Cosmic Memory
GA 11
xi. Some Necessary Points of View
[ 1 ] We shall next consider the development of man and of the entities connected with him in the time which preceded the “earthly period.” For when man began to unite his destiny with the planet one calls “earth,” he had already passed through a series of developmental steps in the course of which he had prepared himself for earthly existence, as it were. One must distinguish three such steps, which are designated as three planetary developmental stages. The names used in mystery science for these stages are the Saturn, Sun and Moon periods. It will become apparent that these designations at first have nothing to do with the heavenly bodies of today which bear these names in physical astronomy, although in a broader sense a relationship to them exists, which is known to the advanced mystic.
One will sometimes say that man inhabited other planets before he appeared upon earth. But under these “other planets” one must only understand earlier developmental conditions of the earth itself and of its inhabitants. Before it became “earth,” the earth with all the beings which belong to it passed through the three conditions of the Saturn, Sun, and Moon existence. Saturn Sun, and Moon are, as it were, the three incarnations of the earth in primeval times. What in this connection is called Saturn, Sun, and Moon no more exists today as a physical planet than the previous physical incarnations of a human being continue to exist alongside his present one.
This “planetary development” of man and of the other beings belonging to earth will form the subject of the following discussions “From the Akasha Chronicle.” By this we do not wish to say that the three conditions were not preceded by others. But everything which precedes these three is lost in a darkness which for the present the research of mystery science cannot illuminate. For this research is not based on speculation, on a day dreaming in terms of mere concepts, but on actual spiritual experience. As our physical eye can see outdoors only as far as a certain boundary line and cannot look beyond the horizon, so the “spiritual eye” can look only as far as a certain point in time. Mystery science is based on experience and is content to remain within this experience. Only in a conceptual splitting of hairs will one want to find out what was “at the very beginning” of the world, or “why God really created the world.” For the scientist of the spirit it is rather a matter of realizing that at a certain stage of cognition one no longer poses such questions. Everything man needs for the fulfillment of his destiny on our planet is revealed to him within spiritual experience. The one who patiently works his way into the experiences of scientists of the spirit will see that within spiritual experience man can obtain full satisfaction concerning all those questions which are vital to him. In the following essays for example, one will see how completely the question concerning the “origin of evil” is resolved, as well as much else which man must desire to know.
We by no means intend to imply that man can never receive enlightenment concerning questions about the “origin of the world” and similar matters. He can. But in order to be able to be enlightened, he must first absorb the knowledge revealed within more proximate spiritual experience. He then comes to realize that he must ask these questions in a different manner than heretofore.
[ 2 ] The more deeply one works his way into true mystery science, the more modest he becomes. Only then does he realize how one must very gradually make oneself ready and worthy for certain insight. Pride and arrogance finally become names for human qualities which no longer make sense at a certain level of cognition. When one has understood a little, he sees how immeasurably long is the road which lies ahead of him. Through knowledge one gains insight into “how little one knows.” He also acquires a feeling for the immense responsibility he assumes when he speaks of supersensible cognition. But mankind cannot live without the latter. However, he who promulgates such knowledge needs modesty and true self-criticism, an unshakable striving for self-knowledge and the utmost caution.
[ 3 ] Such remarks are necessary here, since now the ascent toward even higher knowledge than is to be found in the preceding sections of the “Akasha Chronicle,” is to be undertaken.
[ 4 ] To the vistas which in the following essays will be opened toward the past of man, others will be added upon the future. For the future can be revealed to true spiritual cognition, if only to the extent to which this is necessary for man in order that he can fulfill his destiny. The one who will have nothing to do with mystery science and from the judgment-seat of his prejudices, simply consigns everything coming from that quarter to the realm of fantasy and dreams—he will understand this relationship to the future least of all. Yet a simple logical consideration could make clear what is in question here. But such logical considerations are accepted only when they coincide with the preconceptions of men. Prejudices are mighty enemies of logic.
[ 5 ] If sulphur, oxygen, and hydrogen are brought together under certain definite conditions, sulphuric acid must be produced, according to an inevitable law. The student of chemistry can predict what must happen when these three elements come into contact with one another under given conditions. Thus, such a student of chemistry is a prophet in the limited field of the material world. His prophecy could only prove false if the laws of nature were suddenly to change. Now the scientist of the spirit investigates spiritual laws in which the physicist or the chemist investigates material laws. He does this in the manner and with the exactness which are requisite in the spiritual field. However, the development of mankind depends on these great spiritual laws. Just as little as oxygen, hydrogen, and sulphur will combine at some future time in a manner contrary to laws of nature, so little will anything occur in the spiritual life which is contrary to spiritual laws. The one who knows these spiritual laws can look into the orderliness of the future.
[ 6 ] The use of precisely this comparison for the prophetic prediction of the coming destinies of mankind is intentional here, because true mystery science really understands this prediction in just this sense. For the one who forms a clear idea of this conviction of occultism, the objection that any human freedom is made impossible because events can be predicted in a certain sense, becomes void. That can be predicted which is in accordance with a law. But the will is not determined by a law. Just as it is certain that in each case oxygen, hydrogen, and sulphur are combined into sulphuric acid only according to a definite law, just so is it equally certain that the establishing of the conditions under which the law will act, can depend on the human will. Thus it will be with the great world events and human destinies of the future. As a scientist of the spirit, one foresees them, although they are to be brought about only by human choice. He foresees what is accomplished by the freedom of man. The following essays will show that this is possible.
However, one must be clear about one essential difference between the prediction of events through physical science and that through spiritual cognition. Physical science is based on the insights of the understanding, and therefore its prophecy is only based on the intellect, which has to rely on judgments, deductions, combinations, and so forth. Prophecy through spiritual cognition, on the contrary, proceeds from an actual higher seeing or perceiving. The scientist of the spirit must strictly avoid even representing anything to himself which is based on mere reflecting, combining, speculating, and so forth. Here he must practice the most far-reaching renunciation and be quite clear that all speculating, intellectual philosophizing, and so forth is a hindrance to true seeing. These activities still belong entirely to the lower nature of man, and truly higher cognition begins only when this nature raises itself to the higher nature in man. Here nothing is really said against these activities which are not only wholly justified in their field, but are there the only justified ones. In itself, a thing is neither higher nor lower; it is higher or lower only in relation to something else. What is high in one respect can be very low in another.
