Search — Rudolf Steiner Archive

Search results 4651 through 4660 of 6073

˂ 1 ... 464 465 466 467 468 ... 608 ˃

year

city

author

translator

volume

title

clear

help

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 15 Mar 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are.
He must use the knowledge that he's acquired in the ego through theosophical teachings to ennoble his older but lower body. Why can a man understand all of theosophy's teachings through thinking, through his ego? We received a physical body on Saturn.
The ego is the Saturn in us, and that's why it understands everything that happened since Saturn times.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 15 Mar 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
We'll begin today's esoteric lesson by reading the prayer to the Spirit of the Day. The exoteric church directs its prayers to the Gods in general, but a theosophist who knows that every time period has its own regent, modestly turns to the spiritual being who rules the present day under the name of Mars. Great embracing Spirit, Knowledge lived in your sensations when no knowledge was given to me yet. You were. I lift my soul to you. I moved into my body. In my sensations I lived for myself. You were in the life-sun. Your being lived in my sensation as my being. My soul's life was outside of your life. You were. My soul felt its own being in itself. A longing arose in it, The longing for you Out of whom it arose. You were. Great embracing Spirit May my I raise itself from below upward, May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing. May the spirit of my being be illumined By the light of your messengers. May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants. May the will of my I grasp Your creatorword's force. You are. May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are. Anyone who has begun an esoteric training should make it clear to himself that he's undertaken something that's very serious, that he must work on himself very seriously so that eventually he'll be able to participate in esoteric work. So how must an esoteric work on himself? We know that man's etheric body is born at age seven, and until then, it surrounds the physical body like a maternal sheath. The etheric body should then be prepared rightly for its development up to age 14, when the astral body is born. But all kinds of unelaborated parts are attached to it, partly from previous incarnations and partly from the present one. All of the habits that live in us are unfolded in our etheric body from age 7 to 14, and depending on how we consolidate our views to prejudices—educators can have a big influence here—we, for instance, become more or less receptive for theosophy later on. One who creates sharply outlined views for himself will find it harder to accept its teaching than someone who keeps himself open for all new things The etheric body becomes completely developed between the ages of 7 to 14. If a child doesn't take in great model pictures, if he doesn't look up reverently to an authority, then his etheric body isn't soft and flexible at this age. It's hard for such people to find their way into life's affairs. Their etheric body is hardened and it takes a great effort to dissolve these hardenings. Luciferic Moon powers take advantage of this and flow into them. It's not for nothing that Christ says: Watch and pray. The astral body unfolds from age 14, 15, to 21, 22. The things that are attached to this aren't nearly as much of a hindrance for the acceptance of theosophical teachings as the etheric hindrances, since the etheric body is a much denser mass than the astral body. The ego develops from age 21-28. The masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings adapted theosophical teachings to present conditions so that they mainly work on the ego and are grasped by the ego. This wasn't the case before. Then an occult teacher had to work on both the astral body and the ego. This wouldn't be possible today for men have much more individualistic tendencies. If a teacher wanted to intervene in the astral body and he tried to direct the passions, drives and desires he would thereby immediately produce an uproar in this astral body, for a modern should develop freely and only through the ego. He must use the knowledge that he's acquired in the ego through theosophical teachings to ennoble his older but lower body. Why can a man understand all of theosophy's teachings through thinking, through his ego? We received a physical body on Saturn. The etheric body was added on Sun. There the physical body was in the Sun condition whereas the etheric body was in the Saturn condition. On old Moon, the newly added astral body was in the Saturn condition, the etheric body in the Sun condition, and only the physical body in the Moon condition. On earth the physical body is in the earth condition whereas the newest and youngest part, the ego, is in the Saturn condition. The ego is the Saturn in us, and that's why it understands everything that happened since Saturn times.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 15 Mar 1910, Munich
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

We'll begin today's esoteric lesson by reading the prayer to the Spirit of the Day. The exoteric church directs its prayers to the Gods in general, but a theosophist who knows that every time period has its own regent, modestly turns to the spiritual being who rules the present day under the name of Mars.

Great embracing Spirit,
Knowledge lived in your sensations when no knowledge was given to me yet.
You were.
I lift my soul to you.
I moved into my body.
In my sensations I lived for myself.
You were in the life-sun.
Your being lived in my sensation as my being.
My soul's life was outside of your life.
You were.
My soul felt its own being in itself.
A longing arose in it,
The longing for you
Out of whom it arose.
You were.

Great embracing Spirit
May my I raise itself from below upward,
May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing.
May the spirit of my being be illumined
By the light of your messengers.
May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants.
May the will of my I grasp
Your creatorword's force.
You are.
May your being permeate my will
That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining,
Your life's love-warmth
And your being's creator words.
You are.

Anyone who has begun an esoteric training should make it clear to himself that he's undertaken something that's very serious, that he must work on himself very seriously so that eventually he'll be able to participate in esoteric work. So how must an esoteric work on himself? We know that man's etheric body is born at age seven, and until then, it surrounds the physical body like a maternal sheath. The etheric body should then be prepared rightly for its development up to age 14, when the astral body is born. But all kinds of unelaborated parts are attached to it, partly from previous incarnations and partly from the present one. All of the habits that live in us are unfolded in our etheric body from age 7 to 14, and depending on how we consolidate our views to prejudices—educators can have a big influence here—we, for instance, become more or less receptive for theosophy later on. One who creates sharply outlined views for himself will find it harder to accept its teaching than someone who keeps himself open for all new things The etheric body becomes completely developed between the ages of 7 to 14. If a child doesn't take in great model pictures, if he doesn't look up reverently to an authority, then his etheric body isn't soft and flexible at this age. It's hard for such people to find their way into life's affairs. Their etheric body is hardened and it takes a great effort to dissolve these hardenings. Luciferic Moon powers take advantage of this and flow into them. It's not for nothing that Christ says: Watch and pray.

The astral body unfolds from age 14, 15, to 21, 22. The things that are attached to this aren't nearly as much of a hindrance for the acceptance of theosophical teachings as the etheric hindrances, since the etheric body is a much denser mass than the astral body.

The ego develops from age 21-28. The masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings adapted theosophical teachings to present conditions so that they mainly work on the ego and are grasped by the ego. This wasn't the case before. Then an occult teacher had to work on both the astral body and the ego. This wouldn't be possible today for men have much more individualistic tendencies. If a teacher wanted to intervene in the astral body and he tried to direct the passions, drives and desires he would thereby immediately produce an uproar in this astral body, for a modern should develop freely and only through the ego. He must use the knowledge that he's acquired in the ego through theosophical teachings to ennoble his older but lower body.

Why can a man understand all of theosophy's teachings through thinking, through his ego? We received a physical body on Saturn. The etheric body was added on Sun. There the physical body was in the Sun condition whereas the etheric body was in the Saturn condition. On old Moon, the newly added astral body was in the Saturn condition, the etheric body in the Sun condition, and only the physical body in the Moon condition. On earth the physical body is in the earth condition whereas the newest and youngest part, the ego, is in the Saturn condition. The ego is the Saturn in us, and that's why it understands everything that happened since Saturn times.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 19 May 1910, Hamburg Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 19 May 1910, Hamburg Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Before we begin today's esoteric study, let's direct a prayer at the Spirit of Thursday. For an esoteric should increasingly acquire real modesty and humility so that he doesn't turn to the highest Godhead with his affairs, but consider that between it—which we can't get an inkling of with the greatest human intellect—and us, all the great hierarchies are present. Great embracing Spirit, In your light radiates the earth's life, My life's in yours. You are. My soul works in yours. With your leader I tread my path. I live with him. His being is an image of my own being. You are. The leader's being in my soul finds you, embracing Spirit. Blissfulness is mine out of your beings' breath. You are. Great embracing Spirit May my I raise itself from below upward, May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing. May the spirit of my being be illumined By the light of your messengers. May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants. May the will of my I grasp Your creatorword's force. You are. May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are. We'll elucidate our meditations from another side today. An esoteric wants to try to approach the Christ Spirit more intensively and to connect himself more closely with him through his meditations than he could through exoteric Christianity. The entry of the Christ principle into our earth evolution was such an incisive event even for outer history that we calculate our division of time in accordance with it. Back when Zoroaster saw the figure of the approaching Sun Spirit in the sun he gathered pupils around him to make them into servants of the great Ahura Mazdao, and he prepared himself ever more to take this Sun Spirit into himself. When the earth with all of its beings looks up to the sun, it must tell itself that it can't do what the sun can, namely, send out light. It would be a dark, black body if the sun's light didn't permeate it and it couldn't reflect it. Since the Christ became the spirit of the planet earth through the Event of Golgotha, he's in the force that sprouts up through the earth's cover of green plants. The masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings give us the great world truths in symbols, and here it's mainly the rose cross which—when it's reflected in us—can awaken and strengthen the power of the Christ-spirit in us. In our last esoteric class, we saw that a red cross brings a feeling of shame to expression in its red color. Now we know that all colors produce their counter color in us, which for red is green. So the sight of the black cross awakens the white, radiant sunlight of Christ in us, and the red roses stimulate a force so that green life can sprout out of the Christ-force's bright light. If we imagine a rose cross with this feeling and let it live in us like this, we share in one part of our earth's force, of our earth spirit, of the Christ-spirit. As esoterics, we must always try to think good thoughts about things that seem to be maya to us. We must be permeated by the feeling that a spark of this force slumbers in everything, which can break forth at some point to outshine all evil things. We should also have the complete trust that all good and positive things on earth will and must be victorious. Notes B, extract: The cross is the highest of all symbols. One can get the whole of world history out of it, and even natural science could be built up out of it … In my essay The Education of the Child, it was pointed out that red has a calming effect inwardly. One would be able to see that the soul is then immersed in green … Living, sprouting, shooting green is the working of the Christ-spirit in the earth. The earth is permeated with it, as it were, and it's literally true that we on earth are walking on Christ's body. And the green is his etheric body. By meditating the rose cross, it also becomes light in us, and the Christ-force will awaken the working of green in our soul, which was also awakened in the earth by this same force. And when this force works in us, we'll then feel a great confidence growing in us that pure love must overcome all evil and that truth can be found. For us this lies in the words: In pure rays of light …

