the spiritual plane, for the higher powers which lie dormant in the
soul may be developed by one person in this direction by another in
that. One will make more progress, another less. But when they develop
those powers, and attach value to them, men begin to differentiate
themselves. And then one must allow, to the advanced student, more
right to speak on the subject, or to act in a certain way, than to
another who is less advanced. This is more essential in matters of the
higher realm than on the plane of the senses and the mind, where
experiences are more nearly the same.
It is also noticeable that the present formation of the Social
Commonwealth has helped to bring about a revolt against the higher
powers of man. According to the mystic, civilization during the
nineteenth century has moved altogether along physical lines; and
people have accustomed themselves to move on the physical plane alone,
and to feel at home there. The higher powers are developed only on
planes higher than the physical, and the knowledge which these
faculties bring is, therefore, unknown to the physical man. It is only
necessary to attend mass-meetings, if one wishes to be convinced of the
fact that the speakers there are totally unable to think any thoughts
but those which refer to the physical plane, the world of sense. This
can also be seen through the leading journalists of our papers and
magazines; and, indeed, on all sides one may observe the haughtiest and
most complete denial of everything that cannot be seen with the eyes,
or felt with the hands, or comprehended by the average mind. We do not
condemn this attitude for it denotes a necessary stage in the
development of humanity. Without the pride and prejudices of mind and
sense, we should never have achieved our great conquests over material
life, nor have been able to impart to the personality a certain measure
of elasticity: neither can we hope that many ideals, which must be
founded on man's desire for freedom and the assertion of personality,
may yet be realized.
But this dark side of a purely materialistic civilization has deeply
affected the whole being of the modern man. For proof it is not
necessary to refer to the obvious facts already named; it would be easy
to demonstrate, by certain examples (which are greatly underrated,
especially to-day), how deeply rooted in the mind of the modern man is
this adhesion to the testimony of the senses, or the average
intelligence. And it is just these things that indicate the need for
the renewal of spiritual life.
The strong response evoked by Professor Friedrich Delitzsch's _Babel
and Bible Theory_ fully justifies a reference to its author's method
of thinking, as a sign of the time. Professor Delitzsch has
demonstrated the relationship of certain traditions in the Old
Testament, to the Babylonian accounts of the Creation, and this fact,
coming from such a source and in such a form, has been realized by many
who would otherwise have ignored such questions. It has led many to
reconsider the so-called idea of Revelation. They ask themselves: "How
is it possible to accept the idea that the contents of the Old
Testament were revealed by God, when we find very similar conceptions
among decidedly heathen nations?" This problem cannot here be further
discussed. Delitzsch found many opponents who feared that through his
exposition, the very foundations of Religion had been shaken. He has
defended himself in a pamphlet, _Babel and Bible, a Retrospect and a
Forecast_. Here we shall only refer to a single statement in the
pamphlet. One of importance, because it reveals the view of an eminent
scientist regarding the position of man with respect to transcendental
truths. And to-day innumerable other people think and feel just like
Delitzsch. The statement affords an excellent opportunity for us to
find out what is the innermost conviction of our contemporaries,
expressed quite freely and, therefore, in its truest form.
Delitzsch turns to those who reproach him with a somewhat liberal use
of the term "Revelation," and who would fain regard it as "a kind of
old priestly wisdom" which "has nothing at all to do with the layman,"
making this reply.
"For my part, I am of opinion that while our children or ourselves
are instructed in school or at church as regards Revelation, not
only are we within our right, but it is our duty, to think
independently concerning these deep questions, possessing also, as
they do, an eminently practical side, were it only that we might
avoid giving our children 'evasive' answers. For this very reason
it will be gratifying to many searchers after Truth when the dogma
of a special 'choosing' of Israel shall have been brought forward
into the light of a wider historical outlook, through the union of
Babylonian, Assyrian, and Old Testament research.... [A few pages
earlier we are shown the direction of such thoughts.] For the rest,
it would seem to me that the only logical thing is for Church and
School to be satisfied as regards the whole past history of the
world and of humanity, with the belief in One Almighty Creator of
Heaven and Earth, and that these tales of the Old Testament should
be classified by themselves under some such title as 'Old Hebraic
Myths.'"
(It may be taken as a matter of course, we suppose, that no one will
see in the following remarks an attack on the investigator Delitzsch.)
What, then, is here averred in naive simplicity? Nothing less than that
the mind which is engaged upon physical investigation may assert the
right of judging experiences of superphysical nature. There is no
thought that this mind without further development may perhaps be unfit
to reflect upon the teachings of these "Revelations." When one wishes
to understand that which appears as a "Revelation," one must employ the
kind of knowledge or forces through which the "Revelation," itself has
come to us.
