The Christian Mystery
GA 97
19 September 1906, Basel
XVIII. The Three Ways of Initiation.
Address for the opening of the Paracelsus Branch
When one gives a lecture on a Christian theme at a public gathering, it is not possible to speak about the worldwide theosophical movement in the intimate way which is possible in the present case, in a smaller, closed group. The lecture will give an outline of the three ways of initiation.
Many of you will no doubt have been involved with theosophy in all kinds of different ways and also know different views presented within the world-wide theosophical movement. Reading, lectures, and your own reflections will have made some of you interested in finding out more about things that go beyond the sphere of the senses, things eternal, beyond time and mortality.
The science of the spirit has made it its special mission to give instruction on the deeper nature of man and his relationship to the world as a whole, also to try and discover what is the eternal, lasting principle in man, what are the causes of illness, of bad and evil things in the world and in individual human beings, what are the ultimate goals and purposes of the world and of man, and, finally, how the world has come into existence.
Today, however, our theme will mainly be the ways in which insight may be gained into those higher problems.
Human morality is the greatest goal man can set for himself. General brotherhood among people has been the ideal of all great, noble people through the ages. The theosophical association wants this, too. It definitely does not aim to create a sect based on Buddhist views, nor does it seek to abolish or replace Christianity. It also does not want to present anything unscientific. Apart from this it is also important to distinguish between the doctrine of theosophy, its view of the world, and its aims, which are to achieve the general brotherhood of man.
Both are important, the theory and the practice of theosophy. The teaching should serve to make us aware of the higher and highest principles. For we are doing some work on our souls when we follow such theoretical thinking. We prepare it, as it were, for the practice of human love and brotherhood. The theoretical aims are to reach a point where we understand the essential nature of human beings, so that we meet one another with real understanding, judging and treating one another accordingly. Different opinions, occupations, environments and so on drive people apart in life. Deeper insight and knowledge should be the means of creating peace and love among people in spite of many different opinions. That is the theosophical view of the world. It has originally come from individuals who have made efforts to deepen and develop their dormant inner faculties so that they might gain greater insight into the world than is possible by means of our ordinary senses or ordinary human understanding. Such people are called initiates. Different degrees of initiation are known. The great founders of religions were great initiates, among them Hermes, teacher of the priests in ancient Egypt, Zarathustra, Moses, Plato, Jesus Christ. All of them had more highly developed souls. They were able to see into the world of the spirit which is around us in a similar way to the physical world.
For as long as someone does not seek himself to take the path of initiation, there is only one way to look into those worlds of spirit, and that is by using the rational human mind. The world grows clear and lucid if penetrated by the rational mind.
The view of the world gained in the science of the spirit makes insight into the world clearer and deeper than other philosophies do. The rational mind is the judge, accepting or rejecting such teachings about humanity. Human beings have a real need for these, which is also why they are presented to them.
We will now take a closer look at how one may develop one's soul so that it will be able to perceive the sublime realm that lies beyond the senses. There is, of course, no compulsion or obligation about this. Not everyone needs to follow such a path. Those who are able will receive the necessary suggestions and be able to take the right steps in accord with them.
Methods of acquiring such higher faculties have existed at all times. But until a few decades ago they were only known to a few chosen occult teachers and occult pupils. Someone who is called may also find the right path of development for himself. All it needs is serious resolve and one's own free will.
This lecture shall therefore also have no bias towards propaganda nor seek to push people towards such a path. All that will be done is to show the ways that might be followed. Initiation is the goal of such a path of development, that is, gaining the faculties needed for insight into higher worlds.
Unfortunately it is still widely, and wrongly, believed that theosophy is something that comes from the East, really from India, and a kind of neo-Buddhism that is to be pushed on to us Westerners as a new religion. To say this is to do a great injustice to theosophy, for it has existed in Europe from the beginning, and had grown deep roots in many places, especially in recent centuries. It has to be admitted, however, that it was always met with greater understanding in the East. East and West also have quite different ways of initiation, which is in accord with the more deep down nature of individual nations. For us, the European way is of course more important, and it is more appropriate for us to follow this. All these ways lead to one and the same goal, however, for the truth is the same both here and there, today and yesterday and in all eternity.
To begin with, a brief description will be given of the three most important forms of initiation—first the Indian yoga initiation, secondly the Christian and gnostic way, which people would also do well to follow today, and thirdly the Rosicrucian way. This is the most suitable for people today who cannot find what they seek in mere faith and need to enter into the achievements of civilization and technology. Deep down this is also a Christian way, as is evident, apart from anything else, in the fact that someone who has developed by taking the Rosicrucian way learns to understand the wisdom taught in Christianity in the best and deepest way.
Firstly, the Eastern yoga way. The human soul is able to develop to the point where it becomes like an eye that has direct vision of the spirit, of the eternal which is beyond time. The way taken by people of the East for this development differs from the way of the European because their natural disposition and organization are different. A Hindu differs from a European not only in external appearance, for his brain and soul are also built differently. It is evident, therefore, that if they are truly to reach the goal, Hindus must take a different way from that of Europeans. It actually goes so far that a European may possibly ruin himself both morally and physically by taking the Eastern path of development. The isolation and withdrawal of the soul required for the yoga way is practically impossible in our European civilization. One would have to step completely aside from ordinary life here, and indeed from our whole civilization, devoting oneself entirely to one's personal inner development.
Someone who follows this route needs a spiritual guide or guru who pilots him safely through all the chaos. Without such a guru it is impossible to follow this way. It also needs a complete transformation of human nature, a transformation laid down for one by the guru. Such a guru altogether has unlimited power over his pupil. It then is no longer of no concern what the individual does in his life in other respects. It is no longer enough to be a decent, good person of the ordinary kind, simply the kind of person society tends to consider an example.
It has to be possible to keep soul and body quite distinct and separate, they must no longer interpenetrate the way they did before. Passions and animal instincts should no longer have a place in the human soul, for the soul is inhibited and prevented by them from penetrating the mists of the physical world and looking into the higher world of the spirit. However, when soul and body are cleanly separated, the latter may well bring its passions and drives into play at the same time as the soul is in that higher life. It is therefore possible for the soul to develop to a higher level and gain vision in the spirit, whilst the body falls subject to all kinds of bad qualities and perhaps becomes corrupted because its passions and drives are no longer guided towards better things by the soul's insight, which had been possible when soul and body were still interpenetrating. This shows the tremendous importance of proper guidance on this difficult path. One must in that case strictly obey the guru, even if it goes against the grain. The guru is permitted to involve himself in the pupil's most intimate affairs of the heart and give him rules on how to conduct his life. Certain relationships may be forbidden as being an impediment to the development that is in progress. Preconditions for this way of development are firstly the ability to prevent the lower drives to good effect, then regular practice of certain ways of doing things, firmly establishing particular qualities and developing additional faculties that still lie dormant or do not yet exist.
Such preparations for development are: firstly to get out of the habit of letting one's thoughts dart about. This would seem to be an easy condition, but it is in fact difficult. We are driven and put under pressure by external impressions. For at least five minutes a day the individual should have complete control of the way his thoughts run. One exercise one might try, for instance, is to concentrate the mind on a single idea. Nothing else should be linked with this idea, however many things want to come in of their own accord, only the thoughts I myself connect with it, freely deciding to do so. Such exercises should be done with a variety of objects. After some time, the individuaPs thinking will be controlled and this is outwardly apparent in a more precise choice of words, among other things.
Secondly, taking initiative in one's actions. Some people are quite incapable of this, for they may have been forced into an occupation from early on, and this occupies most of their active life. Most of the things we do are dictated from outside. Someone seeking to gain initiation should therefore be deeply concerned to do something regularly, always at the same time of the day, something they have decided on themselves, even if it is something quite insignificant.
Thirdly, the pupil should overcome mood swings, being on top of the world one minute and down in the dumps the next. It means we should not give ourselves without will to pleasure and pain but keep our inner equilibrium even in the bitterest pain and greatest pleasures. This certainly will not make us insensitive and lacking in response; quite the contrary, our inner responses become all the more subtle and intensive.
Fourthly, a Persian legend about Christ Jesus should live in the pupil's heart. It is this. One day Jesus walked in the countryside with his disciples. A half decomposed dog lay by the wayside, a horrible sight. The disciples turned away, feeling shocked. Christ Jesus looked at the cadaver with loving eyes, however, commenting: ‘Look what beautiful teeth this dead animal has!’ The quintessence of this is to find hidden beauty even in ugly things, and altogether always look for the positive aspect, for something to which one can say yes. The life of even the worst of evildoers has moments of light and we can meet these with understanding.
