Knowledge of Higher Worlds and its Attainment
GA 10
III. Some Practical Aspects
[ 1 ] The training of thoughts and feelings, pursued in the way described in the chapters on Preparation, Enlightenment, and Initiation, introduces into the soul and spirit the same organic symmetry with which nature has constructed the physical body. Before this development, soul and spirit are undifferentiated masses. The clairvoyant perceives them as interlacing, rotating, cloud-like spirals, dully glimmering in reddish, reddish-brown, or reddish-yellow tones. After this training they begin to assume a brilliant yellowish-green, or greenish-blue color, and show a regular structure. This inner regularity leading to higher knowledge, is attained when the student introduces into his thoughts and feelings the same orderly system with which nature has endowed his bodily organs that enable him to see, hear, digest, breath, speak. Gradually he learns to breath and see with this soul, to speak and hear with the spirit.
[ 2 ] In the following pages some practical aspects of the higher education of soul and spirit will be treated in greater detail. They are such that anyone can put them into practice regardless of other rules, and thereby be led some distance further into spiritual science.
[ 3 ] A particular effort must be made to cultivate the quality of patience. Every symptom of impatience produces a paralyzing, even a destructive effect on the higher faculties that slumber in us. We must not expect an immeasurable view into the higher worlds from one day to the next, for we should assuredly be disappointed. Contentment with the smallest fragment attained, repose and tranquility, must more and more take possession of the soul. It is quite understandable that the student should await results with impatience; but he will achieve nothing so long as he fails to master this impatience. Nor is it of any use to combat this impatience merely in the ordinary sense, for it will become only that much stronger. We over-look it in self-deception while it plants itself all the more firmly in the depths of the soul. It is only when we ever and again surrender ourselves to a certain definite thought, making it absolutely our own, that any results can be attained. This thought is as follows: I must certainly do everything I can for the training and development of my soul and spirit; but I shall wait patiently until higher powers shall have found me worthy of definite enlightenment. If this thought becomes so powerful in the student that it grows into an actual feature of his character, he is treading the right path. This feature soon sets its mark on his exterior. The gaze of his eye becomes steady, the movement of his body becomes sure, his decisions definite, and all that goes under the name of nervousness gradually disappears. Rules that appear trifling and insignificant must be taken into account. For example, supposing someone affronts us. Before our training we should have directed our resentment against the offender; a wave of anger would have surged up within us. In a similar case, however, the thought is immediately present in the mind of the student that such an affront makes no difference to his intrinsic worth. And he does whatever must be done to meet the affront with calm and composure, and not in a spirit of anger. Of course it is not a case of simply accepting every affront, but of acting with the same calm composure when dealing with an affront against our own person as we would if the affront were directed against another person, in whose favor we had the right to intervene. It must always be remembered that this training is not carried out in crude outward processes, but in subtle, silent alterations in the life of thought and feeling.
[ 4 ] Patience has the effect of attraction, impatience the effect of repulsion on the treasures of higher knowledge. In the higher regions of existence nothing can be attained by haste and unrest. Above all things, desire and craving must be silenced, for these are qualities of the soul before which all higher knowledge shyly withdraws. However precious this knowledge is accounted, the student must not crave it if he wishes to attain it. If he wishes to have it for his own sake, he will never attain it. This requires him to be honest with himself in his innermost soul. He must in no case be under any illusion concerning his own self. With a feeling of inner truth he must look his own faults, weaknesses, and unfitness full in the face. The moment he tries to excuse to himself any of his weaknesses, he has placed a stone in his way on the path which is to lead him upward. Such obstacles can only be removed by self-enlightenment. There is only one way to get rid of faults and failings, and that is by a clear recognition of them. Everything slumbers in the human soul and can be awakened. A person can even improve his intellect and reason, if he quietly and calmly makes it clear to himself why he is weak in this respect. Such self- knowledge is, of course, difficult, for the temptation to self-deception is immeasurably great. Anyone making a habit of being truthful with himself opens the portal leading to a deeper insight.
[ 5 ] All curiosity must fall away from the student. He must rid himself as much as possible of the habit of asking questions merely for the sake of gratifying a selfish thirst for knowledge. He must only ask when knowledge can serve to perfect his own being in the service of evolution. Nevertheless, his delight in knowledge and his devotion to it should in no way be hampered. He should listen devoutly to all that contributes to such an end, and should seek every opportunity for such devotional attention.
[ 6 ] Special attention must be paid in esoteric training to the education of the life of desires. This does not mean that we are to become free of desire, for if we are to attain something we must also desire it, and desire will always tend to fulfillment if backed by a particular force. This force is derived from a right knowledge. Do not desire at all until you know what is right in any one sphere. That is one of the golden rules for the student. The wise man first ascertains the laws of the world, and then his desires become powers which realize themselves. The following example brings this out clearly. There are certainly many people who would like to learn from their own observation something about their life before birth. Such a desire is altogether useless and leads to no result so long as the person in question has not acquired a knowledge of the laws that govern the nature of the eternal, a knowledge of these laws in their subtlest and most intimate character, through the study of spiritual science. But if, having really acquired this knowledge, he wishes to proceed further, his desire, now ennobled and purified, will enable him to do so.
[ 7 ] It is also no use saying: I particularly wish to examine my previous life, and shall study only for this purpose. We must rather be capable of abandoning this desire, of eliminating it altogether, and of studying, at first, with no such intention. We should cultivate a feeling of joy and devotion for what we learn, with no thought of the above end in view. We should learn to cherish and foster a particular desire in such a way that it brings with it its own fulfillment.
