Cosmic and Human Metamorphoses
GA 175
13 February 1917, Berlin
II. The Metamorphoses of the Soul-Forces.
The Lecture given here a week ago had as its culminating point the fact, well known to the Spiritual investigator, that although in the outside world the very height of materialistic views and opinions prevail—we are nevertheless just entering on an epoch of the de-materialising of thought and of the world of ideas, which, in the course of time, must lead to a spiritualising and permeating of the earth-life as such, by the spirit. That which is to lay hold of and affect the external life on the physical plane must first be grasped by a few and then by an ever-increasing number of persons, grasped and understood Spiritually. Spiritual Science is in this respect to be a beginning, a means whereby men can uplift their souls to that which is today accessible to those who desire to raise themselves to it, and of which the external physical life is not as yet a reflection, though that is what it must become if the earth is not, in a sense, to be swamped in the downfall of materialistic development. The situation of present-day man can be described as follows. His soul is generally speaking really very near to the Spiritual world; but the ideas and especially the feelings produced by a materialistic conception of the world and by a materialistic attitude towards it, have woven a veil before that which is in reality very close to the human soul today. The connection between the physical Earth-existence, in which man with his whole being is involved notwithstanding many assertions to the contrary made in other quarters—the connection between this materialistic earth existence and the Spiritual world can be found by man, if he will endeavour to develop the inner courageous forces necessary for understanding, not only what nature paints to his external senses, but also that which remains invisible. We can unite ourselves with this invisible essence and experience it, if we stir up the inner force of the soul sufficiently to become aware that in this force the soul shares in something super-human and Spiritual. This connection must not be sought just as human connections and relationships are sought, in the rude external sense-existence; for the connection between the human soul and the Spiritual world is to be found in the intimate forces which the human soul develops when it evolves an inner, silent and quiet attention., Man must now train himself to this, for he has become accustomed, in this materialistic age, to pay attention only to what presses on him from without, and which in a sense calls out to his capacities of perception. The spirit that must be experienced within does not call out, we have to wait for it, and we can only approach it by preparing ourselves for its approach. Concerning the things belonging to the external world which present themselves to our senses and press in upon our outer perception, we can say that they come to us, that they speak to us; but we cannot say anything of the kind as regards the way in which the spirit, the spiritual world, draws near to us. The language of modern times—as I have often said—is more or less coined for the use of the external world, and it is therefore difficult to find words conveying a real impression of that part of the spiritual world which stands before the soul. But an attempt can be made to show approximately the difference between that and the physical. We might say that the Spiritual is experienced in the feeling of gratitude which comes whenever one experiences the Spiritual; one feels: I am grateful to it. Take special note of this: we owe gratitude to the spiritual world. In observing the physical world we say: we see spread out before our senses the mineral world, from which proceed the plant world, the animal world, and our own,—the world of man. In the latter we feel ourselves in a sense at the top of an ascending sequence of external kingdoms; but as far as the Spiritual kingdoms are concerned, we feel ourselves at the bottom, while above and beyond us stretch out the kingdoms of the Angels, Archangels, Archai, and so on. We feel the whole time that we are being supported from these kingdoms, continually called to life by them. We owe gratitude to them. We look up to them and say: our lives and the whole content of our souls flows down to us from the will-impregnated thoughts of the Beings belonging to those worlds, and by them we are constantly being formed. This feeling of personal gratitude to the higher kingdoms should become just as alive in us as the feeling—let us say—of the impressions received through physical perception. When these two feelings are equally alive in our souls-one, that: ‘The external sense things react upon us,’ and the other, that: ‘We owe what lives in the very centre of our being to the Higher Hierarchies,’—the soul is then in that state of balance in which it can continually perceive aright the co-operative working of the Spiritual and the physical, which indeed goes on unceasingly, but which cannot be perceived unless the two feelings described above are properly balanced.
In the future from now on, evolution will have to proceed in such a way that through the presence of these two feelings in the human soul additional forces will be super-added, forces which are not able to grow therein in the present materialistic age. It is of course understood that what is here meant refers to something which has greatly altered in the course of the development of mankind. Only at the early primeval stages of man's development was there a connection with the Spiritual world, and that indeed was but dim, and unconscious. At the primeval time of his development man had not only the two states be now has, of sleeping and waking and between these a chaotic dreamy state; there was then a, third state, in which reality was present This was not merely a state of dreaming, for in it man was able, although his consciousness was damped down, to see pictures and to learn by them, for these pictures were true to spiritual reality. Now, as we know, in order that man should develop the full Earth-consciousness, this method of perception had to be withdrawn. If it had persisted, man would never have gained his freedom, he could not have become free if he had not been subjected to all the dangers, arguments and temptations of materialism; but he has to find his way back again to the Spiritual world, and must now be able to grasp it in full Earth consciousness. This is in connection with very far-reaching and complex conceptions, which have altered with all else that has undergone change in the evolution of humanity, in the manner just indicated. In the primal ages it was quite natural to live in constant communion with the souls departed from this physical life; no proof of this was then necessary; for in that state of consciousness in which man perceived the Spiritual world in pictures, he lived in the company of those with whom he was in any way connected by karma and who had passed into the Spiritual world through the portal of death. It was personal knowledge to man that the Dead existed; he knew they were not dead but alive,—living in a different form of existence. A thing need not be proved if one knows it! In those early times there was no need to discuss immortality or to wonder about it, for one had personal experience of the so-called Dead. This communion with the Dead had moreover other and far-reaching results. It was then easier to the Dead themselves to work through men; I do not say this cannot be done now, it can still be done in this way; but I do say it was then easier for the Dead to find means of working through men here on earth, and thus to participate in what goes on here. In those primeval ages the Dead were active in the impulses of will of the people; in all that men understood and did, the Dead took part; thus helping to bring about what took place on earth. Materialism has not only brought in materialistic ideas, that would be its least harmful accomplishment;—it has also brought about a completely different form of union with the Spiritual world. It is now only possible in a much more restricted measure for the so-called Dead to take part in the evolution of the earth through the so-called living; but man will have to get back to this connection with the Dead. This, however, will only be possible when to some extent he learns to understand the language of the Dead, and this language is none other than that of Spiritual Science. It may certainly appear, at first sight, as though Spiritual Science tells us only more or less of Spiritual erudition; of evolving worlds, of the evolution of man, of the different principles composing the nature of man; things in which perhaps some people are not interested, wishing rather for something calculated to set their hearts and feelings aglow. Certainly it is a good thing to want that, but the question is how far the satisfying of that demand will take us. It may seem as though Spiritual Science only teaches how the earth evolved and developed through old Saturn, Sun and Moon, how the different epochs of civilisation developed on the earth and how the different principles of man were added; but while we devote ourselves to these seemingly abstract though in reality quite concrete thoughts, endeavoring to think in such a way that these things really remain in our minds as pictures, we are really learning in a definite way to form certain thoughts and ideas which we could not have brought into our souls in any other way. If we have the right feelings and realise how our ideas have changed since we busied ourselves with the subject of Spiritual Science, the time will come when we shall consider it just as absurd to say that these things do not interest us, as it is for a child to say it has no interest in learning the A.B.C.—but only wishes to learn to speak! What the child must go through in its physical existence in learning to speak, is abstract compared with what the living language can communicate, just as the ideas pertaining to Spiritual Science are abstract compared to the thoughts, ideas and feelings aroused in the soul under the influence of these concepts. Of course this requires patience, and it is also necessary that we should not merely consider what, Spiritual Science has to give in the abstract, but should take whole life into account. That, however, as regards what we are now considering does not suggest itself to the man of the day. In other respects, however, it may appeal to him; for he is accustomed to be more or less satisfied when he has once seen a work of art or a landscape, or has once listened to some scientific explanation. He is very apt to say, if the matter is brought before him a second time: ‘Oh! I know that already—I have seen or heard that before!’ Such is life in the abstract. In other domains, where life is judged according to what is to be found in it,—according to its actuality,—that is not the method of procedure. For one does not often meet a man at dinner who excuses himself from eating because he has eaten the day before. At meals one repeats the same process over and over again. Life is a constant repetition. If the Spiritual is indeed to become real life to us—and unless it does, it cannot bring us into touch with the universal Spiritual world,—we must imitate in our souls the laws of life in the physical world, which world, although now grown torpid, was yet created by spirit. In particular, shall we become aware that a good deal is taking place in our soul, if, with a certain rhythmic regularity we allow such impressions to enter our souls as necessitate a certain freedom of thought, a certain emancipation from the mode of thought usual in the physical world. The salvation—if we may use so sentimental a word—the salvation of the Spiritual development of man depends upon our not giving way as regards Spiritual things to that idle habit common today, of saying, “Oh! I know that already, I have heard that before!” Rather should we take these things as being like life itself, which is ever connected with repetition, with what I might call the return of the same action at the same place. As soon as we are interested in letting our soul be permeated by the life of the spirit, our inner attention increases. It becomes so acute that we are able to grasp inwardly in our soul those important moments in which the connection with the Spiritual world nearest to our heart can best be developed. For instance, the moments of falling asleep and that of awaking are very important for the communion with the Spiritual world. The moment of falling asleep would be less fruitful to most people at the beginning of their Spiritual development, because immediately after one is asleep the consciousness is so dimmed that it cannot take in the Spiritual; but the moment of passing from sleep into the waking state, if we do but accustom ourselves, not simply to let it pass by unobserved but to pay attention to it, may be very fruitful for us, if we try to wake up consciously, yet not allowing the outer world to approach us at once with all its crude brutality. In this respect there is a great deal of good in the folk-customs of olden times, much that is quite right and today but little understood. Simple people who are not yet plastered over, as one might say, with intellectual culture, often say: ‘When you wake, you ought not at once to look at the light’;—that is, you should remain awhile in a state of wakefulness without allowing the brutal impressions of the outer world to press in upon you immediately. If this be observed, it is possible at the moment of waking to see those Dead that are karmically connected with us. That is not the only time when they approach us, but it is then easiest to perceive them. At such a time we can see what takes place between us and the Dead, not only at the moment but beyond it; for our perception of the Spiritual, world is not bound up with time as is the perception of the physical world. This indeed constitutes one of the difficulties attached to the grasping of the Spiritual world in its essence. At the moment of perception something may momentarily reveal itself to us out of the Spiritual world, something extending over a very great space of time; the difficulty is to have the Spiritual presence of mind to grasp this far-reaching something, at the moment;—for that moment may, as indeed is generally the case, pass away in status nascendi. It is forgotten as soon as seen. That constitutes the great difficulty of grasping the Spiritual world. Were it not for this, many, many people, especially at the present day, would already be receiving impressions of the Spiritual world.
