Founding a Science of the Spirit E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Seitenzahl: 262

Beschreibung

Previously published as At the Gates of Spiritual Science, these lectures offer a fine introduction to the whole of Rudolf Steiner's teaching, as well as including valuable material which is not to be found elsewhere. With great clarity and precision, Steiner speaks of the fundamental nature of the human being in relation to the cosmos, the evolution of the Earth, the journey of the soul after death, reincarnation and karma, good and evil, the modern path of meditative training, as well as giving answers to individual questions.Throughout, Steiner's emphasis is on a scientific exposition of spiritual phenomena. As he says in the final lecture: "the highest knowledge of mundane things is thoroughly compatible with the highest knowledge of spiritual truths."

Leseprobe

RUDOLF STEINER (1861–1925) called his spiritual philosophy ‘anthroposophy’, meaning ‘wisdom of the human being’. As a highly developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern and universal ‘science of spirit’, accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unprejudiced thinking.

From his spiritual investigations Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of many activities, including education (both general and special), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms and other organizations involved in practical work based on his principles. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of the human being, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods of personal development. Steiner wrote some 30 books and delivered over 6000 lectures across Europe. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

FOUNDING A SCIENCEOF THE SPIRIT

Fourteen lectures given in Stuttgartbetween 22 August and 4 September 1906

RUDOLF STEINER

RUDOLF STEINER PRESS

Translation revised by Matthew Barton

Rudolf Steiner PressHillside House, The SquareForest Row, E. SussexRH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2012

Previously published in English as At the Gates of Spiritual Scienceby Rudolf Steiner Press, 1970Second edition 1986

Originally published in German under the title Vor dem Tore der Theosophie (volume 95 in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe or Collected Works) by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. This authorized translation has been revised with reference to the 4th German edition (1990), and is published by kind permission of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach

Translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 1999

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 298 4

Cover art and design by Andrew MorganTypeset by DP Photosetting, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Contents

Introduction by Brien Masters

Lecture One, 22 August 1906The Being of Man

Lecture Two, 23 August 1906The Three Worlds

Lecture Three, 24 August 1906Life of the Soul in Kamaloka

Lecture Four, 25 August 1906Devachan

Lecture Five, 26 August 1906Human Tasks in the Higher Worlds

Lecture Six, 27 August 1906Child Development and Education. Karma

Lecture Seven, 28 August 1906Workings of the Law of Karma in Human Life

Lecture Eight, 29 August 1906Good and Evil. Individual Karmic Questions

Lecture Nine, 30 August 1906Evolution of the Earth

Addendum to Lecture Nine

Lecture Ten, 31 August 1906The Evolution of Mankind up to Atlantean Times

Lecture Eleven, 1 September 1906The Post-Atlantean Cultural Epochs

Lecture Twelve, 2 September 1906Occult Development

Lecture Thirteen, 3 September 1906Oriental and Christian Schooling. Initiation

Lecture Fourteen, 4 September 1906Rosicrucian Schooling—Interior of the Earth—Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Answers to Audience Questions2 September 1906

Answers to Audience Questions4 September 1906

Notes and References

Publisher’s Note

Introduction

In Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Tamino the prince, seeking enlightenment, knocks at three temple doors, only to be admitted at the third attempt. The original German title of the present cycle of lectures, given in Stuttgart in 1906 on 14 consecutive days, incorporated the concept of the door—or portal (Pforte), if one wishes to imply something loftier. However, in keeping with modern spiritual striving, the term was used metaphorically—today’s pupil seeking admittance to the world of spirit does not need to travel to a building consisting of outer walls, footings, floor, roof and portal: the inner temple is what he or she may gain access to. Former sanctuaries, however sacred they may still be, and whatever ‘atmosphere’ may still linger there, are by no means the only gateways to the spirit, even if here or there they still serve a striving humanity.

