Rosicrucian Esotericism
GA 109
12 June 1909, Budapest
10. On Karma, Reincarnation and Initiation
We have heard that the Atlanteans were still consciously at home in the spiritual world where they experienced day consciousness. So-called night consciousness was experienced in the physical world. We have subsequently followed the descent of humanity during the post-Atlantean era through the different cultural-epochs up to the Greco-Latin when Christ Jesus appeared on the earth.
We will now once again study our own time, the fifth cultural epoch. Because men's intelligence today is being directed solely to the physical plane, humanity has descended far more deeply into the physical world than was the case during the other main epochs of culture. Materialism has led to a tremendous upsurge of intellectual power and activity, with merely the satisfaction of physical needs in view. The typical hallmark of our epoch has crystallized, for example, in the department store. The culture of the present age works only for the needs of the physical plane, but it works with a subtlety hitherto unachieved. It is therefore clear to occultism why the contrast between religion and science, expressed as it is in the many different movements is so great and the cleft between them so wide. The conflict between religion and science, under which art also suffers, is always in evidence when the level of culture declines. This can be detected in the science of today, which has become irrevocably entangled in a materialistic and abstract mode of thinking. Philosophy is not something absolute but a mode of thinking that has come into existence in the course of evolution; it has certain antecedents and must be amenable to change. Before philosophical thinking, (which originated in the sixth century B.C. among the Greeks,) came into existence, the kind of knowledge then current was an extract of the wisdom contained in the Mysteries. The source of this wisdom was inner experience in the soul, experience in which the secrets of world happenings were revealed. When the human soul lost the ancient faculty of intuitive vision the intellectual analysis of sensory and soul perceptions began. But in the early days, through inner vision that was still possible for the philosophers, or through tradition, they still knew of the existence of the old Mystery wisdom and applied to it the intellectual faculty that was then developing. Seership was still the source of the wisdom of Pythagoras and Plato; Aristotle, the founder of logic, was the first to apply the technique of pure thought. Aristotelianism dominated thought throughout the Middle Ages, experiencing its heyday in Scholasticism. But an abyss gradually opened between knowledge and faith. Between reason and its mental technique on the one side and super-sensible truth on the other, a cleft arose, finding its ultimate expression in Kant. There is to be found in Kant and his philosophy one of the blind alleys into which materialistic thinking had led, and Kant, unfortunately, was the one who fertilized the whole of modern philosophy.
But it is not with the object of criticizing modern science that the spiritual investigator draws attention to such facts. He reveals them in order to shed light on the path that can lead away from the fossilizing of thoughts. There is only one solution, which is that science, art and religion, the three branches of culture, must again be united and mutually enrich each other; spiritual life must stream from them. To achieve this union is the task of Western spiritual science. It must establish harmony between faith and knowledge, the two aspects that the soul can no longer unite within itself. Even in our material. world nothing whatever takes place in which the spiritual is not an active factor. The spiritual is always the creator of the physical. The much vaunted philosophical pragmatism of James can only be designated as pseudo-spirituality, having a materialistic conception of the spiritual. For all that, however, it has also done a certain amount of good.
Our epoch places stress on the tremendous importance of heredity. In reference to this it must be said, from the point of view of the science of the spirit, which regards the physical as a product of the spiritual, that in the pathological manifestations attributed to heredity the spiritual is being obstructed by the physical and cannot take effect. But the spirit has, after all, only descended into physical matter and will ascend again when its experiences in the physical have been gathered. Everything in the world is in process of evolution, so too physical man and his organs. We know that man's physical body contains organs that today no longer function. They are organs of the past, the remnants of which we still bear within us. We also have within us the foundations for organs of the future, organs that today are in process of transition or transformation. First and foremost of these organs is the human heart, which contains striated muscle. The heart is a veritable nightmare for materialistic anatomy because it is an involuntary organ that consists of smooth as well as striated muscle, which is to be found in all voluntary organs in man. In point of fact, unsuspected by science, it is an organ of the future and is on the way to becoming a voluntary organ in the human being. In the initiate today it has already developed. The larynx, too, is an organ of the future, connected with the deep mystery of procreation. There is an indication of this at the present time in the break of the voice at puberty. In the far distant future, man will “utter” his offspring into existence, for the larynx will become a creative organ. The future of humanity lies in giving shape to the soul and spiritual in material forms. Man is on the way to spiritualization, in order to work ever more consciously at the transformation of his bodies. It behoves us to engender strength for this future task by adopting a spiritual conception of the world. Moreover, the feeling of becoming collaborators in this glorious evolution should fill us with happiness and vigor.
