Excurses on the Gospel of Mark
GA 124
Part III. Excursus
19 December 1910, Berlin
Lecture III
In the last Lecture I began by giving some idea of the nature and character of the Gospel according to Mark. I showed that when this Gospel is studied something more can be gathered from it than from the other Gospels concerning the great laws both of human and cosmic development. One has to acknowledge that in what is indicated concerning the profundities of the Christian Mystery, an opportunity is here given us to enter perhaps most deeply into these mighty secrets.
I originally thought that it might be possible, in the course of this winter, to give intimate and important instructions concerning matters we have not heard as yet within our spiritual-scientific movement; or perhaps I should say concerning things that lie on the border of spiritual matters not as yet dealt with by us. But it has been necessary to abandon this scheme, for the simple reason that our Berlin Group has grown so enormously during recent weeks that it would not have been possible at present to bring to the understanding of its members all that I had intended to say.
It is necessary in the case of mathematics, for instance, or any other science, that preparation should he made for any special stage, and this is necessary to a still higher degree when we advance to the consideration of certain high spiritual matters. Therefore we shall leave to a later date the consideration of those parts of the Gospel of Mark which cannot be explained to so large a circle.
It is most necessary when a document like this Gospel is under consideration that we should clearly understand through what important factors the evolution of mankind has passed. I have always impressed on you—as a quite abstract and general truth—that in every age there have always been certain guides or leaders of men who, because they stood in a certain relationship to the Mysteries, to the spiritual super-sensible world, were in a position to implant impulses in human evolution which contributed to its further progress. Now there are two principal and essential methods by which men can come into relationship with super-sensible worlds. The one is that to which I have referred when indicating certain features of the teaching of that great leader, Zarathustra; and the other is one that comes before our souls when we study the special methods of the great Buddha. These two great teachers, Buddha and Zarathustra, differ very much as regards their whole method and manner of working.
We must realise that the entrance into that state which Buddha and Buddhism describe as being “under the Bodhi tree,” is a symbolic expression for a certain mystic enhancement of consciousness, and opens a path by which the human ego can enter into its own Being, its own deeper nature. This path, blazed by Buddha in such an outstanding way, is a descent of the ego into the abyss of its own human nature.
You will gain a more exact idea of what is meant by this if you recall that we have followed man through four stages of development, three of which are already concluded and the fourth is that we are in at present. We have traced human development through the Saturn, Sun and Moon evolutions; now it is passing through the Earth-evolution.
We know these three stages correspond with the upbuilding of the physical, the etheric, and the astral natures of man; that now during earthly evolution we are at the stage corresponding to the development of the human ego, in so far as this can be developed as a member of man's Being. We have described the human Being from various points of view as an ego enclosed within three sheaths: an astral sheath corresponding to the Moon-evolution, an etheric sheath corresponding to the Sun-evolution, and a physical sheath corresponding to the Saturn-evolution.
As normally developed to-day, man has no consciousness of his astral, etheric and physical bodies, he really knows nothing of them. You will naturally say: but man is aware to-day of his physical body. This, however, is not the case. What ordinarily confronts him as the human physical body to-day is only illusion, Maya. What he regards as the physical body is in reality the interblending activity of the four members of his Being physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego; and the result of this interplay, of these interblended activities, is what our eyes see and our hands grasp as man. If we really wish to see the physical body we must separate off three parts and retain one; as when analysing a chemical compound formed of four substances; we must separate the ego, astral body and etheric body, then the physical body remains. But this is not possible under present conditions of earthly existence. You might perhaps say this happens whenever a man dies. But this is not correct, for what a man leaves behind at death is not the human physical body but a corpse. The physical body cannot live when the laws present at death are active in it. These laws did not originally belong to the body, but are laws belonging to the external world. If you carry out these thoughts you must acknowledge that what is usually called man's body, is a Maya, an illusion, and what spiritual science calls the “physical body” is the combination, the result, within our mineral world of organic laws, which produces the physical body of man in the same way as the laws of crystallisation produce quartz, or those of emerald-crystallisation produce emeralds. This physical body of man as it works in the physical mineral world is the true human body. What man knows of the world to-day is but the outcome of observation made by the senses. But observation as it is made by the senses can only be made by an organism in which an ego dwells. The present day superficial method of observation states that animals perceive the external world, for example, in the same way as men do; through their senses. This is a most confused conception, people would be much astonished if they were shown, as must be clone some day, the picture of the world formed by a horse, a dog, or any other animal. If a picture were made of what a horse or a dog sees round it this would be very different from the picture of the world as seen by man. That the human senses perceive the world as they do is connected with the fact that the ego reaches out over the whole surrounding world and fills the sense organs, eyes, ears and so on, with the pictures it perceives. So that only an organism in which an ego dwells can have such a picture of the world as man has; and the human organism belongs to this picture and is part of it. We must therefore say: What is usually called the “physical body” of man is only the result of sense-observation and not reality. When we speak of physical man and of the physical objects around him it is the ego, aided by the senses and the understanding connected with the brain, that regards the world. Hence man only knows those things over which his ego extends, to which his ego belongs. So soon as the ego is not present the pictures the world presents to it are no longer there; this means the man is asleep. Then no pictures of the world surround him—he is unconscious.
Whenever you regard anything, at every moment, the ego is hound up with what you see. It is spread out over what you see so that you really know only the content of your ego. As normal human Beings you know the content of your ego, but of that which belongs to your own nature, into which you enter each morning when you wake—of your astral body, etheric body, and physical body you know nothing. The moment he awakes, the normal man of to-day sees nothing of his astral body. He would indeed be horrified if he did, that is if he perceived the sum of the instincts, desires and passions that have accumulated in him in the course of his repeated earthly lives. Man does not see these. He would not be able to endure the sight. When he does dip down into his own nature, into his physical, etheric and astral bodies his attention is at once deflected from this to the external world; he there beholds what beneficent Divine Beings spread over the surface of his sphere of vision, so that it is in no way possible for him to sink into his own inner nature.
We are correct therefore when in speaking of this in spiritual science we say: The moment a man awakes in the morning he enters through the door of his own being. But at this door stands a watcher, the “little guardian of the threshold.” He does not permit man to enter his own being, but directs him at once to the outer world. Each morning we meet this little guardian of the threshold, and anyone who on awakening enters his own nature consciously, learns to know him. In fact the mystic life consists in whether this little guardian of the threshold acts beneficently towards us, making us unaware of our own being, turning our ego aside so that we do not descend into it, or permitting us to pass through the door and enter into our own being. The mystic life enters through the door I have described, and this in Buddhism is called “sitting under the Bodhi tree.” This is nothing else than the descent of a man into his own being through the door that is ordinarily closed to him. What Buddha experienced in this descent is set before us in Buddhistic writings. Such things are no mere legends, but the reflections of profound truths experienced inwardly—truths concerning the soul. These experiences in the language of Buddhism are called “The Temptation of Buddha.”
Speaking of this Buddha himself tells us how the Beings he loved approached him at the moment when he entered mystically into his own inner being. He tells how they seemed to approach him bidding him to do this or that—for instance, to carry out false exercises so as to enter in a wrong way into his own being. We are even told that the form of his mother appeared to him—he beheld her in her spiritual substance—and she ordered him to begin a false Askese. Naturally this was not the real mother of Buddha. But his temptation consisted in this very fact, that in his first evolved vision he was confronted not by his real mother but by a mask or illusion. Buddha withstood this temptation. Then a host of demoniac forms appeared to him, these he describes as desires, telling how they corresponded to the sensation of hunger and thirst, or the instinct of pride, conceit and arrogance. All these approached him—how? They approached him in so far as they were still within his own astral body, in so far as he had not overcome them at that great moment of his life when he sat under the Bodhi tree. Buddha shows us in a most wonderful way in this temptation, how we feel all the forces and powers of our astral body, which are within us because we have made them ever worse and worse in the course of our development through succeeding incarnations. In spite of having risen so high Buddha still sees them, and now at the final stage of his progress he has to overcome the last of these misleading forces of his astral body which appear to him as demons.
What does a human personality find when through temptation it passes down through the realms of its astral body and etheric body into its physical body? That is, when it really gets to know these two members of human nature?
If we are to know this, we must realise that in the course of his descending incarnations on earth man has been in a position to injure his astral body very much, but has not been able to injure his etheric and physical bodies to the same extent. The astral body is deteriorated through the “Egoism of human nature,” through greed, hate, selfishness, arrogance and pride. Through all these, and through his lower desires man injures his astral body. The greater part of the etheric body is so strong that however much a man may try to injure it he is unable to do so, for the etheric body resists injury. A man cannot descend so deeply into his own nature with his individual powers, as to injure the etheric or physical body. It is only in the course of repeated incarnations that the faults he develops directly affect the physical and etheric bodies injuriously, and appear later as weaknesses and as dispositions to illness in the physical body. But a man cannot affect his physical body directly. If he cuts his finger, this is not brought about through the soul, neither is infection. In the course of his incarnations he has only become capable of affecting his astral body and a part of his etheric body; on his physical body he can only work indirectly, not directly. We can therefore say if a man descends into his etheric body on which he can still work directly he sees in this region all the things connected with his former incarnations, so that the moment he dips clown into his own being he also dips into his earlier, more remote incarnations. Man can therefore find the way to his former incarnation by sinking down into his own being. If this plunging down into his own being is very intensive, very thorough and forceful, as was the case with Buddha, the insight into other incarnations goes further and further back.
Originally man was a spiritual being, the sheaths that envelop his spiritual nature only gathered round him at a later day. Man came forth from Spirit, and everything external has condensed, as it were, out of Spirit. So that in sinking down into his own being man enters into the Spirit of the world. This sinking down, this breaking through the sheaths of the physical body, is one path into the spiritual framework of the world.
In the information handed down to us concerning Buddha (and these are no mere legends) we learn of the different stages he attained in the passage through his own being, of which he says:—“When I had got as far as to the attainment of illumination”—that is when he felt himself to be a part of the spiritual world—“I beheld the spiritual world as a cloud spread out before me; but as yet I could not distinguish anything; I felt I was not as yet ready for this. Then I advanced a step further. There I no longer merely saw the spiritual world as a widespread cloud, but could distinguish separate forms, although I could not yet see what these forms were, for I was not yet sufficiently advanced. Again I rose a step higher, there I perceived not only separate Beings, but I knew what kind of Beings they were.”
This continued so far that Buddha even beheld his own archetype, that which had passed down from generation to generation, and he saw it in its true connection with the spiritual world. This is one path, the mystic path, the path leading through a man's own being to the point where the boundaries are broken down beyond which lies the spiritual world. By following this path certain leaders of humanity attained what such individuals had to have in order that they could give the necessary impulse to the further development of mankind.
It is by quite another path that personalities, such as the first Zarathustra for instance, attained what enabled them to become leaders of humanity. If you recall what I said about Buddha you will realise that in his former incarnations when he was a Bodhisattva he must have already risen through many stages. Through illumination—that which is known as “sitting under the Bodhi tree”—I described in the only way it can be described how an individual can gradually rise through his personal merit to heights whence he can behold the spiritual world.
If humanity had only had such leaders to look to, it could not possibly have advanced as it has. But it had also other leaders. Of these Zarathustra was one. (I am not speaking now of the “individuality” of Zarathustra, but of the personality of the original Zarathustra who taught concerning Ahura Mazdao.) In studying this personality in the parts of the world in which we find him, we must realise, that at first no individuality was in him as had risen so high through his own merit as Buddha had done; but he had been set apart to be the bearer, the sheath one might say, of a higher Being, of a spiritual entity, who could not himself incarnate in the world, but could only illuminate and work within a human form.
