a road to self-knowledge by rudolf steiner

7/30/2019 A Road to Self-Knowledge by Rudolf Steiner

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A Road to Self-knowledge PRINTED

ByRudolf Steiner

Contents:

Introduction

1 - Meditation (First) In which the Attempt is made to obtain a True Idea of the Physical Body! - Meditation ("econd) In which the Attempt is made to form a True #onception of the $lemental or $theric Body

% - Meditation (Third) In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of #lair&oyant #o'nition of the $lemental orld - Meditation (Fourth) In which the Attempt is made to form a #onception of the *uardian of the Threshold+ - Meditation (Fifth) In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of the Astral Body, - Meditation ("ith) In which the Attempt is made to form a #onception of the $'o-Body or Thou'ht-Body. - Meditation ("e&enth)

In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of the #haracter of $perience in "uper-sensible orlds/ - Meditation ($i'hth) In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of the ay in which Man beholds his 0epeated $arth-i&es

Scan Edit Notes

This boo2 is an 3amplification3 of the boo2 entitled 4nowled'e of the 5i'her orlds and Its Attainment Itconsists of ei'ht 3meditations3 The ei'ht topics treated are6 The Physical Body7 The $theric Body7 #lair&oyant#o'nition of the $lemental orld7 The *uardian of the Threshold7 The Astral Body7 The $'o Body or Thou'htBody7 The #haracter of $perience in the "upersensible orlds7 and The ay in hich Man Beholds 5is0epeated $arth i&es

Introduction

It is the endea&our of this treatise to con&ey spiritual-scientific 2nowled'e concernin' the bein' ofman The method of representation is arran'ed in such a way that the reader may 'row into what is

depicted7 so that7 in the course of readin'7 it becomes for him a 2ind of self-conference If thissolilo8uy ta2es on such a form that thereby hitherto concealed forces7 which can be awa2ened in

e&ery soul7 re&eal themsel&es7 then the readin' leads to a real inner wor2 of the soul9 and the lattercan see itself 'radually ur'ed on to that soul-:ourneyin'7 which truly ad&ances towards the beholdin'

of the spiritual world hat has to be imparted7 therefore7 has been 'i&en in the form of ei'htMeditations7 which can be actually practised If this is done7 they can be adapted for impartin' to the

soul7 throu'h its own inner deepenin'7 that about which they spea2

It has been my aim on the one hand7 to 'i&e somethin' to those readers who ha&e already made

themsel&es con&ersant with the literature dealin' with the domain of the supersensible7 as it is hereunderstood Thus throu'h the style of the description7 throu'h the communication directly

connectin' with the soul;s eperience7 perhaps those who ha&e 2nowled'e of supersensible life willhere find somethin' that may appear of importance to them


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It has been my endea&our in my boo2s7 Theosophy and


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3hat is Man in the true sense of the word@3 orlds open up which are hidden from the ordinary

conception of life And yet only in those worlds can the facts be found which will re&eal the truthabout this &ery conception And e&en if no answer pro&es all-embracin' and final the answers

obtained throu'h the soul;s inner pil'rima'e 'o beyond e&erythin' which the outer senses and theintellect bound up with them can e&er 'i&e For this 3 somethin' more 3 is necessary to man7 and he

will find that this is so7 when he really and earnestly analyses his own nature

At the outset of such a pil'rima'e throu'h the realms of our own soul7 hard lo'ic and common senseare necessary They form a safe startin'-point for pushin' on into the supersensible realms7 whichthe soul7 after all7 is yearnin' to reach Many a soul would prefer not to trouble about such a

startin'-point7 but rather penetrate directly into the supersensible realms9 thou'h e&ery healthy soule&en if it has at first a&oided such commonsense considerations as disa'reeable7 will always submit

to them later For howe&er much 2nowled'e of the supersensible worlds one may ha&e obtained fromanother startin'-point7 one can only 'ain a firm footin' there throu'h some such methods of

reasonin' as follow here

In the life of the soul moments may come in which it says to itself6 3ou must be able to withdraw

from e&erythin' that an outer world can 'i&e you7 if you do not wish to be forced into confessin' thatyou are but self-contradictory non-sense9 but this would ma2e life impossible7 because it is clear that

what you percei&e around you eists independently of you9 it eisted without you and will continue to

eist without you hy then do colours percei&e themsel&es in you7 whilst your perception may be ofno conse8uence to them@ hy do the forces and materials of the outer world build up your body@#areful thou'ht will show that this body only ac8uires life as the outward manifestation of you

It is a part of the outer world transformed into you7 and7 moreo&er7 you realise that it is necessary toyou Because7 to be'in with7 you could ha&e no inner eperiences without your senses7 which the

body alone can put at your disposal ou would remain empty without your body7 such as you are atthe be'innin' It 'i&es you throu'h the senses inner fulness and substance3 And then all those

reflections may follow which are essential to any human eistence if it does not wish to 'et intounbearable contradiction with itself at certain moments which come to e&ery human bein' This body

- as it eists at the present moment - is the epression of the soul;s eperience Its processes aresuch as to allow the soul to li&e throu'h it and to 'ain eperience of itself in it

A time will come7 howe&er7 when this will not be so The life in the body will some day be sub:ect to

laws 8uite different from those which it obeys to-day whilst li&in' for you7 and for the sa2e of yoursoul;s eperience It will become sub:ect to those laws7 accordin' to which the material and forces in

nature are actin'7 laws which ha&e nothin' more to do with you and your life The body to which you

owe the eperience of your soul7 will be absorbed in the 'eneral world-process and eist there in aform which has nothin' more in common with anythin' that you eperience within yourself

"uch a reflection may call forth in the inner eperience all the horror of the thou'ht of death7 butwithout the admiture of the merely personal feelin's which are ordinarily connected with this

thou'ht hen such personal feelin's pre&ail it is not easy to establish the calm7 deliberate state ofmind necessary for obtainin' 2nowled'e

It is natural that man should want to 2now about death and about a life of the soul independent ofthe dissolution of the body But the relation eistin' between man himself and these 8uestions is -

perhaps more than anythin' else in the world - apt to confuse his ob:ecti&e :ud'ment and to ma2ehim accept as 'enuine answers only those which are inspired by his own desires or wishes

For it is impossible to obtain true 2nowled'e of anythin' in the spiritual realms without bein' able

with complete unconcern to accept a 3?o 3 8uite as willin'ly as a 3es3 And we need only loo2conscientiously into oursel&es to become distinctly aware of the fact that we do not accept the

2nowled'e of an etinction of the life of the soul to'ether with the death of the body with the same

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e8uanimity as the opposite 2nowled'e which teaches the continued eistence of the soul beyond

death

?o doubt there are people who 8uite honestly belie&e in the annihilation of the soul on the etinction

of the life of the body7 and who arran'e their li&es accordin'ly But e&en these are not unbiased withre'ard to such a belief It is true that they do not allow the fear of annihilation7 and the wish for

continued eistence7 to 'et the better of the reasons which are distinctly in fa&our of such

annihilation "o far the conception of these people is more lo'ical than that of others whounconsciously construct or accept ar'uments in fa&our of a continued eistence7 because there is anardent desire in the secret depths of their souls for such continued eistence And yet the &iew of

those who deny immortality is no less biased7 only in a different way There are amon'st them somewho build up a certain idea of what life and eistence are This idea forces them to thin2 of certain

conditions7 without which life is impossible

Their &iew of eistence leads them to the conclusion that the conditions of the soul;s life can nolon'er be present when the body falls away "uch people do not notice that they ha&e themsel&es

from the &ery first fied an idea of the conditions necessary for the eistence of life7 and cannot

belie&e in a continuation of life after death for the simple reason that7 accordin' to their ownpreconcei&ed idea7 there is no possibility of ima'inin' an eistence without a body $&en if they are

not biased by their own wishes7 they are biased by their own ideas from which they cannot

emancipate themsel&es

Much confusion still pre&ails in such matters7 and only a few eamples need be put forward of whateists in this direction For instance7 the thou'ht that the body7 throu'h whose processes the soul

manifests its life7 will e&entually be 'i&en o&er to the outer world7 and follow laws which ha&e norelation to inner life - this thou'ht puts the eperience of death before the soul in such a way that no

wish7 no personal consideration7 need necessarily enter the mind9 and by a thou'ht such as this weare led to a simple7 impersonal 8uestion of 2nowled'e

