The Rudolf Steiner Archive

18. The Nature of the Theosophical Movement and Its Relationship to the Theosophical Society

[ 1 ] Today—before I set out on my trip to southern and western Germany—I would like to speak to you once again about the nature of the Theosophical Movement and its relationship to the Theosophical Society, for the Theosophical Movement is of such far-reaching significance that, at the beginning of a new year—which may prove to be a very fruitful one for our work—we may once again reflect on the mission, goals, and methods of this Theosophical Movement.

[ 2 ] The Theosophical Movement is unlike any other contemporary movement; it cannot even remotely be compared to any of them. A wide variety of people have, in fact, viewed this movement—which, in its existence of not yet thirty years, has spread throughout all the civilized countries of the world—in various ways, and have viewed it [in this manner] from the very beginning.

[ 3 ] Ever since the messenger of our great and exalted Masters, Madame Blavatsky, founded this movement, [the movement] has undergone many changes. It has seen people come into its ranks who have since left, and others who, faithful and zealous, have remained with it ever since they joined. There have been members who joined the Theosophical Movement out of curiosity, who came—among many other interesting things one can learn about in the present—to also gain insight into the higher, spiritual worlds.

[ 4 ] However, because the path that the Theosophical Movement can offer people is a sure one, it is also not the easiest, not the most comfortable, and not one that can be completed overnight in such a way that the highest spiritual phenomena immediately present themselves as an absolute truth. [Rather] a zealous striving and a truly intense devotion are necessary. This is why those who join the Theosophical Movement out of curiosity eventually drift away—either because they believe they cannot achieve in a short period of time what they wish to achieve [as if in a storm], or because they believe the Theosophical Movement has nothing to offer them.

[ 5 ] From the outset, the Theosophical Movement has not really counted on such curious individuals, even though curiosity is often a detour leading to the truth and to theosophical knowledge. For many, curiosity later developed into a genuine theosophical quest. Others join the Theosophical Movement to truly undergo an inner spiritual development. They genuinely seek to attain certainty of a spiritual and mental life and to achieve mystical deepening, so as to become an important link in the evolution of humanity. These are already better members. At first, they strive to recognize and experience as much as possible within themselves. In a higher sense, this is still an egoistic pursuit; but even the highest pursuit of knowledge is, after all, an egoistic one and not a selfless one. They also know that this is not the highest goal. But there is a beautiful proverb that characterizes this situation: “When the rose adorns itself, it also adorns the garden.” The detour through this egoism is thus a serious and good one, and those who take it can be worthy and genuine members of the Theosophical Movement. Perhaps they are right to strive for their own perfection, for a person will only become a useful and valuable member of society once they have perfected themselves. What use can the imperfect person be to their fellow human beings; what use can one be who understands so little of life? Only when one is able to look into human hearts and souls, when one is in a position to solve the great mysteries of the world to some extent for oneself, can one intervene in the workings of human life; only then can one truly do something for one’s fellow human beings and for the world. Therefore, self-perfection—the absorption of spiritual insights within oneself—is a true and good path. No one can be accused of being selfish for seeking the path of self-perfection. And whoever remains [faithful] will find that their search within the Theosophical Movement has not been in vain, that the path leads quietly but surely to what they seek. Some may say that there are other paths. These other paths should not be opposed or contested in the slightest. I know how the other spiritual movements serve the world. Not a word of contradiction should come from a true theosophist. That is out of the question.

[ 6 ] But those who seek the Spirit in the highest sense must seek it through self-knowledge. Everyone carries the Spirit within themselves, and it is ultimately of no use to seek spiritual knowledge in the outside world if one is not willing to recognize, in the truest sense of the word, the most accessible Spirit of all—the Spirit that is within ourselves. There are many who seek to recognize the Spirit through all manner of artificial means, yet in doing so completely forget which Spirit is so infinitely close: it is one’s own soul, one’s own Spirit. We can find it if we are willing to seek it in the right way. But it lies deep within the human being. We must seek it deeper and deeper within the layers of our own inner being. For what dwells within us is, after all, the very same thing that dwells in the world as the spiritual and the soulful. The God who creates in the world—who has been creating in the world for millions of years—that God is to be found in the human heart. And just as the naturalist studies the world outside—seeking to understand the physical forces of stones, plants, animals, and human beings—so too can no one truly recognize the soul or the spirit unless they truly study the soul and the spirit in the world. And the Spirit, which has created in the world eternally and will continue to create eternally, dwells within us as a reflection, as a mirror image. We continue to evolve ever further toward this Spirit; our own soul continues to expand ever further.

