The Stages of Higher Knowledge
GA 12
3. Inspiration
[ 1 ] From the description of Imagination it has become evident how through it the occult student leaves the ground of outer sense experiences. In a much higher degree is this the case with Inspiration. Here representation (image forming) is based much less upon what can be designated an outer stimulus. Man must find strength within himself to make it possible for him to form representations concerning things. He must be inwardly active on a much higher level than in the case of outer cognition. There he simply gives himself over to outer impressions, and these cause the images. This kind of surrender ceases when we come to Inspiration. No eye any longer supplies colours, no ear supplies sounds, and so forth. The whole content of representations must largely be shaped by one's own activity, consequently by purely spirit-soul processes, and the manifestation of the higher world must be impressed upon what man has created by his inner activity. A peculiar contradiction seems to appear in such a description of the world of higher cognition. The individual to a certain extent should be the creator of his own representations yet of course these representations must not be allowed to be his own creation. The processes of the higher world must be expressed through them just as the processes of the lower world are expressed through the perceptions of the eyes, ears, and so forth. But a contradiction is inevitable in the description of this mode of cognition, for this is exactly what the occult student must make his own on the path of Inspiration; he must attain by his inner activity a result that in ordinary life is outwardly compelled.—Why in ordinary life do the images representing the outer world not take their course arbitrarily? Because man has to make his inner imagery conform to the outer objects. All arbitrariness of the “ego” falls away because the objects say: We are that, or that. The objects themselves tell how they shall be thought of; the “ego” has nothing to decide about it. Whoever will not adjust himself to the objects has erroneous thoughts, and he would soon become aware of how little success he would have with them in the world. This necessary attitude of human beings to the things of the outer world can be designated in cognition by the term “selfless.” Man must attain a “selfless” attitude toward things, and the outer world is his instructor in this selflessness. It removes from him all illusions, all fantastic notions, all illogical judgments, all non-objectivity, simply by putting the correct image before his senses.
[ 2 ] If the human being wants to prepare himself for Inspiration, he must so develop his inner nature that this selflessness is his very own, even when nothing outside compels it. He must learn to create inwardly, but in such a way that his “ego” does not in the least way play an arbitrary role in this creative activity. The difficulties to be considered in achieving such selflessness become the more apparent the more consideration is given to what soul powers are especially needed for Inspiration.—The three fundamental powers of soul life are differentiated: Representation (thinking), feeling, and willing. In everyday sensory cognition, representations are stimulated into existence by outer objects, and through these externally stimulated representations the directions taken by feeling and willing are determined. For instance, the human being sees an object; it gives him pleasure, and in consequence he desires the things concerned. Pleasure is rooted in feeling, and through feeling the will is aroused, just as feeling has itself received its stamp from thinking. But the ultimate foundation of thinking, feeling and willing is the external object.—Another instance would be this. A man witnesses an event. It frightens him. He runs away from the scene of the event. Here, too, the outer occurrences are the initial cause; they are perceived through the senses, become representations, the feeling of fear springs up; and the will—expressing itself in running away—is the result. In Inspiration any outer object of this kind falls away. The senses do not come into play for a perception. Therefore they cannot give rise to representations. From this side no influence is exerted upon feeling and willing. Yet it is precisely from these two, as out of a mother substance, that in Inspiration representations inwardly arise and grow. If the mother substance is healthy, true representations will arise; if unhealthy, errors and illusions.
[ 3 ] As certainly as inspirations that originate in healthy feeling and willing can be revelations from a higher world, so certainly do errors, delusions and fantastic notions concerning a higher world spring from confused feeling and willing.
[ 4 ] Occult training therefore undertakes to indicate how the human being may make his feelings and his will impulses productive in a healthy way for Inspiration. As in all matters of occult training, the need here is for an intimate regulating and forming of soul life. First of all certain feelings must be developed which are known only to a slight degree in ordinary life. Some of these feelings will be hinted at here. Among the most important is a heightened sensitiveness to “truth” and “falsehood,” to “right” and “wrong.” Certainly the ordinary human being has similar feelings, but they must be developed by the occult student in a much higher measure. Suppose someone has made a logical error. Another sees this mistake and corrects it. Let it be clear how great is the role of judgment and intellect in such a correction, and how slight the feeling of pleasure in the right and displeasure in the wrong. Surely this is not to claim that the pleasure and corresponding displeasure are non-existent. But the degree to which they are present in ordinary life must be illimitably raised in occult training. Most systematically must the occult student turn his attention to his soul life, and he must bring it about that logical error is a source of pain to him, no less excruciating than physical pain, and conversely, that the “right” gives him real joy and delight. Thus, where another only stirs his intellect, his power of judgment, into motion, the occult student must learn to live through the whole gamut of emotions, from grief to enthusiasm, from afflictive tension to transports of delight in the possession of truth. In fact, he must learn to feel something like hatred against what the “normal” man experiences only in a cold and sober way as “incorrect”; he must enkindle in himself a love of truth that bears a personal character; as personal, as warm, as the lover feels for the beloved.—Certainly much is spoken in our “cultured” circles about the “love of truth” yet what is meant by this is not at all to be compared with what the occult student must go through in quiet, inner soul work toward this end. As a test, he must patiently, over and over again, place before himself this or that “true” thing, this or that “false” one, and devote himself to it, not merely to train his power of judgment for sober discrimination between “true” and “false,” but he must gain an entirely personal relation to it all.—It is absolutely correct that at the beginning of such training the human being can fall into what may be called “oversensitiveness.” An incorrect judgment that he hears in his environment, an inconsistency, and so forth, can cause him almost unbearable pain.—Care must therefore be taken in this respect during training. Otherwise great dangers might indeed result for the student's equilibrium of soul. If care is taken that the character remains steadfast, storms may occur in the soul life and the human being still retain the power to conduct himself toward the outer world with harmonious countenance and bearing. A mistake is made in every case in which the occult student is brought into opposition to the outer world so that he finds it unbearable or wishes to flee from it entirely. The higher world of feeling must not be cultivated at the expense of well-balanced activity and work in the outer world; therefore a strengthening of the power to withstand outer impressions must appear in corresponding measure to the inner lifting of the feeling life. Practical occult training, therefore, directs the human being never to undertake the above-mentioned exercises for developing the feeling world without at the same time developing himself toward an appreciation of the tolerance that life demands from men. He must be able to feel the keenest pain if a person utters an erroneous opinion, and yet at the same time be perfectly tolerant towards this person because the thought in his mind is equally clear that this person is bound to judge in this way, and his opinion must be reckoned with as a fact.—It is, of course, correct that the inner being of the occult scientist will be ever more and more transformed into a twofold life. Ever richer processes come about in his soul in his pilgrimage through life, and a second world becomes continually more independent of what the outer world offers. It is just this twofold existence that will bear fruit in the genuine practice of life. What results from it is quick-witted judgment and unerring certainty of decision. While anyone who stands remote from such schooling must go through long trains of thought, driven hither and thither between resolution and perplexity, the occult scientist will swiftly survey life situations and discern hidden relations concealed from the ordinary view. He then often needs much patience to synchronise with the slow rate at which another person is able to grasp something that for him comes swift as an arrow.
[ 5 ] Thus far we have spoken only of the qualities that must be developed in the feeling life so that Inspiration may occur in the correct way. The next question is: How do the feelings become fruitful so that they are accurately represented for the world of Inspiration? If one wishes to understand what occult science has to offer in answer to this question, acquaintance is necessary with the fact that man's soul life has always a certain treasure of feeling over and above those stimulated by sense perceptions. The human being feels, as it were, far more than things compel him to feel, only in ordinary life this excess is employed in a direction that through occult training must be transformed into another. Take, for instance, a feeling of anxiety or fear. It can be crystal clear that often fear or anxiety is greater than it would be if it were in true proportion to the corresponding outer event. Imagine that the occult student is working energetically on himself with the aim to feel in no instance more fear and anxiety than is justified by the corresponding external events. Now a given amount of fear or anxiety always entails an expenditure of soul force. This soul force is actually lost as a result when fear or anxiety is produced. The student really conserves this soul force when he denies himself fear or anxiety—or other such feelings—and it remains at his disposal for some other purpose. If he repeats such processes often, he will build up an inner treasure of these continually husbanded soul forces, and the occult student will soon find that out of such economies of feeling will arise the germs of those inner images that will bring to expression the revelations of a higher life. Such things cannot be “proved” in the ordinary sense; the occult student can only be advised to do this or that, and if he does so to watch for the indubitable results.
