Adept-School of the Past
GA 97
7 March 1907, Düsseldorf
Translator Unknown
The spiritual-scientific movement has arisen in our time not because of the arbitrary act of this or of that individual, of this or of that society, but because it is connected with the whole evolution of humanity and, as such, it should be considered as one of the most important of cultural impulses. If we would penetrate into the mission of the spiritual-scientific movement, we must transfer ourselves into the past and future of mankind.
Just as the individual human beings have evolved, from the moment when they first descended as individual souls from the bosom of the Godhead, so mankind as a whole has also evolved. Consider the differences, the changes and the development which may be observed upon the surface of the earth in the course of thousands of years! Consider how entirely things have changed during that time! Generally speaking, this is difficult to realise and to grasp quite clearly.
We should first explain that what we are accustomed to name “mankind” is only the product of the so-called fifth root-race. This was preceded by another human race, the fourth root-race, which lived on a continent that should be thought of as lying between present-day Europe and America. This continent was Atlantis. Here our ancestors had quite a different form and an entirely different civilisation. The ancient Atlantean did not possess a developed intellect and mind, but he was equipped with fine somnambulistic-clairvoyant forces. Logical power, a combining intellect, science and art, such as they exist now, did not exist in ancient Atlantis, for man's faculties of thought and feeling were quite different. At that time, he could not have combined thoughts, nor could he have reckoned, counted, or read; as men do now; yet certain somnambulistic-clairvoyant spiritual forces lived in him. He could understand the language of Nature and could hear God speak to him in the murmuring waves; he could understand the rolling thunder, the rustling forest, the delicate aromas of the flowers; he could understand this language of Nature and was in the whole of Nature. At that time, no law or jurisprudence were needed to come to an understanding with one's neighbour; the Atlantean just went out and listened to the sounds of the trees and of the wind and these told him what he had to do.
Folk-lore, which never contains anything haphazard or thought-out, has preserved the memory of ancient Atlantis in a beautiful way, when it speaks of “Nibelheim”, for instance, in the Nibelung Poem. In a delightful way it speaks of the Rhine and all these rivers as waters which have remained behind from the mists of ancient Atlantis. And the wisdom of Atlantis is referred to in the treasure which lies buried below their waves, On this continent, which was situated between America and Europe, we must seek the seminary of the ancient adepts, Those who were suited to be the pupils of the great individualities whom we call the Masters of Wisdom and of the Harmony-Feelings, were trained in these schools.
The seminary which flourished during the fourth Atlantean sub-race, this first school of adepts, would now be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There, the pupils were taught in quite a different way from now. At that time, a powerful, influence could pass from man to man, through the force which still lay in the spoken word.
Simple folks of to-day still possess a fine feeling for the inner, spiritual and occult power of words. But it is impossible to compare the present power of words with that of the past. For in the past, this was something tremendous, and the word alone awakened forces in the soul of the pupil. A mantram of to-day has no longer the force of earlier times, when words were not so permeated by thoughts, as is the case to-day. The influence which went out from these words awakened the soul-forces of the pupil; one might call this a human initiation through the powerful effect of the language of Nature. ... A clear language was also spoken there by the smoke from substances such as incense, etc.
There was then a far more direct connection between the souls of teacher and pupil. The written signs in the Adept-School of ancient Atlantis were imitations of the phenomena of Nature, written by the hand in the air, these signs had their effect and also influenced the spirit of the population, arousing forces in the soul.
Thus every race has its task in the evolution of humanity. The task of our race, the fifth root-race, consists in adding Manas to the four members of the human being. That is to say, the understanding must be awakened through concepts and ideas. Every race has its own task: the Atlantean race had the task of developing the Ego. Our race, the fifth root-race, or the post-Atlantean era, must develop Manas, the Spirit-Self.
But the achievements of Atlantis did not die, when Atlantis was submerged, for the essence of everything that existed in the Atlantean School of Adepts was rescued by a small group of men. Under the guidance of the Manu, this small group journeyed into a region now known as the Desert of Gobi. And this small number of men then prepared copies of the former culture and teachings, but in a more intellectual form; the earlier spiritual forces were transformed into thoughts and signs. The various streams of culture then journeyed out from this centre like rays, or beams. First came the pre-Vedic Indian culture, which transformed for the first time the in-streaming wisdom into thoughts.
The second culture which went out from this ancient School of Adepts was the old Persian culture; the third one, the Chaldean-Babylonian culture with its wonderful star-wisdom, its lofty sacerdotal wisdom. The fourth culture to flourish was the Graeco-Latin one, with its personal colouring, and finally the fifth culture, which is our present one. The sixth and seventh lie in the future.
I have now characterised our task in the evolution of humanity: What once existed in the form of cosmic wisdom, must be transformed into thoughts and brought down to the physical plane.
When the old Atlantean listened, between the tones sounding round him, he could hear the NAME of what he recognised as divine: “TAO”, In the Egyptian Mysteries this sound was transformed into thoughts, script and signs—the Tao-sign, the Tao-books. Everything in the form of knowledge, writing and thought first came into the world during the post-Atlantean age. Before that time, nothing could have been written down, for the understanding for it would not have been there.
Now we are living in the middle of the Manas-development. It is the task of our race to develop intellectual culture, and at the same time to develop egoism in its extremest form. Though it sounds grotesque, we may say that never before was there so much intellectual power in the world, and yet so little capacity of inner vision as at the present time. Thought is at the greatest distance from the inner essence of things; it is far away from inner spiritual vision.
When the Atlantean priest wrote a sign in the air, its chief effect was on the pupil's inner soul-experience.
