The Origin and Goal of the Human Being

GA 53 — 15 December 1904, Berlin

On the Inner Life

In my lectures on the basic concepts of theosophy, I have taken the liberty of sketching for you a picture of the nature of human beings and the so-called three worlds: the physical world itself, the soul world, and the spiritual world. Now, after New Year's, it will be my task to develop for you the most important theosophical insights into the origin of human beings, the origin of the Earth, and the celestial bodies in general. This will open up a broad perspective on the worldview that theosophy can offer us.

Today, however, I would like to point out in a few hints how human beings must develop inwardly if they themselves want to arrive at a conviction about the things that are proclaimed by the theosophical worldview. In doing so, I ask you to bear in mind that a great distinction must be made between the training of the human soul and the human spirit, which leads to an understanding of what the theosophist proclaims as his truth, his knowledge, his experience, and a second stage. A higher stage is only that which enables one to arrive at such knowledge and experiences oneself. I would say that a distinction must be made between an elementary stage of training, which leads to the ability to say “yes” to what the experienced mystic says, to say: I understand, I can reflect on this within myself, empathize with it, and recognize it as truth within certain limits — and a higher stage, through which one is enabled to have one's own experiences in the realm of the soul or spirit. Today we will concern ourselves with the first stage. The second stage concerns actual clairvoyance, and insofar as any public hints can be given about this actual clairvoyance, we will deal with it in a later lecture.

So, how to arrive at a kind of personal understanding of theosophical truths is the question that concerns us today. Do not think that I can give more than a few hints, for the training that the human soul and spirit must undergo in order to attain some degree of the aforementioned understanding is comprehensive. It requires a long, long period of inner study, and all the details necessary for this cannot, of course, even be touched upon in the course of a short lecture. What I am able to tell you is to the personal instruction in this field what the description of a microscope or a telescope is to the instructions for using the instrument that you can obtain in the laboratory or at the observatory itself.

First of all, it should be noted that for most people, real instruction in this field can only be obtained through a personal teacher. It may seem to some that people can develop inner abilities, spiritual powers, and spiritual insight through their own experimentation, and it may seem sad that personal guidance is necessary in this important area of life. However, the nature of such guidance provides sufficient guarantee that the individual will in no way become dependent on another person in any way. There is no higher esteem and honor for what has been called human dignity and self-esteem than that which the secret teacher has. Those who teach mystical and theosophical development give nothing but advice, and the highest teachers in these fields gave nothing but advice and instructions, and it is entirely up to the individual to decide to what extent they wish to follow them or not. It is up to the individual to decide what task he sets for his own soul and spirit; so strong is the esteem for human freedom that the teachers give nothing but advice and instructions. Everything that can be said in this field must be understood with this reservation in mind.

Then you must also be clear that the most important training in this field is not one that takes place in special outward forms, for which very special external measures are necessary, but that this training is a very intimate education of the human soul, that all the important stages that must be gone through take place in the deepest innermost part of the human being, that a transformation takes place within the human being, and no one, not even the closest friend, needs to notice anything. Thus, in silence, in peace and seclusion, the mystic is formed, the one who wants to come to an understanding of the soul and spirit world. No one, it must be emphasized again and again, needs to change their daily occupation in any way, needs to neglect their daily duties in the slightest or take any time away from them when they devote themselves to inner mystical training. On the contrary, those who believe they must devote special time to their mystical training, who neglect their duties and become bad citizens and bad members of human society by trying to gain insight into the higher worlds, will soon be convinced that very little can be achieved in this field in this way.

This inner training takes place not tumultuously, but quietly, in complete inner peace. And let me mention today that no “very special” instructions are given, but only a description of such a path, the following of which, however, demands one thing from the person, and this one thing is at the same time that without which one's own higher experience can never be attained: that is patience. Those who do not have steadfastness and patience, who cannot persevere and follow the inner rules in question again and again in silence, will generally achieve nothing. There is only one way to achieve something without following these rules. But then one is very far along in the development of the human being. This is the case if one has already reached a certain level of clairvoyance in previous lives; then the path is much shorter and quite different. The person who has to give the relevant guidance will soon know this, and will only need to remove the corresponding obstacles that stand in the way like a wall.

