Knowledge of Higher Worlds and its Attainment
GA 10
II-4. Initiation
[ 1 ] Initiation is the highest stage in an esoteric training concerning which it is possible to give some indications in a book intended for the genuine public. Whatever lives beyond forms a subject difficult to understand, yet the way to it can be found by all who have passed through preparation, enlightenment, and initiation as far as the lesser mysteries.
[ 2 ] The knowledge and proficiency conferred by initiation cannot be obtained in any other manner, except in some far distant future, after many incarnations, by quite different means and in quite a different form. The initiate of today undergoes experiences which would otherwise come to him much later, under quite different circumstances.
[ 3 ] The secrets of existence are only accessible to an extent corresponding to man's own degree of maturity. For this reason alone the path to the higher stages of knowledge and power is beset with obstacles. A firearm should not be used until sufficient experience has been gained to avoid disaster, caused by its use. A person initiated today without further ado would lack the experience which he will gain during his future incarnations before he can attain to higher knowledge in the normal course of his development. At the portal of initiation, therefore, this experience must be supplied in some other way. Thus the first instructions given to the candidate for initiation serve as a substitute for these future experiences. These are the so-called trials, which he has to undergo, and which constitute a normal course of inner development resulting from due application to such exercises as are described in the preceding chapters.
[ 4 ] These trials are often discussed in books, but it is only natural that such discussions should as a rule give quite false impressions of their nature; for without passing through preparation and enlightenment no one can know anything of these tests and appropriately describe them.
[ 5 ] The would-be initiate must come into contact with certain things and facts belonging to the higher worlds, but he can only see and hear them if his feeling is ripe for the perception of the spiritual forms, colors and tones described in the chapters on Preparation and Enlightenment.
[ 6 ] The first trial consists in obtaining a truer vision than the average man has of the corporeal attributes of lifeless things, and later of plants, animals and human beings. This does not mean what at present is called scientific knowledge, for it is a question not of science but of vision. As a rule, the would-be initiate proceeds to learn how the objects of nature and the beings gifted with life manifest themselves to the spiritual ear and the spiritual eye. In a certain way these things then lie stripped—naked—before the beholder. The qualities which can then be seen and heard are hidden from the physical eyes and ears. For physical perception they are concealed as if by a veil, and the falling away of this veil for the would-be initiate consists in a process designated as the process of Purification by Fire. The first trial is therefore known as the Fire-Trial.
[ 7 ] For many people, ordinary life is itself a more or less unconscious process of initiation through the Fire-Trial. Such people have passed through a wealth of experience, so that their self-confidence, courage and fortitude have been greatly strengthened in a normal manner while learning to bear sorrow, disappointment and failure in their undertakings with greatness of soul, and especially with equanimity and unbroken strength. Thus they are often initiates without knowing it, and it then needs but little to unseal their spiritual hearing and sight so that they become clairvoyant. For it must be noted that a genuine fire-trial is not intended to satisfy the curiosity of the candidate. It is true that he learns many uncommon things of which others can have no inkling, but this acquisition of knowledge is not the end, but the means to the end; the end consists in the attainment, thanks to this knowledge of the higher worlds, of greater and truer self-confidence, a higher degree of courage, and a magnanimity and perseverance such as cannot, as a rule, be acquired in the lower world.
[ 8 ] The candidate may always turn back after the fire-trial. He will then resume his life, strengthened in body and soul, and wait for a future incarnation to continue his initiation. In his present incarnation he will prove himself a more useful member of society and of humanity than he was before. In whatever position he may find himself, his firmness, prudence, resoluteness, and his beneficent influence over his fellows will have greatly increased.
[ 9 ] But if, after completing the fire-trial, he should wish to continue the path, a certain writing-system generally adopted in esoteric training must now be revealed to him. The actual teachings manifest themselves in this writing, because the hidden (occult) qualities of things cannot be directly expressed in the words of ordinary writing. The pupils of the initiates translate the teachings into ordinary language as best they can. The occult script reveals itself to the soul when the latter has attained spiritual perception, for it is traced in the spiritual world and remains there for all time. It cannot be learned as an artificial writing is learned and read. The candidate grows into clairvoyant knowledge in an appropriate way, and during this growth a new strength is developed in his soul, as a new faculty, through which he feels himself impelled to decipher the occurrences and the beings of the spiritual world like the characters of a writing. This strength, with the experience it brings of the corresponding trial, might possibly awaken in the soul as though of its own accord, as the soul continually develops, but it will be found safer to follow the instructions of those who are spiritually experienced, and who have some proficiency in deciphering the occult script.
[ 10 ] The signs of the occult script are not arbitrarily invented; they correspond to the forces actively engaged in the world. They teach us the language of things. It becomes immediately apparent to the candidate that the signs he is now learning correspond to the forms, colors, and tones which he learned to perceive during his preparation and enlightenment. He realizes that all he learned previously was only like learning to spell, and that he is only now beginning to read in the higher worlds. All the isolated figures, tones, and colors reveal themselves to him now in one great connected whole. Now for the first time he attains complete certainty in observing the higher worlds. Hitherto he could never know positively whether the things he saw were rightly seen. A regular understanding, too, is now at last possible between the candidate and the initiate in the spheres of higher knowledge. For whatever form the intercourse between an initiate and another person may take in ordinary life, the higher knowledge in its immediate form can only be imparted by the initiate in the above-mentioned sign-language.
[ 11 ] Thanks to this language the student also learns certain rules of conduct and certain duties of which he formerly knew nothing. Having learned these he is able to perform actions endowed with a significance and a meaning such as the actions of one not initiated can never possess. He acts out of the higher worlds. Instructions concerning such action can only be read and understood in the writing in question.
[ 12 ] Yet it must be emphasized that there are people unconsciously gifted with the ability and faculty of performing such actions, though they have never undergone an esoteric training. Such helpers of the world and of humanity pass through life bestowing blessings and performing good deeds. For reasons here not to be discussed, gifts have been bestowed on them which appear supernatural. What distinguishes them from the candidate for initiation is only that the latter acts consciously and with full insight into the entire situation. He acquires by training the gifts bestowed on others by higher powers for the good of humanity. We can sincerely revere these favored of God; but we should not for this reason regard the work of esoteric training as superfluous.
[ 13 ] Once the student has learned the sign-language there awaits him yet another trial, to prove whether he can move with freedom and assurance in the higher worlds. In ordinary life he is impelled to action by exterior motives. He works at one occupation or another because one duty or another is imposed on him by outward circumstances. It need hardly be mentioned that the student must in no way neglect any of his duties in ordinary life because he is living and working in higher worlds. There is no duty in a higher world that can force a person to neglect any single one of his duties in the ordinary world. The father will remain just as good a father to his family, the mother just as good a mother, and neither the official nor the soldier, nor anyone else will be diverted from his work by becoming an esoteric student. On the contrary, all the qualities which make a human being capable and efficient are enhanced in the student to a degree incomprehensible to the uninitiated. If, in the eyes of the uninitiated, this does not always appear to be the case, it is simply because he often lacks the ability to judge the initiate correctly. The deeds of the latter are not always intelligible to the former. But this only happens in special cases.
[ 14 ] At this stage of initiation there are duties to be performed for which no outward stimulus is given. The candidate will not be moved to action by external pressure, but only through adherence to the rules of conduct revealed to him in the occult script. He must now show in this second trial that, led by such rules, he can act with the same firmness and precision with which, for instance, an official performs the duties that belong to him. For this purpose, and in the course of his further training, he will find himself faced by a certain definite task. He must perform some action in consequence of observations made on the basis of what he has learned during preparation and enlightenment. The nature of this action can be understood by means of the occult script with which he is now familiar. If he recognizes his duty and acts rightly, his trial has been successful. The success can be recognized in the alteration produced by his action in the figures, colors, and tones apprehended by his spiritual eyes and ears. Exact indications are given, as the training progresses, showing how these figures appear and are experienced after the action has been performed, and the candidate must know how to produce this change. This trial is known as the Water-Trial, because in his activity in these higher worlds the candidate is deprived of the support derived from outward circumstances, as a swimmer is without support when swimming in water that is beyond his depth. This activity must be repeated until the candidate attains absolute poise and assurance.
