Esoteric Christianity and the Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz
On-line since: 1st July, 2004
The Theosophical Society, founded by H.P. Blavatsky,
( 1 )
had the task of adding an occult element to the awakening European interest
in oriental spirituality which had been greatly stimulated in the
mid-19th century by Schopenhauer and other major thinkers. ‘The Secret
Doctrine’
( 2 )
by H.P. Blavatsky was the sensational work which caused
the rapid expansion of the Theosophical Society in the
English-speaking world. It made no effort to take account of
Christianity. An attempt by Rosicrucian occultists to place
Christianity at the centre of the new movement, in which the author's
mediumistic faculties were to have been used, had been deflected
earlier. And yet it was required that Western and Eastern wisdom
should be brought into harmony. The ancient wisdom was to live on in
the future development of mankind, whose salvation was guaranteed by
the Mystery of Golgotha. Similar to the way that Christianity in the
past, still young and vigorous in belief, had assimilated science
through the wave of Arabism, turning observation of nature into the
science of nature, present mankind, fallen prey to materialism and
parched, had to be revitalised by being permeated with the knowledge
of ancient wisdom. This took place by way of a knowledge of Buddhist
philosophy with the result that the teaching of karma and
reincarnation found entry to many souls and penetrated their
understanding. The scientific works of Max Muller,
( 3 )
Deussen
( 4 )
and other significant philosophers opened up to Europeans a world
of overwhelming spirituality and vivid imaginations. The key to the
understanding of these worlds, however, still had to be given to
intellectual science.
The work done by Blavatsky and her pupils in this respect was
insufficient. Suitable personalities to act as mediators in this task
still remained to be found. Through the particular constitution of her
physical organism H.P. Blavatsky had been an instrument which was
particularly open to the influences of the spiritual world. Her strong
will made her suitable to carry out difficult tasks in the service of
mankind; but her thinking was disjointed and her character often
degenerated into emotionalism, and when her emotions broke loose
catastrophe ensued and sometimes even the direction of her striving
was reversed. It would not be wrong to say: as an instrument open to
spiritual influence, occult forces fought for her possession.
In order to turn knowledge of the occult worlds into a science of the
spirit which might in time be learnt by people through serious study,
a person had to devote himself to this transformation who had his
character and temperament completely under control, who also had a
grasp of the knowledge of his time and command of the individual
fields of knowledge to an extent which enabled him to reply to the
most fierce criticism. An iron and yet flexible physical organism were
required in order to withstand the onslaught against him.
Such a person was Rudolf Steiner.
( 5 )
His youth was spent in what
might be called convivial seclusion and constant study. Hardly grown
up, he supported himself by giving lessons and then as an educator. On
this foundation his lecturing and writing activity developed while he
was still a young man. Since recognition of the spirit was quite
natural to him, he quite consciously set himself the task of raising
all the objections which the critical materialist brings to bear on
revelations of the spirit and to spare himself nothing which might be
the smallest deviation from this line. This he called ‘crawling into
the skin of the dragon.’ He felt this difficult task to be his duty.
Otherwise he would have considered himself as lacking the right to
fight to the end the difficult battle for mankind, of wresting victory
from abstract intellectualism. Only then would he be able to present
the deed of the Buddha and the deed of the Christ as a harmonious
unity; only then, when he himself had gained victory over the inner
adversary and his hidden ways, would he be able to point the path of
salvation through Christ's deed. Thus armed, he made his appearance as
representative of the ancient mystery teachings as they had been
revealed to him in the light of Christ's deed.
The Theosophical Society was alarmed. It saw the deep effect of
Steiner's teachings on souls in search of Christ. It did not want to
expose its members to this, did not want to expose them to the danger
of taking in Steiner's teachings, thus abandoning the orientalising
stream. His topics for the Congress of the Federation of European
Sections, arranged to take place in Genoa,
( 6 )
contained as their
subject: Buddhist wisdom and Western esotericism. They opposed this
subject with an Indian boy, the incarnation in the flesh of Christ
Jesus according to their teaching. No common ground for scientific
debate as it should have taken place at the Congress in Genoa could be
found to cover such a gaping divergence; and now that Rudolf Steiner's
significance had been recognised such a debate was deemed much too
dangerous an undertaking. It was better to avoid such hot issues
altogether. The congress was cancelled at the last minute for reasons
which never became clear.
And Steiner, who had already set out for Italy, as had many
others was able to speak only to group meetings, to small
circles. There was not time to arrange for stenographers to be
present. But not everything was lost, due to the devotion of a number
of members who were taking notes, whose hand, however, naturally
weakened towards the end in the fire of the enthusiastically spoken
word. The Locarno lecture and those held in Neuchatel in particular
give us cause to remember our dear Agnes Friedlander, who died of
pneumonia in 1942 in a concentration camp. She was among those whose
soul was particularly deeply affected by the transforming impulse
alive in the mystery of Christ.
The lectures themselves have only been preserved as fragments. No
satisfactory transcripts exist. It seems like a counter-attack by
adversary forces that no experienced stenographer was present. They
exist apart from the shortened Cassel lectures partly as
fragments and partly as notes which have been pieced together.
Nevertheless, the essential framework has been preserved and the
effort was made to place them into context. This effort is not always
successful as far as the stylistic form is concerned, but the spirit
is challenged all the more to sharpen its powers of thought and
stimulated to embark on their study.
Besides emphasising the particular character of Spiritual Science
after the event of Christ, the aim of the lectures held in 1911 and 1912
( 7 )
was to bring out the significance of karma as the course of
destiny and to enable us to penetrate into its intimate nature. Even
if the overall course of those reflections has been preserved only as
a series of remembered images the notes were frequently too
brief to convey the logical progression and the irregular collection
of notes and headings tend to be little more than indications
the direction of the spiritual impulses given by Dr. Steiner has been
preserved and perhaps justifies this attempted collection: they can
deepen the soul by meditative work and continue to be active within
us.
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Last Modified: 07-Oct-2024
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