Essential Teachings 2 Handout

SPIRITUAL SCIENCE:
ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS & PRACTICES

Spiritual Initiation and the Modern Independent Path
with Dr. Robert J. Gilbert
CLASS 2
All contents copyright 2013 by the Vesica Institute.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS: CLASS 2
TEACHINGS SECTION
The Significance of the Vedic and Rosicrucian Systems !! ! ! p. 4
for Creating a Modern Spiritual Science! ! ! !
STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BEING PART 1:

EASTERN AND WESTERN SYSTEMS OF SUBTLE BODIES
Different Systems of Subtle Bodies Enable Different

Types of Practical Applications!! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 8
A Deeper Note on the Sacred Geometry of Multiple Perspectives:

The Pattern of 12 !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 10
Indian System of 5 Sheaths (Koshas)!! ! ! ! ! ! p. 12
Common Western System of 7 Bodies! ! ! ! ! ! p. 14
Rosicrucian System of 4 Bodies and 7 Bodies! ! ! ! ! p. 15
Daskalosʼ System of 3 Bodies! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 16

ANCHOR POINTS OF THE SUBTLE BODIES
The Kabbalistic Key to Anchor Points in the Subtle Bodies:! ! ! ! p. 19

The 1-3-7-12 Pattern
The 1 Anchor Point of the “I Am” Spirit Core ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 21
The 3 Anchor Points of the Astral Body (the “Soul”)! ! ! ! ! p. 22
The 7 Anchor Points of the Etheric Life Body! ! ! ! ! ! p. 27
The 12 Anchor Points of the Physical Body! ! ! ! ! ! p. 32
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PRACTICES SECTION
6 Key Principles of Spiritual Practices! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 34
Self-Observation: Awakening Our Spirit Core! ! ! ! ! ! p. 38
Checking-In: Experiences from the First Class Meditations! ! ! ! p. 40
Basic Receptive & Active Practices for Class 2! ! ! ! ! ! p. 43
Rudolf Steinerʼs “Second Basic Exercise”! ! ! ! ! ! p. 45
Details of Our Second Essential Exercise: Illuminating Our Will Power! ! p. 47
The Enlightened Will: Balancing Detachment and Action! ! ! ! p. 52
PRACTICES FOR CLASS 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Class 2 Basic Receptive and Active Practices! ! ! ! ! ! p. 56
The Second Essential Exercise: Illuminating our Will Power! ! ! ! p. 59
Summary of the Practices for Class 2! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 63
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TEACHINGS SECTION
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INDIAN VEDIC
AND THE EUROPEAN ROSICRUCIAN SYSTEMS
FOR CREATING A MODERN SPIRITUAL SCIENCE
Modern Spiritual Science is open to information and perspectives from all world
traditions. However two traditions are of fundamental importance in providing an
essential foundation for the new unified Spiritual Science: namely the Indian
Vedic tradition, and the European Rosicrucian tradition. Why are these two
traditions of particular significance?
1) The Indian tradition is a key influence on Eastern traditions, yet it also is a

foundation for many Western concepts as well. The many shared concepts
between India and the West help create an initial basis of essential principles &
practices, on which to build a modern Spiritual Science. (China is the other
Eastern major influence, and its profound esotericism is absolutely essential for
advanced spiritual studies; however its fundamental concepts are in many cases
not as similar to Western ideas as those found in India, making India the first
focus in laying a unified East-West foundation for Spiritual Science.)
2) The Indian tradition has cultivated a Spiritual Science for thousands of years.
It has explored the structure of a vast range of spiritual realities in a clear and
coherent format.
3) The Indian tradition has an unbroken lineage of accumulated knowledge

going back to the beginning of recorded history. Unlike many world cultures, the
transmission of this knowledge is not simply oral transmission from teacher to
student (as one finds in Africa and many other traditions) but is collected in
written texts which preserve ancient teachings (one of humanityʼs oldest texts is
the Indian Laws of Manu, not the mention the Vedas themselves.) Written
sources are essential for laying a foundation for the new Spiritual Science as it
provides a clear overview of knowledge. On this foundation the modern Spiritual
Scientist and Independent Initiate can add the information which is available from
other ʻoral transmissionʼ cultures, which tends to be much more piecemeal and
difficult to create a full overview of.
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4) The Indian Tradition is still fully active in India today, and its knowledge is
being rapidly made available in the West. The Indian government fully supports
Hinduism and Indian esotericism; when the modern state of India was founded in
1947 with the end of British Rule, the signing of the papers of independence was
delayed until beneficial Jyotish (Vedic Astrology) configurations appeared in the
sky. Recently Indian courts ruled that Jyotish is a science, which would be
unthinkable in most Western countries. The Indian stateʼs support for the
esoteric tradition is very different from recent history in China. While crucial
esoteric knowledge from China has also been released to the West in recent
years, Chinese spiritual knowledge and practice has been actively suppressed by
the Chinese government for over 60 years. This suppression has had a variety
of terrible effects, such as the example of “Traditional Chinese Medicine” - TCM -
as it is taught today has been stripped of almost all of its original Taoist deep
spiritual insights. Happily the Taoist knowledge is still being released to the
world, despite the Chinese government.
5) The Rosicrucian tradition -- “Rosicrucian” as understood from the early

Rosicrucian texts and in the work of Rudolf Steiner, not necessarily in the varied
teachings of multiple current day ʻRosicrucianʼ schools in Europe and the
Americas -- is in a sense complementary to the Indian tradition. Rosicrucianism
integrates Indian teachings as well as an overview of different Western streams
of knowledge, making it an ideal Western tradition to connect to India as the
Eastern representative.
6) The foundation of modern Spiritual Science can be found in the Rosicrucian

works of Rudolf Steiner, who made this of the primary goals of his life. Steinerʼs
work also contains the clearest descriptions of the transformation of Initiation
systems & methods from ancient to modern times, along with the related concept
of the Evolution of Human Consciousness.
7) True Rosicrucianism is built on the principle of the modern Independent Path

of Initiation (some “Rosicrucian” groups today are based on hierarchical models
similar to Freemasonry, however this was not the original form of
Rosicrucianism.) This modern Independent Path is most clearly described in the
work of Rudolf Steiner, again indicating the need for integrating his Rosicrucian
work into the foundations of a new Spiritual Science.
8) The Rosicrucian tradition is a very young tradition; its esoteric foundations (as
a specific new tradition) only go back to the 13th century at the earliest, and it
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was not known to the public until the 1600s (and even then it was just known as
a powerful hidden tradition.) The deeper Rosicrucian knowledge did not find
public release until the early 1900s with the work of Rudolf Steiner. Steiner
released so much deep esoteric knowledge -- there are over 350 volumes of his
written books and collected lectures -- which had never before been made public,
that he was in fact hated and spiritually attacked by multiple esoteric groups
which resented the hidden knowledge they used to derive power being made
open to the public. There are many critical spiritual topics which one can only
find clearly described in Steinerʼs works.
9) The fact that Rosicrucianism is arguably the most recent great Tradition with a
major spiritual science knowledge base indicates its importance: being the most
recent, it thereby has the most updated information about very recent
developments in human spiritual evolution and essential Initiation practices.
10) While Indian Vedic knowledge and Rosicrucian tradition share many
concepts in common, they also each have specific knowledge that the other
lacks (and which is needed to round out a modern Spiritual Science.) For
example, the Rosicrucian modeling of the Chakras and other energetic structures
is very incomplete (partly because Rosicrucianism is a very young tradition),
while it is described in tremendous detail in Indian work. The reverse is also true:
as mentioned earlier, Rosicrucianism contains information and perspectives
about the current stage of human spiritual development which cannot be found in
Indian sources.
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EASTERN & WESTERN SYSTEMS OF SUBTLE BODIES
The modern Path of Independent Initiation requires a clear understanding of the
critical aspects of spiritual reality which affect human life; the full context for this
clear understanding is found in a new Spiritual Science.
One key element needed for Independent Initiation is to clearly understand the
structure of the human being; only this will allow for making informed decisions
about how to move ahead in our general spiritual development, and specifically
which spiritual practices we choose to do. For this class, we will look at two
essential aspects of human structure:
1) The System of Subtle Bodies, which form “Sheaths” or vehicles for the
individual Spirit Core of each human being.
2) The Energy Centers within each of the Subtle Bodies, which we can
consciously activate and use for practical purposes. These Energy Centers we
will sometimes refer to as “Anchor Points” within a subtle body, ie the locations
where a particular Subtle Bodyʼs function is anchored in the human. At other
times we will refer to these Energy Centers as “Grail Points” to emphasize the
Divine Essence (referred to in some traditions as a “nectar”) which flows into
each of these locations, as if into a Grail receptacle. All of these energetic
locations contain specific functions of Consciousness & Energy; all major spiritual
traditions teach their initiates these centers, and how to consciously use them for
higher Initiation processes.
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DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF SUBTLE BODIES
ENABLE DIFFERENT TYPES
OF PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Even in our short beginning explorations in this course, it will become apparent
that different traditions teach the subtle body systems in ways which vary from
one school to the next. This is because different traditions are intentionally
structuring the subtle bodies of their students in different ways.
How one conceptualizes the subtle bodies will illuminate certain possibilities of
consciousness and action, while obscuring others. This also means that
certain practical work with the subtle bodies will be possible when it is
understood in a specific way, that may not be possible if the bodies are
seen in a different perspective.
AN EXAMPLE FROM THE EGYPTIAN MYSTERIES
An example of this can be found in the ancient Egyptian mysteries, which taught
that the different subtle bodies of the human being all have their own separate
consciousness; this is different from many other traditions, where the subtle
bodies are presented simply as energies / sheathes / functions of the Spirit
without possessing their own intrinsic consciousness. Seeing the subtle bodies
in the Egyptian way opens up possibilities which one does not have in these
other traditions; for example, if we understand that the subtle bodies have
independent consciousness, that means they can be communicated with. As
described in the BioGeometry(R) training, the way the Egyptians understood the
subtle bodies led to their ability to program the Etheric life body (which they
called the “Ka”) and use it after death to protect a tomb or perform other functions
(normally the etheric body would just disintegrate after death, while the personʼs
higher self goes on into the spiritual world).
SEEING SPIRITUAL REALITIES FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
For this reason, the modern Spiritual Scientist needs to be able to understand
spiritual realities from multiple perspectives, in order to open up maximum
possibilities of practical esoteric work. Seeing a subject from multiple
perspectives is also essential in order to understand the true holistic reality of the
thing; a classic illustration of this principle is found in the story of the “Blind Men
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and the Elephant”, which shows that we can get stuck in one-sided concepts if
we only see things from one perspective. If we only feel the tusk of an elephant,
we think it is a spear; if we only experience its side, we think it is a wall; if we only
examine its ear we think it is a fan, etc.
As we have already found in our discussion of Receptive vs. Active meditative

methods, it is extremely common that many different spiritual groups and
teachers tend to fall into one-sided concepts rather than remain open to the
multiple perspectives that open up all the aspects and powers of a subject. We
will see later in this course that remaining open to new aspects of things beyond
what we currently perceive, is in fact one of the “Six Essential Exercises” we will
be learning.
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A DEEPER NOTE ON THE SACRED GEOMETRY OF
MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES: THE PATTERN OF 12
In Steinerʼs work, which laid the basis for a modern Spiritual Science, he noted
that it is necessary to see any reality from 12 different perspectives in order
to understand it in its totality. This principle manifests in great masters having
12 disciples who each understand a different aspect of the great teacher: such as
the 12 Disciples around Christ, the 12 Arhats around Buddha, the 12 Imams of
Shiʼa Islam (successors of Muhammed), etc.
The 12 as a Divine Archetype, a “Thoughtform in the Mind of God”, is most

