The Rudolf Steiner Archive

7. The Apocalypse and Theosophical Cosmology IV

[ 1 ] Today I would like to say a few things about the development of the future. We must understand earthly human development, because it is essential to the Apocalypse; doubts can very easily arise.

[ 2 ] If, through certain methods that one must apply, one can look back, it may still be doubtful whether one can look into the future.

[ 3 ] But being prophetic is, after all, less questionable, because everything in nature is governed by laws; however, only those who understand these laws can speak with authority.

[ 4 ] Those who understand the laws of chemistry know exactly how to mix substances; in the same way, those who understand the spiritual laws can draw conclusions.

[ 5 ] So, through certain methods, we are able to look into the future—I would like to explain in detail what the stages of the past are like and the circumstances under which one attains the ability to see, or clairvoyance. There are levels of clairvoyance. The state preceding our earthly existence was the astral state; before that was the rupa state, and before that, the arupa state. The earthly state is perceived through the physical senses; every person can see it. The preceding state, as well as the future state, cannot be seen with the physical senses, yet it is possible to perceive them. In addition to the waking state, humans have two states of sleep: the dreamless state and the dreaming state.

[ 6 ] Those who have not undergone any development will have only confused dreams, but those who have been trained can bring regularity to their dream life.

[ 7 ] The dreams of those with a purely materialistic outlook will deal only with such material things. But for those who live by the principle expressed in Goethe’s words, “The transitory is but a parable,” their dreams will become symbols.

[ 8 ] Of course, this is not yet clairvoyance; a clairvoyant is someone who, while fully awake and conscious, can continuously shift into astral perception; he must be awake and look into the astral world. The clairvoyant sees a person’s aura. The aura surrounds a person like a cloud. In an undeveloped person, this cloud is chaotic; the clearer the thoughts, the more orderly and structured the aura is.

[ 9 ] How, then, do we develop the sensory organs for seeing?

[ 10 ] These sense organs are located at various points in the aura. One can see an elongated structure extending from the brain to the chest; embedded within this bodily structure are the “sacred wheels,” known as “lotus flowers.” In fact, there are six lotus flowers in this body. These are the astral sense organs. Between the two eyebrows is the two-petaled lotus flower, which rotates from right to left. For those who are now able to see, the lotus flower begins to rotate within them.

[ 11 ] A second lotus flower is located in the larynx; it is the sixteen-petaled one, and it rotates from right to left. In the past, the dreamlike human being was endowed with this; he contributed nothing to it—it was given to him by nature. It was lost again during the development of the intellect. Eight petals were fully formed in bright, lustrous colors; later, this flower darkened as the person matured into a state of clear consciousness.

[ 12 ] We can now gain insight into the mysteries of the Initiate and understand what Buddha means when he speaks of the Eightfold Path in his teachings.

[ 13 ] There are eight virtues that the secret student must acquire:

I. Faith and Understanding of Karma
II. Clear Thinking
III. Clear Speech
IV. Right Action
V. Right Livelihood
VI. Fulfilling One's Duties
VII. Controlling the Mind
VIII. Concentration of Thought

[ 14 ] Whoever follows this path sets the other eight petals in motion, and the first eight are drawn along with them. Thus, the sixteen petals rotate from right to left. It is no wonder, then, that the Buddha spoke of the Noble Eightfold Path.

[ 15 ] A third organ is located near the heart; it is the twelve-petaled lotus flower. To develop these senses, yet other methods are necessary. Every theosophist knows of six virtues that must be cultivated.

I. Tolerance
II. Serenity, Patience
III. Faith, Trust
IV. Love of Freedom
V. Control of Thoughts, Control of Actions
VI. Concentration of Thoughts

[ 16 ] Six of these twelve had already been developed in humans at an earlier time. Here, too, the next six will begin to rotate, and then the first six will move along with them. This results in the ability to see astral visions. Through diligent meditation, one attains these virtues; through them, one attains astral vision. Meditation is wholesome; it leads to moral health. Further down is the ten-petaled lotus flower, a little lower the six-petaled one, and then lower still the four-petaled lotus flower.

[ 17 ] Anyone who has developed the astral sense of the sixteen-petaled lotus flower can glimpse into the thought world of another person. Those who have developed the sense of the twelve-petaled flower can look into the sensory world of another person, but those who have developed the sense of the two-petaled flower—the upper one between the eyes—can look into the karma of other people. I can speak about the development of this sense only in very intimate circles.

