The Inauguration of the Breslau Branch
GA 109
15 June 1909, Breslau
Translator Unknown
When words are to be spoken at the dedication of an Anthroposophical Group, it is of greater importance to make clear the object and the aim of spiritual scientific work than to give important revelations concerning mysteries of the higher worlds. If we wish to visualize the significance of the spiritual scientific world-conception for the human soul, we must cast our eye over many different realms.
Picture to yourselves a person living in the 13th or 14th century! Such a person lived at a time when the art of printing had not yet been invented—an art by means of which such a powerful influence has been exercised upon the human soul in modern times. Picture to yourselves a person living at that time and ask yourselves what took place within his soul when for instance he looked up at the sky. This person whose way of viewing the world was not yet influenced by accumulated knowledge and materialistic learning as is the case with those living to-day, saw space resplendent with the brilliant light of the sun in the day-time, and at night agleam with shimmering stars, and at such a time his soul felt cosmic space to be pervaded by spiritual forces and spiritual beings. He felt them. Through the culture of those times, images of divine-spiritual facts arose within him, and he felt them directly. And so it was also in the spring-time when he saw the plants springing up out of the earth; his soul felt Nature to be illumined and imbued by the forces of divine, spiritual beings.
Such a feeling, such direct experience of the living spiritual forces diminishes the more we approach our present time. This statement is not meant as an adverse criticism of our time, for the diminishing of this feeling has been accompanied by the rise of another way of approaching Nature, by a more intellectual, external way of regarding the world; and it is only right that hereby mankind has gradually gained control ever the forces of Nature, has learned to investigate the world in detail with the aid of the microscope and to follow the stars in their courses through space with the telescope. It is right that in a certain sense men are proud that they are able to increase their mastery of the forces of Nature more and more, but at the same time we must make clear to ourselves that hereby all human impulses have become different.
When a human being looked up to the stars in former times, he said to himself, “I feel something divine and spiritual in the stars”. To-day, however, he only sees them as physical objects, and it is difficult for any one living in our day to picture to himself the divine and the spiritual. Humanity has really lost its understanding of this divine-spiritual vision. In spite of this fact it is true that even to-day there are many souls which are wonderfully stirred by their understanding of that which is divine and spiritual. Oh, the soul thirsts to imagine how space is filled with divine spiritual beings, filled with a spiritual power, and it feels the need of learning to know this power. Now the materialistic development here described has come to such a pass that just the most earnest and most ardent seekers after truth have gradually begun to think of late that it can be only a childish point of view to feel something divine in the world, and that mankind has now matured far enough to do away with such antiquated ideas. Even our school-children have to experience a discord which leads to the profoundest consequences in life. On the one hand the child is given lessons in natural science in a purely materialistic way, on the other, lessons in religion. Between them there is no bridge, no connecting link. What is the result in later life? We can say that the whole of humanity is divided into two camps, according to the consequences arising from this discord. On one hand there are those who have become indifferent and no longer care about anything, and on the other hand those who take things tragically, who brood, but still do not gain clear insight, and at last despair of solving the riddles of life. Thinking humanity is really divided into these two camps. Perhaps it is, in the end, only the simple souls who have kept a certain feeling for the spiritual. He who does not regard everything from the outside only, knows that just in the middle of the 19th century the danger that humanity would sink completely into materialistic life was at its greatest. The whole disposition and frame of mind of man tended towards materialistic feeling and experience. Therein lay a dreadful danger for humanity. Do you know what would have happened if spiritual science had not intervened? Man's manner of thinking would have become submerged ever deeper in the materialistic element; the forms of thought would have become gradually harder and more rigid; their outlines would have become ever sharper and more unalterable, instead of adapting themselves in constant active flow. No one would have been able to feel for anyone else, or sympathise with anyone else; but everyone would have felt that he alone was in the right and would have despised and hated all those that [who] thought or felt differently. Quite rigid in form, devoid of all love, our thinking would have become; and the spirit would finally have been pushed back so far into the background that all contact with it would have been made forever impossible, and the way into the spiritual world have been lost. The earth would have become a moon. For this reason, those who have insight into the higher spiritual worlds have brought spiritual science to mankind.
But from what sources does the science flow which is destined to save humanity from this great danger?
Precisely on a day like this, when a newly-founded Group is to be dedicated, it is indeed appropriate to speak about these things.
These sources are still concealed to most people, but gradually they will be revealed more and more. And from out these sources spiritual science was created. Now what does spiritual science say? It speaks of many things which the ordinary human being, with his ordinary senses, does not perceive. It says, for instance, that man does not only consist of the externally visible body, but that he has a fourfold nature. Besides the visible body he has also a life, or etheric body, not visible for ordinary man, a sentient or astral body, and, as a fourth member, he possesses the Ego, which passes from incarnation to incarnation, in order, throughout a long period of time, to complete its course of evolution. And spiritual science tells us still more. It tells us, for example, that the earth itself also goes through an evolution from one incarnation to the other, an evolution of a cosmic nature. It shows us further how the sun and the planets play the most important parts in this process of evolution, and how the existence and development of all these celestial bodies are connected with the existence of spiritual beings.
But what then is all this? Where are the sources of these truths? They come from the initiates. And who are the initiates? They are those whose spiritual eyes have been opened, and who can therefore speak of the spiritual world because they know this world. They are like those who can see among the blind. Fichte has already alluded to this relationship, and in truth for him “who can see”, spiritual things are just as real as the physical ones,—yes, even more real, for the latter are for him only an outward expression of the former.
It is true that when the seer speaks of the etheric body, the sentient body, etc., and of other revelations of a spiritual nature, many people will say that he is a dreamer and a fantast and takes theories and mere hypotheses for realities. The seer understands perfectly that those who do not see should raise such objections. Among a group of physically blind people we may speak as much and as exactly as we please about colours and light, yet for the blind this remains mere theory; and one who can see physically will be unable to disclose the concept, the actual reality-laden, concept, of colour and light to one who is physically blind. For to grasp this concept, the blind would have to be able to see for themselves; and only when a blind person has undergone a successful operation can the world of light dawn upon him.
Let us try to picture this relationship in still another way. Let us imagine that we had a large receptacle full of water before us, and let us suppose that there were a person who could neither see nor feel water with his senses, nor perceive it in any way. For this person the receptacle would be empty. Now let us suppose further that, in some way, cold currents could be made to pass through the water, causing it to freeze. At first ice-crystals, like needles, would form here and there, and as they continued to form they would accumulate into large clumps. But as ice is a solid substance, this person, who is unable to perceive water, would nevertheless be able to perceive the particles of ice as they formed. And what is it that he now perceives? He perceives that ice is forming. But out of what does it seem to him to be forming? Out of nothing!
This is the situation in which the initiate finds himself in his relation to other men. Where they see nothing, he sees. But now people say, “How can I believe that which I cannot verify for myself? And inasmuch as I cannot do so, what object is there in occupying myself with such things or in entering into them at all?” In this respect it is especially the dogmatists of monistic philosophy who make the following demands—firstly, that everything be admitted which they themselves assert, and secondly, that no one may know more than they know themselves. They set themselves up as infallible and as able to determine the limits of knowledge.