However, what must be understood through seeing, cannot be understood through mere reflection or through even the most magnificent combinations of the intellect. A person may be ever so “ingenious” in the usual sense of the word, but this “ingenuity” will avail him absolutely nothing with respect to the cognition of supersensible truths. He must even renounce it, and abandon himself solely to the higher seeing. Then he will perceive things without his “ingenious” reflecting, just as he perceives the flowers in the fields without further reflection. It does not help one to reflect about the appearance of a meadow; all intellect is powerless there. The same is true of the seeing into higher worlds.
[ 7 ] What can be said prophetically in this way about the future of man is the basis for all ideals which have a real, practical significance. If they are to have value, ideals must be rooted as deeply in the spiritual world as are natural laws in the natural world. Laws of development must be such true ideals. Otherwise they spring from a gushing enthusiasm and a fantasy which are valueless, and can never be fulfilled. In the broadest sense, all great ideals of world history have proceeded from clear cognition. For, in the final analysis, all these great ideals originate with the great scientists of the spirit or initiates, and those lesser ones who collaborate in the development of humanity direct themselves either consciously or—most often—unconsciously in accordance with the instructions of the spiritual scientists. Everything unconscious must finally have its origin in something conscious. The bricklayer who works on a house “unconsciously,” directs himself according to matters of which others are conscious who have determined the place where the house is to be built, the style in which it is to be erected, and so forth. But this determining of place and style is based on something of which the determiners remain unconscious, but of which others are or were conscious. An artist, for example, knows why a particular style requires a straight line here, a curved line there, and so forth. The one who uses this style for his house perhaps does not become conscious of this “why.”
This is also the case with the great events in the development of the world and of mankind. Behind those who work in a certain field stand higher, more conscious workers, and thus the scale of consciousness goes up and down.
Behind the general mass of men stand the inventors, artists, scientists, and so forth. Behind them stand the initiates of mystery science, and behind them stand superhuman beings. The development of the world and of mankind becomes comprehensible only if one realizes that ordinary human consciousness is but one form of consciousness, and that there are higher and lower forms. But here too one must not misapply the expressions “higher” and “lower.” They have a significance only in relation to the point where one happens to be standing. It is no different with this than with “right and left.” When one stands at a certain place, some objects are “right” or “left” of him. If one moves a little to the “right,” objects which before were on the right, are now on the left. The same is true of the levels of consciousness which lie “higher” or “lower” than ordinary human consciousness. When man himself develops more highly, his relations to the other levels of consciousness change. But these changes are connected with his development. It is therefore important to indicate such other levels of consciousness here by means of examples.
[ 8 ] The beehive or that magnificent commonwealth embodied in an ant hill provide bases of such an indication. The collaboration of the various kinds of insects (females, males, workers) proceeds in a completely systematic fashion. The distribution of tasks among the several categories can only be described as an expression of true wisdom. What happens here is just as much the result of a consciousness as the institutions of man in the physical world (technology, art, state, and so forth) are an effect of his consciousness. However, the consciousness at the base of the beehive or the ant society is not to be found in the same physical world in which the ordinary human consciousness exists. In order to describe the situation, one can express oneself somewhat as follows. One finds man in the physical world. His physical organs, his whole structure are such that at first one looks for his consciousness also in this physical world. It is otherwise with the beehive or the ant hill. Here it would be quite wrong to confine oneself to the physical world with respect to the consciousness in question, as was done in the case of man. No, here one must say that to find the ordering principle of the beehive or the ant hill, one cannot confine oneself to the world where the bees or ants live in their physical bodies. In this case, the “conscious mind” must be sought directly in another world. The same conscious mind which in man lives in the physical world, in the case of these animal colonies must be sought in a supersensible world. If with his consciousness man could raise himself into this supersensible world, he would be able to greet the “ant or bee spirit” there in full consciousness as his sister being. The seer can actually do this. Thus, in the examples given above, we are confronted by beings which are conscious in other worlds and which reach into the physical world only through their physical organs—the individual bees and ants. It is quite possible that a consciousness like that of the beehive or of the ant hill existed in the physical world in earlier periods of its development, as that of man does now, but then raised itself and left behind in the physical world only its acting organs, that is, the individual ants and bees. Such a course of development will actually take place in the future with respect to man. In a certain manner it has already taken place among the seers in the present. That the consciousness of contemporary man functions in the physical world is due to the fact that its physical particles—the molecules of brain and nerves—exist in a quite definite relation with one another. What has been discussed in greater detail in another connection in my book. Wie erlangt man Erkentnisse der hoheren Welten? (How Does One Attain Knowledge of Higher Worlds?) will also be indicated briefly here. In the course of the higher development of man the ordinary connection of the brain molecules is dissolved. They are then connected more “loosely,” so that the brain of a seer can really be compared with an ant hill in a certain respect, although the segmentation is not demonstrable anatomically. In different activities of the world these processes occur in quite different ways. At a time long past, the individual molecules of the ant hill—that is, the ants themselves—were firmly connected, just as are the molecules of the human brain today. At that time, the consciousness corresponding to them was in the physical world, as that of man is today. When human consciousness will travel into “higher” worlds in the future, the connection between the material parts in the physical world will be as loose as is that between the individual ants today. What in time will occur physically in all men, already takes place today in the brain of the clairvoyant, but no instrument of the world of the senses is sufficiently delicate to show the loosening which comes about through this anticipatory development. Just as among the bees three categories, queens, drones, workers, are formed, so three categories of molecules are formed in the “seer brain,” molecules which are actually individual, living beings, brought into conscious collaboration by the consciousness of the seer, which is in a higher world.