I have shown in my Rosicrucian Mystery Play, “The Portal of Initiation,” how when it is necessary for the further evolution of the world, a human Being is inspired at certain times by some higher Being. This is not intended as a mere poetic image, but is an occult truth presented poetically. The personality of the original Zarathustra was no such highly evolved Being as the Buddha, but was chosen as one into whom a high individuality could enter, could dwell, and inspire him. Such persons were mainly found in olden times, that is in pre-Christian times, in the civilisations that evolved in North-Western Europe and Mid-Western Asia, but not among the peoples that in pre-Christian times evolved in Africa, Arabia, and the districts of Asia Minor extending eastwards into Asia. In these countries that kind of initiation was found which I have just described in its highest development as that of Buddha; while the other I am now about to describe as that of Zarathustra was more suited to northern peoples. The possibility of anyone being initiated in this way has only existed, even in our part of the world, for the last three or four thousand years. The personality of Zarathustra was selected somewhat in the following way to be the bearer of a higher Being, who could not himself incarnate. It was ordained from the spiritual worlds that a Spiritual Being should enter into some child, and when the child had grown up should work within this human being making use of the instruments of his brain, his will, etc. In order that this might take place something quite different had to happen than would otherwise happen in the individual evolution of this human being. Now the events I am about to describe did not happen in any such physical way throughout the life of this highly evolved human being as they otherwise should; though, naturally, people who follow the life of such a child with ordinary perceptions do not observe this. But those who have higher perception see that there is conflict from the beginning between the soul-forces of this child and the outer world, that it is possessed of a will, of an impulsiveness that is in apparent contradiction to all that goes on around it. The fate of this divine, spirit-filled personality is that it grows up as a stranger, that those about it have no idea, no feeling, by which they can rightly understand such a child. As a rule there are few, perhaps only one person, who is able to divine what is developing within this human being. Conflict with its surroundings is apt to develop, and then occurs (but not till later years) what I described as happening when dealing with the story of the temptation of Buddha, when a man descends into his own being.
In normal life a man's individuality is born in him by means of the “sheath-nature” he receives from his parents or his nation. This individuality is not always in entire harmony with its sheaths, and on this account such a man feels more or less dissatisfied with the way fate has treated him. But so heavy, so mighty a conflict as occurred in Zarathustra's case is not possible if a man's individuality develops as it does in ordinary life. When a child like Zarathustra is observed clairvoyantly it is seen that he has feelings, thoughts, and powers of will very different from the feelings, thoughts and will-impulses developed by the people about him. We are shown (and indeed it is always to be seen, only nowadays people do not notice spiritual, but only physical facts) that the people around such a child know nothing of his nature. They feel on the contrary, an instinctive hatred for him, no matter what may be developing within him. To clairvoyant vision the sharp contrast is revealed that such a child who is really born for the salvation of mankind is surrounded by storms of hatred.
This has to he. It is because of this contrast that great impulses are born into humanity. Similar things are then told concerning such personalities as are told of Zarathustra.
One thing we are told—that Zarathustra could do at birth which otherwise only occurs weeks later. We are told he looked on the harmony of the world in such a way that he evolved his “Zarathustra smile.” This smile is described as the first thing which showed him to be quite different from the rest of mankind. The second thing is that there was an enemy, a kind of King Herod, in the neighbourhood where Zarathustra was born. His name was Duranasarum, and after he had been informed of the birth of Zarathustra, which had been divulged to him by the Magi, the Chaldeans, he tried single-handed to murder the child. The legend goes on to tell how, at the moment he raised his sword to kill the child, his Hand was paralysed, and he was forced to let it go. These are pictures perceived by spiritual consciousness, pictures of spiritual realities. Further, we are told how this enemy of the child Zarathustra, unable himself to slay him, had him carried away by his servant to the wild beasts of the wilderness so that he might be devoured by them; but when people went to look for him no wild beast had harmed him, the child was found sleeping peacefully. As this attempt failed his enemy had the child placed where a whole herd of cows and oxen would pass over him and trample him to death. But the first beast, so we are told, took the child between its legs and bore it away, so that the rest of the herd might pass by; it then set him down uninjured. The same thing was repeated with a drove of horses. And the final attempt of this enemy was that he was given to some wild animals after their young had been taken from them. Now it happened when his parents sent people to look for him, they found that none of these animals had harmed him, but as the legend relates “the child Zarathustra was nourished for a considerable time by a heavenly cow.”
We need see no more in all this mass of evidence than that through the presence of the spiritual individuality that had been introduced into such a soul, very exceptional powers had been aroused in the child which brought it into disharmony with its surroundings, and that this was necessary in order that an upward impulse could be given to human evolution. For disharmonies are always necessary if true progress towards perfection is to be made. The nature of these forces is thus revealed, in spite of so great a Being making use of such a child they were required to bring it in touch with the spiritual world into which it was to enter. But how did the child experience this conflict? Picture to yourselves the entering of the soul into its own being at a moment of awaking. When the soul is able to experience the physical body and etheric body it then passes through the evolution I described in respect of Buddha. Now think of falling asleep as a conscious process. As things are to-day man loses consciousness when he falls asleep, instead of the ordinary pictures of the world a blank surrounds him. But suppose that a man could retain his consciousness when falling asleep, he would in that case be surrounded by a spiritual world—the world into which he pours his Being when sleep overtakes him. But here also there are hindrances. When we fall asleep a guardian of the threshold stands before the door through which we would have to pass. This is the Great Guardian who prevents our entrance into the spiritual world so long as we are unripe. He prevents our entrance because if we have not made ourselves inwardly strong enough, we are exposed to certain dangers when we allow our ego to pour forth over the spiritual world into which we enter when we fall asleep. The danger consists in this, that instead of seeing what is in the spiritual world objectively, we only see what we take there through our own fanciful imaginations, through our thoughts, perceptions and feelings. In this case we take what is worst in us, what is not in accordance with truth. Hence an unripe entry into the spiritual world indicates that a man does not see reality but imaginary forms, fantastic images which are described technically in spiritual science as “non-human visions.” If a man would see objectively in the spiritual world he must rise to a higher stage where “human” things are seen. It is always a sign of a fantastic vision when animal forms are seen on rising to the spiritual world. Such animal forms represent the man's own fantasy, and are owing to his not being strongly enough established in himself. What is unconscious in us at night must be strengthened so that the surrounding spiritual world becomes objective, otherwise it is subjective, and we take our fantasies with us into the spiritual world. They are within us in any case; but the Guardian preserves us from seeing them. This rising into the spiritual world and being surrounded by animal forms which attack us and desire to lead us astray is a purely inward experience. We have only to encompass ourselves with greater inward strength, we can then enter the spiritual world.
When a child is filled by a higher Being, as was the young Zarathustra, his bodily nature is naturally unripe, and has first to become ripe. The human organism, that is the understanding and sense-organisms, are disturbed. Such a child is in a world which is rightly described as “being among wild animals.”
We have often shown that descriptions like this, which are both historical and pictorial, only represent different sides of the same matter. Events then happen so that spiritual powers, when represented as hostile forces, make their influence felt as did King Duranasarum in the case of the child Zarathustra. The whole thing exists in its archetypal form in the spiritual world, and external happenings only correspond with what takes place there. Present day methods of thought do not grasp such ideas easily. When people are told that the events connected with Zarathustra are of importance in the spiritual world they think—“Then they are not real.” But when they are shown to be historic, the man of to-day is then inclined to regard everyone as only evolved so far as he is himself.
The endeavour of present day liberal theologians, for instance, is to present the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as being similar to, or at least as not far surpassing, what they can picture to themselves as their own ideal. It disturbs the materialistic peace of their souls when they have to picture great individualities. There should not be anyone in the world, they think, so very much exalted above the modern Professor of Theology.
But when dealing with great events, we are concerned with something that is at the same time both historic and symbolic, so that the one does not exclude the other. Those who do not understand that external things indicate more than appears on the surface will not attain to the understanding of what is true and essential.
The soul of the young Zarathustra really passed through great dangers in his early years, but at the same time, as the legend tells, the heavenly cows stood at his side helping and strengthening him.
We find similar things happening to all great founders of religions through all the regions of the Caspian Sea and even into Western Europe. We find people (without their having raised themselves through their own development) who are ensouled by a spiritual Being so that they can become leaders of mankind. Numerous legends and sagas exist among Celtic peoples, They tell of a founder of religion, one Habich, he was exposed as a child and was nourished by heavenly cows, hostile forces appeared later on and drove away the animals—in short, the accounts of the dangers to the Celtic leader Habich are such that one can almost say they were extracts from certain of the miracles of Zarathustra. While we recognise Zarathustra as the greatest of these personalities, certain features of his miracles are found everywhere, all through Greece and as far as the Celtic countries of the West. As a well-known example we have only to think of the story of Romulus and Remus.
This is the other way in which the leaders of mankind arose. In speaking of it we have described, in a deeper sense, what we have often considered before: the two great streams of civilisation of post-Atlantean times. After the great catastrophe of Atlantis one of these streams continued to spread and develop throughout Africa, Arabia and Southern Asia; the other, which took a more northerly course, passed through Europe and Northern Central Asia. Here these two streams eventually met. All that has come to pass as a result of this is comprised in our post-Atlantean culture. The northern stream had leaders such as I have just described in Zarathustra; the southern, on the other hand, those such as we see in their highest representative in the great Buddha.
If you recall what you already know in connection with the Christ Event you might ask:—How does the Baptism by John in Jordan now strike us? The Christ came down and entered into a human being—as Divine Beings had entered into all the leaders and founders of religions—and into Zarathustra as the greatest of these. The process is the same, only here it is carried out in its sublimest form: Christ entered into a human being. But He did not enter this human being in childhood. He entered it in its thirtieth year, and the personality of Jesus of Nazareth had been very specially prepared for this event. The secrets of both sides of human leadership are given us in synthesis in the Gospels. Here we see them united and harmonised. While the evangelists, Matthew and Luke preferably, tell us how the human personality was organised into which the Christ entered; the Gospel according to Mark describes the nature of the Christ, tells of the kind of Being he himself is. The element that filled this great individual is what is especially described by Mark. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke give us in a wonderfully clear manner a different account of the temptation from that given in the Gospel of Mark, because Mark describes the Christ who had entered into Jesus of Nazareth. Hence the story of the temptation has here to be presented as it occurred formerly in the childhood of such great persons: the presence of animals is mentioned and the help received from spiritual powers. So that we have a repetition of the miracles of Zarathustra when the Gospel of Mark states in simple but imposing words:
“And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness (loneliness). And he was there in the wilderness with the wild beasts; and the angels (that is Spiritual Beings) ministered unto him.” (Mark I, 12-13).
The Gospel of Matthew describes this quite differently, it describes what we perceive to be somewhat like a repetition of the temptation of Buddha; this means the form temptation assumes at the descent of a man into his own Being; when all those temptations and seductions approach to which the human soul is liable.
We can therefore say the Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe the path the Christ travelled when He descended into the sheaths that had been given over to him by Jesus of Nazareth; and the Gospel according to Mark describes the kind of temptation Christ had to pass through when He experienced the shock of coming up against His surroundings, as happens to all founders of religions who are inspired and intuited by Spiritual Beings from above.
Christ Jesus experienced both these forms of temptation, whereas earlier leaders of mankind only experience one of them. He united in Himself the two methods of entering the spiritual world; this is of the greatest importance; what formerly had occurred within two great streams of culture (into which smaller contributory streams also entered) was now united into one.
It is when regarded from this standpoint that we first understand the apparent or real contradictions in the Gospels. Mark had been initiated into such mysteries as enabled him to describe the temptation as we find it in his Gospel; the “Being with wild beasts,” and the ministration of spiritual Beings. Luke was initiated in another way. Each evangelist describes what he knows and is familiar with. Thus what we are told in the Gospels are the events of Palestine and the Mystery of Golgotha, but told from different sides.
In stating this I wish once more to put before you, from a point of view we have as yet not been able to discuss, how human evolution has to be understood; and also how we must understand the intervention into it of such individuals as are passing on from the evolution of a Bodhisattva to that of a Buddha. We have to understand that the main thing in the evolution of these men is not so much what they are as men, but what has come down into them from above. Only in the form of Christ are these two united, and it is only when we realise this that we can rightly understand this form. We can also understand through this the many inequalities that must appear in Mythical personalities.
When we are told that certain Spiritual Beings have done this or that, in respect of what is right or wrong, and have done, for instance, what Siegfried did, one often hears people exclaim:—“And yet he was an Initiate!” But Siegfried's individual evolution does not come under consideration as regards a personality through whom a Spiritual Being is working. Siegfried may have faults. But what matters is that through him something had to be given to human evolution. For this a suitable personality had to be found. Everyone cannot be treated alike; Siegfried cannot be judged in the same way as a leader who belonged to the southern stream of culture, for the whole nature and type of those who sunk down within their own being was different. Thus one can say:—A Spiritual Being entered the forms belonging to the northern culture, compelling them to transcend their own nature and rise into the Macrocosm. While in the southern stream of culture a man sank down into the Microcosm, in the northern stream of culture he poured himself forth into the Macrocosm, and by doing so he learnt to know all the Spiritual Hierarchies as Zarathustra learnt to know the spiritual nature of the Sun.