Fifthly, we must seek to gain complete freedom from prejudice, The past should never determine the way we judge the present. We should not reject something new just because we have not come across it before. New insights should be taken in an unbiased way if one wants to be an initiate.
Sixth, developing harmony of soul. This will really arise from all the other things, as if of its own accord.
These qualities are absolutely essential preconditions for anyone who is to be initiated the yoga way.
The actual yoga way involves a number of stages that must be kept clearly distinct.
Firstly the yoga pupil must not kill, lie, steal, live to excess or be covetous. The more one ceases to live at the cost of others, the closer does one come to what is meant by the requirement that one should not steal. For this is not, of course, the stealing that is a punishable crime, but more subtle forms of it. As to the other requirements, each individual will immediately know what they involve.
Secondly it is highly desirable to acknowledge certain symbolic acts for one's own. One must have a feeling for it and come to understand that a rite is really just giving symbolic expression to something much more profound.
Thirdly the assumption of specific body positions, for the position into which one brings the body for the exercises to gain higher wisdom is far from immaterial. As far as possible it should be placed in the direction in which the spiritual streams move in the world.
Fourthly, pranayama, the regulation of one's breathing, is of great importance. It has to do with the requirement not to kill, for man's breath is capable of killing many things in the world around him. Yoga breathing aims gradually to free the breath from its deadly effect on other life forms. Above all, yoga pupils should no longer release so much deadly carbon dioxide. This is possible, for we know that individuals who have been deeply initiated can spend decades in caves where the air is stale and this does not ruin them physically.
The fifth stage relates to suppressing the evolution of certain sensual ideals. We must no longer let every sensual idea influence us but need to take individual ones and concentrate all our attention on them. The rest of our thoughts should also be made to progress in a specific, regulated way.
The sixth stage is that as he progresses the pupil must concentrate on, say, an impression of light, or, put in a better way, to concentrate on the image such an impression has left in the soul. This is an even higher stage. Even more valuable is meditation based on an idea that is no longer part of the world we perceive through the senses. It is essential for the human being to give himself to the contemplation of such ideas if he is to progress.
The seventh stage is very hard. It consists in the individual banishing every idea of any kind from his conscious mind whilst remaining wholly awake. He then comes closer to the state of intuitive conception. Now at last the soil is prepared and the contents of a world that has been unknown to us so far can come to us.
A guru is absolutely essential during the whole of this preparation for the yoga way. It is solely and exclusively due to him that these inner developments take the right course and benefit the pupil.
This has, of course, been only a rough and ready outline of the yoga way. It is certainly not a set of instructions for following it. Let me repeat: the guidance given by the guru from time to time is absolutely essential, and it is given from person to person.
The second way is the Christian gnostic one. The main difference here, compared to the one that went before, is that it is not necessary for every individual pupil to have his own guru. This is no longer required because of the existence of a great, sublime individual, Christ Jesus, who is there to be the pupil's goal and to point the way. The way that has to be followed is given in detail in holy writ, in the Bible, above all in the gospel of John. Deep down this does indeed give direct instructions for training as a mystic.
Along this way, the guide is there more to advise than to be an authoritative guru in the usual sense. The guidance concerning initiation is of the highest authority, that of Jesus Christ. John's gospel gives such guidance. It is not a book for study but a book for life in the true sense of the word. The first few sentences of the gospel have special mystic powers and are tremendously important for setting out on this path of initiation. A pupil of the Christian mysteries needs to take a meditative approach to those few sentences, for instance letting them and nothing else live in his soul at a particular time every morning. After some time the profound meaning of these sentences will be clear to him intuitively, and it is only then that the moment has come when one can begin further study of John's gospel so that it will truly bear fruit.
In the course of one's study, the images of the gospel will gradually slip quietly into our dreams, so that we have real inner experience of the events described. This inner experience then continues through all further stages of development which I am not going to describe in detail here and now.
When the pupil has progressed to the washing of the feet, a symbolic act in which one humbly confesses one's dependence and the fact that one has grown and developed on the basis of something lower, at a lower level than our own, certain symptoms will show themselves also externally—a strange feeling of water running by one's feet. The inner symptom relating to this is an imaginative vision of the washing of the feet. In Christian mystic development, the washing of the feet marks the first stage.
The second station is the scourging, which is also something one enters into in one's feelings. It means that in spite of the great and frequent pair and troubles we have to bear in life we will always stand up straight and not grow faint-hearted. Again we have both an outer and an inner symptoms—a strange physical stabbing sensation and the mental image of our own scourging.
Stage three is the crown of thorns. This means that though it is painful to have our most sacred feelings and convictions derided and have scorn poured on them, we must not lose our inner firmness, our equilibrium. Symptoms are headaches, and vision of one's own person wearing the crown of thorns.
Fourthly bearing the cross (crucifixion). Here the pupil is to gain living experience that the body is really an indifferent object compared to the soul and its importance. When we are truly aware of this we'll also be able to use the body merely as an instrument for higher things, and weUl truly control it. Symptoms are the Christ's stigmata appearing as reddened areas on hands and feet. This blood trial only occurs for brief moments during the meditation, however. Inner vision of being crucified oneself.
Fifth, the mystic death. Here the pupil has a strange experience. It is as if the whole world around him is covered by a veil, and he senses the essence that lies behind the veil. When he feels himself thus to be in utter darkness, the veil will suddenly tear and he looks through it into a new, wondrous world. He now learns to judge the depths of the human soul by a completely different standard. This mystic death is like a descent into hell.
The pupil is now someone who has been awakened and can progress to the sixth stage, the entombment. Here he feels the whole outer environment to be his body. His individual nature expands, encompassing the whole world. The body feels itself to be one with the earth, and individual consciousness expands to become earth consciousness.
The seventh stage cannot be described to any degree, for it is beyond all powers of imagination based on the senses. Individuals who have finally come free of this world by unceasing practice may just be able to grasp it in their thoughts. This stage involves entering into perfect divinity and glory, and we do not have the words to describe it.
This Christian way is difficult, for it demands great inner humility and giving up of self. Anyone who has gone through it, however, will have achieved man's goal and dignity. True Christianity will have come to life in him in a very real way.
The third way is the Rosicrucian one. It is really just a modification of the other two. It developed in the 14th century, when the adepts were able to foresee that civilization would become very different in the centuries ahead.
This is the most suitable way for modern people. It is also the most appropriate for Europeans. This does not mean to say that one of the other ways will not also lead to the goal. But the Rosicrucian system is compatible with our whole civilization and culture. It has not so far been laid down in books or manuscripts, but has been passed from generation to generation by oral tradition. A more detailed description is given in Lucifer-Gnosis under the title ‘How to gain knowledge of the higher worlds’.146Steiner R. Geisteswissenschaft und soziale Frage. Lucifer-Gnosis—Grundlegende AufsStze zur Anthroposophie und Berichte (GA 34) . Originally in Luzifer-Gnosis Nos. 13–28, Berlin, 1904–1905.
This is a very different view of the role of a guru. He is no longer absolute authority for the pupil but more a friend and adviser. The only authority lies in the individual's own free decision.
Evolution is in seven stages: 1) study, 2) imagination, 3) insight into occult scripture, 4) making life rhythmic, 5) looking for relationships between macrocosm and microcosm, 6) contemplation, 7) experiencing godliness.
Study is thus required as a first step, though this is not the scholarly type of study but working with thoughts relating to the world and to human life, the origin of the heavenly bodies, and so on, and other ways of training one's thinking. Thinking is able to give us new living experiences—I am referring to logical thinking with a definite goal. It provides secure guidance througJi all worlds, for thinking has to be equally consistent in all of them.
Secondly we have to gain the faculty of imagination. This is a matter of relating to the world around us not only in theory and in our thoughts but in moral terms. We must learn to discover the aspect of every thing that gives its moral background. To develop this kind of imagination we may, for instance, put the image of a plant clearly before our mind's eye. Or we may have a small seed grain before us and develop images of how it gradually sprouts, producing a stem and finally a complete plant with its fruit. After some practice one can really see how a plant emerges and grows from such a seed. This does, however, call for considerable occult powers. With lesser means it is possible to perceive the astral body of the plant as a small flame emerging from the seed.
Thirdly to learn occult script. This means to learn signs that have to do with the cosmic process.
