The Mystery of Golgotha
GA 97
2 December 1906, Cologne
Translator Unknown
The Mystery of Golgotha is one of the profoundest secrets of the evolution of the world. In order to understand it, we must shed light upon the occult wisdom of thousands of years ago, on the remote past of the world's development. It is not a plausible argument against a more penetrating knowledge of the Mystery of Golgotha to say that the life and work of Christ Jesus should be accessible to the simplest mind. This is indeed the case. But a full, encompassing comprehension of this greatest event on earth must be drawn out of the depths of Mystery-wisdom.
In this lecture we shall penetrate into the depths of Mystery-wisdom in order to understand how an event such as the Mystery of Golgotha could take place. In this connection we should bear in mind that with the appearance of Christ Jesus upon the earth something occurred which divided mankind into two parts. We can grasp this best of all by seeking an answer to the question: Who was Christ Jesus?
For the occultist this question is a double one: For we must distinguish between the personality who lived at that time in Palestine and reached the age of thirty, and what became of him afterwards. In the 30th year of his life Jesus became Christ.
In the case of ordinary people, only insignificant portions of the astral body, the etheric body and the physical body are transformed into Manas, Buddhi and Atma, or into Spirit Self, Life-Spirit and Spirit-Man. Jesus of Nazareth was a Chela of the third degree, and his bodies were therefore in a state of high purification.
When a Chela has absolved the purification of his three bodies, then he acquires at a certain moment of his life the capacity to sacrifice himself. In his 30th year, the Ego of Jesus left his three bodies and passed over into the astral world, so that the three sanctified bodies remained behind on earth, emptied as it were of their Ego, so that room was made for a higher individuality. In the 30th year of his life, the Ego of Jesus of Nazareth made the great sacrifice of placing his purified bodies at the disposal of the individuality of Christ. Christ filled out these bodies. And from that time onwards we speak of Christ-Jesus who lived upon the earth for three years and fulfilled all his great deeds within the body of Jesus.
In order to understand the true being of Christ, we must go far back into the history of the development of the earth and of mankind. Before the earth became Earth, it was the old Moon, and the present moon is only a fragment of the old Moon. Before the Earth was Moon, it was Sun, and at a still earlier stage it was Saturn. We should bear in mind that milliards of years ago there existed in the cosmic spaces a heavenly body, Saturn. Also planets develop through different incarnations: Before the Earth was EARTH, it existed as Saturn, Sun and Moon.
Let us now transfer ourselves upon the Sun. There, the so-called Fire-Spirits had the same rank which human beings now have upon the earth. Of course, they did not have the same appearance, they did not look like men of to-day; these high individualities passed through the human stage upon the Sun under conditions which were quite different from the present human conditions. Also upon the Moon a host of Beings passed through the stage of humanity, and they came down to the Earth as higher Beings, as Lunar Pitris or Moon-Spirits, that had reached a higher stage than that of man upon the Earth. In Christian esotericism they are called Angeloi = Angels. Only upon the Earth the human being became MAN. The Lunar Pitris are Beings one degree higher than man, and above them stand the Fire-Spirits, who are one degree higher than the Lunar Pitris. The Fire-Spirits have reached a very high stage of development.
Now we come to the Earth, to the Lemurian race which lived upon a continent situated between present-day Asia, Africa and Australia. There, man took on his present form through the fact that below, upon the physical earth, there lived highly developed beings, but physical beings, higher than the present animals and less developed than present-day man. These physical beings formed a kind of shell, a dwelling-place and they would have been condemned to decadence had they not been fructified by higher Beings. Only at that time the human souls entered the physical human bodies, and then began to shape the Subsequent form of the human body. In the past, the human soul was an integral part of higher Spiritual Beings. The physical shells of human bodies were upon the earth, and into these streamed the souls of higher Beings coming from above, from the spiritual worlds. In the spiritual worlds the souls were connected like drops of water in a sea, which were then poured into a number of vessels.
The beings who poured out the souls from above were those who had passed through their human stage upon the Moon, the Moon-Spirits, whose stage of development was one degree higher than that of Man so that they could pour one part of their being into mankind, thus enabling it to develop further, Man could then transform his organism more and more. He could lift himself up from the earth and stand upright, he learned to walk, to speak and to become independent.
There was a certain relationship between all these souls, for they came from a common spiritual chorus. All those who had received a drop from the same being, greatly resembled each other. Members, of the same tribe first had such related souls, then the members of a race or nation, for example, the whole Egyptian or the whole Jewish nation. They had souls that had come from a common source. From the Moon-Spirits man had received the Spirit-Self and this enabled him to become an independent being, an Ego.
But something which man could not obtain from the Moon Spirits, could only be given to him by a still higher Being, common to all men, who had already completed its humanity upon the Sun: a Fire-Spirit. Many Fire-spirits had developed upon the Sun and exercised their influence upon the Earth, for they were high spirits. One of these Fire-Spirits was called upon to pour out his being upon the whole of mankind. A Spirit who belonged to the whole Earth was able to pour out over the whole of mankind, into each one of its parts, the element of the Sun or Fire-Spirits, the Buddhi, or the Spirit of Life. But in the Lemurian and in the Atlantean age the human beings were not ripe enough to receive this from the Sun-Spirit.
When we read the Akasha Chronicle (See Rudolf Steiner's bookThe Akasha Chronicle) we find that something very strange took place at that time: The human beings consisted of physical body, etheric body, astral body and Spirit Self, but this only lived in them in a very weak form. The Buddhi or Life-Spirit soared above every human being—it could be perceived in the Akasha spaces. In the astral space every human being was surrounded by Buddhi, but it remained outside and was not strong enough to enter man. This Buddhi was a part of the great Fire Spirit who had poured out his drops on the human beings, but these drops could not enter the human beings.
Christ's deeds on earth gave man the capacity to absorb into his Manas what we designate as Buddhi.
What Christ fulfilled upon the earth, was prepared by other great teachers who had preceded him, by Buddha, by the last Zarathustra, by Pythagoras, who all lived about 600 years before Christ, and who were men who had already absorbed a great deal of what lived in the surroundings of man. They had absorbed the spark of Christ. Also Moses belongs to them. But the Ego of the other people had not yet absorbed this spark.
Into the physical, etheric and astral body of Jesus of Nazareth had entered the whole Fire-Spirit, the one source of all the different sparks that lived in the human beings. This Fire-Spirit is the Christ, the only divine Being who lived on earth in this form. He entered the body of Jesus of Nazareth and as a result, all those who feel united with Christ Jesus are able to absorb Buddhi. The possibility to absorb and take in the Buddhi begins with the appearance of Christ Jesus. St. John the Evangelist designates it as the Divine Creative Word. The Fire-Spirit that poured his sparks into men is this Divine Creative Word.
As a result, the following took place: Whereas the Moon-Spirits could create differentiated tribes among men by sending down their drops, Christ was a uniting Spirit for the whole earth, and the human beings were thus united into a family all over the world. Whereas the differentiations among men were brought about by the drops poured out by the different Moon-Spirits, the unity among men was brought about by the Spirit poured out by Christ Jesus. What unites men came down to the earth through Christ Jesus.
When speaking of the last Judgement, Christ says in his prophecy: “When the Son of Man shall Come in his glory” (he means by this: when the drops of Christ shall all have entered into the human beings, when all shall have become brothers) “he shall say unto them on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungred and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me drink.” (St. Matthew 25, 35) Then the only difference among men will be that between good and evil.
