1. The Human Being and his Relationship to the World

When we learn to read, we learn to live outside the physical body. Just as on waking we come down into the physical body, so must the occultist, without sinking into the physical body, come down into the etheric body. Occultists call this, with reason, ‘being thrust into the abyss.’ What is necessary is that we should not be stupefied when this happens, that we should go down with consciousness and maintain our own bearings, for this descent into the etheric body is not as easy as the descent into the physical body. In very truth it is like being thrust into the abyss. Man's being is split into three. I have spoken of this in the book Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. Man becomes a threefold being. He cannot consciously descend into his etheric body without being multiplied in the way indicated.