Lectures to the First Class
Volume III
GA 270
11 September 1924, Dornach
Lecture XXII (Recapitulation of Lesson III)
It is not possible to again give the introduction concerning the obligations for the newly participating members of the Class. I therefore request that the members who give the new ones the [mantric] verses also inform them of the conditions involved, which I will describe at the end of this lesson.
My dear sisters and brothers, we will again begin by letting our souls hear the words that human beings—if they have ears to hear them—can hear from all the Beings of the surrounding world, which they could hear in the past, can hear in the present and will hear in the future, which allow them to envision the need for self-knowledge—that constantly comes to them from the entire universe—which is the true bridge to what the human being needs for his thinking, for his willing, for his working in the world if he wishes to be human in the true sense of the word.
O man, know thyself!
So resounds the Cosmic-Word.
You hear it strong in soul,
You feel it firm in spirit.
Who speaks with such cosmic might?
Who speaks with such depth of heart?
Does it work through distant radiant space
Into your senses' sense of being?
Does it ring through weaving waves of time
Into your life's evolving stream?
It's you yourself who,
In feeling space, in experiencing time,
Create the Word, feeling foreign
In the soulless void of space
Because you lose the force of thought
In time's destructive flow.
My dear sisters and brothers, the description of the path to knowledge has led us to the Guardian of the Threshold. Once the Guardian of the Threshold, at the edge of the abyss of being, has shown us how the forces of our inner humanity—willing, feeling, thinking—appear to the eyes of the Beings of the spiritual world; after the Guardian has shown us how in the present time's consciousness we have not awakened to our full humanity in respect to these forces if they are inwardly observed, but that these forces appear to the divine-spiritual powers as the three beasts, which are shown to us by the Guardian of the Threshold; after the Guardian of the Threshold has placed this shattering view before our souls, he shows us the path forward, which leads to ennoblement in self-knowledge, and which must be followed if the exhortation “O man, know thyself” is to be realized.
After he first showed us how we should stand in respect to our thinking, feeling and willing, he shows us—in the mantric verses which were cited at the end of the previous lesson in this Michael-School—how we are first to delve down into our thinking, but that this thinking is of a seeming nature [Scheineswesen] that cannot bear our true Self; but how we are then interwoven out in the cosmic ether and are at least able to revere those guiding beings [1] who lead us from earth-life to earth-life.
Then he shows us how we can delve down into feeling, how in feeling being and seeming are united, how there our being—selfhood in the good sense—arises with half its strength; how, however, we should understand that not only what is perishable and seeming in our being arises, but also the life-forces of the world, of the cosmos.
Only when we descend into the will do we feel being streaming into our selfhood. Seeming transforms itself into being. It descends into the will, and we feel the cosmic creating powers streaming through our will.
These were the Guardian of the Threshold's words at the edge of the abyss of being—where the yawning darkness, the night-cloaked darkness is still before us, which is to become light in order that we find the light that can illuminate our actual self. Behind us is the glowing, sunlit physical reality, which only becomes dark because we cannot find our actual being in it. There the Guardian of the Threshold says these mantric words:
See in yourself the weaving thoughts:
Seeming world is what you see,
Selfhood's being hides in you;
Delve down beneath the seeming:
Etheric essence flows in you;
Selfhood's being should revere the
Guiding Beings of your spirit.
Perceive within the flow of feeling:
Within you mingle seeming and being,
Your selfhood tends towards the seeming;
So plunge into your seeming being:
In you exist the cosmic-psychic forces;
Your selfhood then should understand
Your own soul's living powers.
Let strive with thrust of will
Which rises out of all the seeming,
With creative actual Self it rises;
Your life in full should turn to it:
It is filled with cosmic-spirit-force;
Your inner Self should truly grasp
Creative cosmic force in the spirit-I.
[The mantra is written on the blackboard.]
The Guardian speaks:
See in yourself the weaving thoughts:
Seeming world is what you see,
Selfhood's being hides in you;
Delve down beneath the seeming:
Etheric essence flows in you;
Selfhood's being should revere the
Guiding Beings of your spirit.
Perceive within the flow of feeling:
Within you mingle seeming and being,
Your selfhood tends towards the seeming;
So plunge into your seeming being:
In you exist the cosmic-psychic forces;
Your selfhood then should understand
Your own soul's living powers.
Let strive within the thrust of will
Rising out of all the seeming
With creative actual self it rises;
Your life in full should turn to it:
It's filled with cosmic-spirit-force;
Your inner self should truly grasp
Creative cosmic force in the spirit-I.
The Guardian of the Threshold has spoken a mantric verse to us, of which we should not only receive its content, but rather with our whole feeling we should enter into the weave and life of the spiritual world. Therefore, this mantric verse is shaped so that in its rhythm it appears as having moved downward from the spiritual world. Each line begins with a stressed syllable, followed by an unstressed syllable. So, we have in the first verse:
[While speaking the trochaic rhythm symbols (—∪ ) are placed above the first syllables of each line and then spoken with the appropriate stress]
See in yourself the weaving thoughts:
Seeming world is what you see,
Selfhood's being hides in you;
Delve down beneath the seeming:
Etheric essence flows in you;
Selfhood's being should revere the
Guiding Beings of your spirit.
This coming down by the spiritual world to us is to be felt in the trochaic rhythm. Only then do we receive this verse correctly in our souls. Only when this speaking down to us by the spiritual world is with this intonation do we receive this verse in our souls correctly, feeling it deeply within us:
See in yourself the weaving thoughts:
Seeming world is what you see,
Selfhood's being hides in you;
Delve down beneath the seeming:
Etheric essence flows in you;
Selfhood's being should revere the
Guiding Beings of your spirit.
The next verse is the opposite: Now we should rise with our feeling to being. Here [the first syllable] we are below: here [the second syllable] we strive upward to being: The unstressed [low] tone is before the stressed [high] tone:
[while speaking, the iambic rhythm symbols are placed over the first two syllables of each line, and it is spoken with the corresponding intonation:]
Perceive within the flow of feeling:
Within you mingle seeming and being,
Your selfhood tends towards the seeming;
So plunge into your seeming being:
In you exist the cosmic-psychic forces;
Your selfhood then should understand
Your own soul's living powers.
We must live in these words, which are mantrically united in this rhythm:
Perceive within the flow of feeling:
Within you mingle seeming and being,
Your selfhood tends towards the seeming;
So plunge into your seeming being:
In you exist the cosmic-psychic forces;
Your selfhood then should understand
Your own soul's living powers.
That we have entered in reality is expressed in that we first “revere”, which is an inner soul function; in that we then “understand”, where we gradually come alongside the process; in that we first arrive at the “guiding Beings”, who are to guide us; then the “living powers”, which weave and live through life. In one mantric verse all is in the right place and all is integrated in the organism of the whole.
The third verse tells us how we perceive being directly in the will. We stand alongside being. Two high-toned syllables begin:
[While speaking the spondaic symbols (——) are placed over the first two syllables of each line on the blackboard and the lines are spoken with the corresponding emphasis:
Let strive within the thrust of will
Rising out of all the sham
With creative actual self it rises;
Your life in full should turn to it:
It's filled with cosmic-spirit-force;
Your inner self should truly grasp
Creative cosmic force in the spirit-I.
We have now come farther. It is no longer “understand”; It is “grasp”, which is an action. The “Creative cosmic force” instead of “living powers” is placed at the beginning of the line to indicate the complete reversal we make when rising from “sham” to “being”.
The beginning of each line of the third verse is therefore to be felt in its spondaic rhythm. Here we have trochaic [“trochaic” is written alongside the first verse]; here iambic [“iambic” is written alongside the second verse]; here spondaic [“spondaic” is written alongside the third verse].
Let strive within the thrust of will
Which rises out of all the seeming
With creative actual self it rises;
Your life in full should turn to it:
It's filled with cosmic-spirit-force;
Your inner self should truly grasp
Creative cosmic force in the spirit-I.
