The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Initiation

[ 1 ] The initiation is the highest of the levels of a occult training, about which suggestions can still be given in a writing that are generally understandable. Everything above this level is difficult to understand. But anyone who has penetrated to the lower mysteries through preparation, enlightenment and initiation will find the way.

[ 2 ] The knowledge and ability that a person receives through initiation could only be acquired in a very distant future - after many embodiments - in a completely different way and also in a completely different form. Those who are initiated today experience something that they would otherwise experience much later, under completely different circumstances.

[ 3 ] A person can only really experience so much of the secrets of existence as corresponds to the degree of his maturity. This is the only reason why there are obstacles to the higher levels of knowledge and ability. A person should not use a gun before he has gained sufficient experience to avoid causing harm through its use. - If someone were to be initiated today without further ado, he would lack the experience that he will gain through the embodiments in the future, until the corresponding secrets are granted to him in the regular course of his development. Therefore, at the gate of initiation these experiences must be replaced by something else. The first teachings of the initiation candidate therefore consist of a substitute for future experiences. These are the so-called "tests" which he has to undergo and which arise as a regular consequence of the life of the soul if exercises such as those described in the previous chapters are continued correctly.

[ 4 ] These "trials" are also often mentioned in books. But it is only natural that such discussions usually give rise to completely false ideas about their nature. For anyone who has not gone through the preparation and enlightenment has never experienced anything of these rehearsals. Such a person cannot describe them properly.

[ 5 ] Certain things and facts belonging to the higher worlds must be revealed to the initiate. However, he can only see and hear them if he can feel the spiritual perceptions such as figures, colors, sounds and so on, which have been reported in the discussion of "preparation" and "enlightenment".

[ 6 ] The first "test" consists in the fact that he acquires a truer perception of the bodily qualities of inanimate bodies, then of plants, animals and humans than the average person possesses. However, this does not mean what is called scientific knowledge today. As a rule, the process is such that the initiate learns to recognize how natural things and living beings manifest themselves to the spiritual ear and spiritual eye. In a certain way these things then stand unveiled - naked - before the observer. The qualities that are heard and seen are hidden from the sensual eye and the sensual ear. They are veiled to the sensual gaze as if covered by a veil. The fact that this veil falls away for the initiate is based on a process that is called the "spiritual combustion process". This is why this first test is called the "fire test".

[ 7 ] For some people, ordinary life itself is already a more or less unconscious initiation process through the trial by fire. These are those who go through rich experiences of such a nature that their self-confidence, courage and steadfastness grow in a healthy way and that they learn to endure suffering, disappointment, failure of undertakings with greatness of soul and especially with calmness and unbroken strength. Whoever has gone through experiences of this kind is often already an initiate without clearly knowing it; and then it only takes a little to open his spiritual ears and eyes so that he becomes a clairvoyant. For it should be noted that a true "trial by fire" is not about satisfying the candidate's curiosity. Certainly, he gets to know extraordinary facts of which other people have no idea. But this knowledge is not the goal, but only the means to the goal. The goal, however, is that through the knowledge of the higher worlds the candidate may acquire greater and truer self-confidence, greater courage and a completely different greatness of soul and endurance than can usually be attained within the lower world.

[ 8 ] After the "trial by fire", each candidate can still turn back. He will then continue his life strengthened in physical and spiritual terms and will probably only continue the initiation in a next embodiment. In his present incarnation, however, he will be a more useful member of human society than he was before. In whatever situation he may find himself: his firmness, his prudence, his favorable influence on his fellow men, his determination will have increased.

[ 9 ] If the candidate wishes to continue the occult training after completing the trial by fire, a certain scriptural system must now be revealed to him, as is customary in occult training. The actual occult teachings are revealed in these scriptural systems. For that which is really "hidden" (occult) in things can neither be expressed directly with the words of ordinary language, nor can it be recorded with the ordinary systems of writing. Those who have learned from the initiates translate the teachings of the occult science into ordinary language as best they can. The occult scripture reveals itself to the soul when it has attained spiritual perception. For this scripture is always written in the spiritual world. You do not learn it the way you learn to read an artificial script. Rather, one grows in a proper way towards clairvoyant knowledge, and during this growth the power develops like a soul ability, which feels compelled to decipher the existing events and entities of the spiritual world like the characters of a script. It could be that this power, and with it the experience of the corresponding "sample", awakens of its own accord as the soul's development progresses. However, you will reach your goal more safely if you follow the instructions of experienced occult researchers who are adept at deciphering occult writing.

