The Foundations of Esotericism
GA 93a
10 October 1905, Berlin
Lecture XV
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’50Written 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 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.
XV
Alles was heute in der Theosophie gelehrt wird, war auch in den Schulen der Rosenkreuzer im 14. Jahrhundert enthalten. Aber die innere Schulung der Rosenkreuzerströmung war eine streng okkulte. Bei einer solchen okkulten Schulung nimmt man sehr wenig Rücksicht auf die Sprache, auf die Art und Weise, wie man sich ausdrückt. Innerhalb der Welt des 15., 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts lebte eine Art von schlichten Menschen, die nicht als besondere Gelehrte bekannt waren, auch keine besondere soziale Stellung einnahmen, die aber die okkulte Strömung der Rosenkreuzer weiterleiteten. Es waren nie sehr viele. Wirkliche Eingeweihte gab es nie mehr als sieben zu gleicher Zeit; die anderen waren Geheimschüler verschiedener Grade. Die Rosenkreuzer waren die Sendboten der weißen Loge. Von ihnen gingen in Wahrheit die weltbedeutenden Geschehnisse aus. Alles Wichtige, was in dieser Zeit geschah, führt in den letzten Fäden in die Loge der Rosenkreuzer hinein. Äußerlich haben ganz andere die Geschichte Europas gemacht, aber innerlich gesehen, waren diese die Werkzeuge der okkulten Individualitäten. Selbst Rousseau und Voltaire waren solche Werkzeuge von hinter ihnen stehenden okkulten Individualitäten. Diese okkulten Individualitäten konnten selbst nicht mit ihrem Namen auftreten. Die Anregung, die sie bei der Ausübung ihrer Mission anderen Menschen gaben, konnte äußerlich eine sehr einfache, unauffällige sein. Manchmal war die kurze Begegnung mit einem solchen schlichten Manne die Gelegenheit, bei welcher den Werkzeugen der okkulten Individualitäten der richtige Impuls gegeben wurde. Auch hinter den bedeutenden Staatsmännern stehen bis zur Französischen Revolution okkulte Mächte. Dann ziehen sie sich allmählich zurück, denn die Menschen sollen selbst Herr ihrer Geschicke werden. Zum ersten Mal sprechen Menschen als Menschen in den Reden der Französischen Revolution.
Das innere Leben blieb in den okkulten Schulen zurück. In den Schulen der Rosenkreuzer wurden jene Lehren gelehrt, die man jetzt als den elementaren Teil der Theosophie kennt. Zu jeder wichtigen Entdeckung gaben die okkulten Brüderschaften den Anlaß; dann erst spielten sich die Ereignisse draußen in der Welt ab. Voltaire war ein im eminentesten Sinne von vorwärtsstrebenden Brüderschaften getriebener Geist, denn er war im wesentlichen dazu da, um die Menschen auf ihre eigenen Füße zu stellen. Andere standen im Dienste von retardierenden Brüderschaften; so zum Beispiel Robespierre im späteren Lebensalter. Alles was verfrüht auftritt, ruft auf dem physischen Plane einen Gegenpol hervor... (Lücke im Text.)
In den Schulen der Rosenkreuzer wurden also dieselben Lehren gelehrt, wie jetzt durch die Theosophie. Nur war in der Welt draußen nicht von Theosophie die Rede. In den eigentlichen Geheimschulen legt man nur dann Wert auf die Sprache, wenn man die Welt belehren will. Der Geheimschüler selbst muß lernen, die Symbole, die Zeichen zu gebrauchen. Um sich aber der Welt verständlich zu machen, haben die Eingeweihten auch nur die Sprache, welche die Umwelt gebraucht. Es gab, als man das Wissen noch ganz geheim hielt, ein gewisses System von Symbolen, und jeder, der eingeweiht werden wollte, mußte die Sprache der Symbole lernen. Man legte keinen Wert auf die sprachliche Ausdrucksweise. Auch damals hatte man alle die Lehren; aber manchmal fehlten die bezeichnenden Ausdrücke. Solche Ausdrücke sind jedoch vorhanden für die okkulte Lehre in der morgenländischen Methode des Lehrens, die noch von den allerältesten Indern stammen, die den Unterricht der alten Rishis gehabt haben. Diese indischen Ausdrücke sind noch nicht von dem materialistischen Zeitalter beeinflußt. Die Worte, die die Inder geprägt haben, sind noch voll von dem Zauber des Heiligen der Ursprache. Dennoch ist das Indertum etwas, das wir für uns in Europa nicht brauchen können.
