The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Third Lecture

[ 1 ] It is extremely difficult to speak about the conditions that were alluded to in the previous lecture, because in modern times—in our age of materialistic thinking—the ideas and concepts necessary to understand them are often lacking. These must first be acquired through spiritual science. Thus, what can be communicated can only be, in a sense, suggestive. Moreover—and this is a consequence of the entire development of our modern culture—there is another reason as well: the fact that, when confronted with the conditions that lie hidden beyond the threshold of knowledge for modern people, these modern people have, as a whole, become somewhat faint-hearted. There is no other way to put it if one wishes to avoid the word “cowardly”: he has become faint-hearted. Modern man would prefer to derive quite pleasant feelings from knowledge. But that is not always possible. Knowledge can also fill us with the deepest satisfaction even when it does not tell us pleasant things or show us pleasant things; for these unpleasant things are, after all, part of the truth, and one should be satisfied with the truth in any case; in a sense, even the worst truths can evoke an uplifting feeling. But, as I said, modern man is often too faint-hearted for this; he wants inspiration on his own terms. This, in turn, is precisely connected to the mysteries of modern existence, which are to be interpreted through reflections such as those just presented.

[ 2 ] Modern human beings can only acquire the special abilities discussed yesterday—the free imaginations in thought and action and the primal, phenomenal attitude toward the world in thought and action—if a veil is cast over certain processes that are also taking place, if they do not reveal themselves so readily. And so it is also a necessity of the evolution of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch that human beings do not understand certain things that are taking place—things that, so to speak, strike into our sensory world from the sub-sensory and supersensory worlds. Modern human beings do not understand at all the most important events unfolding before our eyes all around us. He is, so to speak, protected from understanding these events, because only under this protection can he properly develop the two abilities mentioned. However, up to this point in time, the foundations have been laid to such an extent that it is no longer possible to proceed further in evolution without, in certain cautious ways and forms, pointing toward these things. Modern man, who experiences with his soul not only what happens around him but also what he himself does, what he himself accomplishes—modern man has, in a sense, only faint reflections in his soul of what is actually taking place, weak reflections of what stirs and wells up in the sub-sensory realm, which at most occasionally send shivers up the spine of modern man in the form of terrifying dream images—but even then only faintly. Modern man does not know what is happening there. Nor does he know much about the supersensible in his normal state. Underlying what we experience in our souls as modern human beings lies, so to speak, something that can be described only as eruptive forces. It is precisely as if what modern human beings experience in their souls were such that one could compare it to the world one experiences when standing on volcanic ground. At first, it may look quite peaceful; but one need only pick up a piece of paper and set it on fire, and smoke billows out everywhere! And if, through this smoke, one could also see what is swirling and bubbling down below, one would know what kind of ground one is actually standing on. So it is with modern life. In modern life, we observe that Ernest Renan is writing his Life of Jesus. We see it the same way we see the landscape above a solfatara. We see what David Friedrich Strauss writes, and we describe it just as we described it yesterday—tame. We see what Solovyov writes; we describe it as we described it yesterday—tame. It’s all described in a tame way; it’s all described in such a way that we haven’t yet begun to light a scrap of paper and see what lives and works beneath the surface in the eruptive impulses of humanity.

[ 3 ] What I’m hinting at here is quite significant. It just needs to be thought through properly, and then you’ll see that it carries a lot of weight. So let’s consider what we described yesterday at the end of our discussion—life above a volcano. And it is, in turn, entirely in keeping with the spirit of evolution that this is so—that we truly view things as so tame, so harmless. This is good, for it is precisely beneath this tameness, beneath this harmlessness, that the abilities we need in the fifth post-Atlantean epoch are developing. However, they do not develop consciously in most people, and spiritual science must strive to ensure that they can also develop consciously. That is why it is sometimes necessary to point out, in a cautious manner, the things one perceives when one sets this little scrap of paper on fire. Why is all this so? You see, all this is so because, with our fifth post-Atlantean culture, the Ahrimanic forces initially have something quite different in mind. In the fourth post-Atlantean culture, they were so disappointed by Roman evolution, as we described yesterday and the day before. They did not achieve their goal; they have therefore prepared even fiercer storms for our fifth post-Atlantean epoch, because they want to achieve their goal once again.

