Knowledge of the Higher World and Its Attainment: Rudolf Steiner's Brilliant Prescription for How We Can Access Our Higher Being and Help the Earth Evolve

Knowledge of the Higher Worlds

And Its Attainment

Rudolf Steiner’s Brilliant Prescription for

How We Can Access Our Higher Being and Help the Earth Evolve

by Eliza Joslin Kendall

— Book 2 in the Simply Steiner™ Series —

Knowledge of the Higher World and Its Attainment: Rudolf

Steiner’s Brilliant Prescription for How We Can Access Our Higher Being and Help the Earth Evolve, by Eliza Joslin Kendall.

Book 2 in the Simply Steiner™ series. Copyright © 2022 by Eliza Joslin Kendall. All rights reserved.

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission of the publisher. Brief excerpts may be quoted, in print or online, for the purpose of book reviews. For permission requests, contact the publisher, below.

Eliza Joslin Kendall

https://capecodspiritualcoach.com/simply-steiner

Book Developer & Editor: Naomi Rose: www.naomirose.net

Book Design, Typesetting, and Cover:

Molly McWilliams, https://www.mdesignsmarketing.com

Knowledge of the Higher World and Its Attainment: Rudolf Steiner’s Brilliant Prescription for How We Can Access Our Higher Being and Help the Earth Evolve, by Eliza Joslin Kendall. Book 2 in the Simply Steiner™ Series.

First edition. Published 2022

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN #: 978-1-7342627-2-8

THE SIMPLY STEINER™ SERIES

The Gospel of St. John: Revisiting the Vision of Rudolf Steiner for the 21st Century—Our Participation in Earth’s Evolution as the Planet of Love, by Eliza Joslin Kendall.

Book 1 in the Simply Steiner™ Series"

Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment:

Rudolf Steiner’s Brilliant Prescription for How We Can Access Our Higher Being and Help the Earth Evolve,

by Eliza Joslin Kendall. Book 2 in the Simply Steiner™ Series"

Affirmation Cards for Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment

All items are available from:

https://capecodspiritualcoach.com/simply-steiner/

"Of further importance is what Spiritual Science calls Orientation into the Higher Worlds. In our soul and thought-worlds, feelings and thoughts react upon each other just as physical objects do in our physical worlds. No paths to higher knowledge may be reached unless we guard our thoughts and feelings in just the same way we guard our steps in the physical world.

If we see a wall before us, we do not attempt to dash right through it, but turn aside. In other words, we guide ourselves by the laws of the physical world. There are such laws, too, for the worlds of our souls and thoughts. They must not come from without but instead must flow out of the lives of our souls.

If we regulate our inner lives, we shall soon find ourselves becoming rich in feelings and creative thoughts with genuine imagination. In the place of petty emotionalism and unstable flights of thought appear instead emotions and thoughts that are fruitful. When we gain the right position in relation to the things of the spiritual worlds, distinct and definite results come into effect in our favor. Just as our physical forms find their way among physical things, so, too, do the paths that lead us between growth and decay. On the one hand, we follow all processes of growing and flourishing, and on the other, of withering and decaying in ways that are necessary for our own as well as the world’s advancement.

—Rudolf Steiner (from Chapter 2, The Stages of Initiation)

I would like to dedicate this book and the Simply Steiner™ Series to Ronald James Kendall, Jr. 1957-2020—

my husband, my soul mate, father of my children, and

supportive best friend.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Clare Goodwin ...............................................................1

Introduction ........................................................................................3

Chapter 1: HOW IS KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS ATTAINED?. ...................................................................7

Developing the Capacity for Knowledge of the

Higher Worlds ..................................................................................7

Receiving Initiation from Esoteric Teachings ..................7

Developing Interest in Esoteric Knowledge for the

Uninitiated ........................................................................8

Methods to Prepare Students ...........................................9

The Path of Veneration .....................................................9

Overcoming Difficulty in Order to Attain Esoteric

Knowledge .......................................................................10

Transforming Our Innermost Self ................................11

Reverence Awakens Sympathetic Powers in Our

Souls ................................................................................12

The Value of Daily Contemplation .................................13

Fundamental Principles of Spiritual Science .................14

Inner Tranquility ............................................................................14

Awakening the Higher Being within Us ........................17

The Higher Beings within Us Are in a Constant State

of Development ..............................................................19

The Need to Rise to a Completely Different Human

Level ...............................................................................20

A World Where Hidden Beings Speak to Us through

Our Thoughts ................................................................20

Meditation—The Means to Supersensible

Knowledge ......................................................................21

Seeking the Guidance of Knowledgeable Teachers ..........22

Knowledge of Reincarnation ...........................................22

CHAPTER 2: THE STAGES OF INITIATION ............................25

The Three Stages of Initiation .......................................................25

