The Rudolf Steiner Archive

29. On the Future of Humanity

[ 1 ] It might seem presumptuous to speak about the future of humankind. But when one considers that humankind is a self-aware being destined to advance ever further, one must surely realize that it cannot be destined to drift aimlessly into the future. If we grasp the sacred meaning of the word “self-aware,” the possibility becomes clearer that a self-aware being is destined to gain foresight into the future. But where are we to seek this foresight? We find it in the theosophical view of the world and of life, which deals with the inner core of the human being. The word “theosophy” is often mistranslated. It is said that theosophy is knowledge of the divine being. That is not correct. No one would be so presumptuous as to believe that they could fathom the divine being.

[ 2 ] Last time we spoke about the origin and past of humankind; today we will focus on its future development. If we believe in the evolution of humankind, it is clear that humans must acquire ever higher and higher abilities in order to use these abilities to gain an ever better understanding of God and the universe. Millions of years from now, our concepts will be entirely different from what they are today, and so it will continue. Our knowledge of God can never be complete. Theosophy is not “knowledge of God”; rather, it shows us the perspective that leads to knowledge of God.

[ 3 ] The question now is: How does a person acquire knowledge in the first place? In everyday life, a person acquires it through the senses. If a person had no senses, he or she would not be able to come to know the world around him or her. What a person perceives with the eye through the effects of light, the sounds conveyed to him by his ear, what he feels, senses, tastes, and smells—he takes all of this in and combines it with his intellect. Now, everything he perceives is transitory; everything has an end. Intellectual thought, too, is transitory. The eye, the ear, and the brain will perish and disintegrate. What the senses have perceived will one day belong to the past. Everything that disintegrates will one day cease to exist; all knowledge derived from the senses must perish; it, too, will prove to be transitory, because it was founded on the transitory. Human beings, animals, and plants are transitory; everything is transitory.

[ 4 ] But alongside our perishable nature, human beings possess an imperishable core of being. Within it lie dormant powers that are meant to be developed—organs of life; just as the eyes, ears, and brain are organs of the physical body, so too are there organs of the spiritual human being that are of an imperishable nature. In short, Theosophy teaches us that we carry within ourselves a higher human being who directs his imperishable senses toward everything that surrounds him and enables him to recognize the essential core of all things.

[ 5 ] This is the foundation upon which theosophy rests. Like natural scientists, it focuses its research on plants, animals, and minerals, but it seeks not only to understand the transitory, but also that which is imperishable in things; it investigates nothing else, but it investigates in a different way than science. It deals not only with the past and the present, but also with the future.

[ 6 ] What do we know about the future of humankind? What is this essential core that humankind carries with it from the present into the future? What is the new link in the chain of development that establishes the connection between the temporal and the eternal?

[ 7 ] Let’s try to understand this clearly in our minds. When earthly life—with everything a human being has enjoyed, everything that has brought them joy and sorrow—has faded away, what remains? — To understand this, let us transport ourselves to three points in the history of our Earth. Let us go back one million years, to the present, and into the future, another million years from now. If we go back to the distant past, we see human beings in a form quite different from what they are today. They were still untouched by all human activity and endeavor. They became what they were through the forces of nature; divine forces in the universe worked together so that human beings could come into existence.

[ 8 ] Now that humankind has appeared on Earth, it has the task of reshaping and transforming the Earth in turn. A look at the pyramids—these magnificent, colossal structures—may serve as a small example to illustrate this. If we consider the transformation Egypt underwent through the labor and construction of the pyramids—as colossal masses of stone were moved from one place to another to create these structures that have withstood floods and inundations—this can give us a small glimpse of the change the entire Earth has undergone and will continue to undergo through human labor.

[ 9 ] Here’s another example: Take Cologne Cathedral; just think of how much work—human labor—it took to build it! Quarrying and hewing the stones, and so on and so forth; just imagine what kind of strength was required to bring such a work of art into being. In the distant future, humanity will have entirely different kinds of power at its disposal; it will harness many more forces of nature to its service and accomplish things far greater than it does today. Today, humanity has learned to use natural forces such as electricity, magnetism, and so on; with the gentle press of a button, it can conjure up light. In short, it can accomplish things that were unimaginable a hundred or two hundred years ago. Modern humanity can recognize this even without theosophy.

