The Rudolf Steiner Archive

1. Requirements and Conditions for Living Together in the Anthroposophical Society

[ 1 ] My dear friends! Movements such as our Spiritual Science movement have always been cultivated in such a way that efforts were made to foster, through a social association—a society—those elements that were to be instilled in spiritual culture or in culture in general. And just as the conditions of human coexistence and human development remain today as they have been since time immemorial, there is a certain necessity to foster what we recognize as our endeavors in Spiritual Science through the means of a society.

[ 2 ] Now, it is an experience that, essentially, all such societies have had: that the concept of society—as it is necessary for fostering precisely such a spiritual movement—is not easily understood, at least not easily in practice. For time and again, one finds evidence that there are a great many people—just this morning, for example, I received a letter to that effect—who say: they do not really like to join such a community; they would rather absorb the corresponding intellectual content through reading, by attending free lectures not tied to any society, or in other ways; they feel uncomfortable joining such a society.

[ 3 ] Often, the reasons these people put forward are such that one can certainly take them seriously. But one must keep saying: If such a spiritual movement—which necessarily differs greatly in its impulses and in its entire way of thinking, feeling, and willing from the thinking, feelings, and will of people in the wider world—were to be introduced into humanity without such a society, it would be infinitely more difficult than through a society in which the members can prepare themselves, through a corresponding way of living together and the continuous assimilation of spiritual-scientific concepts and mental images, to be a kind of instrument, a kind of tool for the dissemination of such Spiritual Science, such a spiritual current. It follows, however, that the concept of such a society must be taken most seriously, for it is precisely intended—in a practical sense—to prove itself an instrument for the spiritual movement in question.

[ 4 ] Now, my dear friends, all you need to do is take a close look at our society as such, and you will be able to see how different it is, as a society, from other societies or associations that are formed. You will notice this difference, especially when you focus on a specific idea.

[ 5 ] Suppose for a moment that certain events—such as those that have recently affected our souls—might in some way lead us to consider dissolving the Anthroposophical Society as such. Let us assume, as a hypothetical scenario, that someone might wish to dissolve the Society because certain shortcomings have arisen within it. Well, if the Anthroposophical Society were an association like so many others, it could of course be dissolved without further ado and replaced with something else in which these shortcomings would be eliminated. But our Anthroposophical Society differs in one significant respect from other associations or societies, which are very often founded on the basis of a program with so many program points and articles of incorporation. Such an organization can be dissolved at any moment. But, my dear friends, if we were to dissolve the Anthroposophical Society, it would not actually be dissolved. Unlike other societies and associations, we do not have the option of dissolving the Anthroposophical Society just like that. For we, as the Anthroposophical Society—which is a society dedicated to a movement in Spiritual Science—differ from other societies precisely in that we are not founded on program points—that is, on something unreal, merely conceptual—but on reality; we stand on a real foundation. And just consider the most fundamental reality, which is that every member of the Anthroposophical Society is entitled to receive our lecture cycles, whereas other people are not—then you will say to yourself: The moment we were to nominally dissolve the Anthroposophical Society, we would not have eliminated the fact that so many people have our lecture cycles in their possession.

[ 6 ] And another reality is, of course, that so many people possess a certain store of wisdom in their minds. I do not know, however, what percentage of them actually have the ideas presented here in their minds, as opposed to those who have them only in “visions”; but that is not what is essential for the Society. Another reality, then, is that a certain store of wisdom—simply a sum of things of a real nature—exists in the hearts, minds, and souls of those people who have belonged to the Anthroposophical Society up to now. This cannot be taken away from them by the dissolution of the Society.

