The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Foreword to the First Book Edition

[ 1 ] It was in 1908 that Rudolf Steiner delivered this series of lectures in Stuttgart—which is now being published in book form following the addition of a postscript—and which is to be prefaced by the following words as its motto:

“Our time need not give birth to ancient wisdom, but rather to a new wisdom that can not only point to the past but must also have a prophetic, apocalyptic effect on the future.”

[ 2 ] A year earlier, at the memorable congress of the General Theosophical Society in Munich, he had clearly emphasized the direction he had taken to uplift and revitalize the Theosophical Movement, which was in danger of falling into one-sidedness and, being preoccupied with Oriental concepts, failed to take into account the nature of the soul and the constitution of the European people. This had already led to a number of serious problems. Rudolf Steiner countered this with a positive alternative: his comprehensive teaching, which took into account the historical development of humanity. At the aforementioned congress in Munich, he also gave the spiritual content presented there an appropriate artistic expression for the first time. Through the color of the wall coverings and the seal paintings emerging from them, Rosicrucian spiritual striving was symbolized; the motifs of the column forms already foreshadowed the future. Ancient Greek culture came to life in the dramatic reenactment of Edouard Schuré’s reconstructed mystery play, *The Sacred Drama of Eleusis*. Connections were drawn to Germanic-Nordic mythology. These were distant—and therefore heretical—concepts presented to the obedient followers of Anglo-Indian theosophy. This novelty generated a strange excitement. The audacity to want to tread not only prescribed but also new paths caused certain intellectual-imperialist tendencies among the leading figures of the Theosophical Society to flare up and rebel. This emerging drive toward independence was to be suppressed.

[ 3 ] Admittedly, this broke the agreement on the basis of which Rudolf Steiner had agreed to become the teacher and leader of the leaderless group of German theosophists. His condition had been that he be allowed to do within the Society what he regarded as his task: to infuse European culture with that which illuminates the Christ Mystery—that which Western esotericism has become since the Christ event. When certain leading Theosophical circles recognized the extraordinary spiritual capacity and knowledge with which he was able to accomplish this task, they sought ways to prevent his activities. The most suitable means was seen in the proclamation of a Christ revealing himself once again in the physical form, in the body of a Hindu boy—and they now gently prepared the framework from which, a few years later, Krishnamurti was to emerge as the future World Teacher.

[ 4 ] It has been suggested that Rudolf Steiner was, as it were, compelled by Krishnamurti’s appearance to reveal Christian mysteries about which he had otherwise remained silent. This view contradicts the calm, purposeful, and organically developing structure of his teaching. Rudolf Steiner saw his task as showing humanity the path of initiation that corresponds to its present state of consciousness. To embark on this path of knowledge, it was necessary—in addition to a reverent and admiring contemplation of ancient wisdom—to awaken an understanding of how the forms in which this wisdom was given underwent transformation in accordance with the newly developing soul capacities of human beings, and how these forms are subject to the law of blossoming, maturity, and decay, so that new life might arise time and again from their passing. Thus, metamorphosis—a development that rises, falls, and rises again in stages—is also here the basis of progressive life. A historical sense had to be awakened, not merely an admiring contemplation of ancient revelation. The mysterious connections between the great laws of the world from one culture to another had to be revealed. No one has spoken in such a powerful and sublime way about what once flowed down to humanity as ancient wisdom from spiritual heights as Rudolf Steiner has; no one before him had been able to speak in this way, within the forms of consciousness of our time, about the reflection of the great cosmic existence in the individual human being, in the microcosm. And all of this culminated in the central event of human development: the descent of the Sun Spirit into the body of Jesus of Nazareth; He showed how it was only through this that the forces of the Sun could fully permeate and spiritualize the planet, calling upon and empowering humanity for this task. In the act of death on Golgotha, the decisively intervening mystical event took place; it requires no repetition. Otherwise, it would have happened in vain.

[ 5 ] To bring these truths to humanity, the work had to be built up stone by stone, step by step, with calm deliberation. The foundations had already been laid before the boy Krishnamurti was presented to the Europeans. Here, in this cycle from 1908, the path has already been fully traversed; the logical thread runs from culture to culture; the central event shines out brightly. Certainly, certain events can hasten the moment when a truth is spoken; it may be necessary to counter certain challenges with the power of facts that one would have preferred to let speak from within oneself, free from that background. But that does not mean that one has done something one would not otherwise have done; what had to be done because it is rooted in the deepest necessities of the present development of the world and of humanity—that was the life’s task undertaken with responsibility and full dedication.

