SUGIRO USAREM A FERRAMENTA DA TRADUÇÃO DO TEXTO, À DIREITA
THE
FOUNDING OF THE ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
~ Sergei O
Prokofieff ( Part 1 )
From
everything that has been said in the previous chapters ( "The East in the
Light of the West" ) it follows once again with full clarity that Rudolf
Steiner from the outset, also within the Theosophical Society, was representing
Christian-Rosicrucian occultism alone, which sooner or later necessarily led to
conflict with the then leaders of the Theosophical Society, who increasingly
adopted an openly antichristian path.
Thus
already at the beginning of 1911, G. Arundale, a pupil of Leadbeater, with the
latter's blessing and with the active support of Annie Besant founded the new
"Order of the Rising Sun" within the Theosophical Society, which
later the same year was renamed the "Star of the East", the main aim
of which was to serve as an instrument for the preparation and publicizing of
the new Messiah.
Rudolf
Steiner, on the other hand, was at that time giving powerful Christological
lectures such as the cycle "From Jesus to Christ" ( GA 131 ), which
revealed the cosmic significance of the mystery of Christ's Resurrection,
publishing the book mentioned above, "The Spiritual Guidance of Man and
Humanity", where he writes about the participation of Zarathustra and
Gautama Buddha in the preparation of the events of Palestine in addition to
proclaiming the etheric appearance of Christ, giving lectures about Christian
Rosenkreutz's initiation in the thirteenth century and about the Christian
mission of the Maitreya Bodhisattva in the twentieth century ( GA 130 ), and at
the end of the year was beginning with the organisation of an esoteric group
which, if the necessary trials had been successfully withstood, was to take up
direct contact with Christian Rosenkreutz.
[ This was
a small group of eight pupils of the Esoteric School. The connection with
Christian Rosenkreutz was to be established in such a way that it could exist
independently of him ( Rudolf Steiner ). Rudolf Steiner had received Christian
Rosenkreutz's agreement for this. However, the initiative failed because of a
moral error of one of its members...One is struck by the unusual strictness —
almost harshness — and the extraordinary seriousness with which Rudolf Steiner
set about the undertaking of this task.
For any
moral deviation from the high purpose of this group immediately made it
impossible to continue. It is apparent here how sharply the character of the
relationship in Western esotericism to the Masters responsible differs from
that pertaining in the East: thus for example Blavatsky once went down on her
knees in front of the mahatmas and on another occasion mockingly referred to
them as "bosses" ]
As a result
of Rudolf Steiner's many-sided activity, his influence and authority within the
Theosophical Society steadily grew. Marie von Sievers, who personally took part
in the dramatic events, subsequently described the consequences as follows:
"The
Theosophical Society was alarmed. It saw the deep effect of Steiner's teaching
on souls in search of Christ. It did not want to expose its members to this, it
did not want to expose them to the danger of taking in Steiner's teachings,
thus becoming unfaithful to the orientalizing stream" ( From a forward
written in 1947 to the lecture cycle "Esoteric Christianity and the
Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz": GA 130 ). Thus the conflict was
unavoidable.
A first
symtom of the conflict was Annie Besant's sudden cancellation of the regular
Congress of the European Section of the Theosophical Society that had been
planned to take place in Bologna in the autumn of 1911. The reason for the
cancellation was obvious. For Annie Besant had intended personally to introduce
Krishnamurti to the participants as the new Messiah and the head of the
"Order of the Star of the East", whereas Rudolf Steiner wanted to
give a lecture on the true relationship of the Christ Being to Gautama Buddha
and the Maitreya Bodhisattva, with as its culmination a detailed description of
the bodhisattva sphere and its relationship to the Christ.
Despite the
cancellation of the congress, Rudolf Steiner nevertheless spoke about this
theme in Lugano and Locarno on his way to Italy, and he then gave his Bologna
lecture entitled "Buddha and Christ: The Sphere of the Bodhisattvas"
in Milan ( all three lectures are published in GA 130 ).
The
polarisation between truth and error in the central question of knowledge of
the Christ Being nevertheless intensified: for in matters of truth no
compromises are possible in modern occultism.
