The Temple Legend III
GA 93
22 October 1905, Berlin
16. The Relationship of Occultism to the Theosophical Movement
(Given at the conclusion of the General Meeting of the German Section of the Theosophical Society)
May I once more make it known1 The first announcement was most probably given during the General Meeting of the German Section which had taken place beforehand. that I intend to hold a lecture tomorrow morning about certain contemporary occult questions connected with Freemasonry. And that will take place, following an ancient occult practice, separately for men and for women. The lecture for men will take place at ten o'clock; for women at half past eleven. Perhaps you may ask why this custom is retained, since—only through the theosophical view of things—it will become superseded. That will become clear through the content of the lecture. I would also like to say that the Besant Branch2 The then name of the Berlin Branch which held its usual evening meetings. will have its regular meeting tomorrow evening at eight o'clock.
Now I would like to speak about the relationship of occultism to the theosophical movement and about a few other connected questions. On that topic, it is very often debated whether the theosophical movement, and the Theosophical Society in particular, should be an occult movement, or whether it must be kept distinct from all occultism.
The theosophical movement as such, in so far as it expressed in the Theosophical Society, cannot be an occult movement. An occult movement is based on different assumptions from those which can find expression in the Theosophical Society. There have been occult societies in all periods. One thing above all else has been necessary for them; namely, that, on account of the whole manner of their endeavours, they have some kind of hierarchy in their Organisation. That means that the members of such a society, of such a brotherhood, were ranked by degree. Every degree, from the first up to the ninetieth, had its quite specific task. In each degree there were quite specific tasks. Nobody could be promoted to a higher degree until he had fulfilled the tasks of the lower one.
I can only indicate very broadly why that is so. We must then speak only generally about the tasks of such occult brotherhoods. The honoured friends will understand me all the better today, who have so often heard me speak about such things. Occult brotherhoods are the guiding brotherhoods of mankind. They have the task of preparing the things of the future. Everything which is to happen in the future is indeed preparing itself now, is finding its expression now, as an idea, as a plan, and will then be realised in the future. Even when you consider the development of the human race on the outward physical plane, you would then find that things which later find fulfillment were much earlier in the bud as ideas, bursting to find expression in the minds and souls of leading personalities and individualities. Take the steam engine for example: you will find, if you trace the matter back, how the steam engine developed itself from the simplest facts; how the pan filled with boiling water already contained the idea of the steam engine, which then developed itself from this simplest form to the most complicated mechanism.
These are however trifles compared with the great structure of humanity that we confront. The most important matters are based on much greater and more significant perspectives. They presuppose that what is to happen in the far distant future is already, in a specific way, being prepared today. How can anything happen in this way? Through it being in one's grasp today already to introduce forces into the world which will take effect in the future. Whatever is going to take place here on the physical plane in the future has prepared itself on the astral and Devachanic plane, long before its physical manifestation; so that the forces bringing about really distant future events can be identified in the higher planes and worlds. However, man cannot satisfactorily influence the future unless he prepares the effect in the light of a knowledge of the influencing forces. Man is a self-aware creature, and has to take his destiny into his own hands. Therefore, there have always been advanced Brothers of our human race, who can see not only on the physical plane but also on higher planes.
Let us seek to conceive what it means to have foresight on higher planes. Let us suppose you have water in a pond. You can foresee that the pond will become frozen if the temperature falls, so that skating and so on will be possible. In a similar way do we have [foresight] with the relationship of the so-called astral plane to the physical plane, that is to the world in which we are involved. If therefore one follows events on the astral plane one could then in fact see what will be, in a later period, with the help of astral happenings, as if it were a thickening of them. And so one can watch those astral events which subsequently step forth, solidified, on the physical plane. Physical events are nothing else than such thickened occurrences which have already taken place in the higher worlds.
An example: throughout antiquity there were mysteries. These had the task of receiving individual men and initiating them into the secrets of existence, or—as John of the Apocalypse says—showing what must ‘shortly,’ that is to say in the future, come to pass. In the precincts of such temples, the pupils who were to be received into the first degree were instructed. Now there was a further instruction for each successively higher level of development in the pupils. The first stage was for the candidates to purify their astral bodies. This meant that they did not merely embrace the ordinary bourgeois ethic; the bourgeois ethic was the preliminary requirement, what was then involved had to be followed in the strictest performance of duty. For, as the pupil progressively advanced to higher ideals, passing beyond the passions and instincts of ordinary life to yearnings above human pettiness, so purifying his sympathies and antipathies that the great world-embracing affairs of the human race became his own—as he reached out beyond himself in his feelings and perceptions, then he was on the way to completing what one calls the purification of the astral body. Then he was allowed to work upon the denser bodies. He was allowed to work upon his etheric body, and was no longer restricted to reshaping the soft, flexible and compliant astral substance of his soul and spirit bodies, but was allowed to work on his etheric body. He was then what is called a Chela. Such a Chela is one who acknowledges not only higher duties, who has undertaken not only enough purification to make humanity's duties his own, but is so advanced that he has outgrown the lower and higher affairs of individual nations and even of individual creeds. His gaze is now addressed to the life of the whole of humanity. And through his by now thoroughly structured etheric body he becomes a participant in the great affairs of the building of the earth. To do all this, the following must happen.
The Chela has to immobilise all the forces which hinder his work on his etheric body. If you have a human being before you, he has indeed a physical body, an etheric body and an astral body. The Chela has refined his astral body, and is allowed to work upon his etheric body. What happens when the astral body has been purified? What then penetrates the etheric body?—that which is organised in the astral body. The things which live in the astral body stamp themselves on the etheric body. The more you work at your astral body, the more you can redress its defects; the astral substance is thin and soft, you can always bring it back into balance again. However, if a person has begun to develop his etheric body as a Chela, then these qualities stamp themselves on the etheric body, and that is much more permanent. The man who made his earthly defects permanent would thereby become dangerous as a member of humanity. Hence the constant stress on necessary purification. The etheric body is stamped by the forces that work on it. Think of it separated from the physical body, it would then have quite a different elasticity. If it is fixed in [the physical body] this is held in by the form; but so long as it remains there, it is at first too weak to stamp into itself what has undergone catharsis as astrality.
Therefore throughout ancient times the following had to be done. One had to set aside those forces which impeded the elasticity of the etheric body. That was achieved by bringing the whole physical body into a lethargic condition. The human being lay down, and the etheric body was drawn out of the physical body. While the physical body lay as if dead, the astral body came to be formed by its autonomous forces. That is the entombment, the [body] concerned being kept in a lethargic state for three to three and a half days. And then he could work on the etheric body. And then, after he had formed his etheric body in conformity with his astral body, he returned into his physical body. He had thus awakened an inner life in himself; he was one of the resurrected and was given a new name.
This was a transaction on the astral plane. Everything which I have described took place on the astral plane; the physical body had nothing to do with it. This event repeated itself in all the ancient mysteries. Every initiate knew it. Now imagine it densified, translated down into the physical plane, so that something [physical] has happened, through this event, which had previously only happened astrally; analogous to, for example, your having a piece of ice where you had water before. Many such astral events must combine, must flow together, for the physical thickening eventually to become possible. Through this means the Mystery of Golgotha became historically possible, it could be translated down on to the physical plane, in that, through the appearance of Christ, things happened on the physical plane which previously had happened over and over again on the astral plane. We learn to conceive, through this example, how the future is actually prepared in the occult brotherhoods.
If we were now to ask ourselves: what then is really happening here?—then we should answer: One can certainly comprehend a great deal in thought, in ideas. But ideas have no real existence. An idea is nothing more than what has been brought down from higher planes to the physical plane. What man thinks about [something] is however the most ineffectual aspect, since this is only extant on the physical plane. It is different when such an idea is brought face to face with something which also originates from the higher spheres. Take as an example Pythagoras's teaching about the music of the spheres3 The principle teaching of Pythagoras (ca. 580–500 B.C.) was that the universe was conceived in the form of a harmoniously ordered whole (the harmony of the spheres). as he imparted it to his pupils. Philosophers try to make the occult music of Pythagoras out to be quite a simple notion. Reason could easily grasp it. But what was important [for Pythagoras] was that the pupil only approached this [subject] when his soul, his disposition had been prepared for it. Thus it is impossible to explain the deeper meaning of Raphael's Sistine Madonna to anyone who has no feeling for pictures which originate in the astral. One has to raise heart and soul up to it. What leaves one cold as an idea, appears in the picture as artistically full of life, as divine universal thinking, as something the divine forces followed in creating the world—and a simple line becomes something holy! Thought, by twining itself around a divine element, is brought face to face with divine influence. Thus, what matters in this sort of training is to prepare man step by step, as he is able to approach the great world thoughts, as he receives them. Then he will gradually combine with that influencing but otherwise occult power that penetrates these great world thoughts and which is already preparing, on the astral plane, the future of the physical plane. If the leading brother of mankind perhaps has pupils who follow such spirit-filled ideas, then these will be a force which also helps him forward in his work for the outward world; great centres of spiritual activity will spring up. You see, therefore, that what I have called occultism really has very much to do with the progress of humanity. And in our times we have a quite particularly important task. Let us seek just to indicate, in a few words, how we have come to this our task.
We are within the great Root Race of humanity, which has peopled the earth, since the land on which we now live rose up out of the inundations of the ocean. Ever since the Atlantean Race began slowly to disappear, the great Aryan Race has been the dominant one on earth. If we contemplate ourselves, we here in Europe are thus the fifth Sub-Race of the great Aryan Root Race. The first Sub-Race lived in the distant past in Ancient India. And the present-day Indians are descendants of that first Sub-Race, whose spiritual life is still extant in the ancient Indian Vedas.4 Veda (Sanskrit word for ‘sacred knowledge’). The Vedas are the complete collection of the oldest religious documents of the Hindus, written in Sanskrit, to which a supersensible origin has been attributed. They contain a comprehensive literature which was handed on by word of mouth for many ages. The Vedic manuscripts are divided mainly into the following: 1. the Sanhitas; 2. the Brahmanas; 3. the Aranyakas and Upanishads. The Sanhitas are the anthologies of songs, sacrificial formulae and magical incantations. Four such anthologies are distinguished, usually referred to simply as ‘the four Vedas.’ The Vedas are indeed only echoes of the ancient culture of the Rishis. At that time there was of course no writing yet—there was only tradition. Then came the second, third and fourth Sub-Races. The fourth Sub-Race adopted Christianity. Then, halfway through the Middle Ages, we see that the fifth Sub-Race formed itself, to which we and the neighbouring nations belong.
