The Principle of Spiritual Economy
GA 111
31 March 1909, Rome
5. Results of Spiritual Scientific Investigations of the Evolution of Humanity: II
What happened at Golgotha as a germinal event has undergone a slow and gradual development. This mystery built the bridge from the past to the future because the soul life of humanity underwent a profound metamorphosis. This becomes especially clear when one looks at two great individuals who prepared the way for Christianity: St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. To understand these two men properly, it will be necessary to look at the old mystery centers where the highest knowledge was taught. Not to do this would make it impossible to gain a thorough understanding of these personalities.
As we know, all nations or peoples in the past had the so-called mystery centers. Here we shall point out only their most basic features and refer to them henceforth as “Mysteries.” First of all, these were institutions in which the church and school were subsumed. They taught first of all the origin of creation and its continuation, but their teaching was not a dull doctrine like the modern doctrine of creation, but rather a body of knowledge that culminated in clairvoyant perception. In the true Mysteries there was no separation between belief and knowledge. They were divided into higher and lower Mysteries, with the latter describing the evolution of the earth in magnificent images, so that everything was permeated by art and beauty. Art, religion, and knowledge all derived from the same source.
The individual who wanted to advance further was given elementary and general exercises. What today we call theosophical knowledge was then only a preparation. This was followed by exercises similar to the ones we have described in recent lectures, although they were conducted in a different manner and were not Christian or Rosicrucian in nature. This is how the astral body was organized for many years. Then the following happened, something that is no longer necessary today because of changed conditions: When the hierophant saw that the astral body of the person to be initiated had matured sufficiently, a death-like state was induced in the subject for a period of three and a half days so that the body was similar to that of Lazarus. This was also the occasion when the etheric body, together with the other two higher bodies, was almost completely removed from the physical body. The disciple during these three and a half days had a vision of the spiritual world and experienced a state of illumination that enabled him to reach into the highest regions and perceive everything that is related to past and future. After the three and a half days, the disciple was awakened and was then able to relate what was happening in the higher spheres. He had been able to see that Christ, the leading Spirit in our evolution, would be lying in the grave for three and a half days. It is this fact that makes the Mysteries historical reality.
The Mystery of Golgotha was the culmination of what was happening in the lower Mysteries because earlier presentiments became fact in it. Whereas the “I” of the disciple had earlier been successful in changing the astral body through exercises of the imagination, the Mystery of Golgotha brought about a metamorphosis of the etheric body. Whatever was changed in the astral body became manas, or spirit self—the actual spirit, the higher “I.” On the other hand, whatever part of the etheric body was changed constituted buddhi, or life spirit. Then the disciple could also try to change his physical body, and this resulted in atma: Atmung,32The German noun forms Atem and Atmung mean breath and breathing, respectively, whereas the verb for “to breathe” is atmen. so called because in reality the transformation of the physical body was attained through special breathing exercises. Only through the formation of buddhi can the human being recognize and perceive Christ as spiritual essence.
Why was it necessary to remove the astral body first? Had the astral body continued to be tied to the physical body, it would not have had the strength to imprint certain impressions onto the ether body. The Christ has liberated us from this three and a half day test, and it is through Him that the exercises mentioned above have become possible without intercession by the hierophant. We see the first example of this in Saul when he became Paul. What happened to him on his way to Damascus must be interpreted as something similar to an initiation. The reason that he needed only a few minutes for it was that he had attained a certain maturity in the preceding life. The line between the connecting point in the present life and the one in the previous incarnation, in which a certain learning experience took place, may be interrupted by several intermediate incarnations, and it is also possible for such a previous learning experience not to surface until late in the present life. This explains why the conversion of Saul, that is his connecting himself with his previous development, took place at a relatively mature age. In addition, Paul did not have to project himself into higher worlds in order to perceive the Christ, as would have been necessary for other initiates of the pre-Christian era. After all, Christ did remain on earth as He was intimately united with its astral body. Had a clairvoyant observer perceived the events from another star, he would have been able to see the tremendous transformation that the Mystery of Golgotha had brought about.
