Author : Filip Filipov
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781983378119
Total Pages : 158 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (781 download)
Book Synopsis The Lodge of the Bodhisattvas and the Question of the 20th Century Bodhisattva by : Filip Filipov
Download or read book The Lodge of the Bodhisattvas and the Question of the 20th Century Bodhisattva written by Filip Filipov and published by . This book was released on 2018-07-06 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book now lying in your hands holds a challenge to the Anthroposophical Movement to take up once again the Bodhisattva Question. That question is: In what human being did the Maitreya Bodhisattva appear in the twentieth century?This became a consuming topic of discussion among pupils of Rudolf Steiner during parts of the first half of the twentieth century, both before and after the founding of the Anthroposophical Society. Its significance can be judged by two statements Rudolf Steiner made in 1911: that "humanity must gain the capacity... to see the supersensible Christ, and for that the spiritual scientific movement is there. That is its mission: to create the conditions that bring about an understanding for the Christ, in order then to make it possible to see the Christ;" and that the Maitreya Bodhisattva "will be the real herald of the Christ in etheric raiment."Yet today this question of the identity of the Maitreya and the teachings he gave the world has all but disappeared from the minds of the members of the Anthroposophical Movement, even to the extent that the concept of a bodhisattva is unfamiliar to many.Bodhisattvas, Rudolf Steiner explained, are human beings who follow a path of development different from the rest of humanity. They are at home in the World of Providence, a plane of existence lying between Devachan and Nirvana. Twelve of them gather around the Christ and receive from Him the impulses that they bring in turn as teachings to humanity. Bodhisattvas are not born into bodies as are the rest of humanity, but incorporate into a human bearer, as the Christ incorporated into Jesus of Nazareth at the Jordan. The Bodhisattva Question is therefore one of finding which historical personality became the bearer of the Bodhisattva in the twentieth century.At the end of his path of teaching humanity over many incorporations, a bodhisattva becomes enlightened and is elevated to buddhahood; so it was that, in the sixth century B.C., the Gautama Bodhisattva became the Gautama Buddha. Since that time, the bodhisattva who has been most active within humanity, incorporating once every hundred years, is the Maitreya Bodhisattva. His particular task, as Rudolf Steiner indicated, is leading humanity towards an experience of the Etheric Christ.Already in 1909, Rudolf Steiner underscored the importance of knowing and understanding what the bodhisattvas have to say who follow the Christ, the first of them being the Maitreya.Rudolf Steiner spoke of the Maitreya Bodhisattva often between 1909 and 1912, the period during which he was also speaking about the return of the Christ in the etheric. Among much else about the Maitreya, Rudolf Steiner said, "[H]e is also incorporated now." From misinterpretations of that statement have issued some of the many misconceptions and false claims regarding the personality in whom the Maitreya appeared in the twentieth century.This book is an anthroposophic study using spiritual-scientific methodology. The authors analyze the basic ideas and concepts of the two main branches of the 20th century European Esoteric Christianity: Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophic study and the teachings of the Universal White Brotherhood given by the Master Peter Deunov. This book can be thematically referred to the Christian spiritual tradition, freely and scientifically developed in 20th century.