[ 8 ] If we become angered, vexed or annoyed, we erect a wall around ourselves in the soul-world, and the forces which are to develop the eyes of the soul cannot approach. For instance, if a person angers me he sends forth a psychic current into the soul-world. I cannot see this current as long as I am myself capable of anger. My own anger conceals it from me. We must not, however, suppose that when we are free from anger we shall immediately have a psychic (astral) vision. For this purpose an organ of vision must have been developed in the soul. The beginnings of such an organ are latent in every human being, but remain ineffective as long as he is capable of anger. Yet this organ is not immediately present the moment anger has been combated to a small extent. We must rather persevere in this combating of anger and proceed patiently on our way; then some day we shall find that this eye of the soul has become developed. Of course, anger is not the only failing to be combated for the attainment of this end. Many grow impatient or skeptical, because they have for years combated certain qualities, and yet clairvoyance has not ensued. In that case they have just trained some qualities and allowed others to run riot. The gift of clairvoyance only manifests itself when all those qualities which stunt the growth of the latent faculties are suppressed. Undoubtedly, the beginnings of such seeing and hearing may appear at an earlier period, but these are only young and tender shoots which are subjected to all possible error, and which, if not carefully tended and guarded, may quickly die.
[ 9 ] Other qualities which, like anger and vexation, have to be combated, are timidity, superstition, prejudice, vanity and ambition, curiosity, the mania for imparting information, and the making of distinctions in human beings according to the outward characteristics of rank, sex, race, and so forth. In our time it is difficult for people to understand how the combating of such qualities can have anything to do with the heightening of the faculty of cognition. But every spiritual scientist knows that much more depends upon such matters than upon the increase of intelligence and employment of artificial exercises. Especially can misunderstanding arise if we believe that we must become foolhardy in order to be fearless; that we must close our eyes to the differences between people, because we must combat the prejudices of rank, race, and so forth. Rather is it true that a correct estimate of all things is to be attained only when we are no longer entangled in prejudice. Even in the ordinary sense it is true that the fear of some phenomenon prevents us from estimating it rightly; that a racial prejudice prevents us from seeing into a man's soul. It is this ordinary sense that the student must develop in all its delicacy and subtlety.
[ 10 ] Every word spoken without having been thoroughly purged in thought is a stone thrown in the way of esoteric training. And here something must be considered which can only be explained by giving an example. If anything be said to which we must reply, we must be careful to consider the speaker's opinion, feeling, and even his prejudice, rather than what we ourselves have to say at the moment on the subject under discussion. In this example a refined quality of tact is indicated, to the cultivation of which the student must devote his care. He must learn to judge what importance it may have for the other person if he opposes the latter's opinion with his own. This does not mean that he must withhold his opinion. There can be no question of that. But he must listen to the speaker as carefully and as attentively as he possibly can and let his reply derive its form from what he has just heard. In such cases one particular thought recurs ever and again to the student, and he is treading the right path if this thought lives with him to the extent of becoming a trait of his character. This thought is as follows: The importance lies not in the difference of our opinions but in his discovering through his own effort what is right if I contribute something toward it. Thoughts of this and of a similar nature cause the character and the behavior of the student to be permeated with a quality of gentleness, which is one of the chief means used in all esoteric training. Harshness scares away the soul-pictures that should open the eye of the soul; gentleness clears the obstacles away and unseals the inner organs.
[ 11 ] Along with gentleness, another quality will presently be developed in the soul of the student: that of quietly paying attention to all the subtleties in the soul-life of his environment, while reducing to absolute silence any activity within his own soul. The soul-life of his environment will impress itself on him in such a way that his own soul will grow, and as it grows, become regular in its structure, as a plant expanding in the sunlight. Gentleness and patient reserve open the soul to the soul-world and the spirit to the spirit-world. Persevere in silent inner seclusion; close the senses to all that they brought you before your training; reduce to absolute immobility all the thoughts which, according to your previous habits, surged within you; become quite still and silent within, wait in patience, and then the higher worlds will begin to fashion and perfect the organs of sights and hearing in your soul and spirit. Do not expect immediately to see and hear in the world of soul and spirit, for all that you are doing does but contribute to the development of your higher senses, and you will only be able to hear with soul and spirit when you possess these higher senses. Having persevered for a time in silent inner seclusion, go about your customary daily affairs, imprinting deeply upon your mind this thought: “Some day, when I have grown sufficiently, I shall attain that which I am destined to attain,” and make no attempt to attract forcefully any of these higher powers to yourself. Every student receives these instructions at the outset. By observing them he perfects himself. If he neglects them, all his labor is in vain. But they are only difficult of achievement for the impatient and the unpersevering. No other obstacles exist save those which we ourselves place in our own path, and which can be avoided by all who really will. This point must be continually emphasized, because many people form an altogether wrong conception of the difficulties that beset the path to higher knowledge. It is easier, in a certain sense, to accomplish the first steps along this path than to get the better of the commonest every-day difficulties without this training. Apart from this, only such things are here imparted as are attended by no danger whatsoever to the health of soul and body. There are other ways which lead more quickly to the goal, but what is here explained has nothing to do with them, because they have certain effects which no experienced spiritual scientist considers desirable. Since fragmentary information concerning these ways is continually finding its way into publicity, express warning must be given against entering upon them. For reasons which only the initiated can understand, these ways can never be made public in their true form. The fragments appearing here and there can never lead to profitable results, but may easily undermine health, happiness, and peace of mind. It would be far better for people to avoid having anything to do with such things than to risk entrusting themselves to wholly dark forces, of whose nature and origin they can know nothing.