The law contained herein can be summed up as follows:—The Mystic path, the path of Buddha, leads a man so far within his own inner being that breaking through this inner being he enters the Spiritual World. The path of Zarathustra draws a man out of the Microcosm, sending his being forth over the Macrocosm so that its secrets become transparent to him. The world has as yet little understanding of the mighty Spirits whose mission it is to reveal the secrets of the great universe. For this reason very little real understanding of the nature of Zarathustra has spread abroad, and we shall see how greatly what we have to say concerning him differs from what is usually said of him.
This lecture has again been an Excursus concerning those things which should gradually reveal to you the nature of the Gospel according to St. Mark.
Fünfter Vortrag
Es ist das letzte Mal hier damit begonnen worden, einige Hinweise auf die Natur und den Charakter des Markus-Evangeliums zu geben. Daraus ging schon hervor, daß es sich bei der Betrachtung des Markus-Evangeliums fast noch mehr als in Anlehnung an die andern Evangelien darum handeln kann, etwas zu geben über die großen Gesetze sowohl der Menschheitsentwickelung wie auch der kosmischen Entwickelung im allgemeinen. Man muß wohl sagen: Anknüpfend an das, was aus den Tiefen der christlichen Mysterien in diesem Evangelium angedeutet ist, gibt es dazu Veranlassung, vielleicht am tiefsten einzudringen in manche Geheimnisse und Gesetze des kosmischen und des Menschheitswerdens.
Nun dachte ich allerdings ursprünglich, daß es möglich sein würde, im Verlaufe dieses Winters schon hier bedeutsame und intime Hinweise zu geben auf Dinge, die wir innerhalb unserer geisteswissenschaftlichen Entwickelung bisher nicht gehört haben, oder vielleicht besser gesagt, auf Dinge, die auf geistigen Ebenen liegen, die wir bisher noch nicht berührt haben. Es wird aber dennoch notwendig sein, daß von diesem ursprünglichen Plan für diesen Winter abgesehen werde, aus dem einfachen Grunde, weil gerade dieser Berliner Zweig in den letzten Wochen in einer so überraschenden Weise gewachsen ist, daß es nicht möglich sein würde, alles, was ursprünglich hat gesagt werden sollen, jetzt in dieser Zeit zum Verständnis zu bringen. Es ist schon notwendig, daß man nicht nur zum Beispiel in bezug auf Mathematik oder irgendeine andere Wissenschaft eine Vorbildung für eine bestimmte Stufe voraussetzt, sondern das muß in einem noch höheren Grade der Fall sein, wenn zu gewissen Höhen der geisteswissenschaftlichen Betrachtung emporgeschritten wird. Daher wird später einmal darüber nachgedacht werden, wie die Partien des Markus-Evangeliums, die in einem so weiten Kreise noch nicht zu besprechen sind, zu Gehör gebracht werden können.
Vor allen Dingen ist es aber notwendig, wenn wir eine solche Schrift wie das Markus-Evangelium verstehen wollen, daß wir uns einmal genau vor Augen führen, durch welche wichtigen Faktoren die Entwickelung der Menschheit vor sich gegangen ist. Das wird ja, ich möchte sagen, als eine abstrakte, sehr allgemeine Wahrheit immer betont: daß es zu allen Zeiten gewisse Führer der Menschheit gegeben hat, die, weil sie in einer gewissen Beziehung standen zu den Mysterien, zu den geistigen, übersinnlichen Welten, dadurch in der Lage waren, Impulse in die Menschheitsentwickelung hineinzuversetzen, welche zum Fortschritt und zur Fortbewegung dieser Menschheitsentwickelung beitragen konnten. Nun gibt es zwei hauptsächlichste, wesentlichste Arten, wie der Mensch in Beziehung kommen kann zu den übersinnlichen, geistigen Welten. Die eine Art ist diejenige, welche wir insbesondere deutlich studieren können, wenn wir mit ein paar Zügen — wie es in der nächsten Zeit sogar öffentlich, exoterisch im öffentlichen Vortrag geschehen soll — auf das Bild des großen Menschheitsführers Zarathustra hinweisen; und die andere Art, wie solche Menschheitsführer mit den geistigen Welten in Beziehung treten können, kann uns vor das Seelenauge treten, wenn wir uns die Eigenart des großen Buddha vor die Seele rufen. Allerdings sind diese beiden Menschheitsführer, Buddha und Zarathustra, in bezug auf die ganze Art und Weise ihres Wirkens sehr voneinander verschieden. Wir müssen uns darüber klar sein, daß sich in dem, was Buddha und der Buddhismus jene Versenkung nennen, die eintrat unter dem Bodhibaum - was also ein symbolischer Ausdruck für eine gewisse mystische Vertiefung des Buddha ist —, ein Weg bietet, den das Menschen-Ich unternimmt in die eigene Wesenheit, in die eigene tiefere Natur hinein. Dieser Weg, den in einer so außerordentlichen Weise Buddha eingeschlagen hat, ist ein Hinunterstieg des menschlichen Ich in die Tiefen, in die Abgründe der eigenen menschlichen Wesenheit.
Sie werden eine genauere Vorstellung davon bekommen, was damit gemeint ist, wenn Sie sich klarmachen, daß wir die Entwickelung des Menschen verfolgt haben durch vier Stadien hindurch, von denen drei bereits abgeschlossen sind; innerhalb des vierten stehen wir jetzt. Wir haben die Menschheitsentwickelung verfolgt durch die Saturn-, Sonnen- und Mondentwickelung hindurch und stehen jetzt innerhalb der Erdenentwickelung. Wir wissen, daß diese drei Stadien der Menschheitsentwickelung der Ausbildung des physischen Leibes, des Ätherleibes und des Astralleibes des Menschen entsprechen und daß wir jetzt innerhalb der Erdenentwickelung stehen, die da bedeutet die Ausbildung des menschlichen Ich, soweit eben dieses Ich als ein Glied der menschlichen Wesenheit ausgebildet werden soll. Von den verschiedensten Gesichtspunkten aus haben wir diesen Menschen als ein Ich charakterisiert, das von drei Hüllen umschlossen ist: von der astralischen Hülle, entsprechend der Mondentwickelung, von der ätherischen Hülle, entsprechend der Sonnenentwickelung, und von der physischen Hülle, entsprechend der Saturnentwickelung. Etwas schematisch können wir uns diesen Menschen in folgender Weise zeichnen:
Wie der Mensch nun heute in seiner normalen Entwickelung dasteht und sein Bewußtsein entwickelt hat, weiß er im Grunde genommen nichts, hat er kein Bewußtsein von seinem Astralleib, von seinem Ätherleib und von seinem physischen Leib. Sie werden natürlich jetzt sagen, von seinem physischen Leibe hätte der Mensch doch ein Bewußtsein. Das ist nämlich nicht der Fall. Denn was man gewöhnlich als den physischen Leib des Menschen ansieht, ist nur eine Maya, eine Illusion. Was da dem Menschen entgegentritt, und was er für den physischen Leib hält, ist im Grunde genommen schon das Ineinanderwirken der vier Glieder der menschlichen Wesenheit, physischer Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib und Ich, und das Resultat, das ganze Ergebnis dieses Zusammenwirkens ist das, was sozusagen für die Augen sichtbar, für die Hände greifbar dem Menschen entgegentritt. Wenn Sie den physischen Leib wirklich sehen wollten, so müßten Sie — ähnlich wie man aus einer chemischen Zusammensetzung, die aus vier Stoffen besteht, drei beseitigt und einen zurückbehält - aus dem menschlichen Wesen beseitigen können Ich, Astralleib und Ätherleib; dann würden Sie zurückbehalten den physischen Leib. Das ist aber unter den heutigen Bedingungen des Erdendaseins nicht möglich. Sie werden vielleicht meinen, das geschieht ja jedesmal, wenn ein Mensch stirbt. Das ist aber nicht richtig. Denn was beim Tode eines Menschen zurückbleibt, ist nicht der physische Leib des Menschen, sondern das ist der Leichnam. Mit den Gesetzen, die dann im physischen Leibe tätig sind, wenn der Tod eingetreten ist, könnte der physische Leib nicht leben. Das sind nicht seine ureigenen Gesetze, sondern das sind Gesetze, die der äußeren Welt angehören. Wenn Sie also diese Gedanken verfolgen, werden Sie sich sagen müssen, daß das, was man gewöhnlich den physischen Leib des Menschen nennt, eine Maya ist, ein Truggebilde, und was wir in der Geisteswissenschaft bezeichnen als den physischen Leib, das ist jene Gesetzmäßigkeit, jener Gesetze-Organismus, der innerhalb unserer mineralischen Welt den physischen Leib des Menschen so schafft, wie das Kristallisationsgesetz des Quarzes oder das des Smaragdes den Quarz oder Smaragd schafft. Diese in der mineralisch-physischen Welt wirksame Menschenorganisation, das ist eigentlich der physische Leib des Menschen. Und nichts anderes ist auch in der Geisteswissenschaft gemeint überall da, wo von dem physischen Leib des Menschen gesprochen wird. Denn was der Mensch heute von der Welt kennt, das ist nichts anderes als das Ergebnis seiner sinnlichen Wahrnehmung, dessen, was die Sinne wahrnehmen. So aber, wie die menschlichen Sinne wahrnehmen, kann nur wahrgenommen werden in einem Organismus, in welchem ein Ich sitzt. Die heutige oberflächliche Betrachtungsweise setzt natürlich voraus, daß zum Beispiel auch ein Tier ebenso die äußere Welt wahrnimmt, wie der Mensch sie durch seine Sinne wahrnimmt. Das ist eine ganz konfuse Anschauung, und die Menschen würden sich sehr wundern, wenn sie, was ja auch einmal wird geschehen müssen, eingeführt würden in die Art und Weise, wie sich das Weltbild eines Pferdes, eines Hundes oder eines anderen Tieres ausnimmt. Die Umgebung des Hundes oder die Umgebung des Pferdes gleichsam hingezeichnet, hingemalt, würde sich ganz anders ausnehmen als das, was das Weltbild des Menschen ist. Denn damit die Sinne so die Welt wahrnehmen, wie der Mensch sie wahrnimmt, dazu gehört, daß das Ich sich ausgießt über die Welt und die Sinnesorgane, Augen, Ohren und so weiter, erfüllt. Also nur ein Organismus, in dem ein Ich wohnt, hat ein solches Weltbild, wie der Mensch es hat, und der äußere Organismus des Menschen steht da drinnen, gehört nur diesem Weltbilde an. Daher müssen Sie sagen: Was man gewohnt ist, den physischen Leib des Menschen zu nennen, ist nur ein Ergebnis unserer sinnlichen Betrachtung und nicht die Realität.
Wenn wir von dem physischen Menschen sprechen, von allem, was der Mensch als Physisches um sich herum hat, so ist es das Ich, das mit Hilfe der Sinne und des Verstandes, der an das Gehirn gebunden ist, die Welt anschaut. Daher kennt der Mensch nur das, worüber sein Ich ausgebreitet ist, was seinem Ich angehört. Sobald irgendwie das Ich nicht dabei sein kann bei etwas, was von dem Weltbilde gegeben ist, dann hört überhaupt das Weltbild auf, eine Wahrnehmung zu sein, das heißt, der Mensch schläft dann ein. Dann ist aber kein Weltbild um ihn herum; er wird dann bewußtlos. Wo Sie hinschauen, an jedem Punkt ist mit dem, was Sie wahrnehmen, Ihr Ich verbunden, das heißt, es ist über Ihre Wahrnehmung ausgegossen, so daß Sie eigentlich nur den Inhalt Ihres Ich kennen. Der Mensch kennt als normaler Mensch den Inhalt seines Ich, und was seine eigene Natur und Wesenheit ist, wo hinein er an jedem Morgen beim Aufwachen steigt, Astralleib, Ätherleib, physischer Leib, das kennt er als heutiger Mensch nicht, denn in dem Augenblicke, wo er als heutiger Mensch aufwacht, sieht er nicht seinen Astralleib. Der heutige Mensch würde sogar entsetzt sein, wenn er seinen Astralleib wahrnehmen würde, das heißt die Summe aller Triebe, Begierden und Leidenschaften, die sich durch die wiederholten Erdenleben angehäuft haben. Der Mensch sieht auch nicht seinen Ätherleib. Das könnte er gar nicht ertragen. Wenn er eintaucht in seine eigene Natur, in physischen Leib, Ätherleib und Astralleib, ist er sogleich in bezug auf seine Wahrnehmung abgelenkt auf die Außenwelt. Da sieht er das, was ihm gute Götter ausbreiten über die Fläche seines Schauens, damit er gar nicht in die Lage kommt, weil er es nicht ertragen könnte, in sein eigenes Inneres hinunterzusteigen.