clearly indicated in the pattern language of Sacred Geometry; it takes exactly 12
spheres of equal size to cover a central sphere from every angle. This core law
of physical space shows that there are 12 different ʻperspectivesʼ or angles by
which a central reality is approached. In the Kabbalah, 12 is the number which
rules physical manifestations; this is the 12 levels of the human being, which in
Eastern schools become the 12 meridians of energy which support and animate
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the physical body. Both of these systems of 12 are themselves connected to the
Macrocosmic source of the 12, which are the 12 star constellations which the
Sun travels through as seen from the Earth -- ie, the Ecliptic path of the Sun.)
We will see this principle again in our examination of the 12 Anchor Points of the
Physical Body later in this class.
A Central Sphere can be surrounded by exactly 12 Spheres of equal size, which

gives “12 Perspectives” on the central reality.
This natural “12 around 1” principle was called the “Close Packing of Spheres” in
the work of Buckminster Fuller.
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THE INDIAN SYSTEM OF 5 SHEATHS (KOSHAS)
In the East, there are many different systems of subtle bodies.
One well-known example is the Indian Vedanta system of 5 Koshas, (sheaths, or

bodies which the spirit uses) which surround the central point of the Atman (true
Self). The Koshas are not the Self, but simply sheaths or vehicles of the true
Self. Knowledge of the Koshas is considered fundamental for advanced healing
methods in Indian Ayurveda, and for many Initiatory practices.
1. Anandamaya Kosha: Sheath of Bliss. This is the divine bliss which

surrounds the central point of the true self, Atman, which never changes and is
always in Bliss. Some sources associate this Sheath with the “Causal Body”. It
is useful to understand an Indian perspective on creation through Shiva and
Shakhti to understand the true self and the sheath of bliss.
Shiva is the Divine Male Essence of Consciousness, Shakhti the Divine Female
Essence of Energy; they are complementary halves which make up a whole,
similar to the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang. Shiva and Shakhti are Divine
Lovers; in one story they play a game where Shakhti creates a world of her own
and invites Shiva to play in it with her. Shiva asks that if the world is constantly
changing, whereas his own nature is eternal and never-changing, how can he be
in her world? Shakhti replies that he can dwell in the never-changing center of
everything, around which the dance of creation and change takes place. Shiva
will remain surrounded by eternal bliss (Anandamaya Kosha, sheath of bliss) and
other further layers of creation which Shakhti will weave around him (the lower
Koshas). Through this system, the eternal can dwell in the midst of the play and
pleasure of all Creation. This simple Indian story holds great knowledge and
wisdom embedded within it. It also contains keys to practical methods of Indian
Tantra (sacred sexual intercourse to activate higher consciousness and the
human energy system).
2. Vijnanamaya Kosha: Sheath of Wisdom. This is a higher consciousness

body which contains the discerning intellect and higher forms of knowledge.
Some commentators associate this with the sense of being a separate individual
Being.
3. Manomaya Kosha: Sheath of Mind. This is the consciousness body which

processes the information brought in by the 5 senses and allows perception of
the physical world.
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4. Pranamaya Kosha: Sheath of Vital Energy. This is the Prana (life force)
body that activates and sustains the physical body. It is often controlled and
directed in Indian Initiation practices of Pranayama through breathing practices
(Prana is sometimes translated as “air” because of the connection between life
force and air / breathing, but it is better understood as the essential life energy
itself. Air itself is “Vayu” in Sanskrit, whereas “Prana” is life force.) This body is
essentially the same as the Etheric Body of the Western Tradition.
Indian traditions tend to use the breath to control the Mind, whereas modern
Western systems like Steinerʼs Rosicrucianism separate the breathing process
from higher Mind activity (in order to attain consciousness of worlds beyond the
physical plane). This is a major difference between Eastern and Western
systems, which is not understood clearly by most spiritual seekers today. We will
go into more detail on this later in the course.
5. Annamaya Kosha: Sheath of Food. This is the physical body, which is built
up and sustained by the physical food we take in. The center of consciousness
of this Kosha is found in the Brain and the Spine; many Indian Initiatory practices
are based on activation of energies and circulations in the cerebro-spinal system.
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COMMON WESTERN SYSTEM OF 7 BODIES
This is a common model found (with variations) in many modern Western
metaphysical teachings. It is based on ideas popularized by the Theosophists.
1. Divine Body. The highest body. In some teachings it is presented as the

Divine Essence itself, in other cases as a body immediately around the Divine
Essence (in the latter case this would be similar to the Indian Anandamaya
Kosha, the Sheath of Bliss).
2. Spiritual Body: Body of advanced spiritual functions and higher

consciousness.
3. Causal Body: Body which is a link between the higher spiritual levels and the
denser more manifest levels. Some teachings present it as “causal” in terms of it
containing the spiritual imprint of the Karma which the person brings into their
life, and which will be played out in their current lifetime (in the sense that Karma
is the law of Cause and Effect.) It also sometimes presented as the body that
one works with to change oneʼs Karma in advanced spiritual and energetic
healing work.
4. Mental Body: Functions of the mind such as logic and intellect, whereas
higher bodies hold higher levels of consciousness further abstracted from the
information of the physical senses and physical life experiences.
5. Emotional Body / Astral Body: Emotional functions of consciousness.

Some groups which split have separate levels for the Emotional and Mental will
call the Emotional Body the Astral Body (separate from the Mental), whereas
groups which unite the Emotional and Mental into one body will call the
combination of the two the Astral Body (for example, in Rudolf Steinerʼs work.) In
the latter case, the Emotional Body is sometimes referred to as the Lower Astral
and the Mental Body as the Higher Astral.
6. Etheric / Vitality Body: The Life Energy which animates the physical body.
Same as the concept of “Chi” in China, “Ki” in Japan, “Prana” in India etc.
7. Physical Body: The physical, material body. This is dead and inert unless
animated by the Etheric body.
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ROSICRUCIAN SYSTEM OF 4 BODIES & 7 BODIES
The Rosicrucian Model as given by Rudolf Steiner of the subtle bodies is
primarily 4-fold:
1. EGO: Steiner means the “I Am” Self-Awareness, ie, the Spirit Core / Essential
Self, when he uses the term “Ego”, not the superficial psychological personality
aspects which are sometimes referred to today as “ego”.
2. ASTRAL BODY: For Steiner the term “Astral Body” includes both the Mental
and Emotional functions, rather than dividing them into separate Mental and
Emotional Bodies as in some Theosophical type systems. Steiner sometimes
referred to the emotional functions as the “Lower Astral” and the mental functions
as the “Higher Astral.” The Astral Body is known to the public as the “Soul.”
3. ETHERIC BODY: This is the body of Life Energy. It is also presented as

being the body of Memory (life experiences are imprinted into the Etheric body,
where they can be recalled as memories) and of Time functions (when referring
to the Etheric Body as the “Time Body”, Steiner was referring to the time patterns
which functioned in the Etheric body such as circadian rhythms etc.; all life
functions go through rhythmic cycles.)
4. PHYSICAL BODY: This is the physical body, which is inert unless activated
by the Etheric Body. However it holds within it some invisible higher spiritual
forces, including the “Phantom Body”.
These four bodies are also sometimes presented as seven bodies, when the
power of the human Spirit Core (the “I Am”) transforms the three lower bodies
into three higher bodies. In the presentation below, we will reverse our order of
presentation of the bodies to start with the most dense, to clarify this principle:
1. PHYSICAL BODY
2. ETHERIC BODY
3. ASTRAL BODY
4. EGO (“I AM” Spirit Core)
5. SPIRIT SELF (the Astral Body transformed by the light of the self-aware Ego.
Esoterically this was also referred to at times as the human aspect of the “Divine
Sophia.”)
6. LIFE SPIRIT (the Etheric Body transformed by the light of the self-aware Ego)
7. SPIRIT HUMAN (the Physical Body transformed by the light of the self-aware
Ego; this is essentially a higher Light Body, also known as “Resurrection Body.”)
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DASKALOSʼ SYSTEM OF 3 BODIES
“Daskalos” is a Greek term meaning “Teacher”, and is the name by which the
Greek Christian Hermetic Initiate Stylianos Atteshlis was known to the public.
Daskalosʼ teachings provide a valuable complement to the work of Rudolf Steiner

in providing a basis for modern Esoteric Christian metaphysics and Initiation
practices. Whereas Steiner was focused on understanding and teaching a new
Spiritual Science, with a great emphasis on the spiritualization of Thinking to
become a New Clairvoyance, Daskalos was primarily a practical esotericist
focused on healing and practical spiritual abilities.
Daskalos was known for a variety of high level esoteric attainments, including:
* Ability to have fully conscious out-of-body travel
* Ability to manifest an Etheric hand when out of the body, to manipulate physical
objects
* Ability to remember previous lifetimes, including a life with Jesus in the
Essenes, and another as an Egyptian Initiate
* Ability to remember how to speak and write all languages learned in previous
lives, including Aramaic, Sanskrit and ancient Egyptian (including hieroglyphs)
* Ability to control the Etheric energies in his body at multiple levels
* Ability to restructure & regenerate parts of a patientʼs body in his healing work
The reason we are mentioning this at this point in our course, is to indicate the
potential significance of the three body system that Daskalos taught. We
mentioned earlier that different perspectives on the subtle bodies may make
possible specific types of practical work with the subtle bodies which may not be
clear if we were to see the subtle bodies from a different perspective.
The Three Bodies of Daskalosʼ system are:

1) Noetic Body (This is a spiritual body, essentially a mental level of higher
consciousness)
2) Psychical Body: This is essentially the Emotional Body.
3) Gross Material Body: This is the Physical Body.
What is apparently missing from this scheme, which one would expect based on
the other systems we have presented, is the ETHERIC level. This is dealt with in
a very interesting way in Daskalosʼ work: he uses the concept of an ETHERIC
DOUBLE which is attached to every one of the other bodies (not just as Etheric
Double for the Physical body, as is found in Theosophical systems). To be clear,
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rather than an Etheric Body per se as found in Steiner and other systems,
Daskalos teaches that there is a specific Etheric Double attached to the Gross
Material Body, another Etheric Double of the Psychical Body, and an Etheric
Double of the Noetic Body. This different perspective found in Daskalosʼ work
may have helped him in understanding and developing his high level of practical
esoteric skills.
Daskalos devoted a great deal of attention to training his students how to use the
Etheric forces within them, based on Four Levels of the Etheric:
1) Sensate Ether (Ability to FEEL energy in the physical body)
2) Kinetic Ether (Ability to MOVE energy in the physical body)
3) Imprinting Ether (Ability to IMPRINT energy with specific colors, shapes,
movements etc.)
4) Creative Ether (The ability to give LIFE; however this ability is withheld from
ordinary human beings due to the potential for misuse, and is reserved for the
work of high Initiates and Angelic Beings.)
To master the Etheric forces, and for other practical skills, Daskalos emphasized
also the development of three specific consciousness skills:
1) Observation
2) Concentration
3) Visualization
These three work together to make possible esoteric applications of Mind Power;
Daskalos emphasized frequently that the essence of creation is the Divine Mind,
and that the human mind can attain similar powers through specific practices.
Because of the importance of Observation, Concentration, and
Visualization, we have integrated these three skills into our meditative
practices in this course (including some of the “6 Essential Exercises.”)
Another interesting facet of Daskalosʼ model is how he presents the energy

centers of the Chakras. He describes the Chakra centers as appearing in
different forms at each of the three body levels:
Noetic Body: The Chakras appear as “Stars”, Brilliant Spheres of Light.
Psychical Body: The Chakras appear as “Lamps”, Spheres of Light but not as
brilliant as those of the Noetic Body.
Gross Material Body: Chakras appear as “Discs” rotating in the energy field.
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ANCHOR POINTS OF THE SUBTLE BODIES
In Part 1 we provided an overview of the Subtle Bodies of the Human Being as
seen by a few different groups. These Subtle Bodies form the “Sheaths” or
vehicles for the individual Spirit Core of each human being.
Here in Part 2 we will examine key Energy Centers within each of the Subtle
Bodies, using a basic 4-Body system.
These Energy Centers allow us to access the powers inherent in each