Was für das indische Volk richtig ist, ist nicht auch für Europa richtig. Anfangs war ein Einschlag von Indien notwendig, weil Europa selbst zu wenig Ausdrücke ausgebildet hatte, um die Lehren einzuführen. Manche Dinge müssen auch wir noch mit indischen Worten bezeichnen. Aber alles, was heute in den okkulten Lehren vorkommt, war auch bei den Rosenkreuzern im Mittelalter und im Beginn der Neuzeit vorhanden. Für das Zentrale, worauf es ankommt, hatte man auch damals die richtigen Ausdrücke. Von Reinkarnation und Karma hat man damals äußerlich nicht sprechen können; man konnte aber diese Wahrheiten unbewußt in die europäische Kultur einfließen lassen. Paracelsus und andere Mystiker haben von Reinkarnation nicht gesprochen. Das war ganz natürlich. Sie konnten nicht davon sprechen. Aber für alles, was sich auf den irdischen Lebenslauf zwischen Geburt und Tod bezieht, hatten sie im Abendlande auch außerordentlich treffende Ausdrücke und Bezeichnungen, dagegen nicht für den Zustand der Zwischenheit zwischen zwei Inkarnationen. Eines ist damals sehr betont worden, daß das physische Leben wichtig ist für die Ausbildung der Organe der höheren Leiber. Wenn wir Wissenschaften betreiben, wenn wir intime geistige Freundschaften entwickeln, so ist das alles ein Heranbilden von Kräften, die einmal als geistige Organe wirken werden.
Man hat immer in drei einheitlichen Begriffen zusammengefaßt, wie von außen her die Erziehung des physischen Planes beim Menschen in seinen verschiedenen Körpern wirken soll. Diese drei Gesichtspunkte nannte man: Weisheit, Schönheit und Gewalt oder Stärke.
Wenn in den mehr exoterischen Rosenkreuzerschulen, in dem äußeren Vorhof die Schüler unterwiesen wurden, so wurde ihnen gesagt: Ihr sollt Arbeiter der Zukunft sein. - Von Reinkarnation wurde nicht gesprochen. Aber der Mensch würde ja auch dann weiter wirken, wenn er nicht wieder hier im Physischen inkarniert würde. Es wurde ihm eingepflanzt, was in der Zukunft organbildend auftreten soll. Es wurde dem Schüler gesagt: Führt draußen im Alltagsleben ein Leben der Weisheit, Schönheit und Gewalt, dann werdet ihr in euern höheren Leibern solche Organe entwickeln, die für die Zukunft sind. — Bei den Freimaurern reden heute noch die JohannesMaurer davon, was für wichtige Dinge Weisheit, Schönheit und Gewalt sind, wissen aber nicht mehr, daß dadurch der Ätherleib, der Astralleib und das Ich mit ihren Organen ausgestaltet werden.
Wenn im Mittelalter ein Freimaurer-Baumeister einen Dom, eine Kirche gebaut hat, so war dabei sein Name gar nicht von Wichtigkeit. Er hielt sich im Verborgenen. Auch bei der «Theologia deutsch» ist aus demselben Grunde der Verfasser nicht genannt. Er nennt sich «der Frankfurter». Kein gelehrter Forscher kann den Namen ausfindig machen. Das Bestreben dieser Menschen war, äußerlich auf dem physischen Plan zu arbeiten und keine Spuren von ihren Namen, wohl aber von ihrer Tätigkeit auf dem physischen Plan zu hinterlassen.
Nehmen wir an, jemand habe den Plan und die Anregung gegeben zum Bau eines großen Domes. Er hat gewußt: die Formen des Domes schaffen in ihm ein Organ für die Zukunft. Alle solchen Werke werden in ihren Wirkungen mit dem Inneren der Seele verbunden bleiben. In der Regel bleiben aber auch die äußeren Werke so lange, daß derjenige, der sie geschaffen hat, sie wiederfindet und wiedererkennt, wenn er wiederkommt. Unter der Kanzel findet man gewöhnlich das kleine Bild des Baumeisters; daran erkennt er sich wieder. Das ist die Brücke, die geschlagen wird von einer Inkarnation zur anderen.
