The Mysteries of the East and of Christianity
GA 144
3 February 1913, Berlin
Lecture I
In these lectures I should like to bring before you a picture of the nature of the Mysteries and their connection with the spiritual life of humanity. First, by way of introduction, we must come to an understanding with regard to various experiences on the path to the higher worlds. We shall have to bring forward things which in a certain connection have already been touched upon in the course of our anthroposophical studies; but during the next few days we shall need certain points of view which may have so far received less attention, at least in their necessary setting.
Everything that belongs to the Mysteries in their true nature is founded ultimately on the experiences of Initiates in the higher worlds. It is from the higher worlds that the knowledge and the impulses for practical training in the Mysteries have to be brought. We have often emphasised that as human evolution in different regions takes on different forms in successive periods, so is it with everything that we call the nature of the Mysteries. It is not for nothing that our souls pass through successive human lives; we go through them because in every incarnation we experience something fresh and can add it to what we have garnered in previous incarnations. In most cases the appearance of the external world has completely changed when, after our passage through the spiritual worlds between death and a new birth, we enter again through birth into physical existence, And for reasons that we can easily recognise, the principle of Initiation must also change in the successive epochs of humanity. In our own time the principle of Initiation has already undergone a great change, in that Initiation can be attained up to a certain stage without any personal guidance; for it has been possible to set out publicly the principles of Initiation as far as has been done, for example, in my book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. Anyone who tries quite seriously to work through the experiences described in this book can go very far in relation to the principle of Initiation. He can go so far that the existence of the spiritual world becomes for him a matter of knowledge, equally with his knowledge of the external physical world. By slowly and gradually applying to his soul in due sequence the exercises given, he will break through to an understanding of the spiritual worlds. The Way of Initiation can now be described and pursued without exposing the soul to certain events which could lead it into particular catastrophes and revolutions.
Up to this point, accordingly, it is possible today to discuss in public the Way into the higher worlds. But it must be said also that for anyone seriously resolved to go further, the Way is even today bound up with the enduring of certain pains and sorrows, and with some quite special experiences which can have a dismaying, revolutionary effect on a man's life, and for these he must have undergone a thorough preparation. I must again emphasise, however, that anyone can follow through everything that has been published without risk of harm, and by this means he can go very far along the Way. The path to the higher worlds, one need hardly say, is never closed, but anyone who wishes to follow it beyond a certain frontier must be specially prepared if he is to reach the end of it without having his inner life shaken—not morbidly, but shaken through and through. Even these shocks pass quite naturally over the soul when the whole course of Initiation is carried out rightly. But it is very necessary that it should be carried through in the right way.
Now we must understand clearly that if anyone wants to plunge into the Mysteries, everything in his soul-life must gradually become different. The change can be characterised in a few words by saying: for anyone wishing to penetrate the Mysteries, the aims and goals that figure in ordinary soul-life must all become a means to higher purposes, higher goals. In ordinary life a man perceives the external world through his senses. He perceives it in colours, forms and sounds and other sense-impressions. He lives within this world of sense-impressions. At the moment when Initiation is to enter a certain stage, he must not simply experience blue or red or any other colours all the time; without losing these experiences he must learn to make them a means to higher ends. In ordinary life a man looks out on a clear day into space and sees the blue sky and enjoys the sight. But if he wants to be an Initiate of a certain degree he must come to the point of being able to see the blue of the heavens as completely transparent. While normally it is a limit or boundary, it must now become transparent, and he must be able to see what he wants to see through the blue sky. For him it must no longer be a boundary. Or let us take a rose: for external vision the surface of the rose is bounded by its red colour. At the moment of Initiation the red colour ceases to be a boundary. It becomes transparent, and behind it appears that which is being sought. The colour does not cease to produce its own natural effect; but the Initiate perceives something different when he looks through the blue sky, when he looks through the red of the rose, and again when he looks through the rosy dawn, and so on. The colour is experienced in a quite definite manner, but for unmediated vision it becomes transparent and is eliminated by the soul-force which has been acquired through the training that leads to clairvoyance. So it is with all sense-impressions. Whereas previously they were in themselves a complete experience, after Initiation they become merely a means of experiencing what lies behind them.
Thus it is with the whole thought-world. In ordinary life man thinks ... I beg you not to misunderstand this in any way; if you compare it in the right sense with other explanations you will see the agreement, but it is none the less true to say that from a certain stage of Initiation, thinking in the usual sense of the word ceases. It is not that the Initiate could ever come to a time when he would regard thinking as of no significance, but instead of being the aim and object of the life of the soul, thinking must become merely a means to an end. The Initiate, in fact, is entering a new world. In order to experience it, it is necessary for him—besides other things of which we shall have to speak—to pass beyond the standpoint of ordinary thinking on the physical plane. When a man lives on the physical plane he judges things and forms opinions about them. After a certain stage of Initiation these opinions no longer have any meaning or value. But as we are speaking about regions of the soul-life so different from those to which we are accustomed, I must point out that it is very easy for misunderstandings to arise. When this stage of Initiation, which I shall have to describe later on, is reached, then as a rule a person will have to lead a kind of double life. For in everyday life it is impossible not to reflect and form judgments upon things. On the physical plane we are forced to form judgments and to think. Suppose you were sitting in a train and were not thinking, you would go past your station. It could even happen that although an Anthroposophist ought to take care of his membership card, a thoughtless person might leave it lying about, which would be against all the principles that should be observed in looking after it. Well, life is such that we must use our judgment and reflect.
But with this attitude towards judging and thinking we cannot attain to the higher worlds. A mixing of the two attitudes may occur: one can be so absorbed in the urge to reach the higher worlds as to be guilty of such a lapse of memory as I have just mentioned. However, on the whole it should. certainly be possible to keep these two things apart: a truly sound power of judgment for the physical plane, holding all life's duties in view and at the same time never forgetting that what we develop so assiduously for the physical plane can be only a means to an end where the higher worlds are concerned.
Thoughts, ideas, judgments, must be for the would-be Initiate what colours, for example, are for the painter. For him they are not an end in themselves but a means of expressing what he wants to say in his picture. In ordinary physical life thoughts and ideas are an end in themselves; for the Initiate they become the means of expressing what he experiences in the higher worlds. This stage can be reached only when a certain attitude of soul towards one's personal views and opinions has been acquired. A person who has any preference for one view or another; who still prefers one thing or another to be true, cannot enter the stage of Initiation referred to here, but only he who esteems his own views as little as he does those of others, and is prepared to set aside his own opinions and to observe quite objectively what is really there. In general, one of the greatest difficulties of inner experience is to get beyond the standpoint of “opinions” and “points of view”. Here we touch upon certain difficulties which may arise in living together with other people when one is seeking to follow the path into the higher worlds. Anyone who is seeking this path, or has already arrived at a certain stage on it, will take an attitude towards many things in life, through the soul-condition he has attained, which will be different from the ordinary one. Above all, he will reveal the characteristic of knowing quickly, let us say, how one ought to behave in this or that circumstance of life. Then perhaps he is asked by those around him: “Why should we do that?” Certainly, when he can appreciate the other person's point of view, he will always be able to account for this “why”. But first he will have to come down from the level where he sees in a flash what has to be done, and take his stand beside the person, forcing himself to follow the train of thought of ordinary life in order to show what proof there is for what he sees through in a flash. This rapid comprehension of widely varying and complicated circumstances of life is a phenomenon, which accompanies the faculty of rising above personal opinions and views and standpoints.
Apart from this, the attainment that must be sought is connected with various other inner moral qualities. Of these we shall have to speak later. We will point now to only one quality to which allusion has often been made. It is fearlessness. For we must bear in mind that, when the entire soul-life is reduced to being a means, instead of ranking as an end in itself, the experiences into which one enters are transformed. In the first place there will be a quite new mode of experiencing. One is indeed entering into the unknown, and this is at first always accompanied by conditions of fear. And because the whole experience takes place in the intimate depths of the soul, the state of fear may lead to all kinds of inner soul-experiences. Hence the preparations for the path into the higher worlds involves the achievement of a certain fearlessness. This fearlessness must be won by means of definite meditations. It can be done. Only, generally speaking, people lack sufficient perseverance for the kind of meditations required. A good meditation is to give oneself up again and again to the thought that knowing about something makes no difference to the thing itself. If, for instance, someone were at this moment to know that something bad is going to happen in an hour's time, and that nothing he can do could prevent it, his knowledge of it would probably cause him anxiety and fear. But his knowledge does not alter the thing in the least. Hence the fear and anxiety are entirely futile. It is a futility to which all souls quite naturally give way; a folly which assuredly would assail anyone at a certain stage of Initiation if his training had not prepared him for fearlessness by requiring him to say to himself again and again: Is anything at all altered by the fact of knowing about it?
The person who is meditating, who has worked up to certain stages of Initiation, then comes to a very remarkable piece of knowledge: the knowledge that in a certain sense things are in a bad way with regard to his inner being, his own human soul.
Beneath the threshold of the consciousness there is indeed something that one would wish to be different, judging by the opinions of ordinary life. In a certain respect it is something quite terrifying. And it would be in the natural order of things that if a man were to be led unprepared into the depths of his own soul, he would get an incredible shock. One must prepare oneself, then, by an ever-repeated meditation on the thought: Things cannot be altered by knowing about them. Of a truth, the thing that is terrifying in the subliminal regions of the soul is not called forth only when one approaches it and looks at it. It is always there, even when one is not aware of it. But through constantly repeated meditation on the thought that things cannot be altered by knowing about them, one expels a great part of the fear that must be got rid of.
Thus you see from just a few things I have mentioned that in the moment when one is preparing to rise into higher worlds, intellectual and moral qualities of the soul intermingle. For the ordinary external knowledge of our time one requires only intellectual qualities. In this connection I call courage and fearlessness moral qualities. Without them, certain stages of Initiation cannot be reached.
Whether we are speaking of Eastern Mysteries or Western Mysteries, all have certain stages in common, Hence for all Mysteries certain expressions have a valid meaning and can be rendered somewhat as follows. Every soul that wishes to attain to a certain stage of Initiation and the Mysteries must go through certain experiences. The first can be called “Coming into contact with the Experience of Death”; the second is “Passing through the Elementary World”; the third was called in the Egyptian and other Mysteries “Seeing the Sun at Midnight”; and a fourth one is “The Meeting with the Upper and the Lower Gods”. These experiences must be gone through by everyone who attains to a certain stage of Initiation. Through inner experience he must come to know what these phrases mean and must be capable, so to speak, of living in two worlds—the actual world in which man lives today, the world of the physical plane; and a world in which a man can live only when he knows what is meant by having “come into contact with Death”, by having “gone through the Elementary World”, by having “seen the Sun at Midnight”, and by “meeting with the Upper and. the Lower Gods”.
