The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture Six

[ 1 ] First of all, it must be noted that yoga or initiation is not a sudden event, but a slow training, a very intimate change. It is often imagined that it consists of a series of external activities and ascetic exercises. None of this is true. Everything must take place in the depths of the soul.

[ 2 ] Let us first discuss the practical rules of this training. It has often been said that the beginning of initiation is dangerous and that those who undertake it expose themselves to serious dangers. There is some truth in this, and we will try to analyze it scientifically.

[ 3 ] Initiation is a kind of birth of the higher human soul that is hidden in every human being. It poses similar dangers for the lower soul, or more precisely, for the astral body, as physical birth does; the similarity lies in the fact that the divine soul separates itself from the passionate soul in pain, like a child from its mother's womb, but with the difference that spiritual birth takes much longer.

[ 4 ] Let us take another comparison. The higher soul is closely bound to the animal soul. It is their connection that moderates the passions, spiritualizes them, and controls them according to the degree of reason and will. This connection has an advantage for humans. But they pay for this advantage with the loss of their clairvoyance. Let us imagine a green-colored liquid that is chemically composed of blue and yellow. If you manage to separate them chemically, you will see, for example, that the yellow liquid settles at the bottom, while the blue rises to the surface. The same is true of human beings when the path of initiation separates the animal soul from the spiritual soul. For the higher soul, this results in clairvoyance, but the animal soul, left alone, surrenders itself, if it has not yet been purified by the ego, to the excesses of the passions without control. This fact can often be observed in mediums. Awareness of this danger is sometimes referred to in initiation by the word: the guardian of the threshold.

[ 5 ] This is why the first requirement placed on the student is that he or she have a strong character and be a master of his or her passions. The initiation exercises are therefore preceded by strict discipline and certain conditions, the first of which are calmness and seclusion. Ordinary morality is not enough, because it only refers to human behavior in the outer world. Initiation, however, relates to the inner man.

[ 6 ] If one were to object that piety is sufficient, we would reply that piety is a beautiful and necessary thing, but it has nothing to do with occult practice. Piety without wisdom is uncreative.

[ 7 ] For the occultist, the true initiate, it is a matter of changing the direction of his life. The modern man is determined and driven in his actions by sensory impressions, that is, by the outer world. But everything that is bound to space and time is meaningless. It can be ignored.

[ 8 ] What are the means to this end?

[ 9 ] First: Focus your power of thought on a single object and let it rest there. This is called acquiring control of the mind.

[ 10 ] Second: Act in the same way with regard to all activities, whether large or small, master them, regulate them, bring them under the control of the will. From now on, all must proceed from an inner initiative. This is the control of actions.

[ 11 ] Thirdly: mental balance. One must exercise moderation in pain and joy. Goethe said that the soul that loves is sometimes “ecstatic,” sometimes “grieved to death.” The occultist must endure the greatest joy and the greatest pain with the same mental equanimity.

[ 12 ] Fourth: Positivity. The mental state that consists of seeking the good in everything. A Persian legend tells that when Christ once passed by a foul-smelling dog carcass with his disciples, his disciples turned away in disgust. But after looking at the repulsive sight, he simply said, “What beautiful teeth this animal has!”

[ 13 ] Fifth: Impartiality. Mental openness to every new phenomenon; the ability to never let the past influence one's judgment.

[ 14 ] Sixth: The inner balance that arises from all these preparatory exercises. One now finds oneself ready for the inner training of the soul. One is ready to set out on the path.

[ 15 ] Seventh: Meditation. One must make oneself blind and deaf to the outer world and memories of it, to the extent that a cannon shot would not disturb us. This is the preparation for meditation. Once one has emptied oneself inwardly, one is able to receive within oneself that which comes from outside. It is then necessary to awaken the deeper layers of the soul through certain ideas that are suitable for allowing the soul to ascend to the source.

[ 16 ] In “Light on the Path” there are four teachings that are suitable for use as objects of meditation and inner concentration. These are very ancient principles that have been used by initiates for centuries and whose meaning is deep and manifold.

[ 17 ] First teaching: Before the eye can see, it must wean itself from tears.