The true initiate will never deny the facts found by scientific investigation, but will whole-heartedly acknowledge the truths and merits of science. He must refuse, however, to admit that the scientific dogmatist is capable of determining the limits of knowledge. The scientist is proud of understanding, in contrast to believing. But if it is here a question of believing and not believing, and the scientist is of the opinion that belief plays no part in the results of his researches, he is mistaken. It is simply impossible to investigate or to teach anything without believing. Consider, for example, the cellular theory. In books we have very fine representations of cells, the division of the cells, the life of the cells, and so forth, clear and exact in every detail. But who among us has ever really seen this for himself with such distinctness? We all simply believe that it is so. Even the university professors, who teach these things, have in the rarest cases seen all this with their own eyes, and yet they lecture on it. They have not been able to see it for themselves, because things of this kind are both so difficult and so rarely possible to observe that only a few single individuals have succeeded in seeing them, and also because in reality they are by no means so clear and distinct as they appear in the pictures. Let us also consider embryology, for instance. Scientists believe that they know exactly how the embryo looks at every moment throughout pregnancy. But how extremely seldom is a scientist in the position, perhaps through a sudden case of death occurring at a particular moment of pregnancy, to have insight into these things! How many of these scientists have never seen the things which they teach! But until he is able to see for himself, the scientist is obliged to believe, and the others with him. Yet he demands of spiritual science that no one shall believe, and that no one shall know more than himself.
The essential character of the initiate lies in the fact that he is able to see into the spiritual world. For him the sources are spiritual scientific knowledge.
Yes, but of what use is this to those who do not possess this knowledge? A comparison will show us this.
Look for a moment at this stove! And now imagine that someone were to stand before this stove and say to it: “Thou stove, thou hast been created to spread warmth! Bethink thee of thy mission and warm this room!” Would it do so? Would these words have any effect? No, the stove would not stir. But if instead of speaking, we get wood and coal and light the fire, then it will fulfill its mission.
So it is with the communications of spiritual-scientific truths. They are fuel for the human soul. For thousands of years morality has been preached and people have been told, “Be good and love one another”. But do they really then do so? Do not matters look rather sad in spite of all Christian doctrines? In a town in southern Germany, a preacher once said to me, “I can make no objection whatever to all that you say of the Gospels, but what is the use of founding little conventicles for spiritual science here and there, when the church carries on practical education on a large scale?” Yes, if this preacher were right, then it would indeed be of no use. But he is not right, for if the church really performed its task in full measure, from whence do so many evil deeds still continually arise? And does everyone really go to church? In truth the church does not teach practical morality, but “stove morality”. In our day there are no longer many people who grow better simply upon urgent request. And indeed it is just the most able and gifted people who have turned away from the church. And were this to go on, the adherents of the church would become scarcer and scarcer, and materialism would become greater and greater, until one day not very much would be left of the church. And this is just the reason why spiritual science has come; it has become necessary, in order to supply the “fuel”! It is itself fuel in this sense, for the simple communication of truths from out the spiritual world animates and furthers the spiritual development of the individual, helping it forward not only in the sphere of morals, but also in spiritual vision.
Even among students of spiritual science there are those who are of the opinion that we need only be good and noble and strive to attain perfection, and then in the end our spiritual eyes will open of their own accord. At the same time they think that the communication of higher truths is of no great significance, and that we should only wait till we can see for ourselves, till the veil is of itself withdrawn from before our eyes. Those who think in this way are mistaken. They fail to recognise the character of these communications which act as fuel. The essential point it to stimulate active inner motion within the soul which would not come about in any other way, nor develop of its own accord.
But what is it that can shine forth within man, that will indeed shine forth within him, if he understands and pursues his development aright, which is the task of spiritual science? To explain this we shall have to go far back in history.
We must go back as far as the ancient Indian culture, which we call the age of the Seven Rishis. These Seven Rishis were the initiates of this age and guided the development of humanity. When, out of their spiritual vision, they bore witness of the highest mysteries, they said, “High above all that exists there is a Cause, a Being, which we call Vishva-Karman. We can neither know nor fathom it, it can only be divined. It lies too distant, as it were, to be known by us. Later on however, long after our time, it will draw nearer to humanity.”
Then in a much later period another initiate spoke about this Being. It was Zarathustra; not the historical Zarathustra, but one who preceded him. When he spoke to the people in his old, holy Persian language, the splendour of which can scarcely be described to-day, he said, “I see the Highest Being in the sun, round about the sun. It is, indeed, in the atmosphere of the sun.” And that is why he called it Ahura Mazdao—the great Aura—in contrast to man, the small aura. In the great Aura he saw an image or a model for the small aura, man. Ahura Mazdao is the same as Ormuzd. And Zarathustra taught that in days to come Ahura Mazdao would manifest himself in man. This was what he foresaw. But he saw also that there are forces in man which hold him back and prevent the manifestation of the Highest Being within him. These forces he called Ahriman—the Evil.
Still later, in another period, we again meet with a great initiate. Knowledge had, we might say, drawn still closer to him. In the case of the Rishis the Highest Being was concealed within universal space, as it were, immensely tar away. For Zarathustra it had approached as far as the sun. But for Moses knowledge was already close enough to be actually grasped. In the burning thorn-bush which spoke to Moses, the Aura had become part of the earthly elements. Moses knew that the Highest Being was present in the earth. For the initiate, this Being had descended first to the sun and then to the earth. Here it now lived within the elements. And when Moses asked this Being what he was to tell the people, the answer was—“I am the I am, Jahve.” With these words it becomes clear that this Being has come in order to unfold its life more and more within the human Ego. This was, however, not yet the case at that time. Man had not yet brought to birth a consciousness of the Highest Being within his inmost self. Moses, however, knew that this would come to pass.
And later still another man appears upon whom spiritual vision was bestowed, namely, Paul. He knew that this Highest Being was embodied in Jesus Christ. But he could not believe, could not comprehend, that this Being had to die upon the cross. Then he was initiated. That this was possible was due to the peculiar circumstance that he had been born too early. One who is born prematurely, a child that has not been carried in the womb for nine months, has not descended quite so far into the world of matter. For this reason it will be easier for such a person to attain insight into the spiritual world. And when Paul became clairvoyant, he saw that the Highest Being lived in Christ. Now it had actually come to life in man. Therefore Christ said at the Last. Supper—The bread is My body, the wine is My blood. Bread—earth; wine, or the juice of the plant—Spirit.
I wanted to lead you thus far to-day, so that you might feel what it signifies that such a Being has approached the earth, has descended into the earth. And this is what took place at Golgotha.
Did this Being really stream out over the earth at Golgotha? In order to answer this let us examine and compare a time 600 years before the birth of Christ, let us say, with a time 600 years after the birth of Christ. What has happened here—wherein does the difference consist?
600 years before Christ, Buddha lived. He lived in a king's palace. Then he went out into the world and learned to know old age, sickness, poverty, death, and the corpse. He saw that the whole life of man is suffering. Old age is suffering, sickness is suffering, poverty is suffering, birth is suffering, death is suffering, to be parted from those whom we love is suffering; in short, the whole of existence is suffering. So he said to himself, and taught the people, that they must lose, must learn to forget, their craving for existence. Here we have the hopeless renunciation of all creation
But 600 years later came the Mystery of Golgotha. As a symbol we see a cross erected, and upon the cross a human corpse. And the people look up to the corpse and are filled with a sense that all suffering can be healed. Herein lies a great difference. In death human beings no longer see the token of suffering, but the token of the healing of suffering. They can become victors over all that their life here on earth brings them. And this means that a fruit will be carried over into the other life.
