The Threshold of the Spiritual World
GA 17
VIII. Concerning the Guardian of the Threshold and some Peculiarities of Clairvoyant Consciousness
[ 1 ] As far as his experiences in the physical world are concerned, man is outside the spiritual world, in which, as has been stated in the preceding pages, his real being is rooted. The part played by physical experience in human nature is realised when we consider that for clairvoyant consciousness, which enters the supersensitive worlds, it is necessary to strengthen those very forces of the soul which are acquired in the physical world. If this strengthening has not taken place, the soul feels a certain timidity in entering the supersensible world. It even tries to avoid an entrance by seeking proofs of its impossibility.
[ 2 ] But if the soul finds that it is strong enough to enter, if it recognises in itself the forces which allow it, after entering, to maintain itself there as an independent being, and to experience in its field of consciousness not only thoughts but beings, as must be the case in the elemental and spiritual worlds, then the soul also feels that only by life in the physical world has it been enabled to gather those forces. It realises the necessity of being led through the physical world on its journey through the universe.
[ 3 ] The realisation of this especially results from the experience in thoughts through which clairvoyant consciousness passes. On entering the elemental world, the consciousness becomes filled with beings who are perceived in the form of pictures. In that world it is not able to develop with regard to these beings an inner activity of the soul similar to that which is developed in thought-life within the physical world. Yet it would be impossible to find one's way as a human being within the elemental world if we did not enter it as thinking beings. We might certainly behold the beings of the elemental world without thinking about them, but we should not know what any of them really were. We should be like a man looking at writing which he cannot read; he sees with his eyes exactly the same thing as is seen by one who can read it, but it only has meaning and substance for the latter.
[ 4 ] Nevertheless clairvoyant consciousness during its sojourn in the elemental world exercises by no means the same kind of thought-activity as is carried on in the physical world. Rather is it the case that a thinking being—such as man—in the act of beholding the elemental world also perceives the meaning of its beings and force, while a non-thinking being would see the pictures without understanding their meaning and essence.
[ 5 ] On entering the spiritual world, the Ahrimanic beings, for instance, would be taken for something quite different from what they really are if they were beheld by the soul of a non-thinking being. It is the same with the Luciferic and other beings of the spiritual world. The Ahrimanic and Luciferic beings are only beheld by man in their true reality if he contemplates them from the spiritual world with clairvoyant sight which has been strengthened by thinking.
[ 6 ] If the soul did not arm itself with adequate power for thought, the Luciferic beings, when seen from the spiritual world, would take possession of the world of clairvoyant pictures and bring about in the contemplating soul the illusion that it was penetrating ever more deeply into the spiritual world which it was really seeking, whereas actually it would be sinking deeper and deeper into the world which the Luciferic forces desire to prepare similar to their own being. The soul would certainly feel itself becoming more independent, but it would be adapting itself to a spiritual world not in keeping with its own nature and origin. It would be entering a spiritual environment foreign to it.
The physical world conceals from view such beings as the Luciferic ones. Therefore, within that world they are not able to mislead the consciousness. They are simply non-existent as far as this consciousness is concerned, and, not being misled by them, it is able to strengthen itself adequately by thought. It is one of the instinctive peculiarities of healthy consciousness that it only desires to enter the spiritual world in proportion as it has sufficiently strengthened itself in the physical world for beholding the spiritual world. Consciousness clings to the way in which it experiences itself in the physical world. It feels itself to be in its own element when it can experience itself by means of the thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc., which it owes to the physical world. The tenacity with which consciousness clings to this kind of experience is especially apparent at the actual moment of entering supersensible worlds. Just as a person at particular moments of his life clings to dear memories, so at the entrance to supersensible worlds do there of necessity ascend from the depths of the soul all possible affections of which the individual is capable. We then become aware how strongly we cleave to that life which connects man with the physical world. This attachment to earth-life then appears in its full reality, stripped of our usual illusions. At the entrance to the supersensible world, and, as it were, at the first supersensible achievement—a certain self-knowledge is brought about, of which we can previously have had scarcely any idea. And we see how much we have to leave behind if we really desire to enter knowingly into that world in which, after all, we are always actually present. What we have made of ourselves as human beings, consciously and unconsciously in the physical world comes before the soul with the most vivid distinctness.
