Esoteric Development

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Esoteric Development

Selected Lectures and Writings from the Works of Rudolf Steiner

By Rudolf Steiner

Various translators, edited by lice Wulsin

Various ! "#s

Steiner depicts here the experience of his non-mystical, scientifically clear path to a cultivation of inner faculties for experiencing supersensible realities. Topics coveredinclude the "six basic exercises," fasting, suitable content and practical requirements for meditative training, changes and stages of inner awareness, the role of love in

acquiring higher knowledge, the development of higher sense organs or chakras, and the three types of esoteric paths !riental oga, #hristian-$nostic, and %uropean

&osicrucian.

'(ith an informative introduction by )lan *oward, %soteric +evelopment is a useful introduction to the spiritual development exercises taught by &udolf Steiner. -

ew )ge ook &eview.

%dited by )lice (ulsin and with a cover design by /eter 0an !ordt, this volume is presented here with the kind permission of the &udolf Steiner achlassverwaltung,

$%&'E&'S

1ecture 2 2nner +evelopment December (), *+(

1ecture, +ecember 3, 45678 $) 97:. Translated for this volume by $ertrude Teutsch.

1ecture 22 /sychological ;oundations of )nthroposophy pril (-, *+**

1ecture, )pril nowledge )nthroposophy )s a +emand of the )ge September ./, *+.0

1ecture, September ?@, 45?=8 $) 9nowledge September .(, *+..

1ecture, September ?6, 45??8 $) 9=67. ;irst published in theAnthroposophy Quarterly0ol. :, o. ? A45?5B.Translation revised extensively for this volume. /ermission to revise original translation kindly granted by

&udolf Steiner /ress.

#hapter 0 $eneral +emands (hich %very )spirant for !ccult +evelopment Cust /ut to

*imself

(ritten work8 $) 9?:7. /reviously published by &udolf Steiner /ress as part of the volume Guidance inEsoteric Training. &evised for this volume with the kind permission of &udolf Steiner /ress.

#hapter 02 ;urther &ules in #ontinuation of $eneral +emands(ritten text8 $) 9?:7. &evised for this volume from an unpublished manuscript.

1ecture 022 The $reat 2nitiates 1arch */, *+(

1ecture, Carch 4@, 45678 $) 97=. &evised for this volume from an unpublished manuscript.

1ecture 0222 The /ath of >nowledge and 2ts Stages The &osicrucian Spiritual /ath

1ecture, !ctober ?6, 456@8 $) 95@. Translated for this volume by +iane Tatum.%ctober .(, *+(/

1ecture 2D 2maginative >nowledge and )rtistic 2magination %ctober .*, *+(/

1ecture, !ctober ?4, 456@8 $) 95@. &evised for this volume from an unpublished manuscript.

1ecture D The Three +ecisions on the /ath of 2maginative #ognition 1arch (., *+*

1ecture, Carch ?, 45478 $) 9473. &evised for this volume from an unpublished manuscript.

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ote

The lectures in this volume were given by &udolf Steiner at different points in his lifetime. )t the time when the earlier lectures

were given, &udolf Steiner was still actively participating in the $erman Section of the Theosophical Society and was using the terms'theosophy and 'theosophical, although often in the sense of the anthroposophical science of the spirit presented by him from the

beginning. 2n accordance with a suggestion he made later, after forming the )nthroposophical Society, these designations have been

replaced by 'anthroposophy and 'anthroposophical, except in instances where he is referring historically to the theosophical

movement.

2ntroduction

This book is about howto obtain supersensible knowledge, or knowledge of 'higher worlds. 2t contains ten lectures on that theme

given by &udolf Steiner to different audiences in different places, but arranged here in a certain evolving depth of content.

2n a time like the present, therefore, when so many people are looking for a spiritual understanding of life E and when many are

being led astray by unscrupulous teachers E it is a matter of no little importance that such a book should appear now, a book thatdemands nothing of the reader but an independent, open-minded Fudgment of what it has to say.

)s this book is likely to come to the attention of those who know little or nothing about &udolf Steiner, and perhaps even less ofsupersensible knowledge, it may be well to introduce it by saying something about both its author and his subFect. This kind of

prospective reader will then be better able to adapt himself to what it has to say, while those more familiar with Steiner can plungestraight into the book without spending any more time with this introduction.

&udolf Steiner was a philosopher with a strong scientific background who attracted a great deal of attention in the first quarter ofthis century with his books and lectures on the nature of the supersensible. *e not only gave detailed descriptions of higher worlds and

their beings that are inaccessible to ordinary sense-perception, but he explained how knowledge of these worlds could be acquired byanyone willing to follow a strict and guided development of the ordinary powers of cognition. Steiner based all that he said on the

ability of the human mind to now!*e would have nothing to do with any method that imposed strange, mystical practices on theaspirant for higher knowledge, or that demanded implicit obedience to the will of a teacher or guru. %verything he suggested can be

explored only on the basis of the consciousness that modern man has acquired in the pursuit of knowledge of nature.

(e are accustomed to calling this knowledge of nature 'scientific, and though this knowledge was to Steiner merely the outer

aspect of a world of phenomena and beings active 'behind the scenes, as it were, he was so much in accord with the basic principles ofscientific methodology that he called this higher knowledgespiritual science!The spiritual scientist directs thinking to what is given, as

does the natural scientist, but does not confine himself only to that which is given to the senses. *e applies thinking to thought itself asthe primary manifestation of supersensible reality.

The world that spiritual science explores, therefore, is the world of creative purposes and intentions in contrast to the world of

sense-perceptible phenomena, or the 'wrought work, as Steiner called it on one occasion. >nowledge of these higher worlds is,therefore, 'occult, hidden from ordinary consciousness, and hence the term 'occultism used in the opening lines of this book to

distinguish this knowledge from the comprehensive term 'anthroposophy, which &udolf Steiner uses to describe his work as a whole.

ow occultism"referring as it does to something ordinarily inaccessible to us, has a strong fascination for some people. !thers, ofcourse, are Fust as strongly repelled by it. )s it is the former who are likely to be attracted to this book Athe others will hardly get

beyond the titleB, we can proceed at once to offer certain cautionary remarks to the former, for Fust because of this strong fascination

one might attempt to embark forthwith upon the discovery of this extraordinary knowledge without further reflection. 2t should beremembered, however, that Steiner had already written a book on this subFect,Knowledge of #igher $orlds and %ts Attainment"and thepeople who heard the lectures reproduced here would, for the most part, have been familiar with that book, and with anthroposophy in

general.

To begin with, then, it needs to be said that as these higher worlds are indeed 'hidden from ordinary knowledge and

consciousness, the reader would be well advised to get some information about them before embarking on a quest for higherknowledge. &udolf SteinerGs two books, Theosophyand &ccult Science" an &utline"are excellent sources of such information.

There are several reasons for this suggestion. !ne is that Steiner himself held it as a sine 'ua nonfor the acquisition of higher

knowledge that the aspirant should get some idea beforehand of these worlds from those able to speak of them from firsthandexperience. This is not only important in light of much that is referred to in the book itself, but it is also a matter of common sense.

)nyone contemplating traveling to a part of the world that he has never visited will invariably find out as much about it as he canbeforehand from those who have already been there. *e will then not only know what to expect, but he is likely to understand all thebetter what he sees when he gets there. This is even more relevant in the quest for knowledge of higher worlds, for one is seeking

access to worlds that not only one has never seen, but that are utterly unlike anything one could see with physical eyes.

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There is another and even more pressing reason. Such a study of the information about the higher worlds, already existing in what

are called the 'five basic books of anthroposophy, is itself the first step to such knowledge. ) reading of the first chapter of &ccult

Science" an &utlinewill do much to explain this. 2f the reader finds in such a preliminary study something to which he can with sound

Fudgment say, es, he will be able to proceed on solid foundations with what this book has to offer. The reader will discover by such

study the reality of something with which he has long been familiar as a figure of speech, but which he now recogniHes as an innerfaculty E hissenseof truth. *e will have learned something of the knowledge-potential of the inner nature of thought, and what can

happen in thiningwill take on a new depth of meaning for him. 2f he can combine this with a study of SteinerGs The hilosophy ofreedom"he will find his confidence in thinking enhanced, even in thinking about matters of which he has as yet no direct experience.

