be able to immerse ourselves inwardly in
the creative wisdom and penetrate into everything with inner vision.
This has a practical value, for one can remember how in actual fact man
has been built up by having passed through the mineral, plant and animal
kingdoms: all this is also within him. What is outside in the world is
the remains of what man himself once was.
The human heart as it came into being was akin to what had taken
place outside. The moment one sinks oneself into the heart, one creates
for oneself the surroundings as they were when in the Lemurian Age the
heart came into existence. If one concentrates on the activity of the
heart, one can conjure up the entire environment of the Lemurian Age
when the heart was formed. The Lemurian landscape rises up within us.
Whoever concentrates on the heart sees the genesis of the human species.
Through concentration on the interior of the brain, which developed
gradually during the Atlantean Age, one sees the Atlantean landscape
appear. If one concentrates on the solar plexus one is led to the
Hyperboreans. So one travels back into the worlds as they once were.
This is no brooding in oneself, but an actual perception of the various
organs in their relationships with the world. This is the way in which
Paracelsus found his remedies and achieved his cures. He knew that
digitalis purpurea came into being at the same time as the human heart.
Through concentration on a particular organ, corresponding remedies
reveal themselves. Thus do the members of the macrocosm and the
microcosmic nature of man stand in relationship to each other.
Now the following is easy to understand. The human being receives
warm red blood as do also the higher animals. That is to say, from then
on man can separate himself from his surroundings, becoming independent,
a whole enclosed within itself. This the fish is not. The fish has the
same temperature as what surrounds it. With the warm red blood it became
possible for man to develop warmth within himself. Then he was able to
separate himself from his environment. Previously he was of the same
temperature as his surroundings. What is it that actually occurred?
Let us consider the undifferentiated human organism before the
Lemurian Age. There was a uniform temperature over the whole Earth. The
state of warmth within man was the same as the state of warmth outside.
Then the inner warmth condition was heightened. This warmth
condition signified individual warmth, warmth which was made use of in
individualisation; and in the world outside the opposite came about:
warmth, fire was distributed. Previously there was as yet no outer fire.
To kindle fire in Nature first became possible when fire appeared within
man. Since that time there was the beneficent fire distributed outside,
and within man the egoistic fire.
And now we have the point of time when fire was withdrawn from
spiritual beings for the benefit of man. Human beings drew their warmth
from a particular kind of spiritual being — the Agni. Because of
this, what was previously there as Fire-Spirit in the world had to
withdraw and from then on could only appear from time to time in the
form of fire. The Promethean-Saga is based on this fact. The god had
lost his previous body and created for himself a new one in the external
fire. Here we have an outstanding example of how in a certain way man
works destructively on the elemental forces of Nature. Man himself had
called forth the element of fire in that he had become an individualised
being. This underlies the occult saying that, fundamentally speaking,
man works destructively where elemental beings are concerned. This is
very far-reaching and makes clear to us how man still today continually
creates new conditions, new forces of Nature in his world around him,
while he himself progresses in his development. He shapes the structure
of the Earth. Fire arose in the Lemurian Age; because of this Lemuria
could meet its destruction through fire which man himself had created.
The Atlantean Continent perished through water. The downfall of the
Fifth Continent will be brought about through evil. We can observe a
kind of retrogression in the following way:
The next stage — during the Atlantean Age — was the
creative work of the human being on his own etheric body. There he had
drawn air from his environment into himself. In this way he had so
changed his ether body that the conditions of Atlantis had become quite
different. During Atlantis the surface of the Earth was at one time only
mist, an atmosphere of such a kind that a rainbow would have been
impossible. At that time man worked upon the water. In the Lemurian Age
he worked upon solid earth, this brought forth fire; in the Atlantean
Age he worked upon the water; this brought about light. (it corresponded
to the light of our intellect.) Then he worked upon the air.
The Fifth Root-Race will bring man to his downfall through what must
be called evil. Then comes the Sixth Root-Race. The Fifth Root-Race is
that in which Manas develops on the physical plane.
In the Old Indian civilisation man lived in a condition
corresponding to Manas in a kind of deep trance-like state. There the
primeval wisdom was revealed to the ancient Indians by the Rishis. The
second revelation took place with the Persians in a condition similar to
our deep sleep. In this condition man heard the Word. It was the
condition of the Ancient Persian Sleep-trance. 'Honover' was
the word used by the Persians.
Third revelation: The peoples of the near East, Babylonians and
Egyptians, perceived through Manas in picture-consciousness; they had
visions or dream-sight.
Fourth revelation: Clear waking-day consciousness was developed by
the Semites, the Greeks and Romans. At that time Manas was perceived in
clear day-consciousness, as incarnated man, Christ Jesus.
So with the ancient Indians we find the trance of the physical body.
With the ancient Persians we find the deep sleep of the etheric body.
With the peoples of the Near East we find the picture consciousness of
the astral body, with the Semites, Greek and Roman peoples the waking
consciousness of the ego.
Now in the Fifth Sub-Race man does not perceive the changing stages
of Manas, but this Race sees as the highest stage the psychic experience
of concepts as such. Our Sub-Race has developed the psychic Manas, the
usual scientific knowledge.
The Sixth Sub-Race will develop a Super-psychic Manas. What with
human beings today is merely a kind of knowledge will become actual
reality, a social force. The Sixth Sub-Race has the task of permeating
society in a social way with everything which has been produced by the
preceding stages of evolution. Then for the first time Christianity will
come forth as shaper of the social order. The Sixth Sub-Race will be the
one which is the germinal foundation for the Sixth Root-Race. The Fifth
Root-Race is descended from the original Semites, from the Fifth
Sub-Race of the Fourth Root-Race. This people developed the individual
ego which produces egoism. Man owes his independence to the original
Semites. Man must first find himself, but then again must also surrender
himself He must surrender himself to what makes thought a reality. The
Sixth Sub-Race is destined to replace blood relationship with Manas
relationship, relationship in the spirit. Thinking which is altruistic
will develop the predisposition to the overcoming of egoism.
The Seventh Sub-Race will be a premature birth. It will make
outwardly real too soon and too strongly what has come forth from Manas.
In the Sixth Sub-Race the predisposition will be given for the
overcoming of egoism, but in such a way that the balance is held between
selfhood and selflessness. The man of the Sixth Sub-Race, will neither
lose himself in what is outside, nor shut himself up in what is within.
With the Seventh Sub-Race a kind of hypertrophy will come about. Man
will then pour out what he now has within him: his egoism. On the other
hand the members of the Sixth Sub-Race will hold the balance. The
Seventh Sub-Race will harden egoism. Later the English-American people
will be projected as something rigidified into the Sixth Root-Race, just
as today the Chinese are a rigidified residue of the Atlantean Age, the
Fourth Root-Race.
World-egoism proceeds from the Anglo-American Race. From that
direction the whole Earth will be overlaid with egoism. It is from
England and America that all the discoveries come that will cover the
Earth like a network of egoism. So it is from there that the whole Earth
will be covered by a network of egotistic evil. But from a small colony
in the East [The Slavonic peoples.] there will be developed, as though
from a seed, new life for the future.
The English-American civilisation consumes European culture. The
sects in England and America represent nothing other than the most
incredible conservation of what is old. But such Societies as the
Salvation Army, the Theosophical Society and so on, come into existence
just there, in order to rescue souls from decadence, for race evolution
does not run parallel with soul evolution. But the race itself is going
towards its destruction. Within it is the seed of the evil race.
In the Fourth Sub-Race work was performed as tribute
(Slave Labour). In the Fifth Sub-Race work is performed as a
commodity (sold). In the Sixth Sub-Race work will be performed as an
offering (free work). [75]
The economic needs of existence will then be separated from work:
there will be no more personal possession, everything will be owned in
common. One will no longer work for one's personal existence, but will
do everything as absolute offering for humanity.
∴
Lecture 29
Berlin, 3rd November 1905
We will now throw yet more light on the hidden working of Karma and
consider the Karmic relationships between peoples and individuals. Those
who take earnestly the principle of not looking at the world
materialistically, but who seek for explanations out of the spirit will
understand this.
We have learned from history that illnesses which previously did not
exist make their appearance in the course of evolution. So today, to
begin with, we shall hear something about the origin of such illnesses
as are connected with epochs and peoples.
We shall understand this from out of the spirit. The explanation the
doctor gives is that this or that illness is caused by bacilli. We must
however ask: where do the bacilli come from? They are just as much
incarnated living beings as man. Of those beings too which act as
disturbers of human life we must ask: Where do they come from? What has
brought them into their present material existence? What were they
before they incarnated?
Let us suppose, for example, that some nation or race is in its
decline, is moving towards its downfall. It puts up a resistance. This
resistance to its downfall is a spiritual expression of something that
lives in the astral body of the nation in question. Were such a decline
to concern only that which was to come to an end, then the feeling
engendered would have no special effect upon others in the world. Let us
assume however that it comes in conflict with another nation, plunging
it into fear and anxiety and thus sets up a reaction in this other
nation. Then we have a two-fold situation: the nation suffering decline,
and what arises out of the confluence of the disturbance of the one
people fighting against their own decline, and the fear and alarm of the
other people. This is something lasting.
Let us take a particular case: the Mongolian onslaughts of the
Middle Ages, when the Mongols came into conflict with the Europeans,
spreading among them fear and alarm. Such fear and such alarm are then
present in the peoples in question. When one looks at these attacking
hordes, of which the Mongolians are the last, placing oneself in the
mood of all these mediaeval peoples, one sees how the desperation of the
last branches of the Fourth Root-Race and the fear and alarm engendered
in the Europeans created spiritual forms. If such an onslaught were to
be met with courage and love, then the putrefying substance would be
dissolved. But fear, hate and alarm conserve such decaying forms and
these provide a source of nourishment for beings such as bacilli. Later
they incarnate in those material forms suitable for such an incarnation.
Thus the decaying substances embedded themselves in the fear and alarm
of the European peoples as seeds of decay. These are minute living
beings. In this way arose the mediaeval disease, leprosy. It arose out
of the decaying substance of the declining Mongolian peoples.
What then is the origin of those disturbers of human physical
nature? They come from earlier spiritual causes, from sinfulness. This
is Karma as it manifests in national communities. From this you can
estimate how the moral life of a nation conditions the external life of
the future. It lies in the power of a nation to care for its physical
future through a corresponding moral life in the present.
All the European esoteric schools say that all the bacterial
illnesses of modern times have a similar origin. The illnesses caused by
bacilli are traced back to their spiritual origin. This is an esoteric
tradition among the Rosicrucians and in other esoteric schools where
these things are taught. A fundamental teaching exists in small circles
of esoteric schools, the content of which is that in the seventies quite
definite battles took place in the astral world which caused things to
take a better turn, even though ... [Gap in text ...]. These events are
called the battle between the hosts of the archangel known to Christian
esotericism as Michael and the hosts of the god Mammon. [76] Mammon is, on the
one hand, the god of hindrances, who places destructive, hindering
things in the path of progress. On the other hand one sees in this god
Mammon the creator of quite definite forms which work disturbingly in
human life just in the sphere of infectious illnesses. Certain
infectious illnesses, unknown in earlier times, are brought about by the
god Mammon.
We can estimate to what degree the esoteric schools must rouse a
progressive thinking in the inmost depths of the human being when one
realises that the actual source of these modern illnesses is nothing
other than a retrogression, the longstanding conservatism of the
so-called upper classes as opposed to the poverty-striken lower classes
who are striving towards a new ... [Gap in text ...]. They are hindered,
held back by what the god Mammon brings about. We find two forces
confronting one another: the sentimental world of the declining upper
classes, who like to preserve antiquated conditions, and the feeling of
hatred in the lower classes — an astral life projected against the
others by the masses. In this opposition esotericism again sees decaying
substance and therein the cause of modern infectious illnesses. Whoever
sees into these things will of course not take them as a reason for
opposing modern medicine with its external remedies. But a real
improvement will never come about through these external methods.
What will come about later always reveals itself in advance through
esoteric knowledge. This consists of rightly perceiving how the morality
of the present day can lead to better health in the future. One can
judge from this how profound was the perception of those who introduced
the Theosophical Movement into the world. It arose out of the knowledge
of such relationships. It was foreseen that the threat of the War of All
against All would take on ever more menacing forms. The things that must
come about fulfil themselves with an inner necessity, just as events in
the East develop like a fire there where there is especially inflammable
material. [77] It would be senseless to wish to arrest such things.
