The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric
GA 118
15 March, 1910, Munich
6. The Sermon on the Mount
The day before yesterday we spoke of how at this point in time humanity is confronted by difficult events. We will be able to understand better why this is so if we consider our times retrospectively in terms of the whole of human evolution and thus bring ourselves up to date regarding many things known and unknown. You know that one of the most significant pronouncements made as the Christ event approached was, “Change the disposition of your souls, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” These are words of the deepest meaning, because they indicate that something most significant took place in man's entire soul development at that time. When these words were spoken, more than 3,000 years had passed since the beginning of what we call Kali Yuga, or the Dark Age. What is the significance of this age? It was the era in which it was normal for man to depend solely upon what was accessible to his outer senses and also to the understanding that was bound up with the instrument of the brain. This was all that man could experience, know, and understand in the dark period of Kali Yuga.
This Dark Age was preceded by an age in which man was not dependent only upon his outer senses and intellect, but he still retained a memory, more or less, of the ancient dreamlike condition in which he was able to feel a connection with the spiritual world. It is of these ancient human times that we wish to create a picture. Not only could man see the mineral, plant, and animal realms, as well as himself within the physical, human realm, but he could also, in a condition between waking and sleeping, see a divine world. He saw himself as the lowest member of the lowest realm in the hierarchical order, above which were the angels, archangels, and so forth. He knew this through his own experience, so that it would have been absurd for him to deny the existence of this spiritual world, just as it would be absurd today to deny the existence of the mineral, plant, and animal realms. Not only did he possess a knowledge of what streamed toward him as wisdom from spiritual realms, but he had the capacity to become completely permeated with the forces of this domain. He was then in a state of ecstasy; his sense of I was submerged, but the spiritual world with its forms really flowed into him. He thus not only had a knowledge, an experience of the spiritual world, but he could, if he were ill, for instance, derive healing and refreshment by means of this ecstasy.
Oriental wisdom refers to those ages in which man still had a direct connection with the spiritual world as Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, and Dvapara Yuga. In the last age, however, a direct glimpse into the spiritual world was no longer possible but only a remembering that took place in the same way that an old man might remember his youth. Then the doors to the spiritual world closed. Man could no longer frequent the spiritual world in his normal state of consciousness, and the time came when only on the basis of a long and rigorous preparation in the mystery schools could he turn again toward the spiritual world.
During Kali Yuga, however, something did occasionally penetrate into the physical world from spiritual realms. As a rule, it did not come from the good powers but was ordinarily of demoniacal nature. All the strange illnesses described in the Gospels in which people are described as possessed are attributable to demoniacal forces. In them we must recognize the influence of spiritual beings. This lesser Kali Yuga began in about the year 3000 BC and is characterized by the fact that the doors to the spiritual world have gradually been completely closed to man's normal consciousness, so that one must draw all knowledge from the world of the senses. If this process had continued unabated, all possible connection with the spiritual world would have been lost to man. Up until the time of Kali Yuga, man remembered some things that had been retained by way of tradition, but now even these connections have gradually faded. Even the teacher, the preserver of tradition, could not speak to him directly about spiritual worlds, because the receptivity no longer existed. The knowledge of humanity gradually extended only to the physical world.
It this development had continued, man would never again have been able to find a connection with the spiritual world, try though he might; this connection would have been lost had not something occurred from another direction, that is, the embodiment on the physical plane of that divine being to Whom we refer as the Christ.
Formerly, man had been able to raise himself up to the spiritual beings, but now they had to come close to him, to descend fully into his realm, through which he could recognize them with the essence of his I. This moment had been foretold by the prophets of ancient times. It was said that man would be able to find his relationship to God with and in his own I. When this time came, however, it had to be brought forcefully to man's attention that the promised moment had actually come. The one who did this most powerfully was John the Baptist. He announced that the times had changed, saying “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Later this was indicated in a similar way by Christ Jesus, but the most significant sign was given in advance through the many baptisms performed by John in the Jordan and through the teaching itself.
Still, by these means alone the change would not have been possible. A number of human beings would have had to have a much greater experience of the spiritual world through which the conviction could begin to live in them that a divine being would reveal himself. This was achieved by submerging them in water. When a person is about to drown, the connection of the etheric body to the physical body is loosened—the etheric body is even partly withdrawn—and he can then experience a sign of the new impulse in world evolution. From this comes the powerful admonition: “Change the disposition of your soul, for the kingdoms of heaven are near. The disposition of soul is come upon you through which you will enter a relationship to the descended Christ. The times have been fulfilled.”
Christ Jesus Himself expressed the fulfillment of the times in the most penetrating teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, as it is called. This was by no means a sermon for the masses. The Gospels read, “When Christ saw the multitudes of people, He withdrew from them and revealed Himself to His disciples.” To them He revealed that man, in ancient times, could become filled with God during ecstasy. While outside his I, he was blissful and had direct experience of the spiritual world from which he could draw spiritual and health-giving forces. Now, however—so said Christ Jesus to His disciples—a man can become filled with God by permeating himself with the God and Christ impulse and uniting himself as an I with this impulse. In the past, he alone could ascend to the spiritual world who was filled with streamings from the spiritual world. Only such a person, rich in the spirit, could be called blessed. Such a person was a clairvoyant in the old sense, and he was a rare personality. Most people had become beggars in the spirit. Now, however, those who sought the kingdom of heaven could find it through their own I's.
What occurs in such a significant epoch of humanity always affects all people. If only a single member of a man's being is touched, the others all respond. All the members of man's being—the physical and etheric bodies, the sentient, rational, and consciousness souls, the I, and even the higher members of the soul—receive new life through the nearness of the kingdom of heaven. These teachings are in complete accord with the great teachings of primeval wisdom.
To enter the spiritual world in earlier times, the etheric body had to be slightly separated from the physical body, which was thus formed in a special way. Christ Jesus therefore said this when alluding to the physical body, “Blessed are the beggars, the poor in spirit, for if they develop their I-ruled outer bodies in the right way, they will find the kingdom of heaven.” Of the etheric body He said, “Formerly, men could be healed of illnesses of the body and soul by ascending into the spiritual world in a state of ecstasy. Now those who suffer and are filled with the spirit of God can be healed and comforted, and they can find the source, the comfort, within themselves.” Of the astral body He said, “In former times those whose astral bodies were beset by wild and tempestuous passions and impulses could be subdued only when equanimity, peace, and purification streamed to them from divine-spiritual beings.” Now, however, human beings should find the strength within their own I's, under the influence of Christ, to purify their astral bodies. The place in which the astral body can be purified is now the earth. Thus the new influence in the astral body had to be presented by saying, “Blessed and filled in their astral bodies with God are those who foster calmness and equanimity within themselves; all comfort and well-being on earth shall be their reward.”
The fourth Beatitude refers to the sentient soul. He who thoroughly purifies himself in his sentient soul and undergoes a higher development will receive in his I a hint of the Christ. He will notice in his heart a thirst for righteousness; he will become pervaded with godliness, and his I will become sufficient unto itself The next member is the rational or feeling soul (Verstandes—oder Gemuetseele). In the sentient soul the I slumbers dully; it awakens only in the rational or feeling soul. If we slumber with our I in the sentient soul, we cannot find in another person what makes him a true human being, the I. Before a person has developed the I within himself, he must allow his sentient soul to grow into higher worlds in order to be able to perceive something there. When he has developed himself in his rational or feeling soul, however, he can perceive the person next to him. Where all those members previously referred to are concerned, we must bear in mind what was given them in earlier realms. It is only the rational or feeling soul that can fill itself with what streams from man to man. In the fifth Beatitude the sentence structure will have to take on a special form. The subject and the predicate must be alike, since it concerns what the I develops within itself. The fifth Beatitude says, “He who develops compassion and mercy shall find compassion in others.” This is a test of the cross (Kreuzprobe), an indication that we are here dealing with an occult document. Christ has promised everything, harmonized everything, in relation to the single members of human nature.