Step 4 is to make life rhythmical. Our breathing needs to be regulated, changing the relative proportions of exhaled carbon dioxide and inhaled oxygen in a specific way. It is altogether most necessary to bring rhythm into life in our restless age. All processes follow one another in a great rhythm, and as far as possible this should also be made part of one's life. Thus we should arrange to have a meditation process at a given hour, or to review our past life at the same time every night. This releases great powers in the soul.
Step 5 is to look for correspondences between microcosm and macrocosm. Goethe put this most beautifully in the following verse:
Were not the eye like to the sun,
The sun it never could behold;
Were not in us the god's own power,
How could we take delight in things divine?147Goethe, Zahme Xenien III.
Entering intensely into our organs teaches us about the parts of the macrocosm that relate to them. Thus study of the eye teaches us about light, exploration of the lung about the composition of the air, and so on. Using a similar way we should finally also gain self knowledge.
Entering into the small world within us we thus gradually also have the great world revealed to us. Such comparative studies will ultimately lead to the state of godliness, the result of all the work that has gone before and above all of the deep, calm contemplation that is the sixth stage.
With all this, the individual must be imbued with specific good qualities, these being self confidence, self control and being present in mind and spirit.
The pupil has to work unceasingly on this inner development. For although the divine principle is indeed latent in us, it does not reveal itself without work and the right kind of development. To follow this way one does not have to leave one's human and social environment to devote oneself to personal development in solitude. Nor does it ask that we despise matter, merely that we grow beyond it, overcoming it to reach something higher.
Our guiding principle should be that self knowledge is world knowledge.
The three ways I have described take the individual to being a pupil at a higher level. It is only from this that a true initiate can then give us the key to the secret of the world, so that we may gain insight into the deeper connections in the life of the world and in human life. That highest level then means one is able to receive intuitions from higher worlds. It is a state of lucidity in spirit and of divine light.
Die Drei Einweihungspfade
Ansprache zur Gründung des Paracelsus-Zweiges
Wenn man einen Vortrag über ein christliches Thema vor einer öffentlichen Versammlung hält, so kann man über die theosophische Weltbewegung nicht so intim sprechen wie im vorliegenden Fall in kleinerer, geschlossenerer Gesellschaft. In dem folgenden Vortrag soll eine skizzenhafte Schilderung der drei Pfade der Initiation gegeben werden.
Viele von Ihnen werden sich wohl in der mannigfaltigsten Weise mit der Theosophie befaßt haben und kennen auch verschiedene Anschauungen, die durch die theosophische Weltbewegung verbreitet werden. Aus Literatur, Vorträgen, eigenem Nachdenken ist manch einem das Interesse dafür rege geworden, von übersinnlichen, ewigen, über das Zeitlich-Vergängliche hinausgehenden Dingen genauere Kenntnis zu erhalten.
So hat es denn besonders die Geisteswissenschaft zu ihrer Aufgabe gemacht, Belehrungen über das tiefere Wesen des Menschen und seine Stellung zum Weltganzen zu geben, ferner zu erforschen, was im Menschen das Ewige und Bleibende sei, welches die Ursachen von Krankheiten, vom Bösen und Übel in der Welt wie im einzelnen Menschen seien, wohinaus letztlich die Ziele und Zwecke der Welt und der Menschen laufen, und endlich, wie die Welt entstanden sei.
Heute freilich sollen im wesentlichen die Pfade besprochen werden, die einzuschlagen sind, wenn man eine Einsicht in jene höheren Probleme erlangen will.
Menschheitsmoral ist das höchste Ziel, das sich der Mensch setzen kann. Allgemeine Verbrüderung unter den Menschen ist das Ideal, das sich alle großen, edeln Menschen zu allen Zeiten vorgestellt haben. Das gleiche will auch die theosophische Vereinigung. Nie und nimmer bezweckt sie aber die Begründung einer neuen Sekte auf buddhistischer Grundlage, noch weniger will sie das Christentum abschaffen oder ersetzen. Sie will überhaupt auch nichts Unwissenschaftliches bringen. Wichtig ist dann noch, auseinanderzuhalten die Lehre der Theosophie, ihre Weltanschauung, und die Ziele derselben, nämlich die der allgemeinen Menschenverbrüderung.
Beides ist wichtig, die theoretische wie die praktische Seite der Theosophie. Ihre Erkenntnissätze sollen dazu dienen, uns mit dem Höheren und Höchsten bekanntzumachen. Denn durch ein solches theoretisches Denken leisten wir an unserer Seele eine gewisse Arbeit. Wir bereiten sie in gewissem Maße vor zur praktischen Menschenliebe und Verbrüderung. Die theoretischen Ziele sind, dahin zu gelangen, die Mitmenschen in ihrem Wesen zu verstehen, so daß einer dem andern wirklich verständnisvoll gegenübersteht und ihn demgemäß beurteilt und behandelt. Denn die verschiedenen Meinungen, Beschäftigungen, Umgebungen und so weiter bringen sie im Leben auseinander. Das Mittel, um trotz der verschiedensten Meinungen zwischen den Menschen Frieden und Liebe zu stiften, soll eine tiefere Einsicht und Erkenntnis sein, nämlich die theosophische Weltanschauung. Sie stammt ursprünglich von denen, welche sich bemüht haben, durch Vertiefung und Entwickelung ihrer schlummernden inneren Fähigkeiten mehr von der Welt zu erkennen, als es mittels der gewöhnlichen Sinne oder des gemeinen Menschenverstandes möglich ist. Solche Menschen nennt man Eingeweihte. Dabei unterscheidet man verschiedene Stufen der Initiierten. Die großen Religionsstifter waren große Eingeweihte, zum Beispiel Hermes, der Lehrer der altägyptischen Priester, Zarathustra, Moses, Plato, Jesus Christus. Sie alle haben eine höher entwickelte Seele getragen. Sie vermochten hineinzusehen in die geistige Welt, die uns ähnlich umgibt wie die physische.
Solange man nicht selbst danach strebt, den Pfad der Einweihung zu gehen, gibt es nur ein Mittel, in jene geistigen Welten zu schauen, nämlich die menschliche Vernunft. Die Welt wird licht und klar bei der Durchdringung durch die Vernunft.
Durch die geisteswissenschaftliche Weltanschauung wird die Weltkenntnis klarer und tiefer als durch die andern Philosophien. Die Vernunft ist die Richterin für die Annahme oder Verwerfung solcher Menschheitslehren. Nach ihnen hat der Mensch ein wirkliches Bedürfnis, weshalb sie ihm auch vorgetragen werden.
Wie man nun selber seine Seele so entwickelt, daß sie imstande ist, jenes Hohe, Übersinnliche zu erkennen, soll im folgenden des genaueren dargetan werden. Freilich ist zu einer solchen Entwickelung kein Soll oder gar ein Muß vorhanden. Nicht jeder braucht einen solchen Pfad zu beschreiten. Wer sich dazu eignet, wird schon die nötigen Anregungen erhalten und ihnen entsprechend die geeigneten Schritte tun.
Methoden, sich jene höheren Fähigkeiten anzueignen, hat es zu allen Zeiten gegeben. Nur waren sie bis in die letzten Jahrzehnte hinein bloß wenigen auserwählten Geheimlehrern und Geheimschülern bekannt. Ein dazu Berufener kann den geeigneten Entwikkelungspfad eventuell auch selber finden. Es bedarf dazu nur des ernsthaften Entschlusses seines eigenen freien Willens.
So soll auch dieser Vortrag keine propagandistische Tendenz haben und die Menschen auf einen solchen Pfad drängen wollen. Es sollen nur die Wege aufgedeckt werden, die man beschreiten könnte. Das Ziel dieses Entwickelungsganges ist die Einweihung, das heißt das Erringen der Fähigkeiten zu übersinnlichen Erkenntnissen.
Es ist leider noch vielfach die irrige Meinung verbreitet, die Theosophie sei etwas aus dem Orient Herübergebrachtes, stamme eigentlich aus Indien, als eine Art Neu-Buddhismus, und wolle nun uns Abendländern sozusagen als neue Religion aufgedrängt werden.Hierdurch freilich fügt man der Theosophie großes Unrecht zu, denn sie ist schon von Anbeginn auch in Europa gewesen und hatte besonders in den letzten Jahrhunderten vielerorts tiefe Wurzeln geschlagen. Freilich hat man ihr seit jeher im Orient mehr Verständnis entgegengebracht.