If man now understands that birth and life are not suffering, but afford the possibility of emerging from it, inasmuch as life gives him the opportunity to develop the Spiritual which leads out beyond all suffering—if man understands this, old age is no longer suffering, but a drawing nearer to the fruit of life. Death is no longer suffering, but redemption; not to be united with those he loves is no longer suffering, if he has united himself with the Christ-Being, the Being of infinite Love, and thus envelops with his love all beings and all worlds.
All this was felt 600 years after Christ, and since that time it has been possible for man to feel united with the Christ, the Spirit of the Sun, Who is also the Spirit of the Earth—Who, even as he permeates the earth, permeates also each one of us, and calls forth mildness, warmth and love within our souls—Who awakens infinite love and transforms the earth.
Because spiritual science, in communicating spiritual truths, does not teach morals, but gives a basis for practical morality, it will build a bridge leading into the spiritual world for the man of to-day. It may well be that those who stand at the apex of our present culture, the leading personalities in industry and learning, those who have the greatest influence, will smile at these small conventicles of spiritual science, and also at all that is investigated here. But let them think what they like! At one time there was also a mighty world of Roman culture—that ancient, imperial Rome, the ruins of which we still admire. In the ancient gigantic Coliseum incense was burned to drown the smell of flesh which arose where the Christians had been torn to pieces by wild beasts. That was ancient Rome, above, in the daylight. And below? Let us descend into the catacombs! There we find the first followers of Christianity, of the Mystery of Golgotha, persecuted and despised. There below, hidden away, they worship Christ; there they perform their symbolic rituals. Down there the first Christian communities are founded. Although small in number and despised, they never doubt. Down below a little flock, despised and outcast; up above, a mighty throng who have great influence. Yet a few centuries later ancient Rome has disappeared; and those who were there below, in the under-world, have ascended. In the same way spiritual science will ascend in a few centuries, will rise above industry, learning, and the various concerns of humanity to-day. Yet if, in your little conventicles, you compare yourselves with those of subterranean Rome, do so, not with a feeling of pride, but with humility. And if you picture to yourselves how the brilliant science of our present day will melt away before spiritual science, then picture this to yourselves in humility only. If you take this feeling with you and carry it with you from this hour, so that it always remains alive within your souls, you will help to spread universal human love, and you will enter into a new culture.
I call upon all the good spiritual forces that they may watch over this newly-founded Group, and may help you to attain your goal and facilitate your work.
Zur Einweihung Des Zweiges Breslau
Bei Worten, die zur Einweihung eines Arbeitszweiges gesprochen werden sollen, gilt es mehr, Zweck und Ziel der geisteswissenschaftlichen Arbeit zu erläutern, als darum, bedeutende Enthüllungen über Geheimnisse höherer Welten zu bringen. Wenn man sich vorstellen will, welche Bedeutung die geisteswissenschaftliche Weltanschauung für die menschliche Seele hat, müssen wir unsere Blicke auf und über verschiedene Gebiete lenken.
Stellen Sie sich einen Menschen des 13. bis 14. Jahrhunderts vor. Er lebte in einer Zeit, als die Buchdruckerkunst noch nicht erfunden war, durch welche in der neueren Zeit eine so mächtige Einwirkung auf die menschliche Seele in Erscheinung trat. Stellen Sie sich also einmal einen Menschen jener Zeit vor und fragen Sie sich, was in dessen Seele vorging, wenn er zum Beispiel seine Augen nach dem Himmel richtete. Er, dessen Anschauungen noch nicht durch angehäuftes Wissen und durch materielle Gelehrsamkeit beeinflußt waren, wie es diejenigen eines heute lebenden Menschen sind, er sah am Tage den Raum durchglänzt von der Sonne, in der Nacht durchstrahlt vom Sternenschimmer, und da fühlte seine Seele den Weltenraum durchmessen von geistigen Kräften und geistigen Wesenheiten. Er fühlte sie. Durch die damaligen Kulturmittel entstanden in ihm Vorstellungen von göttlich-geistigen Tatsachen, und er fühlte sie unmittelbar. Und so war es auch, wenn er im Frühling die Pflanzen hervorwachsen sah aus der Erde: seine Seele fühlte diese Natur erhellt und erfüllt von göttlich-geistigen Wesenskräften.
Dieses Erfühlen, dieses unmittelbare Empfinden der geistigen Wesenskräfte tritt immer mehr zurück, je mehr wir uns der Jetztzeit nähern, Hiermit soll über die letztere nicht etwa eine abfällige Kritik geübt werden, denn das Zurücktreten dieses Fühlens ist begleitet von dem Aufkommen einer andern Art des Naturerkennens, von der mehr verstandesmäßigen, äußerlichen Weltbetrachtung, und es ist durchaus richtig, daß die Menschen dadurch gelernt haben, sich die Beherrschung der Naturkräfte zu erarbeiten, mit den Mikroskopen die Welt im Kleinen zu erforschen und mit den Fernrohren die Sterne in ihrem Laufe durch den Raum zu verfolgen. Es ist richtig, daß die Menschen in gewisser Beziehung stolz sind, die Beherrschung der Naturkräfte noch weiter steigern zu können, aber wir wollen uns auch gleichzeitig klarmachen, daß hierdurch alle Menschheitsimpulse andere geworden sind.
Wenn der Mensch früher nach den Sternen gesehen hat, so sagte er sich: Ich fühle Göttlich-Geistiges in den Sternen. Heute dagegen sieht er nur die physischen Körper, und es ist für den heutigen Menschen schwierig, sich Göttlich-Geistiges vorzustellen. Die Menschheit hat wirklich das Verständnis für dieses göttlich-geistige Schauen verloren. Trotzdem ist es doch wahr, daß es auch heute viele Seelen gibt, die im Erkennen von Göttlich-Geistigem wunderbar berührt werden. Oh, die Seele hat einen Durst, sich vorzustellen, wie der Raum ausgefüllt ist von Göttlich-Geistigem, ausgefüllt ist von einer geistigen Kraft, und sie hat das Bedürfnis, dieses Göttliche zu erkennen.
