Three Bodies, Page 8

Scriptures Most Directly Indicative of “Three Bodies” (continued)

Other Examples in Canonical Order:

15. Dan 3: This seems one of the clearer visions depicting the human being’s fourfoldedness. Three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, are thrown into the fiery furnace, which is so hot that it slew those who threw them into it. Yet the king then saw not three, but four, “walking in the midst of the fire, and .. . not hurt.” Then it says, “and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” In the period between lives, the three bodies do not survive except to the extent they have been “Perfected,” (transformed). In particular, in the astral world (cf. Purgatory) the unperfected portions of the astral body are burned away in the eternal fire. But the Ego, though it suffers, is not consumed there (see “Bush”). This vision would seem to portray a perfected Ego, which means that its related bodies have also been perfected and thus are not lost but preserved. “The appearance of the fourth” (the Ego) “like a son of the gods” bespeaks the level of spiritual development akin to that in Rev 1,12-16, which carries the “burning Bush” beyond reincarnation to the point of worthiness for the resurrection (see Lk 20,34-38).¹¹

16. Hos 1-2: The human being’s three bodies can be seen portrayed here in both their lower and higher aspects, as elements of the sevenfold human being. From that perspective, the prophetic language describes humanity’s leaving the spiritual world in terms of “harlotry” simply because it was a descent or departure therefrom. There were three children of such “harlotry,” identifiable to the first three Conditions of Consciousness (Old Saturn, Sun and Moon), whereby the three bodies were respectively created. The children, in order were (Hos 1):

a Son, “Jezreel,” symbolizing the spiritual apostasy of Israel (vs 4);
a Daughter, “Not Pitied” (vs 6); and
a Son, “Not My People” (vs 9).

The “Names” alone portray the progressive separation of the three bodies from the spiritual realm. Then in vs 10 those to whom it is first said, “You are not my people,” are assured that they are “Sons of the living God.” This would seem to be the introduction of the Ego, the lower human “I Am.” Next we are told in vs 11 that “one head” shall be appointed, and they will then “go up from the land.” Here we can see the coming of the Christ as the higher “I Am” in the flesh. Thus ends Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 there is an immediate reversal of direction, for the second son is called “My People,” and then the daughter is called “She Has Obtained Pity” (though both may be tentative, in light of vs 4, unless and until the Mother returns). But as yet, the first son is not embraced. A long harangue against the Mother’s harlotry follows, shading into tenderness and allurement that effectively secures her return; then in the last verse all three children are affirmed. What better interpretation of this could there be than that it is an analogy of the three bodies and the sevenfold human being?

17. Mt 4 and Lk 4: The synoptic Gospels unanimously say that the temptation of Jesus immediately followed the settling of the Christ Spirit, the “Dove,” upon him. But that Spirit, the higher “I Am” that replaced the withdrawn Ego of Zarathustra in Jesus of Nazareth, had first to penetrate the three bodies of Jesus before he could fully carry out the Christ mission. The reader will recall that Steiner’s diagram from The Influence of Spiritual Beings upon Man (ISBM) in “Naked” above showed how the Ego only gradually, over long eons of time, penetrated the human being’s three bodies, first the astral, then the etheric and finally the physical. Since we are approaching a somewhat abstruse refinement in the relationship of the three Temptations of Jesus to the three bodies, let us first fix in our mind that the human Ego plausibly entered the youngest and rarest body (the astral) first and the oldest and densest body (the physical) last. The Christ Spirit, the highest “I Am,” had also to penetrate the three bodies of Jesus in the same order. The account of this event is given in the three Temptations. However, the Ego of Christ could not have entered into full and complete possession of all three bodies unless the Ego of Zarathustra had sacrificially withdrawn. In a sense, the first entry was the substitution of Egos. We might suspect that the next entry would be in the body nearest the Ego, the astral body. And this is precisely what Steiner says in The Gospel of St. Matthew (GSMt), Lect. 8, p. 145. In these temptations, the respective penetrations¹² were as follows:

Astral body = Hunger; turning stones to bread (Mt 4,2-4)
Etheric body = Casting himself from the pinnacle of the temple (Mt 4,5-6)
Physical body = Desire to rule all the kingdoms of the world (Mt 4,7-10)

It might seem strange to us that stones and bread refer to penetration of the astral body while the desire to rule refers to penetration of the physical body. Particularly is this so when we look at the related part of I-76 that, from a different perspective (relating to the effect of Christ’s three pre-earthly deeds), reverses them to a more seemly order. Clearly, in The Fifth Gospel (FG), Lect. 5, pp. 92-97 and The Four Sacrifices of Christ (FSC) Steiner reverses the order (as in I-76), as does Prokofieff in The Cycle of the Year as Path of Initiation (CYPI), Part II, #8, pp. 63- 65. It would seem that we must, however, not confuse the successive penetration by Christ of the three bodies of Jesus with the elementary nature of what comprised the Temptations. We are dealing here with two different conceptions. The first (GSMt above) speaks of the entry of the Christ Spirit into the three successive bodies of Jesus, while the others (FG, FSC and CYPI) speak of Christ’s subduing those bodies. Well aware of this, in FG, p. 94, Steiner says, “The Temptation scene is, of course, included in other Gospels, but it is narrated there from different standpoints, as I have often stressed”; and at p. 97, “Remember, please, that I am relating the contents of the Fifth Gospel and there would be no point in looking for contradictory passages in the other four Gospels” (see also fn 89 to the above CYPI text). Steiner’s GSMt lecture tells how it is that each penetration portrays what happens to the candidate for Initiation in regard to each of the three stages (presumably Imagination/Seeing, Inspiration/Hearing and Intuition/Understanding; cf. Is 6,9-10) and how it corresponds successively with the three Temptations of Christ as set out in Matthew’s Gospel. We belabor this point only to alert the reader to what might otherwise appear as a discrepancy. The main point is to see that there is a direct relationship between the three Temptations of Christ and the human being’s three bodies, and that Christ here does what is eventually required of every human being who would attain to the resurrection: he gains complete control by the Ego over the three bodies. But he had first to enter those three bodies in the same order the human being did—only Christ did it quickly. GSMt describes the entry;¹³ FG, FSC and CYPI describe the subduing.