Let me now say a few words about the the great cosmic laws of karma and reincarnation. On Old Moon these laws were not yet in existence. The beginning of a process of reincarnation such as exists at present can first be spoken of when the ego is being incorporated into the earth, that is to say, from the middle of the Lemurian epoch until the middle of the Atlantean. For the animal, whose ego is the group soul, there is even today no reincarnation. The connection between an animal species and the ego belonging to it is to be found in the astral world. For the group soul of lions, for example, the death of a lion here on the physical plane means as much as it means to you to cut a fingernail. A lion is at first an astral structure, reaching down like a strand from the group soul; it descends to the physical plane, densifies, and at the death of the individual lion this astrality passes back again to the astral plane. The group soul draws it in again like a limb. On Old Moon the human soul underwent the same process. The human soul was then a member of its group soul and returned to it. The soul, as the Bible puts it, is sheltered in the bosom of Father Abraham.
Reincarnation and karma first began to have meaning during the Lemurian epoch and in time will cease to have significance. Man will then enter permanently into a spiritual world in which he will continue to be active. When, for example, man has developed the impulse of brotherliness in himself, the growth of races will cease, will be overcome. In the sixth cultural epoch, human beings will already understand better how to arrange their lives; concepts of race will no longer have validity. Men will no longer order their lives according to external, physical considerations but rather on a spiritual basis. In the seventh cultural epoch, which will reflect that of ancient India, there will once again be distribution into castes, but a voluntary distribution. Changes in the process of evolution constantly take place, yet continual progress is certain. In the Atlantean epoch, the middle epoch of our earth's evolution, the significant point occurred that is designated by the now complete penetration of the ego into man's physical body. The process began in the middle of the Lemurian epoch after the exit of the moon from the earth. Humanity has continued to evolve and when the concept of brotherliness finds practical fulfilment on the earth, races will be superseded. Karma will also then be overcome.
What is the law of karma? The principle of making good in a subsequent incarnation what was reprehensible in a preceding one. Differentiation must be made between karma that takes effect inwardly and one that has more external results. Karma taking effect inwardly is connected with the forming of character, talents and habits. Karma that manifests in more external ways takes the form of the conditions of life in which a man is placed, such as family, nationality and so forth. We will now consider more closely how karma works in physical life. For example, what appears in one life as urge or impulse, desire and ideation, emerges in the next life, or one of the following lives, as habit. From good habits a fine, well-knit, healthy physical body will come into existence in the next incarnation. A bad habit snakes its appearance in another life in the form of an illness or as a tendency to illness. Thus, the causes of illnesses are to be sought in the inclinations and habits of a previous life. The actual destiny of an individual is, on the contrary, the result of his former deeds. A person who radiates much love in one life will, in another, be able to stay young, inwardly as well as outwardly, for a long time. A person who harbors many feelings of hatred in one life will age prematurely in another. Individuals who abandon themselves to an ordinary, indolent life, which avoids all forms of spirituality, deprive themselves of something for their subsequent life that will be difficult for them to retrieve.
Now let me add a few words on the subject of initiation. At all times the leaders of humanity have drawn upon its fountainhead. The great individualities who presided over the Mysteries and whom we call the Masters have guided and led humanity. To understand this better we will consider the principle of initiation. Truth to tell, it is only possible since the time of the Atlantean catastrophe to speak of an initiation available to human beings because the process of initiation has also been subject to development and change in accordance with the needs of human beings. This is true not only in its outer forms.
Why is man in sleep unaware of sensory impressions although he is surrounded by a material world? It is because during the night his intellect is not working. The physical and etheric bodies of a man asleep remain in bed; his astral body and ego emerge and are in the spiritual world. But why is it that he perceives nothing of the spiritual world that is all around him and into which his astral body and ego enter during the night? It is because the astral body of the average human being who leaves the physical body during sleep at night has no astral sense organs. Hence, it is impossible for him to perceive any-thing in the astral world. Through initiation or spiritual training, the chaotic astral mass, which the astral body of the average individual reveals itself to be, is organized in such a way that it gradually begins to develop organs and can then have perceptions during the night. In normal life man is not yet able to form organs in his astral body. To be capable of this the power in his inner life must be essentially strengthened. This is achieved through definite exercises of meditation, concentration, and other indications. In his feelings and life of thought the pupil must give himself up to certain mental pictures, choosing subjects that tally only slightly or not at all with reality. Mental pictures that represent objects in the outer world are not suitable for developing organs in the astral body. But visualize a figure, for example, such as that of the Rose Cross, the black cross with the seven red roses, and if you practice the exercise with the necessary vigor and patience, you will experience something through it according to your degree of development. You will transform your astral body thereby, generating organs in it. These mental pictures should riot be abstractions; the right feelings and perceptive experiences must be involved. Only then will the desired results be achieved.
There are three different kinds of initiation, all of which lead to the same goal. There are three paths, the choice of one of which depends upon a man's individuality. One initiation is that of wisdom; it is the fitting goal for Indian and Oriental training. This path is fraught with great dangers for European and Western bodies and is therefore not the right one. The, second initiation is based upon the life of feeling; it is the fundamentally Christian path. Only few individuals can still take this path because it demands a strong power of devotion and piety. The third path of initiation is the Rosicrucian training, the path of the initiation of thinking and of will. It leads to union with the forces of the other paths of initiation. The final goal is definite in the case of every initiation, but in the course of evolution it must be adjusted in accordance with the current needs of souls and the possibilities offered by the human body.