[ 6 ] A careless examination of what has been described might easily make it appear as a contradiction to demand from the one side an enrichment of the feeling world, with feelings of pleasure or pain to be kindled by what otherwise arouses only intellectual judgment, and from the other side to talk in almost the same breath of economy of feeling. This contradiction quickly disappears if it is borne in mind that the economies are to be effected in those feelings aroused by the outer senses. Just what is conserved there appears conversely as an enrichment of spiritual experience, and it is wholly correct that the feelings conserved in this way in the world of sense perception not only become free in the other sphere, but prove creative in that sphere.—They shape the matrix substance for those representations wherein the spiritual world reveals itself.
[ 7 ] But it would not accomplish much to remain at a standstill with only such economies as those indicated above. For greater results, still more is necessary. A far greater treasure still of power to create feeling must be supplied to the soul than is possible in this way alone. For instance, as a test, one must expose oneself to certain outer impressions, and then wholly deny oneself the feelings that “normally” arise as a result. One must, for instance, face an occurrence that “normally” excites the soul, and absolutely and totally forbid oneself the excitation. This can be accomplished either by actually confronting such an experience, or by conjuring it up imaginatively. The imaginative method is even better for a really fruitful occult training. As the student is initiated into Imagination, either before his preparation for Inspiration or simultaneously with it, he should actually be in a position to place an occurrence imaginatively before the soul with the same force as if it were in fact taking place.—If, therefore, in the course of long inner work the student ever again and again subjects himself to things and events, yet denies himself the corresponding “normal” feelings, a fertile ground for Inspiration will be created in his soul.—Just incidentally it might be noted here that he who is describing such training for Inspiration can fully appreciate possible objections against such a description from the standpoint of present-day culture. Not only can objections be made, but people may smile haughtily and say, “Inspiration cannot be pedantically taught; it is a natural gift of genius.” Yes, from the standpoint of modern culture, it may certainly seem almost comical to speak of a process that this culture will not admit to be explainable, but this culture is itself not conscious of how little it is able to think through its own thought processes to the end. Whoever would expect a disciple of this culture to believe that some more highly developed animal had not slowly evolved, but had appeared “suddenly,” would soon hear that a person cultured in the modern sense would not believe in such a “miracle.” Such a belief would be “superstition.” Now in the sphere of soul life, one with such modern education is himself but the victim of crass superstition simply in the style of his own opinions. By the same token, he will not recognise that a more fully developed soul must also have evolved, that it could not have sprung into existence suddenly as a gift of nature. Of course, externally, many a genius appears to have been born suddenly “out of nothing” in some mysterious way; but it appears so only for materialistic superstition; the spiritual scientist knows that the assessment of genius with respect to the life of a man born to this condition as if out of nothing is simply the result of his preparation for Inspiration during an earlier life on earth.—In the theoretical sphere, materialistic superstition is bad, but it is still worse in the practical sphere such as is concerned here. As it assumes that genius in the whole of the future must “fall from heaven,” it does not trouble itself about this “occult nonsense” or “fantastic mysticism” that speaks of preparation for Inspiration. In this way the superstition of the materialists retards the true progress of mankind. It does not see to it that the latent faculties are developed in man.
[ 8 ] In reality, precisely those who call themselves progressives and free-thinkers are often the enemies of true progress. But this, as noted, is but a casual remark, necessary because of the relationship of occult science to present-day culture.
[ 9 ] Now the soul powers that are stored up in the student's inner being by self-denial of “normal” feelings, as indicated above, are riches that would undoubtedly be transformed into Inspirations even if nothing else came to their aid, and the occult student would experience how true thought images arise in his soul, representing experiences in higher worlds. Progress would begin with the simplest experiences of supersensible events, and slowly more complicated and higher ones appear, if the student continued to live inwardly according to the suggested directions.—But in reality such occult training today would be entirely impractical, and nowhere is it carried out where work is undertaken earnestly. For, if the student wished to develop “out of himself” everything that Inspiration can give, he could undoubtedly “spin out” of himself all that has been said here, for example, about the nature of man, human life after death, the evolution of humanity and of the planets, and so forth. But such a student would need an immeasurably long time to do it. It would be, for example, as if a man would spin the whole of geometry out of himself, without regard for what had already been achieved in this realm before him. Certainly, in theory, it is fully possible. To carry it out in practice would be folly. Also, this is not the procedure in occult science, but through a teacher things are handed down that have been acquired for humanity by inspired predecessors. This tradition must for the present provide the basis for individual Inspiration. What is being offered today in literature and lectures out of the realm of occult science can absolutely provide such a basis for Inspiration. There are, for example, the teachings about the various component parts of man (physical body, ether body, astral body, and so forth), the knowledge concerning life after death pending a new incarnation, and everything that has been printed under the title, Cosmic Memory. In other words, it must be held fast at all points that Inspiration is needed for discovering and personally experiencing the higher truths, but not for understanding them. What is communicated in Cosmic Memory cannot at first be discovered without Inspiration. But once communicated, then it can be understood through wholly ordinary logical judgment. No one should assert that things are stated there that cannot be logically grasped without Inspiration. They are found inconceivable, not because of lack of Inspiration, but because they are not given sufficient reflective consideration.—If such communicated truths are received, they awaken Inspiration in the soul through their own strength. If sharing in such Inspiration is desired, however, the effort must be made not to receive this knowledge in a prosaic and matter-of-fact way, but to open oneself to be moved by the upswing of ideas into all possible feeling experiences. Why should this not be possible? Can feeling remain dull when overpowering cosmic occurrences pass before the spirit's gaze—how the Earth has developed out of Moon, Sun, and Saturn, or when the infinite depths of human nature are penetrated by a knowledge of man's ether and astral bodies, and so forth? One might almost say, “How regrettable,” for a person who can contemplate unmoved such edifices of thought. For if he did not regard them prosaically, but lived through all the tensions and relaxations of feeling that they make possible, all climaxes and crises, all progress and retrogression, all catastrophes and dispersions, then indeed would the mother substance be prepared in him for Inspiration itself. Certainly the necessary feeling life in the face of such communications from a higher world can be really unfolded only by exercises like those indicated above. Whoever turns all his feeling forces toward the outer world of sense perception will see narrations from a higher world as “arid concepts,” as “gray theory.” He will never be able to grasp why another finds the communications of occult science heartwarming, while his own heart remains cold to them. He will even say, “But this is only for the intellect; this is intellectual. I would like something for my whole well-being.” But he does not tell himself that it is his own fault if his heart remains cold.
[ 10 ] Many still undervalue the power of what lies already hidden in just these communications from a higher world, and in this connection they overvalue all kinds of other exercises and procedures. “What good is it to me,” they say, “to learn from others what the higher worlds look like? I want to see them for myself.” Such persons mostly lack the patience to concentrate over and over again upon such narrations from higher worlds. If they would do so, they would see what kindling force these “mere stories” have, and how one's own Inspiration is stimulated by hearing an account of the Inspirations of others.—Certainly other exercises must supplement mere “learning” if the student wishes to make rapid progress in the experience of the higher worlds, but no one should under-estimate the great significance precisely of “learning.” In any case no hope can be given that he will make rapid conquests in the higher worlds through any exercises whatever, unless he has at the same time set out to ponder incessantly upon the communications, purely narrative, that have been given from a competent quarter about the events and beings of the higher worlds.—Now that such communications are actually being presented in literature and in lectures, and so forth, and the first indications are also being given for the exercises leading to knowledge of higher worlds (as, for example, such indications as are presented in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment), it has now become possible to learn something of what formerly was communicated only in strictly guarded occult schools. As has been frequently mentioned, it is owing to the special conditions of our time that these things are and must be published. But also, on the other hand, it must be ever again emphasised that while it has thus been made easier to acquire occult knowledge, sure guidance through an experienced occult teacher is not yet to be completely dispensed with.
