Beyond Materialism

The human being has to become what he thinks himself to be.

Rudolf Steiner

We are having to adapt ourselves to a new loss – the demise of an old reality. Yet we should not mourn it but rather greet the new. There is no need to suffer in this readaptation; nor does it need to be overwhelming. Yet, there will be those needing recovery time. In modern terms, the world is going through an overhaul. When viewed through the metaphysical lens, it is a transfiguration. The human nervous system will be going through a vibrational recalibration; the mind will be rewiring its neuronal pathways; and a new orientation will be arising. Lucidity will come to replace the fog, eventually. As humankind passes through the current period of transmutation it is coming face-to-face with a moment, and an opportunity, for ‘repentance.’ Generally, people recognize ‘repentance’ from a religious standpoint – as in repentance for our sins – which signifies an atonement or penance. Yet the original etymology of the word comes from Greek, from metanoiein, what we now know as ‘metanoia,’ which means to change one’s mind. It comes from meta-noein; literally, beyond ‘nous,’ or to think beyond. Repentance then – metanoia – is to change one’s thinking and to shift consciousness by embracing thoughts beyond present limitations or current thought patterns. In this context, I propose we have entered a significant time for repentance – humanity, as a whole yet starting individually, needs to come through its current inertia in conscious thinking by altering how we comprehend matters and perceive our reality. And it is crucial that we do so, otherwise we shall find that a different way of thinking will overtake us and command humanity into a specific direction not to our future benefit.

            For far too long, human cognition and perceptions have been constrained within a highly limited range and scope. Without exaggeration, there has been a densification and solidification of human thinking. It has literally been taken from creative heights (what some may refer to as ‘flights of fancy’) and become embedded into rock. This is the rock of materialism. The notion of metaphysical realities, the existence of events and sentience beyond the physical domain, has become diminished to the point of extinction. Why is this? Is it because humanity has suddenly become ‘civilized’? I doubt this very much. In fact, I would be tempted to argue the opposite – that humanity is in contestation with forces that are acting against its civilizing impulse with deliberate intention. There are many groups (including occult groups, initiates, and elite circles) who are keen on spreading materialism and making arrangements to ensure that the majority of humanity believes only in materialism and are entirely under the influence of materialistic forces. As Steiner states: ‘These initiates want to ensure that as many souls as possible only take in materialistic thoughts here between birth and death.’ ¹ Yet this form of materialism is not only in regard to our external habits, devices, and socio-cultural modes, but also (and most significantly) relating to a denial of all things ‘of the spirit.’ This refers to a wholesale agenda to establish a reality for humans that denies the existence of anything related to spirit, soul, and the metaphysical. This is nothing less than an imprisonment of spirit within the hard rock of materialism. We may even refer to this as a form of hyper-materialism. For some people, this may not seem so dangerous, or significant. After all, such things related to spirit and the metaphysical are just superstition anyway and have no place in a modern, technological world. This is not the place for fairies, djinns, demons, or angels. This is a world of physical reality, machines, and quantum computing. Ah, but you see, there is a contradiction here. Modern science, including technology, views the command and application of quantum capacities as the holy grail. And yet the quantum world itself is a realm of the supernatural. It is a realm of energy, and interrelation through time and space. It is an intermingling of the world of spirit (or consciousness-energy) into the world of matter. And since the quantum world is what underpins all physical manifestation – it is the underlying zero-point field of energy – then everything we know of in our physical reality is interspersed with the dimension of consciousness-spirit. Another way to put it is that everything that is sense perceptible is intermingled with the non-sense perceptible. The physical and the metaphysical are aspects of the same reality, depending on your scale of perception. Yet by only acknowledging one side of this we remain blind to the other. If we do not recognize, let alone understand, the metaphysical realm, then we cannot fully understand or appreciate the physical world. And this leaves us at a great disadvantage. Why is this so? It is because whoever understands how the metaphysical realm operates and intermingles (and thus influences) the physical realm will have the knowledge, and power, to manipulate the physical world to their advantage. By blocking out peoples’ general awareness of the metaphysical by placing all attention and focus onto the physical, those aspects and influences beyond the general range of awareness can operate stealthily and undetected. This is why those aspects labelled as ‘paranormal,’ ‘occult,’ ‘metaphysical,’ and the rest, are ridiculed within mass culture. This is a diversion tactic to take away attention from anyone wishing to explore and develop further into the metaphysical. Because of this, those individuals and groups who have knowledge of how the metaphysical realm operates can continue, unabated and undisturbed, to apply that knowledge to establish events within the physical world that go largely unsuspected. Their dominion of control and influence over physical life continues unquestioned and uncontested. Rudolf Steiner recognized and spoke of this over one hundred years ago:

 … something seemingly incomprehensible outwardly must indeed appear incomprehensible outwardly because there are spiritual forces and spiritual deeds being played out both for good and evil behind the scenes … of events in world history.²

It is necessary at this time in humanity’s growth to look beyond the ‘scenery of existence’ and to develop a general awareness not only of a metaphysical reality alongside the physical one, but also that these two realities are interlaced at all times – with the unseen, or non-sense perceptible, working through the physical world. It is counteractive for humanity to remain dormant in these regards at this particular time along its evolutionary transition. To remain steadfast within the thinking patterns and belief sets of a purely materialistic age will be damaging to its prospects for advancement. Some people may argue, of course, that it is exactly this materialistic age of ours that will steer humanity into a bright future through technological innovations as well as technological solutions to many of our current ills. The result of this perspective, however, will be a future along the lines of social technocracy and species transhumanism; with the consequences being the dissolution of the individual’s connection with spirit-consciousness (the symbolic death of the spirit realms). Now is the time for humanity to be guided more in accordance with metaphysical – or esoteric, transcendental principles – than ever before; otherwise, greater concentrations of power will be in the hands of fewer and fewer people who will exercise this control over the masses in a negative way. The struggle that is currently playing out is through certain groups (and agendas) striving to develop a cultural environment of hyper-materialism that will paralyse, or at the very least impede, the human being’s perceptive development. Anything related to the ‘unseen’ – and this includes consciousness – will be regarded as whimsy, nonsense, and as fantasy, to the point that all aspects relating to anything remotely metaphysical will be rejected outright as belonging to an archaic time. Even now it can be seen that people are being inoculated, metaphorically speaking, against the inclination to perceive metaphysical promptings, resulting in them losing any urge for a genuine spiritual life, or inner development.