This is important, because he will find as he reads this book that thinking itself is not only a supersensible activity, but is the veryvehicle by which he finds his way to experience of these worlds.

There is something else the reader will have to determine for himself before he takes up a quest such as this book describes E thatis, whether he is both ready and able to embark upon it. (hile this might seem to call into question the statement already made that

anyone cantake this path, it does not really. The exercises outlined in this book are indeed such that anyone can practice them, but theyare not easy. !ne must be aware of this. They are quite strict, and no one should embark on them without carefully weighing what that

strictness involves.

(e have already touched on the fact that the occult has a fascination for people. Cany would like to have such knowledge, but it is

of the utmost importance to understand whyone wants to obtain this knowledge. The aspirant must be able to put that question to

himself and to answer it with the utmost honesty and sincerity, for if anything of the nature of mere curiosity or personal advantageshould lie at the root of that desire, harmless as that might be in itself, it will become an obstacle in the attainment of higher knowledge.

(e touch here on the moral aspectof the acquisition of higher knowledge, a matter to which the reader will find &udolf Steinercalls attention again and again throughout this book. 2t is not a matter, however, of Steiner laying down moral inFunctions, but rather ofthe aspirant discovering the morality which is implicit in the attainment of knowledge. *ere the strictest scientific integrity, demanding

the exclusion of all personal gratification and desire, is essential. 2f the aspirant is not yet ready to accept that morality, then it would bebetter for him to continue studying the literature of spiritual science Awhich he should be doing in any caseB until he is ready. *ereself*

nowledgeprecedesself*de+elopment"and if that knowledge is obFective and thorough enough, it will be found to be essential to self-development. )s #arl Inger, a pupil of &udolf Steiner, once put it, '%very knowledge transforms the knower, and the path to higher

knowledge is primarily a transformation of the self.

) word or two on what was meant by being 'able to embark on this quest would not come amiss here, particularly regarding the

'strictness already mentioned.

eing 'able refers primarily to regularityin carrying out the exercises described by Steiner. !nce having embarked on this path

there should be no, but no, 'letup. (hether the reader has the ability to do that, especially if he is young, is something that needscareful reflection. ')ble here has nothing to do with superior intelligence8 it is exclusively a matter of the will!This is why Steiner setssuch a modest time limit on the duration of these exercises a quarter of an hour, or even five minutes, is enough if used properly. ut

the exercises must be done e+eryday. &egularity is everything8 and if one considers all the eventualities that might upset that regularity,

one might well reflect on whether one will be ableto carry this through. There is nothing quite so discouraging as having to face havingreneged on such work as this, even with the best reason in the world. 2t is like dropping from a great height a ball of string that one has

Fust carefully wound, and having to face the prospect of winding it all up again.

The reader should also be aware of what will be happening to him if he decides to follow this path, and although Steiner makes this

abundantly clear, it will not hurt to underline one thing. !ne is engaged in transforming the soul into an organ of perception, and one isdoing this largely as the result of exercises based on thinking. (e usually imagine perception and thinking to be two entirely different

activities, but we cannot really keep them apart. !ne need only recall how, after a strenuous bout of thinking, when the concept for

which we are searching at last appears, we invariably say, ')hJ ow 2see,-to realiHe that perceiving Ain this case, perceivingconceptsB is closely interwoven with thinking. !ne does 'see the concept that has appeared in consciousness8 and it is this seeing inthiningthat the aspirant will be exercising in everything he does. ')s color is to the eye, says Steiner in Goethe the Scientist"'and

sound to the ear, so are concepts and ideas to thinking it .thining/ is an organ of perception!-

;inally, one must discover that the satisfaction in doing these exercises should be in thefeelingthey engender. There can be no

setting a goal for oneself, such as, '2 will do these exercises for a certain length of time, and then see what happens, or of drawing an

imaginary chart to plot oneGs progress, as business executives do to show whether their profits are going up or down. /aradoxical as itmay seem, although one undertakes these exercises in order to achieve a certain result, that result should be the last thing with which

one is concerned. ;or, again paradoxically, that result is not something one can ac'uire0it is something that isgi+enwhen the higher

powers deem that the time is ripe for enlightenment to be given. )nd that is something no man can foresee. 2t may take months, it maytake years. The satisfaction, therefore, that one can legitimately hope to feel is only that which can be found in the work itself. 2t is

'love for the action that must be discovered. !ne must come to the point where one would rather omit anything else in the course of

the day than miss the satisfaction which comes from this work. Then and then only will one become aware that something is beginningto happen in the soul, a genuine intercourse between oneself and higher worlds8 and although one may still not be able to 'see a thing,that will not be important. !ne will nowthat such seeing will and must come, as come it only can, 'in $odGs good time.

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There is Fust one more thing that should be said about this book and that should recommend it regardless of what the reader does

about the book otherwise that is, the way it reveals what 2 can only describe as the inner logicof knowledge. o one who reads thisbook with an open mind and the attention it deserves can lay it down without being convinced not only that such knowledge is possible,

but that it is only really possible in the way the author describes. The reader may not want to advance to such knowledge himself E

there may be reasons best known to him why he should not attempt it yet E but there can be no doubt that this knowledge is possible toanyone who has the determination to see it through. )nd to know Fust that from reading such a book is something unique. ;urthermore,

the material in this book is offered by a man who knows from personal experience what he is talking about, who 'lays all his cards onthe table with regard to what is involved, and yet never once uses that authority to impose upon the freedom of the reader as to what

he does about it.

There are two things with which our time has yet to come to grips one is the extension of manGs knowledge and humanconsciousness into regions of the mind hitherto declared forever inaccessible8 and the other is the real nature of human freedom. 2n thisbook the author lays out a plan of approach for the one, and by the way he does so he acknowledges the indisputable existence of the

other.

)lan *oward

2 2nner +evelopment

The concepts concerning the supersensible world and its relationship with the world of the senses have been discussed here in a

long series of lectures. 2t is only natural that, again and again, the question should arise, '(hat is the origin of knowledge concerning

the supersensible worldK (ith this question or, in other words, with the question of the inner development of man, we wish to occupyourselves today.

The phrase 'inner development of man here refers to the ascent of the human being to capacities which must be acquired if hewishes to make supersensible insights his own. ow do not misunderstand the intent of this lecture. This lecture will by no means

postulate rules or laws concerning general human morality, nor will it challenge the general religion of the age. 2 must stress thisbecause when occultism is discussed the misunderstanding often arises that some sort of general demands or fundamental moral laws,

valid without variation, are being established. This is not the case. This point requires particular clarification in our age ofstandardiHation, when differences between human beings are not at all acknowledged. either should todayGs lecture be mistaken for a

lecture concerning the general fundamentals of the anthroposophic movement. !ccultism is not the same as anthroposophy. The)nthroposophical Society is not alone in cultivating occultism, nor is this its only task. 2t could even be possible for a person to Foin the

)nthroposophical Society and to avoid occultism altogether.

)mong the inquiries which are pursued within the )nthroposophical Society, in addition to the field of general ethics, is also this

field of occultism, which includes those laws of existence which are hidden from the usual sense observation in everyday human

experience. y no means, however, are these laws unrelated to everyday experience. '!ccult means 'hidden, or 'mysterious. ut itmust be stressed over and over that occultism is a matter in which certain preconditions are truly necessary. Lust as higher mathematics

would be incomprehensible to the simple peasant who had never before encountered it, so is occultism incomprehensible to many

people today. !ccultism ceases to be 'occult, however, when one has mastered it. 2n this way, 2 have strictly defined the boundaries oftodayGs lecture. Therefore, no one can obFect E this must be stressed in the light of the most manifold endeavors and of the experience

of millennia E that the demands of occultism cannot be fulfilled, and that they contradict the general culture. o one is expected tofulfill these demands. ut if someone requests that he be given convictions provided by occultism and yet refuses to occupy himself

with it, he is like a schoolboy who wishes to create electricity in a glass rod, yet refuses to rub it. (ithout friction, it will not becomecharged. This is similar to the obFection raised against the practice of occultism.

o one is exhorted to become an occultist8 one must come to occultism of oneGs own volition. (hoever says that we do not needoccultism will not need to occupy himself with it. )t this time, occultism does not appeal to mankind in general. 2n fact, it is extremely

difficult in the present culture to submit to those rules of conduct which will open the spiritual world.

