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Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
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A Revised and Enlarged Edition of
'The Way of Initiation' with
Initiation and its Results'
RUDOLF STEINER
RUDOLF STEINER PUBLISHING CO.
54 BLOOMSBURY STREET
LONDON, W.C.1
&
ANTHROPOSOPHIC PRESS
NEW YORK
1944
Authorized English translation by G. Metaxa
Edited by H. Collison
This translation has been made from the original of
Rudolf Steiner by permission of H. Collison, M.A., OXoN.,
by whom all rights are reserved
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
The recommendation to have recourse to a Master or Teacher has been modified by the author, and the reasons are given by him in many places, notably in his own preface to the 6th edition (Sept. 1914) where he writes : - ' In the personal relationship with the teacher one might assume something is required in spiritual effort more essential than what is really intended. But I hope that in this new edition I have succeeded in showing very distinctly that for the student in spiritual training in the sense of modern spiritual conditions much more emphasis should be laid on the complete and immediate connection with the objective spiritual world than any relation to the person of a teacher.' The foundation of a Spiritual Science and its School and Headquarters at Dornach, Switzerland, was meant by Dr. Steiner to replace more and more the individual consultation between pupil and teacher by a directly objective course of direct spiritual teaching, such as is given in this book, and finally referred to on p. 158, in his Appendix to the final Edition of 1918.
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
HOW IS KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER
There slumber in every human being, faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds. Mystics, Gnostics, Theosophists - all speak of a world of soul and spirit, which for them is just as real as the world we see with our physical eyes and touch with our physical hands. At every moment the listener may say to himself: that, of which they speak, I too can learn, if I develop within myself certain powers which to-day still slumber within me. There remains only one question - how to set to work to develop such faculties. For this purpose, they only can give advice who already possess such powers. As long as the human race has existed there has always been a method of training, in the course of which, individuals possessing these higher faculties gave instruction to others who were in search of them. Such a training is called occult (esoteric) training, and the instruction thereby received is called occult (esoteric) teaching, or spiritual science. This designation naturally awakens misunderstanding. The listener may very easily be misled into the belief that this training is the concern of a special, privileged class, withholding its knowledge arbitrarily from its fellow-creatures. He may even think that nothing of real importance lies behind such knowledge, for it if were a true knowledge - he is tempted to think - there would be no need to make a secret of it; it might be publicly imparted and its advantages made to all. They who have been initiated into the nature of this higher knowledge, are not in the least surprised that the uninitiated should so think, for the secret of Initiation can only be understood by those who have to a certain degree experienced this Initiation into the higher knowledge of existence. The question may be raised: how, then, are the uninitiated, under these circumstances, to develop any human interest in this so-called esoteric knowledge? How and why are they to seek for something of whose nature they can form no idea! Such a question is based upon an entirely erroneous conception of the real nature of esoteric knowledge. There is, in truth, no difference between esoteric knowledge and all the rest of mans knowledge and proficiency. This esoteric knowledge is no more of a secret for the average human being, than writing is a secret for those who have never learnt. And just as all can learn to write, who choose the correct method, so too, can all who seek the right way become esoteric students, and even teachers. In one respect only, do the conditions here differ from those that apply to external knowledge and proficiency. The possibility of acquiring the art of writing may be withheld from someone through poverty, or through the conditions of civilisation into which he is born; but for the attainment of knowledge and proficiency in the higher worlds, there is no obstacle for those who earnestly seek them.
Many believe that they must discover, at one place or another, the Masters of higher knowledge, in order to receive enlightenment from them. [footnote: See Appendix and the Editorial Preface.] Now in the first place, whoever strives earnestly after higher knowledge will shun no exertion, and fear no obstacle in his search for an Initiate who can lead him into the higher knowledge of the world. On the other hand, everyone may be certain that Initiation will find him under all circumstances, if he gives proof of an earnest and worthy endeavour to attain this knowledge. It is a natural law among all Initiates to withhold from no man the knowledge that is due to him; but there is an equally natural law which lays down that no word of esoteric knowledge shall be imparted to anyone not qualified to receive it. And the more strictly he observes these laws, the more perfect is an Initiate. The bond of union embracing all Initiates is spiritual and not external, but the two laws here mentioned, form, as it were, strong clasps, by which the component parts of this bond are held together. You may live in intimate friendship with an Initiate, and yet a gap severs you from his essential self, so long as you have not become an Initiate yourself. You may enjoy in the fullest sense, the heart, the love of an Initiate, yet he will only confide his knowledge to you, when you are ripe for it. You may flatter him; you may torture him; nothing can induce him to betray anything to you, inasmuch as you, at the present stage of your evolution, are not competent to receive it into your soul in the right way.
The methods by which a student is prepared for the reception of higher knowledge are minutely prescribed. The direction he is to take is traced with unfading, everlasting letters in the worlds of the spirit, where the Initiates guard the higher secrets. In ancient times, anterior to our history, the temples of the spirit were also outwardly visible; to-day, because our life has become so unspiritual, they are not to be found in the world visible to external sight; yet they are present spiritually everywhere, and all who seek, may find them.
Only within his own soul can a man find the means to unseal the lips of an Initiate. He must develop within himself certain faculties to a definite degree, and then the highest treasures of the spirit can become his own.
He must begin with a certain fundamental attitude of the soul. In Spiritual Science this fundamental attitude is called the path of veneration, of devotion for truth and knowledge. Without this attitude no one can become a student. The disposition shown in their childhood by subsequent students of higher knowledge, is well known to the experienced in these matters. There are children who look up with religious awe to those whom they venerate. For such people they have a respect which forbids them, even in the deepest recess of their heart, to harbour any thought of criticism or opposition. Such children grow up into young men and women who feel happy when they are able to look up to anything that fills them with veneration. From the ranks of such children are recruited many students of higher knowledge. Have you ever paused outside the door of some venerated person, and have you, on this your first visit, felt a religious awe as you pressed on the handle to enter the room which for you is a holy place? If so, a feeling has been manifested within you, which may be the germ of your future adherence to the path of knowledge. It is a blessing for every human being in process of development, to have such feelings upon which to build. Only it must not be thought that this disposition leads to submissiveness and slavery. What was once a childish veneration for persons, becomes, later, a veneration for truth and knowledge. Experience teaches that they can best hold their heads erect, who have learnt to venerate where veneration is due; and veneration is always due when it flows from the depths of the heart.
If we do not develop within ourselves this deeply rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never find the strength to evolve to something higher. The Initiate has only acquired the strength to lift his head to the heights of knowledge by guiding his heart to the depths of veneration and devotion. The heights of the spirit can only be climbed by passing through the portals of humility. You can only acquire right knowledge when you have learnt to esteem it. Man has certainly the right to turn his eyes to the light, but he must first acquire this right. There are laws in the spiritual life, as in the physical life. Rub a glass rod with an appropriate material, and it will become electric, that is, it will receive the power of attracting small bodies. This is in keeping with a law of nature. It is known to all who have learnt a little physics. Similarly, acquaintance with the first principles of Spiritual Science shows that every feeling of true devotion harboured in the soul, develops a power which may, sooner or later, lead further on the path of knowledge.
The student who is gifted with this feeling, or who is fortunate enough to have had it inculcated in a suitable education, brings a great deal along with him, when, later in life, he seeks admittance to higher knowledge. Failing such preparation, he will encounter difficulties at the very first step, unless he undertakes, by rigorous self-education, to create within himself this inner life of devotion. In our time, it is especially important that full attention be paid to this point. Our civilisation tends more towards critical judgment, and condemnation, than towards devotion and selfless veneration. Our children already criticize far more than they worship. But every criticism, every adverse judgment passed, disperses the powers of the soul for the attainment of higher knowledge, in the same measure that all veneration and reverence develops them. In this we do not wish to say anything against our civilization. There is no question here of levelling criticism against it. To this critical faculty, this self-conscious human judgment, this prove all things and hold fast what is best, we owe the greatness of our civilization, Man could never have attained to the science, the industry, the commerce, the legal advantages of our time, had he not applied to all things the standard of his critical judgment. But what we have thereby gained in external culture, we have had to pay for with a corresponding loss of higher knowledge of spiritual life. It must be emphasized that higher knowledge is not concerned with the veneration of persons, but the veneration of truth and knowledge.
Now the one thing that everyone must at once admit, is the difficulty for those involved in the external civilization of our time to advance to the knowledge of the higher worlds. They can only do so if they work energetically at themselves. At a time when the conditions of material life were simpler, the attainment of spiritual knowledge was also easier. Objects of veneration and worship stood out in better relief from the ordinary things of the world. In an epoch of criticism, ideals are lowered; other feelings take the place of veneration, respect, prayer and wonder. Our own age thrusts these feelings further and further into the background, so that they can only be conveyed to man, through his everyday life, in a very small degree. Whoever seeks higher knowledge, must create it for himself. He must instil it into his soul. It cannot be done by study; it can only be done through life. Whoever, therefore, wishes to become a student of higher knowledge, must assiduously cultivate this inner life of devotion. Everywhere in his environment and in his experiences, he must seek motives of admiration and homage. If I meet a man and blame him for his weakness, I rob myself of power to attain higher knowledge; but if I try to enter lovingly into his merits, I gather such power. The student must continually be intent upon following this advice. The spiritually experienced know how much they owe to the circumstance, that in face of all things, they ever again turn to the good, and withhold adverse judgment. But this must not remain an external rule of life; rather it must take possession of our innermost soul. Man has it in his power to perfect himself, and, in time, completely to transform himself. But this transformation must take place in his innermost self, in his thought-life. It is not enough that I show respect only in my outward bearing; I must have this respect in my thoughts. The student must begin by absorbing this devotion into his thought-life. He must be wary of thoughts of disrespect, of adverse criticism, existing in his consciousness, and he must endeavour straightaway to cultivate thoughts of devotion.
