The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Fifth Lecture

[ 1 ] In the reflections of these past few days, I wanted above all to make it clear that for anyone who, with a spiritual-scientific outlook, looks more closely at the development of humanity—even in historical times (for essentially we have been considering historical times in these days)— the fact is revealed that the entire human soul constitution—the way of perceiving, the worldview, the impulses to action, everything that belongs to the human soul constitution—is undergoing a transformation, one such that no inkling of this transformation can arise in external science, which, after all, works in this field with nothing but inadequate means. Yesterday we attempted to show how, in particular, what might be called the center of human soul life—the actual sense of self—appears quite differently upon closer examination in earlier times than in more recent times, in our present era. And I attempted to characterize this difference by saying: In earlier times—namely, in pre-Christian times—we are dealing with a sense of self in human beings that still contains real elements, elements of reality, whereas in our own era, which essentially represents the development of the conscious soul, what human beings consciously call their “I” is merely a mirror image of the true “I.” In public lectures, I have pointed out these same facts by saying: People today—especially those who wish to be philosophers—do not arrive at the truth because they are misled by a philosophical proposition that plays a major and, today, increasingly fateful role in the worldview, namely the proposition: “I think, therefore I am.” — This Augustinian-Cartesian proposition is not true; rather, what is true for people today is the proposition: “I think, therefore I am not!” — What people today must realize above all else is that in what they summarize with the word “I” or “I am”—in what they hold in their consciousness when they seek to look inward at their own soul—they have only a reflection, a reflection that also encompasses all the concepts directly connected to our “I” and to be processed by our “I.” So that in our inner life as people of the present, we no longer carry anything real within us—that merely plays a role; I mentioned yesterday how it comes into play—but rather we carry within us the mirror image of our true being. This fact can only become apparent when one delves into the science of initiation, when one grasps the difference between how one could penetrate the supersensible world in ancient times through the paths of supersensible training, how one must penetrate it in our own time, and that the paths into the supersensible worlds become entirely different as we move from the present into the future than they were in ancient times. That is what I wanted to make clear above all else yesterday.

[ 2 ] Some time ago, I pointed out the objective fact underlying this entire process of becoming; I pointed out that within the course of human development, when one asked: What impulses, what forces are at work in the becoming of the Earth? — one could trace those divine-spiritual beings—one could just as well choose a different term—whom the Bible calls the creators, the Elohim. We call them the Spirits of Form. But I have pointed out from a wide variety of perspectives that these Spirits of Form—if one may use the term, even though it sounds somewhat trivial—have, to a certain extent, actually played out their role in the most important affairs of humanity, and that other spiritual beings are now stepping into the role of the Creators.

[ 3 ] Anyone who can fully appreciate this fact—accessible to supersensible research—that, in a sense, the long-venerated gods or God must be replaced in human consciousness by other impulses will say to themselves: Many things have certainly taken place in the course of human development, even in historical times. Such an inner transformation of the entire human consciousness—the one we are currently experiencing and which will become increasingly evident—certainly did not exist in historical times. You know I am averse to joining in with the oft-repeated phrase: “We are living in a time of transition.” — For I have often told you that anyone can say at any time that we are living in a transitional period, and can, if they so choose, regard the transition they have in mind as the most important in the development of the world. That is not what I meant when I spoke as I did. Every era is truly a transitional period; it simply depends on what is changing, what is in the process of transformation. From other perspectives, other transformations may be more significant, but for the inner spiritual life of human beings, the transformation I am referring to here—as we look toward the near future—is the most significant in historical times.