The pupil of the old initiation was compelled to be entombed in a grave for three and a half days and was as if dead. His etheric and astral bodies were outside his physical body and in the spiritual world. The hierophant watched over the process and called the neophyte back to life. After his awakening he was a witness of the spiritual world. Such was the form of the old initiation; today that process is no longer necessary. The Christian and the Rosicrucian initiations have such powerful effects that the human being involved can achieve what, through the old initiation, was meant to be brought about by the emergence of the higher members from the physical body. The impressions from the spiritual world are now imprinted into the astral and etheric bodies without lethargy being induced for three and a half days. The modern initiation, if we like to call it so, once the purification or catharsis of the astral body has been achieved, brings about effects that lead to genuine spiritual sight and knowledge of the spiritual world based on actual experience; the impressions received by the soul in the spiritual world are then imprinted in the astral and etheric bodies. That is what is called illumination in the course of occult development.
Einiges über Karma, Reinkarnation und über die Einweihung
Wir haben gesehen, wie die Atlantier mit ihrem Bewußtsein noch heimisch waren in der geistigen Welt, wie es eigentlich dort Tag für sie war und sogenannte Nacht hier in der physischen Welt. Dann haben wir das Heruntersteigen der Menschheit in die nachatlantische Zeit verfolgt durch die verschiedenen Kulturepochen hindurch bis zur griechisch-lateinischen Zeit, bis zur Erscheinung des Christus Jesus auf Erden.
Nun wollen wir noch einmal unsere Zeit betrachten, die fünfte Kulturepoche. Vermöge ihrer nur auf den physischen Plan gerichteten Intelligenz hat sich die heutige Menschheit weit tiefer unter das Niveau des Herabstiegs hinunterbegeben, als das in den andern großen Kulturen der Fall war. Der Materialismus trieb zu einem ungeheuren Aufwand von Verstandeskraft und Gedankenarbeit, der nur für das physische Behagen schafft. Das Typische unserer Zeit hat sich zum Beispiel herauskristallisiert in dem Warenhaus. Nur für den physischen Plan arbeitet die Kultur der Gegenwart, aber mit einem bisher unerreichten Raffinement. Dem Okkultisten ist es daher klar, warum gerade in unserer Zeit der Gegensatz zwischen Religion und Wissenschaft, der sich in den verschiedensten Bewegungen zum Ausdruck bringt, ein so großer, und die Kluft zwischen ihnen eine so weite ist. Ein Zwiespalt zwischen Religion und Wissenschaft - unter dem dann auch die Kunst leidet - stellt sich immer dann heraus, wenn das Niveau der Kultur heruntersinkt. Wir können das bei der gegenwärtigen Wissenschaft, die sich ganz verstrickt hat im materiellen und abstrakten Denken, bemerken. Philosophie ist nicht etwas Unbedingtes, sondern etwas, das im Laufe der Menschheitsentwickelung aus gewissen Voraussetzungen heraus hat entstehen und sich wandeln müssen. Bevor es eine philosophische Betrachtungsweise gab - und sie begann erst im 6. vorchristlichen Jahrhundert bei den Griechen -, gab es eine Erkenntnisart, die aus der Mysterienweisheit geschöpft war. Diese Weisheit hatte zum Quell ein innerliches Erleben der Seele, in dem die Geheimnisse des Weltgeschehens zur Offenbarung kamen. Als sich die alte Fähigkeit des intuitiven Schauens in der Menschenseele verlor, trat die vom Verstande orientierte Beobachtung der sinnlichen und seelischen Wahrnehmungen auf. Doch war es in den ersten Zeiten noch so, daß die Philosophen, durch ein ihnen noch mögliches inneres Schauen oder durch Überlieferung der alten Mysterienerkenntnis, von dieser noch wußten und sie mit der nun auftretenden Verstandesfähigkeit durchsetzten. Pythagoras und Plato haben ihre Quellen noch im Sehertum. Erst Aristoteles arbeitet aus der reinen Denktechnik heraus und begründet die Logik. Der Aristotelismus blieb tonangebend durch das Mittelalter hindurch und erlebte eine Blüte in der Frühscholastik. Allmählich aber tat sich ein Abgrund auf zwischen Wissen und Glauben. Zwischen der Vernunft und ihrer Denktechnik einerseits und der übersinnlichen Wahrheit andererseits entstand eine Kluft, die ihren letzten Ausdruck gefunden hat in Kant. In Kant und seiner Philosophie haben wir eine der Sackgassen, in die das materielle Denken geführt hat. Und Kant war ja leider derjenige, der die ganze moderne Philosophie befruchtet hat. Doch nicht um Kritik zu üben an der modernen Wissenschaft, weist der Geistesforscher auf solche Tatsachen hin. Er zeigt sie, um Licht auf jenen Weg zu werfen, der aus der Verknöcherung der Gedanken wieder herausführen kann. Es gibt dazu nur einen Weg: Wissenschaft, Kunst und Religion, die drei Äste der Kultur, sie müssen wieder vereinigt werden und sich gegenseitig durchdringen, sie müssen spirituelles Leben ausströmen. Und dieses zu erreichen, ist die Aufgabe der abendländischen Theosophie. Frieden hat sie zu stiften unter den zwei Aspekten der Seele selber, die Glauben und Wissen nicht mehr in sich vereinigen kann. Selbst in unserer materiellen Welt geschieht nichts, an dem das Geistige nicht arbeitet. Das Geistige ist immer der Schöpfer des Physischen. Wir haben in der so viel Aufsehen erregenden philosophischen Schule des Pragmatismus von James etwas, das man nur als Pseudospiritualismus kennzeichnen kann, der das Geistige materialistisch auffaßt. Immerhin hat er gleichzeitig einiges Gute hervorgebracht.
