The Christian Mystery
GA 97
11 December 1906, Munich
XX. How do we Gain Insight into the Higher Worlds in the Rosicrucian Way?
One of the less well known poems written by Goethe is called The Secrets.153Steiner R. The Mysteries. A Christmas and Easter Poem by Goethe (in GA 98). Title should read The Secrets. Translator not known. London: Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co. 1946. It has remained a fragment. Goethe speaks of a pilgrim, Brother Mark, whose peregrinations remind us of the destiny of Parsifal. Having travelled a long way he comes to an isolated house, a monastic kind of building. There he finds a federation, a gathering of twelve persons. He ultimately gets to know the nature, the character of the twelve and of a thirteenth who is their leader. Each of the twelve has something to do that is extraordinarily important. It is to give a kind of description of the life of the thirteenth. This thirteenth individual has worked his way through chaos and obstacles of all kinds. Goethe says of him:
Man needs to overcome and free himself
of the great power binding all creation,
meaning someone who develops the higher human being in himself.
This thirteenth individual, called Humanus, has grown completely beyond himself. The greatness, the influence of this wise individual, as we feel and intuit him to be, is even greater because, as we are immediately told, he is dying and before entering the higher worlds of the spirit has the ultimate, most beautiful and greatest gift to give to the twelve. And the ‘pure fool’ is to win through and take the place of the thirteenth. There is some kind of Good Friday magic about this fragment. And the whole should indeed have been presented in the Good Friday setting. Goethe himself explained the poem more or less by saying that there are many confessions in the world but we must see the same kernel of truth in all of them.154Die Geheimnisse. Fragment von Goethe. Published (in German) in Morgenblatt für die gebildeten Stände 27 April 1816. He suggested this in the poem by putting one of the twelve world religions before us that represents the common kernel of truth in the twelve. And the thirteenth is the representative of this original truth itself. The poem really outlines the theosophical view of the world. Using a poetic image, Goethe wanted to show how a synthesis of all religions can be brought about in peace. When Brother Mark comes to the monastery gate, a cross with roses wound around it shines out. Goethe knew the deep significance of this symbol, and also hinted at it in his verses:
Yet something new comes to his inner mind
When he beholds the image with his eyes:
The cross stands there, with roses closely wound.
Who put together roses and the cross?
These are words of truly esoteric meaning.
The question we are going to consider today is ‘How do we gain knowledge of the higher worlds in the Rosicrucian way?’ We are going to discuss some aspects of the Rosicrucian method. It is one of the ways of gaining insight into and access to the higher worlds. The term ‘Rosicrucian’ may sound strange and peculiar to some of you. One has heard of the Rosicrucians as a secret brotherhood which first appeared under that name in about the 14th century. Anything one finds in encyclopaedias and the current literature about them is of no account. A number of highly influential people have represented a quite specific spiritual stream as Rosicrucians. It is only too easy to flail into the most serious error when seeking to discover the greatest truths, as may be seen from many publications on the Rosicrucians. They were one of the closest secret brotherhoods and had to go through severe trials and tests. Anyone wishing to become a member of the order had to go through many things. The aspirant had to go through specific occult training to gain self-knowledge. Ignorance may, however, make the sublime appear in caricature. And that is also how Rosicrucianism was completely misunderstood and distorted to become caricature. What has been written about Rosicrucianism is utter charlatanism. Someone who is able to judge it rightly will see the kernel of truth in it. But it has always been difficult to find out about Rosicrucianism, as you can see from the fact that Helmont,155Helmont, Johann Baptist van (1577–1644), Flemish physician and chemist. His son Franciscus Mercurius Helmont, developed his natural philosophy and theosophical teachings further. Leibniz156Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646–1716), German philosopher and mathematician. The source on which Rudolf Steiner based his statement has noi yet been established. See Arnold, Paul, Esoterik im Werke Shakespeares, Berlin n.d.: ‘Leibniz felt moved write that everything said about the Brothers of Rosenkreutz was pure invention on the part of some people with rich imaginations.’ It is known, however, that Leibniz was a member of a Rosicrucian group when he obtained his doctorate at Altdorf University in 1667. Baron Johann Christian von Boyneburg, former president of the Elector of Mainz's privy council, was also a member. It was at the suggestion of Boyneburg that Leibniz was called to serve the Elector of Mainz as a diplomat and legal adviser. and others were unable to do so. Rosicrucian initiation is said go back to a book written in the early 17th century which says, among other things, that the Rosicrucians were involved in alchemy and also other things such as higher education. That's what is says in the Fama Fraternitatis.157Anonymous work entitled Fama Fraternitatis oder Entdeckimg der Bruderschaft des Hochldblichen Ordens der R. C., Kassel 1614.
Even there you'll find nothing about genuine Rosicrucianism, for the secrets of the Rosicrucians were passed on by the oral tradition. Things that are outwardly given the name ‘Rosicrucian’ are hardly suitable for getting at the essence of the Rosicrucians. Today we'll consider the methods used by the genuine Rosicrucians, in so far as this is possible on a public occasion. The theosophical movement initially started in the Oriental way. The truth can be found anywhere if one knows how to look for it and is sufficiently mature. People had a different way of thinking things at the time when the ancient Indians received the teaching of the holy Rishis, a different way of feeling and using their will, of seeing and perceiving. The things they did in those days can no longer be done today. The methods used in the past can no longer be used today. Nothing in the world is absolute; humanity is in a continuous process of evolution. People now have a very different, more subtle structure to their brains, and even the way the blood is formed is different. Because of this, all truth must be transformed today, and initiation methods must be such that they are suitable for present-day Europeans. These are the reasons why there had to be Rosicrucianism, a completely different way of initiation. The Rosicrucian stream is in the care of great teachers who have always stayed in the background.
Rosicrucian initiation is in seven stages. These provide a standard method that makes it possible for Europeans to go through the trials they have to go through. The stages do not necessarily have to be consecutive, for the teacher would choose what was best for the individual nature of the pupil. The seven stages are study, imagination, inspired insight or reading the occult script, preparing the philosopher's stone, correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm, entering into the macrocosm in a living way, and the 7th or highest stage which is godliness.
