— Chapter 4 —

The Conditions of Esoteric Training

37. "The conditions attached to esoteric training are not arbitrary ... [N]o one can receive esoteric training who is unwilling to meet the demands considered necessary by the teacher. In the main, the latter can give nothing but advice, and everything he says should be accepted in this sense. He has already passed through the preparatory stages leading to a knowledge of the higher worlds, and knows from experience what is necessary. It depends entirely upon the free-will [sic] of each individual human being whether or not he choose to tread the same path."  [p. 114.]

Steiner often spoke of freedom, and surely he is correct that deciding whether to traverse the path he describes is a matter of individual free choice. No one can make the decision but yourself. You are a free agent.

On the other hand, note how little leeway Steiner allows you. Once you decide to follow the path, you will confront "demands" that "are not arbitrary." You must accept "everything" your teacher says (it is only "advice," but if you don't take the advice you will get nowhere). Your teacher (who in this case is Steiner himself) possesses the "knowledge of the higher worlds" that you seek, and he "knows from experience what is necessary." You better listen to him. You are "free" to refuse, but this amounts to choosing to fail in your quest. You teacher will not be your teacher unless you faithfully accept his word for things. [For more on Steiner's version of "freedom," see "Freedom".]

38. "He [i.e., the student] should be at pains to do justice to life on every occasion. All one-sided and extravagant tendencies in his sentiments and criticisms should be avoided. Failing this, he would find his way merely into worlds of his own imagination, instead of higher worlds; in place of truth, his own pet opinions would assert themselves. It is better for the student to be matter-of-fact, than excitable and fantastic."  [p. 119.]

When Steiner says something true, it tends to be because he is saying something self-evident — something for which no great spiritual wisdom is required. Of course it is better to affirm life than death. Of course it is better to avoid "one-sided and extravagant tendencies." Of course following "imagination" (here Steiner means this word in the common sense: fantasy) is not the path to truth. Of course pet opinions usually get us nowhere. Of course it is better to avoid the "excitable and fantastic." Of course. But we already knew all of this.

39. "The student must work his way upward to the realization that his thoughts and feelings are as important for the world as his actions. It must be realized that it is equally injurious to hate a fellow-being as to strike him. [sic] The realization will then follow that by perfecting ourselves we accomplish something not only for ourselves, but for the whole world. The world derives equal benefit from our untainted feelings and thoughts as from our good demeanor, and as long as we cannot believe in this cosmic importance of our inner life, we are unfit for the path that is here described."  [p. 121.]

This is questionable. If I hate you, whom do I hurt? I hurt myself more than you; I twist my own soul, not yours. On the other hand, if I murder you, whom do I hurt? You, for one. Me too, probably, for another. So my evil action is more injurious than my evil emotion, and it does more overt damage in the real world. Of course, Steiner is not speaking of the real world — he is speaking of the "higher world(s)" he has concocted, and he is affirming that feelings and words and thoughts create tangible realities there. That is his doctrine, take it or leave it.

40. "Anyone regarding himself as a product of the outer world, as a result of the physical world, cannot succeed in this esoteric training, for the feeling that we are beings of soul and spirit forms its very basis. The acquisition of this feeling renders the student fit to distinguish between inner duty and outward success."  [p. 122.]

This may well be true. You aren't going to get very far in the invisible "higher" worlds if you don't believe they exist. If you think the physical universe is the whole show, and that you exist only in the physical universe, then that may be as far as you can go. The question, however, is whether the higher worlds as described by Steiner actually exist. He asserts that they do — he asserts it over and over — but he offers no evidence. You can follow him only if you have faith in his pronouncements. If, for whatever private reason, you decide to believe Steiner, then you can begin the process of attempting to perceive his "higher worlds." Whether this will get you anywhere remains to be seen. And at a minimum, you should be honest with yourself about one thing: You are launching out on a religious quest. You are proceeding on faith, not — despite Steiner's assurances — knowledge. You don't have knowledge of the higher worlds yet, and for all you know Steiner doesn't have knowledge of them either. He says  he does. But without knowledge of your own, you can choose to believe him only as a leap of faith.

41. "[A]ll actions arising from desire are worthless in relation to the higher worlds. There, love for an action is alone the decisive factor. In this love, every impulse that impels the student to action should fulfill itself. Undismayed by failure, he will never grow weary of endeavoring repeatedly to translate some resolution into action ... He will learn to sacrifice his actions, even his whole being, to the world, however the world may receive his sacrifice."  [pp. 123-124.]

Previously, Steiner said that desires are inevitable, even on spiritual quests. (See point 33.) Here he says that desires are worthless (and possibly self-defeating) on spiritual quests. You should act out of love of the action; you should do it for its own sake, because you love it, not because you foresee a reward. (Although Steiner elsewhere has promised a reward. See, e.g., point 12.) You must be selfless. 

Possibly this is true. To save yourself, you may need to sacrifice yourself. This is a paradox, yet it is quite possibly true. Most spiritual and philosophical systems recognize it as such. When you love, and likewise when you are heroic — in other words, when you reach the highest levels of human morality — you transcend yourself.

42. "All perception of truth, all life and activity in the world of the spirit, become subtle and delicate in comparison with the processes of the ordinary intellect and of life in the physical world ... [T]here is one and only one opinion regarding higher truths and this one opinion is within reach of all ... Opinions differing from the one true opinion can only be arrived at when people, insufficiently prepared, judge in accordance with their pet theories, their habitual ways of thought, and so forth. Just as there is only one correct opinion concerning a mathematical problem, so also is this true with regard to the higher worlds ... Only the experienced can advise how [to find truth]. Such advice is found in spiritual science ... It is true that everyone could find this way unaided, but only perhaps after many incarnations. By esoteric training this way is shortened. We thus reach more quickly a point from which we can cooperate in those worlds where the salvation and evolution of man are furthered by spiritual work.

"This brings to an end the indications to be given in connection with the attainment of knowledge of higher worlds."  [pp. 128-130.]

So. The end (as it were). Are you satisfied? If you are not satisfied with my series of excerpts, you should read the chapters from which I drew them. I encourage you to read Steiner's complete text. I suspect you won't find it any more satisfactory than what we have seen here. But in any event, you need to recognize again how severely Steiner wants to hem you in. Despite his talk of "freedom," he insists that there is "one and only one" true "opinion" about the higher worlds; just "one opinion" — to wit, his. It is the "one true opinion;" all others arise from insufficient preparation, pet theories, habitual ways of thinking, and so on. There is only one true solution to a math problem and only one true path to the higher worlds. His math; his path. You can come to his path now, and thus save yourself a lot of unnecessary work in future incarnations; or you can incarnate over and over again until you come to his path. But if you want the truth — the one true "opinion," the one true path — you must accept what Steiner says. That's it. Period.

So much for freedom.

Having now told us everything he knows about how to gain knowledge of the higher worlds, Steiner next turns his attention to certain ancillary matters. Stay tuned.

— Chapter 5 —

Some Results of Initiation

43. "Some effects produced upon the soul of the student will here be indicated. For only those who know such things as they are here communicated can undertake in full consciousness the exercises that lead to knowledge of the higher worlds. Without the latter no genuine esoteric training is possible, for it must be understood that all groping in the dark is discouraged, and that failure to pursue this training with open eyes may lead to mediumship, but not to exact clairvoyance in the sense of spiritual science."  [pp. 131-132.]

Rudolf Steiner claimed that his was not just any old form of clairvoyance; he claimed to possess "exact" clairvoyance. [See "Exactly".] And this is the sort of clairvoyance he promised you can develop, if you follow his instructions (accept no substitutes). His clairvoyance was exact, therefore there is no arguing with him. His knowledge of spiritual matters was essentially unarguable. He didn't clam to be omniscient — but he came close.

Some mediums (crystal-ball gazers, fortune tellers, and the like) may be outright frauds, possessing no clairvoyance at all. On the other hand, some may be real, Steiner suggests; some may possess clairvoyance, but only of a low, unreliable kind. So heed them not. (Actually, you may want to withhold your belief from everyone  who claims to be clairvoyant, including Steiner. The value — or lack thereof — of Steiner's teachings is indicated, perhaps, by his willingness to believe, even tentatively, in any mediums at all. He has to admit the possibility of mediumship, since he has opened the door by affirming the existence of clairvoyance. But it lands him in a sticky corner.)

At this stage, we are about to embark on several lengthy statements by Steiner — so lengthy that (to your relief, I imagine) I will remain silent. Get the feel of Steiner's rhetoric; get the sense of his thinking. Using, perhaps, the information we have gained previously, weigh his words. In any event, for the next several quotations, Steiner will hold the stage alone. 