[ 10 ] In the future, the power of the great rivers will be harnessed, as will the sun’s rays. That sounds fantastic—but these are possibilities. Humankind will harness the power of fire and the forces of volcanoes. Humankind is increasingly compelling the northern and southern magnetic forces to serve it. Just as the Earth now looks completely different from how it did millions of years ago, so too will it look completely different from how it does now in millions of years. Humankind is constantly working on the Earth.

[ 11 ] Living beings were created along with the planet in order to reshape it into a reflection of what humanity will become.

[ 12 ] Now you ask, can we form a real picture from this figment of the imagination?

[ 13 ] Theosophy does not present a utopian vision; it shows us a very real picture of the future. In the most concrete sense, it can speak of the future. Consider this analogy: [Two people are standing side by side; one is a “savage,” the other is Goethe]. A third person, standing in front of both of them, would point to the “savage” and say: What you are now, Goethe once was, and in the future you will be like Goethe. In this way, we point to the individuality of the human being, which gradually develops toward the highest perfection. Among us walk people who have already developed within themselves what the average person will only develop in the future. They are no different from us; everything happens naturally—it is not based on magic. All of this becomes clear to us when we believe in spiritual ascent.

[ 14 ] To show you that it’s not necessary to imagine this as something completely incomprehensible, let’s clarify the matter with a comparison. Two naturalists are observing a clumsy Moluccan crab that had fallen onto its back and was now struggling in vain to turn itself over. Two of the crab’s brothers tried to help it, but they were unsuccessful; it was too heavy for them. So they left the crab where it was and went to fetch two more colleagues; now the four of them managed to turn the crab over. Now let’s assume that the two naturalists had turned the crab over while their companions went to fetch help, and [the companions] had found the crab standing on its legs upon their return; they would surely have believed that a miracle had occurred; but some of their brothers, the “crab monists,” would have rebelled against this belief and claimed that everything had happened through natural causes.

[ 15 ] Applying this to humanity, we realize that our understanding and capabilities cannot be limited to what we have achieved today. Just as Goethe stands above the “Hottentots,” so will the race yet to come stand above the present one. The present race is gradually giving rise to a race of the future.

[ 16 ] Suppose we were faced with people who had reached a level of development that the human race will not attain until a later age. If we asked them, what would they have to show us? It would be about birth and death, about what the afterlife will be like, and so on. First of all, we would learn that the afterlife is not something that lies in the future at all. Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21)—not “within you.”

[ 17 ] How are we to understand this?

[ 18 ] The things that surround us appear spiritual when the dormant powers within us are awakened. Two people love each other and live together; death comes, and she leaves him, and he leaves her. But what lies beyond that—the result of life, the essence of being—remains from one incarnation to the next; it will return to Earth many times yet.

[ 19 ] What is the purpose and meaning of this? — The purpose is that life should teach people ever higher lessons.

[ 20 ] Let’s imagine ourselves back in the time of the Odyssey. People back then did not know how to read or write; they had not learned those skills. It was something entirely different that people took away from the world back then. It will not be useless for them to live on Earth again now. From earliest childhood, they are surrounded by things quite different from those in Odysseus’s time. They are constantly gathering new experiences, and the fruits of those experiences benefit both them and the Earth.

[ 21 ] What the soul has experienced remains with it. Not only has it become purer and stronger, but it has also learned.

[ 22 ] In the life between death and rebirth, a person processes what they have learned between birth and death. When they are reborn, they bring new insights with them that they can use to learn even more. When we have learned everything, the earth will fall away. What has then emerged from the human soul will remain; as new souls, they will live on in a new realm of existence.

[ 23 ] It should now be clear that there are people who know more than the average person. They are people who have learned more and faster than their peers.

