Awareness - Life - Form
GA 89
Part II: 5. The Logoi
Private instruction, Berlin-Schlachtensee, 2 July 1904
When we see something, we ask how it has come about, presupposing something else from which it has arisen. Only applicable to things that happen in the physical world. We have to presuppose something where we no longer ask whence it has arisen. That is the Logos. Nor should the question be put: when did the Logos arise, for saying that it [arose] earlier or later would impose limits on it. All notions of time cease to have meaning with regard to the Logos. What we are saying now about the Logos applies as it has applied countless millennia ago. The Logos is not in time but before all time.
We are going to develop some concepts.
If we refer to something which is absolute in itself, which does not have any of the things we know, as being beyond existence, we have established an abstract concept of what we think the Logos to be—absolute, established, complete, resting in itself. First Logos - sat - Father.
If this Logos is accepted on its own, it rests in itself, there and not there, beyond existence, never perceptible as it is beyond all perception, beyond existence. It follows that this Logos is the absolutely occult, hidden principle, being beyond all revelation. If it is not to be occult, it must reveal itself. We then have its mirror image, with Logos revealed. If we consider this we will immediately see that there at two concepts in this concept, and we thus have something threefold, for in the revealer there must be activity of self revelation:
| 1st Logos: | revealer |
| 2nd Logos: | revelation, activity |
| 3rd Logos: | mirror image revealed |
[Indian] sat, ananda, chit
[Christian] trinity of
1) Father
2) Son, Word
3) Holy Spirit
Initially these three are so sublime that for anything we call evident or perceptible in the ordinary sense we have to call them occult. Three occult principles, therefore. They must first of all be revealed. There are only three, and so they can only reveal themselves to one another:
The Father reveals himself to the Word, The Word reveals itself to the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit reveals itself back to the Father.
These are three ways of revelation. We think of them as applied to three principles, so that the activity of these three principles consists in that they take on the task of translating this. The three can enter into different relationships:
It is possible for the Father to hide in the Word, making himself known in this hidden state. The Father principle veils itself in the Word and reveals itself to the Spirit.
It is also possible for the Word to veil itself in the Holy Spirit and thus veiled reveal itself to the Father.
It is also possible for the Holy Spirit to veil itself in the Father and reveal itself to the Word.
The only remaining possibility is that the Father principle veils itself in both, Word and Spirit, and is revealed to itself.
What we have—1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th—we think of as existing in essence; this intrinsic quality, the [seven] relationships between the three Logoi, thus arises in seven essential forms.87Elsewhere also called ‘the seven unutterable secrets of life’; full description in Zur Geschichte ... (S. 241 ff.) note 86.
| 1st relationship - All Might | The Father principle reveals itself to the Word. |
| 2nd relationship - All Wisdom | The Word reveals itself to the Spirit. |
| 3rd relationship - All Love | The Holy Spirit reveals itself to the Father. |
| 4th relationship - All Justice | The Father principle veils itself in the Word and reveals itself to the Spirit. |
| 5th relationship - All Redemption | The Word veils itself in the Spirit and reveals itself to the Father. |
| 6th relationship - All Hallowing | The Holy Spirit veils itself in the Father principle and reveals itself to the Word. |
| 7th relationship - All Harmony | The Father principle veils itself in Word and Spirit and is revealed to itself. |
Thus the principles arose in mutual fructification. These are the seven rulers, the seven mights that stand before the throne [of God], and these are their qualities. The qualities arise from the relationships of the three Logoi. Only seven are possible.
All Might consists in the Father principle revealing itself to the Word. This is known as first creation, or chaos.
When All Might had done its work, All Wisdom reigned, ordering everything according to measure and number.
When All Wisdom had done its work, All Love reigned, bringing the element of sympathy and antipathy to the whole of creation.
When All Love had done its work, All Justice came; it reigned, bringing in karma, which means birth and death. When All Justice had done its work, All Redemption takes up its work, bringing redemption to everything, which is last judgement.
