At the Gates of Spiritual Science
GA 95
3 September 1906, Stuttgart
13. Oriental and Christian Training
Yesterday we concluded by outlining the three methods of occult development: the Eastern, the Christian and the Rosicrucian. Today we will begin by going more closely into the details which distinguish these three paths. But first I should say that no occult school sees in its teaching and requirements anything like a moral law valid for all mankind. The requirements apply only to those who deliberately choose to devote themselves to a particular occult training. You can, for instance, be a very good Christian and fulfil everything that the Christian religion prescribes for the laity without undergoing a Christian occult training. It goes without saying that you can be a good man and come to a form of the higher life without any occult training.
As I said earlier, the Eastern training calls for strict submission to the Guru.42“The form of instruction in oriental schooling.” From the old Indian classic, The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali. I will describe briefly the kind of instruction that an Eastern teacher gives. You will realise that the actual instructions cannot be given publicly; I can indicate only the stages of the path. The instructions can be divided into eight parts:
1. Yama | 5. Pratyahara |
2. Niyama | 6. Dharana |
3. Asanum | 7. Dhyanam |
4. Pranayama | 8. Samadhi |
1. Yama includes all the abstentions required of anyone who wishes to undergo Yoga training: Do not lie, do not kill, do not steal, do not lead a dissolute life, desire nothing.
The injunction, Do not kill, is very stringent and applies to all creatures. No living creature may be killed or even injured, and the more strictly this rule is observed, the further will the pupil progress. Whether this rule can be observed in our civilisation is another matter. Every killing, even of a flea, impedes occult development. Whether someone is obliged to do it—that again is a different question.
You will understand the command, Do not lie, if you recall what I said about the astral plane, where to lie is to kill and every lie is a murder. Lying therefore comes into the same category as killing.
The precept, Do not steal, also has to be applied most strictly. A European might claim that he does not steal. But the Eastern Yogi does not look at it so simply. In the regions where these exercises were first promulgated by the great teachers of humanity, conditions were much simpler: stealing was easy to define. But a Yoga teacher would not agree that Europeans do not steal. For example, if I unjustifiably appropriate another man's labour, or if I procure for myself a profit which may be legally permissible but which involves the exploitation of another person—all this the Yoga teacher would call stealing. With us, social relations have become so complex that many people violate this commandment without the slightest awareness of doing so. Suppose you have money and deposit it in a bank. You do nothing with it; you exploit no-one. But suppose now the banker starts speculating and exploits other people with your money. In the occult sense you will be responsible for it, and the events will burden your karma. You can see that this precept requires deep consideration if you are entering on a path of occult development.
With regard to the injunction, Do not lead a dissolute life, take a person with private means whose capital is invested without his knowledge in a distillery; he is just as culpable as the producer of strong drinks. The fact that he knew nothing about it makes no difference to his karma. There is only one way of keeping to the right path with these abstentions: strive to need nothing. Even if you have great possessions, in so far as you strive to have no needs, you will injure no-one.
The injunction, Desire nothing, is especially hard to carry out. It means that the pupil must strive to have no needs, no desire for anything in the world, and to do only what the outer world demands of him. He must even suppress any feeling of pleasure at doing good to someone; he must be moved to help not by any such feeling but simply by the sight of suffering. And if he has to spend money, he must not think of his own wishes or desires but must say to himself: “I need this to maintain my body or to meet the needs of my spirit, as everyone else does. I do not desire it, but am considering only how best to live my life in the world.”
In Yoga training this concept of Yama is, as I have said, taken most strictly; it could not be transplanted to Europe as it stands.
2. Niyama. This means the observance of religious customs. In India, where these rules are chiefly applied, a problem is solved which causes many difficulties in European civilisation. For us it is very easy to say that we have passed beyond dogmas; we hold to the inner truth only and have no use for outer forms. The further a European has got away from religious observances, the more exalted does he imagine himself to be. The Hindu takes the opposite view; he holds firmly to the rites of his religion, and no-one may touch them, but anyone is free to form his own opinion of them. There are sacred rites which have come down from very ancient times and signify something very profound. An uneducated man will have very elementary ideas about them; a more highly cultured man will have different and better ideas, but no-one will say that anyone else's ideas are wrong. The wise and the unlearned observe the same customs. There are no dogmas, only rites. Hence these deeply religious customs can be observed by all, and in them the wise and the simple are brought together. Thus the rites are socially unifying. No-one is restricted in his opinions by conforming to a strict ritual.
The Christian religion has followed the opposite principle. Not customs, but opinions, have been imposed on people, and the consequence is that formlessness has become the rule in our social life. So begins a complete disregard of all observances that could draw human beings together; every form that expresses symbolically a higher truth is gradually rejected. This is a great loss for human development, especially for development in the Eastern sense.
In Europe today there are plenty of people who think they have learnt to do without dogmas, yet it is precisely the freethinkers and the materialists who are the worst fanatics for dogmas. The dogma of materialism is much more oppressive than any other. The infallibility of the Pope is no longer valid for many people, but instead we have the infallibility of the professor. Even the most liberal-minded, whatever they may say to the contrary, are victims of the dogmas of materialism. Think of the dogmas which burden lawyers, doctors and so on. Every university professor teaches his own dogma. Or think how people suffer from the dogma of the infallibility of public opinion, of the newspapers! The Eastern teacher of Yoga does not demand that the ceremonies which unite the learned and unlearned together should be abandoned: these sacred ancient rites are symbols of the highest wisdom. No culture is possible without such formal observances; to believe otherwise is an illusion. Suppose for instance a colony is founded with no forms or accepted customs. Clearly a colony such as that, with no church, no religious services or observances, could exist quite well for a time, because its people would continue to live in accordance with the rules and conventions they had brought with them. But as soon as these were lost, the colony would collapse, for every culture must embody a certain pattern which will give expression to its inner character. Modern civilisation must recover the forms it has lost; it must learn again how to give external expression to its inner life. In the long run social life is conditioned by its pattern, its formal customs. The ancient sages knew this, and hence they held firmly to religious practices.
3. Asanam means the adoption of a certain bodily posture in meditation. This is much more important for the Oriental than for the European, because the European body is no longer so sensitive to the flow of certain subtle currents. The body of the Oriental is even nowadays more delicately organised; it responds readily to the currents which pass from East to West, from North to South, from the Heights to the Depths. Spiritual currents flow through the universe, and it is for this reason that churches are built with a particular orientation. It is for this reason also that the Yoga teacher makes his pupil adopt a special posture; the pupil has to keep his hands and feet in a particular position, so that the currents may flow through his body in the right direction. If the Hindu did not bring his body into this harmony, he would risk losing all the benefits of his meditation.
4. Pranayama is breathing, yoga-breathing. It is an essential and detailed part of Eastern Yoga training. Christian training pays almost no attention to it, but in Rosicrucian training it has regained some importance.
What does breathing signify in occult development? You can find the answer in the injunctions not to kill and not to injure any living creature. The occult teacher says: “By breathing you are slowly, continually, killing your surroundings.” What does this mean? We breathe the air in, use it to furnish our blood with oxygen and then breathe it out again. What does this involve? We inhale the air with its oxygen; we combine the oxygen with carbon and we exhale carbon dioxide, in which no man or animal can live. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, which is a poison; and this means that with every breath we draw we are dealing death to other beings in our environment. Bit by bit we are killing our whole environment: we inhale the breath of life and exhale air which we can make no further use of. The occult teacher is concerned to alter this. If there were only men and animals in the world, all the oxygen would soon be used up and all living creatures would die. It is thanks to the plants that this does not happen, for in plants the breathing process is the reverse of ours. They assimilate carbon dioxide, separate the carbon from the oxygen, and use the carbon to build up their bodies. They liberate oxygen, and men and animals breathe it in again. So do the plants renew the life-giving air; otherwise all life would long ago have been destroyed. We owe our life to the plants, and in this way plants, animals and men are complementary.
But this process will change in the future, and since anyone who is undergoing occult training must begin to do what others will achieve at some time in the future, he must learn not to kill with his breath. That is Pranayama, the science of the breath. Our modern materialistic age places health under the sign of fresh air; but our modern way of achieving health through fresh air is one that terminates in death. A Yogi, on the other hand, will retire into a cave and as far as possible will breathe the air he has himself exhaled—unlike the European, who is always wanting to open windows. A Yogi has learnt the art of contaminating the air as little as possible because he has learnt how to use it up. How does he do it? The secret has always been known to the European occult schools, where it was called the finding of the Stone of the Wise, the Philosopher's Stone.