Subtle Body, and use them for practical purposes.
We will in this course often refer to these Energy Centers as “Anchor Points”,
meaning the locations where a particular Subtle Bodyʼs function is anchored in
the Human Being.
At other times we will refer to these Energy Centers as “Grail Points” to

emphasize the Divine Essence (referred to in some traditions as a “nectar”)
which flows into each of these locations as if into a Grail receptacle, creating the
functions of each Center. All of these energetic locations activate specific
functions of Consciousness and Energy, which is why major spiritual
traditions teach their students to use these Centers for higher spiritual purposes.
It could be said that there cannot be true Initiation without learning to illuminate
and activate these centers in the human energy field.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The System we will be teaching in this section is classically based, and excellent
for learning energetic structures and patterns for Spiritual Initiation purposes.
However we need to remember that, while accurate, there are other important
aspects in addition to the ones we are introducing here. Particularly, we need to
bear in mind that when we present the Anchor Points for a particular Subtle Body
- for instance, the 7 chakra locations which anchor the Etheric Body - that there
are also aspects of the other Subtle Bodies at these locations (for example,
the 7 chakras also work with Astral energies), as well as other locations which
have important functions for a particular Subtle Body in addition to the Main
Anchor Points we are describing here.
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THE KABBALISTIC KEY TO ANCHOR POINTS IN THE SUBTLE BODIES:
THE 1 - 3 - 7 - 12 PATTERN
The ancient text Sepher Yetzirah (the “Book of Formation”) is known as a major
foundation of the Jewish Kabbalistic esoteric tradition. This text includes details
of a hidden Key to Creation, based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet
(which are in reality Divine Forces) divided into the following three groups:
* 3 Mother Letters
* 7 Double Letters
* 12 Elemental Letters
Most Kabbalistic writers interpret the 3, 7, 12 in terms of various general

philosophical ideas, however the deeper significance of this information encoded
in the Sepher Yetzirah was made public by Rudolf Steiner in the book Reading
the Pictures of Apocalypse. In the lectures collected in that book, Steiner
discusses how 1, 3, 7, and 12 are the number of connection points in the 4
Subtle Bodies:
EGO (I AM Spirit Core): 1 Anchor Point, in the Center of the Head (where the
Indian tradition calls the “Cave of Brahma”)
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ASTRAL BODY: 3 Anchor Points, at Head, Heart, and Abdomen (Steiner gives
the Liver for the abdomen anchor point, other traditions use the Solar Plexus or
lower abdominal centers.)
ETHERIC BODY: 7 Anchor Points, known by the Indian tradition as the 7

Chakras.
PHYSICAL BODY: 12 Anchor Points, shown in the West as 12 levels of the

human body arranged vertically from Head down to the Feet. In the East, these
are the 12 Meridians of energy which support the physical body.
Note that the “1” aspect was not spoken of in the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition,
because it was the Divine Unity, the “Holy of Holies.” At that time in human
evolution, the Divine was veiled from the Human sight, symbolized in the Veil
over the face of Isis in the mysteries. In the Jewish Temple of Solomon, the
place where the Angels manifested to physical sight was the Holy of Holies: it
was a cubical room built on a great Power Spot, which was veiled from sight by a
great hanging veil acting as a wall on one side of the room. The “1” Divine
aspect was considered too sacred to reveal, so only the 3-7-12 aspects of the
mystery are discussed in the Sepher Yetzirah text. Steiner revealed the hidden
meaning of the Kabbalistic mystery, and added in the “1” to give the full
sequence of anchor points for the four bodies.
Interestingly, Steiner never mentions in his work that he is giving the

solution to this great Kabbalistic mystery. For this reason, most followers of
Steinerʼs work donʼt know that he did so (as they have studied Steiner but no
Kabbalah), nor do Kabbalistic writers still lost in abstractions regarding the 3-7-12
know that a key part of the mystery has already been revealed (as they have
studied Kabbalah, but no Steiner). To fully appreciate Steinerʼs level of esoteric
work, one needs to know that throughout his work great mysteries are solved and
made public for the first time. However in many cases only persons with
sufficient esoteric background fully appreciate what is revealed in Steinerʼs works
(what mysteries are revealed), as those with little background donʼt know the
greater context or significance of what Steiner reveals.
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THE 1 ANCHOR POINT OF THE “I AM” SPIRIT CORE
What Steiner refers to as the “EGO” and we may also call the Spirit Core or “I
AM” presence, is a perfect fractal of the Godhead itself. It is pure spiritual self-
awareness, and thus the eternal part of the human being. The Godhead is THE
ONE from which all things proceed and to which all things return. As a fractal of
this we too have THE ONE within us, which is the Ego. The '1' is also the 'I', and
is the basis for the 'I AM' esotericism of the Old and New Testament. Note that
the Roman numeral for '1' is 'I', the same geometric symbol as our English word
"I". In German 'I' is 'Ich'; the guttural 'ch' as a suffix signifies the visceral
experience of the “I” penetrating directly into the human being.
The Ego / Spirit Core is often associated with the area of the “Root of the Nose”,
inside the head. The Spirit Core is related to a purple or violet light which
clairvoyants perceive around the pineal gland; Descartes called the pineal the
'seat of the soul'. The Third Eye center is actually a tunnel (well described in
Samuel Saganʼs text Awakening the Third Eye) running from the root of the nose
to the back of the skull. The energetic center of this Third Eye Tunnel is the
'Cave of Brahma', the open space in the center of the head where the pineal and
pituitary glands blend their energies; this is the anatomical area known as the
Third Ventricle of the brain, an open area where cerebro-spinal fluid circulates.
This is the Anchor Point of the Spirit Core in the Human Being.
This Anchor point in a human being is a Microcosmic appearance of the same

force which appears as the SUN in the Macrocosm.
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THE 3 ANCHOR POINTS OF THE ASTRAL BODY
(THE “SOUL”)
! The Sun, Moon, and Earth combine their emanations to form the Astral
Body. This secret of the three forces which comprise the human astral body and
their anchor points (ʻGrail Pointsʼ) in the physical body was represented in
Alchemical texts by a specific symbol, which looks like the symbol of Mercury
with a point added in the center of the circle in that glyph. Essentially the symbol
has a crescent Moon above which rests on the Circular symbol of the Sun, which
rests on the Cross of the Earth. This symbol occurs throughout alchemical and
spiritual initiation texts.
22
We see this same pattern in the 3 anchor points of the Astral Body:
1. The Moon forces are at the top of the physical body, at the Brain. It
provides the organ for thinking, which reflects the input of the physical senses
and the activity of the Ego in pure awareness. Much of the activity of the Mind is
reflective. (The Moon is related to the metal silver, which reflects the light of the
Sun and which is the metal which is put behind glass to create a mirror. Silver is
also the emulsion used originally to capture images on film.)
2. The Sun forces are at the center of the physical body, at the Heart. As
the Sun radiates light and warmth, so the Heart provides spiritual light and
warmth to the individual human being. The heart provides the organ of feeling,
and initiates the transformation of the physical blood into an etheric stream of
rose-colored light which activates the third eye center and provides a fulcrum for
a lemniscate (figure 8) which links the Head, Heart and Will.
3. The Earth Forces are in the Abdomen; Steiner gives their anchor point as
the Liver. Note that the Liver has four lobes, creating the Cross of the Earth.
The Liver produces energy for the body through breaking down carbohydrates
into simple sugars for storage. It produces amino acids, fats, and antibodies.
The liver is also the cleanser of the body, storing all toxins, poisons, chemicals
and drugs taken in. Note that the Liver is intimately tied to the other two organs
where the astral anchors. The Liver stores vast quantities of the Heart's blood
and cleanses it, as well as producing most plasma proteins. The Liver is also in
control of the nerves and thus is essential in nervous activity and the Brain's
thinking process. Thus the Liver can truly be said to be the Cross of the Earth on
which rests the Heart's Sun-radiating Feelings and the Brain's Moon-reflective
Thinking. (This is only one perspective; there are other important abdominal
centers involved as the lower Astral anchor point. A simple example is the “Four-
Petal Lotus” of the Muladhara Chakra at the base of the spine, the four petals
again giving us the Cross of the Earth.)
!
In Chinese medicine the Liver is one point of the Pentagram of five Yin organs,
which are the most vital organs for health (the other 4 are the Heart, Lungs,
Kidneys, Spleen). The Liver is the Yin organ related to the Wood element. The
Chinese say that the Liver is the home of spiritual beings called the 'Hun'. They
are highly benevolent beings who do not like anger or toxins like drugs or
alcohol. If a person contaminates themselves with these then the Hun will leave,
only returning if the person acts compassionately with others.
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These three centers are foundations for the Trinity in the Human being. The
trinity is experienced as
1. THINKING (the head).
2. FEELING (the heart).
3. WILLING (the abdomen centers).
The Muslims recognize this trinity as Head, Heart, Hands (Hands = Will).
The Buddhists develop this trinity in the form of Thought, Speech, and Action.
Mindfulness is applied to all thoughts one thinks, every word one speaks, and
every action taken; this is the ʻTriple Secretʼ practice, as in Japanese Buddhism.
In Chinese Medicine and Internal Alchemy, these three centers are called the 3
“Elixir Fields” where essential Divine forces manifest and act in the human body
(similar to our concept of “Grail Points.”) These are sometimes referred to as the:
1. Upper Dan Tian (Head)
2. Middle Dan Tian (Heart)
3. Lower Dan Tian (Abdominal Center below the navel)
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A FEW ADVANCED ASPECTS OF THE “3” ASTRAL HARMONIC VIBRATION
There are other aspects of this threefold Astral consciousness structure, for
instance it appears as the three forces of Sympathy (positive attraction towards a
thing), Antipathy (negative repulsion from a thing), and Equanimity (neutral,
balanced, freedom in regards to a thing).
The Threefold “Trinity” aspect of the Astral body also extends to experiences one
has of the Astral body after death. The newly dead first lose the physical body,
then pass through a 3 day review of the memories of their life just past (these
memories are held in the etheric body which is expanding in the absence of the
physical body for it to anchor in). These memories pass in review in backwards
order, due to the inversion principle between matter and spirit discussed earlier.
After this one enters into the period known as 'kamaloca' in the East, 'purgatory'
in the West, and the 'realm of burning thirst' to the Buddhists. During this time
the astral body permits a review of the life just passed, also in reverse order
(from end of life back to the beginning). This review lasts 1/3 (one-third) of the
total span of the life just ended, in other words .333... of the life just lived. This is
because this review is based on the experiences one has every night when one
goes to sleep, during which higher spiritual beings accompany us on a review of
the day just passed and emanate to us their judgments regarding the good or evil
we have done. The archetypal length of sleep is 1/3 of the day (8 hours out of 24
hours in a day), so the total review of the life just passed equals one-third of the
total life-span.
Thus both the etheric life review and the astral life review are linked to harmonics
of 3. Note that the astral backwards review differs from the etheric in that it
includes more from the perspective of the other people in our lives whom we
affected; thus we learn how we 'did unto others' in our life, by our experiencing
their own direct feelings and reactions to our life activity. There could be no
better education for us regarding the consequences of our thought, speech, and
actions in the world. This is the message behind the words of Christ to 'do unto
others as you would have them do unto you', which we know as the “Golden
Rule”, in Mt. 7,12. It is interesting to note that this critical New Testament verse
deals with the 3-fold principle of the Astral body and is in chapter 7 (the harmonic
of the etheric body) verse 12 (the harmonic of the physical body) in the Gospel of
Matthew in which it appears!
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Initiation was often in classical times a 3 day process. For a detailed discussion,
see the chapter on the ʻ3 Days Journeyʼ in Edward Reugh Smithʼs The Burning
Bush.
The request for Initiation to a spiritual master classically required a

threefold repetition, i.e. one must ask three times for the request to be
granted. This is true of other esoteric requests as well.
A variant on this is the Rosicrucian practice to take a particular question into

sleep every night for three nights, at which point the spiritual world will answer.
In advanced work to stabilize a thoughtform (which some groups call an

