Lessons for the Participants of Cognitive-Cultic Work 1906–1924

GA 265a — 25 September 1912, Basel

From Eastern to Western Spirituality

Notes from the estate of Elisabeth Vreede

What should be understood here is that this occult movement cannot be compared to any other in the world. Our present time brings with it numerous occult or semi-occult currents, but it should be understood that this movement of ours cannot be put on the same level as other movements, and that those who allow themselves to be included in it must feel responsible for the task that is thus imposed on them. One should learn to understand that an oriental view can never take root in Europe and that a case like that of the Japanese general Nogi, who committed suicide at the grave of his emperor, can show Westerners how alien the spiritual life of the Orientals must remain for them.

In his time, General Nogi had defeated the Europeans (Russians) with the means of modern culture, but the fact that Orientals have completely adopted our mechanical means does not constitute the basic principle of a mutual understanding of the soul.

When I spoke about Ram Mohan Roy (in the cycle “The Gospel of Mark”, 1st lecture), I deliberately wanted to give an example of the attitude of an enlightened Oriental towards Christianity. His successor, who gave the lecture on Christ and Christianity, could not conceive of spiritual salvation as coming from anything other than an avatar. He maintained that the efforts of Ram Mohan Roy to bring about reform in India would not be successful if they could not produce an avatar, because, as he said, you cannot succeed by natural means in India. Count Björnstjerna - then the Swedish ambassador in London - took a dismissive attitude towards this doctrine of the avatar, which the East wanted to impose on the West. Thus, the rejection of the East for the faith of the West dates back to that time (the 1870s). Thus, events that have passed almost unnoticed are to be regarded as prophecies; the future was, as it were, already predicted at that time.

(The rejection by Dr. Steiner of the Alcyone.)

(In Ram Mohan Roy and in Björnstjerna was the germ of the whole conflict between East and West that we are witnessing today in the Theosophical Society. This little episode contained the whole prehistory of the Theosophical Society, because Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Brahmo-Samaj, the true theistic sect - or rather association; this had as an offshoot the Arya-Samaj, and it was to join this association, expecting all salvation from it, that H.P. Blavatsky and Olcott went to India in 1878. The leaders of that movement received them on the arrival of the steamer, negotiated with them and finally abandoned them).

The last thing we have received from the Orient is Greek culture, which was temporarily carried as far as East Asian soil by Alexander the Great, but which was the last manifestation of truly oriental thought. Greece always had its eye on Asia and, spiritually, was to be regarded as an extreme corner of Asia. Today, there is a tendency to eliminate the study of classical antiquity from higher education; and it is to a certain extent justified for our present time to resist an education that is supposed to draw its strength from Greek wisdom that is not understood today. In the beginning, Romanism adopted some of Greek culture, but as soon as it began to spread across Europe by founding cities everywhere – that is, through external means of power – culture came to individual soil. The beginning of this Roman culture is still mythical and difficult for Westerners to understand. So the time of the seven kings, who are no longer considered historical figures. Numa Pompilius with the Sibyl indicates the transfer of ancient oriental wisdom to Europe, thereby drawing the line between this and the Latin wisdom that was to permeate European culture. Then came the time of the Republic, followed by the Caesars, and we can already understand these emperors in their work, while an Alcibiades is still the true fairy-tale prince for us. This epoch saw the development of Roman law, which later permeated all justice. Then came the papacy, which ruled the European world from Rome and reached its zenith in the time of Raphael and Michelangelo. The papacy is to be regarded as the last emanation of oriental responsibility - for the spiritual life of humanity - but now Romanism has come to an end. What you still find of it in Italy is little more than a museum. Now the responsibility passes to Europe.

That is what each of us should feel, standing in this temple. Until the nineteenth century, the East was morally responsible for the West, but that is over now. The task we have taken upon ourselves, upon entering this temple, is an enormous one. We may feel, in our ordinary life in the mundane world, that we are people who can put aside their human concerns and feel them as small compared to the concerns the gods have for people – such as bringing responsibility from the East to the West. We should feel this as a concern of the gods for people and our part in it.