Eine ungeheure und ausschlaggebende Bedeutung mißt unsere Zeit der erblichen Belastung bei. Auch in bezug auf die erbliche Belastung ist vom Gesichtspunkt der Geisteswissenschaft aus, welche das Physische als eine Folge des Geistigen ansieht, zu sagen, daß bei den darauf zurückgeführten krankhaften Erscheinungen Geistiges durch das Physische gehemmt wird, nicht zur Auswirkung kommen kann. Der Geist ist aber nur heruntergestiegen in die physische Materie, er wird ebenso wieder hinaufsteigen, wenn er seine Erfahrungen im Physischen gesammelt hat. Alles in der Welt ist in Entwickelung, so auch der physische Mensch und seine Organe. Wir wissen, daß der physische Menschenleib Organe enthält, die heute keine Funktionen mehr haben; es sind Organe der Vergangenheit, deren Rudimente wir in uns tragen. Ebenso haben wir die Anlagen zu Organen der Zukunft, die heute im Übergang oder in einer Umbildung begriffen sind. Wir erwähnen vor allem das menschliche Herz. Es ist ein Organ, das quergestreifte Muskeln hat. Das Herz ist eine Crux für die Anatomie der materialistischen Wissenschaft, denn es ist ein unwillkürliches Organ und hat, statt längsgestreiften, doch quergestreifte Muskelfasern, wie alle willkürlichen Organe des Menschen. Es ist eben, was die Wissenschaft nicht ahnt, ein Organ der Zukunft und auf dem Wege, ein willkürliches Organ des Menschen zu werden. Bei dem Eingeweihten ist es heute schon ausgebildet. Ebenso der Kehlkopf: auch er ist ein Organ der Zukunft. Das tiefe Geheimnis der Zeugung hängt mit ihm zusammen. Das zeigt sich in der Gegenwart in der Zeit der Geschlechtsreife am Stimmbruch. In der Zukunft wird der Mensch seinesgleichen aussprechen, der Kehlkopf wird ein schöpferisches Organ werden. Das Innere, das Seelisch-Geistige in materiellen Formen zu gestalten, das ist die Zukunft der Menschheit. Die Menschheit ist auf dem Wege, sich zu spiritualisieren, um immer bewußter und bewußter an der Umarbeitung ihrer Leiber zu arbeiten. Kraft für diese Aufgabe in der Zukunft sollen wir schöpfen aus einer spirituellen Weltanschauung. Mit Freude und mit Kraft soll uns auch das Gefühl durchdringen, ein Mitarbeiter zu werden an dieser grandiosen Evolution.