Durch die Weisheit sollte der Ätherkörper, durch die Schönheit, zu der die Frömmigkeit gehörte, sollte der Astralkörper, und durch die Gewalt das eigentliche Ich ausgebildet werden. Der Mensch sollte ein sich selbst verleugnender Abdruck von der Außenwelt werden. Davon hat man im alten Indien noch nichts gewußt. Der Brahmanismus strebte nach einer Vervollkommnung des Selbst im Inneren... (Lücke im Text, siehe Hinweis auf $. 279).
... aber gerade in der Mitte unseres nachatlantischen Zyklus traten diejenigen Religionslehrer auf, die auf das Aufgeben des Selbst hinwiesen. Buddha lehrte das schon. Noch mehr aber wurde dies im Abendlande kultiviert durch das Freimaurertum und das Rosenkreuzertum. Sie suchten die Vervollkommnung des Ich in der Form, die auch in der Außenwelt ist, nicht so sehr in jener, die im Inneren lebt, wie sie in Indien gepflegt wurde. In diesem Sinne sagte sich der abendländische Okkultist: Dein Ich ist nicht nur in dir, sondern in der Welt um dich herum. Aus dem Mineralreich, Pflanzen- und Tierreich haben dich die Götter herausgehoben, aber drei Reiche erschaffst du dir selbst, die drei Reiche der Weisheit, der Schönheit und der Gewalt. Diese organisieren den höheren Menschen.
Der Mensch sagte sich: Ich stehe da als Abschluß aus einer Zeit, in der sich Mineralreich, Pflanzenreich und Tierreich für mich aufgegeben haben; aus diesem Grunde ist das Selbstbewußtsein, das Ich hervorgegangen. Und wie das Ich durch die anderen gestaltet worden ist, soll es jetzt selbst die Reiche der Weisheit, der Schönheit und der Stärke ausgestalten, um sich wiederum an ihnen noch höher hinaufzuranken zu einer völligen Umgestaltung unseres Äther-, Astral- und Ich-Körpers. Diese drei Reiche sind das Reich der Wissenschaft, der Kunst und der innerlichen Stärke, die all das bedeutet, was der Wille auslebt. In diesen drei Gliedern hat der mittelalterliche Esoteriker die Mittel zur Fortentwickelung des Menschen gesehen. Nicht dem blinden Ungefähr soll die Verwandlung der Welt übergeben sein, sondern nach diesen drei Gesichtspunkten der Weisheit, der Schönheit und der Stärke sollen das Mineral-, das Pflanzen- und das Tierreich umgestaltet werden. Wenn die Erde wieder astral wird, wird alles nach diesen drei Gesichtspunkten umgestaltet sein. So mauerten und bauten die Freimaurer des Mittelalters und alle Esoteriker nach diesen drei Gesichtspunkten.
In der indischen Esoterik unterscheidet man zwölf Kräfte, die den Menschen wieder ins physische Dasein ziehen. Die erste dieser Kräfte ist: Avidya = Unwissenheit. Avidya ist, was uns in das physische Dasein wieder hineinzieht, aus dem einfachen Grunde, weil wir erst dann unsere Mission auf der Erde erfüllt haben, wenn wir alles Wissen herausgezogen haben. Wir haben unsere irdische Mission dagegen nicht vollendet, solange wir noch nicht alles wissen, was wir als Wissen aus dem physischen Dasein herauszichen sollen.
Nach Avidya ist das nächste, was uns zurückzieht, alles, was auf der Erde dadurch enthalten ist, daß wir es selbst gemacht haben und deshalb zu unserer Organisation gehört. Wenn ein Maurer zum Beispiel hier an einem Dom gebaut hat, ist das ein Teil seiner selbst geworden. Die zwei Dinge ziehen sich dann gegenseitig an. Was eine organisierende Tendenz für den Urheber hat, das Werk Leonardo da Vincis ebensogut wie das kleinste Werk hier, bildet ein Organ im Menschen, und daher kommt er wieder zurück. Dies alles zusammen, was der Mensch getan hat, nennt man Samskara oder organisierende Tendenzen, die den Menschen aufbauen. Das ist es, was ihn als zweites zurückzieht.
