The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Ninth Lecture

[ 1 ] The day before yesterday, we examined within the human being that aspect of human existence which truly belongs to earthly life. For we have emphasized that forces are at work within human nature, that within it there are essential elements that can be regarded as a legacy from the Earth’s earlier incarnations—what we are accustomed to calling “from the ancient Saturn era,” “from the ancient Sun era,” and “from the ancient Moon era.” We know that within the human physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body, these legacies of ancient epochs of development, of ancient forces of development, are present. But what we must look for in the physical body as a specific product of the Earth, deriving specifically from the forces of the Earth, is that this physical body is the instrument, the tool of present-day human consciousness. What we must look for in the human etheric body as a specific earthly asset is that this etheric body is the carrier, the instrument for everything related to memory, for everything related to recollection in the human being. From the astral body, we must simply distinguish what had already developed for humanity on the predecessor of our Earth, the ancient Moon, as the content of the astral body. And on Earth, everything was then added that we can include within the scope of human karma. Finally, however, we also had to emphasize that there is also an activity, an expression of the human personality, that is more specifically linked to the actual ego-nature of the human being—a nature that humanity only acquired during Earth’s evolution. Everything that had to be added to the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body because the human being has become an “I”-being is precisely included in the day-consciousness, in the memory, and in the karmic process. We have said of the ego itself that it now sends its forces outward, into the spiritual outer world, and that unlike memory or karma, these forces do not necessarily remain bound to the human being. A person’s memories and recollections remain connected to them—it goes without saying that their consciousness has meaning only for them, since other beings have different states of consciousness—and we know that karma is connected to the human being insofar as it must be effective during earthly incarnations to balance human karma. But what we might call thought-forms, feeling-forms, powers of sensation, or even powers of feeling and thought, these separate themselves as something distinct from the human being’s actual “I” and, in a certain sense, acquire an independent existence; they do not remain as closely linked to the human being as the other forces mentioned.

[ 2 ] Now, when it comes to everything that originates from the human ego, we must make a distinction—a very clear distinction: the human ego is essentially capable of developing inner life processes that are more or less selfish or more or less selfless. Depending on whether this human ego develops selfish or selfless, loving, compassionate, or joyful feelings or thought forces, these feeling and thought forces also have very different effects. If we first consider the more selfish thought forces, these manifest themselves in relation to their effect in the world as disruptive forces in the world. They truly enter the spiritual world as destructive forces. All selfless thought forces, on the other hand, intervene in the spiritual life of the entire development of the Earth not as destructive but as more constructive forces. But precisely because these selfless powers of thought, so to speak, separate themselves from the human ego, they leave certain traces behind in the human being. Note well: it is particularly the case with the selfless powers of thought and feeling that, as they spring forth, as it were, from the ego, they leave traces behind in the human being. These traces are indeed quite noticeable in the human being. They are noticeable in this way: the more selfless powers of thought and feeling the ego sets apart, the more the human being takes control of what one might call their own form, their gestures, their facial expressions, and so on—in short, the entire expression of their being. Conversely, the more selfish forms of thought and feeling tend to result in the human being having little power to give expression to themselves. Thus, we must ask ourselves: How are we to distinguish, in the course of humanity’s development, the various forms of human beings?

