The Foundations of Esotericism
GA 93a
2 October 1905, Berlin
Lecture VII
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, in the Secret Doctrine, called Jehovah a Moon God.26Blavatsky calls Jehovah a Moon God. Secret Doctrine. Volume 11. 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 The parts, however, from which the higher has been withdrawn do not remain as they are today, but they then descend a further stage lower.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.27In 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 Omnipotcncc; this was preceeded by the Cosmos of Being’. 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... The notes of the text here are inadequate and unreliable. 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.
VII
Helena Petrowna Blavatsky hat in der «Geheimlehre» Jehova einen Mondgott genannt. Das hat einen tieferen Grund. Um das zu verstehen, müssen wir uns die Weiterentwickelung des Menschen klarmachen. So wie der Mensch jetzt ist, sind seine höheren Kräfte durcheinandergemischt. Seine Höherentwickelung besteht darin, daß das höhere Selbst aus den niederen Kräften und Organen herausgeschält wird.
Das Gehirn zerfällt in drei wirkliche Teile: in ein Denk-, Gefühls- und Willensgehirn. Diese drei Partien werden später wie die drei Teile eines Ameisenhaufens von außen vom Menschen dirigiert werden. Die Teile nun, aus denen das Höhere herausgeschält wird, bleiben aber dann nicht so, wie sie heute sind, sondern sie steigen dann noch um eine Stufe herunter. Das ist der Grund, warum manche Menschen bei einer einseitigen geistigen Entwickelung moralisch schlechter werden. Bei der abendländischen Geisteskultur ist dafür weniger Gefahr vorhanden, denn die abendländische Wissenschaft zwingt noch nicht aus dem unteren Körper das höhere Geistige herauf. Mit der Theosophie dagegen nimmt der Mensch tatsächlich eine Weisheit auf, durch die das Ich zum Teil herausgerissen wird aus der gewohnten Organumgebung. Wenn ein Mensch, der theosophische Lehren aufnimmt, bis dahin nur durch das ihn umgebende Konventionelle ein anständiger Mensch war, so kann der schlechtere Mensch, der bis dahin verborgen blieb, dann tatsächlich herauskommen. Solche Erscheinungen kann man beobachten. Oft kommt die schlimme Natur gerade dadurch heraus, daß man sich mit Geistigem beschäftigt, ohne gleichzeitig das Moralische zu stärken. Diese Tatsache bringt eine gewisse Tragik mit sich. Die Theosophische Gesellschaft hatte tatsächlich auch zu leiden in dieser Beziehung. Einige Gelehrte, die auf dem Gebiete des abendländischen Wissens ganz tüchtige Menschen gewesen waren, haben darunter gelitten, daß sie in die Theosophische Gesellschaft kamen; bei ihnen ist die niedere Natur herausgekommen, ohne von der höheren beherrscht zu werden.
Dasselbe Gesetz findet man auch in größerem Maßstabe. Die Wesenheiten, die wir auf dem alten Monde antreffen, hatten ihre Denkkraft noch nicht in einem physischen Gehirn. Die Denkkraft der Mond-Nirmanakayas, Bodhisattvas, Pitris und reinen Menschen arbeitete noch nicht in einem physischen Gehirn, sondern in der Äthermasse um sie her. Auf dem alten Monde war in der Umgebung nicht bloß Luft, sondern Äther, der mit Weisheit erfüllt ist. Die Gedanken waren auf dem alten Monde nicht in den einzelnen Wesenheiten, sondern sie schwirrten im Äther herum. Man nennt daher im Okkultismus den Mond auch den Kosmos der Weisheit. Wärmeäther und andere Ätherformen umgaben den Mond. Darin lebten Verstand und Vernunft, wie sie jetzt im Gehirn des Menschen leben. Dieser Zustand aber unterlag einer Entwickelung. Im Anfange der Mondenentwickelung prägte sich die Weisheit noch in schönen Gestalten aus. Die Wesenheiten, die nur die unteren Teile des Menschen, den physischen Körper, den Ätherkörper und den Astralkörper hatten, wurden von den Weisheitsströmen dirigiert. Bei der Weiterentwickelung stiegen nun die drei unteren Körper tiefer herunter. Als die Mondenentwickelung zu Ende war, waren die Wesenheiten, die weise waren, aber die Weisheit nicht in einem Gehirn hatten, so weit gekommen, daß sie diese niederen Körper ganz verlassen konnten. Diese Wesen, die nun Pitris geworden waren, die nicht mehr in solche physische, Äther- und Astralkörper hineinzugehen brauchten, waren die Scharen der Elohim mit verschiedenen Graden. Die unterste Rangstufe dieser Elohim ist die Jehova-Stufe. Also ist Jehova eine wirkliche Mondengottheit, die auf dem Monde durch die physische Entwickelung hindurchgegangen ist. Er hat aber auf dem Monde die physische Umgebung niemals denkerisch durch ein Gehirn verarbeiten können. Nur sein physischer, Äther- und Astralkörper hatten die physische Umgebung verarbeitet. Aber als Bilder hatte er sie verarbeitet. Das Denken schwebte darüber. Der Name Jehova bezeichnet nicht ein einzelnes Wesen, sondern eine Rangordnung in der Hierarchie. Viele Wesen können den Jehova-Rang einnehmen oder in ihn hineinrücken. Eliphas Levi hat wiederholt betont, daß man es bei den Bezeichnungen wie Jehova, Archangeloi, Angeloi und so weiter mit Rangordnungen zu tun hat.
