The Threshold of the Spiritual World
GA 17
II. Concerning Knowledge of the Spiritual World
[ 1 ] Comprehension of the facts stated by spiritual science is made easier, if in the ordinary life of the soul attention be given to that which gives rise to ideas capable of such enlargement and transformation that they gradually reach as far as the events and beings of the spiritual world. And unless this path be followed with patience we shall easily be tempted to picture the spiritual world too much like the physical world of the senses. Indeed, unless we follow this path we shall not be able to form a just conception of what is actually spiritual, and of its relation to man.
[ 2 ] Spiritual events and beings crowd in upon man when he has prepared his soul to perceive them. The way in which they announce themselves is absolutely different from the way in which physical beings and facts do so. But an idea of this entirely different way of manifesting may be gained if the process of remembering be called to mind. Let us suppose we had an experience some time ago. At a definite moment—from one cause or another—this experience emerges from the depths of psychic life. We know that what so emerges corresponds to an experience, and we relate it to that experience. But at the moment of remembrance there is nothing of the experience present but only its image in the memory. Now let us imagine an image rising up in the soul in the same way as does a picture of memory yet expressing, not something previously experienced but something unfamiliar to the soul. If we do this, we have formed an idea of the way in which the spiritual world first makes its appearance in the soul, when the latter is sufficiently prepared for it.
[ 3 ] Because this is so, one who is not sufficiently conversant with the conditions of the spiritual world will be perpetually bringing forward the objection that all “presumed” spiritual experiences are nothing else than more or less indistinct images of the memory, and that the soul merely does not recognise them as such and therefore takes them to be manifestations of a spiritual world. Now it should on no account be denied that it is difficult to distinguish between illusions and realities in this sphere. Many people who believe they have manifestations from a spiritual world are certainly only occupied with their own memories, which they do not recognise as such. In order to see quite clearly in this respect, it is necessary to be informed of those numerous sources from which illusion may arise. We may have seen, for instance, something only once and for a moment, seen it so hastily that the impression did not penetrate completely into the consciousness; and later—perhaps in a quite different form—it may appear as a vivid picture. We possibly feel convinced that we never had anything to do with the matter before, and that we have had a genuine inspiration.
[ 4 ] This and many other things make it quite comprehensible that the statements made by those who have supersensible sight appear extremely questionable to those unacquainted with the special nature of spiritual science. But one who pays careful heed to all that is said in my books, The Way of Initiation and Initiation and its Results, about the development of spiritual sight, will be put in the way of being able to distinguish between illusion and truth in this sphere.
[ 5 ] In this connection, however, the following should also be noted. It is true that spiritual experiences appear in the first place as pictures. It is thus that they rise out of the depths of the soul that is prepared for them. It is then a question of gaining the right relation to these pictures. They only have value for supersensible perception when, by the way in which they present themselves, they show that they are not to be taken for the facts themselves. Directly they are so taken, they are worth little more than ordinary dreams. They must present themselves to us like the letters of an alphabet. We do not look at the shape of the letters, but read in them what it is desired to express by their means. Just as something written does not call upon us to describe the form of the letters, so the images forming the content of supersensible sight do not call upon us to apprehend them as anything but images ; but by their own character they force us to look right through their pictured form and direct our soul's gaze to that which, as a supersensible event or being, is endeavouring to express itself through them.
[ 6 ] As little as a person on hearing that a letter contains news previously unknown can deny the possibility of this fact on account of the well-known character of the letters of the alphabet of which it is composed, so little can anybody object to clairvoyant pictures being formed out of well-known objects taken from ordinary life.
It is certainly true, up to a certain point, that the pictures are borrowed from ordinary life, but what is so borrowed is not the important thing to genuine clairvoyant consciousness. The important point is what lies behind and expresses itself through the pictures.
[ 7 ] The soul must, of course, first prepare itself for seeing such images appear within its spiritual horizon; but, besides this, it must carefully cultivate the feeling of not stopping short at merely seeing them, but of relating them in the right way to the facts of the supersensible world. It may be said positively that for true clairvoyance there is required not only the capacity for beholding a world of images in oneself, but another faculty as well, which may be compared with reading in the physical world.