[ 4 ] Today, let us consider them from a slightly different perspective than we did yesterday and in the days that have passed. If we take a closer look at the spiritual constitution of ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and the ancient Chaldean era, it becomes clear that this spiritual constitution, above all, did not exhibit the same twofold structure as that of modern human beings. Perhaps it would be better to say: a twofold division is currently in the making within human beings, but it is well underway and is also expressed outwardly in objective facts. What used to be, so to speak, more blended soul forces—what functioned more as a unity within the human soul—has split, particularly since the 15th century. This is quite clear to the careful observer of human development. In earlier times, the life of imagination and the life of will were much more closely connected than they are today, and they will continue to split further and further apart. And the life of imagination, which we can grasp today solely through consciousness—through ordinary consciousness, not clairvoyant consciousness—is merely a reflection of reality; it offers only a mere reflection of reality, and this also initially includes what a person perceives of their “I.” In contrast, a person experiences their life of will as if in sleep. What actually pulsates within the will is as unconscious to a person as the facts of sleep are to them. But just as a person knows that he has slept, even though he is unaware of himself during sleep, so too does he know, through ordinary consciousness, that he has a will, even though he actually sleeps through everything he wills. Isn’t it true that if you have a white surface somewhere that reflects light, and within it black spots that do not reflect light, you still see the black spots even though there is no light there? And so, when you look back on your life, you not only perceive how you were awake, but you also know that states of sleep appear like black spots within the course of your life. That is why it is indeed true that you are unaware of yourself while asleep, but when you survey the entire expanse of consciousness—so to speak—the states of sleep appear as black spots within it. People are mistaken if they believe that they know anything more about their will than they do about sleep. In consciousness, one is aware of the life of the imagination, and black spots intrude into that life of the imagination: these are the impulses of the will. But people experience these impulses of the will just as little as they experience states of sleep.

[ 5 ] For the older, pre-Christian consciousness, the darkness of the will was not as great as it is today. Human beings were not so deeply asleep with regard to their will; the instinctive will was active, and it was illuminated by the life of the imagination. Consequently, the images were not mere reflections, as they are today. Today they are reflections. Thus, on the one hand, human beings have the life of the imagination, which is actually a reflection of reality, and on the other, a kind of sleep-like state that pervades conscious life: the life of the will.

[ 6 ] I said that what is contained in the human soul, as I have indicated, is also expressed in the objective world. Let us take two extreme phenomena, which are, I would say, like poles. The rest of human life, insofar as it is influenced by the human state of mind, presents itself in a manner similar to these polar phenomena. One of these polar phenomena today consists of those views that are developing, notably in the so-called secret societies of the English-speaking population. Whatever secret societies—Masonic or similar—exist among other peoples of the world, they are all dependent on the original foundation of these societies within the English-speaking population. That is one polar phenomenon. The other polar phenomenon is that which finds expression in the so-called Christian Church, insofar as this so-called Christian Church has rituals and dogmas.

[ 7 ] These are the two extremes, the polar phenomena. But other phenomena are similar; for example, everything we call modern science is similar to the views of the English-speaking population regarding secret societies. Humanity is simply not very aware that what modern science is, is essentially similar—I do not say “influenced,” but “similar,” for things develop from different roots, and the trees then become similar—to the views that live within the secret societies of the English-speaking population. The same is true of much in popular worldviews. Today, a similar number of people do not base their thinking on any scientific worldviews. Of the scientific views, only philosophy, viewed from within, is still very much dependent on the views of the Catholic Church. Even the division of the human being into body and soul—as I have often said—which philosophers today regard as unbiased science, is nothing other than the result of the Eighth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, so that “unbiased” philosophy is actually nothing more than the further implementation of a council decision. For those who do not view things as they are presented to people today by the universities, but who truly engage with the facts, philosophy—precisely insofar as it cultivates this dualism of body and soul— insofar as it does not build upon the division of the human being into body, soul, and spirit—which truly corresponds to reality (for the spirit was, after all, abolished by the Catholic Church at the aforementioned council)—nothing other than an abstract superstition based on this council, unconsciously, of course. Now, you may find these two polar phenomena to be somewhat attenuated. Just as the cold of the North Pole is tempered in the temperate zone, the equatorial climate is found a little way north or south of the equator, and the cold of the South Pole is tempered in Australia, so you can find these phenomena in a tempered form in science and in the popular worldview. But if one considers the extremes, one can make things particularly clear to oneself. The secret society worldview of the English-speaking population places particular emphasis on looking up to what it regards as the foundation of all world events: the so-called Architect of the Worlds, the great Master Builder of the Worlds. Through all manner of symbols and rituals, they visualize the way in which the great Architects of all worlds work within the course of world events. People simply do not realize how this view continues to haunt modern science. But it does continue to haunt it. This is a view that tends entirely toward focusing on the mere reflection of the world—that which is only a reflection of reality.