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 19 May 1910, Hamburg
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

Before we begin today's esoteric study, let's direct a prayer at the Spirit of Thursday. For an esoteric should increasingly acquire real modesty and humility so that he doesn't turn to the highest Godhead with his affairs, but consider that between it—which we can't get an inkling of with the greatest human intellect—and us, all the great hierarchies are present.

Great embracing Spirit,
In your light radiates the earth's life,
My life's in yours.
You are.
My soul works in yours.
With your leader I tread my path.
I live with him.
His being is an image of my own being.
You are.
The leader's being in my soul finds you, embracing Spirit.
Blissfulness is mine out of your beings' breath.
You are.

We'll elucidate our meditations from another side today. An esoteric wants to try to approach the Christ Spirit more intensively and to connect himself more closely with him through his meditations than he could through exoteric Christianity. The entry of the Christ principle into our earth evolution was such an incisive event even for outer history that we calculate our division of time in accordance with it. Back when Zoroaster saw the figure of the approaching Sun Spirit in the sun he gathered pupils around him to make them into servants of the great Ahura Mazdao, and he prepared himself ever more to take this Sun Spirit into himself.

When the earth with all of its beings looks up to the sun, it must tell itself that it can't do what the sun can, namely, send out light. It would be a dark, black body if the sun's light didn't permeate it and it couldn't reflect it. Since the Christ became the spirit of the planet earth through the Event of Golgotha, he's in the force that sprouts up through the earth's cover of green plants.

The masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings give us the great world truths in symbols, and here it's mainly the rose cross which—when it's reflected in us—can awaken and strengthen the power of the Christ-spirit in us. In our last esoteric class, we saw that a red cross brings a feeling of shame to expression in its red color. Now we know that all colors produce their counter color in us, which for red is green. So the sight of the black cross awakens the white, radiant sunlight of Christ in us, and the red roses stimulate a force so that green life can sprout out of the Christ-force's bright light. If we imagine a rose cross with this feeling and let it live in us like this, we share in one part of our earth's force, of our earth spirit, of the Christ-spirit.

As esoterics, we must always try to think good thoughts about things that seem to be maya to us. We must be permeated by the feeling that a spark of this force slumbers in everything, which can break forth at some point to outshine all evil things. We should also have the complete trust that all good and positive things on earth will and must be victorious.

Notes B, extract:

The cross is the highest of all symbols. One can get the whole of world history out of it, and even natural science could be built up out of it … In my essay The Education of the Child, it was pointed out that red has a calming effect inwardly. One would be able to see that the soul is then immersed in green … Living, sprouting, shooting green is the working of the Christ-spirit in the earth. The earth is permeated with it, as it were, and it's literally true that we on earth are walking on Christ's body. And the green is his etheric body.

By meditating the rose cross, it also becomes light in us, and the Christ-force will awaken the working of green in our soul, which was also awakened in the earth by this same force. And when this force works in us, we'll then feel a great confidence growing in us that pure love must overcome all evil and that truth can be found. For us this lies in the words: In pure rays of light …

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 25 May 1910, Hamburg Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are.
But if he lets any one become too intensive, the ego can get under the control of this quality. This isn't very dangerous in an exoteric; he's always brought back into equilibrium by the spirit of everyday affairs.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 25 May 1910, Hamburg Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Prayer to the spirit of Wednesday: Great embracing Spirit, In the knowledge of your being is world knowledge that is to become mine. You are. I want to unite my soul with you. May your cognizing leader illuminate my path. Feeling your leader, I tread the path of life. Your leader is the sun of life. He lived in my longing. I want to take his being into mine. You are. May my force take the leader's force into itself. Blissfulness moves into me. The blissfulness in which the soul finds the spirit. You are. Great embracing Spirit May my I raise itself from below upward, May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing. May the spirit of my being be illumined By the light of your messengers. May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants. May the will of my I grasp Your creatorword's force. You are. May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are. Last time we saw that the symbols we're given can and should work o us in our meditations. To round off these three esoteric lessons, we'll speak about the wrong paths that we can get on as esoterics. In ordinary exoteric life, we have all possible terms for qualities that we know are good or bad. These terms are often inadequate and one-sided for an esoteric, for every quality has two sides, good and bad, and one of an esoteric's main tasks must be to keep the right balance. He must constantly be on guard and be watching himself in general. Human qualities are such that a man can control them very well with his ego if they stay in the right balance. But if he lets any one become too intensive, the ego can get under the control of this quality. This isn't very dangerous in an exoteric; he's always brought back into equilibrium by the spirit of everyday affairs. But things are different with an esoteric. A quality that he allows to control him can get him into all possible dangers. Something like that can even become a disease of the physical body in his present life. Let's make this clear to ourselves by an example. Who doesn't know ill feelings and discords. We've all been subjected to them But an esoteric must try to combat them with his ordinary ego For if he lets ill feelings master him, something happens to him. He succumbs to the wrong spirit of heaviness. Such spirits of heaviness really exist. A spirit of heaviness belongs to the archai, and he's the one who brings us back into our physical body when we wake up in the morning. This falls into his sphere of activity, and that's good and right for us. But some of these spirits overstep their sphere and want to work in the realm of the Spirits of Form. They're the ones who take over an esoteric's etheric body when he gives in to ill feelings and who work on it so that he succumbs to hypochondria. This then becomes manifest physically in diseases of the intestinal tract. This can also be said in exoteric lectures, but in our esoteric lessons we should always remember that we receive direct messages from the master who intended them especially for esotericism. Another quality against which an esoteric should especially be on his guard and should be on the lookout for s that he doesn't succumb to it, is vanity, pride. We're often not aware of how much we've already succumbed to it and so must especially watch it. Many people imagine that they would like to help out of a “love for mankind.” But if one tells them that they can only achieve this through constant, diligent learning, one notices that they don't want this; they would like to start doing things right away, without thinking how much harm they can do through the wrong help. That's a very dangerous vanity to which all of those benefactors and confused fanatics have succumbed who preach their world view with nice words and unclear phrases, for they think that it's their mission to do this. So what happens if an esoteric doesn't' suppress this vanity? He succumbs to Spirits of Light and namely to the regular, good ones who are recruited from hosts of Wisdom Spirits, but to ones who work down into the realm of the Spirits of Movement Good Spirits of Light have the task of leading a man into the spiritual world when he goes to sleep, to guide him into it so that he's unconscious when he gets there. But if an esoteric wants to accelerate his development in an irregular way without learning what he must know about spiritual worlds, then one of the other spirits of light overpowers him and influences his etheric body in such a way that the brain is affected by it. The result is confusion, fanaticism, and eventually insanity. Anyone who succumbs to the spirit of heaviness only harms himself, and one should try to help him in every way, for we should love each man and not just mankind. But one who succumbs to the Spirits of Light can harm everyone with his confused fanaticism. Therefore, we should repeatedly ask whether the reasons we want to develop ourself are really selfless ones; we shouldn't get tired of learning, for the more we learn, the easier it is to become modest. We shouldn't get scared if we feel the spirit of heaviness on waking in the morn, so that we feel exhausted and our limbs feel so heavy that we can hardly move them. This is a passing stage and a sign that we've gotten past the improper stage of hypochondria. And anyone who has the feeling that it's hard for him to keep his feet on the ground at certain times, doesn't have to be upset, for he has passed the stage of fanaticism, and the phenomenon is just a regular one in his development. A man's soul is kept in balance by the spirit of gravity and the Spirit of Light, and esoterics should always try to maintain this equilibrium. We're referred to this balance by a master of wisdom in the prayer that we say at the close and which contains all the wisdom of the world that will be revealed to us evermore: In the spirit lay the germ of my body. And the spirit has imprinted in my body The eyes of sense, That through them I may see The lights of bodies. And the spirit has imprinted in my body Reason and sensation And feeling and will, That through them I may perceive bodies And act upon them. In the spirit lay the germ of my body. In my body lies the germ of the spirit. And I will incorporate into my spirit The super-sensible eyes That through them I may behold the light of spirits. And I will imprint in my spirit Wisdom and power and love, So that through me the spirits may act And I become a self-conscious organ Of their deeds. In my body lies the germ of the spirit.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 25 May 1910, Hamburg
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

Prayer to the spirit of Wednesday:

Great embracing Spirit,
In the knowledge of your being is world knowledge that is to become mine.
You are.
I want to unite my soul with you.
May your cognizing leader illuminate my path.
Feeling your leader, I tread the path of life.
Your leader is the sun of life.
He lived in my longing.
I want to take his being into mine.
You are.
May my force take the leader's force into itself.
Blissfulness moves into me.
The blissfulness in which the soul finds the spirit.
You are.