The personal element came more to the fore during the fourth, the Graeco-Latin epoch. In Greece, the personal element developed in art, and in Rome we find it in the structure of the government, etc. In our time, we experience egoism, the dry personal, intellectual element. But our task to-day is to grasp the occult truths in Manas, in the purest element of thought. The comprehension of the spiritual in this finest distillation of the brain is the true mission of our age. To render thought so forceful that it acquires something of an occult power is the task which has been given us. This task must be fulfilled, so that we may be able to take our place in the future.
Mighty flames of fire destroyed ancient Lemuria, and mighty floods ancient Atlantis. Our civilisation will also perish, through the war of all against all. This is what we must face. Our fifth root-race will perish, because egoism will reach its highest pitch. But at the same time, a small group of men will develop the power of Budhi, of the Life-Spirit, through the force of thought, in order to carry over Budhi into the new civilisation. Everything that is productive in the striving human being will grow stronger and stronger, until his personality reaches the summit of freedom. At present, every individual must discover in himself a kind of guiding spirit in the soul's inner depths:—This is Budhi, the power of the Life spirit. Were we to approach the future by taking up the cultural impulses as in earlier epochs, we should face the disintegration of humanity.
What do we see now at the present time?
Everyone wants to be his own master: Egoism, selfishness have been pushed to the extreme. A time will come when no other authority will be recognised except one which men recognise freely, whose power is based upon free confidence. The Mysteries which were founded upon the power of the spirit, are called the MYSTERIES OF THE SPIRIT; the Mysteries of the future, which will have trust as their foundation, are called the MYSTERIES OF THE FATHER. These will mark the end of our civilisation. The new impulse of the power of confidence must come, otherwise we approach human disintegration, a universal cult of the Ego and of egoism.
In the times of the Mysteries of the Spirit, which were founded upon the rightful power, authority and might of the Spirit, there were certain wise men who possessed wisdom, and only the soul who passed through difficult probations could be initiated by them. In future, we approach the Mysteries of the Father, and we must strive more and more that each single human being should attain wisdom.
Will this counter-act egoism and the threatening disintegration? Yes! For only when we reach the highest wisdom, in which there are no differences, no personal opinion and no personal standpoint, but ONE VIEW only, will men agree. If they were to remain as they are at present, following their different standpoints, they would become more and more disunited. The highest wisdom always produces a unanimous view among all men. Real wisdom is ONE, and it unites men again, whilst leaving them as free as possible, without any coercive authority. Just as the members of the great WHITE Brotherhood are always in harmony with one another and with humanity, so all men will one day be one, through this wisdom. Only this wisdom can establish the true idea of brotherhood. Spiritual science therefore has only one task: to bring this idea to men, by developing now the Spirit-Self and later on the Life-Spirit. The great goal of the spiritual-scientific movement is to make it possible for man to attain freedom and true wisdom; its mission is to let this truth and wisdom flow into men.
The modern movement of spiritual science began with the most elementary teachings. Many important things have been revealed in the years which have passed since the founding of this movement, and much that is even more important will be revealed. The work of the spiritual-scientific movement, is therefore to allow a gradual flowing out of wisdom of the great white brotherhood that had its origin in Atlantis. Such work has always been prepared for through long periods of time. The whole activity of the great founders of religions was a preparation for the ONE great event, for the appearance of Christ-Jesus.
Spiritual science seeks to be the testamentary executor of Christianity. And so it will be. When the Mysteries of the Father have been fulfilled, that is, when the development of Budhi is accomplished in every individual human being, then each one will discover within himself his own deepest being—ATMAN, the Spirit-Man.
The coming of Christ-Jesus was prepared for by the sequence of the founders of religions, by Zarathustra, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras. All their teachings pursue the same aim: To let wisdom flow into humanity, but in every case, in the form most suited to each people respectively. The essentially new element is not found in what Christ said; the new element in the appearance and teaching of Christ-Jesus is the force that lay in Him to awaken into LIFE all that, formerly was only teaching.
Christianity has brought men the power to be united in free-willed recognition of the authority of Christ-Jesus, whilst maintaining the greatest possible individualisation, so that they are able to join together in brotherly union through faith in Him, in His manifestation and in His divinity.
Between the Mysteries of the SPIRIT and those of the FATHER, stand the MYSTERIES OF THE SON. Their seminary was the School of St. Paul, who had appointed Dionysios as its leader. This school flourished under him, for Dionysios taught these Mysteries in a very special way, whereas St. Paul propagated the teaching exoterically.
Let us now seek an explanation from another side, so as to understand the meaning of the words: The MYSTERIES OF THE FATHER will come. In the old Atlantean schools for adepts the teachers were not men, but beings higher than man, They had completed their development upon earlier planets, and these beings, who had come down to the earth from other planetary developments, instructed a group of chosen men in the MYSTERIES OF THE SPIRIT. In the MYSTERIES OF THE SON, Christ Himself appeared as a teacher in the most solemn celebrations and was therefore also a teacher who was not a man, but God. But in the MYSTERIES OF THE FATHER, those who will become teachers will be men, These men, who develop more quickly than the others, will be the true Masters of Wisdom and of Harmony; they are called “The Fathers”, in the Mysteries of the Father, the guidance of mankind passes from beings who have descended from other worlds into the hands of men themselves. This is significant.
It is the task of spiritual science to prepare men to form a centre for this end, to prepare them for a universal wisdom, for an authority built only on trust and confidence, and to develop an understanding for this, to begin with, in a small nucleus of humanity.