Two prerequisites are totally lacking in our culture. !ne is isolation, what spiritual science calls 'higher human solitude. The

other is overcoming the egotism which, though largely unconscious, has become a dominant characteristic of our time.

The absence of these two prerequisites renders the path of inner development simply unattainable. 2solation, or spiritual solitude, isvery difficult to achieve because life conditions tend to distract and disperse, in brief to demand sense-involvement in the external.

There has been no previous culture in which people have lived with such an involvement in the external. 2 beg you not to take what 2

am saying as criticism, but simply as an obFective characteriHation.

!f course, he who speaks as 2 do knows that this situation cannot be different, and that it forms the basis for the greatestadvantages and greatest achievements of our time. ut this is the reason that our time is so devoid of supersensible insight and that ourculture is so devoid of supersensible influence. 2n other cultures E and they do exist E the human being is in a position to cultivate the

inner life more and to withdraw from the influences of external life. Such cultures offer a soil where inner life in the higher sense canthrive. 2n the !riental culture there exists what is called oga. Those who live according to the rules of this teaching are called yogis. )

yogi is one who strives for higher spiritual knowledge, but only after he has sought for himself a master of the supersensible. o one is

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able to proceed without the guidance of a master, or guru. (hen the yogi has found such a guru, he must spend a considerable part of

the day, regularly, not irregularly, living totally within his soul. )ll the forces that the yogi needs to develop are already within his soul.They exist there as truly as electricity exists in the glass rod before it is brought forth through friction. 2n order to call forth the forces of

the soul, methods of spiritual science must be used which are the results of observations made over millennia. This is very difficult in

our time, which demands a certain splintering of each individual struggling for existence. !ne cannot arrive at a total inwardcomposure8 one cannot even arrive at the concept of such composure. /eople are not sufficiently aware of the deep solitude the yogi

must seek. !ne must repeat the same matter rhythmically with immense regularity, if only for a brief time each day, in total separationfrom all usual concerns. 2t is indispensable that all life usually surrounding the yogi cease to exist and that his senses become

unreceptive to all impressions of the world around him. *e must be able to make himself deaf and dumb to his surroundings during thetime which he prescribes for himself. *e must be able to concentrate to such a degree E and he must acquire practice in this

concentration E that a cannon could be fired next to him without disturbing his attention to his inner life. *e must also become free ofall memory impressions, particularly those of everyday life.

Lust think how exceedingly difficult it is to bring about these conditions in our culture, how even the concept of such isolation islacking. This spiritual solitude must be reached in such a way that the harmony, the total equilibrium with the surrounding world, is

never lost. ut this harmony can be lost exceedingly easily during such deep immersion in oneGs inner life. (hoever goes more andmore deeply inward must at the same time be able to establish harmony with the external world all the more clearly.

o hint of estrangement, of distancing from external practical life, may arise in him lest he stray from the right course. To a

degree, then, it might be impossible to distinguish his higher life from insanity. 2t truly is a kind of insanity when the inner life loses itsproper relationship to the outer. Lust imagine, for example, that you were knowledgeable concerning our conditions on earth and that

you had all the experience and wisdom which may be gathered here. ou fall asleep in the evening, and in the morning you do not

wake up on %arth but on Cars. The conditions on Cars are totally different from those on %arth8 the knowledge that you have gatheredon %arth is of no use to you whatsoever. There is no longer harmony between life within you and external life. ou probably would

find yourself in a Cartian insane asylum within an hour. ) similar situation might easily arise if the development of the internal lifesevers oneGs connection with the external world. !ne must take strict care that this does not happen. These are great difficulties in our

culture.

%gotism in relation to inward soul properties is the first obstacle. /resent humanity usually takes no account of this. This egotism is

closely connected with the spiritual development of man. )n important prerequisite for spiritual development is not to seek it out ofegotism. (hoever is motivated by egotism cannot get very far. ut egotism in our time reaches deep into the innermost soul. )gain and

again the obFection is heard, '(hat use are all the teachings of occultism, if 2 cannot experience them myselfK (hoever starts fromthis presumption and cannot change has little chance of arriving at higher development. !ne aspect of higher development is a most

intimate awareness of human community, so that it is immaterial whether it is 2 or someone else having the experience. *ence 2 mustmeet one who has a higher development than 2 with unlimited love and trust. ;irst, 2 must acquire this consciousness, the consciousness

of infinite trust toward my fellow man when he says that he has experienced one thing or the other. Such trust is a precondition forworking together. (herever occult capacities are strongly brought into play, there exists unlimited trust8 there exists the awareness that

a human being is a personality in which a higher individuality lives. The first basis, therefore, is trust and faith, because we do not seekthe higher self only in ourselves but also in our fellow men. %veryone living around one exists in undivided unity in the inner kernel of

oneGs being.

!n the basis of my lower self 2 am separated from other humans. ut as far as my higher self is concerned E and that alone can

ascend to the spiritual world E 2 am no longer separated from my fellow men8 2 am united with my fellow men8 the one speaking to meout of higher truths is actually my own self. 2 must get away completely from the notion of difference between him and me. 2 must

overcome totally the feeling that he has an advantage over me. Try to live your way into this feeling until it penetrates the most intimatefiber of your soul and causes every vestige of egotism to disappear. +o this so that the one further along the path than you truly stands

before you like your own self8 then you have attained one of the prerequisites for awakening higher spiritual life.

2n situations where one receives guidance for the occult life, sometimes quite erroneously and confusedly, one may often hear that

the higher self lives in the human being, that he need only allow his inner man to speak and the highest truth will thereby becomemanifest. othing is more correct and, at the same time, less productive than this assertion. Lust try to let your inner self speak, and you

will see that, as a rule, no matter how much you fancy that your higher self is making an appearance, it is the lower self that speaks.The higher self is not found within us for the time being. (e must seek it outside of ourselves. (e can learn a good deal from the

person who is further along than we are, since there the higher self is visible. !neGs higher self can gain nothing from oneGs ownegotistic '2. There where he now stands who is further along than 2 am, there will 2 stand sometime in the future. 2 am truly constituted

to carry within myself the seed for what he already is. ut the paths to !lympus must first be illuminated before one can follow them.

) feeling which may seem unbelievable is the fundamental condition for all occult development. 2t is mentioned in the various

religions, and every practical occultist with experience will confirm it. The #hristian religion describes it with the well-knownsentence, , which an occultist must understand completely, '%xcept ye become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of

heaven. This sentence can be understood only by he who has learned to revere in the highest sense. Suppose that in your earliest youthyou had heard about a venerable person, an individual of whom you held the highest opinion, and now you are offered the opportunity

to meet this person. ) sense of awe prevails in you when the moment approaches that you will see this person for the first time. There,standing at the gateway of this personality, you might feel hesitant to touch the door handle and open it. (hen you look up in this way

to such a venerable personality, then you have begun to grasp the feeling that #hristianity intends by the statement that one should

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become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. (hether or not the subFect of this veneration is truly worthy of it is

not really important. (hat matters is the capacity to look up to something with a veneration that comes from the innermost heart.

This feeling of veneration is the elevating force, raising us to higher spheres of supersensible life. %veryone seeking the higher lifemust write into his soul with golden letters this law of the occult world. +evelopment must start from this basic soul-mood8 without this

feeling, nothing can be achieved. ext, a person seeking inner development must understand clearly that he is doing something ofimmense importance to the human being. (hat he seeks is no more nor less than a new birth, and that needs to be taken in a literal

sense. The higher soul of man is to be born. Lust as man in his first birth was born out of the deep inner foundations of existence, and ashe emerged into the light of the sun, so does he who seeks inner development step forth from the physical light of the sun into a higher

spiritual light. Something is being born in him which rests as deeply in most human beings as the unborn child rests in the mother.