When the last judgement has done its work, All Hallowing will begin its work, and then All Harmony [bliss] will begin. Let us think of this spread among seven planets. In truth, all seven are present, but one of them always has the power (the others hold lesser offices).
If we take the fourth orb, it is ours. The device for us is therefore: The Father principle veils itself in the Word and reveals itself to the Spirit. And that is Christianity.
With this Cherub we have the key word and hence also the meaning of Christianity.
Miracle of Pentecost ...
All is made through the Word, which on the one side contains the Father in involution; hence John: [In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the Beginning with God. Through him Everything entered into existence and without him nothing entered into existence.’ Kalmia Bittlestone translation]
The task for the next planet, Mercury, 5) All Redemption—the Word veils itself in the Spirit and reveals itself to the Father. When the Word, the Christ, which is in our evolution, veils itself and reveals itself to the Father, it is the next...
Never will the Son be able to come to you but through me, Spirit. If it, Spirit, is to live, to be spread out, evolve, in the next planet, the Word must veil itself in Spirit.
The element, which will set the tone in the next planet, must be prepared for in this one. The Word must go into involution to prepare for the Holy Spirit. This, however, means death here. The mission can only be accomplished if the Word veils itself unto death, and that is the meaning of the death on the cross.
We have come so far as to understand that he was crucified to death ...
This is the meaning of the central Christian mystery. ... In the Bible, Jesus says: I do not go against the book of law in the meaning of Melchizedek.88Biblical name of manu, one of the highest initiates on Earth. In ancient Atlantis leader of the Sun oracle and founder of post- Atlantean civilization. See lectures given in Berlin on 15 February 1909 and Munich on 7 March 1909 in The Principle of Spiritual Economy GA 109, tr. P. Mollenhauer, Hudson: Anthroposophic Press 1986. Also lecture given in Berne on 4 September 1910 in The Gospel of St Matthew GA 123, tr. D. S. Osmond, M. Kirkaldy, London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1965. Melchizedek is the Angel of the Earth’s orbital period.
In the next planetary evolution, the Son will thus provide for the Father what he will then have gathered through the Spirit.
Die Logoi
Wenn der Mensch ein Ding sieht, frägt er nach der Entstehung, setzt etwas voraus, aus dem das Betreffende hervorgegangen ist. Nur anwendbar auf Dinge, die in der Welt vorgehen. Wir müssen voraussetzen etwas, wo wir nicht mehr fragen, woraus es entstanden ist. Das ist der Logos. Es darf auch nicht die Frage aufgeworfen werden: wann ist der Logos entstanden, denn er würde dadurch begrenzt sein, daß er früher oder später [entstanden] ist. Er war jetzt und immer. Alle Zeitbegriffe hören auf, dem Logos gegenüber eine Bedeutung zu haben. Was wir jetzt vom Logos sagen, gilt, wie es vor Urmillionen Jahren gegolten. Er ist nicht in der Zeit, sondern vor aller Zeit.
Einige Begriffe werden wir entwickeln.
Wenn wir das in sich Absolute, das alles dasjenige nicht hat, was wir überhaupt kennen, als das Übersein bezeichnen, haben wir in abstrakter Form einen Begriff hingepfahlt, als den wir uns den Logos denken: den in sich begriffenen, gegründeten, ruhenden, absoluten Logos. Erster Logos — Sat -Vater.
Wenn dieser Logos allein angenommen wird, ist er eben in sich ruhend, da und nicht da, über dem Sein, niemals wahrnehmbar, weil über aller Wahrnehmung, über das Dasein erhaben. Nun geht daraus hervor, daß dieser Logos das absolut Verborgene, Okkulte ist, weil über alle Offenbarung erhaben. Soll er nicht okkult sein, muß er sich offenbaren. Dann haben wir es mit seinem Spiegelbild, dem geoffenbarten Logos zu tun. Wenn wir dies bedenken, werden wir sogleich in diesem Begriff zwei Begriffe erkennen, so daß wir ein Dreifaches haben, denn im Offenbarer muß sich offenbarende Tätigkeit sein:
Pünktchen ... bezeichnen die in den Notizen Marie Steiners markierten Lücken. Einfügungen in gewöhnlichen runden Klammern ( ) entsprechen den Notizen. Einfügungen in eckigen Klammern [ ] stammen hingegen von den Herausgebern.