The development of the materialistic civilisation reached its climax in the nineteenth century, and that is why the impulse of spiritual science entered the world at that time. Through spiritual science, something was called into life—and now exists—which counter-acts materialism: It is the counter-movement in the direction of spirituality. Spiritual science is nothing new, and even the spiritual-scientific movement is not new; it is only the continuation of what has already existed.
Materialism and egoism bring disintegration to humanity, for the individual human being only regards his own interests. Wisdom must therefore reunite the human beings who have thus become separated. Wisdom brings them together in fullest freedom and exercises no coercion whatever. This is the task of the spiritual-scientific movement in our time.
We must realise that wisdom must be acquired quite concretely. We all know the example of the stove which was given the task of heating a room. If we explain this to the stove in words as moving as possible, and entreat it to warm the room, it will not obey us unless we heat it; only then will it be able to fulfil its task. Similarly, all talk of brotherhood and of brotherly love is useless; only through KNOWLEDGE we draw nigh to the goal. Individual human beings, and mankind as a whole, can only reach the path of wisdom and of brotherhood through knowledge.
We have now followed this path by considering three kinds of Mysteries. Spiritual science must be able to awaken an understanding for such things in a small nucleus of humanity, so that when the sixth race appears this understanding can be awakened in all men. This is the task which spiritual science must fulfil.
A small part of the fifth root-race will forestall the course of evolution, it will spiritualise Manas and unfold the Spirit-Self. The majority, however, will reach the summit of selfishness. Only this nucleus of humanity, that develops the Spirit-Self, will become the seed of the sixth root-race, and the most advanced of these, the Masters, as we call them, who have grown out of mankind, will then be the leaders of humanity. The movement for spiritual knowledge strives towards this goal.
Die Adeptenschule der Vergangenheit die Mysterien des Geistes, des Sohnes und Des Vaters
Die geisteswissenschaftliche Bewegung ist nicht etwas, was durch den Willkürakt eines einzelnen, dieses oder jenes Menschen, dieser oder jener Gesellschaft in unsere Zeit gekommen ist. Sie hängt mit der ganzen Entwickelung der Menschheit zusammen und ist als solche als einer der wichtigsten Kulturimpulse anzusehen. Wollen wir uns in diese Mission der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung hineinfinden, so müssen wir uns in Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Menschheit hineinversetzen. Wie die einzelnen Menschen von da ab, wo sie zum ersten Male als Individualseelen aus dem Schoße der Gottheit herabgestiegen sind, eine Entwickelung durchgemacht haben, so hat auch die ganze Menschheit eine Entwickelung durchgemacht. Machen Sie sich einmal klar, welche Unterschiede, welche Veränderungen und welche Entwickelung auf der Erdoberfläche im Laufe der Jahrtausende zu bemerken sind - wie gründlich sich da alles verändert hat! Was wir gewohnt sind, «Menschheit» zu nennen, ist erst ein Ergebnis der sogenannten fünften Wurzelrasse. Dieser ging eine andere Menschheit voran, die vierte Wurzelrasse, deren Kontinent, die Atlantis, wir etwa zwischen dem heutigen Europa und Amerika zu suchen hätten. Diese Atlantis sah unsere Vorfahren in einer ganz andern Gestalt. Dort herrschte eine ganz andere Kultur. Nicht verstandes- und gedankenausgebildet war der alte Atlantier, aber dafür mit feinen somnambul-hellseherischen Kräften ausgestattet. Logik, kombinierender Verstand, Wissenschaft, Kunst wie jetzt, gab es nicht im alten Atlantien, denn das Vorstellen, Denken und Fühlen der Menschen war dort ganz anders. So kombinieren, rechnen, zählen, lesen hätte der Mensch damals nicht gekonnt wie heute. Aber gewisse somnambulisch-hellseherische geistige Kräfte lebten in ihm. Er konnte die Sprache der Natur verstehen, was Gott zu ihm sagte im Plätschern der Wellen, was der Donner rollt, was der Wald rauscht, was die feinen Gerüche der Blumen ausdrücken. Er verstand diese Sprache der Natur und war im Einklang mit der ganzen Natur. Nicht Gesetz, nicht Juristerei gab es damals, um den Nachbarn mit dem Nachbarn zu verständigen. Nein, da ging der Atlantier hinaus und horchte auf die Laute der Bäume, des Windes, und die sagten ihm, was er zu tun hatte.
Schön hat sich in der Volkssage, die nie etwas Zufälliges, Ausgedachtes ist, das Andenken an die alte Atlantis, das Nibelheim, erhalten, zum Beispiel in dem Nibelungenlied. In dem Wort «Nibel» oder «Nifel» wird angedeutet, daß der Rhein und alle diese Flüsse zurückgebliebene Wasser aus den Nebelmassen der alten Atlantis sind. Und die Weisheit, die von ihr zurückgeblieben ist, wird angedeutet als der Schatz, der in ihnen verborgen liegt. In diesem Kontinent zwischen Amerika und Europa haben wir auch die Pflanzschule der alten Adepten zu suchen, wo diejenigen sich aufhielten, welche geeignet waren, Schüler der großen Individualitäten zu werden, die wir die Meister der Weisheit und des Zusammenklanges der Empfindungen nennen.