At the turn of the eighteenth to the nineteenth century a good deal of information about occult development leaked out. The Stone of the Wise was often mentioned in published writings, but one can see that the author understood little of it, even though it all came from the right sources. In 1797 a local Thuringian newspaper printed an article about the Stone of the Wise which included, inter alia, the following: “The Stone of the Wise is something one has only to recognise, for every man has seen it. It is something which everyone holds in his hand for part of almost every day, but without knowing that it is the Philosopher's Stone.” This is an enigmatic way of indicating that the Philosopher's Stone can be found everywhere. Yet this strange expression is literally true.
This is how it comes about. The plant, as it builds up its body, takes in the carbon dioxide and retains the carbon for its body-building purposes. Men and animals eat the plants, take in the carbon, and give it up as carbon dioxide when they breathe out. So we have a carbon cycle. In the future there will be a great change. Man will learn to extend the range of his innate powers and will gradually come to do for himself what at present he leaves to the plant. Just as man passed through the plant and animal kingdoms in the course of his evolution, so will he in a certain sense retrace his steps. He will himself become plant; he will take up the plant-nature into himself and accomplish the whole plant-process within himself. He will retain the carbon dioxide and will consciously build up his body with it, as the plant now builds up its own body unconsciously. He will prepare the necessary oxygen in his own organs, unite it with carbon to form carbon dioxide, and then deposit the carbon again in himself. Thus he will be able to build up his bodily structure. Here is an idea which opens up a great perspective for the future; and when it comes about man will cease to be a killer with his breath.
Now we know that carbon and diamond are the same substance; diamond is more thoroughly crystallised and a more transparent form of carbon. Hence we need not think that in the future people will go about looking like negroes. Their bodies will consist of soft, transparent carbon. At that stage man will have found the Philosopher's Stone and he will transform his own body into it.
Anyone undergoing occult development has to anticipate this process as far as possible He must deprive his breath of the capacity to kill, and must organise his breathing so that the air he exhales is usable and can be breathed again. How is this to be accomplished? You have to bring rhythm into your breathing. The teacher gives the necessary instructions. Breathing in, holding your breath and breathing out again—this must be done rhythmically, if only for a short period. With every rhythmical exhalation the air is improved, slowly but surely. Here the old saying applies drops of water wear away the stone. The chemists cannot yet confirm this: their instruments are too coarse to detect the finer substances, but the occultist knows that breath imbued with rhythm is life-promoting and contains more than the normal amount of oxygen. The breath can be purified also, and at the same time, by meditation. This, too, contributes, if only by a very little, towards bringing the plant-nature back into man, so that he may become a being who does not kill.
5. Pratyahara, the curbing of sense-perception. Nowadays in ordinary life a person receives a continual stream of sense-impressions and allows them all to work on him. The occult teacher says to the pupil: “You must concentrate on a single sense-impression for a specified number of minutes and pass on to another only by your own free choice.”
6. Dharana, when the pupil has done that for a while he must learn to make himself deaf and blind to all sense-impressions; he must turn away from them and try to hold in his thought only the concepts they leave behind. If he thus lives in concepts only, and controls his thoughts and links one concept to another by his own free choice, he has reached the condition known as Dharana.
7. Dhyanam. There are concepts—often disregarded by Europeans—which do not derive from sense-impressions. We have to form them for ourselves—mathematical concepts, for example. No perfect triangle exists in the outer world; it can only be conceived in thought, and the same is true of a circle. Then there is a whole range of concepts which anyone undertaking occult training must study intensively. They are symbolic concepts which are connected with some objects—for example, the hexagram, or the pentagram, symbols which occultism can explain. The pupil must keep his mind sharply concentrated on such symbolic objects, not to be found in the outer world. It is the same with another kind of concept: for example, that of the species Lion, which can be laid hold of only in thought. On these, too, the pupil must focus his attention. Finally, there are moral ideas, such for example as the following, from Light on the Path:43Light on the Path, written by Mabel Collins. “Before the eye can see, it must be incapable of tears.” This, too, cannot be experienced outwardly, but only inwardly. This meditation on concepts which have no sense-perceptible counterpart is called Dhyanam.
8. Finally, Samadhi, the most difficult of all. After concentrating for a very long time on an idea which has no sense-perceptible counterpart, you allow your mind to rest in it and your soul to be filled with it. Then you let the idea go, so that nothing is left in your consciousness. But you must not fall asleep, as would then normally happen; you must remain conscious. In that state the secrets of the higher worlds begin to reveal themselves. This state can be described as follows. You are thinking, for you are conscious, but you have no thoughts, and into this thinking without thoughts the spiritual powers are able to pour their content. But as long as you yourself fill your thinking, they cannot come in. The longer you can hold in your consciousness this activity of thinking without thoughts, the more will the super-sensible world reveal itself to you.
These are the eight realms with which a teacher of Eastern Yoga deals.
Now we will speak about the Christian way of occult training, as far as this is possible, and we shall see how it differs from the Eastern way. This Christian way can be followed with the advice of a teacher who knows what has to be done and can rectify mistakes at every step. But in Christian training the great Guru is Christ Jesus Himself. Hence it is essential to have a firm belief in the presence and the life on Earth of the Christ. Without this, a feeling of union with Him is impossible. Further, we must recognise that in the Gospel of St. John we have a document which originates with the great Guru Himself and can itself be a source of instruction. This Gospel is something we can experience in our own inner being and not something we merely believe. Whoever has absorbed it in the right way will no longer need to prove the reality of Christ Jesus, for he will have found Him.
In Christian training you must meditate on this Gospel, not simply read and re-read it. The Gospel begins: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God ...” The opening verses of this Gospel, rightly understood, are sentences for meditation and must be inwardly absorbed in the condition of Dhyanam, as described above. If in the morning, before other impressions have entered the soul, you live for five minutes solely in these sentences, with everything else excluded from your thoughts, and if you continue to do this over the years with absolute patience and perseverance, you will find that these words are not only something to be understood; you will realise that they have an occult power, and you will indeed experience through them a transformation of the soul. In a certain sense you become clairvoyant through these words, so that everything in St. John's Gospel can be seen with astral vision.
Then, under the direction of the teacher, and after meditating again on the five opening verses, the pupil allows the first chapter to pass through his mind for seven days. During the following week, after again meditating on the five opening verses, he goes on to the second chapter, and so in the same way up to the twelfth. He will soon learn how powerful an experience this is; how he is led into the events in Palestine when Christ Jesus lived there, as they are inscribed in the Akashic Record, and how he can actually experience it all. And then, when he reaches the thirteenth chapter, he has to experience the separate stages of Christian Initiation.
The first stage is the Washing of the Feet. We must understand the significance of this great scene. Christ Jesus bends down before those who are lower than himself. This humility towards those who are lower than we are, and at whose expense we have been able to rise, must be present everywhere in the world. If a plant were able to think, it would thank the minerals for giving it the ground on which it can lead a higher form of life, and the animal would have to bow down before the plant and say: “To thee I owe the possibility of my own existence.” In the same way man should recognise what he owes to all the rest of nature. So also, in our society, a man holding a higher position should bow before those who stand lower and say: “But for the diligence of those who labour on my behalf, I could not stand where I do.” And so on through all stages of human existence up to Christ Jesus Himself, who bows down in meekness before the Apostles and says: “You are my ground, and to you I fulfil the saying, ‘He who would be first must be last, and he who would be Lord must be the servant of all’.” The Washing of the Feet betokens this willingness to serve, this bowing down in perfect humility. This is a feeling that everyone committed to occult development must have.
If the pupil has permeated himself with this humility, he will have experienced the first stage of Christian Initiation. He will know by two signs, an outer and an inner, that he has gone thus far. The outer sign is that he feels as though his feet were being laved with water. The inner sign is an astral vision which will quite certainly come: he sees himself washing the feet of a number of persons. This picture rises up in his dreams as an astral vision, and every pupil has the same vision. When he has experienced it, he will have truly absorbed this whole chapter.
The second stage is that of the Scourging. When the pupil has reached this point, he must, while he reads of the Scourging and allows it to act upon him, develop another feeling. He must learn to stand firm under the heavy strokes of life, saying to himself: “I will stand up to whatever pains and sorrows come to me.” The outer sign of this is that the pupil feels a kind of prickling pain all over his body. The outer sign is that in a dream-vision he sees himself being scourged.
The third stage is that of the Crowning with Thorns, and for this he has to acquire yet another feeling: he learns to stand firm even when he is scorned and ridiculed because of all that he holds most sacred. The outer sign of this is that he experiences a severe headache; the inward symptom is that he has an astral vision of himself being crowned with thorns.
