Theosophy of the Rosicrucian
GA 99
22 May 1907, Munich
Translated by Mabel Cotterell and Dorothy S. Osmond
I. The New Form of Wisdom
The title of this course of lectures has been announced as “Theosophy according to the Rosicrucian Method.” By this is meant the wisdom that is primeval, yet ever new, expressed in a form suitable for the present age. The mode of thought we are about to study has existed since the fourteenth century, A.D. in these lectures; however, it is not my intention to speak of the history of Rosicrucianism. As you know, a certain kind of geometry, which includes, for instance, the Pythagorean Theorem, is taught in elementary schools of the present day. The rudiments of geometry are learnt quite independently of how geometry itself actually came into being, for what does the pupil who is learning the rudiments of geometry today know about Euclid? Nevertheless it is Euclid's geometry that is being taught. Only much later, when the substance has been mastered, do students discover, perhaps from a history of the sciences, something about the form in which the teaching that is accessible even in elementary schools today originally found its way into the evolution of humanity. As little as the pupil who learns elementary geometry today is concerned with the form in which it was originally given to mankind by Euclid, as little need we concern ourselves with the question of how Rosicrucianism developed in the course of history. Just as the pupil learns geometry from its actual tenets, so shall we learn to know the nature of this Rosicrucian wisdom from its intrinsic principles.
Those who are acquainted merely with the outer history of Rosicrucianism as recorded in literature know very little about the real content of Rosicrucian Theosophy. Rosicrucian Theosophy has existed since the fourteenth century as something that is true, quite apart from its history, just as geometrical truths exist independently of history. Only a fleeting reference, therefore, will here be made to certain matters connected with the history of Rosicrucianism.
In the year 1459, a lofty, spiritual Individuality, incarnate in the human personality who bears in the world the name of Christian Rosenkreuz, appeared as the teacher, to begin with of a small circle of initiated pupils. In the year 1459, within a strictly secluded spiritual Brotherhood, the Fraternitas Roseae Crucis, Christian Rosenkreuz was raised to the rank of Eques lapidis aurei, Knight of the Golden Stone. What this means will become clearer to us in the course of these lectures. The exalted Individuality who lived on the physical plane in the personality of Christian Rosenkreuz worked as leader and teacher of the Rosicrucian stream again and again in the same body, as occultism puts it. The meaning of the expression “again and again in the same body” will also be explained when we come to speak of the destiny of the human being after death.
Until far into the eighteenth century, the wisdom of which we are here speaking was preserved within a strictly secret Brotherhood, bound by inviolate rules which separated its members from the exoteric world.
In the eighteenth century it was the mission of this Brotherhood to allow certain esoteric truths to flow, by spiritual ways, into the culture of Middle Europe; and thus we see flashing up in an exoteric culture many things that are clothed, it is true, in an exoteric form, but which are, in reality, nothing else than outer expressions of esoteric wisdom.
In the course of the centuries many people have endeavoured, in one way or another, to discover the Rosicrucian wisdom, but they did not succeed. Leibnitz tried in vain to get at the source of Rosicrucian wisdom. But this Rosicrucian wisdom lit up like a flash of lightning in an exoteric work which appeared when Lessing was approaching the close of his life. I refer to Lessing's Education of the Human Race. If we do but read it between the lines, then (but only if we are esotericists) we shall recognise in its unusual utterances that it is an external expression of Rosicrucian wisdom. This wisdom lit up in outstanding grandeur in the man in whom European culture and, indeed international culture, was reflected at the turn of the eighteenth century—in Goethe. In comparatively early years Goethe had come into contact with a source of Rosicrucianism and he then experienced, in some degree, a very remarkable and lofty Initiation. To speak of Initiation in connection with Goethe may easily be misleading; at this point therefore it will be well to indicate something of what happened to Goethe during the period after he had left the Leipzig University and before he went to Strassburg. He passed through an experience which penetrated very deeply into his soul and expressed itself outwardly in the fact that during the last period of his stay in Leipzig, he came very near to death.
As he lay desperately ill, he had a momentous experience, passing through a kind of Initiation. To begin with, he was not actually conscious of it but it worked in his soul as a kind of poetic inspiration and the process by which it flowed into his various creations was most remarkable. It flashes up in his poem entitled “The Mysteries,” which his closest friends have considered to be one of his most profound creations. And indeed this fragment is so profound that Goethe was never able to recapture the power to formulate its conclusion. The culture of the day was incapable of giving external form to the depths of life pulsating in this poem. It must be regarded as issuing from one of the deepest founts of Goethe's soul and is a book with seven seals for all his commentators. Then, however, the Initiation took increasing effect in him and finally, as he grew more conscious of it, he was able to produce that remarkable prose-poem known as “The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily”;—one of the most profound writings in all literature. Those who are able to interpret it rightly know a great deal of the Rosicrucian wisdom.
At the time when Rosicrucian wisdom was intended to flow gradually into the general life of culture, it happened, in a manner of which I need not speak further now, that a kind of betrayal took place. Certain Rosicrucian conceptions found their way into the world at large. This betrayal on the one hand, and on the other the fact that it was necessary for Western culture during the nineteenth century to remain for a time on the physical plane uninfluenced by esotericism—these two facts made it imperative that the sources of Rosicrucian wisdom, and above all its great Founder, who since its inception had been constantly on the physical plane, should, to all appearances, withdraw. Thus during the first half and also during a large part of the second half of the nineteenth century, little of the Rosicrucian wisdom could be discovered. Only now, in our own time, has it become possible again to make the Rosicrucian wisdom accessible and allow it to flow into general culture. And if we think about this culture we shall discover the reasons why this had to be.
I will now speak of two characteristics of the Rosicrucian wisdom, which are important in connection with its mission in the world. One has to, do with the attitude of the human being towards this Rosicrucian wisdom-which must not be identified with the occult form of Christian-Gnostic wisdom. We must touch briefly upon two facts appertaining to the spiritual life if we are to be clear about the fundamental character of Rosicrucian wisdom. The first of these is the relationship of the pupil to the teacher; and here again there are two aspects to consider. We shall speak, first, of “Clairvoyance,” and secondly, of what is sometimes called “Belief in Authority.” “Clairvoyance”—the term is really inadequate—comprises not only spiritual seeing but also spiritual hearing. These two faculties are the source of all knowledge of the world's hidden wisdom and true knowledge of the spiritual worlds can come from no other source.
In Rosicrucianism there is an essential difference between the actual discovery of spiritual truths and the understanding of them. Only those who have developed spiritual faculties in a fairly high degree can themselves discover a spiritual truth in the higher worlds. Clairvoyance is the necessary pre-requisite for the discovery of a spiritual truth, but only for its discovery. For a long time to come, nothing will be taught exoterically by any genuine Rosicrucianism that cannot be grasped by the ordinary logical intellect. That is the essential point. The objection that clairvoyance is necessary for understanding the Rosicrucian form of Theosophy is not valid. Understanding does not depend upon the faculty of seership. Those who are incapable of grasping the Rosicrucian wisdom with their thinking have simply not developed their logical reasoning powers to a sufficient extent—that is all. Anyone who has absorbed all that modern culture is able to give; who is not too lazy to learn and has patience and perseverance can understand what a Rosicrucian teacher has to impart. Those who have doubts about Rosicrucian wisdom and who say that they cannot grasp it must not cast the blame on the fact that they are incapable of rising to the higher planes. The fault lies in their unwillingness either to exert their reasoning powers sufficiently or to put the experiences gained from general culture to adequate use. Just think of the tremendous popularisation of wisdom that has taken place since the appearance of Christianity down to the present day, and then try to picture Christian Rosicrucianism as it was in the fourteenth century. Think of the relation of a human being then living in the world, with his teachers. It was only possible in those days to work by means of the spoken word. People do not, as a rule, rightly appraise what tremendous development has taken place since that time. Think only of what has been achieved by the art of printing. Think of the thousands and thousands of channels through which, thanks to this discovery, the highest achievements of Culture have been able to flow into civilisation. From books down to the latest newspaper article, you can perceive the innumerable channels through which countless ideas flow into life. These channels have only been open for mankind since that time and they have had the effect of making the Western intellect assume quite different forms. The Western mind has worked quite differently since then and the new form of wisdom had necessarily to reckon with this fact. A form had to be created which would be able to hold its ground in face of all that flows into life along these thousands of channels. Rosicrucian wisdom can hold its own against any objection that might be raised by either popular or technical science. Rosicrucian wisdom contains within itself the sources which enable it to counter every objection made by science. A true understanding of modern science, not the dilettante understanding to be found even in University Professors, but understanding that is free from abstract theorising and materialistic conjectures, standing firmly upon the basis of facts and not going beyond them, can find from science itself the proofs of the spiritual truths of Rosicrucianism.