Last time we saw that the symbols we're given can and should work o us in our meditations. To round off these three esoteric lessons, we'll speak about the wrong paths that we can get on as esoterics.

In ordinary exoteric life, we have all possible terms for qualities that we know are good or bad. These terms are often inadequate and one-sided for an esoteric, for every quality has two sides, good and bad, and one of an esoteric's main tasks must be to keep the right balance. He must constantly be on guard and be watching himself in general. Human qualities are such that a man can control them very well with his ego if they stay in the right balance. But if he lets any one become too intensive, the ego can get under the control of this quality. This isn't very dangerous in an exoteric; he's always brought back into equilibrium by the spirit of everyday affairs. But things are different with an esoteric. A quality that he allows to control him can get him into all possible dangers. Something like that can even become a disease of the physical body in his present life. Let's make this clear to ourselves by an example.

Who doesn't know ill feelings and discords. We've all been subjected to them But an esoteric must try to combat them with his ordinary ego For if he lets ill feelings master him, something happens to him. He succumbs to the wrong spirit of heaviness. Such spirits of heaviness really exist. A spirit of heaviness belongs to the archai, and he's the one who brings us back into our physical body when we wake up in the morning. This falls into his sphere of activity, and that's good and right for us. But some of these spirits overstep their sphere and want to work in the realm of the Spirits of Form. They're the ones who take over an esoteric's etheric body when he gives in to ill feelings and who work on it so that he succumbs to hypochondria. This then becomes manifest physically in diseases of the intestinal tract. This can also be said in exoteric lectures, but in our esoteric lessons we should always remember that we receive direct messages from the master who intended them especially for esotericism.

Another quality against which an esoteric should especially be on his guard and should be on the lookout for s that he doesn't succumb to it, is vanity, pride. We're often not aware of how much we've already succumbed to it and so must especially watch it. Many people imagine that they would like to help out of a “love for mankind.” But if one tells them that they can only achieve this through constant, diligent learning, one notices that they don't want this; they would like to start doing things right away, without thinking how much harm they can do through the wrong help. That's a very dangerous vanity to which all of those benefactors and confused fanatics have succumbed who preach their world view with nice words and unclear phrases, for they think that it's their mission to do this.

So what happens if an esoteric doesn't' suppress this vanity? He succumbs to Spirits of Light and namely to the regular, good ones who are recruited from hosts of Wisdom Spirits, but to ones who work down into the realm of the Spirits of Movement Good Spirits of Light have the task of leading a man into the spiritual world when he goes to sleep, to guide him into it so that he's unconscious when he gets there. But if an esoteric wants to accelerate his development in an irregular way without learning what he must know about spiritual worlds, then one of the other spirits of light overpowers him and influences his etheric body in such a way that the brain is affected by it. The result is confusion, fanaticism, and eventually insanity.

Anyone who succumbs to the spirit of heaviness only harms himself, and one should try to help him in every way, for we should love each man and not just mankind. But one who succumbs to the Spirits of Light can harm everyone with his confused fanaticism. Therefore, we should repeatedly ask whether the reasons we want to develop ourself are really selfless ones; we shouldn't get tired of learning, for the more we learn, the easier it is to become modest.

We shouldn't get scared if we feel the spirit of heaviness on waking in the morn, so that we feel exhausted and our limbs feel so heavy that we can hardly move them. This is a passing stage and a sign that we've gotten past the improper stage of hypochondria. And anyone who has the feeling that it's hard for him to keep his feet on the ground at certain times, doesn't have to be upset, for he has passed the stage of fanaticism, and the phenomenon is just a regular one in his development. A man's soul is kept in balance by the spirit of gravity and the Spirit of Light, and esoterics should always try to maintain this equilibrium.

We're referred to this balance by a master of wisdom in the prayer that we say at the close and which contains all the wisdom of the world that will be revealed to us evermore:

In the spirit lay the germ of my body.
And the spirit has imprinted in my body
The eyes of sense,
That through them I may see
The lights of bodies.
And the spirit has imprinted in my body
Reason and sensation
And feeling and will,
That through them I may perceive bodies
And act upon them.
In the spirit lay the germ of my body.
In my body lies the germ of the spirit.
And I will incorporate into my spirit
The super-sensible eyes
That through them I may behold the light of spirits.
And I will imprint in my spirit
Wisdom and power and love,
So that through me the spirits may act
And I become a self-conscious organ
Of their deeds.
In my body lies the germ of the spirit.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 18 Jun 1910, Oslo Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
In ancient mystery schools, candidates resolved to devote their incarnation entirely to initiation, for it was a do or die procedure. They had to undergo trials that required great courage. Terrifying things were shown that killed some of them. But if they survived, they had come to the other shore and were reborn.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 18 Jun 1910, Oslo Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
In ancient mystery schools, candidates resolved to devote their incarnation entirely to initiation, for it was a do or die procedure. They had to undergo trials that required great courage. Terrifying things were shown that killed some of them. But if they survived, they had come to the other shore and were reborn. They had descended to the God within them, had encountered drives, desires and passions in their bodies and had passed the test. Then they would say of themselves: Ex Deo nascimur. Well, one could ask: Does this evil that one encounters on the way to the inner God also come from the Gods? Here we must tell ourselves that it was originally something divine which we made into something evil. Men trod the path of ecstasy in the Druidic mysteries. The candidate united himself with the spirit that worked everywhere in nature: Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus. These two paths are united in the Rosicrucian path, that is, what's good for us is taken from both. One can no longer initiate a modern unconsciously. Since the breaking in of the Christ-principle, a man must be there with his waking consciousness. The meditations that the masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings have given us are all directed towards the Christ, even if his name doesn't occur in them. The words: In the pure rays of light are arranged in such a way that if one makes oneself deaf and blind for one's immediate environment, one slowly lifts one's etheric body out of the physical one, and thereby one unites oneself with the Christ-etheric aura, which is now our earth's aura. If we would lift ourselves out of the body without our meditation's content, then our soul would be alone with itself. But now it's permeated by Christ and it experiences what Paul called “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” In the pure love for all beings. These words remind us that all soul things are woven out of love. This meditation is a slow dying of the lower ego. And we have the connection between the two paths in this dying into Christ and coming to life in him in: In Christo morimur. It's a conscious coming to life in the Christ spirit. That's why we've added the word Sanctum to the words Per Spiritum.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 18 Jun 1910, Oslo
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

In ancient mystery schools, candidates resolved to devote their incarnation entirely to initiation, for it was a do or die procedure. They had to undergo trials that required great courage. Terrifying things were shown that killed some of them. But if they survived, they had come to the other shore and were reborn. They had descended to the God within them, had encountered drives, desires and passions in their bodies and had passed the test. Then they would say of themselves: Ex Deo nascimur. Well, one could ask: Does this evil that one encounters on the way to the inner God also come from the Gods? Here we must tell ourselves that it was originally something divine which we made into something evil.

Men trod the path of ecstasy in the Druidic mysteries. The candidate united himself with the spirit that worked everywhere in nature: Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.

These two paths are united in the Rosicrucian path, that is, what's good for us is taken from both. One can no longer initiate a modern unconsciously. Since the breaking in of the Christ-principle, a man must be there with his waking consciousness.

