World Mysteries and Theosophy

GA 54 — 19 April 1906, Berlin

Inner Development

Today I would like to speak to you again about inner development. Those who attend these lectures frequently will remember that I have already given various explanations on this subject. I will therefore only touch on what has already been discussed and add what goes beyond that.

There has been repeated talk of facts concerning the phenomena of the higher worlds, and the question arises: How do we arrive at such insights? — Now, the path to these insights is not so easy that it can be described in a superficial manner in just an hour or two. But now and then, there must be some indication of how one should form a mental image of this development. You all know that we are not only talking about the ordinary physical world here, but also about the world of the soul and the world of the spirit, which we have come to know as the astral world and the Devachan. Man lives in all these worlds. He does not belong to one, he belongs to three worlds. In fact, they belong to many more worlds, but the knowledge of even higher worlds is so far beyond the current ordinary level of human knowledge that it is difficult to speak of these worlds here.

The question we must now ask ourselves is this: How does the human being ascend to the astral and spiritual worlds? These are the worlds in which human beings live here, but of which they initially know nothing, and in which they will live when they are no longer clothed in a physical body. Everything that lives around us as the physical world will then no longer have any meaning for us. But the other worlds, which are acquired through higher knowledge, will then have a higher meaning for us. People often ask: Why does man actually need knowledge of worlds other than the one in which he lives? If man does good to his fellow human beings, why does he need to concern himself with higher worlds? This is an objection that must very soon be recognized as futile. The forces, facts, and beings that humans encounter in the higher worlds are not only effective in those worlds, but also have an effect on our physical world. For things are not made by themselves, but have come into being through the forces of the spiritual world. We also only recognize ourselves superficially when we recognize ourselves only through the senses. Through the senses, we only perceive what takes place between birth and death. At birth, a whole range of predispositions and abilities enters the world with the human being. Only a superficial judgment can say that the human being with all his predispositions should only begin at the moment of birth or embryonic development.

In occultism, which deals with worlds unknown to the senses, it is said that ordinary human beings lack the discernment to recognize the most important facts; they do not observe intensively enough how clumsily human beings enter the world, how human beings increasingly learn to use their organs, which are initially only present in potential, as organs of spiritual life. We see one person who knows very little about how to use the organs of his spirit, while another not only has complete control over his limbs in a very special way, but also learns to use the tools of his brain in a very special way. The materialistic thinker in particular should say: I believe in the importance of human organs; but why do these organs suit the feelings and sensations of one person and also the feelings and sensations of another? Everyone admits that a hammer, which humans use for some reasonable task, must first have been created through reasonable intellectual work. Everyone believes this about the hammer. The materialistic thinker does not believe this about the body, about living beings in general. Therefore, those who study the miraculous structure of the human brain, who learn about the miraculous structure of the human heart, can never believe that all these things could have come about through some blind chance, through some mindless event. But these things manifest themselves differently in each human being than they do in animals. Animals are all imprints of a general pattern, with little consideration given to specific differences. The word “individuality” makes this difference clear to us at once. Because every human being is an individual, each individual is given much more consideration. Every human being, every individuality, prepares its body in its own way. For this body must fit the special disposition that every human being has. When a human being enters into existence through birth, he was already there spiritually, and it is he himself who has prepared the organs for his individual use, not to the very end — for man is also an animal creature — but the higher he develops, the more he also has control over the structure of his own organs. One might believe that a human being at the lowest level began at birth, but no reasonable thinker can assume that a thinking being did not exist before birth. Anyone can perform the tasks of a hammer, but no one can perform the tasks of the brain for another. Therefore, man cannot be understood without the assumption that he transcends birth and death, but only if one recognizes the powers that the organs of human thought have already prepared beforehand.

