Introduction to the Basics of Theosophy

GA 111 — 8 March 1908, Rotterdam

XXII. The Esoteric Life

By the esoteric life we mean the knowledge of the things of the higher worlds, to which we already feel drawn by a longing, a homesickness. How can we attain knowledge of them? To put it in a nutshell, it happens through initiation, which Dr. Steiner compared to the seeing of one born blind. Initiation is accompanied by a gradual awakening of abilities and powers, whereby we perceive unknown things that belong to a world of light, color and radiance beyond the realm of the material senses. The astral, devachanic and still higher worlds are indeed around us, and the development of spiritual life takes place according to the laws of nature, and not outside of their regular development. At some point we all reach these worlds, and there have been initiates since ancient times whose development has progressed faster than that of the rest of humanity. Looking back into the dim and distant past, we find that in those ancient times the souls of men had not yet fully taken possession of their bodies. Men of those early times lacked the power of forming fixed ideas, and great Teachers were needed to guide them.

The first point to be emphasized is that no man can conquer initiation for himself. There is a mysterious occult law that no selfish desire can further our spiritual development, but only a sense of duty and altruism, and not only the feeling that I want to help my fellow human beings, but also the insight that I must prepare the tools to do so in the most purposeful way.

Consciousness of this duty is one of the first great conditions for the inner life and the influence of its laws. This is because there is a great difference between the thinking of the primitive man and that of one who has developed esoterically. For from the thoughts and feelings of the latter, consequences and effects emanate into the outer world. Therefore, the person who wants to begin the esoteric life must first be imbued with a sense of duty to humanity, of responsibility for the consequences of his occult influence on the outside world.

The next point that must be clearly in our minds is that the esoteric life is dependent on certain conditions in connection with the great laws of the occult world. It is now quite difficult for us to realize that it is not as we imagine it should be, but as those who know it by experience tell us. You make a glass rod electrically by rubbing it. But if you start saying, “I don't want to rub it,” you will never succeed in making your stick electric. Without submitting to the great laws of occult life, you will not get anywhere. To gain a preliminary understanding of these laws, we must clearly visualize the state of present humanity.

If we look far back into early humanity with the occult eye, we come to a strange discovery. In ancient Lemuria and also later, in the Atlantean era, as the Akashic Records teach us, man felt the influence of his surroundings much more than he does today. The physical possibility of sleeping depended on the sunrise or sunset. In another way, people were subject to the influences of the moon. Certain bodily functions depended with great precision on the cosmic clock. Certain events occurred at sunrise and sunset. It was physically impossible at that time to turn night into day, as it happens now in our big cities. Mankind lived in harmony with the rhythms of nature. The fact that this harmony was lost in Lemuria was due to the unconscious ego. It was only with the conscious development of this ego that disharmony arose. The ego began to show its self-awareness by deviating from the rhythms of nature. The activities that had previously been connected with the course of the sun and moon were postponed. Until this time, when this took place (in the epoch of the transition to the fifth race), man had possessed a kind of dreamy clairvoyance. Now, in conquering our present form of consciousness, which, as I said, first expressed itself in the deviation from the rhythms of nature, this clairvoyance was temporarily lost. The effectiveness of the self that had awakened to consciousness consisted in the ordering and purifying of the astral body, and this purified and ordered part became Manas. This Manas encompasses all thoughts, all memories, every intellectual function, and we can call it the self of the spirit, the spirit self. And it is the task of the self to make the astral body a manasic body through purification. But how can clairvoyance and clairaudience, which used to be part of the human being, even if only in a dreamlike way, but has been lost through deviation from the rhythm of nature, be acquired again? This can only be done by the influence of the principle of Budhi on the etheric body, which is its shadow in the lower worlds. In this way it can be conquered again, but not in a dream-like state, but with full consciousness.

The esoteric life wants to awaken this clairvoyant state of consciousness again through methods that influence the soul. The gift of clairvoyance is not given to man. The master or [the disciple he has tested] gives the candidate instructions, which, if followed, must bring him back into harmony with the rhythm of nature. In preparation, he can familiarize himself with the theories and teachings of the great esoteric wisdom through study, but this purely intellectual exercise is not enough. The candidate must devote himself to meditation and concentration at regular times each day, cultivating inner contemplation of his own soul life. Regular repetition has an effect on the higher soul life, of which the etheric body is the vehicle. The content of meditation should be one or other profound saying, and it is best if the teacher chooses this, even if it is desirable that the saying itself comes to us from a high spiritual authority, such as: “Before the eye can see, it must wean itself from tears.” This sentence contains a world of spiritual depth and was given by a Master of Wisdom.