(ithout being aware of the full significance of this fact, one cannot understand what occult development means. The higher soul,

resting deep within human nature and interwoven with it, is brought forth. )s man stands before us in everyday life, his higher andlower natures are intermingled, and that is fortunate for everyday life. Cany persons among us would exhibit evil, negative qualities

except that there lives along with the lower nature a higher one which exerts a balancing influence. This intermingling can be comparedwith mixing a yellow with a blue liquid in a glass. The result is a green liquid in which blue and yellow can no longer be distinguished.

So also is the lower nature in man mingled with the higher, and the two cannot be distinguished. Lust as you might extract the blueliquid from the green by a chemical process, so that only the yellow remains and the unified green is separated into a complete duality,

so the lower and higher natures separate in occult development. !ne draws the lower nature out of the body like a sword from the

scabbard, which then remains alone. The lower nature comes forth appearing almost gruesome. (hen it was still mingled with thehigher nature, nothing was noticeable. ut once separated, all evil, negative properties come into view. /eople who previously

appeared benevolent often become argumentative and Fealous. This characteristic had existed earlier in the lower nature, but was guided

by the higher. ou can observe this in many who have been guided along an abnormal path. ) person may readily become a liar whenhe is introduced into the spiritual world, because the capacity to distinguish between the true and the false is lost especially easily.

Therefore, strictest training of the personal character is a necessary parallel to occult training. (hat history tells us about the saints andtheir temptations is not legend but literal truth.

*e who wants to develop towards the higher world on any path is readily prone to such temptations unless he can subdueeverything that meets him with a powerful strength of character and the highest morality. ot only do lust and passions grow E that is

not even the case so much E but opportunities also increase. This seems miraculous. )s through a miracle, the person ascending intothe higher worlds finds previously hidden opportunities for evil lurking around him. 2n every aspect of life a demon lies in wait for him,

ready to lead him astray. *e now sees what he has not seen before. )s through a spell, the division within his own being charms forthsuch opportunities from the hidden areas of life. Therefore, a very determined shaping of the character is an indispensable foundation

for the so-called white magic, the school of occult development which leads man into the higher worlds in a good, true, and genuineway. %very practical occultist will tell you that no one should dare to step through the narrow portal, as the entrance to occult

development is called, without practicing these properties again and again. They build the necessary foundation for occult life.

;irst man must develop the ability to distinguish in every situation throughout his life what is unimportant from what is important,that is, what is perishable from the imperishable. This requirement is easy to indicate but difficult to carry out. )s $oethe says, it is

easy, but what is easy is hard. 1ook, for instance, at a plant or an obFect. ou will learn to understand that everything has an important

and an unimportant side, and that man usually takes interest in the unimportant, in the relationship of the matter to himself, or in someother subordinate aspect. *e who wishes to become an occultist must gradually develop the habit of seeing and seeking in each thing its

essence. ;or instance, when he sees a clock he must have an interest in its laws. *e must be able to take it apart into its smallest detailand to develop a feeling for the laws of the clock. ) mineralogist will arrive at considerable knowledge about a quartH-crystal simply

by looking at it. The occultist, however, must be able to take the stone in his hand and to feel in a living way something akin to thefollowing monologue '2n a certain sense you, the crystal, are beneath humanity, but in a certain sense you are far above humanity. ou

are beneath humanity because you cannot make for yourself a picture of man by means of concepts, and because you do not feel. oucannot explain or think, you do not live, but you have an advantage over mankind. ou are pure within yourself, have no desire, no

wishes, no lust. %very human, every living being has wishes, desires, lusts. ou do not have them. ou are complete and withoutwishes, satisfied with what has come to you, an example for man, with which he will have to unite his other qualities.

2f the occultist can feel this in all its depth, then he has grasped what the stone can tell him. 2n this way man can draw out ofeverything something full of meaning. (hen this has become a habit for him, when he separates the important from the unimportant,

he has acquired another feeling essential to the occultist. Then he must connect his own life with that which is important. 2n this peopleerr particularly easily in our time. They believe that their place in life is not proper for them. *ow often people are inclined to say, 'Cy

lot has put me in the wrong place. 2 am, let us say, 'a postal clerk. 2f 2 were put in a different place, 2 could give people high ideas,great teaching, and so on. The mistake which these people make is that they do not enter into the significant aspect of their occupation.

2f you see in me something of importance because 2 can talk to the people here, then you do not see the importance of your own life and

work. 2f the mail-carriers did not carry the mail, the whole postal traffic would stop, and much work already achieved by others wouldbe in vain.

*ence everyone in his place is of exceeding importance for the whole, and none is higher than the other. #hrist has attempted to

demonstrate this most beautifully in the thirteenth chapter of the $ospel of Lohn, with the words, 'The servant is not greater than hislord8 neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. These words were spoken after the Caster had washed the feet of the

)postles. *e wanted to say, '(hat would 2 be without my )postlesK They must be there so that 2 can be there in the world, and 2 mustpay them tribute by lowering myself before them and washing their feet. This is one of the most significant allusions to the feeling that

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the occultist must have for what is important. (hat is important in the inward sense must not be confused with the externally

important. This must be strictly observed.

2n addition, we must develop a series of qualities. M;or another description of these exercises, see &ccult Science an &utlineA)nthroposophic /ress, Spring 0alley, ew ork, 453?B #hapter 7, p. ?


8/53

increasingly finds in it an example for spirituality. 2f you consider the heart, this wonderful organ with the regular beat and innate

wisdom, and you compare it with the desires and passions of the astral body which unleash all sorts of actions against the heart, youwill recogniHe how its regular course is influenced detrimentally by passion. *owever, the functions of the astral body must become as

rhythmical as those of the physical body.

2 want to mention something here which will seem grotesque to most people. This is the matter of fasting. )wareness of thesignificance of fasting has been totally lost. ;asting is enormously significant, however, for creating rhythm in our astral body. (hat

does it mean to fastK 2t means to restrain the desire to eat and to block the astral body in relation to this desire. *e who fasts blocks theastral body and develops no desire to eat. This is like blocking a force in a machine. The astral body becomes inactive then, and the

whole rhythm of the physical body with its innate wisdom works upward into the astral body to rhythmiciHe it. 1ike the imprint of a

seal, the harmony of the physical body impresses itself upon the astral body. 2t would transfer much more permanently if the astralbody were not continuously being made irregular by desires, passions, and wishes, including spiritual desires and wishes.

2t is more necessary for the man of today to carry rhythm into all spheres of higher life than it was in earlier times. Lust as rhythm

is implanted in the physical body by $od, so man must make his astral body rhythmical. Can must order his day for himself. *e mustarrange it for his astral body as the spirit of nature arranges it for the lower realms. 2n the morning, at a definite time, one must

undertake one spiritual action8 a different one must be undertaken at another time, again to be adhered to regularly, and yet another onein the evening. These spiritual exercises must not be chosen arbitrarily, but must be suitable for the development of the higher life. This

is one method for taking life in hand and for keeping it in hand. So set a time for yourself in the morning when you concentrate. ou

must adhere to this hour. ou must establish a kind of calm so that the occult master in you may awaken. ou must meditate about agreat thought content that has nothing to do with the external world, and let this thought content come to life completely. ) short time

is enough, perhaps a quarter of an hour. %ven five minutes are sufficient if more time is not available. ut it is worthless to do these

exercises irregularly. +o them regularly so that the activity of the astral body becomes as regular as a clock. !nly then do they havevalue. The astral body will appear completely different if you do these exercises regularly. Sit down in the morning and do these

exercises, and the forces 2 described will develop. ut, as 2 said, it must be done regularly, for the astral body expects that the sameprocess will take place at the same time each day, and it falls into disorder if this does not happen. )t least the intent towards order

must exist. 2f you rhythmiciHe your life in this manner, you will see success in not too long a time8 that is, the spiritual life hidden fromman for the time being will become manifest to a certain degree.

