Knowledge of Higher Worlds and its Attainment
GA 10
IX. The Guardian of the Threshold
[ 1 ] The important experiences marking the student's ascent into the higher worlds include his meeting with the Guardian of the Threshold. Strictly speaking, there are two Guardians: a lesser and a greater. The student meets the lesser Guardian when the threads connecting willing, feeling, and thinking within the finer astral and etheric bodies begin to loosen, in the way described in the foregoing chapter. The greater Guardian is encountered when this sundering of the connections extends to the physical parts of the body, that is, at first to the brain. [ 2 ] The lesser Guardian is a sovereign being. He does not come into existence, as far as the student is concerned, until the latter has reached the requisite stage of development. Only some of his most important characteristics can here be indicated.
[ 3] The attempt will now be made to describe in narrative form this meeting with the lesser Guardian of the Threshold, as a result of which the student learns that his thinking, feeling, and willing have become released within him from their inherent connection.
[ 4 ] A truly terrible spectral being confronts him, and he will need all the presence of mind and faith in the security of his path which he has had ample opportunity to acquire in the course of his previous training.
[ 5 ] The Guardian proclaims his signification somewhat in the following words: “Hitherto, powers invisible to thyself watched over thee. They saw to it that in the course of thy lives each of thy good deeds brought its reward, and each of thine evil deeds was attended by its evil results. Thanks to their influence thy character formed itself out of thy life-experiences and thy thoughts. They were the instruments of thy destiny. They ordained that measure of joy and pain allotted to thee in thine incarnations, according to thy conduct in lives gone by. They ruled over thee as the all-embracing law of karma. These powers will now partly release thee from their constraining influence; and henceforth must thou accomplish for thyself a part of the work which hitherto they performed for thee. Destiny struck thee many a hard blow in the past. Thou knewest not why. Each blow was the consequence of a harmful deed in a bygone lie. Thou foundest joy and gladness, and thou didst take them as they came. They, too, were the fruits of former deeds. Thy character shows many a beautiful side, and many an ugly flaw. Thou hast thyself to thank for both, for they are the result of thy previous experiences and thoughts. These were till now unknown to thee; their effects alone were made manifest. The karmic powers, however, beheld all thy deeds in former lives, and all thy most secret thoughts and feelings, and determined accordingly thy present self and thy present mode of life. [ 6 ] But now all the good and evil sides of thy bygone lives shall be revealed to thee. Hitherto they were interwoven with thine own being; they were in thee and thou couldst not see them, even as thou canst not behold thine own brain with physical eyes. But now they become released from thee; they detach themselves from thy personality. They assume an independent form which thou canst see even as thou beholdest the stones and plants of the outer world. And . . . I am that very being who shaped my body out of thy good and evil achievements. My spectral form is woven out of thine own life's record. Till now thou hast borne me invisibly within thee, and it was well that this was so; for the wisdom of thy destiny, though concealed from thee, could thus work within thee, so that the hideous stains on my form should be blotted out. Now that I have come forth from within thee, that concealed wisdom, too, has departed from thee. It will pay no further heed to thee; it will leave the work in thy hands alone. I must become a perfect and glorious being, or fall a prey to corruption; and should this occur, I would drag thee also down with me into a dark and corrupt world. If thou wouldst avoid this, then thine own wisdom must become great enough to undertake the task of that other, concealed wisdom, which has departed from thee. As a form visible to thyself I will never for an instant leave thy side, once thou hast crossed my Threshold. And in future, whenever thou dost act or think wrongly thou wilt straightway perceive thy guilt as a hideous, demoniacal distortion of my form. Only when thou hast made good all thy bygone wrongs and hast so purified thyself that all further evil is, for thee, a thing impossible, only then will my being have become transformed into radiant beauty. Then, too, shall I again become united with thee for the welfare of thy future activity.
[ 7 ] “Yet my Threshold is fashioned out of all the timidity that remains in thee, out of all the dread of the strength needed to take full responsibility for all thy thoughts and actions. As long as there remains in thee a trace of fear of becoming thyself the guide of thine own destiny, just so long will this Threshold lack what still remains to be built into it. And as long as a single stone is found missing, just so long must thou remain standing as though transfixed; or else stumble. Seek not, then, to cross this Threshold until thou dost feel thyself entirely free from fear and ready for the highest responsibility. [ 8 ] Hitherto I only emerged from thy personality when death recalled thee from an earthly life; but even then my form was veiled from thee. Only the powers of destiny who watched over thee beheld me and could thus, in the intervals between death and a new birth, build in thee, in accordance with my appearance, that power and capacity thanks to which thou couldst labor in a new earth life at the beautifying of my form, for thy welfare and progress. It was I, too, whose imperfection ever and again constrained the powers of destiny to lead thee back to a new incarnation upon earth. I was present at the hour of thy death, and it was on my account that the Lords of Karma ordained thy reincarnation. And it is only by thus unconsciously transforming me to complete perfection in ever recurring earthly lives that thou couldst have escaped the powers of death and passed over into immortality united with me.
[ 9 ] “Visible do I thus stand before thee today, just as I shave ever stood invisible beside thee in the hour of death. When thou shalt have crossed my Threshold, thou wilt enter those realms to which thou hast hitherto only had access after physical death. Thou dost now enter them with full knowledge, and henceforth as thou wanderest outwardly visible upon the earth thou wilt at the same time wander in the kingdom of death, that is, in the kingdom of life eternal. I am indeed the Angel of Death; but I am at the same time the bearer of a higher life without end. Through me thou wilt die with thy body still living, to be reborn into an imperishable existence.