Every moment that we set ourselves to discover in our consciousness, whatever there remains in it of adverse, disparaging and critical judgment of the world and of life; every such moment brings us nearer to higher knowledge. And we rise rapidly when we fill our consciousness in such moments with thoughts evoking in us admiration, respect and veneration for the world and for life. It is well known to those experienced in these matters, that, in every such moment, powers are awakened which otherwise remain dormant. In this way the spiritual eyes of man are opened. He begins to see things around him which he could not have seen before. He begins to understand that hitherto he had only seen a part of the world around him. A human being standing before him, now presents a new and different aspect. Of course this rule of life alone will not yet enable him to see, for instance, what is described as the human aura, because, for this purpose, a still higher training is necessary. But he can rise to this higher training, if he has previously undergone a rigorous training in devotion. [footnote: In the last chapter of his book, Theosophy, the author describes fully this Path of Knowledge; here it is only intended to give some practical details.]
Noiseless and unnoticed by the outer world is the treading of the Path of Knowledge. No change need be noticed in the student. He performs his duties as hitherto; he attends to his business as before. The transformation goes on only in the inner part of the soul hidden from outward sight. At first his entire inner life is flooded by this harmony of devotion for everything which is truly venerable. His entire soul-life finds in this fundamental feeling its pivot. Just as the suns rays vivify everything living, so does reverence, in the student, vivify all feelings of the soul.
It is not easy, at first, to believe that feelings like reverence and respect have anything to do with cognition. This is due to the fact that we are inclined to set cognition aside as a faculty by itself - one that stands in no relation to what otherwise transpires in the soul. In so thinking, we do not bear in mind that it is the soul which exercises the faculty of cognition; and feelings are, for the soul, what food is for the body. If we give the body stones in place of bread, its activity will cease. It is the same with the soul. Veneration, homage, devotion are as nutriment making it healthy and strong, especially strong for the activity of cognition. Disrespect, antipathy, under-estimation of what deserves recognition, exert a paralysing and withering effect on this faculty of cognition. For the spiritually experienced, this fact is visible in the aura. A soul which harbours feelings of reverence and devotion, produces a change in its aura. Certain spiritual colourings, as they may be called, yellow-red and brown-red in tone, vanish, and are replaced by blue-red tints. Thereby the cognitional faculty is ripened; it receives intelligence of facts in its environment, of which it has hitherto no idea. Reverence awakens a sympathetic power through which we attract qualities in the beings around us, which would otherwise remain concealed. The power obtained through devotion can be rendered still more effective, when the life of feeling is enriched by yet another quality. To achieve this the student learns to give himself up less and less to impressions of the outer world, and to develop instead a vivid inner life. A person who darts from one impression of the outer world to another, who constantly seeks distraction, cannot find the way to higher knowledge. The student must not blunt himself to the outer world, but while lending himself to its impressions, he should be directed by his rich inner life. When passing through a beautiful mountain district, the traveller with depth of soul and wealth of feeling has different experiences from one who is poor in feeling. Only what we experience within ourselves unlocks for us the beauties of the outer world. One person sails across the ocean, and only a few inward experiences pass through his soul; another will hear the eternal language of the cosmic spirit; for him are unveiled the mysterious riddles of existence. We must learn to remain in touch with our own feelings and ideas, if we wish to develop any intimate relationship with the outer world. The outer world, with all its phenomena, is filled with divine splendour, but we must have experienced the divine within ourselves, before we can hope to discover it in our environment.
The student is told to set apart moments in his daily life, in which to withdraw into himself, quietly and alone. He is not to occupy himself with the affairs of his own Ego, in such moments This would result in the contrary of what is intended. He should rather let his experiences and the messages from the outer world, re-echo within his own completely silent self. Every flower, every animal, every action will unveil to him in such silent moments, secrets undreamed of. And thus he will prepare himself to receive quite new impressions of the outer world, through quite different eyes. For the desire to enjoy impression after impression merely blunts the faculty of cognition; the latter, however, is nurtured and cultivated, if the enjoyment once experienced is allowed to reveal its message. Thus the student must accustom himself not merely to let the enjoyment reverberate, as it were, but rather to renounce any further enjoyment, and work upon the past experience. The peril here is very great. Instead of working inwardly, it is very easy to fall into the opposite habit of trying to exploit the enjoyment. Let no one undervalue the fact that unforeseen sources of error here confront the student. He must pass through a host of tempters of his soul. They would all harden his Ego and imprison it within itself. He should rather open it wide for all the world. It is necessary that he should seek enjoyment, for only through enjoyment can the outer world reach him. If he blunts himself to enjoyment, he becomes as a plant which cannot any longer draw nourishment from its environment. Yet if he stops short at the enjoyment, he shuts himself up within himself. He will only be something to himself and nothing to the world. However much he may live within himself, however intensely he may cultivate his Ego - the world will reject him. For the world he is dead. The student of higher knowledge considers enjoyment only as a means of ennobling himself for the world. Pleasure is to him as a scout informing him concerning the world; but once instructed by pleasure, he passes on to work. He does not learn in order to accumulate learning as his own treasure, but not to occupy in order that he may devote his learning to the service of the world.
In all Spiritual Science there is a fundamental principle which cannot be transgressed without sacrificing success, and it should be impressed on the student in every form of esoteric training. It runs as follows: Every knowledge pursued merely for the enrichment of personal learning and the accumulation of personal treasure, leads you away from the path; but all knowledge pursued for growth to ripeness within the process of human ennoblement and cosmic development, brings you a step forward. This law must be rigidly observed, and no student is genuine until he has adopted it as a guide for his whole life. This truth can be expressed in the following short sentence - every idea which does not become your ideal, slays a force in your soul; every idea which becomes your ideal, creates within you life-forces.
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
INNER TRANQUILLITY
At the very beginning of his course, the student is directed to the Path of Reverence and the development of the inner life. Spiritual Science now also gives him practical rules, by observing which, he may tread that path and develop that inner life. These practical rules have no arbitrary origin. They rest upon ancient experience and ancient wisdom, and are given out in the same manner, wheresoever the ways to higher knowledge are indicated. All true teachers of the spiritual life are in agreement as to the character of these rules, even though they do not always clothe them in the same words. This difference, which is of a minor character, and is more apparent than real, is due to circumstances which need not be dwelt upon here.
No teacher of the spiritual life wishes to establish a mastery over other persons by means of such rules. He would not tamper with any persons independence. Indeed, none respect and cherish human independence more than the spiritually experienced. It was stated in the preceding pages, that the bond of union embracing all Initiates is spiritual, and that two laws form, as it were, clasps, by which the component parts of this bond are held together. Whenever the Initiate leaves his enclosed spiritual circuit and steps forth before the world, he must immediately take a third law into account. It is this: adapt each one of your actions, and frame each one of your words in such a way that you infringe upon no mans free-will.
The recognition that all true teachers of the spiritual life are permeated through and through with this principle, will convince all who follow the practical rules proffered to them, that they need sacrifice none of their independence.
One of the first of these rules can be expressed somewhat in the following words of our language: Provide for yourself moments of inner tranquillity, and learn, in these moments, to distinguish between the essential and the non-essential. It is said advisedly: Expressed in the words of our language. Originally all rules and teachings of Spiritual Science were expressed in a symbolical sign-language, some understanding for which must be acquired before its whole meaning and scope can be realized. This understanding is dependent on the first steps towards higher knowledge, and these steps result from the exact observation of such rules as are here given. For all who earnestly will, the path stands open to tread.
Simple, in truth, is the above rule concerning moments of inner tranquillity; equally simple is its observation. But it only achieves its purpose when it is observed in as earnest and strict a manner, as it is, in itself, simple. How this rule is to be observed, will be explained, therefore, without digression.
The student must set aside a small part of his daily life, in which to concern himself with something quite different from the objects of his daily occupation. The way, also, in which he occupies himself at such a time, must differ entirely from the way in which he performs the rest of his daily duties. But this does not mean that what he does in the time thus set apart, has no connection with his daily work. On the contrary, he will soon find that just these secluded moments, when sought in the right way, give him full power to perform his daily task. Nor must it be supposed that the observance of this rule will really encroach upon the time needed for the performance of his duties. Should anyone really have no more time at his disposal, five minutes a day will suffice. It all depends on the manner in which these five minutes are spent.
At these periods, the student should wrest himself entirely free from his work-a-day life. His thoughts and feelings should take on a different colouring. His joys and sorrows, his cares, experiences and actions must pass in review before his soul; and he must adopt such a position that he may regard all his sundry experiences from a higher point of view.