There are also other moments in life when—as I might say—it is possible for the Spiritual world to penetrate to us. Each time we develop a thought in such a way that it springs from ourselves, when we take the initiative, when we are confronted with a decision to be made by ourselves even in quite small things, that again is a favourable moment for the approach of the Dead karmically connected with us. (Of course if we simply yield ourselves up, allowing life to take its course, carrying us along with the stream, there is but little likelihood of the real, true, inwardly living Spiritual world working into us.) Such moments need not necessarily be ‘important’ ones, in the sense we attach to the word in external material life, for very often, what is really important as a Spiritual experience, would not seem important to the outer life; -but to one who is able to see into these things, it is extremely clear that such experiences, perhaps outwardly unimportant yet inwardly exceptionally important, are profoundly related to our karma. So it is necessary to notice even very intimate soul-occurrences if one desires to attain an understanding of the Spiritual world. For instance, it may occur that a man sitting in his room or walking in the street may be startled by an unexpected sound, perhaps a crack or a bang. After his fright he may have a moment of musing, during which something important is revealed to him out of the Spiritual world. It is necessary to pay attention to these things; for as a rule a man is only concerned with the fright he had; be only keeps on thinking of the shock he had. That is why it is of such importance to acquire ‘Inner Balance’ in the manner indicated at the end of the book Theosophy and in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. When that has been acquired we are no longer so perplexed after a shock as to think of nothing else, for we shall have the mastery over ourselves, and may be able to call up, though perhaps but very faintly, what we experienced in such apparently unimportant, but really extremely important moments. Such things are of course mere beginnings, and must develop further. When we develop the two capacities:—that of ‘attentiveness at the moment of waking’ and ‘attentiveness at the moment when we are shaken by some outer occurrence,’ we shall be able once more to find the connection with the great Cosmos, which is composed of both substance and spirit, of which we are a member and from which we came forth-came forth indeed for the purpose of becoming free men—but from which we certainly did come forth. In reality, the belief of primeval man was correct; we do not wander about the earth like hermits, as is now believed. What primeval man believed is true: Man is a member of the whole great Cosmic Connection, as each one of our fingers is a member of our whole organism. People no longer possess this feeling today—at least the great majority no longer feel themselves members of the great World-Organism, in so far as they as Spiritual beings are living in a visible world. Yet ordinary scientific reflection might teach a man, even today, that he and his life are part of the whole cosmic ordering in which he as organism is placed. Let us take a very simple example, which only needs a very simple reckoning. We all know that in the Spring, on the 21st March, the sun rises at a definite point in the heavens. This we call the Vernal Point. We know too that this Vernal Point is not the same each year, but that it progresses. We know that now the sun rises in Pisces. Up to the fifteenth century it rose in Aries (Astronomy continues to say ‘in Aries’ which is not correct, but this remark does not apply at the moment.) Thus the Vernal Point progresses; the Sun rises a little further on in the Zodiac every spring, and it is easy to see that in a given time it will have moved through the whole Zodiac; the place of sunrise will have moved through the whole Zodiac. Now the approximate time required for the Sun in its journey through the Zodiac is 25,920 years. Thus, taking the Vernal Point of any given year, it will be further on the year following, and the year after will have progressed again. When 25,920 years have gone by the Vernal Point will be back again at its original place. Thus 25,920 years is an exceptionally important space of time in our Solar System; the sun has accomplished what I might call a cosmic step when at the vernal ascent it returns to the same point. Now Plato, the great Greek philosopher, called these 25,920 years a cosmic year—the great Platonic Cosmic year. Now if one has not gone into all this deeply, what I am about to say will seem only remarkable;—it is indeed remarkable; but at the same time full of profound significance.
In his normal state a man draws eighteen breaths a minute. This varies, because he breathes rather quicker in childhood and more slowly in old age—but of a normal man it is correct to say: he draws eighteen breaths a minute. It is easy to reckon that 18 times 60 make 1,080, which is the number of breaths to the hour: multiply this by 24—the number of hours in the day and you get 25,920 breaths in the day. Thus you see, my dear friends, that the same number regulates the human day as regards a man's breathing as regulates the passage of the Vernal Point through the great cosmic year.
This is a sign which shows that we are not just talking in a general, vague, dimly-mystical way when we say that the Microcosm is an image of the Macrocosm, but that man is really governed in an important activity, upon which each moment of his life depends, by the same number and measure as the course of the sun, in which course he is himself placed.
Now let us take something else.—The patriarchal age, as it is called, is seventy human years. Of course seventy years is not a hard-and-fast rule for the duration of a man's life; a man may live much longer; for man is a free being and sometimes goes beyond such limitations. We will however keep to this, and say that the normal life of man is seventy or seventy-one years, and let us see how many days these contain. Well now, we have 365.25 days in a year;—to begin with, we will multiply this number by 70, and we get 25,567.5; then we multiply by 71 and we get 25,932.75 days. This proves that between the ages of 70 and 71 comes the point of time when a man's life includes exactly 25,920 days—that is, the patriarchal age.—Thus we have defined a human day by saying that it contains 25,920 breaths; and we define the period of a man's life by saying that it reckons 25,920 days.
Now let us investigate something else—which is not so difficult now. We shall easily see that, if we divide the 25,920 years which the sun's vernal point requires to pass through the Zodiac, by 365.25, the result is something like 70 or 71. That means that if we consider the Platonic year as one great year and divide it till we bring out a day, we find the proportion of a day to a Platonic year.—What is that? It is the course of a human life. A man's life is to a Platonic year as a human day to a man's life.
The air is all around us. We breathe it in and breathe it out. According to the law of numbers it is so regulated that when we have breathed in and out 25,920 times, our life is spent. What then is a day of our life? It is comprised in the outgoing and incoming of our ego and astral body, in and out of our physical body and etheric body. So that day after day the ego and astral body go out and return, go out and come in; just like our breathing. Many of our friends will remember that to make this subject clear, in public lectures I have compared the alternation of waking and sleeping to deep breathing. Just as in breathing we breathe the air in and breathe out, so, when we fall asleep and awake, the astral body and ego go out and in. This implies that a being exists, or can be presumed to exist, which breathes in and breathes out just as we do in the eighteenth of a minute,—and the breathing of this being signifies the out-going and in-coming of our astral body and ego. This being is none other than the living being of the earth. As the earth experiences day and night, it breathes; and in the process of its breathing it bears our sleeping and waking on its wings. It is the breathing process of a greater being.—And now let us take the breathing process of a still greater being; of the sun, in its circuit. Just as the earth accomplishes a day by the releasing and drawing in of the ego and astral body into man, so does the Great Being corresponding to the sun bring human beings forth; for the 70 to 71 years are one day, as we have shown: one day of the sun-year, the great Platonic Year. Our collective human life is an out-breathing and in-breathing of this great Being, to whom is appointed the great Platonic Year. You see how it is; we draw one small breath in the 18th of a minute, which regulates our life;—our life is lived on the, earth, the breathing of which comprises day and night: that corresponds with the out-going and in-coming of the ego and astral body into the physical and etheric bodies: and we are ourselves breathed in by the great Being whose life corresponds to the course of the sun, our own life is one breath of this great Being. Now you see that as Microcosms we are actually part of and subject to the same laws, as regards the Universal Beings, as the breath we draw is subject to our own human being. It is governed by number and measure. It is a great and wonderful thing, and in its significance must cut deeply into our very hearts: that number and measure regulate the great cosmos, the Macrocosm, exactly as they regulate us, the Microcosm. This is not merely a figure of speech, it is not merely mystically felt; but the wisdom-filled contemplation of the world teaches us that we, as Microcosms, stand within the Macrocosm. When we make such simple calculations as these—which can of course be arrived at by the most ordinary scientific methods of reckoning—then, if our hearts are sensitive to the secrets of cosmic existence and not mere blocks of wood, the saying ‘we are placed in the Universe’ will cease to be abstract words, for we shall be fully alive to the fact. A knowledge and a feeling will spring up within us the fruits of which will be borne in the impulses of our will, and our whole being live in unison with the great Life, Divine Cosmic Existence. That is the path along which we find to some extent our way into the Spiritual world, which way must be found at the time alluded to in the last lecture, when Christ will walk the earth in His etheric form. I even indicated the very year in which He began to move etherically over the earth;—it must be found! Only people must accustom themselves to realise the connection, the very intimate connection already being established from cosmic existence, which will, when it is felt and realised, bring about a need, an intense longing to seek this union with the Spiritual world. For before very long, people will be compelled to realise at any rate one thing; which is the following:
If a man be deadened by materialism, he may indeed deny the existence of a Spiritual world, but he cannot kill out in himself the forces which are able to seek a connection with the Spiritual world. He may delude himself as to the existence of a Spiritual world, but he cannot kill out those forces in his soul which are intended to bring him in touch with the Spiritual world. This has very significant consequences—which should be taken into account, especially at the present time; forces are there and they work, whether their existence is believed in or not. The materialist does not forbid the spiritually inclined forces in his soul to work, he cannot do so;—and they do work. You may say; Is it then possible for a man to be a materialist and yet to have forces at work within him which are seeking the Spiritual? Yes, that is the case. These forces are at work within him; no matter what he may do they work within him. What effect do they then have? Well, wherever there are forces present, their own original activity can be suppressed,—but they then transform themselves into something else, into different forces. You see, my dear friends, if we do not employ the Spiritually tending forces for gaining understanding of the Spiritual world,—I only say ‘understanding,’ for that is all that is required at first,—these forces will transform themselves into the forces of illusion in human life. Their activity then takes the form of inducing a man to be subject to all kinds of illusion, illusions regarding the external world. It is not without significance that this should be realised in our time, for never have people indulged their imagination as they do today, although they do not care for imagination: as their imagination only works along certain definite lines. If it were desired to give examples of this, of the fanciful weavings of people who entirely desire to be realists, materialists, light could be thrown on all sorts of things, there would be no end to it. We might perhaps begin—were it not heretical—by glancing at what statesmen have prophesied even a few weeks ago as to the probable course of events in the world and at what has occurred since, and we shall see that the capacities of illusion have played no small part for some years. We might investigate many of the departments of life in the same way, and it is quite remarkable to note that everywhere we find these strongly developed capacities of illusion. Indeed they sometimes even lend a childlike—I might almost say a childish character to the opinions and attitude to life of materialistically inclined people. When one sees what is required today to make men understand each other, or to try and make them see what is before their very nose, one can understand what I mean by saying ‘childlike’ or even ‘childish.’ Well, my dear friends, it is even so. When people turn away from the Spiritual world, they must pay for it by becoming subject to illusion, by losing the capacity of forming accurate concepts concerning external physical reality and the course of events therein. They are then compelled to exercise their imagination in another direction, because they refuse to hold by the truth; whether the truth concerns the Spiritual or the physical life, it comes to the same thing, they turn away from it. I once gave you an example which can be applied to this, for it is typical of it: there are plenty of discussions and arguments to be met with as to the Spiritual Science advocated by me. Those persons reasoning against it base their arguments on their own statement that everything given out here is mere fancy. ‘It has all been imagined,’ they say, ‘and such flights of fancy cannot seriously be admitted!’ So these people will not accompany us into the true Spiritual world because they believe it to be imaginary, and they despise such fanciful imaginations. They then proceed to add all kinds of arguments which have just as little likeness to the reality as black to white and they proceed, (this indeed is a typical example) to speak of my family descent and the way in which I did this or that in my life. There they develop a bold imagination!—Here we can see, side by side, the turning away from the Spiritual world, and the capacity for illusion! These people do not notice this, yet they are following an absolute law. A certain amount of force in them tends towards the Spiritual world; a certain amount of force tends to the physical world. If the force tending to the Spiritual world is not used for that purpose, it turns towards the physical world; not in order to study and grasp the truth and actuality there, but to drive people into illusions concerning life. This cannot in each single case be so observed that one can say: ‘Ah! This man has been driven into illusion through having turned away from the Spiritual world.’ Examples of this can certainly be found, but they have to be looked for; they cannot be discovered straight away, because life is complicated, and one person influences another. It is ever the case that a stronger soul influences the weaker, so that even when we find some of that capacity for illusion in one person, it certainly may come from a hatred for, a turning away from, the Spiritual world; yet this dislike may not be in the soul of the person subject to the illusions;—it may have been suggested to him. For in Spiritual domains the danger of infection is infinitely greater than in any physical domain.