[ 10 ] “Into this kingdom thou art now entering; thou wilt meet beings that are supersensible, and happiness will be thy lot. But I myself must provide thy first acquaintance with that world, and I am thine own creation. Formerly I drew my life from thine; but now thou hast awakened me to a separate existence so that I stand before thee as the visible gauge of thy future deeds—perhaps, too, as thy constant reproach. Thou hast formed me, but by so doing thou hast undertaken, as thy duty, to transform me.”
[ 11 ] (It will be gathered from the above that the Guardian of the Threshold is an (astral) figure, revealing itself to the student's awakened higher sight; and it is to this supersensible encounter that spiritual science conducts him. It is a lower magical process to make the Guardian of the Threshold physically visible also. That was attained by producing a cloud of fine substance, a kind of frankincense resulting from a particular mixture of a number of substances. The developed power of the magician is then able to mould the frankincense into shape, animating it with the still unredeemed karma of the individual. Such physical phenomena are no longer necessary for those sufficiently prepared for the higher sight; and besides this, anyone who sees, without adequate preparation, his unredeemed karma appear before his eyes as a living creature would run the risk of straying into evil byways. Bulwer Lytton's Zanoni contains in novel form a description of the Guardian of the Threshold.)
[ 11 ] What is here indicated in narrative form must not be understood in the sense of an allegory, but as an experience of the highest possible reality befalling the esoteric student.
[ 12 ] The Guardian must warn him not to go a step further unless he feels in himself the strength to fulfill the demands made in the above speech. However horrible the form assumed by the Guardian, it is only the effect of the student's own past life, his own character risen out of him into independent existence. This awakening is brought about by the separation of will, thought, and feeling. To feel for the first time that one has oneself called a spiritual being into existence is in itself an experience of deepest significance. The student's preparation must aim at enabling him to endure the terrible sight without a trace of timidity and, at the moment of the meeting, to feel his strength so increased that he can undertake fully conscious the responsibility for transforming and beautifying the Guardian.
[ 13 ] If successful, this meeting with the Guardian results in the student's next physical death being an entirely different event from the death as he knew it formerly. He experiences death consciously by laying aside the physical body as one discards a garment that is worn out or perhaps rendered useless through a sudden rent. Thus his physical death is of special importance only for those living with him, whose perception is still restricted to the world of the senses. For them the student dies; but for himself nothing of importance is changed in his whole environment. The entire supersensible world stood open to him before his death, and it is this same world that now confronts him after death.
[ 14 ] The Guardian of the Threshold is also connected with other matters. The person belongs to a family, a nation, a race; his activity in this world depends upon his belonging to some such community. His individual character is also connected with it. The conscious activity of individual persons by no means exhausts everything to be reckoned with in a family, a nation, or a race. Besides their character, families, nations, and races have also their destiny. For persons restricted to their senses these things remain mere general ideas; and the materialistic thinker, in his prejudice, will look down with contempt on the spiritual scientist when he hears that for him, family and national character, lineal or racial destiny, are vested in beings just as real as the personality in which the character and destiny of the individual man are vested. The spiritual scientist becomes acquainted with higher worlds of which the separate personalities are members, just as arms and legs are members of the human being. Besides the separate individuals, a very real family and national group soul and racial spirit is at work in the life of a family, a people, or a race. Indeed, in a certain sense the separate individuals are merely the executive organs of these family group souls, racial spirits, and so on. It is nothing but the truth to say, for instance, that a national group soul makes use of each individual man belonging to that nation for the execution of some work. The group soul of a people does not descend into physical reality but dwells in the higher worlds and, in order to work in the physical world, makes use of the physical organs of each individual human being. In a higher sense, it is like an architect making use of workmen for executing the details of a building. In the truest sense, everyone receives his allotted task from his family, national, or racial group soul. Now, the ordinary person is by no means initiated into the higher design of his work. He joins unconsciously in the tasks of his people and of his race. From the moment the student meets the Guardian, he must not only know his own tasks, but must knowingly collaborate in those of his folk, his race. Every extension of his horizon necessarily enlarges the scope of his duties. What actually happens is that the student adds a new body to his finer soul-body. He puts on a second garment. Hitherto he found his way through the world with the coverings enveloping his personality; and what he had to accomplish for his community, his nation, his race, was directed by higher spirits who made use of his personality.
And now, a further revelation made to him by the Guardian of the Threshold is that henceforth these spirits will withdraw their guiding hand from him. He must step out of the circle of his community. Yet as an isolated personality he would become hardened in himself and decline into ruin, did he not, himself, acquire those powers which are vested in the national and racial spirits. Many, no doubt, will say: “Oh, I have entirely freed myself from all lineal and racial connections; I only want to be a human being and nothing but a human being.” To these one must reply: “Who, then, brought you to this freedom? Was it not your family who placed you in the world where you now stand? Have you not your lineage, your nation, your race to thank for being what you are? They have brought you up. And if now, exalted above all prejudices, you are one of the light-bringers and benefactors of your stock and even of your race, it is to their up-bringing that you owe it. Yes, even when you say you are `nothing but a human being,' even the fact that you have become such a personality you owe to the spirits of your communities.” Only the esoteric student learns what it means to be entirely cut off from his family, national, or racial spirit. He alone realizes, through personal experience, the insignificance of all such education in respect of the life now confronting him. For everything inculcated by education completely melts away when the threads binding will, thought, and feeling are severed. He looks back on the result of all his previous education as he might on a house crumbling away brick by brick, which he must now rebuild in a new form. And again, it is more than a mere symbolical expression to say that when the Guardian has enunciated his first statement, there arises from the spot where he stands a whirlwind which extinguishes all those spiritual lights that have hitherto illumined the pathway of his life. Utter darkness, relieved only by the rays issuing from the Guardian himself, unfolds before the student. And out of this darkness resounds the Guardian's further admonition: “Step not across my Threshold until thou dost clearly realize that thou wilt thyself illumine the darkness ahead of thee; take not a single step forward until thou art positive that thou hast sufficient oil in thine own lamp. The lamps of the guides whom thou hast hitherto followed will now no longer be available to thee.” At these words, the student must turn and glance backward. The Guardian of the Threshold now draws aside a veil which till now had concealed deep life-mysteries. The family, national, and racial spirits are revealed to the student in their full activity, so that he perceives clearly on the one hand, how he has hitherto been led, and no less clearly on the other hand, that he will henceforward no longer enjoy this guidance. That is the second warning received at the Threshold from its Guardian.