We need only bear in mind how, in ordinary life, we regard the experiences and actions of others quite differently from our own. This cannot be otherwise, for we are interwoven with our own actions and experiences, whereas those of others we only contemplate. Our aim in these moments of seclusion, must be so to contemplate and judge our own actions and experiences, as though they applied not to ourselves but to some other person. Suppose, for example, a heavy misfortune befalls us. How different would be our attitude towards a similar misfortune, had it befallen our neighbour! This attitude cannot be blamed as unjustifiable; it is part of human nature, and applies equally to exceptional circumstances and to the daily affairs of life. The student must seek the power of confronting his own self, at certain times, as a stranger. He must stand before his own self with the inner tranquillity of a judge. When this is attained, our own experiences present themselves in a new light. As long as we are interwoven with them and stand, as it were, within them, we cling to the non-essential just as much as to the essential. If we attain the calm inner survey, the essential is severed from the non-essential. Sorrow and joy, every thought, every resolve, appear different when we confront ourselves in this way. It is as though we had spent the whole day in a place where we saw the smallest objects at the same close range as the largest, and in the evening climbed a neighbouring hill, and surveyed the whole scene at a glance. Then the various parts appear related to each other in different proportions from those they bore when seen from within. This exercise will not and need not succeed with current blows of fate, but it should be attempted by the student in connection with misfortune experienced in the past. The value of such inner tranquil self-contemplation depends far less on what is actually contemplated, than on our finding within ourselves the power which such inner tranquillity develops.
For every human being bears within himself, besides what we may call the work-a-day man, a higher man. And each individual can only himself awaken this higher being within him. As long as this higher being is not awakened, the higher faculties, slumbering in every human being, and leading to supersensible knowledge, will remain concealed. The student must resolve to persevere in the strict and earnest observation of the rule here given, so long as he does not feel within himself the fruits of this inner tranquillity. To all who thus persevere, the day will come when spiritual light will envelope them, and a new world will be revealed to an organ of sight of whose existence, within them, they were hitherto unaware.
And no change need take place in the outward life of the student in consequence of this new rule. He performs his duties, and, at first, feels the same joys, sorrows and experiences as before. In no way can it estrange him from life; he can rather devote himself the more thoroughly to this life, for the remainder of the day, having gained a higher life in the moments set apart. Little by little this higher life will make its influence felt on his ordinary life. The tranquillity of the moments set apart will affect also everyday existence. In his whole being, he will grow calmer, he will attain firm assurance in all his actions, and will cease to be put out of countenance by all manner of incidents. By thus advancing he will gradually become more and more his own guide, and will allow himself, less and less, to be led by circumstances and external influences. He will soon discover how great a source of strength is available to him in these moments thus set apart. He will begin no longer to get angry at things which formerly angered him; countless things which he formerly feared cease to alarm him. He acquires a new outlook on life. Formerly he may have approached some occupation in a faint-hearted way. He would say: Oh, I lack the power to do this as well as I could wish. Now this thought does not occur to him, but rather a quite different thought. Henceforth he says to himself: I will summon up all my strength to do my work as well as I possibly can. And he suppresses the thought which makes him faint-hearted; for he knows that this very thought might be the cause of a worse performance on his part, and that, in any case, it cannot contribute to the improvement of his work. And thus thought after thought, each fraught with advantage to his whole life, flow into the students outlook. They take the place of those that had a hampering, weakening effect. He begins to steer his own ship on a secure course through the waves of life, whereas it was formerly battered to and fro by these waves.
This calm and serenity react on the whole being. They assist the growth of the inner man, and with the inner man, those faculties also grow which lead to higher knowledge. For it is by his progress in this direction that the student gradually reaches the point, when he himself determines the manner in which the impressions of the outer world shall affect him. Thus he may hear a word spoken with the object of wounding or vexing him. Formerly it mould indeed have wounded or vexed him, but now that he treads the path to higher knowledge, he is able to take from the word the sting which gives it the power to wound or vex; before it has found its way to his inner self. Take another example. We easily become impatient when we are kept waiting, but if we tread the path to higher knowledge, we so steep ourselves, in our moments of calm, with the feeling of the uselessness of impatience, that henceforth, on every occasion of impatience, this feeling is immediately present within us. The impatience that was about to make itself felt, vanishes, and an interval which would otherwise have been wasted in expressions of impatience, will be filled by useful observation, which can be made while waiting.
Now the scope and significance of these facts must be realized. We must bear in mind that the higher man within man is in constant development. But only the state of calm and serenity here described renders an orderly development possible. The waves of outward life press in upon the inner man from all sides, if, instead of mastering this outward life, he is mastered by it. Such a man is like a plant which tries to expand in a cleft in the rock, and is stunted in its growth, until new space is given it. No outward forces can supply space to the inner man. It can only be supplied by the inner calm which man himself gives to his soul. Outward circumstances can only alter the course of his outward life; they can never awaken the inner spiritual man. The student must himself give birth to a new and higher man within him.
This higher man now becomes the inner ruler, who directs the circumstances of the outer man with sure guidance. As long as the outer man has the upper hand and control, this inner man is his slave, and therefore cannot unfold his powers. If it depends on something foreign to myself, that I should get angry or not, I am not master of myself, or, to put it better, I have not yet found the ruler within me. I must develop the faculty of letting the impressions of the outer world approach me only in the way in which I myself determine; then only do I become in the real sense a student. And only in so far as the student earnestly seeks this power, can he reach the goal. It is of no importance - how far anyone can get in a given time; the point is that he should earnestly seek. Many have striven for years without noticing any appreciable progress; but many of those who did not despair, but remained unshaken, have then, quite suddenly achieved the inner victory.
No doubt a great effort is required, in many stations of life, to provide these moments of inner calm; but the greater the effort needed, the more important is the achievement. In Spiritual Science everything depends upon the energy, inward truthfulness and uncompromising sincerity with which we confront our own selves, with all our deeds and actions, as a complete stranger.
But only one side of the students activity is characterized by this birth of his own higher being. Something else is needed in addition. Even if he confronts himself as a stranger, it is only himself that he contemplates; he looks on those experiences and actions with which he is connected through his particular station of life. He must now disengage himself from it and rise beyond, to a purely human level, which no longer has anything to do with his own special situation. He must pass on to the contemplation of those things which would concern him, if he lived under quite different circumstances, and in quite a different situation. In this way something begins to live within him which ranges above the purely personal. His gaze is directed to higher worlds than those with which everyday life connects him. And thus he begins to feel and realize, as an inner experience, that he belongs to those higher worlds. These are worlds concerning which his senses and his daily occupation can tell him nothing. Thus he now shifts the central point of his being to the inner part of his nature. He listens to the voices within him, which speak to him, in his moments of tranquillity; he cultivates an intercourse with the spiritual world. He is removed from the everyday world. Its noise is silenced. All around him there is silence. He puts away everything that is around him; he even puts away everything that reminds him of such impressions from without. Calm inward contemplation and converse with the purely spiritual world fill his soul. Such tranquil contemplation must become a natural necessity in the life of the student. He is now plunged in a world of thought. He must develop a living feeling for this silent thought-activity. He must learn to love what the spirit pours into him. He will soon cease to feel that this thought-world is less real than the everyday things which surround him. He begins to deal with his thoughts as with things in space, and the moment approaches when he begins to feel that which reveals itself in the silent inward thought-world, to be much higher, much more real than the things in space. He discovers that something living expresses itself in this thought-world. He sees that his thoughts do not merely harbour shadow-pictures, but that, through them, hidden beings speak to him. From out of the silence speech becomes audible to him. Formerly sound only reached him through his ear; now it resounds through his soul. An inner language, an inner word is revealed to him. This moment, when first experienced, is one of greatest rapture for the student. An inner light is shed over the whole external world, and a new life begins for him. Through his being there pours a divine stream from a world of divine rapture.
This life of the soul in thought, which gradually widens into a life in spiritual being, is called by Gnosis and by Spiritual Science, Meditation (contemplative reflection). This meditation is the means to supersensible knowledge. But the student in such moments must not merely indulge in feelings; he must not have indefinite sensations in his soul. That would only hinder him from reaching true spiritual knowledge. His thoughts must be clear, sharp and definite, and he will be helped in this if he does not cling blindly to the thoughts that rise within him. Rather must he permeate himself with the lofty thoughts with which men already advanced and possessed of the spirit were inspired, in such moments. He should take as his starting point the writings which themselves had their origin in such revelation during meditation. In the mystic, gnostic and spiritual scientific literature of to-day, the student will find such writings, and in them the material for his meditation. The seekers of the spirit have themselves set down, in such writings, the thoughts of the divine science, which the Spirit has suffered to be proclaimed to the world through his messengers.
Through such meditation a complete transformation takes place in the student. He begins to form quite new conceptions of reality. All things acquire a fresh value for him. It cannot be repeated too often that this transformation does not alienate him from the world. He will in no way be estranged from his daily duties, for he comes to realize that the most insignificant action he has to accomplish, the most insignificant experience which offers itself to him, stand in connection with cosmic beings and cosmic events. When once this connection is revealed to him in his moments of contemplation, he engages in his daily circle of activities with a new, fuller power. For now he knows that his labour and his suffering are given and endured for the sake of a great, spiritual, cosmic whole. Not weariness, but strength to live springs from meditation.
With firm step the student passes through life. No matter what it may bring him, he goes forward erect. In the past he knew not why he laboured and suffered, but now he knows. It is obvious that such meditation leads more surely to the goal, if conducted under the direction of experienced persons, who know of themselves how everything may best be done; and their advice and guidance should be sought. Truly no one loses his freedom. What would otherwise be mere uncertain groping in the dark, becomes, under this direction, precise work. All who apply to such as possess knowledge and experience in these matters will never apply in vain, only they must realize that what they seek is the advice of a friend and not the domination of a would-be ruler. It will always be found that they who really know, are the most modest of men, and that nothing is further from their nature than what is called the lust for power.
