The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Fourth Lecture

[ 1 ] The conclusion of the Gospel of John offers a kind of reassurance, if I am to speak at all of what is to be discussed today as belonging to the Fifth Gospel. We recall this conclusion, where it states that by no means are all the events that took place concerning Jesus Christ recorded in the Gospels. For, as it says there, if one had wanted to record everything at that time, the world would not have had enough books to contain it all. Thus, one thing cannot be doubted: that apart from what has been recorded in the four Gospels, many other things may have happened. To make myself clear regarding all that I intend to present from the Fifth Gospel in this series of lectures, I would like to begin today with stories from the life of Jesus of Nazareth, starting roughly from the point in time to which we have already referred on other occasions, when small portions of the Fifth Gospel have already been shared.

[ 2 ] Today I would like to share a few things about Jesus of Nazareth, starting around the age of twelve. As you know, it was the year in which the I of Zarathustra—which was embodied in one of the two Jesus boys born at that time, whose origins are described by Matthew—passed over through a mystical act into the other Jesus boy, the one depicted particularly at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke. So we begin our account of that year in the life of Jesus of Nazareth in which this Jesus of the Gospel of Luke received the I of Zarathustra. We know that this moment in the life of Jesus of Nazareth is alluded to in the Gospel through the account that the Jesus-child of the Gospel of Luke had gone missing on a journey to Jerusalem for the feast and, when he was found again, it turned out that he was sitting in the temple in Jerusalem amidst the scribes and aroused amazement in them and his parents through the powerful answers he gave. We know, however, that these significant, powerful answers came about because the Self of Zarathustra truly appeared in this boy at that moment and, from the deep abundance of memory, worked his wisdom out of this soul, so that Jesus of Nazareth was able to give all those surprising answers at that time. We also know that the two families came together through the death of the Nathanic mother on the one hand and the Solomonic father on the other, and henceforth formed a single family, and that the boy Jesus, imbued with the I of Zarathustra, grew up in this united family. |

[ 3 ] However, as can be seen from the content of the Fifth Gospel, the years that followed were marked by a very peculiar and remarkable process of growth. At first, the immediate circle of the young Jesus of Nazareth had formed a very high opinion of him, precisely because of that event in the temple, because of those powerful answers he had given to the scribes. His immediate circle saw, so to speak, the future scribe himself in him; they saw in him the one who would attain a very high, special level of scriptural scholarship. The circle around Jesus of Nazareth was filled with great, immense hopes. People began, so to speak, to catch every word he spoke. Yet despite the fact that they were literally chasing after every word he spoke, he gradually became more and more silent. He became so silent that it was often highly unwelcome to those around him. But he was struggling within himself, waging a tremendous battle, a battle that took place within his inner being roughly between the twelfth and eighteenth years of his life. There was truly something in his soul like the unfolding of inner treasures of wisdom, something as if the sun of the ancient wisdom of Zarathustra had shone forth in the form of Jewish scholarship.

[ 4 ] At first, it seemed as though this boy was, in the most refined manner, listening with the utmost attention to everything the numerous scribes who came into the house had to say, and as though, by some special spiritual gift, he knew how to respond to everything. Thus, even at home in Nazareth, he initially surprised those who appeared there as scribes and marveled at him as a child prodigy. But then he became increasingly silent, listening only in silence to what the others said. Yet during those years, great ideas, proverbs, and especially significant moral impulses continually arose within his own soul. While he listened so silently, what he heard from the scribes gathered in the house did make a certain impression on him, but an impression that often caused bitterness in his soul, because he had the feeling—mind you, even in those young years—that there must be much that is uncertain, easily prone to error, in what those scribes spoke of the ancient traditions, of the ancient writings gathered in the Old Testament. But it weighed particularly heavily on his soul in a certain way when he heard that in ancient times the Spirit had come upon the prophets, that God Himself had spoken with inspiration to the ancient prophets, and that now inspiration had departed from the later generations. But there was one thing in particular that always made him listen intently, because he felt that what was being spoken of would come upon him personally. Those scribes often said: Yes, that high Spirit, that mighty Spirit who came upon Elijah, for example, no longer speaks; but that which still speaks—which some of the scribes still believed they heard as inspiration from the spiritual heights—that which still speaks is indeed a weaker voice, but a voice that some still believe they hear as something given by the Spirit of Yahweh Himself. — That peculiar, inspiring voice was called the Bath-Kol; though a weaker voice of inspiration, a voice of a lesser kind than the Spirit that inspired the ancient prophets, this voice nevertheless represented something similar. Thus, many in Jesus’s circle spoke of the Bath-Kol. Later Jewish writings tell us much about this Bath-Kol.

