Self-knowledge in Relation to the Mystery Drama, 'The Portal of Initiation'
GA 125
17 September 1910, Bern
Translated by G. A. Kaufmann
In Munich, as most of you will be aware, beside repeating last year's representation of Edouard Schuré's drama, The Children of Lucifer, we produced a Rosicrucian Mystery Play which seeks in manifold ways to represent some of the truths that are connected with our Movement. On the one hand, the Mystery Play was intended as an example, showing how that which inspires all theosophical life can also pour itself out into Art. On the other hand, we must not forget that this Play contains very much of our spiritual-scientific teachings, in a form in which we shall perhaps only discover it during years to come. This, above all, must not be misunderstood. You should take pains to read the things that are contained in it,—I do not say between the lines, for they are in the actual words, but they are there in a spiritual way. If you were really to take the Rosicrucian Mystery Play in earnest, and look for the things that it contains during the next few years, it would not be necessary for me to give any lectures at all for many years to come. You would discover many things which I am giving in lectures on all kinds of subjects.
It will, however, be more practicable for us to seek these things together than alone. In a certain sense, it is very good for that which lives in Spiritual Science to be among us in this form. To-day, therefore, taking our start from the Rosicrucian Mystery Play, I should like to speak of certain properties of human self-knowledge. But we must first call to mind how the individuality, living and working in the body of Johannes Thomasius, is characterised in this Play. Hence, I should like this lecture on self-knowledge to begin with a recitation of those passages which refer to the self-knowledge of Johannes.
(The second scene: ‘Know thou thyself, O man!’ and the ninth scene ‘O man, feel thou thyself!’ were read out aloud at this point.)
In these two scenes, ‘Know thou thyself, O man’ and ‘O man, feel thou thyself,’ two stages of development in the unfolding of the soul are brought before us. I beg you not to think it strange if I now say the following: I am in no way opposed to the Rosicrucian Mystery Play being interpreted as I have sometimes heard other poems interpreted in theosophical circles. For in this Rosicrucian Mystery there may well come before our souls in a more living and immediate form what I have often said in relation to other works of art I have interpreted. I never hesitated to say: Though the plant or flower does not know what the human being who beholds it finds therein, nevertheless, the flower contains what he finds. I said this once when I was about to interpret Faust. It is not necessary for the poet, when he actually wrote the poem, to have exactly known or felt in the words all that was afterwards found there. I can assure you, nothing of what I may now or subsequently attach to this Mystery Play, and of which I know that it is really contained therein, came to me consciously when the several scenes were created. The scenes grew out of themselves, like the leaves of the plant. One cannot produce such a form by first having the idea, and then translating it into the outer form. I always found it very interesting to see it coming into being, scene by scene. Other friends, too, who learnt to know the scenes one by one, always said. How strange it is; it always comes out differently from what one had imagined.
The Mystery Play is like a picture of the evolution of mankind in the evolution of a single man. And I will emphasise, for real and true feeling one cannot shroud oneself in abstractions when one wishes to set forth Theosophy. Each human soul is different from another, and must indeed be different; for everyone experiences his own evolution, in all that is given as our general teaching, we can only receive guiding lines. Hence the full truth can only be given if we take our start from an individual soul,—representing a single human individuality in a fully individual and characteristic way. If, therefore, any one studies the character of Johannes Thomasius, seeking to translate into theories of human evolution what is specifically said of him, he would be making an entire mistake. He would be much in error if he imagined: ‘I myself shall experience just what Johannes Thomasius experienced.’ That which Johannes Thomasius has to experience applies indeed to every man as to its general tendency and direction. Nevertheless, to undergo these individual experiences one would have to be Johannes Thomasius! Everyone is a Johannes Thomasius his own way. Thus, everything is set forth in a fully individual way, and by this very fact it presents in as true a way as possible, through individual figure, the characteristic evolution of the human being in his soul.
Therefore, a broad basis had to be created. Thomasius is first shown on the physical plane. Single experiences of his soul are indicated, such, for example, as this one, which cannot but be of great significance:—We are told how at a time not very long ago, he deserted a being who was devoted to him in faithful love. That is a thing that often happens, but it works differently on one who is striving to undergo an inner evolution. It is a deep and profound truth: He who is to undergo a higher evolution does not attain self-knowledge by brooding into himself, but by diving other beings. By self-knowledge we must know that we are come from the Cosmos. And we can only dive down by transmuting our own self into another self. To begin with we transmuted into the beings once near to us in life. This therefore, is an example of the conscious experience of one's own self within another. Johannes, having got deeper down into himself, with his self dives down in self-knowledge into another being—into that being whom he had brought bitter pain. So, then we see how Thomasius dives down in self-knowledge. Theoretically we may say: ‘If you would know the flower, you must dive into the flower.’ Self-knowledge, however, is most readily attained when we dive down into the events in the midst of which we ourselves have stood in some other way. So long as we are in our own self, we go through the outer experiences. Over against a true self-knowledge, that which we think of the life of other beings is a mere abstraction. For Thomasius, to begin with, the experiences of other human beings become his own experience. Here, for example, was one Capesius, describing his experiences. We can well understand how such experiences arise in life; Thomasius, however, receives them differently. He listens, but his listening (it is described so in one of the later scenes) is different. It is as though he were not there at all with his ordinary self. Another, deeper faculty reveals itself. It is as though he himself entered into the soul of Capesius and experienced what is going on within that soul.
It is exceedingly significant when he becomes estranged from himself. For this indeed is inseparable from self-knowledge: one must tear oneself free of oneself and go out into another. It is indeed significant for Thomasius when, having heard all these speeches, he finds himself obliged to say:—
“A mirrored picture 'twas of fullest life
That showed me to myself in clearest lines:
This spirit-revelation makes me feel
That most of us protect and train one trait
And one alone in all our character,
Which thus persuades itself it is the whole.
I sought to unify these many traits
In mine own self and boldly trod the path
Which here is shown, to lead unto that goal;
And it hath made of me a nothingness.”
Why did it make of him a nothingness? Because he dived down through self-knowledge into the other beings. Brooding into his own inner life, makes a man proud and arrogant. True self-knowledge leads at first to the pain of diving down into other selves. Johannes listens to the words of Capesius. He experiences in the other soul the words of Felicia. He follows Strader into his cloistered loneliness. All this, to begin with, is abstraction; he has not yet come to the point to which he is afterwards guided through his pain. Self-knowledge is deepened by meditation in the inner self. That which was shown in the first scene, is now revealed by deepened self-knowledge, which—rising out of the abstraction—enters into reality. The words which you have heard resounding through the centuries—words of the Delphic oracle—gain a new life for the human being at this point; yet to begin with it is a life of estrangement from his own self. Johannes, as one who is in process of self-knowledge, dives down into all other beings. He lives in air and water, rocks and streams,—not in himself. All these words which we can only shew resounding from outside, are really words of meditation. At the very moment when the curtain rises, we must conceive the words that sound forth in all self-knowledge—we must conceive them far, far louder than they can be presented on the stage. Then the self-knower dives down into a multitude of other beings. He learns to know the things into which he enters thus. And now the same experience, which he already had before, comes before him in a most terrible way. It is a deep truth. Self-knowledge, when it takes its course in this way, leads us to look at ourselves quite differently than we ever did before. It leads us to learn to feel our own Ego as a stranger!
In fact, it is the outer vehicle of man which he feels most near to himself. A human being of our time is apt to feel it far more nearly when he cuts his finger than when he is hurt by a false judgment passed by his fellowman. How much more does it hurt the human being of to-day when he cuts his finger than when he hears a false judgment! Yet he is only cutting into his bodily vehicle.
This is the thing that emerges in self-knowledge: we learn to feel our body as an instrument. It is not so difficult for a man to feel his hand as an instrument when he uses it to grasp an object; but he now learns to feel the same with one or another portion of the brain. This feeling of the brain as of an instrument occurs at a certain stage of self-knowledge. Things become localised. When we drive a nail in the wall, we know that we are doing it with a certain tool. Now we are also aware that in doing so we make use of this or that part of the brain. These things become objective—external to us. We learn to know our brain as something that is really separated from us. Self-knowledge brings about this objectivity of our own bodily vehicle, until at length it is as foreign to us as our external tools. And as we begin thus to feel our bodily nature as an objective thing, thereby we also begin to live in the outer Universe. Only because a man still feels his body as his own, he is not clear about it; he thinks there is a boundary between the air outside him and the air within. He says to himself that he is there within; and yet, within him is the same air as outside him. Take then the substance of the air; it is within and at the same time without. And so it is in every case so it is with the blood, and with all that is bodily. In a bodily sense, man cannot be either within or without. That is mere Maya. Inasmuch as the bodily ‘inside’ becomes external to us, it is prolonged into the world outside us, into the Cosmos. And so it is, in deed and truth.
The pain of feeling oneself a stranger to oneself,—this was intended in the first scene. It is the pain of feeling oneself estranged from oneself, by finding oneself in all outer things. Johannes' own bodily vehicle is like an entity that is outside him. Feeling his own body outside of himself, he sees the other body approaching him,—the body of the being whom he has deserted. This other one approaches him, and he has learned to speak with that other being's own words. This tells him that his self has now expanded to the other being:
“Ah, bitter sorrow hath he brought to me;
So utterly I trusted him of old.
He left me lonely with my sorrow's pain,
He robbed me of the very warmth of life,
And thrust me deep beneath the chill, cold ground.”
The reproach comes vividly into our soul, only when we are bound to utter the suffering of the other one, with which our own self is connected; for our own self has now dived down into the other self. Such is the real deepening of things. Johannes at this point is really in the pain which he has caused; he feels himself poured out into it and again awakened. What does he really experience? Taking it all in all, we find that the ordinary man undergoes such an experience only in the state that we call Kama-loca. The candidate for Initiation has to experience, already in this world, what the normal human being undergoes in the spiritual world. He must undergo within the physical body the Kama-loca experiences which in the ordinary course are undergone outside the physical. Therefore, all the characteristics which we may understand as properties of Kama-loca are presented here as experiences of Initiation. Just as Johannes dives down into the soul whom he has given pain, so must the normal man in Kama-loca dive down into the souls to whom he gave pain and suffering. As though a box-on-the-ears were given back to him, so must he feel the pain. There is only this difference: while the Initiate experiences these things within the physical body, the other human being undergoes them after death. He who experiences them now will live in quite a different way when Kama-loca comes.
However, even that which man can undergo in Kama-loca, may be experienced in such a way that he is not yet free. It is a difficult task to become completely free. It is one of the most important experiences of spiritual development in our time (in the Graeco-Latin age it was not yet so) to realise how infinitely difficult it is to get free of oneself. A most important Initiation-experience is expressed in the words wherein Johannes feels himself fettered to his own lower body. His own being appears to him as a being to whom he is enchained:—
“I feel the chains that hold me chained to thee.
So fast was not Prometheus riveted
Upon the naked rocks of Caucasus,
As I am riveted and forged to thee.”
That is a thing essentially connected with self-knowledge. It is a secret of self-knowledge.; we must only apprehend it in the right way.
Have we really become better men by becoming earthly men,—by diving down into our earthly vehicles? Or should we be better if we were able to be alone in our inner life,—if we could simply cast the vehicles aside? Superficial people may well ask, when they first meet with the theosophical life, Why should one first dive down into an earthly body? The simplest thing would be to remain above; then we should not have all the misery of diving down. Why have the wise Powers of Destiny plunged us into the body?
In simple feeling, one can explain a little if one says that Divine-spiritual forces have been working at this earthly body for millions of years. Precisely inasmuch as it is so, we should make more of ourselves than we have the force to do. Our inner forces are inadequate! The fact is, if we merely wish to be what we are in our own inner being,—if we are not corrected by our vehicles—we cannot possibly be equal yet to what the Gods have made. Life shows itself in this way. Here upon Earth, man is transplanted into his bodily sheaths - sheaths that that have been prepared by beings during tree Worlds. Man still has the task of building and developing his inner being. Here between birth and death, man is an evil being through the elasticity of his bodily sheaths. In Devachan he is once more a better being, for he is there received by the Divine-spiritual beings who pour him through with their own forces. In time to come—the Vulcan era—he will be a perfect being. Here upon Earth, he is a being who gives way to one lust or another. The heart, for example, is so wisely ordered that it withstands for decades the attacks which man directs against it with his excesses—as, for instance, with his drinking coffee.
Such as he can be to-day by virtue of his own forces, man goes his way through Kama-loca. In Kama-loca he shall learn to know what he can by his own force alone. And that, in truth, is nothing good. Man, to describe himself, cannot describe himself with any predicate of beauty. He must describe himself as Johannes does:
“Yet in what shape know I myself again.
My human form is lost and gone from me;
Like some fierce dragon do I see myself;
Begotten out of primal lust and greed.
And clearly do I see how up till now
Some dim deluding veil of phantom forms
Hath hid from me mine own monstrosity.”
Our inner being is harnessed, as it were elastically, and is thus hidden from us. Truly we learn to know ourselves as ‘some fierce dragon’ when we learn to know Initiation. Therefore these words are derived from the very deepest feeling; they are not words of morbid introspection, but of true self-knowledge:
“Oh yea, I know thee; for thou art myself:
Knowledge doth chain to thee, pernicious beast,
Chain mine own self—pernicious beast—to thee;”
Fundamentally the two are the same; first as the object, then as the subject. ‘I willed to flee from thee …’
This flight, however, leads him all the more into himself. And now the ‘company’ emerges—in which we really are when we look into ourselves. This ‘company’ consists of our own cravings and passions,—all that we did not notice before, because every time we wanted to look into ourselves our gaze was diverted to the world around us. Compared to the inner life into which we tried to look, the world is a world of wondrous beauty. Here, then, we cease to look into ourselves in the illusion or Maya of life.
When human beings around us indulge in vain chatter and we grow tired of it, we take flight in solitude. For certain stages of development, it is important to do so. We can collect ourselves. We should collect ourselves in this way; it is a means of self-knowledge. Nevertheless, there are these experiences we come into a ‘company’ where we can no more be lonely. For at this stage—it matters not, whether within us or without us—beings appear who will not let us be alone. Then comes the experience which man is meant to have. Solitude itself brings him into the worst society of all:—
“Man's final refuge hath been lost to me;
I have been robbed of solitude.”
All these are real experiences, but you must not let their very intensity become a snare. Do not imagine, if such experiences are presented in their full intensity, that you should therefore be afraid. Do not imagine that these things are meant to divert any one from diving down himself into these waters. One may not experience them at once with the same intensity as Johannes did. He had to experience them thus for a definite purpose,—in a certain sense, even prematurely. Regular self-development will go at quite another pace. The fact that it takes place in-Johannes so tumultuously, should be conceived as an individual matter. Because he is an individuality who has suffered shipwreck inasmuch as he infringes on these laws, therefore it all takes place in him in a far more tempestuous way. He learns to know these laws, in that they throw him deeply out of his balance.
Nevertheless, what is here described of Johannes is intended to call forth the feeling that true self-knowledge has nothing to do with trite or easy phrases. Self-knowledge, if it be true, can do no other to begin with than to lead through suffering and grief. Things that were hitherto a refreshment take on another countenance when they appear in the field of self-knowledge. No doubt, we can pray for solitude, even though we have already found self-knowledge. Nevertheless in certain moments of self-knowledge, solitude may be the very thing we lose, if we seek it in our hitherto accustomed way. It is in moments when we flow out into the objective world, and when the lonely one suffers the direst pain of all.
This pouring-out of ourselves into other beings,—we must learn to feel it rightly if we would feel what this Play contains. It is conceived with a certain aesthetic feeling; it is ‘spiritually realistic,’ through and through. A realist with true aesthetic feeling suffers a certain pain at an unrealistic presentation. Here again, that can give satisfaction at a certain stage can be a source of pain at another. All this depends upon the way of self-knowledge. When for example you have understood a play of Shakespeare's—a great work, in the external world—it may no doubt be a source of aesthetic pleasure to you. Nevertheless, there may occur a moment of development when you are no longer satisfied. You feel your inner being rent as you go on from scene to scene. You no longer see any necessity in the sequence of one scene after another. You feel it quite unnatural that one scene is placed next to the other. Why so? Because there is nothing to hold the scenes together,—only the writer Shakespeare, and the onlooker. There is an abstract principle of causality and no reality of being in the sequence of the scenes. It is a characteristic of Shakespeare's dramas; nothing is indicated that works karmically through and through and holds the whole together.
The Rosicrucian Mystery Play, on the other hand, is realistic—spiritually realistic. Much is required of Johannes Thomasius. Without actively partaking in any important role, he is there the stage. He is the one in whose soul it is all taking place. What is described is the development of the soul—the real experiences that are undergone in the soul's development.