The ancient Indians of the first Sub-Race lived under conditions different from ours, and were also basically organised differently. Even the modern descendants, the Indians of today, are essentially differently organised from our European races. He who, as an occultist, investigates the difference finds that, in the ancient Indian people, the etheric body was much less closely fettered to the physical body, had not so totally submerged itself in the physical body, and that it was much easier to influence it from the astral body. The corollary of that is that the Indian race can easily transfer something from the astral to the etheric body, can easily work on the etheric body. That signifies no less than that the Indian can more easily attain to certain higher perceptions through occult training. The easier it is for the etheric body to be influenced through the astral body, the easier it is to work into the etheric body with pictures, without abstract concepts. And the easier it will be for someone who undergoes yoga training in the astral to come into contact with higher realms through pictorial concepts. These work into the etheric body, which is still pliable. One does not have to work with harsh concepts, since one can work upon the soul of an Indian person with very straightforward pictorial images; and he will [thereby] be able to arrive at very high stages of development.
The human race has undergone change through the various Sub-Races. Our etheric body is today much more strongly under the influence of the physical body than was the case with the ancient Indians. And thus it comes about that we have to work much harder and more inwardly in order to influence the etheric body. We cannot grasp half-dreamlike concepts. We must subject everything to rigorous concentration, we must work upon our inner being by strongly concentrating our soul in the purely super-sensible, not merely by means of imaginative concepts. Such a concept which brings about a strong concentration of our inner being, can then influence the etheric body fettered to the physical body much more strongly. For the astral body to be able to work upon the etheric body, it had in earlier times to be drawn out of the etheric [physical?] body. Nowadays, however, the etheric body can be influenced by the astral body even inside the physical body. Were we to make the same experiment that was customary in the ancient Mysteries, and induce a state of lethargy, we would then be in a position to influence the etheric body. But when the earthly consciousness, the mobility of thought, returned, what the astral body had imprinted on to the etheric body would immediately be erased again. We have to influence the etheric body very strongly if we want it to retain what we have impressed upon it. The occult task has become different today and is now more inward.
Thus you see also how great differences arise in the course of time in the successive occult schools. The yoga system of the Indians is something different from the instruction of the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian teaching takes into account what I have just explained. But something else still crops up. For such a step forward to be able to occur at all, the reasoning power had to be influenced. The reason was exerted much more than hitherto, and could then develop its process of transference towards comprehending the super-sensible. In more recent times, therefore, much more was learnt in concepts; more importance was ascribed to the development of reason and to the ability to conceptualise abstractly.
Just compare the transubstantiation in culture between the ancient Indian age and our own. In ancient India you have high intuition and very little outward expression of civilisation; nowadays, in our time, it is the other way round. The consequence is that even the position of occultism has become something quite different; the consequence is that much of what was formerly kept secret has today become a matter of common knowledge. Many, many such perceptions and concepts were formerly guarded within the occult brotherhoods, and people only came near to these things if their whole hearts had been transformed. Today this no longer lies in the hands of the occultist. Much of what was formerly reserved for the later stages of instruction must now be acknowledged as having been revealed in the culture of the outward world. The initiate in the mysteries must reckon with that. And so many of the truths which had been taught in the occult schools were perforce gradually disseminated on the physical plane.
Even what is taught in present-day elementary schools would deflect us from the spiritual, if occult backgrounds did not come into play from another side. In earlier times the pupil knew that behind what he received in school and in the academic world as precepts, there was something still higher, and that he himself might perhaps one day attain this higher knowledge. He knew that he was a cell in a spiritual organism. Today, in the democratic world, one receives many concepts which do not lead to such an insight. Therefore to the structure of outer democratic knowledge the apex of the pyramid has, as it were, to be added. The elementary knowledge of the powers hidden in the world had now been imparted; the apex was missing still, which would lead to a spiritual view of the world. To provide this, a world-embracing movement had to be founded. The theosophical movement was conceived as such. Hence, in certain brotherhoods, it was resolved, as the popularisation of the hitherto secret knowledge went still further and further, to share with the world as much as was necessary of the underlying secrets, in order to bring the knowledge of the outer world into harmony with the all-embracing occult knowledge of the brotherhoods.
We have here arrived at the point where we can see the connection of the theosophical movement and the Theosophical Society with occultism. The theosophical movement is no occult movement, no occult brotherhood, for it is formed on a democratic basis by which each member is as worthy as the next. Nevertheless, it is another matter if one is to understand the Theosophical Society's task. The Society's task is on the physical plane. If one wishes to grasp it fully one must be able to see into the higher worlds. But the point is not that the theosophist is already able to see into higher worlds, but that, within the movement, occult forces are indeed being developed, so that the Theosophical Society can be a place from which occultism can emanate and come to be discussed. It is a different question, whether a society is an occult brotherhood, or whether it says to itself: We are, indeed, no occult brotherhood, but, in our society, occultism comes to be discussed.
Today, when basically the whole of mankind longingly gazes towards the higher worlds without finding the way there, yet another installment of occult knowledge must be popularised in a form appropriate for them. And the occultism within the Theosophical Society has this task. Spiritual movements have always had a fruitful influence on cultural development, even on the physical plane. Its outward expression is nothing else than the realisation on earth of what has been spiritually prepared. What difference is there, if we contemplate, for example, the works of Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci? In these works you have something spiritual conjured up on to the wall in colour and form; the picture is permeated with what first lived in the soul of the artist as something spiritual. The spiritual preceded its subsequent expression as a manifestation in the material world.
And the materialistic external culture is only the copy of the materialistic tendency in mankind's inner convictions. The purely materialistic urban culture has spread itself throughout civilised countries since 1850. We can see the great things that it has achieved on the physical plane, but we also see what it has been unable to achieve. In the realm of art, for instance, no really new style has been evolved, with one exception, and that is the style of the department store. This is something which, in relation to our outward civilisation, is inwardly real. All else, what has been inherited from the past, has no relation to the present. Only if we have formed a society whose members are seized by a spiritual power such as that which used to live in Christianity, and as it still lives as a longing in the best Christian souls, and can be won back again, then we will again have a spiritual culture. And such a culture will again produce artists in all spheres of life. Only let theosophy live in the souls of men and it will flow out of those souls again as style, as art, it will be visibly and audibly there. The world can again be an outward expression of the spiritual, if this can already be brought to life in such a society today.
In this sense the Theosophical Society could help to shape the culture of the distant [future]. If we are together, we must be clear that we are the cells that have to combine to create a future culture. In our souls, those powers will be prepared which will so transform the future world that it will be a physical copy of our present state of mind and outlook on life. Everything which is now revealed and manifest, was once occult. Just as electricity is a revealed force today, so it once used to be an occult force. And what is still occult today is destined to become a motive force for the future. Exactly as our human body has been prepared in advance millions of years ago by forces which are all around us, so a higher body is preparing itself in us today, a body of the future; however, this body of the future will only become ours in a far-off time.
Let us briefly trace the path of our evolution. What used to be there? A dim dream-like human consciousness, mirroring a world very different from our own; men had a dreaming awareness. And even when their communal existence developed, they had no parliament for the exchange of opinions; they had nothing of that kind. Everything was merely mirrored in the consciousness which was developing in man. As for present-day bodily organs, how did they originate? Through those forces having worked upon man. Just as the animals in the dark caves of Kentucky lost their ability to see5 This example is often cited by Rudolf Steiner. The phenomenon of the rudimentary organs was first observed in the American caves. See: Darwin's Origin of Species, Chapter 5, ‘The Laws of Mutation.’ because they did not use it, so too, what we possess in the way of eyes and ears was organised by outward forces. These were formed by the forces of sound and of light, and evolved out of our organism. Our spiritual organism of the future will be evolved out of what lives in us today. Those things which stand before us as the expression of our spiritual culture, the churches and so on, the works of culture which bring beauty and truth to us, these will impress themselves in the higher members of our being. And when one day these unfold themselves towards a self-developing life, then what lives in the outward culture as beauty and truth will rise up in our inner being. What eyes and ears perceive now, these will be the stones for building and organising a higher future. If we contemplate the world from this point of view, then man's inner being takes on a totally different meaning.
Here we are confronted with a fact that can explain in a simple way what is called yoga, or inner training. From the words I have spoken, you will be able to gather that the forces which have created the world, that are working and creating in the world, were formerly taken from our inner being. What is in me today was formerly outside me: that is the fundamental thought in occult training. Before our physical body existed, our etheric body was already there. Again, our etheric body is a structure which has been formed by our astral body. And that is the starting point of the yoga training. Whoever engages in yoga training descends into his etheric body, and knows that he will find forces in it which constructed it once, millions of years ago. The physical body slowly developed itself out from the basis of the etheric body.
I can only describe broadly how the descent into the etheric body takes place. Certain currents exist in the etheric body which are the precursors of the physical bodily organs. The nervous system, the nerves themselves, the sympathetic [nervous] system which extends into the back, the ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system, these are parts which were developed etherically in primeval times. That is a process which took place in the remote past. Then, after man had progressed further and further, there came a time when, within his body—which already contained within it the potentiality to develop the physical nervous system—a structure developed which gave man the ability to develop his inner bodily warmth, which prepared him for warm blood. That, again, is a later structure from the etheric body, which then was already strongly influenced by the forces of the astral body. And out of what we subsequently find to be the basic structure of the brain, the spinal column formed itself, again out of the etheric body, as the other pole of the etheric body, which on the one hand developed towards the brain, and on the other hand towards the inner warm blood. That happened in the past. It was not only natural forces that worked on this development of man, but also higher spiritual beings.
When the yogi descends step by step into his etheric body he penetrates into the times gone by in which his spiritual archetypal form was influenced by these forces and beings, times when what lives in us today was produced. When a person thus descends into life, he can then reach that point once again in his descent. He descends from the head down into the lower parts of the body, which were formed in the most ancient times, and then goes back into the head. That is a description, if only a sketchy one, of the path of occult perception. More can be imparted in the occult schools. The pupil of mystery wisdom thus developed the ability to look back into past epochs; so the time comes when he is able to undertake his occult pilgrimage. He attains to this by means of a special exercise through which he overcomes his own personal self and thereby ceases to be a small fettered ego. Only then can he accomplish his ascent into the universe. Once again he descends into the ocean of the past, taking the world forces with him. Then, taking the ascending curve, he can slowly retrace point by point the way that he has thus traveled. Slowly, gradually, the person learns to proceed [further] down into the ocean of his formative forces, and at length he arrives at a point near to [his] origin. Thus must it have been for the person in whom an eye first evolved, with which to direct his gaze into the universe. Then, for the pupil, the flowing together of his ego with the great universal ego blossoms. And now he must learn to say to the little ego: I am not thou.
It is an important moment when he realises what this means: I am not thou. That is a moment when a person begins to understand that in nature there are higher forces than thought, that there is something outside of him, which cannot be expressed in contemporary thought, but which brings it about that two people, both able to speak on the same thing, can in the case of one of them talk clearly but be dull, whereas the other's speech is vibrant with the warm light that will create the future.