Wir sagen daher mit Recht, wenn wir in der Geisteswissenschaft von diesem Vorgange sprechen: In dem Augenblick, wo der Mensch des Morgens aufwacht, tritt er eigentlich ein in das Tor der eigenen Wesenheit. Aber an diesem Tore steht ein Wächter; dieser Wächter ist der kleine Hüter der Schwelle. Er läßt den Menschen nicht eintreten in die eigene Wesenheit, sondern lenkt ihn sogleich auf die äußere Welt ab. Jeden Morgen trifft der Mensch diesen kleinen Hüter der Schwelle. Wer bewußt beim Aufwachen eintritt in seine Hüllennatur, lernt diesen kleinen Hüter der Schwelle kennen. Und im Grunde genommen handelt es sich für das mystische Leben nur darum, ob dieser kleine Hüter der Schwelle uns als Menschen die Wohltat erweist, uns für unsere eigene innere Wesenheit zu betäuben, so daß wir nicht da hinuntersteigen können, und unser Ich auf unsere Umgebung hinzulenken, oder ob er uns durchläßt durch das Tor und uns in unsere eigene Wesenheit eintreten läßt.
So also ist das mystische Leben das Eintreten durch das eben bezeichnete Tor an dem kleinen Hüter der Schwelle vorbei in die eigene menschliche Wesenheit. Und was für den großen Buddha symbolisch bezeichnet wird als das Sitzen unter dem Bodhibaum, ist nichts anderes als das Hinuntersteigen in die eigene innere Wesenheit durch das Tor, das uns sonst diese eigene Wesenheit verschließt. Was Buddha erleben mußte, um hinunterzusteigen in diese eigene innere Wesenheit, das ist dargestellt innerhalb des Buddhismus. Diese Dinge sind nicht etwa bloße Legenden, sondern Wiedergaben von tiefen, innerlich erlebten Wahrheiten, von seelischen Wirklichkeiten.
Was Buddha erlebt hat beim Hinuntersteigen in die eigene Wesenheit, das wird im Buddhismus dargestellt als die sogenannte Versuchung des Buddha. Der Buddha beschreibt es ja im Sinne dieser Versuchungsgeschichte, wie selbst solche Wesenheiten, die er lieb hat, sich ihm nahen in dem Momente, wo er mystisch in das eigene Innere hineinsteigen will. Er beschreibt, daß sie sich ihm zu nähern scheinen, ihn auffordern, dies oder jenes zu tun, zum Beispiel falsche Übungen vorzunehmen, um in einer falschen Weise in die eigene innere Wesenheit einzutreten. Da wird uns sogar vorgeführt die Gestalt der Mutter des Buddha - in seinem geistigen Schauen sieht er sie —, die ihn auffordert, eine falsche Askese zu beginnen. Das ist natürlich nicht die wirkliche Mutter des Buddha. Aber darin besteht gerade die Versuchung, daß ihm für sein sich erst entwikkelndes Schauen nicht die wirkliche Mutter, sondern eine Maske, eine Maya, eine Illusion entgegentritt. Er aber widersteht. Dann treten ihm eine Anzahl dämonischer Gestalten entgegen, die er schildert als Gier, wie sie entspricht dem Hunger- und Durstgefühl, oder als Leidenschaften, Triebe, Stolz, Hochmut, Eitelkeit, Geiz. Sie alle treten an ihn heran — wie? Nun, soweit sie noch in seiner eigenen Hüllennatur, in seiner astralischen Wesenheit sind, soweit er sie in seinen starken Momenten, in dem Sitzen unter dem Bodhibaum schon besiegt hat. Und in einer wunderbaren Weise wird uns in dieser Versuchung des Buddha dargestellt, wie alle die Gewalten und Mächte unseres Astralleibes, die da sind, weil wir uns durch die absteigende Entwickelung der Menschheit im Verlaufe der aufeinanderfolgenden Inkarnationen immer schlechter und schlechter gemacht haben, sich geltend machen. Trotzdem er schon so hoch gestiegen ist, kann er sie noch schauen und muß nun durch das letzte Steigen in die Höhe das Letzte besiegen, was als versuchende Dämonen für seinen Astralleib vorhanden ist.
Was wird dann eine menschliche Persönlichkeit finden, wenn sie durch die Region des Astralleibes, durch die Versuchung, hinuntersteigt in den physischen Leib und Ätherleib, das heißt, wenn sie jetzt wirklich kennenlernt diese beiden Glieder der menschlichen Wesenheit? Wenn wir das erkennen wollen, müssen wir auf eines aufmerksam machen, was der Mensch durch das Hinuntersteigen in die eigene Wesenheit erleben kann. Wir müssen darauf aufmerksam machen, daß der Mensch im Verlaufe seiner Verkörperungen innerhalb der Erdenentwickelung zwar in der Lage war, seinen Astralleib in starker Weise zu verderben, aber weniger in der Lage war, das wirklich zu verderben, was in ihm als Ätherleib und physischer Leib ist. Den Astralleib verdirbt man durch alles, was man nennen kann die Egoismen in der Menschennatur, Neid, Haß, Selbstsucht im allgemeinen, Hochmut, Stolz und so weiter. Durch alle diese Dinge verdirbt man den Astralleib, auch durch alle niederen Triebe und so weiter. Den Ätherleib verdirbt man im Grunde genommen als Mensch nur — denn viel mehr Macht hat man als heutiger normaler Mensch nicht — durch die Lüge, und höchstens unbewußt durch den Irrtum. Aber auch dann kann immer nur ein Teil des Ätherleibes verdorben werden. Ein gewisser Teil des Ätherleibes ist so stark, daß der Mensch, wenn er sich auch noch so sehr bemühen würde, etwas daran zu verderben, es nicht könnte, denn der Ätherleib würde widerstehen. So weit kann der Mensch nicht hinuntersteigen in seine eigene Natur mit seinen eigenen individuellen Kräften, daß er den Ätherleib oder physischen Leib verderben könnte. Nur im Verlaufe der Inkarnationen können die Fehler, die der Mensch direkt entzündet, weiter wirken auf den physischen Leib und Ätherleib; und sie erscheinen dann als Krankheiten, als Schädigungen und als Krankheitsdispositionen, auch im physischen Leibe. Aber der Mensch kann nicht direkt, nicht unmittelbar von seiner Individualität aus auf seinen physischen Leib wirken. Wenn er sich in den Finger schneidet, so ist das nicht von der Seele aus auf den physischen Leib gewirkt; wenn der physische Leib infiziert wird, auch nicht. Im Verlaufe seiner Inkarnationen ist der Mensch nur fähig geworden, auf den Astralleib und auf einen Teil des Ätherleibes zu wirken; aber auf den physischen Leib kann er nur mittelbar, niemals direkt einwirken.
Daher können wir sagen: Wenn wir hinunterkommen in die Region des Ätherleibes, auf die wir noch einen direkten Einfluß haben, so zeigt sich in dieser Region alles dasjenige, was schon dem Menschen der aufeinanderfolgenden Erdenleben, der Inkarnationen angehört; so daß in dem Augenblick, wo der Mensch eintaucht in seine eigene Wesenheit, er auch eintaucht in die vorherigen, weiter zurückliegenden Inkarnationen. Der Mensch findet also den Weg zu den früheren Verkörperungen durch Untertauchen in die eigene Wesenheit. Und wenn nun dieses Untertauchen ein so intensives, so gewaltiges und umfassendes ist, wie es bei dem großen Buddha der Fall war, so geht auch dieses Einblicken in die Inkarnationen immer weiter und weiter.
Nun ist der Mensch ursprünglich überhaupt eine geistige Wesenheit, und alles, was seine Hüllen sind, hat sich später um seine geistige Wesenheit herum gegliedert. Der Mensch ist aus dem Geiste entsprungen, und alles Äußere ist wie eine Verdichtung aus dem Geiste heraus. Daher kommt der Mensch durch dieses Untertauchen in seine eigene Wesenheit in den Geist der Welt hinein. Dieses Hinuntersteigen in sich, dieses Durchbrechen der Hülle des physischen Leibes ist ein Weg in das geistige Gefüge der Welt, um zu sehen, wie sich immer wieder und wieder im Verlaufe der Inkarnationen dieser physische Leib auferbaut hat. Und wenn der Mensch weit genug zurückgeht, bis in die Zeiten, wo der Mensch im alten primitiven Hellsehen ein Glied der geistigen Welt war, dann schaut er eben in die geistige Welt hinein.
In dem, was von Buddha überliefert ist - und das ist wieder keine bloße Legende -, haben Sie die Stufen, die Buddha erreichte beim Durchgehen durch die eigene Wesenheit, wovon er selber sagt: Als ich soweit war, daß ich die Erleuchtung hatte — das heißt, wo er sich fühlen konnte als ein Glied der geistigen Welt -, da war ich so weit, daß ich die geistige Welt wie eine sich ausbreitende Wolke liegen sah, aber ich konnte noch nichts darinnen unterscheiden, denn ich fühlte mich noch nicht vollkommen. Dann kam ich einen Schritt weiter. Da sah ich nicht mehr bloß die geistige Welt wie eine sich ausbreitende Wolke liegen, sondern ich konnte auch einzelne Gebilde unterscheiden, aber ich konnte noch nicht sehen, was sie waren, denn ich war noch nicht vollkommen. Wieder stieg ich einen Schritt höher und fand nun nicht bloß sich unterscheidende Wesenheiten, sondern ich konnte wissen, was es für Wesenheiten waren.
Und das geht nun so weit, bis er selbst sein Urbild sah, das heruntergestiegen ist von Inkarnation zu Inkarnation, und es im richtigen Verhältnis zur geistigen Welt sehen konnte. Das ist der eine Weg, der mystische Weg, das Durchgehen durch die eigene Wesenheit bis zu dem Punkte, wo jene Grenze durchbrochen wird, jenseits welcher dann die geistige Welt erreicht werden kann. Auf diesem Wege erlangt der eine Teil der Menschheitsführer dasjenige, was solche Individualitäten haben müssen, damit sie Impulse geben können für die Fortentwickelung der Menschheit.
Auf ganz anderem Wege erlangen solche Persönlichkeiten wie zum Beispiel der ursprüngliche Zarathustra die Möglichkeit, Menschheitsführer zu werden. Wenn Sie noch einmal auf das zurückblicken, was ich von Buddha gesagt habe, so werden Sie sich klar sein, daß er in seinen früheren Inkarnationen, wo er bis zum Bodhisattva gekommen war, schon von Stufe zu Stufe hinaufgestiegen sein mußte. Durch die Erleuchtung — das Sitzen unter dem Bodhibaum -, die so dargestellt werden muß, wie ich sie jetzt dargestellt habe, kommt eine Persönlichkeit, welche durch die in ihrer Individualität liegenden Verdienste nach und nach hoch hinaufgestiegen ist, zum Hineinschauen in die geistigen Welten. Wenn die Menschheit immer nur auf solche Führer angewiesen gewesen wäre, so wäre es nicht möglich gewesen, die Menschheit so vorwärtszubringen, wie sie vorwärtsgekommen ist. Es gab eben noch andere Führer. Von dieser anderen Art war Zarathustra. Ich spreche jetzt nicht von der Individualität des Zarathustra, sondern von der Persönlichkeit des ursprünglichen Zarathustra, dem Verkünder des Ahura Mazdao. Wenn wir eine solche Persönlichkeit an dem Platze, wo sie uns in der Welt entgegentritt, studieren, so ist zunächst in ihr keine Individualität, welche durch eigene Verdienste besonders hoch gestiegen wäre, sondern eine solche Persönlichkeit wird ausersehen, Träger zu sein, Hülle zu sein für eine geistige Wesenheit, für eine geistige Individualität, die sich nicht selber in der Welt fleischlich inkarnieren kann, die nur in eine menschliche Hülle hineinleuchten und innerhalb derselben wirken kann.
Ich habe in meinem Rosenkreuzermysterium «Die Pforte der Einweihung» darauf aufmerksam gemacht, wie eine menschliche Wesenheit durchgeistet wird in einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt, wenn es notwendig ist für die Weltentwickelung, von einer höheren Wesenheit. Das ist nicht bloß als ein poetisches Bild gemeint, sondern als poetische Repräsentation einer okkulten Wirklichkeit.
