Knowledge of Higher Worlds and its Attainment
GA 10
Preface to the Third Edition
[ 1 ] Herewith appear in book form my expositions originally published as single essays under the title Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment. For the present, this volume offers the first part; one that is to follow will constitute the continuation. This work on a development of man that will enable him to grasp the supersensible worlds cannot be presented to the public in a new form without certain comments which I shall now make. The communications it contains concerning the development of the human soul are intended to fill various needs.
First of all, something is to be offered those people who feel drawn to the results of spiritual research, and who must raise the question: “Well, whence do these persons derive their knowledge who claim the ability to tell us something of the profound riddles of life?”—Spiritual science does this. Whoever wishes to observe the facts leading to such claims must rise to supersensible cognition. He must follow the path I have endeavored to describe in this book. On the other hand, it would be an error to imagine these disclosures of spiritual science to be valueless for one who lacks the inclination or the possibility to pursue this path himself. In order to establish the facts through research, the ability to enter the supersensible worlds is indispensable; but once they have been discovered and communicated, even one who does not perceive them himself can be adequately convinced of their truth. A large proportion of them can be tested offhand, simply by applying ordinary common sense in a genuinely unprejudiced way. Only, one must not let this open-mindedness become confused by any of the pre-conceived ideas so common in human life. Someone can easily believe, for example, that some statement or other contradicts certain facts established by modern science. In reality, there is no such thing as a scientific fact that contradicts spiritual science; but there can easily seem to be contradictions unless scientific conclusions are consulted abundantly and without prejudice. The student will find that the more open-mindedly he compares spiritual science with positive scientific achievements, the more clearly is complete accord to be seen.
Another category of spiritual-scientific disclosures, it is true, will be found to elude purely mental judgment more or less; but the right relation to these also will be achieved without great difficulty by one who understands that not the mind alone but healthy feeling as well is qualified to determine what is true. And when this feeling does not permit itself to be warped by a liking or antipathy for some opinion or other, but really allows higher knowledge to act without prejudice, a corresponding sentient judgment results.
And there are many more ways of confirming this knowledge for those who cannot or do not wish to tread the path into the supersensible world. Such people can feel very clearly what value this knowledge has in life, even when it comes to them only through the communications of those engaged in spiritual research. Not everyone can immediately achieve spiritual vision; but the discoveries of those who have it can be health-giving life-nourishment for all. For everyone can apply them; and whoever does so will soon discover what life in every branch can be with their aid, and what it lacks without them. The results of supersensible knowledge, when properly employed in life, prove to be—not unpractical, but rather, practical in the highest sense.
One who does not himself intend to follow the path to higher knowledge, but is interested in the facts it reveals, can ask: How does the seer arrive at these facts? To such a one this book is intended to picture the path in such a way that even one not following it can nevertheless have confidence in the communications of the person who has done so. Realizing how the spiritual scientist works, he can approve, and say to himself: The impression made upon me by the description of this path to higher worlds makes clear why the facts reported seem reasonable. Thus this book is intended to help those who want their sense of truth and feeling for truth concerning the supersensible world strengthened and assured.
No less, however, does it aim to offer aid to those who themselves seek the way to supersensible knowledge. The truth of what is here set forth will best be verified by those who achieve its reality within themselves. Anyone with this intention will do well to keep reminding himself that in an exposition on the development of the soul, more is called for than becoming acquainted with the substance, which is frequently the aim in other expositions. It is necessary to familiarize oneself intimately with the presentation. One must postulate the following: no single matter is to be comprehended only by means of what is said about the matter itself, but by means of much else that is disclosed concerning totally different matters. This will develop the conception that what is vital is to be found not in any single truth but in the harmony of all truths. This must be seriously considered by anyone intending to carry out the exercises. An exercise can be rightly understood and even rightly executed, and yet produce a wrong effect unless another be added to it—one that will resolve the one-sidedness of the first into a harmony of the soul. Whoever reads this book in an intimate way, so that the reading resembles an inner experience, will not merely familiarize himself with its content: one passage will evoke a certain feeling, another passage another feeling; and in that way he will learn how much importance should be seen in the one or the other in the development of his soul. He will also find out in what form he should try this or that exercise, what form best suits his particular individuality. When one has to do, as is the case here, with descriptions of processes that are to be experienced, it is necessary to refer again and again to the content; for it will become manifest that much can be satisfactorily assimilated only after trial, which in turn reveals certain finer points that at first are bound to be overlooked.
[ 2 ] Even those readers who do not intend to take the way prescribed will find much in the book that can be of service to the inner life, such as maxims, suggestions that throw light on various puzzling problems, and so on.