Christ says to His disciples: “What ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done unto me.” This signifies: Christ Jesus indicates the time when the drops poured out by Him will all be absorbed, so that when one man faces another, this drop of Christ within him will face the drop of Christ in the other. The power whereby the Buddhi could be called into life in man, this power went out from the life of Christ upon the earth. We should therefore look upon Christ as the uniting Spirit of the Earth.
If we could look down upon the earth from a distant star, through an epoch of many thousands of years, we would find a moment when Christ was active on the earth, so that the whole astral substance of the earth was permeated by Christ. Christ is the Spirit of the Earth, and the Earth is His Body. Everything that grows upon the earth is Christ. He lives in every seed, in every tree, all that grows upon the earth. That is why Christ indicated the bread and said: “This is my Body.” And of the juice of the grapes (at the LAST SUPPER the juice of grapes was passed round, not fermented wine) he had to say: “This is my Blood,” for the juice of the fruits of the earth is his blood. Consequently mankind must appear to him like beings who walk about upon his body. That is why he told his disciples after having washed their feet: “He that eateth bread with me, lifts up his heel against me.” (Treads on me). This must be taken literally, in the meaning that the earth is the body of Christ Jesus. Because he took upon himself the evolution of the earth, a distant spiritual being might see that more and more of Christ's spirit flows into the human beings; the single drops of Christ Jesus penetrate into the individual human beings. Finally the whole earth will be peopled by transformed, Christianised men, by men who have become divine through Christ. Only those who do not participate in this, will be put aside as evil; they must wait for a later time in order to follow a course of development leading to goodness.
All the different nations had Mysteries, before Christ appeared on earth. The Mysteries revealed what was to take place in the future. After a long training, the pupils had to undergo a preparation which consisted in a sepulchre. The hierophant was thus able to transfer the pupil into a higher state of consciousness which made his body lie inert in a kind of deep slumber. In ancient times, the consciousness always had to be abated in order that the divine essence might enter man. In this lowered state of consciousness, the soul was led through the spheres of the spiritual world and after three days the hierophant called the pupil back into life. Through this experience he felt that he had become a new man and he obtained a new name. He was called Son of God. The whole process took place upon the physical plane, when Christ appeared and passed through the Mystery of Golgotha. In the ancient initiations the life-drops of Christ's spirit first called the pupils back into life and they were told: “He who will Christianize all men, will appear one day. And He will truly be the Incarnated Word. You can only experience this for three days, when you travel through the kingdoms of heaven; but One will come, Who will bring the Kingdoms of Heaven down to the physical world.”
The Initiate experienced upon the astral plane what Christ lived through upon the physical plane, namely that from the very beginning there existed a Divine Word that poured out its drops over the human beings; but the Ego-men could not absorb these drops. St. John, the herald of the Christianized Ego-man who has taken in the Christ, or the Word, reveals this. St. John speaks of the Word that existed upon the earth from the very beginning:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life and the life was the light of men.
And the light shone in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not the light-, but a witness of the Light.
For the true Light that lighteth every man was to come into the world.
He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not.
He came to each man (to the individual Ego-man) but the individual men (the Ego-men) received him not.
But as many as received him, to them he gave power to manifest themselves as children of God.
Those who believe in his name, are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we have heard his teaching, the teaching of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.
The word “grace” in verse 14 has for St. John the same meaning as Buddhi; “truth” is Manas, the Spirit-Self.
John bare witness of him and cried saying: This was he of whom I spoke. After me cometh one who existed before me. For he is my predecessor.
And of his fullness have we all received grace upon grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
No man hath at any time seen God with eyes. The only begotten Son who lived in the bosom of the Cosmic Father hath become our guide in this vision.
[Dr.Rudolf Steiner's rendering of the text.]
All initiations into the Mystery of the Spirit pointed to the coming of Christ Jesus. This initiation was attained in the Yoga sleep, in the Orphic sleep, in the Hermes sleep. When the initiate woke up again and returned into his body, so that he could again hear and speak with his physical senses, he uttered the words which are rendered as follows in the Hebrew language: “Eli, Eli, lama sabathani.” The pupil of the Mysteries woke up with the words: “My God, My God, how thou hast raised me!”
This was the initiation during the ancient Jewish epoch. During his three days' sojourn in the higher worlds, the initiate experienced the whole course of mankind's future development, all that awaited him in the future development of humanity. As a rule, these future stages of human development were not perceived abstractly in his vision.. Each stage was represented by a personality. The seer saw twelve individualities. They represented twelve stages of soul-development. The soul-forces thus appeared in the external form of twelve persons. At a certain moment, the initiate saw a certain scene: His own individuality became transfigured—the stage which the whole of humanity will reach when it shall be filled by Buddhi, when it shall be Christianized. He identified himself with God and behind him he saw the twelve soul-forces. John was immediately behind, he was the last of the twelve who announced his fulfilment. And he saw himself transfigured, he saw the stage which he would reach when perfection will be attained; he saw his soul-forces in the external form of persons, and perceived St. John, the herald of the Christ-stage of development. During the Yoga-sleep, these twelve figures grouped themselves around him, and the scene arose which was designated as the Mystical Supper. This image had the following meaning: When the initiate sits there surrounded by his soul-forces, he says to himself: These are one with me; they have led me through the development of the earth; the feet of this apostle enabled me to walk on along my path, the hands of that apostle gave me the power to work. ... The Holy Supper is the expression of man's fellowship with the twelve soul-forces.
Human perfection consists in the falling away of the lower soul-forces, so that only the higher forces remain behind; in future, man will no longer have the lower forces; he will, for example, no longer have the forces of procreation. John's soul-power above all will raise those lower forces to the loving heart. It will send out streams of spiritual love. The heart is the most powerful organ, when Christ lives in man. The lower soul-forces are then raised from the abdominal regions to the heart.
Every initiate experienced this in the Mysteries of the heart. It re-echoed in the words: “My God, my God, how thou hast raised me!” With the appearance of Christ Jesus, the whole Mystery, the whole experience, became reality upon the physical plane. At that time there were brotherhoods in Palestine which had developed out of the old order of the Essenes. Among their institutions, they also had a meal symbolizing the mystical Holy Supper. “To eat the Easter Lamb” is a general expression for something which took place at Easter. Jesus sat down with the Twelve and inaugurated the Holy Supper with the words: “At the end of the evolution of the earth, all men will have absorbed what I brought down to the earth, and the words, ‘This is my Body, This is my Blood,’ will then be true.” Afterwards he said: “There is one among you who will betray me.” This is brought about by the power of egoism. But as surely as this power of egoism is the source of treason, so surely will this lower soul-force be raised to a higher stage. One of the disciples rested upon Jesus' bosom, he rested upon Jesus' heart. This means that all the lower forces, every form of egoism, will be raised to the heart. At this point Jesus repeated to his Disciples the words: “Eli, Eli, lama sabathani”—“Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him!”
The same event which took place upon Golgotha took place in the ancient Mysteries. Under the Cross stood the Disciple “whom the Lord loved,” the Disciple who had rested upon his bosom and had been raised to his heart. Also the women are there under the Cross: the mother of Jesus, his mother's sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene. John does not say that the mother of Jesus was called “Mary,” but that this was the name of his mother's sister. His mother's name was “Sophia.”
John baptises Jesus in the river Jordan. A dove descends from heaven. At this moment a spiritual act of conception takes place. But who is the mother of Jesus who conceives at this moment.
The Chela, Jesus of Nazareth, at this moment divests himself of his Ego, his highly developed Manas is fructified and the Buddhi enters into it. The highly developed Manas that received the Buddhi is Wisdom—Sophia, the Mother who is fructified by the Father of Jesus. Maria, which is the same as Maya, has the general meaning of “Mother name.” The Gospel records: “The Angel came in unto her and said: Hail thou that art highly favoured,—behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son—the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.” The Holy Ghost is Jesus' father: the descending dove fructifies the Sophia that lives in Jesus.