[ 10 ] The signs of the occult writing are not arbitrarily devised, but correspond to the forces that are active in the world. One learns the language of things through these signs. It soon becomes apparent to the candidate that the signs he learns correspond to the figures, colors, sounds and so on that he has learned to perceive during his preparation and enlightenment. It becomes clear to him that everything that had gone before was only like spelling. Only now does he begin to read in the higher world. Everything that was previously only an isolated figure, sound or color appears to him in a larger context. Only now does he gain real certainty in observing the higher worlds. Before, he could never know with certainty whether the things he saw were seen correctly. And only now can an orderly understanding take place between the candidate and the initiate in the fields of higher knowledge. For however the coexistence of an initiate with another person may be structured in ordinary life: the initiate can only communicate something of the higher knowledge in immediate form in the aforementioned sign language.

[ 11 ] Through this language, the occult disciple also becomes familiar with certain rules of conduct for life. He learns certain duties of which he previously knew nothing. And when he has learned these rules of conduct, he can accomplish things that have a significance that the deeds of the uninitiated can never have. He acts from the higher worlds. The instructions for such actions can only be understood in the indicated scripture.

[ 12 ] It must be emphasized, however, that there are people who are able to perform such actions unconsciously, even though they have not undergone occult training. Such "helpers of the world and humanity" walk through life blessing and benefiting. For reasons that cannot be discussed here, they have been given gifts that appear supernatural. What distinguishes them from the occult disciple is merely that the latter acts with consciousness, with full insight into the whole context. He attains through training what has been bestowed upon them by higher powers for the salvation of the world. One can sincerely venerate those who have been graced by God; but for this reason one must not consider the work of training to be superfluous.

[ 13 ] Once the occult disciple has learned the above-mentioned script, another "test" begins for him. This must prove whether he can move freely and safely in the higher world. In ordinary life, man is moved to his actions by external impulses. He does this or that because circumstances impose this or that duty on him. - It need hardly be said that the occult disciple may not neglect any of his duties in ordinary life because he lives in higher worlds. No duty in a higher world can compel a man to neglect a single one of his duties in the ordinary. The father of a family remains just as good a father, the mother just as good a mother, the civil servant is not deterred from anything, nor the soldier or anyone else when they become occult students. On the contrary, all the qualities that make a person capable in life are enhanced in the occult disciple to an extent that the uninitiated cannot imagine. And if this often - not always, even rarely - does not appear so to the uninitiated, then this is only due to the fact that he is not always able to judge the initiate correctly. What the latter does is sometimes not immediately clear to the other. But even that, as I said, is only noticeable in special cases.

[ 14 ] For the one who has arrived at the aforementioned level of initiation, there are now duties to which there is no external impetus. He is not prompted in these matters by external circumstances, but only by those measures which are revealed to him in the "hidden" language. Now he must show by the second "test" that, guided by such a measure, he acts as surely and firmly as, for example, a civil servant performs the duties incumbent upon him. - For this purpose, the candidate will feel that he is faced with a specific task during the occult training. He is to perform an action as a result of perceptions he makes on the basis of what he has learned at the preparatory and enlightenment stage. And he must recognize what he has to carry out through the marked scripture he has acquired. If he recognizes his duty and acts correctly, then he has passed the test. One recognizes success by the change that takes place in the perceptions of the spirit's ears and eyes, which are perceived as figures, colors and sounds, through the action. In the progress of the occult training it is indicated exactly how these figures and so on are perceived after the action. And the candidate must know how to bring about such a change. - This test is called the "water test" because, when working in these higher areas, the person lacks the support of external conditions, just as when moving in water whose bottom cannot be reached, there is no support. - The process must be repeated until the candidate is completely confident.

