The New Spiritual Age and the Return of the Christ
GA 118
20 February 1910, Düsseldorf
If a Theosophist, withdrawing for a moment from the immediate concerns of daily life, thinks about his tasks and duties in the external world and asks himself: Is there something that has to do with human happiness and human aspirations over and above the daily round of life?—then as a Theosophist he will have an ample answer. He knows that he does not study Theosophy merely in order to occupy his mind because daily life leaves his soul dissatisfied. He knows that what he gets from Theosophy in his feelings can become a real force in his soul. For he is able at all times to say to himself, “In my inmost being as man I am something else than what I am in the external world.” Together with such thoughts we should realise, deep in our inmost being, that as human beings we live all the time within two streams—one of which gives us our place in everyday life, and another which enables the soul to gaze into a world of the future, to assume its rightful place within the whole setting of cosmic life. This idea should never lead us to regard an external occupation as less important for cosmic life as a whole than some different kind of calling. We must realise that from a certain point of view the smallest and the greatest achievement of which we are capable are of equal importance for the whole. Life is a mosaic, composed of tiny pieces of stone. The man who places one little piece into the mosaic is not less important than the man who thought out the plan of the mosaic. As far as the divine spiritual world order is concerned, the smallest is just as significant as the greatest. Insight into this truth will avert any feelings of dissatisfaction which might otherwise so easily occur in life.
This is the only attitude to our tasks in life that can give us a true understanding of the inner work that must be performed within our soul. It is the only true attitude to adopt to spiritual endeavour. For the Theosophist, such ideas should never remain a mere thought, never only theory. The Theosophist does well to bring home to himself over and over again in inner contemplation how little in keeping it would be with the great world order if some position in life left him unsatisfied. World-evolution could not take its course if we did not carry out in the right way what seem to be most insignificant details in life. This attitude will give us the right feeling for the great revelations of existence and we shall understand the significance of the teaching that each one of us, over and above what we represent in the physical world, should make as much of himself as possible, in line with the wisdom of worlds. We must regard spiritual development in itself as absolutely essential. Many people say: What is the good of spiritual development if it does not make me useful in life? If we learn to recognise the beginnings of karma, our tasks in life will become clear to us. Not only is it our task to do this thing or that; it is indeed our task to make of ourselves as much as possible. We must rise to the thought that we have within us countless forces, countless faculties which we we must not let go to waste in our soul. That the divine spiritual world order will do with what we have made of our soul must be left to the divine spiritual world order. If we work at our soul development and pay heed to the beckoning of karma, we shall realise what our duties are.
We should not theorize. It might be thought that the best kind of Theosophist is one who works at his development for a time and then engages in some external, beneficent activity. But it may be that our position in external life does not enable us to put into application in the world what we elaborate in the soul. There may be no greater fallacy than to imagine that a man can be a good Theosophist only if he actually turns to account in the world what he has learnt inwardly. For decades we may not be in a position to put into application any of the Spiritual Science impulses that are now within us. Then one day we may happen to be meeting someone at a railway station and are able to say something of significance which otherwise we should have had no opportunity of saying. This single action may be more significant in life than one of much wider scope. We must realise clearly what we are capable of doing and that through a twist of karma, the opportunity for turning it to account will be given us at the right moment.
When this is felt and experienced, Spiritual Science becomes something whose purpose one doesn’t ask about at first, because it is absolutely valuable. The feeling described is the only one that can give us the right attitude to what connects us to the great and incisive happenings of life.
It is often assumed that evolution, wherever it takes place, only progresses step by step. But the course taken by life in its totality is not such that we can say: Nature makes no jumps—that would not be correct. For in fact nature is continually making jumps. A plant, as it grows, is always making jumps—from the root to the leaf, from the leaf to the calyx, from the calyx to the blossom and from the blossom to the fruit. Sudden transitions occur in the life of every individual and in the life of humanity as a whole. Everywhere we find humanity progressing steadily for a time, developing as the leaves develop on a plant. Then the moment comes when a tremendous step forward is taken by mankind, just as happens in the plant from leaf to calyx, from calyx to blossom, from blossom to fruit. In the evolutionary process of humanity such rapid transitions and jumps are constantly occurring. The greatest leap of all in the history of Earth-humanity is the one brought about through the events in Palestine. There has been quite a tremendous leap forward.
It must be remembered that the human soul has evolved slowly and by degrees. Man's life today is such that stimuli come to him from the external world through the senses. Even a person like Helen Keller needed a stimulus from outside before any development was possible. The human being lives today in such a way that the whole development of the human soul is dependent upon stimuli received through the senses.
Man is obliged to depend upon the instrument of his brain for the forming of judgments and ideas. Man was not always like this. But there was a time in the life of the soul when he was not dependent upon these impressions from outside, when he possessed an old, dim, dreamlike clairvoyance. Back then, clairvoyant pictures welled up from within him, pictures which presented and gave expression to an outer reality but not the same kind of reality as we have around us today.
Everything around us today—plants, animals, air, water, clouds, mountains—none of this was seen by man at that time with sharp outlines, but as it were through a mist. With his dreamlike consciousness man looked to the realm immediately above him, the realm of the Angeloi. With still higher consciousness he looked up to the realm of the Archangeloi and to the realm of the Spirits of Personality. We today look at the mineral kingdom but in those days man looked right up to the Hierarchies, that he perceived in his dreamlike dim consciousness. Just as today he knows that he is composed of mineral substances, so, in those olden times, he knew: My soul has come down from the realm of the Spirits of Personality and has been formed out of the substances of the realms of Archangeloi and Angeloi. He looked up to what was above him—and beheld there his spiritual home. From thence he has descended to existence in the physical world and to perception of the physical outer world. First of all he lost his vision of the Spirits of Personality, and beheld the animal kingdom. Then he lost vision of the Archangeloi and beheld the plant kingdom. Then he lost vision of the Angeloi and beheld the mineral kingdom. But for a long time still, men were able at certain times to look upwards, knowing of the reality of these higher Beings. Only slowly and by degrees did their gaze come to be directed to the purely external world. The gate to the spiritual world was closed.
But this was not the only thing. For people who still looked into the spiritual world themselves, illness and health had quite different meanings than they have for us today. There were intermediate states of consciousness between waking and sleeping and when some illness befell a man, it was possible for him to evoke a state of consciousness in which he had clairvoyant vision of the spiritual world. In such clairvoyant and clairsentient states he was permeated through and through by the spiritual and this worked as a remedy, as a healing power. The sick person had to be completely permeated with the power of the spirit; this definitely had a healing effect on his sickness. Today, when man has come down into the physical world, the physical body has become overpoweringly strong and the soul has become weak compared to the physical body. Think of soft wax and wax that has hardened. It is difficult to make any impression upon hard wax, whereas soft wax is pliable. In olden times the physical body of man was pliable material that the soul was able to shape and mould.