Study meant developing concepts and ideas that made a person able to form a sound, comprehensive idea of essential relationships. For the Rosicrucians, study involved everything we have in theosophy today, having taken away the Oriental garb. Theosophy today offers Rosicrucian wisdom. We have also spoken about the elementary Rosicrucian teaching in public lectures.158E.g. lecture of 14 March 1907, printed in German in GA 55: Die Erkenntnis des Übersinnlichen in unserer Zeit. The main point is to gain a sum of concepts relating to the world that form a complete whole, in a strictly established, firm set of ideas. A system of thinking is created that is entirely sensible. A Rosicrucian had to be a sober, thinking individual. These teachings are truths accessible to the simplest hearts as well as intellectual minds. What is the aim of such study? It leads to insight into higher worlds—the astral world and then the spiritual or devachanic world—that are invisibly all around us.
Man has the same number of abilities to perceive as there are worlds around him. To begin with, these abilities are of course undeveloped. For someone born blind, gaining sight is like a new birth. In the same way, the appearance of yet another world is always like a new birth for the human being. The astral world—we call it that for specific reasons—is around us, and so is the spiritual or devachanic world. It would be arrogance for someone who does not know the higher worlds to insist that they do no exist. The astral world and the devachanic world both differ tremendously from the physical world we are able to see around us. We gain completely new impressions in the astral and again in the devachanic world. Yet although our perceptions in these worlds differ greatly from those we have in the physical world, the logic is always the same. Thinking is the same in all three worlds; it only changes in worlds that lie beyond. Having learned to think in one of these three worlds, the laws of this are the same also in the higher ones. The problem is, however, that in the physical world human errors are corrected from experience. In those other worlds there is no such easy correction, and we therefore need a solid standard of objectivity. You will be completely unsupported if you enter those worlds without this objectivity. This is why a guru was needed for initiation in earlier times. The guru had to be the ultimate authority in the soul of an individual who was being initiated into Indian yoga wisdom. In Rosicrucian training, the guru-pupil relationship is replaced by the support gained from trained thinking. The pupil must be his own guide. Because of this, study is an important part of training. Fundamental truths of theosophy have been written in Truth and Knowledge and The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity for both the simplest hearts and people who aim higher. Reading those books it is necessary to be completely given up to inner work, letting one thought evolve from another.
The 2nd stage of the Rosicrucian path was imagination. A comprehensive method meant that one was then able to take the first step into the higher worlds. Experiencing imagination we perceive the deeper meaning of Goethe's words ‘All things corruptible are but a parable’.159Faust 2, final chorus. Tr. Philip Wayne. London: Penguin 1959
Looking at a plant we can experience in its form and essential nature how true it is that the spirit of the earth, as it were, reveals itself in it when it is sad and when it is cheerful. It is a great truth that man is part of the earth just as a finger is part of the human body. Man is only part of the whole but he has the illusion of living a separate life. The finger is protected from such illusion because it cannot walk about on the human body. If you feel yourself to be an integral part of the earth, you have a feeling not only for the poetry but for the truth of Goethe's words of the earth spirit.160Given in the next lecture. When human beings enter into the things which the earth spirit produces on its surface, many a plant will be the earth spirit's tears for them, and many a plant its smile.
Something else was brought to the pupil's awareness by all possible means. He would be told: ‘Look at the calyx with its organs of fertilization, chastely held up to the sun. The sun ray kisses the inner calyx. The plant innocently holds out its organs of fertilization to cosmic space. Think of this transformed and taken to a higher level. Consider the animal first, and the human being, and see how the human being veils the principle which the plant holds out to the sun. And then say to yourself: “One day man must reach a higher level where anything base will have gone from his organs. At this higher level he will offer to the sun the principle which today is the calyx of the plant. All drives and instincts will then have been purified, the human individuality will have overcome its natural desires.”’ In Rosicrucian wisdom this transformation was called the grail, the sacred chalice.
When a person has lived for some time with such ideas, he will be ready to move on to even higher experiences. The physical eye only sees the seed of the plant. When the soul has been prepared, it will be able to penetrate to the image that arises for it from the seed grain. A flame form will arise from the seed for that soul. The individual thus learns to see the spiritual aspect that is behind things; he comes to know that everything physical has been born from a world of the spirit.
The 3rd stage is called reading the occult script in Rosicrucian training. The cosmic powers active in the world are revealed in certain currents and in colour and sound combinations. This occult script is written into the structure of the world. An example is the spiral we see as two intertwined vortices in the Orion nebula far out in the cosmos. At the microcosmic level, the incorporation of the human seed takes a corresponding form. The image of a double spiral is the sign of cancer in the zodiac. In occult script, it shows the transition from one stage of evolution to another. The sun's spring equinox was in fact in the sign of cancer when a new period of human evolution started in ancient India after the end of Atlantis.
Another sign in occult script is the triangle. This, too, is written into the macrocosm. At the microcosmic level the figure of the equilateral triangle with its centre marked is the symbol of balance restored between the three powers of soul. Harmonization of thinking, feeling and will gives rise to the higher power of love.
This 3rd stage, where conscious awareness of inspiration was gained, was followed by the development of rhythm in life and in breathing. In the language of the Rosicrucians this is called preparing the philosopher's stone. Later on it will be a stage in the evolution of humanity as a whole. Today people need oxygen to breathe. They exhale carbon dioxide, which is a poison. It is the other way round with plants, for they breathe in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In the distant future man will consciously use the carbon which today is taken in with the food to build his physical body and no longer exhale it. The human body will then consist of an entirely different substance than it does today. It will be a soft, transparent form of carbon. Man's body will then have become the philosopher's stone. The symbol for this is the crystal clear diamond, which is also carbon.
