From the Contents of Esoteric Classes

112. EL, Norrkoeping, 5-30-'12

Introductory words in memory of Mrs. Danielson, who died a few months earlier. In a soul's bright moments in the spiritual world it feels united with those who were striving towards the same thing that it was, and the streams of love that are sent to it from here create these luminous moments for it. She's active in the interests of theosophical matters as an angel who makes a connection between theosophists in the north and those in central Europe.

Thursday prayer. About individuality and shame. About the conclusions we should draw from this. We should look upon all of this as something that concerns our own personality. Descriptions of our own being. About the feeling of one's inner being; as if a flask with water were heated from an inner point, and one felt this warmth of the water as if one were the feeling water oneself. How this warmth must then permeate is used as a means of support for esoteric training, and so is abstinence from alcohol and meat. One's spiritual being becomes ever greater and expands out into the cosmos. About the feelings of devotion and reverence. Two forces: angels demons Christ. How esoteric development proceeds. About visions. Indications that it's going correctly; fear, unsteadiness, the ground being pulled out from under one's feet. A feeling of shame, but not of egoism should arise thereby. The counter-forces that a pupil must oppose this with.

One who does the exercises correctly will sooner or later notice the appearance of certain effects. One can tell whether the effects are right or wrong by certain accessory phenomena. If these particular side-phenomena appear, then it's a correct development even if no visions, pictures, colors or light-effects appear. Whether the accessory phenomena can appear is up to one's karma. The teacher can point to the path but he can't remove hindrances.

A human soul's wish for visions and phenomena is often a hindrance to all progress. And if men have them, it's also a mistake to be satisfied with them and to not want to strive further.

First one feels that something becomes alive within one. This feeling is as if we were in water in a vessel with a source of warmth at its center that streams through the water. We must then feel this warmth with our whole being.