The next sentence of the Beatitudes refers to the consciousness soul. Through it the I comes into being as pure I and becomes capable of receiving God into itself. If man can therefore elevate himself to such a degree, he can perceive within himself that drop of the divine, his I; through his purified consciousness soul he can behold God. This sixth sentence of the Beatitudes must, therefore, refer to beholding God. The outer physical expression for the I and the consciousness soul is the physical blood, and where it brings itself most particularly to expression is in the human heart, as expression of the purified I. Christ said, therefore, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall behold God.” We are thus shown how in the most intimate sense the heart is the expression of the I, the divine in man.
Now let us advance to what is higher than the consciousness soul, to Manas, Buddhi, and Atman. Contemporary man may well cultivate the three members of the soul, but not until the distant future will he be able to develop these higher members, spirit self, life spirit, and spirit man. These cannot as yet live in themselves in man; for this to occur he must look up to higher beings. His spirit self is not yet in him; it will flow into him only later. Man is not yet sufficiently evolved to receive fully the spirit self into himself. In this respect he stands at the beginning of his development and is like a vessel that is gradually to receive it. This is indicated in the seventh sentence of the Beatitudes. At first, the spirit self can only weave into man and fill him with its warmth. Only through the deed of Christ is it brought down to earth as the power of love and harmony. Therefore, Christ says, “Blessed are those who draw the spirit self, the first spiritual member, down into themselves, for they shall become the children of God.” This points man upward to higher worlds.
Further on, mention is made of what will be brought about in the future, but it will encounter in ever-increasing measure the opposition of the present time and be fiercely rejected. This is indicated in the eighth sentence of the Beatitudes, “Filled with God or blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for they will be fulfilled in themselves with the kingdom of heaven, with life spirit or Buddhi.” In connection with this, we find references also to the special mission of Christ Himself, in the sentence that reads, “Christ's intimate disciples may consider themselves blessed if they must suffer persecution for His sake.” This is a faint allusion to spirit man or Atman, which will be imparted to us in the distant future.
In the Sermon on the Mount, therefore, the great message is proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In the course of these events the mystery of human evolution was fulfilled in Palestine. Man had reached a degree of maturity in all the members of his being so that he was able with his purified physical forces to receive the Christ impulse directly into himself So it came to pass that the God-man, Christ, merged with the human being, Jesus of Nazareth, and they permeated the earth for three years with their united forces. This had to happen so that man would not lose completely his connection with the spiritual world during Kali Yuga.
Kali Yuga, the Dark Age, however, continued until the year 1899. This was a particularly important year in human evolution, because it marked the end of the 5,000 year period of Kali Yuga and the beginning of a new stage in the evolution of humanity. In addition to the old faculties present during Kali Yuga, man would now develop new spiritual faculties. We thus approach a period in which new natural faculties and possibilities for looking into the divine-spiritual worlds will awaken. Before the first half of the twentieth century has passed, some people will, with full I-consciousness, experience the penetration of the divine-spiritual world into the physical, sensible world in the same way as Saul did during his transformation into Paul before Damascus. This will then become the normal condition for a number of people.
Christ will not incarnate again in a physical body as He did at that time in Jesus; nothing would be achieved by it now. It was necessary then because of profound laws of cosmic-earthly evolution; otherwise, people would not have been able to recognize Him. Now, however, human beings have evolved further and have become capable of penetrating into etheric vision through their soul forces. Christ will thus become visible to human beings in an etheric and not in a physical body. From the middle of the twentieth century on, and continuing for the next 2,500 years, this will happen more and more often. Enough people will by then have experienced the event at Damascus that it will be taken as a common occurrence on the earth.
We occupy ourselves with spiritual science so that these newly appearing faculties, which are at first barely perceptible, may not be overlooked and lost to humanity and that those blessed with this new power of vision may not be considered dreamers and fools but may instead have the support and understanding of a small group of people who in their common purpose may prevent these delicate soul seeds and soul qualities from being roughly trampled to death for lack of human understanding. Spiritual science shall indeed prepare the possibility for attaining this development. Recently, I explained that these new qualities give us an insight into the land of Shamballa, through which we may learn to know the significance and true nature of Christ, whose second coming indicates a maturing of humanity's cognition.
Generally speaking, the ages of history repeat themselves, but always in a new way. In spiritual science the beginning of Kali Yuga is seen as the closing of the portals of the spiritual world. After the first millennium of Kali Yuga had passed, there was the first compensation for the loss: in the individuality of Abraham, after his initiation by Melchizedek, it became possible for a human being to recognize God in the outer world through true insight and a proper evaluation of the outer world spread out, as it were, like a carpet before his senses. With Abraham, we see the first dawning of a knowledge of what an I-God is, a God related to man's I-nature. Abraham realized that behind the phenomena of the world of the senses was something that made it possible for the human I to conceive itself as a drop of the infinite, unfathomable world-I.
A second state of this revelation of God was experienced in the time of Moses, when God approached man through the elements. In the burning bush, in the thunder and lightning upon Sinai, He revealed Himself to man's senses and spoke to his innermost being. A third millennium followed in which a knowledge of God was penetrating man, the age of Solomon, in which God revealed Himself through the symbols of the Temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem. The divine revelation thus proceeded in stages. God first appeared to Abraham as the I-God, or the Jahve-God, then to Moses in fire in the burning bush, in thunder and lightning, and then to Solomon in the symbols of the Temple.
What is representative of a particular age repeats itself later in reverse order. The turning point is the appearance of Christ Jesus in Palestine. What immediately preceded that time is the first to reappear. Consequently, the first millennium after Christ is again a Solomon epoch; the spirit of Solomon works in the best human beings of that time so that the Mystery of Golgotha may penetrate. In those early centuries after Christ, Solomon's symbols could be interpreted most readily and inwardly by those who could experience the deed on Golgotha most deeply.
In the second millennium after Christ we can recognize a repetition of the age of Moses. What Moses experienced outwardly now appears in the mysticism of men such as Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and so on. The mystics experienced in their inner beings what Moses experienced outwardly in the burning bush, in the thunder and lightning. They spoke of how the I-God revealed Himself to them when they withdrew into themselves. When they perceived within their souls the spark of their I's, then the I-God, the One God Jahve, revealed Himself to them. This was the case with Tauler, who was a great preacher and could make powerful revelations. To him came the layman who was called, “The Friend of God, of the Mountain,” of whom it was thought that he wished to become Tauler's pupil. He soon became Tauler's teacher instead, however, after which Tauler was able to speak of God from his inner being with such force that a number of pupils and listeners were reported to have fallen prostrate, lying as if dead, as he preached. This is reminiscent of the events that occurred when Moses received the Laws on Sinai.
The centuries up to our present time have been filled by this spirit. Now, however, we are entering an era that recalls and revives the age of Abraham, but in the sense that human beings are being led away from the world accessible to our physical senses. The spirit of Abraham will influence our knowledge so that human beings will renounce the old mentality that only laid store in the sensible world. In contrast to Abraham, however, for whom the spirit of God was only to be found in the world of the senses, we shall now grow beyond the world of the senses and into the spiritual world.
Although human beings knew nothing of all this in the past, one can well say that it has not interfered with our evolution. In the era now approaching, however, we will be placed in circumstances that will require human beings to take their destiny consciously into their own hands. They must know how Christ will be perceptible in the future. The legend is true that after the event of Golgotha Christ descended to the dead in the spiritual world to bring them the Word of Salvation. The Christ event works today in the same way. It is therefore the same whether a person lives in the physical world here on earth or has already passed through death: if he has gained an understanding for the Christ event here on earth, he can still experience it in the spiritual world. This will show that man has not lived upon this earth without a reason. If, however, a person fails to acquire an understanding for the Christ even here on earth, the effects of the event of Golgotha will pass him by without a trace during the period between death and a new birth. He will then have to wait until his next return to the earth, until a new birth, in order to be able to prepare himself.
Man must not believe that Christ will reappear in the flesh, as some false teachings claim, for in that case it would be impossible for one to believe in the progressive evolution of human faculties, and we would have to say that events repeat themselves in the same way. This is not the case however; they do repeat themselves, but on ever higher levels.
In the next centuries it will often be proclaimed that Christ will return and again reveal Himself. False messiahs or Christs will appear. Those armed by the above explanations, however, with a true understanding of Christ's actual appearance, will reject such manifestations. The knowledgeable ones who can see the history of the last centuries in this light will be neither astonished nor exalted by the appearance of such messiahs. As examples, this happened just before the Crusades and also in the seventeenth century when a false messiah, Shabattai Tzevi, appeared in Smyrna. Pilgrims flocked to him even from France and Spain.