The Gospel should therefore be read as follows: “Under the Cross stood the mother of Jesus, Sophia.” To this mother Jesus says: “Woman, behold thy son.” He himself had transferred the Sophia that lived within him to the Disciple John; he transformed him into a son of Sophia and said: “Behold, thy mother.” “Henceforth you should recognise the divine wisdom as your mother and dedicate yourself to her alone.” John had recorded this divine wisdom; Sophia is embodied in the Gospel of St. John. Jesus had given him this wisdom, and he was authorized by Christ to transmit it to the world.
The highest Spirit of the Earth had to incarnate in a physical body; this body had to die, it had to be killed and its blood had to flow. A special meaning is attached to this. Wherever there is blood, there is Self. The Self rooted in the blood had to be sacrificed in order that the old communities based on Self might come to an end. All individual forms of egoism flow away with the blued of the Crucified Christ. The blood of racial communities changes into a blood which is common to the whole of mankind, because the blood of Christ was sacrificed at the moment when he hung upon the Cross.
Here too something took place which might have been observed by an astral observer in the astral atmosphere. When Christ died upon the Cross, the whole astral atmosphere changed, so that events could take place which could never have taken place before. This has become possible because by shedding His blood, Christ gave the whole of mankind a Self that is common to all. The blood that streamed out of the wounds of Christ Jesus gave to the whole of humanity a Self which is shared by all. His three bodies remained hanging upon the Cross and were then revived by the Risen Christ. When Christ abandoned his physical frame, the three bodies were so strong that they could utter the words of initiation which follow the transfiguration: “Eli, Eli, lama sabathani!”
To all who know something of the Mystery-truths, these words must have revealed that a Mystery had been enacted. A small correction in the Hebrew text therefore gave rise to the words contained in the Gospel: “Eli, Eli, lama sabathani!” “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!”
Das Mysterium von Golgatha
Das Geheimnis, das hinter dem Mysterium von Golgatha steht, gehört zu den tiefsten Geheimnissen der Weltentwickelung. Um es zu verstehen, werden wir durch die okkulte Weisheit Jahrtausende zurück hineinleuchten müssen in die Vergangenheit der Erdenevolution. Gegen dieses tiefere Eindringen in das Mysterium von Golgatha bedeutet es keinen Einwand, daß das, was der Christus Jesus gewirkt hat, für jedes schlichte Gemüt verständlich sein soll. Das ist der Fall. Aber ein volles Verständnis für diese größte Erscheinung auf der Erde muß aus den Tiefen der Mysterienweisheit heraus geschöpft werden.
In dieser Stunde wird es sich für uns also darum handeln, aus der ganzen Tiefe der Mysterienweisheit das Verständnis dafür zu gewinnen, wie so etwas wie das Mysterium von Golgatha möglich sein konnte. Wir müssen dabei daran festhalten, daß sich mit dem Erscheinen des Christus Jesus auf der Erde etwas zugetragen hat, was wirklich einen tiefen Einschnitt in die Geschichte der Menschheit bedeutet. Wir werden das am besten verstehen, wenn wir uns die Frage beantworten: Wer war eigentlich der Christus Jesus? Diese Frage zerfällt für den Okkultisten in zwei Teile. Wir müssen unterscheiden zwischen der Persönlichkeit, die damals in Palästina gelebt hat und dreißig Jahre alt geworden ist, und dem, was dann aus ihr geworden ist.
Jesus wurde Christus im dreißigsten Jahre seines Lebens. Bei dem gewöhnlichen Menschen sind nur geringe Teile vom Astralleib Ätherleib und physischen Leib umgewandelt in Manas, Buddhi und Atma oder Geistselbst, Lebensgeist und Geistesmensch. Jesus von Nazareth war ein Chela im dritten Grade. Dadurch waren seine Leiber in einem Zustande hoher Läuterung. Es war eine vollständige Reinigung, Heiligung und Läuterung bei ihm vorhanden im Astralleib, Ätherleib und physischen Leib. Wenn ein Chela diese Läuterung seiner drei Leiber absolviert hat, dann wird er fähig, in einem gewissen Zeitpunkt seines Lebens sein Ich hinzuopfern. Im dreißigsten Jahre verließ das Ich des Jesus die drei Körper und ging in die astrale Welt über, so daß auf der Erde die geheiligten drei Leiber zurückblieben, gleichsam ausgehöhlt vom Ich, so daß Platz darin war für die höhere Individualität. Es hat also das Ich des Jesus von Nazareth im dreißigsten Jahre seines Lebens das große Opfer gebracht, seine gereinigten Leiber der Individualität des Christus zur Verfügung zu stellen. Christus füllte diese drei Leiber aus. Nach dieser Zeit sprechen wir von dem Christus Jesus, der drei Jahre auf der Erde umhergewandelt ist und die großen Taten in dem Leibe des Jesus vollbracht hat.
Um zu verstehen, wer der Christus war, müssen wir in der Entwickelungsgeschichte der Erde und der Menschheit weit zurückgehen. Die Erde war, ehe sie Erde wurde, der alte Mond, der nicht das Gleiche ist wie der jetzige Mond, welcher nur ein abgesplittertes Stück der Erde ist. Ehe die Erde Mond wurde, war sie Sonne und vorher Saturn. Wir müssen uns also drüber klar sein, daß vor Jahrmilliarden einmal im Weltenraum ein Körper war, der alte Saturn. Ein Planet entwickelt sich auch durch verschiedene Verkörperungen hindurch. Bevor unsere Erde zur Erde wurde, war sie als Saturn, Sonne und Mond da. Nun wollen wir uns zunächst auf die Sonne versetzen. Da hatten denselben Rang, den heute die Menschen auf der Erde haben, die sogenannten Feuergeister. Sie haben aber auf der Sonne nicht wie die jetzigen Menschen ausgeschaut. Diese hohen Individualitäten haben ihre Menschheit auf der Sonne unter ganz andern Verhältnissen durchgemacht, als der Mensch dies heute auf der Erde tut. Auch auf dem Monde machte eine Schar von Wesen die Menschheitsstufe durch, die dann auf die Erde als höhere Wesen kamen: lunarische Pitris, Mondgeister, die jetzt schon eine höhere Stufe erreicht haben als der Mensch, in der christlichen Esoterik Angeloi, Engel genannt. Erst auf der Erde ist der Mensch «Mensch» geworden. Als nächste Stufe stehen über ihm die lunarischen Pitris. Noch über ihnen stehen die Feuergeister auf einer sehr hohen Stufe des Werdens.
Wir kommen nun zu der Erde, und zwar zu dem Zustand der lemurischen Rasse, die auf einem Kontinent zwischen dem heutigen Asien, Afrika und Australien gelebt hat. Auf der Erde waren damals physische Wesen vorhanden, höher als die heutigen Tiere, weniger ausgebildet als der heutige Mensch. Diese physischen Wesenheiten bildeten eine Art von Gehäuse, ein Wohnhaus. Sie hätten in die Dekadenz übergehen müssen, wenn sie nicht befruchtet worden wären von höheren Wesenheiten. Damals erst zogen die Seelen in den physischen Leib des Menschen ein. Diese Seelen haben damals selbst erst den späteren Menschenleib vorbereitet. Die menschliche Seele war früher ein Teil höherer geistiger Wesenheiten. Es waren auf der Erde die physischen Gehäuse der Menschenleiber, in die von oben höhere Wesenheiten aus den geistigen Welten seelische Substanz hineinströmen ließen. Dieses Seelische war noch mit den geistigen Welten verbunden. Es war wie Wasser, das als Tropfen in eine Reihe von Gefäßen ausgegossen wird. Die Wesen, die dieses Seelische ausgossen, waren diejenigen Wesenheiten, welche auf dem Monde ihre Menschwerdung vollendet hatten, die Mondgeister, die jetzt eine Stufe höher standen als die Menschen und einen Teil ihres Wesens in die Menschheit ausgießen konnten, damit diese sich weiter entwickeln konnte. Dadurch wurde der Mensch fähig, seinen Organismus immer mehr umzugestalten. Der Mensch konnte sich erheben von der Erde, aufrechtstehen, gehen, sprechen lernen, selbständig werden.
