The Rudolf Steiner Archive

13. Theosophy and Antisophy

[ 1 ] The humanities are theosophical in nature because they lead people back to their original source. People today are fighting against theosophy; they are, therefore, antisophical in their outlook.

[ 2 ] The entire spiritual-soul aspect is engaged during the early years of childhood to develop the physical organism, particularly the nervous system; all forces are expended on this work. From a certain point onward, the human organism becomes stronger and more defined. This is the moment when self-awareness emerges in the child. The spiritual and soul forces are thrust back into the child’s inner self; previously, the child had projected them all into the organism. Now the spiritual-soul aspects are cast back into the self. At first, we look as if through a pane of glass, but then the organism becomes like a mirror that reflects the spiritual-soul life back into itself. Then the child says to itself, “I.” From that point on, life unfolds in self-consciousness.

[ 3 ] Human beings owe their entire earthly destiny and essence to the fact that, in early childhood, our physical constitution is transformed into a mirror, and our spiritual and soul aspects are reflected back upon themselves. The forces that a person has brought with them from previous lives, they have worked into this physical constitution. In life, these forces are poured into the physical organization. At first, the child does not yet have self-awareness because the spiritual and soul forces are still flowing into the physical-material organization; this organization must stand before us like a mirror. Human beings would be natural “theosophists” if they could see for themselves this process of weaving these forces into the physical organism. Just as in plants, a new seed is already forming within human beings—one that future life demands.

[ 4 ] The child would remain stunted if it were immediately self-aware, because then not all of its spiritual-soul forces would flow into the physical organism. Within the spiritual-soul forces through which we raise our self-awareness, germinal forces for our next life are formed. However, these must not rise into self-consciousness; they must remain dormant, for they are constructive forces and may only unfold their character in our next life. If a person were to become conscious of these germinal forces, he would have to fall into a dream or sleep; if we knew of these germinal forces, we would know ourselves to be in the Divine—we would be natural-born theosophists.

[ 5 ] We must develop the forces that can increasingly strengthen our self-awareness from within the soul-spiritual world. During our earthly life, we must swim across a river, on one bank of which lies the transition from theosophical consciousness to self-awareness, and on the other, the transition from self-awareness to theosophical consciousness. It is precisely from our separation from our divine-spiritual state of mind that we draw the forces of our self-awareness. Our earthly state of mind must be antisophical.

[ 6 ] After completing the necessary preparations, as explained in the previous lecture, he [the human being] can penetrate these germinal forces. The human being would feel that his self-consciousness is endangered, that it is being undermined; therefore, he fears allowing the germinal forces for his next life to emerge—hence the antisophical attitude. Human beings have an aversion to the idea that the germinal forces might drown out their sense of self and cast them into world consciousness. They harbor a secret fear of allowing the interconnections to emerge from the depths. The soul must first become strong and energetic; only then can it face the deeper forces, just as the self-aware human being faces this mirror. Human beings can make their future into a mirror in which to behold their spiritual nature, just as we have a mirror in the physical body through which our self-consciousness arises.

[ 7 ] Because the spiritual researcher has the secret human within himself, he has the assurance that he is immortal, that he is preparing a life of immortality for himself; just as the germinative forces of a plant provide the assurance that a new plant will come into being.

[ 8 ] It is precisely those forces that lead us away from our divine-spiritual connection that we must cultivate most strongly; we are fostering an antisophic disposition. Humanity must develop itself between opposites. Just as human beings oscillate back and forth between freedom and bondage, so too do they oscillate back and forth between theosophy and antisophy. Yet there are moments when a person becomes aware of his original source, and this mood can grow stronger and lead him to theosophy. Our present culture, in all its complexity, has fostered the antisophic mood. When life was much less complicated, the time was ripe for the theosophic mood. King Leon of Phlius, as Cicero recounts, once asked Pythagoras what he considered his life’s mission. — He considered himself a philosopher, he said. He could express it through a comparison. He viewed life as a kind of fair. People come from all over to enjoy the festivities, to buy and sell things, for the sake of profit. But there are also those who come merely as spectators, to watch everything. — That is how he feels about the fair of life. He led an inner life that is of no outward benefit to anyone, that exists for its own sake; Pythagoras was regarded as such a person, a philosopher.