[ 3 ] Everything on Earth that has form originates from the Spirits of Form. And the name “Spirits of Form” is given to the respective beings of the higher hierarchies precisely because everything that is form, that is shape, that is life—which forms itself internally and manifests itself in an external form—has received its predisposition to this form, to this shape, from the Spirits of Form. Now, however, it is the case with all these beings of the higher hierarchies that they are engaged in a continuous process of development. Not only does the human being develop forward, but all beings of the various hierarchies develop forward in a certain way. If we trace the hierarchies in our present time, we find that the spirits of form are evolving upward into spirits of motion, the spirits of personality into spirits of form, the Archangels into spirits of personality or Archai, and so on. But it is not the case that, as the spirits of form evolve upward and thereby actually lose the character of spirits of form, the succeeding spirits of personality would immediately take over their activities. From this you will understand that something must take place for the second half of Earth’s evolution, and we are, in fact, already in the midst of it. At the beginning of Earth’s evolution, the spirits of form imprinted upon human beings—as forms—that which found expression in the various human forms. Just as the individual human races with their physiognomies have taken shape, and just as individual human beings are shaped by the characteristics of their respective races, so too has this been imprinted upon the various groups of all humanity on Earth by the spirits of form. Now, for a long time, what has actually been imprinted on human beings by these spirits of form has, in essence, been inherited. This has long been an inheritance, passed down from generation to generation, and the spirits of form, in a certain sense, grant human beings ever greater freedom to the extent that they themselves ascend into a higher category, withdrawing from the formative activity that was incumbent upon them at the beginning of Earth’s development. Humanity is indeed becoming increasingly self-reliant in relation to the beings of the higher hierarchies. We must simply make this clear to ourselves. The spiritual beings who are indeed taking over must first develop for the next stage of the Earth, which follows the present one, in order to endow the corresponding beings of the Earth with the appropriate form during the Earth’s Jupiter stage. Toward the end of a planetary epoch, it is always the case that the principal being—and for the Earth, this is the human being—is set free, so that the qualities originally imprinted upon it increasingly pass over to it, as it were, in freedom, in free formation.

[ 4 ] Thus it is that, in the course of the Earth’s future development, the formative forces—the forces of inner thought and feeling forms—will increasingly prevail. And to the extent that these forces are selfless, to the extent that they are directed toward selfless wisdom and selfless love in particular, they will have a formative effect on human beings. For this is how human development has gradually taken shape: the further back we go, the more the child resembles its ancestors in outward form. The further we go into the future, the more the outer human being will become an expression of the individuality that passes from incarnation to incarnation. This means that within one and the same family—which is already the case to a high degree, and no one with eyes to see it can deny it — faces will become increasingly dissimilar, as will the other features of the human form, and this is because they will no longer be expressions of the family or the race, but increasingly the expression of the individual human personality that passes from incarnation to incarnation. Even today, anyone equipped with this knowledge of Spiritual Science, if they truly observe people across the entire earth to the extent possible, can see how, alongside inherited racial, family, and other characteristics, increasingly individual facial and head formations—and so on—are emerging, resulting in ever more individual physiognomies. They can see how greatly the individual forms of members of one and the same family differ from one another. Of course, we are living in a transitional age in this regard. But the sixth post-Atlantean cultural epoch is already preparing itself, and its distinctive feature will be that—unlike in the preceding cultural epochs — but rather, throughout the entire earth, what will be decisive in the sixth cultural epoch is the extent to which individual personalities will have already imprinted upon their features and their entire being the remnants of selfless forms of thought and feeling, namely those derived from true wisdom.

[ 5 ] It runs counter to any genuine understanding of Spiritual Science to suggest that, just as there have been leading races in the past for the various cultural epochs, there might also be such a leading race in the future that would be specifically produced by physical characteristics. Ancient Indian culture was carried by a leading race, ancient Persian culture was carried by a leading race, as were Egyptian-Chaldean culture and Greek-Latin culture. Already today we see how, fundamentally speaking, culture is no longer carried directly by a leading race, but how culture spreads across all races. And Spiritual Science is precisely meant to be that which, without distinction of race or tribe, carries culture across the entire earth, insofar as culture is spiritual culture. But one can see that our era will be succeeded by a completely different one, in which it will become evident across the entire earth to what extent human beings truly already express their inner being in their outer form. It would be almost a bitter contradiction to everything that Spiritual Science shows us today if we were to limit to a specific continent, to a confined local area, what is to be spread across the entire Earth in the future as the humanity of the sixth cultural epoch. Only someone who does not proceed from the actual insights of Spiritual Science, but rather harbors a strange, contradictory idea in their mind—that in spiritual development something like driving wheels repeats itself, just as spring, summer, autumn, and winter, only such a person could arrive at the assertion—which is entirely impossible in light of genuine Spiritual Science—that what was necessary for the formation of races in earlier times would repeat itself for the sixth cultural epoch as well. Such a claim would be a direct slap in the face to any understanding of true human progress, which consists in the inner, the spiritual, revealing itself more and more, so that it is not merely the old that is repeated in a slightly different form, but that there is genuine, real progress in human development. And if Theosophy is to remain true to its good old principles, it will—even though its first principle is to establish a culture without distinction of racial and color characteristics and so on—certainly not be able to fall into the trap of hoping for a future culture from a single particular race. This is precisely the deeper connection between Theosophy and the actual course of human development: that what is to happen is taken up by Theosophy and, so to speak, conceived theosophically in the sense of world development, felt theosophically, and the corresponding impulses of will are also set into the world. If one wishes to consider how this spiritual aspect is increasingly coming to manifestation within humanity—it is, after all, the point being discussed today, one that has been touched upon time and again over the years—then it is only necessary to bring one thing clearly to light again and again. Then one will also be able to realize that everything that has now been mentioned shows us, so to speak, the human being in his or her individual development.