In spite of
everything Rudolf Steiner tried to exercise patience in 1912, though without
for a moment compromising with what were foe him the blatant errors of the
leaders of the Theosophical Society. The reason for this was that he had
received an indication from the Western masters that he should remain in the
Society for as long as possible and campaign for truth within it.
In the
esoteric lesson that he gave on 20th September 1912, Rudolf Steiner referred
directly to the circumstance that "according to the advice ( in another
set of notes from the lesson the word "judgement" in the sense of
"verdict" is used ) of the Masters we should remain in the
Theosophical Society ( lesson of 20th September 1912: GA 266/2 ). But when he
categorically refused to receive members of the "Star of the East"
into the German Section which he led, the solution took its own course.
Rudolf
Steiner subsequently described what happened next in his autobiography
"The Course of My Life": 'For the propagation of this absurdity a
special society was formed within the Theosophical Society, that of the
"Star of the East". It was utterly impossible for me and my friends
to include membership of this "Star of the East" as a branch of the
German Section, as they desired and as Annie Besant, President of the
Theosophical Society, especially intended. Since we could not do this, we were
excluded in 1913 from the Theosophical Society. We were forced to found the
Anthroposophical Society as an independent body".
For Rudolf
Steiner this exclusion from the Theosophical Society was a real liberation; for
as he himself has said, he had on three occasions been seriously confronted
with the question whether he could continue working within this Society. The
first occasion had been after the scandal around Leadbeater, the second was
after the scandal caused by the appearance of the mahatma with the dying
Olcott, and the third arose because Krishnamurti was proclaimed the new
Messiah.
The
situation worsened in the following years. First Annie Besant tried to draw
Rudolf Steiner into participating in the "Star of the East" by
suggesting that he be officially declared in this case as a reincarnation of
John the Evangelist
( Rudolf
Steiner mentioned this episode in the lecture of 19th November 1916 ).
After
Rudolf Steiner had categorically rejected this absurdity, Annie Besant resorted
to an outright lie. She explained that Rudolf Steiner, supposedly, had the
intention of going to India where, through some sort of "coup
d'état", he would seize power over the whole Society, despite the fact
that Rudolf Steiner had explained to Annie Besant personally and before
witnesses that under no circumstances did he want to, or would, work anywhere
except Central Europe
( see the
lectures of 28th March 1916 [ GA 167 ] and 18th March 1916 [ GA 174a ] ).
When even
this did not get her anywhere, she publicly called Rudolf Steiner a
"Jesuit Novice' — an absurd assertion to make about someone who in his
youth had defended Nieztsche and Haeckel ( see GA 5 and GA 30 ), and who
subsequently spoke about Jesuits and their occult practices as, for example, he
did in the first lecture of the cycle 'From Jesus to Christ" and in many
other lectures ( see for example the lecture of 2nd November 1918: GA 185 ).
However, it
is clearly apparent from what has already been said that this campaign of lies
and slander unleashed by Annie Besant actually had an altogether different
foundation and can be traced back to the desperate efforts on the part of
Eastern occultism to suppress Western occultism by discrediting its principal
representative, a method which the Jesuits themselves used several times in
their embittered struggle against anthroposophy ( see for example the lecture
of 31st December 1919: GA 195 ).
Rudolf
Steiner's exclusion from the Theosophical Society did not disturb the rhythm of
his work for a moment and brought about hardly any change in his work as such.
In place of the German Section an independent free Anthroposophical Society was
founded, whose task it was to bring anthroposophy into the world as modern
teaching of the wisdom of esoteric Christianity. Rudolf Steiner subsequently
described this as follows:
"They
( anthroposophists ) didn't mind being excluded from the Theosophical Society
because it didn't change anthroposopy in any way. I myself had never presented
anything but anthroposophy to those interested in hearing about it, and that
includes the period during which anthroposophy was outwardly included within
the Theosophical Society" ( Lecture 6th February 1923: GA 257 ).