Then also the thou'ht will soon dawn upon the mind that the idea of death is not important in itself7but rather because it may throw li'ht upon life And we shall ha&e to come to the conclusion that it is

possible to understand the riddle of life throu'h the nature of death

The fact that the soul desires its own continued eistence should7 under all circumstances7 ma2e us

suspicious with re'ard to any opinion which the soul forms about its own immortality For why shouldthe facts of the world pay any heed to the feelin's of the soul@ It is a possible thou'ht that the soul7

li2e a flame produced from fuel7 merely flashes forth from the substance of the body and is thena'ain etin'uished Indeed7 the necessity of formin' some opinion about its own nature mi'ht

perhaps lead the soul to this &ery thou'ht7 with the result that it would feel itself to be de&oid ofmeanin' But ne&ertheless this thou'ht mi'ht be the actual truth of the matter7 e&en althou'h it

made the soul feel itself to be meanin'less

hen the soul turns its eyes to the body7 it ou'ht only to ta2e into consideration that which the body

may re&eal to it It then seems as if in nature such laws were acti&e as dri&e matter and forces into a

continual process of chan'e7 and as if these laws controlled the body and after a while drew it intothat 'eneral process of mutual chan'e

ou may put this idea in any way you li2e6 it may be scientifically admissible7 but with re'ard to true

reality it pro&es itself to be 8uite impossible ou may find it to be the only idea which seems

scientifically clear and sensible7 and that all the rest are only sub:ecti&e beliefs ou may ima'inethat it is so7 but you cannot adhere to this idea with a really unbiased mind And that is the point

?ot that which the soul accordin' to its own nature feels to be a necessity7 but only that which the

outer world7 to which the body belon's7 ma2es e&ident7 ou'ht to be ta2en into consideration Afterdeath this outer world absorbs the matter and forces of the body7 which then follow laws that are

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8uite indifferent to that which ta2es place in the body durin' life These laws (which are of a physical

and chemical nature) ha&e :ust the same relation to the body as they ha&e to any other lifeless thin'of the outer world It is impossible to ima'ine that this indifference of the outer world with re'ard to

the human body should only be'in at the moment of death7 and should not ha&e eisted durin' life

An idea of the relation between our body and the physical world cannot be obtained from life7 but

only from impressin' upon our mind the thou'ht that e&erythin' belon'in' to us as a &ehicle of our

senses7 and as the means by which the soul carries on its life - all this is treated by the physicalworld in a way which only becomes clear to us when we loo2 beyond the limits of our bodily life andta2e into consideration that a time will come when we no lon'er ha&e about us the body in which we

are now 'ainin' eperience of oursel&es Any other conception of the relation between the outerphysical world and the body con&eys in itself the feelin' of not conformin' with reality The idea7

howe&er7 that it is only after death that the real relationship between the body and the outer worldre&eals itself does not contradict any real eperience of the outer or the inner world

The soul does not feel the thou'ht to be unendurable7 that the matter and the forces of its body are

'i&en up to processes of the outer world which ha&e nothin' to do with its own life "urrenderin'

itself to life in a perfectly unpre:udiced way7 it cannot disco&er in its own depths any wish arisin'from the body which ma2es the thou'ht of dissolution after death a disa'reeable one The idea

becomes unbearable only when it implies that the matter and the forces returnin' to the outer world

ta2e with them the soul and its eperiences of its own eistence "uch an idea would be unbearablefor the same reason as would any other idea7 which does not 'row naturally out of a reliance on themanifestation of the outer world

To ascribe to the outer world an entirely different relation to the eistence of the body durin' lifefrom that which it bears after death is an absolutely futile idea As such it will always be repelled by

reality7 whereas the idea that the relation between the outer world and the body remains the samebefore and after death is 8uite sound The soul7 holdin' this latter &iew7 feels itself in perfect

harmony with the e&idence of facts It is able to feel that this idea does not clash with facts whichspea2 for themsel&es7 and to which no artificial thou'ht need be added


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the circulation of the blood in our body which is analo'ous to that of fear and shame which eist

within the soul

"o7 first of all7 we feel within oursel&es the laws of the outer world acti&e in that special combination

of materials which manifests itself as the form of the human body e feel this body as a member ofthe outer world7 but remain i'norant of its inner wor2in's $ternal science of the present day 'i&es

some information as to how the laws of the outer world combine within that particular entity7 which

presents itself as the human body

e may hope that this information will 'row more complete in the future But such increasin'information can ma2e no difference whate&er to the way in which the soul has to thin2 of its relation

to the body It will7 on the contrary7 brin' more and more into e&idence that the laws of the outerworld remain in the same relation to the soul before and after death It is an illusion to epect that

the pro'ress of the 2nowled'e of nature will show how far the bodily processes are a'ents of the life

of the soul e shall more and more clearly reco'nise that which ta2es place in the body durin' life7but the processes in 8uestion will always be felt by the soul as bein' outside it in the same way as

the processes in the body after death

The body must therefore appear within the outer world as a combination of forces and substances7which eists by itself and is eplainable by itself as a member of this outer world ?ature causes a

plant to 'row and a'ain decomposes it ?ature rules the human body7 and causes it to pass awaywithin her own sphere If man ta2es up his position to nature with such ideas7 he is able to for'et

himself and all that is in him and feel his body as a member of the outer world If he thin2s in such away of its relations to himself and to nature7 he eperiences in connection with himself that which we

may call his physical body

Second "editation

In which the Attempt is made to form a True #onception of the $lemental or $theric Body

Throu'h the idea which the soul has to form in connection with the fact of death7 it may be dri&eninto complete uncertainty with re'ard to its own bein' This will be the case when it belie&es that it

cannot obtain 2nowled'e of any other world but the world of the senses and of that which theintellect is able to ascertain about this world The ordinary life of the soul directs its attention to the

physical body

It sees that body bein' absorbed after death into the wor2shop of nature7 which has no connection

with that which the soul eperiences before death as its own eistence The soul may indeed 2now(throu'h the precedin' Meditation) that the physical body durin' life bears the same relation to it as

after death7 but this does not lead it further than to the ac2nowled'ment of the inner independenceof its own eperiences up to the moment of death

hat happens to the physical body after death is e&ident from obser&ation of the outer world Butsuch obser&ation is not possible with re'ard to its inner eperience In so far then as it percei&es

itself throu'h the senses7 the soul in its ordinary life cannot see beyond the boundary of death If thesoul is incapable of formin' any ideas which 'o beyond that outer world which absorbs the body after

death7 then with re'ard to all that concerns its own bein' it is unable to loo2 into anythin' but emptynothin'ness on the other side of death

If this is to be otherwise7 the soul must percei&e the outer world by other means than those of thesenses and of the intellect connected with them These themsel&es belon' to the body and decay

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to'ether with it hat they tell us can lead to nothin' but to the result of the first Meditation7 and

this result consists merely in the soul bein' able to say to itself6 3I am bound to my body

This body is sub:ect to natural laws which are related to me in the same way as all other natural

laws Throu'h them I am a member of the outer world and a part of this world is epressed in mybody7 a fact which I realise most distinctly7 when I consider what the outer world does to that body

after death urin' life it 'i&es me senses and an intellect which ma2e it impossible for me to see

how matters stand with re'ard to my soul;s eperiences on the other side of death3 "uch astatement can only lead to two results $ither any further in&esti'ation into the riddle of the soul issuppressed and all efforts to obtain 2nowled'e on this sub:ect are 'i&en up9 or else efforts are made

to obtain by the inner eperience of the soul that which the outer world refuses These efforts maybrin' about an increase of power and ener'y with re'ard to this inner eperience such as it would

not ha&e in ordinary life

In ordinary life man has a certain amount of stren'th in his inner eperiences7 in his life of feelin'and thou'ht 5e thin2s7 for instance7 a certain thou'ht as often as there is an inner or outer impulse

to do so

Any thou'ht may7 howe&er7 be chosen out of the rest and &oluntarily repeated a'ain and a'ainwithout any outer reason7 and with such intense ener'y as actually to ma2e it li&e as an inner reality

"uch a thou'ht may by repeated effort be made the eclusi&e ob:ect of our inner eperience Andwhile we do this we can 2eep away all outer impressions and memories which may arise in the soul

It is then possible to turn such a complete surrender to certain thou'hts or feelin's eclusi&e of allothers7 into a re'ular inner acti&ity

If7 howe&er7 such an inner eperience is to lead to really important results7 it must be underta2enaccordin' to certain tested laws "uch laws are recorded by the science of spiritual life In my boo2

4nowled'e of the 5i'her orlds and its Attainment7 a 'reat number of these rules or laws arementioned Throu'h such methods we obtain a stren'thenin' of the powers of inner eperience This

eperience becomes in a certain way condensed

hat is brou'ht about by this we learn throu'h that obser&ation of oursel&es which sets in when the

inner acti&ity described has been continued for a sufficiently lon' time It is true that much patienceis re8uired before con&incin' results appear And if we are not disposed to eercise such patience for

years7 we shall obtain nothin' of importance 5ere it is only possible to 'i&e one eample of suchresults7 for they are of many &arieties And that which is mentioned here is adapted to further the

particular method of meditation which we are now describin'