[ 11 ] Cognition through Inspiration leads men to the experience of processes in the invisible worlds, as, for instance, the evolution of man and that of the earth and its planetary embodiments. But when in these higher worlds not only processes, but being come under consideration, then must Intuition enter in as a mode of cognition. What occurs through such being is discerned through Imagination in pictures; laws and relationships, through Inspiration; if one would come face to face with the beings themselves, Intuition is needed.—How Inspiration becomes articulate in the world of Imaginations, how it permeates the latter as a “spiritual music” and so becomes the means of expression for the beings who are to be known through Intuition, will be explained later. Then also Intuition itself will be dealt with. Here it will merely be pointed out that what is designated as “Intuition” in occult science has nothing to do with the application of the word “intuition” in current popular usage. By this application is meant a more or less uncertain notion in contrast to clear cognition, logically arrived at through intellect or reason. In occult science, Intuition is nothing vague and uncertain, but a lofty mode of cognition, full of the most luminous clarity and the most indubitable certainty.
Die Inspiration
[ 1 ] Aus der Schilderung der Imagination ist ersichtlich geworden, wie durch sie der Geheimschüler den Boden der äußeren sinnlichen Erlebnisse verläßt. In einem noch viel höheren Grade ist dieses der Fall in der Inspiration. Bei ihr liegt dem Vorstellen noch viel weniger von dem zugrunde, was man als eine äußere Anregung bezeichnen kann. Der Mensch muß da in sich selbst die Kraft finden, welche es ihm möglich macht, über etwas sich Vorstellungen zu bilden. Er muß in einem viel höheren Grade innerlich tätig sein, als dies bei der äußeren Erkenntnis der Fall ist. Bei dieser gibt er sich eben den äußeren Eindrücken hin, und sie verursachen in ihm die Vorstellungen. Diese Hingabe fällt bei der Inspiration weg. Es liefern nunmehr keine Augen Farben, keine Ohren Töne usw. Aller Inhalt des Vorstellens muß gewissermaßen durch eigene Tätigkeit, also durch rein geistigseelische Vorgänge geschaffen werden. Und in dasjenige, was so der Mensch durch die Tätigkeit seines Innern schafft, muß sich die Offenbarung der höheren wirklichen Welt hineinprägen. Ein eigenartiger Widerspruch scheint in einer solchen Beschreibung der höheren Erkenntniswelt aufzutreten. Der Mensch soll in einer gewissen Art der Schöpfer seiner Vorstellungen sein; und doch dürfen diese Vorstellungen selbstverständlich nicht seine Geschöpfe sein; sondern durch sie müssen sich die Vorgänge der höheren Welt ebenso zum Ausdruck bringen, wie sich in den Wahrnehmungen der Augen, Ohren usw. die Vorgänge der niederen Welt zum Ausdruck bringen. Es ist das aber ein Widerspruch, der sich in der Schilderung dieser Erkenntnisart finden muß. Denn das ist es gerade, was sich der Geheimschüler auf dem Wege zur Inspiration aneignen muß, daß er auf dem Wege seiner inneren Tätigkeit etwas zustande bringt, wozu er in dem gewöhnlichen Leben von außen gezwungen wird. — Warum verlaufen im gewöhnlichen Leben die Vorstellungen nicht willkürlich? Weil der Mensch sich bei seinem Vorstellen nach den äußeren Gegenständen richten muß. Alle Willkür des «Ich» fällt weg, weil die Gegenstände sagen: so oder so sind wir. Da sprechen die Gegenstände, wie sie vorgestellt werden sollen, das «Ich» hat nichts darüber zu bestimmen. Wer sich den Gegenständen nicht fügen will, der stellt sich eben Unrichtiges vor; und er würde bald gewahr werden, wie wenig er damit in der Welt zurechtkäme. Man kann dieses notwendige Verhalten des Menschen zu den Dingen der Außenwelt in der Erkenntnis mit dem Ausdruck «selbstlos» bezeichnen. Der Mensch muß sich selbstlos zu den Dingen verhalten. Und die Außenwelt ist sein Lehrmeister in dieser Selbstlosigkeit. Sie benimmt ihm alle Illusionen, alle Phantastereien, alle unlogischen Urteile, alles Unsachliche, indem sie ihm einfach ihr richtiges Bild vor die Sinne stellt.
[ 2 ] Will der Mensch sich für die Inspiration vorbereiten, so muß er sein Inneres so weit bringen, daß ihm diese Selbstlosigkeit eigen ist, auch wenn nichts von außen dazu zwingt. Er muß innerlich schaffen lernen, jedoch so, daß sein «Ich» bei diesem Schaffen nicht im geringsten eine eigenmächtige Rolle spielt. Die Schwierigkeiten, welche in Betracht kommen, um eine solche Selbstlosigkeit zu erringen, werden um so deutlicher sichtbar, je besser man berücksichtigt, welche Seelenkräfte für die Inspiration besonders in Betracht kommen. — Man unterscheidet die drei Grundkräfte des seelischen Lebens: Vorstellen, Fühlen und Wollen. Bei dem gewöhnlichen Sinneserkennen sind die Vorstellungen durch die äußeren Gegenstände angeregt. Und durch diese von außen angeregten Vorstellungen bekommen auch das Fühlen und das Wollen ihre bestimmten Richtungen. Der Mensch sieht z.B. einen Gegenstand; dieser bereitet ihm Lust, infolgedessen begehrt er die betreffende Sache. Die Lust sitzt im Gefühle; durch dieses wird der Wille erregt, wie es selbst sein Gepräge von dem Vorstellen erhalten hat. Der letzte Grund aber von Vorstellen, Fühlen und Wollen ist der äußere Gegenstand. — Ein anderer Fall wäre dieser. Ein Mensch erlebt ein Ereignis. Dieses bereitet ihm Angst. Er läuft von dem Schauplatze des Ereignisses hinweg. Auch hier sind die äußeren Vorgänge der erste Grund; sie kommen durch die Sinne zur Wahrnehmung, werden Vorstellungen, das Gefühl der Angst stellt sich ein; und der Wille — der sich im Davonlaufen verwirklicht — ist die Folge. Bei der Inspiration fällt ein äußerer Gegenstand in dieser Form weg. Die Sinne kommen für eine Wahrnehmung nicht in Betracht. Sie also können auch nicht die Anreger von Vorstellungen sein. Von dieser Seite aus wird auf Fühlen und Wollen kein Einfluß ausgeübt. — Nun sind es aber gerade diese beiden, aus denen, wie aus einem Mutterboden, bei der Inspiration innerlich die Vorstellungen aufsteigen, gleichsam herauswachsen. Und es werden wahre Vorstellungen erwachsen, wenn der Mutterboden ein gesunder ist, Irrtümer und Wahngebilde, wenn er ein ungesunder ist.
[ 3 ] So gewiß als die Inspirationen, welche aus einem gesunden Fühlen und Wollen entspringen, Offenbarungen einer höheren Welt sein können, so gewiß entspringen aus einem wüsten Fühlen und Wollen die Irrtümer, Täuschungen und Phantastereien über eine höhere Welt.
