The Rudolf Steiner Archive

22. Esoteric Christianity

[ 1 ] Today is the time when what has been called throughout the entire history of human development—mysteries, mysticism, and so-called esoteric wisdom—must become known to wider circles.

[ 2 ] Everything that has come to light in the spirit of humanity is based on a deeper wisdom of which humanity in general has been unaware until now.

[ 3 ] Let us first agree on what has always been meant by “mysteries” and “esotericism.” Everything that human culture brings about in the world can ultimately be traced back to a few great personalities and leading individuals. For example, a project such as the Simplon Tunnel can ultimately be attributed to the intellectual work of great individuals who, although not directly involved in its construction, made it possible for others to carry out this project through their discoveries in the realm of the spirit. At first, the practical person might think that such things were created through purely external activity. It would be the greatest error one could commit to assume this. It is not the engineers who first conceived the plan, nor the workers who carried it out, who are the spiritual creators of these things. If it were not for what is called higher mathematics—as conceived by Leibniz, Newton, and others—these works could never have been carried out! All these thinkers were necessary to bring about what is called material culture,

[ 4 ] If we get to the heart of the matter, we can see how all these works and creations could never have come about without the minds of the thinkers. If this is true of external, material culture, it is true to an even greater extent of intellectual currents.

[ 5 ] Whatever religion and art have ever brought to humanity, whatever has governed states in the form of law and justice, whatever has been lived out as order and morality, whatever morality means to people—all of this leads back to the deeper sources of humanity, to hidden repositories of wisdom, if one undertakes to seek out its deeper origins.

[ 6 ] When we look at the works of art that span the centuries, we find that they lead back to deeper sources. Whether one imagines a poet like Dante, a thinker like Goethe, a painter like Raphael, or religious phenomena such as those of Christianity, all of them—like all moral and religious movements, art, and science—lead into the secret places where, in concealment, that which is called mysticism and esotericism was cultivated.

[ 7 ] Like all religions, Christianity is also based on esotericism. It is short-sighted to argue that Christianity is for “simple hearts,” that it must appeal to the emotions and be understandable to everyone. That is a short-sighted view.

[ 8 ] Ultimately, all religions clothe their truths in such spontaneous phrases that no soul can be so simple as to remain unmoved by them. But what emerges from this simplicity has its origins in the heights, among the so-called initiates. There have always been initiates. In ancient India, it was the Rishis who taught an ancient wisdom. In Persia, it was Zarathustra who taught that wisdom. We can look to Greece, to Egypt, to Rome; everywhere we find a popular religion, but in the midst of all these peoples are so-called giants of the spirit, unknown to humanity by name. It is they who unite in occult brotherhoods. Anyone who wishes to be admitted must undergo rigorous trials. These trials do not initially pertain to intellectual life; rather, they were about the individual having forged a free character, one in which nothing—whether emotion or passion—overwhelms the person. Then the person had to acquire the ability never to misuse their knowledge. Such people, having passed through severe trials, then became messengers to the rest of humanity. They were not allowed to harbor any other intention in their hearts than to serve humanity and to help humanity. They had to be those who put into practice the words: “Whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) Even in their intellectual pursuits, they were never, ever to slacken in their determination to strive for the higher truths.

[ 9 ] Today, those who believe in the possibility of perceiving the spiritual worlds are often told: We humans have limits to our knowledge. But within the Mystery Schools, it was said: You have abilities that lie dormant within you; if you develop them, you can rise to a higher level of knowledge. What people were led to achieve through the cultivation of their inner faculties in the mystery schools was called a second birth.

[ 10 ] It was said that such a person experiences something on a higher level than what the person born blind experiences here in the sensory world after undergoing surgery. This “operation of the soul”—rebirth in the spirit—was performed upon the initiate in the Mysteries. What was called “the realms of the heavens” in the mysteries, into which the initiate was then introduced, was not located in some other place. The realm of the spiritual world is right here, all around us. There are as many worlds around us as there are capacities we possess to perceive them. In the Mysteries, one did not receive a wisdom that was dry and abstract, but rather a wisdom that was at once religion and art. In the oldest Mysteries, wisdom was at once religion and art. In all the Mysteries of Greece, the mystic’s spiritual eye was opened. He was shown how, in primeval times, human beings were still half-animal, and how the soul had struggled its way up to the stage of humanity at which human beings saw themselves. Three stages were presented to him: He saw figures as they had lived in a distant phase of human evolution; then figures that were half-animal, half-human; and finally, fully human figures. These three types of human evolution appeared to him in the Greek mysteries, and they found their expression in Greek sculpture: first, the Zeus type with a straight nose and eyes that curve upward; second, the type of the god Mercury, with wavy hair and a upturned nose; third, the type of the satyr with different eyes, a different nose, and different corners of the mouth. These three types appear to us in Greek art as a reflection of the stages of human development.