[ 6 ] At the beginning of Earth’s evolution, we see human beings, so to speak, as belonging more to the realm of the group soul—race, family, tribe, and so on—and as evolution progresses, they become more and more individual. They work their way more and more toward individuality. We see how necessary it is for individuality that certain things, in the course of Earth’s development, be closely connected with human nature. Closely connected with human nature is the consciousness bound to the physical body; closely bound to human nature is everything related to memory and recollection that is bound to the human etheric body, and furthermore, closely bound to human nature is karma, through which the human being can make real progress, in that his imperfections and faults do not remain, but can be overcome by him as he passes from incarnation to incarnation. Closely connected to the human being, however, is also that which, while separating from him and leading an independent life, leaves behind in him—by virtue of this separation—remnants of what emanates from his ego as powers or forms of thought and feeling, and itself contributes to his shaping over time; through this, the human being becomes an individual precisely by shedding the group-soul aspect. It is not the entry into a new group soul, but the shedding of the group-soul nature that will spread ever more widely across the entire globe, and that will be precisely the hallmark of the sixth cultural epoch. Closely connected to this is the fact that, in terms of his entire spiritual guidance, the human being becomes ever more individual, indeed, one may say, ever freer and freer.

[ 7 ] It is clear to anyone who grasps the full meaning of my work *The Spiritual Guidance of Man and Humanity* that such a movement is indeed taking place within the human race in a progressive sense. Thus, in ancient times—the further back we go—people were increasingly under external guidance, under external teachers; yet increasingly, this guidance is also becoming an inner matter for humanity. Just as even revelation in its external form is becoming an individual matter for humanity, so too is finding the path into the spiritual worlds increasingly becoming an individual matter for humanity. It has often been emphasized that it is precisely those who can look more deeply into the signs of the times who must recognize that people have not merely remained stuck at a stage they once occupied—so that the same forces as in the past would have to work among them—but that they have truly progressed. Therefore, in the coming age, human souls will indeed become ever more mature, so that they may truly perceive and truly behold what is described today in Spiritual Science.

[ 8 ] It is the case that, whereas the Christ event—where it took place as the Mystery of Golgotha—was an external event intervening in the physical world, a future Christ event will be an inner matter of the human soul, insofar as the human soul has matured precisely through the first Christ event, so that in the future the human being will find the way in spirit to the Christ, from the soul to the Christ.

[ 9 ] Wherever you examine what has been presented here as Spiritual Science, you will find it to be in harmony—even when very specific matters are discussed—with what arises from your reason and your inner free will, provided you truly strive to apply that inner free will. As the individual human being becomes more and more receptive—individually receptive—to what exists in the spiritual world, external leadership will increasingly lose its authoritative value. What is most important today is that people become aware that the ancient store of wisdom, which exists and which, in essence, can already multiply at every moment for those whose souls are open to the spiritual worlds, must be understood; that people must truly strive to approach this store of wisdom with their reason. This is inherent in the nature of humanity’s progressive development. In this spirit and style, an attempt is also made here to show how the insights to be brought to humanity through Spiritual Science are intended to work. And even when speaking of matters as specific as these, there is no need to exclude addressing individual human reason. It is, of course, quite another matter if one were to present an immature person today and say that he has had this or that incarnation behind him. If I were to say such a thing to you, I would first and foremost ask you not to take my word for it. Nor will I tell you this authoritatively, for the simple reason that it is impossible for you to verify it objectively. But when it is said that the same individuality was present in Elijah, in John the Baptist, in Raphael, and in Novalis, these are people who have long since passed away, and you can judge for yourselves, based on the lives of these people, whether you find such a statement reasonable. And no other demands should be made; respect for the individual human soul requires that such an examination be possible. There are, of course, a few complacent people who say: “We must ‘believe’ you when you speak of the same individuality in Elijah, John the Baptist, Raphael, and Novalis.” — No! One need not believe it; one should only seek to find proof in the individual souls for what, admittedly, can truly be found only through the occult path. This proof can be found, and it is nothing more than human complacency to say that when someone speaks of incarnations of people long since deceased, one must accept it on authority just as one would if someone spoke of incarnations of a younger person incarnated today. But that is not the same thing. Precisely in this regard, a strong appeal should be made to theosophists to investigate everywhere using all reason and not to stop at the cheap excuse that things cannot be investigated. They can be investigated if one wishes. This must be emphasized again and again.