[ 4 ] I have already hinted that what is to sweep in like storms—into our, so to speak, tame, peaceful, or—as it were—destined for tameness and peacefulness—evolution in the fifth post-Atlantean epoch—is also manifesting itself locally from two directions. I have pointed to one of these by describing how Genghis Khan was inspired by that priest who beheld a descendant of the Great Spirit of ancient Atlantis; on the other hand, I have pointed out how a certain Ahrimanic storm force emanated from the West and was overcome, in a certain sense, by all that followed the discovery of America—or rather, lives on in all of that as a force of resistance. One must not believe that things one cannot see do not exist! Precisely because what was actually set in motion by the Ahrimanic forces in the Western Hemisphere did not materialize as an outer, physical reality on Earth, our fifth post-Atlantean culture has been spared the first storms. But it lives on; it lives on, so to speak, in a ghostly manner. It is there; it forces its way into people’s instincts. Only, people are unaware that it is living within these instincts, forcing its way in. Now, I can really only provide you with a foundation for these ideas through a certain sequence of images—ideas that you must gradually develop for yourselves through meditation—for I would find it difficult to find terms within the current conceptual framework to suggest what actually lives within people’s instincts—instincts that are subliminal and that, while they do intrude upon and drive ordinary soul life, but which are concealed, which are not perceived, which are not seen in modern, everyday life.

[ 5 ] On the ground that had been set in motion by the discovery of America, very special conditions had gradually developed in the Western Hemisphere over the centuries that had passed. There was a general population there that was far from having developed the qualities that had meanwhile been cultivated in the Eastern Hemisphere, in Asia and Europe. There was a population there that was far removed from the general intellectual capacities that had developed in the Eastern Hemisphere, but within this population there was a large number of people who were initiated into certain mysteries. Mysteries of the most diverse kinds existed in this Western Hemisphere before the discovery of America—mysteries that attracted broad followings for certain teachings that emerged from them. And in a sense, as a unified power to which everything obeyed and everything followed, a ghostly spirit was worshiped—a spirit that was a descendant of the Great Spirit of Atlantis, but one that had gradually taken on an Ahrimanic character by seeking to work with all those forces that had been the right ones in Atlantis, or that had already been Ahrimanic there. That was how he sought to work. When the Atlanteans spoke of their Great Spirit, they expressed it—as has already been indicated in our reflections—with a word that sounded similar to the word “Tao,” which is still preserved in China. And an Ahrimanic caricature, an Ahrimanic adversary, an adversary of this Great Spirit Tao—who was, however, related to it—acted in such a way that he could become visible only through atavistic-visionary perception; yet he appeared to those who were specifically connected to the far-reaching mysteries of this Spirit, whenever they wished to see him, so that they could receive his instructions and his commandments. This spirit was called by a word that sounded something like this: Taotl. [* See note on p. 362.] This was, then, an Ahrimanic variant of the Great Spirit, Taotl, a powerful being that did not incarnate physically.

