The Sermon on the Mount and the Return of Christ
February 20, 1910
Düsseldorf
If a
theosophist, withdrawing for a moment from the immediate
concerns of daily life, thinks about his tasks and duties in
the external world and asks himself: Is there something that
has to do with human happiness and human aspirations over and
above the daily round of life? — then as a theosophist
he will have an ample answer. He knows that he does not study
Theosophy merely in order to occupy his mind because daily
life leaves his soul dissatisfied. He knows that what he gets
from Theosophy in his feelings can become a real force in his
soul. For he is able at all times to say to himself:
‘In my inmost being as man I am something different
from what I am in the external world. Together with such
thoughts we should realise, deep in our inmost being, that as
human beings we live all the time within two streams —
one of which gives us our place in everyday life, and another
which enables the soul to gaze into a world of the future, to
assume its rightful place within the whole setting of cosmic
life. This idea should never lead us to regard an external
occupation as less important for cosmic life as a whole than
some different kind of calling. We must realise that from a
certain point of view the smallest and the greatest
achievement of which we are capable are of equal importance
for the whole. Life is a mosaic, composed of tiny pieces of
stone. The man who places one little piece into the mosaic is
not less important than the man who thought out the plan of
the mosaic. As far as the Divine World Order is concerned,
the smallest is just as significant as the greatest. Insight
into this truth will avert any feelings of dissatisfaction
which might otherwise so easily occur in life. This is the
only attitude to our tasks in life that can give us a true
understanding of the inner work that must be performed within
our soul. It is the only true attitude to adopt to spiritual
endeavour. Such ideas should never remain mere theory. The
theosophist does well to bring home to himself over and over
again in inner contemplation how little in keeping it would
be with the World Order if some position in life left him
unsatisfied. World-evolution could not take its course if we
did not carry out in the right way what seem to be most
insignificant details in life. This attitude will give us the
right feeling for the great revelations of existence and we
shall understand the significance of the teaching that each
one of us, over and above what we represent in the physical
world, should make ourselves as worthy as possible, in line
with the wisdom of worlds. We must regard spiritual
development in itself as absolutely essential. Many people
say: What is the good of spiritual development if it does not
make me useful in life? If we learn to recognise the
beginnings of karma, our tasks in life will become clear to
us. Not only is it our task to do this thing or that; it is
our task to make ourselves as worthy, as valuable, as we
possibly can. We must master the thought that we have within
us countless forces, countless faculties which we dare not
let run to seed in our soul. That the divine-spiritual World
Order will do with what we have made of our soul must be left
to the divine-spiritual World Order. If we work at our soul
development and pay heed to the beckoning of karma, we shall
realise what our duties are.
We should not
theorize. It might be thought that the best kind of
theosophist is one who works at his development for a time
and then engages in some activity which brings blessing on
his fellow-men. But it may be that our position in external
life does not enable us to put into application in the world
what we elaborate in the soul. There may be no greater
fallacy than to imagine that a man can be a good theosophist
only if he actually turns to account in the world what he has
learnt inwardly. For decades we may not be in a position to
put into application any of the impulses that are now within
us. Then one day we may happen to be traveling with someone
in a railway carriage and are able to say something of
significance which otherwise we should have had no
opportunity of saying. This single action may be more
significant in life than one of much wider scope. We must
realise clearly what we are capable of doing and
that through the working of karma, the opportunity for
turning it to account will be given us at the right moment.
When this is
felt and experienced, we no longer ask: Of what use is
Theosophy? — for such a question is absolutely
pointless. The feeling described is the only one that can
give us the right attitude to the great and incisive
happenings of life.
It is often
assumed that evolution, wherever it takes place, progresses
step by step. But the course taken by life in its totality is
not such that we can say: Nature makes no jumps — for
in fact nature is continually making jumps. A plant, as it
grows, is always making jumps — from the root to the
leaf, from the leaf to the calyx, from the calyx to the
blossom and from the blossom to the fruit. Sudden transitions
occur in the life of every individual and in the life of
humanity as a whole. Everywhere we find humanity progressing
steadily for a time, developing as the leaves develop on a
plant. Then the moment comes when a tremendous step forward
is taken, just as happens in the plant from leaf to calyx,
from calyx to blossom, from blossom to fruit. In the
evolutionary process of humanity such rapid transitions and
jumps are constantly occurring. The greatest of all in the
history of earth-humanity is the one brought about through
the Events in Palestine.