)s a rule, human life alternates among four states. The first state is the perception of the external world. ou look around withyour senses and perceive the external world. The second is what we may call imagination or the life of mental images which is related

to, or even part of, dream life. There man does not have his roots in his surroundings, but is separated from them. There he has norealities within himself, but at the most reminiscences. The third state is dreamless sleep, in which man has no consciousness of his ego

at all. 2n the fourth state he lives in memory. This is different from perception. 2t is already something remote, spiritual. 2f man had nomemory, he could uphold no spiritual development.

The inner life begins to develop by means of inner contemplation and meditation. Thus, the human being sooner or later perceives

that he no longer dreams in a chaotic manner8 he begins to dream in the most significant way, and remarkable things reveal themselvesin his dreams, which he gradually begins to recogniHe as manifestations of spiritual beings. aturally the trivial obFection might easily

be raised that this is nothing but a dream and therefore of no consequence. *owever, should someone discover the dirigible in his

dream and then proceed to build it, the dream would simply have shown the truth. Thus an idea can be grasped in an other-than-usualmanner. 2ts truthfulness must then be Fudged by the fact that it can be realiHed. (e must become convinced of its inner truth from

outside.

The next step in spiritual life is to comprehend truth by means of our own qualities and of guiding our dreams consciously. (hen

we begin to guide our dreams in a regular manner, then we are at the stage where truth becomes transparent for us. The first stage iscalled 'material cognition. ;or this, the obFect must lie before us. The next stage is 'imaginative cognition. 2t is developed through

meditation, that is through shaping life rhythmically. )chieving this is laborious. ut once it is achieved, the time arrives when there isno longer a difference between perception in the usual life and perception in the supersensible. (hen we are among the things of our

usual life, that is, in the sense world, and we change our spiritual state, then we experience continuously the spiritual, the supersensibleworld, but only if we have sufficiently trained ourselves. This happens as soon as we are able to be deaf and dumb to the sense world,

to remember nothing of the everyday world, and still to retain a spiritual life within us. Then our dream-life begins to take on aconscious form. 2f we are able to pour some of this into our everyday life, then the next capacity arises, rendering the soul-qualities of

the beings around us perceptible. Then we see not only the external aspect of things, but also the inner, hidden essential kernel ofthings, of plants, of animals, and of man. 2 know that most people will say that these are actually different things. True, these are

always different things from those a person sees who does not have such senses. The third stage is that in which a consciousness, whichis as a rule completely empty, begins to be enlivened by continuity of consciousness. The continuity appears on its own. The person is

then no longer unconscious during sleep. +uring the time in which he used to sleep, he now experiences the spiritual world.

!f what does sleep usually consistK The physical body lies in bed, and the astral body lives in the supersensible world. 2n this

supersensible world, you are taking a walk. )s a rule, a person with the type of disposition which is typical today cannot withdraw veryfar from his body. 2f one applies the rules of spiritual science, organs can be developed in the astral body as it wanders during sleep E

Fust as the physical body has organs E which allow one to become conscious during sleep. The physical body would be blind and deafif it had no eyes or ears, and the astral body walking at night is blind and deaf for the same reason, because it does not yet have eyes

and ears. ut these organs are developed through meditation which provides the means for training these organs. This meditation mustthen be guided in a regular way. 2t is being led so that the human body is the mother and the spirit of man is the father. The physical

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human body, as we see it before us, is a mystery in every one of its parts and, in fact, each member is related in a definite but

mysterious way to a part of the astral body. These are matters which the occultist knows. ;or instance, the point in the physical bodylying between the eyebrows belongs to a certain organ in the astral organism. (hen the occultist indicates how one must direct

thoughts, feelings, and sensations to this point between the eyebrows through connecting something formed in the physical body with

the corresponding part of the astral body, the result will be a certain sensation in the astral body. ut this must be practiced regularly,and one must know how to do it. Then the astral body begins to form its members. ;rom a lump, it grows to be an organism in which

organs are formed. 2 have described the astral sense organs in the periodical,1ucifer Gnosis!They are also called 1otus flowers. ymeans of special word sequences, these 1otus flowers are cultivated. !nce this has occurred, the human being is able to perceive the

spiritual world. This is the same world he enters when passing through the portal of death, a final contradiction to *amletGs 'TheundiscoverGd country from whose bourn no traveler returns.

So it is possible to go, or rather to slip, from the sense world into the supersensible world and to live there as well as here. Thatdoes not mean life in never-never land, but life in a realm that clarifies and explains life in our realm. Lust as the usual person who has

not studied electricity would not understand all the wonderful workings in a factory powered by electricity, so the average person doesnot understand the occurrences in the spiritual world. The visitor at the factory will lack understanding as long as he remains ignorant

of the laws of electricity. So also will man lack understanding in the realm of the spirit as long as he does not know the laws of thespiritual. There is nothing in our world that is not dependent on the spiritual world at every moment. %verything surrounding us is the

external expression of the spiritual world. There is no materiality. %verything material is condensed spirit. ;or the person looking intothe spiritual world, the whole material, sense-perceptible world, the world in general, becomes spiritualiHed. )s ice melts into water

through the effect of the sun, so everything sense-perceptible melts into something spiritual within the soul which looks into the

spiritual world. Thus, the fundament of the world gradually manifests before the spiritual eye and the spiritual ear.

The life that man learns to know in this manner is actually the spiritual life he carries within himself all along. ut he knowsnothing of it because he does not know himself before developing organs for the higher world. 2magine possessing the characteristics

you have at this time, yet being without sense-organs. ou would know nothing of the world around you, would have no understandingof the physical body, and yet you would belong to the physical world. So the soul of man belongs to the spiritual world, but does not

know it because it does not hear or see. Lust as our body is drawn out of the forces and materials of the physical world, so is our souldrawn out of the forces and materials of the spiritual world. (e do not recogniHe ourselves within ourselves, but only within our

surroundings. )s we cannot perceive a heart or a brain E even by means of D-ray E without seeing it in other people through oursense organs Ait is only the eyes that can see the heartB, so we truly cannot see or hear our own soul without perceiving it with spiritual

organs in the surrounding world. ou can recogniHe yourself only by means of your surroundings. 2n truth there exists no innerknowledge, no self-examination8 there is only one knowledge, one revelation of the life around us through the organs of the physical as

well as the spiritual. (e are a part of the worlds around us, of the physical, the soul, and the spiritual worlds. (e learn from thephysical if we have physical organs, from the spiritual world and from all souls if we have spiritual and soul organs. There is no

knowledge but knowledge of the world.

2t is vain and empty idleness for man to 'brood within himself, believing that it is possible to progress simply by looking into

himself. Can will find the $od in himself if he awakens the divine organs within himself and finds his higher divine self in hissurroundings, Fust as he finds his lower self solely by means of using his eyes and ears. (e perceive ourselves clearly as physical

beings by means of intercourse with the sense world, and we perceive ourselves clearly in relation to the spiritual world by developing

spiritual senses. +evelopment of the inner man means opening oneself to the divine life around us.

ow you will understand that it is essential that he who ascends to the higher world undergoes, to begin with, an immensestrengthening of his character. Can can experience on his own the characteristics of the sense world because his senses are already

opened. This is possible because a benevolent divine spirit, who has seen and heard in the physical world, stood by man in the mostancient times, before man could see and hear, and opened manGs eyes and ears. 2t is from Fust such beings that man must learn at this

time to see spiritually, from beings already able to do what he still has to learn. (e must have a guru who can tell us how we shoulddevelop our organs, who will tell us what he has done in order to develop these organs. *e who wishes to guide must have acquired one

fundamental quality. This is unconditional truthfulness. This same quality is also a main requirement for the student. o one may trainto become an occultist unless this fundamental quality of unconditional truthfulness has been previously cultivated.

