Four Mantras of Esoteric Development: Thought, Image, Light, Will

GA 266I — 1 November 1907, Berlin

Esoteric Lesson

1. In pure thought you find
   The self that can sustain itself.
2. When you transform thought into image,
   You experience creative wisdom.
3. When you condense feeling into light,
   You reveal the formative power.
4. If you reify the will into being,
   you create in the world.

Esotericism is, on the one hand, knowledge and mission, and on the other, life. (The esotericist has duties toward himself. These four sayings contain everything that can occupy the esotericist for years to come.)

1. Pure thoughts are those that do not refer only to visible, tangible things, as current scientific thoughts do, but only to things that are thought, such as the theosophical teachings on the constitution of the human being, existence between death and life, the development of the earth, etc. Pure thoughts give human beings a secure inner foundation; purely material thinking leads to instability and nervousness.

Meditation leads to the loosening of the astral from the etheric body, and of the etheric body from the physical body. (If one of these bodies is loosened too quickly in relation to the others, great imbalances occur, even on the physical level; for example, the too rapid loosening of the ego causes nervousness.) If purely logical thinking is not practised, this loosening can lead to dangers. In another record, it is stated here: “Through these loosening, the human being enters the astral world and the Devachan world.” The ways of seeing things in the astral plane and the Devachan plane are fundamentally different from those on the physical plane, so that one is easily confused when first entering them; only the logic of thinking remains the same. This is why it is particularly important to cultivate this. (One should not think thoughts that are attached to the sensory world, nor should one experiment, but rather think abstract thoughts that are purely spiritual. Logical and pure thinking also has a strengthening and healing effect on the physical body, making it less susceptible to disease; those who are accustomed to it, for example mathematicians, have much less to fear when visiting cholera hospitals, etc. This is true, but it is less noticeable because the connections are not known.)

This also gives us confidence in all matters of external and internal life. Strong people will only listen to their inner voice, while weak people will always listen to the advice and suggestions of others.

1. Pure thoughts should be transformed into images, for example, the mental image of a plant striving upward and turning its blossoms toward the sun. Human beings are plants in reverse. We must undergo an inner transformation into plant-like beings, just as the finer substance of plants gradually transforms into flesh and thereby absorbs desires, passions, and instincts. Now humans must become spiritual again, that is, consciously plant-like, and therefore purify themselves of all the dross of the astral body until they have reached the stage where they themselves become creative—through the words they speak.

Another example: Imagine the various planets in a substantial form, the moon, for example, as if made of a kind of peat substance or living spinach (i.e., plant substance), with woody structures (bark-like or crust-like, as now incorporated in our trees) corresponding to our physical rock structure; likewise, imagine the state of the sun as full of life and spiritual development. If we had remained united with the sun, we would have become spiritualized too quickly; that is why the sun was separated; but if we had remained a world body with the moon, we would have gradually become rigid and ossified. In this way, the earth and with it humanity have attained equilibrium (balance).

Everything that was created by the Deity existed first as an image, just as a painter has a spiritual image before his eyes before he puts it on canvas.

1. If, for example, one feels that the sun is only spirit and creative joy and the moon is cold, harsh, contracting, and ossified, then the latter will produce a light phenomenon that changes from orange to red to brown, while with the sun the feeling condenses into a light phenomenon that changes from blue to blue-violet to red-violet. If this phenomenon becomes more and more intense, then finally figures or beings appear as carriers of light and color; they take on form and shape.

2. If the will of human beings, which is still impure and very poorly developed today, becomes stronger, then they can create through the power of their will. If they can think their way into the future, into something that does not yet exist, for example into the state of Jupiter, the future state of the Earth (Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan, which are to replace our Earth; to immerse themselves intensively in this creation), and join themselves to the will of the world leadership, then with this will they help to create the new state and co-create in the world. If all of humanity wanted the Earth not to become Jupiter, then it really would not become Jupiter. That would be magic — black magic.

Addendum by another hand:

1. All four bodies of the human being must be developed simultaneously. If, for example, the ego is loosened too early, nervousness arises. It loosens in the astral body, but this would have to be loosened at the same time in the etheric body. Logic holds true on all levels. Abstract thinking has a beneficial effect on health. Mathematicians have nothing to fear from epidemics. Strong people listen to their inner voice, weak people listen to the advice of others.

2. Experience the upward striving of plants toward the sun within yourself; but man is the reverse of a plant. Go through this change inwardly. In this way, man should purify his astral body. Also imagine the different natures of the planets. Just as the deity creates, so the artist brings his inner images to external expression.

3. The sun was and is spirit and creative joy; the moon is cold, rigid, and contracting; ossification. Sun: from blue through violet to red. Moon: from orange through red to brown.

4. Through their will, human beings determine forms; thus they create. To the extent that the will of human beings becomes purer, they develop toward the right kind of creation with their increasing strength.

Record B

In pure thought you find
The self that can hold itself.