After the Guardian of the Threshold has presented this to our souls, he makes us aware of how we should integrate ourselves into the cosmos, into the world with all its forces if we want to advance in spiritual knowledge. For what is within us is at first not distinguishable according to its place, whereas in the cosmos it is ordered. In the cosmos, we can indicate the definite place. Within us everything is interwoven. But we do not achieve real knowledge if we do not rise up to the cosmic forces and the cosmic powers—if we remain subjective in ourselves, remaining in our own skin, if we do not go out of ourselves and let our body become the whole world. Then will our soul, our narrow humanity, feel itself to be a member of the cosmos. The spirit will integrate our narrow humanity into the whole cosmos, into the whole world.
We must carry this out, as the Guardian of the Threshold indicates when he shows us how from the depths of the earth, which draws all the beings by gravity, forces arise which also draw us down, which bind our will to the earth if we don't make ourselves free by inner striving. Our gaze goes earthward if we want to localize our will. We must feel ourselves one with the earth's gravity, feel drawn by the earth and make the effort to free ourselves from the earth's gravity if we want to let our will to be one with the cosmos.
Feel how the depths of earth
Thrust their forces on your being,
On the members of your body.
You will lose yourself in them
If your willing trusts itself
Powerlessly to their striving;
They would darken in you the I.
Thus, speaks the Guardian of the Threshold to our willing on behalf of Michael at the yawning abyss of being.
And in wanting to integrate our feeling into the cosmos, he does not direct us to the depths, but to the horizontal reaches of the world, where the forces swing from west to east, from east to west, permeating us. These are the same forces that grasp our feeling. We must feel the divine godly powers, who send their spiritual light in these pulsing waves from the horizontal directions if we wish to integrate our feeling into the cosmic distance. In order to integrate our willing into the vertical, feel it bound below and freed above, we must be able to send our feeling into the cosmic distance. Then there will be light in our feeling. Then something goes through our feeling which also goes through us, just as the sun illuminates the earth's air when it moves from east to west.
However, in all that streams through us we must be loving. The force of love alone, which lives and courses through humanity, can accomplish what is asked of us. Then wisdom will course through us, and we will feel ourselves to be in the wide circles in which the sun moves, as feeling humanity, as Self, strong for true, good spiritual creativity.
In respect to feeling, the Guardian of the Threshold, at the yawning abyss of being, says this to us as feeling human beings:
Feel how from the cosmic distance
Godly powers their spiritual light
Let illuminate your psychic being.
Be yourself loving in them, and
They'll create, wisdom-weaving,
You as Self within their circles,
Strong for the good, spirit creating.
And when the Guardian of the Threshold wants to speak to our thinking so that it integrates itself in the cosmos, he doesn't direct us down to the will, which should rise upward; he doesn't direct us to feeling in the wide circle in which the sun moves, but he indicates the heights, the heavenly heights where alone the self can live selflessly if it wants to receive the powers of thought in what comes with grace from above, if it wants to follow a higher striving. We stand below, the Word is above. We must be inwardly courageous to hear the Word, for only if we courageously strive for wisdom and knowledge does the cosmic Word resound from above, full of grace, speaking about humanity's true wisdom.
Again, the Guardian of the Threshold speaks to us at the yawning abyss of being:
Feel how in heavenly heights
Selfhood can selflessly live,
When it wants, striving to follow,
Spirit-filled, powers of thought,
And courageously hear the Word
That resounds with grace from above
Into the true being of man.
[The mantra is written on the blackboard.]
The Guardian instructs us on Willing, Feeling, Thinking:
Feel how the depths of earth
Thrust their forces on your being,
On the members of your body.
You will lose yourself in them
If your willing trusts itself
Powerlessly to their striving;
They would darken in you the I.
Feel how from the cosmic distance
Godly powers their spiritual light
Let illuminate your psychic being.
Be yourself loving in them,
And they'll create, wisdom-weaving,
You as Self within their circles,
Strong for the good, spirit creating.
Feel how in heavenly heights
Selfhood can selflessly live,
When it wants, striving, to follow,
Spirit filled, powers of thought,
And courageously hear the Word
That resounds with grace from above
Into the true being of man.
We must look above if our thinking wants to unite itself with the forces of the cosmos. The realm of cosmic circling distance is where we must feel ourselves to be if our feeling wants to unite itself with the cosmic forces. Below is the place where we must look to insert our earthbound willing, which we should make free above, into the cosmic realms. Everywhere—above, in the distance and below—everywhere is special Being. We must feel it. The Guardian of the Threshold, on behalf of Michael, points us there and he tells us what we'll find above, in the middle and below.
He instructs us further about the heights, the middle and below, because he wants to instruct us about thinking, feeling and willing. This is what he says:
The light does battle with gloomy powers
In that realm, where your thinking
In spirit-being longs to enter.
You find, striving lightward,
Your Self, taken from you by spirit;
You can, if darkness entices you,
The Self in matter lose.
We are placed between light and darkness. Light wants our Self, darkness wants our Self. We are to find the path between light and darkness to come to the Self. That is what lies in the Guardian of the Threshold's admonition.
Th Guardian speaks to our feeling:
The warmth does battle with the cold
In that realm, where your feeling would
In spirit-interweaving live.
You find, loving warmth, your Self
In spirit-longing blown away;
You can, if cold does harden you,
The Self in sorrow grind to dust.
Again, we are standing between polar opposites with our feeling: between the loving warmth, between warm love and cold hardness, the hardening cold. We must find the path between them if our Self would find itself.
And about the third realm, where the will originates, the Guardian of the Threshold admonishes us:
Thus, life does battle with death
In that realm, where your will
Would act with spiritual creation.
You find, holding on to life,
Your Self vanishing in spirit's power;
If death's power binds you fast,
You can your Self constrict to nothing.
Life and death: We can lose our will to life, we can lose it to death; in life feel it vanish, in death feel it constricted.
We must seek for the path. The Guardian urges us to do so. It will be the subject we begin with in the next lesson.
The Guardian once more points out how we must seek the path to arrive at our human Self. He speaks with earnest words, for it is not easy to find the inner strength that holds and carries and leads the Self to find what it does not have in normal earthly life. We will see later how the Guardian gives us the means to do so.
Next Saturday, when this mantric verse will be written on the blackboard, we will hear the Guardian further as he gradually points out the ways we can go astray—which we must know about in order to find the right path.
But now we must again consider, looking back at earthly life—which we must do every time we enter the esoteric—so now let us again consider the admonition which was spoken to humankind in the past by all the Beings and events, which speaks to humankind in the present and which will speak to humankind in the future:
O man, know thyself!
So resounds the Cosmic-Word.
You hear it strong in soul,
You feel it firm in spirit.
Who speaks with such cosmic might?
Who speaks with such depth of heart?
Does it work through distant radiant space
Into your senses' sense of being?
Does it ring through weaving waves of time
Into your life's evolving stream?
It's you yourself who,
In feeling space, in experiencing time,
Create the Word, feeling foreign
In the soulless void of space
Because you lose the force of thought
In time's destructive flow.
When all that streams through this Michael-School from the Guardian on Michael's behalf, when here the instruction in the rightfully existent Michael-School penetrates our soul, then we may be sure, if we are honest and open minded, that Michael's strength will stream through this room, which may be indicated by Michael's sign:
[ in red ]
and by the seal-gestures, through which Michael lets the RoseCross stream enter the RoseCross temple, the strength which humanity needs today for its esoteric life, which here acts from the threefold source of the cosmos—from the divine Father-principle, from the Christ-principle, from the principle of the Spirit, so that the RoseCross verse is united with the Michael-Gesture-seal:
Ex deo nascimur
[ lower seal-gesture ]
In Christo morimur
[ middle seal-gesture ]
Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus
[ upper seal-gesture ]
which must be felt so that the gestures are understood as:
I revere the Father
[ lower seal-gesture ]
I love the son
[ middle seal-gesture ]
I unite with the spirit
[ upper seal-gesture ]
Once more:
[ Michael-Sign-Gesture ]
[together with the seal-gestures is spoken:]
Ex deo nascimur
In Christo morimur
Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus
The mantric verses which are given in this School may only be possessed by those who are members of this School. In the case of someone who is a member of the School and is not present during a lesson, so does not have the verses, he can obtain them from another member who has them. For this it is necessary to request permission from Dr. [Ita] Wegman or from me. So, when someone wants to receive the verses because he was not able to have them here, it is necessary to ask either Dr. Wegman or me. But not the one who wants them is to ask, but the one who gives them. This must be said as a foregone conclusion.