44. "The further the student advances in his inner development, the more regular will be the differentiation within his astral body ... The organs [of the astral body] now to be considered are perceptible to the clairvoyant near the following part of the physical body: the first between the eyes; the second near the larynx; the third in the region of the heart; the fourth in the so-called pit of the stomach; the fifth and sixth are situated in the abdomen. These organs are technically known as wheels, chakrams, or lotus flowers. They are so called on account of their likeness to wheels or flowers, but of course it should be clearly understood that such an expression is not to be applied more literally than is the term 'wings' when referring to the two halves of the lungs. Just as there is no question of wings in the case of the lungs, so, too, in the case of the lotus flowers the expression must be taken figuratively. In undeveloped persons these lotus flowers are dark in color, motionless and inert. In the clairvoyant, however, they are luminous, mobile, and of variegated color. Something of this kind applies to the medium, though in a different way; this question, however, need not be pursued here any further.

"Now, when the student begins his exercises, the lotus flowers become more luminous; later on they begin to revolve. When this occurs, clairvoyance begins ... The organ in the vicinity of the larynx has sixteen petals or spokes; the one in the region of the heart twelve, and the one in the pit of the stomach ten ... It is only when the student begins to take his self-education in hand [by following certain disciplines] that the petals become effective ... [Steiner outlines eight needed soul disciplines. The first: The student] must govern his mental life so that it becomes a true mirror of the outer world, and direct his effort to the exclusion of incorrect ideas from his soul ... [#2] He should have well-considered grounds for everything he does ... [#3] The student should utter no word that is devoid of sense and meaning ... [#4] The student tries to adjust his actions in such a way that they harmonize with the actions of his fellow-men [sic] and with the events in his environment ... [#5] The student endeavors to live in conformity with both nature and spirit ... [#6] The student tests his capacities and proficiency, and conducts himself in the light of such self- knowledge ... [#7] He tries to gather a rich store of experience, ever returning to it for counsel ... [#8] The student must, from time to time, glance introspectively into himself, sink back into himself, take counsel with himself, form and test the fundamental principles of his life, run over in his thoughts the sum total of his knowledge, weigh his duties, and reflect upon the content and aim of life. All these things have been mentioned in the preceding chapters; here they are merely recapitulated in connection with the development of the sixteen-petalled lotus. By means of these exercises the latter will become ever more and more perfect, for it is upon such exercises that the development of clairvoyance depends. The better the student's thoughts and speech harmonize with the processes in the outer world, the more quickly will he develop this faculty ... The regulation of the above activities of the soul in the manner described causes the sixteen-petalled lotus to shine in glorious hues, and imparts to it a definite movement. Yet it must be noted that the faculty of clairvoyance cannot make its appearance before a definite degree of development of the soul has been reached ... The first traces of clairvoyance only appear when he has reached the point of being able to live in the specified way ... Now this lotus flower may be made to develop in another way by following certain other instructions. But all such methods are rejected by true spiritual science, for they lead to the destruction of physical health and to moral ruin. They are easier to follow than those here described. The latter, though protracted and difficult, lead to the true goal and cannot but strengthen morally."  [pp. 133-143.]

45. "The twelve-petalled lotus situated in the region of the heart is developed in a similar way....

"It must be clearly understood that the perceptions of each single organ of soul or sprit bear a different character. The twelve and sixteen-petalled lotus flowers transmit quite different perceptions. The latter perceives forms. The thoughts and mentality of other beings and the laws governing natural phenomena become manifest, through the sixteen-petalled lotus, as figures ... Quite different perceptions are received through the twelve-petalled lotus. These perceptions may, in a sense, be likened to warmth and cold, as applied to the soul ... The twelve-petalled lotus, when developed, reveals to the clairvoyant a deep understanding of the processes of nature. Rays of soul-warmth issue from every manifestation of growth and development, while everything in the process of decay, destruction, ruin, gives an impression of cold.

"The development of this sense may be furthered in the following manner. To begin with, the student endeavors to regulate his sequence of thought (control of thought) ... An equal consistency in his actions forms the second requirement (control of actions) ... The third requirement is the cultivation of endurance (perseverance) ... The fourth requirement is forbearance (tolerance) toward persons, creatures, and also circumstances ... The fifth requirement is impartiality toward everything that life brings ... The sixth requirement is the cultivation of a certain inner balance (equanimity)....

"[T]he observance of these principles is indispensable. Should [the student] attempt esoteric training without conforming to them, this could only result in his entering the higher worlds with inadequate organs, and instead of perceiving the truth he would be subject to deceptions and illusions. He would attain a certain clairvoyance, but for the most part, be the victim of greater blindness than before. Formerly he at least stood firmly within the physical world; now he looks beyond this physical world and grows confused about it before acquiring a firm footing in a higher world. All power of distinguishing truth from error would then perhaps fail him, and he would entirely lose his way in life. It is just for this reason that patience is so necessary in these matters."  [pp. 146-153.]

46. "An inner training of a particularly intimate character is necessary for the development of the ten-petalled lotus flower, for it is now a question of learning consciously to control and dominate the sense-impressions themselves. This is of particular importance in the initial stages of clairvoyance, for it is only by this means that a source of countless illusions and fancies is avoided....

"Still greater difficulty attends the development of the six-petalled lotus flower situated in the center of the body, for it can only be achieved as the result of complete mastery and control of the whole personality through consciousness of self, so that body, soul and spirit form one harmonious whole ...

"The six-petalled lotus flower, when developed, permits intercourse with beings of higher worlds, though only when their existence is manifested in the astral or soul-world. The development of this lotus flower, however, is not advisable unless the student has made great progress on that path of esoteric development which enables him to raise his spirit into a still higher world. This entry into the spiritual world proper must always run parallel with the development of the lotus flowers, otherwise the student will fall into error and confusion ... [T]he development of the six-petalled lotus flower itself provides a certain security against confusion and instability ... And yet, something more than this security is required when, through the development of the six-petalled lotus flower, living beings of independent existence are revealed to his spirit, beings belonging to a world so completely different from the world known to his physical senses. The development of the lotus flowers alone does not assure sufficient security in these higher worlds; still higher organs are necessary....

"The development of the soul-body in the manner described above permits perception in a supersensible world [i.e., the world perceptible only with clairvoyance], but anyone wishing to find his way in this world must not remain stationary at this stage of development. The mere mobility of the lotus flowers is not sufficient. The student must acquire the power of regulating and controlling the movement of his spiritual organs independently and with complete consciousness; otherwise he would become a plaything for external forces and powers....

"When esoteric development has progressed so far [in the student] that the lotus flowers begin to stir, much has already been achieved by the student which can result in the formation of certain quite definite currents and movements in his etheric body [a constellation of formative forces]. The object of this development is the formation of a kind of center in the region of the physical heart, from which radiate currents and movements in the greatest possible variety of colors and forms ... The higher the development of a person, the greater the circumference to which these rays extend. 

"The twelve-petalled lotus flower has a particularly close connection with this central organ. The currents flow directly into it and through it, proceeding on the one side to the sixteen and the two-petalled lotus flowers, and on the other, the lower side, to the flowers of eight, six and four petals. It is for this reason that the very greatest care must be devoted to the development of the twelve-petalled lotus, for an imperfection in the latter would result in irregular formation of the whole structure ... If the student follows the directions that have been given him, he introduces into his etheric body currents and movements which are in harmony with the laws and the evolution of the world to which he belongs. Consequently these instructions are reflections of the great laws of cosmic evolution. They consist of the above-mentioned and similar exercises in meditation and concentration which, if correctly practiced, produce the results described. The student must at certain times let these instructions permeate his soul with their content, so that he is inwardly entirely filled with it ... Thus a preliminary center is formed for the currents of the etheric body. This center is not yet in the region of the heart but in the head, and it appears to the clairvoyant as the point of departure for movements and currents. No esoteric training can be successful which does not first create this center. If the latter were first formed in the region of the heart the aspiring clairvoyant would doubtless obtain glimpses of the higher worlds, but would lack all true insight into the connection between these higher worlds and the world of our senses. This, however, is an unconditional necessity for man at the present stage of evolution. The clairvoyant must not become a visionary; he must retain a firm footing upon the earth....

"The currents described above place him in touch with the inner being of the world to which he belongs. He begins to mingle his life with the life of his environment and can let it reverberate in the movements of his lotus flowers.

"At this point the spiritual world is entered. If the student has advanced so far, he acquires a new understanding for all that the great teachers of humanity have uttered."  [pp. 153-170.]