“To come into the vicinity of Death.” The point here is that in his waking condition between birth and death a man really lives continually, in so far as he lives consciously, in all that concerning which I have just been saying: it must be overcome, must become for the Initiated a mere means to an end. Let us try now to be quite clear as to what a man lives in while he is on the physical plane. On the physical plane he lives in his sense-impressions and in the ordinary experiences of his soul. All this must become merely a means, as soon as he enters into the Mysteries. What then remains, over and above what a man feels himself to be in ordinary life? Nothing remains. Everything sinks down into a reality of secondary degree. A man must lay aside all his usual experiences, both of an inward and of an outward nature. Only think, the blue vault of heaven becomes transparent, is no more there; all boundaries produced by colour on the surface of things vanish, are no longer there. The sounds of the physical world cease, are no longer there; the experience of touch ceases, is no longer there. And I beg you to take note that this becomes actual experience. Thus, for example, the feeling, “to stand with one's feet on solid ground” which is nothing else than an expression of the sense of touch, ceases, and the person feels as if the ground has been taken away from under him and he were standing upon nothing; but he cannot draw back and cannot rise. So it is with all impressions of the senses—with everything for which the physical body is an instrument. All that a man goes through in his normal life between waking and sleeping is brought about through the instrumentality of the body, and all this ceases. A condition from which man in ordinary life is preserved now actually occurs—the condition that would come about if someone while sleeping were suddenly to become conscious without waking up again in his physical body. This is not a condition reached in ordinary dreams. The dream is in a certain sense an extra-physical experience, but the consciousness of it is so lessened that the person is not aware of being outside all physical experience. This intensity of consciousness, “Thou standest outside all physical life”, is not produced until Initiation. During the ascent into the higher worlds a moment comes when a man confronts his physical body, whose hands he can move during waking life, with whose feet he can walk, whose knees he can bend, whose eyelids he can open and shut and so on, but now he feels as though his whole physical body were petrified, as though it were impossible to move the eyelids, the legs, the hands, etc. A moment then comes when he knows that there are eyes in this physical body, but they are of no use for seeing. On the one hand all things become transparent, and on the other the possibility of approaching these things with the usual and familiar means ceases completely. Try to grasp what a contradiction this is, in the ordinary sense of the word. When a man prepares himself to reach this point, he finds all things are, so to speak, transparent, that he sees through everything. But at the moment when this begins—e.g. when the heavens become transparent—the eye ceases to have the power of seeing the blue vault of heaven at all. This means that the first moment in the Mysteries consists in a person coming to the point when he overcomes the method of perception by the senses, and also the act of thinking, but what he should thereby attain is at the same moment taken from him. He has worked his way through to the moment where something quite new is given to him; he reaches precisely the moment in which this new thing comes to meet him—but in this very instant it is also taken away. He now knows nothing but: “Thou hast won thy way through in such manner that thou standest before the Higher Worlds, and now in that very moment they are taken from thee.”
Picture this experience to yourselves, and you have the moment which has been designated in the Mysteries of all ages as “The Approach to the Gate of Death.” For the person knows now what is meant by the words: the world is taken from you, i.e. the entire world of impressions. And he knows that he consists of nothing but these experiences of inner impressions. For in reality there exists nothing but these experiences, these inner impressions. As soon as a person falls asleep, when all impressions cease, he normally falls into unconsciousness. This means that he lives in his impressions. Now he overcomes these impressions of ordinary life; he knows he has progressed so far that he can see through everything, but at this moment a new world is taken from him. We shall have to speak more in detail on this point; but first we want to make still clearer what is meant by the expressions used.
In face of this unavoidable halt, with no way of getting further, the only deliverance lies in having developed the inner life—in advance of the actual moment—to such a degree that the aspirant is able to carry with him the only thing which it is at all possible to take beyond that point. He must come to the point where the external world actually denies him all power, and he must have progressed so far in his inner development that at this moment, through training in self-reliance, in self-confidence and presence of mind and other inner virtues (virtues here meaning capabilities), he possesses inner power, inner energy, so that at the moment when the world is taken from him, he has at his disposal a surplus of inner energy. But this brings with it at the same moment an extraordinarily significant experience. Imagine a man coming to the boundary he has striven for, where the world is transparent; then it is taken from him. Now he has preserved nothing; he cannot have saved anything but a certain inner strength through having trained his self-reliance, presence of mind, fearlessness and similar inner qualities. Thereby he comes to the significant experience, one that forces itself upon him: Thou art alone in the world. Thou art quite alone in the world. And then comes an experience which I cannot indicate otherwise than in the words: Thou alone art the whole world. This experience becomes ever stronger and stronger, more and more comprehensive. And the remarkable thing is that from this experience in the soul a whole new world can arise, and truly must arise in him who is to be initiated. He feels he has come to a certain boundary where he has confronted the Void, but that he has brought with him a certain power. It is perhaps quite small at first, but it becomes ever greater and greater and spreads out on all sides. He begins to penetrate into the whole world, to permeate himself with the whole world; and the more he permeates the world with his own being, the more does it appear always different. He extends the power that he has brought with him to one side or the other, and according as he extends it, he will always experience something different. But at first these experiences will be felt to be quite terrifying, because two things are entirely lacking from them. At a certain stage of knowledge the lack of these things may not seem dreadful before it is experienced, because in the ordinary experience of the physical plane the thing is always there, and one first gets a real idea of it only when it is no longer there.
One thing that ceases is every feeling for physical materiality. Everything material has disappeared into indefinite nothingness, the Void—it is not there. The feeling of contacting something hard, or even something soft like water or air—in short, the feeling of being surrounded by matter ceases, is not there. One is concerned only with the qualities of things, not the things themselves. Of heavy, dense physical bodies only the density remains, not the substantiality; of fluid bodies, only the fluidity, but not the water or the fluid; of the air there remains only the tendency to expand in all directions, but not the substantiality. One grows into the qualities of things, but with the feeling that one is growing only into the qualities; that the objects have vanished, all materiality has gone. This is one thing that ceases.
The other thing that ceases for the aspirant at this stage of experience is everything connected with what in ordinary physical life we call sense-perception. This follows from what has already been described. Nothing makes an impression on him, but he is everything himself. The only impression that remains is at the most that of “time”—“Now art thou not yet anything, and after a while thou wilt be something.” But as for having objects external to himself, which are present elsewhere and make an impression on him, nothing like that remains. Either he is something himself, or nothing at all is Elementary there. Everything he encounters becomes himself; he becomes submerged in it, becomes one with it, and finally he becomes as great as the world that is at his disposal; he becomes one with it.
I am picturing actual experience. It is what is generally known in the Mystery centres as “Experiencing the Elementary World”. The aspirant has risen beyond the mere “Contact with Death”, but he is, so to speak, an undifferentiated unity with the whole world that is available to him.
There are now two possibilities. Either the preparation was good or it was not good. If it was good, then the intending Initiate, after having poured himself out to a certain extent over the world, must have so far progressed that he still has surplus strength. In that case—you see that I am describing today from a different point of view things I have often described., but we now need this other point of view—then he now has the following experience.
Whereas in the ordinary world, one confronts an object, gazes at it, and the object makes an impression on the eye so that one then knows something about the object, when the point of Initiation which has just been described is reached, such a thing no longer happens. For the aspirant is not concerned with a reproduction of the ordinary world, but from a definite point onwards he must now have sufficient forces at his command to pour more out of himself. Thus, after he has spent force enough in becoming one with the world, he must now have sufficient strength to spin forces out of himself as the spider spins a web. You see how the whole process of the Mysteries shows the importance of developing strong inner energy in the life of the soul; for one must have large reserves in order that all this may take place.
Then the following may happen. The aspirant naturally has no physical eyes, for they belong to the physical body and he has long left this behind. But because he has poured out something from himself and can pour out still more, as the spider spins her web out of herself, something akin to organs is built up, and he can discern that together with what he is himself producing, something absolutely new appears. Things present themselves not as if, for instance, I had my watch here and my eyes there, but as if the eyes were to send out a ray which formed itself into a watch, so that the watch was there through the activity of the eyes. It is not a matter of constructing or creating a subjective world, but of spinning soul-substance out of ourselves, and the higher worlds we are beginning to live in have to choose this indirect way, in order that we may be able to confront them and recognise them. They must first infiltrate our own soul-substance which we have placed at their disposal. In the physical world things confront us without our co-operation. In the higher worlds nothing confronts us unless we first place our own soul-substance at its disposal. That is why it is so difficult at this point to distinguish the subjective from the objective, for what we spin out of our soul-substance is bound to be entirely subjective, and whatever uses our soul-substance in order to become perceptible is bound to be entirely objective.
I have brought forward these things so that you may experience a definite feeling that all training in the Mysteries consisted pre-eminently in a strengthening of the energies of the soul. That was the important thing—to make the soul powerful, strong, energetic. From the outset the candidate for Initiation had to give up the hope that anyone would hand, him the objects and entities of the higher worlds as though on a platter. He had first to develop himself point by point towards the higher worlds. Nothing without effort, absolutely nothing without effort! So it is for everything that has to be reached individually in the higher worlds; so it is for everything that has been reached in the course of human evolution with regard to the higher worlds.
Let us suppose that some being, the Moses individuality for example, was to be incarnated in the course of human evolution and had to work upon this evolution through his spiritual power. It would be childish to suppose that nothing now needed to happen except that human evolution would proceed on its way, and that at some point or other in its course Heaven would send Moses. Moses is now there; men know that he is Moses, and need only carry out what was being done when Moses came! If Moses had been sent anywhere in this way, the result could only have been that those around him would not have recognised him. The point is not that this or that external personality was there, but that a number of persons should be capable of judging what spiritual being lived in this particular personality. One would never have needed to tell these persons: “This one or other is Moses.” One would. have needed only to prepare their souls in the proper way. Then their souls, without being told, “This one or the other is Moses”, would have known that this was the particular spiritual being who was to be recognised as a certain person.