Nun kommt das dritte. Bevor der Mensch in irgendeine Inkarnation eingetreten ist, hat er nichts gewußt von einer Außenwelt. Das Selbstbewußtsein hat erst mit der ersten Inkarnation angefangen; vorher war der Mensch nicht selbstbewußt. Er mußte erst die Außendinge auf dem physischen Plan wahrnehmen, ehe er das Selbstbewußtsein entwickeln konnte. So wahr den Menschen das, was er getan hat, zurückzieht auf den physischen Plan, so wahr zieht ihn auch das Wissen von den Dingen zurück. Das Bewußtsein ist eine neue Kraft, die ihn an das bindet, was hier ist. Das ist das dritte, was den Menschen hineinzieht in ein neues Erdenleben. Dieses dritte heißt: Vijnana = Bewußtsein.
Bis dahin sind wir noch sehr intim innerhalb der Menschenseele geblieben. Als viertes tritt nun auf, was dem Bewußtsein von außen entgegentritt, was ohne den Menschen zwar da war, was er aber erst mit seinem Bewußtsein kennengelernt hat. Dies war ohne sein früheres Dasein da, schließt sich aber erst auf, nachdem sein Bewußtsein es aufgeschlossen hat. Es ist die Trennung zwischen Subjekt und Objekt, oder wie der Sanskritist sagt, die Trennung zwischen Name und Form = Namarupa. Dadurch ist der Mensch beim äußeren Objekt angelangt. Das zieht ihn als viertes zurück, zum Beispiel die Erinnerung an ein Wesen, an das er sich geheftet hat.
Das nächste ist, was wir am äußeren Objekt als Vorstellung bilden; zum Beispiel das Bild eines Hundes ist die bloße Vorstellung, die dem Maler aber das Wesentliche ist. Es ist alles, was der Verstand aus der Sache macht: Shadayadana.
Nun geht es noch weiter herunter in das Irdische. Die Vorstellung führt uns zu dem, was wir die Berührung mit dem Dasein nennen = Sparsha. Wer am Objekt hängt, steht auf der Stufe von Namarupa. Wer sich Bilder macht, steht auf der Stufe von Shadayadana. Wer aber unterscheidet zwischen Sympathischem und Unsympathischem, der wird zu dem Schönen lieber kommen als zu dem Unschönen. Dies nennt man die Berührung mit dem Dasein = Sparsha.
Etwas anderes als diese Berührung mit der Außenwelt ist aber noch das, was sich dabei im Inneren regt als das innere Gefühl. Jetzt trete ich selbst in Aktion, verbinde mein Gefühl mit der einen oder anderen Sache. Das ist ein neues Element. Es zieht den Menschen weiter hinein, man nennt es Vedana = das Gefühl.
Durch Vedana entsteht nun wiederum etwas ganz Neues, nämlich der Durst nach Dasein. Die Kräfte, die den Menschen ins Dasein zurückziehen, erwachen immer mehr in ihm selbst. Die oberen Kräfte zwingen mehr oder weniger alle Menschen, sie sind nicht individuell. Zuletzt aber kommen ganz persönliche Kräfte, die ihn wieder in das Irdische hineinziehen. Das ist das achte: Trishna = Durst nach Dasein.
Noch subjektiver als der Durst nach Dasein ist etwas, das man nennt: Upadana = Behagen im Dasein. Bei Upadana hat der Mensch etwas mit dem Tier gemeinsam, er empfindet es nur etwas geistiger, und die Aufgabe des Menschen ist es, dieses grobe Seelenelement zu vergeistigen.
Dann kommt das individuelle Dasein selbst, die ganze frühere Inkarnation, wenn er schon einmal da war: Bhava = das individuelle Dasein, die Kraft der ganzen Totalität der vorherigen Inkarnation. Die vorherige Inkarnation zieht ihn hinein in das Dasein.
