Maya, Lucifer-Ahriman, and Esoteric Practice

GA 266II — 3 December 1910, Kassel

Esoteric Lesson

Esoteric exercises are the technique of spiritual life.

Maya = Maha-aya; ya or ye = being; a = negation; Maha-aya therefore means: great non-being.

It is only through the influence of Lucifer and Ahriman that we have become physical inhabitants of the earth; otherwise our egos would have remained in spiritual regions and our bodies on the earth's surface would have been guided only from those regions.

Nevertheless, although Lucifer and Ahriman fight against the direct working of the divine spirit, they are nevertheless willed by the spirit, for it is only through such resistance that the ego comes to full physical objectification.

If Ahriman did not exist, we would not see the green of the plant as such, but only the spirit being represented in the plant. The individual plant is like a hair on the body of the earth.

It is only through Lucifer and Ahriman that our egoism arises. But it is necessary that this egoism lives within us and expresses itself fully, for only in this way can all life develop physically. But we must become aware that every action we take has a selfish coloring. Our compassion drives us to help others because we do not want to suffer with them.

There is no point in the universe where there is no force.

All the etheric brains of human beings are more different than the leaves of a tree. The luminous points in it resemble a photograph of the sky, which is full of stars.

The effect of Atma, Budhi, and Manas is manifested in the human eye.

This symbol also has an effect on us at night. We should keep the chaotic impressions of the day as far away from it as possible.

We should also refrain from chatting about theosophy during everyday occasions, such as meals. It should be a sacred thing for us.