The whole process was prepared for by bringing rhythm into our breathing and altogether into all vital processes. These are regulated from outside in plants and animals. But this no longer happens for modern man. He must create the rhythm for himself which nature gives to all its life forms. Strict adherence to such a rhythm was an important part of Rosicrucian training.
At the 5th stage of Rosicrucian training the pupil would have living experience of the correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm. Paracelsus said: ‘Everything that exists around us in space is related to us.’ The individual letters are in the world,161‘For of this will I bear witness for nature: wanting to study it you must tread your books underfoot. Written works are studied by studying its letters, but nature is studied land by land, a land as often as a page. Thus is the codex of nature, and one must turn its leaves.’ Source as in note 151, but vol. 11, Die vierte Defension, Seite 145 f. München 1924. and man is the word. Man has everything that exists out there in the world in him on a small scale, in its essence. To know yourself so that you might know the world, that was the task set for this stage.
At the next, the 6th stage, the pupil had to enter into the macrocosm in a living way. Here the human being had to leave himself behind, abandoning all that was his own. He then truly came to know the macrocosm.
The highest stage that could be reached by a Rosicrucian was that of godliness. Here the initiate grew to unite with the whole universe, he knew the summit of human evolution which humanity is to reach in the far distant future. The Rosicrucian pupils would make every endeavour to prepare for this evolution.
A lower, passive nature lives in man and also an active element. If he develops in the way I have described he will overcome his lower nature and be reborn through the spirit. This aspect of human evolution has been put into words by Goethe:
So long as you don't have it,
this word: ‘Die and become!’
you're but a miserable guest
here on this earth.
The symbol for ‘to die’ is the cross, the symbol for a new birth are the roses. The human physical body is the cross. Everything connected with powers of growth is the passive element in us. This means above all the milk. In the blood, on the other hand, the human being develops an active element as he seeks to attain to higher things. That is the secret of the white and the red rose. Our higher nature seeks to find the balance between the white and the red rose. In Goethe's poem The Secrets the thirteenth is the image of someone who has reached this exalted level. We may therefore take the words spoken by this thirteenth as a guide for all Rosicrucian endeavour:
All power pushes forward far and wide
To live and work both here and there;
the stream that is the world, however, hems us in,
builds obstacles all round and carries us away.
Caught in this inner storm and outer strife
the mind does hear a word that's hard to understand:
Man needs to overcome and free himself
of the great power binding all creation.
Wie Erlangt Man Erkenntnisse Der Höheren Welten Im Rosenkreuzerischen Sinne?
Weniger bekannt als andere Gedichte von Goethe ist sein Gedicht «Die Geheimnisse». Dieses Gedicht ist Fragment geblieben. Goethe erzählt uns von einem Pilger, Bruder Markus, der uns in seinen Wanderungen an das Schicksal des Parzival erinnert. Nach langer Wanderung gelangt er an ein einsames Haus, ein klosterartiges Gebäude. Innerhalb desselben findet er einen Bund, eine Versammlung von zwölf Persönlichkeiten. Er lernt endlich die Natur, den Charakter der Zwölf und des Dreizehnten kennen, der ihr Oberhaupt darstellt. Jeder dieser Zwölf hat etwas außerordentlich Wichtiges zu tun und eine Art Lebensbeschreibung von dem Dreizehnten zu geben. Dieser Dreizehnte hat sich hindurchgearbeitet durch Wirrnisse und Hemmungen aller Art. Es wird von ihm gesagt:
Von der Gewalt, die alle Wesen bindet,
Befreit der Mensch sich, der sich überwindet, —
das heißt, der den höheren Menschen in sich ausbildet.
Dieser Dreizehnte, Humanus genannt, ist ganz über sich hinausgewachsen. Die Größe, der Einfluß dieses Weisen, den wir fühlen und ahnen, wird noch dadurch erhöht, daß er, wie wir gleich hören, im Sterben liegt, daß er das Letzte, das Schönste und das Größte den Zwölfen vor dem Eintritt in die höheren geistigen Welten zu geben hat. Und dazu soll nun der «reine Tor» hindurchdringen. Er soll den Dreizehnten ersetzen. Es schwebt etwas wie Karfreitagszauber über diesem Fragment. In der Tat hätte das ganze in dem Milieu des Karfreitags dargestellt werden sollen. Goethe selbst erklärt sein Gedicht etwa so, daß er sagt: Es gibt in der Welt viele Bekenntnisse, aber in allen haben wir den gleichen Kern Wahrheit zu sehen. — Das deutet Goethe dadurch an, daß er von zwölf Weltreligionen eine hinstellen wollte, die den gemeinsamen Wahrheitskern der Zwölf darstellt. Und der Dreizehnte ist der Repräsentant dieser Urwahrheit selbst. Das Gedicht umschreibt eigentlich die theosophische Weltanschauung. Goethe will in einem dichterischen Bild zum Ausdruck bringen, auf welche Weise eine Synthese aller Religionen zum Frieden führen kann. Als Bruder Markus an die Pforte des Klosters tritt, leuchtet ihm ein mit Rosen umwundenes Kreuz entgegen. Goethe kannte die tiefe Bedeutung dieses Symbols, was auch in seinen Versen angedeutet wird:
Doch von ganz neuem Sinn wird er durchdrungen,
Wie sich das Bild ihm hier vor Augen stellt:
Es steht das Kreuz mit Rosen dicht umschlungen.
Wer hat dem Kreuze Rosen zugesellt?
Das sind Worte von wahrem esoterischem Sinn.