Damit haben wir eigentlich die Stufen der Nidanas bis zu der Stufe der individuellen Geburt zurückgeführt. Der Esoteriker unterscheidet nun noch zwei Stufen, die über die Zeit des individuellen Daseins hinausgehen. Er unterscheidet da ein Vorstadium, das zur Geburt gedrängt hat, bevor der Mensch jemals inkarniert war. Dies nennt man: Jati = was vor der Geburt zur Geburt gedrängt hat.
Mit dem in die Geburt Gedrängtwerden ist zugleich etwas anderes verbunden. Tatsächlich wird uns mit der Geburt schon der Keim des Verfalls mitgegeben, das Streben, aus der individuellen Geburt wieder herauszukommen. Wir sind interessiert daran, daß dieses unser Erdendasein wieder zerfällt und wir befreit werden, alt werden und sterben können = Jaramarana. Das sind die zwölf Nidanas, die wie Stricke wirken und uns immer wieder ins Dasein zurückziehen. (Nidana bedeutet ja Strick, Schlinge.) Es sind drei Gruppen, die zusammengehören:
| erste Gruppe | zweite Gruppe | dritte Gruppe |
|---|---|---|
| Avidya | Shadayadana | Upadana |
| Samskara | Sparsha | Bhava |
| Vijnana | Vedana | Jati |
| Namarupa | Trishna | Jaramarana |
Die Seele hat drei Glieder: Die Bewußtseinsseele als höchstes Glied, dann die Verstandesseele und die Empfindungsseele. Die erste Gruppe der Nidanas von Avidya bis Namarupa haftet an der Bewußtseinsseele; die zweite Gruppe haftet an der Verstandesseele, und die dritte von Upadana bis Jaramarana haftet an der Empfindungsseele.
Vijnana ist das Charakteristische für die Bewußtseinsseele; Shadayadana für die Verstandesseele, und die letzteren vier sind verbunden mit der Empfindungsseele. Diese letzten vier sind beim Tier ebenso vorhanden wie beim Menschen.
XV
Everything that is taught in theosophy today was also included in the schools of the Rosicrucians in the 14th century. But the inner training of the Rosicrucian movement was strictly occult. In such occult training, very little attention is paid to language, to the way one expresses oneself. Within the world of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries lived a kind of simple people who were not known as particularly learned, nor did they occupy any special social position, but who passed on the occult tradition of the Rosicrucians. There were never very many of them. There were never more than seven true initiates at any one time; the others were secret students of various degrees. The Rosicrucians were the messengers of the White Lodge. In truth, the events of world significance originated with them. Everything important that happened during this period can ultimately be traced back to the Rosicrucian Lodge. Outwardly, it was entirely different people who made European history, but inwardly, they were the instruments of occult individualities. Even Rousseau and Voltaire were such instruments of occult individualities standing behind them. These occult individualities could not appear under their own names. The inspiration they gave to other people in the course of their mission could outwardly be very simple and inconspicuous. Sometimes a brief encounter with such a simple man was the occasion on which the tools of the occult individualities were given the right impulse. Occult powers also stood behind the important statesmen up to the French Revolution. Then they gradually withdrew, because human beings were to become masters of their own destiny. For the first time, human beings spoke as human beings in the speeches of the French Revolution.
Inner life remained in the occult schools. The Rosicrucian schools taught what is now known as the elementary part of theosophy. The occult brotherhoods were the impetus for every important discovery; only then did events unfold in the outside world. Voltaire was a spirit driven in the most eminent sense by forward-striving brotherhoods, for he was essentially there to put people on their own feet. Others were in the service of retarding brotherhoods; Robespierre, for example, in his later life. Everything that appears prematurely evokes a counterpole on the physical plane... (gap in the text).
The same teachings were taught in the schools of the Rosicrucians as are now taught through theosophy. Only, there was no mention of theosophy in the outside world. In the actual secret schools, language is only valued when one wants to teach the world. The secret student himself must learn to use the symbols, the signs. But in order to make themselves understood to the world, the initiates also have only the language that the environment uses. When the knowledge was still kept completely secret, there was a certain system of symbols, and anyone who wanted to be initiated had to learn the language of symbols. No importance was attached to linguistic expression. Even then, all the teachings were available, but sometimes the appropriate expressions were lacking. However, such expressions do exist for occult teaching in the Eastern method of teaching, which still originates from the most ancient Indians who received instruction from the ancient rishis. These Indian expressions have not yet been influenced by the materialistic age. The words coined by the Indians are still full of the magic of the sacredness of the original language. Nevertheless, Indian culture is something we in Europe cannot use for ourselves.