Die Stelle, wo sich diese Adeptenschule befand, deren Blütezeit in die vierte Unterrasse der alten Atlantis fallt, ware in der Mitte des Atlantischen Ozeans zu suchen. Dort wurde der Schüler ganz anders gelehrt als heute. Ganz anders, gewaltig konnte da von Mensch zu Mensch durch die Kraft, die damals noch in den Worten lag, gewirkt werden. Was heute noch im Volke lebt, das ist ein feines Gefühl für die innere geistige, okkulte Kraft der Worte. Die jetzige Kraft der Worte können Sie absolut nicht vergleichen mit der damaligen. Das war etwas ganz Gewaltiges: das Wort schon erweckte Kräfte in der Seele des Schülers. Ein Mantram von heute hat lange nicht mehr die Kraft von damals, wo die Worte nicht so durchsetzt von Gedanken waren. Wenn diese Worte wirkten, gingen die Seelenkräfte des Schülers auf. Eine menschliche Initiation durch die Sprache der Natur von gewaltiger Wirkung konnte man das nennen. Eine deutliche Sprache wurde auch noch dort gesprochen durch das Abräuchern von Substanzen, das Verbrennen von Stoffen wie Weihrauch und so weiter.
Es bestand dort ein viel unmittelbarerer Zusammenhang zwischen der Seele des Lehrers und derjenigen des Schülers. Und was als Schriftzeichen in der Adeptenschule der alten Atlantis existierte, das waren Nachbildungen von Naturvorgängen, die mit der Hand in die Luft gezeichnet wurden und die wirkten, auch nachwirkten auf den Geist der damaligen Bevölkerung. Sie weckten in der Seele Kräfte.
So hat jede Rasse ihre Aufgabe in der Menschheitsentwickelung. Die Aufgabe der unsrigen, der fünften Haupt- oder Wurzelrasse besteht darin, zu den vier Gliedern der menschlichen Wesenheit das hinzuzubringen, was man das Manasische nennt, das heißt, durch Begriffe und Ideen das Verständnis zu wecken. Jede Rasse hat ihre Aufgabe: diejenige der atlantischen war die Ausbildung des Ich. Unsere, die fünfte Wurzelrasse, die nachatlantische Zeit, hat das Manas, das Geistselbst auszubilden.
Mit dem Untergang der Atlantis gingen aber deren Errungenschaften nicht unter, sondern es wurde von alldem, was in der atlantischen Pflanzschule der Adepten vorhanden war, das Wesentlichste von einem kleinen Kern von Menschen mitgenommen. Diese kleine Masse zog unter der Führung des Manu in die Gegend der heutigen Wüste Gobi. Und diese kleine Schar bereitete nun Nachbildungen der früheren Kultur und Lehre vor, aber mehr im Verstandeshaften. Es waren die in Gedanken und Zeichen umgesetzten früheren geistigen Kräfte. Von dort, von diesem Zentrum zogen dann, wie Radien, wie Strahlungen, die verschiedenen Kulturströmungen aus. Zunächst die wunderbare uralte vorvedische Kultur, die zum ersten Male die einströmende Weisheit in Gedanken umgesetzt hat.
Die zweite der von der alten Adeptenschule ausgehenden Kulturen war die uralte persische Kultur. Die dritte war die chaldäischbabylonische mit ihrer wundervollen Sternenweisheit, ihrem großartigen Priesterwissen. Als vierte erblühte die griechisch-lateinische Kultur mit ihrer persönlichen Färbung, und endlich als fünfte die unsrige. Der sechsten und siebenten leben wir entgegen. Damit habe ich Ihnen unsere Aufgabe in der Menschheitsentwickelung gekennzeichnet: in Gedanken umzusetzen, herunterzubringen bis auf den physischen Plan dasjenige, was bis jetzt an kosmischer Weisheit da war.
Wenn der alte Atlantier unter den ihm erklingenden Tönen hinhorchte auf den Zwischenton, dann hörte er den Namen dessen, was er als das Göttliche erkannt hatte: Tao. - In den ägyptischen Mysterien haben Sie diesen Ton umgesetzt in Gedanken, in Schrift, in Zeichen - in dem Tao-Zeichen, den Tao-Büchern. Alles, was Wissen, Schrift, Gedanke ist, kam erst in der nachatlantischen Zeit in die Welt. Früher hätte man das nie aufgeschrieben. Das Verständnis dafür wäre nicht dagewesen. Nun stehen wir in der Mitte der manasischen Entwickelung darinnen. Die Verstandeskultur, zugleich aber auch den Egoismus auf das Alleräußerste zu bringen, das besorgt unsere Rasse. Man kann wohl sagen, wenn es auch grotesk klingt: Es gab niemals so viel Verstandeskraft in der Welt und so wenig inneres Schauvermögen wie in der Gegenwart. Der Gedanke ist am weitesten entfernt von dem, was die innere Wesenheit der Dinge ist, weit weg vom inneren, spirituellen Schauen.
Wenn der atlantische Priester ein Zeichen in die Luft schrieb, so war die Wirkung in der Hauptsache das innere Seelenerlebnis des Schülers. In der vierten, der griechisch-lateinischen Epoche tritt das Persönliche mehr in den Vordergrund. In Griechenland entwickelt sich die persönliche Kunst. In Rom finden wir das Persönliche in der staatlichen Regulierung und so weiter. In unserer Zeit erleben wir den Egoismus, das trocken Persönliche, das trocken Verstandesmäßige. Aber unsere Aufgabe besteht heute darin, das Okkulte im Manas, im reinsten Element des Gedankens zu erfassen. Das Erfassen des Spirituellen in diesem feinsten Destillat des Gehirns ist die eigentliche Mission unserer Zeit. Diesen Gedanken so kraftvoll zu machen, daß er etwas von okkulter Kraft hat, das ist die uns gestellte Aufgabe, um unseren Platz für die Zukunft ausfüllen zu können.