At that time such a deceptive belief did not do so much damage. Now, however, when one with more advanced faculties should be able to recognize that it is a mistake to believe in Christ's second coming in the flesh and that it is true that He will reappear in the etheric body—now it is necessary to distinguish such things plainly. A confusion will have serious consequences. An alleged Christ who reappears in the flesh is not to be believed but only a Christ Who appears in the etheric body. This appearance will take the form of a natural initiation, just as now the initiate experiences this event in a special way.
We are thus approaching an age in which man will feel himself surrounded not only by a physical, sensible world but also, according to the measure of his knowledge, by a spiritual kingdom. The leader in this new kingdom of the spirit will be the etheric Christ. No matter what religious community or faith to which people belong, once they have experienced these facts in themselves they will acknowledge and accept the Christ event. The Christians who actually have the experience of the etheric Christ are perhaps in a more difficult situation than adherents to other religions, yet they should endeavor to accept this Christ event in just as neutral a way as the others. It will, in fact, be man's task to develop, especially through Christianity, an understanding for the possibility of entering the spiritual world independently of any religious denomination but simply through the power of good will.
Anthroposophy above all should help us in this. It will lead us into that spiritual land, described in ancient Tibetan writings as a remote fairyland, which means the spiritual world, the land of Shamballa. Not in a trance but in full consciousness man should enter this land under the guidance of Christ. Even now the initiate can and must go often to the land of Shamballa in order to draw from there new forces. Later, other human beings, too, will enter the land of Shamballa. They will see its radiant light, as Paul saw above him the light that streamed from Christ. This light will stream toward them, also. The portals of this realm of light will open to them and through them they will enter the holy land of Shamballa.
Die Bergpredigt Das Land Schamballa
Es wurde hier vorgestern der Hinweis darauf gegeben, wie die Menschheit im gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt schweren Ereignissen entgegengehen wird. Verstehen werden wir, um was es sich handelt, wenn wir rückblickend unsere Zeit ganz hineinstellen in die Menschheitsentwickelung überhaupt. Da werden wir uns manches Bekannte und Unbekannte wieder vergegenwärtigen können. Sie wissen, daß einer der wesentlichsten Aussprüche, der vor Eintritt des ChristusEreignisses getan wurde, jener war, der besagte: « Ändert eure Seelenverfassung, denn das Reich der Himmel ist nahe herbeigekommen.» Diese Worte sind von tiefgehender Bedeutung, weil sie darauf hinweisen, daß mit der ganzen Seelenentwickelung damals Bedeutsames vorgegangen ist. Es waren etwas mehr als 3000 Jahre vergangen von jener Zeit, die wir das Kali Yuga oder das finstere Zeitalter nennen. Welchen Sinn hat nun dieses Zeitalter? Es ist jene Epoche, innerhalb welcher der Mensch, seinen normalen Verhältnissen nach, angewiesen war allein auf dasjenige, was sich den äußeren Sinnen darbot und dem Verstande zugänglich war, der ja an das Instrument des Gehirns gebunden ist. Alles das konnte man erfahren, wissen und verstehen in der finsteren Zeit des Kali Yuga. Dieser finsteren Zeit ist eine andere vorangegangen, in welcher der Mensch nicht allein angewiesen war auf die äußeren Sinne und den äußeren Verstand, sondern mehr oder weniger noch Erinnerungen hatte an die alten traumhaften Zustände, die ihm eine Verbindung mit der geistigen Welt ermöglichten. Von dieser menschlichen Vorzeit wollen wir uns ein Bild machen.
Der Mensch konnte nicht nur sehen das Reich der Mineralien, Pflanzen und Tiere, sowie sich selbst innerhalb des physischen Menschenreichs, sondern er konnte in einem Zustand zwischen Wachen und Schlafen eine göttliche Welt sehen. Er nahm sich dann wahr als deren unterstes Glied, als ein unterstes Reich in der Hierarchienfolge, über sich die Engel, die Erzengel und so weiter. Er wußte dieses durch sein Erleben, so daß es für ihn ein Unsinn gewesen wäre, diese geistige Welt abzuleugnen, wie es heute ein gleicher Unsinn sein würde, das Mineral-, Pflanzen- und Tierreich abzuleugnen. Nicht war es aber so, daß der Mensch nur als Erkenntnis hatte, was ihm an Wissen aus diesem Reiche zuströmte, sondern er hatte auch die Möglichkeit, sich mit den Kräften dieses Reiches der geistigen Welt zu durchdringen: Er war dann in Ekstase, sein Ich-Gefühl war unterdrückt, aber die geistige Welt floß förmlich in ihn ein. Es hatte der Mensch daher nicht nur ein Wissen, eine Erfahrung, sondern wenn er zum Beispiel eine Krankheit hatte, so konnte er mittels der Ekstase sich Erfrischung und Gesundung holen. Diejenigen Zeitalter, in denen der Mensch noch einen unmittelbaren Zusammenhang mit den geistigen Welten hatte, nannte die orientalische Weisheit: Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga. Im letzteren war ein unmittelbarer Einblick in die geistigen Welten nicht mehr möglich, sondern nur eine Erinnerung, wie bei einem Greise an seine Jugend. Dann wurden die Tore der geistigen Welt gleichsam geschlossen. Der Mensch konnte in normalen Bewußtseinszuständen mit der geistigen Welt nicht mehr verkehren. Und es kam die Zeit, in welcher der Mensch sich nur auf Grund einer langen, strengen Vorbereitung in der Geheimschulung zu der geistigen Welt hinwenden konnte. Während Kali Yuga kam manchmal etwas von der geistigen in die physische Welt herein. Das kam aber dann meistens nicht von den guten Mächten, sondern es war gewöhnlich dämonischer Natur. In allen Persönlichkeiten, die uns die Evangelien schildern als mit eigenartigen Krankheiten behaftet, die man Besessenheit nannte, sind diese Erkrankungen auf dämonische Wirkungen zurückzuführen. In ihnen haben wir den Einfluß böser geistiger Wesenheiten zu erkennen. Das kleine Kali Yuga beginnt etwa im Jahre 3000 vor Christus und charakterisiert sich dadurch, daß sich nach und nach vor dem normalen Bewußtsein die Tore der geistigen Welt völlig verschlossen, so daß man alle Erkenntnisse aus der sinnlichen Umwelt holen mußte. Wenn das so fortgegangen wäre, dann würde dem Menschen der Zusammenhang mit der geistigen Welt völlig verlorengegangen sein. Bis dahin hatte der Mensch doch noch etwas an Erinnerungen auf dem Wege der Tradition aufbewahrt; aber jetzt verlor er auch darin immer mehr den Zusammenhang. Denn auch der Lehrer, obgleich Bewahrer der Tradition, konnte ihm nicht mehr unmittelbar von der geistigen Welt erzählen. Die Aufnahmefähigkeit dafür war nicht mehr vorhanden. Die Erkenntnisse der Menschheit erstreckten sich immer mehr nur auf das Materielle.
Im weiteren Verlauf dieser Entwickelung hätten die Menschen den Zusammenhang mit der geistigen Welt nicht wiederfinden können, wenn man ihn auch wieder herzustellen suchte, wäre nicht von anderer Seite her etwas geschehen. Und dies geschah dadurch, daß die göttliche Wesenheit, die wir mit Christus bezeichnen, sich auf dem physischen Plan verkörperte.