[ 15 ] The importance of this trial lies again in the acquisition of a quality. Through his experiences in the higher worlds, the candidate develops this quality in a short time to such a high degree that he would otherwise have to go through many incarnations, in the ordinary course of his development, before he could acquire it to the same extent. It all centers around the fact that he must be guided only by the results of his higher perception and reading of the occult script, in order to produce the changes in question in these higher regions of existence. Should he, in the course of his activity, introduce any of his own opinions and desires, or should he diverge for one moment from the laws which he has recognized to be right, in order to follow his own willful inclination, then the result produced would differ entirely from what was intended. He would lose sight of the goal to which his action tended, and confusion would result. Hence ample opportunity is given him in the course of this trial to develop self-control. This is the object in view. Here again, this trial can be more easily passed by those whose life, before initiation, has led them to acquire self-control. Anyone having acquired the faculty of following high principles and ideals, while putting into the background all personal predilection; anyone capable of always performing his duty, even though inclinations and sympathies would like to seduce him from this duty—such a person is unconsciously an initiate in the midst of ordinary life. He will need but little to succeed in this particular trial. Indeed, a certain measure of initiation thus unconsciously acquired in life will, as a rule, be indispensable for success in this second trial. For even as it is difficult for those who have not learned to spell correctly in their childhood to make good this deficiency when fully grown up, so too it is difficult to develop the necessary degree of self-control at the moment of looking into the higher worlds, if this ability has not been acquired to a certain degree in ordinary life. The objects of the physical world do not alter, whatever the nature of our wishes, desires, and inclinations. In the higher worlds, however, our wishes, desires, and inclinations are causes that produce effects. If we wish to produce a particular effect in these worlds, we must strictly follow the right rules and subdue every arbitrary impulse.
[ 16 ] One human quality is of very special importance at this stage of initiation, namely, an unquestionably sound judgment. Attention should be paid to the training of this faculty during all the previous stages; for it now remains to be proved whether the candidate is shaping in a way that shows him to be fit for the truth path of knowledge. Further progress is now only possible if he is able to distinguish illusion, superstition, and everything fantastic, from true reality. This is, at first, more difficult to accomplish in the higher stages of existence than in the lower. Every prejudice, every cherished opinion with regard to the things in question, must vanish; truth alone must guide. There must be perfect readiness to abandon at once any idea, opinion, or inclination when logical thought demands it. Certainty in higher worlds is only likely to be attained when personal opinion is never considered.
[ 17 ] People whose mode of thought tends to fancifulness and superstition can never make progress on the path to higher knowledge. It is indeed a precious treasure that the student is to acquire. All doubt regarding the higher worlds is removed from him. With all their laws they reveal themselves to his gaze. But he cannot acquire this treasure so long as he is the prey of fancies and illusions. It would indeed be fatal if his imagination and his prejudices ran away with his intellect. Dreamers and fantastical people are as unfit for the path to higher knowledge as superstitious people. This cannot be over-emphasized. For the most dangerous enemies on the way to knowledge of the higher worlds lurk in such fantastical reveries and superstitions. Yet no one need to believe that the student loses all sense of poetry in life, all power of enthusiasm because the words: You must be rid of all prejudice, are written over the portal leading to the second trial of initiation, and because over the portal at the entrance to the first trial he read: Without normal common sense all thine efforts are in vain.
[ 18 ] If the candidate is in this way sufficiently advanced, a third trial awaits him. He finds here no definite goal to be reached. All is left in his own hands. He finds himself in a situation where nothing impels him to act. He must find his way all alone and out of himself. Things or people to stimulate him to action are non-existent. Nothing and nobody can give him the strength he needs but he himself alone. Failure to find this inner strength will leave him standing where he was. Few of those, however, who have successfully passed the previous trials will fail to find the necessary strength at this point. Either they will have turned back already or they succeed at this point also. All that the candidate requires is the ability to come quickly to terms with himself, for he must here find his higher self in the truest sense of the word. He must rapidly decide in all things to listen to the inspiration of the spirit. There is no time for doubt or hesitation. Every moment of hesitation would prove that he was still unfit. Whatever prevents him from listening to the voice of the spirit must be courageously overcome. It is a question of showing presence of mind in this situation, and the training at this stage is concerned with the perfect development of this quality. All the accustomed inducements to act or even to think now cease. In order not to remain inactive he must not lose himself, for only within himself can he find the one central point of vantage where he can gain a firm hold. No one on reading this, without further acquaintance with these matters, should feel an antipathy for this principle of being thrown back on oneself, for success in this trial brings with it a moment of supreme happiness.
[ 19 ] At this stage, no less than at the others, ordinary life is itself an esoteric training for many. For anyone having reached the point of being able, when suddenly confronted with some task or problem in life, to come to a swift decision without hesitation or delay, for him life itself has been a training in this sense. Such situations are here meant in which success is instantly lost if action is not rapid. A person who is quick to act when a misfortune is imminent, whereas a few moments of hesitation would have seen the misfortune an accomplished fact, and who has turned this ability into a permanent personal quality, has unconsciously acquired the degree of maturity necessary for the third trial. For at this stage everything centers round the development of absolute presence of mind. This trial is known as the Air-Trial, because while undergoing it the candidate can support himself neither upon the firm basis of external incentive nor upon the figures, tones, and colors which he has learned at the stages of preparation and enlightenment, but exclusively upon himself.
[ 20 ] Upon successfully passing this trial the student is permitted to enter the temple of higher wisdom. All that is here said on this subject can only be the slenderest allusion. The task now to be performed is often expressed in the statement that the student must take an oath never to betray anything he has learned. These expressions, however, “oath” and “betray”, are inappropriate and actually misleading. There is no question of an oath in the ordinary sense of the word, but rather of an experience that comes at this stage of development. The candidate learns how to apply the higher knowledge, how to place it at the service of humanity. He then begins really and truly to understand the world. It is not so much a question of withholding the higher truths, but far more of serving them in the right way and with the necessary tact. The silence he is to keep refers to something quite different. He acquires this fine quality with regard to things he had previously spoken, and especially with regard to the manner in which they were spoken. He would be a poor initiate who did not place all the higher knowledge he had acquired at the service of humanity, as well and as far as this is possible. The only obstacle to giving information in these matters is the lack of understanding on the part of the recipients. It is true, of course, that the higher knowledge does not lend itself to promiscuous talk; but no one having reached the stage of development described above is actually forbidden to say anything. No other person, no being exacts an oath from him with this intent. Everything is left to his own responsibility, and he learns in every situation to discover within himself what he has to do, and an oath means nothing more than that he has been found qualified to be entrusted with such a responsibility.