The meditations that the masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings have given us are all directed towards the Christ, even if his name doesn't occur in them. The words: In the pure rays of light are arranged in such a way that if one makes oneself deaf and blind for one's immediate environment, one slowly lifts one's etheric body out of the physical one, and thereby one unites oneself with the Christ-etheric aura, which is now our earth's aura. If we would lift ourselves out of the body without our meditation's content, then our soul would be alone with itself. But now it's permeated by Christ and it experiences what Paul called “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”

In the pure love for all beings. These words remind us that all soul things are woven out of love. This meditation is a slow dying of the lower ego. And we have the connection between the two paths in this dying into Christ and coming to life in him in: In Christo morimur. It's a conscious coming to life in the Christ spirit. That's why we've added the word Sanctum to the words Per Spiritum.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 20 Jun 1910, Oslo Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 20 Jun 1910, Oslo Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Prayer to the Spirit of Monday: Great embracing Spirit, Sensation shone in your life forms before my sensation existed. You were. I raise my soul to you. I was in you. I was part of your sensations. You connected yourself with the earth's first beginnings and the shining of my sensation began in my body. I felt myself in your feelings. You were. My sensations felt your being in them. My soul began to be in itself. Because you were in me. You were. Great embracing Spirit May my I raise itself from below upward, May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing. May the spirit of my being be illumined By the light of your messengers. May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants. May the will of my I grasp Your creatorword's force. You are. May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are. We have helpful thoughts to support us in our meditations, which were given in all proper esoteric schools and are of great value if you place them before you in pictures, let them work on you, and immerse yourself in them meditatively. These thoughts aren't like our ordinary, everyday ones, for when we work with them they have germinating, awakening forces for us. Thoughts that can lead to deeper insights into spiritual connections relatively quickly are the following: The Gods sleep in the mineral kingdom. They dream in the plant kingdom. They wake and think in the animal kingdom. Taking the animal kingdom first, we have to imagine that the spiritual beings were previously at our level and had thoughts that were just as confused as ours, whereas their thoughts have now become so regular and definite that they spread out before us as the animals we see. If we immerse ourselves in such ideas, then our thoughts will become consolidated, and we'll thereby become more closely connected with the beings who've placed their thoughts in the earth and also with that being who placed the force in the earth which in its totality is the Christ-force. We must keep in mind that we become different from other men through our occult development. Our interests change, and one often hears esoterics complain that they've lost interest in many things that used to interest them, and that they feel a inner boredom and emptiness. This is a quite normal state that soon passes And the emptiness of their soul will soon be filed with interests that'll replace the other ones a thousandfold. Nevertheless, we should not give up our connection with other men and the interests that filled us previously, and above all things we shouldn't demand that people must change their circle of interests. The difference between exoteric and esoteric men is that an exoteric man permeates his physical body firmly with his other bodies and as it were presses everything toward the outer surface. Thereby the average person who's born into a nation and family inherits certain concepts about good and evil, truth and other virtues that the creator Gods placed into them in the course of evolution. An esoteric will gradually live in accordance with these virtues out of his own knowledge. But he mustn't place himself above the concepts that are present in men about this, for then he would get into serious trouble with respect to his development. The inner man is gradually separated from the outer one in him. His higher parts leave the lower ones by themselves, and if he does not heed the ordinary laws of mankind, for instance about truthfulness, he can get into a dishonesty that of course hinders his development and that can do a lot of harm. All ill feelings and disputes, also among esoterics, are due to this. We not only leave part of our etheric body and our sentient soul by themselves—we begin esoteric work in the sentient soul—but also, as it were, our physical body, and we experience all possible conditions, also diseases in the latter. We get into conditions that we didn't know before, but which we don't have to look upon as diseases for which we have to run to a doctor right away, for an exoteric doctor can of course not give us anything for these conditions, and in any case, they disappear by themselves. On the other hand, one shouldn't look upon every disease one gets as something that is caused by occult development or think that doctors can't treat one anymore That's spiritual arrogance. One can still get advice from a doctor for a long time. An esoteric should always pay attention to his health in the right way. No one should let himself be kept from development by the difficulties that one can encounter and that arise through the loosening of the etheric body, or by cowardice and laziness. This loosening is something that must occur if one wants to press into higher worlds. And if we struggle towards it with serious striving, the master of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings will come to meet us with his strength and not fail to help us. We'll reach the goal of seeing spiritually in the next life for sure, if not in this one.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 20 Jun 1910, Oslo
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

Prayer to the Spirit of Monday:

Great embracing Spirit,
Sensation shone in your life forms before my sensation existed.
You were.
I raise my soul to you.
I was in you.
I was part of your sensations.
You connected yourself with the earth's first beginnings and the shining of my sensation began in my body.
I felt myself in your feelings.
You were.
My sensations felt your being in them.
My soul began to be in itself.
Because you were in me.
You were.

We have helpful thoughts to support us in our meditations, which were given in all proper esoteric schools and are of great value if you place them before you in pictures, let them work on you, and immerse yourself in them meditatively. These thoughts aren't like our ordinary, everyday ones, for when we work with them they have germinating, awakening forces for us.

Thoughts that can lead to deeper insights into spiritual connections relatively quickly are the following:

The Gods sleep in the mineral kingdom.
They dream in the plant kingdom.
They wake and think in the animal kingdom.

Taking the animal kingdom first, we have to imagine that the spiritual beings were previously at our level and had thoughts that were just as confused as ours, whereas their thoughts have now become so regular and definite that they spread out before us as the animals we see. If we immerse ourselves in such ideas, then our thoughts will become consolidated, and we'll thereby become more closely connected with the beings who've placed their thoughts in the earth and also with that being who placed the force in the earth which in its totality is the Christ-force.

We must keep in mind that we become different from other men through our occult development. Our interests change, and one often hears esoterics complain that they've lost interest in many things that used to interest them, and that they feel a inner boredom and emptiness. This is a quite normal state that soon passes And the emptiness of their soul will soon be filed with interests that'll replace the other ones a thousandfold. Nevertheless, we should not give up our connection with other men and the interests that filled us previously, and above all things we shouldn't demand that people must change their circle of interests. The difference between exoteric and esoteric men is that an exoteric man permeates his physical body firmly with his other bodies and as it were presses everything toward the outer surface. Thereby the average person who's born into a nation and family inherits certain concepts about good and evil, truth and other virtues that the creator Gods placed into them in the course of evolution. An esoteric will gradually live in accordance with these virtues out of his own knowledge. But he mustn't place himself above the concepts that are present in men about this, for then he would get into serious trouble with respect to his development. The inner man is gradually separated from the outer one in him. His higher parts leave the lower ones by themselves, and if he does not heed the ordinary laws of mankind, for instance about truthfulness, he can get into a dishonesty that of course hinders his development and that can do a lot of harm. All ill feelings and disputes, also among esoterics, are due to this.

We not only leave part of our etheric body and our sentient soul by themselves—we begin esoteric work in the sentient soul—but also, as it were, our physical body, and we experience all possible conditions, also diseases in the latter. We get into conditions that we didn't know before, but which we don't have to look upon as diseases for which we have to run to a doctor right away, for an exoteric doctor can of course not give us anything for these conditions, and in any case, they disappear by themselves. On the other hand, one shouldn't look upon every disease one gets as something that is caused by occult development or think that doctors can't treat one anymore That's spiritual arrogance. One can still get advice from a doctor for a long time. An esoteric should always pay attention to his health in the right way.

No one should let himself be kept from development by the difficulties that one can encounter and that arise through the loosening of the etheric body, or by cowardice and laziness. This loosening is something that must occur if one wants to press into higher worlds. And if we struggle towards it with serious striving, the master of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings will come to meet us with his strength and not fail to help us.

We'll reach the goal of seeing spiritually in the next life for sure, if not in this one.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 24 Aug 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Anyone who undertakes an esoteric training must be clear about what he is doing thereby. We're karmically connected with what we are and do; we're placed into the whole of earth existence by leading divine beings.
An esoteric striver not only has to do his meditations, to pray in the best sense of the word, but also to watch, to be on the lookout for bad influences that want to interfere when an independent transformation of bodies is undertaken. An occult sentence against all deception is: Every path into the spiritual world goes through the heart.
If we really let this fact live in our soul we then rightly understand the verse: In the spirit lay the germ of my body.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 24 Aug 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Anyone who undertakes an esoteric training must be clear about what he is doing thereby. We're karmically connected with what we are and do; we're placed into the whole of earth existence by leading divine beings. Everything that we think, feel and will in the way of the most sublime beauty and the highest morality is always still connected with general evolution. But by deciding to begin an esoteric training we step out of this general development that's guided by higher beings. Thereby we begin something absolutely new. In an esoteric training we stop being led by spiritual, divine beings and we become independent companions of these creator spirits. Man on earth consists of the tetralogy: physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego, which are kept in harmony by higher beings. If we carry out the resolve to begin an esoteric training we then begin to work independently at the transformation of these individual bodies. This takes place through the exercises that are given to us. They gradually work on our etheric body in such a way that it becomes loosened from the firm structure of the physical body. This influence is not directly on the etheric body but on the astral body or soul which we work on through the regular daily or weekly repetition of exercises and pictures. Every sound, word and sequence of sounds and concepts in the meditation verses is of some significance; they have an effect through the regular repetition while one completely forgets oneself. When we wake up in the morning we sometimes have a dim memory of the spiritual world, of the world from which strength flows to us through our exercises, and some of an esoteric student's nicest experiences are these faint memories of the world where we were at the sources of strength. If someone had to leave a friend who was dear to him, it could be that something about this person will flow into the esoteric pupil together with his memory of the spiritual world. Someone who's given something like this should look upon it as grace. After meditating for some times we notice that we've changed; we no longer say some of the unkind things that we used to and we acquire a much finer logic. We feel that we've improved. We get better. But because we place ourselves outside of the customary framework we lose the support that's given by convention. We become inwardly freer but thereby your bad sides come out more; then we notice how bad we are. We're really a lot worse than we usually think. Difficult, unpleasant hours come to every esoteric striver, and then it's good to have some support. We find this support in the New Testament; we find advice and support for every case and situation and in every weakness; we only have to look for it. And if we don't find it, we can comfort ourselves with the conviction that it's our own weakness that keeps us from finding the right thing but that it's nevertheless in the Bible. Deceptions in clairvoyance can easily occur at first. One thinks that one is seeing something outside, and it's one's own interior that's reflected there. It's even worse with sounds that one thinks one hears; beings who want to pull a meditator down deceive him thereby. An esoteric striver not only has to do his meditations, to pray in the best sense of the word, but also to watch, to be on the lookout for bad influences that want to interfere when an independent transformation of bodies is undertaken. An occult sentence against all deception is: Every path into the spiritual world goes through the heart. During the meditation one can feel that lines go from every point of the outer physical body towards a center, which is the heart. These lines then go on in the opposite direction and into the spiritual world. This is like a feeling that Christ is in one, and it's a sign that there's no deception. Each of our members is connected with one sign of the Zodiac; forces from Leo flow down into our heart. Forces from the sun also stream into our heart. Likewise, fire spirits work on our heart. Leo, sun, and flame are often used as symbols for the heart. Like the heart every part of us is related to outside forces; we've grown out of the whole world and are imbedded in it. If we really let this fact live in our soul we then rightly understand the verse: In the spirit lay the germ of my body. And the spirit has imprinted in my body The eyes of sense, That through them I may see The lights of bodies. And the spirit has imprinted in my body Reason and sensation And feeling and will, That through them I may perceive bodies And act upon them. In the spirit lay the germ of my body. In my body lies the germ of the spirit. And I will incorporate into my spirit The super-sensible eyes That through them I may behold the light of spirits. And I will imprint in my spirit Wisdom and power and love, So that through me the spirits may act And I become a self-conscious organ Of their deeds. In my body lies the germ of the spirit.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 24 Aug 1910, Munich
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

