Supersensible Influences in the History of Mankind
GA 216
23 September 1922, Dornach
Lecture II
I spoke yesterday of certain happenings in history which lead over our study of the life and being of man to the spiritual worlds and I referred to two early epochs of history (the Egypto-Chaldean and the Greek) in this connection. I told you how the ancient Initiates sought to give guidance to men not only in matters of religion but in other domains too, including that of social life, by calling to their aid Spiritual Beings who are connected with the inbreathing. And we heard that these Beings in turn are connected in the cosmos with what is manifest, externally, in the Moon and its light. Certain Moon-Beings, in times when such intervention had become necessary, namely in the Egyptian epoch, were used by the Initiates in order to give direction to the religious and the social life in ancient Egypt and to other spheres too, of ancient historical development. We also heard of the importance assumed in Greek culture by Luciferic Beings, elementary Beings who were used by the Greek Initiates, for example by the Initiates of the Orphic Mysteries, as their helpers in the inauguration of Greek art.
I indicated that even today, to those whose perceptive faculty is deeper and more inward than is normally the case, the traditional heads of Homer in sculpture give the impression of a kind of listening, of hearing that is also touching, of touching that is also hearing. Homer listens to those Spiritual Beings of the air who use the state of equilibrium between the inbreathing and the out-breathing of man to create a rhythm between the breathing and the circulating blood. The Greek hexameter is based upon the wonderful ratio of number existing between the rhythm of the breathing and the pulse in the human being, as indeed are all the measures of Greek verse which, for this reason, as well as being creations of man have also been created by the mysterious rhythm which surges and shimmers through the cosmos. I said that when the Greeks speak of the lyre of Apollo, we can picture its strings being according to the impressions which came to men from this composite rhythm.
Since those days humanity has entered upon a quite different phase of evolution, the characteristics of which I have described from many points of view. Since the fifteenth century, mankind has been laid hold of by the intellectualism which now has sovereign sway in all human culture and civilisation, and arose because an older form of speech—the Latin language in its original form, which was still connected with that hearing of rhythm in the Graeco-Roman epoch of which I have spoken—continued far on into the Middle Ages and became entirely intellectual. In many respects the Latin language was responsible for educating man to modern intellectualism. This modern intellectualism, based as it is upon thoughts that are dependent entirely upon the development of the physical body, exposes the whole of mankind to the danger of falling away from the spiritual world. And it can be said with truth that as earlier creeds speak of a Fall into Sin, meaning a Fall more in the moral sense, so, now, we must speak of the danger to which modern humanity is exposed, the danger of a Fall into Intellectualism.
The kind of thoughts that are universal today, the so-called astute thoughts of modern science to which such great authority is attached—these thoughts are altogether intellectualistic, having their foundation in the human physical body. When the modern man is thinking, he has only the physical body to help him. In earlier periods of earth-existence, thoughts were entirely different in character for they were accompanied by spiritual visions. Spiritual visions were either revealed by the cosmos to man or they welled up from within him. On the waves of these spiritual visions, thoughts were imparted to men from out of the spiritual world. The thoughts revealed themselves to men and such “revealed” thoughts are not accessible to intellectualism. A man who builds up his own thoughts merely according to the logic for which modern humanity strives—such a man's consciousness is bound to the physical body. Not that the thoughts themselves arise out of his physical body—that, of course, is not the case. But modern man is not conscious of the forces that are working in these thoughts. He does not know what these thoughts are, in their real nature; he is entirely ignorant of the real substance of the thoughts that are instilled into him, even in his school days, by popularised forms of science and literature. He knows them only in the form of mirrored pictures. The physical body acts as the mirror and the human being does not know what is really living in his thoughts; he only knows what the physical body mirrors back to him of these thoughts. If he were really to live within these thoughts, he would be able to perceive pre-earthly existence, and this he cannot do. He is unable to perceive pre-earthly existence because he lives only in mirrored images of thoughts, not in their real substance. The thoughts of modern man are not realities.
The element of danger for modern evolution lies in the fact that whereas, in truth, the spiritual, the pre-earthly life, is contained in the substance of the thoughts, the human being knows nothing of this; he knows the mirrored pictures. And, as a result, something that is really attuned to the spiritual world falls away. These thoughts are attuned to and have their roots in the spiritual world and are mirrored by the physical body; what they mirror is merely the external world of the senses. In respect of the modern age, therefore, we may speak of a Fall into sin in the realm of intellectualism. The great task of our age is to bring spirituality, the reality of the Spirit, once again into the world of thought and to make man conscious of this. If he wants to live fully in the modern world, a man cannot altogether rid himself of intellectualism, but he must spiritualise his thinking, he must bring spiritual substance into his thoughts.
Because this is our task, our position is the reverse of that of the Initiates of ancient Egypt. The Initiates over in Asia, before the Egyptian epoch, were able, because men were endowed with the old clairvoyance, to utilise the intermediate state of consciousness between sleeping and waking to have as their helpers the Moon-Spirits who lived in the inbreathing. But during the Egyptian period men gradually lost this old clairvoyance and the Initiates were forced to provide for their helpers dwelling places on the earth, because these Moon-Spirits had, as I said yesterday, become homeless. I told you that the dwelling places provided by the Egyptian Initiates for these Moon-Spirits were the mummified bodies of men, the mummies. The mummies played a part of the greatest imaginable importance during the Third Post-Atlantean period of evolution, for in the mummies there dwelt those elementary Spirits without whose help the Initiates on earth could do very little to influence the social life of men. In more ancient times still, it had been possible to enlist the help of the Moon-Spirits living in the inbreathing of men for the spiritual guidance of earth-evolution; and when this was no longer possible a substitute was created in ancient Egypt by making use of the Spirits who had a dwelling-place in the mummies.
Today we are in the opposite position. The Initiates of Egypt looked back to what had been possible in a past age and were obliged to create a substitute. We, in our day, have to look towards the future, to that future when once again there will be men who live in communion with the spiritual world, who will bear the impulses of their morality in their own individuality, who live in the external world as I have described in my Philosophy of Spiritual Activity by saying that moral impulses must be born in the individual and from the individual work out into the world. This is possible only when the out-breathing of men is such that the air exhaled by an individual who has within him quickened moral impulses, impresses the images of this morality into the external life of the cosmos. Just as with the inbreathing, as I described yesterday, the cosmic ether-forms enter into man and work for the preservation of his organs, so what develops within the individual himself must enter as an impulse into the out-breathing and pass, together with the out-breathed air, into the external cosmos. And when in a distant future, the physical substance of the earth disperses into cosmic space—as it will do—there must exist a life that has taken shape in the cosmic ether out of these images of moral Intuitions that have passed into the ether with the out-breathed air. As I have described in Occult Science, when the physical substance of the earth is dispersed in the universe, a new earth, a “Jupiter” planet will arise from the densified forms out-breathed by individuals in times to come. Thus we must look towards a future when the out-breathing will play a role of predominating importance, when the human being will impart to his out-breathing those impulses whereby he is to build a future.
New light can here be shed upon words from the Gospel: “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away.” I have often indicated the meaning of this passage, namely, that what surrounds us physically, including the world of stars, will one day no longer exist; its place will be taken by what flows, spiritually, out of the souls of men to build the future embodiment of the earth, the Jupiter embodiment. The words: “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away”, may be supplemented by saying: Men must be so permeated with Christ that they are able to impart to the out-breathed air the moral impulses quickened within the soul by Christ's words—impulses which will build the new world out of the forms proceeding from the human being himself.
Since about the fourth and fifth centuries of our era, elementary Spiritual Beings from other worlds have entered into the sphere of the earth—Beings who were not previously there. We may call them Earth-Spirits, in contrast to the Moon-Beings who in the epochs of ancient India and ancient Persia fulfilled an important function and who then, having become homeless on the earth, took up their abode in the mummies; in contrast also to the daemons of the air who played an important role in ancient Greece and to whom Homer “listened”. We can speak of elementary Earth-Spirits in contrast both to the Moon-Beings who lived in the inbreathed air and to the Air-Beings who moved, in their cosmic dance, in the state of balance between inbreathing and out-breathing, and were mirrored in Greek art. These Earth-Spirits will one day be the greatest helpers of the individual human being with his own moral impulses—they will help him to build a new earth planet out of his moral impulses. We can call these helpers “Earth-Spirits”, elementary Earth-Spirits, for they are intimately connected with earthly life. They expect to receive from earthly life a stimulus that will enable them to undo their activity in the future incarnation of the earth. As already said, these Beings have come into the sphere of earth-evolution since the fourth and fifth centuries of our era. In public lectures, as well as elsewhere, I have emphasised that remnants of the old clairvoyance persisted for some time after the Mystery of Golgotha had taken place. In those days there were still external institutions, ceremonial cults and the like, by means of which these Beings who had come into the sphere of earth-evolution maintained their footing—if I may use a trivial expression. The particular tendency of these Beings is to help man to become very individual, so to shape the whole organism of a man who has within him some strong moral idea that this moral idea can become part of his very temperament, character and blood, that the moral ideas and individual moral quality can be derived from the blood itself. These elementary Earth-Beings can render significant help to men who are acquiring individual freedom in ever-greater measure. But a great and powerful obstacle confronts these Beings.
If, instead of speaking from theories—theories are never to be taken quite seriously—we speak about the spiritual world from actual experience, we can hardly refer to these Spiritual Beings in any other way than that in which we refer to men, for they are present on the earth just as men are present there. Thus we can say: These Beings feel especially deflected from their aim by the factor of human heredity. When the superstition of heredity is very potent, this runs counter to all the inner inclinations and propensities of these elementary Beings who are by nature turbulent and passionate. When Ibsen brought out a work like his Ghosts, which helped to make heredity a fixed superstition, these Beings were roused to fury. (As I said, you must get accustomed to hearing them spoken of as if they were men). Let me express it pictorially. Ibsen's disheveled head, his tangled beard, the strangely wild look in his eyes, his distorted mouth—all this comes from the havoc wrought by these Beings because they could not endure Ibsen, because in this respect he was one of those typical moderns who persist in upholding the superstition of heredity. Those who fall victim to this “ghost” believe that a man inherits from his parents, grandparents and so on, propensities in his blood of which he cannot get rid, that his particular constitution is due entirely to inherited qualities. And what in Ibsen came to the fore only in a grotesque, poetic form and also with a certain grandeur—this tendency pervades the whole of modern science. Modern science does indeed suffer from the superstition of heredity. But the aim that ought really to be pursued by modern man is to free himself from inherited qualities and abandon the superstition that everything comes from the blood flowing down from his ancestors. Modern man must learn to function as an individual in the true sense, so that his moral impulses are bound up with his individuality in this earthly life, and he can be creative through his own, individual moral impulses. The Earth-Beings serve this aim and can become man's helpers in pursuit of it.