When the pupil is this far, he can learn now in another way than has hitherto been possible for him. He thereby experiences something very special. A spiritual being confronts him in the super-sensible world: he meets that individuality with whom he was once, formerly, very close. It is a great and significant mystery, when particular stages of our existence recapitulate themselves. We rise consciously from Manas to the higher forces; we once descended from spiritual worlds, and at that time this same being implanted something in us, whom we now meet again at the level corresponding to that point in the past at which he was with us. It is the teacher, the so-called guru. Long ago we met him for the first time; we now meet him again, when we can grasp consciously what he implanted into us at that time, and was received by us unconsciously. And if we descend still further we meet with the spirits who shared in our creation aeons ago. We meet with the Twelve Spirits: the Spirits of Will, the Spirits of Wisdom, the Spirits of Form, the Spirits of Movement, the Spirits of Personality or of Egoism, the Spirits of Warmth or Fire, the Spirits of Dusk or Twilight, and so on. All of this offers itself to our spiritual sense through this descent into the universe, through this pilgrimage. And this alone makes it possible for us to gaze into the future, makes it possible to anticipate what ‘shortly’—as the writer of the Apocalypse puts it—will happen.
That is the task of occultism. It is to be discharged, because that discharge is necessary. There are movements in plenty which are idealistic, which are ethical. But the movement called theosophy distinguishes itself from the others, in that occultism consciously comes to expression in this movement.
With that, the connection between occultism and theosophy is made clear. The Theosophical Society can never want to be an occult brotherhood. What must give it the strength to fulfil its task, what must give it life, can only be the things that emanate from occultism. Therefore the Theosophical Society will thrive if the cultivation of occult teaching and occult life is understood. That is stiff not a demand that the members themselves should be occultists. But if the Theosophical Society were to forget that this blood pulses in it, then it might remain an interesting society, but what was intended for it by the sublime powers who assisted at its birth would not be achieved.
Whoever understands this will never want to take away the Theosophical Society's occult character. All the same, whoever thus belongs to the Theosophical Society will be brought into a two-sided situation. He must necessarily give an ear to the side whence flow the occult truths, on the other hand he must turn his attention to the exoteric life of the Society. These aspects must be kept strictly apart; they must never be mixed together. When one talks about the outward Theosophical Society, one must never, however, even mention the occult personalities who stood over its inception. The powers who live on the higher planes and who live for the sake of mankind's evolution, outside of the physical body, never interfere in these affairs. They never impart anything other than impulses. Whenever we are engaged, in a practical way, in extending the Theosophical Society, the great individualities whom we call the Masters are standing at our side; we may turn ourselves to them and allow them to speak through us. When it concerns the propagation of occult life, it is the Masters who speak. When it only concerns the Organisation of the Society then they leave it to those who are living on the physical plane. That is the distinction between the occult current and the framework of the theosophical organisation. Allow me to express the difference between what flows as inward spiritual stream and what manifests through individual personalities, as it can perhaps best be expressed: When it concerns spiritual life, then the Masters speak; when it only concerns Organisation, since error is possible, the Masters are then silent.
Das Verhältnis Des Okkultismus Zur Theosophischen Bewegung
Berlin, 22. Oktober 1905 (nachmittags)
Ich möchte noch einmal bekanntgeben,1Im Anschluß an die Generalversammlung der Deutschen Sektion der Theosophischen Gesellschaft. daß ich mir gestatten werde, morgen früh einen Vortrag zu halten über gewisse gegenwärtige okkulte Fragen im Zusammenhang mit der Freimaurerei. Und das soll geschehen, nach altem okkultem Usus, getrennt für Herren und Damen. Um zehn Uhr wird der Vortrag für Herren stattfinden, um halb zwölf Uhr für Damen. Sie werden vielleicht fragen, warum dieser Usus besteht, der erst in der theosophischen Weltanschauung überwunden werden wird. Das wird sich aus dem Inhalt der Vorträge ergeben, und ich möchte mir noch erlauben zu bemerken, daß morgen ‚Abend der Besant-Zweig seine ordentliche Versammlung haben wird um acht Uhr.
Nun möchte ich also über das Verhältnis des Okkultismus zur theosophischen Bewegung und einige andere damit zusammenhängende Fragen sprechen. Es ist oft und oft darüber gesprochen worden, ob die theosophische Bewegung, insbesondere insofern sie sich in der Theosophischen Gesellschaft zum Ausdruck bringt, eine okkulte Bewegung sei, oder ob man von allem Okkultismus in der theosophischen Bewegung absehen müsse.
Die theosophische Bewegung als solche, insofern sie sich in der Theosophischen Gesellschaft zum Ausdruck bringt, kann keine okkulte Bewegung sein. Eine okkulte Bewegung hat andere Voraussetzungen, als diejenigen sind, die in der Theosophischen Gesellschaft zum Ausdruck kommen können. Okkulte Gesellschaften hat es zu allen Zeiten gegeben. Diese hatten vor allen Dingen eines notwendig: nämlich, daß sie durch die ganze Art ihres Strebens eine Art von hierarchischer Gliederung hatten. Das heißt, daß die Mitglieder einer solchen Gesellschaft, einer solchen Bruderschaft, nach Graden geordnet waren. Jeder Grad, vom ersten bis hinauf in die neunziger Grade, hatte seine ganz bestimmte Aufgabe. Innerhalb jeden Grades gab es ganz bestimmte Aufgaben. Niemand konnte vorher in einen höheren Grad befördert werden, bis er die Aufgaben des niederen Grades erfüllt hatte.
Ich kann nur ganz im allgemeinen andeuten, warum das so ist. Da müssen wir nämlich überhaupt über die Aufgaben solcher okkulten Bruderschaften sprechen. Die verehrten Freunde, die über solche Dinge mich schon öfter haben sprechen hören, werden mich heute um so besser verstehen. Okkulte Bruderschaften sind Führerbruderschaften der Menschheit. Sie haben die Aufgabe, die Dinge der Zukunft vorzubereiten. Alles was in der Zukunft geschehen soll, bereitet sich ja schon in der Gegenwart vor, findet in der Gegenwart seinen Ausdruck als Idee, als Plan und wird dann in der Zukunft verwirklicht. Selbst wenn Sie auf dem äußeren physischen Plan die Entwickelung des Menschengeschlechtes ansehen, so werden Sie doch finden, daß Dinge, die später eine Verwirklichung erfuhren, viel früher in Köpfen und Seelen von führenden Persönlichkeiten und Individualitäten als Idee aufkeimten und nach Ausdruck rangen. Nehmen Sie zum Beispiel die Dampfmaschine: Sie werden finden, wenn Sie die Sache zurückverfolgen, wie sich die Dampfmaschine aus den einfachsten Tatsachen heraus entwickelt hat; wie schon der mit kochendem Wasser gefüllte Kochtopf die Idee der Dampfmaschine enthält, die sich dann von dieser einfachsten Form bis zum kompliziertesten Mechanismus fortsetzt.
Das sind aber Kleinigkeiten gegenüber dem großen Menschheitsbau, den wir vor uns haben. Die wichtigsten Dinge setzen viel gröBere und viel bedeutungsvollere Perspektiven voraus. Sie setzen voraus, daß dasjenige, was in weiter ferner Zukunft geschehen soll, in gewisser Weise heute schon vorbereitet wird. Wie kann so etwas geschehen? Dadurch, daß man es in der Hand hat, heute schon die Kräfte in die Welt hineinzulegen, welche in der Zukunft wirksam werden sollen. Alles was in der Zukunft hier auf dem physischen Plan geschehen wird, das bereitet sich bereits viel früher, als es hier auf dem physischen Plane geschieht, auf dem Astralplane und auf dem Devachanplane vor; so daß tatsächlich ferne, zukünftige Ereignisse, ihrer Kraft nach, in den höheren Planen und Welten verfolgt werden können. Aber der Mensch kann nicht gut in die Zukunft hineinwirken, wenn er nicht, aus der Kenntnis der wirkenden Kräfte heraus, diese Wirkung vorbereitet. Der Mensch ist ein selbstbewußtes Geschöpf und muß sein Geschick selbst in die Hand nehmen. Deshalb hat es immer fortgeschrittene Brüder unseres Menschengeschlechtes gegeben, welche nicht bloß auf dem physischen Plane sehen können, sondern auch auf höheren Planen.
Versuchen wir zu begreifen, was das heißt: auf höheren Planen voraussehen. Nehmen wir an, Sie haben einen Teich mit Wasser. Sie können voraussehen, daß der Teich, wenn die Temperatur sinkt, eingefroren sein wird, daß darauf Schlittschuhläufer und so weiter sein können. In ähnlicher Weise haben wir es mit dem Verhältnis des sogenannten astralen Planes zum physischen Plane, das heißt, zu unserer Welt zu tun. Wenn man nämlich die Vorgänge auf dem astralen Plane verfolgt, dann kann man in der Tat mit Hilfe des astralen Ereignisses dasjenige sehen, was in späterer Zeit, gleichsam als Verdichtung davon, da sein wird. Und so kann man aus den astralen Ereignissen dasjenige ersehen, was später auf dem physischen Plane verdichtet auftritt. Nichts anderes sind die physischen Begebenheiten als so verdichtete Ereignisse, die sich vorher in den höheren Welten zugetragen haben.
Ein Beispiel: Im ganzen Altertum gab es Mysterien. Diese hatten die Aufgabe, einzelne Menschen aufzunehmen und sie einzuweihen in die Geheimnisse des Daseins, oder — wie Johannes der Apokalyptiker sagt — zu zeigen, was «in Kürze», das heißt, in der Zukunft geschehen soll. In solchen Tempelstätten wurden diejenigen Schüler, die in den ersten Grad aufgenommen werden sollten, unterrichtet. Es gab dann auch einen Unterricht für höher und immer höher entwickelte Schüler. Die erste Stufe war die, daß die Betreffenden ihren Astralleib läuterten. Dies bestand darin, daß sie nicht bloß die gewöhnliche bürgerliche Ethik sich zu eigen machten. Die bürgerliche Ethik wurde vorausgesetzt; das was hier in Betracht kommt, mußte in strenger Pflichterfüllung befolgt werden. Wenn der Schüler dann mehr und mehr zu höheren Idealen aufstieg, aus den Leidenschaften und Trieben des gewöhnlichen Lebens hinaufstieg zu den Wünschen, die über allem Kleinlichen des Menschen stehen, und seine Lust und Unlust so reinigte, daß die großen, weltumfassenden Angelegenheiten des Menschengeschlechtes die seinigen wurden, wenn er über sich hinaus mitfühlte und mitempfand, dann war er auf dem Wege, das, was man die Reinigung des Astralkörpers nannte, zu vollziehen. Dann durfte er auch in die dichteren Leiber eingreifen. Er durfte an seinem Ätherkörper arbeiten, er durfte nicht nur die weiche, biegsame und schmiegsame astrale Materie in seinem Geist- und seinem Seelenkörper umgestalten, sondern er durfte hineinarbeiten in seinen Ätherleib. Dann war er das, was man einen Chela nennt. Ein solcher Chela ist derjenige, der nicht nur höhere Pflichten anerkennt, der nicht nur die Reinigung so weit vorgenommen hat, daß er die menschlichen Pflichten zu den seinigen gemacht hat, sondern so weit ist, daß er hinausgewachsen ist über die niederen und höheren Angelegenheiten der einzelnen Völker, selbst der einzelnen Bekenntnisse. Sein Blick ist auf das Leben der ganzen Menschheit gerichtet. Und durch den nunmehr durchorganisierten Ätherkörper wird er ein Teilnehmer an den großen Angelegenheiten des Erdenbaues. Dazu mußte folgendes geschehen.
