The Rudolf Steiner Archive

116. Anthroposophy and Spiritual Knowledge

[ 1 ] The number of attendees had decreased considerably for this second lecture in Bremen; the lecture itself was more lively and, especially toward the end, more effective than the first time. Once again, the leader of the anthroposophists emphasized that anthroposophy is not in opposition to the spirit of science; rather, it always conducts its research out of a heightened scientific conscience. This time, he discussed in greater detail the old and new paths of knowledge that lead to the supersensible and are intended to solve the age-old mysteries of the human soul. Possessing a spiritual life in the sense of anthroposophy is, of course, no longer a mystery; it is a reality; indeed, the eternity and the supersensible character of this spiritual life are taken for granted. However, the two phenomena of falling asleep and waking up demonstrate that this spiritual life harbors profound mysteries. There (as also in death), spiritual life seems powerless; here, it is filled with the strange power to take possession of physicality. How does the spirit connect with physicality? To resolve these and related questions, we turn to everything that can provide us with insight into spiritual life. Two enemies stand in the way of higher knowledge here: superstition and the scientifically trained penetration into the laws of nature, which, while strengthening one against the claims of sensory experience, simultaneously weakens one’s belief in a supersensible world. Consequently, it inclines one toward doubt, and this doubt is dangerous, as it undermines physical health and leads to spiritual consumption. Since the path taken by scientists through ordinary experience does not lead into the realm of the supersensible, some turn to pathological states of the soul for answers (mediumship, etc.). But Steiner vigorously rejects these investigations. We cannot attain an inner understanding of spiritual life by this route. For anthroposophy, the entire life of the soul is the starting point. (Also experience and goal?) The first part of its exercises is specifically aimed at promoting a person’s physical and spiritual health. The second group, of course, strives for paths of knowledge that allow one to glimpse into the spiritual world. There are manifold prejudices against these paths of knowledge. But by examining older paths of knowledge, it can be demonstrated that what is now considered faith was once knowledge—or at least was regarded as such. Steiner discusses two of these older paths of knowledge: the teachings of yoga and asceticism. Through clairvoyant methods, the anthroposophist penetrates more deeply into the true essence of the teachings of yoga, which therefore must not be interpreted based on their literature or scholarly research. Clairvoyance teaches us that in ancient times, the teachings of yoga were quite different from how they now appear to research—especially as they must appear due to the corrupted practice of yoga in later times. The yogis already knew that the breath flows through the spinal canal into the brain and then permeates the processes in the brain—especially those significant for thinking—and that a new life of thought arises through the interaction of the sensory processes and the breath. On this basis, they established a higher form of knowledge through the conscious intervention of thought with the aid of the breath; thus, by regulating the rhythm of the breath, they transformed the inner life of the spirit. In earlier times, people experienced the external world through different images. They did not see purely sensory colors, but perceived a spiritual-soul aspect everywhere. They did not, therefore, project the spiritual into the world through the imagination (animism), but it was natural for them to experience the world through these images. The teachings of yoga turn away from this active, sensory thinking through a conscious breathing rhythm; they seek to grasp the inner self. Thinking is transformed indirectly through the breath. But their exercises compelled them to live as hermits. This is no longer permissible today, since we belong to the world and its tasks. In a similar vein, Steiner discusses asceticism as the attempt to gain access to the spiritual world by dampening bodily functions. A healthy body, he argues, is necessary for the external world, though it is certainly an obstacle to the spiritual world. Yet the path of asceticism is no longer viable today, since it leads away from work in and on the world. Both paths of knowledge—yoga and asceticism—were originally forms of insight but have now become matters of faith and exercises of the will. The new paths must be of an entirely different nature. Essentially, they would consist of exercises of thought. In contrast to the teachings of yoga, anthroposophy seeks to draw the human being away from the sensory breath and from the “self.” It seeks to allow people to settle into and empathize with a different rhythm—namely, that of the cosmos and the beings. Living thinking turns away from ordinary, abstract, dead thinking. Steiner then provides an introduction to the methods of this living thinking, which he describes as exact clairvoyance. Drawing on the theory of evolution, he seeks to show how thinking becomes alive. Whereas in ordinary evolutionary theory one first forms a concept of the animal, then of the human being, and subsequently compares the two concepts, here the living thought arises directly within and from the other thought itself. Thinking immerses itself in life itself; the thoughts come alive. In this way, the human being grows together with the spiritual itself. Even Oken and Schelling (!) seem to have had such living thoughts. But their thoughts are mixed with a great deal of imagination—even fantasy! Anthroposophy adds something to the living thought that guarantees certainty: exercises in human self-discipline. It teaches people to take their lives into their own hands. Through exercises of the will, they develop living thinking—admittedly, amid pain and suffering of the soul. This suffering, a consequence of the initial paths of knowledge, must be overcome and transcended into a neutral state of feeling. Then the entire being becomes a spiritual sense organ. Steiner illustrates this suffering through the—admittedly unfelt—suffering resulting from the disruptions in the eye during the act of seeing. In contrast to asceticism, he emphasizes the overcoming of pain and the strengthening of the soul. But the human being himself becomes a different person through exact clairvoyance. Unfortunately, Steiner offered only hints about the human aura, which leads back into the spiritual world and reveals to us how we lived and existed before our physical earthly life. Through exact clairvoyance, we look into the inner being of the human being, especially into his heart and his true essence. In this way, we gain full certainty about the spiritual life of the soul prior to earthly existence. We also come to know the very essence of the world. Above all, we see how the spirit engages with the child’s brain and continues to differentiate it. But we also recognize the other aspect of the auric realm: human activities and destinies. Engagement and friendship are not a matter of chance, but are based on long-standing affinities. In life, everything proceeds according to plan. (Knebel.) In this way, we can trace the fabric of destiny; in this way, immortality, too, becomes something beheld and recognized. This higher understanding then also serves the religious experience grounded in knowledge. A firm relationship between the human being and the supersensible world opens up. Spiritual relationships (friendships) live on. The world is permeated with living spirituality. But it is anthroposophy that helps humanity attain living spirituality, that conjures the spirit into the world. And the spirits walk and work among us. […]