This is not some administrative measure, but in every case where the verses are passed on this must be observed, because it is the start of the occult act through which the verses are received.
Those members who have recently joined may only receive the verses up to the lesson in which they have participated. Only in special cases, which must be judged individually, may the request be made for the later verses to be given. By mail—that is, by a means other than verbally—the verses may not be passed on from one to another.
If anyone should write down anything else but the verses, he is obliged to only keep what he has written for a week, and then burn it. What is communicated here in the rightfully existing Michael School only has importance through verbal communication—this is an inner occult law—, with the exception of the mantric verses.
It must be understood, so that these things are not thought to be childishly oriented towards sectarianism, that if these occult verses are passed on to others in a way that is not permissible, they lose their effectiveness, for the act of passing on belongs to the effectiveness of the School. It is because of these occult facts that the handling of the verses is so strictly required.
The activities for tomorrow are: At 10:30 a.m. the course for Pastoral Medicine; in the afternoon at 3:30 p.m. the course for theologians; in the evening a lecture for members, and at 5 p.m. a eurythmy performance. The speech course is at 12 o'clock as usual.
[1] According to the stenographic notes, “guiding being” is singular here. However, later, and in other places, the plural is used, “guiding Beings”. The meaning here seems also to be plural. [trans.]
Dritte Wiederholungsstunde
Meine lieben Schwestern und Brüder! Für die neu eingetretenen Mitglieder ist es nicht möglich wiederum, heute die Einleitung mit den Verpflichtungen für die Klasse zu sprechen. Daher fordere ich diejenigen Mitglieder auf, welche dann diesen neu Eingetretenen übergeben werden - unter den Modalitäten, die ich am Schlusse anzuführen habe - die Sprüche, dass sie auch diese Bedingungen an diese neu eintretenden Mitglieder mitteilen.
Nun, meine lieben Schwestern und Brüder, wir beginnen wiederum, indem wir vor unsere Seele hintreten lassen diejenigen Worte, die der Mensch, wenn er dazu den Sinn hat, hören kann aus allen Wesen der umgebenden Welt, die er hören konnte in aller Vergangenheit, hören kann in der Gegenwart, hören wird in der Zukunft, die ihm vergegenwärtigen die Aufforderung - die aus dem ganzen Weltall fortdauernd zu ihm kommt - nach Selbsterkenntnis, die die wahre Brücke ist zu demjenigen, was der Mensch braucht für sein Denken, für sein Fühlen, für sein Wirken in der Welt, wenn er in wahrhaftem Sinne des Wortes Mensch sein will:
O Mensch, erkenne dich selbst!
So tönt das Weltenwort.
Du hörst es seelenkräftig,
Du fühlst es geistgewaltig.Wer spricht so weltenmächtig?
Wer spricht so herzinniglich?Wirkt es durch des Raumes Weitenstrahlung
In deines Sinnes Seinserleben?
Tönt es durch der Zeiten Wellenweben
In deines Lebens Werdestrom?Bist du es selbst, der sich
Im Raumesfühlen, im Zeiterleben
Das Wort erschafft, dich fremd
Erfühlend in Raumes Seelenleere,
Weil du des Denkens Kraft
Verlierst im Zeitvernichtungsstrome.
Meine lieben Schwestern und Brüder, die Beschreibung des Erkenntnisweges hat uns geführt bis heran an den Hüter der Schwelle. Nachdem uns der Hüter der Schwelle hart am Abgrund des Seins gezeigt hat, wie diejenigen Kräfte, die die Kräfte unseres Menscheninnern sind —- Wollen, Fühlen, Denken -, sich ausnehmen vor den Augen der Wesen der geistigen Welt; nachdem er uns gezeigt hat, wie in Wahrheit der Mensch aus dem gegenwärtigen Zeitbewusstsein heraus nicht in Bezug auf diese Kräfte, wenn sie innerlich angeschaut werden, zum vollen Menschentum erwacht ist, sondern vor den geistig-göttlichen Mächten erscheint als die drei Tiere, die nun vor ihn hingestellt werden und die der Hüter der Schwelle ihm gezeigt hat; nachdem der Hüter der Schwelle diesen zerschmetternden Anblick vor unsere Seele hingestellt hat, zeigt er uns den weiteren Weg, der zur Erhebung in die wahre Selbsterkenntnis wiederum führt, der gegangen werden muss, wenn die Aufforderung «O Mensch, erkenne dich selbst!» erfüllt sein soll.
Nachdem er uns zuerst gezeigt hat, wie wir uns stellen sollen zu unserem Denken, Fühlen und Wollen, zeigt er uns - in jenen mantrischen Sprüchen, die in dieser Michael-Schule am Schlusse der letzten Stunde angeführt worden sind -, wie wir uns selber zuerst in unser Denken zu vertiefen haben, zu versenken haben, wie aber dieses Denken Scheineswesen ist, das unser wirkliches Selbsteigensein nicht tragen kann, wie wir aber dennoch hinaus verwoben werden - durch dieses Untertauchen in das Scheineswesen - in den Weltenäther und wenigstens kommen zur Verehrung jenes Führerwesens, das uns von Erdenleben zu Erdenleben führt.
Dann zeigt er uns, wie wir in die Gefühle hinuntersteigen können, wie sich in den Gefühlen Schein und Sein vermählt, wie da mit halber Stärke herauftaucht unser Wesen, die Selbstheit im guten Sinne des Wortes, wie wir aber da bedenken sollen, dass da schon hereinströmt dasjenige, was in den Lebensmächten nicht nur unseres vergänglichen, scheinbaren Seins liegt, sondern in den Lebensmächten der Welt, des Kosmos.
Erst wenn wir hinuntersteigen in den Willen, fühlen wir Sein in unsere Selbsteigenheit einströmen. Das Scheineswesen verwandelt sich in Sein. Es steigt unser Wesen in den Willen herab, und die weltenschöpferischen Mächte fühlen wir durch unseren Willen strömen.
Und so waren die Worte des Hüters der Schwelle hart am Abgrunde des Seins - wo noch vor uns steht die gähnende Finsternis, die nachtbedeckte Finsternis, in der es hell werden soll, damit wir in ihr finden das Licht, das unser eigenes Selbst beleuchten kann; hinter uns ist die glänzende, sonnenerglimmende physische Wirklichkeit, die nun dunkel wird, weil wir unser eigenes Sein in ihr nicht finden können -, da spricht der Hüter der Schwelle die mantrischen Worte:
Sieh in dir Gedankenweben:
Weltenschein erlebest du,
Selbstheitsein verbirgt sich dir;
Tauche unter in den Schein:
Ätherwesen weht in dir;
Selbstheitsein, es soll verehren
Deines Geistes Führerwesen.Vernimm in dir Gefühle-Strömen:
Es mengen Schein und Sein sich dir,
Die Selbstheit neigt dem Scheine sich;
So tauche unter in scheinendes Sein:
Und Welten-Seelenkräfte sind in dir;
Die Selbstheit, sie soll bedenken
Der eignen Seele Lebensmächte.Lass walten in dir den Willens-Stoß:
Der steigt aus allem Scheineswesen
Mit Eigensein erschaffend auf;
Ihm wende zu all dein Leben:
Der ist erfüllt von Welten-Geistesmacht;
Dein Eigensein, es soll ergreifen
Weltschöpfermacht im Geistes-Ich.
— das Geistes-Ich der Welt.
[Das Mantram wird nun an die Tafel geschrieben; siehe Seite 846:]
Der Hüter spricht:
Sieh in dir Gedankenweben:
Weltenschein erlebest du,
Selbstheitsein verbirgt sich dir;
Tauche unter in den Schein:
Ätherwesen weht in dir;
Selbstheitsein, es soll verehren
Deines Geistes Führerwesen.Vernimm in dir Gefühle-Strömen:
Es mengen Schein und Sein sich dir,
Die Selbstheit neigt dem Scheine sich;
So tauche unter in scheinendes Sein:
Und Welten-Seelenkräfte sind in dir;
Die Selbstheit, sie soll bedenken
Der eignen Seele Lebensmächte.Lass walten in dir den Willens-Stoß:
Der steigt aus allem Scheineswesen
Mit Eigensein erschaffend auf;
Ihm wende zu all dein Leben:
Der ist erfüllt von Welten-Geistesmacht;
Dein Eigensein, es soll ergreifen
Weltschöpfermacht im Geistes-Ich.