In our next lecture we shall consider how this is connected with the general karma of man; how these things—when observed in the light of the important law of the metamorphosis of the soul-forces from the Spiritual into forces of illusion—work in the whole connection of life, and their connection with the conditions of development of our present time and those of the near future. We shall then carry further what we have begun today and connect it with the Christ and the Mystery of the present age, so as to obtain some light on the significance of the Spiritual outlook in general.
Zweiter Vortrag
Die Betrachtungen, die wir vor acht Tagen hier anstellten, gipfelten darin, daß es dem Geistesforscher wohl bekannt ist, wie wir gegenwärtig, trotzdem in der Außenwelt gewissermaßen der Höhepunkt, der Kulminationspunkt materialistischer Anschauung, materialistischer Gesinnung herrscht, wie wir trotzdem geistig in dem Anfangszeitlaufe einer Entmaterialisierung der Gedanken, der Vorstellungswelten stehen, was dann im Laufe der Zeit auch zu einer Vergeistigung, zu einem Durchdringen mit dem Geiste des Erdenlebens als solchem führen muß. Denn dasjenige, was das äußere Leben des physischen Planes ergreifen soll, es muß ja zuerst ergriffen werden von einigen und dann von immer mehr und mehr Menschen im geistigen Begreifen, im geistigen Erfassen. Und Geisteswissenschaft soll in dieser Beziehung ein An‚fang davon sein, daß die Menschen sich erheben in ihren Seelen zu dem, wozu sich heute schon die Seelen erheben können, wenn sie wollen, und wovon das äußere physische Leben noch kein Abbild ist, was es aber werden muß, wenn die Erde nicht gewissermaßen versumpfen soll im Niedergang der materialistischen Entwickelung. Man könnte die Situation des heutigen Menschen dadurch bezeichnen, daß man sagt, seine Seele ist eigentlich im allgemeinen ganz nah der geistigen Welt; aber die Vorstellungen und namentlich die Empfindungen, die aus der materialistischen Weltauffassung und materialistischen Weltgesinnung kommen, haben einen Schleier vor dasjenige gewoben, was im Grunde genommen heute ganz nahe vor der menschlichen Seele steht. Der Zusammenhang des physischen Erdendaseins - in dem doch der heutige Mensch, trotz mancherlei Deklamationen, die nach anderer Richtung hin gemacht werden, steht, mit seinem ganzen Wesen steht —, der Zusammenhang zwischen diesem materialistischen Erdendasein und der geistigen Welt kann von den Menschen gefunden werden, wenn der Mensch versucht, innere, mutvolle Kräfte zu entwickeln, um nicht nur dasjenige zu begreifen, was er begreifen kann dadurch, daß es sich vor seine äußeren Sinne als Natur malt, sondern auch dasjenige zu begreifen, was unsichtbar bleibt, was übersinnlich bleibt, womit man sich aber vereinigen und es erleben kann, wenn man die innere Kraft der Seele so weit aufrüttelt, daß man merkt, daß in dieser inneren Kraft der Seele ein übermenschliches Geistiges mitlebt.
Dieser Zusammenhang darf nun nicht so gesucht werden, wie heute menschliche Zusammenhänge gesucht werden und menschliche Zusammenhänge verfolgt werden im groben äußeren Sinnesdasein. Denn der Zusammenhang zwischen der Menschenseele und der geistigen Welt wird gefunden werden in intimen Kräften der menschlichen Seele; in Kräften, welche diese menschliche Seele entwickelt, wenn sie Aufmerksamkeit entfaltet, innere, stille, ruhige Aufmerksamkeit, zu der sich der Mensch erst wiederum erziehen muß, nachdem er im materialistischen Zeitalter gewöhnt worden ist, Aufmerksamkeit auf dasjenige allein zu verwenden, was sich ihm mit Wucht von außen aufdrängt, was gewissermaßen an das Auffassungsvermögen heranschreit. Der Geist, der im Innern erlebt werden soll, der schreit nicht, der läßt auf sich warten, und man kommt ihm nahe, wenn man versucht, sich vorzubereiten auf dieses Nahekommen. Wenn man sagen kann gegenüber den Dingen der Außenwelt, die vor unsere Sinne sich hinstellen, die der äußeren Wahrnehmung sich aufdrängen: sie kommen heran, sie sprechen zu uns, so kann man ein ähnliches Wort nicht anwenden auf die Art und Weise, wie der Geist, die geistige Welt, an uns herankommt. Da die heutige Sprache, wie ich oft schon gesagt habe, mehr oder weniger geprägt ist für die äußere physische Welt, so ist es ja schwierig, Worte zu finden, die ein genaues Abbild desjenigen sind, was in der geistigen Welt vor der Seele steht. Aber man kann annäherungsweise doch versuchen zu zeigen, wie andersartig das Geistige an den Menschen herankommt als das Physische. Man möchte da sagen, das Geistige wird erlebt, indem man in jenem Augenblick, da man es erlebt, das Gefühl hat: man verdankt sich ihm. Fassen Sie dieses Wort genau auf: Man verdankt sich der geistigen Welt.
Der physischen Welt stehen wir so gegenüber, daß wir sagen: Vor unseren Sinnen breitet sich aus das Mineralreich, aus demselben hervorgehend das Pflanzenreich, das Tierreich, und dann unser eigenes Reich, das menschliche. Und innerhalb des menschlichen fühlen wir uns gewissermaßen als obenstehend in der Aufeinanderfolge dieser äußeren Reiche. Gegenüber den geistigen Reichen fühlen wir uns untenstehend und die anderen Reiche über uns sich erhebend, die Reiche der Angeloi, Archangeloi, Archai und so weiter. Und man fühlt sich so, daß man sich in jedem Augenblick gegenüber diesen Reichen fühlt als von ihnen erhalten und im Grunde fortwährend ins Leben gerufen. Man verdankt sich diesen Reichen. Man blickt zu ihnen auf, indem man sagt: Das eigene Leben, der eigene Seeleninhalt fließt aus den willensvollen Gedanken der Wesen dieser Reiche hernieder und bildet uns fortwährend. Dieses Gefühl des Sich-Verdankens den höheren Reichen sollte bei den Menschen ebenso lebendig entwickelt werden wie das Gefühl, sagen wir, daß man von außen Eindrücke bekommt in der physischen Wahrnehmung. Wenn diese beiden Empfindungen — die äußeren sinnlichen Dinge wirken auf uns, und dasjenige, was im Mittelpunkt unseres Wesens lebt, ist verdankt den höheren Hierarchien -, gleich lebendig in unserer Seele sind, dann ist die Seele in jenem Gleichgewicht, wo sie fortdauernd wahrnehmen kann in der rechten Weise das Zusammenwirken des Geistigen und des Physischen, das ja fortdauernd stattfindet, das aber ohne das Gleichgewicht dieser beiden charakterisierten Empfindungen eben nicht wahrgenommen werden kann.
Die Entwickelung in die Zukunft hinein muß nun so geschehen, daß der Erdenentwickelung durch das Vorhandensein dieser beiden Empfindungen in der Menschenseele Kräfte zuwachsen, welche ihr in der heutigen materialistischen Zeit nicht zuwachsen können. Wir wissen ja, dasjenige, was hier gemeint ist, das deutet auf etwas hin, das sich gar sehr im Laufe der Menschheitsentwickelung geändert hat. Der Zusammenhang mit der geistigen Welt war in einer, allerdings dumpf bewußten Form, nur in der Urzeit der Menschheitsentwickelung vorhanden. Die Menschen hatten in der Urzeit ihrer Entwickelung nicht nur die beiden Zustände, die sie jetzt haben, Wachen und Schlafen und dazwischen ein chaotisches Träumen, sondern sie hatten einen die Wirklichkeit vermittelnden dritten Zustand, der nicht bloß ein Träumen war, sondern ein Auffassen in Bildern, wenn auch das Bewußtsein herabgedämpft war; ein Auffassen in Bildern, aber in Bildern, welche entsprachen einer geistigen Wirklichkeit. Zur Entwickelung des menschlichen Erdenvollbewußtseins mußte, wie wir wissen, diese Art der Auffassung der Welt beim Menschen zurücktreten. Der Mensch wäre nicht frei geworden, wenn dieser Zustand verblieben wäre. Der Mensch wäre nicht frei geworden, wenn er nicht allen Gefahren und Anfechtungen und Versuchungen des Materialismus ausgesetzt gewesen wäre. Aber der Mensch muß auch wiederum den Weg zurückfinden zur geistigen Welt, die er ergreifen muß im vollen irdischen Bewußtsein.
Dies hängt zusammen mit ganz weiten Vorstellungskomplexen, die sich mit alledem geändert haben im Laufe der Menschheitsentwickelung, was sich so geändert hat, wie wir es jetzt angedeutet haben. Das Zusammenleben mit den aus diesem physischen Dasein hinweggegangenen Seelen war einfach für die Urzeit der Menschen ein selbstverständliches, das man nicht zu beweisen brauchte, denn in jenem Bewußtseinszustand, wo die Menschen in Bildern die geistige Welt wahrnahmen, lebten sie auch zusammen mit denjenigen, die irgendwie durch Karma mit ihnen verbunden waren im Leben und durch des Todes Pforte in die geistige Welt hinein gegangen waren. Sie wußten einfach: Die Toten sind vorhanden; sie sind nicht tot, sie leben; sie leben nur in einer anderen Form des Daseins. -— Dasjenige, was man wahrnimmt, braucht nicht erst bewiesen zu werden. Über Unsterblichkeit brauchte man in alten Zeiten der Menschheitsentwickelung nicht nachzudenken, denn man erlebte die sogenannten Toten. Aber weitgehende andere Wirkungen hatte dieses Zusammenleben mit den Toten. Die Toten fanden die Möglichkeit leichter als in der Gegenwart - ich sage nicht, daß sie sie in der Gegenwart nicht finden, aber ich sage, sie fanden die Möglichkeit leichter als in der Gegenwart —, durch die Menschen, denn dies ist der Weg, auf dem das geschehen kann, hier auf der Erde mitzuwirken bei dem, was auf der Erde geschieht. So daß dasjenige, was auf der Erde geschieht, in jenen Urzeiten der Menschheit so geschehen ist, daß in den Willensimpulsen der Menschen, in dem, was die Menschen sich vornahmen, was sie taten, mit die Toten wirkten.
