Occult Science
GA 13
I. The Character of Occult Science
[ 1 ] Occult science, an ancient term, is used for the contents of this book. This term can arouse in various individuals of the present day feelings of the most contrary character. For many, it possesses something repellent; it arouses derision, pitying smiles, perhaps contempt. These people imagine that the kind of thinking thus designated can only be based upon idle, fantastic dreaming, that behind such “alleged” science there can lurk only the impulse to renew all sorts of superstitions that are properly avoided by those who understand “true scientific methods” and “pure intellectual endeavor.” The effect of this term upon others is to cause them to think that what is meant by it must bring them something that cannot be acquired in any other way and to which, according to their nature, they are attracted by a deep, inner longing for knowledge, or by the soul's sublimated curiosity. In between these sharply contrasting opinions there exists every possible kind of intermediate stage of conditional rejection or acceptance of what this or that person imagines when he hears the term, “occult science.”—It is not to be denied that for many the term, occult science, has a magical sound because it seems to satisfy their fatal passion for knowledge of an “unknown,” of a mysterious, even of an obscure something that is not to be acquired in a natural way. For many people do not wish to satisfy the deepest longings of their souls by means of something that can be clearly understood. Their convictions lead them to conclude that besides what can be known in the world there must be something that defies cognition. With extraordinary absurdity, which they do not observe, they reject, in regard to the deepest longing for knowledge, all that “is known” and only wish to give their approval to something that cannot be said to be known by means of ordinary research. He who speaks of “occult science” will do well to keep in mind the fact that he is confronted by misunderstandings caused by just such defenders of a science of this kind—defenders who are striving, in fact, not for knowledge, but for its antithesis.
[ 2 ] This work is intended for readers who will not permit their impartiality to be taken away from them just because a word may arouse prejudice through various circumstances. It is not here a question of knowledge which, in any respect, can be considered to be “secret” and therefore only accessible to certain people through some special favor of fate. We shall do justice to the use of the term, occult science, employed here, if we consider what Goethe has in mind when he speaks of the “revealed secrets” in the phenomena of the universe. What remains “secret”—unrevealed—in these phenomena when grasped only by means of the senses and the intellect bound up with them will be considered as the content of a supersensible mode of knowledge.1It has happened that the term “occult science,” as used by the author in earlier editions of this book, has been rejected for the reason that a science cannot be “something hidden.” That would be correct if the matter were meant in this way. But such is not the case. The science of nature cannot be called a “natural” science in the sense that it belongs by “nature” to everyone, nor does the author consider occult science as a “hidden” science, but one that has to do with the unrevealed, the concealed, in the phenomena of the world for ordinary methods of cognition. It is a science of the “mysteries,” of the “revealed secrets.” This science, however, should not be a secret for anyone who seeks knowledge of it by the proper methods.—What is meant here by “Occult Science” does not constitute science for anyone who only considers “scientific” what is revealed through the senses and the intellect serving them. If, however, such a person wishes to understand himself, he must acknowledge that he rejects occult science, not from well-substantiated insight, but from a mandate arising from his own personal feelings. In order to understand this, it is only necessary to consider how science comes into existence and what significance it has in human life. The origin of science, in its essential nature, is not recognized by means of the subject matter it is dealing with, but by means of the human soul-activity arising in scientific endeavor. We must consider the attitude of the soul when it elaborates science. If we acquire the habit of exercising this kind of activity only when we are concerned with the manifestation of the senses, we might easily be led to the opinion that this sense-manifestation is the essential thing, and we do not become aware that a certain attitude of the human soul has been employed only in regard to the manifestation of the senses. It is possible, however, to rise above this arbitrary self-limitation and, apart from special application, consider the characteristics of scientific activity. This is the basis for our designating as “scientific” the knowledge of a non-sensory world-content. The human power of thought wishes to occupy itself with this latter world-content just as it occupies itself, in the other case, with the world-content of natural science. Occult science desires to free the natural-scientific method and its principle of research from their special application that limits them, in their own sphere, to the relationship and process of sensory facts, but, at the same time, it wants to retain their way of thinking and other characteristics. It desires to speak about the non-sensory in the same way natural science speaks about the sensory. While natural science remains within the sense world with this method of research and way of thinking, occult science wishes to consider the employment of mental activity upon nature as a kind of self-education of the soul and to apply what it has thus acquired to the realms of the non-sensory. Its method does not speak about the sense phenomena as such, but speaks about the non-sensory world-content in the way the scientist talks about the content of the sensory world. It retains the mental attitude of the natural-scientific method; that is to say, it holds fast to just the thing that makes natural research a science. For that reason it may call itself a science.
[ 3 ] When we consider the significance of natural science in human life, we shall find that this significance cannot be exhausted by acquiring a knowledge of nature, since this knowledge can never lead to anything but an experiencing of what the human soul itself is not. The soul-element does not live in what man knows about nature, but in the process of acquiring knowledge. The soul experiences itself in its occupation with nature. What it vitally achieves in this activity is something besides the knowledge of nature itself: it is self-development experienced in acquiring knowledge of nature. Occult science desires to employ the results of this self-development in realms that lie beyond mere nature. The occult scientist has no desire to undervalue natural science; on the contrary, he desires to acknowledge it even more than the natural scientist himself. He knows that, without the exactness of the mode of thinking of natural science, he cannot establish a science. Yet he knows also that after this exactness has been acquired through genuine penetration into the spirit of natural-scientific thinking, it can be retained through the force of the soul for other fields.
[ 4 ] Something, however, arises here that may cause misgivings. In studying nature, the soul is guided by the object under consideration to a much greater degree than is the case when non-sensory world contents are studied. In the latter study, the soul must possess to a much greater degree, from purely inner impulses, the ability to hold fast to the scientific mode of thinking. Since many people believe, unconsciously, that this can be done only through the guidance of natural phenomena, they are inclined, through a dogmatic declaration, to make their decisions accordingly; as soon as this guidance is abandoned, the soul gropes in a void with its scientific method. Such people have not become conscious of the special character of this method. They base their judgment for the most part upon errors that must arise if the scientific attitude is not sufficiently strengthened by observation of natural phenomena and, in spite of this, the soul attempts a consideration of the non-sensory regions of the world. It is self-evident that in such cases there arises much unscientific talk about non-sensory world contents. Not, however, because such talk, in its essence, is incapable of being scientific, but because, in such an instance, scientific self-education in the observation of nature has been neglected.
[ 5 ] Whoever wishes to speak about occult science must certainly, in connection with what has just been said, be fully awake in regard to all the vagaries that arise when, without the scientific attitude, something is determined concerning the revealed mysteries of the world. It would, however, be of no avail if, at the very beginning of an occult-scientific presentation, we were to speak of all kinds of aberrations, which in the souls of prejudiced persons discredit all research in this direction, because they conclude, from the presence of really quite numerous aberrations, that the entire endeavor is unjustified. Since, however, in the case of scientists, or scientifically minded critics, the rejection of occult science rests in most instances solely upon the above mentioned dogmatic declaration, and the reference to the aberrations is only an often unconscious pretext, a discussion with such opponents will be fruitless. Nothing, indeed, hinders them from making the certainly quite justifiable objection that, at the very outset, there is nothing that can definitely determine whether the person who believes others to be in error, himself possesses the above characterized firm foundation. Therefore, the person striving to present occult science can simply offer what in his estimation he has a right to say. The judgment concerning his justification can only be formed by other persons; indeed, only by those who, avoiding all dogmatic declarations, are able to enter into the nature of his communications concerning the revealed mysteries of cosmic events. To be sure, he will be obliged to show the relationship between his presentations and other achievements in the field of knowledge and life; he will have to show what oppositions are possible and to what degree the direct, external, sensory reality of life verifies his observations. He should, however, never attempt to present his subject in a way that produces its effect by means of his art of persuasion instead of through its content.
[ 6 ] The following objection is often heard in regard to the statements of occult science: “These latter do not offer proof; they merely assert this or that and say that occult science ascertains this.” The following exposition will be misjudged if it is thought that any part of it has been presented in this sense. Our endeavor here is to allow the capacity of soul unfolded through a knowledge of nature to evolve further, as far as its own nature will allow, and then call attention to the fact that in such development the soul encounters supersensible facts. It is assumed that every reader who is able to enter into what has been presented will necessarily run up against these facts. A difference, however, is encountered with respect to purely natural scientific observation the moment we enter the realm of spiritual science. In natural science, the facts present themselves in the field of the sense world; the exponent of natural science considers the activity of the soul as something that recedes into the background in the face of the relationships and the course of sensory facts. The exponent of spiritual science must place his soul activity into the foreground; for the reader only arrives at the facts if he makes this activity of the soul his own in the right way. These facts are not present for human perception without the activity of the soul as they are—although uncomprehended—in natural science; they enter into human perception only by means of soul activity. The exponent of spiritual science therefore presumes that the reader is seeking facts mutually with him. His exposition will be given in the form of a narration describing how these facts were discovered, and in the manner of his narration not personal caprice but scientific thinking trained by natural science will prevail. It will also be necessary, therefore, to speak of the means by which a consideration of the non-sensory, of the supersensible, is attained.—Anyone who occupies himself with an exposition of occult science will soon see that through it concepts and ideas are acquired that previously he did not possess. Thus he also acquires new thoughts concerning his previous conception of the nature of “proof.” He learns that for an exposition of natural science, “proof” is something that is brought to it, as it were, from without. In spiritual-scientific thinking, however, the activity, which in natural-scientific thinking the soul employs for proof, lies already in the search for facts, These facts cannot be discovered if the path to them is itself not already a proof. Whoever really travels this path has already experienced the proving in the process: nothing can be accomplished by means of a proof applied from without The fact that this is not recognized in the character of occult science calls forth many misunderstandings.
[ 7 ] The whole of occult science must spring from two thoughts that can take root in every human soul. For the occult scientist, as he is meant here, these two thoughts express facts that can be experienced if we use the right means. For many people these thoughts signify extremely controversial statements about which there may be wide differences of opinion; they may even be “proved” to be impossible.