The result of this experience is often that all further attempts at penetrating into super-sensible worlds are abandoned. For we then clearly realise the necessity of changing our way of thinking and feeling, if our sojourn in the spiritual world is to be successful. We have to make up our minds to develop quite a different attitude of soul from the one that has hitherto been ours, or, in other words, a different attitude must be added to the one we have already acquired.
[ 7 ] And yet—what is it that really happens at the moment of entering the supersensible world? We see the being which we have always been; but we do not now see it from the physical world, from which we have always seen it hitherto; we see it, free from illusions, in its true reality, from the standpoint of the spiritual world. We behold it in such a way that we feel ourselves permeated with those powers of cognition which are able to measure it according to its spiritual worth. When we see ourselves thus, it becomes plain why we hesitate about consciously entering the supersensible world; the degree of strength becomes apparent, which it is necessary to have before entering it. We see how, even with knowledge, we keep at a distance from that world. And the more accurately we thus see through ourselves, the more strongly do those affections come to the front by means of which we desire to continue to keep our consciousness in the physical world. Our increased knowledge entices those affections out of their lurking-places in the depths of the soul. We must, however, recognise them, for only by so doing are they overcome. But even when recognised they still manifest their power in quite a remarkable way. They desire to subdue the soul, which feels itself drawn down by them as if into unknown depths. The moment of self-recognition is a serious one. Far too much philosophising and theorising about self-knowledge goes on in the world. The soul's gaze is thereby rather turned away from, than drawn towards, the earnestness connected with real self-knowledge. And yet, in spite of this necessary earnestness, it affords a great satisfaction to know that human nature is so ordered that its instincts prevent it from entering the spiritual world before it is able to develop within itself, as self-experience, the necessary state of maturity. What a satisfaction it is that the first momentous meeting with a being of the supersensible world is the meeting with our own being in its true reality which will guide us further in human evolution.
We may say that there is hidden within man a being that keeps careful watch and ward on the boundary which has to be crossed at the entrance to the supersensible world. This spiritual being, hidden in man, which is man himself, but which he can as little perceive with ordinary consciousness as the eye can see itself, is the guardian of the threshold of the spiritual world. We learn to recognise him at the moment at which we are not only actually he, but are also confronting him, as though we were standing outside him, and he were another being.
[ 8 ] As with other experiences of supersensible worlds, it is the strengthened and reinforced faculties of the soul which make visible the guardian of the threshold. For, setting aside the fact that the meeting with the guardian becomes raised into knowledge by clairvoyant spiritual sight, that meeting is not an event which happens only to the man who has become clairvoyant. Exactly the same fact as is represented by this meeting happens to every human being every time he falls asleep, and we are confronting ourselves—which is the same thing as standing before the guardian of the threshold—for so long as our sleep lasts. During sleep the soul rises to its supersensible nature. But its inner forces are not then strong enough to bring about consciousness of itself.
In order to understand clairvoyant experience, especially in its early beginnings, it is particularly important to bear in mind that the soul may already have begun to live in the supersensible world before it is able to formulate to itself any knowledge worthy of the name. Clairvoyance at first appears in a very subtle way, so that often, inasmuch, as they expect to see something almost tangible, people do not heed clairvoyant impressions which are flitting by, and will in no way recognise them as such. In this case the impressions sink into oblivion almost as soon as they appear. They enter the field of consciousness so slightly that they remain quite unnoticed, like tiny clouds on the soul's horizon.
On this account, and because people for the most part expect clairvoyance to be quite different from what it at first is, it often remains undiscovered by many earnest seekers after the spiritual world. In this respect too the meeting with the guardian of the threshold is important. If the soul has been strengthened just in the direction of self-knowledge, this very meeting may merely be like the first gentle flitting-by of a spiritual vision; but it will not be so easily consigned to oblivion as other supersensible impressions, because people are more interested in their own being than in other things.
There is, however, no need at all that the meeting with the guardian should be one of the first clairvoyant experiences. The soul may be strengthened in various directions, and the first of such directions may bring other beings or events within its spiritual horizon before the meeting with the guardian takes place. Yet this meeting is sure to occur comparatively soon after entering the supersensible world.
