The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Sixteenth Lecture

[ 1 ] Today we shall consider the question of what modern people actually gain from spiritual science, as it is understood here; and we shall answer this question today based on the various insights we have gained in the course of our lectures, particularly those from last winter. At first glance, it might seem to people as if this spiritual science were a worldview like other worldviews of the present day. One might think: The mysteries of existence are there; people try, using the most diverse means at their disposal—whether through religious or scientific avenues—to answer these mysteries of existence, or, as one might say, to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and their curiosity. One could now regard this spiritual science in the same way as other contemporary worldviews—whether they be called materialism, monism, spiritualism, idealism, realism, and so on—one could regard it, like other contemporary worldviews, as something intended merely to satisfy a thirst for knowledge. But that is not the case. Rather, in what a person gains through this spiritual science, they possess a positive, enduring asset for life that not only satisfies their thoughts and their need for knowledge but is also a real factor in life itself. If we are to understand this, we must take a broader view today. We must first consider the course of human development from a very specific perspective. We have done this many times before. Today, however, we want to do so again from a different perspective.

[ 2 ] We have often looked back to the times that preceded the great Atlantean flood, when our ancestors—that is, our own souls—lived in the bodies of our ancestors on the ancient Atlantean continent, situated between Europe, Africa, and America. And we have looked back to those even more ancient times, which we call the Lemurian era, when the human souls now incarnated were at a much lower stage of existence than they are today. Today we would like to return once more to this period. Let us first say this: Human beings have attained their present level of emotional life, volitional life, and intelligence—indeed, their present form—through the active participation in earthly existence of those spiritual beings who stand higher in the cosmos than human beings. We have, after all, often discussed which spiritual beings are involved here. We have spoken of the spirits we call the Thrones—the spirits of wisdom, the spirits of movement, of form, of personality, and so on.

[ 3 ] These are the great architects and builders of existence; these are the beings who, step by step, have advanced the human race to our present stage of existence. Now we must make it very clear to ourselves today that other spirits and other beings have also intervened besides those who advance human development. In a certain sense, spiritual beings have intervened who are hostile to the advancing spiritual powers. And for each of these periods—the Lemurian and Atlantean ages, as well as the post-Atlantean era in which we live—we can identify which spiritual beings, so to speak, have created obstacles, and which spiritual beings have stood in opposition to those who seek only to advance humanity.

[ 4 ] During the Lemurian Age—the first of the Earth’s epochs we are considering today—the Luciferic beings intervened in human evolution. In a certain sense, they stood in opposition to those forces that, at that time, sought merely to advance humanity. In the Atlantean epoch, the spirits we call the spirits of Ahriman—or Mephistopheles—opposed the forces of progress. Ahrimanic spirits, Mephistophelean spirits—these are the ones who, strictly speaking, were called the spirits of Satan in medieval thought, a figure not to be confused with Lucifer.

[ 5 ] In our age, other spiritual beings will gradually step in to hinder those who are moving forward. We will speak of them later. For now, let us first ask ourselves what these Luciferic spirits actually brought about in the ancient Lemurian age.

[ 6 ] Today we want to consider all of this from a very specific perspective. Where, exactly, did the Luciferic spirits intervene during the ancient Lemurian era? You will best understand what this is all about if you take another look back at how humanity has developed.

[ 7 ] You know how human beings developed on ancient Saturn through the Thrones pouring out their own substance and through the laying of the first foundation for the human physical body. We know that the Spirits of Wisdom on the Sun then imprinted the etheric or life body upon humanity, and that the Spirits of Movement on the ancient Moon imprinted the astral body. Now it was up to the Spirits of Form to give humanity the “I” on Earth, so that humanity, by distinguishing itself from its surroundings, might in a certain sense become an independent being. But even if human beings had become independent beings in relation to the external world—to what surrounds them on Earth—through the spirits of form, they would never have become independent beings in relation to the spirits of form themselves; they would have remained dependent on them, and would have been guided and directed by them as if by strings. The fact that this did not come to pass is, in a certain sense, the beneficial effect of the fact that during the Lemurian epoch the Luciferic beings opposed the spirits of form. These Luciferic beings gave human beings the prospect of freedom. However, in doing so, they also gave human beings the possibility of evil—the possibility of falling into sensual passions and desires. In what, then, did these Luciferic spirits actually intervene? They intervened in what was already there—namely, in that which had most recently been given to humanity, the astral body, which at that time was, in a certain sense, the innermost core of the human being. They established themselves within it and took possession of it. Had the Luciferic beings not come, only the spirits of form would have taken possession of this astral body. They would have imprinted upon this astral body those forces that give human beings their human form—the very forces that made human beings the image of the gods, the spirits of form. All of this would have become part of the human being, but the human being would have remained dependent on these spirits of form throughout his or her life, for all eternity.

