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The Gospel of St. John
in Relation to the Other Three Gospels
GA 112

7 July 1909, Kassel

14. The Earth as Christ's Body and as a New Light Center

Anyone not sufficiently prepared may well have found it very strange, in yesterday's lecture, to hear the name of the Father Spirit of the world linked with the name of death. You must not forget, however, what was said at the same time: that the form in which death appears to men in the physical world is not its true form, and that therefore the outer sense world, which appears to be inevitably subject to death, is for this very reason not the true expression of what really underlies it, of the divine-spiritual Being at its root. This is really equivalent to saying that man suffers from an illusion, a monstrous deception, a maya, concerning all that is spread out around him in space for his senses to perceive. Could he recognize the true form he would not perceive the sense image but would discern the spirit. Could he recognize death in its real aspect he would see in death the form this sense world would have if it were to be the true expression of the divine Father Spirit.

In order that this earth-world of ours might come into being at all, an earlier, supra-terrestrial world had to condense into physical matter, into physical substance as we know it. In this way the outer world could become the expression of a divine-spiritual world, a divine-spiritual world which thus embraced something like creations apart from the outside proper. All previous forms of our cosmic existence manifested themselves as being contained more or less within the divine Being. On the old Saturn there existed, as yet, nothing of our air, our water, our earth—that is, our solid bodies: Saturn was a body consisting exclusively of warmth—a warmth-filled space—and all the beings it harbored still dwelt in the bosom of the divine Father Spirit. And so it was too on the old Sun, although its condensation had advanced to the gaseous state: this air planet, the old Sun, contained all its creatures within itself, and that means, within the divine-spiritual Being. Even on the old Moon this condition prevailed.

It was on the Earth, however, that creation emerged for the first time from the womb of the divine-spiritual Nature and began to exist alongside of it. But in this new element that arose and henceforth appeared side by side with the divine-spiritual Being—even constituting the habiliment, the envelope, the physical corporeality of man—all the retarded spirits gradually ensconced themselves; and this meant that it became a creation different from what it should have been as an image of the divine-spiritual Being. Having borne within itself all creatures—our present mineral, plant, animal, and human kingdoms—the divine spiritual Being sent them forth, as it were, spread them out like a carpet; and that was then the image of the divine-spiritual Being. And that is the way it should have remained. But into it there crept the retarded element that had previously been expelled by the divine-spiritual Being, became interwoven with it; and this in a way dimmed the luster of creation: its value was rendered less than it would otherwise have been.

This dimming commenced in the age in which the moon split off from the earth, the age of which we have said that if nothing else had occurred, and if the moon had not been cast out, the earth would have become waste even at that time. But man was to be fostered in such a way as to enable him to achieve his independence. and this called for embodiment in earthly-physical matter. Beginning with the Lemurian age, then down through the Atlantean time, he had to be led to an ever-increasing ability to incarnate in some physical-sensible substance. But this substance now contained all the retarded beings, so that man could incarnate only in bodily sheaths inhabited by such beings.

In the Atlantean age there existed certain beings that were companions of the human beings. At that time man himself, as we know, was embodied in a soft substance, and what today is his flesh was not at all as it is at present. The man of old Atlantis, where the air was wholly permeated by dense, heavy, aqueous vapor, and where human beings were water beings, was constituted like certain present-day jellyfish of the sea, scarcely distinguishable from the surrounding water. Potentially all his organs were present, but they solidified only gradually—his bones, and so forth. The more tenuous material predisposition for the organs was there, but these hardened only in the course of time. In the early Atlantean period, then, there existed beings who in a sense were still men's companions, in so far as man was clairvoyant and could discern even those beings who had really established their habitation on the sun, but who streamed toward him in the sun's rays. For not only did physical sunlight come to man, but in this physical sunlight he saw beings approaching him; and when in a state comparable to sleep, he could say, Now I am outside my body in the sphere where sun beings dwell.

But then came the time, toward the middle and last third of the Atlantean age, in which the earth condensed more and more into its physical substance, and the impulse arose in man to develop his self-consciousness. Thenceforth there were no longer any such beings for men to see, for these had to withdraw from the earth, to cease revealing themselves to men's earthly sight. It was with cumulative force that human beings felt themselves drawn down into dense matter by the Luciferic influence; and in this way it became possible for a being, whom we must term Lucifer, to take possession of the human astral body to such an extent that man inevitably sank ever deeper into a dense physical body. But at the same time beings who had formerly been his companions rose ever higher, refusing to have anything to do with the retarded beings: they broke away from them. While the Luciferic beings invaded the human astral body, the higher beings cast them down, saying, in effect, Ye shall not rise with us: get on below as best ye can!

One of these higher beings is represented in Michael, who cast the Luciferic beings into the abyss and assigned the earth to them as their sphere of action; and it was within the astral body of man that they sought to exercise their influence. “Heaven” was no longer the habitation of these beings: they had been cast down to earth by the beings now to be found above. All evil, however, all harm, has its good side and its place in cosmic wisdom. Thus it was inevitable that these beings had to remain behind in evolution if they were to drag man down into physical matter, where alone he could learn to address himself as “I”, to develop his self-consciousness. Without being enmeshed in maya he never could learn this. But on the other hand, he would have perished in illusion if illusion and its powers—Lucifer-Ahriman—had succeeded in holding him permanently.

I must now express certain thoughts which I beg you to listen to with all possible circumspection; for only by further developing them and by taking them literally—though not in the literal sense of a materialistically minded person—can they be rightly understood.

What was the aim and intention of the Luciferic-Ahrimanic beings concerning the physical world? What did they want to bring about in all the beings now dwelling in the world, beings whom they were able to influence after they had united with human evolution in the Atlantean time? These beings, Lucifer-Ahriman, intended nothing less than to keep all earth beings in the form of dense, physical matter in which they are enmeshed. For example: when a plant grows forth from its root, sprouts leaf after leaf, and finally produces the blossom, it is Lucifer-Ahriman's purpose to foster this growth and expansion indefinitely; that is, to make this growing being resemble the physical form it inhabits, to preserve it as it is, thereby snatching it from the spiritual world. For were they to succeed in making this being of the spiritual world resemble the physical form, they would be wresting heaven from the earth, so to speak. In the animal kingdom as well the Luciferic-Ahrimanic beings have the tendency to make all animals resemble the body in which they live, and to cause them, within their material substance, to forget their divine-spiritual origin. And it is the same in the case of the human being.

In order to prevent this, the divine-spiritual Father spoke: In their culmination, in man, the beings of earth have attained to external knowledge in their ego; but we cannot yet entrust them with life.—For life would in that case take a course in which the beings would be torn from their divine-spiritual root in this life: the human being would become an integral part of the physical body and would for all time forget his divine-spiritual origin. Only by bestowing the boon of death upon all things attracted into matter could the divine Father Spirit rescue the memory of divine origin. Thus it became possible for the growing plant to shoot upward until the impulse of fructification entered, and then for its form to wither and a new one to spring from its seed. But in entering the seed state, the plant is for a moment in the divine-spiritual world, and the divine-spiritual world refreshes it. And all this applies pre-eminently to the human being. He would be banished and chained to the earth and would forget his divine-spiritual origin were not death spread over the earth—were he not provided with ever-fresh sources of strength between death and a new birth—in order that he may not forget his divine-spiritual origin.

Death? Yes, where indeed is death to be found on the earth? Let us enquire of some plant being that delights us. There we have a being that gladdens our eyes with its glorious blossoms—and within a few months it is no longer there: death has claimed it. Or take an animal—perhaps one that has been faithful to us, or any other animal: in a short time it will be gone, taken by death. Consider the human being as he is placed in the physical world: after a certain span death will come to him, he will no longer be; for if he continued to be here he would forget his divine-spiritual origin. Think of a mountain: the time will come when the volcanic action of our earth will have engulfed it; death passes over it. Seek as you will, nothing is to be found that is not interwoven with death. Everything on earth is steeped in death.

Thus death is the benefactor that snatches man out of a domain which would wholly estrange him from the divine-spiritual world. Yet it was necessary for him to come into this physical world of sense, for only there could he achieve his self-consciousness, his human egoity. Were he to keep passing through death without the capacity for taking something along from this realm of death, he would be able, to be sure, to return to the divine-spiritual world, but without consciousness, without egoity; whereas he must enter the divine-spiritual world possessed of his egoity. That is why he must be able to fructify the earthly realm, the realm wholly permeated by death, in such a way that death becomes the seed of an ego principle in the eternal realm, the spiritual realm.

But this possibility of transforming death, which would otherwise mean annihilation, into the seed of eternal egoity was provided by the Christ impulse. On Golgotha the true aspect of death was manifested to all mankind for the first time; and as a result of Christ's having espoused death—Christ, image of the Father Spirit, Son of the Father Spirit—death became the well-spring of a new life—and, as we learned yesterday, of a new sun. And now that man has achieved an ego for all eternity, everything that formerly existed as his apprenticeship can henceforth vanish, and he can advance into the future with his rescued ego principle which will more and more be fashioned after the ego principle in Christ.

As an illustration of what has just been set forth, let us take a seven-armed candelabrum and light it step by step, and let us consider the first flame of its sevenfold unity a symbol of the first phase of human evolution, the Saturn phase. Every evolution proceeds in seven subdivisions, so in the first flame we see a symbol of the forces that flowed into man during the Saturn period. Passing to the second flame of this sevenfold candelabrum we have the symbol of the forces that came to man during the Sun phase. In like manner we can see in the third unit the forces from the Moon, and in the fourth, the symbol of everything that streamed into man from the Earth evolution. Now let us imagine the middle light as burning brightly, while the next three are but very dim. The middle light represents the time when Christ entered evolution; and never could the remaining candles be kindled, never could the next evolutionary epochs come about, had not the Christ impulse intervened in the evolution of mankind—indeed, they are still dark today.

If we were now to represent future evolution in the same symbolical way we should have to do it thus: as the light following the middle one kindles and increases in luster, the first one must be gradually extinguished; with the lighting of the next one, the second would die away; and so forth—for here is the beginning of a new Sun evolution. And when all the last lights are burning it is fitting that the first three be extinguished, because their fruits have flowed into the last three, have passed over into the future.—There you have a picture of past evolution which received its forces from the Father Spirit. Had the Father Spirit held to this course, all the lights would have gradually faded out, by reason of the interference of Lucifer-Ahriman. But the coming of the Christ impulse kindled a new light—and a cosmic sun begins its course.

Yes, it was inevitable that death should form part of all nature being, because this is interpenetrated by Lucifer-Ahriman. On the other hand, mankind would never have achieved its independence without Lucifer-Ahriman; yet through Lucifer-Ahriman alone this independence would have expanded to such an extent that in the end it would have led to the forgetting of our divine-spiritual origin. For this reason death had to become an ingredient even of our physical body: we would never be able to carry our ego principle over into eternity if its outer expression, which is our blood, had not been permeated by death.

We have within us the blood of life—the red blood stream; and we have the blood of death—the blue blood. In order to provide life for our egoity, the life that flows in the red blood must at every moment be destroyed in the blue blood. Were it not so destroyed man would be so deeply submerged in life that he would forget his divine-spiritual origin. Western esotericism has a symbol for these two kinds of blood: two pillars, a red one and blue one. The one symbolizes a life flowing from the Father Spirit, but in a form suggesting the tendency to lose itself; and the other represents the annihilation of the former. Death is the stronger, the more powerful of the two: it is the factor that brings about the destruction of that which otherwise would lose itself inwardly. But the destruction of what would otherwise lose itself means a call to resurrection.

Thus you see how an adequate interpretation of the John Gospel provides insight into the meaning of all life. What we have learned yesterday and today amounts simply to this: at that point of time which our Christian reckoning designates the new “Year 1” there occurred something of the most profound significance for the entire Earth evolution and, in as far as cosmic evolution is connected with the earth, for cosmic evolution as well. It can be said that with the event of Golgotha a new center was created: ever since then the Christ Spirit has been united with the earth. It had long been gradually approaching, but since that time it has been within the earth; and now men's task is to learn to grasp this fact: that since the Golgotha event the Christ Spirit has been in the earth and in everything it brings forth. Human beings must also learn that failure to recognize the Christ Spirit in all things means seeing them from the aspect of death, whereas finding the Christ Spirit in them means understanding them from the vantage point of life.

We are only at the beginning of the evolution that is specifically Christian. The form it will take in the future is of such import that men will see in the whole earth the body of Christ. For Christ has entered the earth and has therein created a new light center; He permeates the earth, shines forth into the world, and is for all time interwoven with the earth's aura. So if today we see the earth devoid of its underlying Christ Spirit, we see what is decaying, rotting—its decomposing corpse. Split it up as we may into minute particles, unless we understand the Christ, we see but the disintegrating corpse. Wherever we see only matter, we see what is not true.

You do not find the truth by studying man as a being of this earth, for you will be studying only his disintegrating corpse; and if you study this corpse you can be consistent in estimating the elements of the earth only by regarding the latter as composed of material atoms, regardless of whether these are spatially extended or whether they form force centers—that is immaterial. If we see atoms of which our earth is supposed to consist we see the earth's corpse, we see that which is constantly disintegrating and which in time will no longer exist when the earth no longer exists—and the earth is in a process of dissolution. We shall see things in their true light only if we discern in every atom something of the Christ Spirit that has imbued it since the time we speak of. Of what has the earth consisted since the Christ Spirit permeated it? Of life—right down to the atom. No atom has any value, nor can it be understood, except as you see in it a sheath encompassing spirit; and this spiritual element is a part of the Christ.

And now, consider anything whatever that pertains to the earth: when do you understand it aright? When you say, That is a part of the body of Christ. What was Christ able to say to those who would learn to understand Him? As He broke the bread made of the grain of the earth He could say,

This is my body.

And what could He say to them as he gave them the juice of the grape—the sap of a plant?

This is my blood.

Because He had become the soul of the earth He could say of the solid substance, “This is my body,” and of the plant's fluid, “This is my blood”—just as you say of your body, This is my body, and of your blood, This is my blood. And those who are able to grasp the true meaning of these words of Christ create for themselves thought images that attract the body and the blood of Christ in the bread and the wine, and they unite with the Christ Spirit.

In this way our symbol of the Lord's Supper becomes a reality. Lacking in our hearts the thought that unites us with Christ we cannot engender the force of attraction that draws the Christ Spirit to us at Holy Communion; but by means of such a thought form the attraction is generated. For those, then, who need the outer symbol in order to perform the spiritual act—that is, to unite with the Christ—Communion will be the way until such time as their inner strength will have so grown, and they are so permeated by the Christ, that they can dispense with the outer physical agency. The Sacrament of Communion is the preparation for the mystical union with the Christ, the preparatory schooling. That is the light in which we must see these things. And just as everything evolves from matter upward toward spirit under the Christian influence, so those things which existed primarily as a bridge must then grow and develop under the influence of Christ. The Sacrament of Communion must rise from the physical to the spiritual plane if it is to lead to a true union with the Christ.—One can do no more than hint at such matters, for only if they are received with a full sense of their sacred nature will they be rightly understood.

To recognize that through the event of Golgotha Christ entered the earth—this was a task set mankind. Men were to realize it more and more, and to become increasingly permeated by it. But this called for mediators; and one of the first great ones was he who had been Saul and became Paul. How far could Saul's knowledge extend, considering that he was a Jewish initiate? We can express it somewhat as follows: he could know what was contained in the Hebrew teachings. He knew that what Zarathustra had seen as Ahura Mazdo and what Moses had beheld as Ehjeh asher ehjehas Jahve or Jehova—in the burning bush and in the thunder and lightning on Sinai—he knew that this had come nearer the earth, had approached, and would one day occupy a human body, and that in this human body it would effect a rejuvenation of the earth. On the other hand, he was influenced by the views of his time and by Jewish law. He had witnessed the event of Golgotha but was unable to admit that He Who had died on the Cross was the Bearer of the Christ. None of the events he had heard of or experienced could convince him that He Who was expected, according to the Jewish initiation, had been incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth.

Now, what would Saul have to experience to be convinced that the immortal Christ Spirit had really been present in the dying body of Jesus of Nazareth on Golgotha? From his Hebrew initiation he knew that after the Christ Spirit had dwelt in a human body and this human body had died, the Christ must be present in the earth's aura; hence it should be possible for the Christ to become visible to one able to see into the earth's aura with the eyes of the spirit. That he knew; but hitherto he had not achieved the capacity for seeing into the earth's aura. He was an initiate in wisdom, but not a clairvoyant. He did, however, possess the prerequisite for becoming clairvoyant in an abnormal manner, and he himself mentions this. He refers to it as “grace,” bestowed upon him from above; and he tells us that he was born prematurely—usually translated “out of due time.” He was not carried the full time in the maternal womb, but descended from the spiritual to the physical world before being wholly immersed in all the elements of earthly existence; that is, he came into the world before the moment when ordinarily the unconscious ties which bind men to the spiritual powers are broken. The vision on the road to Damascus was made possible for one whose spiritual eyes had been opened through the agency of an untimely birth. His spiritual vision having been bestowed upon him as a consequence of his premature birth, he now gazed into the earth's aura and there beheld the Christ. Therefore the span of time during which this Christ had walked the earth must have already lapsed. Here was proof that it was Christ Who had died on the Cross; for He Who, Paul knew, was to conquer death on the earth had appeared to him as a spiritual living being. Now he knew the meaning of the event of Golgotha: he knew that Christ was risen; for He Whom Paul had beheld could never before have been seen in the earth's aura. Now he understood the words:

It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

What are the “pricks”? Paul himself tells us:

O death, where is thy sting?1TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:—The German translations of the New Testament employ the same word for “pricks” and “sting” (Stachel)

In vain wouldst thou kick against the pricks, for thou wouldst recognize only death. But henceforth thou canst no longer kick against death, for thou hast seen Him Who conquered death.—In this way Paul became the apostle of Christianity who proclaimed most emphatically the living—the spiritually living—Christ.