[ 14 ] Without preparation, no one could endure the sight of what has here been indicated. But the higher training which makes it possible at all for the student to advance up to the Threshold simultaneously puts him in a position to find the necessary strength at the right moment. Indeed, the training can be so harmonious in its nature that the entry into the higher life is relieved of everything of an agitating or tumultuous character. His experience at the Threshold will then be attended by a premonition of that felicity which is to provide the keynote of his newly awakened life. The feeling of a new freedom will outweigh all other feelings; and attended by this feeling, his new duties and responsibilities will appear as something which man, at a particular stage of life, must needs take upon himself.
Der Hüter der Schwelle
[ 1 ] Wichtige Erlebnisse beim Erheben in die höheren Welten sind die Begegnungen mit dem «Hüter der Schwelle». Es gibt nicht nur einen, sondern im wesentlichen zwei, einen «kleineren» und einen «größeren» «Hüter der Schwelle». Dem ersteren begegnet der Mensch dann, wenn sich die Verbindungsfäden zwischen Willen, Denken und Fühlen innerhalb der feineren Leiber (des Astral- und Ätherleibes) so zu lösen beginnen, wie das im vorigen Kapitel gekennzeichnet worden ist. Dem «größeren Hüter der Schwelle» tritt der Mensch gegenüber, wenn sich die Auflösung der Verbindungen auch auf die physischen Teile des Leibes (namentlich zunächst das Gehirn) erstreckt.
[ 2 ] Der «kleinere Hüter der Schwelle» ist ein selbständiges Wesen. Dieses ist für den Menschen nicht vorhanden, bevor die entsprechende Entwickelungsstufe von ihm erreicht ist. Nur einige der wesentlichsten Eigentümlichkeiten desselben können hier verzeichnet werden.
[ 3 ] Es soll zunächst versucht werden, in erzählender Form die Begegnung des Geheimschülers mit dem Hüter der Schwelle darzustellen. Erst durch diese Begegnung wird der Schüler gewahr, daß Denken, Fühlen und Wollen bei ihm sich aus ihrer ihnen eingepflanzten Verbindung gelöst haben.
[ 4 ] Ein allerdings schreckliches, gespenstisches Wesen steht vor dem Schüler. Dieser hat alle Geistesgegenwart und alles Vertrauen in die Sicherheit seines Erkenntnisweges notwendig, die er sich während seiner bisherigen Geheimschülerschaft aber hinlänglich aneignen konnte.
[ 5 ] Der «Hüter» gibt seine Bedeutung etwa in folgenden Worten kund: «Über dir walteten bisher Mächte, welche dir unsichtbar waren. Sie bewirkten, daß während deiner bisherigen Lebensläufe jede deiner guten Taten ihren Lohn und jede deiner üblen Handlungen ihre schlimmen Folgen hatten. Durch ihren Einfluß baute sich dein Charakter aus deinen Lebenserfahrungen und aus deinen Gedanken auf. Sie verursachten dein Schicksal. Sie bestimmten das Maß von Lust und Schmerz, das dir in einer deiner Verkörperungen zugemessen war, nach deinem Verhalten in früheren Verkörperungen. Sie herrschten über dir in Form des allumfassenden Karmagesetzes. Diese Mächte werden nun einen Teil ihrer Zügel von dir loslösen. Und etwas von der Arbeit, die sie an dir getan haben, mußt du nun selbst tun. Dich traf bisher mancher schwere Schicksalsschlag. Du wußtest nicht warum? Es war die Folge einer schädlichen Tat in einem deiner vorhergehenden Lebensläufe. Du fandest Glück und Freude und nahmest sie hin. Auch sie waren die Wirkung früherer Taten. Du hast in deinem Charakter manche schöne Seiten, manche häßliche Flecken. Du hast beides selbst verursacht durch vorhergehende Erlebnisse und Gedanken. Du hast bisher die letzteren nicht gekannt; nur die Wirkungen waren dir offenbar. Sie aber, die karmischen Mächte, sahen alle deine vormaligen Lebenstaten, deine verborgensten Gedanken und Gefühle. Und sie haben danach bestimmt, wie du jetzt bist und wie du jetzt lebst.