Die Persönlichkeit des ursprünglichen Zarathustra war also keine solche, die durch sich selbst so hoch gestiegen wäre wie Buddha, sondern sie war dazu ausersehen, daß eine höhere Individualität in ihr gleichsam Platz nähme, sie durchgeistigte, sie durchweste. Solche Persönlichkeiten waren hauptsächlich bei allen denjenigen Kulturen in den alten Zeiten, das heißt bei allen vorchristlichen Kulturen, zu finden, die sich entwickelt hatten durch Europa, durch das nordwestliche und mittelwestliche Asien hindurch, nicht aber bei jenen Kulturen der vorchristlichen Zeiten, die sich durch Afrika, Arabien, auch durch die vorderasiatischen Länder hindurch nach Asien hineinerstreckten. Während in den letztgenannten Ländern jene Art der Einweihung vorherrschend war, die ich eben beschrieben habe in der höchsten Entfaltung bei dem großen Buddha, war die andere Art der Einweihung, die ich jetzt bei Zarathustra an einem besonderen Beispiel darstellen will, besonders bei den nördlichen Völkern heimisch. Auch in unsern Gegenden war noch vor drei bis vier Jahrtausenden nur die Möglichkeit vorhanden, eine solche Initiation zu geben, wie ich sie jetzt schildern will.
Etwa in folgender Weise war die Zarathustra-Persönlichkeit dazu ausersehen, Träger zu sein einer höheren Wesenheit, die sich nicht selbst inkarnieren sollte. Es war gleichsam bestimmt von den geistigen Welten: In dieses Kind soll hineinversenkt werden eine göttlichgeistige Wesenheit, die in diesem Menschen wirken kann, sich seines Gehirns, seiner Werkzeuge und seines Willens bedienen kann, wenn dieses Kind herangewachsen ist. Dazu muß allerdings von vornherein etwas ganz anderes mit dem Menschen geschehen, als sonst in der menschlichen individuellen Entwickelung geschieht. Nun spielen sich ja allerdings die Vorgänge, welche jetzt ein wenig beschrieben werden sollen, nicht so sehr physisch-sinnlich ab, als vielmehr in dem ganzen Leben eines solchen heranwachsenden Menschen, obwohl natürlich ein anderer, der mit groben Sinnen ein solches Kind verfolgen würde, es nicht beobachten könnte. Wer es aber beobachten kann, der sieht, daß da von vornherein zwischen den Seelenkräften eines solchen Kindes und der äußeren Welt Konflikte spielen, daß dieses Kind ein Wollen, eine Impulsivität hat, die gleichsam im Widerspruch steht mit dem, was sich ringsherum abspielt. Das ist ja der göttlichen, der geisterfüllten Persönlichkeiten Schicksal, daß sie als Fremdlinge heranwachsen, daß ihre Umgebung keinen Sinn und keine Empfindung hat, um sie recht zu verstehen. Gewöhnlich sind nur ganz wenige, vielleicht ist sogar nur eine Persönlichkeit vorhanden, die eine Ahnung davon haben kann, was mit einem solchen Menschen heranwächst. Leicht dagegen entwickeln sich Konflikte mit der Umwelt, und es tritt dann nicht erst in späteren Jahren das auf, was ich Ihnen jetzt mit der Versuchungsgeschichte des Buddha geschildert habe, was entsteht, wenn der Mensch in die eigene Wesenheit hinuntersteigt.
Wie der Mensch im normalen Leben ist, wird ihm in seine Hüllennatur, die ihm von Eltern und Volk gegeben wird, seine Individualität hineingeboren. Diese Individualität stimmt nicht immer ganz zu den äußeren Hüllen, und deshalb fühlen sich die Menschen immer mehr oder weniger unbefriedigt mit der Art und Weise, wie sie das Schicksal bedacht hat. Aber ein so herber, ein so gewaltiger Konflikt, wie er zum Beispiel bei Zarathustra vorhanden war, ist nicht möglich, wenn ein Mensch mit seiner Individualität so heranwächst, wie es dem gewöhnlichen Menschenleben entspricht. Betrachtet man nun hellseherisch ein solches Kind, wie es Zarathustra war, so stellt sich heraus, daß es in sich Empfindungen, Fähigkeiten, Gedanken- und Willenskräfte hat, die sich ganz und gar anders ausnehmen als das, was sich ringsherum in der Menschheit an Empfindungen, Willensimpulsen, Vorstellungen und so weiter entwickelt. Vor allen Dingen stellt sich heraus - und zwar stellt es sich immer heraus, es wird nur nicht beachtet, weil man heute nicht psychische, geistige Tatsachen betrachtet —, daß die Umgebung von der wahren Natur eines solchen Kindes nichts weiß, dagegen ganz instinktiv Haß gegen einen solchen Menschen empfindet, nicht mag, was da heranwächst. Das ist der schärfste Konflikt, der dem hellsichtigen Auge entgegentritt: daß ein solches Kind, das eigentlich zu einem Heilande der Menschheit geboren ist, ringsherum Stürme von Haß entfesselt. Das muß sein. Denn dadurch, daß es so anders ist, kommen die großen Impulse in die Menschheit hinein. Solche Dinge werden uns dann erzählt für entsprechende Persönlichkeiten, wie sie uns bei Zarathustra erzählt werden.
Da wird erzählt, daß Zarathustra eines kann, was sonst erst nach Wochen beim Menschen auftritt: daß er so sehen kann auf die Harmonie der Welt, daß er sein «Zarathustra-Lächeln» entwickelt. Dieses Lächeln des eben geborenen Zarathustra wird uns geschildert als das erste, was ihn uns zeigt als etwas ganz anderes als die übrigen Menschen rings um ihn herum. Das zweite ist, daß sich ein Feind, eine Art König Herodes in dem Gebiete fand, wo Zarathustra geboren war. Duransarun hieß er; und eigenhändig - nachdem er ausgekundschaftet hatte die Geburt des Zarathustra, die ihm von den Magiern, den Chaldäern, verraten worden war - versuchte er, das Kind zu ermorden. Nun erzählt die Legende: In dem Augenblick, da er das Schwert erhob und das Kind töten wollte, erlahmte ihm die Hand, und er mußte davon ablassen. — Das alles sind nur Bilder, die das geistige Bewußtsein hätte sehen können, Bilder von geistigen Realitäten. Weiter wird erzählt, wie dieser Feind des Zarathustra-Kindes, weil er es nicht auf diese Weise töten konnte, es hinaustragen ließ durch einen Diener zu den wilden Tieren in die Wüste, damit diese es umbrächten. Aber als man es dann sucht, hat kein wildes Tier es angerührt, sondern man findet das Kind ruhig schlafend. Als auch dieser Versuch mißglückt ist, läßt der Feind das Zarathustra-Kind so aussetzen, daß eine ganze Herde von Kühen und Ochsen darüberlaufen muß, die es zertrampeln sollen. Aber das erste Tier, so erzählt die Legende, nahm das Kind zwischen die Beine, trug es fort, so daß die ganze übrige Herde vorüberlaufen mußte, und setzte es dann nieder. So geschah ihm nichts. Dasselbe wiederholte sich mit einer Herde von Pferden. Und als letztes versuchte der Feind, daß man einer Schar von wilden Tieren, nachdem man ihnen alle Jungen weggerissen hatte, statt deren das Zarathustra-Kind hinlegte. Aber es stellte sich heraus, als man von seiten der Eltern nachschaute, daß auch diese Tiere dem Kinde nichts getan hatten, sondern daß sogar, wie es in der Legende heißt, das Zarathustra-Kind von den «himmlischen Kühen» durch lange Zeiten genährt worden ist.
Wir brauchen zunächst in einer solchen Summe von Angaben nichts anderes zu sehen, als daß durch die Anwesenheit des geistigen Wesens, der geistigen Individualität, die in eine solche Seele hineinfährt, ganz besondere Kräfte wachgerufen werden, um ein solches Kind mit seiner Umgebung in eine Disharmonie zu bringen, die notwendig ist, damit der Menschheitsentwickelung Impulse nach aufwärts gegeben werden können. Denn immer sind Disharmonien notwendig, wenn wirklich zur Vollkommenheit geschritten werden soll. Dann aber soll darauf hingewiesen werden, wie diese Kräfte nun auch so sind, daß sie trotzdem einer solchen Wesenheit, einem solchen Kinde nützen, um es hinaufzuführen zu den Zusammenhängen mit der geistigen Welt, in die es kommen soll. Wodurch erlebt aber das Kind selber alle diese Konflikte?
Stellen Sie sich vor, daß dieses Hineingehen der Seele in die eigene Wesenheit ein Moment des Aufwachens wäre. Wenn die Seele in sich erleben kann den physischen Leib und Ätherleib, dann macht sie die Entwickelung durch, die ich bei Buddha charakterisiert habe. Denken Sie sich nun das Einschlafen bewußt. So wie es heute ist, verliert der Mensch beim Einschlafen das Bewußtsein - es hört auf, und die Nichtsheit ist um den Menschen herum als Weltbild. Denken Sie aber, der Mensch behielte beim Einschlafen sein Bewußtsein. Dann würde er umgeben sein von einer geistigen Welt, in die sich der Mensch eben im Schlafe ergießt. Da sind aber wieder gewisse Hindernisse. Es steht auch abends, wenn wir einschlafen, vor einem Tore, das wir passieren müssen, ein Hüter der Schwelle. Das ist der große Hüter der Schwelle, der uns nicht hineinläßt in die geistige Welt, solange wir unreif sind; uns aus dem Grunde nicht hineinläßt, weil wir, wenn wir noch nicht unser Inneres stark und fest gemacht haben, gewissen Gefahren ausgesetzt sind, wenn wir unser Ich ergießen wollten über die geistige Welt, in die wir mit dem Einschlafen hineinkommen.
Diese Gefahren bestehen darin, daß wir, statt in dieser geistigen Welt das Objektive zu sehen, was da drinnen ist, nur das sehen würden, was wir selber mit unsern Phantastereien, mit unsern Gedanken, Empfindungen und Gefühlen hineintragen. Und wir tragen gerade dasjenige hinein, was das Schlechteste an uns ist, was nicht der Wahrheit entspricht. Daher wird ein unreifes Eintreten in diese geistige Welt bedeuten, daß der Mensch nicht eine Wirklichkeit sieht, sondern Phantasiegebilde, phantastische Gebilde, Gebilde, die man eigentlich in der Geisteswissenschaft technisch dadurch bezeichnet, daß sie kein menschliches Sehen sind. Wenn der Mensch das Objektive sehen würde in der geistigen Welt, so würde er um eine Stufe höher steigen, er würde Menschliches sehen. Es ist immer das Zeichen eines phantastischen Sehens, wenn der Mensch beim Aufsteigen in die geistige Welt Tiergestalten sieht. Denn diese Tiergestalten bedeuten seine eigenen Phantastereien, weil er zu wenig in sich selber gefestigt ist. Was in der Nacht unbewußt ist, muß eine Kraft in sich aufnehmen, damit die äußere geistige Welt objektiv wird. Sonst wird sie subjektiv, und wir tragen unsere eigenen Phantastereien in die geistige Welt hinein. Wir tragen sie ja sonst auch hinein, aber der Hüter der Schwelle behütet uns davor, sie zu sehen. Denn das ist ja ein rein innerlicher Vorgang, das Hinaufsteigen in die geistige Welt und dieses Umgebensein von Tiergestalten, die auf uns Attacken ausüben, weil sie uns in Irrtum treiben wollen. Wir brauchen uns nur mit immer größerer Stärke zu umgeben, dann können wir in die geistige Welt eintreten.