[ 12 ] Something may here be said concerning the environment in which this training should be undertaken, for this is not without some importance. And yet the case differs for almost every person. Anyone practicing in an environment filled only with self-seeking interests, as for example, the modern struggle for existence, must be conscious of the fact that these interests are not without their effect on the development of his spiritual organs. It is true that the inner laws of these organs are so powerful that this influence cannot be fatally injurious. Just as a lily can never grow into a thistle, however inappropriate its environment, so, too, the eye of the soul can never grow to anything but its destined shape even though it be subjected to the self-seeking interests of modern cities. But under all circumstances it is well if the student seeks, now and again, his environment in the restful peace, the inner dignity and sweetness of nature. Especially fortunate is the student who can carry out his esoteric training surrounded by the green world of plants, or among the sunny hills, where nature weaves her web of sweet simplicity. This environment develops the inner organs in a harmony which can never ensue in a modern city. More favorably situated than the townsman is the person who, during his childhood at least, had been able to breathe the fragrance of pines, to gaze on snowy peaks, and observe the silent activity of woodland creatures and insects. Yet no city-dweller should fail to give to the organs of his soul and spirit, as they develop, the nurture that comes from the inspired teachings of spiritual research. If our eyes cannot follow the woods in their mantel of green every spring, day by day, we should instead open our soul to the glorious teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, or of St. John's Gospel, or of St. Thomas à Kempis, and to the descriptions resulting from spiritual science. There are many ways to the summit of insight, but much depends on the right choice. The spiritually experienced could say much concerning these paths, much that might seem strange to the uninitiated. Someone, for instance, might be very far advanced on the path; he might be standing, so to speak, at the very entrance of sight and hearing with soul and spirit; he is then fortunate enough to make a journey over the calm or maybe tempestuous ocean, and a veil falls away from the eyes of his soul; suddenly he becomes a seer. Another is also so far advanced that this veil only needs to be loosened; this occurs through some stroke of destiny. On another this stroke might well have had the effect of paralyzing his powers and undermining his energy; for the esoteric student it becomes the occasion of his enlightenment. A third perseveres patiently for years without any marked result. Suddenly, while silently seated in his quiet chamber, spiritual light envelops him; the walls disappear, become transparent for his soul, and a new world expands before his eyes that have become seeing, or resounds in his ears that have become spiritually hearing.
Praktische Gesichtspunkte
[ 1 ] Wenn der Mensch seine Ausbildung in bezug auf Gefühle; Gedanken und Stimmungen so durchmacht, wie dies in den Kapiteln über Vorbereitung, Erleuchtung und Einweihung beschrieben worden ist, so bewirkt er in seiner Seele und in seinem Geist eine ähnliche Gliederung, wie sie die Natur in seinem physischen Leibe bewirkt hat. Vor dieser Ausbildung sind Seele und Geist ungegliederte Massen. Der Hellseher nimmt sie wahr als ineinandergreifende, spiralige Nebelwirbel, die vorzugsweise wie rötliche und rötlichbraune oder auch rötlichgelbe Farben matt glimmend empfunden werden; nach der Ausbildung beginnen sie wie die gelblichgrünen, grünlichblauen Farben geistig zu erglänzen und zeigen einen regelmäßigen Bau. Der Mensch gelangt zu solcher Regelmäßigkeit und damit zu höheren Erkenntnissen, wenn er in seine Gefühle, Gedanken und Stimmungen solche Ordnung bringt, wie sie die Natur in seine körperlichen Verrichtungen gebracht hat, so daß er sehen, hören, verdauen, atmen, sprechen und so weiter kann. – Mit der Seele atmen und sehen und so weiter, mit dem Geiste hören und sprechen und so weiter lernt der Geheimschüler allmählich.
[ 2 ] Es sollen hier nur noch einige praktische Gesichtspunkte genauer ausgeführt werden, die zur höheren Seelen- und Geisteserziehung gehören. Es sind solche, die im Grunde jeder, ohne auf andere Regeln Rücksicht zu nehmen, befolgen kann und durch die er in der Geheimwissenschaft eine Strecke weit gelangt.
[ 3 ] Eine besondere Ausbildung muß man in der Geduld anstreben. Jede Regung der Ungeduld wirkt lähmend, ja ertötend auf die im Menschen schlummernden höheren Fähigkeiten. Man soll nicht verlangen, daß sich von heute auf morgen unermeßliche Einblicke in die höheren Welten eröffnen. Denn dann kommen sie in der Regel ganz gewiß nicht; Zufriedenheit mit dem Geringsten, das man erreicht, Ruhe und Gelassenheit sollen sich der Seele immer mehr bemächtigen. – Es ist ja begreiflich, daß der Lernende ungeduldig die Ergebnisse erwartet. Dennoch erlangt er nichts, solange er diese Ungeduld nicht bemeistert. Es nützt auch nichts, wenn man diese Ungeduld nur in gewöhnlichem Sinne des Wortes bekämpft. Dann wird sie nur um so stärker. Man täuscht sich dann über sie hinweg, und in den Tiefen der Seele sitzt sie nur um so stärker. Nur wenn man sich einem ganz bestimmten Gedanken immer wieder hingibt, ihn ganz sich zu eigen macht, erreicht man etwas. Dieser Gedanke ist: «Ich muß zwar alles tun zu meiner Seelen- und Geistesausbildung; aber ich werde ganz ruhig warten, bis ich von höheren Mächten für würdig befunden werde zu bestimmter Erleuchtung.» Wird dieser Gedanke im Menschen so mächtig, daß er zur Charakteranlage sich gestaltet, dann ist man auf dem rechten Wege. Schon im Äußerlichen prägt sich dann diese Charakteranlage aus. Der Blick des Auges wird ruhig, die Bewegungen sicher, die Entschlüsse bestimmt, und alles, was man Nervosität nennt, weicht allmählich von dem Menschen. Scheinbar unbedeutende, kleine Regeln kommen dabei in Betracht. Zum Beispiel es fügt uns jemand eine Beleidigung zu. Vor unserer Geheimerziehung wenden wir unser Gefühl gegen den Beleidiger. Ärger wallt in unserem Inneren auf. In dem Geheimschü1er aber steigt sofort bei einer solchen Gelegenheit der Gedanke auf: «Eine solche Beleidigung ändert nichts an meinem Werte»; und er tut dann, was gegen die Beleidigung zu unternehmen ist, mit Ruhe und Gelassenheit, nicht aus dem Ärger heraus. Es kommt natürlich nicht darauf an, etwa jede Beleidigung einfach hinzunehmen, sondern darauf, daß man so ruhig und sicher in der Ahndung einer Beleidigung der eigenen Person gegenüber ist, wie man wäre, wenn die Beleidigung einem anderen zugefügt worden wäre, bei dem man das Recht hat, sie zu ahnden. – Immer muß berücksichtigt werden, daß sich die Geheimschulung nicht in groben äußeren Vorgängen, sondern in feinen, stillen Umwandlungen des Gefühls- und Gedankenlebens vollzieht.