[ 9 ] Another level of consciousness is represented by what one usually calls the folk- or racial spirit, without representing anything very definite to oneself by this. For the scientist of the spirit, a consciousness also exists at the base of the common and wise influences which appear in the communal life of the members of a people or of a race. Through occult research, one finds this consciousness to be in another world, just as was the case with the consciousness of a beehive or of an ant hill. However, there are no organs for this “folk” or “racial consciousness” in the physical world; rather these organs are to be found only in the so-called astral world. As the consciousness of the beehive works through the physical bees, so the folk-consciousness works by means of the astral bodies of the human beings belonging to a people. In these “folk and racial spirits” one is therefore confronted with kinds of entities quite different from those in man or in the beehive. Many more examples would have to be given in order to show clearly how subordinate and superior entities exist in relation to man. But it is hoped that what has been given will be sufficient to introduce the avenues of human development described in the following chapters. For the development of man himself can only be understood when one considers that he develops together with beings whose consciousness exists in other worlds than his own. What happens in his world is also dependent on these beings who are connected with other levels of consciousness, and therefore can be understood only in relation to this fact.
X. Einige notwendige Zwischenbemerkungen
[ 1 ] Es soll in diesen Betrachtungen mit Mitteilungen begonnen werden, die sich auf die Entwickelung des Menschen und der mit ihm zusammenhängenden Wesenheiten vor der «irdischen Periode» beziehen. Denn als der Mensch anfing, sein Schicksal zu verknüpfen mit dem Planeten, den man die «Erde» nennt, hatte er bereits eine Reihe von Entwickelungsstufen durchgemacht, durch die er sich für das irdische Dasein gewissermaßen vorbereitet hat. Man hat von solchen Stufen drei zu unterscheiden und bezeichnet diese als drei planetarische Entwickelungsstufen. Die Namen, welche man in der Geheimwissenschaft für diese Stufen gebraucht, sind Saturn-, Sonne- und Mondperiode. Es wird sich zeigen, daß diese Benennungen zunächst nichts zu tun haben mit den Himmelskörpern von heute, welche in der physischen Astronomie diese Namen tragen, obwohl in weiterem Sinne eine dem vorgerückten Mystiker bekannte Beziehung auch zu ihnen besteht. — Man sagt nun wohl auch, der Mensch habe, bevor er die Erde betrat, andere Planeten bewohnt. Doch hat man unter diesen «anderen Planeten» nur frühere Entwickelungszustände der Erde selbst und ihrer Bewohner zu verstehen. Die Erde mit allen Wesen, die zu ihr gehören, hat, bevor sie «Erde» geworden ist, die drei Zustände des Saturn-, Sonne-und Monddaseins durchgemacht. Saturn, Sonne, Mond sind gewissermaßen die drei Inkarnationen der Erde in der Vorzeit. Und was man in diesem Zusammenhange Saturn, Sonne und Mond nennt, ist heute ebensowenig als physischer Planet noch vorhanden wie die früheren physischen Inkarnationen eines Menschen neben seiner heutigen noch vorhanden sind. — Wie es sich mit dieser «planetarischen Entwickelung» des Menschen und der anderen zur Erde gehörigen Wesen verhält, wird eben den Gegenstand der folgenden Abhandlungen «Aus der Akasha-Chronik» bilden. Damit soll nicht gesagt werden, daß den genannten drei Zuständen nicht noch weitere vorhergegangen seien. Allein alles, was ihnen vorangeht, verliert sich in ein Dunkel, in das geheimwissenschaftliche Forschung zunächst nicht hineinzuleuchten vermag. Denn diese Forschung beruht nicht auf einer Spekulation, auf einem Spinnen in bloßen Begriffen, sondern auf wirklicher geistiger Erfahrung. Und so wie unser physisches Auge auf freiem Felde nur bis zu einer gewissen Grenze zu sehen vermag und über den Horizont nicht hinausblicken kann, so kann auch das «Geistesauge» nur bis zu einem gewissen Zeitpunkte blicken. Geheimwissenschaft beruht auf Erfahrung und sie bescheidet sich innerhalb dieser Erfahrung. Nur Begriffshaarspalterei will erforschen, was «ganz im Anfange» der Welt war, oder «warum eigentlich Gott die Welt erschaffen habe?» Für den Geheimforscher handelt es sich vielmehr darum, zu begreifen, daß man solche Fragen auf einer gewissen Stufe der Erkenntnis gar nicht mehr stellt. Denn innerhalb der geistigen Erfahrung offenbart sich dem Menschen alles, was ihm zur Erfüllung seiner Bestimmung auf unserem Planeten nötig ist. Wer geduldig sich hineinarbeitet in die Erfahrungen der Geheimforscher, der wird sehen, daß der Mensch volle Befriedigung für alle ihm notwendigen Fragen innerhalb der geistigen Erfahrung gewinnen kann. Man wird zum Beispiel in den folgenden Aufsätzen sehen, wie sich vollkommen die Frage nach dem «Ursprunge des Bösen» löst und vieles andere, wonach der Mensch verlangen muß. — Es soll hier auch durchaus nicht gesagt werden, daß der Mensch niemals über die oben genannten Fragen nach dem «Ursprunge der Welt» und ähnlichem Aufschluß erlangen könne. Er kann es. Aber er muß, um es zu können, erst durch die Erkenntnisse hindurchgehen, welche innerhalb der nächsten geistigen Erfahrung sich offenbaren. Dann erkennt er, daß er diese Fragen in einer anderen Weise zu stellen hat, als dies bisher von ihm geschehen ist.