Nun ist die geschilderte materielle Entwickelung so weit gediehen, daß gerade die ernstesten und eifrigsten Wahrheitsforscher in der letzten Zeit nach und nach dazu kamen, anzunehmen, es könne nur eine kindliche Auffassung sein, in der Welt etwas Göttliches zu fühlen, und die Menschheit sei jetzt in ein reiferes Zeitalter eingetreten, wo man überwundene Standpunkte beiseite schieben müsse. Schon das Kind in der Schule wird einem Zwiespalte ausgesetzt, der zu den tiefgehendsten Folgen für das Leben führt. Auf der einen Seite wird dem Kinde der naturwissenschaftliche Unterricht in rein materialistischer Weise gegeben, auf der andern Seite der Religionsunterricht. Zwischen beiden ist keine Brücke, kein verbindendes Glied. Was wird daraus im späteren Leben? Man kann sagen, die ganze Menschheit wird dadurch in zwei Lager geteilt, je nach den Konsequenzen, welche aus diesem Zwiespalt entspringen. Da gibt es dann einerseits diejenigen, die gleichgültig geworden sind und sich um nichts mehr kümmern, und andererseits dann diejenigen, die es tragisch auffassen, grübeln und doch nicht klar werden,um schließlich an der Lösbarkeit der Lebensrätsel zu verzweifeln. In diese zwei Lager zerfällt tatsächlich die denkende Menschheit. Vielleicht sind es dann schließlich nur noch die einfacheren Gemüter, die sich noch ein gewisses Empfinden für das Geistige bewahrt haben. Derjenige, der nicht bloß äußerlich alles anschaut, weiß, daß gerade in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts die Gefahr des gänzlichen Einsinkens der Menschheit in das materialistische Leben am größten war. Die ganze Stimmung und Gemütslage des Menschen wurde zu einem materialistischen Fühlen und Empfinden. Darin bestand eine furchtbare Gefahr für die Menschheit. Wissen Sie, was da eingetreten wäre, wenn da Geisteswissenschaft nicht eingegriffen hätte? Immer tiefer wäre die Denkweise ins materialistische Fahrwasser eingesunken. Die Gedankenformen hätten sich immer mehr verhärtet und wären immer verknöcherter geworden, ihre Abgrenzungen würden immer schärfer und unveränderlicher geworden sein, statt in regem Flusse sich anzupassen. Kein Mensch hätte für einen andern und mit einem andern fühlen können, und nur jeder für sich allein hätte sich im Recht gefühlt und jeden anders denkenden und anders fühlenden verachtet und gehaßt. Ganz starre Formen, jeder Liebe bar, hätte das Denken erhalten, und der Geist wäre schließlich so in den Hintergrund gedrängt worden, daß ein Anschluß für immer unmöglich gemacht worden wäre, und der Weg in die geistige Welt, er wäre verloren worden. Die Erde würde ein Mond geworden sein. Aus diesem Grunde haben diejenigen, die Einblick haben in die höheren geistigen Welten, der Menschheit die Geisteswissenschaft gebracht. Aus welchen Quellen fließen nun diese Lehren, die dazu bestimmt sind, die Menschheit vor dieser großen Gefahr zu retten? Gerade an einem Tage, wo es gilt, eine neugebildete Arbeitsgruppe einzuweihen, ist es angebracht, darüber etwas zu sagen. Diese Quellen sind den meisten Menschen noch verborgen, doch werden sie nach und nach immer offenbarer werden. Aber aus diesen Quellen heraus wurde die Geisteswissenschaft gegründet. Was sagt nun die Geisteswissenschaft? Sie sagt vielerlei, was der gewöhnliche Mensch mit seinen gewöhnlichen Sinnen nicht wahrnimmt. Sie sagt zum Beispiel, daß der Mensch nicht bloß aus dem äußerlich sichtbaren Körper besteht, sondern daß er viergliedrig sei; daß er außer dem sichtbaren Körper auch einen für gewöhnliche Menschen unsichtbaren Lebensoder Ätherleib, ferner einen Empfindungs- oder Astralleib, und viertens das Ich besitzt, welches von Verkörperung zu Verkörperung geht, um eine fortschreitende Entwickelung in einer langen Zeit zu vollenden. Sie, die Geisteswissenschaft, sagt uns noch mehr. Sie sagt uns zum Beispiel, daß die Erde selbst auch eine Entwickelung von Verkörperung zu Verkörperung durchmache, eine Entwickelung kosmischer Natur. Sie zeigt uns ferner, daß die Sonne und die Planeten in diesem Entwickelungsvorgange die wichtigsten Rollen spielen, und daß das Bestehen aller dieser Weltenkörper und ihrer Vorgänge mit der Existenz geistiger Wesen zusammenhängt.
Was ist das alles? Wo sind die Quellen dieser Wahrheiten? Sie kommen von den Eingeweihten. Und wer sind die Eingeweihten? Es sind diejenigen, deren geistige Augen geöffnet sind, und die deshalb von der geistigen Welt reden, weil sie diese geistige Welt kennen. Sie sind die Sehenden zwischen Blinden. Schon Fichte spielte auf dieses Verhältnis an, und in der Tat sind für den Sehenden die geistigen Dinge so wirklich wie die körperlichen, ja noch viel wirklicher, denn ihm sind die letzteren nur der Ausdruck der ersteren. Freilich werden viele Menschen sagen, wenn ein Seher spricht von Ätherleib, Empfindungsleib und so weiter und von andern Kundgebungen geistiger Art, daß das ein Träumer und Phantast sei, welcher Theorien und Hypothesen für Wirklichkeiten halte. Der Seher begreift vollkommen, daß diejenigen, die nicht sehen, solche Einwendungen machen können. In einer Gesellschaft von physisch Blinden kann noch so viel und noch so genau von und über Farben und Licht gesprochen werden, für den Blinden bleibt das Theorie, aber den Begriff, den tatsächlichen Wirklichkeitsbegriff von Farbe und Licht wird der physisch Sehende dem physisch Blinden auch nicht eröffnen können. Dazu müßten die Blinden eben selbst sehen können, und erst dem erfolgreich operierten Blinden kann die Welt des Lichts aufgehen.
Wir wollen uns dieses Verhältnis noch in einem andern Bilde vorzustellen versuchen. Wir wollen uns vorstellen, wir hätten ein großes Gefäß mit Wasser vor uns, und wollen annehmen, es gäbe einen Menschen, der mit seinen Sinnen Wasser nicht sehen, nicht fühlen, überhaupt nicht empfinden könne. Für diesen Menschen würde das Gefäß leer sein. Nun wollen wir weiter annehmen, es könnte auf irgendeine Weise bewirkt werden, daß Kälteströmungen auf das Wasser einwirken, die es zum Gefrieren bringen. Zunächst würden hier und da Eisnadeln entstehen, welche sich dann bis zur Klumpenbildung zusammenballen können. Weil aber Eis ein fester Körper ist, so würde jener Mensch, der für Wasser keine Empfindung hat, die sich bildenden Eisteile wahrnehmen können. Was nimmt er nun wahr? Er nimmt wahr, daß Eis entsteht. Aber aus was entstünde es ihm? Aus nichts. So steht der Eingeweihte da in seinem Verhältnis zu den andern Menschen. Wo diese nichts sehen, sieht er. Nun aber sagen die Menschen: Wie kann ich das, was ich nicht nachprüfen kann, glauben können? Und da ich das nicht kann, welchen Zweck hätte es, sich da überhaupt erst mit solchen Dingen zu befassen, sich auf solche Dinge einzulassen? - Dazu verlangen besonders die philosophisch-monistischen Dogmatiker folgendes: erstens, daß alles zugegeben wird, was sie selber behaupten, und zweitens, daß niemand mehr wissen dürfe, als sie selber wissen. Sie stellen sich als die unfehlbaren Menschen hin, die die Grenzen der Erkenntnis bestimmen können. Der wahre Eingeweihte wird die wissenschaftlich erforschten Tatsachen niemals in Abrede stellen, sondern wohlwollend die Wahrheiten und die Verdienste der Wissenschaft anerkennen. Jedoch muß er es ablehnen, zuzugeben, daß der wissenschaftliche Dogmatiker die Grenzen der Erkenntnis festzustellen vermöge. Der Wissenschafter ist stolz auf das Wissen, im Gegensatz zum Glauben. Aber wenn da von Glauben und Nichtglauben gesprochen wird und der Wissenschafter der Meinung ist, daß seine Forschungsresultate frei von Glauben seien, so irrt er. Es ist einfach unmöglich, irgend etwas zu erforschen und zu lehren, ohne zu glauben. Man nehme zum Beispiel die Zellenlehre. Wir haben da in den Büchern die schönen Abbildungen von Zellen, Zellenteilungen, Zellenleben und so fort, klar und deutlich, mit allen Einzelheiten. Aber wer von uns hat das mit solcher Deutlichkeit selbst schon gesehen? Wir glauben alle, daß das so ist. Selbst die Universitätslehrer, die solches lehren, haben in den seltensten Fällen dies selbst alles gesehen, und doch lehren sie es. Sie haben es deswegen nicht selbst sehen können, weil es so schwer und selten zu beobachten ist, daß es nur wenigen einzelnen gelingt, es zu sehen, und dann, weil es in Wirklichkeit gar nicht so klar und deutlich ist, wie die Abbildungen ausschauen. Man denke an die Embryologie. Von jedem Augenblick der Schwangerschaft glaubt man ganz genau das Aussehen des Embryos zu kennen. Aber wie äußerst selten ist ein Forscher in der Lage, etwa durch einen plötzlichen Todesfall, der gerade in einem gewissen Moment der Schwangerschaft eintritt, Einblick zu bekommen. Wie mancher dieser Forscher hat das nie gesehen, was er lehrt. Bis dahin wo er selbst erst sah, mußte er glauben, und andere mit ihm. Und doch stellt er der Geisteswissenschaft gegenüber die Forderung, man solle nicht glauben, und niemand solle mehr wissen als er selbst. Das Wesen des Eingeweihten besteht darin, daß er hineinsehen kann in die geistige Welt. Bei den Eingeweihten sind die Quellen geisteswissenschaftliche Erkenntnis.