To gain knowledge in ancient times, everything had to be learned and understood in the Mysteries, but things are different in more modern times, as the lives of St. Augustine and Thomas of Aquinas prove. Before these men lived, it would have been futile to talk about the spiritual hierarchies because one who was not initiated was not able to perceive them. We can attribute this inability to gaze into the spiritual world to the fact that the Mysteries had ceased to exist six hundred years before Christ, and initiations no longer took place after that. The schools of philosophy took the place of the genuine Mysteries, and philosophy itself took the place of the initiation. However, philosophy was not always as abstract a system as it is today; on the contrary, especially in the beginning it was more or less completely reminiscent of the Mysteries. Aristotle33The works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) became the basis of medieval scholasticism and had a decisive influence on Catholic theology. was the last from whom we have such a philosophy, but the resonance of the Mysteries was already reduced to a bare minimum in his philosophy. After Aristotle, things went so far as to make people forget that every philosophy must be traced back to the wisdom of the Mysteries. What came later is only an infiltration of abstract terms, similar to the construction of a thatched roof.
The first step forward is characterized by the Mystery of Golgotha. Up to this time the human faculties, for example reason, were little developed. Human beings could not make any progress because their minds were bound to their sense organs, and the time when the mind could develop independently was not yet at hand. What happened at Golgotha could not be grasped just by using one's mind. However, when Christ left the material world, innumerable copies of His etheric and astral body came into being; these were destined to be woven into the bodies of human beings suited to disseminate Christianity. One of them was Augustine, who descended to the physical plane for a new incarnation and wanted to form a new etheric body for himself. It was then that one of the copies of the etheric body of Christ was woven into his own etheric body, and this is how it became possible for him to find in himself the sources of his doctrine about the true form of Christian mysticism. But because he had received only the etheric body of Christ, his ego was subjected to error, and it was possible for him to succumb to his passions. And this is how Augustine developed his ego, but also committed errors and went through all stages of doubt in regard to Christ's teaching. What we see in him is a sort of higher materialism because even in those days people fell into the mistake of wanting to materialize everything. Only the person who frees himself or herself from this tendency will understand spiritual things. When Augustine finally found the spirit of Christianity in the words of John and Paul, the etheric body of Christ began to work in him, for he speaks not of the physical body but of the etheric body, which is the same as what he calls “soma.” In speaking of the “sense,” he refers to the astral body, and he says of the ego that it can rise in him through purification. The transformation of the astral body he calls “laying hold of the truth,” and that of the etheric body he delineates as “being joyful and enjoying spiritual things.” Finally, his term for the highest degree of spiritualization is “the vision.” The writings of Augustine are a good preparation for us because they present the inner development of a mystic. One can clearly recognize the moment in which he enters the spiritual world. Augustine is the best interpreter of Paul's letters.
Now let us look at another great representative of Christianity: Thomas Aquinas. Comparing him with Augustine, we see that he was not caught up in the errors of Augustine and that, beginning with his childhood years, he did not experience doubt or lack of faith. This is not surprising because judgment and conviction reside in the astral body, and Christ's astral body was woven into his own. The implantation of any principle into the human body can take place only when an external event changes the natural course of things. When Thomas was still a child, lightning struck nearby and killed his little sister. This seemingly purely physical event made him suitable to receive into his own astral body that of Christ.
Thomism coincides with the time when the human mind as we know it began to develop. The strongest impulse of this formative process came from Arabism, a truly intellectual science. Whereas before the old sages knew why they were able to gaze directly into the spiritual world, the new philosophy could make good use of Aristotle because he was one of the first great thinkers who preferred intellectual work to the wisdom of the Mysteries. The latter disappeared completely with the purely intellectual speculation of Arabism. Such speculation could at best culminate in a pantheism of rational concepts, but it could not conceive of more than this idea of a unified whole. Now, Thomas adopted the intellectual science accessible to him, but he left revealed knowledge intact and made use of dialectics in order to understand it.
The New Testament contains everything of revealed knowledge, so that Thomas had only to add the finely polished science to the explanations. Scholasticism, which is not much appreciated these days, made this intellectual science possible; but by using progressive dialectics, Thomas also made it possible for human beings to elevate themselves again to the divine idea. Scholasticism comes from the Greek scole and therefore means “paying attention,” but was erroneously translated as scuola, school. The scholastic system was the most perfect web of logic, and it enabled Thomas to think anew the pre-creational divine thoughts, freed from error and delusion as they can be conceived of only in monastic seclusion far away from the noise of the world.