A man may carry out the inner stren'thenin' of the life of his soul which has been indicated for a

lon' period without perhaps anythin' happenin' in his inner life which is able to alter his usual wayof thin2in' with re'ard to the world "uddenly7 howe&er7 the followin' may occur ?aturally the

incident to be described mi'ht not occur in eactly the same way to two different persons But if wearri&e at a conception of one eperience of this 2ind7 we shall ha&e 'ained an understandin' of the

whole matter in 8uestion

A moment may occur in which the soul 'ets an inner eperience of itself in 8uite a new way At the

be'innin' it will 'enerally happen that the soul durin' sleep wa2es up7 as it were7 in a dream But wefeel at once that this eperience cannot be compared with ordinary dreams e are completely shut

off from the world of sense and intellect7 and yet we feel the eperience in the same way as when we

are standin' fully awa2e before the outer world in ordinary life e feel compelled to picture theeperience in oursel&es For this purpose we use ideas such as we ha&e in ordinary life7 but we 2now

&ery well that we are eperiencin' thin's different from those to which such ideas are normallyattached These ideas are only used as a means of epression for an eperience which we ha&e not

had before7 and which we are also able to 2now that it is impossible for us to ha&e in ordinary life

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e feel7 for instance7 as thou'h thunderstorms were all around us e hear thunder and see

li'htnin' And yet we 2now we are in our own room e feel permeated by a force pre&iously 8uiteun2nown to us Then we ima'ine we see rents in the walls around us7 and we feel compelled to say

to oursel&es or to some one we thin2 is near us 3I am now in 'reat difficulties7 the li'htnin' is 'oin'throu'h the house and ta2in' hold of me9 I feel it seiCin' and dissol&in' me3 hen such a series of

representations has been 'one throu'h7 the inner eperience passes bac2 to ordinary soul-conditions e find oursel&es a'ain in oursel&es with the memory of the eperience :ust under'one

If this memory is as &i&id and accurate as any other7 it enables us to form an opinion of theeperience e then ha&e a direct 2nowled'e that we ha&e 'one throu'h somethin' which cannot be

eperienced by any physical sense nor by ordinary intelli'ence7 for we feel that the description :ust'i&en and communicated to others or to oursel&es is only a means of epressin' the eperience

Althou'h the epression is a means of understandin' the fact of the eperience7 it has nothin' incommon with it e 2now that we do not need any of our senses in ha&in' such an eperience


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Throu'h such an eperience as the one described7 we 'ain the possibility of obser&in' that which

belon's to our proper self not only by means of the senses and intellect - in other words7 the bodilyinstruments ?ow we not only 2now somethin' more of the world than those instruments will allow

of7 but we 2now it in a different way This is especially important A soul that passes throu'h an innertransformation will more and more clearly comprehend that the oppressi&e problems of eistence

cannot be sol&ed in the world of sense because the senses and the intellect cannot penetrate deeplyenou'h into the world as a whole Those souls penetrate deeper which so transform themsel&es as to

be able to ha&e eperiences when outside the body9 and it is in the records which they are able to'i&e of their eperiences that the means for sol&in' the riddles of the soul can be found

?ow an eperience that occurs when outside the body is of a 8uite different nature from one madewhen in the body This is shown by the &ery opinion which may be formed about the eperiences

described7 when7 after it is o&er7 the ordinary wa2in' condition of the soul is re-established andmemory has come into a &i&id and clear condition The physical body is felt by the soul as separated

from the rest of the world7 and seems only to ha&e a real eistence in so far as it belon's to the soul

It is not so7 howe&er7 with that which we eperience within oursel&es and with re'ard to oursel&es

when outside the body7 for then we feel oursel&es lin2ed to all that may be called the outer world Allour surroundin's are felt as belon'in' to us :ust as our hands do in the world of sense There is no

indifference to the world outside us when we come to the inner soul-world e feel oursel&es

completely 'rown to'ether7 and wo&en into one with that which here may be called the world Itsacti&ities are actually felt streamin' throu'h our own bein' There is no sharp boundary line betweenan inner and an outer world The whole en&ironment belon's to the obser&in' soul :ust as our two

physical hands belon' to our physical head

In spite of this7 howe&er7 we may say that a certain part of this outer world belon's more to

oursel&es than the rest of the en&ironment7 in the same way in which we spea2 of the head asindependent of the hands or feet >ust as the soul calls a piece of the outer physical world its body7

so when li&in' outside the body it may also consider a part of the supersensible outer world asbelon'in' to it hen we penetrate to an obser&ation of the realm accessible to us beyond the world

of the senses7 we may &ery well say that a body unpercei&ed by the senses belon's to us e maycall this body the elemental or etheric body7 but in usin' the word 3etheric3 we must not allow any

connection with that fine matter which science calls 3ether3 to establish itself in our mind

>ust as the mere reflection upon the connection between man and the outer world of nature leads toa conception of the physical body which a'rees with facts7 so does the pil'rima'e of the soul into

realms that can be percei&ed outside the physical body lead to the reco'nition of an elemental or

etheric body7 or body of formati&e forces

T#ird "editation

In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of #lair&oyant #o'nition of the $lemental orld

hen we ha&e perceptions by means of the elemental body and not throu'h the physical senses7 we

eperience a world that remains un2nown to perception of the senses and to ordinary intellectualthin2in' If we wish to compare this world with somethin' belon'in' to ordinary life7 we shall find

nothin' more appropriate than the world of memory >ust as recollections emer'e from the

innermost soul7 so also do the supersensible eperiences of the elemental body In the case of amemory-picture the soul 2nows that it is related to an earlier eperience in the world of the senses

In a similar way the supersensible conception implies a relation >ust as the recollection by its &erynature presents itself as somethin' which cannot be described as a mere picture of the ima'ination7

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so does also the supersensible conception The latter wrests itself from the soul;s eperience7 but

manifests itself immediately as an inner eperience that is related to somethin' eternal It is bymeans of recollection that a past eperience becomes present to the soul But it is by means of a

supersensible conception that somethin'7 which at some time can be found somewhere in thesupersensible world7 becomes an inner eperience of the soul The &ery nature of "upersensible

conceptions impresses upon our mind that they are to be loo2ed upon as communications from asupersensible world manifestin' within the soul

5ow far we 'et in this way with our eperiences in the supersensible world depends upon theamount of ener'y we apply to the stren'thenin' of the life of our soul

The attainment of the con&iction that a plant is not merely that which we percei&e in the world of thesenses as well as the attainment of such a con&iction with re'ard to the whole earth belon's to the

same sphere of supersensible eperience If any one who has ac8uired the faculty of perception

when outside his physical body7 loo2s at a plant7 he will be able to percei&e - besides what his sensesare showin' him - a delicate form which permeates the whole plant This form presents itself as an

entity of force9 and he is brou'ht to consider this entity as that which builds up the plant from the

materials and forces of the physical world7 and which brin's about the circulation of the sap

5e may say - employin' an a&ailable7 althou'h not an alto'ether appropriate simile - that there is

somethin' in the plant which sets the sap in motion in the same way as that in which his own soulmo&es his arm 5e loo2s upon somethin' internal in the plant7 and he must allow a certain

independence to this inner principle of the plant in its relation to that part which is percei&ed by thesenses 5e must also admit that this inner principle eisted before the physical plant eisted Then if

he continues to obser&e how a plant 'rows7 withers7 and produces seeds7 and how new plants 'rowout of these7 he will find the supersensible form of ener'y especially powerful7 when he obser&es

these seeds At this period the physical bein' is insi'nificant in a certain respect7 whereas thesupersensible entity is hi'hly differentiated and contains e&erythin' that7 from the supersensible

world7 contributes to the 'rowth of the plant

?ow in the same way by supersensible obser&ation of the whole earth7 we disco&er an entity of force

which we can 2now with absolute certainty eisted before e&erythin' came into bein' which is

perceptible by the senses upon and within the earth In this way we arri&e at an eperience of thepresence of those supersensible forces which co-operated in formin' and de&elopin' the earth in the

past hat is thus eperienced we may :ust as well call the etheric or elemental basic entities orbodies of the plant and of the earth7 as we call the body throu'h which we 'ain perception when

outside the body7 our own elemental or etheric body

$&en when we first be'in to be able to obser&e in a supersensible way7 we can assi'n elementalbasic-entities of this 2ind to certain thin's and processes apart from their ordinary 8ualities7 which

are perceptible in the world of the senses e are able to spea2 of an etheric body belon'in' to theplant or to the earth 5owe&er7 the elemental bein's 7obser&ed in this way are not by any means the

only ones which re&eal themsel&es to supersensible eperience

e characterise the elemental body of a plant by sayin' that it builds up a form from the materialsand forces of the physical world and thereby manifests its life in a physical body But we may alsoobser&e bein's that lead an elemental eistence without manifestin' their life in a physical body

Thus entities that are purely elemental are re&ealed to supersensible obser&ation It is not merelythat we eperience an addition7 as it were7 to the physical world9 we eperience another world in

which the world of the senses presents itself as somethin' which may be compared to pieces of icefloatin' about in water

A man who could only see the ice and not the water mi'ht 8uite possibly ascribe reality to the ice

only and not to the water "imilarly7 if we ta2e into account only that which manifests itself to the