[ 8 ] So there you have one extreme, which relies solely on reflections of reality and which, when it becomes a dogmatic worldview, essentially exists entirely outside of reality. That is why so much nonsense can be made of these things; that is why rites and symbols—whether meant very seriously or trumpeted as such—can turn into a masquerade or mere posturing. We are dealing here with something that, in a person’s consciousness, is beneficial to that person today; it is a sensation for them because it appeals precisely to today’s consciousness—the very consciousness that is a reflection of reality, that contains the reflection of reality.

[ 9 ] The other extreme is what the Church offers. It differs radically from the worldview that underlies this secret society’s perspective. What the Christian Church offers takes into account the other pole—the pole of the will—those impulses within the human being that enter consciousness only as sleep does at night; it does indeed take into account a reality, but one that is slept through. Hence, too, the peculiar development of these Christian churches. The peculiar development of these Christian churches consists in the fact that they have gradually dissolved the very different concepts of ancient times into the so-called concept of faith. And anyone who knows how the adherents of almost all Christian views repeatedly turn away from knowledge and toward faith will sense something of sleep in this concept of faith, in this notion of faith. Hence the longing not to allow oneself to be illuminated by clear consciousness—that which seeks to enter human souls from such realms where sleep itself takes place. In earlier centuries, therefore, what I have characterized as the content of ancient Gnosis was blunted in the entirely abstract dogmas, which are now not to be understood but merely accepted. And in Protestantism, knowledge has been reduced to mere faith, to a mere subjective belief, which sees its particular characteristic in relying precisely on that which cannot be proven, where science has no say, and so on. There you have the two extremes that have emerged in the constitution of the human soul, distributed across the objective facts.

[ 10 ] Now one might ask: What actually underlies this division of the human being’s will and imagination—these two poles: the life of imagination, which has become merely a reflection, and the life of the will, which has been pushed down into the unconscious regions and is left dormant? What is the true basis for this? The underlying cause is that, in the process of becoming human and in the historical development of humanity, the impulse toward freedom is emerging. Freedom, too, is a product of development. Earlier times were not conducive to the development of the true impulse toward freedom within humanity.

[ 11 ] The age in which we live can indeed be characterized, on the one hand, as I did earlier: the spirits of personality are taking the place of the spirits of form. Subjectively, this external, objective fact of development goes hand in hand with the emergence of the impulse toward freedom from the human soul. No matter how events may unfold externally, no matter how chaotic things may become, what is already struggling to emerge within these events—both in the present and in the near future—is this: that human beings, precisely in the age of the conscious soul in which we have been living since the 15th century, are striving to bring the impulse toward freedom to life. An understanding of the impulse toward freedom—that is what modern humanity seeks and will seek more and more.

[ 12 ] But this freedom can only well up as an impulse from the human soul if that human soul has the capacity for it. In earlier times, freedom was not possible to its full extent for the simple reason that, before the age of the conscious soul, the instinctive aspect of human nature was at work in every respect. If a person can take into their consciousness only that which, in essence, arises from a reality—albeit an instinctively conscious reality—they cannot be free. Natural science still assumes today that we are not free, that we are subject to inner necessity, because it is unaware of the fact that in our consciousness—as it develops today, in the consciousness that we are able to cultivate precisely through natural science (and natural scientific concepts exemplify this “mirror-image consciousness” to the greatest degree)—no real impulses exist; there is nothing there that simply wells up from our own physical, psychological, or spiritual reality. In our consciousness—especially when we cultivate purely what I have called “pure thinking” in my *Philosophy of Freedom*—reality does indeed live in the mirror image, but precisely as a mirror image. As soon as you are immersed in a reality, you are compelled by that reality, for reality is something—and no matter how weakly it may affect you—it is an element of necessity; it compels you, and you must follow it. But when a mirror image acts upon your soul—a mirror image contains no activity, contains nothing of power. A reflection is merely an image; it does not press upon the soul, nor does it compel the soul. In an age in which consciousness tends toward reflections, the impulse toward freedom can develop at the same time. Everything else would compel a person to do something. When a person lives within such conscious perceptions—which are images and nothing but images, which merely reflect a reality rather than being a reality in themselves—no reality can compel them. In this age, they can develop their impulse toward freedom. This is the mysterious fact underlying contemporary life. The fact that people have come to become materialists in this age is connected to the fact that they feel: in the inner life they are observing, nothing real exists; there are only images. And the other is, of course, sought only within the sensory world. It is true that one cannot find any reality within the human inner life—neither a spiritual nor a physical one; one can find only images. It was not always this way; it is simply so in this age. Therefore, our age is ripe for the development of materialism, because it has become nonsense to say: “I think, therefore I am.” — One would have to say: “I think, therefore I am not!” — That is to say, my thoughts are merely images. In perceiving myself as thinking, I do not exist; rather, I am merely an image. But this very quality of being an image is what gives me the possibility of developing freedom.