Früher konnte der Mensch sich zu geistigen Wesenheiten erheben. Jetzt aber mußten diese ganz nahe zu ihm herankommen, völlig in seine Sphäre heruntersteigen, damit er sie mit seiner Ich-Wesenheit erkennen könne. Dieser Zeitpunkt wurde in alten Zeiten prophetisch verkündigt. Es wurde gesagt, daß der Mensch dann mit und in dem eigenen Ich sein Verhältnis zu seinem Gott finden könne. Als aber dieser Augenblick eintrat, mußten die Menschen energisch darauf hingewiesen werden, daß der verheißene Zeitpunkt wirklich gekommen war. Der das in gewaltigster Weise tat, war Johannes der Täufer. Indem er darauf hinwies, daß die Zeiten sich jetzt geändert hätten, sagte er: «Das Reich der Himmel ist nahe herbeigekommen.» Dann wurde in ähnlicher Weise darauf hingewiesen durch den Christus Jesus. Der bedeutsamste Hinweis vollzog sich aber vorher durch die Taufhandlungen im Jordan, die Johannes an vielen vollzog, und durch die Lehre selbst. Aber durch dieses allein wäre die Wandlung noch nicht möglich gewesen. Eine Anzahl Menschen mußte vielmehr in der geistigen Welt etwas erleben, wodurch in ihnen die Überzeugung lebendig werden konnte, daß ein Göttliches sich offenbaren werde. Und dieses geschah durch das Untertauchen im Wasser. Wenn der Mensch am Ertrinken ist, dann wird sein Ätherleib in seinem Zusammenhang mit dem physischen Leib gelockert, teilweise sogar herausgehoben, und der Mensch erlebt dann dasjenige, was ein Zeichen ist für den neuen Einschlag in der Weltenentwickelung. Und daraus ergibt sich die gewaltige Mahnung: Ändert eure Seelenverfassung, denn die Reiche der Himmel sind nah! Es kommt über euch diejenige Seelenverfassung, durch welche ihr in Beziehung treten werdet zu dem herabgestiegenen Christus. Die Zeiten sind erfüllt.
Christus Jesus gab selbst die eindringlichste Lehre von der Erfüllung der Zeiten in dem, was wir die Bergpredigt nennen. Sie war durchaus keine Volkspredigt, denn es heißt: «Da Christus das Volk sah, ging er hinweg und offenbarte sich seinen Jüngern.» Da offenbarte Christus ihnen im großen und ganzen das Folgende: In alten Zeiten konnte der Mensch gotterfüllt werden in der Ekstase; außer seinem Ich war er beseligt, er hatte ein unmittelbares Erlebnis mit der geistigen Welt, aus der er geistige Kräfte herunterholen und Gesundungskräfte saugen konnte. Jetzt aber, so sagte der Christus Jesus seinen Jüngern, kann derjenige Mensch gotterfüllt werden, der in sich selber sich durchdringt mit dem Gottes- und Christus-Impuls, der in diesem Impuls selber aufgehen kann als Ich. Früher konnte nur derjenige zur geistigen Welt aufsteigen, der angefüllt war mit den Strömungen dieser geistigen Welt; nur dieser konnte seliggepriesen werden als ein Reicher des Geistes. Das war der Hellseher im alten Sinne, und der gehörte zu den seltensten Persönlichkeiten. Die meisten waren Bettler geworden im Geiste. Jetzt aber konnten diejenigen das Reich der Himmel finden, die es in ihrem Ich suchten. Das, was in einer solch bedeutsamen Epoche der Menschheit geschieht, das geschieht immer für den ganzen Menschen. Wenn auch nur ein einziges Glied seines Wesens ergriffen wird, so klingen doch alle andern mit. Alle Glieder des Menschen: der physische Leib, der ätherische Leib, die Empfindungsseele, Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele, die Bewußtseinsseele, das Ich, die höheren Seelenglieder sodann, sie leben auf durch die Nähe der Himmelreiche. Diese Lehren stimmen überein mit den großen Lehren der Urweltweisheit.
Früher mußte beim Eingehen in die geistige Welt der Ätherleib sich leicht trennen von dem physischen Leib; dieser mußte also ganz besonders geartet sein. Christus Jesus sagte daher mit Hinweis auf den physischen Leib: Selig können sein die Bettler, das heißt, die arm sind an Geist, denn sie werden, wenn sie diesen vom Ich beherrschten äußeren Leib richtig entwickeln, das Reich der Himmel finden. Sodann sagte er vom Ätherleib: Früher konnten die Menschen vom leiblichen und seelischen Leid geheilt werden durch Hinaufsteigen in die geistige Welt mittels der Ekstase. Wenn sie nun gotterfüllt, gottinnig werden, dann können, die da Leid tragen, geheilt, getröstet werden und können in sich selber den Grund, den Trost finden. Weiter sagte er vom Astralleib: Früher mußten diejenigen, die wilde, stürmische Leidenschaften und Impulse im Astralleib hegten, dadurch besänftigt werden, daß ihnen Gleichmut, Gelassenheit und Läuterung zuströmte von den geistig-göttlichen Wesenheiten. - Jetzt aber sollten die Menschen durch die Kraft ihres eigenen Ich unter der Einwirkung Christi die Kraft finden, ihren Astralleib zu läutern. Die Stätte, wo der Astralleib sich läutern kann, ist jetzt die Erde geworden. Daher mußte dieser Einschlag für den Astralleib so dargestellt werden, daß gesagt wurde: Selig und gotterfüllt im Astralleib können nur diejenigen sein, die sich das Gleichnis, Gleichmaß erwerben, und ihnen wird als Los, als Lohn aller Trost und alles Gute auf der Erde zufallen. - Auf die Empfindungsseele bezieht sich die vierte Seligpreisung. Wer sich in seiner Empfindungsseele recht läutern und eine höhere Entwickelung durchmachen will, der wird in seinem Ich einen Einschlag des Christus bekommen; er wird einen Durst im Herzen nach Gerechtigkeit verspüren, gottinnig werden und sein Ich wird in sich selber gesättigt sein. - Das nächste Glied ist die Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele. Das Ich schlummert dumpf in der Empfindungsseele und erwacht erst in der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele. Wenn wir mit unserem Ich in der Empfindungsseele schlummern, dann können wir nicht in allen Menschen das finden, was sie erst zu wirklichen Menschen macht: das Ich. Bevor der Mensch das Ich in sich entwickelt hat, muß er seine Empfindungsseele in höhere Welten hinaufwachsen lassen, um dort etwas wahrnehmen zu können. Wenn er aber in der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele sich entwickelt, kann er den Menschen neben sich wahrnehmen. Bei allen bisher genannten Gliedern müssen wir uns an das erinnern, was in früheren Reichen gegeben war. Erst in der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele kann sich die Seele mit dem erfüllen, was von Mensch zu Mensch strömt. Es wird in dem Satzgefüge der fünften Seligpreisung etwas Besonderes eintreten müssen; es muß Subjekt und Prädikat gleich sein, weil hingedeutet werden soll auf das, was das Ich in sich entwickelt. Dieser fünfte Satz sagt: «Wer Mitleid und Barmherzigkeit entwickelt, der wird Barmherzigkeit wiederfinden.» Das ist eine Kreuzprobe, die wir hier bei einem okkulten Dokument machen. Christus hat in bezug auf die einzelnen Glieder der menschlichen Natur alles verheißen, alles stimmt.
Auf die Bewußtseinsseele bezieht sich der nächste Satz der Seligpreisungen. Durch sie kommt das Ich als reines Ich derart zur Entwickelung, daß es den Gott in sich aufnehmen kann. Wenn also der Mensch so weit heraufdringen kann, dann kann er den Tropfen des Göttlichen, sein Ich in sich wahrnehmen. Er kann durch seine gereinigte Bewußtseinsseele Gott schauen. Dieser sechste Satz der Seligpreisungen muß sich also auf das Gottschauen beziehen. Der äußere physische Ausdruck für das Ich und die Bewußtseinsseele ist das physische Blut, und worin sich dieses besonders zum Ausdruck bringt, das ist das menschliche Herz als Ausdruck des gereinigten Ich. Christus sprach daher: «Selig werden die sein, die reinen Herzens sind, denn sie werden Gott schauen.» Damit ist geradezu bis in diese Intimität herein angedeutet, daß unser Herz der Ausdruck des Ich, des Göttlichen im Menschen ist.