[ 4 ] Die Geheimschulung stellt sich deshalb die Aufgabe, dem Menschen die Mittel zu zeigen, welche ihn befähigen, seine Gefühle und seine Willensimpulse zu gesundfruchtbaren für die Inspiration zu machen. Wie in allen Dingen der Geheimschulung hat man es auch hier mit einer intimen Regelung und Gestaltung des Seelenlebens zu tun. Man muß sich zunächst gewisse Gefühle aneignen, die man im gewöhnlichen Leben nur in einem geringen Grade kennt. Es sollen hier einige von diesen Gefühlen angedeutet werden. Zu den wichtigsten gehört eine höhere Empfindlichkeit gegenüber von «wahr» und «unwahr» , von «richtig» und «unrichtig». Gewiß hat ja auch der gewöhnliche Mensch ähnliche Gefühle. Sie müssen aber eben bei dem Geheimschüler in einem viel höheren Maße ausgebildet werden. Man nehme an, jemand begehe einen logischen Fehler: ein anderer sieht diesen Fehler ein, und er stellt die Sache richtig. Man mache sich klar, wie groß der Anteil des Urteiles, des Verstandes bei einem solchen Richtigstellen ist und wie gering das Gefühl der Lust beim Richtigen, der Unlust beim Unrichtigen Wohlgemerkt, es soll durchaus nicht behauptet werden, daß die Lust und entsprechend die Unlust gar nicht vorhanden seien. Aber der Grad, in dem sie im gewöhnlichen Leben vorhanden sind, muß sich in der Geheimschulung ins Unbegrenzte steigern. Ganz systematisch muß der Geheimschüler die Aufmerksamkeit auf sein Seelenleben lenken: und er muß es dahin bringen, daß ihm das logisch Unrichtige eine Quelle des Schmerzes wird, der durchaus nicht hinter einem physischen Schmerze zurückbleibt; und in umgekehrter Art muß ihm das «Richtige» wirkliche Freude oder Lust bereiten. Wo also ein anderer nur seinen Verstand, seine Urteilskraft in Bewegung bringt, muß der Geheimschüler lernen, die ganze Stufenfolge von Gefühlen, vom Schmerz bis zum Enthusiasmus, von der wehevollen Spannung bis zur entzückenden Lösung im Besitz der Wahrheit zu durchleben. Ja, er muß etwas wie Haß empfinden lernen gegen dasjenige, was beim «normalen» Menschen nur als ein nüchternkaltes «Unrichtiges» erlebt wird; er muß eine Liebe zur Wahrheit in sich entwickeln, welche einen ganz persönlichen Charakter trägt; so persönlich, so warm wie der Liebende der Geliebten gegenüber empfindet. — Man wird ja gewiß auch in den Kreisen unserer «Gebildeten» vielfach von der «Liebe zur Wahrheit» reden; doch ist das, was man da meint, eben gar nicht zu vergleichen mit dem, was der Geheimschüler in stiller, innerer Seelenarbeit nach dieser Richtung durchmachen muß. Er muß sich geduldig immer wieder probeweise dieses oder jenes «Wahre», dieses oder jenes «Falsche» vorlegen; und sich der Sache hingeben, um nicht bloß seine Urteilskraft zu schulen, die nüchtern unterscheidet zwischen «wahr» und «falsch», sondern er muß zu dem allen ein ganz persönliches Verhältnis gewinnen. — Es ist durchaus richtig, daß der Mensch im Anfange einer solchen Schulung in das verfallen kann, was man «Überempfindlichkeit» nennen mag. Ein unrichtiges Urteil, das er in seiner Umgebung hört, eine Inkonsequenz usw. können ihm einen schier unerträglichen Schmerz bereiten. — Es muß deshalb bei der Schulung auf diese Sache Rücksicht genommen werden. Denn geschähe das nicht: dann könnten sich allerdings große Gefahren für das Seelengleichgewicht des Schülers ergeben. Wird daraufgesehen, daß der Charakter fest bleibt, dann können Stürme im Seelenleben sich abspielen, und der Mensch hat doch die Kraft, in harmonischer Miene und Gebärde mit der Außenwelt zu leben. Ein Fehler ist in jedem Falle gemacht, wo der Geheimschüler zu einem Gegensatze gegenüber der Außenwelt gebracht wird, so daß er diese unerträglich findet oder gar aus ihr fliehen will. Die höhere Gefühlswelt darf sich nicht auf Kosten des gleichmäßigen Wirkens und Arbeitens in der Außenwelt entwickeln; deshalb muß der inneren Erhöhung des Gefühlslebens eine Stärkung der Widerstandskraft gegenüber den äußeren Eindrücken entsprechen. Die praktische Geheimschulung weist daher den Menschen an, niemals die obengenannten Übungen zur Schulung seiner Gefühlswelt zu unternehmen, ohne sich zugleich auch nach der Richtung zu entwickeln, daß er ein Verständnis dafür gewinnen könne, was das Leben an Toleranzempfindung von dem Menschen fordert. Er muß zugleich in sich den lebendigsten Schmerz empfinden können, wenn z.B. ein Mensch ein unrichtiges Urteil abgibt, und vollkommen tolerant sein können gegen diesen Menschen, weil der Gedanke in der Seele ebenso lebhaft da ist: dieser Mensch muß so urteilen, und es ist mit seinem Urteile wie mit einer Tatsache zu rechnen. — Richtig ist allerdings, daß das Innere des Geheimwissenschaftlers sich immer mehr und mehr zu einem Doppelleben umgestalten wird. Immer reichere Vorgänge werden sich in seiner Seele abspielen bei seiner Pilgerschaft durch das Leben, immer selbständiger gegenüber dem, was die äußere Welt gibt, wird eine zweite Welt. Aber dieses Doppelleben wird gerade das Fruchtbare sein für die echte Lebenspraxis. Was sich dadurch einstellt, ist Schlagfertigkeit des Urteiles, Treffsicherheit in bezug auf die Entschlüsse. Wo derjenige, der einer solchen Schulung fernesteht, lange Gedankenketten durchmachen muß, zwischen Entschluß und Ratlosigkeit hinund hergetrieben wird, da wird der Geheimwissenschafter rasch die Lagen des Lebens überschauen, dem gewöhnlichen Blicke verborgene Zusammenhänge schnell aufdecken usw. Es gehört für ihn dann oft sogar viel Geduld dazu, sich in die langsame Art hineinzubegeben, wie ein anderer etwas begreifen kann, während bei ihm doch dieses Begreifen pfeilschnell vor sich geht.
[ 5 ] Nun ist bisher nur gesprochen von den Eigenschaften, welche das Gefühlsleben erhalten muß, damit die Inspiration in der richtigen Art eintreten könne. Die andere Frage ist die: Wie werden die Gefühle fruchtbar, so daß sie aus sich wirkliche, der Inspirationswelt angehörige Vorstellungen gebären? Will man das einsehen, was die Geheimwissenschaft als Antwort auf diese Frage zu geben hat, so muß man sich mit der Tatsache bekannt machen, daß des Menschen Seelenleben immer einen gewissen Schatz von Gefühlen hat, welche über das Maß dessen hinausgehen, was durch die sinnlichen Wahrnehmungen angeregt wird. Der Mensch fühlt gleichsam mehr, als das ist, wozu ihn die Dinge zwingen. Nur wird in dem gewöhnlichen Leben dieses Übermaß in einer solchen Richtung angewendet, welche durch die Geheimschulung in eine andere verwandelt werden muß. Man nehme z.B. ein Angst- oder Furchtgefühl. Man wird sich leicht klarmachen können, daß in vielen Fällen die Furcht oder die Angst größer ist, als sie sein würde, wenn sie einem entsprechenden äußeren Vorgange ganz angemessen wäre. Man stelle sich nun vor: der Geheimschüler arbeite energisch an sich, um in keinem ihm vorkommenden Falle größere Furcht oder Angst zu haben, als gegenüber den entsprechenden äußeren Vorgängen wirklich gerechtfertigt ist. Nun wird ein gewisses Maß von Furcht oder Angst immer aus der Aufwendung von Seelenkraft erzeugt. Diese Seelenkraft geht tatsächlich dadurch verloren, daß eben Furcht oder Angst erzeugt werden. Der Geheimschüler erspart diese Seelenkraft wirklich, wenn er sich die Furcht oder die Angst — und anderes — versagt. Und sie bleibt ihm für etwas anderes verfügbar. Wiederholt er solche Vorgänge oft, so wird aus den fortlaufend ersparten Seelenkräften ein innerer Schatz gebildet, und der Geheimschüler wird bald erleben, daß ihm aus solchen Gefühlsersparnissen die Keime zu Vorstellungen erwachsen, welche Offenbarungen des höheren Lebens zum Ausdrucke bringen. Dergleichen kann man im gewöhnlichen Sinne nicht «beweisen»; man kann nur dem Geheimschüler die Anweisung geben: tue dies oder jenes — und er wird, wenn er die Sache ausführt, schon sehen, daß sich die untrüglichen Früchte einstellen.