Durch mächtige Feuermassen ist das alte Lemurien, durch mächtige Wasserfluten das alte Atlantien zerstört worden. Auch unsere Kultur wird untergehen, und zwar durch den Krieg aller gegen alle: das steht uns bevor. So wird unsere fünfte Wurzelrasse zugrunde gehen durch den aufs Höchste gesteigerten Egoismus. Zugleich wird sich aber eine kleine Gruppe von Menschen bilden, die von der Kraft des Gedankens aus die Kraft der Buddhi, des Lebensgeistes entwickelt, um sie dann mit hinüberzunehmen in die neue Kultur. Alles Produktive im strebenden Menschen wird immer größer und größer werden, bis seine Persönlichkeit so hoch gekommen ist, daß sie den Gipfel der Freiheit erreicht hat. In unserer Zeit wird jede einzelne Individualität in sich finden müssen eine Art von führendem Geist im Inneren der Seele, die Buddhi, die Kraft des Lebensgeistes. Würden wir der Zukunft so entgegengehen, daß wir die Kulturimpulse nur so aufnehmen könnten wie in früheren Zeiten, so würden wir einer Zersplitterung der Menschheit entgegengehen.
Was haben wir nun in der Gegenwart? Ein jeder will sein eigener Herr sein: der Egoismus, die Selbstsucht, ist auf die Spitze getrieben. Es kommt die Zeit, da überhaupt keine andere Autorität anerkannt werden wird als diejenige, welche die Menschen freiwillig anerkennen, deren Macht auf dem freien Vertrauen basiert. Jene Mysterien, die auf der Macht des Geistes aufgebaut waren, nennt man die Mysterien des Geistes. Diejenigen, die in der Zukunft aufgebaut sein werden auf der Grundlage des Vertrauens, auf der Macht des Vertrauens, nennt man die Mysterien des Vaters. Mit denen schließen wir unsere Kultur ab. Dieser neue Impuls der Macht des Vertrauens muß kommen, sonst gehen wir einer Zersplitterung entgegen, einem allgemeinen Ich- und Egoismuskultus.
In den Zeiten der Mysterien des Geistes, die auf der allerdings berechtigten Macht, Autorität und Gewalt des Geistes gebaut waren, gab es einzelne große Weise. Sie waren im Besitz der Weisheit, und nur wer die harten Proben durchmachte, konnte durch sie eingeweiht werden. Nun gehen wir in der Zukunft den Mysterien des Vaters entgegen und müssen immer mehr darauf hinarbeiten, daß jeder einzelne weise wird. Wird dies gegen den Egoismus und die Zersplitterung helfen? — Ja! Denn nur, wenn die Menschen höchste Weisheit bekommen, in der sie nicht variieren können, in der es keine eigene Meinung, keinen Standpunkt der Persönlichkeit gibt, sondern nur eine Ansicht, können sie einig werden. Blieben die Menschen so, wie sie sonst verschieden sind, Standpunkte haben und so weiter, so würden sie sich immer wieder trennen. Die höchste Weisheit erzeugt aber stets bei allen Menschen die gleiche Ansicht. Die wirkliche Weisheit ist eine einzige, welche die Menschen wieder zusammenbringt bei größtmöglichster Freiheit, ohne jegliche Zwangsautorität. Wie die Mitglieder der großen weißen Bruderschaft immer in Harmonie miteinander und mit der Menschheit sind, so werden einst durch diese Weisheit die Menschen alle eins werden. Nur diese Weisheit wird die wahre Bruderschaftsidee begründen. Die Geisteswissenschaft braucht daher sich keine andere Aufgabe zu stellen, als nur die Menschen dieser Idee zuzuführen, jetzt durch die Entfaltung des Geistselbstes und später des Lebensgeistes. Das Freiwerden des Menschen, das wahre Weisewerden möglich zu machen, das ist das große Ziel der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung; diese Wahrheit und Weisheit einströmen zu lassen in die Menschen, das ist ihre Mission.
Man hat in der modernen Bewegung für Geisteswissenschaft mit der elementarsten Lehre angefangen. Es ist dabei viel Wichtiges enthüllt worden in den Jahren, die seit dem Beginn dieser Bewegung verflossen sind, und noch Wichtigeres wird immer mehr zur Enthüllung kommen. Die Arbeit der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung ist also ein allmähliches Ausströmenlassen der Weisheit der großen weißen Bruderschaft, die in der Atlantis ihren Ursprung hat. Vorbereitet wurde solche Arbeit immer durch lange Zeiträume. So haben wir als Vorbereitung für das eine große Ereignis der einzigartigen Erscheinung des Christus Jesus das ganze Wirken der großen Religionsstifter. Die Geisteswissenschaft will die Testamentsvollstreckerin des Christentums sein. Und das wird sie sein. Werden einst die Vater-Mysterien erfüllt sein, das heißt wird die Buddhi-Entwickelung in jedem einzelnen Menschen vollendet sein, dann wird jeder seine tiefste Wesenheit Atma, den Geistesmenschen, in sich selbst finden. Vorbereitet wurde also die Erscheinung des Christus Jesus durch die Reihe der Religionsstifter, durch Zarathustra, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras. Alle ihre Lehren verfolgen das gleiche Ziel: die Weisheit in die Menschheit einfließen zu lassen, nur immer in der für das betreffende Volk gerade geeignetsten Form. So ist denn, was Christus gesagt hat, nicht das eigentlich Neue. Das Neue an der Erscheinung und Lehre des Christus Jesus ist, daß in dem Christus Jesus die Kraft war, all das zum Leben zu bringen, was vorher nur Lehre war.