Nun wollen wir noch hinaufsteigen zu dem, was höher als die Bewußtseinsseele ist, zu Manas, Buddhi, Atman. Der gegenwärtige Mensch kann wohl die drei Seelenglieder ausbilden, aber in ferner Zukunft erst die höheren Glieder: Geistselbst, Lebensgeist und Geistesmensch. Diese können im Menschen noch nicht in sich selber leben, er muß dazu aufschauen zu höheren Wesen. Sein Geistselbst ist noch nicht in ihm; es ergießt sich erst später über ihn. Er ist noch nicht genügend entwickelt, um das Geistselbst völlig in sich aufzunehmen, er steht in dieser Beziehung erst im Anfang der Entwickelung, ist nur gleichsam ein Gefäß, um es allmählich in sich aufzunehmen. Das deutet auch der siebente Satz der Seligpreisung an. Das Geistselbst kann ihn zunächst nur durchwärmen, durchweben. Allein die Tat Christi bringt es auf die Erde herunter als die Kraft der Liebe und Harmonie. Daher sagt Christus: Selig sind die, welche das Geistselbst als erstes geistiges Glied zu sich herunterholen, denn sie werden Gottes Kinder werden. - Das weist die Menschen hinauf in die höheren Welten. Fernerhin wird Bezug genommen auf dasjenige, was für die Zukunft herbeigeführt werden soll, was aber von der Gegenwart mehr und mehr angefochten und mit allen Kräften und Mächten verfolgt wird. Es ist angedeutet in dem achten Satz der Seligpreisungen: Gotterfüllt oder selig sind diejenigen, die um der Gerechtigkeit willen verfolgt werden, denn sie werden erfüllt sein in ihrem Selbst von den Reichen des Himmels, vom Lebensgeist, von Buddhi. - Im Anschlusse daran finden wir noch Hinweise auf die besondere Mission des Christus selber, auch in dem Sinne, daß die intimen Schüler des Christus selig sein können, wenn sie um seinetwillen Verfolgung leiden müssen: eine leise Andeutung auf das Atma, das erst in ferner Zukunft uns zuteil werden wird, ist damit verbunden.
So wird also in der Bergpredigt die große Lehre verkündet vom Himmelreich, das nahe herangekommen ist. Im Laufe dieser Ereignisse erfüllte sich in Palästina das Mysterium der Menschheitsentwickelung: der Mensch war in allen seinen Wesensgliedern so weit herangereift, daß er den Christus-Impuls unmittelbar mit seinen geläuterten physischen Kräften in sich aufnehmen konnte. So vollzog sich die Verbindung des Gottmenschen Christus mit dem Menschen Jesus von Nazareth und durchdrang während dreier Jahre die Erde mit ihrem Kräftestrom. Das mußte eintreten, damit der Mensch während des Kali Yuga seinen Zusammenhang mit der geistigen Welt nicht völlig verliere. Doch Kali Yuga, das finstere Zeitalter, dauerte noch längere Zeit fort, bis ins Jahr 1899. Das ist ein besonders wichtiges Jahr in der Menschheitsentwickelung, weil damit die fünftausendjährige Periode des Kali Yuga abgelaufen ist. Es ist der Anfang zu einer neuen Stufe der Menschheitsentwickelung damit gegeben. Zu den alten Fähigkeiten des Kali Yuga wird der Mensch neue geistige Fähigkeiten hinzu entwickeln. Wir gehen damit einer Periode entgegen, in der neue natürliche Fähigkeiten und Möglichkeiten, in die göttlich-geistigen Welten hineinzuschauen, erwachen werden. Noch bevor die Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts abgelaufen ist, werden manche Menschen bei vollem Ich-Bewußtsein das Hereinragen einer göttlich-geistigen Welt in unsere physisch-sinnliche Welt in der Art erfahren, wie es Saulus bei seiner Umwandlung in Paulus vor Damaskus erlebte. Das wird dann der normale Zustand werden für eine Anzahl von Menschen.
Der Christus wird nicht wieder, wie damals im Jesus, im physischen Leib inkarniert werden, denn damit würde jetzt nichts zu erreichen sein. Das war aus tiefen Gesetzmäßigkeiten der kosmisch-irdischen Entwickelung damals nötig, weil ihn die Menschen sonst nicht hätten erkennen können. Jetzt aber sind die Menschen weiterentwickelt: sie sind nunmehr fähig geworden, durch ihre Seelenkräfte bis zum äthetischen Sehen hindurchzudringen. Daher wird Christus dem Menschen im ätherischen und nicht im physischen Leibe sichtbar werden. Das alles wird immerhin während der nächsten 2500 Jahre von der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts ab mehr und mehr auftreten. Genügend viele Menschen werden das Ereignis von Damaskus dann selbst erlebt haben, so daß man es als bekanntes Ereignis auf der Erde zuletzt von allen Seiten anerkennen wird. Wir treiben Geisteswissenschaft, damit diese erst schwach auftretenden Fähigkeiten nicht unbemerkt, spurlos an den Menschen vorübergehen, damit die begnadeten Menschen nicht als Träumer und Narren angesehen, sondern von einer kleinen Gruppe Menschen verstanden und gestützt werden, die in ihrem Zusammenhang verhindern, daß der menschliche Unverstand diese zarten Keime und Anlagen brutal zu Tode tritt. Die Geisteswissenschaft soll vielmehr die Möglichkeit vorbereiten, daß sie zur Entwickelung gelangen. Auf diese Fähigkeiten wurde im vorigen Vortrage hingedeutet als auf den Einblick in das Land Schamballa, damit der Mensch die Bedeutung und das Wesen des Christus erkennen könne, dessen Wiedererscheinen nichts anderes ist als ein Hinaufwachsen des Menschen in seiner Erkenntnis.
Im allgemeinen wiederholen sich die Zeitalter, stets aber in etwas anderer Weise. In der Geisteswissenschaft sieht man die Kali YugaEpoche so an, daß man deren Beginn bezeichnet als das Zuschließen der Tore der geistigen Welten. Nach Ablauf der ersten tausend Jahre kam der erste Ersatz dadurch, daß durch die Individualität des Abraham, nach seiner Einweihung durch Melchisedek, es einem Menschen möglich gemacht worden war, im Durchschauen und in richtiger Bewertung des vor den Sinnen ausgebreiteten Teppichs der Umwelt, den Gott in dieser Außenwelt zu erkennen. Abraham zeigte die erste Morgenröte der Erkenntnis dessen, was ein Ich-Gott ist, eines Gottes, der verwandt ist mit der Ich-Natur des Menschen. Dem Abraham wurde es klar, daß es hinter den Erscheinungen der Sinnenwelt etwas gibt, was dazu leitet, das menschliche Ich als einen Tropfen des ungeheuren, unfaßbaren Welten-Ichs aufzufassen.
Eine zweite Stufe der Gottoffenbarung wurde erlebt in der Zeit des Moses, denn da näherte sich der Gott dem Menschen durch die Elemente. Im brennenden Dornbusch, in Blitz und Donner am Sinai offenbarte er sich seinen Sinnen, sprach er sein tiefstes Wesen an. Im dritten Jahrtausend der so sich durchringenden Gotteserkenntnis erfolgte die salomonische Epoche, in welcher Gott sich durch die Symbole des Tempels offenbarte, den Salomo zu Jerusalem erbaut hatte. Die göttliche Offenbarung erfolgte also stufenweise: bei Abraham als Ich-Gott oder Jahve-Gott; bei Moses im Feuer des brennenden Busches, in Blitz und Donner; bei Salomo im Symbolum des Tempels. Was für ein gewisses Zeitalter gilt, das wiederholt sich später in umgekehrter Reihenfolge. Der Wendepunkt ist die Erscheinung des Christus Jesus in Palästina. Was vor dieser Zeit zuletzt wirksam war, das kommt nach dieser zuerst wieder empor. Daher ist das erste Jahrtausend nach Christus wieder ein salomonisches und der Geist des Salomo wirkt in dieser Zeit in den besten der Menschen, um das Mysterium von Golgatha zu durchdringen. Derjenige konnte am weitesten und am innerlichsten diese Zeichen deuten, der in den ersten Jahrhunderten nach Christus am tiefsten die Tat auf Golgatha empfinden konnte.