Thus in his
article "The Mission of Spiritual Science and of its Building in
Dornach" Rudolf Steiner could say with complete justice: "I now wish
to say something about the development of our Anthroposophical Society, because
errors have been circulated on the subject. For instance, it is said that our
Anthroposophical Society is only a kind of development out what is called the
"Theosophical Society". Although it is true that what we aim at
within our Anthroposophical Society found its place for a time within the
framework of the general Theosophical Society, yet our Anthroposophical Society
must on no account be confused with the Theosophical Society".
For that
which now forms the substance of our anthroposophical view of the world, as
studied in our circle of members, is not borrowed from the Theosophical Society
but was represented by me as something entirely independent which — as a result
of that Society's invitation — took place within it, until it was found
heretical and was "shown the door"...Thus it is an entirely erroneous
conception to confuse in any way what is living within the Anthroposophical
Society with what is represented by Blavatsky and Besant"
( see
"Approaches to Anthroposophy": lecture of 11th January 1916 ).
Marie von
Sievers, co-founder of the independent Anthroposophical Society, herself
recalled:
"At
Christmas 1912 there took place in Cologne the first official union of those
supporters of a theosophical outlook who were not minded to disappear into a
dogmatic Indian stream but – on the basis of the achievements of the cultural
life of modern times and the radical new impulse that was given to earthly
evolution by the Christ event – could only recognise a spiritual schooling for
the West which is appropriate for the developmental conditions of present-day
European humanity' ( From the forward to the first [ 1932 ] edition of Rudolf
Steiner's lecture cycle "The Bhagavad-Gita and the Epistles of
St.Paul" ).
Rudolf
Steiner choose as the theme of his lectures for this founding conference
"The Bhagavad-Gita and the Epistles of St.Paul" ( GA 142 ). In this
cycle of five lectures he dwelt at some length upon the spiritual content of
this great Indian poem, which is a synthesis of the three oldest Eastern
streams of Vedanta, Yoga and Sankya and altogether represents "the highest
flower of an age that was passing away".
The
description of the mysteries of Krishna and of his further evolution formed
without doubt the high point of the entire cycle. Thus in the last lecture of
the cycle in 1st January 1913 Rudolf Steiner for the first time referred to his
sole, completely earthly incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth ( Nathan Jesus ), the
future bearer of the Sun Logos, the Christ, on earth:
"For
this reason precisely this lecture cycle has been placed at the starting point
of this anthroposophical movement ( Society ): for it can furnish the proof
that in anthroposophy we are not dealing with something narrow but through our
movement we are able to extend our horizon beyond those bounds which Eastern
thinking is capable of fathoming" ( Lecture 31st December 1912: GA 142 ).
The laying
of the foundation stone of the "Johannes-Bau" ( Goetheanum ) on 20th
September 1913 in Dornach, representing the first outwardly visible Rosicrucian
temple of modern times, was among the most significant events of 1913 [ The
building of the first Goetheanum was preceeded by the construction of a much
smaller temple that was made in Malsch as a model, where it still exists today
].
In this
year, too, Rudolf Steiner spoke for the first time about the cosmic preliminary
stages of the Mystery of Golgotha, and he also began to give indications from
the "Fifth Gospel", that is, a description of the earthly life of
Christ Jesus as preserved in the spiritual worlds in the Akashic Record ( All
the lectures on the content of the "Fifth Gospel" were brought
together in GA 148 ).
In this
present book it is particularly important to consider one episode of the
earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth from the Fifth Gospel. According to the
Akashic Record, from his twenty-fourth year onwards Jesus began for a while to
approach the Essene Order and even attended its meetings without, however,
becoming a member of it. After one of his visits to the Essenes, Gautama Buddha
appeared to him in the spirit and said to him in a conversation in the spirit
that Rudolf Steiner recounted in these words:
"If my
teaching, as it actually is, were ti be led to full fruition, then all human
beings would lead the life of the Essenes . But that cannot be. That was the
error of my teaching. For on the path that I have given to humanity, not all
human beings can have a relationship with the divine-spiritual world" (
Lectures 4th October and 4th November 1913: GA 148 ).