What made it possible for the Christ to be seen in the earth's aura? The fact that in Christ Jesus—as in a primal impetus given earth evolution for the future—the etheric body was completely permeated by the Christ. The etheric body of Jesus of Nazareth could not be otherwise than wholly permeated by the Christ; and because this was so it exerted full mastery over the physical body, even to the extent of being able to restore the latter after its death; that is, it could appear in such a form as to contain again all that the physical body had embraced before death—but through the power of the etheric body. So when Christ was seen after His death, it was His etheric body was seen; but for those who were able, as a result of the strength imparted to them through the events in question, not only to recognize a physical-sensible body, but to see in an etheric body a real body with all the marks of a physical body—for such as these Christ was risen in reality. And in truth, He was.

We are further told in the Gospel that when a man has advanced to the stage in which his corruptible principle develops the incorruptible, he becomes endowed with higher vision; and we are also told that those who had already achieved this higher vision as a result of self-development could see the Christ and know Him as such. That is told us clearly enough, but people lack the will really to read what it actually says in the Gospel. Take, for example, the first appearance of Christ after death. We read:

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

Now, imagine you meet someone whom you had seen but a few days before: can you believe yourself incapable of recognizing him? Can you imagine asking him whether he is the gardener, and where they had laid him—when he himself was the man you saw before you? But that is exactly what you would have to impute to Mary—or to her who is here called Mary—were you to assume that every physical eye could have recognized Christ and seen Him as previously the physical eye had seen Him. Read the Gospels with their spirit in mind!—No, the sacred power of words had first to penetrate the woman as a force: that was essential. Then the words echoed in her heart and rekindled all that she had witnessed. That was what gave her the spiritual vision to see Him Who was risen from the dead.

And does not Paul tell us the same thing? In the case of Paul it cannot be doubted that, with spiritual vision, he saw Christ on the spiritual plane, in the aura of the earth; and as proof that Christ lived he affirms that Christ had appeared. Then, as appearances of equal importance, he mentions first:

... that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethern at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle.

Paul placed the vision of others entirely on a par with his own, which was made possible by his spiritual sight; hence he says literally:

In like manner as I have seen the Christ, so has he been seen by the others also.

Their experiences, says Paul, engendered in them the power to see Christ as one arisen from the dead. Now we understand what Paul means, and his viewpoint is at once recognizable as the anthroposophic-spiritual viewpoint; for it tells us that there is a spiritual world, and if we contemplate it by means of the impulse given us through the power of Christ, we shall penetrate it in such a way as to find there the Christ Himself, Christ Who had passed through the event of Golgotha. That is the meaning of what Paul tells us. And it is possible for the human being—especially through what is known as Christian initiation—with patience and endurance gradually to become a successor to Paul, so to speak; to acquire for himself the faculties that will enable him to see into the spiritual world and spiritually to behold the Christ face to face.

In other lectures I have repeatedly set forth the first steps leading to a vision of the Christ Being Himself: the aspirant must live over again what is delineated for us in the Gospel of St. John. I will now merely indicate in briefest outline, in this connection, how man—if he resolves to pass through a certain gamut of feelings—can rise to the spiritual world in which, since the event of Golgotha, there shines the light of Christ.

We begin by saying to ourself, I observe the plant. It grows out of the mineral soil, grows and flowers. But if it could develop consciousness, as does man, it would have to bend down to the soil of the earth, the mineral kingdom from which it grows, and say, Among the present beings of nature thou stone art a lower being than I; but without thee, lower kingdom, I could not subsist.—Similarly, were the animal able to sense the plant as the indispensable condition of its existence, it would have to confess, I, as an animal, am a higher being than thou, the plant; but without thee I should perish. Humbly it would have to bow down to the plant and say, To thee, a lower being, I owe my existence.—And in the kingdom of man it should be thus: Everyone who has reached a given rung of the ladder should look upon those who in a spiritual sense stand beneath him, and say, True, ye belong to a lower world; but as the plant must bow before the mineral, and the animal before the plant, so should I who stand on a higher rung say: To thee, a humbler one, I owe my existence.—Then, when for weeks and months—possibly years under the guidance of the right teacher—a man has completely immersed himself in such feelings of universal humility, he will know the meaning of the Washing of the Feet. He will have a direct spiritual vision of what Christ, as the higher Being, did in bending down to the Twelve and washing their feet. The whole significance of this event dawns on the disciple like a vision, and he knows that it took place. His enlightenment is such as to demand no further proof: he now gazes directly into the spiritual world and beholds Christ in the scene in question.

Then, stimulated by the teacher, this man can gain the strength to say, I shall courageously endure whatever sorrow and suffering this world may bring, and shall not complain. I shall steel myself to the point at which these no longer mean suffering and sorrow for me, because I shall know them for necessities in the world.—And when he has become sufficiently stanch of soul, there springs from this contemplation the feeling of the Scourging: spiritually he feels it taking place in himself. And this opens his spiritual vision, enabling him to see for himself the Scourging as it is described in the Gospel of St. John.

Then the pupil is shown how to develop the strength for the next step, where he is able not only to bear sorrow and suffering at the hands of all mankind, but to say: I possess something so sacred that I stake my whole being on it. Should all the world overwhelm me with scorn and mockery, this remains holiest for me. No derision or disdain will keep me from cherishing it, though I stand alone. I profess it, and shall defend it.—Then he experiences spiritually within him the Crowning with Thorns; and without the aid of any historical document his spiritual vision transmits to him this scene as described in the Gospel of St. John.

Then, when through proper guidance he has learned to regard his physical existence in quite a new light, to think of his own body as something external—when it has become a matter of course to feel and sense that he carries his physical body about with him as a material instrument—then he has reached the fourth stage of Christian initiation, the Bearing of the Cross. This has by no means made a frail ascetic of him: on the contrary, he learns to employ his physical instrument far more effectively than theretofore. When you have learned to regard your body as something you carry, you have arrived at the fourth stage of Christian initiation, the Bearing of the Cross; and therewith you have attained to the enlightenment that enables you to see spiritually the scene in which Christ bears His Cross on His back, just as you have learned by the elevation of your soul to carry your body as you might a piece of wood.

Now something occurs which is to be regarded as the fifth stage of Christian initiation: it is called the “mystical death”. Here, as a consequence of the inner maturity we have gained, everything that surrounds us—the whole physical world of the senses—appears to be extinguished: we are in darkness. And then comes a moment when this darkness is torn apart like a curtain, and we see behind this physical world into the spiritual world. At the same moment, however, something else occurs as well: we have learned to recognize sin and evil in their true forms; that is, in this stage we have learned the meaning of the Descent into Hell.

In the next stage we learn not only to regard our body as something alien, but also to feel everything else as being as much a part of us as our body, to look upon everything on earth as pertaining to us, as was a matter of course in ancient clairvoyance; and, inasmuch as we all belong to one great organism, we further learn to regard the suffering of others as our own. Then, in proportion to our understanding of this, we are united with the earth, and we experience the act of being laid in the earth, the Burial. And by being united with the earth we are also risen out of it; for this experience has given us the first insight into the meaning of the words, “The earth is in the process of becoming a new sun.”

The attainment of the fourth, fifth, and sixth stages of Christian initiation enables us to see for ourselves the event of Golgotha, to merge with it. We no longer need documents: these served merely as rungs of the ladder.

Finally there is the seventh stage, known as the Ascension—in other words, the awakening in the spiritual world. It is rightly said of this stage that it cannot be expressed in any words of human language, that it can be imagined only by one who has learned to think without the instrumentality of the brain. The miracles of resurrection can be thought only when the physical brain is no longer needed as an instrument.

By reason of having had their spiritual eyes opened and of thus being able to see what took place, those who were present as believers when the event of Golgotha occurred could have seen the Christ in the way I have indicated—that is, if He had manifested Himself to their spiritual sight in the earth's aura. But even had Christ always retained, in a certain sense, the same form He had assumed at that time, the faithful would not have been able to see Him had He—the Christ—not achieved something for Himself as well—by conquering death.

This brings us to a concept which is indeed difficult to grasp. The human being continues to learn incessantly as he develops his capacities, at whatever stage he finds himself. Not only man, however, but every being, from the humblest to the most exalted divine being, learns while developing farther and farther. What Christ did as a divine Being in the body of Jesus of Nazareth we have thus far described with reference to its fruits and its effect on mankind. But now we must ask, did Christ thereby also experience something within Himself that led Him to a higher stage? And the answer is, He did. Even divine-spiritual beings can experience what leads them to more advanced stages; and what He experienced—His ascent into a world still more exalted than the one in which He had previously had His being—this He revealed in His Ascension to those who were His companions on the earth. That is why the first six stages of Christian initiation can be understood—though not perceived—by one who is neither an initiate nor a clairvoyant, but who lives in dependence, for his thinking, on the physical brain; whereas the seventh stage, the Ascension, can be comprehended only by the clairvoyant who is no longer bound to the instrumentality of his physical brain, who has experienced for himself what it means to think without the brain and to see without the brain.

That is the way in which these matters are interrelated; and such was the course of the world's development during the period we have been privileged to discuss in these fourteen lectures.

We have already learned what Christ indicated in healing the man who had been born blind, namely, that the sins he committed in a former life should now become manifest in him. What Christ did, then, was to teach the idea of reincarnation, in as far as people could understand it—karma, the extension of causes from one incarnation to another, that is what He taught; and He taught as one does with practical life in mind. What He meant was this: There will be a future time in which all men will recognize karma. They will understand that when a man does evil he need not be punished by an external, earthly power, for the evil he did inevitably entails its compensation in this or in some future incarnation. Then we shall only need to enter this deed in the great law book of the akashic record, inscribe it in the spiritual world. Then we human beings need not condemn him: then we can entrust the judging of his deeds to the spiritual laws, to be inscribed in the spiritual world: we can leave him to karma.

Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground.

What was it He wrote? He inscribed the sin in the spiritual world, indicating that through the spiritual world the sin would find its compensation. The others, however, He reminded to ask themselves whether they were without sin; for only if they harbored nothing that called for compensation could they feel themselves to be in no way connected with the sin of this woman and therefore qualified to judge her. As it was, they had no way of knowing whether, in their previous life, they themselves might not have provided the cause of what had now come to this woman: they could not know whether in former lives they had induced what had now caused her to commit adultery; whether they themselves had committed the sin or laid its foundations in an earlier incarnation. All is inscribed in karma. Jesus wrote on the ground which He had already permeated with His spiritual light; that is, He confided to the earth what should be the karma of the adulteress. What He meant was: Follow the path which I now mark out for you. Learn not to judge, but to leave what is in man to karmic adjustment.—If we abide by this rule we will come to understand karma. Karma need not be taught as a dogma, for it is taught by facts. That was Christ's way of teaching.

Here we should pause to realize that such things could be written only by that one of Christ's pupils and disciples whom He himself had initiated: Lazarus-John. Hence it was this pupil alone who fully understood the power attained to by a Being Who, beginning with the Baptism, had gradually gained in His etheric body mastery over the physical body, to the extent of endowing the latter with ever new life. And for the same reason, this writer of the John. Gospel knew that it was possible to transform what appeared to be water—through its being received into the human organs—into wine. He understood how the power of the etheric body could be employed in such a way that a few fishes and loaves sufficed to satisfy the hunger of many. That is what the author of the John Gospel told us, if only we take the Gospel seriously. Does he say anywhere that the few loaves and fishes were eaten in the ordinary physical way? No, you will not find that in the Gospel. He says clearly and distinctly, as you will see by taking every word literally, that Christ broke the bread; but also, that He offered up thanks to heaven:

And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

The meaning of these words as they appear in the original text, which is poorly reproduced in translation, is about as follows: The disciples passed on the loaves and the fishes, letting each do with them what he would. But none desired anything whatever save to feel, at this moment, what emanated as a force from the mighty etheric body of Christ Jesus. No one had any other wish.

And by what means had their hunger been stilled? In the 23rd verse it says:

Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks.2TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:—Luther appears to have understood this point better than did the authors of the King James version: in place of our “... after that the Lord had given thanks”, the German Gospel has the equivalent of “... through (or by means of) the Lord's thanksgiving” (... durch des Herrn Danksagung).

It was through the agency of the prayer that the people had eaten the bread. They had eaten bread without the physical act having taken place. Hence Christ Jesus could later throw light on what had occurred by saying,

I am the bread of life.

What, then, had the people eaten? They had partaken of the power of Christ's body. And what could remain? Only the power of Christ's body; and the effect of this was so strong that there remained fragments to be gathered up.

According to occult teaching, every body consists of twelve members. The one uppermost is called the Ram; the adjacent one, the Bull; the one with the hands, the Twins; the chest is called the Crab; everything in the region of the heart is the Lion; below it—the trunk—is the Virgin; the hips, the Scales; below this, the Scorpion; and still farther down: the thigh, the Archer; the knee, the Goat; the lower leg, the Water-carrier; and the feet, the Fishes.

The human body, then, is divided into twelve members—and with good reason. Now, if the fragments were to be gathered up after the power of Christ's body had been used to satisfy hunger, they would have to be gathered in twelve measures.

Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

It was not the barley loaves they had eaten: they had partaken of the power emanating from Christ; and they had been satisfied by the power that radiated from Christ through His thanksgiving when He appealed to the spheres from which He had descended. That is the sense in which we must understand the influence of the spiritual world on the physical world; and thus we can also understand the relation of the single incidents to the basic event, the evolution of our earth into a sun. They all take their place as mighty force-revealing events in the earth's process of becoming a sun. But it now becomes comprehensible that what communicated itself to the earth at that time as a mighty impulse can reach human beings only by slow degrees, that it can be infused into humanity but slowly and gradually.

As was indicated yesterday, the Gospel which in the beginning was best suited to convey the great truths to those able to receive them was St. Mark's Gospel. That was during the first centuries, when it was men's task to reconquer through their own efforts the realms from which they had strayed. Let us try to understand how man himself descended from divine-spiritual heights to the lowest point, which occurred when the intervention of Golgotha provided an impetus to man's return to an upward striving. This acted like a mighty impulse, drawing man aloft again. He had descended from divine-spiritual heights and had sunk ever deeper; then, having saturated himself with the newly born spiritual light, he received from the Christ impulse the strength gradually to recover all that he had once possessed. And this he would have to accomplish in the following manner: In the time immediately following the Christ event he had to regain what he had lost during the last pre-Christian centuries, and this could be done with the help of the Mark Gospel.

What he had lost in a still earlier time had to be recaptured in the succeeding period by means of a Gospel directing his attention more to his inner life, and this was the Gospel of St. Luke. But we have also said that six hundred years before the appearance of Christ on earth, everything of a spiritual nature which had been vouchsafed mankind in earlier centuries, and which had gradually been lost, was gathered together in the great being of Buddha. At that time, six centuries before Christ, the Buddha being lived, epitomizing everything that existed in the way of primeval wisdom—all that mankind had lost and that Buddha had come to proclaim. Hence it is narrated that when Buddha came into the world his birth had been foretold by his mother Maya. We are further told of one who had prophesied of the child that it would become a Buddha, the Redeemer, the Guide to immortality, freedom, and light. And there is many a Buddha legend reporting that as a twelve-year-old boy Buddha had strayed from home, and that he was found again under a tree surrounded by the poets and sages of Antiquity, whom he taught. In my book, Christianity as Mystical Fact, you will find set forth how in the Luke Gospel, six hundred years later, there crop up again the same legends that were told of Buddha; how his revelations reappear in a new form. That is why we encounter in the Luke Gospel what was already contained in the Buddha legends. So perfect is the agreement in such matters when seen in the light of spiritual science!

This should lead us to realize that a document such as the Gospel of St. John, and the others that complement it, are of an infinite profundity which we have studied in a series of lectures; and if we could continue our lectures and make them twice as long, we could find ever new depths in the Gospels. Endless abundance would be disclosed could we extend the time indefinitely; and it would be borne in upon us that with the future development of mankind, still new and ever new depths in these documents will be fathomed. Truly, men will never exhaust their contents. There is nothing one has to read into them; we must merely prepare ourselves, by means of occult truths, to find out what they really contain. Then the whole universal complex of mankind, as well as the relation of this complex to the cosmos, will reveal itself to us; and we shall come to see ever deeper into the spiritual world.

But having heard a lecture cycle of such a nature, it is essential to realize that we have not just acquired a store of knowledge, a sum of isolated truths. Though indispensable, that would be the lesser demand: it is simply a matter of its being impossible to arrive at the deeper goal without it. No, the special fruit that should ripen for us as a result of these studies is that everything we have received through our mind, if we let it sink into our heart, should become a deeply felt understanding of it all, should be transformed into emotions—even into impulses of the will. When all that we have understood and received through our mind comes to glow in our heart it becomes a force within us, a healing force for spirit, soul, and body. And then we shall contemplate this past fortnight as follows: We have been immersed in the life of spirit and have acquired a great deal in many ways. Our gain, however, has not been a mere matter of empty concepts and ideas, but rather, of truths, concepts, and ideas capable of springing from our soul as living forces in our feelings and in our sensibilities. And these feelings and sensibilities will remain for us: we can never lose them, and we shall carry them with us in the world. We have not merely learned something: we have become more alive through what we have learned.