Die ersten, die als Menschen auf der Erde unterrichtet wurden, bekamen diesen Unterricht von Jehova in Bildern. Daher ist die Genesis eine Summe von großen Bildern; die Bilder, die Jehova auf dem Monde erlebt hatte.
Während sich auf dem Monde einerseits nur die niedere Wesenheit des Menschen, physischer, Äther- und Astralkörper, ausbildete, ist andererseits die obere Trinität gehegt und gepflegt worden. Diese war auch herangereift, nachdem auf dem alten Saturn Atma, auf der alten Sonne Buddhi, auf dem alten Monde Manas veranlagt wurden. Diese konnten sich dann auf der Erde weiterentwickeln. Was vom physischen, Äther- und Astralkörper herüberkam vom alten Monde auf die Erde, das sind die grotesken Tiere, in die sich das Atma-Buddhi-Manas nach und nach einhüllen konnte. Die Mondpitris hatten den schlechteren Teil übriggelassen, hatten dafür aber Atma, Buddhi, Manas gehegt und gepflegt in objektiver Weise. Sie brachten es durch ihre Pflege fertig, daß dadurch auf der Erde ein Denker entstehen konnte. Wenn man die äußeren Geschöpfe auf dem Monde ansieht, so sind das die Hüllen, welche den Menschen umgeben haben, nicht die Menschen selbst. Die Hüllen waren deshalb zu brauchen, weil aus ihnen das herausgegangen war, was notwendig war... (Lücke im Text.) Nun konnte sich die übrige Materie zusammenballen zu dem Gehirn. Der Anlage nach war der Stoff zum Gehirn da, konnte sich aber erst kondensieren, nachdem die Pitris heraus waren.
Der Prozeß vor der lemurischen Zeit ist ein vorbereitender. Der Menschenleib wird so ausgearbeitet, daß sich das Atma-BuddhiManas hineinsenken kann. Dieses hat sich mit Kamamasse umgeben. Denken wir uns nun eine schleimige, gallertartige Wesenheit, die sich aus dem, was von dem Monde gekommen ist, herausringt. Das ist eine physische Grundlage. Außerdem ist vorhanden Atma-BuddhiManas und ein Astralkörper, den diese um sich herum organisiert haben. Diese Prinzipien bearbeiten nun die gallertartige Masse von außen, bis sie von dieser Masse von innen heraus Besitz ergreifen können. Das Geistige durchdringt schließlich das Physische. Jetzt haben sich eigentlich zwei verschiedenartige Wesenheiten vereinigt. In dem Augenblick, als das Gehirn gebildet ist, gehen sie ineinander auf. Dadurch kamen nun auch Geburt und Tod in die Erdenentwickelung. Früher hatten die Menschen den physischen Leib selbst aufgebaut; später wird es wieder so sein. Weil sich aber zwei Wesenheiten vereinigt haben, die nun annähernd zusammenpassen, haben wir Geburt und Tod, und jeder Zeitraum zwischen Geburt und Tod ist ein fortwährender Versuch, diese zwei verschiedenen Wesenheiten einander besser anzugleichen; ein Hinundherpendeln, bis endlich ein rhythmischer Zustand eintritt.
Bis in die Mitte der sechsten Wurzelrasse (Hauptzeitalter) wird das fortdauern, bis dieser rhythmische Zustand erreicht ist und das eine Wesen dem anderen ganz angepaßt sein wird. Und Karma ist nichts anderes als das Maß des Ausgleiches, zu dem es der Mensch schon gebracht hat. In einer jeden Inkarnation erreicht man einen bestimmten Grad der Anpassung. Man muß nach jeder Inkarnation wieder zum Devachan aufsteigen, um zu überschauen, was man noch zu tun hat. Erst wenn der Ausgleich erreicht ist, ist Karma überwunden und der Mensch kann etwas Neues, die wahre Weisheit, Buddhi, aufnehmen; die muß bis dahin gehegt und gepflegt werden.
