Introduction to the Basics of Theosophy

GA 111 — 7 March 1908, Amsterdam

XX. Esoteric Christianity

I do not teach, I only relate my experiences in higher realms; for an occultist there are no dogmas. The basic tenets of different religions are partial truths that view one truth from different points of view. Just as one gets different views of the surroundings from different heights when climbing a mountain and only when one has reached the summit does one get an overview of the whole area, so one only gets the whole truth when one has reached the top of spiritual development. The exoteric religions give only part of the truth, as far as the human brain can grasp it. The esoteric teachings of the great world religions, including Christianity, indicate one of the paths to the pinnacle of truth. The Christian doctrine was never meant to be anything other than an impulse for the future development of humanity. In the early centuries of Christianity, what had already become exoteric in the older religions and philosophical systems was given as esoteric teaching.

I do not propose here to give a history of Christianity, only to speak of the esoteric teaching that underlay exoteric Christianity for centuries and still exists today. Christian esotericism can be traced back to Dionysius, the friend and collaborator of Paul, who ran an esoteric school in Athens where instruction was only given orally. The writings of Pseudo-Dionysius contain only exoteric teachings. The Mysteries of Jesus, in which the Master Jesus appeared as a hierophant and in which the Christian initiation took place, remained in existence for centuries, guided and animated by him.

The Christian mysteries were mainly intended to develop the inner life of feeling, while the ancient mysteries were mainly based on the development of knowledge and wisdom. Through the development of the inner life of feeling, the Christian mysteries achieved a direct vision of the higher worlds. To do this, certain feelings had to be developed in the disciple.

First: Christian humility. The disciple had to become clearly aware that his existence is dependent on the lower realms. Just as the plant arises from the earth, the animal feeds on the plant, so man is dependent for his material development on animal, plant and inorganic substances. The disciple had to bow down in humility to the animal, plant and mineral and say to each of them: “I thank you for making my existence possible.” When this feeling of Christian humility came alive in him, a state of consciousness arose in him that is symbolically represented by Christ washing the feet of the twelve apostles, as described by John (chapter 13).

Secondly, he had to learn to remain steadfast in the midst of suffering, pain and bitterness of life. When this feeling comes to clarity, it reveals itself as the state of consciousness of scourging. If one felt like being washed by water during the first show, a sharp pain occurred during the second show, which cut through the physical, etheric and astral bodies.

Thirdly, in order for these inner feelings to become even stronger, the disciple had to imagine that the dearest and holiest thing he possessed was covered with mockery and scorn. Without faltering, he had to see the truth he loved dragged through the mud. If these feelings were genuine and true, coupled with inner strength of soul, then this manifested as a sharp pain in the head, symbolized by the crown of thorns.

Fourth, the disciple had to realize that his body was not his ego, that his body is an external thing that he carries, just as he carries other things. To do this, he had to feel the pain of others as his own pain. He had to see his body as an instrument with which he could serve others. He was not allowed to flee from the world, but to carry his body as a powerful instrument to carry the suffering of the world. This was symbolized - seen as an astral vision - in the carrying of the cross and in the crucifixion. With strong meditation on this, the stigmata appeared, the blood stains on the right side of the chest, on the hands and feet.

Fifthly, mystical death occurred by itself: the sensory world sinks into a bottomless abyss, impenetrable darkness envelops the disciple. There is soundless silence around him, a terrible coldness overcomes him, an impenetrable veil hides the whole world. From the depths of nothingness, the dark side of life rises up; he experiences everything that has sunk to the bottom of life, he goes to hell. This is symbolized by the tearing of the curtain in the temple; the spiritual world behind the world of appearances emerges. He now knows what heaven is; this is the mystical death.

Sixthly, there is the burial. We cannot separate our material body from the earth on which we live. Because we can walk on the earth, we succumb to the illusion that we are independent of the earth. We cannot separate ourselves from the earth, from our fellow human beings, from the other planets, to which we are connected with our finer bodies. The entombment was the symbol of this: our body was laid in the body of the earth.

Seventh, resurrection and ascension symbolize feeling without mediation by the material body, the union with the higher spiritual world.

In this way, Christian esotericism passes through all human feelings and is entirely built on the development of emotional life as the necessary counterpart to the ancient mysteries, which aimed at the development of the mind. The principle of initiation also undergoes a development. As long as man lives in the world of the senses, he is connected to all realms of nature through the material body; the etheric body holds the material body together; the astral body is shared with the animal world; it is the seat of passions and desires. The fourth link of the human being is the crown of creation. He alone possesses the “I”, the “Ich-bim, the unspeakable name of God. ‘I’ can only be said to oneself. It is the [divine] spark, a ”drop of the divine substance.

In the pre-Christian initiation, the etheric body was separated from the material body for three and a half days, which otherwise only happens at death; one was dead and not dead. The etheric body, united with the astral body and the ego, underwent the initiation. The high event made a lasting impression on the etheric body. The astral body was transformed through meditation and concentration and made suitable for transmitting the impression of the etheric body to the physical brain through clairvoyance.

The Christian initiation proceeds in a different way. The great power of the emotional world imprinted a whole range of human feelings on the etheric body without causing a state of lethargy or separation from the material body. It was, so to speak, a natural sleep in which consciousness remained awake, a kind of apparent death. In the Christian esoteric school, the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John was used as a meditation book. The Gospel of John had to be experienced; especially the first chapter up to the fourteenth verse. The Logos meditation awakens a special power, a power that one has to experience, that one cannot grasp with the mind, a power that completely transforms the soul.

Was reincarnation a Christian doctrine? In the esoteric school reincarnation was always taught, as Peter, James and John testify, but exoterically it was no longer taught. Mankind had to go through an incarnation without the knowledge of reincarnation. The dark side of this soon became apparent in the absolute value placed on this one life in the face of heaven and hell and eternal torment. But this was a necessary point of passage in the evolution of mankind, in which we descended to our deepest level.

Christian esotericism has a powerful foundation, of which only a weak ray penetrates into the outside world through the works of Christian mystics, Meister Eckhart, [Johannes] Tauler and Jakob Böhme. Tauler and his work “The Layman and the Unknown from the Oberland” give only a weak glimpse of the secret teachings of Christian esotericism.