When the soul connected itself with the Spiritual, it was able to mould the physical. Intense devotion to the Spiritual can help the Spiritual to be a healing force. In olden times, man was able to permeate himself with the Spiritual, not for the purpose of knowledge alone but for the purpose of healing. In those olden times men lived in communion with higher Spiritual Beings. When they had descended to the physical plane but were still in connection with the spiritual worlds, they could not ward off the harmful spiritual Beings. They could be permeated with evil spiritual powers, for example by elementary beings inhabiting the astral plane. A man could lend himself to the good spiritual influences but he was also exposed to evil spiritual beings. Today he is less subject to these evil demonic beings which in olden times worked with such strength in the more pliable material that men might be possessed by them. The reason for all this was because it was man's destiny to descend to the physical plane and gain self-consciousness. Man would not have been able to obtain real self-consciousness, if he would have been forever devoted to the spiritual world. he was then outside of himself. His “I” (Ego) had long been working upon his human nature. But it was only through the Christ Impulse that man could become fully conscious of the Ego and its purpose. The Christ Impulse was revealed, first of all, in reflection, in the lightning in which Jehovah appeared to Moses, just as the light of the Moon reflects the light of the Sun. Jehovah is nothing but a reflection of Christ. The first revelation of Christ is in reflection. We cannot understand the Gospel of St. John until we realise that the Christ Impulse is the essential, all-important factor in the human development of Ego-consciousness.
Man was destined to be drawn away from influences which stream into him without consciousness on his part. This made it possible for him to unfold Ego-Consciousness and prepare for the re-attainment of the old clairvoyance. But he should become free from the influences of demonic beings. The more power there is in his Ego, the better is he able to keep the influences of demons at bay. The healing from demons, from demonic possession, can only be understood in the light of this knowledge. A number of sick people were brought to Christ at the time of the day when Christ could work most strongly as a spiritual power. It was the spiritual light which was to work—not the physical sunlight (which is only the garment of the spiritual light). It was when the sun had set that the sick were brought to Christ. We must picture to ourselves how the healing actually took place. The people who came to Christ had the firm faith and conviction that the impulse which can drive away the demons was working through Him. If the expulsion of the demons had been achieved through some external means, the Christ would not have been working through the Ego. A man can only know Christ by developing his own inner strength. And Christ can work only when this strength comes to expression in the Ego of man.
All this shows us that in that significant moment of time, mankind was standing at a great turning-point. It was the last echoing of an ancient epoch and also the moment of the coming of a mighty impulse whereby men were led into a new age. Here man could look back and see: In earlier times man had been in much closer connection with the spiritual world. In states of ecstasy he could find the way to the spiritual world. But entry into the spiritual world now was to be through the Ego. This impulse was given in the mighty call of John the Baptist and through Christ Himself: ‘Change the disposition of your souls, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The link that connected you with the kingdom of Heaven must now be sought and found within you!’
To those who understood deeply, it could be said: There was once a time when human souls, rising above the Ego, came into a world of spirit and the spiritual was bestowed upon them for their healing. They became ‘rich in spirit’, possessors of the spirit. Then came a turning-point. Those who are beggars for the spirit are now summoned to enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who are beggars in the spirit can now become ‘blessed’—God-filled in their inmost being. Beggars for the spirit, those who yearn and long for the spirit—they will receive into themselves the kingdom of heaven.
Those who suffer, who mourn, they too will be ‘blessed’ when they receive the Christ Impulse. Through searching in their own Ego for the link with the spiritual world, they will be healed.
Those whose passions made them violent, could in earlier times be calmed when in states of ecstasy, they were permeated by the Spiritual. By finding the connection with the Christ within their Ego they will calm down the raging passions and wild urges.
The mission of the earth is to be fulfilled by those who quell their passions through the power of the Ego.
Those who suffer will cease to suffer if, in the Ego, they receive Christ. Those who receive Christ in the Ego, can be calmed, can be meek; and they will rule over the Earth.
The first verse of the Sermon on the Mount has to do with the physical body. The second verse has to do with the etheric body. The third verse has to do with the astral body.The fourth verse has to do with the Sentient Soul. Man's conscience should not apply only to the physical realm. Those who in the Sentient Soul hunger and thirst after righteousness can now be blessed.
What a man can become in the Intellectual or Mind Soul is expressed in the verse: Blessed are the merciful. What needs to happens for us to ascend from the Sentient Soul to the Intellectual or Mind Soul. The Ego, the ‘I’ ascends first. Man must develop himself so that he can feel himself as an Ego and every other human being as well. What lives in the soul needs to be passed from Ego to Ego; What passed from one human to another, subject and predicate, must be equal. In the first sentences of the Beatitudes the subject is different from the predicate. Now we find that in the sentence that relates to the Sentient Soul, the subject and the predicate are equal: ‘Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy or love.’
The Sermon on the Mount is a record unequalled in statement concerning the mighty transition inaugurated by Christ.
Kali Yuga, the Dark Age, had already lasted for 3,000 years. It began in the year 3,101 BC That is the year when the spiritual world began to darken, to be shut off from men. Prior to the year 3,101, men still had direct consciousness of the spiritual worlds. After the Kali Yuga had lasted for 3,101 years there came the impulse whereby man is led once again into the spiritual world. But how did this impulse came about?
This impulse was possible only because a God descended into the physical world. This was the initial impulse for the return to the Spiritual world. The evolution of humanity took a great forward jump because men were able henceforth, out of the Ego itself, to ascend again into the spiritual world. Humanity needed the Christ because it had risen to its “I”. The descent of Christ was necessary in order that the human Ego should not waste away through inertia and fall out of the onward stream of evolution. For a very considerable time there were only a few men who knew that Christ had lived in Palestine. Tacitus, for example, knew very little of it. About 100 years later, people spoke of a sect living in a poor quarter of Rome and teaching of Jesus. This, the mightiest of all impulses, the Christ Impulse, was practically unknown. It might have remained unknown altogether but in fact it did not. The Christ Impulse was received into humanity. And when a similar impulse is given mankind must be in a position not to let such a jump happen in evolution without noticing it.
In 1899 the Dark Age, Kali Yuga, came to an end, having lasted for 5,000 years. Humanity moves in an ascending line. We are living today at the beginning of an epoch when quite new forces and faculties will develop in man. Before the first half of the century has run its course, a number of people, simply through natural development, will possess unusual faculties. From the end of Kali Yuga, from the year 1899 onwards, a certain faculty of etheric sight unfolds in mankind, and this will have developed in a number of people between 1930 and 1940. There will then be two possibilities. Mankind may sink more deeply still into the morass of materialism; everything may be flooded by materialism. This awakening of etheric sight may be ignored, just as the Christ Event was ignored. But if men do not experience this awakening, they will be submerged in the materialistic morass.
Or, in the course of 2,500 years a sufficiently large number of human beings will develop etheric sight. This is the beginning of the clairvoyance that man will again achieve and add to his Ego consciousness. Something else will also happen. When a number of human beings through Spiritual Science have developed an understanding for it, then those will be able to convince themselves of the truth of the Christ Event exactly as Paul became convinced of it at Damascus. Between 1930 and 1940 there will be a small number of people who will develop this capability, and then during a period of 2500 years, when more and more people have developed etheric sight they will be able to behold Christ in an etheric body. But they will only be able to get there through understanding and feeling obtained by way of Spiritual Science. This is Christ's new descent to the men of Earth. In reality, however, it is an ascent, for Christ will never again incarnate in the flesh. Those people who have developed up to Him, will be able to behold the Christ in the etheric body and will know from direct experience that the Christ lives.
For those who want to recognise the Christ, he will reappear in his etheric body. They will know about the Christ through beholding him. Through soul-development we will begin to understand this most important event for mankind of our time. If Spiritual Science did not develop understanding in men, this event might pass by unheeded. Spiritual Science should prepare us in such a way that we can make this greatest Event since the close of Kali Yuga bear fruit in mankind. No matter what their activities may be, those men will be of importance who have prepared themselves to see this etheric happening. But this happening will also be of importance to those who are living between death and rebirth. It has its effects in the spiritual worlds too, but only through preparation here on Earth. Here on Earth we must prepare for this event and develop the organs for perceiving it.
