Supersensible Knowledge
GA 55
22 November 1906, Berlin
IV. The Origin of Evil
It is characteristic of today's literature that it hardly mentions evil. Materialism may appear to have explanations for suffering, illness and death, but does not concern itself with evil. In the animal kingdom one can speak of ferocity and cruelty, but one cannot apply the concept of evil to animals. Evil is confined to the human kingdom. But modern natural science tries to derive knowledge of human beings from investigations of animals, and as all differences are glossed over, evil is ignored. One has to enter deeply into human characteristics in order to discover the origin of evil. One must above all recognize that humanity constitutes a kingdom by itself. Let us now consider this issue in the light of spiritual science.
There exists a primordial human wisdom that penetrates beneath the surface to the essence of things. It used to be preserved within narrow circles to which no one was admitted except after strict tests. The guardian of the wisdom had to be convinced that the one seeking entry would only use the knowledge for selfless purposes. During the last decades the elementary aspects of this wisdom-science are being made public; there are certain reasons why this is happening. It will increasingly flow into everyday life; we are at the beginning of this development.
But what is the connection between human beings' essential nature and evil? Various attempts have been made to explain evil. Some say that there is no evil as such, only an absence of good; evil is supposed to be the lowest degree of good. Others say that just as good is an original force, so is evil. The Persian legend of Ormuzd and Ahriman emphasizes this view more especially. Spiritual science is the first to show that to understand evil one must enter deeply into the nature of human beings, and indeed into that of the whole cosmos. To deny its existence as such is to close the door to any comprehension of evil. We must look at how human beings evolved in the past and will evolve in the future, and thereby seek to discover the task, the mission of evil in the world.
Spiritual science points to the fact that there are highly developed individuals called the “initiates.” In every age there have been secret schools where it was taught how, through exercises in meditation and concentration, a person could reach higher stages of development. Such exercises lead to insight that cannot be attained by means of the five senses and the intellect. Inner meditative work enables the soul to become free of the senses; something occurs in an individual that is comparable to what happens in someone born blind and whose sight is restored. An inner process takes place through which the spiritual eyes and ears are opened. The whole of humanity will reach this stage, but only after long periods of time. It is essential that those who seek higher development in no way neglect worldly, everyday affairs; the ascetic who flees the world will not attain spiritual vision, for the new clairvoyance is the fruit of the sour s experiences gathered in the physical world. The Greek philosophers have compared the human soul to the bee gathering honey, saying that the world of color and light offers honey to the human soul, to carry it up to higher worlds. The task of the human soul is to spiritualize sense experiences and take them up to higher worlds.
But what is its task once the soul becomes free of the body? Here we touch on a fundamental and significant law: Whenever beings reach a higher stage of evolution, they become the leaders and guides of the beings belonging to the forms of existence they have themselves passed through. When a person has become spiritualized, and no longer needs a physical body, he will attain spiritual leadership and work on a new planet from outside. By then our present planet will have fulfilled its mission and passed over into another embodiment. A new planetary existence will arise, and humanity will be gods on that planet. The human bodily nature, forsaken by the spirit, will constitute a lower kingdom. Human nature is already twofold, consisting of that which will rule on the next planet, and that which will be a lower kingdom. The earth will pass over into a new embodiment, just as it has passed through earlier ones. Human beings will be gods on the next planet, just as the beings that now lead us were human beings on the previous planet. This illustrates how the earth is connected with the past and the future. The Elohim, the creators and leaders of human evolution, were once at the stage we have reached on the earth. On the future planet human beings will have advanced to be leaders and guides.
However, it must not be thought that the same repeats itself; nothing ever happens twice. Never before has there been an existence like ours. Earth evolution represents the cosmos of love; the previous planet the cosmos of wisdom. On the earth love is to develop from the most elementary stage to the loftiest.
Wisdom, though hidden, permeates the foundation of earth existence; consequently, we ought not to speak of a person's physical nature as “lower,” for it is in reality the most perfect aspect of his being. To recognize it one only has to look at the wisdom-filled bone structure, such as the upper thigh bone. Here we find the perfect solution to the problem: how the least expenditure of material can be structured to carry the maximum weight, or think of the wonderful forms of heart and brain. The astral body most certainly is not at a higher stage; it is the bon viveur that continually attacks the wise form of the heart. The astral body will need long ages to become as perfect and as wise as the physical body, though it will do so in the course of evolution. The physical body has gone through a corresponding development; it has evolved from unwisdom and error to wisdom.