Der Orient und der Okzident haben auch ganz verschiedene Arten der Einweihung, entsprechend dem tieferen Charakter der Völker. Wichtiger als der orientalische Weg ist für uns hier natürlich der europäische, den zu beschreiten uns angemessener ist. Indessen führen alle diese Wege zu ein und demselben Ziel, denn die Wahrheit ist hier und dort, heute und gestern und in alle Ewigkeit dieselbe. Zunächst sollen nun die drei wichtigsten Einweihungspfade kurz geschildert werden: erstens die indische Jogaeinweihung, zweitens der christlich-gnostische Weg, der auch von heutigen Menschen noch sehr wohl betreten werden kann, drittens der rosenkreuzerische Weg, der dem heutigen Menschen, welcher im bloßen Glauben nicht letztlich Genüge finden kann, sondern mit den Errungenschaften der Kultur und Technik bekannt wird, jedenfalls der angemessenste ist. Auch dieser ist im tiefsten Grunde ein christlicher Weg, was schon daraus hervorgeht, daß gerade der rosenkreuzerisch Entwickelte die Weisheitslehren des Christentums am besten und tiefsten verstehen lernt.
Erstens: Der orientalische Jogaweg. Der menschlichen Seele ist es möglich, sich so weit zu entwickeln, daß sie wie ein Auge wird, welches direkt das Geistige, Ewige, Unzeitliche schaut. Der Weg, den der Orientale zu dieser Entwickelung einschlägt, ist wegen der völligen Andersartigkeit seiner Naturanlage und Organisation vom Weg des Europäers verschieden. Nicht etwa bloß dem Äußeren nach ist der Hindu vom Europäer verschieden, nein, sogar Gehirn und Seele sind bei beiden abweichend gebaut. Somit ergibt sich deutlich, daß zur wirklichen Erreichung jenes vorgesteckten Zieles der Hindu einen andern Weg einschlagen muß als der Europäer. Ja die Sache geht sogar so weit, daß ein Europäer sich gegebenenfalls moralisch und physisch ruiniert, wollte er den orientalischen Entwickelungspfad einschlagen. Jene Einsamkeit und Zurückgezogenheit der Seele, wie dies der Jogaweg erfordert, ist in unserer europäischen Kultur fast unmöglich. Man müßte dabei schon ganz aus dem gewöhnlichen Leben, ja aus unserer ganzen Kultur hinaustreten, um einzig nur seiner eigenen inneren Entwickelung zu obliegen.
Der auf diesem Weg geistig Weiterschreitende bedarf eines geistigen Führers oder Gurus, der ihn sicher durch die vielen Wirrnisse durchleitet. Ohne einen solchen Guru ist es unmöglich, diesen Pfad zu beschreiten. Ferner bedarf es dazu einer völligen Umwandlung des menschlichen Wesens, einer Umwandlung, die der Guru einem vorschreibt. Überhaupt besitzt dann ein solcher Guru eine unumschränkte Gewalt über seinen Schüler. Es bleibt dann nicht mehr gleichgültig, was der Mensch in seinem sonstigen Leben tut. Es genügt nicht mehr, ein anständiger, guter Mensch gewöhnlichen Schlages zu sein, einfach ein Mensch, den die Gesellschaft so im gewöhnlichen als musterhaft bezeichnet.
Seele und Körper müssen nun möglichst vollständig unterschieden und getrennt werden können, sie dürfen sich nicht mehr wie früher gegenseitig durchdringen. Leidenschaften und tierische Instinkte sollen künftig nichts mehr mit der Seele zu tun haben, denn solange dies der Fall ist, wird die Seele gehemmt und verhindert, die Nebel der physischen Welt zu durchdringen und in die höhere geistige Welt zu schauen. Bei einer genauen Trennung aber von Seele und Körper kann letzterer sehr wohl seine Leidenschaften und Begierden geltend machen, währenddem sich gleichzeitig die Seele im höheren Leben befindet. So kann sich also die Seele höher bilden zum geistigen Schauen, währenddem der Körper allen möglichen schlechten Eigenschaften verfällt und eventuell verkommit, weil nun seine Leidenschaften und Triebe nicht mehr, wie dies früher noch möglich war, als Seele und Körper sich noch gegenseitig durchdrangen, von der einsichtigen Seele zum Bessern geleitet werden. Daraus ergibt sich die enorme Wichtigkeit einer richtigen Führung auf diesem gefährlichen Pfad. Auf den Guru hat man dann in jedem Falle strikt zu hören, auch in Fällen, wo man das ungern tut. Der Guru darf sich in die intimsten Herzensangelegenheiten hineinmischen und seinem Schüler entsprechende Verhaltensmaßregeln geben. Gewisse Beziehungen können einem verboten werden, weil sie einem hinderlich in der eingeschlagenen Entwickelung sind. Vorbedingungen für diesen Entwickelungsweg sind: Einmal der Ausartung seiner niederen Naturtriebe wirksam vorbeugen zu können; dann die stete Übung gewisser Handlungsweisen und Festigung bestimmter Eigenschaften und die Ausbildung weiterer, erst schlummernder oder noch nicht vorhandener Fähigkeiten.
Solche Vorbereitungen für den Pfad sind: Erstens: Abgewöhnung eines irrlichtelierenden Denkens. Dies scheint eine leichte Bedingung zu sein, ist aber in Wirklichkeit schwer. Wir werden von äußeren Eindrücken gejagt und getrieben. Zum wenigsten fünf Minuten des Tages sollte der Mensch völlig Herr über seine Gedankenfolge sein. Als Übung kann man zum Beispiel versuchen, eine einzige Vorstellung in den Mittelpunkt des Bewußtseins zu stellen. Dann darf durchaus nichts anderes mit dieser Vorstellung verbunden werden, so viel sich unwillkürlich daran reihen möge, als was ich durch freien Entschluß selber damit verbinde. Derlei Übungen sollten mit verschiedensten Gegenständen angestellt werden. Nach einiger Zeit stellt sich dann ein kontrollierteres Denken ein, das sich äußerlich schon in der präziseren Sprache ausdrückt.
Zweitens: Initiative des Handelns. Diese fehlt manchem Menschen fast ganz, denn von früh auf wird er gewöhnlich in einen Beruf gedrängt, der nun den größten Teil seines Handelns absorbiert. Unsere meisten Handlungen sind von außen bestimmt. Daher soll der, welcher die Einweihung sucht, es sich eindringlich angelegen sein lassen, zu einer bestimmten Tageszeit regelmäßig eine Handlung zu verrichten, die aus inneren, eigenen Antrieben heraus kommt, mag dies im Grunde auch etwas Unbedeutendes sein.
Drittens soll der Schüler über das «himmelhoch jauchzend, zu Tode betrübt» hinauskommen, das heißt, der Mensch soll sich nicht jedem Schmerz und jeder Lust willenlos überlassen, sondern er soll sein inneres Gleichgewicht beibehalten auch bei den herbsten Schmerzen und den größten Lüsten. Dies braucht ganz gewiß keine Stumpfheit und Empfindungslosigkeit zu erzeugen, im Gegenteil, es bildet sich daraus ein um so feineres und intensiveres Empfinden.
Viertens: Eine persische Legende von Christus Jesus soll im Schüler lebendig werden, nämlich: Mit den Jüngern ging Jesus über Land. Am Wege lag ein halb verwester Hund, greulich anzusehen. Die Jünger wandten sich mit Entsetzen ab, Christus Jesus hingegen schaute mit liebevollen Augen den Kadaver an und bemerkte dazu: Schaut doch die wunderschönen Zähne dieses toten Tieres! — Die Quintessenz hiervon ist, aus dem Häßlichen auch noch das verborgene Schöne herauszufinden und überhaupt immer das Positive zu suchen, das, wozu man ja sagen kann. Selbst im Leben des ärgsten Bösewichts gibt es lichte Momente, denen man verständnisvoll begegnen soll.
Fünftens ist völlige Freiheit von Vorurteilen anzustreben. Niemals soll die Vergangenheit einem das Urteil über die Gegenwart bestimmen. Etwas Neues soll man nicht einfach von sich weisen, weil es einem noch nie begegnet ist. Neuen Erkenntnissen soll man unbefangen entgegentreten, wenn man ein Eingeweihter werden will.
Sechstens: Entwickelung zur Seelenharmonie. Diese wird eigentlich aus allen andern wie von selbst entstehen.
Die angeführten Eigenschaften sind für jeden auf dem Jogaweg Einzuweihenden unerläßliche Vorbedingungen.
Der eigentliche Jogaweg besteht ebenfalls aus einzelnen Abschnitten, die man scharf auseinanderhalten muß.