He who develops within himself the mystical power of perception soon
observes that in certain stories of the Old Testament which by
Delitzsch were called "Old Hebraic Myths," there are revealed to him
truths of a higher nature than those which may be comprehended by the
intellect, which is only concerned with the things of sense. His own
experiences will lead him to see that these "Myths" have proceeded out
of a mystic perception of transcendental truths. And then, in one
illuminative moment, his whole point of view is changed.
As little as one may demonstrate the fallacy of a mathematical problem
by discovering who solved it first, or even that several people have
solved it, just so little may one impugn the truth of a biblical
narrative by the discovery of a similar story elsewhere. Instead of
demanding that everyone should insist upon his right, or even his duty,
to think independently on the so-called "Revelations," we ought rather
to consider that only he who has developed in himself those latent
powers which make it possible for him to relive that which was once
realized by those very mystics, who proclaimed the "supersensuous
revelations," has a right to decide anything about the matter.
Here we have an excellent example of how the average intellect,
qualified for the highest triumphs in practical sense-knowledge, sets
itself up, in naive pride, as a judge in domains, the existence of
which it does not even care to know. For purely historical
investigation is also carried on by nothing but the experience of the
senses.
In just the same way has the investigation of the New Testament led us
into a blind alley. At any costs the method of the "Newer Historical
Investigation" had to be directed upon the Gospels. These documents
have been compared with each other, and brought into relation with all
sorts of records, in order that we might find out what really happened
in Palestine from the year 1 to the year 33; how the "historical
personality" of whom they tell really lived, and what He may really
have said.
Angelus Selesius, of the seventeenth century, has already expressed the
whole of the critical attitude toward this kind of investigation:
"Though Christ were yearly born in Bethlehem, and never Had birth
in you yourself, then were you lost for ever; And if within
yourself it is not reared again, The Cross at Golgotha can save you
not from pain."
Nor are these the words of one who doubted, but those of a Christian,
strong in his belief. And his equally fervent predecessor, Meister
Eckhart, said in the thirteenth century:
"There are some who desire to see God with their eyes, as they look
at a cow; and just as they love a cow, so they desire to love
God.... Simple-minded people imagine that God may be seen as if He
stood there and they stood here. But this is not so: in that
perception, God and I are one."
These words must not be understood as directed against the investigation
of "historical truth." _Yet no one can rightly understand the historic
truth of such documents as the Gospels, unless he has first experienced
within himself the mystical meaning which they contain._ All such
comparisons and analyses are quite worthless, for no one can discover
who was "born in Bethlehem" but he who has mystically experienced the
Christ within himself; neither can anyone in whom it has not already
been erected, decide how it is that "the Cross at Golgotha" can deliver
us from pain. Purely historical investigation "can discover no more
concerning the mystic reality than the dismembering anatomist, perhaps,
can discover the secret of a great poetical genius." (See my book,
_Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache_, Berlin, C. A. Schwetschke
und Sohn, 1902, or its French translation, mentioned on page 1.)
He who can see clearly in these matters is aware how deeply rooted, at
the present time, is the "pride" of the intellect, which only concerns
itself with the facts of sense. It says: "I do not wish to develop
faculties in order that I may reach the higher truths; I wish to form my
decisions concerning them with the powers that I now possess."
In a well-meant pamphlet, which is written, however, entirely in that
spirit of the age which we have already indicated (_What do we know
about Jesus?_ by A. Kalthoff, Berlin, 1904), we read as follows:
"Christ, who symbolizes the life of the Community, may be discerned
within himself by the man of to-day: out of his own soul the man of
to-day can create Christ just as well as the author of a gospel
created him; as a man he may put himself in the same position as
the gospel-writers, because he can reinstate himself into the same
soul-processes, can himself speak or write Gospel."
"These words might be true, but they may also be entirely erroneous.
They are true when understood in the sense of Angelus Silesius, or of
Meister Eckhart, that is when they refer to the development of powers
dormant in every human soul, which, from some such idea, endeavors to
experience within itself the Christ of the Gospels. They are altogether
wrong, if a more or less shallow ideal of the Christ is thus created
out of the spirit of an age that acknowledges the truth of no
perceptions other than those of the senses."
The life of the Spirit can be understood only when we do not presume to
criticize it with the lower mind, but rather when we develop it
reverently within ourselves. No one can hope to learn anything of the
higher truths if he demands that they shall be lowered to the "average
understanding." This statement provokes the question: "Why, then, do
you mystics proclaim these truths to people who, you declare, cannot as
yet understand them? Why should there be Movements in the furtherance
of certain teachings, when the powers which render men able to conceive
of these teachings are still undeveloped?"