Durch das Christentum ist der Menschheit die Kraft entstanden, daß bei größtmöglicher Individualisierung in der freiwilligen Änerkennung der Autorität des Christus Jesus alles sich einigen, und daß durch den Glauben an ihn, sein Erscheinen, seine Göttlichkeit, die Menschen sich zu einem Bruderbunde zusammenschließen können. So stehen zwischen den Mysterien des Geistes und denjenigen des Vaters die Mysterien des Sohnes, deren Pflanzstätte die Schule des heiligen Paulus war, zu deren Leitung er den Dionysius Areopagita bestimmt hatte. Unter ihm hatte diese Schule ihre Blütezeit, denn Dionysius hat diese Mysterien in einer ganz besonderen Weise gelehrt, während Paulus die Lehre exoterisch ausbreitete.
Nun wollen wir noch von einer andern Seite eine Erklärung suchen, um zu verstehen, was es heißt: es kommen die Mysterien des Vaters. Die Lehrer der alten atlantischen Adeptenschule waren noch keine Menschen, sondern höhere Wesen als die Menschen. Sie hatten auf früheren Planeten ihre Entwickelung vollendet. Und sie, die von alten planetarischen Entwickelungen her da waren, lehrten einer auserlesenen kleinen Schar die Mysterien des Geistes. In den Mysterien des Sohnes trat bei besonderen Anlässen der Christus selbst in Person als Lehrer auf: also auch ein Lehrer, der nicht Mensch, sondern Gott war. Erst die, welche Lehrer werden in den Mysterien des Vaters, werden Menschen sein. Solche Menschen, die sich schneller als die übrige Menschheit entwickelt haben, werden dann die wahren Meister der Weisheit und des Zusammenklanges sein. Sie nennt man die Väter. Die Führung der Menschheit geht also bei den Vater-Mysterien über von Wesenheiten, die aus andern Welten herabgestiegen sind, in die Hände der Menschen selbst. Das ist das Bedeutsame.
Die Menschen dazu vorzubereiten, einen Kern für dieses Ziel zu bilden, sie vorzubereiten für eine gemeinsame Weisheit, für eine Autorität, die nur auf Vertrauen gebaut ist, und das Verständnis dafür zunächst in einem kleinen Menschheitskern zu entwickeln: das ist die Aufgabe der Geisteswissenschaft. Die Entwickelung der materiellen Kultur hatte im 19. Jahrhundert ihren Höhepunkt erreicht. Daher kam in dieser Zeit der Einschlag der Geisteswissenschaft in die Welt. Mit ihr wurde geschaffen - und war da — der Gegenimpuls für den Materialismus, die Gegenrichtung nach der Spiritualität hin. Geisteswissenschaft ist nichts Neues, die geisteswissenschaftliche Bewegung ebensowenig, sie ist nur die Fortsetzung dessen, was da war. Der Materialismus, der Egoismus bringen die Zersplitterung der Menschheit, der einzelne übersieht nur seine Interessen. Die Weisheit muß die dadurch getrennten Menschen wieder zusammenbringen. In vollster Freiheit, durch keinerlei Zwang, werden die Menschen in der Weisheit zusammengeführt . Das ist die Aufgabe der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung in unserer Zeit. Klar müssen wir uns dabei sein, daß wir uns im Konkreten die Weisheit anzueignen haben. Wir kennen alle das Beispiel des Ofens, dessen Aufgabe darin besteht, das Zimmer warm zu machen. Stellen wir dem Ofen seine Aufgabe in noch so beweglichen Worten vor und bitten wir ihn, das Zimmer warm zu machen, so wird er das nicht tun. Erst wenn wir ihn heizen, kann er seine Aufgabe erfüllen. So hat alle Rederei von Bruderschaft und Nächstenliebe kaum einen Wert. Nur die Erkenntnis rückt an das Ziel heran. Für jeden einzelnen und für das allgemeine Menschentum ist der Weg zur Weisheit, zur Bruderschaft nur zu erreichen durch Erkenntnis.
Wir haben nun diesen Weg durch drei Mysterienarten hindurch verfolgt. Geisteswissenschaft muß es dazu bringen, daß ein kleiner Menschheitskern Verständnis für das Gesagte hat, um in der sechsten Rasse das Verständnis dafür in der Masse zu wecken. Es ist dies die Aufgabe, welche die Geisteswissenschaft zu erfüllen hat. Ein kleiner Teil der fünften Wurzelrasse wird die Entwickelung vorausnehmen, er wird Manas spiritualisieren, das Geistselbst entfalten. Der große Teil aber wird den Gipfel der Selbstsucht erreichen. Jener Menschheitskern nun, der das Geistselbst entwickelt, wird der Same der sechsten Wurzelrasse sein, und die Vorgeschrittensten dieses Kernes, die aus der Menschheit hervorgegangenen Meister, wie wir sie nennen, werden dann die Menschheit führen. Nach diesem Ziel hin strebt die Bewegung für Geist-Erkenntnis.