Erstens: Der Jogaschüler soll nicht töten, nicht lügen, nicht stehlen, nicht ausschweifend leben und nicht begehren. Je mehr man aufhört, auf Kosten anderer zu leben, um so naher kommt man dem, was mit der Forderung «nicht stehlen» gemeint ist. Es handelt sich hier natürlich nicht um das auch kriminell strafbare Stehlen, sondern um feinere Arten desselben. Was die übrigen Erfordernisse besagen, weiß wohl jeder unmittelbar selbst.
Zweitens ist es sehr erwünscht, gewisse symbolische Handlungen als die seinigen anzuerkennen. Man soll einen Sinn dafür haben und verstehen lernen, daß eine Kultushandlung eigentlich bloß ein symbolischer Ausdruck für einen tieferen Inhalt ist.
Drittens: Einnehmen einer bestimmten Körperstellung und -lage, denn es ist durchaus nicht gleichgültig, welche Lage man dem Körper bei den Übungen zur höheren Weisheit gibt. Man soll ihn nämlich möglichst in die Richtung der geistigen Strömungen in der Welt bringen.
Viertens:Von großer Wichtigkeit ist auch das Pranayama oder das Jogaatmen, welches mit der Forderung zusammenhängt, nicht zu töten, denn durch seinen Atem wirkt der Mensch auf viele Dinge seiner Umgebung tötend. Das Jogaatmen zielt darauf ab, dem menschlichen Atem jenen tötenden Einfluß auf andere Lebewesen allmählich zu nehmen. Vor allem soll nicht mehr so viel tötende Kohlensäure abgegeben werden. Daß dies möglich ist, ergibt sich schon daraus, daß die tief Eingeweihten Jahrzehnte in dumpfen Höhlen zubringen können, ohne physisch zu verderben.
Die fünfte Stufe bezieht sich auf die Unterdrückung des Ablaufs bestimmter sinnlicher Vorstellungen. Wir dürfen hier nicht mehr jede sinnliche Vorstellung auf uns einwirken lassen, sondern sollen einzelne herausnehmen, um auf sie dann alle Aufmerksamkeit zu konzentrieren. Ferner sollen die andern Gedanken jeweils einen bestimmten und geregelten Weg des Ablaufs erhalten.
Sechstens: Im weiteren Verfolg hat sich der Schüler etwa auf einen Lichteindruck, oder besser gesagt, auf das in der Seele haftende Bild eines solchen Eindrucks zu konzentrieren. Letzteres bildeteine noch höhere Stufe. Noch wertvoller ist die Meditation, die von einer Vorstellung ausgeht, die nicht mehr der sinnlichen Welt angehört. Daß der Mensch sich solchen Vorstellungen in Kontemplation hingibt, ist für seine Schulung durchaus erforderlich.
Die folgende siebente Stufe ist sehr schwer, denn sie besteht darin, daß der Mensch nun überhaupt jegliche Vorstellung aus seinem Bewußtsein verbannt und dabei doch vollständig wach bleibt. So nähert er sich dem Zustand intuitiver Empfängnis. Jetzt erst ist der Boden bereitet, damit uns aus einer bisher noch unbekannten Welt deren Inhalt zufließt.
Bei all dieser Vorbereitung und Schulung ist der Guru unentbehrlich, denn erst durch ihn und ausschließlich durch ihn werden diese inneren Vorgänge in der richtigen Weise und zum Heil des Schülers geleitet.
Die hier gebrachte Darlegung dieses Jogaweges ist freilich nur eine unvollständige Skizze und ja nicht etwa für irgend jemand eine Anleitung zur Betretung dieses Weges. Es bedarf, um es noch einmal zu sagen, von Zeit zu Zeit der unentbehrlichen, nur von Mensch zu Mensch zu übermittelnden Anleitung durch den Guru.
Zweitens: Der christlich-gnostische Weg. Der Hauptunterschied dieses Weges vom vorigen ist der, daß hier nicht jeder einzelne Schüler einen besonderen Guru für sich braucht. Er ist dieses Erfordernisses enthoben durch die Existenz einer großen, erhabenen Persönlichkeit, nämlich des Christus Jesus, welcher dem Schüler Ziel und Wegweiser sein soll. Die genauere Darlegung des einzuschlagenden Weges findet er in der Heiligen Schrift, der Bibel, und zwar speziell im Johannes-Evangelium, welches in seinem tieferen Grunde in der Tat eine direkte Anweisung zu mystischer Schulung ist.
Bei diesem Weg ist der Führer mehr ein Berater als ein autoritativer eigentlicher Guru. In der Anleitung zur Einweihung ist hier zugleich die höchste Autorität beschlossen, nämlich Jesus Christus. Das Johannes-Evangelium gibt diese Anleitung zur mystischen Entwickelung. Es ist also kein Studienbuch, sondern in wahrhaftem Sinne ein Lebensbuch. Schon die ersten wenigen Sätze dieses Evangeliums haben eine bestimmte mystische Kraft und sind überaus wichtig zum Betreten des Einweihungspfades. So muß sich ein christlicher Mysterienschüler in bezug auf diese wenigen Sätze meditativ verhalten, das heißt zum Beispiel, jeden Morgen um eine bestimmte Zeit diese Sätze und sonst gar nichts anderes zum Inhalt seiner Seele machen. Nach einiger Zeit wird ihm dann der tiefe Gehalt dieser Sätze intuitiv klar, und jetzt erst ist der Moment gekommen, wo man das weitere Studium des Johannes-Evangeliums wirklich fruchtbringend beginnen kann.
Im Verlauf dieses Studiums werden sich allmählich in unsere Träume leise jene Bilder des Evangeliums einschleichen, so daß wir die darin dargelegten Handlungen innerlich selber erleben. Dieses innere Erlebnis erstreckt sich dann über sämtliche Entwickelungsstufen, deren eingehendere Schilderung ich hier nicht bringen will.
Ist man vorgeschritten bis zur Fußwaschung, welche die symbolische Handlung für das demütige Bekennen der Abhängigkeit und des Hervorwachsens aus dem unter einem Stehenden, Niedereren ist, so machen sich auch schon äußerlich gewisse Symptome geltend: ein eigenartiges Gefühl von rieselndem Wasser an den Füßen. Als inneres Symptom steht ihm gegenüber das imaginative Bild der Fußwaschung. In der christlichen mystischen Entwickelung bedeutet die Fußwaschung die erste Stufe.
Als zweite Station folgt dann die Geißelung, welche man ebenfalls gefühlsmäßig erlebt. Sie bedeutet, daß wir trotz großer und vieler Schmerzen und Kümmernisse, die wir im Leben auszuhalten haben, immer aufrechtstehen und nicht kleinmütig werden. Auch hier haben wir sowohl ein äußeres wie ein inneres Symptom, nämlich ein seltsames physisches Stechen und das geistige Bild unserer eigenen Geißelung.
Dritte Stufe die Dornenkrönung. Diese Handlung besagt, daß, wenn uns auch Schmerzvolles begegnet, wenn uns unsere heiligsten Gefühle und Überzeugungen mit Hohn und Spott verfolgt würden, man seine innere Festigkeit, sein Gleichgewicht nicht verlieren soll. Symptome: Kopfschmerzen, Vision der eigenen Person mit der Dornenkrone auf dem Haupt.
Viertens die Kreuztragung [Kreuzigung]: Hier soll dem Schüler zum Erlebnis werden, daß der Leib eigentlich ein gleichgültiges Objekt ist gegenüber der Seele und deren Wichtigkeit. Sind wir uns dessen wirklich bewußt, dann werden wir auch imstande sein, den Leib bloß als Instrument zu höheren Dingen zu benutzen, dann werden wir ihn wirklich beherrschen. Symptome: Erscheinen der Wundmale Christi als gerötete Stellen an Händen und Füßen. Diese Blutsprobe tritt freilich nur für Augenblicke während der Meditation auf. Innerliche Vision, daß man selber gekreuzigt werde.
Fünftens der mystische Tod. Hier hat der Schüler das sonderbare Erlebnis, als ob die ganze Welt um ihn mit einem Schleier zugedeckt wäre, und hinter dem Schleier ahnt er das Wesenhafte. Während er sich so in der Finsternis fühlt, reißt plötzlich der Schleier, und er blickt hindurch in eine ganz neue, wundersame Welt hinein. In einem ganz andern Maße lernt er nun beurteilen, was auf dem Grunde der menschlichen Seele liegt. Es ist dieser mystische Tod gleichsam ein Hinabsteigen in die Hölle.