But in our modern world, circumstances for these Earth-Beings are not as they were for the Moon-Beings who, having become homeless, were obliged to find dwelling places in the mummies. These Earth-Beings to whom we must look as the hope of the future, are not homeless in humanity but they wander about like pilgrims gone astray, meeting everywhere with uncongenial conditions. They feel constantly repelled, most of all by the brains of academic scholars, which they try at all costs to avoid. They find disagreeable conditions everywhere, for belief in the omnipotence of matter is altogether abhorrent to them. Belief in the omnipotence of matter is, of course, connected with the “Fall” into intellectualism, with the fact that the human being holds fast to thoughts that are, fundamentally, of no significance because they are only mirror-images and he is quite unconscious of their real nature and content.
Just as the Egyptian Initiates were obliged to wrestle with the problem of how to bring down the Moon-Beings who had become homeless, so it is our task now to help these other Spirits to find the earth a fruitful, not an unfruitful field. The worst possible rebuff for these Beings is constituted by all the mechanical contrivances of modern life that form a kind of second earth, an earth devoid of Spirit. The Spiritual indwells the minerals, plants and animals, but in these modern mechanical contrivances there are only mirrored thoughts. This mechanized world is a source of perpetual pain to these Beings as they wander over the earth. Complete chaos prevails in the out-breathing of men during the hours of sleep at night. These Beings who should be able to find paths in the carbonised air out-breathed by men, feel isolated, cut off by what intellectualism creates in the world. And so, much as it goes against the grain, much as modern man struggles against it, there is only one thing to do, namely, to strive to spiritualise his actions in the external world. This will be difficult and he will have to be educated up to it. Modern man is extremely clever, but in the real sense he knows nothing, for intellect alone does not create knowledge. The modern intellectual, surrounded by his mechanical contrivances in which mirrored thoughts are embodied, is well on the way to losing his real self, to knowing nothing of what he really is. Inner reality, inner morality in his intellectual life—that is what modern man must acquire, I will tell you what I mean by this.
Human beings today are exceedingly clever but there is really not much substance in their cleverness. Every imaginable subject is talked about, and people pride themselves on their talk. Examples lie very close at hand. A curious one in European literature is a volume of correspondence, in Russian, between two men—Herschenson and Ivanow. The literary setting is that these two men live in the same room but they are both so clever that, when they are talking, their thoughts jostle to such an extent that neither of them listens to the other; they are both always talking at the same time. I can think of no other reason why they should write letters to each other, for there they are, in the same square room, one in one corner and the other in the corner opposite. They write letters to each other—very lengthy letters containing a vast number of words but no real substance whatever. One of them says: We have become much too clever. We have art, we have religion, we have science—we have become terribly clever ... The other man, reading these remarks, is merely astonished at the stupidity of the writer, although he is, admittedly, clever in the modern sense. But in his own view he has become so clever that he doesn't know where to begin with his cleverness and he longs to return to times when men had no ideas about religion, no science, no art, when life was entirely primitive. The second man cannot agree, but his opinion is that as this whole medley of culture develops it must abandon certain fundamental ideas if anything at all is to result from it. The two men are really talking about nothing, but they pour out floods of clever words. This is only one example and there are many such.
Intellectualism has reached such a pitch that this kind of discussion is possible. It is just as if a man is proposing to sow a field with oats ... it never occurs to people that it is up to them to sow seeds in culture and in civilisation—they merely criticize what has been and what ought not to have been and what, in their opinion, ought to be different ... Very well, then, a man is proposing to sow a field with oats and he discusses with someone else whether this would be a good thing to do. They begin to debate: Ought one to sow oats here? Once upon a time the field was sown with corn. Ought one to show oats in a field that was once sown with corn, or has the field been spoilt by having had corn on its soil? Were there not people living near the field who knew that the field contained corn? And is not the thought that one should now sow oats somewhat marred by the fact that certain people knew that corn had been sown in the field? These people may have been pleasant people. Should one not also take into account that the people who knew about the corn in the field were quite pleasant? ... and so on, and so on. This is more or less the kind of talk that goes on; because what nobody realises is that his task is to sow the oats! Whatever the value of our culture—whether one desires to return to the condition of Adam or that the world shall come to an end—a man who has something real to contribute to culture will not sit down and write letters to his neighbour in the style of the correspondence of which I have spoken. This sort of thing is one of the worst products of modern mentality; it is symptomatic of the deplorable state of modern cultural life.
These things must be faced fairly and squarely. People who hold a certain position in life are often capable of doing a great deal; but the important thing is that they should do what is right at each given opportunity. There are innumerable possibilities for action at this very minute—11:45 a.m., 23rd September, 1922—but it is up to every individual to do what the particular situation demands of him. This principle must also operate in the life of thought. People must learn that certain thoughts are impermissible, and others permissible. Just as there are things that ought to be done and things that ought to be left undone, so people must learn to realise that by no means every thought is permissible. Such an attitude would bring about many changes in life. If it were universally cultivated, newspapers written in the modern style would be practically impossible, for those who discipline themselves at all would turn their back upon the thoughts voiced in such newspapers. Just as there must be morality in men's actions in the world of practical affairs, so, too, morality must pervade the life of thought. Today we hear from everyone's lips: This is my point of view, I think so-and-so ... Yes, but perhaps it is not at all necessary to think it, or to hold such a point of view! In their life of thought, however, people have not yet begun to adopt moral principles. They must learn to do so and then we shall not be treated to floods of pseudo-thoughts as in the correspondence I have mentioned ... All these things are connected with the fact that intellectualism has diverted men right away from the Spirit, from understanding of the truly spiritual. A good example of this is ready to hand, and I will give it to you, before speaking in the lecture tomorrow, about what must come to pass in order that intellectualism may be prevented from ousting men altogether from the world of realities.
A certain Benedictine monk, by the name of Mager, has written quite a good little book about man's behaviour in the sight of God. This little book only goes to show that the Benedictine Order was a magnificent institution in the period immediately after its foundation, for the influence of the rules of the Order of St. Benedict is still strong in the writing of this modern monk. One can really have a certain respect for this little book (it is not expensive as prices go nowadays, for it came out in a cheap edition) and, in comparison with much of the trash that is published today, it can be recommended as reading matter. It really is an example of the best writing emanating from those particular circles, although all such literature is, of course, antiquated, quite behind the times. And now this Benedictine monk has also felt inspired to speak about Anthroposophy. So do all kinds of people, and from every possible angle! They cannot be expected to abstain from this in their thoughts because they do not realise that they have no understanding whatever of Anthroposophy. It must be admitted, however, that what Mager writes about Anthroposophy is by no means in the worst category, and it is useful to consider his book because it is characteristic of the intellectualism prevailing in our time. Mager says: The anthroposophist tries to develop his faculties of knowledge so that he can actually behold the spiritual. Certainly, Anthroposophy aims at this and can, moreover, achieve it. Alois Mager admits that it would be an extremely good thing if men could really unfold perception of the spiritual world, but he maintains that they are incapable of this. He is even of the opinion that it is not, in principle, impossible, but that the general run of human beings cannot attain real vision of the spiritual world. He proves that he is not, fundamentally, opposed to this aim, because he says: Two men were actually able to develop their faculties of cognition to such an extent that they could gaze into the spiritual world: Buddha and Plotinus.
It is very remarkable that a Catholic monk should hold the view that the only two men really able to see into the spiritual world were Buddha and Plotinus—Plotinus who is naturally regarded by the Catholic Church as a visionary and a heretic, and Buddha, one of the three great figures whom, in the Middle Ages, the faithful were made to abjure. Nevertheless, Mager says of Buddha and Plotinus that their souls were capable of looking into the spiritual world. He uses a strange picture as a comparison, very reminiscent of modern trends of thought, especially of militaristic thought. He compares the spiritual world with a city, and those who desire to approach it he compares with soldiers who are storming this Divine City. He says it is as if an army had equipped itself to storm a city; but only two of the bravest soldiers succeed in scaling the battlements, and so the attack collapses. During the World War, how often did we not read, in the communiqués, of attacks collapsing ... and today a Benedictine monk speaks of knowers of the Spirit as soldiers who want to storm the city of the spiritual life, but the attack fails, with the exception of what the two valiant soldiers, Buddha and Plotinus, were able to achieve. Mager, you see, is simply not able to admit that man can approach the spiritual world; his intellectualism makes him incapable of it. One is surprised, however, at his refusal to admit that any Christian can draw near to God with real knowledge. Being quite sincere in this respect he would naturally be obliged to reject a book like my Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, for its aim is to show that the individual, out of himself, can give birth to moral impulses in the truest sense. Mager's view is that this can never be, for he maintains that when the human being is left entirely to his own resources, nothing spiritual can come out of him. Therefore he says that both private and public life will, as time goes on, be based wholly on the precepts of the Gospels. He means, in other words, that without understanding what the Gospels actually say, private and public life will be organised according to Gospel precepts—which are beyond the grasp of human powers of knowledge.
It is really not to be wondered at, when, with the intellectualism of today, Mager says: It is my innermost and well-founded conviction that Steiner's Anthroposophy can only be described as a clever systematising of hallucinations into a picture of the world, as a materialisation of the spiritual ... It is grotesque that this should come from a man who, in himself, is honest and sincere and is by no means among the most trivial thinkers of the present day. In order to do him justice I told you that quite recently he wrote a good little book. This critique of Anthroposophy is his latest production. Think once again of the sentence: It is my innermost and well-founded conviction that Steiner's Anthroposophy can only be described as a clever systematising of hallucinations into a picture of the world, as a materialisation of the spiritual ... My reply would be: “Very well, let us assume that you are in earnest about your conceptions of God and of the Spirit. You must place the spiritual somewhere when you aspire to reach it ... but you do not admit that man's powers of knowledge are capable of this. Why, then, are you a priest, desiring to dedicate your whole life to the service of the spiritual? You admit that the material proceeds from the spiritual. If, now, someone attains to a knowledge of the Spirit, what is the nature of such knowledge?” Those who adhere merely to knowledge of the material, well, they have the material before them and the spiritual amounts only to a number of thoughts. But a man who truly turns to the spiritual experiences its reality. Within the spiritual, the things that can be seen with physical eyes are present only as indication. Father Mager regards this as hallucination, so he says that Anthroposophy systematises hallucinations. His view is quite understandable, because in speaking of the spiritual we cannot speak as we do about a material table that the eyes can see and the hands can touch. A material object exists in the spiritual merely as indication, and so it seems to Mager to be hallucination.