It is the task of this book to elucidate this apparent contradiction.
It will show that the spiritual currents of our day originate from a
different source, in a different manner, from the science which relies
entirely on the lower intellect. Yet, in spite of this, these spiritual
currents are not to be considered as less scientific than the science
which is based upon physical facts alone. Rather do they extend the
field of scientific investigation into the superphysical. We must close
this chapter with one more question, which is likely to arise: How may
one attain to superphysical truths, and, of what help are spiritual
movements towards this attainment?
II
HOW TO ATTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS
In every man there are latent faculties by means of which he may
acquire for himself knowledge of the higher worlds. The mystic, master,
theosophist, or gnostic speaks of a soul-world and a spirit-world,
which are, for him, just as real as the world which we see with our
physical eyes, or touch with our physical hands. And those who wish to
develop the spiritual senses, which unfold psychic knowledge, should
understand that safe advice can be given only by those who have already
developed such power within themselves. As long as the human race has
existed, there have been lodges and schools in which those who
possessed these higher faculties have given instruction to those who
were in search of them. Such are called occult schools, and the
instruction which is imparted therein is called esoteric science, or
occult teaching. This designation sometimes leads to misunderstanding.
He who hears it may be very easily misled into the belief that those
who work in these schools desire to represent a special, privileged
class, which arbitrarily withholds its knowledge from its
fellow-creatures. Indeed, he may even think that perhaps there is
nothing really important behind such knowledge. For he is tempted to
think that, if it were a true knowledge, there would be no need of
making a secret of it: one might then communicate it publicly to the
advantage of all men.
Those who have been initiated into occult knowledge are not in the
least surprised that the uninitiated should so think. Only he who has
to a certain degree experienced this initiation into the higher
knowledge of being can understand the secret of that initiation. But it
may be asked: How, then, shall the uninitiated, considering the
circumstances, develop any interest at all in this so-called mystic
knowledge? How and why ought they to search for something of the nature
of which they can form no idea? Such a question is based upon an
entirely erroneous conception of the real nature of occult knowledge.
There is, in truth, no fundamental difference between occult knowledge
and all the rest of man's knowledge and capacity. This mystic knowledge
is no more a secret for the average man than writing is a secret to him
who has never learned to read. And just as everyone who chooses the
correct method may learn to write, so too can everyone who searches
after the right way become a disciple, and even a teacher. In only one
respect are the conditions here different from those that apply to
external thought-activities. The possibility of acquiring the art of
writing may be withheld from someone through poverty, or through the
state of civilization into which he has been born; but for the
attainment of knowledge in the higher worlds there is no obstacle for
him who sincerely searches for it.
Many believe that it is necessary to find, here or there, the Masters
of the higher knowledge, in order to receive enlightenment from them.
In the first place, he who strives earnestly after the higher knowledge
need not be afraid of any difficulty or obstacle in his search for an
Initiate who shall be able to lead him into the profounder secrets of
the world. Everyone, on the contrary, may be certain that an Initiate
will find him, under any circumstances, if there is in him an earnest
and worthy endeavor to attain this knowledge. For it is a strict law
with all Initiates to withhold from no man the knowledge that is due
him. But there is an equally strict law which insists that no one shall
receive any occult knowledge until he is worthy and well prepared. And
the more strictly he observes these two laws, the more perfect is an
Initiate. The order which embraces all Initiates is surrounded, as it
were, by a wall, and the two laws here mentioned form two strong
principles by which the constituents of this wall are held together.
You may live in close friendship with an Initiate, yet this wall will
separate him from you just as long as you have not become an Initiate
yourself. You may enjoy in the fullest sense the heart, the love of an
Initiate, yet he will only impart to you his secret when you yourself
are ready for it. You may flatter him; you may torture him; nothing
will induce him to divulge to you anything which he knows ought not be
disclosed, inasmuch as you, at the present stage of your evolution, do
not understand rightly how to receive the secret into your soul.
The ways which prepare a man for the reception of such a secret are
clearly prescribed. They are indicated by the unfading, everlasting
letters within the temples where the Initiates guard the higher
secrets. In ancient times, anterior to "history," these temples were
outwardly visible; to-day, because our lives have become so
unspiritual, they are mostly quite invisible to external sight. Yet
they are present everywhere, and all who seek may find them.
Only within his soul may a man discover the means which will open for
him the lips of the Initiate. To a certain high degree he must develop
within himself special faculties, and then the greatest treasures of
the Spirit become his own.
He must begin with a certain fundamental attitude of the soul: the
student of Occultism calls it the Path of Devotion, of Veneration. Only
he who maintains this attitude can, in Occultism, become a disciple.