[ 9 ] A strange philosophical worldview is now making its way from America to Europe. James, Schiller, and others are its proponents; it is called the pragmatic worldview. This view holds that any ideas people acquire that go beyond sensory observations have no basis in truth. We form only those ideas that are useful; whatever is useful for life, we regard as truth. We form the concept of “breath” because it is useful to imagine such a thing; we cannot perceive it. It is useful to conceive of life in terms of ideals and to organize life according to ideals; therefore, ideals are true. For our view of the world, it is useful to imagine a God and to bring order to the world. The “Philosophy of As If” is the European version of the American one. After its originator ceased to be a professor, he published this philosophy. One cannot find certainty, so one acts as if there is a God, as if there are ideals—not because they actually exist in any way. This philosophy is also called fictionalism. It was the legacy of both past and present religion that made the emergence of a “Philosophy of As If” possible, and no matter how much this old religion is renewed, it will still evolve once again into a “Philosophy of As If.”

[ 10 ] Du Bois-Reymond, the great physiologist, sought in his “Ignorabimus” speech to define the limits of what science is capable of understanding. He demonstrates that it is impossible for science to comprehend sensation—the simplest mental phenomenon. In the face of everything that is spiritual and psychological, Reymond says: We will never understand it. — This attitude turns people into materialistic-monistic thinkers. In conclusion, Reymond says: Science must limit itself to what exists and occurs in space and time; therefore, everything that transcends spatial and temporal occurrences must remain incomprehensible to it, for only supernaturalism could know anything about such things; but that is where science ends. — If this statement were true, there could be no logic, no discourse. The science of the spirit seeks to explore the question: How do people come to say, “Where the sensory realm ends, science must end”?

[ 11 ] The soul extends beyond consciousness. Many people cannot provide clear reasons for their actions; this is recognized by psychology. These unconscious reasons may be imaginative in nature, or driven by emotions and instincts. The hidden person within us is still struggling, still fighting; we are under its influence.

[ 12 ] Thus, a person is under the influence of fear; this fear may be conscious or unconscious, and the person acts accordingly. The Danish researcher Lange [has written a treatise] titled “On the Expression of Emotional Agitation.” Under the influence of fear, a person turns pale, and their eyes become misty. The person is unable to find a point of support within themselves. The blood vessels constrict, and with them the muscles. Then the person cries out: “Where is something I can hold on to, or I’ll fall over?” — Thinking directed outward brings the person’s nervous system and circulatory system into the same state as fear. This fear does not rise into consciousness; it remains subconscious. On the one hand, we see the fearful person who is too weak to stand on their own, who needs an external support; on the other hand, the thinker who, through their outward-directed mindset, finds themselves in the same situation. All materialism is an unconscious fear; its cry for matter is a result of its subconscious fear. They must have a support in the sensory-material realm to hold themselves up. “If I enter the supersensible realm, I will fall; let something hold me”—this is what they unconsciously cry out for the sensory world out of fear. What Reymond said last was an expression of the fear of thinking, the horror of thinking.

[ 13 ] Today, the human pendulum is swinging toward an antisophic mood. The result will be that theosophy, too, will grow strong. Antisophy is one-sidedness; the whole soul must do justice to both self-awareness and awareness of God. The soul finds peace only where its power is linked to the divine power. It was precisely the finest individuals—those who have advanced humanity—who had a sense of theosophy. Goethe was permeated, inflamed, and warmed by a theosophical spirit. At one point, he encountered an antisophical spirit; even antisophists can be great minds. One such figure was Albrecht von Haller. He is the source of the saying:

No creative spirit penetrates the depths of nature,
Blessed is he to whom nature reveals only its outer shell.