Heute soll uns nun die Frage beschäftigen: Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten im Sinne der Rosenkreuzer? Wir wollen einiges über die Rosenkreuzermethode besprechen. Sie ist einer der Erkenntnispfade, die in übersinnliche Welten hineinführen. Das Wort Rosenkreuzer mag für manchen ungewohnt und merkwürdig klingen. Man hat von den Rosenkreuzern als einer geheimen Bruderschaft gehört, die etwa im 14. Jahrhundert unter dieser Bezeichnung auftaucht. Was im Konversationslexikon und sonst in der Tagesliteratur über die Rosenkreuzer zu finden ist, ist belanglos. Die Rosenkreuzer haben eine ganz bestimmte Geistesrichtung durch eine Anzahl sehr einflußreicher Persönlichkeiten vertreten. Wie leicht man den schwersten Irrtümern unterliegen kann, wo man höchste Wahrheiten zu finden glaubt, beweisen viele Veröffentlichungen, die über die Rosenkreuzer erschienen sind. Die Rosenkreuzer waren eine der intimsten Geheimbrüderschaften und hatten strenge Proben und schwere Prüfungen zu bestehen. Durch vieles mußten diejenigen hindurchgehen, die in den Rosenkreuzerorden aufgenommen werden wollten. Eine ganz bestimmte okkulte Schulung mußte der Anwärter durchmachen, um zur Selbstschau geführt zu werden. Aber Unkenntnis kann dazu verleiten, im Erhabensten eine Karikatur zu sehen. So wurde auch das Rosenkreuzertum völlig verkannt und zur Karikatur verzerrt. Was über die Rosenkreuzer geschrieben worden ist, ist schlechthin Scharlatanerie. Wer das Rosenkreuzertum richtig beurteilen kann, der sieht den wahren Kern darin. Wie schwer es aber von jeher war, das Rosenkreuzertum kennenzulernen, das sehen Sie daraus, daß Helmont, Leibniz und andere nichts von den Rosenkreuzern erfahren konnten. Die Rosenkreuzereinweihung wird historisch zurückgeführt auf ein Buch vom Anfang des 17. Jahrhunderts, in dem es unter anderem heißt, daß die Rosenkreuzer sich mit alchimistischen Dingen beschäftigt hätten, auch mit anderen, zum Beispiel mit der höheren Erziehung und so weiter. So steht es zu lesen in der «Fama Fraternitatis».
Über das, was wirklich Rosenkreuzerei ist, ist auch darin nichts zu finden, weil die Geheimnisse der Rosenkreuzer nur durch mündliche Tradition überliefert worden sind. Was sich äußerlich den Namen Rosenkreuzer beigelegt hat, ist recht wenig dazu geeignet, das Wesen der Rosenkreuzer zu ergründen. Wir wollen uns nun heute mit den Methoden der echten Rosenkreuzer beschäftigen, soweit dies in der Öffentlichkeit möglich ist. Die theosophische Bewegung ging anfangs vom orientalischen Weg aus. Die Wahrheit ist, wenn man sie zu suchen weiß und reif dazu ist, überall zu finden. Eine andere Denkungsweise, ein anderes Fühlen und Wollen, ein anderes Schauen und Wahrnehmen gab es einstmals in der Menschheit, als die alten Inder die Lehren der heiligen Rishis empfingen. Was damals getan wurde, läßt sich heute nicht mehr durchführen. Die Methoden, die früher möglich waren, sind heute nicht mehr gangbar. Es gibt nichts Absolutes in der Welt; die Menschheit ist in einer fortwährenden Entwickelung begriffen. Die jetzigen Menschen haben eine ganz andere, feinere Gehirnstruktur, sogar eine ganz andere Blutbildung als die damaligen Menschen. Darum muß heute alle Wahrheit so umgeformt werden und müssen die Einweihungsmethoden so angeordnet werden, daß sie für die heutigen Europäer geeignet sind. Das sind die Gründe, warum es ein Rosenkreuzertum geben mußte, warum man eine andere Form der Einweihung brauchte. Die Strömung der Rosenkreuzer ist getragen von den großen Lehrern, die sich immer im Hintergrunde hielten.
Das Rosenkreuzertum umfaßt sieben Stufen der Einweihung. Diese sieben Stufen bilden eine einheitliche Methode, durch die der Europäer in der Lage ist, all die Proben abzulegen, durch die er hindurchgehen muß. Man macht diese Stufen nicht unbedingt nacheinander durch, sondern der Lehrer nimmt je nach der Individualität des einzelnen Schülers dasjenige heraus, was am geeignetsten für den Betreffenden ist.
Die sieben Stufen sind das Studium, die Imagination, die inspirierte Erkenntnis oder das Lesen der okkulten Schrift, das Bereiten des Steines der Weisen, die Entsprechung von Mikrokosmos und Makrokosmos, das Hineinleben in den Makrokosmos sowie als siebente und höchste Stufe die Gottseligkeit.
Unter dem Studium versteht man die Aneignung solcher Begriffe und Ideen, die den Menschen geeignet machen, ein gesundes, umfassendes Urteil über wesentliche Zusammenhänge fällen zu können. Das Studium enthielt bei den Rosenkreuzern alles das, was wir nach Abziehen des orientalischen Gewandes heute in der Theosophie haben. Was heute die Theosophie bringt, das ist Rosenkreuzerweisheit. Auch in öffentlichen Vorträgen habe ich über die Elementarlehre der Rosenkreuzer gesprochen. Das Wesentliche davon ist, sich eine Summe von Begriffen über die Welt anzueignen, die in sich geschlossen ist, die einen streng gefestigten Gedankenbau darstellt. Ein Denksystem wird hier aufgestellt, das vernünftig ist. Ein denkender, nüchterner Mensch muß der Rosenkreuzer sein. Diese Lehren sind Wahrheiten, die für die schlichtesten Herzen wie für die geistvollsten Gemüter verständlich sind. Was ist Zweck des Studiums? Es führt zum Hineinblicken in die übersinnlichen Welten, in die astralische Welt, dann in die geistige oder devachanische Welt, in jene Welten, die uns alle unsichtbar umgeben.