[ 8 ] These two thoughts are the following. First, behind the “visible” there exists an invisible world, concealed at the outset from the senses and the thinking bound up with the senses; and second, it is possible for man, through the development of capacities slumbering within him, to penetrate into this hidden world.
[ 9 ] One person maintains that there is no such hidden world, that the world perceived by means of the human senses is the only one, that its riddles can be solved out of itself, and that, although the human being at present is still far from being able to answer all the questions of existence, a time will surely come when sense experience and the science based upon it will be able to give the answers.
[ 10 ] Others state that we must not maintain there is no hidden world behind the visible, yet the human powers of cognition are unable to penetrate into it. They have limits that cannot be overstepped. Let those who need “faith” take refuge in a world of that kind: a true science, which is based upon assured facts, cannot concern itself with such a world.
[ 11 ] There is a third group that considers it presumptuous if a man, through his cognitive activity, desires to penetrate into a realm about which he is to renounce all “knowledge” and be content with “faith.” The adherents of this opinion consider it wrong for the weak human being to want to penetrate into a world that is supposed to belong to the religious life alone.
[ 12 ] It is also maintained that a common knowledge of the facts of the sense world is possible for everyone, but that in respect of supersensible facts it is only a matter of the personal opinion of the individual, and that no one should speak of a generally valid certainty in these matters.
[ 13 ] Others maintain still other things.
[ 14 ] It can become clear that the observation of the visible world presents riddles that can never be solved out of the facts of that world themselves. They will never be solved in this way, although the science concerned with these facts may have advanced as far as is possible. For the visible facts, through their very inner nature, point clearly to a hidden world. Whoever does not discern this closes his mind to the riddles that spring up everywhere out of the facts of the sense world. He refuses to perceive certain questions and riddles; he, therefore, thinks that all questions may be answered by means of the sensory facts. The questions he wishes to propound can indeed all be answered by means of the facts that he expects will be discovered in the future. This may be readily admitted. But why should a person wait for answers to certain things who does not ask any questions? Whoever strives for an occult science merely says that for him these questions are self evident and that they must be recognized as a fully justified expression of the human soul. Science cannot be pressed into limits by forbidding the human being to ask unbiased questions.
[ 15 ] The opinion that there are limits to human cognition that cannot be overstepped, compelling man to stop short before an invisible world, must be replied to by saying that there can be no doubt about the impossibility of finding access to the invisible world with the kind of cognition referred to here. Whoever considers that form of cognition to be the only possible one cannot come to any other opinion than that the human being is denied access to a possibly existent higher world. Yet the following may also be stated. If it is possible to develop another kind of cognition, this then may well lead into the supersensible world. If this kind of cognition is considered to be impossible, then we reach a point of view from which all talk about a supersensible world appears as pure nonsense. From an impartial viewpoint, however, the only reason for such an opinion can be the fact that the person holding it has no knowledge of this other kind of cognition. Yet how can a person pass judgment upon something about which he himself admits his ignorance? Unprejudiced thinking must hold to the premise that a person should speak only of what he knows and should not make statements about something he does not know. Such thinking can only speak of the right that a person has to communicate what he himself has experienced, but it cannot speak of the right that somebody declare impossible what he does not know or does not wish to know. We cannot deny anyone the right to ignore the supersensible, but there can never be any good reason for him to declare himself an authority, not only on what he himself can know, but also on all that a man can not know.
[ 16 ] In the case of those who declare that it is presumptuous to penetrate into the domain of the supersensible an occult-scientific exposition has to call attention to the fact that this can be done, and that it is a transgression against the faculties bestowed upon man if we allow them to stagnate, instead of developing and making use of them.
[ 17 ] Whoever thinks, however, that the views concerning the supersensible world must belong entirely to personal opinion and feeling denies what is common to all human beings. It is certainly true that the insight into these things must be acquired by each person for himself, but it is also a fact that all human beings who go far enough arrive, not at different opinions about these things, but at the same opinion. Differences of opinion exist only as long as human beings wish to approach the highest truths, not by a scientifically assured path, but by way of personal caprice. It must again be admitted, however, that only that person is able to acknowledge the correctness of the path of occult science who is willing to familiarize himself with its characteristics.
[ 18 ] At the proper moment, every human being can find the way to occult science who recognizes, or even merely assumes or divines, out of the manifest world, the existence of a hidden world and who, out of the consciousness that the powers of cognition are capable of development, is driven to the feeling that the concealed is able to reveal itself to him. To a person who has been led to occult science by means of these soul experiences there opens up not only the prospect of finding the answer to certain questions springing from his craving for knowledge, but also the quite different prospect of becoming the victor over all that hampers and weakens life. It signifies, in a certain higher sense, a weakening of life, indeed a death of the soul, when a human being sees himself forced to turn away from the supersensible, or to deny it. Indeed, under certain conditions it leads to despair when a man loses hope of having the hidden revealed to him. This death and despair in their manifold forms are, at the same time, inner soul opponents of occult-scientific striving. They appear when the inner force of the human being dwindles. Then all force of life must be introduced from without if such a person is to get possession of any life force at all. He then perceives the things, beings, and events that appear before his senses; he analyses these with his intellect. They give him pleasure and pain, they drive him to the actions of which he is capable. He may carry on in this way for a while yet at some time he must reach a point when he inwardly dies. For what can be drawn from the world in this way becomes exhausted. This is not a statement derived from the personal experience of one individual, but the result of an unbiased consideration of all human life. What guards against this exhaustion is the concealed something that rests within the depths of things. If the power to descend into these depths, in order to draw up ever new life-force, dies away within the human being, then finally also the outer aspect of things no longer proves conducive to life.
[ 19 ] This question by no means concerns only the individual human being, only his personal welfare and misfortune. Precisely through true occult-scientific observations man arrives at the certainty that, from a higher standpoint, the welfare and misfortune of the individual is intimately bound up with the welfare or misfortune of the whole world. The human being comes to understand that he injures the whole universe and all its beings by not developing his forces in the proper way. If he lays waste his life by losing the relationship with the supersensible, he not only destroys something in his own inner being—the decaying of which can lead him finally to despair—but because of his weakness he creates a hindrance to the evolution of the whole world in which he lives.
[ 20 ] The human being can deceive himself. He can yield to the belief that there is no hidden world, that what appears to his senses and his intellect contains everything that can possibly exist. But this deception is only possible, not for the deeper, but for the surface consciousness. Feeling and desire do not submit to this deceptive belief. In one way or another, they will always crave for a concealed something, and if this is withdrawn from them, they force the human being into doubt, into a feeling of insecurity of life, indeed, into despair. A cognition that reveals the hidden is capable of overcoming all hopelessness, all insecurity, all despair, in fact all that weakens life and makes it incapable of the service required of him in the cosmos.
[ 21 ] This is the beautiful fruit of the knowledge of spiritual science that it gives strength and firmness to life, and not alone gratification to the passion for knowledge. The source from which this knowledge draws its power to work and its trust in life is inexhaustible. No one who has once really approached this source will, by repeatedly taking refuge in it, go away unstrengthened.
[ 22 ] There are people who wish to hear nothing about this knowledge because they see something unhealthy in what has just been said. Such people are quite right in regard to the superficial and external side of life. They do not wish to see stunted what life offers in its so-called reality. They consider it weakness when a person turns away from reality and seeks his salvation in a hidden world that to them appears as a fantastic, imaginary one. If, in our spiritual scientific striving, we are not to fall into an unhealthy dreaminess and weakness, we must acknowledge the partial justification of such objections. For they rest upon a healthy judgment that leads, not to a whole, but only to a half-truth through the very fact that it does not penetrate into the depth of things, but remains on the surface. Were the striving for supersensible knowledge likely to weaken life and to estrange men from true reality, then such objections would certainly be strong enough to remove the foundation from under this spiritual trend.
[ 23 ] Also concerning such points of view, spiritual-scientific endeavors would not take the right path if they wished to “defend” themselves in the usual sense of the word. Here also they can only speak out of their own merit, recognizable to every unprejudiced person, when they make evident how they increase the vital force and strength in those who familiarize themselves with them in the right way. These endeavors cannot turn man into a person estranged from the world, into a dreamer; they give him strength from the sources of life out of which his spirit and soul have sprung.
[ 24 ] Many a man encounters still other intellectual obstacles when he approaches the endeavors of occult science. For it is fundamentally true that the reader finds in the presentation of occult science a description of soul experiences through the pursuit of which he can approach the supersensible world-content. But in practice this must present itself as a kind of ideal. The reader must at first absorb a comparatively large number of supersensible experiences in the form of communications, experiences that he, however, has not yet passed through himself. This cannot be otherwise and will also be the case with this book. The author will describe what he believes he knows about the nature of man, about his conduct between birth and death, and in his disembodied state in the spiritual world; in addition, the evolution of the earth and of mankind will be described. Thus it might appear as though a certain amount of alleged knowledge were presented in the form of dogmas for which belief based on authority were demanded. This is not the case. What can be known of the supersensible world-content is present in him who presents the material as a living content of the soul, and if someone becomes acquainted with this soul-content, this then enkindles in his own soul the impulses that lead to the corresponding supersensible facts. While reading the communications concerning spiritual-scientific knowledge, we live in a quite different manner than we do while reading those concerning external facts. If we read communications from the outer sense world, we are reading about them. But if we read communications about supersensible facts in the right way, we are living into the stream of spiritual existence. In absorbing the results we, at the same time, enter upon our own inner path to them. It is true that what is meant here is often not at all observed by the reader. Entrance into the spiritual world is imagined in a way too similar to an experience of the senses; therefore, what is experienced when reading about this world is considered to be much too much of the nature of thought. But if we have truly absorbed these thoughts we are already within this world and have only to become quite clear about the fact that we have already experienced, unnoticed, what we thought we had received merely as an intellectual communication. Complete clarity concerning the real nature of what has been experienced will be gained in carrying out in practice what is described, in the second and last part of this book, as the “path” to supersensible knowledge. It might easily be thought that the opposite would be the right way; that this path should be described first. That is not the case. For anyone who only carries out “exercises” in order to enter the supersensible world, without directing the attention of his soul to definite facts concerning it, that world remains an indefinite, confused chaos. We learn to become familiar with that world naively, as it were, by gaining information about certain of its facts, and then we account for the way in which we ourselves, abandoning naiveté, fully consciously acquire the experiences about which we have gained information. If we penetrate deeply into the descriptions of occult science we become convinced that this is the only sure path to supersensible knowledge. We shall also realize that the opinion that supersensible knowledge might at first have the effect of a dogma through the power of suggestion, as it were, is unfounded. For the content of this knowledge is acquired by a soul activity that takes from it all merely suggestive power and only gives it the possibility of appealing to another person in the same way in which all truths speak to him that offer themselves to his thoughtful judgment. The reason the other person does not at first notice that he is living in the spiritual world does not lie in a thoughtless, suggestive absorption of what he has read, but in the subtlety and unfamiliarity of what he has experienced in his reading.—Therefore, by first absorbing the communications as given in the first part of this book, we become participators in the knowledge of the spiritual world; by means of the practical application of the soul exercises given in the second part, we become independent knowers of this world.