A second point concerning the relationship between teacher and pupil in Rosicrucianism is that the relationship of the pupil to the “Guru” (as the teacher is called in the East) is fundamentally different from that prevailing in other methods of Initiation. In Rosicrucianism this relationship cannot in any way be said to be based upon belief in authority. Let me make this clear to you by an example drawn from everyday life. The Rosicrucian teacher desires to stand in no different relation to his pupil than does a teacher of mathematics to his students. Can it be said that the student of mathematics depends upon his teacher simply out of belief in authority? No! And can it be said that the student of mathematics does not need the teacher? Some people may argue that he does not, because he may have discovered how to teach himself from good books. But this is simply a different situation from the one where student and teacher are sitting in front of each other. In principle, of course, self-instruction is possible. Equally, every human being, provided he reaches a certain stage of clairvoyance, can discover the spiritual truths for himself but this would be a much lengthier path. It would be senseless to say: My own inner being must be the sole source of all spiritual truths. If the teacher knows the mathematical truths and imparts them to his pupil, the pupil is no longer called upon to have “belief in authority” for he grasps these truths through their own inherent correctness and all he needs is to understand them. So is it with all occult development in the Rosicrucian sense. The teacher is the friend, the counselor, one who has already lived through the occult experiences and helps the pupil to do so himself. Once a man has had these experiences he need as little accept them on authority as in mathematics he need accept on authority the statement that the three angles of a triangle are equal to 180°. In Rosicrucianism there is no “authority” in the ordinary sense. It is far rather a matter of what is required for shortening the path to the highest truths.
That is the one side of the question; the other is the relation of the spiritual wisdom to culture in general.
These lectures will show you that it is possible for truth to flow directly into practical life. We are not setting up a system that is applicable in theory only; we are speaking of teachings which can be put to use in practical life by anyone who desires to know the foundations of the science of worlds and to allow the spiritual truths to flow into everyday life. Rosicrucian wisdom must not stream only into the head, nor only into the heart, but also into the hand, into our manual capacities, into our daily actions. It does not take effect as sentimental sympathy; it is the acquisition, by strenuous effort, of faculties enabling us to work for the well-being of humanity. Suppose some society was to proclaim human brotherhood as its aim and was to do no more than preach brotherhood. That would not be Rosicrucianism. For the Rosicrucian says: Suppose a man is lying in the road with a broken leg. If fourteen people stand around him pityingly but not one of them is able to help, the whole fourteen together are of less importance than a fifteenth who comes, perhaps, without any sentimentality at all, but is able to and actually does deal with the broken leg. The attitude of the Rosicrucian is that what counts is knowledge able to take hold of and intervene effectively in life. Rosicrucian wisdom considers that repeated talk about pity and sympathy has an element of danger in it for continual emphasis upon sympathy denotes a kind of astral sensuality. Sensuality on the physical plane is of the same nature on the astral plane. It is the attitude that is always only willing to feel and not to know. Knowledge that is capable of taking effect in practical life—not, of course in the materialistic sense but because it is brought down from the spiritual worlds—this is what enables us to work efficaciously. Harmony flows of itself from knowledge that the world must progress; and it flows all the more surely because it arises quite naturally out of knowledge. Of a man who knows how to deal with a broken leg, people might say: If he is no friend of humanity, he may just let the sufferer lie. Such a thing would be possible in the case of knowledge pertaining only to the physical plane. But it would not be possible for spiritual knowledge. There is no spiritual knowledge that would refrain from entering into practical life.
This, then, is the second aspect of Rosicrucian wisdom, namely, that it can be discovered only through the powers of clairvoyance but can be understood by normal human reason. It may seem strange to say that in order to have experiences in the spiritual world you must become clairvoyant, but that in order to understand what the clairvoyant sees, this is not necessary. A seer who descends from the spiritual worlds and tells of what comes to pass there, bringing to the knowledge of men something that is necessary for humanity at the present time, can be understood if those who listen are willing to understand. For the constitution of the human being is such that it can be intelligible to him.
First of all we shall study the seven-fold nature of man according to the Rosicrucian teaching. We shall consider the whole nature of man as he confronts us; we shall learn to understand the nature of the physical body, which everyone thinks he knows all about but in reality knows nothing. As little as we can see the oxygen in water but must separate it from the hydrogen in order to recognise it, as little do we see the real physical human being when we look at another man standing before us. Man is a combination of physical body, etheric body, astral body and the other higher members of his being, as water is a combination of oxygen and hydrogen. The being who stands before us is the sum total of all these members! If we are to see the physical body alone, the astral body must have separated from it: this is the condition in dreamless sleep. Sleep is a kind of higher chemical separation of the astral body with the higher members of man's nature, from the etheric and physical bodies. But even then it cannot be said that we have the real physical body before us. The physical body is alone only at death, when the etheric body too has left it.
This has a direct and concrete bearing. I will make it clear to you by means of an example. Think of some particular part of the astral body. In the remote past, the pictures which the human being perceived in dim, shadowy clairvoyance, worked very differently than do mental images today. These pictures were impressed, first of all, into the astral body. Let us suppose that at one time pictures of the three dimensions of space—length, breadth, and depth—were impressed into the astral body. This picture of three-dimensional space which was once impressed into the astral body through the old, dim clairvoyance was carried over into the etheric body. Just as a seal is pressed into liquid sealing wax, so did the astral picture impress itself into the etheric body and this in turn moulded the forms of the physical body. Thus the picture of three-dimensional space built an organ in a particular area of the physical body. Originally there was a picture in the astral body of the three perpendicular directions of space; this picture impressed itself, like a seal into wax, into the etheric body and a certain part of the etheric body moulded an organ in the interior of the human ear, namely, the three semi-circular canals. You all have them within you; if they are in any way impaired you cannot orientate yourself within the three directions of space; you get giddy and cannot stand upright. Thus are the pictures of the astral body connected with the forces of the etheric body and the organs of the physical body.