The appropriate and serviceable means to avert the War of All against
All was sought by the Theosophical Movement through the spreading of the
axiom of brotherhood. For brotherhood dissolves what streams into the
world as means of decay, as hate. For as regards races we find ourselves
on a downward path. If one were to believe that this downfall could be
delayed and contained by hatred, not resolved by love, then naturally
the very worst would follow. The Theosophical Movement would overcome
this decline by love. Its founders know that the Theosophical Society is
not only a remedy, but the source of the development of humanity as it
goes into the future.
So one sees how the physical is a result of what preceded it
spiritually and how in particular circumstances people have it in their
power, through knowledge of certain relationships, to connect the
physical with its spiritual origin. For example, if one knows how a
particular illness is connected with particular feelings and emotions,
he knows that by calling up these feelings he can also call up the
illness. The black magician can make use of this knowledge to destroy
the people. The deep occult truths can therefore not be taught to
everyone without due consideration, for it would immediately bring about
a sharp demarcation between good and evil. This is the danger inherent
in the spreading of occult teachings, for no-one can be taught how to
make people well, without at the same time learning how to make people
ill. Where occult teachings have penetrated more into certain peoples
such things have happened. There are districts in the East where one can
hear true reports that there are sects who make it their task to produce
definite illnesses. Thus we penetrate to an ever greater degree into the
understanding of the ways in which the material arises out of the
spiritual.
Now we will try to survey somewhat longer periods of time. We know
that today there is a beautiful complementary interaction between
everything that exists as animal life and the plant world. The plant
makes use of carbon for itself and breathes out oxygen, thereby creating
the source of life for all creatures in its surroundings who need to
breathe. This source arises from the plant world. All that breathes
today is there through the action of this mysterious workshop of the
plant world. From this we can form a concept of how Worlds go under, how
the World which preceded our Earth passed away. On the Old Moon
breathing did not exist as it does now in human beings and animals. A
quite different process took the place of the breathing process on the
Old Moon. We can form a picture of the earlier process when we look at
something remaining over from this time: the varying warmth of animals
which develop the same temperature as their surroundings. On the Moon
there was warmth or fire breathing. The inhaling and exhaling of fire or
warmth corresponded at that time to the present day inhaling and
exhaling of the air. In the middle of the Lemurian Age the breathing
process began to take on the form it has today.
The spiritual process of the embedding of the Monad in the lower man
finds its material reflection in breathing. Breathing signifies the
inhaling of the Monad. In Hatha Yoga therefore the pupil goes through a
breathing process. He regulates rhythmically what man has today as a
natural process in order to bring breathing under his control. Just as
before man advanced to this process of breathing, he inhaled and exhaled
warmth, transforming this into the circulation of the warm blood, so the
pupil of Hatha Yoga seeks to form the breathing process into something
inward, to bring it inwardly under his control. The Hatha Yoga rules
signify the transformation of the breath into a process that does not go
from within outwards, but is inwardly regulated, just as today the
circulation of the blood is also inwardly regulated. In the case of
animals with variable temperature the process of blood circulation has
the same relationship to that of human beings as the breathing process
of the Hatha Yoga pupil. Behind all these things lie deep thoughts
concerning evolution which ought to be the foundation of real processes.
What today is usually not understood is that in the air there is
something spiritual. When there was still a consciousness of this,
spirit was called: Air, Wind = Pneuma. Pneuma means a current of air and
also the soul-spiritual. This terminology stems from times in which one
still had a consciousness of the true connections. Let us now take the
fact that on the predecessor of our Earth (the Old Moon) certain beings
had evolved beyond the stage of the human evolution of that time. These
were the Luciferic beings. When one considers these beings one must say:
They did not live in an environment such as the Earth has today. They
could not breathe air, thus they could not take in the spirit, for the
taking in of spirit corresponds to the breathing of air. They were
obliged to carry out in the warmth-principle what today takes place in
the air. We differentiate on the Earth seven conditions of the physical:
Firstly Life-ether, Secondly Chemical-ether, Thirdly Light-ether,
Fourthly Warmth-ether, Fifthly Air, Sixthly Water, Seventhly Solid. Thus
the Luciferic Beings had to carry out in warmth what man today carries
out in air. Now you can understand that owing to this, these Beings who
gave man his separate consciousness, his independence, are in a certain
sense connected with fire. For this reason, when they make their
appearance, it is connected with a certain craving for everything that
manifests in man as heat, as fire. The craving attaches itself to man's
individual warmth. So the donors of knowledge and freedom are bound up
with something which seeks to incarnate in the element of warmth in man
in a similar way to how this happened on the Old Moon. This is the
connection between knowledge and birth and death, illness and so on in
the world. With knowledge, birth, death and illness came into the world.
This was the price man paid for knowledge. We see therefore also the
connection between certain heat phenomena and illness, namely fever.
This is the origin of fever. Traditions of this lingered on into the
19th century.
In the earlier Planetary conditions, the forerunners of our Earth,
we had not to do as yet with human beings, animals, plants and minerals
as they are today. At that time beings existed who had not yet descended
so deeply as present-day animals, nor yet ascended so high as
present-day man. At that time plants did not exhale oxygen. Oxygen, this
breath of life, did not as yet exist. Only with the coming into being of
our plant kingdom did nitrogen become mingled with oxygen. The Moon was
surrounded by an atmosphere of nitrogen. In the second half of this
previous Planet the beings did certainly already strive towards such
forms as could breathe, which were endowed with lungs and so on; but
only in our present Earth-Cycle did the plant kingdom evolve as it is
now. The animal beings then developed the organs of breathing. They
pushed the plant kingdom a stage lower, in order that it should provide
oxygen for breathing.
These processes on the predecessor of our Earth had to be followed
by a condition where life in the same form was no longer possible. The
form had developed into something else and needed a new Planet. The
preceding Planet had to meet its end; everything living suffocated. Thus
do the Planets with their life perish, and from what has been prepared a
new life evolves in the body of the Mother Planet. This is how the
decline and uprising of Planetary evolution is to be understood.
Just as man previously had the other kingdoms within himself, so
today he still has the evil in his Karma within him. This he is now
working out of himself. In the future good and evil will be there in
external forms, a race of the good and a kingdom of the evil side by
side. At that future time the human countenance will appear in
transfigured form out of the separated, downward-thrust evil of
animality. Let us think of the transfigured human countenance that today
slumbers like a riddle in animal matter, separated from the animal evil
and represented symbolically. You can represent it to yourselves in no
better way than in the great intuition of the Egyptian Sphinx. This not
only points back to the past, but it also points towards the future. Not
for nothing did the old Egyptians place the Sphinx in front of the
Temple of Initiation. Initiation is the implanting of the secret of the
future into human souls. At the entrance to the Temple it was through
the Sphinx that the milieu for initiation was already created.
What outwardly is the body of oxygen is inwardly the Monad. As soon
as oxygen appeared on the Earth the Monad had the possibility of
incarnating. It is an attempt to possess the Monad when the pupil
breathes in much oxygen and endeavours to retain it. Oxygen is not only
something externally material. One must examine oxygen in the light of
its spirit. Thus outwardly we have oxygen and inwardly the Monad. Oxygen
therefore in the Lemurian Age formed the body for the descending sons of
Manas.
∴
Lecture 30
Berlin, 4th November 1905
Today in connection with the previous lecture some aphoristic
remarks will follow concerning the different races. First however
attention will be drawn to certain things, the reasons for which only
appear in a few books.
The so-called laws of nutrition in the various civilisations appear
at first to be very arbitrary. This is not so however, they are born out
of knowledge and wisdom, but we must strictly bear in mind that our
present-day humanity is not at all in a position to be able to follow
such matters as we now wish to deal with. They will nevertheless provide
a basis for certain laws of social life. Of course no one should believe
that one immediately becomes an adept simply by going over to
vegetarianism and so on.
Among oriental peoples there is a certain way of practising the art
of healing in which the doctors attach the greatest importance to the
nourishing of their own physical body. [78] In places where the old spiritual life still
exists, there are those who have become healers by following a diet
consisting exclusively of milk. They are quite clear that because they
exclude everything else they gain certain healing forces within
themselves, especially in the treatment of so-called mental illnesses.
They have their special methods. They know for certain that when they
only take milk they then develop quite definite forces. [79]
Let us be clear about the intuition upon which this depends. This
profound intuition can be understood in the following way. We know of a
definite happening in human evolution. In the middle of the Lemurian Age
the original human element divided into an ascending humanity and an
animal kingdom. With this is bound up the fact that the forces which the
Earth still had when it was united with the Moon also divided and a part
of the same separated with the Moon from the Earth.
Let us think of the time when the Earth was still united with the
Moon. Man then stood at quite a different stage of development. He
already had warm blood, but was not yet divided into two sexes. It was
with the separation of the Moon that this division is to be observed, so
that when today you look up at the Moon you can say: It is your
separation from the Earth that has brought it about that the power of
human reproduction has divided into two parts. There was also a time on
the Earth in which humanity was directly connected, was merged together
with what was animal, and was also nourished by the animal. This kind of
nourishment cannot be easily understood by those lacking the power of
clairvoyance. We can however form a conception of this when we observe
the normal manner of nourishment of mammals, which feed their young with
their own milk. With the division of the power of reproduction this kind
of nutrition also appeared. Earlier human beings could absorb food
substance just as today the lungs take in the air. At that time threads
of suction connected man with the whole of Nature around him, somewhat
in the manner in which today the embryo is nourished in the body of the
mother. This was the old form of nourishment on the Earth. A relic of
this is the suckling of mammals, and milk is like the nourishment
mankind took in Pre-Lemurian times. It is the old food of the Gods, the
first form of nourishment on the Earth. At that time the nature of the
Earth was such that everywhere this nourishment could be sucked from it.
Thus milk is a product of the first form of human food. When the
physical constitution of man was nearer to the divine he sucked milk out
of his surroundings. Occultists know how man is connected with Nature.
The taking of milk is a transformation of a primeval form of
nourishment. Man's first food was always milk. In the saying: 'The
milk of human kindness,' this expression is used intentionally. We
must ask: How was it originally brought about that milk, as it then was,
could be sucked out of the Earth? The Moon forces in the Earth made this
possible; like an all-pervading bloodstream they permeated the entire
Earth. But when the Moon departed these forces could only be
concentrated in special organs of living beings.
The occultist calls milk: the Moon-food. Sons of the Moon are those
who nourish themselves on milk. The Moon brought about milk. It has been
verified that the Oriental healers, who only live on milk, again absorb
the original forces which were on the Earth when milk still flowed in
streams. They said: These are the forces which brought mankind into
existence. These productive forces must also be health bringing, so we
ourselves gain the power to further health, when we only take milk and
exclude everything else.
Let us transfer ourselves into the pre-Lemurian Age. Then the
condition prevailed when milk was sucked out from the surroundings. A
condition arose when milk became the general nourishment for mankind,
and then the condition when nourishment was provided by the mother's
milk. Before the time when milk was imbibed from Nature, there was an
Age in which the Earth was still united with the Sun. There then existed
a Sun nourishment. Just as milk has remained over from the Moon,
products have also remained over which gained their maturity from the
Sun. Everything irradiated with sunlight, blossoms and fruits of the
plants, belongs to the Sun. Formerly their growth inclined towards the
centre of the Earth when it was united with the Sun. They planted
themselves into the Sun with their blossoms. When the Earth separated
from the Sun they retained their old character: they again turned their
blossoms towards the Sun. Man is the plant in reverse. That part of the
plant which grows above the Earth has the same relationship to the Sun
as milk has to the Moon, is therefore Sun-food. Side by side with milk
nourishment there arose a kind of plant nourishment, namely from the
upper parts of the plant. This was the second form of human food.
Thus when the Lemurian Age was approaching its end two human types
faced each other: the one kind, the Sons of the Moon, who bred animals
and nourished themselves from what the animals produced, from their
milk; and a second kind who fed on plants, on the produce of the Earth.
This fact is portrayed in the story of Cain and Abel. [80] Abel is a shepherd, Cain a tiller of the
soil; Abel represented the Moon race and Cain the Sun race. This
allegory is very profound. Occult teaching reveals this in a somewhat
concealed way. That divine being who gave man the possibility of
becoming a Moon-being, nourishing himself with the transformed Moon
food, was called by the Jewish people 'Jehovah'. He was the
nourishing force of Nature; this flowed towards Abel and he took it from
his flocks. It was a falling away from Jehovah when man went over to the
Sun-food. This is why Jehovah would not accept Cain's offering, because
it was the offering of a Sun-food.
When we go back into the most ancient times we find no nourishment
at all except milk, the food which man receives from living animals.