[ 2 ] Je tiefer man sich hineinarbeitet in die wahre Geheimwissenschaft, desto bescheidener wird man eben. Man erkennt dann erst, wie man sich ganz allmählich reif und würdig machen muß für gewisse Erkenntnisse. Und Stolz oder Unbescheidenheit werden endlich Namen für Eigenschaften des Menschen, welche auf einer gewissen Erkenntnisstufe keinen Sinn mehr haben. Man sieht, wenn man ein klein wenig erkannt hat, wie unermeßlich groß der Weg ist, der vor einem liegt. Durch Wissen erlangt man eben die Einsicht in das: «wie wenig man weiß». Und man erlangt auch das Gefühl für die ungeheure Verantwortung, die man auf sich nimmt, wenn man von übersinnlichen Erkenntnissen redet. Doch kann die Menschheit ohne diese übersinnlichen Erkenntnisse nicht leben. Wer aber solche Erkenntnisse verbreitet, der bedarf der Bescheidenheit und einer wahren echten Selbstkritik, eines durch nichts zu erschütternden Strebens nach Selbsterkenntnis und äußerster Vorsicht.
[ 3 ] Solche Zwischenbemerkungen sind hier notwendig, da ja jetzt zu noch höheren Erkenntnissen der Aufstieg unternommen werden soll, als diejenigen sind, welche man in den vorhergehenden Abschnitten der «Akasha-Chronik» findet.
[ 4 ] Zu den Ausblicken, die man in den folgenden Mitteilungen in die Vergangenheit des Menschen machen wird, sollen dann solche in die Zukunft kommen. Denn einer wahren geistigen Erkenntnis kann die Zukunft sich aufschließen, wenn auch nur in dem Maße, als es für den Menschen zu einer Erfüllung seiner Bestimmung notwendig ist. Wer sich nicht einläßt auf die Geheimwissenschaft und von dem hohen Richterstuhle seiner Vorurteile herab einfach alles in das Gebiet der Phantastik und Träumerei verweist, was von dieser Seite kommt, der wird dieses Verhältnis zur Zukunft am wenigsten verstehen. Und doch könnte eine einfache logische Überlegung verständlich machen, was da in Betracht kommt. Nur werden solche logischen Überlegungen eben bloß so lange angenommen, als sie mit den Vorurteilen der Menschen übereinstimmen. Vorurteile sind mächtige Feinde auch aller Logik.
[ 5 ] Man bedenke einmal: wenn Schwefel, Sauerstoff und Wasserstoff unter ganz bestimmten Verhältnissen zusammengebracht werden, so muß Schwefelsäure nach einem notwendigen Gesetze entstehen. Und wer Chemie gelernt hat, der weiß vorherzusagen, was eintreten muß, wenn die genannten drei Stoffe unter den entsprechenden Bedingungen in Verhältnis treten. Ein solcher Chemiekundiger ist also ein Prophet auf dem eingeschränkten Gebiete der stofflichen Welt. Und seine Prophetie könnte sich nur dann als falsch erweisen, wenn die Naturgesetze plötzlich andere würden. Der Geheimwissenschafter erforscht nun die geistigen Gesetze gerade in der Art, wie der Physiker oder Chemiker die materiellen Gesetze erforscht. Er tut das in der Art und mit der Strenge, wie es sich auf geistigem Gebiete geziemt. Von diesen großen geistigen Gesetzen hängt aber die Entwickelung der Menschheit ab. Ebensowenig wie gegen die Naturgesetze sich in irgendeiner Zukunft Sauerstoff, Wasserstoff und Schwefel verbinden werden, ebensowenig wird im geistigen Leben etwas gegen die geistigen Gesetze geschehen. Und wer die letzteren kennt, der vermag also in die Gesetzmäßigkeit der Zukunft zu blicken. -
[ 6 ] Es wird hier absichtlich gerade dieser Vergleich für das prophetische Vorausbestimmen der kommenden Menschheitsschicksale gebraucht, weil von der wahren Geheimwissenschaft dieses Vorausbestimmen wirklich ganz in diesem Sinne gemeint ist. Denn für denjenigen, der sich diese wirkliche Meinung des Okkultismus klarmacht, fällt auch der Einwand weg, als ob dadurch, daß die Dinge in gewissem Sinne vorauszubestimmen sind, alle Freiheit des Menschen unmöglich sei. Vorausbestimmen läßt sich, was einem Gesetz entspricht. Aber der Wille wird nicht durch das Gesetz bestimmt. Ebenso wie es bestimmt ist, daß in jedem Falle nur nach einem bestimmten Gesetz sich Sauerstoff, Wasserstoff und Schwefel zu Schwefelsäure verbinden werden, ebenso sicher ist es, daß es von dem menschlichen Willen abhängen kann, die Bedingungen herzustellen, unter denen das Gesetz wirken wird. Und so wird es auch mit den großen Weltereignissen und Menschenschicksalen der Zukunft sein. Man sieht sie als Geheimforscher voraus, trotzdem sie erst durch menschliche Willkür herbeigeführt werden sollen. Der okkulte Forscher sieht eben auch voraus, was erst durch die Freiheit des Menschen vollbracht wird. Daß dies möglich ist, davon sollen die folgenden Mitteilungen eine Vorstellung geben. — Nur einen wesentlichen Unterschied zwischen dem Vorausbestimmen von Tatsachen durch die physische Wissenschaft und demjenigen durch das geistige Erkennen muß man sich klarmachen. Die physische Wissenschaft beruht auf den Einsichten des Verstandes, und ihre Prophetie ist daher auch nur eine verstandesgemäße, die auf Urteile, Schlüsse, Kombinationen und so weiter angewiesen ist. Die Prophetie durch geistiges Erkennen geht dagegen aus einem wirklichen höheren Schauen oder Wahrnehmen hervor. Ja, der Geheimforscher muß sogar auf das allerstrengste alles vermeiden sich vorzustellen, was auf bloßem Nachdenken, Kombinieren, Spekulieren und so weiter beruht. Hier muß er die weitestgehende Entsagung üben und sich ganz klar darüber sein, daß alles Spekulieren, verstandesmäßige Philosophieren und so weiter dem wahren Schauen abträglich ist. Diese Verrichtungen gehören eben durchaus noch der niedrigeren Menschennatur an, und wahrhaft höhere Erkenntnis beginnt erst da, wo diese Natur sich zu der höheren Wesenheit im Menschen erhebt. Damit ist an sich gar nichts gegen diese Verrichtungen gesagt, die auf ihrem Gebiete nicht nur vollberechtigt, sondern auch einzig berechtigt sind. An sich ist überhaupt nicht etwas ein Höheres oder Niedrigeres, sondern nur im Verhältnis zu einem anderen. Und was in einer Beziehung hoch steht, kann nach einer anderen Richtung sehr tief stehen. — Was aber durch Schauen erkannt werden muß, kann es durch bloßes Nachdenken und durch die herrlichsten Kombinationen des Verstandes nicht werden. Ein Mensch mag im gewöhnlichen Wortsinne noch so «geistreich» sein; zur Erkenntnis übersinnlicher Wahrheiten hilft ihm diese «Geistreichheit» gar nicht. Er muß ihrer sogar entsagen und sich ganz allein dem höheren Schauen hingeben. Dann nimmt er da die Dinge so ohne sein «geistreiches» Nachdenken wahr, wie er die Blumen auf dem Felde ohne weiteres Nachdenken wahrnimmt. Es hilft einem nichts, über das Aussehen einer Wiese nachzudenken; aller Witz ist da machtlos. Ebenso muß es sich mit dem Schauen in höheren Welten verhalten.
