37. The Dangers of Initiation

If we go back to the earliest times, we see that the leading personalities who have guided life have attached great importance to a person's judgment at a certain age; today, the very youngest can give their authoritative judgments. Above all, people today do not know that although one can achieve a great deal in terms of intellect, science and art at an early age, only someone who has reached the middle of their life is able to convey the experiences of the spiritual worlds to his fellow human beings in a truly correct way. That is why no secret school sends out anyone who has not passed the age of 35. As long as man still needs certain powers to build up his organism, he does not have them freely to put them into service. It is not permitted to communicate the occult teachings authoritatively to anyone before the powers are no longer needed for building up; only when the physical is in the process of declining in life is it permitted. Anyone who examines life will see the justification for this rule. Even a spirit such as Goethe: What he achieved before this point was a revival of what he had gathered from here and there; what would not have been there if Goethe had not been there, that only came about after the middle of his life. It means the greatest danger when we see how great truths are spoken of as mere phrases. For example, you can hear over and over again: You must be unselfish, you must sacrifice your personality to the All! — This is a profound truth if it is really understood; but it can be the most absurd phrase if this truth is presented without understanding. Egoism is not given to man by a wise world government for nothing; it is a means of education, it makes man richer and fuller; through it many a person is prevented from doing something that could harm him. It is a healthy force, it fills the personality with strength and energy, it is something wholesome! To say that one should discard it is a morbid phrase. Nevertheless, it is true that a sacrifice of the personality is necessary if we want to find the way up into the higher worlds.