Stage 1: Preparation.......................................................................26 Allowing Feelings from Impressions

to Speak to Us ................................................................26 The Dawning of Our Soul-World ...................................27

Using Our Powers of Observation, Not

Intellectualizing .............................................................28

Orientation into the Higher Worlds ...............................28

The World of Sound ........................................................29

Developing How We Listen to Others ............................30

Stage 2: Enlightenment .................................................................32

The First Steps Towards Enlightenment .......................32

The Spiritual Apprehension of Color ..............................33

Increasing Our Moral Strength, Inner Purity, and

Powers of Observation ....................................................34 Control of Our Thoughts and Feelings ...........................35

How to Apply the Necessary Devotion and

Sympathy to Enlightenment ...........................................37

The Creation of New Powers of Perception ...................38

Contemplations of Man Himself

—The Three Golden Rules ..........................................42

How Enlightened Insight May be Achieved ..................44

What Would-Be Initiates Need to Bring Along .............45

The Forces at Work and the Cultivation of Courage

and Fearlessness ..............................................................46

Stage 3—Initiation ..........................................................................48

Review of the Trials Toward Enlightenment ..................49

The Water-Trial .............................................................53

The Importance of the Use of Sound Judgment ..............54

Our Ordinary Lives Are our Esoteric trainings ............56

The Air-Trial—Absolute Presence of Mind ...................56

Draught of Forgetfulness into the Secret Knowledge .....57

Draught of Remembrance into the Secret Knowledge ....58

CHAPTER 3: SOME PRACTICAL ASPECTS ............................61

The Important Quality of Patience ..............................................61

CHAPTER 4: THE CONDITIONS OF ESOTERIC Training

The Seven Conditions towards Higher Knowledge .................71

1. Pay heed to the advancement of our bodily and

spiritual health ...........................................................72

2. Feel synchronized in the whole of life .........................73

3. Realize that our thoughts and feelings are as important

for the world as are our actions ...................................74

4. Acquire the conviction that our real beings do not live

in our exterior but in our interior ...............................74

5. Be unwavering in carrying out resolutions ................75 6. Develop feelings of thankfulness for everything with

which we are favored ...................................................75

7. Regard life unceasingly in the manner demanded by

these conditions ...........................................................76

CHAPTER 5: SOME RESULTS OF INITIATION ......................81

The Need to Study with Full Consciousness .............................81

The Chakras—Spiritual Lotus Flowers ........................................82

Throat Chakra—The 16-Petal Lotus ...............................84

The Eight Functions in Which Our Ideas and

Conceptions Are Acquired .............................................85 Heart Chakra – The 12-Petal Lotus ...............................90

The Six Attributes Required of Us .................................91

Solar Plexus Chakra—The 10-Petal Lotus ....................95

Sacral Chakra – 6-Petal Lotus .......................................98

Hearing the Inner Worlds ...............................................99

Reflections of the Great Laws of Cosmic Evolution ......102

We Become Gifted with the Inner Worlds ....................103

The Four Attributes Must Be Incorporated into our Souls ......104 The Founders/Initiates of the Great Cosmogonies ........106

Spiritual Figures and the Throat Chakra—16-Petal Lotus ...107

Inner Perception ...........................................................109

The Significance of Our Third-Eye Lotus (Chakra) ....111

Our Higher Selves ........................................................111

CHAPTER 6: THE TRANSFORMATION OF DREAM LIFE .115

Knowledge of Our Higher Self and Higher Consciousness ..118

CHAPTER 7: THE CONTINUITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS ...123

Deep Sleep .....................................................................................124

CHAPTER 8: THE SPLITTING OF THE HUMAN

PERSONALITY DURING SPIRITUAL Training ...............131

The Dangers Concerning Ascension into the Higher

Worlds............................................................................................132

The Spiritual Worlds Define the Facts of Our Physical World ..........133

Development of Fundamental Forces of our Souls: Willing, Feeling, Thinking .........................................................................134

The Thought-Brain, the Feeling-Brain, and the Will-Brain ....135 Three Deviations that May Occur ..............................................137

CHAPTER 9: THE GUARDIAN OF THE THRESHOLD.......141

CHAPTER 10: LIFE AND DEATH: THE GREATER

GUARDIAN OF THE THRESHOLD ........................................149

The Second, Greater Guardian of the Threshold .....................153

APPENDIX TO STEINER’S LATEST EDITION (1918) ...........157

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................161

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ............................................................162

TO GO FURTHER .......................................................................164

FOREWORD

Rudolph Steiner’s writings were first introduced to me by my astrology and tarot teacher in 1979. At the time, I was a single mother of two small children. Exhausted, as I attempted to read his books the words quickly became a blur and I would fall asleep. Eventually, I gave up on trying to understand and let it go. Steiner was clearly for people with more intellectual comprehension than I could muster back then.