Im zweiten Jahrtausend nach Christus können wir eine Wiederholung des Moses-Zeitalters erkennen. Was in diesem äußerliches Erleben war, tritt jetzt in der Mystik eines Eckhart, eines Johannes Tauler und so weiter auf. Dasselbe, was Moses äußerlich im brennenden Busch, in Blitz und Donner erlebt hatte, das erlebten nun die Mystiker in ihrem Innern. Sie sprachen, wenn sie in ihr Inneres eingekehrt waren, davon, daß sich ihnen der Ich-Gott offenbare. Wenn sie in ihrer Seele das Fünkchen ihres Ich erfaßten, dann offenbarte sich ihnen der Ich-Gott, der Einheitsgott Jahve. So war es bei Tauler, der ein großer Prediger war und Gewaltiges verkünden konnte. Zu ihm kam der Laie, der Gottesfreund aus dem Oberlande, von dem man erst meinte, er wolle ein Schüler Taulers werden, der aber bald sein Lehrer wurde, so daß Tauler nachher Gott aus seinem Innern mit einer solchen innerlichen Kraft verkündigen konnte, daß sich diese in den Berichten noch erkennen läßt, laut welchen eine Reihe von Schülern und Zuhörern auf seine Rede hin wie tot umgefallen seien, was an die Ereignisse erinnert, unter denen dem Moses die Gesetze auf dem Sinai gegeben wurden.
Von diesem Geiste waren die Jahrhunderte bis zu uns herauf erfüllt. Jetzt aber gehen wir entgegen der Erinnerung und Wiederbelebung des abrahamitischen Zeitalters, aber in dem Sinne, daß die Menschen aus der unseren physischen Sinnen zugänglichen Welt hinaufgeführt werden. Der Geist Abrahams wird unsere Erkenntnis derart beeinflussen, daß die Menschen von ihrer alleinigen Wertschätzung der sinnlichen Welt sich lossagen werden. Und in umgekehrter Weise als es bei Abraham der Fall war, da der Geist, da Gott nur in der Sinnenwelt zu finden war, werden die Menschen jetzt hinauswachsen über die Sinneswelt und hineinwachsen in die geistige Welt. Man kann wohl sagen: Es schadete der Entwickelung nicht, wenn die Menschen von alledem bisher nichts wußten, aber in der jetzt anbrechenden Zeit sollen die Menschen in die Lage versetzt werden, ihr Geschick selbstbewußt in die Hand zu nehmen. Sie müssen wissen, wie Christus später wahrnehmbar werden wird. Mit Recht wird erzählt, daß Christus nach dem Ereignis von Golgatha herunterstieg zu den Toten, in die geistige Welt, um ihnen das Wort der Erlösung zu bringen. Es wirkt das Christus-Ereignis auch jetzt noch im gleichen Sinne. Daher ist es gleich, ob der Mensch noch hier in der physischen Erdenwelt lebt oder ob er schon gestorben ist: Das Christus-Ereignis kann er auch in der geistigen Welt noch erleben, wenn er sich nur hier auf Erden ein Verständnis dafür geschaffen hat. Dann wird es sich zeigen, daß der Mensch nicht ohne Grund auf dieser unserer Erde gelebt hat, Hat aber der Mensch hier kein Verständnis für das ChristusEreignis erworben, so gehen dessen Wirkungen in der Zeit zwischen Tod und einer neuen Geburt spurlos an ihm vorüber, und er muß warten bis zu seiner nächsten Rückkehr auf die Erde, bis zu einer neuen Geburt, damit ihm dann die Möglichkeit geboten werde, sich vorzubereiten. Der Mensch darf nicht glauben, daß Christus im Fleische wieder erscheinen wird, wie es manche Irrlehren verkünden, da man ja sonst nicht an die Fortentwickelung der menschlichen Fähigkeiten glauben könnte, sondern sagen müßte: die Ereignisse wiederholen sich in gleicher Art. Das ist aber nicht der Fall; sie wiederholen sich zwar, aber stets auf höheren Stufen.
Es wird in den nächsten Jahrhunderten noch öfter verkündigt werden, daß Christus wiederkommen und sich offenbaren werde. Falsche Messiasse oder falsche Christusse werden erscheinen. Aber diejenigen, die nach Maßgabe des Vorgetragenen das rechte Verständnis für die wahrhaftige Erscheinung Christi erlangt haben, sie werden derartige Erscheinungen abweisen. Für den Wissenden, der die Geschichte der letzten Jahrhunderte nach dieser Richtung hin kennt, wird es nichts Erstaunendes und Erhebliches sein, daß solche Messiasse auftreten. Das geschah unter anderem vor den Kreuzzügen; ferner im 17. Jahrhundert, wo in Smyrna ein falscher Messias — Sabbatai Zewi - auftrat, zu dem sogar Pilger aus Frankreich und Spanien hinströmten.
Damals schadete ein solcher irreführender Glaube nicht viel. Aber jetzt, wo man mit den vorgerückten Fähigkeiten der Menschen das Wiedererscheinen Christi im Fleische als einen Irrtum, und seine Erscheinung im Ätherleibe als richtig und wahr erkennen sollte, jetzt ist es eine Notwendigkeit, in bestimmter Weise zu unterscheiden; eine Verwechslung wird sich bitter rächen. Einem angeblich im Fleische verkörperten Christus ist nicht zu glauben, sondern nur dem im Ätherleibe erscheinenden. Diese Erscheinung wird sein wie eine natürliche Einweihung, so wie der Eingeweihte jetzt dieses Ereignis als ein besonderes Erlebnis hat. Wir gehen also einem Zeitalter entgegen, in welchem der Mensch, außer dem physisch-sinnlichen, seiner Erkenntnis gemäß noch ein geistiges Reich um sich hat. Der Führer aber in diesem neuen Reiche der Geister wird der ätherische Christus sein. Und die Menschen — welcher Religionsgemeinschaft, welchem Bekenntnis überhaupt sie auch angehören mögen -, sie werden, wenn sie diese Tatsachen in sich erfahren, dieses Christus-Ereignis anerkennen. Die Christen sind dabei vielleicht in einer schwierigeren Lage als die Angehörigen mancher andern Religion, wenn sie tatsächlich die Erfahrung des ätherischen Christus machen; aber sie müssen versuchen, ebenso neutral dieses Christus-Ereignis anzunehmen. Das wird gerade die Aufgabe sein, daß besonders aus dem Christentum heraus sich das Verständnis entwickelt für die Möglichkeit, hineinzuschreiten in die geistige Welt, ohne abhängig zu sein von irgendwelchem positiven Religionsbekenntnis, sondern allein durch die Kraft des guten Willens.
Dazu soll uns die Anthroposophie vor allem helfen. Sie wird uns hineinführen in das geistige Land, von dem die alten tibetanischen Schriften als von einem weit entrückten Märchenlande — gemeint ist die geistige Welt - sprechen: in das Land Schamballa. Aber nicht im entrückten, sondern im vollbewußten Zustande soll der Mensch da hineingehen unter der Führung des Christus. Der Eingeweihte muß und kann schon jetzt öfters nach Schamballa gehen, um sich von dort stets neue Kräfte zu holen. Später werden auch die andern Menschen in das Land Schamballa eingehen; sie werden es erstrahlen sehen, wie Paulus die Lichtflut des Christus über sich erstrahlen sah. Auch ihnen wird sie entgegenströmen, auch ihnen wird die Pforte der Lichtwelt sich erschließen, durch die sie eintreten werden in das heilige Land Schamballa.
The Sermon on the Mount The Land of Shamballa
The day before yesterday, reference was made here to how humanity will face serious events at the present time. We will understand what this means when we look back and place our time entirely within the context of human evolution as a whole. Then we will be able to recall many things that are familiar and unfamiliar to us. You know that one of the most important statements made before the coming of Christ was: “Change your soul state, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” These words are of profound significance because they indicate that something important was happening in the development of the soul at that time. A little more than 3,000 years had passed since the time we call the Kali Yuga, or the dark age. What is the meaning of this age? It is the epoch in which human beings, under normal circumstances, were dependent solely on what was presented to their outer senses and accessible to their intellect, which is bound to the instrument of the brain. All this could be experienced, known, and understood in the dark time of the Kali Yuga. This dark time was preceded by another in which human beings were not solely dependent on the outer senses and the outer intellect, but still had more or less memories of the old dreamlike states that enabled them to connect with the spiritual world. Let us try to form a picture of this human prehistory.