[ 11 ] On another occasion, the mystic was shown how God Himself descended into nature, how He evolved through the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms all the way up to the human kingdom, and then was reborn from the human heart. This was called the descent of God, His resurrection, and His ascension.

[ 12 ] All of this was depicted in Greek drama. Everything portrayed in drama originated from the Mysteries. Just as a tree branches out into different limbs, so did the Mysteries branch out into religion, science, and art. The ancient Mysteries celebrated in Greece—the Eleusinian Mysteries—and the Mysteries of the Egyptian priestly sages were called the Mysteries of the Spirit. Those at the head of these Mysteries, as teachers and guides, had penetrated into spiritual worlds; they were companions of the spirits themselves; they were in communion with spiritual beings. Iamblichus describes to us how the gods descend in the Mysteries.

[ 13 ] Only after moral purification and intellectual clarification could one enter these places of wisdom. That was how it was in ancient pagan times. It was there that the mysteries of the spirit flourished. Only with wondrous enthusiasm and the most intimate devotion did the mystics speak of what one could experience in the mystery schools. Aristides speaks of this: “I believed I was touching the god, feeling his presence, and I was in a state between waking and sleeping; my spirit was so light that no one who is not initiated can describe or comprehend it.” And elsewhere he says: “It was as if the spiritual world were showering down upon me.” Plutarch says: “He who had received the initiations into these mysteries greeted the deity with the greeting of eternity.” Those who had undergone them were called “the reborn.”

[ 14 ] We need to shed a little light on what the final act was in every initiation into the mysteries of the Spirit. One had to undergo moral purification and intellectual clarification. Then one had to see with the eyes of the Spirit. Behind the consciousness that accompanies us in the waking state, there is another consciousness. Consciousness does not sink into complete darkness when we fall asleep. The person remains conscious at night; he is present. But the consciousness that accompanies him from morning to evening does not remain during the night. There is a way to free a person from unconsciousness. There are methods to achieve this. Through a certain cultivation of the soul—through processes that prove to be intimate occurrences within the soul—a person can gain the ability for his dream life to offer him new revelations, to experience things that cannot be perceived with the physical eyes and ears. It makes no difference whether one perceives the truth in sleep or during the waking day; one must simply learn to carry the world one experiences there over into physical reality. If, through this, one is able to see the spiritual in the entire world, then one has reached the first stage of initiation.

[ 15 ] At the second stage, he then experiences something as if he were living in a surging sea of colors. There is a higher initiation in which a consciousness is developed, through which an even higher spiritual world opens up to the individual. In ordinary life today, human beings are unable to awaken the consciousness that lies beyond the physical world.

[ 16 ] The final act of the Mysteries of the Spirit was the one in which the person was induced into a kind of sleep-like state. Through the preparatory rites, care had been taken to ensure that, as everyday consciousness subsided, the person’s consciousness did not cease. For three days and three nights, the individual lay in the mystery temples in an altered state of consciousness—a citizen and participant in another world. Then he was awakened again by the wise priest. He was given a new name. He was an initiate, one who had been reborn. Of the Mysteries of the Spirit, one could say: “Blessed are those who have undergone them; blessed are those who behold them!”

[ 17 ] At the time of Christ Jesus, the Mysteries of the Son—which have existed since the time of Christ—were added to the Mysteries of the Spirit. The Mysteries of the Father—the Mysteries of the Future—are practiced only within a very small circle. The Mysteries of the Son are practiced in the Rosicrucian schools. Even in more recent times, there are once again Rosicrucian Mysteries—which are also Christian—for those who need a form of Christianity that is equipped to face all forms of wisdom.