Einen mantrischen Spruch hat uns der Hüter der Schwelle gesagt, bei dem es nicht bloß darauf ankommt, dass wir seinen Inhalt aufnehmen, bei dem es darauf ankommt, dass wir uns mit unserem ganzen Fühlen hineinversetzen in das Weben und Leben der geistigen Welt. Daher ist dieser mantrische Spruch so gestaltet, dass er zunächst wie ein Herunterbewegen aus der geistigen Welt in seinem Rhythmus erscheint. Jede Zeile beginnt damit, dass eine hochtonige Silbe da ist, der eine tieftonige Silbe folgt. Wir haben im ersten Spruch:
[Während des Sprechens wird über die beiden ersten Silben jeder Zeile an der Tafel das trochäische Rhythmuszeichen — U gesetzt und dabei der Spruch mit entsprechender Betonung gesprochen:]
Sieh in dir Gedankenweben:
Weltenschein erlebest du,
Selbstheitsein verbirgt sich dir;
Tauche unter in den Schein:
Ätherwesen weht in dir;
Selbstheitsein, es soll verehren
Deines Geistes Führerwesen.
Dieses Sich-Herunterbewegen der geistigen Welt zu uns ist in diesem trochäischen Rhythmus zu fühlen. Nur dann nehmen wir in unsere Seele diesen Spruch richtig auf, wenn wir ihn so innerlich fühlend lesen, dass dieses Heruntersteigen der geistigen Welt, dieses Heruntersprechen von geistigen Wesen zu uns, in diesem rhythmischen Tonfall wirkt:
Sieh in dir Gedankenweben:
Weltenschein erlebest du,
Selbstheitsein verbirgt sich dir;
Tauche unter in den Schein:
Ätherwesen weht in dir;
Selbstheitsein, es soll verehren
Deines Geistes Führerwesen.
Der nächste Spruch ist das Umgekehrte: Da sollen wir mit dem Gefühl schon hinaufsteigen zum Sein. Da [bei der ersten Silbe] sind wir unten; da [bei der zweiten Silbe] streben wir uns hinauf in das Sein. Der Tiefton geht dem Hochton voraus:
[Während des Sprechens wird über die beiden ersten Silben jeder Zeile an der Tafel das jambische Rhythmuszeichen u — gesetzt und dabei der Spruch mit entsprechender Betonung gesprochen:]
Vernimm in dir Gefühle-Strömen:
Es mengen Schein und Sein sich dir,
Die Selbstheit neigt dem Scheine sich;
So tauche unter in scheinendes Sein:
Und Welten-Seelenkräfte sind in dir;
Die Selbstheit, sie soll bedenken
Der eignen Seele Lebensmächte.
Wir müssen leben in den Worten, die in diesem Rhythmus mantrisch geeint sind; wir müssen sie so fühlen:
Vernimm in dir Gefühle-Strömen:
Es mengen Schein und Sein sich dir,
Die Selbstheit neigt dem Scheine sich;
So tauche unter in scheinendes Sein:
Und Welten-Seelenkräfte sind in dir;
Die Selbstheit, sie soll bedenken
Der eignen Seele Lebensmächte.
Dass wir mehr in die Realität hineinsteigen, drückt sich auch darinnen aus, dass wir zunächst «verehren» [das Wort wird an der Tafel unterstrichen], was eine innerlich-seelische Tätigkeit ist; dass wir dann aufsteigen bis zum «bedenken» [das Wort wird an der Tafel unterstrichen], wo wir allmählich neben die Sache hinkommen; dass wir es erst mit «Führerwesen» [das Wort wird unterstrichen], die uns lenken, zu tun haben; dann mit «Lebensmächten» [das Wort wird unterstrichen], welche die Welt durchwellen und durchleben. In einem mantrischen Spruche ist alles an die rechte Stelle gestellt, und es ist alles in der richtigen Weise in den Organismus des Ganzen gefügt.
Der dritte Spruch, er sagt uns, wie wir das Sein unmittelbar im Willen vernehmen. Wir stehen neben dem Sein. Zwei hochtonige Silben gehen voraus:
[Während des Sprechens wird über die beiden ersten Silben jeder Zeile an der Tafel das spondeische Rhythmuszeichen — — gesetzt und dabei der Spruch mit entsprechender Betonung gesprochen?]
Lass walten in dir den Willens-Stoß:
Der steigt aus allem Scheineswesen
Mit Eigensein erschaffend auf;
Ihm wende zu all dein Leben:
Der ist erfüllt von Welten-Geistesmacht;
Dein Eigensein, es soll ergreifen
Weltschöpfermacht im Geistes-Ich.
Hier sind wir noch weiter. Es handelt sich nicht mehr um ein «bedenken», es handelt sich um ein «ergreifen» [das Wort wird unterstrichen], das eine Aktion ist. Die «Weltschöpfermacht» [das Wort wird unterstrichen] statt der «Lebensmacht» ist in der Zeile vorangestellt, um den völligen Umschwung anzudeuten, den wir durchmachen, wenn wir vom «Schein» durch das «scheinende Sein» zum «Sein» hinaufsteigen.
Der dritte Spruch ist daher so zu fühlen, dass der Anfang einer jeden Zeile in diesem spondeischen Versmaß, spondeischen Rhythmus gefühlt wird. Hier haben wir trochäisch [«trochäisch» wird neben den ersten Spruch geschrieben]; hier jambisch [«jambisch» wird neben den zweiten Spruch geschrieben]; hier spondäisch [«spondäisch» wird neben den dritten Spruch geschrieben]:
Lass walten in dir den Willens-Stoß:
Der steigt aus allem Scheineswesen
Mit Eigensein erschaffend auf;
Ihm wende zu all dein Leben:
Der ist erfüllt von Welten-Geistesmacht;
Dein Eigensein, es soll ergreifen
Weltschöpfermacht im Geistes-Ich.
Nachdem der Hüter der Schwelle uns dieses vor die Seele gestellt hat, macht er uns aufmerksam, wie wir uns eingliedern müssen, wenn wir in der Geist-Erkenntnis weiterschreiten wollen, in den Kosmos, in die Welt; in den Kosmos, in die Welt mit allen ihren Kräften. Denn dasjenige, was in uns zunächst seinem Orte nach nicht zu unterscheiden ist, im Kosmos ist es angeordnet. Im Kosmos können wir hinweisen auf die Orte. In uns ist alles verwoben. Aber wir gelangen nicht zu einer wirklichen Erkenntnis, wenn wir nicht aufgehen in die Weltenkräfte und Weltenmächte, wenn wir subjektiv in uns bleiben, wenn wir innerhalb unserer Haut beschlossen bleiben, wenn wir nicht aus uns herausgehen und unser Körper die ganze Welt wird. Dann auch wird unsere Seele unser enges Menschenwesen fühlen als ein Glied der Welt. Unser enges Menschenwesen wird der Geist eingliedern in den ganzen Kosmos, in die ganze Welt.
Das aber müssen wir so vollziehen, wie der Hüter der Schwelle uns anweist, indem er uns zeigt, wie von den Tiefen der Erde, die mit Schwere alle Wesen an sich zieht, Kräfte ausgehen, die auch uns hinunterziehen, die unseren Willen binden an die Erde, wenn wir ihn nicht durch inneres Streben frei uns machen. Erdenwärts geht der Blick, nach unten geht der Blick, wenn wir die Lokalisation unseres Willens haben wollen. Wir müssen uns wie mit der Schwere der Erde eins fühlen, angezogen fühlen von der Erde und das Bestreben in uns haben, uns von der Erdenschwere frei zu machen, wenn wir unseren Willen eins werden lassen wollen mit dem Kosmos, was wir müssen.