[ 6 ] Einer ungenauen Betrachtung des soeben Geschilderten könnte es leicht als ein Widerspruch erscheinen, daß auf der einen Seite eine Bereicherung der Gefühlswelt gefordert wird, indem durch das, was sonst nur das Verstandesurteil wachruft, Gefühle der Lust, des Schmerzes usw. erregt werden sollen — und auf der anderen Seite gerade von Ersparnissen an Gefühlen gesprochen wird. Dieser Widerspruch verschwindet sofort, wenn man bedenkt, daß die Ersparnisse bei denjenigen Gefühlen gemacht werden sollen, welche durch die äußeren Sinne angeregt werden. Eben das, was da erspart wird, erscheint als Bereicherung gegenüber den geistigen Erlebnissen. Und es ist durchaus richtig, daß auf diese Art an der sinnlichen Wahrnehmungswelt ersparte Gefühle nicht nur auf dem anderen Gebiete freiwerden, sondern daß sie sich auf diesem Gebiete als schöpferisch erweisen. Sie schaffen das Material zu den Vorstellungen, in denen sich die geistige Welt offenbart.
[ 7 ] Es würde allerdings nicht besonders weit gehen, wenn man nur bei solchen Ersparnissen stehenbleiben wollte, wie sie oben angedeutet worden sind. Zu größeren Erfolgen ist noch mehr nötig. Man muß der Seele einen noch weit größeren Schatz von Gefühl erzeugender Kraft zufuhren, als auf diesem Wege möglich ist. Man muß z.B. sich gewissen äußeren Eindrücken probeweise aussetzen und sich dann die Gefühle ganz versagen, die im sogenannten «normalen» Zustande eintreten. Man muß sich z.B. einem Ereignisse gegenüberstellen, welches «normalerweise» die Seele erregt, und sich diese Erregung ganz und gar verbieten. Man kann das so machen, daß man sich tatsächlich einem solchen Ereignisse gegenüberstellt oder sich bloß mit der Vorstellung behilft. Das letztere ist sogar für die fruchtbare Geheimschulung das bessere. Da der Schüler ja in die Imagination eingeweiht wird, entweder vor seiner Vorbereitung zur Inspiration oder mit der letzteren gleichzeitig, so muß er eigentlich imstande sein, sich imaginativ ein Ereignis mit derselben Kraft vor die Seele zu stellen, wie wenn es wirklich da wäre. — Wenn nun in langer innerer Arbeit der Schüler sich immer wieder und wieder Dingen und Vorgängen aussetzt und es sich verbietet, entsprechende «normale» Gefühle zu haben, so wird in seiner Seele der Mutterboden für die Inspiration geschaffen. — Nur als Zwischenbemerkung sei hier angeführt, daß derjenige, welcher eine solche Schulung zur Inspiration beschreibt, es voll würdigen kann, wenn vom Standpunkte unserer gegenwärtigen Zeitbildung aus manches gegen eine solche Beschreibung eingewendet wird. Und man kann da nicht nur das oder jenes einwenden, sogar kann man überlegen lächeln und sagen: «Inspiration kann doch nicht pedantisch anerzogen werden; sie ist eine Naturgabe des Genies.» Ja gewiß, vom Standpunkte dieser Zeitbildung mag es recht komisch anmuten, wenn viel über die Heranbildung dessen geredet wird, bei dem diese Bildung von einer Erklärung nichts wissen will; aber diese Zeitbildung ist sich nicht bewußt, wie wenig sie ihre eigenen Gedankengänge zu Ende zu denken vermag. Wer es einem Bekenner dieser Zeitbildung zumuten wollte, daß er daran glauben solle, irgendein höher entwickeltes Tier habe sich nicht langsam entwickelt, sondern sei «plötzlich» da gewesen: der würde bald hören, daß der im modernen Sinne Gebildete an ein solches «Wunder» nicht glaube. So etwas sei «Aberglauben». Nun, auf dem Gebiete des Seelenlebens ist aber ein solcher modern Gebildeter, ganz im Stile seiner eigenen Ansichten, ein von krassem Aberglauben Befallener. Er will nämlich nicht daran denken, daß sich eine vollkommenere Seele auch entwickelt haben muß, das sie nicht plötzlich als eine Naturgabe da sein könne. Äußerlich erscheint allerdings manches Genie wie «aus dem Nichts» geboren, auf unerklärliche Weise da; doch erscheint es eben so nur für den materialistischen Aberglauben; der Geisteswissenschafter weiß, daß eine genialische Veranlagung, die in einem Leben bei einem Menschen wie aus dem Nichts heraus geboren ist, einfach die Folge von dessen Erziehung zur Inspiration in einem früheren Erdenleben ist. — Auf theoretischem Gebiete ist der materialistische Aberglaube schlimm; bei weitem schlimmer aber ist er noch auf einem solchen praktischen Gebiete wie hier. Da er annimmt, daß die Genies in alle Zukunft «vom Himmel fallen» müssen, kümmert er sich nicht um derlei «okkultistischen Unfug» oder solch «phantastische Mystik», die von Vorbereitung zur Inspiration sprechen. Dadurch hält aber der Aberglaube der Materialisten den wahren Fortschritt der Menschheit auf. Er sorgt nicht dafür, daß die in den Menschen schlummernden Fähigkeiten entwickelt werden.
[ 8 ] In Wirklichkeit sind nämlich oft diejenigen, welche sich Fortschrittler und Freidenker nennen, solche, welche die Feinde der wahren Fortentwickelung sind. Doch dies soll — wie gesagt — nur eine Zwischenbemerkung sein, die notwendig ist mit Rücksicht auf das Verhältnis der Geheimwissenschaft zur gegenwärtigen Zeitbildung.