Human beings are eager to comprehend quickly, to adopt an idea and make it their own, and to simplify everything. But the divine is not that simple! With Thomas Aquinas, human thought rises to new heights. Being no less a mystic than a scholastic, Thomas was able to give us such vivid descriptions, similar to those of the seer Dionysius the Areopagite34Dionysius the Aeropagite is said to have been the first Bishop of Athens, Greece, in the first century A.D. Tradition has made him a martyr and Acts 17:34 tells of his conversion by Paul. because he saw the spiritual hierarchies and thus he was able to solve the most difficult problems during his long nightly meditations in front of the altar. Therefore, we find combined in him the qualities of the mystic and of a brilliant thinker who is not influenced by the senses. No important concepts were added after him, not even the term “evolution,” which, by the way, can already be found in Aristotle's writings and is perhaps even better described there.
We have already stated before that the New Testament contains everything. Specifically, it also contains the seed of mysticism, and we have seen how this seed has ripened and how an infinite number of treasures have been unearthed from the Gospels. Nowadays, we have theosophy; later there will be other spiritual waves, and new treasures will be found in the Gospels. The revelation of John concludes the future of the earth.
Today I have tried to show you how the liberation of the intellect was the first stage of Christianity. This is only one leaf, but others will grow on the mighty plant of Christianity, one after the other. The blossom will be the total beauty of the earth, renewed through Christianity, and the fruit will be the new world for which today's earth is the preparation.
As Christ taught, is still teaching, and will be teaching to the end, He can be found by those who seek Him.
Einführung In Die Theosophie VII
Langsam und allmählich wird sich dasjenige entwickeln, was im Keime auf Golgatha sich vollzog. Mit diesem Mysterium wurde die Brücke geschlagen von der Vergangenheit zur Zukunft hin: Das Seelenleben der Menschheit wurde ganz umgewandelt. Dieses kommt besonders deutlich zum Ausdruck in zwei großen Geistern, die den Weg für das Christentum vorbereiteten: Augustinus und Thomas von Aquino. Um sie richtig zu verstehen, ist es notwendig, einen Blick auf das alte Mysterienwesen zu werfen, wo das Höchste, das an Wissen erreicht werden konnte, gelehrt wurde. Ohne diesen Blick ist es unmöglich, gründlich solche eigenartigen Persönlichkeiten zu verstehen. Wie wir wissen, gab es bei allen Völkern sogenannte Mysterien. Hier werden wir nur ihre Grundzüge besprechen. Die Mysterien waren Einrichtungen, die sowohl Kirche wie Schule in sich einschlossen. Was dort zuerst erteilt wurde, war die Lehre von dem Ursprung der Schöpfung und seiner Fortsetzung, aber keine öde Lehre wie die moderne Schöpfungslehre, sondern eine Erkenntnis, die bis an das hellsichtige Erschauen geführt wurde. In den wahren Mysterien gab es keine Trennung zwischen Glauben und Erkenntnis. Sie teilten sich in höhere und niedere Mysterien. In den Letzteren wurde in großartigen Bildern die Evolution der Erde beschrieben, sodass alles von Kunst und Schönheit getränkt und durchdrungen war. Kunst, Religion und Erkenntnis wurden alle aus derselben Quelle geschöpft.