Es bestand da eine gewisse Verwandtschaft zwischen all diesen Seelen, denn sie kamen ja von gemeinschaftlichen Geistern her. Es zeigten alle die, welche jeweils einen Tropfen von einer gemein samen Wesenheit bekommen hatten, große Ähnlichkeit. Früher waren es die Mitglieder eines Stammes, welche solche ähnlichen Seelen hatten. Später waren es die Völker, zum Beispiel das ganze ägyptische, das ganze jüdische Volk. Sie hatten Seelen, die aus einem gemeinschaftlichen Ursprung hervorgegangen waren.
Was die Mondgeister den Menschen gegeben hatten, war das Geistselbst im Menschen. Dadurch wurde der Mensch eine selbstbewußte Wesenheit, ein Ich. Was ihm aber die Mondgeister nicht hatten geben können, das konnte den Menschen nur geben eine einzige gemeinschaftliche, noch höhere Wesenheit, die ihre Menschheit schon auf der Sonne vollendet hatte, ein Feuergeist.
Viele solche Feuergeister hatten sich auf der Sonne ausgebildet und waren auf der Erde hohe Geister. Ein solcher Feuergeist war berufen, über die ganze Menschheit sein Wesen auszugießen. Für die ganze Erde war ein gemeinschaftlicher Geist vorhanden, der über die ganze Menschheit in all ihren Gliedern das Element der Sonnengeister oder Feuergeister ausgießen konnte, die Buddhi oder den Lebensgeist. Aber in der lemurischen Rasse und in der atlantischen Zeit waren die Menschen noch nicht reif, irgend etwas von diesem Sonnengeist zu empfangen. In der Akasha-Chronik kann man da höchst Merkwürdiges in der damaligen Zeit sehen, nämlich daß die Menschen aus physischem Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib und dem Geistselbst bestanden. Das Geistselbst war aber nur in ganz schwacher Weise in den Menschen darinnen. Die Buddhi oder der Lebensgeist umschwebte einen jeden, doch man konnte dies nur im Astralraum bemerken. Ein jeder hatte eine solche Buddhi-Umgebung im astralen Raum; aber diese Buddhi, die den Menschen von außen umschwebte, war noch nicht reif, in ihn einzudringen. Sie war ein Teil des einen großen Feuergeistes, der seine Tropfen über die Menschen ausgegossen hatte; diese konnten nur noch nicht in die Menschen eindringen. Durch die Tat des Christus auf Erden wurden in den Menschen die Anlagen ausgestaltet, daß sie das, was wir Buddhi nennen, in ihr Manas aufnehmen konnten.
Was Christus auf der Erde tat, wurde vorbereitet durch die andern großen Lehrer, die vorangingen, Buddha, der letzte Zarathustra, Pythagoras, die alle ungefähr sechshundert Jahre vor Christus lebten, das waren solche Geister, die schon viel von dem, was die andern Menschen nur umschwebt hatte, sich zu eigen gemacht hatten. Sie hatten diesen Funken des Christus in den Ich-Menschen aufgenommen. Auch Moses gehörte zu diesen Geistern. Aber die andern Menschen hatten diesen Funken noch nicht im Ich-Menschen empfangen.
Was in den physischen Leib, Äther- und Astralleib des Jesus von Nazareth eingezogen ist, das ist dieser ganze Feuergeist, der gemeinsame Quell aller dieser Geistesfunken für die Menschen. Das ist der Christus, die einzige göttliche Wesenheit, die in der Weise in keiner andern Form auf der Erde vorhanden ist. Sie zog ein in den Jesus von Nazareth, damit die, welche sich verbunden fühlten mit dem Christus Jesus, die Kraft erhielten, die Buddhi in sich aufzunehmen. Es beginnt mit dem Erscheinen des Christus Jesus die Möglichkeit, die Buddhi zu empfangen. Das nannte Johannes das göttliche Schöpferwort. Das göttliche Schöpferwort ist dieser Feuergeist, der seine Funken in die Menschen ausgoß.
Dadurch geschah folgendes: Konnten die Mondgeister durch ihre Einwirkung gemeinsame Stämme unter den Menschen herbeiführen, so war der Christus für die ganze Erde ein einziger Geist, so daß dadurch die Menschen zu einer die ganze Erde umfassenden Familie vereinigt wurden. Wurden die Unterschiede zwischen den Menschen dadurch bewirkt, daß die verschiedenen Mondgeister ihre Tropfen auf die Erde ausgegossen hatten, so wurde dagegen die Einheit der Menschheit durch die Ausströmung des Christus Jesus herbeigefüuhrt. Was die Menschen verbindet, das kam auf die Erde durch den Christus Jesus.
Da, wo Christus von dem Jüngsten Gericht spricht, sagt er in seiner Weissagung also: «Wenn des Menschen Sohn kommen wird in seiner Herrlichkeit» — damit meint er: wenn die Tropfen des Christus alle in die Menschen eingeströmt sein werden, wenn alle Menschen Brüder geworden sind -, «dann wird er sagen zu denen zu seiner Rechten: Kommet her, ihr Gesegneten meines Vaters, ererbet das Reich, das euch bereitet ist von Anbeginn der Welt! Denn ich bin hungrig gewesen, und ihr habt mich gespeiset. Ich bin durstig gewesen, und ihr habt mich getränket». Es wird dann keinen andern Unterschied zwischen den Menschen mehr geben, als den zwischen Gut und Böse.
Er sagt seinen Jüngern: «Dasjenige, was ihr einem unter den geringsten meiner Brüder getan habt, das habt ihr mir getan.» Dies bedeutet, daß der Christus Jesus auf die Zeit hinweist, wo die Tropfen, die er ausgegossen hat, von den Menschen so aufgenommen worden sind, daß ein Mensch, wenn er einem andern gegenübersteht, weiß, daß in ihnen beiden die gleiche Substanz lebt. Die Kraft dazu, daé überhaupt die Buddhi in den Menschen wachgerufen werden konnte, diese Kraft ging aus von dem Leben des Christus auf der Erde. So müssen wir den Christus als den gemeinschaftlichen Geist der Erde auffassen.