Ascension into the astral and spiritual worlds is associated with certain difficulties for the individual, with renunciations that he must undergo, and also with certain dangers. Human beings are accustomed to the world of the senses, but they are not so accustomed to the other worlds. Above all, we must be clear that the causes of much that remains invisible to us in this world become clear in the higher worlds; this surprises and disconcerts human beings. And the exercises through which they want to ascend also strain them in a certain way. Because there are dangers, some say that one can also attain the highest knowledge of the divine world forces without knowing anything about these spiritual and astral forces hidden behind the sensory world. Today, it is even claimed that human beings can rise to the knowledge of God without first actually passing through the worlds that separate them from the Most High.

Only those who have no real idea of the higher worlds can make such statements. A kind of higher knowledge, often called theosophical, is nothing more than a very ordinary knowledge of the human lower self, and no matter how much one describes the lower self as divine, one finds nothing but one's lower self. Only outside of oneself can one find one's higher self, for we are born out of the outer world. There are some spiritual movements that turn people away from the outer world, saying that one should seek the higher self only within oneself. This point of view can never lead to real knowledge; it is both unchristian and anti-Christian. Only by turning to the world around us can we find our higher self. We must seek God in the invisible worlds and in all external creatures, facts, and processes. If someone tells us, “Denounce the external world, this external matter does not exist,” then that person is denying the divine world; and from a broad perspective, there is no worse insight than turning away from the external world. It is precisely immersion in the outer world that leads to higher knowledge. Raised a little above the earth, everything physical withers away; raised a little above the spiritual world, everything soul-related withers away. Living in the world from which man is born, to which he belongs, as the hand belongs to the body, is part of the mindset that truly leads to higher development. Ask your own inner self where the meaning of a human being lies. Just as little as a human being can turn away from the outside world, just as little does the meaning of a human being lie enclosed in the skin. It belongs to the higher self of the world, and by exploring the higher self of the world, we explore our own higher self. It is not possible to agitate for occultism. Only those who truly want to and who want to fulfill the conditions for higher development must also undertake to carry out what occultism prescribes for such high development. The actual occult direction in theosophy should therefore not be confused with what is often called theosophy externally. These are methods that have been tried and tested over centuries. It is up to each person's own free will when they want to achieve the goal; therefore, no objection such as “he is an outsider” can be valid.

The higher development that every human being can attain proceeds slowly and gradually. The world that people can then see is the world in which they always live. You do not live only in the sensory world, but are just as truly surrounded by soul and spiritual forces and spiritual events. And these spiritual and soul worlds are there for those whose spiritual and soul eyes are opened. The methods are there to open the spiritual and soul eyes of human beings in the first place. Only then does the human being live for these worlds; for there is a difference between living in these worlds and perceiving in these worlds. The human being also lives in these worlds at night, but does not perceive them because he still lacks the organs to do so. Higher development consists in the soul acquiring spiritual organs and thereby learning to perceive.

At first, all higher knowledge arises at night. While darkness spreads at night for people who perceive only with their senses, darkness is illuminated for those who perceive with their soul. There is a light that can illuminate the world even when there is no sun, a light that does not make the table perceptible, but does make spiritual facts perceptible. This is the astral light. If you have spiritual organs, if your soul is not blind, then the astral light can also see the soul of a human being where the eyes previously saw the form. The soul is then illuminated by the astral light, just as the body is illuminated by the sunlight during the day. Everything that is to be developed in the human being is already present in him in potential, just as the human germ has the potential for eyes and ears, so the potential for clairvoyance is also present in the soul that dwells in every human being; but just as the human germ cannot yet see in the physical world, so too must the spiritual and soul potential in the human being be developed. Thus, in the soul world, the human being is actually in the embryonic stage. What cannot yet see the soul and spirit today will see later. This is the starting point for consideration: What does this soul do now during sleep? — There, the soul is not inactive, even if it cannot see. The physical human being's powers are exhausted during the course of the day, but the human soul works during sleep to restore the physical powers. And because the soul is occupied with itself, it has no power left to develop new organs. But these powers must be used to form something new; this then deprives the human body of something. The human spirit has gradually built up this physical body, and the soul itself gradually builds up the tools that humans use; the soul also works in the same way when the physical body is worn out. During sleep, it puts everything back in order.

