Esoteric Development: Karma, Meditation, and Spiritual Responsibility

GA 266II — 23 February 1912, Stuttgart

Esoteric Lesson

In the course of the last lectures, we learned that our entire existence is guided and directed by higher beings, each of whom, in their particular capacity, works on the creation of the world and on our specific humanity. If we want to connect with them through concentration and meditation, we must fill ourselves with a sense of humility that cannot be compared to the humility we may have in our daily lives, for that sense of humility is far beyond human comprehension when we connect spiritually with these high beings, who are also our teachers, in the spiritual world. Only later does the human being acquire the ability to distinguish the true beings from the emanations of his own inner forces. A sign can be given which leads to real knowledge of whether what is seen comes from higher worlds or from our own inner being: You feel it in your heart, it permeates you with a warmth and excitement that radiates from the cosmos into your heart, because the heart is connected on the one hand with the sign of the zodiac of Leo and on the other hand with the sun, and the warmth of these forces contributes to spiritual vision.

What does it mean to be an esoteric?

Throughout all phases of their earthly existence, human beings are bound by their karma, from which they cannot escape, for the consequences of their thoughts, feelings, and actions, and especially their deeds, follow them irrevocably through all their incarnations, sooner or later. The guilt they have incurred must be atoned for on this earth, depending on the circumstances into which they have been brought through their incarnation. Divine guidance ensures this. Before human beings take their development into their own hands, everything proceeds according to fixed laws that cannot be accelerated by anything. [accelerated]¹. If he now enters esoteric training, something completely different happens to him. He frees himself from guidance, takes his development into his own hands, and becomes a qualitatively different person. How? Everything he previously considered desirable now loses its value for him, his views and attitudes change, he sees that he has often acted ruthlessly and harshly in the past; from now on, his sense of responsibility becomes much more subtle and he tries in every way to make up for his past mistakes, even if it costs him great sacrifice, both outwardly and inwardly.

Meditation and other exercises given to the esotericist transform his etheric body through daily repetition, provided that they are done in the true sense, that is, with the right feelings and through images that arise internally. Then the etheric body gradually detaches itself from the physical body and transforms itself. If these exercises have been done for a long time with patience and devotion of the whole being (but this should only be done for a short time each time), then gradually, very quietly, as the person wakes up from sleep, something wonderful will become noticeable that they cannot express in words, because it is a very delicate feeling of an experience in the spiritual world from which they have just returned. After a while, he sees colors appear before him, in which forms develop, and in them he encounters something completely different from what he has been accustomed to seeing. However, it must be warned that these formations – and many other things that will arise and which, at the beginning of spiritual development, resemble things in our everyday environment – should not immediately be regarded as spiritual experiences, for very often they come from our own soul, from which they radiate, as our own soul qualities. Now, however, it must be expressly emphasized that esoteric training alone does not make people better. No matter how highly intellectual or morally virtuous a person may be, there are still unbalanced bad qualities hidden in their soul, which have mostly been covered up by conventional customs. Human beings are actually worse than they are usually thought to be. In esoteric development, which people now take into their own hands, their vices inevitably come to the fore, and here the esotericist must use all his strength to overcome them. He brings his karma upon himself and accelerates it through his development. Let us understand this well, for we have entered a different path of life; we have now become companions of our high spiritual guides, who have guided us alone until now, for now we have taken over the leadership ourselves and also the full responsibility for it.

Now it is often said that it is nothing but egoism on the part of human beings to want to develop more quickly than their fellow human beings. But this is not the case. As soon as we have realized through our teaching that we are of divine origin and that we must develop back up to the original source of our existence, to divinity, then it is even a sin of omission to say: I will wait quietly for my time to come, I do not want to preempt the Deity, it will lead me to my goal anyway. When people speak like this, there is a great deal of spiritual arrogance in it, for the gods have placed the seeds of our spiritual faculties within us, and if we are aware of this, it must be our duty not to leave these powers lying fallow and leave their blossoming to the general stream of development. We must take the development of our spiritual organs into our own hands; we must no longer allow ourselves to be led, but become comrades to our leaders. It is a difficult path. There can be no question of egoism, for we have obligations to our leaders who have shown us the way thus far.

Let us now turn our thoughts back to the high Being who has taken special care of us today. It is always a favorable constellation when an E.S. is held on a Friday because of the great influence this Being pours into our thoughts and feelings: (Mantram) [Quote of the Day].

In the previous lesson, we discussed why we should become esotericists; today, I would like to tell you about the true meaning of daily meditation. Meditation has been tested and given to us by the masters of wisdom and harmony of feelings for esotericism. Its power is irrefutable when practiced in the true sense with the utmost devotion. Meditation should be practiced shortly before falling asleep, after banishing from our soul all thoughts that still connect us to the day's life with its joys and pleasures, its worries and troubles. Meditation must be our last thought that we take with us into the other world so that the spiritual beings can connect with us. We immerse ourselves in their etheric bodies, they permeate us with their powers so that we can receive new strength and fresh health from them for the coming day. How often, unfortunately, do many people go into their sleep with thoughts of all kinds of pleasures of everyday material life? These outpourings of thoughts create vibrations that have a repulsive effect on the spiritual beings, and the person thereby works to a high degree against their spiritual and physical development. Just as we immerse ourselves in the spiritual atmosphere in the evening, so too should we not immediately allow ourselves to be overwhelmed in the morning upon awakening by all that filled our lives the previous day with toil and burdens, worries, desires, and passions. Let us push all this aside for a while, let our thoughts linger a little longer in the realms from which we have just emerged; and after a longer or shorter period of practice, we will also feel how this promotes our development, and not only for our inner being, for the radiant power that has flowed into us will also pass from our eyes and hands into our deeds for the good of humanity.