# The Masters of Wisdom and Cosmic Breathing Evolution

## GA 266I — 22 October 1906, Berlin

### Esoteric Lesson

Record A

Sublime, delicious, words cannot express what we have received. The masters of wisdom, etc., were surely among us. The power that emanated from our beloved teacher was great; at last I saw him shining and transfigured in youth. And then the sacred words:

> A the past  
> U the present, the whole world around us  
> M the still unknown future for which we want to live.

We are to be pioneers, the elite of humanity. We are to feel exalted, but we are not to be conceited; rather, we are to prove ourselves worthy of such a task, such a position, not with arrogance, but with humility.

The four masters told us again: Master Jesus was the “Unknown One from the Oberland” who came to Tauler, who taught the Gnostics, etc.[^1]

We should get to know the beings of the masters better and better. To do this, it is necessary to transport ourselves back into the past.

On the moon, there were no beings that breathed through lungs. They breathed in warmth or sucked it in and gave off cold. In this way, they drew warmth from the moon. Just as breathing beings, such as plants, make the air usable for us by inhaling the harmful carbon dioxide that humans and animals exhale, consuming the carbon it contains and then exhaling pure oxygen, there were also beings on the moon whose function was equivalent to that of our present plants: namely, to prevent the process of cooling from occurring too quickly by exhaling heat. These beings are called fire spirits. They had not yet reached the human stage. In addition, there were spirits on the moon who had already passed the human stage and who helped to prepare for breathing air. Although they were forced to incarnate in bodies that had no lungs, they craved oxygen. This was first prepared on Earth by the developing plant world. It was not until the middle of the Lemurian period that human beings were ready to have the “living breath” breathed into them. The first breath drew in oxygen. This was of great importance. The spirits that bring this about are called air spirits.

The fire-breathing dragon is a symbol of the fire spirits.

Jesus was a third-degree chela. When he was thirty years old, the following happened to him. He left his body and Christ took possession of this pure, noble body: the physical, etheric, and astral bodies. He himself withdrew to the astral plane, where he remained united with the brothers of the white lodge and attained mastery himself, etc.

Morya—his true name is only revealed to advanced students—strengthens the will.

Kuthumi is the true master of truth.

Jesus, the head of his church, has a particular influence on the emotional side.

We can call on them when we need them.

The twelve masters of the White Lodge have all gone through the entire development of our Earth. They cannot directly influence the physical plane. We must rise up to them. They work through the school, upon us, within us, and through us. The mediator, the teacher of the school, is accountable to no one but the one in whose name he speaks.

Record B

Speaking from direct knowledge and insight, he spoke of the great masters who guide our lives and aspirations: Kuthumi, Morya, Jesus, and Christian Rosenkreutz—the “masters of wisdom and harmony of feelings.”

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[^1]: The original text reads: “Master Jesus was the ‘old man from the mountain who came to Eckhart, who taught the Gnostics, etc.’” However, Rudolf Steiner always refers to the “unknown man from the Oberland” who came to Tauler.