[ 15 ] This test also involves the acquisition of a quality; and through the experiences in the higher world man develops this quality in a short time to such a high degree that in the ordinary course of development he would probably have to pass through many embodiments in order to attain it. What is important is the following. In order to bring about the indicated change in the higher realm of existence, the candidate must merely follow what comes to him on the basis of his higher perception and as a result of his reading of the hidden Scriptures. If during his action he were to interfere with any of his wishes, opinions and so on, if he were to follow for a moment not the laws which he has recognized as right, but his arbitrariness: then something quite different would happen from what should happen. In this case, the candidate would immediately lose the direction of his goal of action, and confusion would ensue. - Therefore, through this test, man has ample opportunity to develop his self-control. And that is what matters. Again, this test can therefore be passed more easily by those who, before initiation, have gone through a life that has brought them the acquisition of self-mastery. He who has acquired the ability to follow high principles and ideals, setting aside personal whim and caprice, who knows how to fulfill his duty even where his inclinations and sympathies would all too readily divert him from this duty, is unconsciously already an initiate in the midst of ordinary life. And only a little will be necessary for him to pass the test described. Indeed, it must even be said that a certain degree of initiation already unconsciously attained in life will, as a rule, be quite necessary to pass the second test. For just as it is difficult for many people who have not learned to write properly in their youth to make up for it once they have reached full maturity, so it will also be difficult to develop the necessary degree of self-control in gaining insight into the higher worlds if one has not already acquired a certain degree of it in everyday life. The things of the physical world do not change, whatever we wish, desire, whatever our inclinations may be. In the higher worlds, however, our wishes, desires and inclinations have an effect on things. If we want to affect things in the right way, we must have ourselves completely under our control, must only follow the right rules and not be subject to any arbitrariness.

[ 16 ] One quality of the human being that comes into particular consideration at this stage of initiation is an absolutely sound and certain power of judgment. The development of such a faculty must be looked for at all earlier stages; and at this stage it must be shown whether the candidate handles it in such a way that he is suitable for the true path of knowledge. He can only progress if he is able to distinguish illusion, essential fantasies, superstition and all kinds of illusions from true reality. And on the higher levels of existence this is initially more difficult than on the lower ones. There every prejudice, every cherished opinion must disappear in relation to the things that matter; and only the truth must be the guiding principle. There must be perfect readiness to give up a thought, an opinion, an inclination immediately when logical thinking demands it. Certainty in higher worlds can only be attained if one never spares one's own opinion.

[ 17 ] People with a way of thinking that tends towards fantasy, towards superstition, cannot make any progress on the occult path. After all, the occult disciple is supposed to gain a precious asset. All doubts about the higher worlds are removed from him. These reveal themselves in their laws before his eyes. But he cannot attain this good as long as he allows himself to be deceived by deceptions and illusions. It would be bad for him if his imagination and prejudices were to run away with his mind. Dreamers and fantasists are just as unsuitable for the occult path as superstitious people. This cannot be emphasized enough. For in reverie, fantasy and superstition lurk the worst enemies on the path to knowledge in higher worlds. But no one need believe that the occult disciple will lose the poetry of life, the capacity for enthusiasm, because above the gate leading to the second test of initiation are the words: "All prejudices must fall from you", and because at the entrance to the first test he must already read: "Without common sense all your steps are in vain. "

[ 18 ] Once the candidate has progressed far enough in this way, the third "trial" awaits him. He will not be able to feel any goal in this. Everything is in his own hands. He finds himself in a situation where nothing prompts him to act. He has to find his own way. There are no things or people to move him to do anything. Nothing and no one can give him the strength he needs but himself. If he did not find this strength within himself, he would very soon be back where he was before. But it must be said that only a few of those who have passed the previous tests will not find this strength here. One either falls behind before, or one also passes here. All that is necessary is to come to terms with oneself quickly. Because you have to find your "higher self" here in the truest sense of the word. One must quickly decide to listen to the inspiration of the spirit in all things. There is no time for any doubts, second thoughts and so on. Every minute of hesitation would only prove that you are not yet mature. What keeps one from listening to the Spirit must be boldly overcome. It is important to prove presence of mind in this situation. And this is also the quality that must be developed to perfection at this stage of development. All temptations to act, even to think, to which a person was previously accustomed, cease. In order not to remain inactive, man must not lose himself. For only in himself can he find the only fixed point to which he can hold himself. No one who reads this without being further acquainted with the matter should feel any antipathy towards being rejected by oneself. For it means the most beautiful bliss for man when he passes the test described.