Anyone who undertakes an esoteric training must be clear about what he is doing thereby. We're karmically connected with what we are and do; we're placed into the whole of earth existence by leading divine beings. Everything that we think, feel and will in the way of the most sublime beauty and the highest morality is always still connected with general evolution. But by deciding to begin an esoteric training we step out of this general development that's guided by higher beings. Thereby we begin something absolutely new. In an esoteric training we stop being led by spiritual, divine beings and we become independent companions of these creator spirits.

Man on earth consists of the tetralogy: physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego, which are kept in harmony by higher beings. If we carry out the resolve to begin an esoteric training we then begin to work independently at the transformation of these individual bodies. This takes place through the exercises that are given to us. They gradually work on our etheric body in such a way that it becomes loosened from the firm structure of the physical body. This influence is not directly on the etheric body but on the astral body or soul which we work on through the regular daily or weekly repetition of exercises and pictures.

Every sound, word and sequence of sounds and concepts in the meditation verses is of some significance; they have an effect through the regular repetition while one completely forgets oneself.

When we wake up in the morning we sometimes have a dim memory of the spiritual world, of the world from which strength flows to us through our exercises, and some of an esoteric student's nicest experiences are these faint memories of the world where we were at the sources of strength. If someone had to leave a friend who was dear to him, it could be that something about this person will flow into the esoteric pupil together with his memory of the spiritual world. Someone who's given something like this should look upon it as grace.

After meditating for some times we notice that we've changed; we no longer say some of the unkind things that we used to and we acquire a much finer logic. We feel that we've improved. We get better.

But because we place ourselves outside of the customary framework we lose the support that's given by convention. We become inwardly freer but thereby your bad sides come out more; then we notice how bad we are. We're really a lot worse than we usually think.

Difficult, unpleasant hours come to every esoteric striver, and then it's good to have some support. We find this support in the New Testament; we find advice and support for every case and situation and in every weakness; we only have to look for it. And if we don't find it, we can comfort ourselves with the conviction that it's our own weakness that keeps us from finding the right thing but that it's nevertheless in the Bible.

Deceptions in clairvoyance can easily occur at first. One thinks that one is seeing something outside, and it's one's own interior that's reflected there. It's even worse with sounds that one thinks one hears; beings who want to pull a meditator down deceive him thereby.

An esoteric striver not only has to do his meditations, to pray in the best sense of the word, but also to watch, to be on the lookout for bad influences that want to interfere when an independent transformation of bodies is undertaken. An occult sentence against all deception is: Every path into the spiritual world goes through the heart. During the meditation one can feel that lines go from every point of the outer physical body towards a center, which is the heart. These lines then go on in the opposite direction and into the spiritual world. This is like a feeling that Christ is in one, and it's a sign that there's no deception.

Each of our members is connected with one sign of the Zodiac; forces from Leo flow down into our heart. Forces from the sun also stream into our heart. Likewise, fire spirits work on our heart. Leo, sun, and flame are often used as symbols for the heart. Like the heart every part of us is related to outside forces; we've grown out of the whole world and are imbedded in it.

If we really let this fact live in our soul we then rightly understand the verse:

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 26 Aug 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are.
And if we make this Rosicrucian verse the basic mood of our meditation we'll then take in the following verse with full understanding and with holy feelings: In the spirit lay the germ of my body …

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 26 Aug 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
We'll first address the Spirit of the Day. One can look upon it as especially good fortune if an esoteric class can be held on a Friday. Great embracing Spirit, in your life I live with the earth's life. In you am I. You are. I am in you. Our leader has brought me to you. I live in you. Your spirit is an image of my own being. You are. Spirit has found the embracing spirit. Divine bliss strides on to new world creation. You are. I am. You are. Great embracing Spirit May my I raise itself from below upward, May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing. May the spirit of my being be illumined By the light of your messengers. May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants. May the will of my I grasp Your creatorword's force. You are. May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are. We're in divine, etheric spheres at night with our astral body and ego, from which we bring down strength for our physical life. We are connected with divine, spiritual beings there That's why when we wake up in the morning we should never have banal, everyday, egotistical thoughts right away For if we do, we cut ourselves off from spiritual beings and forces in which we were immersed during sleep. Before we go back to any action in daily life, to any thought about physical existence, we should devote ourselves to our meditation as we forget ourselves and become immersed in those regions. Every meditator should make it his sacred duty to do his meditation right after awakening, or at least his first thought should be to think thankfully about sublime beings. An even holier duty, if there can be such for every esoteric pupil, is to make it clear to himself that he is doing a great injustice to all men and to higher spiritual beings if he approaches meditation with impure thoughts and feelings. For this pollutes spiritual spheres. The forces that must be used to eliminate this pollution again are withdrawn from mankind's progress. One can do one's exercises with considerable concentration and yet be unholy within oneself. Doing a meditation like this is merely a matter of will. Of course, the latter should be consolidated and developed. But the whole inner life must be consecrated, so that only sacred, sublime things live in our soul. Just as one shouldn't go into meditation with impure thoughts and feelings, so one shouldn't go to sleep in the evening with such things. We're polluting divine worlds if we take thoughts of pride, vanity and arrogance with us. We should go to sleep with thoughts of reverence and thanks towards divine beings because we couldn't live for a minute while our ego and astral body are outside if such beings did not maintain our physical and etheric bodies in the meantime. We should go to sleep with reverence towards great divine beings. An esoteric differs from an exoteric in that God lives in him consciously, in that he really lets God's force become active in him. This doesn't happen through the ideas he makes of God. Such ideas can harm a man when he later goes into higher worlds. For instance, he wants to find the Christ there in accordance with the ideas that he's made of him, and thereby doesn't recognize the real Christ, for he's different from the ever so high ideas that one can make of him. Arrogance, pride and vanity in particular are qualities that an esoteric should get rid of. An esoteric pupil who thinks that he's already gotten rid of arrogance, pride, etc., must know that these qualities are still present in a subtle way. There is a certain vanity in the thought that one has laid these qualities aside and has advanced a great deal in one's development which is much worse than vanity in outer life, for it's intensified and applied to higher spiritual things. We can, however, be proud of a clear, logical and correct thinking—if it's unsubjective. We're living in a very special, important time. It's a time of preparation for the Christ who will become perceptible in the etheric. We must prepare ourselves so that we can see him there. Men who don't have the good fortune to come to theosophy now won't be able to experience this event. As we've been hearing for the last few days, we arose from higher spiritual forces. We descended from the laps of the Gods. Knowing this, we can place the Rosicrucian verse before our souls: Ex Deo nascimur—we're born from God. A sentence should stand right next to it that makes us feel very small; we should give ourselves up and lose ourselves entirely and devote ourselves to Christ. And if this mood lives in our soul rightly, we can have Ex Deo nascimur and next to it: In Christo morimur—in Christ we die. And the third sentence of this Rosicrucian saying gives us a wide view of how we can consciously develop the spirit—the Holy Spirit—in us: Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus—we'll live again and again in the Holy Spirit. And if we make this Rosicrucian verse the basic mood of our meditation we'll then take in the following verse with full understanding and with holy feelings: In the spirit lay the germ of my body …

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 26 Aug 1910, Munich
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

We'll first address the Spirit of the Day. One can look upon it as especially good fortune if an esoteric class can be held on a Friday.