Wisdom developed before love; as yet love is far from perfect, but even now it is to be found at all levels of existence, in plant, animal and human beings, from the lowest sexual love to the highest spiritualized love. Untold numbers of beings who have developed the urge for love are destroyed in the struggle for existence. Where there is love there is conflict, but love will overcome the conflict and transform it into harmony.
The characteristic of physical nature is wisdom; the evolution of the earth began when wisdom became permeated by love. As today there is conflict on earth, so there were errors on the previous planet. Peculiar legendary creatures wandered about, mistakes of nature incapable of evolution. Just as love evolves from non-love, so wisdom evolves from unwisdom. Those who attain the goal of earth evolution will bring love over to the next planet, as wisdom was originally brought over into the earth evolution. Earthly humanity looks up to the gods as bringers of wisdom; the humanity on the next planet will look up to the gods as bringers of love. On earth, wisdom is vouchsafed to human beings as divine revelation through beings who were humans on the previous planet. Thus, all realms are interlinked. If there were no plants, the air would soon be polluted. Plants give off life-giving oxygen inhaled by human beings and animals, who in turn exhale carbonic acid that would destroy the air were it not inhaled by the plants. In this respect, the higher depends on the lower for the very breath of life.
This interdependence applies to all stages and kingdoms. Just as humans and animals depend on the world of plants, so do the gods depend upon mortals. Greek mythology expresses this poetically, saying that from the mortals the gods receive nectar and ambrosia, both words meaning love. Love comes into existence through humans, and love is food for the gods. The love engendered by mortals is breathed in by the gods. This may seem very strange, yet it is a fact more real than, say, electricity. At first love appears as sexual love and evolves to the highest spiritual love, but all love, the highest as well as the lowest, is the breath of gods. It might be said: If this is so then there can be no evil. But it must be remembered that, just as wisdom is born of error, so love can only evolve and reach perfection through conflict. However, love will be guided by the wisdom that is the foundation of the world.
Not all the beings on the previous planet attained the height of wisdom. Some remained behind and are at a level of development between gods and humans. Though they still need something from human beings, they can no longer clothe themselves in physical bodies. They are designated as Luciferian beings, or collectively by the name of their leader—Lucifer. Lucifer's influence on human beings is very different from that of the gods. The gods approach what is noblest in human nature; a mortal's lower nature they cannot and must not approach. Only at the end of evolution can wisdom and love be united. The Luciferian beings approach a person's lower nature, the undeveloped element of love, they build a bridge between wisdom and love, thus causing a mingling of the two, with the result that what should remain impersonal becomes entangled with what is personal.
Wisdom was instinctive on the previous planet, as love is instinctive now. On the previous planet, a creative instinct of wisdom ruled, as now a creative instinct of love. Thus, human beings were formerly guided by instinctive wisdom; then it withdrew its guidance, and we became conscious and aware of ourselves as independent beings.
We are told in the story of Paradise: “... and they saw that they were naked.” That means that human beings saw themselves for the first time; previously they had seen only the external world. They had earth-consciousness, but no self-consciousness. The latter enabled them to put wisdom into the service of the self From then onwards there existed not only selfless love for the surrounding world, but also love of self; the former was good, the latter was bad.
Without Lucifer, human self-consciousness would never have become mingled with love. Thinking and wisdom now became servants of the self; a person could choose between good and evil. But love ought to be directed to the self only in order to place it in the service of the world: The rose should adorn itself only to adorn the garden. That must be deeply engraved in the hearts of those who seek higher development. In order to have a feeling for what is good, we must also have a feeling for what is bad. The gods endowed us with enthusiasm for what is higher; but without evil we would have no feeling of self, no free choice of the good, no freedom.
The good could have become reality without Lucifer, but not freedom. In order to choose the good, we must also have the evil before us; it must exist within us as self-love. When the force of self-love has developed and widened to become love of all, evil will be overcome. Evil and freedom stem from the same original source. Lucifer kindled human enthusiasm for the divine. He is the Light-bearer; the Elohim are the Light itself. Lucifer brought light into human beings by kindling in them the light of wisdom, albeit mingled with the black shadow of evil. The wisdom Lucifer brings is shrunken and blemished, but it penetrates into mortals; he brings external science that serves egoism. That is why selflessness in regard to knowledge is demanded of the esoteric student. Lucifer comes from the old planet; his task on this one is comparable to what the leaven of the old dough means for the new bread. Evil is a good removed from its proper place; what was good on the old planet is no longer so when transferred to ours. The absolute good on one planet brings part of itself as evil to a new planet. Evil is a necessary part of evolution.
