Occult Science - An Outline
GA 13
Preface to the 1913 Edition
[ 1 ] One who sets out to present results of spiritual science such as this book contains must reckon with the certain fact that in wide circles they will be held to be impossible. For in these pages many things are put forward which in our time—supposedly on good philosophic and scientific grounds—are pronounced inaccessible to man's intelligence.
The author can appreciate the weighty reasons leading so many serious thinkers to this conclusion. Therefore again and again he would renew the attempt to show up the misunderstandings underlying the all-too categorical belief that human cognition can never reach into the supersensible worlds.
[ 2 ] Two things come into question here. The first is this: On deeper reflection no human soul can lastingly ignore the fact that the most vital questions about the purpose and meaning of life must be for ever unanswered if there is really no way of access to supersensible worlds. Theoretically we may deceive ourselves about it, but in our heart of hearts we do not share the deception. Those who refuse to listen to the voice of their inmost soul will naturally reject teachings about the supersensible worlds. But there are people—and not a few—who can no longer turn a deaf ear in this direction. They will forever be knocking at the doors which—as the others say—must remain barred and bolted, denying access to things “beyond human comprehension.”
[ 3 ] But there is also the second aspect. The “good philosophic and scientific grounds” above-mentioned are in no way to be underrated, and those who hold to them in earnest deserve to be taken seriously. The writer would not like to be counted among those who lightly disregard the stupendous mental efforts that have been made to define the boundaries to which the human intellect is subject. These efforts cannot be dismissed with a few derogatory phrases. Seen at their best, they have their source in a real striving for knowledge and are worked out with genuine discernment. Nay, more than this. The reasons which have been adduced to show that the kind of knowledge, accepted nowadays as scientific, cannot reach into the supersensible are genuine and in a sense irrefutable.
[ 4 ] People may think it strange that the author should admit all this and yet venture to put forward statements concerning supersensible worlds. It seems almost absurd that one should make however qualified an admission that there are valid reasons for asserting that supersensible worlds are beyond our ken, and yet go on to speak and write about these worlds.
[ 5 ] Yet it is possible to do this, while understanding full well how contradictory it may appear. Not everyone can realize the experiences one undergoes when drawing near the realm of the supersensible with intellectual reflection. For it emerges then that intellectual proofs however cogent, however irrefutable, are not necessarily decisive as to what is real and what is not. In place of theoretical explanations we may here use a comparison. Comparisons, admittedly, have not the force of proof, but they are helpful in explaining.
[ 6 ] In the form in which it works in everyday life, also in ordinary science, human cognition cannot penetrate into the supersensible worlds. This can be cogently proved, and yet there is a level of experience for which the proof has no more real value than if one set out to prove that the unaided eye cannot see the microscopic cells of living organisms or the detailed appearance of far-off heavenly bodies. That our unaided vision cannot reach to the living cells is true and demonstrable, and so it is that our ordinary faculties of cognition cannot reach into the supersensible worlds. Yet the proof that man's unaided sight falls short of the microscopic cells does not preclude their scientific investigation. Must then the proof that his ordinary faculties of cognition cannot reach into the supersensible worlds of necessity preclude the investigation of these worlds?
[ 7 ] We can imagine the feelings this comparison will arouse in many people. Nay, we can sympathize if doubt is felt, whether the one who has recourse to it has any inkling of all the painstaking and searching thought that has gone into these questions. And yet the present author not only realizes it to the full but counts it among the noblest achievements of mankind. To demonstrate that human vision, unaided by optical instruments, cannot see the microscopic cells would be superfluous; to become aware of the nature and scope of human thought by dint of thought itself is an essential task. It is only too understandable if men who have given their lives to this task fail to perceive that the real facts may yet be contrary to their findings. Whereas this preface is certainly not the place to deal with would-be “refutations” of the first edition by most people void of sympathy or understanding—people who even direct their unfounded attacks against the author personally—it must be emphasized all the more strongly that serious philosophic thought, whatever its conclusions, is nowhere belittled in these pages. Any such tendency can only be imputed by those deliberately blind to the spirit in which the book is written.