“elemental” and others call an “artificial elemental” to distinguish it from Nature
Elementals), it must be created/reinforced every day for three days, at the same
time each day.
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THE 7 ANCHOR POINTS OF THE ETHERIC LIFE BODY
The Etheric body is the body of Life Energy. This vital force has many names in
many different cultures: the Chinese call it “Chi”, the Japanese call it “Ki”, the
Indians call it “Prana”, etc.
The Microcosmic appearance of the Life Energy in the human body comes from
a Macrocosmic source, which is the spiritual reality behind the Seven Classical
'Planets' of our Solar system. These higher forces manifest in the 7 locations
known to the world today through the “Chakra” system taught in the Indian
tradition. The Etheric body is sometimes also called in Western systems the
'Time-body'; it connects us to the larger cosmic rhythms in time. Some of these
rhythms are obvious, such as the daily sleep-waking rhythm, the rhythms of
breath and heartbeat, etc.
[Please keep in mind the note at the beginning of this Section, about there being
other aspects to these Anchor Points beyond those described here; for example,
these 7 Chakras are Anchor Points for the Etheric, however they also have
important Astral functions etc. We are only dealing with fundamental primary
aspects at the moment.]
As the modern world knows these 7 Anchor Points of the Etheric Body as the
Chakras (“wheels”, because they appear as spinning discs or vortices of energy
to clairvoyant perception), we will describe them in fundamental terms from the
Indian tradition. Because the Indian tradition emphasizes development from the
base chakra upward, we will present them in this order (we will see in later
classes that the Western tradition reverses the order of development). The
Chakras appear both on the front and the back of the body. They are referred to
also as “Lotus Flowers” with specific numbers of “Petals” or segments in each
Chakra.
1. The First chakra is called Muladhara, meaning literally “Base Support.” It

is located in the area around the Perineum and the Base of the Spine. It is the
four-petalled lotus. This is a primary chakra involved in the “Kundalini” Initiation
process of India, which we will describe in more detail in a later class.
2. The Second chakra is called Svadhishthana, meaning literally “Dwelling

Place of the Self.” It is located around the area of the Genitals, which is why
this is often referred to as the “Reproductive Chakra” in Western systems. It is
the six-petalled lotus. Steiner notes that this chakra when activated opens up
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direct perception of Spiritual Beings, and interaction with them in higher worlds.
However unlike the Eastern tradition, Steiner gives no explicit methods to directly
work with this center.
3. The Third chakra is called Manipura, meaning literally “Dwelling Place of

Jewels.” It is located around the Navel area (although some Western systems
focus instead on the Solar Plexus). It is the ten-petalled lotus.
4. The Fourth chakra is called Anahata, which means “Endless”,

“Unbeaten”, sometimes translated as “The One Who Cannot Be Stopped.”
It is located in the region of the Heart, but in the center of the chest / back rather
than the slightly to the left side position taken by the physical organ of the Heart.
It is the 12-petalled lotus (recall our Class 1 discussion that our 6 Essential
Exercises are connected to activating the Heart Chakra; 6 of the Petals were
already developed in earlier stages of human evolution, so we are not
consciously developing the other 6 petals with our 6 exercises in order to fully
activate the heart as an organizing, central energy location in the Subtle Body.)
5. The Fifth chakra is called Vishuddha, meaning literally “Poison

Purification” (the name is related to the function of this Chakra in helping to
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clear specific toxins in the body: these toxins are created when the “Nectar”
energies from certain energy centers are transformed into a Poison, due to
accumulated past Karma; these are deeper aspects, which we will address in a
later advanced online course.) This is the 16 petal lotus (the 8-fold path of the
Buddha is meant to develop this chakra; similarly to what was described for the 6
Essential Exercises, half of the 16 petals of this chakra were developed in earlier
stages of human evolution, and the 8-fold Buddhist path develops the other 8
petals to fully activate this chakra). This chakra is located in the neck / throat.
Because the throat is very vulnerable, some Taoist internal alchemy teachers
refer to it as a weak and sensitive energy center. However it contains great
higher powers.
6. The Sixth chakra is called Ajna or Aagya, meaning literally “Command”

or “Order.” It is the two-petalled lotus. Some Indian and Western sources
consider it to be the most important chakra, a master control switch for the whole
energy body. It is popularly called the “Third Eye” center. It is located between
the eyebrows (which in some Western texts is referred to as the “Root of the
Nose”) slightly inside the skull, where it is part of the “Third Eye Tunnel”
mentioned previously which includes the “Cave of Brahma” center (the Anchor
point for the “I Am” Spirit Core).
7. The Seventh chakra is Sahasrara chakra, usually translated as the

“Thousand Petal Lotus” and popularly known in the West as the “Crown
center.” It is located at the very top of the head. It is considered a very high,
transcendental energy center; some Indian teachers say that it is actually not a
chakra per se, but the energy of the Universe itself.
Note that this position of the Crown center is known as the 'Supplementary Motor
Area' in Brain research. Sir John Eccles, known as the greatest expert in the
world regarding neuron activity in the brain (he received the Nobel Prize and was
Knighted for his research), spent decades trying to locate the site in the brain
which initiated the firing of neurons (and thus initiated the process of having a
thought). His research revealed there was no part of the brain which initiated the
firing of neurons; rather the firing was initiated through a non-physical
holographic field which entered the head through the Supplementary Motor Area,
which is the Crown Center. Thus modern scientific research bears out the
spiritual power of this chakra.
These 7 Chakras are direct emanations of the spiritual forces from the 7 classical
Planets. However there are a variety of different planetary attributions to each
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chakra, depending on the tradition and even the specific teacher within the
tradition.
Steinerʼs Rosicrucian perspectives on the planetary attributions are:
Base Chakra - Moon

Reproductive Chakra - Venus
Navel / Solar Plexus - Mercury
Heart - Sun
Throat - Mars
Third Eye - Jupiter
Crown - Saturn
And to provide an Eastern perspective, here are the correspondences presented

in The Spiritual Science of Kriya Yoga by Goswami Kriyananda (p.63)
Base Chakra - Saturn
Reproductive Chakra - Jupiter
Navel / Solar Plexus - Mars
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Heart - Venus
Throat - Mercury
Frontal Third Eye - Sun
Rear Third Eye (Medulla Oblongata) - Moon
However even in the Indian tradition there are many different systems of
attributions of planets. For example, here are the very different planetary
correspondences to the chakras given in Harish Johariʼs well-known text
Chakras :
Base Chakra - Mars

Reproductive Chakra - Mercury
Navel / Solar Plexus - Sun
Heart - Venus
Throat - Jupiter
Third Eye - Saturn
Crown Center - Ketu (this is the South Node of the Moon in Vedic Astrology).
In reality there is a holographic distribution of energy relationships between the

Planetary energies and certain centers.
As we described earlier, different perspectives on ʻwhich Planetary forces

are linked to which Chakraʼ help to facilitate different types of practical
work with the Chakras, with the end result that the human energy body will
be structured differently by the practices chosen by different traditions.
The seven classical planets and their forces are also fundamental to the core
Initiation Journey (the same as the after-death journey) taught in many traditions,
and known as the ʻSeven Heavenly Hallsʼ journey in the Jewish Kabbalah (but
also present in the Egyptian, Greek, and other esoteric systems). This key
Initiation knowledge and practice of the Seven Heavenly Halls Journey will be
taught in-depth in our upcoming Online Seminar entitled Karmic Biography.
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THE 12 ANCHOR POINTS OF THE PHYSICAL BODY
The Physical body is an emanation of the forces of the 12 constellations of the
zodiac and the spiritual creative beings which are active from those areas.
! ! The 12 Anchor Points of the Physical Body are as follows:
1. The constellation of Pisces emanates the forces which form the Feet.
Note that the first stage of the Seven Stages of the Passion of Christ is the
Washing of the Feet and that the symbol of the early Christians is the fish of
Pisces (there are of course other key aspects to the Washing of the Feet and fish
symbol of Christianity, beyond this correlation).
2. Aquarius emanates the forces which form the ankles and calves.
3. Capricorn emanates the forces which form the knees.
4. Sagittarius emanates the forces which form the thighs.
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5. Scorpio emanates the forces which form the genitals and reproductive
system.
6. Libra emanates the forces which form the hips and 'hara' region of the
lower belly.
7. Virgo emanates the forces which form the solar plexus and stomach
region.
8. Leo emanates the forces which form the heart and center of the chest.
9. Cancer emanates the forces which form the ribs.
10. Gemini emanates the forces which form the shoulders and arms.
11. Taurus emanates the forces which form the throat.
12. Aries emanates the forces which form the head, particularly the top of the
head.
The Western tradition primarily focuses on how the Constellations form the 12
different levels of the human physical body, whereas in the East (China/Japan)
the focus is on the channels of the 12 primary energy meridians in the human
body (as in Chinese Medicine: see Michio Kushiʼs Macrobiotics and Oriental
Medicine pp. 102-103.)
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PRACTICES SECTION
6 KEY PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Spiritual practices are essential for personal development and for Spiritual
Initiation. Here are 6 important principles, which will help you to understand
various experiences which you may have during your spiritual practices.
1. NOVELTY VS. WILLPOWER AND PERSISTENCE

You will find that for any new exercise, it is in one sense EASIER to do for the
first few days or week of practice. This is because it is still new and interesting,
you are still getting used to it. However after a few days or up to a week, it
requires greater forces from oneself to continue doing the practice properly.
This is because the novelty has worn off, and the superficial layer of the mind
which constantly wants new stimulation is easily bored; at this stage it requires
activation of the Spirit Coreʼs deeper will forces in order to continue with the
practice, so the benefits actually increase for us as we are required to summon
deeper effort in performing the practice.
It requires the development of true self-discipline to set a time to do the practice

every day without fail, and not make excuses to oneself why you “just donʼt have
the time / energy today” (although you may catch yourself nonetheless finding
the time to watch T.V., read a magazine, or other things that appeal to the
superficial “chatter” level of the mind.)
2. THE FIRST TIMES THROUGH A PRACTICE YOU MAY NOT BE FULLY