Derjenige, der noch höher kommen wollte, bekam elementare und allgemeine Übungen. Was wir heute theosophisches Wissen nennen, war damals nur die Vorbereitung. Daran wurden Übungen geknüpft wie diejenigen, die wir in den vorigen Vorträgen beschrieben haben, obwohl in anderer Art, nicht christlich oder rosenkreuzerisch. Lange Jahre hindurch wurde auf diese Weise der Astralleib organisiert. Dann geschah Folgendes, was aber heute wegen der geänderten Verhältnisse nicht mehr notwendig ist: Als der Hierophant sah, dass der Astralleib genügend reif geworden war, wurde der Einzuweihende dreieinhalb Tage lang in einen todähnlichen Zustand gebracht wie der Leib des Lazarus. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wurde auch sein Ätherleib fast ganz aus dem physischen Leib zusammen mit den anderen höheren Leibern entfernt. In diesen dreieinhalb Tagen hatte der Diszipel die Vision der geistigen Welt. Er wurde erleuchtet, konnte bis in die höchsten Regionen gelangen und alles schauen, was sich auf Vergangenheit und Zukunft bezieht. Waren die dreieinhalb Tage vorüber, dann wurde der Diszipel aufgeweckt, und dann konnte er erzählen, was in den Höhen geschieht. Er hatte schauen können, wie der führende Geist unserer Evolution, der Christus, einmal ebenfalls demselben Prozess unterliegen und dreieinhalb Tage lang im Grabe liegen würde. Durch diese Tatsache wurden die Mysterien eine geschichtliche Wirklichkeit. Das Mysterium von Golgatha war der Höhepunkt desjenigen, was in den niederen Mysterien stattfand. In ihm wurde zu wirklicher Tatsache dasjenige, was vorher nur eine Ahnung war. Mit den Übungen der Imagination und so weiter hatte das Ich des Schülers seinen Astralleib umgewandelt; durch das Mysterium von Golgatha aber wurde auch sein Ätherleib umgewandelt. So viel, als von dem Astralleib umgewandelt war, wurde zum Manas, Geistselbst - der eigentliche Geist -, das höhere Ich. So viel, als vom Ätherleib umgewandelt wird, bildet das Budhi, Lebensgeist. Danach versucht der Schüler, auch seinen physischen Leib umzuwandeln, wodurch Atma entsteht - Atma = Atmung -, weil in Wirklichkeit die Umwandlung des physischen Leibes durch besondere Atmungsübungen geschieht. Nur durch die Entstehung von Budhi kann der Mensch den Christus als geistige Wesenheit erkennen und schauen.
Warum musste der Astralleib erst entfernt werden? Weil er, wenn er mit dem physischen Leibe verbunden geblieben wäre, nicht die Kraft gehabt hätte, Eindrücke in den Ätherleib einzuprägen. Der Christus aber hat uns von dieser Probe der dreieinhalb Tage befreit, und durch ihn sind auch die oben genannten Übungen möglich geworden ohne die Hineinmischung des Hierophanten. Das erste Beispiel davon haben wir in Saulus, als er Paulus wurde. In dem, was mit ihm auf dem Wege nach Damaskus geschah, müssen wir etwas Ähnliches wie die Einweihung sehen. Die wenigen Augenblicke genügten bei ihm, weil er im vorhergehenden Leben die Reife erlangt hatte. Die Verbindungspunkte mit dem, was man in vorhergehenden Inkarnationen gelernt hat, können getrennt sein durch Zwischenzeiten von einigen Inkarnationen, können aber auch erst spät in einem Leben erscheinen.
Dies macht es begreiflich, warum die Bekehrung von Saulus, das heißt das Sich-Verbinden mit seiner vorhergehenden Entwicklung, in einem verhältnismäßig reifen Alter stattfand. Dazu kommt, dass Paulus sich nicht bis in die höheren Welten zu erheben brauchte, um den Christus zu schauen, wie das für einen anderen Eingeweihten in der vorchristlichen Zeit notwendig gewesen wäre. Christus war fortan auf der Erde, intim verbunden mit dem Astralleib der Erde. Ein hellsehender Beobachter, der von einem andern Stern aus hätte beobachten können, hätte die große Umwandlung gesehen, die durch das Mysterium von Golgatha hervorgebracht wurde. Früher musste man alles in den Mysterien lernen und begreifen, um Erkenntnis zu erlangen. Jetzt vollziehen sich die Sachen anders, und Beweise davon sind Augustinus und Thomas von Aquino. Vor ihrer Zeit wäre es nutzlos gewesen, über die geistigen Hierarchien zu diskutieren, weil niemand, der nicht eingeweiht war, sie schauen konnte. Diese Unfähigkeit