The whole physical body of man in its plastic forms is nothing else than a product of the pictures of the astral body and the forces of the etheric body. Hence those who have no knowledge of the astral and etheric bodies cannot understand the physical body. The astral body is the predecessor of the etheric body and the etheric body is the predecessor of the physical body. Thus the matter is complicated. The three semi-circular canals are a physical organ, just as is the nose. All noses differ from one another although there may be resemblance between the noses of parents and children. If you were able to study the three semicircular canals in the ears of human beings, you would find difference and resemblance just as in the case of noses, for these canals may resemble those of the mother or father. What is not inherited is the innermost spiritual core of being, the Eternal in man which passes through the successive incarnations. Individual talents and faculties are not determined by the brain. Logic is the same in mathematics, in philosophy, or in practical life. The difference in the quality of the faculties becomes apparent only when logic is applied in domains where knowledge depends, for instance, upon the functioning of the semi-circular organs in the ear. Mathematical talent will be particularly marked when these organs are highly developed. An example of this is the Bernoulli family, which produced a succession of fine mathematicians. An individual may possess great incipient talent for music or some other art, but if he is not born into a human body that has inherited the requisite organic structures, he cannot bring these talents to expression.
So you see, the physical world cannot be understood without knowledge of how it is constituted. The Rosicrucian does not consider it his task to withdraw in any way from the physical world. Certainly not! For what he has to do is to spiritualise the physical world. He must rise to the highest regions of spiritual life and with the knowledge there obtained labour actively in the physical world, especially in the world of men.
This is the Rosicrucian attitude-the direct outcome of Rosicrucian wisdom. We are about to study a system of wisdom which will enable us to understand even the smallest things; and we shall not forget that the smallest thing in the world can be of importance to the greatest, that the smallest thing, in its rightful place, can lead to the highest of goals!
Erster Vortrag
[ 1 ] Was hier vorgebracht werden soll, das wird in der Ankündigung «Theosophie nach rosenkreuzerischer Methode» genannt. Damit ist gemeint die eine uralte und immer neue Weisheit in einer unserer Gegenwart angemessenen Methode, in einer Methode, die man eigentlich, so wie sie sich hier in der Art der Darstellung ausdrücken wird, seit dem vierzehnten Jahrhundert kennt. Doch will ich in diesen Vorträgen nicht von einer Geschichte des Rosenkreuzertums sprechen.
[ 2 ] Sie wissen alle, daß man heute in den Elementarschulen eine gewisse Geometrie lehrt, zu der zum Beispiel der Pythagoräische Lehrsatz gehört, Das Elementare dieser Geometrie lernt man ganz unabhängig davon, wie die Geometrie selbst zustande gekommen ist, denn was weiß der Schüler, der heute die ersten Elemente der Geometrie lernt, von Euklid! Und dennoch ist es die Euklidische Geometrie, die da gelehrt wird. Erst viel später, wenn man schon das Sachliche, den Inhalt kennt, lernt man vielleicht in der Geschichte der Wissenschaften die Gestalt, die Form kennen, in welcher das, was heute in den Elementarschulen allgemein zugänglich ist, ursprünglich in der Menschheitsentwickelung auftrat. So wenig den Schüler, der heute die elementare Geometrie lernt, die ursprüngliche Art angeht, wie Euklid die Geometrie der Menschheit gegeben hat, so wenig soll es uns kümmern, wie im Laufe der Geschichte sich das sogenannte Rosenkreuzertum entwickelt hat. Und wie der Schüler echte, wahre Geometrie aus der Sache herauslernt, so wollen wir diese rosenkreuzerische Weisheit aus sich selbst heraus betrachten.
[ 3 ] Wer die Geschichte und namentlich die äußere Geschichte des Rosenkreuzertums kennt, wie sie in der Literatur niedergelegt ist, der weiß übrigens sehr wenig von dem wirklichen Inhalt der rosenkreuzerischen Theosophie. Was rosenkreuzerische Theosophie ist, das lebt seit dem vierzehnten Jahrhundert als etwas, was unabhängig von seiner Geschichte wahr ist, ebenso wie die Geometrie wahr ist und erkennbar, unabhängig von der Geschichte der Geometrie und ihrem allmählichen Auftreten. Es soll deshalb nur flüchtig auf einiges hingedeutet werden, was aus der Geschichte heraus zu wissen ist.
[ 4 ] Im Jahre 1459 war es, als eine hohe spirituelle Individualität, verkörpert in der menschlichen Persönlichkeit, die vor der Welt den Namen Christian Rosenkreutz trägt, als Lehrer zunächst eines kleinen Kreises eingeweihter Schüler auftrat. 1459 wurde Christian Rosenkreutz innerhalb einer streng in sich abgeschlossenen spirituellen Bruderschaft, der Fraternität Roseae crucis, zum Eques lapidis aurei, zum Ritter des goldenen Steines erhoben. Immer klarer wird es uns im Laufe der Vorträge werden, was das bedeutet. Jene hohe spirituelle Individualität, die in der äußeren Persönlichkeit des Christian Rosenkreutz den physischen Plan betrat, wirkte immer wieder als Führer und Lehrer der rosenkreuzerischen Strömung in «demselben Körper», wie man im Okkultismus sagt. Auch die Bedeutung des Ausdrucks «immer wieder in demselben Körper» werden wir schon im Laufe der nächsten Stunden kennenlernen, wenn wir über das Schicksal des Menschen nach dem Tode sprechen werden.
[ 5 ] Nun war diese Weisheit, von der wir hier sprechen, bis weit in das achtzehnte Jahrhundert hinein beschlossen in einer engbegrenzten Bruderschaft, die strenge Regeln hatte, durch die sie sich von der exoterischen Außenwelt abschloß.
[ 6 ] Im achtzehnten Jahrhundert hatte diese Bruderschaft die Mission, auf einem spirituellen Wege etwas Esoterisches einfließen zu lassen in die Kultur Mitteleuropas, und deshalb sehen wir, wie innerhalb einer exoterischen Kultur mancherlei aufleuchtet, was zwar äußerlich exoterisch ist, was aber nichts anderes ist als ein äußerer Ausdruck esoterischer Weisheit. Es haben sich im Laufe der Jahrhunderte mancherlei Leute bemüht, jene Weisheit, die wir die rosenkreuzerische nennen, irgendwie durchschauen zu können; es ist ihnen nicht gelungen. So hat sich Leibniz vergebens bemüht, der Quelle rosenkreuzerischer Weisheit nahezukommen. Wie Blitzlichter leuchtete aber diese rosenkreuzerische Weisheit in einer exoterischen Schrift auf, welche erschien, als Lessing seiner Vollendung auf dem physischen Plan entgegenging. Es ist Lessings «Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts». Man muß diese Schrift nur zwischen den Zeilen lesen, dann wird man in ihrem eigentümlichen Ausklange — zwar nur als Esoteriker — erkennen, daß sie ein äußerer Ausdruck rosenkreuzerischer Weisheit ist.
