The Rudolf Steiner Archive

1. What Does the Modern Person Find in Theosophy?

[ 1 ] In this lecture, I intend, on the one hand, to explore the relationship between the Theosophical Movement and the major cultural currents of the present day; and, on the other hand, in the lectures bearing the title “The Basic Concepts of Theosophy,” I wish to outline the Theosophical worldview itself. I therefore ask you to regard today’s lecture as an introductory one and to accept it as such.

[ 2 ] The topic I will be discussing today is what people today actually find within the Theosophical Movement, and which of their needs can be met within it. And in this way, I would like to approach the other question: Why do we have something like a Theosophical Movement today? — I would also like to explore a little more closely the question of why what Theosophy actually wants, what it strives for, is misunderstood and misjudged from so many sides.

[ 3 ] Anyone who wishes to understand the Theosophical Movement in its entirety must, above all, be clear about the task it is called upon to fulfill in the present. They must also be clear about whom it seeks to address in the present. What, then, is the modern human being we are to discuss today? By this modern human being, we mean one who has familiarized themselves with the issues of our time—that is, someone who does not merely live in the everyday, but has also engaged with the cultural challenges of our age and is acquainted with them; for whom the questions that culture poses to us are themselves needs of the heart and mind; in short, by this I mean the person who strives to engage with the educational and intellectual questions of our time. I would like to pose the question for him and sketch out an answer: What does he find in the Theosophical Movement? Is there anything at all to be found within Theosophy that he truly needs?

[ 4 ] We must look back to the time when the Theosophical Movement first emerged if we are to understand its mission. We must realize that this movement is three decades old and that, when it first emerged just under thirty years ago, it took on a form that was shaped by the circumstances of the time. Anyone who wishes to understand why it took this form must bring to mind the development of the educational system in recent years. We are, after all, still caught up in the currents that the 19th century brought forth, and those who founded the Theosophical Movement believed they were thereby giving the world something it needed. And those who teach Theosophy today believe that it is also something that leads into the future.

[ 5 ] It has almost become a cliché today, and yet it is true: what has taken root in the souls of our contemporaries has created in many of them a rift, a conflict between knowledge and faith, between reason and religion, which finds expression in a longing of the heart. This conflict is characteristic of the latter half of the 19th century. It signifies, not only for some people but for a large portion of humanity in general, that which divides humanity and which gives rise to a contradiction within the individual human soul. By the last third of the 19th century, science had reached a height that is indeed admirable to anyone surveying the centuries. This science is, after all, something that fills the 19th century with justifiable pride. It is the great legacy that the 19th century is able to pass on to all who come after. But at the same time, this science has seemingly cast aside old traditions. It has seemingly introduced a disruption into what, as the old tenets of faith in earlier times, had served the souls so well. Above all, it was those who had looked more deeply into science who no longer believed they could reconcile scientific findings with what religion had offered them. The best among them believed that an entirely new creed must take hold and that it must replace what had been the content of people’s faith for centuries. Thus we see that a true revolution in human thinking has gradually taken hold. We see that the question has even been raised as to whether it is still possible at all for a person to be a Christian; whether it is still possible to hold fast to the ideas that have provided comfort in death and that have so long shown humanity how to understand its destiny, which is meant to extend beyond death and the finite. The great questions of “Where from” and “Where to” were to be taught in a new way, illuminated by science. People spoke of a “new faith,” and they believed that it must stand in contrast to the old one. They no longer believed that one could form a worldview from the old religious texts. Indeed, there were quite a few who said that these books contained childish notions, which were only possible in the childhood of humanity; but now that we had become adults, we must also have adult views. Many also said they wanted to stick to the old beliefs; they did not want to convert to the radical standpoint of the new.

[ 6 ] But the course of spiritual development in humanity does not depend on these many people. It has always been a few, always those who stood at the forefront of their time, who set the tone for future development. Thus it came to pass that those who wanted nothing to do with the “new faith” also believed they need not concern themselves with the conflict between faith and knowledge; but one could also imagine and say that things would be different in the future. David Friedrich Strauss, after all, formulated his new creed at that time, asserting that there is nothing in the world beyond what takes place between birth and death, and that human beings must fulfill their purpose here on earth. One can see that in the present day the comfort of religious beliefs is fading for many, and one may assume that our children and our children’s children will derive no benefit from them anymore. Hence, those who believed that salvation depended on these religious beliefs may have looked upon the world with trepidation. They were the best among us.