What is right for the Indian people is not necessarily right for Europe. Initially, an influence from India was necessary because Europe itself had not developed enough expressions to introduce the teachings. There are still some things that we must describe using Indian words. But everything that appears in the occult teachings today was also present among the Rosicrucians in the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the modern era. Even then, people had the right expressions for the central things that matter. At that time, it was not possible to speak openly about reincarnation and karma; but these truths could be unconsciously incorporated into European culture. Paracelsus and other mystics did not speak of reincarnation. That was quite natural. They could not speak of it. But for everything related to the earthly life between birth and death, they had extremely apt expressions and terms in the West, but not for the state of being between two incarnations. One thing was emphasized at that time, namely that physical life is important for the development of the organs of the higher bodies. When we pursue science, when we develop intimate spiritual friendships, all of this is a development of forces that will one day function as spiritual organs.
Three uniform concepts have always been used to summarize how the education of the physical plane should affect humans in their various bodies from the outside. These three concepts were called: wisdom, beauty, and power or strength.
When students were taught in the more exoteric Rosicrucian schools, in the outer courtyard, they were told: You are to be workers of the future. Reincarnation was not mentioned. But human beings would continue to have an effect even if they were not reincarnated here in the physical world. What was to become organ-forming in the future was implanted in them. The students were told: Lead a life of wisdom, beauty, and power in your everyday life, and you will develop organs in your higher bodies that are for the future. — Among the Freemasons today, the JohannesMaurer still talk about how important wisdom, beauty, and power are, but they no longer know that this shapes the etheric body, the astral body, and the ego with their organs.
When a Masonic master builder constructed a cathedral or a church in the Middle Ages, his name was of no importance. He remained hidden. For the same reason, the author of “Theologia deutsch” is not named. He calls himself “the Frankfurtian.” No learned researcher can find out his name. The endeavor of these people was to work externally on the physical plane and leave no traces of their names, but rather of their activities on the physical plane.
Let us assume that someone provided the plan and the inspiration for the construction of a large cathedral. He knew that the forms of the cathedral would create an organ for the future within him. All such works will remain connected in their effects with the inner soul. As a rule, however, the outer works also remain long enough for the one who created them to find and recognize them again when he returns. Under the pulpit, one usually finds a small picture of the architect; this is how he recognizes himself. This is the bridge that is built from one incarnation to another.
Through wisdom, the etheric body should be developed; through beauty, to which piety belonged, the astral body should be developed; and through power, the actual self should be developed. Man should become a self-denying imprint of the outer world. In ancient India, nothing was known of this. Brahmanism strove for the perfection of the inner self... (gap in the text).
... but right in the middle of our post-Atlantean cycle, religious teachers appeared who pointed to the renunciation of the self. Buddha already taught this. But this was cultivated even more in the West through Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism. They sought the perfection of the self in the form that also exists in the outer world, not so much in the form that lives within, as was cultivated in India. In this sense, the Western occultist said to himself: Your self is not only within you, but in the world around you. The gods have lifted you out of the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms, but you create three kingdoms for yourself: the three kingdoms of wisdom, beauty, and power. These organize the higher human being.
Humanity said to itself: I stand here as the culmination of a time in which the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms have surrendered themselves to me; for this reason, self-consciousness, the I, has emerged. And just as the I has been shaped by the others, it must now shape the realms of wisdom, beauty, and strength itself, in order to climb even higher through them to a complete transformation of our etheric, astral, and I bodies. These three realms are the realms of science, art, and inner strength, which means everything that the will lives out. In these three members, the medieval esotericist saw the means for the further development of the human being. The transformation of the world should not be left to blind chance, but the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms should be transformed according to these three aspects of wisdom, beauty, and strength. When the earth becomes astral again, everything will be transformed according to these three aspects. Thus, the Freemasons of the Middle Ages and all esotericists built and constructed according to these three aspects.