[ 7 ] Insbesondere großartig leuchtete diese Weisheit auf in demjenigen Menschen, der die Kultur des damaligen Europas um die Wende des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts, und zwar die internationale Kultur, widerspiegelte: in Goethe. Als Goethe in verhältnismäßig frühen Jahren seines Lebens einer rosenkreuzerischen Quelle nahekam, empfing er etwas von einer höchst merkwürdigen hohen Initiation. Es kann leicht mißverstanden werden, wenn man von einer Initiation Goethes spricht; daher geziemt es sich vielleicht gerade hier, darauf hinzuweisen, wie es sich mit dieser eigentümlichen Art der Initiation verhält. Es war in der Zwischenzeit, als er von der Universität Leipzig fortging, bis er nach Straßburg ging. Da geschah etwas höchst Merkwürdiges. Er hatte ein tief in seine Seele eingreifendes Erlebnis, das sich äußerlich in der Tatsache ausdrückte, daß er in der letzten Leipziger Zeit dem Tode recht nahestand. Auf seinem schweren Krankenlager hatte er ein wichtiges Erlebnis, eine Art von Initiation. Goethe war sich dieser zunächst nicht bewußt, sie wirkte als eine Art poetischer Strömung in seiner Seele, und es war ein höchst merkwürdiger Vorgang, wie sich diese Strömung hineinarbeitete in seine verschiedenen Produktionen. Solch einen Lichtblitz finden wir in dem Gedicht «Die Geheimnisse», das die intimsten Freunde Goethes als eine seiner tiefsten Schöpfungen bezeichnet haben, und es ist in der Tat so tief angelegt, daß Goethe niemals die Kraft wiederfinden konnte, zu diesem Fragmente den Schluß zu gestalten. Die damalige Kulturströmung hatte noch nicht die Macht, äußerlich die ganze Tiefe des Lebens auszugestalten, die in diesem Gedichte pulst. Dies Gedicht ist aufzufassen als eine der tiefsten Quellen der Seele Goethes, es ist ein Buch mit sieben Siegeln für alle GoetheKommentatoren. Dann aber arbeitete sich diese Initiation immer weiter heraus, und Goethe konnte endlich, nachdem er sich dieser Initiation mehr und mehr bewußt geworden war, jene merkwürdige Prosadichtung entstehen lassen, die wir als das «Märchen von der grünen Schlange und der schönen Lilie» kennen. Es ist eine der tiefsten Schriften der Weltliteratur; wer sie in richtiger Weise zu interpretieren vermag, der weiß viel von der rosenkreuzerischen Weisheit.
[ 8 ] Damals aber, als einfließen sollte die rosenkreuzerische Weisheit in die allgemeine Kultur, geschah es, daß auf eine Weise, über die ich hier nicht weiter zu sprechen brauche, eine Art Verrat mit rosenkreuzerischer Weisheit begangen wurde, so daß gewisse Vorstellungen rosenkreuzerischer Weisheit exoterisch hinausdrangen in die große Welt. Dieser Verrat auf der einen Seite und auf der anderen Seite die Notwendigkeit, daß die Kultur des Abendlandes eine Zeitlang, während des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, auf dem physischen Plan unbeeinflußt bleibe von der Esoterik, diese zwei Dinge führten die Notwendigkeit herbei, daß die Quellen rosenkreuzerischer Weisheit und vor allem auch der große Begründer, der seit jener Zeit immer auf dem physischen Plan war, scheinbar zurücktraten, so daß man in der ersten Hälfte und auch in einem großen Teil der zweiten Hälfte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts nicht viel von der rosenkreuzerischen Weisheit entdecken konnte. Erst in unserer Zeit ist es wieder möglich geworden, die Quellen rosenkreuzerischer Weisheit zu erschließen und sie einfließen zu lassen in die allgemeine übrige Kultur, und wenn wir diese Kultur betrachten werden, so werden sich uns die Gründe ergeben, warum das so sein mußte,
[ 9 ] Nun möchte ich Ihnen zwei charakteristische Dinge angeben, welche die rosenkreuzerische Weisheit auszeichnen und die wichtig sind für ihre Weltmission. Das eine hängt zusammen mit des Menschen ganzer Stellung zu dieser rosenkreuzerischen Weisheit, die etwas anderes ist als die okkulte Form der christlich-gnostischen Weisheit. Wir müssen zwei Tatsachen des Geisteslebens vorläufig nur flüchtig berühren, wenn wir uns diese merkwürdige Stellung der rosenkreuzerischen Weisheit klar vor die Seele führen wollen. Die erste dieser zwei Tatsachen ist, was man die Stellung des Schülers zu dem Lehrer nennt, und zwei Dinge haben wir zu betrachten in bezug auf diese Stellung. Wir wollen besprechen erstens das, was man Hellsehen nennt, und zweitens das, was man Glauben an die Autorität nennt. In dem Worte Hellsehen — eigentlich ein unvollkommener Ausdruck — begreift man nicht allein spirituelles Schauen, sondern auch spirituelles Hören. In diesen beiden ist die Quelle einer jeglichen Weisheit, die uns über die verborgene Weisheit der Welt unterrichten will, und aus keiner anderen Quelle heraus können wirkliche Erkenntnisse der geistigen Welten kommen. Nun ist für die Rosenkreuzer-Methode ein wesentlicher Unterschied zwischen dem Auffinden der geistigen Wahrheiten und dem Begreifen derselben.
[ 10 ] Niemand kann eine geistige Wahrheit direkt in den höheren Welten finden, der nicht einen höheren Grad spiritueller Fähigkeit — also des Hellsehens — entwickelt hat. Für das Auffinden der spirituellen Wahrheit ist das Hellsehen die notwendige Voraussetzung. Aber auch nur für das Auffinden, denn bis heute und auch bis lange in die Zukunft hinüber wird von keiner wahren Rosenkreuzerei exoterisch etwas gelehrt werden, was nicht mit dem gewöhnlichen, allgemeinen logischen Verstande begriffen werden kann. Das ist es, worauf es ankommt. Wenn gegenüber dieser rosenkreuzerischen Form von Theosophie eingewendet wird, man gebrauche zum Begreifen Hellsehen, so ist das nicht richtig. Nicht die Fähigkeit des Wahrnehmens ist es, worauf es ankommt. Wer die rosenkreuzerische Weisheit nicht mit dem Denken begreifen kann, der hat nur seinen logischen Verstand noch nicht weit genug ausgebildet. Wenn man alles in sich aufnimmt, was die gegenwärtige Kultur gibt, was man heute erlangen kann, wenn man nur Geduld und Ausdauer hat und nicht zu bequem ist, um zu lernen, dann kann man begreifen und einsehen, was der Rosenkreuzer-Lehrer lehrt. Wer irgendwie eine solche Rosenkreuzer-Weisheit anzweifelt und sagt: Ich kann sie nicht begreifen —, bei dem ist nicht daran schuld, daß er noch nicht auf die höheren Plane hinauf kann, sondern daß er seinen logischen Verstand nicht genug anstrengen will, oder daß er nicht genügend Erlebnisse des gewöhnlichen Bildungslebens herbeitragen will, um wirklich zu begreifen.
[ 11 ] Denken Sie einmal an die ungeheure Popularisierung der Weisheit, die sich vollzogen hat seit dem Auftreten des Christentums bis zur heutigen Zeit, und versuchen Sie, sich vor Ihre Seele ein Bild des christlichen Rosenkreuzertums im vierzehnten Jahrhundert zu stellen. Denken Sie daran, wie in jener Zeit der einzelne Mensch, der draußen in der Welt lebte, den Lehrern gegenüberstand. Nur durch das gesprochene Wort konnte da gewirkt werden. Man stellt sich gewöhnlich nicht richtig vor, welche riesige Evolution sich seit jener Zeit vollzogen hat. Man braucht nur an die Errungenschaft der Buchdruckerkunst zu denken. Denken Sie an die tausend und abertausend Kanäle, durch welche vermittels dieser Erfindung in das allgemeine Kulturleben einfließen konnte, was heute in den Spitzen des Geisteslebens geleistet wird. Von dem Buche an bis zur letzten Zeitungsnotiz können Sie unendlich viele Kanäle verfolgen, durch die eine Unsumme von Vorstellungen einfließt in das allgemeine Leben. Das sind Wege, die erst seit dieser Zeit der Menschheit erschlossen worden sind, und die haben bewirkt, daß der Intellekt der abendländischen Kultur ganz andere Formen angenommen hat. Der abendländische Intellekt, der Verstand, wirkte seit jener Zeit ganz anders.