From such a well, the truth flows inexhaustibly and springs forth again and again in new reflections and in a thousand shades of spiritual light. The esoteric life does not consist in intellectually understanding such a saying, one must approach it again and again with one's whole soul. One should not always seek or want a new saying, but the same content must go through the soul again and again. This also explains the powerful effect of prayer: those who pray allow the same spiritual current to pass through their soul again and again. And repetition means acting on a different spiritual vehicle than that of the intellect.

If we follow the structure of the human being, we find on the one hand the I, this name that is inexpressible to the environment, and on the other hand the four lower principles, each of which must be transformed and made conscious by the I. Thus, the desires must be transformed into moral ideals. If we compare the savage with the European with the occult eye, we see that in the former the astral body is unified, but in the latter, a part of it has been transformed by the ego into manas. The sight of the aura proves this. And this manas is the spiritual self in occultism, but in its lowest form. 'But man is not only manas. As a person grows older, he gains in knowledge, at least up to a certain age. But what remains almost the same – unless he develops his being according to occult methods – are his habits and temperament. These habits, these characteristics, these habits proceed from the etheric body. Only impulses from the buddhi, of which the etheric is the reflection, can have a determining and developing effect on the etheric body. These impulses, which must act on the etheric body again and again, are awakened by devotional religious feelings, true art, and music. Thus, through the influence of Budhi, the etheric body is awakened and transformed, and the power to consciously change a habit arises, which actually means to renounce a habit or to unlearn a moral failing.

And repetition also plays a role here. At regular intervals, every day, a person should devote themselves to the meditation mentioned above, not only grasping the content of the meditation but also immersing themselves in it with their soul. As much of the etheric is recreated in consciousness, so much is Budhi consciousness. Later, when the candidate wants to bring the principle of the Atma to consciousness, he will have to act on the physical body.

Now - said Dr. Steiner - we still have to get a clear idea of this repetition in rhythms. We have to imagine the matter analogous to the growth laws of the plant world. The growth of a plant is governed from within by the etheric principle. This etheric principle is guided by the law of repetition, so that the branches come on the trunk and the leaves on the twigs. The astral principle of the plant surrounds it from the outside as a shining light, guiding and taming the principle of repetition in its work and stopping the further formation of leaves at the right moment to make room for the formation of blossoms, flowers, fruit and seeds. The etheric principle is that of repetition, the astral principle that of closure. In the human being, the effect of the etheric principle can be seen in the structure of the spine, which is closed by the formation of the skull. To live esoterically means to influence the etheric body through repetition, because what happens unconsciously must be repeated in the mind. This repetition must take place day after day in meditation. Just as all the forces in a plant work outwards in growth, so in man all the forces must work outwards through meditation. Through this spiritual repetition, the soul regains rhythm; in other words, it has regular spiritual points of rest.

You can follow a simple rhythm every day or use the same saying week after week, but you can also make the rhythm composite, for example, by having a different saying for each day of the week. In this way, the rhythm is developed from that from which we ourselves are developed, and the I comes to independence, emerging from itself in rhythm. That is why in old legends, initiates of the sixth degree are called solar heroes, because they did not deviate from the rhythm given to nature by the course of the sun.

The esoteric life is not repetition alone, it must also have guidance and limitation, just as the astral highlight has in plants. This element is represented in the development of the esoteric life of man by devotional feelings, religion, true art; aligning oneself with an individuality as one's ideal. And this meditation and this devotion must then coincide, as in the plant, the flower bud and fruit.

But the man who devotes himself to the esoteric life must also keep his eye on the world around him. Escaping from the world is not his ultimate goal. He has capacity for work and industry and does not want to be a saint in the distance, but a saint in the world. It is not esoteric to go one's way, absorbed in oneself, when there is much to see, to learn and to do outside. And the work of such a person must be the outward expression of his inner being. Therefore, separation based on misunderstanding must give way to holiness in the service of humanity.