[ 25 ] In the spirit and true sense of the word, no real scientist will be able to find a contradiction between his science built upon the facts of the sense world and the method by which the supersensible world is investigated. The scientist makes use of certain instruments and methods. He produces his instruments by transforming what “nature” offers him. The supersensible method of knowledge also makes use of an instrument. This instrument is man himself. This instrument, too, must first be made ready for higher research. The capacities and forces given to man by nature, without his assistance, must be transformed into higher capacities and powers. Man is thereby able to make himself the instrument for research in the supersensible world.
Charakter der Geheimwissenschaft
[ 1 ] Ein altes Wort: «Geheimwissenschaft» wird für den Inhalt dieses Buches angewendet. Das Wort kann Veranlassung werden, daß sogleich bei den verschiedenen Menschen der Gegenwart die entgegengesetztesten Empfindungen wachgerufen werden. Für viele hat es etwas Abstoßendes; es ruft Spott, mitleidiges Lächeln, vielleicht Verachtung hervor. Sie stellen sich vor, daß eine Vorstellungsart, die sich so bezeichnet, nur auf einer müßigen Träumerei, auf Phantasterei beruhen könne, daß sich hinter solcher «vermeintlichen» Wissenschaft nur der Drang verbergen könne, allerlei Aberglauben zu erneuern, den mit Recht meidet, wer «wahre Wissenschaftlichkeit» und «echtes Erkenntnisstreben» kennengelernt hat. Auf andere wirkt das Wort so, als ob ihnen das damit Gemeinte etwas bringen müsse, was auf keinem anderen Wege zu erlangen ist und zu dem sie, je nach ihrer Veranlagung, tief innerliche Erkenntnissehnsucht oder seelisch verfeinerte Neugierde hinzieht. Zwischen diesen schroff einander gegenüberstehenden Meinungen gibt es alle möglichen Zwischenstufen der bedingten Ablehnung oder Annahme dessen, was sich der eine oder der andere vorstellt, wenn er das Wort «Geheimwissenschaft» vernimmt. — Es ist nicht in Abrede zu stellen, daß für manchen das Wort «Geheimwissenschaft» deshalb einen zauberhaften Klang hat, weil es seine verhängnisvolle Sucht zu befriedigen scheint nach einem auf naturgemäßem Wege nicht zu erlangenden Wissen von einem «Unbekannten», Geheimnisvollen, ja Unklaren. Denn viele Menschen wollen die tiefsten Sehnsuchten ihrer Seele nicht durch das befriedigen, was klar erkannt werden kann. Ihre Überzeugung geht dahin, daß es außer demjenigen, was man in der Welt erkennen könne, noch etwas geben müsse, das sich der Erkenntnis entzieht. Mit einem sonderbaren Widersinn, den sie nicht bemerken, lehnen sie für die tiefsten Erkenntnissehnsuchten alles ab, was «bekannt ist», und wollen dafür nur etwas gelten lassen, wovon man nicht sagen könne, daß es durch naturgemäßes Forschen bekannt werde. Wer von «Geheimwissenschaft» redet, wird gut daran tun, sich vor Augen zu halten, daß ihm Missverständnisse entgegenstehen, die von solchen Verteidigern einer derartigen Wissenschaft verursacht werden; von Verteidigern, die eigentlich nicht ein Wissen, sondern das Gegenteil davon anstreben.
[ 2 ] Diese Ausführungen richten sich an Leser, welche sich ihre Unbefangenheit nicht dadurch nehmen lassen, daß ein Wort durch verschiedene Umstände Vorurteile hervorruft. Von einem Wissen, das in irgendeiner Beziehung als ein «geheimes», nur durch besondere Schicksalsgunst für manchen zugängliches, gelten soll, wird hier nicht die Rede sein. Man wird dem hier gemeinten Wortgebrauche gerecht werden, wenn man an dasjenige denkt, was Goethe im Sinne hat, wenn er von den «offenbaren Geheimnissen» in den Welterscheinungen spricht. Was in diesen Erscheinungen «geheim», unoffenbar bleibt, wenn man sie nur durch die Sinne und den an die Sinne sich bindenden Verstand erfasst, das wird als der Inhalt einer übersinnlichen Erkenntnisart angesehen. 1Es ist vorgekommen, daß man den Ausdruck «Geheimwissenschaft» — wie er von dem Verfasser dieses Buches schon in früheren Auflagen gebraucht worden ist gerade aus dem Grunde abgelehnt hat, weil eine Wissenschaft doch für niemand etwas «Geheimes» sein könne. Man hätte Recht, wenn die Sache so gemeint wäre. Allein das ist nicht der Fall. So wenig Naturwissenschaft eine «natürliche» Wissenschaft in dem Sinne genannt werden kann, daß sie jedem «von Natur eigen» ist, so wenig denkt sich der Verfasser unter «Geheimwissenschaft» eine «geheime» Wissenschaft, sondern eine solche, welche sich auf das in den Welterscheinungen für die gewöhnliche Erkenntnisart Unoffenbare, «Geheime» bezieht, eine Wissenschaft von dem «Geheimen», von dem «offenbaren Geheimnis». Geheimnis aber soll diese Wissenschaft für niemand sein, der ihre Erkenntnisse auf den ihr entsprechenden Wegen sucht. Wer als «Wissenschaft» nur gelten lässt, was durch die Sinne und den ihnen dienenden Verstand offenbar wird, für den kann selbstverständlich das hier als «Geheimwissenschaft» Gemeinte keine Wissenschaft sein. Ein solcher müsste aber, wenn er sich selbst verstehen wollte, zugeben, daß er nicht aus einer begründeten Einsicht heraus, sondern durch einen seinem rein persönlichen Empfinden entstammenden Machtspruch eine «Geheimwissenschaft» ablehnt. Um das einzusehen, hat man nur nötig, Überlegungen darüber anzustellen, wie Wissenschaft entsteht und welche Bedeutung sie im menschlichen Leben hat. Das Entstehen der Wissenschaft dem Wesen nach erkennt man nicht an dem Gegenstande, den die Wissenschaft ergreift. Man erkennt es an der im wissenschaftlichen Streben auftretenden Betätigungsart der menschlichen Seele. Wie sich die Seele verhält, indem sie Wissenschaft sich erarbeitet, darauf hat man zu sehen. Eignet man sich die Gewohnheit an, diese Betätigungsart nur dann ins Werk zu setzen, wenn die Offenbarungen der Sinne in Betracht kommen, dann gerät man leicht auf die Meinung, diese Sinnesoffenbarung sei das Wesentliche. Und man lenkt dann den Blick nicht darauf, daß ein gewisses Verhalten der menschlichen Seele eben nur auf die Sinnesoffenbarung angewendet worden ist. Aber man kann über diese willkürliche Selbstbeschränkung hinauskommen und, abgesehen von dem besonderen Falle der Anwendung, den Charakter der wissenschaftlichen Betätigung ins Auge fassen. Dies liegt zugrunde, wenn hier für die Erkenntnis nichtsinnlicher Weltinhalte als von einer «wissenschaftlichen» gesprochen wird. An diesen Weltinhalten will sich die menschliche Vorstellungsart so betätigen, wie sie sich im andern Falle an den naturwissenschaftlichen Weltinhalten betätigt. Geheimwissenschaft will die naturwissenschaftliche Forschungsart und Forschungsgesinnung, die auf ihrem Gebiete sich an den Zusammenhang und Verlauf der sinnlichen Tatsachen hält, von dieser besonderen Anwendung loslösen, aber sie in ihrer denkerischen und sonstigen Eigenart festhalten. Sie will über Nichtsinnliches in derselben Art sprechen, wie die Naturwissenschaft über Sinnliches spricht. Während die Naturwissenschaft im Sinnlichen mit dieser Forschungsart und Denkweise stehenbleibt, will Geheimwissenschaft die seelische Arbeit an der Natur als eine Art Selbsterziehung der Seele betrachten und das Anerzogene auf das nichtsinnliche Gebiet anwenden. Sie will so verfahren, daß sie zwar nicht über die sinnlichen Erscheinungen als solche spricht, aber über die nichtsinnlichen Weltinhalte so, wie der Naturforscher über die sinnenfälligen. Sie hält von dem naturwissenschaftlichen Verfahren die seelische Verfassung innerhalb dieses Verfahrens fest, also gerade das, durch welches Naturerkenntnis Wissenschaft erst wird. Sie darf sich deshalb als Wissenschaft bezeichnen.