[ 24 ] What is the point of living in other worlds if we depart with death? Let us try to understand life as a whole. Here in this life, our senses are the tools through which we perceive the world around us. Without our senses, we could experience nothing. We need eyes to see the beauty of the world, ears to hear sounds, a tongue and palate to taste, and a brain and tongue to think and speak.

[ 25 ] What happens, then, when the physical body falls away from us? The soul, the bearer of desires and impulses, is now free. Its life continues in the astral realm, uninfluenced and unhindered by the earthly shells. If it has been attached to a delicious meal, it still feels the desire for such a meal; it would like to enjoy it; but it lacks the senses—it would like to enjoy it but cannot; this causes it torment. The soul must wean itself from these wishes and desires. This takes place on the plane or level of consciousness called Kamaloka; Kama—desire; Loka—place: the place of desires.

[ 26 ] Now that the soul has cast off all desires and longings that can be satisfied only through the senses, what remains for it?

[ 27 ] These are the experiences that we have indeed taken in through the senses, [but] which do not remain attached to the senses. The senses are the gateways through which all experiences flow into us; but the senses tell us nothing about the essence of things themselves; nothing about the unity of all things, about numbers, about beauty, about all artistic activity, about goodness, or about ideals. All of this springs from the core of the human being; this is how that which transcends the senses comes into being. Now, the innermost core of the human being does not emerge clearly and distinctly in Kamaloka if the soul still yearns for what it has left behind; but once it has outgrown this yearning, the fruit of the entire life experience shines forth from the soul. What we have shaped, we live out in blissful rapture. We lead a godlike existence between life on Earth and the next birth. Devachan, or Heaven, is the name of the place where we will dwell if we have worked on Earth to transcend the earthly realm. There we will feel a kinship with the superterrestrial forces.

[ 28 ] Through plants, we will come to recognize the inner essence; we will see the other side of nature, which is now invisible to us. If your mind dwells in the spiritual realm, you will find yourself among the forces that bring things into being—the forces that build plants and animals. If you examine a plant closely through a microscope, you will see a structure of wisdom that even the greatest and most ingenious bridge built by an architect cannot rival. Or consider the marvelous structure of the brain! Is it not condensed wisdom? We can only try, through seeking and intuition, to draw it out of the world around us; and from what we intuit, we try to piece together what the cause of things is. In Devachan, we live among the creative forces and powers. There, the soul unites with the Spirit. It rises higher and higher because it has lived among the creative spirits.

[ 29 ] What we learn here can be compared to what a student learns from a map of, for example, Asia Minor. How different the country appears to him when he sees it with his own eyes, compared to when he sees the names, dots, and lines on the map. The same is true of the knowledge of the everyday person in relation to life in Devachan—life among the things themselves. Here lie the foundations of our being. A genius soul did not simply arise from swirling atoms. Whoever possesses genius today has earned it through many earthly lives. In one life, we gather experiences that we apply in the next. First we build the tools; then comes their application. What I can do today, I acquired long ago.

[ 30 ] A person can also reason all of this out using their intellect. But there are people who recognize from their own experience that this is so, because they are able to consciously place themselves in these states while still surrounded by their physical body. We call them “chelas” or disciples. They have learned to look into spiritual development; the spiritual world lies open before them. The chela can develop all the way to becoming a master.

[ 31 ] How does a person become a disciple? The preparations necessary to become a disciple are described in many writings. To become a disciple, a certain degree of development that a person must have attained is absolutely necessary. There have always been living people who have crossed the threshold of death, from which supposedly no one returns. The chela, however, and the Master do indeed return. They can consciously pass through the threshold and return. The preparation requires only that a person learn to truly live within. We can attain this if we are completely within ourselves at least once a day. The true Christian attains this state through prayer; others through meditation and contemplation. If we are able to meditate and work on ourselves during meditation, we can gradually be admitted into the spiritual world.