The fourth stage is that of the Crucifixion. A new and quite definite feeling must be developed. The pupil must cease to regard his body as the most important thing for him; his body must become as indifferent to him as a piece of wood. He then comes to look quite objectively on the body he carries with him through life; it has become for him the wood of the Cross. He need not despise it, any more than he does any other tool. The outer sign for having reached this stage is that during the pupil's meditation red marks (stigmata) appear at those places on his body which are called the sacred wounds. They do indeed appear on the hands and feet, and on the right side of the body at the level of the heart. The inward sign is that the pupil has a vision of himself hanging on the Cross.
The fifth stage is that of the Mystical Death. Now the pupil experiences the nothingness of earthly things, and indeed dies for a while to all earthly things.
Only the most scanty descriptions can be given of these later stages of Christian Initiation. The pupil experiences in an astral vision that darkness reigns everywhere and that the earthly world has fallen away. A black veil spreads over that which is to come, and while he is in this condition the pupil comes to know all that exists as evil and wickedness in the world. This is the Descent into Hell. Then he experiences the tearing away of the curtain and the world of Devachan appears before him. This is the rending of the veil of the Temple.
The sixth stage is that of the Burial. Just as at the fourth stage the pupil learnt to regard his own body objectively, so now he has to develop the feeling that everything else around him in the world is as much part of what truly belongs to him as his own body is. The body then extends far beyond its skin; the pupil is no longer a separate being; he is united with the whole planet. The Earth has become his body; he is buried in the Earth.
The seventh stage, that of the Resurrection, cannot be described in words. Hence occultism teaches that the seventh stage can be conceived only by a man whose soul has been entirely freed from the brain, and only to such a man could it be described. Hence we cannot do more than mention it here. The Christian teacher indicates the way to this experience.
When a man has lived through this seventh stage, Christianity has become an inner experience of the soul. He is now wholly united with Christ Jesus; Christ Jesus is in him.
Dreizehnter Vortrag
Gestern haben wir damit geschlossen, daß wir die drei Methoden der okkulten Entwickelung in ihren wesentlichen Zügen skizzierten: die orientalische, die christliche und die sogenannte rosenkreuzerische Schulung. Heute nun wollen wir damit beginnen, etwas näher auf die Einzelheiten einzugehen, die das Charakteristische jedes dieser drei Wege ausmachen.
Vorher jedoch möchte ich noch bemerken, daß in keiner okkulten Schule die Sache so aufzufassen ist, als ob das, was gesagt und gefordert wird, irgendwie als ein sittliches Gebot für die ganze Menschheit gelten könnte. Das ist durchaus nicht der Fall; nur für denjenigen, der sich wirklich einer solchen okkulten Entwickelung widmen will, gelten diese Forderungen. Man kann beispielsweise ein sehr guter Christ sein und das, was die christliche Religion für den Laien empfiehlt, ganz erfüllen, ohne eine christliche okkulte Schulung durchzumachen. Wenn zum Beispiel jemand sagt: Man kann doch auch ohne okkulte Schulung ein guter Mensch sein und zu einer Art höherem Leben kommen -, so ist dagegen nichts einzuwenden; das ist selbstverständlich.
Ich sagte Ihnen schon, daß innerhalb der orientalischen Schulung eine strenge Unterwerfung unter den Guru stattfindet. Ich will Ihnen nun die Art der Anweisung, die der Lehrer innerhalb einer orientalischen Schulung gibt, angeben. Man kann begreiflicherweise öffentlich keine Anweisungen geben, sondern nur den Weg charakterisieren. Diejenigen Dinge, die als Anweisungen von dem Lehrer gegeben werden, kann man in acht Gruppen einteilen:
1. Yama
2. Niyama
3. Asanam
4. Pranayama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana
7. Dhyanam
8. Samadhi
1. Yama schließt alles ein, was wir die Unterlassungen nennen, welche dem obliegen, der eine Yoga-Schulung durchmachen will; und das wird näher ausgedrückt in den Geboten: «Nicht lügen Nicht töten - Nicht stehlen - Nicht ausschweifen - Nicht begehren.»
Die Forderung «Nicht töten» ist eine sehr strenge und bezieht sich auf alle Wesen. Kein lebendes Wesen darf getötet oder auch nur beeinträchtigt werden, und je strenger dies befolgt wird, desto weiter führt es. Etwas anderes ist es, ob man dies auch in unserer Kultur durchführen kann. Jedes Töten, auch das einer Wanze, beeinträchtigt die okkulte Entwickelung. Ob es einer aber doch tun muß, das ist eine andere Frage.
«Nicht lügen» ist eine Forderung, die Ihnen schon verständlicher sein wird aus dem, was ich Ihnen über den Astralplan gesagt habe. Auf dem Astralplan ist lügen dasselbe wie töten, ist jede Lüge ein Mord; also fällt es eigentlich in dasselbe Kapitel wie töten.
«Nicht stehlen», auch das muß im strengsten Sinne durchgeführt werden. Der Europäer wird sagen: Wir stehlen nicht. - Aber der orientalische Yogi versteht die Sache nicht so einfach. In den Gebieten, wo zuerst diese Übungen ausgebreitet worden sind von den großen Lehrern der Menschheit, waren die Verhältnisse viel einfacher; da konnte man den Begriff des Stehlens leicht feststellen. Aber ein Yoga-Lehrer wird Ihnen nicht zugeben, daß ein Europäer nicht stiehlt, er nimmt das sehr streng. Wenn ich mir zum Beispiel die Arbeitskraft eines anderen aneigne, wenn ich mir einen Vorteil verschaffe, der wohl gesetzlich erlaubt ist, der aber eine Ausbeutung eines anderen bedeutet, so bezeichnet der Yoga-Lehrer das als Stehlen. Bei uns liegen die Dinge in unseren sozialen Verhältnissen so kompliziert, daß viele gegen dies Verbot verstoßen, ohne das allergeringste Bewußtsein davon zu haben. Denken Sie, Sie haben ein Vermögen und Sie hinterlegen das in einer Bank. Sie tun nichts damit, beuten niemanden aus. Nun aber geht der Bankier hin, treibt Spekulationen und beutet so andere Menschen mit Ihrem Gelde aus. Auch da sind Sie im okkulten Sinne verantwortlich, es belastet Ihr Karma. Sie sehen daraus, daß dieses Gebot bei einer okkulten Entwickelung ein tiefes Studium erfordert.
Ebenso kompliziert stellen sich die Verhältnisse beim «Nicht ausschweifen». Ein Rentner zum Beispiel, dessen Kapital durch eine Bank ohne sein Wissen in Schnapsbrennereien angelegt ist, macht sich ebenso schuldig wie ein Fabrikant, der Spirituosen verfertigt. Das Nichtwissen ändert nichts am Karma. Es gibt nur eines, was eine gerade Richtung geben kann bei diesen Unterlassungen, das ist: nach Bedürfnislosigkeit streben. In demselben Maße, wie man nach Bedürfnislosigkeit strebt, kann man nie jemand anderen schädigen.
Besonders schwer ist das «Nichts begehren» durchzuführen. Es bedeutet, nach voller Bedürfnislosigkeit zu streben, mit keiner Begierde an etwas in der Welt heranzutreten, sondern nur das zu tun, was die Außenwelt von uns fordert. Ja, ich muß selbst mein Wohlgefühl unterdrücken, wenn ich jemand eine Wohltat erweise; nicht dieses Gefühl, sondern der Anblick des Leidenden muß mich bewegen, zu helfen, Auch sonst, wenn ich zum Beispiel selbst eine Aufwendung machen muf,, darf ich nicht denken: Ich will, ich wünsche, ich begehre das, sondern ich muß mir sagen: Das brauchst du zur Unterhaltung deines Leibes oder für die Bedürfnisse deines Geistes, das braucht auch jeder andere; du begehrst es nicht, sondern du denkst nur nach, wie du am besten durch die Welt kommst. - Innerhalb der Yoga-Lehre wird der Begriff Yama, wie gesagt, außerordentlich streng gefaßt und kann nicht ohne weiteres nach Europa verpflanzt werden.
2. Niyama. Das bedeutet erwa die Einhaltung religiöser Gebräuche. In Indien, wo diese Regeln hauptsächlich angewendet werden, ist eine Frage gelöst, die der europäischen Kultur viele Schwierigkeiten bereitet. Man sagt leicht: Ich bin über die Dogmen hinaus, ich halte mich nur an die innere Wahrheit und gebe nichts auf äußerliche Formen. — Je mehr er über religiöse Gebräuche hinauskommen kann, desto erhabener dünkt sich der Europäer. Der Hindu denkt entgegengesetzt und hält fest an den Ritualien seiner Religion; niemand darf daran rühren. Welche Meinung aber man sich darüber bildet, das steht in der Hindureligion jedem ganz frei. Es bestehen uralte heilige Riten, die etwas sehr Tiefes bedeuten. Ein Ungebildeter wird sich davon eine sehr elementare Vorstellung machen, ein Mensch mit größerer Bildung macht sich eine andere, bessere Vorstellung, aber keiner wird sagen, daß die Vorstellung des andern falsch sei. Der Weise befolgt denselben Brauch wie der weniger Gebildete. Dogmen gibt es nicht, aber Riten. Auf diese Weise können die tief-religiösen Bräuche vom Weisen und vom Unweisen befolgt werden, beide können sich im Ritus vereinigen. So sind die Riten ein Bindemittel für die Bevölkerung; niemand wird in seiner Meinung beengt dadurch, daß er sich in ein strenges Ritual einfügt.