So viele Welten um den Menschen herum sind, so viele Fähigkeiten hat er, sie wahrzunehmen. Freilich sind diese Fähigkeiten zunächst unentwickelt. Eine Neugeburt bedeutet für den Blindgeborenen das Sehendwerden. Ebenso ist das Auftauchen jeder neuen Welt für den Menschen eine Neugeburt. Die astralische Welt, die wir aus gewissen Gründen so nennen, ist um uns herum, ebenso die geistige oder devachanische Welt. Es ist unbescheiden von einem, der nichts von den höheren Welten weiß, zu behaupten, sie seien nicht da. Die astralische Welt und die devachanische Welt unterscheiden sich beide gewaltig von dem, was in der physischen Welt sichtbar um uns herum ist. Ganz neue Eindrücke erleben wir in der astralischen wie in der devachanischen Welt. Wenn nun auch die Wahrnehmungen in diesen Welten ganz verschieden sind von denen in der physischen Welt, so bleibt die Logik die gleiche. Das Denken in allen drei Welten ist das gleiche; erst in noch höheren Welten ändert sich dieses ebenfalls. Hat man in einer dieser drei Welten denken gelernt, so sind die Gesetze dafür in den höheren Welten dieselben. Allerdings korrigiert sich ein Irrtum in der physischen Welt für den Menschen durch die Erfahrung. In jenen andern Welten gibt es diese bequeme Korrektur nicht, daher muß man dort einen festen Maßstab von Objektivität haben. Stützelos bist du dort, trittst du ohne diese Objektivität ein! Bei der alten Einweihung war daher der Guru notwendig. Der Guru mußte gleichsam als höchste Autorität in die Seele desjenigen einziehen, der in die indische Jogaweisheit eingeweiht wurde. In der Rosenkreuzerschulung wird dieses Verhältnis zwischen Guru und Schüler ersetzt durch die Stütze eines geschulten Denkens. Es muß der Schüler selbst der Führer sein. Deshalb ist das Studium ein so wichtiger Bestandteil der Schulung. Grundlegende Wahrheiten der Theosophie sind für die schlichtesten Herzen wie für die höher aufstrebenden Menschen in den Schriften «Wahrheit und Wissenschaft» und «Philosophie der Freiheit» niedergelegt. Man muß beim Lesen dieser Bücher innerlich ganz mitarbeiten, einen Gedanken aus dem andern herausarbeiten.
Die zweite Stufe des Rosenkreuzerpfades ist die Imagination. Sie führt durch eine umfassende Methode schon den ersten Schritt in die höheren Welten hinein. Das Erleben der Imagination erschließt den tieferen Sinn des Goethe-Wortes: «Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichnis.»
Betrachten wir eine Pflanze, so können wir an ihrer Gestalt, an ihrem Wesen erleben, wie wahr es ist, daß sich gleichsam der Geist der Erde in seiner Trauer, in seiner Heiterkeit durch sie offenbart. Es ist eine große Wahrheit, daß der Mensch im gleichen Maße zur Erde gehört wie ein Finger zum menschlichen Leibe. Der Mensch ist nur ein Glied des Ganzen, aber er gibt sich der Illusion hin, losgelöst zu leben. Der Finger ist geschützt vor dieser Illusion, weil er auf dem Leibe des Menschen nicht herumspazieren kann. Fühlt man sich als ein Glied der Erde, dann verspürt man etwas nicht nur von der Poesie, sondern auch von der Wahrheit der Goetheschen Worte vom Erdgeist. Geht der Mensch über zu dem, was der Erdgeist an seiner Oberfläche hervorbringt, so werden ihm manche Pflanzen zu den Tränen, manche zum Lächeln des Erdgeistes werden.
Eines noch wurde mit allen Mitteln der Schulung dem Schüler zum Bewußtsein gebracht. Ihm wurde gesagt: Sieh dir den Pflanzenkelch mit seinen Befruchtungsorganen an, die er keusch der Sonne zuwendet. Der Sonnenstrahl kußt das Innere des Pflanzenkelches. Die Pflanze streckt ihre Befruchtungsorgane unschuldig in den Weltenraum hinaus. Denke dir dies in seiner Umwandlung auf einer höheren Stufe. Betrachte zunächst das Tier und den Menschen und siehe, wie der Mensch das verhüllt, was die Pflanze der Sonne entgegenhält. Und dann sage dir: Eine künftige Stufe soll der Mensch einstmals erreichen, auf der alles Niedrige von seinen Organen gewichen ist. Auf dieser höheren Stufe wird er der Sonne das entgegenbringen, was heute bei der Pflanze der Kelch ist. Dann ist alles Triebhafte geläutert, die menschliche Individualität hat die Begierdennatur überwunden. Diese Umwandlung nannte man in der Weisheit der Rosenkreuzer den Gral, die heilige Schale.
Hat man in solchen Vorstellungen eine Zeitlang gelebt, dann ist man reif, zu noch höheren Erlebnissen aufzusteigen. Das physische Auge sieht in der Pflanze nur den Samen. Durch die Vorbereitung ist die Seele so weit, daß sie dann zu dem Bild vordringen kann, das sich ihr am Samenkorn ergibt und in dem sich das darstellt, wodurch die Pflanze wächst. Es tritt vor die Seele das Bild einer Flammenbildung, die sich aus dem Samenkorn heraushebt. Man lernt so das Geistige hinter den Dingen sehen, man lernt erkennen, wie alles Physische herausgeboren ist aus einer Welt des Geistigen.
Die dritte Stufe wird in der Rosenkreuzerschulung das Lesen der okkulten Schrift genannt. Die kosmischen Kräfte, die in der Welt wirken, offenbaren sich durch bestimmte Strömungen und Zusammenstellungen von Farben und Tönen. Diese okkulte Schrift ist in ihrer Struktur in die Welt hineingeschrieben. Ein Beispiel dafür ist die Spirale, die wir im außeren Kosmos in der Gestalt von zwei ineinandergeschlungenen Wirbeln im Orionnebel erblicken. Mikrokosmisch geschieht die erste Eingliederung des Menschenkeims in einer entsprechenden Form. Das Bild zweier ineinandergeschlungener Wirbel ist das Tierkreiszeichen des Krebses. In der okkulten Schrift zeigt es den Übergang von einem Entwickelungsstadium in das nächste an. In der Tat lag der Frühlingspunkt der Sonne im Zeichen des Krebses, als im alten Indien nach dem Untergang der Atlantis eine neue Menschheitsepoche eingeleitet wurde.