zum Schauen war der Tatsache zuzuschreiben, dass schon sechshundert Jahre vor unserer Zeitrechnung die Mysterien aufgehört hatten und die Einweihungen nicht mehr stattfanden. An Stelle der wahren Mysterien kamen die Schulen der Philosophie, und an Stelle der Einweihung wurde die Philosophie gesetzt. Diese war aber nicht immer so ein abstraktes System, wie es die heutige ist, sie war im Gegenteil - besonders im Anfang — eine mehr oder weniger vollkommene Reminiszenz an die Mysterien. Aristoteles ist der Letzte, von dem wir eine solche Philosophie haben; in ihm aber ist der Nachklang von den Mysterien schon auf das geringste Maß zurückgebracht. Nach Aristoteles kam es sogar so weit, dass ganz vergessen wurde, dass jede Philosophie auf die Weisheit der Mysterien zurückzuführen ist. Später haben wir nur noch eine Einfiltrierung von abstrakten Begriffen, so etwas wie ein Strohdach. Der erste Schritt vorwärts wird durch das Mysterium von Golgatha gekennzeichnet. Bis dahin waren die menschlichen Fähigkeiten wenig entwickelt, zum Beispiel die Vernunft. Der Mensch konnte keine Fortschritte machen, weil sein Verstand an die Sinnesorgane gebunden war. Es sollte die Zeit kommen, in der sein Verstand sich unabhängig entwickeln konnte. Denn mit dem bloßen Verstand hätte man nicht begreifen können, was sich auf Golgatha vollzog. Als aber der Christus die sinnliche Welt verließ, entstanden unzählige Wiederholungen von seinem Äther- und Astralleibe, die dazu bestimmt waren, hineinverwoben zu werden in die Leiber derjenigen, die geeignet waren, das Christentum zu verbreiten. Einer von diesen war Augustinus, der, als er beim Hinuntersteigen zum physischen Dasein, um sich wiederum zu verkörpern, sich einen neuen Ätherleib bilden wollte, eben in seinen Ätherleib eine von diesen Wiederholungen des Ätherleibes des Christus hineinverwoben bekam. So kam er dazu, in sich selbst die Quellen von seiner Lehre über die wahre Form der christlichen Mystik zu finden. Aber weil er nur den Ätherleib des Christus in sich hatte, war sein Ich dem Irrtum unterworfen, und er konnte ein Spielball der Leidenschaften werden. So entwickelte Augustinus sein Ich, verfiel aber auch in Irrtümer und machte alle Stadien des Zweifels in Bezug auf die Lehre Christi durch. Es war bei ihm wie ein höherer Materialismus; denn auch damals bestand schon der Fehler, alles vermaterialisieren zu wollen. Nur derjenige, der sich davon befreit, versteht die Dinge des Geistes. Als dann endlich Augustinus das Christentum fand in den Worten des Johannes und des Paulus, da fing in ihm der Ätherleib des Christus zu wirken an. Er spricht nämlich nicht von dem physischen Leib, sondern von dem Ätherleib, der dasselbe ist wie das, was er ‹Soma› nennt. Er spricht von dem Astralleib als der ‹Sin›, und von dem Ich sagt er, dass es sich in ihm erheben kann durch die Reinigung. Die Umwandlung des Astralleibes nennt er ‹das Ergreifen der Wahrheit› und die vom Ätherleib nennt er ‹das Sich-Erfreuen und Genießen der geistigen Dinge›. Und von dem höchsten Grad der Vergeistigung spricht er als von der «Vision». Die Schriften des Augustinus sind uns eine gute Vorbereitung, weil in ihnen die innere Entwicklung des Mystikers dargestellt wird. Der Augenblick, in dem er in die geistige Welt gelangt, ist deutlich zu erkennen. Augustinus ist der beste Dolmetscher der Paulusbriefe.
Nehmen wir jetzt den anderen großen Vertreter des Christentums: Thomas von Aquino. Vergleichen wir ihn mit Augustinus, so sehen wir, dass er nicht wie dieser in Irrtümer befangen war und dass er seit den Kinderjahren weder Zweifel noch Unglauben gekannt hatte, weil Urteil und Überzeugung ihren Sitz haben im Astralleib, und er in seinem eigenen Astralleib einverwoben bekommen hatte den des Christus. Eine Einpflanzung irgendeines Prinzips in einen Menschenleib kann nur stattfinden, wenn eine äußere Tatsache den natürlichen Lauf der Dinge ändert. Als Thomas nämlich noch ein Kind war, schlug der Blitz in seiner Nähe ein und tötete sein Schwesterchen. Dieses physische Ereignis - nur scheinbar physisch — machte ihn geeignet, in seinem Astralleib denjenigen des Christus zu empfangen.