If you now use the powers of sleep differently, you must create a substitute for them. Everything that is lost in the struggle of the powers can be replaced by the harmony of the powers. When people today, where they work continuously, where they follow every impulse of the will, in their profession, in every sensation, feel, will, and think in an irregular manner, their powers are worn down by this struggle. If they then think of withdrawing certain forces of the soul from their body, they must offer the body a substitute in certain activities of harmonious happening. Therefore, inner development prescribes very specific virtues for the beginning, so that the energy now withdrawn from the body is replaced by rhythm. These virtues are: control of thoughts and actions, impartiality, productivity, equanimity, and trust in one's entire environment.

Today, people are at the mercy of every whim; but they must be the ones who rein in their thoughts. Then they will bring rhythm into themselves. Performing actions on their own initiative, undertaking every action in such a way that it is their own, brings them the peace that is necessary for the soul. Endurance: standing firm and steady, enduring suffering and joy; becoming resilient: not being thrown off course by joy any more than by pain. Furthermore, people must acquire the greatest impartiality. Nothing wears them down more than approaching the negative side of things; this means disharmony and at the same time exhaustion for people. The Persian legend that tells us how Christ Jesus and his disciples once saw a decaying dead dog lying on a road is authoritative in this regard. The disciples asked the Master not to bother with the dog, saying that the animal was too ugly. But Christ looked at the dog and said, “What beautiful teeth the animal has.” He sought the beauty in what was ugly. All affirmation enlivens, all negation exhausts and kills. Not only because it takes moral strength to turn to the positive side of a thing, but because every affirmation enlivens and frees and secures the powers of the soul.

In an age such as today, nervousness also prevails. Nervousness and a craving for criticism go hand in hand. The prescribed virtues are there to free higher powers for human beings. Such virtues, which are intended to give rhythm to the whole lower life, give the soul the strength to devote itself to higher development. This inner development takes place very quietly.

I would like to list some of the things that belong to this. These things were once the secret of occult schools, but now they are being communicated for certain reasons. When a person has prepared their soul through such exercises, they will be guided by a teacher whom they will find when they are meant to find them. They then go through various stages of discipleship and must use the powers they have released for a higher soul life.

The first is that a single opinion is basically worthless. As a higher student, a person must thoroughly overcome personal opinion, the expression: I believe this or that about it. Now, however, the higher student must not only recognize the folly of the materialist, but also go through the good reasons that the materialist may have for himself in order to understand how someone could become a materialist. He will find that all people who say yes to things, that is, who assert the positive side, are usually right; where they say no, that is where the higher student must learn to overcome. He must not only have logically learned the reasons and content of every worldview, but he must also have lived them. He must put himself in the soul of every doubter. Without the student knowing what can be objected to each one, the higher powers will not awaken. Those who have gone through this will also awaken powers in their souls that are sure to come.

Then he must overcome all superstition; not only the superstition of the African fetish worshipper, but also that of the enlightened European. Everyone knows the effects of hypnosis; our European professors, for example Wundt, explained hypnotism by saying that certain parts of the brain are not well supplied with blood. But this is nothing more than the superstition of the African. So you could basically refute all materialistic theories that only speak of certain parts of the brain. As great as Haeckel is as a natural scientist, it must be clear to everyone that what this natural scientist claims about these things is pure superstition. The student must overcome all forms of superstition.

The third is the realization of the illusion of the personal self, in which man convinces himself that he can find higher life within himself. Once a person has achieved this, they are ready for the second stage. A person must see through the illusion of the personal self; they must recognize its justification in order to free themselves from it. The next step is that everything must become a parable for them: “Everything that is transitory is only a parable.” Take everything as what it is, a parable for what it expresses. The individual flower, even the individual human being, must become a parable for the human being; then he will already feel how this awakens forces in his soul. Once the human being has learned for a while to regard things as parables, he must learn that the human being is a small world, that there is nothing in him that does not correspond to the world outside. There is a deeper meaning in Germanic mythology, which tells how the whole world was formed from the giant Ymir. He must learn how every organ is connected to the world, then he will be able to bring his own organism into the right relationship. As man strides through the world, he is not aware of how his organs are connected to the world. He must learn this. Oriental occultists even teach this by having their students sit in a very special way so that they are also in the right relationship to the world externally.