We ourselves now proclaim the new Christ Event of the 20th century. Later on it will be proclaimed as an Event whose effects work on for the whole of humanity. This will be announced in the near future. It will become a testing stone for Theosophy. But it may be that materialism will be introduced even into the theosophical conception of the new Christ Event. Only a materialistic consciousness could imagine that Christ could come again in the flesh. When the Event takes place it will be obvious whether or not Theosophy has understood it. In the first half of the 20th century, false Messiahs will assert themselves here and there.
In our age it would be bad, if human beings could not rise themselves up to the spiritual view, that the Christ will reappear in its etheric form. No progress for humanity would exist if the Christ would reappear in the flesh.
Mankind develops in order to be able to recognise the Messiah with higher faculties. The test will be whether Theosophy has enabled men to understand this Event aright, has led them to the Spiritual in such a way that they can understand the Return of Christ in its true form. In this century, Christ will come again for a number of men, who will be forerunners, just as he once came to Paul at Damascus.
Unbelief becomes more and more widespread as the result of literary criticism of the original records. The more the historical evidences lose importance for men, the more will the faculty ripen through which the Christ can be seen. The real Christ will be revealed to those men who through Spiritual Science can unfold the understanding, the vision of the true Return of Christ.
Das Neue Spirituelle Zeitalter Und Die Wiederkunft Christi
Wenn der Mensch als Anthroposoph zuweilen von dem alltäglichen Leben absehend, hinausblickend über dasjenige, was er im alltäglichen Leben zu tun hat, sich fragen würde: Gibt es außer dem, was das alltägliche Leben ist, außer dem, was des Tages Mühen und Lasten dem Menschen bringen, noch etwas, was mit Menschenglück, mit Menschenbestreben zusammenhängt? - dann würde er als Anthroposoph sich eine reiche Antwort geben können. Er weiß zum Beispiel, daß er alles, was er durch die Anthroposophie aufnimmt, nicht aufnimmt, um der Seele gleichsam eine Beschäftigung zu geben, weil sie sich unbefriedigt fühlt im alltäglichen Leben, sondern daß das, was er durch die Empfindung aus der Anthroposophie aufnimmt, Kraft werden kann in seiner Seele. Er ist jederzeit imstande, sich zu sagen: Als Mensch bin ich noch etwas anderes als das, was ich bin in der äußeren Welt.
Bei solchen Gedanken sollen wir uns ganz tief in unser Inneres schreiben, daß wir als Menschen immer in zwei Strömungen darinnenstehen: In einer Strömung, die uns in das Alltagsleben hineinstellt, und in einer andern Strömung, durch die die Seele hinaufblickt in ein Reich der Zukunft, wodurch sie erst das bedeuten kann, was sie im ganzen Zusammenhang bedeuten soll. Diese Idee soll uns niemals dazu führen, irgendeine vielleicht wenig ansprechende äußere Beschäftigung für weniger bedeutsam zu halten für das ganze Weltenleben als irgendeinen andern Beruf. Wir müssen uns klar darüber sein, daß von einem gewissen Gesichtspunkt aus das Kleinste und Größte, was wir verrichten können, gleich wichtig ist für das Ganze. Das Leben stellt sich dar als ein Mosaikbild, das aus einzelnen Steinchen zusammengefügt ist. Der ein einzelnes Steinchen hineinfügt, ist nicht weniger wichtig als der, der den Plan zu dem Mosaikbild ausgedacht hat. In bezug auf das, was man göttlich-geistige Weltenordnung nennen kann, ist das Kleinste ebenso bedeutsam wie das Größte. Wenn wir das einsehen, so wird uns das vor mancher Unzufriedenheit bewahren können, welche sonst leicht im Leben kommen könnte.
Nur eine solche Stimmung gegenüber dem, was wir im Leben zu tun haben, kann uns das richtige Verständnis geben für unsere innere Arbeit in der Seele. Erst dann können wir uns zu dem höchsten geistigen Streben in der richtigen Art verhalten. Solch eine Sache sollte für Anthroposophen niemals ein bloßer Gedanke, niemals nur Theorie sein. Der Anthroposoph tut vielmehr gut, wenn er sich öfters selber in innerer Versenkung klarmacht, wie wenig angemessen es in der großen Weltenordnung wäre, wenn aus irgendeiner Stellung im Leben ihm Unzufriedenheit fließen möchte. Das ganze Wesen der Weltentwickelung könnte nicht seinen Gang nehmen, wenn wir nicht das scheinbar Unbedeutendste im Leben richtig ausführen würden. Dann werden wir auch die richtigen Empfindungen erhalten gegenüber den großen Erscheinungen des Daseins. Dann wird uns erst das Große und Bedeutsame aufleuchten, das in dem Satze liegt: Ein jeder von uns soll außer dem, was er darstellt auf dem physischen Plan, im Sinne der Weisheit der Welt so viel als möglich aus sich selber machen. Wir sollen die anthroposophische Entwickelung selber als etwas Notwendiges ansehen. Mancher sagt: Was nützt die anthroposophische Entwickelung, wenn ich mich nicht dadurch im Leben nützlich machen kann? - Bedenken wir aber: Was wir im Leben zu tun bekommen sollen, wird uns das Lebenskarma zeigen, wenn wir erst die Winke des Lebenskarmas verstehen lernen. Wir haben nicht nur die Aufgabe, dies oder jenes zu tun, sondern wir haben wirklich die Aufgabe, aus uns selber so viel als möglich zu machen. Wir müssen uns aufschwingen zu dem Gedanken: In uns sind unendliche Kräfte und Fähigkeiten; wir dürfen sie nicht verkommen lassen in unserer Seele. Was die göttlich-geistige Weltenordnung mit dem, was wir aus unserer Seele gemacht haben, anfangen wird, müssen wir der göttlichgeistigen Weltenordnung überlassen. Wenn wir an unserer Seele arbeiten und auf die Winke des Karma achten, werden wir sehen, was wir da und dort zu tun haben.
Wir sollen nicht Theorien ausspinnen. Man könnte leicht denken, daß derjenige der beste Anthroposoph ist, der eine Zeitlang an sich arbeitet und dann eine äußere, segenbringende Tätigkeit entfaltet. Aber es kann sein, daß wir in unserer äußeren Lebensstellung nicht imstande sind, das in der Welt anzuwenden, was wir in der Seele erarbeiten. Dieser Gedanke, daß nur der ein guter Anthroposoph ist, der das Erlernte auch in der Welt verwertet, könnte der falscheste sein, den es nur geben könnte. Es könnte zum Beispiel sein, daß wir Jahrzehnte nicht in der Lage wären, irgend etwas von dem, was anthroposophischer Impuls in uns ist, anzuwenden. Vielleicht kommen wir dann auf einem Bahnhof mit jemand zusammen und können dem gerade ein wichtiges Wort sagen, was wir sonst nicht hätten sagen können. Diese einzige Handlung könnte für den Zusammenhang des Lebens vielleicht wichtiger sein als eine umfangreiche Handlung. Wir müssen uns klarmachen, was wir tun können, und daß uns die Verwertung davon in der rechten Stunde von einem Wink des Karma gebracht werden wird.