Fühle wie die Erdentiefen
Ihre Kräfte deinem Wesen
In die Leibesglieder drängen.
Du verlierest dich in ihnen,
Wenn du deinen Willen machtlos
Ihrem Streben anvertrauest;
Sie verfinstern dir das Ich.
So spricht zu unserem Willen am gähnenden Abgrund des Seins der Hüter der Schwelle im Auftrage Michaels.
Und er verweist uns, indem er unser Fühlen in den Kosmos eingliedern will, nun nicht an die Tiefe, er verweist es auf die horizontalen Weltenweiten, wo von West nach Ost, von Ost nach West die Kräfte schwingen und pendeln und uns durchdringen. Und dieselben Kräfte sind es, die unser Fühlen ergreifen. Göttermächte müssen wir fühlen, die ihre Geisteshelle hereinsenden in diese Wellenschläge des Horizontalen, wenn wir unser Fühlen richtig eingliedern wollen in die Weltenweiten. Wie wir unseren Willen in die Vertikale eingliedern wollen, unten ihn gebunden fühlen, nach oben ihn befreien wollen, so müssen wir hineinstellen können in die Weltenweiten unser Fühlen. Dann wird es licht in unserem Fühlen. Dann geht etwas durch durch unser Fühlen, das ebenso durch uns hindurchzieht, wie durch die Erdenluft in ihrem Gange von Osten nach Westen die Sonne mit ihrem Lichte leuchtet.
In alle dem, was da durch uns strömt, müssen wir uns aber liebend finden. Die Liebekraft allein, die den Menschen durchwebt und durchlebt, kann das, was da von uns gefordert wird. Dann wird Weisheit durch uns durchgewoben, und wir fühlen uns in den weiten Kreisen, in denen die Sonne sich bewegt, als fühlender Mensch, als Selbst, stark für wirkliches, gutes Geistesschaffen.
Das sagt uns - am gähnenden Abgrund des Seins - als fühlendem Menschenwesen, das sagt zu unserem Fühlen der Hüter der Schwelle:
Fühle wie aus Weltenweiten
Göttermächte ihre Geisteshelle
Dir ins Seelenwesen leuchten lassen.
Finde dich in ihnen liebend,
Und sie schaffen weisheitwebend
Dich als Selbst in ihren Kreisen
Stark für gutes Geistesschaffen.
Und wenn der Hüter der Schwelle nun zu unserem Denken sprechen will, dass es sich eingliedert in den Kosmos, dann weist er nicht wie bei dem Willen nach unten, der sich nach oben bewegen soll, dann weist er nicht wie bei dem Fühlen in die weiten Kreise, in deren einem sich die Sonne bewegt, dann weist er in die Höhe, in die Himmelshöhen, wo allein das Selbst selbstlos leben kann, wenn es die Gedankenmächte in dem gnadevollen Von-oben-Kommen empfangen will, dem Höhenstreben folgen will. Wir stehen unten, das Wort ist oben. Wir müssen tapfer sein innerlich, um das Wort zu vernehmen, denn nur wenn wir tapfer uns halten an Weisheits- und Erkenntnisstreben, ertönt von oben gnadevoll das Weltenwort, spricht von des Menschen wahrer Wesenheit.
Das wiederum sagt uns der Hüter der Schwelle am gähnenden Abgrund des Seins:
Fühle wie in Himmelshöhen
Selbstsein selbstlos leben kann,
Wenn es geisterfüllt Gedankenm
In dem Höhenstreben folgen will
Und in Tapferkeit das Wort vernimmt,
Das von oben gnadevoll ertönet
In des Menschen wahre Wesenheit.
[Nun wird das dreistrophige Mantram an die Tafel geschrieben; siehe Seite 8471]
Der Hüter belehrt Wollen, Fühlen, Denken:
Fühle wie aus Weltenweiten
Göttermächte ihre Geisteshelle
Dir ins Seelenwesen leuchten lassen.
Finde dich in ihnen liebend,
Und sie schaffen weisheitwebend
Dich als Selbst in ihren Kreisen
Stark für gutes Geistesschaffen.Fühle wie aus Weltenweiten
Göttermächte ihre Geisteshelle
Dir ins Seelenwesen leuchten lassen.
Finde dich in ihnen liebend,
Und sie schaffen weisheitwebend
Dich als Selbst in ihren Kreisen
Stark für gutes Geistesschaffen.Fühle wie in Himmelshöhen
Selbstsein selbstlos leben kann,
Wenn es geisterfüllt Gedankenm
In dem Höhenstreben folgen will
Und in Tapferkeit das Wort vernimmt,
Das von oben gnadevoll ertönet
In des Menschen wahre Wesenheit.
Da oben ist der Ort, wo wir hinschauen müssen, wenn unser Denken sich einen will mit den Kräften des Kosmos. In den WeltenkreisenWeiten ist das Gebiet, wo wir hinfühlen müssen, wenn unser Fühlen sich einen soll mit den kosmischen Kräften. Unten ist der Ort, wo wir hinblicken müssen, um unser an die Erde gebundenes Wollen, das wir nach oben befreien sollen, in der richtigen Weise einzureihen in die kosmischen Gebiete. Da ist überall - oben, in den Weiten und unten — besonderes Sein. Wir müssen es erfühlen. Der Hüter der Schwelle weist uns in Michaels Auftrag auch dorthin, und er spricht uns von dem, was wir oben und in der Mitte und unten finden.
Er belehrt uns weiter über die Höhe und die Mitte und das Unten, weil er uns belehren will über Denken, Fühlen und Wollen. So spricht er:
Es kämpft das Licht mit finstern Mächten
In jenem Reiche, wo dein Denken
In Geistesdasein dringen möchte.
Du findest, lichtwärts strebend,
Dein Selbst vom Geiste dir genommen;
Du kannst, wenn Finstres dich verlockt,
Im Stoff das Selbst verlieren.
Wir sind hineingestellt zwischen Licht und Finsternis. Licht will unser Selbst, Finsternis will unser Selbst. Wir haben den Weg zu finden zwischen Licht und Finsternis, um zum Selbst zu kommen. Das liegt in der Mahnung des Hüters der Schwelle.
Und unser Fühlen spricht der Hüter an:
Es kämpft das Warme mit dem Kalten
In jenem Reiche, wo dein Fühlen
Im Geistesweben leben möchte.
Du findest, Wärme liebend,
Dein Selbst in Geisteslust verwehend;
Du kannst, wenn Kälte dich verhärtet,
Im Leid das Selbst verstäuben.
Wiederum stehen wir zwischen dem polarischen Gegensatze drinnen mit dem Fühlen: zwischen dem liebenden Warmen, zwischen der warmen Liebe und dem kalten Verhärten, dem verhärtenden Kalten. Wir müssen den Weg finden zwischen den beiden, wenn unser Selbst sich finden will.
Und auf das dritte Reich, wo der Wille urständet, weist uns mahnend der Hüter der Schwelle:
Es kämpft das Leben mit dem Tode
In jenem Reiche, wo dein Wollen
Im Geistesschaffen walten möchte.
Du findest, Leben fassend,
Dein Selbst in Geistesmacht verschwinden;
Du kannst, wenn Todesmacht dich bändigt,
Im Nichts das Selbst verkrampfen.
Leben und Tod: Verlieren an das Leben, verlieren an den Tod können wir unser Wollen, im Leben es verschwinden fühlen, im Tode es verkrampfen fühlen.
Den Weg müssen wir suchen. Dazu fordert uns der Hüter auf. Das ist dasjenige, wovon in der nächsten Stunde ausgegangen werden soll.
Der Hüter weist uns noch einmal hin darauf, wie wir suchen müssen den Weg, um zum Menschen-Selbst zu kommen. Ernste Worte spricht der Hüter da. Denn nicht leicht ist es, jene innere Kraft zu finden, welche hält und trägt und führt das Selbst, das sich finden soll, das sich nicht hat im gewöhnlichen Erdenleben. Wie uns aber der Hüter die Mittel an die Hand gibt, wir wollen es weitersehen. Am nächsten Sonnabend, wo dieser mantrische Spruch an die Tafel geschrieben werden soll, werden wir den Hüter weiter hören, der uns allmählich, indem er uns die Verirrungen anweist — die wir kennen müssen, um den rechten Weg zu finden -, eben durch das ehrliche Aufzeigen der Verirrungen den rechten Weg weisen will.