And now let us go further, and say to him: “You, Father, are dedicating your life and service to the spiritual and you most certainly acknowledge that the creator of the material is the spiritual. What, then, is the world in your view—materialisation of the spiritual? Yes, but this is exactly what you censure in Anthroposophy! You speak of a picture of the world that is a materialisation of the spiritual, but you believe for a fact that this world has been created out of the Spirit, through materialisation. This is what Anthroposophy tries to fathom. Your strongest censure of Anthroposophy is that Anthroposophy takes in earnest something that you, yourself, ought to take in earnest, but are not willing to do so. That is why you censure Anthroposophy. According to your view, the God in whom you believe must surely once have taken a materialisation of the spiritual in earnest! Otherwise there would have been no Creation. Are you, therefore, taking your religion in earnest when you censure Anthroposophy for trying to grasp how the spiritual can gradually become the material?”
Into what an abyss we gaze when we see how a man like this approaches Anthroposophy! This man is really clever, moreover he is not like others who are all cleverness and nothing else; he knows a little and has also learnt how to think. But just realise what his judgement of Anthroposophy implies and you will understand what kind of fruit is produced by intellectualism, even when it is dedicated to the service of the Spirit today. You will realise, too, that this intellectualism must be superseded by methods differing from those adopted by the priests of Egypt to overcome the spiritual dilemma that had arisen in their epoch. Of the Powers to which intellectualism must turn we will speak in the lecture tomorrow.
Vierter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Gestern habe ich von geschichtlichen Zusammenhängen gesprochen, insofern diese die Betrachtung des Menschen in die geistigen Welten führen, und ich habe die beiden älteren Zeiträume der Menschheitsentwickelung von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus betrachtet. Ich habe darauf hingewiesen, wie die älteren Initiierten versuchten, die Menschen zu lenken sowohl in religiöser wie auch in sozialer und sonstiger Beziehung, indem sie jene geistigen Wesenheiten als ihre Helfer ausersahen, die mit der menschlichen Einatmung zusammenhängen. Und wir haben gesehen, daß diese Wesenheiten ihrerseits wiederum im Kosmos mit dem zusammenhängen, was sich äußerlich im Mondenlichte offenbart, so daß wir etwa davon sprechen können, daß gewisse Mondenwesenheiten in der Zeit, als es notwendig geworden war, nämlich in der ägyptischen Zeit, als Helfer benutzt worden sind, dem religiösen, dem sozialen Leben des alten Ägyptens und überhaupt den weiteren Gebieten der alten geschichtlichen Entwickelung Richtungen zu geben.
[ 2 ] Wir haben dann gesehen, wie im Griechentum die Wesenheiten wichtig werden, die ich gestern elementarische luziferische Wesenheiten genannt habe und die von den griechischen Eingeweihten, zum Beispiel denen der orphischen Mysterien, als Helfer, namentlich zur Inaugurierung der griechischen Kunst, verwendet wurden. Ich habe darauf aufmerksam gemacht, wie man selbst heute noch, wenn man eine etwas tiefere und intimere menschliche Empfindung hat, in dem traditionellen Homer-Kopf sehen kann das Lauschen dieser Menschenindividualität auf das, was ich gestern tastendes Hören, hörendes Tasten genannt habe, und das im wesentlichen ein Lauschen auf geistige Wesenheiten war. Das waren die Luftwesenheiten, welche die Gleichgewichtslage zwischen dem, was durch die menschliche Ein- und Ausatmung geschieht, benützten, um einen Rhythmus zwischen dem Atmen und der Blutzirkulation hervorzurufen, wodurch dann durch jenes wunderbare Zahlenverhältnis, das beim Menschen zwischen dem Atmungsrhythmus und dem Pulsrhythmus besteht, so etwas wie der griechische Hexameter sich ergeben hat, wie überhaupt alle griechischen Versmaße, die dadurch sowohl ein Geschöpf des Menschen selber sind als auch ein Geschöpf dessen, was als ein geheimnisvoller Rhythmus den ganzen Kosmos durchwellt und durchvibriert. Ich habe gesagt: Wenn die Griechen von der Leier des Apollo sprechen, so kann man geradezu daran denken, wie die Saiten dieser Apollo-Leier gestimmt waren nach jenen Eindrücken, die man aus dem Wahrnehmen dieses also zusammengesetzten Rhythmus hatte.
[ 3 ] Seither ist die Menschheit in eine ganz andere Entwickelung eingetreten, und ich habe auf die besonderen Eigentümlichkeiten dieser Entwickelung immer wiederum von den verschiedensten Gesichtspunkten aus hingewiesen. Namentlich habe ich darauf hingewiesen, wie seit dem 15. Jahrhundert die Menschheit von dem intellektuellen Elemente ergriffen worden ist, das heute eigentlich alle menschliche Kultur und Zivilisation im weitesten Umfange beherrscht und das in der neueren Entwickelung namentlich dadurch heraufgekommen ist, daß allmählich eine ältere Sprachform, die noch in ihrer ersten Gestaltung mit dem zusammenhing, was ich als dieses Erlauschen des Rhythmus in der griechisch-römischen Zeit bezeichnen konnte, daß die lateinische Sprache bis tief ins Mittelalter hinein sich fortgesetzt hat und sich ganz und gar umintellektualisiert hat. So daß eigentlich durch die lateinische Sprache vielfach die Erziehung der modernen Menschheit zum modernen Intellektualismus bewirkt worden ist.
[ 4 ] Dieser Intellektualismus, der auf Gedanken beruht, die ganz und gar von der Entwickelung des physischen Menschenleibes abhängen, bringt eigentlich die ganze Menschheit in Gefahr, von der geistigen Welt abzufallen. Und man kann schon sagen: Wenn die älteren Religionsbekenntnisse von einem Sündenfall in älterer Form sprechen, der mehr als ein moralischer Sündenfall gemeint ist, so muß man von der Gefahr, in die die neuere Menschheit versetzt ist, als von einem intellektualistischen Sündenfall sprechen. — Denn die heute allgemeinen Menschheitsgedanken, denen gegenüber die Menschheit das größte Autoritätsgefühl hat, die sogenannten gescheiten Gedanken der modernen Wissenschaft, diese durchaus intellektualistischen Gebilde sind ganz und gar begründet auf den physischen Menschenleib. Man darf eben nicht glauben, daß, wenn der moderne Mensch denkt, er etwas anderes als den physischen Menschenleib zu Hilfe nimmt. Die Gedanken waren eben in früherer Erdperiode etwas ganz anderes. In früheren Perioden der geschichtlichen Entwickelung kamen die Gedanken der Menschen zugleich mit gewissen spirituellen Schauungen. Spirituelle Schauungen drangen entweder aus dem Kosmos an den Menschen heran, oder aber sie stiegen aus dem Inneren des Menschen auf. Diese spirituellen Schauungen, sie trugen, ich möchte sagen, auf ihren Wogen Gedanken. Das waren geistig gegebene Gedanken, das waren Gedanken, die aus der geistigen Welt dem Menschen geschickt waren, Gedanken, die sich eben dem Menschen offenbarten. Solche Gedanken sind dem Intellektualismus nicht zugänglich.
[ 5 ] Wenn man aus der bloßen Logik heraus, nach der ja die moderne Menschheit strebt, sich seine Gedanken selber macht, so ist man dadurch mit seinem Bewußtsein an den physischen Leib gebunden. Nicht, als ob die Gedanken selber aus diesem physischen Leib erstünden, das ist natürlich durchaus nicht der Fall; aber die Kräfte, die in diesen Gedanken wirken, werden dem modernen Menschen nicht bewußt. Er lernt die Gedanken gar nicht in ihrer wahren Wesenheit kennen. Alle Gedanken, die der moderne Mensch schon in der Schule empfängt durch das, was ihm als populäre Wissenschaft übermittelt wird, was in der populären Literatur enthalten ist, alle diese Gedanken sind ihrer eigentlichen Substanz nach, dem nach, was in ihnen lebt, dem modernen Menschen unbekannt. Er kennt sie nur als Spiegelbilder. Der physische Leib ist der Spiegel, und der Mensch lernt nicht erkennen, was in seinen Gedanken eigentlich lebt, sondern er lernt nur das erkennen, was ihm der physische Leib von diesen Gedanken zurückspiegelt. Denn würde der Mensch sich hineinleben in diese Gedanken, dann würde er das vorirdische Dasein wahrnehmen können. Das kann er nicht. Der moderne Mensch kann das vorirdische Dasein nicht wahrnehmen, weil er gar nicht in der Substanz seiner Gedanken, sondern nur in den Gedankenspiegelbildern lebt. Sie sind keine Realitäten, diese Gedanken.
[ 6 ] Und das ist gerade das Gefährliche für die moderne Menschheitsentwickelung, daß eigentlich in diesen Gedanken substantiell das Geistige, das Spirituelle, das vorirdische Leben ist, daß aber der Mensch nichts davon weiß, sondern nur von den Spiegelbildern weiß. Dadurch fällt etwas, was eigentlich für die geistige Welt bestimmt ist denn diese Gedanken sind für die geistige Welt bestimmt, sie wurzeln in der geistigen Welt -, im modernen Menschen ab von der geistigen Welt und spiegelt sich am physischen Leib. Und was da gespiegelt wird, das ist nur die äußere Sinneswelt, so daß man wirklich für die moderne Zeit von einem Sündenfall sprechen könnte, der auf intellektualistischem, intellektuellem Gebiete sich ergibt. Die große Aufgabe der Zeit - wir haben das ja oftmals charakterisiert — besteht gerade darin, daß wiederum Spiritualität, wirklicher Geist auch für das Bewußtsein des Menschen in die Gedankenwelt einzieht. Der Mensch kann sich nicht, wenn er wirklich mit der modernen Welt leben will, seines Intellektualismus entschlagen; aber er muß den Intellektualismus spiritualisieren, er muß wiederum geistige Substanz in seine Gedanken hineinbringen.
[ 7 ] Dadurch, daß dies unsere Aufgabe ist, stellen wir uns in einen Gegensatz zu dem, was die Eingeweihten der alten Ägypter tun mußten. Die Eingeweihten der vorägyptischen Zeit drüben in Asien konnten ohne weiteres, weil die Menschen ein altes Hellsehen hatten, jene Zwischenzustände zwischen Schlafen und Wachen, die bei den Menschen zu finden waren, dazu benützen, um die Mondengeister, die in den Einatmungen der Menschen leben konnten, als ihre Helfer zu haben. Aber während der ägyptischen Entwickelungsperiode verloren die Menschen allmählich das alte Hellsehen, und die Initiierten waren dazu gezwungen, ihren Helfern auf der Erde eine Wohnung zu verschaffen, weil allmählich diese Mondengeister auf der Erde obdachlos geworden sind, wie ich es gestern geschildert habe. Und ich habe Ihnen gesagt, die Wohnungen, welche die ägyptischen Initiierten diesen Mondengeistern verschafften, das waren die mumifizierten Menschenkörper, das waren die Mumien. Die Mumien spielen wirklich dadurch eine denkbar größte Rolle während des dritten nachatlantischen Zeitraums der geschichtlichen Entwickelung. In den Mumien wohnten jene elementarischen Geister, ohne welche die Initiierten auf der Erde in sozialer Beziehung mit den Menschen kaum etwas machen konnten. So daß also das, was in alten Zuständen durchaus möglich war: die in der Einatmung des Menschen lebenden Mondengeister zu Helfern der geistigen Leitung der Erdenentwickelung zu machen, dann ersatzweise, stellvertretend im alten Ägypten durch das bewirkt wurde, was die Elementargeister, die in den Mumien ihre Behausung hatten, bewirkten.