Great embracing Spirit, in your life I live with the earth's life.
In you am I.
You are.
I am in you.
Our leader has brought me to you.
I live in you.
Your spirit is an image of my own being.
You are.
Spirit has found the embracing spirit.
Divine bliss strides on to new world creation.
You are. I am. You are.

We're in divine, etheric spheres at night with our astral body and ego, from which we bring down strength for our physical life. We are connected with divine, spiritual beings there That's why when we wake up in the morning we should never have banal, everyday, egotistical thoughts right away For if we do, we cut ourselves off from spiritual beings and forces in which we were immersed during sleep. Before we go back to any action in daily life, to any thought about physical existence, we should devote ourselves to our meditation as we forget ourselves and become immersed in those regions. Every meditator should make it his sacred duty to do his meditation right after awakening, or at least his first thought should be to think thankfully about sublime beings.

An even holier duty, if there can be such for every esoteric pupil, is to make it clear to himself that he is doing a great injustice to all men and to higher spiritual beings if he approaches meditation with impure thoughts and feelings. For this pollutes spiritual spheres. The forces that must be used to eliminate this pollution again are withdrawn from mankind's progress.

One can do one's exercises with considerable concentration and yet be unholy within oneself. Doing a meditation like this is merely a matter of will. Of course, the latter should be consolidated and developed. But the whole inner life must be consecrated, so that only sacred, sublime things live in our soul. Just as one shouldn't go into meditation with impure thoughts and feelings, so one shouldn't go to sleep in the evening with such things. We're polluting divine worlds if we take thoughts of pride, vanity and arrogance with us. We should go to sleep with thoughts of reverence and thanks towards divine beings because we couldn't live for a minute while our ego and astral body are outside if such beings did not maintain our physical and etheric bodies in the meantime. We should go to sleep with reverence towards great divine beings.

An esoteric differs from an exoteric in that God lives in him consciously, in that he really lets God's force become active in him. This doesn't happen through the ideas he makes of God. Such ideas can harm a man when he later goes into higher worlds. For instance, he wants to find the Christ there in accordance with the ideas that he's made of him, and thereby doesn't recognize the real Christ, for he's different from the ever so high ideas that one can make of him.

Arrogance, pride and vanity in particular are qualities that an esoteric should get rid of. An esoteric pupil who thinks that he's already gotten rid of arrogance, pride, etc., must know that these qualities are still present in a subtle way. There is a certain vanity in the thought that one has laid these qualities aside and has advanced a great deal in one's development which is much worse than vanity in outer life, for it's intensified and applied to higher spiritual things. We can, however, be proud of a clear, logical and correct thinking—if it's unsubjective.

We're living in a very special, important time. It's a time of preparation for the Christ who will become perceptible in the etheric. We must prepare ourselves so that we can see him there. Men who don't have the good fortune to come to theosophy now won't be able to experience this event.

As we've been hearing for the last few days, we arose from higher spiritual forces. We descended from the laps of the Gods. Knowing this, we can place the Rosicrucian verse before our souls: Ex Deo nascimur—we're born from God. A sentence should stand right next to it that makes us feel very small; we should give ourselves up and lose ourselves entirely and devote ourselves to Christ. And if this mood lives in our soul rightly, we can have Ex Deo nascimur and next to it: In Christo morimur—in Christ we die. And the third sentence of this Rosicrucian saying gives us a wide view of how we can consciously develop the spirit—the Holy Spirit—in us: Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus—we'll live again and again in the Holy Spirit. And if we make this Rosicrucian verse the basic mood of our meditation we'll then take in the following verse with full understanding and with holy feelings: In the spirit lay the germ of my body …

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 05 Nov 1910, Berlin Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are.
And we must become a copy of our archetype again. Once we've understood this rightly, we'll also understand the esoteric Rosicrucian saying: Ex Deo nascimur, in … morimur, Per spiritum Sanctum revivscimus.
Anyone who experiences this inwardly with the right feeling will also rightly understand the other esoteric verse: In the spirit lay the germ of my body.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 05 Nov 1910, Berlin Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
As always, we'll ask the Spirit of the Day for help in our work. (Saturday) Great embracing Spirit, You who filled endless space when none of my body's members existed yet; You were. I raise my soul to you. I was in you. I was part of your force. You sent out your forces, and the first, original picture of my body's form was reflected in the earth's first beginnings. I was in the forces that you sent out. You were. My archetype looked at you. It looked at me, myself, I who was a part of you. You were. Great embracing Spirit May my I raise itself from below upward, May it get an inkling of you in the all-embracing. May the spirit of my being be illumined By the light of your messengers. May the soul of my being be enkindled by the fire flames of your servants. May the will of my I grasp Your creatorword's force. You are. May your being permeate my will That my I be grasped by an understanding of your light's shining, Your life's love-warmth And your being's creator words. You are. Yesterday we said that a pupil hears a spiritual sound from the east. But if a pupil would now want to say that he knew what the spiritual sounds like, that he had now heard his first spiritual sound, he would be making a big mistake. For this sound is, as it were, the last word out of the physical realm. The spiritual world is for the time being completely colorless, lightless, soundless and so on. Any colors that we might see are nothing spiritual—they come from our own inner life, and, namely, they indicate qualities that we don't have but must acquire. For instance, if we see a red color it means that we don't have love in us, that we must develop it in ourselves. If we see violet, it's telling us that we must acquire devotional piety. If we hear noises, it's nothing spiritual, but something that comes out of us. If someone becomes a vegetarian but his body still has a longing for meat, even if he's unaware of it, then this craving resounds in misleading sounds. All of these noises and sounds are only raven croaks. If a figure from past ages appears to a pupil it's quite wrong for him to want to interpret it right away. He must be able to wait with his interpretation until later. If such an image appears before our soul, it dissipates as soon as we approach it with our thoughts. But if it's a genuine image, it'll rise before us later and remain there in its true form, and we'll know what it means. We must be able to wait and be silent. We should speak about such experiences much less than we think about them. We should look upon and treat our whole spiritual life as something sacred. We must tell ourselves that experiences of sounds, colors, etc. don't come from the spiritual realm but from our own ego that's surged through be a sea of passions an desires, just as Noah's ark had the sea surging around it. As we tell ourselves clearly and relentlessly that these experiences and phenomena are nothing spiritual, we must let our ego go and as it were, let it fly away, just as the dove was released from Noah's ark and didn't return. A pupil then has another occult experience. After we've seen that the spiritual world is empty for us, we then see that these experiences are nevertheless important for us. Colors become warners and advisors. They tell us what we still have to acquire. We realize that sounds reflect our bodily cravings. And when the images that we've let work quietly tell us their significance, our soul becomes enriched by such experiences. That's like the dove that was released the second time and came back with an olive leaf, the emblem of peace. But an esoteric's soul isn't left entirely to its own devices on this difficult path; there's things it can hang on to. The rose cross, for instance. We should let it work on us; we should realize that the wood's black is our corporeality that's hardened and withered, that we must let our lower ego that identifies itself with the body become just as dark and dead as the cross's wood. Then the higher, spiritual ego will work in us in the way that the black of the cross is changed into bright, radiant lines of light. Likewise, the red of the roses will change from the color of love working inwardly, to green, the color of life working outwardly. When we experience symbols it's the ones that make us suffer that are genuine and from the spiritual world, and not the ones that give us joy. We must carry them around with us until we've grasped their meaning. The spiritual from them must be born in us while we suffer. Another thing we must realize is that we can't be unegoistical. We are never ever unegoistical. And even if we imagine that we've done something that's entirely selfless, we're mistaken. We can't act selflessly. It's world karma that lets us act egoistically World karma is God. And if we get to the point where we act in a good and noble way, then it's God in us who's good. As we get more selfless, we'll for instance, notice that we don't get scared or terrified anymore. If there's a sudden loud noise nearby, we won't jump as much as before. The God who lets us act in a good and noble way is our model. Our archetypal model made us into what we are now. And we must become a copy of our archetype again. Once we've understood this rightly, we'll also understand the esoteric Rosicrucian saying: Ex Deo nascimur, in … morimur, Per spiritum Sanctum revivscimus. An esoteric doesn't say what's left out here. When we begin to say this line our feeling must go to what's unutterable. And only when one's feeling comes back can one go on speaking. Anyone who experiences this inwardly with the right feeling will also rightly understand the other esoteric verse: In the spirit lay the germ of my body. And the spirit has imprinted in my body The eyes of sense, That through them I may see The lights of bodies. And the spirit has imprinted in my body Reason and sensation And feeling and will, That through them I may perceive bodies And act upon them. In the spirit lay the germ of my body. In my body lies the germ of the spirit. And I will incorporate into my spirit The super-sensible eyes That through them I may behold the light of spirits. And I will imprint in my spirit Wisdom and power and love, So that through me the spirits may act And I become a self-conscious organ Of their deeds. In my body lies the germ of the spirit.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 05 Nov 1910, Berlin
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

As always, we'll ask the Spirit of the Day for help in our work. (Saturday)

Great embracing Spirit,
You who filled endless space when none of my body's members existed yet;
You were.
I raise my soul to you.
I was in you.
I was part of your force.
You sent out your forces, and the first, original picture of my body's form was reflected in the earth's first beginnings.
I was in the forces that you sent out.
You were.
My archetype looked at you.
It looked at me, myself, I who was a part of you.
You were.