[ 8 ] The supersensible world is at first to be looked upon as something lying wholly outside man's ordinary consciousness, which has no means of penetrating into that world. The powers of the soul, strengthened by meditation, first bring it into contact with the supersensible world. By means of these the pictures that have been described emerge from the wave of the soul's life. As pictures these are woven entirely by the soul itself. And the materials of which they are made are actually the forces which the soul has acquired for itself in the physical world. The fabric of the pictures is really nothing else but what may be characterised as memory. The clearer we make this to ourselves, in order to understand clairvoyant consciousness, the better. We shall in that case clearly understand that they are but images. And we shall also be cultivating a right understanding of the way in which the images are to be related to the supersensible world. Through the pictures we shall learn to read in the supersensible world. The impressions of the physical world naturally bring us much nearer to the beings and events of that world than the images seen supersensibly bring us to the supersensible world. We might even say that these images are at first like a curtain put up by the soul between it and the supersensible world, when it feels itself to be in contact with that world.
[ 9 ] It is a question of becoming gradually familiar with the way in which supersensible things are experienced. Through experience we learn by degrees to read the images, that is, to interpret them correctly. In more important supersensible experiences, their very nature shows that we cannot here have to do with mere pictures of memory from ordinary life. It is indeed true that in this connection many absurd things are asserted by people who have been convinced of certain supersensible facts, or at any rate think they have been. Many people, for instance, when convinced of the truth of reincarnation, at once connect the pictures which arise in their soul with experiences of a former earth-life; but one should always be suspicious when these pictures seem to point to previous earth-lives which are similar in one respect or another to the present one, or which make their appearance in such a way that the present life can, by reasoning, be plausibly explained from the supposed earlier lives. When, in the course of genuine supersensible experience, the true impression of a former earth-life, or of several such lives, appears, it generally happens that the former life or lives are such that we could never have fashioned them or have desired to fashion them in thought by any amount of thinking back from the present life, or out of any wishes and efforts in connection with it. We may, for instance, receive an impression of our former earth existence at some moment during our present life when it is quite impossible to acquire certain faculties, which we had during that former life. So far from its being the case that images appear for the more important spiritual experiences which might be memories of ordinary life, the pictures for these are generally such as we should not have thought of at all in ordinary experience. This tendency increases with real impressions the more purely supersensible the worlds become from which they issue. Thus it is often quite impossible to form images from ordinary life explanatory of the existence between birth and the preceding death. We may find out that in the spiritual life we have developed affection for people and things in complete contrast with the corresponding inclinations we are developing in the present life on earth; and we learn that in our earth-life we have often been driven to be fond of something which in the previous spiritual existence (between death and rebirth) we have rejected and avoided. Any memory of this existence which might be imagined to result from ordinary physical experiences must therefore necessarily be different from the impression we receive through real perception in the spiritual world.
[ 10 ] One who is not familiar with spiritual science will certainly make further objections against things being in reality as they have just been described. He will be able to say, for instance: “You are indeed fond of something, but human nature is complicated, and secret antipathy is mixed up with every affection. This antipathy to the thing referred to comes up in you at a particular moment. You think it is a prenatal experience, whereas it may perhaps be quite naturally explained from the subconscious psychic facts of the case.” In general there is nothing to be said against such an objection; and in many cases it may be quite correct. Knowledge of clairvoyant consciousness is not easily gained, nor is it without the possibility of objections. But just as it is true that a supposed clairvoyant may be mistaken and regard a subconscious fact as an experience of prenatal spirit-life, so it is also true that a training in spiritual science leads to a knowledge of self which embraces subconscious states of soul and is able to free itself from any illusions with regard to them. Here it need only be asserted that that supersensible knowledge alone is true which at the moment of cognition is able to distinguish what originates from supersensible worlds from that which has merely been shaped by individual imagination. This faculty of discernment becomes so developed by familiarity with supersensible worlds, that perception may in this sphere be as certainly distinguished from imagination, as in the physical world hot iron which is touched with the finger may be distinguished from imaginary hot iron.