Ja, aber was nützt dies denen, die diese Erkenntnis nicht besitzen? Das soll ein Gleichnis lehren. Sehen Sie diesen Ofen an! Nun stellen Sie sich vor, es stelle sich jemand hin vor diesen Ofen und spreche zu ihm: Du Ofen, du bist zum Wärmen geschaffen, besinne dich auf deine Mission und mache die Stube warm! - Wird er es tun? Wird die Rede etwas nützen? Nein, der Ofen rührt sich nicht. Aber man rede nicht, sondern schaffe Holz und Kohlen herbei und heize, dann wird er seine Mission erfüllen.
So ist es mit der Mitteilung geisteswissenschaftlicher Wahrheiten. Sie sind das Heizmaterial für die menschliche Seele. Seit Jahrtausenden wird den Menschen Moral gepredigt und ihnen gesagt: Seid gut, liebet euch! - Aber tun sie es denn? Sieht es nicht ziemlich schlimm aus trotz aller christlichen Kirchenlehre? In einer süddeutschen Stadt sagte mir einst ein Pastor: Was Sie da über die Evangelien sagen, dagegen kann ich ganz und gar nichts einwenden, aber was hat es für einen Zweck, hie und da kleine geisteswissenschaftliche Konventikel zu bilden, wo doch die Kirche die praktische Erziehung in größtem Maßstabe ausführt? - Ja, wenn dieser Pastor recht hätte, dann hätte es keinen Zweck. Aber er hat nicht recht, denn wenn die Kirche ihre Aufgabe in vollem Umfange erfüllen würde, woher kommen dann immerfort noch die vielen Schlechtigkeiten? Gehen denn überhaupt alle Leute in die Kirche? Die Kirche predigt eben nicht praktische Moral, sondern Ofenmoral. Heutzutage gibt es nicht mehr viele Menschen, die auf bloßes Zureden hin besser werden. Und nun haben sich auch gerade noch die fähigsten Menschen von der Kirche abgewendet. Und wenn das so weiterginge, dann würden die Anhänger der Kirche immer spärlicher und spärlicher werden und der Materialismus sich immer breiter und breiter machen, bis eines Tages von der Kirche nicht mehr viel übrigbliebe. Darum ist eben die Geisteswissenschaft gekommen, sie ist nötig geworden, um das Heizmaterial herbeizuschaffen. Sie ist Heizmaterial, denn die bloße Mitteilung von Tatsachen aus den geistigen Welten wirkt anziehend und fördernd auf die geistige Entwickelung des einzelnen, fördernd nicht nur in Beziehung zur Moral, sondern auch in Beziehung auf geistiges Schauen.
Es gibt auch unter Geisteswissenschaftern solche, die der Meinung sind, man solle nur gut und edel sein und nach Vollkommenheit streben, dann würden sich die geistigen Augen schließlich von selbst auftun. Zugleich meinen sie, die Mitteilungen höherer Wahrheiten seien gering zu achten, und man solle nur darauf warten, es selbst sehen zu können, bis dahin, wo einem der Schleier von selbst gelüftet wird. Diejenigen, die so denken, irren. Sie verkennen den Charakter solcher Mitteilungen in seiner Wirkung als Heizmaterial. Es kommt darauf an, in der Seele Schwingungen zu erregen, die ihr auf andere Weise oder von selbst nicht kommen würden.
Was ist es aber, was im Menschen aufleuchten kann, aufleuchten soll, wenn er seine richtige Entwickelung begreift und fördert, wie es die Geisteswissenschaft sich zur Aufgabe hinstellt? Dazu müssen wir weit ausholen. Bis in die altindische Kultur müssen wir zurückgehen, welche wir bezeichnen als die Zeit der sieben Rishis. Diese waren die Eingeweihten jener Zeit, welche die Entwickelung der Menschen leiteten. Wenn sie aus ihrem geistigen Schauen heraus den Menschen Kunde brachten vom Höchsten, so sagten sie: Hoch über allem Sein, unerkennbar, unerforschbar, liegt eine Ursache, ein Wesen, das wir Vishva-Karman nennen, das wir aber nur ahnen können. Es liegt uns gleichsam zu fern, um es erkennen zu können. Jedoch nach uns, viel später, wird es der Menschheit näher kommen. Dann in einer viel späteren Kulturepoche sprach ein anderer Eingeweihter über dieses Wesen. Es war Zarathustra, nicht der historische, sondern ein Vorgänger desselben. Wenn er zum Volke sprach in seiner altpersischen heiligen Sprache, deren Herrlichkeit sich heute kaum darstellen läßt, so sagte er: Ich sehe das höchste Wesen in der Sonne, um die Sonne. In der Atmosphäre der Sonne ist es! - Und deshalb nannte er es: Ahura Mazdao, die große Aura, im Gegensatz zum Menschen, der kleinen Aura. Er erkannte in der großen Aura ein Ebenbild oder Vorbild für die kleine Aura, den Menschen. Ahura Mazdao ist gleich Ormuzd. Und er hat gepredigt, daß der Ahura Mazdao einst im Menschen wird offenbar werden. Das hat er vorausgeschaut. Aber er schaute auch, daß im Menschen Kräfte vorhanden sind, die ihn von der Offenbarung des höchsten Wesens in ihm hindern und fernhalten. Diese bezeichnete er als Ahriman, das Böse.
Noch später, in einer andern Kulturepoche, da haben wir wieder einen großen Eingeweihten. Dem war die Erkenntnis noch näher geworden. Bei den Rishis war das höchste Wesen gleichsam in ungeheurer Entfernung im Weltraum verborgen, bei Zarathustra war es bis zur Sonne vorgerückt, aber bei Moses reichte die Erkenntnis bereits in greifbare Nähe. Im brennenden Dornbusch, der zu Moses sprach, haben wir die Aura als Bestandteil irdischer Elemente. Moses erkannte, daß das höchste Wesen in der Erde vorhanden ist. Das Wesen war für den Eingeweihten heruntergestiegen über die Sonne zur Erde. Es lebte nun in den Elementen. Und als Moses das Wesen fragte, was er dem Volke sagen sollte, so sagte es ihm: «Ich bin der Ich-bin, Jahve.» Damit haben wir die Erklärung, daß das Wesen gekommen sei, um im Ich des Menschen zur Entfaltung zu kommen. Das war damals noch nicht der Fall. Der Mensch hatte damals das Bewußtsein des Höchsten noch nicht in seinem Innern zur Entfaltung gebracht. Moses jedoch wußte, daß dies geschehen sollte.