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senses7 we may deny the eistence of the supersensible world7 of which the world of the senses is in

reality a part7 :ust as the floatin' pieces of ice are part of the water in which they are floatin'

?ow we shall find that those who are able to ma2e supersensible obser&ations describe what they

behold by ma2in' use of epressions borrowed from the perceptions of sense Thus we may find theelemental body of a bein' in the world of the senses7 or that of a purely elemental bein'7 described

as manifestin' itself as a self-contained body of li'ht and ha&in' manifold colours

These colours flash forth7 'low or shine7 and it appears that these phenomena of li'ht and colour are

the manifestation of its life But that of which the obser&er is really spea2in' is alto'ether in&isible7and he is perfectly aware that the li'ht or colour-picture which he 'i&es7 has no more to do with that

which he actually percei&es than7 for instance7 the writin' in which a fact is communicated has to dowith the fact itself And yet the supersensible eperience has not been epressed throu'h arbitrarily

chosen perceptions of the senses The picture seen is actually before the obser&er7 and is similar to

an impression of the senses

This is so because7 durin' supersensible eperiences liberation from the physical body is notcomplete The physical body is still connected with the elemental body7 and brin's the supersensible

eperience in a form drawn from the sense world Thus the description 'i&en of an elemental bein' is'i&en in the form of a &isionary or fanciful combination of sense-impressions But in spite of this7 it

is7 when 'i&en in this manner7 a true renderin' of what has been eperienced For we ha&e reallyseen what we are describin' The mista2e that may be made is not in describin' the &ision as such7

but in ta2in' the &ision for the reality7 instead of that to which the &ision points namely7 the realityunderlyin' it A man who has ne&er seen colours - a man born blind - will not7 when he attains to the

correspondin' faculty of perception7 describe elemental bein's in such a way as to spea2 of flashin'colours 5e will ma2e use of epressions familiar to him

To people7 howe&er7 who are able to see physically7 it is 8uite appropriate when they7 in theirdescription7 ma2e use of some such epression as the flashin' forth of a colour form By its aid they

can 'i&e an impression of what has been seen by the obser&er of the elemental world And this holds'ood not only for communications made by a clair&oyant - that is to say7 one who is able to percei&e

by the aid of his elemental body - to a non-clair&oyant7 but also for the intercommunication between

clair&oyants themsel&es In the world of the senses man li&es in his physical body7 and this bodyclothes the supersensible obser&ations in forms perceptible to the senses Therefore the epression

of supersensible obser&ations by ma2in' use of the sense-pictures they produce is7 in ordinary earth-life7 a useful means of communication

The point is7 that any one recei&in' communication eperiences in his soul somethin' bearin' the

ri'ht relation to the fact in 8uestion Indeed7 the pictures are only communicated in order to callforth an eperience "uch as they really are7 they cannot be found in the outer world That is their

characteristic and also the reason why they call forth eperiences that ha&e no relation to anythin'material

At the be'innin' of his clair&oyance7 the pupil will find it difficult to become independent of the sense

picture hen his faculty becomes more de&eloped7 howe&er7 a cra&in' will arise for in&entin' morearbitrary means of communicatin' what has been seen These will in&ol&e the necessity foreplainin' the si'ns which he uses The more the ei'encies of our time demand the 'eneral

diffusion of supersensible 2nowled'e7 the 'reater will be the necessity for clothin' such 2nowled'e inthe epressions used in e&eryday life on the physical plane

?ow at certain times supersensible eperiences may come upon the pupil of themsel&es And he has

then the opportunity of learnin' somethin' about the supersensible world by personal eperienceaccordin' as he is more or less often fa&oured7 as we may say7 by that world throu'h its shinin' into

the ordinary life of his soul A hi'her faculty howe&er is that of callin' forth at will clair&oyant

perception from the soul-life

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The path to the attainment of this faculty results ordinarily from ener'etic continuation of the inner

stren'thenin' of the soul-life7 but much also depends upon establishin' a certain 2eynote in the soulA calm unruffled attitude of mind is necessary in re'ard to the supersensible world - an attitude

which is as far remo&ed on the one hand from the burnin' desire to eperience the most possible inthe clearest possible manner as it is from a personal lac2 of interest in that world Burnin' desire has

the effect of diffusin' somethin' li2e an in&isible mist before the clair&oyant si'ht7 whilst lac2 ofinterest acts in such a way that thou'h the supersensible facts really do manifest themsel&es7 they

are simply not noticed This lac2 of interest shows itself now and then in a &ery peculiar form

There are persons who honestly wish for supersensible eperiences7 but they form a priori a certain

definite idea of what these eperiences should be in order to be ac2nowled'ed as real Then whenthe real eperiences arri&e7 they flit by without bein' met by any interest7 :ust because they are not

such as one has ima'ined that they ou'ht to be

In the case of &oluntarily produced clair&oyance there comes a moment in the course of the soul;sinner acti&ity when we 2now6 now my soul is eperiencin' somethin' that it ne&er eperienced

before The eperience is not a definite one7 but a 'eneral feelin' that we are not confrontin' the

outer world of the senses7 nor are we within it7 nor yet are we within oursel&es as in the ordinary lifeof the soul

The outer and inner eperiences melt into one7 into a feelin' of life7 hitherto un2nown to the soul7concernin' which7 howe&er7 the soul 2nows that it could not be felt if it were only li&in' within the

outer world by means of the senses or by its ordinary feelin's and recollections e feel7 moreo&er7that durin' this condition of the soul somethin' is penetratin' into it from a world hitherto un2nown

e cannot7 howe&er7 arri&e at a conception of this un2nown somethin' e ha&e the eperience butcan form no idea of it ?ow we shall find that when we ha&e such an eperience we 'et a feelin' as if

there were a hindrance in our physical bodies pre&entin' us from formin' a conception of that whichis penetratin' into the soul If7 howe&er7 we continue the inner efforts of our soul we shall7 after a

while7 feel that we ha&e o&ercome our own corporeal resistance

The physical apparatus of the intellect had hitherto only been able to form ideas in connection with

eperiences in the world of the senses It is at the outset incapable of raisin' to a picture that which

wants to manifest itself from out of the supersensible world It must first be so prepared as to beable to do this In the same way as a child is surrounded by the outer world7 but has to ha&e his

intellectual apparatus prepared by eperience in that world before he is able to form ideas of hissurroundin's7 so is man2ind in 'eneral unable to form an idea of the supersensible world

The clair&oyant who wishes to ma2e pro'ress prepares his own apparatus for formin' ideas so that it

will wor2 on a hi'her le&el in eactly the same way as that of a child is prepared to wor2 in the worldof the senses 5e ma2es his stren'thened thou'hts wor2 upon this apparatus and as a conse8uence

the latter is by de'rees remodeled 5e becomes capable of includin' the supersensible world in therealm of his ideas

Thus we feel how throu'h the acti&ity of the soul we can influence and remodel our own body In the

be'innin' the body acts as a stron' counterpoise to the life of the soul9 we feel it as a forei'n bodywithin us But presently we notice how it always adapts itself increasin'ly to the eperiences of thesoul9 until7 finally7 we do not feel it any more at all7 but find before us the supersensible world7 :ust

as we do not notice the eistence of the eye with which we loo2 upon the world of colours The bodythen must become imperceptible before the soul can behold the supersensible world

hen we ha&e in this way deliberately arri&ed at ma2in' the soul clair&oyant7 we shall7 as a rule7 be

able to reproduce this state at will if we concentrate upon some thou'ht that we are able toeperience within oursel&es in a specially powerful manner As a conse8uence of surrenderin'

oursel&es to such a thou'ht we shall find that clair&oyance is brou'ht about

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At first we shall not be able to see anythin' definite which we especially wish to see "upersensible

thin's or happenin's for which we are in no way prepared7 or desire to call forth7 will play into thelife of the soul et7 by continuin' our inner efforts7 we shall also attain to the faculty of directin' the

spiritual eye to such thin's as we wish to in&esti'ate hen we ha&e for'otten an eperience we tryto bein' it bac2 to our memory by recallin' to the mind somethin' connected with the eperience9

and in the same way we may7 as clair&oyants7 start from an eperience which we may ri'htly thin2 isconnected with what we want to find

In surrenderin' oursel&es with intensity to the 2nown eperience7 we shall often after a lon'er orshorter lapse of time find added to it that eperience which it was our ob:ect to attain In 'eneral7

howe&er7 it is to be noted that it is of the &ery 'reatest importance for the clair&oyant 8uietly to waitfor the propitious moment e should not desire to attract anythin' If a desired eperience does not

arri&e7 it is best to 'i&e up the search for a while and to try to 'et an opportunity another time Thehuman apparatus of co'nition needs to de&elop calmly up to the le&el of certain eperiences If we

ha&e not the patience to await such de&elopment7 we shall ma2e incorrect or inaccurateobser&ations