Another thing that humans must then learn, and which can only be mentioned here, is that they consciously regulate something that is otherwise regulated only by a nature of which they are unaware. This is initially the respiratory system. If a person wants to develop higher, their breathing must become appropriate to the great processes of development. Inhale in a specific prescribed manner, hold your breath, and exhale again. When a person regulates their breathing from the spirit, they spiritualize their breath, their life air. In this way, they rise from Hatha Yoga to Raja Yoga, the royal yoga.

Then comes the highest: the exercises of meditation and contemplation with the life of the human being within themselves. When the human being has prepared and practiced in this way, when they have risen to the rhythmization of their life, then they are completely ready to lead an inner life. There are three stages of meditation. It can be organically integrated into the rhythmic breathing process. First, the starting point must be taken from the sensory world, so that the person can distract themselves from the external world and the multitude of external impressions. Taking control of their entire attention helps them to achieve higher development. When they are able to control their attention in this way, they must be able to immerse themselves completely in the object of their attention, allowing nothing else to enter; only that one thought must live within them. It is best if the teacher gives them specific tasks according to their individuality. When they have reached this stage, a cannon could be fired next to them without distracting them. Then they must leave the object of their reflection, but maintain their activity. This is what brings them into the highest worlds.

When a person has reached this point, after thinking through the object but then letting it go and living only in activity, they attain the state known in occultism as dhyana. And they can let go of this state immediately; then their inner eye is awakened.

He learns to exercise the powers of his thinking on external objects. However, he does not get very far with this; he reaches a world that appears to be a kind of skeleton for the higher world. He now has to develop a feeling of very special intensity from the object, again to the exclusion of everything else. Thus, he must be able to feel something very specific when he holds a crystal in his hand; he must feel something when he holds an octahedron in his hand. He develops a feeling that one can have toward the inanimate world. We then compare the inanimate rock with the living, blood-filled being and say to ourselves: This has sensuality, but the water-clear rock is desireless. If I am able to feel how the stone has let its desire die, how it has become pure and chaste, and if I know how to immerse myself in this feeling so that the world around me dies away and I let only this feeling live within me — be it the feeling from the crystal, from the animal, or from the human being — and if I can then let go of the object, return in the same way as before and enter the state of dhyana, then I notice that the feeling is not just a feeling, but that it begins to become bright, that the feeling begins to become a manifestation of light. This is how what we perceive as a thought form appears, but which should better be described as a feeling form.

These are individual concepts that I wanted to give you today. There have always been teachers who gave individual guidance and tasks suited to each person's individuality. Every human being has their own name in the spiritual world; they are even more individual there than in the physical world, and this individuality must be carefully taken into account, especially at the higher levels, when it comes to higher development. Therefore, only a teacher can give what is necessary.

What I have given today are the first steps of what is called: recognizing the self. When a person learns to feel the objects around them and the objects take on colors that then crystallize into images, they see their emotional world around them. One must face oneself as an objective observer, then one crosses the threshold where one perceives oneself with all that one is and is not yet. The first guardian of the threshold stands before us, showing us: This is who you are! — Everyone must learn to know themselves, for through self-knowledge they come to know the world. But no one should take self-knowledge as knowledge of God. That is why it was written at the gate of the Delphic temple: Know thyself! — And when one has passed through self-knowledge, one enters the innermost sanctuary of the world, where divine powers reign and spiritual knowledge is given. When one's own inner being feels connected with the inner being of the world, where one can speak of inner development in the true sense, when one approaches this knowledge in a dignified manner and not in a frivolous or base way, then it will be given to one. And one will be given that through which one's humanity can be developed more and more and one can become an ever more dignified member of the human race. But no one should seek higher knowledge merely for its own sake. Only in order to become a servant of the entire universe should a person develop, increase their powers, and gather knowledge, that is, increase their powers.

In this way we become servants within the whole world, and it is in this sense alone that progress toward higher knowledge should take place.