And he who has experience in these things is able to perceive even in
the child the signs of approaching discipleship. There are children who
look up with religious awe to those whom they venerate. For such people
they have a respect which forbids them to admit, even in the innermost
sanctuary of the heart, any thought of criticism or opposition. These
children grow up into young men and maidens who feel happy when they
are able to look up to anything venerable. From the ranks of such
children are recruited many disciples.
Have you ever paused outside the door of some venerated man, and have
you, on this your first visit, felt a religious awe as you pressed the
handle, in order to enter the room which for you is a holy place? Then
there has been manifested in you an emotion which may be the germ of
your future discipleship. It is a blessing for every developing person
to have such emotions upon which to build. Only it must not be thought
that such qualities contain the germ of submissiveness and slavery.
Experience teaches us that those can best hold their heads erect who
have learned to venerate where veneration is due. And veneration is
always in its own place when it rises from the depths of the heart.
If we do not develop within ourselves this deeply-rooted feeling that
there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never find enough
strength to evolve to something higher. The Initiate has only acquired
the power of lifting his intellect to the heights of knowledge by
guiding his heart into the depths of veneration and devotion. The
heights of the Spirit can only be reached by passing through the
portals of humility. Man can certainly have the right to gaze upon the
Reality, but he must first earn this right. You can only acquire right
knowledge when you are ready to esteem it. There are laws in the
spiritual life, as in the physical life. Rub a glass rod with an
appropriate material and it will become electric, that is to say, it
will acquire the power of attracting small bodies. This exemplifies
natural law. (And if one has learned even a little of physics, one
knows this.) Similarly, if one is acquainted with the first principles
of Occultism, one knows that every feeling of true devotion aids in
developing qualities, which sooner or later, lead to the Path of
Knowledge.
He who possesses within himself this feeling of devotion, or who is
fortunate enough to receive it from his education, brings a great deal
along with him, when, later in life, he seeks an entrance to the higher
knowledge. But he who has had no such preparation will find himself
confronted with difficulties, even upon the first step of the Path of
Knowledge, unless he undertakes, by rigorous self-education, to create
the devotional mood within himself. In our time it is especially
important that full attention be given to this point. Our civilization
tends much more toward criticism, the giving of judgments, and so
forth, than toward devotion, and a selfless veneration. Our children
criticize much more than they worship. But every judgment, every
carping criticism, frustrates the powers of the soul for the attainment
of the higher knowledge, in the same measure that all heartfelt
devotion develops them. In this we do not wish to say anything against
our civilization nor pass judgment upon it. For it is to this critical
faculty, this self-conscious human discernment, this "prove all things
and hold fast to the good," that we owe the greatness of our
civilization. We could never have attained the science, the commerce,
the industry, the law of our time, had we not exercised our critical
faculty everywhere, had we not everywhere applied the standard of our
judgment. But what we have thereby gained in external culture we have
had to pay for with a corresponding loss of the higher knowledge, of
the spiritual life.
Now the important thing that everyone must clearly understand is that,
for him who is right in the midst of the objective civilization of our
time, it is very difficult to advance to the knowledge of the higher
worlds. He can do so only if he work energetically within himself. At a
time when the conditions of outward life were simpler, spiritual
exaltation was easier of attainment. That which ought to be venerated,
that which should be kept holy, stood out in better relief from the
ordinary things of the world. In a period of criticism these ideals are
much lowered; other emotions take the place of awe, veneration,
respect, and prayer. Our own age continually pushes these better
emotions further and further back, so that in the daily life of the
people they play but a very small part. He who seeks for higher
knowledge must create it within himself; he himself must instil it into
his soul. It cannot be done by study; it can only be done through
living. He who wishes to become a disciple must therefore assiduously
cultivate the devotional mood. Everywhere in his environment he must
look for that which demands of him admiration and homage. Whenever his
duties or circumstances permit, he should try to abstain entirely from
all criticism or judgment. If I meet a brother and blame him for his
weakness, I rob myself of power to win the higher knowledge; but if I
try to enter lovingly into his merits, I then gather such power. The
disciple should seek to benefit both himself and others. Experienced
occultists are aware how much they owe to the continual searching for
the good in all things, and the withholding of all harsh criticism.
This must be not only an external rule of life; but it must take
possession of the innermost part of our souls. We have it in our power
to perfect ourselves, and by and by to transform ourselves completely.
But this transformation must take place in the innermost self, in the
mental life. It is not enough that I show respect only in my outward
bearing toward a person; I must have this respect in my thought. The
disciple must begin by drawing this devotion into his thought-life. He
must altogether banish from his consciousness all thoughts of
disrespect, of criticism, and he must endeavor straightway to cultivate
thoughts of devotion.