It is evident that Rudolf Steiner can be counted among those people of our time who have been able to pass through such portals. In his autobiography, he describes how, in his lecturing activities within the German Section of the Theosophical Society, ‘... no one was left in any doubt that I was going to bring before the Theosophical Society only the results of my own clairvoyant research.’ The truth of this is further supported by the fact that significant differences in Steiner’s ‘views’ and those of others within the Theosophical Society led, in 1913, to the expulsion of the German Section. ‘In addressing the theosophical public, which was then the only available public and was continually searching for knowledge of the spirit, there was no longer any reason for me not to present this knowledge in my own way. I subscribed to no sectarian dogma; I remained an individual who believed he was able to speak of what he himself experienced as the spiritual world.’

After the above expulsion and the subsequent foundation of what Steiner called the Anthroposophical Society, he seldom had recourse to the term theosophy; though, as well as anthroposophy, he did favour the term ‘spiritual science’ or ‘science of the spirit’ for the body of research which he brought before the public as a result of his own investigations. This term is retained here, in the present title, already having been used in the former English edition in preference to Theosophie found in the German original.

Thus Steiner’s spiritual research is presented in the form of a ‘general survey’. And as the reader inwardly stands at that portal, with whatever intention, he or she is introduced to that survey not in any mystic way but in language that, in its clear structure and lucid style, enables the findings of the spiritual researcher to be received and considered in the realm of pure thought.

Not that it need remain at that. The last lectures in the cycle indicate the directions of the pathway, leading beyond the portal, for anyone who may wish to follow it in practice, i.e. other than in mere thought and comprehension.

The stating of facts that are deemed to be truth by the researcher into the science of the spirit carries far-reaching responsibility. The fruits of such research, if they are to be thought about objectively and without prejudice, and not regarded with an attitude of disbelief or, indeed, derision or fanatically dogmatic acceptance, need on the one hand to be concrete and detailed enough for a ‘critical’ mind to consider, weigh up, compare, place alongside other life experience etc., while on the other hand should not be compelling but rather leave free, stimulating deep, independent thought—and certainly not take the reader by storm.

The degree towards which Steiner achieved this balance of presentation must be determined, of course, by all readers for themselves. Notwithstanding, to be describing the complex constitution of the human being, the different ‘strata’ of the world of the spirit, the post-mortal life of the soul, the upbringing of children that is truly in keeping with their nature, the frequently vexed question of the laws of karma, the evolution of the Earth (both with reference to biblical themes as well as the whole gamut of evolution before ‘In the beginning, God created...’) and much more besides—as Steiner is describing in these lectures—must require an advanced power of mind if the description is not going to be either confusing or over-sensational.

Many may reach the end of the book with the question: If the wide-ranging panorama that Steiner presents is a ‘general survey’, what would a detailed account of the worlds he is introducing be like? An answer is to be gleaned, of course, by looking at the whole oeuvre of Steiner’s work. But it is not the only answer, for as well as the possibility of supplementing that from other reliable sources, it may also be substantiated, or even enlarged, by the enquirer’s own experience. Moreover, as indicated above, many have discovered that the attentive reading of what Steiner has to say does more for the reader than the mere acquisition of knowledge: attentive reading can engender experience that is inwardly as valuable as what we normally designate as life experience.

At the same time, while the reality of the portal to the inner sanctuary of the human soul obviates the necessity of an outer building today, it does not follow that preparation to pass through that portal should be any less rigorous than in earlier cultures, despite its changed character. Here, again, the book makes a significant contribution for the student who sets out to do more than acquire information about those ‘other worlds’ of which Steiner speaks. This occurs in the last lectures, where Steiner is concerned with one of the major causes of the increasing dichotomy between a modern humanity, schooled in science and technology, and those who identify with a range of orthodox ‘faiths’ or religious persuasions. Having first spoken of oriental and Christian training, here he presents what he terms not theosophical or anthroposophical but Rosicrucian training of the inner life. ‘The Rosicrucian method shows that the highest knowledge of mundane things is thoroughly compatible with this highest knowledge of spiritual truths.’ Such a statement is as encouraging to the person committed to contributing towards the lot of humanity via the technological benefits that the West has produced as it is to the person who wishes to put his or her inner striving at the service of a world failing so frequently in its struggle, say, for peace, for cultural advance, for the economic health of society, for the conservation and reclamation of the environment...