[ 7 ] The Anthroposophical Society thus differs from other societies in that it does not tolerate anything fantastical within its structure, but is built on a real foundation, so that the decision to dissolve it would not, at this moment, change the actual reality that exists in the slightest. We must keep in mind the gravity of the fact that our Society stands in relation to other societies and associations as reality does to mere fantasy if we are to grasp the concept of our Society correctly. For it is only because, my dear friends, a large number of members have relied—whether more or less consciously or merely intuitively—on this solid, real foundation of our society, which is not based solely on programmatic points, that what we see rising here on this hill has come to be: the construction of a university of Spiritual Science, through which we are henceforth bound, in a certain sense, to something real. Isn’t it true that if a group of dreamers were to come together and decide—I’ll just assume a hypothetical scenario so as not to offend anyone—not to wear collars or ties, and perhaps to simplify life in other ways as well, or to adhere to certain other social principles or—as they might call them— “prejudices”—to wear only sandals and the like, they could just as easily go their separate ways at any time without anything essential changing as a result. But we want to distinguish ourselves from a group of dreamers precisely by facing up to the full gravity of our real foundation.

[ 8 ] And yet another point, my dear friends, is that we—without getting bogged down in semantics—must distinguish between the concept of a society, within which we wish to cultivate our intellectual heritage, and that of an association. And it really must be said that for some of us, when we merely reflect on the conditions of our social existence, the concept of a “society” immediately slips our minds, and the concept of an “association” comes to mind instead. In an association, one generally establishes bylaws, conditions, and so on, which must be observed. In a society like ours, that is not enough. It cannot differ from an association merely in name. In our society—and I have already elaborated on this in recent weeks—the point is that the concept of a “society” is truly taken seriously. This means that everyone is aware that they belong to the society not merely insofar as they have received their membership card and bear the title of “member of the society,” but that they are a member of the society. But this is truly grounded in the very concept of society itself—something that must live among the members as something both indefinite and yet very definite, and must live in such a way that the individual feels a certain obligation to ensure that this indefinite yet definite quality remains alive. This means that the individual truly has an eye for the immediate or long-term well-being of the other members of the society, and that the person who is an experienced member of the society—which he does not always need to reveal, does he? one can keep that entirely to oneself, for it depends on the way in which one applies and lives out one’s experiences—that the person who is an experienced member of the society truly stands by the less experienced with his or her experience.

[ 9 ] The word “trust” is used so often. As I explained in a reflection I shared with you in recent weeks, we do not need to have trust in the doctrine, for the doctrine will seek to justify that trust through every single action it undertakes; but we must strive to have and justify trust among ourselves. We must strive to ensure that a genuine bond truly develops from member to member. Just think: if an experienced member—without being intrusive, without resorting to detective-like behavior, without spying, that is, without overstepping boundaries—truly keeps an eye on the well-being and struggles of just ten others, without needing to tell them that he considers them less experienced than himself, then an infinite amount can be achieved toward creating an I would say, “ideal aura” that is necessary in a society such as ours. Trust, of course, can never be decreed. Trust must be earned. And the more experienced members should strive to earn such trust from those who have only recently joined our society.

[ 10 ] Such things have, of course, been said often enough in the course of our efforts, which have now spanned many, many years, but it has never been as necessary to say them as it is here in this place. For while we, as members of the Anthroposophical Society, are scattered throughout cities among the general population, that is quite different from living together here in a close-knit community, where we are, as it were, on full display before the rest of the population. Here, it is essential that we truly confront the fundamental conditions of our social coexistence in the most urgent and serious manner.

[ 11 ] What I am saying, my dear friends, must of course be entirely independent of the fact that a society such as ours will never be able to satisfy those who live outside of it, that it will never be able to prevent those outside the society from indulging in all manner of slander, mockery, unjust attacks, and so on. But that is not the point; rather, the point is that the members of society must truly do everything that, in each individual case, makes the attacks from outside appear unjustified—which already pulls the rug out from under them as a legitimate basis.