[ 21 ] If the candidate is found fit for the foregoing experiences, he is then given what is called symbolically the draught of forgetfulness. This means that he is initiated into the secret knowledge that enables him to act without being continually disturbed by the lower memory. This is necessary for the initiate, for he must have full faith in the immediate present. He must be able to destroy the veil of memory which envelops man every moment of his life. If we judge something that happens to us today according to the experience of yesterday, we are exposed to a multitude of errors. Of course this does not mean that experience gained in life should be renounced. It should always be kept in mind as clearly as possible. But the initiate must have the ability to judge every new experience wholly according to what is inherent in it, and let it react upon him, unobscurred by the past. We must be prepared at every moment that every object and every being can bring to us some new revelation. If we judge the new by the standard of the old we are liable to error. The memory of past experiences will be of greatest use for the very reason that it enables us to perceive the new. Had we not gone through a definite experience we should perhaps be blind to the qualities of the object or being that comes before us. Thus experience should serve the purpose of perceiving the new and not of judging it by the standard of the old. In this respect the initiate acquires certain definite qualities, and thereby many things are revealed to him which remain concealed from the uninitiated.
[ 22 ] The second draught presented to the initiate is the draught of remembrance. Through its agency he acquires the faculty of retaining the knowledge of the higher truths ever present in his soul. Ordinary memory would be unequal to this task. We must unite ourselves and become as one with the higher truths. We must not only know them, but be able, quite as a matter of course, to manifest and administer them in living actions, even as we ordinarily eat and drink. They must become our practice, our habit, our inclination. There must be no need to keep thinking about them in the ordinary sense; they must come to living expression through man himself; they must flow through him as the functions of life through his organism. Thus doth man ever raise himself, in a spiritual sense, to that same stature to which nature raised him in a physical sense.
Die Einweihung
[ 1 ] Die Einweihung ist die höchste der Stufen einer Geheimschulung, über welche in einer Schrift noch Andeutungen gegeben werden können, die allgemein verständlich sind. Über alles, was darüber liegt, sind Mitteilungen schwer verständlich. Aber auch dazu findet jeder den Weg, der durch die Vorbereitung, Erleuchtung und Einweihung bis zu den niederen Geheimnissen vorgedrungen ist.
[ 2 ] Das Wissen und Können, das einem Menschen durch die Einweihung zuteil wird, könnte er ohne eine solche erst in einer sehr fernen Zukunft – nach vielen Verkörperungen – auf einem ganz anderen Wege und auch in einer ganz anderen Form erwerben. Wer heute eingeweiht wird, erfährt etwas, was er sonst viel später, unter ganz anderen Verhältnissen, erfahren würde.
[ 3 ] Ein Mensch kann von den Geheimnissen des Daseins nur so viel wirklich erfahren, als dem Grade seiner Reife entspricht. Nur deshalb gibt es Hindernisse zu den höheren Stufen des Wissens und Könnens. Der Mensch soll ein Schießgewehr nicht früher gebrauchen, als bis er genügende Erfahrung hat, um durch den Gebrauch nicht Unheil anzurichten. – Würde heute jemand ohne weiteres eingeweiht, so würde ihm die Erfahrung fehlen, die er durch die Verkörperungen in der Zukunft noch machen wird, bis ihm die entsprechenden Geheimnisse im regelmäßigen Verlauf seiner Entwickelung zuteil werden. Deshalb müssen an der Pforte der Einweihung diese Erfahrungen durch etwas anderes ersetzt sein. In einem Ersatz für künftige Erfahrungen bestehen daher die ersten Unterweisungen des Einweihungskandidaten. Es sind das die sogenannten «Proben», die er durchzumachen hat und die sich als regelmäßige Folge des Seelenlebens ergeben, wenn Übungen, wie die in den vorhergehenden Kapiteln geschilderten, richtig fortgesetzt werden.
[ 4 ] Von diesen «Proben» wird ja auch in Büchern oft gesprochen. Aber es ist nur natürlich, daß von ihrer Natur durch solche Besprechungen in der Regel ganz falsche Vorstellungen hervorgerufen werden müssen. Denn wer nicht durch die Vorbereitung und Erleuchtung hindurchgegangen ist, hat ja nichts von diesen Proben jemals erfahren. Ein solcher kann sie auch nicht sachgemäß beschreiben.
[ 5 ] Dem Einzuweihenden müssen sich gewisse Dinge und Tatsachen ergeben, die den höheren Welten angehören. Er kann sie aber nur sehen und hören, wenn er die geistigen Wahrnehmungen wie Figuren, Farben, Töne und so weiter empfinden kann, von denen bei Besprechung der «Vorbereitung» und «Erleuchtung» berichtet worden ist.
[ 6 ] Die erste «Probe» besteht darinnen, daß er eine wahrere Anschauung erlangt von den leiblichen Eigenschaften der leblosen Körper, dann der Pflanzen, der Tiere und des Menschen, als sie der Durchschnittsmensch besitzt. Damit ist aber nicht das gemeint, was man heute wissenschaftliche Erkenntnis nennt. Denn nicht um Wissenschaft, sondern um Anschauung handelt es sich. – In der Regel ist der Vorgang so, daß der Einzuweihende erkennen lernt, wie sich die Naturdinge und Lebewesen für das geistige Ohr und geistige Auge kundgeben. In einer gewissen Weise stehen diese Dinge dann unverhüllt – nackt – vor dem Beschauer. Dem sinnlichen Auge und dem sinnlichen Ohre verbergen sich die Eigenschaften, die man da hört und sieht. Sie sind für dieses sinnliche Anschauen wie mit einem Schleier verhüllt. Daß dieser Schleier für den Einzuweihenden wegfällt, beruht auf einem Vorgang, den man als «geistigen Verbrennungsprozeß» bezeichnet. Deshalb wird diese erste Probe die «Feuerprobe» genannt.
[ 7 ] Für manche Menschen ist das gewöhnliche Leben selbst schon ein mehr oder weniger unbewußter Einweihungsprozeß durch die Feuerprobe. Es sind das diejenigen, welche durch reiche Erfahrungen von solcher Art durchgehen, daß ihr Selbstvertrauen, ihr Mut und ihre Standhaftigkeit in gesunder Weise groß werden und daß sie Leid, Enttäuschung, Mißlingen von Unternehmungen mit Seelengröße und namentlich mit Ruhe und in ungebrochener Kraft ertragen lernen. Wer Erfahrungen in dieser Art durchgemacht hat, der ist oft schon, ohne daß er es deutlich weiß, ein Eingeweihter; und es bedarf dann nur eines wenigen, um ihm geistige Ohren und Augen zu öffnen, so daß er ein Hell sehender wird. Denn das ist festzuhalten: es handelt sich bei einer wahren «Feuerprobe» nicht darum, daß die Neugierde des Kandidaten befriedigt werde. Gewiß, er lernt außergewöhnliche Tatsachen kennen, von denen andere Menschen keine Ahnung haben. Aber dieses Kennenlernen ist nicht das Ziel, sondern nur das Mittel zum Ziel. Das Ziel aber ist, daß sich der Kandidat durch die Erkenntnis der höheren Welten größeres und wahreres Selbstvertrauen, höheren Mut und eine ganz andere Seelengröße und Ausdauer erwerbe, als sie in der Regel innerhalb der niederen Welt erlangt werden können.
[ 8 ] Nach der «Feuerprobe» kann jeder Kandidat noch umkehren. Er wird gestärkt in physischer und seelischer Beziehung dann sein Leben fortsetzen und wohl erst in einer nächsten Verkörperung die Einweihung fortsetzen. In seiner gegenwärtigen aber wird er ein brauchbareres Glied der menschlichen Gesellschaft sein, als er vorher war. In welcher Lage er sich auch befinden mag: seine Festigkeit, seine Umsicht, sein günstiger Einfluß auf seine Mitmenschen, seine Entschlossenheit werden zugenommen haben.