Von dem Hüter der Schwelle und einigen Eigenheiten des übersinnlichen Bewusstseins
[ 1 ] Mit seinem Erleben in der Sinneswelt steht der Mensch außerhalb der geistigen Welt, in welcher im Sinne der vorangehenden Betrachtungen seine Wesenheit wurzelt. Welchen Anteil dieses Erleben an der menschlichen Wesenheit hat, ersieht man, wenn man bedenkt, daß das übersinnliche Bewußtsein, welches die übersinnlichen Welten betritt, einer Verstärkung eben der Seelenkräfte bedarf, die in der Sinneswelt erworben werden. Ist diese Verstärkung nicht vorhanden, so fühlt die Seele eine gewisse Scheu, in die übersinnliche Welt einzutreten. Sie will sich sogar vor diesem Eintritte dadurch retten, daß sie sich «Beweise» sucht für die Unmöglichkeit eines solchen Eintrittes.
[ 2 ] Findet sich aber die Seele stark genug zum Eintritte, erkennt sie in sich die Kräfte, welche ihr gestatten, nach dem Eintritte ihre Wesenheit als selbständige zu behaupten und in dem Felde ihres Bewußtseins nicht nur Gedanken, sondern auch Wesenheiten zu erleben, wie sie es muß in der elementarischen und in der geistigen Welt: so erfühlt sie auch, daß sie diese Kräfte nur innerhalb des Lebens in der Sinneswelt hat sammeln können. Sie sieht die Notwendigkeit ein, in ihrem Weltenlaufe durch die Sinneswelt geführt zu werden.
[ 3] Insbesondere ergibt sich diese Einsicht durch die Erlebnisse, welche das übersinnliche Bewußtsein mit dem Denken hat. Beim Eintritte in die elementarische Welt erfüllt sich das Bewußtsein mit Wesenheiten, die in Bildform wahrgenommen werden. Es kommt gar nicht in die Lage, innerhalb dieser Welt gegenüber deren Wesenheiten eine ähnliche innere Seelentätigkeit zu entwickeln, wie sie im Gedankenleben innerhalb der Sinneswelt entwickelt wird. — Dennoch wäre es unmöglich, sich innerhalb dieser elementarischen Welt als menschliches Wesen zurechtzufinden, wenn man sie nicht denkend beträte. Man würde ohne denkende Betrachtung wohl die Wesenheiten der elementarischen Welt schauen; man würde aber von keiner in Wahrheit wissen können, was sie ist. Man gliche einem Menschen, der eine Schrift vor sich hat, die er nicht lesen kann; ein solcher sieht mit seinen Augen genau dasselbe, was auch derjenige sieht, der die Schrift lesen kann; Bedeutung und Wesenheit hat sie aber doch nur für diesen.
[ 4 ] Dennoch übt das übersinnliche Bewußtsein während seines Verweilens in der elementarischen Welt keineswegs eine solche denkerische Tätigkeit aus, wie sie in der Sinneswelt sich vollzieht. Es ist vielmehr so, daß ein denkendes Wesen — wie der Mensch — im richtigen Schauen der elementarischen Welt die Bedeutung ihrer Wesen und Kräfte mit-wahrnimmt, und daß ein nicht-denkendes Wesen die Bilder ohne deren Bedeutung und Wesenheit wahrnehmen würde.
[ 5 ] Wird die geistige Welt betreten, so würden zum Beispiel die ahrimanischen Wesenheiten für etwas ganz anderes gehalten werden, als was sie sind, wenn sie nicht von der Seele als einer denkenden Wesenheit geschaut würden. Ebenso ist es mit den luziferischen und anderen Wesenheiten der geistigen Welt. Die ahrimanischen und luziferischen Wesenheiten werden von dem Menschen als das geschaut, was sie sind, wenn er sie von der geistigen Welt aus mit dem hellsichtigen Blicke betrachtet, der durch das Denken erkraftet ist.