EXPERIENCING IT
This Principle is complementary to Principle 1, above.
Often the first few times one does a practice, part of your mind is going toward
guiding the exercise, asking yourself if you are doing it right - you are more
focused on learning and monitoring the practice, and not fully immersed in
the experience.
When you have learned the practice so that you can do it without having to try to
monitor or guide it from “outside” the experience of the practice, it becomes much
more powerful and effective.
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3. A PRACTICE MAY FEEL MORE POWERFUL WHEN YOU FIRST
PRACTICE IT WITH A TEACHER OR GROUP
If you have been taught the exercise by a teacher, especially if there is a group
doing the practice together, you may find that it was very powerful for you this
first time. When you go home and practice it by yourself, you may find that it
seems much less powerful and intense.
This is because the teacher has created a strong resonance in their own energy
field to the spiritual forces one connects to in the practice, and this is amplified by
the group energy when multiple people do the same practice together. You are
able to “Ride” on the energy of the teacher and the group during the practice.
Once you are back home, you have only your own energy to make the
connection to the practice, and the powerful current you rode on before may not
be available. Also, when you were led by the teacher through the practice, you
were able to focus more on the actual experience of the practice and did not
have to monitor and guide the practice for yourself, as you will have to do the first
few times you do it on your own -- as described in Principle 2 above, this will take
you away from fully immersing into the experience until you have the practice
hard-wired and no longer have to think about how it works when you are
engaged in the practice.
4. THE NATURAL ENERGETIC CYCLE OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

You will find that on some days a particular spiritual practice is very powerful, and
seems to run effortlessly. On other days it feels like a struggle, and very little
seems to happen internally. This is natural, and may be because of a variety of
factors including your personal biorhythms, the influence of cosmic phenomena
(full moon or new moon, eclipses, etc.) or for other reasons.
However it is important to know that there is also a fundamental rhythm between

stages of energy, which manifests in our lives in general and in spiritual practices
in particular. This is the cycle known in India as the “3 Gunas” of Rajas, Sattva,
and Tamas. For simplicity, we will simply address this in terms of how it
manifests regarding meditation and spiritual practices.
TAMAS (pronounced TUH-mus): This is a heavy, sluggish, dense energy. Our

awareness is relatively dull at this stage. To get things moving, the energy will
shift in time to the next stage of:
RAJAS (pronounced RUH-jus): This is a dynamic, active, moving energy. It
gets things moving, breaks through the inertia of Tamas. This will often have
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strong energy movements in the body, sometimes with a palpable increase of
heat in the body and sweating may occur. This energy will reach the next stage
of:
SATTVA (pronounced SUT-vuh): This is a clear, stable energy where the mind
is awake and aware. This is an optimal state for big spiritual openings. At some
point our energy system will tire from this illuminated state, and we will get tired
and sleepy as our system moves back to Tamas for rest.
Although this is just a very simplified introduction to the deep concepts of the 3
Gunas found in India, it is useful to know this progression.
For instance, you may find yourself not making any headway with a spiritual
practice on a given day, feeling heavy and dull (Tamas). You then rouse yourself,
get your energy moving, and shift into Rajas. As you reach “cruising altitude” you
may find a shift into Sattva, an optimal meditative state of great lucidity and
effortless awareness, which will inevitably turn into Tamas when your physical
and energetic bodies get tired and can no longer hold this awakened state.
This cycle underlies a wide range of important spiritual phenomena and practice
systems. One example would be the use of Tantric sexual practices (mindful
sexuality) to shift our energy from a heavy Tamasic state into Rajasic activations
using desire and the natural attraction between partnersʼ energy systems to
active strong energy flows in the body. The moving energy can then be
consciously directed to key energy centers in the body, which will then use that
energy to blossom into full awakening and high Sattvic states of consciousness.
Based on oneʼs level of self-cultivation, this awakened state in Tantric practice
may last from a few minutes to many hours, until the energy system tires and one
returns to a Tamasic state and requires sleep.
5. ON THE MODERN PATH, THE INDIVIDUAL MUST FORMULATE THEIR

OWN SPIRITUAL PRACTICE SET AND SCHEDULE
As an illustration of the modern independent path of Spiritual Initiation, Steiner
was asked in 1924 to give a specific set and schedule of spiritual exercises for
students to follow, out of the wealth of indications and possible exercises he had
given over the last 20 years of his work.
Significantly, Steiner refused, saying that each individual on the modern path has
the responsibility to choose themselves exactly which practices to do, and on
what schedule.
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This requires that students have empowered themselves with a working
understanding of the RANGE of possible spiritual exercises, the EFFECTS of
each exercise, and their own individual spiritual NEEDS based on their current
level of development and subtle body structures.
This is one manifestation of the key modern principle, that a spiritual teacher is
no longer a Guru, but simply a brother and sister on the path to help illuminate
those aspects they have personally learned. The teacher must never interfere
with the free will of the student.
Steiner was known for making himself available for private conversations and
counseling with people who came to his lectures, however he would never tell
them what to do. When a person would ask Steiner specifically what choices
they should make in their life for any important decision, Steiner would simply sit
back in his chair, cross his arms and say nothing.
For practical purposes -- as one learns the foundations of Spiritual Science and
Modern Independent Initiation in order to be able to make fully empowered and
informed choices for oneself -- the key thing is to understand and practice the
most essential exercises (a balance of Receptive and Active meditations, and
Self-Observation, all of which manifest within the 6 Essential exercises)
along with developing the habit of checking at the end of every practice the
tangible effects on our consciousness and energy field of the exercise.
6. KEEP THE BODY AND BREATHING RELAXED: DONʼT LET THE

ENERGY OF THE EXERCISE GO INTO PHYSICAL TENSION
Be aware during meditative practices that the physical body stays relaxed, so
that the energy used for the practice is focused on the internal activity. The effort
of meditation may lead to unconsciously letting the energy go into the body,
restricting the breathing activity and creating physical tension. If you become
aware this is happening, simply consciously relax the body (especially areas
around the forehead, eyes, jaw, neck, chest, diaphragm, and pelvis) and take a
few long slow deep breaths -- and return your attention to the internal focus on
the meditative practice.
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SELF-OBSERVATION:
AWAKENING OUR SPIRIT CORE
Self-Observation is one of the keys to spiritual development work which are
incorporated into the practices in this course. Here are some important aspects
of Self-Observation, to help you understand its deeper significance.
The observation of our own internal states and external expressions, is the
foundation of all work to transform ourselves to a higher level. This observation
has to be completely neutral, as if we were observing a complete stranger
in whom we have no emotional investment. We must overcome our tendency
to internally justify all of our own dysfunctional aspects while demonizing others
for theirs. Self-Observation is considered essential in most major traditions.
There are many names for Self-Observation: in Buddhism it is “Mindfulness

practice”, in the Gurdjieff work it is “Self-Remembering”, etc.
Self-Observation often goes through specific stages, which are essential

alchemical stages of awakening our spirit core (I AM presence):
1. We are able to observe ourselves for only short periods of time, before
something happens to trigger our reactive mind and we “fall asleep” into a kind of
trance state, where we act out in pre-programmed habitual patterns in which are
no longer self-aware.
2. We begin to observe the moments when we get triggered into a reactive

“trance state”, and bit by bit develop the ability to not react -- but instead stay
conscious and make better choices in how we respond to stressful situations.
3. We observe how often we are not self-aware in our daily lives, but just a
walking stimulus-response machine. Before we had thought we were conscious
all the time, but now we see that we are only truly self-aware and making
conscious choices for a small amount of time each day. We then recognize that
this is true of almost everyone around us, that the world is full of people who
think they are awake but are actually not self-aware and are just acting out of
their habitual patterns. This is related to what Gurdjieff called “The Terror of the
Situation”, which leads to our firm commitment to waking up ourselves, and
helping others whenever possible to also wake up.
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4. We develop deeper honesty in seeing our true internal and external
states - our thoughts, speech, feelings, and actions -- and how often these are
very low quality and destructive to ourselves and others.
5. We begin to catch ourselves as we reactively generate customary

negative thoughts, speech, feelings, or actions. We learn we can interrupt
the process, and substitute a beneficial internal state or external action for our
old destructive habits.
6. We are able to stay conscious through the majority of each day. We

have cleaned up our internal life and external actions to have much higher
beneficial qualities than our old reactive patterns.
- We forgive people more easily, understanding that they are acting out of their
own trance states just as we used to do (and still do sometimes when our stress
exceeds our internal capacity to handle it.) We have natural and immediate
compassion for the suffering of people who are acting out negatively and
destructively. At this point, we have reached a key stage of spiritual
development which is known to most traditions -- and is particularly emphasized
in the Buddhist tradition, and in the original Holy Grail tradition of Europe.
At this stage, higher spiritual development and practices have a solid foundation
to build upon.
In practical application, self-observation often focuses on the 3 primary centers of

the Body of Consciousness (Astral Body, which we introduced earlier in this
class) and its expressions:
- Observation of our Thoughts (Head, the nerves and sensory system)
- Observation of our Emotions, Feelings (Heart, organs of Rhythm)
- Observation of our Will Impulses /Actions (Abdomen: organs of metabolism
and reproduction)
This focus on the three primary centers is found in virtually every major tradition,
as described earlier in the section on the 3 Anchor Points of the Astral Body:
ROSICRUCIAN: Thinking, Feeling, and Willing
BUDDHIST: Thought, Speech, and Action
SUFI: Head, Heart, and Hands (in some traditions, the abdomen and lower
chakras are dealt with as Will energies that manifest through the work of the
hands).
TAOIST: Upper, Middle, and Lower Dan Tien (internal “elixir fields” at the
Head, Heart, and Hara / Belly).
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CHECKING-IN: YOUR EXPERIENCES FROM
THE FIRST CLASS MEDITATIONS
What were your experiences of the meditations taught in our first class?
RECEPTIVE EXERCISE
1. Was it easy or difficult for you to focus on the space between thoughts, and
accomplish keeping your mind clear?
2. Was the practice enjoyable, or did you feel uncomfortable trying to keep the
mind clear? Was there a part of you that likes having the usual mental chatter,
because it is familiar, or because it feels “safer” having this chatter to block
deeper repressed parts of the mind and emotions?
3. How long were you able to keep the clear mind state, before more thoughts
interrupted the clear state?
4. Were you able to take this practice into daily life, and not just in an isolated
meditation environment?
5. Is this a practice which you would choose to do just for the pleasure of the
experience of it, or for the benefits you feel from it? Or not?
6. When you were tuning into yourself with the Energy Field Awareness Practice
(EFAP) after the exercise, were you able to detect changes in your
consciousness and energy as a result of doing the practice?
ACTIVE EXERCISE
1. Was it easy or difficult for you to create the visualization? Could you see it
clearly in your mindʼs eye, or not?
2. Were you able to feel the location in the center of the head that was the initial
center of the Golden Sphere, or was that location not clear?
3. Were you able to tangibly FEEL the vibration of the visualized Golden Sphere,
in and around you head? If so, did you enjoy the feeling?
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OBSERVATION OF THOUGHTS
1. Was this practice easy or difficult for you?
What thoughts came up most commonly during receptive meditation? Was there
a habitual pattern to the thoughts, and if so do you feel like the habitual thoughts
you observed were more beneficial or harmful to your life?
2. Would you be comfortable if those around you were able to hear, or otherwise
know, all your thoughts?
3. Were your thoughts more positive and beneficial with certain people and
situations, and more habitually negative with other people or situations? What
situations trigger the most positive or negative thoughts in your mind?
DIRECTING OF THOUGHTS
1. Was the first stage of observing the object you chose for the practice, and
then visualizing it clearly, easy or difficult for you? Were you able to visualize the
object as clearly in your mind with your eyes closed, as you could physically see
it when your eyes were open? Were you able to easily move and manipulate the
visualized image clearly in your mind?
2. Was the second stage of directing a clear, logical sequence of thoughts about
the object easy or difficult for you? Was it easy to keep only the logical thoughts
that you chose in your mind, without other intruding thoughts?
consciousness and energy as a result of doing the practice? Were the Energy
movements in your body from the practice the same as those described by
Rudolf Steiner, or not? If they were, did the energy movement from the head
already stream through the brain and into the spine by itself, or did you need to
consciously move the energy from the front of the head through the brain and
down the spine?
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GENERAL MIND REACTIONS TO THE PRACTICES
In addition to usual “monkey mind” inner chatter -- such as “whatʼs for dinner”, “I
have to remember to pick up groceries”, “what time is it now”, fragments of
songs / TV shows, etc. -- did you find your mind reacting to any practices?
For example, did you experience negative thoughts about any practice, such as
“this is stupid”, or “I already know how to do this”, or “I didnʼt care about this, I
want something more interesting and advanced” etc.?
Were any of the thoughts stressful or negative towards yourself, such as “I canʼt
meditate”, or “I canʼt shut my mind off”, or “Iʼm stupid”, or “How come other
people can do this easily and I canʼt”, or “What is wrong with me” etc?
PRACTICES LOG BOOK