This, then, is what we have to recognise: that the path into the higher worlds is bound up with an energising, a strengthening of the inner soul-powers; nothing can be given from outside, but it all can be attained only through the strengthening of the inner life; for only by this means can the Threshold be passed into those worlds through which a man passes between death and a new birth. That is what I wished to bring before you today as an introduction.
tomorrow we will go further, by describing first of all what the worlds are like between death and a new birth, and in how far it has become necessary and important that through the Mysteries something should. be communicated to man during his physical life concerning the knowledge of these higher worlds.
Erster Vortrag
In diesen Vorträgen möchte ich Ihnen ein Bild geben des Mysterienwesens und seines Zusammenhanges mit dem Geistesleben der Menschheit. Daher ist es notwendig, daß wir uns heute gleich als Einleitung verständigen über mancherlei Erlebnisse auf dem Wege in die höheren Welten. Dinge werden zwar vorgebracht werden müssen in dieser Einleitung, die in gewisser Beziehung schon innerhalb unsereranthroposophischen Arbeit berührt worden sind ; aber wir werden zu unseren Betrachtungen in den nächsten Tagen gerade gewisse Gesichtspunkte nötig haben, welche vielleicht bisher doch weniger, wenigstens nicht in dem notwendigen Zusammenhange, betrachtet worden sind.
Alles was man unter dem Begriffe des Mysterienwesens zusammenfaßt, ist ja zuletzt begründet auf den Erlebnissen der Eingeweihten in den höheren Welten. Aus den höheren Welten muß heruntergeholt werden das Wissen, müssen auch heruntergeholt werden die Impulse des praktischen Handelns, insofern dieses Wissen und die Impulse des praktischen Handelns im Mysterienwesen in Betracht kommen. Nun ist oftmals betont worden: So wie die menschliche Entwickelung auf den verschiedensten Gebieten in den aufeinanderfolgenden Perioden des menschlichen Lebens verschiedene Gestalten annimmt, so ist dies auch der Fall in bezug auf alles das, was wir Mysterienwesen nennen. Wir gehen ja nicht umsonst mit unserer Seele durch aufeinanderfolgende Menschenleben. Wir gehen deshalb durch aufeinanderfolgende Menschenleben, weil wir in jeder Inkarnation Neues erleben und zu dem hinzufügen können, was wir in den vorhergehenden Inkarnationen mit unserer Seele verbunden haben. Das Bild der äußeren Welt hat sich in den meisten Fällen vollständig geändert, wenn wir nach dem Durchgang durch die geistige Welt zwischen dem Tode und der neuen Geburt wieder durch die Geburt das physische Dasein des Menschen betreten. Daher muß auch aus leicht erkennbaren Gründen in den aufeinanderfolgenden Zeitepochen der Menschheit das Mysterienwesen, das Prinzip der Einweihung, sich ändern.
In unserer Zeit hat ja das Prinzip der Einweihung schon insofern eine gewaltige Änderung erfahren, als bis zu einem gewissen Grade, bis zu einer gewissen Stufe hin die Einweihung gleichsam ganz ohne irgendwelche persönliche Anleitung erlangt werden kann dadurch, daß man in der Gegenwart in der Lage ist, die Prinzipien der Einweihung vor der Öffentlichkeit soweit klarzulegen, als dies zum Beispiel in meinem Buche «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten ?» geschehen ist. Wer ganz ernsthaft die Erlebnisse durchzumachen versucht, welche in diesem Buche geschildert sind, der kann sehr weit kommen in bezug auf das Prinzip der Einweihung. Er kann durch die Anwendung des dort Dargestellten auf seine Seele so weit kommen, daß ihm das Dasein der spirituellen Welten eine Erkenntnis wird, die geradeso Erkenntnis ist, wie die Erkenntnis der äußeren physischen Welt, - aus dem Grunde, weil er durch sukzessive, langsame und allmähliche Anwendung des Geschilderten auf die eigene Seele dahin gelangen kann, den Sprung in das Begreifen der geistigen Welten hinein zu machen. Es ist nun möglich geworden, gerade den Gang der Initiation zu schildern, der durchgemacht werden kann, ohne daß sozusagen besondere Ereignisse im Seelenleben eintreten, die dieses Seelenleben in besondere Katastrophen und besondere Revolutionen führen.
Soweit also ist es heute möglich, in der Öffentlichkeit den Gang in die höheren Welten zu erörtern. Allerdings muß aber gesagt werden, daß auch heute, wenn der Mensch wesentlich weiter kommen soll, der Gang in die höheren Welten verknüpft ist mit dem Ertragen gewisser Leiden, Schmerzen, gewisser ganz besonderer Erlebnisse, die allerdings bestürzend und revolutionierend in das Leben des Menschen eingreifen können, und zu denen man erst besonders reif gemacht werden muß. Also das eine sei noch einmal besonders betont: Was veröffentlicht ist, kann jeder ungefährdet durchmachen und kann dadurch sehr weit kommen. Aber selbstverständlich ist der Weg in die höheren Welten nirgends abgeschlossen, und wenn man über eine gewisse Grenze hinauskommt und den Weg weiter gehen will, dann gehört eine besondere Reife dazu, wenn es ohne besondere Erschütterungen des Seelenlebens — nicht krankhafte, sondern durchaus innere Erschütterungen des Seelenlebens — abgehen soll. Auch diese Erschütterungen gehen natürlich an der Seele vorüber, wenn der ganze Gang der Einweihung in der richtigen Weise sich vollzieht. Aber das ist eben notwendig, daß er sich in der richtigen Weise vollzieht.
Nun muß man sich darüber klar sein, daß für denjenigen, der gewissermaßen den Sprung ins Mysterium hinein machen will, alles im Seelenleben nach und nach anders werden muß. So ziemlich alles im Seelenleben muß anders werden. Wenn man eine vorläufige Charakteristik dieses Anderswerdens geben will, könnte man etwa mit wenigen Worten eine solche Charakteristik so geben, daß man sagt: Was für das gewöhnliche Seelenleben Ziel, Zweck, ja Selbstzweck scheint, das muß bei dem, der in das Mysterium eindringen will, alles ein Mittel werden zu höheren Zwecken, zu höheren Zielen. Im gewöhnlichen Leben nimmt der Mensch durch seine Sinne die Außenwelt wahr. Er nimmt die Außenwelt in Farben, in Formen, in Tönen und in den anderen Sinneseindrücken wahr. Der Mensch lebt gewissermaßen im gewöhnlichen Leben innerhalb der Welt dieser Sinneseindrücke. In dem Augenblicke, wo die Einweihung auf einer gewissen Stufe eintreten soll, darf der Mensch nicht für sein ganzes Leben bloß der Außenwelt gegenüber sich so stellen, daß er blau oder rot oder andere Farben erlebt; sondern er muß in die Lage kommen, das Erleben der Farben, ohne es zu verlieren, zum bloßen Mittel höherer Zwecke, höherer Ziele zu machen.
Im gewöhnlichen Leben sieht zum Beispiel der Mensch an einem heiteren Tage hinaus in den Weltenraum und sieht das Himmelsblau. Er lebt im Anblicke des Himmelsblaues. Will er Eingeweihter auf einer bestimmten Stufe werden, so muß er in die Lage kommen, das Himmelsblau anschauen zu können, aber es muß für ihn vollständig durchsichtig werden. Während es sonst «Grenze» ist, muß es durchsichtig werden können, und der Mensch muß das, was er eigentlich sehen will, durch das Himmelsblau hindurch sehen. Es darf für ihn nun keine Grenze mehr sein. Oder nehmen wir die Rose: Für den äußeren Anblick ist die Rose in ihren Flächen begrenzt von der roten Farbe. In dem Augenblicke der Initiation hört die rote Farbe auf, Grenze zu sein. Sie wird durchsichtig, und hinter ihr zeigt sich dasjenige, was eigentlich gesucht wird. Die Farbe hört nicht auf, durch ihre Natur zu wirken, aber anderes sieht der Eingeweihte, wenn er durch das Himmelsblau sieht, anderes, wenn er durch das Rot der Rose sieht, anderes, wenn er durch die Morgenröte sieht und so weiter. Also in ganz bestimmter Weise wird schon die Farbe erlebt. Aber sie wird im unmittelbaren Anblick durchsichtig, wird weggeschafft von der Kraft der Seele, welche durch jene Trainierung erlangt worden ist, die zur Durchsichtigkeit führt. So ist es mit allen Sinneseindrücken. Während sie vorher das sind, in dem man lebt, bis zu dem man sozusagen kommt mit seinem Erleben, werden sie nach der Initiation ein bloßes Mittel, um das, was hinter ihnen ist, zu erleben.
Ebenso ist es zum Beispiel mit der ganzen Gedankenwelt. In dem gewöhnlichen Leben denkt der Mensch. Ich bitte das jetzt nicht irgendwie mißzuverstehen. Sie werden, wenn Sie es im richtigen Sinne mit anderen Ausführungen vergleichen, schon die Übereinstimmung sehen; aber geltend ist doch, sagen kann man doch: Von einer bestimmten Stufe der Initiation an hört das Denken in der gewöhnlichen Bedeutung des Wortes für den Menschen auf. Nicht als ob der Mensch jemals dahin kommen könnte - als Initiierter dahin kommen könnte -, das Denken für bedeutungslos zu halten, sondern es muß aus etwas, was vorher Zweck und Ziel des Seelenlebens war, ein bloßes Mittel werden. Das heißt, der Initiierte erlebt eine neue Welt. Damit er sie erleben kann, hat er außer anderen Dingen, von denen wir noch sprechen werden, auch nötig, über den Standpunkt des gewöhnlichen Denkens des physischen Planes hinauszukommen. Wenn der Mensch auf dem physischen Plan lebt, urteilt er über die Dinge, verschafft sich Ansichten, Meinungen über die Dinge. Von einer gewissen Stufe der Initiation ab haben die Meinungen, die Urteile über die Dinge gar keine Bedeutung, gar keinen Wert mehr.