[ From a
karmic, occult point of view, this supersensible encounter was brought about by
the fact that Gautama had already been a pupil of Krishna while still a
bodhisattva in previous incarnations, with the result that — after he had
attained Buddhahood in the sixth century B.C. — he was able to show human
beings the path leading back to that higher world ( before the Fall ) of which
and from which Krishna had spoken several millennia before ( see GA 139, 19th
September 1912 ) ].
In other
words, this was an indication from Gautama himself that in place of the
principle of liberation for a few chosen ones that he had brought into the
world there was to come the other principle of resurrection attainable to
everyone. For the principle of liberation leads mankind back into the past,
back to the lost paradise to that state before the Fall towards which the
Essenes aspired — though at the cost of the rest of humanity – and which Jesus
of Nazareth brought again to the earth.
The
principle of a general resurrects, on the other hand, which came to the world
through the union of the Christ descending from the sun with Jesus, and through
Christ Jesus' deed in passing through death and Resurrection on Golgotha, is
wholly of the future and directed towards the events described in the Book of
Revelation, as Rudolf Steiner explained at some length in the lecture cycle
devoted to a spiritual-scientific study of the Revelation of St John ( GA 104:
"The Apocalypse of St.John ).
It was to
this need for a complete reorientation of mankind from the past to the future
that Gautama Buddha referred during his conservation with Jesus of Nazareth
from the spiritual world. And the "error" in Buddha's teaching
referred to was corrected in its entirety when the Buddha himself, in
accordance with Christian Rosenkreutz's summons, transferred his field of
activity to Mars in 1604 and, in imitation of Christ, fulfilled something of
the nature of a minor Mystery of Golgotha.
Through
this he has achieved since then the possibility of exerting an influence from
the Mars sphere upon the souls of all human beings who are passing through this
sphere between two earthly incarnations, a deed which he carries out for the
healing of earthly evolution and in the name of fulfilling 'the intentions of
the living Christ". "Thus Gautama Buddha, now working from Mars, is
one of the great servants of Christ Jesus" ( Lecture 18th December 1912:
GA 130 ).
In
conclusion, a further theme from this year also needs to be considered. From
1913 onwards it ran in all subsequent years like a golden thread through Rudolf
Steiner's spiritual -scientific research and culminated in the final years of
his earthly life. It is the theme of how the Archangel Michael, the Countenance
of Christ, the most significant servant of Christ in the spiritual worlds who
on exoteric Christianity is venerated as the archstrategist and leader of the
heavenly hosts, became in 1879 the Time Spirit of our epoch, and it includes
his participation in preparing for Christ's Second Coming in the etheric body.
In his
lecture from May 1913 in London and Stuttgart ( Lectures of 2nd, the 18th and
the 20th May 1913: GA 152 ), Rudolf Steiner spoke for the first time concretely
and at length about the heavenly mission of Michael as the leading Archangel
and highest inspirer of the new, cosmic Christianity in our time. Michael it
was who in pre-Christian times from the spiritual worlds prepared the descent
of the Sun Logos to the earth and the Mystery of Golgotha, in order in our
time, with the beginning of the present epoch of his rulership over humanity,
to endow mankind with the new spiritual light, the light that leads to a true
knowledge of the Christ events:
[ According
to the teaching of esoteric Christianity – which has been confirmed and
verified by modern spiritual research — seven Archangels which succeed one
another lead mankind and the highest of these is the Archangel Michael ]
"Michael
can give us new spiritual light which may be regarded as as a transformation of
the light that was given through the Mystery of Golgotha, and human beings
today can receive that light" ( Lecture 2nd May 1913: GA 152 )
said Rudolf
Steiner.