[ 3 ] And those who have had experiences in their lives that serve, to some extent, as an initiation through life may derive a certain satisfaction from finding clarified through co-ordination what had haunted them as separate problems—things they already knew, but perhaps without having been able to consolidate them in adequate conceptions.
Vorrede zur dritten Auflage
[ 1 ] Es erscheinen hiermit als Buch meine Ausführungen, welche ursprünglich als einzelne Aufsätze unter dem Titel «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» abgedruckt waren. Zunächst wird dieser Band den ersten Teil bringen; ein folgender wird die Fortsetzung enthalten. Diese Arbeit über die Entwickelung des Menschen zum Erfassen der übersinnlichen Welten soll nicht in neuer Gestalt vor die Welt treten ohne einige Geleitworte, welche ihr hiermit vorgesetzt werden. Die in ihr enthaltenen Mitteilungen über die Seelenentwickelung des Menschen möchten verschiedenen Bedürfnissen dienen. Zunächst soll denjenigen Personen etwas gegeben werden, welche sich hingezogen fühlen zu den Ergebnissen der Geistesforschung und welche die Frage aufwerfen müssen: Ja, woher haben diejenigen ihr Wissen, welche behaupten, etwas über hohe Rätselfragen des Lebens sagen zu können? Die Geisteswissenschaft sagt über solche Rätsel etwas. Wer die Tatsachen beobachten will, welche zu diesen Aussagen führen, der muß zu übersinnlichen Erkenntnissen aufsteigen. Er muß den Weg gehen, welcher in dieser Schrift zu schildern versucht wird. Doch wäre es ein Irrtum, zu glauben, daß die Mitteilungen der Geisteswissenschaft für den wertlos seien, der nicht Neigung oder Möglichkeit hat, diesen Weg selbst zu gehen. Um die Tatsachen zu erforschen, muß man die Fähigkeit haben, in die übersinnlichen Welten hineinzutreten. Sind sie aber erforscht und werden sie mitgeteilt, so kann auch derjenige, welcher sie nicht selber wahrnimmt, sich eine hinreichende Überzeugung von der Wahrheit der Mitteilungen verschaffen. Ein großer Teil derselben ist ohne weiteres dadurch zu prüfen, daß man die gesunde Urteilskraft in wirklich unbefangener Weise auf sie anwendet. Man wird sich nur nicht in dieser Unbefangenheit stören lassen dürfen durch alle möglichen Vorurteile, die einmal im Menschenleben so zahlreich vorhanden sind. Es wird zum Beispiel leicht vorkommen, daß jemand findet, dies oder jenes vertrage sich nicht mit gewissen wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen der Gegenwart. In Wahrheit gibt es kein wissenschaftliches Ergebnis, welches der geistigen Forschung widerspricht. Doch kann man leicht glauben, daß dieses oder jenes wissenschaftliche Urteil zu den Mitteilungen über die höheren Welten nicht stimme, wenn man nicht allseitig und unbefangen die wissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse zu Rate zieht. Man wird finden, daß, je unbefangener man die Geisteswissenschaft gerade mit den positiven wissenschaftlichen Errungenschaften zusammenhält, um so schöner die volle Übereinstirnrnung erkannt werden kann. – Ein anderer Teil der geisteswissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen wird sich allerdings mehr oder weniger dem bloßen Verstandesurteile entziehen. Aber es wird unschwer derjenige ein rechtes Verhältnis auch zu diesem Teile gewinnen können, welcher einsieht, daß nicht nur der Verstand, sondern auch das gesunde Gefühl ein Richter über die Wahrheit sein kann. Und wo dieses Gefühl sich nicht durch Sympathie oder Antipathie für diese oder jene Meinung treiben läßt, sondern wirklich unbefangen die Erkenntnisse der übersinnlichen Welten auf sich wirken läßt, da wird sich auch ein entsprechendes Gefühlsurteil ergeben. – Und noch manch anderen Weg gibt es zur Bewahrheitung dieser Erkenntnisse für diejenigen Personen, welche den Pfad in die übersinnliche Welt nicht beschreiten können und wollen. Solche Menschen können aber gleichwohl fühlen, welchen Wert diese Erkenntnisse für das Leben haben, auch wenn sie sie nur aus den Mitteilungen der Geistesforscher erfahren. Ein schauender Mensch kann nicht ein jeder augenblicklich werden; eine rechte gesunde