[ 8 ] Human cognition can be strengthened and enhanced, just as the range of vision of the eye can be. But the ways and means of strengthening the power of cognition are purely spiritual. Inner activities, entirely within the soul—they are described in this book as Meditation and Concentration, or Contemplation. Man's ordinary life of mind and soul is tied to the bodily organs; when duly strengthened and enhanced it becomes free of them. There are prevailing schools of thought to which the very claim will seem nonsensical—a mere outcome of delusion. From their own point of view, they will prove without difficulty that all our mental and psychological life is bound up with the nervous system. The author from his standpoint can appreciate these proofs. He knows how plausible it is to maintain that it is utterly superficial to speak of any life of soul being independent of the body. Those who maintain this will no doubt be convinced that in the inner experiences, alleged to be free of the body, there is still a connection with the nervous system—a hidden connection which the would-be occultist with his “amateurish” science only fails to discern.
[ 9 ] Such are the prevalent habits of thought for which due allowance must be made. They are so diametrically opposed in the main contents of this book that there is generally little prospect of any mutual understanding. In this respect one cannot help wishing for a change of heart in the intellectual and spiritual life of our time. People are far too ready to stigmatize a scientific quest or school of thought as visionary and fantastic merely because they find it radically different from their own. On the other hand, there are undoubtedly many who in our time appreciate the kind of supersensible research presented in this book. They realize that the deeper meaning of life will be revealed not by vague references to the soul, to the “true self,” or the like, but by a study of the genuine results of supersensible research. With due humility, the author is profoundly glad to find a new edition called for after a relatively short interval of time. [ 10 ] He realizes only too clearly how far this edition, too, will fall short of the essential aim—to be the outline of the a world-conception founded on supersensible knowledge. For this edition the entire contents have been worked through again; further elucidations have been attempted and supplementary passages inserted at important points. Often, however the author has been painfully aware of the inadequacy, the excessive rigidity of the only available means of presenting the revelations of supersensible research. Thus it was hardly possible to do more than suggest a way of reaching some idea, some mental picture of what this book has to relate concerning Saturn Sun and Moon evolutions. One aspect of this chapter has been briefly re-cast in the new edition. The real experience of cosmic evolution differs so widely from all our experiences in the realm of sense-perceptible Nature that the description involves a constant struggle to find passably adequate forms of expression. A sympathetic study of this chapter may reveal that the effort has been made to convey by the quality and style of the description what is impossible to express in mere prosaic words. A different style has been used for the Saturn evolution, a different style for Sun evolution, and so on.
[ 11 ] Amplifications and additions to which the author attaches some importance will be found in the second part, dealing with “Knowledge of Higher Worlds”—the way to its attainment. As clear as possible an account has been attempted of what the human soul must do and undergo so as to liberate the powers of cognition from the confines of the sense-world and fit them or the experience of supersensible worlds.
Acquired though it is and must be by inner ways and means—by the inner activity of each one who gains it—the experience has a more than subjective significance. In our descriptions we have tried to make this clear. He who eliminates in his own soul the personal peculiarities which separate him from the World reaches a common realm of experience—a realm which other men are reaching when they too transform their subjective inner life in the true pathway of spiritual development. Only if thus conceived is the real knowledge of supersensible worlds distinguishable from subjective mysticism and the like. The latter might to some extent be said to be the mystic's merely personal concern. The inner spiritual-scientific training here intended aims at objective experiences, the truth of which has to be recognized, no doubt, in an intimate and inner way by every one who has them; yet in this very process they are seen to be universally valid. Here once again, it is admittedly difficult to come to terms with habits of thought widely prevalent in our time.
[ 12 ] In conclusion, the author ventures to express the wish that friendly readers too should take what is here set forth on its own merits. There is a frequent tendency to give a school of thought some venerable name, failing which, its value is somehow depreciated. But it may surely be asked: As to the real contents of this book, what do they gain by being called “Rosicrucian” or given any other label? The essential thing is that with the means that are possible and proper to the human soul in the present epoch, insight be gained into the spiritual worlds, and that the riddles of man's destiny and of his life beyond the frontiers of birth and death be thereby penetrated. What matters is the quest of truth, rather than a quest that claims some ancient title.
