The founding of the Anthroposophical Society in 1912 emerged from a need for Western spiritual science grounded in Christian esotericism rather than dogmatic Eastern teachings, prompted by internal conflicts within the Theosophical movement over the promotion of Krishnamurti as a messianic figure. This schism led to the German section's expulsion and the establishment of an independent organization dedicated to synthesizing Eastern and Western wisdom through rigorous spiritual research centered on the divine nature of the human "I."
Ancient Eastern philosophy—the Vedas, Sankhya, and Yoga—represents three distinct spiritual streams that the Bhagavad Gita harmoniously unites. These same streams reappear transformed in Pauline Christianity: the creative Word becomes Christ incarnate, cosmic law becomes Mosaic law, and yogic devotion becomes faith in the risen Christ, revealing how spiritual truth evolves across human history.
Ancient Indian wisdom reveals how the soul envelops itself in graduated principles from primeval substance down to physical form, with the three Gunas—Sattva, Rajas, Tamas—describing the soul's relationship to its sheaths. This knowledge, lost through centuries of materialist thinking, resurfaces in Goethe's color theory and modern spiritual science as humanity transitions from blood-based clairvoyance to conscious spiritual development.
World-philosophies like Sankhya and Yoga become human destiny, shaping the soul's evolution toward either cold intellectualism or isolated self-development. Krishna represents humanity's highest potential—the divine principle appearing once per cosmic age—revealing to Arjuna the mystery of transcending individual action through reverent self-knowledge and union with the eternal.
The Bhagavad Gita's serene wisdom with Paul's passionate urgency, revealing how Krishna ended humanity's old clairvoyant age while Christ inaugurated a new inner struggle against spiritual darkness. The Christ-Impulse represents evolution's greatest transition, enabling the soul to confront Ahriman and Lucifer directly rather than merely transcend material substance through Yoga.
The Krishna teaching's individual soul development with Paul's community-oriented Christ impulse, revealing how Eastern spirituality transcends material existence while Western revelation reconciles humanity with divine creation. The Christ-being, enveloped in Krishna's wisdom-forces, offers humanity redemption from Luciferic separation and maya through conscious self-knowledge and moral transformation.