Thinking in pure thoughts is the thinking of the esoteric student when he thinks, for example, about the origin of the world or the becoming of the human being. This prepares what is achieved through meditation and concentration: a loosening of the four human members, the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the I. If one of these members is loosened too quickly in relation to the others, great disharmony and imbalance arise here on the physical plane. For example, loosening the I too quickly causes nervousness. Therefore, the ego must first be relaxed in the astral body, then the astral body in the etheric body, and finally the etheric body in the physical body. This is possible through conscientious study, whereby the ego first experiences a point of support and stability before it relaxes in the astral realm. Since the logic of thinking is the same on all levels, it is necessary to first acquire this logic on the physical plane in order to avoid confusion in the higher worlds. However, one should not just think thoughts taken from the sensory world—nor should one experiment recklessly—but rather abstract thoughts that are purely spiritual. In this way we find our self — our I — which can hold itself and carry itself independently in the spiritual realm. This is the first step toward finding ourselves in the purely spiritual realm!

Then the pure thought should be transformed into an image:

Transform the thought into an image,
You experience creative wisdom.

For example, one can imagine a plant turning its head toward the sun: man, on the other hand, is the reverse plant. Now make the transition from plant to man inwardly: how the fine substance of the plant gradually transforms into flesh and thereby absorbs drives and passions. Now try to become plant-like again, but spiritually conscious, and purify yourself of all the dross of the astral body until you reach the stage where you will create through the word.

A similar exercise that makes our thoughts mobile and lively, whereby we transform the abstract idea into an image, is the following: Imagine a plant growing, but that it belongs only to Maya. Now imagine the leaves in a violet-red hue, the stem blue, and also imagine the position reversed, so that the calyx is in the earth and the roots are pointing upward. If you feel this correctly, you will be able to experience yourself as a plant and grow into it, thus growing up to the spiritual heights. For: “All imaginations will appear to us in the right way if we imagine the world within ourselves as Maya!” It is very good to do such exercises with animals. Animals have only experienced half of the transformation that humans underwent from plant life (head down) to human life (head up). Therefore, they stand in the middle between plants and humans—in the horizontal plane. This is the occult meaning of the cross, whose three directions express the plant, the animal, and the human being.

Furthermore, one should imagine the different substances of the planets: the old moon in a kind of peat substance or also a kind of living spinach (cooked lettuce), i.e., plant substance: within it the saltings, the bark-like and crust-like substances, as we now find them in trees.

Then the transition to the sun takes place.

If you condense the feeling into light,
you reveal the formative power.

Here one senses how the sun was only spirit, creative joy, in contrast to the moon, which is cold, rigid, and contracting. That is why the moon had to be eliminated. By awakening such feelings, one will be able to perceive light phenomena in the moon that change from orange to red and brown, while in the sun one can experience blue and blue-violet and red-violet. If this sensation becomes intense, the beings that carry this light appear in colors and take on forms and shapes:

If you reify the will into being,
you create in the world.

Once the will of human beings, which is still impure today, is itself pure and purified, human beings will possess the strength of will to be able to create through it. Through the power of his will, he can imagine the planets that preceded our Earth and those that will follow it: to immerse oneself completely in this creation, especially with regard to the future planets, means to give form to the undifferentiated will and to co-create the world! - If, for example, people do not want Jupiter to replace our Earth, then this would not be possible (even if it were black magic). This is only mentioned to show how powerful and strong the will of man is and will become!

These four mantras also represent the stages of higher knowledge: Thus,

the 1st mantra corresponds to pure thinking, through which we grasp the I,
the 2nd mantra to imagination (image),
the 3rd mantra to inspiration (light),
the 4th mantra to intuition (essence).

Practiced in this way, they lead the student from thinking into the essence of the spiritual itself.

1. In pure thought you find
   The self that can hold itself.
2. When you transform thought into image,
   You experience creative wisdom.
3. If you condense feeling into light,
   You reveal the formative power.
4. If you objectify the will into being,
   You create in the world.

Record C

The cross is experienced by letting the forces of one's heart flow out with complete devotion:

first into the hands and arms. The horizontal beam of the cross is imagined. Meditation thought: firm will that the hands should only do what is good, beautiful, and beneficial for humanity;

secondly, into the feet. The lower part of the vertical beam is added to the horizontal beam. Meditation thought: to stand firm only where it is right, good, and beautiful, and to go only where it is right, good, and beautiful;

thirdly, in the larynx. The cross is completed. Meditation thought: with the firm will to speak only what is right, good, beautiful, and beneficial;

fourthly, in the brain. With the most heartfelt desire to think only pure, good thoughts.

Experience of the pentagram:

First, direct the energy from your head to your right foot, then from there to your left hand, then to your right hand, then to your left foot, and then back to your head.

One must gradually develop the plant nature within oneself. This is achieved by approaching the divine with complete devotion and with the will to do good as naturally as a plant blooms and smells sweet.

(Experience the cross and pentagram by allowing [the forces] to flow into the individual limbs with complete devotion; create mental images within yourself during meditation).