Und noch später kam ein andrer Mensch, der hellsichtig wurde: Paulus. Er wußte, daß in Jesus Christus dieses höchste Wesen verkörpert war. Aber er konnte nicht glauben, nicht fassen, daß jenes Wesen am Kreuze sterben mußte. Da wurde er eingeweiht. Daß er eingeweiht werden konnte, hatte er dem eigentümlichen Umstande zu verdanken, daß er eine unzeitige Geburt war. Eine Frühgeburt, ein Mensch, der nicht volle neun Monate ausgetragen wurde, ist einer, der nicht so tief in die Materie gestiegen ist, weshalb ihm der Einblick in die geistige Welt leichter wird. Und als Paulus hellsichtig wurde, da erkannte er, daß in Christus das höchste Wesen lebte. Nun war es tatsächlich im Menschen aufgelebt. Daher sagt Christus beim Abendmahl: «Das Brot ist mein Leib, der Wein ist mein Blut.» Brot: Erde; Wein, Pflanzensaft: Geist.
Bis hierher wollte ich Sie heute führen, um Sie fühlen zu lassen, was es zu bedeuten hat, daß ein solches Wesen sich der Erde genähert hat, in die Erde herabgelassen hat. Und das geschah auf Golgatha. Ist nun in Golgatha wirklich dieses Wesen über die Erde geflossen? Dazu betrachten wir und vergleichen wir die Zeit, sagen wir sechshundert Jahre vor Christi Geburt mit der Zeit sechshundert Jahre nach Christi Geburt. Was ist da vorgegangen, worin besteht der Unterschied?
Sechshundert Jahre vor Christus, da lebte Buddha. Er lebte in einem Königspalast. Dann ging er hinaus ins Land und lernte kennen Alter, Krankheit, Armut, Tod, Leichnam. Er sah, daß das ganze Menschenleben Leiden ist: Alter ist Leiden, Krankheit ist Leiden, Armut ist Leiden, Tod ist Leiden, Geburt ist Leiden, getrennt leben von denen, die wir lieben, ist Leiden, kurz alles Dasein ist Leiden. - Also sagte er sich und so lehrte er das Volk: Ihr sollt den Durst nach Dasein verlernen. -Da haben wir den hoffnungslosen Verzicht auf die Schöpfung.
Aber sechshundert Jahre später kam Golgatha. Da sehen wir als Symbol ein Kreuz aufgerichtet und auf dem Kreuz einen menschlichen Leichnam. Und die Menschen schauen zu dem Leichnam auf und ahnen, daß es die Heilung von allen Leiden gibt. Das ist ein Unterschied. Die Menschen sehen im Tode nicht mehr das Zeichen des Leidens, sondern das Zeichen von der Heilung des Leidens. Sieger können sie werden über das, was im Leben hier ist. Und das heißt: Es wird eine Frucht mitgenommen ins andere Leben.
Versteht nun der Mensch, daß Geburt und Leben nicht Leiden ist, sondern die Möglichkeit gewährt, aus dem Leiden herauszukommen, indem das Leben Gelegenheit gibt, das Geistige zu entwickeln, das über alles Leiden hinausführt, so ist Alter nicht mehr Leiden, sondern Annäherung an die Frucht des Lebens; Tod ist nicht mehr Leiden, sondern Erlösung; Nichtvereintsein mit denen, die wir lieben, ist nicht mehr Leiden, wenn man sich mit dem Christus-Wesen der AllLiebe vereint hat und alle Wesen in allen Welten in seine Liebe hüllt.
Das alles fühlte man sechshundert Jahre nach Christus, und seitdem konnte sich der Mensch verbunden fühlen mit dem Christus, dem Sonnengeist, der auch der Geist der Erde ist, der, wie er die Erde durchtränkt, auch jeden von uns durchdringt, und der Milde, Wärme, Liebe in unserer Seele erweckt, der die All-Liebe erweckt und die Erde umgestaltet.
Und weil Geisteswissenschaft durch die Mitteilung geistiger Wahrheiten nicht Moral doziert, sondern praktische Moral begründet, so wird sie für den modernsten Menschen die Brücke bauen, die in die geistige Welt hineinführt. Es mag sein, daß diejenigen, die an der Spitze der heutigen Kultur stehen, die führenden Persönlichkeiten der Industrie und der Gelehrsamkeit, die Tonangebenden, lächeln mögen über diese kleinen geisteswissenschaftlichen Konventikel und über das, was da untersucht wird. Lassen Sie sie denken, was sie wollen! Da war auch einst eine mächtige römische Kulturwelt, dieses alte kaiserliche Rom, das wir noch heute in seinen Trümmern bewundern. Das alte riesige Colosseum war die Stätte, wo Weihrauch abgebrannt wurde, um den aufsteigenden Fleischdunst der dort von den wilden Tieren zerrissenen Christenmenschen zu überdecken. Das war das alte Rom, oben am Tageslicht. Und unten? Steigen wir hinunter in die Katakomben! Da finden wir die ersten Bekenner des Christentums, des Mysteriums von Golgatha, verfolgt und verachtet. Da unten versteckt verehren sie Christus, da verrichten sie ihre symbolischen Handlungen, da unten werden die ersten christlichen Gemeinden begründet. Obschon klein an Zahl und verachtet, zweifelten sie nicht. Da unten ist eine kleine Schar verachtet und verstoßen, da oben ist eine große Schar, die den Ton angibt: einige Jahrhunderte später ist das alte Rom nicht mehr da, aber die da unten waren, die untere Welt, sie ist hinaufgestiegen. So wird auch die Geisteswissenschaft in einigen Jahrhunderten hinaufsteigen über Industrie, Gelehrsamkeit und heutige Menschheitsbeziehungen. Doch fühlen Sie das nicht wie im Stolz, sondern mit Demut, wenn Sie in Ihren kleinen Konventikeln sich vergleichen mit denen des unterirdischen Roms. Und wenn Sie sich ausmalen, daß die heutige glanzvolle Wissenschaft vor der Geisteswissenschaft zerronnen sein wird, so malen Sie sich das nur in Demut aus. Wenn Sie dieses Gefühl von dieser Stunde an mitnehmen, so daß es immer lebendig in Ihnen bleibt, dann werden Sie an der Verbreitung der allgemeinen Menschenliebe mitarbeiten, und dann werden Sie eintauchen in eine neue Kultur.
Ich rufe an alle guten geistigen Kräfte, daß sie über dem neugegründeten Arbeitszweig wachen mögen und Ihnen helfen mögen, das Ziel zu erreichen und Ihre Arbeit zu erleichtern.
On the Inauguration of the Breslau Branch
When speaking at the inauguration of a new branch of work, it is more important to explain the purpose and goal of spiritual scientific work than to reveal significant secrets about higher worlds. If we want to imagine the significance of the spiritual scientific worldview for the human soul, we must turn our gaze to and beyond various fields.