The soul of Johannes, realistically, spins one scene out of another. Here, then, we see that the realistic and the spiritual are in no contradiction to each other. The ‘materialistic’ and the spiritual need not—although they can—be in contradiction to each other. The realistic and the spiritual certainly need not be in contradiction to each other. Moreover, a materialist can thoroughly admire what is realistic in a spiritual sense. Shakespeare's dramas can certainly be described as realistic in terms of an aesthetic principle. But you will also understand that an Art which goes hand in hand with Theosophy eventually leads to this:—For him who experiences his own self in the Cosmos, the whole Cosmos becomes an Ego-being. Therefore we cannot abide it that anything should meet him in the Cosmos which does not stand in relation to the Ego-being. Art will in this respect have to learn that which will bring it to the principle of the Ego. For in effect, Christ once upon a time brought us the I. In the most varied spheres this I will live and find expression.
This human reality of the soul, and on the other hand this dismemberment in the world outside, shows itself also in another way. If at that time someone asked: Which person is Atma, which is Buddhi, and which Manas? … truly it was a dreadful Art if it had to be thus interpreted, as saying: ‘This character or that is a personification of Manas.’ There are such theosophical abuses, trying to interpret things in this direction. One could only say of a work of Art that had to be interpreted in such a way, Poor work of Art! Certainly, for Shakespeare's plays it would be utterly false and laughable. These are but illnesses of childhood in the theosophical movement, and we shall wean ourselves of them in time. But it is necessary to draw attention to them. Someone might even set to work and look for the nine members of human nature in the Ninth Symphony!
Yet it is right in a certain sense that the single and united human nature is also distributed among many human beings. One human being has this colouring of soul, and another that. Thus, we can see the human beings before us, representing many sides of the total human nature. Only it must be conceived in a realistic way, it must arise out of the very nature of things. Even as human beings meet us in the ordinary world, there too they represent the several sides of human nature. As we unfold ourselves from incarnation to incarnation, we shall become a totality in time. To present the underlying truth of these things, the whole of life must be dissolved. So, it is in the Rosicrucian Mystery Play. What is intended, in a certain sense, to represent Maria, is dissolved among the other figures who are about her as her companions and who with her together constitute an Ego-hood. Qualities notably of the Sentient Soul are to be seen in Philia; qualities of the Intellectual or Mind-soul in Astrid; qualities of the Spiritual Soul in Luna. And in this sense their names are chosen.
The names are chosen for the several beings according to their nature. Not only in the names; in the whole way in which the words are placed, the characterisation of the three—Philia, Astrid and Luna—is exactly graded. This is especially true of the seventh scene, where the Spiritual—Devachan—is to be shown. The beginning of the seventh scene is a far better characterisation of ‘Sentient Soul, Intellectual Soul and Spiritual Soul’ than can otherwise be given in mere words. Human figures are shown, in answer to the question: What is ‘Sentient Soul,’ what is ‘Intellectual Soul’ and what is ‘Spiritual Soul’? In Art, the different stages can be shown, through the whole way in which these figures stand there. In the human being they flow into one another. Once they are dissolved from one another, they present themselves in this way: Philia places herself into the Universal All, Astrid into the elements, while Luna goes outward in self-action and self-knowledge. And inasmuch as they present themselves in this way, the Devachanic scene contains all that can represent Alchemy in the true sense of the word. The whole of Alchemy is there contained; only we must gradually find it out. It is given not n the mere abstract content, but in the life and being of the words. Therefore, you should not only hear what is said,—and above all, not only what each individual speaks;—you should hear how they speak, in relation to one another. The Sentient Soul inserts herself into the astral body here, then, we have to do with weaving astrality. The Intellectual Soul inserts herself into the ether-body; here, then, we have to do with living, moving ether-essence. Lastly, we see how the Spiritual Soul adorns herself and with inner firmness pours herself into the physical body. That which works through the Soul, as light within the soul, is given in the words of Philia. That which works in an etheric way, so that we stand over against what is true, is given in Astrid. That which gives inner firmness, so that it is united with the physical body which is primarily solid, is given in Luna We must be sensitive to this.
Philia (Sentient Soul)
Ich will erfullen mich
I will myself imbue
Mit klarstem Lichtessein
With clearest rays of light
Aus Weltenweiten.
From cosmic spaces wide.
Ich will eratrnen mir
I will breathe deep within
Belebenden Klangesstoff
Sound-substance that gives life
Aus Aetherfernen,
From distant ether-bounds,
Dass dir, geliebte Schwester,
Dear sister, that thou may'st
Das Werk gelingen kann.
Succeed in this thy work.
Astrid (Intellectual Soul)
Ich will verweben
Through all the streaming light
Erstrahlend Licht
I will weave darkness in
Mit dämpfender Finsternis,
To cloud its radiant beam.
Ich will verdichten
I will make dense and thick
Das Klanges leben.
The living life of sound;
Es soll erglitzernd klingen,
That glowing it may sound
Es soll erklingend glitzern,
And sounding it may glow.
Dass du, geliebte Schwester,
Dear sister, that thou may'st
Die Seelenstrahlen lenken kannst.
Direct the soul-life's rays.
Luna (Spiritual Soul)
Ich will erwärmen Seelenstoff
Soul substance will I warm,
Und will erhärten Lebensäther.
Life's ether harden too.
Sie sollen sich verdichten,
That they may thus condense
Sie sollen sich erfühlen,
And may thus feel themselves
Und in sich selber seiend,
As living in themselves
Sich schaffend halten;
And powerful to create.
Dass du, geliebte Schwester,
Dear sister, that thou may'st
Der suchenden Menschenseele
Prove wisdom's certainty
Des Wissens Sicherheit erzeugen Kannst.
To mankind's seeking soul.
I draw your attention to the fact that Philia, in the last line but one, uses the words ‘Dass dir, geliebte Schwester.’ In Astrid's words we have the darker sound ‘Dass du, geliebte Schwester,’ entering into the denser element. ‘Dass du, ... dass dir ...’ And now in Luna's words it is interwoven with the still more weighty sound, ‘in suchenden Menschenseele.’ Here the u is so interwoven with the neighbouring consonants as to gain a still closer density.
These are the things we can characterise. They are indeed like this. It depends above all on the manner, not on the mere content. Compare the further words of Philia:—
Ich will erbitten von Weltengeistern,
From cosmic spirits I
Dass ihres Wesens Licht
Will beg their being's light
Entzücke Seelensinn,
The soul-sense to enchant,
Und ihrer Worte Klang
The sound too of their words
Beglucke Geistgehor;
To charm the spirit's ear;
with the quite different way in which Astrid speaks:—
Ich will die Liebesstöme,
The love-streams will I guide
Die Welt erwarmenden
That will fill the world with warmth
Zu Herzen leiten
Unto the heart of man
Dem Geweihten;
Who is initiate;
In all these words there is conveyed the inner life and being of the Devachanic element of the world. Through these things we must realise (and for this reason I mention them) that when self-knowledge begins to go out into the outer life and being of the Universe, we need to wean ourselves of all one-sidedness. We can but experience in a dead and Philistine way that which is present at each single point of existence. It makes us rigid to be held fast at a single point in space and to imagine that we can express the truth in words. Mere words cannot express the truth so well, for it is all involved in the actual physical sound. We must feel the quality of expression also.
Such an important process as the self-knowledge of Johannes is only rightly experienced when he courageously achieves it, when he grasps it bravely. This is the next act. Self-knowledge has shattered us and cast us down. Now, having learned in the Universe outside—having perceived the Cosmos as related to us; having known the very being of other beings,—now we begin to take it into ourselves. Now we make bold to live what we have known. It is only half the battle to dive down, as Johannes did, into a being to whom we brought suffering—whom we ‘thrust deep beneath the chill, cold ground.’ We now feel differently; we take courage to balance-out the pain. Then we dive down into this life, and in our own being we speak differently. This, to begin with, is what meets us in the next scene.
While in the second scene the other being called to Johannes:
“Ah, bitter sorrow hath he brought to me;
So utterly I trusted him of old.
He left me lonely with my sorrow's pain,
He robbed me of the very warmth of life,
And thrust me deep beneath the chill, cold ground.”
—now, in the ninth scene, now that Johannes has experienced himself at the place whither all self-knowledge drives us, now; the same being calls to him:
“Thou must find me again and ease my pain.”
This is the other side. First the shattering experience, and then the needed compensation. Therefore, the other being calls to him: ‘Thou wilt find me again.’
This lifting of experience into the Universe—this filling of the self with living experience of the Universal All—could be presented in no other way. True self-knowledge—emerging as it does out of the Cosmos—could only be presented in that Johannes awakened with the very same words. Quite naturally it must begin thus in the second scene:—
“'Tis thus I hear them, now these many years,
These words of weighty import all around.”
But then, when he has dived down into the ground of earth,—united himself with the earth beneath,—then there arises in his soul the force to let the words arise in a new form. That is essential (in the ninth scene):
“... For three long years
I have sought strength of soul, with courage winged,
Which doth give truth unto these words, whereby
A man may free himself to conquer first;
Then conquering himself may freedom find ...”
Then come the words: ‘Know thou thyself, O man!’ by contrast to the words in the second scene: ‘O man, feel thou thyself!’
Again, and again, the same picture meets us. While on the one hand the scene goes downward:
“It seems mine own peculiarities
And all the world besides live in these words:
‘Know thou thyself, O man! Know thou thyself!’”
afterwards it is reversed; it changes. The scene portrays the real process. So, too, we heard the terrible, shattering word in the second scene:—
“But then, Maria, does thou realise
Through what my soul hath fought its way but now?”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Man's final refuge hath been lost to me:
I have been robbed of solitude.”
And in the ninth scene it is shown how his being only now gains confidence and certainty. Such is the congruence of the two scenes. These are not purposeful constructions. The real experiences are so and must be so—quite as a matter of course. Thus, we should feel how in a soul such as Johannes Thomasius, self-knowledge is gradually purified, till it becomes living self-experience. And we should feel how this experience of Johannes is distributed over many human beings. His own self-knowledge is distributed over all the human beings in whom—in their single incarnations—the several portions of his being are expressed. In the Sun-Temple at the last, a whole company of human beings are there. They all are there like a tableau, and yet all together are a single man. The properties of a single human being are distributed among them all. It is at bottom a single human being. A pedant would say: ‘Then there are too many parts, there should be nine instead of twelve.’ Reality, however, does not create so as to agree with theories; yet it is more in agreement with the truth than if in regular and theoretic fashion the several members of the human being were to be marched on to the stage.
Imagine yourself now in the Sun-Temple. There are the single human beings, placed in the actual way in which they belong together karmically. There they are standing together, even as Karma has put them -together in life. And now imagine: Johannes himself is there, and the character of every single one is reflected in his soul. Each single one is a soul-quality of Johannes. What, then, has happened—if we sum up the result? Karma has brought them together, as at a nodal point of Karma. Nothing is meaningless, aimless or purposeless. All that the single human beings have done, signifies not only single events, but in each case an experience of Johannes' soul. Everything takes place twice over: in the Macrocosm and in the Microcosm—the soul of Johannes. And that is his Initiation.
For instance, as Maria is to Johannes himself, so is an, important member of his soul to another member of the soul. These are the real congruences, strictly carried out. That which is action outwardly,—inwardly in Johannes is a process of evolution. That which the Hierophant says in the third scene is about to happen here:—
“Within our circle there is formed a knot
Of threads that Karma spins, world-fashioning.”
The knot has been formed. The well-tied knot reveals whither all is leading. On the one hand is the absolute reality—the way in which Karma spins, world-fashioning. It is no aimless spinning. It is the knot as the Initiation-process in Johannes' soul. And yet, such is the whole, that a single hum-an individuality is there over and above them all. It is the Hierophant, who plays his active part and guides the several threads.
You need only think of the Hierophant in his relation to Maria. This passage in the third scene can indeed illumine what self-knowledge is. It is no joke to go out of oneself; it is a very real process. The human vehicles are deserted by the inner force; then they remain behind and become a battlefield for subordinate powers. The very moment when Maria is sending down to the Hierophant the ray of love, can be presented in no other way than thus: Down there is the body, taken hold of by the power of the Adversary, and saying the very opposite of what is going on above. Above, the ray of love rays down; below, a curse is uttered. These then are the contrasting scenes: Devachan in the seventh scene, Maria describing what she actually did; and in the third scene the world below, where, as the body is left behind, the curse of the demonic Powers against the Hierophant is uttered. Here you have two complementary pictures. It would be very bad if one had to construct them so, artificially.
To-day, then, I have based my lecture on one aspect of the Mystery Play. I hope we have thus been able to illumine certain characteristic facts that underlie Initiation.
The fact that certain things have had to be sharply emphasised—so as to describe the processes of Initiation—should not render you pusillanimous in striving for the spiritual world. Descriptions of dangers have no other purpose than to steel the human being against adversary powers. The dangers are there, the pains and sufferings are certainly before us. It would be a very poor aspiration if we were only willing to ascend into the higher worlds, so to speak, by the most comfortable ways. The spiritual worlds cannot be attained as comfortably as in modern railway trains, where you simply let yourself be rolled along, or as the outer material culture generally does it in the things of outer life. That which is here described is not intended to make us lacking in courage; quite on the contrary. Our courage shall be steeled precisely by making ourselves acquainted in this way with the attendant dangers of Initiation.
Just as it is in Johannes Thomasius, whose tendency made him incapable of guiding the brush any longer, and this was translated into dire pain, and pain at length into knowledge; so too, all that which kindles pain and grief will be translated into knowledge.
But we must seek the path in real earnest. We can only do so by realising that the theosophical truths are not so simple after all. They are deep truths of life,—so much so that we can never come to an end in seeking to comprehend them. Examples of life itself enable us most nearly to comprehend the world. We can speak far more exactly of the conditions of higher development when we describe the development of Johannes, than we can do when we describe the human being's development in general. In the book Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment, the higher evolution is described such as it can be for every human being. The pure possibility, which can indeed be realised, is there described. When we describe Johannes on the other hand, we describe a, single human being, and in so doing it is not possible to us to portray higher development in the abstract.
I hope you will not find occasion to say that after all I have not yet told you the truth. The fact is, there are two extremes, and we must find the grades between them. All I can do is again and again to give you hints and suggestions. These must then live in your hearts and souls. After the hints, I recently gave you on St. Matthew's Gospel I said, ‘Try not to remember the literal words, but when you go out into the world try to create in heart and soul that which the words will there have become. Try not to read only in Lecture Cycles, but also with earnestness to read in your own soul.’ To do so, however, something must first have been given to you from outside; something must first have passed into your soul; otherwise, you would only be deceiving yourself. Try then to read it in your soul, and you will see that that which has sounded into your soul from outside will yet resound there in quite another form.
This and this alone would be the true anthroposophical striving:—In every lecture that is given, there should be as many different ways of understanding as there are listeners present. He who would speak about Theosophy can never wish to be understood in one way only; he would fain be understood in as many ways as individual souls are there. Spiritual Science can afford this.
One thing, however, is necessary—I do not say it as a mere aside. One thing is necessary, namely that every single way of understanding be true. It may be individual, but it must be true. Some people go so far in their individual ways of understanding that they understand the exact opposite of what is said!
Thus, if we speak of self-knowledge, we must also realise: It is more useful in self-knowledge to look for the mistakes within us and the True outside ourselves. We do not say: ‘Seek for the truth within thyself.’ No! You will find what is true in the world outside, it is poured out into the Universe. We must become free of ourselves through self-knowledge, and we must go through all these stages of the soul. Loneliness can be a very bad companion; but we can also feel the full measure of our own weakness, when in our soul we sense the echoing greatness of that Universe from out of which we are born. And at this moment we take courage. If we make bold to experience in life what we cognise, then we shall find it confirmed:—Out of the loss of the last refuge of our life there will spring forth life's first and last refuge—life's first and last security. It is that certainty which makes it possible for us first to overcome ourselves, and then to find ourselves anew—in that we find ourselves within the Cosmos.
Oh man, experience the World in thee!
Then only, going beyond thyself,
Thou wilt have found thyself in thy true being.
If we feel these things as living experience, they will become steps in our evolution.