(hen facing sense experience, one can test what is being said. (hen 2 tell you something about the spiritual world, however, youmust have trust because you are not far enough to be able to confirm the information. *e who wishes to be a guru must have become so

truthful that it is impossible for him to take lightly such statements concerning the spiritual world or the spiritual life. The sense worldcorrects errors immediately by its own nature, but in the spiritual world we must have these guidelines within ourselves. (e must be

strictly trained, so that we are not forced to use the outer world for controls, but only our inner self. (e are only able to gain thiscontrol by acquiring already in this world the strictest truthfulness. Therefore, when the )nthroposophical Society began to present

some of the basic teachings of occultism to the world, it had to adopt the principle there is no law higher than truth. 0ery few people

understand this principle. Cost are satisfied if they can say they have the conviction that something is true, and then if it is wrong, theywill simply say that they were mistaken. The occultist cannot rely on his subFective honesty. There he is on the wrong track. *e must

always be in consonance with the facts of the external world, and any experience that contradicts these facts must be seen as an error or

a mistake. The question of who is at fault for the error ceases to be important to the occultist. *e must be in absolute harmony with thefacts in life. *e must begin to feel responsible in the strictest sense for every one of his assertions. Thus he trains himself in the

unconditional certainty that he must have for himself and for others if he wishes to be a spiritual guide.

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So you see that 2 needed to indicate to you today a series of qualities and methods. (e will have to speak about these again in

order to add the higher concepts. 2t may seem to you that these things are too intimate to discuss with others, that each soul has to cometo grips with them on its own terms, and that they are possibly unsuitable for reaching the great destination which should be reached,

namely the entrance into the spiritual world. This entrance will definitely be achieved by those who tread the path 2 have characteriHed.

(henK !ne of the most outstanding participants in the theosophical movement, Subba &ow, who died some time ago, has spokenfittingly about this. &eplying to the question of how long it would take, he said, 'Seven years, perhaps also seven times seven years,

perhaps even seven incarnations, perhaps only seven hours. 2t all depends on what the human being brings with himself into life. (emay meet a person who seems to be very stupid, but who has brought with himself a concealed higher life that needs only to be brought

out. Cost human beings these days are much further than it seems, and more people would know about this if the materialism of our

conditions and of our time would not drive them back into the inner life of the soul. ) large percentage of todayGs human beings waspreviously much further advanced. (hether that which is within them will come forth depends on many factors. ut it is possible togive some help. Suppose you have before you a person who was highly developed in his earlier incarnation, but now has an

undeveloped brain. )n undeveloped brain may at times conceal great spiritual faculties. ut if he can be taught the usual everydayabilities, it may happen that the inner spirituality also comes forth.

)nother important factor is the environment in which a person lives. The human being is a mirror-image of his surroundings in amost significant way. Suppose that a person is a highly developed personality, but lives in surroundings that awaken and develop

certain preFudices with such a strong effect that the higher talents cannot come forth. Inless such a person finds someone who can draw

out these abilities, they will remain hidden.

2 have been able to give only a few indications to you about this matter. )fter #hristmas, however, we will speak again about

further and deeper things. 2 especially wanted to awaken in you this one understanding, that the higher life is not schooled in atumultuous way, but rather quite intimately, in the deepest soul, and that the great day when the soul awakens and enters into the higherlife actually arrives like the thief in the night. The development towards the higher life leads man into a new world, and when he has

entered this new world, then he sees the other side of existence, so to speak8 then what has previously been hidden for him revealsitself. Caybe not everyone can do this8 maybe only a few can do it, one might say to oneself. ut that must not keep one from at least

starting on the way that is open to everyone, namely to hear about the higher worlds. The human being is called to live in community,and he who secludes himself cannot arrive at a spiritual life. ut it is a seclusion in a stronger sense if he says, '2 do not believe this,

this does not relate to me8 this may be valid for the after-life. ;or the occultist this has no validity. 2t is an important principle for theoccultist to consider other human beings as true manifestations of his own higher self, because he knows then that he must find the

others in himself. There is a delicate distinction between these two sentences 'To find the others in oneself, and 'To find oneself inthe others. 2n the higher sense it means, 'This is you. )nd in the highest sense it means to recogniHe oneself in the world and to

understand that saying of the poet which 2 cited some weeks ago in a different connection '!ne was successful. *e lifted the veil ofthe goddess at Sais. ut what did he seeK Ciracle of miraclesJ *e saw himself. To find oneself E not in egotistical inwardness, but

selflessly in the world without E that is true recognition of the self.

22

The /sychological ;oundations

of )nthroposophy

2ts Standpoint in &elation to the Theory of >nowledge

The task which 2 should like to undertake in the following exposition is that of discussing the scientific character and value of a

spiritual trend to which a widespread inclination would still deny the designation 'scientific. This spiritual trend bears E in allusion to

various endeavors of its kind in the present period E the name theosophy. 2n the history of philosophy, this name has been applied to

certain spiritual trends which have emerged again and again in the course of the cultural life of humanity, with which, however, what isto be presented here does not at all coincide, although it bears many reminders of them. ;or this reason we shall limit our consideration

here to what can be described in the course of our exposition as a special condition of the mind, and we shall disregard opinions whichmay be held in reference to much of what is customarily called theosophy. !nly by adhering to this point of view will it be possible to

give precise expression to the manner in which one may view the relationship between the spiritual trend we have in mind and the typesof conception characteriHing contemporary science and philosophy.

1et it be admitted without reservation that, even regarding the very concept of knowledge, it is difficult to establish a relationship

between what is customarily called theosophy and everything that seems to be firmly established at present as constituting the idea of'science and 'knowledge, and which has brought and surely will continue to bring such great benefits to human culture. The last fewcenturies have led to the practice of recogniHing as 'scientific only what can be tested readily by anyone at any time through

observation, experiment, and the elaboration of these by the human intellect. %verything that possesses significance only within thesubFective experiences of the human mind must be excluded from the category of what is scientifically established. ow, it will

scarcely be denied that the philosophical concept of knowledge has for a long time adFusted itself to the scientific type of conception/age 46 of 7=


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Fust described. This can best be recogniHed from the investigations which have been carried out in our time as to what can constitute a

possible obFect of human knowledge, and at what point this knowledge has to admit its limits. 2t would be superfluous for me to supportthis statement by an outline of contemporary inquiries in the field of the theory of knowledge. 2 should like to emphasiHe only the

obFective aimed at in those inquiries. 2n connection with them, it is presupposed that the relationship of man to the external world

affords a determinable concept of the nature of the process of cognition, and that this concept of knowledge provides a basis forcharacteriHing what lies within the reach of cognition. *owever greatly the trends in theories of knowledge may diverge from one

another, if the above characteriHation is taken in a sufficiently broad sense, there will be found

within it that which characteriHes a common element in the decisive philosophical trends.

ow, the concept of knowledge belonging to what is here called anthroposophy is such that it apparently contradicts the conceptFust described. 2t conceives knowledge to be something the character of which cannot be deduced directly from the observation of the

nature of the human being and his relationship to the external world. !n the basis of established facts of the life of the mind,anthroposophy believes itself Fustified in asserting that knowledge is not something finished, complete in itself, but something fluid,

capable of evolution. 2t believes itself Fustified in pointing out that, beyond the horiHon of the normally conscious life of the mind, thereis another into which the human being can penetrate. )nd it is necessary to emphasiHe that the life of the mind here referred to is not to

be understood as that which is at present customarily designated as the 'subconscious. This 'subconscious may be the obFect ofscientific research8 from the point of view of the usual methods in research, it can be made an obFect of inquiry, as are other facts of the

life of nature and of the mind. ut this has nothing to do with that condition of the mind to which we are referring, within which the

human being is as completely conscious, possesses as complete logical watchfulness over himself, as within the limits of the ordinaryconsciousness. ut this condition of the mind must first be created by means of certain exercises, certain experiences of the soul. 2t

cannot be presupposed as a given fact in the nature of man. This condition of mind represents something which may be designated as a

further development of the life of the human mind without the cessation, during the course of this further development, of self-possession and other evidences of the mindGs conscious life.

2 wish to characteriHe this condition of mind and then to show how what is acquired through it may be included under the scientificconcepts of knowledge belonging to our age. Cy present task shall be, therefore, to describe the method employed within this spiritual

trend on the basis of a possible development of the mind. This first part of my exposition may be called

) Spiritual Scientific Code of )pproach ased upon /otential /sychological ;acts.

(hat is here described is to be regarded as experiences of the mind of which one may become aware if certain prerequisiteconditions are first brought about in the mind. The epistemological value of these experiences shall be tested only after they have first

been simply described.