If, in taking leave of this cycle, we make such feelings our very own, spiritual science will fill our life. It will not withdraw us from our ordinary life, but will become for us something like an image of the loftiest concept presented in these lectures. What was set forth is this: Death in the world was inevitable, but the view we hold of death is erroneous. Christ taught us the true view of death, whereby death becomes the seed of a higher life.

Out yonder, beyond the sphere of these lectures, life surges; everyday existence flows on and men live in it. Spiritual research detracts not from that life by an iota, robs it of nothing; but the view commonly held regarding it—before penetrating it with the eye of the spirit—is erroneous, and this error must come to signify life's illusion. This we must let perish in us; then the seed we have acquired by means of an illusion will blossom into a higher life. But only if we receive into ourselves the living, spiritual point of view can this come about: Far from making us ascetic in our lives, it is precisely thereby that we learn to know life in its true form, to master it in the right way, and to endow it with genuine fruitfulness. In proportion as we experience spiritual science itself in a Christian way we christianize life, and we experience that image of life which we have learned to see in death. As we adopt spiritual science as our way of thinking, in the same measure will we—not become estranged from life, but rather, discover in what way our view of this life is faulty. Then, strengthened by a true conception of it, we shall enter it as active workers. There will be no withdrawing from life, for we shall have gained power and strength from studies that lead us into the spiritual world.

If I have in some measure succeeded in so shaping these lectures that they may bear fruit in your lives, that they may contribute, even to a slight degree, to making you feel spiritual cognition as being an exaltation of life—living warmth in your feeling, thinking, and willing; in your working—then the light enkindled for us through our anthroposophical Weltanschauung can glow as the fire of life's ardor, as the fire of life itself. And if this fire proves at all strong enough to endure and burn on through life, I shall have achieved my aim in undertaking this series of lectures.

May these feelings live on in your hearts as a subject of inner meditation!

Vierzehnter Vortrag

Es kann allerdings dem unvorbereiteten Menschen etwas sonderbar vorgekommen sein, wenn gestern der Name des Vater-Geistes der Welt in Zusammenhang gebracht worden ist mit dem Namen des Todes. Allein, Sie müssen dabei bedenken, daß zu gleicher Zeit gesagt worden ist, daß diejenige Gestalt, in welcher der Tod dem Menschen in der physischen Welt entgegentritt, eben nicht die wahre Gestalt ist, und daß daher auch, indem uns die äußere Sinneswelt mit dem Tode behaftet erscheint, diese äußere Sinneswelt eben deshalb, weil sie so ist, daß sie mit dem Tode behaftet erscheinen muß, nicht eine wahre Gestalt dessen ist, was ihr eigentlich zugrunde liegt, nicht eine wahre Gestalt der eigentlich ihr zugrunde liegenden geistig-göttlichen Wesenheit ist. Es ist im Grunde genommen damit nichts anderes gesagt als: Der Mensch gibt sich einer Illusion hin, einer großen Täuschung, einer Maja über das, was im Raume um ihn für die Sinne ausgebreitet ist, und was er wahrnimmt. Würde er die wahre Gestalt erkennen, so würde er nicht das Sinnenbild haben, sondern dann würde er den Geist haben. Würde er den Tod in seiner wahren Gestalt erkennen, dann würde er im Tode sehen denjenigen Ausdruck, den diese Sinnenwelt haben muß, damit sie der Ausdruck sein kann des göttlichen Vater-Geistes.

Damit diese unsere Erdenwelt überhaupt entstehen konnte, mußte eine frühere, überirdische Welt bis zur physischen Materie, bis zum physischen Stoffe herunter, im irdischen Sinne sich verdichten. Dadurch konnte die äußere Welt der Ausdruck werden einer göttlich-geistigen Welt, einer solchen göttlich-geistigen Welt, die damit etwas hat wie Geschöpfe neben sich und außer sich. Alle früheren Gestaltungen unseres Weltendaseins waren so, daß sie mehr oder weniger in der göttlichen Wesenheit darinnen waren. Auf dem alten Saturn gab es noch nicht unsere Luft, nicht unser Wasser, nicht unsere Erde, das heißt, nicht unsere festen Körper. Der ganze Saturn war noch ein Körper aus Wärme nur bestehend, ein Wärme-Raum war der alte Saturn. Und alles, was an Wesenheiten auf dem Saturn war, war noch im Schoße des göttlichen Vater-Geistes. So war es auch auf der alten Sonne, wenn sie auch schon bis zur Luft verdichtet war. Dieser Luft-Planet, die alte Sonne, enthielt in ihrem Schoß, und damit im Schoß der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit, alle ihre Geschöpfe. Und so war es auch beim alten Mond. Erst auf der Erde drang aus dem Schoß der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit die Schöpfung hervor, wurde etwas neben der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit. Dem aber, was nun neben der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit wurde, und was auch das Kleid, die Umhüllung, die physische Leiblichkeit des Menschen wurde, dem wob sich allmählich ein, gliederte sich allmählich ein alles, was von zurückgebliebenen Geistern vorhanden war. Dadurch aber wurde es als ein Geschöpf nicht so, wie es hätte werden sollen, wenn es ein Abbild der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit geworden wäre. Die göttlich-geistige Wesenheit, nachdem sie alle Geschöpfe, unser heutiges Mineralreich, Pflanzenreich, Tierreich und Menschenreich in ihrem Schoß getragen, hat gleichsam sie alle entlassen, ausgebreitet wie einen Teppich um sich her. Und das war nun ein Abbild der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit. So hätte es bleiben sollen. Aber da hat sich hineinverwoben alles, was zurückgeblieben war, was vorher von der göttlich-geistigen Wesenheit ausgestoßen war. Das alles hat sich eingegliedert, und es wurde so das Geschöpf gleichsam getrübt, weniger wert gemacht, als es sonst gewesen wäre.

Diese Trübung entstand ja in dem Zeitalter, als der Mond sich abtrennte von der Erde, in jenem Zeitalter, von dem wir gesagt haben: Wenn nichts anderes gekommen wäre und nicht der Mond ausgestoBen worden wäre, so wäre die Erde schon dazumal verödet. Aber der Mensch sollte doch so fortgepflegt werden, daß er seine Selbständigkeit erringen konnte. Er mußte sich also in einer äußeren, irdisch-physischen Materie verkörpern. Der Mensch mußte von der lemurischen Zeit an durch die atlantische Zeit hindurch so geführt werden, daß er immer mehr und mehr dazu kam, sich in einem physisch-sinnlichen Stoff zu verkörpern. Aber in diesem physisch-sinnlichen Stoff war drinnen, was an zurückgebliebenen Wesenheiten vorhanden war. Der Mensch konnte also gar nicht anders als hineinverkörpert werden in leibliche Hüllen, in denen die zurückgebliebenen Wesenheiten waren.

Es gab gewisse Wesenheiten in der atlantischen Zeit; die waren damals Genossen der Menschen. Der Mensch selbst war ja in der atlantischen Zeit noch in einer weichen Materie. Das, was heute das Menschenfleisch ist, war noch nicht so wie heute, Wenn man in der alten Atlantis, wo die Luft ganz erfüllt war von dichten, schweren Wasser-Nebelmassen, und wo der Mensch ein Wasserwesen war, den Menschen angesehen hätte, so hätte man sagen können: Er war so ähnlich beschaffen wie heute gewisse gallertartige Tiere im Meereswasser, die man kaum unterscheiden kann von dem umliegenden Wasser. So war der Mensch beschaffen. Alle Organe waren schon veranlagt. Aber erst nach und nach verhärteten sich die Organe, erst nach und nach bekam der Mensch die Knochen und so weiter. Also die feinen stofflichen Anlagen waren vorhanden, aber sie verhärteten sich erst im Laufe der Zeit.

In der ersten Zeit der atlantischen Entwickelung gab es nun noch Wesenheiten, die sozusagen Genossen des Menschen waren, insofern als der Mensch damals hellseherisch war und auch diejenigen Wesenheiten sehen konnte, die eigentlich ihren Wohnsitz auf der Sonne aufgeschlagen hatten, die ihm aber in den Strahlen der Sonne entgegenschienen. Denn nicht bloß ein physisches Sonnenlicht kam dem Menschen entgegen, sondern im physischen Sonnenlichte kamen ihm Wesenheiten entgegen, die der Mensch sah. Und wenn der Mensch selber in einem Zustand war, den man dem Schlafe vergleichen könnte, dann konnte er sagen: Jetzt bin ich aus meinem Leib heraus und bin in der Sphäre, wo Sonnenwesen wandeln.

Dann kam aber die Zeit, gegen die Mitte und das letzte Drittel der atlantischen Zeit, wo die Erde in ihrer physischen Materie immer dichter und dichter wurde, und wo der Mensch die Anlage bekam, sein Selbstbewußtsein zu entwickeln. Da gab es solche Wesenheiten für den Menschen nicht mehr zu sehen. Da mußten solche Wesenheiten sich zurückziehen von der Erde, von dem Anblick, den der Mensch auf der Erde haben konnte. Immer mächtiger zog es den Menschen durch den luziferischen Einfluß in die dichte Materie herunter. Da wurde es einer Wesenheit möglich, die als Luzifer-Wesenheit angesprochen werden muß, sich so einzunisten in den menschlichen astralischen Leib, daß der Mensch immer mehr herunterstieg zu einem dichten physischen Körper. Die Wesenheiten aber, die früher seine Genossen waren, die hoben sich damals immer höher und höher. Die sagten: Wir wollen nichts zu tun haben mit den Wesenheiten, die zurückgeblieben sind! - Sie machten sich von ihnen los. In den menschlichen astralischen Leib zogen ein die luziferischen Wesenheiten. Die höheren Wesenheiten aber machten sich von ihnen los, stießen sie herunter, indem sie sagten: Ihr sollt nicht weiter mit hinauf, ihr sollt sehen, wie ihr unten fortkommt!

Eine dieser Wesenheiten wird dargestellt in Michael, der die luziferischen Wesenheiten hinunterstieß in den Abgrund, daß sie sich bewegten im Bereich der Erde. Und in der astralischen Wesenheit der Menschen suchten sie da ihre Wirkung auszuüben. Und der Ort dieser Wesenheiten war nicht mehr der «Himmel». Jene Wesenheiten, deren Schauplatz im Himmel gefunden wurde, haben sie hinuntergestoßen auf die Erde. Alles Böse, alles Schlimme hat aber sein Gutes und ist mitbegründet in der Weisheit der Welt. Diese Wesenheiten mußten zurückgelassen werden in der Welt, damit sie den Menschen herunterzogen in die physische Materie, innerhalb welcher er nur lernen konnte, zu sich «Ich» zu sagen, damit er sein Selbstbewußtsein entwickeln konnte. Ohne die Verwickelung in die Maja hätte der Mensch nicht gelernt, zu sich «Ich » zu sagen. Aber der Mensch wäre untergegangen in der Illusion, wenn es der Illusion und ihren Mächten — Luzifer- Ahriman - gelungen wäre, den Menschen zu halten innerhalb der Illusion.

Ich muß jetzt allerdings einiges aussprechen, was ich Sie bitte — ich möchte sagen — mit aller Erkenntnisvorsicht anzuhören. Denn nur dann, wenn Sie sich diese Gedanken weiter ausbilden und sie zwar wörtlich nehmen, aber doch nicht in dem Sinne, wie eine materialistische Ansicht das Wörtlichnehmen zu tun pflegt, werden Sie sie richtig verstehen.

Was beabsichtigten die luziferisch-ahrimanischen Wesenheiten mit der physischen Welt? Was wollten sie mit all den Wesenheiten, die jetzt in der Welt sind, und auf die sie wirken konnten, nachdem sie sich einmal verbunden hatten mit der menschlichen Entwickelung in der atlantischen Zeit?

Diese Wesenheiten — Luzifer-Ahriman — wollten nichts Geringeres, als alle Wesenheiten, die auf der Erde sind, in der Gestalt, wie sie verwoben sind in der dichten physischen Materie, zu erhalten. Wenn zum Beispiel eine Pflanze wächst, herauswächst aus ihrer Wurzel, Blatt für Blatt in die Höhe treibt bis zur Blüte, dann haben Luzifer- Ahriman die Absicht, dieses Treiben und Wachsen immer weiter und weiter zu bringen, das heißt, diese Wesenheit, die sich da herausentwickelt, der physischen Gestalt ähnlich zu machen, zu erhalten, wie sie ist, und sie damit zu entreißen der geistigen Welt. Denn würde es ihnen gelingen, diese Wesenheit der geistigen Welt der physischen Gestalt ähnlich zu machen, so würden sie den Himmel sozusagen der Erde entreißen. Und auch bei allen Tieren haben die luziferisch-ahrimanischen Wesenheiten die Tendenz, sie ähnlich zu machen dem Körper, in dem sie sind, und sie ihren göttlich-geistigen Ursprung innerhalb der Materie vergessen zu lassen. Und ebenso auch beim Menschen.

Damit das nicht sein konnte, kam der göttlich-geistige Vater und sagte: Zwar haben sich errungen die Wesen der Erde in ihrem Gipfel, in dem Menschen, das äußere Erkennen im Ich; aber das Leben dürfen wir ihnen jetzt nicht überlassen! Denn das Leben würde so gestaltet werden, daß die Wesenheiten in diesem Leben entrissen würden ihrer göttlich-geistigen Wurzel; der Mensch würde sich eingliedern in den physischen Leib und für ewig seinen göttlich-geistigen Ursprung vergessen. — Dadurch allein konnte der göttliche Vater-Geist die Erinnerung an den göttlichen Ursprung retten, daß er allem, was in die Materie strebt, die Wohltat des Todes mitgab. So war es möglich, daß die Pflanze, wenn sie wächst, in die Höhe schießt bis zu dem Moment, wo die Befruchtung eintritt - und in demselben Moment welkt die Pflanzengestalt, eine neue Pflanzengestalt tritt aus dem Samen hervor. Dadurch aber, wenn die Pflanze in den Samen tritt, ist sie für einen Moment in der göttlich-geistigen Welt und wird erfrischt durch die göttlich-geistige Welt. Und so ist es insbesondere für den Menschen. Der Mensch würde hineingebannt in die Erde und vergessen seinen geistig-göttlichen Ursprung, wenn nicht der Tod ausgebreitet wäre über die Erde, wenn der Mensch nicht immer neue Kraftquellen zwischen dem Tode und der neuen Geburt zugeführt erhielte, um nicht zu vergessen seinen göttlich-geistigen Ursprung.

Der Tod, wenn wir ihn prüfen, wo ist er auf der Erde? Fragen wir einmal bei irgendeinem Wesen, das als Pflanze uns erfreut. Ein Wesen, das mit herrlichen Pflanzenblüten unser Auge erfreut - in einigen Monaten ist es nicht mehr da. Der Tod ist über dasselbe gekommen. Schauen wir uns ein Tier an, das uns meinetwillen treu ist, oder irgendein anderes Tier: in kurzer Zeit wird es nicht mehr sein. Der Tod ist über dasselbe gekommen. Schauen wir uns einen Menschen an, wie er in der physischen Welt steht: Nach einiger Zeit ist der Tod über ihn gekommen. Er wird nicht mehr sein, denn wäre er noch da, er würde seinen göttlich-geistigen Ursprung vergessen. Schauen wir uns einen Berg an. Es wird eine Zeit kommen, wo die vulkanische Tätigkeit unserer Erde den Berg verschlungen haben wird: Der Tod ist über ihn hinweggegangen. Schauen wir uns an, was wir wollen: Es gibt nichts, dem nicht der Tod einverwoben wäre. Alles auf der Erde ist in den Tod eingetaucht!

So ist der Tod der wohltätige Entreißer aus einem Dasein, das den Menschen ganz herausführen würde aus der göttlich-geistigen Welt. Aber es mußte dieser Mensch in die physisch-sinnliche Welt kommen. Denn nur in der physisch-sinnlichen Welt war es ihm möglich, sein Selbstbewußtsein, seine menschliche Ichheit zu erringen. Würde er durch den Tod immer gehen müssen, ohne etwas mitnehmen zu können aus diesem Reich des Todes, dann würde er zwar in die göttlichgeistige Welt wieder zurückgehen können, aber unbewußt, ohne Ichheit. Er muß it seiner Ichheit in die göttlich-geistige Welt hineingehen. Er muß daher das irdische Reich, dem ganz der Tod einverwoben ist, befruchten können so, daß der Tod der Same wird für eine Ichheit im Ewigen, im Geistigen.

Diese Möglichkeit aber, daß der Tod, der sonst Vernichtung wäre, umgewandelt wird in den Samen für die ewige Ichheit, ist gegeben worden durch den Christus-Impuls. Auf Golgatha ist zuerst die wahre Gestalt des Todes vor die Menschheit hingestellt worden. Und dadurch, daß sich mit dem 'Tode vermählt hat der Christus, das Abbild des VaterGeistes, der Sohn des Vater-Geistes, dadurch ist der Tod auf Golgatha der Ausgang eines neuen Lebens und, wie wir gestern gesehen haben, einer neuen Sonne. Und nunmehr kann in der Tat alles, was früher als die Lehrzeit des Menschen da war, nachdem sich der Mensch ein Ich für die Ewigkeit erobert hat, nun kann alles Frühere verschwinden, und der Mensch kann in die Zukunft hineingehen mit seiner geretteten Ichheit, die immer mehr und mehr eine Nachbildung der Christus-Ichheit werden wird.