Die zukünftige Entwickelung muß vorbereitet werden. Was der Mensch jetzt schon von sich gibt als Vorbereitung des zukünftigen Menschen, ist das Wort, die Sprache. Was der Mensch spricht, bleibt in der Akasha-Chronik. Es ist die erste Anlage für den zukünftigen Menschen. Die Sprache ist die Hälfte des früheren Fortpflanzungsvermögens. Durch die Sprache pflanzt der Mensch sich geistig fort. Damit hängt beim Manne die Änderung der Stimme zusammen. Die Hälfte des Sexuellen ist auf die Sprache übertragen worden. Die Stimme ist das spätere Fortpflanzungsorgan. Im Althebräischen hat man dasselbe Wort für das Sexuelle und die Sprache. Jetzt denkt der Mensch, und der Gedanke geht durch den Kehlkopf nach außen. Die nächste Stufe ist, daß das Gefühl nach außen geht, die Wärme. Dann wird das Wort der Ausdruck der inneren Körperwärme sein. Das kann geschehen, wenn der Schleimkörper (die Hypophyse) im Gehirn entwickelt sein wird. Die darauffolgende Stufe tritt ein, wenn die Zirbeldrüse (Epiphyse) entwickelt ist. Dann wird nicht nur das durchwärmte Wort nach außen gehen, sondern das Wort wird bleiben, wird gestaltet sein durch den Willen, der dann darin lebt. Wenn man dann das Wort sagt, wird es zu einem wirklichen Wesen.
Damit hängt zusammen das: «Ich denke, ich fühle, ich bin» (Wille). Das Wort in dieser Weise ist «das Wort», das sich verwandelt vom Gedanken in Gefühl, dann in Willen. Das ist ein dreifacher Prozeß: Zuerst ist das Wort «Bewußtsein» (im Denken), dann «Leben» (das durchwärmte Wort), und zuletzt «Form», das durch den Willen gestaltete Wort. Dieses letztere ist das objektiv gewordene Wort. So folgen auch hier aufeinander: Bewußtsein, Leben, Form. Alles was heute Form ist, ist von früher her durch solch einen Prozeß entstanden. Der physische Körper, die Form, ist der reifste Körper; weniger reif sind der Ätherkörper, das Leben, und der Astralkörper, das Bewußtsein.
VII
In The Secret Doctrine, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky referred to Jehovah as a moon god. There is a deeper reason for this. To understand it, we must understand the further development of human beings. As humans are now, their higher powers are mixed up. Their higher development consists in the higher self being separated from the lower powers and organs.
The brain is divided into three real parts: a thinking brain, a feeling brain, and a willing brain. These three parts will later be directed by humans from the outside, like the three parts of an anthill. However, the parts from which the higher self is extracted do not remain as they are today, but descend one level further. This is why some people become morally worse when they develop one-sidedly intellectually. There is less danger of this in Western intellectual culture, because Western science does not yet force the higher spiritual out of the lower body. With theosophy, on the other hand, the human being actually absorbs a wisdom through which the ego is partially torn out of its familiar organic environment. If a person who absorbs theosophical teachings was previously only a decent person because of the conventional environment surrounding them, the worse person, who had remained hidden until then, can actually come out. Such phenomena can be observed. Often, the bad nature comes out precisely because one is engaged in spiritual matters without at the same time strengthening one's moral character. This fact brings with it a certain tragedy. The Theosophical Society has indeed suffered in this regard. Some scholars who had been quite capable people in the field of Western knowledge suffered from joining the Theosophical Society; their lower nature came out without being controlled by their higher nature.