!ourt# "editation

In which the Attempt is made to form a #onception of the *uardian of the Threshold

hen the soul has attained the faculty of ma2in' obser&ations whilst remainin' outside the physical

body7 certain difficulties may arise with re'ard to its emotional life It may find itself compelled tota2e up 8uite a different position towards itself from that to which it was formerly accustomed

The soul was accustomed to re'ard the physical world as outside itself7 while it considered all inner

eperience as its own particular possession To supersensible surroundin's7 howe&er7 it cannot ta2e

up the same position as to the outer world As soon as the soul percei&es the supersensible worldaround it7 it must mer'e with it to a certain etent6 it cannot consider itself as separate from these

surroundin's as it does from the outer world Throu'h this fact all that can be desi'nated as our own

inner world in relation to the supersensible surroundin's assumes a certain character which is noteasily reconcilable with the idea of inward pri&acy e can no lon'er say7 3I thin273 3I feel73 or 3I ha&emy thou'hts and fashion them as I li2e3 But we must say instead7 3"omethin' thin2s in me7

somethin' ma2es emotions flash forth in me7 somethin' forms thou'hts and compels them to comeforward in an absolutely definite way and ma2e their presence felt in my consciousness3

?ow this feelin' may contain somethin' eceedin'ly depressin' when the manner in which thesupersensible eperience presents itself is such as to con&ey the certainty that we are actually

eperiencin' a reality and are not losin' oursel&es in ima'inary fancies or illusions "uch as it is itmay indicate that the supersensible surroundin' world wants to feel7 and to thin2 for itself7 but that it

is hindered in the realisation of its intention At the same time we 'et a feelin' that that which herewants to enter the soul is the true reality and the only one that can 'i&e an eplanation of all we

ha&e hitherto eperienced as real

This feelin' also 'i&es the impression that the supersensible reality shows itself as somethin' whichin &alue infinitely transcends the reality hitherto 2nown to the soul This feelin' is therefore

depressin'7 because it ma2es us feel that we are actually forced to will the net step which has to be

ta2en It lies in the &ery nature of that which we ha&e become throu'h our own inner eperience tota2e this step If we do not ta2e it we must feel this to be a denial of our own bein'7 or e&en self-

annihilation And yet we may also ha&e the feelin' that we cannot ta2e it7 or if we attempt it as faras we can7 it must remain imperfect

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All this de&elops into the idea6 "uch as the soul now is7 a tas2 lies before it7 which it cannot master7

because such as it now is7 it is re:ected by its supersensible surroundin's7 for the supersensibleworld does not wish to ha&e it within its realm And so the soul arri&es at a feelin' of bein' in

contradiction to the supersensible world9 and has to say to itself6 3I am not such as to ma2e itpossible for me to min'le with that world7 and yet only there can I learn the true reality and my

relation to it9 for I ha&e separated myself from the reco'nition of Truth3 This feelin' means aneperience which will ma2e more and more clear and decisi&e the eact &alue of our own soul

e feel oursel&es and our whole life to be steeped in an error And yet this error is distinct fromother errors The others are thou'ht9 but this is a li&in' eperience An error that is only thou'ht

may be remo&ed when the wron' thou'ht is replaced by the ri'ht one But the error that has beeneperienced has become part of the life of our soul itself9 we oursel&es are the error7 we cannot

simply correct it7 for7 thin2 as we will7 it is there7 it is part of reality7 and that7 too7 our own reality"uch an eperience is a crushin' one for the 3self3 e feel our inmost bein' painfully re:ected by all

that we desire This pain7 which is felt at a certain sta'e in the pil'rima'e of the soul7 is far beyondanythin' which can be felt as pain in the physical world And therefore it may surpass e&erythin'

which we ha&e hitherto become able to master in the life of our soul

It may ha&e the effect of stunnin' us The soul stands before the anious 8uestion6 hence shall I

'ather stren'th to carry the burden laid upon me@ And the soul must find that stren'th within its

own life It consists in somethin' that may be characterised as inner coura'e7 inner fearlessness

In order now to be able to proceed further in the pil'rima'e of the soul7 we must ha&e de&eloped sofar that the stren'th which enables us to bear our eperiences will well up from within us and

produce this inner coura'e and inner fearlessness in a de'ree ne&er re8uired for life in the physicalbody "uch stren'th is only produced by true self-2nowled'e In fact it is only at this sta'e of

de&elopment that we realise how little we ha&e hitherto really 2nown of oursel&es e ha&esurrendered oursel&es to our inner eperiences without obser&in' them as one obser&es a part of the

outer world Throu'h the steps that ha&e led to the faculty of etra-physical eperience7 howe&er7 weobtain a special means of self-2nowled'e

e learn in a certain sense to contemplate oursel&es from a standpoint which can only be found

when we are outside the physical body And the depressin' feelin' mentioned before is itself the &erybe'innin' of true self-2nowled'e To realise oneself as bein' in error in one;s relations to the outer

world is a si'n that one is realisin' the true nature of one;s own soul

It is in the nature of the human soul to feel such enli'htenment re'ardin' itself as painful It is onlywhen we feel this pain that we learn how stron' is the natural desire to feel oursel&es7 :ust as we are

- to be human bein's of importance and &alue It may seem an u'ly fact that this is so9 but we ha&eto face this u'liness of our own self without pre:udice e did not notice it before7 :ust because we

ne&er consciously penetrated deeply enou'h into our own bein'


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"uch special 2inds of self-2nowled'e manifest themsel&es in different people accordin' to the special

constitution of their souls They appear when eperience outside the body be'ins7 for then our self-2nowled'e becomes a true one7 and is no lon'er troubled by any desire to find oursel&es modeled in

some such way as we should li2e to be

"uch special self-2nowled'e is painful and depressin' to the soul7 but if we want to attain to the

faculty of eperience outside the body7 it cannot be a&oided7 for it is necessarily called forth by the

special position which we must ta2e up with re'ard to our own soul For the &ery stron'est powers ofthe soul are re8uired7 e&en if it is only a 8uestion of an ordinary human bein' obtainin' self-2nowled'e in a 'eneral way e are obser&in' oursel&es from a standpoint outside our pre&ious

inner life

e ha&e to say to oursel&es6 3I ha&e contemplated and :ud'ed the thin's and occurrences of the

world accordin' to my human nature I must now try to ima'ine that I cannot contemplate and

:ud'e them in that way But then I should not be what I am I should ha&e no inner eperiences Ishould be a mere nothin'3 And not only a man in the midst of ordinary e&eryday life7 who only &ery

rarely e&en thin2s about the world or life7 would ha&e to address himself in this way Any man of

science7 or any philosopher7 would ha&e to do so For e&en philosophy is only obser&ation and:ud'ment of the world accordin' to indi&idual 8ualities and conditions of the human soul-life

?ow such a :ud'ment cannot min'le with supersensible surroundin's It is re:ected by them Andtherewith e&erythin' we ha&e been up to that moment is re:ected e loo2 bac2 upon our whole

soul7 upon our e'o itself7 as upon somethin' which has to be laid aside7 when we want to enter thesupersensible world The soul7 howe&er7 cannot but consider this e'o as its real bein' until it enters

the supersensible worlds The soul must consider it as the true human bein'7 and must say to itself63Throu'h this my e'o I ha&e to form ideas of the world I must not lose this e'o of mine if I do not

want to 'i&e myself up as a bein' alto'ether;

There is in the soul the stron'est inclination to 'uard the e'o at all points in order not to lose one;s

foothold absolutely hat the soul thus feels of necessity to be ri'ht in ordinary life7 it must no lon'erfeel when it enters supersensible surroundin's It has there to cross a threshold7 where it must lea&e

behind not only this or that precious possession7 but that &ery bein' which it has hitherto belie&ed

itself to be The soul must be able to say to itself6 3That which until now has seemed to me to be mysurest truth7 I must now7 on the other side of the threshold of the supersensible world7 be able to

consider as my deepest error3

Before such a demand the soul may well recoil The feelin' may be so stron' that the necessarysteps would seem a surrender of its own bein'7 and an ac2nowled'ment of its own nothin'ness7 so

that it admits more or less completely on the threshold its own powerlessness to fulfil the demandsput before it This ac2nowled'ment may ta2e all possible forms It may appear merely as an instinct

and seem to the pupil who thin2s and acts upon it as somethin' 8uite different from what it really is5e may7 for instance7 feel a 'reat disli2e to all supersensible truths 5e may consider them as day

dreams7 or ima'inary fancies

5e does so only because in those depths of his soul of which he is i'norant he has a secret fear ofthese truths 5e feels that he can only li&e with that which is admitted by his senses and hisintellectual :ud'ment 5e therefore a&oids arri&in' at the threshold of the supersensible world7 and

he &eils the fact of his a&oidance of it by sayin'6 3 That which is supposed to lie behind that thresholdis not tenable by reason or by science3 The fact is simply that he lo&es reason and science such as

he 2nows them7 because they are bound up with his e'o This is a &ery7 fre8uent form of self-lo&eand cannot as such be brou'ht into the supersensible world