When, by means of meditation, man rises to be united with the spirit, he brings to life the eternal in him, which is limited by neither birth nor death. The existence of this eternal being can only be doubted by those who have not themselves experienced it. Thus meditation is the way which also leads man to the knowledge, to the contemplation of his eternal, indestructible, essential being. Gnosis and Spiritual Science tell of the eternal nature of this being, and of its re-incarnation. The question is often asked: Why does a man know nothing of his experiences beyond the borders of life and death? How can we attain such knowledge! In right meditation the path is opened. This alone can revive the memory of experiences beyond the border of life and death. Everyone can attain this knowledge; in each one of us lies the faculty of recognizing and contemplating for ourselves what genuine Mysticism, Spiritual Science, Anthroposophy and Gnosis teach. Only the right means must be chosen. Only a being with ears and eyes can apprehend sounds and colours, nor can the eye perceive, if the light, which makes things visible, be wanting. Spiritual Science gives the means of developing the spiritual ears and eyes, and kindling the spiritual light; this method of spiritual training may be described as consisting of three stages: (1) Probation; this develops the spiritual senses. (2) Enlightenment; this kindles the spiritual light. (3) Initiation; this establishes intercourse with the higher spiritual beings.
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
THE information given in the following chapters forms part of an esoteric training, the name and character of which will be understood by all who apply this information in the right way. It refers to the three stages through which the training of the spiritual life leads to a certain degree of Initiation. But only so much will here be explained as can be publicly imparted. These are merely indications extracted from a still far deeper and more intimate doctrine. In esoteric training itself a quite definite course of instruction is followed. Certain exercises enable the soul to attain a conscious intercourse with the spiritual world. These exercises bear about the same relation to what will be imparted in the following pages, as the instruction given in a higher, strictly disciplined school, to the incidental teaching in a preparatory school. And yet the earnest and persevering pursuit of the course here indicated, will lead to a genuine esoteric training. But an impatient dabbling, devoid of earnest perseverance, can lead to nothing at all. The study of Spiritual Science can only be successful if the student will retain what has already been indicated in the preceding chapter, and on the basis of this proceed further.
The three stages which the above-mentioned tradition specifies, are as follows: (1) Probation; (2) Enlightenment; (3) Initiation. It is not altogether necessary that the first of these three stages should be completed before the second can be begun, nor that the second, in turn, be completed before the third be started. In certain respects it is possible to partake of Enlightenment, and even of Initiation, and in other respects still be in the probationary stage. Yet it will be necessary to spend a certain time in the stage of Probation, before any Enlightenment can begin, and at least in some respects, Enlightenment must be completed before it is even possible to enter upon the stage of Initiation. But in describing them, it is necessary, for the sake of clarity, that the three stages be made to follow in turn.
Probation consists of a strict and definite cultivation of the life of thought and feeling through which the psychic-spiritual body becomes equipped with organs of sense activity, in the same way that natural forces have fitted the physical body with organs built out of indeterminate living matter.
To begin with, the attention of the soul is directed to certain events in the world that surrounds us. Such events are, on the one hand, life that is budding, growing and flourishing, and, on the other hand, all phenomena connected with fading, decaying and withering. The student can observe these events simultaneously, wherever he turns his eyes, and on every occasion they naturally evoke in him feelings and thoughts; but under ordinary circumstances, he does not devote himself sufficiently to them. He hurries on too quickly from impression to impression. It is necessary, therefore, that he should fix his attention intently and consciously upon these phenomena. Wherever he observes a definite kind of blooming and flourishing, he must banish everything else from his soul, and entirely surrender himself, for a short time, to this one impression. He will soon convince himself that a feeling which heretofore, in a similar case, would merely have flitted through his soul, now swells out, and assumes a powerful and energetic form. He must now allow this feeling to reverberate quietly within himself while keeping inwardly quite still. He must cut himself off from the outer world, and simply and solely follow what his soul tells him of this blossoming and flourishing.
Yet it must not be thought that much progress can be made if the senses are blunted to the world. First look at the things as keenly and as intently as you possibly can; then only let the feeling which expands to life, and the thought which arises in the soul, take possession of you. The point is that the attention should be directed with perfect inner balance, upon both phenomena. If the necessary tranquillity be attained, and if you surrender yourself to the feeling which expands to life in the soul, then, in due time, the following experience will ensue. Thoughts and feelings will be noticed, of a new kind and unknown before, uprising in the soul. Indeed, the more the attention be fixed, in this way, upon something growing, blossoming and flourishing, and upon something else that is fading and decaying, the more vivid will these feelings become. And just as natural forces build out of living matter the eyes and ears of the physical body, so will the organs of clairvoyance build themselves from the feelings and thoughts thus evoked. A quite different form of feeling is connected with growth and expansion, and another equally definite with all that is fading and decaying. But this is only the case if the effort be made to cultivate these feelings in the way indicated. It is possible to describe approximately what these feelings are like. A full conception of them is within the reach of all who undergo these inner experiences. If the attention be frequently fixed on the phenomena of growing, blooming and flourishing, a feeling remotely allied to the sensation of a sunrise will ensue, while the phenomena of fading and decaying will produce an experience comparable, in the same way, to the slow rising of the moon on the horizon. Both these feelings are forces which, when duly cultivated and developed to ever-increasing intensity, lead to the most significant spiritual results. A new world is opened to the student if he systematically and deliberately surrenders himself to such feelings. The soul-world, the so-called astral plane, begins to dawn upon him. Growth and decay are no longer facts which make indefinite impressions on him, as of old, but rather they form into spiritual lines and figures, of which he had previously suspected nothing. And these lines and figures have, for the different phenomena, different forms. A blooming flower, a young animal, a tree that is decaying, evoke in his soul different lines. The soul-world (astral plane) broadens out slowly before him. These lines and figures are not mere inventions. Two students who have reached the corresponding stage of development, will always see the same lines and figures, under the same conditions. Just as a round table will be seen as round by two normal persons and not as round by one and square by the other - so too, at the sight of a flower, the same spiritual figure is presented to the soul. And just as the forms of animals and plants are described in ordinary natural history, so, too, the spiritual scientist describes or draws the spiritual forms of the processes of growth and decay, according to species and kind.
If the student has progressed so far that he can perceive the spiritual forms of those phenomena which are physically visible to his external sight, he will then not be far from the stage, when he shall behold things which have no corresponding physical existence, and which therefore remain entirely hidden (occult) from those who have not received suitable instruction and training.
It should be emphasized that the student must never lose himself in speculations on the meaning of one thing or another. Such intellectualizing will only bring him away from the right road. He should look out on the world with keen, healthy senses, and quickened power of observation, and then give himself up to the feeling that arises within him. He should not try to make out, through intellectual speculation, what the things mean, but rather allow the things themselves to tell him. It should be remarked that artistic feeling, when coupled with a quiet introspective nature, forms the best preliminary condition for the development of spiritual faculties. This feeling pierces through the superficial aspect of things, and, in so doing, touches their secrets.
A further point of importance is what Spiritual Science calls Orientation in the higher worlds. This is attained when the student is permeated, through and through, with the conscious realization that feelings and thoughts are veritable realities, just as much as are tables and chairs in the world of the physical senses. In the soul- and thought-world, feelings and thoughts react upon each other just as physical objects react upon each other in the physical world. As long as the student is not vividly permeated with this consciousness, he will not believe that a wrong thought in his mind may have as devastating an effect upon other thoughts that spread life in the thought-world, as the effect wrought by a bullet fired at random, upon the physical objects it hits. He will perhaps never allow himself to perform a physically visible action which he considers to be wrong, though he will not shrink from harbouring wrong thoughts and feelings, when these appear harmless to the rest of the world. There can be no progress, however, on the path to higher knowledge, unless we guard our thoughts and feelings in just the same way as we guard our steps in the physical world. If we see a wall before us, we do not attempt to dash right through it, but turn aside. In other words, we guide ourselves by the laws of the physical world. There are such laws, too, for the soul- and thought-world, only they cannot impose themselves on us from without. They must flow out of the life of the soul itself. This can be attained if we forbid ourselves to harbour wrong thoughts and feelings. All arbitrary flitting to-and-fro in thought, all accidental ebbing and flowing of emotion must be forbidden in the same way. In so doing we do not become deficient in feeling. On the contrary, if we regulate our inner life in this way, we shall soon find ourselves becoming rich in feelings and creative with genuine imagination. In the place of petty emotionalism, and capricious flights of thought, there appear significant emotions and thoughts that are fruitful. Feelings and thoughts of this kind lead the student to orientation in the spiritual world. He attains a right position in relation to the things of the spiritual world; a distinct and definite result comes into effect in his favour. Just as he, as a physical man, finds his way between physical things so, too, his path now leads him between growth and decay, which he has already come to know in the way described above. He follows, then, all processes of growing and flourishing, and, on the other hand, of withering and decaying, in a way that is necessary for his own and the worlds advancement.