This is the first form of nourishment as it still is now in the first
weeks of life, and the Eastern healer relates this form of nourishment
to the saying: 'If you do not become as little children, you cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven.' All these things have their
significance.
Now we come from the Lemurian to the Atlantean Age, to the peoples
who lived in the region of the present Atlantic Ocean. With the
Atlanteans something new appears. They began for the first time to eat
food that was not taken from what is living, but which came from what
was dead. They consumed what had yielded up life. This is a very
important transition in human evolution. Through the fact that human
beings nourished themselves from the lifeless it became possible to make
the transition to ego-hood. This feeding on what is dead is rightly
connected with the desire for the ego. Man became independent through
eating what is dead. He took the lifeless into himself in various forms,
at first in the case of the developing hunting peoples who killed
animals. Later, peoples arose who ate, not only what was ripened by the
sun, but what ripened below the surface of the earth. This is just as
lifeless as the dead animal. Everything living in the lowest part of
animal nature, what is saturated with, blood, has turned away from the
Moon-force. The Moon-force itself is still in milk, which is connected
with the life-process, whereas man absorbs the forces of what is dying
when he eats what is dead. Equally dead is that part of the plant that
grows below the surface of the Earth, that is not shone upon and warmed
through by the life principle of the Sun. Thus there is a correspondence
between the root and the blood-saturated body of the animal.
Later another form of food was added which did not exist earlier.
Man introduced into his food what was purely mineral, what he took out
of the Earth, salt and so on. In his food therefore he passed through
the three kingdoms. This is approximately the course which the Atlantean
civilisation passed through in regard to nourishment. Firstly came the
hunting peoples, then the farming peoples and thirdly the development of
mining, which brought to light what is under the Earth.
All these things represent a turning away from the actual force of
life or production. The dead animal is separated from life. That part of
the plant which is in the soil is also separated from life. Everything
of the nature of salt is the dead nature of the mineral kingdom, that
remains over from the past.
Now we come to the fifth human race. The drinking of milk and the
eating of fruit continued; other things were added as something new. In
the Fifth Root-Race the most outstanding addition is what was gained
from minerals, that is to say, by means of a chemical process. This is
indicated in Genesis. What is it that was gained by means of a chemical
process? There is an ascent in evolution, chemistry is applied to
plants, to fruit. Out of this wine arose. This did not exist on
Atlantis. Therefore the Bible tells us that Noah, the original ancestor
of the post-diluvian race, became intoxicated by wine. By means of a
mineral-chemical process something was produced from the plant kingdom.
Wine then played a special role in the whole of the Fifth Root-Race. All
initiates from the beginning of the Fifth Root-Race had taken over their
traditions from the time of the Atlantean Race, when there was as yet no
wine. The Indian, Persian and Egyptian initiates had no need of wine.
What played a part in the sacred rituals was exclusively water.
With the Fifth Root-Race wine made its appearance, in which the
mineral treatment of the plant had to play its part. The first three
Sub-Races were repetitions of what came earlier. The Fourth Sub-Race was
the first to develop the new, which was to appear in the Fifth
Root-Race. A certain sacredness was claimed for wine. In this connection
cults emerged in which wine played a part (the cult of Dionysos). A
wine-god even appeared.
This had gradually been prepared for in the development of humanity.
Wine had first made its appearance with the Persians. Here however wine
was still something quite secular. Only gradually did it find its way
into ritual, into the Dionysos-Cult. The Fourth Sub-Race is the one
which first brought forth Christianity and also the one which seven
hundred years earlier announced its mission through the Dionysian
dramas. These first took wine into the sphere of the cult. This fact was
portrayed in the most wonderful way by that evangelist who knew most
about Christianity: St. John. He describes at the very beginning the
transformation of water into wine, for Christianity came at first for
the Fourth Sub-Race of the Fifth Root-Race. A teaching was needed which
makes sacred what had to come about on the physical plane. Wine cuts
human beings off from everything spiritual. Whoever takes wine cannot
attain the spiritual. He can know nothing of Atma, Buddhi and Manas, of
what is lasting, of what reincarnates. This had to be. The whole course
of human evolution is a descent and a re-ascent. Man had to descend to
the lowest point. And it was in order that he should come right down
onto the physical plane that the Dionysian Cult made its appearance. The
human body had to be prepared for materialism through the Dionysian
cult; this was why a religion had to appear that changed water into
wine. Formerly wine was strictly forbidden to the priests, they could
experience Atma, Buddhi and Manas. Now a religion had to come about
which led right down onto the physical plane, otherwise human beings
would not have completely descended. This religion which led them
downwards had to have an outer manifestation, a manifestation that was
turned away from Atma, Buddhi and Manas, from reincarnation, and only
drew attention to what was of a general nature. The next thing will be
that wine is again turned into water.
If at an earlier time water had not changed into wine, man would not
have received everything which is in this earthly vale. At the beginning
of St. John's Gospel in the description of the changing of water into
wine at the marriage in Cana, we are shown how Christ took into account
what was there. But he also reckoned with the future, through the fact
that for his part He inaugurated the Sacrament of the Last Supper. The
Last Supper is the greatest symbol of the One who began this stream of
civilisation with the Fourth Sub-Race. Being indeed the true 'Son
of Man', who descended to the greatest depths in order to rise
again with the greatest power, He had to hold to what was there and show
mankind how the physical constitution of the race was connected with His
mission. If humanity were to ascend again it was necessary for them to
have a symbol leading once more from the dead to the living: Bread and
Wine. In the occult sense, bread is what only comes about when the plant
has been killed. Again, wine comes about when the plant has been killed,
but then further treated with mineral substance. When one bakes the
plant one does the same as when one kills the animal. When we draw wine
from the plant kingdom in a certain sense we do the same as when we
bleed the animal. Bread and wine are there as the symbol of the Fourth
Race. What should develop in the future is a further ascent from plant
to mineral nourishment. Bread and Wine must again be sacrificed, must be
given up. Thus as Christ appeared in the Fourth Sub-Race he pointed to
Bread and Wine: 'This is my Body; this is my Blood.' Here He
wished to create a transition from animal nourishment to plant
nourishment, the transition to something higher.
At that time there were two classes of human beings: Firstly those
whose nourishment was flesh and blood; these are the pre-Christian
people with whom Christ in no way concerned himself. Secondly those who
only killed plants, who drew from plants their blood: people who drank
wine and ate bread. With these He was still concerned; they are the
forerunners of that humanity which will exist in the future.
The significance of the Last Supper is the transition from
nourishment taken from the dead animal to nourishment taken from the
dead plant. When our Fifth Sub-Race will have reached its end, in the
Sixth Sub-Race, the Last Supper will be understood. Even before this it
will be possible for the third form of nourishment to begin to make its
appearance, the purely mineral. Man himself will then be able to create
his nourishment. Now he takes what the Gods have created for him. Later
he will advance and will himself prepare in the chemical laboratory the
substances he will require.
So you see that all these things arise out of deep intuitions. When
with the old Eastern peoples we find all kinds of instructions about
what should be eaten, these are not actually laws, but stories: You
should not expect the effect of substance to be other than they are.
That which Christ killed, which was actually sacrificed after he had
partaken of the Last Supper, is the physical body. This dies. For the
whole of humanity this will die. Towards the middle of the Sixth
Root-Race, in the last third, there will no longer be a physical body.
Then the entire human being will again be etheric. It will pass over
into the finer substance. But this will not happen if man himself does
not bring it about. For this he must first pass over to the nourishment
which he prepares in the laboratory. So that man, in so far as he no
longer takes his nourishment from Nature, but gains it from his own
wisdom, from the God within him, so far does he also hasten. towards his
own deification.
When man begins to nourish himself, the foundation will also be laid
for something higher, that is, self-propagation. He will gradually
create life for himself out of the mineral world.
This is the great progression of human evolution. What the natural
scientist knows today is only a fraction of the great cycle.
With Saturn we come into the Mineral Age. In the Atlantean Epoch,
through consuming what was dead, preparation was made for what was to
bring about egoism. From the original Semites up to the Fifth Sub-Race,
the human ego was very gradually developed. In the Sixth Sub-Race of the
Fifth Root-Race the 'I' will again reach a higher stage of
development. This means that we stand before a new so-called spiral of
existence. The previous spiral began in the time when the original
Semites laid the foundation for the present Root-Race.
It is to the original Semite civilisation that we owe everything
that has existed up till the present time. But now there begins a new
impact with the Slavonic Peoples which will lead into the future. A kind
of break with the past will be brought about by a people who will
introduce a new impulse into the world. This is working as hidden
spirituality out of the Russian peasantry. It will form the second part
of the coming spiral. At the present time a certain culture is in
process of destruction and a new one is being prepared. It is being
prepared in the West and will come to fruition in the East. But the Old
must activate the New. Wherever in our time we have new impulses these
are germinal, awkward, unskillful. On the contrary the Old is clear-cut,
but has a critical, destructive character. It was the Semitic Race which
gave birth to the bearers of the Old Culture, who are the bearers of
what spirals within the spiral.
All these have something Semitic about them. Examples: Lassalle,
Marx. The spiral turns inwards. A continuation from here is not
possible. Now a leap must be made as though from one shore to another,
to the spirituality of the future culture of the East. This is a
completely new impulse.
What belongs to the future is as yet unformed and naturally
infiltrated by the old. Haeckel is a man who swims in midstream and is
pulled by both spirals. The first part of Haeckel's
'Weltritsel' (Riddles of the World) [81] is positive,
elementary Theosophy: the second part is negative and altogether
destructive. This is a double spiral (Wirbel).
We can also observe these contradictions in the Socialism of the
East and the West. The Socialism of the West is a Socialism of
production; that of the East is a Socialism of consumption. One who
orders the social life in the direction of production reckons with
possessiveness, with egoism. He who reckons with consumption turns his
attention to what others require from him; he bears in mind his fellow
men, reckons with brotherhood. The socialism of production — Marx,
Lassalle — only bears the worker in mind, in so far as he is the
producer. In the East the consumer is placed in the foreground, as for
instance with Kropotkin, Bakunin, Herzen. You can see things building up
to a climax if you follow Kropotkin. He had an immediate understanding
of the principle of helpful interaction in the case of animals. The
socialism of the West is entirely built up on strife. Thus do the
currents of World evolution play into one another.
∴
Lecture 31
Berlin, 5th November 1905
Our Fifth Root-Race, the present Post-Atlantean humanity, was
preceded by that of Atlantis, on the now submerged continent between
Europe and America. The Atlanteans can in no way be compared with the
human beings who today inhabit our Earth Globe. For even the remnants of
that old race have learnt a variety of things from the later inhabitants
of the Fifth Continent and we are therefore unable to reconstruct from
them the conditions of that civilisation. At the beginning of the
Atlantean civilisation there were no tools. By means of clairvoyant
forces it was possible for the Atlantean to make the earth serve his
needs. The preparation of metals for such uses only appeared towards the
end of the Atlantean Epoch.
A small group was separated off from the population of Atlantis,
just as now in the Theosophical Society a separation should once again
take place. It was their task to carry over a new civilisation into the
Fifth Root-Race. You would find the place where those who were chosen
lived, a small colony, in present England and Ireland. At that time this
was where the original Semites lived. They were the first people who
were in a position to think with their intellect. All the ideas of the
Atlanteans were still of the nature of pictures. The rounded shape of
the front of the brow, the formation of the part of the brain on which
thought depends, first appears with the population of the original
Semites, who were in no way similar to the present Semitic race. This
original Semitic people who, one can say, discovered thinking, journeyed
through Europe into Asia and there founded a civilisation. They formed
the Fifth Sub-Race of the Atlanteans. The seven Sub-races of the
Atlantean RootRace were as follows: Firstly the Rmoahals, secondly the
Tlavatlis, thirdly the original Toltecs, fourthly the original
Turanians, fifthly the original Semites, sixthly the original Accadians,
seventhly the original Mongolians.
The Fifth Root-Race therefore arose from the Fifth Sub-Race of the
Atlanteans. When we look towards Asia we find there as, the First
Sub-Race of the Fifth Root-Race, the Ancient Indian race, that people
who later journeyed in a more Southern direction and there became the
ancestors of the later Indians. The most essential characteristic of
this ancestral race, who had travelled towards the north of India, was
that it developed no real sense for material culture. It possessed
spiritual vision of the highest order combined with a completely
undeveloped sense for the material. The ancient Indians were turned away
from the world; their souls were completely similar to the Atlanteans,
in that they were able to develop a superlative, glorious picture world.