[ 7 ] Thus, the theosophical quest is nothing other than the quest to become aware of the creative soul and spirit entities in the world. What we carry within us today—what we find when we descend into the layers of our soul life—is what we ourselves once created and developed. If we could go back—and the theosophist gradually learns to go back to times far, far in the past—then we would find those same soul forces building the world structure before there was even any physical matter out there. And we would find the Spirit, which lives within us as a spark, creating out in the world before there were any chemical or physical forces. Spiritual and divine forces were at work there. And this spiritual existence is higher than all physical being, than all bodily existence; and not only higher, but older than the bodily existence.

[ 8 ] Thus we descend into ourselves and draw from our own hearts and the layers of our souls the primordial riddle and its solution, through which the world itself came into being. Whoever delves into theosophy and descends into the layers of their own soul and spiritual life will find there the forces that were at work before any eye had seen or any ear had heard. Before fire, air, and water existed on our Earth, soul and spirit were in the heavens and brought all of this into being. We find something enduring and superior to the physical realm when we descend into these layers of our heart and spirit. And then we bring up from there not what is within ourselves, but the formative forces of the world. The great teachers and all those you have come to know among the great souls and spirits descended into the innermost depths of the human being. In this way, they not only came to know themselves, but they also had their gaze opened to the stars and the infinite.

[ 9 ] Through self-knowledge, we are also able to understand how the worlds came into being and where humankind originated; and through self-knowledge, we can also draw from the spiritual realms an understanding of humankind’s goals—both distant and near—and our mission in the world. What we know about the formation of planets, cycles, and races; what we know about solar bodies and solar systems; and what we know about the emergence of living beings from the solar system and the celestial bodies—all of this has been gained through self-knowledge, through that self-knowledge which has struggled to recognize within its own spirit what it is today, what has been drawn into it over the course of eons. What is present within it today leads us to the realization of what has always been present within it—present within it and at the same time out in the world.

[ 10 ] When you look at a tree, it has growth rings. But you must first cut through the trunk to see the growth rings. In the same way, the soul has its own rings for those who can perceive them. Each year adds such a ring. The soul has passed through the cycles, the rounds, and the races, and everywhere it has added such an annual ring. People do not see this today. But once they have become able to see, they perceive what remains as the result of this development. This is the path of self-knowledge, of self-perfection. Thus, through self-knowledge, the world opens up. Thus, through this self-knowledge, a person comes to know his or her task. And then he or she comes to grasp [the task] of the Theosophical Movement.

[ 11 ] And this is the insight that presents itself to us: that the Theosophical Movement is a necessity for present and future humanity. I can only hint at what I have often stated. Other races preceded our race; other races that still possessed spiritual knowledge. The Lemurian race—although it was not as advanced in intellect and imagination and was subsequently destroyed by fire—still had a direct connection with the spiritual beings of the world; there was a direct awareness of human beings. Humanity has lost its spiritual insight because it was called upon to develop its intellect, because it was called upon to shape the intellect through the senses.

[ 12 ] The Lemurian race was succeeded by the Atlantean race. The Atlanteans, too, were still capable of establishing a spiritual connection with other beings superior to themselves. We know that small colonies of Lemurians were brought over to the Atlanteans to form a new ancestral race. And we also know that when the floods began to break in—which led to the destruction of the Atlantean continent—the Manu sent a small group out to the heart of Asia. And as ancient Atlantis approached its twilight, the Manu led his small group—which was to form the foundation of our race—into the Gobi or Shamo Desert. There they were protected from the decadent inhabitants who remained of the Atlanteans and Lemurians. And so the first subrace of our race was formed. It migrated westward. The other races remained behind. We ourselves are descended from this small group. Our fifth root race will not meet its end through fire or water; rather, our present race will experience its twilight in a different way, in order to be led over to a new stage, to a new existence. The theosophist learns to foresee this stage and lays the groundwork for the future of humanity, for the coming race. The struggle for existence will be the form of our downfall

[ 13 ] The race. It will be saved in a small group. This group will be made up of those who have recognized for themselves that they must lead, and who have sought to rediscover their soul and spirit.