[ 18 ] A person’s ability to perceive the two spheres before and after the earthly—physical—one arises when he reaches the point where he can perceive something in deep, dreamless sleep. He then experiences what is happening in the mental world or in Devachan and can observe it there. But it is not only in sleep; through clairvoyance as well, they can perceive the two higher spheres.

[ 19 ] This involves immersing oneself energetically in the first two movements of “Light on the Path”—but not merely in thought; they must be felt. And if one does the same with the other two movements

Before the masters can the voice speak,
it must unlearn through wounding.
Before the soul can stand before them,
the blood of its heart must wet its feet.

[ 20 ] Once one has internalized this, one’s senses will be awakened so that one may perceive the higher spheres. “Light on the Path” is written in such a lofty symbolic language and was dictated by a higher being.

[ 21 ] But there are other methods as well—more on that another time.

[ 22 ] But it is precisely through zealous meditation that the manas is awakened.

[ 23 ] Whoever can perceive the higher state is an adept. Only the adept is capable of this.

[ 24 ] Let us consider the evolution of our Earth. Our Earth is becoming increasingly thinner and more subtle, eventually becoming purely astral and then purely spiritual. In the future, all people will perceive this. The Earth thus goes through seven times seven states.

[ 25 ] Let us consider what is happening today. Human beings can perceive only the mineral realm; they cannot directly perceive the life of an animal or a plant—it must first be revealed to them through the senses. Human beings cannot produce a plant seed, but they can build machines because they are attuned to the inanimate; this is the lowest form of their spirit.

[ 26 ] There was a time when there were no machines; later, there will be a perfect shaping of inanimate stone and crystal—for even stone possesses a dull consciousness. By the end of the second cycle, humanity had transformed the entire earth; it had then imbued the physical world with its intellect. By transforming the mineral world, it imposed its laws upon the mineral, lifeless realm. It had then imbued it with its intellect. The earth is thus a product of human intellect.

[ 27 ] The clairvoyant can experience in advance what all people go through today. He can develop the lotus flowers within himself as astral sense organs earlier than the average person does; when beings are in the astral state, they will have them as well. The lotus flower shimmers in beautiful, regular colors.

[ 28 ] Humans thus transform natural products into works of art through their intellect. The astral world is a reflection of human intellect. The movements of the flowers then correspond to what humans have imbued them with.

[ 29 ] What was once worked on in the inanimate is now brought to life by the spinning lotus flower. It transforms the earth into a living astral being.

[ 30 ] This is how the Spirit will then move the bodies on the future globe. [States of Form]

[ 31 ] Just as the word emerges from a person’s larynx today, so will he himself then be the Word. He is a spiritual being who vibrates of his own accord, whose Manasic self resounds with sound. Now that he has become spiritual, he animates everything around him; he then fills the globe with his essence; he will permeate with his own consciousness what he has created with his lotus flower. After us, plant life will be the lowest kingdom; it will then disappear, and the animal kingdom will be the lowest; then the animal kingdom, too, will disappear, and the entire Earth will become a formation that humanity itself has prepared. Then a Pralaya will come. Then the next cycle of the Earth—the Round—will begin, and everything will be repeated once more. Then, in the fifth round, the Earth will be so developed that its physical state will correspond to what will be the next stage of our current round—the fourth round—similar to the astral nature of plants. Humanity will then be on an Earth whose lowest kingdom consists of plants; thus, our next metamorphosis will be condensed—what will be our next astral state will then be condensed. The lotus flower will then truly bloom. Humanity is currently at the stage of its mineral development. In the fifth round, it will be in its plant development; what is “mechanized” today will then be “organized.”

[ 32 ] Once he has worked through the physical earth, he will bring it to life himself. He will find what he has accomplished through technical means; these are forms—entelechies—that he has created today, and he will then bring them to life.

[ 33 ] These are the higher stages of human development. It is not folly to speak of the future. Initiates can enter certain states of consciousness in order to perceive what are today ideals of the intellect.

[ 34 ] The exalted person rises to the level of prophecy; that is why, in Jewish esoteric language, one speaks of prophets when those blessed by God received the impulse to look into the future.