The Rudolf Steiner Archive

28. What are the Reasons for the Existence of a Theosophical Movement Today?

[ 1 ] It is no coincidence that there is a theosophical movement. It is connected with the entire development of the 19th century, with the spread of materialism, which became decisive in the 1840s—roughly speaking, and also somewhat before and after that. Materialism had already been developing over the previous four centuries. To understand this, we must go back to the 5th and 6th centuries. People have a completely false idea of the spiritual conditions of those times. It is a great mistake to assume that people thought then as they do today. For example, in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, people had a completely different idea of the stars. Nowadays, people see only material things in them. In the Middle Ages, people saw a spirit in every star. Not only for the uneducated, but also for the educated, the star was the expression of a spirit. Thus, the entire sky was spiritualized. It makes a big difference whether one assumes that the universe consists only of physical bodies or also of spiritual beings. People at that time felt completely secure in a spiritual world. However, we do not need to long for this medieval view.

[ 2 ] Copernicus conquered the universe for a materialistic view. The exploration of the physical world rose to its peak. Schleiden and others discovered the cell. Railways and everything of that kind powerfully promoted materialism. Then the great leaders of humanity asked themselves: What to do? How can we teach people that spiritual life exists? — There was only a sense of the material. People said: If spirit exists, it must prove itself as spirit. — So an attempt was actually made through the advent of spiritualism. Since the initiated always try to teach in a way that is understandable to people, the aim was to bring about manifestations and revelations from the other world. We must first consider the fate of human beings after death. When a person sleeps, the physical body and the etheric body are united, and the astral body hovers above the physical body. When a person dies, not only does the astral body separate from the physical body, but the astral body and the etheric body go on together, leaving the physical body behind. The astral body and etheric body remain united for a short time, and a review of life lasting two to three days takes place. Then they also separate, the etheric body dissolves as life force into the general life force, and the astral body enters the state called Kamaloka. It is disembodied, but still has the habits and inclinations of the physical body. Here is an illustrative case: the gourmet still has his cravings. This is a mental characteristic, a desire. He no longer has a palate, but the palate's desire remains with him as a burning thirst. In Kamaloka, weaning takes place, because the desire eventually consumes itself, and then the astral body is also discarded, insofar as it is the carrier of desires.

[ 3 ] Now there is a possibility of galvanizing such discarded astral corpses, of summoning them into the sensory world. For this purpose, a medium makes his etheric body available. With its help, so-called materializations take place. This was the method used to show materialistic humanity what remains after death, and the initiates had hoped to convince people by this means.

[ 4 ] However, two problems arose. First, those who were convinced by spiritualism did not become morally better with this view, and thus remained without moral elevation. Second, this kind of view or conviction even proved to be unfavorable after death. For those who held it, the condition in Kamaloka did not become easier, but more difficult. In addition to everything else, they brought with them the desire to see everything spiritual satisfied materially through the senses, because every such view appears as a Kamaloka characteristic. It was an oppressive heaviness that weighed heavily on the dead. That was the reason why the initiates said to themselves: This cannot go on. “So the initiates were mistaken,” one might object here. But even initiates must gather and test their experiences. After this external means had not proven successful, the large community of occultists decided almost unanimously to take another path, an inner one, the theosophical path. What does this path want? It wants to get to know that which lives in human beings themselves as spirit. This spirit is the goal. Now, one can only get to know the spirit if one surrenders oneself impartially. One must understand what humanity has in common.

[ 5 ] Egoism had developed as a parallel phenomenon to materialism. Here is just one example: on general travel ventures, there is a special condition for participation: all religious questions are excluded as topics of conversation. People fear the egoism of opinions, because where seven people are together, there can be seven opinions. So opinions are placed above general human love. But brotherhood only begins where human love stands above opinions.

[ 6 ] This is what theosophy is for, to seek the one truth in the balance of opinions. People must become tolerant again, not only in their personality, but also in their individuality. Tolerant does not only mean being tolerant, allowing others to do as they please, but also means opening oneself up to understanding their uniqueness. Theosophy should therefore not be a dogma, but an expression of love. We must help our fellow human beings, placing love above opinions, and this brings a unified spirit to human development. This is the practical aspect that should be developed in the theosophical movement.

Questions and Answers

Which training method should one choose instead of yoga training?

[ 7 ] One must not confuse occultism with theosophy. Theosophy seeks to spread the teaching of deep wisdom. It is not there to lead people to clairvoyance. Nevertheless, it also leads to such training.

[ 8 ] There are occult training courses. Some believe that they must seek such courses in India. That is a great mistake. Such training courses also take place in Europe. Those who seek their teacher or guru will find him in the world. Theosophists are wrong to seek only in India. The eminent Indian Chakravarti said the following significant words at the congress in Chicago: " My people, too, have fallen away from the spiritual understanding of the world, and Theosophy has helped us to rise again.“

[ 9 ] Incidentally, Madame Blavatsky did not, as so many assume, bring us only Indian views. At first, her guide was a European, then an Egyptian, and at that time she wrote ”Isis Unveiled."

