The Way of Initiation
GA 10
IV. Probation
[ 1 ] Probation consists of a strict cultivation of the emotional and mental life. Through this cultivation the “spiritual body” becomes equipped with new instruments of perception and new organs of activity, just as out of indeterminate living matter the natural forces have fitted the physical body with organs.
[ 2 ] The beginning is made by directing the attention of the soul to certain events in the world that surrounds us. Such events are germinating, expanding, and flourishing of life on the one hand, and, on the other hand, all things which are connected with fading, decaying, and dying out. Wherever we turn our eyes we, can observe these things happening simultaneously, and everywhere they naturally evoke in men feelings and thoughts. But under ordinary circumstances a mean fails to attend sufficiently to these thoughts and feelings. He hurries on too quickly from impression to impression. What is necessary, therefore, is that he should fix his attention intently and quite consciously upon these phenomena. Wherever he observes expansion and flourishing of a certain kind, 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 sensation which. heretofore in a similar case would have merely flitted through his soul, is now so magnified that it becomes of a powerful and energetic nature. He must now allow this thought-form to reverberate quietly within himself, and to do so he must become inwardly quite still. He should draw himself away from the outward world, and only follow that which his soul tells him of this expansion and flourishing.
[ 3 ] Yet it must not be thought that we can make much progress if we blunt our senses to the world. First, one must contemplate these objects as keenly and precisely as possible, and it is then that one should give oneself up to the sensations that result, and the thoughts that arise within the soul. What is important is this: that one should direct the attention, with perfect inner balance, upon both of these phenomena. If one obtains the necessary quiet and surrenders oneself to that which arises in the soul, one will then, in due time, obtain the following experiences: One will notice new kinds of thoughts and feelings, unknown before, uprising in the soul. Indeed, the more one fixes the attention in such a way alternately upon something growing, expanding, and flourishing, and upon something else that is fading and decaying, the more vivid will these feelings become. And just as natural forces evolve out of living matter the eyes and ears of the physical body, so will the organs of clairvoyance evolve themselves from the feelings which are thus evoked. A definite thought-form unites itself with the germinating and expanding object, and another, equally definite, with that which is fading and decaying. But this will only take place if the cultivation of these feelings be striven for in the way described.
It is only approximately possible to describe what these feelings are like. Indeed, everyone must attain his own conception of them as he passes through these inward experiences. He who has frequently fixed his attention on the phenomena of germinating, expanding, and flourishing, will feel something remotely allied to the sensation of a sunrise; and the phenomena of fading and decaying will produce in him an experience comparable, in the same way, to the gradual uprising of the moon on the horizon. Both these feelings are forces which, when carefully cultivated, with a continually increasing improvement, will lead to the greatest occult results. To him who again and again, systematically and with design, surrenders himself to such feelings, a new world is opened. The “spiritual” world, the so-called “astral plane,” begins to dawn upon him. Blooming and fading are no longer facts which make indefinite impressions on, him, as of old, but they rather form themselves into spiritual lines and figures have for the different phenomena different forms. A blooming flower, an animal growing, a decaying tree, evoke in his soul definite lines. The astral plane slowly broadens out before him. Nor are these forms in any sense arbitrary. Two students who find themselves at the same stage of development will always see the same lines and figures under the same conditions. Just as certainly as a round table will be seen as round by two normal persons, not as round by the one and square by the other; so, too, before the perception of two souls a blooming flower will present the same spiritual form. And just as the shapes of animals and plants are described in ordinary natural history, so, too, the teacher in an occult school describes and delineates the spiritual forms of growing and decaying processes after their nature and species.
[ 4 ] If the student has progressed so far that he can see such aspects of phenomena which are also physically observable with his external eyes, he will not then be far from the stage when he shall behold things that have no physical existence, and must therefore remain entirely hidden to those who have undergone no training in the occult school.
[ 5 ] It should be emphasised that the occult explorer ought never to lose himself in speculation on the meaning of this or that. By such intellectualising he only brings himself away from the right road. He ought to look out on the sense-world freshly, with healthy senses and quickened observation, and then to give himself up to his own sensations. He ought not to wish, in a speculating manner, to make out what this or that means, but rather to allow the things themselves to inform him. [It should be remarked that the artistic perception, when coupled with a quiet introspective nature, forms the best foundation for the development of occult faculties. It pierces through the superficial aspect of things, and in so doing touches their secrets.]
[ 6 ] A further point of importance is that which is called in occult science “orientation in the higher worlds.” This point is attained when one realises with complete consciousness that feelings and thoughts are veritable realities, just as much as are tables and chairs in the world of the physical senses. Feelings and thoughts act upon each other in the astral-world and in the thought (or mental) world just as objects of sense act upon each other in the physical world. As long as anyone is not truly permeated with this realisation he will not believe that an evil thought projected from his mind may have as devastating an effect upon other thought forms as that wrought upon physical objects by a bullet shot at random. Such a one will perhaps never allow himself to perform a physically visible action which he considers to be wrong, yet he will not shrink from harbouring evil thoughts or feelings, for these do not appear to him to be dangerous to the rest of the world. Nevertheless we can only advance in occult science if we guard our thoughts and feelings in just the same way as such a man would guard the steps he takes in the physical world. If anyone sees a wall before him he does not attempt to dash right through it, but directs his course alongside. In other words, he guides himself by the laws of the physical world.