[ 8 ] Wir sind heute in der entgegengesetzten Lage. Der Eingeweihte Ägyptens blickte auf eine Vorzeit, für deren Eigentümlichkeiten er einen Ersatz zu schaffen hatte. Wir müssen in die Zukunft blicken, wo wiederum Menschen vorhanden sein werden, welche mit der geistigen Welt leben, Menschen, welche die Impulse ihrer Moralität in ihrem individuellen Charakter tragen, wie ich das in meiner «Philosophie der Freiheit» beschrieben habe, wo ich auseinandergesetzt habe, wie die moralischen Impulse in dem einzelnen Menschen geboren werden und aus dem einzelnen Menschen heraus in die Welt wirken müssen. Das werden sie nur können, wenn die Ausatmung dieser Menschen so gestaltet wird, daß die ausgeatmete Luft die Abbilder dieser Moralität und dieser moralischen Gesinnungen dem äußeren kosmischen Leben einprägt. So wie mit der Einatmung, wie ich es gestern charakterisiert habe, die ätherischen Formen des Kosmos in den Menschen hereinkommen und zur Erhaltung seiner Organe wirken, so muß das, was in dem Menschen selber sich ausbildet, was gewissermaßen als die Form seiner inneren Organe sich loslöst dadurch, daß er ein intellektualistisches Leben führt, so muß das sich in die Ausatmung hinein als Impuls prägen, muß mit der Ausatmungsluft in den äußeren Kosmos kommen.
[ 9 ] Und wenn einstmals diese Erde in den Weltenraum zerstäuben wird, dann muß ein Leben vorhanden sein, das zuerst im kosmischen Äther sich dadurch gebildet hat, daß die moralischen Impulse der Menschen, die durch moralische Intuitionen, wie Sie wissen, immer mehr und mehr entstehen müssen, durch die Ausatmungsluft ihre Bilder in den Äther hinausgeschickt haben werden. Dann wird sich eine neue Erde, ein Jupiterplanet, wie ich ihn in meiner «Geheimwissenschaft im Umriß» beschrieben habe, aufbauen aus den verdichteten Formen, welche die Menschen in der Zukunft ausatmen werden. So müssen wir auf eine Menschenzukunft hinschauen, in der die Ausatmung eine hervorragende Rolle spielt, wo der Mensch seiner Ausatmung das anvertraut, wodurch er eine Zukunft bilden soll.
[ 10 ] Man könnte hier ein Evangelien-Wort ergänzen. Ich habe öfter von dem Worte des Christus Jesus gesprochen: «Himmel und Erde werden vergehen, aber meine Worte werden nicht vergehen.» Ich habe darauf hingewiesen, daß damit gemeint ist, daß eben das, was uns physisch einschließlich der heutigen Sternenwelt umgibt, einmal nicht mehr sein wird, das aber, was spirituell aus den Menschenseelen heraus kommt, an dessen Stelle treten wird und die zukünftige Verkörperung der Erde, den Jupiterplaneten, finden wird. Man könnte dieses Christus-Wort so ergänzen: Himmel und Erde werden vergehen, aber meine Worte werden nicht vergehen -, wenn die Menschen so durchchristet werden, daß sie das, was Christi Worte in den Menschenseelen als moralische Impulse anregen, der ausgeatmeten Luft anvertrauen werden, die dann die neue Welt erbauen wird aus den dem Menschen entspringenden Formen.
[ 11 ] Nun sind ungefähr seit dem 4., 5. nachchristlichen Jahrhundert elementarische geistige Wesenheiten aus andern Welten in die Erdenwelt hereingekommen. Diese Wesenheiten waren früher nicht da. Diese Wesenheiten können wir im Gegensatz zu den Mondenwesenheiten, die in der urindischen und in der urpersischen Zeit eine große Rolle gespielt haben und dann später in den Mumien ihre Wohnsitze aufgeschlagen haben, und im Gegensatz zu den Luftdämonen, welche in der griechischen Zeit eine große Rolle gespielt haben und auf die Homer gelauscht hat, diese Wesenheiten können wir im Gegensatz zu den andern die eigentlichen Erdwesenheiten nennen. Diese Wesenheiten, die einstmals gerade die größten Helfer des individuellen Menschen mit seinen individuellen moralischen Impulsen sein werden, die Helfer sein werden im Aufbauen eines neuen Erdenplaneten aus den moralischen Impulsen der Menschen heraus, diese Helfer können wir die Erdgeister nennen, elementarische Erdgeister, denn sie hängen mit dem irdischen Leben innig zusammen. Sie erwarten von dem irdischen Leben, daß sie genügend angeregt werden, um ihre Tätigkeit in der zukünftigen Verkörperung der Erde zu vollführen. Diese Wesenheiten sind, wie gesagt, seit dem 4., 5. nachchristlichen Jahrhundert in die Erdenevolution eingetreten, und ich habe es sowohl in den öffentlichen Vorträgen als sonst betont, wie sich noch Reste des alten Hellsehens, auch nachdem das Mysterium von Golgatha sich abgespielt hatte, erhalten hatten. Da gab es auch noch äußere menschliche Verrichtungen, Kultushandlungen und dergleichen, durch welche diese Wesenheiten, die so in die Erdenentwickelung hereingezogen waren, wenn ich mich trivial ausdrücken darf, ihr Fortkommen fanden. Aber es ist die besondere Tendenz dieser Wesenheiten, den Menschen zu helfen, gewissermaßen recht individuell zu werden, wenn der Mensch eine intensive moralische Idee hat, den ganzen Organismus so zu gestalten, daß diese moralische Idee im Menschen zur Temperamentsanlage, zur Charakteranlage, zur Blutsgestaltung werden kann, so daß man gewissermaßen aus seiner Blutsgestaltung heraus seine moralische Idee, seine ganze moralische Qualität entnehmen kann.
[ 12 ] Bedeutsame Helfer können diese elementarischen Erdwesen gerade für den immer mehr und mehr in die individuelle Freiheit hineinkommenden Menschen werden. Aber ein großes Hindernis haben diese Wesenheiten, ein ungeheures Hindernis. Man kann wirklich nicht anders, wenn man nicht aus Theorien heraus, die niemals völlig ernst zu nehmen sind, sondern aus der wirklichen Lebenspraxis über die spirituelle Welt redet, als daß man über diese spirituellen Wesenheiten so redet, wie man über Menschen redet, denn sie sind wirklich auf der Erde da, wie Menschen auf der Erde da sind. Man kann also schon sagen: Diese Wesenheiten fühlen sich insbesondere beirrt durch das, was menschliche Vererbung ist. Und wenn der Aberglaube der menschlichen Vererbung ganz besonders intensiv wirkt, dann geht das gegen alle inneren Stimmungen und Tendenzen dieser Wesen, die sehr leidenschaftlich sind. Wie gesagt, Sie müssen diese Paradoxie hinnehmen, denn man muß über diese Wesenheiten reden wie über Menschen. Als Ibsen zum Beispiel auftrat mit seinen «Gespenstern», durch die der Aberglaube der Vererbungstheorie geradezu fixiert worden ist, da wurden diese Wesenheiten einfach wild. Wenn ich mich etwas bildlich ausdrücken darf, so möchte ich sagen: Dieser zerzauste Kopf von Ibsen, dieser wüste Bart, dieser sonderbare Blick, dieser verzerrte Mund, das alles rührte von dem Zerzausen her, das diese Wesenheiten mit Ibsen getrieben haben, weil sie ihn nicht leiden konnten, weil er in dieser Beziehung so recht ein moderner Geist war, der an dem Aberglauben der Vererbung festgehalten hat. Sie wissen ja, wenn man diesem Gespensteraberglauben verfallen ist, meint man, man trägt von seinen Eltern, Großeltern und so weiter im Blute Anlagen vererbt, von denen man nicht loskommen kann, man wird ein so und so gearteter Mensch nur durch das, was man an vererbten Anlagen in sich trägt. Was bei Ibsen in einer grotesk poetischen Form, aber noch mit einer gewissen Grandiosität hervorgekommen ist, das geht durch die ganze moderne Wissenschaft. Die leidet wirklich an dem Aberglauben der Vererbung. Was dem modernen Menschen eigen werden muß, das ist eben, daß er loskommt von den vererbten Eigenschaften, daß er nicht an dem Aberglauben festhält, alles komme nur vom Blute, das von den Ahnen herunterfließt, sondern daß er wirklich zum Gebrauche seiner Individualität kommt, so daß seine moralischen Impulse an ihm als einzelnem Menschen in diesem Erdenleben haften und er schöpferisch, produktiv werden kann durch seine individuellen moralischen Impulse. Dazu dienen diese Wesenheiten und können einmal Helfer werden.
[ 13 ] In der heutigen Welt geht es zwar diesen Wesenheiten nicht so, wie es einst den Mondenwesenheiten ging, die obdachlos geworden waren und die deshalb in den Mumien ihre Häuser finden mußten; sondern diesen Wesenheiten, auf die wir als die Hoffnung der Zukunft für die Menschheit hinblicken, geht es so, daß sie zwar unter der Menschheit nicht obdachlos sind, daß sie aber wie verirrte Pilger herumirren und überall Zustände finden, die ihnen nicht angemessen sind. Sie fühlen sich überall zurückgestoßen, am meisten von den Köpfen der Gelehrten. Da wollen sie gar nicht auch nur in die Nähe kommen. Es ist für diese Wesenheiten etwas Ungemütliches auf allen Wegen und Stegen, denn der Glaube an die bloße Allmacht der Materie ist ihnen ganz besonders zuwider. Dieser Glaube an die Allmacht der Materie hängt zusammen mit dem intellektualistischen Sündenfall, mit dem, daß der Mensch an Gedanken festhalten will, die ja im Grunde genommen nichts sind, weil sie nur Spiegelbilder sind, weil der Mensch sich ihres substantiellen Inhalts gar nicht bewußt wird.
