The Rudolf Steiner Archive

5. The Paths and Goals of Spiritual Man III

[ 1 ] If one were to ask a person, from the perspective of everyday consciousness: “What is it that we can call the ‘I’?”—the answer one would receive is that this self-consciousness must be sought within the boundaries enclosed by the skin. Our view can be substantiated by the fact that the seat of the soul is to be found in the head and the heart. But from the perspective of Spiritual Science, the situation is different—though this is not easy to recognize.

[ 2 ] One comes closer to spiritual reality by attempting to understand the supersensible facts. The concepts and words that people form without such research do not bring them any closer to the truth. One will gain a clear understanding by building on a unified picture.

[ 3 ] Let us consider a sailor navigating the sea. There, everything external constitutes the essential, the determining factor; for steering the ship, it depends on whether the sea is calm or rough, whether islands appear in the sea, whether the sky is cloudy, and so on. Based on all these external factors, both the captain and the sailors take their measures; all external factors are what matter most to them. Now, some might think that once the ship has entered the harbor, it comes to rest, and all work would cease for a while. But that is not the case. That is when another kind of work begins. The ship is no longer doing the work; instead, work is being done on the ship. Anything that was damaged during the voyage is repaired. The hold is filled with a new cargo, and so on. Thus, the voyage and the ship’s stay in port can be compared to human life—to life during the day and life during the night. There is, however, one single difference, and that is that people do not concern themselves with the work of the night. While in port, the ship must be made ready for the next voyage by workers and sailors. But everything that drives people to act through their senses during the day ceases to have an effect at night. Our senses, which have carried out their work in our bodies during the day, rest at night. The work of the day rests, just as the ship rests in the harbor. And yet a process takes place within a person that enables him to begin a new day’s work.

[ 4 ] This brings us closer to understanding what the true spiritual aspect of the human being is. It is not enclosed by the human skin, but extends beyond the physical human being. The true spiritual aspect extends its sensory antennae into the human being; it sends the essential, the spiritual, into the human being.

[ 5 ] Where is the true “I” located within a human being? Outside of the human being, surrounding the physical human, we find the spiritual human, the supersensible “I”-human. And when we consider the human aura, which is shaped like an egg, the “I”-consciousness comes into its fullest expression within the shell, within the auric egg. This fact is the key to the correct solution to the problem.

[ 6 ] I have pointed out twelve points on the horizon. The occultist must be aware of them. They exist there, even if they are not recognized by everyone. These twelve points continuously radiate their forces into the human being; he is affected by these twelve points at various points within his aura. Only because his “I” surrounds him is he able to make the cosmic forces one with himself. Human beings must feel that they belong to the universe. Through this, they enter into the capacity for perception, and through this, it becomes possible for them to acquire the faculties of perception corresponding to the points mentioned. They are embedded in these twelve points. The divine-spiritual forces act upon the human being through these points. If you can take this to heart and contemplate it, you will understand the paths and goals of the spiritual human being.

[ 7 ] Human beings must be able to integrate this feeling into their lives. Through Spiritual Science, they will become acquainted with a range of forces through which they can bring about these transformations within themselves. Let us consider everyday life. A person rushes through the world, and many things come their way that they could reflect on, that they could process in their mind, but they make no effort whatsoever to turn their experiences into work or even to think about them more deeply. They simply want to “experience” and chase from one sensation to the next.

[ 8 ] There is another kind of person who goes through life without paying the slightest attention to the outside world. They brood and speculate about their own thoughts. They do not notice what is happening around them; they brood on and on. Neither of these extremes is beneficial to human beings. But there is a middle ground, and it is this: to interweave everything one experiences with one’s own thoughts. This middle ground is the most beneficial for people in the outside world.

[ 9 ] Suppose a young man is preparing for an exam. He has worked diligently; exam time is approaching, and with it comes exam anxiety. Time and again, it occurs to the young man that on the day of the exam, he might be asked precisely about the topics he feels least confident about—the things he doesn’t know for sure. This weighs on his mind. The exam went smoothly; it is decisive for his entire life. It is the gateway to his future life. Now it may happen that, as his life unfolds, he is haunted by a dream, and in this dream the exam anxiety of his youth resurfaces within him—everything he thought he didn’t know back then. The soul is intimately connected to this, and the occult observer sees the fabric being woven in the dream. What is woven into it did not contribute at all to the life that has passed. The occultist knows, however, that in the next life it can become a source of useful strength.

[ 10 ] Things can also turn out differently. Starting at the age of forty-five, the dream comes to an end. The person observing himself discovers that entirely new character traits come to light. For example, he may find that in his later years he possesses far more courage than he ever did in his youth. The anxieties of his youth and the associated will to overcome them have been quietly at work within him; after forty-five years, these forces have been transformed into their opposites. Something is constantly weaving and working within a person, and what is at work there is the astral body. It continues to work within the etheric body until the experience has become woven into the etheric body and has truly become a characteristic. Under normal circumstances, it does not manifest as a characteristic until the next life, but there can also be quite abnormal cases, such as the one just mentioned.

[ 11 ] This is how human beings process their external experiences, and the same applies to the extrasensory aspects of life, which require us to process them through the “I.” How does the spiritual human being work in relation to external circumstances? External circumstances approach us, but from within, the fabric is woven that transforms our abilities. We weave into the human being that which originates from the eternal spiritual. We must go out to the external, but the spiritual comes to us.

[ 12 ] Let’s assume that, for one reason or another, a person takes an interest in something—for example, that he wants to take a closer look at a tree. He must then approach the tree; he must walk over to it in order to achieve a result. With intellectual results, however, it is different. These come to us; we must wait for them to arrive.

