Lodge of the Masters
Now from where do the higher beings obtain this plan? We find an answer to this if we consider that there are still higher stages of evolution where the plans are devised. That is where world evolution is worked out. These higher stages are indicated to us by the Ancients, for instance by Dionysius, the pupil of the Apostle Paul, and also by Nicholas Cusanus. His perception was:
Higher than all knowledge and perception is the lack of perception. But this Unknowing is a higher knowing, and this lack of perception is a higher perceiving.
When we stop looking at what we hold in our thinking and concepts of the world, and turn ourselves to what wells up, to our inner powers, then we find something still higher. The Masters can weave the [third] Logos because they have ascended still higher than the nature of thinking. When the higher powers are developed, then, in such beings, thought appears as something different. It then corresponds to our spoken word within us. The thought which constitutes the innermost being for the Masters can itself be the expression of a higher being, just as the word is the expression of thought [with us].
If we ourselves consider thought as the word of a still higher being, then we come near to the concept of a the Logos. Knowledge taken out from thought stands on a still higher level.
When we behold the world we find the atom at the one extreme. It is an image of the plan that proceeded out of the depths of the spirit of the Masters, which is the Logos. If we now look for the transformation of man himself during the great world epoch, then we are led back again into the world.
If we now look for the transformation of man himself during the great world epoch, then we are led back again into the world.
Just as man has descended, has plunged down to the physical plane, so is it also with the world as a whole. What contributes to the development of man’s self lies around him in the world.
But then we are led down to the lower planes, which however, themselves contain the higher planes….the Lodge of the Masters.
Rudolf Steiner, Atoms and the Logos
the higher we strive to climb the harder we fall –an old saying –you can stand atop the highest mountain and see far –yet you see nothing of what lies below —yet dwell at the lowest level and you truly see all that man has to offer —yet down there you might find a true sense of belonging –a true sense of what it really is to be –a oneness with all the scurrying creatures of this earth who just as you do simply belong and try to exist —a true sense of being even in it’s most dire of circumstance –and after living that –how could you ever deny another the right to be —
What kind of explanation is this? Rudi wanted to call his revelation ‘Spiritual Science’, but in what sense is this scientific? By challenging its claim to be scientific I am not saying it is either meaningless or worthless. But this is not an explanation in the way that the Big-Bang theory is an explanation. There is nothing that would count as evidence for it or against it. In essence it says there are higher intelligences who plan evolution, but one could then ask, ‘How did this come about? Where did they come from?’ My conclusion is that though this has the form of an explanation it is not an explanation of causes, it is closer to teleology. I feel it is an imagination, a picture. At a simple level it operates like the argument from design – the world is like it is because the Gods (Masters in this case) made it this way. At another it draws attention to our thinking as phenomena and just becoming capable of observing our own thinking can be a transformative process. “If we ourselves consider thought as the word of a still higher being, then we come near to the concept of a the Logos.”
It’s an extract from a book chosen for reasons that may not be readily apparent, which is deliberate, because what is the point in spoon-feeding people, the idea is to cast the net widely in the hope that certain pieces of information will resonate with the right people.
A couple of things particularly drew me to this piece of the text, one being that is chimed with recent revisions of the notion of incubation and Temple Sleep as well as the premise behind the Cloud of Unknowing.
From an entirely different perspective I found this sentence interesting for the clarity with which it describes the different distinction between ‘thinking’, ‘speaking’ and ‘willing’ in the astral compared with the physical world….
“When the higher powers are developed, then, in such beings, thought appears as something different. It then corresponds to our spoken word within us. The thought which constitutes the innermost being for the Masters can itself be the expression of a higher being, just as the word is the expression of thought [with us]”.
But interesting to see all the same that you were interested in the scientific aspect implied by the title of lecture, I’m always fascinated to see what different people draw from such works
I find it interesting to read of the “Astral” in the context of assuming the “Astral” to be at a Very high Spiritual level. Why is this? Meher Baba(my Master) in the book, “Infinite Intelligence” clearly places the “Astral ” not much ‘higher’ than the 1st & 2nd Planes. Now, most certainly that is ‘advanced’, but in the Grand scheme of things notball tyat much. He gives the Astral 2 levels, but both are in the lower parts of the “Subtle”world, & prior to the 4th Plane of Indra & Infinite Power.
I wonder, does anyone who may happen to read this comment have any actuall first hand experience of being “automous” within the Astral. That is something Steiner & others were able to do with moderate success. Simply getting ‘look-see’ glimpses from time to time, its the autonomy that separates & makes so called “Spiritual Research” possible, if only in very limited (within the Cosmic Plan of 7 Planes) places.
I relate these things having read Everything of Meher Baba & Know HIM as TRUTH Incarnate. I would ask anyone that would critique this comment to at the very least be familiar with what I speak of. Howard Rhodes
I have had experience directly of the astral – the ‘lower astral’ is most definitely not a ‘high place’ and is on the contrary something to be avoided in my opinion, having been very afraid and confused many times in this state. The higher astral, however, is another matter, but it occurs to me that maybe one must (can only) be guided to this dimension….unless one is a bona fide ‘master’, of course, but everyone else in that case is bound to have to take the reports on faith, in the absence of objective proof. You could also say that the astral is very much linked with emotion and also sexual energy being sublimated, so in this respect represents a ‘stage’ on the path. Meditations on the Tarot has some profound observations pertaining to the ‘Book of Life’ that may be read and absorbed from the higher astral (Akashic record) via three levels, and in that description is a warning about the gravity of the contents of that book, and the impact on the emotions and psyche of the seer.