Many people donʼt keep a record of their experiences with their spiritual
practices, because it seems like too much trouble.
However you will find it only takes a couple of minutes, and is of tremendous
value. It will show you things you may easily miss otherwise, such as
* remembering important realizations that come to you during the practice
* noting changes in your energy body and consciousness when you do the
EFAP practice
* remembering and giving importance to spiritual messages you receive during
meditation (you will find that if you pay attention to spiritual communications from
your Guardian Angel and other beneficial beings connected to you, that the link
with these beings will be greatly strengthened thereby, and the beings
themselves will choose to aid you on a more regular basis knowing that you are
appreciative of their help)
* noting progressive development of your spiritual abilities
* learning which times of day lead to the best results in your practice
* noting special experiences that will otherwise be forgotten within a few hours or
days
If you arenʼt already keeping a practices log for the exercises you are doing in
this course, try doing it just for this one week, and see if you find it so helpful that
you can easily continue with the habit. Make sure to note down the time of day
of the practice, where you were, and your own internal state before the practice
(angry, sad, neutral, tired, hyper, etc.) as well as your specific experiences of the
practice itself.
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BASIC RECEPTIVE & ACTIVE PRACTICES
FOR CLASS 2
RECEPTIVE PRACTICE
Our Receptive Practice for Class 2 is, for simplicity, the same as for Class 1:
clearing the mind by focusing on the space or gap between thoughts.
It does not need to be practiced only as a sitting meditation in a quiet space,

instead it is highly valuable (as discussed in Class 1) to instead practice this
“Clear Mind” state in the midst of stressful situations in daily life. Keeping this
clear mind state is a tremendous aid in staying spiritual aware despite external
circumstances, and makes possible accurate observation of oneself and of the
environment.
ACTIVE PRACTICE
In Class 1 our “First Essential Exercise” was the Illumination of Thinking. To align
with this goal, we chose an active visualization practice of creating a Golden
Sphere / Sun around our Head, illuminating our thoughts & consciousness.
Our Essential Exercise for Class 2 is now the Illumination of Will Power. To align
with this goal, our practice will be to visualize a Sphere of energy around the
Abdomen (we discussed earlier that the anchor point for the Will forces within the
human Astral Body is in the Abdomen, just as the Thinking forces are in the Head
and the Feeling forces are in the Chest).
Our active Visualization for the Will center is based (as was our Class 1
Visualization) on the work of Daskalos, the Cypriot Initiate Stylianos Atteshlis.
Daskalos taught that one of the most important foundation exercises for the
students he trained was to visualize Spheres (or Suns) of Light around the Head,
Heart, and Abdomen, using the” Imprinting Ether” to create the size and round
shape of the Sphere and the specific color to make the Sphere for application to
different body locations. This practice has been integrated into this online course
as the “Active Practice” for our first 3 classes, in connection to our core Essential
Exercises.
For the Sphere / Sun of Energy around the Will Center, Daskalos used the color
Sky Blue for this Sphere. This is because the Sky Blue color is calming and
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balancing for the dynamic forces of the abdomen, particularly helping to balance
the water element in the body (Sky Blue is also the color resonant with the
Archangel Gabriel, in Daskalosʼ Initiation System.)
Daskalos primarily used the Solar Plexus as his location for focusing on work on
the human abdomen, in many (but not all) of his energy meditations. For our
practice here in Class 2, we will create the central point of the Sphere / Sun at a
location behind the Navel. Our bodies are used to bringing in energy through the
navel, when we are in our motherʼs womb with the umbilical cord connected to
this area; the area behind the navel (and slighter lower in the body as well) is
understood in advanced Eastern internal alchemy practices to be a safe place to
collect and store powerful energy in the body (it can cause severe problems if
energy collects instead in the Head or Chest.)
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RUDOLF STEINERʼS “SECOND BASIC EXERCISE”
In our first class, we introduced the “6 Basic Exercises” of Rudolf Steiner
and provided details of his First Basic Exercise, which became one
integrated aspect of our First Essential Exercise. Similarly, Steinerʼs
Second “Basic Exercise” will be integrated as one component of our
Second Essential Exercise.
Whereas Steiner described the First Basic Exercise as being for the
Control of Thinking, the second Exercise was described as being for the
Control of the Will (also sometimes described as “Initiative of Action.”)
Steiner originally gave out these exercises to be done for one month each,
then the next month to add the next exercise while continuing also with the
earlier exercise. However he noted that the length of time for each
exercise was variable, and did not have to be a month before adding the
next practice; for purposes of our class we are doing each practice for one
week then adding in the next practice. Bear in mind that each new
exercise is to be added to the performance of the earlier exercise, it does
not replace it; so for example when the 5th exercise is given, one then is
doing daily the first, second, third, fourth and fifth exercises.
The Second Basic Exercise devoted to control of the Will was described by
Steiner as taking an initiative which comes purely out of oneʼs own inner
decision, and is not required at all by external physical circumstances. The
actual action taken can be extremely simple and not take long to perform;
however it has to be an action which one has thought of by oneself, so that
it totally arises out of oneʼs own inner forces.
Steiner described the energy movement created by doing this exercise as

having the quality of an inner impulse to take action, combined with feeling
that we can accomplish whatever we resolve to do; this feeling exists in the
entire upper part of the body and flows to the heart.
It should be noted that Will forces are rooted in the abdomen; Steiner
pointed out the activity of the Liver in this regard (as explained earlier in this
class regarding the three anchor points of the Astral Body), however the
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lower chakras in general are all connected to the Will. We had mentioned
previously that Steiner did not give clear indications regarding the lower
chakras, and like some other Western groups of his time -- dealing in many
cases with cultures which were extremely sexually repressed -- he often
avoided describing energetic activities involving the reproductive and base
chakras.
We mention this now because when you do the Energy Field Awareness
Practice (EFAP) after the practice Steiner describes (his “Second Basic
Exercise” will be one part of the “Second Essential Exercise” which we do
in this class lesson), you will likely find that there are identifiable
energy movements in the abdominal area whenever the Will is
activated (even though Steiner only mentions the upper body in relation to
the energy movements created by this exercise.)
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DETAILS OF OUR SECOND ESSENTIAL EXERCISE:
ILLUMINATING OUR WILL POWER
Our Second Essential Exercise is designed to create a foundation for illuminating

our Will Power with our Consciousness; it will include Steinerʼs “Second Basic
Exercise” along with other components to round out the practice with the Will.
Control over the Will is one of the most important achievements in the school of
Earthly life. Even for those with no concept of spiritual practices or Initiation, Life
itself is the Initiator in the “School of Hard Knocks” which not only calls on our
deep Will forces, it also wakes us up to the fact that only through becoming self-
aware we can make informed choices which will improve our life experiences --
and stop creating the same painful outcomes in our life.
THE TWO PARTS OF THE SECOND ESSENTIAL EXERCISE
The Second Essential Exercise is broken into two parts for simplicity, the first part
is the Receptive aspect and the second part is the Active aspect.
As the name of the Second Essential Exercise indicates, this is for the purpose of
Illuminating our Actions and our Will Power.
PART 1 OF THE SECOND ESSENTIAL EXERCISE:

OBSERVING YOUR WILL IMPULSES AND ACTIONS
This first part is the primarily receptive aspect of the Second Essential Exercise.
It is extremely simple, an integration of the fundamental “Self-Observation”
practice into our work with our Will and our Actions.
This practice needs to be done in the midst of life activities, rather than in
solitude in a quiet place. We really only have the speech and physical actions
which we need to observe during external interactions in daily life. This practice
is most important in situations which cause you stress. That is when you will
really be able to see your habitual behaviors, and the type of speech and
physical actions that you manifest on a regular basis.
Since this Part 1 practice is Observational and needs done in the midst of daily
life and stressful situations, it does NOT have to be done around the same time
as Part 2. The two parts are complementary and parts of a unified whole, but
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they are also opposite in certain respects and it is fine to do them at different
times of day -- which is why we are teaching them as two separate practices,
Part 1 and Part 2 of the Second Essential Exercise.
Part 1 has two aspects to it: Observing the inner IMPULSE which leads to saying
or doing something -- but which you may or may not choose to act on -- and the
actual taking of the ACTION itself.
1-1) The impulse to take action; before you take any action in life, there is a
subtle internal “trigger” just before you act. Become aware of when you feel this
inner activation which immediately precedes taking action of any kind, or when
you know you should take action and do not.
This is particularly important in identifying reactive, destructive actions which are

not currently illuminated by our self-awareness. If we observe the moment when
we reactively respond to stressful situations and feel that “trigger” in ourselves to
take an ill-considered action, we can choose not to perform the action.
We will also find the flip side to this: that there are things which our mind knows
we SHOULD do, yet no internal movement takes place and we donʼt take the
action which we know we should take in a situation. By observing our lack of will
power to follow through with what we know to be the right action, our self-
awareness can then trigger our correct action that normally lays dormant.
1-2) The actual taking of action itself; this includes speaking with others, as
well as physical actions and activities. Observe your actual speech or action,
with the same neutrality as if you were observing a stranger. Donʼt let yourself try
to excuse or justify anything you observe. Observe patterns in your speech and
physical actions, whether beneficial or destructive. Note the QUALITY of the
speech and actions; are you proud of these and find they manifest your highest
potential, or are they manifestations of a lower consciousness that you are not
happy with?
* Donʼt try to in any way change the actions to something you are more
comfortable with, at this stage; first you have to observe your actions long
enough, in enough situations, to see your hidden habitual behavior
patterns and how these are affecting your life. Donʼt put your speech and
physical actions on “best behavior” because they are being observed, like
children who act well when an authority is present then run riot when they are not
being watched!
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* Although we are not trying to any way alter our habitual behavior with this
practice, you will find that just the act of observation itself begins to improve the
quality and nature of your speech and physical actions; this is a key principle of
the Buddhist practice of “Mindfulness.”
* The goal of the practice is to be able to maintain this objective awareness of

your speech and actions, in the background throughout the day, not just for five
minutes. However many people find it challenging to observe their actions and
still go about their business, so aim for five minutes to start. Be aware that
Initiates are able to observe their actions for prolonged periods of time, on a
regular basis; it is fundamental for higher spiritual development.