Über Selbsterkenntnis
anknüpfend an das Rosenkreuzermysterium «Die Pforte der Einweihung»
Die meisten der Anwesenden wissen, daß wir uns in München bemüht haben, außer der Wiederholung der vorjährigen Vorstellung des Dramas «Die Kinder des Lucifer» ein Rosenkreuzermysterium aufzuführen, das mancherlei von dem in der verschiedensten Weise sich darzustellen bemüht, was mit unserer Bewegung zusammenhängt. Dieses Rosenkreuzermysterium soll auf der einen Seite gewissermaßen davon eine Probe sein, wie in Kunst ausfließen kann das, was alles anthroposophische Leben bewegt. Auf der anderen Seite aber soll auch nicht vergessen werden, daß dieses Rosenkreuzermysterium vieles von unseren geisteswissenschaftlichen Lehren in einer solchen Weise enthält, wie man es vielleicht erst im Laufe der Jahre herausfinden wird. Und namentlich ist nicht mißzuverstehen, daß, wenn man sich einigermaßen Mühe geben würde, die Dinge zu lesen, die darin liegen — nicht zwischen den Zeilen, sie sind schon, wenn auch auf spirituelle Weise, in den Worten —, wenn man also sich Mühe geben würde, das Rosenkreuzermysterium so. aufzufassen, daß man diese Dinge in den nächsten Jahren aufsuchen würde, dann wäre es auf viele Jahre hinaus nicht nötig, daß ich irgendwelche Vorträge halten müßte. Es würde sich darin vieles von dem finden, was ich sonst über irgendein Thema vortrage. Es wird sich aber praktischer gestalten, wenn wir es gemeinsam heraussuchen, als wenn dies ein einzelner tut. In gewisser Weise ist es gut, daß auch in solcher Form vorhanden ist, was in der Geisteswissenschaft lebt.
So möchte ich heute, anknüpfend an das Rosenkreuzermysterium, über gewisse Eigentümlichkeiten der menschlichen Selbsterkenntnis sprechen. Dazu ist aber nötig, daß wir uns daran — charakterisierend — erinnern, wie im Rosenkreuzermysterium die Individualität im Leibe des Johannes Thomasius wirkt. Daher möchte ich, daß dieser Vortrag, der über Selbsterkenntnis handeln soll, mit einer Rezitation derjenigen Partien aus dem Rosenkreuzermysterium beginnt, welche die Selbsterkenntnis des Johannes bedeuten.
Zweites Bild
Gegend im Freien, Felsen, Quellen; die ganze Umgebung ist in der Seele des Johannes Thomasius zu denken, das Folgende als Inhalt seiner Meditation; später Maria.
(Es tönt aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Johannes:
So hör? ich sie seit Jahren schon,
Die inhaltschweren Worte.
Sie tönen mir aus Luft und Wasser,
Sie klingen aus dem Erdengrund herauf,
Und wie ins kleine Samenkorn geheimnisvoll
Der Rieseneiche Bau sich drängt,
So schließt zuletzt sich ein
n dieser Worte Kraft,
Was von der Elemente Wesen,
Von Seelen und von Geistern,
Von Zeitenlauf und Ewigkeit
Begreiflich meinem Denken ist.
Die Welt und meine Eigenheit,
Sie leben in dem Worte:
O Mensch, erkenne dich!(Aus Quellen und Felsen tönt es: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Und jetzt! — es wird
Im Innern mir lebendig fürchterlich.
Es webt um mich das Dunkel,
Es gähnt in mir die Finsternis;
Es tönt aus Weltendunkel,
Es klingt aus Seelenfinsternis:
O Mensch, erkenne dich!(Es tönt aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Es raubt mich jetzt mir selbst.
Ich wechsle mit des Tages Stundenlauf
Und wandle mich in Nacht.
Der Erde folge ich in ihrer Weltenbahn.
Ich rolle in dem Donner,
Ich zucke in den Blitzen.
Ich bin. - O schon entschwunden
Dem eignen Wesen fühl’ ich mich.
Ich sehe meine Leibeshülle;
Sie ist ein fremdes Wesen außer mir,
Sie ist ganz fern von mir.
Da schwebt heran ein andrer Leib.
Ich muß mit seinem Munde sprechen:
«Er hat mir bittre Not gebracht;
Ich habe ihm so ganz vertraut.
Er ließ im Kummer mich allein,
Er raubte mir die Lebenswärme
Und stieß in kalte Erde mich.»
Die ich verließ, die Arme,
Ich war sie eben selbst.
Ich muß erleiden ihre Qual.
Erkenntnis hat mir Kraft verliehn,
Mein Selbst in andres Selbst zu tragen.
O grausam Wort!
Dein Licht verlöscht durch eigne Kraft.
O Mensch, erkenne dich!(Es tönt aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Du führst zurück mich wieder
In meines eignen Wesens Kreise.
Doch wie erkenne ich mich wieder!
Mir ist verloren Menschenform.
Ein wilder Wurm erschein’ ich mir,
Aus Lust und Gier geboren.
Und klar empfinde ich,
Wie eines Wahnes Nebelbild
Die eigne Schreckgestalt
Bisher verborgen mir gehalten hat.
Verschlingen muß mich eignen Wesens Wildheit.
Ich fühle als verzehrend Feuer
Durch meine Adern rinnen jene Worte,
Die mir so urgewaltig sonst
Der Sonnen und der Erden Wesen offenbarten.
Sie leben in den Pulsen,
Sie schlagen mir im Herzen;
Und selbst im eignen Denken fühle ich
Die fremden Welten schon als wilde Triebe lodern.
Das sind des Wortes Früchte:
O Mensch, erkenne dich!(Es tönt aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Da, aus dem finstern Abgrund, —
Welch Wesen glotzt mich an?
Ich fühle Fesseln,
Die mich an dich gefesselt halten.
So fest war nicht Prometheus
Geschmiedet an des Kaukasus Felsen,
ie ich an dich geschmiedet bin.
Wer bist du, schauervolles Wesen?(Es tönt aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Oh, ich erkenne dich.
Ich bin es selbst.
Erkenntnis schmiedet an dich verderblich Ungeheuer(Maria tritt ein, wird von Johannes zunächst nicht bemerkt.)
Mich selbst verderblich Ungeheuer.
Entfliehen wollt’ ich dir.
Geblendet haben mich die Welten,
In welche meine Torheit floh,
Um von mir selber frei zu sein.
Geblendet bin ich wieder in der blinden Seele:
O Mensch, erkenne dich!(Es tönt aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
Johannes:
(wie wenn er zu sich käme, erblickt Maria. Die Meditation geht in innere Realität über)
O Freundin, du bist hier!
Maria:
Ich suchte dich, mein Freund;
Obwohl bekannt mir ist,
Wie lieb dir Einsamkeit,
Nachdem so vieler Menschen Meinungen
Die Seele dir durchfluter.
Und weiß ich auch,
Daß ich durch meine Gegenwart dem Freund
In dieser Zeit nicht helfen kann,
So drängt ein dunkles Streben
In diesem Augenblick mich doch zu dir,
Da Benedictus’ Worte dir statt Licht
So schweres Leid
Aus deines Geistes Tiefen lockten.Johannes:
Wie lieb mir Einsamkeit!
- - - - - - - - -
Ich habe sie so oft gesucht,
In ihr mich selbst zu finden,
Wenn in Gedankenlabyrinthe mich
Der Menschen Leid und Glück getrieben hatten.
O Freundin, das ist nun vorbei.
Was Benedictus’ Worte erst
Mir aus der Seele holten,
Was durch der Menschen Reden
Ich erleben mußte,
Gering nur scheint es mir,
Vergleich dem Sturm ich dies,
Den Einsamkeit mir dann gebracht
In dumpfem Brüten.
O diese Einsamkeit!
Sie hetzte mich in Weltenweiten.
Entrissen hat sie mich mir selbst.
In jenem Wesen, dem ich Leid gebracht,
Erstand ich als ein andrer.
Und leiden mußte ich den Schmerz,
Den ich erst selbst bewirkt.
Die grausam finstre Einsamkeit,
Sie gab mich dann mir selber wieder.
Doch nur, zu schrecken mich
Durch meines eignen Wesens Abgrund.
Mir ist des Menschen letzte Zuflucht,
Mir ist die Einsamkeit verloren.Maria:
Ich muß das Wort dir wiederholen:
Nur Benedictus kann dir helfen.
Die Stützen, die uns fehlen,
Wir müssen beide sie von ihm erhalten.
Denn wisse, auch ich kann länger nicht
Ertragen meines Lebens Rätsel,
Wenn nicht durch seinen Wink
Die Lösung sich mir zeigt.
Die hohe Weisheit, daß stets über alles Leben
Nur Schein und Trug sich breitet,
Wenn unser Denken seine Oberfläche bloß ergreift,
Ich habe sie recht oft mir vorgehalten.
Und immer wieder sprach sie:
Du mußt erkennen, wie dich Wahn umfängt,
So oft es dir auch Wahrheit dünkt,
Es könnte schlimme Frucht erstehn,
Wenn du erwecken willst in andern Licht,
Das in dir selber lebt.
In meiner Seele bestem Teil ist mir bewußt,
Daß auch der schwere Druck,
Den dir, mein Freund,
Das Leben hat gebracht an meiner Seite,
Ein Teil des Dornenweges ist,
Der zu dem Licht der Wahrheit führt.
Erleben mußt du alle Schrecken,
Die aus dem Wahn erstehen können,
Bevor der Wahrheit Wesen sich dir offenbart.
So spricht dein Stern.
Doch auch erscheint mir durch dies Sternenwort,
Daß wir vereint die Geisteswege wandeln müssen.
Doch such’ ich diese Wege,
So breitet sich vor meinem Blicke finstre Nacht.
Und schwärzer wird die Nacht durch vieles noch,
Was ich erleben muß
Als Früchte meines Wesens.
Wir müssen beide Klarheit in dem Lichte suchen,
Das wohl dem Aug’ entschwinden,
Doch nie erlöschen kann.Johannes:
Maria, ist dir denn bewußt,
Was meine Seele eben durchgerungen?
Ein schweres Los fürwahr
Ist dir geworden, edle Freundin.
Doch ferne liegt ja deinem Wesen jene Macht,
Die mich so ganz zerschmettert hat.
Du kannst in hellste Wahrheitshöhen steigen,
Du kannst die sichern Blicke
In Menschenwirrnis richten,
Du wirst in Licht und Finsternis
Dich selbst bewahren.
Mir aber kann ein jeder Augenblick
Mich selber rauben.
Ich mußte in die Menschen untertauchen,
Die sich vorhin in Worten offenbarten.
Ich folgt’ dem einen in die Klostereinsamkeit,
Ich hörte in des andern Seele
Felicias Märchen.
Ich war ein jeder,
Nur selbst erstarb ich mir.
Ich müßte glauben können,
Daß Nichts der Wesen Ursprung sei,
Wenn ich die Hoffnung hegen sollte,
Daß aus dem Nichts in mir
Ein Mensch je werden könne,
Mich führt aus Furcht in Finsternis
Und jagt durch Finsternis in Furcht
Der Weisheit Wesenswort:
O Mensch, erkenne dich!(Aus Quellen und Felsen tönt es: O Mensch, erkenne dich!)
(Der Vorhang fällt)
Neuntes Bild
Dieselbe Gegend wie im zweiten Bild. Johannes, später Maria.
(Es tönt aus Felsen und Quellen: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Johannes:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!
Ich habe sie drei Jahre lang gesucht,
Die mutbeschwingte Seelenkraft,
Die Wahrheit gibt dem Worte,
Durch das der Mensch, sich selbst befreiend, siegen
Und sich besiegend, Freiheit finden kann:O Mensch, erlebe dich!
(Aus Felsen und Quellen tönt: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Sie kündigt sich im Innern an,
Nur leise fühlbar meinem Geistgehör.
Sie birgt in sich die Hoffnung,
Daß wachsend sie den Menschengeist
Aus engem Sein in Weltenfernen führt,
So wie geheimnisvoll sich weitet
Das kleine Samenkorn
Zum stolzen Leib der Rieseneiche. — —
Es kann der Geist in sich beleben,
Was in der Luft und was im Wasser webt,
Und was den Erdengrund gefestigt.
Es kann der Mensch ergreifen,
Was in den Elementen,
In Seelen und in Geistern,
In Zeitenlauf und Ewigkeit
Des Daseins sich bemächtigt hat.
Es lebt das ganze Weltenwesen in dem Seelensein,
Wenn solche Kraft im Geiste wurzelt,
Die Wahrheit gibt dem Worte:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!(Aus Felsen und Quellen tönt: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Ich fühle — wie es tönt in meiner Seele,
Sich regend kraftverleihend.
Es lebt in mir das Licht,
Es spricht um mich die Helligkeit,
Es keimt in mir das Seelenlicht,
Es schafft in mir die Weltenhelle:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!(Aus Felsen und Quellen tönt: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Ich finde mich gesichert überall,
Wohin mir folgt des Wortes Kraft.
Sie wird mir leuchten in der Sinnesdunkelheit
Und mich erhalten in den Geisteshöhen.
Sie wird mich mit dem Seelensein erfüllen
Für alle Zeitenfolgen.
Ich fühle Weltensein in mir,
Und finden muß ich mich in allen Welten.
Ich schau’ mein Seelenwesen
Durch Eigenkraft belebt in mir.
Ich ruhe in mir selber.
Ich blicke nach den Felsen und den Quellen;
Sie sprechen meiner Seele eigne Sprache.
Ich finde mich in jenem Wesen wieder,
Das ich in bittre Not gebracht.
Heraus aus ihm ruf’ ich mir selber zu:
«Du mußt mich wieder finden
Und mir die Schmerzen lindern.»
Das Geisteslicht, es wird mir Stärke geben,
Das andre Selbst im eignen Selbst zu leben.
O hoffnungsvolles Wort,
Du strömst mir Kraft aus allen Welten zu:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!(Aus Felsen und Quellen tönt: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Du läßt mich meine Schwachheit fühlen
Und stellst mich neben hohe Gottesziele;
Und selig fühle ich
Des hohen Zieles Schöpfermacht
In meinem schwachen Erdenmenschen.
Und offenbaren soll sich aus mir selbst,
Wozu der Keim in mir geborgen ist.
Ich will der Welt mich geben
Durch Leben meines eignen Wesens.
Empfinden will ich alle Macht des Wortes,
Das mir erst leise klingt;
Es soll mir wie belebend Feuer sein
In meinen Seelenkräften,
Auf meinen Geisteswegen.
Ich fühle, wie mein Denken dringt
In tief verborgne Weltengründe;
Und wie es leuchtend sie durchstrahlt.
So wirkt die Keimkraft dieses Wortes:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!(Aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Aus lichten Höhen leuchtet mir ein Wesen,
Ich fühle Schwingen,
Zu ihm mich zu erheben,
Ich will mich selbst befrei’n
Wie alle Wesen, die sich selbst besiegt.(Aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
Ich schaue jenes Wesen,
Ich will ihm gleich in Zukunftzeiten werden.
Der Geist in mir wird sich befrei’n
Durch dich, erhabnes Ziel.
Ich will dir folgen.(Maria kommt hinzu.)
Das Seelenauge haben mir erweckt
Die Geisteswesen, die mich aufgenommen.
Und sehend in den Geisteswelten
Erfühle ich in meinem Selbst die Kraft:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!(Aus Quellen und Felsen: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
O meine Freundin, du bist hier!
Maria:
Mich trieb meine Seele hierher.
Ich konnte deinen Stern erschauen.
Er strahlt in voller Kraft.Johannes:
Erleben kann ich diese Kraft in mir.
Maria:
So eng sind wir verbunden,
Daß deiner Seele Leben
Sein Licht in meiner Seele leuchten läßt.Johannes:
O Maria, so ist dir bewußt,
Was sich mir eben offenbarte?
Mir ist des Menschen erste Zuversicht,
Mir ist die Wesenssicherheit gewonnen.
Ich fühle ja des Wortes Kraft,
Die überall mich leiten kann:
O Mensch, erlebe dich!(Aus Felsen und Quellen: O Mensch, erlebe dich!)
(Vorhang fällt)
In den beiden Bildern: «O Mensch, erkenne dich» und «O Mensch, erlebe dich» treten vor unsere Seele zwei Stadien, zwei Entwickelungsstufen der Entfaltung unserer Seele.
Nun bitte ich Sie, es durchaus nicht sonderbar zu finden, wenn ich sage, daß ich eigentlich nichts dagegen habe, dieses Rosenkreuzermysterium so zu interpretieren, wie ich in unseren Kreisen auch schon bisweilen andere Dichtungen interpretiert habe. Denn in gewissem Sinne darf wohl gesagt werden, daß uns an diesem Rosenkreuzermysterium in lebendiger, unmittelbarer Weise vor die Seele treten kann, was ich öfters in Anknüpfung an andere Dichtungen gesagt habe, die ich interpretieren durfte. Ich habe niemals zurückgehalten zu sagen: So wenig die Pflanze, die Blume weiß, was derjenige, der die Blume betrachtet, darin findet, so ist dennoch das in der Blume enthalten, was er darin findet. — Ich führte aus, als ich die Dichtung des «Faust» interpretieren sollte, daß der Dichter beim Niederschreiben nicht notwendig unmittelbar alle Dinge selber gewußt, selber empfunden hat in Worten, die dann später darin gefunden worden sind. Ich kann die Versicherung geben, daß nichts von dem, was ich hinterher an dieses Mysterium anknüpfen werde, und von dem ich doch weiß, daß es darin ist, mir bewußt war, als die einzelnen Bilder gestaltet wurden. Die Bilder wuchsen so aus sich heraus wie die Blätter einer Pflanze. Man kann gar nicht solch eine Gestalt vorher dadurch hervorbringen, daß man zuerst die Idee hat und diese dann in die äußere Gestalt umsetzt. Es war mir immer recht interessant, wenn so Bild für Bild geworden ist, und Freunde, welche die einzelnen Szenen kennengelernt haben, sagten, es sei merkwürdig, daß es doch immer anders komme, als man es sich vorgestellt habe.
