The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Berlin, August 4, 1907

My dear Eugenie von Bredow!

It would be best to leave it entirely up to your sister whether she wants to continue the more intimate Theosophical work or not. The doubts and concerns that arise from her belief that she is not doing the right thing are also disturbing. Occult development is only possible if a person vigorously keeps such doubts and concerns at bay. It is certainly not good to persuade her. Therefore it is only advisable to remove her doubt, as if she could not, to tell her that the despondency goes too far; but otherwise put everything in her own will. One should not believe that Theosophy as such does not help people. And your sister wants to remain loyal to it.

In this sense, you may hold that. Then there is no reason for you to be sad about the matter.

I send you my best thoughts and remain

sincerely yours

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

We are only now able to leave today.

• 1. Rudolf Steiner and Marie von Sivers spent August in Italy.

Berlin, August 4, 1907

My dear Mathilde Scholl!

Your letter is a fine example of seeking the center of your being within yourself; continue in this way, achieve what you set as your goal. The light that spiritual science gives man is such that it can illuminate all his actions and thoughts, as well as all his relationships with other people. He will only find the right way to relate to these other people when he views his relationships in this light. Then nothing can be dangerous to him, whatever form this or that may take on the outside. Our life conditions will not become colder if we allow this light to fall on them. But we can easily get on the wrong track if we have once placed ourselves in this light and then do not allow everything to be illuminated by it. So look at things as they are now and continue in this way. Your niece is on the right path. Enclose a few words of advice for her."

Please accept my warmest greetings and best thoughts.

Yours always,

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Kind regards to the Künstlers.

Berlin, March 23, 1908

My dear Miss Minsloff!

Warmest regards to everyone. The exercises were not meant to stop one day, but to continue forever 1) Not available. until you receive new ones. It will now be good if you continue the morning and evening exercises exactly as described during your last visit. This exercise contains many secrets, which reveal themselves through years of energy through inner identification with the content. You in particular will come to real inner revelations through patiently continuing this exercise. If you occasionally feel a weakening of your strength, it is a temporary phenomenon that has no further significance and will return in the form of energy. The following are especially important in the morning exercise: 1) the seven lines you already know; 2) the four meditations on “I am,” “It thinks,” “She feels,” “He wills,” in connection with the breathing described to you; 3) the magic word given to you; 4) devotion to the divine ideal. Between the second and third inhalation, you insert a vivid visualization of a plant (imagination) and try to completely immerse yourself in the idea of how the human being owes his life to the plant. You do this like this:

Inhalation while looking at the plant and thinking:
Your (the plant's) death – my life
Then hold your breath and look at the imagined plant;
then exhale with the thought:
My death - your life.
Repeat this three times, then follow with:
Inhale again with the sentence:
Your death - my life;
then exhale
My death – your life;
then refrain from breathing for a while (three times as long as you inhaled).
Repeat this three times again.
Then place yourself in the plant; identify with it in your thoughts and look at yourself as if you were a completely different being, inhaling with the thought:
My death – your life
Exhalation with the thought:
Your death – my life; then again holding the breath for a while.
This is done once.
In doing so, you always have the plant in front of your mind's eye.

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In the evening, do the exercises that have been described to you.

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The subsidiary exercises: concentration of thought, initiative actions; overcoming pleasure and pain, positivity, impartiality are repeated in such a way that when you have finished them, you start again from the beginning; one month of concentration of thought, then one month of initiative action, etc., as described in your papers.

If you carry out these exercises, everything will go well.

And if you, my dear Fräulein Minsloff, do not overstrain your strength, then I can fully agree with all the things you do for other people. They will have a beneficial effect. You are doing everything right.