Von dem Erkennen der geistigen Welt
[ 1 ] Die Einsicht in die Ergebnisse der Geisteswissenschaft wird erleichtert, wenn man im gewöhnlichen Seelenleben dasjenige ins Auge faßt, was Begriffe gibt, die sich so erweitern und umbilden lassen, daß sie allmählich an die Vorgänge und Wesenheiten der geistigen Welt heranreichen. Wählt man nicht mit Geduld diesen Weg, so wird man leicht versucht sein, die geistige Welt viel zu ähnlich der physischen oder sinnlichen vorzustellen. Ja man wird ohne diesen Weg nicht einmal dies zustande bringen, eine zutreffende Vorstellung von dem Geistigen selbst und seinem Verhältnisse zum Menschen sich zu bilden.
[ 2 ] Die geistigen Ereignisse und Wesenheiten dringen an den Menschen heran, wenn er seine Seele dazu bereitet hat, sie wahrzunehmen. Die Art, wie sie herandringen, ist durchaus verschieden von dem Auftreten physischer Tatsachen und Wesenheiten. Man kann aber eine Vorstellung von diesem ganz andersartigen Auftreten gewinnen, wenn man den Vorgang der Erinnerung sich vor die Seele stellt. - Man hat vor mehr oder weniger langer Zeit etwas erlebt. Es taucht in einem bestimmten Augenblicke - durch diesen oder jenen Anlaß - aus dem Untergrunde des Seelen-Erlebens herauf. Man weiß, daß das so Aufgetauchte einem Erlebnis entspricht; und man bezieht es auf dieses Ereignis. In dem Augenblick der Erinnerung hat man aber gegenwärtig von dem Erlebnis nichts anderes als das Erinnerungsbild. - Man denke sich nun in der Seele auftauchend ein Bild in solcher Art, wie ein Erinnerungsbild ist, doch so, daß dies Bild nicht etwas vorher Erlebtes, sondern etwas der Seele Fremdes ausdrückt. Man hat sich damit eine Vorstellung davon gebildet, wie in der Seele die geistige Welt zunächst auftritt, wenn diese Seele genügend dazu vorbereitet ist.
[ 3 ] Weil dies so ist, wird derjenige, welcher mit den Verhältnissen der geistigen Welt nicht genügend vertraut ist, stets mit dem Einwand herantreten, daß alle «vermeintlichen» geistigen Erlebnisse nichts weiter seien als mehr oder weniger undeutliche Erinnerungsbilder, welche die Seele nur nicht als solche erkennt und sie daher für Offenbarungen einer geistigen Welt halten kann. Nun soll durchaus nicht geleugnet werden, daß die Unterscheidung von Illusionen und Wirklichkeiten auf diesem Gebiete eine schwierige ist. Viele Menschen, welche glauben, Wahrnehmungen aus einer übersinnlichen Welt zu haben, sind ja gewiß nur mit ihren Erinnerungsbildern beschäftigt, die sie nur nicht als solche erkennen. Um hier ganz klar zu sehen, muß man von vielem unterrichtet sein, was Quell von Illusionen werden kann. Man braucht zum Beispiel etwas nur einmal flüchtig gesehen zu haben, so flüchtig, daß der Eindruck gar nicht in das Bewußtsein voll eingedrungen ist; und es kann später - vielleicht sogar ganz verändert - als lebhaftes Bild auftreten. Man wird versichern, daß man mit der Sache niemals etwas zu tun gehabt habe, daß man eine wirkliche Eingebung habe.
[ 4 ] Dies und vieles andere läßt durchaus begreiflich erscheinen, daß die Angaben des übersinnlichen Schauens denjenigen höchst fragwürdig erscheinen, welche mit der Eigenart der Geisteswissenschaft nicht vertraut sind. - Wer sorgfältig alles beachtet, was in meiner Schrift «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» über die Heranbildung des geistigen Schauens gesagt ist, der wird wohl in die Möglichkeit versetzt, auf diesem Gebiete Illusion und Wahrheit zu unterscheiden.
