The History of the Esoteric School 1904–1914, Volume One

GA 264 — Berlin

To Mrs. Anna Wagner in Lugano

Berlin, January 2, 1905

Dear Mrs. Wagner!

A few weeks ago I was only able to briefly inform you that your affiliation to the Esoteric School can be realized. One enters this school as a “shravaka”, which is literally “listener” or “pupil”.

Now it is my duty to speak to you about the nature and significance of the school. You know that behind the entire theosophical movement stand highly developed beings whom we call “masters” or “mahatmas”. These exalted Beings have already traversed the path which the rest of humanity still has to travel. They are now working as the great “Teachers of Wisdom and of the Harmony of Human Feelings”. They are already active today on the higher planes, to which the rest of humanity will organize themselves in the course of the next developmental periods, or “rounds”. On the physical plane they work through their authorized “messengers”, of whom H. P. Blavatsky was the first, that is, for the Theosophical movement. The Masters neither found an outer organization or society nor preside over one. The Theosophical Society was brought into being by its founders (H. P. Blavatsky, Olcott and others) in order to promote the work of the Masters on the physical plane, but these Masters themselves have never influenced the Society itself as such. In its nature and leadership it is the work of people purely on the physical plane.

The situation is different with regard to the “Esoteric School”. It was founded by the Masters themselves and is under the direction of the Masters. All the knowledge and power that flows into the Theosophical Society flows to it through this school. Its members undergo their probationary period and ultimately attain direct communion with the Sublime Ones themselves. How long this process takes depends entirely on the devotees themselves. At first, each person cannot do more than promote the work of the masters with loyal devotion.

The Masters appointed Mrs. H. P. Blavatsky as the first “Head of the School.” The present head is our dear, esteemed Annie Besant.

The Shrâvaka should come to a point where reincarnation and karma are not just theory but certainties of life, and furthermore, where he recognizes the great mission of H.P. Blavatsky through himself. Nothing is imposed on anyone in the school; only self-knowledge is encouraged. Now there are four ways to travel the path of the Shrävaka. You will receive further information about these four ways very soon. I would ask you to go through them carefully with your dear husband and to let me know which of the four ways you intend to choose.

You can already consider yourself part of the school if you begin a meditation exercise on the day determined by the star constellation. I will describe this to you for the time being. It will be modified later.

For the time being, this exercise would consist of the following:

Early in the morning, before starting any other daily work, preferably before breakfast, if this is at all compatible with other family and other duties, the following should happen:

I. One should be completely awake, inwardly calm and collected. No external impressions should gain access to our inner being. We should also suppress the memory of all everyday experiences. Once we have established complete “inner silence”, we enter into the elevation to our higher self.

This is done by intensely repeating the following formula to ourselves:

Brighter than the sun
Purer than the snow
Is the Self,
The Spirit in my heart.
That Self am I; I am that Self.

Allow about five minutes for this.

II. This is followed by silent, introspective meditation on a sentence from one of the inspired writings. For this part of the meditation, you should spend four weeks reflecting on the sentence: “Steadfastness stands higher than all success”.

This sentence was given to us by the masters to impress upon us that we should never allow ourselves to be distracted or discouraged by any failure in our actions. A hundred failures should not deter us from doing - for the hundred and first time - what we have recognized as being right.

III. Then, after II. has lasted five minutes, there follows a further five-minute prayer-like devotion to that which is the highest, the most divine in us. It is not a matter of regarding this or that as divine, but of directing all our thoughts, feelings and will to that which we have always regarded as divine. This may be called by different names by different people. It is not important whether we call that to which we give ourselves, God, Christ or the “Master”, but it is the devotion itself.

This completes the three-part morning meditation, which lasts fifteen minutes.

In the evening before going to sleep, every student has to look back on their life during the day. The important thing is not to let as many events of the day as possible pass before our soul, but to do so with the most important thing. We ask ourselves: What can we learn from what we have experienced or done? In this way we make our life a lesson. We relate to ourselves in such a way that we learn from each day for each day. - In this way we take the past with us into the future and prepare our immortality. Then we end the day with the thought of dear fellow human beings who need our good thoughts.

It does not matter if the student falls asleep during this evening exercise. Then he will fall asleep with a tendency to develop upwards. And that too is good. Only the morning meditation must be done from beginning to end in a fully alert state. I only ask that you do the evening review in reverse, that is, starting with the events of the evening and then going back to the morning.

You can start with the meditation on one of the days between January 6 and January 20. You cannot start after this day. If you are unable to start during this period, you will not be able to start again until between February 6 and February 18. I cannot tell you today why this is so. But a time will come when it will be quite obvious to you.

I do not need to tell you anything else for the time being, since you have long since organized your life as a theosophist. Wine or other alcoholic beverages prevent development.

When we carry out what I have indicated, the “Exalted Masters” find access to our soul. They can help us and under their blessed influence we grow in strength, knowledge and confidence in life. Our dear Annie Besant emphasizes again and again that the Esoteric School is the “heart of the Theosophical movement”. And so it is. Believe me on this, dearest, most revered Mrs. Wagner: in this school, it is much less about learning and intellectual work and much more about loyal devotion to the Theosophical ideals. Love for spiritual life and, as a result, genuine great love for humanity leads to where we are meant to come. The study is nothing more than a means to an end. We should pursue it as far as we can each. But it is the theosophical attitude that makes the genuine E.S. disciple.

And with that, I welcome you as one of us in the name of the holy masters, at whose feet I place what I can, and against whose will I never want to consciously do anything in my life. Blessed are they, the exalted.

With warmest regards,

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Please do not hesitate to ask me anything you need to know about E.S. I will set aside time in the future to answer E.S. messages.