There are such laws also in the world of thought and feeling but there they cannot impose themselves upon us from without. They must flow out of the life of the soul itself. One arrives at such a condition when one forbids oneself, at all times, to foster wrong thoughts, or feelings. All arbitrary goings to-and-fro, all idle fancies, all accidental ups-and-downs of emotion must be forbidden in the same way. But, in so doing, let it not be thought that one brings about a deficiency of emotion. On the contrary, if we regulate our interior life in this manner, we shall speedily find ourselves rich in feelings and in genuine creative imagination. In place of a mere chaos of petty feelings and fantastic trains of thought, there appear significant emotions, and thoughts that are fruitful, and it is emotions and thoughts of this kind that lead a man to “orientation in the higher world.” He has entered into the right condition for the things of that world, and they entail for him definite consequences. Just as a physical man finds his way between physical things, so, too, his path now leads him straight between the growing and the fading which he has already come to know in the way described above. For he follows all processes of growing and flourishing, and, on the other hand, of withering and decaying—it is necessary for his own and the world's prosperity.
[ 7 ] The occult student has also to bestow a further care on the world of sound. He must discriminate between the tones which are produced from the so-called inert (lifeless) bodies (for example, a bell, a musical instrument, or a falling mass), and those which proceed from a living creature (an animal or a person). He who hears the striking of a bell will receive the sound and attach to it a certain sensation, but he who hears the cry of an animal will, in addition to this sensation, become aware that the sound reveals also an inward experience of the animal, either of pain or of pleasure. The student is concerned with the latter aspect of the sound. He must concentrate his whole attention upon it, so that the sound reveals to him something that lies outside of his own soul, and, more than this, must merge himself in this exterior thing. He must closely connect his own emotion with the pleasure or pain communicated to him by means of the sound. He must care nothing whether for him the sound be pleasant or unpleasant, welcome or not, and his soul must be filled only with that which proceeds from the creature out of whom the sound has come. He who systematically and deliberately performs such exercises will develop within himself the faculty of intermingling, as it were, with the creature from which the sound proceeded. A person sensitive to music will find it easier to cultivate his spiritual life in this respect than one who is unmusical, but no one should think that a mere sense of music will take the place of this culture.
As an occult student, one must learn to contemplate the whole of nature in this way. By so doing a new faculty is sown in the world of thought and feeling. Through her manifold sounds the whole of Nature begins to whisper 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 resonance of so-called inanimate objects, he now understands a new speech of the soul. Should he advance in this culture of the soul, he will soon learn that he can hear what hitherto he did not even surmise. He begins to hear with the soul.
[ 8 ] One thing more must be added before we can reach the topmost point of this region. What is of very special importance in the development of the student is the way in which he hears the speech of other men. He must accustom himself to do this in such a way that while doing so his inner self is absolutely still. If someone expresses an opinion and another hears it, the inner self of the latter will be stirring in general assent or contradiction. Many people in such a case feel themselves urged to an expression of their assent, or, more especially, of their contradiction. All such assent or contradiction must, in the occult student, be silenced. It is not imperative that he should therefore quite suddenly begin to make his life entirely different, in order that he may attain to this inward and fundamental calm. He might, therefore, begin by doing so in special cases, deliberately selected by himself. Thus quite slowly and by degrees will this new way of listening creep into his habits, as of itself. In the occult schools these things are systematically practised. For the sake of practice the student is obliged to listen for a certain period to the most contradictory thoughts, and at the same time to suppress all assent, and more especially all adverse criticism.. The point is that in such a way not only all intellectual judgment is silenced, but also all sense of displeasure, denial, or even acceptance. And the student must be particularly watchful that such feelings, even if they are not upon the surface, do not still remain in the innermost recesses of the soul. He must listen, for example, to the statements of people who in some respects are far beneath him, and yet, while so doing, suppress every feeling of greater knowledge or of superiority. It is useful for everyone to listen in this way to children, for even the wisest may learn very, very much from children. So does it come about that we hear the words of others impersonally, completely divested of our own personality with its opinions and feelings. He who thus makes a practice of listening uncritically, even when a completely contradictory opinion is advanced, learns again and again to blend himself, to become identified, with the being of another. He then hears, as it were, through the words and into, the souls of others. Through continual exercise of this kind only, sound becomes the right medium for the revelation of the spirit and the soul. Of course, it implies the strictest self-discipline, but it leads to a high goal. When these practices are undertaken in connection with those that deal with the sounds of Nature, the soul develops a new sense of hearing. It is now able to receive demonstrations from the spiritual world which do not find their expression in outward sounds apprehensible by the physical ear. The perception of the “inner word” awakens. Gradually truths from the spiritual world reveal themselves to the student, and he hears them expressed in a spiritual way. [Only to him who by listening disinterestedly becomes able to perceive really from within, silently, without emotion arising from personal opinion or personal taste,—only to such can speak the Great Souls who are known in Occultism as the Masters. As long as our opinions and feelings are in a state of vehement opposition to the communications from the Masters, They remain silent.]
