The History of the Esoteric School 1904–1914, Volume One

GA 264

Ancient Traditions from Personal Conversations with Rudolf Steiner

About Master Jesus and Christian Rosenkreutz

In answer to a question about the God-friend of the Oberland, Rudolf Steiner replied that he was the Master Jesus, who had been incarnated in every century since the Mystery of Golgotha. When asked if he was also incarnated now, the answer was: he is currently in the Carpathians and Rudolf Steiner indicated that he was in contact with him in a purely spiritual way.

(Reported by Friedrich Rittelmeyer without further details of the time)

In answer to a question about the significance of the meeting of twelve high-ranking Friends of God with the very elderly Friend of God from the Oberland at Easter 1380, as described in the last letter of the Friend of God, Rudolf Steiner replied: “You see, there you have the transition to Rosicrucianism. It is the same thing that Goethe pointed to in his poem “The Secrets”. Since then, Christian Rosenkreutz has been the leading being in Western intellectual life. He has since been incarnated in every century, just like the Master Jesus, the friend of God from the Oberland. Both take turns in every century and the Master Jesus has also been working in the sense of Christian Rosenkreutz since then.

(Reported by Wilhelm Rath from his conversation with Rudolf Steiner in Stuttgart, October 16, 1922)

When asked whether the Friend of God from the Oberland was Christian Rosenkreutz, Rudolf Steiner replied: No! But Christian Rosenkreutz was in the circle of 12 Friends of God, of whose secret meetings the Friend of God from the Oberland reported. - To the further question: Was the friend of God Zarathustra, Rudolf Steiner replied: Yes.

(Reported from conversations between the Christian Community pastors W. Klein and Emil Bock with Rudolf Steiner in February 1924) Master Jesus was always incarnated with breaks of no more than 12 years. (Reported by Emmy von Gummppenberg without further details)

In answer to the question: Is the disciple John mentioned in the first three gospels the same as Lazarus? Rudolf Steiner replied: The author of the Gospel of John is Lazarus. He is only called John like many people of his time. What does John mean back then!

Question: Is Lazarus the same person who is called the son of Zebedee? Counter-question: Did the sons of Zebedee even belong to the innermost circle of the twelve? To the circle of stars in which the Christ saw mirrored his being? There must be some kind of mix-up if that is what the Gospels say. Confusion should not surprise us, because the Apostles were able to exchange their bodies even under the then prevailing very different laws of the soul. The three disciples in Gethsemane were in any case part of the innermost circle of the twelve, and Lazarus also belonged to it.

(Reported from conversations between the Christian Community pastors W. Klein and Emil Bock and Rudolf Steiner in February 1924)

About Mani

The youth of Nain followed Christ as a disciple after his resurrection. He was not one of the twelve.

Question: Is he not mentioned as a disciple of Christ in the apocryphal gospels?

Answer: In his next incarnation he was Manes; the further embodiments can be recognized by legends that resemble the resurrection of Lazarus.

(Transmitted from conversations between the Christian Community pastors W. Klein and Emil Bock and Rudolf Steiner in February 1924)

Mani will not incarnate in this century; he intends to do so in the next, provided that he finds a suitable body. Conventional education offers no possibility for the development of Mani, only the Waldorf education. When the conditions are right, he will appear as a teacher of humanity and take the lead in the fields of art and religion. He will act in the power of the Grail Mysteries and guide people to decide for themselves about good and evil.

(Transmitted by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer from his conversations with Rudolf Steiner between 1919 and 1921)