Es mußte der Chela alle die Kräfte lahmlegen, welche ihn an der Arbeit an seinem Ätherleib hinderten. Wenn Sie einen Menschen vor sich haben, so hat er ja den physischen Körper, Ätherkörper und Astralkörper. Der Chela hat seinen Astralkörper geläutert und darf hineinarbeiten in seinen Ätherleib. Sie werden begreifen, warum der Mensch diese Reinigung seines Astralleibes durchführen muß. Was geschieht denn, wenn der Astralleib gereinigt ist? Was dringt da ein in den Ätherleib? Dasjenige, was im Astralleib veranlagt ist. Die Dinge, die im Astralleibe leben, drücken sich dem Ätherleib ein. Solange Sie am Astralleib arbeiten, können Sie die Fehler immer wieder umarbeiten: die Astralmaterie ist dünn und weich; Sie können das immer wieder ins Gleichgewicht bringen. Hat ein Mensch aber als Chela den Ätherleib zu entwickeln begonnen, dann drücken sich diese Eigenschaften in den Ätherleib ein, und dieser ist viel dauernder. Der Mensch würde dadurch, daß er das irdisch Fehlerhafte dauerhaft macht, zu einem gefährlichen Mitgliede der Menschheit werden. Daher die immerwährende Betonung der notwendigen Reinigung. Dieser Ätherleib wird durch die Kräfte, die auf ihn wirken, beeindruckt. Denken Sie ihn sich getrennt von dem physischen Körper, so hat er eine ganz andere Elastizität. Wenn er darinnen steckt, so hält er diesen in der Form; aber er ist, solange er darinnen weilt, zunächst zu schwach, um das in sich hineinzudrücken, was als Astralität durch die Katharsis durchgegangen ist.
Daher hat man das Altertum hindurch folgendes machen müssen. Man mußte jene die Elastizität des Ätherleibes verhindernden Kräfte zunächst beseitigen. Das geschah dadurch, daß der ganze physische Leib in einen lethargischen Zustand gebracht wurde. Der Mensch lag da, und der Ätherleib wurde herausgeholt aus dem physischen Leibe. Der physische Körper blieb dann wie tot liegen und der Ätherleib wurde nach seinen eigenen Kräften geformt. Das ist die Grablegung. Der Betreffende wurde drei bis dreieinhalb Tage in lethargischen Zustand versetzt. Und dann konnte er am Ätherleib arbeiten. Und dann, nachdem er den Ätherleib dem Astralleib entsprechend geformt hatte, kehrte er zurück in den physischen Leib. Dann hatte er das innere Leben in sich erweckt, dann war er ein Auferstandener, und er bekam einen neuen Namen.
Das war eine Handlung auf dem Astralplan. Alles das, was ich beschrieben habe, ging auf dem Astralplan vor sich; der physische Leib hatte dabei nichts zu tun. Dieses Ereignis wiederholte sich in allen alten Mysterien. Jeder Eingeweihte kannte es. Stellen Sie es sich nun verdichtet vor, herabgeholt auf den physischen Plan, so daß etwas geschehen ist mit diesem Ereignis, das sich früher nur astral zugetragen hat. Vergleichsweise so, wie wenn Sie zum Beispiel da, wo Sie früher Wasser hatten, jetzt ein Stück Eis haben. Viele solche astralen Ereignisse müssen zusammenfallen, zusammenfließen, damit die physische Verdichtung einst möglich wird. Dadurch, daß durch die Erscheinung Christi dasjenige auf dem physischen Plane sich ereignete, was vorher oft und oft in den Mysterienstätten auf dem astralen Plane sich abgespielt hatte, ist das Mysterium von Golgatha historisch möglich geworden, es hat herabgeholt werden können auf den physischen Plan. An diesem Beispiel lernen wir begreifen, wie in okkulten Bruderschaften tatsächlich die Zukunft vorbereitet wird.
Wenn wir uns nun fragen: Was geschieht denn da eigentlich? — so ist zu antworten: Gewiß, in Gedanken, in der Idee kann man sehr vieles erfassen. Aber die Idee hat keine Wirklichkeit. Die Idee ist nichts anderes als das, was auf den physischen Plan von den höheren Planen heruntergeholt wird. Was der Mensch darüber denkt, ist aber das Wirkungsloseste dabei, weil dieses nur auf dem physischen Plane vorhanden ist. Anders ist es, wenn dieser Idee etwas entgegengebracht wird, das auch aus den höheren Sphären stammt. Nehmen Sie zum Beispiel die Lehre der Sphärenmusik des Pyzhagoras, wie er sie seinen Schülern beigebracht hat. Die Philosophen suchen die okkulte Musik des Pythagoras als ein ganz einfaches System darzustellen. Der Verstand kann das schnell auffassen. Aber ihm kam es darauf an, daß der Schüler erst dann dazu kam, wenn sein Gemüt, seine Stimmung dafür vorbereitet waren. So ist es auch unmöglich, demjenigen, der keinen Sinn hat für Bilder, die dem Astralischen entstammen, das Bild der Sixtinischen Madonna von Raffael in seinem tieferen Sinne erklären zu wollen. Das Gefühl, das Gemüt muß sich an ihm hinaufranken. Dasjenige, was sonst in der Idee kalt läßt, erscheint ihm hier im Bild künstlerisch lebensvoll als der göttliche Weltgedanke, als dasjenige, wonach die göttlichen Kräfte die Welt geschaffen haben, und eine einfache Linie wird zu etwas Heiligem! Dadurch daß die Gedanken sich um das Element des Göttlichen herumschlingen, wird der Gedanke entgegengebracht göttlicher Einwirkung. So handelt es sich bei einer solchen Schulung darum, den Menschen gradweise darauf vorzubereiten, wie er sich den großen Weltgedanken nähern kann, wie er sie zu empfangen hat. Dann verbindet er allmählich mit dem Eindringen in diese großen Weltgedanken jene wirksame, aber sonst okkulte Kraft, welche im Astralen schon vorher die Zukunft für den physischen Plan vorbereitet. Hat der führende Menschenbruder vielleicht Schüler bei sich, welche an solchen geistdurchdrungenen Ideen hängen, dann sind diese eine Kraft, die auch ihm vorwätts hilft in seinem Wirken für die äußere Welt; es entstehen die großen spirituellen Zentralstätten des geistigen Wirkens. Sie sehen also, daß tatsächlich dasjenige, was ich Okkultismus genannt habe, mit dem Fortschritt der Menschheit sehr viel zu tun hat. Und in unserer Zeit haben wir eine ganz besonders wichtige Aufgabe. Versuchen wir mit ein paar Worten nur hinzudeuten darauf, wie wir zu dieser unserer Aufgabe gekommen sind.
Wir stehen innerhalb der großen Wurzelrasse der Menschheit, welche diese Erde bevölkert, seitdem aus den Fluten des Meeres emporgestiegen ist der Boden, den wir heute bewohnen. Seitdem die atlantische Rasse allmählich zu verschwinden begonnen hat, seitdem ist die große arische Wurzelrasse diejenige, welche herrschend ist auf der Erde. Wenn wir uns selbst betrachten, so sind wir hier in Europa die fünfte Unterrasse der großen arischen Wurzelrasse. Die erste Unterrasse lebte in urferner Vergangenheit im alten Indien. Und die heutigen Inder sind Nachkommen jener ersten Unterrasse, deren Geistesleben noch vorhanden ist in den uralten Veden der Inder. Die Veden sind indessen nur Nachklänge der alten Rishikultur. Damals ist ja noch keine Schrift dagewesen; da gab es nur Tradition. Dann kamen die zweite, die dritte und die vierte Unterrasse. Die vierte Unterrasse hat das Christentum aufgenommen. Dann sehen wir, daß um die Mitte des Mittelalters die fünfte Unterrasse sich gebildet hat, zu der wir und die angrenzenden Völker gehören.
Die alten Inder der ersten Unterrasse lebten unter anderen Bedingungen als wir und waren im Grunde genommen auch anders organisiert. Selbst die heutigen Nachkommen, die heutigen Inder, sind wesentlich anders organisiert als unsere europäischen Völker. Wer als Okkultist die Unterschiede untersucht, der findet, daß im alten indischen Volke der Ätherkörper viel weniger an den physischen Körper gefesselt ist, sich nicht so dicht in den physischen Körper hineinversenkt hat, sondern daß er viel leichter vom Astralkörper zu beeinflussen ist. Damit hängt es zusammen, daß die indische Rasse leicht etwas vom Astralkörper auf den Ätherkörper überleiten kann, daß diese indische Rasse leicht in den Ätherkörper hineinarbeiten kann. Das heißt nichts anderes, als daß durch okkulte Schulung der Inder leichter zu gewissen höheren Anschauungen kommen kann. Je leichter der Ätherkörper beeinflußt werden kann durch den Astralkörper, desto leichter ist es mit Bildern, ohne abstrakte Begriffe, auf den Ätherkörper einzuwirken. Um so leichter ist es dem, welcher im Astralen die Jogaschulung durchmacht, durch Bildvorstellungen zu den höheren Gebieten in Beziehung zu kommen. Diese wirken auf den Ätherkörper, der noch weich ist, ein. Man hat da nicht nötig, in strengen Begriffen zu arbeiten, sondern mit höchst einfachen Bildvorstellungen kann man an der Seele eines indischen Menschen arbeiten, und er wird zu sehr hohen Entwickelungsstufen kommen können.