[ 7 ] The 19th century was, after all, merely the fruit of what had been sown in the preceding century; all of this had been laid the groundwork for in earlier centuries. This is primarily attributable to those who sought to broaden the human horizon from the mid-15th to the 16th century, and above all to the popularization of education. If you look back, you will see that religion took on a very different form for people in past centuries. The worldview has seemingly been completely transformed. It is only because of this that people have formed somewhat mistaken notions, believing that thinking is fundamentally different from what it was centuries ago.

[ 8 ] Imagine a time when the vast majority stood in contrast to a select few: the priesthood was the caste that possessed knowledge. Within this caste, there was no conflict between faith and knowledge. What one could see and touch was in harmony with what was called religious belief. What was explored using the tools of science, the senses, and whatever aids were available to the senses served as a foundation for what had been gained through the breadth of sensory perception. Built upon this, as the pinnacle, were the concept of God, the concept of the creation of the world, and the concepts of the destiny of the human soul. There was no conflict whatsoever. Medieval people worked six days a week, and on Sunday they went to church. There they heard how what they did during the week, while having temporal significance, also had eternal significance; they heard how it fit into the great course of the world. Thus people knew that the smallest thing they did had a significance that reached into all time,

[ 9 ] The awareness that what humans do has an impact on all people and all times has, however, been lost precisely among those who were the bearers of education in recent centuries—and most significantly in the 19th century. People had conceived of worldviews in a manner quite different from the past. Astronomy had shown them how to construct worldviews based solely on sensory observation. Copernicus taught people to look out into the worlds and create a worldview for themselves, one that, however, did not include humanity itself. Look back at the old worldviews: there, humanity had a role to play; it had a place within them. Now, however, they faced a system of stars that had been discovered through the means of science. But this system included the Earth only as a tiny entity. It appeared like a speck of dust beneath that sun, which is one among countless suns.

[ 10 ] Faced with all of this, it was impossible to answer the question: What is the purpose of humankind, this tiny inhabitant of Earth, on this speck of dust in the vastness of the universe? And so science set out to investigate the world of life. It examined the composition of plant, human, and animal bodies—the smallest living beings under the microscope—and found that they are made up of minute structures called cells. Once again, a step forward had been taken in sensory knowledge, but once again, only something had been grasped that was a sensory perception, something that made physical existence more comprehensible to the senses. But once again, something had been excluded that humanity must most intimately inquire about, namely what constitutes the soul and its purpose. The new doctrine could not be asked where the soul came from and where the soul goes. — We then come to see how people moved away from the old worldviews and how the question was answered using the methods of science.

[ 11 ] Geology has explored the physical origins of humankind. The various geological strata found on our Earth have been identified. In the past, it was said that the Earth had formed through violent upheavals and had undergone various states; states of such significance that one could only imagine that spiritual forces had gradually brought about what we know today. Today, it is believed that the same forces that are still shaping the Earth today also shaped it in the distant past. We see that the river flows down from the mountains, carrying away debris and thereby creating land and plains. We see that the wind carries sand over vast areas and covers entire stretches with sand. We see how, through such influences, the climate and, very gradually, the Earth’s surface are altered. And now geologists say: just as the Earth is being altered today, so was it altered in the past; and thus one also comes to understand how gradually the Earth was formed. Everything that is imperceptible to physical instruments, to calculation, and to the human senses was excluded from the explanation of the Earth. The various layers of the Earth were examined, and it was found that they contain not only the lifeless products that have been deposited there; living beings that lived on our Earth millions of years ago were also found. In the lower layers, the most primitive beings were found; higher up, more advanced beings were found; and even higher, almost at the very top, the layers in which human beings appear. Human beings first appear in relatively recent periods of Earth’s formation. If we apply this picture I have just sketched, if we were to stick to this image, one could imagine nothing other than that human beings have developed from the bottom up, that they have merely taken a small leap forward and were previously nothing other than animal beings of a higher order.

[ 12 ] Then came what we call Darwinism, which states that everything living on Earth is related, that perfection develops from imperfection, and that this development is based on certain laws that play out within the realm of sensory existence. The catchphrase “struggle for existence” emerged. It was said that every animal and every plant is mutable. They can develop in this or that way, depending on whether the beings are adapted to external living conditions or not. Those beings that are best adapted to living conditions will develop and survive best. However, it was impossible to determine why the conditions of life were better for one than for another. One was at the mercy of chance. The being that happened to be the better one survived, while the less well-developed one perished in the struggle of all against all.

