Epilogue fl 21 7
mineral atom, when he has an understandng of how to make use of
what lives in the atom and place it at the service of the whole, then will
man be able to transform nature through his own spirituality."And this
-' must not be forgotten: "Spiritual beings originally had the imagina-
tions, inspirations, and intuitions-the ideas and the thoughts-ac-
cording to which the world surrounding us was created."That is how
it was. Now it is up to us.
The very purpose of the unfoldment of the cosmos, in anthropo-
sophic eyes, is to facilitate the manifestation of humanity, for humanity
to develop its I-consciousness. Human beings, we are assured, are being
given the opportunity by divine worlds to achieve our spiritual free-
dom.Thereafter we can ourselves direct our own future evolution.
To follow this highway solely on the basis of Steiner's clairvoyant
views, with no greater light than the candle of his spiritual science,
does require a leap in the dark. But then so does death. Only death to
Steiner is a mere interlude between lives in which to prepare for the
following round. When Steiner speaks of death, he warns specifically
about finding oneself in that state without benefit of his prophetic de-
scription of its scenery, its inhabitants, and what behavior is expected
from new arrivals. He likens the situation to trying to find an address
in an unknown city without benefit of road map. But it is not a city in
which one finds oneself; it is the universe--a locale that Keppler,
Newton, and Einstein have left as much a puzzle as before they applied
their science.
As Hodson pointed out, there is little or no scientific knowledge
about either the universe or humanity as far as their origin, purpose,d
goal, and mutual relationship is concerned. From acceptable scientific
sources, humans have no idea why the universe exists with all its con-
tents, where it came from, who created it, whither it is tending, and
whether it is guided or just continues in a haphazard way.
A right attitude toward science, says Steiner, will recognize that
its knowledge is illusion. "More knowledge, more wisdom, and more
truth are to be found in genuinely old myths, fairy tales and legends
than in the abstract erudition and science of the present day."
Hence the importance of Leadbeater and Besant for having vahdated,
with their siddhi powers, the scientific basis of the ancient wisdom. But