[ 13 ] The essential aspect of external experiences is that they are transient in nature. But those that come to us through the path of “Theosophy” are rooted in the spiritual. We weave them into our inner being as something imperishable. We must go out to the external world, but the spiritual must come to us; and the more we enable ourselves to receive the spiritual within us, the more will flow toward us from the spiritual worlds and become our own. The people who live among us as poets and have created and produced something are always those who, in times past, have allowed the supersensible to flow into themselves. We must learn to think more deeply. We must be able to think logically and rationally, and then quiet our soul completely. Then our waiting will not be in vain. The corresponding spiritual substance will flow into our soul—the path to which we ourselves have paved the way. We must learn to maintain a mood of anticipation. What we are pondering is not necessarily the best. We should seek to attain everything through our mental work, not through ourselves alone. Only through sharp thinking and the waiting that follows can we enrich our spirit. It must flow into us once we have learned to observe the correct processes, and these processes must interact with thinking, feeling, and willing.

[ 14 ] There are three aspects of our inner life: thinking, feeling, and willing. A person sees a rose. Through his thought life, he recognizes it as such. He admires its shape and color; this evokes certain feelings within him. He reaches out his hand to grasp the rose, thereby expressing an act of will. However, the way in which a person relates to these qualities determines important outcomes that can be decisive for his entire life.

[ 15 ] For example: A person encounters another who inspires a strong aversion in him. He realizes that he cannot free himself from this person, and the feeling caused by this compulsion makes him angry. Thinking, feeling, and willing are all involved in this process.

[ 16 ] In daily life, one can often observe how differently these processes unfold. One person’s anger dissipates quickly; he does not dwell on such feelings for long, and his better feelings gain the upper hand. Another, on the other hand, carries his anger around with him all day; he lacks the flexibility to shake it off. The first person, who quickly overcomes his emotional agitation, will remain mentally healthy and may live to a ripe old age. The other, who flies into a rage over every trifle and carries that anger with him for a long time, will age prematurely. The constant, lingering agitation will take its toll on his body.

[ 17 ] There is a saying: One should not take anger to bed with one. — That is when emotions begin to weave themselves into the soul, and we weave passions into the human being. What we experience through the spirit will affect our soul, and there is a fundamental difference between whether our experiences remain merely theoretical or whether they are transmitted to our feelings.

[ 18 ] Let us suppose that a person takes in a great deal of spiritual content, and that what is taken in penetrates the person. It will only truly bear fruit for the spiritual person when they embrace what they have absorbed with enthusiasm and love. Only then does the work become the work of the inner self; only then do they draw out the spiritual essence and make it a part of their spiritual self. It is feeling that helps us make what we have acquired spiritually our own.

[ 19 ] Human beings live within their aura, and when theosophical truths are absorbed by the spiritual self, the aura is set in vigorous motion. The “I” is the driving force behind this movement. How does this process appear to the clairvoyant eye? When love and enthusiasm for the great spiritual ideas take hold of a person, everything in the aura comes alive, and the result of this higher life of thought is that it has a purifying effect on the aura. All material desires and passions that find expression in the human aura coalesce into spheres, and as spiritual work intensifies, these spheres become increasingly dense and smaller and smaller, until the purifying light of spiritual thought has dissolved and dispelled them.

[ 20 ] When the clairvoyant eye observes a person watching a sunrise, similar phenomena can be observed. As the person experiences the reverent joy that this natural spectacle can evoke, a similar process takes place in the observer’s aura. As long as such a person allows this beauty to work upon their inner being, the effect of this process is one of purification in the aura, and much that is bad is transformed into good. The ability to rejoice and to lose oneself has a purifying effect on the soul, and in such moments the soul is able to absorb new spiritual realities, because the flow of higher forces has found a way in.

[ 21 ] But the opposite can also happen. If a person does not allow a magnificent natural spectacle that has moved him to linger in his thoughts, if nothing of all that beauty remains within him, and if, after a fleeting moment of enjoyment, he turns his attention to other things, the following may occur: Everything becomes concentrated in the aura of such a person. A spiritual and psychological task that crossed their path has been carelessly set aside and is now playing out in the dark. As a result, a lie may find its way into their inner being. Developing the ability to reflect on, let things resonate within, and empathize—that is the work of the spiritual person.

[ 22 ] If we all learned this, Spiritual Science would lead to paths and goals that would bring blessings far and wide. If only intellectual pursuits were pursued, if strife and discord reigned among theosophists, little evil would be transformed into good. The Law of Karma will show people how to work in the right way.

[ 23 ] For those who can embrace theosophy with enthusiasm and know how to draw comfort from it, the higher Spiritual Sciences are a blessing, for they bring comfort and strength to all circumstances; no one leaves these Sciences without comfort. The greater our goals, the more our striving will be imbued with ideals, and we carry them out into the world. We pursue Spiritual Science and weave it into our inner being. It permeates us, and we can carry it out to others.

[ 24 ] We must work toward these goals as best we can. We have no right to leave the paths and goals of the spiritual human being unobserved. It is our duty to weave the spiritual into the physical world. Humanity is the gateway, the sole spiritual gateway into the physical-material world, through which heaven is to flow. We can dissolve the lead of materialism by allowing spiritual truths to penetrate it. Only by working toward the development of humanity does a person contribute to life rather than to death. To walk the paths and pursue the goals of the spiritual human being means to pursue the task of transforming the supersensible into the spiritual.