[ 9 ] Will der Kandidat nach vollbrachter Feuerprobe die Geheimschulung fortsetzen, so muß ihm nunmehr ein bestimmtes Schriftsystem enthüllt werden, wie solche in der Geheimschulung üblich sind. In diesen Schriftsystemen offenbaren sich die eigentlichen Geheimlehren. Denn dasjenige, was in den Dingen wirklich «verborgen» (okkult) ist, kann weder mit den Worten der gewöhnlichen Sprache unmittelbar ausgesprochen, noch kann es mit den gewöhnlichen Schriftsystemen aufgezeichnet werden. Diejenigen, welche von den Eingeweihten gelernt haben, übersetzen die Lehren der Geheimwissenschaft in die gewöhnliche Sprache, so gut das geht. Die okkulte Schrift offenbart sich der Seele, wenn diese die geistige Wahrnehmung erlangt hat. Denn diese Schrift steht in der geistigen Welt immer geschrieben. Man lernt sie nicht so, wie man eine künstliche Schrift lesen lernt. Man wächst vielmehr in sachgemäßer Weise der hellsichtigen Erkenntnis entgegen, und während dieses Wachsens entwickelt sich wie eine seelische Fähigkeit die Kraft, welche die vorhandenen Geschehnisse und Wesenheiten der geistigen Welt wie die Charaktere einer Schrift zu entziffern sich gedrängt fühlt. Es könnte sein, daß diese Kraft und mit ihr das Erleben der entsprechenden «Probe» mit der fortschreitenden Seelenentwickelung wie von selbst erwachen. Doch sicherer gelangt man zum Ziele, wenn man die Anweisungen der erfahrenen Geheimforscher befolgt, die Gewandtheit haben im Entziffern der okkulten Schrift.
[ 10 ] Die Zeichen der Geheimschrift sind nicht willkürlich ersonnen, sondern sie entsprechen den Kräften, welche in der Welt wirksam sind. Man lernt durch diese Zeichen die Sprache der Dinge. Dem Kandidaten zeigt sich alsbald, daß die Zeichen, die er kennenlemt, den Figuren, Farben, Tönen und so weiter entsprechen, die er während der Vorbereitung und Erleuchtung wahrzunehmen gelernt hat. Es zeigt sich ihm, daß alles Vorhergehende nur wie ein Buchstabieren war. Jetzt erst fängt er an, in der höheren Welt zu lesen. In einem großen Zusammenhang erscheint ihm alles, was vorher nur vereinzelte Figur, Ton, Farbe war. Jetzt erst gewinnt er die rechte Sicherheit im Beobachten der höheren Welten. Vorher konnte er nie mit Bestimmtheit wissen, ob die Dinge, die er gesehen hat, auch richtig gesehen waren. Und jetzt erst kann eine geregelte Verständigung zwischen dem Kandidaten und dem Eingeweihten auf den Gebieten des höheren Wissens stattfinden. Denn wie auch das Zusammenleben eines Eingeweihten mit einem anderen Menschen im gewöhnlichen Leben gestaltet sein mag: von dem höheren Wissen in unmittelbarer Gestalt kann der Eingeweihte nur in der erwähnten Zeichensprache etwas mitteilen.
[ 11 ] Durch diese Sprache wird der Geheimschüler auch bekannt mit gewissen Verhaltungsmaßregeln für das Leben. Er lernt gewisse Pflichten kennen, von denen er vorher nichts gewußt hat. Und wenn er diese Verhaltungsmaßregeln kennengelernt hat, so kann er Dinge vollbringen, die eine Bedeutung haben, wie sie niemals die Taten eines Uneingeweihten haben können. Er handelt von den höheren Welten aus. Die Anweisungen zu solchen Handlungen können nur in der angedeuteten Schrift verstanden werden.
[ 12 ] Es muß aber betont werden, daß es Menschen gibt, die solche Handlungen unbewußt auszuführen vermögen, trotzdem sie nicht eine Geheimschulung durchgemacht haben. Solche «Helfer der Welt und Menschheit» schreiten segnend und wohltuend durchs Leben. Ihnen sind durch Gründe, die hier nicht zu erörtern sind, Gaben verliehen worden, die übernatürlich erscheinen. Was sie von dem Geheimschüler unterscheidet, ist lediglich das, daß dieser mit Bewußtsein, mit voller Einsicht in den ganzen Zusammenhang handelt. Er erringt eben durch Schulung, was jenen von höheren Mächten zum Heile der Welt beschert worden ist. Die Gottbegnadeten kann man aufrichtig verehren; aber deswegen darf man die Arbeit der Schulung nicht für überflüssig halten.
[ 13 ] Hat der Geheimschüler die erwähnte Zeichenschrift gelernt, dann beginnt für ihn eine weitere «Probe». Durch diese muß sich erweisen, ob er sich frei und sicher in der höheren Welt bewegen kann. Im gewöhnlichen Leben wird der Mensch durch Antriebe von außen zu seinen Handlungen bewogen. Er arbeitet dieses oder jenes, weil ihm die Verhältnisse diese oder jene Pflichten auferlegen. – Es braucht wohl kaum erwähht zu werden, daß der Geheimschüler keine seiner Pflichten im gewöhnlichen Leben versäumen darf, weil er in höheren Welten lebt. Keine Pflicht in einer höheren Welt kann jemanden zwingen, eine einzige seiner Pflichten in der gewöhnlichen außer acht zu lassen. Der Familienvater bleibt ebenso guter Familienvater, die Mutter ebenso gute Mutter, der Beamte wird von nichts abgehalten, ebensowenig der Soldat oder ein anderer, wenn sie Geheimschüler werden. Im Gegenteil: alle die Eigenschaften, die den Menschen im Leben tüchtig machen, steigern sich bei dem Geheimschüler in einem Maße, von dem sich der Uneingeweihte keinen Begriff machen kann. Und wenn das dem Uneingeweihten auch oft – nicht immer, sogar selten – nicht so erscheint, dann rührt das nur davon her, daß er den Eingeweihten nicht immer richtig zu beurteilen vermag. Was letzterer tut, ist manchmal dem anderen nicht sogleich durchsichtig. Aber auch das ist, wie gesagt, nur in besonderen Fällen zu bemerken.
[ 14 ] Für den auf der genannten Stufe der Einweihung Angelangten gibt es nun Pflichten, zu denen kein äußerer Anstoß vorhanden ist. Er wird in diesen Dingen nicht durch äußere Verhältnisse, sondern nur durch jene Maßregeln veranlaßt, welche ihm in der «verborgenen» Sprache offenbar werden. Nun muß er durch die zweite «Probe» zeigen, daß er, geführt von einer solchen Maßregel, ebenso sicher und fest handelt, wie etwa ein Beamter seine ihm obliegenden Pflichten vollführt. – Zu diesem Zwecke wird durch die Geheimschulung der Kandidat sich vor eine bestimmte Aufgabe gestellt fühlen. Dieser soll eine Handlung ausführen infolge von Wahrnehmungen, die er macht auf Grund dessen, was er auf der Vorbereitungs- und Erleuchtungsstufe gelernt hat. Und was er auszuführen hat, das muß er erkennen durch die gekennzeichnete Schrift, die er sich angeeignet hat. Erkennt er seine Pflicht und handelt er richtig, dann hat er die Probe bestanden. Man erkennt den Erfolg an der Veränderung, die sich mit den als Figuren, Farben und Tönen empfundenen Wahrnehmungen der Geistesohren und -augen durch die Handlung vollzieht. In den Fortschritten der Geheimschulung wird ganz genau angegeben, wie diese Figuren und so weiter nach der Handlung aussehen, empfunden werden. Und der Kandidat muß wissen, wie er eine solche Veränderung hervorzubringen vermag. – Man nennt diese Probe die «Wasserprobe», weil bei der Tätigkeit in diesen höheren Gebieten dem Menschen die Stütze durch die äußeren Verhältnisse so fehlt, wie beim Bewegen im Wasser, dessen Grund man nicht erreicht, die Stütze fehlt. – Der Vorgang muß so oft wiederholt werden, bis der Kandidat völlige Sicherheit hat.