Ein anderes Zeichen der okkulten Schrift ist das Dreieck, das ebenfalls in den Makrokosmos eingezeichnet ist. Mikrokosmisch ist die Figur des gleichseitigen Dreiecks mit dem eingezeichneten Mittelpunkt das Symbol für das erlangte Gleichgewicht zwischen den drei Seelenkräften. Aus der Harmonisierung von Denken, Fühlen und Wollen erwächst die höhere Liebekraft.
Dieser dritten Stufe, auf der das Bewußtsein der Inspiration errungen wird, folgt die Rhythmisierung des Lebens und Atmens. Sie wird in der Sprache der Rosenkreuzer auch als Bereitung des Steins der Weisen bezeichnet. Damit wird wiederum eine spätere allgemeine Entwickelungsstufe der Menschheit vorausgenommen. Heute braucht der Mensch den Sauerstoff bei der Einatmung. Die Kohlensäure atmet er als Giftstoff aus. Umgekehrt verhält es sich bei der Pflanze, die gerade die Kohlensäure einatmet und den Sauerstoff abgibt. In einer fernen Zukunft wird der Mensch den Kohlenstoff, den er heute mit der Nahrung aufnimmt, bewußt zum Aufbau seiner Leiblichkeit verwenden und nicht mehr ausatmen. Dann wird die menschliche Leiblichkeit aus einer ganz andern Substanz bestehen, als dies heute der Fall ist. Diese wird ein durchsichtiger, weicher Kohlenstoff sein. Der Leib des Menschen selber ist dann der Stein der Weisen. Das Symbol dafür ist der kristallhelle Diamant, der aus Kohlenstoff besteht.
Vorbereitet wird dieser ganze Prozeß durch eine Rhythmisierung der Atmung wie überhaupt aller Lebensvorgänge. Bei der Pflanze und beim Tier sind diese von außen her geregelt. Beim heutigen Menschen geschieht dies nicht mehr, sondern er muß sich den Rhythmus, der in der Natur ohne Dazutun der darin lebenden Wesen herrscht, selbst schaffen. Die strenge Einhaltung eines solchen Rhythmus stellt einen wichtigen Bestandteil der Rosenkreuzerschulung dar.
Die fünfte Stufe der Rosenkreuzerschulung ist es, auf welcher die Entsprechung von Mikrokosmos und Makrokosmos erlebt wird. Paracelsus sagt: Alles, was um uns im Raume ist, ist mit uns verwandt. - In der Welt sind die einzelnen Buchstaben, und der Mensch ist das Wort. Ein Sich-Einleben in sein Inneres ist auf dieser Stufe möglich. Der Mensch hat alles im Kleinen, in der Essenz in sich, was draußen in der Welt ist. Sich selbst erkennen, um die Welt zu erkennen, ist die Aufgabe, die auf dieser Stufe gestellt ist.
Das Hinausleben in den Makrokosmos wird auf der folgenden, sechsten Stufe gefordert. Hier hat der Mensch sich seiner selbst zu entäußern und alles Eigene zurückzulassen. Er lernt nun den Makrokosmos wahrhaft erkennen.
Die höchste Stufe, die der Rosenkreuzer erreichen kann, ist die Gottseligkeit. Hier wächst der Eingeweihte mit dem ganzen Universum zusammen, er erlebt den Gipfel der menschlichen Evolution, wie sie der Menschheit für eine ferne Zukunft vorgezeichnet ist. Der Rosenkreuzerschuüler richtet sein ganzes Streben darauf, diese Evolution vorzubereiten.
Im Menschen lebt eine niedere passive Natur und ein aktives Element. Entwickelt er sich in der geschilderten Weise, so überwindet er die niedere Natur und wird durch den Geist wiedergeboren. Dieser Sinn der menschlichen Evolution ist in den Worten Goethes beschlossen:
Und solang du das nicht hast,
Dieses: Stirb und Werde!
Bist du nur ein trüber Gast
Auf der dunklen Erde.
Das Symbol für das «Stirb» ist das Kreuz, das Symbol für das «Werde» sind die Rosen. Der physische Leib des Menschen stellt das Kreuz dar. Alles, was mit den Wachstumskräften zusammenhängt, bildet das passive Element im Menschen. Dazu gehört insbesondere die Milch. Im Blut dagegen entwickelt der aufwärtsstrebende Mensch ein aktives Element. Das ist das Geheimnis der weißen und der roten Rose. Die höhere Menschennatur ist es, welche den Ausgleich zwischen der weißen und der roten Rose sucht. In Goethes Gedicht «Die Geheimnisse» gibt uns der Dreizehnte ein Bild jenes Menschen, der diese hohe Stufe erreicht hat. Als Leitspruch für alles Rosenkreuzerstreben können wir daher die Worte auffassen, die von diesem Dreizehnten gesagt werden:
Denn alle Kraft dringt vorwärts in die Weite,
Zu leben und zu wirken hier und dort;
Dagegen engt und hemmt von jeder Seite
Der Strom der Welt und reißt uns mit sich fort,
In diesem innern Sturm und äußern Streite
Vernimmt der Geist ein schwer verstanden Wort:
Von der Gewalt, die alle Wesen bindet,
Befreit der Mensch sich, der sich überwindet.
How does one attain knowledge of the higher worlds in the Rosicrucian sense?
Less well known than Goethe's other poems is his poem “Die Geheimnisse” (The Secrets). This poem remained a fragment. Goethe tells us of a pilgrim, Brother Markus, whose wanderings remind us of the fate of Parzival. After a long journey, he arrives at a lonely house, a monastery-like building. Inside, he finds a covenant, a gathering of twelve personalities. He finally gets to know the nature and character of the twelve and the thirteenth, who is their leader. Each of the twelve has something extremely important to do and to give a kind of biography of the thirteenth. This thirteenth has worked his way through all kinds of turmoil and inhibitions. It is said of him:
From the power that binds all beings,
The human being frees himself who overcomes himself —
that is, who develops the higher human being within himself.