Ich muß hier eine Bemerkung machen, weil wir über Regionen des Seelenlebens sprechen, welche so sehr abweichen von dem, was man gewohnt ist, daß sehr leicht Mißverständnisse entstehen können. Wenn diese Stufe der Initiation, die ich zu den folgenden Betrachtungen charakterisieren muß, erreicht ist, dann muß auch in der Regel die Möglichkeit für den Menschen gewonnen werden, eine Art Doppelleben zu führen. Denn im gewöhnlichen Leben des Alltages ist es gar nicht anders möglich, als daß man über die Dinge urteilt und denkt. Auf dem physischen Plan sind wir eben genötigt, über die Dinge zu urteilen und zu denken; denn das Allernächstliegendste, wo Sie angreifen wollen, wird Sie zu der Überzeugung bringen, daß man auf dem physischen Plan denken muß. Nehmen Sie an, Sie sitzen in einem Eisenbahnzuge, und Sie würden nicht denken; dann würden Sie bei der Station, wo Sie aussteigen müßten, sitzen bleiben. Es könnte, wenn man nicht denkt, sogar dazu führen, daß man als Anthroposoph, der seine Mitgliedskarte sorgfältig aufbewahren sollte, diese im gewöhnlichen Leben an seinem Platze liegen läßt, was doch gegen die Grundsätze der Aufbewahrung der Mitgliedskarten sein würde. Die Welt ist eben so eingerichtet, daß man urteilen und denken muß. Aber mit diesem Standpunkte des Urteilens und Denkens kommt man nicht in die höheren Welten hinein. Es könnte nun sozusagen eine Vermischung des einen und des anderen Standpunktes vorkommen: Man kann so stark beschäftigt sein mit dem Drang, in die höheren Welten hineinzukommen, daß einem ein solches Vergessen passiert. Aber im ganzen muß es doch durchaus möglich sein, diese beiden Dinge voneinander zu trennen: Urteilsfähigkeit, absolute, gesunde und die Pflichten des Lebens ins Auge fassende Urteilsfähigkeit für den physischen Plan; dann aber sich klar sein, daß gerade das, was man so energisch zur Ausbildung bringt für den physischen Plan, für die höheren Welten bloß ein Mittel sein darf.
Gedanken, Ideen, Urteile, alles das zusammen muß für den, der ein Initiierter werden will, dasselbe sein, was zum Beispiel die Farben für den Maler sind. Sie sind für ihn nicht Selbstzweck, sondern sie sind dazu da, um das auszudrücken, was er auf dem Bilde ausdrücken will. Im gewöhnlichen Leben auf dem physischen Plan sind die Gedanken und Ideen Selbstzweck; für den Initiierten werden sie die Mittel, um das auszudrücken, was er in den höheren Welten erlebt. Dazu kann es nur kommen, wenn eine gewisse Seelenstimmung entwickelt worden ist gegenüber den Meinungen, Ansichten und so weiter. Wer noch irgendeine Vorliebe hat für die eine oder die andere Anschauung, wem noch lieber ist, daß das eine wahr ist oder das andere wahr ist, der kann die hier gemeinte Stufe der Initiation nicht betreten, sondern erst derjenige, der auf seine eigenen Meinungen ebensowenig gibt wie auf irgendwelche Meinungen von anderen, der ganz bereit ist, seine eigenen Meinungen überall auszuschalten und rein anzuschauen, was da ist.
Im allgemeinen gehört es zu den allerschwierigsten Dingen des inneren Erlebens, über den Standpunkt des «Meinens», über den Standpunkt der «Standpunkte», des Urteilens hinauszukommen.
Da wird sogar etwas berührt, wo gewisse Schwierigkeiten im Zusammenleben desjenigen, der den Weg in die höheren Welten hinauf sucht, mit anderen Menschen auftreten können. Wer den Weg in die höheren Welten hinauf sucht oder bis zu einer gewissen Stufe auf diesem Wege schon gekommen ist, der wird zu sehr, sehr vielen Dingen im Leben sich anders verhalten durch seine Seelenstimmung, die er erreicht hat, als man sich sonst im Leben verhält. Er wird vor allen Dingen die Eigentümlichkeit zeigen, rasch, sagen wir, zu wissen, wie man sich in dieser oder jener Lage des Lebens benehmen soll, wie man sich verhalten soll. Dann wird er vielleicht von seiner Umgebung gefragt: Warum sollen wir denn das tun? Gewiß wird er, wenn er sich auf den Standpunkt der anderen Menschen stellen kann, immer dieses «Warum» angeben können. Aber erst muß er wirklich von der Stufe, auf der er zunächst steht, wo sich ihm gleichsam wie im Sprunge darstellt, was zu geschehen hat, zu dem anderen übertreten, wo er sich zwingt, die Gedankengänge des gewöhnlichen Lebens durchzumachen, um zu zeigen, wie sich beweist, was er mit einem Sprunge durchschaut. Dieses rasche Durchschauen von weit auseinanderliegenden, mit vielen Zwischengliedern behafteten Lebenszusammenhängen ist das, was als eine Begleiterscheinung auftritt zu dem Hinauskommen über das Urteilen, Meinen, über das Haben von diesem oder jenem Standpunkt.
Ferner ist das, was man sich erringen muß, auch noch zusammenhängend mit mancherlei anderen, innerlich moralischen Eigenschaften. Wir werden von solchen Eigenschaften im Verlaufe der Abende noch sprechen. Jetzt soll nur auf eine Eigenschaft hingewiesen werden, auf die öfter schon hingewiesen worden ist. Es ist die Furchtlosigkeit. Denn das muß durchaus vor Augen gehalten werden, daß die Erlebnisse, in die man eintritt, wenn das ganze Leben der Seele, wie es bisher war, vom «Zweck» zum «Mittel» sozusagen degradiert wird, daß diese Erlebnisse ganz anders werden, als sie vorher gewesen sind. Man erlebt zunächst auf vollständig neue Art. Man betritt wirklich ein Unbekanntes, und das Betreten dieses Unbekannten ist zunächst immer mit Furchtzuständen verknüpft. Und weil das ganze Erleben intim im Innern der Seele verfließt, so können die Furchtzustände auch zu allen möglichen inneren Erlebnissen der Seele werden. Daher gehört zu den Vorbereitungen für den Weg hinauf in die höheren Welten die Aneignung einer gewissen Furchtlosigkeit.
Gerade diese Furchtlosigkeit muß man sich erringen, sagen wit, durch ganz bestimmte Meditationen. Man kann das. Nur hat man gewöhnlich nicht Ausdauer genug zu denjenigen Meditationen, die gerade dazu gehören. Eine gute Meditation ist zum Beispiel die, sich immer wieder und wieder dem Gedanken hinzugeben, daß dadurch, daß man von einer Sache weiß, diese Sache ja nicht anders wird, als sie ist. Wenn jemand zum Beispiel in diesem Augenblicke wissen würde, daß unbedingt in einer Stunde etwas Schlimmes geschehen muß, und er nicht in der Lage wäre, das Ereignis zu verhindern, so würde er vielleicht in Angst und Schrecken versetzt werden. Aber sein Wissen ändert ja nichts an der Sache! Daher ist Angst und Schrecken ein vollständiges Unding, wenn man von der Sache weiß. Es ist ein Unsinn, in den alle Seelen durch die naturgemäße Anlage selbstverständlich verfallen, ein Unsinn, der unbedingt für den Menschen eintreten würde auf einer bestimmten Stufe der Initiation, wenn nicht die Initiation immer wieder und wieder zur Furchtlosigkeit vorbereiten würde: Ja, ist denn dadurch irgend etwas an einer Sache geändert, daß man von ihr weiß?
Der Meditant, der sich hinaufarbeitet zu gewissen Stufen der Initiation, kommt auf einer bestimmten Stufe zu einer sehr merkwürdigen Erkenntnis, zu der Erkenntnis, daß es in gewisser Beziehung recht schlimm steht um das eigene menschliche Innere, um die eigene menschliche Seele. Da ist unter der Schwelle des Bewußtseins etwas, was man wirklich anders haben möchte, wenn man die Urteile des gewöhnlichen Lebens ansieht. In gewisser Beziehung ist etwas Schreckliches, etwas ganz Furchtbares da unter der Schwelle des Bewußtseins. Und das Naturgemäße wäre, wenn ein Mensch unvorbereitet hingeführt würde vor seine eigenen Seelenuntergründe, daß er davor unglaublich erschrecken würde. Nun muß man sich vorbereiten durch ein immer wiederholtes Meditieren des Gedankens, daß die Dinge doch nicht dadurch anders werden, daß man sie erkennt. Wahrhaftig, nicht dadurch erst wird das Schreckliche in den Untergründen der Seele hervorgerufen, daß man davor hintritt und es anschaut. Es ist immer da, ist auch da, wenn es der Mensch nicht erkennt. Aber gerade durch das immer wiederkehrende Meditieren des Gedankens, daß die Dinge durch das Erkennen nicht anders werden, vertreibt man einen großen Teil der Furchtsamkeit, die vertrieben werden muß.
So sehen Sie schon aus den paar Dingen, die angeführt wurden, daß in dem Augenblick, wo man sich anschickt, in die höheren Welten hinaufzukommen, ineinanderlaufen intellektuelle und moralische Eigenschaften der Seele. Zu den gewöhnlichen äußeren Wissenschaften der heutigen Zeit braucht man eigentlich nur intellektuelle Eigenschaften zu haben. Mut, Furchtlosigkeit nenne ich in diesem Zusammenhange moralische Eigenschaften. Ohne sie kann man bestimmte Stufen der Initiation nicht erlangen.
Ob wir nun sprechen von morgenländischen Mysterien, ob wir sprechen von abendländischen Mysterien, gewisse Stufen haben alle gemeinsam. Daher haben auch für alle Mysterien gewisse Ausdrücke einen guten Sinn, Ausdrücke, die etwa so gefaßt werden können, daß man sagt: Zunächst muß jede Seele, die eine gewisse Stufe der Initiation, eine gewisse Stufe des Mysterienwesens erreichen will, das erfahren, was man nennen kann «in Berührung kommen mit dem Erlebnis des Todes». Das zweite, wovon jede Seele etwas erfahren muß, ist der «Durchgang durch die elementarische Welt». Das dritte ist das, was man in den ägyptischen oder sonstigen Mysterien genannt hat das «Schauen der Sonne utn Mitternacht», und ein weiteres ist das, was man die «Begegnung mit den oberen und unteren Göttern» nennt. Diese Erlebnisse muß sozusagen jeder durchmachen, der bis zu einer bestimmten Stufe der Initiation kommt. Er muß in die Lage kommen, aus innerer Erfahrung zu wissen, was mit diesen Dingen gemeint ist, und muß fähig sein, sozusagen in zwei Welten zu leben: in der einen Welt, in welcher der Mensch eben heute lebt, in der Welt des physischen Planes, und in der anderen Welt, in der man nur leben kann, wenn man weiß, was es heißt: man ist «mit dem Tode in Berührung gekommen»; man ist «durch die elementarische Welt gegangen»; man hat «die Sonne um Mitternacht gesehen»; man hat die «Begegnung mit den oberen und unteren Göttern» gehabt.