One ought not to say that the world is imperfect or incomplete because it contains evil; rather it is complete for that very reason. When a painting depicts wonderful figures of light, together with dark devils, the picture would be spoiled if the devils were removed. The world creator needed evil in order that good could evolve. A good is only good if it has stood the test of evil. For love to reach its highest goal, the love of all, it must pass through the love of self In Faust, Goethe rightly causes Mephistopheles to say: “I am an aspect of the power that always intends evil, and always creates good.”
Der Ursprung des Bösen
Es ist charakteristisch für die ganze heutige Literatur, daß sie so wenig vom Bösen spricht. Der Materialismus befaßt sich eben nicht mit dem Bösen. Leid, Krankheit und Tod können anscheinend eine materielle Erklärung finden, aber das Böse nicht. Beim Tier spricht man von Grausamkeit, Schädlichkeit, aber böse kann man das Tier nicht nennen. Das Böse erschöpft sich innerhalb des Menschenreiches. Die heutige Naturwissenschaft sucht den Menschen aus dem Tier heraus zu begreifen und verwischt alle Unterschiede zwischen Mensch und Tier. Darum muß sie auch das Böse leugnen. Man muß, um das Böse zu finden, ganz eingehen auf die menschlichen Eigenschaften. Man muß erkennen, daß der Mensch ein eigenes Reich in Anspruch nimmt. Wir wollen diese Frage jetzt vom geisteswissenschaftlichen Standpunkt aus betrachten.
Es gibt eine menschliche Urweisheit, die hinter dem rein äußerlichen Sinnenschein der Dinge zum eigentlichen Wesen der Dinge vordringt. Früher wurde diese Weisheit in engen Kreisen bewahrt und nur nach strengen Proben wurde der Zugang zu diesen Kreisen gewährt. Ehe ein Mensch Zutritt erlangte, mußte er den Hütern dieser Weisheit bewiesen haben, daß er sein Wissen nur in selbstlosester Weise verwenden werde. Seit den letzten Jahrzehnten ist das Elementare dieser Weisheits-Wissenschaft aus gewissen Gründen popularisiert worden. Immer mehr wird davon ins tägliche Leben einfließen. Wir stehen erst am Anfang dieser Entwicklung.
Wie hängt nun das Böse mit der eigentlichen Menschennatur zusammen? Oft hat man sich das Böse auf die verschiedenste Art zu erklären versucht. Da hat man gesagt: Es gibt kein Böses im eigentlichen Sinne des Wortes. Es ist ein herabgemindertes Gutes, es ist das schlechteste Gute. Denn wie es bei allem verschiedene Grade des Daseins gibt, so auch beim Guten. Oder man sagte: Wie das Gute eine Urmacht ist, so ist es auch das Böse. Diese Ansicht prägte sich namentlich in der persischen Mythe von Ormuzd und Ahriman aus. Die Geheimwissenschaft erst zeigt aus der Tiefe der menschlichen und der ganzen kosmischen Natur heraus, wie das Böse zu begreifen ist. Leugnet man es, kann man es gar nicht begreifen. Man muß verstehen, welche Aufgabe, welche Mission das Böse in der Welt hat. Aus der Entwicklung des Menschen in die Zukunft hinein sehen wir, wie die Menschen aus der Vergangenheit geworden sind und was das Böse in ihrem Entwicklungsgang bedeuten soll.
Die Geheimwissenschaft lehrt das Dasein gewisser hochentwickelter Menschen, der Eingeweihten oder Initiierten. In den Geheimschulen aller Zeiten wird gelehrt, wie sich der Mensch auf eine solche Entwicklungsstufe bringen kann. Bestimmte Übungen werden da vorgeschrieben, die auf ganz natürliche Weise den Menschen fortentwickeln. Meditations- und Konzentrationsübungen sind es, die dem Menschen eine andere Anschauung geben sollen, eine Anschauung, die er nicht mit dem Verstande und den fünf Sinnen erwerben kann. Die Meditation führt zunächst weg von der sinnlichen Auffassung. Durch innere seelische Arbeit wird da der Mensch frei von den Sinnen. Etwas Ähnliches geht da im Menschen vor sich wie bei der Operation eines Blindgeborenen. Eine Art Operation findet statt, die geistige Augen und Ohren öffnet. Diese Entwicklung wird in längerer Zeit die ganze Menschheit erreichen. Das Weltliche darf man darum aber nicht verleugnen, wenn man sich höher entwickeln will. Weltflüchtige Askese taugt nicht fürs Hellsehen. Hellsehen ist die Frucht dessen, was die Seele in der Sinnenwelt sammelt. Schön verglich die griechische Philosophie die Menschenseele mit einer Biene. Die Welt von Farben und Licht bietet der Seele den Honig, den sie mitbringt in die höhere Welt. Sinnenerfahrung muß die Seele vergeistigen und hinauftragen in höhere Welten.