[ 3 ] Wer über die Bedeutung der Naturwissenschaft im menschlichen Leben Überlegungen anstellt, der wird finden, daß diese Bedeutung nicht erschöpft sein kann mit der Aneignung von Naturerkenntnissen. Denn diese Erkenntnisse können nie und nimmer zu etwas anderem führen als zu einem Erleben desjenigen, was die Menschenseele selbst nicht ist. Nicht in dem lebt das Seelische, was der Mensch an der Natur erkennt, sondern in dem Vorgang des Erkennens. In ihrer Betätigung an der Natur erlebt sich die Seele. Was sie in dieser Betätigung lebensvoll sich erarbeitet, das ist noch etwas anderes als das Wissen über die Natur selbst. Das ist an der Naturerkenntnis erfahrene Selbstentwicklung. Den Gewinn dieser Selbstentwicklung will die Geheimwissenschaft bestätigen auf Gebieten, die über die bloße Natur hinausliegen. Der Geheimwissenschafter will den Wert der Naturwissenschaft nicht verkennen, sondern ihn noch besser anerkennen als der Naturwissenschafter selbst. Er weiß daß er ohne die Strenge der Vorstellungsart, die in der Naturwissenschaft waltet, keine Wissenschaft begründen kann. Er weiß aber auch, daß, wenn diese Strenge durch ein echtes Eindringen in den Geist des naturwissenschaftlichen Denkens erworben ist, sie festgehalten werden kann durch die Kraft der Seele für andere Gebiete.
[ 4 ] Etwas, was bedenklich machen kann, tritt dabei allerdings auf. In der Betrachtung der Natur wird die Seele durch den betrachteten Gegenstand in einem viel stärkeren Maße geleitet als in derjenigen nichtsinnlicher Weltinhalte. In dieser muss sie in einem höheren Maße aus rein inneren Impulsen heraus die Fähigkeit haben, das Wesen der wissenschaftlichen Vorstellungsart festzuhalten. Weil sehr viele Menschen unbewusst — glauben, daß nur an dem Leitfaden der Naturerscheinungen dieses Wesen festgehalten werden kann, sind sie geneigt, durch einen Machtspruch sich dahin zu entscheiden; sobald dieser Leitfaden verlassen wird, tappt die Seele mit ihrem wissenschaftlichen Verfahren im Leeren. Solche Menschen haben sich die Eigenart dieses Verfahrens nicht zum Bewusstsein gebracht; sie bilden sich ihr Urteil zumeist aus den Verirrungen, die entstehen müssen, wenn die wissenschaftliche Gesinnung an den Naturerscheinungen nicht gefestigt genug ist und trotzdem die Seele sich an die Betrachtung des nichtsinnlichen Weltgebietes begeben will. Da entsteht selbstverständlich viel unwissenschaftliches Reden über nichtsinnliche Weltinhalte. Aber nicht deswegen, weil solches Reden seinem Wesen nach nicht wissenschaftlich sein kann, sondern weil es, im besonderen Falle, an der wissenschaftlichen Selbsterziehung durch die Naturbeobachtung hat fehlen lassen.
[ 5 ] Wer von Geheimwissenschaft reden will, muss allerdings mit Rücksicht auf das eben Gesagte einen wachsamen Sinn haben für alles Irrlichtelierende, das entsteht, wenn über die offenbaren Geheimnisse der Welt etwas ausgemacht wird ohne wissenschaftliche Gesinnung. Dennoch führte es zu etwas Ersprießlichem nicht, wenn hier, gleich im Anfange geheimwissenschaftlicher Ausführungen, über alle möglichen Verirrungen gesprochen würde, die in der Seele vorurteilsvoller Personen jedes Forschen in dieser Richtung in Missachtung bringen, weil solche Personen aus dem Vorhandensein wahrlich recht zahlreicher Verirrungen auf das Unberechtigte des ganzen Strebens schließen. Da aber zumeist bei Wissenschaftern oder wissenschaftlich gesinnten Beurteilern die Ablehnung der Geheimwissenschaft doch nur auf dem oben gekennzeichneten Machtspruch beruht und die Berufung auf die Verirrungen nur — oft unbewusster — Vorwand ist, so wird eine Auseinandersetzung mit solchen Gegnern zunächst wenig fruchtbar sein. Nichts hindert sie ja, den gewiss durchaus berechtigten Einwand zu machen, daß von vornherein durch nichts festgestellt werden kann, ob denn bei demjenigen, der andere in Verirrung befangen glaubt, der oben gekennzeichnete feste Grund wirklich vorhanden ist. Daher kann der nach einer Geheimwissenschaft Strebende nur einfach vorführen, was er glaubt sagen zu dürfen. Das Urteil über seine Berechtigung können nur andere, aber auch nur solche Personen sich bilden, welche unter Vermeidung aller Machtsprüche sich einzulassen vermögen auf die Art seiner Mitteilungen über die offenbaren Geheimnisse des Weltgeschehens. Obliegen wird ihm allerdings, zu zeigen, wie sich das von ihm Vorgebrachte zu anderen Errungenschaften des Wissens und des Lebens verhält, welche Gegnerschaften möglich sind und inwieferne die unmittelbare äußere sinnenfällige Lebenswirklichkeit Bestätigungen bringt für seine Beobachtungen. Aber er sollte niemals darnach streben, seine Darstellung so zu halten, daß diese statt durch ihren Inhalt durch seine Überredungskunst wirke.
[ 6 ] Man kann gegenüber geheimwissenschaftlichen Ausführungen oftmals den Einwand hören: diese beweisen nicht, was sie vorbringen; sie stellen nur das eine oder das andere hin und sagen: die Geheimwissenschaft stelle dieses fest. Die folgenden Ausführungen verkennt man, wenn man glaubt, irgend etwas in ihnen sei in diesem Sinne vorgebracht. Was hier angestrebt wird, ist, das in der Seele am Naturwissen Entfaltete sich so weiter entwickeln zu lassen, wie es sich seiner eigenen Wesenheit nach entwickeln kann, und dann darauf aufmerksam zu machen, daß bei solcher Entwicklung die Seele auf übersinnliche Tatsachen stößt. Es wird dabei vorausgesetzt, daß jeder Leser, der auf das Ausgeführte einzugehen vermag, ganz notwendig auf diese Tatsachen stößt. Ein Unterschied gegenüber der rein naturwissenschaftlichen Betrachtung liegt allerdings in dem Augenblicke vor, in dem man das geisteswissenschaftliche Gebiet betritt. In der Naturwissenschaft liegen die Tatsachen im Felde der Sinneswelt vor; der wissenschaftliche Darsteller betrachtet die Seelenbetätigung als etwas, das gegenüber dem Zusammenhang und Verlauf der Sinnes-Tatsachen zurücktritt. Der geisteswissenschaftliche Darsteller muss diese Seelenbetätigung in den Vordergrund stellen; denn der Leser gelangt nur zu den Tatsachen, wenn er diese Seelenbetätigung in rechtmäßiger Weise zu seiner eigenen macht. Diese Tatsachen sind nicht wie in der Naturwissenschaft — allerdings unbegriffen — auch ohne die Seelenbetätigung vor der menschlichen Wahrnehmung; sie treten vielmehr in diese nur durch die Seelenbetätigung. Der geisteswissenschaftliche Darsteller setzt also voraus, daß der Leser mit ihm gemeinsam die Tatsachen sucht. Seine Darstellung wird in der Art gehalten sein, daß er von dem Auffinden dieser Tatsachen erzählt und daß in der Art, wie er erzählt, nicht persönliche Willkür, sondern der an der Naturwissenschaft heranerzogene wissenschaftliche Sinn herrscht. Er wird daher auch genötigt sein, von den Mitteln zu sprechen, durch die man zu einer Betrachtung des Nichtsinnlichen — des Übersinnlichen — gelangt. — Wer sich in eine geheimwissenschaftliche Darstellung einlässt, der wird bald einsehen, daß durch sie Vorstellungen und Ideen erworben werden, die man vorher nicht gehabt hat. So kommt man zu neuen Gedanken auch über das, was man vorher über das Wesen des «Beweisens» gemeint hat. Man lernt erkennen, daß für die naturwissenschaftliche Darstellung das «Beweisen» etwas ist, was an diese gewissermaßen von außen herangebracht wird. Im geisteswissenschaftlichen Denken liegt aber die Betätigung, welche die Seele beim naturwissenschaftlichen Denken auf den Beweis wendet, schon in dem Suchen nach den Tatsachen. Man kann diese nicht finden, wenn nicht der Weg zu ihnen schon ein beweisender ist. Wer diesen Weg wirklich durchschreitet, hat auch schon das Beweisende erlebt; es kann nichts durch einen von außen hinzugefügten Beweis geleistet werden. daß man dieses im Charakter der Geheimwissenschaft verkennt, ruft viele Missverständnisse hervor.
[ 7 ] Alle Geheimwissenschaft muss aus zwei Gedanken hervorkeimen, die in jedem Menschen Wurzel fassen können. Für den Geheimwissenschafter, wie er hier gemeint ist, drücken diese beiden Gedanken Tatsachen aus, die man erleben kann, wenn man sich der rechten Mittel dazu bedient. Für viele Menschen bedeuten schon diese Gedanken höchst anfechtbare Behauptungen, über die sich viel streiten lässt, wenn nicht gar etwas, dessen Unmöglichkeit man «beweisen» kann.
[ 8 ] Diese beiden Gedanken sind, daß es hinter der sichtbaren Welt eine unsichtbare, eine zunächst für die Sinne und das an diese Sinne gefesselte Denken verborgene Welt gibt, und daß es dem Menschen durch Entwicklung von Fähigkeiten, die in ihm schlummern, möglich ist, in diese verborgene Welt einzudringen.
[ 9 ] Solch eine verborgene Welt gibt es nicht, sagt der eine. Die Welt, welche der Mensch durch seine Sinne wahrnimmt, sei die einzige. Man könne ihre Rätsel aus ihr selbst lösen. Wenn auch der Mensch gegenwärtig noch weit davon entfernt sei, alle Fragen des Daseins beantworten zu können, es werde schon die Zeit kommen, wo die Sinneserfahrung und die auf sie gestützte Wissenschaft die Antworten werden geben können.