It is therefore generally impractical to seek mystical development without personal guidance, because the right path for this development is different for almost every person, and because the person giving the guidance must know his or her student very well, not in the ordinary sense of the word, but in the spiritual sense of the word. The secret teacher does not need to know anything about the student's profession, lifestyle, family members, or experiences; he only needs to acquire an intimate knowledge of his soul and spirit and the respective stage at which they stand. The manner in which the secret teacher acquires this knowledge cannot be communicated today; however, the communication will follow in the lectures on clairvoyance. Furthermore, inner development is linked to very specific consequences for each individual. Those who embark on this path must be clear that certain characteristics will appear in their being. These characteristics are symptoms of inner development. They are, so to speak, evidence of this inner development, and they must be carefully observed. The secret teacher must know how to interpret these symptoms. Only then can development proceed in the right way.

The development of the inner human being is a birth, the birth of the soul and the spirit, and this is not in a figurative sense, but in the truest sense of the word as a fact. And a birth in this realm is not without consequences, and as a secret teacher one must know how to deal with these. I had to say all this first.

Now you will be able to ask yourself the questions that are usually asked first when one hears about the basic teachings of theosophy, about the teaching that the human soul has been incarnated many times before and will return many times again, about the teaching of reincarnation and the teaching of compensatory justice, of karma. You will ask how one can understand this, how one can gain an understanding of it for oneself. That is the big question that now confronts every human being. There is a golden rule that must be followed; then everyone—this is a common experience of those who have really undergone the relevant exercises—will eventually come to this understanding. There is no one who cannot easily gain this understanding of reincarnation and karma. But, as Goethe said, “It is easy, but the easy is difficult” — for few find the right determination, steadfastness, and patience to work out the specific processes of the soul and spirit that are necessary for this understanding. This golden rule is: Live as if reincarnation and karma were truths; then they will become truths for you. — It seems as if this should be achieved through a kind of self-suggestion. But that is not the case. You are familiar with the mystical symbol of the snake biting its own tail. This symbol has various deep meanings, but among its many meanings is the one expressed in this golden rule.

You see that the premise devours itself in a certain way, just as the snake coils around itself. How is this possible? If reincarnation is true, then it cannot be in vain that certain efforts made by human beings have an effect on their souls, and these effects must later become second nature. One of the great laws that human beings must establish and test intimately within themselves is that which is expressed in an Indian scripture with the words: What you think today, you will become tomorrow. Those who believe in reincarnation must be clear that a characteristic they develop in themselves, a thought they impress upon themselves by cherishing it over and over again, becomes something permanent in their soul and must appear again and again in that soul. Therefore, it is above all important that those seeking mystical development try to wean themselves of inclinations they have had before and acquire new inclinations simply by cherishing the thought intimately and attaching themselves to this inclination, virtue or quality, and incorporating it into themselves in such a way that they are able to transform their soul through their own will. This must be tried in exactly the same way as a chemical experiment must be tried. Anyone who has never tried to transform their soul, who has never made the initial decision to develop the qualities of perseverance, steadfastness, and calm, logical thinking, and who has never stuck with it—and if they don't succeed in a week, then spent a month, a year, or a decade on it—cannot discern these truths for themselves.