Welche Aufgabe hat nun die Seele, die frei ist vom Leibe? Wir treffen hier auf einen wichtigen Grundsatz. Jedes Wesen wird, wenn es sich herausentwickelt hat, auf einer höheren Stufe Leiter und Führer derjenigen Wesen und Formen, durch die es durchgegangen ist. Wir sehen da ein Zukunftsbild. Wenn der Mensch sich so vergeistigt haben wird, daß er den physischen Leib nicht mehr braucht, wirkt der Mensch als geistiger Leiter von außen auf die Welt ein. Dann ist die Aufgabe dieses Planeten erfüllt. Er geht dann zu einer anderen Verkörperung über. Die Erde wird dann ein neues planetarisches Dasein erhalten. Die Menschen werden dann die Götter des neuen Planeten sein. Der Menschheitsleib, der verlassen ist vom Geist, wird niederes Reich sein. Wir tragen jetzt eine doppelte Natur in uns: das, was herrschen wird auf dem nächsten Planeten, und das, was das niedere Reich sein wird. So wie die Erde sich neu verkörpern wird, so hat sie sich auch herausgebildet aus früheren Entwicklungsvorgängen, und so wie die Menschen die Götter des nächsten Planeten sein werden, so waren die uns jetzt leitenden Wesenheiten Menschen auf dem vorhergehenden Planeten, und sie hatten als Niederes das, was wir Menschen auf der Erde sind. Damit finden wir den Zusammenhang der Erde mit Vorgängen, die in der Vergangenheit und in der Zukunft liegen. Die Stufe, die der Mensch heute auf der Erde hat, hatten einstmals die Wesen, die die Schöpfer und Führer der Menschen heute sind, die ElohimGeister, die sich offenbaren als Führer der Entwicklung des Menschen. Und die Menschen werden auf dem zukünftigen Planeten so weit sein, daß sie selbst Lenker und Leiter sind. Aber man muß nicht denken, es müsse sich nun genau so wiederholen; dasselbe wiederholt sich nie. Nichts geschieht zweimal in der Welt. Nie war das Dasein so wie jetzt auf der Erde. Das Erdendasein bedeutet den Kosmos der Liebe, das Dasein auf dem früheren Planeten bedeutet den Kosmos der Weisheit. Die Liebe vom Elementarsten bis zum Höchsten sollen wir entwickeln. Die Weisheit ruht verborgen auf dem Grunde des Erdendaseins. Darum soll man nicht von der «niederen» physischen Menschennatur sprechen, denn sie ist gewissermaßen die vollkommenste Form des Menschen. Man betrachte den weisheitsvollen Bau eines Knochens, zum Beispiel des Oberschenkelknochens. Da ist das Problem: mit dem geringsten Aufwand von Material und Kraft die größtmöglichste Gewichtsmasse zu tragen, in vollkommenster Art gelöst. Man schaue sich den Wunderbau des Herzens, des Gehirns an! Der Astralleib steht nicht etwa höher. Er ist der Genießer, der fortwährende Attacken auf das weisheitsvoll gebaute Herz macht. Er wird noch lange brauchen, um so vollkommen und weise zu sein wie der physische Leib. Aber er muß es werden. Darin besteht die Entwicklung. Auch der physische Leib mußte sich so entwickeln. Was weise an ihm ist, mußte aus Unweisheit und Irrtum hervorgehen. Die Weisheitsentwicklung ging der Liebesentwicklung voraus. Die Liebe ist noch nicht vollkommen. Aber in der ganzen Natur ist sie zu finden. Bei der Pflanze, beim Tier, beim Menschen, von der niedersten Geschlechtsliebe an bis zur höchsten, vergeistigtesten Liebe. Ungeheure Mengen von Wesen, die der Liebestrieb hervorgebracht, gehen im Kampf ums Dasein zugrunde. Kampf wirkt überall da, wo Liebe ist. Das Auftreten der Liebe bringt Kampf, notwendigen Kampf mit sich. Aber sie wird ihn auch überwinden, wird den Krieg in Harmonie verwandeln.