[ 8 ] Now the Luciferic beings have, as it were, crept into the astral body, so that two kinds of beings are now at work within it: those beings that drive the human being forward, and those beings that, while indeed hindering this unbridled forward drive, nevertheless make his independence an inwardly grounded one. Had the Luciferic beings not come, human beings would have remained in a state of innocence and purity within their astral bodies. No passions would have arisen within them that would have caused them to desire what they can find only on Earth. The Luciferic beings made the passions, drives, and desires, so to speak, denser and more base. Otherwise, had the Luciferic beings not come, human beings would have remained in such a state that they would have constantly longed to return to their homeland, to the spiritual realms from which they had descended. They would not have found pleasure in what surrounds them on Earth; they could not possibly have taken an interest in earthly impressions. It was through the Luciferic spirits that he came to have this interest in, and this desire for, earthly impressions. They forced him into the earthly sphere by permeating his innermost being, his astral body. How, then, did it come to pass that, in that time, human beings did not completely fall away from the spirits of form or from the higher spiritual realms altogether? How did it come about that human beings did not completely succumb to their interests and desires for the sensory world?

[ 9 ] This came about because the spirits who guide humanity forward took their countermeasures. They took these countermeasures by imbuing the human being with something that would otherwise not be present in that human being—they imbued it with illness, suffering, and pain. This has become the necessary counterbalance to the deeds of the Luciferic spirits.

[ 10 ] The Luciferic spirits have given human beings sensual desire; the higher beings have provided their antidotes in the sense that human beings could no longer necessarily fall prey to this sensory world; they have attached illness and suffering to sensual desires and sensual interests, so that there is exactly as much suffering and pain in the world as there is mere interest in the physical, sensory world. The two are in perfect balance; neither is present in the world in greater measure: there are just as many sensual desires and sensual passions as there are illness and pain. This was the mutual interaction between the Luciferic spirits and the spirits of form during the Lemurian Age. Had these Luciferic spirits not come, human beings would not have descended into the earthly sphere so early. His passion, his desire for the sensory world, also caused him to keep his eyes open earlier, enabling him to perceive the entire scope of sensory existence sooner. If things had proceeded regularly according to the advancing spirits, humanity would not have perceived the surrounding world until the middle of the Atlantean epoch. But he would then have seen it spiritually, not as he does today; he would have seen it in such a way that everywhere it would have been to him the expression of spiritual beings. Because humanity was prematurely brought down into the earthly sphere—because its earthly interests and desires forced it downward—things turned out differently than they otherwise would have in the middle of the Atlantean epoch.

[ 11 ] As a result, the Ahrimanic spirits—those spirits that can also be referred to as Mephistophelean spirits—have intermingled with what human beings have been able to see and comprehend. This caused human beings to fall into error, to fall into what one might actually call conscious sin for the first time. Thus, from the middle of the Atlantean epoch onward, the host of Ahrimanic spirits has been influencing human beings. To what end, then, has this host of Ahrimanic spirits, so to speak, led humanity astray? It has led humanity to regard what is in its surroundings as physical, as material, and to fail to see through this physicality to the true foundations beneath it—to the spiritual. If human beings were to see the spiritual in every stone, every plant, and every animal, they would never have fallen into error and thus into evil; rather, if only the progressive spirits had influenced them, they would have been preserved from those illusions to which they must always succumb when they rely solely on the testimony of the sensory world.