[ 13 ] Thus we have an astronomical picture, and a picture that science has sketched out for us of life. But humanity is missing from it, and above all, what was previously called divine destiny is missing. What is missing is what is called the divine origin and the divine goal. Significant is the remark once made by a great natural scientist who contributed most to the design of a grand cosmic structure: When Laplace stood before Napoleon I and explained to him the picture of the sun and the planets, Napoleon said: “But in such a picture of the world I find nothing of a God.” — To which Laplace replied: “I have no need of such a hypothesis.” — The astronomical world picture had no need of the hypothesis of a spiritually creative being, of a God. And the other sciences behave in the same way. Is there anything in their picture of life that contains spiritually creative forces? Nowhere is such a thing contained in the picture that science has drawn up—and rightly so. If we seek an explanation for this, we find that humanity, with its spiritual qualities, is a kind of orphan. Science has indeed found enthusiastic words to describe how wonderful the forces are that guide the stars, how wonderful the forces are that have developed life up to the point of humanity. But we see that in this entirely sublime picture, science no longer contains any of the ideas that were so precious to humanity for so many centuries. And from whom could humanity have demanded answers to the questions: Where do I come from? — Where am I going? — if not from science? The answers to these questions have always been provided by science.

[ 14 ] Go back to the early centuries of Christianity; consider Origen and the other early Church Fathers: There you will find that for them it was not merely a matter of faith, not merely of conjecture and opinion, but that these were men who possessed the full education of their time, men who addressed worldly matters in a worldly manner, yet at the same time were also able to ascend to the spiritual; who addressed the spiritual in harmony with the science of their time. The conflict between science and faith is a phenomenon of the last century. But this conflict must be resolved. Humanity cannot endure it: faith on one side, knowledge on the other.

[ 15 ] Those who saw no other way out than to oppose the old faith with a new scientific faith were, nonetheless, significant figures. We cannot call these people unscientific or irreligious; they said: Religious ideas contradict our knowledge, and therefore we must have a new faith. — Here we see the development of what we might call scientific materialism, which regards human beings as a higher form of animal, as a link in the physical-natural chain of creation, as a small, insignificant being, as a speck of dust. You have this being before you in what the freethinkers and those who attempt to solve the various mysteries of the world in this sense have developed, as you can see in Haeckel’s sensational book on the wonders of life. There you see an image born of science that is incapable of harmonizing with the views of earlier centuries.

[ 16 ] That was the situation at the end of the 19th century; that was the only thing the 19th century could have bequeathed to the 20th century had it not been for a different development. This development had been in the making and then came to fruition in the Theosophical Movement. What we recognize as the very essence of the Theosophical Movement was prepared on the one hand by coming to know the true physical structure of the world and the development of life, since the old beliefs were no longer sufficient, and on the other hand by subjecting spiritual development itself to study—that is, not only the development of life but also spiritual development itself. Just as one investigated the forces from which living beings and living organisms developed, so too did one investigate the spiritual forces, the spiritual content of humanity, as we observe them in the course of historical and also prehistoric development. One did not merely look back at what had unfolded before the physical eyes, but also at what people had believed. It was clear that modern science was something radically different from what the ancient creeds had held. It was only through our era of research that the spiritual development of humanity became clear to people. Ancient beliefs were examined for their true form and content, and there something quite special was found. By deciphering the documents of the Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, we were able to penetrate these ancient human conceptions. And just as science has shed light on the natural sciences, so now science has shed light on what the beliefs of the ancients were. There we saw that they contain something that, in our age and with our free-thinking nature, we have given little thought to.