In die Nähe des Todes kommen! Da handelt es sich darum, daß ja der Mensch in seinem Wachzustande zwischen der Geburt und dem Tode wirklich fortwährend, insofern er bewußt lebt, in alledem lebt, wovon ich Ihnen doch gerade gesagt habe, es muß überwunden werden, es muß zum bloßen Mittel werden für den Initiierten. Versuchen Sie es sich einmal klarzumachen, worinnen der Mensch auf dem physischen Plane lebt: In seinen Sinneseindrücken und in seinen gewöhnlichen Seelenerlebnissen, das ist das, worinnen er lebt. Das alles muß zum bloßen Mittel werden, sobald der Mensch in das Mysterienwesen eintritt. Was bleibt dann übrig von dem, als was sich der Mensch im gewöhnlichen Leben fühlt? Nichts bleibt übrig. Alles sinkt hinunter zu einer Wesenhaftigkeit zweiten Ranges. Alles das also, was der Mensch innerlich und dann natürlich auch äußerlich erlebt im gewöhnlichen Leben, muß er abstreifen.
Also denken Sie sich: Das blaue Himmelsgewölbe wird durchsichtig, hört auf, ist nicht mehr da, alle Grenzen, welche die Farben an der Oberfläche der Dinge bilden, hören auf, sind nicht mehr da, die Töne der physischen Welt hören auf, sind nicht mehr da, was der Tastsinn erlebt, hört auf, ist nicht mehr da. Aber ich bitte zu berücksichtigen, daß dies Erlebnis wird! Also zum Beispiel das Gefühl, mit seinen Füßen auf einem festen Boden zu stehen, was ja nichts anderes ist als ein Ausdruck des Tastsinnes, hört auf, und der Mensch fühlt so ähnlich, als wenn der Boden unter ihm fortgezogen würde, und er auf nichts stünde. Aber er kann auch nicht hinab, und er kann auch nicht hinauf zunächst. Und so ist es mit allen Eindrücken. Kurz, alles, was uns der physische Leib vermittelt - und alles, was der Mensch im normalen Leben durchmacht zwischen dem Aufwachen und Einschlafen, wird durch den physischen Leib vermittelt -, alles das hört auf. Es tritt eben durchaus jener Zustand ein, vor dem der Mensch im gewöhnlichen Leben bewahrt ist, jener Zustand, der eintreten würde, wenn plötzlich einmal jemand, während er schläft, ohne daß er wieder in den physischen Leib hinein aufwacht, bewußt würde. Sie können nicht sagen, daß im Traume der Mensch im gewöhnlichen physischen Dasein einen ähnlichen Zustand schon erreicht hat. Nein, der Traum ist zwar in einer gewissen Weise ein außerphysisches Erlebnis, das zugleich die Intensität des Erlebens so herabstimmt, daß sich der Mensch nicht bewußt wird, daß er außerhalb alles physischen Erlebens steht.
Diese Intensität im Bewußtsein — «Du stehst außerhalb alles physischen Erlebens» — wird in der Tat erst in der Initiation erzeugt. Das heißt, es kommt eben beim Hinaufstieg in die höheren Welten der Moment, wo man gegenübersteht seinem physischen Leib, dessen Hände man im wachen Leben bewegen kann, mit dessen Füßen man schreiten kann, dessen Knie man beugen kann, dessen Augenlider man auf- und abwärts bewegen kann und so weiter, während man jetzt den ganzen physischen Leib so empfindet, wie wenn er erstarrt wäre, wie wenn es unmöglich wäre, die Augenlider zu bewegen, die Hände zu gebrauchen, die Beine zu bewegen und so weiter. Es tritt weiter der Moment ein, wo man weiß: Augen sind in diesem physischen Leibe, aber jetzt dienen sie nicht, um irgend etwas zu sehen. Auf der einen Seite werden alle Dinge durchsichtig, und auf der anderen Seite hört vollständig die Möglichkeit auf, überhaupt mit den gewöhnlichen Mitteln, die man bisher hatte, an diese Dinge heranzukommen.
Versuchen Sie das im gewöhnlichen Sinne des Wortes Widerspruchsvolle zu erfassen. Wenn man sich vorbereitet, bis zu diesem Punkt zu kommen, dann gelangt man dazu, daß alle Dinge sozusagen durchsichtig werden, daß man hinter alle Dinge sieht. Aber in dem Augenblick, wo es eben anfängt, zum Beispiel daß das blaue Himmelsgewölbe durchsichtig wird, hört das Auge überhaupt auf, die Möglichkeit zu haben, das blaue Himmelsgewölbe zu schen. Das heißt, der erste Moment im Mysterienwesen besteht darin, daß man bis zu dem Punkt kommt, wo man die Sinnesanschauung und auch das Denken überwindet; aber was man dadurch erreichen soll, das wird einem in diesem Momente zugleich genommen. Man hat sich also durchgearbeitet bis zu dem Moment, wo einem etwas ganz Neues gegeben wird, man erlangt gerade den Moment, in welchem einem dieses Neue entgegentreten soll, — aber in diesem Augenblick wird es einem auch genommen! Man weiß jetzt nichts anderes als: Du hast dich durchgearbeitet, so daß du den höheren Welten gegenüberstehst, und jetzt ist auch der Augenblick da, wo sie dir genommen werden.
Malen Sie sich dieses Erlebnis aus, dann haben Sie den Moment, der im Mysterienwesen aller Zeiten bezeichnet wird als «Heranschreiten bis an die Pforte des Todes». Denn man weiß nunmehr, was es heißt: die Welt wird einem genommen, das heißt, die Welt aller Eindrücke. Und man weiß, daß man ja nichts ist in diesem Moment als diese Eindrücke, denn im Grunde genommen gibt es nichts anderes als diese Erlebnisse, als innere Eindrücke. In dem Augenblick, da der Mensch einschläft — wo ihm alle Eindrücke genommen werden -, kommt er im normalen Leben auch in die Bewußtlosigkeit, das heißt, er lebt in seinen Eindrücken. Nun überwindet er diese Eindrücke des gewöhnlichen Lebens, er weiß, er ist so weit gekommen, daß er durch alle Dinge durchsehen kann; aber eine neue Welt wird ihm in diesem Moment genommen. Wir werden über diesen Punkt noch genauer zu sprechen haben, wir wollen nur zunächst noch deutlicher machen, was mit den angedeuteten Ausdrücken gemeint ist.
Es gibt nun keine andere Rettung gegenüber dem notwendigen Stehenbleiben, gegen das notwendige Nichtweiterkommen, als die Ausbildung seines Inneren — bevor man zu diesem Augenblicke kommt -so weit zu bringen, daß man das Einzige nun mitnehmen kann, was überhaupt durchbringbar ist durch jenen Punkt, bis zu dem man gekommen ist. Man muß bis zu dem Punkt kommen, wo einem eigentlich die Außenwelt alle Macht versagt, und muß es in seinem Innern so weit gebracht haben, daß man in diesem Momente durch Trainierung seines Selbstvertrauens, durch Trainierung seiner Selbstsicherheit und seiner Geistesgegenwart und anderer innerlicher Tugenden -— «Tugenden» jetzt als Tüchtigkeit gemeint - innere Kraft, innere Energie hat, so daß man in dem Augenblick, wo einem die Welt genommen wird, einen Überschuß von innerer Energie zur Verfügung hat. Das aber bedingt in diesem Augenblick ein sehr bedeutsames Erlebnis, ein außerordentlich bedeutsames Erlebnis.
Denken Sie, man kommt bis zu der Grenze, bis zu der man sich durchgearbeitet hat, wo die Welt durchsichtig wird. Dann wird sie einem genommen. Jetzt hat man nichts gerettet, man kann nichts anderes gerettet haben als eine gewisse innere Stärke dadurch, daß man trainiert hat Selbstvertrauen, Geistesgegenwart, Furchtlosigkeit und ähnliche innere Eigenschaften. Dadurch kommt man zu dem bedeutsamen Erlebnis - es ist eben ein unmittelbar sich aufdrängendes Erlebnis: Du bist ja allein in der Welt! Du bist ja ganz allein da in der Welt! - Und dieses Erlebnis, das ich eben nicht anders als mit den Worten bezeichnen kann: Du bist ja allein die ganze Welt! das wird nun immer größer und größer. Das wird immer stärker und stärker, immer umfassender und umfassender. Und das ist das Eigentümliche, daß von diesem einen Erlebnis aus in der Seele eine ganz neue Welt erstehen kann und wirklich auch bei dem Initüerten erstehen muß. Man fühlt: Bis zu einer Grenze ist man gekommen, wo man gegenüber dem Nichts gestanden hat, aber sich selbst hat man eine gewisse Kraft mitgebracht. Die ist vielleicht anfangs recht klein, aber sie wird immer größer und größer, breitet sich nach allen Seiten aus. Man fängt an, in die ganze Welt hineinzukommen, sich mit der ganzen Welt zu durchdringen, und je weiter man die Welt durchdringt mit der eigenen Wesenheit, desto mehr erscheint sie einem als eine immer andere. Man streckt die Kraft, die man mitgebracht hat, nach dereinen oder anderen Seite aus: Je nachdem man sie ausstreckt, wird man immer etwas anderes erleben. Aber zunächst wird das, was da erlebt wird, deshalb von dem Menschen als grauenvoll empfunden, weil zweierlei in dem Erleben, das man jetzt haben kann, ganz fehlt, zweierlei, dessen Fehlen auf einer bestimmten Stufe des Erkennens wohl deshalb nicht grauenvoll gefühlt wird, bevor man es bewußt erlebt, weil es im gewöhnlichen Erleben des physischen Planes immer da ist, und weil man eigentlich erst eine Vorstellung davon bekommt, wenn es nicht mehr da ist.