[ 13 ] On the other hand, the world-conception presented in this book has been given names and labels by opponents, and with unfriendly intention. Apart from the fact that some of these descriptions—meant to discredit the author—are manifestly absurd and untrue, surely an independent quest of truth deserves to be judged on its merits. It is unworthy to insinuate that it be set aside for its alleged dependence on whatsoever cult or school of thought. Nor does it matter much whether this dependence is the critic's own surmise or he is carelessly repeating an unfounded rumor. Necessary as these few words were, the author has no wish—in the present context—to answer sundry charges and attacks in detail.
Rudolf Steiner
Written in June, 1913
Vorbemerkungen zur 4. Auflage
[ 1 ] Wer es unternimmt, geisteswissenschaftliche Ergebnisse solcher Art darzustellen, wie sie in diesem Buche aufgezeichnet sind, der muss vor allen Dingen damit rechnen, dass diese Art gegenwärtig in weitesten Kreisen als eine unmögliche angesehen wird. Werden doch in den folgenden Ausführungen Dinge gesagt, von welchen ein in unserer Zeit als streng geltendes Denken behauptet, dass sie «für menschliche Intelligenz vermutlich überhaupt unentscheidbar bleiben». Wer die Gründe kennt und zu würdigen weiß, welche manche ernste Persönlichkeit dazu führen, solche Unmöglichkeit zu behaupten, der möchte immer wieder von neuem den Versuch machen, zu zeigen, auf welchen Missverständnissen der Glaube beruht, dass dem menschlichen Erkennen ein Eindringen in die übersinnlichen Welten versagt sei.
[ 2 ] Denn zweierlei liegt vor. Erstens wird sich auf die Dauer keine menschliche Seele bei tieferem Nachdenken vor der Tatsache verschließen können, dass ihre wichtigsten Fragen nach Sinn und Bedeutung des Lebens unbeantwortet bleiben müssten, wenn es einen Zugang zu übersinnlichen Welten nicht gäbe. Man kann sich theoretisch über diese Tatsache hinwegtäuschen; die Tiefen des Seelenlebens gehen aber mit dieser Selbsttäuschung nicht mit. — Wer auf diese Seelentiefen nicht hinhören will, der wird Ausführungen über die übersinnlichen Welten naturgemäß ablehnen. Doch gibt es eben Menschen, deren Zahl wahrhaft nicht gering ist, welche unmöglich sich taub gegen die Forderungen dieser Tiefen verhalten können. Sie müssen stets an die Pforten klopfen, welche nach der Meinung der anderen das «Unfassbare» verschließen.
[ 3 ] Zweitens, es sind die Darlegungen des «strengen Denkens» keineswegs gering zu achten. Wer sich mit ihnen beschäftigt, der wird da, wo sie ernst zu nehmen sind, diesen Ernst durchaus mitfühlen. Der Schreiber dieses Buches möchte nicht als ein solcher angesehen werden, der leichten Herzens sich hinwegsetzt über die gewaltige Gedankenarbeit, die aufgewendet worden ist, um die Grenzen des menschlichen Intellektes zu bestimmen. Diese Gedankenarbeit lässt sich nicht abtun mit einigen Redensarten über «Schulweisheit» und dergleichen. So wie sie in vielen Fällen auftritt, hat sie ihren Quell in wahrem Ringen der Erkenntnis und in echtem Scharfsinn. — Ja, es soll noch vielmehr zugegeben werden: es sind Gründe dafür vorgebracht worden, dass diejenige Erkenntnis, welche gegenwärtig als wissenschaftlich gilt, nicht in die übersinnlichen Welten vordringen kann, und diese Gründe sind in gewissem Sinne unwiderleglich.
[ 4 ] Weil dies von dem Schreiber dieses Buches ohne weiteres selbst zugegeben wird, deshalb kann es manchem ganz sonderbar erscheinen, dass er es nun doch unternimmt, Ausführungen zu machen, die sich auf übersinnliche Welten beziehen. Es scheint ja fast ausgeschlossen zu sein, dass jemand die Gründe für die Unerkennbarkeit der übersinnlichen Welten in gewissem Sinne gelten lässt und dennoch von diesen übersinnlichen Welten spricht.