The same law can also be found on a larger scale. The beings we encounter on the ancient moon did not yet have their thinking power in a physical brain. The thinking power of the moon nirmanakayas, bodhisattvas, pitris, and pure humans did not yet work in a physical brain, but in the etheric mass around them. On the ancient moon, the environment was not just air, but ether filled with wisdom. On the old moon, thoughts were not in individual beings, but swirled around in the ether. In occultism, the moon is therefore also called the cosmos of wisdom. Heat ether and other forms of ether surrounded the moon. Within them lived intellect and reason, as they now live in the human brain. However, this state was subject to development. At the beginning of the moon's development, wisdom still manifested itself in beautiful forms. The beings, who had only the lower parts of the human being, the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body, were directed by the streams of wisdom. As development progressed, the three lower bodies descended deeper. When the Moon's development came to an end, the beings who were wise but did not have wisdom in a brain had progressed so far that they could leave these lower bodies completely. These beings, who had now become Pitris and no longer needed to enter such physical, etheric, and astral bodies, were the hosts of Elohim with different degrees. The lowest rank of these Elohim is the Jehovah level. So Jehovah is a real lunar deity who went through physical development on the moon. However, he was never able to process the physical environment on the moon through a brain. Only his physical, etheric, and astral bodies had processed the physical environment. But he had processed it as images. Thought hovered above it. The name Jehovah does not refer to a single being, but to a rank in the hierarchy. Many beings can occupy or move into the Jehovah rank. Eliphas Levi repeatedly emphasized that terms such as Jehovah, Archangeloi, Angeloi, and so on refer to ranks.
The first humans to be taught on Earth received this teaching from Jehovah in images. Therefore, Genesis is a collection of great images; the images that Jehovah had experienced on the Moon.
While on the Moon only the lower entity of the human being, the physical, etheric, and astral bodies, was formed, the higher Trinity was nurtured and cared for. This had also matured after Atma was implanted on the old Saturn, Buddhi on the old Sun, and Manas on the old Moon. These could then develop further on Earth. What came over from the old Moon to the Earth in terms of the physical, etheric, and astral bodies are the grotesque animals in which the Atma-Buddhi-Manas was gradually able to envelop itself. The Moon Pitris had left behind the worse part, but had nurtured and cared for Atma, Buddhi, and Manas in an objective way. Through their care, they succeeded in bringing about the emergence of a thinker on Earth. When one looks at the outer creatures on the Moon, these are the shells that surrounded human beings, not the human beings themselves. The shells were needed because what was necessary had come out of them... (gap in the text). Now the remaining matter could clump together to form the brain. The material for the brain was there, but it could only condense after the Pitris had left.
The process before the Lemurian period is a preparatory one. The human body is developed so that the Atma-Buddhi-Manas can sink into it. This has surrounded itself with Kamamasse. Let us now imagine a slimy, gelatinous entity that wrests itself out of what has come from the moon. This is a physical basis. In addition, there is Atma-Buddhi-Manas and an astral body that they have organized around themselves. These principles now work on the gelatinous mass from the outside until they can take possession of it from within. The spiritual finally penetrates the physical. Now two different entities have actually united. The moment the brain is formed, they merge into each other. This is how birth and death came into earthly development. In the past, humans built their own physical bodies; later, this will be the case again. But because two beings have united that now fit together almost perfectly, we have birth and death, and every period between birth and death is a continuous attempt to better align these two different beings; a back-and-forth oscillation until a rhythmic state is finally achieved.
This will continue until the middle of the sixth root race (main epoch), until this rhythmic state is reached and one being is completely adapted to the other. And karma is nothing other than the measure of the balance that the human being has already achieved. In each incarnation, one reaches a certain degree of adaptation. After each incarnation, one must ascend again to Devachan in order to see what still needs to be done. Only when balance has been achieved is karma overcome and can the human being take in something new, true wisdom, Buddhi, which must be cherished and nurtured until then.
Future development must be prepared. What humans already express now in preparation for future humans is the word, language. What humans speak remains in the Akashic Records. It is the first foundation for future humans. Language is half of the former reproductive capacity. Through language, humans reproduce spiritually. In men, this is connected with the change in voice. Half of sexuality has been transferred to language. The voice is the later reproductive organ. In ancient Hebrew, the same word is used for sexuality and language. Now humans think, and the thought goes out through the larynx. The next stage is that feeling goes outward, warmth. Then the word will be the expression of inner body warmth. This can happen when the mucous body (the pituitary gland) in the brain is developed. The next stage occurs when the pineal gland (epiphysis) is developed. Then not only will the warmed word go outward, but the word will remain, will be shaped by the will that then lives in it. When one then speaks the word, it becomes a real being.
This is related to: “I think, I feel, I am” (will). The word in this sense is “the Word” that transforms from thought into feeling, then into will. This is a threefold process: first, the word is “consciousness” (in thought), then ‘life’ (the warmed word), and finally “form,” the word shaped by the will. The latter is the word that has become objective. So here too, consciousness, life, and form follow one another. Everything that is form today has come into being through such a process in the past. The physical body, the form, is the most mature body; less mature are the etheric body, life, and the astral body, consciousness.