The Rudolf Steiner Archive

39. Man's Original Sin. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” The Vitalizing Force of Childhood Energies

[ 1 ] When we begin, in Theosophy, to familiarize ourselves with the nature of the human being and its various parts, we are only making a start; and it would be a fatal mistake if the belief were to spread that knowledge of the elementary teachings of Theosophy alone is sufficient to know everything one needs to know from the spiritual world for the future and progress of humanity. It is true that one must first know the basic principles, but one must also realize that Theosophy must become a way of life; this, however, cannot be conveyed by abstract ideas and concepts, but only through a deeper exploration of how these truths relate to the nature of the human being and how the various aspects interact and influence one another. The following conclusion arises from this:

[ 2 ] This interaction among the limbs changes across different cultural epochs; in ancient Egyptian life, the limbs would have interacted with one another quite differently than they do today; human beings have changed since that time; therefore, we must say something different today than what was told to students back then. Furthermore, we must realize that this applies not only to the different physical constitutions in the various cultural epochs, but also changes during the course of an individual’s life at different stages of development.

[ 3 ] You know that a child’s consciousness differs from later consciousness [simply because] the child expresses the distinctiveness of its consciousness by not saying “I” to itself. There are, admittedly, philologists who wish to obscure this; yet people must break the habit of believing in such modern “wisdom.” One can read other absurd things in such books, for example, that thinking is learned first and then speaking, when in fact it is precisely the opposite: people learn to think through language. Let us now turn our attention to the other aspect of the child’s consciousness. Up to a certain age, a person is in a special state of consciousness characterized by the fact that, at this particular point, the thread of memory breaks off. Consciousness was certainly present before that, but it did not encompass the “I.” Before this point, the “I” behaves quite differently than it does later. In the early years, the “I” is like an outer aura; the more this outer “I” aura draws inward into the child’s body, the more the child perceives itself as an “I.”

[ 4 ] The brain is still imperfect when a human being comes into existence; the “I” perfects the organism. One might say: We are not yet wise enough to be able to work on the brain, but this process is guided by the wisdom of entirely different forces. The child’s “I” can work so wisely because it is connected to the spiritual world as long as it is an outer aura; it is integrated into what we have come to know as the higher worlds. It is true in the deepest sense, as has been said before, that the wisest person can learn a great deal from a child; [the child’s soul] is, like a telephone line to the spiritual world, this childlike aura; the actions of the spiritual hierarchies weave their way into it. As soon as a person falls prey to the illusion that his ego is confined within this body, the connection to the spiritual world appears to be severed. As long as the ego maintains this connection with the creative world forces, it is productive; later it usurps the creative power, suppressing the spiritually enlivening forces and killing them off. In the childlike “I,” everything lives and works with vitality. There are two kinds of activity in human life: one kind still has an enlivening effect on these primal forces that once shaped our brain, while another part acts more than is necessary to stifle and suppress them.

[ 5 ] In life, we distinguish between actions motivated by an idealistic mindset (even feelings of compassion ensure that we do things that transcend the horizons of selfishness) and those rooted solely in instinct. These two kinds of [actions] are found in every human being at our current stage of cultural development. It is, however, possible to strive for even the most basic actions to become spiritualized; for example: A person comes to recognize the plant as a spiritual being and no longer devours it like an animal, but rather sees in it a connection to the Sun Being; he will then sense how a spiritual element lives within every material process.

[ 6 ] So what is it that strikes us most about idealistic actions? The action always seems quite small compared to the ideal. One need not even say, as Tolstoy did, “The ideal can be recognized by the fact that it cannot be realized in life,” but it becomes clear to us that our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions are more comprehensive than our actions; the action is only a small circle, the ideal a large one.

[ 7 ] With actions driven purely by instinct, the opposite is true; the thought is small, while the actions are all-encompassing. When the actions are greater than the idea, they kill what once enlivened the spirit; they are, in fact, what brings death to a person. Conversely, where the idea is greater, it has a life-giving effect on the self.

[ 8 ] We need to seek this power. In ancient times, [these ideals] flowed down from higher worlds. In today’s materialistic age, the ideals that people once possessed naturally, without any effort on their part, are disappearing more and more. If humanity does not attempt to revive them of its own accord, they will wither away. This development is sweeping over the ideals like a wildfire. Through theosophy, people learn how to consciously re-enter the spiritual world. These two currents will converge in the future. Only a small handful currently feel the urge to approach Theosophy; but among the majority, antipathy prevails, extending even to contempt.

[ 9 ] There is absolutely no way to preserve idealism for the future if people forget what religions and ancient worldviews have given them. This defines the mission of Theosophy. It is an empty phrase to say that ideals would not be lost even without Theosophy.

[ 10 ] There is a certain attraction between early childhood and the drive toward the ideal. Thus, what might be called the vital forces of the world are at work in human nature; but for only three years of our lives do we possess within us what the bearer of self-consciousness will not attain until the actual self has already begun to lose its power.

[ 11 ] Let us remember: The physical body develops during the first seven years; subsequent growth occurs on the basis of the forms that were established during those first seven years. In the next seven years, up to sexual maturity, the etheric body develops its own independent activity. During sexual maturity, up to the age of twenty, the astral body becomes free, followed by the sensory soul; what we call the intellectual or emotional soul does not develop until the age of 28; by then, we have already, in a certain sense, suppressed our true “I.” It might seem to us, then, that it would be better if one could not develop one’s physical powers so freely before the age of 28, but rather if the forces on both sides could interact with one another without any weakening. Had Lucifer and Ahriman not appeared, human beings would stand quite, quite differently in the world; human beings would allow their brains to mature; they would then still have the ability to make this brain, with full consciousness, an instrument of human life.