Weisheit ist das Charakteristikum der physischen Natur. Da, wo diese Weisheit von Liebe durchsetzt ist, da erst ist der Anfang der Erdentwicklung. Wie heute Kampf auf der Erde ist, war auf dem früheren Planeten Irrtum zu finden. Merkwürdige Fabelwesen wandelten da umher, Irrtümer der Natur, die nicht entwicklungsfähig waren. Wie Liebe aus Lieblosem hervorgeht, so die Weisheit aus Unweisheit. Die, welche die Erdentwicklung erreichen, werden die Liebe als eine Naturkraft in den nächsten Planeten hineinbringen. So ward auch einst die Weisheit auf die Erde getragen. Die Menschen der Erde schauen auf zu den Göttern als zu den Bringern der Weisheit. Die Menschen des folgenden Planeten werden zu den Göttern als zu den Bringern der Liebe aufschauen. Die Weisheit wird den Menschen als göttliche Offenbarung von den Menschen des früheren Planeten zuteil. Alle Reiche der Welt hängen unter sich zusammen. Wenn es keine Pflanzen gäbe, so würde in kurzer Zeit die Lebensluft verpestet sein; denn Mensch und Tier atmen Sauerstoff ein und lebenvernichtende Kohlensäure wieder aus. Doch die Pflanzen atmen Kohlensäure ein und geben Sauerstoff von sich. So hängt hier hinsichtlich der Lebensluft das Höhere vom Niederen ab.
So ist es nun in allen Reichen. Wie das Tier und der Mensch von der Pflanze, so sind wieder die Götter von den Menschen abhängig. Das hat die griechische Mythe so schön ausgedrückt: Die Götter erhalten von den Sterblichen Nektar und Ambrosia. Beide bedeuten die Liebe. Die Liebe wird innerhalb des Menschengeschlechtes erzeugt. Und Liebe atmet das Göttergeschlecht ein, sie ist die Götternahrung. Die Liebe, die von den Menschen erzeugt wird, wird den Göttern Speise. Das ist viel wirklicher als etwa die Elektrizität, so seltsam es zuerst erscheint. Die Liebe tritt zuerst als Geschlechtsliebe auf und entwickelt sich hinauf bis zur höchsten geistigen Liebe. Aber alle Liebe, niedere und hohe, ist Götteratem. Nun kann man sagen: Wenn das alles so ist, kann es kein Böses geben. Aber Weisheit liegt der Welt zugrunde, Liebe entwickelt sich. Weisheit wird die Lenkerin der Liebe. So wie alle Weisheit aus Irrtum geboren wird, ringt sich alle Liebe nur aus Kämpfen zur Höhe empor.
Nicht alle Wesen des früheren Planeten stiegen zur Höhe der Weisheit hinan. Es sind Wesen zurückgeblieben, sie stehen ungefähr zwischen Göttern und Menschen. Sie brauchen noch etwas vom Menschen. Aber in einen physischen Körper können sie sich nicht mehr kleiden. Luziferische Wesenheiten nennt man sie, oder man faßt sie zusammen unter dem Namen Luzifer als ihrem Anführer. Wie wirkt nun Luzifer auf die Menschen? Nicht so wie die Götter. Das Göttliche tritt an das Edelste im Menschen heran, aber an das Niedere kann und soll es nicht kommen. Weisheit und Liebe werden erst am Ende der Entwicklung ihre Vermählung feiern. Aber die luziferischen Wesenheiten treten an das niedere, unentwickelte Element der Liebe heran. Sie bilden die Brücke zwischen Weisheit und Liebe. So erst mischt sich die Weisheit mit der Liebe. Das, was sich nur ans Unpersönliche wendet, verstrickt sich so mit der Persönlichkeit. Auf dem früheren Planeten war die Weisheit ein Instinkt, wie es heute die Liebe ist. Ein schöpferischer Weisheitsinstinkt war herrschend, wie heute ein schöpferischer Liebesinstinkt. Früher hatte also die Weisheit den Menschen instinktmäßig geführt. Dadurch aber, daß die Weisheit heraustrat und nicht mehr führte, ward der Mensch selbstbewußt, er wußte sich als ein selbständiges Wesen. Im Tier ist die Weisheit noch instinktmäßig, darum ist es noch nicht selbstbewußt. Aber die Weisheit wollte den Menschen nun von außen lenken und leiten, ohne daß die Liebe einen Zusammenhang damit hatte. Da Luzifer kam, pflanzte er die menschliche Weisheit in die Liebe. Und die menschliche Weisheit schaut auf zur göttlichen Weisheit. Im Menschen ward die Weisheit zum Enthusiasmus, zur Liebe selbst. Hätte nur die Weisheit ihren Einfluß ausgeübt, so wäre der Mensch nur gut geworden, er hätte die Liebe nur zum Aufbau des Erdenbewußtseins