Nehmen wir als Beispiel für das eben Gesagte einen allmählich entzündeten siebenarmigen Leuchter und betrachten wir die erste Flamme seiner Siebenheit als ein Symbolum für die erste Zeit der Menschenentwickelung, die Saturnentwickelung. Jede Entwickelung läuft in sieben kleineren Unterabteilungen ab. So haben wir in der ersten Flamme der Siebenheit des Leuchters ein Symbolum für die Kräfte, die dem Menschen zugeflossen sind während der Saturnzeit. Gehen wir zu der zweiten Flamme innerhalb der Siebenheit dieses Leuchters, so haben wir darinnen ein Symbolum für die Kräfte, die aus der alten Sonnen-Entwickelung dem Menschen zugeflossen sind. In derselben Weise haben wir in der dritten Flamme der Siebenheit ein Symbolum für die Kräfte, die dem Menschen im Laufe der alten Mondenzeit zugeflossen sind. Und in der vierten haben wir ein Symbolum für alles, was dem Menschen zugeflossen ist aus der Erdenentwickelung. Denken wir uns nun das mittlere Licht hellentzündet, die nächsten noch in dunklen Flammen brennend: da, wo das mittlere Licht ist, da ist der Zeitpunkt, wo das Christus-Licht in die Entwickelung eingeschlagen hat. Niemals könnten die anderen Lichter entzündet werden, niemals könnten die folgenden Zeiten der Entwickelung kommen, wenn nicht der Christus-Impuls in die Mensch heitsentwickelung eingeschlagen hätte. Dunkel sind sie heute noch.

Wenn wir nun die zukünftige Entwickelung ebenso symbolisch darstellen wollten, so müßten wir, indem sich das nächste Licht nach dem mittleren entzündet und immer heller wird, das erste Licht verglimmen lassen. Indem sich das nächstfolgende entzündet, müßten wir das zweite verglimmen lassen und so fort. Denn hier ist der Beginn einer neuen Sonnen-Entwickelung! Und wenn die Lichter bis zum letzten brennen werden, dann werden wir die ersten verlöschen sehen können, weil ihre Früchte eingeflossen sind in die letzten Lichter, übergegangen sind in die Zukunft.

So haben Sie eine Entwickelung in der Vergangenheit, die ihre Kräfte empfangen hat von dem Vater-Geist. Würde der Vater-Geist so weiter wirken, so müßten die Lichter alle nach und nach verlöschen, weil Luzifer-Ahriman sich einverwoben hat. Dadurch aber, daß der Christus-Impuls gekommen ist, leuchtet jetzt ein neues Licht auf. Eine Weltensonne beginnt.

Ja, es mußte der Tod einverwoben werden allem natürlichen Dasein, weil ihm einverwoben ist Luzifer-Ahriman. Und ohne Luzifer- Ahriman wäre die Menschheit nicht zur Selbständigkeit gekommen. Mit Luzifer-Ahriman allein aber wäre die Selbständigkeit immer stärker und stärker geworden und hätte endlich das Vergessen des göttlichgeistigen Ursprungs herbeigeführt. Deshalb mußte selbst unserem Leib der Tod beigemischt werden. Wir könnten aus uns nicht einmal die Ichheit in die Ewigkeit mitnehmen, wenn nicht dem äußeren Ausdrucke der Ichheit, die im Blute liegt, beigemischt wäre der Tod.

Wir haben in uns ein Blut des Lebens: den roten Blutstrom. Und wir haben ein Blut des Todes in uns: das blaue Blut. In jedem Augenblicke muß, damit unsere Ichheit leben kann, das Leben, das im roten Blute fließt, im blauen Blute ertötet werden. Würde es nicht ertötet, so würde der Mensch im Leben so untergehen, daß er seinen göttlich-geistigen Ursprung vergessen würde. Die abendländische Esoterik hat ein Symbolum für diese beiden Blutarten, zwei Säulen, eine rote und eine blaue: die eine ein Leben symbolisierend, das aus dem göttlichen VaterGeist fließt, aber in der Form, wo es sich selber verlieren würde; die andere die Vernichtung desselben. Der Tod ist der Stärkere, der Kräftigere, das, was die Vernichtung desjenigen herbeiführt, was sich selbst sonst in sich verlieren würde. Vernichtung aber dessen, was sich sonst verlieren würde, bedeutet aufrufen zur Auferstehung!

So sehen Sie, wie wir durch eine richtige Interpretation des JohannesEvangeliums in den Sinn des ganzen Lebens hineinschauen. Dasjenige, was wir gestern und heute gewonnen haben, ist also nichts anderes, als daß in dem Momente unserer Zeitentwickelung, welche die christliche Zeitrechnung mit einer neuen «1» beginnt, etwas eingetreten ist, was für die ganze Erdentwickelung und, insofern die kosmische Entwickelung mit der Erde zusammenhängt, auch für die kosmische Entwickelung von höchster Bedeutung ist. Ja, mit dem Golgatha-Ereignis ist ein neuer Mittelpunkt geschaffen. Mit der Erde ist seitdem vereint der Christus-Geist. Nach und nach ist er herangekommen, und seit der Zeit ist er in der Erde. Und es.handelt sich darum, daß die Menschen erkennen lernen, daß der Christus-Geist seit jener Zeit in der Erde ist, daß in jedem Produkt der Erde der Christus-Geist ist, und daß sie alles unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Todes erkennen, wenn sie nicht den ChristusGeist darinnen erblicken, alles aber erkennen unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Lebens, wenn sie darinnen erblicken den Christus-Geist.

Wir sind erst im Anfange derjenigen Entwickelung, welche die christliche Entwickelung ist. Die Zukunft dieser Entwickelung besteht darinnen, daß wir in der ganzen Erde sehen den Körper des Christus. Denn der Christus ist seit jener Zeit in die Erde eingezogen, hat in der Erde einen neuen Lichtmittelpunkt geschaffen und durchdringt die Erde, leuchtet in die Welt hinaus und ist ewig in der Erdenaura verwoben. Sehen wir daher die Erde heute ohne den Christus-Geist, der ihr zugrunde liegt, so sehen wir das Verwesende, das Verfaulende der Erde, den sich zersetzenden Leichnam. Sehen wir die Erde zerspaltet in noch so viele kleine Partikel, so sehen wir, wenn wir nicht den Christus verstehen, den sich zersetzenden Erdenleichnam. Überall, wo wir bloß Stoffe sehen, da sehen wir die Unwahrheit.

So finden Sie nicht dieWahrheit, wenn Sie den Menschen der Erde studieren; Sie studieren nur seinen sich zersetzenden Leichnam. Wenn Sie seinen Leichnam studieren, dann können Sie konsequenterweise dieElemente der Erde nur so beurteilen, daß Sie sagen: «Die Erde besteht aus Stoff-Atomen » - gleichgültig, ob es räumlich ausgedehnte Atome oder Kraftmittelpunkte sind, es kommt darauf nicht an. Wenn wir Atome sehen, aus denen unsere Erde bestehen soll, dann sehen wir den Erdenleichnam, das, was sich fortwährend zersetzt, und was einst nicht mehr sein wird, wenn die Erde nicht mehr sein wird. Und die Erde löst sich auf.

Dann erst erkennen wir die Wahrheit, wenn wir in jedem Atom sehen einen Teil des Christus-Geistes, der seit jener Zeit darinnen ist. Aus was besteht denn die Erde, seitdem der Christus-Geist sie durchdrungen hat? Bis ins Atom hinein besteht die Erde aus Leben, seit sie der Christus durchdrungen hat! Jedes Atom hat nur dadurch einen Wert und kann nur dadurch erkannt werden, daß Sie in ihm sehen eine Hülle, die ein Geistiges umschließt. Und dieses Geistige ist ein Teil des Christus.

Nehmen Sie jetzt irgend etwas von der Erde. Wann erkennen Sie es richtig? Wenn Sie sagen: «Das ist ein Teil des Leibes des Christus!» Was konnte der Christus sagen zu denjenigen, die ihn erkennen mochten ? Indem er ihnen das Brot brach, das aus dem Korn der Erde kommt, konnte der Christus sagen: « Dies ist mein Leib!» Was konnte er ihnen sagen, indem er ihnen den Rebensaft gab, der aus dem Saft der Pflanzen kommt? — «Dies ist mein Blut!» Weil er die Seele der Erde geworden ist, konnte erzu dem, was fest ist, sagen: « Dies ist mein Fleisch » und zu dem Pflanzensaft: « Dies ist mein Blut », wie Sie zu Ihrem Fleisch sagen: Dies ist mein Fleisch, und zu Ihrem Blut: Dies ist mein Blut. - Und diejenigen Menschen, welche imstande sind, den richtigen Sinn dieser Worte des Christus zu fassen, die machen sich Gedankenbilder, die anziehen in dem Brot und in dem Rebensaft den Leib und das Blut Christi, die anziehen den Christus-Geist darinnen. Und sie vereinigen sich mit dem Christus-Geist.

So wird aus dem Symbolum des Abendmahles eine Wirklichkeit.

Ohne den Gedanken, der an den Christus anknüpft im menschlichen Herzen, kann keine Anziehungskraft entwickelt werden zu dem Christus-Geist beim Abendmahl. Aber durch diese Gedankenform wird solche Anziehungskraft entwickelt. Und so wird für alle diejenigen, welche das äußere Symbolum brauchen, um einen geistigen Actus zu vollziehen, nämlich die Vereinigung mit dem Christus, das Abendmahl derWeg sein, der Weg bis dahin, wo ihre innere Kraft so stark ist, wo sie so erfüllt sind von dem Christus, daß sie ohne die äußere physische Vermittelung sich mit dem Christus vereinigen können. Die Vorschule für die mystische Vereinigung mit dem Christus ist das Abendmahl - die Vorschule. So müssen wir diese Dinge verstehen. Und ebenso wie alles sich entwickelt vom Physischen zum Geistigen hinauf unter dem christlichen Einfluß, so müssen sich zuerst unter dem Christus-Einfluß heranentwickeln die Dinge, die zuerst da waren als eine Brücke: vom Physischen zum Geistigen muß sich das Abendmahl entwickeln, um hinzuführen zur wirklichen Vereinigung mit dem Christus. — Über diese Dinge kann man nur in Andeutungen sprechen, denn nur wenn sie aufgenommen werden in ihrer vollen heiligen Würde, werden sie im richtigen Sinne verstanden.

Daß durch das Ereignis von Golgatha der Christus seit jener Zeit bei der Erde war, das zu erkennen war eine Aufgabe für die Menschen. Sie sollten das immer mehr erkennen und in der Erkenntnis sich immer mehr davon durchdringen lassen.

Dazu aber bedurfte es der Vermittler. Und einer der ersten großen Vermittler war derjenige, der aus dem Saulus ein Paulus geworden war. Was konnte Saulus wissen, da er eine Art jüdischer Eingeweihter war? Ungefähr in folgenden Worten können wir aussprechen, was Saulus wissen konnte.

Wissen konnte er das, was Eigentum war der hebräischen Geheimlehre. Was der Zarathustra gesehen hatte als Ahura Mazdao, was Moses gesehen hatte im brennenden Dornbusch und im Donner und Blitz auf Sinai als «ehjeh asher ehjeh», als Jahve oder Jehova, das, wußte er, war herangekommen an die Erde, hatte sich genähert und würde einmal in einem Menschenleib sein und in diesem Menschenleibe bewirken, daß die Erde eine Erneuerung erfährt. Aber nun stand er unter dem Eindrucke des Urteils seiner Zeit und der jüdischen Gesetze. Das Ereignis von Golgatha hat er mitgemacht. Aber er konnte sich nicht sagen, daß derjenige, der am Kreuz geendet hatte, der Träger war des Christus. Die Ereignisse, die er erfahren und erlebt hatte, konnten ihm die Überzeugung nicht beibringen, daß derjenige, den er erwarten mußte nach der jüdischen Einweihung, in dem Jesus von Nazareth verkörpert war. Was mußte er denn erleben, damit er zu seiner Überzeugung machen konnte, daß auf Golgatha in dem sterbenden Leib des Jesus von Nazareth wirklich der unsterbliche Christus-Geist gewesen war?

Er wußte aus seiner hebräischen Einweihung heraus: Wenn der Christus-Geist in einem menschlichen Leib gewesen ist und dieser menschliche Leib tot ist, dann muß in der Erdenaura der Christus vorhanden sein. Dann muß es möglich sein für den, der selber mit geistigem Auge in die Erdenaura schauen kann, daß ihm der Christus sichtbar wird. Das wußte er. Nur war er bis dahin nicht fähig geworden, in die Erdenaura hineinzuschauen. Er war zwar ein Ringeweihter in die Weisheit, aber kein Hellseher. Aber er hatte eine Vorbedingung, um ein Hellseher auf einem abnormen Wege zu werden, und diese Vorbedingung spricht er selber aus. Er spricht sie so aus, daß er sie als eine Gnade bezeichnet, die ihm von oben verliehen worden ist: er sagt von sich selber, daß er eine Frühgeburt sei, was gewöhnlich übersetzt wird mit «eine unzeitige Geburt». Er ist nicht ausgetragen worden im mütterlichen Leibe; er ist aus der geistigen Welt in die physische Welt heruntergestiegen, als er noch nicht völlig eingetaucht war in alle Elemente des Erdendaseins. Früher als man sich sonst entreißt jenen Verbindungen, in denen man noch unbewußt den geistigen Mächten angehört, ist er in die Welt gekommen. Das Ereignis von Damaskus wurde dadurch möglich, daß ihm das geistige Auge geöffnet wurde als einer Geburt, die zur Unzeit zur Welt gekommen war. So wurde ihm als einer Frühgeburt das geistige Auge eröffnet; er sah in die Erdenaura hinein und sah, daß der Christus darinnen war. Also mußte der Zeitpunkt, da dieser Christus durch einen physischen Menschenleib gewandelt war, schon dagewesen sein. Der Beweis war ihm geliefert worden, daß der Christus an dem Kreuze gestorben war. Denn derjenige, von dem er wußte, daß er den Tod auf der Erde überwinden würde, der war ihm als geistig Lebendiger erschienen. Das Ereignis von Golgatha kannte er jetzt in seiner Bedeutung. Er wußte: Der Christus ist auferstanden! Denn derjenige, den er gesehen hatte, der konnte früher nicht in der Erdenaura gesehen werden. Jetzt verstand er die Worte:

«Es wird dir schwer werden, wider den Stachel zu löcken.» (Apg. 9 5)

Was ist der Stachel? Paulus hat es selber ausgesprochen: «Tod, wo ist dein Stachel? » (1. Kor. 15, 55). Umsonst wirst du wider den Stachel löcken. Denn würdest du es tun, so würdest du nur den Tod erkennen. Aber du kannst jetzt nicht mehr gegen den Tod löcken, denn du hast den gesehen, der den Tod überwunden hat.

Damit wurde Paulus derjenige Verkünder des Christentums, der vor allen Dingen den lebendigen, den geistig lebendigen Christus verkündet hat.

Wodurch war der Christus in der Erdenaura zu sehen? Dadurch, daß bei dem Christus Jesus, als einem ersten Impuls der Erdenentwickelung in die Zukunft hinein, zuerst der Ätherleib wieder vollständig durchdrungen war von dem Christus. Natürlich war der Ätherleib des Jesus von Nazareth vollständig durchdrungen von dem Christus. Daher war es solch ein Ätherleib, der ganz den physischen Leib unter seiner Herrschaft hatte, der dadurch, weil er völliger Herrscher war über den physischen Leib, nach dem Tode den physischen Leib wiederherstellen konnte, das heißt, in einer solchen Erscheinung auftreten konnte, daß alles das, was im physischen Leibe war, wieder da war, aber aus der Kraft des Ätherleibes heraus. Wenn daher der Christus nach dem Tode gesehen worden ist, so war das der Ätherleib des Christus. Aber für diejenigen, welche imstande waren, durch die Kraft, welche sie durch die Ereignisse gewonnen hatten, nicht nur einen physisch-sinnlichen Leib als einen wirklichen Leib anzuerkennen, sondern auch einen Ätherleib mit allen Erscheinungen des physischen Leibes, für sie war der Christus als ein Leibhaftiger auferstanden. Und er war es in Wirklichkeit.

Aber auch im Evangelium ist uns gesagt, daß der Mensch, wenn er so weit vorgeschritten ist, daß das Verwesliche ein Unverwesliches entwickelt, daß er dann auch ein höheres Anschauen hat. Und es wird auch gesagt, daß diejenigen Menschen, welche sich damals schon zu einem höheren Anschauen hinaufentwickelt hatten, den Christus erkennen konnten. Das wird uns deutlich genug gesagt, nur haben die Menschen nicht den Willen, wirklich das zu lesen, was im Evangelium steht. Nehmen Sie zum Beispiel die erste Erscheinung des Christus nach dem Tode. Da heißt es:

«Maria aber stund vor dem Grabe, und weinte draußen. Als sie nun weinte, guckte sie in das Grab,

Und siehet zween Engel in weißen Kleidern sitzen, einen zu den Häupten und den anderen zu den Füßen, da sie den Leichnam Jesu hingelegt hatten.

Und dieselbigen sprachen zu ihr: Weib, was weinest du? Sie spricht zu ihnen: Sie haben meinen Herrn weggenommen, und ich weiß nicht, wo sie ihn hingelegt haben.