[ 14 ] So wie nun der ägyptische Initiierte nachdenken mußte, wie man jene Wesenheiten unterbringt, die obdachlos geworden sind, so obliegt es uns, Möglichkeiten zu finden, daß diese Wesenheiten, von denen ich eben gesprochen habe, die ganze Erde für sich wirtlich finden, nicht unwirtlich. Das Allerschlimmste, was diesen Wesenheiten begegnen kann, das ist der moderne Mechanismus. Dieser moderne Mechanismus ist gewissermaßen eine zweite Erde, aber eine geistlose Erde. In Mineralien, Pflanzen, Tieren lebt das Geistige, im modernen Mechanismus leben nur diese Spiegelgedanken. Dieser moderne Mechanismus ist etwas, was solchen Wesenheiten einen fortwährenden Schmerz bei ihren Wanderungen auf der Erde verursacht, so daß vor allen Dingen die Nachtausatmung der Menschen heute schon in einer vollständig chaotischen Weise vor sich geht.
[ 15 ] Diese Wesenheiten, die eigentlich ihre Wege in der ausgeatmeten Luft, in der Kohlensäureluft, die von den Menschen kommt, finden sollten, finden sich überall abgesperrt durch das, was der Intellektualismus in der Welt ausrichtet. So sehr das dem modernen Menschen widerstrebt, so sehr er das auch nicht haben will, dagegen gibt es nur ein einziges: das Hinstreben nach einer Vergeistigung dessen, was der Mensch selber in der Außenwelt tut. Aber dazu muß dieser moderne Mensch erst erzogen werden. Es wird ihm schwer werden. Der bloß intelligente Mensch — der moderne Mensch ist ja sehr intelligent — weiß eigentlich nichts, denn die Intelligenz allein verhilft einem nicht zu einem Wissen. Und ein solcher Mensch, der sich umgibt mit seinen Mechanismen, in denen die Spiegelgedanken leben, ist eigentlich in der Gefahr, sich selbst immer mehr und mehr zu verlieren, sich selbst nicht mehr zu haben, von sich selber nicht mehr etwas zu wissen. Er muß erst wiederum mit einer gewissen Substantialität ausgefüllt werden. Was dieser moderne intellektualistische Mensch sich erwerben muß, wodurch er sich erziehen muß, das ist innere intellektuelle Moralität. Ich will Ihnen gleich sagen, was ich damit meine.
[ 16 ] Heute sind die Menschen furchtbar gescheit, aber in der Gescheitheit lebt eigentlich nicht viel Substantielles. Man kann diese furchtbar gescheiten Menschen alles mögliche reden hören, sie tun sich auch auf ihr Reden außerordentlich viel zugute. Die Beispiele liegen ja nahe. Etwas ganz Kurioses zum Beispiel spielt jetzt in der europäischen Literatur eine Rolle, ein Briefwechsel, der im Russischen verfaßt ist, zwischen zwei Menschen, Herschenson und Iwanow. Die Sache wird literarisch so eingekleidet, daß das zwei Menschen sind, die in einem und demselben Zimmer leben. Aber alle beide sind offenbar so überaus gescheit, daß, wenn sie miteinander reden, ihre Gedanken so aufeinanderplatzen, daß der eine dem andern nicht zuhört, weil sie immer gleichzeitig reden. Ich kann mir sonst gar nicht vorstellen, warum sie sich Briefe schreiben, da sie doch immer zusammensitzen, der eine in der einen Ecke, in der Diagonale des quadratförmigen Zimmers, der andere in der andern Ecke. Die schreiben sich also Briefe. In diesen Briefen steht nichts drinnen, absolut nichts. Sie sind sehr lang, und es werden ungeheuer viel Worte gemacht, es steht aber nichts darin. Was darin gesagt wird, ist etwa, daß der eine meint: Ja, wir sind viel zu gescheit geworden. Kunst haben wir, und Religion haben wir, und Wissenschaft haben wir, und das alles haben wir uns angeeignet. Wir sind fürchterlich gescheit geworden.
[ 17 ] Wenn man freilich dann die Ausführungen dieses Menschen liest, der sich mit seiner Gescheitheit so schrecklich großtut, dann ist man nur erstaunt darüber, wie dumm der Betreffende ist, trotzdem er eben im modernen Sinne gescheit ist. Er ist eben nach seiner Meinung so furchtbar gescheit geworden, daß er mit seiner Gescheitheit schon gar nichts mehr anfangen kann und daß er sich wieder zurücksehnt in die Zeiten, wo die Menschen noch nichts von religiösen Ideen, noch nichts von Wissenschaft, noch nichts von Kunst und so weiter gehabt haben und also in ganz primitiver Weise lebten. Und der andere, der kann nicht mitgehen. Aber er findet, es muß das alles, was da als ein solcher Brei der Kultur sich weiterentwickelt, gewisse weiter zugrunde liegende Ideen aufweisen, damit es doch auf etwas hinauskomme. Kurz, die beiden Menschen reden eigentlich über nichts, über gar nichts, machen aber viele Worte und sind ungeheuer gescheit. Das ist nur ein solches Beispiel. Es gibt sehr viele solcher Beispiele.
[ 18 ] Man könnte sagen: Endlich ist der Intellektualismus so weit gekommen, daß in dieser Weise diskutiert wird. Es ist ungefähr so, wie wenn einer auf einem Acker Hafer bauen will und nun mit einem andern darüber diskutiert, ob man Hafer bauen soll. Keinem fällt es nämlich heute ein, daß er selber in der Kultur und Zivilisation etwas bauen sollte, sondern ein jeder kritisiert nur, was da geworden ist und nicht hat werden sollen und nun anders sein soll nach seiner Idee. Nun fangen sie an, zu diskutieren: Soll man da Hafer bauen? Da ist früher einmal Korn gebaut worden. Soll man auf einem Acker, auf dem früher einmal Korn gebaut wurde, nun Hafer bauen, oder ist der Acker dadurch verdorben, daß einmal Korn darauf gebaut worden ist? Ist nicht der Gedanke, daß man Hafer bauen soll, belastet dadurch, daß früher einmal da Menschen gewohnt haben, die gewußt haben, daß man da Korn gebaut hatte? Und andererseits sind doch wiederum diese Menschen andern als sehr nette Menschen vorgekommen; soll man nun nicht auch berücksichtigen, daß das sehr nette Menschen waren?
[ 19 ] So ungefähr verläuft es, weil keiner weiß, daß er den Hafer nun bauen soll. Mag unsere Kultur wert sein, daß man zu Adam wiederum zurückgeht oder das Erdenende herbeisehnt — derjenige, der in sich etwas hat, um es in diese Kultur hineinzubauen, der setze sich nicht hin und schreibe seinem Nachbarn Briefe in der Weise, wie dieser Briefwechsel geschrieben worden ist! Es ist eines der faulsten Produkte des modernen Geisteslebens. Es ist das richtig symptomatisch für das Durchfaultsein des modernen Geisteslebens.
[ 20 ] Diese Dinge müssen mit klarem Auge angeschaut werden. Menschen, die im Leben darinnenstehen, könnten oftmals recht viel tun; sie müssen aber das tun, was in die betreffende Lebenssituation hineingehört. Es gibt nun natürlich unzählige Möglichkeiten, um dreiviertel zwölf Uhr am 23. September 1922 dies oder jenes zu tun, aber jeder einzelne Mensch muß das tun, was die Situation von ihm fordert. Diese Tatsache muß sich auch in das Gedankenleben der Menschen hineinleben. Man muß lernen, daß man sich gewisse Gedanken verbieten muß, daß man gewisse Gedanken haben darf. So wie man auch sonst etwas tun und etwas lassen muß, so muß man sich klar sein darüber, daß man sich nicht jeden Gedanken gestatten darf.
[ 21 ] Solch eine Anschauung würde manches in unserem Leben ändern. Zeitungen könnten fast gar nicht mehr im modernen Stil geschrieben werden, wenn so etwas allgemeine Erziehung würde, denn diejenigen, die es etwas strenge mit sich nehmen, würden sich alle die Gedanken verbieten, die da geschrieben werden. Aber so wie in dem Handeln der Menschen durch die reale Welt notwendigerweise Moralität liegen muß, so muß auch in das Gedankenleben der Menschen Moralität einziehen.
[ 22 ] Heute hören Sie von jedem: Das ist mein Standpunkt, das denke ich. — Ja, vielleicht ist es gar nicht notwendig, daß er das denkt und daß er diesen Standpunkt einnimmt. Aber im Denken moralisieren die Menschen noch nicht. Sie müssen es lernen. Dann wird nicht ein so wüster Strom von Pseudogedanken auf das Papier fließen wie in dem genannten Briefwechsel. All das hängt eben damit zusammen, daß der Intellektualismus die Menschen vom wirklichen Geiste, vom Verständnis des wirklichen Geistigen ganz abgebracht hat. Dafür gibt es gerade in der Gegenwart ein sehr schönes Beispiel. Und ich will Ihnen dieses Beispiel erzählen, bevor ich weitergehe in diesen Auseinandersetzungen, die ich dann morgen weiterführen werde.
[ 1 ] Es gibt einen Benediktinermönch, Alois Mager. Dieser Benediktiner Mager hat vor kurzem ein recht gutes Büchelchen über den «Wandel in Gottes Gegenwart» geschrieben. Aber dieses Büchelchen beweist nur, daß der Benediktinerorden einmal eine großartige Institution war, unmittelbar nachdem Benedikt ihn begründet hat. Denn was unmittelbar aus der Ordensregel des Benedikt fließt, das wirkt auch noch in dem Büchelchen dieses Benediktinermönches Mager. Man kann einen gewissen Respekt bekommen vor diesem Büchelchen, und es ist jedenfalls eine Lektüre, die gegenüber manchem, was heute an Schund existiert, manchem empfohlen werden könnte. Nun aber muß man sagen: Das, was von dem Benediktinermönch ausgeht, ist allerdings noch die beste Literatur, die von dieser Seite kommt, aber es ist natürlich eine ganz und gar veraltete Literatur.
[ 23 ] Dieser Mager hat sich nun aber auch bemüßigt gefunden, über Anthroposophie zu sprechen. Über Anthroposophie sprechen ja heute alle möglichen Leute von den mannigfaltigsten Standpunkten aus. Verbieten können sie sich das selber nicht in ihrem Denken, weil sie nicht wissen, daß sie nicht das geringste Verständnis dafür haben. Aber eigentlich gehört auch das, was Mager über die Anthroposophie schreibt, nicht einmal zu dem Schlechtesten. Wir müssen es uns näher betrachten, denn es ist charakteristisch für den Intellektualismus unserer Zeit. Mager sagt: Der Anthroposoph möchte seine menschlichen Erkenntnisfähigkeiten so entwickeln, daß sie das Geistige wirklich anschauen können. — Gewiß, das möchte Anthroposophie und kann es auch. Alois Mager findet nun: Das wäre etwas außerordentlich Gutes, wenn die Menschen wirklich zur Anschauung der geistigen Welt kommen könnten. Aber sie können es eben nicht — meint er -, es geht eben nicht. Er ist sogar der Ansicht, daß es prinzipiell nicht unmöglich ist, aber daß eben die Menschen im allgemeinen nicht dazu kommen können, die geistige Welt wirklich anzuschauen. Und daß er nicht prinzipiell dagegen ist, das zeigt der Umstand, daß er sagt: Zwei Menschen sind einmal in der Lage gewesen, wirklich ihre menschlichen Erkenntnisfähigkeiten so zu entwickeln, daß sie in die geistige Welt hineinschauen konnten. Und diese zwei Menschen sind nach seiner Ansicht Buddha und Plotin.
