The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture Six

[ 1 ] First of all, it must be noted that yoga, or initiation, is not a dramatic event, but rather a gradual process of training, a deeply personal transformation. People often imagine that it consists of a series of external rituals and ascetic practices. None of this is true. Everything must take place in the depths of the soul.

[ 2 ] Let us first discuss the practical rules of this training. It has often been said that the beginning of initiation is dangerous and that those who undertake it expose themselves to serious dangers. There is some truth to this, and we will try to analyze it scientifically.

[ 3 ] Initiation is a kind of birth of the higher human soul, which is hidden within every human being. For the lower soul—or, more precisely, for the astral body—it entails dangers similar to those of physical birth; the similarity lies in the fact that the divine soul separates itself from the passion soul through pain, just as a child is separated from its mother’s womb, but with the difference that spiritual birth takes much longer.

[ 4 ] Let’s consider another comparison. The higher soul is closely bound to the animal soul. It is their connection that moderates the passions, spiritualizes them, and controls them according to the degree of reason and will. This connection offers a benefit to human beings. But they pay for this benefit with the loss of their clairvoyance. Let us imagine a green liquid composed chemically of blue and yellow. If you succeed in separating them chemically, you will see, for example, that the yellow liquid settles at the bottom, while the blue rises to the surface. The same is true of human beings when the path of initiation separates the animal soul from the spiritual soul. For the higher soul, this results in clairvoyance, but the animal soul, left to itself—unless it has already been purified by the “I”—now surrenders unchecked to the excesses of the passions. This phenomenon can often be observed in mediums. Vigilance against this danger is sometimes referred to in initiation by the term: “the Guardian of the Threshold.”

[ 5 ] This is why the first requirement placed on the student is that he possess a steadfast character and be master of his passions. The initiation exercises are therefore preceded by strict discipline and certain conditions, the first of which are tranquility and seclusion. Ordinary morality is not enough, for it relates only to a person’s conduct in the external world. Initiation, however, relates to the inner person.

[ 6 ] If one were to object, “Piety is enough,” we would reply: Piety is a beautiful and necessary thing, but it has nothing to do with occult practice. Piety without wisdom is uncreative.

[ 7 ] For the occultist—the true initiate—the task is to change the course of his life. People today are determined and driven in their actions by sensory impressions—that is, by the external world. But everything that is bound to space and time is meaningless. It can be disregarded.

[ 8 ] What, then, are the means to this end?

[ 9 ] First: Focus your mental power on a single object and let it rest there. This is called acquiring mental control.

[ 10 ] Second: Act in the same way with regard to all activities, whether large or small—master them, regulate them, and bring them under the control of the will. From now on, all must spring from an inner initiative. This is the control of actions.

[ 11 ] Third: Emotional balance. One must exercise moderation in both pain and joy. Goethe said that the soul that loves is at times “exultant as the heavens,” and at other times “grief-stricken to the point of death.” The occultist must endure the greatest joy and the greatest pain with the same emotional equanimity.

[ 12 ] Fourth: Positivity. The state of mind that consists in seeking the good in everything. A Persian legend tells that when Christ once passed by a foul-smelling dog carcass with his disciples, they turned away in disgust. But after looking at the repulsive sight, he simply said, “What beautiful teeth this animal has!”

[ 13 ] Fifth: Impartiality. Intellectual openness to every new phenomenon; the ability to never allow one’s judgment to be influenced by the past.

[ 14 ] Sixth: The inner balance that arises from all these preparatory exercises. One now finds oneself ready for the inner training of the soul. One is ready to set out on the path.

[ 15 ] Seventh: Meditation. One must make oneself blind and deaf to the external world and memories of it, to the point where even a cannon shot would not unsettle us. This is the preparation for meditation. Once one has emptied oneself inwardly, one is capable of receiving within oneself that which comes from without. The task then is to awaken the deeper layers of the soul through specific ideas that are suited to allowing the soul to ascend to the Source.

[ 16 ] In Light on the Path, there are four teachings that are suitable for use as subjects of meditation and inner concentration. These are very ancient principles that have been practiced by initiates for centuries, and their meaning is profound and multifaceted.

[ 17 ] First Lesson: Before the eye can see, it must wean itself from tears.