[ 12 ] Darauf mußte die neue Form der Weisheit Rücksicht nehmen. Es mußte eine solche Form geschaffen werden, die dem standhält, was in den tausend Kanälen hineinfließt in das allgemeine Leben. Die rosenkreuzerische Weisheit ist nun eine solche, die völlig standhält jedem Einwand, der von irgendeiner populären oder noch so hohen Seite der Wissenschaft ausgehen kann. In sich selbst hat die rosenkreuzerische Weisheit die Quellen des Sich-Haltens gegenüber jedem Einwande der Wissenschaft. Ein richtiges Verständnis der modernen Wissenschaft, nicht jenes dilettantische Verstehen, das selbst bei Universitätsprofessoren zu finden ist, sondern ein Verständnis, das frei von allen den abstrakten Theorien und materialistischen Phantasien arbeitet, das streng auf dem Boden der Tatsachen steht und nicht darüber hinausgeht, ein solches Verständnis liefert Stück für Stück gerade aus der Wissenschaft heraus die Beweise für die rosenkreuzerischen spirituellen Wahrheiten.
[ 13 ] Die zweite Seite in der rosenkreuzerischen Weisheit — in der Stellung zwischen Lehrer und Schüler — ist die, daß im wesentlichen das Verhältnis vom Schüler zum «Guru», dem orientalischen Lehrer, gegenüber den anderen Einweihungen ein anderes ist. Die Art und Weise, wie der Schüler dem Guru gegenübersteht, kann eigentlich innerhalb der rosenkreuzerischen Weisheit gar nicht mit dem Glauben an eine Autorität bezeichnet werden. Durch ein Beispiel aus dem gewöhnlichen Leben werde ich Ihnen das anschaulich machen. Der RosenkreuzerLehrer will nicht anders zu seinem Schüler stehen als der kundige Mathematiker zu dem Mathematikschüler. Kann man davon sprechen, daß der Mathematikschüler seinem Lehrer aus Autoritätsglauben anhängt? Nein! Kann man davon sprechen, daß der Mathematikschüler den Lehrer nicht braucht? Ja — könnten da viele sagen, denn man hat vielleicht durch gute Bücher den Weg zum Selbststudium gefunden. Aber hier ist nur der Weg ein anderer, als wenn man sich Stuhl an Stuhl gegenübersitzt. Im Prinzip könnte man es natürlich. Ebenso könnte auch jeder Mensch, wenn er zu einer gewissen Stufe des Hellsehens aufsteigt, alle spirituellen Wahrheiten finden, aber ein jeder wird es unvernünftig finden, das Ziel auf einem Umweg zu erreichen. Ebenso unvernünftig wäre es zu sagen: Mein Inneres muß die Quelle sein für alle spirituellen Wahrheiten. — Wenn der Lehrer die mathematischen Wahrheiten kennt und sie dem Schüler überliefert, dann braucht der Schüler keinen Autoritätsglauben mehr, dann sieht er die mathematischen Wahrheiten durch ihre eigene Richtigkeit ein, und er braucht gar nichts anderes, als sie richtig einzusehen. Nicht anders ist es mit der ganzen okkulten Entwickelung im rosenkreuzerischen Sinne. Der Lehrer ist der Freund, der Ratgeber, der die okkulten Erlebnisse vorlebt und sie den Schüler leben läßt. Hat man sie einmal, dann braucht man sie ebensowenig auf Autorität hin anzunehmen, als in der Mathematik den Satz: Die drei Winkel eines Dreiecks sind 180 Grad. Alle Autorität ist in der Rosenkreuzerei keine eigentliche Autorität, sondern vielmehr das, was notwendig ist für die Abkürzung des Weges zu den höchsten Wahrheiten.
[ 14 ] Das ist die eine Seite. Die andere Seite ist die, welche sich auf das Verhältnis der spirituellen Weisheit zur allgemeinen geistigen Kultur bezieht. In den Darstellungen, die in den nächsten Tagen hier vorüberziehen sollen, werden Sie sehen, daß die geistige Wahrheit unmittelbar in das praktische Leben einfließen kann. Nicht irgendwelches System stellen wir auf, das man nur theoretisch verwerten kann, sondern etwas, was man brauchen kann, wenn man die tiefen Grundlagen unseres gegenwärtigen Weltenwissens erkennen will, wenn man die geistigen Wahrheiten einfließen lassen will in unser alltägliches Leben. Rosenkreuzer- Weisheit muß nicht nur in den Kopf gehen, auch nicht bloß in das Herz, sondern in die Hand, in unsere manuellen Fähigkeiten, in das, was der Mensch täglich tut. Es ist kein sentimentales Mitfühlen, es ist ein Sich-Erarbeiten der Fähigkeiten, innerhalb des allgemeinen Menschheitsdienstes zu wirken. Denken Sie sich, irgendeine Gesellschaft träte auf und würde nur allein Menschenbrüderschaft zu ihrem Ziele machen, würde nichts tun, als Menschenbrüderschaft predigen. Rosenkreuzerei wäre das nicht, denn der Rosenkreuzer sagt: Denke dir einen Menschen, der das Bein gebrochen hat und vor dir auf der Straße liegt. Wenn vierzehn Menschen herumstehen und warmes Empfinden und Mitleid haben, und keiner dabei ist, der das Bein wieder einrichten kann, so sind alle vierzehn weniger wesentlich als der eine, der hinzutritt, der vielleicht gar nicht sentimental ist, der aber die Fähigkeit besitzt, ein Bein einzurichten und es auch tut. — Und das ist die Gesinnung, die den Rosenkreuzer durchflutet. Auf die werktätige Erkenntnis, auf die Möglichkeit, aus der Erkenntnis heraus einzugreifen in das Leben, darauf kommt es an. Alles Reden über Mitgefühl ist der Rosenkreuzer-Weisheit sogar etwas Gefährliches, denn ihr erscheint ein fortwährendes Betonen von Mitgefühl wie eine Art astraler Wollust. Was das niedere Wollustgefühl ist auf dem physischen Plane, das ist auf dem astralen Plan diese Art, die immer nur fühlen will und nicht erkennen. Werktätige Erkenntnis, die eingreifen kann im Leben — allerdings nicht im materialistischen Sinne, sondern heruntergeholt von den spirituellen Planen —, die befähigt uns, praktisch zu wirken. Aus der notwendigen Erkenntnis, daß die Welt vorwärtskommen soll, fließt von selbst die Harmonie, und sie fließt umso sicherer, weil sie sich von selbst ergibt, wenn man erkennt. Von demjenigen, der ein Bein einrichten kann, könnte man sagen: wenn er kein Menschenfreund ist, läßt er vielleicht den liegen, der da liegt. — Das ist bei der bloßen Erkenntnis auf dem physischen Plan möglich. Bei der spirituellen Erkenntnis aber ist dieser Einwand nicht möglich. Es kann keine spirituelle Erkenntnis geben, die nicht einfließen würde in das werktätige Leben.
[ 15 ] Das ist es, was man als die zweite Seite der Rosenkreuzer- Weisheit bezeichnet: daß sie nur durch hellseherische Kräfte gefunden, aber durch den gewöhnlichen Menschenverstand eingesehen werden kann. Es ist damit scheinbar etwas sehr Merkwürdiges gesagt. Um Erlebnisse in der geistigen Welt zu haben, müssen Sie hellsehend werden; um das einzusehen, was der Hellseher sieht, brauchen Sie das nicht. Wer als Seher heruntersteigt aus den geistigen Welten und die Dinge erzählt, die da oben vorgehen, und damit etwas zur Kenntnis bringt, was der gegenwärtigen Menschheit notwendig ist, kann verstanden werden, wenn die Zuhörer es wollen, denn der Mensch ist so geartet, daß es ihm einleuchten kann.