Imagine a person living in the 13th or 14th century. He lived at a time when the art of printing had not yet been invented, which in more recent times has had such a powerful influence on the human soul. So imagine a person of that time and ask yourself what was going on in his soul when, for example, he looked up at the sky. He, whose views were not yet influenced by accumulated knowledge and material learning, as those of a person living today are, saw the space illuminated by the sun during the day and by the twinkling of the stars at night, and his soul felt the universe filled with spiritual forces and spiritual beings. He felt them. Through the cultural means of that time, ideas of divine-spiritual facts arose in him, and he felt them directly. And so it was when he saw plants sprouting from the earth in spring: his soul felt this nature illuminated and filled with divine-spiritual forces.
This feeling, this direct perception of spiritual forces, recedes more and more the closer we come to the present time. This is not meant to be a disparaging criticism of the latter, for the receding of this feeling is accompanied by the emergence of another kind of knowledge of nature, a more intellectual, external view of the world, and it is quite right that people have learned to master the forces of nature, to explore the world in miniature with microscopes, and to follow the stars in their course through space with telescopes. It is right that people are proud in a certain sense of being able to increase their mastery of the forces of nature, but we must also realize that this has changed all human impulses.
When people looked at the stars in the past, they said to themselves: I feel something divine and spiritual in the stars. Today, however, they see only physical bodies, and it is difficult for people today to imagine anything divine and spiritual. Humanity has truly lost its understanding of this divine and spiritual vision. Nevertheless, it is true that even today there are many souls who are wonderfully touched by the recognition of the divine-spiritual. Oh, the soul has a thirst to imagine how space is filled with the divine-spiritual, filled with a spiritual power, and it has a need to recognize this divine.
Now, the material development described has progressed so far that even the most serious and eager seekers of truth have gradually come to believe that it can only be a childish notion to feel something divine in the world, and that humanity has now entered a more mature age in which outdated viewpoints must be cast aside. Even children in school are exposed to a conflict that has profound consequences for their lives. On the one hand, children are taught natural science in a purely materialistic way, and on the other hand, they are taught religion. There is no bridge between the two, no connecting link. What will become of this in later life? One could say that the whole of humanity is divided into two camps, depending on the consequences that arise from this conflict. On the one hand, there are those who have become indifferent and no longer care about anything, and on the other hand, there are those who take it tragically, brood over it and yet cannot come to terms with it, ultimately despairing of ever solving the riddles of life. Thinking humanity is indeed divided into these two camps. Perhaps in the end it will only be the simpler minds who have retained a certain feeling for the spiritual. Those who do not merely look at things outwardly know that it was precisely in the middle of the 19th century that the danger of humanity sinking completely into materialistic life was greatest. The entire mood and state of mind of human beings became materialistic in their feelings and perceptions. This posed a terrible danger to humanity. Do you know what would have happened if spiritual science had not intervened? The way of thinking would have sunk deeper and deeper into materialism. Thought forms would have become increasingly rigid and ossified, their boundaries would have become ever sharper and more immutable, instead of adapting in a lively flow. No one would have been able to feel for another or with another, and everyone would have felt that they alone were right, despising and hating anyone who thought or felt differently. Thought would have taken on completely rigid forms, devoid of all love, and the spirit would eventually have been pushed so far into the background that any connection would have been made impossible forever, and the path to the spiritual world would have been lost. The earth would have become a moon. For this reason, those who have insight into the higher spiritual worlds have brought spiritual science to humanity. From what sources do these teachings flow that are destined to save humanity from this great danger? On a day when a newly formed working group is being inaugurated, it is appropriate to say something about this. These sources are still hidden from most people, but they will gradually become more and more apparent. But spiritual science was founded from these sources. What does spiritual science say? It says many things that ordinary people cannot perceive with their ordinary senses. For example, it says that human beings do not consist solely of the outwardly visible body, but that they are fourfold; that in addition to the visible body, they also have a life or etheric body that is invisible to ordinary people, a sentient or astral body, and fourthly, the I, which passes from embodiment to embodiment in order to complete a progressive development over a long period of time. Spiritual science tells us even more. It tells us, for example, that the earth itself also undergoes a development from embodiment to embodiment, a development of a cosmic nature. It further shows us that the sun and the planets play the most important roles in this process of development, and that the existence of all these world bodies and their processes is connected with the existence of spiritual beings.
What is all this? Where are the sources of these truths? They come from the initiated. And who are the initiates? They are those whose spiritual eyes are open and who therefore speak of the spiritual world because they know this spiritual world. They are the seers among the blind. Fichte already alluded to this relationship, and indeed, for the seer, spiritual things are as real as physical things, even more real, because the latter are only the expression of the former. Of course, many people will say that when a seer speaks of the etheric body, the sentient body, and so on, and of other manifestations of a spiritual nature, he is a dreamer and a fantasist who takes theories and hypotheses for reality. The seer understands perfectly well that those who do not see can make such objections. In a society of physically blind people, one can speak as much and as accurately as one likes about colors and light, but for the blind, this remains theory. The physically sighted cannot reveal the actual concept of reality of color and light to the physically blind. To do so, the blind would have to be able to see for themselves, and only after successful surgery can the world of light open up to the blind.
Let us try to imagine this relationship in another image. Let us imagine that we have a large vessel of water in front of us and assume that there is a person who cannot see, feel, or perceive water with their senses. For this person, the vessel would be empty. Now let us further assume that it could be brought about in some way that cold currents act on the water, causing it to freeze. At first, ice needles would form here and there, which could then clump together to form lumps. But because ice is a solid body, the person who has no sensation of water would be able to perceive the forming pieces of ice. What does he perceive? He perceives that ice is forming. But from what would it arise for him? From nothing. Thus stands the initiate in his relationship to other people. Where they see nothing, he sees. But now people say: How can I believe what I cannot verify? And since I cannot do that, what purpose would it serve to concern oneself with such things at all, to get involved in such things? - To this end, philosophical-monistic dogmatists demand the following: first, that everything they themselves assert be accepted, and second, that no one be allowed to know more than they themselves know. They present themselves as infallible human beings who can determine the limits of knowledge. The true initiate will never deny scientifically researched facts, but will graciously acknowledge the truths and merits of science. However, he must refuse to admit that the scientific dogmatist is capable of determining the limits of knowledge. Scientists are proud of their knowledge, in contrast to faith. But when we speak of faith and non-faith, and scientists believe that their research results are free of faith, they are mistaken. It is simply impossible to research and teach anything without believing. Take cell theory, for example. We have beautiful illustrations in books of cells, cell division, cell life, and so on, clear and distinct, with all the details. But who among us has ever seen this with such clarity? We all believe that it is so. Even the university professors who teach such things have rarely seen it all themselves, and yet they teach it. They have not been able to see it themselves because it is so difficult and rare to observe that only a few individuals succeed in seeing it, and then because in reality it is not as clear and distinct as the illustrations make it appear. Think of embryology. We believe we know exactly what the embryo looks like at every moment of pregnancy. But how extremely rare is it for a researcher to gain insight, for example through a sudden death that occurs at a certain moment during pregnancy? How many of these researchers have never seen what they teach? Until they saw it themselves, they had to believe, and others had to believe with them. And yet they demand that spiritual science should not be believed and that no one should know more than they do. The essence of the initiate is that he can see into the spiritual world. For the initiated, the sources are spiritual scientific knowledge.
Yes, but what use is this to those who do not possess this knowledge? Let a parable teach us this. Look at this stove! Now imagine someone standing in front of this stove and saying to it: “Stove, you were made to give heat, remember your mission and warm the room!” Will it do so? Will the words be of any use? No, the stove will not move. But don't talk, bring wood and coal and heat it, then it will fulfill its mission.