Die christliche Kirche hat das entgegengesetzte Prinzip verfolgt; nicht Bräuche, sondern Meinungen hat man den Leuten aufgenötigt, und die Folge ist, daß in der neueren Zeit die Formlosigkeit in unserem sozialen Zusammenleben Gesetz geworden ist, Da beginnt das vollständige Außer-acht-Lassen aller Bräuche, die die Menschen verbinden würden; alle Formen, die sinnbildlich höhere Wahrheiten ausdrücken, werden allmählich abgeschafft. Das ist ein großer Schaden für die gesamte Entwickelung des Menschen, hauptsächlich für die okkulte Entwickelung im orientalischen Sinne.
Viele glauben heute in der europäischen Bevölkerung, über Dogmen hinaus zu sein, aber gerade die Freidenker und Materialisten sind die ärgsten Dogmenfanatiker. Das materialistische Dogma ist noch viel drückender als jedes andere. Die Unfehlbarkeit des Papstes gilt für viele nicht mehr, wohl aber die Unfehlbarkeit des Universitätsprofessors. Auch der Liberalste ist, trotz der gegenteiligen Behauptungen, den Dogmen des Materialismus unterworfen. Welche Dogmen lasten zum Beispiel auf dem Juristen, Mediziner und so weiter. Jeder Universitätsprofessor lehrt sein Dogma. Oder auch: Wie schwer lastet auf einem das Dogma der Unfehlbarkeit der öffentlichen Meinung, der Tageszeitung! Der orientalische YogaLehrer fordert, nicht herauszutreten aus den Formen, die ein Bindeglied sind für Weise und Unweise, denn diese uralten heiligen Formen sind die Bilder der höchsten Wahrheiten. Ohne Formen gibt es keine Kultur; es ist eine Täuschung, wenn man das Gegenteil glaubt. Nehmen wir zum Beispiel an, es gründe jemand eine Kolonie, ganz formlos, ohne Gesetze, ohne Riten und religiöse Gebräuche. Für den, der die Dinge durchschaut, ist es klar, daß eine solche Kolonie eine Zeitlang ganz gut bestehen kann, weil die Leute noch nach den alten Formen leben, die sie mitgebracht haben. Aber sobald sie diese verlieren, geht die Kolonie zugrunde, denn ohne Formen kann auf die Dauer keine solche Kolonie bestehen. Alle Kultur muß aus der Form herausgeboren werden. Das Innere muß äußerlich durch Formen ausgedrückt werden. Die moderne Kultur hat die Formen verloren; sie muß sie wieder gewinnen. Sie muß wieder lernen, auch äußerlich auszudrücken, was im Innern der Seele lebt. Die Form bedingt auf die Dauer das menschliche Zusammenleben. Das wußten die alten Weisen, und deswegen hielten sie fest an der Ausübung religiöser Bräuche,
3. Asanam bedeutet das Einnehmen einer gewissen Körperstellung bei der Meditation. Das ist für den Orientalen viel wichtiger als für den Europäer, weil der Körper des Europäers für gewisse feine Strömungen nicht mehr so sensitiv ist. Der orientalische Leib ist noch feiner, er empfindet leicht Strömungen, die von Ost nach West, von Nord nach Süd und aus der Höhe in die Tiefe gehen; denn im Weltall fluten geistige Ströme. Aus diesem Grunde wurden die Kirchen zum Beispiel in einer bestimmten Richtung gebaut. Deshalb läßt der Yoga-Lehrer den Yogi eine bestimmte Stellung einnehmen; der Schüler muß die Hände und Füße in einer bestimmten Stellung haben, damit die Ströme in geregelter Weise durch den Körper hindurchgehen können. Würde der Hindu seinen Körper nicht in diese Harmonie einfügen, so würde er die Früchte seiner Meditation völlig aufs Spiel setzen.
4. Pranayama ist das Atmen, das Yoga-Atmen. Das ist ein sehr wesentlicher und ausführlicher Bestandteil der orientalischen YogaSchulung. Es kommt fast gar nicht in Betracht bei der christlichen Schulung, hingegen wieder mehr bei der Rosenkreuzer-Schulung.
Was bedeutet das Atmen für die okkulte Entwickelung? Die Bedeutung des Atmens liegt schon in dem «Nicht töten», «Nicht das Leben beeinträchtigen». Der okkulte Lehrer sagt: Du tötest fortwährend langsam deine Umgebung durch das Atmen. -— Wieso? Wir ziehen den Atem ein, halten ihn an, versorgen unser Blut mit Sauerstoff und stoßen den Atem dann wieder aus. Was geschieht dabei? Wir atmen die mit Sauerstoff erfüllte Luft ein, verbinden sie in uns mit Kohlenstoff und atmen Kohlensäure aus; darin aber kann kein Mensch oder Tier leben. Sauerstoff atmen wir ein, Kohlensäure, den Giftstoff, atmen wir aus; wir töten also mit jedem Atemzug fortwährend andere Wesen. Stückweise töten wir unsere ganze Umgebung. Wir atmen Lebensluft ein und atmen Luft aus, die wir selbst nicht mehr brauchen können. Der okkulte Lehrer ist darauf bedacht, das zu ändern. Wenn es nur auf die Menschen und auf die Tiere ankäme, so wäre bald aller Sauerstoff aufgebraucht und alles Lebendige ausgestorben. Daß wir die Erde nicht zugrunde richten, das verdanken wir den Pflanzen, denn diese machen genau den entgegengesetzten Prozeß durch. Sie assimilieren die Kohlensäure, trennen den Kohlenstoff vom Sauerstoff und bauen aus dem ersteren ihren Körper auf. Den Sauerstoff geben sie wieder frei, und diesen atmen Mensch und Tier ein. So erneuern die Pflanzen die Lebensluft; alles Leben würde ohne sie schon längst vernichtet sein. Ihnen verdanken wir unser Leben. So ergänzen sich also Pflanze, Tier und Mensch gegenseitig.
Dieser Prozeß wird aber in der Zukunft anders werden, und da derjenige, der in okkulter Entwickelung begriffen ist, mit dem beginnt, was die anderen einmal in der Zukunft durchmachen werden, so muß er sich entwöhnen, durch den Atem zu töten. Das ist Pranayama, die Wissenschaft des Atmens. Unser modernes materialistisches Zeitalter braucht immer offene Fenster und stellt frische Luft als Heilmittel in die erste Reihe. Beim indischen Yogi ist das Gegenteil der Fall. Er schließt sich in eine Höhle ein und atmet so viel als immer möglich seine eigene Luft. Der Yogi hat die Kunst gelernt, die Luft so wenig wie möglich zu verpesten, weil er gelernt hat, die Luft auszunutzen. Wie macht er das? Dieses Geheimnis war in den europäischen Geheimschulen immer bekannt, man nannte es das Erreichen des Steins der Weisen oder des Steins der Philosophen. Wenn man den Stein der Weisen finden will, muß man das Geheimnis des Atmens finden.
Um die Wende des 18. zum 19. Jahrhundert sickerte manches davon durch. Da wurde viel von dem Stein der Weisen in öffentlichen Schriften geschrieben, aber man merkt, daß die Verfasser selbst nicht viel davon verstanden, wenn auch alles aus richtiger Quelle stammte. In einer Thüringer Staatszeitung erschien im Jahre 1796 ein Artikel über den Stein der Weisen, in dem unter anderm folgendes gesagt wurde: Der Stein der Weisen ist etwas, das man nur kennen muß, denn gesehen hat es jeder Mensch. Es ist etwas, was alle Menschen eine gewisse Zeit hindurch fast jeden Tag in die Hand nehmen, was man überall finden kann, nur wissen die Menschen nicht, daß es der Stein der Weisen ist. - Das ist eine geheimnisvolle Andeutung: Überall soll der Stein der Weisen zu finden sein. Aber diese sonderbare Ausdrucksweise ist wörtlich wahr.