[ 6 ] Many were initiated into the mysteries of the Taotl. But the initiation was certainly one that bore an Ahrimanic character; for this initiation had a very specific purpose, a very specific goal. Its aim was to freeze and mechanize all earthly life—including human life—to such an extent that the special Luciferic planet, already alluded to in various ways in these reflections, could be superimposed upon this earthly life, so that human souls would be removed; they were to be squeezed out. What was attempted in Roman culture by the Ahrimanic forces in the manner indicated yesterday was merely a faint post-Atlantean echo of what was to be achieved through the most terrible magical arts on a much grander scale by those who stood under the leadership of Taotl. One might say that the goal was to create a universal earthly realm of death entirely directed toward the annihilation of all independence and all inner soul stirrings; and in the mysteries of Taotl, the forces were to be acquired that would enable human beings to establish such a completely mechanized earthly realm. To this end, one would first and foremost have had to know the great cosmic mysteries—all the great cosmic mysteries—that pertain to that which acts and lives in the universe and manifests its effects in earthly existence. This wisdom of the cosmos is, after all, always the same in letter in all good and bad mysteries, because the truth is always the same. The only question is how to acquire it in such a way that it is applied either for good or for evil.

[ 7 ] The wisdom of the cosmos—which was not bad in itself, and which even contained sacred mysteries—was carefully concealed by the initiates of the Taotl. It was not revealed to anyone except through initiation in the true sense, in the manner of the Taotl. It was therefore a matter of someone having to be initiated in the proper way; only then would the nature of the mysteries of the cosmos be imparted to him as a teaching. Now, the point was to receive these mysteries through initiation in a very specific state of mind—a state of mind in which one felt within oneself the inclination and sympathy to use these mysteries on Earth in such a way that they would establish this mechanical, rigid realm of death on Earth. That was how one was to receive them. And one received them in a special way: Wisdom was not imparted to anyone who had not first committed a murder of a certain kind. Specifically, upon committing the first murder, only certain secrets were revealed to him. Only upon committing subsequent murders were further and higher secrets revealed to him. The murders, however, also had to be committed under very specific conditions. The person who was to be murdered was placed on a structure arranged in such a way that, by ascending one or two steps from any side, one reached a sort of catafalque-like device that was rounded at the top, so that when the person to be murdered was laid upon it, his back was severely arched, and by the special lacing to that device, his stomach was forced out. His stomach was thus forced out so that, with a single cut—for which the initiate in question had been prepared—the stomach could be cut out.

[ 8 ] This type of murder evoked very specific feelings, and these feelings stirred emotions that enabled the individual to apply the wisdom later imparted to him in the manner described. Once the stomach had been cut out, it was sacrificed to the god Taotl, again in accordance with very specific ceremonies. This caused the initiates of these mysteries to live with a very specific purpose—precisely the purpose I have indicated to you. This gave rise to very specific emotional orientations. When those who were to be initiated had reached maturity on this path of initiation, they also learned what it was all about; they then learned how the interaction worked between the one who had thus been murdered and the one who had been initiated. The one who was thus murdered was to be prepared in his soul to ascend into the Luciferic realm, and the one who was to be initiated was to receive the wisdom to shape this earthly world in such a way that souls would be driven from it. And because a connection had been established between the murdered man and the initiate—not a murderer, one might say, but an initiate—this made it possible for the initiate to be taken along by the other soul, thus enabling him to leave the Earth himself at the right moment.

[ 9 ] As you will no doubt readily admit, these mysteries are of the most outrageous kind—ones that correspond precisely to a worldview that can be called Ahrimanic in the fullest sense of the word. Certain feelings were intended to be generated on Earth through them. Now, of course, the evolution of the Earth would not continue if humanity and the sense of humanity were to die out entirely in a considerable part of the world. That is why the sense of humanity did not die out entirely here either, and certain other mysteries were established that were intended to counteract the excesses of these mysteries. These were the mysteries in which a being lived that did not attain physical incarnation, but which could nevertheless be beheld by people endowed with a certain atavistic clairvoyance, provided they had been properly prepared through the mysteries of this being. And this being was Tezkatlipoka. That was its name; a being that, due to its nature, was somewhat related—although it belonged to a much lower hierarchy—to the god Yahweh, and which, on the other side of the earth, counteracted these hideous mysteries of which we have spoken.