This is the intimate path that the soul must follow. It must be able to incorporate qualities, thoughts, and inclinations. Over a period of time, people must be able to act with completely new habits through the power of their will. People who were previously careless must have become accustomed to being precise and exact, not through external coercion, but through their own decision of will. If this happens through small qualities, through small things, then it is particularly effective. The clearer the things he identifies in himself, the more surely he will come to true knowledge in this area. As soon as he is able to observe a hand movement, a facial expression, an insignificant habit that is peculiar to him, first of all objectively, as if he were observing it in someone else, and then, purely through the power of his will, replaces the habit, the inclination, and so on, with something he himself wants, thus incorporating it into himself, then he is on the way to learning to understand the great law of reincarnation for himself. Just as an experienced chemist can give instructions about what is happening in the laboratory, so too can someone give you instructions that they have tried out. Through small transformations, the highest is achieved.

Now, with regard to karma, the great law of just compensation. We acquire knowledge and understanding of this when we live as if karma were a truth. If you are struck by some accident, pain, or the like, then try to entertain the thought over and over again: this pain, this accident, does not exist in the world as a miracle, but must have a cause. You do not need to investigate the cause. Only those who can see karma can truly see the cause of a stroke of luck, of pain, and so on. But you need to have a mere feeling, you must have it, in order to surrender to it and feel that such an action, such pain or such joy must have a cause, and that it must be the cause of future events. Those who permeate themselves with this feeling and view their lives and what comes at them from outside as if karma were a truth will see that it becomes understandable to them. Those who do not get angry when something happens to them, but are able to curb their anger and think that just as a stone starts rolling when it is pushed, whatever has annoyed them must have a necessary cause and is detached according to a necessary law in the world, will come to the realization of karma. Just as surely as you will wake up tomorrow morning if all conditions remain as they are and you yourself remain healthy, you will come to understand karma if you view life in this way.

These are the two prerequisites for those who want to undergo spiritual training. These are the two prerequisites for every spiritual student, that they view life in this way. He does not need to immediately accept these ideas as if they were truths. He must leave it open and free: perhaps they are true, perhaps they are not. He should have neither doubt nor superstition, for these are the most important obstacles. If someone is capable of observing life in this way, then he is actually capable of receiving mystical instruction. And a third thing is necessary.

No secret teacher will agree to teach a person who is possessed by superstition, by the crudest kind of prejudice, or who tends to judge unreasonably or to indulge in every illusion. It is the golden rule that, before attempting to reach the first stage, a person must try to free themselves from all delusions of thought, from all superstition, and from any possibility of mistaking illusion for reality. Above all, the student of occultism must be a reasonable person who devotes themselves only to the strict sequence of their thoughts and observations. If you indulge in a prejudice or superstition in sensory reality, it will soon be corrected in sensory reality. But if a person does not think logically, but fantasizes, then correction is not so easy. Therefore, before entering the soul world and the spirit realm, it is necessary to be completely sure of one's thought life and to be able to exercise strict control over one's thoughts. Anyone who is easily prone to fantasy, superstition, and illusion is unsuitable for entering the preparatory school of spiritual teaching. It could easily be countered: I am free from fantasy, superstition, and illusion. — That is easy to pretend. Freedom from prejudice, from fantasy and illusion, and freedom from superstition are things that must be acquired through strict self-discipline; they are things that are not so easy for every individual to attain. Consider how most people are deluded and incapable of strictly regulating their thoughts through the power of their own will.

Now let us consider what life is like. It is not possible to free oneself completely from external impressions. Therefore, it is necessary to set aside a short time each day. The short time that is necessary without coming into conflict with one's duties is sufficient—even if it is only five minutes, or even less, it is sufficient. But then the person must be able to tear themselves away from everything that the sensory impressions have offered them, everything they have taken in through their eyes, ears, and sense of touch. They must become blind and deaf to their entire surroundings for a while. Everything that flows into us from the outside connects us with the sensual, with everyday life. That must be silenced for a while. Complete inner peace must set in. And then, when this inner peace, this stripping away of all sensory impressions, has set in, something else must come: then all memory of previous sensory impressions must be silenced. Consider how, through everything I have just mentioned, human beings are always connected with time and space, with what arises and passes away. Try to examine this for a moment. Take the thought that crossed your mind a minute ago and examine whether it is based on something transitory. Such thoughts are of no use for inner development.