Wenn ein solches Kind wie das Zarathustra-Kind von einer höheren Wesenheit ausgefüllt ist, so ist natürlich das Körperchen unreif und muß erst reif gemacht werden. Da ist das, was die menschliche Organisation ist, die Verstandes- und Sinnesorganisation, gleichsam aufgeplustert. Ein solches Kind ist in einer Welt, welche ganz gut wirklich mit dem «bei wilden Tieren sein» dargestellt werden kann. Wir haben schon öfter dargestellt, wie bei derartigen Schilderungen Historisches und Bildliches nur zwei verschiedene Seiten derselben Sache sind. Da spielen sich die Geschehnisse so ab, daß dasjenige, was die spirituellen Mächte sind, wenn es äußerlich als Feindliches sich geltend macht wie beim Zarathustra-Kinde, sich zum Beispiel in der Person des Königs Duransarun zeigt. Das Ganze ist aber auch in seinem Urbilde in der geistigen Welt vorhanden, so daß die äußeren Handlungen dem entsprechen, was innerhalb der geistigen Welt geschieht. In der heutigen Denkweise ist der Mensch nicht fähig, einen solchen Gedanken leicht zu fassen. Wenn man sagt, daß die Ereignisse um Zarathustra eine Bedeutung haben in der geistigen Welt, so denkt der Mensch: Dann sind sie nicht wirklich. Wenn man aber beweist, daß sie historisch sind, dann ist der heutige Mensch wieder geneigt, jede Persönlichkeit nur als so weit entwickelt anzusehen wie sich selber. Das ist ja das Bestreben der heutigen liberalen Theologen, sich zum Beispiel die Gestalt des Jesus von Nazareth ähnlich oder nicht viel über das hinausgehend vorzustellen, was sie selbst sich denken können als ihr eigenes Ideal. Es stört heute sehr die materialistische Seelenruhe der Menschen, wenn sie sich große Individualitäten vorstellen sollen. Es darf nicht etwas in der Welt existieren, was gar zu sehr erhaben ist über den jeweiligen Professor oder Theologen, der sich zu einem solchen Ideal erheben will. Wir haben es aber bei den großen Ereignissen mit etwas zu tun, was zugleich historisch und symbolisch-spirituell ist, so daß das eine das andere nicht ausschließt. Wer nicht begreift, daß das Äußere noch etwas anderes bedeutet, der wird überhaupt nicht zum Begreifen des Wirklichen und Wesentlichen kommen.
Diese Seele des Zarathustra-Kindes wurde also wirklich in früher Jugend in große Gefahren geführt; aber zu gleicher Zeit standen ihr helfend zur Seite, wie es in der Legende heißt, die himmlischen Kühe; die stärkten sie.
Bei allen großen Weltanschauungsstiftern in dem ganzen Gebiet vom Kaspischen Meer durch unsere Gegenden hindurch bis zum Westen Europas können Sie diese Erscheinung finden, daß solche Persönlichkeiten, ohne daß sie durch ihre eigene Entwickelung emporgestiegen wären, durchdrungen werden von einer geistigen Wesenheit, um zu Menschheitsführern zu werden. Das keltische Volk hatte solche Sagen in ziemlich großer Anzahl. Von einem keltischen Religionsstifter Habich wird geschildert, wie er auch ausgesetzt und von himmlischen Kühen gesäugt wurde, wie feindliche Angriffe sich geltend machten, wie die Tiere zurückweichen vor ihm, kurz, diese Schilderungen der Gefahren für den keltischen Führer Habich sind so, daß man sagen könnte: Es sind von den sieben Zarathustra-Wundern einige ausgewählt - gleichsam weil uns Zarathustra als die größte Persönlichkeit in dieser Art zu gelten hat. Einige Züge aus den Zarathustra-Wundern finden Sie immerdar, durch Griechenland hindurch bis in die keltischen Gegenden. Sie brauchen nur an Romulus und Remus zu denken, um ein ganz bekanntes Beispiel zu haben.
Das ist der andere Weg, wodurch Menschheitsführer entstehen. Damit haben wir in einem tieferen Sinne charakterisiert, was wir schon oft betrachtet haben: die zwei großen Kulturströme der nachatlantischen Zeit. Nach der großen atlantischen Katastrophe entwikkelte sich die eine Kulturströmung durch Afrika, Arabien und das südliche Asien, die andere mehr nördlich davon durch Europa und das nördliche Asien nach Zentral-Asien hin. Dort stießen beide Strömungen zusammen. Und alles, was daraus entstanden ist, ist unsere nachatlantische Kultur. Die nördliche Strömung hatte Führer, wie ich sie Jetzt an Zarathustra geschildert habe, die südliche dagegen solche, wie sie in höchster Repräsentation in dem großen Buddha erschienen.
Wenn Sie sich nun an das erinnern, was wir mit Bezug auf das Christus-Ereignis schon kennen, so werden Sie sich sagen: Wie steht diese Johannes-Taufe am Jordan jetzt vor uns?
Der Christus senkt sich hernieder, eine geistig-göttliche Wesenheit, wie sie sich bei all den nördlichen Führern und Weltanschauungsstiftern, am größten bei Zarathustra, in eine menschliche Wesenheit gesenkt haben. Es ist derselbe Vorgang, nur ins Größte übertragen: Der Christus senkt sich in eine menschliche Wesenheit, aber nicht in ihrer Kindheit, sondern im dreißigsten Lebensjahre, und diese Persönlichkeit des Jesus von Nazareth wird dazu ganz besonders vorbereitet. Beide Geheimnisse der Menschheitsführerschaft in Synthese, in Vereinigung, in Harmonie miteinander sollen uns dargestellt werden. Und während die beiden Evangelisten Matthäus und Lukas vorzugsweise darstellen, wie sich die menschliche Persönlichkeit gebildet hat, in die sich der Christus hineinsenkt, stellt uns das MarkusEvangelium dar, welcher Art und Natur die Christus-Wesenheit selbst war. Das überfließende Element in dieser großen Individualität wird uns insbesondere durch das Markus-Evangelium dargestellt. Daher schildern in einer so wunderbar klaren Weise das Matthäus- und das Lukas-Evangelium eine andere Versuchungsgeschichte als das Markus-Evangelium, weil Markus darstellt den Christus, der eingezogen ist in den Jesus von Nazareth. Da muß diejenige Versuchungsgeschichte auftreten, die sonst schon im kindlichen Alter auftritt: das Zusammensein mit Tieren und das Helfen der geistigen Kräfte. Daher sehen Sie es an wie eine Wiederholung der Zarathustra-Wunder, wenn uns im Markus-Evangelium imposant einfach erzählt wird: «Und der Geist trieb ihn in die Einsamkeit; ... und er war bei den Tieren, und die Engel» — das heißt, die geistigen Wesenheiten — «dienten ihm». Während das Matthäus-Evangelium ganz anders schildert, etwas, was sich wie eine Wiederholung der Buddha-Versuchung ausnimmt, das heißt dessen, was geschieht beim Hinuntersteigen in die eigene Wesenheit, wo alle die Versuchungen und Verführungen herantreten an die betreffende menschliche Seele.
So also können wir sagen: Matthäus und Lukas schildern den Weg, den der Christus machte, indem er hinunterstieg in die Hüllen, die er durch den Jesus von Nazareth überliefert erhalten hatte; und das Markus-Evangelium schildert, was der Christus erleben mußte als eine Art Versuchungsgeschichte, indem er zusammenstieß mit der Umgebung, wie alle die Religionsstifter zusammengestoßen sind, die von einer geistigen Wesenheit von oben inspiriert oder intuitiert worden sind. Beides macht der Christus Jesus durch, während die früheren Menschheitsführer nur immer eines durchgemacht haben. Er vereinigt die beiden Arten des Weges in die geistige Welt. Das ist gerade das Wesentliche, daß das, was früher sich abspielte in zwei großen Strömen, in die dann verschiedene kleine einmündeten, zusammenfließt in einen einzigen Strom.
Erst von diesem Gesichtspunkt aus können wir die scheinbaren oder wirklichen Widersprüche zwischen den Evangelien verstehen. Der Schreiber des Markus-Evangeliums war eingeweiht in solche Mysterien, die ihn gerade befähigten, das zu schildern, was die Markus-Versuchung ist: das Hinausgehen zu den Tieren und die Hilfe von geistigen Wesenheiten. Lukas war eingeweiht in die andere Seite. Jeder der Schreiber der Evangelien schilderte das, was ihm nahelag und bekannt war. Es sind also verschiedene Seiten des Ereignisses von Palästina oder des Mysteriums von Golgatha, die uns in den Evangelien dargestellt werden.
Damit wollte ich Ihnen von einem Gesichtspunkt aus, den wir hier noch nicht besprechen konnten, noch einmal vor Augen führen, wie man verstehen muß den Entwickelungsgang der Menschheit und das Eingreifen solcher Individualitäten, die also über die Entwickelung vom Bodhisattva zum Buddha hinaufgehen; und wie man verstehen muß die Entwickelung derjenigen, bei denen nicht recht in Betracht kommt, was sie als Menschen sind, sondern das, was von oben herunter kommt. Nur in der Christus-Figur vereinigen sich die beiden Arten. Wenn man das weiß, kann die Christus-Gestalt erst recht verstanden werden.
Dadurch werden Sie auch begreifen, daß manche Unebenheiten in den mythischen Persönlichkeiten auftreten müssen. Wenn geschildert wird, daß gewisse geistige Wesenheiten dies oder jenes - in bezug auf Recht oder Unrecht und dergleichen - getan haben, wie zum Beispiel Siegfried, dann hört man wohl: Aber er war doch ein Eingeweihter, wurde gesagt? — Aber bei einer solchen Persönlichkeit, durch die eine geistige Wesenheit wirkt, kommt die individuelle Evolution - zum Beispiel des Siegfried - nicht in Betracht. Siegfried kann Fehler haben. Es handelt sich aber darum, der Entwickelung der Menschheit etwas zu geben. Dazu muß die geeignetste Persönlichkeit ausgesucht werden. Man kann nicht alles über denselben Kamm scheren, man kann nicht bei einem Siegfried in derselben Weise urteilen wie bei einer südlichen Führerpersönlichkeit; denn die ganze Natur und Art ist eine andere als bei denjenigen, die hinuntersteigen in die eigene Wesenheit.
Man kann also sagen: Es durchdringt die nördlichen Gestalten eine geistige Wesenheit und drängt sie heraus aus der eigenen Wesenheit, macht, daß sie aufsteigen können in den Makrokosmos. Während bei den südlichen Kulturen der Mensch hinuntersteigt in den Mikrokosmos, gießt er sich hinaus bei der nördlichen Kulturströmung in den Makrokosmos und kommt daher dazu, daß er erkennt die ganzen geistigen Hierarchien, wie zum Beispiel Zarathustra die geistige Natur der Sonne erkannt hat.
Wir können also das Gesagte darin zusammenfassen: Der mystische Weg, der Buddha-Weg, führt durch das eigene Innere so weit, daß man mit Durchbruch des eigenen Innern in die geistige Welt kommt. Der Zarathustra-Weg entreißt den Menschen dem Mikrokosmos und ergießt ihn über den Makrokosmos, so daß dessen Geheimnisse durchsichtig werden. Für die großen Geister, welche die Geheimnisse der großen Welt enthüllen sollen, hat die Welt noch wenig Verständnis. Daher ist wirklich sehr wenig Verständnis verbreitet zum Beispiel über die Zarathustra-Wesenheit. Wir werden sehen, wie sehr sich das, was wir über Zarathustra zu sagen haben, von dem unterscheidet, was man gewöhnlich heute darüber sagt.
Das ist wieder ein Exkurs von denen, die Sie nach und nach bekanntmachen sollen mit dem Wesen des Markus-Evangeliums.
Fifth Lecture
Last time, we began to give some indications of the nature and character of the Gospel of Mark. It already became clear that, when considering the Gospel of Mark, it is almost more important than in the other Gospels to say something about the great laws of both human development and cosmic development in general. It must be said that, building on what is hinted at in this Gospel from the depths of the Christian mysteries, there is reason to delve perhaps most deeply into some of the secrets and laws of cosmic and human evolution.
Now, I originally thought that it would be possible, in the course of this winter, to give significant and intimate hints here about things that we have not yet heard in our spiritual scientific development, or perhaps better said, about things that lie on spiritual planes that we have not yet touched upon. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to abandon this original plan for this winter, for the simple reason that this Berlin branch in particular has grown in such a surprising way in recent weeks that it would not be possible to bring everything that was originally intended to be said to understanding at this time. It is already necessary to have a certain level of prior knowledge, not only in mathematics or any other science, but this must be even more so when advancing to certain heights of spiritual scientific contemplation. Therefore, consideration will be given later to how those parts of the Gospel of Mark that cannot yet be discussed in such a wide circle can be made accessible.