[ 16 ] Zunächst werden wir nun die siebengliedrige Menschennatur nach Rosenkreuzer-Methode kennenlernen. Wir werden kennenlernen die ganze Menschennatur, wie sie vor uns steht. Wir werden den physischen Leib kennenlernen, den ein jeder zu kennen glaubt und eigentlich gar nicht kennt. So wenig man den Sauerstoff im Wasser sehen kann, sondern ihn erst vom Wasserstoff trennen muß, um ihn zu erkennen, so wenig sieht man, wenn man einen anderen Menschen erblickt, den physischen Menschen vor sich. Der Mensch ist ebenso ein Gemisch von physischem Leib, Ätherleib und Astralleib und den anderen Gliedern seiner höheren Natur, wie das Wasser aus Sauerstoff und Wasserstoff besteht, und die Zusammenfassung aller dieser Glieder, die sehen Sie vor sich. Wollen Sie den physischen Leib allein sehen, müssen Sie erst den Astralleib herausheben; das haben Sie im traumlosen Schlaf. Der Schlaf ist eine Art von höherer chemischer Scheidung des Astralleibes im Verein mit den höheren Gliedern der Menschennatur von dem ätherischen und physischen Leibe. Aber auch dann haben Sie noch nicht den wirklichen physischen Leib vor sich. Erst mit dem Tode, wenn sich auch der Ätherleib herausgezogen hat aus dem physischen Leibe, ist der physische Leib allein übrig.
[ 17 ] Das hat eine unmittelbare praktische Bedeutung. An einem Beispiele will ich Ihnen den Sinn dafür klarmachen. Nehmen Sie irgendeinen bestimmten Teil im Astralleibe an. In uralter Vergangenheit des Menschen war das, was er damals in einem dumpfen, dämmerhaften Hellsehen wahrnehmen konnte, ganz anders bildhaft als heute. Diese Bilder haben sich zunächst seinem Astralleibe eingeprägt. Wir stellen uns vor, daß sich dem Astralleibe einmal Bilder der drei Raumdimensionen eingeprägt haben, in Länge, Breite und Tiefe. Dieses Bild des dreidimensionalen Raumes, wie es einmal aus einem ursprünglichen dämmerhaften Hellsehen heraus dem Astralkörper eingeimpft worden war, wurde weiter übertragen in den Ätherleib. Wie man eine Petschaft in den flüssigen Siegellack eindrückt, so drückt sich das astrale Bild in den Ätherleib ein, und das arbeitete plastisch die Formen des physischen Leibes aus. So arbeitet das Bild des dreidimensionalen Raumes ein Organ an einer ganz bestimmten Stelle des physischen Leibes aus. Es war ursprünglich ein Bild im Astralleibe von drei aufeinander senkrecht stehenden Raumlinien. Das drückte sich ein in den Ätherleib wie ein Petschaft in Siegellack, und ein gewisser Teil des Ätherleibes arbeitete praktisch ein Organ im Innern des menschlichen Ohres aus, und das sind die drei halbzirkelförmigen Kanäle. Sie alle haben diese in sich. Wenn sie verletzt werden, kann sich der Mensch nicht mehr in den drei Raumlinien orientieren. Den Menschen befällt Schwindel; er kann sich innerhalb der Raumdimensionen nicht mehr aufrechthalten. So hängen zusammen die Bilder des Astralleibes mit den Kräften des Ätherleibes und den Organen des physischen Leibes. Der ganze physische Leib des Menschen in seinen plastischen Formen ist nichts anderes als ein Ergebnis, das entstanden ist aus den Bildern des Astralleibes und dem Kräftezusammenhang des Ätherleibes. Daher versteht niemand den physischen Leib, der nicht zuerst den astralen und den Ätherleib kennt. Der Astralleib ist der Vorgänger des Ätherleibes und der Ätherleib der Vorgänger des physischen Leibes. So kompliziert sich die Sache.
[ 18 ] Die drei halbzirkelförmigen Kanäle sind ein physisches Organ wie die Nase; alle Nasen sind untereinander verschieden, aber Sie können eine Ähnlichkeit finden, die zwischen den Nasen von Eltern und Kindern besteht. Könnten Sie beim Menschen die drei halbzirkelförmigen Kanäle studieren, dann würden Sie finden, daß hier eine ebensolche Verschiedenheit und Gleichheit wie bei den Nasen besteht und daß der Mensch in bezug auf diese Kanäle ebenso der Mutter oder dem Vater ähnlich sein kann. Was sich nicht vererbt, das ist das tiefste Geistige, das Ewige, das durch die menschlichen Inkarnationen durchgeht. Das, was man spezifische Talente, Fähigkeiten nennt, beruht nicht auf den Gehirnen. Die Logik ist keine andere in der Mathematik als in der Philosophie oder im praktischen Leben. Die Verschiedenheit der Fähigkeiten tritt erst auf, wenn die Logik angewendet wird auf den Gebieten, die zum Beispiel in den halbzirkelförmigen Kanälen ihr ErkenntnisOrgan haben. So drückt sich die Mathematik besonders aus bei dem Menschen, der gerade diese Organe besonders ausgebildet hat. Ein Beispiel dafür ist die Familie Bernoulli, in der hintereinander gute Mathematiker aufgetreten sind. Eine Individualität könnte noch so viele Anlagen zu musikalischer oder anderer Befähigung mitbringen — wenn sie nicht in einen Menschenleib hineingeboren wird, der ihr die erforderlichen Formen und Organe vererben kann, so kann sie diese Befähigungen nicht ausleben.
[ 19 ] So sehen Sie, daß Sie gar nicht die Welt physisch erkennen können, wenn Sie nicht erkennen, wie sie geschaffen ist. Nicht im Sich-Zurückziehen von der physischen Welt sieht der Rosenkreuzer seine Aufgabe. Das wäre eine schlimme Sache, denn seine Aufgabe ist es gerade, die physische Welt zu vergeistigen. Hinaufgehen muß er in die höchsten Regionen des geistigen Lebens und mit den Erkenntnissen, die ihm da werden, tätig arbeiten innerhalb der ganzen physischen Welt, und innerhalb der Menschen ganz besonders. Das ist Rosenkreuzer-Gesinnung, die sich unmittelbar aus der Weisheit als Konsequenz ergibt. Ein solches System von Weisheit wollen wir betrachten, das uns das Kleinste verstehen machen kann. Und eingedenk sein wollen wir, daß das Kleinste in der Welt zum Größten wichtig ist, und daß das Kleinste, an die richtige Stelle gerückt, zum größten Ziele führen kann.
First Lecture
[ 1 ] What is to be presented here is mentioned in the announcement “Theosophy according to the Rosicrucian method”. This refers to the ancient and ever-new wisdom in a method appropriate to our present time, a method that has actually been known since the fourteenth century in the way it will be expressed here in the form of presentation. However, I do not want to speak of a history of Rosicrucianism in these lectures.
[ 2 ] You all know that today in elementary schools a certain geometry is taught, which includes, for example, the Pythagorean theorem. The elementary aspects of this geometry are learned quite independently of how the geometry itself came about, because what does the student who is learning the first elements of geometry today know about Euclid! And yet it is Euclidean geometry that is taught. Only much later, when one already knows the subject matter, does one perhaps learn from the history of science the form in which what is now universally accessible in elementary schools originally appeared in the development of mankind. Just as the student who is learning elementary geometry today is not concerned with the original way in which Euclid gave geometry to humanity, so we should not care how so-called Rosicrucianism developed in the course of history. And just as the student learns true geometry from the subject matter, so we want to look at this Rosicrucian wisdom from within.