[ 7 ] Was nun auf diese Art über des Menschen Zukunft prophetisch ausgesagt werden kann, das ist die Grundlage für alle ideale, die eine wirkliche praktische Bedeutung haben. Ideale müssen, wenn sie Wert haben sollen, so tief in der geistigen Welt begründet sein wie Naturgesetze in der bloß natürlichen Welt. Gesetze der Entwickelung müssen solche wahren Ideale sein. Sonst entspringen sie aus einer wertlosen Schwärmerei und Phantasie und können niemals Verwirklichung finden. Alle großen Ideale der Weltgeschichte im weitesten Sinne sind aus schauender Erkenntnis hervorgegangen. Denn zuletzt stammen alle diese großen Ideale von den großen Geheimforschern oder Eingeweihten, und die Kleineren, die mitarbeiten an dem Menschheitsbau, richten sich entweder bewußt oder — allermeistens — unbewußt nach den von den Geheimforschern bestimmten Angaben. Alles Unbewußte hat zuletzt nämlich doch in einem Bewußten seinen Ursprung. Der Maurer, der an einem Hause arbeitet, richtet sich «unbewußt» nach Dingen, die anderen bewußt sind, welche den Ort bestimmt haben, an dem das Haus gebaut werden soll, den Stil, in dem es errichtet werden soll und so weiter. Aber auch diesem Bestimmen von Ort und Stil liegt etwas zugrunde, was den Bestimmern unbewußt bleibt, andern aber bewußt ist oder bewußt war. Ein Künstler zum Beispiel weiß, warum der betreffende Stil dort eine gerade, dort eine gewundene Linie verlangt und so weiter. Der, welcher den Stil zu seinem Hause verwendet, bringt sich dieses «Warum» vielleicht nicht zum Bewußtsein. — Es ist ebenso auch mit den großen Vorgängen in der Welt- und Menschheitsentwickelung. Hinter denen, welche auf einem bestimmten Gebiete arbeiten, stehen höhere bewußtere Arbeiter, und so geht die Stufenleiter der Bewußtheit auf- und abwärts. — Hinter den Alltagsmenschen stehen die Erfinder, Künstler, Forscher und so weiter. Hinter diesen stehen die geheimwissenschaftlichen Eingeweihten — und hinter diesen stehen übermenschliche Wesen. Allein das macht die Welt- und Menschheitsentwickelung begreiflich, wenn man sich klar darüber ist, daß das gewöhnliche menschliche Bewußtsein nur eine Form des Bewußtseins ist, und daß es höhere und tiefere Formen gibt. Doch darf man auch hier die Ausdrücke «höher» und «tiefer» nicht falsch anwenden. Sie haben nur eine Bedeutung für den Standpunkt, auf dem der Mensch gerade steht. Es ist ja damit nicht anders als mit «rechts und links». Wenn man irgendwo steht, so sind gewisse Dinge «rechts oder links». Geht man selbst ein wenig «rechts», so sind die Dinge links, die früher rechts gewesen sind. So ist es wirklich auch mit den Bewußtseinsstufen, die «höher oder tiefer» liegen als die gewöhnliche menschliche. Wenn der Mensch sich selbst höher entwickelt, so ändern sich seine Verhältnisse zu anderen Bewußtseinsstufen. Aber diese Änderungen hängen gerade mit seiner Entwickelung zusammen. Und darum ist es wichtig, hier beispielsweise auf solche anderen Bewußtseinsstufen hinzudeuten.