All thoughts that connect us with the finite, with the transitory, must be silenced. When this peace is established in the soul, when what surrounds us as age, tribe, people, century is removed, when inner silence has entered for a while, then the soul begins to speak of its own accord. Not immediately; rather, it is necessary for the human being to first bring it to speak, and for this there are means and instructions that evoke this inner language of the soul. Man must surrender himself to thoughts, mental images, and feelings that do not originate from the temporal but from the eternal, that were not only true today, yesterday, and tomorrow, not only a century ago, but will always be true. Such thoughts can be found in the most diverse religious books of all peoples. You will find them, for example, in the Bhagavad Gita, the song of human perfection. They are also found in the New and Old Testaments, but especially in the Gospel of John from the thirteenth chapter onwards. Such thoughts, which are particularly effective for people who belong to the theosophical movement and are given to them in the little book “Light on the Path,” are also found in the first four sentences of this book. These four sentences, which are engraved on the inner walls of every temple of initiation, these four sayings are not dependent on time and space; they do not belong to one person, one family, one century, or even one generation; they extend across the entire course of development. They were true thousands of years ago and will be true thousands of years from now. They awaken the dormant powers and bring them out from within. However, this must be done correctly. It is not enough to think that one understands the sentence. One must allow such a sentence to come alive within oneself. One must allow the full power of such a sentence to radiate within oneself; one must surrender oneself completely to it. One must learn to love such a sentence. When one believes one understands it, then the right moment has come to let it shine within oneself again and again. It is not intellectual understanding that matters, but loving spiritual truth. The more love we feel for such inner truths, the more power of inner vision we develop. Such a sentence must occupy us not for a day or two, but for weeks, months, and years; then such powers of the soul awaken within us. And then a very specific moment comes when yet another illumination occurs.

Those who proclaim theosophical truths through their own experience know this inner contemplative life. Today they proclaim theosophical truths to you, tomorrow they will do so again. They are part of a great theosophical worldview that they perceive with the inner power of their spirit and soul. They turn their gaze to the world of souls and the realm of spirits; they turn their gaze away from the earth to the solar systems in order to explore them. But this power would soon die out in them if they did not nourish it anew every morning. That is the secret of the secret researcher. The great worldview and view of humanity that he has let pass through his soul a hundred times over passes through his soul again every morning. It is not important for him to understand all of this, but rather that he learns to love it more and more; that every morning he performs a ritual in which he looks up in reverence to the great spirits. He has learned to survey the whole picture in a few minutes. He is filled with gratitude for what has been given to his soul. Without this path of reverence, one cannot attain clarity. But his words must be shaped by this clarity. When that is the case, then he is truly called to speak about the truths of mysticism, the truths of theosophy, and spiritual science. This is what the spiritual researcher does, and this is what everyone must do, beginning in the simplest, most elementary way until they come to understand these teachings. The human being and the beings of the worlds are deep, infinitely deep. Nothing less than patience, perseverance, and love for the world powers will achieve anything in this field. These are forces that, like electricity in the outer world, are powerful in the inner world. They are not merely moral forces, but also forces of knowledge. When the student has allowed such truths to live within him for a time, when he has practiced them and accepted them with gratitude toward those who revealed them to him, then a moment comes that occurs for everyone who has allowed peace and quiet to develop in his soul. This is the moment when one's own soul begins to speak, when one's own inner being begins to see the great eternal truths. Then suddenly the world around him is illuminated by colors he has never seen before. He hears sounds he has never heard before. The world shines in a new light; new sounds and words become perceptible. This new light and radiance shine upon him from the soul world, and the new sounds he hears come to him from the spirit realm. The soul world can be seen, the spirit world can be heard. That is a characteristic of these worlds.