[ 19 ] And no less than in the other cases, ordinary life is already a occult school for many people. Persons who have come to the point where, when suddenly confronted with life's tasks, they are able to make a quick decision without hesitation, without much hesitation, life is such a school for them. The appropriate situations are those where successful action immediately becomes impossible if the person does not intervene quickly. He who is quick to take action when disaster is in sight, when a few moments' hesitation would have already caused the disaster, and he who has made such quick decisiveness a permanent quality in himself, has unconsciously acquired the maturity for the third "test". For it depends on the development of the unconditional presence of mind. In the occult schools it is called the "air test" because the candidate can rely neither on the solid ground of external causes nor on what results from the colors, forms and so on that he has become acquainted with through preparation and enlightenment, but exclusively on himself.

[ 20 ] Once the occult disciple has passed this test, he may enter the "Temple of Higher Knowledge". — What more can be said about this can only be the barest of hints. - What is to be done now is often expressed by saying that the occult disciple has to take an “oath” not to "betray" any of the occult teachings. However, the terms "oath" and "betray" are by no means appropriate and are even initially misleading. It is not an "oath" in the usual sense of the word. Rather, at this stage of development one undergoes an experience. One learns how to apply the occult Doctrine, how to put it at the service of humanity. One begins to understand the world even better. It is not a matter of "keeping silent" about the higher truths, but rather of the right way, the appropriate tact, to represent them. What you learn to "keep quiet" about is something completely different. One acquires this marvelous quality in relation to much that one has spoken about before, especially in the way one has spoken. A bad initiate would be one who did not put the secrets he had learned at the service of the world as well and as far as possible. There is no other obstacle to communication in this field than the lack of understanding on the part of the one who is to receive. However, the higher mysteries are not suitable for arbitrary talk about them. But no one who has attained the described stage of development is "forbidden" to say anything. No other person or being imposes an "oath" to this effect on him. Everything is his own responsibility. What he learns is to find out for himself what he has to do in every situation. And the "oath" means nothing more than that the person has become mature enough to be able to bear such responsibility.

[ 21 ] Once the candidate has matured to what is described, he receives what is symbolically referred to as the "potion of oblivion". He is initiated into the occult of how one can work without being continually disturbed by the lower memory. This is necessary for the initiate. For he must always have full confidence in the immediate present. He must be able to destroy the veils of memory that spread around him at every moment of his life. If I judge something I encounter today by what I experienced yesterday, I am subject to many errors. Of course, this does not mean that we should deny the experience we have gained in life. One should always keep it present as best one can. But as an initiate you must have the ability to judge every new experience from within yourself, to let it affect you unclouded by the past. I must be prepared at every moment for the fact that every thing or being can bring me a completely new revelation. If I judge the new by the old, I am subject to error. It is precisely in this way that the memory of old experiences is most useful to me, because it enables me to see the new. If I did not have a certain experience, I would perhaps not even see the quality of a thing or a being that I encounter. But it is precisely for seeing the new, not for judging the new according to the old, that experience should serve. In this respect, the initiate acquires very specific abilities. This reveals many things to him that remain hidden to the uninitiated.

[ 22 ] The second "potion" given to the initiate is the "memory potion". It gives him the ability to always have higher secrets present in his mind. Ordinary memory would not suffice for this. One must become completely one with the higher truths. One must not only know them, but handle them quite self-evidently in living action, as one eats and drinks as an ordinary person. They must become practice, habituation, inclination. There is no need to think about them in the ordinary sense; they must present themselves through man himself, flow through him like the vital functions of his organism. Thus he makes himself more and more in the spiritual sense into what nature has made him in the physical sense.