Wenn man das fühlt und empfindet, dann wird die Anthroposophie etwas, nach dessen Zweck man zunächst gar nicht frägt, weil es absolut wertvoll ist. Dann bekommt man erst die rechte Stellung zu dem, was uns verbindet mit den großen, einschlagenden Ereignissen des Lebens. Manchmal wird angenommen, daß alle Entwickelung nur Schritt für Schritt vor sich gehe. Aber das Leben der Gesamtheit verläuft nicht etwa so, daß man sagen kann, die Natur macht keine Sprünge. So ist das nicht richtig. Die Natur macht fortwährend Sprünge. Betrachten wir eine Pflanze. Sie macht in ihrer Entwickelung fortwährend Sprünge: bei dem Übergang von der Wurzel zum Blatt, vom Blatt zum Kelch, vom Kelch zur Blüte und von der Blüte zur Frucht. So wie hier sind rasche Übergänge vorhanden im Einzelleben und auch im Gesamtleben der Menschheit. Überall finden wir, daß die Menschheit eine Weile sukzessive fortlebt und sich entwickelt, wie Blatt für Blatt an der Pflanze. Dann kommt die Zeit, wo die Menschheit einen gewaltigen Sprung vorwärts macht, wie die Pflanze vom Blatt zum Kelch, vom Kelch zum Blumenblatt, vom Blumenblatt zur Frucht. So geschehen überall rasche Übergänge, Sprünge im Entwickelungsgang der Menschheit. Der gewaltigste Sprung in der Erdenmenschheit ist der Sprung, der geschehen ist durch die Ereignisse in Palästina. Da geschah ein ganz gewaltiger Sprung nach vorwärts.
Wir werden uns erinnern müssen, daß die Seele des Menschen, wie sie heute ist, sich erst langsam und allmählich entwickelt hat. Heute lebt der Mensch so, daß er durch die Sinne eine Anregung aus der äußeren Welt erhält. Selbst solch ein Mensch wie Helen Keller konnte eine Entwickelung nur dadurch durchmachen, daß sie eine äußere Anregung empfing. Der Mensch lebt heute durchaus so, daß er mit der ganzen Entwickelung seiner Seele auf äußere Anregung durch die Sinne angewiesen ist. Für sein Urteil und die Ideenentwickelung ist er auf das Instrument des Gehirns angewiesen. So war der Mensch nicht immer. Es gab einmal ein Leben der Seele, wo der Mensch nicht auf solche äußere Eindrücke angewiesen war, wo er ein altes, dunkles, traumhaftes Hellsehen hatte. Damals stiegen hellseherisch Bilder in seinem Innern auf, die eine äußere Wirklichkeit wiedergaben und ausdrückten, aber nicht eine solche äußere Wirklichkeit, wie wir sie heute um uns herum haben. Alles, was wir da um uns herum haben an Pflanzen und Tieren, an Luft und Wasser, an Wolken und Bergen, war für die damalige Menschheit noch nicht mit Grenzen vorhanden; höchstens sahen die Menschen damals die Dinge wie durch einen Nebel hindurch. Damals blickte der Mensch während des traumhaft dämmerhaften Bewußtseins zu dem nächsten Reich, dem Reich der Engel auf. In einem noch höheren Bewußtsein blickte man auf zu dem Reich der Erzengel und zu dem Reich der Geister der Persönlichkeit. Wie wir heute auf das Steinteich hinblicken, so blickte der Mensch damals zu den Hierarchien auf, die er in seinem traumhaft dämmerhaften Bewußtsein wahrnahm. So wie der Mensch heute weiß, daß er zusammengesetzt ist aus den mineralischen Substanzen, so wußte er damals: meine Seele ist heruntergestiegen aus dem Reich der Geister der Persönlichkeit und zusammengesetzt aus den Substanzen des Reiches der Erzengel und Engel. Er blickte auf zu dem, was über ihm stand, als zu seiner geistigen Heimat. Von da ist er heruntergestiegen zu dem Werden in der physischen Welt und zum Wahrnehmen der physischen Außenwelt. Zuerst verlor sich sein Blick für die Geister der Persönlichkeit, und er wurde ansichtig des Tierreiches. Dann verlor er den Blick für die Erzengel, und er wurde ansichtig des Pflanzenteichs; dann verlor er den Blick für das Engelreich, und er wurde ansichtig des Mineralreichs. Lange noch konnten Menschen zu gewissen Zeiten hinaufschauen und sie wußten, daß es solche höhere Wesenheiten gibt. Langsam und allmählich erst wurde der Blick auf die bloße äußere Welt gelenkt. Das Tor wurde zugeschlossen gegenüber der geistigen Welt. Das war aber nicht das einzige.
Für die Menschen, die noch selber in die geistigen Welten hineinsahen, bedeutete Krankheit und Gesundheit etwas ganz anderes als heute für uns. Wenn in jenen Zeiten irgendeine Krankheit den Menschen befiel, dann war es dem Menschen möglich, jenen Zustand einen Zwischenzustand zwischen Wachen und Schlafen - hervorzurufen, durch den er hellsichtig wurde für die geistige Welt. In solchen hellfühlenden und hellsichtigen Zuständen war er durchdrungen von dem Geistigen. Dies Durchdrungensein von dem Geistigen wirkte als Heilmittel, als gesundend. Der Kranke mußte sich ganz durchsetzen mit der Kraft des Geistigen; das wirkte durchaus gesundend auf seine Krankheit. Heute ist der Mensch heruntergestiegen in die physische Welt. Dadurch hat der physische Leib die größte Kraft bekommen, aber die Seele dagegen ist ohnmächtig geworden gegenüber dem physischen Leib. Man vergleiche einmal weiches Wachs und derb gewordenes Wachs. Letzteres kann man schwer eindrücken. Das andere ist plastisch. Der physische Menschenleib war in alten Zeiten ein plastisches Material, das die Seele formen konnte. Wenn die Seele sich in Verbindung setzte mit dem Geistigen, konnte sie das Physische formen. Eine starke Hingabe an das Geistige kann bewirken, daß das Geistige gesundend wirkt. In alten Zeiten war es so, daß der Mensch nicht nur zum Behufe der Erkenntnis, sondern zum Behufe der Heilung sich durchdringen konnte mit dem Geistigen. In alten Zeiten waren die Menschen in Gemeinschaft hoher geistiger Wesenheiten. Als die Menschen herunterstiegen, aber doch noch Zusammenhang hatten mit den geistigen Welten, konnten sich die Menschen nicht schützen vor schädlichen geistigen Wesenheiten. Sie konnten da auch durchsetzt werden mit den schlimmen geistigen Mächten, zum Beispiel mit denen, die als Elementarwesen auf dem Astralplane wohnen. Der Mensch konnte damals sich den guten geistigen Einflüssen hingeben, aber er war auch schlimmen geistigen Wesenheiten ausgesetzt. Heute hat man es weniger mit solchen schlimmen, dämonischen Wesenheiten zu tun. In alten Zeiten wirkten die dämonischen Wesenheiten so in dem plastischen Material, daß sie die Menschen besessen machten. Das war alles deshalb, weil ja der Mensch heruntersteigen mußte auf den physischen Plan, um zum Selbstbewußtsein zu kommen. Zum wirklichen Selbstbewußtsein hätte der Mensch nicht kommen können, wenn er immer hingegeben gewesen wäre an die geistige Welt. Er war dann außer sich. Schon seit alten Zeiten arbeitete das Ich an der Menschennatur. Vollbewußt sollte sich der Mensch erst wissen, wissen, was das Ich bedeutet, durch den Christus-Impuls. Der Christus-Impuls zeigte sich zuerst in dem Blitzesfeuer, in dem Jehova dem Moses erschien. Er zeigte sich gespiegelt im Blitzesfeuer, wie das Mondlicht abspiegelt das Sonnenlicht. Jehova ist nichts anderes als der widergespiegelte Christus, der sich zuerst wie eine Spiegelung zeigt.