[ 17 ] It had been believed that humanity had emerged from ignorance, from certain mythological concepts, from imaginings, from poetic notions that people had formed about God and the soul in an imperfect, primitive way. That was roughly how one imagined humanity had developed, from the imperfect to the magnificently perfect of our time. But one did not know the ideas of the ancients, and when one came to know them, they aroused astonishment and admiration, not only among religious people but also among researchers. This admiration has been expressed time and again, the more they were studied. The further back we go into the lives of the ancient Egyptians, into the lives of the ancient Indian, Babylonian, and Assyrian, indeed even Chinese spiritual worlds, the more we see that there exist such sublime worldviews as only a human mind can conceive and a human heart can feel. There we see people who have looked deeply into the inner spiritual realm—not into the outer world that modern science explains to us today. Confucius imparted profound moral teachings and established precepts for social coexistence. Compare for yourself what contemporary philosophers have produced in terms of moral teachings; compare Herbert Spencer or the moral teachings of Darwinism; compare modern moral teachings with those of ancient Egypt, with the conceptions of morality held by Laozi, Confucius, and Zarathustra— and you must admit that while the new ideas are indeed appropriate for our time, we look up in admiration to the sublime moral teachings of the ancients, which cannot be measured by what we call science. Max Müller says of Tibetan moral teachings: “However far this people may be removed from the so-called cultures of our time, before the sublime morality of Tibet I bow my head in reverence!” — Thus spoke the Orientalist and objective scientist Max Müller. He was never able to believe that humanity had emerged from ignorance. Rather, his research led him to the conclusion that, while this wisdom cannot be grasped by the intellect or the senses, humanity must have originated from such wisdom. Gradually, the researcher began to speak of what “primordial revelation” and “primordial wisdom” are. That was one aspect, the positive side.

[ 18 ] The other side was the one that made it its task to critique and examine these religious beliefs. And it then became apparent that the most important texts, the most important documents, did not stand up to scholarly criticism when taken in the way people had been accustomed to taking them for centuries. I will leave aside everything else, nor will I go into a critique of the Old Testament, but will merely point out in a few words what this critique has accomplished with regard to the Gospels. With regard to the Gospels, which a hundred years ago were read with entirely different eyes, historical criticism now asked: When were they written, and how were they written? — And scholarship has had to strip away, bit by bit, the ancient authority that the Gospels once possessed. It has shown that they were written much later than had been believed; it has had to demonstrate that they are human works and cannot lay claim to the authority that had been ascribed to them.

[ 19 ] Let us consider these three things together: on the one hand, the progress of the natural sciences; on the other, the realization of the marvelous content of all the religious beliefs of antiquity; and at the same time, the criticism that has relentlessly challenged what was previously thought about the history of religious texts. This led humanity into waters where it became uncertain and could scarcely steer its ship forward in the old way. Those who sought to consult science from all sides became confused in their thinking. Such was the state of human understanding at the end of the 19th century.

[ 20 ] Then came the Theosophical Movement, with the very intention of offering something to those who were in this state of uncertainty, of bringing a new message to those who could not reconcile their new insights with their old beliefs. They were to be given an answer to the question of why this Gospel has such profound meaning, and why it conveys its moral teachings to humanity in such a divinely sublime manner.

[ 21 ] This Theosophical Movement was particularly misunderstood precisely because it uses a language that developed specifically in the last century. In the early days, when the Theosophical Movement first emerged, the world found it very difficult to understand it. But what did the Theosophical Movement offer humanity? To mention just a few things: Based on certain studies, a book titled *Esoteric Buddhism* by Sinnett was published, followed by another book titled *Isis Unveiled*, authored by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Furthermore, a two-volume work was published, *The Secret Doctrine* by H. P. Blavatsky. These were books that presented a worldview entirely different from what science had offered up to that point, and also different from the worldviews of the religions. And this worldview had a distinctive feature. It was precisely the scientific mind—one who approached these works with good will, who did not take them in hand with arrogance, dismissing and criticizing them from the outset—who found that here was something given to them that could satisfy their needs. And there were not a few who, immediately upon the books’ publication, received them with great interest. These were people who understood how to think scientifically, but who, over time, had become disillusioned precisely by scientific progress, precisely by what science had to offer. They now saw in the new works *Esoteric Buddhism*, *Isis Unveiled*, “The Secret Doctrine,” something that satisfied their deepest heart’s needs, their deepest need for knowledge, and their scientific conscience. Where did this phenomenon come from, and who were the few who found such satisfaction in the new theosophical works? If we wish to understand these few, we must take a closer look at the further course of scientific development.