Jetzt aber gedenken wir wiederum, zurückblickend auf das Erdenleben - wie wir das müssen jedes Mal, wo wir in das Esoterische hineingehen -, jetzt gedenken wir wiederum der Mahnung, die aus allen Wesen und Vorgängen in der Vergangenheit gesprochen hat zum Menschen, in der Gegenwart spricht zum Menschen, in aller Zukunft sprechen wird zum Menschen:
O Mensch, erkenne dich selbst!
So tönt das Weltenwort.
Du hörst es seelenkräftig,
Du fühlst es geistgewaltig.Wer spricht so weltenmächtig?
Wer spricht so herzinniglich?Wirkt es durch des Raumes Weitenstrahlung
In deines Sinnes Seinserleben?
Tönt es durch der Zeiten Wellenweben
In deines Lebens Werdestrom?Bist du es selbst, der sich
Im Raumesfühlen, im Zeiterleben
Das Wort erschafft, dich fremd
Erfühlend in Raumes Seelenleere,
Weil du des Denkens Kraft
Verlierst im Zeitvernichtungsstrome.
Wenn all das, was durch den Hüter in Michaels Namen durch diese Michael-Schule strömt, wenn hier die Unterweisung in der zu Recht bestehenden Michael-Schule an unsere Seele herandringt, dann dürfen wir sicher sein, wenn wir ehrlichen und guten Sinnes sind, dass die Kraft Michaels durch diesen Raum strömt, was bezeugt werden darf durch des Michaels Zeichen [das Michael-Zeichen wird an die Tafel gezeichnet; siehe Seite 847] und durch die Siegelgesten, womit einströmen lässt in die Rosenkreuzer-Strömung, in den Rosenkreuzer-Tempel Michael diejenige Kraft, die der Mensch heute zu seinem esoterischen Leben braucht, die da wirkt aus dem dreifachen Quell der Welt, aus dem göttlichen Vater-Prinzip, aus dem Christus-Prinzip, aus dem Prinzip des Geistes, sodass sich vereint der Rosenkreuzer-Spruch mit dem Michael-Gestus-Siegel:
Ex deo nascimur
[die untere Siegelgeste wird an die Tafel gezeichnet]
In Christo morimur
[die mittlere Siegelgeste wird an die Tafel gezeichnet]
Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus
[die obere Siegelgeste wird an die Tafel gezeichnet]
und denken bei diesem Siegel und Zeichen Christiani Rosenkreutz:
[Neben die untere Siegelgeste wird geschrieben]
Ich bewundere den Vater
[Neben die mittlere Siegelgeste wird geschrieben]
Ich liebe den Sohn
[Neben die obere Siegelgeste wird geschrieben]
Ich verbinde mich dem Geiste
Per signum Michaeli:
[Es wird das Michael-Zeichen gemacht.]
[Es werden die drei Siegelgesten gemacht und dazu gesprochen]
Ex deo nascimur In Christo morimur Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus.
Zu sagen ist, dass die mantrischen Sprüche, die hier in dieser Schule gegeben werden, nur von denjenigen besessen werden können, die rechtmäßige Mitglieder dieser Schule sind. Ist irgendjemand, dadurch, dass er Mitglied der Schule ist und nicht anwesend ist bei einer Stunde, in der er anwesend sein dürfte, nicht in der Lage, hier aus dieser Stunde die Sprüche zu haben, so kann er sie von einem anderen, der sie haben konnte, übernehmen. Das macht notwendig eine Anfrage entweder bei Frau Doktor Wegman oder bei mir selber. Wenn jemand also die Sprüche empfangen will, weil er sie nicht hier hat haben können, so ist anzufragen bei Frau Doktor Wegman oder bei mir selber; aber nicht derjenige kann anfragen, der die Sprüche empfängt, sondern derjenige, der sie ihm gibt. Das muss von vornherein gesagt werden.
Ferner ist zu sagen, dass das nicht eine Verwaltungsmaßregel ist, sondern dass eben das in jedem einzelnen Falle, für jeden Einzelnen, dem man die Sprüche geben will, hier geschehen muss, weil es der Anfang eben jener okkulten Handlung ist, durch die man die Sprüche empfängt.
Diejenigen Mitglieder, welche erst in jüngster Zeit eingetreten sind, bis zur heutigen Stunde gekommen sind, können auch nur die Sprüche erhalten, die bis zur heutigen Stunde vorgebracht worden sind, bis zu der Stunde vorgebracht worden sind, die sie mitgemacht haben. Nur in einzelnen Fällen, die wiederum individuell beurteilt werden müssen, kann gefragt werden, ob die anderen, späteren Sprüche gegeben werden können. Brieflich - also auf einem anderen Wege als durch mündliche Mitteilung - können die Sprüche nicht von dem einen an den andern übergeben werden.
Sollte irgendjemand mitschreiben anderes als die Sprüche, so ist er verpflichtet, dieses Mitgeschriebene nur für die nächsten acht Tage zu haben und es nach acht Tagen zu verbrennen. Dasjenige, was hier in der zu Recht bestehenden Michael-Schule mitgeteilt wird, hat nur Bedeutung in mündlicher Mitteilung - das ist ein inneres okkultes Gesetz -, mit Ausnahme der mantrischen Sprüche. Aber bemerkt werden muss, damit die Dinge nicht genommen werden, als wenn sie in einer kindlichen Weise auf Sekretierung hinorientiert wären, dass es bei diesen okkulten Sprüchen so ist, dass, wenn sie unrechtmäßig an andere kommen, sie ihre Wirkung verlieren, denn es gehört der Akt der Übertragung zur Wirksamkeit der Schule. Um dieser okkulten Tatsache willen wird in dieser Strenge die Behandlung der Sprüche gefordert.
Es ist noch zu sagen, dass morgen die Tageseinteilung diese ist, dass um halb zehn Uhr stattfinden wird der Kursus für Pastoralmedizin, nachmittag um halb vier Uhr der Kursus für Theologen stattfinden wird, dass abends - morgen - ein Mitgliedervortrag sein wird, dass um fünf Uhr nachmittag eine Eurythmievorstellung sein wird. Der Sprachkursus ist um zwölf Uhr wie gewöhnlich.
Third review lesson
My dear sisters and brothers! For the newly admitted members, it is not possible to repeat the introduction with the obligations for the class today. Therefore, I ask those members who will be assigned to these new members—under the terms I will mention at the end—to communicate these conditions to the new members.
Now, my dear sisters and brothers, we begin again by letting our souls hear those words which, if we are receptive to them, we can hear from all beings in the surrounding world, which we could hear in the past, can hear in the present, will hear in the future, which remind him of the call – which comes to him continuously from the whole universe – for self-knowledge, which is the true bridge to what man needs for his thinking, for his feeling, for his working in the world, if he wants to be human in the true sense of the word:
O human being, know thyself!
Thus sounds the word of the world.
You hear it with the power of your soul,
You feel it with the power of your spirit.Who speaks so powerfully?
Who speaks so heartfelt?Does it work through the vast radiance of space
In the experience of your mind?
Does it sound through the waves of time
In the stream of your life?Is it you yourself who,
In the feeling of space, in the experience of time,
Creates the word, feeling yourself alien
In the emptiness of space's soul,
Because you lose the power of thought
In the stream of time destruction.
My dear sisters and brothers, the description of the path of knowledge has led us to the guardian of the threshold. After the guardian of the threshold has shown us, close to the abyss of being, how those forces that are the forces of our inner human nature —- Will, Feeling, Thinking — appear before the eyes of the beings of the spiritual world; after he has shown us how, in truth, human beings, from their present consciousness of time, have not awakened to full humanity in relation to these forces when they are viewed inwardly, but appear before the spiritual-divine powers as the three animals which are now placed before him and which the Guardian of the Threshold has shown him; after the Guardian of the Threshold has presented this shattering sight to our soul, he shows us the further path that leads to elevation in true self-knowledge, which must be taken if the call “O man, know thyself!” is to be fulfilled.