Durch die verschiedenen Unterrassen hindurch hat sich das Menschengeschlecht geändert. Unser Ätherkörper ist heute viel stärker unter dem Einfluß des physischen Körpers, als dies bei den alten Indern der Fall war. Und so kommt es, daß wir viel stärker und innerlicher arbeiten müssen, um den Ätherleib zu beeinflussen. Wir können nicht zu halb traumhaften Vorstellungen greifen. Wir müssen alles einer scharfen Konzentration unterziehen, an unserem Inneren arbeiten durch starke seelische Konzentrierung in das reine Übersinnliche, nicht bloß durch bildhafte Begriffe. Eine solche Vorstellung, die eine starke Konzentration unseres inneren Wesens bewirkt, kann dann viel kräftiger auf den an den physischen Körper gefesselten Ätherleib wirken. Damit der Astralleib auf den Ätherleib wirken konnte, mußte er in früheren Zeiten aus dem Ätherleibe heraus sein. Jetzt aber kann der Ätherleib auch innerhalb des physischen Leibes vom Astralleib aus beeinflußt werden. Würden wir dasselbe Experiment machen, das in den alten Mysterienstätten üblich war, und die Lethargie herbeiführen, so würden wir imstande sein, auf den Ätherleib einzuwirken. Aber wenn das Erdenbewußtsein, die Beweglichkeit des Denkens wieder zurückkehrten, würde diese sogleich wieder dasjenige auslöschen, was der Astralleib in den Ätherleib eingedruckt hat. Wir müssen den Ätherleib stark beeinflussen, wenn wir wollen, daß er das, was wir ihm eingeprägt haben, beibehält. Die okkulte Aufgabe ist heute eine andere geworden, sie ist jetzt mehr eine innerliche.
Und so sehen Sie auch, wie im Laufe der Zeit große Unterschiede in den einander folgenden okkulten Schulen auftreten. Das Jogasystem der Inder ist etwas anderes als die Schulung der Rosenkreuzer. Die Rosenkreuzerschulung ist berechnet auf das, was ich Ihnen jetzt auseinandergesetzt habe. Außerdem tritt noch etwas anderes ein. Es mußte, damit überhaupt ein solcher Fortschritt geschehen konnte, auf die Verstandeskraft eingewirkt werden. Viel mehr als früher wurde der Verstand angespannt, der dann, durch die Kraft der inneren Konzentration, sein Hinübergeführtwerden zum Erfassen des Übersinnlichen entwickeln kann. Es mußte in der neueren Zeit also viel mehr in Begriffen gelehrt werden; es mußte Gewicht gelegt werden auf die Verstandesausbildung und auf das abstrakte Vorstellungsvermögen.
Vergleichen Sie einmal die Wandlungen in der Kultur von der alten indischen bis zu unserer Zeit. Im alten Indien haben Sie eine hohe Intuition und eine geringe äußere Auswirkung der Zivilisation; jetzt, in unserer Zeit, ist es umgekehrt. Das bewirkt, daß auch die Stellung des Okkultismus allmählich eine ganz andere wird; das bewirkt, daß vieles von dem, was früher geheimgehalten wurde, heute allgemeines Wissensgut geworden ist. Viele, viele solche Erkenntnisse und Begriffe waren früher innerhalb der okkulten Bruderschaften bewahrt worden, und es kam der Mensch an diese Dinge erst heran, wenn er sein ganzes Herz umgewandelt hatte. Heute hat der Okkultist dies nicht mehr in der Hand. Er muß vieles von dem, was man früher für spätere Stufen der Schulung aufbewahrt hatte, jetzt als schon durch die Kultur der Außenwelt offenbar geworden, erkennen. Damit muß der Mysterieneingeweihte rechnen. Und so mußten viele Wahrheiten, die in den okkulten Schulen gelehrt worden sind, allmählich herausgetragen werden auf den physischen Plan.
Schon das, was in den heutigen Elementarschulen gelehrt wird, würde uns hinwegführen von dem Geistigen, wenn nicht von einer anderen Seite her okkulte Hintergründe dazuträten. In früheren Zeiten wußte der Schüler, daß hinter dem, was er in der Schule und der Gelehrtenwelt als Lehrstoff erhielt, noch etwas Höheres ist, und daß er selbst vielleicht einst zu diesem höheren Wissen würde kommen können. Er wußte, daß er ein Glied ist innerhalb eines geistigen Organismus. Heute nimmt man in der demokratischen Welt viele Begriffe auf, die nicht zu solcher Einsicht führen. Daher mußte dem Bau des äußeren demokratischen Wissens gleichsam die Spitze der Pyramide hinzugefügt werden. Das elementare Wissen von den in der Welt verborgenen Kräften war nun gegeben worden. Es fehlte noch die zu einer geistigen Weltanschauung führende Spitze. Und um diese zu geben, mußte eine weltumfassende Bewegung begründet werden. Die theosophische Bewegung war als eine solche gedacht. Daher entschloß man sich in gewissen Bruderschaften, als die Popularisierung der bisher verborgenen Weistümer immer weiter und weiter vor sich gegangen war, der Welt so viel von den hinter ihr stehenden Geheimnissen mitzuteilen, als nötig war, um das Wissen der äußeren Welt mit dem umfassenden okkulten Wissen der Bruderschaften in Einklang zu bringen.
Hier stehen wir an dem Punkte, wo wir den Zusammenhang der theosophischen Bewegung und der ’Theosophischen Gesellschaft mit dem Okkultismus sehen können. Die Theosophische Gesellschaft ist keine okkulte Bewegung, keine okkulte Bruderschaft, denn sie ist auf demokratischer Grundlage errichtet, wo ein jeder gleichwertiges Mitglied mit den andern ist. Doch etwas anderes ist es, wie man die Aufgabe der Theosophischen Gesellschaft erfassen soll. Die Aufgabe der Gesellschaft ist auf dem physischen Plan. Will man diese voll erfassen, so muß man hinaufsehen können in die höheren Welten. Aber darum handelt es sich nicht, daß der Theosoph schon hinaufsehen kann in die höheren Welten, sondern es handelt sich darum, daß innerhalb der Bewegung auch okkulte Kräfte entwickelt werden, damit die Theosophische Gesellschaft eine Stätte sein könne, von welcher der Okkultismus ausstrahlen kann und zur Sprache kommt. Es ist etwas anderes, ob eine Gesellschaft eine okkulte Bruderschaft ist, oder ob sie sich sagt: Wir sind zwar keine okkulte Bruderschaft, aber in unserer Gesellschaft kommt der Okkultismus wieder zur Sprache.
Heute, wo im Grunde genommen die ganze Menschheit sehnsüchtig aufschaut zu den höheren Welten, ohne die Wege dahin zu finden, heute muß dementsprechend ein noch weiterer Teil der okkulten Kenntnisse popularisiert werden. Und diese Aufgabe hat der Okkultismus innerhalb der Theosophischen Gesellschaft. Immer haben geistige Bewegungen befruchtend gewirkt auf die Entfaltung der Kultur auch auf dem physischen Plan. Ihr äußerer Ausdruck ist nichts anderes als die irdische Verwirklichung dessen, was geistig vorbereitet worden war. Was ist es denn anderes, wenn wir zum Beispiel die Werke von Michelangelo und Leonardo da Vinci ins Auge fassen? In diesen Werken haben Sie in Farben und Formen etwas Geistiges an die Wand hingezaubert: durchsetzt ist das Bild von dem, was zuerst als Spirituelles in der Seele des Künstlers lebte. Das Spirituelle geht voraus demjenigen, was später als sein Ausdruck in der materiellen Welt erscheint.
Und die materialistische äußere Kultur ist nur der Abdruck der materialistisch gewordenen inneren Gesinnung der Menschen. Seit 1850 breitet sich in den zivilisierten Staaten die rein materialistische Städtekultur aus. Wir sehen das Große, das sie auf dem physischen Plan geleistet hat; wir sehen aber auch, was sie nicht hat leisten können. Im Künstlerischen zum Beispiel hat sie keinen wirklich neuen Stil hervorgebracht, den einen ausgenommen: und das ist der Stil des Warenhauses. Dieser ist etwas, was im Verhältnis zu unserer äußeren Zivilisation innerlich wahr ist. Alles andere, was aus alten Zeiten übernommen wird, hat keine Beziehung zur Jetztzeit. Erst wenn wir eine Gesellschaft gebildet haben, deren Mitglieder ergriffen sind von einer spirituellen Kraft, wie sie früher im Christentum gelebt hat, und wie sie in den besten christlichen Seelen noch als Sehnsucht lebt und wiedergewonnen werden kann, dann werden wir wieder eine spirituelle Kultur haben. Und eine solche Kultur wird wieder Künstler auf allen Gebieten des Lebens hervorbringen. Lassen Sie die Theosophie in den Seelen der Menschen leben, dann wird sie wieder als Stil, als Kunst aus den Seelen herausströmen, sie wird da sein auch für unsere Augen und Ohren. Es wird die Welt wieder ein äußerer Ausdruck sein können des Spirituellen, wenn es heute in einer solchen Gesellschaft schon dargelebt wird.
In diesem Sinne könnte die Theosophische Gesellschaft der Gestaltung der ferneren Kultur dienen. Sind wir beieinander, so müssen wir uns klar sein, daß wir wie Zellen sind, die sich zusammenschlieBen müssen zur Ausgestaltung einer künftigen Kultur. In unseren Seelen werden diejenigen Kräfte vorbereitet, welche künftig die Welt so umbilden werden, daß sie ein physischer Abdruck werden wird unserer heutigen Stimmungen und Lebensanschauungen. Alles was heute offenbar wird und sich manifestiert, ist ehemals okkult gewesen. Wie heute die Elektrizität eine offenbare Kraft ist, so war sie einst eine okkulte Kraft. Und was heute noch okkult ist, das ist dazu bestimmt, eine treibende Kraft für die Zukunft zu werden. Genau ebenso wie vor Jahrmillionen dieser unser Menschenkörper vorbereitet worden ist aus Kräften, die in unserer Umgebung sind, so bereitet sich heute in uns ein höherer Körper vor, ein Körper der Zukunft; doch erst in einer fernen Zeit wird dieser Körper der Zukunft der unsrige sein.