[ 9 ] Nun würden die Seelenkräfte, welche durch das gekennzeichnete Sich-Versagen der «normalen» Gefühle als Schatz im Innern des Schülers sich aufspeichern, gewiß, auch ohne daß etwas anderes zu Hilfe käme, sich in Inspirationen umsetzen. Und der Geheimschüler würde erleben, wie in seiner Seele wahre Vorstellungen aufsteigen, welche Erlebnisse in höheren Welten darstellen. Mit den einfachsten Erfahrungen übersinnlicher Vorgänge würde die Sache beginnen, und langsam käme Komplizierteres und Höheres zum Vorschein, wenn der Schüler in der angedeuteten Richtung innerlich weiterlebte. — In Wirklichkeit wäre aber eine solche Geheimschulung heute ganz unpraktisch, und sie wird daher wohl nirgends durchgeführt, wo man ernsthaft zu Werke geht. Wollte nämlich der Schüler auf diese Art alles «aus sich selbst heraus» entwickeln, was die Inspiration geben kann: er würde ganz sicher dazu kommen, alles so aus sich «herauszuspinnen», was je z.B. auch hier über das Wesen des Menschen, über des Menschen Leben nach dem Tode, über die Entwickelung des Menschengeschlechts und der Planeten usw. gesagt worden ist. Aber ein solcher Schüler würde eben unermeßlich lange Zeiträume dazu brauchen. Es wäre so, wie wenn z.B. jemand die ganze Geometrie aus sich selbst herausspinnen wollte, ohne Rücksicht darauf, was Menschen vor ihm auf diesem Gebiete schon gearbeitet haben. Gewiß, «in der Theorie» ist so etwas durchaus möglich. In der Praxis es auszuführen, wäre Torheit. Auch in der Geheimwissenschaft verfährt man nicht so, sondern man läßt sich durch einen Lehrer diejenigen Dinge überliefern, welche durch inspirierte Vorgänger für die Menschheit errungen worden sind. Diese Überlieferung muß gegenwärtig die Grundlage abgeben für die eigene Inspiration. Dasjenige, was in der einschlägigen Literatur und in Vorträgen usw. heute aus dem Gebiet der Geheimwissenschaft geboten wird, das kann durchaus eine solche Inspirationsgrundlage abgeben. Es sind z.B. die Lehren über die verschiedenen Grundteile des Menschen (physischer Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib usw.), die Erkenntnisse über das Leben nach dem Tode bis zu einer neuen Verkörperung, dann z.B. alles, was unter dem Titel «Aus der Akasha-Chronik» gedruckt wurde. Man muß nämlich gegenüber der Inspiration durchaus festhalten, daß man sie braucht zum Auffinden und Selbsterleben der höheren Wahrheiten, nicht aber zum Verstehen derselben. Man kann ohne Inspiration das nicht zuerst auffinden, was unter dem Titel «Aus der Akasha-Chronik» mitgeteilt ist. Empfängt man es aber durch Mitteilung, dann kann man es einsehen durch das ganz gewöhnliche logische Urteil. Niemand sollte behaupten: es würden da Dinge behauptet, die man ohne Inspiration nicht logisch begreifen könne. Man findet sie nicht deshalb unbegreiflich, weil man nicht inspiriert ist, sondern nur, weil man nicht genügend nachdenken will. — Erhält man also solche Wahrheiten mitgeteilt, dann erregen sie in der Seele durch ihre eigene Kraft die Inspiration. Man muß nur versuchen, wenn man solcher Inspiration teilhaftig werden will, diese Erkenntnisse nicht nüchtern und verstandesmäßig zu empfangen, sondern sich von dem Hochschwung der Ideen in alle nur möglichen Gefühlserlebnisse versetzen lassen. Und wie sollte man dies nicht können! Kann das Gefühl stumpf bleiben, wenn man die überwältigenden Vorgänge im Geiste vor sich vorüberziehen läßt, wie die Erde sich aus Mond, Sonne und Saturn entwickelt hat, oder wenn man die unendlichen Tiefen der Menschennatur durch eine Erkenntnis seines Äther-, Astralleibes usw. durchschaut? Man möchte fast sagen: schlimm genug für einen solchen, welcher in Nüchternheit solche Gedankengebäude erleben kann. Denn erlebte er sie nicht in Nüchternheit, sondern durchlebte er alle durch sie möglichen Gefühlsspannungen und Gefühlslösungen, alle Steigerungen und Krisen, alle Fortschritte und Rückschritte, alle Katastrophen und Verkündigungen: dann eben würde in ihm der Mutterboden zur Inspiration selbst zubereitet. Allerdings wird man das notwendige Leben in Gefühlen gegenüber solchen Mitteilungen aus einer höheren Welt nur wirklich entfalten können, wenn man Übungen solcher Art, wie sie oben angedeutet sind, macht. Wer alle seine Gefühlskräfte an die äußere sinnliche Wahrnehmungswelt wendet, dem werden die Erzählungen aus einer höheren Welt als «trockene Begriffe», als «graue Theorie» erscheinen. Er wird niemals begreifen können, warum es dem andern warm ums Herz wird, wenn er die Mitteilungen der Geheimwissenschaft vernimmt, während er doch «kühl bis ans Herz hinan» bleibt. Er wird sogar sagen: «Das ist doch alles nur für den Verstand, das ist intellektuell; ich möchte etwas für das Gemüt.» Er sagt sich aber nicht, daß es an ihm liegt, daß sein Herz kalt bleibt.
[ 10 ] Viele unterschätzen noch immer die Gewalt dessen, was in diesen Mitteilungen aus einer höheren Welt allein schon verborgen liegt. Und im Zusammenhange damit überschätzen sie allerlei andere Übungen und Prozeduren. Ja, was nützt es mir, sagen sie, wenn mir andere erzählen, wie es in höheren Welten aussieht: ich möchte doch selbst da hineinschauen. Solchen fehlt nur zumeist die Geduld, sich immer wieder und wieder in solche Erzählungen aus höheren Welten zu vertiefen. Täten sie es, dann würden sie sehen, welche Zündekraft diese «bloßen Erzählungen» haben und wie wirklich die eigene Inspiration angeregt wird, wenn man die Inspirationen anderer mitgeteilt erhält. — Gewiß, es müssen zum «Lernen» andere Übungen hinzukommen, wenn der Schüler rasche Fortschritte in dem Erleben der höheren Welten machen will; es sollte aber niemand die unbegrenzt große Bedeutung gerade des «Lernens» unterschätzen. Und jedenfalls kann niemandem Hoffnung gegeben werden, daß er durch irgendwelche Übungen rasche Eroberungen in den höheren Welten machen werde, der es nicht zugleich über sich bringt: unablässig sich in die Mitteilungen zu vertiefen, die, rein erzählend, von den Vorgängen und Wesen der höheren Welten von berufener Seite gemacht werden. — Dadurch, daß gegenwärtig solche Mitteilungen in der Literatur und in Vorträgen usw. gemacht werden und daß auch die ersten Andeutungen gegeben werden über die Übungen, welche zur Erkenntnis höherer Welten führen (z.B. sind eben die Darstellungen in «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» solche erste Andeutungen), kann man jetzt einiges von dem erfahren, was ehedem nur in streng geschlossenen Geheimschulen mitgeteilt worden ist. Wie schon öfters erwähnt worden ist, rührt eine solche Veröffentlichung von den Verhältnissen in unserer Zeit her und muß geschehen. Es muß aber immer wieder auch das andere betont werden, daß dadurch zwar Erleichterungen in bezug auf das Aneignen des Geheimwissens geschaffen sind, daß aber die sichere Führung durch den erfahrenen Geheimlehrer doch noch nicht völlig zu ersetzen ist.
[ 11 ] Die Erkenntnis durch Inspiration führt den Menschen zum Erleben der Vorgänge in den unsichtbaren Welten, also z.B. der Entwickelung des Menschen, derjenigen der Erde und ihrer planetarischen Verkörperungen; kommen aber innerhalb dieser höheren Welten nicht bloß Vorgänge, sondern Wesen in Betracht, dann muß die Intuition als Erkenntnisart eintreten. Was durch solche Wesen geschieht, das erkennt man im Bilde durch die Imagination, den Gesetzen und Verhältnissen nach durch die Inspiration; will man den Wesen selbst gegenübertreten, dann braucht man die Intuition. — Wie sich die Inspiration hineingliedert in die Welt der Imaginationen, wie sie die letzteren durchdringt als eine «geistige Musik» und dadurch das Ausdrucksmittel der durch die Intuition zu erkennenden Wesen wird, davon soll noch gesprochen werden. Dann wird auch die Intuition selbst behandelt werden. Hier soll nur noch darauf hingewiesen werden, daß dasjenige, was man in der Geheimwissenschaft als «Intuition» bezeichnet, nichts zu tun hat mit dem, wofür man gegenwärtig oft im populären Sprachgebrauch das Wort «Intuition» anwendet. Man bezeichnet so einen mehr oder weniger unsicheren «Einfall» im Gegensatz zu einer klaren, folgerichtig gewonnenen Verstandes- oder Vernunfterkenntnis. In der Geheimwissenschaft ist die «Intuition» nichts Unklares und Unsicheres, sondern eine hohe Erkenntnisart, voll der lichtesten Klarheit und der unbezweifelbarsten Sicherheit.
Inspiration
[ 1 ] From the description of imagination it has become clear how through it the secret disciple leaves the ground of external sensory experiences. This is the case to an even greater degree in inspiration. With it, the imagination is based on much less of what can be called an external stimulation. Man must find within himself the power that makes it possible for him to form ideas about something. He must be inwardly active to a much higher degree than is the case with external cognition. In the latter he gives himself up to the external impressions, and they cause the ideas in him. This devotion is omitted in inspiration. There are now no eyes to provide colors, no ears to provide sounds, etc. All the content of the imagination must, so to speak, be created through its own activity, that is, through purely spiritual processes. And into that which man thus creates through the activity of his inner being, the revelation of the higher real world must be imprinted. A peculiar contradiction seems to arise in such a description of the higher world of knowledge. Man is supposed to be in a certain way the creator of his ideas; and yet these ideas must not, of course, be his creatures; but through them the processes of the higher world must express themselves just as the processes of the lower world express themselves in the perceptions of the eyes, ears, etc. This, however, is a contradiction. But this is a contradiction that must be found in the description of this kind of cognition. For it is precisely that which the secret disciple must acquire on the path to inspiration, that he brings about by way of his inner activity something which in ordinary life he is forced to do from without. - Why do conceptions not proceed arbitrarily in ordinary life? Because in his imagination man must be guided by external objects. All arbitrariness of the "I" falls away, because the objects say: we are like this or like that. The objects speak as they should be imagined, the "I" has nothing to determine. Whoever does not want to submit to the objects, imagines the wrong things; and he would soon realize how little he could cope with this in the world. This necessary attitude of man to the things of the external world in cognition can be described by the term "selfless". Man must behave selflessly towards things. And the outside world is his teacher in this selflessness. It deprives him of all illusions, all fantasies, all illogical judgments, everything unobjective, by simply placing its correct image before his senses.