[ 6 ] The Theosophical Society has closed itself off from this influx of new wisdom; it rejected what would have brought it renewal—what could have added to its admiring recognition of a venerable, ancient wisdom an understanding of historical events; what would have guided it, in its maturing understanding, from India beyond Persia to Chaldea and Egypt, shedding deep light on the mystery of the chosen people and bringing the meaning of this election within reach of understanding; then to the mystery centers of Asia Minor and Southern Europe, touching the inner life of the waiting peoples of Central and Northern Europe; all culminating in the event at Golgotha, through which the hidden mysteries emerge onto the stage of world history.

[ 7 ] Within this process of becoming human, the individual personality develops. It must learn to find within itself the sense of center that it initially experienced in the spiritual realm. The gradual severing from the spiritual world is the drama of this process; its searching, wandering, and striving in the descending night of spiritual separation, and then in materialistic darkness—this is the profound tragedy of its fate. An understanding of such connections is necessary if we are to understand ourselves. A light shines into this night: the light of Christian esotericism, which was kindled in Palestine and flowed across to Europe. It shone with wondrous brightness on the island of Ireland, and despite the suppression of Irish monastic colonies by the Church, which was entangled in Roman imperialism, the radiance of this light continued to live on in secret as spiritual currents of power. From this developed spiritual chivalry and the spiritual pursuit of community among devout congregations. German mysticism emerges from this as the richest flowering of a deep inner life. But in order to keep pace with the inexorably approaching events—above all, the conquest of the sensory world by science—and to withstand the complete materialistic eclipse, something else had to emerge that could replace the power of faith with the certainty of knowledge. This was the task of the Rosicrucian schools. They counted on the forces of consciousness that were developing anew in the new age. Rosicrucian esotericism—with all its profound struggles arising from new human powers of knowledge, with the weight of destiny and spiritual trials imposed upon its adherents—lifts its mysterious veil here and there along the paths that Rudolf Steiner shows us. From it are born the new powers of spiritual consciousness that can overcome materialism through knowledge. In the arduous struggle to regain a capacity for spiritual perception—once given to humanity but later lost—which must now be reclaimed through the power of the “I,” transcending the dying and becoming of the personality, the “I”-nature of the striving human being is strengthened. The human “I”-essence, through which—if one grasps it with full awareness—one can ascend once more to the Divine and unite with it. So that this might one day come to pass, the Divine “I” had to descend to Earth—once. This event, as a decisive turning point in the destiny of the Earth, must be understood in its uniqueness.

[ 8 ] The Rosicrucians have captured it: “In Christo morimur.” In Christ, we die upward into life; we live upward into the Spirit. “Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus”: Through dying toward Christ, we attain true life; we awaken in the Spirit from which we were once born.

[ 9 ] The personality had to come into being, to grasp itself, to take hold of itself, to perceive itself as the center, to be horrified by itself, to overcome itself, to learn to die, in order to reclaim itself as a free “I”-being that senses its center in the Divine “I.”

[ 10 ] These are the paths of Western esotericism. The European cannot avoid them. After all, it was his task to transform the personality trapped in egoism. It is his task to overcome egoism, to transform it, and to bring it to a higher metamorphosis: to a free, impulse-free, strong sense of self that wills the divine.

[ 11 ] He can do so only through mastery of his powers of consciousness, through insight. He must be willing to recognize the smallest within the greatest. He cannot disregard entire historical epochs in their immense significance for the development of humanity. These powerful forces are given to him today if he has the will for world , earth , and human knowledge . And this is true Rosicrucianism.

[ 12 ] This is what is known today as anthroposophy. It openly professes its beliefs and teaches its doctrine. It hides nothing; it knows that the time has come when what was once cultivated in secret societies must step out into the arena of world history. [...] ^{1There is a large gap in the German text here. This version was taken from the 2nd edition of 1956. This introduction was further abridged in future editions to tone down the harsh language condemning the English Theosophical Society and the Krishnamurti affair. See Collison translation which was done before this content was removed —rsarchive.org}

[ 13 ] We conclude this discussion with the words of Rudolf Steiner, which directly follow on from the words quoted above:

[ 14 ] “We see an ancient wisdom, preserved in the mysteries of past cultural epochs; an apocalyptic wisdom, for which we must sow the seed, must be our wisdom. We need once again a principle of initiation so that the original connection with the spiritual world can be reestablished. That is the task of the anthroposophical world movement.”

—Marie Steiner