The initial
manifestation of this light is the modern spiritual knowledge which has come to
humanity in the form of spiritual science or anthroposophy and which is
oriented towards knowledge of the Christ. Thus Michael, the great cosmic
servant and emissary of Christ, sends human beings today "increasing
spiritual revelations that will shed more and more light upon the Mystery of
Golgotha" with the help of "spiritual knowledge, our gift from
Michael" ( Ibid )
* * * * * * *
THE FOUNDING OF THE ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
~ Sergei O Prokofieff ( Part 2 )
...Regarding Rudolf Steiner's to Michael, the following can be said about it. In the course of his initiation process, whose starting-point was his meeting with Christian Rosenkreutz ( the meeting took place in Vienna at the beginning of the 1888's, that is, immediately after the beginning of the present Michael epoch ) — an event which for Rudolf Steiner was associated with the beginning of a
conscious mastery of the world of imaginations and culminated in an encounter with Christ in Intuition — Rudolf Steiner also necessarily had to pass through the realm of inspirations in order there to meet face to face with the spiritual leader of the present epoch, the "Countenance of Christ", Michael. For in our time the fully conscious path to Christ is through the Michael sphere.
It was Christian Rosenkreutz who showed Rudolf Steiner this path of spiritual development. For it had always been the innermost striving of true Rosicrucians to encounter Michael in the spiritual worlds, in order then to become his servant on earth and thus rightly prepare the future epoch of his leadership of earthly evolution"
"True Rosicrucianism lies absolutely in the line of activity of the Michael mission. It helped Michael to prepare on earth the spirit-work he wished to prepare for a later age" ( Letter of 6th December 1924: "Hindrances and Helps to the Michael Forces in the Dawn of the Age of the Consciousness Soul": GA 26 ).
Before the beginning of the modern epoch of Michael's rulership and during its preparation, however, true Rosicrucians were only able to encounter Michael in a dim, dreamy state of consciousness. Encountering him in full consciousness became possible only with the beginning of this epoch, that is, since the year 1879:
"The old Rosicrucian movement is characterised by the fact that its most illumined spirits had an intense longing to meet Michael ( in the spiritual world );
but they could only do so, as it were, in a dreamy state. Since the end of the last third of the nineteenth century, human beings can meet Michael in the Spirit, in a fully conscious way" ( Lecture 13th January 1924: GA 233 ).
One of the first who was worthy of such a meeting was Rudolf Steiner's. By following the spiritual path indicated by his teacher, he had necessarily sooner or later to arrive at such a conscious encounter with Michael in the spiritual world bordering on the earth, a world which at that time was seperated from the world of human beings only by a thin veil. Only at the end of his life, less than a year before his death, did Rudolf Steiner refer on one occasion to this first encounter with Michael, which he had in the period between his thirtieth and thirty-first years:
"Behind a veil separating the physical world from the adjoining spiritual domain there were momentous happenings, grouped around the spirit-being whom we call Michael...but there were also mighty demonic powers, who under the sway of ahrimanic influences set themselves in rebellion against what was taking place in this world behind the veil, in this sphere of Michael's activity" ( Lecture 12th August 1924: GA 240 ).
And what was taking place was what Rudolf Steiner later described in ten lectures as Michael's battle with the ahrimanic dragon. The aim of this battle was to free the path whereby the Etheric Christ was to approach mankind from the ahrimanic powers" (See the lectures of 9th November 1914 [ GA 158 ]: 14th October 1917 [ GA 177 ]; and the lecture of 28th March 1913 [ GA 145 ] ).
What has just been said makes it easier to understand from what source Rudolf Steiner derived his knowledge about the influence of the forces of evil in the world. This lay in his understanding that, just as the revealing of the mysteries of death is associated with the Mystery of Golgotha and their overcoming with the Resurrection of Christ, so was the revelation to humanity of the mystery of evil connected with Christ's etheric manifestation and the gradual overcoming of evil with the powers of goodness in a truly Michaelic sense ( that is, with the help of spiritual powers bestowed by Michael : GA 185 )
For these two factors — the true knowledge of evil through the etheric appearance of Christ ( only the brightest light makes the darkest shadows visible ) and also the path of the overcoming of evil, which Michael makes manifest to humanity through his gifts of anthroposophy – form the occult foundation of Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific research concerning the various categories of the powers of evil and their influence within man in earthly history and in the cosmos.
