The Rudolf Steiner Archive

19. Microcosm and Macrocosm

[ 1 ] In connection with the ancient occult maxim, I would like to show how the entire doctrine of the cycles is still linked in a very specific way to the ideas we expressed last time. First, I would like to emphasize the following: Every great religious founder—even if he is not a religious founder but has merely participated in the work of humanity—proceeds from these guiding principles. And one of these guiding principles states: Human beings correspond to the processes in the greater world, the macrocosm.

[ 2 ] Now I ask you to consider that, when we look at the development within the cycles—when we look at the seven cycles—we see a kind of descending development during the first three cycles, for the entire Earth, and humanity as well, are, as it were, moving away from the Deity. Humanity was initially close to the Divine, in a childlike, innocent state. During earthly evolution, humanity gains experience and reaches its lowest point during the fourth round, only to rise again in the following three rounds—the fifth, sixth, and seventh. People often ask whether there is a purpose to moving away from the Divine and then drawing near to it again. If there is a purpose, I would like to speak about it in a later lecture.

[ 3 ] Let us consider the first stage, then all the intermediate stages, and finally the last stages of the /gap in the transcript]). During the first three stages, the human being is, so to speak, shaped from the outside in. Human beings are built up in such a way that by the fourth round, their entire physical body is fully formed. This physical body is arranged around the Self. The Self is inside, and the physical body is arranged around it. It took the first three rounds and half of the fourth for the body to be built up around the Self. Consider what human beings were like before. They were previously beings of pure activity. They were beings who were not equipped to receive impressions from the outside, but rather beings who were entirely self-reliant, however strange that may sound. When, in the course of their earthly development, human beings wanted an object, they made it themselves. They were active and energetic. This is still the case today at the higher levels of existence. Initiation today takes place in such a way that the individual first learns to form what is called the “Mayavi-Rupa body.” This is not a body that surrounds us; rather, when the Self slips out of the body, it must be able to form the Mayavi-Rupa body. One must be able to form it oneself, while the other body is wrapped around us, during which time we remain passive. This passivity applies to human beings when the body is not formed by us. This is what everyone first had to do during the descent. He did not do this himself; rather, they were formed for him.

[ 4 ] The student must learn to do for himself what has been done for him. We form the Mayavi-Rupa body ourselves. We wrap it around ourselves. The student first learns to form this body. In the second half, the Self works its way out again and gradually learns to form this body. The substance from Devachan provides the material for the Mayavi-Rupa body. When a person sleeps, the Self leaves its body. But the Mayavi-Rupa body has not yet been formed. The substance is there. It is called the mental body when it appears in Devachan. When it is fully organized, it is called the Mayavi-Rupa body.

[ 5 ] The fact is that we have the following: During the first three stages and half of the fourth stage, we have built up the three bodies. Then the Self feels confined within these bodies. It is passive, but becomes more and more active. If one wishes to prepare oneself in a worthy manner for this stage of activity, one must recognize that one is currently passive and that one must become increasingly active.

[ 6 ] Being confined within one’s body means being passive. That is the essence of Buddhist teachings. For the Buddha, suffering does not mean feeling pain, but rather being passive. Being born and dying is passivity. One can only be sick in the body. The mind cannot be sick. The astral body and the Mayavi-Rupa body can even be sick. Being separated from a loved one or united with someone one does not love means being passive. One can only desire what one cannot attain while one is in the body.

[ 7 ] So you see that Buddhism is by no means a religion that views suffering in its deepest sense [gap in the transcript]; rather, suffering is a vehicle. It certainly does not regard pain or suffering as the essence of the world. There is a prohibition in Buddhism that shows just how far Buddhism is from viewing suffering and life as painful. One precept states: If a monk commits murder or incites murder, or if he publicly preaches that death is better than life, then he is not worthy of being a Buddhist monk. A murderer, or one who incites murder, or one who preaches that suffering makes life unworthy of living—such a person is unworthy of being a Buddhist monk. Strive to be active, says the Buddha. The Buddha also removed from esoteric Buddhism the idea of making human beings a reflection of the entire process of evolution.

[ 8 ] The first stage is when the first wave of evolution is preformed, when the thought is present before existence begins. In this initial state lies the idea of how existence is to unfold, which is in the process of realizing the principle: “Man shall place himself in the state in which the Deity was when it said, ‘Let there be light.’”

[ 9 ] The second state is that the entire will is brought forth. First came the thought, then the letting go of the thought, then the sinking down [into [gap in the transcript]].