Through the practise of Yoga, working from within outwards, they later
evolved what today seems to us a learned conception of the world. Of
this, what has been handed down as external tradition, only fragments
remain. The Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita no longer give any real picture
of the mighty conceptions of the Indians, but only echoes. In the
Vedanta philosophy also there is only an abstract remainder of the
original teaching of the Indians, which was handed down by word of
mouth.
Think of the faculty which appeared in the later Kabbalistic
teaching in a form which elaborated matters in minute detail with subtle
intricacy, think of this faculty applied to lofty cosmic thoughts. When
later the Jew was able to apply thought to such things in the
Kabbalistic teachings, it followed that the later Jewish occult teaching
was only a decadent reflection, an echo of that finely articulated
thought system of the primeval Indians. And what the teaching of the
Brahmans became is by no means only religion in the sense of later
systems, but knowledge, poetry and religion in a single great whole. All
this was, as it were the finest flower, the extracted essence of what
had developed in the old Atlantean civilisation.
The Europeans also came over from Atlantis to Western and Central
Europe and here there developed a quite different teaching. Groups of
people settled who were not yet advanced enough to be chosen to found
new civilisations, but yet possessed in germinal form what in India came
to expression in so magnificent a way, but which here remained at a much
earlier stage. What had its start in Europe moved ever further and
further towards Asia. A common teaching formed its foundation, but in
Europe this remained at a somewhat primitive level.
The Indian teaching was expressed in the Vedas. 'Veda'
means the same as 'Edda', only the content of the Vedas is
more finely developed than that which remained here in Europe in a more
primitive form as the Edda, which was only written down at the end of
the Middle Ages. We must realise that this great primal spiritual
teaching underwent a certain modification brought about by the migrating
peoples. Its original greatness consisted in grasping the mighty divine
unity which was recognised by the spiritual vision of the (ancient)
Indians. This was no longer so with the next, the (ancient) Persian
Race. In the wisdom arising from this primeval Indian vision the concept
of time was almost entirely absent. It was with the Second Sub-Race, the
ancient Persian, that the concept of time made its appearance. Time, it
is true, was recognised by the Indian but was more uniform; the concept
of history, the progression from the imperfect to what is more
perfected, was lacking. Thinking was governed by the idea that
everything has emanated from divine perfection.
Persian thinking was governed by the concept of time. Zervan Akarana
is one of the most important Divinities of the Persians and this is in
fact Time. How did one arrive at the concept of time? Whoever seeks
above all the primal unity of the Godhead, as in the case of the ancient
Indians, must conceive it as the absolute Good. Evil, the imperfect in
the world, was for the ancient Indian nothing but illusion;
'illusion' was a very important concept. These ancient people
said: Nothing whatever exists in the world that is imperfect and evil.
If you believe that something evil exists, you have not looked at the
world in a way sufficiently free from illusion. Rust, for instance,
which eats into iron, is elsewhere very beneficial: you must only
consider where it is. When you look at a criminal through the veil of
illusion, he will appear to you as such; if however you turn away from
illusion you will realise that there is no such thing as evil. —
This teaching is inwardly connected with a turning away from the world.
It was otherwise with the Second Sub-Race. There, with the earliest
of the Persian peoples, the Good was given a particular place in the
World-process, was regarded as the goal. It was said: The Good must be
sought for. The world is good and evil, Ormuzd and Ahriman; and what
conquers the evil is Zervan Akarana, Time. This is how good and evil
came into the early Persian world-conception as the principle of
evolution. The Zarathustran teaching rests on the placing of evil in the
world, and on the time-concept. Man is placed into life in order to
conquer evil. This conception is connected with the fact that the Second
Sub-Race was not one that was estranged from the world, but worked
within it. Active, productive in various branches of human work,
attention directed to the outer world, concerned as to how someone could
himself create good out of the world: this was the Second Sub-Race. With
the Persians therefore a whole company of Gods makes it appearance; not
characteristics of one God, but a plurality of Gods; because the world,
if not regarded as illusion, but as reality, presents a plurality, a
multiplicity. The Gods which were venerated there were more or less
personal-spiritual Divinities.
The earliest initiates, who founded the ancient Indian teaching,
were also the teachers of the Second Sub-Race, the ancient Persian Race.
Here they adapted the whole teaching to a working people. They created
that religion which was brought to fruition by the various Zarathustras.
[82]
A further initiation advanced towards the Near East: to Egypt, to
the Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, these forefathers of the Arabs.
There the Third Sub-Race was developed. This Third Sub-Race was such
that it now sought to bring both directions — the inner nature of
man and the outer world — into harmony with each other. Whether you
look for the fundamental conception of this Third Sub-Race in Chaldea or
Egypt, everywhere you will find a pronounced awareness of the connection
between human work and the forces of Nature. This is an essential
difference when compared with the Persian Race. In Persia you have two
powers, the good and the evil, which do battle with one another. Now man
tries to bring the different nature forces or beings into his service.
What developed as Persian religion was mainly built up on human morality
and industry. Now in the Third Sub-Race the consciousness developed that
one does not master nature only by means of bodily strength and moral
behaviour, but best of all through knowledge. In those lands where a
skillful agriculture was pursued as in Egypt and Chaldea, there
developed a co-ordination of heavenly-spiritual powers with what was
carried out by human work. Knowledge of the meteorological environment
and the heavenly bodies evolved there. Strength for work was sought for
in the knowledge of Nature. So it came about that man directed his gaze
to the stars, and astronomy was brought into connection with humanity on
the Earth. Man's origin was sought for in the stars. Thus, in this sense
we have for the first time to do with science. Now in the Third
Sub-Race, instead of inner perception, we have practical knowledge. So
we hear of great initiates who taught geometry, the practice of
surveying, technical skills. The fructification of human activity with
cosmic wisdom brought down from the spiritual world makes its appearance
in the Third Sub-Race. With this, something was given which translated
the whole conception of human life into a kind of heavenly science. With
the different peoples this found expression in various ways. In the case
of the Egyptians, Osiris, Isis and Horus were conceived of as
representatives of astronomical phenomena.
Three different Sub-Races developed in Asia. Taking their start from
Atlantis, a colony led by initiates traveled over to Asia. A special
result of this was the ancient Indian civilisation, a second, the
ancient Persian; the third result was the Egyptian-Chaldean
civilisation: they all had a common initiation-source. In Europe however
groups always remained behind which fell away from what culminated with
such magnificence in the three great civilisations. These separate
cultural streams were distributed in Europe in the most varied way. In
Europe too there were initiates who formed Mystery Schools towards the
end of the period of which we are speaking: they were called Druids:
Drys means Oak. The strong oak was the symbol of the early European
priest-teachers, for what dominated the peoples in the North was the
thought that their old form of culture would necessarily have to
decline. There the Twilight of the Gods was taught and the future of
Christianity came to magnificent expression through these Northern
prophets in what later became the Siegfried Saga. [83a]
This may be compared with the Achilles Saga. [83b]
Achilles is invulnerable in his whole body with the exception of the
heel, Siegfried with the exception of the spot between the shoulders. To
be invulnerable in such a way signifies to have been initiated. In
Achilles you have the initiate of the Fourth Sub-Race which lies on the
ascending curve of man's cultural development: therefore all the upper
parts of Achilles are invulnerable; only the heel the lower nature is
vulnerable, just as Hephaistos is lame. The German Siegfried was also an
initiate of the Fourth Sub-Race, but vulnerable between the shoulder
blades. This is his vulnerable spot, first made invulnerable by the One
who bore the cross. With Siegfried the Gods reach their downfall, the
Northern Gods approach their end (Twilight of the Gods). This gives the
Northern saga its tragic note, for it not only points to the past, but
to the Twilight of the Gods, to the time which is to come. The Druids
gave to man the teaching of the declining Northern Gods. Thus in what
was still symbolic form, the battle of St. Boniface [84] with
the Oak represents the battle of the Druids with the old Priesthood.
Everywhere in the North one can point to the traces of what came to
expression over in Asia. For instance Muspelheim and Niflheim are a
counterpart of Ormuzd and Ahriman. The giant Ymir, out of whom the whole
world is made, corresponds to the cutting into pieces of Osiris. In the
most detailed way one can follow the connection between the European
peoples of the North and the other civilisations. When in the South of
Europe the Fourth Sub-Race was developing, the Northern tribes had also
made the transition into the Fourth Stage so that in the Germanic
peoples Tacitus [85] found much that was related to the Southern
culture. Irmin [86] for example is the same
figure as Hercules. Tacitus also tells us of a kind of Isis worship
there in the North. So the older stages of civilisations progressed
towards what was to come as Christianity.
So think of Europe, Central Asia and Egypt as sown with the seed of
what had developed under the influence of the Initiation Schools. These
Initiation Schools sent out from their midst the founder of the Fifth
[Fourth] Sub-Race, who had long been prepared in the shelter of the
Mysteries. This is the personality who in the Bible is called Abraham.
He came from Ur in Chaldaea and developed as an extract of the three
older civilisations. The task which was represented in Abraham was to
carry into the human realm all that had been held in veneration in the
outside world; to create initiates who laid great value on what was
human, in order to found the cult of the personality. This brought about
personal attributes in the Jewish patriarchs. Here we have to do with
duplicity and cunning. Jacob gains his inheritance by employing ruse and
cunning in order to take what he wants from his brother. This is the
reality out of which our present-day civilisation developed: it is
founded on intelligence and possessiveness. In the stories of the Old
Testament this is magnificently expressed as a kind of dawning of the
new. It would be impossible to present this origin in a more powerful
way. Esau is still a hairy man, that means he represents the human type
which is still more enmeshed in the physical; Jacob represents one who
relies on his intelligence and guile and thereby achieves what is now
actually developing in human nature. The overcoming of physical force
through intelligence is here inaugurated. The initiators do not always
introduce something great into the world, but what must of necessity
come about. 'Israel' means: He who leads man to the invisible
God, who dwells within. Isra-el: El means the goal; Isra = the invisible
God. Until then God was visible, whether it was the one who gave the
urge towards Good and Evil as with the Persians, whether the God who had
his body in the stars, in the Universe: This God was experienced as
something visible.
And now we have the Jewish initiation portrayed in Joseph and his
twelve brethren. It is a beautiful and powerful allegory. The
allegorical now makes its appearance: the intellect, when it wishes to
be effective, becomes the recounter of allegories.
How Joseph was initiated was first recounted. He was removed from
his normal surroundings, sold for twenty pieces of silver and cast into
a pit, where he remained for three days. This indicates an initiation.
Then he comes to Egypt where his activities bring new life. And now we
have finally indicated the transition which began at that time from the
knowledge of God in the stars to the knowledge of man. Joseph was
rejected because he had dreams. He had the following dream: Sun, Moon
and eleven stars bowed down before him. The eleven stars are the eleven
signs of the Zodiac. He felt himself to be the twelfth. The symbolism of
the Star-Religion was now led over into the human. In the twelve
brothers, the starting point of the twelve tribes' the knowledge of God
in the stars was led over into the personal. "Now you surely do not
wish to assert," said his father — "that your brothers
will bow down to you." Here the change is given us. The divine
knowledge of the stars is replaced by a knowledge attached to the
personal human. This finds its form in the Mosaic law.
Out of the three Ancient Civilisations, through the initiation of
the Jewish Patriarchs, this Fourth Civilisation, the primal Jewish, was
derived. This we have as the Fourth Sub-Race, for there belong to it
also the civilisations of Ancient Greece and Rome. The civilisations of
Greece and Rome (Roman law) both become great just through this personal
element, until eventually this thought incarnated, reaching its
culmination in Christianity. So it is in this lesser racial branch that
the actual stream of the Fourth Sub-Race makes its appearance. The
Graeco-Latin stream is a higher form of the Judaic; here the cult of the
personal is intensified. There is no contradiction between this descent
to the deepest point and then the ascent.
Everywhere [within the Fourth Sub-Race] we can observe this. The
personal had actually to come to expression in the way described in the
Esau and Jacob Saga in order to find its purification in the beauty of
the human culture of the Greeks and the greatness of the human culture
of the Romans. In the Odysseus Saga the ancient civilisation of the
priests was conquered by cunning. It was out of the civilisations that
arose from this that Christianity could first develop, which in truth
contains all the ancient cultures in itself and can therefore also
absorb them. In accordance with his parentage Jesus Christ was a native
of Galilee ... 'Galilean' means: 'The Stranger',
someone who does not really belong; 'Galilee' means a small
isolated territory where someone could be brought up who, in his native
milieu had to take into himself, not only the Jewish, but also all the
ancient forms of culture.