Der Thomismus fällt zusammen mit der Zeit, in der der menschliche Verstand, wie wir ihn kennen, sich bildete. Der stärkste Impuls zu dieser Bildung kam vom Arabismus, der eine wirkliche intellektuelle Wissenschaft war, während dagegen die alten Weisen wussten, wodurch es kam, dass sie direkt schauen konnten. Für die Verarbeitung der neuen Philosophie war Aristoteles gut zu gebrauchen, da er schon die Verstandesarbeit der Mysterienweisheit vorgezogen hatte. Letztere verschwand dann vollkommen mit dem Arabismus, der nur eine reine Verstandesspekulation war. Sie bringt einen höchstens zum Pantheismus der Begriffe - rationalistisch; sie kommt aber nicht weiter als bis zu diesem Gedanken eines einheitlichen Ganzen. Thomas nahm die intellektuelle Wissenschaft auf, die ihm zugänglich war, ließ aber unverändert das Offenbarungswissen und bediente sich der Dialektik, um es zu begreifen. Im Neuen Testament ist alles enthalten, sodass Thomas demjenigen, was da auseinandergesetzt wird, nur die feingeschliffene Wissenschaft hinzuzufügen brauchte. Die Scholastik, die heutzutage so wenig geschätzt wird, machte diese intellektuelle Wissenschaft möglich, ebenso das Sich-wieder-bis-zum-göttlichen-Gedanken-Erheben durch eine fortschreitende Dialektik. Scholastik kommt vom griechischen ‹scole›, [bedeutet also Anmerkung], was irrtümlich übersetzt wurde in ‹scuola› = Schule. Das scholastische System ist das vollkommenste logische Gewebe. Auf diese Weise finden wir in Thomas aufs Neue gedacht die vorschöpflichen göttlichen Gedanken, frei von Irrtum und Täuschung, wie sie nur gedacht werden konnten in einer Klosterzelle, weit entfernt von dem Lärm der Welt. Der Mensch der Welt beeilt sich zu verstehen, sich schnell eine Auffassung zu eigen zu machen und alles zu vereinfachen. Aber die Gottheit ist nicht so einfach! Mit Thomas von Aquino erhebt sich der menschliche Gedanke. Er ist nicht weniger Mystiker als Scholastiker. Er konnte nämlich solche Beschreibungen geben, weil er die geistigen Hierarchien sah, so wie sie der Seher Dionysius der Areopagite uns gegeben hat, und in seinen langen nächtlichen Meditationen vor dem Altar konnte er die schwersten Probleme lösen. So finden sich in ihm vereinigt der Mystiker und ein Denker so hell wie ein Diamant und nicht von den Sinnen beeinträchtigt.
Nach ihm gab es keine Vermehrung der Begriffe mehr. Sogar der Begriff der Evolution findet sich schon bei Aristoteles und vielleicht sogar besser beschrieben. Wir haben schon gesagt, wie sich im Neuen Testament alles findet. Es enthält nämlich den Keim des Mystizismus, und wir haben gesehen, wie dieser Keim gereift ist und wie unendlich viele Schätze aus den Evangelien herausgegraben worden sind. Heutzutage haben wir die Theosophie, später werden andere geistige Wellen kommen und neue Schätze in den Evangelien wiedergefunden werden. In der Offenbarung des Johannes schließt sich die Zukunft der Erde ab.
Heute habe ich Ihnen zeigen wollen, wie die Freiwerdung des Intellekts die erste Stufe war des Christentums. Dies ist nur wie ein Blatt, aber an der mächtigen Pflanze des Christentums werden noch neue Blätter entstehen, eines nach dem anderen. Die Blüte wird die Gesamtschönheit der Erde sein, durch das Christentum erneuert; die Frucht wird sein die neue Welt, für die die heutige Erde die Vorbereitung ist. Christus lässt sich finden von demjenigen, der ihn sucht, wie er lehrte, wie er noch lehrt und immer lehren wird bis ans Ende.