[ 8 ] Beispiele für solche Hindeutung bieten zunächst der Bienenstock oder jenes herrliche Staatswesen, das sich in einem Ameisenhaufen abspielt. Das Zusammenwirken der einzelnen Insektengattungen (Weibchen, Männchen, Arbeiter) geschieht in durchaus gesetzmäßiger Weise. Und die Verteilung der Verrichtungen auf die einzelnen Kategorien kann nur als der Ausdruck vollgültiger Weisheit bezeichnet werden. Was da zustande kommt, ist genau ebenso das Ergebnis eines Bewußtseins, wie die Einrichtungen des Menschen in der physischen Welt (Technik, Kunst, Staat und so weiter) Wirkung seines Bewußtseins sind. Nur ist das dem Bienenstock oder der Ameisengesellschaft zugrunde liegende Bewußtsein nicht in derselben physischen Welt zu finden, in welcher das gewöhnliche menschliche Bewußtsein vorhanden ist. Man kann sich, um den Sachverhalt zu bezeichnen, etwa in folgender Art ausdrücken. Den Menschen findet man in der physischen Welt. Und seine physischen Organe, sein ganzer Bau sind so beschaffen, daß man sein Bewußtsein auch zunächst in dieser physischen Welt sucht. Anders beim Bienenstock oder Ameisenhaufen. Man geht ganz fehl, wenn man auch dabei in demselben Sinne wie beim Menschen für das Bewußtsein, um das es sich zunächst handelt, in der physischen Welt stehenbleibt. Nein, hier muß man vielmehr sich sagen: um das ordnende Wesen des Bienenstockes oder Ameisenhaufens zu finden, kann man nicht in der Welt stehenbleiben, in welcher die Bienen oder Ameisen ihrem physischen Körper nach leben. Der «bewußte Geist» muß da sofort in einer anderen Welt gesucht werden. Derselbe bewußte Geist, der beim Menschen in der physischen Welt lebt, muß eben für die genannten Tierkolonien in einer übersinnlichen Welt gesucht werden. Könnte sich der Mensch mit seinem Bewußtsein in diese übersinnliche Welt erheben, so würde er dort den «Ameisenoder Bienengeist» in voller Bewußtheit als sein Schwesterwesen begrüßen können. Der Seher kann dieses wirklich. Man hat also in den angeführten Beispielen Wesen vor sich, die in anderen Welten bewußt sind und nur durch ihre physischen Organe — die einzelnen Bienen und Ameisen — in die physische Welt hereinragen. Es kann nun durchaus sein, daß ein solches Bewußtsein wie das des Bienenstocks oder des Ameisenhaufens in früheren Epochen seiner Entwickelung bereits in der physischen Welt war wie das jetzige menschliche, jedoch sich dann erhoben hat und nur die ausführenden Organe, eben die einzelnen Ameisen und Bienen, in der physischen Welt noch zurückgelassen hat. Ein solcher Entwickelungsgang wird beim Menschen in der Zukunft wirklich stattfinden. Ja, er hat sich in einer gewissen Weise bei den Sehern schon in der Gegenwart abgespielt. Daß das Bewußtsein des heutigen Menschen in der physischen Welt arbeitet, beruht ja darauf, daß seine physischen Teilchen — die Gehirn- und Nervenmoleküle — in einer ganz bestimmten Verbindung miteinander stehen. Was in anderem Zusammenhange — in meinem Buche «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» genauer ausgeführt worden ist, das soll auch hier angedeutet werden. Bei der höheren Entwickelung des Menschen wird in der Tat der gewöhnliche Zusammenhang der Gehirnmoleküle gelöst. Sie hängen dann «loser» zusammen, so daß ein Sehergehirn in einer gewissen Beziehung in der Tat mit einem Ameisenhaufen zu vergleichen ist, wenn auch anatomisch die Zerklüftung nicht nachweisbar ist. Die Vorgänge spielen sich eben auf den verschiedenen Gebieten der Welt in ganz verschiedener Weise ab. Die einzelnen Moleküle des Ameisenhaufens — eben die Ameisen selbst — hingen in einer längst vergangenen Zeit fest zusammen, wie heute die Moleküle eines menschlichen Gehirns. Damals war das ihnen entsprechende Bewußtsein in der physischen Welt wie heute das menschliche. Und wenn in der Zukunft das menschliche Bewußtsein in «höhere» Welten wandern wird, dann wird der Zusammenhang der sinnlichen Teile in der physischen Welt so lose sein, wie es heute der zwischen den einzelnen Ameisen ist. Das, was für alle Menschen einstens physisch sich vollziehen wird, vollzieht sich mit dem Gehirn des Hellsehers schon heute, nur daß kein Instrument der Sinnenwelt fein genug ist, bei dieser vorauseilenden Entwickelung die Lockerung nachzuweisen. Ja, wie bei den Bienen drei Kategorien entstehen, Königin, Drohnen, Arbeiter, so entstehen in dem «Sehergehirn» drei Kategorien von Molekülen, eigentlich einzelner, lebendiger Wesen, welche das in eine höhere Welt entrückte Bewußtsein des Sehers in bewußtes Zusammenwirken bringt.
[ 9 ] Eine andere Stufe der Bewußtheit bietet dasjenige, was man gewöhnlich Volks oder Rassengeist nennt, ohne sich viel Bestimmtes dabei vorzustellen. Für den Geheimforscher liegt auch den gemeinsamen, weisheitsvollen Wirkungen, die sich in dem Zusammenleben der Glieder eines Volkes oder einer Rasse zeigen, ein Bewußtsein zugrunde. Man findet durch die Geheimforschung dieses Bewußtsein ebenso in einer anderen Welt, wie das beim Bewußtsein eines Bienenstocks oder Ameisenhaufens der Fall ist. Nur sind für dieses «Volks-» oder «Rassenbewußtsein» keine Organe in der physischen Welt vorhanden, sondern diese Organe finden sich nur in der sogenannten astralischen Welt. Wie das Bienenstockbewußtsein seine Arbeit durch die physischen Bienen leistet, so das Volksbewußtsein mit Hilfe der Astralleiber der zum Volke gehörigen Menschen. In diesen «Volks- und Rassengeistern» hat man somit eine ganz andere Art von Wesenheiten vor sich wie im Menschen oder im Bienenstock. Es müßten viele Beispiele noch angeführt werden, wenn ganz ersichtlich gemacht werden sollte, wie es unter- und übergeordnete Wesenheiten in bezug auf den Menschen gibt. Das Angeführte aber mag genügen, um den in den folgenden Ausführungen beschriebenen Entwickelungswegen des Menschen eine Einleitung voranzusenden. Denn des Menschen eigener Werdegang ist eben nur zu begreifen, wenn man in Betracht zieht, daß er mit Wesen zusammen sich entwickelt, deren Bewußtsein in anderen Welten, als seine eigene ist, liegen. Was sich in seiner Welt abspielt, hängt von solchen Wesen anderer Bewußtseinsstufen mit ab, kann daher nur in Verbindung damit verstanden werden.