[ 12 ] We really do have to take a closer look at the details here, my dear friends. It is essential that, in our daily lives, we not only pay attention to the big things but also to the little things. For example, if a number of our members get on a tram in the evening, sit among other people, and ride from here into Basel, talking loudly about the various twinges, pinches, and tugs in their etheric bodies—that, my dear friends, is certainly no moral crime. To anyone who criticizes such behavior, one can of course object: “Well, what’s the big deal, after all?”—Well, there is actually a great deal at stake when it comes to the seriousness and dignity of our movement, and it should be avoided, even though it is not a major matter but a minor one. Above all, we should begin to reform ourselves where such reform can have a real impact. Above all, we should be clear that the moment we discuss among ourselves things that are understandable only to us—while others are listening—those others are bound to form foolish mental images about what we are saying. For isn’t it true that when we speak of the etheric body—well, let’s assume we know what we’re talking about, but the listener has no idea what we’re talking about. Sometimes, my dear friends, the listener is in the same situation as a maid whom some of my close friends know well—and who, because she had been among anthroposophical people, had a certain interest in knowing what exactly was going on there. And so she attended a preparatory course taught by one of our members, and when she came home, she said: “Well, now I’ve heard that I don’t just have one body, but that I have four bodies. But I only have this very small little room and a narrow bed, and now I have no idea how I’m supposed to fit all these bodies into my bed!”—It’s a true story that happened in a household not too far from my own, my dear friends. Yes, you see, in exactly the same way, a person listening to you when you speak of the twinges and tugs of the etheric body must necessarily think that you are speaking of the etheric body as if it were a physical body, and so, in essence, you are leading them astray and thereby blocking any possibility for them to come any closer to understanding movement at all.

[ 13 ] That is why it is important that we learn, on our own, to take the things we talk about seriously and precisely; for even if they are not really a big deal in and of themselves, they nonetheless erect something like a wall of prejudice around us—a wall that could and should be avoided. So, learning to speak with true precision is something that is absolutely necessary in such a society, lest it gradually become impossible to cultivate within it what ought to be cultivated.

[ 14 ] Today I am compelled to say a number of things that will probably seem utterly superfluous to most of you, for the simple reason that everyone says: “Well, what’s that supposed to mean? One should speak precisely.” - But, my dear friends, just open your eyes for a moment whenever something happens here or there, whenever something is said, and one person passes it on to another. If you were to pay attention to whether it has really been described with complete accuracy, you would very easily notice deviations from accuracy in countless cases. And when what has been told or seen is passed on to one person and then to another, a veritable monster sometimes emerges from what actually happened or was said. One can truly experience this right here within our society.

[ 15 ] You must bear in mind, my dear friends, that one can only work fruitfully within a Spiritual Science movement if one cultivates precision—a real, precise grasp of things—for Spiritual Science compels you to direct your spiritual gaze toward things that have nothing to do with the outer physical world. And in order to gain the proper perspective on this, one must create a counterbalance. And this can only consist in taking things on the physical plane as realistically as possible; precision is, after all, a part of reality.

[ 16 ] Some time ago, I gave a public lecture in Munich that left some people extremely astonished. It dealt with the nature of evil. I explained there how the forces that operate as evil here on the physical plane are, in a sense, merely forces that have been transferred down from higher planes to the physical plane; that certain forces which, up there in the spiritual world, can lead us to recognize and master the spiritual, can become evil down here in the physical world. For the very same force that enables us to gain understanding of the spiritual world—and which we know must remain within the spiritual world as a force of understanding—that very same force must give rise to nonsense, sheer nonsense, if it is thoughtlessly and directly transferred to the physical plane. For what must be the essence of this force, my dear friends? It must consist in making oneself independent of the physical plane in one’s thinking. But if one applies this power of making oneself independent of the physical plane to the physical plane itself, that means lying and being deceitful. That is why those who had Spiritual Science to disseminate have always seen such dangers in its dissemination, because what is necessary for understanding the higher planes, when directly transferred into the physical world, will lead to nonsense. Therefore, a counterbalance must prevail against this. It is therefore necessary, in order to keep the powers of understanding for the spiritual world pure, beautiful, and fit for purpose, to develop one’s sense of truth—which also includes one’s sense of precision—in the most rigorous manner possible on the physical plane. For in everything that does not take precision on the physical plane into account, certain dispositions—which are developed through Spiritual Science itself—immediately become inappropriately intermingled within a so-called occult society with the lowest, the very lowest elements of the physical plane.

[ 17 ] My dear friends, imagine a materialistic society in the broadest sense. As you know—or perhaps have heard, if you don’t know it firsthand—there are social circles in which so-called gossip, or “tratsch” as it’s called, runs rampant. At least by hearsay, some of you will know something about gossip, won’t you? So in an ordinary, materialistic, philistine society, gossip prevails. It’s usually not particularly good, and there’s much to be said against it, but at least no occult content is mixed in. But when gossip and idle chatter prevail in an occult society, then occult content is the very thing that tends to creep in right away.