[ 5 ] I will now insert something into this Fifth Gospel that does not strictly belong here, but is intended solely to explain the Bath Kol. It was somewhat later, after the emergence of Christianity, that a dispute broke out between two rabbinical schools. For the famous Rabbi Eheser ben Hirkano asserted a doctrine and, as proof of this doctrine—as the Talmud also relates—claimed that he could perform miracles. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus caused a carob tree to rise from the ground—so the Talmud relates—and to be replanted a hundred cubits away in another place; he caused a river to flow backward; and thirdly, he invoked the voice from heaven as a revelation that he himself received from the Bath Kol. But in the opposing rabbinical school of Rabbi Joshua, they did not believe this teaching nonetheless, and Rabbi Joshua replied: Even if Rabbi Eliezer causes carob trees to be transplanted from one place to another to confirm his teaching, even if he causes rivers to flow upstream, even if he invokes the great Bath-Kol himself—it is written in the Law that the eternal laws of existence must be laid in the mouth of man and in the heart of man. And if Rabbi Eliezer wishes to convince us of his teaching, he must not invoke the Bath Kol, but must convince us of what the human heart can comprehend. — I recount this story from the Talmud because we see that, soon after the introduction of Christianity, the Bath-Kol was held in only minor esteem in certain rabbinical schools. Yet in a certain sense, it flourished as an inspiring voice among the rabbis and scribes.

[ 6 ] While the scribes gathered in the house of Jesus of Nazareth spoke of this inspiring voice of the Bath-Kol, and the young Jesus heard it all, he felt and received within himself the inspiration from the Bath-Kol. What was remarkable was that, through the fertilization of this soul with the I of Zarathustra, Jesus of Nazareth was indeed able to quickly absorb everything that those around him knew. Not only was he able to give the scribes powerful answers at the age of twelve, but he could also hear the Bath-Kol within his own breast. But it was precisely this circumstance of inspiration through the Bath-Kol that affected Jesus of Nazareth when he was sixteen or seventeen years old, and he often felt this revealing voice of the Bath-Kol, so that he was led through bitter, heavy inner soul struggles as a result. For the Bath-Kol revealed to him—and he was certain he heard it all—that the time was not far off when, in the course of the old current of the Old Testament, this Spirit would no longer speak to the ancient Jewish teachers as He had spoken to them before. And one day—and this was terrible for the soul of Jesus—he believed that the Bath-Kol revealed to him: “I no longer reach up to the heights where the Spirit can truly reveal to me the truth about the future of the Jewish people.” — That was a terrible moment, a terrible impression that the soul of the young Jesus received when the Bath-Kol seemed to reveal to him that it could not be the continuator of the old tradition of revelation, that it declared itself, so to speak, incapable of being the continuator of the old revelations of Judaism. Thus, in his sixteenth and seventeenth years, Jesus of Nazareth believed that all ground had been pulled from under his feet, and he had many days when he had to say to himself: All the spiritual powers with which I believed myself to be endowed only lead me to understand that, in the substance of Judaism’s evolution, there is no longer any capacity to reach up to the revelations of the Spirit of God.

[ 7 ] Let us for a moment put ourselves in his mind, in the soul of the young Jesus of Nazareth, who went through such experiences in his soul. This was during the same period when the young Jesus of Nazareth, at the age of sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen, undertook many journeys—partly prompted by his trade, partly by other circumstances. On these journeys, he came to know many regions of Palestine, and likely many places outside Palestine as well. Now, at that time—and this can be seen quite clearly when one penetrates the Akashic Records clairvoyantly—an Asian cult was spreading across the regions of the Near East, and even southern Europe; a cult that was a mixture of various other cults, but which essentially represented the cult of Mithras. In many places across the most diverse regions there were temples for the worship of Mithras. In some places it bore more resemblance to the cult of Attis, but essentially it was the cult of Mithras; these were temples and places of worship where the sacrifices to Mithras and Attis were performed everywhere. It was, in a sense, an ancient form of paganism, but in a certain way permeated by the customs and ceremonies of the cult of Mithras or Attis. Just how widespread this was across the Italian peninsula is evident, for example, from the fact that St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome stands on the very site where such a place of worship once stood. Indeed, one must also utter the word that is blasphemous to some Catholics: The ceremonial service of St. Peter’s Basilica and everything derived from it is, in terms of outward form, not at all dissimilar to the cult of the ancient Attis cult, which was performed in the temple that once stood on the very site where St. Peter’s Basilica now stands. And the cult of the Catholic Church is, in many respects, merely a continuation of the ancient Mithraic cult.