[ 3 ] Those who are familiar with the history, and especially the outer history, of Rosicrucianism as set forth in the literature, know very little of the real content of Rosicrucian theosophy. What Rosicrucian theosophy is has been living since the fourteenth century as something that is true independently of its history, just as geometry is true and recognizable independently of the history of geometry and its gradual appearance. Therefore, only a few hints shall be given of what can be known from history.
[ 4 ] In the year 1459, a high spiritual individuality, embodied in the human personality who bears before the world the name Christian Rosenkreutz, first appeared as a teacher to a small circle of initiated disciples. In 1459, within a strictly closed spiritual brotherhood, the Fraternitas Roseae Crucis, Christian Rosenkreutz was raised to the rank of Eques Lapidis Aureus, or Knight of the Golden Stone. In the course of the lectures, it will become increasingly clear to us what this means. That high spiritual individuality, which entered the physical plane in the outer personality of Christian Rosenkreutz, repeatedly worked as a guide and teacher of the Rosicrucian current in “the same body,” as one says in occultism. We shall also learn the meaning of the expression “again and again in the same body” in the course of the next few hours, when we shall be discussing the fate of man after death.
[ 5 ] Now this wisdom, of which we speak here, was confined until well into the eighteenth century in a closely-knit brotherhood that had strict rules by which it closed itself off from the exoteric outside world.
[6] In the eighteenth century, this brotherhood had the mission of allowing something esoteric to flow into the culture of Central Europe through a spiritual path, and that is why we see many things emerging within an exoteric culture that may be outwardly exoteric but are in fact nothing more than an outward expression of esoteric wisdom. Over the centuries, many people have tried to somehow understand the wisdom that we call Rosicrucian; they have not succeeded. Leibniz, for example, tried in vain to get close to the source of Rosicrucian wisdom. But this Rosicrucian wisdom did shine forth like a flash of lightning in an exoteric writing that appeared when Lessing was approaching his fulfillment in the physical plan. It is Lessing's “Education of the Human Race”. One must read this writing only between the lines, then one will recognize in its peculiar sound — albeit only as an esotericist — that it is an external expression of Rosicrucian wisdom.
[ 7 ] This wisdom shone forth with particular splendor in the man who reflected the culture of Europe at the turn of the eighteenth century, and indeed its international culture: in Goethe. When Goethe came into contact with a Rosicrucian source at a relatively early age in his life, he received something of a highly remarkable, high initiation. It can easily be misunderstood to speak of an initiation of Goethe; therefore, it is perhaps appropriate here to point out how it relates to this peculiar kind of initiation. It was in the interim between leaving the University of Leipzig and going to Strasbourg that something very strange happened. He had a deeply soul-stirring experience, which manifested itself externally in the fact that during his last period in Leipzig he came very close to death. On his heavy sickbed, he had an important experience, a kind of initiation. Goethe was not aware of this at first; it worked as a kind of poetic current in his soul, and it was a most remarkable process to see how this current worked its way into his various productions. We find such a flash of light in the poem “The Secrets”, which Goethe's most intimate friends have described as one of his deepest creations, and it is indeed so deeply conceived that Goethe was never able to find the strength to shape the conclusion to this fragment. The cultural current at that time did not yet have the power to outwardly shape the full depth of life that pulses in this poem. This poem is to be understood as one of the deepest sources of Goethe's soul; it is a closed book to all commentators on Goethe. But then this initiation worked its way out more and more, and finally, after he had become more and more aware of this initiation, Goethe was able to create that remarkable prose poem that we know as the “Fairytale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily”. It is one of the most profound writings in world literature; anyone who is able to interpret it in the right way knows a great deal about Rosicrucian wisdom.
[8] But at the time when Rosicrucian wisdom was to be incorporated into general culture, it happened that, in a way that I need not go into here, a kind of betrayal of Rosicrucian wisdom was committed, so that certain ideas of Rosicrucian wisdom found their way out into the wider world in an exoteric way. This betrayal on the one hand, and on the other hand the necessity that the culture of the Occident remain uninfluenced on the physical plane by esotericism for a time during the nineteenth century, these two things led to the necessity that the sources of Rosicrucian and above all the great founder, who had always been on the physical plane since that time, seemingly receded, so that in the first half and also in a large part of the second half of the nineteenth century, not much of the Rosicrucian wisdom could be discovered. Only in our time has it become possible again to tap the sources of Rosicrucian wisdom and to let them flow into the rest of our culture. When we look at this culture, the reasons will become clear to us why it had to be so.
[ 9 ] Now I would like to give you two characteristic things that distinguish Rosicrucian wisdom and that are important for its world mission. One is connected with the whole position of man towards this Rosicrucian wisdom, which is something other than the occult form of Christian-Gnostic wisdom. We must touch lightly on two facts of spiritual life for the time being, if we want to clearly visualize this remarkable position of Rosicrucian wisdom. The first of these two facts is what is called the position of the disciple to the teacher, and we have to consider two things in relation to this position. We will discuss, first, what is called clairvoyance and, second, what is called belief in authority. The word clairvoyance, which is actually an imperfect expression, encompasses not only spiritual vision but also spiritual hearing. In these two lies the source of all wisdom that seeks to teach us about the hidden wisdom of the world, and from no other source can real knowledge of the spiritual worlds come. Now, for the Rosicrucian method, there is an essential difference between finding spiritual truths and comprehending them.
[ 10 ] No one can find spiritual truth directly in the higher worlds without having developed a high degree of spiritual ability, that is, clairvoyance. For the discovery of spiritual truth, clairvoyance is the necessary prerequisite. But only for the discovery, because to this day and also long into the future, no true Rosicrucianism will be taught exoterically, which cannot be grasped with the ordinary, general logical mind. That is what matters. If someone objects to this Rosicrucian form of theosophy by saying that one needs clairvoyance to understand it, then they are wrong. It is not about the ability to perceive. Those who cannot grasp the Rosicrucian wisdom with their thinking have simply not yet developed their logical mind enough. If you absorb everything that contemporary culture has to offer, everything that can be attained today, if you have patience and perseverance and are not too lazy to learn, then you can grasp and understand what the Rosicrucian teacher teaches. Anyone who doubts such Rosicrucian wisdom in any way and says, “I cannot grasp it,” is to blame not for not being able to grasp it, but for not wanting to exert his logical mind enough or for not wanting to draw on sufficient experiences from ordinary educational life to really grasp it.
[ 11 ] Consider the tremendous popularization of wisdom that has taken place from the advent of Christianity to the present day, and try to picture to your mind's eye what Christian Rosicrucianism was like in the fourteenth century. Consider how the individual living in the world in those days stood in relation to the teachers. Only by word of mouth could any work be done. One does not usually realize how tremendous an evolution has taken place since that time. One has only to think of the invention of printing. Think of the thousands upon thousands of channels through which, by means of this invention, what is achieved at the cutting edge of intellectual life can flow into general cultural life. From books to the latest newspaper headlines, you can follow an infinite number of channels through which a vast amount of ideas flow into public life. These are paths that have only been opened up to humanity since that time, and they have caused the intellect of Western culture to take on completely different forms. Since that time, the Western intellect, the mind, has functioned quite differently.
[ 12 ] The new form of wisdom had to take this into account. A form had to be created that would withstand what flows into the general life through the thousand channels. The Rosicrucian wisdom is one that completely withstands every objection that can arise from any popular or even the highest level of science. In itself, the Rosicrucian wisdom has the sources of self-support against every objection of science. A correct understanding of modern science, not that dilettantish understanding that can be found even among university professors, but an understanding that works free of all abstract theories and materialistic fantasies, that stands strictly on the ground of facts and does not go beyond them, such an understanding provides piece by piece the proofs for the Rosicrucian spiritual truths, straight out of science.