Hence not merely in dozens but in many hundreds of lectures – and, moreover, in a very concise and concrete way — Rudolf Steiner characterised the aims of the opposing powers and the nature of their influence, Illuminating them with the light of Michael-Christ and making their most secret intentions visible. For every human being today must – if he is to find his path into the future in the sense of the "intentions of the living Christ" — know the aims and the manner of influence of the principal categories of Christ's adversaries, the aims of Lucifer, Ahriman and the Asuras (Lecture 22nd March 1909 [ GA 107 ] ) together with the chief opponent of Christ in our cosmos standing behind and inspiring them, the Sun Demon Sorath, whom the Book of Revelation portrays as the beast with the number 666. In this sense, knowledge about them is a first and extraordinarily importance step on the path towards their overcoming, for the influence of the powers of evil in the world is the stronger if only a few people know of their existence.
There is truly nothing in the modern world to compare with what Rudolf Steiner accomplished in this realm and — as one can indeed say — accomplished on behalf of Michael-Christ. This becomes especially clear if one compares the results of his spiritual research with what traditional Easter teachings of the Eastern mahatmas — in so far as they are contained in their own letters or in the works of Blavatsky, Besant, Roerich, Alice Bailey and others — are able to say about the source of evil in the world .
[ In this connection the letter from Kut Humi ( who is actually an imposter "assuming the mask of an Mahatma" ) mentioned earlier is especially characteristic, in that he states that one third of the evil on our planet derives from man's egotism and self-love and the other two thirds from the religions now existing in the world ( above all the Christian religion ) ].
Despite the deep insights into the theme of evil to be found in anthroposophy, this theme is by no means it'd most important one. What is most important in anthroposophy was and is Christian-Rosicrucian wisdom ( of which only a part concerns knowledge of evil ) in the light that is given today to mankind by Michael. From this follows Rudolf Steiner's mission, which he began directly to bring to realisation only in the last years of his life: the union in the new Christian mysteries of esoteric Christianity, which has been cultivated for centuries in the circles of true Rosicrucians ( and also among Grail knights, Templars and several other streams ), with cosmic Christianity, as represented in the spiritual worlds by the Sun Archangel, Michael.
As already said, Rosicrucianism and above all its leading Masters, aspired towards this synthesis. Its realisation was, however, possible only in the twentieth century after the beginning of the new Michael epoch ( 1879 ), the end of the dark age of Kali Yuga ( 1899 ) and the beginning of Christ's Second Coming in the etheric ( 1909 ). The task of bringing about this union was given by Christian Rosenkreutz himself to Rudolf Steiner, the great Christian initiate working publicly in the twentieth century.
Rudolf Steiner laid the spiritual foundation stone of the new Christian mysteries at the Christmas Conference of 1923/24, in which — as he himself testified — Christian Rosenkreutz and his hosts of teachers and pupils participated. However, the first step in actually bringing these mysteries to realisation was the founding of the of the esoteric Michael School on this foundation stone.
[ Regarding the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum, which is in an esoteric sense is the Michael School on the earth, see the introduction to the lecture of 18th July 1924 ( GA 240 ) and also in GA 260a ].
The Foundation Stone Meditation given by Rudolf Steiner at the Christmas Conference, which represents a kind of quintessence of the entirety of anthroposophical wisdom, is a mantric testimony of the union between the Michael stream and the true Rosicrucian stream, of these two principal bearers of cosmic and earthly Christianity. It contains the highest union of the ninefold heavenly Hierarchies, whose representative and messenger to earthly human beings is the archstrategist Michael, with the threw Rosicrucian sayings, which bring to expression the essential nature of esoteric Christianity:
Ex Deo nascimur
In Christo morimur
Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus
This union became possible only through the spiritual-scientific knowledge of the threefoldness of the being of man, who, out of his higher ego, himself thrice calls upon his soul in the new mysteries to turn to the "day-radiant light", to Michael, who opens to it the path to the "Sun of Christ" spoken of in the last part of the Foundation Stone Meditation.
O Light Divine
O Sun of Christ,
Warm thou are hearts
Enlighten thou our heads
That good may become.
What from our hearts we would found
And from our hearts direct
With single purpose.
***********