[ 18 ] Second Lesson: Before the ear can hear, its sensitivity must fade.

[ 19 ] Third Lesson: Before the voice can speak before the masters, it must first unlearn its wounds.

[ 20 ] Fourth Teaching: And before the soul can stand before them, the blood of its heart must wet its feet.

[ 21 ] These four teachings possess a magical power. But to truly experience them, it is necessary to let them take root within oneself and to love them tirelessly, just as a mother loves her child.

[ 22 ] The first exercise has the power to develop the etheric body, especially its upper part, which corresponds to the head.

[ 23 ] Now that the upper part of the etheric body has been discussed, it is necessary to explore a deeper aspect of the being: the circulatory and respiratory systems, the heart, and the lungs. Once, in bygone epochs of Earth’s evolution, human beings lived in water and breathed through gills, just as fish do today. The sacred writings of various peoples have recorded the moment when human beings began to breathe the air of the heavens. Genesis says: “God breathed His breath into man.” The student must transform and purify his respiratory system. All development proceeds from chaos to harmony, from the arrhythmic to the rhythmic. Man must harmonize his instincts.

[ 24 ] In ancient times, the various degrees of initiation were designated by specific names:

[ 25 ] First degree: the raven. It represents the one who stands at the threshold. The raven appears in all mythologies. In the Edda, it whispers into Wotan’s ear what it sees in the distance.

[ 26 ] Second Degree: the Initiate or Occultist.

[ 27 ] Third degree: the warrior (battle, conflict).

[ 28 ] Fourth degree: the Lion (Strength).

[ 29 ] Fifth degree: the initiate bears the name of the people to whom he belongs—Persian or Greek—because his soul has expanded to encompass his entire people.

[ 30 ] Sixth degree: Sun Hero or Sun Runner, because his course has become just as harmonious and rhythmic as the course of the sun. The sun represented the rhythmic, living movement of the planetary system. The legend of Icarus relates to initiation. Icarus attempted to reach the sun too soon, without sufficient preparation, and crashed.

[ 31 ] Seventh degree: the Father, because he has now become capable of guiding disciples and of being the protector of all people; and because he is the Father of the new man, born a second time in the awakened soul.

[ 32 ] During meditation, the mind purifies the air. It could even be chemically proven and demonstrated that a smaller amount of carbon dioxide is exhaled.

[ 33 ] The new breathing rhythm causes a change in the blood. A person is purified to such an extent that they can regenerate their own blood without the help of plants. In the long run, meditation changes the nature of the blood. The person then exhales less carbon dioxide because they retain it within themselves and use it to build up the body. They exhale only pure air. In this way, the person becomes capable of living off their own breath. In this manner, they carry out an alchemical transformation.

[ 34 ] What, then, are the higher stages of initiation?

[ 35 ] First stage: The initiate finds complete stillness within the soul. Then astral vision arises within him, in which everything is a symbolic image of reality. This astral vision, experienced during sleep, is still imperfect.

[ 36 ] Second stage: Dreams cease to be chaotic and become regular. One senses the true connection between the symbolism of dreams and reality; one becomes a master on the astral plane. Now the astral light, which comes from within, ignites in the soul, which learns to see other souls, as it were, as realities.

[ 37 ] Third stage: Continuity of consciousness is established between the waking state and the sleeping state. Whereas astral life was once reflected in the dreams of light sleep, it now appears during deep sleep in other perceptions that are purely auditory and manifest in a solemn form. The soul then hears the inner word of all beings in the form of a wondrous harmony, and this harmony manifests true life.

[ 38 ] Plato and Pythagoras called this harmony the “harmony of the spheres.” This is not a poetic metaphor, but a deep vibration of the innermost soul in response to the sound waves emanating from the world soul.

[ 39 ] Goethe, who had already been initiated to this harmony of the spheres during his youth, in the period between Leipzig and Strasbourg, was familiar with it. He celebrated it in the opening lines of Faust, where the archangel Raphael utters these words

The sun resounds in the ancient way
with a contest of song in the spheres of brotherhood,
and it completes its prescribed journey
with a thunderous roar.

[ 40 ] In deep sleep, the initiate hears these sounds as the blare of trumpets and the rumble of thunder.