[ 5 ] Und doch kann man sich so verhalten. Und man kann zugleich begreifen, dass dieses Verhalten als widerspruchsvoll empfunden wird. Es lässt sich eben nicht jedermann auf die Erfahrungen ein, welche man macht, wenn man mit dem menschlichen Verstande an das übersinnliche Gebiet heranrückt. Da stellt sich heraus, dass die Beweise dieses Verstandes wohl unwiderleglich sein können; und dass sie trotz ihrer Unwiderleglichkeit für die Wirklichkeit nicht entscheidend zu sein brauchen. Statt aller theoretischen Auseinandersetzungen sei hier versucht, durch einen Vergleich eine Verständigung herbeizuführen. Dass Vergleiche selbst nicht beweisend sind, wird dabei ohne weiteres zugegeben; doch hindert dies nicht, dass sie oft verständlich machen, was ausgedrückt werden soll.
[ 6 ] Das menschliche Erkennen, so wie es im alltäglichen Leben und in der gewöhnlichen Wissenschaft arbeitet, ist wirklich so beschaffen, dass es in die übersinnlichen Welten nicht eindringen kann. Dies ist unwiderleglich zu beweisen; allein dieser Beweis kann für eine gewisse Art des Seelenlebens keinen anderen Wert haben als derjenige, welchen jemand unternehmen wollte, um zu zeigen, dass das natürliche Auge des Menschen mit seinem Sehvermögen nicht bis zu den kleinen Zellen eines Lebewesens oder bis zur Beschaffenheit ferner Himmelskörper vordringen kann. So richtig und beweisbar die Behauptung ist: das gewöhnliche Sehvermögen dringt nicht bis zu den Zellen, so richtig und beweisbar ist die andere, dass das gewöhnliche Erkennen nicht in die übersinnlichen Welten eindringen könne. Und doch entscheidet der Beweis, dass das gewöhnliche Sehvermögen vor den Zellen haltmachen muss, nichts gegen die Erforschung der Zellen. Warum sollte der Beweis, dass das gewöhnliche Erkenntnisvermögen vor den übersinnlichen Welten haltmachen muss, etwas gegen die Erforschung dieser Welten entscheiden?
[ 7 ] Man kann die Empfindung fühlen, welche mancher bei diesem Vergleiche haben muss. Man kann selbst mitempfinden, wenn gezweifelt wird, dass jemand den ganzen Ernst der erwähnten Gedankenarbeit auch nur ahnt, der dieser Arbeit mit einem solchen Vergleich entgegentritt. Und doch ist derjenige, welcher dieses schreibt, von diesem Ernste nicht nur durchdrungen, sondern er ist der Ansicht, dass diese Gedankenarbeit zu den edelsten Leistungen der Menschheit zählt. Zu beweisen, dass das menschliche Sehvermögen nicht ohne Bewaffnung zu den Zellen gelangen könne, wäre allerdings ein unnötiges Beginnen; in strengem Denken sich der Natur dieses Denkens bewusst werden, ist notwendige Geistesarbeit. Dass derjenige, welcher sich solcher Arbeit hingibt, nicht bemerkt, dass die Wirklichkeit ihn widerlegen kann, ist nur allzu verständlich. So wenig in den Vorbemerkungen zu diesem Buche der Platz sein kann, auf manche «Widerlegungen» der ersten Auflagen von seiten solcher Persönlichkeiten einzugehen, denen alles Verständnis für das Erstrebte abgeht oder welche ihre unwahren Angriffe auf die Person des Verfassers richten, so sehr muss betont werden, dass in dem Buche eine Unterschätzung ernster wissenschaftlicher Denkerarbeit nur der vermuten kann, der sich vor der Gesinnung der Ausführungen verschließen will.