Das eine, was aufhört, ist ein jegliches Gefühl für Materialität, für physische Materialität. Alles Materie-Sein ist wie ins unbestimmte Nichts verschwunden, ist nicht da. Das Gefühl, man stoße auf etwas Hartes, oder auch auf so etwas Weiches wie Wasser oder wie es die Luft ist, kurz, das Gefühl, von Materie umgeben zu sein, hört auf, ist nicht da. Man hat es nur zu tun mit Eigenschaften der Dinge, aber nicht mit Dingen. Von den schweren, physischen, dichten Körpern bleibt nur die Dichte zurück, aber nicht die Substantialität; von den flüssigen Körpern bleibt nur «das Flüssig-Sein», aber nicht die Substantialität, das Wasser oder das Flüssige; von der Luft bleibt nur das Sichausdehnenwollen nach allen Seiten, aber nicht die Substantialität. Man wächst in die Eigenschaften der Gegenstände hinein, aber man hat das Gefühl, daß man nur in die Eigenschaften hineinwächst, daß einem die Gegenstände entschwinden, daß alle Materialität aufhört. Das ist das eine, was aufhört.
Das andere, was aufhört auf der Stufe des Erlebens, von der jetzt gesprochen wird, ist alles Zusammenhängen mit dem, was man im gewöhnlichen physischen Leben Sinneswahrnehmung nennt. Das geht schon aus der bisherigen Darstellung hervor. Nichts macht einen Eindruck auf einen, sondern man ist alles selber. Der Eindruck, den es noch gibt, ist höchstens derjenige der «Zeit»: Jetzt bist du etwas «noch nicht», und «nach einiger Zeit» bist du es. - Aber daß man Gegenstände außer sich hat, die da sind an einem anderen Orte und einen Eindruck auf einen machen, das gibt es nicht. Man ist entweder etwas selber, oder es ist überhaupt nichts da. Alles, was einem entgegentritt, wird man selber; man geht unter darin, wird eins damit und man wird zum Schlusse so groß wie die einem zur Verfügung stehende Welt, wird eins damit.
Ich schildere, was Erlebnis ist. Es ist das, was gewöhnlich in den Mysterienstätten genannt worden ist das «Erleben der elementarischen Welt». Man ist dann zwar hinausgekommen über die bloße «Berührung mit dem Tode», aber man ist sozusagen eine unterschiedslose Einheit mit der ganzen Welt, die einem zur Verfügung steht.
Nun ist zweierlei möglich. Entweder die Vorbereitung ist gut gewesen, oder sie ist nicht gut gewesen. Wenn sie gut gewesen ist, muß nun der zu Initiierende, wenn er bis zu einem bestimmten Grade sich ausgegossen hat über die Welt, dahin kommen, noch Kraft übrig zu haben. Wenn dies der Fall ist — Sie sehen, ich schildere heute von einem etwas anderen Gesichtspunkte aus die Dinge, die öfter beschrieben worden sind, aber wir brauchen jetzt gerade diesen anderen Gesichtspunkt -, daß gewisse Energien, die er vorher stark genug entwickelt hat, noch da sind, so hat er jetzt das folgende Erlebnis.
Während der Mensch sonst in der gewöhnlichen Welt einen Gegenstand hat und ihm gegenübersteht, ihn anschaut, und der Gegenstand einen Eindruck auf seine Augen macht, so daß er dann etwas von dem Gegenstande weiß, so kommt so etwas von dem Punkte der Initiation an, der eben besprochen worden ist, nicht mehr vor. Denn man hat es nicht etwa zu tun mit einer Wiederholung der gewöhnlichen Welt — daß einem die Dinge entgegentreten wie die Dinge der physischen Welt, die man früher nur nicht gesehen hat —, sondern man muß jetzt von einem bestimmten Punkte an noch Kräfte zur Verfügung haben, die man noch überdies aus sich herausgießen kann. Nachdem man also genug Kräfte darauf verwendet hat, um mit der Welt eins zu werden, muß man jetzt noch Kräfte übrig haben, um Kräfte aus sich herauszuspinnen, wie die Spinne ihr Netz aus sich herausspinnt. Sie sehen, daß die ganzen Vorgänge des Mysterienwesens zeigen, wieviel darauf ankommt, starke innere Energien des seelischen Lebens zu entwickeln; denn man muß viel Vorrat haben, damit das alles geschehen kann.
Dann kann folgendes eintreten: Man hat natürlich keine physischen Augen, denn diese gehören dem physischen Leib an, über den man längst hinausgekommen ist. Aber dadurch, daß man etwas aus sich ausgegossen hat und noch ausgießen kann, wie die Spinne ihr Netz aus sich herausspinnt, bilden sich etwas wie Organe heraus, und man kann beobachten: Mit dem, was man jetzt aus sich herausspinnt, tritt etwas ganz Neues auf. Da stellen sich Dinge vor einen selber hin in einer Art, die sich etwa damit vergleichen läßt, als wenn ich nicht die Uhr hier hätte und die Augen dort, sondern als wenn das Auge aus sich heraus einen Strahl senden würde, der sich selber zur Uhr formen könnte, so daß die Uhr durch die Tätigkeit des Auges dasteht. Es handelt sich dabei nicht um ein Konstruieren oder Schaffen einer subjektiven Welt, sondern darum, daß wir gleichsam Seelensubstanz aus uns herausspinnen. Und die höheren Welten, in die wir uns hineinleben, müssen diesen Umweg wählen, damit wir ihnen gegenübertreten und sie erkennen können. Sie müssen erst durch unsere eigene Seelensubstanz, die wir ihnen zur Verfügung gestellt haben, durchkriechen. In der physischen Welt stellen sich die Dinge vor uns hin ohne unser Zutun. Nichts stellt sich in den höheren Welten vor uns hin, wenn wir ihm nicht erst die eigene Seelensubstanz zur Verfügung stellen. Deshalb ist es so schwierig, Subjektives und Objektives auf diesem Punkte zu unterscheiden. Denn ganz subjektiv muß sein, was wir aus unserer Seelensubstanz herausspinnen; aber ganz objektiv muß dasjenige sein, was nur das Herausgesponnene benutzt, um zur Wahrnehmung zu kommen.
Ich habe alle diese Dinge angeführt, weil Sie dadurch ein bestimmtes Gefühl erhalten können, das Gefühl, daß alle Trainierung in den Mysterien vorzugsweise in einer Erhöhung der Energien der Seele bestanden hat. Das war es, worauf es ankam: stark, kräftig, energisch die Seele zu machen. Darauf mußte der zu Initiierende von vornherein verzichten, daß man ihm etwa die Gegenstände und Wesenheiten der höheren Welten wie auf einem Präsentierteller gereicht hätte. Er mußte sich zu jedem Stück der höheren Welten erst hinentwickeln. Nichts ohne Anstrengung, gar nichts ohne Anstrengung! So ist es mit Bezug auf das, was individuell in den höheren Welten erreicht werden soll, so ist es mit dem, was in der Stufenfolge der Menschheitsentwickelung in bezug auf die höheren Welten erreicht werden soll.
Nehmen wir an, irgendeine Wesenheit, die durch ihre spirituelle Macht in der Menschheitsentwickelung wirken soll, zum Beispiel die Individualität des Moses, soll dem Gange der Menschheitsentwickelung einverleibt werden. Es wäre kindisch, sich etwa vorzustellen, daß nun nichts zu geschehen brauchte, als daß die Menschheitsentwickelung fortgehe, und der Himmel schicke an irgendeiner Stelle dieser Menschheitsentwickelung jetzt den Moses: Nun ist Moses da, die Menschen wissen, daß es Moses ist, und brauchen nur auszuführen, was man ausführte, als Moses gekommen ist. Wenn auf diese Weise Moses irgendwohin geschickt worden wäre, so hätte es keine andere Folge gehabt, als daß die, welche um Moses herum waren, eben nichts davon gewußt hätten, daß es «Moses» war. Es kam nicht darauf an, daß diese oder jene äußere Persönlichkeit dastand, sondern daß eine Anzahl von Menschen beurteilen konnte, welche Spiritualität in dem betreffenden Menschen lebte. Und man hätte diesen Menschen gar nicht zu sagen brauchen, dies ist Moses oder der oder der, sondern man hätte nur nötig gehabt, ihre Seelen in der entsprechenden Weise vorzubereiten: dann hätten die Seelen, ohne daß man ihnen gesagt hätte, der oder der ist Moses, gewußt: das ist die betreffende spirituelle Wesenheit, die so und so anzusehen ist!
‚Also das ist es, was wir voraussetzen: daß der Gang in die höheren Welten verbunden ist mit einer Energisierung, mit einem Stärkerwerden der inneren Seelenkräfte, und daß nichts sozusagen nur von außen gegeben werden kann, sondern daß alles nur erreicht werden kann durch Erhöhung des Innenlebens des Menschen; denn nur dadurch kann die Schwelle überschritten werden in jene Welten, die auch der Mensch durchläuft zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt. — Das ist es, was ich als Einleitung heute zunächst vorbringen wollte. Morgen wollen wir damit fortfahren, daß wir zunächst beschreiben, wie die Welten sind zwischen dem Tode und der neuen Geburt, und inwiefern es durch das Mysterienwesen notwendig und wichtig geworden ist, dem Menschen schon während der Zeit seines physischen Lebens etwas von dem zu überliefern, was das Wissen dieser höheren Welten ist.
First Lecture
In these lectures, I would like to give you a picture of the nature of mysteries and their connection with the spiritual life of humanity. It is therefore necessary that we begin today by agreeing on a number of experiences on the path to the higher worlds. Things will have to be brought up in this introduction that have already been touched upon in our anthroposophical work; but in our reflections over the next few days, we will need certain points of view that may have been considered less, or at least not in the necessary context.
Everything that is summarized under the concept of the mystery system is ultimately based on the experiences of initiates in the higher worlds. Knowledge must be brought down from the higher worlds, as must the impulses for practical action, insofar as this knowledge and the impulses for practical action are relevant to the mystery system. Now, it has often been emphasized that just as human development takes on different forms in the various fields during the successive periods of human life, so too is this the case with everything we call the mystery teachings. It is not for nothing that we pass through successive human lives with our soul. We pass through successive human lives because in each incarnation we experience something new and can add it to what we have connected with our soul in previous incarnations. In most cases, the image of the outer world has completely changed when we re-enter human physical existence through birth after passing through the spiritual world between death and rebirth. For easily recognizable reasons, therefore, the mystery being, the principle of initiation, must also change in the successive epochs of humanity.