gebraucht. Aber Luzifer brachte die Liebe mit dem Selbst in Verbindung, zum Selbstbewußtsein trat die Selbstliebe. Das wird schön im Paradiesesmythus ausgedrückt: «... und sie sahen, daß sie nackend waren», das heißt, damals sahen die Menschen zum ersten Male sich selbst, vorher hatten sie nur die Umwelt gesehen. Da hatten sie nur ein Erdenbewußtsein, aber kein Selbstbewußtsein. Nun konnten die Menschen die Weisheit in den Dienst des Selbst stellen. Selbstlose Liebe zur Umwelt und Liebe zum Selbst gab es von nun an. Und die Selbstliebe war böse und die Selbstlosigkeit war gut. Nie hätte der Mensch ein warmes Selbstbewußtsein bekommen ohne Luzifer. Denken und Weisheit traten nun in den Dienst des Selbst. Nun gab es eine Wahl zwischen gut und böse. Nur um das Selbst in den Dienst der Welt zu stellen, darf Liebe zum Selbst hinzutreten. Nur wenn die Rose den Garten zieren will, darf sie sich selbst schmücken. Das muß man sich bei einer höheren, okkulten Entwicklung tief in die Seele schreiben. Um das Gute fühlen zu können, mußte der Mensch auch das Böse fühlen können. Enthusiasmus für das Höhere gaben ihm die Götter. Aber ohne das Böse konnte es kein Selbstgefühl, keine freie Wahl des Guten, keine Freiheit geben. Das Gute konnte ohne Luzifer verwirklicht werden, die Freiheit nicht. Um das Gute wählen zu können, muß der Mensch auch das Böse vor sich haben, es muß ihm innewohnen als Kraft der Selbstliebe. Aber die Selbstliebe muß zur All-Liebe werden. Dann wird das Böse überwunden sein. Freiheit und das Böse entspringen aus demselben Punkt. Luzifer enthusiasmiert den Menschen menschlich für das Göttliche. Luzifer ist der Träger des Lichts. Elohim ist das Licht selbst. Hat das Licht der Weisheit die Weisheit im Menschen entzündet, so hat Luzifer das Licht in den Menschen hineingetragen. Aber der schwarze Schatten des Bösen mußte sich hineinmischen. Luzifer bringt eine eingeschränkte, fleckenerfüllte Weisheit, aber diese kann in den Menschen eindringen. Luzifer ist der Träger der äußeren, menschlichen Wissenschaft, die ja im Dienste des Egoismus steht. Darum wird vom okkulten Schüler Selbstlosigkeit gegenüber dem Wissen verlangt. Dies ist der Ursprung des Bösen in der menschlichen Entwicklung. Was der Sauerteig des alten Brotteiges für das neue Brot ist, das ist vom früheren Planeten Luzifer für uns. Das Böse wird gut an seinem Ort. Bei uns ist es nicht mehr gut. Das Böse ist ein versetztes Gutes. Das absolut Gute eines Planeten bringt in einem seiner Teile zum neuen Planeten immer auch das Böse mit. Das Böse ist ein notwendiger Entwicklungsgang.
Man darf nicht sagen, die Welt sei unvollkommen, weil das Böse in ihr ist. Vielmehr ist sie gerade darum vollkommen. Wenn in einem Gemälde herrliche Lichtgestalten und böse Teufelsfratzen zugleich dargestellt sind, so würde man das Bild doch vernichten, wenn man die Teufelsfratzen herausschneiden wollte. Die Weltenschöpfer brauchten das Böse, um das Gute zur Entfaltung zu bringen. Was sich erst am Felsen des Bösen brechen muß, ist ein Gutes. Durch Selbstliebe nur kann es die All-Liebe zu ihrer höchsten Blüte bringen. Darum hat Goethe so recht, wenn er im Faust den Mephisto sagen läßt:
«Ich bin ein Teil von jener Kraft,
die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft.»
The Origin of Evil
It is characteristic of all literature today that it speaks so little of evil. Materialism does not concern itself with evil. Suffering, illness, and death can apparently be explained in material terms, but evil cannot. In the case of animals, we speak of cruelty and harmfulness, but we cannot call animals evil. Evil is confined to the human realm. Modern science seeks to understand humans by comparing them to animals and blurs all differences between humans and animals. That is why it must also deny the existence of evil. In order to find evil, we must focus entirely on human characteristics. One must recognize that humans occupy a realm of their own. Let us now consider this question from a spiritual scientific point of view.