[ 10 ] While, on the one hand, human individuality is developing more and more, on the other hand—because there is a kind of balance in the world everywhere—something else is becoming more and more universal. This is precisely the objective knowledge that must be attained by human beings. The objectivity of knowledge and the uniformity of knowledge do not contradict the principle of individuality. This is clearly demonstrated by mathematics alone. And so the task of occultism—if one may speak of such a task for occultism in the present day—is this: to provide objective world wisdom, objective world knowledge. Even if, of course, the ideal cannot always be attained immediately, because not everyone always has the time and opportunity to examine the details, it is nevertheless true: even if things can only be discovered through occult research, they can be examined and confirmed by every individual soul; they need not be accepted on faith. One need only engage in rational reflection regarding the things as they present themselves. Let us take a specific case, and what is to be said applies in all cases.

[ 11 ] Let us suppose someone says: Humanity has evolved. The meaning of human evolution lies in the fact that a certain progress is present within it. This progress is evident in the fact that, in a sense, human beings are increasingly becoming individual beings. Consequently, it is a fact that in ancient times there was more personal leadership, and that in the future leadership will increasingly be based on objective wisdom and objective knowledge, while personal leadership will increasingly recede, becoming more and more merely an instrument and means for bringing objective knowledge to people. We are drawing ever closer to the ideal point of view where even the occult teacher is nothing other than a teacher of mathematics—one who, of course, must also be present. But one does not accept mathematics on the authority of the mathematics teacher; rather, each individual accepts it because they gradually rise to an understanding of the reasons that speak in favor of the subject. Thus, the character of knowledge, the character of wisdom, will increasingly take the place of the character of personality. — Let us suppose someone said this, and that such a statement were countered by another, where someone says: The world moves in periods, turning forward, just as a wheel moves forward uniformly. In ancient times there were great teachers of humanity; in modern times new ones are emerging—then one cannot simply take the easy way out by claiming one can believe one thing or the other, but must instead consider: Which is acceptable to one’s own immediate reason? — Then one has the choice to decide either to attribute no progress to humanity and always think of everything only in terms of eternal repetition, or to attribute progress to humanity, that is, to give meaning to the Earth’s development. Whoever does not wish to give meaning to the Earth in its development may speak of an eternal repetition of the epochs. But for those who wish to ascribe a meaning to the Earth, as occult research now shows us, it is impossible to speak of an eternal repetition of the same things, since such a thing does not actually occur.

[ 12 ] The important point is that we recognize an evolution of human capabilities, that we recognize that this evolution of human capabilities actually gives rise to certain things, such as the following. In the ancient mysteries, each individual had to undergo certain procedures which, one might say, took place within his own personality; through this, he became an initiate. He went through what might be called the various degrees of initiation. What these various degrees of initiation were became a world-historical event through the Mystery of Golgotha. As a result, it now stands before all of humanity. But it has indeed become an event in world history. By becoming an event in world history—something that was previously only a partial matter of this or that place of initiation—it has become a common heritage of humanity, fully accessible to evolving individualities. That is why, in my book *Christianity as a Mystical Fact*, I had to present the Mystery of Golgotha, in a certain sense, as a culmination of the ancient mysteries, because through it the various ancient religions have indeed converged into a great unity. Occultism shows us even more how the various cultural currents are converging more and more. But then one must also acknowledge them in their convergence. Precisely when one engages in occult research, it becomes evident how the results of occult research correspond with what everyone can nevertheless accept for themselves from observing what happens on the physical plane as well.