So steht dieses Mysterium da wie ein Bild der Menschheitsevolution in der Entwickelung eines einzelnen Menschen. Ich betone: für das konkrete Gefühl ist es ausgeschlossen, in Abstraktionen sich zu hüllen, um Anthroposophie darzustellen, weil eine jede Menschenseele anders ist als die andere und im Grunde, da sie ihre Entwickelung selbst erlebt, auch anders sein muß. Bei alldem, was als allgemeine Lehre gegeben wird, können wir nur Richtlinien empfangen. Daher kann man die vollständige Wahrheit nur dann geben, wenn man an eine individuelle Seele anknüpft, an eine Seele, die ihre menschliche Individualität mit aller Eigentümlichkeit darstellt. Wenn daher jemand Johannes Thomasius so betrachtet, daß er das, was im Konkreten von ihm gesagt wird, umsetzen würde in Theorien der menschlichen Entwickelung, so würde er etwas ganz Falsches machen. Wenn er glaubte, er werde ganz genau dasselbe erleben, was Johannes 'Thomasius erlebt hat, so würde er sich sehr irren. Denn das, was Johannes Thomasius in großen Richtungslinien zu erleben hat, gilt für jeden Menschen, aber um es so in seiner ganzen Eigenart zu erleben, dazu muß man eben Johannes Thomasius sein. Und jeder ist in seiner Art ein «Johannes Thomasius».
So ist alles in ganz individueller Weise dargestellt. Dadurch ist aber auch in Anknüpfung an die besondere Gestalt in so wahrer Weise wie nur möglich das gegeben, was die Entwickelung des Menschen in seiner Seele ist. Dazu mußte auch diese breite Basis geschaffen werden, daß Thomasius erst auf dem physischen Plan gezeigt wird, daß auf einzelne Seelenerlebnisse hingewiesen wird, so auf jenes, das bedeutsam sein muß, wo er in einer Zeit, die nicht zu fern ist, ein Wesen, das ihm in treuer Liebe ergeben war, verlassen hat. Das geschieht oft, aber dieses individuelle Ereignis wirkt anders auf den, der bestrebt ist, eine Entwickelung durchzumachen. Es ist eine tiefe Wahrheit, daß der, der eine Entwickelung durchmacht, Selbsterkenntnis nicht durch Hineinbrüten in sich selbst erlangt, sondern durch Untertauchen in einzelne Wesenheiten. Wir müssen durch Selbsterkenntnis erfahren, daß wir aus dem Kosmos herkommen. Nur dann können wir untertauchen, wenn wir uns in ein anderes Selbst verwandeln. Wir werden zuerst in das verwandelt, was uns im Leben einmal nahe war.
Es ist ein Exempel des Erlebens des eigenen Selbstes im anderen, wenn Johannes zuerst, da er tiefer in sein Selbst gekommen ist, mit diesem in Selbsterkenntnis untertaucht in ein anderes Wesen, in das Wesen, dem er bitteren Schmerz gebracht hat. So sehen wir, wie in dieser Selbsterkenntnis Thomasius untertaucht. Theoretisch sagt man: Willst du die Blüte erkennen, so mußt du hinuntertauchen in die Blüte. - Aber am besten ist die Selbsterkenntnis zu erlangen, wenn wir in die Begebenheiten untertauchen, in denen wir auf andere Weise selber darin gestanden haben. Solange wir im eigenen Selbst sind, machen wir die äußeren Erlebnisse durch. Wahrer Selbsterkenntnis gegenüber wird das Abstraktion, was wir anderen Wesen nachdenken.
Für Thomasius wird zunächst das, was andere Menschen erlebt haben, ein Eigenerlebnis. Da war einer, Capesius, der seine Erlebnisse geschildert hat. Diese Erlebnisse sind so, daß man erkennen kann, wie sie im Leben darin stehen. Aber Thomasius nimmt anderes auf. Er hört zu. Sein Zuhören aber ist — später wird es im achten Bild charakterisiert - ein anderes. Es ist so, wie wenn mit dem gewöhnlichen Selbst der Mensch gar nicht dabei wäre. Eine andere, tiefere Kraft zeigt sich da, wie wenn er selber es wäre, der in die Seele des Capesius hineinkriecht und das erlebt, was da vorgeht. Daher wird es so unendlich bedeutsam, daß er da sich selbst entfremdet wird. Es ist von Selbsterkenntnis nicht zu trennen, daß man sich losreißt von sich selbst und im anderen aufgeht. Deshalb ist es für 'Thomasius so bedeutsam, daß er, nachdem er diesen Reden [im ersten Bild] zugehört hat, sagen muß:
Ein Spiegelbild des vollen Lebens,
Das mich so klar mir selbst gezeigt.
Die hohe Geistesoffenbarung
Hat mich dazu geführt, zu fühlen,
Wie eine Seite nur des Menschen
So mancher in sich birgt,
Der ganz sich glaubt als Wesenheit.
Die vielen Seiten zu vereinen
In meinem eignen Selbst,
Betrat ich kühn den Weg,
Der hier gewiesen ist.
Er hat ein Nichts aus mir gemacht.
Warum hat er ein Nichts aus ihm gemacht? Weil er durch Selbsterkenntnis untergetaucht ist in diese anderen Wesen. Das Brüten ins eigene Innere macht den Menschen stolz, hochmütig. Wahre Selbsterkenntnis führt zunächst dadurch, daß wir untertauchen in fremdes Selbst, zu dem Leid. Johannes folgt [im ersten Bild] den Menschen so, daß er dem Capesius zuhört und in dieser anderen Seele die Worte der Felicia erfährt. Dem Strader folgt er in seine Klostereinsamkeit. Das ist die Abstraktion zunächst. Da ist er noch nicht dahin gekommen, wozu er jetzt [im zweiten Bild] durch den Schmerz geführt wird. Die Selbsterkenntnis vertieft sich in der Meditation im inneren Selbst. Und das, was im ersten Bild gezeigt worden ist, zeigt die vertiefte Selbsterkenntnis [im zweiten Bild], die aus der Abstraktion das Konkrete vorstellt. Und die gewöhnlichen Worte, die wir durch Jahrhunderte als Merkworte des Delphischen Orakels ertönen hören, gewinnen ein neues Leben für den Menschen, aber zunächst ein Leben der Entfremdung von sich selbst.
Johannes geht als Sich-selbst-Erkennender in allen äußeren Wesen unter. Er lebt in Luft und Wasser, in Felsen und Quellen, aber nicht in sich selber. All die Worte, die man nur von außen tönen lassen kann, sind eigentlich Worte der Meditation. Und schon wenn der Vorhang aufgeht, haben wir uns die Worte vorzustellen, die bei jeder Selbsterkenntnis viel lauter ertönen, als man es auf der Bühne darzustellen in der Lage ist. Dann taucht der Selbsterkennende unter in die verschiedenen anderen Wesen; dadurch lernt er die Dinge kennen, in die er untertaucht. Und dann tritt ihm dasselbe Erlebnis, das er schon früher gehabt hat, in furchtbarer Weise vor Augen.
Das ist durchaus tiefe Wahrheit, daß diese Selbsterkenntnis, wenn sie in dieser Weise verläuft, wie es eben charakterisiert worden ist, dazu führt, uns ganz anders anzuschauen, als wir uns vorher angesehen haben. Sie führt uns dazu, daß wir sozusagen unser Ich als fremdes Wesen empfinden lernen.
Für den Menschen ist eigentlich seine äußere Hülle das Nächste. Mit dieser wird der Mensch in unserer Zeit sich viel mehr verbunden fühlen, wenn er sich in den Finger schneidet, als wenn etwa ein falsches Urteil des Nebenmenschen ihm wehe tut. Wieviel mehr tut es dem heutigen Menschen weh, wenn er sich in den Finger schneidet, als wenn er ein falsches Urteil hört! Und dennoch schneidet es nur in seine Leibeshülle. Daß wir aber das fühlen, daß wir unseren Leib fühlen wie ein Werkzeug, das ergibt sich erst in Selbsterkenntnis.
Der Mensch kann seine Hand schon annähernd als Werkzeug fühlen, wenn er einen Gegenstand ergreift. Aber dasselbe lernt man fühlen mit diesem oder jenem Teil des Gehirns. Dieses innerliche Fühlen des Gehirns als Instrument stellt sich ein auf einer gewissen Stufe der Selbsterkenntnis. Da lokalisiert sich das einzelne. Wenn wir einen Nagel einschlagen, wissen wir, daß wir das mit einem Werkzeug tun. Wir wissen aber auch, daß wir diese oder jene Gehirnpartie dazu benützen. Dadurch, daß die Dinge uns objektiv fremd werden, lernen wir unser Gehirn als etwas von uns Abgesondertes kennen. Selbsterkenntnis fördert diese Objektivität unserer Hülle, und dann ist uns zuletzt unsere Hülle so fremd, wie uns unsere äußeren Werkzeuge fremd sind. Dadurch beginnen wir wirklich in der Außenwelt zu leben, wenn wir anfangen, unser Leibliches als ein Objektives zu fühlen.
Weil der Mensch nur seine Leibeshülle fühlt, ist er sich nicht klar darüber, daß eine Grenze ist zwischen der Luft da draußen und der Luft in seiner Lunge. Trotzdem sagt er, da drinnen sei dieselbe Luft wie draußen. Wenn wir den Stoff der Luft nehmen, dann ist er drinnen und draußen. So ist es mit allem, mit dem Blut, mit allem, was leiblich ist. Leiblich kann er aber nicht innen oder außen sein, das ist nur Maja. Gerade dadurch, daß das leibliche Innere ein Äußeres wird, setzt es sich wahrheitsgemäß in die übrige Welt und den Kosmos fort.
Der Schmerz des Sich-fremd-Fühlens sollte dargestellt werden in der ersten heute rezitierten Szene. Schmerz des Sich-fremd-Werdens dadurch, daß man sich findet in allem Äußeren. Die eigene Leibeshülle des Johannes Thomasius ist wie ein Wesen, das außer ihm ist. Dafür aber, daß er den eigenen Leib draußen fühlt, sieht er herankommen den anderen Leib, den Leib des Wesens, das er verlassen hat. Das kommt an ihn heran, und er hat gelernt, mit den eigenen Worten dieses Wesens zu sprechen. Es sagt zu ihm - sein Selbst hat sich zu ihm erweitert —:
Er hat mir bittre Not gebracht;
Ich habe ihm so ganz vertraut.
Er ließ im Kummer mich allein,
Er raubte mir die Lebenswärme
Und stieß in kalte Erde mich.
Dann aber erst kommt der Vorwurf lebendig in die Seele, wenn das fremde Leid, mit dem wir unser eigenes Selbst verknüpft haben, ausgesprochen werden muß, weil das eigene Selbst in ein anderes Selbst untergetaucht ist. Das ist eine Vertiefung. Da ist Johannes wirklich in dem Leid, weil er es verursacht hat. Er fühlt sich darin ausgeflossen und wieder aufgewacht. Was erlebt er da eigentlich?
Wenn wir alles zusammennehmen, finden wir, daß der gewöhnliche, normale Mensch ein ähnliches nur erlebt in dem Zustand, den wir Kamaloka nennen. Der Einzuweihende muß das, was der normale Mensch in der geistigen Welt erlebt, schon in dieser Welt erleben. Er muß das, was Kamaloka-Erlebnisse sind, was sonst außerhalb des physischen Leibes erlebt wird, innerhalb des physischen Leibes erleben. Daher sind alle Eigenschaften, die man als Kamaloka-Eigenschaften aufnehmen kann, als Erlebnisse der Initiation da. So wie Johannes untertaucht in die Seele, der er Leid gebracht hat, so muß der normale Mensch im Kamaloka in die Seelen untertauchen, denen er Schmerz gebracht hat. Wie wenn ihm eine Ohrfeige zurückgegeben wird, so muß er Schmerz empfinden. Diese Dinge sind nur mit dem Unterschied behaftet, daß der Initiierte sie im physischen Leib erlebt, der andere Mensch nach dem Tode. Wer sie hier erlebt, lebt in ganz anderer Weise dann im Kamaloka. Aber auch das, was der Mensch im Kamaloka erleben kann, kann so erlebt werden, daß er sozusagen noch nicht wirklich frei geworden ist. Und das ist eine schwierige Aufgabe, völlig frei zu werden. Der Mensch fühlt sich wie gefesselt an die physischen Verhältnisse.
In unserer Zeit gehört es zu den wichtigsten Entwickelungserlebnissen — in der griechisch-lateinischen Zeit war es noch nicht so, es ist erst jetzt besonders wichtig geworden —, daß der Mensch erleben kann, wie unendlich schwierig es ist, von sich loszukommen. Daher ist ein wichtiges Initiationserlebnis ausgedrückt in den Worten, wo sich Johannes an den eigenen niederen Leib gefesselt fühlt, wo sein eigenes Wesen ihm erscheint wie ein Wesen, an das er angeschmiedet ist:
Ich fühle Fesseln,
Die mich an dich gefesselt halten.
So fest war nicht Prometheus
Geschmiedet an des Kaukasus Felsen,
Wie ich an dich geschmiedet bin.
Das ist etwas, was mit Selbsterkenntnis verbunden ist, ein Geheimnis der Selbsterkenntnis. Wir müssen es nur im richtigen Sinn auffassen.
Die Frage nach diesem Geheimnis könnte auch so geschildert werden: Sind wir eigentlich dadurch, daß wir Erdenmenschen geworden sind, daß wir in unsere Erdenhüllen untergetaucht sind, bessere Menschen geworden, oder wären wir bessere Menschen, wenn wir allein in unserem Inneren sein könnten, wenn wir einfach die Hüllen abwerfen könnten? Die Triviallinge, die dem geistigen Leben gegenübertreten, können leicht fragen: Wozu erst untertauchen in den Erdenleib? Das einfachste wäre, man bliebe oben, dann würde man nicht die ganze Misere haben, unterzutauchen.
Wozu haben uns die weisen Mächte des Schicksals untergetaucht? Empfindungsgemäß kann man da wenig erklären, wenn man sagt, an diesem Erdenleib haben göttlich-geistige Kräfte durch Jahrmillionen und Jahrmillionen gearbeitet. Wir sollten gerade dadurch, daß es so ist, mehr aus uns machen, als wir Kräfte haben. Unsere inneren Kräfte reichen nicht hin. Wir können nicht jetzt schon so viel sein, wie die Götter gemacht haben, wenn wir bloß das sein wollen, was wir in unserem Inneren sind, wenn wir nicht korrigiert werden durch unsere Hüllen. Das Leben stellt sich so dar: Hier auf Erden ist der Mensch versetzt in seine Leibeshüllen; diese sind von Wesen durch drei Welten zubereitet. Der Mensch soll erst das Innere heranbilden. Zwischen Geburt und Tod ist er ein böses, im Devachan ist er wieder ein besseres Wesen, aufgenommen von göttlich-geistigen Wesen, die ihn mit ihren eigenen Kräften durchgießen. Später, in der Vulkanzeit, wird er dann ein vollkommenes Wesen sein. Jetzt auf Erden ist er ein Wesen, das dieser oder jener Lust frönt. Das Herz zum Beispiel ist so weise eingerichtet, daß es Jahrzehnte standhält gegen die Anstürme, die der Mensch gegen es richtet mit seinen Exzessen, zum Beispiel mit dem Kaffee. So, wie der Mensch heute durch eigene Kraft sein kann, zieht er nun durch Kamaloka. Da soll er kennenlernen, was er durch eigene Kraft sein kann. Und das ist wahrhaft nichts Gutes. Der Mensch kann, wenn er sich selbst bezeichnen soll, sich nicht bezeichnen mit dem Prädikat der Schönheit. Da muß er sich schon so bezeichnen, wie dies Johannes [im zweiten Bild] tut:
Doch wie erkenne ich mich wieder!
Mir ist verloren Menschenform.
Ein wilder Wurm erschein’ ich mir,
Aus Lust und Gier geboren.