[ 4 ] Geduld wirkt anziehend auf die Schätze des höheren Wissens. Ungeduld wirkt auf sie abstoßend. In Hast und Unruhe kann nichts auf den höheren Gebieten des Daseins erlangt werden. Vor allen Dingen müssen Verlangen und Begierde schweigen. Das sind Eigenschaften der Seele, vor denen sich alles höhere Wissen scheu zurückzieht. So wertvoll auch alle höhere Erkenntnis ist: man darf sie nicht verlangen, wenn sie zu uns kommen soll. Wer sie haben will um seiner selbst willen, der erlangt sie nie. – Und das erfordert vor allem, daß man in tiefster Seele wahr gegen sich selbst sei. Man darf sich in nichts über sich selbst täuschen. Man muß seinen eigenen Fehlern, Schwächen und Untauglichkeiten mit innerer Wahrhaftigkeit ins Antlitz schauen. – In dem Augenblicke, wo du irgendeine deiner Schwächen vor dir selbst entschuldigst, hast du dir einen Stein hingelegt auf den Weg, der dich aufwärts führen soll. Solche Steine kannst du nur durch Selbstaufklärung über dich beseitigen. Es gibt nur einen Weg, seine Fehler und Schwächen abzulegen, und der ist: sie richtig zu erkennen. Alles schlummert in der Menschenseele und kann erweckt werden. Auch seinen Verstand und seine Vernunft kann der Mensch verbessern, wenn er sich in Ruhe und Gelassenheit darüber aufklärt, warum er in dieser Beziehung schwach ist. Solche Selbsterkenntnis ist natürlich schwierig, denn die Versuchung zur Täuschung über sich selbst ist eine unermeßlich große. Wer sich an Wahrheit gegen sich selbst gewöhnt, öffnet sich die Pforten zu höherer Einsicht.
[ 5 ] Schwinden muß beim Geheimschüler eine jegliche Neugierde. Er muß sich so viel wie möglich das Fragen abgewöhnen über Dinge, die er nur zur Befriedigung seines persönlichen Wissensdranges wissen will. Nur das soll er fragen, was ihm zur Vervollkommnung seiner Wesenheit im Dienste der Entwickelung dienen kann. Dabei soll in ihm aber die Freude, die Hingabe an das Wissen in keiner Weise gelähmt werden. Auf alles, was zu solchem Ziele dient, soll er andächtig hinhorchen und jede Gelegenheit zu solcher Andacht aufsuchen.
[ 6 ] Insbesondere ist zur Geheimausbildung eine Erziehung des Wunschlebens notwendig. Man soll nicht etwa wunschlos werden. Denn alles, was wir erreichen sollen, sollen wir ja auch wünschen. Und ein Wunsch wird immer in Erfüllung gehen, wenn hinter ihm eine ganz besondere Kraft steht. Diese Kraft kommt aus der richtigen Erkenntnis. «In keiner Art zu wünschen, bevor man das Richtige auf einem Gebiete erkannt hat», das ist eine der goldenen Regeln für den Geheimschüler. Der Weise lernt zuerst die Gesetze der Welt kennen, dann werden seine Wünsche zu Kräften, welche sich verwirklichen. – Ein Beispiel, das deutlich wirkt, soll hier angeführt werden. Gewiß wünschen viele, aus eigener Anschauung über ihr Leben vor ihrer Geburt etwas zu erfahren. Solcher Wunsch ist ganz zwecklos und ergebnislos, solange der Betreffende sich nicht die Erkenntnis der Gesetze durch geisteswissenschaftliches Studium angeeignet hat – und zwar in ihrem feinsten, intimsten Charakter – von dem Wesen des Ewigen. Hat er sich aber diese Erkenntnis wirklich erworben, und will er dann weiterkommen, so wird er es durch seinen veredelten, geläuterten Wunsch.
[ 7 ] Es nützt auch nichts, zu sagen: Ja, ich will ja gerade mein vorhergehendes Leben übersehen und zu dem Zwecke eben lernen. Man muß vielmehr imstande sein, diesen Wunsch ganz fallenzulassen, ganz von sich auszuschalten, und zunächst ganz ohne diese Absicht lernen. Man muß die Freude, die Hingebung an dem Gelernten entwickeln ohne die genannte Absicht. Denn nur dadurch lernt man zugleich den entsprechenden Wunsch so zu haben, daß er seine Erfüllung nach sich zieht.
[ 8 ] Wenn ich zornig bin oder mich ärgere, so richte ich einen Wall in der Seelenwelt um mich auf, und die Kräfte können nicht an mich herantreten, welche meine seelischen Augen entwickeln sollen. Ärgert mich zum Beispiel ein Mensch, so schickt er einen seelischen Strom in die Seelenwelt. Ich kann diesen Strom so lange nicht sehen, als ich noch fähig bin, mich zu ärgern. Mein Ärger verdeckt ihn mir. Nun darf ich auch nicht glauben, daß ich sofort eine seelische (astralische) Erscheinung haben werde, wenn ich mich nicht mehr ärgere. Denn dazu ist notwendig, daß sich erst in mir ein seelisches Auge entwickele. Aber die Anlage zu einem solchen Auge liegt in jedem Menschen. Es bleibt unwirksam, solange der Mensch fähig ist, sich zu ärgern. Aber es ist auch noch nicht sogleich da, wenn man ein wenig das Ärgern bekämpft hat. Man muß vielmehr fortfahren in dieser Bekämpfung des Ärgers und in Geduld immer wieder fortfahren; dann wird man eines Tages bemerken, daß sich dieses seelische Auge entwickelt hat. Allerdings ist nicht der Ärger das einzige, was man zu solchem Ziele zu bekämpfen hat. Viele werden ungeduldig oder zweifelnd, weil sie jahrelang einige Eigenschaften der Seele bekämpft haben und das Hellsehen doch nicht eintritt. Sie haben dann eben einige Eigenschaften ausgebildet und andere um so mehr überwuchern lassen. Die Gabe des Hellsehens tritt erst dann ein, wenn alle Eigenschaften unterdrückt sind, welche die entsprechenden schlummernden Fähigkeiten nicht herauskommen lassen. Allerdings stellen sich Anfänge des Schauens (oder Hörens) schon früher ein; aber das sind zarte Pflänzchen, die leicht allem möglichen Irrtum unterworfen sind und die auch leicht absterben, wenn sie nicht sorgfältig weiter gehegt und gepflegt werden.
