The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Practical Considerations

[ 1 ] When a person undergoes this training with regard to feelings, thoughts, and moods, as described in the chapters on preparation, enlightenment, and initiation, he brings about in his soul and spirit a structure similar to that which nature has brought about in his physical body. Before this training, the soul and spirit are unstructured masses. The clairvoyant perceives them as interlocking, spiral-shaped mists that are primarily perceived as faintly glowing reddish, reddish-brown, or reddish-yellow colors; after the training, they begin to shine spiritually in yellowish-green and greenish-blue hues and reveal a regular structure. A person attains such regularity—and thereby higher insights—when he brings to his feelings, thoughts, and moods the same order that nature has brought to his physical functions, enabling him to see, hear, digest, breathe, speak, and so on. —The initiatory student gradually learns to breathe and see with the soul, and so on, and to hear and speak with the spirit, and so on.

[ 2 ] Here, we will elaborate in more detail on just a few practical considerations that are part of the higher education of the soul and spirit. These are principles that, in essence, anyone can follow without having to take other rules into account, and through which one can make significant progress in esoteric science.

[ 3 ] One must strive for special training in patience. Every impulse of impatience has a paralyzing, even deadly, effect on the higher faculties that lie dormant within a person. One should not expect immeasurable insights into the higher worlds to open up overnight. For then, as a rule, they will most certainly not come; contentment with the smallest of achievements, along with peace and serenity, should increasingly take hold of the soul. – It is, of course, understandable that the learner impatiently awaits results. Nevertheless, he will achieve nothing as long as he does not master this impatience. Nor does it help to combat this impatience merely in the ordinary sense of the word. Then it only grows stronger. One merely deludes oneself about it, and in the depths of the soul it takes root all the more firmly. Only by repeatedly devoting oneself to a very specific thought, and making it one’s own, can one achieve anything. This thought is: “I must, of course, do everything I can to cultivate my soul and spirit; but I will wait quite calmly until I am deemed worthy by higher powers to attain a certain enlightenment.” If this thought becomes so powerful within a person that it takes shape as a character trait, then one is on the right path. This character trait then begins to manifest itself even in one’s outward appearance. The gaze becomes calm, movements confident, decisions resolute, and everything that is called nervousness gradually fades from the person. Seemingly insignificant, minor rules come into play here. For example, someone insults us. Before our inner education, we direct our feelings against the offender. Anger wells up within us. But in the inner student, the thought immediately arises on such an occasion: “Such an insult does not alter my worth”; and he then does what must be done in response to the insult with calm and composure, not out of anger. Of course, the point is not simply to accept every insult, but rather to be as calm and confident in responding to an insult directed at oneself as one would be if the insult had been directed at someone else, toward whom one has the right to take action. – One must always bear in mind that the secret training does not take place through coarse, outward actions, but through subtle, quiet transformations of one’s emotional and mental life.

[ 4 ] Patience attracts the treasures of higher knowledge. Impatience repels them. Nothing in the higher realms of existence can be attained through haste and restlessness. Above all, desire and craving must be silenced. These are qualities of the soul from which all higher knowledge shyly withdraws. As valuable as all higher insight may be, one must not demand it if it is to come to us. Whoever wants it for its own sake will never attain it. – And this requires, above all, that one be true to oneself in the depths of one’s soul. One must not deceive oneself about anything. One must look one’s own faults, weaknesses, and shortcomings squarely in the face with inner honesty. – The moment you make excuses for any of your weaknesses to yourself, you have placed a stone in the path that is meant to lead you upward. You can remove such stones only through self-enlightenment. There is only one way to cast off one’s faults and weaknesses, and that is: to recognize them correctly. Everything lies dormant in the human soul and can be awakened. A person can also improve their intellect and reason if, with calm and composure, they come to understand why they are weak in this regard. Such self-knowledge is, of course, difficult, for the temptation to deceive oneself is immeasurably great. Those who accustom themselves to the truth about themselves open the gates to higher insight.

[ 5 ] The secret student must rid himself of all curiosity. He must, as much as possible, break the habit of asking questions about things he wants to know solely to satisfy his personal thirst for knowledge. He should ask only about what can serve to perfect his being in the service of evolution. At the same time, however, the joy and devotion to knowledge within him must not be stifled in any way. He should listen attentively to everything that serves such a purpose and seek out every opportunity for such devotion.