Jetzt ist er ein Erweckter und kann zur sechsten Stufe, zur Grablegung, fortschreiten. Hier empfindet der Mensch seine ganze äußere Umgebung als seinen Leib. Seine Persönlichkeit weitet sich aus und umfaßt die ganze Erde. Der Leib fühlt sich mit der Erde eins, und das persönliche Bewußtsein dehnt sich zum Erdenbewußtsein aus.
Die siebente Stufe kann nicht genauer beschrieben werden, denn sie steht jenseits allen sinnlichen Vorstellungsvermögens. Höchstens kann sie noch denkend von jenen Menschen erfaßt werden, welche durch unablässige Übung endlich von dieser Welt frei geworden sind. Diese Stufe umfaßt das Eingehen zu vollkommener Göttlichkeit und Herrlichkeit, wofür unsere Worte zur Schilderung nicht mehr ausreichen.
Dieser christliche Weg ist zwar ein schwieriger, weil er innerlich mit großer Demut und Selbstentäußerung verknüpft ist. Wer ihn aber durchwandelt hat, der hat erreicht, was des Menschen Ziel und Würde ist, in dem ist das wahre Christentum wirklich lebendig geworden.
Drittens: Der rosenkreuzerische Pfad. Dieser Weg ist eigentlich nur eine Modifikation der andern beiden. Er ist im 14. Jahrhundert aufgekommen, weil die Adepten damals schon voraussahen, daß in den nächsten Jahrhunderten die Kulturverhältnisse ganz anders würden.
Für den modernen Menschen ist dieser Weg der geeignetste. Er ist auch dem Europäer am angemessensten. Freilich ist damit nicht gesagt, daß nicht einer der andern Wege ebenfalls zum Ziel führen könnte. Das rosenkreuzerische System ist jedoch mit unserer ganzen Kultur und Zivilisation vereinbar. Dieser Weg ist allerdings bisher nicht in Büchern oder Handschriften niedergelegt, sondern durch mündliche Überlieferung von einer Generation auf die andere übertragen worden. Eine ausführlichere Darlegung desselben findet sich in der «Luzifer-Gnosis» unter dem Titel «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten».
Hier haben wir eine ganz andere Auffassung des Guru. Er ist dem Schüler nicht mehr eine unbedingte Autorität, sondern mehr ein Ratgeber und Freund. Autorität ist hier bloß noch die freie Entschließung des Individuums.
Die Entwickelung vollzieht sich in sieben Stufen, nämlich: Erstens Studium, zweitens Imagination, drittens Erkenntnis der okkulten Schrift, viertens Rhythmisierung des Lebens, fünftens Aufsuchen von entsprechenden Beziehungen zwischen Makrokosmos und Mikrokosmos, sechstens Kontemplation, siebentens Erleben der Gottseligkeit.
Es ist also zunächst ein Studium erforderlich, freilich nicht ein wissenschaftliches Studium im gelehrten Sinne, sondern eine Beschäftigung mit Gedanken über Welt und Menschenleben, über Entstehung der Gestirne und so weiter oder sonstige Schulung des Denkens. Das Denken hat nämlich die Eigenschaft, neue Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse zu geben, das heißt, nur das zielbewußte, logische Denken. Es bildet einen sicheren Führer durch alle Welten, denn in jeder muß in derselben Weise konsequent gedacht werden.
Zweitens die Aneignung der Imagination. Sie besteht darin, daß man nicht bloß ein theoretisches und gedankliches, sondern ein moralisches Verhältnis zu seiner Umgebung gewinnt. Man soll hier lernen, an jedem Ding das herauszufinden, was einem moralischen Hintergrund entspricht. Zur Pflege dieser Imagination kann man sich zum Beispiel das Bild einer Pflanze in aller Klarheit und Deutlichkeit vor Augen bringen. Oder man legt ein Körnchen vor sich hin und imaginiert nun das allmähliche Emporsprießen eines Halmes und zuletzt einer fertigen Pflanze mit Früchten. Nach einiger Übung sieht man dann wirklich, wie eine Pflanze aus einem solchen Körnchen herauskommt und emporwächst. Dazu bedarf es freilich schon starker okkulter Kräfte. Aber mit geringeren Mitteln kann man als ein kleines Flammchen, das aus dem Samen herauskommt, den Astralkörper der Pflanze wahrnehmen.
Drittens die Erlernung der okkulten Schrift. Es ist dies eine Aneignung von Zeichen, welche mit dem Weltprozeß zu tun haben.
Viertens die Rhythmisierung des Lebens. Hierzu gehört eine Regelung des Atemvorganges, bei der das Verhältnis von ausgeatmeter Kohlensäure zu eingeatmetem Sauerstoff in bestimmter Weise geändert wird. Eine Rhythmisierung des Lebens ist in unserer unruhigen Zeit überhaupt sehr notwendig. Alle Vorgänge folgen sich in einem großen Rhythmus, und dieser Rhythmus soll so viel als möglich auch ins Leben hineingetragen werden. So soll man zum Beispiel einen Meditationsprozeß genau zu einer bestimmten Stunde ansetzen, oder am Abend zur selben Stunde eine Rückschau auf sein vergangenes Leben halten. Dadurch entbindet man starke Kräfte in seiner Seele.
Fünftens Aufsuchen der Entsprechungen zwischen Mikrokosmos und Makrokosmos. Den Zusammenhang zwischen diesen beiden hat auch Goethe in dem schönen Worte ausgedrückt:
Wär nicht das Auge sonnenhaft,
Die Sonne könnt es nie erblicken,
Läg nicht in uns des Gottes eigne Kraft,
Wie könnt uns Göttliches entzücken?
Eine eingehende Versenkung in unsere Organe belehrt uns über die ihnen entsprechenden Teile des Makrokosmos. Zum Beispiel das Studium des Auges belehrt uns über das Licht, ein Erforschen der Lunge gibt uns Aufschluß über die Zusammensetzung der Luft und so weiter. Ähnlich soll man zuletzt zu der eigenen Selbsterkenntnis kommen.
So wird uns durch Versenkung in die innere kleine Welt allmählich auch die große Welt offenbar. Durch solche vergleichende Betrachtungen wird endlich der Zustand der Gottseligkeit erreicht, als Folge aller vorhergehenden Übungen und besonders der tiefruhigen Kontemplation der sechsten Stufe.
Bei alledem ist erforderlich, daß der Mensch durchdrungen ist von bestimmten guten Eigenschaften, als da sind Selbstvertrauen, Selbstbeherrschung und Geistesgegenwart.
An dieser inneren Fortbildung soll unablässig gearbeitet werden. Denn trotzdem das Göttliche wirklich schon in uns latent ist, wird es doch nicht ohne Arbeit und entsprechende Entwickelung unmittelbar offenbar. Dieser Weg verlangt kein Hinausgehen aus menschlichen und sozialen Kreisen, um in der Einsamkeit seiner eigenen Entwickelung zu obliegen. Er fordert auch keine Verachtung der Materie, sondern ein bloßes Darüber-Hinauskommen und eine Überwindung derselben zu Höherem.
Selbsterkenntnis ist Welterkenntnis! — diene zum Leitspruch.
Die geschilderten drei Wege nun führen den Menschen zur höheren Schülerschaft hin. Erst von dieser aus kann er dann durch einen wahrhaft Eingeweihten den letzten Schlüssel zum Weltgeheimnis erlangen, um dadurch einen Einblick in die tieferen Zusammenhänge des Welt- und Menschenlebens zu bekommen. Jene höchste Stufe bedeutet dann die Befähigung, Intuitionen aus höheren Welten in sich aufzunehmen. Es ist ein Zustand geistiger Helle und göttlichen Lichtes.
The Three Paths of Initiation
Address on the Founding of the Paracelsus Branch
When giving a lecture on a Christian topic before a public gathering, one cannot speak about the Theosophical World Movement as intimately as in the present case, in a smaller, more closed society. The following lecture will provide a sketchy description of the three paths of initiation.
Many of you will have dealt with theosophy in a variety of ways and will also be familiar with various views propagated by the theosophical world movement. Literature, lectures, and personal reflection have sparked an interest in many people to gain a more precise knowledge of supernatural, eternal things that transcend the temporal and transitory.
Spiritual science has therefore made it its task to provide teachings about the deeper nature of human beings and their position in relation to the whole world, to investigate what is eternal and permanent in human beings, what are the causes of illness, of evil and suffering in the world and in individual human beings, what are the ultimate goals and purposes of the world and of human beings, and finally, how the world came into being.
Today, of course, we will mainly discuss the paths that must be taken if one wants to gain insight into those higher problems.