[ 18 ] I hope we can truly discuss such matters within our circle, because it should also be part of our society that one is still able to say something without it immediately being taken outside the group only to be misunderstood. We haven’t had good experiences with this here either. If we continue to have such experiences, then that must naturally lead to a restructuring of our society. What is said within the society must remain within the society in the strictest sense, because one must also be able to say certain things from time to time that one would not readily say outside the society.

[ 19 ] Well, in our society, there is—and of course there must be—a great deal of talk about the karmic connections between people. These connections may well exist—and indeed they do—but when the concept of karma repeatedly and unquestioningly intrudes into ordinary life, then we are getting into trouble. We are truly engaging in nonsense because we do not take the concept of truth strictly enough—a concept that must be taken with the utmost rigor.

[ 20 ] There are, in fact—and I can say this—numerous cases, both within and outside our society, in occult circles, where subjective phenomena—which, of course, take place on the physical plane—are embellished and interwoven with occult truths. I’ll take a radical example right away—one that may not be very common in our society, but which is truly one—and only one—of the experiences in this field and has occurred countless times. There are people who, in the course of their lives, have heard that reincarnation exists, and they have heard that a Christ once lived. Well, it has indeed happened to me more than once that women who have taken these two facts of the spiritual world—that reincarnation exists and that a Christ existed—into themselves and have now formed a very real ideal within themselves, believing they must be destined to give birth to the Christ, have organized their lives in such a way that they were specifically seeking how they might come to give birth to the Christ. Yes, you see, calling such things by their proper name is not pleasant; but it must be done once and for all, because society must be protected, and it protects itself only when it does not close its eyes to the nonsense that can so easily be perpetrated on the physical plane in the name of occult truths. Truly, this is an extreme case, but it does not occur just once; rather, it happens again and again. I have characterized it as radical because it occurs again and again on a small scale, and the point is that we must not always focus solely on the grand scale. This is indeed a grand matter, because it leads to great mischief when anyone thinks they must give birth to the Christ; but on a small scale, these things simply occur again and again.

[ 21 ] Isn’t it true that in ordinary, philistine bourgeois life, people fall in love—a man falls in love with a girl. It’s called “falling in love,” and that’s the truth. In an occult society, it’s said to happen as well—that a man falls in love with a girl. It really isn’t entirely out of the question, based on various observations that suggest it’s possible. Some of you will surely have heard that it has happened before. But in such a society, you don’t always hear: “X has fallen in love with Y.” Among farmers, they say, “He’s going out with her” or “She’s going out with him.” As far as outward appearances are concerned, that is usually a very accurate description of the situation. But within occult societies, one sometimes hears: “I have explored my karma, and because I have explored my karma, another personality has entered into this karma; we then recognized that we are destined for one another through karma, that karma has destined us to intervene in the destiny of the world in this or that way.”

[ 22 ] You don’t realize, my dear friends, just how much hypocrisy—ranging from the simple fact of falling in love to this very assertion—has crept into the whole affair—hypocrisy that corresponds to the following fact. In a materialistic, philistine society, it is considered perfectly normal for two people to fall in love with each other. In an occult society, it is often not considered normal, but rather something one is often even a little ashamed of. But lo and behold, people don’t like to feel that way. There’s no need to examine the reasons why one has no desire to feel ashamed, for there could be a hundred different reasons. But people don’t like to feel ashamed at all. Instead, they say: Karma has spoken, and one must obey karma. Of course, one is far from doing this or that out of mere selfishness or mere emotion, but one must obey karma! One would be true to oneself, my dear friends, if one were to admit that one has simply fallen in love. For if one were to admit the truth to oneself, one would find a much surer path through life than if one were to mix the truth with all sorts of karmic nonsense. For the fundamental folly of embellishing matters of personal life with occult truths leads to countless other follies; namely, because one then no longer has an inner emotional yardstick for observing the boundaries imposed upon us by our commitment to a worldview based on Spiritual Science.