[ 24 ] Es ist ganz merkwürdig, daß ein katholischer Benediktinermönch die Ansicht hat, die zwei einzigen Menschen, welche wirklich in die geistige Welt hineinschauen konnten, seien Buddha und Plotin gewesen: Plotin, den die katholische Kirche selbstverständlich als einen Phantasten und Ketzer anschaut, und Buddha, der ja zu denen gehört, die man im Mittelalter abschwören mußte; unter den drei größten abzuschwörenden Wesenheiten war Buddha die eine. Aber von diesen beiden sagt nun Alois Mager: Die konnten noch ihre Seelen dahin bringen, in die geistige Welt hineinzuschauen. — Er gebraucht sogar einen merkwürdigen Vergleich, ein merkwürdiges Bild, das einen an die Denkgewohnheiten der modernen Menschheit, nämlich an die militaristischen Denkgewohnheiten erinnert. Er vergleicht nämlich die geistige Welt mit einer Stadt, und diejenigen, die an diese geistige Welt herankommen wollen, vergleicht er mit Soldaten, die diese Gottesstadt, diese geistige Welt also, erstürmen wollen. Nun sagt er: Es ist, als hätte sich ein Heer zum Erstürmen einer Stadt gerüstet, aber nur ein paar der kühnsten Soldaten erstiegen die Zinnen der Mauer. Damit bricht der Angriff in sich zusammen.
[ 25 ] Von diesem Zusammenbrechen eines Angriffes haben wir während des Weltkrieges immer wieder und wiederum in den Telegrammen gelesen. So lesen wir heute in den Auseinandersetzungen eines Benediktinermönches, wie die Geist-Erkenner Soldaten sind, die die Stadt des geistigen Lebens erstürmen wollen, wie aber der Angriff in sich zusammenbricht, mit Ausnahme dessen, was die beiden kühnen Soldaten, der Plotin und der Buddha, einmal ausgeführt haben.
[ 26 ] Und so sehen Sie, daß der Mann nicht in der Lage ist, auch nur irgendwie zuzugeben, daß man an die geistige Welt herankommen könne. Er kann es nicht aus seinem Intellektualismus heraus. Man wundert sich nur, daß er gar keiner christlichen Persönlichkeit die Möglichkeit zugesteht, mit der wirklichen Erkenntnis in die Gottesnähe zu kommen. Aber er ist in dieser Beziehung ehrlich. Daher würde er selbstverständlich auch so etwas wie meine «Philosophie der Freiheit» ganz ablehnen müssen, denn die will das, was im menschlichen Individuum selber entspringen kann, als moralische Impulse geltend machen. Aber er findet, so etwas kann es überhaupt nicht geben, denn wenn der Mensch nur sich selbst überlassen ist, dann kommt nichts Geistiges aus dem Menschen heraus. Daher sagt er, daß das private und öffentliche Leben nach und nach ganz nach den Vorschriften des Evangeliums eingerichtet sein muß. Also ohne daß man irgendwie einsieht, warum das Evangelium so oder so spricht, soll einfach nach den Vorschriften des Evangeliums, die man mit menschlichen Erkenntniskräften nicht verstehen kann, das private und öffentliche Leben eingerichtet werden!
[ 27 ] Man braucht sich nicht zu wundern, wenn aus dem Intellektualismus der Gegenwart heraus eine solche Anschauung sich in der Weise geltend macht, daß der Mann dann dazu kommt, zu sagen: Meine innerste wissenschaftliche Überzeugung ist es, daß die Anthroposophie Steiners nicht anders charakterisiert werden kann, denn als eine geschickte Systematisierung von Halluzinationen zu einem Weltbilde, als eine Materialisierung des Geistigen.
[ 28 ] Man kann sich gar nicht vorstellen, wie grotesk kurios das ist, was solch ein Mann schreibt, der an sich ehrlich ist, der eigentlich nicht einmal einer der unbedeutendsten Menschen der Gegenwart ist. Ich habe, um ihn in rechter Weise zu charakterisieren, Sie darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß er vor ganz kurzer Zeit ein gutes Büchelchen geschrieben hat. Das andere ist nun sein neuestes Elaborat, diese Beurteilung der Anthroposophie. Nun nehme man einmal diesen Satz: «Meine innerste wissenschaftliche Überzeugung ist es, daß die Anthroposophie Steiners nicht anders charakterisiert werden kann, denn als die geschickte Systematisierung von Halluzinationen zu einem Weltbild. Auf eine Materialisierung des Geistigen läuft letzten Endes auch die Wiederverkörperungslehre hinaus.» - Nun möchte ich sagen: Herr Pater, stellen wir uns einmal vor, Sie nehmen es ernst mit Ihren Gottes- und Geistesvorstellungen. Dann müssen Sie das Geistige irgendwohin versetzen, wenn Sie sich zum Geistigen erheben. Sie geben zwar nicht zu, daß der Mensch das mit seinen Erkenntniskräften kann. Ich weiß aber nicht, warum Sie dann Pater sind und dem Geistigen Ihren ganzen Lebensdienst widmen wollen. Wenn Sie überhaupt von Geistigem reden wollen, dann ist doch dieses Geistige das, was das Materielle hervorbringt. Erlangt nun jemand eine Erkenntnis des Geistigen, wie ist dann diese Erkenntnis des Geistigen? Wer bloß an einer Erkenntnis des Materiellen hängt, nun, der hat ja das Materielle vor sich, und das Geistige ist dann so, daß es eben bloße Gedanken sind. Wer sich zum Geistigen wendet, der lebt ganz offenbar in der Intensität, in der Realität des Geistigen. Darinnen sind dann die Dinge, die man mit Augen schauen kann, nur als Andeutungen.
[ 29 ] Das kommt dem Herrn Pater vor wie Halluzinationen. Deshalb nennt er das Ganze eine Systematisierung von Halluzinationen. Es ist ja sehr begreiflich, daß es ihm so vorkommen muß, weil man nicht, wenn man vom Geistigen redet, zugleich von einem materiellen Tisch reden kann, denn den sehen die Augen, den greifen die Hände an. Der ist da im Geistigen nur so darinnen wie eine Andeutung. Also kommt es dem Herrn Pater wie eine Halluzination vor. Aber nun gehen wir weiter; man muß zu ihm sagen: Herr Pater, bedenken Sie doch nur, Sie widmen Ihren Dienst dem Geistigen, geben also doch wohl zu, daß im Geistigen der Schöpfer des Materiellen lebt. Was ist denn dann die Welt nach Ihrer Ansicht? Die Materialisierung des Geistigen. Wenn er sie also wirklich erkennt, die Welt, was muß er denn erkennen? Die Materialisierung des Geistigen! Ja, aber Herr Pater, Sie tadeln das an der Anthroposophie, lehnen ihr Weltbild ab als eine Materialisierung des Geistigen — woran Sie eigentlich doch glauben müssen als eine Tatsache der Welt: daß sich aus dem Geiste heraus durch Materialisierung diese Welt gebildet hat. Das sucht die Anthroposophie zu durchdringen. Sie tadeln es am allermeisten, weil die Anthroposophie endlich Ernst macht mit dem, womit Sie selber Ernst machen sollten und womit Sie nicht Ernst machen wollen. Deshalb tadeln Sie Anthroposophie. Nach Ihrer Ansicht muß doch Ihr Gott, an den Sie glauben, einmal mit einer Materialisierung: des Geistigen Ernst gemacht haben, sonst wäre doch niemals durch diese Schöpfung eine Welt entstanden. Glauben Sie denn an Ihre Religion selber im Ernste, wenn Sie an der Anthroposophie gerade das tadeln, daß sie zu begreifen sucht, wie das Geistige materialisiert werden kann, wie es allmählich zum Materiellen werden kann?
[ 30 ] Denken Sie, in welchen Abgrund man hineinblickt, wenn man einen doch ziemlich gescheiten Menschen der Gegenwart, der außerdem ganz gut denken gelernt hat, wenn man einen Mann vor sich hat, der vorher ein gutes Büchelchen geschrieben hat, und nun sieht, wie der an Anthroposophie herangeht! Überlegen Sie sich das einmal, was in einer solchen Beurteilung eigentlich versteckt liegt, und Sie werden sehen, was der Intellektualismus auch derer, die sich heute irgendeinem spirituellen Dienst widmen, für Blüten getrieben hat und wie man über diesen Intellektualismus hinauskommen muß - in einer andern Weise natürlich, als die ägyptischen Priester über die spirituelle Unmöglichkeit, die in ihrem Zeitalter eingetreten war, hinausgekommen sind. Welche historischen Mächte es sind, an die sich gerade der Intellektualismus wenden muß, das wollen wir dann morgen weiter besprechen.
Fourth Lecture
[ 1 ] Yesterday I spoke about historical connections insofar as they lead to an understanding of human beings in the spiritual worlds, and I considered the two earlier periods of human development from this point of view. I pointed out how the older initiates tried to guide human beings in religious, social, and other relationships by choosing as their helpers those spiritual beings connected with human inhalation. And we saw that these beings are in turn connected in the cosmos with what is revealed outwardly in the light of the moon, so that we can say that certain lunar beings were used as helpers at the time when it became necessary, namely in Egyptian times, to give direction to the religious and social life of ancient Egypt and to the wider areas of ancient historical development in general.
[ 2 ] We have then seen how, in Greek culture, the beings that I yesterday called elementary Luciferic beings became important and were used by Greek initiates, for example those of the Orphic mysteries, as helpers, particularly for the inauguration of Greek art. I pointed out how even today, if one has a somewhat deeper and more intimate human feeling, one can see in the traditional Homer head the listening of this human individuality to what I yesterday called tentative hearing, hearing touch, which was essentially a listening to spiritual beings. These were the air beings who used the equilibrium between what happens through human inhalation and exhalation to create a rhythm between breathing and blood circulation, whereby, through that wonderful numerical relationship that exists in humans between the rhythm of breathing and the rhythm of the pulse, something like the Greek hexameter, as indeed all Greek meters, which are thereby both a creation of man himself and a creation of that which, as a mysterious rhythm, pervades and vibrates the entire cosmos. I have said: When the Greeks speak of Apollo's lyre, one can actually think of how the strings of this Apollo lyre were tuned according to the impressions one had from perceiving this composite rhythm.