[ 6 ] In particular, secret training requires an education in the desirelife. One should not, for example, become devoid of desires. For everything we are meant to achieve, we should also desire. And a desire will always come true when it is backed by a very special power. This power comes from true knowledge. “Never to desire anything until one has recognized the truth in a given field”—this is one of the golden rules for the student of the secret teachings. The wise person first learns the laws of the world; then his desires become forces that bring about their own fulfillment. – A clear example should be given here. Certainly, many wish to learn something from their own perspective about their life before birth. Such a wish is entirely futile and fruitless as long as the person in question has not acquired the knowledge of the laws through the study of spiritual science—and specifically in their finest, most intimate nature—regarding the essence of the Eternal. But if they have truly acquired this knowledge, and if they then wish to make further progress, they will do so through their ennobled, purified desire.

[ 7 ] It is also of no use to say: “Yes, I do indeed want to overlook my previous life and am learning precisely for that purpose.” Rather, one must be able to let go of this desire entirely, to completely set it aside, and to begin by learning without this intention at all. One must develop a joy in and devotion to what one has learned without the aforementioned intention. For only in this way does one simultaneously learn to have the corresponding desire in such a way that it brings about its own fulfillment.

[ 8 ] When I am angry or annoyed, I erect a barrier around myself in the soul world, and the forces that are meant to develop my soul eyes cannot approach me. If, for example, a person annoys me, they send a soul current into the soul world. I cannot see this current as long as I am still capable of getting annoyed. My annoyance obscures it from me. Nor should I believe that I will immediately experience a spiritual (astral) phenomenon once I am no longer annoyed. For this requires that a spiritual eye first develop within me. But the potential for such an eye lies within every human being. It remains inactive as long as a person is capable of getting angry. But it is not immediately present even after one has fought against anger to some extent. Rather, one must continue in this struggle against anger and persevere with patience time and again; then one day one will notice that this spiritual eye has developed. However, anger is not the only thing one must combat to achieve this goal. Many become impatient or doubtful because they have spent years fighting certain traits of the soul, yet clairvoyance still does not manifest. They have simply developed some traits while allowing others to run rampant all the more. The gift of clairvoyance does not emerge until all the traits that prevent the corresponding dormant abilities from surfacing have been suppressed. Admittedly, the first signs of seeing (or hearing) may appear earlier; but these are tender seedlings that are easily subject to all manner of error and that also wither easily if they are not carefully nurtured and tended.

[ 9 ] Among the traits that must be combated just as much as anger and irritation, for example, are timidity, superstition, and a tendency toward prejudice; vanity and ambition; curiosity and an unnecessary urge to share information; and the practice of distinguishing between people based on external markers of rank, gender, ethnicity, and so on. In our time, it is quite difficult to understand that combating such traits has anything to do with enhancing one’s capacity for insight. But every practitioner of esoteric science knows that far more depends on such things than on the expansion of intelligence or the performance of artificial exercises. In particular, a misunderstanding can easily arise when some believe that one should act recklessly because one is supposed to be fearless, or that one should close oneself off from the differences among people because one is supposed to combat prejudices based on social class, race, and so on. Rather, one learns to perceive correctly only when one is no longer bound by prejudices. Even in the ordinary sense, it is true that fear of a phenomenon prevents me from judging it clearly, and that racial prejudice prevents me from looking into a person’s soul. The student of the occult must develop this ordinary sense within himself with great subtlety and acuity.

[ 10 ] Everything a person says without first thoroughly purifying it in their thoughts also throws a stone in the path of secret education. And in this regard, there is something that must be taken into account, which can only be explained here through an example. For example, if someone says something to me and I have a response, I must strive to pay more attention to the other person’s opinion, feelings, and even prejudices than to what I myself have to say at that moment about the matter at hand. This points to the development of a subtle sense of tact, to which the secret student must devote careful attention. He must develop the ability to judge to what extent it matters to the other person when he contrasts his own opinion with that of the other. One should not, therefore, hold back one’s opinion. That is out of the question. But one should listen to the other as closely as possible and shape the form of one’s own reply based on what one has heard. Time and again, in such a case, a thought arises within the secret student; and he is on the right path when this thought lives within him to such an extent that it has become a trait of character. This is the thought: “What matters is not that I think something different from the other person, but that the other person will find the truth on their own if I contribute something to it.” Through such and similar thoughts, the character and conduct of the secret student are imbued with the quality of gentleness, which is a primary means of all secret training. Harshness drives away the soul-images around you that are meant to awaken your soul’s eye; Mildness removes the obstacles for you and opens your senses.