[ 10 ] One must not believe that the same training is necessary for everyone. The Indian organism is such that the etheric body can be extracted much more easily. It is on a different level. It is on the first level of the fifth root race, i.e., its first root race, while Europeans are on the fifth level of the fifth root race. It is relatively easy to make an Indian clairvoyant, to extract the etheric body and bring him into a state called lethargy, that is, numbness and insensitivity. The body is then as if dead. A clairvoyant would see, for example, if a finger were to be cut off with a constricting thread, the etheric finger hanging down next to the tied-off one. In the hypnotized person, the clairvoyant sees the etheric brain hanging down on both sides of the head. So when the body is as if dead, the astral body must be used, and now it presses what is impressed upon it into the etheric body. Because it is extremely difficult for Europeans to receive such astral impressions, or to allow themselves to receive them, a way was sought in which it was not necessary to pull out the etheric body. The Rosicrucians had found this way since the 14th century, and their method is the most suitable for Europeans. Our body has become denser than that of the Indians; it developed downward, in accordance with the necessary course of development. However, this state arises consciously in us, while in the Indians, daytime consciousness is suppressed.

[ 11 ] Hypnotism is generally not good. It is an intervention that firstly weakens the will of the hypnotized person. And secondly, it is black magic; you overwhelm the other person. It must not be used on healthy people under any circumstances. In the case of sick people, it may be different.

What is meant by the expression: developing downward?

[ 12 ] Take the materialistic view. It says: here is the monkey, here is the human being – so the human being is descended from the monkey. That is not the case, however. Monkeys and humans have common ancestors, as science now recognizes. In fact, one must develop at the expense of the other. At one point in the ancient development of the moon, there was a realm whose beings stood between animals and plants. A relic of this is mistletoe. The plant developed downward, the animal upward. This also applies to humans: humans developed certain limbs upward, others downward. It is a fact, for example, that humans once had cartilage instead of bones. Roughly speaking, they are in the process of hardening. Meanwhile, any loosening or detachment of the higher members of the being, as brought about by occult training, is a preview of later general states of development.

Why was man incarnated in the physical body?

[ 13 ] Humans already had all the predispositions they need to develop on Earth, but they were not yet their own property. Once humans can no longer gain anything in this world, they no longer need to incarnate. Then they surrender their bodies to the planet.

What about Noah's flood?

[ 14 ] This flood was the great world event that occurred when most of the mainland of Atlantis sank. Its actual demise spanned long periods of time. Like everything of significance in the Bible and the oldest writings—there are still untold treasures to be unearthed—the rainbow that appeared in Noah's time is also something very meaningful. It is said to symbolize the covenant between God and humankind. But occultly, it has another meaning. On Atlantis, there was a completely different distribution of moisture and air. Germanic mythology speaks of Niflheim, Nebelheim. At that time, the entire atmosphere was filled with water. Only after the demise of the Atlantean mainland could humans of the post-Atlantean era live. The rainbow could only come into being when rain and sunshine were possible on Earth at the same time.

Descriptions of Atlantis mention steerable airships. What is the truth behind this?

[ 15 ] Among the Atlanteans, the second element of the human being, the etheric body with its life force, was initially highly developed. In contrast, the intellect was only very weakly developed. Memory had to replace it. For example, the Atlanteans did not calculate; they did not know the value of numbers, but they knew how to judge quantities from memory. They knew that if they added three more to three, what quantity that would make; earlier cases stored in their memory helped them to form this idea. But because they had fully developed the second element of their being, the life force, they knew how to harness the life force in all of nature for their own benefit. They knew the germinating power of the grain and understood how to extract and use it. And what power lies in a seed! What all arises from it! The yogis also know how to draw out the germinating power from the seed in a certain way. For the stories of planting a seed from the mango tree in the earth and the immediate growth of first a shoot, then a tree, leaves, blossoms, and finally fruit are not invented tales, but facts. So the fact that the Atlanteans knew how to use life forces to build a steerable airship, as they did other things, need not belong to the realm of myth.

Is it possible to forego the post-death passage through Devachan?

[ 16 ] At a certain stage of development, the etheric body is so firmly established that it does not dissolve after death. This is the case when the astral body has imbued the etheric body with a great deal of spirituality. Because the etheric body can continue to exist, the student does not first need to pass into Devachan, the place where the new etheric body is formed.

Does diet really have such a significant impact on the development of occult powers?

[ 17 ] Absolutely. Development is completely impossible if alcohol is consumed. And that is again the peculiar but deeply rooted reason why the question of abstinence and temperance is now emerging so vividly.

But wine is just grape juice, i.e., fruit juice, isn't it?

[ 18 ] As long as the juice extracted from grapes is only fruit juice, it is good, but once fermented it is detrimental to development. Look back at history. The consumption of wine began in 600 BC and was perhaps already in full swing at that time, as the Dionysus festivals, through which the god of wine was worshipped, originated then. But as everything has its time, including every fruit, so too will the grape disappear from the earth again. Just think of the appearance of phylloxera. Everything that comes from living animals can be enjoyed – milk, eggs – and from plants, everything that strives toward the light, toward the sun. That is why tree fruits are very good. Tubers that grow in the earth, such as potatoes and beets, are not as beneficial. In the past, people ate other people, then they enjoyed animals. They will switch to a purely plant-based diet and eventually end up with minerals. Anything that precipitates should be avoided, for example, salt. This all relates to the development of occult powers, but not to the scientific acquisition of spiritual truths.