47. "In esoteric training there is [a(?)] question of four attributes [sic] which must be acquired on the so-called preparatory path for the attainment of higher knowledge. The first is the faculty of discriminating in thoughts between truth and appearance or mere opinion. The second attribute is the correct estimation of what is inwardly true and real, as against what is merely apparent. The third rests in the practice of the six qualities already mentioned in the preceding pages: thought-control, control of actions, perseverance, tolerance, faith and equanimity. The fourth attribute is the love of inner freedom.

"A mere intellectual understanding of what is included in these attributes is of no value. They must be so incorporated into the soul that they form the basis of inner habits. Consider, for instance, the first of these attributes: The discrimination between truth and appearance. The student must so train himself that, as a matter of course, he distinguishes in everything that confronts him between the non-essential elements and those that are significant and essential. He will only succeed in this if, in his observation of the outer world, he quietly and patiently ever and again repeats the attempt....

"Now these four inner habits do actually produce a transformation of the delicate human etheric body. By the first, discrimination between truth and appearance, the center in the head already described is formed and the center in the region of the larynx prepared ... Once the center in the larynx has been prepared, the free control of the etheric body ... results from the correct estimation of what is true as against what is apparent and non-essential. If the student acquires this faculty of estimation, the facts of the higher worlds will gradually become perceptible to him ... He ceases to view things from his own separate standpoint, and the boundaries of his own narrow self fettering him to this point of view disappear. The secrets of the spiritual world gain access to his inner self. This is liberation....

"A completely new life opens out before the student when the development of his etheric body begins in the way described above, and at the proper time, in the course of his training, he must receive that enlightenment which enables him to adapt himself to this new existence. The sixteen-petalled lotus, for instance, enables him to perceive spiritual figures of a higher world ... To gain complete understanding, he must study those forms which he can realize to have proceeded from the feelings, instincts, and passions of human beings. Yet he can find that these forms too are influenced by his own thoughts and feelings ...  He then learns what forms he himself produces, for his will, his wishes, and so on, are expressed in these forms ... To higher knowledge, the inner world appears as part of the outer world. In a higher world man's inner being confronts him as a reflected image, just as though in the physical world he were surrounded by mirrors and could observe his physical body in that way.

"At this stage of development the student has reached the point where he can free himself from the illusion resulting from the initiation of his personal self. He can now observe that inner self as outer world....

"Were the student to obtain an insight into these spiritual worlds without sufficient preparation regarding their nature, he would find himself confronted by the picture of his own soul as though by an enigma. There his own desires and passions confront him in animal or, more rarely, in human forms ... Now, upon entering this [spiritual] world, an entirely new method of judgment must be acquired; for apart from the fact that things actually pertaining to inner nature appear as outer world, they also bear the character of mirrored reflections of what they really are. When, for instance, a number is perceived, it must be read in reverse, as a picture in a mirror: 265 would mean here in reality, 562....

 "If the student, before attaining insight into higher worlds, has learned by quiet and sincere self-observation to realized the qualities and the defects of his own character, he will then, at the moment when his own inner self confronts him as a mirrored image, find strength and courage to conduct himself in the right way....

"It is absolutely necessary that the student should experience this spiritual aspect of his own inner self before progressing to higher spheres ... If he has thoroughly realized the nature of his own personality in the physical world, and if the image of his personality first appears to him in a higher world, he is then able to compare the one with the other ... [I]t cannot be too often repeated that the only safe entrance into the higher worlds is at the end of a path leading through a genuine knowledge and estimate of one's own nature.

"Pictures, then, of a spiritual kind are first encountered by the student on his progress into higher worlds; and the reality to which these pictures correspond is actually within himself. He should be far enough advanced to refrain from desiring reality of a more robust kind at this initial stage, and to regard these pictures as timely. He will soon meet something quite new within this world of pictures. His lower self is before him as a mirrored image; but from within this image there appears the true reality of his higher self. Out of the picture of his lower personality the form of the spiritual ego becomes visible. Then threads are spun from the latter to other and higher spiritual realities.

"This is the moment when the two-petalled lotus in the region of the eyes is required ... The currents from this lotus flower flow toward the higher realities ... [T]hese currents disclose spiritual beings of higher worlds.

"...The higher self, which hitherto slumbered unconsciously in an embryonic state, is now born into conscious existence. This is not a figurative but a positive birth in the spiritual world, and the being now born, the higher self, must enter that world with all the necessary organs and aptitudes if it is to be capable of life ... [E]ven as the child, out of a dim life instinct, acquired  [before birth] the requisite forces [for life in the physical world], so, too, can man acquire the powers of the spiritual world before his higher self is born. Indeed, he must do this if the latter is to enter the world as a fully developed being....

"[The student] learns how his higher self is connected with exalted spiritual beings and forms with them a united whole. He sees how the lower self originates in a higher world, and it is revealed to him how his higher nature outlasts his lower ... He becomes aware that there are others above him who have already traversed the stages which still lie before him, and he realizes that the teachings and deeds of such men proceed from the inspiration of a higher world. He owes this knowledge to his first personal glimpse into this higher world. The so-called initiates of humanity now become vested with reality for him.

"These, then, are the gifts which the student owes to his development at this stage: insight into his higher self; insight into the doctrine of the incarnation of this higher being in a lower; insight into the laws by which life in the physical world is regulated according to its spiritual connections, that is, the law of karma; and finally, insight into the existence of the great initiates."  [pp. 171-187.]

— Chapter 6 —

The Transformation of Dream Life

48. “An intimation that the student has reached or will soon reach the stage of development described in the preceding chapter will be found in the change which comes over his dream life. His dreams, hitherto confused and haphazard, now begin to assume a more regular character. Their pictures begin to succeed each other in sensible connection, like the thoughts and ideas of daily life. He can discern in them law, cause, and effect. The content, too, of his dreams is changed. While hitherto he discerned only reminiscences of daily life and transformed impressions of his surroundings or of his physical condition, there now appear before him pictures of a world he has hitherto not known ... The more regulated dreams of esoteric students whose etheric body has begun its development...cease merely to reflect reality connected with the physical body and physical environment ... [T]hey are mingled with...pictures expressing things and events of another world. These are the first experiences lying beyond the range of waking consciousness.”  [pp. 189-191.]

In reality, Steiner's description of controlled, accurate dreams is a delusion. Once again he is telling his followers to trust their subjective fantasies (although he denies this). But we should be extremely skeptical of what he says. In reality, we have little or no ability to direct our dreams or to attain the psychic power Steiner says will enable us to have "sensible" dreams. The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines "dream" as "a hallucinatory experience that occurs during sleep." [June 19, 2023.] Dreams are hallucinations; they are not, and cannot be made, sensible; they are not, and cannot be made, reliable reports about reality.

49. “Very soon and as a further result, the student's dreams will no longer remain beyond the reach of intellectual guidance as heretofore, but on the contrary, will be mentally controlled and supervised like the impressions and conceptions of waking consciousness. The difference between dream and waking consciousness grows ever smaller. The dreamer remains awake in the fullest sense of the word during his dream life ... During our dreams we are actually in a world other than that of our senses; but with undeveloped spiritual organs we can form none other than the confused conceptions of it described above ... [I]n addition to our ordinary conscious work-a-day life we lead a second, unconscious life in that other world. We engrave in it all our thoughts and perceptions. These tracings only become visible when the lotus flowers [i.e., organs of clairvoyance] are developed.”  [pp. 191-192.]

Here the falsity of Steiner's teachings becomes clearer than ever. There is simply no basis on which to claim that in our dreams we really travel to spiritual worlds. The very existence of those worlds is unproven, and all research into dream states tells us that dreams are essentially the random firing of neurons — dreams have little or no significant content. To repeat: Dreams are hallucinations.

50. "[T]hese experiences consist at first merely of pictures engraved in the spiritual world by our mental activity attached to the physical senses. Only developed lotus flowers make it possible for manifestations not derived from the physical world to be imprinted in the same way. And then the etheric body, when developed, brings full knowledge concerning these engraved impressions derived from other worlds."  [p. 193.]

This might be true, if a single part of it were real. But our "lotus flowers" — i.e., chakrams, organs of clairvoyance — are fantasies. (As is clairvoyance itself). Ditto our "etheric body." As for "other worlds," unless we mean heaven as described in a recognized holy book, we have no reason to think that any such world exists. (And even then, some may still have doubts.)

51. "This is the beginning of life and activity in a new world, and at this point esoteric training must set the student a twofold task. To begin with, he must learn to take stock of everything he observes in his dreams, exactly as though he were awake. Then, if successful in this, he is led to make the same observations during ordinary waking consciousness. He will so train his attention and receptivity for these spiritual impressions that they need no longer vanish in the face of the physical impressions, but will always be at hand for him and reach him in addition to the others."  [pp. 193-194.]