It may also happen that there is not only this instincti&e halt before the threshold The pupil may

consciously proceed to the threshold and then turn bac27 because he fears that which lies before

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him 5e will then not easily be able to blot out from the ordinary life of his soul the effect of thus

approachin' it The effect will be that wea2ness will spread o&er the whole of his soul;s life

hat ou'ht to ta2e place is this7 that the pupil on enterin' the supersensible world should ma2e

himself able to renounce that which in ordinary life he considers as the deepest truth and to adapthimself to a different way of feelin' and :ud'in' thin's But at the same time he must 2eep in mind

that when he a'ain confronts the physical world7 he must ma2e use of the ways of feelin'7 and

:ud'in' that are suitable for this physical world 5e must not only learn to li&e in two differentworlds7 but also to li&e in each in 8uite a different way7 and he must not allow his sound :ud'ment7which he needs for ordinary life in the world of reason and of the senses7 to be encroached upon by

the fact that he is obli'ed to ma2e use of another 2ind of discernment while in another world

To ta2e up such a position is difficult for human nature7 and the capacity for doin' so is only ac8uired

throu'h continued ener'etic and patient stren'thenin' of our soul-life Any one who 'oes throu'h

the eperiences of the threshold realises that it is a boon to the ordinary life of the soul not to be ledso far

The feelin's that awa2en are such that one cannot but thin2 that this boon proceeds from some

powerful entity7 who protects man from the dan'er of under'oin' the dread of self-annihilation at thethreshold Behind the outer world of ordinary life there is another Before the threshold of this world

a stern 'uardian is standin'7 who pre&ents man from 2nowin' what the laws of the supersensibleworld are For all doubts and all uncertainty concernin' that world are7 after all7 easier to bear than

the si'ht of that which one must lea&e behind when we want to cross the threshold

The pupil remains protected a'ainst the eperience described7 as lon' as he does not step forward to

the &ery threshold The fact that he recei&es descriptions of such eperiences from those who ha&etrodden or crossed this threshold does not chan'e the fact of his bein' protected


17/29

e obser&e that this is so when we want to find our way about in the supersensible world outside the

physical body It may happen that we ha&e before us some fact or bein' of the supersensible worldIt may be there7 and we can behold it7 but we do not 2now what it is If we are stron' enou'h7 we

may dri&e it away7 but only by carryin' oursel&es bac2 into the world of the senses by ener'eticconcentration upon our eperiences in that world

e are7 howe&er7 unable to remain in the supersensible world and compare with other bein's or facts

the bein' or the fact percei&ed And yet it is only by so doin' that we could form a correct estimateof what is beheld Thus our 3si'ht3 in the supersensible world may be limited to the perception ofsin'le thin's without the faculty of mo&in' freely from one thin' to another e then feel fettered to

that sin'le thin'

e may now loo2 for the reason of this limitation This can only be found when throu'h further inner

de&elopment the life of our soul has been still more stren'thened and we arri&e at a point when this

limitation is no lon'er there And then we shall disco&er that the reason why we could not mo&e fromone thin' to another is to be found in our own soul e learn that si'ht in the supersensible world

differs in this way from perception in the world of the senses


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At this sta'e of the soul;s pil'rima'e the pupil feels himself an eile in the elemental world But now

he can 'o on further if sufficient force has been aroused in him throu'h his inner eercises 5e maybe'in to see a new world emer'e - not in the elemental world7 but within himself - a world that is not

one either with the physical or with the elemental world For such a pupil a second supersensibleworld is added to the first

This second supersensible world is at first completely an inner world The pupil feels that he carries it

within himself and that he is alone with it To compare this state to anythin' in the world of thesenses7 let us ta2e the followin' case "omebody has lost all his dear ones throu'h death and nowcarries only the recollection of them in his soul They li&e on for him only as his thou'hts Thus it is

in the second supersensible world Man stands to this second supersensible world in such a way thathe carries it within himself9 but he 2nows that he is shut out from its reality ?e&ertheless he feels

that this reality within his soul7 whate&er it may be7 is somethin' much more real than mererecollection from the world of the senses

This supersensible world li&es an independent life within one;s own soul All that is there is yearnin'

to 'et out of the soul7 and arri&e at somethin' else Thus one feels a world within oneself7 but a

world that does not want to remain there This produces a feelin' li2e bein' torn asunder by e&eryseparate detail of that world


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That which the soul in this way learns to 2now within itself is not the elemental body It stands in

relation to that body as its 3awa2ener3 It is a bein' dwellin' within the soul which is eperienced inthe same way as that in which you would eperience yourself durin' sleep if you were not

unconscious but felt yourself to be conscious when outside your physical body and in the position ofits 3awa2ener3 at the moment of its rousin' from sleep Thus the soul learns to 2now a bein' within

itself which is a third somethin' beside the physical and the elemental bodies et us call thissomethin' the astral body7 and this epression shall7 for the time bein'7 mean nothin' but that which

in the way described is eperienced within the bein' of the soul

Si$t# "editation

In which the Attempt is made to form a #onception of the $'o-Body or Thou'ht-Body

The feelin' of bein' outside our physical body is stron'er durin' eperiences within the astral bodythan durin' those within the elemental body In the case of the elemental body we feel oursel&es

outside the re'ion in which the physical body eists7 and yet we feel connected with the latter bodyIn the astral body we feel the physical body itself as somethin' outside our own bein'


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relation to our own former e'o as we do to our recollections in the physical world ust as the e'o in ordinary life feels independent of its ownrecollections7 so our newly-found e'o feels itself independent of our former e'o

It feels that it belon's to a world of purely spiritual bein's And as this eperience - a realeperience6 no mere theory - comes to us7 so we realise what that really is which we hitherto

considered as our e'o It presents itself as a web of recollections7 produced by the physical7 the

elemental7 and the astral bodies in the same way as an ima'e is produced by a mirror >ust as littleas a man identifies himself with his re:ected picture7 so little does the soul7 eperiencin' itself in the

spiritual world7 identify itself with that which it eperiences of itself in the world of the senses The

comparison with the re:ected ima'e is7 of course7 to be ta2en merely as a comparison

For the reflected ima'e &anishes when we chan'e our position with re'ard to the mirror The web

wo&en of recollections and representin' what we in the physical world consider as our own bein'7has a 'reater de'ree of independence than the ima'e in the mirror It has in a certain way a bein' of

its own And yet to the real bein' of the soul it is only li2e a picture of our real self The real bein' ofthe soul feels that this picture is needed for the manifestation of its real self This real bein' 2nows

that it is somethin' different7 but also that it would ne&er ha&e attained to any real 2nowled'e ofitself if it had not at first realised itself as its own ima'e within that world7 which7 after its ascent into

the spiritual world7 becomes an outer world

The web of recollection which we now re'ard as our former e'o may be called the 3e'o-body3 or

3thou'ht-body3 The word 3body3 must in this connection be ta2en in a wider sense than that whichis usually called a 3body3 By 3body 3 is here meant all that we eperience as belon'in' to us and of

which we do not say7 3e are it73 but7 3e possess it3


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The bonds which attach the e'o to the spiritual bein's of the supersensible world are not touched in

their innermost character either by birth or by death In physical eistence these bonds only showthemsel&es in a special way That which appears in this world is the epression of realities of a

supersensible nature ?ow as man as such is a supersensible bein'7 and also appears so tosupersensible obser&ation7 so the bonds between souls in the supersensible world are not affected by

death And that anious 8uestion which comes before the ordinary consciousness of the soul in thisprimiti&e form6 3 "hall I meet a'ain after death those with whom I 2now I ha&e been connected

durin' physical eistence@3 must7 by any real in&esti'ator7 who is entitled to form a :ud'ment basedupon eperience7 be emphatically answered in the affirmati&e

$&erythin' that has been said of the bein' of the soul eperiencin' itself as a spiritual reality withinthe world of other spiritual bein's7 may be seen and confirmed if we stren'then the life of our soul in

the way mentioned before And it is possible to ma2e this easier and to help oneself alon' by thede&elopment of special feelin's In ordinary life in the physical world we ta2e up such a position to al

that we feel to be our fate7 as to feel sympathy or antipathy for different occurrences

A self-obser&er7 who is able to remain 8uite unbiased7 must admit that these sympathies and

antipathies are some of the stron'est that man is able to feel


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An intense7 repeated meditati&e union with the thou'ht7 that in many instances it is 8uite indifferent

to the course of human life whether we oursel&es or others are able to do certain thin's7 may carryus a lon' way towards true imperturbability with re'ard to that which we feel to be the innermost

wor2in' of fate in our own li&es "uch inner reinforcement of the life of our soul7 by steepin' it inthou'ht7 when ri'htly done7 can ne&er lead to a mere bluntin' of our feelin' for our own capacities

Instead they are transformed and we realise the necessity of beha&in' in accordance with thesecapacities