Verfolgen wir einmal ein wenig unseren Entwickelungsweg zurück. Was war einst da? Ein dumpfes Menschenbewußtsein - ringsum die Welt, die anders ausgesehen hat als die unsrige -, das wie ein traumhafter Spiegel war. Ein träumendes Bewußtsein hatten die Menschen. Und auch als die Entwickelung ihres Gemeinwesens weiterschritt, hatten sie keine Parlamente, die auf Meinungsaustausch beruhen; nichts Derartiges hatten sie. Es spiegelte sich bloß alles in dem Bewußtsein, das im Menschen aufstieg. Und die heutigen Körperorgane, wodurch sind sie entstanden? Dadurch, daß jene Kräfte an den Menschen gearbeitet haben. So wie die Tiere in den finsteren Höhlen von Kentucky ihre Sehkraft verloren, weil sie sie nicht brauchten, so organisierten die äußeren Kräfte auch dasjenige, was wir als Auge und als Ohr haben. Diese sind durch die Schall- und Lichtkräfte ausgebildet und aus unserem Organismus herausentwickelt worden. Aus dem, was jetzt in uns lebt, wird sich unser geistiger Organismus in der Zukunft entwickeln. Diejenigen Dinge, die als Ausdruck unserer spirituellen Kultur vor uns stehen, die Kirchen und so weiter, die Kulturwerke, die uns Schönheit und Wahrheit vermitteln, sie werden sich einprägen in unsere höheren Wesensglieder. Und wenn diese sich einst entfalten werden zu einem selbsteigenen Leben, dann wird das, was als Schönheit und Wahrheit in der äußeren Kultur lebt, in unserem Inneren aufsteigen. Was Augen und Ohren jetzt wahrnehmen, das sind Bausteine für die Organisierung einer höheren Zukunft. Betrachten wir die Welt von diesem Gesichtspunkt aus, dann gewinnt das menschliche Innere eine ganz andere Bedeutung. Wir stehen damit vor einer Tatsache, die in einfacher Weise begreiflich machen kann, was man Joga oder innere Schulung nennt. Aus den Worten, die ich gesprochen habe, werden Sie entnehmen können, daß dasjenige, was die Welt einst geschaffen hat, was in der Welt gewirkt und gekraftet hat, früher von unserem Inneren aufgenommen worden ist. Was heute in mir ist, war einstmals außer mir: das ist der Grundgedanke der okkulten Schulung. Ehe unser physischer Körper war, war schon unser Ätherleib vorhanden. Unser Ätherleib wiederum ist ein Gebilde, das von unserem Astralleibe geformt worden ist. Und davon geht die Jogaschulung aus. Wer sich auf die Jogaschulung einläßt, steigt hinab in seinen Ätherleib und weiß, daß er im Ätherleib die Kraft findet, die einst vor Jahrmillionen ihn aufgebaut hat. Langsam hat sich der physische Körper herausgehoben aus der Grundlage des Ätherleibes.
Nur in großen Zügen kann ich beschreiben, wie das Hinuntersteigen in den Ätherleib vor sich geht. Da gibt es gewisse Strömungen im Ätherleibe, welche die Vorboten sind für die physischen Körperorgane. Die Nervenstränge des sympathischen Systems, das bis in den Rücken verläuft, die Nervenknoten des sympathischen Nervensystems, das sind Teile, die ätherisch vor Urzeiten herausgebildet wurden. Das ist ein Vorgang, der sich abgespielt hat in grauer Vorzeit. Dann, nachdem der Mensch weiter und weiter vorgeschritten ist, gab es eine Zeit, wo sich herausbildete innerhalb dieses Körpers, der nun in sich die Anlage zum physischen Nervensystem hatte, das Gebilde, welches uns fähig macht zur Entfaltung der inneren Körperwärme, zur Bereitung des warmen Blutes. Das ist wiederum ein späteres Gebilde aus dem Ätherkörper, der dann schon stark von den Kräften des Astralleibes beeinflußt war. Und aus dem, was wir hernach als Grundlage des Gehirns vorfinden, hat sich der Rükkenmarksstrang herausgebildet wiederum aus dem Ätherleibe heraus, als dem anderen Pol des Ätherleibes, der sich auf der einen Seite zum Gehirn herausbildete, auf der anderen Seite zur inneren Blutwärme. Das ist in der Vergangenheit geschehen. An dieser Bildung des Menschen haben nicht nur die Naturkräfte gearbeitet, sondern auch höhere geistige Wesenheiten.
Wenn nun der Jogi stufenweise hinuntersteigt in diesen Ätherleib, dann dringt er hinein in die Zeiten der Vergangenheit, wo seine geistige Ursprungsform von diesen Kräften und Wesenheiten beeinflußt worden ist und dasjenige hervorgebracht hat, was heute in uns lebt. Wenn der Mensch so hinuntergestiegen ist in das Leben, dann kann er beim Hinabstieg jenen Punkt noch einmal erreichen. Er steigt vom Kopfe abwärts in die unteren Gebiete hinunter, die in den ältesten Zeiten aufgebaut worden sind, und dann wieder zurück in seinen Kopf. Das ist eine Beschreibung des okkulten Erkenntnisweges, wenn auch nur eine spärliche Beschreibung. Weiteres kann in den okkulten Schulen gegeben werden. So bildete der Schüler der Mysterienweisheit die Fähigkeit aus, in die früheren Zeiten hineinzublicken; dann kommt die Zeit, wo er die okkulte Pilgerschaft unternehmen kann. Er erreicht dies auf dem Wege einer bestimmten Übung, durch die er sein persönliches Selbst überwindet und dadurch aufhört, das kleine gebundene Ich zu sein. Erst dann kann er den Aufstieg in das Universum vollziehen. Noch einmal steigt er hinunter, indem er die Weltkraft so mitnimmt, in das Meer der Vergangenheit. In aufsteigender Linie kann er allmählich hinaufkommend dann im einzelnen den Weg verfolgen, den er so zurückgelegt hat. Langsam und allmählich lernt der Mensch hinunterschreiten in das Meer seiner Bildekräfte, und zuletzt kommt er an einen Punkt, der in der Nähe des Ursprungs liegt. So muß es den Menschen ergangen sein, denen zuerst das Auge erstand, um den Blick ins Weltall zu lenken. Dann geht dem Schüler auf der Zusammenfluß des Ich mit dem großen Welten-Ich. Und nun muß er lernen, zu sagen zu dem kleinen Ich: Ich bin nicht du.
Es ist ein wichtiger Moment, wo er sich klarmacht, was dies heißt: Ich bin nicht du. — Das ist ein Moment, wo man anfängt zu begreifen, daß es höhere Kräfte in der Natur gibt als das Denken, daß es außer ihm etwas gibt, was man nicht mit den Gedanken der Gegenwart ausdrücken kann, was aber bewirkt, daß bei zwei Menschen, die über dasselbe sprechen können, die Rede des einen klar aber öde, die des anderen durchpulst ist von dem warmen Licht, das die Zukunft schaffen wird.
Wenn der Schüler so weit ist, dann kann er in noch anderer Weise lernen, als er bis jetzt lernen konnte. Er erlebt da etwas ganz Besonderes. Ihm tritt in der übersinnlichen Welt ein geistiges Wesen entgegen: er trifft diejenige Individualität, welche mit ihm früher schon einmal verbunden war. Das ist ein großes wichtiges Mysterium, daß sich gewisse Stufen unseres Daseins wiederholen. Wir steigen bewußt auf vom Manas zu den höheren Kräften. Wir sind einst aus geistigen Welten heruntergestiegen, und damals hat dasselbe Wesen etwas in uns hineingesenkt, dem wir jetzt wieder begegnen auf der jenem Punkte in der Vergangenheit entsprechenden Stufe, auf welcher es damals mit uns war. Es ist der Lehrer, der sogenannte Guru. Wir trafen ihn damals zum ersten Mal; jetzt treffen wir ihn wieder, wenn wir das, was er in unsere Seelen versenkt hat und wir unbewußt empfangen haben, bewußt auffassen können. Und steigen wir dann weiter hinunter, so treffen wir die Geister, die mitgebaut haben an uns vor Äonen. Wir treffen die zwölf Geister: die Geister des Willens, die Geister der Weisheit, die Geister der Form, die Geister der Bewegung, die Geister der Persönlichkeit oder des Egoismus, die Geister des Feuers oder der Wärme, die Geister der Dämmerung oder des Zwielichts und so weiter. Das alles bietet sich unserem Geistessinn dar bei diesem Abstieg in das Universum, auf dieser Pilgerfahrt. Und das allein macht es uns möglich, einen Blick in die Zukunft zu tun, das macht es uns möglich vorauszunehmen, was «in Kürze» geschehen soll, wie der Apokalyptiker sagt.
Dies ist die Aufgabe des Okkultismus. Sie ist zu lösen, weil diese Lösung notwendig ist. Bewegungen, welche idealistisch sind, welche ethisch sind, gibt es genug. Die Bewegung aber, die man Theosophie nennt, unterscheidet sich von anderen dadurch, daß der Okkultismus bewußt in dieser Bewegung zu Wort kommt.
Damit ist das Verhältnis des Okkultismus zur Theosophie klargelegt. Die Theosophische Gesellschaft kann nie eine okkulte Bruderschaft sein wollen. Was ihr Kraft geben muß zur Erfüllung ihrer Aufgabe, was ihr das Leben geben muß, das können nur Dinge sein, die aus dem Okkultismus herausströmen. Deshalb wird die Theosophische Gesellschaft gedeihen, wenn man Verständnis haben wird für die Pflege okkulter Lehren und okkulten Lebens. Das ist noch keine Forderung, daß die Mitglieder selbst Okkultisten sein sollen. Wenn aber die Theosophische Gesellschaft vergessen sollte, daß in ihr dieses Blut pulsiert, dann mag sie eine interessante Gesellschaft sein, aber das, was mit ihr gewollt worden ist von den erhabenen Mächten, die an ihrem Ausgangspunkt gestanden haben, wird sie nicht leisten.
Wer dies versteht, wird der Theosophischen Gesellschaft nimmermehr den okkulten Charakter nehmen wollen. Doch wird, wer so in der Theosophischen Gesellschaft steht, in eine zwiespältige Lage gebracht. Er wird das Ohr richten müssen nach der Seite, von woher die okkulten Wahrheiten zu uns strömen, und auf der anderen Seite die Aufmerksamkeit auf das äußere exoterische Leben der Gesellschaft richten. Trennen muß man diese Dinge streng voneinander; niemals dürfen sie miteinander vermischt werden. Aber man darf auch nicht, wenn man von deräußeren Theosophischen Gesellschaft spricht, von den okkulten Persönlichkeiten, die am Ausgangspunkt stehen, sprechen. Niemals mischen sich diejenigen Mächte, welche auf dem höheren Plane leben, und die der Menschheitsentwickelung wegen außerhalb des physischen Leibes leben, in diese Angelegenheiten ein. Niemals geben sie etwas anderes als Impulse. Wenn wir in sachlicher Weise für die Ausbreitung der Theosophischen Gesellschaft wirken, stehen uns immer die großen Individualitäten, die wir Meister nennen, zur Seite; wir dürfen uns an sie wenden und sie durch uns sprechen lassen. Wenn es sich um die Verbreitung des okkulten Lebens handelt, dann sprechen die Meister. Handelt es sich nur um die Organisation der Gesellschaft, dann überlassen sie das denjenigen, die auf dem physischen Plane leben. Das ist der Unterschied zwischen der okkulten Strömung und dem Rahmen der theosophischen Organisation. Lassen Sie mich den Unterschied dessen, was als innerer spiritueller Strom geht, und was sich auslebt durch die einzelnen Persönlichkeiten, so ausdrücken, wie es vielleicht am besten ausgedrückt werden kann: Wenn es sich um das spirituelle Leben handelt, dann sprechen die Meister, handelt es sich um die bloße Organisation, dann ist Irrtum möglich, denn da schweigen die Meister.
The Relationship Between Occultism and the Theosophical Movement
I would like to announce once again that I will be giving a lecture tomorrow morning on certain current occult questions in connection with Freemasonry. This will take place, in accordance with ancient occult custom, separately for gentlemen and ladies. The lecture for gentlemen will take place at ten o'clock, and for ladies at half past eleven. You may ask why this custom exists, which will only be overcome in the theosophical worldview. This will become clear from the content of the lectures, and I would like to take the liberty of noting that tomorrow evening the Besant Branch will hold its regular meeting at eight o'clock.