Das Johannes-Evangelium können wir nur dann verstehen, wenn wir einsehen, daß eigentlich der Christus-Impuls die bedeutendste Arbeit innerhalb der menschlichen Evolution an dem Ich-Bewußtsein ist.
Der Mensch sollte entzogen werden den Einflüssen, die in ihn hereinfließen ohne sein Selbstbewußtsein. Dadurch konnte er sein Ich-Bewußtsein erwerben und sich vorbereiten zu einer Wiedererlangung des Hellsehens alter Zeit. Aber er sollte frei werden von den dämonischen Einflüssen. Je mehr er Gewalt hat in seinem Ich, desto mehr kann er sich freihalten von dämonischen Einflüssen. So kann man erst die Dämonenheilungen verstehen. Eine Anzahl Kranker wurde in die Nähe des Christus gebracht gerade in der Zeit, als der geistige Christus am stärksten wirken konnte. Nicht das physische Sonnenlicht - das Kleid des geistigen Lichtes - sollte wirken, sondern das geistige Licht. Als die Sonne untergegangen war, brachte man jene Kranken zu Christus. Nun müssen wir uns den realen Vorgang der Heilung so vorstellen: Die Menschen, die da kamen, hatten den festen Glauben, die feste Überzeugung, durch den Christus wirke jener Impuls, der die Dämonen zurücktreiben kann. Wäre dies durch ein äußeres Mittel geschehen, dann hätte der Christus nicht durch das Ich gewirkt. Erst dann erkennt man den Christus, wenn er alle Gewalt entfaltet in dem eigenen Innern. Erst da kann er wirken, wo diese Kraft im menschlichen Ich zum Ausdruck kommt. Aus alldem sehen wir, daß damals in jener wichtigen Zeit die Menschheit vor einem gewaltigen Wendepunkte stand. Es war der letzte Ausklang einer alten Zeit und gleichsam das Hereindringen eines gewaltigen Impulses, der die Menschen in eine neue Zeit hineinführte. Da konnte der Mensch zurückschauen und sehen: Früher war der Mensch mit der geistigen Welt noch mehr verbunden. Er konnte durch die Ekstase den Weg zur geistigen Welt finden. Jetzt aber müssen wir in dem Ich den Anknüpfungspunkt finden, um in die geistige Welt hineinzukommen. Dieser Impuls wurde gegeben durch den gewaltigen Ruf des Täufers und durch den Christus selber: «Ändert euere Seelenverfassung, denn das Reich der Himmel ist nahe herbeigekommen. » In euch selber muß gesucht werden das Band, das euch verbindet mit dem Reiche der Himmel.
Denjenigen, denen man ganz tief das sagen konnte, konnte man sagen: Früher gab es eine Zeit, da waren die Menschenseelen so, daß, wenn sie aus ihrem Ich herausstiegen, sie in ein geistiges Reich hineinkamen. Da wurde ihnen das Geistige geschenkt für ihre Heilung. Sie waren Reiche, das heißt, Besitzende des Geistes geworden. Da kam ein Wendepunkt. Jetzt sind gerade solche berufen, in das Reich des Himmels hineinzukommen, die Bettler um Geist geworden sind. Gottinnig, selig können jetzt die werden, die da Bettler sind um Geist. Geistig Arme werden in sich aufnehmen das Reich der Himmel.
Selig oder gottinnig werden auch die werden, welche leidend sind, wenn sie den Christus-Impuls aufnehmen. Dadurch, daß sie in ihrem Ich das Band zu der geistigen Welt suchen, werden sie geheilt werden. Die früher aus ihren Leidenschaften heraus tobten, konnten früher besänftigt werden, wenn sie in der Ekstase sich vergeistigten. Dadurch, daß sie jetzt in sich, im Ich, das Band mit dem Christus finden, sollen sie die tobenden Leidenschaften, die wilden Triebe besänftigen. Das Los der Erdenmission ist, daß sie denen zufällt, die durch das Ich ihre Leidenschaften dämpfen. Die Leidtragenden werden das Leid verlieren dadurch, daß sie in dem Ich den Christus aufnehmen; gleichmütig können die werden, die den Christus im Ich aufnehmen, und sie werden die Erde beherrschen.
Der erste Satz der Bergpredigt bezieht sich auf den physischen Leib, der zweite Satz auf den Ätherleib, der dritte auf den Astralleib, der vierte, der Satz, daß der Mensch nicht ein solches Gewissen entwickeln soll, das nur auf das Physische geht, auf die Empfindungsseele. Die in der Empfindungsseele dürsten und hungern nach der Gerechtigkeit, die können jetzt gottinnig oder selig werden.
Was der Mensch finden kann in der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele, das ist ausgedrückt in dem Satz: Gottinnig können die werden, die barmherzig sind. Was muß eintreten, wenn wir von der Empfindungsseele zur Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele heraufsteigen? Da steigt zuerst das Ich auf. Das muß der Mensch entwickeln, dadurch daß er sich selber als Ich empfindet und jeden andern als ein Ich empfindet, dadurch daß das, was in der Seele lebt, von Ich zu Ich geleitet wird. Das, was vom Menschen zum Menschen geht, das Subjekt und Prädikat müssen gleich sein. In den ersten Sätzen der Seligpreisungen ist das Subjekt von dem Prädikat verschieden. Jetzt finden wir in dem Satz, der sich auf die Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele bezieht, daß Subjekt und Prädikat gleich sind. «Selig sind, die barmherzig sind, denn sie werden Barmherzigkeit oder Liebe empfangen.»
Wir sehen hier ein Dokument, das so großartig ist, daß es kaum ein anderes Dokument gibt, das so tief ist. Es ist geprägt im Sinne jenes gewaltigen Übergangs, der durch den Christus eintrat. Da hatte schon 3000 Jahre das Kali Yuga, das finstere Zeitalter gedauert. Das Kali Yuga im engsten Sinn hat 3101 vor Christi Geburt eingesetzt. Das ist jenes Jahr, wo das Zuschließen der geistigen Welt beginnt. Vor dem Jahre 3101 finden wir noch ein unmittelbares Bewußtsein für die geistigen Welten. Dann hat sich die geistige Welt immer mehr verfinstert. Nachdem das Kali Yuga 3101 Jahre gewaltet hat, da geschieht jener Impuls, wodurch der Mensch wieder hineingeführt wird in die geistige Welt. Aber wodurch konnte jener Impuls geschehen? Nur dadurch, daß ein Gott herabstieg in die physische Welt. Da wird der Anlauf genommen zu dem Zurückkehren in die geistige Welt. Ein gewaltiger Sprung in der Entwickelung der Menschheit wurde gemacht dadurch, daß die Menschheit die Möglichkeit gewann, vom Ich aus wieder aufzusteigen in die geistige Welt. Die Menschheit brauchte sozusagen den Christus, weil sie bis zu ihrem Ich aufgestiegen war. Das Herabsteigen des Christus war notwendig, damit das menschliche Ich nicht verödete, nicht herausfiel aus der Entwickelung.