[ 18 ] Second teaching: Before the ear can hear, its sensitivity must fade.

[ 19 ] Third teaching: Before the voice can speak before the masters, it must unlearn how to wound.

[ 20 ] Fourth teaching: And before the soul can stand before them, the blood of its heart must wet its feet.

[ 21 ] These four lessons have a magical power. But in order to feel them vividly, it is necessary to let them live within oneself and to love them tirelessly, just as a mother loves her child.

[ 22 ] The first exercise has the power to develop the etheric body, especially its upper part, which corresponds to the head.

[ 23 ] Once the upper part of the etheric body has been treated in this way, it is necessary to develop a deeper part of the being: the blood and respiratory systems, the heart and the lungs. Once, in bygone epochs of the Earth's development, human beings lived in water and breathed through gills, as fish do today. The sacred scriptures of the peoples have noted the moment when humans began to breathe the air of heaven. Genesis says, “God breathed his breath into man.” The student must change and purify his respiratory system. All development goes from chaos to harmony, from arrhythmic to rhythmic. Man must harmonize his instincts.

[ 24 ] In ancient times, the different degrees of initiation were designated by special names:

[ 25 ] First degree: the raven. It designates the one who is on the threshold. The raven appears in all mythologies. In the Edda, it whispers in Wotan's ear what it sees in the distance.

[ 26 ] Second degree: the secret student or occultist.

[ 27 ] Third degree: the warrior (battle, strife).

[ 28 ] Fourth degree: the lion (strength).

[ 29 ] Fifth degree: the initiate bears the name of the people to whom he belongs: Persian or Greek, because his soul has expanded to encompass his entire people.

[ 30 ] Sixth degree: Sun Hero or Sun Runner, because his run has become as harmonious and rhythmic as the course of the sun. The sun represented the rhythmic, living movement of the planetary system. The legend of Icarus refers to initiation. Icarus tried to reach the sun too soon, without sufficient preparation, and crashed.

[ 31 ] Seventh degree: the Father, because he has now become capable of training disciples and being the protector of all people; and because he is the father of the new man, born a second time in the awakened soul.

[ 32 ] In the course of meditation, thought purifies the air. It can even be chemically proven and demonstrated that less carbon dioxide is exhaled.

[ 33 ] The new breathing rhythm causes a change in the blood. The human being is purified to such an extent that he can build up his own blood without the help of plants. In the long term, meditation changes the nature of the blood. The person then exhales less carbon dioxide because they retain it and use it to build up the body. They exhale only pure air. In this way, the person becomes capable of living on their own breath. In this way, they undergo an alchemical transformation.

[ 34 ] What are the higher stages of initiation?

[ 35 ] First stage: The initiate finds complete silence in the soul. Then the astral vision rises within him, where everything is a symbolic image of reality. This astral vision, perceived during sleep, is still imperfect.

[ 36 ] Second stage: Dreams cease to be chaotic and become regular. One feels the true relationship between the symbolism of dreams and reality, one becomes a master on the astral plane. Now the astral light that comes from within ignites in the soul, which learns to see other souls as realities, as it were.

[ 37 ] Third stage: Continuity of consciousness is established between the waking state and the sleeping state. Whereas astral life was once reflected in the dreams of light sleep, it now appears in deep sleep in other perceptions that are pure auditory processes and manifest themselves in a solemn form. The soul then hears the inner word of all beings in the form of a wonderful harmony, and this harmony manifests real life.

[ 38 ] Plato and Pythagoras called this harmony the harmony of the spheres. This is not a poetic metaphor, but a deep vibration of the innermost soul among the sound waves emanating from the world soul.

[ 39 ] Goethe, who was initiated in his youth during the period between Leipzig and Strasbourg, knew this harmony of the spheres. He sang of it at the beginning of “Faust,” where the archangel Raphael speaks these words

The sun sounds in the old way
in brotherly spheres, singing in competition,
And completes its prescribed journey
With a thunderous roar.

[ 40 ] In deep sleep, the initiate hears these sounds as trumpet blasts and rolling thunder.