Lassen Sie mich noch einige Worte hier sagen über die zwei großen Weltengesetze von Karma und Reinkarnation. Auf dem alten Monde gab es diese beiden Gesetze noch nicht. Erst mit der Einverleibung des Ich auf der Erde, beginnend in der Mitte der lemurischen Zeit bis etwa zur Mitte der atlantischen Zeit, kann gesprochen werden von dem Anfangen einer solchen Reinkarnation, wie wir sie jetzt haben. Für das Tier, dessen Ich die Gruppenseele ist, gibt es auch heute keine Reinkarnation. Die Verbindung zwischen einer Tierart und dem dazugehörenden Ich finden wir in der Astralwelt. Für die Gruppenseele der Löwen zum Beispiel bedeutet der Tod eines Löwen hier unten auf dem physischen Plan so viel wie für Sie, wenn Sie sich einen Nagel abschneiden. Es ist ein solches Tier, ein Löwe, zuerst ein astrales Gebilde, das wie ein Strang von der Gruppenseele aus herunterreicht; so steigt es herunter auf den physischen Plan, verdichtet sich, und dieses Astralische geht nach dem Tode des einzelnen Löwen wieder zurück auf den astralischen Plan. Die Gruppenseele zieht es wie ein Glied wieder ein. Auf dem alten Monde war es derselbe Vorgang, der noch mit der menschlichen Seele sich abspielte. Sie war ein Glied ihrer Gruppenseele und kehrte in deren Schoß zurück. Sie war, wie die Bibel es ausdrückt, geborgen im Schoße des Vaters Abraham. Erst während der lemurischen Zeit beginnen die Worte Reinkarnation und Karma einen Sinn zu haben, und werden einmal wieder aufhören, einen Sinn zu haben. Dann geht der Mensch dauernd in eine geistige Welt ein, in der er weiterarbeiten wird. Wenn der Mensch zum Beispiel den Impuls der Brüderlichkeit in sich entwickelt haben wird, dann wird die Rassenentwickelung aufhören, sie wird überwunden sein. In der sechsten Kultur werden die Menschen sich schon besser zu gliedern verstehen; die Rassenbegriffe werden da nicht mehr gelten. Von innen heraus, vom Geistigen aus werden sich die Menschen da ordnen, und nicht mehr von außen her durch die physischen Zusammenhänge. Und in der siebenten Kultur, welche die indische widerspiegeln wird, da wird es von neuem eine Kasteneinteilung geben, aber eine freiwillige. Alles in der Evolution ändert sich fortwährend; doch ist ein beständiger Fortschritt zu verzeichnen. Die atlantische Zeit, diese Mitte unserer Erdenentwickelung, zeigt uns den wichtigen Punkt, der durch den nunmehr vollendeten Einzug des Ich in den physischen Menschenleib bezeichnet ist. Er beginnt in der Mitte der lemurischen Zeit, nach dem Austritt des Mondes aus der Erde. Weiter und immer weiter entwickelt sich dann die Menschheit, und wenn der Begriff der Brüderlichkeit praktisch auf der Erde verwirklicht sein wird, dann werden die Rassen überwunden sein. Auch das Karma wird dann überwunden sein,
Was ist das Gesetz vom Karma? Die Tendenz, wieder gutzumachen in einer der nächsten Inkarnationen, was ungut war in einer der vorhergegangenen. Es muß dabei unterschieden werden zwischen einem innerlich wirkenden Karma und einem mehr äußerlich wirkenden Karma. Zum innerlich wirkenden gehört die Bildung von Charakter, von Eigenschaften und Gewohnheiten. Das mehr äußerlich Herantretende sind die Lebensbedingungen, in die man hineingestellt ist, Familie, Volk und so weiter. Wie Karma im physischen Leben wirkt, wollen wir genauer betrachten. Was zum Beispiel in einem Leben als Trieb, Begierde und Vorstellung auftritt, das tritt im nächsten Leben, ‚oder in einem der nächsten Leben, als Gewohnheit auf. Und aus guten Gewohnheiten wird ein schöner und gutgefügter, gesunder physischer Leib im nächsten Leben entstehen; eine schlechte Gewohnheit kommt als eine Krankheit oder als eine Anlage zur Krankheit in einem andern Leben zum Vorschein. So sind die Ursachen von Krankheiten in den Neigungen und Gewohnheiten früherer Leben zu suchen. Das Schicksal des Menschen ist dagegen das Resultat seiner früheren Taten. Wer viel Liebe in einem Leben gibt, der wird die Eigenschaft in einem andern haben, sich lange jung, auch äußerlich, zu erhalten. Wer viele Haßgefühle in einem Leben hegt, der wird in einem andern früh altern. Menschen, die sich dem trägen normalen Leben überlassen, das der Spiritualität entgegenarbeitet, die versäumen etwas für ihre späteren Leben, was nachzuholen ihnen schwerfallen wird.
Nun lassen Sie mich noch einige Worte über die Einweihung oder Initiation beifügen. Aus ihren Quellen schöpfte allezeit die Führerschaft der Menschheit. Die großen Individualitäten, die den Mysterien vorstanden, die wir die Meister nennen, sie waren es, welche die Menschheit lenkten und leiteten. Um dieses besser zu verstehen, wollen wir uns mit dem Prinzip der Einweihung beschäftigen. Von einer den Menschen zuteil werdenden Einweihung kann man eigentlich erst sprechen seit der Zeit der atlantischen Katastrophe. Denn auch die Initiation hat eine Entwickelung durchgemacht, hat sich, nicht nur in ihren äußeren Formen, je nach den Bedürfnissen der Menschen geändert.