All high truths are attained through such “inner encouragement,” and what we may hear from the lips of a genuine occult teacher has been experienced in this manner. And in so saying it must not be supposed that it is unimportant to acquaint oneself with the writings on occult science, before one can actually gain this inner encouragement. On the contrary, the reading of such writings, and the listening to eminent teachers of occult lore, are themselves the means of attaining a personal knowledge. Every sentence of the esoteric wisdom which one hears is adapted to direct the sense to that point which must be attained before the soul can experience a real advance. To the practice of all which has here been indicated, must be added an ardent study of what the occult teacher gives out to all the world. In all occult schools such a study belongs to the probationary period, and he who would employ all other methods will attain no goal if he omits the instructions of the occult teacher, for inasmuch as these instructions proceed from an actual “inner word,” an actual “encouragement,” they possess in themselves a spiritual vitality. They are not mere words: they are living powers; and while you follow the words of an occultist, while you read a book which comes from a genuine 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 ears.
Die Vorbereitung
[ 1 ] Die Vorbereitung besteht in einer ganz bestimmten Pflege des Gefühls- und Gedankenlebens. Durch diese Pflege werden Seelen- und Geistesleib mit höheren Sinneswerkzeugen und Tätigkeitsorganen begabt, wie die Naturkräfte den physischen Leib aus unbestimmter lebendiger Materie mit Organen ausgerüstet haben.
[ 2 ] Der Anfang muß damit gemacht werden, die Aufmerksamkeit der Seele auf gewisse Vorgänge in der uns umgebenden Welt zu lenken. Solche Vorgänge sind das sprießende, wachsende und gedeihende Leben einerseits, und alle Erscheinungen, die mit Verblühen, Verwelken, Absterben zusammenhängen, andererseits. Überall, wohin der Mensch die Augen wendet, sind solche Vorgänge gleichzeitig vorhanden. Und überall rufen sie naturgemäß auch in dem Menschen Gefühle und Gedanken hervor. Aber nicht genug gibt sich unter gewöhnlichen Verhältnissen der Mensch diesen Gefühlen und Gedanken hin. Dazu eilt er viel zu rasch von einem Eindruck zum anderen. Es handelt sich darum, daß er intensiv die Aufmerksamkeit ganz bewußt auf diese Tatsachen lenke. Er muß, wo er Blühen und Gedeihen einer ganz bestimmten Art wahrnimmt, alles andere aus seiner Seele verbannen und sich kurze Zeit ganz allein diesem einen Eindrucke überlassen. Er wird sich bald überzeugen, daß ein Gefühl, das in einem solchen Falle durch seine Seele früher nur durchgehuscht ist, anschwillt, daß es eine kräftige und energische Form annimmt. Diese Gefühlsform muß er dann ruhig in sich nachklmgen lassen. Er muß dabei ganz still in seinem Innern werden. Er muß sich abschließen von der übrigen Außenwelt und ganz allein dem folgen, was seine Seele zu der Tatsache des Blühens und Gedeihens sagt.
[ 3 ] Dabei soll man nur ja nicht glauben, daß man weit kommt, wenn man seine Sinne etwa stumpf macht gegen die Welt. Erst schaue man so lebhaft, so genau, als es nur irgend möglich ist, die Dinge an. Dann erst gebe man sich dem in der Seele auflebenden Gefühle, dem aufsteigenden Gedanken hin. Worauf es ankommt, ist, daß man auf beides, im völligen inneren Gleichgewicht, die Aufmerksamkeit richte. Findet man die nötige Ruhe und gibt man sich dem hin, was in der Seele auflebt, dann wird man nach entsprechender Zeit das Folgende erleben. Man wird neue Arten von Gefühlen und Gedanken in seinem Innern aufsteigen sehen, die man vorher nicht gekannt hat. Je öfter man in einer solchen Weise die Aufmerksamkeit auf etwas Wachsendes, Blühendes und Gedeihendes und damit abwechselnd auf etwas Welkendes, Absterbendes lenkt, desto lebhafter werden diese Gefühle werden. Und aus den Gefühlen und Gedanken, die so entstehen, bauen sich die Hellseherorgane ebenso auf, wie sich durch Naturkräfte aus belebtem Stoffe Augen und Ohren des physischen Körpers aufbauen. Eine ganz bestimmte Gefühlsform knüpft sich an das Wachsen und Werden; eine andere ganz bestimmte an das Verwelken und Absterben. Aber nur dann, wenn die Pflege dieser Gefühle auf die beschriebene Art angestrebt wird. Es ist möglich, annähernd richtig zu beschreiben, wie diese Gefühle sind. Eine vollständige Vorstellung kann sich davon jeder selbst verschaffen, indem er diese inneren Erlebnisse durchmacht. Wer oft die Aufmerksamkeit auf den Vorgang des Werdens, des Gedeihens, des Blühens gelenkt hat, der wird etwas fühlen, was der Empfindung bei einem Sonnenaufgang entfernt ähnlich ist. Und aus dem Vorgang des Welkens, Absterbens wird sich ihm ein Erlebnis ergeben, das in ebensolcher Art mit dem langsamen Aufsteigen des Mondes im Gesichtskreis zu vergleichen ist. Diese beiden Gefühle sind zwei Kräfte, die bei gehöriger Pflege, bei immer lebhafter werdender Ausbildung zu den bedeutsamsten geistigen Wirkungen führen. Wer sich immer wieder und wieder planmäßig, mit Vorsatz, solchen Gefühlen überläßt, dem eröffnet sich eine