1. Logos: Offenbarer
2. Logos: Offenbarung, Tätigkeit
3. Logos: Geoffenbartes Spiegelbild
[Indisch] Sat, Ananda, Chit
[Christlich] Dreifaltigkeit:
1. Vater
2. Sohn, Wort
3. Heiliger Geist
Diese Drei sind zunächst so erhaben, daß wir sie für alles, was man im gewöhnlichen Sinne als offenbar oder wahrnehmbar bezeichnet, wieder als okkult bezeichnen müssen. Also drei okkulte Wesenheiten. Sie müssen zunächst offenbar werden. Es sind nur drei da, also können sie nur einander sich offenbaren:
Der Vater offenbart sich dem Worte,
Das Wort offenbart sich dem Heiligen Geiste,
Der Heilige Geist offenbart sich zurück dem Vater.
Dies sind drei Arten des Offenbarens. Wir denken sie uns auf drei Wesenheiten übertragen, so daß die Tätigkeit dieser Wesenheiten darin besteht, daß sie es übernehmen, dies zu übertragen. Die drei können verschiedene Verhältnisse eingehen:
Es ist möglich, daß sich der Vater im Worte verbirgt und in dieser Verborgenheit sich mitteilt. Er verhüllt sich im Worte und offenbart sich dem Geiste.
Dann ist möglich: das Wort verhüllt sich im Heiligen Geist und offenbart sich in dieser Umhüllung dem Vater.
Dann ist möglich, daß der Heilige Geist sich im Vater verhüllt und sich dem Worte offenbart.
Nun ist nur noch möglich, daß der Vater sich in beiden, in Wort und Geist hüllt, und sich selbst offenbar wird.
Was wir haben - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. — denken wir uns wesenhaft vorhanden: so entsteht dies Wesenhafte, die [sieben] Verhältnisse der drei Logoi, sieben wesenhafte Formen.
1. Verhältnis — Allmacht: Der Vater offenbart sich dem Worte.
2. Verhältnis — Allweisheit: Das Wort offenbart sich dem Geist.
3. Verhältnis — All-Liebe: Der Heilige Geist offenbart sich dem Vater.
4. Verhältnis — Allgerechtigkeit: Der Vater verhüllt sich im Worte und offenbart sich dem Geist.
5. Verhältnis — Allerlösung: Das Wort verhüllt sich im Geist und offenbart sich dem Vater.
6. Verhältnis — Allheiligung: Der Heilige Geist verhüllt sich im Vater und offenbart sich dem Wort.
7. Verhältnis — Allseligkeit: Der Vater hüllt sich in Wort und Geist und wird sich selbst offenbar.
So sind die Wesenheiten entstanden aus gegenseitigem Befruchten. Das sind die sieben Regierer, die sieben Mächte, die vor dem Throne [Gottes] stehen und dies sind ihre Eigenschaften. Die Eigenschaften entstehen aus den Verhältnissen der drei Logoi. Nur sieben sind möglich.
Die Allmacht besteht darin, daß sich der Vater dem Worte offenbart. Dies bezeichnet man als erste Schöpfung oder als Chaos.
Nachdem die Allmacht ihre Aufgabe vollbracht hat, regiert Ali-Weisheit, ordnet alles nach Maß und Zahl.
Nachdem All-Weisheit ihre Aufgabe vollbracht hat, regiert All-Liebe, bringt in die ganze Schöpfung das Prinzip von Sympathie und Antipathie hinein.
Nachdem All-Liebe ihre Aufgabe getan hat, kommt Allgerechtigkeit, sie regiert, bringt Karma hinein, das heißt Geburt und Tod.