Der Materialismus hat wahrhaftig nicht nur materialistische Vorstellungen heraufgebracht — das wäre der allergeringste Schaden, denn materialistische Vorstellungen als solche schaden am allerwenigsten —, der Materialismus hat eine ganz andere Form des Zusammenseins mit der geistigen Welt heraufgebracht. Es ist in viel geringerem Maße möglich geworden, daß die sogenannten Toten durch die sogenannten Lebendigen sich hier in der Evolution der Erde betätigen. Auch zu diesem Zusammenhang mit den Toten muß die Menschheit wiederum zurückkehren. Das wird aber nur möglich, wenn die Menschheit gewissermaßen lernt, die Sprache der Toten zu verstehen. Und die Sprache, in der man sich mit den Toten verständigen kann, ist eben keine andere als die Sprache der Geisteswissenschaft. Gewiß, es schaut zunächst so aus, als ob dasjenige, was uns die Geisteswissenschaft vermittelt, von mehr oder weniger bloß zu einer geistigen Gelehrsamkeit sprechenden Dingen handelt, von Weltenentwickelung, von Menschheitsentwickelung, von der Gliederung der Menschennatur, was vielleicht Dinge sind, von denen mancher sagen möchte, es interessiere ihn nicht; er wolle etwas anderes haben, was sein Herz, sein Gemüt warm macht. Gewiß, das letztere ist eine gute Forderung, es handelt sich darum, wie weit man im ganzen Zusammenhang mit einer gewissen Art der Befriedigung einer solchen Forderung kommt. Wir lernen scheinbar nur kennen, wie sich die Erde auf Saturn, Sonne, Mond entwickelt hat, wie sich die verschiedenen Kulturepochen auf der Erde entwickelt haben, wie sich die Menschenwesenheit gliedert. Aber indem wir uns den Gedanken an diese nur scheinbar abstrakten, in Wirklichkeit sehr konkreten Dinge hingeben, indem wir uns bemühen, so zu denken, daß diese Dinge wirklich in Bildern vor unseren Seelen stehen, lernen wir, mit einer bestimmten Art uns in Gedanken und Vorstellungen zu bewegen, die wir auf eine andere Weise nicht unserer Seele beibringen können. Wenn wir richtig fühlen, wie unser ganzes Vorstellen anders wird dadurch, daß wir uns mit solchen geisteswissenschaftlichen Dingen beschäftigen, dann kommt eine Zeit, wo wir es ebenso absurd finden, zu sagen: uns interessiert nicht, uns mit diesen Dingen zu beschäftigen, wie wir es bei dem Kinde absurd finden würden, wenn es sagte, mich interessiert es nicht, das gleichgültige A B C kennenzulernen, sondern ich will sprechen können! Gegenüber dem, was die lebendige Sprache uns vermittelt, ist dasjenige, was das Kind mit seinem leiblichen Dasein vereinigen muß im Sprechenlernen, ebenso ein Abstraktes, wie ein Abstraktes ist dasjenige, was an Vorstellungen die Geisteswissenschaft liefert zu dem, was aus dem Denken, aus dem ganzen Vorstellen und Empfinden der Seele wird unter dem Einfluß dieser geisteswissenschaftlichen Vorstellungen.
Dazu allerdings ist notwendig, daß man Geduld hat und daß man dasjenige, was die Geisteswissenschaft enthält, nicht seinem abstrakten Inhalt nach, sondern seinem Lebensinhalt nach annimmt. Das liegt nun dem heutigen Menschen mit Bezug auf dasjenige, was wir jetzt in Aussicht nehmen, ganz besonders fern. In anderer Beziehung freilich naturgemäß auch wiederum nahe. Denn der heutige Mensch ist gewöhnt, möglichst zufrieden zu sein, wenn er sich eine gewisse Sache, ein Kunstwerk auf irgendeinem Gebiete oder irgendeinen wissenschaftlichen Inhalt, einmal vor die Seele gerückt hat. Und wenn ein zweites Mal dasselbe vor die Seele tritt, liegt es heute so nahe, zu sagen, das kenne ich ja schon, damit habe ich mich schon einmal befaßt. — Das ist das Leben in Abstraktion. Auf einem anderen Gebiete, wo man das Leben seinem Lebensinhalte nach nimmt, seiner Lebenswirklichkeit nach, verfährt man nicht so. Denn man wird nicht leicht einen Menschen treffen, dem man ein Mittagsmahl vorsetzt, und der sich damit entschuldigt, nicht essen zu wollen, da er ja gestern oder vorgestern gegessen habe. Da vollführt der Mensch immer wieder und wiederum dasselbe. Das Leben lebt in Wiederholung des Gleichen. Soll das Geistige auch wirkliches Leben werden - und ohne daß es Leben wird, kann es uns nicht in Zusammenhang bringen mit der universellen geistigen Welt -, so muß es in unserer Seele gewissermaßen nachgebildet werden dem, was die Gesetze des Lebens in der ja auch aus dem Geiste heraus gebildeten, aber erstarrten physischen Welt sind. Und insbesondere werden wir gewahr, daß mit unserer Seele viel vorgeht, wenn wir in einer gewissen rhythmischen Regelmäßigkeit solche Eindrücke auf die Seele wirken lassen, welche eine gewisse Freiheit des Denkens, eine gewisse Emanzipiertheit des Denkens von der physischen Welt voraussetzen. Alles Heil, könnte man sagen — wenn man dieses sentimentale Wort anwenden darf -, alles Heil der geistigen Entwickelung des Menschen hängt davon ab, daß der Mensch sich dazu bequeme, das Geistige wirklich nicht in dem Sinne bloß zu nehmen, wie es heute bloß genommen wird, was charakterisiert werden kann mit dem: Oh, das kenne ich schon, damit habe ich mich schon beschäftigt -, sondern es im Lebenssinne zu nehmen, was immer verknüpft ist mit Wiederholung, mit einem, ich möchte sagen, Hintreten derselben Wirkung an dieselbe Stelle. Gerade wenn wir uns angelegen sein lassen, unsere Seele von geistigem Leben also zu durchsetzen, dann steigert sich auch unsere geistige innere Aufmerksamkeitsfähigkeit. Sie wird so intim, daß wir jene wichtigen Momente innerlich seelisch ins Auge fassen können, in denen die, ich möchte sagen, am meisten zum Herzen sprechenden Zusammenhänge mit der geistigen Welt sich entwickeln können.
Zum Beispiel ist ein bedeutungsvoller Augenblick für den Verkehr mit der geistigen Welt derjenige des Einschlafens und derjenige des Aufwachens. Nun, der Augenblick des Einschlafens, der wird ja weniger fruchtbar sein für die meisten Menschen im Anfang ihrer geistigen Entwickelung, weil man eben hinterher eingeschlafen ist und damit das Bewußtsein so herabgetrübt ist, daß man das Geistige nicht wahrnimmt. Aber sehr fruchtbar kann werden der Augenblick des Übergehens aus dem Schlafen in das Wachen, wenn wir uns angewöhnen, diesen Augenblick nicht einfach unaufmerksam zu übertauchen, sondern wenn wir versuchen, Aufmerksamkeit auf ihn zu wenden, wenn wir versuchen, aufzuwachen so, daß das Bewußtsein gekommen ist, aber die Außenwelt nicht gleich mit ihrer groben Brutalität an uns herantritt. In dieser Beziehung liegt in Volksgebräuchen, die aus alten Zeiten herstammen, viel Richtiges, das man heute noch wenig versteht. Das einfache Volk, das noch nicht beleckt ist von der intellektuellen Kultur, sagt: Wenn man aufwacht, soll man nicht gleich ins Licht schauen. Also nicht gleich von außen einen brutalen Eindruck haben, sondern etwas in dem Zustand bleiben des Erwachtseins, aber noch nicht Eindrücke bekommen von der äußeren Welt.
Wenn man dieses beobachtet, bleibt die Möglichkeit, gerade in diesem Moment des Aufwachens zu sehen, wie die karmisch mit uns verbundenen Toten an uns herankommen. Sie kommen nicht nur in diesem Augenblick an uns heran, aber dieser Augenblick ist derjenige, wo wir sie am besten wahrnehmen können. Und wir nehmen in diesem Augenblick nicht nur das wahr, sondern wir nehmen auch wahr, was in der Zeit außer diesem Augenblick zwischen den Toten und uns vorgeht. Denn die Wahrnehmung, die Perzeption der geistigen Welt, ist nicht in der gleichen Weise an die Zeit gebunden wie die Wahrnehmung der physischen Welt. Hierin liegt sogar eine Schwierigkeit in bezug auf das Auffassen der geistigen Welt und ihrer Wesenheit. Ein Augenblick des Wahrnehmens kann uns aus der geistigen Welt etwas über einen weiten Zeitraum sich Erstreckendes eben ganz momentan, ganz augenblicklich enthüllen. Die Schwierigkeit liegt darin, Geistesgegenwart genug zu haben, um dasjenige, was über weitere Zeiträume ausgedehnt ist, im Moment aufzufassen. Denn der Moment kann, wie dies meistens der Fall ist, im Status nascens vorübergehen. Im Entstehen ist zugleich die Sache wieder vergessen. Das ist überhaupt eine Schwierigkeit des Erfassens der geistigen Welt. Würde diese Schwierigkeit nicht vorliegen, so würden, namentlich in der Gegenwart, sehr viele Menschen die Eindrücke der geistigen Welt schon empfangen.