[ 13 ] Let us take, for example, something quite far-reaching, about which you might initially think: This tells us something that truly cannot be proven by external reason, something beyond the reach of external reason. — At first glance, you can certainly say that about a matter such as the one I am about to describe.

[ 14 ] In my *Outline of Esoteric Science*, you can find a description of how the Sun, Moon, and Earth once existed as a single planetary body, how the Sun then split off, followed later by Mercury and Venus, and how, after the Sun had split off with Mercury and Venus, Mars also split off from the Sun. Now, in fact, every such process—the further back we go—is a spiritual process, and what really matters is understanding the question: Which beings were it that separated themselves there? Well, for the Earth it was essentially the Christ Being, “that great solar Being who then, through the Mystery of Golgotha, reconnected with the Earth.” Through this, so to speak, everything that preceded Christianity came to a kind of conclusion within Christianity. Through this, however, we can also say that the Mystery of Golgotha is the breaking in of a cosmic fact into the development of the Earth.

[ 15 ] If, for example, theosophists were to raise the objection today that, since Christ was once present, the Christ impulse did not take place for all preceding souls but only for those who came after, and thus would constitute an injustice toward the former, this might indeed appear as an objection to the materialistically minded person, but not to the theosophist. For the Theosophist knows that the souls living today are the same ones who lived in earlier times, before the Mystery of Golgotha, so that the appearance of the Christ is equally relevant for the earlier souls, since they will all incarnate again after the Mystery of Golgotha. Perhaps the only objection that can be raised—and this must be understood by the theosophist—is that a personality such as that of the Buddha, in a certain sense, was an exception. We know how to rise to the standpoint of the true Buddhist, who says: the Buddha Individuality is a Bodhisattva Individuality which, having been born as the son of Suddhodana, ascended to Buddhahood in the twenty-ninth year and thereby reached a height from which it no longer needs to return to a physical body, so that the Buddha Individuality was the final incarnation of the Bodhisattva. We would thus have an individuality that does not reincarnate in the post-Christian era.

[ 16 ] As early as in Kristiania—during the lectures “Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy, and Philosophy” in June 1912—I was able to point out that there is a special task in the world for an individuality as exalted as the Buddha-individuality. This Buddha Individuality had already been sent down from the Sun by the hosts of Christ to the Venusian people before they returned—as described in my *Esoteric Science*—to Earth, so that the Individuality embodied in the Buddha was an emissary of Christ sent from the Sun to Venus. He came to Earth with the Venusian people and thus had such a head start that he was able to develop into the Buddha through the Atlantean era and into the post-Atlantean era, before the appearance of the Christ. He was, so to speak, the Christ before the Christ. And we also know that he later manifested himself in the astral body of the Luke-Jesus child, because he did not need to descend again into a physical body. But the Buddha had a different task for the subsequent era, because he is, so to speak, connected to the Christ current. This task has been described in more detail in the aforementioned cycle in Kristiania. The Buddha did not need to incarnate again in a physical body. Instead, however, he had the task of accomplishing a certain deed on Mars—one that should not be equated with, but rather placed in parallel to, the Mystery of Golgotha—namely, to bring salvation to the Martians. However, this does not involve a death on the cross as we know it from the Mystery of Golgotha, for the Martians, as you can read in *Outlines of Esoteric Science*, are of a different nature than Earth humans. These are, of course, the results of occult observation that can only be discovered through clairvoyant research.

[ 17 ] Now take this result: that the Buddha, who was an emissary of Christ, first lived on Venus. Then consider the unique nature of the Buddha’s entire life, the way he came to be, and approach it as I myself have done. First, the occult finding came to me: Buddha goes from Venus to Mars to perform an act of salvation there for the beings of Mars. Now consider Buddha’s life, how he differs in a remarkable way from all other contemporary founders of religions. All the others teach, as much as possible, something to obscure the doctrine of reincarnation; Buddha teaches reincarnation and establishes a community based essentially on piety, on a kind of withdrawal from the world. Ask yourself this question: Could there have been people for whom such a thing could have had general significance, who could be redeemed through what a being like the Buddha went through? — And if we were to speak further of the Martians, of what they are like, you would see that the Buddha’s life was indeed a kind of preparation for a higher mission for this individuality, that it was placed as a final stage within earthly existence and cannot have an immediate continuation. You can compare much of the Buddha’s life with the occult data and will then be able to examine such data yourselves, even those that extend so far into the cosmos. You cannot yet find the answers, but you can examine them if you make use of everything at your disposal. And it will all come together, how the things support and sustain one another. How Buddha is connected to Venus was also recognized by P. Blavatsky, who wrote the curious equation in *The Secret Doctrine*: “Buddha = Mercury”; “Mercury” because in the past the names for Venus and Mercury were confused, so that today we must say: Buddha = Venus. Thus, what the occultist can know is already hinted at in H.P. Blavatsky’s “The Secret Doctrine.” One only has to understand it.