Above all, however, if we want to understand a text such as the Gospel of Mark, it is necessary to first clearly understand the important factors that have influenced the development of humanity. This is always emphasized, I would say, as an abstract, very general truth: that at all times there have been certain leaders of humanity who, because they stood in a certain relationship to the mysteries, to the spiritual, supersensible worlds, were able to impart impulses into human development that contributed to the progress and advancement of this human development. Now there are two main, essential ways in which human beings can come into relationship with the supersensible, spiritual worlds. One way is the one we can study particularly clearly when we point to the image of the great leader of humanity, Zarathustra, with a few strokes — as will even be done publicly, exoterically, in public lectures in the near future. The other way in which such leaders of humanity can enter into relationship with the spiritual worlds can be seen before the soul's eye when we call to mind the unique character of the great Buddha. However, these two leaders of humanity, Buddha and Zarathustra, are very different from each other in the whole manner of their working. We must be clear that what Buddha and Buddhism call the contemplation that took place under the Bodhi tree — which is a symbolic expression for a certain mystical deepening of the Buddha — offers a path that the human ego takes into its own being, into its own deeper nature. This path, which Buddha took in such an extraordinary way, is a descent of the human ego into the depths, into the abysses of its own human nature.
You will gain a more precise idea of what this means when you realize that we have traced human development through four stages, three of which have already been completed; we are now in the fourth. We have traced human development through the Saturn, Sun, and Moon epochs and are now within the Earth epoch. We know that these three stages of human development correspond to the formation of the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body of the human being, and that we are now within the Earth development, which means the formation of the human I, insofar as this I is to be formed as a member of the human being. From various points of view, we have characterized this human being as an I surrounded by three shells: the astral shell, corresponding to the Moon's development; the etheric shell, corresponding to the Sun's development; and the physical shell, corresponding to Saturn's development. We can sketch this human being schematically as follows:
As human beings now stand in their normal development and have developed their consciousness, they know basically nothing; they have no consciousness of their astral body, their etheric body, or their physical body. You will of course say that human beings do have consciousness of their physical body. That is not the case. For what is usually regarded as the physical body of the human being is only a maya, an illusion. What confronts the human being and what he considers to be the physical body is basically the interaction of the four members of the human being, the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the I, and the result, the whole outcome of this interaction, is what confronts the human being as visible to the eyes and tangible to the hands. If you really wanted to see the physical body, you would have to remove the ego, the astral body, and the etheric body from the human being, just as one removes three of the four substances in a chemical compound and retains one. Then you would be left with the physical body. But this is not possible under the present conditions of earthly existence. You may think that this happens every time a person dies. But that is not correct. For what remains after a person's death is not the physical body of the person, but the corpse. With the laws that are then active in the physical body when death has occurred, the physical body could not live. These are not its own laws, but laws that belong to the outer world. If you follow these thoughts, you will have to say that what we usually call the physical body of a human being is a maya, an illusion, and what we in spiritual science call the physical body is that lawfulness, that organism of laws that creates the physical body of the human being within our mineral world, just as the law of crystallization of quartz or emerald creates quartz or emerald. This human organization, which is effective in the mineral-physical world, is actually the physical body of the human being. And nothing else is meant in spiritual science wherever the physical body of the human being is spoken of. For what human beings know of the world today is nothing other than the result of their sensory perception, of what the senses perceive. But the way in which the human senses perceive can only be perceived in an organism in which an I is seated. Today's superficial way of looking at things naturally presupposes that, for example, an animal perceives the external world in the same way as human beings perceive it through their senses. This is a very confused view, and people would be very surprised if they were introduced to the way in which a horse, a dog, or another animal perceives the world, which will have to happen at some point. If the environment of a dog or a horse were to be drawn or painted, it would look completely different from the human worldview. For the senses to perceive the world as humans perceive it, the ego must pour itself out over the world and fill the sense organs, the eyes, ears, and so on. So only an organism in which an ego dwells has a world view like that of humans, and the outer organism of humans stands there inside, belonging only to this world view. Therefore, you must say: What we are accustomed to calling the physical body of the human being is only a result of our sensory perception and not reality.
When we speak of the physical human being, of everything that the human being has around him as physical, it is the I that, with the help of the senses and the intellect, which is bound to the brain, looks at the world. Therefore, human beings only know what their ego is spread out over, what belongs to their ego. As soon as the ego cannot be present in something that is given by the world picture, then the world picture ceases to be a perception at all, that is, human beings fall asleep. But then there is no world picture around them; they become unconscious. Wherever you look, at every point, your ego is connected with what you perceive, that is, it is poured out over your perception, so that you actually only know the content of your ego. As normal human beings, we know the content of our ego and what our own nature and essence is, but we do not know what we enter into every morning when we wake up: the astral body, the etheric body, the physical body. We do not know these things because, at the moment we wake up as human beings today, we do not see our astral body. Modern humans would even be horrified if they perceived their astral body, that is, the sum of all the drives, desires, and passions that have accumulated through repeated earthly lives. Humans also do not see their etheric body. They could not bear it. When they immerse themselves in their own nature, in their physical body, etheric body, and astral body, their perception is immediately distracted by the outside world. There they see what good gods spread out before them across the surface of their vision, so that they are unable to descend into their own inner being, because they could not bear it.
We are therefore right to say, when we speak of this process in spiritual science, that the moment a person wakes up in the morning, they actually enter the gate of their own being. But at this gate stands a guardian; this guardian is the little guardian of the threshold. He does not allow the person to enter their own being, but immediately distracts them to the outer world. Every morning, human beings encounter this little guardian of the threshold. Those who consciously enter their outer nature when they wake up get to know this little guardian of the threshold. And basically, the mystical life is only about whether this little guardian of the threshold does us humans the favor of numbing us to our own inner being so that we cannot descend there and direct our ego toward our surroundings, or whether he lets us pass through the gate and enter our own being.
Thus, the mystical life is the passage through the gate just described, past the little guardian of the threshold, into one's own human essence. And what is symbolically referred to for the great Buddha as sitting under the Bodhi tree is nothing other than descending into one's own inner essence through the gate that otherwise closes off this essence from us. What Buddha had to experience in order to descend into his own inner being is depicted within Buddhism. These things are not mere legends, but renderings of deep, inwardly experienced truths, of spiritual realities.
What Buddha experienced when descending into his own essence is depicted in Buddhism as the so-called temptation of Buddha. Buddha describes it in terms of this story of temptation, how even beings he loves approach him at the moment when he wants to mystically enter his own inner being. He describes how they seem to approach him, urging him to do this or that, for example, to perform false exercises in order to enter his own inner being in the wrong way. We are even shown the figure of Buddha's mother — whom he sees in his spiritual vision — urging him to begin a false asceticism. This is not, of course, Buddha's real mother. But this is precisely the temptation, that his developing vision does not encounter his real mother, but a mask, a maya, an illusion. However, he resists. Then a number of demonic figures appear before him, which he describes as greed, corresponding to the feelings of hunger and thirst, or as passions, instincts, pride, arrogance, vanity, and avarice. They all approach him — how? Well, insofar as they are still in his own enveloping nature, in his astral being, insofar as he has already defeated them in his moments of strength, while sitting under the Bodhi tree. And in a wonderful way, this temptation of the Buddha shows us how all the forces and powers of our astral body, which are there because we have made ourselves worse and worse through the downward development of humanity in the course of successive incarnations, assert themselves. Even though he has already risen so high, he can still see them and must now, through his final ascent, defeat the last of what remains as tempting demons for his astral body.
What will a human personality find when it descends through the region of the astral body, through temptation, into the physical body and etheric body, that is, when it now truly gets to know these two members of the human being? If we want to understand this, we must draw attention to something that human beings can experience by descending into their own being. We must point out that in the course of its incarnations within the Earth's evolution, the human being has been able to corrupt its astral body in a powerful way, but has been less able to corrupt what is truly within it as the etheric body and physical body. The astral body is corrupted by everything that can be called the egoisms in human nature: envy, hatred, selfishness in general, arrogance, pride, and so on. Through all these things, the astral body is corrupted, as well as through all the lower instincts and so on. As human beings, we basically corrupt the etheric body — for we have no more power than normal human beings today — through lying, and at most unconsciously through error. But even then, only part of the etheric body can be corrupted. A certain part of the etheric body is so strong that, no matter how hard a person tries to corrupt it, they cannot, because the etheric body would resist. Human beings cannot descend so far into their own nature with their own individual powers that they could corrupt the etheric body or the physical body. Only in the course of incarnations can the errors that humans directly ignite continue to affect the physical body and etheric body; and they then appear as illnesses, as damage, and as predispositions to illness, even in the physical body. But humans cannot directly, not immediately, affect their physical body from their individuality. If he cuts his finger, this is not caused by the soul acting on the physical body; nor is it the case when the physical body becomes infected. In the course of his incarnations, man has only become capable of acting on the astral body and on a part of the etheric body; but he can only act indirectly, never directly, on the physical body.
Therefore, we can say that when we descend into the region of the etheric body, over which we still have a direct influence, everything that belongs to the human being in successive earthly lives, incarnations, is revealed in this region; so that at the moment when the human being immerses himself in his own being, he also immerses himself in his previous, more distant incarnations. Human beings thus find the way to their earlier incarnations by immersing themselves in their own being. And when this immersion is as intense, powerful, and comprehensive as it was in the case of the great Buddha, this insight into the incarnations goes further and further.
Now, human beings are originally spiritual beings, and everything that forms their outer shells has later structured itself around their spiritual essence. Human beings have sprung from the spirit, and everything external is like a condensation of the spirit. Therefore, through this immersion into his own being, man enters into the spirit of the world. This descent into oneself, this breaking through the shell of the physical body, is a path into the spiritual structure of the world, in order to see how this physical body has built itself up again and again in the course of incarnations. And when human beings go back far enough, to the times when they were part of the spiritual world through primitive clairvoyance, they can look into the spiritual world.
In what has been handed down from Buddha — and this is not mere legend — you have the stages that Buddha reached in passing through his own being, of which he himself says: When I had reached the point of enlightenment — that is, when he could feel himself as a member of the spiritual world — I was so far advanced that I saw the spiritual world lying like a spreading cloud, but I could not yet distinguish anything within it, for I did not yet feel complete. Then I took a step further. Then I no longer saw the spiritual world as a spreading cloud, but I could also distinguish individual forms, but I could not yet see what they were, for I was not yet perfect. Again I rose one step higher and now found not only distinct beings, but I could know what kind of beings they were.
And this continues until he himself sees his archetype, which has descended from incarnation to incarnation, and can see it in its proper relationship to the spiritual world. This is the one path, the mystical path, passing through one's own being to the point where that boundary is broken through, beyond which the spiritual world can then be reached. In this way, one part of humanity's leaders attain what such individuals must have in order to give impulses for the further development of humanity.
In a completely different way, personalities such as the original Zarathustra attain the ability to become leaders of humanity. If you look back at what I said about Buddha, you will realize that in his earlier incarnations, when he had reached the stage of Bodhisattva, he must have already ascended from stage to stage. Through enlightenment — sitting under the Bodhi tree — which must be described as I have just described it, a personality who has gradually risen high through the merits inherent in his individuality comes to see into the spiritual worlds. If humanity had always been dependent on such leaders, it would not have been possible to advance humanity as it has. There were other leaders. Zarathustra was of this other kind. I am not speaking now of the individuality of Zarathustra, but of the personality of the original Zarathustra, the proclaimer of Ahura Mazdao. When we study such a personality in the place where it appears to us in the world, we do not initially find any individuality that has risen particularly high through its own merits. Rather, such a personality is chosen to be a carrier, a shell for a spiritual being, for a spiritual individuality which cannot incarnate itself in the world in a physical form, but can only shine into a human shell and work within it.
In my Rosicrucian mystery “The Gate of Initiation,” I pointed out how a human being is inspired at a certain point in time, when it is necessary for the development of the world, by a higher being. This is not meant merely as a poetic image, but as a poetic representation of an occult reality.
The personality of the original Zarathustra was therefore not one that had risen so high through itself, like Buddha, but was chosen so that a higher individuality could take place in it, as it were, spiritualize it, and permeate it. Such personalities were mainly to be found in all the cultures of ancient times, that is, in all pre-Christian cultures that had developed throughout Europe, northwestern and central Asia, but not in those cultures of pre-Christian times that extended through Africa, Arabia, and also through the countries of the Near East into Asia. While in the latter countries the type of initiation I have just described, in its highest development in the great Buddha, was predominant, the other type of initiation, which I will now illustrate with a special example in Zarathustra, was particularly at home among the northern peoples. Even in our regions, three to four millennia ago, it was only possible to give the kind of initiation I am about to describe.