In our time, the principle of initiation has already undergone a tremendous change in that, to a certain extent, to a certain level, initiation can be attained, as it were, without any personal guidance, because that in the present day we are able to explain the principles of initiation to the public as clearly as I have done, for example, in my book How to Know Higher Worlds. Anyone who seriously attempts to go through the experiences described in this book can come very far in relation to the principle of initiation. By applying what is described there to their soul, they can progress to the point where the existence of the spiritual worlds becomes a knowledge that is just as real as the knowledge of the outer physical world, because through the successive, slow, and gradual application of what is described to their own soul, they can make the leap into understanding the spiritual worlds. It has now become possible to describe the very course of initiation that can be undergone without, so to speak, special events occurring in the soul life that lead this soul life into special catastrophes and special revolutions.
Thus far, it is possible today to discuss in public the passage into the higher worlds. However, it must be said that even today, if human beings are to progress significantly, the path to the higher worlds is linked to enduring certain sufferings, pains, and certain very special experiences, which can indeed intervene in human life in a disturbing and revolutionary way, and for which one must first be made particularly ripe. So let us emphasize once again: what has been published can be experienced by anyone without danger and can lead them very far. But of course, the path to the higher worlds is nowhere complete, and if one crosses a certain boundary and wants to continue on the path, then a special maturity is required if it is to proceed without particular shocks to the soul life — not pathological shocks, but thoroughly inner shocks to the soul life. These upheavals also pass through the soul, of course, if the entire course of initiation is carried out in the right way. But it is necessary that it be carried out in the right way.
Now one must be clear that for those who want to take the leap into the mystery, so to speak, everything in their soul life must gradually change. Pretty much everything in the soul life must become different. If one wants to give a preliminary characteristic of this becoming different, one could give such a characteristic in a few words by saying: What seems to be the goal, the purpose, indeed the self-purpose of ordinary soul life must become a means to higher purposes, to higher goals for those who want to penetrate into the mystery. In ordinary life, human beings perceive the external world through their senses. They perceive the external world in colors, shapes, sounds, and other sensory impressions. In ordinary life, human beings live, so to speak, within the world of these sensory impressions. At the moment when initiation is to take place at a certain level, human beings must not approach the external world for their entire lives in such a way that they experience blue or red or other colors; rather, they must be able to make the experience of colors, without losing it, a mere means to higher ends, higher goals.
In ordinary life, for example, on a clear day, a person looks out into space and sees the blue sky. He lives in the sight of the blue sky. If he wants to become an initiate at a certain level, he must be able to look at the blue sky, but it must become completely transparent to him. Whereas it is otherwise a “boundary,” it must become transparent, and the person must be able to see what he actually wants to see through the blue of the sky. It must no longer be a boundary for him. Or let us take the rose: to the outer eye, the rose is limited in its surface by the red color. At the moment of initiation, the red color ceases to be a boundary. It becomes transparent, and behind it appears that which is actually sought. The color does not cease to work through its nature, but the initiate sees something different when he sees through the blue of the sky, something different when he sees through the red of the rose, something different when he sees through the dawn, and so on. So color is already experienced in a very specific way. But it becomes transparent when seen directly, removed by the power of the soul, which has been attained through the training that leads to transparency. This is true of all sensory impressions. Whereas before they are what one lives in, what one comes to, so to speak, with one's experience, after initiation they become a mere means of experiencing what lies behind them.
The same is true, for example, of the entire world of thoughts. In ordinary life, human beings think. Please do not misunderstand me here. If you compare this with other explanations in the right sense, you will see the correspondence; but it is nevertheless true, one can say: from a certain stage of initiation, thinking in the ordinary sense of the word ceases for human beings. It is not that human beings could ever reach the point — as initiates — of considering thinking meaningless, but rather that what was previously the purpose and goal of the soul life must become a mere means. This means that the initiate experiences a new world. In order to experience it, he must, among other things, which we will discuss later, go beyond the standpoint of ordinary thinking on the physical plane. When human beings live on the physical plane, they judge things and form views and opinions about them. From a certain stage of initiation onwards, opinions and judgments about things have no meaning, no value whatsoever.
I must make a remark here, because we are talking about regions of the soul life that differ so much from what we are accustomed to that misunderstandings can easily arise. When this stage of initiation, which I must characterize in the following considerations, has been reached, then, as a rule, the possibility of leading a kind of double life must also be gained for the human being. For in ordinary everyday life, it is impossible to do anything other than judge and think about things. On the physical plane, we are compelled to judge and think about things; for the most obvious thing you want to tackle will convince you that you have to think on the physical plane. Suppose you are sitting in a train and you do not think; then you would remain seated at the station where you should get off. If you did not think, it could even lead to you, as an anthroposophist who should keep your membership card carefully, leaving it lying in its usual place in everyday life, which would be contrary to the principles of keeping membership cards. The world is simply arranged in such a way that you have to judge and think. But with this standpoint of judgment and thinking, one cannot enter the higher worlds. Now, a mixture of the two standpoints could arise, so to speak: one can be so preoccupied with the urge to enter the higher worlds that one forgets oneself in this way. But on the whole it must be possible to separate these two things from each other: the ability to judge, absolute, healthy judgment that takes into account the duties of life on the physical plane; but then to be clear that precisely what one develops so energetically for the physical plane can only be a means to the higher worlds.
Thoughts, ideas, judgments—all of these together must be the same for those who want to become initiates as, for example, colors are for painters. They are not an end in themselves, but are there to express what the painter wants to express in the picture. In ordinary life on the physical plane, thoughts and ideas are ends in themselves; for the initiate, they become the means of expressing what he experiences in the higher worlds. This can only happen if a certain soul mood has been developed toward opinions, views, and so on. Anyone who still has any preference for one view or another, who still prefers that one thing is true or the other is true, cannot enter the stage of initiation referred to here. Only those who attach as little importance to their own opinions as to the opinions of others, who are completely ready to set aside their own opinions everywhere and look purely at what is there, can enter this stage.
In general, one of the most difficult things in inner experience is to go beyond the standpoint of “opinion,” beyond the standpoint of “standpoints,” of judgment.
This even touches on certain difficulties that can arise in the coexistence of those who seek the path to higher worlds with other people. Those who seek the path to higher worlds or have already reached a certain stage on this path will behave differently in very, very many things in life because of the soul mood they have attained, than one otherwise behaves in life. Above all, they will show the peculiarity of quickly knowing, let us say, how to behave in this or that situation in life, how to conduct themselves. Then they may be asked by those around them: Why should we do that? Certainly, if they can put themselves in the position of other people, they will always be able to answer this “why.” But first he must really move from the stage where he initially stands, where what is to happen presents itself to him as if in a leap, to the other stage, where he forces himself to go through the thought processes of ordinary life in order to show how what he sees at a glance is proven. This quick insight into widely divergent contexts of life, which are fraught with many intermediate links, is what accompanies the transcendence of judging, thinking, and having this or that point of view.
Furthermore, what one must achieve is also connected with various other inner moral qualities. We will speak more about such qualities in the course of the evenings. For now, we will only point out one quality that has already been mentioned several times. It is fearlessness. For it must be kept in mind that when the whole life of the soul, as it has been up to now, is degraded, so to speak, from “end” to “means,” the experiences one enters into become completely different from what they were before. At first, one experiences things in a completely new way. One truly enters into the unknown, and entering the unknown is always initially associated with states of fear. And because the entire experience flows intimately within the soul, these states of fear can also become all kinds of inner experiences of the soul. Therefore, one of the preparations for the path up to the higher worlds is the acquisition of a certain fearlessness.
It is precisely this fearlessness that one must achieve, say the wise, through very specific meditations. It is possible to do this. However, people usually do not have enough perseverance for the meditations that are necessary for this. A good meditation, for example, is to repeatedly focus on the thought that knowing something does not change that thing in any way. If, for example, someone knew at this moment that something terrible was bound to happen in an hour, and he was unable to prevent it, he would probably be filled with fear and terror. But his knowledge does not change the fact! Therefore, fear and terror are completely absurd when one knows the facts. It is nonsense into which all souls naturally fall, nonsense that would inevitably occur to human beings at a certain stage of initiation if initiation did not prepare them again and again for fearlessness: Does knowing something change anything about it?
The meditator who works his way up to certain stages of initiation comes at a certain stage to a very strange realization, the realization that in a certain respect things are quite bad within one's own human inner being, within one's own human soul. There is something beneath the threshold of consciousness that one would really like to have different, if one looks at the judgments of ordinary life. In a certain sense, there is something terrible, something quite frightening beneath the threshold of consciousness. And it would be natural for a person who is unprepared to be led to the depths of their own soul to be incredibly frightened by this. Now, one must prepare oneself by repeatedly meditating on the thought that things do not change simply because one recognizes them. Truly, it is not by standing before it and looking at it that the terrible thing in the depths of the soul is brought forth. It is always there, even when the person does not recognize it. But it is precisely through repeated meditation on the thought that things do not change through recognition that a large part of the fear that must be dispelled is dispelled.
So you can already see from the few things that have been mentioned that at the moment when one sets out to ascend to the higher worlds, the intellectual and moral qualities of the soul converge. For the ordinary external sciences of today, one really only needs to have intellectual qualities. In this context, I call courage and fearlessness moral qualities. Without them, certain stages of initiation cannot be attained.
Whether we are talking about Eastern mysteries or Western mysteries, certain stages are common to all. Therefore, certain expressions make good sense for all mysteries, expressions that can be formulated as follows: First, every soul that wants to reach a certain stage of initiation, a certain stage of the mystery, must experience what can be called “coming into contact with the experience of death.” The second thing every soul must experience is the “passage through the elemental world.” The third is what was called in the Egyptian and other mysteries “seeing the sun at midnight,” and another is what is called “the encounter with the higher and lower gods.” Everyone who reaches a certain stage of initiation must undergo these experiences, so to speak. They must be able to know from inner experience what these things mean and must be able to live, so to speak, in two worlds: in the one world in which man lives today, the world of the physical plane, and in the other world, in which one can only live if one knows what it means to have “come into contact with death”; to have “passed through the elemental world”; to have “seen the sun at midnight”; to have had the “encounter with the upper and lower gods.”