neue Welt. Die Seelenwelt, der sogenannte astrale Plan, beginnt vor ihm aufzudämmern. Wachsen und Vergehen bleiben für ihn nicht mehr Tatsachen, die ihm solch unbestimmte Eindrücke machen wie vorher. Sie formen sich vielmehr zu geistigen Linien und Figuren, von denen er vorher nichts ahnte. Und diese Linien und Figuren haben für die verschiedenen Erscheinungen auch verschiedene Gestalten. Eine blühende Blume zaubert vor seine Seele eine ganz bestimmte Linie, ebenso ein im Wachsen begriffenes Tier oder ein im Absterben befindlicher Baum. Die Seelenwelt (der astrale Plan) breitet sich langsam vor ihm aus. Nichts Willkürliches liegt in diesen Linien und Figuren. Zwei Geheimschüler, die sich auf der entsprechenden Stufe der Ausbildung befinden, werden bei dem gleichen Vorgange stets dieselben Linien und Figuren sehen. So gewiß zwei richtig sehende Menschen einen runden Tisch rund sehen, und nicht einer rund und der andere viereckig, so gewiß stellt sich vor zwei Seelen beim Anblicke einer blühenden Blume dieselbe geistige Gestalt. – So wie die Gestalten der Pflanzen und Tiere in der gewöhnlichen Naturgeschichte beschrieben werden, so beschreibt oder zeichnet der Kenner der Geheimwissenschaft die geistigen Gestalten der Wachstums- und Absterbensvorgänge nach Gattungen und Arten.
[ 4 ] Wenn der Schüler so weit ist, daß er solch geistige Gestalten von Erscheinungen sehen kann, die sich seinem äußeren Auge auch physisch zeigen: dann wird er auch nicht weit entfernt sein von der Stufe, Dinge zu sehen, die kein physisches Dasein haben, die also dem ganz verborgen (okkult) bleiben müssen, der keine Unterweisung in der Geheimlehre erhalten hat.
[ 5 ] Zu betonen ist, daß der Geheimforscher sich nicht in ein Nachsinnen verlieren soll, was dieses oder jenes Ding bedeutet. Durch solche Verstandesarbeit bringt er sich nur von dem rechten Wege ab. Er soll frisch, mit gesundem Sinne, mit scharfer Beobachtungsgabe in die Sinnenwelt sehen und dann sich seinen Gefühlen überlassen. Was die Dinge bedeuten, das soll nicht er mit spekulierendem Verstande ausmachen wollen, sondern er soll es sich von den Dingen selbst sagen lassen.1Bemerkt soll werden, daß künstlerisches Empfinden, gepaart mit einer stillen, in sich versenkten Natur, die beste Vorbedingung für die Entwickelung der geistigen Fähigkeiten ist. Dieses Empfinden dringt ja durch die Oberfläche der Dinge hindurch und gelangt dadurch zu deren Geheimnissen.
[ 6 ] Ein Weiteres, worauf es ankommt, ist das, was die Geheimwissenschaft die Orientierung in den höheren Welten nennt. Man gelangt dazu, wenn man sich ganz von dem Bewußtsein durchdringt, daß Gefühle und Gedanken wirkliche Tatsachen sind, genau so wie Tische und Stühle in der physisch-sinnlichen Welt. In der seelischen und in der Gedankenwelt wirken Gefühle und Gedanken aufeinander wie in der physischen die sinnlichen Dinge. Solange jemand nicht lebhaft von diesem Bewußtsein durchdrungen ist, wird er nicht glauben, daß ein verkehrter Gedanke, den er hegt, auf andere Gedanken, die den Gedankenraum beleben, so verheerend wirken kann wie eine blindlings losgeschossene Flintenkugel für die physischen Gegenstände, die sie trifft. Ein solcher wird sich vielleicht niemals erlauben, eine physisch sichtbare Handlung zu begehen, die er für sinnlos hält. Er wird aber nicht davor zurückschrecken, verkehrte Gedanken oder Gefühle zu hegen. Denn diese erscheinen ihm ungefährlich für die übrige Welt. In der Geheimwissenschaft kann man aber nur vorwärtskommen, wenn man auf seine Gedanken und Gefühle ebenso achtet, wie man auf seine Schritte in der physischen Welt achtet. Wenn jemand eine Wand sieht, so versucht er nicht, geradewegs durch dieselbe durchzurennen; er lenkt seine Schritte seitwärts. Er richtet sich eben nach den Gesetzen der physischen Welt. – Solche Gesetze gibt es nun auch für die Gefühls- und Gedankenwelt. Nur können sie dem Menschen da nicht von außen sich aufdrängen. Sie müssen aus dem Leben seiner Seele selbst fließen. Man gelangt dazu, wenil man sich jederzeit verbietet, verkehrte Gefühle und Gedanken zu hegen. Alles willkürliche Hin- und Hersinnen, alles spielerische Phantasieren, alle zufällig auf- und abwogenden Gefühle muß man sich in dieser Zeit verbieten. Man macht sich dadurch nicht gefühlsarm. Man wird nämlich bald finden, daß man reich an Gefühlen, schöpferisch in wahrer Phantasie erst wird, wenn man in solcher Art sein Inneres regelt. An die Stelle kleinlicher Gefühlsschwelgerei und spielerischer Gedankenverknüpfung treten bedeutsame Gefühle und fruchtbare Gedanken. Und diese Gefühle und Gedanken führen den Menschen dazu, sich in der geistigen Welt zu orientieren. Er kommt in richtige Verhältnisse zu den Dingen der Geisteswelt. Eine ganz bestimmte Wirkung tritt für ihn ein. Wie er als physischer Mensch seinen Weg findet zwischen den physischen Dingen, so führt ihn jetzt sein Pfad zwischen Wachsen und Absterben, die er ja auf dem oben bezeichneten Weg kennenlernt, hindurch. Er folgt dann allem Wachsenden, Gedeihenden und auch andererseits allem Verwelkenden und Absterbenden so, wie es zu seinem und der Welt Gedeihen erforderlich ist.