[ 12 ] What, then, have those spiritual beings—who wish to sustain humanity in its progress—done to counter this seduction, this error, and this illusion arising from the sensory world? They have taken measures to ensure that human beings are now, for the first time, truly—and rightly so—placed in a position—though this has come about slowly and gradually, of course, but here lie the forces behind why it has come about—to regain, as it were, from within the sensory world the possibility of overcoming error, sin, and evil; that is to say, they have given human beings the opportunity to bear and work through their karma. So just as those beings who had to make amends for the temptation by the Luciferic beings brought suffering and pain—and indeed, what is connected with them, namely death—into the world, so those beings who had to rectify what flows from the error concerning the sensory world have given human beings the opportunity, through their karma, to eliminate all error once again, and to erase, in turn, all the evil he has wrought in the world. For what would have happened if humanity had succumbed only to evil and error? Then humanity would gradually have become, so to speak, one with error; it would have been impossible for humanity to move forward; for with every error, every lie, and every illusion, we place an obstacle to our progress in our own path. We would always fall back in our progress by as much as we place obstacles in our path through error and sin, if we were not able to correct error and sin—that is to say, we could not truly attain the human goal. It would be impossible to achieve the human goal if the opposing forces—the forces of karma—were not at work.

[ 13 ] Imagine for a moment that you commit some wrongdoing in a lifetime. This wrongdoing you have committed—if it were to remain as it is in your life—would mean nothing less than that you have lost the step forward you would have taken had you not committed that wrongdoing. And with every wrongdoing, you would lose a step, and it would be ensured that you take back a sufficient number of steps. If there were no possibility of rising above the error, human beings would ultimately be doomed to sink into error. But this is where the blessing of karma comes in. What does this blessing mean for human beings? Is karma something that people should fear, something that should make them shudder? No! Karma is a power for which human beings should actually be grateful to the plans of the universe. For karma tells us: If you have committed a mistake—God will not be mocked! What you have sown, you must also reap. This error compels you to correct it; then you have erased it from your karma, and you can take another step forward.

[ 14 ] Without karma, our progress along the human path would be impossible. Karma does us the favor of requiring us to make amends for every mistake, to undo everything we have done that holds us back. Thus, karma arose as the consequence of Ahriman’s deeds.

[ 15 ] And now let us move on. In our time, we are heading toward an age in which other beings will begin to approach humanity—beings who will increasingly intervene in human development as we look toward the future that lies ahead. Just as the Luciferic spirits intervened during the Lemurian Age and the Ahrimanic spirits during the Atlantean Age, so too will certain beings gradually intervene in our own age. Let us first clarify what kind of beings these will be.

[ 16 ] The beings who intervened during the Lemurian Age—we had to say of them: They established themselves in the human astral body and drew the human being’s interests, instincts, and desires down into the earthly sphere. More specifically, where did these Luciferic beings establish themselves?

[ 17 ] You can only understand this if you use the outline provided in my book Theosophy as a basis. There it is shown that, in the human being, we must first distinguish the physical body, then the etheric or life body, and the astral body—or, as I called it there, the sensory body or soul body.

[ 18 ] When we consider these three aspects, they are precisely the three aspects that were given to the human being before his earthly life. What is referred to here as the physical body was formed on the ancient Saturn; what is referred to as the etheric body was formed on the Sun; and what is referred to as the soul body or feeling body was formed on the ancient Moon. Now, on Earth, the feeling soul has gradually come into being; it is, in fact, an unconscious transformation, an unconscious processing of the feeling body. Lucifer has taken root in the feeling soul; he has crept into it, and there he resides. Furthermore, the intellectual soul has arisen through the unconscious transformation of the etheric body. More details on this are given in the treatise on “The Education of the Child.” In this second member of the human soul—the intellectual soul—that is, in the transformed portion of the etheric body—Ahriman has taken hold. He is there, leading the human being to false judgments about the material world, leading him into error, sin, and lies—into everything that arises from the intellectual or emotional soul. In all of this—for example, in the fact that human beings succumb to the illusion that matter represents the ultimate truth—we must recognize the whisperings of Ahriman, of Mephistopheles. Thirdly, we come to the consciousness soul, which consists of an unconscious transformation of the physical body. You will recall, of course, how this transformation took place. Toward the end of the Atlantean epoch, the etheric body of the head entered fully into the physical head and gradually transformed the physical body in such a way that it became a self-conscious being. Human beings are, in essence, still working on this unconscious transformation of the physical body—on the soul of consciousness—even today. And in the age that is now to come, those spiritual beings known as the Asuras will insinuate themselves into this soul of consciousness—and thus into what is called the human “I,” for the “I” is absorbed into the soul of consciousness. The Asuras will develop evil with a far more intense power than even the satanic forces of the Atlantean era or the Luciferic spirits of the Lemurian era.