After first showing us how we should relate to our thinking, feeling, and willing, he shows us—in those mantric sayings that were quoted at the end of the last lesson in this Michael School— how we must first immerse ourselves in our thinking, but how this thinking is an illusory being that cannot carry our true self-being, how we are nevertheless woven out—through this immersion in the illusory being—into the world ether and at least come to worship that guiding being that leads us from earth life to earth life.
Then he shows us how we can descend into our feelings, how appearance and being are united in our feelings, how our essence, our selfhood in the good sense of the word, emerges with half its strength, but how we should remember that what is already flowing in there is not only the life forces of our transitory, apparent being, but also the life forces of the world, of the cosmos.
Only when we descend into the will do we feel being flowing into our selfhood. The illusory being is transformed into being. Our being descends into the will, and we feel the world-creating powers flowing through our will.
And so the words of the Guardian of the Threshold were harsh at the abyss of being—where before us lies the yawning darkness, the night-covered darkness, in which it must become light so that we may find in it the light that can illuminate our own self; behind us is the shining, sun-glowing physical reality, which now becomes dark because we cannot find our own being in it — then the Guardian of the Threshold speaks the mantric words:
See within yourself the web of thoughts:
You experience the light of the world,
Selfhood is hidden from you;
Dive beneath the light:
Ethereal beings blow within you;
Selfhood, it shall worship
The guiding beings of your spirit.Hear within you streams of feelings:
Appearance and being mingle within you,
Selfhood inclines toward appearance;
So dive into shining being:
And world soul forces are within you;
Selfhood, it should consider
The life forces of its own soul.Let the impulse of will reign within you:
It rises from all appearance
Creating with selfhood;
Turn all your life toward it:
It is filled with the power of the world spirit;
Your selfhood should grasp
The world-creating power in the spirit-ego.
— the spirit-ego of the world.
[The mantra is now written on the board; see page 846:]
The Guardian speaks:
See within yourself the web of thoughts:
You experience the appearance of the world,
Your true self is hidden from you;
Dive into the appearance:
Etheric beings blow within you;
Selfhood, it shall worship
The guiding beings of your spirit.Hear within you streams of feelings:
Appearance and being mingle within you,
Selfhood inclines toward appearance;
So dive beneath into shining being:
And world soul forces are within you;
Selfhood, it shall consider
The life forces of its own soul.Let the impulse of will reign within you:
It rises from all illusory beings
Creating with its own being;
Turn your whole life toward it:
It is filled with the power of the world spirit;
Your own being should grasp
The world-creating power in the spiritual I.
The Guardian of the Threshold has given us a mantric saying, in which it is not merely important that we take in its content, but that we empathize with the weaving and life of the spiritual world with all our feelings. Therefore, this mantric saying is designed in such a way that it initially appears to descend from the spiritual world in its rhythm. Each line begins with a high-pitched syllable followed by a low-pitched syllable. In the first saying, we have:
[While speaking, the trochaic rhythm sign — U is placed above the first two syllables of each line on the board, and the saying is spoken with the appropriate emphasis:]
See within yourself the web of thoughts:
You experience the light of the world,
Selfhood is hidden from you;
Dive into the light:
Ethereal beings blow within you;
Selfhood, it shall worship
The guiding beings of your spirit.
This descent of the spiritual world to us can be felt in this trochaic rhythm. Only then do we truly absorb this saying into our soul when we read it with such inner feeling that this descent of the spiritual world, this speaking down to us by spiritual beings, has an effect in this rhythmic tone of voice:
See within yourself the web of thoughts:
You experience the light of the world,
Selfhood is hidden from you;
Dive beneath the light:
Ethereal beings blow within you;
Selfhood, it shall worship
The guiding beings of your spirit.
The next verse is the reverse: here we are to ascend with our feelings to being. Here [on the first syllable] we are below; here [on the second syllable] we strive upward into being. The low tone precedes the high tone:
[While speaking, the iambic rhythm symbol u is placed above the first two syllables of each line on the board, and the saying is spoken with the appropriate emphasis:]
Hear the streams of feelings within you:
Appearance and being mingle within you,
The self inclines toward appearance;
So dive into shining being:
And world-soul forces are within you;
The self should consider
The life forces of its own soul.
We must live in the words that are united in this rhythmic mantra; we must feel them thus:
Hear the streams of feeling within you:
Appearance and reality mingle within you,
Selfhood tends toward appearance;
So dive into shining being:
And world soul forces are within you;
Selfhood should consider
The life forces of its own soul.
The fact that we are entering more deeply into reality is also expressed in the fact that we first “worship” [the word is underlined on the blackboard], which is an inner, spiritual activity; that we then ascend to “consider” [the word is underlined on the blackboard], where we gradually come alongside the matter; that we first have to deal with “guides” [the word is underlined] who direct us; then with “life forces” [the word is underlined] that permeate and animate the world. In a mantric saying, everything is placed in the right place, and everything is fitted into the organism of the whole in the right way.
The third saying tells us how we perceive being directly in the will. We stand beside being. Two high-pitched syllables precede it:
[While speaking, the spondeic rhythm sign — — is placed over the first two syllables of each line on the board, and the saying is spoken with the appropriate emphasis?]
Let the impulse of will reign within you:
It rises from all illusory beings
Creating with its own being;
Turn your whole life to it:
It is filled with the power of the world spirit;
Your own being, it shall grasp
The power of the world creator in the spirit-ego.
Here we are even further along. It is no longer a matter of “considering,” it is a matter of “seizing” [the word is underlined], which is an action. The “world-creating power” [the word is underlined] instead of the “life power” is placed at the beginning of the line to indicate the complete turnaround we undergo when we ascend from ‘appearance’ through “shining being” to “being.”
The third saying should therefore be felt in such a way that the beginning of each line is felt in this spondean meter, spondean rhythm. Here we have trochaic [“trochaic” is written next to the first saying]; here iambic [" iambic“ is written next to the second saying]; here spondean [”spondean" is written next to the third saying]:
Let the impulse of will reign within you:
It rises from all illusory beings
Creating with its own being;
Turn all your life toward it:
It is filled with the power of the world spirit;
Your own being shall grasp
The power of the world creator in the spirit-ego.
After the Guardian of the Threshold has presented this to our souls, he draws our attention to how we must integrate ourselves if we want to progress in spiritual knowledge, into the cosmos, into the world; into the cosmos, into the world with all its forces. For that which cannot initially be distinguished in us according to its place is arranged in the cosmos. In the cosmos, we can point to places. Within us, everything is interwoven. But we cannot attain true knowledge if we do not merge with the forces and powers of the world, if we remain subjective within ourselves, if we remain confined within our own skin, if we do not step outside ourselves and allow our body to become the whole world. Then our soul will also feel our narrow human existence as a part of the world. The spirit will integrate our narrow human existence into the whole cosmos, into the whole world.
But we must do this as the Guardian of the Threshold instructs us, showing us how forces emanate from the depths of the earth, which draws all beings to itself with its heaviness, forces that also pull us down, that bind our will to the earth if we do not free it through inner striving. Our gaze goes downwards, towards the earth, if we want to localize our will. We must feel at one with the heaviness of the earth, feel drawn to the earth, and have the desire within us to free ourselves from the heaviness of the earth if we want to unite our will with the cosmos, which we must do.
Feel how the depths of the earth
Their forces press upon your being
Into the limbs of your body.
You lose yourself in them,
When you entrust your will powerless
To their striving;
They darken your ego.
Thus speaks to our will at the yawning abyss of being the guardian of the threshold on behalf of Michael.
And he does not refer us to the depths, but to the horizontal expanses of the world, where forces swing and oscillate from west to east, from east to west, and permeate us, by seeking to integrate our feelings into the cosmos. And it is these same forces that seize our feelings. We must feel the powers of the gods sending their spiritual light into these waves of the horizontal if we want to integrate our feelings correctly into the world expanses. Just as we want to integrate our will into the vertical, feel it bound below, want to liberate it above, we must be able to place our feelings into the world expanses. Then it will become light in our feelings. Then something will pass through our feelings that passes through us just as the sun shines with its light through the earth's air in its course from east to west.