Introduction to Theosophy VII
Slowly and gradually, what began in embryo at Golgotha will develop. With this mystery, a bridge was built from the past to the future: the soul life of humanity was completely transformed. This is particularly evident in two great spirits who prepared the way for Christianity: Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. In order to understand them correctly, it is necessary to take a look at the ancient mystery teachings, where the highest knowledge that could be attained was taught. Without this insight, it is impossible to thoroughly understand such unique personalities. As we know, all peoples had what were called mysteries. Here we will only discuss their basic features. The mysteries were institutions that encompassed both church and school. What was taught there first was the doctrine of the origin of creation and its continuation, but not a dry doctrine like the modern doctrine of creation, rather a knowledge that led to clairvoyant vision. In the true mysteries, there was no separation between faith and knowledge. They were divided into higher and lower mysteries. In the latter, the evolution of the earth was described in magnificent images, so that everything was imbued and permeated with art and beauty. Art, religion, and knowledge were all drawn from the same source.
Those who wanted to go even higher were given elementary and general exercises. What we now call theosophical knowledge was then only preparation. Exercises were linked to this, such as those we described in the previous lectures, although in a different form, not Christian or Rosicrucian. For many years, the astral body was organized in this way. Then the following happened, which is no longer necessary today due to changed circumstances: When the hierophant saw that the astral body had become sufficiently mature, the initiate was placed in a death-like state for three and a half days, like the body of Lazarus. On this occasion, his etheric body was also almost completely removed from the physical body together with the other higher bodies. During these three and a half days, the disciple had visions of the spiritual world. He was enlightened, could reach the highest regions, and see everything related to the past and future. When the three and a half days were over, the disciple was awakened and could then recount what had happened in the higher realms. He had been able to see how the leading spirit of our evolution, Christ, would one day undergo the same process and lie in the grave for three and a half days. Through this fact, the mysteries became a historical reality. The mystery of Golgotha was the culmination of what took place in the lower mysteries. In it, what had previously been only a vague idea became a real fact. Through the exercises of imagination and so on, the student's ego had transformed its astral body; but through the mystery of Golgotha, its etheric body was also transformed. As much as was transformed from the astral body became manas, the spirit self — the actual spirit — the higher self. As much as is transformed from the etheric body forms the buddhi, the life spirit. After that, the student tries to transform his physical body as well, whereby the atma arises—atma = breath—because in reality the transformation of the physical body takes place through special breathing exercises. Only through the emergence of buddhi can the human being recognize and see Christ as a spiritual being.
Why did the astral body have to be removed first? Because if it had remained connected to the physical body, it would not have had the power to imprint impressions on the etheric body. But Christ freed us from this three-and-a-half-day trial, and through him the above-mentioned exercises have become possible without the interference of the hierophant. We have the first example of this in Saul when he became Paul. In what happened to him on the road to Damascus, we must see something similar to initiation. The few moments were sufficient for him because he had attained maturity in his previous life. The points of connection with what has been learned in previous incarnations can be separated by intervals of several incarnations, but they can also appear late in a life.
This makes it understandable why Saul's conversion, that is, his connection with his previous development, took place at a relatively mature age. In addition, Paul did not need to rise to the higher worlds to see Christ, as would have been necessary for another initiate in pre-Christian times. From then on, Christ was on earth, intimately connected with the astral body of the earth. A clairvoyant observer who could have observed from another star would have seen the great transformation brought about by the mystery of Golgotha. In the past, one had to learn and understand everything in the mysteries in order to gain knowledge. Now things are different, and proof of this can be found in Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Before their time, it would have been useless to discuss the spiritual hierarchies because no one who was not initiated could see them. This inability to see was due to the fact that six hundred years before our era, the mysteries had ceased and initiations no longer took place. The schools of philosophy took the place of the true mysteries, and philosophy was substituted for initiation. However, philosophy was not always such an abstract system as it is today; on the contrary, especially in the beginning, it was a more or less perfect reminiscence of the mysteries. Aristotle is the last person from whom we have such a philosophy; but in him the echo of the mysteries has already been reduced to a minimum. After Aristotle, it even came to the point where it was completely forgotten that all philosophy can be traced back to the wisdom of the mysteries. Later, we only have a filtration of abstract concepts, something like a straw roof. The