[ 18 ] Today we want to examine the mysteries of the Son and see how they differ from the ancient pagan mysteries. If we wish to grasp the truly immense progress that has been brought about by Christianity, we must consider and come to understand two significant sayings. One is: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) And the other: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

[ 19 ] Whoever grasps the full depth of these sayings can understand the foundation of Christianity. While Paul, on the one hand, had found the inspiring, powerful word for the whole world, he had given his close disciples teachings that were first handed down orally and then written down, and which are attributed to Dionysius, known as “the Areopagite.” This is a legacy of Saint Paul himself, who proclaimed the deepest wisdom. These teachings of Paul were first recorded in the 6th century. These are the writings of the so-called Pseudo-Dionysius. We are interested less in the historical context than in the content of these writings.

[ 20 ] There is such a thing as esoteric Christianity. Because certain circles are unwilling to admit this, they have assigned a peculiar status to the Gospel of John. Theologians regard the Gospel of John as a book born of poetic power. However, they do not understand what the Gospel of John actually means. Whereas the three other evangelists recount the exoteric, John recounts what he experienced as an initiated seer who could gaze into the spiritual worlds. The writer of the Gospel of John composed this Gospel from the perspective of an initiate.

[ 21 ] Anyone who regards the Gospel of John as a book to be read and understood just like any other book knows nothing at all about the Gospel of John. Only those who can experience it truly understand it. Most translations do not convey the spirit of the Gospel of John. The ... /gap?] first words of this Gospel, correctly translated (John 1:1–14), read:

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was with God in the beginning.
3. Through him all things were made, and without him nothing was made that has been made.
4. In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind.
5. And the light shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it.
6. A man was sent by God, whose name was John.
7. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8. He was not the light, but a witness to the light.
9. For the true light, which enlightens every person, was to come into the world.
10. It was in the world, and the world was made through it, but the world did not recognize it.
11. It came to individual human beings—it came even to the “I”-people—but the individual human beings—the “I”-people—did not receive it.
12. But those who did receive it were able, through it, to reveal themselves as children of God.
13. Those who trusted in its name were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we heard its teaching—the teaching of the Father’s only Son, filled with devotion and truth.

[ 22 ] These words, with their monumental meaning, should not be used in a way that makes one ponder them, but rather in a way that allows them to take effect in the following manner, just as countless people have used them throughout the centuries: Early in the morning, when the soul was still as fresh as the morning itself, one would let these words resound within the soul up to the point: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and so on (John 1:14; as above).

[ 23 ] When a person does this, day after day, something emerges in the soul that gives him a new life—a rebirth—and transforms him spiritually. He then perceives a spiritual world around him of which he previously had no inkling. Anyone, then, who allows the opening words of the Gospel of John to work upon them as a means of spiritual education will experience the Gospel of John itself through powerful imagery.

[ 24 ] Before his spiritual gaze stands John the Baptist, baptizing Christ; there he sees the image of Nicodemus having his conversation with Christ. Then he sees Christ cleansing the temple, and all the subsequent scenes in the Gospel of John, and he experiences the events beginning in chapter 13.

[ 25 ] In order to truly let these words sink in, and to find the “Word” proclaimed in the Gospel of John, the teacher said the following to the student: You must fill yourself completely, for weeks on end, with a single feeling: Think for a moment about the plant. It takes root in the dead stone. If it had consciousness, it would have to bow down to the dead stone and say to it: Without you, I could not live; from you I draw nourishment and strength; to you I owe my existence—thank you!

[ 26 ] The animal, too, should say to the plant: “Without you, I could not live; I bow to you in gratitude, for from you I draw what I need to live.” — So it is with all realms. Even having reached a higher level of education, a person must bow down—like the plant to the stone—to those who work for him and thank them. Whoever wishes to become a Christian initiate must spend many weeks developing within himself the feeling that he owes gratitude to those beneath him. Then he will spiritually experience the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John, where this feeling is monumentally portrayed by Christ during the washing of the feet.

[ 27 ] He describes it this way: “Without you being there, I could not be there; I lean toward you as a plant leans toward a rock.” As an outward symbol, the initiate experienced at this stage a sensation as if water were washing around his feet. This sensation persists for a long time. Once he has gone through this, the Christian mystic can proceed to the next stage of initiation. To do so, he had to develop the strength to withstand all of life’s storms and tribulations. Then he experienced a second vision. He saw himself being scourged and felt, for weeks on end, a kind of pain in specific parts of his own body. Then he experienced the scourging.

[ 28 ] Now he was ready to advance to the third stage. The teacher said to him: “You must cultivate within yourself the ability to endure seeing what is most sacred to you covered with scorn and derision. Scorn and derision must mean nothing to you compared to the steadfastness and security of your inner self.” Then the student experienced two symptoms of Christian initiation. He experienced the crowning with thorns; he saw himself spiritually wearing the crown of thorns and experienced a kind of headache that is the sign of this stage of initiation.