Now I would like to speak about the relationship between occultism and the theosophical movement and some other related questions. It has often been discussed whether the theosophical movement, especially as expressed in the Theosophical Society, is an occult movement, or whether one must disregard all occultism in the theosophical movement.
The Theosophical Movement as such, insofar as it is expressed in the Theosophical Society, cannot be an occult movement. An occult movement has different prerequisites than those that can be expressed in the Theosophical Society. Occult societies have existed at all times. These had one thing above all else: namely, that through the very nature of their striving, they had a kind of hierarchical structure. This means that the members of such a society, such a brotherhood, were arranged according to degrees. Each degree, from the first up to the ninetieth degree, had its own specific task. Within each degree there were very specific tasks. No one could be promoted to a higher degree until they had fulfilled the tasks of the lower degree.
I can only hint at why this is so in very general terms. For this we must talk about the tasks of such occult brotherhoods. My esteemed friends who have heard me speak about such things before will understand me all the better today. Occult brotherhoods are brotherhoods of leaders of humanity. Their task is to prepare the things of the future. Everything that is to happen in the future is already being prepared in the present, finds expression in the present as an idea, as a plan, and is then realized in the future. Even if you look at the development of the human race on the outer physical plane, you will find that things that later came to fruition germinated much earlier as ideas in the minds and souls of leading personalities and individuals and struggled to find expression. Take the steam engine, for example: if you trace the matter back, you will find how the steam engine developed from the simplest facts; how the cooking pot filled with boiling water already contains the idea of the steam engine, which then continues from this simplest form to the most complicated mechanism.
But these are trifles compared to the great edifice of humanity that we have before us. The most important things presuppose much greater and much more significant perspectives. They presuppose that what is to happen in the distant future is already being prepared in a certain way today. How can such a thing happen? By having it in our power today to put into the world the forces that are to be effective in the future. Everything that will happen here on the physical plane in the future is already being prepared much earlier than it happens here on the physical plane, on the astral plane and on the devachan plane; so that distant, future events can actually be traced in terms of their power in the higher planes and worlds. But human beings cannot effectively influence the future unless they prepare for this influence out of knowledge of the forces at work. Human beings are self-conscious creatures and must take their destiny into their own hands. That is why there have always been advanced brothers of our human race who can see not only on the physical plane but also on higher planes.
Let us try to understand what it means to foresee on higher planes. Suppose you have a pond of water. You can foresee that when the temperature drops, the pond will freeze over and that skaters and so on will be able to skate on it. In a similar way, we are dealing with the relationship between the so-called astral plane and the physical plane, that is, our world. For if one follows the events on the astral plane, one can indeed see, with the help of astral events, what will be there later, as it were, in a condensed form. And so, from astral events, one can see what will later appear condensed on the physical plane. Physical events are nothing other than condensed events that have previously taken place in the higher worlds.
An example: throughout ancient times there were mysteries. These had the task of taking in individual human beings and initiating them into the secrets of existence, or — as John the Apocalyptic says — of showing them what was to happen “soon,” that is, in the future. In such temple sites, those students who were to be admitted to the first degree were taught. There were also lessons for higher and higher developed students. The first stage was for those concerned to purify their astral body. This consisted in their not merely adopting the ordinary bourgeois ethics. Bourgeois ethics were taken for granted; what was considered here had to be followed in strict fulfillment of duty. When the student then rose more and more to higher ideals, ascended from the passions and drives of ordinary life to desires that stood above all the pettiness of human beings, and purified his desires and aversions so that the great, world-encompassing concerns of the human race became his own, when he felt compassion and empathy beyond himself, then he was on the way to accomplishing what was called the purification of the astral body. Then he was also allowed to intervene in the denser bodies. He was allowed to work on his etheric body; he was allowed not only to transform the soft, pliable, and malleable astral matter in his spirit and soul bodies, but he was also allowed to work into his etheric body. Then he was what is called a chela. Such a chela is someone who not only recognizes higher duties, who has not only purified himself to the point of making human duties his own, but has gone so far that he has grown beyond the lower and higher affairs of individual peoples, even of individual creeds. His gaze is directed toward the life of all humanity. And through the now thoroughly organized etheric body, he becomes a participant in the great affairs of the earth's construction. For this to happen, the following had to take place.
The chela had to paralyze all the forces that prevented him from working on his etheric body. When you have a human being before you, he has a physical body, an etheric body, and an astral body. The chela has purified his astral body and is allowed to work into his etheric body. You will understand why the human being must carry out this purification of his astral body. What happens when the astral body is purified? What penetrates the etheric body? That which is predisposed in the astral body. The things that live in the astral body press themselves into the etheric body. As long as you work on the astral body, you can keep reworking the errors: the astral matter is thin and soft; you can keep bringing it back into balance. But once a person has begun to develop the etheric body as a chela, these qualities press into the etheric body, and this is much more permanent. By making the earthly flaws permanent, the person would become a dangerous member of humanity. Hence the constant emphasis on the necessary purification. This etheric body is impressed by the forces acting upon it. If you imagine it separate from the physical body, it has a completely different elasticity. When it is inside, it holds the body in shape; but as long as it remains there, it is initially too weak to press in what has passed through the catharsis as astrality.
That is why the following had to be done throughout antiquity. First, the forces preventing the elasticity of the etheric body had to be removed. This was done by bringing the entire physical body into a lethargic state. The person lay there, and the etheric body was taken out of the physical body. The physical body then lay there as if dead, and the etheric body was shaped according to its own forces. This is the burial. The person concerned was placed in a lethargic state for three to three and a half days. And then he could work on the etheric body. And then, after he had shaped the etheric body in accordance with the astral body, he returned to the physical body. Then he had awakened the inner life within himself, then he was a resurrected person, and he was given a new name.
This was an action on the astral plane. Everything I have described took place on the astral plane; the physical body had nothing to do with it. This event was repeated in all the ancient mysteries. Every initiate knew about it. Now imagine it condensed, brought down to the physical plane, so that something has happened with this event that previously only took place on the astral plane. It is comparable to having a piece of ice where you used to have water. Many such astral events must coincide and flow together in order for physical condensation to become possible. Through the appearance of Christ, what had often taken place in the mystery centers on the astral plane now happened on the physical plane, and thus the mystery of Golgotha became historically possible; it could be brought down to the physical plane. From this example we learn to understand how the future is actually prepared in occult brotherhoods.
If we now ask ourselves: What is actually happening here? — the answer is: Certainly, in thought, in the idea, one can grasp a great deal. But the idea has no reality. The idea is nothing other than what is brought down from the higher planes to the physical plane. What people think about it, however, is the most ineffective thing in the process, because it exists only on the physical plane. It is different when something is brought to this idea that also comes from the higher spheres. Take, for example, the teaching of Pythagoras' music of the spheres, as he taught it to his disciples. Philosophers seek to present Pythagoras' occult music as a very simple system. The intellect can grasp this quickly. But it was important to him that the student only came to this when his mind and mood were prepared for it. It is also impossible to explain the deeper meaning of Raphael's Sistine Madonna to someone who has no sense of images that originate in the astral realm. The feeling, the mind must climb up to it. What otherwise leaves one cold in the idea appears here in the picture artistically alive as the divine world idea, as that according to which the divine forces created the world, and a simple line becomes something sacred! Through the thoughts winding themselves around the element of the divine, the thought is brought into contact with divine influence. Such training is therefore a matter of gradually preparing people to approach the great world idea and to receive it. Then, as they penetrate these great world ideas, they gradually connect with that effective but otherwise occult force which has already prepared the future for the physical plane in the astral world. If the leading brother has pupils who are attached to such spiritually inspired ideas, then these become a force that also helps him in his work for the outer world; the great spiritual centers of spiritual activity arise. You see, then, that what I have called occultism actually has a great deal to do with the progress of humanity. And in our time we have a particularly important task. Let us try to indicate in a few words how we came to this task.
We stand within the great root race of humanity that has populated this earth since the ground we now inhabit rose from the floods of the sea. Since the Atlantean race gradually began to disappear, the great Aryan root race has been the dominant one on Earth. When we look at ourselves, we here in Europe are the fifth sub-race of the great Aryan root race. The first subrace lived in ancient India in the distant past. And today's Indians are descendants of that first subrace, whose spiritual life still exists in the ancient Vedas of the Indians. The Vedas, however, are only echoes of the ancient Rishi culture. At that time, there was no writing; there was only tradition. Then came the second, third, and fourth subraces. The fourth sub-race adopted Christianity. Then we see that around the middle of the Middle Ages, the fifth sub-race formed, to which we and the neighboring peoples belong.
The ancient Indians of the first sub-race lived under different conditions than we do and were also fundamentally organized differently. Even today's descendants, the modern Indians, are organized very differently than our European peoples. Occultists who study these differences find that in the ancient Indian people, the etheric body is much less bound to the physical body, is not so deeply immersed in the physical body, but is much more easily influenced by the astral body. This is related to the fact that the Indian race can easily transfer something from the astral body to the etheric body, that this Indian race can easily work into the etheric body. This means nothing other than that through occult training, Indians can more easily attain certain higher views. The more easily the etheric body can be influenced by the astral body, the easier it is to influence the etheric body with images, without abstract concepts. This makes it easier for those undergoing yoga training in the astral realm to connect with higher realms through visualizations. These influence the etheric body, which is still soft. There is no need to work with strict concepts; instead, with the simplest images, one can work on the soul of an Indian person, and he will be able to reach very high stages of development.
The human race has changed through the various sub-races. Today, our etheric body is much more strongly influenced by the physical body than was the case with the ancient Indians. And so it is that we must work much more intensely and inwardly in order to influence the etheric body. We cannot resort to half-dreamlike ideas. We must subject everything to sharp concentration, work on our inner being through strong spiritual concentration on the pure supersensible, not merely through pictorial concepts. Such an idea, which brings about a strong concentration of our inner being, can then have a much more powerful effect on the etheric body bound to the physical body. In order for the astral body to be able to act on the etheric body, it had to be outside the etheric body in earlier times. Now, however, the etheric body can also be influenced from within the physical body by the astral body. If we were to perform the same experiment that was common in the ancient mystery centers and induce lethargy, we would be able to influence the etheric body. But when the earthly consciousness, the mobility of thinking, returned, it would immediately erase what the astral body had imprinted on the etheric body. We must strongly influence the etheric body if we want it to retain what we have imprinted on it. The occult task has become different today; it is now more an inner one.