Perhaps it is here, above all else, that the manner of Steiner’s authoritative presentation of ‘other worlds’ may assist the student in moving with complete autonomy towards the strength that may be acquired from those worlds, but in a practical way that avoids those traits of ‘other worldliness’ that often come across as having little contribution to make towards the urgent demands of the present age.

Thus it is that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of spiritual science, sheds light on the path that leads to the portal of the inner temple, in a way that is equally valid for those who wish purely and objectively to view the path as it is for those upon it, who wish to undertake serious self-schooling. To that extent, it would be true to say that both groups, in their several ways, are co-participators in the founding of a modern science of the spirit.

Brien Masters

Lecture One

The Being of Man

These lectures are intended to give a general survey of the whole field of theosophical thought. Theosophy has not always been taught as it is today, in lectures and books that are accessible to everyone. It used to be taught only in small, intimate groups, and knowledge of it was confined to circles of initiates, to occult brotherhoods; ordinary people were meant to have only the fruits of this knowledge. Not much was known about the knowledge or the activities of these initiates, or about the places where they worked. Those whom the world recognizes as the great men of history were not really the greatest; the greatest, the initiates, kept in the background.

In the course of the eighteenth century, on a quite unnoticed occasion, an initiate made brief acquaintance with a writer, and spoke words to which the writer paid no special attention at the time. But they worked on in him and later gave rise to potent ideas, the fruits of which are in countless hands today. The writer was Jean-Jacques Rousseau.1 He was not an initiate, but his knowledge derived from one.

Here is another example. Jacob Boehme,2 a shoemaker’s apprentice, was sitting alone one day in the shop, where he was not allowed to sell anything himself. A person came in, made a deep impression upon him, spoke a few words, and went away. Immediately afterwards, Boehme heard his name being called: ‘Jacob, Jacob, today you are small, but one day you will be great. Take heed of what you have seen today!’ A secret attraction remained between Boehme and his visitor, who was a great initiate and the source of Boehme’s powerful inspirations.

There were still other means by which an initiate could work in those times. For instance, someone might receive a letter intended to bring about action of some kind. The recipient might perhaps be a minister, who had the power but not the ideas to carry out a particular project. The letter might be about something, a request, which had nothing to do with its real purpose. But it could, perhaps, be read in a different way. For example, if four words out of five were deleted and the last word left, these fifth words would make a new sequence conveying what was to be done, although the recipient, of course, was not aware of it. If the words were the right ones, they achieved their object, even though the reader had not consciously taken in their meaning. Trithemius of Sponheim,3 a German scholar who was also an initiate and the teacher of Agrippa von Nettesheim, used this method. Given the right key, you will find in his works much that is taught today in theosophy.

In those days only a few who had undergone adequate preparation could be initiated. Why was this secrecy necessary? In order to ensure the right attitude towards knowledge, it had to be restricted to those who were adequately prepared; the others received its blessings only. This knowledge was not intended to satisfy idle curiosity or inquisitiveness; it was meant to be put to work, to have a practical influence on political and social institutions in the world. In this way all the great advances in the development of humanity owe their origin to impulses issuing from occultism. For this reason, too, all those who were to be instructed in theosophical teachings were obliged to undergo severe tests and trials to prove their worthiness; and then they were initiated step by step, and led very slowly from lower to higher levels.

This method has been abandoned in modern times; the more elementary teachings are now given out publicly. This became necessary because the earlier methods—of letting spiritual seeds silently and unobtrusively bear fruit for humanity—would not have continued to be effective. Among these earlier methods we must include religions, and this wisdom was a constituent part of all of them. Nowadays, however, people experience a conflict between knowledge and faith. What we need today is to attain to higher knowledge through a conscious process of learning.