Yesterday we said that a pupil hears a spiritual sound from the east. But if a pupil would now want to say that he knew what the spiritual sounds like, that he had now heard his first spiritual sound, he would be making a big mistake. For this sound is, as it were, the last word out of the physical realm.

The spiritual world is for the time being completely colorless, lightless, soundless and so on. Any colors that we might see are nothing spiritual—they come from our own inner life, and, namely, they indicate qualities that we don't have but must acquire. For instance, if we see a red color it means that we don't have love in us, that we must develop it in ourselves. If we see violet, it's telling us that we must acquire devotional piety.

If we hear noises, it's nothing spiritual, but something that comes out of us. If someone becomes a vegetarian but his body still has a longing for meat, even if he's unaware of it, then this craving resounds in misleading sounds. All of these noises and sounds are only raven croaks.

If a figure from past ages appears to a pupil it's quite wrong for him to want to interpret it right away. He must be able to wait with his interpretation until later. If such an image appears before our soul, it dissipates as soon as we approach it with our thoughts. But if it's a genuine image, it'll rise before us later and remain there in its true form, and we'll know what it means. We must be able to wait and be silent. We should speak about such experiences much less than we think about them. We should look upon and treat our whole spiritual life as something sacred. We must tell ourselves that experiences of sounds, colors, etc. don't come from the spiritual realm but from our own ego that's surged through be a sea of passions an desires, just as Noah's ark had the sea surging around it. As we tell ourselves clearly and relentlessly that these experiences and phenomena are nothing spiritual, we must let our ego go and as it were, let it fly away, just as the dove was released from Noah's ark and didn't return.

A pupil then has another occult experience. After we've seen that the spiritual world is empty for us, we then see that these experiences are nevertheless important for us. Colors become warners and advisors. They tell us what we still have to acquire. We realize that sounds reflect our bodily cravings. And when the images that we've let work quietly tell us their significance, our soul becomes enriched by such experiences. That's like the dove that was released the second time and came back with an olive leaf, the emblem of peace.

But an esoteric's soul isn't left entirely to its own devices on this difficult path; there's things it can hang on to. The rose cross, for instance. We should let it work on us; we should realize that the wood's black is our corporeality that's hardened and withered, that we must let our lower ego that identifies itself with the body become just as dark and dead as the cross's wood. Then the higher, spiritual ego will work in us in the way that the black of the cross is changed into bright, radiant lines of light. Likewise, the red of the roses will change from the color of love working inwardly, to green, the color of life working outwardly.

When we experience symbols it's the ones that make us suffer that are genuine and from the spiritual world, and not the ones that give us joy. We must carry them around with us until we've grasped their meaning. The spiritual from them must be born in us while we suffer.

Another thing we must realize is that we can't be unegoistical. We are never ever unegoistical. And even if we imagine that we've done something that's entirely selfless, we're mistaken. We can't act selflessly. It's world karma that lets us act egoistically World karma is God.

And if we get to the point where we act in a good and noble way, then it's God in us who's good. As we get more selfless, we'll for instance, notice that we don't get scared or terrified anymore. If there's a sudden loud noise nearby, we won't jump as much as before. The God who lets us act in a good and noble way is our model. Our archetypal model made us into what we are now. And we must become a copy of our archetype again.

Once we've understood this rightly, we'll also understand the esoteric Rosicrucian saying: Ex Deo nascimur, in … morimur, Per spiritum Sanctum revivscimus.

An esoteric doesn't say what's left out here. When we begin to say this line our feeling must go to what's unutterable. And only when one's feeling comes back can one go on speaking. Anyone who experiences this inwardly with the right feeling will also rightly understand the other esoteric verse:

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 11 Dec 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Men have become ever weaker in body, soul and spirit through increasing materialism, and one can no longer subject the present more delicate constitutions to the trials that pupils in the ancient mysteries underwent. Back then, a candidate for initiation mainly worked at quickly getting to know how untenable egoism and fear are and at putting them aside.
If an ordinary modern says that the ground is shaking under his feet, he's already saying a lot. He will always try to stand fast. He doesn't want to jump over the abyss. He must let the ground slip out from under him. For if he wants to press into spiritual worlds the concepts he formed here on the physical plane don't help him at all.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 11 Dec 1910, Munich Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
In our esoteric classes we've often spoken of the paths that an esoteric in the old mystery schools had to tread. At that time a man, as it were, inverted his soul and spiritual qualities more rapidly through certain methods, for he was physically and psychically more robust then. He had a stronger soul, and since this is the architect of the physical body, the latter was also stronger. These were pre-historical times. Men were less complicated and more uniform at that time. Humanity sprang out of the lap of the Gods, and after they had gradually lost their old clairvoyance on their path through matter it's a man's task to raise himself to spirituality again by taking in the Christ impulse, and filled by this, to unite himself with the Godhead. Men have become ever weaker in body, soul and spirit through increasing materialism, and one can no longer subject the present more delicate constitutions to the trials that pupils in the ancient mysteries underwent. Back then, a candidate for initiation mainly worked at quickly getting to know how untenable egoism and fear are and at putting them aside. One can't judge what egoism really is without ordinary concepts connected with the physical plane. The candidate for initiation was put into a sleep and his soul was then shown what it had elaborated in the spiritual world until then. His ego was then as it were, sucked up by the macrocosm, and it saw that it was a nothing. Of course this standing before nothingness as before a dark abyss aroused feelings of fear, and he had to get over this. After going through these trials he was either unfit for outer life since he realized that all perishable things were nothing, or he remained strong and decided to use this incarnation to develop as much as possible so that he could some day get to know higher worlds. A modern shouldn't be grabbed so robustly. If an ordinary modern says that the ground is shaking under his feet, he's already saying a lot. He will always try to stand fast. He doesn't want to jump over the abyss. He must let the ground slip out from under him. For if he wants to press into spiritual worlds the concepts he formed here on the physical plane don't help him at all. He's not allowed to take any of them with him. The only things he may keep are the capacity to make concepts, a sense for truth, and logic. The capacity to form new concepts and a sense for the new truths that he'll get to know. The masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings send us an analogy to elucidate this matter. It's as if we saw all the objects in our room in a mirror and we would then go behind the mirror to find their reality there. We would see that there's nothing behind it. Here we must let concepts about higher worlds flow into us from higher beings and we must work at ourselves so that we form such concepts. But after we've acquired some through serious and honest work, we must step before the mirror again, make a bold decision, and destroy it. Then darkness and nothingness will yawn towards us. But if we endure steadfastly, light will shine up out of the darkness and reveal an entirely new world to us. Our esoteric work consists in gradually raising our astral and etheric bodies to spiritual heights. But the lower parts of both bodies remain behind in the physical body. The ego lays a peculiar role between these two parts that have, as it were, been torn apart. Through the fact that we've become so firmly attached to material things, it's as if it were chained to the lower parts and is their slave. Thereby peculiar phenomena arise. The astral body that's left to itself may have had certain vices that we could easily control when its better part was still connected with it, but now such qualities grow enormously and a man often feels like a sensualist. If the ego was united with the higher parts, it would control the lower ones from there and therewith all drives, desires and passions. Then the higher parts would also not be unconscious, as they are when the ego is in the lower ones. Because the higher bodies leave the lower ones the latter often become weak. The physical body then tends to get diseases. But this is a temporary condition. For when the higher parts have taken enough forces out of higher worlds, they'll work in a harmonizing and healing way on the lower ones again With respect to these irregular phenomena in his lower bodies an esoteric must tell himself: I will stand fast; I will go on my way to the spiritual world come hell or high water. If he sets up a center against his error, he will also master them. Art is supposed to help us in these battles. All true art was given to us for this. An art that doesn't elevate us can't subsist; it's no true art. When artists will know art's mission, when art is permeated by theosophy, it'll become what it should be for us. When the Gods created man, they gave him defects so that he could test his strength on them. We should thank the Gods for our defects, for combating them makes us strong and free. But we shouldn't love the defects for even a moment. We couldn't thank Gods who made us pure and without defects, because they would have made us into weaklings. We should tell ourselves: And even the world was full of devils we still come from God, Ex Deo nascimur. If we fight seriously and constantly try to get into spiritual worlds, we'll feel that the lower, defective part of us dies. In Christo morimur. And then we'll awaken consciously in higher worlds: Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus. There's an exoteric and an esoteric version of this verse. Used esoterically, the naming of the most sacred name, if it happens unworthily, can unleash earthquakes, storms, lightning and other tremendous events in nature, for if they're wrong even our most hidden thoughts have a destructive effect in spiritual worlds. That's what's meant in the first mystery drama where it says that “Spirits must break worlds if your temporal creating is not to bring destruction and death to the eternities” that is, to repair the damage that men have done with their thoughts. Therefore the esoteric version of this verse is: Ex Deo nascimur, In … morimur, Per Spiritum Sanctum revisiscimus.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 11 Dec 1910, Munich
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

In our esoteric classes we've often spoken of the paths that an esoteric in the old mystery schools had to tread. At that time a man, as it were, inverted his soul and spiritual qualities more rapidly through certain methods, for he was physically and psychically more robust then. He had a stronger soul, and since this is the architect of the physical body, the latter was also stronger. These were pre-historical times. Men were less complicated and more uniform at that time. Humanity sprang out of the lap of the Gods, and after they had gradually lost their old clairvoyance on their path through matter it's a man's task to raise himself to spirituality again by taking in the Christ impulse, and filled by this, to unite himself with the Godhead.

