Continued from last week



This situation also drew the veil over the great simplicity of Divine Truth for the founders of
churches and religions, preventing any possibility of proper understanding.
Mankind could not have burdened themselves with anything more terrible than this voluntary
limitation, this incapacity to perceive anything that lies beyond the earth, which is by far the greater part
of all happenings. However, as a consequence, these happenings literally lie above their so limited
horizon.
Now let anyone try to fight against the impenetrability of this wall. He would very soon have to
realize the truth of the poet’s words that the gods themselves fight in vain against stupidity!
This tough wall can only be penetrated by the individual himself from within, for it was built up from
within. But they do not wish to do so!
Therefore there is failure everywhere today. A picture of desolate confusion and much distress
wherever one looks!
And on top of this pile of ruins there stands, hollow and puffed up with pride, the author of all this
wild confusion... “modern man” as he likes best to describe himself. The “progressive” who in reality has
constantly retrogressed! Expecting to be admired he even calls himself a “sober materialist.” —
One’s head aches and disgust wells up when one experiences all this, when one sees so much that is
good also go down, which, in the right environment, would have flourished. And when one sees so many
others suffer under all of this, then a fervent prayer forms: “Lord. You put an end to it! We cannot do it!”
Added to this are the many schisms and the ever-increasing hatred toward one another, despite the
uniformity of their voluntary enslavement! Neither employer nor employee, neither capital nor lack of it
are to blame,nor church or state or the different nations, but the wrong attitude of the individual alone has
brought about the present state of affairs!
Even so-called seekers for the Truth are now seldom on the right road. Nine-tenths of them turn into
nothing but Pharisees who look arrogantly down upon their fellow-men and criticize them, while at the
same time quarrelling among themselves. Everything is wrong! First of all there must come the inevitable
fulfillment of a dreadful end before some few can awaken out of their sleep.
As yet reversal is still possible. For everyone! But soon there will come a final “too late” for all time,
contrary to the hopes of so many believers who favor the erroneous view that depending on the individual
a more or less extended process of purification is necessary, but that in the end his path must lead back to
the Light again, to eternal joy and to the bliss of the nearness of God!
This thought is an agreeable consolation, but it is not correct and does not correspond to the Truth. —
Let us once again calmly and clearly, but in broad outline, survey the great development of Creation
and of man who belongs to it. In so doing bear in mind the Primordial Law of Homogeneous Species
which I have often explained, with all it embraces in the way of immutable and necessary consequences
in every happening:
Being heaviest, the World of Matter moves along like a large field in a gigantic cycle at the lowest
edge of the entire Creation. There, beginning with the primordial seed, all is in constant motion,
perpetually developing, increasingly combining and forming, right up to the globes visible to us, to which
the earth belongs. In this way maturing towards full blossom and towards the fruit to which our present
time corresponds, then automatically decaying in the subsequent stage of over ripeness, according to the
Laws of Creation, and to dissolve again back into primordial seed, which will continually receive the
opportunity of entering into fresh combinations and new forms. —
Such is the overall picture viewed calmly from On High.
Matter as such is nothing but the substance used to create forms or coverings, and comes to life only
when it is penetrated by the non-material animistic substantiality in the sphere above it and set aglow by
this bonding.
This bonding of matter with non-material animistic substantiality provides the basis for further
development. All animal souls are formed out of animistic substantiality.
Above the two basic segments, that of matter and that of animistic substantiality, there also lies, as the highest segment of Creation, the spiritual one. This is a Creation substance by itself, as my readers
already know. From this spiritual substantiality issue the seed-germs which are intent on developing into
self-conscious human spirits.
Only in the field of matter can such a seed-germ of the spirit develop into a self-conscious human
spirit, much the same as a corn seed in the soil of a field will grow into a ripe ear of corn.
Its entry into the field of material substance, however, is not possible until the latter has reached a
certain stage of development suitable to the condition of the spiritual which ranks highest in the entire
Creation.
That is the time in which Creation produces the most highly developed animal body, after which
further enhancement through an animal soul issuing from animistic substantiality is no longer possible.
A likeness, a repetition of this great cosmic happening, is continually provided later on for example
by the earthly birth of the human soul. Indeed, the entire cosmic happening is reflected in man who is the
crown of Creation, and thus the highest created being. The human soul, too, can enter the child’s body
developing in its mother's womb only when this body has reached a certain stage of maturity, not before.
In fact it is only the requisite stage of development as such which opens the way for the soul to enter. This
moment lies in the middle of pregnancy.
Thus in the great cycle of cosmic events the time of the highest development of the animal body also
falls in the middle, i.e., midway in the cycle of all matter! Let the reader mark this closely.
Because at that point the animistic substantiality of the animal soul had reached the highest point in
the development of the physical, this condition automatically opened the way for the entrance of the
spiritual standing above it!
Being the lowest of its spiritual species, the spirit germ could only enter into the highest masterwork
of the lower animistic substantiality, i.e., into the animal body it had developed most highly.