Wir sehen es, daß eine Anzahl von Menschen lange nichts gewußt hat davon, daß drüben in dem kleinen Ländchen Palästina der Christus gelebt hat. Zum Beispiel Tacitus weiß nur wenig davon. Ungefähr hundert Jahre nachher erzählte man, daß in Rom eine Sekte lebe in einem Gäßchen, die über Jesus lehre. An vielen Menschen ging damals dieser mächtigste Impuls, der Christus-Impuls, vorbei. Er hätte an allen Menschen vorbeigehen können. Das ist aber nicht geschehen. Die Menschheit hat damals den Christus-Impuls aufgenommen. Wenn wieder ein ähnlicher Impuls in der Menschheit stattfindet, dann muß die Menschheit imstande sein, einen solchen Sprung in der Menschheitsentwickelung nicht unbeachtet vorübergehen zu lassen.
1899 war das finstere Zeitalter, das Kali Yuga, abgelaufen. Die Menschheit bewegt sich in einer aufsteigenden Linie. 5000 Jahre dauerte das finstere Zeitalter. Heute leben wir am Anfang eines Zeitalters, in dem ganz neue Kräfte und Fähigkeiten in der Menschheit sich entwickeln. Bevor die erste Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts abgelaufen sein wird, wird sich zeigen, daß eine Anzahl Menschen durch die natürliche Entwickelung besondere Fähigkeiten haben. Mit dem ‚Ablauf des Kali Yuga, von 1899 an, entwickelt sich in der Menschheit ein gewisses Äthersehen. Zwischen dem Jahre 1930 und 1940 wird für eine Anzahl Menschen dieses Äthersehen ausgebildet sein. Zweierlei kann dann möglich sein. Die Menschheit kann weiterleben im materialistischen Sumpf. Der Materialismus kann alles überfluten. Die Menschheit kann dieses Ereignis so versäumen, wie sie hätte versäumen können das Christus-Ereignis. Wenn Menschen dieses Äthersehen nicht erleben, so wird es dahin kommen, daß die Menschen im materialistischen Sumpf versinken werden. Oder es wird eine genügend große Anzahl von Menschen durch 2500 Jahre hindurch sich so entwickeln, daß sie äthersehend werden. Das ist der Anfang des Hellsehens, das sich die Menschen wieder hinzuerobern werden zu dem Ich-Bewußtsein.
Hierzu kommt noch etwas. Wenn eine Anzahl Menschen durch geisteswissenschaftliches Verständnis ein Gefühl dafür entwickelt haben, dann wird das eintreten, daß sich diese Menschen werden ebensogut überzeugen können von der Wahrheit des ChristusEreignisses, wie sich Paulus beim Ereignis von Damaskus davon hat überzeugen können. Zwischen 1930 und 1940 wird es eine kleine Anzahl von Menschen geben, die diese Fähigkeit entwickeln, und dann während 2500 Jahren werden immer mehr Menschen den Christus sehen im Ätherleibe. Die Menschen werden, wenn sie sich heraufentwickeln zum Äthersehen, den Christus im Ätherleibe sehen, wozu sie aber nur gelangen können durch geisteswissenschaftliches Verständnis und Gefühl. Das ist das neue Herabsteigen des Christus zu den Erdenmenschen. In Wahrheit ist es vielmehr ein Heraufsteigen, denn es wird nicht mehr sein, daß der Christus sich im Fleische verkörpern wird. Aber die Menschen, welche sich zu ihm hinaufentwickeln, werden imstande sein, ihn im Ätherleibe wahrzunehmen. Sie werden aus der unmittelbaren Erfahrung heraus wissen, daß Christus lebt. Für die, die den Christus erkennen wollen, wird er wieder erscheinen in seinem ätherischen Leibe. Sie werden durch Schauen wissen von dem Christus.
Gerade durch die Seelenentwickelung werden wir ein Verständnis gewinnen für das, was das wichtigste Ereignis für die Menschheit unserer Zeit ist. Würde die Geisteswissenschaft nicht die Menschheit dazu führen, so würde dieses Ereignis unbeachtet an der Menschheit vorübergehen. Geisteswissenschaft soll uns vorbereiten, dieses größte Ereignis nach Ablauf des Kali Yuga fruchtbar zu machen. Diejenigen Menschen werden wichtig sein, gleichviel in welchem Beruf sie tätig sind, die sich vorbereitet haben, das Ereignis wahrzunehmen. Wichtig aber wird das Ereignis auch für diejenigen, die sich befinden in jener Welt zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt. Denn dieses Ereignis wirkt auch hinein in die geistigen Welten, aber nur dadurch, daß man hier auf Erden sich vorbereitet hat. Hier auf der Erde müssen wir uns gerade auf jenes Ereignis vorbereiten und die Organe dazu schaffen. Das neue Christus-Ereignis des 20. Jahrhunderts, das verkünden wir jetzt. Nachher wird es erklärt werden als ein Ereignis, das fortwirkt für die ganze Menschheit. Das wird in nächster Zeit verkündet werden. Es wird dies ein Prüfstein sein für die Theosophie. Es könnte sein, daß Materialismus in die theosophische Auffassung des Christus-Ereignisses selber hineingetragen wird. Nur materialistisches Bewußtsein könnte glauben, der Christus könne in einer fleischlichen Gestalt wiederkommen. Es wird sich zeigen, ob man die Theosophie verstanden hat, wenn das Ereignis kommt. Wir werden in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts sehen, wie falsche Messiasse sich da und dort geltend machen. In unserem Zeitalter würde es schlimm sein, wenn die Menschen nicht so weit sich zu einer spirituellen Anschauung aufschwingen könnten, daß der Christus in seiner äthetischen Gestalt wieder erscheinen wird. Es wäre keine Entwickelung der Menschheit vorhanden, wenn der Christus wieder im Fleisch erscheinen würde.
Die Menschheit entwickelt sich, um mit höheren Fähigkeiten den Messias wahrzunehmen. Das wird der Prüfstein sein, ob Theosophie wirklich den Menschen dazu geführt hat, dies Ereignis richtig zu verstehen, so daß der Mensch sich soviel zum Spirituellen emporgeschwungen hat, um die Wiederkunft des Christus in der wahren Gestalt zu verstehen. Für eine Anzahl Menschen, die Vorläufer sein werden, wird er in diesem Jahrhundert wiederkommen, wie er einst gekommen ist im Ereignis von Damaskus für den Paulus.
Immer verbreiteter und verbreiteter wird der Unglaube durch die Kritik der historischen Urkunden. Je mehr die historischen Zeugnisse an Gewalt für die Menschen verlieren werden, desto mehr wird in den Menschen die Fähigkeit heranwachsen, durch die der Christus gesehen werden kann. Der Christus in Wirklichkeit wird den Menschen gegeben werden, die sich durch die Geisteswissenschaft hinaufschwingen können zum Verständnis, zum Schauen der wahren Wiederkunft des Christus.
The New Spiritual Age and the Second Coming of Christ
If man, as an anthroposophist, were sometimes to look away from everyday life, looking beyond what he has to do in everyday life, were to ask himself: Is there anything connected with human happiness, with human striving, apart from what everyday life is, apart from what the day's toils and burdens bring to man? - then as an anthroposophist he would be able to give himself a rich answer. He knows, for example, that whatever he takes in through anthroposophy is not taken in to give the soul something to do because it feels unsatisfied in everyday life, but that what he takes in through the feeling of anthroposophy can become strength in his soul. He is always able to say to himself: As a human being I am something other than what I am in the outer world.