Die Sache ist nämlich so: Wenn die Pflanze ihren Leib bildet, nimmt sie die Kohlensäure auf und behält den Kohlenstoff zurück, aus dem sie sich ihren Körper aufbaut. Mensch und Tier essen nun die Pflanze, nehmen dadurch den Kohlenstoff in sich wieder auf und geben ihn im Atem als Kohlensäure wieder ab. So besteht ein Kreislauf des Kohlenstoffes. In der Zukunft wird es anders sein. Da wird der Mensch lernen, sein Selbst immer mehr zu erweitern und das, was er jetzt der Pflanze überläßt, das wird er selbst einmal zustande bringen. Wie der Mensch durch das Mineral- und Pflanzenreich hindurchgeschritten ist, so schreitet er auch wiederum zurück. Er selbst wird Pflanze, nimmt das Pflanzendasein in sich auf und wird den ganzen Prozeß in sich selbst durchmachen: Er wird den Kohlenstoff in sich behalten und bewußt damit seinen Körper aufbauen, wie es heute die Pflanze unbewußt tut. Den notwendigen Sauerstoff bereitet er dann sich selbst in seinen Organen, verbindet ihn mit dem Kohlenstoff zur Kohlensäure und lagert dann in sich selbst den Kohlenstoff wieder ab. Damit kann er also an seinem körperlichen Gerüst selbst fortbauen. Das ist eine große perspektivische Idee der Zukunft. Dann tötet er nichts anderes mehr.
Nun ist bekanntlich Kohlenstoff und Diamant derselbe Stoff. Diamant ist kristallisierter, durchsichtiger Kohlenstoff. Also brauchen Sie nicht zu denken, daß der Mensch später als Schwarzer herumlaufen wird, sondern sein Leib wird aus durchsichtigem, und zwar weichem Kohlenstoff bestehen. Dann hat er den Stein der Weisen gefunden. Er verwandelt seinen eigenen Leib in den Stein der Weisen.
Diesen Prozeß muß derjenige, der sich okkult entwickelt, so viel als möglich vorausnehmen, das heißt, er muß seinem Atem die Fähigkeit zu töten nehmen. Er muß ihn so gestalten, daß die ausgeatmete Luft wieder brauchbar wird, so daß er sie immer wieder einatmen kann. Und wodurch geschieht das? Dadurch, daß man in den Atmungsprozeß Rhythmus hineinbringt. Dazu gibt der Lehrer Anweisung. Einatmen, Atemanhalten und Ausatmen, darin muß, wenn auch nur für kurze Zeit, Rhythmus liegen. Mit jedem rhythmisch ausgeatmeten Atemzug wird die Luft verbessert, ganz langsam, aber sicher. Man kann fragen: Was macht das aus? - Hier gilt der Satz: Steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein. Jeder Atemzug ist solch ein Tropfen. Der Chemiker kann das noch nicht nachweisen, weil seine Mittel zu grob sind, um die feinen Stoffe wahrzunehmen, aber der Okkultist weiß, daß dadurch in der Tat der Atem lebensfördernd wird und mehr Sauerstoff enthält als unter gewöhnlichen Umständen. Nun wird aber der Atem gleichzeitig noch durch etwas anderes rein gemacht, nämlich durch Meditieren. Auch dadurch wird, wenn auch nur äußerst wenig, dazu beigetragen, daß die Pflanzennatur wieder hereingenommen wird in die menschliche Natur, so daß der Mensch zu dem Nicht-Töten kommt.
5. Pratyahara. Das nächste ist das Pratyahara; das bedeutet die Zügelung der Sinneswahrnehmung. Der Mensch, der im heutigen Sinne ein alltägliches Leben führt, empfängt bald da einen Eindruck, bald dort, und so immerfort; er läßt alles auf sich einwirken. Dem Schüler sagt nun der okkultistische Lehrer: Du mußt so und so viele Minuten lang einen Sinneseindruck festhalten und darfst nicht übergehen zu einem anderen als durch eigenen freien Willen.
6. Wenn er das eine Weile durchgeführt hat, muß er dazu kommen können, gegen jeden äußeren Sinneseindruck taub und blind zu werden; er muß dazu kommen, überhaupt von jedem äußeren Sinneseindruck abzusehen und nur das festzuhalten, was als Vorstellung in den Gedanken zurückbleibt, nachdem der Sinneseindruck selbst beseitigt ist. Wenn man so nur in Vorstellungen lebt, sein Denken streng kontrolliert und nur aus freiem Willen eine Vorstellung an die andere reiht, dann ist das der sechste Zustand: Dharana.
7. Dhyanam. Nun gibt es Vorstellungen, von denen der Europäer nicht zugeben will, daß sie gar nicht von Sinneseindrücken herrühren, sondern daß der Mensch sie selbst bilden muß, zum Beispiel mathematische oder geometrische Vorstellungen. Ein Dreieck oder ein Kreis sind gedachte Vorstellungen. Das, was ich an die Tafel zeichne, sind doch nur zusammengesetzte Kreidepunkte. Nun gibt es eine Reihe von Vorstellungen, in denen der okkulte Schüler sich sehr üben muß. Das sind symbolische Zeichen, die bewußt mit irgendwelchen Dingen zusammenhängen, zum Beispiel das Hexagramm‚ ein Zeichen, das im Okkultismus erklärt wird; ebenso das Pentagramm. Der Schüler hält seinen Geist scharf auf solche Dinge gerichtet, die es in der Sinnenwelt nicht gibt. Ebenso ist es mit einer anderen Vorstellung, zum Beispiel die Gattung «Löwe», die man auch nur denken kann. Auch auf solche Vorstellungen muß der Schüler seine Aufmerksamkeit richten. Schließlich gibt es auch moralische Vorstellungen, wie zum Beispiel in «Licht auf den Weg»: Bevor das Auge sehen kann, muß es der Tränen sich entwöhnen. — Das kann man auch nicht außen erleben, sondern nur in sich erfahren. Dieses Meditieren über Vorstellungen, die kein sinnliches Gegenstück haben, nennt man Dhyanam.
8. Samadhi. Und nun kommt das Schwerste: Samadhi. Man vertieft sich lange, lange in eine Vorstellung, die kein sinnliches Gegenbild hat, man läßt den Geist gewissermaßen darin ruhen und füllt die Seele ganz damit aus. Dann läßt man diese Vorstellung fallen und hat dann nichts mehr im Bewußtsein, aber man darf nicht einschlafen, was beim gewöhnlichen Menschen sofort der Fall sein würde; man muß bewußt bleiben. In diesem Zustande fangen die Geheimnisse der höheren Welten an sich zu enthüllen. Man beschreibt diesen Zustand in folgender Weise: Es bleibt ein Denken, das keine Gedanken hat; man denkt, denn man ist bewußt, aber man hat keine Gedanken. Dadurch können die geistigen Mächte ihren Inhalt in dieses Denken einströmen lassen. Solange man es selbst ausfüllt, können sie nicht hinein. Je länger man im Bewußtsein die Tätigkeit des Denkens ohne den Inhalt des Denkens festhält, desto mehr offenbart sich die übersinnliche Welt.
Auf diesen acht Gebieten liegen die Anweisungen des Lehrers bei der orientalischen Yoga-Schulung.
Nun werden wir noch, soweit es möglich ist, von der christlichen Schulung sprechen, und es wird sich zeigen, wie sie sich von der Schulung des Orients unterscheidet. Diese christliche Schulung kann erfolgen auf den Rat eines Lehrers hin, der weiß, was zu tun ist, und der immer bei jedem Schritt zurechtrücken kann, was verfehlt ist. Aber der große Guru ist der Christus Jesus selbst. Daher ist notwendig ein strenger Glaube an das wirkliche Vorhandensein und das wirkliche Gelebt-Haben des Christus Jesus. Ohne diesen Glauben ist ein Sich-Verbunden-Fühlen mit ihm unmöglich. Weiter ist zu begreifen, daß von diesem großen Guru ein Dokument herrührt, das selbst die Anleitung zur Schulung gibt, und das ist das Johannes-Evangelium. Das kann man auch innerlich erleben, nicht bloß äußerlich daran glauben, und wer es in richtiger Weise in sich aufgenommen hat, für den gibt es keine Notwendigkeit mehr, den Christus Jesus zu beweisen, weil er ihn gefunden hat.
Diese Schulung geht so vor sich, daß man nicht bloß immer und immer wieder das Johannes-Evangelium liest, sondern darüber meditiert. Das Johannes-Evangelium beginnt mit den Worten: «Im Anfang war das Wort, und das Wort war bei Gott, und Gott war das Wort ...» Diese Verse sind, richtig verstanden, ein Meditationsstoff, und sie müssen in einem Dhyanam-ähnlichen Zustand aufgenommen werden. Wer morgens früh, bevor andere Eindrücke in seine Seele eingezogen sind, alles andere aus den Gedanken ausschließt und fünf Minuten lang einzig und allein in diesen Sätzen lebt, und zwar fortgesetzt, jahrelang in absoluter Geduld und Ausdauer, der erlebt, daß diese Worte nicht nur etwas sind, was man verstehen muß; er erlebt, daß sie eine okkulte Kraft haben, ja, er erlebt dadurch eine innere okkulte Umwandlung der Seele. Man wird in gewisser Weise hellsichtig durch diese Worte, so daß man astral alles sehen kann, was im Johannes-Evangelium steht.