[ 8 ] Jesus of Nazareth came to know what existed in such places of worship when he began to wander about in his sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth years. And he continued to do so even later. He came to know, if we may put it that way, the soul of the Gentiles in this way through external, physical observation. And at that time, through the powerful process of the Zarathustra-I’s transition into his soul, something had developed to a high degree within him that others could only acquire with great difficulty, but which had developed naturally in him: a high clairvoyant power. Therefore, when he observed such cults, he experienced something quite different from the other spectators. He experienced many a harrowing event there. And even if it seems fabulous, I must nevertheless emphasize that when the priest performed the ritual at certain pagan altars and Jesus of Nazareth then observed the sacrifice with his clairvoyant powers, he saw how various demonic beings were drawn forth through the sacrificial act. He also discovered that many an idol worshipped there was not the image of good spiritual beings of the higher hierarchies, but of evil, demonic powers. Indeed, he further discovered that these evil, demonic powers often passed into the believers, into the adherents who participated in such cultic acts. For reasons that are easy to understand, these things did not find their way into the other Gospels. And it is really only within the bosom of our spiritual movement that it is possible to speak of such things, because only in our time can the human soul have a true understanding of those immense, profound, and powerful experiences that were already taking place in this young Jesus of Nazareth long before the baptism by John.

[ 9 ] These wanderings continued into his twentieth, twenty-second, and twenty-fourth years. He always felt a deep bitterness in his soul when he saw the reign of the demons—the demons brought forth, as it were, by Lucifer and Ahriman— and saw how paganism had, in many respects, even gone so far as to accept the demons as gods—indeed, to have images of wild, demonic powers in their idols, which were drawn to these images and these cultic acts, and possessed the praying people, the praying people who participated in good faith. These were bitter experiences that Jesus of Nazareth had to endure. And these experiences came to a certain conclusion around the age of twenty-four. It was then that Jesus of Nazareth had the experience that followed, as a new, infinitely heavy experience, the one of disappointment through the Bath-Kol. Since I must also recount this experience of Jesus of Nazareth, I must say that I am still not in a position today to specify at which point in his travels this event took place. I was able to decipher the scene itself with a high degree of accuracy. However, I am unable to specify the exact location of this particular scene today. It seems to me, however, that this scene took place during a journey of Jesus of Nazareth outside of Palestine. But I cannot say this with certainty; I must, however, recount the scene.

[ 10 ] So, in the twenty-fourth year of his life, Jesus of Nazareth came to a place where there was a pagan shrine at which sacrifices were offered to a certain deity. All around, however, were only sorrowful people afflicted with all manner of terrible spiritual and even physical illnesses. The priests had long since abandoned the place of worship. And Jesus heard the people lamenting: “The priests have forsaken us; the blessings of the sacrifice do not descend upon us, and we are lepers and sick; we are weary and burdened because the priests have forsaken us.” — Jesus looked upon these poor people with deep sorrow; he was moved by this oppressed people, and an infinite love for them flared up in his soul. The people all around must have sensed something of this infinite love that was kindled in his soul; it must have made a deep impression on the wailing people, who had been abandoned by their priests and, as they believed, by their gods as well. And now, one might say as if in an instant, something arose in the hearts of most of these people, which found expression in their saying—recognizing the expression of infinite love on the face of Jesus: “You are the new priest sent to us.” — They urged him toward the sacrificial altar; they placed him on the pagan altar. And he stood on the pagan altar, and they expected—indeed, they demanded—that he perform the sacrifices so that the blessing of their god might once again come upon them.

[ 11 ] And while this was happening, while the people were lifting him up onto the sacrificial altar, he fell down as if dead; his soul was as if carried away, and the people standing all around, believing their God had returned, witnessed the terrible sight of the one they had regarded as the new priest sent from heaven having fallen down as if dead. But the rapt soul of Jesus of Nazareth felt itself lifted into the spiritual realms; it felt as if it had been transported into the realm of solar existence. And now it heard, resounding from the spheres of solar existence, words such as this soul had often heard before through the Bath-Kol. But now the Bath-Kol had been transformed, becoming something entirely different. The voice also came to him from a completely different direction, and what Jesus of Nazareth now heard can be summarized, when translated into our language, in the words I was first permitted to share when we recently laid the cornerstone for our building in Dornach.