Waldorf teachers often accept this guidance. Those who are Steiner's followers — usually a major segment of a Waldorf faculty — treat their dreams the same way they treat their waking experiences. They think they can find objective truth in dreams. Thus, for instance, when they dream about their students, they think they are gaining valid insight into these students. [See "Dreams".] Think this over, parents.

52. "[The student] will learn how to stir to life the spiritual perceptive force in the organ of the heart and control it ... This perceptive force...flows with beautiful radiance through the moving lotus flowers ...Thence it radiates outward into the surrounding spiritual world rendering it spiritually visible ... It is only when this organ of perception can be sent through the etheric body and into the outer world, to illumine the objects there, that the actual spiritual world, as composed of objects and beings, can be clearly perceived. Thus it will be seen that complete consciousness of an object in the spiritual world is only possible when man himself casts upon it the spiritual light ... The heart organ is only the spot where the individual man kindles...this spiritual light organ."  [pp. 195-196.]

The "organ in the heart" is not the heart itself — it is the chakram or lotus flower, the organ of clairvoyance, seated in the heart. (We will learn more about chakrams in coming quotations.) Steiner here alludes to one his central propositions, that truth comes through feelings, through the workings of an organ seated within the heart, not through thoughts or the workings of the brain. Trust your feelings, he tells his followers, just as you trust your dreams. He hedges these bits of bad advice by stressing the need to train your heart and your dreams. His system stresses laws, directives, rules. But essentially he urges his followers to disbelieve the evidence of their senses and the rational discoveries of intellect (although he denies this); essentially he urges them into a position of radical subjectivity. You believe what you are determined to believe, and then you project it onto the worlds that you are determined to "perceive." 

53. "Now, the feelings of an esoterically developed person toward the things of the spiritual world are very different from the feelings of the undeveloped person toward the things of the physical world. The latter feels himself to be at a particular place in the world of sense, and the surrounding objects to be external to him. The spiritually developed person feels himself to be united with, and as though in the interior of, the spiritual objects he perceives. He wanders, in fact, from place to place in spiritual space, and is therefore called the wanderer in the language of occult science. He has no home at first. Should he, however, remain a mere wanderer he would be unable to define any object in spiritual space. Just as objects and places in physical space are defined from a fixed point of departure, this, too, must be the case in the other world. He must seek out some place, thoroughly investigate it, and take spiritual possession of it. In this place he must establish his spiritual home and relate everything else to it ... This founding of a spiritual home is called in the language of occult science the building of the hut."  [pp. 196-198.]

Steiner did not hesitate to identify himself as an occultist. Here he gives us some of the terms used in "occult science." Essentially, occult science is what he also called spiritual science, which is what he also called Anthroposophy, which he said is the basis of Waldorf education. Think about this. [For a guide to his book AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE, see "Everything". For his affirmation of occultism, see "Occultism".]

54. "Spiritual vision at this stage extends to the spiritual counterparts of the physical world, so far as these exist in the so-called astral world. There everything is found which in its nature is similar to human instincts, feelings, desires, and passions. For powers related to all these human characteristics are associated with all physical objects. A crystal, for instance, is cast in its form by powers which, seen from a higher standpoint, appear as an active human impulse [i.e., human forces cause things like crystals to take the form they have] ... Animal and human impulses are perceptible to [the clairvoyant]...directly as objects; he perceives them just as he perceives tables and chairs in the physical world. The whole range of instincts, impulses, desires and passions, both of an animal and of a human being, constitute the astral cloud or aura in which the being is enveloped."  [pp. 198-199.]

Steiner had an interesting habit of attaching the label  "so-called" to the things that he himself described. Here he is telling us about the soul world, which he has also called the astral world or astral plane. But this time when he returns to the term, he adds "so-called": the "so-called" astral world. What he means to imply is that the spiritual things he discusses are so profound, so occult and esoteric, that no language we use can adequately describe them. Maybe this implication is correct. Yet over and over Steiner inadvertently creates the impression that the things he discusses do not really exist. He insults our intelligence, over and over. Here, for instance, he tells us about clairvoyance and auras. He is asking us to believe in things for which there is no rational basis; things that in fact have been frequently and powerfully refuted. [See, e.g., "Clairvoyance" and "Auras".] Yet these things stand at the center of his doctrines.

55. "The highest achievement of a clairvoyant who has attained the degree of vision described above is that in which the astral [images] of animal and human impulses and passions are revealed to him ... Senseless desire gives rise to an ugly astral counterpart [i.e., spiritual reality], while a feeling evoked by a high ideal creates one that is beautiful. These astral images are but faintly perceptible during physical life, for their strength is diminished by life in the physical world ... These experiences evoked by the counterparts of the lower soul-nature after death [i.e., astral images of human impulses from physical existence, seen in the soul-world after death] are called the experiences in the soul-world [i.e., we experience them when we enter the soul-world after we die], especially in the region of desires. They only vanish when the soul has purified herself from all desires inclining toward the physical world. Then only does the soul mount to the higher regions, to the world of spirit [i.e., we go first to the soul-world, where we deal with the aftereffects of our earthly impulses, then we go to the spirit-world]."  [pp. 200-201.]

Steiner is correct that we create spiritual realities. But we do this in a way very different from what he describes. He says that our feelings and thoughts create spirits that really exist. The truth is that our feelings and thoughts are within us, and they do not shape the world around us — our actions affect the real world, and our feelings and thoughts guide our actions, but in and of themselves feelings and thoughts are subjective states that remain within. The spirit world that we create through our feelings and thoughts is not a reality, as Steiner claims; it is a world of our imagining, a world we conjure up to console ourselves. Why do we do this? The answer is obvious and universally known (although, like Steiner and his followers, many of us shy away from the truth). We are going to die. This intolerable truth leads us to fantasize the sorts of after-death experiences Steiner describes. It is obvious why we want to believe such things. But it is also obvious that, far too often, what we believe in this regard is a fantasy, a lie that we sell to ourselves.

(In saying that we imagine the spirit world, I do not mean that no such world exists. Maybe a spirit world of some kind does exist, or maybe it doesn't. But any spirit world that really exists is a different proposition from any spirit world that we invent for our own comfort and reassurance. And we need to acknowledge that we have no certain knowledge — as distinct from faith — about any spirit world that may really exist. The reason we need faith about such things is precisely because we lack knowledge about them. If you are a person of faith, you may reject at least part of what I am saying. You may be perfectly sure that a spirit world exists and that you will have an afterlife in it. I do not mean to question or dispute your faith. My focus is on the faith underlying Waldorf education, and I would encourage you to look at it carefully. Your faith — whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or a member of any other large, recognized religion — is very different from Anthroposophy. If you embrace such a faith, then you should reject Anthroposophy. From your perspective, much of what Steiner taught is heresy. Think carefully before consigning your child to a school built on such a heretical system of belief.)

— Chapter 7 —

The Continuity of Consciousness

56. "In the foregoing chapter a description was given of the alteration ensuing in the dream-life of the person undertaking the ascent to higher knowledge. His dreams lose their meaningless, irregular and disconnected character and form themselves more and more into a world of law and order. With continued development, not only does this new world born out of the dream world come to be in no way inferior to outer physical reality as regards its inner truth, but facts reveal themselves in it representing a higher reality in the fullest sense of the word. Secrets and riddles lie concealed everywhere in the physical world. In the latter, the effects are seen of certain higher facts, but no one can penetrate to the causes whose perception is confined merely to his senses. These causes are partly revealed to the student in the condition described above and developed out of dream life, a condition, however, in which he by no means remains stationary. True, he must not regard these revelations as actual knowledge so long as the same things do not also reveal themselves during ordinary waking life. But in time he achieves this as well: he develops this faculty of carrying over into waking consciousness the condition he created for himself out of dream life. Thus something new is introduced into the world of his senses that enriches it. Just as a person born blind and successfully operated upon will recognize the surrounding objects as enriched by all that the eye perceives, to, too, will anyone having become clairvoyant in the above manner perceive the whole world surrounding him peopled with new qualities, things, beings, and so forth."  [pp. 203-204.]

A fundamental premise of occultism is that the world is full of "secrets and riddles." These are not the puzzles confronted by ordinary science — they are occult mysteries planted in our path by our creators, the gods. But why have the gods created mysteries for us? Why have the gods withheld from us the very information we need if we are to evolve in accordance with their will? This is, itself, something of a mystery, but it is the premise from which Steiner worked. The gods have given us a puzzling universe. Fortunately, a few extremely wise spiritual masters have cracked the mysteries — master such as Rudolf Steiner (according to Rudolf Steiner). Steiner has the answers. 