Human beings could not only see the realm of minerals, plants, and animals, as well as themselves within the physical human realm, but they could also see a divine world in a state between waking and sleeping. He perceived himself as the lowest link in this chain, as the lowest realm in the hierarchical order, with the angels, archangels, and so on above him. He knew this from experience, so that it would have been nonsense for him to deny this spiritual world, just as it would be nonsense today to deny the mineral, plant, and animal realms. However, it was not the case that human beings only had knowledge of what flowed to them from this realm, but they also had the opportunity to permeate themselves with the forces of this realm of the spiritual world: they were then in ecstasy, their sense of self was suppressed, but the spiritual world literally flowed into them. Humans therefore not only had knowledge and experience, but if they were ill, for example, they could obtain refreshment and healing through ecstasy. The ages in which human beings still had a direct connection with the spiritual worlds were called by Eastern wisdom: Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga. In the latter, direct insight into the spiritual worlds was no longer possible, but only a memory, like an old man remembering his youth. Then the gates of the spiritual world were closed, as it were. In normal states of consciousness, human beings could no longer communicate with the spiritual world. And the time came when human beings could only turn to the spiritual world on the basis of long, rigorous preparation in secret training. During Kali Yuga, something sometimes entered the physical world from the spiritual world. However, this usually did not come from the good powers, but was usually of a demonic nature. In all personalities described in the Gospels as afflicted with strange illnesses, which were called possession, these illnesses can be traced back to demonic influences. In them we can recognize the influence of evil spiritual beings. The Little Kali Yuga began around 3000 BC and is characterized by the fact that, little by little, the gates of the spiritual world closed completely to normal consciousness, so that all knowledge had to be obtained from the sensory environment. If this had continued, human beings would have completely lost their connection with the spiritual world. Until then, humans had still preserved some memories through tradition, but now they were increasingly losing their connection to it as well. For even the teacher, although the guardian of tradition, could no longer tell them directly about the spiritual world. The receptivity for this was no longer there. Human knowledge extended more and more only to the material realm.
In the further course of this development, human beings would not have been able to rediscover their connection with the spiritual world, even if attempts had been made to restore it, had something not happened from another source. And this happened through the incarnation on the physical plane of the divine being whom we call Christ.
In earlier times, human beings were able to rise to spiritual beings. Now, however, these beings had to come very close to them, descend completely into their sphere, so that they could recognize them with their ego-being. This moment was prophesied in ancient times. It was said that human beings would then be able to find their relationship to their God with and in their own ego. But when this moment arrived, people had to be vigorously reminded that the promised time had truly come. The one who did this in the most powerful way was John the Baptist. Pointing out that the times had now changed, he said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then this was pointed out in a similar way by Christ Jesus. However, the most significant indication came beforehand through the baptisms performed by John in the Jordan and through the teaching itself. But this alone would not have made the transformation possible. Rather, a number of people had to experience something in the spiritual world that would bring to life within them the conviction that something divine was about to be revealed. And this happened through immersion in water. When a person is drowning, their etheric body is loosened from its connection with the physical body, partially even lifted out, and the person then experiences that which is a sign of the new impact in world evolution. And from this comes the powerful warning: Change your soul state, for the kingdoms of heaven are near! The state of mind through which you will come into relationship with the descended Christ is coming upon you. The times are fulfilled.
Christ Jesus himself gave the most urgent teaching about the fulfillment of the times in what we call the Sermon on the Mount. It was by no means a sermon to the people, for it is said: “When Christ saw the people, he went away and revealed himself to his disciples.” Then Christ revealed to them, in general terms, the following: In ancient times, human beings could become filled with God in ecstasy; apart from their ego, they were blissful, they had a direct experience of the spiritual world, from which they could draw spiritual powers and suck healing forces. But now, Christ Jesus told his disciples, those who can become filled with God are those who can permeate themselves with the impulse of God and Christ, who can lose themselves in this impulse as their ego. In the past, only those who were filled with the currents of the spiritual world could ascend to the spiritual world; only they could be praised as rich in spirit. That was the clairvoyant in the old sense, and he belonged to the rarest of personalities. Most had become beggars in spirit. But now those who sought it in their I could find the kingdom of heaven. What happens in such a significant epoch of humanity always happens for the whole human being. Even if only one member of his being is affected, all the others resonate. All parts of the human being: the physical body, the etheric body, the sentient soul, the intellectual or emotional soul, the consciousness soul, the I, and then the higher soul members—they all live on through their proximity to the heavenly realms. These teachings are in accordance with the great teachings of ancient wisdom.
In the past, when entering the spiritual world, the etheric body had to separate easily from the physical body; the latter therefore had to be of a very special nature. Christ Jesus therefore said, referring to the physical body: Blessed are the beggars, that is, those who are poor in spirit, for they will find the kingdom of heaven if they develop this spirit correctly from the ego-dominated outer body. Then he said of the etheric body: In the past, people could be healed of physical and mental suffering by ascending into the spiritual world through ecstasy. Now, when they become filled with God, they can be healed and comforted, and can find the reason and consolation within themselves. He went on to say about the astral body: In the past, those who harbored wild, stormy passions and impulses in their astral bodies had to be appeased by the flow of equanimity, serenity, and purification from the spiritual-divine beings. But now, through the power of their own ego under the influence of Christ, human beings should find the strength to purify their astral body. The place where the astral body can be purified has now become the earth. Therefore, this impact on the astral body had to be presented in such a way that it was said: Only those who acquire equality and balance can be blessed and filled with God in the astral body, and they will receive all comfort and all good things on earth as their lot and reward. The fourth beatitude refers to the sentient soul. Those who purify themselves properly in their sentient soul and want to undergo a higher development will receive an impact of Christ in their ego; they will feel a thirst for justice in their hearts, become godly, and their ego will be satisfied within itself. The next link is the intellectual or mind soul. The ego slumbers dully in the sentient soul and only awakens in the intellectual or emotional soul. When we slumber with our ego in the sentient soul, we cannot find in all human beings what makes them truly human: the ego. Before a person has developed the I within themselves, they must allow their sentient soul to grow into higher worlds in order to be able to perceive something there. But when they develop in the intellectual or emotional soul, they can perceive the people around them. With all the members mentioned so far, we must remember what was given in earlier realms. Only in the intellectual or emotional soul can the soul fill itself with what flows from human being to human being. Something special must occur in the sentence structure of the fifth Beatitude; the subject and predicate must be the same, because the intention is to point to what the ego develops within itself. This fifth sentence says: “Whoever develops compassion and mercy will find mercy again.” This is a cross-check that we are making here in an occult document. Christ promised everything in relation to the individual members of human nature, and everything is correct.
The next sentence of the Beatitudes refers to the consciousness soul. Through it, the I develops as pure I in such a way that it can take God into itself. So when the human being can rise up to this level, he can perceive the drop of the divine, his I, within himself. Through his purified consciousness soul, he can see God. This sixth sentence of the Beatitudes must therefore refer to seeing God. The outer physical expression of the I and the consciousness soul is physical blood, and this is expressed particularly in the human heart as the expression of the purified I. Christ therefore said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This indicates, right down to this intimacy, that our heart is the expression of the ego, of the divine in man.
Now let us ascend to what is higher than the consciousness soul, to Manas, Buddhi, Atman. The present human being can indeed develop the three soul members, but only in the distant future will he develop the higher members: the spirit self, the life spirit, and the spirit man. These cannot yet live within human beings themselves; they must look up to higher beings. The spirit self is not yet within them; it will only pour out over them later. They are not yet sufficiently developed to take the spirit self completely into themselves; in this respect, they are only at the beginning of their development, merely vessels, as it were, to gradually take it into themselves. This is also indicated by the seventh beatitude. The spirit self can initially only warm and permeate him. Only the deed of Christ brings it down to earth as the power of love and harmony. Therefore, Christ says: Blessed are those who bring down the spirit self as the first spiritual member, for they will become children of God. This points human beings upward to the higher worlds. Furthermore, reference is made to what is to be brought about in the future, but which is increasingly being challenged and persecuted with all forces and powers in the present. This is indicated in the eighth beatitude: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for they shall be filled in their selves with the riches of heaven, with the spirit of life, with Buddhi. Following this, we find further references to the special mission of Christ himself, also in the sense that the intimate disciples of Christ can be blessed if they have to suffer persecution for his sake: a subtle hint at the Atma, which will only be granted to us in the distant future, is connected with this.