Könnten wir von einem fernen Stern herunterschauen auf die Erde durch lange Jahrtausende hindurch, so würden wir einen Zeitpunkt finden, wo Christus so auf der Erde wirkt, daß die ganze Astralmaterie von dem Christus durchdrungen ist. Der Christus ist der Erdengeist, und die Erde ist sein Leib. Alles, was auf der Erde lebt und sprießt und wächst, das ist der Christus. Er ist in all den Samenkörnern, in all den Baumen und in allem, was auf der Erde wächst und sprießt. Darum mußte Christus hindeuten auf das Brot und sprechen: «Das ist mein Leib.» Und von dem Saft der Weintrauben - beim Abendmahl handelte es sich nicht um einen schon gegorenen Wein - mußte er sagen: «Dies ist mein Blut», denn der Saft der Früchte der Erde ist sein Blut. Die Menschheit muß ihm darum auch erscheinen wie Wesenheiten, die auf seinem Leibe umhergehen. Darum sprach er auch zu seinen Jüngern nach der Fußwaschung: «Der mein Brot isset, der tritt mich mit Füßen.» Dieser Ausspruch ist wörtlich zu nehmen in dem Sinne, daß die Erde der Leib des Christus ist. Gerade dadurch, daß er sich zum Träger der Erdenentwickelung macht, würde ein ferner Geist sehen können, wie immer mehr von seinem Geist einfließt in die Menschen - das Hineinziehen der Substanz des Christus Jesus in jeden einzelnen Menschen hinein. Am Ende würde er die ganze Erde verwandelt sehen, verchristete Menschen tragend, durch Christus vergottete Menschen. Nur was nicht teilgenommen hat an dieser Vergottung, das wird als das Böse beiseite gesetzt. Das muß einen späteren Zeitpunkt für seine Entwickelung zum Guten abwarten.
Alle verschiedenen Völker vor dem Erscheinen des Christus auf der Erde hatten Mysterien. Es wurde dargestellt in den Mysterien, was in der Zukunft geschehen sollte. Die Schüler wurden durch lange Übungen darauf vorbereitet, daß sie die Grablegung durchmachen konnten. Der Hierophant konnte den Schüler dann in einen höheren Bewufßttseinszustand bringen, wo er in einer Art von tiefem Schlaf war. In alten Zeiten mußte immer das Bewußtsein herabgedrückt werden, wenn das Göttliche im Menschen zum Vorschein kommen sollte. Da wurde die Seele durch die Regionen der geistigen Welt hindurchgeführt, und nach drei Tagen wurde der Mensch durch den Hierophanten wiederbelebt. Dann fühlte er sich als ein neuer Mensch. Er bekam einen neuen Namen. Er wurde dann ein Gottessohn genannt. |
Dieser ganze Vorgang spielte sich im Mysterium von Golgatha draußen auf dem physischen Plan ab. Vorher wurden die Schüler durch einen Geistesfunken des Christus belebt, und es wurde ihnen gesagt: Es wird einmal Einer kommen, der es allen Menschen möglich machen wird, verchristet zu werden. Einer wird wirklich das Wort im Fleisch sein. Ihr könnt dies nur drei Tage lang erfahren, da durchwandelt ihr die Reiche der Himmel. Aber Einer wird kommen, der durchwandelt immer die Reiche der Himmel, der wird die Reiche der Himmel mit in die physische Welt hineintragen.
Was der Eingeweihte auf dem Astralplan erlebte, das sollte Christus auf dem physischen Plan darstellen: daß es von Anfang an ein göttliches Wort gegeben hat, das seine Tropfen ausgoß über die Menschen, das aber die Ich-Menschen noch nicht aufnehmen konnten. Das sagt uns Johannes, der Verkünder des Ich-Menschen, der verchristet ist, der den Christus aufgenommen hat; das bedeutet auch das «Wort» bei Johannes. Er spricht von dem Wort, das vom Urbeginne auf der Erde da war:
«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.
In diesem war das Leben, und das Leben war das Licht der Menschen.
Und das Licht schien in die Finsternis, aber die Finsternis hat es nicht begriffen.
Es ward ein Mensch, gesandt von Gott, mit seinem Namen Johannes.
Dieser kam zum Zeugnis, auf daß er das Zeugnis ablege von dem Licht, auf daß durch ihn alle glauben sollten.
Er war nicht das Licht, sondern ein Zeuge des Lichtes.
Denn das wahre Licht, das alle Menschen erleuchtet, sollte in die Welt kommen.
Es war in der Welt, und die Welt ist durch es geworden, aber die Welt hat es nicht erkannt.
In die einzelnen Menschen kam es (bis zu den Ich-Menschen kam es), aber die einzelnen Menschen (die Ich-Menschen) nahmen es nicht auf. Die es aber aufnahmen, die konnten sich durch es als Gottes Kinder offenbaren.
Die seinem Namen vertrauten, sind nicht aus Blut, nicht aus dem Willen des Fleisches, und nicht aus menschlichem Willen, sondern aus Gott geworden.
Und das Wort ist Fleisch geworden und hat unter uns gewohnt, und wir haben seine Lehre gehört; die Lehre von dem einzigen Sohn des Vaters, erfüllt von Hingabe und Wahrheit.»
Das Wort «Hingabe» in Vers 14 bedeutet für Johannes dasselbe wie Buddhi, «Wahrheit» ist das Manas, die Weisheit, das Geistselbst.
«Johannes leget Zeugnis für ihn ab und verkündet deutlich: Dieser war es, von dem ich sagte: Nach mir wird derjenige kommen, der vor mir gewesen ist, denn er ist mein Vorgänger. Denn aus dessen Fülle haben wir alle genommen Gnade über Gnade. Denn das Gesetz ist durch Moses gegeben, die Gnade und die Wahrheit aber ist durch Jesus Christus entstanden. Gott hat niemand bisher mit Augen geschaut. Der eingeborene Sohn, der im Innern des Weltenvaters war, er ist der Führer in diesem Schauen geworden.»
Auf diese Erscheinung des Christus Jesus deutete jede Einweihung in die Mysterien des Geistes hin. Im Jogaschlaf, im orphischen Schlaf, im Hermesschlaf war diese Einweihung vorhanden. Wenn der Eingeweihte wieder im Leibe erwachte, wenn er wieder mit physischen Sinnen hören und sprechen konnte, dann sagte er die Worte, die im Hebräischen also lauteten: «Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani» — «Mein Gott, mein Gott, wie hast du mich erhöhet!»
Das war die Initiation, wie sie im alten Judentum vor sich ging. Der Eingeweihte erlebte während des dreitägigen Aufenthaltes in den höheren Welten den Gang der ganzen künftigen Menschheitsentwickelung, was ihm bevorstand in der zukünftigen Menschheitsentwickelung. Während des Schauens in den drei Tagen wurden in der Regel die zukünftigen Menschheitsstufen nicht in abstrakter Weise gesehen, sondern jede Stufe wurde durch eine Persönlichkeit dargestellt. Der Schauende sah zwölf Persönlichkeiten. Sie stellten die zwölf Stufen der Seelenentwickelung dar. So zeigten sich vor ihm die Seelenkräfte wie äußere Persönlichkeiten. Da sah der Eingeweihte in einem gewissen Zeitpunkte eine ganz bestimmte Szene sich abspielen: Er sah seine eigene Individualität verklärt bis zu jener Stufe, wo die ganze Menschheit von Buddhi erfüllt ist - wo sie also verchristet sein wird. Den Gott sah er als sich selbst, und die Seelenkräfte dahinterstehen. Unmittelbar hinter ihm stand Johannes, der als letzte Gestalt seine Vollendung ankündigt. Sich selbst sah er verklärt, in einem Zustand, den er erlangen wird, wenn er vollendet sein wird; seine Seelenkräfte personifiziert, als deren letzte Vollkommenheitsstufe die Persönlichkeit des Johannes, welcher die Christus-Stufe verkündigt. Dann bildeten sich diese zwölf Gestalten im Jogaschlaf so, daß sie sich zu dem gruppierten, was man das mystische Gemeinsamkeitsmahl nannte. Das stellt folgendes dar. Wenn der Mensch dasitzt, umgeben von den Seelenkräften, sagt er sich: Diese sind mit mir eins; sie haben mich durch die Erdentwikkelung hindurchgeführt. Ich bin weitergeschritten mit den Füßen dieser Apostel. -— Das Mahl drückt die Gemeinsamkeit der zwölf Seelenkräfte mit dem Menschen aus.