[ 9 ] Zu den Eigenschaften, die zum Beispiel ebenso bekämpft werden müssen wie Zorn und Ärger, gehören Furchtsamkeit, Aberglaube und Vorurteilssucht, Eitelkeit und Ehrgeiz, Neugierde und unnötige Mitteilungssucht, das Unterschiedmachen in bezug auf Menschen nach äußerlichen Rang-, Geschlechts-, Stammeskennzeichen und so weiter. In unserer Zeit wird man recht schwer begreifen, daß die Bekämpfung solcher Eigenschaften etwas zu tun habe mit der Erhöhung der Erkenntnisfähigkeit. Aber jeder Geheimwissenschafter weiß, daß von solchen Dingen viel mehr abhängt als von der Erweiterung der Intelligenz und von dem Anstellen künstlicher Übungen. Insbesondere kann leicht ein Mißverständnis darüber entstehen, wenn manche glauben, daß man sich tollkühn machen solle, weil man furchtlos sein soll, daß man sich vor den Unterschieden der Menschen verschließen soll, weil man die Standes-, Rassen- und so weiter Vorurteile bekämpfen soll. Man lernt vielmehr erst richtig erkennen, wenn man nicht mehr in Vorurteilen befangen ist. Schon in gewöhnlichem Sinne ist es richtig, daß mich die Furcht vor einer Erscheinung hindert, sie klar zu beurteilen, daß mich ein Rassenvorurteil hindert, in eines Menschen Seele zu blicken. Diesen gewöhnlichen Sinn muß der Geheimschüler in großer Feinheit und Schärfe bei sich zur Entwickelung bringen.
[ 10 ] Einen Stein in den Weg der Geheimerziehung wirft dem Menschen auch alles, was er sagt, ohne daß er es gründlich in seinen Gedanken geläutert hat. Und dabei muß etwas in Betracht kommen, was hier nur durch ein Beispiel erläutert werden kann. Wenn mir jemand zum Beispiel etwas sagt und ich habe darauf zu erwidern, so muß ich bemüht sein, des anderen Meinung, Gefühl, ja Vorurteil mehr zu beachten, als was ich im Augenblicke selbst zu der in Rede stehenden Sache zu sagen habe. Hiermit ist eine feine Taktausbildung angedeutet, welcher sich der Geheimschüler sorgfältig zu widmen hat. Er muß sich ein Urteil darüber aneignen, wie weit es für den anderen eine Bedeutung hat, wenn er der seinigen die eigene Meinung entgegenhält. Nicht zurückhalten soll man deshalb mit seiner Meinung. Davon kann nicht im entferntesten die Rede sein. Aber man soll so genau als nur irgend möglich auf den anderen hinhören und aus dem, was man gehört hat, die Gestalt seiner eigenen Erwiderung formen. Immer wieder steigt in einem solchen Falle in dem Geheimschüler ein Gedanke auf; und er ist auf dem rechten Wege, wenn dieser Gedanke in ihm so lebt, daß er Charakteranlage geworden ist. Dies ist der Gedanke: «Nicht darauf kommt es an, daß ich etwas anderes meine als der andere, sondern darauf, daß der andere das Richtige aus Eigenem finden wird, wenn ich etwas dazu beitrage.» Durch solche und ähnliche Gedanken überströmt den Charakter und die Handlungsweise des Geheimschülers das Gepräge der Milde, die ein Hauptmittel aller Geheimschulung ist. Härte verscheucht um dich herum die Seelengebilde, die dein seelisches Auge erwecken sollen; Milde schafft dir die Hindernisse hinweg und öffnet deine Organe.
[ 11 ] Und mit der Milde wird sich alsbald ein anderer Zug in der Seele ausbilden: das ruhige Achten auf alle Feinheiten des seelischen Lebens in der Umgebung bei völliger Schweigsamkeit der eigenen Seelenregungen. Und hat es ein Mensch zu diesem gebracht, dann wirken die Seelenregungen seiner Umgebung auf ihn so ein, daß die eigene Seele wächst und wachsend sich gliedert, wie die Pflanze gedeiht im Sonnenlichte. Milde und Schweigsamkeit in wahrer Geduld öffnen die Seele der Seelenwelt, den Geist dem Geisterlande. – «Verharre in Ruhe und Abgeschlossenheit, schließe die Sinne für das, was sie dir vor deiner Geheimschulung überliefert haben, bringe alle Gedanken zum Stillstand, die nach deinen vorherigen Gewohnheiten in dir auf- und abwogten, werde ganz still und schweigsam in deinem Innern und warte in Geduld, dann fangen höhere Welten an, deine Seelenaugen und Geistesohren auszubilden. Du darfst nicht erwarten, daß du sogleich siehst und hörst in der Seelen-und Geisterwelt. Denn was du tust, trägt nur bei, deine höheren Sinne auszubilden. Seelisch sehen und geistig hören aber wirst du erst, wenn du diese Sinne haben wirst. Hast du eine Weile so in Ruhe und Abgeschlossenheit verharrt, so gehe an deine gewohnten Tagesgeschäfte, indem du dir vorher noch tief den Gedanken eingeprägt: es wird mir einmal werden, was mir werden soll, wenn ich dazu reif bin. Und unterlasse es streng, etwas von den höheren Gewalten durch deine Willkür an dich zu ziehen.» Das sind Anweisungen, die jeder Geheimschüler von seinem Lehrer im Beginne des Weges erhält. Beobachtet er sie, dann vervollkommnet er sich. Beobachtet er sie nicht, dann ist alles Arbeiten vergebens. Aber sie sind nur für den schwierig, der nicht Geduld und Standhaftigkeit hat. Es gibt keine anderen Hindernisse, als diejenigen sind, die sich ein jeder selbst in den Weg wirft und die auch jeder vermeiden kann, wenn er wirklich will. Das muß immer wieder betont werden, weil sich viele eine ganz falsche Vorstellung bilden über die Schwierigkeiten des Geheimpfades. Es ist in gewissem Sinne leichter, die ersten Stufen dieses Pfades zu überschreiten, als ohne Geheimschulung mit den alleralltäglichsten Schwierigkeiten des Lebens fertig zu werden. – Außerdem durften hier nur solche Dinge mitgeteilt werden, die von keinerlei Art von Gefahren begleitet sind für die körperliche und seelische Gesundheit. Es gibt ja auch andere Wege, die schneller zum Ziele führen; aber mit diesen hat, was hier gemeint ist, nichts zu tun, weil sie gewisse Wirkungen auf den Menschen haben können, die ein erfahrener Geheimkundiger nicht anstrebt. Da einiges von solchen Wegen doch immer wieder in die Öffentlichkeit dringt, so muß ausdrücklich davor gewarnt werden, sie zu betreten. Aus Gründen, die nur der Eingeweihte verstehen kann, können diese Wege nie in ihrer wahren Gestalt öffentlich bekanntgegeben werden. Und die Bruchstücke, die dort und da erscheinen, können zu nichts Gedeihlichem, wohl aber zur Untergrabung von Gesundheit, Glück und Seelenfrieden führen. Wer sich nicht ganz dunklen Mächten anvertrauen will, von deren wahrem Wesen und Ursprung er nichts wissen kann, der vermeide es, sich auf solche Dinge einzulassen.