[ 13 ] This, in turn, is a fact that—for those who, I might say, view life through certain guiding principles—is already revealed even externally through outward phenomena. The truth of this fact only becomes fully apparent when one turns once more to the science of initiation, the true spiritual science. There, you need only consider the fact that people today, insofar as they are engaged in intellectual or scientific activity, essentially rely very heavily on concepts inherited from an earlier time.

[ 14 ] This fact is particularly striking, once again, in one specific polar phenomenon. If you consider the views on secret societies held by the English-speaking population—as they have spread to the rest of the world’s population—you will find that within these secret societies, the ancient is emphasized with a certain predilection. The more one can emphasize in this realm that a certain rite or dogma is ancient, the more—forgive the trivial expression—one licks one’s fingers with delight. And if someone wants to particularly captivate people with some such secret science, they present it at the very least as Rosicrucian or even Egyptian. But it must be old—something ancient. And that also corresponds quite closely to the fact that, in these societies, knowledge actually developed in the present is not cultivated, I would say. Certainly, some things are also researched directly, albeit according to the rules of old, antiquated spiritual science. But against something like what is being pursued here—against spiritual science developed directly from the impulses of the present—against such a thing, this side turns with all its might. So it is simply the tradition of these extreme phenomena. But anyone who does not view today’s natural science thoughtlessly, but can grasp it inwardly in terms of its mode of conception, knows that all the concepts with which natural science works, indeed all its ideas—not the individual laws of nature, but the forms of the laws of nature—with the exception of Goetheanism, which is an entirely new phenomenon, but in common, trivial modern science, are essentially inherited concepts. The experiments contain something new, the observations contain something new, but the concepts are never new; they are inherited. But if one now draws the attention of one or the other of these schools to this reality, they become terribly angry—truly angry, in fact. For they will deny this origin.

[ 15 ] Where, then, does modern thinking—which considers itself the most enlightened—actually come from? It is merely the offspring of an ancient religion. Certainly, religious beliefs have been cast aside: people no longer believe in Zeus or Yahweh—and some do not believe in Christ either. But the way of thinking that prevailed in the times when people believed in Zeus, Yahweh, Ormuzd, and Osiris—that way of human thinking—has remained. Today it is applied to oxygen, hydrogen, electrons, ions, or Hertzian waves—the object makes no difference—the way of thinking is the same. Only through spiritual science can a new way of thinking be applied to the supersensible world as well as to the sensible world. And, as I have often mentioned, Goethe laid a fundamental foundation for the natural sciences with his morphology, which is why it is also opposed by antiquated views. Goethe also laid the groundwork with his physics. But the fruitfulness of this foundation is still little recognized today.

[ 16 ] So one works with what remains. And that is, after all, understandable; for in an age when consciousness is not filled with elements of reality, but only with reflections, consciousness itself cannot arrive at any particular content if it is left to rely solely on itself as ordinary, everyday consciousness.