Human morality is the highest goal that man can set himself. General brotherhood among men is the ideal that all great, noble men have imagined at all times. The Theosophical Society wants the same thing. However, it never aims to establish a new sect based on Buddhism, nor does it seek to abolish or replace Christianity. It does not seek to promote anything unscientific. It is also important to distinguish between the teachings of theosophy, its worldview, and its goals, namely that of universal brotherhood.
Both the theoretical and practical sides of theosophy are important. Its principles of knowledge should serve to acquaint us with the higher and the highest. For through such theoretical thinking we perform a certain work on our soul. To a certain extent, we prepare it for practical human love and brotherhood. The theoretical goals are to understand our fellow human beings in their essence, so that we can truly understand one another and judge and treat each other accordingly. For different opinions, occupations, environments, and so on, separate us in life. The means of creating peace and love among people despite their diverse opinions should be a deeper insight and understanding, namely the theosophical worldview. It originates from those who have endeavored to recognize more of the world than is possible through the ordinary senses or common sense by deepening and developing their dormant inner abilities. Such people are called initiates. A distinction is made between different levels of initiates. The great founders of religions were great initiates, for example Hermes, the teacher of the ancient Egyptian priests, Zarathustra, Moses, Plato, and Jesus Christ. They all had a more highly developed soul. They were able to see into the spiritual world, which surrounds us in much the same way as the physical world.
As long as one does not strive to walk the path of initiation oneself, there is only one means of looking into those spiritual worlds, namely human reason. The world becomes light and clear when penetrated by reason.
Through the spiritual-scientific worldview, knowledge of the world becomes clearer and deeper than through other philosophies. Reason is the judge for the acceptance or rejection of such teachings of humanity. According to them, human beings have a real need, which is why they are presented to them.
How one can develop one's own soul so that it is capable of recognizing that which is high and supersensible will be explained in more detail below. Of course, there is no requirement or even obligation to undergo such a development. Not everyone needs to follow such a path. Those who are suited to it will receive the necessary inspiration and take the appropriate steps accordingly.
Methods for acquiring these higher abilities have existed throughout history. However, until recent decades, they were known only to a select few secret teachers and secret students. Those who are called to this path may eventually find the appropriate path of development themselves. All that is required is a serious decision made of their own free will.
This lecture is not intended to be propagandistic or to urge people to follow such a path. It is only intended to reveal the paths that could be taken. The goal of this process of development is initiation, that is, the attainment of the abilities for supersensible knowledge.
Unfortunately, there is still a widespread misconception that theosophy is something brought over from the Orient, originating in India, a kind of new Buddhism, and now being imposed on us Westerners as a new religion, so to speak. This, of course, does great injustice to Theosophy, for it has been present in Europe from the very beginning and has taken deep root in many places, especially in recent centuries. Admittedly, it has always been met with greater understanding in the Orient.
The Orient and the Occident also have very different types of initiation, corresponding to the deeper character of the peoples. More important than the Eastern path for us here is, of course, the European path, which is more appropriate for us to follow. However, all these paths lead to the same goal, for the truth is the same here and there, today and yesterday and for all eternity. First, the three most important paths of initiation will be briefly described: first, the Indian yoga initiation; second, the Christian-Gnostic path, which can still be followed very well by people today; third, the Rosicrucian path, which is certainly the most appropriate for people today, who cannot ultimately find satisfaction in mere faith, but are familiar with the achievements of culture and technology. This path is also fundamentally a Christian path, as is evident from the fact that it is precisely those who have developed through Rosicrucianism who learn to understand the wisdom teachings of Christianity best and most deeply.
First: The Oriental path of yoga. It is possible for the human soul to develop to such an extent that it becomes like an eye that directly sees the spiritual, eternal, and timeless. The path that Orientals take to achieve this development differs from that of Europeans because of the completely different nature and organization of their constitution. Hindus differ from Europeans not only in their outward appearance, but also in the structure of their brains and souls. It is therefore clear that in order to truly achieve this goal, Hindus must take a different path than Europeans. In fact, it goes so far that a European would ruin himself morally and physically if he were to take the Eastern path of development. The solitude and seclusion of the soul required by the path of yoga is almost impossible in our European culture. One would have to step completely out of ordinary life, indeed out of our entire culture, in order to devote oneself solely to one's own inner development.
Those who advance spiritually on this path need a spiritual guide or guru to lead them safely through the many confusions. Without such a guru, it is impossible to follow this path. Furthermore, it requires a complete transformation of the human being, a transformation that the guru prescribes. In general, such a guru then has unlimited power over his disciple. It no longer matters what the person does in his or her everyday life. It is no longer enough to be a decent, good person of the ordinary kind, simply a person whom society would describe as ordinary and exemplary.
The soul and body must now be distinguished and separated as completely as possible; they must no longer interpenetrate each other as they did before. Passions and animal instincts should no longer have anything to do with the soul, for as long as this is the case, the soul is inhibited and prevented from penetrating the mists of the physical world and looking into the higher spiritual world. With a precise separation of soul and body, however, the latter can very well assert its passions and desires, while at the same time the soul is in the higher life. In this way, the soul can develop higher spiritual vision, while the body succumbs to all kinds of bad qualities and eventually degenerates, because its passions and drives are no longer guided for the better by the discerning soul, as was possible in the past when soul and body still permeated each other. This highlights the enormous importance of proper guidance on this dangerous path. In any case, one must listen strictly to the guru, even in cases where one is reluctant to do so. The guru may interfere in the most intimate matters of the heart and give his disciple appropriate rules of conduct. Certain relationships may be forbidden because they are a hindrance to the chosen path of development. Prerequisites for this path of development are: first, to be able to effectively prevent the degeneration of one's lower natural instincts; then, the constant practice of certain behaviors and the consolidation of certain characteristics, as well as the development of further abilities that are still dormant or not yet present.
Such preparations for the path are: First, weaning oneself off of erratic thinking. This seems to be an easy condition, but in reality it is difficult. We are chased and driven by external impressions. For at least five minutes of the day, a person should be completely in control of their train of thought. As an exercise, one can try, for example, to place a single idea at the center of one's consciousness. Then nothing else may be associated with this idea, no matter how much may involuntarily follow it, except what I myself associate with it through free decision. Such exercises should be done with a wide variety of objects. After some time, a more controlled way of thinking will develop, which will be expressed externally in more precise language.
Second: initiative in action. Some people lack this almost entirely, because from an early age they are usually pushed into a profession that now absorbs most of their actions. Most of our actions are determined by external factors. Therefore, those who seek initiation should make it a priority to perform a specific action at a specific time of day that comes from their own inner impulses, even if it is something insignificant.
Thirdly, the student should rise above the “highest highs and lowest lows,” that is, they should not surrender themselves to every pain and every pleasure, but should maintain their inner balance even in the face of the most severe pain and the greatest pleasures. This certainly does not need to produce dullness and insensitivity; on the contrary, it results in an even finer and more intense sensitivity.
Fourth: A Persian legend about Christ Jesus should come alive in the student, namely: Jesus was walking across the country with his disciples. By the wayside lay a half-decayed dog, gruesome to behold. The disciples turned away in horror, but Christ Jesus looked at the carcass with loving eyes and remarked: Look at the beautiful teeth of this dead animal! — The quintessence of this is to discover the hidden beauty even in ugliness and always to seek the positive, that which one can say yes to. Even in the life of the worst villain, there are moments of light that should be met with understanding.
Fifth, one should strive for complete freedom from prejudice. The past should never determine one's judgment of the present. One should not simply reject something new because one has never encountered it before. If one wants to become an initiate, one should approach new insights with an open mind.
Sixth: Development of soul harmony. This will actually arise naturally from all the others.
The qualities listed are essential prerequisites for anyone who wants to be initiated into the path of yoga.
The actual path of yoga also consists of individual sections that must be kept strictly separate.
First: The yoga student should not kill, lie, steal, live extravagantly, or covet. The more one stops living at the expense of others, the closer one comes to what is meant by the requirement “do not steal.” Of course, this does not refer to theft that is punishable by law, but to more subtle forms of it. Everyone knows immediately what the other requirements mean.
Secondly, it is highly desirable to recognize certain symbolic actions as one's own. One should have a sense of this and learn to understand that a ritual act is actually only a symbolic expression of a deeper meaning.
Thirdly: adopting a certain body posture and position, because it is by no means irrelevant what position one gives the body during the exercises for higher wisdom. One should, as far as possible, bring it into line with the spiritual currents in the world.