[ 6 ] Bewaffnete sich die Seele nicht mit der genügenden denkerischen Kraft, so würden die luziferischen Wesenheiten, wenn sie von der geistigen Welt aus geschaut würden, der hellsichtigen Bilderwelt sich bemächtigen und in der betrachtenden Seele die Illusion hervorrufen, daß sie tiefer und immer tiefer in die eigentlich gesuchte geistige Welt hineindringe, während sie in Wahrheit in die Welt immer tiefer versinkt, welche die luziferisehen Kräfte als eine ihrer Wesenheit gleiche zubereiten wollen. Die Seele würde sieh zwar immer selbständiger fühlen; aber sie würde sieh in eine Geisteswelt einleben, die nicht ihrer Wesenheit und ihrem Urquell entspricht. Sie liefe in eine ihr fremde geistige Umgebung ein. — Die Sinneswelt verbirgt solche Wesenheiten, wie die luziferischen sind. Daher können diese innerhalb der Sinneswelt das Bewußtsein nicht beirren. Sie sind für dasselbe einfach nicht vorhanden. Und das Bewußtsein hat die Möglichkeit, sich unbeirrt von ihnen, genügend — denkerisch — zu erkraften. Es gehört zu den instinktiven Eigenheiten des gesunden Bewußtseins, daß es die geistige Welt nur in dem Maße betreten will, als es sich für das Durchschauen derselben in der Sinneswelt genügend erkraftet hat. Das Bewußtsein hängt an der Art, wie es sich in der Sinneswelt erleben kann. Es fühlt sich in seinem Elemente, wenn es mit den Gedanken, Gefühlen, Affekten usw. sich in sich erleben kann, die es der Sinneswelt verdankt. Wie stark das Bewußtsein an diesem Erleben hängt, das zeigt sich ganz besonders in dem Augenblicke, in welchem der Eintritt in die übersinnlichen Welten wirklich erfolgt. Wie man an lieben Erinnerungen in besonderen Augenblicken seines Lebens sich festklammert, so kommen beim Eintritt in die übersinnlichen Welten alle die Neigungen mit Notwendigkeit wie aus den Seelentiefen herauf, deren man nur überhaupt fähig ist. Man wird da gewahr, wie man im Grunde an dem Leben hängt, das den Menschen mit der Sinneswelt verbindet. Dieses Hängen zeigt sich da in seiner vollen Wahrheit, ohne alle Illusionen, die man sich sonst im Leben über diese Tatsache macht. Es kommt beim Eintritte in die übersinnliche Welt — gewissermaßen als eine erste übersinnliche Errungenschaft — ein Stück Selbsterkenntnis zustande, von der man vorher kaum eine Ahnung haben konnte. Und es zeigt sich, was man alles hinter sich lassen muß, wenn man wirklich wissend in die Welt eintreten will, in welcher man doch tatsächlich fortwährend darinnen ist. Was man als Mensch bewußt und unbewußt in der Sinneswelt aus sich gemacht hat, das tritt mit höchster Deutlichkeit vor den Seelenblick. — Es kann dieses Erleben oftmals die Folge haben, daß man alle weiteren Versuche des Eindringens in die übersinnlichen Welten fallen läßt. Denn es kommt hinzu, daß man Klarheit darüber gewinnt, wie man anders fühlen, empfinden lernen muß, wenn der Aufenthalt in der geistigen Welt erfolgreich sein soll. Man muß zu dem Entschluß kommen, eine ganze andere innere Seelenverfassung auszubilden, als man vorher gehabt hat, oder — anders gesagt: — man muß zu der vorher errungenen eine andere hinzugewinnen.
[ 7 ] Und doch — was geschieht denn in einem solchen Augenblicke des Eintrittes in die übersinnliche Welt eigentlich? Man schaut das Wesen, das man immer gewesen ist; aber man schaut es jetzt nicht von der Sinneswelt aus, von der aus man es vorher stets angeschaut hat; man schaut es, ohne Illusion, in seiner Wahrheit von der geistigen Welt aus. Man schaut es so, daß man sich voll durchdrungen fühlt von den Erkenntniskräften, die es in seinem geistigen Wert zu bemessen imstande sind. Wenn man sich so betrachtet, so zeigt sich auch, warum man in die übersinnliche Welt nicht ohne Scheu bewußt eintreten will; es zeigt sich der Grad der Stärke, den man zu diesem Eintritte hat. Man sieht, wie man sich selbst als wissendes Wesen von ihr ferne hält. Und je genauer man sich so durchschaut, desto stärker treten auch die Neigungen auf, durch welche man in der Sinneswelt mit seinem Bewußtsein verbleiben will. Wie aus den Schlupfwinkeln der Seelentiefen lockt das erhöhte Wissen diese Neigungen herauf. Man muß sie erkennen; denn nur dadurch