[ 17 ] And again, the religious way of thinking—how was it acquired? Well, that is a childish notion—to believe that the ancient “theologians” had—as today’s philosophers do with their inherited ideas—speculated their way through the matters of the Old Testament, or that the more recent theologians had speculated their way through the matters of the New Testament. That is a childish way of thinking. What appears in the Old and New Testaments, as well as in the religious texts of various peoples, goes back to supersensible perceptions—but ultimately only to ancient supersensible perceptions. This was revealed through supersensible knowledge. And in taking these depictions from the supersensible world, one has also adopted the thought forms, so that today the earnest zoologist and the earnest clinician, without being aware of it, work with the thought forms and modes of conception that the visionaries of the Old and New Testaments developed in their own way. And from the visions that the visionary had developed, he also formed his mode of imagination. This is something that naturally annoys people today when one tells them: “Even if you are zoologists or physiologists—and you certainly work in a different field—you are still working with the thought forms that stem from the visions of the ancient prophets or the visions of the evangelists.” — For what has been developed over the course of the last four centuries since the emergence of Copernicanism and Galileanism in terms of actual concepts, indeed forms of conception, and certain ways of thinking—that is still very little. And it is precisely this that is used as a foundation for rediscovering the paths to supersensible knowledge through genuine anthroposophically oriented spiritual science. That is why, as early as the 1980s, in my introductory writings on Goethe’s Morphology, I pointed this out emphatically—and had it printed in bold—that I must regard Goethe as the Copernicus and Kepler of the organic world, in order to indicate the path that leads directly into the supersensible realms, yet springs from the fertile ground that has been laid in this way. Thus, the old visionary—that is, the old atavistic, supersensible perception—is the source of the modes of imagination that still haunt people’s minds today. Throughout this entire development of human consciousness, it is precisely the old creators, the spirits of form, who are at work. They revealed themselves to the supersensibly developed consciousness. For those who are immersed in the new spiritual life, it is no longer these spirits that reveal themselves, but rather the spirits of the personality.

[ 18 ] You might now ask me: What difference does that make? This difference becomes apparent precisely within the science of initiation. That is why the modern scholar of the spiritual sciences still stands very much at odds with the general consciousness—even with the general scientific consciousness—because this scientific consciousness has only a faint glimmer of Galileanism, Copernicanism, and Goetheanism within it, in a very elementary way, but is still generally dominated by the way of thinking of the ancient visionaries. This is the distinctive feature of these spirits of form, who gave rise to the ancient visions: that they enlivened within human beings the ideas that were active in the ancient religions—ideas that have remained active in Christianity to this day. This is what is distinctive: as these spirits of form—who were called creators—revealed themselves, they first revealed themselves through imaginations—imaginations that arise spontaneously within human beings. That was the next mode of revelation for these spirits of form. And from such imaginations arose the concepts of all the ancient religions. You know that imagination is the first stage of supersensible knowledge; then comes inspiration, and then intuition. But all those who, in the ancient sense, sought to attain supersensible knowledge set out from imagination, for they had to find the path to these spirits of form.

[ 19 ] Today, one finds the path to the spirits of personality. There is a tremendous difference here. For these spirits of personality do not give imaginations to those who wish to reach them; rather, one must work out the imaginations oneself—one must meet the spirits of personality halfway. With the spirits of form, there was no need to meet them halfway. One could, as one might say, be a divinely gifted person: then the spirits of form would bestow their images upon one in a visionary manner. Many still seek this path today, for it is more convenient—precisely because it can now only be attained through pathological means. Humanity has evolved, and what was psychological in ancient times is now pathological. Everything visionary and everything based on involuntary imaginations is now pathological and drags people down below their proper level. What is required today of a person who wishes to advance toward the science of initiation—or, more accurately, toward the initiatory worldview—is that they consciously cultivate their imaginations; for the spirits of the personality do not provide them with imaginations—they must offer them to these spirits. Yet the opposite still occurs today. When you develop valid imaginations, when you work out valid imaginations for yourself, then on your path of supersensible knowledge you encounter the spirits of the personality, and you sense the power that seeks to validate these imaginations for you, to make them objective.