Warum nimmt der Mensch im Schlafe keine sinnlichen Eindrücke wahr, obwohl er doch von einer Sinnenwelt umgeben ist? Weil sein Verstand in der Nacht nicht arbeitet. Im Bette bleiben beim schlafenden Menschen der physische und der Ätherleib, Astralleib und Ich lösen sich heraus und sind in der geistigen Welt. Warum aber nimmt er auch von der ihn umgebenden geistigen Welt, in die der Astralleib und das Ich während der Nacht eingehen, nichts wahr? Weil der Astralleib des gewöhnlichen Menschen, der den physischen Leib in der Nacht verläßt, keine astralen Sinnesorgane hat, also astral nicht wahrnehmen kann. Durch die Einweihung oder Schulung wird der chaotische astrale Klumpen, als welcher sich der Astralleib des Durchschnittsmenschen zeigt, so organisiert, daß er allmählich Organe erhält und dann in der Nacht wahrnehmen kann. Im normalen Leben ist der Mensch noch nicht stark genug dazu, um Organe in seinem Astralkörper zu bilden. Um das zu können, muß die Kraft des Menschen im Innern wesentlich verstärkt werden. Es wird dies durch ganz bestimmte Übungen der Meditation und Konzentration und andere ‚Anweisungen erreicht. Der Schüler hat sich ganz bestimmten Vorstellungen in seinem Gefühls- und Gedankenleben hinzugeben, und dabei solche Dinge zu wählen, die wenig oder gar nicht der Wirklichkeit entsprechen. Vorstellungen nämlich, die äußere Dinge darstellen, sind nicht geeignet zur Bildung der Organisation des astralischen Leibes. Stellen Sie sich aber ein Gebilde vor, wie zum Beispiel das Rosenkreuz, das schwarze Kreuz mit den sieben roten Rosen, so werden Sie, wenn Sie die Übung nur mit der nötigen Energie und Geduld ausüben, nach längerer oder kürzerer Zeit, je nach Ihrem Entwickelungsgrade, etwas dadurch erleben. Sie werden Ihren Astralleib damit umändern, ihm Organe eingliedern. Nicht bloß abstrakte Vorstellungen dürfen das sein, sondern das richtige Gefühls- und Empfindungsleben muß sich dazugesellen. Erst dann werden Sie die richtigen Resultate erzielen.
Drei Arten der Initiation haben wir zu unterscheiden, die alle drei zum selben Ziele führen. Drei Wege sind es, die je nach der Individualität des Menschen zu wählen sind. Die eine Initiation ist die der Weisheit: ihr entspricht die indische oder orientalische Schulung. Die zweite, die des Fühlens, ist die christliche. Wenige Menschen nur können heutzutage diesen Weg noch gehen, weil eine sehr starke Kraft der Hingabe und der Frömmigkeit dazu notwendig ist. Der erste Weg, der indische, ist aber für die europäischen abendländischen Körper mit großen Gefahren verbunden und daher nicht der richtige. Der dritte Weg der Initiation ist, die Rosenkreuzerschulung, der Weg der Initiation des Denkens und des Willens. Er führt zu einer Verbindung mit den Kräften der andern Initiationswege. Der Abschluß ist ein bestimmter bei jeder Einweihung, sie selbst aber muß sich im Laufe der Entwickelung anpassen den jeweiligen Bedürfnissen der Seelen und den Möglichkeiten, die durch den menschlichen Körper gegeben sind.
Drei Tage und einen halben mußte der Schüler der alten Initiation im Grabe liegen und war wie tot. Sein Ätherleib und Astralleib waren draußen und erlebten die geistige Welt. Der Hierophant überwachte den Vorgang und rief den Neophyten ins Leben zurück. Nach seiner Erweckung war er ein Zeuge der geistigen Welt. Das ist die Form der alten Einweihung, heute ist sie nicht mehr in der Weise notwendig. Die christliche und die Rosenkreuzereinweihung wirken so stark auf den Menschen, daß der Mensch das erreichen kann, was bei der alten Initiation durch das Heraustreten der höheren Wesensglieder aus dem physischen Leib hat bewirkt werden sollen, nämlich, daß sich die Eindrücke aus der geistigen Welt in den Astralleib und in den Ätherleib abdrücken, ohne jene dreieinhalbtägige Lethargie. Die moderne Initiation, wenn wir sie so nennen wollen, sie ruft, nachdem die Läuterung oder Katharsis des astralischen Leibes vollzogen ist, jene Wirkungen hervor, die zu realen Schauungen führen und ein erfahrungsgemäßes Wissen von der geistigen Welt ergeben, denn die in der geistigen Welt von der Seele erhaltenen Eindrücke drücken sich dann ab im Astralleib und Ätherleib. Das ist, was in der okkulten Entwickelung die Erleuchtung genannt wird.
Some Things about Karma, Reincarnation, and Initiation
We have seen how the Atlanteans were still at home in the spiritual world with their consciousness, how it was actually day for them there and so-called night here in the physical world. Then we followed the descent of humanity into the post-Atlantean era through the various cultural epochs until the Greek-Latin period, until the appearance of Christ Jesus on earth.