Coming close to death! This means that in his waking state between birth and death, man really lives continuously, insofar as he lives consciously, in all that I have just told you must be overcome, must become a mere means for the initiate. Try to make it clear to yourself in what way human beings live on the physical plane: they live in their sensory impressions and in their ordinary soul experiences. All this must become a mere means as soon as human beings enter into the mystery system. What then remains of what human beings feel in ordinary life? Nothing remains. Everything sinks down to a second-rank existence. Everything that man experiences inwardly and then, of course, outwardly in ordinary life, he must cast off.
So imagine: the blue vault of heaven becomes transparent, ceases to exist, all the boundaries that colors form on the surface of things cease to exist, the sounds of the physical world cease to exist, what the sense of touch experiences ceases to exist. But please bear in mind that this experience becomes! For example, the feeling of standing with your feet on solid ground, which is nothing more than an expression of the sense of touch, ceases, and the person feels as if the ground beneath them has been pulled away and they are standing on nothing. But they cannot go down, nor can they go up at first. And so it is with all impressions. In short, everything that the physical body conveys to us—and everything that a person experiences in normal life between waking and falling asleep is conveyed by the physical body—all of that ceases. The very state from which human beings are protected in ordinary life occurs, the state that would occur if someone suddenly became conscious while asleep without waking up again in the physical body. You cannot say that in dreams human beings in ordinary physical existence have already reached a similar state. No, dreams are indeed in a certain sense an extra-physical experience, but at the same time they reduce the intensity of experience to such an extent that human beings are not aware that they are outside all physical experience.
This intensity of consciousness — “You are outside all physical experience” — is in fact only produced in initiation. This means that when ascending into the higher worlds, there comes a moment when you stand facing your physical body, whose hands you can move in waking life, whose feet you can walk with, whose knees you can bend, whose eyelids you can move up and down, and so on, while you now feel the entire physical body as if it were frozen, as if it were impossible to move your eyelids, use your hands, move your legs, and so on. Then there comes the moment when you know: the eyes are in this physical body, but now they do not serve to see anything. On the one hand, all things become transparent, and on the other hand, the possibility of approaching these things by the ordinary means one has had up to now ceases completely.
Try to grasp the contradictory nature of this in the ordinary sense of the word. If you prepare yourself to reach this point, you will arrive at a state where all things become transparent, so to speak, and you can see behind all things. But at the very moment when, for example, the blue vault of heaven begins to become transparent, the eye ceases to have any possibility of seeing the blue vault of heaven. This means that the first moment in the mystery consists in reaching the point where one overcomes sensory perception and thinking; but what one is supposed to achieve by this is taken away at the same moment. So you have worked your way through to the moment when something completely new is given to you, you have just reached the moment when this new thing is to come towards you — but at that very moment it is taken away from you! All you know now is this: you have worked your way through so that you are facing the higher worlds, and now the moment has come when they are taken away from you.
Imagine this experience, and you will have the moment that is described in the mysteries of all ages as “approaching the gates of death.” For now you know what it means to have the world taken away from you, that is, the world of all impressions. And one knows that at that moment one is nothing but these impressions, because basically there is nothing else but these experiences, these inner impressions. At the moment when a person falls asleep—when all impressions are taken away from them—they also fall into unconsciousness in normal life, that is, they live in their impressions. Now he overcomes these impressions of ordinary life; he knows he has come so far that he can see through all things; but at that moment a new world is taken away from him. We will have to talk about this point in more detail later; for now, let us just clarify what is meant by the expressions used above.
There is now no other salvation from the necessary standstill, from the necessary inability to move forward, than to develop one's inner self — before reaching this moment — to such an extent that one can now take with oneself the only thing that can be brought through that point to which one has come. One must reach the point where the outside world actually denies one all power, and one must have brought oneself to the point where, at that moment, through training one's self-confidence, through training one's self-assurance and one's presence of mind and other inner virtues — “virtues” now meant as competence—inner strength, inner energy—so that at the moment when the world is taken away from you, you have a surplus of inner energy at your disposal. But that requires a very significant experience at that moment, an extraordinarily significant experience.
Imagine you reach the limit you have worked your way up to, where the world becomes transparent. Then it is taken away from you. Now you have saved nothing, you can have saved nothing but a certain inner strength through training self-confidence, presence of mind, fearlessness, and similar inner qualities. This leads to a significant experience—it is an experience that immediately imposes itself on you: You are alone in the world! You are completely alone in the world! And this experience, which I can only describe with the words: You are alone in the whole world! becomes greater and greater. It becomes stronger and stronger, more and more comprehensive. And that is the peculiar thing, that from this one experience a whole new world can arise in the soul, and indeed must arise in the initiate. One feels that one has reached a limit where one has stood facing nothingness, but one has brought a certain power with oneself. This may be quite small at first, but it grows larger and larger, spreading out in all directions. One begins to enter into the whole world, to permeate the whole world, and the further one permeates the world with one's own being, the more it appears to one as ever different. One extends the power one has brought with oneself in one direction or another: depending on where one extends it, one will always experience something different. But at first, what is experienced is perceived as horrible because two things are completely absent from the experience one now has, two things whose absence is not perceived as horrible at a certain level of cognition before one consciously experiences them, because it is always present in ordinary experience on the physical plane, and because one only actually gets an idea of it when it is no longer there.
The one thing that ceases is any sense of materiality, of physical materiality. All material existence has disappeared into an undefined nothingness; it is not there. The feeling of encountering something hard, or even something soft like water or air—in short, the feeling of being surrounded by matter—ceases to exist. One deals only with the properties of things, but not with things themselves. Of heavy, physical, dense bodies, only density remains, but not substantiality; of liquid bodies, only “liquidity” remains, but not substantiality, water or the liquid; of air, only the desire to expand in all directions remains, but not substantiality. One grows into the properties of objects, but one has the feeling that one only grows into the properties, that the objects disappear, that all materiality ceases. That is the one thing that ceases.
The other thing that ceases at the level of experience we are now discussing is all connection with what we call sensory perception in ordinary physical life. This is already clear from the previous description. Nothing makes an impression on you; you are everything yourself. The impression that still remains is at most that of “time”: now you are “not yet” something, and “after some time” you are it. But there is no such thing as objects outside yourself that are there in another place and make an impression on you. You are either something yourself, or there is nothing at all. Everything that comes towards you becomes yourself; you go down into it, become one with it, and in the end you become as big as the world available to you, you become one with it.
I am describing what experience is. It is what has usually been called in the mystery centers the “experience of the elemental world.” One has then indeed gone beyond mere “contact with death,” but one is, so to speak, an undifferentiated unity with the whole world that is available to one.
Now two things are possible. Either the preparation has been good, or it has not been good. If it has been good, then the initiate, once he has poured himself out over the world to a certain degree, must still have strength left. If this is the case—you see, today I am describing things that have often been described from a slightly different point of view, but we need this different point of view right now—that certain energies that he has developed strongly enough beforehand are still there, then he now has the following experience.
Whereas in the ordinary world a person has an object and stands facing it, looking at it, and the object makes an impression on his eyes so that he then knows something about the object, something like this no longer occurs from the point of initiation that has just been discussed. For one is not dealing with a repetition of the ordinary world — with things coming toward one as things of the physical world that one simply did not see before — but one must now, from a certain point on, still have forces at one's disposal that one can pour out of oneself. So after you have expended enough energy to become one with the world, you must still have energy left to spin forces out of yourself, just as the spider spins its web out of itself. You see that the whole process of the mystery teachings shows how important it is to develop strong inner energies of the soul life; for you must have a great reserve in order for all this to happen.
Then the following can happen: Of course, you have no physical eyes, because these belong to the physical body, which you have long since transcended. But because you have poured something out of yourself and can still pour it out, like the spider spins its web out of itself, something like organs form, and you can observe: With what one now spins out of oneself, something completely new appears. Things present themselves before one in a way that can be compared to if I did not have the clock here and my eyes there, but if the eye were to send out a ray from itself that could form itself into a clock, so that the clock stands there through the activity of the eye. This is not a matter of constructing or creating a subjective world, but rather of spinning soul substance out of ourselves, as it were. And the higher worlds into which we live ourselves must take this detour so that we can face them and recognize them. They must first pass through our own soul substance, which we have made available to them. In the physical world, things present themselves to us without our intervention. Nothing presents itself to us in the higher worlds unless we first make our own soul substance available to it. That is why it is so difficult to distinguish between the subjective and the objective at this point. For what we spin out of our soul substance must be entirely subjective; but what only uses what has been spun out in order to come into perception must be entirely objective.
I have mentioned all these things because they can give you a certain feeling, the feeling that all training in the mysteries consisted primarily in raising the energies of the soul. That was what mattered: to make the soul strong, powerful, and energetic. The initiate had to renounce from the outset the idea that the objects and beings of the higher worlds would be handed to him on a silver platter. He had to evolve toward each part of the higher worlds. Nothing without effort, nothing at all without effort! This is true of what is to be achieved individually in the higher worlds, and it is true of what is to be achieved in relation to the higher worlds in the stages of human evolution.
Let us assume that some being, who is to work in human evolution through his spiritual power, for example the individuality of Moses, is to be incorporated into the course of human evolution. It would be childish to imagine that nothing else needed to happen except for human development to continue, and that heaven would send Moses to some point in human development: Now Moses is here, people know that it is Moses, and they only need to do what was done when Moses came. If Moses had been sent somewhere in this way, the only consequence would have been that those around Moses would not have known that it was “Moses.” It did not matter that this or that external personality was standing there, but that a number of people could judge what spirituality lived in the person in question. And it would not have been necessary to tell these people that this is Moses or that person or the other, but it would only have been necessary to prepare their souls in the appropriate way: then the souls, without being told that this or that person is Moses, would have known: this is the spiritual being in question, who is to be regarded in such and such a way!
So this is what we assume: that the passage into the higher worlds is connected with an energization, with a strengthening of the inner soul forces, and that nothing can be given from outside, so to speak, but that everything can only be achieved through the elevation of the inner life of the human being; for only in this way can the threshold be crossed into those worlds which the human being also passes through between death and a new birth. That is what I wanted to say by way of introduction today. Tomorrow we will continue by describing what the worlds are like between death and new birth, and to what extent it has become necessary and important through the mystery teachings to impart to human beings, already during their physical life, something of the knowledge of these higher worlds.