[ 13 ] The second aspect of Rose Croix wisdom – in the position between teacher and student – is that, in contrast to the other initiations, the relationship between the student and the “guru”, the oriental teacher, is essentially different. The way in which the disciple stands in relation to the guru cannot really be described as belief in authority within the Rosicrucian wisdom. I will illustrate this with an example from ordinary life. The Rosicrucian teacher does not want to stand in relation to his disciple any differently than the knowledgeable mathematician does to the mathematics student. Can it be said that the mathematics student clings to his teacher out of a belief in authority? No! Can it be said that the mathematics student does not need the teacher? Yes, many could say that, because they may have found their way to self-study through good books. But here the path is only different from sitting across from each other chair to chair. In principle, of course, one could. Likewise, when a person rises to a certain level of clairvoyance, he could find all spiritual truths, but each person will find it unreasonable to reach the goal by a detour. It would be equally unreasonable to say: My inner being must be the source of all spiritual truths. If the teacher knows the mathematical truths and transmits them to the pupil, then the pupil no longer needs to believe in authority, then he sees the mathematical truths through their own correctness, and he needs nothing else but to see them correctly. It is no different with the whole occult development in the Rosicrucian sense. The teacher is the friend, the adviser, who exemplifies the occult experiences and lets the student live them. Once you have them, you need to accept them on authority no more than you need to accept the mathematical theorem that the three angles of a triangle are 180 degrees. In Rosicrucianism, all authority is not actual authority, but rather that which is necessary for the shortening of the path to the highest truths.
[ 14 ] That is one side of it. The other side is that which relates to the relationship of spiritual wisdom to general spiritual culture. In the presentations that will be shown here in the next few days, you will see that spiritual truth can flow directly into practical life. We are not setting up some kind of system that can only be used in theory, but something that can be used if you want to recognize the deep foundations of our current world knowledge, if you want to let spiritual truths flow into our everyday life. Rosicrucian wisdom must enter not only the head, nor merely the heart, but the hand, our manual abilities, that which man does daily. It is not a sentimental sympathy, it is a working out of the abilities to function within the general service of humanity. Imagine some society were to arise and make brotherhood its sole aim, doing nothing but preaching brotherhood. That would not be Rosicrucianism, for the Rosicrucian says: Imagine a man who has broken his leg and is lying in the street in front of you. If fourteen people stand around feeling warm and compassionate but there is no one around who can set the leg back in place, then all fourteen are less important than the one person who steps up, who may not even be sentimental but who has the ability to set the leg back in place and does so. And this is the attitude that permeates the Rosicrucian. What matters is working knowledge, the possibility of intervening in life on the basis of knowledge. All talk of compassion is even somewhat dangerous to the Rosicrucian wisdom, because to them, a constant emphasis on compassion seems like a kind of astral lust. What the lower sense of pleasure is on the physical plane, that is on the astral plane this way, which always only wants to feel and not to recognize. Active knowledge, which can intervene in life - not in the materialistic sense, but brought down from the spiritual planes - that enables us to work practically. From the necessary realization that the world should move forward, harmony flows by itself, and it flows all the more surely because it arises by itself when one realizes. Of the one who can set a leg, one could say: if he is not a philanthropist, he may leave the one who is lying there. — This is possible with mere knowledge on the physical plane. But with spiritual knowledge this objection is not possible. There can be no spiritual knowledge that would not flow into practical life.
[ 15 ] This is what is called the second side of the Rosicrucian wisdom: that it can only be found through clairvoyant powers, but can be understood through ordinary human understanding. This seems to imply something very strange. In order to have experiences in the spiritual world, you have to become clairvoyant; but you do not need to be clairvoyant to understand what the clairvoyant sees. But anyone who descends from the spiritual worlds as a seer and recounts the things that take place up there, thereby bringing to light something that is necessary for present humanity, can be understood if the listeners want it, for man is such that it can make sense to him.
[ 16 ] First, we will now get to know the seven-part human nature according to the Rosicrucian method. We will get to know the whole nature of man as it stands before us. We will get to know the physical body that everyone believes they know and actually does not know at all. Just as little as one can see the oxygen in the water, but must first separate it from the hydrogen in order to recognize it, so little does one see the physical man before him when he sees another man. Man is just as much a mixture of physical body, etheric body and astral body and the other members of his higher nature as water consists of oxygen and hydrogen, and the combination of all these members you see before you. If you want to see the physical body alone, you must first lift out the astral body; you do that in dreamless sleep. Sleep is a kind of higher chemical separation of the astral body in union with the higher members of human nature from the etheric and physical bodies. But even then you do not yet have the real physical body before you. Only with death, when the etheric body has also withdrawn from the physical body, is the physical body alone left.
[ 17 ] This has an immediate practical significance. Let me give you an example to illustrate the point. Imagine any particular part of the astral body. In the distant past, what man could perceive in a dull, dim clairvoyance was quite different from today. These images were first imprinted on his astral body. We imagine that images of the three spatial dimensions, length, width and depth, were once imprinted on the astral body. This image of three-dimensional space, as it had once been imprinted on the astral body from an original dim clairvoyance, was further transmitted to the etheric body. Just as a seal is imprinted in liquid wax, so the astral image is imprinted in the etheric body, and this worked out the physical body's forms in three dimensions. In this way, the image of three-dimensional space works out an organ at a very specific point in the physical body. Originally, it was an image in the astral body of three perpendicular spatial lines. This was imprinted in the etheric body like a seal in sealing wax, and a certain part of the etheric body worked out a practical organ inside the human ear, and these are the three semi-circular canals. They all have these within them. If they are damaged, the person can no longer orient themselves in the three spatial lines. The human being is overcome by dizziness; he can no longer maintain himself within the spatial dimensions. Thus the images of the astral body are connected with the forces of the ether body and the organs of the physical body. The whole physical body of the human being in its plastic forms is nothing other than a result that has arisen from the images of the astral body and the forces of the ether body. Therefore, no one understands the physical body without first knowing the astral and etheric bodies. The astral body is the predecessor of the etheric body and the etheric body is the predecessor of the physical body. This is how complicated the matter is.
[ 18 ] The three semi-circular canals are a physical organ like the nose; all noses are different from each other, but you can find a similarity that exists between the noses of parents and children. If you were to study the three semi-circular canals in humans, you would find that there is the same diversity and similarity as with noses, and that a person can resemble their mother or father in relation to these canals. What is not inherited is the deepest spiritual, the eternal, which passes through human incarnations. What we call specific talents and abilities are not based on the brains. Logic is no different in mathematics than in philosophy or in practical life. The difference in abilities only arises when logic is applied in areas that have their cognitive organ, for example, in the semi-circular canals. Thus, mathematics expresses itself particularly in the human being who has particularly developed these organs. One example of this is the Bernoulli family, in which good mathematicians have appeared one after the other. No matter how many talents an individual has for music or other abilities, if they are not born into a human body that can pass on the necessary forms and organs, they cannot live out these abilities.
[ 19 ] Thus you see that you cannot physically recognize the world if you do not recognize how it is created. The Rosicrucian does not see his task in withdrawing from the physical world. That would be a terrible thing, for it is precisely his task to spiritualize the physical world. He must ascend to the highest regions of spiritual life and, with the insights that he gains there, work actively within the entire physical world and within human beings in particular. This is the Rosicrucian attitude, which follows directly from the wisdom. We want to consider such a system of wisdom that can make us understand the smallest things. And we want to remember that the smallest thing in the world is important for the greatest, and that the smallest thing, when put in the right place, can lead to the greatest goal.