This thirteenth, called Humanus, has surpassed himself. The greatness and influence of this sage, which we feel and sense, is further enhanced by the fact that, as we are about to hear, he is dying, that he has the last, the most beautiful and the greatest thing to give to the twelve before they enter the higher spiritual worlds. And now the “pure fool” is to penetrate this. He is to replace the thirteenth. Something like Good Friday magic hovers over this fragment. In fact, the whole thing should have been set in the milieu of Good Friday. Goethe himself explains his poem in this way, saying: There are many creeds in the world, but in all of them we see the same core of truth. Goethe suggests this by wanting to present one of the twelve world religions that represents the common core of truth of the twelve. And the thirteenth is the representative of this primordial truth itself. The poem actually describes the theosophical worldview. Goethe wants to express in a poetic image how a synthesis of all religions can lead to peace. When Brother Markus steps up to the gate of the monastery, a cross entwined with roses shines towards him. Goethe knew the deep meaning of this symbol, which is also hinted at in his verses:
But he is filled with a whole new meaning,
Who has placed roses on the cross?
As the image presents itself to him here:
There stands the cross, densely entwined with roses.
These are words of true esoteric meaning.
Today we will address the question: How does one attain knowledge of the higher worlds in the sense of the Rosicrucians? Let us discuss some aspects of the Rosicrucian method. It is one of the paths of knowledge that lead into supersensible worlds. The word Rosicrucian may sound unfamiliar and strange to some. We have heard of the Rosicrucians as a secret brotherhood that appeared under this name in the 14th century. What can be found about the Rosicrucians in encyclopedias and other popular literature is irrelevant. The Rosicrucians represented a very specific school of thought through a number of highly influential personalities. Many publications about the Rosicrucians prove how easy it is to fall prey to the gravest errors when one believes one has found the highest truths. The Rosicrucians were one of the most intimate secret brotherhoods and had to pass strict tests and difficult trials. Those who wanted to be accepted into the Rosicrucian Order had to go through many trials. The candidate had to undergo a very specific occult training in order to be led to self-contemplation. But ignorance can lead one to see a caricature in the most sublime. Thus, Rosicrucianism was also completely misunderstood and distorted into a caricature. What has been written about the Rosicrucians is pure charlatanism. Those who can judge Rosicrucianism correctly see its true essence. But you can see how difficult it has always been to learn about Rosicrucianism from the fact that Helmont, Leibniz, and others were unable to find out anything about the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian initiation is historically traced back to a book from the early 17th century, which states, among other things, that the Rosicrucians were involved in alchemical matters, as well as other things, such as higher education and so on. This can be read in the “Fama Fraternitatis.”
There is nothing in it about what Rosicrucianism really is, because the secrets of the Rosicrucians have only been handed down through oral tradition. What has been given the name Rosicrucianism is not very suitable for fathoming the essence of the Rosicrucians. Today we want to deal with the methods of the true Rosicrucians, as far as this is possible in public. The theosophical movement initially started from the Oriental path. The truth is, if one knows how to seek it and is ready for it, it can be found everywhere. A different way of thinking, a different way of feeling and willing, a different way of seeing and perceiving once existed in humanity when the ancient Indians received the teachings of the holy Rishis. What was done then can no longer be done today. The methods that were possible in the past are no longer viable today. There is nothing absolute in the world; humanity is in a state of constant development. People today have a completely different, more refined brain structure, even a completely different blood composition than people back then. That is why all truth must be transformed today and the methods of initiation must be arranged in such a way that they are suitable for today's Europeans. These are the reasons why Rosicrucianism had to exist, why a different form of initiation was needed. The Rosicrucian movement is supported by the great teachers who have always remained in the background.
Rosicrucianism comprises seven stages of initiation. These seven stages form a unified method through which Europeans are able to pass all the tests they must undergo. These stages are not necessarily completed one after the other, but the teacher selects what is most suitable for the individual student, depending on their individuality.
The seven stages are study, imagination, inspired knowledge or reading occult writings, preparing the philosopher's stone, the correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm, living in the macrocosm, and, as the seventh and highest stage, godliness.
Study is understood to mean the acquisition of concepts and ideas that enable people to make a sound, comprehensive judgment about essential connections. For the Rosicrucians, study included everything that we have today in theosophy, after removing the Oriental trappings. What theosophy brings today is Rosicrucian wisdom. I have also spoken about the elementary teachings of the Rosicrucians in public lectures. The essence of this is to acquire a set of concepts about the world that is self-contained and represents a strictly established structure of thought. A system of thought is established here that is reasonable. A thinking, sober person must be a Rosicrucian. These teachings are truths that are understandable to the simplest hearts as well as to the most intellectual minds. What is the purpose of study? It leads to insight into the supersensible worlds, into the astral world, then into the spiritual or devachanic world, into those worlds that invisibly surround us all.
There are as many worlds around human beings as there are abilities to perceive them. Of course, these abilities are initially undeveloped. For someone born blind, rebirth means gaining sight. In the same way, the emergence of each new world is a rebirth for human beings. The astral world, which we call it for certain reasons, is around us, as is the spiritual or devachanic world. It is presumptuous for someone who knows nothing about the higher worlds to claim that they do not exist. The astral world and the devachanic world are both vastly different from what is visible around us in the physical world. We experience completely new impressions in the astral and devachanic worlds. Even though perceptions in these worlds are completely different from those in the physical world, the logic remains the same. Thinking is the same in all three worlds; only in even higher worlds does this also change. Once you have learned to think in one of these three worlds, the laws for doing so are the same in the higher worlds. However, in the physical world, humans correct their mistakes through experience. In those other worlds, this convenient correction does not exist, so one must have a firm standard of objectivity there. Without this objectivity, you are unsupported there! In the old initiation, therefore, the guru was necessary. The guru had to enter, as it were, as the highest authority into the soul of the one who was initiated into Indian yoga wisdom. In Rosicrucian training, this relationship between guru and disciple is replaced by the support of trained thinking. The disciple himself must be the guide. That is why study is such an important part of the training. Fundamental truths of theosophy are laid down for the simplest hearts as well as for the more highly aspiring people in the writings “Truth and Science” and “Philosophy of Freedom.” When reading these books, one must cooperate inwardly, working out one thought from another.