[ 3 ] Since then, humanity has entered into a completely different stage of development, and I have repeatedly pointed out the special characteristics of this development from a wide variety of perspectives. In particular, I have pointed out how, since the 15th century, humanity has been seized by the intellectual element that today actually dominates all human culture and civilization in the broadest sense, and that has emerged in recent development precisely because an older form of language, which in its earliest form was still connected with what what I could describe as the fading of rhythm in the Greco-Roman period, continued well into the Middle Ages and became completely intellectualized. Thus, it was actually the Latin language that in many ways brought about the education of modern humanity toward modern intellectualism.
[ 4 ] This intellectualism, which is based on thoughts that depend entirely on the development of the physical human body, actually puts all of humanity in danger of falling away from the spiritual world. And one can already say that if the older religious creeds speak of a fall of man in an older form, which is meant to be more than a moral fall, then one must speak of the danger into which modern humanity has been placed as an intellectual fall. For the ideas that are common to humanity today, toward which humanity has the greatest sense of authority, the so-called clever ideas of modern science, these thoroughly intellectual constructs are entirely based on the physical human body. One must not believe that when modern man thinks, he is using anything other than the physical human body. Thoughts were something completely different in earlier periods of the earth's history. In earlier periods of historical development, human thoughts came together with certain spiritual visions. Spiritual visions either came to human beings from the cosmos or arose from within them. These spiritual visions carried, I would say, thoughts on their waves. These were spiritually given thoughts, thoughts sent to human beings from the spiritual world, thoughts that revealed themselves to human beings. Such thoughts are not accessible to intellectualism.
[ 5 ] If one forms one's thoughts solely on the basis of logic, which is what modern humanity strives for, then one's consciousness is bound to the physical body. Not that the thoughts themselves arise from the physical body; that is certainly not the case. But the forces at work in these thoughts are not conscious to modern human beings. He does not get to know thoughts in their true essence. All the thoughts that modern man receives in school through what is conveyed to him as popular science, what is contained in popular literature, all these thoughts are, in their actual substance, in what lives in them, unknown to modern man. He knows them only as mirror images. The physical body is the mirror, and human beings do not learn to recognize what actually lives in their thoughts, but only what the physical body reflects back to them from these thoughts. For if human beings were to live themselves into these thoughts, they would be able to perceive pre-earthly existence. They cannot do this. Modern man cannot perceive pre-earthly existence because he does not live in the substance of his thoughts, but only in the mirror images of his thoughts. These thoughts are not realities.
[ 6 ] And this is precisely what is dangerous for the development of modern humanity, that what is actually substantial in these thoughts is the spiritual, the pre-earthly life, but that human beings know nothing of this, knowing only the mirror images. As a result, something that is actually intended for the spiritual world—for these thoughts are intended for the spiritual world, they are rooted in the spiritual world—falls away from the spiritual world in modern humans and is reflected in the physical body. And what is reflected there is only the outer sensory world, so that one could really speak of a fall from grace in modern times, which has occurred in the intellectual realm. The great task of the age—as we have often characterized it—consists precisely in bringing spirituality, real spirit, back into the world of thought, into human consciousness. If human beings really want to live in the modern world, they cannot renounce their intellectualism; but they must spiritualize intellectualism, they must bring spiritual substance back into their thoughts.
[ 7 ] Because this is our task, we stand in opposition to what the initiates of ancient Egypt had to do. The initiates of the pre-Egyptian period in Asia were able, without further ado, because people had an ancient clairvoyance, to use those intermediate states between sleeping and waking that were to be found in human beings in order to have the moon spirits, who could live in the inhalations of human beings, as their helpers. But during the Egyptian period of development, people gradually lost their ancient clairvoyance, and the initiates were forced to find a dwelling place for their helpers on earth, because these moon spirits gradually became homeless on earth, as I described yesterday. And I have told you that the dwellings which the Egyptian initiates provided for these moon spirits were the mummified human bodies, the mummies. The mummies thus play a truly enormous role during the third post-Atlantean period of historical development. The elemental spirits lived in the mummies, without which the initiates on Earth could hardly do anything in social relation with human beings. So what was entirely possible in ancient times—making the moon spirits living in human inhalation into helpers for the spiritual guidance of Earth's development—was then replaced in ancient Egypt by what the elemental spirits dwelling in the mummies accomplished.
[ 8 ] Today we are in the opposite situation. The initiate of Egypt looked back to a past whose peculiarities he had to replace. We must look to the future, where there will again be people who live with the spiritual world, people who carry the impulses of their morality in their individual character, as I have described in my Philosophy of Freedom, where I have discussed how moral impulses are born in the individual human being and must work out of the individual human being into the world. They will only be able to do this if the exhalation of these people is shaped in such a way that the exhaled air imprints the images of this morality and these moral attitudes on external cosmic life. Just as, with inhalation, as I characterized yesterday, the etheric forms of the cosmos enter into the human being and work to maintain his organs, so must that which forms within the human being, that which detaches itself, as it were, as the form of his inner organs through his intellectual life, be imprinted as an impulse in the exhalation and enter the outer cosmos with the exhaled air.
[ 9 ] And when this earth is once scattered into space, there must be a life that has first formed in the cosmic ether through the moral impulses of human beings, which, as you know, must arise more and more through moral intuition, and which will have sent their images out into the ether through the exhaled air. Then a new Earth, a Jupiter planet, as I have described in my “Outline of Esoteric Science,” will be built up from the condensed forms that human beings will exhale in the future. Thus, we must look forward to a future for humanity in which exhalation plays a prominent role, where human beings entrust to their exhalation that through which they are to form a future.
[ 10 ] One could add a word from the Gospel here. I have often spoken of the words of Christ Jesus: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” I have pointed out that this means that what surrounds us physically, including the present starry world, will one day cease to exist, but that what comes out of human souls spiritually will take its place and find its future embodiment in the planet Jupiter. One could add to this saying of Christ: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away—if people become so imbued with Christ that they entrust to the air they breathe out that which Christ's words inspire in human souls as moral impulses, which will then build the new world out of the forms springing from human beings.
[ 11 ] Now, since about the 4th or 5th century AD, elementary spiritual beings from other worlds have entered the earthly world. These beings were not there before. In contrast to the moon beings, which played a major role in the ancient Indian and Persian periods and later took up residence in mummies, and in contrast to the air demons, which played a major role in the Greek period and to which Homer listened, we can call these beings the actual earth beings. These beings, who will once be the greatest helpers of the individual human being with his individual moral impulses, who will be helpers in building a new Earth planet out of the moral impulses of human beings, these helpers we can call Earth spirits, elemental Earth spirits, because they are intimately connected with earthly life. They expect from earthly life that they will be sufficiently stimulated to carry out their activity in the future embodiment of the earth. These beings, as I have said, entered into the Earth's evolution in the 4th and 5th centuries after Christ, and I have emphasized both in public lectures and elsewhere how remnants of the old clairvoyance remained even after the Mystery of Golgotha had taken place. There were also external human activities, cult rituals, and the like, through which these beings, who had been drawn into the Earth's development, found their way forward, if I may express it trivially. But it is the special tendency of these beings to help human beings to become, in a sense, quite individual, when the human being has an intense moral idea, to shape the whole organism in such a way that this moral idea can become a temperamental disposition, a character disposition, a blood constitution in the human being, so that one can, in a sense, derive one's moral idea, one's entire moral quality, from one's blood constitution.
[ 12 ] These elemental earth beings can become significant helpers, especially for human beings who are increasingly entering into individual freedom. But these beings have a great obstacle, an enormous obstacle. If one speaks about the spiritual world not from theories that can never be taken completely seriously, but from real life experience, one cannot help but speak about these spiritual beings as one speaks about human beings, for they are truly present on earth, just as human beings are present on earth. So one can already say that these beings feel particularly disturbed by what human heredity is. And when the superstition of human heredity has a particularly intense effect, it goes against all the inner moods and tendencies of these beings, which are very passionate. As I said, you have to accept this paradox, because one must talk about these beings as one talks about human beings. When Ibsen appeared, for example, with his “ghosts,” which virtually cemented the superstition of heredity theory, these beings simply went wild. If I may express myself figuratively, I would say: Ibsen's disheveled head, his wild beard, his strange gaze, his distorted mouth—all of this came from the turmoil that these beings caused Ibsen because they couldn't stand him, because in this respect he was truly a modern spirit who clung to the superstition of heredity. You know, when you fall prey to this superstition of ghosts, you think that you carry in your blood, inherited from your parents, grandparents, and so on, predispositions that you cannot escape; you become a certain kind of person solely because of the predispositions you carry within you. What emerged in Ibsen in a grotesquely poetic form, but still with a certain grandeur, runs through all of modern science. It really suffers from the superstition of heredity. What modern man must learn is to break free from inherited characteristics, not to cling to the superstition that everything comes only from the blood that flows down from our ancestors, but that they really come to use their individuality, so that their moral impulses adhere to them as individual human beings in this earthly life and they can become creative and productive through their individual moral impulses. These beings serve this purpose and can one day become helpers.
[ 13 ] In today's world, these beings are not in the same situation as the moon beings once were, who had become homeless and therefore had to find their homes in mummies; but these beings, whom we look to as the hope of the future for humanity, are not homeless among humanity, but wander around like lost pilgrims and find conditions everywhere that are not suitable for them. They feel rejected everywhere, most of all by the minds of scholars. They do not even want to come near them. For these beings, there is something uncomfortable in all paths and ways, for the belief in the mere omnipotence of matter is particularly repugnant to them. This belief in the omnipotence of matter is connected with the intellectualistic Fall, with the fact that man wants to cling to thoughts which are basically nothing because they are only mirror images, because man is not even aware of their substantial content.
[ 14 ] Just as the Egyptian initiate had to think about how to accommodate those beings who had become homeless, so it is incumbent upon us to find ways for these beings, of whom I have just spoken, to find the whole earth hospitable, not inhospitable. The worst thing that can happen to these beings is modern mechanism. This modern mechanism is, in a sense, a second Earth, but a spiritless Earth. The spiritual lives in minerals, plants, and animals, but in modern mechanisms only these mirror thoughts live. This modern mechanism is something that causes such beings constant pain in their wanderings on Earth, so that, above all, the nighttime exhalation of human beings today already takes place in a completely chaotic manner.
