A Fundamental Mistake

Yes, when one lives in this world, then one truly sees that an ever more chaotic picture is arising, a kind of insane untruth that is not only taking place in the heads and hearts of people, but that also becomes visible in facts on the world stage. One can actually no longer do anything with it. One would most prefer to withdraw somewhere on the Mookerhei into a little hut and have no newspaper and no telephone and nothing anymore, and just continue to live a little as it happens to present itself.

The Lotus Flowers and the Apocalypse

A few weeks ago a new book of mine was published, this one, “the lotus flowers and the apocalypse.” And I would like to present it today, yes, with a look at it. Normally one knows the apocalypse as the revelation of the end times. And in this sense such a book seems very актуal, because we find the word apocalypse a lot in our time, we hear it a lot, we read it a lot, because in this desolate time in which we live it has the appearance that it is an end time.

Remedy Against Decadence

Last time I said, everything always remains the same. It is of course clear that this does not concern the content, because in terms of content there are of course continuously very large differences, but the way in which the content comes into being is always the same. And then it actually makes no difference at all who performs certain actions or initiates deeds.

The source from which that arises is always the same. And of course there are differences in the sense that people have different characters and different temperaments, and therefore there is apparently indeed difference. But at the moment we are running into a trap, you could say, that is not seen at all.

De bron waaruit dat voortkomt is toch altijd hetzelfde. En natuurlijk zijn er verschillen in de zin van dat mensen verschillende karakters hebben en verschillende temperamenten, en daardoor is er schijnbaar wel verschil. Maar we lopen op het ogenblik in een val, zou je kunnen zeggen, die helemaal niet gezien wordt.

Pure Thinking

Yes, in our time it once again becomes so clear how much the world needs anthroposophy as a cultural factor. Now of course one can say: yes, anthroposophy has actually already become known throughout the whole world and in this sense is indeed a cultural factor in many regions worldwide through Waldorf schools, through curative education institutes, and so on. But that is not what I mean. There are also very many people who are enthusiastic about the work of Rudolf Steiner and who take up the content with great energy and even pass it on again, write about it, expand the content themselves, and so on. That is not what I mean either.

Everything always remains the same

Yes, after some time I once again gathered the courage to sit down here and put a thing or two into words. When you follow politics—and by that I do not mean only in the Netherlands, but in the world—then your courage can very easily sink into your shoes. What you see is that, in essence, it always remains the same.

Christmas: The Holy Nights

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, and I would like to try to say something about Advent and about Christmas, and also about the time directly following it. I looked back at what I had recorded a year ago. In fact, one could say: you could simply repeat it. For exactly the same thing is happening as last year. That video then bore the title Christmas, Peace on Earth. And it was meant as a counterweight to the message we had received that we should prepare ourselves for a war and that we would have to take all kinds of measures in order to be properly prepared for it. Within four or five years it would come to that. And furthermore, of course, spending on defence would have to increase. That was essentially the message.

Initiation: The Observer

Last time I spoke about initiation and about self-education. And I said that in ancient times the pupils were chosen, whereas in our present time the human being chooses himself. Now it is the case that I usually limit my videos to about twenty minutes, because I do not really find this medium suitable for longer expositions. The disadvantage, however, is that one can then only say very little, and that what one says can easily take on a somewhat extreme character.

Free Thinking

After the video from last time with the title “Independent Judgment,” I naturally received reactions. These are not only under the video, but I also receive emails with reactions from time to time. And one of those pointed out to me the fact that if you are somewhat older and you look back at your youth, you would actually have to say: in those days people were still much more dependent on the judgment in which they were brought up than in the present time. We have in fact become much freer to venture to think something that has, for example, a revolutionary character. And by that I do not mean revolution in the big sense. Rather, revolution in the sense that you really want something different from what is happening. To think that is something that in modern times actually becomes more and more possible, when you think of the 1950s of the last century.

Initiation: Self-Education!

Last time I spoke about initiation, and I would like to continue with that this time. One can, of course, really never finish speaking about it. The time in which we live is a very special one when we relate ourselves to initiation, for in our time we can truly decide for ourselves whether we want to follow the path of initiation, and that is really something special. For we must imagine, when we think of ancient times in which there were mysteries where one could be initiated; there the pupils were truly chosen for it, and they had to undergo difficult trials in order to be allowed to remain. The initiation itself was prepared in the school, but when the pupil, male or female, was ready so that the initiation could be carried out, then it was carried out upon the pupils.

Independent Judgement

I am sitting wonderfully in the autumn sun between two rain showers and reflect on the past week, when there were elections in the Netherlands. They brought a great surprise, and yes, that of course then leads to the question: how can it be that there comes a result that stands so far from the polls and is such a great surprise to everyone? What has actually happened that caused things to change so much in the Dutch population in such a short time? And it is not so much about this specific case for me, but more about a general question: how that actually works in our time.