It must be
remembered that the human soul has evolved slowly and by
degrees. Man's life to-day is such that stimuli come to him
from the external world through the senses. Even a person
like Helen Keller needed a stimulus from outside before any
development was possible. The whole development of the human
soul to-day is dependent upon stimuli received through the
senses. Man is obliged to depend upon the instrument of his
brain for the forming of judgments and ideas. But there was a
time when he was not dependent upon these impressions from
outside, when he possessed a dim, dreamlike clairvoyance.
Clairvoyant pictures welled up from within him, pictures
which presented and gave expression to an outer reality but
not the same kind of reality as we have around us to-day.
Everything around us to-day — plants, animals, air,
water, clouds, mountains — none of this was seen with
sharp outlines, but as it were through a mist. With his
dreamlike consciousness man looked to the realm immediately
above him, the realm of the Angeloi. With still higher
consciousness he looked up to the realm of the Archangeloi.
We to-day look at the mineral kingdom but in those days man
looked right up to the realm of the Spirits of Personality
(Archai) and from there to the still higher Hierarchies. Just
as to-day he knows that he is composed of mineral substances,
so, in those olden times, he knew: My soul has come down from
the realm of the Spirits of Personality and has been formed
out of the substances of the realms of Archangeloi and
Angeloi. He looked up to what was above him — and
beheld there his spiritual home. From thence he has descended
to existence in the physical world and to perception of the
physical outer world. First of all he lost his vision of the
Archai, and beheld the animal kingdom. Then he lost vision of
the Archangeloi and beheld the plant kingdom. Then he lost
vision of the Angeloi and beheld the mineral kingdom. But for
a long time still, men were able at certain times to look
upwards., knowing of the reality of these higher Beings. Only
slowly and by degrees did their gaze come to be directed to
the purely external world. The door to the spiritual world
was closed. But when people who were still able to some
extent to see into the spiritual world experienced what is
to-day called ‘Illness’, illness and death had
for them quite different meanings than they have for us
to-day. There were intermediate states of consciousness
between waking and sleeping and when some illness befell a
man, it was possible for him to evoke a state of
consciousness in which he had clairvoyant vision of the
spiritual world. In such states he was permeated through and
through by the spiritual and this worked as a remedy, as a
healing power. To-day, when wan has come down into the
physical world, the physical body has become overpoweringly
strong and the soul has become weak. Think of soft wax and
wax that has hardened. It is difficult to make any impression
upon hard wax, whereas soft wax is pliable. In olden times
the physical body of man was pliable material which the soul
was able to shape and mould. When the soul connected itself
with the Spiritual, it was able to mould the physical.
Intense devotion to the Spiritual can help the Spiritual to
be a healing force. In olden times, man was able to permeate
himself with the Spiritual, not for the purpose of knowledge
alone but for the purpose of healing. In those olden times
men lived in communion with higher Spiritual Beings. When
they had descended to the physical plane but were still in
connection with the spiritual worlds, they could not ward off
the harmful spiritual Beings. They could be permeated with
evil spiritual powers, for example by elementary beings
inhabiting the astral plane. A man could lend himself to the
good spiritual influences but he was also exposed to evil
spiritual beings. To-day he is less subject to these evil
demonic beings which in olden times worked with such strength
in the more pliable material that men might be possessed by
them. The reason for all this was because it was man's
destiny to descend to the physical plane and gain
self-consciousness. His had long been working from outside
upon his human nature. But it was only through the Christ
Impulse that man could become fully conscious of the Ego and
its purpose. The Christ Impulse was revealed, first of all,
in reflection, in the lightning in which Jehovah appeared to
Moses, just as the light of the Moon reflects the light of
the Sun. Jehovah is in very truth the reflection of Christ.
The first revelation of Christ is in reflection. We cannot
understand the Gospel of St. John until we realise that the
Christ Impulse is the essential, all-important factor in the
development of Ego-consciousness.
