The
change in Rudolf Steiner’s style can also be seen in that his lectures
have fewer revelations per lecture, but they are all thoroughly thought
through, and neatly linked with each other. The material seems not only
prepared, but rounded off, put in a box, wrapped and tied up with
string. Some will see this as an advance, of course, as his mental
capacities grew. The suspicion could also however arise that maybe they
were just thought out--invented, rather than clairvoyantly
observed. Some seem just too strained and ingenious for words.
He does say that anthroposophy’s difference from earlier
teachings is that he has worked to put the clairvoyant
observations into concept form. The fact that they can be made to work
does show the inherent lawfulness in the cosmos, but they could often
also be structured into quite different concepts. And the overall
effect is that the anthroposophist is led more and more into seeing this
mental elaboration as an end in itself. He can spend decades of his
life learning more and more about these details, and thus be distracted
more and more away from what is essential.
What is essential? Not the buildup of more and more
elaborate concepts, no matter how subtle and “spiritual”, because these
can in fact just help make stronger the individual’s prison of the
separate self. And the way Steiner describes and emphasizes the ego
increases that hazard. Rather it is liberation--the opening of the
heart and the enlightenment of a clear but uncluttered mind. From this
will follow everything else.
The hardest part for loyal followers to accept initially
will be the idea that Dr. Steiner was consciously lying to them.
Ironically, he was at the same time building up a wonderful and unique
work in education, in medicine, agriculture, the arts and other fields.
How could he however justify lying about something as important as the
incarnation of Christ?
Maybe he realized early on that he was in a fix and wished
he could see a way out. Does it not seem odd for instance that he says
that the Gospel of Matthew basically was written before the
events it portrays, as an initiation story, hence its emphasis on
fulfilling prophecies?[xxviii]
Could it be that he was thereby giving a hint to the perceptive listener
that this whole physical Incarnation story was what H.P.B. would have
called a “blind”? Then he later abandoned this tack and decided to “run
with it”?
H.P.B. freely admitted that her Secret Doctrine was
full of blinds, but would say no more.
Actually, Steiner’s version of history, including the
significance in it of the incarnation of Christ, rather than coming from
his clairvoyance, is straight from Hegel. Thus Rudolf Steiner was
partially correct in saying he came from Western rather than Eastern
traditions, but that does not in itself make the statements true.
Certainly one can see there the precedent for his obsession with making
everything fit into a logical pattern.
Real Christianity needs to be rescued. One helpful step
towards this would be to drop the link with the Hebrew Old Testament and
instead see as its rightful predecessor the teachings of ancient Egypt.
Once one gets past the unfamiliar terminology, one can discover teaching
that is refreshingly clean, free of the oppressive sense of guilt found
in the former, and yet with a very high ethical standard—contrary to
implications by Steiner.
There are many hints that this link is a real one. The
Christian mass is taken from an Egyptian ritual of white magic. The
pope’s tiara is a copy of the pharaoh’s crown with its two parts,
symbolizing the uniting of Upper and Lower Egypt. And so on.
The
emphasis then can fall where it belongs—on realizing the Christ within,
the living Logos, or enlightenment, without dragging around all the Old
Testament baggage. One can still be inspired by the story of Jesus’
life and sayings.
Just
as H.P.B. was opening up again to the West the knowledge of the
universal Way of Initiation, Steiner stepped in and tied it down again
to the pseudo-historical, “only Son of God” idea. Whether
well-intentioned or not at first, his movement of anthroposophy
progressively became a web of slanders and lies, thus turning it into a
sect, and shutting off for many--especially in Europe—their access to
universal theosophy.
The
world is being torn apart at present by the followers of warring
religions, all at each other’s throats. The Impersonators, the
so-called “gods” behind them, know that the time is over for such
religions, and that their time is short. Hence their present heightened
fury. The Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. around the world will never
agree to come together under a compulsory acceptance of a unique
historical incarnation. But something is needed to form a common
ground.
It is
a pity that all the wonderful practical techniques Steiner gave for
Waldorf education, biodynamic farming, medicine, the arts, social
reform, etc. are saddled with this flawed theology behind them. One
should rescue what is good in them and move on.
Humanity urgently needs to recognize that we are all one,
and that this is no mere metaphor. Then genuine love for all our fellow
human beings, along with thanksgiving and love for the One Source of it
all, could begin to flower on earth, and lead to a life worthy of a
human being.
Above material excerpted
from a forthcoming book by
Alexander Blair-Ewart and Graham H. Jackson
Only
Spiritual Realists can comment:
Read