The decisive event which led to secret knowledge becoming public, however, was the invention of printing. Previously, theosophical teaching had been passed on orally from one person to another, and nobody who was unripe or unworthy would hear of it. But knowledge of the material world was spread abroad and made popular through books; hence arose the conflict between knowledge and faith. Issues such as this have made it necessary for much of the great treasure of occult knowledge of all ages to be made accessible to the public. Whence does man originate? What is his goal? What lies hidden behind his visible form? What happens after death? All these questions have to be answered, and answered not by theories, hypotheses and surmises, but by the facts themselves.

The purpose of occult science has always been to unravel the riddle of man. Everything said in these lectures will be from the standpoint of practical occultism; they will contain nothing that is mere theory and cannot be put into practice. Such theories have found their way into theosophical literature because in the beginning the people who wrote the books did not understand clearly what they were writing about. This kind of writing may indeed be useful fodder for curiosity-mongers; but theosophy must be carried into real life.

Let us first consider the nature and being of man. When someone comes into our presence, we first of all see through our sense-organs what theosophy calls the physical body. Man has this body in common with the whole world around him; and although the physical body is only a small part of what man really is, it is the only part of which ordinary science takes account. But we must go deeper. Even superficial observation will make it clear that this physical body has very special qualities. There are plenty of other things which you can see and touch; every stone is after all a physical body. But man can move, feel and think; he grows, takes nourishment, propagates his kind. None of this is true of a stone, but some of it is certainly true of plants and animals. Man has in common with the plants his capacity to nourish himself, to grow and propagate; if he were like a stone, with only a physical body, none of this would be possible. He must therefore possess something which enables him to use substances and their forces in such a way that they become for him the means of growth and so forth. This is the etheric body.

Man has a physical body in common with the mineral kingdom, and an etheric body in common with the plant and animal kingdoms. Ordinary observation can confirm that. But there is another way in which we can prove to ourselves the existence of an etheric body, although only those who have developed their higher senses have this faculty. These higher senses are no more than a higher development of what is dormant in every human being. It is rather like someone born blind being operated on so that he can see. The difference is that not everyone born blind can be successfully operated on, whereas everyone can develop the spiritual senses if he has the necessary patience and goes through the proper preliminary training. A very definite form of higher perception is needed to understand this principle of life, growth, nutrition and propagation. The example of hypnotism can help us to show what this means.

Hypnotism, which has always been known to the initiates, implies a condition of consciousness different from that of ordinary sleep. There must be a close rapport between the hypnotizer and his subject. Two types of suggestion are involved—positive and negative. The first makes a person see what is not there, while the second diverts his attention from something that is present and is thus only an intensification of a condition familiar enough in everyday life when our attention is diverted from an object so that we do not see it, although our eyes are open. This happens to us involuntarily every day when we are wholly absorbed in something. Theosophy wishes to have nothing to do with conditions where consciousness is dimmed and dulled. To grasp theosophical truths a person must be quite as much in control of his senses when investigating higher worlds as he is when investigating ordinary matters. The serious dangers inherent in initiation can affect him only if his consciousness is dimmed.

Anyone who wants to know the nature of the etheric body by direct vision must be able to maintain his ordinary consciousness intact and ‘suggest away’ the physical body by the strength of his own will. He will not, however, be left with an empty space, but will see before him the etheric body glowing with a reddish-blue light like a phantom, whose radiance is a little darker than peach blossom. We never see an etheric body if we ‘suggest away’ a crystal; but in the case of a plant or animal we do, for it is the etheric body that is responsible for nutrition, growth and reproduction.