Lebensnahrung sind aber die Erkenntnisse des schauenden Menschen für jedermann. Denn anwenden im Leben kann sie jeder. Und wer es tut, wird bald einsehen, was das Leben mit ihnen auf allen Gebieten sein kann und was es entbehrt, wenn man sie ausschließt. Die Erkenntnisse der übersinnlichen Welten erweisen sich, richtig im Leben angewendet, nicht unpraktisch, sondern im höchsten Sinne praktisch Wenn aber auch jemand den höheren Erkenntnispfad nicht selbst betreten will, so kann er doch, wenn er Neigung für die auf demselben beobachteten Tatsachen hat, fragen: Wie kommt der schauende Mensch zu diesen Tatsachen? Denjenigen Personen, welche ein Interesse an dieser Frage haben, möchte diese Schrift ein Bild von dem geben, was man unternehmen muß, um die übersinnliche Welt wirklich kennenzulernen. Sie möchte den Weg in dieselbe so darstellen, daß auch derjenige, der ihn nicht selbst geht, Vertrauen gewinnen kann zu dem, was ein solcher sagt, der ihn gegangen ist. Man kann ja auch, wenn man gewahr wird, was der Geistesforscher tut, dies richtig finden und sich sagen: die Schilderung des Pfades in die höheren Welten macht auf mich einen solchen Eindruck, daß ich verstehen kann, warum die mitgeteilten Tatsachen mir einleuchtend erscheinen. So soll also diese Schrift jenen dienen, welche in ihrem Wahrheitssinn und Wahrheitsgefühl für die übersinnliche Welt eine Sfärkung und Sicherheit wünschen. Nicht minder möchte sie aber auch denjenigen etwas bieten, welche den Weg zu den übersinnlichen Erkenntnissen selbst suchen. Diejenigen Personen werden die Wahrheit des hier Dargestellten am besten erproben, welche sie in sich selbst verwirklichen. Wer solch eine Absicht hat, wird gut tun, sich immer wieder zu sagen, daß bei Darstellung der Seelenentwickelung mehr notwendig ist als ein solches Bekanntwerden mit dem Inhalte, wie es bei anderen Ausführungen oftmals angestrebt wird. Ein intimes Hineinleben in die Darstellung ist notwendig; die Voraussetzung soll man machen, daß man die eine Sache nicht nur durch das begreifen soll, was über sie selbst gesagt wird, sondern durch manches, was über ganz anderes mitgeteilt wird. Man wird so die Vorstellung erhalten, daß nicht in einer Wahrheit das Wesentliche liegt, sondern in dem Zusammenstimmen aller. Wer Übungen ausführen will, muß das ganz ernstlich bedenken. Eine Übung kann richtig verstanden, auch richtig ausgeführt sein; und dennoch kann sie unrichtig wirken, wenn nicht von dem Ausführenden ihr eine andere Übung hinzugefügt wird, welche die Einseitigkeit der ersten zu einer Harmonie der Seele auslöst. Wer diese Schrift intim liest, so daß ihm Lesen wie ein innerliches Erleben wird, der wird sich nicht nur mit dem Inhalte bekannt machen, sondern auch an dieser Stelle dieses, an einer anderen jenes Gefühl haben; und dadurch wird er erkennen, welches Gewicht für die Seelenentwickelung dem einen oder dem anderen zukommt. Er wird auch herausfinden, in welcher Form er diese oder jene Übung, nach seiner besonderen Individualität, gerade bei sich versuchen sollte. Wenn, wie hier, Beschreibungen in Betracht kommen von Vorgängen, welche erlebt werden sollen, so erweist sich als notwendig, daß man auf den Inhalt immer wieder zurückgreife; denn man wird sich überzeugen, daß man manches erst dann für sich selbst zu einem befriedigenden Verständnis bringt, wenn man es versucht hat und nach dem Versuche gewisse Feinheiten der Sache bemerkt, die einem früher entgehen mußten.
[ 2 ] Auch solche Leser, welche den Weg, der vorgezeichnet ist, nicht zu gehen beabsichtigen, werden in der Schrift manches Brauchbare für das innere Leben finden: Lebensregeln, Hinweise, wie dies oder jenes sich aufklärt, was rätselhaft erscheint und so weiter.
[ 3 ] Und mancher, der durch seine Lebenserfahrung dieses oder jenes hinter sich hat, in mancher Beziehung eine Lebenseinweihung durchgemacht hat, wird eine gewisse Befriedigung finden können, wenn er im Zusammenhange geklärt findet, was ihm im einzelnen vorgeschwebt hat; was er schon wußte, ohne vielleicht dies Wissen bis zu einer für ihn selbst hinreichenden Vorstellung gebracht zu haben.