Due to its higher nature the spirit naturally takes over all control immediately upon entering, and can
henceforth lead the body it inhabits, as well as its entire earthly environment further along the road of
development, something which animistic substantiality would have been unable to accomplish. In this
process the spirit itself naturally develops simultaneously.
This is a cursory sketch of the activity within Creation, the exact details of which I shall give in later
lectures, right down to the most minute parts.
We belong to the very first part of this ring of materiality; stand first in the foreground at the top of its
cycle. There was nothing of a similar nature before us, but after us it will continue into eternity.
Thus, the part to which we belong experiences all happenings for the first time, ahead of all others.
The reason why the earth plays such an exceptionally important role is because, being the most mature of
the gross-material bodies in the universe, all of the decisive world events have to take place upon it.
Thus what we are experiencing now and what lies ahead for us is not a repetition. It is by no means
something that has ever happened in world events before! —
Let us return to the first entry of the human spirit-germs into this World of Matter, i.e., the midway
point in the cycle of the World of Matter. The most highly developed animals of that time, which are
today erroneously described as Primeval Men, became extinct. Only those bodies among them were
developed towards ennoblement into which spirit-germs had entered instead of animistic animal souls.
The spirit-germs in them matured through varied experiences, raised the animal body to the human body
as we know it, and separated themselves into races and nations. – The great Fall of Man lay behind them.
It was the first act involving a voluntary decision after the spirit-germs had become self-conscious, and
was caused by their placing the intellect above the spirit, which in turn caused hereditary sin and very
soon had the grave consequences of making the hollow fruits of the dominating intellect become clearly
and easily recognizable. Hereditary sin is the one-sided development of the brain through the exaggerated
activity of the intellect, which as such is continually passed on as inheritance. I have often mentioned this
fact *(Lecture Nr. 9: Hereditary Sin) and shall in due course speak about it in much greater detail. Hopefully,
men will come forward who, following the direction shown them, will be able to help joyfully with the
great work of enlightenment.
Inexorably the great cosmic cycle continued on its course. But erring mankind brought standstill and
confusion into the necessary progress. In the midst of this turmoil the Jewish people came under the well-
known cruel scourge of the Egyptians. Their tribulation and great longing for liberation hastened the
maturing of their souls. Thus they surpassed all others spiritually, because this strong, non-sexual
emotional upheaval enabled them to first of all look into themselves, and also look into the souls of their
oppressors! After they had clearly perceived that neither anything earthly nor the keenest cleverness of
the intellect could help any longer, whereby they also recognized the emptiness of their own souls, their
spiritual eye learned to see more keenly, and gradually there arose at last a conception of the actual
Godhead, truer and higher than any they had had before. And their anguished prayers rose up again with
much greater fervor.
Through this the Jewish people became the chosen people who preceded all other peoples spiritually,
because for their time they possessed the purest conception of Divinity. As far as it was possible at that
time considering the existing maturity of the human soul.
Please do not confuse maturity of the spirit with knowledge acquired by learning, but you must
always bear in mind that being spiritual is the same as being soulful!
It was the advanced spiritual maturity of the Jews at that time which enabled them to receive through
Moses the Will of God clearly expressed in the form of laws, which constituted the greatest treasure and
the best and most powerful support for further development.
Just as world happenings will quite naturally always concentrate only on the point of highest
maturity, so they gradually came to focus at that time upon the spiritually more and more maturing human
race of the Jews. —
Here again though, world events must not be confused with earthly world history, which is far
removed from actual world events and most often only reflects the effects of the so often wrongly applied
free will of the human spirit which always casts many stones into the actual happening, thereby often
producing temporary distortions and earthly confusion.
The Jewish people of that time were ahead of the others in their religious cult and their world view
therefore stood closest to the Truth.
The natural consequence was that in accordance with the Law of Reciprocal Action the annunciation
of an incarnation out of the Light had to come only upon this road which, being the most correct one,
could lead to the closest proximity of Truth. Through their greater distance from the Truth all the other
roads were closed to such a possibility, because they were lost in errors.
Again, in conformity with the Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species, so absolutely necessary
for any activity, it was not possible for a Bringer of Truth from the Light to incarnate using any road other
than that road which lies closest to the Truth, and most closely resembles it. Only this provides the
necessary support and attraction, whereas erroneous views repel and directly close the road upon which
the Light might come and enter.
Here too The Law of Reciprocal Action and the Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species must
inevitably become fully effective. The Primordial Laws either open or close a road in their constant and
consistent effects.
At the same time this circumstance automatically offers proof that the people among whom Christ, as
the great bringer of Truth was incarnated, had to have the purest conception about the Divine and its
activity, that all the other religions of that time did not come as close to the Truth. Thus Buddhism for
example did not and does not stand as close to the Truth, but goes astray in many ways. For the laws in
Creation do not mislead. On calm reflection anyone will come onto the right track and will no longer need
to waver. —
When in the course of time the Jews again allowed the intellect to dominate in their religion, breeding
dishonest ambitiousness, the heavy hand of the Romans helped to keep a small group in the right
recognition, so that the Word could be fulfilled.