The Rudolf Steiner Archive

5. On Sinnet’s Esoteric Buddhism

[ 1 ] There are two objections that are frequently raised. They are easiest to address right now. Sinnett’s book was the first popular [theosophical] book. This book brought many members—who are now well-known—into the Society for the first time. The book was written under the influence of a Master. The Master wanted to make these teachings accessible to the West. In part, it also arose from questions that Sinnett himself posed to the Master. The communication was facilitated by Madame Blavatsky.

[ 2 ] The book was what first won over a large number of people—who are now leading figures—to the cause. The book Isis Unveiled was far too difficult a read. The Secret Doctrine was not published until much later.

[ 3 ] This book by Sinnett contains all the questions—at least in outline—including those I spoke of recently, but not in the manner I presented them, rather in two forms: first, from wisdom itself, the secret treasure of the masters of our Lodge since time immemorial; and second, from the other aspect, the outer form. This form is adapted to the Western way of thinking and mode of imagination. The book arose from these two needs. To a certain extent, the book contains distorted ideas. This is because, in the beginning, they could not be understood in their full depth. The specific work always depends on the personality of the particular editor. What constitutes inspiration is the core of wisdom, a revelation from higher realms. Wisdom is not received in the form in which it appears in our books. It is received in the arupa form. It is up to the particular editor to give it form, so that this form still differs from what was originally received.

[ 4 ] Today we may be able to express these things even more clearly than they are stated in The Secret Doctrine. For these same esoteric teachings are also found in the secret doctrine of the Rosicrucians. Only a few have studied Sinnett’s book. Eduard von Hartmann wrote a treatise on Sinnett’s book at the time. This treatise concludes that the book deals with figments of the imagination and includes a sentence warning against it. However, he approaches the book with a certain open-mindedness not commonly found in the West. Eduard von Hartmann became familiar with the sevenfold division. He understood that the higher aspect of human nature consists of Atma, Budhi, and Manas, and that it becomes immortal when drawn toward a higher realm. It is precisely through this that it becomes immortal. Eduard von Hartmann quite correctly observes that it is only in the course of the third round that a fertilization of the individuality takes place, so that one cannot speak of a survival of that which develops from the third round onward and within it. He cannot grasp what it is in human beings that reincarnates if they have not yet developed the sixth part. They are therefore not immortal. He therefore cannot understand how one can speak of the immortality of beings from the first, second, and third rounds. Then come the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds; from the very beginning—that is, from the first epoch of our first earthly series of development—they are lunar in nature. Then comes the earthly epoch, and after our earthly epoch we have three more to follow. In each round we have seven races. Even though the sixth fundamental part has not yet come to development within our humanity—from the very beginning, that which is immortal in human beings was already present, and indeed it was present in a far more perfect, in a more resplendent way. It was there. What has, so to speak, gone into hiding today was already present in an earlier epoch, but was free from the body, not yet incorporated into it. All of us who are now living may be called thoughts of the divine Primordial Spirit. Below, the physical, etheric, and kamic foundations develop. This is the first chain of development.

[ 5 ] And now imagine that, at the beginning of evolution, all individual souls existed as spirits. Picture this primordial sphere—which has now disintegrated—composed of coarse matter. This sphere existed in an atmosphere of a purely spiritual nature, in which the individual souls lived. They were still pristine and untouched by any materiality. At that time, these individual souls still lived in intimate harmony with Atma. They were still one with Atma. The first stage of soul development is still “being with Atma.” The formation of matter continues, but spiritual development descends. Budhi moves toward the physical. The Lunar Epoch develops Manas in the ethereal atmosphere, so that Atma, Budhi, and Manas are already emerging, and the body, life force, and Kama are being prepared. In the third round, the two unite; in Kama and Manas, they can become entangled.

[ 6 ] In our evolution through cycles and races, two currents, two streams, have converged: one that descended, and one that ascended. Imagine a crowd gathered in a meadow; it is led by a guide. Each individual builds a tent and cuts windows into it. The group soul conceives of the individuals. The individual beings were related to the group soul in the same way that my left and right hands are related to the human organism. The beings were there from the very beginning. At first, the tent is still intact and comfortable. Then it transforms into physicality. Imagine again the lamp reflected in many spheres. The reflections then begin to glow on their own. Each individual sphere becomes luminous in its own right and a self-centered being.

[ 7 ] And now a word about the purpose of the world process: Here we must compare the two concepts of “intention” and “achievement.” Intention is what is directed outward, and the end is that in which the intention has been realized. This is best understood through a concrete example. Let us take a lunar manvantara or an Earth epoch, and within it, the pralaya. In the lunar manvantara, Kama developed. How did these human beings come into being? They were brought together from the outside by Kama. Kama worked within them through love to bring them into being. They emerge from the manvantara with a specific goal. What was drawn in is universal Kama; what now flows out is love. It is a reversal of the current. In the beginning, Brahma has the tendency to let all Kama flow out. This then returns in a different form. It passes through special beings. Wisdom and love that have flowed out return to Brahma. That is the purpose of the world. Hunger is the same as nourishment, because the state before satiety is the same as the state afterward.

[ 8 ] Because God gives human beings the power of creation, they give it back to Him. What was given as an offering is given back as an offering.

[ 9 ] Overall, the world can only be understood as an act of love, as freedom, and as sacrifice. One must not criticize the course of world history on one’s own initiative. The gift of thought is unique to the people of the fifth round; during the fifth round, they will undergo a completely different development, and in the sixth, they will

[ 10 ] [End of transcript].