Now let us look once more at our own time, the fifth cultural epoch. Due to its intelligence, which is directed solely toward the physical plane, modern humanity has descended far below the level of the descent that occurred in the other great cultures. Materialism has led to an enormous expenditure of intellectual energy and mental work, which serves only to create physical comfort. The typical feature of our time has crystallized, for example, in the department store. The culture of the present works only for the physical plane, but with a refinement that has never before been achieved. It is therefore clear to the occultist why, especially in our time, the contrast between religion and science, which finds expression in the most diverse movements, is so great and the gulf between them so wide. A conflict between religion and science – from which art also suffers – always arises when the level of culture declines. We can see this in contemporary science, which has become completely entangled in material and abstract thinking. Philosophy is not something absolute, but something that has had to arise and change in the course of human development from certain preconditions. Before there was a philosophical way of looking at things—which only began in the 6th century BC with the Greeks—there was a type of knowledge that was drawn from mystical wisdom. This wisdom had its source in an inner experience of the soul in which the secrets of world events were revealed. When the ancient ability of intuitive vision was lost in the human soul, the intellectually oriented observation of sensory and soul perceptions arose. However, in the early days, philosophers still knew about this through their inner vision, which was still possible for them, or through the transmission of ancient mystery knowledge, and they combined it with the intellectual ability that was now emerging. Pythagoras and Plato still had their sources in seership. It was Aristotle who first worked out pure thinking techniques and established logic. Aristotelianism remained dominant throughout the Middle Ages and flourished in early scholasticism. Gradually, however, a gulf opened up between knowledge and faith. A divide arose between reason and its technique of thinking on the one hand, and supersensible truth on the other, which found its ultimate expression in Kant. In Kant and his philosophy we have one of the dead ends into which material thinking has led. And Kant was, unfortunately, the one who fertilized all of modern philosophy. However, the spiritual researcher does not point to such facts in order to criticize modern science. He shows them in order to shed light on the path that can lead out of the ossification of thought. There is only one way to do this: science, art, and religion, the three branches of culture, must be reunited and interpenetrate each other; they must radiate spiritual life. And it is the task of Western theosophy to achieve this. It must bring peace between the two aspects of the soul itself, which can no longer unite faith and knowledge within itself. Even in our material world, nothing happens that the spiritual does not work on. The spiritual is always the creator of the physical. In James's much-discussed philosophical school of pragmatism, we find something that can only be described as pseudo-spiritualism, which takes a materialistic view of the spiritual. At least he also produced some good things.
Our age attaches tremendous and decisive importance to hereditary predisposition. From the point of view of spiritual science, which regards the physical as a consequence of the spiritual, it must also be said with regard to hereditary predisposition that in the pathological phenomena attributable to it, the spiritual is inhibited by the physical and cannot come to expression. But the spirit has only descended into physical matter; it will ascend again once it has gathered its experiences in the physical world. Everything in the world is in a state of development, including the physical human being and his organs. We know that the physical human body contains organs that no longer have any function today; they are organs of the past, the rudiments of which we carry within us. Likewise, we have the predispositions for organs of the future, which are today in a state of transition or transformation. We mention above all the human heart. It is an organ that has striated muscles. The heart is a crux for the anatomy of materialistic science, because it is an involuntary organ and, instead of longitudinally striated muscle fibers, it has transversely striated muscle fibers, like all voluntary organs of the human being. It is precisely what science does not suspect, an organ of the future and on its way to becoming a voluntary organ of the human being. In the initiated, it is already developed today. The same is true of the larynx: it too is an organ of the future. The deep mystery of procreation is connected with it. This is evident in the present day at the time of puberty when the voice breaks. In the future, human beings will speak their own language, and the larynx will become a creative organ. Shaping the inner, soul-spiritual in material forms is the future of humanity. Humanity is on the path to spiritualizing itself in order to work ever more consciously on the transformation of its bodies. We should draw the strength for this task in the future from a spiritual worldview. We should also be filled with joy and strength at the thought of becoming co-workers in this magnificent evolution.
Let me say a few words here about the two great world laws of karma and reincarnation. These two laws did not yet exist on the old moon. It was only with the incorporation of the I on Earth, beginning in the middle of the Lemurian epoch and continuing until about the middle of the Atlantean epoch, that we can speak of the beginning of reincarnation as we know it today. For animals, whose ego is the group soul, there is no reincarnation even today. We find the connection between an animal species and the corresponding ego in the astral world. For the group soul of lions, for example, the death of a lion here on the physical plane means as much as it would mean to you if you cut off a fingernail. Such an animal, a lion, is first an astral formation that extends down from the group soul like a strand; it descends to the physical plane, condenses, and after the death of the individual lion, this astral formation returns to the astral plane. The group soul draws it back in like a limb. On the old moon, it was the same process that took place with the human soul. It was a limb of its group soul and returned to its womb. It was, as the Bible puts it, safe in the bosom of Father Abraham. It was only during the Lemurian period that the words reincarnation and karma began to have meaning, and they will one day cease to have meaning. Then human beings will enter permanently into a spiritual world where they will continue their work. When human beings have developed the impulse of brotherhood within themselves, for example, then racial evolution will cease; it will have been overcome. In the sixth culture, human beings will already understand better how to organize themselves; the concept of race will no longer apply. From within, from the spiritual realm, people will organize themselves, and no longer from without, through physical connections. And in the seventh culture, which will mirror the Indian culture, there will once again be a caste system, but it will be voluntary. Everything in evolution is constantly changing, but steady progress can be observed. The Atlantean epoch, the middle of our Earth's development, shows us the important point marked by the now complete entry of the I into the physical human body. It begins in the middle of the Lemurian epoch, after the departure of the Moon from the Earth. Humanity then develops further and further, and when the concept of brotherhood is practically realized on Earth, the races will be overcome. Karma will also be overcome.