Und als sie das sagte, wandte sie sich zurück, und siehet Jesum stehen,

und weiß nicht, daß es Jesus ist.

Spricht Jesus zu ihr: Weib, was weinest du? Wen suchest du? Sie meinet, es sei der Gärtner, und spricht zu ihm: Herr, hast du ihn weg getragen, so sage mir: wo hast du ihn hingelegt? so will ich ihn holen. Spricht Jesus zu ihr: Maria! Da wandte sie sich um, und spricht zu ihm: Rabbuni! das heißet: O Meister!» (20, 11-16)

Nun stellen Sie sich einmal vor: Sie haben jemanden vor ein paar Tagen gesehen, und Sie sehen ihn nach ein paar Tagen wieder. Trauen Sie sich zu, ihn nicht wiederzuerkennen ? Trauen Sie sich zu, ihn zu fragen, ob er der Gärtner sei, und wo er eigentlich hingelegt worden ist, wenn Sie ihn selber sehen? Das aber müssen Sie der Maria zutrauen, oder derjenigen, welche hier als Maria bezeichnet wird, wenn Sie annehmen wollen, daß ein jedes physische Auge den Christus erkannt hätte und ihn in derselben Weise gesehen hätte, wie ihn ein physisches Auge früher gesehen hat. Lesen Sie die Evangelien dem Geiste nach!

Erst mußte die heilige Kraft der Worte als Kraft eindringen in die Frau. Das war notwendig! Da ging in ihr auf das Echo der Worte, und sie entzündeten wieder alles, was sie früher gesehen hatte. Und das machte jetzt ihr geistiges Auge fähig, den Auferstandenen zu sehen. — Sagt uns dasselbe nicht auch der Paulus?

Bei dem Paulus werden Sie niemals bezweifeln, daß er durch sein geistiges Auge den Christus gesehen hat, als dieser Christus wiederum nur in den Höhen des Geistigen war, in der Erdenaura. Was aber sagt der Paulus? Als einen Beweis dafür, daß der Christus lebt, führt er an, daß er erschienen ist. Und er führt an als gleichbedeutende Erscheinungen zuerst,

«...daß er gesehen worden ist von Kephas, darnach von den Zwölfen.

Darnach ist er gesehen worden von mehr denn fünfhundert Brüdern auf einmal, deren noch viele leben, etliche aber sind entschlafen. Darnach ist er gesehen worden von Jakobus, darnach von allen Aposteln. Am letzten nach allen ist er auch von mir, als einer unzeitigen Geburt, gesehen worden.

Denn ich bin der Geringste unter den Aposteln, als der ich nicht wert bin, daß ich ein Apostel heiße.» (1. Kor. 15, 5-9)

Er stellt die Erscheinungen, welche die anderen gehabt haben, ganz gleich der seinigen, die dem geistigen Auge möglich war. Daher sagt Paulus wörtlich: «Wie ich gesehen habe den Christus, so haben ihn die anderen gesehen.» Durch das, was sie erlebt haben, sagt Paulus, ist in ihnen die Kraft entzündet worden, den Christus zu sehen als einen Auferstandenen.

Nun verstehen wir, was Paulus meint. Und des Paulus Anschauung ist eine solche, daß sie unmittelbar erkannt wird als die anthroposophisch-geistige, das heißt, daß sie uns sagt: Es gibt eine geistige Welt. Wenn wir diese geistige Welt mit dem Impuls betrachten, der uns durch die Christus-Kraft gegeben wird, so dringen wir so ein, daß wir in dieser geistigen Welt auch den Christus selber finden, denjenigen, der durch das Ereignis von Golgatha gegangen ist. - Das wollte er damit sagen. Und der Mensch kann, im besonderen durch das, was man «christliche Einweihung» nennt, nach und nach, mit Geduld und Ausdauer, sozusagen ein Nachfolger werden des Paulus, sich nach und nach selber aneignen die Fähigkeiten, um hineinzublicken in die geistige Welt und den Christus von geistigem Angesicht zu geistigem Angesicht zu schauen.

Ich habe in anderen Vorträgen öfter ausgeführt die Anfangsstufen, durch die wir hinauf kommen zum Schauen der Christus-Wesenheit selber. Da muß der Schüler nachleben, was uns im Johannes-Evangelium vorgezeichnet ist. Nur in allerkürzesten Umrissen sei im Zusammenhange angedeutet, wie der Mensch sich hinaufentwickeln kann in die geistige Welt, in welcher das Licht des Christus seit dem Ereignis von Golgatha entzündet ist, wenn sich der Mensch entschließt, eine gewisse Skala von Gefühlen durchzumachen.

Das erste ist, daß der Mensch sich sagt: Ich sehe mir die Pflanze an. Sie wächst aus dem mineralischen Erdboden heraus, sie wächst und blüht. Aber wenn die Pflanze Bewußtsein entwickeln könnte wie der Mensch, so müßte sie hinunterschauen zum Steinreich, zur mineralischen Erde, aus der sie herauswächst, und müßte sagen: Du Stein bist ein niedrigeres Wesen unter den heutigen Wesen der Natur als ich, aber ohne dich, niedrigeres Reich, kann ich nicht bestehen! Und ebenso wenn sich das Tier der Pflanze näherte und empfinden könnte, wie es die Pflanze zum Untergrunde seines Daseins hat, müßte es sich sagen: Ich als Tier bin ein höheres Wesen als du, Pflanze, aber ohne dich, Pflanze, könnte ich nicht sein! Und in Demut müßte sich das Tier herunterneigen zur Pflanze und sagen: Dir, niedrigere Pflanze, verdanke ich mein Dasein! - Und im Menschenreich müßte es so sein: Ein jeder, der auf der Stufenleiter höher gestiegen ist, müßte herunterschauen in geistiger Beziehung zu dem unter ihm Stehenden und sagen: Ihr gehört zwar einer niedrigeren Welt an, aber wie die Pflanze sich zum Stein, das Tier sich zur Pflanze neigen müßte, so müßte der Mensch auf einer höheren Stufe sagen: Dir Niedrigerem verdanke ich mein Dasein!

Dann, wenn der Mensch durch Wochen und Monate, vielleicht durch Jahre hindurch unter der Anleitung seines entsprechenden Lehrers sich ganz hineinversetzt in solche Gefühle einer universellen Demut, dann kommt er so weit, daß er weiß, was da bedeutet die «Fußwaschung ». Denn vor ihm steht ein unmittelbar geistiges Schauen dessen, was der Christus getan hat, als er als das höhere Wesen sich vor den Zwölfen neigte und ihnen die Füße wusch. Und die ganze Bedeutung dieses Ereignisses geht alsdann dem Schüler wie ein Schauen auf, so daß er weiß, daß dieses Ereignis der Fußwaschung stattgefunden hat. Das Erkenntnisband führt ihn dahin, daß er keinen weiteren Beweis dafür braucht, sondern jetzt schaut er unmittelbar hinein in die geistige Welt und sieht den Christus in der Szene der Fußwaschung.

Dann kann ein solcher Mensch angeleitet werden vom Lehrer, daß er die Kraft hat zu sagen: Ich werde in der Welt alle Leiden und Schmerzen, die an mich herankommen können, standhaft ertragen und nicht murren. Ich werde mich so stählen, daß solche Leiden und Schmerzen nicht Schmerzen und Leiden mehr für mich sind, sondern daß ich weiß: das sind Notwendigkeiten in der Welt! Wenn der Mensch dann genügend fest in der Seele geworden ist, so ersprießt aus dieser Beobachtung in seiner Seele das Gefühl der «Geißelung», und der Mensch fühlt an sich selber geistig die Geißelung. Das aber öffnet ihm sein geistiges Auge, um die Geißelung, wie sie im Johannes-Evangelium beschrieben ist, selber zu schauen.

Dann wird der Mensch angeleitet, jene Kraft zu entwickeln, die noch eine Stufe höher ist, wo er nicht bloß imstande ist, Leiden und Schmerzen von aller Welt zu ertragen, sondern sich zu sagen: Ich habe ein Heiligstes, wofür ich meine ganze Person einsetze. Möge mich die ganze Welt mit Hohn und Spott übergießen, dies ist mir das Heiligste. Hohn und Spott von allen Seiten werden mich nicht abhalten von diesem Heiligsten, wenn ich auch allein stehe. Ich trete für dasselbe ein! Da erlebt der Mensch in sich geistig die «Dornenkrönung ». Und ohne ein historisches Dokument vermittelt ihm sein geistiges Auge die Szene im Johannes-Evangelium, die als Dornenkrönung geschildert wird.

Und wenn dann der Mensch unter entsprechender Anleitung dazu gelangt, sein physisches Dasein ganz anders zu betrachten, als er es vorher getan hat, wenn er lernt, seinen eigenen Leib so zu betrachten wie etwas, was er äußerlich trägt; wenn es ihm ein selbstverständliches Gefühl und eine selbstverständliche Empfindung geworden ist, zu sagen: Ich trage wie ein äußeres Werkzeug meinen physischen Leib durch die Welt!- dann ister auf der vierten Stufe der christlichen Einweihung angekommen, bei der «Kreuztragung ». Er ist nicht etwa dadurch ein schwacher Asket geworden; sondern dann lernen wir dasjenige, was wir als physisches Instrument haben, viel stärker handhaben als früher. Wenn Sie gelernt haben, den Leib anzusehen wie etwas, was Sie tragen, dann sind Sie auf der vierten Stufe der christlichen Einweihung angekommen, die man die Kreuztragung nennt. Und dann erobern Sie sich die Erkenntnis, geistig zu schauen jene Szene, da der Christus sein Kreuz trägt auf dem Rücken, wie Sie gelernt haben, durch Ihre erhöhte Seelenkraft Ihren Leib wie ein Holz zu tragen.

Dann aber tritt etwas ein, was als eine fünfte Stufe der christlichen Einweihung anzusehen ist, was man den «mystischen Tod» nennt. Da erscheint uns durch unsere innere Reifung alles, was um uns herum ist, die ganze physisch-sinnliche Welt, wie ausgelöscht. Finsternis ist um uns her. Und dann tritt ein Moment ein, wie wenn diese Finsternis mitten auseinandergerissen würde wie ein Vorhang, und wir sehen hinter diese physische Welt, in die geistige Welt hinein. Während dieses Momentes tritt aber noch etwas anderes ein. Wir haben jetzt kennengelernt alles, was Sünde und Böses ist, in seiner wahren Gestalt, das heißt, wir haben kennengelernt auf dieser Stufe, was das «Hinabsteigen in die Hölle» ist.

Und dann lernen wir nicht nur unseren Leib als etwas Fremdes anzusehen, sondern alles andere ebenso zu uns gehörig zu betrachten wie unseren Leib - alles, was auf der Erde ist, ebenso zu uns gehörig anzusehen, wie man es einst im alten Hellsehen getan hat. Und auch die Leiden der anderen Menschen lernen wir, als zu einem großen Organismus gehörig, zu uns gehörig anzusehen. Dann aber sind wir mit der Erde vereinigt in dem Grade, als wires erkennen. Dann erleben wir das «Hineingelegtsein in die Erde», die «Grablegung ». Und indem wir mit der Erde vereinigt sind, sind wir auch aus ihr auferstanden. Denn damit haben wir gekostet, was es heißt: Die Erde ist in einem neuen SonneWerden!

Durch diesen vierten, fünften und sechsten Grad der christlichen Einweihung aber haben wir das erlangt, was uns befähigt, das Ereignis von Golgatha in eigener Anschauung zu sehen, uns hineinzuleben in das Ereignis von Golgatha. Wir brauchen dann keine Urkunde mehr. Die Urkunde hat uns gedient, uns die Sprossen hinaufzuführen.

Dann kommt die siebente Stufe, die man die «Himmelfahrt» nennt, das Aufleben in der geistigen Welt, mit anderen Worten. Das ist diejenige Stufe, von der man mit Recht sagt, daß man sie nicht mit einem Worte, das unserer Sprache entnommen ist, ausdrücken kann, daß sie nur derjenige sich vorstellen kann, der fähig geworden ist, ohne das Instrument des Gehirns zu denken. Die Wunder der Auferstehung können nur diejenigen denken, die nicht mehr darauf angewiesen sind, durch das Instrument des physischen Gehirns zu denken.

Dadurch, daß diejenigen, die als Gläubige dazumal dabei waren, als das Ereignis von Golgatha sich vollzogen hat, solche waren, deren geistige Augen geöffnet waren und die da sehen konnten, was geschah, dadurch wären sie imstande gewesen, den Christus so zu sehen, wie ich es Ihnen geschildert habe, ihn nämlich dann zu sehen, wenn er innerhalb der Erdenaura ihrem geöffneten geistigen Auge sich mitgeteilt hätte. So hätten sie den Christus sehen können - auch wenn er in einer gewissen Beziehung immer in derselben Gestalt verblieben wäre, in der er dazumal war -, wenn er selbst, der Christus, als geistige Wesenheit nicht sich auch etwas errungen hätte dadurch, daß er den Tod überwunden hat! Und jetzt kommen wir zu einem Begriff, der allerdings schwer zu fassen ist.

Der Mensch lernt unablässig, indem er auf der Stufe, auf der er steht, sich immer weiter und weiter entwickelt. Aber nicht nur der Mensch, ein jedes Wesen, vom untersten bis zum höchsten göttlichen Wesen, lernt, indem es sich immer weiter entwickelt. Das, was der Christus als göttliche Wesenheit getan hat in dem Leibe des Jesus von Nazareth, das haben wir bisher geschildert in seiner Wirkung und in seiner Frucht für die Menschheit. Jetzt aber fragen wir uns: Hat der Christus dadurch auch in sich selber etwas erlebt, was ihn zu einer höheren Stufe geführt hat? Ja, das hat er. Auch göttlich-geistige Wesenheiten erleben etwas, was sie zu einer höheren Stufe führt. Das aber, was er erlebt hat, sein Hinaufsteigen in eine noch höhere Welt als die, in der er vorher war, das ließ er denen, die seine Genossen auf der Erde waren, erscheinen als seine Himmelfahrt. Daher kann auch derjenige, der durch das Instrument des physischen Gehirnes als Uneingeweihter, als Nichthellsehender lebt, er kann verstehen, wenn auch nicht selber sehen, die sechs ersten Stufen der christlichen Einweihung. Die siebente Stufe aber, die Himmelfahrt, kann nur der Hellseher verstehen, der nicht mehr an das Instrument des physischen Gehirnes gebunden ist, der einmal selber gesehen hat, was es heißt, ohne das Gehirn zu denken und ohne das Gehirn zu sehen. So hängen diese Dinge zusammen.

So entwickelte sich die Welt in der Zeit, von welcher wir zu sprechen die Möglichkeit hatten in diesen unseren vierzehn Vorträgen.

Wir haben schon gesehen, daß der Christus angedeutet hatte, daß in demjenigen, der blind geboren war und dessen Heilung er bewirkt hat, . offenbar werden sollte, was in einem früheren Leben in ihm gesündigt hat. Es stand also der Christus so vor der Menschheit da, daß er sie, soweit sie das verstehen konnte, die Idee der Reinkarnation lehrte. Das Karma, das Hineinreichen der Ursachen von einer Lebensverkörperung zur anderen Lebensverkörperung, das lehrte er. Er lehrte es so, wie man es tut, wenn man praktisch lehrt für das Leben. Er wollte sagen: Es wird eine Zukunft geben, da alle Menschen das Karma anerkennen werden, wo sie verstehen werden, daß, wenn der Mensch etwas Böses tut, er nicht braucht von einer äußeren irdischen Macht bestraft zu werden; denn dieses Böse zieht notwendigerweise den Ausgleich in dieser oder einer folgenden Inkarnation nach sich. Dann aber brauchen wir einfach in das große Gesetzbuch der Akasha-Chronik, in die geistige Welt einzuschreiben seine Tat. Dann brauchen wir ihn als Menschen nicht zu verurteilen, dann können wir als Menschen vor ihm stehen und können das, was er getan hat, den geistigen Gesetzen überlassen, daß es in der geistigen Welt stehe; wir können überlassen den Menschen dem Karma!

«Jesus aber ging an den Ölberg.

Und frühmorgens kam er wieder in den Tempel, und alles Volk kam zu ihm; und er setzte sich und lehrte sie.

Aber die Schriftgelehrten und Pharisäer brachten ein Weib zu ihm, im Ehebruch ergriffen, und stelleten sie in die Mitte,

Und sprachen zu ihm: Meister, dies Weib ist ergriffen auf frischer Tat im Ehebruch. Moses aber hat uns im Gesetz geboten, solche zu steinigen; was sagest du?