[ 14 ] Unlike in times past, we must act in the present. In times past, people were separated into small cultural regions, and each culture could only exert its influence within a small area. Even during the ancient Indian civilization—as well as during the Persian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations—people were confined to smaller territories. Now the entire Earth has become our home. Our technology, which defines the greatness of our race, spans the entire globe. There are no longer any divisions. Goods produced far away from us are distributed throughout the world. The Earth has become a shared home. People can no longer be distinguished by individual skin colors, races, or climates; they now exchange not only goods but also opinions.

[ 15 ] Nothing can exist solely for a small handful of people anymore. Today we have a new mission through which we can all grow into a new future. It is up to the Theosophical Movement to grasp this.

[ 16 ] The leaders of humanity during the beginning and course of [the first subrace] of the fifth root race were the Rishis in India, about whom today’s researchers know virtually nothing; only those who have attained insight into the higher worlds through mystical knowledge can speak of them. They created that wondrous culture of which Vedic culture is but a faint reflection. Everything we know of Vedic culture arose much later. For those capable of observing the world spiritually, a time reveals itself of which no historical record speaks—a time when, in ancient India, divinely gifted spirits, the Rishis, taught directly. That was a national culture.

[ 17 ] Next comes a culture that is, in turn, limited to a single country: the ancient Persian, Zoroastrian culture. There have been seven Zoroastres. The Zoroaster who is commonly referred to is the seventh. He is the incarnation of all the earlier Zoroastres. What is preserved in the books of the Persian religion was not recorded until much later. Here we look back on a second inspired religious creed in our racial development.

[ 18 ] We now proceed westward. There we encounter the marvelous Egyptian culture, a culture about which books have told us. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a product of the culture of Hermes. Then we come to Greece and Italy, to the primordial Orphic culture that arose on European soil and from which we still draw sustenance. Then we ascend to the sublime religion of the founder of Christianity and finally enter our own time.

[ 19 ] We have thus surveyed a series of human religious creeds that originated with individual great religious founders. For us, these great and exalted founders are nothing other than members of a spiritual community of beings and individualities who stand far above humanity—so far above that today we can only look up with admiration and humility to the great ones who provided the spiritual [impulses] for our development. But at the same time that we look up to them, we know that we, too, are called to rise to such clarity and spirituality. The holy men have emerged from what we call the Lodge of the Sublime Leaders of Humanity.

[ 20 ] Those who brought Egyptian culture then migrated westward, and when they came to the West—to Europe—as emissaries, they imparted to the peoples the insights that were appropriate to their circumstances. The White Lodge worked in such a way that every people could understand it. Each people needed something specific over the course of time. Each people was confined to a limited geographical area. What, for example, did the ancient Indians know about what was happening in Europe? They lived under very specific social conditions. The great initiates spoke to them in the way they needed to hear it. And so they spoke to all peoples.

[ 21 ] Today, humanity is called upon to become one family; today, people are called upon to engage in exchange—not only of goods, but also of what people recognize as truth. What the ancient Rishis taught is no longer hidden from humanity. Thus, it had become necessary for the Exalted Ones of the Great White Lodge to speak to humanity once more. The same beings who were once active in the founding of ancient Hinduism, the same beings who were active in the founding of ancient Zoroastrianism and in the founding of the religion of the Egyptians, therefore had to speak to humanity in a new form, in a new sense; the same being who once provided the body for the Christ Deity so that He might work here on Earth: Jesus of Nazareth. That is why these beings speak in such a way that their language makes no distinction between race and language, nor between gender and social status. There can be no more exclusive covenants; rather, humanity must have something in common. And such a common ground is our theosophical teaching, through which we evolve toward the new race. That is the meaning, the spirit, of the modern theosophical movement.