If one wants to seek development in this area oneself, then this involves observing a large number of individual rules, for I could only indicate in broad strokes how such a thing happens, how it is experienced. These individual rules must be strictly followed, just as the chemist must weigh and measure the smallest substances he needs for a compound with the most subtle instruments. A description of those rules that can be given publicly can be found in my book “How to Attain Knowledge of Higher Worlds.” These rules are specific instructions on how to follow this path. They also require the utmost patience and perseverance. These rules have never been published before. Be aware that secret instruction has only been given in secret schools, and even today is only given in secret schools, because it is an intimate matter that is passed on from person to person. It is of no use to seek guidance through special things that one reads or hears here and there as fragments and to try them out for oneself. As a rule, this is of no use at all. All the instructions that you can obtain from various sources — there are even shops that advertise such instructions! — are nothing more than small fragments from the great book of secret teaching. Anyone who uses them must be aware that they are exposing themselves to certain dangers and that it is by no means advisable for individuals to approach these things, which relate to the inner transformation of the soul, which relate to the greatest and most significant aspects of the soul, through commercial connections. Anything that comes to you in this field through promotion for money will not only be worthless, but also dangerous under certain circumstances. This must be said because so much in this field is coming to people today. The rules given in “How to Know Higher Worlds” come from ancient traditions, and because it is necessary today, in view of the things that come to people from all sides, because it is necessary in view of these instructions to give a picture of the truth, the Masters of Wisdom have given permission for the publication of such rules. It is only possible to publish a few individual items; the rest had to be excluded. The most important things can only be communicated from mouth to ear.

What you find in “How to Attain Knowledge of Higher Worlds” has the characteristic of being harmless, unlike many other things. Only those things have been communicated which—even if they are not carried out with patience and steadfastness—do not harm people. Even if they are not carried out with steadfastness, they cannot cause harm. No one can suffer harm from them. This had to be said because I was asked how it came about that a number of such rules have been communicated recently. It still depends on the fact that in order to become conscious in the soul world, one must have organs for this soul world just as one has organs for the sensory world. Just as you have eyes and ears in your body, you must have organs in your soul and spirit in order to perceive the lights of the soul and the sounds of the spirit. Those who are experienced in this field, who can see for themselves, see how these organs begin to develop in the aura of those who are undergoing inner development, enclosed in a cloud of light. In undeveloped people, the aura is cloud-like in form. When a person sleeps, it hovers above the physical body because the astral body separates from the physical body. It is then visible as two spirals intertwined, like rings of mist. In this way, they intertwine to disappear into the indefinite in further spirals. These two intertwined rings form the aura of the sleeping person. When a person undergoes occult development, the aura becomes more and more definite. The ends of the spirals that extend into the distance disappear, and the two intertwined spiral structures become organized. More and more they become a definite, closed structure, and then they show very definite organs which appear in this aura and which are called chakras. These are the sense organs of the soul. These come into development. This development takes place under no other circumstances. The structures are delicate; they must be cherished and cared for. Those who fail to do so will never be able to truly enjoy spiritual insight. This spiritual eye must be nurtured by suppressing all negative feelings and emotions. The chakras cannot emerge if a person becomes angry at every opportunity. They must remain calm and patient. Anger and rage prevent the soul organ from emerging; hastiness and nervousness also prevent it from developing.

