Introduction to the Basics of Theosophy

GA 111 — 30 March 1909, Rome

XXXI. Introduction to Theosophy VI

Yesterday we described the path of Christian initiation and saw how tremendously difficult it is, so difficult that from the first steps it requires a separation from daily life. Therefore, in our time, life is not compatible with that path. Because of this, the occultists of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw the need to create the possibility of making the path of initiation more accessible. Already in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the concepts of humanity had changed, as was particularly evident in the time of Copernicus and Galileo. The path therefore had to be in line with the new ways of thinking, especially with the natural science that was developing at the time. The Rosicrucian path accommodated this necessity. It leaves no question unanswered, be it in the field of religion or in that of science. This initiation reveals to us the deepest depths of biblical wisdom and empowers us to meet all the demands of modern life. This path is named after the founder of the Rosicrucian school, Christian Rosenkreutz, whose true name, however, is known only to the initiated.

The Rosicrucian path is different from the Christian one, although it has the same goal. Let's take a look at what it consists of. It consists of deeds and actions in the innermost part of the soul, so inward that other people need not notice them and they can easily be accomplished between all the ordinary pursuits of life. These are purification exercises that help a great deal, and they are:

concentration of thought,

initiative of action,

balance in joy and in suffering,

positivity in spiritual life,

impartiality of judgment,

carrying out all the above together in harmony.

The main condition is the constant repetition of such exercises. The result is the transformation of the etheric body, which is the carrier in which all our habits, which we owe to repetition, are, so to speak, registered. The plant, for example, which already has an etheric body, shows us this law of repetition by constantly producing new leaves; whereas where the plant's astral body is, this law fails.

The necessity for repetition also applies to human beings in relation to their higher development. Mere intellectual comprehension is not enough to transform the etheric body. This is the basis of the effect of religious exercises, in which repetition is always considered for the esoteric life. That is why, for example, the Lord's Prayer is repeated several times; and it is not enough just to understand it.

[First exercise:] Let us now describe the first exercise, that of concentration. We choose a time and place when our mind is at its calmest and begin to think about some random object. The object must be chosen by ourselves and should preferably be without suggestive properties, that is, be uninteresting, for example, a pin. Our thought must remain fixed on the pin, even when all possible concrete forms of the pin are considered, as are all the concepts that relate to it. Only the image of the pin should be held. This exercise must last five minutes, and the most important thing about it is not the object that is thought of, but the strength with which it is thought. The object of concentration can therefore be different every day, and can even be changed several times in one day.

Second exercise: initiative of action. You decide to perform some action at a certain time of the day; the more insignificant, the better, when you are sure not to be disturbed. For example, you say to yourself: “This time tomorrow, you will put a chair in that corner, and nothing will stop you from doing it.” Repeating such small actions develops a strong will in a short time.

Third exercise: balance and impartiality. The esoteric disciple must be able to control desire and suffering, suppressing the involuntary automatic laughter and crying, and being as little as possible elated or saddened to death. Of course, this does not make one insensitive. On the contrary, the student must become more and more sensitive and understand all levels of suffering and joy, but in everything he must always remain master of himself.

Fourth exercise: The positivity of the soul, that is, the nature of thinking and feeling, to seek in all things that which is good, beautiful and useful, even if it appears to be the opposite. Even in a madman, one can still find the divine spark of reason. To seek the truth in a world of error does not mean to become uncritical, but to take criticism so far as to discover what other people usually miss. In a Persian legend, we have an example of such positivity as understood by Christ. As he was traveling with his disciples, they saw the carcass of a dog in advanced decomposition. The apostles turned away in disgust, talking among themselves about the hideous sight. Christ, on the other hand, stopped in front of the carcass and pointed out to his disciples how beautiful the dog's teeth were.

Fifth exercise: Impartiality of judgment. This means giving up the absolute in personal opinion and always being prepared to change it when it is reasonable to do so. We must always be willing to learn something new, whether it comes from a child or a blade of grass.

[Sixth exercise:] Once you have practiced each of these exercises for a month, you should try to perform all five in harmony during the sixth month. This harmonization, by the way, must already begin gradually in the second month if the performance of the second exercise is not to detract from that of the first. In the third month, one should also do the first two exercises and continue in this way as far as one's daily duties permit. These exercises must act on the astral body; the impression made on it must be so strong that it retains it until the state of sleep when it is separated from the physical body. The training of the Rosicrucian must enable him to think without external stimulus. He must be able to draw the stimulus to think from within himself, so that the thought depends more and more on his will and is not simply produced by circumstances. These exercises gradually enable us to direct our attention to the facts of the supersensible world, the knowledge of which is the main thing in occult teachings. Many regret that Theosophy always speaks of worlds that are not accessible to ordinary perception, while science, on the other hand, proves everything it teaches. However, elementary Theosophy has always had this transcendental character in all occult schools.

Anyone who has understood the theory and tests it in life will see how everything fits together. Incidentally, there is an even higher stage, which is described in my “Philosophy of Freedom”. I apologize for quoting myself. But this book contains a sequence of thoughts, each of which follows from the one before in such a way that you could neither put one in the place of the other nor remove one from it.