[ 22 ] Those who view this Theosophical Movement as the spoken word of those who, from the dawn of humanity, have [bestowed] [wisdom and] harmony of feelings—those who know that Theosophy is nothing other than the pioneering movement that can pave the way for a new humanity, one that is to bring happiness to mankind. One understands the Theosophical Movement correctly who believes that all the great questions knocking at the door must be resolved through the central Theosophical Movement.

[ 23 ] One seeks salvation through a social movement, another through a spiritualist movement, yet another through a moral movement, and still another through a reform of food and drink. All [such movements] are great, significant, and useful. However, they are merely preparatory. They will only bear fruit once they have become branches of the great Theosophical Movement. Nothing can be achieved through external improvements in food, industry, or manual labor, but only by advancing the souls. Anyone who has carefully studied all these movements knows how they must converge into the Theosophical Movement.

[ 24 ] Ask those around you not to be so cruel to others in the struggle for existence, but to behave toward others as you would like them to behave toward you—then it will be bearable. But if you raise the banner of “struggle,” you will achieve nothing. Salvation can be found only through love, through union, through the harmony of all our souls. Only when we have once again realized that we are all spiritual beings, that our souls and spirits are sparks of the primordial fire, and that our calling is to unite within this primordial fire—only then will we work for the salvation of our future. Then we will live on into the time into which we must live on—a time that we must also shape. And that will depend on the work we do on our own souls.

[ 25 ] Many demand that people change: this class, that social group must change; people are needed to be different. People fight against them. But who can guarantee that such a struggle will ever succeed? One thing, however, must succeed: We can never go wrong if we improve our own inner selves, if each of us begins to reform our own inner selves—in other words, if each of us makes ourselves better. In this endeavor, there can be no distinction based on class, race, social status, or gender. And that is the essence of the Theosophical Movement, which makes it a great movement of the future. This is what the exalted beings have taught us, speaking to us in tones that hold the promise of the future. Many have joined the Theosophical Movement and ask: “You tell us that so-called ‘Masters’ stand at the head of the Movement; but we do not see these Masters.”—That is not surprising. Do not think that it is the will of the Masters not to come down among you themselves and speak to you. If they could, if they were allowed to—every one of them would do so. But I would like to give you just a small idea of why the Master must be separated from those he loves, and why he must seek messengers who, through their physical words, proclaim his message.

[ 26 ] The laws by which the world and humanity are governed are infinitely beyond what the average person of today can conceive. Only those who act solely in the service of these sublime laws of the universe—after having recognized them—can guide humanity in spiritual and mental matters. The Master sees not only years, but centuries and millennia. He sees into distant times in the future. The teachings he imparts are those that humanity should strive toward in order to advance. The Master does not impart idle teachings for the sake of curiosity, but teachings of great love for humanity that will lead to humanity’s happiness in the future.

[ 27 ] Look at people—how they live, how they are dependent on a thousand little things in their daily lives. And I do not even wish to point out the thousand little things of the day, but only how they are dependent on space and time, how they find it difficult to form a free judgment, to admit to themselves what is necessary for the betterment of their fellow human beings. Countless thousands and millions of considerations to which a person is bound every hour make it impossible for them to form a free, independent judgment. Only when one can follow the innermost voice of the divine within is one called to lead, guide, and direct people. The Master can do this.

[ 28 ] Very few can even begin to form a mental image of the magnitude of the freedom of judgment—unbound by any constraints—that the Master must exercise. Only as a faint glimmer, a dim reflection, can we express in the physical realm what the Masters express from their exalted seat.

[ 29 ] Consideration must be given to country, culture, and education. Only in a refracted beam can that which the divine guide conveys as the great law of the universe reach humanity. Only the one who is able to listen to the Master without the slightest contradiction stirring in his heart—who pays no heed to time and space but devotes his ear entirely to the Master in perfect, devotional surrender—only such a one is called to hear the Master; one who does not respond to everything with “yes, but,” but knows that the Master speaks from the Divine.