Furthermore, it is necessary for people to abandon something that is extremely difficult to abandon in our culture, namely the desire to constantly learn the latest news. This has a great influence on the soul's eye. Those who cannot get their hands on the newspaper quickly enough, and who, once they have learned something, must immediately tell someone else; those who cannot hear and see and keep it to themselves; those who cannot suppress their desire—they cannot develop their soul. Furthermore, it is necessary for people to acquire a very specific way of judging their fellow human beings. This is difficult to achieve: non-criticism. Understanding is necessary instead of criticism. If you immediately confront your fellow human beings with your own opinion, this suppresses the development of the soul. We must first listen to others, and this listening is an extraordinarily effective means of developing the eyes of the soul, and those who reach a higher level on this path owe it to the fact that they have broken the habit of criticizing and judging everything. How can we see into the soul? We should not condemn the criminal, but understand him too, understand the criminal as well as the saint. Understanding for everyone is necessary. That is the higher, occult listening. When a person, through firm will, brings themselves to not judge their fellow human beings, or even the rest of the world, according to their personal judgment, opinion, and prejudice, but instead allows them to affect them with silence, then they have the opportunity to gain occult powers. Every moment when a person sets themselves the goal: I will now refrain from thinking something bad that I have been thinking about my fellow human beings — every such moment is a victory.

The greatest sage can learn from a child, and the simplest person can say: What is this child babbling to me, I know much better! But he can also say: What is the sage babbling to me, what use is that to me? Only when he listens to the child's stammering as if it were a revelation does he create within himself the power that wells up from the soul.

One must not expect the eyes of the soul to be there tomorrow. Those who fight anger, annoyance, curiosity, and so on, initially only remove obstacles that have been placed like dams in front of their souls. This must be repeated again and again. New efforts must be made constantly. The occultist can judge how the delicate structures develop. When human words have “unlearned” how to wound, when they are no longer sharp and pointed, when they have become mild in order to grasp people with understanding, then the chakra at the larynx awakens. But human beings must practice for a long time before this becomes perceptible to their own personality. In human beings, nature first formed an eye point, then the first beginnings of a lens, and very slowly and gradually, over millions of years, the physical eye developed. The soul's eye does not take so long. For some it takes a few months, for others a longer time. One must have patience. The moment will come for everyone when these delicate structures begin to see, and then, if the person continues these exercises in the appropriate manner, namely if they develop certain virtues that can sometimes also develop the life of a tested person within them, there are three virtues that they still need to develop, which will almost make them a seer. They just need to be practiced with the right strength and intensity: self-confidence with humility, self-control with gentleness, and presence of mind paired with steadfastness. These are the big levers in the development of the spiritual organs. However, these three virtues lead to terrible vices if they are not paired with the other three virtues: humility, gentleness, and steadfastness.

These are hints that can be given. They are selected examples of what the student of occultism goes through on the three stages called preparation, enlightenment, and initiation. In secret schooling, there are these three stages: preparation or catharsis, enlightenment, and initiation. Preparation is suitable for equipping the human being so that the delicate structures of the soul can emerge. Through enlightenment, they gain the ability to see in the soul realm, and through initiation, they gain the ability to express themselves in the spiritual realm. What I have described today may seem difficult to some. It is easy, but it is also true that what is easy is difficult.

Everyone can walk the secret path; it is not closed to anyone. The secrets lie within each person's own breast. All that is required is serious inner work and the ability to free oneself from all obstacles that inhibit this intimate inner life. The most distant and greatest things in the world are revealed to us in the most intimate ways. We must be clear about this. The greatest sages of humanity did not attain the great truths by any other means than those described. They attained them because they found the way into their inner selves, because they knew that they had to exercise patience and steadfastness in these tasks. When a person deepens their inner life in this way, when they rise above the thoughts that assail them from outside to thoughts that signify eternity, they kindle within themselves the flame that shines upon the worlds of the soul. When people develop within themselves the higher qualities of serenity, calmness, and inner peace, and the qualities we have mentioned, they nourish the flame so that it is sustained. And when a person is able to be silent and no longer send words out into the world, but instead lives love, so that what should be life becomes worship, then the world begins to resound for them. This is what is called Pythagorean music of the spheres. This is not a symbol, but a reality. I could only give hints that show the way to the path that leads to a narrow gate. Anyone can come to the narrow gate, and those who do not shy away from means and effort will find it opened to them, and they will find what has been communicated to them in the great worldviews of humanity: the eternal, only truth and the way of life.