The second stage is that you achieve the so-called “imagination” through a very special contemplation of yourself. One imagines pictures in the mind's eye, to which one devotes one's full attention, thereby awakening the imagination or imaginative consciousness. Again, at this point, a conversation takes place between the master and his student. The master says: See how the plant has its root in the earth, how it unfolds leaves and flowers; feel how it grows and how it has its juices within, and then look at the human being and learn to understand the difference. The plant is unconscious; but in man everything is reflected back as pleasure and suffering in varying degrees. In man, the red blood flows as the carrier of passions and instincts, while in the plant the chaste green sap moves, the passionless chlorophyll. Experience this! Then look to the real ideal of the future, when man will have transformed himself and his blood will have become as pure and chaste as the sap of the plant. The rose can serve as a symbol of this transformation, in which that which is green below turns red above without losing its purity and chastity. Feel this development towards ever higher levels! Feel further what is meant by the words: “Die and Become!” All passions must be overcome, and the red blood must become pure again. You see all this in the Rosicrucian symbol: in the black cross the death and in the seven roses the signs of the higher becoming.

In Jesus, the blood had become so pure that, according to legend, when the blood flowed from the five wounds, bees settled on the wound on the side and absorbed the blood, because it had become so pure that honey could be made from it, as from the pure blood of the plant. The main thing is to immerse yourself imaginatively in the imagined image, not just to imagine an image. The same applies to all symbols, for example the Key of Solomon: above is a white flying dragon, below is a black one that dies.

Through conscientious practice, one comes to wake up in the morning with the awareness that one has spent the night in a world of symbols. It is like emerging from the depths of the sea into the light, and the darkness brightens.

Then comes the third stage, the “reading of occult writing”. The images present themselves to the imagination, and it is no longer possible to think of deception. These images are the language of the higher beings: angels, archangels, seraphim, thrones and so on. Thus we experience the world of spiritual beings. From the real image, we learn to distinguish imagination through the effect it has on us. For example, the image of a glowing iron will never burn us like the glowing iron itself; and even though the image of a lemonade makes our mouths water, it will never quench our thirst. Through the imagination exercises, we learn to read the occult writing, and that is a significant step forward.

Then comes the fourth stage: the “preparation of the philosopher's stone”. This term might make you laugh when you think of the many ancient prescriptions that refer to it; but we know what it is about. Let us look at the plant again. Man inhales oxygen, accumulates carbon, and exhales carbonic acid. The plant, on the other hand, inhales carbonic acid, retains the carbon, and releases the oxygen, which man can use again. The breathing process of the plant, although considered unimportant as described in science, is of great importance in occultism. Because everything in the world is determined and ordered according to a law of harmony, the Master prescribes a rhythmic breathing method for the disciple, which we can only hint at because it belongs to the realm of esoteric teaching. The breathing process is arranged in such a way that the person processes carbon, as the plant does, so that here we actually have the purification and transformation of the blood, which is thereby made more plant-like. Carbon is the philosopher's stone. And here we have its preparation in broad strokes: the human being is the retort, learning to become a plant in the higher sense. But only those who can understand it in this higher sense learn it, and not those who would only seek a new source of material benefit in it.

Let us now turn to the fifth step. The Master says to the disciple: “Learn the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm!” Everything that surrounds the human being in the outer world is contained within him. We can, for example, mention the connection between the eye and the sun. If you abstract from everything external and concentrate solely on one point of the eye or the heart, then you understand the effect of the sun in the cosmos, because the solar substance is found in the eye and in the heart. Thus the disciple learns that the sun gave him the eye and the heart, just as he has different parts of the brain from the moon. In this way, the disciple gradually penetrates into his surroundings.

Now we come to the sixth stage: the disciple no longer thinks, let us say, of the heart, but of the forces that gave it to him, and so he does with all things. In this way one penetrates into the soul of things and experiences their unique life. For example, one would think that if one tore a leaf from a plant, it must feel pain like a body from which a finger is torn. But no, it is not. The plant enjoys being picked or burned or cut with a scythe. Nothing is more beautiful to see with the clairvoyant eye than at harvest time, when plants and flowers voluptuously enjoy the cut of the scythe. On the other hand, the plant suffers when it is pulled out of the earth by its roots. On the other hand, it is a pleasure for a stone to be split apart instead of being walled up with other stones to form a building. For salt, for example, being dissolved in water is a pleasure, whereas the crystallization process is suffering. In ancient times, the whole earth was embedded in water. Gradually it solidified, and it was born as if from the pains of the soul of the stones. We walk on fossilized suffering, as on the other hand, from their spiritualization, their bliss will arise. Paul said: Every created thing must pay for its birth with pain.

We have now reached the seventh stage, that of “bliss, which is inexpressible in human words. It provides the solution to the mystery of Christ.

As we can see, for this upward Rosicrucian path, one need only enter into oneself and at the same time remain in one's everyday life.