[ 5 ] Es darf aber in bezug darauf auch noch das folgende gesagt werden. Die geistigen Erlebnisse treten zunächst allerdings als Bilder auf. Sie steigen aus den Untergründen der dazu vorbereiteten Seele als solche Bilder herauf. Es kommt nun darauf an, zu diesen Bildern das richtige Verhältnis zu gewinnen. Sie haben Wert für die übersinnliche Wahrnehmung erst dann, wenn sie durch die ganze Art, wie sie sich geben, gar nicht an und für sich selbst genommen sein wollen. Sobald sie so genommen werden, sind sie kaum mehr wert als gewöhnliche Träume. Sie müssen sich so ankündigen wie Buchstaben, die man vor sich hat. Man faßt nicht die Form dieser Buchstaben ins Auge, sondern man liest in den Buchstaben dasjenige, was durch sie ausgedrückt wird. Wie etwas Geschriebenes nicht dazu auffordert, die Buchstabenformen zu beschreiben, so fordern die Bilder, die den Inhalt des übersinnlichen Schauens bilden, nicht dazu auf, sie als solche aufzufassen; sondern sie führen durch sich selbst die Notwendigkeit herbei, von ihrer Bildwesenheit ganz abzusehen und die Seele auf dasjenige hinzulenken, was durch sie als übersinnlicher Vorgang oder Wesenheit zum Ausdruck gelangt.
[ 6 ] So wenig jemand den Einwand machen kann, daß ein Brief, durch den man etwas vorher völlig Unbekanntes erfährt, sich doch nur aus den längst bekannten Buchstaben zusammensetzt, so wenig kann den Bildern des übersinnlichen Bewußtseins gegenüber gesagt werden, daß sie doch nur dasjenige enthalten, was dem gewöhnlichen Leben entlehnt ist. - Dies ist gewiß bis zu einem gewissen Grade richtig. Doch kommt es dem wirklichen übersinnlichen Bewußtsein nicht auf das an, was so dem gewöhnlichen Leben entlehnt ist, sondern darauf, was in den Bildern sich ausdrückt.
[ 7 ] Zunächst muß sich die Seele allerdings bereit machen, solche Bilder im geistigen Blickekreis auftreten zu sehen; dazu aber muß sie auch sorgfältig das Gefühl ausbilden, bei diesen Bildern nicht stehen zu bleiben, sondern sie in der rechten Art auf die übersinnliche Welt zu beziehen. Man kann durchaus sagen, zur wahren übersinnlichen Anschauung gehört nicht nur die Fähigkeit, in sich eine Bilderwelt zu erschauen, sondern noch eine andere, welche sich mit dem Lesen in der sinnlichen Welt vergleichen läßt.
[ 8 ] Die übersinnliche Welt ist zunächst als etwas ganz außer dem gewöhnlichen Bewußtsein Liegendes vorzustellen. Dieses Bewußtsein hat gar nichts, wodurch es an diese Welt herandringen kann. Durch die in der Meditation verstärkten Kräfte des Seelenlebens wird zuerst eine Berührung der Seele mit der übersinnlichen Welt geschaffen. Dadurch tauchen aus den Fluten des Seelenlebens die gekennzeichneten Bilder herauf. Diese sind als solche ein Tableau, das eigentlich ganz von der Seele selbst gewoben wird. Und zwar wird es gewoben aus den Kräften, welche sich die Seele in der sinnlichen Welt erworben hat. Es enthält als Bildgewebe wirklich nichts anderes, als was sich mit Erinnerung vergleichen läßt. - Je mehr man sich für das Verständnis des hellsichtigen Bewußtseins dieses klar macht, desto besser ist es. Man wird sich dann über die Bildnatur keiner Illusion hingeben. Und man wird dadurch auch ein rechtes Gefühl dafür ausbilden, in welcher Art man die Bilder auf die übersinnliche Welt zu beziehen hat. Man wird durch die Bilder in der übersinnlichen Welt lesen lernen. - Durch die Eindrücke der sinnlichen Welt steht man den Wesen und Vorgängen dieser Welt naturgemäß weit näher als durch die übersinnlich geschauten Bilder der übersinnlichen Welt. Man könnte sogar sagen, diese Bilder seien zunächst wie ein Vorhang, welchen sich die Seele vor die übersinnliche Welt hinstellt, wenn sie sich von derselben berührt fühlt.