Fourthly: Pranayama or yoga breathing is also of great importance, which is connected with the requirement not to kill, because through his breath, man has a killing effect on many things in his environment. Yoga breathing aims to gradually remove the killing influence of human breath on other living beings. Above all, less deadly carbon dioxide should be emitted. That this is possible is evident from the fact that deeply initiated individuals can spend decades in dark caves without physical deterioration.
The fifth stage refers to the suppression of certain sensual ideas. We must no longer allow every sensual idea to influence us, but should select individual ones and then concentrate all our attention on them. Furthermore, the other thoughts should each be given a specific and regulated course of action.
Sixth: In further pursuit, the student should concentrate on an impression of light, or rather, on the image of such an impression that remains in the soul. The latter represents an even higher stage. Even more valuable is meditation that starts from an idea that no longer belongs to the sensory world. It is absolutely necessary for a person's training that they devote themselves to such ideas in contemplation.
The following seventh stage is very difficult, because it consists of the person banishing all ideas from their consciousness while remaining completely awake. In this way, he approaches the state of intuitive conception. Only now is the ground prepared for the contents of a hitherto unknown world to flow to us.
In all this preparation and training, the guru is indispensable, for it is only through him and exclusively through him that these inner processes are guided in the right way and for the benefit of the disciple.
The presentation of this path of yoga given here is, of course, only an incomplete sketch and is by no means a guide for anyone to embark on this path. To reiterate, from time to time, the indispensable guidance of the guru, which can only be transmitted from person to person, is required.
Second: The Christian-Gnostic path. The main difference between this path and the previous one is that here, not every individual student needs a special guru for themselves. They are relieved of this requirement by the existence of a great, exalted personality, namely Christ Jesus, who is to be the student's goal and guide. He finds a more detailed description of the path to be taken in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, and specifically in the Gospel of John, which in its deeper meaning is in fact a direct instruction for mystical training.
On this path, the guide is more of an advisor than an authoritative guru. The highest authority, namely Jesus Christ, is also included in the instructions for initiation. The Gospel of John provides these instructions for mystical development. It is therefore not a study book, but in the truest sense a book of life. Even the first few sentences of this Gospel have a certain mystical power and are extremely important for entering the path of initiation. A Christian mystery student must therefore meditate on these few sentences, which means, for example, making these sentences and nothing else the content of his soul at a certain time every morning. After some time, the deep meaning of these sentences will become intuitively clear to him, and only then will the moment have come when he can really begin to study the Gospel of John in a fruitful way.
In the course of this study, the images of the Gospel will gradually creep into our dreams, so that we ourselves experience the events described in it inwardly. This inner experience then extends over all stages of development, which I do not wish to describe in detail here.
Once one has progressed to the foot washing, which is the symbolic act of humbly confessing one's dependence and growth from one who is lower than oneself, certain symptoms also become apparent externally: a strange feeling of water trickling down one's feet. This is accompanied by the imaginative image of foot washing as an inner symptom. In Christian mystical development, the washing of the feet represents the first stage.
The second stage is the scourging, which is also experienced emotionally. It means that despite the great and many pains and sorrows we have to endure in life, we always stand upright and do not become faint-hearted. Here, too, we have both an external and an internal symptom, namely a strange physical stinging sensation and the mental image of our own scourging.
The third stage is the crowning with thorns. This act signifies that even when we encounter pain, when our most sacred feelings and convictions are persecuted with scorn and ridicule, we should not lose our inner strength and balance. Symptoms: headaches, vision of oneself with the crown of thorns on one's head.
Fourth, the carrying of the cross [crucifixion]: Here, the student should experience that the body is actually an indifferent object in relation to the soul and its importance. If we are truly aware of this, then we will also be able to use the body merely as an instrument for higher things, and then we will truly master it. Symptoms: Appearance of the stigmata of Christ as reddened areas on the hands and feet. This blood test, of course, only occurs for a few moments during meditation. Inner vision that one is being crucified oneself.
Fifth, mystical death. Here the student has the strange experience of feeling as if the whole world around him were covered with a veil, and behind the veil he senses the essential. While he feels himself in darkness, the veil suddenly tears, and he looks through it into a whole new, wondrous world. He now learns to judge what lies at the bottom of the human soul on a completely different level. This mystical death is, as it were, a descent into hell.
Now he is awakened and can proceed to the sixth stage, the burial. Here, the human being perceives his entire external environment as his body. His personality expands and encompasses the whole earth. The body feels at one with the earth, and personal consciousness expands into earth consciousness.
The seventh stage cannot be described in more detail, for it is beyond all sensory imagination. At most, it can still be grasped in thought by those people who, through incessant practice, have finally become free from this world. This stage encompasses the entry into perfect divinity and glory, for which our words are no longer sufficient to describe.
This Christian path is a difficult one, because it is intrinsically linked with great humility and self-denial. But those who have walked it have achieved what is the goal and dignity of human beings; in them, true Christianity has truly come to life.
Third: the Rosicrucian path. This path is actually only a modification of the other two. It emerged in the 14th century because the adepts at that time already foresaw that cultural conditions would be very different in the coming centuries.
This path is the most suitable for modern man. It is also the most appropriate for Europeans. Of course, this does not mean that one of the other paths cannot also lead to the goal. However, the Rosicrucian system is compatible with our entire culture and civilization. This path has not yet been recorded in books or manuscripts, but has been passed down from one generation to the next through oral tradition. A more detailed explanation of this can be found in “Lucifer Gnosis” under the title “How to attain knowledge of the higher worlds.”
Here we have a completely different view of the guru. He is no longer an unconditional authority for the student, but more of an advisor and friend. Authority here is merely the free decision of the individual.
The development takes place in seven stages, namely: first, study; second, imagination; third, knowledge of occult writings; fourth, rhythmicization of life; fifth, seeking appropriate relationships between the macrocosm and microcosm; sixth, contemplation; seventh, experiencing godliness.
So, first of all, study is necessary, not scientific study in the scholarly sense, of course, but an engagement with thoughts about the world and human life, about the origin of the stars, and so on, or other training of the mind. For thinking has the property of giving new experiences and insights, that is, only purposeful, logical thinking. It forms a reliable guide through all worlds, for in each one, one must think consistently in the same way.
Secondly, the acquisition of imagination. This consists in gaining not merely a theoretical and intellectual relationship to one's surroundings, but a moral one. Here one should learn to discover in every thing that which corresponds to a moral background. To cultivate this imagination, one can, for example, bring to mind the image of a plant in all its clarity and distinctness. Or one can place a grain in front of oneself and imagine the gradual sprouting of a stalk and finally a finished plant with fruit. After some practice, one then really sees how a plant emerges from such a grain and grows upward. Of course, this requires strong occult powers. But with lesser means, you can perceive the astral body of the plant as a small flame emerging from the seed.
Thirdly, learning occult writing. This is the acquisition of symbols that have to do with the world process.
Fourthly, the rhythmization of life. This includes regulating the breathing process, in which the ratio of exhaled carbon dioxide to inhaled oxygen is changed in a certain way. Rhythmization of life is very necessary in our restless times. All processes follow each other in a great rhythm, and this rhythm should be carried into life as much as possible. For example, one should schedule a meditation process at a specific time, or review one's past life at the same time in the evening. This releases powerful forces in one's soul.
Fifthly, seeking the correspondences between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Goethe also expressed the connection between these two in beautiful words:
Were not the eye sun-like,
It could never behold the sun,
Were not God's own power within us,
How could the divine delight us?
A deep contemplation of our organs teaches us about the corresponding parts of the macrocosm. For example, the study of the eye teaches us about light, an exploration of the lungs gives us insight into the composition of air, and so on. Similarly, one should ultimately arrive at self-knowledge.
Thus, through contemplation of the small inner world, the large world gradually becomes apparent to us. Through such comparative observations, the state of godliness is finally attained as a result of all the preceding exercises and especially the deep, peaceful contemplation of the sixth stage.
In all this, it is necessary that the person be imbued with certain good qualities, such as self-confidence, self-control, and presence of mind.
This inner development must be worked on incessantly. For although the divine is already latent within us, it will not become immediately apparent without work and appropriate development. This path does not require us to leave human and social circles in order to devote ourselves to our own development in solitude. Nor does it require contempt for matter, but merely transcending it and overcoming it in order to attain a higher level.
Self-knowledge is knowledge of the world! — let this be your motto.
The three paths described now lead people to higher discipleship. Only from this point can they then obtain the final key to the secret of the world from a true initiate, thereby gaining insight into the deeper connections of world and human life. This highest level then means the ability to absorb intuitions from higher worlds. It is a state of spiritual clarity and divine light.