[ 10 ] The third is what is called: “The voice resounds.” Not only is the thought expressed, but the thought begins to resonate. The fourth stage is where there is not only a voice, but where real activity begins—where action begins. [Fifth:] After action comes life; the middle state [sixth]. And once that is attained, the ascent begins again. [Seventh: The Ascent.]

[ 11 ] After the seventh round comes the transition to Nirvana; after the sixth [gap in the transcript]. [Looking back on the entire preceding illusion.] You should strive toward this cosmic evolution. This is your path, your eightfold path. Thus you should live like the cosmos. It is essential that you cultivate right thought; second, right resolve; third, right speech; fourth, right action; fifth, right livelihood; sixth, right effort; seventh, right mindfulness; and eighth, right concentration. There you have the entire cosmic evolution, which the student should strive to emulate on his path. The Eightfold Path is a repetition of cosmic evolution.

[ 12 ] When the Buddha set out to found a religion, he said to himself: “I must make cosmic truths the goals of human striving.” How does a person become a founder of a religion? By turning cosmic truths into precepts. The founder reads into the cosmos what he sees. That is why he says, “I and the Father are one.” What he offers is the very same thing that is written in the stars. This thought, this harmony, gives Buddhism a deeper character. I doubt that the Sinhalese recognize this. But that is not the point. Buddhists acknowledge the validity of the esoteric. The Buddhist strives for the Eightfold Path. He does everything to fulfill it.

[ 13 ] The priest, the monk who heads the religious community—he knows this, and it is not customary there to disclose everything to the outside world. It is like in Catholicism. Catholicism is a religion of sacrifice. The priest knows this. He understands the esoteric aspects. The believer merely follows the rules. One can also be a high priest or an administrative official without being an esotericist. This is more characteristic of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, which is why they are established in certain [latitudes]. What can you contribute?

[ 14 ] A code of ethics is approved by a seemingly subordinate monk. He has written a book. The bishop has approved it and added his name to it. This book is now used in all schools. So who has the true spiritual influence? What matters is that the right person—the one who feels called to do so—writes the book. The bishop does not write a book himself. As for the monk, why doesn’t he become a bishop? He wants no distractions, no external position; he wants to devote himself to the inner life.

[ 15 ] And the Pope—he knows about esotericism. It can happen that there isn't one. Leo was an esotericist; Pius IX was not. The current one is probably quite harmless.

[ 16 ] The harmony of the eightfold path with the cosmic law—when put into practice, evolution is perceived. When a person becomes a microcosm, he also perceives the macrocosm. This is not merely an act of penance; it is an expansion of the essence of the whole person. The recreation of the human being reunites him with the macrocosm.

[ 17 ] Now one more thing: We have described the state in which a person is furthest from the Divine. This is the state in which one sees the other from the outside. When one person views another from the outside, the self is always enclosed within a shell. This kind of viewing is called “viewing in Tamas, in darkness.” Thus, in complete passivity, one perceives one’s surroundings “in Tamas.”

[ 18 ] When we begin to feel with one another, something of the other person’s self is revealed to us through that feeling. Even through desire, we seek to extend our self beyond ourselves. When I desire a plate of green beans, I am already reaching beyond myself. This reaching beyond oneself through mere feeling and desire—which concerns only the astral body—is called “life in rajas.”

[ 19 ] And the next higher state is one in which one goes beyond oneself not merely through feeling and sensation, but through thought. In that state, the barriers truly begin to fall even in daily life when one goes beyond oneself in thought. Thoughts bring us peace. We are no longer deceived by desires. When I rise to the level of thought, I am no longer deceived by desires. I think in accordance with the higher meaning. This is “life in Sattva.” This is the state that can be attained through thinking.

[ 20 ] Then comes the state of intuition. These are the states in which wisdom guides the world, in wisdom. This is the higher state. This is the Durga state. “Life in the Durga state” is the state of life to which the chela aspires: to have a divine mission in all his actions. People usually always ask themselves: Is it good or evil? Various such logical impulses have been employed. But the one who is to become a disciple must no longer act according to logical and moral impulses; rather, he must also ask himself whether a divine mission lies before him. Imagine a monk. There are many ways to act rightly. Suppose he is supposed to write a book; no one can hold it against him if he does not write it. He writes the book because he is fulfilling the divine mission to write it. That is acting in the Durga State. There is an inner urge to do so.