[ 20 ] At the most basic level, the approach of today’s spiritual researcher is generally to attempt to derive his imaginations from the most reliable and best insights of modern science. That is why I have always emphasized that modern natural science is the best preparation for spiritual research as well. For it offers the opportunity to rise to fruitful mental images, especially when practiced in the Goethean sense. But of course, one can create images that are merely fantastical; one can cobble together all sorts of things into arbitrary imaginations. These imaginations that one creates must first be verified by the spirits of the personality coming to meet one with inspirations and intuitions. And one does indeed receive inspirations and intuitions from the spirits of the personality. One knows quite precisely: You are in connection with those spirits who reveal themselves from the gray depths of the spirit of today’s humanity, but they remain fruitless for you if you do not offer them a language in return. — For these spirits keep the imaginations to themselves. The spirits of form present the imaginations to those with supersensible perception; the spirits of personality keep the imaginations to themselves, and one must communicate with them just as one must communicate with human beings—by forming thoughts that they, too, have, but these thoughts must pass from one to the other and from the other back to one through mutual interaction. Thus one would have to engage in free interaction with the spirits of personality. The entire inner structure of spiritual life changes. That which was involuntary—and which underlay the old revelations—itself flows into a certain impulse that is experienced in free activity. Those who do not wish to float on the surface of world events, but rather wish to engage with what can truly unfold, follow these world events today in such a way that they become aware—perhaps at first through things lying entirely on the surface—that a new world plan is seeking to be realized, that, in a sense, something spiritual is seeking to unfold behind the events that can be observed externally. This is what one can, I would say, sense emerging from world events, but it remains at the level of very vague notions.

[ 21 ] Especially in the realm of social life, some people may feel that something is about to come to pass, that something is about to happen; but if one is to understand what is about to happen, one must counter this desire for action with that which one can only achieve through one’s own efforts. What I have presented to you as a kind of—but only a kind, because it is not a program but reality—necessary social impulse has been gained in this way. That is why I can always say: It is not something contrived, nor is it something formed out of some ideal—what is called an “ideal” today—but rather it is that which seeks to realize itself and will indeed realize itself, merely expressed in concepts. But one cannot put it into concepts unless one first cultivates the ability to arrive at images that are then verified, validated, and substantiated by the spirits of the personality that are weaving the new world plan.

[ 22 ] This modern development demands that we be able to commit ourselves to shed everything that is antiquated—including everything in mainstream science that is antiquated—and truly find our way into the new forms of thought, so that within these new forms of thought we do not arrive at antiquated visions, but rather at imaginations built up with full will, which we then hold up against the objective spiritual events of the world and have verified by them. This is such a radical departure from all earlier forms of supersensible knowledge that the many people who rely on earlier forms of supersensible knowledge are resisting this absolute transformation of all supersensible knowledge with all their might. For it demands of people who wish to perceive the supersensible something that is radical, primordial, and elemental—something that seeks to penetrate to the very sources and that must and will settle accounts with everything that is—whether consciously or unconsciously—outdated. That is why so little value is placed, within the spiritual science presented here, on all that has been handed down. What has been handed down is certainly venerable, but we have simply reached a turning point in human development where, with regard to such matters, we must thoroughly recognize that what has been handed down has run its course and that something new must be acquired. Therefore, within a spiritual science that truly takes today’s circumstances into account, there can be no talk of the old faith, nor can there be any reference to the so-called Architect of All Worlds. For both belong solely to the outer consciousness. When one arrives at that consciousness which is acquired outside the body and outside the course of life—a consciousness that truly resides within the spiritual realm—then will and imagination flow together again into a single reality. And that which is merely architecture—that is, merely form—that which consists of lifeless forms and lifeless symbols, is imbued with inner life. And that which is merely dark, blind faith becomes knowledge—concrete, evolving knowledge. Both unite; both become something living. This is what humanity must experience. The old symbols, the old rites—they must be perceived as antiquated; the entire old way of thinking must be perceived as antiquated. For what are rigid forms must receive life.

[ 23 ] Just think how much work is still done today using antiquated concepts! Certainly, they can still be put to good use in many areas. But humanity would become frozen, paralyzed, and withered if what is antiquated did not give way to something else that contains inner life. We can no longer continue working under the symbol of mere world architecture in rigid form, in traditional symbols, in traditional dogmas; rather, that which is meant to bring human beings together with the world must become something immediately alive.