[ 8 ] Das Erkennen des Menschen kann verstärkt, erkraftet werden, wie das Sehvermögen des Auges verstärkt werden kann. Nur sind die Mittel zur Erkraftung des Erkennens durchaus von geistiger Art; sie sind innere, rein seelische Verrichtungen. Sie bestehen in dem, was in diesem Buche als Meditation, Konzentration (Kontemplation) beschrieben wird. Das gewöhnliche Seelenleben ist an die Werkzeuge des Leibes gebunden; das erkraftete Seelenleben macht sich davon frei. Es gibt Gedankenrichtungen der Gegenwart, für welche eine solche Behauptung ganz unsinnig erscheinen muss, für welche sie nur auf Selbsttäuschung beruhen muss. Solche Gedankenrichtungen werden es von ihrem Gesichtspunkte aus leicht finden, nachzuweisen, wie «alles Seelenleben» an das Nervensystem gebunden sei. Wer auf dem Standpunkte steht, von dem aus dieses Buch geschrieben ist, der versteht durchaus solche Beweise. Er versteht die Menschen, welche sagen, es könne nur Oberflächlichkeit behaupten, dass man irgendein vom Leibe unabhängiges Seelenleben haben könne. Welche ganz davon überzeugt sind, dass für solche Seelenerlebnisse ein Zusammenhang mit dem Nervenleben vorliegt, den «geisteswissenschaftlicher Dilettantismus» nur nicht durchschaut.
[ 9 ] Hier stehen demjenigen, was in diesem Buche geschildert wird, gewisse — durchaus begreifliche — Denkgewohnheiten so schroff gegenüber, dass mit vielen eine Verständigung gegenwärtig noch ganz aussichtslos ist. Man steht hier eben vor dem Punkte, an welchem sich der Wunsch geltend machen muss, dass es in der Gegenwart dem Geistesleben nicht mehr entsprechen sollte, eine Forschungsrichtung sogleich als Phantasterei, Träumerei usw. zu verketzern, die schroff von der eigenen abweicht. — Auf der andern Seite steht aber doch schon gegenwärtig die Tatsache, dass für die übersinnliche Forschungsart, wie sie auch in diesem Buche dargestellt wird, eine Anzahl von Menschen Verständnis haben. Menschen, welche einsehen, dass der Sinn des Lebens sich nicht in allgemeinen Redensarten über Seele, Selbst usw. enthüllt, sondern nur durch das wirkliche Eingehen auf die Ergebnisse der übersinnlichen Forschung sich ergeben kann. Nicht aus Unbescheidenheit, sondern in freudiger Befriedigung wird von dem Verfasser dieses Buches tief empfunden die Notwendigkeit dieser vierten Auflage nach verhältnismäßig kurzer Zeit.
[ 10 ] Um in Unbescheidenheit dies zu betonen, dazu fühlt der Verfasser nur allzudeutlich, wie wenig auch die neue Auflage dem entspricht, was sie als «Umriss einer übersinnlichen Weltanschauung» eigentlich sein sollte. Noch einmal wurde zur Neuauflage das Ganze durchgearbeitet, viele Ergänzungen wurden an wichtigen Stellen eingefügt, Verdeutlichungen wurden angestrebt. Doch fühlbar wurde dem Verfasser an zahlreichen Stellen, wie spröde sich die Mittel der ihm zugänglichen Darstellung erweisen gegenüber dein, was die übersinnliche Forschung zeigt. So konnte kaum mehr als ein Weg gezeigt werden, um zu Vorstellungen zu gelangen, welche in dem Buche für Saturn-, Sonnen-, Mondenentwicklung gegeben werden. Ein wichtiger Gesichtspunkt ist in dieser Auflage auch auf diesem Gebiete in Kürze neu behandelt worden. Doch weichen die Erlebnisse in bezug auf solche Dinge so sehr von allen Erlebnissen auf dem Sinnesgebiete ab, dass die Darstellung ein fortwährendes Ringen nach einem nur einigermaßen genügend scheinenden Ausdruck notwendig macht. Wer auf den hier gemachten Versuch der Darstellung einzugehen willens ist, wird vielleicht bemerken, dass manches, was dem trockenen Worte zu sagen unmöglich ist, durch die Art der Schilderung erstrebt wird. Diese ist anders zum Beispiel bei der Saturn-, anders bei der Sonnenusw. Entwicklung.