Now a few words about the founding of the Russian Section. Not much will be achieved for the great spiritual cause, which alone can be salutary and is important, by founding this Section. In Germany, the Section is in many respects already a stumbling block; but a necessary one that must not be ignored. We had to have the Section here. For you, the Section will be even less beneficial. You have in the country and especially in the people the great theosophical treasure, which, through a spiritual connection with what you have learned here as true theosophy and also as genuine, life-giving, future-oriented Christianity, must come to the highest spiritual bloom precisely in Eastern Europe. In the non-theosophical spiritual life of the West, there is a science that is of value for the future only because of its comprehensive thought technique. This thought technique must be inculcated into the spiritual life in the future. In the East, however, you have a folk soul content that must be developed for the benefit of all humanity. It is this folk soul content that makes it possible to express great wisdom from the East in a few sentences, which cannot be exhausted in the West with entire books. The sufferings in your country are the birth pangs of this folk soul content. But to the true student of these matters the germ of this national soul-content appears like a breath of magic. Much spiritual work is needed here. What Miss Kamensky presented in Munich as a lecture at the congress has nothing to do with this spiritual matter, because these are basically only theoretical reflections of the West; the folk soul lies much deeper. Much of this folk soul germinated in Tolstoy; but all of this must be combined with genuine theosophy if it is to become genuine.

In contrast to all this, which, as I know, is also imprinted in your goals, my dear Miss Minsloff, in contrast to all this, the founding of a section is a childish pygmy work, the innocent play of a few theorizing people who are inwardly fanatical about the one form of theosophy they have come to know. And the best thing to do is to let them found their section and say to ourselves, they may do as they please. The section will only benefit from the section foundation through what is poured into the section vessel. For this reason, it would probably not be entirely good if I were to give lectures there right now. May the section be founded first. With or without the Section we shall not stray from the path we are walking. And the Section will do no harm, nor much good either, in your country. It seems best to wait a little while longer with my lectures, even if it is not for long. Let the Section go its way. Continue your own work, my dear Miss Minsloff, as you have done so far. It is better if you do this valuable work positively and still let the section develop quietly. Whether you and the few members of the German section should join the Russian section is not something that needs to be decided now. That can be left until the Russian Section is established, if it should happen at all.

I am writing this letter for you, and I ask you not to share the content with any of the other Theosophists, with only one exception, if you have the opportunity: Miss Olga von Sivers. But she too should only consider the matter as a guide for herself and not tell this to others.

As always, truly yours,

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

[Undated, August 1908]

* You are not allowed to talk about the exercise with anyone. Please copy this and send it back to me.

Dear Miss Kili!

The exercises promised to you during my stay in Strasbourg are as follows:

In the morning, as soon as possible after waking up, when no other thoughts have yet crossed your mind, try to distract your attention from your surroundings and from all everyday thoughts and to immerse yourself completely in the following seven lines for five minutes (not by the clock, but by feeling):

In the pure rays of light
The divinity of the world shines
In the pure love for all beings
The divinity of my soul shines.
I rest in the divinity of the world
I will find myself
In the divinity of the world.

After this has happened, take a deep breath, as if inhaling J; after inhaling, add CH to J, so that you have “I” within you, like the force that permeates the inhaled air. Let this power (namely “I” in the inhaled air) permeate the entire body in thought; then back to the chest. Then breathe out CH and keep J in the body. One should have the thought that J also means Jesus and CH Christ. This breathing is repeated three times.

Then the image of a plant, how it arises from the seed, how it grows, blossoms, bears fruit, withers again and dies, should fill the soul for about 5 minutes (not by the clock, but by feeling).

In the evening, read 7-8 lines from Dr. Steiner's “Theosophy” and then reflect on them for about 15 minutes.

After that, look back over the events of the day, starting with the evening and finishing with the morning.

These exercises are continued day after day until I replace them with new ones. One must have patience to practice exactly the same thing for months, perhaps years. The fruit will come.

Heartfelt Theosophical Greetings,

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Berlin, November 15, 1908

Dear Sir!

To the best of my knowledge, my introductions to “Goethe's scientific writings in Kürschner's National Literature” have not been published in a separate print run. If the publisher had published one at the time, it would have been without my knowledge. But that will not be the case.

The publication I mentioned in Hannover is called: “The Structure of the Atom and Life” by Dr. Adolf Drescher (published by Emil Roth in Gießen 1908). In the preface of this publication, you will also find a mention of the earlier book by the same author that you mentioned. Drescher does not take occultism into account in his atomic constructions. Therefore, I only used him for a comparison in principle.¹

Regarding the color of the pentagram! The coloring of the pentagram figure enclosed will be the best for you as well, which I had made for individual esotericists. But this presentation is complicated. If a color is used, then the most effective is that of the horn to ☽ (violet-reddish).