[ 2 ] If a person wants to prepare himself for inspiration, he must bring his inner self to such an extent that this selflessness is inherent in him, even if nothing from outside compels him to do so. He must learn to create inwardly, but in such a way that his "I" does not in the least play an arbitrary role in this creation. The difficulties involved in achieving such selflessness become all the more apparent the more one considers which soul forces are particularly relevant for inspiration. - A distinction is made between the three basic powers of the soul's life: imagination, feeling and volition. In ordinary sensory cognition, imagination is stimulated by external objects. And through these externally stimulated perceptions, feeling and volition also receive their specific directions. For example, a person sees an object; this gives him pleasure, as a result of which he desires the object in question. The pleasure is in the feeling; through this the will is aroused, as it has itself received its character from the imagination. But the ultimate ground of imagination, feeling and volition is the external object. - Another case would be this. A person experiences an event. This causes him fear. He runs away from the scene of the event. Here, too, the external events are the first cause; they come to perception through the senses, become ideas, the feeling of fear arises; and the will - which is realized in running away - is the consequence. In the case of inspiration, an external object in this form falls away. The senses are out of the question for perception. They therefore cannot be the stimulators of ideas. From this side, no influence is exerted on feeling and volition. - But it is precisely these two from which, as from a mother soil, the ideas rise inwardly during inspiration, grow out, as it were. And true ideas will grow if the parent soil is healthy, errors and delusions if it is unhealthy.
[ 3 ] As surely as the inspirations that spring from a healthy feeling and volition can be revelations of a higher world, so surely do the errors, delusions and fantasies about a higher world spring from a desolate feeling and volition.
[ 4 ] The secret training therefore sets itself the task of showing man the means which enable him to make his feelings and his volitional impulses fruitful for inspiration. As in all matters of secret training, here too we are dealing with an intimate regulation and shaping of the soul's life. One must first acquire certain feelings which one knows only to a small degree in ordinary life. Some of these feelings will be indicated here. Among the most important is a greater sensitivity to "true" and "untrue", to "right" and "wrong". Of course, ordinary people also have similar feelings. But they must be developed to a much greater degree in the secret disciple. Suppose someone makes a logical error: someone else recognizes this error and sets the matter right. Let us realize how great the share of judgement, of reason, is in such a correction and how small the feeling of pleasure is in the case of the correct, of displeasure in the case of the incorrect Mind you, it is not intended to claim that the pleasure and correspondingly the displeasure are not present at all. But the degree to which they are present in ordinary life must increase indefinitely in the secret training. The secret disciple must systematically direct his attention to the life of his soul: and he must bring it to the point where the logically incorrect becomes a source of pain, which does not fall short of a physical pain; and in the opposite way, the "right" must give him real joy or pleasure. Thus, where another only sets his intellect, his power of judgment in motion, the secret disciple must learn to live through the whole sequence of feelings, from pain to enthusiasm, from painful tension to the delightful release in possession of the truth. Yes, he must learn to feel something like hatred towards that which is experienced by the "normal" person only as a sober, cold "wrong"; he must develop a love for truth in himself, which has a very personal character; as personal, as warm as the lover feels towards the beloved. - In the circles of our "educated" people, too, one will certainly often speak of the "love of truth"; but what is meant there cannot be compared at all with what the secret disciple must go through in silent, inner soul work in this direction. He must patiently again and again submit to himself by trial this or that "true", this or that "false"; and devote himself to the matter in order not merely to train his power of judgment, which soberly distinguishes between "true" and "false", but he must gain a very personal relationship to it all. - It is quite true that at the beginning of such a training man can fall into what may be called "hypersensitivity". An incorrect judgment that he hears in his surroundings, an inconsistency, etc. can cause him almost unbearable pain. - This must therefore be taken into account during training. For if this were not done, great dangers could arise for the balance of the pupil's soul. If care is taken that the character remains firm, then storms can take place in the life of the soul, and the person still has the strength to live in harmony with the outside world. A mistake is made in every case where the secret disciple is brought to an antagonism towards the outer world, so that he finds it unbearable or even wants to flee from it. The higher emotional world must not be allowed to develop at the expense of the regular working and working in the outer world; therefore, the inner elevation of the emotional life must correspond to a strengthening of the power of resistance to the outer impressions. The practical secret training therefore instructs man never to undertake the above-mentioned exercises to train his emotional world without at the same time also developing himself in the direction that he can gain an understanding of what life demands of man in terms of the feeling of tolerance. He must at the same time be able to feel within himself the most vivid pain when, for example, a person makes an incorrect judgment, and be completely tolerant of this person, because the thought is just as vivid in the soul: this person must judge in this way, and his judgment is to be reckoned with as a fact. - It is true, however, that the inner life of the secret scientist will transform itself more and more into a double life. Ever richer processes will take place in his soul during his pilgrimage through life, becoming more and more independent of what the outer world gives, a second world. But this double life will be precisely what is fruitful for the genuine practice of life. What emerges as a result is quick-wittedness of judgment and accuracy in making decisions. Where the person who is far removed from such training has to go through long chains of thought, is driven back and forth between decision and perplexity, the secret scientist will quickly survey the situations of life, quickly uncover connections hidden from the ordinary eye, etc. It often requires a great deal of patience for him to enter into the slow way in which another person can grasp something, while for him this grasp happens as quick as an arrow.
[ 5 ] So far we have only spoken of the qualities that the emotional life must possess in order for inspiration to occur in the right way. The other question is this: How do feelings become fruitful so that they give birth to real ideas belonging to the world of inspiration? If one wants to understand what the secret science has to give as an answer to this question, one must familiarize oneself with the fact that the human soul life always has a certain treasure of feelings that go beyond the measure of what is stimulated by the sensory perceptions. Man feels, as it were, more than what things force him to feel. It is only that in ordinary life this excess is applied in such a direction that it must be transformed into another through secret training. Take, for example, a feeling of anxiety or fear. It will be easy to realize that in many cases the fear or anxiety is greater than it would be if it were entirely appropriate to a corresponding external process. Imagine now that the secret disciple works energetically on himself so that in no case that occurs to him will he have greater fear or anxiety than is really justified in relation to the corresponding external events. Now a certain degree of fear or anxiety is always generated by the expenditure of soul power. This soul-power is actually lost by generating fear or anxiety. The secret disciple really saves this soul power when he denies himself fear or anxiety - and other things. And it remains available to him for something else. If he repeats such processes often, an inner treasure is formed from the soul forces that are continually spared, and the secret disciple will soon experience that from such emotional savings the germs of ideas grow which express revelations of the higher life. Such things cannot be "proved" in the ordinary sense; one can only give the secret disciple the instruction: do this or that - and he will see, when he carries out the matter, that the unmistakable fruits will appear.
[ 6 ] To an imprecise observer of what has just been described, it could easily appear to be a contradiction that, on the one hand, an enrichment of the emotional world is demanded, in that feelings of pleasure, pain, etc. are to be aroused by what otherwise only arouses the judgment of the intellect - and, on the other hand, precisely savings of feelings are spoken of. This contradiction disappears immediately if one considers that the savings are to be made in those feelings which are stimulated by the external senses. Precisely that which is spared appears as an enrichment compared to the spiritual experiences. And it is quite true that feelings spared in this way in the sensory world of perception not only become free in the other sphere, but that they prove to be creative in this sphere. They create the material for the ideas in which the spiritual world reveals itself.