first step forward is marked by the mystery of Golgotha. Until then, human abilities were not very developed, for example, reason. Man could not make any progress because his mind was bound to the sense organs. The time was to come when his mind could develop independently. For with the mind alone, it would not have been possible to comprehend what took place at Golgotha. But when Christ left the sensory world, countless repetitions of his etheric and astral bodies arose, which were destined to be woven into the bodies of those who were suited to spread Christianity. One of these was Augustine, who, when he descended to physical existence in order to incarnate again and wanted to form a new etheric body, had one of these repetitions of the etheric body of Christ woven into his etheric body. Thus he came to find within himself the sources of his teaching on the true form of Christian mysticism. But because he had only the etheric body of Christ within him, his ego was subject to error, and he could become a plaything of the passions. Thus Augustine developed his ego, but also fell into error and went through all the stages of doubt regarding the teachings of Christ. It was like a higher materialism for him, for even then the mistake of wanting to materialize everything already existed. Only those who free themselves from this can understand the things of the spirit. When Augustine finally found Christianity in the words of John and Paul, the etheric body of Christ began to work in him. For he does not speak of the physical body, but of the etheric body, which is the same as what he calls “soma.” He speaks of the astral body as the 'sin', and he says that the ego can rise within it through purification. He calls the transformation of the astral body 'grasping the truth' and that of the etheric body 'rejoicing and enjoying spiritual things'. And he speaks of the highest degree of spiritualisation as 'vision'. The writings of Augustine are a good preparation for us because they describe the inner development of the mystic. The moment when he enters the spiritual world is clearly recognizable. Augustine is the best interpreter of the letters of Paul.
Let us now take the other great representative of Christianity: Thomas Aquinas. If we compare him with Augustine, we see that he was not caught up in errors like Augustine and that he had known neither doubt nor unbelief since childhood, because judgment and conviction have their seat in the astral body, and he had become interwoven in his own astral body with that of Christ. The implantation of any principle into a human body can only take place when an external fact changes the natural course of things. When Thomas was still a child, lightning struck near him and killed his little sister. This physical event—only seemingly physical—made him capable of receiving that of Christ into his astral body.
Thomism coincides with the time when the human mind as we know it was formed. The strongest impulse for this formation came from Arabism, which was a real intellectual science, whereas the ancient sages knew how it was that they could see directly. Aristotle was well suited to the development of the new philosophy, since he had already given preference to intellectual work over the wisdom of the mysteries. The latter then disappeared completely with Arabism, which was pure intellectual speculation. At best, it leads to a rationalistic pantheism of concepts, but it does not go beyond this idea of a unified whole. Thomas took up the intellectual science that was accessible to him, but left the revealed knowledge unchanged and used dialectics to understand it. Everything is contained in the New Testament, so that Thomas only needed to add his finely honed science to what was already there. Scholasticism, which is so little appreciated today, made this intellectual science possible, as did the raising of thought back to the divine through progressive dialectic. Scholasticism comes from the Greek “scole,” [meaning “commentary”], which was mistakenly translated as “scuola” = school. The scholastic system is the most perfect logical fabric. In this way, we find in Thomas, rethought, the pre-creational divine thoughts, free from error and deception, as they could only be thought in a monastery cell, far away from the noise of the world. The man of the world is in a hurry to understand, to quickly adopt a view and to simplify everything. But the deity is not so simple! With Thomas Aquinas, human thought rises. He is no less a mystic than a scholastic. He was able to give such descriptions because he saw the spiritual hierarchies as they were given to us by the seer Dionysius the Areopagite, and in his long nightly meditations before the altar he was able to solve the most difficult problems. Thus, he combines the mystic and a thinker as clear as a diamond and unclouded by the senses.
After him, there was no further proliferation of concepts. Even the concept of evolution can already be found in Aristotle, and perhaps even better described. We have already said how everything can be found in the New Testament. It contains the seed of mysticism, and we have seen how this seed has matured and how countless treasures have been unearthed from the Gospels. Today we have theosophy, and later other spiritual waves will come and new treasures will be rediscovered in the Gospels. In the Revelation of John, the future of the earth is sealed.
Today I wanted to show you how the liberation of the intellect was the first stage of Christianity. This is only like a leaf, but new leaves will emerge one after the other on the mighty plant of Christianity. The blossom will be the total beauty of the earth, renewed through Christianity; the fruit will be the new world for which the earth of today is the preparation. Christ allows himself to be found by those who seek him, as he taught, as he still teaches, and as he will always teach until the end.