[ 19 ] The evil that the Luciferic spirits brought to humanity along with the blessing of freedom—they will cast it all off completely in the course of earthly existence. The evil brought by the Ahrimanic spirits can be cast off through the workings of karmic law. But the evil brought by the Asuric powers cannot be atoned for in this way. While the good spirits have given human beings pain and suffering, illness, and death so that they might develop upward despite the possibility of evil, and while the good spirits have provided the possibility of karma as a means to counter the Ahrimanic powers and thus compensate for error—this will not be so easy in the course of earthly existence when it comes to the Asuric spirits. For these Asuric spirits will cause whatever they seize—and this is, after all, the deepest innermost core of the human being, the consciousness soul with the “I”—to cause the “I” to unite with the sensuality of the earth. It will be torn away from the “I” piece by piece, and to the same extent that the Asuric spirits take root in the soul of consciousness, to that same extent must the human being leave behind on Earth parts of his existence. That which has fallen prey to the Asuric powers will be irretrievably lost. Not that the whole human being need fall prey to them, but parts will be cut out of the human spirit by the Asuric powers. These Asuric powers make their presence felt in our age through the spirit that prevails here, which we might call the spirit of mere life in sensuality and of the forgetting of all real spiritual beings and spiritual worlds. One could say: Today, the idea that the Asuric forces seduce human beings is still largely theoretical. Today, they often lead people to believe that their “I” is merely a product of the physical world. Today they tempt people toward a kind of theoretical materialism. But as time goes on—and this is becoming increasingly evident through the wild passions of sensuality that are descending more and more upon the Earth—they will cloud people’s vision regarding spiritual beings and spiritual powers. Humanity will know nothing and want to know nothing about a spiritual world. Not only will it increasingly teach that humanity’s highest moral ideas are merely higher forms of animal instincts, and not only will it teach that human thinking is merely a transformation of what animals also possess, he will not only teach that humans are related to animals not merely in form, but that they also descend from animals in their entire being; rather, humans will take this view seriously and live accordingly.

[ 20 ] Today, of course, no one yet lives in accordance with the notion that human beings, by their very nature, are descended from animals. But this worldview will inevitably emerge, and it will have the consequence that people who hold this worldview will also live like animals, sinking into mere animal instincts and animal passions. And in many of the things that need not be further described here—things that are now making themselves felt, particularly in the major cities, as wild orgies of aimless sensuality—we already see the grotesque, hellish glow of those spirits we call the Asuric ones.

[ 21 ] Let us turn our attention back once more. We have said that it was the spirits who wish to advance humanity who sent suffering, pain, and even death to humankind. The biblical text clearly states: “In pain you shall bring forth children!”—Death has entered the world. This is precisely what the powers opposed to the Luciferic forces have imposed upon humankind. Who gave humanity karma? Who, in the first place, gave humanity the possibility that karma even exists? You will only understand what has just been said if you do not cling pedantically to earthly concepts of time. With the earthly concept of time, people believe that what happens here or there can only have an effect in relation to what follows. In the spiritual world, however, what happens already manifests its effects beforehand; its effects are already present beforehand. Where does the blessing of karma come from? From what, in our earthly evolution, did this blessing—the existence of karma—actually arise? Throughout the entire course of evolution, karma comes from no other power than Christ.