[ 11 ] Viele dem Verfasser des Buches wichtig erscheinende Ergänzungen und Erweiterungen erfuhr in der neuen Auflage der zweite Teil des Buches, welcher von der «Erkenntnis der höheren Welten» handelt. Es lag das Bestreben vor, die Art der inneren Seelenvorgänge anschaulich darzustellen, durch welche die Erkenntnis von ihren in der Sinnenwelt vorhandenen Grenzen sich befreit und sich für das Erleben der übersinnlichen Welt geeignet macht. Versucht wurde zu zeigen, dass dieses Erleben, obwohl es durch ganz innerliche Mittel und Wege erworben wird, doch nicht eine bloß subjektive Bedeutung für den einzelnen Menschen hat, der es erwirbt. Es sollte aus der Darstellung hervorgehen, dass innerhalb der Seele deren Einzelheit und persönliche Besonderheit abgestreift und ein Erleben erreicht wird, das jeder Mensch in der gleichen Art hat, der eben in rechter Art die Entwicklung aus seinen subjektiven Erlebnissen heraus bewirkt. Erst wenn die «Erkenntnis der übersinnlichen Welten» mit diesem Charakter gedacht wird, vermag man sie zu unterscheiden von allen Erlebnissen bloß subjektiver Mystik usw. Von solcher Mystik kann man wohl sagen, dass sie mehr oder weniger doch eine subjektive Angelegenheit des Mystikers ist. Die geisteswissenschaftliche Seelenschulung, wie sie hier gemeint ist, strebt aber nach solchen objektiven Erlebnissen, deren Wahrheit zwar ganz innerlich erkannt wird, die aber doch gerade deshalb in ihrer Allgemeingültigkeit durchschaut werden. — Auch hier ist ja wieder ein Punkt, an dem eine Verständigung mit manchen Denkgewohnheiten unserer Zeit recht schwierig ist.
[ 12 ] Zum Schlusse möchte der Verfasser des Buches die Bemerkung machen, dass auch von Wohlmeinenden diese Ausführungen als das hingenommen werden mögen, als was sie sich durch ihren eigenen Inhalt geben. Es herrscht heute vielfach das Bestreben, dieser oder jener Geistesrichtung diesen oder jenen alten Namen zu geben. Dadurch scheint sie manchem erst wertvoll. Es darf aber gefragt werden: was sollen die Ausführungen dieses Buches dadurch gewinnen, dass man sie als «rosenkreuzerisch» oder dergleichen bezeichnet? Worauf es ankommt, ist, dass hier mit den Mitteln, welche in der gegenwärtigen Entwicklungsperiode der Seele möglich und dieser angemessen sind, ein Einblick in die übersinnlichen Welten versucht wird, und dass von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus die Rätsel des menschlichen Schicksals und des menschlichen Daseins über die Grenzen von Geburt undTod hinaus betrachtet werden. Es soll sich nicht handeln um ein Streben, welches diesen oder jenen alten Namen trägt, sondern um ein Streben nach Wahrheit.
[ 13 ] Auf der andern Seite sind auch in gegnerischer Absicht Bezeichnungen für die in dem Buche dargestellte Weltanschauung gebraucht worden. Abgesehen davon, dass diejenigen, mit welchen man den Verfasser hat am schwersten treffen und diskreditieren wollen, absurd und objektiv unwahr sind, charakterisieren sich solche Bezeichnungen in ihrer Unwürdigkeit dadurch, dass sie ein völlig unabhängiges Wahrheitsstreben herabsetzen, indem sie es nicht aus sich selbst beurteilen, sondern die von ihnen erfundene oder grundlos übernommene und weiter getragene Abhängigkeit von dieser oder jener Richtung andern als Urteil beibringen wollen. So notwendig diese Worte angesichts mancher Angriffe gegen den Verfasser sind, so widerstrebt es diesem doch, an diesem Orte auf die Sache weiter einzugehen.
Geschrieben im Juni 1913
Rudolf Steiner
Preliminary remarks on the 4th edition
[ 1 ] Whoever undertakes to present results of the humanities of the kind recorded in this book must above all reckon with the fact that this kind is currently regarded as impossible in the widest circles. After all, the following explanations say things that are claimed to be "probably undecidable for human intelligence at all" by what is considered strict thinking in our time. Anyone who knows and appreciates the reasons that lead some serious personalities to assert such impossibilities would like to try again and again to show the misunderstandings on which the belief is based that human cognition is denied penetration into the supersensible worlds.