If all of this mystification and mystery-hawking seems implausible to you, you may not be a good candidate for Steiner-style occult initiation. And even if the premise of occultism makes sense to you, you may wonder whether Steiner is on the right track. Regulate and use your dreams, he advises. Develop psychic powers — clairvoyance and clairaudience — he advises. If you recognize these bits of guidance as fallacies, you may again be disqualified to follow Steiner.

57. "It is easy to see that this higher perceptive faculty [i.e., clairvoyance] can prove a blessing only if the opened soul-senses are in perfect order, just as the ordinary senses can only be used for a true observation of the world if their equipment is regular and normal. Now man himself forms these higher senses through the exercises indicated by spiritual science. The latter include concentration, in which the attention is directed to certain definite ideas and concepts connected with the secrets of the universe; and meditation, which is a life in such ideas, a complete submersion in them, in the right way. By concentration and meditation the student works upon his soul and develops within it the soul-organs of perception."  [p. 210.]

Steiner alternates between advice that seems clearly false and advice that seems more or less sensible. Concentration and meditation: Few people would deny that these can be beneficial. The question is whether you can believe that these activities may lead to the development of "soul-organs of perception" — i.e., organs of clairvoyance, chakrams, lotus flowers. Can you?

58. "By thus conducting himself the student approaches ever nearer to the attainment of that condition, on his path to higher knowledge, in which the unconsciousness of sleep-life is transformed into complete consciousness."  [p. 213.]

Steiner reiterates and reiterates that dreams can be reliable guides, providing reliable information. He is serious about it. From some people's perspective, this is all we need to know. Steiner's teachings are empty.

— Chapter 8 —

The Splitting of the Human Personality During Spiritual Training

59. "The soul lives in uninterrupted activity in the higher worlds, even gathering from them the impulse to act upon the physical body. Ordinarily unconscious of his higher life, the esoteric student renders himself conscious of it, and thereby his whole life becomes transformed. As long as the soul remains unseeing in the higher sense it is guided by superior cosmic beings. And just as the life of a person born blind is changed, through a successful operation, from its previous dependence on a guide, so too is the life of a person changed through esoteric training. He outgrows the principle of being guided by a master and must henceforward undertake to be his own guide. The moment this occurs he is, of course, liable to commit errors totally unknown to ordinary consciousness. He acts now from a world from which, formerly, higher powers unknown to him influenced him. These higher powers are directed by the universal cosmic harmony. The student withdraws from this cosmic harmony, and must now himself accomplish things which were hitherto done for him without his co-operation [sic]."  [pp. 217-218.]

The "superior cosmic beings" Steiner mentions — the "higher powers" — are the gods. In Waldorf belief, there are nine ranks of gods, ranging from gods just a bit more evolved than human beings, to gods vastly more evolved than ourselves. [See "Polytheism".] The gods serve the "universal cosmic harmony" — the good, creative will, the divine intention, that may be summarized as the Godhead. [See "God".] Allowing the gods to run one's life would seem advisable, but to attain true autonomy, we must break free. Clearly, there is danger in this action. But according to Steiner, if we listen to him, we will proceed on a course that will ultimately make us the top dogs in the entire spiritual/physical universe: We ourselves will become the highest gods. [See, e.g., "Tenth Hierarchy".]

60. "[M]uch is found in books dealing with these matters concerning the dangers connected with the ascent into higher worlds. The descriptions sometimes given of these dangers may well make timid souls shudder at the prospect of this higher life. Yet the fact is that dangers only arise when the necessary precautions are neglected ... [Then] there can be no question of injury to health or life. [Still,] the student meets with horrible powers threatening life at every turn and from every side. It will even be possible for him to make use of certain forces and beings existing beyond physical perception, and the temptation is great to control these forces for the furtherance of personal and forbidden interests, or to employ them wrongly out of a deficient knowledge of the higher worlds ... [W]e must realize that the hostile powers are none the less [sic] present, even though we know nothing of them. It is true that in this case their relation to man is ordained by higher power, and that this relation alters when the human being consciously enters this world hitherto concealed from him ... A real danger can only arise if the student, through impatience or arrogance, assumes too early a certain independence with regard to the experiences of the higher worlds ... In these [higher] spheres, modesty and humility are far less empty words than in ordinary life. If the student possesses these qualities in the very best sense he may be certain that his ascent into the higher life will be achieved without danger to all that is commonly called health and life."  [p. 218-219.]

There are great dangers along our path (although we will be fine if we follow Steiner's lead, Steiner says). There are "horrible powers threatening life at every turn and from every side." These are evil spirits, the enemies of man and of the good gods. [See "Evil Ones".] Wayward, deluded, or weak-willed students may ally themselves with the powers of evil, seeking to use those powers for perverse ends. But all will be well if students don't act independently too soon. Stick with Steiner and his rules — and, of course, with the good gods to whom he directs us — and all will be well.

61. "[A] three-fold [sic] aberration arises for anyone neglecting the injunctions given by esoteric science ... If [the student] is not sufficiently advanced to control completely the higher consciousness and himself restore harmony [i.e., restore it within himself], the will pursues its own unbridled way, continually overpowering its possessor ... A violent nature is the result, rushing from one unbridled action to another.

"A second deviation occurs when feeling unduly shakes off its proper control. A person inclined to the revering of others may then diverge into unlimited dependence, to the extent of losing all personal will and thoughts...

"The third evil is found when thought predominates, resulting in a contemplative nature, hostile to life and locked up within itself...

"These are the three ways of error into which the student can stray: (1) exuberant violence of will, (2) sentimental emotionalism, and (3) cold, loveless striving for wisdom ... [O]nce a mistake is made and one of the soul-forces falls a prey to unbridled excess, the higher soul comes into existence as a miscarriage. The unrestrained force pervades the individual's entire personality, and for a long time there can be no question of the balance being restored."  [pp. 225-228.] 

Rules, injunctions, controls... The path is difficult; you need Steiner's guidance. Perhaps the gravest danger of all occurs when "thought predominates." For heaven's sake, don't think too much about the things Steiner says. His statements won't hold up, and then where will you be?

62. "[T]he student should omit nothing which can secure for him unfailing mastery over his whole being. He should never be found wanting in presence of mind or in calm penetration of all situations of life. In the main, a genuine esoteric training gives rise of itself to all these qualities, and as it progresses the student only becomes acquainted with the dangers while simultaneously and at the right moment acquiring the full power to rout them from the field."  [p. 230.] 

There are dangers, but you're in good hands with Steiner.

— Chapter 9 —

The Guardian of the Threshold

This chapter and the next provide rare instances in which Steiner describes events that occur in the higher worlds — or, more precisely, on the threshold of the higher worlds. I will clam up and let him describe.

63. "The important experiences marking the student's ascent into the higher worlds include his meeting with the Guardian of the Threshold. Strictly speaking, there are two Guardians: a lesser and a greater ... The lesser Guardian is a sovereign being. He does not come into existence, as far as the student is concerned, until the latter has reached the requisite stage of development ... [Then] a truly terrible spectral being confronts [the student], and he will need all the presence of mind and faith in the security of his path [acquired] in the course of his previous training."  [pp. 231-232.]

64. "The Guardian proclaims his signification somewhat in the following words: 'Hitherto, powers invisible to thyself watched over thee ... Thanks to their influence thy character formed itself out of thy life-experiences and thy thoughts ... They ordained that measure of joy and pain allotted to thee in thine incarnations, according to thy conduct in lives gone by ... These were till now unknown to thee; their effects alone were made manifest. The karmic powers, however, beheld all thy deeds in former lives, and all thy most secret thoughts and feelings, and determined accordingly thy present self and thy present mode of life. But now all the good and evil sides of thy bygone lives shall be revealed to thee ... [N]ow they become released from thee; they detach themselves from thy personality ... I am that very being who shaped my body out of thy good and evil achievements. My spectral form is woven out of thine own life's record ... I must become a perfect and glorious being, or fall a prey to corruption; and should this occur, I would drag thee also down with me into a dark and corrupt world ... Only when thou hast made good all thy bygone wrongs and hast so purified thyself that all further evil is, for thee, a thing impossible, only then will my being have become transformed into radiant beauty. [And then] shall I again become united with thee for the welfare of thy future activity.

“'...Seek not, then, to cross this Threshold until thou dost feel thyself entirely free from fear and ready for the highest responsibility. Hitherto I only emerged from thy personality when death recalled thee from an earthly life ... Only the powers of destiny who watched over thee beheld me ... I was present at the hour of thy death, and it was on my account that the Lords of Karma ordained thy reincarnation [because you were not yet perfected yourself]....

“'Visible do I thus stand before thee today ... When thou shalt have crossed my Threshold, thou wilt enter those realms to which thou hast hitherto only had access after physical death ... I am indeed the Angel of Death; but I am at the same time the bearer of a higher life without end. Through me thou wilt die with thy body still living, to be reborn into an imperishable existence.