The student has also to bestow a further care on the world of sound. He must discriminate between sounds that are produced by the So-called inert (lifeless) bodies, as, for instance, a bell, or a musical instrument, or a falling mass, and those which proceed from a living creature (an animal or a human being). When a bell is struck, we hear the sound and connect a pleasant feeling with it; but when we hear the cry of an animal, we can detect through it, besides our own feeling, the manifestation of an inward experience of the animal, whether of pleasure or of pain. It is with the latter kind of sound that the student sets to work. He must concentrate his whole attention on the fact that the sound tells him of something that lies outside his own soul. He must merge himself into this foreign thing. He must closely unite his own feeling with the pleasure or pain of which the sound tells him. He must get beyond the point of caring whether, for him, the sound is pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable, and his soul must be filled with whatever is transpiring in the being from which the sound proceeds. Through such exercises, if systematically and deliberately performed, the student will develop within himself the faculty of intermingling, as it were, with the being from which the sound proceeds. A person sensitive to music will find it easier to cultivate his inner life in this way, than one who is unmusical; but no one should suppose that a mere sense for music can take the place of this inner activity. The student must learn to feel in this way in the face of the whole of nature. By doing so, a new faculty is implanted in this world of thought and feeling. Through her resounding tones, the whole of nature begins to whisper her secrets to the student. What was hitherto merely incomprehensible noise to his soul, will become by this means a coherent language of nature. And whereas hitherto, he only heard sound, from the so-called inanimate objects, he now is aware of a new language of the soul. Should he advance further in this inner culture, he will soon learn that he can hear what hitherto he did not even surmise. He begins to hear with the soul.
To this, one thing more must be added before the highest point in this region can be attained. Of very great importance for the development of the student is the way in which he listens to others when they speak. He must accustom himself to do this in such a way that, while listening, his inner self is absolutely silent. If someone expresses an opinion, and another listens, assent or dissent will, generally speaking, stir in the inner self of the listener. Many people, in such cases, feel themselves impelled to an expression of their assent, or, more especially, of their dissent. In the student, all such assent or dissent must be silenced. It is not imperative that he should suddenly alter his way of living, by trying to attain at all times, this complete inner silence. He will have to begin by doing so in special cases, deliberately selected by himself. Then quite slowly and by degrees, this new way of listening will creep into his habits, as of itself. In spiritual investigation this is systematically practised. The student feels it his duty to listen, by way of practice, at certain times, to the most contradictory views, and, at the same time, entirely to bring to silence all assent, and, more especially, all adverse criticism. The point is, that in so doing, not only all purely intellectual judgment be silenced, but also all feelings of displeasure, denial or even especially, of their dissent. dissent must be silenced. assent. The student must at all times be particularly watchful lest such feelings, even when not on the surface, should still lurk in the innermost recess of the soul. He must listen, for example, to the statements of people who are, in some respects, far beneath him, and yet while doing so, suppress every feeling of greater knowledge or superiority. It is useful for everyone to listen in this way to children, for even the wisest can learn incalculably much from children. The student can thus train himself to listen to the words of others quite selflessly, completely shutting out his own person, and his opinions and way of feeling. When he practises listening without criticism, even when a completely contradictory opinion is advanced, when the most hopeless mistake is committed before him, then he learns, little by little, to blend himself with the being of another and become identified with it. Then he hears through the words, into the soul of the other. Through continued exercise of this kind, sound becomes the right medium for the perception of soul and spirit. Of course it implies the very strictest self-discipline, but the latter leads to a high goal. When these exercises are practised in connection with the others already given, dealing with the sounds of nature, the soul develops a new sense of hearing. It is now able to perceive manifestations from the spiritual world, which do not find their expression in sounds apprehensible by the physical ear. The perception of the inner word awakens. Gradually truths reveal themselves to the student, from the spiritual world. He hears speech uttered to him in a spiritual way. Only to those who, by selfless listening, train themselves to be really recipient from within, in stillness, unmoved by personal opinion or feeling, only to such can the higher beings speak, of whom Spiritual Science tells. As long as one hurls any personal opinion or feeling against the speaker to whom one must listen, the beings of the spiritual world remain silent.
All higher truths are attained through such inwardly instilled speech, and what we hear from the lips of a true spiritual teacher, has been experienced by him in this manner. But this does not mean that it is unimportant for us to acquaint ourselves with the writings of Spiritual Science, before we can ourselves hear such inwardly instilled speech. On the contrary, the reading of such writings and the listening to the teachings of Spiritual Science, are themselves means of attaining personal knowledge. Every sentence of Spiritual Science we hear is of a nature to direct the mind to the point which must be attained before the soul can experience real progress. To the practice of all that has here been indicated, must be added the ardent study of what the spiritual investigators impart to the world. In all esoteric training, such study belongs to the probationary period, and all other methods will prove ineffective, if due receptivity for the teachings of the spiritual investigators be lacking. For inasmuch as these instructions are culled from the living inner word from the living inwardly instilled speech, they are themselves gifted with spiritual life. They are not mere words; they are living powers. And while you follow the words of one who knows, while you read a book that springs from real inner experience, powers are at work in your soul which make you clairvoyant, just as natural forces have created out of living matter your eyes and your ears.
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
Enlightenment is the result of very simple processes. Here, too, it is a matter of developing certain feelings and thoughts which slumber in every human being and must be awakened. It is only when these simple processes are carried out with unfailing patience, continuously and strenuously, that they can lead to the perception of the inner light-forms. The first step is taken by observing different natural objects in a particular way; for instance, a transparent and beautifully formed stone (a crystal), a plant and an animal. The student should endeavour, at first, to direct his whole attention to a comparison of the stone with the animal, in the following manner. The thoughts here mentioned shall pass through his soul accompanied by vivid feelings, and no other thought, no other feeling, must mingle with them, and disturb what should be an intensely attentive observation. The student says to himself: The stone has a form; the animal also has a form. The stone remains motionless in its place. The animal changes its place. It is instinct (desire) which causes the animal to change its place. Instincts, too, are served by the form of the animal. Its organs and limbs are fashioned in accordance with these instincts. The form of the stone is not fashioned in accordance with desires, but in accordance with desireless force. [footnote: The fact here mentioned, in its bearing on the contemplation of crystals, is in many ways distorted by those who have only heard of it in an outward, esoteric manner, and in this way such practices as crystal gazing have their origin. Such manipulations are based on a misunderstanding. They have been described in many books, but they never form the subject of genuine esoteric-teaching]
By sinking deeply into such thoughts, and while doing so, observing the stone and the animal with rapt attention, there arise in the soul two quite separate kinds of feelings. From the stone there flows into the soul the one kind of feeling, and from the animal the other kind. The attempt will probably not succeed at first, but little by little, with genuine and patient practice, these feelings ensue. This should be practised over and over again. At first the feelings are only present as long as the observation lasts. Later on they continue, and then they grow to something which remains living in the soul. The student has then only to reflect, and both the feelings will always arise, even without the contemplation of an external object. Out of these feelings and the thoughts that are bound up with them, the organs of clairvoyance are formed. If the plant should then be included, it will be noticed that the feeling flowing from it lies between the feelings derived from the stone and the animal, both in quality and degree. The organs thus formed are spiritual eyes. The student gradually learns, by their means, to see something like psychic and spiritual colours. The spiritual world, with its lines and figures, remains dark, as long as he has only attained what has been described as Probation; through Enlightenment it becomes light. Here also, it must be noted that the words dark and light, as well as the other expressions used, do but approximately describe what is meant. This cannot be otherwise, if ordinary language is used, for this language was created to suit physical conditions. Spiritual Science describes that which, for clairvoyant organs, flows from the stone, as blue, or blue-red; and that which is felt as coming from the animal as red or red-yellow. In reality colours of a spiritual kind are seen. The colour proceeding from the plant is green, which little by little, resolves itself into a light ethereal pink. The plant is actually that product of nature which in higher worlds resembles, in certain respects, its constitution in the physical world. The same does not apply to the stone and the animal. It must now be clearly understood that the above-mentioned colours only represent the principal shades in the stone, plant and animal kingdoms. In reality all possible intermediate shades are present. Every stone, every plant, every animal has its own particular shade of colour. In addition to these, there are also the beings of the higher worlds, which never incarnate physically, but which have their colours, often wonderful, often horrible. Indeed the wealth of colour in these higher worlds is immeasurably greater than in the physical world.
Once the faculty of seeing with spiritual eyes has been acquired, one then encounters, sooner or later, the beings here mentioned, some of them higher, some lower than man himself - beings which never enter physical reality.
If this point has been reached, the way to a great deal lies open. But it is inadvisable to proceed further, without paying careful heed to what is said or otherwise imparted by the spiritual investigator. And for that too, which has been described, attention paid to such experienced guidance is the very best thing. Moreover if a man has the strength and the endurance to travel so far, that he fulfils the elementary conditions of Enlightenment, he will assuredly seek and find the right guidance.
But, under all circumstances, one precaution is necessary, failing which, it were better to leave untrodden all steps on the path to higher knowledge. It is necessary that the student should lose none of his qualities as a good and noble man, or his receptivity for all physical reality. Indeed, throughout his training, he must continually increase his moral strength, his inner purity and his power of observation. To give an example: during the elementary exercises on Enlightenment, the student must have a care to be always enlarging his sympathy for the animal and the human worlds, and his sense for the beauty of nature. Failing this care, such exercises would continually blunt that feeling and that sense; the heart would become hardened, and the senses blunted, and that could only lead to perilous results.
How Enlightenment proceeds, if the student rises, in the sense of the foregoing exercises, from the stone, the plant and the animal, up to man, and how, after Enlightenment, under all circumstances, the union of the soul with the spiritual world is effected, leading to Initiation - of these things the following chapters will deal, in so far as they can and may do so.