Nachdem Allgerechtigkeit ihre Aufgabe vollbracht hat, beginnt All-Erlösung ihr Werk und bringt überall Erlösung hinein, das heißt letztes Gericht.
Nachdem letztes Gericht gewirkt hat, beginnt die Allheiligung ihr Werk und bringt überall Heiligung hinein, und dann beginnt die Allseligkeit.
Denken wir uns dies verteilt auf sieben Planeten. In Wahrheit sind alle sieben da, aber einer hat immer die Macht (die andern sind im Unteramt).
Wenn wir die vierte Kugel herausnehmen, ist es die unsere. Also ist unser Losungswort: Der Vater verhüllt sich im Worte und offenbart sich dem Geist. Und damit ist das Christentum gegeben.
Mit diesem Cherub haben wir das Leitwort und damit auch den Sinn des Christentums.
Pfingstwunder ...
Durch das Wort, das auf einer Seite den Vater in Involution enthält, ist alles gemacht, daher Johannes: [Im Urbeginne war das Wort; und das Wort war bei Gott, und ein Gott war das Wort. Dieses war im Urbeginne bei Gott. Alles ist durch dasselbe geworden; und außer durch dieses ist nichts von dem Entstandenen geworden.]
Aufgabe des nächsten Planeten, Merkur, 5. Allerlösung: Das Wort verhüllt sich im Geist und offenbart sich dem Vater. Wenn das, was in unserer Entwicklung ist, das Wort, Christus, sich selbst verhüllt und dem Vater offenbart, ist nächste ...
Niemals kann der Sohn zu dir kommen als durch mich, Geist. Soll er, Geist, im nächsten Planeten leben, ausgebreitet sein, evolvieren, muß sich das Wort in Geist hüllen.
Was tonangebend ist im nächsten Planeten, muß in diesem schon vorbereitet sein. Das Wort muß sich, vorbereitend für den Heiligen Geist, der dann offenbart sein wird, involutionieren. Das ist aber hier der Tod. Es kann nur die Mission erfüllt sein, wenn sich das Wort einhüllt bis zum Tode und dies ist der Sinn des Todes am Kreuze.
So weit sind wir, zu verstehen, er wurde gekreuzigt zum Tode...
Dies ist der Sinn des christlichen Zentralmysteriums. ... In der Bibel sagt Jesus: Ich widerstrebe nicht dem Buche der Gerechtigkeit im Sinne Melchisedeks. Melchisedek ist der Engel der irdischen Umlaufzeit.
In nächster planetarischer Entwicklung wird also der Sohn dem Vater das zuführen, was er jetzt gesammelt hat durch den Geist.
The Logoi
When humans see something, they ask about its origin, assuming that there is something from which it emerged. This only applies to things that exist in the world. We must assume something where we no longer ask what it came from. That is the Logos. Nor should the question be raised: when did the Logos come into being, for it would then be limited by the fact that it came into being sooner or later. It was and always will be. All concepts of time cease to have any meaning in relation to the Logos. What we say about the Logos now is as true as it was millions of years ago. It is not in time, but before all time.
We will develop some concepts.
If we describe the absolute, which has nothing that we know at all, as the super-being, we have nailed down a concept in abstract form, which we think of as the Logos: the Logos that is conceived, founded, resting, and absolute in itself. First Logos — Sat -Father.
If this Logos is accepted alone, it is resting within itself, there and not there, above being, never perceptible because it is above all perception, above existence. Now it follows from this that this Logos is the absolutely hidden, occult, because it is above all revelation. If it is not to be occult, it must reveal itself. Then we are dealing with its mirror image, the revealed Logos. When we consider this, we immediately recognize two concepts in this term, so that we have a triad, for in the revealer there must be revealing activity:
Dots ... indicate gaps marked in Marie Steiner's notes. Insertions in ordinary round brackets ( ) correspond to the notes. Insertions in square brackets [ ] originate from the editors.