[ 6 ] Nun aber sollen dir selbst offenbar werden alle die guten und alle die schlimmen Seiten deiner vergangenen Lebensläufe. Sie waren bis jetzt in deine eigene Wesenheit hineinverwoben, sie waren in dir, und du konntest sie nicht sehen, wie du physisch dein eigenes Gehirn nicht sehen kannst. Jetzt aber lösen sie sich von dir los, sie treten aus deiner Persönlichkeit heraus. Sie nehmen eine selbständige Gestalt an, die du sehen kannst, wie du die Steine und Pflanzen der Außenwelt siehst. Und – ich bin es selbst, die Wesenheit, die sich einen Leib gebildet hat aus deinen edlen und deinen üblen Verrichtungen. Meine gespenstige Gestalt ist aus dem Kontobuche deines eigenen Lebens gewoben. Unsichtbar hast du mich bisher in dir selbst getragen. Aber es war wohltätig für dich, daß es so war. Denn die Weisheit deines dir verborgenen Geschickes hat deshalb auch bisher an der Auslöschung der häßlichen Flecken in meiner Gestalt in dir gearbeitet. Jetzt, da ich aus dir herausgetreten bin, ist auch diese verborgene Weisheit von dir gewichen. Sie wird sich fernerhin nicht mehr um dich kümmern. Sie wird die Arbeit dann nur in deine eigenen Hände legen. Ich muß zu einer in sich vollkommenen, herrlichen Wesenheit werden, wenn ich nicht dem Verderben anheimfallen soll. Und geschähe das letztere, so würde ich auch dich selbst mit mir hinabziehen in eine dunkle, verderbte Welt. – Deine eigene Weisheit muß nun, wenn das letztere verhindert werden soll, so groß sein, daß sie die Aufgabe jener von dir gewichenen verborgenen Weisheit übernehmen kann. – Ich werde, wenn du meine Schwelle überschritten hast, keinen Augenblick mehr als dir sichtbare Gestalt von deiner Seite weichen. Und wenn du fortan Unrichtiges tust oder denkst, so wirst du sogleich deine Schuld als eine häßliche, dämonische Verzerrung an dieser meiner Gestalt wahrnehmen. Erst wenn du all dein vergangenes Unrichtiges gutgemacht und dich so geläutert hast, daß dir weiter Übles ganz unmöglich ist, dann wird sich mein Wesen in leuchtende Schönheit verwandelt haben. Und dann werde ich mich zum Heile deiner ferneren Wirksamkeit wieder mit dir zu einem Wesen vereinigen können.
[ 7 ] Meine Schwelle aber ist gezimmert aus einem jeglichen Furchtgefühl, das noch in dir ist, und aus einer jeglichen Scheu vor der Kraft, die volle Verantwortung für all dein Tun und Denken selbst zu übernehmen. Solange du noch irgendeine Furcht vor der selbsteigenen Lenkung deines Geschickes hast, so lange ist in diese Schwelle nicht alles hineingebaut, was sie erhalten muß. Und solange ihr ein einziger Baustein noch fehlt, so lange müßtest du wie gebannt an dieser Schwelle stehenbleiben oder stolpern. Versuche nicht früher diese Schwelle zu überschreiten, bis du ganz frei von Furcht und bereit zu höchster Verantwortlichkeit dich fühlst.
[ 8 ] Bisher trat ich nur aus deiner eigenen Persönlichkeit heraus, wenn der Tod dich von einem irdischen Lebenslauf abberief. Aber auch da war meine Gestalt dir verschleiert. Nur die Schicksalsmächte, welche über dir walteten, sahen mich und konnten, nach meinem Aussehen, in den Zwischenpausen zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt, dir Kraft und Fähigkeit ausbilden, damit du in einem neuen Erdenleben an der Verschönerung meiner Gestalt zum Heile deines Fortkommens arbeiten konntest. Ich selbst war es auch, dessen Unvollkommenheit die Schicksalsmächte immer wieder dazu zwang, dich in eine neue Verkörperung auf die Erde zurückzuführen. Starbest du, so war ich da; und meinetwegen bestimmten die Lenker des Karma deine Wiedergeburt. Erst wenn du durch immer wieder erneuerte Leben in dieser Art mich unbewußt ganz zur Vollkommenheit umgeschaffen gehabt hättest, wärest du nicht den Todesmächten verfallen, sondern du hättest dich ganz mit mir vereint und wärest in Einheit mit mir in die Unsterblichkeit hinübergegangen.
[ 9 ] So stehe ich heute sichtbar vor dir, wie ich stets unsichtbar neben dir in der Sterbestunde gestanden habe. Wenn du meine Schwelle überschritten haben wirst, so betrittst du die Reiche, die du sonst nach dem physischen Tode betreten hast. Du betrittst sie mit vollem Wissen und wirst fortan, indem du äußerlich sichtbar auf Erden wandelst, zugleich im Reiche des Todes, das ist aber im Reiche des ewigen Lebens, wandeln. Ich bin wirklich auch der Todesengel; aber ich, ich bin zugleich der Bringer eines nie versiegenden höheren Lebens. Beim lebendigen Leibe wirst du durch mich sterben, um die Wiedergeburt zum unzerstörbaren Dasein zu erleben.
[ 10 ] Das Reich, das du nunmehr betrittst, wird dich bekannt machen mit Wesen übersinnlicher Art. Die Seligkeit wird dein Anteil in diesem Reiche sein. Aber die erste Bekanntschaft mit dieser Welt muß ich selbst sein, ich, der ich dein eigenes Geschöpf bin. Früher lebte ich von deinem eigenen Leben; aber jetzt bin ich durch dich zu einem eigenen Dasein erwacht und stehe vor dir als sichtbares Richtmaß deiner künftigen Taten, vielleicht auch als dein immerwährender Vorwurf. Du konntest mich schaffen; aber du hast damit auch zugleich die Pflicht übernommen, mich umzuschaffen.»
[ 11 ] Was hier, in eine Erzählung gekleidet, angedeutet ist, hat man sich nicht etwa als etwas Sinnbildliches vorzustellen, sondern als ein im höchsten Grade wirkliches Erlebnis des Geheimschülers.1Es ist aus obigem klar, daß der geschilderte «Hüter der Schwelle» eine solche (astrale) Gestalt ist, welche dem erwachenden höheren Schauen des Geheimschülers sich offenbart. Und zu dieser übersinnlichen Begegnung führt die Geheimwissenschaft. Es ist eine Verrichtung niederer Magie, den «Hüter der Schwelle» auch sinnlich sichtbar zu machen. Dabei handelte es sich um die Herstellung einer Wolke feinen Stoffes, eines Räucherwerkes, das aus einer Reihe von Stoffen in bestimmter Mischung hergestellt wird. Die entwickelte Kraft des Magiers ist dann imstande, gestaltend auf das Räucherwerk zu wirken und dessen Substanz mit dem noch unausgeglichenen Karma des Menschen zu beleben. — Wer genügend vorbereitet für das höhere Schauen ist, braucht dergleichen sinnliche Anschauung nicht mehr; und wem sein noch unausgeglichenes Karma ohne genügende Vorbereitung als sinnlich lebendiges Wesen vor Augen träte, der liefe Gefahr, in schlimme Abwege zu geraten. Er sollte nicht danach streben. In Bulwers «Zanoni» wird romanhaft eine Darstellung dieses «Hüters der Schwelle» gegeben.