And so you can also see how, in the course of time, great differences arise in the successive occult schools. The yoga system of the Indians is something different from the training of the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian training is calculated for what I have now explained to you. In addition, something else comes into play. In order for such progress to take place at all, it was necessary to influence the power of the intellect. Much more than in the past, the intellect was strained, which then, through the power of inner concentration, was able to develop its ability to be carried over to the comprehension of the supersensible. In recent times, therefore, much more had to be taught in concepts; emphasis had to be placed on the training of the intellect and on abstract powers of imagination.
Compare the changes in culture from ancient India to our time. In ancient India, there was a high level of intuition and little external influence from civilization; now, in our time, it is the opposite. This causes the position of occultism to gradually become quite different; it causes much of what was previously kept secret to become common knowledge today. Many, many such insights and concepts were previously preserved within occult brotherhoods, and people only gained access to these things when they had transformed their whole heart. Today, the occultist no longer has this in his hands. He must now recognize much of what was previously reserved for later stages of training as already revealed by the culture of the outer world. The initiate into the mysteries must reckon with this. And so many truths that were taught in the occult schools had to be gradually brought out onto the physical plane.
Even what is taught in elementary schools today would lead us away from the spiritual if occult background knowledge were not added from another source. In earlier times, the student knew that behind what he received as teaching material in school and in the world of scholarship there was something higher, and that he himself might one day attain this higher knowledge. He knew that he was a member of a spiritual organism. Today, in the democratic world, many concepts are accepted that do not lead to such insight. Therefore, the tip of the pyramid had to be added to the structure of external democratic knowledge, as it were. The elementary knowledge of the forces hidden in the world had now been given. What was still missing was the tip that would lead to a spiritual worldview. And in order to provide this, a worldwide movement had to be founded. The theosophical movement was conceived as such. Therefore, as the popularization of the previously hidden mysteries progressed further and further, certain brotherhoods decided to reveal to the world as much of the secrets behind it as was necessary to bring the knowledge of the outer world into harmony with the comprehensive occult knowledge of the brotherhoods.
Here we are at the point where we can see the connection between the theosophical movement and the Theosophical Society with occultism. The Theosophical Society is not an occult movement, not an occult brotherhood, for it is built on a democratic foundation, where each member is equal to the others. But it is something else entirely to understand the task of the Theosophical Society. The task of the Society is on the physical plane. If one wants to fully understand this, one must be able to look up into the higher worlds. But it is not a question of the theosophist already being able to look up into the higher worlds, but rather that occult forces are also developed within the movement so that the Theosophical Society can be a place from which occultism can radiate and come to expression. It is one thing for a society to be an occult brotherhood, and quite another to say: We are not an occult brotherhood, but in our society occultism is discussed.
Today, when basically all of humanity is looking longingly toward the higher worlds without finding the way there, it is necessary to popularize an even greater part of occult knowledge. And this is the task of occultism within the Theosophical Society. Spiritual movements have always had a fertilizing effect on the development of culture, even on the physical plane. Their outer expression is nothing other than the earthly realization of what has been prepared spiritually. What else is it when we consider, for example, the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci? In these works, they have conjured up something spiritual on the wall in colors and forms: the image is permeated by what first lived as something spiritual in the artist's soul. The spiritual precedes what later appears as its expression in the material world.
And materialistic external culture is only the imprint of the materialistic inner attitude of human beings. Since 1850, a purely materialistic urban culture has been spreading in civilized countries. We see the great things it has achieved on the physical plane, but we also see what it has not been able to achieve. In the arts, for example, it has not produced any truly new styles, with one exception: the style of the department store. This is something that is true inwardly in relation to our outer civilization. Everything else that has been adopted from ancient times has no connection to the present. Only when we have formed a society whose members are imbued with a spiritual power such as that which once lived in Christianity, and which still lives as a longing in the best Christian souls and can be regained, will we once again have a spiritual culture. And such a culture will once again produce artists in all areas of life. Let theosophy live in the souls of human beings, and it will flow out again as style, as art, from the souls; it will also be there for our eyes and ears. The world will once again be able to be an outer expression of the spiritual, if it is already being lived out today in such a society.
In this sense, the Theosophical Society could serve to shape the culture of the future. When we are together, we must be clear that we are like cells that must come together to shape a future culture. In our souls, the forces are being prepared that will transform the world in such a way that it will become a physical imprint of our present moods and outlook on life. Everything that is revealed and manifests itself today was once occult. Just as electricity is an obvious force today, it was once an occult force. And what is still occult today is destined to become a driving force for the future. Just as millions of years ago our human body was prepared from forces in our environment, so today a higher body is being prepared within us, a body of the future; but only in a distant time will this body of the future be ours.
Let us trace our path of development a little way back. What was there once? A dull human consciousness—surrounded by a world that looked different from ours—which was like a dreamlike mirror. People had a dreaming consciousness. And even as the development of their community progressed, they had no parliaments based on the exchange of opinions; they had nothing of the kind. Everything was merely reflected in the consciousness that arose in human beings. And how did today's physical organs come into being? Through the working of those forces on human beings. Just as the animals in the dark caves of Kentucky lost their sight because they did not need it, so the external forces also organized what we have as eyes and ears. These have been formed by the forces of sound and light and developed out of our organism. From what now lives within us, our spiritual organism will develop in the future. Those things that stand before us as expressions of our spiritual culture, the churches and so on, the works of culture that convey beauty and truth to us, will become imprinted in our higher members of being. And when these unfold into a life of their own, then what lives as beauty and truth in the outer culture will rise up within us. What our eyes and ears perceive now are building blocks for the organization of a higher future. If we look at the world from this point of view, the human inner life takes on a completely different meaning. We are thus faced with a fact that can help us understand in a simple way what is called yoga or inner training. From the words I have spoken, you will be able to gather that what once created the world, what has worked and exerted its power in the world, was previously taken up by our inner being. What is within me today was once outside of me: that is the basic idea of occult training. Before our physical body existed, our etheric body was already present. Our etheric body, in turn, is a structure that has been formed by our astral body. And this is the starting point of yoga training. Those who engage in yoga training descend into their etheric body and know that they find in the etheric body the power that once, millions of years ago, built them up. Slowly, the physical body has lifted itself out of the foundation of the etheric body.
I can only describe in broad strokes how the descent into the etheric body takes place. There are certain currents in the etheric body that are the precursors of the physical organs. The nerve strands of the sympathetic system, which run down the back, and the nerve nodes of the sympathetic nervous system are parts that were formed in etheric form in ancient times. This is a process that took place in ancient times. Then, as human beings progressed further and further, there came a time when, within this body, which now had the potential for a physical nervous system, a structure developed that enables us to develop internal body heat and produce warm blood. This is again a later formation from the etheric body, which was then already strongly influenced by the forces of the astral body. And from what we subsequently find as the basis of the brain, the spinal cord developed in turn out of the etheric body, as the other pole of the etheric body, which developed on one side into the brain and on the other side into the inner blood warmth. This happened in the past. Not only the forces of nature worked on this formation of the human being, but also higher spiritual beings.
When the yogi descends step by step into this etheric body, he penetrates into the times of the past, where his spiritual form of origin was influenced by these forces and beings and brought forth what lives in us today. When the human being has descended in this way into life, he can reach that point again during his descent. He descends from the head down into the lower regions that were built up in the most ancient times, and then back up into his head. This is a description of the occult path of knowledge, albeit a sparse one. More can be given in the occult schools. In this way, the student of mystery wisdom developed the ability to look back into earlier times; then comes the time when he can undertake the occult pilgrimage. He achieves this through a specific exercise by which he overcomes his personal self and thereby ceases to be the small, bound ego. Only then can he complete his ascent into the universe. Once again, he descends, taking the world force with him into the sea of the past. Ascending in an upward line, he can then gradually retrace the path he has taken. Slowly and gradually, the human being learns to descend into the sea of his formative forces, and finally he reaches a point near the origin. This must have been the experience of the first humans who gained sight and were able to look out into the universe. Then the student realizes the confluence of the I with the great world-I. And now he must learn to say to the little I: I am not you.
It is an important moment when he realizes what this means: I am not you. — This is a moment when one begins to understand that there are higher forces in nature than thinking, that there is something beyond oneself that cannot be expressed with the thoughts of the present, but which causes that when two people who can speak about the same thing, the speech of one is clear but dull, while that of the other is pulsating with the warm light that the future will create.
When the student has reached this point, he can learn in a different way than he has been able to learn up to now. He experiences something very special. A spiritual being appears to him in the supersensible world: he encounters the individuality that was once connected with him. It is a great and important mystery that certain stages of our existence repeat themselves. We consciously ascend from the manas to the higher forces. We once descended from spiritual worlds, and at that time the same being sank something into us, which we now encounter again at the stage corresponding to that point in the past where it was with us then. It is the teacher, the so-called guru. We met him for the first time then; now we meet him again when we can consciously grasp what he has sunk into our souls and we have received unconsciously. And if we descend further, we meet the spirits who helped build us eons ago. We meet the twelve spirits: the spirits of will, the spirits of wisdom, the spirits of form, the spirits of movement, the spirits of personality or egoism, the spirits of fire or warmth, the spirits of twilight or dusk, and so on. All this presents itself to our spiritual sense during this descent into the universe, on this pilgrimage. And this alone makes it possible for us to glimpse the future, to anticipate what is to happen “soon,” as the apocalypticist says.
This is the task of occultism. It must be solved because this solution is necessary. There are enough movements that are idealistic, that are ethical. But the movement called theosophy differs from others in that occultism consciously has a voice in this movement.
This clarifies the relationship between occultism and theosophy. The Theosophical Society can never want to be an occult brotherhood. What must give it the strength to fulfill its task, what must give it life, can only be things that flow from occultism. Therefore, the Theosophical Society will flourish if there is understanding for the cultivation of occult teachings and occult life. This is not a demand that the members themselves should be occultists. But if the Theosophical Society should forget that this blood pulsates within it, then it may be an interesting society, but it will not accomplish what was intended for it by the exalted powers that stood at its starting point.
Those who understand this will never want to take away the occult character of the Theosophical Society. However, those who stand in this way in the Theosophical Society will be placed in an ambivalent position. They will have to listen to the side from which the occult truths flow to us, and on the other side, they will have to pay attention to the outer exoteric life of the Society. These things must be strictly separated from each other; they must never be mixed together. But when speaking of the outer Theosophical Society, one must not speak of the occult personalities who stand at its starting point. The powers that live on the higher planes and outside the physical body for the sake of human evolution never interfere in these matters. They never give anything other than impulses. When we work objectively for the spread of the Theosophical Society, the great individualities we call Masters are always at our side; we may turn to them and let them speak through us. When it comes to spreading occult life, the Masters speak. When it is only a matter of organizing the Society, they leave that to those who live on the physical plane. That is the difference between the occult current and the framework of the Theosophical organization. Let me express the difference between what goes as an inner spiritual current and what is lived out through the individual personalities in the best way I can: When it comes to spiritual life, the Masters speak; when it comes to mere organization, error is possible, for then the Masters are silent.