[ 10 ] Man könne nicht behaupten, daß es nicht eine verborgene Welt hinter der sichtbaren gebe, sagen andere; aber die menschlichen Erkenntniskräfte können nicht in diese Welt eindringen. Sie haben Grenzen, die sie nicht überschreiten können. Mag das Bedürfnis des «Glaubens» zu einer solchen Welt seine Zuflucht nehmen: eine wahre Wissenschaft, die sich auf gesicherte Tatsachen stützt, könne sich mit einer solchen Welt nicht beschäftigen.
[ 11 ] Eine dritte Partei ist die, welche es für eine Art Vermessenheit ansieht, wenn der Mensch durch seine Erkenntnisarbeit in ein Gebiet eindringen will, in bezug auf welches man auf «Wissen» verzichten und sich mit dem «Glauben» bescheiden soll. Wie ein Unrecht empfinden es die Bekenner dieser Meinung, wenn der schwache Mensch vordringen will in eine Welt, die einzig dem religiösen Leben angehören könne.
[ 12 ] Auch das wird vorgebracht, daß allen Menschen eine gemeinsame Erkenntnis der Tatsachen der Sinneswelt möglich sei, daß aber in bezug auf die übersinnlichen Dinge einzig die persönliche Meinung des einzelnen in Frage kommen könne und daß von einer allgemein geltenden Gewissheit in diesen Dingen nicht gesprochen werden sollte.
[ 13 ] Andere behaupten vieles andere.
[ 14 ] Man kann sich klar darüber werden, daß die Betrachtung der sichtbaren Welt dem Menschen Rätsel vorlegt, die niemals aus den Tatsachen dieser Welt selbst gelöst werden können. Sie werden auch dann auf diese Art nicht gelöst werden, wenn die Wissenschaft dieser Tatsachen so weit wie nur irgend möglich fortgeschritten sein wird. Denn die sichtbaren Tatsachen weisen deutlich durch ihre eigene innere Wesenheit auf eine verborgene Welt hin. Wer solches nicht einsieht, der verschließt sich den Rätseln, die überall deutlich aus den Tatsachen der Sinneswelt hervorspringen. Er will gewisse Fragen und Rätsel gar nicht sehen; deshalb glaubt er, daß alle Fragen durch die sinnenfälligen Tatsachen beantwortet werden können. Diejenigen Fragen, welche er stellen will, sind wirklich auch alle durch die Tatsachen zu beantworten, von denen er sich verspricht, daß man sie im Laufe der Zukunft entdecken werde. Das kann man ohne weiteres zugeben. Aber warum sollte der auch auf Antworten in gewissen Dingen warten, der gar keine Fragen stellt? Wer nach Geheimwissenschaft strebt, sagt nichts anderes, als daß für ihn solche Fragen selbstverständlich seien und daß man sie als einen vollberechtigten Ausdruck der menschlichen Seele anerkennen müsse. Die Wissenschaft kann doch nicht dadurch in Grenzen eingezwängt werden, daß man dem Menschen das unbefangene Fragen verbietet.
[ 15 ] Zu der Meinung, der Mensch habe Grenzen seiner Erkenntnis, die er nicht überschreiten könne und die ihn zwingen, vor einer unsichtbaren Welt haltzumachen, muss doch gesagt werden: es kann gar kein Zweifel obwalten, daß man durch diejenige Erkenntnisart, welche da gemeint ist, nicht in eine unsichtbare Welt eindringen könne. Wer diese Erkenntnisart für die einzig mögliche hält, der kann gar nicht zu einer andern Ansicht als zu der kommen, daß es dem Menschen versagt sei, in eine etwa vorhandene höhere Welt einzudringen. Aber man kann doch auch das Folgende sagen: wenn es möglich ist, eine andere Erkenntnisart zu entwickeln, so kann doch diese in die übersinnliche Welt führen. Hält man eine solche Erkenntnisart für unmöglich, dann kommt man zu einem Gesichtspunkte, von dem aus gesehen alles Reden über eine übersinnliche Welt als der reine Unsinn erscheint. Gegenüber einem unbefangenen Urteil kann es aber für eine solche Meinung keinen andern Grund geben als den, daß dem Bekenner derselben jene andere Erkenntnisart unbekannt ist. Wie kann man aber über dasjenige überhaupt urteilen, von dem man behauptet, daß man es nicht kenne? Unbefangenes Denken muss sich zu dem Satze bekennen, daß man nur von demjenigen spreche, was man kennt, und daß man über dasjenige nichts feststelle, was man nicht kennt. Solches Denken kann nur von dem Rechte sprechen, daß jemand eine Sache mitteile, die er erfahren hat, nicht aber von einem Rechte, daß jemand für unmöglich erkläre, was er nicht weiß oder nicht wissen will. Man kann niemand das Recht bestreiten, sich um das Übersinnliche nicht zu kümmern; aber niemals kann sich ein echter Grund dafür ergeben, daß jemand nicht nur für das sich maßgebend erklärte, was er wissen kann, sondern auch für alles das, was «ein Mensch» nicht wissen kann.
[ 16 ] Denen gegenüber, welche es als Vermessenheit erklären, in das übersinnliche Gebiet einzudringen, muss eine geheimwissenschaftliche Betrachtung zu bedenken geben, daß man dies könne und daß es eine Versündigung sei gegen die dem Menschen gegebenen Fähigkeiten, wenn er sie veröden lässt, statt sie zu entwickeln und sich ihrer zu bedienen.
[ 17 ] Wer aber glaubt, die Ansichten über die übersinnliche Welt müssen ganz dem persönlichen Meinen und Empfinden angehören, der verleugnet das Gemeinsame in allen menschlichen Wesen. Es ist gewiss richtig, daß die Einsicht in diese Dinge ein jeder durch sich selbst finden müsse, es ist auch eine Tatsache, daß alle diejenigen Menschen, welche nur weit genug gehen, über diese Dinge nicht zu verschiedenen, sondern zu der gleichen Einsicht kommen. Die Verschiedenheit ist nur solange vorhanden, als sich die Menschen nicht auf einem wissenschaftlich gesicherten Wege, sondern auf dem der persönlichen Willkür den höchsten Wahrheiten nähern wollen. Das allerdings muss ohne weiteres wieder zugestanden werden, daß nur derjenige die Richtigkeit des geheimwissenschaftlichen Weges anerkennen könne, der sich in dessen Eigenart einleben will.
[ 18 ] Den Weg zur Geheimwissenschaft kann jeder Mensch in dem für ihn geeigneten Zeitpunkte finden, der das Vorhandensein eines Verborgenen aus dem Offenbaren heraus erkennt oder auch nur vermutet oder ahnt, und welcher aus dem Bewusstsein heraus, daß die Erkenntniskräfte entwicklungsfähig seien, zu dem Gefühl getrieben wird, daß das Verborgene sich ihm enthüllen könne. Einem Menschen, der durch diese Seelenerlebnisse zur Geheimwissenschaft geführt wird, dem eröffnet sich durch diese nicht nur die Aussicht, daß er für gewisse Fragen seines Erkenntnisdranges die Antwort finden werde, sondern auch noch die ganz andere, daß er zum Überwinder alles dessen wird, was das Leben hemmt und schwach macht. Und es bedeutet in einem gewissen höheren Sinne eine Schwächung des Lebens, ja einen seelischen Tod, wenn der Mensch sich gezwungen sieht, sich von dem Übersinnlichen abzuwenden oder es zu leugnen. Ja, es führt unter gewissen Voraussetzungen zur Verzweiflung, wenn ein Mensch die Hoffnung verliert, daß ihm das Verborgene offenbar werde. Dieser Tod und diese Verzweiflung in ihren mannigfaltigen Formen sind zugleich innere, seelische Gegner geheimwissenschaftlicher Bestrebung. Sie treten ein, wenn des Menschen innere Kraft dahinschwindet. Dann muss ihm alle Kraft des Lebens von außen zugeführt werden, wenn überhaupt eine solche in seinen Besitz kommen soll. Er nimmt dann die Dinge, die Wesenheiten und Vorgänge wahr, welche an seine Sinne herantreten; er zergliedert diese mit seinem Verstande. Sie bereiten ihm Freude und Schmerz; sie treiben ihn zu den Handlungen, deren er fähig ist. Er mag es eine Weile so weiter treiben: er muss aber doch einmal an einen Punkt gelangen, an dem er innerlich abstirbt. Denn was so aus der Welt für den Menschen herausgezogen werden kann, erschöpft sich. Dies ist nicht eine Behauptung, welche aus der persönlichen Erfahrung eines einzelnen stammt, sondern etwas, was sich aus einer unbefangenen Betrachtung alles Menschenlebens ergibt. Was vor dieser Erschöpfung bewahrt, ist das Verborgene, das in der Tiefe der Dinge ruht. Erstirbt in dem Menschen die Kraft, in diese Tiefen hinunterzusteigen, um immer neue Lebenskraft heraufzuholen, so erweist sich zuletzt auch das Äußere der Dinge nicht mehr lebenfördernd.
[ 19 ] Die Sache verhält sich keineswegs so, daß sie nur den einzelnen Menschen, nur dessen persönliches Wohl und Wehe anginge. Gerade durch wahre geheimwissenschaftliche Betrachtungen wird es dem Menschen zur Gewissheit, daß von einem höheren Gesichtspunkte aus das Wohl und Wehe des einzelnen innig zusammenhängt mit dem Heile oder Unheile der ganzen Welt. Es gibt da einen Weg, auf dem der Mensch zu der Einsicht gelangt, daß er der ganzen Welt und allen Wesen in ihr einen Schaden zufügt, wenn er seine Kräfte nicht in der rechten Art zur Entfaltung bringt. Verödet der Mensch sein Leben dadurch, daß er den Zusammenhang mit dem Übersinnlichen verliert, so zerstört er nicht nur in seinem Innern etwas, dessen Absterben ihn zur Verzweiflung zuletzt führen kann, sondern er bildet durch seine Schwäche ein Hemmnis für die Entwicklung der ganzen Welt, in der er lebt.