Aber auch in anderen Lebensmomenten ist die Möglichkeit da, daß die geistige Welt in uns hineindringt. Zum Beispiel jedesmal, wenn wir einen Gedanken so entwickeln, daß der Gedanke aus uns entspringt. Wenn wir uns einfach dem Leben überlassen, wenn wir so im Leben hinschwimmen, dann ist wenig Wahrscheinlichkeit vorhanden, daß die echte, die wahre, die innerlich lebendige geistige Welt in uns hereinwirkt; aber in dem Moment, wo wir innerlich eine Initiative ergreifen, wo wir vor eine Entscheidung gestellt sind, daß wir uns selbst entschließen müssen, sei es auch in den kleinsten Dingen, da ist auch wiederum der günstigste Zeitpunkt da, daß namentlich die karmisch mit uns verbundenen Toten in unsere Bewußtseinssphäre hereinkommen. Es brauchen solche Augenblicke nicht wichtige Augenblicke in dem Sinne zu sein, was man so «wichtig» nennt im äußeren materiellen Leben. Es ist wirklich so, daß zuweilen dasjenige, was für die geistige Erfahrung wichtig ist, nicht wichtig erscheint im äußeren Leben. Aber für den, der solche Dinge durchschaut, scheint es außerordentlich klar zu sein, daß solche, vielleicht äußerlich unwichtige, innerlich außerordentlich wichtige Ereignisse, die da eintreten, tief karmisch bedingt sind. So ist es schon notwendig, intimere Seelenvorgänge zu betrachten, wenn man zum Verständnis der geistigen Welt kommen will. So zum Beispiel kann es sich herausstellen, daß ein Mensch auf der Straße geht oder in seinem Zimmer sitzt und irgendein unerwarteter Knall, ein unerwarteter Schall sich ereignet. Er erschrickt. Er kann einen Moment des Besinnens nach diesem Erschrecken haben, der ihm zeigt: Während dieses Erschreckens ist ihm aus der geistigen Welt Wichtiges geoffenbart worden. Man muß auf solche Dinge nur die Aufmerksamkeit wenden. Zumeist wendet der Mensch deshalb nicht die Aufmerksamkeit auf diese Dinge, weil er sich nur mit dem Erschrecken beschäftigt. Er denkt nur, wie er erschrocken ist. Daher ist es so wichtig, in der Weise, wie Sie es angedeutet finden können in meinem Buche «Theosophie» am Schlusse, oder in «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?», sich Gleichgewicht der Seele zu erwerben. Denn erwirbt man sich dieses Gleichgewicht der Seele, ist man nicht so perplex nach dem Erschrekken, daß man nur diesem Erschrecken sich hingibt, dann wird sich schon aufdrängen, wenn auch in intimer Weise, was man gerade in einem solchen, eben scheinbar unwichtigen, innerlich aber durchaus wichtigen Augenblick erlebt hat.
Das alles sind natürlich Anfänge, die sich weiter entwickeln müssen. Denn indem wir diese Dinge entwickeln: Aufmerksamkeit auf den Moment des Aufwachens, Aufmerksamkeit auf den Moment, wo wir aufgerüttelt werden von außen nach der einen oder anderen Seite -, lernen wir wieder auffinden den Zusammenhang mit dem großen Kosmos, der stofflich und geistig ist, in dem wir als ein Glied drinnen stehen und aus dem wir herausgekommen sind; herausgekommen allerdings sind dazu, um freie Menschen zu werden, aber wir sind eben herausgekommen. In Wahrheit ist es schon so, wie der Mensch auch in der Urzeit angenommen hat, daß er nicht so verloren, gewissermaßen wie ein Welten-Eremit, auf der Erde herumgeht, was jetzt geglaubt wird. Sondern wahr ist es schon, was der Mensch der Urzeit angenommen hat, daß er ein Glied ist in dem ganzen großen kosmischen Zusammenhang, wie ein Finger ein Glied ist an unserem Organismus. Dieses Gefühl hat man heute nicht mehr, wenigstens die Mehrzahl der Menschen hat es nicht, ein Glied zu sein im großen Weltenorganismus, soweit er als Geistiges sich in einem Sichtbaren auslebt. Trotzdem könnte heute ein gewöhnliches wissenschaftliches Nachdenken den Menschen schon lehren, daß er mit seinem Leben ein solches Glied der ganzen Weltenordnung ist, in der er als Organismus drinnensteht. Nehmen Sie etwas sehr Einfaches, was jeder durch eine einfache Rechnung sich sagen kann.
Nicht wahr, wir wissen alle, daß die Sonne im Frühling, am 21. März, an einem bestimmten Punkt des Himmels aufgeht. Wir nennen diesen Punkt den Frühlingspunkt. Wir wissen aber auch, daß dieser Frühlingspunkt nicht jedes Jahr derselbe ist, sondern daß er fortrückt. Wir wissen, daß jetzt die Sonne in den Fischen aufgeht. Vor dem fünfzehnten Jahrhundert ist sie im Widder aufgegangen. Die Astronomie hat das beibehalten, «im Widder» zu sagen, aber das stimmt nicht mit der Wirklichkeit. - Diese Nebenbemerkung ist in diesem Augenblick nicht wichtig. — Also dieser Frühlingspunkt rückt vor; immer ein Stück weiter vorgerückt im Tierkreis geht die Sonne im Frühling auf. Daraus ist leicht zu sehen, daß sie in einer gewissen Zeit durch den ganzen Tierkreis wandelt, daß der Aufgangspunkt durch den ganzen Tierkreis wandelt. Nun, die Zeit, die notwendig ist, damit die Sonne so durch den ganzen Tierkreis wandelt, ist etwa 25 920 Jahre. Also wenn Sie den Frühlingspunkt in einem gewissen Jahr nehmen: im nächsten Jahr ist er vorgerückt, im nächsten Jahr wieder vorgerückt. Vergehen 25 920 Jahre, so kommt der Frühlingspunkt wieder auf denselben Punkt zurück. Also 25 920 Jahre ist ein für unser Sonnensystem außerordentlich bedeutungsvoller Zeitraum: Die Sonne vollendet einen Weltenschritt, möchte ich sagen, indem sie in ihrem Frühlingsaufgang auf denselben Punkt zurückkehrt. Nun hat Plato, der große griechische Philosoph, diese 25 920 Jahre ein Weltenjahr genannt — das große platonische Weltenjahr. Merkwürdig ist nun — schon sehr merkwürdig, aber wenn man auf diese ganze Merkwürdigkeit eingeht, unendlich tief bedeutungsvoll - erscheinend — das Folgende.
Normal hat der Mensch in der Minute 18 Atemzüge. Sie ändern sich: In der Kindheit sind sie etwas zahlreicher, im Alter weniger zahlreich, aber durchschnittlich sind beim normalen Menschen 18 Atemzüge richtig. Rechnen wir uns einmal aus, wieviel das Atemzüge in einem Tage macht. Es ist eine einfache Rechnung: 18 mal 60, dann haben wir in einer Stunde 1080; das mal 24, die Stunden am Tage, ergibt 25 920 Atemzüge in einem Tage. Sie sehen daraus, daß dieselbe Zahl gewissermaßen regiert den menschlichen Tag mit Bezug auf seine Atemzüge, wie das große Weltenjahr durch diese Zahl regiert wird im Umgang des Frühlingspunktes durch den Tierkreis.
Das ist eines der Zeugnisse, welches uns zeigt, daß wir nicht bloß so eine allgemeine, verschwommene, dunkel-mystische Redensart gebrauchen, wenn wir sagen: Mikrokosmos — Abbild des Makrokosmos, sondern daß der Mensch wirklich in einer wichtigen Tätigkeit, von der sein Leben in jedem Augenblick abhängt, von derselben Zahl regiert wird, von demselben Maß regiert wird, wie der Sonne Umlauf, in den er hineingestellt ist.
Aber jetzt nehmen wir einmal noch etwas anderes: Nicht wahr, das Patriarchenalter, wie es gewöhnlich genannt wird, ist 70 Menschenjahre. 70 Menschenjahre sind natürlich nicht eine unbedingt bindende Zahl für den Menschen. Man kann selbstverständlich viel älter werden, aber der Mensch ist eben ein freies Wesen und übersteigt zuweilen weit solche Grenzpunkte. Aber halten wir uns an diese Patriarchenzeit und sagen wir: Der Mensch lebt durchschnittlich, normal, 70 bis 71 Jahre. Und untersuchen wir, wieviel Tage das sind, dann haben wir, nicht wahr, 365,25 Tage für das Jahr. Nehmen wir zunächst dieses mal 70, da haben wir 25 567,5; und nehmen wir 71, so hätten wir 365,25 mal 71 = 25 932,75. Sie sehen, bei 70 Jahren bekommen wir 25 567,5 Tage, bei 71 Jahren 25 932,75 Tage. Daraus ersehen Sie aber, daß zwischen 70 und 71 Jahren eben der Zeitpunkt liegt, wo das menschliche Leben genau 25 920 Tage umfaßt, so daß das Patriarchenalter eben dasjenige ist, welches 25 920 Tage umfaßt. Sie haben also den menschlichen Tag dadurch bestimmt, daß er 25 920 Atemzüge hat. Sie haben die menschliche Lebenszeit dadurch bestimmt, daß sie 25 920 Tage zählt.
Nun wollen wir noch etwas untersuchen. Und das ist jetzt nicht schwer. Sie werden leicht einsehen, daß, wenn ich 25 920 Jahre, die der Sonnen-Frühlingspunkt braucht, um durch den Tierkreis hindurchzugehen, dividiere durch 365,25, so muß ich herausbekommen ungefähr 70 oder 71. Da bekomme ich 70 bis 71 heraus, denn ich habe es durch Multiplikation auch erhalten. Das heißt, wenn ich das platonische Jahr so behandle, daß es eben ein großes Jahr ist, und ich es dividiere, so daß ich einen Tag herausbekomme, so werde ich bekommen, was dann der Tag für das platonische Jahr ist. Was ist das? Das ist ein menschlicher Lebenslauf. Ein menschlicher Lebenslauf verhält sich zum platonischen Jahr wie ein Tag des Menschen zu einem Jahr.
Die Luft ist um uns herum. Wir atmen sie ein und atmen sie aus. Sie ist zahlenmäßig so geregelt, daß sie, indem sie 25 920 mal geatmet wird, unseren Lebenstag abgibt. Was ist denn aber eigentlich dasjenige, was nun ein Lebenstag ist? Ein Lebenstag besteht ja darin, daß unser Ich und Astralleib aus unserem physischen Leib und Ätherleib herausgehen und wieder hineingehen. So daß Tag auf Tag sich das folgt: Das Ich und der Astralleib gehen hinaus, gehen hinein, gehen hinaus, gehen hinein, so wie der Atem aus- und eingeht. Viele unserer Freunde werden sich erinnern, daß ich sogar, um die Sache klarzumachen, in öffentlichen Vorträgen diesen Wechsel von Wachen und Schlafen mit einem langen Atemzug verglichen habe. So wie wir beim Atemzug die Luft aus- und einatmen, so gehen, indem wir aufwachen und einschlafen, Astralleib und Ich in den Ätherleib und physischen Leib hinein und hinaus. Damit aber ist nichts anderes gesagt, als: Es gibt ein Wesen, es kann ein Wesen vorausgesetzt werden, welches atmet, so wie wir atmen in einer achtzehntel Minute, ein Wesen, welches atmet, und dessen Atmen unser Aus- und Eingehen des Astralleibes und des Ich bedeutet. Dieses Wesen ist nichts anderes als das wirklich lebendige Erdenwesen. Indem die Erde Tag und Nacht erlebt, atmet sie, und ihr Atemprozeß trägt unser Schlafen und Wachen auf seinen Flügeln. Das ist der Atmungsprozeß eines größeren Wesens. Und jetzt nehmen Sie den Atmungsprozeß eines größeren Wesens, der Sonne, die da herumgeht. So wie die Erde einen Tag zubringt mit dem Herauslassen und Hereinholen des Ich und Astralleibes in den Menschen, so bringt das große, aber geistig der Sonne entsprechende Wesen uns Menschen hervor; denn die 79 bis 71 Jahre sind ja, wie wir nachgewiesen haben, ein Tag des Sonnenjahres, des großen platonischen Jahres. Unser gesamtes Menschenleben ist eine Aus- und Einatmung dieses großen Wesens, dem das platonische Jahr zugeteilt ist. Sie sehen: Wir haben einen kleinen Atem in einer achtzehntel Minute, der unser Leben regelt; wir stehen im Leben der Erde drinnen, deren Atemzug Tag und Nacht umfaßt: das entspricht unserem Hinaus- und Hereingehen des Ich und Astralleibes in den physischen und Ätherleib; und wir sind selber hereingeatmet von dem großen Wesen, dem der Sonnenumlauf entspricht als sein Leben, und unser Leben ist ein Atemzug dieses großen Wesens. Nun sehen Sie, wie wir im Makrokosmos drinnenstehen, wirklich drinnenstehen als ein Mikrokosmos, derselben Gesetzmäßigkeit in bezug auf die universellen Wesen unterliegend, wie der Atemzug in uns unserem menschlichen Wesen unterliegt. Da regiert Zahl und Maß. Aber was das Großartige, Bedeutungsvolle und uns tief zu Herzen Gehende ist: Zahl und Maß regiert in gleicher Art den großen Kosmos, den Makrokosmos und den Mikrokosmos. Es ist nicht eine bloße Redensart, es ist nicht bloß etwas mystisch Erfühltes, sondern etwas, was uns gerade die weisheitsvolle Betrachtung der Welt lehrt, daß wir als Mikrokosmos in dem Makrokosmos drinnenstehen.