[ 22 ] Although Christ did not appear until later, he has always existed in the spiritual sphere of the Earth. Even in the ancient Atlantean oracles, the oracle priests spoke of the Spirit of the Sun, of Christ. The holy Rishis of the Indian cultural period spoke of Vishva Karman; Zarathustra spoke in Persia of Ahura Mazda; Hermes spoke of Osiris; and they spoke of that power which, through its eternity, is the balance of all that is natural—of that power that lives in the “Ehjeh asher ehjeh,” the forerunner of Christ, Moses. All spoke of the Christ; but where was he to be found in those ancient times? Only where the spiritual eye could look—in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world he was always to be found, and he was active in the spiritual world, acting from within the spiritual world. He is the one who, even before he appeared on Earth, sent down to humanity the possibility of karma. Then he appeared on Earth himself, and we know what he became for humanity through his appearance on Earth. We have described his effects in the earthly sphere itself. We have outlined the significance of the event at Golgotha. We have also described his effect on those who, at the time the event of Golgotha took place, were not incarnated in an earthly body but were in the spiritual world at that time. We know that at the very moment when blood flowed from the wounds on Golgotha, the Spirit of Christ appeared in the underworld, and we have said: It spread through the entire spirit world like an illumination, like a radiance; in short, we have said that the appearance of Christ on Earth is the most important event, even for the world that a human being experiences between death and rebirth.

[ 23 ] There is indeed a real impact that emanates from this Christ. We need only ask ourselves what would have happened to the Earth if the Christ had not appeared. It is precisely in the contrast of an Earth without the Christ that you can grasp the full significance of the Christ’s appearance. Let us suppose for a moment that the Christ had not appeared, that the event at Golgotha had not taken place at the time when the Christ appeared,

[ 24 ] Before the coming of Christ, the situation in the spiritual world for the souls of the most advanced human beings—those who had developed the deepest interest in earthly life—was such that the Greek saying truly applied to them: “Better to be a beggar in the upper world than a king in the realm of shadows.” For the souls in the spiritual world felt lonely and surrounded by darkness before the event at Golgotha took place. At that time, the spiritual world was not transparent in all its luminous clarity to those who, coming through the gate of death, stepped into it. Each one felt alone, thrust back into themselves; a wall stood erected between each person and every other. And this would have grown stronger and stronger. People would have hardened within their own egos; they would have been completely cut off from one another, and no one would have found a bridge to the other. People would have been reincarnated, and if selfishness had already been very great before, it would have become more immense with each new incarnation.

[ 25 ] The entire earthly existence would have turned human beings into ever more extreme egoists. There would have been no prospect that a brotherhood, an inner harmony of souls, would ever have come into being on this earth; for with every passage through the spiritual realm, stronger influences would have taken root in the ego. That is what would have happened on an Earth without Christ. The fact that human beings are gradually finding their way back from soul to soul, that they are gaining the ability to pour out the great power of brotherhood upon all of humanity—this is due to the fact that Christ appeared, that the event at Golgotha took place. Thus, Christ appears as the power that made it possible for human beings to make appropriate use of their earthly existence—that is, to shape karma in the appropriate way. For karma must be worked out on Earth. The fact that human beings find the strength to improve their karma in the proper way during their earthly-physical existence—and that they gain the opportunity to achieve progressive development—is due to the effect of the Christ event, to the presence of Christ in the earthly sphere.

[ 26 ] Thus we see how the most diverse forces and beings interact in the course of human development. If Christ had not come to Earth—we now see this very clearly, what we could previously only hint at in general terms by saying: Humanity would have sunk into error because it would have become increasingly hardened, so to speak, turning into a sphere unto itself that knew nothing of other beings, completely closed off within itself. Error and sin would have driven humanity into that state.

[ 27 ] Thus, Christ is indeed the Guide of Light who leads us out of error and sin; and through this, human beings are able to find the path upward. Now let us ask ourselves: What, then, has humanity lost by descending from the spiritual world, so that—under the influence of Lucifer—it became entangled in desires and passions, and then, under the influence of Ahriman, in error, illusion, and falsehood regarding the earthly world? Humanity has lost its direct insight into the spiritual world; it has lost its understanding of the spiritual world.