Und klar empfinde ich,
Wie eines Wahnes Nebelbild
Die eigne Schreckgestalt
Bisher verborgen mir gehalten hat.
Unser Inneres wird wie elastisch ausgespannt in unsere Leibeshüllen und verbirgt sich uns. Wir lernen uns tatsächlich kennen wie eine Art wilder Wurm, wenn wir die Initiation kennenlernen. Und daher sind diese Worte nun aus tiefster Empfindung heraus geschöpft, die Worte der Selbsterkenntnis, nicht der Selbstbebrütung sind:
Ich bin es selbst.
Erkenntnis schmiedet an dich verderblich Ungeheuer
Mich selbst verderblich Ungeheuer.
Im Grunde genommen sind beide dasselbe, einmal als Objekt, das andere Mal als Subjekt.
Entfliehen wollt’ ich dir.
Aber dieses Entfliehen führt den Menschen gerade nur zu sich selbst.
Und dann kommt jene Gesellschaft, die da auftaucht, in der wir darinnen sind, wenn wir wirklich in uns hineinblicken. Diese Gesellschaft, die wir in uns finden, sind unsere eigenen Begierden und Leidenschaften, das, was früher nicht bemerkt wurde, weil jedesmal, wenn wir in uns hineinblicken wollten, der Blick abgelenkt wurde auf unsere Umgebung. Denn im Vergleich zu dem, in das wir so hineinblicken wollten, ist die Welt eine wunderschöne Welt. Da, in der Illusion, der Maja des Lebens, hört man auf, in sich hineinzusehen. Wenn aber die Menschen allerlei dummes Zeug um uns herum reden, und wenn es uns zuviel geworden ist, dann fliehen wir in die Einsamkeit. Und dies ist für gewisse Stufen der Entwickelung sehr wichtig. Da kann und soll man sich sammeln. Das ist ein gutes Mittel der Selbsterkenntnis. Aber es gibt dennoch Erlebnisse, daß wir in Gesellschaften kommen, daß wir nicht mehr einsam sein können, daß gerade da jene Wesen auftreten — in uns oder außer uns, das ist einerlei —, die uns nicht einsam sein lassen. Dann kommt jenes Erlebnis, das man haben soll. Diese Einsamkeit bringt eben die schlimmste Gesellschaft:
Mir ist des Menschen letzte Zuflucht,
Mir ist die Einsamkeit verloren.
Das sind wirkliche Erlebnisse. Aber lassen Sie sich die Intensität, die Stärke dieser Erlebnisse nicht selber eine Anfechtung sein. Glauben Sie nicht, wenn solche Erlebnisse in starker Intensität vorgeführt werden, daß man Angst und Furcht haben soll. Glauben Sie nicht, daß das beitragen soll, jemanden abzulenken, selbst unterzutauchen in diese Fluten. Man erlebt sie nicht gleich in dieser Stärke wie Johannes, weil er es zu bestimmtem Ziele so erleben sollte, in gewisser Weise sogar verfrüht. Die reguläre Selbstentwickelung geht einen anderen Gang. Deshalb ist das als individuell aufzufassen, was bei Johannes tumultuarisch eintritt. Weil er diese Individualität ist, die Schiffbruch erlitten hat, kann bei ihm, da er diese Gesetze durchmacht, alles viel tumultuarischer erfolgen. Er lernt sie so kennen, daß sie ihn tief aus dem Gleichgewicht bringen. Aber dadurch, daß es hier für Johannes geschildert ist, sollte eines erweckt werden, nämlich das Gefühl, daß mit irgendwelchen trivialen Phrasen wahre Selbsterkenntnis nichts zu tun hat, daß wahre Selbsterkenntnis nicht anders kann, als zuerst durch Schmerz und Leid zu führen.
Dinge, die vorher eine Erquickung für Menschen sind, gewinnen ein anderes Antlitz, wenn sie auf dem Felde der Selbsterkenntnis auftreten. Einsamkeit können wir uns erflehen, gewiß, wenn wir auch schon Selbsterkenntnis gefunden haben. Aber in gewissen Momenten der Selbsterkenntnis kann Einsamkeit das sein, was wir verlieren, wenn wir sie in unserer vorher bekannten Weise suchen, in Momenten, wo wir dann ausfließen in die objektive Welt, wo der Einsame gerade die schwersten Schmerzen erleidet.
Dieses Sich-Hinausergießen in andere Wesenheiten müssen wir in richtiger Weise empfinden lernen, wenn wir das, was in das Drama gelegt ist, fühlen wollen. Es ist ein gewisses ästhetisches Gefühl durchgeführt, alles darin ist spirituell-realistisch. Wer realistisch denkt - ein echt ästhetisch fühlender Realist -, empfindet gewisse Schmerzen bei einer unrealistischen Darstellung. Auch das, was auf einer gewissen Stufe große Befriedigung geben kann, kann auf anderer Stufe eine Quelle des Schmerzes sein. Das hängt von dem Weg der Selbsterkenntnis ab. Ein Shakespeare-Drama zum Beispiel, etwas also, was schon eine große Leistung der Außenwelt ist, kann ein Quell der ästhetischen Befriedigung sein. Aber ein gewisser Moment der Entwickelung kann eintreten, wo man nicht mehr davon befriedigt sein kann, weil man sein Inneres zerrissen fühlt, wenn man von Szene zu Szene geht, weil man keine Notwendigkeit mehr sieht, daß eine Szene an die andere gereiht ist. Man kann dies als unnatürlich empfinden, daß eine Szene neben die andere gestellt ist. Warum unnatürlich? Weil nichts zwei Szenen zusammenhält als der Schreiber Shakespeare und der Zuschauer. In der Szenenfolge ist ein abstraktes Prinzip der Kausalität, nicht ein konkret Wesenhaftes. Das ist das Charakteristische der Dramen Shakespeares, daß nichts angedeutet ist, was sie karmisch durchwirkt und zusammenhält.
Das Rosenkreuzerdrama ist realistisch geworden, spirituell-realistisch. Es stellt große Anforderungen an Johannes Thomasius. Ohne daß er in irgendeiner wichtigen Eigenschaft aktiv mittut, ist er auf der Szene. Er ist es, in dessen Seele sich alles abspielt, und was da geschildert wird, ist die Entwickelung der Seele, das reale Erlebnis dessen, was in der Entwickelung der Seele erlebt wird.
Die Seele des Johannes spinnt realistisch das eine Bild aus dem anderen Bild heraus. Da sehen wir, daß realistisch und spirituell einander nicht widersprechen. Materialistisches und Spirituelles brauchen sich nicht, aber können sich widersprechen. Aber es braucht sich auch Realistisches und Spirituelles nicht zu widersprechen, und es kann etwas spirituell Realistisches von einem Materialisten ganz bewundert werden. Die Dramen Shakespeares können in bezug auf ein ästhetisches Prinzip durchaus realistisch gedacht werden. Aber Sie können auch begreifen, daß eine Kunst, die Hand in Hand geht mit Geisteswissenschaft, zuletzt dahin führt, daß für den, der sein Selbst im Kosmos erlebt, der ganze Kosmos zu einer Ich-Wesenheit wird. Dann können wir es auch nicht ertragen, daß ihm irgend etwas entgegentritt im Kosmos, was nicht in Beziehung steht zur Ich-Wesenheit. Die Kunst wird in dieser Beziehung etwas lernen, was sie zum Ich-Prinzip kommen läßt, weil der Christus uns zuerst einmal das Ich gebracht hat. Auf den verschiedensten Gebieten wird sich dieses Ich ausleben.
Aber noch in anderer Weise zeigt sich dieses konkrete Menschliche in der Seele und das Wiederum-Verteiltsein draußen. Wenn einen damals jemand gefragt hat: Welche Person ist Atma, welche ist Buddhi, welche Manas? - Es wäre eine gräßliche Kunst, eine fürchterliche Kunst, wenn man die Darstellung so interpretieren müßte: Diese Gestalt ist eine Personifikation von Manas. — Es gibt theosophische Unarten, die sich bemühen, alles in dieser Richtung auszulegen. Von dem Kunstwerk, das sich so interpretieren lassen müßte, könnte man sagen: Armes Kunstwerk! — Gegenüber Shakespeares Dramen jedenfalls wäre dies grundfalsch und lächerlich.
Solche Dinge sind Kinderkrankheiten der theosophischen Entwickelung. Man wird sie sich schon abgewöhnen. Aber es ist doch notwendig, daß auf diese Dinge auch einmal aufmerksam gemacht wird. Es könnte sogar vorkommen, daß sich jemand daran macht, die neun Glieder der menschlichen Natur in der Neunten Symphonie Beethovens aufzusuchen.
Und dennoch ist es in gewisser Weise richtig, daß das, was einheitliche menschliche Natur ist, sich wiederum verteilt auf verschiedene Menschen. Ein Mensch hat diese besondere Seelenfärbung, ein anderer jene. So können wir Menschen vor uns sehen, die verschiedene Seiten der menschlichen Gesamtnatur darstellen. Aber das muß realistisch gedacht sein, muß aus der Natur des Menschen heraus kommen. Wie uns Menschen in der Welt entgegentreten, darin stellen sie die verschiedenen Seiten der menschlichen Natur dar. Und indem wir uns durchentwickeln von Inkarnation zu Inkarnation, werden wir eine Totalität. Wenn das betreffende Faktum, das zugrunde liegt, dargestellt werden soll, dann muß das ganze Leben aufgelöst werden.
So ist im Rosenkreuzermysterium das, was in gewisser Weise Maria darstellen soll, aufgelöst in den anderen Figuren, die als Begleiter um sie herum sind, die mit ihr eine Ichheit ausmachen. Man kann insbesondere Eigenschaften der Empfindungsseele in der Philia sehen, Eigenschaften der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele in Astrid, Eigenschaften der Bewußtseinsseele in Luna. Daraufhin sind schon die Namen geprägt. Alle Namen sind so, daß sie für die einzelnen Wesenheiten ganz wesenhaft geprägt sind. Nicht nur in den Worten, sondern in der Art, wie die Worte gesetzt sind, namentlich wo wirken soll das Spirituelle im Devachan, im siebenten Bild, da ist das, was die drei Gestalten der Philia, Astrid und Luna charakterisieren soll, genau abgestuft. Das, womit da das siebente Bild beginnt, ist eine bessere Charakteristik von Empfindungsseele, Verstandesseele und Bewußtseinsseele, als man sonst in Worten geben kann. Da kann man den Menschen zeigen, was Empfindungsseele, was Verstandesseele, was Bewußtseinsseele ist. In der Kunst kann man die Stufen zeigen in der Art, wie diese drei Gestalten dastehen. In der menschlichen Wesenheit fließen sie ineinander. Werden sie voneinander gelöst, dann stellen sie sich so dar, wie Philia sich hineinstellt in das Weltenall, wie Astrid sich hineinstellt in die Elemente, wie Luna ausfließt in Selbsttat und Selbsterkenntnis. Und weil sie sich da so hineinstellen, ist in der Devachanszene alles enthalten, was im wahren Sinne Alchimie ist. Die ganze Alchimie ist darin. Man muß sie nur nach und nach herausfinden.
Sie ist aber nicht nur in dem abstrakten Inhalt gegeben, sondern in dem Weben und Wesen der Worte. Deshalb sollen Sie nicht nur hören, was gesagt wird, und namentlich nicht bloß, was der einzelne spricht, sondern wie die Seelenkräfte im Verhältnis zueinander sprechen. Die Empfindungsseele schiebt sich hinein in den Astralleib, wir haben es mit webender Astralität zu tun. Die Verstandesseele schiebt sich hinein in den Ätherleib, wir haben es also mit webender Atherwesenheit zu tun. Wir sehen, wie sich wie mit innerer Festigkeit die Bewußtseinsseele in den physischen Leib hineinergießt. So ist das, was seelenhaft wirkt wie Licht in der Seele, in den Worten der Philia gegeben; was ätherisch objektiv wirkt, so daß man den wahren Dingen gegenübersteht, das ist in Astrid gegeben; was innere Festigkeit gibt, so daß es mit dem physischen Leib verbunden ist, das ist in Luna gegeben. Das müssen wir erfühlen. Hören wir die Seelenkräfte im siebenten Bild:
Philia: (Empfindungsseele)
Ich will erfüllen mich
Mit klarstem Lichtessein
Aus Weltenweiten,
Ich will eratmen mir
Belebenden Klangesstoff
Aus Ätherfernen,
Daß dir, geliebte Schwester,
Das Werk gelingen kann.Astrid: (Verstandesseele)
Ich will verweben
Erstrahlend Licht
Mit dämpfender Finsternis,
Ich will verdichten
Das Klangesleben.
Es soll erglitzernd klingen,
Es soll erklingend glitzern,
Daß du, geliebte Schwester,
Die Seelenstrahlen lenken kannst.Luna: (Bewußtseinsseele)
Ich will erwärmen Seelenstoff
Und will erhärten Lebensäther.
Sie sollen sich verdichten,
Sie sollen sich erfühlen,
Und in sich selber seiend
Sich schaffend halten,
Daß du, geliebte Schwester
Der suchenden Menschenseele
Des Wissens Sicherheit erzeugen kannst.
Ich mache darauf aufmerksam, daß wir haben bei der Philia: «Daß dir, geliebte Schwester... .», daß wir bei Astrid in das Dumpfere, in das Dichtere hineinkommen: «Daß du, geliebte Schwester .. .», «Daß dir...», «Daß du...». Und jetzt haben wir es bei Luna verwoben mit dem noch schwerer Wiegenden: «Der suchenden Menschenseele». Da ist das U so verwoben mit den benachbarten Konsonanten, daß es noch festere Dichtigkeit erlangt.
Das sind die Dinge, die man tatsächlich charakterisieren kann. Auf das Wie kommt es an, das muß festgehalten werden. Vergleichen wir die Worte, die Philia weiter spricht:
Ich will erbitten von Weltengeistern,
Daß ihres Wesens Licht
Entzücke Seelensinn,
Und ihrer Worte Klang
Beglücke Geistgehör
mit den ganz anders gearteten, die Astrid spricht:
Ich will die Liebesströme,
Die Welt erwarmenden,
Zu Herzen leiten
Dem Geweihten
so ist gerade da, wo diese Worte durchgeführt sind, das innere Weben und Wesen des devachanischen Weltelementes durchgeführt.
Wir müssen uns klarmachen an solchen Dingen, und deshalb erwähne ich es, daß, wenn Selbsterkenntnis anfängt aufzugehen in äußerem Weltenweben und Weltenwesen, es darauf ankommt, alle Einseitigkeit aufzugeben, und daß wir fühlen lernen, wie wir sonst nur in Philisterart erleben können, was in jedem Punkte des Daseins vorhanden ist. Das macht uns Menschen zu starren Wesen, daß wir an den Punkt im Raume gebannt sind und glauben, mit Worten Wahrheiten aussprechen zu können. Aber Worte sind das, was weniger gut die Wahrheit aussprechen kann, weil es an den physischen Klang gebunden ist. Wir müssen, ich möchte sagen, den Ausdruck mitfühlen. Daher kommt es darauf an, daß ein solcher wichtiger Vorgang wie der Selbsterkenntnisvorgang des Johannes Thomasius nur so richtig erlebt werden kann, wenn er dann die Selbsterkenntnis mutvoll erringt und ergreift. Das ist der nächste Akt, nachdem die Selbsterkenntnis uns niedergeschmettert hat, daß wir anfangen, das, was wir draußen gelernt haben, indem wir den Kosmos als uns verwandt begriffen haben, nachdem wir das Wesen der Wesen erkannt haben, in uns jetzt hereinzunehmen, daß wir uns mutvoll erkühnen, das zu leben, was wir erkannt haben. Nur die Hälfte der Sache ist es, daß wir untertauchen wie Johannes in ein Wesen, dem wir Leid gebracht haben, das wir in die kalte Erde hinuntergestoßen haben. Denn wir empfinden jetzt anders. Wir fassen Mut, den Schmerz auszugleichen. Dann tauchen wir unter in dieses Leben und sprechen im eigenen Wesen anders. Das wird zunächst dasjenige, was uns im neunten Bild entgegentritt. Während im zweiten Bild das Wesen dem Johannes zurief:
Er hat mir bittre Not gebracht;
Ich habe ihm so ganz vertraut.
Er ließ im Kummer mich allein,
Er raubte mir die Lebenswärme
Und stieß in kalte Erde mich
rief dasselbe Wesen im neunten Bild, nachdem Johannes sich da erlebt hatte, wohin jede Selbsterkenntnis drängt, ihm zu:
Du mußt mich wieder finden
Und mir die Schmerzen lindern.