1. Logos: Revealer
2. Logos: Revelation, activity
3. Logos: Revealed reflection
[Indian] Sat, Ananda, Chit
[Christian] Trinity:
1. Father
2. Son, Word
3. Holy Spirit
These three are so sublime that we must refer to them as occult in relation to everything that is commonly referred to as apparent or perceptible. So, three occult entities. They must first become apparent. There are only three, so they can only reveal themselves to each other:
The Father reveals himself to the Word,
The Word reveals itself to the Holy Spirit,
The Holy Spirit reveals itself back to the Father.
These are three types of revelation. We think of them as being transferred to three beings, so that the activity of these beings consists in taking on the task of transferring this. The three can enter into different relationships:
It is possible that the Father hides himself in the Word and communicates in this hiddenness. He veils himself in the Word and reveals himself to the Spirit.
Then it is possible that the Word veils itself in the Holy Spirit and reveals itself to the Father in this veiling.
Then it is possible that the Holy Spirit veils itself in the Father and reveals itself to the Word.
Now it is only possible that the Father veils itself in both, in Word and Spirit, and reveals itself.
What we have—1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7—we think of as essentially present: thus arises this essentiality, the [seven] relationships of the three Logoi, seven essential forms.
1st relationship—omnipotence: the Father reveals himself to the Word.
2nd relationship — Omniscience: The Word reveals itself to the Spirit.
3rd relationship — Omni-love: The Holy Spirit reveals itself to the Father.
4th relationship — Omni-justice: The Father veils itself in the Word and reveals itself to the Spirit.
5. Relationship — All-redemption: The Word veils itself in the Spirit and reveals itself to the Father.
6. Relationship — All-sanctification: The Holy Spirit veils itself in the Father and reveals itself to the Word.
7. Relationship — All-bliss: The Father veils himself in Word and Spirit and reveals himself.
Thus, the entities arose from mutual fertilization. These are the seven rulers, the seven powers that stand before the throne [of God], and these are their characteristics. The characteristics arise from the relationships of the three Logoi. Only seven are possible.
Omnipotence consists in the Father revealing himself to the Word. This is referred to as the first creation or chaos.
After omnipotence has accomplished its task, Ali-Wisdom reigns, ordering everything according to measure and number.
After All-Wisdom has accomplished its task, All-Love reigns, bringing the principle of sympathy and antipathy into all creation.
After All-Love has done its work, All-Justice comes, reigns, and brings in karma, that is, birth and death.
After All-Justice has accomplished its task, All-Salvation begins its work and brings salvation everywhere, that is, the Last Judgment.
After the Last Judgment has taken effect, All-Sanctification begins its work and brings sanctification everywhere, and then All-Bliss begins.
Let us imagine this distributed across seven planets. In truth, all seven are there, but one always has the power (the others are in subordinate positions).
When we take out the fourth sphere, it is ours. So our watchword is: The Father veils himself in the Word and reveals himself to the Spirit. And with that, Christianity is given.
With this cherub, we have the guiding principle and thus also the meaning of Christianity.
Pentecost miracle ...
Through the Word, which on one side contains the Father in involution, everything is made, hence John: [In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made through it; and without it nothing was made that has been made.]
Task of the next planet, Mercury, 5th universal solution: The Word veils itself in the Spirit and reveals itself to the Father. When that which is in our development, the Word, Christ, veils itself and reveals itself to the Father, the next ...
The Son can never come to you except through me, Spirit. If he, Spirit, is to live on the next planet, spread out, evolve, the Word must veil itself in Spirit.
What sets the tone on the next planet must already be prepared on this one. The Word must involute in preparation for the Holy Spirit, who will then be revealed. But here that is death. The mission can only be fulfilled if the Word veils itself unto death, and this is the meaning of death on the cross.
This is how far we have come in understanding that he was crucified unto death...
This is the meaning of the central Christian mystery. ... In the Bible, Jesus says: I do not resist the book of righteousness in the sense of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is the angel of the earthly cycle.
In the next planetary development, the Son will therefore bring to the Father what he has now gathered through the Spirit.