[ 20 ] Nun kann sich der Mensch täuschen. Er kann sich dem Glauben hingeben, daß es ein Verborgenes nicht gäbe, daß in demjenigen, was an seine Sinne und an seinen Verstand herantritt, schon alles enthalten sei, was überhaupt vorhanden sein kann. Aber diese Täuschung ist nur für die Oberfläche des Bewusstseins möglich, nicht für dessen Tiefe. Das Gefühl und der Wunsch fügen sich diesem täuschenden Glauben nicht. Sie werden immer wieder in irgendeiner Art nach einem Verborgenen verlangen. Und wenn ihnen dieses entzogen ist, drängen sie den Menschen in Zweifel, in Lebensunsicherheit, ja eben in die Verzweiflung hinein. Ein Erkennen, welches das Verborgene offenbar macht, ist geeignet, alle Hoffnungslosigkeit, alle Lebensunsicherheit, alle Verzweiflung, kurz alles dasjenige zu überwinden, was das Leben schwächt und es unfähig zu dem ihm notwendigen Dienste im Weltganzen macht.
[ 21 ] Das ist die schöne Frucht geisteswissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse, daß sie dem Leben Stärke und Festigkeit und nicht allein der Wissbegierde Befriedigung geben. Der Quell, aus dem solche Erkenntnisse Kraft zur Arbeit, Zuversicht für das Leben schöpfen, ist ein unversieglicher. Keiner, der einmal an diesen Quell wahrhaft herangekommen ist, wird bei wiederholter Zuflucht, die er zu demselben nimmt, ungestärkt hinweggehen.
[ 22 ] Es gibt Menschen, die aus dem Grunde von solchen Erkenntnissen nichts wissen wollen, weil sie in dem eben Gesagten schon etwas Ungesundes sehen. Für die Oberfläche und das Äußere des Lebens haben solche Menschen durchaus recht. Sie wollen das nicht verkümmert wissen, was das Leben in der sogenannten Wirklichkeit darbietet. Sie sehen eine Schwäche darin, wenn sich der Mensch von der Wirklichkeit abwendet und sein Heil in einer verborgenen Welt sucht, die für sie ja einer phantastischen, erträumten gleichkommt. Will man bei solchem geisteswissenschaftlichen Suchen nicht in krankhafte Träumerei und Schwäche verfallen, so muss man das teilweise Berechtigte solcher Einwände anerkennen. Denn sie beruhen auf einem gesunden Urteile, welches nur dadurch nicht zu einer ganzen, sondern zu einer halben Wahrheit führt, daß es nicht in die Tiefen der Dinge dringt, sondern an deren Oberfläche stehenbleibt. — Wäre ein übersinnliches Erkenntnisstreben dazu angetan, das Leben zu schwächen und den Menschen zur Abkehr zu bringen von der wahren Wirklichkeit, dann wären sicher solche Einwände stark genug, dieser Geistesrichtung den Boden unter den Füßen wegzuziehen.
[ 23 ] Aber auch diesen Meinungen gegenüber würden geheimwissenschaftliche Bestrebungen nicht den rechten Weg gehen, wenn sie sich im gewöhnlichen Sinne des Wortes «verteidigen» wollten. Auch da können sie nur durch ihren für jeden Unbefangenen erkennbaren Wert sprechen, wenn sie fühlbar machen, wie sie Lebenskraft und Lebensstärke dem erhöhen, der sich im rechten Sinne in sie einlebt. Diese Bestrebungen können nicht zum weltfremden Menschen, nicht zum Träumer machen; sie erkraften den Menschen aus denjenigen Lebensquellen, aus denen er, seinem geistig-seelischen Teil nach, stammt.
[ 24 ] Andere Hindernisse des Verständnisses noch legen sich manchem Menschen in den Weg, wenn er an geheimwissenschaftliche Bestrebungen herantritt. Es ist nämlich grundsätzlich zwar richtig, daß der Leser in der geheimwissenschaftlichen Darstellung eine Schilderung findet von Seelenerlebnissen, durch deren Verfolgung er sich zu den übersinnlichen Weltinhalten hinbewegen kann. Allein in der Praxis muss sich dieses doch als eine Art Ideal ausleben. Der Leser muss zunächst eine größere Summe von übersinnlichen Erfahrungen, die er noch nicht selbst erlebt, mitteilungsgemäß aufnehmen. Das kann nicht anders sein und wird auch mit diesem Buche so sein. Es wird geschildert werden, was der Verfasser zu wissen vermeint über das Wesen des Menschen, über dessen Verhalten in Geburt und Tod und im leibfreien Zustande in der geistigen Welt; es wird ferner dargestellt werden die Entwicklung der Erde und der Mensch- heit. So könnte es scheinen, als ob doch die Voraussetzung gemacht würde, daß eine Anzahl vermeintlicher Erkenntnisse wie Dogmen vorgetragen würden, für die Glauben auf Autorität hin verlangt würde. Es ist dies aber doch nicht der Fall. Was nämlich von übersinnlichen Weltinhalten gewusst werden kann, das lebt in dem Darsteller als lebendiger Seeleninhalt; und lebt man sich in diesen Seeleninhalt ein, so entzündet dieses Einleben in der eigenen Seele die Impulse, welche nach den entsprechenden übersinnlichen Tatsachen hinführen. Man lebt im Lesen von geisteswissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen auf andere Art, als in demjenigen der Mitteilungen sinnenfälliger Tatsachen. Liest man Mitteilungen aus der sinnenfälligen Welt, so liest man eben über sie. Liest man aber Mitteilungen über übersinnliche Tatsachen im rechten Sinne, so lebt man sich ein in den Strom geistigen Daseins. Im Aufnehmen der Ergebnisse nimmt man zugleich den eigenen Innenweg dazu auf. Es ist richtig, daß dies hier Gemeinte von dem Leser zunächst oft gar nicht bemerkt wird. Man stellt sich den Eintritt in die geistige Welt viel zu ähnlich einem sinnenfälligen Erlebnis vor, und so findet man, daß, was man beim Lesen von dieser Welt erlebt, viel zu gedankenmäßig ist. Aber in dem wahren gedankenmäßigen Aufnehmen steht man in dieser Welt schon drinnen und hat sich nur noch klar darüber zu werden, daß man schon unvermerkt erlebt hat, was man vermeinte, bloß als Gedankenmitteilung erhalten zu haben. — Man wird über die echte Natur dieses Erlebten dann volle Klarheit erhalten, wenn man praktisch durchführt, was im zweiten (letzten) Teile dieses Buches als «Weg» zu den übersinnlichen Erkenntnissen geschildert wird. Man könnte leicht glauben, das Umgekehrte sei richtig: dieser Weg müsse zuerst geschildert werden. Das ist aber nicht der Fall. Wer, ohne auf bestimmte Tatsachen der übersinnlichen Welt den Seelenblick zu richten, nur «Übungen» macht, um in die übersinnliche Welt einzutreten, für den bleibt diese Weit ein unbestimmtes, sich verwirrendes Chaos. Man lernt sich einleben in diese Welt gewissermaßen naiv, indem man sich über bestimmte Tatsachen derselben unterrichtet, und dann gibt man sich Rechenschaft, wie man — die Naivität verlassend — vollbewusst selbst zu den Erlebnissen gelangt, von denen man Mitteilung erlangt hat. Man wird sich, wenn man in geheimwissenschaftliche Darstellungen eindringt, überzeugen, daß ein sicherer Weg zu übersinnlicher Erkenntnis doch nur dieser sein kann. Man wird auch erkennen, daß alle Meinung, es könnten die übersinnlichen Erkenntnisse zuerst als Dogmen gewissermaßen durch suggestive Macht wirken, unbegründet ist. Denn der Inhalt dieser Erkenntnisse wird in einem solchen Seelenleben erworben, das ihm jede bloß suggestive Gewalt benimmt und ihm nur die Möglichkeit gibt, auf demselben Wege zum andern zu sprechen, auf dem alle Wahrheiten zu ihm sprechen, die sich an sein besonnenes Urteil richten. daß der andere zunächst nicht bemerkt, wie er in der geistigen Welt lebt, dazu liegt nicht der Grund in einem unbesonnenen suggestiven Aufnehmen, sondern in der Feinheit und dem Ungewohnten des im Lesen Erlebten. — So wird man durch das erste Aufnehmen der Mitteilungen, wie sie im ersten Teile dieses Buches gegeben sind, zunächst Mit-Erkenner der übersinnlichen Welt; durch die praktische Ausführung der im zweiten Teile angegebenen Seelenverrichtungen wird man selbständiger Erkenner in dieser Welt.
[ 25 ] Dem Geiste und dem wahren Sinne nach wird auch kein echter Wissenschafter einen Widerspruch finden können zwischen seiner auf den Tatsachen der Sinnenwelt erbauten Wissenschaft und der Art, wie die übersinnliche Welt erforscht wird. Jener Wissenschafter bedient sich gewisser Werkzeuge und Methoden. Die Werkzeuge stellt er sich durch Verarbeitung dessen her, was ihm die «Natur» gibt. Die übersinnliche Erkenntnisart bedient sich auch eines Werkzeugs. Nur ist dieses Werkzeug der Mensch selbst. Und auch dieses Werkzeug muss für die höhere Forschung erst zugerichtet werden. Es müssen in ihm die zunächst ohne des Menschen Zutun ihm von der «Natur» gegebenen Fähigkeiten und Kräfte in höhere umgewandelt werden. Dadurch kann sich der Mensch selbst zum Instrument machen für die Erforschung der übersinnlichen Welt.