And here we ha&e already indicated the direction ta2en by this stren'thenin' of the life of the soul bythou'ht e learn to realise somethin' in oursel&es which appears to the soul as a second bein'

within it This becomes especially manifest7 when we connect with it thou'hts which show how inordinary life we brin' about this or that e&ent in our destiny e are able to see that this or that

would not ha&e happened to us7 if we had not beha&ed in a certain way at an earlier period in ourlife

hat happens to us to-day is truly in many ways the result of what we did yesterday e may now7

with the intention of carryin' our soul;s eperience further than some point at which we ha&e

arri&ed7 loo2 bac2 upon our past eperience e may then search out all that shows how weoursel&es ha&e prepared our later destinies e may try in so doin' to 'o bac2 so far as to reach

that point where the consciousness awa2ens in the child7 which enables it later in life to remember

what it has eperienced

If we set about this retrospect in such a way that we combine with it an attitude of mind whicheliminates the usual selfish sympathies and antipathies with re'ard to occurrences in our own

destiny7 then7 ha&in' reached in memory the abo&e-mentioned point in our childhood7 we faceoursel&es in such a way as to be able to say6 At that time the possibility of feelin' oursel&es in

oursel&es and of conscious wor2 upon the life of our soul first presented itself9 but this e'o of ourswas there before7 and it7 althou'h not wor2in' consciously within us7 has brou'ht us our capacity for

2nowled'e as well as e&erythin' we now 2now The attitude towards our own destiny :ust describedbrin's about what no intellectual reflection is able to produce

e learn to loo2 at the e&ents of destiny with e8uanimity9 we meet them with an unpre:udiced mind9

but we see in the bein' who brin's these happenin's upon us our own self And when we loo2 uponoursel&es in this way7 we find that the conditions of our own destiny7 already 'i&en us at birth7 are

connected with our own self e win our way to the con&iction that :ust as we ha&e wor2ed uponoursel&es since the awa2enin' of our consciousness7 so we had already been wor2in' before our

present consciousness awo2e

?ow such a wor2in' of oursel&es up to the realisation of a hi'her e'o-bein' within the ordinary e'oleads us not only to admit that our thou'hts ha&e brou'ht us to a theoretical statement of the

eistence of such a hi'her e'o7 but also ma2es us realise as a power within oursel&es the li&in'acti&ity of this e'o in all its reality and feel the ordinary e'o as a creation of the other This feelin' is7

in fact7 the first step towards beholdin' the spiritual bein' of the soul And if it leads to nothin'7 it isbecause we rest satisfied with the be'innin' only

This be'innin' may be a scarcely perceptible dull sensation It may remain so perhaps for a lon'time But if we stron'ly and ener'etically pursue the course which has led us up to this be'innin'7

we shall at last arri&e at beholdin' the soul as a spiritual bein' And ha&in' brou'ht oursel&es thusfar we shall easily understand why some one7 without any eperience in these matters7 may say that

in belie&in' we see such thin's we ha&e only created an ima'inati&e picture of a hi'her e'o throu'hauto-su''estion But one who has had the eperience 2nows that such an ob:ection can only be

deri&ed from lac2 of this &ery eperience

For those who seriously 'o throu'h this de&elopment ac8uire at the same time the capacity to

distin'uish between realities and the pictures of their own ima'ination The inner acti&ities and

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eperiences which are necessary durin' such a pil'rima'e of the soul7 if it is a ri'ht one7 ma2e us

practise the 'reatest circumspection towards oursel&es with re'ard to ima'ination and reality henwe systematically stri&e to attain the eperience of oursel&es in the hi'her e'o as spiritual bein's7

we shall consider as the principal eperience that which is described at the be'innin' of thismeditation and loo2 upon the rest as a help to the soul on its pil'rima'e

Se%ent# "editation

In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of the #haracter of $perience in "upersensible orlds

The eperiences that showed themsel&es to be necessary for the soul7 if it wants to penetrate into

supersensible worlds7 may seem deterrent to many people These may say they do not 2now whatwould befall them if they &entured upon such processes7 or how they would be able to stand them

Dnder the influence of such a feelin' the opinion is &ery easily formed that it is better not to interfere

artificially with the de&elopment of the soul7 but calmly to surrender to the 'uidance of which thesoul remains unconscious7 and to await its effect in the future upon one;s inner life

"uch a thou'ht must7 howe&er7 always be repressed by a person who is able to ma2e anotherthou'ht a li&in' power within him9 namely7 that it is natural to human nature to pro'ress7 and that if

no attention were paid to these thin's it would mean disloyally consi'nin' to sta'nation forces in thesoul which are waitin' to be unfolded Forces of self-unfoldin' are present in e&ery human soul7 and

there cannot be a sin'le one that would not listen to the call for unfoldin' them if in some way orother it could learn somethin' about these powers and their importance

Moreo&er7 nobody will allow himself to be deterred from the ascent into hi'her worlds unlessbeforehand he has ta2en up a false position towards the processes throu'h which he has to 'o

These processes are described in the precedin' meditations And if they are to be epressed bywords which must naturally be ta2en from ordinary human eistence7 they can be ri'htly epressed

only in that way For eperiences on the supersensible path of 2nowled'e are related to the human

soul in such a way that they are eactly similar to what7 for eample7 a hi'hly-strun' feelin' ofloneliness7 a feelin' of ho&erin' o&er an abyss and the li2e may mean to the soul of man

Throu'h the eperience of such feelin's and sensations the powers to tread the path of 2nowled'eare produced They are the 'erms of the fruits of supersensible 2nowled'e All these eperiences in acertain way carry somethin' in themsel&es which lies hidden deep within them7 hen they are

eperienced this hidden element is brou'ht to a state of the utmost tension7 somethin' bursts thefeelin' of loneliness7 which surrounds this hidden 3 somethin' 3 li2e a &eil7 and it then pushes

forward into the soul;s life as a means of 2nowled'e


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e are then obli'ed to draw from that which has already been obtained within oursel&es such forces

as ma2e it possible a'ain to find the balance And if the path of 2nowled'e be ri'htly trod nosituation can arise in which this would not be possible

The best path of 2nowled'e will always be the one that leads to the supersensible world throu'hstren'thenin' or condensin' the life of the soul by means of concentration on inner meditations

durin' which certain thou'hts or feelin's are retained in the mind In this case it is not a 8uestion of

eperiencin' a thou'ht or an emotion as we do in order to find our way in the physical world7 but thepoint is to li&e entirely with and within the thou'ht or emotion7 concentratin' all the powers of oursoul in it7 so that it entirely fills the consciousness durin' the time of retirement within oursel&es

e thin27 for instance7 of a thou'ht which has 'i&en to the soul a con&iction of some 2ind9 we at firstlea&e on one side any power of con&iction it may ha&e7 and only li&e with it and in it a'ain and a'ain

so as to become one with it It is not necessary that it should be a thou'ht of thin's belon'in' to the

hi'her worlds7 althou'h such a thou'ht is more effecti&e For inner meditation we can e&en use athou'ht which pictures an ordinary eperience Fruitful for instance7 are emotions which represent

resolutions with re'ard to deeds of lo&e7 and which we 2indle within oursel&es to the hi'hest de'ree

of human warmth and sincere eperience

$ffecti&e - especially where 2nowled'e is concerned - are symbolic representations7 'ained from life7

or accepted on the ad&ice of such persons as are in a certain way eperts in these matters7 becausethey 2now the fruitfulness of the means employed from what they themsel&es ha&e 'ained by them

Throu'h these meditations7 that must become a habit7 nay7 a necessity of life7 :ust as breathin' isnecessary for the life of the body7 we shall concentrate the powers of the soul7 and by concentratin'

stren'then them


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8uestion will either lose himself in them7 or lay himself open to e&ery concei&able 2ind of deception

with re'ard to their &alue7 their true meanin'7 and their importance within the real supersensibleworld

It is most important to 2eep in mind that on the path to supersensible 2nowled'e the soul chan'esIt may be the case that in ordinary life in the physical world7 we are not at all inclined to fall into any

2ind of illusion or deception7 but that on enterin' the supersensible world we fall &ictims to such

deceptions and illusions in the most credulous manner It may also happen that in the physical worldwe ha&e a &ery 'ood and sound feelin' for truth7 and understand that we must not thin2 only in sucha way of a thin' or an occurrence as to satisfy our own; e'oism in order to :ud'e it ri'htly9 yet in

spite of this we may arri&e at seein' in the supersensible world only what pleases our e'oism emust remember how this e'oism colours all that we behold

e are obser&in' only that to which our e'oism is directin' its 'aCe in accordance with its own

inclinations7 thou'h perhaps we may not realise that it is e'oism which is directin' our spiritual si'htAnd it is then 8uite natural that we should ta2e what we see for truth Protection a'ainst this can

only be obtained if7 on the path to supersensible 2nowled'e throu'h earnest self-obser&ation7 and

throu'h an ener'etic stri&in' for clearer self-2nowled'e7 we more and more de&elop our capacity todiscern truly how much e'oism is to be found in our own soul and where it is findin' utterance


