VII. The Questions of Life and the Riddle of Death I

The way to self-knowledge makes the forces that one knows only as inner ones work with the power of a natural phenomenon. The soul forces work like natural elements. You face yourself as a kind of nature. Then a certain experience takes place that one calls the “encounter with the guardian of the threshold.” It may take place in various ways. I would like to give an example only, you feel something new that drives through you like a lightning or you feel as if your body is dissolved and still remains. You feel incapable to use your body. This is a very important moment. You have the feeling as if your hands are forged to your body and your brain is something over which you do not exercise power that works mentally as an obstacle. You must prepare yourself to endure this moment. This preparation consists of the fact that you strengthen your courage. You must experience this moment fearlessly.