[ 14 ] To remain within one's shell—that is antisophy in the truest sense of the word. — Goethe's response is well known:

Nature has neither core nor shell, [...]
Examine yourself above all else,
To see if you are core or shell.

[ 15 ] Speaking from his theosophical perspective, Fichte says: Whoever recognizes his true self already stands within the spiritual world. — In his speech on the “Vocation of the Scholar,” Fichte expresses it this way:

I boldly lift my head toward the looming mountain range, toward the raging waterfall, and toward the crashing clouds swimming in a sea of fire, and I say: I am eternal, and I defy your power. Let it all come crashing down upon me; and you, Earth, and you, Heaven, mingle in the wild tumult; and all you elements—foam and rage and, in the wild struggle, grind to dust the last speck of solar dust from the body I call my own; my will alone, with its firm plan, shall hover boldly and coldly above the ruins of the universe; for I have seized my destiny, and it is more enduring than you; it is eternal, and I am eternal, just as it is.

[ 16 ] To those who are hostile to wisdom, he says:

We others perhaps know as well as they do—perhaps even better—that ideals cannot be realized in the real world. We merely assert that reality must be judged by them and, by those who feel they have the strength to do so, modified accordingly. Even if they could not be convinced of this, they would lose very little in the process, since they are, after all, what they are; and humanity loses nothing in the process. It merely makes it clear that they alone are not factored into the plan for the betterment of humanity. Humanity will undoubtedly continue on its path; as for them, may benevolent nature take charge and grant them, at the right time, rain and sunshine, wholesome nourishment, and the unimpeded flow of vital fluids—and, along with that, wise thoughts! Answer to the question

Question: Can reincarnation be linked to facts, or must it be accepted as dogma?

[ 17 ] Rudolf Steiner: It is no more a dogma than memory is. Memory, after all, is also an inner reality. You cannot extract what you need to remember and examine it. Similarly, the recollection of past earthly lives cannot be proven in any other way than through experience.

[ 18 ] This is true of all supernatural truths. To understand them, all that is needed is an unbiased view of life; to explore them, one needs clairvoyance. Between death and rebirth, the striving to perfect oneself and the entire world is the decisive factor—not the question of whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, or whether it causes pain. One can come to an understanding of reincarnation by responding to misfortunes as if they were not random, but [as if] one had brought them upon oneself. These are spiritual proofs; therefore, we must be present ourselves.

Question: [What about the] seven-year cycle, and what are its underlying causes? [What about] suicide?

[ 19 ] Rudolf Steiner: With regard to the question of suicide, the [Schopenhauer] saying applies: “It is easy to preach morality, but difficult to justify it.” One should do good because [one] takes it into one’s soul. [?]

Question: What is the best prayer? Is it the Lord's Prayer?

[ 20 ] Rudolf Steiner: The Lord’s Prayer [is] indeed a universal prayer—for both the most primitive and the most developed minds. It possesses this power within itself, even if one does not know its laws, just as a plant grows according to laws it does not know. Every prayer must be carried by a spirit of devotion; otherwise, [it] can also be a source of evil. “Yet not my will, but Yours be done.” It is only through this spirit that every prayer becomes a true one.

Question: How does a person express the point at which they simply feel a connection to the higher worlds? Please provide more details on this.

[ 21 ] Rudolf Steiner: That’s similar to the question: How can I imagine the spirit? — Spiritually, of course. But no spiritual materialism! In the Theosophical Society, one could hear expressions [such as]: “There are wonderful spiritual vibrations in the room today.” — A researcher of the spirit would simply say: “There’s a good atmosphere in the hall today.” In theosophical books, the spirit is described this way: First there is matter; then it becomes increasingly subtle, but the matter never actually ceases to exist. — One should imagine the spirit without relying on anything material. Feeling is something that carries its center of gravity within itself.