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physical or'an draw the conclusion that the correspondin' part of the elemental body must be

imperfectly de&eloped e must always 2eep in mind that in the different worlds different 2inds oflaw pre&ail

A person may ha&e a physical or'an imperfectly de&eloped9 but at the same time the correspondin'elemental or'an may be not only normally perfect7 but more perfect to the same etent as the

physical one is imperfect In a si'nificant way does the difference between the supersensible and the

physical worlds present itself in all that is connected with ideas of beauty and u'liness The way inwhich these ideas are employed in physical eistence loses all si'nificance as soon as we entersupersensible worlds Beautiful7 for instance - only that bein' can be called beautiful which succeeds

in communicatin' all its inner eperiences to the other bein's of its world7 so that they can ta2e partin the totality of its eperience

The capacity of manifestin' all that li&es within oneself7 and of not ha&in' to hide away anythin'7

mi'ht in hi'her worlds be called 3beautiful3 And in these worlds this conception of beauty completelycoincides with that of unreser&ed sincerity7 of honest manifestation of that which a bein' carries

within itself "imilarly that bein' mi'ht be called u'ly which does not want to show outwardly its own

inner content7 and which holds bac2 its own eperience and hides itself from other bein's withre'ard to certain 8ualities "uch a bein' withdraws from its spiritual surroundin's This conception of

u'liness coincides with that of insincere manifestation of oneself To lie and to be u'ly are realities

which in the spiritual world are identical7 so that a bein' which appears u'ly is a deceitful bein'

hat are 2nown in the physical world as desires and wishes also appear with 8uite a differentsi'nificance in the spiritual world esires which in the physical world arise from the inner nature of

the human soul do not eist in the spiritual world hat may be termed desires in that world are2indled by that which is seen outside the bein' in 8uestion A bein' which must feel that it has not a

certain 8uality7 which7 accordin' to that bein';s nature7 it should ha&e7 beholds another bein'endowed with that 8uality7 Moreo&er it cannot help ha&in' this other bein' always before it

As in the physical world the eye naturally sees what is &isible7 so in the supersensible world the wantof a 8uality always carries a bein' into the nei'hbourhood of another bein' endowed with the 8uality

in 8uestion And the si'ht of this other bein' becomes a continual reproach that acts as a real force7

ma2in' the bein'7 who is hampered with the fault7 desirous of amendin' it This is a 8uite differenteperience from a desire in the physical world9 for in the spiritual world free will is not interfered with

throu'h such circumstances A bein' may oppose itself to that which the si'ht of somethin' else willcall forth within it It will then succeed by de'rees in bein' ta2en away from its model

The conse8uence7 howe&er7 will be that the bein' who opposes itself to its model will brin' itself into

worlds where the conditions of eistence will be worse than those would ha&e been which were 'i&ento it in the world for which it was in a certain way predestined

All this shows the soul that its world of conceptions must be transformed when enterin'supersensible realms Ideas must be chan'ed7 widened7 and blended with others if we want to

describe the supersensible world correctly That is the reason why descriptions of supersensible

worlds 'i&en in terms of the physical world without any alteration or transformation are alwaysunsatisfactory e may realise that it is the outcome of a correct human feelin'7 when we use7 withinthe physical world - more or less symbolically or e&en as immediately applicable - ideas which only

become fully si'nificant with re'ard to supersensible worlds

Thus we may really feel lyin' to be u'ly7 but compared with the character of this idea in thesupersensible world7 such a use of words in the physical world is only a reflection7 resultin' from the

fact that all the different worlds are related to one another7 and these relations are dimly felt andunconsciously percei&ed in the physical world et we must remember that in the physical world a lie7

which we feel as u'ly7 is not necessarily u'ly in its outer appearance7 and that it would be a

confusion of ideas if we were to eplain u'liness in physical nature as the outcome of lyin'

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In the supersensible world7 howe&er7 anythin' false7 seen in its ri'ht li'ht7 impresses itself upon us

as bein' u'ly in appearance 5ere a'ain possible deceptions ha&e to be ta2en into consideration and'uarded a'ainst The soul may meet a bein' in the supersensible world which may ri'htly be

characterised as e&il7 althou'h it manifests itself in a form that must be called beautiful if :ud'edaccordin' to the idea of the beautiful that we brin' with us from the physical world in such a case

we shall not be able to :ud'e correctly before we ha&e penetrated to the heart of the bein' in8uestion

e shall then disco&er that the 3beautiful3 manifestation was only a mas2 which does not harmonisewith the nature of the bein'7 and then that which we thou'ht to be beautiful - accordin' to ideas

borrowed from the physical world - impresses itself with particular force upon our mind as u'ly Andas soon as this happens7 the 3 e&il 3 bein' will no more be able to decei&e us with its 3beauty3 It

must un&eil itself to such a beholder in its true form7 which can only be an imperfect epression ofthat which it is within "uch phenomena of the supersensible world ma2e it especially e&ident how

human conceptions must be transformed when we enter that world

Eig#t# "editation

In which the Attempt is made to form an Idea of the ay in which Man beholds his 0epeated $arth-i&es

e are not really entitled to spea2 of dan'ers durin' the pil'rima'e of the soul throu'hsupersensible worlds7 when this pil'rima'e is underta2en in the ri'ht way The method would not

lead to its 'oal if amon'st the psychic instructions 'i&en there were those which created dan'ers forthe pupil The 'oal is rather to ma2e the soul stron'7 to concentrate its forces7 so that man should

become able to bear his soul;s eperiences7 which he has to 'o throu'h when he wants to see andunderstand other worlds than the physical Moreo&er7 an essential difference between the physical

world and the supersensible worlds is that beholdin'7 percei&in'7 and understandin' are related toone another in 8uite a different way in the two worlds

hen we hear about some part of the physical world7 we ha&e a certain ri'ht to feel that we can only

arri&e at a complete understandin' of it throu'h beholdin' and percei&in' it e do not belie&e we

ha&e understood a landscape or a picture until we ha&e seen it But the supersensible worlds can bethorou'hly understood when with unbiased :ud'ment we accept a correct description of them In

order to understand and to eperience all the forces for the stren'thenin' and fulfilment of life whichbelon' to spiritual worlds7 we only need the descriptions of those who are able to see 0eal

2nowled'e of those worlds at first hand can only be obtained by those who are able to in&esti'atewhen outside their physical body

escriptions of the spiritual worlds must always ori'inate with the seers But such 2nowled'e ofthese worlds as is necessary to the life of the soul may be obtained throu'h the understandin' And

it is perfectly possible to be unable to loo2 into supersensible worlds oneself and yet be able tounderstand them and their peculiarities7 with an understandin' for which the soul has under certain

circumstances a perfect ri'ht to as27 and indeed must as2

Therefore it is also possible that we should choose our means of meditation out of the store of

conceptions which we ha&e ac8uired concernin' the spiritual worlds "uch a means of meditation isby far the best and the one which leads us most safely to the 'oal

Althou'h such a notion may seem &ery natural7 it is7 howe&er7 not correct to belie&e that 2nowled'eof hi'her worlds obtained throu'h the understandin' before attainin' to supersensible &ision is an

obstacle to the de&elopment of such &ision The contrary is in fact more correct7 namely7 that it iseasier and safer to arri&e at clair&oyance with some preliminary understandin' than without

hether we stop short at understandin' only7 or 'o on to stri&e after clair&oyance7 depends upon theawa2enin' or non-awa2enin' of an inner cra&in' for firsthand 2nowled'e If such a cra&in' is there7

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we cannot but loo2 for e&ery opportunity to start on a real personal pil'rima'e into supersensible

worlds

The wish for an understandin' of the hi'her worlds will spread more and more amon'st the people of

our day9 for close obser&ation of human e&olution shows that from now onward human souls areenterin' upon a sta'e of de&elopment in which they will be unable to find the ri'ht relation to life

without an understandin' of supersensible worlds

E E E E E

hen we ha&e come so far on our soul;s pil'rima'e that we carry within oursel&es as a memory all

that we call 3ourself73 namely7 our own bein' in physical life7 and eperience oursel&es instead inanother7 newly-won superior e'o7 then we become capable of seein' our life stretchin' beyond the

limits of earthly life Before our spiritual si'ht appears the fact that we ha&e shared in another life7 in

the spiritual world7 prior to our present eistence in the world of the senses9 and in that spiritual lifeare to be found the real causes of the shapin' of our physical eistence

e become ac8uainted with the fact that before we recei&ed a physical body and entered upon thisphysical eistence we li&ed a purely spiritual life e see that that human bein' which we now are7

with its faculties and inclinations7 was prepared durin' a life that we spent in a purely spiritual worldbefore birth e loo2 upon oursel&es as upon bein's who li&ed spiritually before their entrance into

the world of the senses7 and who are now stri&in' to li&e as physical bein's with those faculties andpsychic characteristics which were

a road to self-knowledge by rudolf steiner

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