The second stage of the Rosicrucian path is imagination. Through a comprehensive method, it leads the first step into the higher worlds. The experience of imagination reveals the deeper meaning of Goethe's words: “Everything transitory is only a parable.”
When we look at a plant, we can experience in its form and essence how true it is that the spirit of the earth reveals itself through it in its sorrow and in its joy. It is a great truth that human beings belong to the earth in the same way that a finger belongs to the human body. Human beings are only a part of the whole, but they succumb to the illusion of living independently. The finger is protected from this illusion because it cannot walk around on the human body. If one feels oneself to be a limb of the earth, then one senses not only the poetry but also the truth of Goethe's words about the spirit of the earth. If man turns to what the spirit of the earth produces on its surface, then some plants will become tears for him, and some will become the smile of the spirit of the earth.
One more thing was brought to the student's consciousness by all means of training. He was told: Look at the plant calyx with its fertilizing organs, which it chastely turns toward the sun. The sunbeam kisses the inside of the plant calyx. The plant innocently stretches its fertilizing organs out into space. Imagine this in its transformation to a higher level. First, consider the animal and the human being and see how the human being conceals what the plant holds out to the sun. And then say to yourself: The human being will one day reach a future level at which all that is base will have disappeared from his organs. At this higher level, he will offer the sun what is today the calyx of the plant. Then all instinctual drives will have been purified, and human individuality will have overcome its desire-driven nature. In the wisdom of the Rosicrucians, this transformation was called the Grail, the holy chalice.
Once you have lived with such ideas for a while, you are ready to ascend to even higher experiences. The physical eye sees only the seed in the plant. Through preparation, the soul is ready to penetrate the image that presents itself in the seed and in which the plant's growth is represented. The image of a flame rising from the seed appears before the soul. In this way, one learns to see the spiritual behind things; one learns to recognize how everything physical is born out of a world of the spiritual.
The third stage in Rosicrucian training is called reading occult writing. The cosmic forces at work in the world reveal themselves through certain currents and combinations of colors and sounds. This occult script is written into the world in its structure. An example of this is the spiral that we see in the outer cosmos in the form of two intertwined whirlpools in the Orion Nebula. Microcosmically, the first integration of the human germ takes place in a corresponding form. The image of two intertwined whirlpools is the zodiac sign of Cancer. In occult writing, it indicates the transition from one stage of development to the next. In fact, the vernal equinox of the sun was in the sign of Cancer when a new epoch of humanity began in ancient India after the demise of Atlantis.
Another sign in occult writing is the triangle, which is also drawn in the macrocosm. In the microcosm, the figure of the equilateral triangle with the center point drawn in is the symbol for the balance achieved between the three soul forces. The higher power of love arises from the harmonization of thinking, feeling, and willing.
This third stage, in which the consciousness of inspiration is attained, is followed by the rhythmicization of life and breathing. In the language of the Rosicrucians, this is also referred to as the preparation of the philosopher's stone. This in turn anticipates a later general stage of human development. Today, humans need oxygen when they breathe in. They exhale carbon dioxide as a toxic substance. The opposite is true for plants, which inhale carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In the distant future, humans will consciously use the carbon they consume today in their food to build their physical bodies and will no longer exhale it. Then the human body will consist of a completely different substance than is the case today. This will be a transparent, soft carbon. The human body itself will then be the philosopher's stone. The symbol for this is the crystal-clear diamond, which consists of carbon.
This whole process is prepared by a rhythmization of breathing, as indeed of all life processes. In plants and animals, these are regulated from outside. In today's human beings, this no longer happens, but they must create for themselves the rhythm that prevails in nature without the intervention of the beings living in it. Strict adherence to such a rhythm is an important part of Rosicrucian training.
The fifth stage of Rosicrucian training is where the correspondence between the microcosm and the macrocosm is experienced. Paracelsus says: Everything that surrounds us in space is related to us. - In the world, there are individual letters, and man is the word. At this stage, it is possible to settle into one's inner self. Man has everything that is outside in the world within himself, in essence, in miniature. Recognizing oneself in order to recognize the world is the task set at this stage.
Living out into the macrocosm is required at the following, sixth stage. Here, human beings must renounce themselves and leave everything that is their own behind. They now learn to truly recognize the macrocosm.
The highest stage that Rosicrucians can reach is godliness. Here, the initiate grows together with the entire universe, experiencing the pinnacle of human evolution as it is destined for humanity in the distant future. Rosicrucian students direct all their efforts toward preparing for this evolution.
A lower, passive nature and an active element live within human beings. If they develop in the manner described, they overcome their lower nature and are reborn through the spirit. This meaning of human evolution is summed up in Goethe's words:
And as long as you do not have this,
This: Die and become!
You are only a dull guest
On the dark earth.
The symbol for “die” is the cross, the symbol for “become” is the rose. The physical body of man represents the cross. Everything connected with the forces of growth forms the passive element in man. This includes milk in particular. In the blood, on the other hand, the upward-striving human being develops an active element. This is the secret of the white and red roses. It is the higher human nature that seeks the balance between the white and red roses. In Goethe's poem “The Secrets,” the Thirteenth gives us a picture of the human being who has reached this high level. We can therefore take the words spoken by this Thirteenth as the motto for all Rosicrucian endeavors:
For all power pushes forward into the vastness,
To live and work here and there;
On the other hand, the stream of the world constricts and inhibits us from all sides,
The stream of the world and carries us away,
In this inner storm and outer strife
The spirit hears a word that is difficult to understand:
From the power that binds all beings,
The person who overcomes himself is freed.