werden sie überwunden. Aber im Erkennen bezeugen sie noch ganz besonders ihre Kraft. Sie wollen die Seele überwältigen; diese fühlt sich von ihnen wie in unbestimmte Tiefen hinuntergezogen. Der Augenblick der Selbsterkenntnis ist ein ernster. Es wird in der Welt viel zuviel von der Selbsterkenntnis philosophiert und theoretisiert. Dadurch wird der Seelenblick eher von dem Ernste abgelenkt, der mit ihr verbunden ist, als zu ihm hingetrieben. Und trotz all dieses Ernstes: welche Befriedigung gewährt es, wenn man bedenkt, wie die Menschennatur so eingerichtet ist, daß sie von ihren Instinkten veranlaßt wird, in die geistige Welt nicht einzutreten, bevor sie ihren Reifegrad als Selbsterlebnis in sich entwickeln kann. Welche Befriedigung, daß die zunächst bedeutsamste Begegnung mit einem Wesen der übersinnlichen Welt die ist mit der eigenen Wesenheit in ihrer Wahrheit, die man in der Menschheitentwickelung weiterführen soll! Man kann sagen, in dem Menschen stecke ein Wesen, das sorgsame Wache hält an der Grenzscheide, die beim Eintritte in die übersinnliche Welt überschritten werden muß. Diese im Menschen steckende geistige Wesenheit, die man selbst ist, die man aber so wenig durch das gewöhnliche Bewußtsein erkennen kann, wie das Auge sich selbst sehen kann, ist der «Hüter an der Schwelle» in die geistige Welt. Man lernt ihn erkennen in dem Augenblicke, in welchem man er selber nicht nur tatsächlich ist, sondern sich ihm, wie außer ihm stehend, wie ein anderer gegenüber stellt.
[ 8 ] Wie andere Erlebnisse der übersinnlichen Welten machen auch den «Hüter der Schwelle» die verstärkten, in sich erkrafteten Seelenfähigkeiten schaubar. Denn abgesehen davon, daß die Begegnung mit dem «Hüter» für den hellsichtigen Geistesblick zum Wissen erhoben wird, ist diese Begegnung durchaus nicht ein Ereignis, das etwa nur für den geistschauend gewordenen Menschen einträte. Genau derselbe Tatbestand, in dem diese Begegnung besteht, tritt für jeden Menschen jedesmal beim Einschlafen ein, und es dauert das Sich-selbst-Gegenüberstehen, das ganz gleich dem Stehen vor dem «Hüter der Schwelle» ist, so lange als der Schlaf dauert. Im Schlafe erhebt sich die Seele zu ihrer übersinnlichen Wesenheit. Ihre Innenkräfte sind dann aber nicht stark genug, um ein Bewußtsein ihrer selbst hervorzurufen. — Für das Verständnis des übersinnlichen Erlebens, besonders in seinen zarten Anfängen, ist auch von besonderer Wichtigkeit, das seelische Augenmerk darauf zu lenken, daß die Seele bereits begonnen haben kann, Übersinnliches zu erleben, ohne daß sie ein nennenswertes Wissen davon sich zu bilden vermag. Es tritt die Hellsichtigkeit zuerst in sehr zarter Art auf. So, daß man oft in der Erwartung, fast Greifbares zu schauen, der hinhuschenden heilseherischen Eindrücke nicht achtet. Sie durchaus nicht als solche anerkennen will. Sie treten dann so auf, daß sie ihr Vergessen-Werden schon vorbereiten, indem sie auftreten; sie kommen dann so schwach in das Bewußtseinsfeld herein, daß sie wie leichte Seelenwölkchen ganz unbeachtet bleiben. Weil dieses so ist, und weil man zumeist von der Geistes-Anschauung ganz anderes erwartet, als was sie zunächst ist, deshalb wird sie von vielen ernsten Suchern nach der geistigen Welt nicht gefunden. — Auch in dieser Beziehung ist die Begegnung mit dem «Hüter der Schwelle» wichtig. Wenn man die Seele gerade nach der Richtung der Selbsterkenntnis hin erkraftet hat, dann mag diese Begegnung selbst nur wie ein erstes zartes Vorüberhuschen einer geistigen Schau sein; man wird sie doch nicht so leicht dem Vergessen überliefern wie andere übersinnliche Eindrücke, weil man an der eigenen Wesenheit stärker als an anderem interessiert ist. — Es besteht aber durchaus keine Notwendigkeit, daß die Begegnung mit dem «Hüter» zu den ersten übersinnlichen Erlebnissen gehört. Die Erkraftung der Seele kann nach verschiedenen Richtungen hin erfolgen. Die ersten Richtungen, welche die Seele nimmt, können ihr auch vor dieser Begegnung andere Wesenheiten oder Vorgänge in den geistigen Blickekreis führen. Doch aber wird verhältnismäßig bald nach dem Eintritt in die übersinnliche Welt diese Begegnung stattfinden.