Nach Anweisung des Lehrers läßt der Schüler zuerst sieben Tage lang die ersten fünf Sätze des ersten Kapitels durch die Seele ziehen. Die nächste Woche ebenso das zweite Kapitel, und so fort jedes einzelne Kapitel bis zum zwölften Kapitel. Man wird schon sehen, was man da Großartiges, Gewaltiges erlebt: wie man eingeführt wird in die Ereignisse von Palästina, wo Christus Jesus gelebt hat, wie sie in der Akasha-Chronik aufgezeichnet sind, und wie man dann tatsächlich alles, was zu jener Zeit geschehen ist, erlebt. Und dann, wenn man am dreizehnten Kapitel angekommen ist, erlebt man die einzelnen Stationen der christlichen Einweihung.
Die erste Station ist die sogenannte Fußwaschung. Zuerst muß man verstehen, was diese große Szene bedeutet. Der Christus Jesus neigt sich herunter zu denen, die niedriger sind als er. In der ganzen Welt müßte diese Demut gegenüber denen, die unter uns stehen und auf deren Kosten wir uns höher entwickeln, vorhanden sein. Wenn die Pflanze denken könnte, müßte sie dem Stein danken dafür, daß er den Boden hergibt, auf dem sie ein höheres Leben führen kann, und das Tier müßte sich zur Pflanze neigen und sagen: Dir verdanke ich die Möglichkeit, daß ich bin -, und ebenso der Mensch der ganzen übrigen Natur. Und derjenige, der höher steht in der menschlichen Gesellschaft, muß sich herunterneigen zu den unter ihm Arbeitenden und sich sagen: Wenn nicht diese fleißigen Hände die niedrige Arbeit für mich verrichten würden, so könnte ich nicht stehen, wo ich stehe. -— Keiner könnte sich höher entwickeln, wenn nicht der Boden unter ihm bereitet wäre. Und so ist es auch bis hinauf zum Christus Jesus selbst, der sich in Demut zu den Aposteln herunterneigt und sagt: Ihr seid mein Boden, an euch erfülle ich den Satz: Derjenige aber, der sein will der Erste, der muß der Letzte sein, und derjenige, der sein will der Herr, der muß der Diener aller sein. Die Fußwaschung bedeutet das Gerne-dienen-Wollen, das Sichneigen in All-Demut. Das muß die allgemeine Empfindung werden für den okkult sich Entwickelnden.
Hat der Schüler sich mit dieser Demut ganz durchdrungen, dann hat er die erste Station der christlichen Einweihung erlebt. An einem äußeren und einem inneren Symptom erkennt er, daß er so weit ist. Das äußere Symptom dafür ist: Er fühlt seine Füße wie von Wasser umspült. Das innere Symptom ist eine astrale Vision, die ganz gewiß auftritt: Er sieht sich selbst einer Anzahl Menschen die Füße waschen. Dieses Bild taucht in seinen Träumen auf als astrale Vision, und jeder hat dieselbe Vision. Wenn er dieses erlebt, dann hat er dieses ganze Kapitel wirklich in sich aufgenommen.
Es folgt alsdann als zweites die Geißelung. Ist man bis dahin vorgeschritten, dann muß man, während man die Geißelung liest und auf sich wirken läßt, ein anderes Gefühl ausbilden. Man muß lernen, festzustehen bei den Geifßelhieben des Lebens. Man sagt sich: Ich werde feststehen in allen Leiden und Schmerzen, in allem, was an mich herantritt. —- Das äußere Symptom dafür ist: Man fühlt gleichsam einen punktweisen Schmerz am ganzen Körper. Das innere Symptom ist: Man sieht sich selbst gegeißelt in der Traumvision.
Die dritte Station ist die Dornenkrönung. Noch ein anderes Gefühl muß hinzutreten: Man lernt standhaft aushalten, wenn man auch mit Spott und Hohn überschüttet wird wegen des Heiligsten, das man besitzt. Das äußere Symptom dafür ist, daß man einen drückenden Kopfschmerz fühlt. Das innere Symptom ist: Man sieht sich astral mit der Dornenkrone gekrönt.
Dann kann man weitergehen zur vierten Station: der Kreuzigung. Ein neues, ganz bestimmtes Gefühl muß hier ausgebildet werden. Es beruht auf der Überwindung dessen, daß einem der eigene Körper das Wichtigste ist; er muß einem so gleichgültig werden wie ein Stück Holz. Wir tragen unsern Leib dann durchs Leben und betrachten ihn objektiv; er ist uns das Holz des Kreuzes geworden. Dabei braucht man ihn nicht zu verachten, so wenig wie irgendein Werkzeug. Die Reife zu dieser Stufe wird angezeigt durch das äußere Symptom: Zur Zeit der Meditation treten genau an den Stellen, die man die Stellen der heiligen Wundmale nennt, rote Punkte stigmaartig hervor, und zwar an den Händen und Füßen und an der rechten Seite in der Höhe des Herzens. Das innere Symptom ist: Der Schüler hat die Vision, selbst am Kreuze zu hängen.
Die fünfte Stufe ist der mystische Tod. Er besteht darin, daß der Mensch die Nichtigkeit des Irdischen erlebt, daß er tatsächlich für eine Weile allem Irdischen abstirbt.
Nunmehr können nur noch spärliche Schilderungen der christlichen Einweihung gegeben werden. Der Mensch erlebt als eine astrale Vision, daß überall Finsternis herrscht, daß die irdische Welt versunken ist. Vor dem, was da kommen soll, breitet sich ein schwarzer Schleier wie ein Vorhang aus. Während dieses Zustandes lernt er alles kennen, was in der Welt an Bösem und Schlechtem existiert. Das ist das Hinabsteigen in die Hölle, die Höllenfahrt. Dann erlebt er, daß der Vorhang wie entzweigerissen wird, und jetzt tritt die devachanische Welt hervor. Das ist das Zerreißen des Tempelvorhanges.
Dann folgt die sechste Stufe, die Grablegung. So wie bei der vierten Stufe der eigene Körper objektiv wird, so muß man hier das Gefühl ausbilden, daß einem nicht nur der eigene Körper ein Objekt ist, sondern daß man alles andere, was uns auf der Erde umgibt, geradeso als zu sich gehörig empfindet wie den eigenen Körper. Da dehnt sich der eigene Körper über die Haut hinaus. Man ist nicht mehr ein abgesondertes Wesen, man ist vereint mit dem ganzen Erdenplaneten. Die Erde ist unser Körper geworden, man ist in der Erde begraben.
Die siebente Stufe, die Auferstehung, kann nicht mit Worten geschildert werden. Man sagt daher im Okkultismus: Der siebente Zustand kann nur noch von demjenigen gedacht werden, dessen Seele ganz frei geworden ist vom Gehirn. Einem solchen könnte man ihn beschreiben. Deshalb kann er hier nur erwähnt werden. Wie er durchlebt wird, dazu gibt der christliche okkulte Lehrer die Anleitung.
Wenn der Mensch diese siebente Stufe durchlebt hat, dann ist das Christentum ein innerliches Erlebnis seiner Seele geworden. Er ist dann ganz vereinigt mit dem Christus Jesus; der Christus Jesus ist in ihm.
Thirteenth Lecture
Yesterday we concluded by outlining the essential features of the three methods of occult development: the Oriental, the Christian, and the so-called Rosicrucian training. Today we will begin to examine in more detail the characteristics of each of these three paths.
Before doing so, however, I would like to note that in no occult school should what is said and demanded be understood as somehow applying as a moral imperative for all of humanity. That is absolutely not the case; these demands apply only to those who truly wish to devote themselves to such occult development. One can, for example, be a very good Christian and fulfill everything that the Christian religion recommends for the layman without undergoing Christian occult training. If, for example, someone says: “One can also be a good person and attain a kind of higher life without occult training,” there is nothing to object to; that goes without saying.
I have already told you that within Oriental training there is strict submission to the guru. I will now describe the kind of instruction that the teacher gives within Oriental training. Understandably, no instructions can be given publicly, only the path can be characterized. The things that are given as instructions by the teacher can be divided into eight groups:
1. Yama
2. Niyama
3. Asanam
4. Pranayama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana
7. Dhyanam
8. Samadhi
1. Yama includes everything we call abstentions, which are incumbent upon those who want to undergo yoga training; and this is expressed more precisely in the commandments: “Do not lie, do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not covet.”