[ 24 ] Even in the early stages of Christian development, for example, Christianity itself was not yet based on a living foundation. I have often pointed out that the very first writers on Christianity drew upon ancient Egyptian-Chaldean science. Even the dates, of course, are not historically established. For example, the dates that determine the festivals—the year of the birth and death of Jesus Christ—are calculated astrologically; the entire Book of Revelation is based on astrology. In ancient times, this was alive, but today it is dead—merely a matter of calculation, of course. It will only come alive again when things are once more perceived as living—that is, when, for example, the year of the birth of Jesus Christ is not calculated from the stars, but is perceived with that kind of vision that can be attained today in the manner described. That is when things come to life. Life today does not consist in calculating whether one star is in opposition to another, in conjunction, and so on, but in experiencing what these oppositions are in a living way, in grasping them inwardly, not through external mathematics. This is not meant to raise any particular objection to this external mathematics. It can, of course, shed light on many things—though it can also cast darkness on many others—but it is not what lies at the heart of what is truly necessary for humanity today. Nor can things be carried on in the old way; they would merely produce something withered, something that paralyzes human development. But of course, when modern people judge such matters, the fact always plays a role that by adopting that mode of thought, one does not need to be a supersensible knower oneself — common sense certainly makes the understanding of spiritual science possible — but that this way of thinking can only be acquired through an arduous process, whereas one can very comfortably adopt the old traditions and methods, and, of course, believe in church dogmas even more comfortably.

[ 25 ] Now, however, we are faced with the fact that we have frequently discussed from various perspectives: This transformation taking place in the human soul signifies, on the one hand, the radiant manifestation of the spirits of personality; inwardly, it signifies the emergence of the impulse toward freedom from the “depths of the soul,” which is reflected in all that now so urgently presents itself to humanity as the great demands of humankind. One can only understand these social demands if one is able to take this development of the human soul’s constitution into account. Recall a remark I made yesterday: that people today—at most, I said—are beginning to sense their true self through their contact with other people. The person of old understood “Know thyself” in relation to the outer world. It is different for supersensible knowledge, but in the external world—the world in which we live between birth and death and with ordinary consciousness—the people of ancient times had something real to refer to when they spoke of their “I.” Modern people have only a reflection of the true “I”; they have something that radiates from the true “I,” especially when they come into contact with other people; the other person, who is connected to them karmically or in some other way, actually gives them something real. To put it bluntly—and this is a defining characteristic of people today—: We are inwardly hollow with regard to the reality of our “I.” We are all inwardly hollow, and we really ought to admit this to ourselves. If we truly and honestly look back on our lives, we will find just how much more significant the influences that other people have had on us are than what we supposedly achieved on our own. Modern human beings achieve very little on their own unless they acquire knowledge from supersensible sources. Externally, they do not need to be clairvoyant to do so—people today are compelled toward sociality because they are, in reality, only truly present in the other, in their relationship to the other. And this will become so strong toward the sixth post-Atlantean epoch—which has its embryonic impulses today precisely in Russia—that it will then be regarded as an axiom: No individual’s happiness is possible without the happiness of the whole, just as a single organ in a human being cannot function unless the whole is actually functioning. —This will later be regarded as an axiom simply by virtue of the fact of consciousness. We are still a long way from that—so please, you can still rest easy; you can still regard your personal happiness as something that is possible for a long time to come, even if this personal happiness is built upon a certain amount of unhappiness—but that is the direction, the current, in which humanity will develop. It is simply the way that today, when you have a cold, you have to cough. Just as that is unpleasant, so too will it give rise to unpleasant states of mind in a few millennia if any individual in the world wants to have happiness without others having it as well. This thorough reorganization of humanity is inherent in human development, and it is rumbling through social demands today. That is precisely the path that the human psyche is taking.

[ 26 ] In earlier times, people were able to look within themselves and still find something real even in the life they live between birth and death. Today, materialism is actually not without justification for this life between birth and death, if we look only at the human being from the outside; for within what is experienced by the human being with ordinary consciousness between birth and death, we are dealing only with material facts. The supersensible facts underlie it all; but as I said yesterday: these supersensible facts come to a halt soon after birth and allow human life to unfold materially until death, at which point the supersensible once again breaks free from within the person. It is not mere charlatanism that today’s natural science is materialistic; rather, it is an instinctive reckoning with what is actually given in human beings today. It is just that one does not look beyond life between birth and death. As soon as one looks beyond, natural science naturally comes to an end. Human beings must first immerse themselves in this purely material life so that they can acquire the spiritual independently of it. And so, in order to understand what is pulsating at the very heart of our time’s most pressing demands, it is simply necessary to look into this transformation of the human soul’s condition. One cannot observe it unless one is willing to observe it through the science of initiation.