So it is with the communication of spiritual truths. They are the fuel for the human soul. For thousands of years, people have been preached morality and told: Be good, love one another! - But do they do it? Doesn't it look pretty bad despite all the Christian teachings? In a city in southern Germany, a pastor once said to me: “I have no objection whatsoever to what you say about the Gospels, but what is the point of forming small spiritual scientific conventicles here and there, when the Church carries out practical education on a large scale?” - Yes, if this pastor were right, then there would be no point. But he is not right, because if the church were fulfilling its task to the full, where would all the evil still come from? Do all people go to church? The church does not preach practical morality, but oven morality. Nowadays, there are not many people who become better simply by being persuaded. And now even the most capable people have turned away from the church. And if this continues, the followers of the church will become fewer and fewer and materialism will spread more and more, until one day there will be little left of the church. That is why spiritual science has come into being; it has become necessary to provide fuel for the fire. It is fuel because the mere communication of facts from the spiritual worlds has an attractive and stimulating effect on the spiritual development of the individual, stimulating not only in relation to morality but also in relation to spiritual vision.
There are also those among spiritual scientists who believe that one should simply be good and noble and strive for perfection, and then the spiritual eyes will eventually open of their own accord. At the same time, they believe that the communications of higher truths should be regarded as insignificant, and that one should simply wait until one can see for oneself, until the veil is lifted of its own accord. Those who think this way are mistaken. They misunderstand the character of such communications in their effect as fuel. It is important to arouse vibrations in the soul that would not come about in any other way or by themselves.
But what is it that can and should shine forth in human beings when they understand and promote their proper development, as spiritual science sets itself the task of doing? To answer this, we must go back a long way. We must go back to ancient Indian culture, which we refer to as the time of the seven Rishis. These were the initiates of that time who guided the development of human beings. When they brought knowledge of the highest to human beings from their spiritual vision, they said: High above all being, unknowable, unfathomable, there is a cause, a being that we call Vishva-Karman, but which we can only intuit. It is, as it were, too far away for us to be able to recognize it. However, after us, much later, it will come closer to humanity. Then, in a much later cultural epoch, another initiate spoke about this being. It was Zarathustra, not the historical one, but a predecessor of him. When he spoke to the people in his ancient Persian sacred language, whose glory can hardly be imagined today, he said: I see the highest being in the sun, around the sun. It is in the atmosphere of the sun! - And that is why he called it Ahura Mazdao, the great aura, in contrast to man, who has a small aura. He recognized in the great aura an image or model for the small aura, the human being. Ahura Mazdao is equal to Ormuzd. And he preached that Ahura Mazdao would one day be revealed in man. He foresaw this. But he also saw that there are forces within man that prevent and keep him from the revelation of the highest being within him. He called these forces Ahriman, the evil one.
Later still, in another cultural epoch, we again have a great initiate. He had come even closer to this knowledge. For the Rishis, the highest being was hidden at an immense distance in space; for Zarathustra, it had advanced to the sun; but for Moses, this knowledge was already within reach. In the burning bush that spoke to Moses, we have the aura as a component of earthly elements. Moses recognized that the highest being was present in the earth. The being had descended for the initiate via the sun to the earth. It now lived in the elements. And when Moses asked the being what he should say to the people, it said to him: “I am the I am, Yahweh.” This explains that the being had come to unfold in the human ego. That was not yet the case at that time. At that time, human beings had not yet developed the consciousness of the highest within themselves. Moses, however, knew that this was to happen.
And even later, another man came who became clairvoyant: Paul. He knew that this highest being was embodied in Jesus Christ. But he could not believe, could not comprehend, that this being had to die on the cross. Then he was initiated. He owed his initiation to the peculiar circumstance that he was born prematurely. A premature birth, a human being who was not carried to full term for nine months, is one who has not descended so deeply into matter, which is why insight into the spiritual world comes more easily to him. And when Paul became clairvoyant, he recognized that the highest being lived in Christ. Now it had indeed come to life in man. That is why Christ says at the Last Supper: “The bread is my body, the wine is my blood.” Bread: earth; wine, plant sap: spirit.
This is where I wanted to take you today, to let you feel what it means that such a being approached the earth, descended into the earth. And that happened on Golgotha. Did this being really flow over the earth at Golgotha? To answer this, let us consider and compare the time, say six hundred years before the birth of Christ, with the time six hundred years after the birth of Christ. What happened then, and what is the difference?
Six hundred years before Christ, Buddha lived. He lived in a royal palace. Then he went out into the country and learned about old age, sickness, poverty, death, and corpses. He saw that the whole of human life is suffering: old age is suffering, sickness is suffering, poverty is suffering, death is suffering, birth is suffering, being separated from those we love is suffering—in short, all existence is suffering. So he said to himself, and so he taught the people: You must unlearn your thirst for existence. Here we have the hopeless renunciation of creation.
But six hundred years later came Golgotha. There we see as a symbol a cross erected and on the cross a human corpse. And people look up at the corpse and sense that there is a cure for all suffering. That is a difference. People no longer see death as a sign of suffering, but as a sign of the healing of suffering. They can become victorious over what is here in life. And that means that a fruit is taken with them into the other life.
Does man now understand that birth and life are not suffering, but grant the possibility of coming out of suffering, in that life gives the opportunity to develop the spiritual, which leads beyond all suffering, then old age is no longer suffering, but an approach to the fruit of life; death is no longer suffering, but redemption; separation from those we love is no longer suffering when we have united ourselves with the Christ being of universal love and envelop all beings in all worlds in his love.
All this was felt six hundred years after Christ, and since then human beings have been able to feel connected to Christ, the Sun Spirit, who is also the spirit of the earth, who, as he permeates the earth, also permeates each one of us, awakening gentleness, warmth, and love in our souls, awakening universal love and transforming the earth.
And because spiritual science, through the communication of spiritual truths, does not lecture on morality but establishes practical morality, it will build a bridge for modern man that leads into the spiritual world. It may be that those who stand at the forefront of today's culture, the leading figures in industry and scholarship, the trendsetters, may smile at these small spiritual scientific conventions and at what is being investigated there. Let them think what they will! There was once a powerful Roman cultural world, that ancient imperial Rome, which we still admire today in its ruins. The old huge Colosseum was the place where incense was burned to cover the rising stench of flesh from the Christians torn apart by wild animals there. That was ancient Rome, up above in the light of day. And below? Let's descend into the catacombs! There we find the first confessors of Christianity, of the mystery of Golgotha, persecuted and despised. Down there, hidden away, they worship Christ, they perform their symbolic acts, down there the first Christian communities are founded. Although small in number and despised, they did not doubt. Down there is a small group despised and rejected, up there is a large group setting the tone: a few centuries later, ancient Rome is no longer there, but those who were down there, the lower world, have risen. So too will spiritual science rise in a few centuries above industry, scholarship, and today's human relationships. But do not feel this with pride, but with humility, when you compare yourselves in your small circles with those of underground Rome. And when you imagine that today's brilliant science will have melted away before the science of the spirit, imagine it only in humility. If you take this feeling with you from this moment on, so that it always remains alive in you, then you will contribute to the spread of universal love, and then you will immerse yourself in a new culture.
I call upon all good spiritual forces to watch over this newly founded branch of work and to help you achieve your goal and make your work easier.