[ 15 ] These beings, which should actually find their way in the exhaled air, in the carbon dioxide air that comes from humans, find themselves blocked everywhere by what intellectualism has brought about in the world. As much as this repels modern man, as much as he does not want it, there is only one thing that can counteract it: striving for a spiritualization of what man himself does in the outer world. But to do this, modern man must first be educated. It will be difficult for him. The merely intelligent person—and modern people are very intelligent—actually knows nothing, because intelligence alone does not lead to knowledge. And such a person, who surrounds himself with mechanisms in which mirror thoughts live, is actually in danger of losing himself more and more, of no longer having himself, of no longer knowing anything about himself. They must first be filled with a certain substance. What these modern intellectual people must acquire, through which they must educate themselves, is inner intellectual morality. I will tell you right away what I mean by that.
[ 16 ] Today, people are terribly clever, but there is not much substance in their cleverness. You can hear these terribly clever people say all sorts of things, and they also think very highly of themselves because of what they say. The examples are obvious. Something very curious is currently playing a role in European literature, for example, an exchange of letters written in Russian between two people, Herschenson and Ivanov. The story is presented in such a way that the two people are living in the same room. But both are apparently so extremely intelligent that when they talk to each other, their thoughts collide in such a way that one does not listen to the other because they always talk at the same time. I cannot imagine why they write letters to each other, since they always sit together, one in one corner, diagonally across the square room, the other in the other corner. So they write letters to each other. There is nothing in these letters, absolutely nothing. They are very long, and an enormous number of words are used, but there is nothing in them. What is said in them is something like this: Yes, we have become far too clever. We have art, and we have religion, and we have science, and we have acquired all of this. We have become terribly clever."
[ 17 ] When one then reads the remarks of this person, who is so terribly conceited about his cleverness, one is simply astonished at how stupid he is, even though he is clever in the modern sense. In his opinion, he has become so terribly clever that he can no longer do anything with his cleverness and longs to return to the times when people had no religious ideas, no science, no art, and so on, and lived in a completely primitive way. And the other person cannot go along with him. But he thinks that everything that develops as such a mishmash of culture must have certain underlying ideas in order to amount to anything. In short, the two people are actually talking about nothing, about nothing at all, but they use a lot of words and are incredibly clever. That is just one example. There are many such examples.
[ 18 ] One could say: Intellectualism has finally reached the point where discussions are held in this manner. It is similar to someone who wants to grow oats in a field and is now discussing with another person whether oats should be grown. No one today thinks that they should build something themselves in culture and civilization, but everyone just criticizes what has been done and what should not have been done and what should now be different according to their ideas. Now they start discussing: Should one grow oats there? Grain was once grown there. Should oats now be grown on a field where grain was once grown, or has the field been ruined by the fact that grain was once grown on it? Isn't the idea of growing oats burdened by the fact that people once lived there who knew that grain had been grown there? On the other hand, these people seemed to be very nice people; shouldn't we also take into account that they were very nice people?
[ 19 ] That's roughly how it goes, because no one knows whether they should grow oats. Whether our culture is worth returning to Adam or longing for the end of the earth — those who have something within themselves to contribute to this culture should not sit down and write letters to their neighbors in the manner in which this correspondence has been written! It is one of the laziest products of modern intellectual life. It is truly symptomatic of the rottenness of modern intellectual life.p>
[ 20 ] These things must be viewed with a clear eye. People who are involved in life could often do a great deal; but they must do what is appropriate to the situation in which they find themselves. There are, of course, countless possibilities for doing this or that at a quarter to twelve on September 23, 1922, but each individual must do what the situation demands of him. This fact must also become part of people's thinking. One must learn that one must forbid oneself certain thoughts, that one is allowed to have certain thoughts. Just as one must do some things and refrain from doing others, one must be clear that one must not allow oneself every thought.
[ 21 ] Such a view would change many things in our lives. Newspapers could hardly be written in the modern style if this became general education, because those who take themselves a little seriously would forbid themselves all the thoughts that are written there. But just as morality must necessarily be present in people's actions in the real world, so morality must also enter into people's intellectual life.
[ 22 ] Today you hear everyone say: That is my point of view, that is what I think. — Yes, perhaps it is not necessary for them to think that or to take that point of view. But people do not yet moralize in their thinking. They must learn to do so. Then there will not be such a wild stream of pseudo-thoughts flowing onto paper as in the aforementioned correspondence. All this has to do with the fact that intellectualism has completely alienated people from the real spirit, from understanding what is truly spiritual. There is a very good example of this in the present day. And I want to tell you about this example before I continue with these discussions, which I will then continue tomorrow.
[ 1 ] There is a Benedictine monk named Alois Mager. This Benedictine monk recently wrote a rather good little book about “Change in the Presence of God.” But this little book only proves that the Benedictine order was once a great institution, immediately after Benedict founded it. For what flows directly from Benedict's rule of life is still evident in this little book by the Benedictine monk Mager. One can gain a certain respect for this little book, and it is certainly worth reading, especially in comparison to some of the trash that exists today. But it must be said that what comes from the Benedictine monk is indeed the best literature to come from this quarter, but it is, of course, completely outdated literature.
[ 23 ] This Mager has now also seen fit to speak about anthroposophy. All sorts of people today talk about anthroposophy from the most diverse points of view. They cannot forbid themselves to do so in their thinking because they do not know that they have not the slightest understanding of it. But actually, what Mager writes about anthroposophy is not even among the worst. We must take a closer look at it because it is characteristic of the intellectualism of our time. Mager says: The anthroposophist wants to develop his human powers of cognition so that they can truly see the spiritual. Certainly, that is what anthroposophy wants and can do. Alois Mager now finds that it would be something extraordinarily good if people could really come to see the spiritual world. But they cannot, he says; it is simply not possible. He even believes that it is not impossible in principle, but that human beings in general cannot really see the spiritual world. And the fact that he says that two people were once able to develop their human powers of cognition to such an extent that they could see into the spiritual world shows that he is not opposed to it in principle. And these two people, in his opinion, are Buddha and Plotinus.
[ 24 ] It is quite remarkable that a Catholic Benedictine monk believes that the only two people who were truly able to see into the spiritual world were Buddha and Plotinus: Plotinus, whom the Catholic Church naturally regards as a fantasist and heretic, and Buddha, who belongs to those whom one had to renounce in the Middle Ages; among the three greatest beings to be renounced, Buddha was one. But of these two, Alois Mager now says: They were still able to bring their souls to see into the spiritual world. He even uses a strange comparison, a strange image that reminds one of the thinking habits of modern humanity, namely, militaristic thinking habits. He compares the spiritual world to a city, and those who want to reach this spiritual world to soldiers who want to storm this city of God, this spiritual world. Now he says: It is as if an army had prepared to storm a city, but only a few of the boldest soldiers climbed the battlements of the wall. With that, the attack collapses.
[ 25 ] We read about this collapse of an attack again and again in the telegrams during the World War. Today, in the writings of a Benedictine monk, we read how those who recognize the spirit are soldiers who want to storm the city of spiritual life, but how the attack collapses, with the exception of what the two brave soldiers, Plotinus and Buddha, once accomplished.
[ 26 ] And so you see that the man is incapable of admitting in any way that one can approach the spiritual world. He cannot do so out of his intellectualism. One is only surprised that he does not grant any Christian personality the possibility of coming close to God through real knowledge. But he is honest in this regard. Therefore, he would naturally have to reject something like my “Philosophy of Freedom,” because it wants to assert as moral impulses what can spring from the human individual himself. But he believes that such a thing cannot exist at all, because if man is left to himself, then nothing spiritual comes out of man. Therefore, he says that private and public life must gradually be organized entirely according to the precepts of the Gospel. So, without understanding in any way why the Gospel says this or that, private and public life should simply be organized according to the precepts of the Gospel, which cannot be understood by human powers of cognition!
[ 27 ] It is not surprising that, out of the intellectualism of the present age, such a view asserts itself in such a way that people come to say: My innermost scientific conviction is that Steiner's anthroposophy cannot be characterized as anything other than a clever systematization of hallucinations into a world picture, as a materialization of the spiritual.
[ 28 ] It is impossible to imagine how grotesquely bizarre it is that such a man, who is honest in himself and who is not even one of the most insignificant people of our time, should write such things. In order to characterize him correctly, I have drawn your attention to the fact that he wrote a good little book quite recently. The other is his latest elaboration, this assessment of anthroposophy. Take this sentence, for example: “It is my deepest scientific conviction that Steiner's anthroposophy cannot be characterized as anything other than the skillful systematization of hallucinations into a worldview. Ultimately, the doctrine of reincarnation also amounts to a materialization of the spiritual.” Now I would like to say: Father, let us imagine that you take your ideas about God and the spirit seriously. Then you must place the spiritual somewhere if you want to elevate yourself to the spiritual. You do not admit that human beings can do this with their powers of cognition. But then I don't know why you are a priest and want to devote your entire life to the spiritual. If you want to talk about the spiritual at all, then this spiritual is what produces the material. If someone gains knowledge of the spiritual, what is this knowledge of the spiritual? Those who cling to knowledge of the material world have the material world before them, and the spiritual world is then nothing more than mere thoughts. Those who turn to the spiritual world clearly live in the intensity and reality of the spiritual world. In it, the things that can be seen with the eyes are only hints.
[ 29 ] This seems like hallucinations to the priest. That is why he calls the whole thing a systematization of hallucinations. It is very understandable that it must seem so to him, because when one speaks of the spiritual, one cannot at the same time speak of a material table, for the eyes see it and the hands touch it. It is only present in the spiritual realm as a hint. So it seems like a hallucination to the priest. But let us continue; one must say to him: Father, just consider this: you devote your service to the spiritual, so you must admit that the creator of the material lives in the spiritual. What, then, is the world in your view? The materialization of the spiritual. If he really recognizes it, the world, what must he recognize? The materialization of the spiritual! Yes, but Father, you criticize anthroposophy for this, you reject its worldview as a materialization of the spiritual — which you must actually believe as a fact of the world: that this world was formed out of the spirit through materialization. Anthroposophy seeks to penetrate this. You criticize it most of all because anthroposophy finally takes seriously what you yourselves should take seriously and do not want to take seriously. That is why you criticize anthroposophy. In your view, the God in whom you believe must have taken the materialization of the spiritual seriously at some point, otherwise this creation would never have brought about a world. Do you seriously believe in your own religion when you criticize anthroposophy for trying to understand how the spiritual can be materialized, how it can gradually become material?
[ 30 ] Think of the abyss you look into when you have before you a rather intelligent person of the present day, who has also learned to think quite well, when you have before you a man who has previously written a good little book, and now you see how he approaches anthroposophy! Think about what is actually hidden in such an assessment, and you will see what intellectualism, even among those who devote themselves to some kind of spiritual service today, has brought forth, and how we must go beyond this intellectualism—in a different way, of course, than the Egyptian priests went beyond the spiritual impossibility that had arisen in their time. Tomorrow we will discuss further which historical forces intellectualism must turn to.