Character of the secret science
[ 1 ] An old word: "secret science" is used for the contents of this book. The word can immediately evoke the most opposite feelings in different people of the present day. For many it has something repulsive about it; it evokes ridicule, pitying smiles, perhaps contempt. They imagine that a way of thinking that calls itself such can only be based on idle dreaming, on fantasy, that such "supposed" science can only conceal the urge to renew all kinds of superstition, which is rightly avoided by those who have come to know "true science" and "genuine striving for knowledge". For others, the word has the effect that what it means must bring them something that cannot be achieved in any other way and to which, depending on their disposition, they are drawn by a deep inner longing for knowledge or a refined curiosity of the soul. Between these sharply opposing opinions there are all possible intermediate stages of conditional rejection or acceptance of what one or the other imagines when he hears the word "secret science". - It cannot be denied that for some people the word "secret science" has a magical ring to it because it seems to satisfy their fatal addiction to a knowledge of the "unknown", the mysterious, even the unclear, which cannot be attained by natural means. For many people do not want to satisfy the deepest longings of their souls through that which can be clearly recognized. Their conviction is that there must be something beyond what can be recognized in the world that eludes cognition. With a strange absurdity, which they do not realize, they reject everything that is "known" for the deepest longings for knowledge, and only want to accept something that cannot be said to be known through natural investigation. Those who speak of "secret science" would do well to bear in mind that they are confronted with misunderstandings caused by such defenders of this kind of science; by defenders who do not actually strive for knowledge, but the opposite of it.
[ 2 ] These remarks are addressed to readers who do not allow their impartiality to be taken away by the fact that a word evokes prejudices due to various circumstances. There will be no mention here of knowledge that is in any way to be regarded as "secret", accessible to some only through the special favor of fate. One will do justice to the use of the word meant here if one thinks of what Goethe has in mind when he speaks of the "revealed secrets" in the phenomena of the world. What remains "secret", unrevealed, in these phenomena when they are grasped only through the senses and the intellect, which is bound to the senses, is regarded as the content of a supersensible kind of knowledge. 1It has happened that the expression "secret science" - as it has already been used by the author of this book in earlier editions - has been rejected for the very reason that a science cannot be something "secret" for anyone. One would be right if the matter were meant that way. But that is not the case. As little as natural science can be called a "natural" science in the sense that it is "inherent by nature" to everyone, so little does the author think of "secret science" as a "secret" science, but rather one that refers to that which is "secret" in world phenomena that is unrevealed to the ordinary way of knowing, a science of the "secret", of the "revealed secret". But this science should not be a secret for anyone who seeks its knowledge in the ways that correspond to it. Anyone who only accepts as "science" what is revealed through the senses and the intellect that serves them can of course not consider what is meant here as "secret science" to be science. But if such a person wanted to understand himself, he would have to admit that he is not rejecting a "secret science" on the basis of a well-founded insight, but on the basis of a power play stemming from his purely personal feelings. To understand this, it is only necessary to consider how science arises and what significance it has in human life. The emergence of science in essence cannot be recognized by the object that science takes up. It can be recognized by the mode of activity of the human soul that occurs in scientific endeavour. How the soul behaves in acquiring science is to be seen. If one acquires the habit of putting this mode of activity into action only when the revelations of the senses come into consideration, then one easily falls into the opinion that this revelation of the senses is the essential thing. And then one does not draw attention to the fact that a certain behavior of the human soul has only been applied to the revelation of the senses. But one can go beyond this arbitrary self-restriction and, apart from the particular case of application, consider the character of scientific activity. This is the basis for speaking here of the knowledge of non-sensible world contents as "scientific". The human mode of imagination wants to work on these world contents in the same way as it works on the scientific world contents in the other case. Secret science aims to detach the scientific mode of research and research attitude, which in its field adheres to the connection and course of sensory facts, from this particular application, but to retain it in its intellectual and other characteristics. It wants to speak about the non-sensible in the same way that natural science speaks about the sensible. While natural science remains in the sensuous with this way of research and thinking, secret science wants to regard the soul's work on nature as a kind of self-education of the soul and apply what it has learned to the non-sensuous realm. It wants to proceed in such a way that it does not speak about sensory phenomena as such, but about the non-sensory contents of the world in the same way as the natural scientist speaks about the sensory ones. It records the mental state of the scientific process within this process, i.e. precisely that through which knowledge of nature first becomes science. It can therefore call itself science.
[ 3 ] Whoever reflects on the significance of natural science in human life will find that this significance cannot be exhausted with the acquisition of knowledge of nature. For these insights can never, ever lead to anything other than an experience of that which the human soul itself is not. The soul does not live in what man recognizes in nature, but in the process of recognition. The soul experiences itself in its activity in nature. What it develops in this activity living is something else than the knowledge of nature itself. It is self-development experienced in the knowledge of nature. The secret science wants to confirm the gain of this self-development in areas that lie beyond mere nature. The secret scientist does not want to misjudge the value of natural science, but to recognize it even better than the natural scientist himself. He knows that he cannot justify science without the rigor of the mode of conception that prevails in natural science. But he also knows that if this rigor is acquired through a genuine penetration into the spirit of scientific thinking, it can be retained by the power of the soul for other areas.
[ 4 ] There is, however, something that can give cause for concern. In the contemplation of nature, the soul is guided by the object under consideration to a much greater extent than in the contemplation of non-sensory world contents. In the latter, it must have the ability to hold on to the essence of the scientific mode of perception to a greater degree out of purely inner impulses. Because very many people unconsciously - believe that this essence can only be held on to by the guiding principle of natural phenomena, they are inclined to decide in favor of it by a power move; as soon as this guiding principle is abandoned, the soul gropes in the void with its scientific procedure. Such people have not made themselves aware of the peculiar nature of this procedure; they usually form their judgment from the aberrations that must arise when the scientific attitude towards natural phenomena is not sufficiently firm and the soul nevertheless wants to set about contemplating the non-sensible world realm. Naturally, much unscientific talk about non-sensible world contents arises. But not because such talk cannot be scientific in nature, but because, in this particular case, it has lacked scientific self-education through the observation of nature.
[ 5 ] Whoever wants to speak of secret science must, however, with regard to what has just been said, have a watchful sense for everything that is misleading that arises when something is made out about the revealed secrets of the world without a scientific attitude. Nevertheless, it would not lead to anything worthwhile if, right at the beginning of secret-scientific explanations, we were to talk about all possible aberrations which, in the souls of prejudiced persons, bring any research in this direction into disregard, because such persons conclude from the existence of truly quite numerous aberrations that the whole endeavor is unjustified. However, since the rejection of secret science by scientists or scientifically-minded judges is usually only based on the above-mentioned power play and the reference to the aberrations is only an - often unconscious - pretext, an argument with such opponents will initially be of little use. After all, nothing prevents them from making the certainly quite justified objection that nothing can determine from the outset whether the solid ground described above is really present in those who believe others to be caught up in error. Therefore, the person striving for a secret science can only simply demonstrate what he believes he is allowed to say. The judgment about his justification can only be formed by others, but also only by those persons who, avoiding all pretensions of power, are able to engage with the nature of his communications about the revealed secrets of world events. It will, however, be incumbent upon him to show how what he has presented relates to other achievements of knowledge and life, what oppositions are possible and to what extent the immediate external sensory reality of life provides confirmation for his observations. But he should never strive to keep his presentation in such a way that it works through his art of persuasion rather than through its content.
[ 6 ] One can often hear the objection to secret scientific explanations: they do not prove what they put forward; they only state one thing or another and say: secret science establishes this. The following explanations are misunderstood if one believes that anything in them is put forward in this sense. What is aimed at here is to allow that which is unfolded in the soul in natural knowledge to develop further in such a way as it can develop according to its own nature, and then to draw attention to the fact that in such development the soul encounters supersensible facts. It is assumed that every reader who is able to respond to what has been said will necessarily come across these facts. There is, however, a difference to the purely scientific view at the moment when one enters the field of spiritual science. In natural science, the facts are present in the field of the sense world; the scientific observer regards the activity of the soul as something that takes a back seat to the connection and course of the sense facts. The spiritual-scientific presenter must place this activity of the soul in the foreground; for the reader only arrives at the facts if he makes this activity of the soul his own in a legitimate way. These facts are not, as in natural science - albeit not understood - also without the soul activity before human perception; rather, they enter into it only through the soul activity. The spiritual-scientific expositor thus presupposes that the reader seeks the facts together with him. His presentation will be such that he tells of the discovery of these facts and that in the way he tells them, not personal arbitrariness, but the scientific sense trained in natural science prevails. He will therefore also be compelled to speak of the means by which one arrives at a contemplation of the non-sensible - the supersensible. - Whoever becomes involved in a secret-scientific presentation will soon realize that through it one acquires conceptions and ideas that one has not had before. In this way one also comes to new thoughts about what one previously thought about the nature of "proof". One learns to recognize that "proof" is something that is, so to speak, brought to the natural sciences from the outside. In spiritual-scientific thinking, however, the activity which the soul turns to proof in scientific thinking already lies in the search for the facts. These cannot be found if the path to them is not already a proving one. Whoever really follows this path has already experienced the end of proof; nothing can be achieved by a proof added from outside. the fact that this is misunderstood in the character of secret science causes many misunderstandings.
[ 7 ] All secret science must sprout from two thoughts that can take root in every human being. For the secret scientist, as he is meant here, these two thoughts express facts that can be experienced if the right means are used. For many people, these thoughts alone represent highly contestable assertions that are much debatable, if not something whose impossibility can be "proven".
[ 8 ] These two thoughts are that behind the visible world there is an invisible world, a world initially hidden to the senses and to thinking bound to these senses, and that it is possible for man to penetrate this hidden world by developing abilities that lie dormant within him.
[ 9 ] Such a hidden world does not exist, says one. The world that man perceives through his senses is the only one. Its riddles can be solved from within it. Even if man is still a long way from being able to answer all the questions of existence, the time will come when sensory experience and the science based on it will be able to provide the answers.
[ 10 ] Others say that one cannot claim that there is not a hidden world behind the visible one; but the human powers of cognition cannot penetrate this world. They have limits that they cannot transcend. The need of "faith" may take refuge in such a world: a true science, based on established facts, cannot deal with such a world.
[ 11 ] A third party is that which regards it as a kind of presumption if man, through his work of knowledge, wants to penetrate into an area in relation to which one should renounce "knowledge" and be content with "faith". The proponents of this opinion consider it an injustice if the weak human being wants to penetrate into a world that can only belong to religious life.
