“The Place of the Lost key” Consciousness of Christ within Life

This essay is based on a lecture which was given to members and friends of the Anthroposophical Society in Australia, Tasmania Branch, Hobart Group on Saturday 13 July 2002 by Dr (hc) Karl Kaltenbach OAM.

Introduction: Understanding own self-motivation

Before I attempt to write about this theme, I’d like to assess my own motivations. As far as I am conscious of it, I believe I wish to redeem some of the negative Christian images of the past. I also would like to share with others my own thoughts and by this process learn to experience whether my explorations have relevance and meaning. Further I might also become a catalyst for others to explore their own thoughts and feelings.

I wish to use today’s language through my own forms of expressions but not with the intent of bringing profanity and my own inadequacy to this theme; but only to begin my explorations from the standpoint of where I am at the present time. I therefore do not intend to justify my own point of view on historical conclusions of recorded documentations of events in history, but begin with my own existential position and point of spiritual reality. I’d like to find out whether this may be where other individuals are too in terms of their spiritual experience and knowledge, in their religious, philosophical and scientific thinking.

Naturally, in the challenge of talking about this subject, I can think of so many more eloquent writers who have more pertinent thoughts, however, since I was asked to speak and write on this subject by many friends, I feel encouraged to do so despite my reservations.

For me this theme is so immensely cosmic that it requires unfathomable depth and compared to my expectations of this earnestness I feel somewhat a faint speck within this ocean of spiritual reality. But since I cannot imagine that a collective composition of a written documentation would bring any more validity to the experience, we have but only one means left and this is to take courage and to write out of one’s own experience. Collections of thoughts could become rationally convincing and by this subdue the individual capacity of judgement. In which case it would work against the very integrity of our own being. It appears therefore that the only representation of thoughts on the Christian theme is through individualistic creativity and through the lonely path of risking one owns exposure to criticism. as this leaves the reader free to judge for themselves

I know that many of my thoughts will not be politically correct in terms of current popular opinions, never the less, I believe this theme is vital to all human beings and the adventure is worthwhile. Whether we want to be a Christian or not; whether we are believers or non-believers, there is within each individual, the voice of conscience pointing towards finding spiritual human values and toward obtaining individual ethical discernment in life situations for which each one of us will have to take, one day, the full ownership of one’s thoughts.

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