When I began to pursue my own artistic and counseling practice, the philosophy of Carl Jung, noted Swiss psychiatrist, informed my vocation of creating mandalas while becoming an intuitive therapist. Roberto Assagioli, an Italian contemporary of Jung and founder of the transpersonal therapy Psychosynthesis, spoke to my spirit and brought a psychological foundation to my intuitive knowing.

In 2011, when Eliza first contacted me for counseling, she tentatively said, You will think this is weird, but a bird tapped on my window and I clearly heard the words: Call Clare Goodwin.’" Truthfully, I did not think it was strange at all. It was impressive that Eliza had such a strong relationship with the spirit world.

As we worked together, she began to share stories of how spirits would come to her. Eliza quickly learned to set boundaries in both the physical and in the metaphysical world.

After a time, I asked her what she read for spiritual inspiration.

Imagine my surprise when she immediately

responded: Rudolf Steiner! Subsequently, she followed her intuitive skill and soul’s calling to write not one but two books on his work. Knowing Eliza Kendall, I suspect this is only the beginning.

If you have had You will think this is weird…. experiences and want to know how to deepen your connection with the spirit world, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment will offer you clear guidance and practical steps for how to achieve that. If you are a seasoned practitioner, this book will give you a 21st-century, easily understood foundation in Steiner’s groundbreaking work.

May you and yours receive infinite Divine blessings.

Clare Goodwin

Intuitive Guide and Counselor

Cape Cod, MA

Author, Gifts of the Mandala: A Guided Journey of

Self-Discovery and The Mandala Deck Oracle Cards

INTRODUCTION

"There slumbers in all human beings the means

to acquire the knowledge of the higher worlds."

—Rudolf Steiner

Close to ten years ago, when I was in my mid-50s, I finally decided to complete my bachelor’s degree. A few short years later, I became certified in mediation, esoteric healing, and transformational life coaching. But although I accomplished a lot in a short period of time and began receiving and enjoying my new clients, I was clearly getting another, deeper soulful calling. Intuitively, I reached for one of my many Steiner books from one of my many bookshelves and started reading. And there it began.

My life started taking on a whole new meaning. Steiner’s writings, which I had been familiar with for many years, now affected me on a deeper, more soulful level than ever before. I felt compelled to bring his philosophies and visions to people in our time—to the 21st century. And so, in early 2019, I decided to publish the Simply Steiner© series.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)—a visionary dedicated to finding a synthesis between science and spirituality—initially gained recognition in the late 19th century. He had many followers, but his writing is not inherently easy to decipher; many people believe that Steiner intentionally wrote/spoke in a difficult manner to make readers think more deeply. But while it is true that he did indeed want readers to think, he also wanted people to be able to comprehend the contents at a soulful level, rather than just at the level of the words.

My concept of the Simply Steiner© series was to offer a more simplified version of Steiner’s thoughts, books, and lectures, but to keep the content fully intact. The first book in this series, The Gospel of St. John: Revisiting the Vision of Rudolf Steiner for the 21st Century, was written in the Spring of 2019 and published in February 2020. This book that you are holding now, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment, is the second in the series. Because this book is so densely rich with Steiner’s spiritual gems that need to be contemplated and made personally relevant, I also developed a set of Affirmation cards, with quotes correlated with the chapters, to be used for book club material or as a Select-from-the-Deck affirmations by readers and for practitioner use as well.

At the time that I was writing Knowledge of the Higher Worlds in 2019, I knew that it was my calling and something that needed to be written, read, and discussed. I knew that a growing number of people would be interested in Steiner, especially at this time in our history and human evolution. But I had no idea of the huge changes soon to come that would affect all our lives, and my life in particular: I had no idea that in 2020 there would be a worldwide pandemic, nor that my husband/best friend/life partner would pass of cancer in August of 2020, and that my life as I once knew it would completely change.

Even as a small child, I have always felt I had a choir of persons looking over me. My connections with those who have passed and with the higher worlds grows ever deeper. Now, my husband sits among the growing group. I continue to believe that bringing Steiner and his philosophy to the public is greatly needed, especially in today’s world, and that together you and I may collectively bring forth more loving and positive changes that the world deeply needs, and that Steiner actually foretold.

"If we do not develop within ourselves this deeply rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall

never find the strength to evolve to something higher."

—Rudolf Steiner

About Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner, born in Austria (February 1861-March 30, 1925), initially gained recognition at the end of the 19th century as a literary critic and an author of philosophical works, including the Philosophy of Freedom. But it is his later contributions that tend to persist into our own time. At the beginning of the 20th century, he founded an esoteric spiritual movement known as anthroposophy (with roots in German idealistic philosophy and theosophy, as well as the thinking of Goethe and Rosicrucianism), which is still vital today. He came up with the Waldorf approach to education, which still thrives internationally as Waldorf Schools. In addition, he is responsible for biodynamic agriculture, so relevant to our own era’s need to heal the human relationship to nature. He made many other