I am not entirely sure whether what follows should be posted in this thread. It has offshoots to many other topics.
Today, I stumbled upon a site that I started reading with great interest. I later found out that Gennady Bondarev was already known by Laura back in 2002, in one of the sessions and is mentioned once in the article "Darkness over Tibet", for his view over the importance of middle Europe to establish the "I", and how it is being defeated at every step and turn. Back than, there were no English translations of his work which was in Russian and had a German translation. Here there are already some chapters translated in English.
I have not read CoZ yet, except for the excerpts that have appeared on the forum. And if I am not mistaken, there are striking similarities.
In the introduction of www.geocities(dot)com/Athens/Sparta/1105/BondarevExcerpts.htm, we can read:
Some excerpts that IMO were worth sharing:
IMO, it could be a valuable endeavour to try to find similarities with the analysis of psychopaths in "political ponerology". At least it could refine our understanding of how pathocracy works, or deepen our understanding why it is there. It is well possible that what you will read here is going beyond the mere motivation of the psychopathic characters to find pleasure in control and manipulation and/or try to keep there lofty status quo.
Still IMO, there's lots to be gleaned from his writing. Maybe I am only trying to save the baby from being flushed away with the bathwater ?
Today, I stumbled upon a site that I started reading with great interest. I later found out that Gennady Bondarev was already known by Laura back in 2002, in one of the sessions and is mentioned once in the article "Darkness over Tibet", for his view over the importance of middle Europe to establish the "I", and how it is being defeated at every step and turn. Back than, there were no English translations of his work which was in Russian and had a German translation. Here there are already some chapters translated in English.
I have not read CoZ yet, except for the excerpts that have appeared on the forum. And if I am not mistaken, there are striking similarities.
In the introduction of www.geocities(dot)com/Athens/Sparta/1105/BondarevExcerpts.htm, we can read:
Expelled !? Because of anti-semitism. Interesting isn't it?Robert Mason said:Bondarev was expelled from the General Anthroposophical Society in 1998, the given reason being the alleged "anti-Semitism" expressed in this book and the omitted passages. (There is reason to suspect that this given reason was not the real reason.) A second edition was prepared in 1997-8 and appeared in German in 1999. This Web page is based on Graham Rickett's revision of Helga Schulte-Schroer's English translation from the second German edition.
Some excerpts that IMO were worth sharing:
I also read the 19th chapter, The "Inexpressible" Mystery of Good and Evil www.geocities(dot)com/Athens/Sparta/1105/GoodEvil.htmSome excerpts from
The Crisis of Civilization
by Gennady Bondarev
". . . PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO THINK, THEY DO NOT WANT TO BE CONSISTENT, THEY DO NOT WANT TO THINK THINGS THROUGH TO THE END. THEY DO NOT WANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT, WITH THIS KIND OF CONDUCT, THEY PLACE THEMSELVES ENTIRELY IN THE SERVICE OF EVIL." [p. 106]
"At every news-stand today, every meeting of atheists, monists, politicians, we encounter ritual black magic. And often we find it in anthroposophical gatherings too. It is even delivered to people's homes free of charge, and this continues until a man him self consciously says: 'It is enough!' And if anyone thinks that he has to keep silent for the sake of balance and harmony, which are in any case non-existent, then this advice can only be followed by one who has neither reason nor heart." [p. 114]
"It was known in the occult societies that the impulse of the new sociality streams from the Spirit, that the conditions for this had matured on earth {after the ascension of Michael as Time-Spirit in 1879} and that the developed self-consciousness of man is no longer willing to endure the last form of slavery -- the sale of human labour. It was becoming dangerous to ignore the decree of the spirit and it was impossible to do away with it entirely. Therefore the impulse was given free rein, but in an ahrimanic sheath. From the beginning both Russia and Germany were subject to attack." [p. 117]
* * *
{The Russian Whites were betrayed from within by Lodge members.} [p. 120]
* * *
". . . behind the February Revolution something different was hidden, and only a few knew of it. The designated interim government headed by Kerensky -- all of them Lodge members -- had the task of transferring power to the Bolsheviks." [p. 128]
"When the brotherhoods gradually lost control over the 'socialistic experiment' in the '20's they handed it over to the Jesuits. The same is happening today. Then we would have to reckon with the setting up of an 'orthodox inquisition' in the medieval style, which would lead orthodox Christianity into the abyss. . . . 'Orthodox fundamentalism' awaits us under the banner of the 'Orthodox Monarchy', accompanied by a new wave of terror.