There is a primordial human wisdom that penetrates beyond the purely external appearance of things to their true essence. In the past, this wisdom was preserved in small circles, and access to these circles was granted only after rigorous testing. Before a person was granted access, they had to prove to the guardians of this wisdom that they would use their knowledge in the most selfless way possible. In recent decades, the fundamentals of this wisdom science have been popularized for certain reasons. More and more of it will flow into everyday life. We are only at the beginning of this development.
How is evil related to human nature itself? Many attempts have been made to explain evil in various ways. Some have said: There is no evil in the true sense of the word. It is a diminished good, it is the worst kind of good. For just as there are different degrees of existence in everything, so too with good. Or it has been said: Just as good is a primal force, so too is evil. This view was particularly evident in the Persian myth of Ormuzd and Ahriman. Only secret science reveals, from the depths of human and cosmic nature, how evil is to be understood. If one denies it, one cannot understand it at all. One must understand what task, what mission evil has in the world. From the development of humanity into the future, we see how people have become what they are today and what evil means in their course of development.
Esoteric science teaches the existence of certain highly developed human beings, the initiates. The secret schools of all ages teach how human beings can reach such a stage of development. Certain exercises are prescribed that develop the human being in a completely natural way. These are meditation and concentration exercises that are intended to give the human being a different view, a view that cannot be acquired with the intellect and the five senses. Meditation first leads away from the sensual perception. Through inner soul work, the human being becomes free from the senses. Something similar happens in humans as in the operation of a person born blind. A kind of operation takes place that opens the spiritual eyes and ears. In time, this development will reach all of humanity. However, one must not deny the worldly if one wants to develop higher. Asceticism that flees the world is not suitable for clairvoyance. Clairvoyance is the fruit of what the soul gathers in the sensory world. Greek philosophy beautifully compared the human soul to a bee. The world of colors and light offers the soul the honey that it brings with it to the higher world. Sensory experience must spiritualize the soul and carry it up into higher worlds.
What is the task of the soul that is free from the body? Here we encounter an important principle. Once it has developed, every being becomes, on a higher level, the leader and guide of those beings and forms through which it has passed. We see a vision of the future here. When human beings have become so spiritualized that they no longer need the physical body, they will act as spiritual leaders, influencing the world from outside. Then the task of this planet will be fulfilled. It will then move on to another incarnation. The Earth will then receive a new planetary existence. Humans will then be the gods of the new planet. The human body, abandoned by the spirit, will be the lower realm. We now carry a dual nature within us: that which will reign on the next planet, and that which will be the lower realm. Just as the Earth will reincarnate, so too did it evolve from earlier developmental processes, and just as humans will be the gods of the next planet, so too were the beings who now guide us humans on the previous planet, and they had as their lower realm what we humans are on Earth. In this way, we find the connection between the Earth and processes that lie in the past and in the future. The stage that humans have today on Earth was once reached by the beings who are the creators and guides of humans today, the Elohim spirits, who reveal themselves as guides of human development. And humans on the future planet will be so far advanced that they themselves will be guides and leaders. But one must not think that it must repeat itself in exactly the same way; the same thing never repeats itself. Nothing happens twice in the world. Existence has never been as it is now on Earth. Existence on Earth means the cosmos of love, existence on the former planet means the cosmos of wisdom. We should develop love from the most elementary to the highest. Wisdom rests hidden at the foundation of existence on Earth. Therefore, one should not speak of the “lower” physical nature of human beings, for it is, in a sense, the most perfect form of human beings. Consider the wise construction of a bone, for example, the thigh bone. Therein lies the problem: to carry the greatest possible weight with the least possible expenditure of material and energy, solved in the most perfect way. Consider the miraculous construction of the heart and the brain! The astral body is not superior. It is the connoisseur that constantly attacks the wisely constructed heart. It will take a long time for it to become as perfect and wise as the physical body. But it must become so. That is what development consists of. The physical body also had to develop in this way. What is wise in it had to emerge from ignorance and error. The development of wisdom preceded the development of love. Love is not yet perfect. But it can be found throughout nature. In plants, in animals, in humans, from the lowest sexual love to the highest, most spiritual love. Enormous numbers of beings produced by the love instinct perish in the struggle for existence. Struggle is at work wherever there is love. The appearance of love brings with it struggle, necessary struggle. But it will also overcome it, will transform war into harmony.
Wisdom is the characteristic of physical nature. Where this wisdom is permeated by love, there alone is the beginning of Earth's development. Just as there is struggle on Earth today, so too was there error on the earlier planet. Strange mythical creatures roamed there, errors of nature that were incapable of development. Just as love arises from lovelessness, so wisdom arises from ignorance. Those who achieve Earth's development will bring love as a natural force into the next planet. Thus wisdom was once brought to Earth. The people of Earth look up to the gods as the bringers of wisdom. The people of the next planet will look up to the gods as the bringers of love. Wisdom is bestowed upon humans as a divine revelation from the people of the former planet. All realms of the world are interconnected. If there were no plants, the air we breathe would quickly become polluted, for humans and animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, which is destructive to life. But plants breathe in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Thus, in terms of the air we breathe, the higher depends on the lower.