X. Some necessary intermediate remarks
[ 1 ] These observations will begin with information relating to the development of man and the beings associated with him before the "earthly period". For when man began to link his destiny with the planet called "Earth", he had already gone through a series of developmental stages through which he prepared himself to a certain extent for earthly existence. Three such stages have to be distinguished and are called three planetary stages of development. The names used in secret science for these stages are the Saturnian, Solar and Lunar periods. It will be seen that these names have at first nothing to do with the heavenly bodies of today, which bear these names in physical astronomy, although in a further sense there is also a relationship to them known to the advanced mystic. - It is also said that man inhabited other planets before he set foot on earth. But these "other planets" are only to be understood as earlier states of development of the earth itself and its inhabitants. Before it became "earth", the earth with all the beings that belong to it went through the three states of being Saturn, Sun and Moon. Saturn, the sun and the moon are, so to speak, the three incarnations of the earth in prehistoric times. And what is called Saturn, Sun and Moon in this context is no more still present today as a physical planet than the earlier physical incarnations of a human being are still present alongside his present one. - How this "planetary development" of man and the other beings belonging to the earth is concerned will be the subject of the following treatises "From the Akashic Chronicle". This is not to say that the three states mentioned have not been preceded by others. However, everything that precedes them is lost in a darkness into which secret scientific research is initially unable to shed light. For this research is not based on speculation, on spinning in mere concepts, but on real spiritual experience. And just as our physical eye is only able to see up to a certain limit in the open field and cannot see beyond the horizon, the "spiritual eye" can only see up to a certain point in time. Secret science is based on experience and it confines itself within this experience. Only conceptual hair-splitting wants to investigate what was "at the very beginning" of the world, or "why did God actually create the world?" For the secret researcher, it is rather a matter of understanding that such questions are no longer asked at a certain level of knowledge. For within the spiritual experience everything is revealed to man that is necessary for him to fulfill his destiny on our planet. Whoever patiently works his way into the experiences of the secret researchers will see that man can gain full satisfaction for all the questions he needs within spiritual experience. One will see, for example, in the following essays how the question of the "origin of evil" and many other things that man must long for are completely resolved. - Nor is it meant to be said here that man can never gain insight into the above-mentioned questions about the "origin of the world" and the like. He can. But in order to be able to do so, he must first go through the insights which reveal themselves within the next spiritual experience. Then he realizes that he has to ask these questions in a different way than he has done so far.
[ 2 ] The deeper you work your way into the true secret science, the more humble you become. Only then does one realize how one must gradually make oneself mature and worthy of certain insights. And pride or immodesty finally become names for human qualities that no longer make sense at a certain level of knowledge. Once you have realized a little, you see how immeasurably great the path ahead of you is. Through knowledge you gain insight into "how little you know". And you also gain a sense of the immense responsibility you take upon yourself when you speak of supersensible knowledge. But mankind cannot live without this supersensible knowledge. Those who spread such knowledge, however, need humility and a true, genuine self-criticism, a striving for self-knowledge and extreme caution that cannot be shaken by anything.
[ 3 ] Such interim remarks are necessary here, since the ascent is now to be undertaken to even higher realizations than those found in the previous sections of the "Akashic Chronicle".
[ 4 ] In addition to the glimpses into man's past that will be made in the following messages, there will then be those into the future. For the future can open up to true spiritual knowledge, even if only to the extent that it is necessary for man to fulfill his destiny. He who does not engage in secret science and from the high judgment seat of his prejudices simply relegates everything that comes from this side to the realm of fantasy and reverie will understand this relationship to the future least of all. And yet a simple logical consideration could make it clear what is being considered. But such logical considerations are only accepted as long as they agree with people's prejudices. Prejudices are also powerful enemies of all logic.
[ 5 ] Think about it: if sulphur, oxygen and hydrogen are brought together under very specific conditions, then sulphuric acid must be produced according to a necessary law. And anyone who has learned chemistry knows how to predict what must happen when the three substances mentioned come into contact under the corresponding conditions. Such a chemist is therefore a prophet in the limited field of the material world. And his prophecy could only prove to be wrong if the laws of nature suddenly changed. The secret scientist researches the spiritual laws in the same way that the physicist or chemist researches the material laws. He does this in the manner and with the rigor that is appropriate in the spiritual realm. But the development of mankind depends on these great spiritual laws. Just as oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur will not combine in the future against the laws of nature, neither will anything happen in spiritual life against the spiritual laws. And he who knows the latter is thus able to see into the legality of the future.
[ 6 ] This comparison is deliberately used here for the prophetic predetermination of the coming fate of mankind, because this predetermination is really meant in this sense by the true secret science. For for those who realize this real opinion of occultism, the objection also falls away, as if by the fact that things are to be predetermined in a certain sense, all freedom of man is impossible. What can be predetermined is what corresponds to a law. But the will is not determined by the law. Just as it is certain that in every case oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur will only combine to form sulphuric acid according to a certain law, it is just as certain that it can depend on the human will to produce the conditions under which the law will work. And so it will be with the great world events and human destinies of the future. They are foreseen by secret researchers, even though they are to be brought about by human will. The occult researcher also foresees what will only be accomplished through human freedom. That this is possible is illustrated by the following information. - Only one essential difference must be made clear between the predetermination of facts through physical science and that through spiritual cognition. Physical science is based on the insights of the intellect, and its prophecy is therefore also only an intellectual one, which is dependent on judgments, conclusions, combinations and so on. The prophecy through spiritual cognition, on the other hand, emerges from a real higher seeing or perceiving. Indeed, the secret researcher must even avoid in the most rigorous way everything that is based on mere reflection, combination, speculation and so on. Here he must practice the most extensive renunciation and be quite clear about the fact that all speculation, intellectual philosophizing and so on is detrimental to true vision. These activities still belong to the lower human nature, and truly higher knowledge only begins where this nature rises to the higher being in man. This in itself says nothing against these activities, which are not only fully justified in their field, but also only justified. Something is not higher or lower in itself, but only in relation to another. And what is high in one respect can be very low in another. - But what must be recognized by looking cannot be recognized by mere reflection and by the most splendid combinations of the intellect. No matter how "spiritual" a person may be in the ordinary sense of the word, this "spirituality" does not help him to recognize supersensible truths. He must even renounce it and devote himself entirely to higher vision. Then he perceives things without his "spiritual" reflection, just as he perceives the flowers in the field without further reflection. It is of no use to think about the appearance of a meadow; all wit is powerless there. It must be the same with seeing in higher worlds.
