The Rudolf Steiner Archive

As soon as one begins to meditate the etheric body contracts. An inner warmth arises thereby, for it's the warmth ether—under light, sound and life ethers—that contracts. If one then pays attention to what one has outside one, one will perceive that it's something flowing, like a kind of religious devotion, like moral warmth in the world ether. And one becomes aware that what one has in oneself is something else—like a having to be ashamed with respect to this moral world warmth. A man doesn't like this very much, he doesn't want to be ashamed, he avoids this. And so he says that he's not making any progress. He hides from himself. He can only get further here by unfolding his will nature. And if he says: I can't, it only means: I don't want to unfold my will. One should often look into and listen in holy silence to one's physical body and try to perceive what's murmuring in there. One must direct one's attentiveness entirely inwards without paying any attention to what's going on around one.

In meditation one perceives everything, everything makes an impression; however one's consciousness shouldn't be focussed on it, but should be entirely directed towards the meditation.