Lecture I

What I have here described is to be found in the fourth chapter of the Apocalypse of St. John. The Apocalypse describes not only the past stages of human evolution but the future stages as well. To understand these future stages a man must be able, as a seer, to use the forces of the etheric body and of the higher bodies which, in the course of evolution, have fallen into disuse. The man of the Fifth Root Race can only move freely, can only be conscious of himself, in the physical body. But he develops in such a way that later on he can become conscious in the higher bodies. In the present sub-race of the Fifth Root Race we have achieved a very deep development, namely that of the physical intellect. Our present sub-race (the fifth) will be followed by the sixth sub-race and that again by the seventh. That will bring our Fifth Root Race to an end. It will be followed by another, higher Root Race, and that again by another. This evolution therefore consists in the fact that man learns more and more to use his higher bodies. We are moving towards a very definite goal, for we are on the way from the fifth to the Sixth Root Race. Man now uses his physical intellect for everything; he adopts a definite moral teaching, and a religion. This governs him because the physical intellect holds sway. The individual has inevitably to seek his well-being, his happiness, at the expense of others. An individual who strives for higher development endeavors to transcend, to rise above the conditions of everyday life.