The Rudolf Steiner Archive

32. On the Life of a Spiritual Seeker

[ 1 ] In order to lead the right spiritual life, we need to consider two aspects: our own perfection and our work in the service of humanity. It may seem as if our own perfection promotes selfishness. To a certain extent it does. But the theosophist must constantly try to help his fellow human beings. It is not for nothing that it is said: “When the rose adorns itself, it also adorns the garden.” - Self-perfection should not be undertaken in an egotistical sense. Our motto must be: “Take nothing without having the will to give for it.” You will receive all the more from the world the more you are willing to give to the world. - People who want to get ahead in life may find that they make the most progress by living by these words. Usually, one believes that one can only get ahead through study. But one advances by the slightest act of compassion. When people can bring themselves to do a kindness, then what they previously sought in vain through study comes to them. You have to make life a lesson.

[ 2 ] People form their principles based on judgments. However, one must unlearn the views that have been formed out of likes and dislikes. One must form one's judgment on the basis of experience. A somewhat advanced occultist systematically gets rid of his sympathies and antipathies. With each new person, he lets himself be told what he sees in that person. The theosophist will express as few opinions as possible, but will let facts speak that he has experienced on the physical plane or on other planes. More and more, he will unlearn to have opinions and learn to have experiences. When we progress in knowledge in this way, our whole being is transformed. The spiritual seeker tries to train his thinking so that life speaks to him from it. He does not say to himself, “This is a criminal, this is a saint,” or, “This is a good deed, this is a bad deed.” Rather, when he thinks of the criminal, he considers how the criminal may have come to his deed, whether he himself may be partly to blame. The criminal may have been related to him in a past life, for example, he may have been his student whom he did not educate properly.

[ 3 ] The undeveloped person uses his or her powers of thought to criticize, while the developed person seeks out different perspectives. He seeks out the connections between cause and effect.

[ 4 ] “Pay close attention to the symbol of the snake!” is the injunction given to occult disciples. One must view the entire world from the point of view of karma and reincarnation. This is the snake that coils and bites its own tail. When one views the world from the point of view of karma and reincarnation, this symbol becomes a fact for us. When man creates such a center for himself, he will act justly toward the whole world. He allows everything to stand in its right. We make progress in our conduct of life when we do not judge man himself, but leave him as he is and understand him. We thereby remove a veil from ourselves. Judgment forms a veil before our eyes. It is the wound of which it is spoken in Light on the Path:

Before the masters the voice can speak, the wound must unlearn.

[ 5 ] In this way we not only create the possibility for ourselves to behave quite objectively, but we also create a firm core for ourselves. A person who is unsympathetic to me, to him I lose myself. If I suppress my feeling of antipathy, I allow him to stand by his point of view and remain by my own point of view. In this way one gains an absolutely firm support. If you give in to your likes and dislikes, you become unloving precisely because of that; but not through the objective relationship – then self-observation can begin in a fruitful way. Then we can learn an enormous amount from the world if we let things stand in their place.

[ 6 ] Even the wisest can learn a lot from a child if things are left in their place. Usually, the one who wants to become more perfect says of some things: I cannot do that, because one must do the perfect thing. It is not always right to follow one's perfection as a first principle, for example, not if it greatly hurts others. Resignation is also part of the pursuit of perfection, for example, all killing hinders occult development. But with regard to our present culture, one often has to renounce a degree of perfection. By isolating oneself, one can become more perfect, but perhaps one inflicts suffering on others in the process. It is a rather dangerous way to look at one's own perfection only in an abstract sense. We should work in the cultural environment in which we live and not fall out of our culture. We only gain inner freedom by walking through the world with composure, becoming objective. We should strive for spiritual progress coupled with resignation in the right way. You gain a lot of mental strength, for example, by not asking about something you would like to know. Then you must firmly resolve not to ask. In the same way, you can suppress the urge to communicate or break a habit. Pay attention to the smallest details of life, for in the contemplation of the small things lies the right means of development. We must never bother the world just for our own sake, but only for the sake of others. The more you listen to others, the freer you become. The ability to form a first judgment is connected with this. One must not simply allow one's previous experiences to determine what happens afterwards. This is the 'belief' in the theosophical writings, which clears the way for objective action in the outer world. One must, as it were, perfect oneself between the lines of life. What furthers the development of the human being the most is that of which the other person is least aware.