[ 28 ] So what is it that human beings are to regain? Human beings are to regain a full understanding of the spiritual world. And the deed of Christ can only be grasped by human beings—as self-aware beings—by coming to a full understanding of the significance of Christ. Certainly, the Christ-force is present. Humanity did not bring the Christ-force to Earth. The Christ-force came to Earth through Christ Himself. Through Christ, the possibility of karma entered humanity. But now, as a self-conscious being, humanity must recognize the essence of Christ and Christ’s connection to the entire world. Only in this way can humanity truly act as an “I.” What, then, does a person do if, now that Christ has been here, they do not merely allow the power of Christ to act upon them unconsciously, nor, so to speak, simply say: “I am already satisfied that Christ was here; he will redeem me and ensure that I make progress!” —But when a person says to themselves: “I want to recognize what Christ is, how he descended; I want to participate in Christ’s deed through my spirit!”—What does a person accomplish by doing this?

[ 29 ] Remember that because the Luciferic spirits crept into the human astral body, human beings descended into the sensory world; that while this allowed them to fall prey to evil, it also enabled them to attain self-conscious freedom. Lucifer is within the human being; he has, so to speak, brought humanity down to Earth, entangling it in earthly existence by first leading the passions and desires that were in the astral body down into the Earth, so that Ahriman could then also attack the etheric body, the intellectual soul. Now Christ has appeared, and with him the power that can carry human beings back up into the spiritual world. But now, if they wish, human beings can recognize Christ! Now human beings can gather all the wisdom necessary to recognize Christ. What do they accomplish by doing so? Something immense! When a human being recognizes Christ—when they truly engage with the wisdom needed to perceive what Christ is—then they redeem both themselves and the Luciferic beings through this recognition of Christ. If a human being were merely to say to themselves: “I am content that Christ was there; I will allow myself to be redeemed unconsciously!”—then that human being would never contribute anything toward the redemption of the Luciferic beings. These Luciferic beings, who brought freedom to humankind, also give humankind the opportunity to use this freedom now in a free way to perceive the Christ. Then, purified and cleansed in the fire of Christianity, the Luciferic spirits will be transformed, and what was sinned upon Earth through the Luciferic spirits will be transformed from a sin into a blessing. Freedom has been won, but it will be taken into the spiritual realm as a blessing. That human beings can do this—that they are capable of recognizing Christ, that Lucifer rises again in a new form and can unite with Christ as the Holy Spirit—Christ himself foretold this to those around him when he said: “You can be enlightened by the new Spirit, by the Holy Spirit!”—This Holy Spirit is none other than the one through whom it is also understood what Christ actually did. Christ did not merely wish to act; he also wished to be comprehended, to be understood. That is why it is part of Christianity that the Spirit who inspires people—the Holy Spirit—is sent to humanity.

[ 30 ] In a spiritual sense, Pentecost belongs to Easter and cannot be separated from it. This Holy Spirit is none other than the resurrected Luciferic spirit—now risen in purer, higher glory—the spirit of independent, wise knowledge. Christ himself prophesied this Spirit for humanity, that it would appear after him, and its work must continue in his spirit. And what continues to work in his spirit? When it is understood, the spiritual-scientific world movement continues to work in his spirit! What is the spiritual-scientific world movement? It is the wisdom of the Spirit—the very wisdom that raises to full consciousness that which would otherwise remain unconscious in Christianity.