The serpent is best represented in the yellow as found in the ☿ pentagram and hexagram.²

Seal of the Rose Cross on a blue background – black cross – 7 stars (in Munich, 8 should stand exoterically for 7 esoterically).³

Arrangement:

Please excuse the brevity as it is time to leave.

Warmest regards,

Yours sincerely

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

• 1. Rudolf Steiner was in Hannover on November 4 and 5, 1908 for lectures and probably had a conversation with Hübbe-Schleiden, who was very much concerned with atomic constructions.
• 2. Cf. the illustration and text on page 190.
• 3. Refers to the Rose Cross seal first given by Rudolf Steiner for the Munich Congress. Cf. The Munich Congress at Whitsun 1907 and its Effects,

Berlin, November 16, 1908

My dear Miss Minsloff!

From your kind letters, I see that you consider my trip to Russia to be necessary at this particular time. Now you can be sure that I will always do everything in my power to further the cause we are serving with you in Russia. And even now I would be prepared to overcome obstacles if the situation were not such that, at this very moment, my trip to Russia would do more harm than good if it were to be arranged as it would have to be arranged now. And the harm would be all the greater, as a journey at a later period will bring much benefit. But we would be depriving ourselves of this if we were to do something now, at the most inopportune time, that could be nothing more than a waste of time and energy. There are many reasons for all this. Firstly, the most important one: the powers watching over the spiritual movement indicate a later point in time as the one when the theosophical mission should begin in your country. This is because it must be based on solid scientific ground in Russia, otherwise it will remain fruitless.

Secondly, my trip at the present time can only cause misunderstandings. Especially misunderstandings in the Theosophical Society. But we already have enough misunderstandings there. The point is that in the not too distant future we will be facing completely new situations in the Theosophical Society. We would define these matters in an unfavorable way if we were to arrange my trip now in such a way that I would present it as if I were summoned by opponents of the Russian Theosophical Section in Russia. We would then have everything against us, even in Adyar. But our concern is the cause, and we would do it harm if we were seen as opponents of the Russian Section. It would now even be necessary for me to demand, before coming to Russia, that all our German members join the Russian Section in order to avoid harming the cause. Then, if I were summoned by a group of Russian section members, there would be nothing to be said against my coming; but inwardly the present moment would remain as unfavorable as possible. Whether you join the Russian section or not, I will never influence you in that regard. Your and your comrades' relationship to me will not change in any way, whether you are members of the German or the Russian section. The only thing is that you should go the way that suits you best in this matter. And that consists in preparing a theosophical matter for you that is based on a solid foundation, avoids all theosophical dilettantism, and takes into account the historical development of humanity. My dear Fräulein Minsloff, you have been guided by all of this in everything you have done so far. It must, of course, be left to you to decide how you will relate to the newly established Russian Section. In Adyar, it seems that they believe that I have influenced your decisions, while you have, in fact, come to them on your own, realizing that this Section, with these institutions, does not correspond to Russian conditions.

But whether or not it is a section, things will take their course as they must according to spiritual necessities. In all the decisions you make, you will always have to ask yourself the question: is this action in line with spiritual necessities? These are too serious times for mere abstractions, as are currently beloved of in some Theosophical circles.

So, as I said, let the situation of the Theosophical Society in Russia be clarified. Much of what will happen in the Theosophical Society in the near future will contribute to such a clarification. Everything will be all right. This letter is only for you.

Sincerely and faithfully,

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Undated

Dear Doctor!

I have written down below what is initially useful for the purpose discussed. I note that the description of such exercises only ever indicates a kind of direction; by adhering to the exercise, one then finds one's way into a certain practice. On this condition, I may also assume that the sketchy information is sufficient and leaves nothing open to question.

With theos. Greeting

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Berlin W, Motzstrasse 17

Enclosure:

Dear Doctor!

Regarding the goal we have discussed, the following is advised: in the evening, after completing the entire day's work, so that no daytime worries etc. fall between this exercise and falling asleep: fill the entire horizon of consciousness with a serious thought taken from the worldview, which one summarizes in a few syllables. For example, one might reflect for several minutes on the life of the world soul in the human soul, so that concrete thoughts about the matter run through the soul and the whole reflection has a devotional character. One does not merely think the truths; one feels and experiences them. One then summarizes them as follows:

World soul in the I.

On such an idea - which is thus the end result of a series of thoughts and feelings - concentrate the entire consciousness; fill yourself with it so that you exclude all other thinking, feeling and sensing.

Then fill your own body form completely with this idea, letting it slide in thought from the head through the body into the feet and hands. (Allow about 10 minutes for the whole thing. Not by the clock; by the feeling).

The position of the body, etc., is irrelevant in itself. The only thing that matters is to put yourself in a situation in which you cannot be distracted by anything. The longer you can hold on to the resonance of the exercise in your soul - without other images - without exaggerating the matter, the better.

In the morning, after waking up, repeat the entire exercise.

You can continue with the same process for many days – you will make the most progress if you have the patience to work with the same ideas for weeks – then you can vary it.

This and the following document are probably the first two esoteric lectures given in Berlin. Notes taken from memory by Franz Seiler

First of all, a prayer spoken by Dr. Steiner. Then a reference to the fact that the masters speak through Dr. Steiner, that he is only the means by which the thoughts of the masters are expressed.

Master Morya gives us information about the goal of human development. He is the one who guides humanity towards its goal. Master Kuthumi is the one who shows us the way to achieve this goal.

Representation of the lower self and the higher self. There is a lower self in every human being that needs to be overcome.

Then the impermanence of the bodies is considered. My body will perish and your bodies will also disintegrate into their smallest atoms, but the words that are spoken now will not perish because we ourselves will become what we are now speaking. That is the seed from which we will emerge again one day.

There are also seven senses; five senses as we know them in physical life and two senses that have yet to develop.¹

Ten centers of energy in the human being:

1. Prana - in the chest
2. Apan in the area of the secretory organs
3. Saman - in the navel
4. Udan - in the middle of the throat
5. Vayu - permeates the entire body
6. Kurm - in the eye, helps to open it
7. Krikala- in the stomach, causes hunger
8. Nag - causes vomiting
9. Devadatta causes yawning
10. Dhananjaya - the one that does not leave the body even after death.²

Prana corresponds to the eight-petalled lotus flower, Udan corresponds to the sixteen-petalled lotus flower. The two-petalled lotus flower is located between the eyebrows.

It was said about dying: just as one must learn to die, one must also learn to die to one's feelings. But the first thing to learn is to stand, that is, to have a secure hold in the turmoil of life, to know no more fear or anxiety, but to face calmly and confidently every event, however it may come.

There are four stages that we have to climb. First, we have to search for the ego, the core within us. Then we will also recognize the non-ego. We have to search for this center within us, because this center lies in every single being. There is a center everywhere, there is a periphery everywhere. Imagine placing yourself at the outermost limits, you can find the center everywhere. The earth revolves around the sun; the sun revolves with the earth through the great universe. And next to it, an infinite number of other heavenly bodies revolve. Every single being forms a center. There are no people like us living on those heavenly bodies. There are also beings living on them, but no people. People have no connection with them, there is no relationship. They can only achieve this relationship if they rise inwardly to a level where all those beings have their common foundation.

The second step is to make the astral body come alive, that is, to feel oneself in the astral sea as I.

The third step is to overcome the astral sea and to achieve deep silence.

The fourth is the hearing of the voice of silence. This is where the Master calls from outside: “That's you!”

The best image for this development is the following: Once you have found your ego, you think of yourself as having set out on the great ocean. Nothing can be seen on the water's surface. As far as the eye can see, only water and sky. The ends of the sea are bounded by the horizon. On this surface, we think of ourselves as a wave in the moving sea, as a single wave among the many waves. When we feel truly at one with ourselves, we must calm the waves of the sea. Deep silence must ensue. Nothing can be heard, nothing can be seen. The water in which we are immersed is completely still. No movement asserts itself. In this perfect silence, in this perfect seclusion, the voice of the Master will be able to resound, no longer drowned out by the noise of everyday life. This is how the exercise is followed in practice. We all practiced this image by placing ourselves in the thought of the I, then in the sea waves, then in the deep sea silence.

• 1. For more information, see “Fundamentals of Esotericism”, GA 93a.
• 2. From “The Science of Breath. Translated from the Sanskrit original by Pandit Rama Prasad Kasyapa B.A., F.T.S.

1. The Mahatmas will have something to tell us today.

2. We are told of three duties of the secret disciple: to overcome pride and vanity, to live theosophy in practice, and to stand up for theosophy.

3. - 6. [Listed as points in the notes, but without text]

7. Now Master Morya will speak.

8. We can regard the Masters as ideals, for they have attained what we still have to achieve. We can therefore ask them about our further development.

9. Within us lie the powers in germinal form, which have come to full bloom in the Masters.

10. To understand development, we can observe the development from plant to animal to human.

11. This symbol is shown to us as a symbol for the development of the plant: ⊥ ¹

12. As a symbol for the development of the animal: T

13. As a symbol for the evolution of man: ✝

14. [no text]

15. There are three stages of development and accordingly three virtues. Furthermore,

16. there are two currents in every human being: Kama and Manas, the good and the bad current; the bad is Kama.

17. The path to salvation is shown to us in the Gospel of John. We find there 1. the washing of the feet, 2. the smiting of the cheeks, 3. the scourging, 4. the crowning with thorns, 5. Jesus takes up his cross, 6. the crucifixion, 7. the stigmata. ²

18. This can be the way for a complete transformation.

• 1. For the signs cf. “The Temple Legend and the Golden Legend”, GA 93.
• 2. In general, Rudolf Steiner has indicated the seven stages of Christian initiation as follows: 1. washing of the feet, 2. scourging, 3. crowning with thorns, 4. bearing the cross, 5. mystical death, 6. entombment, 7. resurrection. Cf. for example in 'Before the Gate of Theosophy', CW 95.

Memorandum notes by Eugenie von Bredow

After a few introductory words for a new member to be admitted, he spoke so beautifully that I think I felt even more than I did on October 4.

He spoke about the most important event of our time: the conquest of Tibet by the English, the people of selfishness, which would cause the last vestige of spirituality on earth to disappear. He spoke about the religion of the Tibetans, its inner purity of conception, about Buddhism as taught by Buddha in the intimacy of his disciples; that the incarnate teacher on earth would be the female element, which would have to be fertilized by the divine, the male element. From this union the Boddhisattva would arise, of whom the Tibetans say: he has Avalokidishvara, divine wisdom. He spoke about the Dalai Lama and his election from among children born under special natural phenomena. He spoke about the spirits of the fire mist, whose disciples were our masters; he spoke about the development of man into such a powerful being. He spoke about the rhythm in nature, the stars, the whole world system; that only the astral body of man is still chaotic and that man must also make it rhythmic, otherwise he would disturb evolution. Then we came to talk about Christmas and the importance of the festivals of the year; that Christmas the sun was at its lowest point and would begin to rise again on the 25th, and that during that night the Masters of the White Lodge would hold a session in which they would radiate the solar power of the coming year to those people who wanted to give themselves completely to them, to give up their personality entirely and ask them for strength. If you celebrate Christmas in this spirit, asking the Masters in this spirit, then they will send their power into you on December 25th, so that the Master's power works through you.

Then he spoke of the last incarnation of Master Kuthumi and his visit to universities to be able to interpret the high wisdom in other languages and in a modern spirit, but that this incarnation was not in a particular personality, but that his power worked here and there. ¹¹

• 11. In very brief notes taken by Eugenie von Bredow at the Esoteric Hour in Munich, [December 14 or 15] 1905, it says: “Doubt as to whether Kuthumi has been to European universities. Necessity of this to learn European terms. Same necessity to learn Chinese to be able to communicate with the Chinese."