What is the law of karma? It is the tendency to make up in one of the next incarnations what was bad in one of the previous ones. A distinction must be made between karma that works internally and karma that works more externally. The internal karma includes the formation of character, qualities, and habits. The more external karma includes the conditions of life into which one is placed, family, people, and so on. Let us take a closer look at how karma works in physical life. For example, what appears in one life as an impulse, desire, or idea appears in the next life, or in one of the next lives, as a habit. And good habits will result in a beautiful and well-formed, healthy physical body in the next life; a bad habit will appear as an illness or a predisposition to illness in another life. Thus, the causes of illness are to be found in the inclinations and habits of previous lives. The fate of human beings, on the other hand, is the result of their previous actions. Those who give much love in one life will have the characteristic in another of remaining young for a long time, even outwardly. Those who harbor many feelings of hatred in one life will age early in another. People who abandon themselves to a sluggish, normal life that works against spirituality are neglecting something for their later lives that will be difficult for them to make up for.
Now let me add a few words about initiation. The leadership of humanity has always drawn from its sources. The great individuals who presided over the mysteries, whom we call the Masters, were the ones who guided and directed humanity. To understand this better, let us consider the principle of initiation. One can only really speak of an initiation being granted to human beings since the time of the Atlantean catastrophe. For initiation has also undergone a development, changing not only in its outer forms but also in accordance with the needs of human beings.
Why does the human being not perceive any sensory impressions during sleep, even though he is surrounded by a world of the senses? Because their intellect does not work at night. When a person is asleep in bed, their physical and etheric bodies remain behind, while their astral body and I-consciousness detach themselves and enter the spiritual world. But why do they perceive nothing of the spiritual world surrounding them, into which the astral body and I-consciousness enter during the night? Because the astral body of the ordinary human being, which leaves the physical body at night, has no astral sense organs and therefore cannot perceive anything astral. Through initiation or training, the chaotic astral mass that is the astral body of the average human being becomes organized so that it gradually acquires organs and can then perceive at night. In normal life, human beings are not yet strong enough to form organs in their astral body. In order to be able to do this, the power within human beings must be significantly strengthened. This is achieved through very specific exercises of meditation and concentration and other 'instructions'. The student must devote themselves to very specific ideas in their emotional and mental life, choosing things that correspond little or not at all to reality. Ideas that represent external things are not suitable for forming the organization of the astral body. But if you imagine a structure such as the Rosicrucian cross, the black cross with the seven red roses, then if you practice this exercise with the necessary energy and patience, after a longer or shorter period of time, depending on your level of development, you will experience something through it. You will thereby transform your astral body and incorporate organs into it. These must not be merely abstract ideas, but must be accompanied by the right feelings and sensations. Only then will you achieve the right results.
We must distinguish between three types of initiation, all three of which lead to the same goal. There are three paths to choose from, depending on the individuality of the person. One initiation is that of wisdom: this corresponds to Indian or Oriental training. The second, that of feeling, is Christian. Only a few people can still follow this path today, because it requires a very strong power of devotion and piety. The first path, the Indian one, is associated with great dangers for European Western bodies and is therefore not the right one. The third path of initiation is Rosicrucian training, the path of initiation of thought and will. It leads to a connection with the forces of the other paths of initiation. The conclusion is the same for every initiation, but the initiation itself must adapt in the course of development to the respective needs of the souls and the possibilities offered by the human body.
The student of the old initiation had to lie in the grave for three and a half days and was as if dead. His etheric and astral bodies were outside and experienced the spiritual world. The hierophant supervised the process and called the neophyte back to life. After his awakening, he was a witness to the spiritual world. This is the form of the old initiation; today it is no longer necessary in this way. The Christian and Rosicrucian initiations have such a powerful effect on human beings that they can achieve what was supposed to be achieved in the old initiation through the emergence of the higher members of the human being from the physical body, namely, that impressions from the spiritual world are imprinted on the astral body and the etheric body without that three-and-a-half-day lethargy. Modern initiation, if we want to call it that, brings about, after the purification or catharsis of the astral body has been accomplished, those effects that lead to real visions and result in experiential knowledge of the spiritual world, for the impressions received by the soul in the spiritual world are then imprinted on the astral body and etheric body. This is what is called enlightenment in occult development.