CONTROL AND DIRECTING OF WILL POWER
This second and final part is the primarily active aspect of the Second Essential
Exercise.
Just as the first part integrated the vital practice of Self-Observation for
illuminating our actions, so this second part will integrate other important
meditative elements into this illumination: specifically the use of Observation (of
the natural world), Concentration, and Visualization along with the other aspects
of the exercise.
Remember that Part 2, our active practice in directing our Will can be done at a
different time of day than the receptive practice of observing our Will in Part 1,
which is best done in the midst of daily life. You simply need to perform both
parts every day, but not necessarily around the same time.
Part 2 has two components:

2-1: Taking an action which we know we need to do to improve our lives,
but our will power has been too weak to follow through on until now. Part 1 of
this Second Essential Exercise may have illuminated some things that your mind
knows you should do, but your will has not been activated sufficiently to
accomplish. Pick whatever will make the greatest beneficial impact on your life,
as your action for that day. This can be either a physical activity you have been
neglecting (exercise, yoga or chi kung, doing your taxes, cleaning or fixing things
around your house, etc.) or can be things you need to say to a person
49
(expressions of gratitude, clearing up misunderstandings, setting firm boundaries
in a dysfunctional relationship, etc.)
Pick one vital thing to do for every day. You can pick the thing you will do that
day when you get up in the morning, or you decide in advance what you will do
each day for the coming week (write it down!)
At the End of Practice 2-1:

Do the Energy Field Awareness Practice after you do the thing you have been
avoiding; what effect did this have on your consciousness and energy field? (You
may find strong energy activations from having taken actions you have been
neglecting, and may also find some energetic internal blocks start to dissolve.)
2-2: Taking an action that has no significance for daily life, and comes
purely out of our own will forces. This means an action that we are not driven
to in any way by external circumstances, and must be an action which we choose
completely by ourselves. This develops a different aspect of the will than 2-1
above does; it develops abilities that are applied at higher stages of spiritual
initiation work.
a) Do the Action at a precise time every day, set in advance. You may for
example say that you will do it exactly at 8 pm every day, if you know that is the
time that you will be able to do it. The key thing is that the time is set in advance,
and it is done at the same time every day for this week of Class 2 practice.
b) Choose something very simple; it only needs to take a moment. It can be
virtually anything, but it must be something original that you think of yourself, it
cannot be given to you by specifically by someone else. General categories of
things you could do include moving a particular object in your environment; an
example would be the person who chose to turn their shoes which they kept
under the bed around, so they faced the opposite direction. Another general
category would be to visualize or draw a particular form, such as a shape; one
person chose to draw a triangle in the air with their finger at a particular time, for
example. You can visualize a particular object or shape at that moment of the
day, or draw it in the air with your finger at that time. It simply needs to be
something very simple and easy, which just takes a moment, and which you are
not drawn to do by anything in your external life -- it needs to come purely as an
abstract act of will. And again, it must be something that you came up with
yourself, out of your own forces.
This 2-2 exercise is actually the exercise that Steiner gave for his “Second Basic
Exercise.” Sometimes people will ask: why waste time on this, as it appears to
serve no purpose to do the particular thing chosen every day. However that is
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part of the reason for the practice: there is no external physical world purpose for
the thing you are doing, you have chosen it purely as an exercise for your own
will power, and you follow through based only on your own decision and not on
any external pressure or need to do it. This develops a power in us, which is
different from the abilities we generate from the other parts of the Second
Essential Exercise.
At the end of practice 2-2:

Do the EFAP and see how taking this purely self-willed action affected your
consciousness and energy. Then observe yourself internally and see if you can
detect the energy movement which Rudolf Steiner indicated occurs at the end of
this practice: an internal feeling of having the power to accomplish things
and to take action, which streams like water over the upper part of the body
and into the heart.
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THE ENLIGHTENED WILL:
BALANCING DETACHMENT AND ACTION
The Will forces are essential for human life - they are what allow us to take action
and engage fully with life.
However the path of spiritual development relies on a type of detachment, in

which we do not identify our true self with the personality of our present lifetime.
Detachment also manifests in not being emotionally attached or dependent on
specific outcomes in life; to not have wild swings between elation over having
desires fulfilled or massive depression when desires are crushed and denied
(this swing is well known today in psychology as manic-depression, however
every human being is subject to this swing to some extent unless they are very
spiritually advanced).
This detachment, if developed by itself, can easily lead to no longer fully

exercising our will power in the world, to instead become a renunciate -- at its
most extreme, to turn away from human incarnation entirely, focus only on the
Divine and cease taking action / generating karma in the physical world.
The Key Spiritual Lesson here, known to all great traditions, is that we have to
develop and hold in balance the two complementary aspects of Detachment and
Action in the World at the same time (balancing two complementary aspects is a
general principle which manifests in many ways in Initiation, although we are only
concerned with its manifestation here regarding Detachment and Will). By
developing true Detachment, we are no longer the slave of pain and pleasure,
extremes of joy and sorrow, based on what life does or does not bring to us. We
become the Master of our internal life and consciousness (the true meaning of a
Spiritual “Master.”) This must be accompanied by full development of the Will
power, of self-willed Action in the world.
These two come together to form a synthesis, which may be called “Detached
Action” or “Detached Dynamism.” This is the lesson of the Bhagavad Gita, where
Krishna teaches Arjuna that he must act with total energy and commitment to
protect the Dharma, but with no attachment to the final outcome; simply doing the
One Right Action in the moment. This is taught in the Christian tradition within
the saying of Christ to “Be IN the World, but not OF It.”
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Every major tradition engages with this core truth of human existence. Just a few
examples:
On the Rosicrucian Path this is expressed in the principle of “All Knowledge and
Powers Gained on the Path will be put to the Service of Others.”
In Buddhism this is the Bodhisattva Vow: to pledge to continue to reincarnate on

Earth and dedicate oneself to the Service of Others, until all Sentient Beings
attain Enlightenment.
In Hinduism this is service to the Dharma; the Kshatriya (warrior) caste pledges
their lives to defend the Dharma. The great text of the Sanatana Dharma in the
Indian tradition is the Bhagavad Gita, in which Arjuna is schooled by Krishna in
the principles of becoming a Dharma Warrior.
In Japanese tradition, the core principle is honor and “Giri”, which is to unfailingly
perform oneʼs duty regardless of the cost. Giri is sometimes referred to as the
“Burden hardest to Bear.”
In the Western tradition, many of the advanced Initiates (sometimes referred to

as “Masters” in groups like the Theosophists) are known to have had multiple
lifetimes where they were martyred -- tortured and killed -- for serving spiritual
causes against oppressive authorities. This is because at higher levels of
developing Spiritual Consciousness, it becomes clear there is a specific Right
Action in any given situation. The difference between the ordinary person and
the high Initiate is that the ordinary person wavers with a dualistic mind that
thinks about the possible suffering that will come from taking that one right
action, whereas the Initiate with a unified mind does just that one right thing
without internal resistance.
On the path of Initiation, we move beyond intellectual concepts about spiritual
realities into DIRECT EXPERIENCE of these realities (although we must develop
true concepts of spiritual reality on the first steps of the Path, this must become
direct perception of, and interaction with, spiritual realities during later steps).
This includes fundamental realizations about our own nature that become
conscious and fully integrated into our “I AM” Spirit Core:
a) The direct experience that our core nature is the same as the Godhead, the
ONE which is the unity of all Being.
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b) The fully conscious Re-Membering of who we were in previous lifetimes
(called “Reading the Name inscribed on the Stone” in some parts of the Western
Tradition) as a context for every aspect of our current Personality, Relationships,
and Life Circumstances.
c) The knowledge that we are immortal Beings, who will Die in our present life
only to be Reborn and continue our Path of Initiation. This will lead us to
actualizing our unique spiritual Individuality, either more quickly through skillful
means and active consciousness development, or over a longer period of time
through remaining in ignorance and acting unskillfully until the “School of Hard
Knocks” finally wakes us up.
With these higher consciousness realizations integrated into our core selves, we
then reach the levels of the Initiates who choose the Right Action in any situation,
even if it means intense suffering and death in the current lifetime. The Initiate
understands that even the worst and most painful death in one lifetime is, in a
larger context of repeated Earthly lives, no different than a child going to bed
unhappy one night -- they will wake up the next morning, and their life will
continue with the previous unhappiness forgotten in time. Initiates also know that
taking the Right Action -- regardless of consequences -- develops powerful
spiritual forces in a person, which greatly accelerates their spiritual development
in future incarnations.
Our second essential exercise, then, is the foundation of developing this ability of
taking Right Action in our life while remaining Detached from emotional
investment in a particular outcome of the Action. We take the action because it is
the right thing to do.
The Japanese tradition has a wonderful teaching story, in which a General

speaks to an Initiate before a great battle, where life and death hangs in the
balance, and the General is caught in his own dualistic mind. He attained
enlightenment from the counsel of the Initiate: “Strip Away the Duality, and Leave
the One Sword Straight Against the Sky.” There is only one thing to do. Do it
with a unified mind and full commitment, with no attachment to outcome.
A NOTE ON RIGHT ACTION:

“Right Action” is one part of the ʻ8-fold Pathʼ of Buddhism; these 8 exercises are
understood by the Rosicrucians to particularly develop the Throat Chakra. This
is related to the principle we described in Class 1 wherein each Chakra has a
certain number of Lotus Petals, half of which are already developed and half of
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which we develop now through Initiation Practices. The Throat Chakra is the 16-
petal Lotus, so there are 8 practices which develop the Throat Chakra fully: these
are the 8-fold Path of Buddhism, which also appear as 8 exercises in
Rosicrucianism. The Throat Chakra, when developed, becomes a new organ of
spiritual perception, giving us the power to clairvoyantly perceive the thoughts of
other people, and the activities of spiritual beings in creating the “natural laws”
that govern the world around us.
We will go into detail about these 8 exercises in a future online Course.
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PRACTICES FOR CLASS 2:
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
BASIC RECEPTIVE AND ACTIVE PRACTICES

FOR CLASS 2
Our Receptive Practice is the same as for Class 1, whereas our Active Practice is
different (shifting focus from the Head to the Abdomen for Class 2).
I. PREPARATION FOR BOTH EXERCISES:

* Sit comfortably in chair or on floor, as you prefer. Keep your back straight, tuck
the chin in so the back of your head is aligned with your spine - however do not
sit rigidly, relax as much as possible while keeping upright posture.
* When first learning the practices, you can do them in a quiet private spot where
you will not be disturbed, so you can focus entirely on learning the practice. After
you learn them, you can do them either in private or in public during appropriate
moments of the day.
* Relax muscles of your face, neck, shoulders, and body. Let your energy sink
into your abdomen, with deep slow relaxed breaths.
* Eyes closed if you are in a quiet location, however it is fine to do them with the
eyes open in the midst of daily life.
* Take a moment to do the Energy Field Awareness Practice (EFAP) which you
learned in Class 1, before starting the exercise. This will provide you with a
“baseline reading” of how your consciousness and energy field was structured
before you began the exercise, so that you can understand more clearly the
effect of each exercise on you when you do the EFAP after completing each
exercise.
II. RECEPTIVE EXERCISE CLASS 2:

