Stages of Higher Knowledge. Rudolph Steiner

in the condition of sleep. When the soul is freed from the body at night, that which has been aroused in it by the exercises of the day continues to work. Within it organs are formed, by which it can come into relation with its higher surroundings in exactly the same way as it has already come into contact with the physical world through the outer organs of sense. Out of the darkness of the night’s surroundings come forth visions of light from the higher worlds, but frail and intimate is this intercourse at the outset. It is important to note that for a long time when we wake to the light of day a thick veil immediately spreads over the experiences of the night; the memory of any experience during the night only comes through very slowly and gradually. Not easily does the pupil learn to pay attention to the frail and tender images of his soul as, in the course of his development, they begin to mingle with the grosser experiences of everyday sense-life. These images resemble what are called the accidental impressions gathered by the soul, and everything depends upon his learning to discriminate between what is due to the ordinary world and what presents itself through his own being as manifestations from the higher worlds. This power of discrimination can only be acquired in a quiet and introspective mental life. It is necessary first to develop a sense of the value and meaning of the intimate soul-images which, like “casual events,” mingle with the daily life, but are in reality memories of nightly intercourse with higher worlds. Once these images are crudely seized upon and applied to the standards of the sense-life they disperse.

      It is now clear that, owing to this work in a higher world, the soul must withdraw from the body part of the activity otherwise bestowed upon it with such care. It leaves it alone to a certain extent. The body, therefore, needs a substitute in place of that which the soul did for it before; failing this it is in danger of succumbing to injurious forces. For it must clearly be recognized that man is exposed continually to the influences of his surroundings; only by co-operation with them can he maintain life. Of these surroundings the first to come under consideration is the kingdom of visible Nature to which man himself belongs. If there were no mineral, plant and animal kingdoms, and no human beings around him, he could not live; cut off from the earth and lifted up into space he would inevitably perish as a physical being. Besides the above-named kingdoms there are three others that generally escape notice—the three elemental kingdoms which, in a sense, rank below the mineral kingdom. There are beings who do not condense into the mineral condition, but who produce an effect upon man. Further information concerning these elemental kingdoms are to be found in my Atlantis and Lemuria, and also in the remarks upon them in my Theosophy. Man is thus exposed to influences from kingdoms of Nature which from a certain point of view must be called invisible. Now when the soul works upon the body, a considerable part of its activity consists in regulating the influences of the elemental kingdoms in such a way that they are serviceable to man, but the moment the soul withdraws its activity from the body injurious forces from those kingdoms may gain possession of it. Herein lies one of the dangers of the higher evolution. As soon as the soul is withdrawn from it, care must be taken that the body in itself is accessible only to the good influences of the elemental world. If this warning is disregarded the ordinary man will be injured physically and morally, despite his having gained access to the higher worlds.

      While the soul dwells in the higher regions, pernicious forces settle down in the dense physical and etheric bodies. It is for this reason that certain bad qualities, hitherto held in check by the regulating power of the soul, may now become apparent. Those who formerly were of good moral behaviour may reveal all kinds of low propensities such as extreme selfishness, untruthfulness, vindictiveness, wrath and so forth. None need be frightened back by these facts or deterred from ascending into the higher worlds, provided due precautions are taken. The lower nature must be strengthened and rendered inaccessible to dangerous elemental influences by a conscious cultivation of certain virtues. These virtues are set forth in the anthroposophical handbooks dealing with spiritual development, and they must be carefully sought for and considered. First of all we must deliberately, and in all things continually, recognize the permanent, the imperishable, having separated it from the perishable and transitory. In all things and in all beings we may conjecture and recognize something which remains while the transitory appearance vanishes. A plant can first be observed as it presents itself to the senses. This certainly should not be forgotten, for no one will be able to discover the permanent who has not first made himself thoroughly familiar with the perishable.

      If we fear that by turning our attention to the spiritual and eternal we will lose the “freshness and naturalness of life” we do not yet understand. When a plant is looked at in this way it may be clear that there is in it a permanent life-impulse which will reappear in a new form when the plant before us has long since crumbled away. This way of looking at things must become part of our nature. We must fix our hearts upon all that is worthy of esteem and is pure and genuine, and learn to value it more highly than that which is fleeting and unimportant. In all our feelings and actions we must keep before our eyes the value or proportion of any one thing in relation to the whole. Thirdly, we must cultivate six qualities: control of thoughts, control of actions, endurance, confidence in the world around, impartiality, and inner equilibrium.*