Berlin, 12. Oktober 1909
Rudolf Steiner
Preface to the third edition
[ 1 ] My explanations, which were originally printed as individual essays under the title "How to gain knowledge of the higher worlds", are hereby published as a book. This volume will initially contain the first part; a subsequent volume will contain the continuation. This work on the development of man's grasp of the supersensible worlds should not be presented to the world in a new form without a few prefaces, which are hereby placed before it. The information it contains on the development of the human soul is intended to serve various needs. First of all, something should be given to those people who feel drawn to the results of spiritual research and who must raise the question: Yes, where do those who claim to be able to say something about the great mysteries of life get their knowledge from? Spiritual science says something about such riddles. Whoever wants to observe the facts that lead to these statements must ascend to supersensible knowledge. He must follow the path which this book attempts to describe. But it would be a mistake to believe that the messages of spiritual science are worthless for those who do not have the inclination or opportunity to walk this path themselves. In order to investigate the facts, one must have the ability to enter the supersensible worlds. But once they have been investigated and communicated, even those who do not perceive them themselves can gain a sufficient conviction of the truth of the information. A large part of them can easily be verified by applying sound judgment to them in a truly impartial way. One must not allow oneself to be disturbed in this impartiality by all kinds of prejudices, which are so numerous in human life. It will easily happen, for example, that someone finds that this or that is not compatible with certain scientific results of the present. In truth, there is no scientific result that contradicts spiritual research. But one can easily believe that this or that scientific judgment on the communications about the higher worlds is not correct if one does not consult the scientific results in an all-round and unbiased way. One will find that the more impartially one holds spiritual science together with the positive scientific achievements, the more beautifully the full correspondence can be recognized. - Another part of the spiritual-scientific communications will, however, more or less elude mere intellectual judgment. But it will not be difficult for those who realize that not only reason, but also healthy feeling can be a judge of truth, to gain a proper relationship to this part as well. And where this feeling does not allow itself to be driven by sympathy or antipathy for this or that opinion, but really allows the insights of the supersensible worlds to affect it impartially, then a corresponding judgment of feeling will also result. - And there are many other ways for those people who cannot and do not want to tread the path into the supersensible world to realize these insights. Such people can nevertheless feel the value of these insights for life, even if they only experience them from the messages of spiritual researchers. Not everyone can instantly become a man of insight, but the insights of the man of insight are a healthy nourishment for everyone. For anyone can apply them in life. And anyone who does so will soon realize what life can be with them in all areas and what it lacks if they are excluded. The knowledge of the supersensible worlds, correctly applied in life, does not prove to be impractical, but practical in the highest sense. Even if someone does not want to enter the higher path of knowledge himself, he can, if he has an inclination for the facts observed on it, ask: How does the observing person arrive at these facts? For those people who are interested in this question, this book wants to give a picture of what one has to do in order to really get to know the supersensible world. It wants to present the path into it in such a way that even those who do not walk it themselves can gain confidence in what someone who has walked it says. When one becomes aware of what the spiritual researcher does, one can also find this to be correct and say to oneself: the description of the path to the higher worlds makes such an impression on me that I can understand why the facts communicated seem plausible to me. Thus this book is intended to serve those who wish to strengthen and secure their sense of truth and their feeling of truth for the supersensible world. But it should also offer something to those who are seeking the path to supersensible knowledge themselves. Those persons will best test the truth of what is presented here who realize it in themselves. Whoever has such an intention will do well to tell himself again and again that more is necessary in the presentation of the development of the soul than such an acquaintance with the content as is often sought in other explanations. An intimate immersion in the description is necessary; one should make the assumption that one should not only understand one thing through what is said about it, but through much that is said about quite other things. In this way one will get the idea that not in one truth lies the essence, but in the harmony of all. Anyone who wants to do exercises must consider this very seriously. An exercise may be rightly understood and rightly performed; and yet it may work incorrectly unless the practitioner adds another exercise to it, which will bring the one-sidedness of the first to a harmony of the soul. He who reads this writing intimately, so that reading becomes like an inner experience, will not only acquaint himself with the contents, but will also have this feeling in one place and that in another; and thereby he will recognize what weight is due to one or the other for the development of the soul. He will also find out in what form he should try this or that exercise, according to his particular individuality. When, as here, descriptions of processes which are to be experienced come into consideration, it proves necessary to return to the content again and again; for one will convince oneself that one only brings some things to a satisfactory understanding for oneself when one has tried them and after the attempt notices certain subtleties of the matter which must have escaped one earlier.
[ 2 ] Even those readers who do not intend to follow the path that is laid out will find many useful things for their inner life in Scripture: Rules of life, hints on how to clear up this or that which seems puzzling and so on.
[ 3 ] And many a person who has this or that behind him through his life experience, who has undergone a life initiation in some respect, will be able to find a certain satisfaction when he finds clarified in context what he had in mind in detail; what he already knew without perhaps having brought this knowledge to a sufficient conception for himself.
Berlin, October 12, 1909
Rudolf Steiner