"Deeply religious Russians warned already before The 'Perestroika' period: 'Now the Communists forbid the people to go to church; the time will come when people will be forced to go to Church -- but one must not go then, because the Anti-Christ will be enthroned there.'" [p. 232]
"The entire strength of ahrimanic spirits, their existence itself, is based on human ignorance, and so these spirits will not tolerate a consciousness that is audacious enough to wish to examine their nature more closely. Whoever does this all the same will experience in his soul an incredibly refreshing, liberating effect surging in great waves over the world of all that is true." -- Gennady Bondarev [p. 144]
IMO, it could be a valuable endeavour to try to find similarities with the analysis of psychopaths in "political ponerology". At least it could refine our understanding of how pathocracy works, or deepen our understanding why it is there. It is well possible that what you will read here is going beyond the mere motivation of the psychopathic characters to find pleasure in control and manipulation and/or try to keep there lofty status quo.
What stood out to me in this excerpt and that I recognize in real life, is the division between Luciferian influence on the one hand and Ahrimamic influence or manipulation on the other hand. Both are definitely on the rise in our speedy drive towards or into a NWO. Here is a little more:On the path to higher stages of life hindrances are created by the luciferic and ahrimanic beings. As we have already mentioned, they need the human being, in order to catch up in their development. Thus they initially furthered man's individualization, his separation from the universal-human. But now man's task is not to follow them any longer, but to lead a strong, independent life in his 'I' through overcoming them.
When Lucifer and Ahriman influence human thinking, their aim is to arouse the false conviction that man in his inner being is only contradictory, and that the contradictions cannot be resolved. Thus they invent, says Rudolf Steiner, thought-combinations in the human soul such as: in tune, in harmony with the infinite, etc. Such conceptions arise because in their souls human beings are too cowardly to face up to contradiction, and want to let Lucifer-Ahriman invent for them a harmony with the infinite ... To seek satisfaction in such a world-view is equivalent to tying a blindfold over one's eyes. Today the human being shies away from looking at the multiplicity of battles that are fought in spiritual realms (Aug. 14, 1917, GA 176).
When attacking man, Lucifer approaches him from the side of the will (from below) and Ahriman from thinking (from above). Ahriman continuously strives to make man only into a head. Lucifer seeks continuously to cut off man's head so that he cannot think at all, so that everything is diverted through the heart and streams out as warmth, that he overflows with world-love and pours out into the world as world-love, pours forth as a cosmic fantasist (July 3, 1921, GA 205). Lucifer is fond of pious souls who strive for the spirit, for the good, but only out of egoism. Nowhere does Lucifer intrude more in our feelings - Rudolf Steiner says - than where people are striving for the divine out of their passions and desires (often cunningly refined) without illuminating the divine with the light of knowledge (May 18, 1910, GA 120).
