Bruce Michael
Well-Known Member
Shalom,
Buddha achieved enlightenment under the (Bodhi) fig tree. Christ in Mark, curses the fig tree:
Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
John 1:48
The above, according to Dr. Steiner, means that Nathaneal was an initiate- just as Buddha had attained enlightenment, so too had Nathaneal.
And just as Buddha was said to have received enlightenment under the bodhi tree, so also in biblical language was it received “under the fig tree.” Christ’s cursing the fig tree cannot be understood except in the light that this method of initiation was ending. We can begin to comprehend what the Song meant by the “beloved” being “awakened under the apple tree” to the love that pleases (Song of Solomon 8,4-5).
A new method of initiation was called for.
The fig has been represented throughout history as a symbol of sexuality. Christ's audience would have known that. Statues of Priapus were made of fig wood. The fruit was carried with the phallus in the ancient processions in honour of Bacchus.
In Italian portraits, the subject sometimes holds a fig which means devotion to the fairer sex. The Italian expression "far la fica" was symbolised with the thumb between the middle and forefingers as it appears on many Priapic ornaments, or by putting the finger or thumb in the mouth and drawing it down.
The fig leaf was representative of the female sex, along with the shell, the Conca Veneris, the Barley Corn or the letter Delta.
And Plutarch states
The above is clear evidence of the nature of the fig-like initiation, which Christ cursed as being no longer suitable.
As Dr. Steiner said when commenting on the Leadbeater case:
-Br.Bruce
Buddha achieved enlightenment under the (Bodhi) fig tree. Christ in Mark, curses the fig tree:
"And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of the thee hereafter for ever."
However this is an allegory (if it wasn't, why have the good Catholic Italians always enjoyed their figs?)Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
John 1:48
The above, according to Dr. Steiner, means that Nathaneal was an initiate- just as Buddha had attained enlightenment, so too had Nathaneal.
Again the fig is cursed. Rudolf Steiner says that the fig represents the old teaching which had become worthless. But why? I seem to remember him talking about the group consciousness represented by the many seeds held within the fig, but I think there is more to it than that.(Luke 13:6, 7): "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came and sought fruit thereon and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none; cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?"
And just as Buddha was said to have received enlightenment under the bodhi tree, so also in biblical language was it received “under the fig tree.” Christ’s cursing the fig tree cannot be understood except in the light that this method of initiation was ending. We can begin to comprehend what the Song meant by the “beloved” being “awakened under the apple tree” to the love that pleases (Song of Solomon 8,4-5).
A new method of initiation was called for.
The fig has been represented throughout history as a symbol of sexuality. Christ's audience would have known that. Statues of Priapus were made of fig wood. The fruit was carried with the phallus in the ancient processions in honour of Bacchus.
In Italian portraits, the subject sometimes holds a fig which means devotion to the fairer sex. The Italian expression "far la fica" was symbolised with the thumb between the middle and forefingers as it appears on many Priapic ornaments, or by putting the finger or thumb in the mouth and drawing it down.
The fig leaf was representative of the female sex, along with the shell, the Conca Veneris, the Barley Corn or the letter Delta.
And Plutarch states
Plutarch, Isis & Osiris"... the fig leaf is interpreted to mean the generating and
fecundating of the universe, for it seems to have resemblance to the sexual parts of a man."
The above is clear evidence of the nature of the fig-like initiation, which Christ cursed as being no longer suitable.
As Dr. Steiner said when commenting on the Leadbeater case:
"At the present time when all when all higher human powers are so closely linked with the powers belonging to the lower levels of the sexual realm, a slip, such as Leadbeater's can occur at any time."
Leadbeater was an initiate, but an initiate of the fig, a dangerous path for this age, but quite suitable in the past (pre Mosiac).-Br.Bruce