[ 31 ] Christ is led forward by the torch of the resurrected Lucifer—Lucifer, now transformed for the good. He carries Christ himself. He is the bearer of the light; Christ is the light. Lucifer is, as the word implies, the bearer of light. But this is what the spiritual scientific movement is meant to be; this is what is to be understood by it. And those who have grasped that the progress of humanity depends on understanding the great event of Golgotha—these are the ones who, as masters of wisdom and the harmony of feelings, are united in the great leading lodge of humanity. And just as once, in a living symbol of the world, the fiery tongues descended upon the congregation, so what Christ Himself sent as the Holy Spirit reigns as the light over the Lodge of the Twelve. The Thirteenth is the leader of the Lodge of the Twelve. The Holy Spirit is the great teacher of those whom we call the Masters of Wisdom and the Harmony of Feelings. They, then, are the ones through whom His voice and His wisdom flow down to humanity on Earth in one stream or another. The body of wisdom gathered by the spiritual science movement to understand the world and the spirits within it flows through the Holy Spirit into the Lodge of the Twelve, and this is ultimately what will gradually lead humanity to a self-aware, free understanding of Christ and the event at Golgotha. Thus, to practice spiritual science is to understand that Christ sent the Spirit into the world, so that true Christianity lies in the practice of spiritual science. This will become increasingly clear to people. Then they will realize that in spiritual science they have something that is a positive asset in life. What spiritual science offers people is that they will gradually become aware of Christ as the Spirit who illuminates the world. And as a result, people here on this Earth, in the physical world, will make progress morally, in terms of the will, and intellectually. Through physical life, the world will become more and more spiritual. People will become better, stronger, and wiser, and they will look deeper and ever deeper—and seek to look deeper—into the profound depths and sources of existence. They will carry the fruits they attain here in this sensory life into the supersensory life, and they will bring them back again and again from the supersensory life upon each new incarnation.

[ 32 ] In this way, the Earth will increasingly become the expression of its Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. In this way, spiritual science will gradually be understood from the very foundations of the world. People will come to understand that it is a positive, real power. Today, humanity is on the verge of losing the Spirit entirely in various respects. Just recently, it was mentioned in a public lecture how people today suffer from the fear of heredity. The fear of hereditary burdens is truly a byproduct of our materialistic age. But is it enough for a person to succumb to the illusion: “I don’t need to have this fear”? That is by no means enough. A person who pays no attention to the spiritual world, who does not imbue their soul with what can flow from the spiritual science movement, is subject to what comes from the physical hereditary line. Only by imbuing themselves with what can come to them from the spiritual current of spiritual science do people become masters over what flows down from the hereditary line, render it insignificant, and triumph over everything in the external world that approaches them through inhibiting forces. It is not by philosophizing it away or debating it out of existence, nor by merely saying that a spirit exists, that a human being attains mastery over the physical world, but rather by allowing this spirit to permeate them, by truly taking it into themselves, and by genuinely having the will to come to know it in every detail. Then, through spiritual science, people in the physical world will also become increasingly healthy. For spiritual science itself will become the remedy that makes people beautiful and healthy in the physical world.

[ 33 ] The true power of spiritual science will become even clearer to us when we take a look at what a person enters when they pass through the gate of death. This is something that people today will find very difficult to comprehend. People think: Why should I concern myself with what goes on in the spiritual world? When I die, I’ll go into the spiritual world anyway, and then I’ll see and hear for myself what’s in there! — You can hear this in countless variations, that complacent attitude: Oh, why should I worry about the spiritual before I die! I’ll find out what it’s all about when the time comes; after all, whether I concern myself with it here or not, it can’t change my relationship to the spiritual world!” — But that is not the case. The person who thinks this way will come to know a dark and gloomy world. It will be as if they could not distinguish much from what you will find described in my book Theosophy regarding the spiritual worlds. For it is only by connecting their spirit and soul with the spiritual world here in the physical world that people become capable of seeing—by preparing themselves for it here. The spiritual world is there; you must acquire the ability to see into it here on Earth, otherwise you will be blind in the spiritual world. Thus, spiritual science is the power that first gives you the possibility of consciously entering the spiritual world at all. If Christ had not appeared in the physical world, human beings would sink into the physical world and would be unable to enter the spiritual world. But as it is, they are lifted up by Christ into the spiritual world, so that they become conscious within it and can see within it. This depends on their ability to connect with the one whom Christ sent—the Spirit; otherwise, they remain unconscious. Human beings must earn their immortality, for an immortality that is unconscious is not yet true immortality. Meister Eckhart already spoke these beautiful words on this subject: What good would it do a person to be a king if he does not even know that he is one! — By this, however, he meant: What good is the entire spiritual world to a person if he does not know what the spiritual worlds are? You can acquire the ability to see the spiritual world only in the physical world. Let those who ask the following take this to heart: Why did human beings descend into the physical world in the first place? Human beings descended so that they might become able to see the spiritual world here. They would remain blind to the spiritual world if they had not descended and acquired here the self-aware being with which they can return to the spiritual world, so that it now lies radiant before their soul.