[ 12 ] Es kann noch einiges gesagt werden über die Umgebung, in welcher die Übungen der Geheimschulung vorgenommen werden sollen. Denn darauf kommt einiges an. Doch liegt die Sache fast für jeden Menschen anders. Wer in einer Umgebung übt, die nur von selbstsüchtigen Interessen, zum Beispiel von dem modernen Kampfe ums Dasein, erfüllt ist, der muß sich bewußt sein, daß diese Interessen nicht ohne Einfluß bleiben auf die Ausbildung seiner seelischen Organe. Zwar sind die inneren Gesetze dieser Organe so stark, daß dieser Einfluß nicht ein allzu schädlicher werden kann. So wenig eine Lilie durch eine noch so unangemessene Umgebung zu einer Distel werden kann, so wenig kann sich das seelische Auge zu etwas anderem bilden, als wozu es bestimmt ist, auch wenn die selbstsüchtigen Interessen der modernen Städte darauf einwirken. Aber gut ist es unter allen Umständen, wenn der Geheimschüler ab und zu den stillen Frieden und die innere Würde und Anmut der Natur zu seiner Umgebung macht. Besonders günstig liegt die Sache bei dem, der seine Geheimschulung ganz in der grünen Pflanzenwelt oder zwischen sonnigen Bergen und dem lieben Weben der Einfalt vornehmen kann. Das treibt die inneren Organe in einer Harmonie heraus, die niemals in der modernen Stadt entstehen kann. Etwas besser als der bloße Stadtmensch ist auch schon derjenige gestellt, welcher wenigstens während seiner Kindheit Tannenluft atmen, Schneegipfel schauen und das stille Treiben der Waldtiere und Insekten beobachten durfte. Keiner derjenigen aber, denen es aufgegeben ist, in der Stadt zu leben, darf es unterlassen, seinen in Bildung begriffenen Seelen- und Geistesorganen als Nahrung die inspirierten Lehren der Geistesforschung zuzuführen. Wessen Auge nicht jeden Frühling die Wälder Tag für Tag in ihrem Grün verfolgen kann, der sollte dafür seinem Herzen die erhabenen Lehren der Bhagavad-Gita, des Johannes-Evangeliums, des Thomas von Kempen und die Darstellungen der geisteswissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse zuführen. Viele Wege gibt es zum Gipfel der Einsicht; aber eine richtige Wahl ist unerläßlich. – Der Geheimkundige weiß gar manches über solche Wege zu sagen, was dem Uneingeweihten absonderlich erscheint. Es kann zum Beispiel jemand sehr weit auf dem Geheimpfade sein. Er kann sozusagen unmittelbar vor dem Öffnen der seelischen Augen und geistigen Ohren stehen; und dann hat er das Glück, eine Fahrt über das ruhige oder vielleicht auch das wildbewegte Meer zu machen, und eine Binde löst sich von seinen Seelenaugen: plötzlich wird er sehend. – Ein anderer ist ebenfalls so weit, daß diese Binde sich nur zu lösen braucht; es geschieht durch einen starken Schicksalsschlag. Auf einen anderen Menschen hätte dieser Schlag wohl den Einfluß gehabt, daß er seine Kraft lähmte, seine Energie untergrübe; für den Geheimschüler wird er zum Anlaß der Erleuchtung. – Ein dritter harrt in Geduld aus; Jahre hindurch hat er so geharrt, ohne eine merkliche Frucht. Plötzlich in seinem ruhigen Sitzen in der stillen Kammer wird es geistig Licht um ihn, die Wände verschwinden, werden seelisch durchsichtig, und eine neue Welt breitet sich vor seinem sehend gewordenen Auge aus oder erklingt seinem hörend gewordenen Geistesohre.
Practical Aspects
[ 1 ] When a person undergoes his training with regard to feelings, thoughts and moods in the way described in the chapters on preparation, enlightenment and initiation, he brings about a similar organization in his soul and spirit as nature has brought about in his physical body. Before this training, soul and spirit are unstructured masses. The clairvoyant perceives them as interlocking, spiral vortices of mist, which are preferably perceived as reddish and reddish-brown or even reddish-yellow colors with a dull glow; after the formation they begin to shine spiritually like the yellowish-green, greenish-blue colors and show a regular structure. Man attains such regularity and thus higher knowledge when he brings the same order to his feelings, thoughts and moods as nature has brought to his bodily functions, so that he can see, hear, digest, breathe, speak and so on. - The secret disciple gradually learns to breathe and see with the soul and so on, to hear and speak with the spirit and so on.