Das sprachen sie aber, ihn zu versuchen, auf daß sie eine Sache zu ihm hätten. Aber Jesus bückte sich nieder und schrieb mit dem Finger auf die Erde.» (8, 1-6)

Was schrieb er? Er schrieb in die geistige Welt hinein die Sünde. Und die Sünde wird aus der geistigen Welt heraus ihren Ausgleich finden! Die anderen aber erinnert er daran, ob sie sich selber keiner Sünde bewußt sind? Denn nur dann, wenn sie nichts auszugleichen hätten, nur dann könnten sie sich sagen, daß sie ohne Zusammenhang stünden mit der Sünde dieses Weibes und könnten über sie richten. So aber wissen sie ja nicht, ob sie nicht selber im früheren Leben die Ursache gelegt haben zu dem, was sie jetzt trifft; sie können ja nicht wissen, ob sie nicht in früheren Leben dieses Weib dazu gebracht haben, daß sie jetzt die Ehe gebrochen hat, ob sie nicht selbst in früheren Leben diese Sünde begangen oder die Ursachen dazu gelegt haben. Alles ist in das Karma hineingeschrieben. Jesus schrieb auf die Erde, die er mit seinem geistigen Licht schon durchdrungen hat; das heißt, in die Erde hinein vertraut er das, was Karma sein sollte für die Ehebrecherin. Er wollte sagen: Wandelt in den Bahnen, die ich euch jetzt vorzeichne! Werdet so, daß ihr sagt: Wir richten nicht, wir überlassen das, was im Menschen ist, dem karmischen Ausgleich! - Wenn die Menschen das befolgen, dann kommen sie zum Karma. Man braucht das Karma nicht als Dogma zu lehren. Man hat es durch die Tat gelehrt. So lehrte der Christus.

Solche Dinge aber konnte allerdings nur derjenige seiner Schüler und seiner Jünger schreiben, der von ihm selber eingeweiht worden war: der Lazarus- Johannes. Daher verstand auch nur dieser Schüler in richtigem Maße, wie es wirkt, wenn ein Wesen es sich erarbeitet hatte, von der Johannes-Taufe an nach und nach in dem Ätherleibe Herr zu werden über den physischen Leib, den Ätherleib zum Beleber zu machen. Daher verstand auch dieser Schreiber des Johannes-Evangeliums, daß es möglich ist, das, was äußerlich noch wie Wasser aussieht, so zu wandeln, daß, wenn es der Mensch trinkt, es durch die Aufnahme in die menschlichen Organe in Wein sich wandelt. Deshalb verstand er, daß es möglich ist, eine kleine Anzahl von Fischen und Broten zu haben, und durch die Kraft des Ätherleibes so zu wirken, daß die Menschen satt werden. Das aber hat uns der Schreiber des Johannes-Evangeliums gesagt, wenn wir nur das Evangelium ernst nehmen. Sagt er uns irgendwo, daß auch nur die wenigen Brote und die wenigen Fische so gegessen wurden, wie sonst physisch gegessen wird? Nirgends sagt er das, und wenn Sie das ganze Johannes-Evangelium durchgehen. Er sagt Ihnen klar und deutlich, wenn Sie nur jedes Wort wörtlich nehmen, daß der Christus das Brot brach, daß er aber ein Dankgebet zum Himmel richtete:

«Jesus aber nahm die Brote, dankte und gab sie den Jüngern, die Jünger aber denen, die sich gelagert hatten; desselbigengleichen auch von den Fischen, wieviel sie wollten.» (6,11)

Aber der Sinn dieser Worte, wenn wir sie im Urtext nehmen - er ist schlecht wiedergegeben in den deutschen Worten -, ist etwa der folgende: Die Jünger gaben die Brote und die Fische weiter, und einen jeden ließen sie damit machen, was er wollte; keiner aber wollte damit etwas anderes, als in diesem Momente das empfinden, was als Kraft ausgeht von dem mächtigen Ätherleibe des Christus Jesus. Keiner wollte etwas anderes. Und wodurch wurden sie satt? Im 23. Verse heißt es:

«Es kamen aber andere Schiffe von Tiberias nahe zu der Stätte, da sie das Brot gegessen hatten durch des Herrn Danksagung.»

Durch das Gebet des Herrn hatten sie das Brot gegessen! Sie hatten Brot gegessen, ohne daß sich der physische Akt vollzogen hatte. Und dadurch konnte der Christus Jesus das Geschehene hinterher interpretieren, daß er sagt: «Ich bin das Brot des Lebens!»

Was also hatten sie gegessen? Die Kraft des Christus-Leibes hatten sie gegessen! Was konnte übrigbleiben? Übrigbleiben konnte nur die Kraft des Christus-Leibes! Sie wirkte so stark, daß man hinterher noch einsammeln konnte.

Ein jeder Leib aber besteht nach okkulter Anschauung aus zwölf Gliedern,. Man nennt das oberste Glied den Widder; dasjenige Glied, das darauf folgt, den Stier; das Glied, wo die beiden Hände sind, die Zwillinge; die Brust heißt der Krebs; was in der Herzgegend des Menschen ist, der Löwe; was nach unten folgt im Rumpf, ist die Jungfrau; dann die Hüfte, die Waage; dann kommt nach unten der Skorpion; dann weiter: Schütze, Oberschenkel; Steinbock, Knie; Wassermann, Unterschenkel, und die Füße sind die Fische.

In zwölf Glieder — das ist wohlbegründet - zerfällt der Menschenleib. Wenn man nun einsammelt das, was übrigbleibt, nachdem man die Kraft des Christus-Leibes zu seiner Sättigung benutzt hat, so muß man es in zwölf Maßen einsammeln!

«Da sammelten sie, und fülleten zwölf Körbe mit Brocken von den fünf Gerstenbroten, die überblieben denen, die gespeist worden.» (6, 13)

Sie hatten nicht die Gerstenbrote gegessen. Sie hatten die Kraft gegessen, die von dem Christus ausgegangen war. Und sie waren satt geworden durch die Kraft, die von dem Christus ausgegangen war durch die Danksagung, indem der Christus an diejenigen Sphären appellierte, aus denen er heruntergekommen ist.

So müssen wir verstehen die Wirkung der geistigen Welt in die physische Welt. Und so können wir verstehen, wie sich die einzelnen Ereignisse hineinstellen in das Grundereignis des Sonne-Werdens der Erde. Sie stellen sich alle hinein als mächtige Kräfte-Ereignisse in das SonneWerden der Erde. Deshalb werden wir aber auch begreifen können, daß das, was dazumal wie ein mächtiger Impuls sich der Erde mitteilt, nach und nach, langsam und allmählich erst zu den Menschen kommen konnte. Es muß daher langsam und allmählich der Menschheit eingeAlößt werden.

Wie gestern angedeutet worden ist, war zuerst das Markus-Evangelium dazu geeignet, den Menschen, die dazu reif waren, die großen Wahrheiten nahezubringen. Das war in den ersten Jahrhunderten. Die Menschen sollten sich durch eigene Kraft das wieder erobern, aus dem sie herausgekommen waren. Versuchen wir uns klarzumachen, wie der Mensch selber aus göttlich-geistigen Höhen heruntergestiegen ist bis zu einem tiefsten Punkte, der eingetreten war in der Zeit, als das Ereignis von Golgatha wiederum das Hinaufstreben bewirkte. Wie ein mächtiger Anstoß wirkte es, den Menschen wiederum hinaufziehend. Der Mensch war heruntergestiegen aus göttlich-geistigen Höhen, und immer weiter und weiter war er hinuntergekommen. Dann bekam er durch den Christus-Impuls die Kraft, nachdem er sich mit dem neugeborenen geistigen Lichte durchtränkt hatte, sich nach und nach alles Frühere wieder zu erobern, und zwar in dieser Weise: In den unmittel bar auf das Christus-Ereignis folgenden Zeiten mußte der Mensch sich das wiedergewinnen, was er verloren hatte in den letzten Jahrhunderten vor dem Christus. Das konnte er durch das Markus-Evangelium. Was er in einer noch früheren Zeit verloren hatte, das mußte er sich in der dann folgenden Zeit wiedererobern durch ein Evangelium, das ihn mehr auf die Innerlichkeit richtete. Das war das Lukas-Evangelium.

Wir haben aber auch gesagt, daß sechshundert Jahre vor dem Erscheinen des Christus auf der Erde alles das, was in den früheren Jahrhunderten der Menschheit geistig gegeben worden war und was sie nach und nach verloren hatte, zusammengefaßt worden war von der großen Wesenheit des Buddha. Damals, sechs Jahrhunderte vor Christus, hat die Buddha-Wesenheit gelebt und hat zusammengefaßt, was an uralter Weisheit vorhanden war in der Welt, was der Menschheit verlorengegangen war, und wofür der Buddha ein Verkünder wurde. Daher wird uns erzählt, daß, als der Buddha zur Welt kommt, seine Geburt vorherverkündigt wird seiner Mutter Maya. Es wird weiter erzählt, daß uns entgegentritt einer, der da ankündigt über das Kind: Dieses ist das Kind, das Buddha werden wird, der Erlöser, der Führer zu Unsterblichkeit, Freiheit und Licht! - Dann wird uns in mancher Buddha-Legende berichtet, daß der Buddha als zwölfjähriger Knabe verlorengegangen sei, und daß er wiedergefunden wird unter einem Baume, umgeben von den Sängern und Weisen der Vorzeit, die er lehrte. In meiner Schrift «Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache » werden Sie sehen können, wie sechs Jahrhunderte nach Buddha im Lukas-Evangelium wiederum auftauchen die gleichen Legenden, die über den Buddha erzählt werden, wie durch das Lukas-Evangelium wiederum in einer neuen Form auftritt, was durch den Buddha offenbart worden ist. Daher tritt im Lukas-Evangelium auf, was in den Buddha-Legenden bereits enthalten war. Bis zu diesem Grade stimmen die Dinge zusammen, wenn wir sie im Lichte der geistigen Forschung betrachten.

So bekommen wir wohl die Anschauung, daß eine solche Urkunde wie das Johannes-Evangelium und die sich daran anschließenden Evangelien eine unendliche Tiefe enthalten. Wir haben in einer Reihe von Vorträgen diese Tiefen betrachtet. Könnten wir diese Vorträge fortsetzen und doppelt so lang machen, als sie gewesen sind, wir könnten immer neue und neue Tiefen aus den Evangelien herausholen. Und könnten wir die doppelt so lange Zeit noch einmal verdoppeln, und die zweimal verdoppelte Zeit noch einmal verdoppeln: wir würden neue Tiefen erschließen können! Und wir würden eine Ahnung davon bekommen, daß in die Menschenzukunft hinein immer neue und neue Tiefen aus den Untergründen dieser Dokumente heraus gefunden werden können. Die Menschen lernen wahrhaftig niemals aus in dem Interpretieren dieser Urkunden. Nichts brauchen wir in sie hineinzutragen, nur vorbereiten müssen wir uns dazu, durch die okkulten Wahrheiten, herauszufinden, was wirklich in den Evangelien liegt. Dann enthüllt sich uns in den Evangelien der ganze universelle Menschheitszusammenhang, und wiederum der Zusammenhang dieses Menschheitszusammenhanges mit dem Kosmos, und wir lernen immer tiefer und tiefer hineinschauen in die geistige Welt.

Das aber gehört dazu, wenn wir einen Zyklus von solchen Vorträgen gehört haben, daß wir uns sagen: Wir haben nicht nur eine Summe von Erkenntnissen gewonnen, nicht nur eine Summe von einzelnen Wahrheiten aufgenommen. Das wäre, obwohl es unerläßlich ist, das geringere Notwendige der Sache; nur können wir das andere nicht erhalten ohne dieses. Das aber, was uns aus solchen Betrachtungen hervorgehen soll als eine besondere Frucht, das ist, daß alles das, was wir aufgenommen haben mit unserm Geiste, wenn wir es nun in unser Herz senken, zu einem Gefühl für die Sache, zu Empfindungen, zu Willensimpulsen selber werde. Wenn Herzenswärme dasjenige wird, was wir durch den Geist aufgenommen haben, dann wird es Kraft in uns, dann wird es heilende Kraft in uns für Geistiges, Seelisches und Physisches. Und dann sagen wir uns: Wir sind während unserer geistigen Betrachtungen untergetaucht gewesen in das geistige Leben. Wir haben mancherlei durch dieses geistige Leben uns angeeignet während einer vierzehntägigen Betrachtung, aber wir haben uns nicht nur angeeignet leere Begriffe und Ideen, sondern solche Wahrheiten, Begriffe und Ideen, die geeignet dazu sind, aufzuquellen in der Seele zu einer lebendigen Stärke unserer Gefühle und unserer Empfindungen. Und diese Gefühle und Empfindungen werden uns bleiben, sie sind unverlierbar für uns; mit ihnen leben wir weiter in der Welt. Wir haben nicht nur etwas gelernt, sondern wir sind lebendiger geworden durch das, was wir gelernt haben. — Verlassen wir diesen Zyklus, indem wir solche Gefühle in uns aufnehmen, dann wird uns Geisteswissenschaft ein Lebensinhalt werden; dann wird Geisteswissenschaft uns etwas werden, was uns nicht dem äußeren Leben entzieht, sondern sie wird uns selber etwas werden wie ein Abbild des Höchsten, was uns in diesen Vorträgen charakterisiert worden ist. Charakterisiert worden ist uns, daß zwar Tod sein mußte in der Welt, aber daß die Anschauung, die wir von dem Tod haben, nicht die richtige ist; daß der Christus uns die rechte Anschauung über den Tod gelehrt hat. Dadurch ist der Tod der Same geworden für ein höheres Leben.

Draußen, außerhalb des Bereiches dieser Vorträge, quillt das Leben, strömt das äußere Dasein. Die Menschen leben in ihm. Die Geistesforschung wird dieses Leben um kein Atom verkleinern, nichts nehmen von diesem Leben. Aber die Anschauung, die man gewöhnlich von die sein Leben hat, bevor man es mit dem Geiste durchschaut, ist eine unrichtige, und dieses Unrichtige muß uns als die Illusion des Lebens erscheinen. Diese Illusion des Lebens müssen wir in uns ersterben lassen; dann wird aus dem Samen, den wir uns durch eine Illusion erworben haben, in uns ein höheres Leben werden. Das aber kann nur dadurch werden, daß wir die lebendige geistige Anschauung in uns aufnehmen. Dadurch machen wir uns im Leben nicht asketisch, sondern gerade dadurch lernen wir das Leben in seiner wirklichen Gestalt erkennen und tragen in das Leben hinaus eine richtige Lebensbeherrschung, eine richtige Frucht. Dadurch aber verchristlichen wir das Leben in dem Maße, als wir die Geisteswissenschaft selber christlich erleben, und wir erleben ein Abbild dessen, wie der Tod ein Abbild des Lebens wird. In demselben Maße, als wir die Geisteswissenschaft zu unserer Gesinnung machen, entfremden wir uns nicht etwa dem Leben, sondern lernen erkennen, was an unseren Anschauungen von diesem Leben unrichtig ist. Und dann gehen wir gestärkt durch eine richtige Anschauung in dieses Leben hinaus, gehen als Arbeitsame in das Leben, dem wir uns nicht entziehen, nachdem wir Kraft und Stärke gewonnen haben innerhalb einer solchen Betrachtung, die uns in die geistige Welt einführt.

Ist es einigermaßen gelungen, diese Vorträge so zu gestalten, daß sie fruchtbar werden im Leben, daß sie ein Kleines, wenn auch nur ein Kleines beitragen, daß Sie Geist-Erkenntnis fühlen lernen als eine Erhöhung des Lebens, als Lebenswärme in Ihrem Fühlen, Denken und Wollen, in Ihrem Arbeiten, dann kann das Licht, das wir aus der anthroposophischen Weltanschauung herausgeholt haben, leuchten als das Feuer der Lebenswärme, als das Lebensfeuer. Und wenn dieses Feuer ein wenig stark genug ist, um anhalten zu können und fortzubrennen im Leben, dann ist das erreicht, was angestrebt worden ist, als ich mich entschlossen habe, diese Vorträge zu halten.

Mit diesen Worten nun darf ich Ihnen diese Gefühle, die eben ausgesprochen worden sind, als einen Gegenstand der inneren Meditation ans Herz legen und Ihnen ein «Auf Wiedersehen bei einer andern Gelegenheit» sagen.

Fourteenth Lecture

It may have seemed somewhat strange to the unprepared listener when yesterday the name of the Father Spirit of the world was mentioned in connection with the name of death. But you must remember that it was said at the same time that the form in which death appears to human beings in the physical world is not its true form, and that therefore, inasmuch as the outer sense world appears to us to be afflicted with death, this outer sense world, precisely because it is such that it must appear to be afflicted with death, is not a true form of what actually underlies it, not a true form of the spiritual-divine essence that actually underlies it. Basically, this means nothing other than that human beings surrender themselves to an illusion, a great deception, a Maya about what is spread out in space around them for their senses to perceive. If they recognized the true form, they would not have the sensory image, but would then have the spirit. If they recognized death in its true form, they would see in death the expression that this sensory world must have in order to be the expression of the divine Father-Spirit.

In order for our earthly world to come into being at all, an earlier, super-earthly world had to condense in the earthly sense down to physical matter, down to physical substance. This enabled the outer world to become the expression of a divine-spiritual world, a divine-spiritual world that has something like creatures beside itself and outside itself. All earlier forms of our world existence were such that they were more or less within the divine essence. On the old Saturn, there was not yet our air, not our water, not our earth, that is, not our solid bodies. The whole Saturn was still a body consisting only of warmth; the old Saturn was a space of warmth. And everything that existed on Saturn was still in the bosom of the divine Father Spirit. It was the same on the old Sun, even though it had already condensed into air. This air planet, the old Sun, contained all its creatures in its womb, and thus in the womb of the divine-spiritual Being. And so it was with the old Moon. It was only on Earth that creation emerged from the womb of the divine-spiritual Being and became something alongside the divine-spiritual Being. But to that which now became beside the divine-spiritual Being, and which also became the garment, the covering, the physical body of man, everything that was present from the spirits that had remained behind gradually wove itself in and gradually became incorporated. But as a result, it did not become a creature as it should have been if it had become an image of the divine-spiritual entity. After carrying all creatures, our present mineral kingdom, plant kingdom, animal kingdom, and human kingdom, in its bosom, the divine-spiritual entity released them all, spreading them out like a carpet around itself. And this was now an image of the divine-spiritual entity. This is how it should have remained. But everything that had been left behind, everything that had previously been expelled by the divine-spiritual entity, became interwoven with it. All of this became integrated, and the creature was thus, as it were, clouded, made less valuable than it would otherwise have been.