Thus, in the Sermon on the Mount, the great teaching is proclaimed about the kingdom of heaven that is at hand. In the course of these events, the mystery of human evolution was fulfilled in Palestine: human beings had matured in all their members to such an extent that they could directly absorb the Christ impulse with their purified physical forces. Thus, the connection between the God-man Christ and the human being Jesus of Nazareth was accomplished and permeated the earth with its stream of forces for three years. This had to happen so that human beings would not completely lose their connection with the spiritual world during the Kali Yuga. But the Kali Yuga, the dark age, continued for a long time, until the year 1899. This is a particularly important year in human evolution, because it marks the end of the five-thousand-year period of the Kali Yuga. This marks the beginning of a new stage in human development. Human beings will develop new spiritual abilities to complement the old abilities of the Kali Yuga. We are thus entering a period in which new natural abilities and possibilities for seeing into the divine-spiritual worlds will awaken. Even before the middle of the 20th century, some people will experience, with full self-awareness, the intrusion of a divine-spiritual world into our physical-sensory world, in the same way that Saul experienced during his transformation into Paul before Damascus. This will then become the normal state for a number of people.
Christ will not be incarnated again in a physical body as he was in Jesus, because that would not achieve anything now. At that time, it was necessary due to the profound laws of cosmic-earthly development, because otherwise people would not have been able to recognize him. But now people have evolved further: they have become capable of penetrating through their soul forces to etheric vision. Therefore, Christ will become visible to human beings in the etheric body and not in the physical body. All this will increasingly occur during the next 2,500 years, starting in the middle of the 20th century. Enough people will then have experienced the event of Damascus themselves, so that it will finally be recognized by all sides as a well-known event on Earth. We pursue spiritual science so that these abilities, which are only weakly apparent at first, do not pass unnoticed and without trace, so that gifted people are not regarded as dreamers and fools, but are understood and supported by a small group of people who, in their context, prevent human ignorance from brutally trampling these delicate seeds and predispositions to death. Spiritual science should rather prepare the way for these abilities to develop. In the previous lecture, these abilities were referred to as insight into the land of Shamballa, so that human beings may recognize the meaning and nature of Christ, whose reappearance is nothing other than the growth of human beings in their knowledge.
In general, the ages repeat themselves, but always in a slightly different way. In spiritual science, the Kali Yuga epoch is viewed in such a way that its beginning is described as the closing of the gates of the spiritual worlds. After the first thousand years had passed, the first replacement came about through the individuality of Abraham, who, after his initiation by Melchizedek, was enabled to recognize God in the outer world by seeing through and correctly evaluating the carpet of the environment spread out before his senses. Abraham showed the first dawn of the knowledge of what an I-God is, a God who is related to the I-nature of man. It became clear to Abraham that behind the appearances of the sensory world there is something that leads us to understand the human I as a drop of the immense, incomprehensible world-I.
A second stage of divine revelation was experienced in the time of Moses, for then God drew closer to human beings through the elements. In the burning bush, in lightning and thunder on Mount Sinai, He revealed Himself to their senses and spoke to their deepest being. In the third millennium of this struggle for knowledge of God, the Solomonic epoch took place, in which God revealed Himself through the symbols of the temple that Solomon had built in Jerusalem. Divine revelation thus took place in stages: with Abraham as the I-God or Yahweh-God; with Moses in the fire of the burning bush, in lightning and thunder; with Solomon in the symbol of the temple. What applies to a certain age is repeated later in reverse order. The turning point is the appearance of Christ Jesus in Palestine. What was last effective before this time comes up again first after this time. Therefore, the first millennium after Christ is again a Solomonic one, and the spirit of Solomon works in this time in the best of men to penetrate the mystery of Golgotha. Those who were able to interpret these signs most deeply and most inwardly were those who, in the first centuries after Christ, were able to feel most deeply the deed on Golgotha.
In the second millennium after Christ, we can see a repetition of the age of Moses. What was external experience then now appears in the mysticism of Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and so on. What Moses experienced externally in the burning bush, in lightning and thunder, the mystics now experienced internally. When they turned inward, they spoke of the I-God revealing himself to them. When they grasped the spark of their I in their souls, the I-God, the one God Yahweh, revealed himself to them. This was the case with Tauler, who was a great preacher and could proclaim mighty things. The layman, the friend of God from the Oberland, came to him. who at first was thought to want to become a disciple of Tauler, but who soon became his teacher, so that Tauler was afterwards able to proclaim God from within himself with such inner power that this can still be recognized in the reports, according to which a number of disciples and listeners fell down as if dead when he spoke, which is reminiscent of the events under which Moses received the laws on Mount Sinai.
The centuries up to our own have been filled with this spirit. But now we are moving toward the remembrance and revival of the Abrahamic age, but in the sense that human beings will be led up from the world accessible to our physical senses. The spirit of Abraham will influence our knowledge in such a way that people will renounce their exclusive appreciation of the sensory world. And in the opposite way to Abraham, where the spirit, where God, could only be found in the sensory world, people will now grow out of the sensory world and grow into the spiritual world. It is fair to say that it did not harm development that people knew nothing of this until now, but in the time now dawning, people must be enabled to take their destiny into their own hands with self-awareness. They must know how Christ will later become perceptible. It is rightly said that after the event on Golgotha, Christ descended to the dead, into the spiritual world, to bring them the word of salvation. The Christ event is still working in the same sense today. Therefore, it makes no difference whether a person is still living here in the physical world or has already died: they can still experience the Christ event in the spiritual world if they have developed an understanding of it here on earth. Then it will become clear that man has not lived on this earth of ours without reason. But if man has not acquired an understanding of the Christ event here, its effects will pass him by without a trace in the time between death and a new birth, and he will have to wait until his next return to earth, until a new birth, before he is given the opportunity to prepare himself. Man must not believe that Christ will reappear in the flesh, as some false teachings proclaim, for otherwise one could not believe in the further development of human abilities, but would have to say that events repeat themselves in the same way. But this is not the case; they do repeat themselves, but always on higher levels.
In the coming centuries, it will be proclaimed even more often that Christ will return and reveal Himself. False messiahs or false Christs will appear. But those who, in accordance with what has been presented, have gained the right understanding of the true appearance of Christ will reject such appearances. For those who know the history of the last centuries in this direction, it will not be surprising or significant that such Messiahs appear. This happened, among other things, before the Crusades; furthermore, in the 17th century, when a false Messiah—Sabbatai Zevi—appeared in Smyrna, to whom even pilgrims from France and Spain flocked.
At that time, such a misleading belief did not do much harm. But now, when, with the advanced abilities of human beings, one should recognize the reappearance of Christ in the flesh as an error, and his appearance in the etheric body as correct and true, it is now necessary to distinguish in a certain way; a mistake will be bitterly avenged. One should not believe in a Christ supposedly incarnated in the flesh, but only in one appearing in the etheric body. This appearance will be like a natural initiation, just as the initiate now has this event as a special experience. We are therefore approaching an age in which human beings, in addition to the physical-sensory realm, will have a spiritual realm around them in accordance with their knowledge. The leader in this new realm of spirits will be the etheric Christ. And human beings—whatever religious community or creed they may belong to—will recognize this Christ event when they experience these facts within themselves. Christians may be in a more difficult position than members of some other religions when they actually experience the etheric Christ, but they must try to accept this Christ event just as neutrally. It will be the task of Christianity in particular to develop an understanding of the possibility of entering the spiritual world without being dependent on any positive religious confession, but solely through the power of good will.
Anthroposophy should help us above all in this. It will lead us into the spiritual land of which the ancient Tibetan writings speak as a far-off fairy-tale land — meaning the spiritual world — into the land of Shamballa. But it is not in a dreamlike state that human beings are to enter there, but in a state of full consciousness, under the guidance of Christ. The initiated must and can already go to Shamballa frequently in order to draw ever new strength from there. Later, other people will also enter the land of Shamballa; they will see it shining, just as Paul saw the flood of light of Christ shining above him. It will also flow toward them, and the gate of the world of light will open for them, through which they will enter the holy land of Shamballa.