[ 15 ] Auch bei dieser Probe handelt es sich um das Erwerben einer Eigenschaft; und durch die Erfahrungen in der höheren Welt bildet der Mensch diese Eigenschaft in kurzer Zeit in einem solch hohen Grade aus, daß er im gewöhnlichen Verlaufe der Entwickelung wohl durch viele Verkörperungen hindurchgehen müßte, um ihn zu erreichen. Worauf es nämlich ankommt, ist das Folgende. Der Kandidat daif, um die angegebene Veränderung auf dem höheren Gebiet des Daseins hervorzubringen, lediglich dem folgen, was sich ihm auf Grund seiner höheren Wahrnehmung und als Folge seines Lesens der verborgenen Schrift ergibt. Würde er während seiner Handlung irgend etwas von seinen Wünschen, Meinungen und so weiter einmischen, folgte er nur einen Augenblick nicht den Gesetzen, die er als richtig erkannt hat, sondern seiner Willkür: dann würde etwas ganz anderes geschehen, als geschehen soll. In diesem Falle verlöre der Kandidat sofort die Richtung auf sein Ziel der Handlung, und Verwirrung träte ein. – Daher hat der Mensch durch diese Probe in reichlichstem Maße Gelegenheit, seine Selbstbeherrschung auszubilden. Und darauf kommt es an. Wieder kann daher diese Probe von denen leichter bestanden werden, die vor der Einweihung durch ein Leben gegangen sind, das ihnen die Erwerbung der Selbstbeherrschung gebracht hat. Wer sich die Fähigkeit erworben hat, hohen Grundsätzen und Idealen mit Hintansetzung der persönlichen Laune und Willkür zu folgen, wer versteht, die Pflicht auch immer da zu erfüllen, wo die Neigungen und Sympathien gar zu gerne von dieser Pflicht ablenken wollen, der ist unbewußt schon mitten im gewöhnlichen Leben ein Eingeweihter. Und nur ein Geringes wird notwendig sein, damit er die geschilderte Probe bestehe. Ja, es muß sogar gesagt werden, daß ein gewisser schon im Leben unbewußt erlangter Grad von Einweihung in der Regel durchaus notwendig sein wird, um die zweite Probe zu bestehen. Denn wie es vielen Menschen, die in der Jugend nicht richtig schreiben gelernt haben, schwer wird, dies nachzuholen, wenn sie einmal die volle Lebensreife erlangt haben, so wird es auch schwer, den notwendigen Grad von Selbstbeherrschung beim Einblicke in die höheren Welten auszubilden, wenn man nicht schon vorher darinnen einen gewissen Grad im alltäglichen Leben sich angeeignet hat. Die Dinge der physischen Welt ändern sich nicht, was wir auch wünschen, begehren, was immer wir auch für Neigungen haben. In den höheren Welten aber sind unsere Wünsche, Begierden und Neigungen von Wirkung für die Dinge. Wollen wir da auf die Dinge in entsprechender Weise wirken, so müssen wir uns ganz in unserer Gewalt haben, müssen lediglich den richtigen Maßregeln folgen und keinerlei Willkür unterworfen sein.
[ 16 ] Eine Eigenschaft des Menschen, die auf dieser Stufe der Einweihung ganz besonders in Betracht kommt, ist eine unbedingt gesunde und sichere Urteilskraft. Auf die Heranbildung einer solchen muß schon auf allen früheren Stufen gesehen werden; und auf dieser muß es sich erweisen, ob der Kandidat sie so handhabt, daß er für den wahren Erkenntnispfad geeignet ist. Er kann nur dann weiterkommen, wenn er Illusion, wesenlore Phantasiegebilde, Aberglauben und alle Art von Blendwerk von der wahren Wirklichkeit unterscheiden kann. Und auf den höheren Stufen des Daseins ist das zunächst schwieriger als auf den niederen. Da muß jedes Vorurteil, jede liebgewordene Meinung schwinden in bezug auf die Dinge, auf die es ankommt; und einzig und allein die Wahrheit muß Richtschnur sein. Vollkommene Bereitschaft muß vorhanden sein, einen Gedanken, eine Ansicht, eine Neigung sofort aufzugeben, wenn das logische Denken solches fordert. Gewißheit in höheren Welten ist nur zu erlangen, wenn man nie die eigene Meinung schont.
[ 17 ] Menschen mit einer Denkungsart, die zur Phantastik, zum Aberglauben neigt, können auf dem Geheimpfade keinen Fortschritt machen. Ein kostbares Gut soll ja der Geheimjünger erringen. Alle Zweifel an den höheren Welten werden von ihm genommen. Diese enthüllen sich in ihren Gesetzen vor seinen Blicken. Aber er kann dieses Gut nicht erringen, solange er sich von Blendwerken und Illusionen täuschen läßt. Schlimm wäre es für ihn, wenn seine Phantasie, seine Vorurteile mit seinem Verstande durchgingen. Träumer und Phantasten sind für den Geheimpfad ebenso ungeeignet wie abergläubische Personen. Das alles kann nicht genug betont werden. Denn in Träumerei, Phantastik und Aberglauben lauern die schlimmsten Feinde auf dem Wege zu Erkenntnissen in höheren Welten. Es braucht aber auch niemand zu glauben, daß dem Geheimjünger die Poesie des Lebens, die Begeisterungsfähigkeit verlorengehe, weil über dem Tore, das zur zweiten Probe der Einweihung führt, die Worte stehen: «Alle Vorurteile müssen von dir fallen», und weil er an der Eingangspforte zur ersten Probe bereits lesen muß: «Ohne gesunden Menschenverstand sind alle deine Schritte vergebens. »
[ 18 ] Ist der Kandidat in dieser Art weit genug vorgeschritten, so wartet die dritte «Probe» auf ihn. Bei dieser wird ihm kein Ziel fühlbar. Es ist alles in seine eigene Hand gelegt. Er befindet sich in einer Lage, wo ihn nichts zum Handeln veranlaßt. Er muß ganz allein aus sich seinen Weg finden. Dinge oder Personen, die ihn zu etwas bewegen, sind nicht da. Nichts und niemand kann ihm jetzt die Kraft geben, die er braucht, als nur er selbst. Fände er diese Kraft nicht in sich selbst, so stände er sehr bald wieder da, wo er vorher gestanden hat. Doch muß man sagen, daß nur wenige von denen, welche die vorigen Proben bestanden haben, hier diese Kraft nicht finden werden. Man bleibt entweder schon vorher zurück, oder man besteht auch hier. Alles, was nötig ist, das besteht darinnen, rasch mit sich selbst zurecht zu kommen. Denn man muß hier sein «höheres Selbst» im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes finden. Man muß sich rasch entschließen, auf die Eingebung des Geistes in allen Dingen zu hören. Zeit zu irgendwelchen Bedenken, Zweifeln und so weiter hat man hier nicht mehr. Jede Minute Zögerung würde nur beweisen, daß man noch nicht reif ist. Was abhält, auf den Geist zu hören, muß kühn überwunden werden. Es kommt darauf an, Geistesgegenwart in dieser Lage zu beweisen. Und das ist auch die Eigenschaft, auf deren vollkommene Ausbildung es auf dieser Entwickelungsstufe abgesehen ist. Alle Verlockungen zum Handeln, ja selbst zum Denken, an die ein Mensch vorher gewöhnt war, hören auf. Um nicht untätig zu bleiben, darf der Mensch sich selbst nicht verlieren. Denn nur in sich selbst kann er den einzigen festen Punkt finden, an den er sich zu halten vermag. Niemand, der dies hier liest, ohne weiter mit den Sachen vertraut zu sein, sollte eine Antipathie empfinden gegen dieses Zurückgewiesensein auf sich selbsf. Denn es bedeutet für den Menschen die schönste Glückseligkeit, wenn er die geschilderte Probe besteht.