[ 9 ] Es kommt darauf an, daß man sich in die Art des Erlebens übersinnlicher Dinge allmählich hineinfindet. Im Erleben ergibt sich nach und nach die sachgemäße Deutung, das richtige Lesen. Für bedeutsamere übersinnliche Erlebnisse wird sich durch das Geschaute von selbst ergeben, daß man es mit keinen Erinnerungsbildern aus dem gewöhnlichen Erleben zu tun haben kann. Es wird ja allerdings von solchen, welche sich eine Überzeugung von gewissen übersinnlichen Erkenntnissen angeeignet haben, oder wenigstens angeeignet zu haben glauben, viel Ungereimtes auf diesem Felde behauptet. Wie viele Menschen beziehen doch gewisse Bilder, welche in ihrer Seele auftreten, auf Erlebnisse früheren Erdenseins, wenn sie von den wiederholten Erdenleben überzeugt sind. Man sollte stets mißtrauisch sein, wenn diese Bilder auf solche vorhergehende Erdenleben hinzuweisen scheinen, welche dem gegenwärtigen in dieser oder jener Beziehung ähnlich sind, oder welche sich so zeigen, daß das gegenwärtige sich verstandesgemäß aus den vermeintlichen früheren leicht begreifen läßt. Wenn im wirklichen übersinnlichen Erleben der wahre Eindruck des oder der vorigen Erdenleben auftritt, so zeigt sich wohl zumeist, daß dieses oder diese früheren Leben so waren, wie man sie durch alles Ausdenken des gegenwärtigen, durch alles Wünschen und Streben für dieses, hätte niemals gestalten können, oder gedanklich gestalten wollen. Man wird zum Beispiel in einem Augenblicke des gegenwärtigen Lebens den Eindruck von seinem vorigen Erdensein empfangen, in welchem es ganz unmöglich ist, Fähigkeiten oder dergleichen sich anzueignen, die man in jenem Leben besessen hat. Weit entfernt, daß für solche bedeutsamere Geisteserlebnisse sich Bilder einstellten, die Erinnerungen aus dem gewöhnlichen Leben sein könnten, sind diese Bilder meist solche, daß man im gewöhnlichen Erleben hätte gar nicht auf sie verfallen können. - Für die wirklichen Eindrücke aus den ganz übersinnlichen Welten ist dies in noch höherem Grade der Fall. So gibt es zum Beispiel oft keine Möglichkeit, Bilder aus dem gewöhnlichen Leben heraus zu gestalten, die sich auf das Dasein zwischen den Erdenleben, also das Leben zwischen dem letzten Tode des Menschen im vorhergehenden Erdenieben und der Geburt in das gegenwärtige, beziehen. Man kann da erfahren, daß man in dem geistigen Leben zu Menschen und Dingen Neigungen entwickelt hat, die in vollem Widerspruch zu dem stehen, was man an entsprechenden Neigungen im Erdenleben entwickelt. Man erkennt, daß man oft im Erdenleben dazu getrieben wurde, sich liebevoll mit etwas zu befassen, das man im vorangegangenen geistigen Leben (zwischen Tod und Geburt) von sich gewiesen, gemieden hat. Alles, was als Erinnerung an diese Sache aus dem gewöhnlichen Erleben auftauchen könnte, müßte anders sein, als der Eindruck ist, den man durch die wirkliche Wahrnehmung aus der geistigen Welt erhält.
[ 10 ] Der mit der Geisteswissenschaft nicht Vertraute wird zwar auch selbst dann noch Einwände haben, wenn die Dinge so stehen, wie sie eben geschildert worden sind. Er wird sagen können: nun wohl, du hast eine Sache lieb. Die Menschennatur ist kompliziert. Jeder Neigung ist eine geheime Abneigung beigemischt. Die taucht dir in bezug auf das betreffende Ding in einem besonderen Augenblicke auf. Du hältst sie für ein vorgeburtliches Erlebnis, während sie sich ganz naturgemäß vielleicht aus unterbewußten seelischen Tatbeständen erklärt. - Gegen einen solchen Einwand ist im allgemeinen gar nichts anderes zu sagen, als daß er für viele Fälle - ganz gewiß richtig sein kann. Die Erkenntnisse des übersinnlichen Bewußtseins sind eben einwandfrei nicht auf leichte Art zu gewinnen. So wahr aber es ist, daß sich ein «vermeintlicher» Geistesforscher irren und einen unterbewußten Tatbestand auf ein Erlebnis des vorgeburtlichen Geisteslebens beziehen kann, so wahr ist es auch, daß die geisteswissenschaftliche Schulung zu einer solchen Selbsterkenntnis führt, die auch die unterbewußte Seelenverfassung umfaßt und auch in dieser Beziehung sich von Illusionen befreien kann. Nichts anderes aber soll hier behauptet werden, als daß wahr nur solche übersinnliche Erkenntnisse sind, die in der Tätigkeit des Erkennens das, was aus den übersinnlichen Welten stammt, von dem unterscheiden können, was die eigene Vorstellung nur gebildet hat. Dieses Unterscheidungsvermögen wird aber im Einleben in die übersinnlichen Welten so angeeignet, daß man auf diesem Felde Wahrnehmung von Einbildung so sicher unterscheidet, wie man in der Sinnenwelt heißes Eisen, das man mit dem Finger anfaßt, unterscheidet von einem bloß eingebildeten heißen Eisen.