Man was
destined to be drawn away from influences which stream into
him without consciousness on his part. This-made it possible
for him to unfold Ego-Consciousness and prepare for the
re-attainment of clairvoyance. But he must be able to
withstand the influences of demonic beings. The more power
there is in his Ego, the better is he able to keep the
influences of demons at bay. The healing from demons, from
demonic possession, can only be understood in the light of
this knowledge. A number of sick people were brought to
Christ at the time of the day when Christ could work most
strongly as a spiritual power. It was the
spiritual light which was to work — not the
physical sunlight (which is only the garment of the spiritual
light). It was when the sun had set that the sick were
brought to Christ. We must picture to ourselves how the
healing actually took place. The people who came to Christ
had the firm faith and conviction that the impulse which can
drive away the demons was working through Him. If the
expulsion of the demons had been achieved through some
external means, the Christ would not have been working
through the Ego. A man can only know Christ by
developing inner strength. And Christ can work only
when this strength comes to expression in the Ego of man.
All this
shows us that in that significant moment of time, mankind was
standing at a great turning-point. It was the last echoing of
an ancient epoch and also the moment of the coming of a
mighty impulse whereby men were led into a new age. In
earlier times man had been in much closer connection with the
spiritual world. In states of ecstasy he could find the way
to the spiritual world. But entry into the spiritual world
now was to be through the Ego. This impulse was given in the
call of John the Baptist and through Christ Himself:
‘Change the disposition of your souls, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. The link that connected you with the
kingdom of Heaven must now be sought and found
within you!’
To those who
understood, it could be said: There was once a time when
human souls, rising above the Ego, came into a world of
spirit and the spiritual was bestowed upon them for their
healing. They became ‘rich in spirit’, possessors
of the spirit. Then came a turning-point. Those who are
beggars for the spirit are now summoned to enter the
kingdom of heaven. Those who are beggars in the spirit can
now become ‘blessed’ — God-filled in their
inmost being. ( ‘Selig (blessed) means ‘verseligt
werden’: ascent from the body into the soul). Beggars
for the spirit, those who yearn and long for the spirit
— they will receive into themselves the kingdom of heaven.
Those who
suffer, who mourn, they too will be ‘blessed’
when They receive the Christ Impulse. Through seeing in their
own Ego for the link with the spiritual world, they will be healed.
Those whose
passions made them violent, could in earlier times be calmed
when in states of ecstasy, they were permeated by the
Spiritual. The mission of the earth is to be fulfilled by
those who quell their passions through the power of the Ego.
Those who
suffer will cease to suffer if, in the Ego, they receive
Christ. Those who receive Christ in the Ego, can be calmed,
can be meek; and they will rule over the earth.
The first
verse of the Sermon on the Mount has to do with the physical
body. (Blessed are the poor in spirit ...)
The second
verse has to do with the etheric body (Blessed are they that mourn ...)
The third
verse has to do with the astral body (Blessed are the meek ...)
The fourth
verse has to do with the Sentient Soul (Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ...) Man's
conscience should not apply only to the physical realm. Those
who in the Sentient Soul hunger and thirst after
righteousness can be blessed.
That a man
can become in the Intellectual or Mind Soul is expressed in
the verse: Blessed are the merciful. The Ego, the
‘I’ flashes up when we have passed from the
Sentient Soul to the Mind Soul. Man must feel himself as an
Ego and every other human being as well. What lives in
the soul passes from Ego to Ego; subject and predicate are
equal: ‘Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive
mercy — or love.’
The Sermon
on the Mount is a record unequalled in statement concerning
the mighty transition inaugurated by Christ.
(The
following notes are from a lecture given on a different date,
and much earlier, namely, Berlin, 20th Aug, 1904.)
There are
certain expressions which since very ancient times were used
in all secret schools in order to conceal certain facts from
the uninitiated — for example, the expression “on
the mount”. This means the innermost of the temple
where the pupils were initiated into certain secrets. When it
is said “Jesus went up into the mount”, this
means that he led His disciples into the innermost sanctuary
of his Mystery School and spoke to the multitude only in
images. The Sermon on the Mount, in its mighty significance,
could only be given to the disciples, not the people.
There are
Nine Beatitudes ... 3x3.
Three virtues
which correspond to the lower nature of man are:
Longing (Blessed are the poor in Spirit),
Suffering (Blessed are they that mourn) and
Peace (Blessed are the meek).
To be drawn
upwards through Longing, to overcome through Suffering, to
come to Peace.
The second
group of three virtues stand higher: Righteousness, Mercy,
Good-Will in the Heart. If we compare this second stage with
the first, we find that the first three virtues refer to the
individual, the second group of three to his fellow-men.
Thirdly,
there are the virtues which lead up to the higher Beings.