“'Into this kingdom thou art now entering; thou wilt meet beings that are supersensible, and happiness will be thy lot. But I myself must provide thy first acquaintance with that world, and I am thine own creation ... Thou hast formed me, but by so doing thou hast undertaken, as thy duty, to transform me.'”  [pp. 232-237.]

65. "If successful, this meeting with the Guardian results in the student's next physical death being an entirely different event from the death as he knew it formerly. He experiences death consciously by laying aside the physical body as one discards a garment that is worn out ... Thus his physical death is of special importance only for those living with him, whose perception is still restricted to the world of the senses. For them the student dies; but for himself nothing of importance is changed in his whole environment. The entire supersensible world stood open to him before his death, and it is this same world that now confronts him after death."  [p. 239.]

66. "The Guardian of the Threshold is also connected with other matters. The person belongs to a family, a nation, a race; his activity in this world depends upon his belonging to some such community. His individual character is also connected with it. The conscious activity of individual persons by no means exhausts everything to be reckoned with in a family, a nation, or a race. Besides their character, families, nations, and races have also their destiny. For persons restricted to their senses these things remain mere general ideas; and the materialistic thinker, in his prejudice, will look down with contempt on the spiritual scientist when he hears that for him, family and national character, lineal or racial destiny, are vested in beings just as real as the personality in which the character and destiny of the individual man are vested. The spiritual scientist becomes acquainted with higher worlds of which the separate personalities are members, just as arms and legs are members of the human being. Besides the separate individuals, a very real family and national group soul and racial spirit is at work in the life of a family, a people, or a race. Indeed, in a certain sense the separate individuals are merely the executive organs of these family group souls, racial spirits, and so on. It is nothing but the truth to say, for instance, that a national group soul makes use of each individual man belonging to that nation for the execution of some work."  [pp. 239-240.]

67. "[T]he student must turn and glance backward. The Guardian of the Threshold now draws aside a veil which till now had concealed deep life-mysteries. The family, national, and racial spirits are revealed to the student in their full activity, so that he perceives clearly on the one hand, how he has hitherto been led [by them], and no less clearly on the other hand, that he will henceforward no longer enjoy this guidance."  [pp. 243-244.]

68. "Without preparation, no one could endure the sight [revealed by the Guardian]. But the higher training which makes it possible at all for the student to advance up to the Threshold simultaneously puts him in a position to find the necessary strength ... His experience at the Threshold will then be attended by a premonition of that felicity which is to provide the keynote of his newly awakened life. The feeling of a new freedom will outweigh all other feelings; and attended by this feeling, his new duties and responsibilities will appear as something which man, at a particular stage of life, must needs take upon himself."  [p. 244.]

— Chapter 10 —

Life and Death: The Greater Guardian of the Threshold

69. "Thanks to his insight into the supersensible world, the initiate gains a better knowledge and appreciation of the true value of visible nature [i.e., the physical world] ... [He] knows that without experience in visible reality he would be totally powerless in that other invisible reality. Before he can live in the latter he must have the requisite faculties and instruments which can only be acquired in the visible world ... No one can be born in the spiritual world with spiritual eyes without having first developed them in the physical world....

"From this standpoint it will also be readily understood why the Threshold to the supersensible world is watched over by a Guardian. In no case may real insight into those regions be permitted to anyone lacking the requisite faculties....

"When the student enters the supersensible world, life acquires quite a new meaning for him; he discerns in the physical world the seed-ground of a higher world...."  [pp. 246-248.]

70. "The existence of disease and death in the sense-world is thus explained. Death merely expresses the fact that the original supersensible world reached a point beyond which it could not progress by itself. Universal death must needs have overtaken it, had it not received a fresh life-impulse. Thus this new life has evolved into a battle with universal death. From the remnants of a dying, rigid world there sprouted the seeds of a new one. That is why we have death and life in the world."  [p. 249.]

71. "[T]he first Guardian confronts man as the counterpart of his two-fold [sic] nature [i.e., mortal and immortal] in which perishable and imperishable are blended ... The extent to which he is entangled in the physical sense-world is exposed to the student's view. The presence of instincts, impulses, desires, egotistical wishes and all forms of selfishness, and so forth, expresses itself in this entanglement, as it does further in his membership in a race, a nation, and so forth; for peoples and races are but steps leading to pure humanity. A race or a nation stands so much the higher, the more perfectly its members express the pure, ideal human type, the further they have worked their way from the physical and perishable to the supersensible and imperishable. The evolution of man through the incarnations in ever higher national and racial forms is thus a process of liberation."  [p. 252.]

This crucial passage forces my hand: I will interject a few comments, very briefly. Steiner taught that all people are essentially the same. However, he also taught that members of different races stand at different levels of evolutionary development (some are closer to "the pure, ideal human type" than others are). Some races are "higher" than others. We should evolve upward from low racial forms to high racial forms ("peoples and races are but steps leading to pure humanity"). This process occurs through the agency of reincarnation: We live one life at one racial level, then we live another life at another racial level. We evolve toward "higher national and racial forms" (unless we are evil and fall downward into lower national and racial forms). These doctrines are racist. Steiner's followers deny this, but it is clearly so. Racism lurks in the soul of Anthroposophy. [See "Steiner's Racism".]

72. "When the student has recognized all the elements from which he must liberate himself, his way is barred by a sublime luminous being whose beauty is difficult to describe ... [This is] the second Guardian of the Threshold who speaks as follows:

“Thou hast released thyself from the world of the senses. Thou hast won the right to become a citizen of the supersensible world, whence thine activity can now be directed ... Thou hast attained thy present degree of perfection thanks to the faculties thou wert able to develop in the sense-world ... [B]ut now, having thyself become free, thou canst go forth as a liberator of thy fellows ... Thou wilt some day be able to unite with me, but I cannot be blessed so long as others remain unredeemed. As a separate freed being, thou wouldst fain enter at once the kingdom of the supersensible; yet thou wouldst be forced to look down on the still unredeemed beings in the physical world ... To separate thyself from thy fellows would mean to abuse those very powers which thou couldst not have developed save in their company. ... Thou must now share with thy fellows the powers which, together with them, thou didst acquire. I shall therefore bar thine entry into the higher regions of the supersensible world so long as thou hast not applied all the powers thou hast acquired to the liberation of thy companions ... [Failing this] thou wouldst tread the black path [sic], while the others from whom thou didst sever thyself tread the white path [sic].”  [pp. 253-256.]

73. "It does not follow that, when called upon to decide, anyone will naturally follow the white path ... The gift he receives in the higher regions of the supersensible world is nothing that comes to him, but only something that flows from him, that is, love for the world and for his fellows. Nothing that egotism desires is denied upon the black path ... No one therefore should expect the occultists of the white path to give him instruction for the development of his own egotistical self. They do not take the slightest interest in the felicity of the individual man ... [T]hey place selfless devotion and self-sacrifice before all other qualities. They never actually refuse anyone, for even the greatest egotist can purify himself; but no one merely seeking an advantage for himself will ever obtain assistance from the white occultists ... Anyone, therefore, really following the instructions of the good occultists will, upon crossing the Threshold, understand the demands of the greater Guardian; anyone, however, not following their instructions can never hope to reach the Threshold."  [pp. 257-259.]

— Appendix —

74. "The path to supersensible knowledge, as described in this book, leads the soul through experiences concerning the nature of which it is especially important to avoid all illusions and misconceptions ... In this connection one of the most serious mistakes occurs when the whole range of inner experience dealt with in true spiritual science is distorted into appearing in the same category as superstition, visionary dreaming, mediumship (spiritism), and other degenerate practices."   [p. 260.]

Steiner is right that superstition, visionary dreaming, and the like should be avoided. He is wrong, however, in separating his own teachings from these categories. There is no "true spiritual science." Steiner's teachings depend on nonexistent faculties, clairvoyance and clairaudience. He asserts that these faculties exist; he asserts that his teachings are true; he asserts that his teaching are different from "degenerate practices." But he offers no evidence. His arguments are, over and over, illogical and vacuous. Steiner's teachings are the very things he warns against: superstition, visionary dreaming, falsehood.

75. "In the experiences of the visionary and in mediumistic phenomena the human being becomes completely dependent on his body ... Thus the content and productions of his soul are merely revelations of his bodily life. The experiences of the visionary and the phenomena produced by the medium owe their existence to the fact that a person while thus experiencing and producing is, with his soul, less independent of his body than in ordinary perception and willing. In the experience of the supersensible as indicated in this book, the development of soul-life proceeds in just the opposite direction from that taken by the visionary and the medium."  [pp. 264-265.]