[ 12 ] There are, after all, occult obligations! And in accordance with such an occult obligation, I had to report at that time what Jesus of Nazareth heard through the transformed voice of the Bath-Kol back then, when what I have just recounted took place. Jesus of Nazareth heard the words: (See notes on page 333.)

Amen
Evil reigns
Witnessing the dissolution of the self
Guilt of selfhood blamed on others
Experienced in our daily bread
In which the will of Heaven does not reign
Since man parted from Your Kingdom
And forgot Your name
You Fathers in Heaven.

[ 13 ] This is the only way I can translate into German what was heard by Jesus of Nazareth at that time as the transformed voice of the Bath-Kol. There is no other way! It was these words that brought the soul of Jesus of Nazareth back when it awoke from the stupor that had made it feel detached during the event just described. And when Jesus of Nazareth had come to his senses again and turned his eyes around to the crowd of the weary and the burdened who had lifted him onto the altar, they had fled. And when he let his clairvoyant gaze wander into the distance, he could only direct it toward a host of demonic figures, of demonic beings, all of whom were connected to these people.

[ 14 ] This was the second significant event, the second significant milestone in the various stages of spiritual development that Jesus of Nazareth had undergone since the age of twelve. Yes, my dear friends, it was not the events that, so to speak, by their gentle nature put the soul in a blissful mood that made the greatest impression on the soul of the growing Jesus of Nazareth. This soul had to become acquainted with the depths of human nature at such a young age, even before the event at the Jordan had taken place.

[ 15 ] And from this journey, Jesus of Nazareth returned home. It was around that time that his father, who had remained at home, died, when Jesus of Nazareth was about twenty-four years old. When Jesus returned home, he carried within his soul a vivid impression of the demonic influences that had permeated many aspects of the ancient pagan religion. But just as it is always the case that certain levels of higher knowledge are attained only by coming to know the abysses of life, so it was in a certain sense with Jesus of Nazareth as well, that—at a point I do not know—around the age of twenty-four, by having looked so infinitely deeply into human souls, into souls in which was concentrated all the spiritual suffering of humanity at that time—he had also become particularly immersed in the wisdom that, while piercing the soul like red-hot iron, also makes the soul so clairvoyant that it can perceive the luminous expanses of the spirit. And because he had heard the transformed voice of the Bath-Kol, he too was transformed. Thus, at a relatively young age, he was endowed with the calm, penetrating gaze that reads the spirit. Jesus of Nazareth had become a man who looked deeply into the mysteries of life, who could look into the mysteries of life as no one on earth had done before, because no one before him could contemplate to what extent human misery can escalate. First he had seen how one can lose one’s footing through mere scholarship; then he had experienced how the ancient inspirations were lost; then he had seen how the cults and sacrificial rites, instead of connecting people with the gods, conjured up all manner of demonic beings that possessed people and thereby plunged them into mental and physical illnesses and misery of every kind. Certainly, no one on earth had looked so deeply into all this human misery as Jesus of Nazareth; no one had felt that infinitely deep emotion in his soul as he had when he saw that people possessed by demons. Certainly, no one on earth was as prepared for the question: How, how can the spread of this misery on earth be stopped?