[ 12 ] Der Hüter soll ihn warnen, ja nicht weiter zu gehen, wenn er nicht die Kraft in sich fühlt, den Forderungen zu entsprechen, die in der obigen Anrede enthalten sind. So schrecklich die Gestalt dieses Hüters auch ist, sie ist doch nur die Wirkung des eigenen vergangenen Lebens des Schülers, ist nur sein eigener Charakter, zu selbständigem Leben außer ihm erweckt. Und diese Erweckung geschieht durch die Auseinanderlösung von Wille, Denken und Gefühl. – Schon das ist ein Erlebnis von tief bedeutungsvoller Art, daß man zum ersten Male fühlt, man habe einem geistigen Wesen selbst den Ursprung gegeben. – Es muß nun die Vorbereitung des Geheimschülers dahin zielen, daß er ohne eine jegliche Scheu den schrecklichen Anblick aushält und daß er im Augenblicke der Begegnung seine Kraft wirklich so gewachsen fühlt, daß er es auf sich nehmen kann, die Verschönung des «Hüters» mit vollem Wissen auf sich zu laden.
[ 13 ] Eine Folge der glücklich überstandenen Begegnung mit dem «Hüter der Schwelle» ist, daß der nächste physische Tod dann für den Geheimschüler ein ganz anderes Ereignis ist, als vorher die Tode waren. Er erlebt bewußt das Sterben, indem er den physischen Körper ablegt, wie man ein Kleid ablegt, das abgenutzt oder vielleicht auch durch einen plötzlichen Riß unbrauchbar geworden ist. Dieser sein physischer Tod ist dann sozusagen eine erhebliche Tatsache nur für die anderen, welche mit ihm leben und die mit ihren Wahrnehmungen noch ganz auf die Sinnenwelt beschränkt sind. Für sie «stirbt» der Geheimschüler. Für ihn ändert sich nichts von Bedeutung in seiner ganzen Umgebung. Die ganze übersinnliche Welt, in die er eingetreten ist, stand vor dem Tode schon in entsprechender Art vor ihm, und dieselbe Welt wird auch nach dem Tode vor ihm stehen. Nun hängt der «Hüter der Schwelle» aber noch mit anderem zusammen. Der Mensch gehört einer Familie, einem Volke, einer Rasse an; sein Wirken in dieser Welt hängt von seiner Zugehörigkeit zu einer solchen Gesamtheit ab. Auch sein besonderer Charakter steht damit im Zusammenhange. Und das bewußte Wirken der einzelnen Menschen ist keineswegs alles, womit man bei einer Familie, einem Stamme, Volke, einer Rasse zu rechnen hat. Es gibt ein Familien-, Volks- (und so weiter) Schicksal, wie es einen Familien-, Rassen- (und so weiter) Charakter gibt. Für den Menschen, der auf seine Sinne beschränkt ist, bleiben diese Dinge allgemeine Begriffe, und der materialistische Denker in seinem Vorurteil wird verächtlich auf den Geheimwissenschafter herabsehen, wenn er hört, daß für diesen letzteren der Familien- oder der Volkscharakter, das Stammes- oder Rassenschicksal ebenso wirklichen Wesen zukommen, wie der Charakter und das Schicksal des einzelnen Menschen einer wirklichen Persönlichkeit zukommen. Der Geheimwissenschafter lernt eben höhere Welten kennen, von denen die einzelnen Persönlichkeiten ebenso Glieder sind, wie Arme, Beine und Kopf Glieder des Menschen sind. Und in dem Leben einer Familie, eines Volkes, einer Rasse wirken außer den einzelnen Menschen auch die ganz wirklichen Familienseelen, Volksseelen, Rassengeister. Ja, in einem gewissen Sinne sind die einzelnen Menschen nur die ausführenden Organe dieser Familienseelen, Rassengeister und so weiter. In voller Wahrheit kann man davon sprechen, daß sich zum Beispiel eine Volksseele des einzelnen zu ihrem Volke gehörigen Menschen bedient, um gewisse Arbeiten auszuführen. Die Volksseele steigt nicht bis zur sinnlichen Wirklichkeit herab. Sie wandelt in höheren Welten. Und um in der physisch-sinnlichen Welt zu wirken, bedient sie sich der physischen Organe des einzelnen Menschen. Es ist in einem höheren Sinne gerade so, wie wenn sich ein Bautechniker zur Ausführung der Einzelheiten des Baues der Arbeiter bedient. – Jeder Mensch erhält im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes seine Arbeit von der Familien-, Volks- oder Rassenseele zugeteilt. Nun wird der Sinnesmensch jedoch keineswegs in den höheren Plan seiner Arbeit eingeweiht. Er arbeitet unbewußt an den Zielen der Volks-, Rassenseelen und so weiter mit. Von dem Zeitpunkte an, wo der Geheimschüler dem Hüter der Schwelle begegnet, hat er nicht bloß seine eigenen Aufgaben als Persönlichkeit zu kennen, sondern er muß wissentlich mitarbeiten an denen seines Volkes, seiner Rasse. Jede Erweiterung seines Gesichtskreises legt ihm unbedingt auch erweiterte Pflichten auf. Der wirkliche Vorgang dabei ist der, daß der Geheimschüler seinem feineren Seelenkörper einen neuen hinzufügt. Er zieht ein Kleid mehr an. Bisher schritt er durch die Welt mit den Hüllen, welche seine Persönlichkeit einkleiden. Und was er für seine Gemeinsamkeit, für sein Volk, seine Rasse und so weiter