[ 10 ] The teachings of Tezkatlipoka very soon emerged from the mysteries and were disseminated exoterically, so that in this world the teachings of Tezkatlipoka were actually the most exoteric, whereas those of Taotl were the most esoteric, because one could only enter into them in the manner described. But the Ahrimanic forces attempted, so to speak—and now I am putting it the way Ahriman thinks—to save humanity from the god Tezkatlipoka. And so Tezkatlipoka was opposed by another spirit who, for the Western Hemisphere, bears a strong resemblance to the spirit Goethe described as Mephistopheles. He is a relative of Mephistopheles. There he was referred to by a word that sounded something like Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl was thus a spirit—we must imagine him placed within that other milieu—who, for that other milieu, was similar to the much more spiritual Mephistopheles. This spirit, Quetzalcoatl—who also never appeared in direct incarnation—had as his symbol something similar to what the caduceus was in the Eastern Hemisphere, and at the same time, in this Western Hemisphere, he was the spirit who, through certain magical powers, could inflict malignant diseases—malignant diseases that he could bring upon those he wished to corrupt, because he wanted to sever them from the relatively benevolent god Tezkatlipoka. Through such things, the sharp blows were prepared here that were to be gradually driven into the world of human instincts from the Ahrimanic side.

[ 11 ] Now, at a certain point in time, a being was born who set himself a specific task within this culture—a being who was born in what is now Central America. The Mexicans, the ancient indigenous people of Mexico, associated a specific belief with the existence of this being. They said that this being had come into the world because a virgin had given birth to him as her son—a virgin who, while still a virgin, had conceived him through supernatural powers, in that a feathered being was the father of this virgin, a feathered being who had come down from heaven. If one investigates these matters using the occult means at one’s disposal, one sees that this being, to whom the ancient Mexicans attributed a virgin birth, reached an age of approximately thirty-three years, and was born around the year 1 of our era. This is what emerges, as I said, when one investigates these matters using occult means. And a very specific task arose.

[ 12 ] At that time, a person was born in Central America who, by virtue of his very birth, was destined to become a high-ranking initiate of Taotl. This man, destined to be a high initiate, had already attained initiations in his previous earthly incarnations in the manner described, and by repeating many times—very many times—the procedure of cutting open the stomach that has been described to you and need not be repeated here, he had gradually been endowed with a high level of earthly and supernatural knowledge. He was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, black magicians the Earth has ever seen walk upon it—the black magician who had thus appropriated the greatest secrets that can be acquired by this path. He stood on the very threshold of a great decision as the year 30 approached—the great decision to, through ongoing initiation, truly become so powerful as a single human individual that he would have known the fundamental secret, through which he could have given such an impetus to the subsequent human evolution on Earth that humanity in the fourth and fifth post-Atlantean epochs would indeed have been so darkened that what the Ahrimanic forces had strived for during these epochs would have come to pass. Then a struggle began between him and that being to whom a virgin birth is attributed—a struggle which, upon investigation, is found to have lasted three years—a struggle between that being to whom a virgin birth is attributed and this all-powerful magician. This being, to whom the virgin birth is attributed, bears a name that, if one attempts to render it in our language, is roughly: Vitzliputzli. Vitzliputzli is thus a human being. Of all these beings, who otherwise only wandered about as ghostly apparitions—so that they could be seen only through atavistic clairvoyance—this being, Vitzliputzli, had truly become human through the virgin birth attributed to him. The three-year struggle ended with Vitzliputzli succeeding in having the great magician crucified, and through the crucifixion not only destroying his body but also banishing his soul, rendering it powerless in its work—thus rendering the knowledge powerless, killing the knowledge that this powerful magician of the Taotl had appropriated.

[ 13 ] In this way, Vitzliputzli acquired the ability to win back for earthly life all those souls who, in the manner described, had already felt the urge to follow Lucifer and leave the Earth—to instill in them once again the impulse toward earthly life and the next incarnation through the mighty victory he had won over the great black magician.