[ 18 ] But this is the essential point: that even such a matter is connected to the entire process of progressive development. When you consider human development, you must view it in the context of the entire universe; you must conceive of it as a microcosm within the macrocosm. Then, however, it will fit perfectly into this context that beings do indeed mediate between the individual planets, so that one must indeed see in a being such as the Buddha a mediator between the individual planets. In all of this, a good criterion for us, so to speak, will be if we acknowledge human progress, acknowledge that evolution is not merely a word, but a truth. And how could we fail to see that evolution is a truth? We see, after all, in the individual plant—as Goethe so beautifully showed us—how there is indeed a unity in the green leaf, the sepals, the petals, the stamens, and the pistil, and how, despite this unity, a progression can indeed be observed from the green leaf to the sepals and to the fruit. It is a progression, and this progression is to be observed in spiritual life in an even more eminent sense. It would be an abstraction to say that the path of the mystic was the same everywhere, for all people, and at all times. One could easily persuade people, if one were to be facile, by saying: The mystical vision was the same for the yogi, the Christian saint, and so on. But that would not be based on a true understanding of the facts, not even the external facts. How great is the difference between what the yogi experiences in the proper context and what a Christian mystic like Saint Thérèse experiences! Is it not tantamount to turning the whole meaning of truth on its head rather than grounding it, if one were to compare, for example, the eminent permeation with the Christ principle—indeed, with the Jesus principle—in Saint Thérèse with what an Indian yogi experiences? Just as there is a difference between the red rose petal and the green leaf on the rose stem, so too is there a difference—and indeed a progression—from the state of yoga to what occurred in a later era. Even though this progression is interspersed with manifold setbacks, one can still discern how the advances outweigh the setbacks and thereby necessarily overcome them.

[ 19 ] These are things that at the same time offer everyone the opportunity to examine them. And that is necessary. For Theosophy must be presented on the premise that it speaks to the innermost depths of the soul, to the innermost depths of the heart, but that at the same time it is grasped by these innermost depths of the soul, by these innermost depths of the heart. It would mean that humanity could never become mature if, for the future, one were to expect world teachers in a similar way as was necessary in earlier times—quite apart from the fact that no true occultism can ever teach such an abstract repetition, because it absolutely contradicts the facts. As the world progresses, more and more reliance will be placed on the judging and discerning souls. That is why it is so difficult in the present to connect with an individuality that is much misunderstood, even among occultists; namely, the individuality of Christian Rosenkreutz. Those who connect with him will never deny the principle just stated here. But only slowly and gradually is humanity developing toward the recognition of the principle of development that most fully reveals human dignity, yet is also the most uncomfortable. Therefore, it will be—and it will certainly be so—that the one we recognize as Christian Rosenkreutz, as the leader of the occult movement into the future, and who will certainly never unfold his authority through an external cult in the world, will be the most misunderstood. And those who know the true nature of this individuality also know that Christian Rosenkreutz will be the greatest martyr among humanity, apart from Christ, who suffered as a God. And the sufferings that will make him the great martyr will stem from the fact that people are so reluctant to resolve to look into their own souls in order to seek ever more the unfolding individuality and to submit to the inconvenience that the finished truth is not presented to them on a silver platter, but that it must be attained through fervent striving, fervent struggle, and seeking, and that no other demands can be made in the name of the one who is called Christian Rosenkreutz.