[ 30 ] Everyone must fall silent in the face of divine truths. We must put an end to what is most widespread today: the insistence on our own judgment. The Master does not impose his judgment on us, but he seeks to inspire us. As long as we engage in criticism, we remain bound by time and space, and as long as that is the case, the Master’s voice cannot reach our ears. When we acquire that detachment from everything that binds us to the personal, the transient, and the fleeting—when we leave these concerns behind, create for ourselves, as it were, moments of contemplation in life, tear ourselves away, detach ourselves from what surrounds us, and listen only to the inner voice—then those moments arrive in which the Master can speak to us. Those who have attained that great freedom have also attained the possibility of having a Master themselves; they have reached the point of having the certainty that they exist within the light-bathed glory of these exalted beings.

[ 31 ] They have grown accustomed to the saying, “Test everything and keep what is best,” for those who wish to approach the Master must break this habit. This leads to establishing principles about things one truly already knows. But if one wishes to learn, this principle ceases to apply. Who is to decide what is best? Those who possess it, or those who have recognized it? We should not become unjudgmental or uncritical, but rather be able to put ourselves in a truly independent frame of mind if we wish to ascend to these sublime heights.

[ 32 ] Above all, this is something that must flow through the theosophist as a feeling. And as he becomes more and more imbued with this feeling, he himself will be led up to the heights where the Master can speak to him.

[ 33 ] Do not ask: Why are the Masters in secluded places? For it is true that in St. Petersburg, Berlin, London, and so on, the Masters are present and are available to speak to those who wish to speak with them and are able to do so—to those who have attained the necessary state of mind through inner self-mastery. If the Theosophist imbues himself with this state of mind, he becomes a member of that part of humanity that is being led upward toward a new, elevated existence. And because this is the case, the Theosophical Movement is also the most practical movement we can have at the present time. Many, of course, object that it is idealistic, fanciful, and impractical.

[ 34 ] Well, ladies and gentlemen, a little reflection may teach you that this movement need not be impractical simply because many practical people—that is, people who call themselves that—consider it impractical. But take a look at the people who consider themselves so practical. There is something peculiar about such people who have deemed themselves so practical. A few examples of what the “practical” people did in the 19th century may illustrate this. For example, well into the mid-19th century, the “practical” people had a highly impractical postal system. With this postal system, the “practical” people, just as they do today, insisted on their own practical approach. But then a schoolteacher in England came along and invented the postage stamp. He was an “impractical” idealist named Hill. At the head of the English postal service was a “practical” person named [Lord Lichfield]. He declared in Parliament that the introduction of the postage stamp would never work. He said: The “practical person” knows that this won’t work. Mail volume might increase, but then there wouldn’t be enough post offices, so the whole thing is a bad idea. — That was roughly the response to such an “impractical” invention as the postage stamp.

[ 35 ] Similarly, Gauss had already invented an electromagnetic telegraph in the first third of the 19th century. It was never put into use. It was the idealists who made the inventions, and the pragmatists who refused to provide the funding.

[ 36 ] The same was true of the railroad. What did the practical-minded people do when the railroad was to be built? Postmaster Nagler said at the time: “Why do we need a railroad? I already send sixteen buses to Potsdam every day, and nobody rides them. So what’s the point of a railroad?” Added to this was the statement by the Bavarian Medical Council regarding the construction of railroads. The document can still be viewed today. They argued that no railroads should be built, because people would suffer concussions if they rode them; at the very least, the railroad tracks would have to be surrounded on both sides by wooden fences so that the people it passed by would not suffer concussions or sustain any other harm.

[ 37 ] None of humanity’s great achievements have ever sprung from the minds of those who consider themselves practical people. Practical people have no understanding of true human progress. Only when a person rises to the level of the great cultural forces that spring from the spirit and the soul—only when he is under spiritual guidance—can he provide humanity with great impetus. Unconsciously, these inventors were influenced by the Masters. Without the chemist in the laboratory or factory even realizing it, he is influenced by the spiritual hierarchy of the Masters, whom we are to come to know even more closely through the Theosophical Movement. The Theosophical Movement will intervene in the immediate events of the day; it will not merely live in people’s minds and hearts. Yes, it will live in the hearts, but it will inspire people right down to their fingertips and transform their entire lives. Then it will be the most practical movement, one that directly influences what surrounds us every hour, indeed every minute.