[ 7 ] It would not go very far, however, if one only wanted to stop at such savings as have been indicated above. More is needed for greater success. One must supply the soul with a far greater treasure of feeling-producing power than is possible in this way. For example, one must expose oneself to certain external impressions on a trial basis and then completely deny oneself the feelings that occur in the so-called "normal" state. One must, for example, confront an event which "normally" excites the soul and completely deny oneself this excitement. One can do this by actually confronting such an event or merely by imagining it. The latter is even better for fruitful secret training. Since the pupil is initiated into imagination, either before his preparation for inspiration or simultaneously with the latter, he must actually be able to place an event imaginatively before his soul with the same power as if it were really there. - If, in the course of long inner work, the student exposes himself again and again to things and processes and forbids himself to have corresponding "normal" feelings, the mother soil for inspiration is created in his soul. - It should only be mentioned here as an interim remark that the person who describes such a training for inspiration can fully appreciate it if, from the point of view of our present-day education, some objections are raised against such a description. And one can not only object to this or that, one can even smile and say: "Inspiration cannot be pedantically taught; it is a natural gift of genius." Yes, certainly, from the point of view of this contemporary education it may seem quite comical when there is much talk about the education of someone for whom this education does not want to know anything about an explanation; but this contemporary education is not aware of how little it is able to think its own trains of thought through to the end. Anyone who wanted to expect a confessor of this contemporary education to believe that some more highly developed animal did not develop slowly, but "suddenly" appeared, would soon hear that those educated in the modern sense do not believe in such a "miracle". Such a thing is "superstition". Well, in the area of the life of the soul, however, such a modern educated person is, in the style of his own views, a person afflicted by blatant superstition. He does not want to think that a more perfect soul must also have developed, that it cannot suddenly appear as a natural gift. Outwardly, however, many a genius appears to be born "out of nothing", to be there in an inexplicable way; but it only appears so to the materialistic superstition; the spiritual scientist knows that a genial disposition which is born in a man in one life as if out of nothing is simply the result of his education for inspiration in an earlier life on earth. - Materialistic superstition is bad in the theoretical field; but it is far worse in such a practical field as this. Since it assumes that geniuses must "fall from heaven" in all the future, it does not care about such "occult nonsense" or such "fantastic mysticism" that speaks of preparation for inspiration. In this way, however, the superstition of the materialists hinders the true progress of mankind. It does not ensure that the dormant abilities in people are developed.
[ 8 ] In reality, those who call themselves progressives and freethinkers are often those who are the enemies of true progress. But this should - as I said - only be an interim remark, which is necessary with regard to the relationship of secret science to the current formation of the times.
[ 9 ] Now the powers of the soul, which are stored up as a treasure within the pupil through the marked failure of the "normal" feelings, would certainly, even without the help of anything else, be transformed into inspirations. And the secret disciple would experience how true ideas arise in his soul which represent experiences in higher worlds. The matter would begin with the simplest experiences of supersensible processes, and slowly more complicated and higher things would come to light if the pupil continued to live inwardly in the direction indicated. - In reality, however, such secret training would be quite impractical today, and it is therefore probably not carried out anywhere where serious work is done. For if the pupil wanted to develop in this way everything "out of himself" that inspiration can give: he would quite certainly come to "spin out of himself" everything that has ever been said here, for example, about the nature of man, about man's life after death, about the development of the human race and the planets, and so on. But such a disciple would need immeasurably long periods of time. It would be as if, for example, someone wanted to spin the whole of geometry out of himself, regardless of what people before him had already done in this field. Certainly, "in theory" such a thing is quite possible. To carry it out in practice would be folly. In secret science, too, one does not proceed in this way, but has those things handed down to him by a teacher which have been achieved for mankind by inspired predecessors. This tradition must at present provide the basis for one's own inspiration. That which is offered today in the relevant literature and in lectures etc. from the field of secret science can certainly provide such a basis for inspiration. There are, for example, the teachings about the various basic parts of the human being (physical body, etheric body, astral body, etc.), the knowledge about life after death until a new embodiment, then, for example, everything that has been printed under the title "From the Akashic Chronicle". It must be emphasized that inspiration is needed for finding and experiencing the higher truths, but not for understanding them. Without inspiration one cannot first find what is communicated under the title "From the Akashic Chronicle". But if one receives it through communication, then one can see it through ordinary logical judgment. No one should claim that it asserts things that cannot be understood logically without inspiration. One does not find them incomprehensible because one is not inspired, but only because one does not want to reflect sufficiently. - So when you are told such truths, they arouse inspiration in your soul by their own power. If you want to be inspired, you only have to try not to receive these insights soberly and intellectually, but to let yourself be carried away by the upswing of ideas into every possible emotional experience. And how can one not do this! Can the feeling remain dull if one lets the overwhelming processes pass before one in the spirit, as the earth has developed from the moon, sun and Saturn, or if one sees through the infinite depths of human nature through a realization of one's etheric, astral body, etc.? One might almost say: bad enough for one who can experience such thought structures in sobriety. For if he did not experience them in sobriety, but lived through all possible emotional tensions and emotional solutions, all increases and crises, all progress and regressions, all catastrophes and proclamations: then the mother soil for inspiration itself would be prepared in him. However, one can only really develop the necessary life in feelings in the face of such messages from a higher world if one does exercises of the kind indicated above. Those who turn all their emotional powers to the external sensory world of perception will find the stories from a higher world to be "dry concepts", "gray theory". He will never be able to understand why the other person's heart is warmed when he hears the messages of secret science, while he remains "cool to the core". He will even say: "It's all for the mind, it's intellectual; I want something for the soul." But he doesn't tell himself that it's because of him that his heart remains cold.
[ 10 ] Many still underestimate the power of what lies hidden in these messages from a higher world alone. And in connection with this, they overestimate all kinds of other exercises and procedures. Yes, what use is it to me, they say, if others tell me what it looks like in higher worlds: I would like to look in there myself. They just usually lack the patience to delve into such stories from higher worlds again and again. If they did, they would see the power of these "mere stories" and how truly their own inspiration is stimulated when they receive the inspiration of others. - Certainly, other exercises must be added to "learning" if the pupil is to make rapid progress in experiencing the higher worlds; but no one should underestimate the unlimited importance of "learning" in particular. And in any case, no one can be given hope that he will make rapid conquests in the higher worlds through any exercises who does not at the same time bring it upon himself to immerse himself unceasingly in the communications which, purely narrative, are made of the processes and beings of the higher worlds from the appointed side. - The fact that at present such communications are made in literature and in lectures, etc., and that the first hints are also given about the exercises which lead to knowledge of the higher worlds (e.g. the descriptions in "How does one attain knowledge of the higher worlds?" are just such first hints), one can now learn some of what was formerly only communicated in strictly closed secret schools. As has often been mentioned, such a publication stems from the circumstances of our time and must happen. However, it must always be emphasized that, although this makes it easier to acquire secret knowledge, it cannot completely replace the safe guidance of an experienced secret teacher.
[ 11 ] Cognition through inspiration leads man to experience the processes in the invisible worlds, e.g. the development of man, that of the earth and its planetary embodiments; but if within these higher worlds not only processes but beings come into consideration, then intuition must enter as a mode of cognition. What happens through such beings is recognized in the image through imagination, according to the laws and relationships through inspiration; if one wants to face the beings themselves, then one needs intuition. - How inspiration integrates itself into the world of imagination, how it permeates the latter as a "spiritual music" and thereby becomes the means of expression of the beings to be recognized through intuition, will be discussed later. Then intuition itself will also be dealt with. It should only be pointed out here that what is called "intuition" in secret science has nothing to do with what the word "intuition" is often used for in popular language at present. It is used to describe a more or less uncertain "hunch" as opposed to a clear, logically gained knowledge of the mind or reason. In secret science, "intuition" is not something unclear and uncertain, but a high type of knowledge, full of the brightest clarity and the most unquestionable certainty.