Out of the impact between the Romans and the Northern peoples there
now developed the Fifth Sub-Race in which we ourselves live. It has
still kept an impulse from the old Initiation Schools in the Moorish,
and Arabian influence which came over from Asia. It is always the same
influence, the same Initiation School. We can trace how the Irish monks,
as also those who work in scientific fields, are essentially inspired by
the Moorish-Arabian science. This gives the same fundamental character
in a new-form, in a way in which it could now be received. It is here
that Christianity first finds its real expression. It has merely passed
through the ancient Greek civilisation for as long as the Fifth Period
of Culture was being prepared; and then finds here firm ground,
embodying itself in a whole range of nations. Everything at that time
was permeated and inspired by Christianity. Our present time with its
materialistic culture is the last radical expression of what was then
inaugurated. The birth of this new culture is symbolically presented in
the Lohengrin Saga. Lohengrin is the initiator of the
'city-state', and the city life which leads up to a new
cultural stage is symbolised by Elsa of Brabant.
Into all these streams others penetrate, for instance the Mongolian
tribes. What originally came over from the West was related to what came
with the Huns from the East. So from East and West something came
together that was related: the Mongolian and Germanic tribes. Those who
originated from the West were left-behind descendants of the Atlanteans,
as were also the Mongolians from the East. Fundamentally both streams
were related. It is always one stream which crosses another. Both,
however, have a common native ground since they both originated from
Atlantis.
Now here in the North, everything that has remained from earlier
times took on a more established form. At the same time as the epoch of
the Jewish Prophets, in the centuries before Christ, we find here
indications of a great, primeval, Atlantean initiate. Wod-Wodha-Odin.
[87] This is a
modernised Atlantis, in a new form, an atavism, a throwback into the
Atlantean Age. And this happens everywhere, over in Asia also. In Asia
W, the sound V, becomes B, Wodha = Bodha = Buddha. Buddhism appears as a
throwback into the Atlantean Age. This is why we find Buddhism most
widespread with what has remained over from the Atlanteans in the
Mongolian peoples. And where the very pillars of its greatness make
their appearance in Tibet, there we have a modern, monumental expression
of Atlantean culture.
One must get to know such relationships between peoples, then one
will also understand history. When Attila, [88] the fighter for monotheism,
appears in Europe, it was Christianity which first halted him, because
there he was confronted with something greater than anything the Huns
possessed. The monotheism of the Huns was, as the outcome of an
Atlantean civilisation, of a magnitude which they found in no other
peoples that they encountered on their way. Christianity alone made a
forceful impression on them. Many things in historical development are
to be understood in the light of these great considerations.
The well-known traveler, Peters, [89] certainly feels that the
old Bodhism and the Wotanism can flow together, but he does not know
that we in Europe have not only to be representatives of what comes from
the ancient past, but something new, a new spiral. Into the old part of
the spiral there strikes the very newest, the wisdom pointing to the
future. This is related to the old wisdom as clear day consciousness is
related to trance consciousness. With completely clear day consciousness
future peoples will develop a spiritual culture which will be different
from the old. For this reason Theosophy must not be only what is carried
over from the old, from Buddhism and Hinduism; this would certainly
collapse. Something new must arise out of the seeds which slumber in the
East of Europe, coming together with everything that is being worked out
there.
The inherent culture of the future lies in the unfolding of what is
now in a seed condition in the Folk-elements of Eastern Europe. We
ourselves in Central Europe are the advance post. Eastern Europe must
provide the means, the human material for what is here being founded in
advance.
The Rosicrucian Schools always taught that Central and Western
Europe are only advance posts of what will develop in the European East,
what will proceed from the fructification of the Folk element and
European knowledge. With Tolstoi everything is fructified through the
West European culture, but in a way different from that of others before
him. With powerful simplicity he utters what no Kant and no Spencer
could have expressed. What there appears over-ripe appears in him as
something still unfulfilled. But it is always so with what is in a seed
condition. Not out of the fine perfected plant, but out of the seedling
does the new, future plant grow.
Whatever one may experience, one can look with complete trust
towards the future. For just as the crystal first develops out of an
alkaline solution only after it has been vigorously stirred, so also
something new can only develop after great upheavals.
∴
Further Diagrams of Evolution
∴
Glossary of Indian-Theosophical Terms
Arhats
Adepts, initiates, occult teachers, Mahatmas or Masters.
Arupa
Without form.
Arupa plane
The higher regions of Devachan. Higher Spiritual World (R.S.)
Atma
The breath of life-spirit. The seventh and highest principle in man. Spirit Man. (R.S.)
Avidja
Non-knowledge.
Avitchi
Hell.
Bhava
Individual existence.
Bodhisattva
One whose being (sattva) is illumination (bodhi) pre-stage to Buddha-hood.
Buddhi
Theosophical: World-soul or World-mind and as 6th principle of the human being: Spiritual soul. Called by Rudolf Steiner Life Spirit.
Buddhi-Manas
Higher Manas in contradistinction to Lower Manas (Kama Manas). Higher Ego.
Chela
Occult pupil.
Causal body
According to Rudolf Steiner, the extract of the etheric and astral bodies which man bears from Earth-life to Earth-life and continually enriches.
Devachan
Spiritual World. See under Planes.
Devas
Spiritual Beings functioning on planes higher than the physical.
Dhyan-Chohans
Planetary Spirits, perfected human beings of earlier Rounds. — Oriental name for the Archai or Archangels.
Jara-marana
The Fall.
Jati
What before birth presses towards birth.
Kali Yuga
Yuga: age; Kali: dark.
Kama
General Astrality, i.e. substance of wishes and desires.
Kama-Manas
Earthly consciousness or Lower Manas, in contradistinction to Higher Manas (Buddhi-Manas). Also called by Rudolf Steiner, Intellectual Soul.
Kama-prana consciousness
General consciousness of life.
Kama-rupa
Astral Body, Body of Desires.
Kriya-shakti
The power of self-procreation.
Kundalini fire, kundalini light
Serpent-fire, Serpent force. Described by Rudolf Steiner in ‘How to Attain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds’ as ‘force active in Spiritual Perception’, and as ‘An Element of Higher Matter’.
Linga Sharira
Etheric body.
Lipikas
Also called Maharajas: Exalted spiritual beings connected with human destiny (Karma): Lords of Karma, who guide incarnation.
Maha-para-nirvana
Highest of the Seven Planes.
Manas
Literally, spirit. As human principle called by Rudolf Steiner, Spirit-Self.
Manvantara
Cosmic Day; seven rounds, a period of manifestation in contradistinction to period of dissolution or rest — Pralaya.
Mental World, Mental Plane
Devachan.
Nama-rupa
Distinction between name and form (subject and object).
Nidamas
The twelve Nidanas are the twelve Karma-forces which bring about incarnation. See Lecture 15.
Nirmanakaya
According to Rudolf Steiner an astral body so highly developed that at death no traces are left behind: Body of a Buddha-Being who has achieved perfection.
Para-nirvana plane
Lying still higher than the Nirvana Plane (See under Planes).
Pitris
Fathers or Fore-runners of Earth-men on Old Moon and Old Sun.
Planes
The Theosophical-Indian terminology for the seven planes, levels or worlds was already replaced by Rudolf Steiner as far as possible by German expressions in his Theosophy (1904) and in later lectures.
Theosophical Literature
Anthroposophical Literature
Physical Plane
The same, also: physical world, world of understanding
Astral Plane
The same, also: Soul World or Land, Imaginative World, Elementary World
Devachan or Mental Plane
The same, also Spirit Land, Spiritual World, World of the Harmony of the Spheres, World of Inspiration
Rupa-Devachan
Lower Devachan, Lower Spiritual World, also Heavenly World
Arupa-Devachan
Higher Devachan, Higher Spiritual World, World of true Intuition
Shushupti or Buddhi plane
Buddhi plane, also World of Fore seeing
Nirvana plane
Nirvana plane
Para-nirvana plane
Nirvana plane
Maha-pari-nirvana plane
Nirvana plane
This world above the World of Fore-seeing is of such a nature ‘that in accordance with truth and uprightness its name may not be given in European languages, for it would not do to choose just any name for what in Oriental languages is called Nirvana and which is higher than the World of Fore-seeing.’ Rudolf Steiner, Lecture, Berlin, 25 October 1909 in The Christ Impulse and the Development of the Ego-Consciousness. See also The Theosophy of the Rosicrucian, The East in the Light of the West, Macrocosm and Microcosm, >Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy.
Praja-patis
The Creative forces (from the point of view of embodiment).
Pralaya
Sleep condition; Existence during a Rest-period between two Manvantaras, also called a closed orbit.
Prana
General Life-principle; when poured into the physical body, spoken of as etheric body. Sometimes Life Ether.
Root Races
The seven main epochs or ages of the Fourth Globe or Condition of Form in Earth evolution: 1. Polarian, 2. Hyperborean, 3. Lemurian, 4. Atlantean, 5. Aryan or Post-Atlantean Root-Race; the following two epochs are always called the 6th and 7th Root-Races.
Rupa
Body, form.
Rupa Plane
Lower Devachan, Lower Spirit World. (R.S.)
Sanja
Perfection.
Sanskara
The organising tendency, desire.
Shad-ayatana
What the understanding makes out of a thing.
Shushupti plane
Buddhi plane. See under Planes.
Skandhas
According to Buddhistic reaching the five fundamental principles in every human being: body, sensation, thinking, will, consciousness. According to Rudolf Steiner virtually identical with Karma. See Lecture 17 of the Course.
List of Personalities — with reference to Lecture number(s)
Alexander VI, Pope (1430 – 1503), became Pope in 1492, 2.
Aristotle (384 – 322 BC), 6.
Attila (Absolute Ruler of the Huns from 445 – 453), 31.
Augustine (354 – 430), 8.
Bakunin, Michael (1814 – 1876), anarchist, 30.
Blavatsky, Helen Petrovna (1831 – 1891), 3,4, 6, 7, 10, 19, 20, 26.
Boniface, St. (Wynfrith, about 675 – 754), 31.
Buchner, Ludwig (1824 – 1899), 9.
Caesar, Caius Julius (100 – 44 BC.), 5, 10.
Collins, Mabel (1841 – 1927), author of
Light on the Path,
11.
Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321), 8, 20.
Dionysius the Areopagite, 13.
du Bois-Reymond, Emil (1818 – 1896), 21.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb (1762 – 1814), 21.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749 – 1832), 5, 21, 27.
Haeckel, Ernst (1834 – 1919), 9, 21, 30.
Hegel, George Wilhelm Friedrich (1770 – 1831), 21.
Heraclitus (540 – 480 BC.), 21.
Herzen, Alexander Ivanovich (1812 – 1870), 30.
Homer (9th century BC.), 13.
Kant, Immanuel (1724 – 1804), 8, 23, 31.
Kerner, justinius (1786 – 1862), author of ‘The Seeress of Prevost’,
Note13.
Kortum, Karl Arnold (1745 – 1824), 4
Kropotkin, Peter Alexeievich Count von (1842 – 1921), 30.
Laplace, Pierre Simon Marquis de (1749 – 1827), 8, 23.
Langsdorff, Georg von, Note 56.
Lassalle, Ferdinand (1824 – 1864), 30.
Levi, Eliphas (1810 – 1875), 7, 13.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519), 2, 3.
Marx, Karl (1818 – 1883), 30.
Michelangelo (1475 – 1564), 21.
Moleschott, Jakob (1822 – 1893), 9.
Newton, Isaac (1643 – 1727), 21.
Novalis (Friedrich George von Hardenberg) (1772 – 1801), 13.
◬
In the old Nordic
germanic myth dealing with the beginning of the world the different
parts of the world were created out of the body of the primaeval giant:
from the flesh the earth, from the blood the water, from the
bones the rocks, from the hair the forests, from the skull the sky, from
the brain the clouds.
◬
Often quoted by Rudolf Steiner. See: Darwin, Origin of Species, Chapter 5.
◬
See: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and the Third Mystery Play.
◬
Published 1893. A detailed description of Tolstoi's
ideas in contrast to Western ideas is to be found in Rudolf Steiner's
lecture 3.11.1904. Theosophy and Tolstoy.
(Typescript).
◬
This is
described in more detail in a lecture 22.11.1907. 'The plant is
drawn with its direction vertically towards the earth, the human being
also vertically directed away from the earth, the animal
horizontal.' St. John, Notes on 8 lectures. Lecture 7.
(Typescript).
◬
The Sphinx (daughter of Chimaera and her
son the hound Orthus) — a monster with the body of a hound, a
woman's head, lion's claws, dragon's tail and wings — was sent to
Thebes where she dealt out death and destruction by means of a riddle.