[ 38 ] This is not said by someone who seeks to preach the movement out of fanaticism, but by someone who is called to do so. We have gone through many errors; we have sought in the world the factors that bring about social progress, but we have come to realize that progress must be sought in the soul, that progress must spring from the soul—even for that which is put into practice. When this is kept in mind, we unite in the right way within the Theosophical Society.

[ 39 ] The Theosophical Society is merely the external instrument for those who believe they must participate in the cultural movement prescribed by the Theosophical Movement. When the Masters are asked what one must do to come into contact with them, they reply: One finds a connection through the Theosophical Society; through this, one holds the key to eligibility. That which comes alive within us—that is what the Theosophical Movement is all about. The teachings we disseminate are the means to kindle the [inner] life within human beings. For those who speak to their fellow human beings, it is not the word itself that has an effect, but rather that which mysteriously flows through the word. It is not merely sound waves, but the spiritual power that is meant to flow toward us through the word. Through this spiritual power, the word—the power of the Masters, the great guides—works upon us so that we may be united in spirit and our hearts may beat as one. This is what matters: that we feel in harmony with one another, that we feel within ourselves; when the current weaves from heart to heart, from soul to soul, the power that stands behind us flows through them.

[ 40 ] It all comes down to one’s attitude. That is why we work in our branches with this attitude; that is why the Masters teach us that we should not acquire knowledge out of curiosity, merely to know more and more, but so that we may unite in the harmony of feelings. That is why we will never leave Theosophical meetings the way one leaves other gatherings. Annie Besant once stated that it is out of place to complain, saying, “How little I gained from this meeting again today!”—That is not what matters. The Theosophist should not ask, “How boring was it?”—but rather, we should ask, “How boring was I?” —We do not come together to learn, but rather we work with the soul, with the spirit, as we create thought-forms that are in harmony with one another. Every Theosophical Society meeting, every branch, should be an accumulator of power. Each such branch exerts an influence on the surrounding area. Spiritual power does not need anyone to carry the message outward. The power of such a branch radiates out into the whole world through mysterious waves. Anyone who believes in the spiritual realm will understand this and will know that a powerful movement emanates from such Theosophical Lodges. Every Theosophical Lodge is an invisible force, incomprehensible to some. Yet a preacher teaches differently. No teacher instructs us; there was no connection to a Theosophical Lodge, and yet the spiritual word finds its way to his congregation. Chemists and physicists in the laboratory receive new ideas: this is an effect of the Theosophical Society. Only those who possess the stated mindset, who nurture and cultivate the love and goodness within them—and who attend even when there is no interesting speaker to hear—know that effects exist even where they are not materially visible; they are true Theosophists. Because certain aspects of the Theosophical Movement have stalled, [the Masters] have given us the impetus to speak as I have just spoken to you. This is how it was recently spoken of in England, America, and India as well. This was done on behalf of the Masters, so that we might draw attention to the true spiritual attitude of a Theosophical Lodge. Leadbeater speaks this way in America, Annie Besant in London and in India, and this is how we must speak. It is not a matter of whether we like one person more or less according to our personal standards, but rather that we come together selflessly. Then we do not merely take, but we also give. Above all, we give when we give of our soul. And that is the greatest gift. In this spirit, let us unite within our branch as well. More and more, the Theosophical branches must take on this form: that all criticism and all self-righteousness must be silenced, that we work as positively as possible, and that we work within our souls, as has been instructed.

[ 41 ] If we can be convinced that the effects are not outwardly visible but invisible, then our theosophical outlook will evolve in such a way that we will make the Theosophical Movement what it is meant to be.

[ 42 ] All great spiritual movements have operated in silence. No contemporary accounts of Jesus Christ have been handed down to us. Philo of Alexandria did not bring us any news of the Master. Only later documents bear witness to the Master. Even the Master of the Christian religion was known in his true form only to the great and the faithful. Therein lies his strength and his immensely powerful influence, which is far from exhausted and will continue to have an impact well into the future.

[ 43 ] If you understand what it means to believe in the spiritual essence of words—which need not manifest itself in outward successes—then you understand the profound meaning of the Theosophical Movement. Let us truly take this to heart at the beginning of the new year; let us come together in this spirit, and may this New Year’s greeting flow from every single soul—that we will carry out our theosophical work in accordance with the will of our exalted beings who stand above us.