With such thoughts we should write deep within ourselves that as human beings we are always in two currents: In one current, which places us in everyday life, and in another current, through which the soul looks up into a realm of the future, through which it can only mean what it should mean in the whole context. This idea should never lead us to regard any perhaps less appealing external occupation as less significant for the whole life of the world than any other occupation. We must realize that from a certain point of view the smallest and the greatest thing we can do is equally important for the whole. Life presents itself as a mosaic picture made up of individual pieces. The one who adds a single tile is no less important than the one who devised the plan for the mosaic picture. In relation to what we can call the divine-spiritual world order, the smallest is just as important as the largest. If we realize this, it will save us from many a dissatisfaction that could otherwise easily arise in life.
Only such an attitude towards what we have to do in life can give us the right understanding of our inner work in the soul. Only then can we relate to the highest spiritual striving in the right way. Such a thing should never be a mere thought for anthroposophists, never just theory. On the contrary, the anthroposophist will do well if he often realizes to himself in inner contemplation how little appropriate it would be in the great world order if dissatisfaction were to flow from any position in life. The whole nature of world development could not take its course if we did not carry out the seemingly most insignificant things in life correctly. Then we will also receive the right feelings towards the great phenomena of existence. Only then will we realize the greatness and significance of the sentence: Each one of us, apart from what he represents on the physical plan, should make as much as possible of himself in the sense of the wisdom of the world. We should regard anthroposophical development itself as something necessary. Some people say: What is the use of anthroposophical development if I cannot make myself useful in life through it? - But let us remember that life karma will show us what we are to do in life when we first learn to understand the signs of life karma. We don't just have the task of doing this or that, but we really do have the task of making as much of ourselves as possible. We must rise to the thought: There are infinite powers and abilities within us; we must not let them go to waste in our souls. What the divine-spiritual world order will do with what we have made of our soul, we must leave to the divine-spiritual world order. If we work on our soul and pay attention to the beckoning of karma, we will see what we have to do here and there.
We should not spin out theories. One could easily think that the best anthroposophist is the one who works on himself for a while and then develops an outer, beneficial activity. But it may be that in our outer position in life we are not able to apply in the world what we work out in the soul. This idea that only those who utilize what they have learned in the world are good anthroposophists could be the most erroneous there could be. It could be, for example, that we would not be able to apply anything of the anthroposophical impulse in us for decades. We might then meet someone at a train station and be able to say something important to them that we would not otherwise have been able to say. This single action could perhaps be more important for the context of life than an extensive action. We have to realize what we can do and that the utilization of it will be brought to us in the right hour by a hint of karma.
When one feels and senses this, then anthroposophy becomes something whose purpose one does not even ask about at first, because it is absolutely valuable. Only then does one acquire the right attitude to that which connects us with the great, impacting events of life. It is sometimes assumed that all development proceeds step by step. But life as a whole does not proceed in such a way that one can say that nature makes no leaps. That is not correct. Nature is constantly making leaps. Let us consider a plant. It constantly makes leaps in its development: in the transition from root to leaf, from leaf to calyx, from calyx to blossom and from blossom to fruit. Just as here, there are rapid transitions in individual life and also in the life of mankind as a whole. Everywhere we find that humanity lives on successively for a while and develops like leaf after leaf on a plant. Then comes the time when humanity makes a tremendous leap forward, like the plant from leaf to calyx, from calyx to petal, from petal to fruit. Thus rapid transitions and leaps occur everywhere in the course of humanity's development. The most powerful leap in earthly humanity is the leap that occurred through the events in Palestine. There a quite enormous leap forward took place.
We must remember that the soul of man as it is today has only developed slowly and gradually. Today man lives in such a way that he receives stimulation from the outer world through the senses. Even a person like Helen Keller could only undergo development by receiving external stimulation. Today man lives in such a way that the whole development of his soul is dependent on external stimulation through the senses. For his judgment and the development of ideas he is dependent on the instrument of the brain. Man was not always like this. There was once a life of the soul where man was not dependent on such external impressions, where he had an old, dark, dreamlike clairvoyance. At that time, images arose clairvoyantly within him that reflected and expressed an external reality, but not the kind of external reality we have around us today. Everything we have around us in terms of plants and animals, air and water, clouds and mountains did not yet exist with boundaries for mankind at that time; at most, people saw things as if through a fog. At that time man looked up to the next realm, the realm of the angels, during the dreamlike twilight consciousness. In a still higher consciousness one looked up to the realm of the archangels and to the realm of the spirits of personality. Just as we look up to the stone pond today, man then looked up to the hierarchies which he perceived in his dreamlike, twilight consciousness. Just as man today knows that he is composed of mineral substances, so he knew then: my soul has descended from the realm of the spirits of personality and is composed of the substances of the realm of the archangels and angels. He looked up to that which stood above him as his spiritual home. From there he descended to becoming in the physical world and to perceiving the physical outer world. First he lost sight of the spirits of the personality, and he became aware of the animal kingdom. Then he lost sight of the archangels, and he became aware of the plant kingdom; then he lost sight of the angelic kingdom, and he became aware of the mineral kingdom. For a long time people were still able to look up at certain times and they knew that such higher beings existed. Slowly and gradually the gaze was directed to the mere outer world. The gate was closed to the spiritual world. But that was not the only thing.
For the people who still looked into the spiritual worlds themselves, illness and health meant something quite different from what they mean to us today. In those times, when a person was afflicted by some kind of illness, it was possible for him to induce an intermediate state between waking and sleeping, through which he became clairvoyant for the spiritual world. In such clairsentient and clairvoyant states he was permeated by the spiritual. This penetration by the spiritual acted as a remedy, as a healing agent. The sick person had to assert himself completely with the power of the spiritual; this had a thoroughly healing effect on his illness. Today man has descended into the physical world. This has given the physical body the greatest power, but the soul, on the other hand, has become powerless against the physical body. Compare soft wax and wax that has become coarse. The latter is difficult to squeeze. The other is plastic. In ancient times, the physical human body was a plastic material that the soul could mold. When the soul connected with the spiritual, it could shape the physical. A strong devotion to the spiritual can cause the spiritual to have a healing effect. In ancient times it was the case that man could penetrate the spiritual not only for the purpose of knowledge, but also for the purpose of healing. In ancient times men were in communion with high spiritual beings. When people descended but still had a connection with the spiritual worlds, they could not protect themselves from harmful spiritual entities. They could also be penetrated by the evil spiritual powers, for example those who dwell as elemental beings on the astral plane. Back then, people were able to indulge in good spiritual influences, but they were also exposed to evil spiritual entities. Today we have less to do with such evil, demonic entities. In ancient times the demonic entities worked in the plastic material in such a way that they possessed people. This was all because man had to descend to the physical plane in order to attain self-consciousness. Man could not have attained real self-consciousness if he had always been devoted to the spiritual world. He was then beside himself. The ego has been working on the human nature since ancient times. Man was only to become fully conscious, to know what the ego means, through the Christ-impulse. The Christ impulse first showed itself in the lightning fire in which Jehovah appeared to Moses. It showed itself reflected in the lightning fire, just as the moonlight reflects the sunlight. Jehovah is nothing other than the reflected Christ, who first appears like a reflection.
We can only understand the Gospel of John if we realize that the Christ-impulse is actually the most important work within human evolution on the ego-consciousness.
