CW 113: East in the light of the west: Lecture 2: Comparison of the Wisdom of the East and the West (24 August 1909) by Rudolf Steiner
Aug 8, 2026 · 55 min · 12 segments
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Aug 8, 2026 · 55 min · 12 segments
In this and the succeeding lectures we shall make it a special point to consider the wisdom of the Eastern world, that is to say, humanity's treasures of ancient wisdom in general, in the light which may be kindled by the knowledge of the Christ impulse and all that the course of the centuries has gradually evolved from this Christ impulse in the form of the wisdom of the Western world.
If anthroposophy is to be a living thing, it must not consist in views and opinions of the higher worlds which are already in existence, taken from history, and then taught, but it must comprise all the knowledge obtainable by us today about the nature of the higher worlds.
Not only in olden times were there people who could turn their gaze toward these higher worlds and see them in the same way as we see the outer world with our physical eyes and understand it with our intellect.
There have been such people at all periods of human evolution and there are such today.
Humanity never has been dependent on the mere study of truths recorded in history, nor is man dependent on receiving these teachings about the higher worlds from any special physical place.
Everywhere in the world the current of higher wisdom and knowledge may be tapped.
It would be no wiser for our schools to teach mathematics or geography today by means of old documents written in ancient times than it is for us, when studying the great wisdom of the supersensible worlds, to consider only ancient historical accounts.
Therefore it will be our present task to approach the things of the higher worlds, the beings of the supersensible regions themselves, to review many things that are known, less known or quite unknown about these higher worlds, and then to ask ourselves what the people of older and of ancient times had to say about these things.
In other words we shall allow Western wisdom to pass before our souls and then inquire how that which we learn to know as Western wisdom accords with what we may learn to know as Eastern wisdom.
The point is that the wisdom of the supersensible worlds, if related to man, may be grasped by the intellect.
It has often been emphasized by me that any unprejudiced mind may grasp and comprehend the facts of the higher worlds.
Although this unprejudiced common sense is a very rare faculty in our present time, it does exist, and whoever is willing to exercise it can understand everything of the result of clairvoyant investigation that is related.
It is true that these facts of the higher worlds can only be collected and investigated by so-called clairvoyant research, through the ascent into the higher worlds of people who have prepared themselves for this special purpose.
And as in these higher worlds beings live which in relation to man we may call spirits or gods, the investigation of the higher worlds is in reality an association of the clairvoyant or the initiate with spirits or gods.
Consequently a clairvoyant can only investigate the higher worlds by ascending the stages which lead to intercourse with the spirits or gods.
Much already has been said about these things at different times and places, and only the most essential part is here repeated.
In this and the succeeding lectures we shall make it a special point to consider the wisdom of the Eastern world, that is to say, humanity's treasures of ancient wisdom in general, in the light which may be kindled by the knowledge of the Christ impulse and all that the course of the centuries has gradually evolved from this Christ impulse in the form of the wisdom of the Western world.
If anthroposophy is to be a living thing, it must not consist in views and opinions of the higher worlds which are already in existence, taken from history, and then taught, but it must comprise all the knowledge obtainable by us today about the nature of the higher worlds.
Not only in olden times were there people who could turn their gaze toward these higher worlds and see them in the same way as we see the outer world with our physical eyes and understand it with our intellect.
There have been such people at all periods of human evolution and there are such today.
Humanity never has been dependent on the mere study of truths recorded in history, nor is man dependent on receiving these teachings about the higher worlds from any special physical place.
Everywhere in the world the current of higher wisdom and knowledge may be tapped.
It would be no wiser for our schools to teach mathematics or geography today by means of old documents written in ancient times than it is for us, when studying the great wisdom of the supersensible worlds, to consider only ancient historical accounts.
Therefore it will be our present task to approach the things of the higher worlds, the beings of the supersensible regions themselves, to review many things that are known, less known or quite unknown about these higher worlds, and then to ask ourselves what the people of older and of ancient times had to say about these things.
In other words we shall allow Western wisdom to pass before our souls and then inquire how that which we learn to know as Western wisdom accords with what we may learn to know as Eastern wisdom.
The point is that the wisdom of the supersensible worlds, if related to man, may be grasped by the intellect.
It has often been emphasized by me that any unprejudiced mind may grasp and comprehend the facts of the higher worlds.
Although this unprejudiced common sense is a very rare faculty in our present time, it does exist, and whoever is willing to exercise it can understand everything of the result of clairvoyant investigation that is related.
It is true that these facts of the higher worlds can only be collected and investigated by so-called clairvoyant research, through the ascent into the higher worlds of people who have prepared themselves for this special purpose.
And as in these higher worlds beings live which in relation to man we may call spirits or gods, the investigation of the higher worlds is in reality an association of the clairvoyant or the initiate with spirits or gods.
Consequently a clairvoyant can only investigate the higher worlds by ascending the stages which lead to intercourse with the spirits or gods.
Much already has been said about these things at different times and places, and only the most essential part is here repeated.
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