[ 2 ] Only a few practical aspects belonging to the higher education of the soul and spirit will be explained in more detail here. They are those that basically anyone can follow without taking other rules into consideration and through which they can progress a long way in the secret science.
[ 3 ] A special training must be sought in patience. Every impatient impulse has a paralyzing, even deadening effect on the higher abilities dormant in man. One should not demand that immeasurable insights into the higher worlds open up overnight. For then, as a rule, they will certainly not come; contentment with the least that one achieves, peace and serenity should increasingly take possession of the soul. - It is understandable that the learner impatiently awaits the results. Nevertheless, he achieves nothing as long as he does not master this impatience. Nor is it of any use to fight this impatience in the ordinary sense of the word. Then it only gets stronger. You then deceive yourself about it, and in the depths of your soul it only sits all the stronger. Only if you give yourself over and over again to a very specific thought, making it completely your own, will you achieve anything. This thought is: "I must indeed do everything for the education of my soul and spirit; but I will quite calmly wait until I am found worthy of certain enlightenment by higher powers." If this thought becomes so powerful in a person that it develops into a character trait, then one is on the right path. This character disposition will then already be expressed outwardly. The gaze of the eye becomes calm, the movements sure, the decisions determined, and all that is called nervousness gradually departs from the person. Seemingly insignificant, small rules come into consideration. For example, someone inflicts an insult on us. Before our secret education, we turn our feelings against the insulter. Anger wells up inside us. In the secret student, however, the thought immediately arises on such an occasion: "Such an insult changes nothing about my value"; and he then does what is to be done against the insult with calmness and composure, not out of anger. Of course, it is not a question of simply accepting every insult, but of being as calm and confident in the punishment of an insult to oneself as one would be if the insult had been inflicted on someone else, for whom one has the right to punish it. - It must always be borne in mind that secret training does not take place in gross external processes, but in subtle, silent transformations of the emotional and mental life.
[ 4 ] Patience attracts the treasures of higher knowledge. Impatience repels them. In haste and restlessness, nothing can be attained in the higher realms of existence. Above all, desire and desire must be silent. These are qualities of the soul from which all higher knowledge shies away. As valuable as all higher knowledge is, it must not be demanded if it is to come to us. He who wants it for his own sake will never attain it. - And this requires above all that one is true to oneself in the deepest soul. One must not deceive oneself in anything about oneself. You must look your own faults, weaknesses and inadequacies in the face with inner truthfulness. - The moment you excuse any of your weaknesses to yourself, you have placed a stone on the path that should lead you upwards. You can only remove such stones through self-enlightenment. There is only one way to get rid of your mistakes and weaknesses, and that is to recognize them correctly. Everything lies dormant in the human soul and can be awakened. People can also improve their intellect and reason if they calmly and serenely realize why they are weak in this respect. Such self-knowledge is of course difficult, because the temptation to deceive oneself is immeasurably great. Those who become accustomed to truth against themselves open the gates to higher insight.
[ 5 ] Any curiosity must disappear in the secret disciple. He must as much as possible get out of the habit of asking questions about things that he only wants to know to satisfy his personal thirst for knowledge. He should only ask what can serve him to perfect his being in the service of development. At the same time, however, his joy and devotion to knowledge should not be paralyzed in any way. He should devoutly listen to everything that serves such a goal and seek out every opportunity for such devotion.
[ 6 ] In particular, an education of desire is necessary for secret training. One should not become desireless. Because everything we are supposed to achieve, we should also wish for. And a wish will always come true if there is a very special power behind it. This power comes from the right recognition. "Not to wish in any way before you have recognized the right thing in a field" is one of the golden rules for the secret disciple. The wise man first learns the laws of the world, then his wishes become forces which are realized. - An example that has a clear effect should be given here. Certainly many people wish to learn something about their life before they were born from their own experience. Such a wish is quite futile and fruitless as long as the person concerned has not acquired the knowledge of the laws through spiritual scientific study - and indeed in their finest, most intimate character - of the essence of the eternal. But if he has really acquired this knowledge and then wants to progress, he will do so through his refined, purified desire.
[ 7 ] It is also useless to say: Yes, I want to overlook my previous life and learn for that very purpose. Rather, one must be able to let go of this desire completely, to eliminate it entirely from oneself, and first learn without this intention. One must develop the joy, the devotion to what one has learned without the aforementioned intention. This is the only way to learn to have the corresponding desire in such a way that it leads to its fulfillment.
[ 8 ] When I am wrathful or annoyed, I erect a wall around myself in the world of the soul and the forces that should develop my soul's eyes cannot approach me. For example, if a person annoys me, he sends a spiritual current into the soul world. I cannot see this current as long as I am still able to get angry. My anger hides it from me. Now I must not believe that I will immediately have a spiritual (astral) manifestation when I am no longer angry. For this requires that a spiritual eye first develops in me. But the disposition for such an eye lies in every human being. It remains ineffective as long as a person is capable of getting angry. But it is also not immediately there when one has fought a little against anger. Rather, one must continue to fight anger and continue to do so patiently; then one day one will realize that this spiritual eye has developed. However, anger is not the only thing you have to fight to achieve this goal. Many people become impatient or doubtful because they have been fighting against certain qualities of the soul for years and the clairvoyance does not materialize. They have then developed some qualities and let others overgrow all the more. The gift of clairvoyance only occurs when all the qualities that prevent the corresponding dormant abilities from emerging have been suppressed. However, the beginnings of seeing (or hearing) appear earlier; but these are delicate little plants that are easily subject to all kinds of errors and that also die easily if they are not carefully nurtured and cared for.