Men have become ever weaker in body, soul and spirit through increasing materialism, and one can no longer subject the present more delicate constitutions to the trials that pupils in the ancient mysteries underwent. Back then, a candidate for initiation mainly worked at quickly getting to know how untenable egoism and fear are and at putting them aside. One can't judge what egoism really is without ordinary concepts connected with the physical plane.

The candidate for initiation was put into a sleep and his soul was then shown what it had elaborated in the spiritual world until then. His ego was then as it were, sucked up by the macrocosm, and it saw that it was a nothing. Of course this standing before nothingness as before a dark abyss aroused feelings of fear, and he had to get over this. After going through these trials he was either unfit for outer life since he realized that all perishable things were nothing, or he remained strong and decided to use this incarnation to develop as much as possible so that he could some day get to know higher worlds.

A modern shouldn't be grabbed so robustly. If an ordinary modern says that the ground is shaking under his feet, he's already saying a lot. He will always try to stand fast. He doesn't want to jump over the abyss. He must let the ground slip out from under him. For if he wants to press into spiritual worlds the concepts he formed here on the physical plane don't help him at all. He's not allowed to take any of them with him. The only things he may keep are the capacity to make concepts, a sense for truth, and logic. The capacity to form new concepts and a sense for the new truths that he'll get to know.

The masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings send us an analogy to elucidate this matter. It's as if we saw all the objects in our room in a mirror and we would then go behind the mirror to find their reality there. We would see that there's nothing behind it. Here we must let concepts about higher worlds flow into us from higher beings and we must work at ourselves so that we form such concepts. But after we've acquired some through serious and honest work, we must step before the mirror again, make a bold decision, and destroy it. Then darkness and nothingness will yawn towards us. But if we endure steadfastly, light will shine up out of the darkness and reveal an entirely new world to us.

Our esoteric work consists in gradually raising our astral and etheric bodies to spiritual heights. But the lower parts of both bodies remain behind in the physical body. The ego lays a peculiar role between these two parts that have, as it were, been torn apart. Through the fact that we've become so firmly attached to material things, it's as if it were chained to the lower parts and is their slave. Thereby peculiar phenomena arise. The astral body that's left to itself may have had certain vices that we could easily control when its better part was still connected with it, but now such qualities grow enormously and a man often feels like a sensualist. If the ego was united with the higher parts, it would control the lower ones from there and therewith all drives, desires and passions. Then the higher parts would also not be unconscious, as they are when the ego is in the lower ones. Because the higher bodies leave the lower ones the latter often become weak. The physical body then tends to get diseases. But this is a temporary condition. For when the higher parts have taken enough forces out of higher worlds, they'll work in a harmonizing and healing way on the lower ones again With respect to these irregular phenomena in his lower bodies an esoteric must tell himself: I will stand fast; I will go on my way to the spiritual world come hell or high water.

If he sets up a center against his error, he will also master them. Art is supposed to help us in these battles. All true art was given to us for this. An art that doesn't elevate us can't subsist; it's no true art. When artists will know art's mission, when art is permeated by theosophy, it'll become what it should be for us.

When the Gods created man, they gave him defects so that he could test his strength on them. We should thank the Gods for our defects, for combating them makes us strong and free. But we shouldn't love the defects for even a moment. We couldn't thank Gods who made us pure and without defects, because they would have made us into weaklings. We should tell ourselves: And even the world was full of devils we still come from God, Ex Deo nascimur. If we fight seriously and constantly try to get into spiritual worlds, we'll feel that the lower, defective part of us dies. In Christo morimur. And then we'll awaken consciously in higher worlds: Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.

There's an exoteric and an esoteric version of this verse. Used esoterically, the naming of the most sacred name, if it happens unworthily, can unleash earthquakes, storms, lightning and other tremendous events in nature, for if they're wrong even our most hidden thoughts have a destructive effect in spiritual worlds. That's what's meant in the first mystery drama where it says that “Spirits must break worlds if your temporal creating is not to bring destruction and death to the eternities” that is, to repair the damage that men have done with their thoughts. Therefore the esoteric version of this verse is: Ex Deo nascimur, In … morimur, Per Spiritum Sanctum revisiscimus.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 20 Dec 1910, Berlin Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
Then the physical body ejects the etheric body without developed sense organs Then it's like a blind man, and it only sees its own daydreams. While a man's sheaths undergo a change in this way, his connection with the macrocosm also changes. This connection must be cultivated in the right way, otherwise disasters occur in the whole world, and not just in man.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 20 Dec 1910, Berlin Translator Unknown Rudolf Steiner
The physical and etheric bodies are closely connected in an ordinary man. Whether he raises a hand or thinks, when he uses his physical body he also sets the corresponding part of the etheric body in motion. This connection should become looser in an esoteric. A man has a backbone that's connected with the brain and sense organs. When he meditates, he creates a kind of a “forebone” in his etheric body; that's the row of lotus flowers that lies behind the breastbone. The loosening of the physical and etheric bodies enables a man to heal wounds faster. Diseases of the physical body that remained concealed while the close connection was there, can then appear. One shouldn't pay much attention to small pains and ailments, because they're all transitory. But one can feel very uncomfortable when this loosening begins. Theosophical study already brings about this loosening, whereas scientific training makes the connection between the physical and etheric bodies even tighter. So through meditation the etheric body gets the tendency to become separated from the physical body. One can intensify this through a suitable diet. Diets give the physical body the tendency to push out the etheric body. This is an aid that however brings about the wrong thing if esoteric exercises aren't added. Then the physical body ejects the etheric body without developed sense organs Then it's like a blind man, and it only sees its own daydreams. While a man's sheaths undergo a change in this way, his connection with the macrocosm also changes. This connection must be cultivated in the right way, otherwise disasters occur in the whole world, and not just in man. For instance, someone who would utter the sacred, unspeakable name in an unsuitable group would conjure up something worse than earthquakes and volcanic eruptions over the region. Therefore, it makes a big difference how the Rosicrucian verse is spoken, namely with or without the name that's just pseudonym for the highest spiritual being. Only the latter way of speaking the verse is an esoteric one.

266-II. From the Contents of Esoteric Classes II: 1910–1912: Esoteric Lesson 20 Dec 1910, Berlin
Translator Unknown
Rudolf Steiner

The physical and etheric bodies are closely connected in an ordinary man. Whether he raises a hand or thinks, when he uses his physical body he also sets the corresponding part of the etheric body in motion. This connection should become looser in an esoteric.

A man has a backbone that's connected with the brain and sense organs. When he meditates, he creates a kind of a “forebone” in his etheric body; that's the row of lotus flowers that lies behind the breastbone.

The loosening of the physical and etheric bodies enables a man to heal wounds faster. Diseases of the physical body that remained concealed while the close connection was there, can then appear. One shouldn't pay much attention to small pains and ailments, because they're all transitory. But one can feel very uncomfortable when this loosening begins. Theosophical study already brings about this loosening, whereas scientific training makes the connection between the physical and etheric bodies even tighter.

So through meditation the etheric body gets the tendency to become separated from the physical body. One can intensify this through a suitable diet. Diets give the physical body the tendency to push out the etheric body. This is an aid that however brings about the wrong thing if esoteric exercises aren't added. Then the physical body ejects the etheric body without developed sense organs Then it's like a blind man, and it only sees its own daydreams.

While a man's sheaths undergo a change in this way, his connection with the macrocosm also changes. This connection must be cultivated in the right way, otherwise disasters occur in the whole world, and not just in man. For instance, someone who would utter the sacred, unspeakable name in an unsuitable group would conjure up something worse than earthquakes and volcanic eruptions over the region. Therefore, it makes a big difference how the Rosicrucian verse is spoken, namely with or without the name that's just pseudonym for the highest spiritual being. Only the latter way of speaking the verse is an esoteric one.

Results 4651 through 4660 of 6073

˂ 1 ... 464 465 466 467 468 ... 608 ˃

The Rudolf Steiner Archive