[ 22 ] Science had developed an astronomical worldview, a picture of life on Earth that extended all the way to an understanding of the physical human being. At the same time, it had devised a method for exploring the physical world using all the marvelous tools that modern times have created. It has not only used the microscope to study the smallest living organisms; no, this science has done more than that. It managed to calculate the existence of the planet Neptune long before it was observed! Today, science is also capable of photographing celestial bodies that we cannot see. With the help of spectral analysis, it can provide a picture of the state of celestial bodies, and it has shown in an immensely interesting way how these bodies race through space at a speed we previously had no idea about. When celestial bodies move past us, we can see their motion. But when they move away from us or toward us, they appear to be at rest. Science has also managed to measure the motion of these celestial bodies using a particularly interesting method. This is proof of where this knowledge can lead us. It also enables us to study the physical nature more closely, piece by piece. Something has emerged that is even more important to the human mind than what it had previously substituted for the old science as a new one.

[ 23 ] In recent years, science has once again been led astray by its own premises. Precisely because it has become so perfect, it has surpassed itself; in a certain sense, it has undermined its own foundation. It claimed that the struggle for existence had brought about the perfection of living beings. Well then, natural scientists have investigated these matters, and precisely because they have investigated them, it has become clear that all the ideas they had formed about them are untenable. Now people speak of the “ineffectiveness of the struggle for existence.” Thus, natural science has undermined its own foundation of knowledge with its own methods. And so it went on, step by step. And as, in recent decades, humanity has become increasingly aware of how it has developed on our Earth, people eventually arrived at the idea that humanity had evolved from higher animals. Thus it came to pass that, in recent decades, cautious and at the same time more discerning natural scientists have come to speak of the impossibility of comprehending the spiritual world—which must lie behind our sensory world—by means of natural science. The initial impetus came from Du Bois-Reymond’s famous speech in Leipzig, in which he expressed the view that natural science is incapable of solving the most important mysteries of the world and answering questions pertaining to them. Science ends where the questions about the origin of matter and the origin of consciousness begin. We will not be able to know anything there by scientific means: “Ignorabimus.” Ostwald, a good student of Haeckel’s, who had already spoken of overcoming scientific materialism at the naturalists’ congress in Lübeck, openly stated in a lecture at the last naturalists’ assembly that the methods by which one sought to get to the bottom of the world’s mysteries were to be regarded as a failure. “Natural Science and Worldview” is the title of the recently published book. It is precisely natural science that seeks to transcend itself. It seeks to go beyond itself and view the world in a higher light.

[ 24 ] Just as these natural scientists today stand before the entirety of objective research, so did those few stand at the very beginning of the Theosophical Movement. This was clear to them: what natural science says is something indestructible, something upon which we must build. But at the same time, it was also clear to them that natural science itself must lead to a stage of development where, with its own means, it can no longer provide answers to the higher questions. They found this answer, however, in the aforementioned theosophical writings. They found it there, not through a creed, but through the way of thinking and feeling expressed in the theosophical movement. This is the significance of the Theosophical Movement for people today: that it can fully satisfy those who seek harmony between knowledge and faith in science, who wish to move into the future not in opposition to science, but in harmony with it.

[ 25 ] Just a few years ago, it was believed that science was at odds with ancient beliefs. People spoke of a new faith in contrast to the old faith. The Theosophical Movement has taught us that, although the ancients expressed themselves differently than modern science, what they taught about spiritual forces—about that which cannot be seen with the eyes or heard with the ears—is something that can satisfy both our need for faith and the most modern scientific curiosity. However, one must delve into the ancient concepts with complete impartiality, good will, and an open mind; one must truly cherish the belief that the deeper one penetrates them, the more and more one can gain from them.

[ 26 ] Then something occurs to us. Over the course of the 19th century, science taught us something else as well. It introduced us to the structure of our own sensory organs. It showed us how the eyes must be constructed in order to perceive light and colors; it has shown us that the eye is a physical apparatus that transforms what is happening around us into the colorful world we see before us. It has been said that this depends on the nature of the eye, as well as on the world itself. Imagine if the world were inhabited by beings that could not see. Then the world would be without colors! Sensory science developed in all directions during the 19th century. Let us realize that the world around us would be dark and silent if it were not for our eyes and ears. Were it not for our senses, the world that we do not see and do not hear would not exist in its causes, which act upon us through the senses. There cannot be effects for a person who, under normal circumstances, lacks the organs. Or can there not, after all, be effects for a person who, under normal circumstances, lacks the organs? That was the question that had to be posed by natural science itself! This question is genuinely scientific.