Man, of course, has other faculties as well. He can feel pleasure and pain, which the plant cannot do. The initiate can discover this by his own experience, for he can identify himself with the plant. Animals can feel pleasure and pain, and thus have a further principle in common with man: the astral body. The astral body is the seat of everything we know as desire, passion, and so forth. This is clear to straightforward observation as an inner experience, but for the initiate the astral body can become an outer reality. The initiate sees this third member of man as an egg-shaped cloud which not only surrounds the body, but permeates it. If we ‘suggest away’ the physical body and also the etheric body, what we shall see will be a delicate cloud of light, inwardly full of movement. Within this cloud or aura the initiate sees every desire, every impulse, as colour and form in the astral body. For example, he sees intense passion flashing like rays of lightning out of the astral body.

In animals the basic colour of the astral body varies with the species: a lion’s astral body has a different basic colour from that of a lamb. But in human beings the colour alters from person to person; and if you train yourself to be sensitive to delicate nuances, you will be able to recognize someone’s temperament and general disposition by his aura. Nervous people have a dappled aura; these points of colour are not static but keep on lighting up and fading away. This is always so, and is why the aura cannot be painted.

But man is distinguished from the animal in another, further way. This brings us to the fourth member of our being, which comes to expression in a name different from all other names. I can say ‘I’ only of myself. In the whole of language there is no other name which cannot be applied by all and sundry to the same object. It is not so with ‘I’; a person can say it only of himself. Initiates have always been aware of this. Hebrew initiates spoke of the ‘inexpressible name of God’, of the God who dwells in man, for the name can be uttered only by the soul for this same soul. It must sound forth from the soul and the soul must give itself its own name; no other soul can utter it. Hence the emotion of wonder which thrilled through the listeners when the name ‘Yahveh’ was uttered, for Yahveh or Jehovah signifies ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. In the name which the soul uses of itself, the God begins to speak within that individual soul.

This attribute makes man superior to the animals. We must realize the tremendous significance of this word. When Jean Paul4 had discovered the ‘I’ within himself, he knew that he had experienced his immortal being.

This again presents itself to the seer in a peculiar form. When he studies the astral body, everything appears in perpetual movement except for one small space, shaped like a somewhat elongated bluish oval, situated at the base of the nose, behind the brow. This is to be seen in human beings only—more clearly in less educated or cultured people, most clearly of all in tribes remote from civilization. Actually there is nothing there but an empty space. Just as the empty centre of a flame appears blue when seen through the light around it, so this empty space appears blue because of the auric light streaming around it. This is the outer form of expression of the ‘I’.

Every human being has these four members; but there is a difference between a wild tribesman and a civilized European, and also between the latter and a Francis of Assisi, or a Schiller. A refinement of the moral nature produces finer colours in the aura; an increase in the power of discrimination between good and evil also shows itself in a refinement of the aura. In the process of becoming civilized the ‘I’ has worked upon the astral body and ennobled the desires. The higher a person’s moral and intellectual development, the more will his ‘I’ have worked upon the astral body. The seer can distinguish between a developed and an undeveloped human being.

Whatever part of the astral body has been thus transformed by the ‘I’ is called Manas. Manas is the fifth member of man’s nature. We have just so much of Manas as we have created by our own efforts; part of our astral body is therefore always Manas. But we are not able to exercise an immediate influence upon the etheric body, although in the same way that we can raise ourselves to a higher moral level we can also learn to work upon the etheric body. A person who does this will be called a Chela,5 a pupil. He can thus attain mastery over the etheric body, and what he has transformed in this body by his own efforts is called Buddhi. This is the sixth member of man’s nature, the transformed etheric body.

Such a Chela can be recognized by a certain sign. An ordinary person shows no resemblance either in temperament or form to his previous incarnation, but the Chela retains the same habits, the same temperament. This similarity remains because he has worked consciously on the etheric body, the bearer of the forces of growth and reproduction.