The only real difference between Steiner's teachings and the false doctrines and practices he criticizes is that he says  his teachings are true. Period. He makes claims, but he does not substantiate them. Indeed, if anything, his claims are more removed from reality than are the teachings of other self-appointed spiritual savants. He bases his practices in "supersensible" organs — chakrams, lotus flowers, organs of clairvoyant. These are invisible, immaterial, supernatural. They sound swell. But there is no evidence — none — that they exist.

76. "Let the reader take this book as a conversation between the author and himself. The statement that the student needs personal instruction should be understood in the sense that this book itself is personal instruction ... It is only to a limited extent correct to say that further personal instruction is necessary beyond that contained in this book. No doubt someone may need assistance, and it may be of importance for him or her; but it would be false to believe that there are any cardinal points not mentioned in this book."  [pp. 268-269.]

The "conversation" is rather one-sided, wouldn't you say? Steiner states, and you attend. That is his prescription. Take his word for things. Take his word for everything. Period.

OK?

You can, of course, consult a personal guru. Maybe that would work. But don't expect to learn anything significant beyond what Steiner has said. He has told you all that you really need to know. (According to himself, that is.)

OK?

Steiner's short, strangely insubstantial book is really all the "personal instruction" you need. "It would be false to believe that there are any cardinal points not mentioned in this book."

Period.

OK?

KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT 

is, arguably, Steiner's second most important book. 

By the same calculation, Steiner's premier book is 

OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE. 

For a summary of that tome (an outline of the outline), 

see "Everything".

For more information on the higher worlds 

as described by Steiner, 

see "Higher Worlds".

For another look at occult initiation, 

see "Inside Scoop". 

To examine a series of lectures in which Steiner 

tried to state his views as clearly as possible, 

see "Oh Man".

To examine books of great importance to Waldorf education, 

see "Oh Humanity" and "Faculty Meetings".

KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT

has been published in many editions and under varying titles.

Here are a few examples:

From the top:

KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT

[Rudolf Steiner Press, 2006].

KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS

How Is It Achieved?

[Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009].

HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS

[Anthroposophic Press, 1994].

WIE ERLANGT MAN ERKENNTNISSE DER HÖHEREN WELTEN?

{HOW CAN ONE GAIN KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS?}

[Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1993].

— Exercises —

The mental and spiritual exercises Steiner prescribes constitute the heart of Anthroposophy and the heart of the book we have been reviewing, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS. They are also, in many ways, the dullest of his teachings, and the most disappointing. They don’t work. The exercises do not cause us to grow organs of clairvoyance; they do not produce the clairvoyant ability to objectively study the higher worlds. This is unfortunate but true. Anthroposophy is, at its core, empty.

Still, we should take a look at the exercises. We have done some of this, above. But let’s do more. One complication is that various exercises prescribed by Steiner are presented in various overlapping texts. In addition to KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS (GA 10), other books laying out exercises include AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE (GA 13), ESOTERIC LESSONS (GA 266/1), GUIDANCE IN ESOTERIC TRAINING (GA 42/245), etc. Still, many of the most central exercises appear in the book we have been reviewing, and particularly in chapter 2, “Stages of Initiation.” So let’s focus on those. For variety, we’ll work this time from a different — newer, clearer, and somewhat toned-down — translation, HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS (Anthroposophic Press, 1994). The analysis I’ve already provided is probably all (or more than all) that you want to hear from me, so I will refrain from adding any further commentary. I will simply excerpt passages from the text.

OK. Chapter 2. HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS. Exercises, pointers, admonitions, and warnings given by Steiner. (The numbering of the quotes picks up where we left off higher on this page. There is some overlap — some of the quotations below partially duplicate quotes we saw earlier. Thus, for instance, quote #77 returns us to subjects raised in quote #16.)

77. "The stage of preparation consists in a quite definite method of cultivating our lives of feeling and thinking ... The first step is to direct the soul’s attention toward certain processes in the world around us. These processes are life, as it buds, grows, and flourishes; and, on the other hand, all phenomena connected with withering, fading, and dying away ... Whenever we perceive a quite definite form of blossoming and flourishing, we must banish all else from our souls and, for a short time, dwell on this one impression alone ... As we do so, we will soon realize that a feeling that previously only flitted through our souls has now grown and become strong and filled with energy. We must let this feeling quietly echo within us...." [pp. 39-40.] 

78. "First, we must look at things as actively and precisely as possible. Only thereafter should we devote ourselves to the feelings coming to life in our souls and the thoughts arising there. It is essential that we give our attention to both feelings and thoughts as they arise in complete inner equilibrium ... We will notice rising up within us new kinds of feelings and thoughts that we never knew before. The more often we focus our attention, first on something growing and flourishing, and then on something withering and dying away, the more lively and active these feelings will become. Eventually, just as the eyes and ears of our physical organism are formed by natural forces out of inanimate matter, so organs of clairvoyant 'seeing' are formed out of the feelings and thoughts that arise in relation to growing and flourishing, withering and dying." [pp. 40-41.] 

79. "Processes of withering and dying, on the other hand, will produce an experience that may be compared with what we feel as we watch the slow rise of the moon on the horizon. Cultivated appropriately and trained in ever livelier and more active fashion, these two types of feeling become forces that can lead to the most significant spiritual effects. Deliberately, regularly, and repeatedly surrendering to such feelings, we find a new world opening before us. The soul world or so-called astral plane begins to dawn."  [p. 41.] 

80. "Once we have advanced to the point where we can see the spiritual forms of what appears physically visible to our outer eyes, then we are not far from the stage of seeing things that have no physical existence at all. Such things, of course, remain completely hidden (or occult) to one who has received no esoteric training. Here it must be emphasized that the spiritual researchers should not lose themselves in reflection upon what this or that might mean." [p. 42.] 

81. "Another important point is what esoteric science calls “orientation” in the higher worlds. We achieve such an orientation when we have filled ourselves completely with the consciousness that feelings and thoughts are actual facts, just as real as tables and chairs are in the physical-sensory world." [p. 43.] 

82. "[W]e must never allow ourselves false thoughts and feelings. Random musings, playful daydreams, the arbitrary ebb and flow of feeling — all these must be banished from the soul." [p. 44.] 

83. "The students of occult knowledge must also direct their attention to the world of sounds. Here we must distinguish between sounds produced by so-called inanimate objects (such as a falling object, a bell, or a musical instrument) and those coming from living beings (animals or human beings) ... In esoteric training, we focus on the second type of sound, concentrating our whole attention on the fact that the sound communicates something that lies outside our own souls. We must immerse ourselves in this “otherness,” inwardly uniting our feelings with the pain or pleasure expressed by the sound. To do this, we must disregard what the sound is for us ... As we learn to do so, a new faculty takes root in the world of feeling and thought. All of nature begins to whisper its secrets to us through its sounds ... [We] begin to hear with our souls." [pp. 44-46.] 

84. "Particularly important as we develop as occult pupils is that we also work on the way we listen to other people when they speak. On the path to higher knowledge this listening skill is extremely important. We must become accustomed to listening in such a way that we quiet our own inner life completely when we listen ... Listening to children in this way is especially useful, and even the wisest of us can learn a great deal from them ... We begin to hear through the words, into the other person’s soul. As we consistently practice this new habit, sound becomes the medium through which we can perceive soul and spirit ... Perception of the 'inner word' awakens. Truths are gradually revealed to us out of the spiritual world. We hear ourselves spoken to spiritually." [pp. 46-48.] 

85. "All higher truths are attained only through such inward prompting. Whatever we hear from the lips of true spiritual researchers is only what they have brought into experience in this way. This does not mean that it is unnecessary to study esoteric literature ... On the contrary, reading such writings and listening to the teachings of esoteric researchers are themselves a means of achieving knowledge for ourselves ... [T]he exercises described here should be accompanied by the intensive study of what researchers in spiritual science bring into the world ... In fact, all the other methods taken together will not get us anywhere if we do not also absorb the teachings of esoteric researchers. These teachings are drawn forth from the living 'inner word,' from 'living inspiration,' and therefore they themselves are spiritually alive ... [A]s we follow the words of one experienced in esoteric knowledge or read a book based on true inner experience, forces are at work in our souls that make us seers (clairvoyants)...." [p. 48.] 

86. "The stage of illumination [i.e., enlightenment] starts from very simple processes. Here, too, as in the stage of preparation, it is a matter of developing and awakening certain feelings and thoughts latent in every one of us ... We begin by examining different natural objects in a particular way: for example...we try to direct our whole attention to comparing a stone and an animal. The thoughts that we form to make this comparison must pass through the soul accompanied by lively feelings. No other thoughts or feelings must be allowed to intrude ... [T]wo very different kinds of feeling come to life in the soul. One kind streams into the soul from the stone, another from the animal ... Eventually, they become something that remains alive in our souls ... Out of these feelings, and the thoughts accompanying them, organs of clairvoyance are formed ... The organs built up in this way are spiritual eyes. They gradually allow us to see soul and spiritual colors." [pp. 49-50.] 