[ 23 ] We certainly must not introduce the worst aspects of Philistine society into our own. There are, after all, certain social circles that say, “A person only truly begins with the title of ‘baron.’” Isn’t that right? We must not turn this on its head by saying that a person only truly begins with a spiritual scientist or an anthroposophist; “the ‘Antilope’,” as others now say. We must not do that; rather, we must admit that, before we became spiritual scientists, we were also human beings with very specific views, who at that time would have done this or that, or refrained from doing this or that.

[ 24 ] I pointed out even in the very early days of our movement that it is necessary not to sink below the level we had previously maintained because of our views on Spiritual Science, but rather that we must rise above that level in every respect. That is why I said many years ago: We were equipped with a certain foundation of moral views and ways of life before we entered society, and we should leave these ways of life untouched until a clear, verifiable inner necessity truly compels us to change them; and that will generally be very late. It is highly detrimental if, after having learned just a little something from Spiritual Science, we use what little we have learned in some way to over-embellish our lives. One thing must be clear to us, my dear friends: The structure of external life has indeed also come about through a kind of karma. And the way people in the world think and behave corresponds to a karma.

[ 25 ] Well, I always prefer to talk about specific cases, because they speak most clearly. You see, for example, the following happened to me once. Some time ago, I was sitting in a barber shop—please forgive me for discussing such matters, but after all, what I’m about to tell you isn’t really that indiscreet, nor does it touch on anything particularly intimate. I was sitting in front of the mirror and could see in it which people were coming in. The door opened, and a man walked in wearing footwear made solely of soft leather and simply tied together, with tight-fitting, leotard-like leggings over them and a sort of coquettishly draped, coat-like wrap; he also wore something like a headband, his hair boldly swept back. As it so happened, I knew the man very well. The barber paused with his razor—which he had just set to my throat—and bought something from the man for five pfennigs. It was a poem written by the man himself, which the barber showed me after the man had left. It was a monstrous poem, but the man walked around with it on the street and in the shops, selling it. He walked around dressed like that, imagining himself to be infinitely superior to everyone else around him. He imagined himself pursuing a great ideal, but in reality he was merely pursuing a highly exaggerated, hysterical vanity. What is a principle among the most vain of women—those who place the utmost importance on outward appearances—is heightened to the highest degree in this man; it is the fundamental impulse behind his entire demeanor, his whole way of being.

[ 26 ] But how many, my dear friends, even among those living in our society, may at some point have been quite inclined—I will not say, out of politeness, that they still are today—to say: “Well, in his own way, this man does want what’s right.” —That may be true, but it is nonetheless colossal nonsense that undermines one’s entire life if one were to make it a guiding principle. One really must realize what infinite motives of vanity can lie within a person and how difficult it is to notice them. And if we take what we can gain from Spiritual Science seriously and with dignity, then we must understand that truly powerful forces of vanity lie within such a man. We do this or that out of vanity—I won’t even speak of other impulses—and others take offense at it, even if for entirely different reasons. Yet there is a connection between us and what others say. And upon close examination, we could very easily discover this connection. But we can truly move beyond these things only if we cultivate, as a counterbalance, a sense of precision—a strict sense of precision. And we need this to understand occult truths.

[ 27 ] You see, it’s a small matter, not a major one, but it is immensely important—especially in the occult—to know and keep in mind: When someone passes on a story, it is essential that one can always clearly discern from the account whether the person observed the event themselves—and thus has the right to speak of a fact—or whether it is a story that someone else told them. One must be able to distinguish this precisely. Now, however, in hundreds and hundreds of cases, a fact simply unfolds as follows: Someone tells something to another person, and that person in turn tells it to yet another, but in such a way that the third person gets the impression: This person wasn’t just told about it, but experienced it themselves; therefore, they are justified in speaking of it as a fact. - These inaccuracies are of lesser importance in a materialistic, philistine society than in our society. In a materialistic, philistine society, it may be considered pedantry to speak so precisely about things; but in our society, we must observe matters more strictly and precisely than anywhere else. And above all, it is a matter of maintaining precision toward ourselves.