Es besteht die Vervollkommnung des Menschen darin, daß die niederen Kräfte von ihm abfallen und nur die höheren Kräfte zurückbleiben. Die niederen Kräfte wird der Mensch später nicht mehr haben, zum Beispiel die Kraft der Fortpflanzung. Gerade die Seelenkraft des Johannes wird es bewirkt haben, daß diese Kräfte dann hinaufgehoben sind in das liebende Herz. Es wird Ströme geistiger Liebe aussenden. Ist Christus im Menschen, dann ist das Herz das Organ, das das mächtigste in ihm ist. Die niedere Seelenkraft wird dann aus dem Schoß zum Herzen emporgehoben sein. Das erlebte jeder Eingeweihte als Mysterium des Herzens. Das fand in den Worten Ausdruck: «Mein Gott, mein Gott, wie hast du mich erhöhet!»
Mit dem Erscheinen des Christus Jesus wurde nun das ganze Mysterium, das ganze Erlebnis, auf dem physischen Plan verwirklicht. Es gab damals in Palästina Bruderschaften, die sich aus dem alten Essäerorden herausgebildet hatten. Diese hielten als Symbol des mystischen Abendmahls ein solches Mahl. Das Wort «das Osterlamm genießen» ist ein allgemeiner Ausdruck für das, was zu Ostern geschah. Jesus ging mit den Zwölfen zu Tisch und setzte das Abendmahl ein mit den Worten: «Am Ende der Erdentwickelung werden alle Menschen das aufgenommen haben, was ich auf die Erde gebracht habe; da wird das wahr sein: dies ist mein Leib, dies ist mein Blut.» Dann sagte er: «Einer unter euch wird mich verraten.» Der Verräter ist der Egoismus, die niedere Begierde. Der Jünger, den der Herr lieb hatte, wußte es, denn er lag in seinem Schoße. Solange dort diese Kraft ist, tötet sie — geschlechtliche Fortpflanzung und Tod bedingen sich gegenseitig -; diese Kraft, die im Geschlechtlichen liegt, steigt höher hinauf im Leib: ins Herz. Der Jünger zeigt das im Evangelium durch seine Erhebung zum Herzen an. Wie es sicher ist, daß es die niedere Begierde ist, die den Verrat begeht, so ist es auch sicher, daß die niedere Seelenkraft höher gehoben wird. «Es war einer unter seinen Jüngern, der lag im Schoße Jesu - dieser legte sich an die Brust Jesu.» Das bedeutete, daß alle niederen Kräfte, aller Egoismus, heraufgehoben sind zum Herzen. Da wiederholte Jesus seinen Jüngern das Wort: «Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani» — «Jetzt ist des Menschen Sohn verherrlicht und Gott verherrlicht in ihm.»
Was sich in den Mysterien abspielte, war dasselbe wie das, was in Golgatha geschah. Unter dem Kreuze stand der Jünger, den der Herr lieb hatte, der beim Abendmahl in seinem Schoße gelegen hatte und zur Brust hinaufgehoben ist. Dann stehen auch dort die weiblichen Gestalten, seine Mutter, seiner Mutter Schwester Maria, und Maria Magdalena. Es steht bei Johannes nicht, daß die Mutter Jesu Maria hieß, sondern seiner Mutter Schwester wird Maria genannt. Seine Mutter hieß Sophia.
Johannes taufte Jesus im Jordan. Da kommt eine Taube vom Himmel herunter. In diesem Momente geschieht eine geistige Befruchtung. Die Mutter Jesu, die hier befruchtet wird — wer ist sie? Der Chela Jesus von Nazareth, der in diesem Moment sich seines Ichs entkleidet, das hochgebildete Manas wird befruchtet und die Buddhi geht darin ein. Das hochgebildete Manas, das die Buddhi empfangen hat, ist die Weisheit, Sophia, die Mutter, die befruchtet wird von Jesu Vater. Der Name Maria, gleich Maja, bedeutet im allgemeinen den Mutternamen. Es heißt in der Schrift: «Der Engel kam zu ihr und sprach: Gegrüßet seist du, Holdselige, siehe, du wirst fruchtbar werden und einen Sohn gebären. Der Heilige Geist wird über dich kommen und die Kraft des Höchsten wird dich überschatten.» Der Heilige Geist ist Jesu Vater; die Taube, die herunterfliegt, befruchtet die in Jesus befindliche Sophia.
Die Schrift ist also so zu lesen: «Es stand aber bei dem Kreuze Jesu seine Mutter, Sophia» Zu dieser Mutter spricht er: «Weib, siehe, das ist dein Sohn.» Er hatte die Sophia, die in ihm war, selbst auf Johannes übertragen. Er machte ihn zu dem Sohn der Sophia und sprach: «Das ist deine Mutter.» — «Die göttliche Weisheit hast du fortan als deine Mutter anzuerkennen und ihr dich allein zu weihen.» Was Johannes geschrieben hat, das war diese göttliche Weisheit, Sophia, die verkörpert ist in dem Johannes-Evangelium selber. Das Wissen hat er selbst von Jesus empfangen, und autorisiert ist er von Christus, die Weisheit auf die Erde zu übertragen.
Der höchste Erdengeist mußte in einem Leibe inkarniert werden. Dieser Leib mußte absterben, getötet werden, das Blut mußte rinnen. Das bedeutet etwas Besonderes. Überall, wo Blut ist, ist das Selbst. Sollen alle alten Selbstgemeinschaften aufhören, dann muß die Selbstheit, die im Blute sitzt, einmal hingeopfert werden. Alle Einzelegoismen fließen hin mit dem Blute Christi am Kreuze. Das Blut der Stammesgemeinschaften wird ein gemeinsames Menschenblut dadurch, daß in jenem Zeitpunkt das Blut Christi geopfert worden ist.
Da geschah wieder etwas, was ein astraler Betrachter in der Astralatmosphäre hätte beobachten können: Die ganze astrale Atmosphäre der Erde änderte sich in dem Momente, wo er starb, so daß Ereignisse möglich waren, die früher nie möglich gewesen wären. Die plötzliche Initiation — wie bei Paulus — wäre früher nie möglich gewesen. Sie ist dadurch möglich geworden, daß durch das Fließen des Blutes Christi die ganze Menschheit zu einem gemeinschaftlichen Selbst geworden ist. Damals floß das Selbst aus dem Blute der Wunden Jesu. Nur die drei Leiber blieben am Kreuze hängen und wurden später wieder belebt von dem Auferstandenen. In dem Augenblicke als der Christus den Leib verließ, waren die drei Leiber so stark, daß sie imstande waren, selbst das Wort zu sprechen, was der Verklärte nach der Initiation gesprochen hat: «Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.»
Diese Worte würden allen, die von den Mysterienweisheiten etwas wußten, gezeigt haben, daß es sich um ein Mysterium handelte. Mit einer kleinen Umänderung im hebräischen Text entstand hieraus das Wort der Schrift: «Eli, Eli, lama asabthani», das heißt: «Mein Gott, mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen.»
The Mystery of Golgotha
The secret behind the mystery of Golgotha is one of the deepest mysteries of world development. In order to understand it, we will have to look back thousands of years into the past of Earth's evolution through occult wisdom. This deeper insight into the mystery of Golgotha does not contradict the fact that what Christ Jesus accomplished should be understandable to every simple mind. That is indeed the case. But a full understanding of this greatest event on earth must be drawn from the depths of mystery wisdom.