In our time, the path to Spiritual Science is sought by many. It is sought in many ways, and many dangerous and even objectionable practices are tried. It is for this reason that they who claim to know something of the truth in these matters, place before others the possibility of learning something of esoteric training. Only so much is here imparted as corresponds with this possibility. It is necessary that something of the truth should become known, so as to prevent error causing great harm. No harm can come to anyone following the way here described, so long as he does not force things. Only one thing should be noted; no student should spend more time and strength upon these exercises than he can spare, with due regard to his station of life and his duties, nor should he change anything, for the time being, in the external conditions of his life, through taking this path. Without patience, no genuine results can be attained. After doing an exercise for a few minutes, the student must be able to stop, and continue quietly his daily work, and no thought of these exercises should mingle with the days work. No one is of use as an esoteric student or will ever attain results of real value, who has not learnt to wait in the highest and best sense of the word.
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
THE CONTROL OF THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
When the student seeks the path leading to higher knowledge in the way described in the preceding chapter, he should not omit to fortify himself, throughout his work, with one ever-present thought. He must never cease repeating to himself that he may have made quite considerable progress, after a certain interval, though it may not be apparent to him in the way he perhaps expected; otherwise he can easily lose heart, and abandon all attempts after a short time. The powers and faculties to be developed are of a most subtle kind, and differ entirely, in their nature, from the conceptions formed of them by the student in advance. His occupation has been restricted to the physical world alone; and it is therefore not surprising if he does not immediately notice the powers of soul and spirit now developing in him. In this respect there is a possibility of error for those setting out on the path to higher knowledge, if they ignore the experience gathered by responsible investigators. The teacher is aware of the progress made by his pupil long before the latter is conscious of it. He knows how the delicate spiritual eyes begin to form themselves, long before the pupil is aware of their existence, and a great part of what he has to say is couched in such terms as to prevent the pupil from losing patience and perseverance, before he can himself attain knowledge of his own progress. The teacher, as we know, can confer upon the pupil no powers which are not already latent within him, and his sole function is to assist in the awakening of slumbering faculties. But what he imparts out of his own experience is a pillar of strength for him who will penetrate through darkness to light. Many abandon the path to higher knowledge, soon after having set foot upon it, because their progress is not immediately apparent to them. And even when the first experiences begin to dawn upon the seeker, he is apt to regard them as illusions, because he had formed quite different conceptions of what he was going to experience. He loses courage, either because he regards these first experiences as being of no value, or because they appear to him to be so unlikely that he cannot believe they will lead him to any appreciable results within a measurable time. Courage and self-confidence are two beacons which must never be extinguished on the path to higher knowledge. No one will ever travel far who cannot bring himself to repeat, over and over again, an exercise which has failed, apparently, for a countless number of times.
Long before any distinct perception of progress, there rises, in the student, from the hidden depths of the soul, a feeling that he is on the right path. This feeling should be cherished and fostered, for it can develop into a trustworthy guide. Above all it is imperative to extirpate the idea that any fantastic, mysterious practices are required for the attainment of higher knowledge. It must be clearly realized that a start has to be made with the thoughts and feelings with which we continually live, and that these feelings and thoughts are given a new direction. Everyone must say to himself: In my own world of thought and feeling, the deepest mysteries lie hidden, only hitherto I have been unable to perceive them. In the end it all resolves itself into the fact that man ordinarily carries body, soul and spirit about with him, and yet is conscious, in a true sense, only of his body, and not of his soul and spirit. The student becomes conscious of soul and spirit, just as the ordinary person is conscious of his body. Hence it is highly important to give the proper direction to thoughts and feelings, for then only can the perception be developed of all that is invisible in ordinary life. One of the ways by which this development may be carried out will now be indicated. Again, like almost everything else so far explained, it is quite a simple matter. Yet its results are of the greatest consequence, if the necessary devotion and sympathy be applied.
Let the student place before himself the small seed of a plant, and while contemplating this insignificant object, construct with intensity, the right kind of thoughts, and through these thoughts develop certain feelings. In the first place let him clearly grasp what he really sees with his eyes. Let him describe to himself the shape, colour and all other qualities of the seed. Then let his mind dwell upon the following train of thought: Out of the seed, if planted in the soil, a plant of complex structure will grow. Let him build up this plant in his imagination, and reflect as follows: What I am now picturing to myself in my imagination, will, later on, be drawn out of the seed by the forces of the earth and of light. If I had before me an artificial object, which imitated the seed to such a deceptive degree that my eyes could not detect it from a real seed, no forces of the earth or of light could avail to produce from it a plant. If the student thoroughly grasps this thought so that it becomes an inward experience, he will also be able to form the following thought and couple it with the right feeling: All that will ultimately grow out of the seed is now secretly enfolded within it, as the force of the whole plant. In the artificial imitation of the seed, there is no such force present. And yet both appear alike to my eyes. The real seed therefore contains something invisible, which is not present in the imitation. It is on this invisible something that thought and feeling are to be concentrated. [footnote: Anyone objecting that a microscopical examination would reveal the difference between the real seed and the imitation, would only show that he had failed to grasp the point. The intention is not to investigate the physical nature of the object, but to use it for the development of psychic- spiritual forces.]
Let the student fully realize that this invisible something will transmute itself later on into a visible plant, which he will have before him in its shape and colour. Let him cling to the thought: The invisible will become visible. If I could not think, then that could not already make its presence felt to me, which will only become visible later on. Particular stress must be laid on the following point: what the student thinks, he must also feel with intensity. In inner tranquillity, the thought mentioned above, must become a conscious inner experience, to the exclusion of all other thoughts and disturbances. And sufficient time must be taken to allow the thought and the feeling which is coupled to it, to bore themselves into the soul. If this be accomplished in the right way, then, after a time - possibly not until after numerous attempts - an inner force will make itself felt. This force will create new powers of perception. The grain of seed will appear as if enveloped in a small luminous cloud. In a sensible-supersensible way, it will be felt as a kind of flame. The centre of this flame evokes the same feeling as when one is under the impression of the colour lilac, and the edges as when under the impression of a bluish tone. What was formerly invisible now becomes visible, for it is created by the power of the thoughts and the feelings we have stirred to life within ourselves. The plant itself will not become visible until later, so that the physically invisible now reveals itself in a spiritually visible way.
It is not surprising that all this appears to many as illusion. What is the use of such visions, they ask, and such hallucinations? And many will thus fall away and abandon the path. But this is precisely the important point: not to confuse spiritual reality with imagination, at this difficult stage of human evolution, and furthermore, to have the courage to press onward and not become timorous and faint-hearted. On the other hand, however, the necessity must be emphasized of maintaining unimpaired and of perpetually cultivating that healthy sound sense which distinguishes truth from illusion. Fully conscious self-control must never be lost during all these exercises, and they must be accompanied by the same sane, sound thinking which is applied to the details of everyday life. To lapse into reveries would be fatal. The intellectual clarity, not to say the sobriety of thought, must never for a moment be dulled. The greatest mistake would be made, if the students mental balance were disturbed through such exercises, or if he were hampered from judging the matters of his daily life as sanely and as soundly as before. He should examine himself again and again to find out if he has remained unaltered in relation to the circumstances among which he lives, or whether he may perhaps have become unbalanced. Above all, strict care must be taken not to drift at random into vague reveries, or to experiment with all kinds of exercises. The trains of thought here indicated have been tested and practised in esoteric training since the earliest times, and only such are given in these pages. Anyone attempting to use others devised by himself, or of which he may have heard or read, at one place or another, will inevitably go astray and find himself on the path of bound- less chimera.
As a further exercise, to succeed the one just described, the following may be taken: Let the student place before him a plant which has attained the stage of full development. Now let him fill his mind with the thought that the time will come when this plant will wither and die. Nothing will be left of what I now see before me. But this plant will have developed seeds, which, in their turn, will develop to new plants. I again become aware that in that which I see, something lies hidden which I cannot see. I fill my mind entirely with the thought: this plant, with its form and colours, will in time be no more. But the reflection that it produces seeds, teaches me that it will not disappear into nothing. I cannot at present see with my eyes that which guards it from disappearance, any more than I previously could discern the plant in the grain of seeds. Thus there is something in the plant which my eyes cannot see. If I let this thought live within me, and if the corresponding feeling be coupled with it, then, in due time, there will again develop in my soul, a force which will ripen into a new perception. Out of the plant there again grows a kind of spiritual flame-form, which is, of course, correspondingly larger than the one previously described. The flame can be felt as being greenish-blue in the centre, and yellowish-red at the outer edge.
It must be explicitly emphasized that the colours here described are not seen as the physical eyes see colours, but that through spiritual perception, the same feeling is experienced as in the case of a physical colour-impression. To apprehend blue spiritually, means to have a sensation similar to the one experienced when the physical eye rests on the colour blue. This fact must be noted by all who intend to rise to spiritual perception. Otherwise they will expect a mere repetition of the physical in the spiritual. This could only lead to the bitterest deception.
Anyone having reached this point of spiritual vision, is the richer by a great deal, for he can perceive things not only in their present state of being, but also in their process of growth and decay. He begins to see in all things the spirit, of which physical eyes can know nothing. And therewith he has taken the first step towards the gradual solution, through personal vision, of the secret of birth and death. Fur the outer senses a being comes into existence through birth, and passes away through death. This, however, is only because these senses cannot perceive the concealed spirit of the being. For the spirit, birth and death are merely a transformation, just as the unfolding of the flower from the bud is a transformation enacted before our physical eyes. But if we desire to learn this through personal vision we must first awaken the requisite spiritual sense in the way here indicated.