Wenn man solche ja ganz einfache Rechnungen macht - denn sie sind natürlich mit den allergebräuchlichsten wissenschaftlichen Zahlen zu erreichen —, und hat nicht ein Herz wie ein Holzklotz, sondern ein für die Geheimnisse des Weltendaseins fühlendes Herz, dann hört auch der Satz: Wir sind in das Weltenall hineingestellt — auf, ein bloß abstrakter Satz zu sein; er wird ein sehr lebendiger. Ein Wissen blüht auf, ein Fühlen, und trägt seine Früchte in den Willensimpulsen, und der ganze Mensch lebt das große Leben des göttlichen Weltenseins mit. Das ist aber der Weg, auf dem wir gewissermaßen den Anschluß finden in die geistige Welt hinein, und der muß gefunden werden in der Zeit, auf die wir ja hinwiesen in der letzten Betrachtung, in der der Christus auf der Erde ätherisch wandelt. Ich habe letzthin sogar auf das Jahr hingewiesen, in dem er begonnen hat, ätherisch auf unserer Erde zu wandeln. Er muß gefunden werden! Die Menschen müssen sich nur gewöhnen, den Zusammenhang, den intimen Zusammenhang erst wahrzunehmen, der schon aus dem Weltendasein heraus sich ergibt und der bewirken muß, wenn er wahrgenommen wird, daß das Bedürfnis, der intensive Trieb entsteht, diesen Anschluß an die geistige Welt zu suchen. Denn es wird gar nicht mehr lange dauern, dann werden die Menschen wenigstens gezwungen sein, eines einzusehen, das ist das Folgende.
Man kann zwar die geistige Welt ableugnen, wenn man durch den Materialismus abgestumpft ist, aber man kann nicht in sich die Kräfte ertöten, die fähig sind, mit der geistigen Welt einen Zusammenhang zu suchen. Hinwegtäuschen kann man sich über die Existenz einer geistigen Welt, aber ertöten kann man die Kräfte in der Seele nicht, welche geeignet sind, den Menschen mit der geistigen Welt zusammenzubringen. Das aber hat etwas sehr Bedeutsames im Gefolge, und etwas, was man wohl berücksichtigen sollte gerade in unserer Zeit: Kräfte, die da sind, wirken, auch wenn man sie ableugnet. Der Materialist verbietet den nach dem Spirituellen gehenden Kräften in seiner Seele nicht, daß sie wirken; er kann es ihnen nicht verbieten; sie wirken. Also kann einer Materialist sein, können Sie sagen, und die nach dem Spirituellen gehenden Kräfte wirken doch in ihm. Ja, es ist so. Sie wirken in ihm. Es hilft nichts, sie wirken in ihm. Und was bewirken sie denn? Kräfte, die da sind, können zwar in bezug auf ihre ureigene Wirksamkeit unterdrückt werden; dann verwandeln sie sich aber in andere Kräfte. Und wenn man die Kräfte, die nach dem Spirituellen gehen, nicht verwendet, um Verständnis zu suchen des Spirituellen — ich sage jetzt nur «Verständnis» zu suchen des Spirituellen, mehr braucht man zunächst nicht -, wenn man diese Kräfte nicht dazu verwendet, dann verwandeln sie sich in Illusionskraft im menschlichen Leben. Dann wirken sie so, daß der Mensch sich im gewöhnlichen Leben in bezug auf die äußere Welt allen möglichen Illusionen hingibt. Das ist in unserer Zeit nicht so unbedeutsam einzusehen, denn in keiner Zeit haben die Menschen gewissermaßen mehr phantasiert als in unserer Zeit, obwohl sie die Phantasie nicht lieben. Das Phantasieren erstreckt sich nicht nur auf bestimmte Gebiete. Und man könnte, wenn man anfinge, Beispiele zu geben, was die Leute phantasieren, da sie doch nur Realisten, Materialisten sein wollen, wirklich auf alle möglichen Gebiete Licht werfen; man käme an kein Ende. Man könnte anfangen — nun, wir wollen nicht ketzerisch sein, aber wenn man zum Beispiel begönne damit, den Blick zu werfen auf das, was gewisse, sagen wir Staatsmänner, über den wahrscheinlichen Gang der Ereignisse in der Welt, vielleicht nur vor Wochen, vorausgesagt haben und was dann eingetroffen ist; wenn man diese Dinge vergleicht, wird man finden, daß die Illusionsfähigkeit schon seit vielen Jahren nicht gar klein ist.
Nun, man kann alle Gebiete des Lebens in dieser Weise durchforschen, es ist ganz merkwürdig, wie man überall, überall heute die Illusionsfähigkeit ganz bedeutsam entwickelt findet. Diese Illusionsfähigkeit gibt gerade den Lebensauffassungen und Lebensgesinnungen der materialistisch gestimmten Leute zuweilen etwas Kindliches, um nicht zu sagen Kindisches. Wenn man heute sieht, was dazu gehört, damit Menschen das eine oder andere begreifen, was dazu gehört, sie mit der Nase drauf zu stoßen, dann wird man schon einen Begriff davon bekommen, was hier als «kindlich» um nicht zu sagen «kindisch», gemeint ist. Nun, so ist es. Wenn die Menschen sich abwenden von der geistigen Welt, dann müssen sie es damit bezahlen, daß sie illusionsfähig werden, daß sie die Fähigkeit verlieren, zutreffende Begriffe über die äußere physische Wirklichkeit und ihren Gang zu haben. Sie müssen auf einem anderen Gebiet phantasieren, weil sie an die Wahrheit jetzt Wahrheit, ob sie nun auf das geistige oder physische Leben sich bezieht - sich nicht halten wollen.
Ich habe Ihnen ein naheliegendes Beispiel einmal angeführt, und wenn es auch pro domo gesprochen ist, so ist es doch ein typisches Beispiel: Man kann immer wiederum ganz verurteilende Besprechungen finden über diejenige Geisteswissenschaft, die von mir vertreten wird. Warum, das begründen die Betreffenden damit, daß sie sagen: Der phantasiert ja nur alles! Und das ist nicht erlaubt, nur zu phantasieren! — Also die Menschen wollen nicht mitgehen in die wirkliche geistige Welt, weil sie das für Phantasterei halten, und das Phantasieren verachten sie. Und dann schließen sie daran allerlei Auseinandersetzungen, die mit der Wirklichkeit so übereinstimmen wie das Weiße mit dem Schwarzen, zum Beispiel über meine Abstammung, über die Art und Weise dessen, was ich da oder dort getan habe. Da entwickeln sie die kühnste Phantasie. Da sehen Sie es unmittelbar nebeneinander gestellt: Flucht vor der _ geistigen Welt mit Befähigung zur Illusion! Das bemerkt der Betreffende nicht, aber das ist ganz gesetzmäßig. Ein gewisses Quantum von Kraft ist da gerichtet nach der geistigen Welt; ein gewisses Quantum von Kraft ist da gerichtet nach der physischen Welt. Wird das nach der geistigen Welt gerichtete Quantum nicht angewendet, so lenkt es sich dann nach der physischen Welt, nicht, um dort das Wirkliche und Wahre zu erfassen, sondern um dort den Menschen in Lebensillusionen zu stürzen. Dies läßt sich nicht im einzelnen Falle gleich so beobachten, daß man sagen kann: Aha, da ist der; der wird durch seine Abneigung vor der geistigen Welt in Illusionen gestürzt! — Solche Beispiele findet man schon, aber man muß sie suchen; daß es aber im Leben nicht so ohne weiteres sich nachweisen läßt, das kommt davon her, weil das Leben kompliziert ist und eines das andere beeinflußt. Es ist immer so, daß durchaus die stärkere Seele die schwächere Seele beeinflußt. So liegt, wenn man bei einer Seele ein Stück Illusionsfähigkeit findet, schon irgendwie der Grund zu dieser Illusionsfähigkeit in einem Haß oder einer Abneigung vor der geistigen Welt; es braucht nicht in der Seele, die illusioniert ist, selber zu liegen, sondern es kann suggeriert sein. Denn auf geistigen Gebieten ist die Ansteckungskraft viel größer als auf irgendeinem physischen Gebiete.
Wie das mit dem allgemeinen Menschheitskarma zusammenhängt, wie diese Dinge überhaupt, wenn man sie betrachtet und dieses wichtige Gesetz der Metamorphose der Seelenkräfte ins Auge faßt, eine Metamorphose, eine Umwandlung der nach dem Geistigen gewendeten Kräfte zur Illusionskraft, im ganzen Zusammenhang des Lebens wirken und mit den Entwickelungsbedingungen unserer Gegenwart und der nächsten Zukunft zusammenhängen, das wird dann Gegenstand der nächsten Betrachtung sein, wo wir fortfahren werden, dies Heutige auszuführen und dann anzuknüpfen an das Christus- und auch an das gegenwärtige Zeit-Mysterium, um dann einige Ausblicke wiederum zu gewinnen für die Bedeutung der geistigen Anschauung im allgemeinen.