On the guardian of the threshold and some peculiarities of supersensible consciousness
[ 1 ] With his experience in the sensory world, man stands outside the spiritual world, in which, in the sense of the preceding considerations, his essence is rooted. What part this experience has in the human being can be seen when one considers that the supersensible consciousness which enters the supersensible worlds requires a strengthening of the very powers of the soul which are acquired in the sensory world. If this reinforcement is not present, the soul feels a certain reluctance to enter the supersensible world. It even wants to save itself from this entry by seeking "proofs" for the impossibility of such an entry.
[ 2 ] But if the soul finds itself strong enough to enter, if it recognizes within itself the powers that allow it, after entering, to assert its entity as an independent one and to experience in the field of its consciousness not only thoughts but also entities, as it must in the elementary and in the spiritual world: then it also feels that it has only been able to gather these powers within life in the sensory world. It recognizes the necessity of being guided through the sensory world in its worldly course.
[ 3] In particular, this insight arises from the experiences that the supersensible consciousness has with thinking. On entering the elementary world, consciousness is filled with entities that are perceived in image form. Within this world it is not able to develop a similar inner activity of the soul in relation to its entities as is developed in the life of thought within the sense world. - Nevertheless, it would be impossible to find one's way within this elementary world as a human being if one did not enter it thinking. Without thinking contemplation one would certainly see the entities of the elementary world; but one would not be able to know in truth what it is. One would be like a person who has a writing in front of him that he cannot read; such a person sees with his eyes exactly the same as the one who can read the writing; but it has meaning and essence only for him.
[ 4 ] However, during its sojourn in the elementary world, the supersensible consciousness by no means exercises the kind of thinking activity that takes place in the sensory world. It is rather the case that a thinking being - like the human being - perceives the meaning of its beings and powers with the elementary world in its correct vision, and that a non-thinking being would perceive the images without their meaning and essence.
[ 5 ] When the spiritual world is entered, the ahrimanic entities, for example, would be taken for something completely different than what they are if they were not seen by the soul as a thinking entity. It is the same with the Luciferian and other entities of the spiritual world. The ahrimanic and luciferic entities are seen by man as what they are when he looks at them from the spiritual world with the clairvoyant gaze that has been empowered by thinking.
[ 6 ] If the soul did not arm itself with sufficient thinking power, the Luciferian entities, when seen from the spiritual world, would seize the clairvoyant world of images and create the illusion in the observing soul that it is penetrating deeper and deeper into the spiritual world actually sought, while in truth it is sinking deeper and deeper into the world which the Luciferian forces want to prepare as one equal to its essence. The soul would indeed feel more and more independent, but it would settle into a spiritual world that does not correspond to its essence and original source. It would enter a spiritual environment that is alien to it. - The world of the senses conceals such entities as the Luciferic ones. Therefore they cannot disturb the consciousness within the sense world. They simply do not exist for it. And the consciousness has the possibility, unperturbed by them, to strengthen itself sufficiently - mentally. It is one of the instinctive characteristics of healthy consciousness that it only wants to enter the spiritual world to the extent that it has sufficiently strengthened itself to see through it in the sense world. Consciousness is attached to the way in which it can experience itself in the sense world. It feels itself to be in its element when it can experience itself with the thoughts, feelings, affects, etc. that it owes to the sense world. How strongly the consciousness is attached to this experience is particularly evident at the moment when entry into the supersensible worlds actually takes place. Just as one clings to dear memories in special moments of one's life, so on entering the supersensible worlds all the inclinations of which one is only capable at all come up with necessity as if from the depths of the soul. One becomes aware of how one is basically attached to the life that connects man with the sensory world. This attachment shows itself there in its full truth, without all the illusions that one otherwise makes about this fact in life. On entering the supersensible world - as a kind of first supersensible achievement - a piece of self-knowledge comes about of which one could hardly have had any idea before. And it becomes apparent what you have to leave behind if you really want to enter the world with knowledge, in which you are actually constantly in it. What one has consciously and unconsciously made of oneself as a human being in the sensory world comes before the soul's gaze with the utmost clarity. - This experience can often have the consequence that one drops all further attempts to penetrate into the supersensible worlds. For, in addition, one gains clarity about how one must learn to feel and sense differently if the sojourn in the spiritual world is to be successful. One must come to the decision to develop a completely different inner state of soul than one had before, or - in other words: - one must gain another one in addition to the one previously attained.