[ 2 ] Because there are two things. Firstly, in the long run, no human soul will be able to close itself off from the fact that its most important questions about the meaning and significance of life would have to remain unanswered if there were no access to supersensible worlds. Theoretically, one can deceive oneself about this fact, but the depths of the soul's life do not go along with this self-deception. - Anyone who does not want to listen to these depths of the soul will naturally reject explanations about the supersensible worlds. But there are people, whose number is truly not small, who cannot possibly remain deaf to the demands of these depths. They must always knock at the gates which, in the opinion of others, close the "incomprehensible".
[ 3 ] Secondly, the arguments of "strict thinking" are by no means to be disregarded. Anyone who engages with them will, where they are to be taken seriously, certainly sympathize with this seriousness. The author of this book does not wish to be seen as someone who light-heartedly ignores the enormous amount of thought that has gone into determining the limits of the human intellect. This work of thought cannot be dismissed with a few phrases about "school wisdom" and the like. As it appears in many cases, it has its source in a true struggle for knowledge and in genuine ingenuity. - Indeed, it should be admitted even more: reasons have been put forward for the fact that the knowledge which is currently considered scientific cannot penetrate into the supersensible worlds, and these reasons are in a certain sense irrefutable.
[ 4 ] Because this is readily admitted by the writer of this book himself, it may seem quite strange to some that he now undertakes to make statements that refer to supersensible worlds. After all, it seems almost impossible that someone could accept the reasons for the unknowability of the supersensible worlds in a certain sense and still speak of these supersensible worlds.
[ 5 ] And yet one can behave in this way. And at the same time, we can understand that this behavior is perceived as contradictory. Not everyone accepts the experiences that one has when one approaches the supernatural realm with the human mind. It turns out that the evidence of this understanding can be irrefutable and that, despite its irrefutability, it need not be decisive for reality. Instead of all theoretical arguments, an attempt is made here to bring about an understanding through a comparison. It is readily admitted that comparisons themselves are not conclusive; however, this does not prevent them from often making comprehensible what is to be expressed.
[ 6 ] Human cognition, as it works in everyday life and in ordinary science, is really so constituted that it cannot penetrate into the supersensible worlds. This is irrefutably provable; but this proof can have no other value for a certain kind of soul-life than that which someone would undertake to show that the natural eye of man cannot penetrate with its vision to the small cells of a living being or to the constitution of distant celestial bodies. As correct and provable as the assertion is that ordinary sight does not penetrate to the cells, so correct and provable is the other assertion that ordinary cognition cannot penetrate into the supersensible worlds. And yet the proof that ordinary vision must stop at the cells does not decide anything against the exploration of the cells. Why should the proof that ordinary cognition must stop at the supersensible worlds decide anything against the exploration of these worlds?
[ 7 ] You can feel the emotion that some people must have when making this comparison. One can even sympathize if one doubts that someone who confronts this work with such a comparison even suspects the full seriousness of the thought work mentioned. And yet the person who writes this is not only imbued with this seriousness, but is of the opinion that this work of thought is one of the noblest achievements of mankind. To prove that human vision cannot reach the cells without armament would, however, be an unnecessary beginning; to become aware of the nature of this thinking through rigorous thinking is necessary intellectual work. It is all too understandable that those who devote themselves to such work do not realize that reality can disprove them. As little space as there may be in the preliminary remarks to this book to go into some of the "refutations" of the first editions by personalities who lack all understanding for what they are striving for or who direct their untrue attacks at the person of the author, it must be emphasized that only those who want to close their minds to the spirit of the explanations can suspect an underestimation of serious scientific thinking in the book.