Second Lecture
The considerations we made here eight days ago culminated in the realization that spiritual researchers are well aware that, despite the fact that the external world is currently experiencing the peak, the culmination of materialistic views and attitudes, we are nevertheless spiritually in the early stages of a dematerialization of thoughts and the worlds of ideas, which in the course of time must also lead to a spiritualization, to a permeation with the spirit of earthly life as such. For that which is to grasp the outer life of the physical plane must first be grasped by a few and then by more and more people in spiritual understanding, in spiritual comprehension. And spiritual science should be a beginning in this respect, so that people may rise in their souls to what souls can already rise to today if they want to, and of which outer physical life is not yet a reflection, but must become one if the earth is not to sink into the morass of materialistic development. One could describe the situation of human beings today by saying that their souls are actually very close to the spiritual world in general; but the ideas and especially the feelings that come from a materialistic worldview and a materialistic attitude toward the world have woven a veil over what is actually very close to the human soul today. The connection between physical earthly existence — in which modern man, despite many declarations to the contrary, stands with his whole being — and the spiritual world can be found by human beings when they try to develop inner, courageous forces in order to comprehend not only what what they can understand through the presentation of nature to their outer senses, but also to understand what remains invisible, what remains supersensible, but with which one can unite and experience if one stirs up the inner power of the soul to such an extent that one realizes that a superhuman spiritual element lives in this inner power of the soul.
This connection must not be sought in the same way that human connections are sought today and pursued in the coarse outer sensory existence. For the connection between the human soul and the spiritual world is to be found in the intimate forces of the human soul; in forces that the human soul develops when it unfolds its attention, an inner, quiet, calm attention, which human beings must first educate themselves to do after having become accustomed in the materialistic age to directing their attention solely to what imposes itself on them with force from outside, what, so to speak, marches up to their powers of perception. The spirit that is to be experienced within does not cry out; it makes itself wait, and one comes close to it when one tries to prepare oneself for this closeness. If we can say of the things of the outer world that present themselves to our senses, that impose themselves on our outer perception, that they come toward us, that they speak to us, we cannot use similar words to describe the way in which the spirit, the spiritual world, comes toward us. Since today's language, as I have often said, is more or less shaped by the external physical world, it is difficult to find words that accurately reflect what stands before the soul in the spiritual world. But we can at least try to show how differently the spiritual approaches human beings than the physical. One might say that the spiritual is experienced by feeling, at the moment of experiencing it, that one owes it something. Take this word precisely: one owes something to the spiritual world.
We relate to the physical world in such a way that we say: before our senses lies the mineral kingdom, from which arises the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, and then our own kingdom, the human kingdom. And within the human kingdom, we feel ourselves, as it were, standing above the succession of these outer kingdoms. We feel ourselves to be below the spiritual realms, with the other realms rising above us, the realms of the angeloi, archangeloi, archai, and so on. And we feel that at every moment we are sustained by these realms and, in essence, continually brought into being by them. We owe ourselves to these realms. We look up to them, saying: Our own life, the content of our soul flows down from the willful thoughts of the beings of these realms and continually forms us. This feeling of indebtedness to the higher realms should be developed in human beings just as vividly as the feeling, say, that we receive impressions from outside through our physical perception. When these two feelings — that external sensory things affect us, and that what lives at the center of our being is owed to the higher hierarchies — are equally alive in our soul, then the soul is in that balance where it can continually perceive in the right way the interaction of the spiritual and the physical, which is indeed taking place continuously, but which cannot be perceived without the balance of these two characterized sensations.
The development into the future must now take place in such a way that, through the presence of these two sensations in the human soul, forces grow in the earth's development which cannot grow in the present materialistic age. We know, of course, that what is meant here points to something that has changed greatly in the course of human evolution. The connection with the spiritual world existed, albeit in a dimly conscious form, only in the primeval period of human evolution. In the early stages of their development, human beings did not only have the two states they have now, waking and sleeping, with chaotic dreaming in between, but they also had a third state that mediated reality, which was not merely dreaming, but a perception in images, even if consciousness was dulled; a perception in images, but in images that corresponded to a spiritual reality. As we know, this way of perceiving the world had to recede in humans for the development of full human consciousness on earth. Humans would not have become free if this state had remained. Humans would not have become free if they had not been exposed to all the dangers, challenges, and temptations of materialism. But human beings must also find their way back to the spiritual world, which they must grasp in full earthly consciousness.
This is connected with very broad complexes of ideas that have changed along with everything else in the course of human evolution, which has changed as we have now indicated. Living together with souls that had passed away from this physical existence was simply a matter of course for the early humans, something that did not need to be proven, because in that state of consciousness, where humans perceived the spiritual world in images, they also lived together with those who were somehow connected to them through karma in life and had passed through the gate of death into the spiritual world. They simply knew: the dead are present; they are not dead, they live; they live only in another form of existence. — That which one perceives does not need to be proven first. In the early stages of human development, there was no need to think about immortality, because people experienced the so-called dead. But this coexistence with the dead had far-reaching other effects. The dead found it easier than in the present—I am not saying that they do not find it in the present, but I am saying that they found it easier than in the present—through human beings, for this is the way in which it can happen, here on earth, to participate in what is happening on earth. So that what happened on earth in those primeval times of humanity happened in such a way that the dead worked together with the will impulses of human beings, in what human beings set out to do, in what they did.
Materialism has truly not only brought forth materialistic ideas — that would be the least of the damage, for materialistic ideas as such do the least harm — materialism has brought forth a completely different form of coexistence with the spiritual world. It has become much less possible for the so-called dead to work here in the evolution of the earth through the so-called living. Humanity must return to this connection with the dead. But this will only be possible if humanity learns, in a sense, to understand the language of the dead. And the language in which one can communicate with the dead is none other than the language of spiritual science. Certainly, at first glance it seems as if what spiritual science teaches us is more or less merely intellectual scholarship, dealing with the evolution of worlds, the evolution of humanity, the structure of human nature—things that some people might say they are not interested in, that they want something else that warms their hearts and minds. Certainly, the latter is a good demand, but the question is how far one can go in the whole context of satisfying such a demand. We seem to learn only how the earth developed on Saturn, the sun, and the moon, how the various cultural epochs developed on earth, how human beings are structured. But by giving ourselves over to thinking about these things, which are only seemingly abstract but in reality very concrete, by striving to think in such a way that these things really stand before our souls in images, we learn to move in our thoughts and imaginations in a certain way that we cannot teach our souls in any other way. If we feel correctly how our whole imagination changes as a result of occupying ourselves with such spiritual-scientific things, then a time comes when we find it just as absurd to say, “We are not interested in occupying ourselves with these things,” as we would find it absurd if a child said, “I am not interested in learning the ABCs, but I want to be able to speak!” Compared to what living language conveys to us, what the child must unite with its physical existence in learning to speak is just as abstract as the ideas provided by spiritual science are abstract in relation to what becomes of thinking, of the whole imagination and feeling of the soul under the influence of these spiritual scientific ideas.
To do this, however, it is necessary to have patience and to accept what spiritual science contains not for its abstract content, but for its life content. This is now particularly foreign to modern man in relation to what we are now considering. In other respects, of course, it is naturally close to him. For modern man is accustomed to being as satisfied as possible once he has brought a certain thing, a work of art in some field or some scientific content, before his soul. And when the same thing comes before his soul a second time, it is so natural today to say, I already know that, I have already dealt with it. — That is life in abstraction. In another field, where one takes life according to its content, according to its reality, one does not proceed in this way. For one will not easily meet a person who, when offered lunch, excuses himself by saying that he does not want to eat because he ate yesterday or the day before. Human beings do the same thing over and over again. Life consists of the repetition of the same thing. If the spiritual is to become real life—and without becoming life it cannot connect us with the universal spiritual world—it must be reproduced in our soul in a manner of speaking, in accordance with the laws of life in the physical world, which is also formed out of the spirit but has become rigid. And we become particularly aware that a great deal is happening within our soul when we allow impressions to act upon it with a certain rhythmic regularity, impressions that presuppose a certain freedom of thought, a certain emancipation of thought from the physical world. All salvation, one might say — if one may use this sentimental word — all salvation of the spiritual development of the human being depends on the human being's willingness to take the spiritual not merely in the sense in which it is taken today, which can be characterized by the saying: Oh, I already know that, I've already dealt with that — but rather to take it in the sense of life, which is always connected with repetition, with, I would say, the same effect occurring in the same place. Precisely when we make it our business to fill our soul with spiritual life, our inner spiritual ability to pay attention increases. It becomes so intimate that we can inwardly grasp those important moments in which, I would say, the most heartfelt connections with the spiritual world can develop.
For example, a meaningful moment for communication with the spiritual world is the moment of falling asleep and the moment of waking up. Now, the moment of falling asleep will be less fruitful for most people at the beginning of their spiritual development, because they have just fallen asleep and their consciousness is so clouded that they do not perceive the spiritual. But the moment of transition from sleep to wakefulness can become very fruitful if we get into the habit of not simply letting this moment pass by inattention, but if we try to turn our attention to it, if we try to wake up in such a way that consciousness has come, but the outer world does not immediately approach us with its coarse brutality. In this respect, there is much that is right in folk customs that have come down from ancient times, but which is little understood today. The simple people, who have not yet been corrupted by intellectual culture, say: When you wake up, you should not look at the light immediately. In other words, don't get a brutal impression from the outside right away, but remain in a state of awakening without yet receiving impressions from the outside world.
If you observe this, it is possible to see, at the very moment of waking up, how the dead who are karmically connected to us approach us. They do not only approach us at this moment, but this moment is when we can perceive them best. And at this moment, we not only perceive this, but we also perceive what is happening between the dead and us in the time outside this moment. For perception, the perception of the spiritual world, is not bound to time in the same way as the perception of the physical world. This even presents a difficulty in relation to understanding the spiritual world and its essence. A moment of perception can reveal to us something from the spiritual world that extends over a long period of time, but only momentarily, instantaneously. The difficulty lies in having enough presence of mind to grasp in the moment that which is extended over longer periods of time. For the moment can, as is usually the case, pass in the status nascens. In the process of arising, the thing is already forgotten. This is a general difficulty in grasping the spiritual world. If this difficulty did not exist, then, especially in the present, very many people would already be receiving impressions from the spiritual world.
But even in other moments of life, there is the possibility that the spiritual world can penetrate us. For example, every time we develop a thought in such a way that the thought springs from within us. If we simply surrender ourselves to life, if we just drift along in life, then there is little likelihood that the genuine, true, inwardly living spiritual world will have an effect on us; but the moment we take the initiative inwardly, when we are faced with a decision that we must make for ourselves, even in the smallest things, then the most favorable moment is there again for the dead who are karmically connected to us to enter our sphere of consciousness. Such moments need not be important moments in the sense of what is called “important” in outer material life. It is really true that sometimes what is important for spiritual experience does not appear important in outer life. But for those who see through such things, it seems extremely clear that such events, which may be outwardly unimportant but inwardly extremely important, are deeply karmically conditioned. Thus, it is necessary to consider more intimate soul processes if one wants to understand the spiritual world. For example, it may happen that a person is walking down the street or sitting in their room and there is an unexpected bang, an unexpected sound. They are startled. They may have a moment of reflection after this fright, which shows them that during this fright, something important has been revealed to them from the spiritual world. One only has to pay attention to such things. Most people do not pay attention to these things because they are preoccupied with their fright. They only think about how frightened they are. That is why it is so important to acquire balance of soul in the way I have indicated at the end of my book Theosophy, or in How to Know Higher Worlds. For if you acquire this balance of the soul, you will not be so perplexed after the fright that you give yourself over to it, and then what you have just experienced in such a seemingly unimportant but inwardly very important moment will impose itself upon you, albeit in an intimate way.