She asked the unfortunate ones who confronted her: What creature goes on
four legs in the morning, on two at midday and on three in the evening?
Oedipus was the fortunate one who found the answer — man. Upon
which she threw herself down from her rock. In the painting in the large
cupola of the first Goetheanum the motif representing Greece also
includes this Sphinx-Oedipus theme.
◬
(In Latin Vulcanus, in Greek Hephaistos.) The
god of fire and the forger of metals. He limped because twice Zeus, in
anger, threw him out of Olympus. According to the original myth his
smithy was in Olympus, but in later versions in volcanic
regions.
◬
A comic epic poem by Karl Arnold Kortum,
published in 1754.
◬
See more details in The Study of Man,
lecture 12
◬The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily by Goethe was first published in
1795. See: Rudolf Steiner's 'Goethe's Standard of the
Soul'.
◬
See: The Christ Impulse
and the Development of the Ego Consciousness, lecture 1, 25.10.1909
and From Buddha to Christ 21.9.1911.
◬
Here
Rudolf Steiner is presumably referring to the minor scientific
writings (Parva naturalia) 'On Youth and Age, Life and
Death'.
◬
Blavatsky
calls Jehovah a Moon God. Secret Doctrine. Volume
11.
◬
In notes of a
lecture in Berlin in 1903 there appears the following: 'In the
overall picture of world evolution the Earthly Cosmos is called the
Cosmos of Divine Love, the previous cosmos the Cosmos of Wisdom and the
future one the Cosmos of Divine Fire ... the Cosmos preceeding the Moon
Cosmos (is called) the Cosmos of Divine Omnipotence; this was preceeded
by the Cosmos of Being'.
◬
... The notes of the text
here are inadequate and unreliable.
◬
Later Rudolf Steiner
indicated these epochs more precisely. According to this the point at
which the sun rises on the vernal equinox moves backwards through the 12
constellations of the Zodiac in 12 x 2160 = 25,920 years — the
Platonic World Year — generally speaking, re-embodiments are
connected with these epochs of 2160 years (though there are exceptions).
See: Theosophy of the Rosicrucian, Rhythms in the Cosmos and in the
Human Being (Typescript) 20.25.28.7.1923
◬
According to Rudolf Steiner these are beings
of great significance for the evolution of mankind. 'These lofty
beings have already left behind them the path that the rest of mankind
has yet to tread. They work now as the great Teachers of Wisdom and of
the Harmony of Feeling.' (Letter to a member 2.1.1905.) See also
lecture 13.10.1904.
◬
Order founded in 1140 in the Cistercian
monastery of La Trappe in France. The reform in 1665 imposed strict
ascetic practices and silence.
◬
The
teaching of God's eternal decree which results in only a part of
humanity being chosen for salvation while the other part is doomed
to perdition. Compare lecture 7.10.1917 'The Crumbling of the
Earth and the Souls and Bodies of Men' Anthroposophical
Quarterly Volume 19 No. 1.
◬
See The Wisdom of man of the Soul and of the
Spirit. The Twelve Senses and the Seven Life Processes (Golden Blade
1975).
◬
Theosophy teaches that all development proceeds in
cycles, first on a descending curve from spiritual to material and then
back on an ascending curve from material to spiritual. In a lecture to
the same audience in Berlin 17.10.1904 Rudolf Steiner says
'Theosophical writings have described certain evolutionary
developments as ascending and descending ... during the descent
development is slowed down while during the ascent it becomes ever
faster. This accelerated development does not apply to the whole
physical plane but only to individual beings.' In a lecture in
Berlin 27.1.1908 there is a further clarification: '... so
that when we are at a particular moment of our development we can always
say: Yes, there are certain forces there that draw into man and pass out
of him, forces that descend and forces that rise. For every such force
there is always a moment when it changes from a descending to an
ascending force. All forces that become ascending forces have been at
first descending. They descend down to man, so to speak, and in man they
achieve the strength to rise'.
In this sense 'when the
body is on the ascending curve the senses are on the descending
curve' should be understood as meaning that the physical body in
general is on the rising curve because it has passed the deepest
point of its material densification, while the senses are on the
descending curve since there are two senses which still have to develop
as physical senses.
◬
For further clarification of this passage see
lecture 12.6.1907 Occult Seals and Pillars
(typescript).
◬
The Lohengrin figure first
appears in Eschenbach's 'Parzifal' as a knight of the
Grail and son of Parzifal. The saga was further developed in a poem in
middle high German dating from the end of the 13th century. A simpler
form is Conrad von Würzburg's Schwanenritter. See also
Rudolf Steiner's lecture 29.3.1906 on Parzifal and Lohengrin
(Typescript).
◬
See:
The Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz lecture
1912-13.
◬
See lecture
18.10.1904 in History of the Middle Ages
(Typescript)
◬
In Marie Steiner's notes:
'formed out of an undifferentiated gelatinous mass like a mineral
protoplasm'.
◬
Fish have a heart with two
compartments consisting of atrium and ventricle.
◬
In the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 17
v.34 he is mentioned as a pupil of St. Paul. At the end of
the 5th century there appeared in Syria under his name the
following writings: The Celestial Hierarchies and
On the Hierarchy of the Church which in the 9th
century were translated from the Greek into Latin by Scotus
Erigena.
◬
For detailed descriptions of the spiritual hierarchies see
Rudolf Steiner: The Spiritual Hierarchies and their
Reflection in the Physical World, Zodiac, Planets,
Cosmos, and The Spiritual Beings in the Heavenly
Bodies and in the Kingdoms of Nature
◬
See The Christian Mystery, Novalis the Seer lecture
22.12.1908 Berlin, not yet printed in English, (and in the Anthroposophical Quarterly
1967?)
Rudolf
Steiner alone was able to unveil the mystery enshrouding the personality
of Novalis. Among many passages occurring in his lectures, the following
is of outstanding importance: "... A deeply shattering event in
life made him (Novalis) aware, as by a magic strike, of the relation
between life and death and, as well as the great vista of past ages
of the earth and cosmos, the Christ Being Himself appeared before
his eyes of Spirit. ... In the rase of Novalis we cannot really speak of
a self-contained lifc, for his was actually like a remembrance of an
earlier incarnation. The initiation he had received as it were by Grace,
brought to life within him experiences of an earlier incarnation;
there was a certain mysterious consolidation of the fruits of insight
acquired in an earlier life. And because he looked back through the
ages with his own awakened eyes of spirit, he was able to say that
to him nothing in life was comparable with the momentous event when
in his inmost self he had discovered what Christ truly is. This
experience was like a repetition of the happening at Damascus, when
Paul, who had hitherto persecuted the followers of Christ and rejected
their message, received in higher vision the direct proof that Christ
lives, that He is present! ..." This quotation is from the above lecture.
◬
Knights of the Spirit or Fighters for the
Spirit. They also called themselves 'Christians of
the Spirit' and believed essentially in inner
revelation. The sect arose in the middle of the 18th
century and was later dispatched to Trans-Caucasia. Towards
the end of the 19th century many of them emigrated to
Cyprus and Canada. Tolstoi, who had a strong inner link
with them, wrote about them in Followers of Christ in
Russia in the year 1895.
◬
The
Manichaeans. Founded by Mani (215 or 216 – 276
A.D) originating in Asia Minor. 'A powerful spiritual
stream to which belonged the Albigenses, Waldenses, and
Cathars of the Middle Ages. More distantly connected were
the Templars and, through a remarkable interweaving of
connections, the Freemasons. This is where the Freemasons
actually belong although they had allied themselves with
the Rosicrucians.' Thus run the notes of a lecture by
Rudolf Steiner on the Manichacans given in Berlin 11.11.1904. See also Albert
Steffen: Mani.
◬
His teachings appeared
published as Esoteric Writings.
◬
See Rudolf Steiner The Apocalypse of St.
John lecture 11 (1908).
◬
More details in The Occult Movement in the
19th century and its relationship to World Culture
(1915).
◬
Written by a priest at the Deutschenherrenhaus
at Sachsenhausen near Frankfurt am Main in 1497. Published
by Luther in 1518. See also Rudolf Steiner
Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern
Age.
◬
This spiritual-scientific
concept of Rudolf Steiner is also to be found in the lecture
Evolution, Involution and Creation out of Nothing 17.6.1909 (also
contained in The Being of Man and his Future Evolution). See also
lecture 15.9.1907 in Occult Signs and Symbols
◬
Compare Rudolf Steiner's
notes for Edouard Schuré May 1906. Zeichnen und Entwicklung
der drei Logoi in der Menschheit published in No. 14 of
Nachrichten der Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung Michaelmas
1965.
◬
See lecture 24.10.1915 in The Occult Movement in
the 19th Century (In the Appendix below)
◬
Compare with Rudolf Steiner's comments on Mabel Collins' novel Flita
in Luzifer-Gnosis (not translated).
◬
Dr. Steiner refers to a booklet by Georg von
Langsdorff, Freiburg i. Br. known as a translator and
publiciser of spiritualistic material. Rudolf Steiner also
refers to the matter in the lecture 24.8.1906 in At the
Gates of Spiritual Science.
◬
In the original RS Archive version, this comment is included as a note. It is included
here inline due to its apparent importance to understanding the text, which, as it says,
the notes (from which the translation is made) differ and are not clear at this point.
◬
See Rudolf Steiner's
comments in Goethe the Scientist
◬
The first principle of the
Theosophical Society founded by H.P. Blavatsky in 1875
runs: 'To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood
of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste
or colour'.
◬
In the original RS Archive version, this comment is included as a note. It is included
here inline due to its apparent importance to understanding the text, which, as it says, "Text of this portion is
very incomplete and cannot be considered as literal."
◬
... given as
explanation of the 7th Stanza of Dyzan in Blavatsky's Secret
Doctrine.
◬
See
lecture 7.10.1904 in Greek and Germanic Mythology
(Typescript).
◬
In 1912 – 13 Rudolf
Steiner gave two lecture cycles on this subject: 'The Bhagavad
Gita and the Epistles of St. Paul' and 'The
Occult Significance of the Bhagavad Gita'
◬
This refers to the actual or first Zarathustra. In
the public lecture on 'Zarathustra' 19.1.1911 Turning
Points in Spiritual History, Rudolf Steiner says: 'Greek
historians have frequently pointed out that the period ascribed to
Zarathustra must be placed very far back, between 5000 to 6000 years
before the Trojan War'.
◬
See lecture 7.10.1904 in Greek and Germanic
Mythology
◬
The
Golden Age – Krita Yuga = about 20,000 years The Silver Age
– Treta Yuga = about 15,000 years The Bronze Age –
Dvapara Yuga = about 10,000 years The Dark Age – Kali Yuga
= about 5,000 years Our Age comprises a future
2,500 years Compare with the lectures The True Nature of the
Second Coming 1910.
◬
Rudolf Steiner had explained these concepts to a
part of his audience in lectures of October/November 1904 especially
22.10.1904 in Notes on 13 Lectures (Typescript), and 25.10.1904
in History of the Middle Ages (Typescript). Similar presentations
are to be found later in lectures 15.9.1907 Occult Signs and
Symbols and 17.6.1909 Evolution, Involution and Creation out of
Nothing (also contained in The Being of Man and his Future
Evolution).
◬
Compare with lecture 9 and
the development of the pineal and pituitary glands.
◬
See Anthroposophy and the Social Question
which appeared at about the same time in the periodical
Luzifer-Gnosis.
◬
See later and more
detailed presentations in for instance The Fall of the Spirits of
Darkness. October 1917. (Typescript)
◬
Refers
probably to the outbreak of the Russian revolution of 1905 following
the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904/05. See lecture 12.10.1905
The Present Situation of the World. War, Peace and the Science of the
Spirit (Anthroposophic News Sheet Volume 1 3, Nos. 35 –
40).
◬
Later Rudolf Steiner spoke on this subject from
many different angles especially to the workmen engaged on the
Goetheanum building. See Rudolf Steiner on Nutrition and Health and
Illness.
◬
These are the
words according to Mathilde Scholl. Marie Steiner's notes, on the
contrary, report that the old healers 'call up in themselves
psychic means of healing mainly for psychic
illnesses'.
◬
Rudolf Steiner interpreted
this allegory in different ways especially in lectures in 1904 and 1905
in connection with the Temple Legend. Die Tempel legende
und die Goldene Legende. The only ones translated are Concerning
the Temple Lost and Found 15, 22, 29 May, 5 June 1905,
(Typescript).
◬
See lecture 5.10.1905
Three Essays on Haeckel and Karma.