The Adept School of the Past: The Mysteries of the Spirit, the Son, and the Father
The spiritual science movement is not something that has come into our time through the arbitrary act of one individual, this or that person, this or that society. It is connected with the entire development of humanity and, as such, can be regarded as one of the most important cultural impulses. If we want to find our way into this mission of the spiritual science movement, we must put ourselves in the place of humanity's past and future. Just as individual human beings have undergone a process of development since they first descended from the bosom of the Godhead as individual souls, so too has humanity as a whole undergone a process of development. Consider for a moment the differences, the changes, and the developments that can be observed on the surface of the Earth over the course of millennia — how thoroughly everything has changed! What we are accustomed to calling “humanity” is only a result of the so-called fifth root race. This was preceded by another humanity, the fourth root race, whose continent, Atlantis, we would have to look for somewhere between today's Europe and America. This Atlantis saw our ancestors in a completely different form. A completely different culture prevailed there. The ancient Atlanteans were not educated in intellect and thought, but were equipped with subtle somnambulistic and clairvoyant powers. Logic, combinatorial intellect, science, and art as we know them today did not exist in ancient Atlantis, because people's imaginations, thoughts, and feelings were completely different there. People at that time would not have been able to combine, calculate, count, or read as we do today. But certain somnambulistic-clairvoyant spiritual powers lived within them. They could understand the language of nature, what God said to them in the lapping of the waves, what the thunder rolled, what the forest rustled, what the delicate scents of the flowers expressed. They understood this language of nature and were in harmony with all of nature. There were no laws or legal systems at that time to communicate between neighbors. No, the Atlantean went out and listened to the sounds of the trees and the wind, and they told him what he had to do.
The memory of ancient Atlantis, Nibelheim, has been beautifully preserved in folk legends, which are never random or invented, for example in the Song of the Nibelungs. The word “Nibel” or “Nifel” suggests that the Rhine and all these rivers are remnants of the waters from the foggy masses of ancient Atlantis. And the wisdom that remains from it is hinted at as the treasure hidden within them. In this continent between America and Europe, we must also seek the plant school of the ancient adepts, where those who were suitable to become disciples of the great individualities, whom we call the Masters of Wisdom and Harmony of Feelings, resided.
The location of this school of adepts, whose heyday fell in the fourth subrace of ancient Atlantis, can be found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There, the disciples were taught in a very different way than today. It was very different; it was possible to exert a powerful influence from person to person through the power that still lay in words at that time. What still lives on in the people today is a subtle feeling for the inner spiritual, occult power of words. The power of words today cannot be compared at all with that of the past. It was something very powerful: the word itself awakened powers in the soul of the student. A mantra today no longer has the power it had back then, when words were not so imbued with thoughts. When these words took effect, the soul forces of the student blossomed. One could call it a human initiation through the language of nature with a powerful effect. A clear language was also spoken there through the burning of substances such as incense and so on.
There was a much more direct connection between the soul of the teacher and that of the student. And what existed as written characters in the adept school of ancient Atlantis were reproductions of natural processes that were drawn by hand in the air and had an effect, even a lasting effect, on the minds of the population at that time. They awakened powers in the soul.
Thus, each race has its task in the development of humanity. The task of ours, the fifth main or root race, is to add to the four limbs of the human being what is called the Manasic, that is, to awaken understanding through concepts and ideas. Each race has its task: that of the Atlantean race was the development of the ego. Ours, the fifth root race, the post-Atlantean period, has to develop the Manas, the spirit self.
With the demise of Atlantis, however, its achievements did not perish, but the most essential of all that was present in the Atlantean plant school of the adepts was taken away by a small core of people. Under the leadership of Manu, this small group moved to the area of today's Gobi Desert. And this small band now prepared replicas of the earlier culture and teachings, but more in the intellectual realm. These were the earlier spiritual forces translated into thoughts and symbols. From there, from this center, the various cultural currents spread out like rays, like radiations. First, the wonderful ancient pre-Vedic culture, which for the first time translated the inflowing wisdom into thought.
The second of the cultures emanating from the ancient school of adepts was the ancient Persian culture. The third was the Chaldean-Babylonian culture with its wonderful star wisdom and its magnificent priestly knowledge. The fourth to blossom was the Greek-Latin culture with its personal coloring, and finally, the fifth was our own. We are now moving toward the sixth and seventh. With this, I have outlined our task in human development: to translate into thought, to bring down to the physical plane that which has been cosmic wisdom until now.
When the ancient Atlantean listened to the intermediate tone among the tones that resounded to him, he heard the name of what he had recognized as the divine: Tao. In the Egyptian mysteries, you translated this tone into thought, into writing, into symbols—into the Tao symbol, the Tao books. Everything that is knowledge, writing, thought, only came into the world in the post-Atlantean period. In earlier times, this would never have been written down. The understanding for it would not have been there. Now we stand in the middle of the Manasic development. Our race is concerned with bringing intellectual culture, but also egoism, to the utmost. It is fair to say, even if it sounds grotesque: There has never been so much intellectual power in the world and so little inner vision as there is today. Thought is furthest removed from the inner essence of things, far removed from inner, spiritual vision.
When the Atlantean priest wrote a sign in the air, the effect was mainly the inner soul experience of the student. In the fourth, the Greco-Latin epoch, the personal comes more to the fore. In Greece, personal art develops. In Rome, we find the personal in state regulation and so on. In our time, we experience egoism, the dry personal, the dry intellectual. But our task today is to grasp the occult in Manas, in the purest element of thought. Grasping the spiritual in this finest distillate of the brain is the real mission of our time. To make this thought so powerful that it has something of occult power is the task set before us in order to be able to fill our place for the future.
The ancient Lemuria was destroyed by powerful masses of fire, and the ancient Atlantis by powerful floods of water. Our culture will also perish, and that is through war of all against all: that is what lies ahead of us. Thus our fifth root race will perish through egoism raised to the highest degree. At the same time, however, a small group of people will form who, through the power of thought, will develop the power of Buddhi, the spirit of life, in order to carry it over into the new culture. Everything productive in the striving human being will become greater and greater until his personality has risen so high that it has reached the summit of freedom. In our time, each individual will have to find within themselves a kind of guiding spirit within the soul, the Buddhi, the power of the spirit of life. If we were to approach the future in such a way that we could only absorb cultural impulses as in former times, we would be heading for a fragmentation of humanity.