[ 19 ] Und nicht weniger als in den anderen Fällen ist auch für diesen Punkt das gewöhnliche Leben für viele Menschen schon eine Geheimschule. Personen, die es dahin gebracht haben, daß sie, vor plötzlich an sie herantretende Lebensaufgaben gestellt, ohne Zögern, ohne viel Bedenken eines raschen Entschlusses fähig sind, ihnen ist das Leben eine solche Schulung. Die geeigneten Lagen sind diejenigen, wo ein erfolgreiches Handeln sofort unmöglich wird, wenn der Mensch nicht rasch eingreift. Wer rasch bei der Hand ist, zuzugreifen, wenn ein Unglück in Sicht ist, während durch einige Augenblicke Zögerung das Unglück bereits geschehen wäre, und wer eine solche rasche Entschlußfähigkeit zu einer bleibenden Eigenschaft bei sich gemacht hat, der hat unbewußt die Reife für die dritte «Probe» erworben. Denn auf die Heranbildung der unbedingten Geistesgegenwart kommt es bei ihr an. Man nennt sie in den Geheimschulen die «Luftprobe», weil der Kandidat bei ihr sich weder auf den festen Boden der äußeren Veranlassungen stützen kann noch auf dasjenige, was sich aus den Farben, Formen und so weiter ergibt, die er durch Vorbereitung und Erleuchtung kennengelernt hat, sondern ausschließlich auf sich selbst.
[ 20 ] Hat der Geheimjünger diese Probe bestanden, dann darf er den «Tempel der höheren Erkenntnisse» betreten. – Was darüber weiter zu sagen ist, kann nur die allerspärlichste Andeutung sein. – Was jetzt zu leisten ist, wird oft so ausgedrückt, daß man sagt: der Geheimjünger habe einen «Eid» zu leisten, nichts von den Geheimlehren zu «verraten». Doch sind die Ausdrücke «Eid» und «verraten» keineswegs sachgemäß und sogar zunächst irreführend. Es handelt sich um keinen «Eid» im gewöhnlichen Sinne des Wortes. Man macht vielmehr auf dieser Stufe der Entwickelung eine Erfahrung. Man lernt, wie man die Geheimlehre anwendet, wie man sie in den Dienst der Menschheit stellt. Man fängt an, die Welt erst recht zu verstehen. Nicht auf das «Verschweigen» der höheren Wahrheiten kommt es da an, sondern vielmehr auf die rechte Art, den entsprechenden Takt, sie zu vertreten. Worüber man «schweigen» lernt, das ist etwas ganz anderes. Man eignet sich diese herrliche Eigenschaft nämlich in bezug auf vieles an, worüber man vorher geredet hat, namentlich auf die Art, wie man geredet hat. Ein schlechter Eingeweihter wäre der, welcher nicht die erfahrenen Geheimnisse in den Dienst der Welt stellte, so gut und soweit dies nur möglich ist. Es gibt kein anderes Hindernis für die Mitteilung auf diesem Gebiete als allein das Nichtverstehen von seiten dessen, der empfangen soll. Zum beliebigen Reden darüber eignen sich allerdings die höheren Geheimnisse nicht. Aber es ist niemandem etwas «verboten» zu sagen, der die beschriebene Stufe der Entwickelung erlangt hat. Kein anderer Mensch und kein Wesen legt ihm einen dahingehenden «Eid» auf. Alles ist in seine eigene Verantwortlichkeit gestellt. Was er lernt, ist, in jeder Lage ganz durch sich selbst zu finden, was er zu tun hat. Und der «Eid» bedeutet nichts, als daß der Mensch reif geworden ist, eine solche Verantwortung tragen zu können.
[ 21 ] Ist der Kandidat reif geworden zu dem Beschriebenen, dann erhält er dasjenige, was man sinnbildlich als den «Vergessenheitstrunk» bezeichnet. Er wird nämlich in das Geheimnis eingeweiht, wie man wirken kann, ohne sich durch das niedere Gedächtnis fortwährend stören zu lassen. Das ist für den Eingeweihten notwendig. Denn er muß stets das volle Vertrauen in die unmittelbare Gegenwart haben. Er muß die Schleier der Erinnerung zerstören können, die sich in jedem Augenblick des Lebens um den Menschen ausbreiten. Wenn ich etwas, was mir heute begegnet, nach dem beurteile, was ich gestern erfahren habe, so bin ich vielfachen Irrtümern unterworfen. Natürlich ist damit nicht gemeint, daß man seine im Leben gewonnene Erfahrung verleugne. Man soll sich sie immer gegenwärtig halten, so gut man kann. Aber man muß als Eingeweihter die Fähigkeit haben, jedes neue Erlebnis aus sich selbst zu beurteilen, es ungetrübt durch alle Vergangenheit auf sich wirken zu lassen. Ich muß in jedem Augenblicke darauf gefaßt sein, daß mir ein jegliches Ding oder Wesen eine ganz neue Offenbarung bringen kann. Beurteile ich das Neue nach dem Alten, so bin ich dem Irrtum unterworfen. Gerade dadurch wird mir die Erinnerung an alte Erfahrungen am nützlichsten, daß sie mich befähigt, Neues zu sehen. Hätte ich eine bestimmte Erfahrung nicht, so würde ich die Eigenschaft eines Dinges oder eines Wesens, die mir entgegentreten, vielleicht gar nicht sehen. Aber eben zum Sehen des Neuen, nicht zur Beurteilung des Neuen nach dem Alten soll die Erfahrung dienen. In dieser Beziehung erlangt der Eingeweihte ganz bestimmte Fähigkeiten. Dadurch enthüllen sich ihm viele Dinge, die dem Uneingeweihten verborgen bleiben.
[ 22 ] Der zweite «Trank», der dem Eingeweihten verabreicht wird, ist der «Gedächtnistrank». Durch ihn erlangt er die Fähigkeit, höhere Geheimnisse stets im Geiste gegenwärtig zu haben. Dazu würde das gewöhnliche Gedächtnis nicht ausreichen. Man muß ganz eins werden mit den höheren Wahrheiten. Man muß sie nicht nur wissen, sondern ganz selbstverständlich in lebendigem Tun handhaben, wie man als gewöhnlicher Mensch ißt und trinkt. Übung, Gewöhnung, Neigung müssen sie werden. Man muß gar nicht über sie in gewöhnlichem Sinne nachzudenken brauchen; sie müssen sich durch den Menschen selbst darstellen, durch ihn fließen wie die Lebensfunktionen seines Organismus. So macht er sich in geistigem Sinne immer mehr zu dem, wozu ihn im physischen die Natur gemacht hat.
The initiation
[ 1 ] The initiation is the highest of the levels of a secret training, about which suggestions can still be given in a writing that are generally understandable. Everything above this level is difficult to understand. But anyone who has penetrated to the lower mysteries through preparation, enlightenment and initiation will find the way.
[ 2 ] The knowledge and ability that a person receives through initiation could only be acquired in a very distant future - after many embodiments - in a completely different way and also in a completely different form. Those who are initiated today experience something that they would otherwise experience much later, under completely different circumstances.