[ 14 ] Thus, what would have continued to exist from these regions had the mysteries of the Taotl borne fruit does not live on; rather, what remains—in the form of forces and residual energies—from the activity that took place within these mysteries lives on, as it were, only in the ethereal world. All these forces are present; they exist in the subsensible realm, and they belong to that which I told you one would be able to see if, in spiritual life, one could do the same as setting paper ablaze above a solfatara. It is there; it exists, so to speak, beneath the volcanic crust of ordinary life. Thus, in everything that constitutes the fifth post-Atlantean epoch, with regard to the soul’s development in human beings, there is, on the one hand, what came from the inspirer of Genghis Khan, and on the other hand, what continues to exert an influence as the specter of the events that took place in the Western Hemisphere—events that were already present only as faint echoes when the Europeans discovered America. But history itself tells us that many Europeans who set foot on American soil—on Mexican soil—were murdered in such a way that their stomachs were cut out, as I have described, by the local priesthood, which was already in a state of decadence, though not as terrible as the old one. This is what happened to many Europeans who set foot on Mexican soil after the discovery of America; even history knows this.

[ 15 ] In Vitzliputzli, these people worshipped a solar being who was born of a virgin in the manner I have described, and who—as one discovers when investigating these matters through occult means—was the unknown contemporary of the Mystery of Golgotha in the Western Hemisphere.

[ 16 ] One can, of course, describe these things in an abstract way—as the superficial people of our time do—so that they, as it were, do not cause any pain; but if one seeks true understanding, then one must at least cast a fleeting glance at the concrete events that have taken place, as we have done today. Indeed, when we consider this modern human soul, we see how it is exposed to great and grave dangers—both downward, toward the sub-sensory, and upward, toward the supersensory—and how forces come into play there that remain only unconscious. And it is good that they remain unconscious, because only in this way can the fifth post-Atlantean epoch develop. The veil need only be lifted so that, now that sufficient time has passed since the discovery of America, consciousness can enter alongside the unconscious; for otherwise, if consciousness were not to gradually take hold, these forces would become overwhelming, and conditions that arose during the period of unconsciousness—which were, relatively speaking, for the benefit of humanity—would turn against humanity and become a curse. For there are indeed many things that are destined to become a curse upon humanity, even though, as they arose from one side or the other, they have certainly become a blessing to humanity.

[ 17 ] Through what I have described today, I wanted to give you a sense of what is bubbling and surging beneath the surface. And now let us leave this subterranean realm and return to the surface world, without attempting to immediately establish a mental connection—we can do that later—between the two realms. Let us now consider the question: How, then, is this outstanding, brilliant *Life of Jesus* by Ernest Renan written? It is written in such a way that we have before us a Jesus who walks the earth as a human being, just as I described yesterday. A brilliant personality like Ernest Renan is not aware of the reasons that lead him to write precisely such a *Life of Jesus*. It is written out of very specific impulses; but these impulses remain in the unconscious. These impulses, from which Ernest Renan’s *Life of Jesus* is written, can be summarized as a fundamental impulse that has so far produced only good—relatively good, within certain limits; for Ernest Renan’s *Life of Jesus*, for example, is in its own way an excellent work. But much has been created out of the same fundamental impulse. I have chosen only this one example from the realm of knowledge; one could also choose examples from life, but that would lead into areas that greatly unsettle people. Out of this fundamental impulse, which seeks to develop toward something very specific, such a work has been written—out of the impulse to view what manifests itself as a human being only from the outside, to view it only as it projects itself outwardly into the world. I chose this example of *The Life of Jesus* for the following reason: because Ernest Renan, driven by this fundamental impulse, approaches the most sacred figure of humanity and, out of this same impulse, portrays him in such a way that he stands before us solely as an external personality.