[ 28 ] Anyone who wishes to gain a true understanding of the full scope of what I am trying to say might, as an experiment, try the following. They could choose a topic—let’s take vegetarianism, for example—and resolve to pay attention to how certain practitioners of Spiritual Science address this topic in their interactions with the outside world. They could create a table, and whenever they hear a spiritual scientist explain why they are a vegetarian, they could note down why, in their own view, that person tells others that they are a vegetarian. Then the next time it happens, and so on. This would make it clear just what outrageous things are often presented to the outside world by adherents of Spiritual Science, for example, regarding vegetarianism. And if the outside world then comes to the conclusion, “This is a society of fools,” that is hardly surprising.

[ 29 ] How often have I mentioned in our circles that, if you want to get along with those around you, you can give a very simple answer to the question of why you are a vegetarian. Isn’t it true that when you’re asked why you’re a vegetarian, and you know you’re talking to someone who certainly doesn’t eat horse meat, you ask them in return: “Look, why don’t you eat horse meat?”—Now they’re immediately compelled to gradually move onto the same ground where understanding becomes possible. For when asked why they don’t eat horse meat, they won’t give very theoretical reasons at all, but will usually say something along the lines of: “It makes me shudder.”—They’ll express it in various ways, but they’ll say this or something similar. Now you can reply: “Look, the same feeling you have toward horse meat is the one I have toward all meat.” - And if one discusses what I have just explained in a proper, conciliatory manner, one will gradually be understood. Above all, the outsider who eats meat must not get the impression that by abstaining from meat, one considers oneself a superior human being. One could add—but one must first admit this truth to oneself—that one is too weak to eat meat, that one is, in fact, a cripple when it comes to eating meat. I have often said, whenever this question has come up: If one does not eat meat, one finds many things easier and is better able to endure them. Meat weighs one down, and it is much more comfortable—especially when one wishes to use one’s brain with precision—not to eat meat. So, fundamentally, these are all reasons of convenience. How often have I emphasized that one cannot “eat one’s way” into the higher worlds, neither by eating this or that, nor by refraining from eating this or that. Working one’s way into the spiritual worlds is a spiritual matter; eating is a physical matter—and so is abstaining from eating. Otherwise, someone might come up with the grotesque idea that if one does not eat certain foods, this or that will happen, and if one eats certain foods, this or that will happen. And they might come up with the grotesque idea of eating salt for eight days and not eating salt for the following eight days, in order to descend into the depths of the elemental world during the eight days when they eat salt and to ascend during the other eight days when they do not eat salt. It could indeed happen that someone might get such a folly into their head. Well, such great follies cannot, of course, occur in our society, my dear friends, but things similar to this could indeed happen. So if we are as modest as possible in our discussions of vegetarianism with the outside world, we will see how little, little by little, people will take offense at our being vegetarians; but if we claim vegetarianism as a merit, the outside world will not forgive us. And being a vegetarian is not a merit—it is simply a matter of convenience.

[ 30 ] And so there are many things, my dear friends. It is truly necessary that such matters be discussed from time to time—not to preach morality, but to set forth certain conditions for coexistence within an occult society in relation to the outside world. Yes, my dear friends, it all boils down to the fact that we must reflect on our interactions with the outside world, and these reflections must serve as both a bridge and, at the same time, a protective wall against the outside world—especially in a society such as ours. If it happens again and again that people in the outside world are told—by me, for example—“The Doctor said this or that”—well, try for once to put yourself not in your own mind but in the mind of the other person who is listening! If, for example, someone says—such things do happen, and these are precisely the kinds of things I cannot even jokingly assume do not occur in our society—so if someone says, “The Doctor is responsible for the spiritual development of this or that person”—well, what else is a person on the outside supposed to have in his mental image but that this is a society of foolish people who submit themselves to a single individual? And just consider what that means—what it rightly means—to the outside world! We must first speak of these matters from the perspective of what kind of society is necessary for a Spiritual Science movement such as ours to flourish. For we must, above all, take this Spiritual Science movement seriously; we must not do anything that would harm it in the world.

[ 31 ] I will go into this in more depth tomorrow, and you will see how deeply all of this is actually connected to certain impulses within Spiritual Science itself. I do not wish to merely preach morality, but rather to discuss the connection to the innermost impulses of Spiritual Science precisely in relation to these matters.