The requirement “Do not kill” is very strict and applies to all beings. No living being may be killed or even harmed, and the more strictly this is followed, the further it leads. Whether this can also be implemented in our culture is another matter. Every killing, even that of a bug, impairs occult development. Whether one must do so is another question.
“Do not lie” is a requirement that will be easier for you to understand from what I have told you about the astral plane. On the astral plane, lying is the same as killing; every lie is murder. So it actually falls into the same category as killing.
“Do not steal” must also be carried out in the strictest sense. Europeans will say: We do not steal. But the Oriental yogi does not understand the matter so simply. In the areas where these exercises were first spread by the great teachers of humanity, conditions were much simpler; there, the concept of stealing could be easily defined. But a yoga teacher will not admit that a European does not steal; he takes this very seriously. For example, if I appropriate someone else's labor, if I gain an advantage that is legally permissible but which means exploiting someone else, the yoga teacher calls that stealing. In our social circumstances, things are so complicated that many people violate this prohibition without being the least bit aware of it. Suppose you have a fortune and you deposit it in a bank. You do nothing with it, you exploit no one. But now the banker goes and speculates, exploiting other people with your money. Here, too, you are responsible in an occult sense; it burdens your karma. You can see from this that this commandment requires deep study in occult development.
The situation is just as complicated when it comes to “not indulging in excess.” A pensioner, for example, whose capital is invested in distilleries by a bank without his knowledge, is just as guilty as a manufacturer who produces spirits. Ignorance does not change karma. There is only one thing that can give a straight direction to these omissions, and that is: striving for freedom from need. To the extent that one strives for freedom from need, one can never harm anyone else.
It is particularly difficult to practice “desiring nothing.” It means striving for complete freedom from need, approaching nothing in the world with desire, but only doing what the outside world demands of us. Yes, I must suppress my own sense of well-being when I do someone a favor; it is not this feeling, but the sight of the suffering person that must move me to help. Likewise, when I have to make an expense myself, for example, I must not think: I want, I desire, I crave this, but I must say to myself: You need this for the sustenance of your body or for the needs of your mind, everyone else needs it too; you do not desire it, but only think about how best to get through the world. Within the teachings of yoga, the concept of yama is, as I said, interpreted extremely strictly and cannot be easily transplanted to Europe.
2. Niyama. This means, for example, adherence to religious customs. In India, where these rules are mainly applied, a question has been resolved that causes many difficulties for European culture. It is easy to say: I am beyond dogma, I only adhere to inner truth and do not care about outward forms. The more Europeans can transcend religious customs, the more sublime they consider themselves to be. Hindus think the opposite and hold fast to the rituals of their religion; no one is allowed to touch them. However, in the Hindu religion, everyone is completely free to form their own opinion about this. There are ancient sacred rites that have a very profound meaning. An uneducated person will have a very elementary idea of them, a person with greater education will have a different, better idea, but neither will say that the other's idea is wrong. The wise man follows the same custom as the less educated. There are no dogmas, but there are rites. In this way, the deeply religious customs can be followed by both the wise and the unwise; both can unite in the rite. Thus, the rites are a binding agent for the population; no one is restricted in their opinion by conforming to a strict ritual.
The Christian church has pursued the opposite principle; it has imposed opinions on people rather than customs, and the result is that in recent times, formlessness has become the norm in our social coexistence. This is where the complete disregard for all customs that would unite people begins; all forms that symbolically express higher truths are gradually being abolished. This is a great detriment to the overall development of the human being, especially to occult development in the Eastern sense.
Many people in Europe today believe that they have moved beyond dogma, but it is precisely the freethinkers and materialists who are the worst dogmatic fanatics. The materialistic dogma is even more oppressive than any other. For many, the infallibility of the Pope no longer applies, but the infallibility of the university professor does. Even the most liberal, despite claims to the contrary, is subject to the dogmas of materialism. What dogmas weigh on lawyers, doctors, and so on, for example? Every university professor teaches his dogma. Or also: how heavily weighs upon us the dogma of the infallibility of public opinion, of the daily newspaper! The Oriental yoga teacher demands that we do not step outside the forms that are a link between the wise and the unwise, for these ancient sacred forms are the images of the highest truths. Without forms there is no culture; it is a delusion to believe the opposite. Let us suppose, for example, that someone founds a colony, completely formless, without laws, without rites and religious customs. For those who see through things, it is clear that such a colony can exist quite well for a while, because people still live according to the old forms they have brought with them. But as soon as they lose these, the colony will perish, because without forms, such a colony cannot exist in the long run. All culture must be born out of form. The inner must be expressed outwardly through forms. Modern culture has lost its forms; it must regain them. It must learn again to express outwardly what lives within the soul. Form is essential for human coexistence in the long term. The ancient sages knew this, and that is why they held fast to the practice of religious customs.
3. Asanam means assuming a certain physical posture during meditation. This is much more important for Orientals than for Europeans, because the European body is no longer as sensitive to certain subtle currents. The Oriental body is even more refined; it easily senses currents that flow from east to west, from north to south, and from above to below, for spiritual currents flood the universe. For this reason, churches, for example, were built in a certain direction. This is why the yoga teacher has the yogi assume a certain position; the student must have their hands and feet in a certain position so that the currents can flow through the body in a regulated manner. If the Hindu did not bring their body into this harmony, they would completely jeopardize the fruits of their meditation.
4. Pranayama is breathing, yoga breathing. This is a very essential and detailed component of Eastern yoga training. It is hardly considered at all in Christian training, but is more important in Rosicrucian training.
What does breathing mean for occult development? The meaning of breathing lies in “not killing,” “not impairing life.” The occult teacher says: You are constantly killing your surroundings slowly through breathing. — Why? We inhale, hold our breath, supply our blood with oxygen, and then exhale again. What happens in the process? We breathe in air filled with oxygen, combine it with carbon in our bodies, and breathe out carbon dioxide; but no human or animal can live in that. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, the poison; so with every breath we take, we are constantly killing other beings. Bit by bit, we are killing our entire environment. We breathe in the air of life and breathe out air that we ourselves can no longer use. The occult teacher is intent on changing this. If it were only up to humans and animals, all the oxygen would soon be used up and all living things would die out. We owe it to plants that we are not destroying the earth, for they undergo exactly the opposite process. They assimilate carbon dioxide, separate the carbon from the oxygen, and build their bodies from the former. They release the oxygen again, and humans and animals breathe it in. In this way, plants renew the air we breathe; without them, all life would have been destroyed long ago. We owe our lives to them. Thus, plants, animals, and humans complement each other.
However, this process will change in the future, and since those who are engaged in occult development begin with what others will go through in the future, they must wean themselves off killing through their breath. This is pranayama, the science of breathing. Our modern materialistic age always needs open windows and puts fresh air at the forefront as a remedy. With the Indian yogi, the opposite is true. He locks himself in a cave and breathes his own air as much as possible. The yogi has learned the art of polluting the air as little as possible because he has learned to make use of the air. How do they do this? This secret has always been known in European secret schools; it was called achieving the philosopher's stone or the stone of the wise. If you want to find the philosopher's stone, you have to find the secret of breathing.
At the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, some of this information leaked out. Much was written about the philosopher's stone in public writings, but it is clear that the authors themselves did not understand much about it, even though everything came from the right source. In 1796, an article about the philosopher's stone appeared in a Thuringian state newspaper, in which, among other things, the following was said: The philosopher's stone is something that one only needs to know, for every human being has seen it. It is something that all people pick up almost every day for a certain period of time, something that can be found everywhere, but people do not know that it is the philosopher's stone. This is a mysterious hint: the philosopher's stone is to be found everywhere. But this strange expression is literally true.
The fact is that when plants form their bodies, they absorb carbon dioxide and retain the carbon, which they use to build their bodies. Humans and animals then eat the plants, thereby reabsorbing the carbon and releasing it again as carbon dioxide in their breath. This is how the carbon cycle works. In the future, things will be different. Humans will learn to expand their selves more and more, and what they now leave to plants, they will one day accomplish themselves. Just as humans have progressed through the mineral and plant kingdoms, so too will they regress. They themselves will become plants, absorb plant existence into themselves, and go through the whole process within themselves: they will retain carbon within themselves and consciously build their bodies with it, as plants do unconsciously today. They will then produce the necessary oxygen themselves in their organs, combine it with carbon to form carbon dioxide, and then store the carbon within themselves again. In this way, they will be able to continue building their physical framework themselves. This is a great perspective for the future. Then it will no longer kill anything else.