Das ist die andere Seite: erst das Niederschmetternde, dann das Ausgleichende des Erlebens. Da ruft ihm das andere Wesen zu:
Du mußt mich wieder finden.
Es könnte das anders nicht dargestellt werden, dieses Heraufheben des Erlebens der Welt, dieses Sich-Ausfüllen mit dem Erleben der Welt. Wahre Selbsterkenntnis im Auftauchen innerhalb des Kosmos könnte nicht geschildert werden, wenn nicht mit den Worten, mit denen Johannes aufwacht. Selbstverständlich muß sie so beginnen, im zweiten Bild:
So hör’ ich sie seit Jahren schon,
Die inhaltschweren Worte.
Dann, nachdem er untergetaucht ist in den Erdengrund, nachdem er mit dem Erdengrund vereinigt ist, entsteht in der Seele die Kraft, die Worte so entstehen zu lassen. Das ist das Wesentliche im neunten Bild:
Ich habe sie drei Jahre lang gesucht,
Die mutbeschwingte Seelenkraft,
Die Wahrheit gibt dem Worte,
Durch das der Mensch, sich selbst befreiend, siegen
Und sich besiegend, Freiheit finden kann.
Das sind die Worte: «O Mensch, erlebe dich!» im Gegensatz zu den Worten im zweiten Bild: «O Mensch, erkenne dich!» So tritt uns immer wiederum dasselbe Bild entgegen. Während das eine Mal das Bild hinunterführt:
Die Welt und meine Eigenheit,
Sie leben in dem Worte:
O Mensch, erkenne dich!
ist es dann umgekehrt. Das wechselt. Das Bild gibt den Seelenvorgang wieder.
So haben Sie auch gehört das furchtbar niederschmetternde Wort:
Maria, ist dir denn bewußt,
Was meine Seele eben durchgerungen?
- - - - - - - - - -
Mir ist des Menschen letzte Zuflucht,
Mir ist die Einsamkeit verloren.
Dann wird im neunten Bild gezeigt, wie das Wesen erst Zuversicht und dann Sicherheit gewinnt. Das ist die Kongruenz. Nicht Konstruktionen, sondern selbstverständliche Erlebnisse müssen es sein. Dadurch sollen wir fühlen, wie in einer solchen Seele, wie der des Johannes 'Thomasius, Selbsterkenntnis sich abklärt zum Selbsterleben. Wir sollen auch fühlen, wie sich verteilt dieses Erlebnis des Johannes Thomasius auf einzelne Menschen und damit seine eigene Erkenntnis über die gesamten Menschen, in denen sich in den einzelnen Inkarnationen ein Teil seiner Wesenheit ausprägt. Zuletzt steht da im Sonnentempel eine ganze Gesellschaft, alle wie ein Tableau, und alle zusammen sind ein einzelner Mensch. Auf alle sind Eigenschaften eines einzigen Menschen verteilt; es ist im Grunde genommen ein einzelner Mensch. Aber ein pedantischer Mensch müßte sagen: Es sind ja zu viele Teile, es müßten neun statt zwölf sein. — So schafft aber die Wirklichkeit nicht, daß sie im Einklang steht mit den Theorien. Und dennoch steht sie mehr im Einklang mit der Wahrheit, als wenn man in regulärer Weise die einzelnen Glieder der menschlichen Wesenheit aufmarschieren ließe.

Versetzen wir uns jetzt in diesen Sonnentempel. Da sind die einzelnen Menschen, die so hineingestellt worden sind, wie sie wirklich karmisch zusammengehören, wie Karma sie im Leben zusammengestellt hat. Aber wenn wir uns jetzt den Johannes hier denken und uns eines jeden einzelnen Charakter so gespiegelt denken in der Seele des Johannes und jeden Menschen als Seeleneigenschaft des Johannes - was ist denn dann, wenn wir das als Realität fassen, geschehen? Da hat Karma tatsächlich wie in einem Knotenpunkt diese Menschen zusammengebracht. Nichts ist absichtslos, zwecklos, ziellos, sondern was einzelne Menschen getan haben, bedeutet nicht nur ein Einzelereignis, es bedeutet jeder ein Seelenerlebnis des Johannes 'Thomasius. Es spielt sich alles zweimal ab: im Makrokosmos und im Mikrokosmos der Seele des Johannes. Das ist seine Initiation. Wie Maria zum Beispiel zu ihm selber steht, so steht ein wichtiges Glied seiner Seele zu einem anderen Glied der Seele. Das sind absolute Kongruenzen, streng durchgeführt. Was äußerliche Handlung ist, ist in Johannes innerlicher Entwickelungsvorgang. Es will da geschehen, was der Hierophant ausdrückt im dritten Bild:
Es formt sich hier in diesem Kreise
Ein Knoten aus den Fäden,
Die Karma spinnt im Weltenwerden.
Er hat sich geformt. Und dieser so recht geschürzte Knoten zeigt, wozu alles führt. Auf der einen Seite absolute Realität, wie Karma spinnt, aber nicht ein zweckloses Spinnen. Wir haben den: Knoten als den Initiationsvorgang in der Seele des Johannes, und wir haben das Ganze so, daß doch noch eine menschliche Individualität steht über all diesen Menschen: der Hierophant, der eingreift, der die Fäden lenkt. Wir brauchen nur an den Hierophanten und sein Verhältnis zu Maria zu denken.
Aber gerade daran können wir ersehen, daß dieser Vorgang etwas ist, was Selbsterkenntnis erleuchten kann, an dieser Stelle im dritten Bild. Ein Spaß ist dieses Heraussteigen aus dem Selbst nicht. Ein ganz realer Vorgang ist es, ein Verlassenwerden der menschlichen Hüllen von der inneren Kraft. Dann bleiben diese menschlichen Hüllen übrig und werden ein Kampfplatz für untergeordnete Mächte. Wo Maria den Strahl der Liebe zum Hierophanten herunterschickt, das kann nicht anders dargestellt werden als: Da unten der Leib, der ergriffen wird von der Macht des Widersachers und das Gegenteil sagt von dem, was da oben vorgeht. Da oben strahlt ein Strahl der Liebe herunter, da unten entsteht ein Fluch. Das sind die kontrastierenden Szenen: Im Devachan, wo Maria schildert, was sie wirklich getan hat, und im dritten Bild, wo sich unten beim Verlassen des Leibes das Fluchen der dämonischen Mächte gegen den Hierophanten abspielt. Da haben wir zwei sich ergänzende Bilder. Es würde wirklich ganz schlimm werden, wenn man sie erst so konstruieren müßte.
So habe ich dem heutigen Vortrag eine Seite dieses Mysteriendramas zugrunde gelegt, und ich hoffe, daß wir gerade daran einige besondere Charakteristika anknüpfen konnten, wie sie der Initiation zugrunde liegen.
Es darf der Umstand, daß manches scharf betont werden mußte, wenn wirkliche Vorgänge der Einweihung dargestellt werden sollen, Sie nicht mutlos, kleinmütig machen gegenüber dem Streben nach der geistigen Welt. Die Schilderung der Gefahren hat nur den Zweck, den Menschen zu stählen gegenüber den Gewalten. Die Gefahren sind da, die Schmerzen und Leiden stehen uns bevor. Es wäre wahrhaftig ein schlechtes Streben, wenn wir nur sozusagen in der bequemsten Weise hinaufrücken wollten in die höheren Welten. So bequem, wie in modernen Eisenbahnzügen sich hinrollen zu lassen, wie die äußere materielle Kultur es in bezug auf das äußere Leben macht, läßt es sich noch nicht machen in bezug auf das Erreichen der geistigen Welten. Nicht mutlos machen soll das hier Geschilderte, sondern gerade durch das Sich-Bekanntmachen in gewisser Weise mit den Gefahren der Initiation soll der Mut gestählt werden.
Gerade wie bei Johannes 'Thomasius, den seine Neigung unfähig gemacht hat, den Pinsel zu führen, sich das umsetzt in Schmerz, dann aber Schmerz in Erkenntnis, so wird alles, was Leid und Schmerz erregt, sich in Erkenntnis umsetzen. Wir müssen diesen Weg aber ernsthaft suchen. Dies können wir nur, wenn wir einmal versuchen, uns vor Augen zu führen, daß doch die geisteswissenschaftlichen Wahrheiten nicht so einfach sind. So tiefe Lebenswahrheiten sind das, daß man niemals fertig werden kann damit, sie. genau. zu fassen. Gerade das Beispiel im Leben gestattet uns, die Welt zu erfassen, und noch viel genauer kann man sprechen über die Bedingungen der Entwickelung, wenn man die Entwickelung des Johannes darstellt, als wenn man überhaupt die Entwickelung eines Menschen darstellt. In dem Buch «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» ist die Entwickelung dargestellt, wie sie bei jedem Menschen sein kann, also einzig die Möglichkeit, wie sie real sein kann. Wenn man Johannes 'Thomasius darstellt, schildert man einen einzelnen Menschen. Aber dadurch beraubt man sich der Möglichkeit, die Entwickelung im allgemeinen zu schildern.
Ich hoffe, Sie werden möglichst Veranlassung nehmen, zu sagen, daß ich im Grunde genommen die Wahrheit doch noch nicht gesagt habe. Wir haben zwei Extreme und müssen die Abstufungen zwischen beiden finden. Ich kann immer nur einige Anregungen geben. Diese müssen dann weiterleben in den Herzen und Seelen.
In den Anregungen, die ich über das Matthäus-Evangelium gab, habe ich gesagt: Suchen Sie sich nicht zu erinnern an den Wortlaut, sondern suchen Sie, wenn Sie hinausgetreten sind in die Welt, in Herz und Seele zu schauen, was da die Worte geworden sind. Suchen Sie nicht nur zu lesen in Zyklen, sondern auch wirklich ernstlich in Ihrer Seele zu lesen.
Dazu muß aber erst etwas von außen gegeben werden, muß erst etwas hineingegangen sein. Das andere wäre ein Selbstbetrug der Seele. Verstehen Sie das in der Seele zu lesen, und Sie werden sehen, daß, was von außen geklungen hat, in viel anderer Weise noch innen klingen wird. Das würde erst das richtige anthroposophische Bestreben sein, wenn jedesmal das, was gesprochen wird, auf so viele Arten verstanden würde, als Zuhörer da sind.
Niemals kann derjenige, der über Geisteswissenschaft sprechen will, versuchen, nur auf eine Art verstanden zu sein. Er möchte auf so viele Arten verstanden sein, als Seelen da sind. Anthroposophie verträgt dies schon. Aber eines ist notwendig. Ich sage das nicht, um etwas Nebensächliches zu sagen. Eines ist nötig, daß jede einzelne Art des Verstehens richtig und wahr ist. Individuell kann sie sein, aber wahr muß sie sein. Manchmal besteht das Individuelle der Auffassung darin, daß das Gegenteil dessen, was gesagt wird, aufgefaßt wird.
So müssen wir uns, wenn wir von Selbsterkenntnis sprechen, auch das vor Augen führen, daß es nützlicher ist, so zu sprechen, daß wir die Fehler in uns und das Wahre außer uns suchen.
Es wird nicht gesagt: Suche in dir selbst das Wahre! - Das Wahre findet man in der Tat draußen. Man findet, daß es ausgegossen ist in die Welt. Wir müssen durch Selbsterkenntnis von uns frei werden, müssen durch solche Seelenstadien durchgehen. Einsamkeit kann ein ganz schlechter Gesellschafter sein. Aber wir können auch unsere ganze Schwäche fühlen, wenn wir die Größe des Kosmos, aus dem wir geboren sind, in unserer Seele nachfühlen. Dann aber fassen wir Mut. Erkühnen wir uns, das, was wir erkennen, zu erleben.
Dann werden wir finden, daß in der Tat aus dem Verlust der letzten Zuversicht unseres Lebens heraussprießen wird des Lebens erste und letzte Zuversicht, jene Zuversicht, die uns, indem wir uns im Kosmos wiederfinden, uns selbst überwinden und uns aufs neue finden läßt:
O Mensch, erlebe die Welt in dir!
Dann hast du dich,
Über dich selbst hinausschreitend,
Erst recht in deinem wahren Selbst gefunden.
Fühlen wir diese Worte als Erlebnisse, dann werden sie uns Etappen der Entwickelung.
About Self-knowledge Based on the Rosicrucian mystery “The Portal of Initiation”
Most of those present know that we have endeavored in Munich, in addition to repeating last year's performance of the drama “The Children of Lucifer,” to stage a Rosicrucian mystery play that attempts in various ways to depict what is connected with our movement. On the one hand, this Rosicrucian mystery play is intended to be a kind of test of how everything that moves anthroposophical life can flow into art. On the other hand, however, it should not be forgotten that this Rosicrucian mystery play contains much of our spiritual scientific teachings in a way that may only become apparent over the years. And it should not be misunderstood that if one made some effort to read the things that lie within — not between the lines, for they are already there, albeit in a spiritual way — if one made an effort to understand the Rosicrucian Mystery in this way, then it would not be necessary for me to give any lectures for many years to come. in such a way that one would seek out these things in the coming years, then it would not be necessary for me to give any lectures for many years to come. Much of what I otherwise lecture on any subject would be found there. However, it will be more practical if we search for it together than if one person does so alone. In a certain sense, it is good that what lives in spiritual science is also available in this form.
So today, following on from the Rosicrucian Mystery, I would like to speak about certain peculiarities of human self-knowledge. To do this, however, we need to remember — in a characterizing way — how individuality works in the body of Johannes Thomasius in the Rosicrucian Mystery. Therefore, I would like this lecture, which is to deal with self-knowledge, to begin with a recitation of those parts of the Rosicrucian Mystery that signify Johannes' self-knowledge.
Second scene
Outdoors, rocks, springs; the entire surroundings are to be imagined in the soul of Johannes Thomasius, with the following as the content of his meditation; later, Mary appears.
(It sounds from springs and rocks: O man, know thyself!)
John:
I have heard them for years,
The words heavy with meaning.
They sound to me from the air and water,
They ring up from the depths of the earth,
And as mysteriously as in a tiny seed
The giant oak tree grows,
So finally the power of these words closes in,
What is the essence of the elements,
Of souls and spirits,
Of the passage of time and eternity
Is comprehensible to my thinking.
The world and my own nature,
They live in the words:
O man, know thyself!(From springs and rocks it sounds: O man, know thyself!)
And now! — it becomes
Terribly alive within me.
Darkness weaves around me,
Darkness yawns within me;
It sounds from the darkness of the world,
It sounds from the darkness of the soul:
O man, know thyself!(It sounds from springs and rocks: O man, know thyself!)
It now robs me of myself.
I change with the passing hours of the day
And transform myself into night.
I follow the earth in its worldly course.
I roll in the thunder,
I twitch in the lightning.
I am. - O already vanished
I feel myself separated from my own being.
I see my body's shell;
It is a strange being outside of me,
It is far away from me.
Another body floats toward me.
I must speak with its mouth:
“He brought me bitter hardship;
I trusted him completely.
He left me alone in my grief,
He robbed me of the warmth of life
And cast me into the cold earth.”
The one I left, the poor thing,
I was her myself.
I must suffer her torment.
Knowledge has given me strength
To carry my self into another self.
O cruel word!
Your light is extinguished by your own power.
O human, recognize yourself!(It sounds from springs and rocks: O man, recognize yourself!)
You lead me back again
Into the circles of my own being.
But how do I recognize myself again!
I have lost my human form.
I appear to me as a wild worm,
Born of lust and greed.
And I clearly feel
Like a mirage
My own terrifying form
Which has been hidden from me until now.
The wildness of my own nature must devour me.
I feel like a consuming fire
Those words flow through my veins
Which otherwise revealed to me so powerfully
revealed to me the nature of the sun and the earth.
They live in my pulse,
they beat in my heart;
and even in my own thoughts I feel
the strange worlds already blazing as wild impulses.
These are the fruits of the word:
O man, recognize yourself!(It sounds from springs and rocks: O man, know thyself!)
There, from the dark abyss, —
What creature stares at me?
I feel chains
That bind me to you.
Not so firmly was Prometheus
was chained to the rocks of the Caucasus
as I am chained to you.
Who are you, terrifying creature?(It sounds from springs and rocks: O man, know thyself!)
Oh, I know you.
It is I myself.
Knowledge binds you, perishable monster(Mary enters, initially unnoticed by John.)
I am a perishable monster.
I wanted to escape you.
The worlds blinded me,
into which my folly fled,
to be free from myself.
I am blinded again in my blind soul:
O man, recognize yourself!(It sounds from springs and rocks: O man, recognize yourself!)
John:
(as if coming to himself, he sees Mary. The meditation becomes inner reality)
O friend, you are here!
Mary:
I was looking for you, my friend;
Although I know
How dear solitude is to you,
After so many people's opinions
Have flooded your soul.