[ 16 ] Thus, Jesus of Nazareth was not only endowed with the insight and knowledge of a sage, but had, in a certain sense, become an initiate through his life. This was recognized by people who, at that time, had gathered together in a certain order known to the world as the Essene Order. The Essenes were people who maintained a kind of secret society and secret teachings in certain places in Palestine. It was a strict order. Anyone who wished to join the order had to undergo at least one year, but usually several years, of rigorous testing. He had to demonstrate through his conduct, his manners, his service to the highest spiritual powers, his sense of justice and human equality, and his disregard for external human possessions and the like, that he was worthy of initiation. Once admitted to the Order, there were various degrees through which one ascended to that Essene way of life, which was intended to bring one closer to the spiritual world through a certain separation from the rest of humanity, within a strict monastic discipline, and through certain efforts toward purity aimed at eliminating all that was unworthy, both physically and spiritually. This is already expressed in various symbolic laws of the Essene Order. The deciphering of the Akashic Records has shown that the name “Essene” derives from, or is at least connected to, the Jewish word “Essin” or “Assin.” And this means something like “shovel” or “little shovel,” because the Essenes always wore a small shovel as their sole symbolic emblem, a practice that has been preserved in some monastic communities to this day. Certain symbolic customs also expressed what the Essenes sought: that they were not allowed to carry coins with them, that they were not allowed to pass through a gate that was painted or near which there were images. And because the Essene Order was, in a certain sense, also recognized externally at that time, special gates—unpainted gates—had been constructed in Jerusalem so that they too could enter the city. For whenever an Essene came upon a painted gate, he was always forced to turn back. Within the order itself, there were ancient documents and traditions, the contents of which the members of the order kept strictly secret. They were allowed to teach, but only what they had learned within the order. Everyone who joined the order had to surrender their wealth to the order. The number of Essenes at that time, during the time of Jesus of Nazareth, was very large, about four to five thousand. People had gathered from all corners of the then-known world, dedicating themselves to the strict rules. Whenever they owned a house somewhere far away, in Asia Minor or even further, they would donate it to the Essene Order, and the Order acquired small properties, houses, gardens, and even vast fields everywhere. No one was admitted who did not donate everything that became the common property of the Essenes. Everything belonged to everyone; no individual had any property. A law that is extraordinarily strict by today’s standards, but which is understandable, was that an Essene was permitted to support, with the order’s resources, all needy and burdened people—except those who belonged to his own family.

[ 17 ] In Nazareth, a branch of the Essene Order had been established through a donation, and as a result, the nature of the Essene Order had come to the attention of Jesus of Nazareth. News reached the center of the Order of the profound wisdom that had sunk into the soul of Jesus of Nazareth in the manner described, and a certain mood arose among the most prominent and wisest of the Essenes. A certain prophetic vision had taken shape among them: If the world were to take its proper course, then a particularly wise soul must arise who would act as a kind of Messiah. Therefore, they had been looking for places where particularly wise souls might be found. And they were deeply moved when they received word of that profound wisdom that had arisen in the soul of Jesus of Nazareth. It was therefore no wonder that the Essenes, without requiring Jesus of Nazareth to undergo the trials of the lower degrees, accepted him as an external member into their community—I will not say into the order itself—and that, in a certain sense, even the wisest Essenes became trusting and open-hearted regarding their secrets toward this wise young man. Indeed, within this Essene order, the young Jesus of Nazareth heard much, much deeper insights into the mysteries preserved by the Hebrews than he had from the scribes in his father’s house. He also heard many things that he had already perceived earlier through the Bath-Kol, as if illuminated in his soul. In short, a lively exchange of ideas developed between Jesus of Nazareth and the Essenes. And through his association with the Essenes, in the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth years of his life and beyond, Jesus of Nazareth came to know almost everything the Essene order had to offer. For what was not communicated to him through words was revealed to him through all manner of clairvoyant impressions. Jesus of Nazareth received important clairvoyant impressions either within the Essene community itself or some time later at home in Nazareth, where, in a more contemplative life, he allowed to take effect upon him what pressed into his soul from forces that had come to him—forces of which the Essenes had no inkling, but which were experienced in his soul as a consequence of the significant conversations he had held with the Essenes.

[ 18 ] One of these experiences, one of these inner impressions, must be particularly emphasized because it sheds light on the entire spiritual course of human development. It was a powerful, significant vision that Jesus of Nazareth had, as if in a kind of rapture, in which Buddha appeared to him as if face to face. Indeed, the Buddha appeared to Jesus of Nazareth as a result of the exchange of ideas with the Essenes. And one can say that at that time a spiritual conversation took place between Jesus and the Buddha. It is part of my occult duty to share with you the content of this spiritual conversation, for we may—indeed, we must—touch upon these significant mysteries of human evolution today. In this significant spiritual conversation, Jesus of Nazareth learned from the Buddha that the latter said something to the effect: If my teaching were to be fulfilled completely as I taught it, then all people would have to become like the Essenes. But that cannot be. That was the error in my teaching. Even the Essenes can only advance by separating themselves from the rest of humanity; other human souls must be there for them. If my teaching were fully realized, everyone would become an Essene. But that cannot be. — This was a significant experience that Jesus of Nazareth had through his association with the Essenes.