[ 20 ] And these demands are in harmony with the spirit of the times and with what the present age feels, even if it often misinterprets it. The present age senses very clearly that individuality will increasingly come to the fore. And even if it expresses this in a grotesque manner and at times with an impossible radicalism, this nevertheless corresponds to a correct instinct in human thought and feeling. Sometimes one is actually surprised that, despite all the materialism and impossibilities present in today’s culture, an absolutely correct instinct prevails with regard to certain things, even if it is often taken to extremes and becomes a caricature. I must admit this in light of a book that has just been published, *Zur Kritik der Zeit* by Walther Rathenau, where it states at one point: The time of sect-building, the time of belief in authority, is over once and for all; it is over as a possible ideal for humanity. — Although, especially in our time, everything that develops as the right thing brings forth its counterweight, so that today, in certain circles, belief in authority and a craving for dogma are precisely what exist. And yet: anyone familiar with the state of affairs in our time can see that nothing could undermine peace among people today as much as the failure to recognize this principle that has just been articulated. It must be an ideal of humanity to penetrate and acknowledge objective truth, to rise through objective truth into the spiritual worlds. An obstacle would be placed in the way of this if one were to base any truth—which, as it cannot be in the future, is one-sidedly founded on personal authority! This must be seen in the right sense. It is truly difficult, very difficult, and as Spiritual Science work has been carried out for a long time—indeed, for many years now—it has become evident just how difficult it is. And not only here, but everywhere where it is possible to engage in theosophical work, it becomes apparent that it is, after all, difficult to make this fundamental nerve of theosophical striving the very foundation of theosophical activity itself. It is difficult, and it is difficult for this reason: because there will always be people who are not willing to rise up easily to precisely that which must become the fundamental impulse of our time. One very easily encounters this or that objection, which would resolve itself if one would only engage a little with the fundamental conditions of our time, if one would only understand a little that humanity is, after all, moving toward progress. To grasp the whole spirit of Theosophy: that is what is at stake! But it would speak enormously against the spirit of Theosophy, for example, if what is widely disseminated today were to be believed in the wider circles of Theosophists: that what one is striving to make a common good without distinction of race or color depends on a particular configuration of the continents on Earth. Is it really possible to take back with one sentence what one intends to give with another? Is it really so difficult to notice the contradiction when, on the one hand, one speaks of the spread of universal wisdom, which is to become the common heritage of all humanity without racial or other distinctions, yet on the other hand, one seeks to make some future culture dependent on a localized, confined race? It is necessary to really think these things through, to really get to the heart of them. Is it even possible to speak of human progress when one speaks again and again of the need to reintroduce the same requirements—namely, a personal teacher-authority—into the world? Is it possible to speak of the human spirit’s powers becoming stronger, of humanity rising to the spiritual world, if one wants to make this dependent on a single individual standing as an authority on this physical earth? It is extraordinarily easy to say: all opinions would be equal in the Theosophical Movement. This remains a mere phrase if it is not taken seriously. And in particular, it remains a mere phrase if the opinion of the other is not presented in the correct manner. I have already had to say here once before: the equality of opinions remains a mere phrase if what is being pursued here—and has not the least to do with any particular point or any race on Earth—is presented elsewhere as if it were tailored solely to the German character. — It is a matter of humanity, like mathematics, and not the matter of a single nation. And to present what we are doing here as if it were the matter of a nation, of a narrowly defined territory, is a falsehood, and it must not be justified with a general phrase that one is putting objective falsehoods into the world. For then the other person is very easily put in the wrong, and the appearance of intolerance is very easily laid at his door, because he is obliged to stand up for the truth. The hour could come when things get serious in this regard! And only those who take Theosophy seriously in the broadest sense and do not get involved in matters that contradict the seriousness and the essence of the Theosophical movement will understand what I have said.