In order to meet another objection, which may be raised by certain people who have some psychic experience, let it at once be admitted that there are shorter and simpler ways, and that there are persons who have acquired knowledge of the phenomena of birth and death through personal vision, without first going through all that has here been described. There are, in fact, people with considerable psychic gifts, who need but a slight impulse in order to find themselves already developed. But they are the exceptions, and the methods described above are safer and apply equally to all. It is possible to acquire some knowledge of chemistry in an exceptional way, but if you wish to become a chemist, you must follow the recognized and reliable course.
An error fraught with serious results would ensue, if it were assumed that the desired result could be reached more easily, if the grain of seed or the plant mentioned above, were merely imagined, were merely pictured in the imagination. This might lead to results, but not so surely as the method here given. The vision thus attained would, in most cases, be a mere figment of the imagination, the transformation of which into genuine spiritual vision, would still remain to be accomplished. It is not intended arbitrarily to create visions, but to allow reality to create them within oneself. The truth must well up from the depths of our own soul; it may not be conjured forth by our ordinary Ego, but by the beings themselves, whose spiritual truth we are to contemplate.
Once the student has found the rudiments of spiritual vision by means of such exercises, he may proceed to the contemplation of man himself. Simple appearances of human life must first be chosen. But before making any attempts in this direction, it is imperative for the student to strive for the absolute purity of his moral character. He must banish all thought of ever using knowledge gained in this way for his own personal benefit. There must be no fear in his mind that he would ever, under any circumstances, avail himself in a sense that is evil, of any power he may gain over his fellow-creatures. For this reason, all who seek to discover through personal vision the secrets in human nature, must follow the golden rule of true Spiritual Science. This golden rule is as follows: For every one step that you take in the pursuit of higher knowledge, take three steps in the perfection of your own character. If this rule be observed, such exercises as the following may be attempted:
Recall to mind some person whom you may have observed when he was filled with desire for some object. Direct your attention to this desire. It is best to recall to memory that moment when the desire was at its height, and it was still uncertain whether the object of the desire would be attained. And now fill your mind with this recollection, and reflect on what you can thus observe. Maintain the utmost inner tranquillity. Make the greatest possible effort to be blind and deaf to everything that may be going on around you, and take special heed that through the conception thus evoked, a feeling should awaken in your soul. Allow this feeling to rise in your soul like a cloud on the cloudless horizon. As a rule, of course, your reflection will be interrupted, because the person whom it concerns, was not observed in this particular state of soul for a sufficient length of time. The attempt will most likely fail hundreds and hundreds of times. It is just a question of not losing patience. After many attempts you will succeed in experiencing a feeling in your soul corresponding to the state of soul of the person observed, and you will begin to notice that through this feeling, a power grows in your soul, that leads to spiritual insight into the state of soul of the other. A picture experienced as luminous appears in your field of vision. This spiritually luminous picture is the so-called astral embodiment of the desire observed in that soul. Again the impression of this picture may be described as flame-like, yellowish-red in the centre, and reddish-blue or lilac at the edges. Much depends on treating such spiritual experiences with great delicacy. The best thing is not to speak to anyone about them, except to your teacher, if you have one. Attempted descriptions of such experiences, in inappropriate words, usually only lead to gross self-deception. Ordinary terms are employed, which are not intended for such things, and are therefore too gross and clumsy. The consequence is that in the attempt to clothe the experience in words, we are misled into blending the actual experience with all kinds of fantastic delusions. Here again is another important rule for the student: know how to observe silence concerning your spiritual experiences. Yes, observe silence even towards yourself. Do not attempt to clothe in words what you contemplate in the spirit, or to pore over it with clumsy intellect. Lend yourself freely and without reservation to these spiritual impressions, and do not disturb them by reflecting and pondering over them too much. For you must remember that your reasoning faculties are, to begin with, by no means equal to your new experience. You have acquired these reasoning faculties in a life hitherto confined to the physical world of the senses; the faculties you are now acquiring transcend this world. Do not try therefore to apply to the new and higher perceptions, the standard of the old. Only he who has gained some certainty and steadiness in the observation of inner experiences can speak about them, and thereby stimulate his fellow-men.
The exercise just described may be supplemented by the following. Direct your attention in the same way upon a person to whom the fulfilment of some wish, the gratification of some desire has been granted. If the same rules and pre- cautions be adopted as in the previous instance, spiritual insight will once more be attained. A spiritual flame-form will be distinguished, creating an impression of yellow in the centre and green at the edges.
By such observation of his fellow-creatures the student may easily lapse into a moral fault. He may become uncharitable. Every conceivable effort must be made to prevent this. Such observation should only be practised by one who has already risen to the level on which complete certainty is found that thoughts are real things. He will then no longer allow himself to think of his fellow-men in a way that is incompatible with the highest reverence for human dignity and human liberty. The thought that a human being could be merely an object for observation, must never for a moment be entertained. Self-education must see to it that this insight into human nature should go hand in hand with an unlimited respect for the personal privilege of each individual, and with the recognition of the sacred and inviolable nature of that which dwells in each human being. A feeling of reverential awe must fill us, even in our recollections.
For the present, only these two examples can be given to show how enlightened insight into human nature may be achieved; they will at least serve to point out the way to be taken. By gaining the inner tranquillity and repose indispensable for such observation, the student will have undergone a great inner transformation. He will then soon reach the point when this enrichment of his inner self will lend confidence and composure to his outward demeanour. And this transformation of his outward demeanour will again react favourably on his soul. Thus he will be able to help himself further along the road. He will find ways and means of penetrating more and more into the secrets of human nature, which are hidden from our external senses, and he will then also become ripe for a deeper insight into the mysterious connections between human nature and all else that exists in the universe. By following this path, the student approaches closer and closer to the moment when he can effectively take the first steps of Initiation. But before these can be taken, one thing more is necessary, though at first its necessity will be least of all apparent; later on, however, he will be convinced of it.
The would-be Initiate must bring with him a certain measure of courage and fearlessness. He must absolutely go out of his way to find opportunities for developing these virtues. His training should provide for their systematic cultivation. In this respect, life itself is a good school - possibly the best school. The student must learn to look danger calmly in the face, and try to overcome difficulties unswervingly. For instance, when in the presence of some peril, he must immediately rally to the conviction that fear is of no possible use; I may not feel afraid; I must only think of what is to be done. And he must improve to the extent of feeling, upon occasions which formerly inspired him with fear, that to be frightened, to be disheartened, are things that are out of the question, as far as his own inmost self is concerned. By self-discipline in this direction, quite definite qualities are developed, which are necessary for Initiation into the higher Mysteries. Just as man requires nervous force in his physical being, in order to use his physical senses, so also he requires, in his soul-nature, the force which is only developed in the courageous and the fearless. For in penetrating to the higher Mysteries he will see things which are concealed from ordinary humanity by the illusion of the senses. If the physical senses do not allow us to perceive the higher truth, they are also for this reason our benefactors. Things are thereby hidden from us which, if realized without due preparation, would throw us into unutterable consternation and the sight of which we could not endure. The student must be fit to endure this sight. He loses certain supports in the outer world, which he owes to the very illusion surrounding him. It is truly and literally as if the attention of someone were called to a danger which had threatened him for a long time, but of which he knew nothing. Hitherto he felt no fear, but now that he knows, he is overcome by fear, though the danger has not been rendered greater by his knowing it.
The forces at work in the world are both destructive and constructive; the destiny of manifested beings is birth and death. The seer is to behold the working of these forces and the march of destiny. The veil enshrouding the spiritual eyes in ordinary life is to be removed. But man is interwoven with these forces and with this destiny. His own soul reveals itself to the seer as undisguisedly as the other objects. He must not lose strength in the face of this self-knowledge; but strength will fail him unless he brings a surplus on which to draw. For this purpose he must learn to maintain inner calm and steadiness in the face of difficult circumstances; he must cultivate a strong trust in the beneficent powers of existence. He must be prepared to find that many motives which had actuated him hitherto will do so no longer. He will have to recognize that he hitherto only thought and acted in a certain way because he was still in the throes of ignorance. Reasons influencing him formerly will now disappear. He often acted out of vanity; he will now see how utterly futile all vanity is for the seer. He often acted out of avarice; he will now become aware how destructive all avarice is. He will have to develop quite new motives for his thoughts and actions and it is just for this purpose that courage and fearlessness are required.
It is pre-eminently a question of cultivating this courage and this fearlessness in the inmost depths of thought-life. The student must learn never to despair over failure. He must be equal to the thought: I will forget that I have failed in this matter, and I will try once more as though nothing had happened. Thus he will struggle through to the firm conviction that the fountain-head of strength from which he may draw is inexhaustible. He struggles ever on to the spirit which will uplift him and support him, however weak and impotent his earthly self may have proved. He must be capable of pressing on to the future undismayed by any experiences of the past. If the student has acquired these faculties, up to a certain point, he is then ripe to hear the real names of things, which are the key to higher knowledge. For Initiation consists in this very act of learning to call the things of the world by those names which they bear in the spirit of their divine Author. In these their names lies the mystery of things. It is for this reason that the Initiates speak a different language from the uninitiate, for the former know the names by which the beings themselves are called into existence.
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, online book
Initiation is the highest stage of an esoteric training concerning which it is possible to give some indications in a book intended for the general public. Whatever lies beyond forms a subject difficult to understand, yet the way to it can be found by all who have passed through Probation, Enlightenment and Initiation, and have reached the lower Mysteries. The knowledge and proficiency conferred by Initiation cannot be obtained in any other manner, except in some far distant future, after many incarnations, by quite different means and in quite a different form. The Initiate of to-day undergoes experiences which would otherwise come to him much later, under quite different circumstances.