(Blessed are the peacemakers ...) whoever speaks to injure
another, to say what makes him uncomfortable, cannot find the
way to higher Beings.
Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake ...
willingness to endure persecution for the sake of righteousness.
Blessed are
ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say
all manner of evil against you, for my sake ... this means
to declare oneself as belonging to the Master.
* * * * * * * *
Kali Yuga, the
Dark Age, had already lasted for 3,000 years. It began in the
year 3,101 B.C.. That is the year when the
spiritual world began to darken, to be shut off from men. Before
that time, men had direct consciousness of the spiritual worlds.
After Kali Yuga had lasted for 3,101 years there came the
impulse whereby man is led once again into the spiritual
world. But this impulse was possible only because a God
descended into the physical world. This was the initial
impulse for the return to the Spiritual world. The evolution
of humanity took a great forward jump because men were able
henceforth, out of the Ego itself, to ascend again into the
spiritual world. The Descent of Christ was necessary in order
that the human Ego should not waste away through inertia and
fall out of the onward stream of evolution. For a very
considerable time there were only a few men who knew that
Christ had lived in Palestine. Tacitus, for example, knew
very little of it. About 100 years later, people spoke of a
sect living in a poor quarter of Rome and teaching of Jesus.
This, the mightiest of all impulses, the Christ Impulse, was
practically unknown. It might have remained unknown
altogether but in fact it did not. The Christ Impulse was
received into humanity. And when a similar impulse is given
mankind must be in a position not to let such a jump happen
in evolution without noticing it.
In 1899 the
Dark Age, Kali Yuga, came to an end, having lasted for
5,000 years. We are living to-day at the beginning of an
epoch when quite new forces and faculties will develop.
Before the first half of the century has run its course, a
number of people, simply through natural development, will
possess unusual faculties. From the end of Kali Yuga, from
the year 1899 onwards, a certain faculty of etheric sight
unfolds in mankind, and this will have developed in a number
of people between 1930 and 1940. There will then be two
possibilities. Mankind may sink more deeply still into the
morass of materialism; everything may be flooded by
materialism. This awakening of etheric sight may be ignored,
just as the Christ Event was ignored. But if men do not
experience this awakening, they will be submerged in materialism.
In the course
of 2,500 years a sufficiently large number of human beings
will develop etheric sight. This is the beginning of the
clairvoyance that will be an added faculty of the Ego. Those
who understand it will be able to convince themselves of the
truth of the Christ Event exactly as Paul became convinced of
it at Damascus. When men have developed etheric sight they
will be able to behold Christ in an etheric body. This is
Christ's new descent to the men of Earth. In reality,
however, it is an ascent, for Christ will never again
incarnate in the flesh. Those men who have developed etheric
sight will be able to behold the Christ in the etheric body
and will know from direct experience that the Christ lives.
Through
soul-development we shall begin to understand this most
important Event. If Theosophy did not develop understanding
in men, this Event might pass by unheeded. Theosophy should
prepare us in such a way that we can make this greatest Event
since the close of Kali Yuga bear fruit in mankind. No matter
what their activities may be, those
men will be of importance who have prepared themselves to see
this etheric happening. But this happening will also be of
importance to those who are living between death and rebirth.
It has its effects in the spiritual worlds too but the organ
for perceiving it must be developed here, on the Earth.
We ourselves
now proclaim the new Christ Event of the 20th century. Later
on it will be proclaimed as an Event whose effects work on
for the whole of humanity. But it may be that materialism
will be introduced even into the theosophical conception of
the new Christ Event. Materialistic consciousness may imagine
that Christ could come again in the flesh. When the Event
takes place it will be obvious whether or not theosophy has
understood it. In the first half of the 20th century, false
Messiahs will arise.
Mankind
develops in order to be able to recognise the Messiah with
higher faculties. The test will be whether Theosophy
has enabled men to understand this Event aright, has led them
to the Spiritual in such a way that they can understand the
Return of Christ in its true form. Christ will come
again for a number of men — who will be forerunners
— just as he once came to Paul at Damascus.
Unbelief
becomes more and more widespread as the result of literary
criticism of the original records. The more the historical
evidences lose importance for men, the more will the faculty
ripen through which the Christ can be seen. The real Christ
will be revealed to those men who through Spiritual Science
can unfold the understanding, the vision of the true Return
of Christ.
|