[ 18 ] Where would this basic instinct ultimately lead if it were to intensify more and more? It would lead to people no longer having the inclination to look into their own souls when they contemplate the world. For Ernest Renan has already reached the point where he no longer dares to look into his own inner self when he speaks of Jesus Christ. He speaks only of the historical figure and seeks to view him from the outside. This stems from the fundamental impulse for us, as humanity, to gradually lose ourselves to the point where we view every person in the world only externally, where we no longer experience what is reflected in our own souls from that person. The fundamental impulse of purely phenomenal perception has been taken to the extreme; this one fundamental impulse has been taken to the extreme: the external world is to be perceived without the inner self being stirred in any way. The one-sided development of this impulse strives for a form of human interaction that views other people in such a way that it sees everything only superficially. In many respects, our immediate present shows us just how far this impulse has gone, how people are increasingly to be understood not according to their inner lives but according to their outward appearances. And it is precisely the misguided development of national ideas—which impose nationality, which is something external to the soul, upon the individual and seek to judge him solely by it, to shape him in life, as it were, in such a way that he is perceived only as a member of that nationality and not according to his inner being—that is one of the forces which serves this fundamental instinct in a very special way. As a result, humanity on Earth would increasingly isolate itself within national borders, and in the future it would never be possible to cross these national boundaries.

[ 19 ] It is out of this basic impulse, then, that the image of each human being arises—specifically, how that person externally positions themselves in the world—when this basic impulse is lived out in cognition. Now let us consider the other basic impulse. The other fundamental impulse—the opposite one—would consist in bringing only inner experiences into play, not directing one’s gaze at the outer human being at all, but only at inner experiences; in looking only at what one can experience inwardly, what one experiences directly in the soul. If one makes this impulse the basis for inquiry regarding the figure of Christ Jesus, then interest in the figure of Jesus would naturally disappear, for the figure of Jesus, according to Renan’s approach, can only be investigated externally; and interest would not lie in the figure of Jesus, but only in the Christ-essence. Then one would have no interest in the figure of Jesus as a historical figure, but only in the Christ-essence. If this impulse—which is the opposite of the one described first, and which is now also striving to become widespread among humanity on Earth—were to spread, then people would once again walk side by side, each with a rich inner life bubbling within, but they would pass each other by without even feeling the need to perceive the people around them in any way according to their individual nature. Each would, so to speak, want to live only within the sanctuary of their own soul. In the realm of understanding the most sacred essence of humanity, this impulse finds expression once again in Soloviev, who is interested only in the Christ-essence, not in the historical figure of Jesus.

[ 20 ] You can see the two extremes toward which modern humanity is tending. It tends toward two extremes. One is the impulse to view the world solely from the outside, to take the primordial phenomenal to the extreme; the other is to grasp the world inwardly only through free imaginings. All of this is in its infancy; so far, it has developed in a beneficial and beautiful way; but all of it is striving to be turned upside down. Just as Renan’s *The Life of Jesus* is a masterpiece in terms of external description, so too are Solovyov’s depictions of the Christ-essence the highest achievement that could have been created in this field at the present time. These are beneficial impulses, but they spring from an impulse that, if developed one-sidedly, would drive every human being back into his own home.

[ 21 ] In contrast, a realization must take root precisely through spiritual science—a realization that can be summarized in two sentences, which I would like to impress upon you very deeply today. The first is that a person can never attain a truly good, right, and strong inner life without having the warmest interest in other people. Any inner life we seek remains false, remains illusory, if it is not accompanied by a loving interest in the unique qualities of other people. We should virtually take it for granted that we find ourselves inwardly as human beings when we take an interest in the unique qualities of other people. Lovingly engaging with the individuality of others—which is sometimes linked in life to profound tragedy—is the only thing that can lead us to self-knowledge. And self-knowledge sought through self-contemplation will never be true self-knowledge. Thus, we deepen our inner lives through engaged interaction with other people. But this statement, as it is expressed, hints at something that cannot be immediately realized, because it must exist in direct interaction with another. For we will never attain a true understanding of the external world unless we resolve to explore and come to know the human, the universally human, within ourselves. Therefore, all knowledge of nature in modern times will be merely mechanical—not true, but false and distorted—and will not be based on a knowledge of the human being in the same way as the science I have described as “esoteric science” in the book *Esoteric Science in Outline*, where knowledge of the external world is sought through knowledge of the human being. We find the inner in the outer, and the outer in the inner.

