FROM SLAVES TO MASTERS A whole army of slaves worked at the building of the Pyramids of Egypt, in a way of which the modern man can have no inkling. Every slave realised: ‘This present life of mine is only one among many lives. I shall have many lives on this Earth. And just as somebody is in command where I am now a slave, so I myself shall one day be in command.’ And so life was bearable for such human beings. They understood Karma. They knew that if they suffered, they had previously laid the basis for this suffering. They knew they were visitors on the Earth and this produced in them quite a different consciousness of and attitude to culture and civilisation. But this state of things could not remain, for human beings have quite another task. We must not be mere visitor’s on the Earth, but transform the Earth, spiritualise everything material; we must work the spirit into the Earth. Everything that we do to the Earth we do to the Godhead — no matter what we accomplish. Everything is part of one great chain. We are the messengers of the Godhead, and the Earth must one day pass into a Golden Age, must become a Paradise. In free, creative activity men must transform the Earth. But on the Earth, man had to be prepared for this task. To begin with, this was done by directing his gaze upwards to the Heavens. It was necessary, then, for an age to come when he realised the importance of material existence, the importance of every form of manual work and labour. What seems, now, to be trifling, will one day be of importance on another plane. REINCARNATION KNOWLEDGE WITHHELD.. Christianity was intended to be an education. The trend was that, first of all, the minds of men should be diverted from the Spiritual and such importance attached to the things of the Earth that, for two thousand years, thought should be directed away from the Spiritual. Thus there was an era during which the spiritual receded into the background. Men forgot their connection with the Spiritual, but consciousness of it had to be preserved. To that end Christ came to the Earth and in the scene of the Transfiguration He bade his disciples say nothing of Reincarnation. (Matt. chap. 17, verses 1–13). Christ said Elias has come again and men have not known him. To the Disciples, Christ here set forth the doctrine of reincarnation but charged them not to speak of it until he should come again. For two thousand years humanity has entered more and more deeply into the material world — and Christ was their Leader. But now and henceforth man is called upon to experience the Christ within himself. The occultist knows the truth of the words: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” This always means the end of a current age and the beginning of a new. The time will come when everyone will know in quite another light, what the Christ is, in reality. The Christ will appear on the Earth again in Glory and then the second chapter of Christianity will begin. The ‘New Gospel’ will begin — the ‘New Gospel’ being that of St. John. A true understanding of the old gospels — that is the John Gospel. Materialistic science was responsible for the story of the “simple man of Nazareth.” The theologians set about giving a purely materialistic interpretation of the events in Palestine, from their standpoint of liberalism. Materialism was a necessary phenomenon, but it is misunderstood, and theology itself became tainted with this misunderstanding. A new understanding of Christianity will awaken and man must consciously go forward to a future full of light, to a time when power will not menace, a new civilisation, when the spirit of the Initiates will pour over the souls of men and bring a new age to birth. Not only are we led physically and spiritually towards this age, but we cannot remain in lethargy: the last moment has come. NEURASTHENIA "World history is connected with the spiritual world. To-day there is a disease which is the disease of diseases. — We call it Neurasthenia. In earlier times it was unknown, in its present form. If nothing else is able to make the immature consciousness of our era realise the great dangers lying in materialism, the prevalent nervous conditions should be able to do so. Even a century ago, a person who could work his muscles well was called “nervous.” But now, something new has appeared, namely, a sensitivity which reaches as far as the outer senses. Materialism has brought us to this point. Materialism in the outer world has its counterpart in nervous conditions and to the extent to which striving after material things prevails, to that extent will human beings ruin their nerves still further. Baron Rothschild who has just died in Vienna, was a typical example or this. He left 20 millions for the endowment of an institute for those suffering from nervous diseases. A sick man himself, he accumulated this sum in the course of his life. He entered this life with ruined nerves and passed out of it in the same condition. The chasing and hurrying and thinking merely of material things is connected, irrevocably, with ruination and destruction of the nervous system. The 20 millions were to be devoted to the care of neurasthenics — the sign of the ruination of the nervous system. The occultist knows of this deep relationship between the Spiritual and outer physical life, but people in general and, above all, modern doctors, have no such knowledge. Nevertheless we know that, in time, the truth will come to light. If we do not want this materialistic mentality to ruin the physical constitution too, then we must begin again to lay hold of the spiritual life. The fact that there are many to-day who no longer want to have anything to do with penetration into the depths of the mystical writings of Christianity, will bring its own revenge. Another dawn would light up in our age if the Christian Churches had a better understanding of what Christianity is. Our age, too, is inscribed in the book of the Bible in mighty hieroglyphs. Who betrayed the Christ? He who had the 30 pieces of silver, he who is the representative of material possessions. At the beginning of the Christian era, the Divine Spirit descended. The Christ came to heal this vale of Earth and those who do not think that they themselves are called upon to assist in bringing a different age to birth, violate their deepest responsibility. For 2000 years man had to be educated. Judas of Kariot was destined to bring the sacrifice, to deliver up the Christ to the material forces of existence, Because humanity followed the 30 pieces of silver, Christ vanished — passed away to the astral plane. The task of Christianity through 2000 years is pictured in the betrayal by Judas. But a different task stands before Christianity to-day. We have only to place ourselves again at the portals through which resound the words spoken at that time to the Apostles. The true form of Christianity to-day is called Theosophy [ Anthroposophy ] and it is a false Christianity which disavows Theosophy [ Anthroposophy ]." (from Lectures On Gospel of St John )
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 09:34:47 +0000
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