In approximately the following manner, the personality of Zarathustra was chosen to be the bearer of a higher being that was not to incarnate itself. It was, as it were, determined by the spiritual worlds: a divine-spiritual being was to be immersed in this child, which could work in this human being, could make use of his brain, his tools, and his will when this child had grown up. To this end, however, something quite different must happen to the human being from the outset than what normally happens in human individual development. Now, the processes that will be described here do not take place so much in the physical-sensory realm as in the whole life of such a growing human being, although, of course, someone else who would observe such a child with their gross senses would not be able to perceive them. But those who can observe it see that from the outset there are conflicts between the soul forces of such a child and the outer world, that this child has a will, an impulsiveness that is, as it were, in contradiction with what is happening around it. It is the fate of divine, spirit-filled personalities to grow up as strangers, their environment having no sense or feeling to understand them properly. Usually there are only very few, perhaps even only one personality who can have an inkling of what is growing up in such a person. Conflicts with the environment, on the other hand, develop easily, and it is not only in later years that what I have just described to you in the story of Buddha's temptation arises, what arises when a person descends into his own being.
The way a person is in normal life is born into his shell nature, which is given to him by his parents and his people, his individuality. This individuality does not always correspond entirely to the outer shell, and therefore people feel more or less dissatisfied with the way fate has dealt with them. But such a bitter, such a violent conflict as existed, for example, in Zarathustra is not possible if a person grows up with his individuality in accordance with ordinary human life. If we now look clairvoyantly at a child such as Zarathustra, we find that he has feelings, abilities, thoughts, and willpower that are completely different from what develops around him in humanity in the form of feelings, impulses of will, ideas, and so on. Above all, it becomes apparent—and this is always the case, but it is not noticed because people today do not consider psychic, spiritual facts—that the environment knows nothing of the true nature of such a child, but instinctively feels hatred toward such a person and dislikes what is growing up there. This is the sharpest conflict that confronts the clairvoyant eye: that such a child, who is actually born to be a savior of humanity, unleashes storms of hatred all around him. This must be so. For it is through his being so different that the great impulses come into humanity. Such things are then told to us about corresponding personalities, as they are told to us in Zarathustra.
It is said that Zarathustra can do something that normally takes weeks for humans to achieve: he can see the harmony of the world and has developed his “Zarathustra smile.” This smile of the newborn Zarathustra is described to us as the first thing that shows him to be completely different from the other humans around him. The second thing is that an enemy, a kind of King Herod, was found in the area where Zarathustra was born. His name was Duransarun; and with his own hands—after he had learned of Zarathustra's birth, which had been betrayed to him by the Magi, the Chaldeans—he tried to murder the child. Now the legend tells us that at the moment when he raised his sword to kill the child, his hand weakened and he had to desist. All this is only images that the spiritual consciousness could have seen, images of spiritual realities. The story goes on to tell how this enemy of the child Zarathustra, unable to kill him in this way, had him carried away by a servant to the wild animals in the desert so that they might kill him. But when they went to look for him, no wild animal had touched him, and they found the child sleeping peacefully. When this attempt also failed, the enemy had the child of Zarathustra exposed in such a way that a whole herd of cows and oxen had to run over him and trample him to death. But the first animal, according to the legend, took the child between its legs, carried him away so that the rest of the herd had to run past, and then set him down. Thus, nothing happened to him. The same thing happened with a herd of horses. Finally, the enemy tried to have a herd of wild animals, from which all the young had been torn away, trample on the child, who had been placed among them. But when the parents came to look, they found that these animals had not harmed the child, but that, as the legend says, the child of Zarathustra had been nourished by the “heavenly cows” for a long time.
We need not see anything else in such a sum of information than that through the presence of the spiritual being, the spiritual individuality that enters into such a soul, very special forces are awakened in order to bring such a child into disharmony with its environment, which is necessary so that upward impulses can be given to human development. For disharmony is always necessary if true perfection is to be attained. But then it must be pointed out how these forces are such that they nevertheless benefit such a being, such a child, in order to lead it up to the connections with the spiritual world into which it is to enter. But how does the child itself experience all these conflicts?
Imagine that this entering of the soul into its own being is a moment of awakening. When the soul can experience the physical body and the etheric body within itself, it undergoes the development that I have characterized in Buddha. Now consciously imagine falling asleep. As it is today, when a person falls asleep, they lose consciousness—it ceases, and nothingness surrounds them as their worldview. But imagine that a person retained their consciousness when falling asleep. Then they would be surrounded by a spiritual world into which human beings pour themselves when they sleep. But there are certain obstacles. In the evening, when we fall asleep, there is a guardian of the threshold standing before a gate that we must pass through. This is the great guardian of the threshold who does not let us into the spiritual world as long as we are immature; he does not let us in because, if we have not yet made our inner selves strong and firm, we would be exposed to certain dangers if we wanted to pour our ego into the spiritual world into which we enter when we fall asleep.
These dangers consist in the fact that instead of seeing the objective reality that is there in the spiritual world, we would see only what we ourselves carry in with our fantasies, our thoughts, sensations, and feelings. And we carry in with us precisely that which is worst in us, that which does not correspond to the truth. Therefore, an immature entry into this spiritual world means that the human being does not see reality, but rather fantasy images, fantastical images, images that are technically referred to in spiritual science as not being human vision. If people could see the objective in the spiritual world, they would rise one step higher and see what is human. It is always a sign of fantastical vision when people see animal figures as they ascend into the spiritual world. These animal figures represent their own fantasies because they are not sufficiently grounded in themselves. What is unconscious at night must absorb a force within itself so that the outer spiritual world becomes objective. Otherwise it becomes subjective, and we carry our own fantasies into the spiritual world. We carry them in anyway, but the guardian of the threshold protects us from seeing them. For this is a purely inner process, the ascent into the spiritual world and being surrounded by animal forms that attack us because they want to lead us into error. We only need to surround ourselves with ever greater strength, then we can enter the spiritual world.
When a child like the Zarathustra child is filled with a higher being, the little body is naturally immature and must first be matured. The human organization, the organization of the intellect and the senses, is, as it were, inflated. Such a child is in a world that can be described quite well as “being with wild animals.” We have often shown how, in such descriptions, the historical and the pictorial are only two different sides of the same thing. The events unfold in such a way that the spiritual forces, when they manifest themselves outwardly as hostile, as in the case of the Zarathustra child, appear, for example, in the person of King Duransarun. But the whole thing also exists in its archetype in the spiritual world, so that the external actions correspond to what happens within the spiritual world. In today's way of thinking, people are not able to grasp such a thought easily. When one says that the events surrounding Zarathustra have a meaning in the spiritual world, people think: Then they are not real. But if one proves that they are historical, then modern man is again inclined to regard every personality as only as developed as himself. This is indeed the endeavor of today's liberal theologians, for example, to imagine the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as similar to or not much beyond what they themselves can conceive as their own ideal. Today, it greatly disturbs people's materialistic peace of mind when they are asked to imagine great individualities. Nothing can exist in the world that is too exalted above the respective professor or theologian who wants to elevate himself to such an ideal. But in great events we are dealing with something that is both historical and symbolic-spiritual, so that one does not exclude the other. Those who do not understand that the outer appearance means something else will never come to understand what is real and essential.
The soul of the Zarathustra child was thus led into great danger in its early youth; but at the same time, as the legend says, the heavenly cows stood by to help and strengthen it.
Among all the great founders of worldviews in the entire region from the Caspian Sea through our regions to Western Europe, you can find this phenomenon that such personalities, without having risen through their own development, are permeated by a spiritual being in order to become leaders of humanity. The Celtic people had quite a number of such legends. A Celtic religious founder named Habich is described as having been abandoned and suckled by heavenly cows, how enemy attacks were repelled, how the animals shrank back from him; in short, these descriptions of the dangers faced by the Celtic leader Habich are such that one could say: Some of the seven miracles of Zarathustra have been selected – as it were because Zarathustra is considered the greatest personality of this kind. Some features of the miracles of Zarathustra can be found throughout Greece and into the Celtic regions. One need only think of Romulus and Remus to have a well-known example.
This is the other way in which leaders of humanity arise. With this, we have characterized in a deeper sense what we have often considered: the two great cultural currents of the post-Atlantean era. After the great Atlantean catastrophe, one cultural current developed through Africa, Arabia, and southern Asia, the other more to the north through Europe and northern Asia toward Central Asia. There, the two streams collided. And everything that emerged from this is our post-Atlantean culture. The northern stream had leaders such as those I have just described in Zarathustra, while the southern stream had leaders such as those who appeared in their highest representation in the great Buddha.
If you now recall what we already know about the Christ event, you will say to yourselves: How does this baptism of John in the Jordan appear to us now?
Christ descends, a spiritual-divine being, as all the northern leaders and founders of worldviews, most greatly in Zarathustra, descended into a human being. It is the same process, only transferred to the greatest degree: Christ descends into a human being, but not in childhood, rather at the age of thirty, and this personality of Jesus of Nazareth is specially prepared for this. Both mysteries of human leadership are to be presented to us in synthesis, in union, in harmony with each other. And while the two evangelists Matthew and Luke prefer to depict how the human personality into which Christ descended was formed, the Gospel of Mark shows us the nature and character of the Christ being itself. The overflowing element in this great individuality is presented to us in particular by the Gospel of Mark. This is why the Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe a different story of temptation than the Gospel of Mark, because Mark depicts Christ who has entered into Jesus of Nazareth. There, the story of temptation that otherwise occurs in childhood must appear: being together with animals and helping the spiritual forces. Therefore, you can see it as a repetition of the miracles of Zarathustra when the Gospel of Mark tells us in an impressively simple way: “And the Spirit drove him into the wilderness; ... and he was with the animals, and the angels” — that is, the spiritual beings — “served him.” The Gospel of Matthew, on the other hand, describes something quite different, something that looks like a repetition of the temptation of Buddha, that is, what happens when one descends into one's own being, where all temptations and seductions approach the human soul concerned.
So we can say that Matthew and Luke describe the path that Christ took by descending into the shells he had received through Jesus of Nazareth; and the Gospel of Mark describes what Christ had to experience as a kind of story of temptation, in which he clashed with his surroundings, just as all the founders of religions have clashed who were inspired or intuitively guided by a spiritual being from above. Christ Jesus goes through both, while the earlier leaders of humanity only ever went through one. He unites the two kinds of paths into the spiritual world. This is precisely the essential point: that what previously took place in two great streams, into which various smaller ones then flowed, now flows together into a single stream.
Only from this point of view can we understand the apparent or real contradictions between the Gospels. The writer of the Gospel of Mark was initiated into such mysteries, which enabled him to describe what the temptation of Mark is: going out to the animals and receiving help from spiritual beings. Luke was initiated into the other side. Each of the writers of the Gospels described what was close to him and familiar to him. So it is different sides of the event in Palestine or the mystery of Golgotha that are presented to us in the Gospels.
From a point of view that we have not yet been able to discuss here, I wanted to show you once again how we must understand the course of human evolution and the intervention of such individualities who thus ascend from the bodhisattva to the Buddha; and how we must understand the evolution of those in whom it is not so much what they are as human beings that is important, but rather what comes down from above. Only in the figure of Christ are the two types united. Once we know this, we can understand the figure of Christ even better.
This will also help you understand why there must be certain inconsistencies in mythical personalities. When it is described that certain spiritual beings have done this or that—in relation to right or wrong and the like—as, for example, Siegfried, then one hears: But he was an initiate, wasn't he? But with such a personality through which a spiritual being works, the individual evolution—for example, of Siegfried—does not come into consideration. Siegfried can have faults. But the point is to give something to the evolution of humanity. To do this, the most suitable personality must be chosen. One cannot lump everything together; one cannot judge Siegfried in the same way as a southern leader, because their whole nature and character are different from those who descend into their own being.
So we can say that a spiritual being permeates the northern figures and pushes them out of their own nature, enabling them to ascend into the macrocosm. While in southern cultures man descends into the microcosm, in the northern cultural stream he pours himself out into the macrocosm and thus comes to recognize the entire spiritual hierarchy, as Zarathustra, for example, recognized the spiritual nature of the sun.
We can therefore summarize what has been said as follows: The mystical path, the Buddha path, leads through one's own inner being to such an extent that, with the breakthrough of one's own inner being, one enters the spiritual world. The Zarathustra path snatches human beings from the microcosm and pours them out over the macrocosm, so that its secrets become transparent. The world still has little understanding of the great spirits who are to reveal the secrets of the great world. Therefore, very little understanding is widespread, for example, about the Zarathustra being. We will see how much what we have to say about Zarathustra differs from what is commonly said about him today.
This is another digression from those who are supposed to gradually acquaint you with the essence of the Gospel of Mark.