66. EL, Muenchen, 8-24-'10
Anyone
who undertakes an esoteric training must be clear about what he is
doing thereby. We're karmically connected with what we are and
do; we're placed into the whole of earth existence by leading
divine beings. Everything that we think, feel and will in the way of
the most sublime beauty and the highest morality is always still
connected with general evolution. But by deciding to begin an
esoteric training we step out of this general development
that's guided by higher beings. Thereby we begin something
absolutely new. In an esoteric training we stop being led by
spiritual, divine beings and we become independent companions of
these creator spirits.
Man on
earth consists of the tetralogy: physical body, etheric body, astral
body and ego, which are kept in harmony by higher beings. If we carry
out the resolve to begin an esoteric training we then begin to work
independently at the transformation of these individual bodies. This
takes place through the exercises that are given to us. They
gradually work on our etheric body in such a way that it becomes
loosened from the firm structure of the physical body. This influence
is not directly on the etheric body but on the astral body or soul
which we work on through the regular daily or weekly repetition of
exercises and pictures.
Every
sound, word and sequence of sounds and concepts in the meditation
verses is of some significance; they have an effect through the
regular repetition while one completely forgets oneself.
When we
wake up in the morning we sometimes have a dim memory of the
spiritual world, of the world from which strength flows to us through
our exercises, and some of an esoteric student's nicest
experiences are these faint memories of the world where we were at
the sources of strength. If someone had to leave a friend who was
dear to him, it could be that something about this person will flow
into the esoteric pupil together with his memory of the spiritual
world. Someone who's given something like this should look upon
it as grace.
After
meditating for some times we notice that we've changed; we no
longer say some of the unkind things that we used to and we acquire a
much finer logic. We feel that we've improved. We get
better.
But
because we place ourselves outside of the customary framework we lose
the support that's given by convention. We become inwardly
freer but thereby your bad sides come out more; then we notice how
bad we are. We're really a lot worse than we usually think.
Difficult, unpleasant hours come to every esoteric striver, and then
it's good to have some support. We find this support in the New
Testament; we find advice and support for every case and situation
and in every weakness; we only have to look for it. And if we
don't find it, we can comfort ourselves with the conviction
that it's our own weakness that keeps us from finding the right
thing but that it's nevertheless in the Bible.
Deceptions in clairvoyance can easily occur at first. One thinks that
one is seeing something outside, and it's one's own
interior that's reflected there. It's even worse with
sounds that one thinks one hears; beings who want to pull a meditator
down deceive him thereby.
An
esoteric striver not only has to do his meditations, to pray in the
best sense of the word, but also to watch, to be on the lookout for
bad influences that want to interfere when an independent
transformation of bodies is undertaken. An occult sentence against
all deception is: Every path into the spiritual world goes through
the heart. During the meditation one can feel that lines go from
every point of the outer physical body towards a center, which is the
heart. These lines then go on in the opposite direction and into the
spiritual world. This is like a feeling that Christ is in one, and
it's a sign that there's no deception.
Each of
our members is connected with one sign of the Zodiac; forces from Leo
flow down into our heart. Forces from the sun also stream into our
heart. Likewise, fire spirits work on our heart. Leo, sun, and flame
are often used as symbols for the heart. Like the heart every part of
us is related to outside forces; we've grown out of the whole
world and are imbedded in it.
If we
really let this fact live in our soul we then rightly understand the
verse:
In
the spirit lay the germ of my body.
And the spirit has imprinted in my body
The eyes of sense,
That through them I may see
The lights of bodies.
And the spirit has imprinted in my body
Reason and sensation
And feeling and will,
That through them I may perceive bodies
And act upon them.
In the spirit lay the germ of my body.
In my body lies the germ of the spirit.
And I will incorporate into my spirit
The super-sensible eyes
That through them I may behold the light of spirits.
And I will imprint in my spirit
Wisdom and power and love,
So that through me the spirits may act
And I become a self-conscious organ
Of their deeds.
In my body lies the germ of the spirit.
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