zu tun hatte, dafür sorgten die höheren Geister, die sich seiner Persönlichkeit bedienten. – Eine weitere Enthüllung, die ihm nun der «Hüter der Schwelle» macht, ist die, daß fernerhin diese Geister ihre Hand von ihm abziehen werden. Er muß aus der Gemeinsamkeit ganz heraustreten. Und er würde sich als Einzelner vollständig in sich verhärten, er würde dem Verderben entgegengehen, wenn er nun nicht selbst sich die Kräfte erwürbe, welche den Volks- und Rassengeistem eigen sind. – Zwar werden viele Menschen sagen: «Oh, ich habe mich ganz frei gemacht von allen Stammes- und Rassenzusammenhängen; ich will nur "Mensch" und "nichts als Mensch" sein.» Ihnen muß man aber sagen: Wer hat dich zu dieser Freiheit gebracht? Hat dich nicht deine Familie so hineingestellt in die Welt, wie du jetzt darinnen stehst? Hat dich nicht dein Stamm, dein Volk, deine Rasse zu dem gemacht, was du bist? Sie haben dich erzogen; und wenn du über alle Vorurteile erhaben, einer der Lichtbringer und Wohltäter deines Stammes oder selbst deiner Rasse bist, du verdankst das ihrer Erziehung. Ja, auch wenn du von dir sagst, du seiest «nichts als Mensch»: selbst daß du so geworden bist, verdankst du den Geistern deiner Gemeinschaften. – Erst der Geheimschüler lernt erkennen, was es heißt, ganz verlassen sein von Volks-, Stammes-, Rassengeistern. Erst er erfährt an sich selbst die Bedeutungslosigkeit aller solcher Erziehung für das Leben, das ihm nun bevorsteht. Denn alles, was an ihm herangezogen ist, löst sich v6llständig auf durch das Zerreißen der Fäden zwischen Wille, Denken und Gefühl. Er blickt auf die Ergebnisse aller bisherigen Erziehung zurück, wie man auf ein Haus blicken müßte, das in seinen einzelnen Ziegelsteinen auseinanderbröckelt und das man nun in neuer Form wieder aufbauen muß. Es ist wieder mehr als ein bloßes Sinnbild, wenn man sagt: Nachdem der «Hüter der Schwelle» über seine ersten Forderungen sich ausgesprochen hat, dann erhebt sich von dem Orte aus, an dem er steht, ein Wirbelwind, der all die geistigen Leuchten zum Verlöschen bringt, die bisher den Lebensweg erhellt haben. Und eine völlige Finsternis breitet sich vor dem Geheimschüler aus. Sie wird nur unterbrochen von dem Schein, den der «Hüter der Schwelle» selbst ausstrahlt. Und aus der Dunkelheit heraus ertönen seine weiteren Ermahnungen: «Überschreite meine Schwelle nicht, bevor du dir klar bist, daß du die Finsternis vor dir selbst durchleuchten wirst; tue auch nicht einen einzigen Schritt vorwärts, wenn es dir nicht zur Gewißheit geworden ist, daß du Brennstoff genug in deiner eigenen Lampe hast. Die Lampen von Führern, welche du bisher hattest, werden dir in der Zukunft fehlen.» Nach diesen Worten hat der Schüler sich umzuwenden und den Blick nach hinten zu wenden. Der «Hüter der ~chwelle» zieht nunmehr einen Vorhang hinweg, der bisher tiefe Lebensgeheimnisse verhüllt hat. Die Stammes-, Volks- und Rassengeister werden in ihrer vollen Wirksamkeit offenbar; und der Schüler sieht ebenso genau, wie er bisher geführt worden ist, als ihm anderseits klar wird, daß er nunmehr diese Führerschaft nicht mehr haben wird. Dies ist eine zweite Warnung, welche der Mensch an der Schwelle durch ihren Hüter erlebt.
[ 14 ] Unvorbereitet könnte den hier angedeuteten Anblick allerdings niemand ertragen; aber die höhere Schulung, welche dem Menschen überhaupt möglich macht, bis zur Schwelle vorzudringen, setzt ihn zugleich in die Lage, im entsprechenden Augenblicke die notwendige Kraft zu finden. Ja, diese Schulung kann eine so harmonische sein, daß dem Eintritt in das neue Leben jeder erregende oder tumultuarische Charakter genommen wird. Dann wird für den Geheimschüler das Erlebnis an der Schwelle von einem Vorgefühl jener Seligkeit begleitet sein, welche den Grundton seines neu erwachten Lebens bilden wird. Die Empfindung der neuen Freiheit wird alle anderen Gefühle überwiegen; und mit dieser Empfindung werden ihm die neuen Pflichten und die neue Verantwortung wie etwas erscheinen, das der Mensch auf einer Stufe des Lebens übernehmen muß.
The Guardian of the Threshold
[ 1 ] Important experiences when ascending to the higher worlds are the encounters with the "Guardian of the Threshold". There is not just one, but essentially two, a "lesser" and a "greater" "Guardian of the Threshold". A person encounters the former when the connecting threads between will, thinking and feeling within the finer bodies (the astral and etheric bodies) begin to loosen, as described in the previous chapter. The human being comes face to face with the "greater guardian of the threshold" when the dissolution of the connections also extends to the physical parts of the body (namely first of all the brain).