[ 32 ] Strictness and seriousness are the qualities required of a disciple. First, he must—Viveka—be able to distinguish the essential from the non-essential in all things. Whether the thing is a mineral, a plant, an animal, or a human being makes no difference; whether it is a wild animal, a criminal, or a noble person makes no difference; with a single glance, he must be able to separate the essential from the non-essential. This first quality, which leads to discipleship, does not exist in some cloud-cuckoo-land, as some would like to believe, so that the one who possesses it would have no sense of everyday things and would not recognize them as essential; that would be a mistaken view. The way one brings a spoonful of soup to one’s mouth can be more essential than the entire bowl of soup one eats. What is essential is that which reveals the inner core of a thing or a person, not what the senses perceive externally. To attain this quality, one must start in the right place. For example, if one believes that enriching the world with printed paper is better than drawing wire, one is mistaken.

[ 33 ] The second virtue is—Vairagya—not to cling to the transitory, but to the fruit of the transitory. One must become acquainted with the eternal core of things.

[ 34 ] Third: Shatsampat—six virtues or qualities necessary for preparing for the future.

[ 35 ] First: Control of the thoughts—Shama. One should not let one’s thoughts wander aimlessly. A person who wishes to become a chela must achieve complete control over his thoughts. This is still an ideal, but one must take the time to strive toward this ideal. I must reach the point where my soul harbors no thought that I have not presented to it. The more control I gain over my thoughts, the closer I come to the core of my being.

[ 36 ] Secondly, from the mastery of thoughts springs the mastery of actions—Dama. We must not simply let ourselves be driven by circumstances. It is not the external world that should drive us, but our own inner world. In a certain sense, one should take one’s own destiny into one’s own hands. We should seek to achieve what we wish to achieve according to our own, well-thought-out plan. This control over one’s actions gives a person a previously unknown peace of mind. A transformation of one’s entire life will take place. This does not mean that one must now undertake something extraordinary—whatever one sets out to do—and thereby neglect one’s duty toward one’s neighbor. But a person becomes master of every fate. He remains the master and controls fate; fate no longer controls him. In every situation, he will be able to see at a glance what is necessary at that moment. This ideal is worth striving for.

[ 37 ] Third: The third quality—Uparati—is best translated as “equanimity.” Meet everything that comes our way with a certain equanimity. Do not swing from elation to despair, but remain equanimous. Welcome good fortune with joy, but without excitement; endure misfortune, though serious, with composure. Always maintain the same poise.

[ 38 ] Fourth: A general, loving understanding of humanity, understanding of all beings, tolerance—Titiksha. Do not condemn or despise the criminal, but seek to refine him; do not say, “I don’t like him,” but try to raise him to a higher level, seeking the essence of his being in everything. We tell ourselves: This criminal was no worse than I am; circumstances may have turned him into a criminal. Can I help him? I do not want to judge him, but rather seek to understand him. And the student must be this tolerant toward all beings.

[ 39 ] Fifth: An open-minded attitude toward all events — Shraddha. When something new is told or explained to us, we are inclined to exclaim or think: “Oh, I don’t believe that.” — If we do that, we lose our open-minded perspective on something new. The chela never says: “I can’t believe that.” - He believes that he can always experience something new and higher. This open-mindedness leads to faith and trust.

[ 40 ] The sixth virtue, inner harmony—Samadhana—arises from the five preceding qualities.

[ 41 ] From all this it follows: Fourth: The will to freedom—Mumuksha. Human beings usually have a greater will to bondage than to freedom. They feel dependent on the external world and internally unfree because their passions dominate them. But once they have realized the aforementioned virtues within themselves, the will to freedom arises, enabling them to become completely free—which in turn allows them to become fully integrated into life in the Spirit. When this is achieved to a certain degree, the stage of chela begins. This comprises four stages.

[ 42 ] First stage: The homeless human being. He is no longer attached to the external world; he does not look back longingly at the sensory world. He is not, by any means, unloving toward the sensory world, but he does not allow himself to be ensnared by it. He himself bestows equal love upon the entire world. He now begins to consciously look into the spiritual world, into realms that are otherwise accessible to the average person only after death. Then all superstition and all doubt vanish forever, for he sees things as they truly are. But then, too, all illusion of the self vanishes.