[ 3 ] A person can only really experience so much of the secrets of existence as corresponds to the degree of his maturity. This is the only reason why there are obstacles to the higher levels of knowledge and ability. A person should not use a gun before he has gained sufficient experience to avoid causing harm through its use. - If someone were to be initiated today without further ado, he would lack the experience that he will gain through the embodiments in the future, until the corresponding secrets are granted to him in the regular course of his development. Therefore, at the gate of initiation these experiences must be replaced by something else. The first teachings of the initiation candidate therefore consist of a substitute for future experiences. These are the so-called "tests" which he has to undergo and which arise as a regular consequence of the life of the soul if exercises such as those described in the previous chapters are continued correctly.
[ 4 ] These "trials" are also often mentioned in books. But it is only natural that such discussions usually give rise to completely false ideas about their nature. For anyone who has not gone through the preparation and enlightenment has never experienced anything of these rehearsals. Such a person cannot describe them properly.
[ 5 ] Certain things and facts belonging to the higher worlds must be revealed to the initiate. However, he can only see and hear them if he can feel the spiritual perceptions such as figures, colors, sounds and so on, which have been reported in the discussion of "preparation" and "enlightenment".
[ 6 ] The first "test" consists in the fact that he acquires a truer perception of the bodily qualities of inanimate bodies, then of plants, animals and humans than the average person possesses. However, this does not mean what is called scientific knowledge today. As a rule, the process is such that the initiate learns to recognize how natural things and living beings manifest themselves to the spiritual ear and spiritual eye. In a certain way these things then stand unveiled - naked - before the observer. The qualities that are heard and seen are hidden from the sensual eye and the sensual ear. They are veiled to the sensual gaze as if covered by a veil. The fact that this veil falls away for the initiate is based on a process that is called the "spiritual combustion process". This is why this first test is called the "fire test".
[ 7 ] For some people, ordinary life itself is already a more or less unconscious initiation process through the trial by fire. These are those who go through rich experiences of such a nature that their self-confidence, courage and steadfastness grow in a healthy way and that they learn to endure suffering, disappointment, failure of undertakings with greatness of soul and especially with calmness and unbroken strength. Whoever has gone through experiences of this kind is often already an initiate without clearly knowing it; and then it only takes a little to open his spiritual ears and eyes so that he becomes a clairvoyant. For it should be noted that a true "trial by fire" is not about satisfying the candidate's curiosity. Certainly, he gets to know extraordinary facts of which other people have no idea. But this knowledge is not the goal, but only the means to the goal. The goal, however, is that through the knowledge of the higher worlds the candidate may acquire greater and truer self-confidence, greater courage and a completely different greatness of soul and endurance than can usually be attained within the lower world.
[ 8 ] After the "trial by fire", each candidate can still turn back. He will then continue his life strengthened in physical and spiritual terms and will probably only continue the initiation in a next embodiment. In his present incarnation, however, he will be a more useful member of human society than he was before. In whatever situation he may find himself: his firmness, his prudence, his favorable influence on his fellow men, his determination will have increased.
[ 9 ] If the candidate wishes to continue the secret training after completing the trial by fire, a certain scriptural system must now be revealed to him, as is customary in secret training. The actual secret teachings are revealed in these scriptural systems. For that which is really "hidden" (occult) in things can neither be expressed directly with the words of ordinary language, nor can it be recorded with the ordinary systems of writing. Those who have learned from the initiates translate the teachings of the secret science into ordinary language as best they can. The occult scripture reveals itself to the soul when it has attained spiritual perception. For this scripture is always written in the spiritual world. You do not learn it the way you learn to read an artificial script. Rather, one grows in a proper way towards clairvoyant knowledge, and during this growth the power develops like a soul ability, which feels compelled to decipher the existing events and entities of the spiritual world like the characters of a script. It could be that this power, and with it the experience of the corresponding "sample", awakens of its own accord as the soul's development progresses. However, you will reach your goal more safely if you follow the instructions of experienced secret researchers who are adept at deciphering occult writing.
[ 10 ] The signs of the secret writing are not arbitrarily devised, but correspond to the forces that are active in the world. One learns the language of things through these signs. It soon becomes apparent to the candidate that the signs he learns correspond to the figures, colors, sounds and so on that he has learned to perceive during his preparation and enlightenment. It becomes clear to him that everything that had gone before was only like spelling. Only now does he begin to read in the higher world. Everything that was previously only an isolated figure, sound or color appears to him in a larger context. Only now does he gain real certainty in observing the higher worlds. Before, he could never know with certainty whether the things he saw were seen correctly. And only now can an orderly understanding take place between the candidate and the initiate in the fields of higher knowledge. For however the coexistence of an initiate with another person may be structured in ordinary life: the initiate can only communicate something of the higher knowledge in immediate form in the aforementioned sign language.
[ 11 ] Through this language, the secret disciple also becomes familiar with certain rules of conduct for life. He learns certain duties of which he previously knew nothing. And when he has learned these rules of conduct, he can accomplish things that have a significance that the deeds of the uninitiated can never have. He acts from the higher worlds. The instructions for such actions can only be understood in the indicated scripture.
[ 12 ] It must be emphasized, however, that there are people who are able to perform such actions unconsciously, even though they have not undergone secret training. Such "helpers of the world and humanity" walk through life blessing and benefiting. For reasons that cannot be discussed here, they have been given gifts that appear supernatural. What distinguishes them from the secret disciple is merely that the latter acts with consciousness, with full insight into the whole context. He attains through training what has been bestowed upon them by higher powers for the salvation of the world. One can sincerely venerate those who have been graced by God; but for this reason one must not consider the work of training to be superfluous.
[ 13 ] Once the secret disciple has learned the above-mentioned script, another "test" begins for him. This must prove whether he can move freely and safely in the higher world. In ordinary life, man is moved to his actions by external impulses. He does this or that because circumstances impose this or that duty on him. - It need hardly be said that the secret disciple may not neglect any of his duties in ordinary life because he lives in higher worlds. No duty in a higher world can compel a man to neglect a single one of his duties in the ordinary. The father of a family remains just as good a father, the mother just as good a mother, the civil servant is not deterred from anything, nor the soldier or anyone else when they become secret students. On the contrary, all the qualities that make a person capable in life are enhanced in the secret disciple to an extent that the uninitiated cannot imagine. And if this often - not always, even rarely - does not appear so to the uninitiated, then this is only due to the fact that he is not always able to judge the initiate correctly. What the latter does is sometimes not immediately clear to the other. But even that, as I said, is only noticeable in special cases.
[ 14 ] For the one who has arrived at the aforementioned level of initiation, there are now duties to which there is no external impetus. He is not prompted in these matters by external circumstances, but only by those measures which are revealed to him in the "hidden" language. Now he must show by the second "test" that, guided by such a measure, he acts as surely and firmly as, for example, a civil servant performs the duties incumbent upon him. - For this purpose, the candidate will feel that he is faced with a specific task during the secret training. He is to perform an action as a result of perceptions he makes on the basis of what he has learned at the preparatory and enlightenment stage. And he must recognize what he has to carry out through the marked scripture he has acquired. If he recognizes his duty and acts correctly, then he has passed the test. One recognizes success by the change that takes place in the perceptions of the spirit's ears and eyes, which are perceived as figures, colors and sounds, through the action. In the progress of the secret training it is indicated exactly how these figures and so on are perceived after the action. And the candidate must know how to bring about such a change. - This test is called the "water test" because, when working in these higher areas, the person lacks the support of external conditions, just as when moving in water whose bottom cannot be reached, there is no support. - The process must be repeated until the candidate is completely confident.