This clouding arose in the age when the moon separated from the earth, in that age of which we have said: If nothing else had come and the moon had not been cast out, the earth would have been desolate even then. But human beings were to be nurtured in such a way that they could attain their independence. He therefore had to incarnate in an outer, earthly-physical matter. From the Lemurian epoch through the Atlantean epoch, human beings had to be guided in such a way that they increasingly came to incarnate in physical-sensory matter. But within this physical, sensory substance was what remained of the beings that had been left behind. Human beings therefore had no choice but to be embodied in physical shells in which these beings remained.

There were certain beings in the Atlantean epoch who were companions of human beings at that time. Human beings themselves were still in a soft substance during the Atlantean epoch. What is human flesh today was not yet as it is today. If one had looked at human beings in ancient Atlantis, where the air was completely filled with dense, heavy masses of water mist and where human beings were water creatures, one could have said that they were similar in nature to certain gelatinous animals in seawater today, which can hardly be distinguished from the surrounding water. That was the nature of human beings. All organs were already present. But only gradually did the organs harden, only gradually did humans develop bones and so on. So the fine material structures were present, but they only hardened over time.

In the early period of the Atlantean evolution, there were still beings who were, so to speak, companions of human beings, inasmuch as human beings at that time were clairvoyant and could also see those beings who had actually taken up residence on the sun, but who shone toward them in the rays of the sun. For it was not merely physical sunlight that came toward humans, but within the physical sunlight came beings that humans could see. And when humans themselves were in a state that could be compared to sleep, they could say: Now I am out of my body and am in the sphere where sun beings walk.

But then came the time, around the middle and last third of the Atlantean epoch, when the Earth became denser and denser in its physical matter, and when human beings developed the capacity to develop self-consciousness. Then such beings were no longer visible to human beings. Such beings had to withdraw from the Earth, from the view that human beings could have on Earth. The Luciferic influence drew human beings ever more powerfully down into dense matter. This made it possible for a being, which must be called the Luciferic being, to nestle itself so deeply into the human astral body that human beings descended more and more into a dense physical body. But the beings who had previously been their companions rose higher and higher. They said: We want nothing to do with the beings who have remained behind! They broke away from them. The Luciferic beings entered the human astral body. But the higher beings broke away from them and pushed them down, saying: You shall not continue upward with us; you shall see how you get along down below!

One of these beings is represented in Michael, who cast the Luciferic beings down into the abyss, so that they moved in the realm of the earth. And in the astral being of human beings they sought to exert their influence. And the place of these beings was no longer “heaven.” Those beings whose place was found in heaven, they cast down to earth. However, everything evil, everything bad has its good side and is also rooted in the wisdom of the world. These beings had to be left behind in the world so that they could pull humans down into physical matter, within which they could only learn to say “I” to themselves in order to develop their self-awareness. Without becoming entangled in Maya, human beings would not have learned to say “I” to themselves. But human beings would have perished in illusion if illusion and its powers — Lucifer and Ahriman — had succeeded in keeping them within illusion.

I must now say something that I ask you to listen to with all the caution of knowledge. For only if you develop these thoughts further and take them literally, but not in the sense in which a materialistic view tends to take them literally, will you understand them correctly.

What did the Luciferic-Ahrimanic beings intend with the physical world? What did they want with all the beings that are now in the world and on which they could work after they had once connected themselves with human development in the Atlantean epoch?

These beings — Lucifer-Ahriman — wanted nothing less than to preserve all the beings that are on Earth in the form in which they are interwoven in dense physical matter. When, for example, a plant grows, sprouting from its roots, leaf by leaf, rising upward until it blossoms, Lucifer and Ahriman intend to continue this growth and development indefinitely, that is, to make this being that is developing resemble the physical form, to preserve it as it is, and thereby to snatch it away from the spiritual world. For if they succeeded in making this entity similar to the physical form, they would, so to speak, snatch heaven away from earth. And with all animals, too, the Luciferic-Ahrimanic entities have the tendency to make them similar to the body in which they are, and to make them forget their divine-spiritual origin within matter. And the same is true of human beings.

To prevent this from happening, the divine-spiritual Father came and said: Although the beings of the earth have attained, in their highest form, the human being, external knowledge in the I, we must not now leave life to them! For life would then be shaped in such a way that the beings would be torn from their divine-spiritual roots in this life; human beings would become integrated into the physical body and forget their divine-spiritual origin forever. Only in this way could the divine Father Spirit save the memory of the divine origin by giving everything that strives toward matter the blessing of death. Thus it was possible for the plant, as it grows, to shoot up to the moment when fertilization occurs—and at that same moment the plant form withers, and a new plant form emerges from the seed. But when the plant enters the seed, it is for a moment in the divine-spiritual world and is refreshed by the divine-spiritual world. And so it is especially for human beings. Human beings would be bound to the earth and forget their spiritual-divine origin if death were not spread over the earth, if human beings did not always receive new sources of strength between death and new birth, so as not to forget their divine-spiritual origin.

Death, when we examine it, where is it on earth? Let us ask any being that delights us as a plant. A being that delights our eyes with beautiful flowers—in a few months it is no longer there. Death has come upon it. Let us look at an animal that is faithful to us, or any other animal: in a short time it will no longer be. Death has come upon it. Let us look at a human being as he stands in the physical world: after some time, death will come upon him. He will no longer be, for if he were still there, he would forget his divine-spiritual origin. Let us look at a mountain. A time will come when the volcanic activity of our earth will have swallowed up the mountain: death will have passed over it. Let us look at whatever we want: there is nothing that death is not interwoven with. Everything on earth is immersed in death!

Thus, death is the benevolent snatcher from an existence that would lead human beings completely out of the divine-spiritual world. But this human being had to come into the physical-sensory world. For only in the physical-sensory world was it possible for him to attain his self-consciousness, his human I-ness. If he always had to pass through death without being able to take anything with him from this realm of death, then he would indeed be able to return to the divine-spiritual world, but unconsciously, without I-ness. He must enter the divine-spiritual world with his I-ness. He must therefore be able to fertilize the earthly realm, which is completely interwoven with death, in such a way that death becomes the seed for an individuality in the eternal, in the spiritual.

But this possibility, that death, which would otherwise be destruction, is transformed into the seed for eternal individuality, has been given through the Christ impulse. On Golgotha, the true form of death was first presented to humanity. And through the fact that Christ, the image of the Father-Spirit, the Son of the Father-Spirit, married death, death on Golgotha became the beginning of a new life and, as we saw yesterday, of a new sun. And now, in fact, everything that was previously the learning period for human beings, after human beings have conquered an ego for eternity, can now disappear, and human beings can enter the future with their saved ego, which will increasingly become a replica of the Christ ego.

Let us take as an example of what has just been said a seven-branched candlestick that is gradually being lit, and let us consider the first flame of its sevenfold nature as a symbol of the first period of human evolution, the Saturn evolution. Every development proceeds in seven smaller subdivisions. Thus, in the first flame of the sevenfold candlestick, we have a symbol of the forces that flowed to human beings during the Saturn period. If we go to the second flame within the sevenfold candlestick, we find a symbol of the forces that flowed to human beings from the ancient Sun evolution. In the same way, in the third flame of the sevenfold structure we have a symbol for the forces that flowed to human beings during the ancient lunar period. And in the fourth we have a symbol of everything that has flowed to human beings from the Earth's development. Now let us imagine the middle light shining brightly, the others still burning in dark flames: where the middle light is, there is the point in time when the Christ light entered into evolution. The other lights could never have been lit, the subsequent stages of evolution could never have come about, if the Christ impulse had not entered into human evolution. They are still dark today.

If we now wanted to represent future evolution in the same symbolic way, we would have to let the first light fade as the next light after the middle one lights up and becomes brighter and brighter. As the next one lights up, we would have to let the second one fade away, and so on. For here is the beginning of a new solar evolution! And when the lights burn down to the last one, we will be able to see the first ones go out, because their fruits have flowed into the last lights and passed into the future.

Thus you have a development in the past that received its powers from the Father-Spirit. If the Father-Spirit were to continue working in this way, all the lights would gradually go out because Lucifer-Ahriman has interwoven himself. But through the coming of the Christ impulse, a new light now shines forth. A world sun begins.

Yes, death had to be woven into all natural existence because Lucifer-Ahriman is woven into it. And without Lucifer-Ahriman, humanity would not have attained independence. But with Lucifer-Ahriman alone, independence would have become stronger and stronger and would finally have led to the forgetting of the divine-spiritual origin. That is why death had to be mixed into our bodies. We could not even take our individuality with us into eternity if death were not mixed into the outer expression of individuality, which lies in the blood.

We have within us the blood of life: the red bloodstream. And we have within us the blood of death: the blue blood. At every moment, in order for our ego to live, the life that flows in the red blood must be killed in the blue blood. If it were not killed, human beings would perish in life in such a way that they would forget their divine-spiritual origin. Western esotericism has a symbol for these two types of blood, two pillars, one red and one blue: one symbolizing life flowing from the divine Father-Spirit, but in a form where it would lose itself; the other symbolizing the destruction of that same life. Death is the stronger, the more powerful, that which brings about the destruction of that which would otherwise lose itself. But the destruction of that which would otherwise be lost means calling forth resurrection!

Thus you see how, through a correct interpretation of the Gospel of John, we look into the meaning of the whole of life. What we have gained yesterday and today is therefore nothing other than that at the moment of our time development, which the Christian calendar begins with a new “1,” something has occurred that is of the utmost importance for the entire development of the Earth and, insofar as cosmic development is connected with the Earth, also for cosmic development. Yes, with the event at Golgotha, a new center has been created. Since then, the Christ Spirit has been united with the earth. Little by little, it has come, and since that time it has been in the earth. And it is important that people learn to recognize that the Christ Spirit has been in the earth since that time, that the Christ Spirit is in every product of the earth, and that they recognize everything from the point of view of death if they do not see the Christ Spirit in it, but recognize everything from the point of view of life if they see the Christ Spirit in it.

We are only at the beginning of that development which is the Christian development. The future of this development consists in our seeing the body of Christ throughout the earth. For since that time Christ has entered into the earth, has created a new center of light in the earth, and permeates the earth, shines out into the world, and is eternally woven into the earth's aura. Therefore, when we look at the earth today without the Christ Spirit underlying it, we see the decaying, rotting earth, the decomposing corpse. When we see the earth split into countless tiny particles, if we do not understand Christ, we see the decomposing corpse of the earth. Wherever we see only matter, we see untruth.

Thus, you will not find the truth when you study the human beings of the earth; you are only studying their decomposing corpses. If you study his corpse, then you can only judge the elements of the earth by saying: “The earth consists of material atoms” — it does not matter whether these are spatially extended atoms or centers of force, it does not matter. When we see atoms, of which our earth is supposed to consist, then we see the corpse of the earth, that which is constantly decomposing and which will one day cease to be when the earth ceases to be. And the earth dissolves.

Only then do we recognize the truth, when we see in every atom a part of the Christ Spirit, which has been there since that time. What has the earth consisted of since the Christ Spirit permeated it? Since Christ permeated it, the earth has consisted of life right down to the atom! Every atom has value only because of this and can only be recognized because you see in it a shell that encloses something spiritual. And this spiritual element is a part of Christ.

Now take anything from the earth. When do you recognize it correctly? When you say, “This is a part of the body of Christ!” What could Christ say to those who wanted to recognize him? By breaking the bread that comes from the grain of the earth, Christ could say, “This is my body!” What could he say to them by giving them the juice of the vine, which comes from the sap of plants? “This is my blood!” Because he became the soul of the earth, he could say to what is solid, “This is my flesh,” and to the sap of plants, “This is my blood,” just as you say of your flesh, “This is my flesh,” and of your blood, “This is my blood.” And those people who are able to grasp the true meaning of these words of Christ form mental images that attract the body and blood of Christ in the bread and grape juice, which attract the Christ Spirit within them. And they unite themselves with the Christ Spirit.

Thus the symbol of the Last Supper becomes a reality.

Without the thought that connects to Christ in the human heart, no attraction to the spirit of Christ can be developed during the Last Supper. But through this thought form, such an attraction is developed. And so, for all those who need the outer symbol to perform a spiritual act, namely union with Christ, the Lord's Supper will be the way, the way to the point where their inner strength is so strong, where they are so filled with Christ that they can unite with Christ without the outer physical mediation. The preparatory school for mystical union with Christ is the Lord's Supper—the preparatory school. This is how we must understand these things. And just as everything develops from the physical to the spiritual under the influence of Christianity, so too must the things that were there first as a bridge develop under the influence of Christ: the Lord's Supper must develop from the physical to the spiritual in order to lead to true union with Christ. — We can only speak of these things in hints, for only when they are taken in their full sacred dignity can they be understood in the right sense.

That through the event of Golgotha, Christ has been with the earth since that time was a task for human beings to recognize. They were to recognize this more and more and allow themselves to be permeated by this knowledge.

But this required a mediator. And one of the first great mediators was the one who had become Paul out of Saul. What could Saul know, since he was a kind of Jewish initiate? We can express what Saul could know in the following words.

He knew what belonged to the Hebrew secret teaching. What Zarathustra had seen as Ahura Mazdao, what Moses had seen in the burning bush and in the thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai as “Ehjeh asher Ehjeh,” as Yahweh or Jehovah, he knew had come to earth, had drawn near and would one day be in a human body and bring about a renewal of the earth in that human body. But now he was under the impression of the judgment of his time and the Jewish laws. He had witnessed the events of Golgotha. But he could not tell himself that the one who had died on the cross was the bearer of Christ. The events he had experienced and witnessed could not convince him that the one he had to expect according to Jewish initiation was embodied in Jesus of Nazareth. What did he have to experience in order to become convinced that the immortal Christ Spirit had truly been present in the dying body of Jesus of Nazareth on Golgotha?

He knew from his Hebrew initiation that when the Christ Spirit had been in a human body and that human body was dead, the Christ must be present in the earth aura. Then it must be possible for someone who can see into the earth aura with spiritual eyes to see the Christ. He knew this. Only, until then, he had not become capable of looking into the earth's aura. He was indeed a ring initiate into wisdom, but not a clairvoyant. However, he had a prerequisite for becoming a clairvoyant in an abnormal way, and he himself expresses this prerequisite. He expresses it as a grace bestowed upon him from above: he says of himself that he was a premature birth, which is usually translated as “an untimely birth.” He was not carried to term in his mother's womb; he descended from the spiritual world into the physical world before he was completely immersed in all the elements of earthly existence. He came into the world earlier than is usual for those who are still unconsciously connected to spiritual powers. The event in Damascus was made possible by the opening of his spiritual eyes as a birth that had come into the world untimely. Thus, as a premature birth, his spiritual eye was opened; he looked into the earth's aura and saw that Christ was there. Therefore, the time when this Christ had walked in a physical human body must already have been at hand. The proof had been given to him that Christ had died on the cross. For the one whom he knew would overcome death on earth had appeared to him as spiritually alive. He now understood the significance of the event at Golgotha. He knew that Christ had risen! For the one he had seen could not previously be seen in the earth's aura. Now he understood the words:

“It will be hard for you to kick against the goad.” (Acts 9:5)

What is the goad? Paul himself said it: ‘Death, where is your sting?’ (1 Cor. 15:55). You will kick against the goad in vain. For if you do, you will only recognize death. But you can no longer kick against death, for you have seen the one who has overcome death.

Thus Paul became the proclaimer of Christianity who above all proclaimed the living, spiritually living Christ.

How was Christ visible in the earth's aura? Because in Christ Jesus, as the first impulse of earth's development into the future, the etheric body was once again completely permeated by Christ. Of course, the etheric body of Jesus of Nazareth was completely permeated by Christ. Therefore, it was such an etheric body that had complete control over the physical body, and because it was the complete ruler of the physical body, it was able to restore the physical body after death, that is, to appear in such a form that everything that was in the physical body was there again, but out of the power of the etheric body. Therefore, when Christ was seen after death, it was the etheric body of Christ. But for those who, through the power they had gained through the events, were able to recognize not only a physical-sensory body as a real body, but also an etheric body with all the appearances of the physical body, Christ rose as a bodily being. And He was in reality.

But we are also told in the Gospel that when a person has progressed so far that the perishable develops into the imperishable, he then also has a higher vision. And it is also said that those people who had already developed a higher vision at that time were able to recognize Christ. This is stated clearly enough, but people do not have the will to really read what is written in the Gospel. Take, for example, the first appearance of Christ after his death. It says:

“Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she looked into the tomb

And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been laid, one at the head and the other at the feet.

And they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

And as she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,

not knowing that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). (20:11-16)

Now imagine this: You saw someone a few days ago, and you see them again after a few days. Do you think you would recognize them? Would you dare to ask him if he is the gardener and where he has actually been laid, if you saw him yourself? But you must believe that Mary, or the one who is referred to here as Mary, would dare to do so, if you want to assume that every physical eye would have recognized Christ and seen him in the same way as a physical eye had seen him before. Read the Gospels according to the spirit!

