Esoteric Lesson

GA 266b/1911-10-14/p012 ·1911-10-14 · English LowLow alignmentMost translators re-paragraphed Steiner substantially. The locus identifies the same chapter or section, but paragraph-N to paragraph-N mapping is loose. For exact-quotation precision, compare with the German.
Record: listeners' notes. Written from listeners' notes, summaries, or memory rather than a shorthand transcript. The wording is the note-taker's as much as Steiner's: weigh a single striking phrase here far more cautiously than the same phrase in a stenographic volume, and do not rest an argument on one word. Evidence: «Gedächtnisaufzeichnungen von Teilnehmern» (Participants' records written from memory). Rudolf Steiner Verlag Gesamtverzeichnis 2022, volume subtitle. The translation is the maintainer's, not a published one.

Through this kind of observation, we will come to recognize the true characteristics of human beings, much more than can otherwise be done in any other way. Our intellect can only go so far as to say: the outer world is a maya; in the reverse image, I see it in its true form. At this point, the intellect must stand still, otherwise it will become confused and lose its footing. Our thoughts are mirror images of the outer world. Let us imagine a mirror and an object reflected in it. If we place another mirror opposite the first, we obtain mirror images of the mirror images, stretching into a blurred distance. This is what would happen to us if, instead of simply thinking about occult facts, we wanted to speculate about them and draw conclusions in order to find new facts. This would inevitably lead us into a certain confusion. We must rather experience these things with our senses.

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Cite: GA 266b/1911-10-14/p012 · edition English