[ 11 ] And with gentleness, another trait will soon take shape in the soul: the calm attention to all the subtleties of spiritual life in one’s surroundings, accompanied by complete silence regarding one’s own inner stirrings. And when a person has attained this state, the stirrings of the soul in their surroundings will influence them in such a way that their own soul grows and, as it grows, becomes more structured, just as a plant flourishes in the sunlight. Gentleness and silence, coupled with true patience, open the soul to the world of souls and the spirit to the realm of spirits. – “Remain in stillness and seclusion; close your senses to what they conveyed to you before your secret training; bring all thoughts to a standstill—those that, according to your former habits, ebbed and flowed within you; become completely still and silent within yourself and wait patiently; then higher worlds will begin to develop your soul’s eyes and spirit’s ears. You must not expect to see and hear immediately in the world of the soul and spirit. For what you are doing merely contributes to the development of your higher senses. But you will see with your soul and hear with your spirit only when you possess these senses. Once you have remained in this state of peace and seclusion for a while, return to your usual daily activities, but first impress upon yourself deeply the thought: “What is meant to be mine will come to me when I am ready.” And strictly refrain from attempting to draw anything from the higher powers to yourself through your own will.” These are instructions that every initiate receives from his teacher at the beginning of the path. If he follows them, he will perfect himself. If he does not follow them, all his efforts will be in vain. But they are difficult only for those who lack patience and steadfastness. There are no obstacles other than those that each person places in their own path—and which anyone can avoid if they truly wish to. This must be emphasized again and again, because many form a completely false notion of the difficulties of the esoteric path. In a certain sense, it is easier to traverse the first steps of this path than to cope with the most mundane difficulties of life without esoteric training. — Furthermore, only those things that do not pose any kind of danger to physical or mental health could be disclosed here. There are, of course, other paths that lead more quickly to the goal; but these have nothing to do with what is meant here, because they can have certain effects on people that an experienced initiate does not seek. Since some aspects of such paths repeatedly find their way into the public domain, an explicit warning must be issued against treading them. For reasons that only the initiate can understand, these paths can never be publicly revealed in their true form. And the fragments that appear here and there can lead to nothing beneficial, but rather to the undermining of health, happiness, and peace of mind. Anyone who does not wish to entrust themselves entirely to dark forces, whose true nature and origin they cannot know, should avoid getting involved in such matters.

[ 12 ] There is still much to be said about the environment in which the exercises of the secret training are to be performed. For this is of great importance. Yet the situation is different for almost everyone. Anyone who practices in an environment filled solely with selfish interests—such as the modern struggle for existence—must be aware that these interests will inevitably influence the development of their soul organs. Admittedly, the inner laws governing these organs are so strong that this influence cannot be overly harmful. Just as a lily cannot become a thistle no matter how unsuitable its surroundings may be, so too can the soul’s eye not develop into anything other than what it is destined to be, even if the selfish interests of modern cities exert an influence upon it. But it is always beneficial for the secret student to occasionally immerse themselves in the quiet peace and the inner dignity and grace of nature. The situation is particularly favorable for those who can undertake their secret training entirely amidst the green plant world or among sunny mountains and the lovely weaving of simplicity. This fosters harmony within the inner organs that can never arise in the modern city. Even those who, at least during their childhood, were able to breathe the air of the pine forests, gaze upon snow-capped peaks, and observe the quiet goings-on of forest animals and insects are in a somewhat better position than the mere city dweller. However, none of those who are destined to live in the city should fail to nourish their developing soul and mind with the inspired teachings of spiritual research. Those whose eyes cannot follow the forests day by day as they turn green each spring should instead nourish their hearts with the sublime teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita, the Gospel of John, Thomas à Kempis, and the presentations of spiritual scientific findings. There are many paths to the summit of insight; but making the right choice is essential. — The initiate knows many things about such paths that seem strange to the uninitiated. For example, someone may be very far along the path of mystery. He may, so to speak, be on the very verge of opening his soul’s eyes and spiritual ears; and then he has the good fortune to take a journey across the calm—or perhaps even the stormy—sea, and a blindfold slips from his soul’s eyes: suddenly he sees. – Another has likewise reached the point where this veil need only be removed; it happens through a severe blow of fate. On another person, this blow would likely have had the effect of paralyzing their strength and undermining their energy; for the initiate, it becomes the occasion for enlightenment. – A third perseveres patiently; for years he has waited thus, without any noticeable result. Suddenly, as he sits quietly in the still chamber, spiritual light surrounds him, the walls vanish, becoming transparent to his soul, and a new world unfolds before his eye, which has now become able to see, or resounds in his spiritual ear, which has now become able to hear.