[ 12 ] But what Lucifer and Ahriman have brought about must be corrected. By the end of Earth’s evolution, human beings must have reached a stage where they are able to consciously develop the kind of high idealism that once lived unconsciously within them through the divine I. Of course, human beings will develop this idealism gradually; they will not be able to do so all at once. This ideal, which human beings are to attain at the end of Earth’s evolution, had to be set before humanity at some point. Human beings can sustain the childlike “I” for three years; that is why the body abandoned by the Jesus-I could sustain the new “I” of Christ—born into it—for only three years. The provident, wise world forces therefore had to provide a body that was just like the body capable of receiving a childlike ego; and it had to be lowered into the human body around the age of thirty—at the time when the human ego has the least connection with the spiritual world, when it has all but completely stifled these spiritual forces; and at the same time, during the period when all of humanity was most cut off from the spiritual world—which is precisely the midpoint of human development.

[ 13 ] And this ideal has been set before humanity: it is Christ Jesus. You have grasped this ideal, so that you understand that John’s baptism in the Jordan represents the emergence of Jesus’s “I” and the entry of the Christ “I.” In a similar way, human beings can establish the connection between the two worlds in the course of their later incarnations. Only in the age when the Christ appeared had the intellectual soul developed to such an extent in humanity that it had completely freed itself from the higher forces. Now we must learn to immerse ourselves, with full consciousness, in all the living forces that we possessed unconsciously during our childhood. (“Unless you become like little children”). What flows into us unconsciously during childhood must later take place within us consciously.

[ 14 ] Animals grow into the posture they assume in life through their innate state of balance; this is not the case with humans; they must first work to achieve an upright gait, and this is a task of the “I”; it is the “I” that first crystallizes this state of balance. The animal is not capable of acquiring knowledge; what is called truth does not exist in the animal. But the “I” gives human beings “the way, the truth, and the life” during the first three years of their lives. The unconscious “I” brings this about. What, then, must a human being say when this is accomplished for their spirit? “I” am the way, the truth, and the life; and unless you become fully conscious in the spirit, just as you were unconsciously in the first three years of life, you cannot enter the kingdoms of heaven. — If we imagine the childlike “I” spiritualized, it must be at work through all subsequent incarnations, and it is the Christ-I.

[ 15 ] Thus, through what took place at the center of Earth’s evolution, the path for humanity’s subsequent incarnations has been laid out. This must become the innermost human experience.

[ 16 ] What happens within each person with regard to these early forces? We kill off the forces of the three-year-old child. If people had not acquired a sufficiently large reserve of wisdom and spiritual strength, they would have withered away long ago as a result of this systematic destruction.

[ 17 ] Only the one individual who had not joined the general course of development—only that one could make the sacrifice on Golgotha. Who killed Christ Jesus on Golgotha? Human beings!—All of them! By assuming a nature such as human nature is. This is the deepest Christian awareness: to know that humanity is guilty of the Mystery on Golgotha and that this event had to occur because of human nature. It was human beings who killed Christ! We have all done it! This has had an effect that cannot be undone! But this realization will lead to the Christ being received into the human soul, so that the Christ may pass over to Jupiter with the people He has saved. Either the portion of humanity that is conscious of this original sin will reign, or the other portion that will not acknowledge this guilt.

[ 18 ] Reading the Gospels does not alone make one a Christian, but rather the realization: “You have killed Christ; you must prepare a place for him.” One can become a Christian by getting to know human nature. Then one can recognize that Christ has already been here, through the infallible means by which a person becomes capable of spiritualizing their own thoughts again.

[ 19] Thoughts have become entirely uncreative. Especially now, when everything has been drained of the life-giving wisdom of the higher worlds. In the first half of the nineteenth century, there were still individuals who had a sense of the connection to the spiritual world. Immanuel Hermann Fichte gathered all the evidence he could find for the spiritual origin of humankind. In one passage, however, he also expresses a sense of original human guilt. He did not go so far as to say, “All people have killed the Christ,” but he did state that people live in darkness. He says: “The time must come when humanity must be guided toward the spiritual world in an entirely different way.”

[ 20 ] We ask ourselves in dismay: Are we truly called to fulfill this premonition? If we cultivate true humility, we can overcome this feeling of dismay. We realize: Christ had to come once so that humanity would have the impetus; but it was possible only once; not multiple Christs have walked the earth or will walk it—that is not true! Try hanging a scale from two points! It must be supported at one point—namely, in the middle—otherwise it will not balance. Thus every occultist says: The Christ had to come once, and specifically in the middle of Earth’s evolution! People will increasingly bring themselves to recognize the significance of this Christ impulse. They will first experience the Damascus event within their hearts and then also outwardly. This will be the Second Coming of Christ, which is not a return in a physical body [...]. Thus, through Theosophy, one of the sayings is fulfilled—a saying against which those who claim that Theosophy is unchristian continually sin, for they assert that it contradicts the Gospels.

[ 21 ] Christ continually sends us his new gospels, for he says: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it yet.” The gospels not found in the four canonical gospels will continue to pour in more and more; the proclamation will never end, precisely to give people what they were not yet able to bear at that time; for Christ has this to say to humanity, and He will say it to them. Blessed are they who receive it!