[ 7 ] Eine weitere Pflege hat der Geheimschüler der Welt der Töne angedeihen zu lassen. Man unterscheide da zwischen dem Tone, der durch das sogenannte Leblose (einen fallenden Körper, eine Glocke oder ein Musikinstrument) hervorgebracht wird, und dem, welcher von Lebendigem (einem Tiere oder Menschen) stammt. Wer eine Glocke hört, wird den Ton wahrnehmen und ein angenehmes Gefühl daran knüpfen; wer den Schrei eines Tieres hört, wird außer diesem Gefühl in dem Tone noch die Offenbarung eines inneren Erlebnisses des Tieres, Lust oder Schmerz, verspüren. Bei der letzteren Art von Tönen hat der Geheimschüler einzusetzen. Er soll seine ganze Aufmerksamkeit darauf lenken, daß der Ton ihm etwas verkündet, was außer der eigenen Seele liegt. Und er soll sich versenken in dieses Fremde. Er soll sein Gefühl innig verbinden mit dem Schmerz oder der Lust, die ihm durch den Ton verkündet werden. Er soll darüber hinweg sich setzen, was für ihn der Ton ist, ob er ihm angenehm oder unangenehm ist, wohlbehaglich oder mißfällig; nur das soll seine Seele erfüllen, was in dem Wesen vorgeht, von dem der Ton kommt. Wer planmäßig und mit Vorbedacht solche Übungen macht, der wird sich dadurch die Fähigkeit aneignen, mit einem Wesen, sozusagen, zusammenzufließen, von dem der Ton ausgeht. Einem musikalisch empfindenden Menschen wird solche Pflege seines Gemütslebens leichter sein als einem unmusikalischen. Doch darf niemand glauben, daß der musikalische Sinn schon diese Pflege ersetzt. Man muß, als Geheimschüler, in dieser Art der ganzen Natur gegenüber empfinden lernen. – Und dadurch senkt sich in Gefühls- und Gedankenwelt eine neue Anlage. Die ganze Natur fängt an, dem Menschen durch ihr Ertönen Geheimnisse zuzuraunen. Was vorher seiner Seele unverständlicher Schall war, wird dadurch sinnvolle Sprache der Natur. Und wobei er vorher nur Ton gehört hat, beim Erklingen des sogenannten Leblosen, vernimmt er jetzt eine neue Sprache der Seele. Schreitet er in solcher Pflege seiner Gefühle vorwärts, dann wird er bald gewahr, daß er hören kann, wovon er vorher nichts vermutet hat. Er fängt an, mit der Seele zu hören.