There is even another way to view the GSMt account. Bear in mind that, in contrast to the normal human Ego, the Christ, the standard of “Perfection,” had no necessity of proving itself per se. Just as the human Ego must work upon the astral body first, and physical body last, the exalted Christ had to enter the bodies prepared for fallen human beings in the same order. While stones and bread themselves relate to the physical, the astral body is the reason for the temptation to satisfy the physical body through assuagement of hunger by bread. Only in overcoming this type of temptation was the Christ able to penetrate the astral body of Jesus. It is necessary to realize that all temptations are products of the astral body. As we shall see in our study of the Lord’s Prayer, the temptation passage (Mt 6,13a only, 6,13b applying to the Ego) is the one dealing with the astral body. What we must do here is look at the worldliness of the Temptations. One must eat to live. (Without the astral body’s desire, the human being would starve. This temptation cannot be permanently overcome, but dwells with life itself. For this reason, Lk 4,13 indicates the tempter merely “departed from him until an opportune time.”) Hence, that desire is not as removed from the spiritual world as is the maniacal desire to rule the world, the most extreme of the three.

Finally, all four Gospels say the Christ Spirit settled “on” or “upon” Jesus “like” or “as” a “Dove.” So even in this tender simile, the point is brought powerfully home that the Spirit had yet to enter the body (the “three bodies”). Immediately Matthew’s Gospel tells of this happening. That there are many significant facets to the Temptations is providentially indicated by the fact that they are not presented in the same way (or order) by any two Gospels, and John omits them.

18. Mt 1,1-17: The three cycles of fourteen generations relate to the three bodies as shown in “The Nativity.”

19. Mt 6,11-13: Matthew here gives his version of the Lord’s Prayer. It is structured to portray and lead to the “Perfection” of the sevenfold human being. In LP, Steiner says “In spiritual science [the higher principles of the human being have] always been called the higher triad, and the triangle and the square were made symbols, especially in the Pythagorean school, of the human being as he came into existence at the middle of the Lemurian epoch. The diagram [below] thus represents the constituent elements of the human being”: (Click here to see image)

He then shows how each of the seven human elements relates to the seven petitions of the Prayer. In The Fifth Gospel (FG), Lects. 5 and 6, he tells how the frightful ancient precursor of this Prayer was perceived in the soul of Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus before the Spirit descended upon him at his Baptism) and then how it came to expression in Jesus Christ (after the Baptism of Jesus). See also Prokofieff’s Rudolf Steiner and the Founding of the New Mysteries (RSFNM), Chap. 3, pp. 60-70. Something of the nature of “will” and its involvement in human development is portrayed in I-40, and more elaborately in “Fire,” Vol. 2. The Prayer will be addressed more fully in the Commentary. It must suffice for now to show its direct relationship to the three bodies, how they inhere in its petitions.

20. Lk 2,52: Jesus is said to have increased in wisdom, years¹⁴ and favor. According to Steiner (see I-42) these reflect the development of his three bodies:

Luke here presents the development of Jesus of Nazareth sequentially. The unspoiled etheric body of Adam (cf. Lk 3,38; 1,41; see “The Nativity”) is joined, in the twelve-year-old temple scene (Lk 2,41-51), by the most advanced human Ego, that of the ancient Zarathustra. Thereby the three bodies of Jesus are, from age “Twelve” (Lk 2,42) to “Thirty” (Lk 3,23), mature enough spiritually to be able to provide a Temple, i.e., three bodies (Lk 2,52), capable of withstanding the immense (“crucifying”) spiritual force of the Christ for as much as “Three Years.”

21. Lk 11,5-8: This parable speaks of a friend coming at “Midnight” to borrow “three loaves.” The significance of this passage is shown in the “Karma and Reincarnation” footnote that speaks of it. It would seem to be Luke’s more elaborate expression of what is condensed into a single verse about the “three measures of flour” in Mt 13,33. Both passages envision the human being’s long return journey to paradise.

22. Jn 1,1-5: The Christ is here described as “Life,” “Word” and “Light.” These express his exalted state before anything tangible to the human senses came into being, namely, the three higher ethers of life, sound (or chemical) and light. Christ himself expresses the same in Jn 14,6, “I am the Way [Light], the Truth [Word] and the Life.” Later in John’s Prologue (Jn 1,14) we are told that he became flesh, but more significantly it is in John’s Gospel more than in any other that the significance of the higher “I Am” is expressed. If we examine I-22 we readily see the relationship between these three higher ethers and the three lower elements, namely, earth, water and air. Thus, in Jn 1,1-5, we are being told that the three bodies are a reflection (“As Above, So Below”) of his etheric being. Indeed, Jn 1,3 tells us outright that “all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” See I-55 and I-80. The power of these concepts will become clearer as the contents of Volume 2, “What is Man?”, are contemplated. It is not here suggested that Jn 1,1-5 is limited in its exaltation to the etheric world, for above that are to be found the astral and devachanic (spiritual) worlds, and “The Word,” being “with God” in the beginning, was there. We must, however, see in Jn 1,1-5 an application to the three higher etheric states that existed prior to that of “Fire,” first in the descent of the human being, and then in that of the Christ. John’s Prologue reflects not only the three bodies (Jn 1,1-5) but also the Ego (Jn 1,12) as shown in I-72: