The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Popular Occultism XIII

[ 1 ] You will recall that I explained to you how much of human development depended on the fact that humans began to breathe through their lungs. Their higher training is now also connected to a breathing process. In yoga training, the student establishes a certain rhythm in their breathing by timing the inhalation, the retention of the breath, and the exhalation to a specific number of seconds. However, the manner in which these breathing exercises are performed can only be instructed by the teacher to the student. Through these exercises in the conscious regulation of the breathing process, nothing less than the beginning of alchemy is accomplished; this is called “the search for the Philosopher’s Stone.” Even at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, the Rosicrucians knew something of this, and much of it was still available to the public. The occultist knows that humans constantly pollute the air and kill life through their exhalation of carbon dioxide—even more so than through the consumption of meat. And the more materialistic the ages became, the worse the exhaled air became, and the more fresh air humans needed. The Indian yogi exhaled less polluted air. The polluted air exhaled by humans is restored by plants, which release oxygen and absorb carbon. Animals and humans thus owe their lives to plants. In coal, the plants then return the carbon to humans. The plant, for its part, is structured in such a way that it is built up with the help of carbon. This process forms a complete and wondrous unity. Just as humans were once plants, so too will they become plants again in the distant future in a certain sense—namely, with full self-consciousness. Then human beings will produce within themselves what plants still provide for them today, and they will consciously build their etheric bodies from carbon. This is the purpose of the regulation of the respiratory process. Carbon is the philosopher’s stone. The more a person breathes in pursuit of wisdom, the purer and more useful the air around them becomes. Chemistry will soon address this question. Anyone who has breathed rhythmically for some time gains mastery over their astral senses. Europeans must be very cautious with breathing exercises and should not begin them until later, after receiving appropriate instruction.

[ 2 ] The second stage of Eastern training consists of blocking out external impressions for a time, concentrating, and allowing one’s soul to be filled with the Eternal. There are certain timeless images and sayings for these exercises. Such sayings of wisdom can be found in the Bhagavad Gita, as well as in Egyptian books of wisdom and in Christian writings, particularly in the Gospel of John. Once a person has progressed far enough to establish inner stillness within themselves, new powers come alive within them through deep immersion in such sayings. However, they must not merely understand these sayings; a love for them must awaken within them. The same applies to magical symbols such as the pentagram and so on. One can meditate on them.

[ 3 ] At a certain advanced stage of development, the student reaches the point where the following experience occurs: even when the consciousness is completely empty, the function of thinking—without any mental content—remains intact. Through meditation, the student learns to be conscious and to practice this function by refraining from giving any content to his thoughts. This is a beginning, and the spiritual world can then begin to flow into him. The process of inspiration begins.

[ 4 ] This is followed by the stage of intuition, which, however, can only be attained after a sufficiently long period of occult training. Ultimately, the student lives consciously in the higher worlds. The Eastern initiate must unconditionally submit to the guru’s strict discipline if he wishes to undergo the secret training. He must organize his life accordingly and do many things that he will only come to understand later. Once he has thus aligned himself with the guru, the astral body begins to change; the astral sense organs, which form lotus flowers, develop. Michelangelo depicted the two-petaled lotus flower as two horns in his Moses. At first, two rays of light become noticeable there, which grow ever wider and then begin to move. The sixteen-petaled lotus flower is like a wheel with sixteen spokes; it is located at the larynx and rotates to the right. The two-petaled lotus enables us to develop our will; the sixteen-petaled lotus, to penetrate into the thoughts of others; the twelve-petaled lotus, to recognize our emotional life; and the four-petaled lotus is connected with the regenerative and productive powers of the human being. (See Appendix.)

[ 5 ] The Christian form of initiation is different. It involves seven very specific stages: first, the washing of the feet; second, the scourging; third, the crowning with thorns; fourth, the crucifixion; fifth, the mystical death; sixth, the burial; and seventh, the resurrection.

[ 6 ] The thoughts and images whose devoted meditation brings about Christian initiation are contained in the Gospel of John. Anyone who experiences the first fourteen verses of the Gospel of John in their soul over many months will find that they work like magic. Eventually, the student experiences something quite remarkable: everything written in the Gospel of John appears as astral images. For it is written to be meditated upon.

[ 7 ] The third type of training—which, however, is the most suitable for present-day humanity because it is best suited to science—is the Rosicrucian method. It originates with Christian Rosenkreutz, that great individual who has incarnated time and again since his initiation. Its training is the freest of all; I have already described it in various places. In this path, the teacher is merely a catalyst; he offers only advice. But it is precisely in this training that the greatest danger lies: that the student, due to his complete freedom, may too easily lose his devotional attitude and thereby place obstacles in his own path. Here, the teacher is the servant of the student, and the student’s devotion should be a free gift. At present, Rosicrucian training requires of the student, above all, a well-developed mind—and above all else, a mind free from sensuality. “The Philosophy of Freedom” and “Truth and Science” were written for this purpose. These books do not yet contain anything that is strictly theosophical. However, they can serve as foundations and guides for the European student.