[ 27 ] In this field, too, the Theosophical Movement produced works of fundamental importance. Not only did it provide a worldview, but it also produced works that offered guidance on the development of higher faculties and the cultivation of higher abilities. If a person then develops these higher abilities within themselves, they will view the world in a new way. Imagine for a moment a dark world in which there is a bright light, and imagine that you open one eye: in an instant, the world is filled with a new quality! The world was there before, too, when it was dark and you saw no light. But now you can perceive it. If you could open up higher faculties within yourself, you would experience that even higher worlds exist and are active, because you can now perceive them.

[ 28 ] *Light on the Path* is one such work, which was also produced by the Theosophical Movement. It is a guide on how human beings can develop spiritual eyes and spiritual ears in order to see and hear spiritually. Thus, the Theosophical Movement claims to solve the world’s mysteries in an entirely new way. Not only by unlocking the abilities that human beings already possess, but also by awakening those that lie dormant within them. It is by perfecting ourselves in this way, as has been done since time immemorial, that we first penetrate the mysteries of the worlds and of the worlds that surround us. Through this, life reveals itself to us, a life that remains hidden from the outer sense organs. No matter how far natural science might advance, no matter how magnificent its achievements, it would still have to admit that there is something else that it cannot grasp. But science could teach this to humanity through the methods that theosophy has placed in its hands. Because humanity has been able to explore the world’s vastness through science, but never its depths, theosophy now stands alongside modern science. This science has expanded, but the theosophical world movement is meant to deepen it.

[ 29 ] It has now become clear and understandable why human beings—even scholars—must stand in awe before the ancient religious creeds. It has become clear that perfect beings have always lived alongside imperfect ones in the world. It has also become clear why the concept of revelation was scientifically dismantled and, on the other hand, presented to humanity in a more beautiful light. It also became clear that the Gospels and other ancient expressions of faith did not arise from ignorance, but from wisdom; that they arose from forces that rest within every human heart and that were already developed in some individuals at that time, revealing that world which shows us the destiny of the soul and the eternity of human life. What was perceived through such spiritual eyes has been preserved for us in the religious texts. That which cannot be found when one looks out into the world is truly contained in these religious texts.

[ 30 ] And now we understand why Laplace’s answer had to be what it was. What had Laplace observed? The external sensory world! He had not yet grasped the spiritual world in which the Earth is embedded. He was therefore correct in his answer that he had been unable to find the divine in the world with his instruments. In the past, people were taught to use their spiritual senses to observe the spiritual world. What is written in the scientific records was not plucked from the stars. But what is written in the biblical records came from those who saw with spiritual eyes. One needs these spiritual eyes to look into the spiritual world, just as one looks into the sensory world with the senses. Even if one were to be led astray by science—a sure foundation had now been gained. Now one could see the great spiritual connections that lie just as clearly before the human soul, if only one seeks to find the paths leading there. And the Theosophical Movement seeks to convey to humanity the paths that lead there. Now, above all, one will understand what this Theosophical Movement aims to do, and why it was initially so misunderstood. It was bound to be misunderstood. This is connected with the course of historical development. Let me touch upon the deepest root of the misunderstanding in modern science. People believed that the “struggle for existence” had brought humanity to a high stage of development. But it is curious that this worldview had already emerged at the beginning of the 19th century as Lamarckism. Darwin taught nothing essentially new. But it was only since Darwin that this view has gained wider acceptance. This is connected to the living conditions of the 19th century. Life had changed. Social life itself had become a struggle for existence. When Darwin’s theory became widely accepted, the “struggle for existence” was a reality, and it remains so today. It was true back then during the extermination of the indigenous tribes in America and also among those striving to achieve material prosperity: No one thought of anything other than how best to attain “well-being.” “If the rose adorns itself, it also adorns the garden”—through the satisfaction of each individual, the satisfaction of all was to be achieved.

[ 31 ] Then came the strange doctrine of Malthus, Malthusianism—the theory that humanity grows much faster than the food supply necessary for its survival, so that a struggle for existence within the human realm itself is bound to arise gradually. It was believed that this struggle would be necessary because food supplies were insufficient. One might regard it as sad that this were the case, but it was believed that it had to be so. For Darwin, Malthusianism was the starting point for his theory. Because it was believed that human beings had to fight a struggle for existence, he therefore believed that the struggle must be the same throughout all of nature. Man has carried his social struggle for existence out into the world of life, into the heavenly world.