[ 8 ] Man's cognition can be strengthened, strengthened, just as the eye's vision can be strengthened. But the means of strengthening cognition are of a spiritual nature; they are inner, purely spiritual processes. They consist in what is described in this book as meditation, concentration (contemplation). The ordinary life of the soul is bound to the tools of the body; the enlightened life of the soul frees itself from them. There are schools of thought in the present for which such an assertion must appear quite nonsensical, for which it must be based only on self-deception. Such schools of thought will find it easy from their point of view to prove how "all soul life" is bound to the nervous system. Those who stand on the point of view from which this book is written will certainly understand such proofs. He understands the people who say that only superficiality can claim that one can have any soul life independent of the body. Those who are completely convinced that there is a connection with the nervous life for such soul experiences, which "spiritual-scientific dilettantism" just does not see through.
[ 9 ] Here, certain - quite understandable - habits of thought are so abruptly opposed to what is described in this book that an understanding with many is currently still quite hopeless. Here we are at the point where the wish must assert itself that it should no longer be in keeping with contemporary intellectual life to immediately denounce a line of research as fantasy, dreaming, etc., which differs sharply from one's own. - On the other hand, however, there is already the fact that a number of people have an understanding for the supersensible way of research, as it is also presented in this book. People who realize that the meaning of life is not revealed in general phrases about the soul, the self, etc., but can only emerge by really entering into the results of supersensible research. Not out of immodesty, but in joyful satisfaction, the author of this book deeply feels the necessity of this fourth edition after a relatively short time.
[ 10 ] To emphasize this in immodesty, the author feels all too clearly how little the new edition corresponds to what it should actually be as an "outline of a supersensible world view". For the new edition, the whole thing was worked through once again, many additions were made in important places, clarifications were sought. However, the author realized in many places how brittle the means of presentation available to him proved to be compared to what supersensible research shows. Thus hardly more than one way could be shown to arrive at the ideas given in the book for the development of Saturn, the sun and the moon. An important aspect in this field has also been dealt with briefly in this edition. However, the experiences with regard to such things differ so much from all experiences in the sensory field that the presentation requires a continuous struggle for an expression that seems only somewhat adequate. Whoever is willing to enter into the attempt at description made here will perhaps notice that much that is impossible to say in dry words is achieved through the manner of description. This is different, for example, in the case of Saturn, and different in the case of the sun, etc. development.
[ 11 ] In the new edition, the second part of the book, which deals with the "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds", underwent many additions and extensions that seemed important to the author of the book. The aim was to illustrate the nature of the inner processes of the soul through which cognition frees itself from the limitations of the sensory world and makes itself suitable for experiencing the supersensible world. An attempt was made to show that this experience, although it is acquired through entirely inner means and ways, does not have a merely subjective meaning for the individual person who acquires it. It should emerge from the description that within the soul its individuality and personal particularity is stripped away and an experience is achieved that every human being has in the same way, who brings about the development out of his subjective experiences in the right way. Only when the "knowledge of the supersensible worlds" is conceived with this character is it possible to distinguish it from all experiences of merely subjective mysticism, etc. Of such mysticism it can be said that it is more or less a subjective matter of the mystic. The spiritual-scientific training of the soul, as it is meant here, however, strives for such objective experiences, the truth of which is recognized completely inwardly, but which are nevertheless seen through in their universal validity for this very reason. - This is another point where it is quite difficult to come to an understanding with some of the habits of thought of our time.<
[ 12 ] In conclusion, the author of this book would like to make the remark that even well-meaning people may accept these statements for what they are due to their own content. Today there is often an effort to give this or that school of thought this or that old name. This makes it seem valuable to some. However, it may be asked: what should the explanations in this book gain by calling them "Rosicrucian" or something similar? What matters is that an insight into the supersensible worlds is attempted here with the means that are possible and appropriate to the soul's present period of development, and that from this point of view the riddles of human destiny and human existence are considered beyond the boundaries of birth and death. It should not be a quest that bears this or that old name, but a quest for truth.
[ 13 ] On the other hand, terms have also been used in opposition to the worldview presented in the book. Apart from the fact that those with which the author has been most severely targeted and discredited are absurd and objectively untrue, such terms are characterized in their unworthiness by the fact that they disparage a completely independent striving for truth by not judging it from within themselves, but by wanting to impose on others as a judgment the dependence on this or that direction that they have invented or gratuitously adopted and carried on. As necessary as these words are in view of some of the attacks against the author, he is nevertheless reluctant to go into the matter further here.
Written in June 1913
Rudolf Steiner