[ 8 ] Dazu muß dann noch etwas anderes kommen, um zum Gipfel zu gelangen, der auf diesem Gebiete zu erreichen ist. – Was für die Ausbildung des Geheimschülers ganz besonders wichtig ist, das ist die Art, wie er anderen Menschen beim Sprechen zuhört. Er muß sich daran gewöhnen, dies so zu tun, daß dabei sein eigenes Innere vollkommen schweigt. Wenn jemand eine Meinung äußert, und ein anderer hört zu, so wird sich im Innern des letzteren im allgemeinen Zustimmung oder Widerspruch regen. Viele Menschen werden wohl auch sofort sich gedrängt fühlen, ihre zustimmende und namentlich ihre widersprechende Meinung zu äußern. Alle solche Zustimmung und allen solchen Widerspruch muß der Geheimschüler zum Schweigen bringen. Es kommt dabei nicht darauf an, daß er plötzlich seine Lebensart so ändere, daß er solch inneres, gründliches Schweigen fortwährend zu erreichen sucht. Er wird damit den Anfang machen müssen, daß er es in einzelnen Fällen tut, die er sich mit Vorsatz auswählt. Dann wird sich ganz langsam und allmählich, wie von selbst, diese ganz neue Art des Zuhörens in seine Gewohnheiten einschleichen. – In der Geistesforschung wird solches planmäßig geübt. Die Schüler fühlen sich verpflichtet, übungsweise zu gewissen Zeiten sich die entgegengesetztesten Gedanken anzuhören und dabei alle Zustimmung und namentlich alles abfällige Urteilen vollständig zum Verstummen zu bringen. Es kommt darauf an, daß dabei nicht nur alles verstandesmäßige Urteilen schweige, sondern auch alle Gefühle des Mißfallens, der Ablehnung oder auch Zustimmung. Insbesondere muß sich der Schüler stets sorgfältig beobachten, ob nicht solche Gefühle, wenn auch nicht an der Oberfläche, so doch im intimsten Innern seiner Seele vorhanden seien. Er muß sich zum Beispiel die Aussprüche von Menschen anhören, die in irgendeiner Beziehung weit unter ihm stehen, und muß dabei jedes Gefühl des Besserwissens oder der Überlegenheit unterdrücken. – Nützlich ist es für jeden, in solcher Art Kindern zuzuhören. Auch der Weiseste kann unermeßlich viel von Kindern lernen. – So bringt es der Mensch dazu, die Worte des anderen ganz selbstlos zu hören, mit vollkommener Ausschaltung seiner eigenen Person, deren Meinung und Gefühlsweise. Wenn er sich so übt, kritiklos zuzuhören, auch dann, wenn die völlig entgegengesetzte Meinung vorgebracht wird, wenn das «Verkehrteste» sich vor ihm abspielt, dann lernt er nach und nach mit dem Wesen eines anderen vollständig zu verschmelzen, ganz in dasselbe aufzugehen. Er hört dann durch die Worte hindurch in des anderen Seele hinein. Durch anhaltende Übung solcher Art wird erst der Ton das rechte Mittel, um Seele und Geist wahrzunehmen. Allerdings gehört dazu die allerstrengste Selbstzucht. Aber diese führt zu einem hohen Ziele. Wenn diese Übungen nämlich in Verbindung mit den anderen getrieben werden, die angegeben worden sind bezüglich des Tönens in der Natur, so erwächst der Seele ein neuer Hörsinn. Sie wird imstande, Kundgebungen aus der geistigen Welt wahrzunehmen, die nicht ihren Ausdruck finden in äußeren Tönen, die für das physische Ohr wahrnehmbar sind. Die Wahrnehmung des «inneren Wortes» erwacht. Dem Geheimschüler offenbaren sich allmählich von der Geisteswelt aus Wahrheiten. Er hört auf geistige Art zu sich sprechen.2Nur wer durch selbstloses Zuhören es dahin bringt, daß er wirklich von innen aufnehmen kann, still, ohne Regung einer persönlichen Meinung oder eines persönlichen Gefühls, zu dem können die höheren Wescnheiten sprechen, von denen man in der Geheimswissenschaft spricht. Solange man noch irgendeine Meinung, irgendein Gefühl dem zu Hörenden entgegenschleudert, schweigen die Wesenheiten der Geisteswelt. – Alle höheren Wahrheiten werden durch solches «inneres Einsprechen» erreicht. Und was man aus dem Munde eines wahren Geheimforschers hören kann, das hat er durch diese Art in Erfahrung gebracht. – Damit aber soll nicht gesagt sein, daß es unnötig sei, sich mit geheimwissenschaftlichen Schriften zu befassen, bevor man selbst in solcher Weise «inneres Einsprechen» vernehmen kann. Im Gegenteil: das Lesen solcher Schriften, das Anhören der Geheimforscherlehren sind selbst Mittel, auch zu eigener Erkenntnis zu gelangen. Jeder Satz der Geheimwissenschaft, den der Mensch hört, ist geeignet, den Sinn dahin zu lenken, wohin er gelangen muß, soll die Seele wahren Fortschritt erleben. Zu all dem Gesagten muß vielmehr eifriges Studium dessen treten, was die Geheimforscher der Welt mitteilen. Bei aller Geheimschulung gehört solches Studium zur Vorbereitung. Und wer alle sonstigen Mittel anwenden wollte, er käme zu keinem Ziele, wenn er nicht die Lehren der Geheimforscher in sich aufnähme. Denn weil diese Lehren aus dem lebendigen «inneren Worte», aus der «lebendigen Einsprechung» geschöpft sind, haben sie selbst geistiges Leben. Sie sind nicht bloß Worte. Sie sind lebendige Kräfte. Und während du den Worten eines Geheimkundigen folgst, während du ein Buch liest, das einer wirklichen inneren Erfahrung entstammt, wirken in deiner Seele Kräfte, welche dich ebenso hellsehend machen, wie die Naturkräfte aus lebendigem Stoffe deine Augen und Ohren gebildet haben.
The preparation
[ 1 ] Preparation consists of a very specific cultivation of the emotional and mental life. Through this cultivation, the soul and spiritual body are endowed with higher sensory tools and organs of activity, just as the forces of nature have endowed the physical body with organs from indeterminate living matter.