Thinking has actually, if the human being truly masters it and does not merely use stereotyped phrases, the quality of will. Here instinctive will becomes conscious for the first time through the motive of an action, and then a deed becomes our own. The Luciferic beings, however, fetter the will that begins to free itself in man. They try to cast unclarity over the human being regarding the exercise of free will through making him into a good being. Lucifer wants actually to bring about - says Rudolf Steiner -, from the point of view I am alluding to here, the good in man, the spiritual. But he wants to make it automatic, without free will. The human being is, so to speak, to be automatically raised to clairvoyance according to good principles, but the luciferic beings want to rob man of his free will (and thereby) of the possibility for evil ... [They] have a strong interest in taking hold of man so that he cannot come to free (i.e. reasoned) will, because they did not achieve it themselves. Free will can only be attained on earth. But they want to have nothing to do with the earth ... They act in a highly spiritual manner, but they act automatically - this is of immense significance -, and they want to raise the human being up to their own ... spiritual height (Oct. 9, 1918, GA 182).
If we take note of these words and think of all the moral sermons with which all the confessions throughout the world wish to edify us, we realize at once that the utopia of K. S. Mereshkovsky will surely become social reality if people are unwilling to recognize in what times they are living. Where the luciferic beings once gave man the impulse to freedom, they now do the exact opposite. The reason for this is profound, for they remained behind in the aeon of the Old Moon, when man did not yet have an 'I'. The highest member of his revealed existence was the astral body. At that time they were not yet permitted to work upon it; but in the earth aeon they may. Here, however, man is developing the individual 'I', which is worked upon above all by the higher spirits; and through the 'I' they then work further on to the astral body and effect within it a catharsis. For this reason the 'I' is the enemy of the luciferic spirits, who try to extinguish it by working upon it from the astral body. They were allowed to inhabit this in order to fragment the unity of the astrality of mankind into a multiplicity of monads. Thanks to the luciferic spirits man can experience enthusiasm and elation - the source of his artistic activity. Thus human freedom was made possible, but at the same time the fall from God, and evil.
In a certain sense the human being strives for the ideal of ascending higher than his thoughts, feelings and expressions of will, to look upon them as something external in relation to himself as 'I'. But it is not easy to go through life in such a frame of mind. And at the same time, so long as it is not objectified in us, we can have no conception of the way 'I' and thinking, feeling and willing can stand over against one another, as this was originally intended by the divine beings.
The human being was intended to be an observer of himself, not to experience within himself - says Rudolf Steiner. But, he continues, Lucifer turned to man and spoke the following words: 'Just look, O man, how boring it is always to walk around in the world with this one central point 'I am', and merely look at everything else. It is far more interesting to dive down into your astral body. I give you the power to dive down into your astral body, and then you will not remain one-sidedly in your 'I' always staring only at your 'double', but you will dive down into it. Whatever may come over you as you dive into your astral body, which would feel like a drowning, I will compensate for by giving you something of my strength ...' And what man received by way of luciferic strength is the surplus of the 'I' over the astral body, it is the greater 'I-hood', which is actually luciferic (Dec. 29, 1911, GA 134). This is how we united through the higher 'I' with our thinking, feeling and willing and started to build our everyday 'I', so to speak, from below upwards.
The excess of the 'I'-force over the astral body gave rise to the excess of the astral body over the ether-body and this, in Lemurian times, led to the birth of individual life-processes.
What follows after this excerpt is a rant against homosexuality. I do not recognize this myself. He seems to be considering this as a mortal sin. Also, this is the only place in this chapter where he is writing very "passionately". One wonders why, of course. So Caveat Lector.Manifold are the influences upon man, of Lucifer and Ahriman, who are antipodes in the cosmos. They reveal themselves as such also within us. Where, for instance, Lucifer hates any kind of law, Ahriman would like everything to comply with law: statutes, regulations, programmes and so on. Their polar opposite characteristics and influences can be shown in a table.