What do we have now in the present? Everyone wants to be their own master: egoism, selfishness, has been taken to extremes. The time is coming when no authority will be recognized other than that which people voluntarily acknowledge, whose power is based on free trust. Those mysteries that were built on the power of the spirit are called the mysteries of the spirit. Those that will be built in the future on the basis of trust, on the power of trust, are called the mysteries of the Father. With these we conclude our culture. This new impulse of the power of trust must come, otherwise we are heading for fragmentation, a general cult of the ego and selfishness.
In the times of the mysteries of the spirit, which were based on the justified power, authority, and force of the spirit, there were individual great sages. They possessed wisdom, and only those who underwent the harsh trials could be initiated by them. Now, in the future, we are moving toward the mysteries of the Father and must work more and more toward everyone becoming wise. Will this help against egoism and fragmentation? Yes! For only when people attain the highest wisdom, in which they cannot vary, in which there is no personal opinion, no personal point of view, but only one view, can they become united. If people remained as they are otherwise, with their different points of view and so on, they would always separate again. But the highest wisdom always produces the same view in all people. True wisdom is one, which brings people together again with the greatest possible freedom, without any coercive authority. Just as the members of the great white brotherhood are always in harmony with each other and with humanity, so will all people one day become one through this wisdom. Only this wisdom will establish the true idea of brotherhood. Spiritual science therefore needs set itself no other task than to lead people to this idea, now through the unfolding of the spirit itself and later through the spirit of life. To enable people to become free, to become truly wise, that is the great goal of the spiritual scientific movement; to allow this truth and wisdom to flow into people, that is its mission.
The modern movement for spiritual science began with the most elementary teachings. Much that is important has been revealed in the years since the beginning of this movement, and even more important things will continue to be revealed. The work of the spiritual science movement is thus a gradual outpouring of the wisdom of the great white brotherhood, which has its origin in Atlantis. Such work has always been prepared over long periods of time. Thus, we have the entire work of the great founders of religion as preparation for the one great event of the unique appearance of Christ Jesus. Spiritual science wants to be the executor of Christianity. And it will be so. Once the Father Mysteries are fulfilled, that is, once the development of Buddhi is complete in each individual human being, then everyone will find their deepest essence, Atma, the spiritual human being, within themselves. The appearance of Christ Jesus was thus prepared by the series of religious founders, by Zarathustra, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, and Pythagoras. All their teachings pursue the same goal: to infuse wisdom into humanity, but always in the form most suitable for the people concerned. So what Christ said is not really new. What is new about the appearance and teaching of Christ Jesus is that in Christ Jesus there was the power to bring to life what was previously only teaching.
Through Christianity, humanity has gained the power to unite in the greatest possible individualization in the voluntary recognition of the authority of Christ Jesus, and through faith in him, his appearance, his divinity, people can unite in a brotherhood. Thus, between the mysteries of the Spirit and those of the Father stand the mysteries of the Son, whose seedbed was the school of St. Paul, whom he had appointed Dionysius Areopagita to lead. Under him, this school flourished, for Dionysius taught these mysteries in a very special way, while Paul spread the teaching exoterically.
Now let us seek an explanation from another angle in order to understand what it means when it says: the mysteries of the Father are coming. The teachers of the ancient Atlantean school of adepts were not yet human beings, but higher beings than humans. They had completed their development on earlier planets. And they, who had come from ancient planetary developments, taught the mysteries of the Spirit to a select little group. In the mysteries of the Son, Christ himself appeared in person as a teacher on special occasions: thus also a teacher who was not human, but God. Only those who become teachers in the mysteries of the Father will be human beings. Such people, who have developed more quickly than the rest of humanity, will then be the true masters of wisdom and harmony. They are called the Fathers. In the Father Mysteries, the leadership of humanity thus passes from beings who have descended from other worlds into the hands of human beings themselves. That is what is significant.
To prepare human beings to form a nucleus for this goal, to prepare them for a common wisdom, for an authority based solely on trust, and to develop an understanding of this, initially in a small nucleus of humanity: that is the task of spiritual science. The development of material culture reached its peak in the 19th century. That is why spiritual science made its impact on the world at that time. With it, the counter-impulse to materialism was created – and was there – the counter-direction towards spirituality. Spiritual science is nothing new, nor is the spiritual science movement; it is only the continuation of what was already there. Materialism and egoism lead to the fragmentation of humanity, with individuals overlooking their own interests. Wisdom must bring people who have been separated by this process back together again. In complete freedom, without any coercion, people are brought together in wisdom. That is the task of the spiritual science movement in our time. We must be clear that we have to acquire wisdom in concrete terms. We are all familiar with the example of the stove, whose task is to heat the room. If we describe the stove's task in the most eloquent words and ask it to heat the room, it will not do so. Only when we light it can it fulfill its task. Thus, all talk of brotherhood and charity is of little value. Only knowledge brings us closer to the goal. For each individual and for humanity in general, the path to wisdom and brotherhood can only be achieved through knowledge.
We have now followed this path through three types of mysteries. Spiritual science must ensure that a small core of humanity understands what has been said in order to awaken understanding for it in the masses in the sixth race. This is the task that spiritual science must fulfill. A small part of the fifth root race will take the lead in development, spiritualizing manas and unfolding the spirit self. The greater part, however, will reach the peak of selfishness. That core of humanity which develops the spirit self will be the seed of the sixth root race, and the most advanced members of this core, the masters who have emerged from humanity, as we call them, will then lead humanity. The movement for spiritual knowledge strives toward this goal.