[ 2 ] The "lesser guardian of the threshold" is an independent being. It does not exist for humans until they have reached the appropriate stage of development. Only some of its most essential characteristics can be listed here.
[ 3 ] An attempt will first be made to describe in narrative form the encounter of the secret disciple with the Guardian of the Threshold. It is only through this encounter that the disciple becomes aware that his thinking, feeling and willing have broken free from their implanted connection.
[ 4 ] A horrible, ghostly being stands before the pupil. He needs all presence of mind and all confidence in the certainty of his path of knowledge, which he has been able to acquire sufficiently during his previous secret discipleship.
[ 5 ] The "Guardian" makes his meaning known in the following words: "Powers that were invisible to you have ruled over you until now. They caused every good deed of yours to have its reward and every evil deed of yours to have its bad consequences. Through their influence your character was built up from your life experiences and your thoughts. They caused your destiny. They determined the amount of pleasure and pain that was allotted to you in one of your embodiments according to your behavior in previous embodiments. They ruled over you in the form of the all-encompassing law of karma. These powers will now release some of their reins from you. And some of the work they have done on you, you must now do yourself. You have suffered many a heavy blow so far. You didn't know why? It was the result of a harmful deed in one of your previous lives. You found happiness and joy and accepted them. They too were the effect of earlier deeds. You have some beautiful aspects in your character, some ugly spots. You have caused both yourself through previous experiences and thoughts. Until now you have not known the latter; only the effects were apparent to you. But they, the karmic powers, saw all your previous life deeds, your most hidden thoughts and feelings. And they determined how you are now and how you live now.
[ 6 ] But now all the good and all the bad aspects of your past lives shall be revealed to you. Until now, they were interwoven into your own being, they were in you, and you could not see them, just as you cannot physically see your own brain. Now, however, they detach themselves from you, they emerge from your personality. They take on an independent form that you can see, just as you see the stones and plants of the outside world. And - it is I myself, the entity that has formed a body from your noble and your evil activities. My ghostly form is woven from the account book of your own life. You have carried me invisibly within yourself until now. But it was good for you that it was so. For the wisdom of your hidden destiny has therefore also worked to erase the ugly stains in my form within you. Now that I have stepped out of you, this hidden wisdom has also departed from you. It will no longer concern itself with you. It will only put the work into your own hands. I must become a perfect, glorious being in myself if I am not to fall prey to destruction. And if the latter were to happen, I would also drag you down with me into a dark, corrupt world. - Your own wisdom must now be so great, if the latter is to be prevented, that it can take over the task of that hidden wisdom which has departed from you. - When you have crossed my threshold, I will not leave your side for a moment as a visible figure. And if from now on you do or think wrong things, you will immediately perceive your guilt as an ugly, demonic distortion of this figure of mine. Only when you have made amends for all your past wrongdoing and have purified yourself so that further evil is quite impossible for you will my nature have transformed itself into radiant beauty. And then I will be able to reunite with you as one being for the benefit of your distant effectiveness.
[ 7 ] But my threshold is made of any feeling of fear that is still in you and of any fear of the power to take full responsibility for all your actions and thoughts yourself. As long as you still have any fear of directing your own destiny, this threshold will not have everything built into it that it needs. And as long as it still lacks a single building block, you will have to remain spellbound or stumble at this threshold. Do not attempt to cross this threshold until you feel completely free of fear and ready for the highest responsibility.
[ 8 ] Until now, I only stepped out of your own personality when death called you away from an earthly life. But even then, my form was veiled from you. Only the powers of destiny, which ruled over you, saw me and could, according to my appearance, in the intervals between death and a new birth, train you in strength and ability so that you could work on the beautification of my form in a new earthly life for the benefit of your progress. It was also I myself whose imperfection repeatedly forced the forces of fate to return you to earth in a new embodiment. If you died, I was there; and because of me, the rulers of karma determined your rebirth. Only when you had unconsciously completely transformed me to perfection through repeatedly renewed lives in this way would you not have fallen prey to the powers of death, but would you have united with me completely and passed into immortality in unity with me.
[ 9 ] So today I stand visibly before you, as I have always stood invisibly beside you in the hour of death. When you have crossed my threshold, you will enter the realms that you have otherwise entered after physical death. You will enter them with full knowledge and from now on, by walking outwardly visible on earth, you will also walk in the realm of death, but that is the realm of eternal life. I am really also the angel of death; but I, I am at the same time the bringer of a never-ending higher life. In the living body you will die through me in order to experience the rebirth to indestructible existence.
[ 10 ] The realm you are about to enter will introduce you to beings of a supernatural nature. Bliss will be your share in this realm. But the first acquaintance with this world must be myself, I who am your own creature. Formerly I lived from your own life; but now I have awakened through you to an existence of my own and stand before you as a visible measure of your future deeds, perhaps also as your everlasting reproach. You were able to create me, but you also took on the duty of remaking me."
[ 11 ] What is hinted at here in a narrative is not to be imagined as something symbolic, but as a highly real experience of the secret disciple. 1It is clear from the above that the described "Guardian of the Threshold" is such an (astral) figure, which reveals itself to the awakening higher vision of the secret disciple. And the secret science leads to this supersensible encounter. It is an act of lower magic to make the "Guardian of the Threshold" visible to the senses. This involves the production of a cloud of fine material, an incense made from a series of substances in a specific mixture. The developed power of the magician is then able to have a formative effect on the incense and enliven its substance with the person's as yet unbalanced karma. - He who is sufficiently prepared for the higher vision no longer needs such sensual contemplation; and he who would see his still unbalanced karma as a sensually living being without sufficient preparation would run the risk of going astray. He should not strive for this. In Bulwer's "Zanoni", a novelistic depiction of this "Guardian of the Threshold" is given.