At this hour, therefore, we will seek to gain an understanding from the depths of mystery wisdom of how something like the mystery of Golgotha could have been possible. We must hold fast to the fact that with the appearance of Christ Jesus on earth, something happened that truly marked a profound turning point in human history. We will understand this best if we answer the question: Who was Christ Jesus? For the occultist, this question falls into two parts. We must distinguish between the personality who lived in Palestine at that time and reached the age of thirty, and what then became of him.
Jesus became Christ in the thirtieth year of his life. In ordinary human beings, only small parts of the astral body, etheric body, and physical body are transformed into manas, buddhi, and atma, or spirit self, life spirit, and spirit man. Jesus of Nazareth was a chela of the third degree. As a result, his bodies were in a state of high purification. His astral body, etheric body, and physical body were completely purified, sanctified, and refined. When a chela has completed this purification of his three bodies, he becomes capable of sacrificing his ego at a certain point in his life. At the age of thirty, the I of Jesus left the three bodies and passed into the astral world, leaving behind on earth the sanctified three bodies, as it were hollowed out of the I, so that there was room in them for the higher individuality. Thus, at the age of thirty, the I of Jesus of Nazareth made the great sacrifice of placing his purified bodies at the disposal of the individuality of Christ. Christ filled these three bodies. After this time, we speak of Christ Jesus, who walked the earth for three years and performed great deeds in the body of Jesus.
To understand who Christ was, we must go far back in the evolutionary history of the earth and humanity. Before it became Earth, Earth was the old Moon, which is not the same as the present Moon, which is only a splintered piece of Earth. Before Earth became the Moon, it was the Sun, and before that, Saturn. We must therefore be clear that billions of years ago, there was a body in space called the old Saturn. A planet also develops through various incarnations. Before our Earth became Earth, it existed as Saturn, Sun, and Moon. Now let us first turn our attention to the Sun. There, the so-called fire spirits had the same status that humans have on Earth today. However, they did not look like the humans of today on the Sun. These high individualities went through their humanity on the Sun under completely different conditions than humans do today on Earth. On the moon, too, a host of beings went through the human stage, who then came to Earth as higher beings: lunar Pitris, moon spirits, who have now already reached a higher stage than humans, called Angeloi, angels, in Christian esotericism. It was only on Earth that humans became “human.” The next stage above them are the lunar Pitris. Above them are the fire spirits on a very high stage of becoming.
We now come to Earth, specifically to the state of the Lemurian race, which lived on a continent between present-day Asia, Africa, and Australia. At that time, physical beings existed on Earth that were higher than today's animals but less developed than today's humans. These physical beings formed a kind of shell, a dwelling place. They would have had to descend into decadence if they had not been fertilized by higher beings. It was only then that souls entered the physical body of humans. These souls themselves prepared the later human body. The human soul was formerly part of higher spiritual beings. On Earth, they were the physical shells of human bodies, into which higher beings from the spiritual worlds poured soul substance from above. This soul substance was still connected to the spiritual worlds. It was like water being poured drop by drop into a series of vessels. The beings who poured out this soul substance were those beings who had completed their human incarnation on the moon, the moon spirits, who now stood one step higher than humans and could pour part of their being into humanity so that it could develop further. This enabled humans to increasingly transform their organism. Human beings were able to rise from the earth, stand upright, walk, learn to speak, and become independent.
There was a certain kinship between all these souls, for they came from common spirits. All those who had received a drop from a common essence showed great similarity. In earlier times, it was the members of a tribe who had such similar souls. Later, it was entire peoples, for example, the entire Egyptian people, the entire Jewish people. They had souls that had emerged from a common origin.
What the moon spirits had given to humans was the spirit itself in humans. This made humans self-aware beings, an “I.” But what the moon spirits could not give them could only be given to humans by a single communal, even higher being that had already perfected its humanity on the sun: a fire spirit.
Many such fire spirits had developed on the sun and were high spirits on earth. One such fire spirit was called upon to pour out its essence over all of humanity. There was a communal spirit for the whole Earth that could pour out the element of the sun spirits or fire spirits, the Buddhi or life spirit, over all of humanity in all its members. But in the Lemurian race and in the Atlantean period, people were not yet mature enough to receive anything of this sun spirit. In the Akashic Records, one can see something most remarkable about that time, namely that human beings consisted of a physical body, an etheric body, an astral body, and the spirit self. However, the spirit self was only present in humans in a very weak form. The Buddhi, or life spirit, surrounded each person, but this could only be perceived in the astral realm. Everyone had such a Buddhi environment in the astral space; but this Buddhi, which hovered around people from outside, was not yet ready to enter them. It was part of the one great fire spirit that had poured its drops over people; these could not yet enter people. Through the deed of Christ on earth, the predispositions were developed in human beings so that they could receive what we call Buddhi into their manas.
What Christ did on earth was prepared by the other great teachers who preceded him, Buddha, the last Zarathustra, Pythagoras, all of whom lived about six hundred years before Christ. These were spirits who had already made much of what had only hovered around other people their own. They had taken this spark of Christ into the I-human beings. Moses also belonged to these spirits. But other people had not yet received this spark in their ego-human beings.
What entered into the physical, etheric, and astral bodies of Jesus of Nazareth is this whole spirit of fire, the common source of all these spiritual sparks for human beings. This is Christ, the only divine being that exists in this form on earth. It entered Jesus of Nazareth so that those who felt connected to Christ Jesus would receive the power to take in Buddhi. With the appearance of Christ Jesus, the possibility of receiving Buddhi began. John called this the divine creative word. The divine creative word is this fire spirit, which poured its sparks into human beings.
The following happened as a result: While the moon spirits were able to bring about common tribes among human beings through their influence, Christ was a single spirit for the whole earth, so that human beings were united into one family encompassing the whole earth. If the differences between human beings were caused by the various moon spirits pouring their drops onto the earth, then the unity of humanity was brought about by the outpouring of Christ Jesus. What unites human beings came to earth through Christ Jesus.
Where Christ speaks of the Last Judgment, he says in his prophecy: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory” — by which he means: when the drops of Christ have all flowed into human beings, when all human beings have become brothers — "then he will say to those on his right: Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.“ Then there will be no other difference between people than that between good and evil.
He says to his disciples: ”Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." This means that Christ Jesus is pointing to the time when the drops he has poured out will have been received by people in such a way that when one person stands before another, they will know that the same substance lives in both of them. The power to awaken the buddhi in people came from the life of Christ on earth. Thus we must understand Christ as the communal spirit of the earth.
If we could look down on the earth from a distant star through long millennia, we would find a time when Christ is working on earth in such a way that all astral matter is permeated by Christ. Christ is the spirit of the earth, and the earth is his body. Everything that lives and sprouts and grows on earth is Christ. He is in all the seeds, in all the trees, and in everything that grows and sprouts on earth. That is why Christ had to point to the bread and say, “This is my body.” And of the juice of the grapes — at the Last Supper it was not a fermented wine — he had to say, “This is my blood,” for the juice of the fruits of the earth is his blood. Humanity must therefore appear to him as beings walking around on his body. That is why he said to his disciples after the washing of their feet: “He who eats my bread tramples me underfoot.” This statement is to be taken literally in the sense that the earth is the body of Christ. Precisely because he makes himself the bearer of earthly development, a distant spirit would be able to see how more and more of his spirit flows into human beings — the drawing in of the substance of Christ Jesus into each individual human being. In the end, he would see the whole earth transformed, carrying Christianized human beings, human beings deified by Christ. Only that which has not participated in this deification will be set aside as evil. It must wait for a later time for its development toward the good.