In all that flows through us, however, we must find ourselves loving. Only the power of love that interweaves and permeates human beings can do what is required of us. Then wisdom is woven through us, and we feel ourselves, as feeling human beings, as selves, strong for real, good spiritual creation in the wide circles in which the sun moves.
This is what the guardian of the threshold says to us—at the yawning abyss of being—as feeling human beings, this is what he says to our feelings:
Feel how from worlds far away
Divine powers let their spiritual light
Shine into your soul.
Find yourself loving in them,
And they create wisdom weaving
You as a self in their circles
Strong for good spiritual creation.
And when the guardian of the threshold now wants to speak to our thinking, that it should integrate itself into the cosmos, then he does not point downwards, as with the will, which should move upwards, then he does not point, as with feeling, into the wide circles in which the sun moves, then he points upwards, to the heights of heaven, where alone the self can live selflessly if it wants to receive the powers of thought in the gracious coming from above, if it wants to follow the striving for height. We stand below, the word is above. We must be brave inwardly in order to hear the word, for only when we bravely hold fast to the striving for wisdom and knowledge does the world word sound graciously from above, speaking of the true nature of man.
This, in turn, is what the guardian of the threshold tells us at the yawning abyss of being:
Feel how in the heights of heaven
Selfhood can live selflessly,
When it wants to follow spirit-filled thoughts
In the striving for higher things
And hears the word with courage,
Which resounds graciously from above
In the true nature of man.
[Now the three-stanza mantra is written on the board; see page 8471]
The Guardian instructs Willing, Feeling, Thinking:
Feel how from worlds far and wide
Feel how from worlds wide
Divine powers let their spiritual light
shine into your soul being.
Find yourself loving in them,
And they create wisdom-weaving
You as Self in their circles
Strong for good spiritual creation.
Divine powers let their spiritual light
shine into your soul.
Find yourself loving in them,
and they create wisdom weaving
you as yourself in their circles
strong for good spiritual creation. Feel how in the heights of heaven
being yourself can live selflessly,
When it wants to follow spirit-filled thoughts
In the striving for heights
And hears the word in bravery,
Which sounds graciously from above
In the true essence of man.
Up there is the place where we must look when our thinking wants to unite with the forces of the cosmos. In the vastness of the world circles is the area where we must feel when our feeling wants to unite with the cosmic forces. Down below is the place where we must look in order to correctly classify our will, which is bound to the earth, which we must liberate upwards, in the right way into the cosmic realms. There is a special being everywhere – above, in the expanses and below. We must feel it. The Guardian of the Threshold also points us there on Michael's behalf, and he tells us about what we find above, in the middle and below.
He continues to teach us about the heights, the middle, and the depths because he wants to teach us about thinking, feeling, and willing. Thus he speaks:
Light struggles with dark forces
In that realm where your thinking
Wishes to penetrate spiritual existence.
You find, striving toward the light,
Your self taken from you by the spirit;
You can, when darkness entices you,
Lose your self in matter.
We are placed between light and darkness. Light wants our self, darkness wants our self. We must find the way between light and darkness in order to come to the self. This is the warning of the Guardian of the Threshold.
And the Guardian addresses our feelings:
The warm fights with the cold
In that realm where your feelings
Want to live in the fabric of the spirit.
You find, loving warmth,
Your self drifting away in spiritual pleasure;
You can, when cold hardens you,
Dust away the self in suffering.
Once again, we stand between the polar opposites of feeling: between loving warmth, between warm love and cold hardening, the hardening cold. We must find the path between the two if our self is to find itself.
And the guardian of the threshold warns us about the third realm, where the will originates:
Life struggles with death
In that realm where your will
Wishes to reign in spiritual creation.
You find, grasping life,
Your self disappearing into spiritual power;
You can, when death's power subdues you,
Cramp your self in nothingness.
Life and death: we can lose our will to life, lose it to death, feel it disappear in life, feel it cramp in death.
We must seek the path. The Guardian calls us to do so. This is what we shall proceed from in the next hour.
The Guardian points out once again how we must seek the path to the human self. The Guardian speaks serious words here. For it is not easy to find that inner strength that holds and carries and guides the self that is to be found, that does not exist in ordinary earthly life. But as the Guardian gives us the means, we will see further. Next Saturday, when this mantric saying is to be written on the board, we will continue to listen to the Guardian, who, by pointing out the aberrations — which we must know in order to find the right path — will gradually show us the right path by honestly pointing out the aberrations.
But now, looking back on earthly life—as we must do every time we enter into the esoteric—we remember again the warning that has spoken to human beings from all beings and events in the past, speaks to human beings in the present, and will speak to human beings in all the future:
O human being, know thyself!
Thus sounds the word of the world.
You hear it with the power of your soul,
You feel it with the power of your spirit.Who speaks so powerfully to the world?
Who speaks so heartfeltly?Does it work through the vast radiation of space
In the experience of your mind?
Does it sound through the waves of time
In the stream of your life?Is it you yourself who,
In the feeling of space, in the experience of time,
Creates the word, feeling yourself alien
Feeling yourself in the emptiness of space,
Because you lose the power of thought
In the stream of time destruction.
When all that flows through the guardian in Michael's name through this Michael School, when the teaching in the rightly existing Michael School reaches our soul here, then we can be sure, if we are honest and of good will, that the power of Michael flows through this space, which can be attested to by the sign of Michael [the Michael sign is drawn on the board; see page 847] and by the sealing gestures, with which we allow to flow into the Rosicrucian stream, into the Rosicrucian temple Michael, the power that human beings need today for their esoteric life, which works from the threefold source of the world, from the divine Father principle, from the Christ principle, from the principle of the Spirit, so that the Rosicrucian motto is united with the Michael gesture seal:
Ex deo nascimur
[the lower seal gesture is drawn on the board]
In Christo morimur
[the middle seal gesture is drawn on the board]
Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus
[the upper seal gesture is drawn on the board]
and think of Christiani Rosenkreutz with this seal and sign:
[written next to the lower seal gesture]
I admire the Father
[written next to the middle seal gesture]
I love the Son
[Next to the upper seal gesture is written]
I connect myself to the Spirit
Per signum Michaeli:
[The Michael sign is made.]
[The three seal gestures are made and spoken]
Ex deo nascimur
In Christo morimur
Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus.
It should be noted that the mantric spells given here in this school can only be possessed by those who are legitimate members of this school. If anyone, by virtue of being a member of the school and not being present at a lesson at which they should have been present, is unable to obtain the sayings from that lesson, they may obtain them from someone else who was able to obtain them. This requires a request to either Dr. Wegman or myself. So if someone wants to receive the verses because they were unable to obtain them here, they must ask Dr. Wegman or myself; however, it is not the person receiving the verses who can make the request, but the person giving them. This must be stated from the outset.
Furthermore, it must be said that this is not an administrative measure, but that it must be done here in each individual case, for each individual to whom the sayings are to be given, because it is the beginning of the occult act through which the sayings are received.
Those members who have only recently joined, who have come up to the present hour, can only receive the sayings that have been presented up to the present hour, up to the hour they have participated in. Only in individual cases, which must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, can it be asked whether the other, later sayings can be given. The sayings cannot be passed on from one person to another by letter, i.e., by any means other than verbal communication.
If anyone writes down anything other than the sayings, they are obliged to keep what they have written down for only the next eight days and to burn it after eight days. What is communicated here in the rightly existing Michael School is only meaningful in oral communication – this is an inner occult law – with the exception of the mantric sayings. But it must be noted, so that things are not taken as if they were childishly oriented toward secrecy, that with these occult sayings, if they come into the hands of others unlawfully, they lose their effect, for the act of transmission belongs to the effectiveness of the school. Because of this occult fact, the treatment of the sayings is required with this strictness.
It remains to be said that tomorrow's schedule is as follows: at half past nine there will be a course in pastoral medicine, in the afternoon at half past three there will be a course for theologians, in the evening – tomorrow – there will be a lecture for members, and at five o'clock in the afternoon there will be a eurythmy performance. The language course is at twelve o'clock as usual.