[ 2 ] The beginning must be made by directing the soul's attention to certain processes in the world around us. Such processes are the sprouting, growing and flourishing life on the one hand, and all phenomena connected with withering, withering and dying on the other. Wherever man turns his eyes, such processes are simultaneously present. And everywhere they naturally evoke feelings and thoughts in man. But under normal circumstances man does not give himself over to these feelings and thoughts enough. He rushes far too quickly from one impression to another. The point is that he must direct his attention quite consciously to these facts. Where he perceives the blossoming and flourishing of a very particular species, he must banish everything else from his soul and leave himself for a short time to this one impression alone. He will soon convince himself that a feeling, which in such a case has previously only flitted through his soul, swells and takes on a strong and energetic form. He must then allow this emotional form to calmly resonate within him. He must become completely still within himself. He must shut himself off from the rest of the outside world and follow what his soul says about the fact of blossoming and flourishing.
[ 3 ] But you should not believe that you will get far if you dull your senses against the world. First look at things as vividly and as closely as possible. Only then surrender to the feelings that arise in the soul, to the rising thoughts. What matters is that you focus your attention on both, in complete inner balance. If one finds the necessary calm and surrenders to what arises in the soul, then one will experience the following after the appropriate time. You will see new kinds of feelings and thoughts arise within you that you did not know before. The more often one directs one's attention in such a way to something growing, blossoming and thriving and thus alternately to something withering and dying, the more vivid these feelings will become. And the clairvoyant organs are built up from the feelings and thoughts that arise in this way, just as the eyes and ears of the physical body are built up by natural forces from living matter. A very specific form of feeling is linked to growth and becoming; another very specific one to withering and dying. But only if the cultivation of these feelings is pursued in the manner described. It is possible to describe approximately correctly what these feelings are like. Anyone can get a complete idea of this for themselves by going through these inner experiences. He who has often directed his attention to the process of becoming, of flourishing, of blossoming, will feel something that is remotely similar to the sensation of a sunrise. And the process of withering and dying will give him an experience that can be compared in the same way to the slow rising of the moon in the circle of vision. These two feelings are two forces which, if properly nurtured and developed ever more vigorously, lead to the most significant spiritual effects. A new world opens up to those who repeatedly and deliberately abandon themselves to such feelings. The world of the soul, the so-called astral plan, begins to dawn before him. Growth and decay no longer remain facts for him, which give him such vague impressions as before. Rather, they form themselves into spiritual lines and figures of which he previously had no idea. And these lines and figures also have different forms for the various phenomena. A blossoming flower conjures up a very specific line in front of his soul, as does an animal that is growing or a tree that is dying. The world of the soul (the astral plan) slowly spreads out before him. There is nothing arbitrary in these lines and figures. Two secret students who are at the appropriate stage of training will always see the same lines and figures in the same process. As surely as two people with correct vision see a round table as round, and not one round and the other square, so surely the same spiritual form appears before two souls at the sight of a blossoming flower. - Just as the forms of plants and animals are described in ordinary natural history, so the connoisseur of secret science describes or draws the spiritual forms of the processes of growth and death according to genera and species.
[ 4 ] When the disciple is so far advanced that he can see such spiritual figures of phenomena which also show themselves physically to his outer eye: then he will also not be far removed from the stage of seeing things which have no physical existence, which must therefore remain completely hidden (occult) to him who has received no instruction in the Secret Doctrine.
[ 5 ] It should be emphasized that the secret researcher should not lose himself in pondering what this or that thing means. Such intellectual work will only lead him astray from the right path. He should look into the world of the senses freshly, with a healthy mind, with keen powers of observation, and then abandon himself to his feelings. He should not try to find out what things mean with speculative reason, but should let the things themselves tell him.1It should be noted that artistic feeling, coupled with a quiet, introverted nature, is the best precondition for the development of the spiritual faculties. This feeling penetrates through the surface of things and thus reaches their secrets.
[ 6 ] Another important aspect is what secret science calls orientation in the higher worlds. One arrives at this when one is completely imbued with the awareness that feelings and thoughts are real facts, just like tables and chairs in the physical-sensual world. In the spiritual and mental world, feelings and thoughts interact with each other just as sensual things do in the physical world. As long as someone is not vividly imbued with this consciousness, he will not believe that a wrong thought he harbors can have as devastating an effect on other thoughts that animate the thought-space as a blindly fired shotgun pellet has on the physical objects it hits. Such a person will perhaps never allow himself to commit a physically visible act that he considers pointless. However, he will not shy away from harboring wrong thoughts or feelings. This is because they appear harmless to the rest of the world. But you can only make progress in the secret science if you pay as much attention to your thoughts and feelings as you do to your steps in the physical world. When someone sees a wall, he does not try to run straight through it; he directs his steps sideways. He orients himself according to the laws of the physical world. - Such laws also exist for the emotional and mental world. But they cannot be imposed on man from outside. They must flow from the life of his soul itself. You can achieve this by forbidding yourself to harbor wrong feelings and thoughts at all times. All arbitrary musings, all playful fantasizing, all randomly arising and falling feelings must be forbidden at this time. This will not make you emotionless. For one will soon find that one only becomes rich in feelings, creative in true imagination, when one regulates one's inner life in this way. Meaningful feelings and fruitful thoughts will take the place of petty emotional indulgence and playful thought-connections. And these feelings and thoughts lead man to orientate himself in the spiritual world. He comes into correct relationships with the things of the spiritual world. A very specific effect occurs for him. Just as he as a physical man finds his way between the physical things, so now his path leads him between growth and death, which he gets to know on the path described above. He then follows everything that grows and flourishes and, on the other hand, everything that withers and dies, as is necessary for his own and the world's flourishing.