All the different peoples before the appearance of Christ on earth had mysteries. What was to happen in the future was depicted in the mysteries. The disciples were prepared through long exercises so that they could go through the burial. The hierophant could then bring the disciple into a higher state of consciousness, where he was in a kind of deep sleep. In ancient times, consciousness always had to be suppressed if the divine in man was to come to the fore. The soul was then guided through the regions of the spiritual world, and after three days the person was revived by the hierophant. Then he felt like a new person. He was given a new name. He was then called a son of God.
This whole process took place in the mystery of Golgotha out on the physical plane. Beforehand, the disciples were enlivened by a spark of the Christ spirit, and they were told: One will come who will make it possible for all people to become Christian. One will truly be the Word in the flesh. You can only experience this for three days, during which you will pass through the realms of heaven. But One will come who will always walk through the realms of heaven, who will carry the realms of heaven into the physical world."
What the initiate experienced on the astral plane, Christ was to represent on the physical plane: that from the beginning there was a divine Word that poured out its drops upon human beings, but which the ego-human beings were not yet able to receive. This is what John, the herald of the ego-human, who became Christian and accepted Christ, tells us; this is also what the “Word” means in John. He speaks of the Word that was there on earth from the very beginning:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
This was with God in the beginning.
All things were made through it, and without it nothing was made that has been made.
In it was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the light shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but a witness to the light.
For the true light that enlightens all men was coming into the world.
It was in the world, and the world was made through it, but the world did not recognize it.
It came into individual people (it came to the ego-people), but the individual people (the ego-people) did not accept it. But those who did receive it were able to reveal themselves as God's children through it.
Those who trusted in his name were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we heard his teaching; the teaching of the only Son of the Father, filled with devotion and truth.“
For John, the word ‘devotion’ in verse 14 means the same as Buddhi, ”truth" is the Manas, the wisdom, the spirit self.
John bears witness to him and proclaims clearly: This was the one of whom I said, After me will come the one who was before me, for he is my predecessor. For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God with their eyes. The only begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, has become the guide in this seeing."
Every initiation into the mysteries of the spirit pointed to this appearance of Christ Jesus. This initiation was present in yogic sleep, in Orphic sleep, in Hermetic sleep. When the initiate awoke again in his body, when he could hear and speak again with his physical senses, he spoke the words that in Hebrew were: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” — “My God, my God, how have you exalted me!”
This was the initiation as it took place in ancient Judaism. During his three-day stay in the higher worlds, the initiate experienced the course of the entire future development of humanity, what lay ahead of him in the future development of humanity. During the three days of vision, the future stages of humanity were not usually seen in an abstract way, but each stage was represented by a personality. The seer saw twelve personalities. They represented the twelve stages of soul development. Thus, the soul forces appeared before him as external personalities. At a certain point in time, the initiate saw a very specific scene unfold: he saw his own individuality transfigured to the stage where all humanity is filled with Buddhi – where it will be Christianized. He saw God as himself, with the soul forces behind him. Immediately behind him stood John, who as the last figure announces his completion. He saw himself transfigured, in a state he will attain when he is complete; his soul forces personified, whose final stage of perfection is the personality of John, who proclaims the Christ stage. Then these twelve figures formed themselves in yogic sleep in such a way that they grouped together in what was called the mystical communal meal. This represents the following. When man sits there, surrounded by the soul forces, he says to himself: These are one with me; they have guided me through earthly development. I have progressed further with the feet of these apostles. The meal expresses the communion of the twelve soul forces with the human being.
The perfection of man consists in the lower forces falling away from him and only the higher forces remaining. Man will no longer have the lower forces later on, for example, the power of procreation. It is precisely the soul force of John that will have caused these forces to be lifted up into the loving heart. It will send out streams of spiritual love. When Christ is in man, the heart is the most powerful organ in him. The lower soul force will then be lifted up from the womb to the heart. Every initiate experienced this as the mystery of the heart. This was expressed in the words: “My God, my God, how you have exalted me!”
With the appearance of Christ Jesus, the whole mystery, the whole experience, was now realized on the physical plane. At that time, there were brotherhoods in Palestine that had developed out of the ancient Essene order. They held such a meal as a symbol of the mystical Last Supper. The phrase “enjoying the Easter lamb” is a general expression for what happened at Easter. Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve and instituted the Last Supper with the words: “At the end of the earth's development, all people will have accepted what I have brought to earth; then it will be true: this is my body, this is my blood.” Then he said: “One of you will betray me.” The betrayer is selfishness, the lower desire. The disciple whom the Lord loved knew this, for he was reclining in his bosom. As long as this force is there, it kills — sexual reproduction and death are mutually dependent —; this force, which lies in the sexual, rises higher in the body: into the heart. The disciple indicates this in the Gospel through his elevation to the heart. Just as it is certain that it is base desire that commits the betrayal, so it is also certain that the base soul force is elevated higher. “There was one among his disciples who was reclining at Jesus' side — he laid his head on Jesus' breast.” This meant that all lower forces, all egoism, were raised up to the heart. Then Jesus repeated the words to his disciples: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” — “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.”
What took place in the mysteries was the same as what happened at Golgotha. Standing beneath the cross was the disciple whom the Lord loved, who had lain in his bosom at the Last Supper and had been lifted up to his breast. Then there also stand the female figures, his mother, his mother's sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene. John does not say that the mother of Jesus was called Mary, but his mother's sister is called Mary. His mother's name was Sophia.
John baptized Jesus in the Jordan. A dove descends from heaven. At this moment, a spiritual fertilization takes place. The mother of Jesus, who is fertilized here — who is she? The chela Jesus of Nazareth, who at this moment strips himself of his ego, the highly educated manas is fertilized and the buddhi enters into it. The highly educated manas that has received the buddhi is wisdom, Sophia, the mother who is fertilized by Jesus' father. The name Mary, like Maja, generally means the mother's name. The scripture says: “The angel came to her and said, ‘Hail, thou that art highly favored, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a son. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.’ The Holy Spirit is Jesus' father; the dove that flies down fertilizes Sophia, who is in Jesus.”
The scripture should therefore be read as follows: “But standing by the cross of Jesus was his mother, Sophia.” To this mother he says: “Woman, behold, this is your son.” He had transferred Sophia, who was in him, to John himself. He made him the son of Sophia and said: “This is your mother.” “From now on, you must recognize divine wisdom as your mother and devote yourself to her alone.” What John wrote was this divine wisdom, Sophia, which is embodied in the Gospel of John itself. He himself received this knowledge from Jesus, and he is authorized by Christ to transmit wisdom to the earth.
The highest earthly spirit had to be incarnated in a body. This body had to die, be killed, its blood had to flow. This has a special meaning. Wherever there is blood, there is the self. If all old communities of self are to cease to exist, then the selfhood that resides in the blood must be sacrificed. All individual egos flow away with the blood of Christ on the cross. The blood of the tribal communities becomes a common human blood through the sacrifice of Christ's blood at that moment.
Then something else happened that an astral observer in the astral atmosphere could have observed: The entire astral atmosphere of the earth changed at the moment he died, so that events became possible that would never have been possible before. The sudden initiation — as with Paul — would never have been possible before. It became possible because, through the flow of Christ's blood, the whole of humanity became a communal self. At that time, the self flowed from the blood of Jesus' wounds. Only the three bodies remained hanging on the cross and were later revived by the risen Christ. At the moment when Christ left the body, the three bodies were so strong that they were able to speak the words that the transfigured Christ spoke after his initiation: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.”
These words would have shown to all who knew something of the mysteries that this was a mystery. With a slight change in the Hebrew text, this became the word of Scripture: “Eli, Eli, lama asabthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”