The highest achievement open to man on this earth is to work right down into his physical body. That is the most difficult task of all. In order to have an effect upon the physical body itself, a man must learn to control the breath and the circulation, to follow consciously the activity of the nerves, and to regulate the processes of thought. In theosophical language, a man who has reached this stage is called an Adept; he will then have developed in himself what we call Atma. Atma is the seventh member of man’s being.

In every human being four members are fully formed, the fifth only partly, the sixth and seventh in rudiment only. Physical body, etheric body, astral body, ‘I’ or ego, Manas, Buddhi, Atma—these are the seven members of man’s nature; through them he can participate in three worlds.

Lecture Two

The Three Worlds

When one speaks of the knowledge of higher realms possessed by initiates but not yet accessible to ordinary people, one often hears an objection to the following effect: What use to us is this knowledge you say you have of higher worlds if we cannot look into these worlds for ourselves?

I will reply by quoting some beautiful words by a young contemporary whose destiny it has been to become widely known—Helen Keller.6 In her second year she became blind and deaf, and even in her seventh year this human child was little more than an animal. Then she met a teacher of genius,7 a woman who gave her love, and now, at the age of 26, Helen Keller is certainly one of the most cultured of her compatriots. She has studied the sciences and is astonishingly well read; she is acquainted with the poets, both classical and modern; she also has a good knowledge of the philosophers, Plato, Spinoza and so on. Although the realms of light and sound are for ever closed to her, she retains an impressive courage for living and takes delight in the beauty and splendour of the world. In her book Optimism,8 there are some memorable sentences: ‘Night and darkness lay around me for years and then came one who taught me, and instead of night and darkness I found peace and hope.’ Or again, ‘I have won my way to heaven by thinking and feeling.’ Only one thing could be given to her, deprived as she was of sight and hearing, with the sense-world accessible to her only through the communications of others. The lofty thoughts of men of genius have flowed into her soul, and through the reports of those who can speak with knowledge she shares in our familiar world.

That is the situation of anyone who hears of higher worlds only through the communications of others. From this comparison we can see how important such communications are for a person who is himself not yet able to see into these higher worlds. But there is a difference here. Helen Keller has to say to herself: ‘I shall never be able to see the world with my own eyes.’ But every normal person can say to himself: ‘I shall be able to see into the higher worlds when the eyes of my spirit are opened.’ The spiritual eyes and ears of each and everyone can be opened, if we bring enough patience and perseverance to the task.

Others ask: How long will it take me to achieve this faculty of spiritual sight? To this an admirable reply has been given by that notable thinker, Subba Row,9 who says: One person will achieve it in 70 incarnations, another in seven; one in seven years, another in seven months or seven days or seven hours; or it will come, as the Bible says, ‘like a thief in the night’.

As I have said, the eyes of the spirit can be opened in every person, if he has the necessary energy and patience. Everyone, accordingly, can derive joy and hope from the communications of another, for what we are told about the higher worlds is not mere theory, unrelated to life. As its fruits it brings us two things we must have if we are to lay hold of life in the right way—strength and security—and both are given in the highest measure. Strength comes from the impulses of the higher worlds; security comes when we become conscious that our visible form and being derives from invisible worlds. Moreover, nobody has true knowledge of the visible world unless he knows something also of two other worlds.

The three worlds are:

1.  The physical world, the scene of human life.

2.  The astral world or the world of soul.

3.  The devachanic world or world of spirit.

These three worlds are not spatially separate. We are surrounded by the things of the physical world which we perceive with our ordinary senses, but the astral world is in this same space; we live in the other two worlds, the astral and devachanic worlds, at the same time as we live in the physical world. The three worlds are wherever we ourselves are, only we do not yet see the two higher worlds—just as a blind man does not see the physical world. But when the ‘senses of the soul’ are opened, the new world, with its new characteristics and new beings, emerges. In proportion as a man acquires new senses, so are new phenomena revealed to him.

Let us turn now to closer study of the three worlds. The physical world need not be specially characterized. Everyone is familiar with it and with the physical laws which obtain there.