[ 7 ] What can now be said prophetically about man's future in this way is the basis for all ideals, which have a real practical meaning. Ideals, if they are to have value, must be founded as deeply in the spiritual world as laws of nature in the merely natural world. Laws of development must be such true ideals. Otherwise they spring from a worthless rapture and fantasy and can never find realization. All the great ideals of world history in the broadest sense have emerged out of insightful knowledge. For ultimately all these great ideals originate from the great secret researchers or initiates, and the lesser ones who collaborate in the building of humanity either consciously or - in the vast majority of cases - unconsciously follow the indications determined by the secret researchers. After all, everything unconscious has its origin in something conscious. The bricklayer who works on a house is "unconsciously" guided by things that are conscious to others, who have determined the place where the house is to be built, the style in which it is to be built and so on. But this determination of place and style is also based on something that remains unconscious to the determiners, but is or was conscious to others. An artist, for example, knows why the style in question requires a straight line there, a curved line there and so on. The person who uses the style for his home may not be aware of this "why". - It is the same with the great processes in the development of the world and of mankind. Behind those who work in a particular field are higher, more conscious workers, and so the ladder of consciousness goes up and down. - Behind the everyday people are the inventors, artists, researchers and so on. Behind these stand the secret-scientific initiates - and behind these stand superhuman beings. This alone makes the development of the world and of mankind comprehensible, if we realize that ordinary human consciousness is only one form of consciousness, and that there are higher and deeper forms. But here, too, the terms "higher" and "deeper" must not be used incorrectly. They only have a meaning for the standpoint on which the person is currently standing. It is no different than with "right and left". If you are standing somewhere, certain things are "right or left". If you walk a little to the right, things that used to be on the right are on the left. It is really the same with the levels of consciousness that are "higher or lower" than the ordinary human one. As man develops himself higher, his relations to other levels of consciousness change. But these changes are connected with his development. And that is why it is important to point here, for example, to such other levels of consciousness.
[ 8 ] Examples of such an indication are offered first of all by the beehive or that marvelous state system that takes place in an anthill. The interaction of the individual insect species (females, males, workers) takes place in a perfectly lawful manner. And the distribution of activities among the individual categories can only be described as an expression of perfect wisdom. What comes about there is just as much the result of a consciousness as the institutions of man in the physical world (technology, art, state and so on) are the effect of his consciousness. But the consciousness underlying the beehive or the ant society is not to be found in the same physical world in which ordinary human consciousness is present. To describe the situation, one can express it in the following way. Man is found in the physical world. And his physical organs, his whole structure, are such that his consciousness is also initially sought in this physical world. It is different with the beehive or anthill. One would be quite wrong if one were to remain in the physical world in the same sense as with man for the consciousness that is initially involved. No, here one must rather say to oneself: in order to find the organizing essence of the beehive or anthill, one cannot remain in the world in which the bees or ants live according to their physical body. The "conscious spirit" must be sought immediately in another world. The same conscious spirit that lives with man in the physical world must be sought in a supersensible world for the aforementioned animal colonies. If man could raise himself with his consciousness into this supersensible world, he would be able to greet the "ant or bee spirit" there in full consciousness as his sister being. The seer can really do this. So in the examples given we have before us beings who are conscious in other worlds and only protrude into the physical world through their physical organs - the individual bees and ants. It is now quite possible that such a consciousness as that of the beehive or the anthill was already in the physical world in earlier epochs of its development like the present human one, but then rose up and left only the executive organs, the individual ants and bees, behind in the physical world. Such a course of development will really take place in the future with man. Indeed, in a certain way it has already taken place with the seers in the present. The fact that the consciousness of today's man works in the physical world is based on the fact that his physical particles - the brain and nerve molecules - are in a very definite connection with each other. What has been explained in more detail in another context - in my book "How does one attain knowledge of the higher worlds?" - should also be indicated here. In the higher development of man, the usual connection of the brain molecules is indeed loosened. They are then "more loosely" connected, so that a seer's brain can indeed be compared in a certain respect to an anthill, even if anatomically the disjunction is not demonstrable. The processes take place in very different ways in the different areas of the world. The individual molecules of the anthill - the ants themselves - were firmly connected in a time long past, just as the molecules of a human brain are today. At that time, the consciousness corresponding to them in the physical world was like the human consciousness today. And when in the future human consciousness will wander into "higher" worlds, then the connection between the sensory parts in the physical world will be as loose as it is today between the individual ants. That which will one day take place physically for all men is already taking place today with the brain of the clairvoyant, only that no instrument of the sense world is fine enough to prove the loosening of this premature development. Indeed, just as three categories emerge in bees, queen, drones, workers, so three categories of molecules, actually individual, living beings, emerge in the "seer's brain", which the consciousness of the seer, enraptured into a higher world, brings into conscious interaction.
[ 9 ] Another level of consciousness is offered by what is usually called the people's or race spirit, without imagining much specific about it. For the secret researcher, a consciousness also underlies the common, wisdom-filled effects that manifest themselves in the coexistence of the members of a people or a race. Through secret research, this consciousness can be found in another world, just as is the case with the consciousness of a beehive or anthill. But there are no organs in the physical world for this "national" or "racial" consciousness; these organs are found only in the so-called astral world. Just as the consciousness of the beehive does its work through the physical bees, so does the consciousness of the people with the help of the astral bodies of the people belonging to the people. In these "folk and racial spirits" we thus have before us a completely different kind of entity than in the human being or in the beehive. Many more examples would have to be given if it were to be made completely clear how there are subordinate and superordinate entities in relation to man. But the above may suffice as an introduction to the developmental paths of man described in the following remarks. For man's own development can only be understood if one considers that he develops together with beings whose consciousness lies in worlds other than his own. What takes place in his world depends on such beings of other levels of consciousness with, can therefore only be understood in connection with them.