On the cognition of the spiritual world
[ 1 ] Insight into the results of spiritual science is facilitated if, in the ordinary life of the soul, one focuses on that which gives concepts that can be expanded and transformed in such a way that they gradually approach the processes and entities of the spiritual world. If one does not choose this path with patience, one will easily be tempted to imagine the spiritual world to be much too similar to the physical or sensual world. Indeed, without this path, one will not even be able to form an accurate idea of the spiritual itself and its relationship to man.
[ 2 ] The spiritual events and beings approach man when he has prepared his soul to perceive them. The way in which they penetrate is quite different from the appearance of physical facts and beings. But one can gain an idea of this quite different appearance if one places the process of memory before the soul. - One has experienced something more or less a long time ago. It emerges at a certain moment - through this or that occasion - from the underground of the soul's experience. One knows that what has emerged in this way corresponds to an experience; and one relates it to this event. At the moment of recollection, however, one has nothing of the experience other than the memory image. - One now imagines an image emerging in the soul in such a way as a memory-image is, but in such a way that this image does not express something previously experienced, but something foreign to the soul. One has thus formed an idea of how the spiritual world first appears in the soul when this soul is sufficiently prepared for it.
[ 3 ] Because this is so, the one who is not sufficiently familiar with the conditions of the spiritual world will always approach with the objection that all "supposed" spiritual experiences are nothing more than more or less indistinct memory images, which the soul only does not recognize as such and can therefore take them for revelations of a spiritual world. Now it should not be denied that the distinction between illusions and realities in this area is a difficult one. Many people who believe that they have perceptions from a supersensible world are certainly only occupied with their memories, which they do not recognize as such. In order to see clearly here, one must be informed of many things that can become the source of illusions. For example, one need only have seen something once, so fleetingly that the impression has not fully penetrated the consciousness; and it may appear later - perhaps even completely changed - as a vivid image. One will affirm that one has never had anything to do with the matter, that one has a real intuition.
[ 4 ] This and many other things make it quite understandable that the claims of extrasensory vision appear highly questionable to those who are not familiar with the nature of spiritual science. - Whoever carefully observes everything that is said about the development of spiritual vision in my writing "How does one attain knowledge of the higher worlds?" will be able to distinguish between illusion and truth in this field.
[ 5 ] But the following may also be said in relation to this. The spiritual experiences first appear as images. They rise from the underground of the prepared soul as such images. It is now important to gain the right relationship to these images. They only have value for supersensible perception when they do not want to be taken in and for themselves through the whole way in which they present themselves. As soon as they are taken in this way, they are hardly worth more than ordinary dreams. They must announce themselves like letters that one has before one. One does not grasp the form of these letters, but one reads in the letters that which is expressed by them. Just as something written does not call upon us to describe the forms of the letters, so the images that form the content of supersensible vision do not call upon us to grasp them as such; rather, they bring about by themselves the necessity to refrain entirely from their pictorial nature and to direct the soul towards that which is expressed through them as a supersensible process or entity.
[ 6 ] As little as anyone can make the objection that a letter, through which one learns something previously completely unknown, is composed only of the letters known for a long time, so little can it be said of the images of supersensible consciousness that they contain only that which is borrowed from ordinary life. - This is certainly true to a certain extent. But the real supersensible consciousness is not concerned with what is borrowed from ordinary life, but with what is expressed in the images.