[ 12 ] The guardian is to warn him not to go any further if he does not feel the strength within himself to meet the demands contained in the above salutation. As terrible as the figure of this guardian is, it is only the effect of the disciple's own past life, it is only his own character, awakened to independent life apart from him. And this awakening happens through the separation of will, thought and feeling. - This alone is an experience of a deeply meaningful kind, that one feels for the first time that one has given origin to a spiritual being oneself. - The preparation of the secret disciple must now aim at enduring the terrible sight without any shyness and that at the moment of the encounter he really feels his strength to have grown so much that he can take upon himself the beautification of the "guardian" with full knowledge.
[ 13 ] One consequence of the happily survived encounter with the "Keeper of the Threshold" is that the next physical death is then a completely different event for the secret disciple than the deaths were before. He consciously experiences dying by taking off the physical body, just as one takes off a dress that has worn out or perhaps become unusable due to a sudden tear. This physical death of his is then, so to speak, a significant fact only for the others who live with him and whose perceptions are still entirely limited to the world of the senses. For them, the secret disciple "dies". For him, nothing of significance changes in his entire environment. The whole supersensible world into which he has entered already stood before him in a corresponding way before death, and the same world will also stand before him after death. But the "guardian of the threshold" is also connected with other things. Man belongs to a family, a people, a race; his activity in this world depends on his belonging to such an entity. His particular character is also related to this. And the conscious activity of individual human beings is by no means all that one has to reckon with in a family, tribe, people or race. There is a family, tribe (and so on) destiny, just as there is a family, race (and so on) character. For man, who is limited to his senses, these things remain general concepts, and the materialistic thinker in his prejudice will look down contemptuously on the secret scientist when he hears that for the latter the family or folk character, the tribal or racial destiny belong to real beings just as the character and destiny of the individual human being belong to a real personality. The secret scientist gets to know higher worlds, of which the individual personalities are members just as arms, legs and head are members of the human being. And in the life of a family, a people, a race, the very real family souls, people souls, race spirits also work alongside the individual human beings. Yes, in a certain sense the individual human beings are only the executive organs of these family souls, race spirits and so on. In full truth one can speak of the fact that, for example, a people's soul makes use of the individual human being belonging to its people in order to carry out certain work. The folk-soul does not descend to sensual reality. It walks in higher worlds. And in order to work in the physical-sensual world, it makes use of the physical organs of the individual human being. In a higher sense, it is just as if a construction technician makes use of the workers to carry out the details of the construction. - In the truest sense of the word, every human being receives his work from the family, national or racial soul. However, the sensual man is by no means initiated into the higher plan of his work. He works unconsciously on the aims of the national, racial souls and so on. From the moment the secret disciple meets the Guardian of the Threshold, he has not only to know his own tasks as a personality, but he must knowingly cooperate in those of his people, his race. Every extension of his sphere of vision necessarily imposes on him extended duties. The real process here is that the secret disciple adds a new soul-body to his finer one. He puts on one more garment. Hitherto he has walked through the world with the shells which clothe his personality. And what he had to do for his commonality, for his people, his race and so on, was taken care of by the higher spirits who made use of his personality. - A further revelation which the "Guardian of the Threshold" now makes to him is that these spirits will continue to withdraw their hand from him. He must step out of the community completely. And as an individual he would become completely hardened within himself, he would be heading for destruction if he did not now acquire for himself the powers that are inherent in the spirits of the people and the race. - It is true that many people will say: "Oh, I have freed myself completely from all tribal and racial connections; I only want to be "human" and "nothing but human"." But you have to say to them: Who brought you to this freedom? Did not your family place you in the world as you now stand in it? Did not your tribe, your people, your race make you what you are? They have brought you up; and if you are above all prejudices, one of the bringers of light and benefactors of your tribe or even of your race, you owe it to your upbringing. Yes, even if you say of yourself that you are "nothing but human": even that you have become so, you owe it to the spirits of your communities. - Only the secret disciple learns to recognize what it means to be completely abandoned by folk, tribal and racial spirits. Only he experiences in himself the insignificance of all such education for the life that now lies ahead of him. For everything that has been nurtured in him dissolves completely through the breaking of the threads between will, thought and feeling. He looks back on the results of all previous education as one would have to look at a house whose individual bricks are crumbling apart and which must now be rebuilt in a new form. It is again more than a mere allegory when one says: After the "Guardian of the Threshold" has spoken out about his first demands, a whirlwind rises from the place where he stands, extinguishing all the spiritual lights that have so far illuminated the path of life. And a complete darkness spreads before the secret disciple. It is only interrupted by the light emitted by the "Guardian of the Threshold" himself. And out of the darkness come his further admonitions: "Do not cross my threshold until you realize that you will shine through the darkness before you; do not take a single step forward until you are certain that you have enough fuel in your own lamp. The lamps of guides which you have had hitherto will be lacking in the future." After these words, the disciple has to turn around and look backwards. The "Guardian of the Threshold" now pulls away a curtain that has hitherto concealed deep secrets of life. The tribal, folk and racial spirits are revealed in their full effectiveness; and the disciple sees just as clearly how he has been led so far as he realizes, on the other hand, that he will no longer have this leadership. This is a second warning which man experiences at the threshold through his guardian.
[ 14 ] Unprepared, however, no one could endure the sight indicated here; but the higher training which makes it possible for man to penetrate to the threshold at all, puts him at the same time in a position to find the necessary strength at the appropriate moment. Indeed, this training can be so harmonious that the entrance into the new life is deprived of any exciting or tumultuous character. Then for the secret disciple the experience on the threshold will be accompanied by an anticipation of that bliss which will form the keynote of his newly awakened life. The sensation of new freedom will outweigh all other feelings; and with this sensation the new duties and new responsibilities will appear to him as something which man must assume at some stage of life.