The secrets of existence are only accessible to an extent corresponding to mans own degree of fitness. For this reason alone, the path to the higher stages of knowledge and power is beset with obstacles. A firearm should not be used until sufficient experience has been gained to avoid damage being caused by its use. A person initiated to-day without further ado would lack the experience which the future revelation of this higher knowledge would duly bring to him in the course of his incarnations and his normal development. At the Portal of Initiation, therefore, this experience must be supplied in some other way. Thus the first instructions given to the candidate for Initiation serve as a substitute for these future experiences. These are the so-called Trials, which he has to undergo, and which constitute a normal course of inner development resulting from due application to such exercises as are described in the preceding chapters.
These Trials are often discussed in books, but it is only natural that such discussions should as a rule give quite false impressions of their nature. For without passing through Probation and Enlightenment no one can know anything of these tests and appropriately describe them.
The would-be Initiate must come into contact with certain things and facts belonging to the higher worlds, but he can only see and hear them if his feeling is ripe for the perception of the spiritual forms, colours, tones, etc., described in the chapters on Probation and Enlightenment.
The first Trial consists in obtaining a truer vision than is the case with the average man of the corporeal attributes of lifeless things, and later of plants, animals and of human beings. This does not mean what is called to-day scientific knowledge, for it is a question not of science but of vision. As a rule the would-be Initiate proceeds to learn how the objects of nature and the beings gifted with life manifest themselves to the spiritual ear and the spiritual eye. In a certain way, these things then lie disclosed naked - before the beholder. The qualities which can then be seen and heard are concealed from the physical eyes and ears. For physical perception they are enwrapped as in a veil, and the falling away of this veil for the would-be Initiate consists in a process designated as the process of Purification by Fire. The first trial is therefore known as the Fire-Trial.
For many people, ordinary life is itself a more or less unconscious process of Initiation through the Fire-Trial. Such people have passed through a wealth of experience, so that their self-confidence, courage and fortitude have been greatly strengthened in a normal manner, while learning to bear sorrow, disappointment and failure in their under-takings, with greatness of soul, and especially with equanimity and unbroken strength. Thus they are often Initiates without knowing it, and it then needs but little to unseal their spiritual hearing and sight, so that they become clairvoyant. For it must be noted that a genuine Fire-Trial is not intended to satisfy the curiosity of the candidate. It is true that he learns many things of which others can have no idea, but this acquisition of knowledge is not the end, but the means to the end; the latter consists in the attainment, thanks to this knowledge of the higher worlds, of greater and truer self-confidence, of a higher degree of courage and a magnanimity and per- severance such as cannot, as a rule, be acquired in the lower world.
The candidate may always turn back after the Fire-Trial. He will then resume his life, strengthened in body and soul, and wait for a future incarnation to continue his Initiation. In his present incarnation he will prove himself a more useful member of society and of humanity than he was before. In whatever position he may find himself, his firmness, prudence, resoluteness and his beneficent influence over his fellows will have greatly increased.
But if, after completing the Fire-Trial, he should wish to continue the path, a certain writing-system, generally adopted in esoteric training, must now be revealed to him. The actual teachings manifest themselves in this writing, because the hidden (occult) qualities of things cannot be directly expressed in the words of ordinary language, nor can they be set forth in ordinary writing. The pupils of the Initiates translate the teachings into ordinary language as best they can. The hidden writing reveals itself to the soul when the soul has attained spiritual perception, for it is traced in the spiritual world and remains there for all time. It cannot be learnt as an artificial writing is learnt and read. The candidate grows into clairvoyant knowledge, in an appropriate way, and, during this growth, a new strength is developed in his soul, as a new faculty, through which he feels himself impelled to decipher the occurrences and the beings of the spiritual world like the characters of a writing. This strength, with the experience it brings of the corresponding Trial, might possibly awaken in the soul as though of its own accord, as the soul continually develops, but it will be found safer to follow the instructions of those who are spiritually experienced, and who hare some proficiency in deciphering the hidden writing.
The signs of the hidden writing are not mere inventions, they correspond to the forces actively engaged in the world. It becomes immediately apparent to the candidate that the signs he is now learning, correspond to the forms, colours, tones, etc., which he learnt to perceive during his Probation and Enlightenment. He realizes that all he learnt previously was only like learning how to spell, and that he is only now beginning to read in the higher worlds. All the isolated figures, tones and colours reveal themselves to him now in one great connected whole. Now, for the first time, he attains complete certainty in observing the higher worlds. Hitherto he could never know positively whether the things he saw were rightly seen. A regular understanding is now, too, at last possible between the candidate and the Initiate in the spheres of higher knowledge. For whatever form the intercourse between an Initiate and another person may take in ordinary life, the higher knowledge in its immediate form can only be imparted by the Initiate in the above-mentioned sign-language.
Thanks to this language the student also learns certain rules of conduct and certain duties of which he formerly knew nothing. Having learnt these he is able to perform actions endowed with a significance and a meaning such as the actions of one not initiated can never possess. He acts from out of the higher worlds. Instructions concerning such action call only be read and understood in the writing in question. Yet it must be emphasized that there are people unconsciously gifted with the ability and faculty of performing such actions, though they have never undergone an esoteric training. Such helpers of the world and of humanity, pass through a life of blessing and good deeds. For reasons here not to be discussed, gifts have been bestowed on them which appear supernatural. What distinguishes them from the candidate for Initiation, is only that the latter acts consciously and with full insight into the entire situation. He acquires by training the gifts bestowed on others by higher powers for the good of humanity. We can sincerely honour and respect these favoured of God; but we should not for this reason regard the work of esoteric training as superfluous.
Once the student has learnt the sign-language, there awaits him yet another Trial, to prove whether he can move with freedom and certainty in the higher worlds. In ordinary life he is impelled to action by exterior motives. He works at one occupation or another because one duty or another is imposed on him by outward circumstances. It need hardly be mentioned that the student must in no way neglect any of his duties in ordinary life because he is living and working in higher worlds. There is no duty in a higher world that can force a person to neglect any single one of his duties in the ordinary world. The father will remain just as good a father to his family, the mother just as good a mother, and neither the official nor the soldier, nor anyone else will he detained from their work, if they become esoteric students. On the contrary, all the qualities which make a human being capable and efficient, are enhanced in the student to a degree, of which the uninitiated can form no idea. If, in the eyes of the uninitiated, this does not always appear to be the case, it is simply because he often lacks the ability to judge the Initiate correctly. The deeds of the latter are not always intelligible to the former. But this only happens in special cases.
At this stage of Initiation there are duties to be performed for which no outward stimulus is given. The candidate will not be moved to action by external pressure, but only through adherence to the rules of conduct revealed to him in the hidden writing. He must now show, in this second Trial, that, led by such rules, he can act with the same firmness and precision, with which, for instance, an official performs the duties that accrue to him. For this purpose, and in the course of his further training, he will find himself faced by a certain definite task. He must perform some action in consequence of observations made on the basis of what he has learnt during Probation and Enlightenment. The nature of this action can be understood by means of the hidden writing with which he is now familiar. If he recognizes his duty and acts rightly, his Trial has been successful. The success can be recognized in the alteration produced by his action in the figures, colours and tones apprehended by his spiritual eyes and ears. Exact indications are given, as the training progresses, showing how these figures, etc., appear and are experienced after the action has been performed, and the candidate must know how to produce this change. This Trial is known as the Water-Trial, because in his activity in these higher worlds, he is deprived of the support derived from outward circumstances, as a swimmer is without support when swimming in water that is beyond his depth. This activity must be repeated until the candidate attains absolute poise and assurance.
The importance of this Trial lies again in the acquisition of a quality. Through his experiences in the higher worlds, the candidate develops this quality, in a short time, to such a high degree, that he would otherwise have to go through many incarnations, in the ordinary course of his development, before he could acquire it to the same extent. It all centres round the fact that he must only be guided by the results of his higher perception, and of his reading the hidden writing, in order to produce the changes in question, in these higher regions of existence. Should he, in the course of his activity, introduce any of his own opinions, desires, etc., or should he diverge for one moment from the laws which he has recognized to be right, in order to follow his own wilful inclination, then the result produced would differ entirely from what was intended. He would lose sight of the goal to which his action tended, and confusion would result. Hence ample opportunity is given him in the course of this Trial to develop self-control. This is the object in view. Here again, this Trial can be more easily endured by those whose life, before Initiation, has led them to acquire self-control. Anyone having acquired the faculty of following high principles and ideas, while putting into the background all personal predilection; anyone capable of always performing his duty, with inclinations and sympathies only too ready to seduce him from this duty - such a one is unconsciously an Initiate in the midst of ordinary life. He will need but little to succeed in this particular Trial. Indeed, a certain measure of Initiation thus unconsciously acquired in life, will, as a rule, be indispensable for success in this second Trial. For even as it is difficult for those who have not learnt to spell correctly in their childhood, to make good this deficiency when fully grown up, so too, it is difficult to develop the necessary degree of self-control, upon glancing into the higher worlds, if a certain measure of it has not been acquired in ordinary life. The objects of the physical world do not alter, whatever the nature of our wishes, desires and inclinations. In the higher worlds, however, our wishes, desires and inclinations are causes that produce effects. If we wish to produce a particular effect in these worlds, we must hold ourselves completely under control; we must strictly follow the right precautions and subdue every wayward impulse.
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