[ 7 ] And yet - what actually happens at such a moment of entry into the supersensible world? One looks at the being that one has always been; but one does not now look at it from the sensory world from which one has always looked at it before; one looks at it, without illusion, in its truth from the spiritual world. One looks at it in such a way that one feels fully penetrated by the powers of knowledge that are able to measure it in its spiritual value. When one looks at oneself in this way, it also shows why one does not want to enter the supersensible world consciously without fear; it shows the degree of strength one has for this entry. One sees how one keeps oneself away from it as a knowing being. And the more closely one sees through oneself in this way, the more strongly the tendencies emerge through which one wants to remain in the sensory world with one's consciousness. As if from the recesses of the soul's depths, heightened knowledge draws these inclinations out. They must be recognized, for only then can they be overcome. But it is in recognizing them that they particularly demonstrate their power. They want to overpower the soul; it feels itself drawn down by them as if into indefinite depths. The moment of self-knowledge is a serious one. There is far too much philosophizing and theorizing about self-knowledge in the world. This distracts the soul's gaze from the seriousness associated with it rather than driving it towards it. And in spite of all this seriousness, what satisfaction it affords when one considers how human nature is so arranged that it is prompted by its instincts not to enter the spiritual world before it can develop its degree of maturity as self-awareness within itself. What a satisfaction that the most significant encounter with a being of the supersensible world is the encounter with one's own being in its truth, which is to be carried further in the development of humanity! One can say that there is a being in the human being that keeps careful watch at the boundary that must be crossed when entering the supersensible world. This spiritual entity within the human being, which he is himself, but which he can recognize as little through ordinary consciousness as the eye can see itself, is the "guardian at the threshold" into the spiritual world. One learns to recognize it in the moment in which one is not only actually itself, but also stands opposite it, as if standing outside it, like another.
[ 8 ] Like other experiences of the supernatural worlds, the "Guardian of the Threshold" also makes the intensified, inherently strengthened soul abilities visible. For apart from the fact that the encounter with the "Guardian" is elevated to knowledge for the clairvoyant mind's eye, this encounter is by no means an event that only occurs for the person who has become clairvoyant. Exactly the same fact in which this encounter consists occurs for every human being every time he falls asleep, and the self-encounter, which is quite the same as standing before the "Guardian of the Threshold", lasts as long as sleep lasts. In sleep the soul rises to its supersensible essence. However, its inner powers are then not strong enough to evoke a consciousness of itself. - For the understanding of the supersensible experience, especially in its tender beginnings, it is also of particular importance to direct the soul's attention to the fact that the soul can already have begun to experience the supersensible without being able to form any appreciable knowledge of it. Clairvoyance first appears in a very delicate way. In such a way that one often, in the expectation of seeing something almost tangible, does not pay attention to the heal-sensory impressions that flit by. One does not want to recognize them as such. They then appear in such a way that they already prepare their being forgotten by appearing; they then enter the field of consciousness so weakly that they remain completely unnoticed like light clouds of the soul. Because this is so, and because one usually expects something quite different from the spiritual view than what it is at first, it is not found by many serious seekers after the spiritual world. - The encounter with the "Guardian of the Threshold" is also important in this respect. If one has just awakened the soul in the direction of self-knowledge, then this encounter itself may only be like a first tender flicker of a spiritual vision; one will not, however, consign it to oblivion as easily as other supersensible impressions, because one is more interested in one's own being than in anything else. - However, there is absolutely no need for the encounter with the "guardian" to be one of the first supersensible experiences. The empowerment of the soul can take place in different directions. The first directions which the soul takes can also lead other beings or processes into its spiritual circle of vision before this encounter. But this encounter will take place relatively soon after entering the supersensible world.