◬
Re the original
Zarathustra see note 65. The historical Zarathustra lived in the 6th
century BC and according to Alexander Polyhistor and Plutarch, was the
teacher of Pythagoras. On the tradition in mystery schools of
transmitting the name of the teacher with the teaching, compare Rudolf
Steiner on Dionysius the Areopagite in lecture 13.
◬
83a: see lecture 22.3.1906,
Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods (Typescript).
83b: Invulnerability denoted
initiation. (See lecture 7 in the cycle on The Gospel of St
Mark.)
◬
In the 8th century St
Boniface (actually Wynfrith) emissary from Rome, known as the apostle of
the Germans, spread Christianity in Thuringia, Friesland and
Hesse and was murdered in 754 by heathen Friesians.
◬
His descriptions are to be found in Germany and its
Tribes.
◬
Rudolf Steiner has
spoken in greater detail of this connection, for instance in
Universe, Earth and Man lecture 10
◬
Rudolf Steiner here refers to Attila's penetration
into Italy in the year 452 when Aquileia was destroyed and the
Roman bishop Leo I went out with his followers against Attila and was
able to force him to retreat.
◬
Traveled especially in Africa where he founded the
East African German colonies and the German East African Company. Wrote
among other things Das Goldene Ophir Salomos (1895) and Im
Goldland des Altertums (1902).
◬
The term "plastic" as Dr. Steiner uses it in this series of lectures, indeed in all of his lectures and writings, is meant something very different than its more current meaning:
PLAS'TIC, adjective [Gr. to form.] Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of matter; as the plastic hand of the Creator; the plastic virtue of nature. Source: Websters Dictionary 1828.
∴
A Note on the Term "Theosophy"
At first glance the use of the term "theosophy" as it might appear in the above may be somewhat misleading for the English reader. It may suggest to him associations with Anglo-Indian Theosophy and the Theosophical Society founded by H. P. Blavatsky.
Rudolf Steiner, however, uses the term independently and with different and much wider connotation. In earlier centuries, particularly in Central Europe, "Theosophy" was a recognised section of Philosophy and even of Theology. Jacob Boehme was known as the great "theosopher". In English the term goes back to the seventeenth century.
Ultimately it leads us back to St. Paul who says (I Cor. ii, 6-7): "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world ... But we speak the wisdom of God (Greek 'Theosophia') in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory."
All "theosophy" implies a knowledge of the spiritual world, and such knowledge has been attained in different ways at different epochs of man's history.
∴
Appendix: The Occult Movement in the Nineteenth Century, Lecture IX
24 October 1915, Dornach
If you recall what was said in the lecture yesterday, it will be
clear to you that, fundamentally speaking, the appearance of materialism
— I do not say the materialistic conception of the world, but
materialism itself—has its very good sides. The harm occurs when
materialism is made the basis of a conception of the world. As a method
for investigating the external phenomena of the physical world,
materialism is good; it is a good instrument for investigating the
mineral world in Earth-evolution. Again it is of importance that man
is embodied in this mineral world, for thereby he develops those
faculties which can be acquired only in the physical-mineral
body. Intelligence and free will must be acquired to a certain degree
during the Earth-period. In the Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan periods, man
will possess these faculties, but a being of soul such as he is, can
acquire them only by being incarnated during the Earth-period in a
mineralised body.
A counterbalance to this evolution in mineralised earthly bodies is
created by the fact that man passes ever and again, without a
mineralised body, through the life of soul between death and a new
birth. It can be said that man must undergo very much on the Earth, on
account of the fact that between birth and death he has a mineralised
body. But what he undergoes, as it were to his cosmic disadvantage, by
being embodied in a mineralised body, is balanced out by what he lives
through between death and a new birth, when he is not a corporeal being
but entirely a being of soul— using the word in its right
sense.
To examine into the mineral element contained in stones, plants,
animals and men is the task of materialism and its method; in practising
this method in the course of the centuries man acquires that which,
fundamentally speaking, he must acquire during the Earth-period. The
modes of investigation preceding those of materialism were all still
influenced by the clairvoyance inherited by man from his previous
evolutionary states. And when, after our fifth postAtlantean, and the
post-Atlantean epoch as a whole, he has passed through his mineral
evolution and enters a different form of evolution, the closeness of his
relationship to the spiritual world will depend upon whether he has
already acquired, during the Earth-period, the intelligence and the
measure of free will foreordained for him; otherwise he will not have
fulfilled the purpose of his evolution.
Viewed in this light, the method of materialism assumes great
significance; but it must remain "method", a method for
investigating the physical, material world. It is there that, even in
the higher sense, it has its truly great significance. In that man
observes and also investigates the purely mineral world, is active in
the mineral world, he gradually unfolds his free will. For while
he stands in the mineral world, what really underlies this world is
veiled from him.
We have heard during recent weeks what is the outcome if man limits
himself to theoretical speculation within the perimeter of physical
sense-perceptions. The outcome is atomism, and as we have also heard,
atomism is nothing else than a subjective delusion. But if a man
who allows himself to be thus deluded were to go out into the world
where he looks for the atoms, he would find Ahriman and his beings. For
through those spiritual beings of whom I spoke yesterday and whom man
encounters when he breaks through the veil of nature, he will be led to
develop forces of destruction. These beings, too, it must be remembered,
are cosmic beings.
Thus we can understand what has to be said about materialistic
methods. They provide man with illusion, maya. But this illusion is
actually advantageous to man, for when he sees through it, he enters, to
begin with, into the kingdom of Ahriman and his spiritual hosts —
beings who are out for destruction and death and who cause him to
develop certain subtly destructive forces in his own human nature.
Intellect in particular, purely external cleverness, is developed in him
by the powers into whose realm he enters, so that he becomes crafty,
astute in a subtle way. If his earthly intelligence is not sufficiently
developed to see through these things, he becomes unconsciously, but
subtly cunning and crafty. It may therefore be said that materialistic
philosophy represents a period during which man can mature and thus be
able, later on, to enter this realm of Ahriman without danger.
So it is evident that materialistic natural scientists or
philosophers follow a certain justifiable instinct. The custodians of
the ancient symbols had not dared to make esotericism public and so hand
over the secrets to men. The natural scientists said to themselves
— not literally, of course, but one can put it in this way —
'we do great good if we lead men only so far as the veil and not
behind it.' Naturally they do this instinctively, but they do it,
nevertheless. Fundamentally speaking, they render humanity good service,
for if the natural scientists were to succeed in piercing the veil, they
would make man acquainted with the forces of those destructive beings of
whom I spoke yesterday, beings who are in the service of Ahriman. And
the consequence would be that men still unprepared would come into
possession of the forces proceeding from that realm and would be able to
bring about very much by their means — but it would all tend
towards destruction, towards extermination of the good. Thus even the
ignorance in which man is left through the natural scientific view of
the world has in a certain sense something good about it. That is one
side of the matter. But the other side is this.—
Man has been living, already for a number of centuries, in this world
of illusions into which, instinctively, he is placed by the scientists.
Yes — but this has not been without its effects on human nature!
When a man is living in illusion he is not living in the world of
reality. This illusion does not affect his forces of soul as strongly as
reality would affect them, and the consequence is that doubt upon doubt
heaps up in the soul — doubts which make themselves felt even in
the domain of science. Natural scientists of great eminence have
declared: Ignorabimus — we shall never know. The second
half of the nineteenth century did everything to cause men to be beset
by doubt upon doubt. But the truth is that we are facing the approach of
an era brought about by the fact that man is living more and more in
illusion, while believing he has reality. He steeps himself more and
more deeply in the materialistic view of the world, but doubts about its
validity constantly increase, and it would not take long for every human
being to be living in a condition of unalloyed doubt as the outcome of
scientific philosophy. People would then no longer be able to hold fast
to anything; doubt would inevitably arise over every problem, every
task. Scepticism would become a vast ocean in which the human soul would
inevitably be engulfed.
It is the task of Spiritual Science to make men realise that a great
ocean of scepticism and doubt threatens to break in and engulf the human
soul. And the further task of Spiritual Science is to erect dams which
will hold back this flood of scepticism and doubt. We are here facing a
vista of something that will inevitably befall man if natural scientific
doctrine continues as a view of the world.
What I am now saying is connected with a deep secret: the secret that
everything in the outer, material world lives itself out in
duality. Two is the number of manifestation; two is the number
which governs all material manifestation — but material
manifestation only. The world of material manifestation always passes
through a certain process of evolution. — Let us think of the
evolution of the maya presented by nature — nature-maya. Reaching
its zenith in the nineteenth century, this nature-maya gradually emerged
together with the natural scientific view of the world. But the
consequence of man's living in maya is that underneath this view of the
world, something else takes place, namely, the preparation for a
different view, the preparation for penetrating into reality. This
preparation is going on in the sub-consciousness; but timely care must
be taken that the next phase of evolution is steered into reality
— otherwise nature-maya will assert itself as scepticism, as the
most terrible doubt which will engulf the human soul. Thus we are
approaching a time of which it may be said that without Spiritual
Science, man will fall more and more deeply into scepticism; but if
Spiritual Science is accepted, then in the place of the doubt that would
engulf the soul, there will come what men truly need.
There is duality, as you see. Nature-maya continues, but underneath
it is the budding life, the preparation for Spiritual Science. In the
material world, duality prevails everywhere. Therefore the occultist
says: Two is the number of material manifestation. Directly one
passes from the material world into another world, the number Two no
longer has this significance, and it is entirely erroneous to
characterise higher worlds as if duality also prevailed there. It is
only the basic law of the material-physical world that can be so
characterised. In the higher world, if we are to start from number, we
must, for example, start from Three; this governs everything in
that world, just as the material world is governed by duality. In the
material world, duality prevails; in the spiritual world,
threefoldness.
There are circumstances when it is by no means unimportant to
understand that if someone says that there is white magic and black
magic, this implies duality. But duality can have meaning only in the
material world; such a person therefore immediately shows that he has no
notion of the fundamental laws of the spiritual world, for in the
spiritual world duality can never be a basic principle. True as it is
that duality lies at the basis of the physical-material world, it is
also true that in the super-sensible world we never have to do with
duality.
Now the human being is related to the whole Cosmos; as earthly man he
is a microcosm, and in order to understand certain matters it is
necessary to learn more about this relationship.
We have heard that when man breaks through the veil of nature and
penetrates into the world lying behind nature, he encounters Ahrimanic
beings, beings intent upon destruction. In the World Order these beings
are bitter enemies of man's earthly nature, so that if, through
weakness, he allies himself with them — and this is possible, as I
have indicated — he is allying himself with the enemies of man on
Earth. That is a fact, and a certain relationship existing between the
human being and the Cosmos does much to promote such an alliance.
These beings behind the veil of nature are highly intelligent. I have
spoken of human intelligence, but these beings have their own kind of
thinking and intelligence; they have feeling, although it is different
from human feeling; they also have will, although it, too, is different
from human will. They perform certain deeds which come to expression
outwardly in manifestations of nature, but the essential substantiality
of which lies behind the veil. Now there is a remarkable affinity
between something in man and the highest faculties of these beings. I
will make this clear in the following way. When man crosses the
Threshold of the spiritual world and approaches these beings, it may
seem to him as if he were entering a veritable inferno, or whatever he
conceives it to be. What matters is that he shall understand the
experience aright. What will strike him most forcibly is the remarkable
intelligence of these beings. For they are extraordinarily clever,
extraordinarily wise. Their faculties of soul come to expression in this
cleverness. But the soul-forces, the higher forces of these beings are
all related to the forces of man's lower nature. Sensuous urges
in man are, in these beings, the very forces which strike one as so
significant. Thus there is a relationship between the lowest
forces of man and the highest forces of these spiritual beings.
That is why they strive to identify themselves with the lower forces in
man. When a man enters this other world, instincts of destruction or
hatred, or the like, arise in him, because these beings draw up what
constitutes man's lower nature to their own higher nature, and with
their higher forces work through man's lower forces. Nobody can ally
himself with these beings without debasing his own nature, without
greatly enhancing the strength of certain sensuous urges and
impulses.
This is a fact of which special account must be taken, for it shows
us unambiguously how we must picture our relation to the Cosmos. In our
own human nature there are lower urges and impulses. But these lower
urges are forces which represent lower impulses only in us, as human
beings. These same urges are, in these spiritual beings, higher forces.
But these beings are working all the time within us. They are always
there within our nature. Our progress in Spiritual Science depends
essentially upon our recognising them, knowing that they are there. This
enables us to say: we have our higher forces and we have our lower
forces, and, in addition, those forces which in us are lower forces but
in these spiritual beings are higher forces. — This expands the
duality of our higher and lower forces into a triad. We are already at
the border of the Threshold of the spiritual world when, instead of the
duality of our higher and lower forces, we recognise the triad.