Lucifer
* Is more a being of soul and holds sway in man's inner being
Ahriman
* Is more a spiritual being, the Lord of outer (material) nature
Lucifer
* Is a haughty spirit
Ahriman
* Is a solitary spirit
Lucifer
* Suppresses free will
Ahriman
* Strengthens the will, but only in order to achieve what is desired
Lucifer
* Robs man of the freedom to do evil
Ahriman
* Inspires moral relativism
Lucifer
* Incites to transgressions of the will
Ahriman
* Inspires error in thinking
Lucifer
* Fears conscious morality, but loves piety dictated by egoism
Ahriman
* Fears the power of judgment, consequential thinking
Lucifer
* Fluctuation; chaos
Ahriman
* Emphasizes form and law
Lucifer
* He draws upwards, into the nebulous, mystical
Ahriman
* Promotess pedantry and philistinism
Lucifer
* Has ascetic contempt for the earthly
Ahriman
* Furthers cold, inhuman science
Lucifer
* Promotes group-like emotions
Ahriman
* Loves routine and likes to work into the subconscious activity
Lucifer
* Is revolutionary
Ahriman
* Is conservative and wants to remain in the present moment
Lucifer
* Robs man of a genuine consciousness and harmony with the outer world
Ahriman
* Promotes lies, cliches and ideologies
Lucifer
* Promotes hunger for knowledge
Ahriman
* Uses knowledge to achieve what is desired
Because Lucifer and Ahriman complement one another in complex interaction, they influence man and bring about in him a whole system of one-sided patterns of behaviour, a precise system, for otherwise sciences such as psychology and psychiatry would not be possible, and moral education could not be combined in one system. Anthroposophy differs from current sciences of the soul only in that it takes account of real spiritual beings who work upon the soul.
We will borrow just one example from Rudolf Steiner, showing the laws that apply in the sphere of temptation. He speaks in one lecture of the dangers to which modern man is exposed if he confesses one-sidedly to either the materialistic or the idealistic world-view. When this is the case the following complex of reciprocal relationships arises:
Idealists: Thinking and imagining can easily become luciferic; dreamers, fantasists, enthusiasts.
Will can easily become ahrimanic; despotic, tyrannical.
Materialists: Thinking, imagining can easily become ahrimanic; sober, philistine, dry, bourgeois.
Will can easily become luciferic; animalistic, greedy, nervous, sensitive, hysterical (March 28, 1919, GA 190).
When we thus perceive the nature of the spiritual forces that work counter to the development of the personality, we penetrate to the archetypal phenomenon of all that finds its manifold expression today in power-structures in the confessions, in sub-culture, in social organizations and finally in occultism. Then we begin to understand the primary source of today's crisis of civilization in its full depth: why politics has become occult and inhumane, why religions estrange man from the world, where the geniuses of pop-culture originate, and why so terrible a battle has erupted for the enslavement of human self-consciousness.
On the one hand all this has to be, for through opposing God man becomes a free spirit. On the other hand, because 'I'-consciousness is already developed, man must use this capacity in the task of reconciliation with God, and lead his forces along the path of higher development. The 'prodigal son' should have returned to his spiritual home long ago and should know exactly how this is achieved. He should know that for a long time to come he will be standing between the luciferic and ahrimanic forces which he is not permitted to ignore, eliminate or conquer, but which he must learn to lead to mutual cancellation. That is the method to use in the battle with evil. It is based on the continuous enhancement of the principle of individuality, of self-consciousness.
It is of crucial importance for us to know that Ahriman's influence on man in our epoch is dangerous only when the consciousness is disturbed in any way. So long as the consciousness is clear and alert, is not darkened by lies, drugged by sub-culture or undermined by occult practices, asceticism and fear - then neither Ahriman nor Lucifer can harm man. On the contrary, the autonomous human spirit is strengthened through confronting them.
It is dangerous, indeed fatal, for the human being if he does not know what dark spiritual forces approach him, when Lucifer is confused with God and Ahriman with Lucifer. The adversaries know the forces which enable man to build a trinity on the earthly plane, and they veil this secret from him completely, for its revelation enables humanity to achieve the state of balance between ahrimanic and luciferic powers (Nov. 21, 1919, GA 194) and neutralize them.
Still IMO, there's lots to be gleaned from his writing. Maybe I am only trying to save the baby from being flushed away with the bathwater ?