(hat is to be undertaken may be designated as a 'mental exercise. The initial step consists in considering from a different point

of view contents of the mind which are ordinarily evaluated to their worth as copies of an external item of reality. 2n the concepts andideas which the human being forms he wishes to have at first what may be a copy, or at least a token, of something existing outside of

the concepts or ideas. The spiritual researcher, in the sense here intended, seeks for mental contents which are similar to the conceptand ideas of ordinary life or of scientific research8 but he does not consider their cognitional value in relation to an obFective entity, but

lets them exist in his mind as operative forces. *e plants them as spiritual seed, so to speak, in the soil of the mindGs life, and awaits incomplete serenity of spirit their effect upon this life of the mind. *e can then observe that, with the repeated employment of such an

exercise, the condition of the mind undergoes a change. 2t must be expressly emphasiHed, however, that what really counts is the

repetition. ;or the fact in question is not that the content of the concepts in the ordinary sense brings something about in the mind afterthe manner of a process of cognition8 on the contrary, we have to do with an actual process in the life of the mind itself. 2n this process,concepts do not play the role of cognitional elements but that of real forces8 and their effect depends upon having the same forces lay

hold in frequent repetition upon the mindGs life. The effect achieved in the mind depends preeminently upon the requirement that thesame force shall again and again seiHe upon the experience connected with the concept. ;or this reason the greatest results can be

attained through meditations upon the same content which are repeated at definite intervals through relatively long periods of time. The

duration of such a meditation is, in this connection, of little importance. 2t may be very brief, provided only that it is accompanied byabsolute serenity of soul and the complete exclusion from the mind of all external sense impressions and all ordinary activity of the

intellect. (hat is essential is the seclusion of the mindGs life with the content indicated. This must be mentioned because it needs to be

clearly understood that undertaking these exercises of the mind need not disturb anyone in his ordinary life. The time required isavailable, as a rule, to everyone. )nd, if the exercises are rightly carried out, the change which they bring about in the mind does not

produce the slightest effect upon the constitution of consciousness necessary for the normal human life. AThe fact that E because ofwhat the human being actually is in his present status E undesirable excesses and peculiarities sometimes occur cannot alter in any

way oneGs Fudgment of the essential nature of the practice.B

;or the discipline of the mind which has been described, most concepts in human life are scarcely at all usable. )ll contents of the

mind which relate in marked degree to obFective elements outside of themselves have little effect if used for the exercises we havecharacteriHed. 2n far greater measure are mental pictures suitable which can be designated as emblems, as symbols.

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Cost fruitful of all are those which relate in a living way comprehensively to a manifold content. 1et us take as an example, proven

by experience to be good, what $oethe designated as his idea of the 'archetypal plant. 2t may be permissible to refer to the fact that,during a conversation with Schiller, he once drew with a few strokes a symbolic picture of this 'archetypal plant. Coreover, he said

that one who makes this picture alive in his mind possesses in it something out of which it would be possible to devise, through

modification in conformity with law, all possible forms capable of existence. (hatever one may think about the obFective cognitionalvalue of such a 'symbolic archetypal plant, if it is made to live in the mind in the manner indicated, if one awaits in serenity its effects

upon the mindGs life, there comes about something which can be called a changed constitution of mind.

The mental pictures which are said by spiritual scientists to be usable in this connection may at times seem decidedly strange. This

feeling of strangeness can be eliminated if one reflects that such representations must not be considered for their value as truths in the

ordinary sense, but should be viewed with respect to the manner in which they are effective as real forces in the mindGs life. Thespiritual scientist does not attribute value to the significance of the pictures which are used for the mental exercises, but to what isexperienced in the mind under their influence.

*ere we can give, naturally, only a few examples of effective symbolic representations. 1et one conceive the being of man in amental image in such a way that the lower human nature, related to the animal organiHation, shall appear in its relation to man as a

spiritual being, through the symbolic union of an animal shape and the most highly idealiHed human form superimposed upon this Esomewhat, let us say, like a centaur. The more pictorially alive the symbol appears, the more saturated with content, the better it is.

Inder the conditions described, this symbol acts in such a way on the mind that, after the passage of a certain time E of course,

somewhat long E the inner life processes are felt to be strengthened in themselves, mobile, reciprocally illuminating one another. )nold symbol which may be used with good result is the so-called staff of Cercury E that is, the mental image of a straight line around

which a spiral curves. !f course, one must picture this figure as emblematic of a force-system E in such a way, let us say, that along

the straight line there runs one force system, to which there corresponds another of lower velocity passing through the spiral.A#oncretely expressed, one may conceive in connection with this figure the growth of the stem of a plant and the corresponding

sprouting of leaves along its length. !r one may take it as an image of an electro-magnet. Still further, there can emerge in this way apicture of the development of a human being, the enhancing capacities being symboliHed by the straight line, the manifold impressions

corresponding with the course of the spiral.B

Cathematical forms may become especially significant, to the extent that symbols of cosmic processes can be seen in them. )

good example is the so-called '#assini curve, with its three figures E the form resembling an ellipse, the lemniscate, and that whichconsists of two corresponding branches. 2n such a case the important thing is to experience the mental image in such a way that certain

appropriate impressions in the mind shall accompany the transition of one curve form into the other in accordance with mathematicalprinciples.

!ther exercises may then be added to these. They consist also in symbols, but such as correspond with representations which may

be expressed in words. 1et one think, through the symbol of light, of the wisdom which may be pictured as living and weaving in theorderly processes of the cosmic phenomena. (isdom which expresses itself in sacrificial love may be thought of as symboliHed by

warmth which comes about in the presence of light. !ne may think of sentences E which, therefore, have only a symbolic character Efashioned out of such concepts. The mind can be absorbed in meditating upon such sentences. The result depends essentially upon the

degree of serenity and seclusion of soul within the symbol to which one attains in the meditation. 2f success is achieved, it consists in

the fact that the soul feels as if lifted out of the corporeal organiHation. 2t experiences something like a change in its sense of existence.2f we agree that, in normal life, the feeling of the human being is such that his conscious life, proceeding from a unity, takes on a

specific character in harmony with the representations which are derived from the percepts brought by the individual senses, then theresult of the exercises is that the mind feels itself permeated by an experience of itself not so sharply differentiated in transition from

one part of the experience to another as, for example, color and tone representations are differentiated within the horiHon of theordinary consciousness. The mind has the experience that it can withdraw into a region of inner being which it owes to the success of

the exercises and which was something empty, something which could not be perceived, before the exercises were undertaken.

efore such an inner experience is reached, there occur many transitional stages in the condition of the mind. !ne of these

manifests itself in an attentive observation E to be acquired through the exercise E of the moment of awaking out of sleep. 2t ispossible then to feel clearly how, out of something not hitherto known to one, forces lay hold systematically upon the structure of the

bodily organiHation. !ne feels, as if in a remembered concept, an after-effect of influences from this something, which have been atwork upon the corporeal organiHation during sleep. )nd if the person has acquired, in addition, the capacity to experience within his

corporeal organiHation the something here described, he will perceive clearly the difference between the relationship of this somethingto the body in the waking and in the sleeping state. *e cannot then do otherwise than to say that during the waking state this something

is inside the body and during the sleeping state it is outside. !ne must not, however, associate ordinary spatial conception with this'inside and 'outside, but must use these terms only to designate the specific experiences of a mind which has carried out the

exercises described.

These exercises are of an intimate soul-character. They take for each person an individual form. (hen the beginning is once made,

the individual element results from a particular use of the soul to be brought about in the course of the exercises. ut what follows withutter necessity is the positive consciousness of living within a reality independent of the external corporeal organiHation and

supersensible in character. ;or the sake of simplicity, let us call such a person seeking for the described soul experiences a 'spiritualresearcher MGeistesforscherN. ;or such a spiritual researcher, there exists the definite consciousness E kept under complete self-

possession E that, behind the bodily organiHation perceptible to the senses, there is a supersensible organiHation, and that it is possibleto experience oneself within this as the normal consciousness experiences itself within the physical bodily organiHation. AThe exercises

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referred to can be indicated here only in principle. ) detailed presentation may be found in my book, Knowledge of the #igher $orlds

and %ts Attainment.B

Through appropriate continuation of the exercises, the 'something we have described passes over into a sort of spirituallyorganiHed condition. The consciousness becomes clearly aware that it is in relationship with a supersensible world in a cognitional way,

in a manner similar to that in which it is related through the senses to the sense world. 2t is quite natural that serious doubt at oncearises, regarding the assertion of such a cognitional relationship of the super-sensible part of the being of man to the surrounding world.