[ 29 ] Fourth, he had to develop within himself the feeling that the body is nothing more to him than another object in the world. Then he carried the body with him only as an instrument. In some mystery schools, one learns to get into the habit of saying: “My body is going through the door,” and so on. Thereupon, the initiate himself experienced the crucifixion. He saw himself crucified. The outward sign was that during meditation, stigmata appeared at the sites of Christ’s wounds—on the hands, feet, and right side. This is the initiate’s trial by blood, the fourth stage of initiation.

[ 30 ] Afterward, he ascended to the fifth station, which is called the “mystical death”—a profound spiritual experience that can only be hinted at; moments when his entire physical surroundings enveloped him like a black veil. There he came to know all the causes of evil. This was called the “Descent into Hell.” Then a strange feeling came over him, as if the entire curtain were tearing apart. This is the mystical death and the mystical awakening.

[ 31 ] The sixth stage is what is known as “burial.” Everything that the earth sustains must become as precious to human beings as their own bodies. The human body could not exist apart from the earth. A few miles away from the earth, it would wither away, just as a hand would wither if separated from the body. What my body is to my fingers, the earth is to human beings. The independence that a person attributes to themselves is an illusion. Just as a person is physically dependent on the earth, so too are they spiritually dependent on the spiritual world. Only when a person feels united with the entire planet are they truly rooted in the earth; only then does the “burial” take place.

[ 32 ] This is followed by the seventh stage: the Resurrection and Ascension. Here, the human being experiences the Eternal. This stage cannot be described. The Egyptian priest-sages did not use written characters to describe such things. Such a way must be found within the Mysteries to express what words cannot say.

[ 33 ] It is through the power, the magical force of the Gospel of John itself that one can experience the Gospel of John. Such an initiation is the initiation of the Son. Something like this was only possible after Christ was here—on earth. The outer Christ, who walked in Palestine, relates to the inner Christ experienced by the mystic just as the sun relates to the eye. If there were no eye, the sun could not be perceived. But the sun has created the eye. Where there is no image, the organ for light is also lost. The eye has been created little by little by the sun. “The eye is created for the light by the light,” says Goethe.

[ 34 ] Those who allow the Gospel of John to take root within them develop their inner eye. But just as no eye could ever have come into being without the sun, so spiritual sight would never have come into being if Christ—the spiritual sun—had not personally walked the earth. There is no Christianity without the personal Christ Jesus. That is the essential and important point.

[ 35 ] All other founders of religions could say of themselves, “I am the way and the truth.” They were all teachers. Christianity did not introduce anything new in terms of doctrine. But that is not what matters; what matters is that Christians feel connected to the personal Christ Jesus, as if within a family. What matters is that he was there, that he lived, and that he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

[ 36 ] Eastern religious teachers have both an exoteric and an esoteric aspect, just as Christianity does. Christianity differs from them in this respect: Its exoteric aspect is simpler, more down-to-earth, and speaks to the heart and to the emotions; but its esoteric aspect is substantially deeper than any Eastern esotericism. In truth, Christian esotericism is the deepest teaching ever given to humanity. Christian esotericism has brought to Earth the very Being with whom one must be connected. It is a matter of believing in the divinity of Christ. In the ancient mysteries, on the other hand, one had to witness this for oneself during the three-day initiation.

[ 37 ] What had previously existed only in the mysteries of the spirit has become a historical fact in Christianity. The events in Palestine are both a historical fact and a symbol.

[ 38 ] Christianity is such that even the simplest and most unassuming mind can understand it; yet even the wisest person will never outgrow Christianity. The deepest teachings of wisdom are found within it.

[ 39 ] If we understand the Gospel of John as a book of life—one that we want to live by and allow to come alive within us—then we will come to recognize esoteric Christianity. Such esoteric Christianity has always existed; it has always been at work wherever Christianity has brought its noble side to the fore, wherever Christianity has contributed to humanity’s great cultural heritage. To all those who had felt a kinship with Christ Jesus, such a power flowed from it that they knew life would always triumph over death, that death is never a truth. Goethe said that the great world powers invented death in order to have much life in the world. Christianity is proof that a consciousness can arise in the soul that life is always the victor in the world.