And I also know
That I cannot help my friend
In this time by my presence,
Yet a dark longing
Urges me to you at this moment,
Since Benedictus' words, instead of light,
Have brought you such heavy suffering
From the depths of your spirit.Johannes:
How dear is solitude to me!
- - - - - - - - -
I have sought it so often,
To find myself in it,
When in labyrinths of thought
The suffering and happiness of men had driven me.
O friend, that is now over.
What Benedictus' words first
brought out of my soul,
what I had to experience through people's words,
seems only insignificant to me,
compared to the storm
that loneliness then brought me
in dull brooding.
O this loneliness!
It drove me into worlds far away.
It tore me away from myself.
In that being whom I had caused suffering,
I arose as another.
And I had to suffer the pain
That I myself had caused.
The cruel, dark loneliness
Then gave me back to myself.
But only to terrify me
With the abyss of my own being.
I have lost the last refuge of man,
I have lost solitude.Mary:
I must repeat the words to you:
Only Benedictus can help you.
The support we lack,
We must both receive from him.
For know that I too can no longer
Endure the mystery of my life,
Unless through his sign
The solution is revealed to me.
The high wisdom that always over all life
Only appearance and deception spread,
When our thinking merely grasps its surface,
I have often reminded myself of this.
And again and again it said:
You must recognize how delusion surrounds you,
No matter how often it seems to you to be truth,
It could bear evil fruit,
If you want to awaken in others a light
That lives within you.
In the best part of my soul, I am aware
That even the heavy burden
That life has brought you, my friend,
By my side,
Is part of the thorny path
That leads to the light of truth.
You must experience all the horrors
That can arise from delusion,
Before the essence of truth reveals itself to you.
So speaks your star.
But through this starry message, it also appears to me
That we must walk the paths of the spirit together.
But when I seek these paths,
A dark night spreads before my eyes.
And the night grows blacker still through many things
That I must experience
As the fruits of my being.
We must both seek clarity in the light
That may well disappear from the eye
But can never be extinguished.Johannes:
Mary, are you aware
Of what my soul has just gone through?
A heavy burden indeed
Has fallen upon you, noble friend.
But far removed from your nature is that power
Which has so completely shattered me.
You can ascend to the highest heights of truth,
You can direct your confident gaze
into the confusion of mankind,
you will preserve yourself in light and darkness.
But every moment can rob me of myself.
I had to immerse myself in the people
who had just revealed themselves in words.
I followed one into the solitude of the monastery,
I heard in the other's soul
I followed one into the solitude of the monastery,
I heard in the other's soul
Felicia's fairy tale.
I was everyone,
Only I died to myself.
I would have to believe
That nothing is the origin of beings,
If I were to cherish the hope
That out of nothing within me
A human being could ever come to be,
Leads me out of fear into darkness
And chases me through darkness in fear
The word of wisdom:
O man, know thyself!(From springs and rocks it sounds: O man, know thyself!)
(The curtain falls)
Ninth scene
Same setting as in the second scene. John, later Mary.
(It sounds from rocks and springs: O man, experience yourself!)
John:
O man, experience yourself!
I have sought it for three years,
The courageous power of the soul,
Which gives truth to words,
Through which man, liberating himself, can triumph
And, defeating himself, find freedom:O man, experience yourself!
(From rocks and springs resounds: O man, experience yourself!)
It announces itself within,
Only faintly perceptible to my spiritual hearing.
It holds within itself the hope
That, growing, it will lead the human spirit
Out of narrow existence into distant worlds,
Just as mysteriously
The tiny seed
Grows into the proud body of the giant oak. — —
The spirit can enliven within itself
What weaves in the air and in the water,
And what holds the earth together.
Man can grasp
What has taken hold in the elements,
In souls and spirits,
In the passage of time and eternity
Of existence.
The whole world lives in the soul,
When such power is rooted in the spirit,
Which gives truth to the words:
O human being, experience yourself!(From rocks and springs resounds: O human being, experience yourself!)
I feel — how it resounds in my soul,
Stirring, empowering.
The light lives in me,
The brightness speaks around me,
The light of the soul germinates within me,
It creates the brightness of the world within me:
O man, experience yourself!(From rocks and springs resounds: O man, experience yourself!)
I find myself secure everywhere,
Wherever the power of the word follows me.
It will shine for me in the darkness of my senses
And sustain me in the heights of my spirit.
It will fill me with soulfulness
For all time to come.
I feel the existence of worlds within me,
And I must find myself in all worlds.
I see my soul
Enlivened within me by my own power.
I rest within myself.
I look at the rocks and the springs;
They speak to my soul in its own language.
I find myself again in that being
Which I brought into bitter distress.
Out of it I call to myself:
“You must find me again
And ease my pain.”
The light of the spirit will give me strength
To live the other self within myself.
O hopeful word,
You stream power to me from all worlds:
O human being, experience yourself!(From rocks and springs resounds: O human being, experience yourself!)
You let me feel my weakness
And place me beside God's lofty goals;
And I feel blissful
At the creative power of the lofty goal
In my weak earthly human being.
And from myself shall be revealed,
That for which the seed is hidden within me.
I will give myself to the world
Through the life of my own being.
I will feel all the power of the word,
Which at first sounds softly to me;
It shall be like a life-giving fire
In the powers of my soul,
On the paths of my mind.
I feel how my thoughts penetrate
Into the deeply hidden foundations of the world;
And how they shine through them.
Such is the germinating power of this word:
O human being, experience yourself!(From Sources and Rocks: O human being, experience yourself!)
From bright heights a being shines upon me,
I feel wings
Lifting me up to him,
I want to free myself
Like all beings who have conquered themselves.(From Springs and Rocks: O human, experience yourself!)
I look at that being,
I want to become like him in the future.
The spirit within me will free itself
Through you, sublime goal.
I want to follow you.(Mary joins them.)
The eyes of my soul have been awakened
The spiritual beings who have taken me in.
And seeing into the spiritual worlds,
I feel the power within myself:
O human being, experience yourself!(From springs and rocks: O human being, experience yourself!)
O my friend, you are here!
Mary:
My soul drove me here.
I could see your star.
It shines in full power.John:
I can experience this power within me.
Mary:
We are so closely connected
That the life of your soul
Lets its light shine in my soul.John:
O Mary, are you aware
Of what has just been revealed to me?
I have gained man's first confidence,
I feel the power of the word,
Which can guide me everywhere:
O man, experience yourself!(From Rocks and Springs: O man, experience yourself!)
(Curtain falls)
In the two images, “O man, know thyself” and “O man, experience thyself,” two stages appear before our soul, two stages of development in the unfolding of our soul.
Now I ask you not to find it strange when I say that I actually have nothing against interpreting this Rosicrucian mystery in the same way that I have sometimes interpreted other poems in our circles. For in a certain sense it may well be said that this Rosicrucian mystery can bring before our soul in a living, immediate way what I have often said in connection with other poems that I have been permitted to interpret. I have never hesitated to say: Just as little as the plant, the flower, knows what the person who looks at the flower finds in it, so what he finds in it is nevertheless contained in the flower. When I was asked to interpret the poem “Faust,” I explained that the poet did not necessarily know or feel all the things himself in words that were later found in the poem when he wrote it down. I can assure you that nothing of what I will later add to this mystery, and which I nevertheless know to be there, was conscious to me when the individual images were formed. The images grew out of themselves like the leaves of a plant. It is impossible to produce such a form in advance by first having the idea and then translating it into external form. I always found it quite interesting when a picture emerged in this way, and friends who were familiar with the individual scenes said how strange it was that it always turned out differently from what they had imagined.
Thus this mystery stands there like a picture of the evolution of humanity in the development of a single human being. I emphasize: it is impossible for concrete feeling to cloak itself in abstractions in order to represent anthroposophy, because every human soul is different from every other and, since it experiences its own development, must also be different. In everything that is given as general teaching, we can only receive guidelines. Therefore, the complete truth can only be given if one connects with an individual soul, a soul that represents its human individuality with all its peculiarities. If, therefore, someone regards Johannes Thomasius in such a way that they would translate what is said about him in concrete terms into theories of human development, they would be doing something completely wrong. If he believed that he would experience exactly the same thing that Johannes Thomasius experienced, he would be very much mistaken. For what Johannes Thomasius has to experience in broad outlines applies to every human being, but in order to experience it in all its uniqueness, one must be Johannes Thomasius. And everyone is a “Johannes Thomasius” in their own way.
Thus everything is presented in a completely individual way. But this also means that, in connection with the particular character, what is given is the development of the human being in his soul in as true a way as possible. To achieve this, it was necessary to create a broad foundation by first showing Thomasius on the physical plane and pointing to individual soul experiences, such as the one that must have been significant when, in a time not too long ago, he left behind a being who was devoted to him in faithful love. This happens often, but this individual event has a different effect on someone who is striving to undergo development. It is a profound truth that those who undergo development do not attain self-knowledge by brooding within themselves, but by immersing themselves in individual beings. We must learn through self-knowledge that we come from the cosmos. Only then can we immerse ourselves when we transform ourselves into another self. We are first transformed into what was once close to us in life.
It is an example of experiencing one's own self in another when John, having first come deeper into his self, immerses himself in self-knowledge into another being, into the being to whom he has brought bitter pain. Thus we see how Thomasius submerges in this self-knowledge. Theoretically, one says: If you want to recognize the flower, you must dive down into the flower. But the best way to attain self-knowledge is to submerge ourselves in the events in which we ourselves have stood in a different way. As long as we are in our own selves, we go through external experiences. In contrast to true self-knowledge, what we think about other beings becomes abstraction.
For Thomasius, what other people have experienced first becomes his own experience. There was a man named Capesius who described his experiences. These experiences are such that one can recognize how they fit into life. But Thomasius takes in something else. He listens. His listening, however, is different—this will be characterized later in the eighth picture. It is as if the ordinary self of the person were not there at all. Another, deeper power reveals itself, as if it were he himself who were creeping into Capesius' soul and experiencing what was going on there. That is why it becomes so infinitely significant that he becomes alienated from himself. It is inseparable from self-knowledge that one breaks away from oneself and merges with another. That is why it is so significant for Thomasius that, after listening to these words [in the first scene], he must say:
A reflection of the fullness of life,
Which showed me so clearly to myself.
The high revelation of the spirit
Has led me to feel
How only one side of man
Is hidden within many
Who believe themselves to be whole beings.
To unite the many sides
In my own self,
I boldly set foot on the path
That is shown here.
He has made nothing of me.
Why has he made nothing of him? Because through self-knowledge he has immersed himself in these other beings. Brooding over one's own inner self makes people proud and arrogant. True self-knowledge initially leads to suffering because we immerse ourselves in a foreign self. John follows [in the first image] the people in such a way that he listens to Capesius and experiences Felicia's words in this other soul. He follows Strader into his monastic solitude. This is abstraction at first. He has not yet arrived at what he is now led to [in the second image] through pain. Self-knowledge deepens in meditation within the inner self. And what was shown in the first picture shows the deepened self-knowledge [in the second picture], which presents the concrete from abstraction. And the ordinary words that we have heard for centuries as the maxims of the Delphic Oracle take on a new life for human beings, but initially a life of alienation from themselves.
John disappears into all external beings as one who knows himself. He lives in air and water, in rocks and springs, but not in himself. All the words that can only be uttered from outside are actually words of meditation. And even when the curtain rises, we have to imagine the words that sound much louder in every self-realization than can be portrayed on stage. Then the self-realized person sinks into the various other beings; through this he learns about the things into which he sinks. And then the same experience that he had earlier comes back to him in a terrible way.
It is a profound truth that this self-knowledge, when it proceeds in the manner just described, leads us to see ourselves in a completely different light than we did before. It leads us to perceive our ego, so to speak, as a foreign being.
For human beings, their outer shell is actually the closest thing to them. In our time, people feel much more connected to this shell when they cut their finger than when, for example, a false judgment by a fellow human being hurts them. How much more does it hurt modern man to cut his finger than to hear a false judgment! And yet it only cuts his physical shell. But the fact that we feel our body as a tool only becomes apparent through self-knowledge.
Man can already feel his hand as a tool to some extent when he grasps an object. But one learns to feel the same with this or that part of the brain. This inner feeling of the brain as an instrument arises at a certain stage of self-knowledge. That is where the individual localizes itself. When we hammer in a nail, we know that we are doing so with a tool. But we also know that we are using this or that part of the brain to do so. By becoming objectively alien to us, things enable us to recognize our brain as something separate from ourselves. Self-awareness promotes this objectivity of our shell, and then our shell ultimately becomes as alien to us as our external tools are. This is how we begin to truly live in the outside world, when we start to perceive our physical body as something objective.
Because humans only feel their physical shell, they are not aware that there is a boundary between the air outside and the air in their lungs. Nevertheless, they say that the air inside is the same as the air outside. If we take the substance of the air, then it is inside and outside. This is the case with everything, with blood, with everything that is physical. But it cannot be inside or outside in a physical sense; that is only Maya. It is precisely because the physical interior becomes an exterior that it continues truthfully into the rest of the world and the cosmos.
The pain of feeling alienated should be depicted in the first scene recited today. The pain of becoming alienated by finding oneself in everything external. Johannes Thomasius' own physical shell is like a being that is outside of him. But because he feels his own body outside, he sees the other body approaching, the body of the being he has left behind. It approaches him, and he has learned to speak with the words of this being. It says to him—his self has expanded to include him—:
He brought me bitter hardship;
I trusted him so completely.
He left me alone in my grief,
He robbed me of the warmth of life
And cast me into the cold earth.
But then the accusation comes alive in the soul when the foreign suffering with which we have linked our own self must be spoken, because our own self has been submerged in another self. This is a deepening. John is truly in suffering because he has caused it. He feels drained and awakened again. What is he actually experiencing?
When we take everything together, we find that the ordinary, normal human being experiences something similar only in the state we call Kamaloka. The initiate must experience in this world what the normal human being experiences in the spiritual world. He must experience within the physical body what Kamaloka experiences, what is otherwise experienced outside the physical body. Therefore, all the qualities that can be perceived as Kamaloka qualities are present as experiences of initiation. Just as John submerges himself in the soul he has caused suffering, so the normal human being must submerge himself in the souls he has caused pain in Kamaloka. Just as when he is slapped in the face, he must feel pain. These things are only different in that the initiate experiences them in the physical body, while the other person experiences them after death. Those who experience them here live in a completely different way than in Kamaloka. But even what a person can experience in Kamaloka can be experienced in such a way that he has not yet become truly free, so to speak. And it is a difficult task to become completely free. Man feels as if he is bound to physical conditions.
In our time, it is one of the most important experiences of development — in the Greek-Latin period it was not yet so, it has only now become particularly important — that man can experience how infinitely difficult it is to break away from himself. Therefore, an important initiatory experience is expressed in the words where John feels bound to his own lower body, where his own being appears to him as a being to which he is chained:
I feel chains
Not so firmly was Prometheus
That bind me to you.
Was chained to the rocks of the Caucasus,
As I am chained to you.
This is something connected with self-knowledge, a secret of self-knowledge. We just have to understand it in the right sense.
The question of this secret could also be described as follows: Have we actually become better people by becoming earthly human beings, by immersing ourselves in our earthly shells, or would we be better people if we could be alone within ourselves, if we could simply throw off our shells? The trivial people who oppose spiritual life can easily ask: Why immerse ourselves in the earthly body in the first place? The simplest thing would be to remain above, then we would not have all the misery of immersing ourselves.
Why did the wise powers of destiny immerse us? Intuitively, it is difficult to explain by saying that divine-spiritual forces have been working through this earthly body for millions and millions of years. Precisely because this is so, we should make more of ourselves than we are capable of. Our inner powers are not sufficient. We cannot already be as much as the gods have made us if we merely want to be what we are inside, if we are not corrected by our shells. Life presents itself as follows: Here on earth, human beings are placed in their physical shells, which are prepared by beings from three worlds. Human beings must first develop their inner selves. Between birth and death, they are evil beings, but in Devachan they are better beings again, taken in by divine-spiritual beings who infuse them with their own powers. Later, in the volcanic age, they will then be perfect beings. Now on earth, he is a being who indulges in this or that pleasure. The heart, for example, is so wisely constructed that it can withstand decades of attacks directed against it by man through his excesses, for example, with coffee. Just as man is today through his own power, so he now passes through Kamaloka. There he is to learn what he can be through his own power. And that is truly no good. When humans have to describe themselves, they cannot describe themselves with the attribute of beauty. They have to describe themselves as John does [in the second image]:
But how do I recognize myself!
I have lost my human form.
I appear to me as a wild worm,
Born of lust and greed.
And I clearly feel
Like a mirage of delusion
My own terrifying form
Which has been hidden from me until now.