[ 43 ] We can see this clearly even on a physical level. Our existence depends entirely on our connection to the Earth. If we were to rise above it, we would perish, since the conditions necessary for life do not exist at such heights. We can live only in the environment into which we are born, because it is in proper proportion to the temperature of our own blood. If the temperature were just 30 degrees hotter or colder, our existence would be endangered.

[ 44 ] The personal self will be transcended; “Tat twam asi”—“That is you”—will be fully awakened, meaning that the individual will feel at one with the universe.

[ 45 ] [The] second stage of discipleship is referred to as “building huts.” He beholds the Kundalini light. This is illustrated for us in the account of the Transfiguration, where the Lord Jesus initiates his three disciples into discipleship. There they want to build huts.

[ 46 ] Third stage of discipleship: The light shines forth from the disciple. “Every thing tells him its own name.” He sees things from the other side through the rays of the spirit,

[ 47 ] The fourth stage of discipleship: cannot be described; it cannot be clearly explained in ordinary words; it can only be discussed in secret schools.

[ 48 ] We can only hint at the higher levels.

[ 49 ] What only a few individuals attain now will, in the future, be possessed by the entire human race. New powers will be discovered, and people will consciously work from within the realm of the spirit.

[ 50 ] Theosophy is not a utopia, nor is it a figment of the imagination. What is now realized only in a few individuals will be the future of the human race. It is not idle talk about interesting problems, but active work toward the future. Anyone who begins to immerse themselves in it is working for the future. Theosophy points out the seeds of this future; it indicates the means and ways in which one can work toward it. It is not an abstract teaching method. It shows what human beings will be like if they live in such and such a way.

[ 51 ] One might ask: Is what is proclaimed here truly accurate? That cannot be answered simply with a “yes” or a “no.” The means have been given to humankind; whether they will use them is impossible to know. It depends on whether people are willing to cooperate. The Theosophical Society was founded for the purpose of educating people who wish to work toward this goal. The deification of humanity depends on whether a group will come together from among them to undertake this work.

[ 52 ] But in this they must be completely free; they must make their own decisions without any outside influence. From what we have heard here, we can see that the

[ 53 ] Theosophy alone reveals to us the true meaning of life.

[ 54 ] [Note by the stenographer] At Mr. Hubo’s request, Dr. Steiner said a few more words about the Theosophical Society’s position on Christianity:

[ 55 ] Our second principle and goal is to cultivate an understanding of the core truth of all religions and of religious life. It is by no means our intention to transplant the Buddhist religion into our Western world. We have no need to do so. Christianity contains the purest theosophy. It is only just beginning. It is the religion of the future. The earlier religions contained the same essential core, but their form was tailored to earlier times. However, we have lost the key to Christianity, the origin of all religions.

[ 56 ] A brief scene from North America should make this clear to us. Through so-called “civilization,” the Native Americans had been driven from their hunting grounds. They were promised certain areas where they were to settle. But those promises were not kept. It was in the year 1847 when a great Native American chief confronted a high-ranking official and reproached him with something to the following effect: “You white people promised us land, but you did not keep your word.” You are one who draws the teachings of the Great Spirit from books, from pages covered with all sorts of symbols. But the Great Spirit has not taught you the truth; otherwise, you would not have deceived us. Our ancestors taught us to seek the Great Spirit, Tao, in everything that surrounds us. We feel him in the wind, in the sunshine, in the rustling of the leaves, in the flowing water—everywhere he speaks to us; we are one with him. And Tao has taught us a truth that you do not know.” — “Tao is the term for God, conceived as half concrete, half spiritual. In the Tao, human beings do not yet feel separated from God, either inwardly or outwardly.

[ 57 ] Religion seeks to reconnect what has been separated from the Tao. People now seek what they once felt. The Brahmins say of the Tao: It is what it is.

[ 58 ] Orpheus wisely developed this idea and described the laws by which humans can regain this conscious sense of unity with the Tao: You are created, and you will create. The Son gave of himself, and thus brought light and

[ 59 ] Life and fellowship with the Father restored.