This is how it is in all realms. Just as animals and humans depend on plants, so too do the gods depend on humans. Greek mythology expressed this beautifully: the gods receive nectar and ambrosia from mortals. Both signify love. Love is generated within the human race. And love is breathed in by the race of gods; it is the food of the gods. The love generated by humans becomes food for the gods. This is much more real than electricity, for example, strange as it may seem at first. Love first appears as sexual love and develops up to the highest spiritual love. But all love, low and high, is the breath of the gods. Now one might say: if all this is so, there can be no evil. But wisdom underlies the world, love develops. Wisdom becomes the guide of love. Just as all wisdom is born of error, all love struggles upward only through struggle.
Not all beings of the former planet ascended to the heights of wisdom. Some beings remained behind, standing somewhere between gods and humans. They still need something from humans. But they can no longer clothe themselves in a physical body. They are called Luciferic beings, or they are collectively referred to as Lucifer, their leader. How does Lucifer affect humans? Not like the gods. The divine approaches the noblest in humans, but it cannot and should not approach the base. Wisdom and love will only celebrate their marriage at the end of development. But the Luciferic beings approach the base, undeveloped element of love. They form the bridge between wisdom and love. Only then does wisdom mix with love. That which turns only to the impersonal thus becomes entangled with the personality. On the former planet, wisdom was an instinct, as love is today. A creative instinct of wisdom prevailed, as a creative instinct of love prevails today. In the past, wisdom had guided human beings instinctively. But because wisdom stepped out and no longer guided, man became self-conscious, he knew himself to be an independent being. In animals, wisdom is still instinctive, which is why they are not yet self-conscious. But wisdom now wanted to control and guide man from outside, without love having anything to do with it. When Lucifer came, he planted human wisdom in love. And human wisdom looks up to divine wisdom. In humans, wisdom became enthusiasm, love itself. If only wisdom had exerted its influence, humans would have become only good; they would have used love only to build up earthly consciousness. But Lucifer connected love with the self, and self-love joined self-awareness. This is beautifully expressed in the myth of paradise: “... and they saw that they were naked,” that is, at that moment, humans saw themselves for the first time; before that, they had only seen their environment. They had only earthly consciousness, but no self-consciousness. Now humans could put wisdom at the service of the self. From then on, there was selfless love for the environment and love for the self. And self-love was evil and selflessness was good. Without Lucifer, humans would never have gained a warm self-awareness. Thought and wisdom now entered into the service of the self. Now there was a choice between good and evil. Only in order to place the self in the service of the world may love for the self be added. Only when the rose wants to adorn the garden may it adorn itself. This must be written deep into the soul in the course of higher, occult development. In order to be able to feel good, man also had to be able to feel evil. The gods gave him enthusiasm for the higher. But without evil, there could be no sense of self, no free choice of good, no freedom. Good could be realized without Lucifer, but freedom could not. In order to be able to choose good, man must also have evil before him; it must be inherent in him as the power of self-love. But self-love must become universal love. Then evil will be overcome. Freedom and evil spring from the same point. Lucifer inspires man with human enthusiasm for the divine. Lucifer is the bearer of light. Elohim is the light itself. Once the light of wisdom has ignited wisdom in humans, Lucifer has carried the light into humans. But the black shadow of evil had to interfere. Lucifer brings a limited, blemished wisdom, but this can penetrate humans. Lucifer is the bearer of external, human science, which is in the service of egoism. That is why the occult student is required to be selfless in relation to knowledge. This is the origin of evil in human development. What the leaven of the old bread dough is to the new bread, that is the former planet Lucifer to us. Evil becomes good in its place. It is no longer good for us. Evil is a displaced good. The absolute good of a planet always brings evil with it in one of its parts to the new planet. Evil is a necessary stage of development.
One must not say that the world is imperfect because evil is in it. Rather, it is perfect precisely because of this. If a painting depicts both glorious figures of light and evil devilish faces, one would destroy the painting if one wanted to cut out the devilish faces. The creators of the world needed evil in order to bring good to fruition. What must first break on the rock of evil is good. Only through self-love can it bring universal love to its highest blossom. That is why Goethe is so right when he has Mephisto say in Faust:
“I am part of that force
which always wants evil and always creates good.”