Our inner being is stretched out elastically in our physical shells and hides itself from us. We actually get to know ourselves as a kind of wild worm when we experience initiation. And so these words are drawn from the depths of our feelings, words of self-knowledge, not self-contemplation:
It is I myself.
Knowledge forges you into a destructive monster
Me myself, a destructive monster.
Basically, both are the same, once as object, once as subject.
I wanted to escape from you.
But this escape only leads man to himself.
And then comes that society that emerges, in which we find ourselves when we truly look within ourselves. This society that we find within ourselves is our own desires and passions, that which was not noticed before because every time we wanted to look within ourselves, our gaze was diverted to our surroundings. For in comparison to what we wanted to look into, the world is a beautiful world. There, in the illusion, the Maya of life, we stop looking within ourselves. But when people talk all kinds of nonsense around us, and when it becomes too much for us, we flee into solitude. And this is very important for certain stages of development. There we can and should gather ourselves. It is a good means of self-knowledge. But there are still experiences in which we find ourselves in societies where we can no longer be lonely, where precisely those beings appear — within us or outside us, it does not matter — that do not allow us to be lonely. Then comes the experience that one should have. This loneliness brings with it the worst society:
I have lost my last refuge,
I have lost my solitude.
These are real experiences. But do not let the intensity, the strength of these experiences be a challenge to you. Do not believe that when such experiences are presented with great intensity, one should be afraid or fearful. Do not believe that this should contribute to distracting someone, to submerging them in these floods. You do not experience them in the same intensity as John, because he had to experience them for a specific purpose, in a certain way even prematurely. Regular self-development takes a different course. Therefore, what happens to John in such a tumultuous way must be understood as individual. Because he is this individuality that has suffered shipwreck, everything can happen much more tumultuously for him as he goes through these laws. He gets to know them in such a way that they throw him deeply off balance. But by describing this for John, something should be awakened, namely the feeling that true self-knowledge has nothing to do with trivial phrases, that true self-knowledge cannot help but lead first through pain and suffering.
Things that were previously a source of refreshment for people take on a different aspect when they appear in the field of self-knowledge. We can certainly beg for solitude if we have already found self-knowledge. But in certain moments of self-knowledge, loneliness can be what we lose when we seek it in the way we have known before, in moments when we then flow out into the objective world, where the lonely suffer the most severe pains.
We must learn to feel this pouring out into other beings in the right way if we want to feel what is laid out in the drama. It is a certain aesthetic feeling that is carried out, everything in it is spiritually realistic. Anyone who thinks realistically—a truly aesthetic realist—feels a certain pain when faced with an unrealistic representation. Even that which can give great satisfaction at a certain level can be a source of pain at another level. This depends on the path of self-knowledge. A Shakespeare drama, for example, something that is already a great achievement of the outer world, can be a source of aesthetic satisfaction. But a certain moment of development may occur when one can no longer be satisfied with it because one feels torn inside when moving from scene to scene, because one no longer sees the necessity for one scene to follow another. One may find it unnatural that one scene is placed next to another. Why unnatural? Because nothing holds two scenes together except the writer Shakespeare and the audience. In the sequence of scenes there is an abstract principle of causality, not a concrete essence. This is the characteristic feature of Shakespeare's dramas, that nothing is hinted at that karmically interweaves and holds them together.
The Rosicrucian drama has become realistic, spiritually realistic. It places great demands on Johannes Thomasius. Without actively participating in any important capacity, he is present on the stage. It is in his soul that everything takes place, and what is depicted is the development of the soul, the real experience of what is experienced in the development of the soul.
The soul of Johannes realistically weaves one image out of another. Here we see that the realistic and the spiritual are not contradictory. The materialistic and the spiritual do not need each other, but they can contradict each other. However, the realistic and the spiritual do not need to contradict each other, and something spiritually realistic can be greatly admired by a materialist. Shakespeare's dramas can certainly be thought of as realistic in terms of an aesthetic principle. But you can also understand that an art that goes hand in hand with spiritual science ultimately leads to the whole cosmos becoming an I-being for those who experience their self in the cosmos. Then we cannot bear that anything in the cosmos should oppose him that is not related to the I-being. In this relationship, art will learn something that allows it to arrive at the I-principle, because Christ first brought us the I. This I will live itself out in the most diverse areas.
But this concrete humanity in the soul and its redistribution outside itself is also evident in another way. If someone had asked you back then: Which person is Atma, which is Buddhi, which is Manas? — It would be a terrible art, a dreadful art, if one had to interpret the representation as follows: This figure is a personification of Manas. There are theosophical bad habits that strive to interpret everything in this direction. Of a work of art that could be interpreted in this way, one could say: Poor work of art! In comparison to Shakespeare's dramas, this would be fundamentally wrong and ridiculous.
Such things are teething troubles of theosophical development. People will grow out of them. But it is nevertheless necessary to draw attention to these things. It could even happen that someone sets out to find the nine members of human nature in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
And yet it is true in a certain sense that what is uniform human nature is distributed among different human beings. One person has this particular soul coloration, another that. Thus we can see human beings before us who represent different sides of the total human nature. But this must be thought realistically, must come out of human nature. The way we encounter people in the world is how they represent the different sides of human nature. And as we develop from incarnation to incarnation, we become a totality. If the underlying fact is to be represented, then the whole of life must be dissolved.
Thus, in the Rosicrucian mystery, what is supposed to represent Mary in a certain way is dissolved into the other figures who surround her as companions and who together with her form a unity. One can see in particular the qualities of the sentient soul in Philia, the qualities of the intellectual or emotional soul in Astrid, and the qualities of the consciousness soul in Luna. The names are already shaped accordingly. All names are such that they are essentially characteristic of the individual beings. Not only in the words, but also in the way the words are arranged, namely where the spiritual is to work in Devachan, in the seventh picture, there is a precise gradation of what is to characterize the three figures of Philia, Astrid, and Luna. What begins in the seventh picture is a better characterization of the sentient soul, the intellectual soul, and the conscious soul than can otherwise be given in words. Here one can show people what the sentient soul, the intellectual soul, and the conscious soul are. In art, one can show the stages in the way these three figures stand there. In human beings, they flow into one another. When they are separated from one another, they appear as Philia appears in the universe, as Astrid appears in the elements, as Luna flows out in self-activity and self-knowledge. And because they appear in this way, the Devachan scene contains everything that is alchemy in the true sense. All alchemy is contained therein. One only has to discover it little by little.
However, it is not only given in the abstract content, but in the weaving and essence of the words. Therefore, you should not only hear what is said, and especially not merely what the individual speaks, but how the soul forces speak in relation to one another. The sentient soul pushes itself into the astral body; we are dealing with weaving astrality. The intellectual soul pushes itself into the etheric body; we are therefore dealing with weaving etheric being. We see how the consciousness soul pours itself into the physical body with inner firmness. Thus, what works soulfully like light in the soul is given in the words of Philia; what works etherically objectively, so that one stands face to face with true things, is given in Astrid; what gives inner firmness, so that it is connected with the physical body, is given in Luna. We must feel this. Let us hear the soul forces in the seventh picture:
Philia: (sentimental soul)
I want to fill myself
With the clearest light
From worlds far away,
I want to breathe into myself
The invigorating substance of sound
From the distant ether,
So that you, beloved sister,
You may succeed in your work.Astrid: (intellectual soul)
I want to weave together
Radiant light
With dampening darkness,
I want to condense
The life of sound.
It shall sound glittering,
It shall glitter resoundingly,
So that you, beloved sister,
May guide the rays of the soul.Luna: (consciousness soul)
I will warm the substance of the soul
And harden the ether of life.
They shall condense,
They should feel themselves,
And being within themselves
Keep themselves creative,
So that you, beloved sister
Of the searching human soul
May create the security of knowledge.
I would like to point out that in Philia we have: “So that you, beloved sister... .” In Astrid's version, we enter into something more muffled, more dense: ‘That you, beloved sister...,’ ‘That you...,’ ‘That you...’ And now, in Luna's version, we have interwoven this with something even heavier: ”The searching human soul.” The U is so interwoven with the neighboring consonants that it achieves an even greater density.
These are the things that can actually be characterized. How this is achieved must be noted. Let us compare the words that Philia continues to speak:
I will ask the spirits of the world
That the light of their being
Enrapture the soul's senses,
And the sound of their words
Delight the ear of the spirit
with the very different ones spoken by Astrid:
I will direct the streams of love,
Which warm the world,
To the heart
Of the consecrated one
so it is precisely where these words are carried out that the inner weaving and essence of the devachanic world element is carried out.
We must realize from such things, and that is why I mention it, that when self-knowledge begins to dawn in the outer world-web and world-being, it is important to abandon all one-sidedness and learn to feel what is present in every point of existence, which we can otherwise only experience in a philistine way. What makes us humans rigid beings is that we are bound to a point in space and believe that we can express truths with words. But words are less capable of expressing truth because they are bound to physical sound. We must, I would say, empathize with the expression. That is why it is important that such an important process as Johannes Thomasius's process of self-knowledge can only be truly experienced if he courageously achieves and grasps self-knowledge. This is the next act, after self-knowledge has crushed us, that we begin to take into ourselves what we have learned outside by understanding the cosmos as related to us, after we have recognized the essence of beings, that we courageously dare to live what we have recognized. It is only half the story that we submerge ourselves like John into a being whom we have caused suffering, whom we have cast down into the cold earth. For we now feel differently. We gather the courage to compensate for the pain. Then we submerge ourselves in this life and speak differently in our own being. This is what we first encounter in the ninth picture. While in the second picture the being called out to John:
He brought me bitter hardship;
I trusted him so completely.
He left me alone in my grief,
He robbed me of the warmth of life
And thrust me into the cold earth
the same creature cried out in the ninth image, after John had experienced what every self-aware person strives for, to him:
You must find me again
And ease my pain.
That is the other side: first the crushing blow, then the balancing of experience. Then the other being calls out to him:
You must find me again.
There is no other way to depict this elevation of the experience of the world, this filling oneself with the experience of the world. True self-knowledge emerging within the cosmos could not be described except with the words with which Johannes awakens. Of course, it must begin this way, in the second image:
So I have heard them for years,
The words heavy with meaning.
Then, after he has submerged himself in the earth, after he has become one with the earth, the power arises in the soul to let the words emerge. That is the essence of the ninth image:
I have sought it for three years,
The courageous power of the soul,
Which gives truth to words,
Through which man, liberating himself, can triumph
And, defeating himself, find freedom.
These are the words: “O man, experience yourself!” in contrast to the words in the second image: “O man, recognize yourself!” Thus, we are always confronted with the same image. While one time the image leads downward:
The world and my individuality,
They live in the words:
O man, recognize yourself!
it is then the other way around. It changes. The image reflects the process of the soul.
You have also heard the terribly devastating words:
Mary, are you aware
of what my soul has just gone through?
- - - - - - - - - -
I have lost my last refuge,
I have lost my solitude.
Then, in the ninth picture, we see how the being first gains confidence and then security. This is congruence. These must be real experiences, not constructions. This is to help us feel how, in a soul such as that of Johannes Thomasius, self-knowledge clarifies itself into self-experience. We should also feel how this experience of Johannes Thomasius is distributed among individual human beings and thus his own insight into all human beings, in whom a part of his essence is expressed in the individual incarnations. Finally, there stands a whole society in the sun temple, all like a tableau, and all together they are a single human being. The characteristics of a single human being are distributed among all of them; it is basically a single human being. But a pedantic person would have to say: there are too many parts, there should be nine instead of twelve. — But reality does not work in such a way that it is in harmony with theories. And yet it is more in harmony with the truth than if the individual members of the human being were to march in regular formation.

Let us now place ourselves in this sun temple. There are the individual human beings who have been placed there as they really belong together karmically, as karma has brought them together in life. But if we now think of John here and imagine each individual character reflected in John's soul and each person as a soul characteristic of John — what then, if we take this as reality, has happened? Karma has actually brought these people together as if at a junction. Nothing is unintentional, purposeless, aimless; rather, what individual people have done does not merely signify a single event, but each signifies a soul experience of John 'Thomasius. Everything takes place twice: in the macrocosm and in the microcosm of John's soul. That is his initiation. Just as Mary, for example, stands to him, so an important link in his soul stands to another link in the soul. These are absolute congruencies, strictly carried out. What is external action is Johannes' inner process of development. What the Hierophant expresses in the third picture wants to happen there:
Here in this circle
A knot is forming from the threads,
Karma is spinning in the becoming of the world.
It has formed itself. And this knot, so neatly tied, shows where everything is leading. On the one hand, there is absolute reality, as karma spins, but not a purposeless spinning. We have the knot as the initiation process in the soul of John, and we have the whole thing such that a human individuality still stands above all these people: the hierophant, who intervenes, who directs the threads. We need only think of the hierophant and his relationship to Mary.
But it is precisely here, at this point in the third picture, that we can see that this process is something that can illuminate self-knowledge. Stepping out of the self is no fun. It is a very real process, a leaving of the human shell by the inner power. Then these human shells remain and become a battlefield for subordinate powers. Where Mary sends down the ray of love to the Hierophant, this cannot be depicted in any other way than as follows: down below, the body is seized by the power of the adversary and says the opposite of what is happening above. Above, a ray of love shines down, below, a curse arises. These are the contrasting scenes: in Devachan, where Mary describes what she really did, and in the third picture, where the cursing of the demonic powers against the Hierophant takes place below as they leave the body. Here we have two complementary images. It would be really bad if one had to construct them in this way first.
So I have based today's lecture on one page of this mystery drama, and I hope that we have been able to link it to some of the special characteristics that underlie initiation.
The fact that some things had to be emphasized sharply in order to describe the actual processes of initiation should not discourage you or make you faint-hearted in your striving for the spiritual world. The description of the dangers serves only to steel people against the forces. The dangers are there, the pains and sufferings lie ahead of us. It would truly be a poor endeavor if we wanted to ascend to the higher worlds in the most comfortable way, so to speak. It is not yet possible to achieve the spiritual worlds as comfortably as one can roll along in modern trains, as the outer material culture makes it possible in relation to outer life. What is described here is not intended to discourage, but rather to strengthen courage by making people aware, in a certain way, of the dangers of initiation.
Just as with Johannes Thomasius, whose inclination made him incapable of wielding a paintbrush, which was transformed into pain, but then pain into knowledge, so everything that causes suffering and pain will be transformed into knowledge. But we must seriously seek this path. We can only do this if we try to realize that spiritual scientific truths are not so simple. These are such profound truths of life that one can never finish grasping them precisely. It is precisely the example in life that allows us to grasp the world, and one can speak even more precisely about the conditions of development when depicting Johannes' development than when depicting the development of a human being in general. The book How Does One Gain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds? describes the development that is possible for every human being, that is, only the possibility of how it can be real. When one describes John Thomasius, one is describing an individual human being. But in doing so, one deprives oneself of the possibility of describing development in general.
I hope you will take the opportunity to say that I have not yet told you the whole truth. We have two extremes and must find the gradations between them. I can only give a few suggestions. These must then live on in your hearts and souls.
In the suggestions I gave about the Gospel of Matthew, I said: Do not try to remember the wording, but when you go out into the world, try to look into your heart and soul to see what the words have become. Do not just read in cycles, but read seriously in your soul.
But for this, something must first be given from outside, something must first have entered. Otherwise, it would be self-deception of the soul. Understand this in your soul, and you will see that what has sounded from outside will still sound within in many other ways. That would be the true anthroposophical endeavor, if what is spoken were understood in as many ways as there are listeners.
Those who wish to speak about spiritual science can never attempt to be understood in only one way. They want to be understood in as many ways as there are souls. Anthroposophy can handle this. But one thing is necessary. I am not saying this to make a point about something incidental. It is necessary that every single way of understanding be correct and true. It can be individual, but it must be true. Sometimes the individuality of a view lies in the fact that the opposite of what is said is understood.
So when we speak of self-knowledge, we must also bear in mind that it is more useful to speak in such a way that we seek the errors within ourselves and the truth outside ourselves.
It is not said: Seek the truth within yourself! The truth is indeed to be found outside. We find that it is poured out into the world. We must free ourselves through self-knowledge; we must pass through such stages of the soul. Loneliness can be a very bad companion. But we can also feel all our weakness when we feel in our soul the greatness of the cosmos from which we were born. But then we take courage. Let us dare to experience what we recognize.
Then we will find that out of the loss of the last confidence in our lives will spring forth the first and last confidence in life, that confidence which, by finding ourselves in the cosmos, allows us to overcome ourselves and find ourselves anew:
O man, experience the world within you!
Then you will have found yourself,
transcending yourself,
and truly found your true self.
If we feel these words as experiences, they become stages of development for us.