Morality
Read John 13:21-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35
Buddha knew that the guiding principles of his eightfold path would become the seeing-eye dog by which we could navigate the darkness. Even though we are 125 years into the Age of Light we are still groping. Right Action, our behaviour, our conduct, is a crucial step on the path, primarily because Action is about the will. We know too well that once a thing is done we cannot change it. We must then live with the results of the way we used our will from that point forward.
Wrong action, the wrong use of the will, occurs simply because we do not love, and, we find the act of receiving love just as difficult. It is as if we cannot bear the purity of love, so we become defensive and turn our backs on love. We can only know how to love one another if we deeply contemplate how Christ loves us - even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Orthodox religion interprets moral values as a curtailing of freedom whereas morality is about free will. Orthodox religion is ‘so Old-Testament’. This is about the Ten Commandments versus the new One Commandment - love one another.
Simply put, morality is pure will. Will that arises without a motive. Will that rides on the soft wings of love. This is the new commandment. It was pronounced by Christ immediately after he was betrayed. Here lies the even deeper need for contemplation; why would Christ place these words in this setting?
Moral impulses occur when will, instead of rising out of basic desire, arises out of pure love. Today, how often do we hear confusing statements about ethics or moral principles - in industry, in politics, in education, in society, everywhere? The word morality is barely understood and generally suggests that an action is moral if it doesn’t upset anyone. “I’m not hurting you, so don’t interfere with me” is the justification.
Rudolf Steiner gave three powerful lectures in May 1912 called the Spiritual Foundation of Morality. He used the life of St Francis of Assisi to demonstrate full moral power.
He pointed out that the rebel who stands up to hypocrisy, as the young St Francis did, will be strengthened because out of that courage, love is resurrected. If we are inert, rolling along with no impetus of our own, we thereby are weakened.
The more we can understand the crucified Christ the more we are infused with moral impulses. St Francis was overflowing with moral force. Steiner says, “You must realise that this moral force is a reality, just as much a reality as the air we breathe, without which we could not live. It is a reality which flooded the whole being of Francis of Assisi and from there streamed into every heart he turned to.”
We are meant to be pure-willed, moral beings. Events in Atlantis interfered with this plan. In Atlantis the mysteries were to be fostered in small circles. General humanity was not ready for them. Through the betrayal of these higher mysteries at that time - the ‘leaking of documents’ - immorality was introduced into our lives. This immorality reveals itself in disease; leprosy during the time of St Francis and now in AIDS and other such epidemics, also in terrorism. The immorality - the wrong use of will - in terrorism will give birth to more diseases.
It is important to believe in the original goodness of people, then the power of love can strengthen, comfort and even heal as was the case in the life of St Francis. A moral life can be established through faith, love and hope.
- Faith in the divine at the foundation of every human soul.
- The boundless love of humanity that springs from this faith.
- The hope that every human soul can find its way back to the divine-spiritual world.
Can we reach out with true compassion to others? To simply say a prayer, “Dear God, sooth the lepers and calm the fears of those living in terror”, without trying to feel what they feel, is an abstraction. To love one another is a sacred privilege; it is an act of consecration which we can experience as often as we choose. A love that is sustained by pure will; love expressed and received in freedom.