[ 22 ] What else there is to say regarding certain contemporary phenomena in relation to other works we have already touched upon—such as David Friedrich Strauss’s so-called *The Life of Jesus*—I will discuss another time. Today I would simply like to say that when, two times seven years ago, we began our initiative for a theosophical movement—which later became the anthroposophical movement—it was intended that everything flowing through this movement should work in a way that particularly embodies the spirit of these two sentences: Everything external should kindle self-knowledge; the internal should teach knowledge of the world. In these sentences—or rather, in their realization in the world—lies true spiritual insight into existence, as well as the impulses toward genuine love of humanity, toward a love of humanity that sees. And our Society should strive to realize what is contained in these sentences. Had everything that was aspired to been achieved during the two periods of seven years, and had the opposing forces in our time not still been strong enough to prevent so much, then I would be able to speak today in a very different way about certain mysteries of existence than is currently possible. Then this Society would have matured to the point where things could be spoken of within its ranks today that could not be spoken of anywhere else. But there would then also be a guarantee that these mysteries of existence would be preserved in the proper way. However, the events in our society have shown that, precisely with regard to preservation, things are not going as they should—they are hindered by the most diverse counterforces that have attached themselves to the movement. For since there is truly no protection left today—at least no comprehensive protection—against what is said among us being used in any way, in the manner you are well aware of, out in the world, as it is used by some people, and is wrapped up in such sentiments, as happens on the part of some people—it becomes evident, with regard to the two periods of seven years, that in a certain sense society has, in many respects, fallen behind what should have been strived for. Such an insight should not lead us to despondency, but it should lead us not merely to revel in certain insights, but to develop enough seriousness of life to embrace the truth in the form in which it ought to be communicated precisely in our time. If it is possible that outstanding writers within our movement think as has recently become apparent, then it is clear that even deeper impulses must yet awaken in the souls of those within our Society than have awakened so far. We should unite not merely to gain pleasant insights, but to perform a sacred service to the truth in the interest of human evolution. Then the right insights will come to us; then these insights will not be held back by all manner of prejudices.

[ 23 ] And so let us at least embrace in our hearts the ideal that perhaps such a society could indeed come into being—a society that is necessary in this world of prejudice that pervades and permeates our time. What I am saying is, of course, not directed in the least toward any single soul among us; it is not in the slightest way accusatory toward any single soul, ‘but is directed solely toward emphasizing the ideal of insight in our time, the ideal of that service to humanity which we should recognize as necessary. And just as warmly as I spoke here about eight days ago, I would like to emphasize once again today that we in our circle must not forget that humanity today needs a circle of people with whom the full truth to be revealed today can be discussed in the most open-minded way, without prejudiced emotions arising in opposition. We must accept as our karma that hostility has arisen within our circle—hostility arising from the unwise spirit of the times, the unwise ideas of the times, and the emotions of the times; but we should not for a single moment delude ourselves into thinking that this karma is not ours. Then, from this realization, the impulse for what is right will dawn upon us. And in particular, we should not so quickly forget so much of what we take in—so much of what brings together, in a few outstanding sentences, truths that are otherwise scattered; we should not merely let them pass us by, but rather keep them in our hearts. In our circle, there is such a widespread longing to forget—often, in fact, to forget precisely the most important things. And so we have not yet become the living social organism that we need—or rather, that humanity needs. To achieve this, it is necessary above all that we cultivate a memory for what we can learn through life in society.