In Indian esotericism, a distinction is made between twelve forces that draw human beings back into physical existence. The first of these forces is: Avidya = ignorance. Avidya is what draws us back into physical existence, for the simple reason that we have only fulfilled our mission on Earth when we have extracted all knowledge. We have not completed our earthly mission until we know everything that we are supposed to extract as knowledge from physical existence.
After Avidya, the next thing that pulls us back is everything on Earth that we have created ourselves and therefore belongs to our organization. For example, if a bricklayer has built a cathedral here, it has become a part of himself. The two things then attract each other. What has an organizing tendency for the creator, the work of Leonardo da Vinci as well as the smallest work here, forms an organ in the human being, and that is why he comes back. All of this together, what the human being has done, is called samskara or organizing tendencies that build up the human being. That is what pulls him back second.
Now comes the third. Before man entered into any incarnation, he knew nothing of an outside world. Self-consciousness only began with the first incarnation; before that, man was not self-conscious. He first had to perceive external things on the physical plane before he could develop self-consciousness. Just as much as what humans have done pulls them back to the physical plane, so too does their knowledge of things pull them back. Consciousness is a new force that binds them to what is here. This is the third thing that draws humans into a new life on earth. This third thing is called: Vijnana = consciousness.
Up to this point, we have remained very intimate within the human soul. The fourth thing that now comes into play is what confronts consciousness from outside, what was there without the human being, but which he only became aware of through his consciousness. This was there without his previous existence, but only opens up after his consciousness has unlocked it. It is the separation between subject and object, or as the Sanskrit scholar says, the separation between name and form = Namarupa. This brings the human being to the external object. This draws him back as the fourth, for example, the memory of a being to which he has attached himself.
The next thing is what we form as an idea of the external object; for example, the image of a dog is merely an idea, but for the painter it is the essence. It is everything that the mind makes of the thing: Shadayadana.
Now it goes even further down into the earthly realm. The idea leads us to what we call contact with existence = Sparsha. Those who are attached to the object are on the level of Namarupa. Those who form images are on the level of Shadayadana. But those who distinguish between the sympathetic and the unsympathetic will prefer the beautiful to the ugly. This is called contact with existence = Sparsha.
However, something else besides this contact with the outside world is what stirs within as an inner feeling. Now I myself spring into action, connecting my feelings with one thing or another. This is a new element. It draws people further in; it is called Vedana = feeling.
Vedana in turn gives rise to something completely new, namely the thirst for existence. The forces that draw people back into existence awaken more and more within them. The higher forces compel more or less all people; they are not individual. Finally, however, there are very personal forces that draw people back into the earthly realm. This is the eighth: Trishna = thirst for existence.
Even more subjective than the thirst for existence is something called Upadana = pleasure in existence. In Upadana, humans have something in common with animals, they just feel it a little more spiritually, and the task of humans is to spiritualize this coarse element of the soul.
Then comes individual existence itself, the entire previous incarnation, if he has been there before: Bhava = individual existence, the power of the entire totality of the previous incarnation. The previous incarnation draws him into existence.
With this, we have actually traced the stages of the Nidanas back to the stage of individual birth. The esotericist now distinguishes two more stages that go beyond the time of individual existence. He distinguishes a preliminary stage that pushed toward birth before the human being was ever incarnated. This is called: Jati = what pushed toward birth before birth.
Being pushed toward birth is also connected with something else. In fact, at birth we are already given the seed of decay, the striving to get out of individual birth again. We are interested in our earthly existence decaying again and being freed, growing old and dying = Jaramarana. These are the twelve Nidanas, which act like ropes and pull us back into existence again and again. (Nidana means rope, noose.) There are three groups that belong together:
| first group | second group | third group |
|---|---|---|
| Avidya | Shadayadana | Upadana |
| Samskara | Sparsha | Bhava |
| Vijnana | Vedana | Jati |
| Namarupa | Trishna | Jaramarana |
The soul has three members: the consciousness soul as the highest member, then the mind soul and the feeling soul. The first group of nidanas from avidya to namarupa clings to the consciousness soul; the second group clings to the mind soul, and the third from upadana to jaramarana clings to the feeling soul.
Vijnana is characteristic of the consciousness soul; Shadayadana of the intellectual soul, and the latter four are connected with the feeling soul. These last four are present in animals as well as in humans.