Man was to be withdrawn from the influences that flowed into him without his self-consciousness. In this way he could acquire his ego-consciousness and prepare himself to regain the clairvoyance of old. But he should become free from the demonic influences. The more power he has in his ego, the more he can keep himself free from demonic influences. This is the first way to understand the demonic healings. A number of sick people were brought close to the Christ precisely at the time when the spiritual Christ was able to work most powerfully. It was not the physical sunlight - the garment of spiritual light - that was to work, but the spiritual light. When the sun had set, those sick people were brought to Christ. Now we have to imagine the real process of healing in this way: The people who came there had the firm belief, the firm conviction that through Christ that impulse was at work which could drive back the demons. If this had happened through an external means, then the Christ would not have worked through the ego. Only then does one recognize the Christ when he unfolds all his power within oneself. Only then can he work, where this power is expressed in the human ego. From all this we see that at that important time humanity was facing a tremendous turning point. It was the final end of an old time and, as it were, the penetration of a powerful impulse that led mankind into a new time. People were able to look back and see: People used to be even more connected to the spiritual world. He could find the way to the spiritual world through ecstasy. But now we have to find the point of contact in the ego in order to enter the spiritual world. This impulse was given by the mighty call of the Baptist and by Christ Himself: “Change the condition of your soul, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. “ The bond that connects you with the kingdom of heaven must be sought in yourselves.
To those who could be told this very deeply, one could say: In former times there was a time when human souls were such that, when they stepped out of their ego, they entered a spiritual realm. The spiritual was given to them for their healing. They had become realms, that is, possessors of the spirit. Then came a turning point. Now it is precisely those who have become beggars for the spirit who are called to enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who are beggars for the spirit can now become blessed. The spiritually poor will receive into themselves the kingdom of heaven.
Those who are suffering will also become blessed or godly when they receive the impulse of Christ. By seeking the bond to the spiritual world in their ego, they will be healed. Those who used to rage out of their passions could be calmed in the past when they spiritualized themselves in ecstasy. Now that they find the bond with Christ in themselves, in the ego, they should calm the raging passions, the wild impulses. The lot of the earthly mission is that it falls to those who subdue their passions through the ego. Those who suffer will lose their suffering by receiving the Christ in the ego; those who receive the Christ in the ego can become equanimous, and they will dominate the earth.
The first sentence of the Sermon on the Mount refers to the physical body, the second sentence to the etheric body, the third to the astral body, the fourth, the sentence that man should not develop such a conscience that only goes to the physical, to the emotional soul. Those in the emotional soul who thirst and hunger for righteousness can now become God-like or blessed.
What man can find in the intellectual or emotional soul is expressed in the sentence: Those who are merciful can become godly. What must happen when we ascend from the emotional soul to the intellectual or emotional soul? First the ego rises. Man must develop this by perceiving himself as an ego and perceiving everyone else as an ego, by conducting what lives in the soul from ego to ego. That which goes from man to man, the subject and predicate must be the same. In the first sentences of the Beatitudes the subject is different from the predicate. Now we find in the sentence that refers to the mind or soul that subject and predicate are the same. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy or love.”
We see here a document that is so great that there is hardly any other document that is so profound. It is characterized in the sense of the tremendous transition that occurred through Christ. The Kali Yuga, the Dark Ages, had already lasted 3000 years. The Kali Yuga in the strictest sense began in 3101 before the birth of Christ. This is the year in which the closing of the spiritual world begins. Before the year 3101 we still find an immediate awareness of the spiritual worlds. Then the spiritual world darkened more and more. After the Kali Yuga has lasted 3101 years, the impulse occurs whereby man is again led into the spiritual world. But how could that impulse happen? Only through the descent of a god into the physical world. That is when the start is made for the return to the spiritual world. A tremendous leap in the development of mankind was made by the fact that mankind gained the possibility to ascend again from the ego into the spiritual world. Humanity needed the Christ, so to speak, because it had ascended to its ego. The descent of the Christ was necessary so that the human ego did not become desolate, did not fall out of development.
We see that a number of people knew nothing for a long time about the fact that the Christ lived over there in the small country of Palestine. Tacitus, for example, knows little about it. About a hundred years later it was said that a sect lived in a little street in Rome that taught about Jesus. This most powerful impulse, the Christ impulse, passed many people by at that time. It could have passed all people by. But that did not happen. Mankind received the Christ impulse at that time. If a similar impulse takes place in humanity again, then humanity must not be able to let such a leap in human development pass by unnoticed.
In 1899 the dark age, the Kali Yuga, had come to an end. Humanity is moving in an ascending line. The dark ages lasted 5000 years. Today we are living at the beginning of an age in which completely new powers and abilities are developing in humanity. Before the first half of the 20th century is over, it will become apparent that a number of people have special abilities as a result of natural development. With the expiry of the Kali Yuga, from 1899 onwards, a certain etheric vision will develop in humanity. Between the years 1930 and 1940 a number of people will have developed this etheric vision. Two things will then be possible. Humanity can continue to live in the materialistic swamp. Materialism can flood everything. Humanity can miss this event just as it could have missed the Christ event. If people do not experience this etheric vision, it will come to pass that people will sink into the materialistic swamp. Or a sufficiently large number of people will develop through 2500 years in such a way that they will become ether-seeing. This is the beginning of clairvoyance, which people will again conquer in addition to the I-consciousness.
There is something else. When a number of people have developed a feeling for it through spiritual-scientific understanding, then it will happen that these people will be able to convince themselves of the truth of the Christ event just as well as Paul was able to convince himself of it at the Damascus event. Between 1930 and 1940 there will be a small number of people who will develop this ability, and then during 2500 years more and more people will see the Christ in the etheric body. People will see the Christ in the etheric body when they develop their etheric vision, but they can only achieve this through spiritual-scientific understanding and feeling. This is the new descent of the Christ to the people on earth. In truth it is rather an ascent, for it will no longer be that the Christ will embody himself in the flesh. But the people who develop upwards to him will be able to perceive him in the etheric body. They will know from direct experience that Christ lives. For those who want to recognize the Christ, he will appear again in his etheric body. They will know of the Christ through seeing.
It is precisely through the development of the soul that we will gain an understanding of what is the most important event for humanity in our time. If spiritual science did not lead humanity to it, this event would pass humanity by unnoticed. Spiritual science should prepare us to make this greatest event after the Kali Yuga fruitful. Those people will be important, regardless of their profession, who have prepared themselves to perceive the event. But the event will also be important for those who find themselves in the world between death and a new birth. For this event also has an effect in the spiritual worlds, but only through the fact that one has prepared oneself here on earth. Here on earth we must prepare ourselves for this event and create the organs for it. We are now announcing the new Christ-event of the 20th century. Afterwards it will be declared as an event that will continue to have an effect on the whole of humanity. This will be proclaimed in the near future. It will be a touchstone for Theosophy. It could be that materialism is carried into the theosophical conception of the Christ-event itself. Only materialistic consciousness could believe that the Christ could return in a carnal form. It will become clear whether Theosophy has been understood when the event comes. We will see in the first half of the 20th century how false messiahs assert themselves here and there. In our age it would be a bad thing if people could not rise to such a spiritual view that the Christ would reappear in his aesthetic form. There would be no development of humanity if the Christ were to reappear in the flesh.
Humanity is developing in order to perceive the Messiah with higher abilities. This will be the test of whether Theosophy has really led man to understand this event correctly, so that man has risen so much to the spiritual to understand the return of the Christ in the true form. For a number of people who will be forerunners, he will come again in this century, as he once came for St. Paul in the Damascus event.
Unbelief is becoming more and more widespread through the criticism of historical documents. The more the historical testimonies will lose their power for people, the more the ability will grow in people through which the Christ can be seen. The Christ in reality will be given to those people who, through spiritual science, can rise to the level of understanding, of seeing the true return of the Christ.