Now as I said, in our age it is impossible to adopt the method
employed by Father Antonius in dealing with Paul the Simpleton; it is
also impossible to do many things in the way certain Orders have been
wont to do them. — It amounts to this: the knowledge in its old
form cannot be used. For if it were thus presented to men, it would
bring about exactly what I have been speaking about. It would without
any doubt arouse lower instincts in them.
For example, there actually exists in the world an Order which leads
men to knowledge of these mysterious beings without any preparation. In
all such men, instincts of destruction are aroused, so that this Order
is actually responsible for sending human beings with destructive
instincts out into the world. In a passage in one of his writings
Nietzsche hinted at the existence of this Order without knowing
the actual circumstances. *
*
Dr. Steiner may have been referring to a passage in
The Genealogy of Morals, Section XXIV, page 287 in the
translation (together with The Birth of Tragedy) by Francis
Golffing. (Doubleday Anchor Books, New York). "When the Christian
Crusaders in the East happened upon the invincible Society of Assassins,
that order of free spirits par excellence, whose lower ranks
observed an obedience stricter than that of any monastic order, they
must have got some hint of the slogan reserved for the highest ranks,
which ran, 'Nothing is true, everything is permitted.'
" See also Dr. Steiner's own work, Friedrich Nietzsche. Ein
Kampfer gegen seine Zeit, page 25 in the Gesamtausgabe 1963
volume. (Bibl. No. 5).
That is the one side which I have felt it essential to bring to your
attention. Here (drawing on the blackboard) is a veil covering the
secrets behind nature. The veil represents everything that can be
acquired by materialistic methods. The real world lies behind, and to
enter this world is verily no simple matter. Let us hold this firmly in
our minds.
The other side is that of our life of soul, with its activities of
thinking, feeling and willing. But in the form in which this life of
soul appears to us inwardly as we actually experience it, it is maya,
just as external nature is maya. The true form of our inner life is
not that which appears to our own soul as thinking, feeling and
willing; the true reality lies behind this thinking, feeling and
willing.
Just as the learned scientists today instinctively develop the view
that nature herself presents the reality, but ultimately arrive at
atomism, so are the representatives of certain religious bodies at pains
to indicate that the thinking, feeling and willing of which the soul is
aware in the ordinary way are the reality, and continue in human beings
after their death. Just as the scientists describe naturemaya, so do the
representatives of certain religious bodies describe the maya of the
life of soul, and in so doing, again instinctively, bring a certain
trend into the evolution of mankind.
You know that already from the early Middle Ages onwards, trichotomy,
as it was called — the division of man into body, soul and
spirit—began to be a heresy in historical Christianity. As you
know, a comparatively early Council abolished the Spirit and decreed
that man was to be regarded as a being consisting only of body and soul.
And since that time this has become customary in the West. In the Middle
Ages it was a most terrible thing to speak of Spirit, of a trichotomy;
it was deemed the worst of all heresies, because Spirit had been
abolished and body and soul established as a duality. This is evidence
of the endeavour to look, even in number as applied to the human being,
for what has significance only for this earthly world. The tendency is
to keep man within a world that is in truth only maya, because he stops
short at the thinking, feeling and willing which are themselves of the
same character. Attention is limited to those effects of the present
incarnation which last only through the first period between death and a
new birth. What is elaborated in man's being in order subsequently to
come forth in the next incarnation is left entirely out of account.
I may perhaps indicate this diagrammatically in the following way
(see diagram). Here is the body (red) and here what lies behind it
— which is not visible and could be perceived only by penetrating
through the nerve endings. If atoms were not accepted as forming the
basis of the world but one were to go out of the body with vision, one
would come to the realm where the beings of destruction seize hold of
the whole man. And now, within this, I draw the life of soul unfolded by
man in the physical world (blue). Thus the red and the
blue represent what man is aware of here, namely, his bodily
nature and his life of soul. But while we are living between birth and
death, the imperceptible (yellow) develops, and remains wholly
imperceptible to us. When we die, our thinking, feeling and willing do
not continue; they are exhausted, and in the process the yellow
is elaborated (the imperceptible). This increases in power between death
and a new birth and in so doing becomes the foundation of the new
incarnation. We are reincarnated with new thinking, new feeling, new
will, and a new bodily nature. Thus when we speak of what is revealed to
our soul here on Earth, we are speaking of something that comes to an
end, does not go with us into the next incarnation. Of the soul itself,
the representatives of certain religious bodies say: the human being
dies, goes either to heaven or to hell, and we concern ourselves no more
with him. According to certain representatives of religion, this is
enough; what passes on to the next incarnation is not important. The aim
is to conceal the fact that the spirit in man passes into the spiritual
world and lives on until the next incarnation. It can be said that
representatives of certain religious bodies are intent upon not allowing
man to become aware of the yellow (diagram) in his nature, upon
preventing him from knowing anything of it. Here again, they are really
obeying a certain sound instinct, but one which shows even more clearly
than the instinct prompting the learned naturalists, that in our time it
has really lost its value.
Figure 1
The efforts of the representatives of various religious communities
all tend quite decisively in the direction of concealing the fact that
there is a spiritual world to which belongs the inmost core of our
being, which is destined to appear in repeated Earth-lives, and in the
intervals between them to pass through an entirely spiritual form of
existence; they try to conceal this by offering men the consolation that
the life of soul which comes to expression in thinking, feeling and
willing is, after all, sufficiently immortal.
In their actions and trend of thinking these pastors of souls
instinctively prevent men from coming into contact with certain beings.
Man can never penetrate into the world of his true and innermost being
without coming into contact with certain beings — just as in the
way described he comes into contact with different beings if he desires
or is actually able to break through the veil of nature. But the beings
with whom he is related in this other world are of a Luciferic
order.
If, as the result of certain teachings having been imparted to him
without the requisite caution, a man comes into contact with certain
destructive beings behind the veil of nature, he will become one who
values nothing in the world, and it will soon be apparent that he takes
actual pleasure in destruction—which need not necessarily be
destruction of external things. Many men to whom this has happened have
shown that they take pleasure in tormenting and oppressing other souls.
These are the characteristics which come into evidence. But it can never
be said that men who have such traits owing to their alliance with
Ahrimanic elementary beings, are invariably egotistic. They need not be
and indeed usually are not, egotists. They act out of an urge quite
different from that of egotism. They act out of a lust for destruction,
and they destroy without the slightest benefit accruing to themselves.
The beings into whose sphere a man enters are essentially beings of
destruction, and they tempt him, lure him, to destroy.
The other beings into whose sphere man comes when he penetrates
behind the veil of the life of soul have a quite different character.
They have no particular lust for destruction. In point of fact, what we
know as destruction does not enter their ken. They have a veritable
passion for creating, for bringing something into being — a
tremendous urge for activity, for productivity. And they too have
certain higher faculties which are less closely related to our thinking
than to our feeling, and especially to our will. We enter here into a
sphere of beings preeminently related to our will, but — curiously
enough — to the noblest sides of our will.
Thus if we enter this world without knowing anything of what the
Initiate knows, namely, that behind the world of nature and also behind
the world of soul there is a spiritual world, when we fill our will with
ideals, when we unfold noble, spiritualised will, this will becomes
allied precisely with the lower attributes of these beings into
whose sphere we have entered. There is a mysterious bond of attraction
between the noble side of our will and the lower urges and desires of
these beings.
And now think of it. — If a man's spiritual pastor gives him
the consolation of immortality, laying stress on the dignity of the
human soul, the majesty of the Divine and the like, it may happen that
through some slight incitement, particularly if he was a noble
character, he breaks through the membrane of his soul-activity at some
point and penetrates behind the secrets of his thinking, feeling and
willing. But he then comes into the region of these beings of will, and
the consequence is that the idealistic side of his will actually begins
to assume a sensuous character. And now, with this in mind, please read
the descriptions given by certain mystics of either sex. As you read the
biographies of these mystics, notice the sultry, voluptuous atmosphere
which pervades them. The most sublime ideals assume a sensuous
character. I would remind you of the rapture experienced by mystics in
connection with their "soul-bride" or
"soul-bridegroom"; in women mystics the mystical union is
like a sensuous union with the Saviour, and in male mystics like an
actual bond with the bride of the soul, with the Virgin Mary.
It is the endeavour of these beings of will to pour into man's
thinking, into his ideals, what he otherwise knows as sensuousness. This
is a hard saying. These beings into whose regions a man there enters,
strive—and from their own standpoint it is a justified striving
— to pour their sensuous instincts into his idealised will. And
then the willing that goes out from the head, which otherwise has a
certain quality of cool detachment about it, is pervaded by a sultry,
voluptuous experience of the spiritual world, which often seems to have
the character of fevered mysticism. The representatives of the various
religious bodies have an infinite dread of this, and their greatest fear
of all is aroused by those among their believers who come forward as
mystics.
Verily, we have here Scylla and Charybdis. If we desire to pierce
through the veil of nature, we come to Scylla, to the Ahrimanic beings
who wish to endow us abundantly with destructive forces of intelligence.
If we desire to pierce through the veil of the life of soul, we come to
Charybdis, to the Luciferic beings of will, who would fain pervade us
with the fumes of spiritual ecstasy, spiritual rapture, spiritual
instincts.
Priestly Orders intent upon the cultivation of the religious life
were therefore in a certain sense right to take care that when mystics
appeared among them, at least the shadow-side of mysticism should not
come to the fore. Hence in a certain sense they erected barriers against
the entrance into the spiritual worlds. Just think how certain religious
Orders — I am speaking, not of occult but of religious Orders
— were associated with manual work, with labour that allows
delight in nature, delight in what lives in the world around, to arise
in the soul; just think how such Orders, if the right principles were
understood, insisted upon outer, manual work. Those who founded such
Orders said to themselves: "The worst thing we could do would be
to isolate men and allow the mystic life to develop in them as the
outcome of inertia and idleness." Read the monastic rules
originating in better times and in the better Orders, and you will
everywhere see that full account was taken of what I have just
mentioned, how mystic rapture and fevered ecstasy were counteracted by
manual labour. — And now you will also understand why Father
Antonius caused Paul the Simpleton to work, even if it served no useful
purpose. Had he allowed him to cultivate idleness for years, Paul the
Simpleton would have become a senuous, ecstatic mystic.
We have, as you see, to do with a duality: with objective
occultism which, if it is simply handed over to unprepared men,
makes them destroyers; and with subjective mysticism, which if it
is cultivated or suddenly appears in idealistic natures, makes men
egotists — egotists such as are to be met with in numbers of
mystics who have developed merely a subtle form of egotism, a subtle
mania for fostering their own souls. If you read the biographies of the
mystics, you will often be appalled by the egotism they display.
The region of Scylla is that of the spirits who serve Ahriman. We
come into their sphere if we cultivate, not egotism but the will for
destruction. If we cultivate the subjective mysticism connected with the
Luciferic spirits of will into whose sphere we enter, then Charybdis
approaches us from the other side; for these spirits do everything to
foster egotism, so that our own inner nature forms the world for us.
This is the duality in the material world: objective occultism —
subjective mysticism. In both realms there may be aberrations.
Fundamentally speaking, in what has been developing for centuries
there is present, on the one side, objective occultism, guarded in the
Secret Societies and Orders but no longer effectively protected owing to
the insistent trend towards publicity. We have heard of the efforts that
were made to find a way out of the dilemma. And on the other side there
is subjective mysticism.
It follows from this that when we wanted to lay the foundations of
Spiritual Science, it behoved us not to allow ourselves to be enticed
either by Scylla or Charybdis, but to steer between them; it behoved us
neither to cultivate the old, traditional occultism, nor the old,
traditional mysticism. And now you have a deeper conception of what
gives our Movement its direction. Both objective occultism and
subjective mysticism in the old sense had to be avoided. Our Spiritual
Science had to be of a character ensuring that Scylla as well as
Charybdis are avoided.
I have still to speak to you about the fundamental character which
our Spiritual Science must bear in order that it may steer clear of both
these dangers. But it obviously cannot be avoided that at the present
time, out of mistaken notions, certain people come to us because some of
them are looking for an old, objective occultism, while others are
hankering after old, subjective mysticism. It is hardly likely that
either the one type or the other will find among us what they are
looking for. But they believe they find it by simply interpreting our
teaching to suit their own liking. The form which our teaching must
take, and what our attitude to it must be if our ship is to be steered
between Scylla and Charybdis — of this I must speak again
tomorrow.