All this is, of course, only the beginning, and must be developed further. For by developing these things—attention to the moment of awakening, attention to the moment when we are shaken from the outside in one direction or another—we learn to rediscover the connection with the great cosmos, which is material and spiritual, in which we stand as a member and from which we have come out; we have come out, however, in order to become free human beings, but we have come out nonetheless. In truth, it is already the case, as people assumed in primeval times, that we do not walk around on earth as lost, in a sense like world hermits, as is now believed. Rather, it is true what people in primeval times assumed, that we are a member of the whole great cosmic connection, just as a finger is a member of our organism. Today, people no longer have this feeling, at least the majority of people do not feel that they are a member of the great world organism, insofar as it lives out as spirit in something visible. Nevertheless, ordinary scientific thinking could already teach people today that with their lives they are such a member of the whole world order in which they stand as an organism. Take something very simple that anyone can figure out with a simple calculation.
We all know that in spring, on March 21, the sun rises at a certain point in the sky. We call this point the vernal equinox. But we also know that this vernal equinox is not the same every year, but that it moves forward. We know that the sun now rises in Pisces. Before the fifteenth century, it rose in Aries. Astronomy has retained the term “in Aries,” but this does not correspond to reality. This aside is not important at this moment. So this vernal equinox moves forward; the sun rises in spring, moving a little further forward in the zodiac. From this it is easy to see that it moves through the entire zodiac in a certain period of time, that the point of rising moves through the entire zodiac. Now, the time necessary for the sun to move through the entire zodiac is about 25,920 years. So if you take the vernal equinox in a certain year, next year it will have moved forward, and the next year it will have moved forward again. After 25,920 years, the vernal equinox returns to the same point. So 25,920 years is an extraordinarily significant period of time for our solar system: the sun completes a world cycle, I would say, by returning to the same point in its spring rising. Now Plato, the great Greek philosopher, called these 25,920 years a world year — the great Platonic world year. What is strange now — very strange, but when you look into this whole strangeness, it appears infinitely profound — is the following.
Normally, humans take 18 breaths per minute. This varies: in childhood they are slightly more numerous, in old age less numerous, but on average 18 breaths is correct for a normal human being. Let's calculate how many breaths that makes in a day. It's a simple calculation: 18 times 60 gives us 1,080 in an hour; multiply that by 24, the number of hours in a day, and we get 25,920 breaths in a day. You can see from this that the same number governs the human day in terms of breaths, just as the great world year is governed by this number in its relationship to the vernal equinox through the zodiac.
This is one of the pieces of evidence that shows us that we are not just using a general, vague, dark, mystical expression when we say: Microcosm — Image of the Macrocosm, but that human beings are really governed in an important activity, on which their life depends at every moment, by the same number, by the same measure as the orbit of the sun in which they are placed.
But now let us take something else: Isn't it true that the patriarchal age, as it is commonly called, is 70 human years? Seventy human years are, of course, not an absolutely binding number for human beings. One can, of course, become much older, but human beings are free beings and sometimes far exceed such limits. But let us stick to this patriarchal age and say that humans live on average, normally, 70 to 71 years. And if we examine how many days that is, we have, don't we, 365.25 days in a year. Let us first take 70, which gives us 25,567.5; and if we take 71, we would have 365.25 times 71 = 25,932.75. You see, at 70 years we get 25,567.5 days, at 71 years 25,932.75 days. From this you can see that between 70 and 71 years is precisely the point in time when human life comprises exactly 25,920 days, so that the patriarchal age is precisely that which comprises 25,920 days. You have thus determined the human day to have 25,920 breaths. You have determined the length of human life to be 25,920 days.
Now let us examine something else. And this is not difficult. You will easily see that if I divide 25,920 years, which is the time it takes for the vernal equinox to pass through the zodiac, by 365.25, I must arrive at approximately 70 or 71. I arrive at 70 to 71 because I also obtained this figure by multiplication. This means that if I treat the Platonic year as a large year and divide it so that I get one day, I will get what a day is for the Platonic year. What is that? It is a human life. A human life is to the Platonic year as a human day is to a year.
The air is around us. We breathe it in and breathe it out. It is regulated numerically so that, when breathed 25,920 times, it gives us our day of life. But what exactly is a day of life? A day of life consists of our ego and astral body leaving our physical body and etheric body and then returning to them. So that day after day, the ego and astral body go out, go in, go out, go in, just as the breath goes out and in. Many of our friends will remember that, in order to make this clear, I have even compared this alternation of waking and sleeping in public lectures to a long breath. Just as we breathe in and out when we breathe, so, when we wake up and fall asleep, the astral body and the I enter and leave the etheric body and the physical body. But this means nothing more than this: there is a being, we can assume a being, which breathes as we breathe in an eighteenth of a minute, a being which breathes, and whose breathing means the going in and out of the astral body and the I. This being is nothing other than the truly living earth being. As the earth experiences day and night, it breathes, and its breathing process carries our sleeping and waking on its wings. This is the breathing process of a larger being. And now take the breathing process of a larger being, the sun, which goes around. Just as the earth spends a day letting the ego and astral body enter and leave human beings, so the great being corresponding spiritually to the sun brings us human beings into being; for, as we have shown, the 79 to 71 years are a day of the solar year, the great Platonic year. Our entire human life is an exhalation and inhalation of this great being, to which the Platonic year is assigned. You see: we have a small breath in an eighteenth of a minute that regulates our life; we stand within the life of the Earth, whose breath encompasses day and night: this corresponds to the going out and coming in of the I and the astral body into the physical and etheric bodies; and we ourselves are breathed in by the great being, whose life corresponds to the sun's orbit, and our life is a breath of this great being. Now you see how we stand within the macrocosm, truly stand within it as a microcosm, subject to the same laws in relation to universal beings as the breath within us is subject to our human nature. Number and measure reign there. But what is magnificent, meaningful, and touches us deeply is this: number and measure rule in the same way in the great cosmos, the macrocosm and the microcosm. It is not a mere figure of speech, it is not merely something mystically felt, but something that the wise observation of the world teaches us, that we as a microcosm stand within the macrocosm.
If one makes such simple calculations—for they can of course be done with the most common scientific numbers—and does not have a heart like a block of wood, but a heart that feels the mysteries of the world's existence, then the statement “We are placed in the universe” ceases to be a mere abstract statement; it becomes a very living one. A knowledge blossoms, a feeling, and bears fruit in the impulses of the will, and the whole human being lives the great life of the divine world being. But this is the path by which we find, so to speak, our connection to the spiritual world, and it must be found in the time to which we referred in the last consideration, when Christ walked on earth in an etheric form. I even pointed out recently the year in which he began to walk on our earth in an etheric form. It must be found! People just have to get used to perceiving the connection, the intimate connection that already arises from the world's existence and that, when perceived, must bring about the need, the intense urge to seek this connection to the spiritual world. For it will not be long before people will at least be forced to realize the following.
One can deny the spiritual world if one is dulled by materialism, but one cannot kill within oneself the forces that are capable of seeking a connection with the spiritual world. One can deceive oneself about the existence of a spiritual world, but one cannot kill the forces in the soul that are capable of bringing human beings into contact with the spiritual world. But this has something very significant in its wake, something that should be taken into account, especially in our time: forces that are there are at work, even if one denies them. The materialist does not forbid the forces in his soul that seek the spiritual to work; he cannot forbid them; they work. So you could say that someone can be a materialist, and yet the forces that seek the spiritual still work within them. Yes, that is true. They work within them. It does not help to suppress them; they work within them. And what do they bring about? Forces that are there can be suppressed in terms of their inherent effectiveness, but then they transform into other forces. And if one does not use the forces that seek the spiritual in order to seek understanding of the spiritual — I am only talking about seeking “understanding” of the spiritual, nothing more is needed at first — if one does not use these forces for that purpose, then they transform into the power of illusion in human life. Then they work in such a way that in ordinary life, people give themselves over to all kinds of illusions in relation to the external world. This is not so insignificant in our time, for in no other age have people fantasized more than in ours, even though they do not love fantasy. Fantasy does not extend only to certain areas. And if one were to begin to give examples of what people fantasize about, since they want to be only realists, materialists, one could really shed light on all kinds of areas; one would never come to an end. One could begin — well, we don't want to be heretical, but if one were to start, for example, by looking at what certain, let's say, statesmen predicted about the probable course of events in the world, perhaps only weeks ago, and what then actually happened; if one compares these things, one will find that the capacity for illusion has not been small for many years.
Well, one can examine all areas of life in this way, and it is quite remarkable how everywhere, everywhere today, the capacity for illusion is found to be quite significantly developed. This capacity for illusion sometimes gives the outlook on life and attitude toward life of materialistically minded people something childlike, not to say childish. When one sees today what it takes for people to understand one thing or another, what it takes to point it out to them, then one will already have some idea of what is meant here by “childlike,” not to say “childish.” Well, that's how it is. When people turn away from the spiritual world, they have to pay for it by becoming capable of illusion, by losing the ability to have accurate concepts about external physical reality and its course. They have to fantasize in another realm because they no longer want to hold on to the truth, whether it relates to spiritual or physical life.
I once gave you an obvious example, and even if it is pro domo, it is nevertheless a typical example: One can always find highly condemnatory reviews of the spiritual science that I represent. Those concerned justify this by saying: He is just fantasizing! And that is not allowed, just fantasizing! — So people do not want to go along with the real spiritual world because they consider it fantasy, and they despise fantasizing. And then they conclude all kinds of arguments that are as consistent with reality as black is with white, for example, about my ancestry, about the way I did this or that. They develop the wildest fantasies. You can see it right there side by side: escape from the spiritual world with the ability to create illusions! The person concerned does not notice this, but it is quite natural. A certain amount of energy is directed toward the spiritual world; a certain amount of energy is directed toward the physical world. If the amount directed toward the spiritual world is not used, it then turns toward the physical world, not to grasp what is real and true there, but to plunge people into illusions of life. This cannot be observed in individual cases in such a way that one can say: Aha, there he is; he is plunged into illusions because of his aversion to the spiritual world! Such examples can be found, but one has to look for them; the fact that this cannot be easily proven in life is because life is complicated and one thing influences another. It is always the case that the stronger soul influences the weaker soul. Thus, if one finds a degree of susceptibility to illusion in a soul, the reason for this susceptibility to illusion lies somehow in a hatred or aversion to the spiritual world; it need not lie in the soul that is deluded, but may be suggested. For in spiritual realms, the power of contagion is much greater than in any physical realm.
How this is connected with the general karma of humanity, how these things, when you consider them and take into account this important law of the metamorphosis of soul forces, a metamorphosis, a transformation of the forces turned toward the spiritual into the power of illusion, work in the whole context of life and are connected with the conditions of development of our present and the near future, will be the subject of our next consideration, where we will continue to elaborate on the present and then connect it to the Christ mystery and also to the mystery of the present time, in order to gain some insights into the significance of spiritual perception in general.