The Rudolf Steiner Archive

23. Degrees of Higher Knowledge (Steps to Higher Knowledge)

[ 1 ] Dr. Steiner distinguishes three degrees or stages of higher knowledge that the average person can attain through a specific type of development: first, imaginative knowledge; second, inspirational knowledge; and third, intuitive knowledge.

[ 2 ] We attain imaginative insight when we perceive the things around us as symbols. The people of the Lemurian race were familiar with this state of consciousness, albeit in an imperfect way. They did not perceive things as we do now, but rather saw images of specific colors and shapes floating in space, which appeared to them as either pleasant or unpleasant. Gradually, our normal waking consciousness developed from this Lemurian consciousness, and only remnants of the former remained. (Compare this to our dream state, in which an event in the material realm—for example, a chair falling over—is symbolized by one or another intricate drama.) Through what is called the esoteric life, one can regain this higher knowledge in a more perfect way. The conditions for this cannot be discussed in this lecture; the speaker merely noted that a great deal of patience and renunciation of all the inclinations of the lower human being are absolutely required, and that it is not without danger to consciously enter the higher worlds—in accordance with higher degrees of knowledge—without an authorized teacher.

[ 3 ] If one fulfills these conditions, after some time—and with concentrated attention—one will see light images on one material object or another, which together form the so-called imaginative (astral) image associated with that object. For example, in a plant from which new life is blossoming, one will notice violet images that gradually transition to a bright red; when the plant dies, however, orange images appear, which after some time take on a brownish and dingy hue. In addition to these astral images, one will also come to know beings that are unknown in the material realm, including the group souls of animals, which manifest in the astral world as independent beings with whom one can establish contact. As the impressions of the physical world fade, a new world of light, color, and sound opens up to the human being—but not without first passing through a period of complete stillness and utter darkness.

[ 4 ] As one progresses in one’s inner development, one experiences at a certain stage that one no longer merely perceives imaginative images, but at the same time begins to comprehend them. At this stage, so-called inspirational insight begins, and one becomes conscious in the lower Devachan world. One comes to know one’s fellow creatures through a specific tone: “the music of the spheres” is revealed to the human being, as are the group souls of the plants, which in this world are specific beings and, so to speak, parts of the great spiritual being—the planetary soul—of which the Earth is the physical body. The physical Earth appears in the lower Devachan world as a transparent crystal.

[ 5 ] The third level of higher knowledge—intuitive knowledge—comes to a person when, after prolonged practice, they have developed the ability to live within all things themselves. Then one can empathize with plant and mineral souls and, for example, share the pleasant feeling of these souls when a flower is picked, grain is harvested, or a stone is crushed into gravel. Then one shares in the life of all fellow creatures, and true compassion develops. And one sees that, of all the forms in the natural kingdoms, it is the animating life that is the essence.