87. "Having brought our practice to the point described here, paths to many worlds lie open before us. But no one is advised to proceed further without paying careful attention to what is said or communicated by spiritual researchers. In fact, even with regard to what has already been said, it is always best to heed experienced guidance." [p. 52.]

88. "One precaution, at all events, is essential, and whoever is unwilling to adopt it had better not proceed in occult science at all. As esoteric students, we must not lose any of our human qualities but must remain noble-minded, good people, sensitive to all aspects of physical reality." [p. 52.] 

89. "Many people today seek a path to occult or esoteric science. Their quest takes various forms. Many dangerous, and even illicit, practices are tried. Therefore those who believe that they know something of the truth in these matters should give others the opportunity to learn something about esoteric training. This book presents such an opportunity, nothing more." [p. 53.]

90. "[W]e should not spend more time and energy on these exercises than is in keeping with our position and duties in life ... If we want real results, we must have patience.... Whoever has not learned to wait, in the noblest and best sense of the word, is unsuited to esoteric work and will never achieve results of any real value." [p. 53.] 

91. "[W]e can easily lose heart and give up our efforts ... In the beginning, the forces and capacities that we must develop are extremely delicate ... There is the possibility of error here for anyone who undertakes an esoteric path while remaining ignorant of the experiences gathered by accomplished spiritual researchers. Such spiritual researchers can see our progress long before we are aware of it. They know that delicate spiritual eyes can develop before we are aware of them. Indeed, the instructions of researchers are for the most part designed to keep us from losing our confidence, patience, and perseverance at a time when we cannot yet see our progress for ourselves." [pp. 53-54.]

92. "Courage and self-confidence are two beacons that should never be extinguished on the path to higher knowledge. No one, who cannot patiently repeat an exercise that has failed, to all appearances, countless times before, will travel far on this path." [p. 55.]  

93. "Long before we have a clear perception of our progress, we have a vague feeling that we are on the right track. This feeling should be cultivated and nurtured, for it can become a reliable guide." [p. 55.] 

94. "It all comes down to giving our feelings and thoughts the right direction. Only then can we gain the ability to see what ordinarily remains invisible ... We place before us a small seed from a plant. Starting with this insignificant thing, the point will be to think the right thoughts intensively, and by means of these thoughts to develop certain feelings. First, we must establish what we are really seeing with our eyes ... Then we ponder the thought: 'This seed, if planted in the ground, will grow into a complex plant.' We visualize the plant, we make it present to and in us. We build it up in imagination. Then we think: 'What I now visualize in my imagination, forces of earth and light will later in reality draw forth from this small seed ... [T]he real seed contains something invisible [that responds to the forces of earth and light]' ... Thoughts and feelings should now focus on this invisible reality. We must imagine that this invisible force or reality will in the course of time change into the visible plant." [pp. 56-57.] 

95. "It is important to emphasize that whatever we think we must also feel with intensity." [p. 57.] 

96. "[W]e must always cultivate a healthy sense for the distinction between truth and illusion. We should never lose conscious self-control during the exercises. Our Thinking must be as certain and reliable in carrying out the exercises as it is when we apply it to the things and processes of everyday life." [p. 58.]

97. "A further exercise, connected to the seed meditation, is the following. We place before us a mature plant. First, we immerse ourselves in the thought: 'A time will come when this plant will wither and decay' ... We saturate ourselves with the thought: 'The plant form with all its colors will soon no longer be there. But the knowledge that the plant produces seeds teaches me that it will not disappear into nothingness. I cannot see what preserves the plant from disappearance anymore than I could see the future plant in the seed. Therefore it follows that there is something in the plant, too, that I cannot see with my eyes' ... A kind of spiritual flame form will then grow out of the plant ... It will be felt as green-blue at its center and as yellow-red at its periphery." [p. 59.]  

98. "[I]t cannot be disputed that some people come to know the phenomena of birth and death through personal vision without undertaking the exercises described here. Some people have considerable psychic gifts, which require only slight stimulation in order to be developed further. But such people are exceptional. The path described here is safer and more generally effective." [p. 60.]

99. "We would be committing a serious error, with far-reaching consequences, if we believed that we could reach our objective more easily by dispensing with the actual object of our meditation and simply forming a mental picture of the seed (or plant) that we then held in our imaginations ... The point of these exercises is not that we arbitrarily create perceptions for ourselves but that reality creates them in us. The truth must well up from the depths of our own souls ... The beings whose spiritual truth I seek to behold must conjure their own truth." [p. 61.] 

100. "When, by practicing such exercises, we have discovered in ourselves the first rudiments of spiritual perception, we can then go on to contemplate our fellow human beings ... But before we take this step, we must work sincerely and seriously on the integrity of our moral character ... We must firmly decide never to use for evil ends any power we might gain over other people. Thus, if we seek to penetrate the mysteries of human nature through our own efforts, we must abide by the golden rule of the occult sciences. This rule states: 'For every single step that you take in seeking knowledge of hidden truths, you must take three steps in perfecting your character toward the good.” Whoever follows this rule can do the following exercises.'" [pp. 61-62.]  

101. "We visualize a person whom we have observed longing for something, and we direct our attention to this desire ... We try as far as possible to be deaf and blind to everything else going on around us. Above all, we pay close attention to any feeling that the mental image we have formed awakens in our souls. Then we allow this feeling to rise up within us ... [A]fter many attempts, we shall experience in ourselves a feeling corresponding to the inner soul state of the individual we are contemplating. Then, before long, we begin to notice that this feeling produces a force in the soul. This force then becomes the spiritual perception of the other person’s soul state." [pp. 62-63.] 

102. ”Here...is another important rule for the student of occult knowledge: 'Know how to be silent about your spiritual perceptions. Yes, even be silent about them with yourself. Do not try to clothe in words what you see in the spirit, nor try to understand it with your ordinary, unskilled reason. Give yourself fully to your spiritual perception, and do not disturb it with too much pondering.'" [p. 63.] 

103. "The above exercise may be supplemented by the following complementary one. This time we contemplate a person whose desire or longing has been fulfilled. Following the same rules and precautions as before, we attain another, different spiritual perception. We again see a spiritual flame-form, but now this feels yellow in the center and light green at the periphery." [p. 64.]  

104. "Observing and contemplating our fellow human beings in this way, we can easily fall into a moral error. We can lose our love for them. We must do everything imaginable to ensure that this does not happen ... The idea that another person could be merely an object of observation must never, even for a moment, take hold of us." [p. 64.] 

105. "These preliminary exercises give two examples of how we may gain insight into human nature ... We will always find ways and means of discovering more and more of human nature that is hidden from our outer senses. As we do so, we gradually progress to the point of glimpsing the mysterious kinship between human nature and all else that exists in the universe." [p. 65.] 

106. "Candidates for initiation must bring with them two additional qualities: courage and fearlessness. These have a certain relationship with each other and must be developed together. As esoteric students, we must deliberately seek out situations in which these virtues may be cultivated. Indeed, in occult training they are developed quite systematically. From this point of view, life itself is also a good occult school — perhaps the best. We must be able to look danger calmly in the eye and overcome difficulties without hesitation." [p. 65.]

107. "[A]s we penetrate the higher mysteries, we see things that were previously hidden from us by the illusions of the senses. In fact, it is a blessing that our physical senses do not allow us to perceive the higher truths. In this way they protect us from things that, if we saw them unprepared, would cause us great dismay, things we could not bear to see. As students of the occult, we must train ourselves to bear these sights." [p. 66.]  

108. "As initiates, our own souls will be revealed before our seeing eyes as nakedly as all other things. Students must not lose strength in the face of such self- knowledge. They must come to meet it with a surplus of forces. In order to have this surplus, we must learn to maintain our inward calm and certainty in difficult life situations and cultivate an unshakable trust in the good powers of existence." [p. 67.]

109. "Above all, we need to cultivate courage and fearlessness in the inmost depths of our thought life itself. We must learn not to be discouraged by failure. We should be able to think: 'I will forget that I have failed again, and will try once more as if it never happened.'" [p. 67.]

Yes, learning to disregard failure would probably be a good idea. Following Steiner's instructions virtually guarantees you plenty of experience with failure.

— Compilation and commentary by Roger Rawlings

For more on Anthroposophical

spiritual exercises, see

"Serving the Gods".

[By R.R., in the here and now.]