[ 32 ] People took great comfort in telling themselves that the new human being had become humble. He is said to be nothing more than a tiny creature on the speck of dust that is Earth, whereas in the past he strove for salvation. But humanity has not become humble! By projecting what exists within humanity as social struggle out into the world, we have made the world a reflection of humanity. Whereas humanity once contemplated its own soul, exploring it from every angle in order to recognize the world soul from this vantage point, it has now explored the physical world and imagined it in such a way that it sees in it a picture of humanity with its struggle for existence. If the Theosophical Movement was to achieve anything, it had to grasp this fact. When a person truly rediscovers the divine within themselves, so that they find God within, then they can say to themselves: The God who works within me is the God of the world, is the one who works within me and outside of me; I recognize him and may conceive of the world as I myself am, because I know that I conceive of it divinely, because I know how this new insight is to be gained from new depths of the soul and new feelings of the heart,

[ 33 ] In this way, it was also possible to explore the various religious systems and their profound truths. Religious scholars such as Max Müller and his distinguished colleagues pioneered this study of religion, and Theosophy was called upon to carry it forward. Humanity is to see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears what no physical eye can see and no physical ear can hear. The Theosophical Movement had pioneered this. It would have been impossible to truly achieve anything in these two areas had the entire movement not been centered on that which is capable of truly giving birth to the new insights, the new science, and the new faith from within the human soul: If, in the mid-19th century, humanity believed that perfection could be attained only through struggle and thereby made struggle the great law of the world, it must now learn to cultivate within its soul that which is the opposite of struggle: love, which cannot separate the happiness and well-being of the individual from the happiness and well-being of others; which sees in the other not someone at whose expense one can advance, but someone whom one must help. When love is born in the soul, then humanity will also be able to see creative love in the outer world. Just as humanity in the 19th century created a view of nature based on its conception of struggle, so will it create a worldview of love, because it will develop the seed of love.

[ 34 ] The new worldview will once again be a reflection of what love holds within the soul. Humanity may once again conceive of the Divine as it discovers its own soul—but love must dwell within that soul. Then humanity will recognize that conflict is not the defining characteristic of the force system that shapes the world, but that love is the primal force of the world. If humanity wishes to recognize the God who creates and radiates love, then it must cultivate its own soul toward love. This is the most important principle that the Theosophical Movement has adopted as its own: to form the core of a universal brotherhood of humanity built upon love for humanity. In this way, the Theosophical Movement will comprehensively prepare humanity for a worldview in which it is not struggle, but love that creates and shapes. The discerning human spirit will see creative love flowing toward it. Cultivating love within oneself will lead to the realization that love has created the world. And Goethe’s thought will be fulfilled:

Let man be noble,
Helpful and good!
For that alone
Distinguishes him
From all beings
That we know.

[ 35 ] This legacy of the great poet is the driving force behind our Theosophical Movement. Modern humanity should cultivate within itself the most significant factor in progressive development through the Theosophical Movement. It should strive for cooperation in social life. This would enable him to advance in wisdom and in wisdom-filled power—even in the spiritual worlds. Then humanity will increasingly recognize again what is eternal within them and what their eternal destiny is. They will know how they themselves create and work at the “whirling loom of time,” as a link in a spiritual, not merely sensory, chain of worlds. He will know that he performs his daily work and that this does not end in itself, but is a small link in a great chain of human progress. He will know that every human being is a seed that needs a force to blossom and flourish, a force that pushes and drives the seed out of the dark earth. What the soul creates must be drawn out of the spiritual soil, just as the plant seed must be drawn out of the physical soil. And just as the physical seed is drawn out by the sun toward the sun, so will the blossoming and thriving human plant be drawn out by a spiritual solar power—that spiritual solar power which Theosophy will teach and impart to humanity. It will lead him to the magnificent and mighty Spiritual Sun, which one can speak of, but which one must not merely speak of, but recognize and penetrate: This is the Spiritual Sun that lives out there in the spiritual world, but which also lives within the human being.

[ 36 ] The first principle of the Theosophical Movement is that those who unite to form this Society develop within themselves the ability to perceive this spiritual Sun, which lives within the human being and in the great spiritual outer world, which is the driving force in the spiritual realm and truly a force, like all other physical forces, only a higher one—and that is the power of creative love. A new divine knowledge will be brought forth. Then humanity will recognize creative love in the outer world as it allows this love to grow ever greater within itself. Then Theosophy will not only provide knowledge but also bring about the spiritual future through growing and flourishing love.