[ 7 ] First, however, the soul must prepare itself to see such images appear in the spiritual circle of vision; to do this, however, it must also carefully develop the feeling not to stop at these images, but to relate them in the right way to the supersensible world. One can certainly say that true supersensible perception not only includes the ability to see a world of images within oneself, but also another, which can be compared to reading in the sensual world.
[ 8 ] The supersensible world is initially to be imagined as something completely outside of ordinary consciousness. This consciousness has nothing at all by which it can approach this world. Through the powers of the soul's life, which are strengthened in meditation, the soul first comes into contact with the supersensible world. As a result, the labeled images emerge from the floods of the soul life. As such, these are a tableau that is actually woven entirely by the soul itself. It is woven from the forces that the soul has acquired in the sensual world. As a tapestry of images it really contains nothing other than what can be compared to memory. - The more one realizes this for the understanding of clairvoyant consciousness, the better it is. One will then be under no illusion about the nature of the image. And one will thereby also develop a proper feeling for the way in which one has to relate the images to the supersensible world. One will learn to read through the images in the supersensible world. - Through the impressions of the sensory world one is naturally much closer to the beings and processes of this world than through the supersensibly seen images of the supersensible world. One could even say that these images are initially like a curtain that the soul places in front of the supersensible world when it feels touched by it.
[ 9 ] It is important that one gradually finds one's way into the way of experiencing supersensible things. The proper interpretation, the correct reading, gradually emerges from the experience. For more significant supersensible experiences, it will be clear from what one has seen that one cannot be dealing with memory images from ordinary experience. However, many inconsistent claims are made in this field by those who have acquired, or at least believe they have acquired, a conviction of certain supersensible knowledge. How many people relate certain images that appear in their souls to experiences of earlier earthly existence when they are convinced of repeated earthly lives. One should always be suspicious when these images seem to refer to such previous earth lives which are similar to the present one in this or that respect, or which appear in such a way that the present one can be easily understood intellectually from the supposed earlier ones. When the true impression of the previous life or lives on earth appears in the real supersensible experience, then it is probably mostly shown that this or these previous lives were such as one could never have formed them, or mentally wished to form them, by all thinking out of the present, by all wishing and striving for it. For example, in a moment of the present life one will receive the impression of one's previous earthly existence, in which it is quite impossible to acquire abilities or the like which one possessed in that life. Far from such more significant spiritual experiences giving rise to images that could be memories from ordinary life, these images are usually such that one could not have fallen for them in ordinary experience. - This is even more the case with real impressions from the supersensible worlds. For example, there is often no possibility of forming images out of ordinary life that relate to the existence between the earth lives, that is, the life between the last death of the human being in the previous earth life and the birth into the present one. One can experience there that in the spiritual life one has developed inclinations towards people and things that are in complete contradiction to the corresponding inclinations one develops in earthly life. One recognizes that one was often driven in earthly life to deal lovingly with something that one had rejected and avoided in the previous spiritual life (between death and birth). Everything that could emerge as a memory of this matter from ordinary experience would have to be different from the impression one receives through the actual perception from the spiritual world.
[ 10 ] The person unfamiliar with spiritual science will still have objections even if things are as they have just been described. He will be able to say: well, you love one thing. Human nature is complicated. Every inclination is mixed with a secret aversion. This appears to you at a particular moment in relation to the thing in question. You regard it as a prenatal experience, whereas it may be explained quite naturally by subconscious mental facts. - There is generally nothing to be said against such an objection except that in many cases it can certainly be correct. The knowledge of the supersensible consciousness is not to be gained in an easy way. But as true as it is that a "supposed" spiritual researcher can be mistaken and relate a subconscious fact to an experience of prenatal spiritual life, it is also true that spiritual scientific training leads to such self-knowledge, which also encompasses the subconscious state of the soul and can also free itself from illusions in this respect. But nothing else is to be asserted here than that only such supersensible knowledge is true which, in the activity of cognition, can distinguish that which comes from the supersensible worlds from that which one's own imagination has only formed. This ability to distinguish, however, is acquired in living in the supersensible worlds in such a way that one distinguishes perception from imagination in this field as surely as one distinguishes hot iron, which one touches with the finger, from a merely imagined hot iron in the world of the senses.