[ 7 ] The secret disciple has to give further care to the world of sounds. A distinction must be made between the sound produced by the so-called inanimate (a falling body, a bell or a musical instrument) and that which comes from the living (an animal or a human being). Whoever hears a bell will perceive the sound and attach a pleasant feeling to it; whoever hears the cry of an animal will, in addition to this feeling, sense in the sound the revelation of an inner experience of the animal, pleasure or pain. It is with the latter type of sound that the secret disciple must begin. He should direct all his attention to the fact that the sound announces something to him that lies outside his own soul. And he should immerse himself in this strangeness. He should connect his feelings intimately with the pain or pleasure that the sound announces to him. He should set aside what for him the sound is, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable; only that should fill his soul which takes place in the being from which the sound comes. Whoever does such exercises systematically and with forethought will thereby acquire the ability to flow together with a being, so to speak, from which the sound emanates. A musically sensitive person will find it easier to cultivate his emotional life in this way than an unmusical person. But no one should believe that the musical sense already replaces this cultivation. As a secret student, one must learn to feel in this way towards whole nature. - And through this a new disposition sinks into the world of feeling and thought. The whole of nature begins to whisper secrets to man through its sound. What was previously incomprehensible sound to his soul becomes the meaningful language of nature. And whereas before he only heard sound, the sounding of the so-called inanimate, he now hears a new language of the soul. If he progresses in such cultivation of his feelings, he soon realizes that he can hear what he previously suspected nothing of. He begins to hear with the soul.
[ 8 ] Something else must then be added in order to reach the summit that can be achieved in this field. - What is particularly important for the training of the secret disciple is the way in which he listens to other people when they speak. He must become accustomed to doing this in such a way that his own inner being is completely silent. If someone expresses an opinion and another listens, the latter's inner being will generally agree or disagree. Many people will probably also immediately feel compelled to express their agreeing and especially their disagreeing opinion. All such agreement and all such opposition must be silenced by the secret disciple. It is not a question of his suddenly changing his way of life in such a way that he continually seeks to achieve such inner, thorough silence. He will have to begin by doing so in individual cases which he chooses deliberately. Then, very slowly and gradually, as if by itself, this completely new way of listening will creep into his habits. - In spiritual research, this is practiced systematically. Students feel obliged to practice listening to the most opposing thoughts at certain times and to completely silence all agreement and, in particular, all derogatory judgments. It is important that not only all intellectual judgments are silenced, but also all feelings of disapproval, rejection or approval. In particular, the student must always carefully observe whether such feelings are not present, if not on the surface, then at least in the most intimate depths of his soul. He must, for example, listen to the sayings of people who are far below him in some respect and suppress any feeling of superiority. - It is useful for everyone to listen to children in this way. Even the wisest person can learn an immeasurable amount from children. - In this way a person learns to listen to the words of others completely selflessly, with complete exclusion of his own person, opinion and feelings. If he practises listening uncritically in this way, even when the completely opposite opinion is put forward, when the "wrongest" thing is happening in front of him, then he gradually learns to merge completely with the being of another, to merge completely into it. He then hears through the words into the other person's soul. It is only through sustained practice of this kind that sound becomes the right means of perceiving soul and spirit. However, this requires the most rigorous self-discipline. But this leads to a high goal. If these exercises are practiced in conjunction with the others that have been mentioned with regard to sound in nature, the soul develops a new sense of hearing. It becomes capable of perceiving manifestations from the spiritual world that do not find their expression in external sounds that are perceptible to the physical ear. The perception of the "inner word" awakens. Truths are gradually revealed to the secret disciple from the spiritual world. 2Only those who, through selfless listening, are able to truly receive from within, silently, without the emotion of a personal opinion or feeling, can speak to the higher beings spoken of in the secret science. As long as one still hurls any opinion, any feeling towards the one to be heard, the entities of the spiritual world remain silent. - All higher truths are reached through such "inner speaking". And what one can hear from the mouth of a true secret researcher, he has learned in this way. - This is not to say, however, that it is unnecessary to deal with secret scientific writings before one can hear "inner speaking" in such a way. On the contrary: reading such writings and listening to the teachings of secret scientists are themselves a means of gaining one's own knowledge. Every sentence of secret science that a person hears is capable of directing the mind to where it must go if the soul is to experience true progress. In addition to all that has been said, there must be a diligent study of what the secret scientists communicate to the world. Such study is part of the preparation for all secret training. And whoever wanted to apply all other means would not reach any goal if he did not absorb the teachings of the secret researchers. For because these teachings are drawn from the living "inner word", from the "living interpellation", they themselves have spiritual life. They are not just words. They are living powers. And while you are following the words of a mysterious person, while you are reading a book that comes from a real inner experience, forces are at work in your soul that make you just as bright-sighted as the forces of nature have formed your eyes and ears from living matter.