A Road to Self Knowledge (translated)

Contents

Introductory remarks

First meditation

Second meditation

Third meditation

Fourth meditation

Fifth meditation

Sixth meditation

Seventh meditation

Eighth meditation

A Road to Self Knowledge

Rudolf Steiner

Introductory remarks

It is the purpose of this treatise to convey spiritual-scientific knowledge concerning the being of man. The method of portrayal is organised in such a way that the reader can grow into what is portrayed, so that in the course of reading, it becomes a kind of self-talk for him. If this soliloquy assumes such a form that hitherto hidden forces are thereby revealed, which can be awakened in every soul, then the reading leads to a true inner work of the soul; and the soul can see itself gradually propelled on that soul's journey, which truly advances towards the vision of the spiritual world.

What is to be imparted, therefore, has been given in the form of eight meditations, which can actually be practised. If this is done, they can be adapted to impart to the soul, through its own inner deepening, what they speak of.

My aim was, on the one hand, to give something to those readers who are already familiar with literature dealing with the domain of the supersensible, as it is understood here.

Thus, through the style of description, through communication that relates directly to the experience of the soul, perhaps those with knowledge of the supersensible life will find something here that may appear important to them.

On the other hand, many may find that it is precisely through this method of representation that a profit can be made by those who are still far from the achievements of Spiritual Science.

Although this work is intended as an amplification of my other writings in the field of Spiritual Science, it should nevertheless be possible to read it independently.

In my books, Theosophy and Occult Science, I have endeavoured to represent things as they show themselves to observation, when this ascends to the spiritual. In these works, the method of representation is descriptive and its direction is prescribed by conformity to the law manifested by things themselves.

In this, A Road to Self-knowledge, the method of representation is different. Here it says what can be experienced by a soul that sets out on the path to the Spirit in a certain way.

The treatise can therefore be regarded as an account of soul experiences; only it must be considered that experiences that can be gained in such a way as described here, must take on an individual form in each soul according to its own particularity. I have endeavoured to do justice to this fact, so that one can also imagine that what is depicted here was actually experienced by an individual soul, exactly as depicted.

The title of this treatise is, therefore, A Road to Self-Knowledge.

This is why it can serve the purpose of helping other souls to live in this representation and achieve the corresponding goals, and is an amplification of my book, The Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment.

Only isolated fundamental experiences of a spiritual-scientific nature are represented. Information in this way of the further spheres of 'Spiritual Science' is suspended for the time being.

RUDOLF STEINER.

Monaco

August 1912

First meditation

In which an attempt is made to obtain a true idea of the physical body

WHEN the soul surrenders to the phenomena of the external world through physical perception, it cannot be said - after true self-analysis - that the soul perceives these phenomena, or that it actually experiences the things of the external world. For during the time of surrender, in its devotion to the external world, the soul does not in truth know anything about itself. The fact is rather that sunlight itself, radiating from things through space in various colours, lives or experiences itself within the soul. When the soul enjoys any event, in the moment it enjoys it is actually joy insofar as it is conscious of being something. Joy experiences itself within the soul. The soul is one with its experience of the world. It does not experience itself as something separate that experiences joy, admiration, delight, satisfaction or fear. It is actually joy, admiration, contentment and fear. If the soul always admitted this fact, then and only then would the occasions when it withdraws from the experience of the external world and contemplates itself appear in the right light. These moments would then appear as forming a life of a very special kind, which would immediately show itself to be quite different from the ordinary life of the soul. It is with this special kind of life that the enigmas of the soul's existence begin to appear in our consciousness. And these enigmas are, in fact, the source of all other enigmas in the world. Because two worlds - one external and one internal - present themselves to the spirit of man, directly the soul for a more or less long time ceases to be one with the external world and withdraws into the solitude of its own existence.

Now, this retreat is not a simple process, which, having been accomplished once, can be repeated again in the same way. It is much more like the beginning of a pilgrimage into previously unknown worlds. Once this pilgrimage has begun, each step taken will recall others, and will also be the preparation for these others. It is the first step that makes the soul capable of taking the next one. And each step brings a more complete knowledge of the answer to the question: What is man in the true sense of the word? Worlds open up that are hidden from the ordinary conception of life. Yet only in those worlds can one find the facts that will reveal the truth about this very conception. And even if no answer proves to be all-encompassing and definitive, the answers obtained through the soul's inner pilgrimage go beyond anything that the external senses and the intellect bound to them can ever give. For this 'something more' is necessary for man, and