Now, as we know, carbon and diamond are the same substance. Diamond is crystallized, transparent carbon. So you need not think that humans will later walk around as black people, but rather that their bodies will consist of transparent, soft carbon. Then he will have found the philosopher's stone. He will transform his own body into the philosopher's stone.
Those who develop occult abilities must anticipate this process as much as possible, that is, they must remove the ability to kill from their breath. They must shape it in such a way that the exhaled air becomes usable again, so that they can inhale it again and again. And how does this happen? By introducing rhythm into the breathing process. The teacher gives instructions for this. Inhaling, holding the breath, and exhaling must be rhythmic, even if only for a short time. With each rhythmic exhalation, the air is improved, very slowly but surely. One may ask: What difference does that make? The saying “constant dripping wears away the stone” applies here. Every breath is such a drop. Chemists cannot yet prove this because their methods are too crude to detect the fine substances involved, but occultists know that this actually makes the breath life-promoting and contains more oxygen than under normal circumstances. But at the same time, the breath is purified by something else, namely meditation. This also contributes, albeit only to a very small extent, to the reintegration of plant nature into human nature, so that human beings come to refrain from killing.
5. Pratyahara. The next step is pratyahara, which means the restraint of sensory perception. The person who leads an everyday life in today's sense receives impressions here and there, constantly; he allows everything to affect him. The occult teacher now tells the student: You must hold on to a sensory impression for so many minutes and may not move on to another except by your own free will.
6. Once they have done this for a while, they must be able to become deaf and blind to every external sensory impression; they must be able to disregard every external sensory impression altogether and retain only what remains as an idea in their thoughts after the sensory impression itself has been eliminated. When one lives only in ideas, strictly controls one's thinking, and only strings one idea after another by free will, then that is the sixth state: Dharana.
7. Dhyanam. Now there are ideas that Europeans do not want to admit do not originate from sensory impressions, but that humans must form themselves, for example, mathematical or geometric ideas. A triangle or a circle are imagined ideas. What I draw on the blackboard are only composite chalk points. Now there are a number of ideas that the occult student must practice intensively. These are symbolic signs that are consciously connected with certain things, for example, the hexagram, a sign that is explained in occultism, and likewise the pentagram. The student keeps his mind sharply focused on such things that do not exist in the sensory world. The same applies to other concepts, such as the species “lion,” which one can only think about. The student must also focus his attention on such concepts. Finally, there are also moral concepts, such as in “Light on the Path”: Before the eye can see, it must wean itself from tears. — This cannot be experienced externally, but only internally. This meditation on ideas that have no sensory counterpart is called dhyanam.
8. Samadhi. And now comes the most difficult part: samadhi. One immerses oneself for a long, long time in an idea that has no sensory counterpart, allowing the mind to rest in it, as it were, and filling the soul completely with it. Then you let go of this idea and have nothing left in your consciousness, but you must not fall asleep, which would immediately happen to an ordinary person; you must remain conscious. In this state, the secrets of the higher worlds begin to reveal themselves. This state is described as follows: there remains a thinking that has no thoughts; you think because you are conscious, but you have no thoughts. This allows the spiritual powers to pour their content into this thinking. As long as you fill it yourself, they cannot enter. The longer you hold on to the activity of thinking without the content of thinking in your consciousness, the more the supersensible world reveals itself.
The teacher's instructions in Oriental yoga training lie in these eight areas.
Now we will talk about Christian training as far as possible, and it will become clear how it differs from Eastern training. This Christian training can take place on the advice of a teacher who knows what to do and who can always correct what is wrong at every step. But the great guru is Christ Jesus himself. Therefore, it is necessary to have a firm belief in the real existence and real life of Christ Jesus. Without this belief, it is impossible to feel connected to him. Furthermore, it must be understood that this great guru has produced a document that itself provides guidance for training, and that is the Gospel of John. This can also be experienced inwardly, not just believed outwardly, and for those who have absorbed it in the right way, there is no longer any need to prove Christ Jesus, because they have found him.
This training takes place not merely by reading the Gospel of John over and over again, but by meditating on it. The Gospel of John begins with the words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word ...” These verses, when properly understood, are material for meditation, and they must be absorbed in a dhyanam-like state. Those who, early in the morning, before other impressions have entered their soul, exclude everything else from their thoughts and live solely in these sentences for five minutes, continuously, for years, with absolute patience and perseverance, will experience that these words are not just something that must be understood; they will experience that they have an occult power, indeed, they will experience an inner occult transformation of the soul. In a certain way, these words make one clairvoyant, so that one can see astral everything that is written in the Gospel of John.
Following the teacher's instructions, the student first allows the first five sentences of the first chapter to flow through the soul for seven days. The following week, the same is done with the second chapter, and so on with each individual chapter up to the twelfth chapter. You will see what a magnificent, powerful experience this is: how you are introduced to the events in Palestine where Christ Jesus lived, as recorded in the Akashic Records, and how you then actually experience everything that happened at that time. And then, when you reach the thirteenth chapter, you experience the individual stages of Christian initiation.
The first stage is the so-called foot washing. First, one must understand what this great scene means. Christ Jesus bows down to those who are lower than him. Throughout the world, this humility towards those who are below us and at whose expense we develop ourselves higher should be present. If plants could think, they would have to thank the stone for providing the soil on which they can lead a higher life, and animals would have to bow down to plants and say: I owe my existence to you—and so would humans to the rest of nature. And those who stand higher in human society must bow down to those who work beneath them and say to themselves: If these diligent hands did not do the lowly work for me, I could not stand where I stand. No one could develop higher if the ground beneath them were not prepared. And so it is all the way up to Christ Jesus himself, who bows down in humility to the apostles and says: You are my soil, in you I fulfill the saying: But whoever wants to be first must be last, and whoever wants to be master must be servant of all. The washing of feet signifies the willingness to serve, the bowing down in all humility. This must become the general feeling for those who are developing occultly.
Once the student has completely imbued himself with this humility, he has experienced the first stage of Christian initiation. He recognizes that he has reached this point by an outer and an inner symptom. The outer symptom is that he feels his feet being washed by water. The inner symptom is an astral vision that occurs with certainty: he sees himself washing the feet of a number of people. This image appears in his dreams as an astral vision, and everyone has the same vision. When he experiences this, he has truly absorbed this entire chapter.
The second stage is the flagellation. Once you have progressed this far, you must develop a different feeling while reading about the flagellation and letting it sink in. One must learn to stand firm in the face of life's scourging. One says to oneself: I will stand firm in all suffering and pain, in everything that comes my way. —- The outer symptom of this is: one feels, as it were, a punctiform pain all over the body. The inner symptom is: one sees oneself scourged in the dream vision.
The third station is the crowning with thorns. Another feeling must be added: one learns to endure steadfastly even when one is showered with ridicule and scorn because of the most sacred thing one possesses. The external symptom of this is that one feels a pressing headache. The internal symptom is that one sees oneself crowned with thorns in the astral body.
Then one can move on to the fourth station: the crucifixion. A new, very specific feeling must be developed here. It is based on overcoming the idea that one's own body is the most important thing; it must become as indifferent to one as a piece of wood. We then carry our body through life and view it objectively; it has become the wood of the cross for us. In doing so, one need not despise it, any more than one would despise any tool. The maturity to reach this stage is indicated by the external symptom: at the time of meditation, red dots appear like stigmata at the exact points known as the holy wounds, namely on the hands and feet and on the right side at the level of the heart. The inner symptom is that the disciple has a vision of himself hanging on the cross.
The fifth stage is mystical death. It consists of the person experiencing the futility of earthly things, actually dying to everything earthly for a while.
From this point on, only sparse descriptions of Christian initiation can be given. The person experiences an astral vision in which darkness reigns everywhere and the earthly world has sunk into oblivion. A black veil spreads out like a curtain before what is to come. During this state, he learns everything that exists in the world that is evil and bad. This is the descent into hell, the journey through hell. Then he experiences the curtain being torn asunder, and now the devachanic world emerges. This is the tearing of the temple curtain.
Then comes the sixth stage, the burial. Just as in the fourth stage one's own body becomes objective, so here one must develop the feeling that not only one's own body is an object, but that everything else that surrounds us on earth is just as much a part of oneself as one's own body. One's own body extends beyond the skin. One is no longer a separate being, one is united with the entire planet Earth. The Earth has become our body, one is buried in the Earth.
The seventh stage, the resurrection, cannot be described in words. Therefore, in occultism, it is said: The seventh state can only be conceived by those whose soul has become completely free from the brain. It could be described to such a person. Therefore, it can only be mentioned here. The Christian occult teacher gives instructions on how to experience it.
When a person has experienced this seventh stage, Christianity has become an inner experience of their soul. They are then completely united with Christ Jesus; Christ Jesus is within them.