[ 9 ] Fearfulness, superstition and prejudice, vanity and ambition, curiosity and unnecessary communicativeness, making distinctions between people according to outward signs of rank, sex, tribe and so on are among the qualities that must be combated, just like anger and resentment. In our time it will be quite difficult to understand that combating such qualities has anything to do with increasing the capacity for knowledge. But every secret scientist knows that much more depends on such things than on the expansion of intelligence and the setting up of artificial exercises. In particular, a misunderstanding can easily arise when some believe that one should be foolhardy because one should be fearless, that one should close oneself off to the differences between people because one should fight against prejudices of class, race and so on. Rather, one only learns to recognize correctly when one is no longer caught up in prejudices. It is already true in the ordinary sense that the fear of an appearance prevents me from judging it clearly, that a racial prejudice prevents me from looking into a person's soul. The secret disciple must develop this ordinary sense with great subtlety and acuity.
[ 10 ] A stone is also thrown in the way of secret education by everything a man says without having thoroughly purified it in his thoughts. And here something must be taken into consideration which can only be explained by an example. For example, if someone says something to me and I have to reply to it, I must endeavor to pay more attention to the other person's opinion, feeling, even prejudice, than to what I myself have to say at the moment about the matter in question. This indicates a fine training in tact to which the secret disciple must devote himself carefully. He must acquire a judgment as to how far it is significant for the other person when he opposes his own opinion with his own. One should therefore not hold back with one's opinion. There can be no question of that. But you should listen to the other person as carefully as possible and form your own response from what you have heard. Again and again in such a case a thought arises in the secret disciple; and he is on the right path when this thought lives in him in such a way that it has become a character trait. This is the thought: "It does not matter that I mean something different from the other, but that the other will find the right thing of his own if I contribute something to it." Through such and similar thoughts, the character and conduct of the secret disciple is imbued with mildness, which is a principal means of all secret training. Hardness frightens away the mental formations around you that are supposed to awaken your spiritual eye; mildness removes the obstacles and opens your organs.
[ 11 ] And with mildness another trait will soon develop in the soul: the calm attention to all the subtleties of spiritual life in the surroundings with complete silence of one's own soul emotions. And when a person has reached this stage, the soul impulses of his surroundings affect him in such a way that his own soul grows and develops like a plant thriving in the sunlight. Mildness and silence in true patience open the soul to the world of souls, the spirit to the land of spirits. - "Remain in peace and seclusion, close your senses to what they have handed down to you before your secret training, bring to a standstill all thoughts that have been surging up and down within you according to your previous habits, become completely still and silent within yourself and wait in patience, then higher worlds will begin to train your soul eyes and spirit ears. You must not expect to see and hear immediately in the world of souls and spirits. For what you do only helps to train your higher senses. But you will only see spiritually and hear spiritually when you have these senses. Once you have remained in peace and seclusion for a while, go about your usual daily business by first deeply imprinting the thought in your mind: I will become what I am meant to become when I am ready. And strictly refrain from drawing anything from the higher powers to yourself by your arbitrary will." These are instructions that every secret disciple receives from his teacher at the beginning of the path. If he observes them, he perfects himself. If he does not observe them, then all work is in vain. But they are only difficult for those who do not have patience and steadfastness. There are no other obstacles than those which everyone throws in his own way and which everyone can avoid if he really wants to. This must be emphasized again and again, because many people form a completely false idea about the difficulties of the secret path. In a certain sense, it is easier to cross the first stages of this path than to cope with the most everyday difficulties of life without secret training. - Moreover, only those things may be communicated here that are not accompanied by any kind of danger to physical and mental health. There are, of course, other ways that lead more quickly to the goal; but what is meant here has nothing to do with these, because they can have certain effects on the person that an experienced secret practitioner does not strive for. Since some of these paths do repeatedly come to public attention, we must expressly warn against entering them. For reasons that only the initiated can understand, these paths can never be made public in their true form. And the fragments that appear here and there can lead to nothing beneficial, but to the undermining of health, happiness and peace of mind. Those who do not want to entrust themselves entirely to dark forces, of whose true nature and origin they can know nothing, should avoid getting involved in such things.
[ 12 ] A few things can be said about the environment in which the exercises of secret training should be carried out. Because a lot depends on it. But the situation is different for almost everyone. Whoever practises in an environment that is only filled with selfish interests, for example the modern struggle for existence, must be aware that these interests will not remain without influence on the development of his spiritual organs. It is true that the inner laws of these organs are so strong that this influence cannot become too harmful. As little as a lily can become a thistle through an inappropriate environment, so little can the soul's eye develop into something other than what it is destined for, even if the selfish interests of modern cities influence it. But it is good under all circumstances if the secret student occasionally makes the quiet peace and the inner dignity and grace of nature his surroundings. The situation is particularly favorable for those who can undertake their secret training entirely in the green world of plants or between sunny mountains and the lovely weaving of simplicity. This drives out the inner organs in a harmony that can never arise in the modern city. Those who have at least been able to breathe pine air, look at snowy peaks and observe the quiet hustle and bustle of forest animals and insects during their childhood are somewhat better off than mere city dwellers. But none of those who have been given the task of living in the city may refrain from feeding their educated souls and minds with the inspired teachings of spiritual research. Those whose eyes cannot follow the greenery of the forests day after day every spring should instead feed their hearts with the sublime teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita, the Gospel of St. John, St. Thomas of Kempen and the presentations of the results of spiritual science. There are many paths to the summit of insight; but a correct choice is indispensable. - Those who know the secret know many things about such paths that seem strange to the uninitiated. For example, someone can be very far along the secret path. He may, so to speak, be on the point of opening his soul's eyes and spiritual ears; and then he has the good fortune to take a voyage over the calm or perhaps the wildly moving sea, and a blindfold comes off his soul's eyes: suddenly he becomes seeing. - Another is also so far gone that this blindfold only needs to come off; it happens through a strong stroke of fate. On another person this blow would probably have had the effect of paralyzing his strength, undermining his energy; for the secret disciple it becomes the occasion of enlightenment. - A third one endures in patience; he has endured for years without any noticeable fruit. Suddenly, as he sits quietly in the silent chamber, there is a spiritual light around him, the walls disappear, become spiritually transparent, and a new world spreads out before his eyes, which have become seeing, or sounds to his ears, which have become hearing.