[ 34 ] Thus, spiritual science is not merely a worldview; rather, it is something without which human beings, in their immortal nature, cannot know anything about the immortal worlds. Spiritual science is a real power, something that flows into the soul as a reality. And as you sit here and engage in spiritual science, you are not merely acquiring knowledge; rather, you are growing into something you would not otherwise be. That is the difference between spiritual science and other worldviews. All other worldviews relate to knowledge; anthroposophy relates to the being of the human being.

[ 35 ] If one arranges things in the proper way, one will have to conclude: It is precisely in this light that Christ, the Spirit, and the entire science of the spirit appear in an inner, essential connection. In the face of such a connection, everything that can be said superficially today—such as that a Western strand opposes an Eastern strand of occultism—will vanish. There can be no question of that. There are not two forms of occultism; there is only one. And there is no contradiction between Western and Eastern spiritual science. There is only one truth. And if we are asked: “Well, if Eastern and Western occultism are the same, why is Christ not recognized in Eastern occultism?” What answer should be given to that? The answer is that it is not up to us to answer that. It is not our duty to provide an answer to this; for we recognize Eastern occultism in its entirety. Ask us: Do we acknowledge what Eastern occultism says about Brahma, about the Buddha? Indeed, we do. We understand when we are told that, in this or that way, the Buddha ascended to his heights. We do not deny a single one of the Eastern truths. We are fully committed to recognizing all Eastern truths, insofar as they are positive. But should that prevent us from also recognizing what goes beyond them? Never! We recognize what Eastern occultism says, but that does not prevent us from also recognizing the truths that exist in the West.

[ 36 ] When we are told that it is a narrow-minded view held by Orientalists to say that the Buddha perished from an excess of pork—as the learned gentlemen argue— and we are instructed that this has a deeper meaning—namely, that the Buddha gave too much esoteric wisdom to those who were initially around him, so that this overflow initially created a kind of karma for him—we admit it; we say: Of course, behind this lie the deeper esoteric wisdoms that you, as Eastern esotericists, claim exist. —But when we are then told that no one can comprehend that John received the Apocalypse amid thunder and lightning on Patmos, we say: Anyone who knows what is meant by this knows that it is the truth. We do not deny that one thing; but we cannot go along with anyone who would deny that the other is true. It would never occur to us to say anything against the fact that it is true when it is said that the astral body of the Buddha was preserved and later incorporated into Shankaracharya. But that cannot prevent us from teaching that the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth was preserved and appeared in so many guises and was incorporated into various individuals who were active at that time in the spirit of Christianity, such as Francis of Assisi or Elizabeth of Thuringia. We do not deny a single truth of Eastern esotericism; at most, we deny what it negates regarding Western esotericism. So when we are asked: Why is something denied? Why is there opposition?—it is not up to us to answer. For it would be up to us to answer if we harbored any opposition within ourselves. We have none! The duty to answer lies with the one who denies something, not with the one who acknowledges it. That goes without saying. And from this starting point, over the next few weeks, you will be able to let the connection between spiritual science and the event at Golgotha unfold before your soul; you will be able to elevate the entire calling and mission of the spiritual-scientific world movement to a higher sphere, in that it is the embodiment of that inspiration, that power, which Christ designated as the Spirit.

[ 37 ] Thus we see how forces in the world interact, and how everything that appears to stand in the way of humanity’s progress ultimately proves to be a blessing. We also see that in the post-Christian era, from age to age, the spirit that has liberated humanity will reemerge in a new form—the leading bearer of light, Lucifer, will find his redemption. For everything that is part of the world plan is good, and evil exists only for a certain time. Therefore, only those who confuse the temporal with the eternal believe in the eternity of evil; and therefore, those who do not rise from the temporal to the eternal can never understand evil.