[ 12 ] It is also argued that a common knowledge of the facts of the sensory world is possible for all men, but that with regard to supersensible things only the personal opinion of the individual can come into question and that one should not speak of a generally valid certainty in these things.
[ 13 ] Others claim many other things.
[ 14 ] One can realize that the contemplation of the visible world presents man with riddles which can never be solved from the facts of this world itself. They will not be solved in this way even when the science of these facts has progressed as far as possible. For the visible facts clearly point to a hidden world through their own inner nature. He who does not realize this closes his mind to the mysteries that clearly emerge everywhere from the facts of the sensory world. He does not want to see certain questions and riddles at all; therefore he believes that all questions can be answered by the sensory facts. Those questions which he wants to ask are really all to be answered by the facts which he hopes will be discovered in the future. That can be admitted without further ado. But why should he wait for answers to certain things who asks no questions at all? Those who strive for secret science say nothing other than that such questions are natural to them and that they must be recognized as a fully justified expression of the human soul. Science cannot be confined within limits by forbidding people to ask unbiased questions.
[ 15 ] In response to the opinion that man has limits to his knowledge which he cannot transcend and which force him to stop before an invisible world, it must be said that there can be no doubt at all that one cannot penetrate an invisible world through the kind of knowledge meant there. Whoever considers this mode of cognition to be the only possible one cannot arrive at any other view than that man is denied the possibility of penetrating into any higher world that may exist. But one can also say the following: if it is possible to develop another kind of knowledge, then this can lead into the supersensible world. If one considers such a way of knowing to be impossible, then one arrives at a point of view from which all talk about a supersensible world appears as pure nonsense. In the face of an unbiased judgment, however, there can be no other reason for such an opinion than that the confessor of it is unaware of this other form of knowledge. But how can one judge that of which one claims not to know? Unbiased thinking must confess to the proposition that one speaks only of that which one knows, and that one states nothing about that which one does not know. Such thinking can only speak of the right that someone communicates a thing that he has experienced, but not of a right that someone declares impossible what he does not know or does not want to know. No one can deny the right not to care about the supernatural; but there can never be a real reason for someone to declare himself authoritative not only for what he can know, but also for everything that "a man" cannot know.
[ 16 ] To those who declare it presumptuous to penetrate into the supersensible realm, a secret-scientific view must consider that one can do so and that it is a sin against the abilities given to man if he allows them to become desolate instead of developing them and making use of them.
[ 17 ] But he who believes that views about the supersensible world must belong entirely to personal opinion and feeling denies what is common to all human beings. It is certainly true that everyone must find insight into these things for themselves; it is also a fact that all those people who go far enough do not come to different but to the same insight about these things. The difference only exists as long as people do not want to approach the highest truths on a scientifically proven path, but on that of personal arbitrariness. However, it must be readily conceded again that only those who want to become familiar with the peculiarities of the secret scientific path can recognize its correctness.
[ 18 ] Any person can find the path to secret science at the appropriate time who recognizes or even only suspects or suspects the existence of something hidden from what is revealed, and who is driven by the awareness that the powers of knowledge are capable of development to the feeling that the hidden could reveal itself to him. To a man who is led to the secret science by these experiences of the soul, not only the prospect opens up that he will find the answer to certain questions of his thirst for knowledge, but also the quite different one that he will become the conqueror of everything that hinders and weakens life. And in a certain higher sense it means a weakening of life, indeed a death of the soul, if man sees himself forced to turn away from the supersensible or to deny it. Indeed, under certain conditions it leads to despair when a person loses hope that the hidden will be revealed to him. This death and this despair in their manifold forms are at the same time inner, spiritual opponents of secret scientific endeavor. They occur when man's inner strength fades away. Then all the power of life must be supplied to him from outside, if such power is to come into his possession at all. He then perceives the things, the entities and processes that approach his senses; he dissects them with his intellect. They give him pleasure and pain; they drive him to the actions of which he is capable. He may go on like this for a while, but he must reach a point where he dies inwardly. For whatever can be extracted from the world for man in this way is exhausted. This is not an assertion that comes from the personal experience of an individual, but something that arises from an impartial observation of all human life. What saves us from this exhaustion is what is hidden in the depths of things. If a person's power to descend into these depths in order to constantly draw up new life force dies, then ultimately even the outside of things will no longer be conducive to life.
[ 19 ] The matter is by no means such that it concerns only the individual, only his personal weal and woe. It is precisely through true secret-scientific contemplation that it becomes certain to man that from a higher point of view the weal and woe of the individual is intimately connected with the weal or woe of the whole world. There is a way in which man comes to the realization that he causes harm to the whole world and all beings in it if he does not develop his powers in the right way. If man desolates his life by losing his connection with the supersensible, he not only destroys something within himself, the withering away of which can ultimately lead him to despair, but through his weakness he forms an obstacle to the development of the whole world in which he lives.
[ 20 ] Now man can deceive himself. He can give himself over to the belief that there is no such thing as the hidden, that everything that can possibly exist is already contained in that which approaches his senses and his intellect. But this illusion is only possible for the surface of consciousness, not for its depth. Feeling and desire do not submit to this deceptive belief. They will always long for something hidden in some way. And if this is withdrawn from them, they push people into doubt, into uncertainty about life, even into despair. A recognition that reveals what is hidden is capable of overcoming all hopelessness, all uncertainty in life, all despair, in short everything that weakens life and makes it incapable of the service it needs in the world as a whole.
[ 21 ] This is the beautiful fruit of spiritual scientific knowledge, that it gives strength and stability to life and not only satisfaction to the thirst for knowledge. The source from which such knowledge draws strength for work and confidence for life is inexhaustible. No one who has once truly approached this source will go away unstrengthened by repeated recourse to it.
[ 22 ] There are people who do not want to know about such insights for the reason that they already see something unhealthy in what has just been said. For the surface and the exterior of life, such people are quite right. They do not want what life offers in so-called reality to be stunted. They see a weakness in people turning away from reality and seeking their salvation in a hidden world, which for them is like a fantastic, dreamed-up world. If one does not want to fall into morbid reverie and weakness in such a spiritual-scientific search, then one must recognize the partial justification of such objections. For they are based on a sound judgment, which only leads to a half-truth rather than a whole truth because it does not penetrate into the depths of things, but remains on their surface. - If a supersensible striving for knowledge were to weaken life and cause people to turn away from true reality, then such objections would surely be strong enough to pull the rug out from under this school of thought.
[ 23 ] But even in the face of these opinions, secret scientific endeavors would not go the right way if they wanted to "defend" themselves in the usual sense of the word. Here, too, they can only speak through their value, which is recognizable to every unbiased person, if they make it tangible how they increase the vitality and strength of life for those who live into them in the right sense. These aspirations cannot turn a person into an unworldly person or a dreamer; they empower the person from those sources of life from which he, according to his spiritual and mental part, originates.
[ 24 ] Other obstacles to understanding still lie in the way of many a man when he approaches secret scientific endeavors. It is indeed true in principle that the reader finds in the secret scientific presentation a description of soul experiences, through the pursuit of which he can move towards the supersensible contents of the world. In practice, however, this must be realized as a kind of ideal. The reader must first of all absorb a larger sum of supersensible experiences, which he has not yet experienced himself. This cannot be otherwise and will also be the case with this book. It will describe what the author thinks he knows about the nature of man, about his behavior in birth and death and in the bodiless state in the spiritual world; it will also describe the development of the earth and of humanity. Thus it might seem as if the assumption were being made that a number of supposed insights would be presented like dogmas, for which belief on authority would be demanded. But this is not the case. For what can be known of the supersensible contents of the world lives in the performer as living soul-content; and if one lives into this soul-content, then this living-in kindles the impulses in one's own soul which lead to the corresponding supersensible facts. One lives in a different way when reading spiritual-scientific knowledge than when reading communications of sensory facts. If one reads communications from the sensory world, one reads about them. If, however, one reads messages about supersensible facts in the right sense, one becomes part of the stream of spiritual existence. In taking in the results, one simultaneously takes up one's own inner path. It is true that what is meant here is often not even noticed by the reader at first. One imagines the entry into the spiritual world to be far too similar to a sensory experience, and so one finds that what one experiences when reading about this world is far too thought-like. But in the true mental perception one is already in this world and only has to realize that one has already experienced without noticing what one thought to have received merely as a thought communication. - One will then receive full clarity about the real nature of this experience when one practically carries out what is described in the second (last) part of this book as the "path" to supersensible knowledge. One could easily believe that the reverse is true: this path must be described first. But this is not the case. Anyone who, without directing the soul's gaze to certain facts of the supersensible world, only does "exercises" in order to enter the supersensible world, for him this world remains an indefinite, confusing chaos. One learns to live in this world naively, so to speak, by informing oneself of certain facts about it, and then one gives oneself an account of how - leaving naivety behind - one arrives fully consciously at the experiences of which one has been informed. If one penetrates into secret scientific representations, one will convince oneself that this is the only sure way to supersensible knowledge. One will also realize that all opinions that supersensible knowledge could first act as dogmas, so to speak, through suggestive power, are unfounded. For the content of these insights is acquired in such a soul-life which deprives it of all merely suggestive power and only gives it the possibility of speaking to the other in the same way in which all truths speak to it which are addressed to its prudent judgment. That the other does not at first notice how he lives in the spiritual world is not due to an imprudent suggestive reception, but to the subtlety and the unfamiliarity of what is experienced in reading. - Thus, by first absorbing the messages given in the first part of this book, one first becomes a co-recognizer of the supersensible world; through the practical execution of the soul's actions given in the second part, one becomes an independent recognizer in this world.
[ 25 ] According to the spirit and the true sense, no true scientist will be able to find a contradiction between his science, which is built on the facts of the sensory world, and the way in which the supersensible world is investigated. The scientist uses certain tools and methods. He produces the tools by processing what "nature" gives him. The supersensible way of knowing also makes use of a tool. But this tool is the human being himself. And this tool, too, must first be prepared for higher research. The abilities and powers initially given to him by "nature" without human intervention must be transformed into higher ones. In this way, man can make himself an instrument for the exploration of the supersensible world.