First, the holy power of the words had to penetrate the woman as a force. That was necessary! Then the echo of the words resounded within her, and they rekindled everything she had seen before. And that enabled her spiritual eye to see the risen Christ. Does not Paul tell us the same thing?

With Paul, you will never doubt that he saw Christ with his spiritual eye when this Christ was again only in the heights of the spiritual, in the earth's aura. But what does Paul say? As proof that Christ lives, he cites the fact that he appeared. And he cites as equivalent appearances, first

“...that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve.

After that, he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at once, many of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Last of all, he was also seen by me, as one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle.” (1 Cor. 15:5-9)

He presents the apparitions that the others had as exactly the same as his own, which were possible to the spiritual eye. Therefore, Paul says literally: “As I have seen Christ, so have the others seen him.” Through what they experienced, Paul says, the power was kindled in them to see Christ as one who had risen.

Now we understand what Paul means. And Paul's view is such that it is immediately recognized as anthroposophical-spiritual, that is, it tells us: There is a spiritual world. When we look at this spiritual world with the impulse given to us by the Christ force, we penetrate it so deeply that we also find Christ himself in this spiritual world, the one who went through the event of Golgotha. That is what he meant. And human beings can, especially through what is called “Christian initiation,” gradually, with patience and perseverance, become, so to speak, followers of Paul, gradually acquiring the abilities to look into the spiritual world and see Christ from spiritual face to spiritual face.

In other lectures, I have often explained the initial stages through which we ascend to see the Christ being itself. Here, the disciple must live out what is outlined for us in the Gospel of John. Only in the briefest outline will I indicate how human beings can develop upward into the spiritual world, where the light of Christ has been kindled since the event of Golgotha, when human beings decide to go through a certain scale of feelings.

The first thing is that human beings say to themselves: I look at the plant. It grows out of the mineral soil, it grows and blossoms. But if the plant could develop consciousness like man, it would have to look down at the stone realm, at the mineral earth from which it grows, and say: You stone are a lower being among the present beings of nature than I am, but without you, lower realm, I cannot exist! And likewise, if the animal approached the plant and could feel what the plant has as the foundation of its existence, it would have to say to itself: I, as an animal, am a higher being than you, plant, but without you, plant, I could not exist! And in humility, the animal would have to bow down to the plant and say: To you, lower plant, I owe my existence! And in the human realm it would have to be like this: everyone who has climbed higher on the ladder would have to look down in spiritual relation to those below them and say: You belong to a lower world, but just as the plant must bow to the stone and the animal to the plant, so the human being on a higher level must say: I owe my existence to you, lower being!

Then, when man, through weeks and months, perhaps through years, under the guidance of his appropriate teacher, has completely immersed himself in such feelings of universal humility, he comes to the point where he knows what the “washing of the feet” means. For before him stands an immediate spiritual vision of what Christ did when, as the higher being, he bowed before the Twelve and washed their feet. And the whole meaning of this event then dawns on the disciple as a vision, so that he knows that this event of the washing of the feet took place. The bond of knowledge leads him to the point where he needs no further proof, but now he looks directly into the spiritual world and sees Christ in the scene of the washing of the feet.

Then such a person can be guided by the teacher to have the strength to say: I will steadfastly endure all suffering and pain that may come my way in the world and not complain. I will steel myself so that such suffering and pain are no longer suffering and pain for me, but that I know: these are necessities in the world! When the person has become sufficiently steadfast in their soul, the feeling of “flagellation” springs from this observation in their soul, and the person feels the flagellation spiritually within themselves. But this opens their spiritual eye to see the flagellation as it is described in the Gospel of John.

Then the person is guided to develop that power which is still one step higher, where they are not merely able to endure the suffering and pain of the whole world, but to say to themselves: I have something most sacred for which I devote my whole person. Let the whole world pour scorn and ridicule upon me, this is most sacred to me. Mockery and ridicule from all sides will not deter me from this most sacred thing, even if I stand alone. I stand up for it! Then the person experiences the “crowning with thorns” spiritually within themselves. And without a historical document, their spiritual eye conveys to them the scene in the Gospel of John that is described as the crowning with thorns.

And when, under appropriate guidance, the person then comes to view his physical existence in a completely different way than he did before, when he learns to view his own body as something he wears externally; when it has become a natural feeling and a natural sensation for him to say: I carry my physical body through the world like an external tool!—then he has reached the fourth stage of Christian initiation, the “carrying of the cross.” He has not become a weak ascetic; rather, we learn to handle what we have as a physical instrument much more skillfully than before. When you have learned to regard the body as something you carry, then you have reached the fourth stage of Christian initiation, which is called the carrying of the cross. And then you gain the insight to see spiritually the scene where Christ carries his cross on his back, just as you have learned to carry your body like a piece of wood through your heightened soul power.

But then something happens that can be regarded as the fifth stage of Christian initiation, which is called the “mystical death.” Through our inner maturation, everything around us, the entire physical-sensory world, appears to us as if it has been wiped out. Darkness surrounds us. And then a moment comes when this darkness is torn apart like a curtain, and we see behind this physical world into the spiritual world. But during this moment, something else happens. We have now come to know everything that is sin and evil in its true form, that is, we have come to know at this stage what the “descent into hell” is.

And then we learn not only to regard our body as something foreign, but to regard everything else as belonging to us just as much as our body—to regard everything on earth as belonging to us, just as it was once done in ancient clairvoyance. And we also learn to regard the sufferings of other people as belonging to us, as belonging to a great organism. But then we are united with the earth to the degree that we recognize this. Then we experience being “laid in the earth,” the “burial.” And by being united with the earth, we are also resurrected from it. For then we have tasted what it means: The earth is in a new sun-becoming!

Through these fourth, fifth, and sixth degrees of Christian initiation, however, we have attained what enables us to see the event of Golgotha with our own eyes, to live ourselves into the event of Golgotha. We then no longer need a document. The document has served to lead us up the rungs.

Then comes the seventh stage, which is called the “Ascension,” or, in other words, the revival in the spiritual world. This is the stage of which it is rightly said that it cannot be expressed in words taken from our language, that it can only be imagined by those who have become capable of thinking without the instrument of the brain. The miracles of the resurrection can only be thought of by those who are no longer dependent on thinking through the instrument of the physical brain.

Because those who were present as believers when the event of Golgotha took place were people whose spiritual eyes were open and who could see what was happening, they were able to see Christ as I have described to you, namely, when he communicated himself to their open spiritual eyes within the earth's aura. They would have been able to see Christ in this way—even if He had always remained in the same form He had at that time—if He Himself, Christ, as a spiritual being, had not also achieved something by overcoming death! And now we come to a concept that is indeed difficult to grasp.

Human beings learn incessantly by developing further and further on the stage they have reached. But it is not only man; every being, from the lowest to the highest divine being, learns by developing further and further. What Christ did as a divine being in the body of Jesus of Nazareth, we have described so far in its effect and in its fruit for humanity. But now we ask ourselves: Did Christ thereby also experience something in himself that led him to a higher stage? Yes, he did. Divine-spiritual beings also experience something that leads them to a higher level. But what he experienced, his ascent into a world even higher than the one he was in before, he allowed those who were his companions on earth to see as his ascension into heaven. Therefore, even those who live as uninitiated, non-clairvoyant beings through the instrument of the physical brain can understand, even if they cannot see for themselves, the first six stages of Christian initiation. But the seventh stage, the ascension, can only be understood by the clairvoyant who is no longer bound to the instrument of the physical brain, who has once seen for himself what it means to think without the brain and to see without the brain. This is how these things are connected.

This is how the world developed in the time we have had the opportunity to discuss in these fourteen lectures.

We have already seen that Christ had indicated that in the one who was born blind and whom he healed, what had sinned in him in a previous life was to become apparent. Christ thus stood before humanity in such a way that he taught them, as far as they were able to understand, the idea of reincarnation. He taught karma, the passing on of causes from one life incarnation to another. He taught it as one does when teaching practically for life. He wanted to say: There will be a future when all people will recognize karma, when they will understand that when a person does something evil, he does not need to be punished by an external earthly power, for this evil necessarily brings about compensation in this or a subsequent incarnation. But then we simply need to record his deed in the great law book of the Akashic Records, in the spiritual world. Then we do not need to condemn him as a human being; then we can stand before him as human beings and leave what he has done to the spiritual laws, so that it remains in the spiritual world; we can leave him to karma!

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

And early in the morning he came back to the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

But the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and they placed her in the middle,

And they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?'

They said this to test him, so that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.” (8:1-6)

What did he write? He wrote the sin into the spiritual world. And the sin will find its compensation out of the spiritual world! But he reminds the others whether they themselves are conscious of any sin. For only if they had nothing to compensate for could they say that they had no connection with the sin of this woman and could judge her. But they do not know whether they themselves have laid the cause in a previous life for what is now befalling them; they cannot know whether they did not cause this woman to break her marriage in a previous life, whether they themselves did not commit this sin in a previous life or lay the causes for it. Everything is written in karma. Jesus wrote on the earth, which he had already permeated with his spiritual light; that is, he entrusted to the earth what karma should be for the adulteress. He wanted to say: Walk in the paths that I am now showing you! Become such that you say: We do not judge, we leave what is in man to karmic compensation! If people follow this, they will come to karma. Karma does not need to be taught as dogma. It has been taught through action. This is how Christ taught.

However, only someone who had been initiated by him himself could write such things to his disciples and followers: Lazarus John. Therefore, only this disciple understood to the right degree how it works when a being has worked to gradually gain mastery over the physical body in the etheric body from the baptism of John onwards, making the etheric body the animator. Therefore, the writer of the Gospel of John also understood that it is possible to transform something that still looks like water on the outside so that when a person drinks it, it is transformed into wine through its absorption into the human organs. That is why he understood that it is possible to have a small number of fish and loaves of bread and, through the power of the etheric body, to work in such a way that people are satisfied. But the writer of the Gospel of John told us this, if we only take the Gospel seriously. Does he tell us anywhere that even the few loaves of bread and the few fish were eaten as they are normally eaten physically? Nowhere does he say that, if you go through the entire Gospel of John. He tells you clearly and distinctly, if you take every word literally, that Christ broke the bread, but that he offered a prayer of thanksgiving to heaven:

“But Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to those who were reclining, and as many as they wanted of the fish.” (6:11)

But the meaning of these words, if we take them in the original text—it is poorly rendered in the English words—is something like this: The disciples passed on the loaves and the fish, and let everyone do with them as they wished; but no one wanted to do anything else at that moment except to feel what emanated as power from the mighty etheric body of Christ Jesus. No one wanted anything else. And how were they satisfied? In verse 23 it says:

“And other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.”

Through the Lord's prayer they had eaten the bread! They had eaten bread without the physical act having taken place. And this enabled Christ Jesus to interpret what had happened afterwards, saying, “I am the bread of life!”

So what had they eaten? They had eaten the power of the Christ body! What could remain? Only the power of the Christ body could remain! It was so powerful that it could be gathered up afterwards.

According to occult knowledge, every body consists of twelve members. The highest member is called the ram; the member that follows it is the bull; the member where the two hands are is the twins; the chest is called the crab; what is in the region of the human heart is the lion; what follows downward in the trunk is the virgin; then the hips, the scales; then downward comes the scorpion; then further on: Sagittarius, the thigh; Capricorn, the knee; Aquarius, the lower leg, and the feet are the Pisces.

The human body is divided into twelve members—this is well established. If one now gathers what remains after the power of the Christ body has been used to its full, one must gather it in twelve measures!

“And they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.” (6:13)

They had not eaten the barley loaves. They had eaten the power that had come from Christ. And they had been satisfied by the power that had come from Christ through the thanksgiving, through Christ's appeal to those spheres from which he had come down.

This is how we must understand the effect of the spiritual world on the physical world. And this is how we can understand how individual events fit into the fundamental event of the sun's becoming on Earth. They all fit into the sun's becoming on Earth as powerful events of force. That is why we will also be able to understand that what communicated itself to the earth at that time as a powerful impulse could only come to human beings slowly and gradually. It must therefore be imparted to humanity slowly and gradually.

As was indicated yesterday, the Gospel of Mark was initially suited to bringing the great truths closer to people who were ready for them. That was in the first centuries. Human beings were to regain through their own efforts that from which they had departed. Let us try to understand how human beings themselves descended from divine-spiritual heights to the lowest point that had been reached at the time when the event of Golgotha once again brought about the upward striving. It had the effect of a powerful impulse drawing human beings upward again. Human beings had descended from divine spiritual heights, and they had come further and further down. Then, through the Christ impulse, after they had become saturated with the newly born spiritual light, they received the strength to gradually regain everything they had lost, in the following way: In the times immediately following the Christ event, human beings had to regain what they had lost in the last centuries before Christ. They were able to do this through the Gospel of Mark. What they had lost in an even earlier time, they had to regain in the time that followed through a gospel that directed them more toward inner life. That was the Gospel of Luke.

But we have also said that six hundred years before Christ appeared on earth, everything that had been given to humanity spiritually in earlier centuries and which it had gradually lost was summarized by the great being Buddha. At that time, six centuries before Christ, the Buddha being lived and summarized what was available in the world in terms of ancient wisdom, what humanity had lost, and what the Buddha became a herald of. That is why we are told that when the Buddha came into the world, his birth was foretold to his mother Maya. It is further told that someone came to us and announced about the child: This is the child who will become the Buddha, the savior, the guide to immortality, freedom, and light! Then, in some Buddha legends, we are told that the Buddha went missing as a twelve-year-old boy and was found again under a tree, surrounded by the singers and sages of ancient times, whom he taught. In my book Christianity as Mystical Fact, you will see how, six centuries after Buddha, the same legends told about Buddha reappear in the Gospel of Luke, and how what was revealed by Buddha reappears in a new form through the Gospel of Luke. Therefore, what was already contained in the legends of Buddha appears in the Gospel of Luke. To this degree, things coincide when we consider them in the light of spiritual research.

This gives us the view that a document such as the Gospel of John and the Gospels that follow it contain infinite depths. We have considered these depths in a series of lectures. If we could continue these lectures and make them twice as long as they have been, we could always bring out new and new depths from the Gospels. And if we could double the time again, and double the time twice again, we would be able to open up new depths! And we would gain an inkling that, as humanity's future unfolds, ever new depths can be found in the depths of these documents. Human beings truly never cease to learn from interpreting these documents. We need not add anything to them; we need only prepare ourselves, through occult truths, to discover what really lies in the Gospels. Then the entire universal context of humanity is revealed to us in the Gospels, and in turn the connection of this human context with the cosmos, and we learn to look deeper and deeper into the spiritual world.

But when we have heard a cycle of such lectures, we must say to ourselves: We have not only gained a sum of knowledge, not only absorbed a sum of individual truths. That would be, although indispensable, the lesser necessity of the matter; but we cannot obtain the other without this. What should emerge from such considerations as a special fruit is that everything we have taken in with our mind, when we now sink it into our heart, becomes a feeling for the matter, into sensations, into impulses of the will itself. When the warmth of the heart becomes what we have taken in through the mind, then it becomes a power within us, a healing power for the spiritual, the soul, and the physical. And then we say to ourselves: During our spiritual contemplations, we have been immersed in spiritual life. We have acquired many things through this spiritual life during a fortnight of contemplation, but we have not only acquired empty concepts and ideas, but truths, concepts, and ideas that are capable of welling up in the soul to become a living strength of our feelings and sensations. And these feelings and sensations will remain with us; they are irretrievable for us; with them we continue to live in the world. We have not only learned something, but we have become more alive through what we have learned. — If we leave this cycle by taking such feelings into ourselves, then spiritual science will become a purpose in life for us; then spiritual science will become something that does not withdraw us from outer life, but will become something like a reflection of the highest that has been characterized for us in these lectures. We have been characterized by the fact that death must exist in the world, but that our view of death is not the right one; that Christ taught us the right view of death. Through this, death has become the seed for a higher life.

Outside, beyond the scope of these lectures, life springs forth, external existence flows. Human beings live in it. Spiritual research will not diminish this life by a single atom, take anything away from it. But the view that people usually have of their lives before they see them through with the spirit is incorrect, and this incorrectness must appear to us as the illusion of life. We must let this illusion of life die within us; then the seed that we have acquired through an illusion will become a higher life within us. But this can only happen if we take the living spiritual view into ourselves. In this way we do not become ascetic in life, but precisely through this we learn to recognize life in its true form and carry into life a true mastery of life, a true fruit. In this way, we Christianize life to the extent that we experience spiritual science itself as Christian, and we experience a reflection of how death becomes a reflection of life. To the same extent that we make spiritual science our attitude, we do not alienate ourselves from life, but learn to recognize what is incorrect in our views of this life. And then we go out into this life strengthened by a correct view, we go into life as hard workers, not withdrawing from it after we have gained strength and power within such a contemplation that introduces us to the spiritual world.

If these lectures have been somewhat successful in making them fruitful in life, in contributing a little, even if only a little, so that you learn to feel spiritual knowledge as an elevation of life, as warmth of life in your feeling, thinking, and willing, in your work, then the light that we have drawn from the anthroposophical worldview can shine as the fire of life warmth, as the fire of life. And if this fire is strong enough to continue burning in your life, then what I set out to achieve when I decided to give these lectures will have been accomplished.

With these words, I would like to commend to you the feelings I have just expressed as a subject for inner meditation, and say, “Goodbye, until we meet again on another occasion.”