The forces of materialism (what I have previously called entropic forces) are operative within most of our societies, and upon the world stage, and their aim is to confuse the general masses and to steer them into believing what is being shown to them. It is a grand psychological operation as much as it is occult, for it operates on several levels simultaneously and only the outer shards are visible. In the determination to steer humanity away from metaphysical truths, these forces are attempting to overwhelm our senses and emotions, and to herd the collective into states of fear, insecurity, and dependency. These stressful states then align the individual to a lower frequency that connects (or entrains) people to a denser vibratory rate. To become entangled within these denser, lower vibrations leads to a diminishing connection to finer, metaphysical impulses, which results in the erosion of the inner, developmental urge. As I put forth here, it is necessary for human beings to establish a correct relationship with the spiritual/metaphysical reality. Never before has this been so necessary for us. It can be said that this is now as necessary as choosing what we consume for the health of the body.

We need to be extra vigilant and alert now to how events are unfolding upon the physical plane – especially upon the world stage – and to take note of those things that attract our attention; and to notice how things are being revealed to us through mainstream channels. We should be mindful of such impacts and to question why they are attempting to influence certain reactions and responses. The thoughts, emotions, and reactions that we produce serve to make us in their image. As the opening citation to this essay reminds us, we are to become what we think ourselves to be – and not to become in the image that others are portraying for us. How we think, and the manner in which we convey these thoughts, is generally overlooked and not recognized to have any great significance. Yet this is not the case. If we remember – In the beginning was the Word. The power of the word, and the thought behind it, is seen nowadays as a casual and almost abstract thing. Rather than being recognized as a real force, the power of the word has been turned into Twitterings, emojis, and abbreviated tick-tockering mutterings. Our modern societies have curtailed and corrupted the power of thought. Human expression has been swiftly, and cleverly, replaced by abstract, disjointed thoughts and communications, supported by media programming, entertainment, and the rest. The masses have been tech-herded into corrals dominated by quick videos, viral memes, comedy skits, and (yes, I have to say it) cute cats. It is a fairground that celebrates the death of spirit-consciousness. Yet it is a death only by absence and not in reality. At all times, the impulse of spirit-consciousness moves about and through the physical world, unknown to and unsuspected by the majority. Yet just because we are unaware of it does not deny its existence. You may close your eyes to block the sun, yet this does nothing to deny the existence and influence of the sun. The point here, however, is that if people remain unaware of these factors, then these forces or impulses remain within the collective unconscious. It is now central to our epoch that as many individuals as possible become perceptive to the conscious and metaphysical forces/energies that lie beyond the threshold of aware consciousness.

Conscious awareness of events and impulses that lie beyond our normal ken of perception help us to recognize the action and influence of negating or counteractive forces. I would propose that in these times it is the responsibility of humanity to ‘come to grips with evil as an impulse in world evolution.’³ For if we are aware of the influence of these intervening and disruptive agencies, then we can begin to dissolve them of their power through, firstly, the recognition and acknowledgement of their existence. As it was written in the Gnostic Gospel of Philip: ‘So long as the root of wickedness is hidden, it is strong. But when it is recognized, it is dissolved. When it is revealed, it perishes … It is powerful because we have not recognized it.’ The responsibility for us right now is a difficult yet necessary one: it is for us to recognize and confront these negative, counteractive forces and to bring them into the light (literally and metaphorically). The severest hindrance to this is only our collective ignorance. And yet we need to also recognize that metaphysical forces are always aligned with our intentions for growth and perceptual advancement. The very reason that certain power-hungry groups aim to cause as much confusion, distraction, and dissonance as possible amongst human life is to obscure these metaphysical impulses from our awareness and to, quite literally, keep us in the dark. They fear our growing awareness – and it is growing amongst the general populace. It is necessary for individuals to awaken through their own compulsion. It is time for a grand recognition and revealing. And this changing of our minds (our perceptions) is the great moment of repentance – metanoia – signifying the shift in consciousness by embracing perceptive awareness beyond present limitations.

Humanity’s great defence is not through physical means but by knowledge. If we know about such things, we can be protected from them. Yet we should not be lazy in seeking out real knowledge of these things. We should not be deterred by false-flag events or false promises. Neither should we be misdirected by false information and accusations. When the finger points outwards, we should look inward and to the heart (and ignore the narrated script). The real power we have is through what we know, and therefore what we are able to think. We would do well to remember that we become what we think. And we each now are being called to become that which we are truly able to think, to know, and to be.

[This essay is taken from the new book by the author: ‘Is There Life on Earth: A Transmutation Octave’, published 1st April 2024]

References

¹ Steiner, R. (2006) Secret Brotherhoods and the Mystery of the Human Double. Forest Row: Rudolf Steiner Press, p135

² Steiner, R. (2006) Secret Brotherhoods and the Mystery of the Human Double. Forest Row: Rudolf Steiner Press, p78

³ Steiner, R. (2006) Secret Brotherhoods and the Mystery of the Human Double. Forest Row: Rudolf Steiner Press, p162