There may be an inclination to relegate everything which is thus experienced to the realm of illusion, hallucination, autosuggestion, andthe like. ) theoretical refutation of such doubt is, from the very nature of things, impossible. ;or the question here cannot be that of a

theoretical exposition regarding the existence of a supersensible world, but only that of possible experiences and observations which

are presented to the consciousness in precisely the same way in which observations are mediated through the external sense organs. ;orthe corresponding supersensible world, therefore, no other sort of recognition can be demanded than that which the human being offersto the world of colors, tones, etc. et consideration must be given to the fact that, when the exercises are carried out in the right way E

and, most important, with never relaxed self-possession E the spiritual researcher can discern through immediate experience thedifference between the imagined supersensible and that which is actually experienced8 Fust as certainly as in the sense world once can

discern the difference between imagining the feel of a piece of hot iron and actually touching it. /recisely concerning the differencesamong hallucination, illusion, and supersensible reality, the spiritual researcher acquires through his exercises a practice more and more

unerring. ut it is also natural that the prudent spiritual researcher must be extremely critical regarding individual supersensibleobservations made by him. *e will never speak otherwise about positive findings of supersensible research than with the reservation

that one thing or another has been observed and that the critical caution practiced in connection with this Fustifies the assumption that

anyone will make the same observations who, by means of the appropriate exercises, can establish a relationship with the supersensibleworld. +ifferences among the pronouncements of individual spiritual researchers cannot really be viewed in any other light than the

different pronouncements of various travelers who have visited the same region and who describe it.

2n my book,Knowledge of the #igher $orlds and %ts Attainment"that world which, in the manner described, appears above thehoriHon of consciousness has been called E in accordance with the practice of those who have been occupied as spiritual researchers in

the same field E 'the imaginative world. ut one must dissociate from this expression, used in a purely technical sense, anythingsuggesting a world created by mere 'fancy. 2maginative is intended merely to suggest the qualitative character of the content of the

mind. This mental content resembles in its form the 'imaginations of ordinary consciousness, except that an imagination in thephysical world is not directly related to something real, whereas the imaginations of the spiritual researcher are Fust as unmistakably to

be ascribed to a supersensibly real entity as the mental picture of a color in the sense world, for instance, is ascribed to an obFectivelyreal entity.

ut the 'imaginative world and the knowledge of it mark only the first step for the spiritual researcher, and very little more is tobe learned through it about the supersensible world than its external side. ) further step is required. This consists in a further deepening

of the life of the soul than that which has been considered in connection with the first step. Through intense concentration upon the soullife, brought about by the exercises, the spiritual researcher must render himself capable of completely eliminating the content of the

symbols from his consciousness. (hat he then still has to hold firmly within his consciousness is only the process to which his innerlife was subFected while he was absorbed in the symbols. The content of the symbols pictured must be cast out in a sort of real

abstraction and only the form of the experience in connection with the symbols must remain in the consciousness. The unreal symbolic

character of the forming of mental images E which was significant only for a transitional stage of the soulGs development E is thereby

eliminated, and the consciousness uses as the obFect of its meditation the inner weaving of the mindGs content. (hat can be described ofsuch a process actually compares with the real experience of the mind as a feeble shadow compares with the obFect which casts the

shadow. (hat appears simple in the description derives its very significant effect from the psychic energy which is exerted.

The living and moving within the content of the soul, thus rendered possible, can be called a real beholding of oneself. The inner

being of man thus learns to know itself not merely through reflecting about itself as the bearer of the sense impressions and theelaborator of these sense impressions through thinking8 on the contrary, it learns to know itself as it is, without relationship to a content

coming from the senses8 it experiences itself in itself, as supersensible reality. This experience is not like that of the ego when inordinary self-observation, attention is withdrawn from the things cogniHed in the environment and is directed back to the cogniHing self.

2n this case, the content of consciousness shrinks more and more down to the point of the 'ego. Such is not the case in the realbeholding of the self by the spiritual researcher. 2n this, the soul content becomes continuously richer in the course of the exercises. 2t

consists in oneGs living within law-conforming interrelationships8 and the self does not feel, as in the case of the laws of nature, whichare abstracted from the phenomena of the external world, that it is outside the web of laws8 but, on the contrary, it is aware of itself as

within this web8 it experiences itself as one with these laws.

The danger which may come about at this stage of the exercises lies in the fact that the person concerned may believe too early E

because of deficiency in true self-possession E that he has arrived at the right result, and may then feel the mere after-effects of the

symbolic inner pictures to be an inner life. Such an inner life is obviously valueless, and must not be mistaken for the inner life whichappears at the right moment, making itself known to true circumspection through the fact that, although it manifests complete reality,

yet it resembles no reality hitherto known.

To an inner life thus attained, there is now the possibility of a supersensible knowledge characteriHed by a higher degree ofcertitude than that of mere imaginative cognition. )t this point in the soulGs development, the following manifestation occurs. The inner

experience gradually becomes filled with a content which enters the mind from without in a manner similar to that in which the contentof sense perception enters through the senses from the outer world. !nly, the filling of the mind with the supersensible content consists

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in an actual living within this content. 2f one wishes to employ a comparison with a fact taken from ordinary life, it may be said that the

entering of the ego into union with a spiritual content is now experienced as one experiences the entering of the ego into union with amental picture retained in memory. et there is the distinction that the content of that with which one enters into union cannot be

compared

in any respect with something previously experienced and that it cannot be related to something past but only to something present.>nowledge of this character may well be called knowledge 'through inspiration, provided nothing except what has been described is

associated in thought with this term. 2 have used the expression thus as a technical term in my book,Knowledge of the #igher $orldsand %ts Attainment!

2n connection with this 'knowledge through inspiration, a new experience now appears. That is, the manner in which onebecomes aware of the content of the mind is entirely subFective. )t first, this content does not manifest itself as obFective. !ne knows it

as something experienced8 but one does not feel that one confronts it. This comes about only after one has through soul-energycondensed it, in a sense, within itself. !nly thus does it become something which can be looked at obFectively. ut, in this process of

the psyche, one becomes aware that, between the physical bodily organiHation and that something which has been separated from thisby the exercises, there is still another entity. 2f one desires names for these things, one may employ those which have become

customary in so-called theosophy E provided one does not connect with these names all sorts of fantastic associations, but designatesby them solely what has been described. That 'something in which the self lives as in an entity free from the bodily organiHation is

called the astral body8 and that which is discovered between this astral body and the physical organism is called the etheric body. A!ne

is, of course, not to connect this in thought with the 'ether of modern physics.B

ow, it is from the etheric body that the forces come, through which the self is enabled to make an obFective perception of the

subFective content of inspired knowledge. y what right, it may be asked with good reason, does the spiritual researcher come to thestandpoint of ascribing this perception to a supersensible world instead of considering it a mere creation of his own selfK *e wouldhave no right to do this if the etheric body, which he experiences in connection with his psychic process, did not in its inner conformity

to law compel him to do so with obFective necessity. ut such is the case, for the etheric body is experienced as a confluence of the all-encompassing complex of laws of the macrocosm. The important point is not how much of this complex of laws becomes the actual

content of the spiritual researcherGs consciousness. The peculiar fact is that direct cognition sees clearly that the etheric body is nothingelse than a compacted image reflecting in itself the cosmic web of laws. >nowledge of the etheric body by the spiritual researcher does

not at first extend to showing what content from the sum total of the universal cosmic web of laws is reflected by this formation, but toshowing what this content is.

!ther Fustifiable doubts which the ordinary consciousness must raise against spiritual research, together with much besides, are thefollowing. !ne may take note

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