[ 19 ] Another experience was that of Jesus of Nazareth, who came into contact with an even younger man—a man of nearly the same age—who had joined, albeit in a very different way than Jesus of Nazareth, the Essene order, yet who nevertheless did not become a full-fledged Essene. It was John the Baptist, who lived, one might say, as a lay brother within the Essene community. He dressed like the Essenes, for they wore garments of camel hair in winter. But he had never been able to completely replace the teachings of Judaism within himself with the teachings of the Essenes. But since the teachings of the Essenes—the entire way of life of the Essenes—made a great impression on him, he lived the Essene life as a lay brother, allowed himself to be stimulated, gradually became inspired, and little by little arrived at what is indeed recounted about John the Baptist in the Gospels. Many conversations took place between Jesus of Nazareth and John the Baptist. - Then one day it happened—I know what it means to recount these things so simply, but nothing can deter me; I know nonetheless that these things must now be told in accordance with that occult obligation—it happened one day that Jesus of Nazareth, while speaking with John the Baptist, saw the physical form of the Baptist vanish before his eyes and had a vision of Elijah. This was the second significant spiritual experience within the community of the Essene Order.

[ 20 ] But there were other experiences as well. For quite some time, Jesus of Nazareth had noticed something peculiar: whenever he came to places where there were Essene gates—gates without images—he could not pass through them without having a bitter experience. He saw these gateways without images, but for him there were spiritual images at these gateways; for him, on either side of such a ‘gateway,’ there always appeared that which we have now come to know in the various spiritual-scientific discussions under the names of Ahriman and Lucifer. And gradually the feeling, the impression in his soul, had taken hold that the Essenes’ aversion to the gate images must have something to do with conjuring up such spiritual beings as he beheld at these gates, that the images on the gates were likenesses of Lucifer and Ahriman. And Jesus of Nazareth had noticed this on more than one occasion; such feelings had welled up in his soul on more than one occasion.

[ 21 ] Anyone who experiences such things does not feel that one should dwell on them too much; for these things have a deeply unsettling effect on the soul. One also soon realizes that human thoughts are not sufficient to fathom them deeply enough. One then does not consider thoughts capable of penetrating these things. But the impressions not only burrow deeply into the soul, they become a part of the soul’s life itself. One feels connected to the part of one’s soul in which such experiences have been gathered, as if connected to the experiences themselves; one carries these experiences forward through life.

[ 22 ] Thus, throughout his life, Jesus of Nazareth had carried within him the two images of Lucifer and Ahriman, which he had often seen at the gates of the Essenes. At first, this had had no other effect than to make him aware that a mystery reigned between these spiritual beings and the Essenes. And the effect this had on his soul carried over into his communication with the Essenes; since these experiences, mutual understanding in the soul of Jesus of Nazareth was no longer as easy as before. For there lived in his soul something of which he could not speak to the Essenes, because each time something seemed to choke his speech, for what he had experienced at the gates of the Essenes always interposed itself.

[ 23 ] One day, after a particularly important and significant conversation in which many of the highest, spiritual matters had been discussed, Jesus of Nazareth left the gate of the Essenes’ main building; as he passed through the gate, he encountered the figures he knew to be Lucifer and Ahriman. And he saw Lucifer and Ahriman fleeing from the gate of the Essene monastery. And a question sank into his soul. But not as if he himself were asking it, not as if he were asking it through his intellect; rather, with a deep, elemental force, the question surged up into his soul: Where are they fleeing to? Where are Lucifer and Ahriman fleeing to? — For he knew that the sanctity of the Essene monastery had driven them to flee. But the question took root in his soul: Where are they fleeing to? — And he could no longer shake this question from his soul; this question burned like fire in his soul; with this question he went about, experiencing it hourly, indeed minutely, in the weeks that followed. When, after the spiritual conversation he had had, he left the gates of the Essenes’ main building, the question burned in his soul: Where are Lucifer and Ahriman fleeing to?

[ 24 ] What he did next, under the influence of this question that lived within his soul, after he had come to realize that the ancient inspirations had been lost, that religions and cults had been corrupted by demonic forces, and when he had fallen at the altar of the pagan cult and heard the transformed voice of the Bath-Kol, and had to ask himself what the words of the Bath-Kol meant, and what the story I just told meant—that the soul of Jesus of Nazareth was now asking: Where are Lucifer and Ahriman fleeing to?—we will speak further about this tomorrow.