[ 21 ] Suppose one were obliged to prevent those who cannot examine everything from believing certain untruths. Would the other person then be justified in saying: “That would be intolerance”? He might say so if, under the guise of truth, he were merely seeking to assert his dominance! In the future, spiritual truth—independent of physical conditions—will work through its impulses and its potential for action. And that will be the beautiful, the great thing, if through Theosophy a unity can be brought about across the entire Earth. Not for personal reasons, not for national reasons, not even, I would say, for any humanitarian reasons, but for purely theosophical reasons does one’s heart bleed when, today, the President of the Theosophical Society in England delivers speeches that cannot be described as “theosophical” in the theosophical sense, but must be understood, in the truest sense, as political speeches. One’s heart bleeds when one thinks of the good old traditions of Theosophy, when words are spoken today in a Theosophical address that the time will come when one can say: “England with India at the center—America and Germany to the right and left: a world policy under the banner of Theosophy!” And now people say: Intolerance reigns here among us when one feels obliged to point out that in such speeches, something that has no place speaking is pushing its way into the leadership: the personal element! I must confess that the occultist’s heart aches when one has to hear such things spoken as “theosophical”—the heart aches, not for national reasons; I repeat this once more. Not for personal reasons, not for general humanitarian reasons, but for purely theosophical and purely occult reasons does one’s heart ache when one sees what must be the very innermost nerve of theosophical work brought together—unconsciously, for my part—with national and imperialist aspirations. It is not because I have anything against any country on earth, nor because I wish to speak out against any aspirations, but because it is evident from the outset that bringing any such aspiration to the fore constitutes a mingling of the most personal elements with the theosophical ideal.

[ 22 ] I have sometimes spoken to you in serious terms about the tasks and goals of Theosophy. The occultist does not speak without careful consideration. The occultist knows very well when he wants—or must!—use this or that word. And what I have told you is entirely free from any emotion, any passion, any sympathy or antipathy. But it was demanded by something that you may one day come to regard as the gravity of the hour—for occultism, for Theosophy, I mean! Theosophy must, as I have often emphasized, draw from the sources of human wisdom what needs to be said for humanity in our present time. It must do so. And if Theosophy is to move toward this ideal, then it is necessary that it stand entirely on its own, that it find within itself—not only for what it has to say, but also for the way in which it must face the world—the guiding principle, so that guiding principles prevailing outside do not intrude into our Theosophical movement. There they become a source of evil, indeed a very great source of evil. Just as much destructive material is handed over to the Theosophical Movement as is introduced into it from certain customs that exist today in external life. Out there, they sometimes appear grotesque, so grotesque that the outside world will be wary of imitating for itself many things that could arise on occult ground, precisely because it is such a heated one. The outside world today has various associations—associations for the peace movement, for vegetarianism, anti-alcohol associations, and so on. These are, after all, goals one can set for oneself. If, however, the very purpose of founding such associations were to establish societies or even orders with the aim of bringing certain individuals—religious founders or other prominent figures—into the world, or to create societies or orders for the coming of future world saviors, then even the outside world could not imitate that. For I do not believe that a statesman would imitate that by founding an association for the coming of a new statesman, or that a general would found an association for the coming of a great general. Things are so simple that one need only think them through. For founding an association to await the coming of a world savior is no more grotesque than founding an association for the coming of a new statesman or a great general.

[ 23 ] When a person who is currently very involved in establishing such an order objected to what I had just said: “Yes, but the German Empire also founded an association in 1848 for the unification of the German states, and then Bismarck came along and ensured that the German Empire came into being”—I had to reply: “I really do not know of any association ever having been founded for the coming of a ‘Bismarck’.”

[ 24 ] Do you think I’m saying this just to be funny? I say this because occultism, when not practiced correctly, has the potential not only to develop but also to undermine one’s powers of judgment, and because, on the other hand, I am deeply serious about what I have often said. Much may have been gathered here regarding occult matters. In fifty years, perhaps this or that point will have been researched more thoroughly, and we may be able to say this or that differently. And even if not a single stone were to remain of what has been presented here as content, I would still want this one thing to remain: that a theosophical-occultist movement has been inaugurated and strictly upheld here, one that seeks to be founded solely and exclusively on truthfulness and truth! And even if, fifty years from now, people were to say: Everything they said there must be corrected; but they wanted to be true and let nothing pass except what can be true—then my ideal would also have been achieved. Sincerity and truth—that they can exist even within an occult movement—this should, once and for all, and no matter how many storms may rise against it, be strived for with our movement in the world—I do not wish to be presumptuous and say “demonstrated”—but rather pursued!

[ 25 ] With this, let us enter the summer and reflect on some of what has been said today, as well as over the course of the winter. For now it is necessary that I, along with a few others, turn our attention to the work that awaits us in Munich in August for the sake of the anthroposophical cause.