[ 15 ] This test also involves the acquisition of a quality; and through the experiences in the higher world man develops this quality in a short time to such a high degree that in the ordinary course of development he would probably have to pass through many embodiments in order to attain it. What is important is the following. In order to bring about the indicated change in the higher realm of existence, the candidate must merely follow what comes to him on the basis of his higher perception and as a result of his reading of the hidden Scriptures. If during his action he were to interfere with any of his wishes, opinions and so on, if he were to follow for a moment not the laws which he has recognized as right, but his arbitrariness: then something quite different would happen from what should happen. In this case, the candidate would immediately lose the direction of his goal of action, and confusion would ensue. - Therefore, through this test, man has ample opportunity to develop his self-control. And that is what matters. Again, this test can therefore be passed more easily by those who, before initiation, have gone through a life that has brought them the acquisition of self-mastery. He who has acquired the ability to follow high principles and ideals, setting aside personal whim and caprice, who knows how to fulfill his duty even where his inclinations and sympathies would all too readily divert him from this duty, is unconsciously already an initiate in the midst of ordinary life. And only a little will be necessary for him to pass the test described. Indeed, it must even be said that a certain degree of initiation already unconsciously attained in life will, as a rule, be quite necessary to pass the second test. For just as it is difficult for many people who have not learned to write properly in their youth to make up for it once they have reached full maturity, so it will also be difficult to develop the necessary degree of self-control in gaining insight into the higher worlds if one has not already acquired a certain degree of it in everyday life. The things of the physical world do not change, whatever we wish, desire, whatever our inclinations may be. In the higher worlds, however, our wishes, desires and inclinations have an effect on things. If we want to affect things in the right way, we must have ourselves completely under our control, must only follow the right rules and not be subject to any arbitrariness.
[ 16 ] One quality of the human being that comes into particular consideration at this stage of initiation is an absolutely sound and certain power of judgment. The development of such a faculty must be looked for at all earlier stages; and at this stage it must be shown whether the candidate handles it in such a way that he is suitable for the true path of knowledge. He can only progress if he is able to distinguish illusion, essential fantasies, superstition and all kinds of illusions from true reality. And on the higher levels of existence this is initially more difficult than on the lower ones. There every prejudice, every cherished opinion must disappear in relation to the things that matter; and only the truth must be the guiding principle. There must be perfect readiness to give up a thought, an opinion, an inclination immediately when logical thinking demands it. Certainty in higher worlds can only be attained if one never spares one's own opinion.
[ 17 ] People with a way of thinking that tends towards fantasy, towards superstition, cannot make any progress on the secret path. After all, the secret disciple is supposed to gain a precious asset. All doubts about the higher worlds are removed from him. These reveal themselves in their laws before his eyes. But he cannot attain this good as long as he allows himself to be deceived by deceptions and illusions. It would be bad for him if his imagination and prejudices were to run away with his mind. Dreamers and fantasists are just as unsuitable for the secret path as superstitious people. This cannot be emphasized enough. For in reverie, fantasy and superstition lurk the worst enemies on the path to knowledge in higher worlds. But no one need believe that the secret disciple will lose the poetry of life, the capacity for enthusiasm, because above the gate leading to the second test of initiation are the words: "All prejudices must fall from you", and because at the entrance to the first test he must already read: "Without common sense all your steps are in vain. "
[ 18 ] Once the candidate has progressed far enough in this way, the third "trial" awaits him. He will not be able to feel any goal in this. Everything is in his own hands. He finds himself in a situation where nothing prompts him to act. He has to find his own way. There are no things or people to move him to do anything. Nothing and no one can give him the strength he needs but himself. If he did not find this strength within himself, he would very soon be back where he was before. But it must be said that only a few of those who have passed the previous tests will not find this strength here. One either falls behind before, or one also passes here. All that is necessary is to come to terms with oneself quickly. Because you have to find your "higher self" here in the truest sense of the word. One must quickly decide to listen to the inspiration of the spirit in all things. There is no time for any doubts, second thoughts and so on. Every minute of hesitation would only prove that you are not yet mature. What keeps one from listening to the Spirit must be boldly overcome. It is important to prove presence of mind in this situation. And this is also the quality that must be developed to perfection at this stage of development. All temptations to act, even to think, to which a person was previously accustomed, cease. In order not to remain inactive, man must not lose himself. For only in himself can he find the only fixed point to which he can hold himself. No one who reads this without being further acquainted with the matter should feel any antipathy towards being rejected by oneself. For it means the most beautiful bliss for man when he passes the test described.
[ 19 ] And no less than in the other cases, ordinary life is already a secret school for many people. Persons who have come to the point where, when suddenly confronted with life's tasks, they are able to make a quick decision without hesitation, without much hesitation, life is such a school for them. The appropriate situations are those where successful action immediately becomes impossible if the person does not intervene quickly. He who is quick to take action when disaster is in sight, when a few moments' hesitation would have already caused the disaster, and he who has made such quick decisiveness a permanent quality in himself, has unconsciously acquired the maturity for the third "test". For it depends on the development of the unconditional presence of mind. In the secret schools it is called the "air test" because the candidate can rely neither on the solid ground of external causes nor on what results from the colors, forms and so on that he has become acquainted with through preparation and enlightenment, but exclusively on himself.
[ 20 ] Once the secret disciple has passed this test, he may enter the "Temple of Higher Knowledge". - What more can be said about this can only be the barest of hints. - What is to be done now is often expressed by saying that the secret disciple has to take an "oath" not to "betray" any of the secret teachings. However, the terms "oath" and "betray" are by no means appropriate and are even initially misleading. It is not an "oath" in the usual sense of the word. Rather, at this stage of development one undergoes an experience. One learns how to apply the Secret Doctrine, how to put it at the service of humanity. One begins to understand the world even better. It is not a matter of "keeping silent" about the higher truths, but rather of the right way, the appropriate tact, to represent them. What you learn to "keep quiet" about is something completely different. One acquires this marvelous quality in relation to much that one has spoken about before, especially in the way one has spoken. A bad initiate would be one who did not put the secrets he had learned at the service of the world as well and as far as possible. There is no other obstacle to communication in this field than the lack of understanding on the part of the one who is to receive. However, the higher mysteries are not suitable for arbitrary talk about them. But no one who has attained the described stage of development is "forbidden" to say anything. No other person or being imposes an "oath" to this effect on him. Everything is his own responsibility. What he learns is to find out for himself what he has to do in every situation. And the "oath" means nothing more than that the person has become mature enough to be able to bear such responsibility.
[ 21 ] Once the candidate has matured to what is described, he receives what is symbolically referred to as the "potion of oblivion". He is initiated into the secret of how one can work without being continually disturbed by the lower memory. This is necessary for the initiate. For he must always have full confidence in the immediate present. He must be able to destroy the veils of memory that spread around him at every moment of his life. If I judge something I encounter today by what I experienced yesterday, I am subject to many errors. Of course, this does not mean that we should deny the experience we have gained in life. One should always keep it present as best one can. But as an initiate you must have the ability to judge every new experience from within yourself, to let it affect you unclouded by the past. I must be prepared at every moment for the fact that every thing or being can bring me a completely new revelation. If I judge the new by the old, I am subject to error. It is precisely in this way that the memory of old experiences is most useful to me, because it enables me to see the new. If I did not have a certain experience, I would perhaps not even see the quality of a thing or a being that I encounter. But it is precisely for seeing the new, not for judging the new according to the old, that experience should serve. In this respect, the initiate acquires very specific abilities. This reveals many things to him that remain hidden to the uninitiated.
[ 22 ] The second "potion" given to the initiate is the "memory potion". It gives him the ability to always have higher secrets present in his mind. Ordinary memory would not suffice for this. One must become completely one with the higher truths. One must not only know them, but handle them quite self-evidently in living action, as one eats and drinks as an ordinary person. They must become practice, habituation, inclination. There is no need to think about them in the ordinary sense; they must present themselves through man himself, flow through him like the vital functions of his organism. Thus he makes himself more and more in the spiritual sense into what nature has made him in the physical sense.