Clearing the Mind by Focusing on the Space between Thoughts
DURATION OF PRACTICE: Minimum of 5 Minutes when first learning the

practice. Once you know it, you may choose to do it for any length of time in the
midst of daily life.
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GUIDELINES:
* Let go of thoughts and set the intention to keep the mind clear.
At first it is quite likely that, even though you donʼt intend to generate any
thoughts, the “Monkey Mind Chatter” will create all kinds of fleeting thoughts.
* Just relax, and observe the Mind; donʼt try to fight against, or in any way resist,
the thoughts that arise. Simply go into a neutral observer consciousness; just
observe when thoughts arise, donʼt focus on them or try to “grasp” them, let them
go and KEEP RETURNING YOUR ATTENTION TO THE QUIET OPEN SPACE
BETWEEN THE THOUGHTS.
* The time of the mind staying clear of random thoughts, through focusing on the
gap between the thoughts, will increase significantly through regular practice of
this very simple Receptive Exercise.
AT THE END OF THE PRACTICE: Let go of the intent to keep the mind clear of
thoughts, but keep the eyes closed.
Place your awareness on your energy field, and observe how this practice has
affected the energy in and around the body, and your state of consciousness.
III. ACTIVE EXERCISE CLASS 2:

Visualizing a Sky-Blue Sun (Sphere of Light) around the Abdomen

GUIDELINES:
* Start by becoming aware of energy directly behind your Navel area. Then take
that energy straight back into to the center of your body, in line with the Navel.
This is an area where our body is used to storing and processing energy.
* Visualize a Point of Sky-Blue Light in the location in the center of the body
directly behind the Navel. Build up the energy and radiance of the Sky-Blue Light
with your Visualization and Concentration. Allow the Point of Sky-Blue Light to
expand outward into a sphere of light, like a Balloon inflating, with the center of
the sphere staying where the original Point was in the body behind the Navel.
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* As you increase the concentration and build up the energy at the Point, it will
expand from a Point to the size of a Marble, then to the size of a Ping Pong Ball,
steadily increasing size until it reaches the size of a Basketball, and then
becomes a large Sphere of Sky-Blue Light completely surrounding the abdomen
from the solar plexus down to the base of the trunk (encompassing the genitals,
perineum, and base of spine area.)
* Increase the Radiance and Vibration of the Sky-Blue Sphere of Light until it
becomes a great SUN radiating Sky-Blue Light all through your abdomen and
into the space around you.
* The practice is most effective is you can both SEE the Sun of Sky-Blue Light
around your abdomen in your Mindʼs Eye, and also FEEL the vibration of the
Sky-Blue Light in and around your entire abdomen. The practice will still work if
you only have one of the two sensations (seeing it or feeling it) however work
toward being able to have both seeing and feeling together.
* Enjoy the feeling of this Sky-Blue Sun illuminating your abdomen and
your Will Power. The light harmonizes and balances the Will and all the
organs in your abdomen.
AT THE END OF THE PRACTICE: Let go of the visualization of the Sky-Blue

Sun in and around your abdomen, but keep your eyes closed.
Place your awareness on your energy field, and observe how this practice has
affected the energy in and around the body, and your state of consciousness.
IV. TAKING THE RECEPTIVE AND ACTIVE PRACTICES INTO DAILY LIFE
Once you feel you understand how to perform each exercise (they are both quite
simple) you do NOT have to perform them in a private secluded place and time,
unless you choose to do so.
You can do either or both of them during appropriate moments of your day: for
example, when riding in a car or other vehicle when you are not the driver (do not
do them while driving!), after eating your lunch, when taking a walk, etc. --
basically whenever you have a quiet five minutes to do the exercise.
Working them into the regular rhythms of your day will make it easier to find the
time to do them -- and will also make your day more enjoyable!
58
THE SECOND ESSENTIAL EXERCISE:
ILLUMINATING OUR WILL POWER
As the name of the Second Essential Exercise indicates, this is for the purpose of
Illuminating our Actions and our Will Power.
* Continue the practices of the First Essential Exercise as you add this exercise
to it. Make observation of your thoughts a regular practice for at least a short
time each day. For the Direction of Thinking practice, may choose to focus on a
different object / subject than you did for the first week of practice.
* Read the earlier section in this handout “Details of Our Second Essential
Exercise” for more background before doing the practice below.

OBSERVING YOUR WILL IMPULSES AND ACTIONS
This first part is the primarily receptive aspect of the Second Essential Exercise.
This practice needs to be done in the midst of life activities, rather than in
solitude in a quiet place. This practice is most important in situations which
cause you stress. That is when you will really be able to see your habitual
behaviours, and the type of speech and physical actions that you manifest on a
regular basis.
Since this Part 1 practice is Observational and needs done in the midst of daily
life and stressful situations, it does NOT have to be done around the same time
as Part 2.

GUIDELINES:
* Take just a moment using the simple Receptive Exercise method to focus on
the space between your thoughts, clear your mind, and establish awareness of
your thoughts. This is just to establish an initial mindfulness for the practice; drop
the focus on the space between the thoughts after a few moments once the mind
is cleared.
59
* Then begin observing your Will forces. At this stage you will find two main
components to observe:
1-1) The impulse to take action; before you take any action in life, there is a
subtle internal “trigger” just before you act. Become aware of when you feel this
inner activation which immediately precedes taking action of any kind, or when
you know you should take action and do not.
This is particularly important in identifying reactive, destructive actions which are

not currently illuminated by our self-awareness. If we observe the moment when
we reactively respond to stressful situations and feel that “trigger” in ourselves to
take an ill-considered action, we can choose not to perform the action.
We will also find the flip side to this: that there are things which our mind knows
we SHOULD do, yet no internal movement takes place and we donʼt take the
action which we know we should take in a situation. By observing our lack of will
power to follow through with what we know to be the right action, our self-
awareness can then trigger our correct action that normally lays dormant.
1-2) The actual taking of action itself; this includes speaking with others, as
well as physical actions and activities. Observe your actual speech or action,
with the same neutrality as if you were observing a stranger. Donʼt let yourself try
to excuse or justify anything you observe. Observe patterns in your speech and
physical actions, whether beneficial or destructive. Note the QUALITY of the
speech and actions; are you proud of these and find they manifest your highest
potential, or are they manifestations of a lower consciousness that you are not
happy with?
* Donʼt try to in any way change the actions to something you are more
comfortable with, at this stage; first you have to observe your actions long
enough, in enough situations, to see your hidden habitual behavior
patterns and how these are affecting your life.
Donʼt put your speech and physical actions on “best behavior” because they are
being observed, like children who act well when an authority is present then run
riot when they are not being watched!
* Remember to check in with Energy Field Awareness Practice after you observe
yourself taking a beneficial or detrimental action - how has the type and quality of
action you performed affected your consciousness and energy field?
60
CONTROL AND DIRECTING OF WILL POWER
This second and final part is the primarily active aspect of the Second Essential
Exercise.
Remember that Part 2, our active practice in directing our Will can be done at a
different time of day than the receptive practice of observing our Will in Part 1,
which is best done in the midst of daily life. You simply need to perform both
parts every day, but not necessarily around the same time.
Part 2 has two components:
2-1: Taking an action which we know we need to do to improve our lives,

but our will power has been too weak to follow through on until now. Part 1 of
this Second Essential Exercise may have illuminated some things that your mind
knows you should do, but your will has not been activated sufficiently to
accomplish. Pick whatever will make the greatest beneficial impact on your life,
as your action for that day. This can be either a physical activity you have been
neglecting (exercise, yoga or chi kung, doing your taxes, cleaning or fixing things
around your house, etc.) or can be things you need to say to a person
(expressions of gratitude, clearing up misunderstandings, setting firm boundaries
in a dysfunctional relationship, etc.) Pick one vital thing to do for every day. You
can pick the thing you will do that day when you get up in the morning, or you
decide in advance what you will do each day for the coming week (write it down!)
At the End of Practice 2-1:

Do the Energy Field Awareness Practice after you do the thing you have been
avoiding; what effect did this have on your consciousness and energy field? (You
may find strong energy activations from having taken actions you have been
neglecting, and may also find some energetic internal blocks start to dissolve.)
2-2: Taking an action that has no significance for daily life, and comes
purely out of our own will forces. This means an action that we are not driven
to in any way by external circumstances, and must be an action which we choose
completely by ourselves. This develops a different aspect of the will than 2-1
above does; it develops abilities that are applied at higher stages of spiritual
initiation work.
a) Do the Action at a precise time every day, set in advance. You may for
example say that you will do it exactly at 8 pm every day, if you know that is the
61
time that you will be able to do it. The key thing is that the time is set in
advance, and it is done at the same time every day for this week of Class 2
practice.
b) Choose something very simple; it only needs to take a moment. It can be

virtually anything, but it must be something original that you think of yourself, it
cannot be given to you by specifically by someone else.
General categories of things you could do include moving a particular object in

your environment; an example would be the person who chose to turn their
shoes which they kept under the bed around, so they faced the opposite
direction.
Another general category would be to visualize or draw a particular form, such as

a shape; one person chose to draw a triangle in the air with their finger at a
particular time, for example. You can visualize a particular object or shape at that
moment of the day, or draw it in the air with your finger at that time. It simply
needs to be something very simple and easy, which just takes a moment, and
which you are not drawn to do by anything in your external life -- it needs to come
purely as an abstract act of will. And again, it must be something that you came
up with yourself, out of your own forces.
At the end of practice 2-2:

Do the EFAP and see how taking this purely self-willed action affected your
consciousness and energy. Then observe yourself internally and see if you can
detect the energy movement which Rudolf Steiner indicated occurs at the end of
this practice: an internal feeling of having the power to accomplish things
and to take action, which streams like water over the upper part of the body
and into the heart. [Note: Steiner rarely mentions activities in the lower part of
the body and energy system in relation to these exercises. In actuality all
activities involving Will Power and Actions will activate the energy centers in the
abdomen; be attentive to energy activations and movements in the lower part of
the body whenever you exercise Will Power.]
62
SUMMARY OF THE PRACTICES FOR CLASS 2
Remember that there are numerous benefits to keeping a log where you write
down the results of your meditation every day, and any significant inspirations /
realizations that occur during your practices!
RECEPTIVE EXERCISES: TO BE DONE IN THE MIDST OF DAILY LIFE
1) Do the Basic Receptive Exercise, creating a clear mind state by focusing

on the space between thoughts. Do EFAP to observe effect on your
consciousness and energy field.
2) Continue in the background the Observation of your thoughts and their

patterns /qualities which you began in week 1 with the First Essential Exercise.
Do EFAP.
3) Add in the Observation practice for the Second Essential Exercise. Observe
your impulses to speak or to take physical actions (and whether or not you
act on these impulses). Also observe your actual behavior patterns (the
actual things you say and do in daily life) and their qualities / effects on your life.
Do EFAP.
All three of these are very simple aspects of Mindfulness practice.
ACTIVE EXERCISES: TO BE DONE AS MEDITATIVE PRACTICES
1) Visualizing a Blue Sun in the Abdomen, Balancing and Harmonizing the

Will Centers of the Body. (This can be done either in a set meditation time, or in
the midst of other activities in daily life.) Do EFAP at end of practice. (This is the
Class 2 Active Exercise.)
2) Continue to spend a few minutes a day on the First Essential Exercise of

controlling and directing your thinking power, using a simple household
item as an object of a linear series of thoughts. Do EFAP at end of Practice, see
if you observe the internal energy movement described by Steiner or not.
3) Choose each day a particular thing to do, or conversation to have with a

person, which will greatly improve your life but which you have neglected up
63
until now. Do EFAP at the end of the activity. (This is part 1 of the Active practice
for the Second Essential Exercise.)
TIME REQUIRED: For You to Decide.
4) Choose a simple action to take each day at the same time, which requires
almost no time to perform, and which there is no reason to do for any
external physical world reason. It must be an action which you chose for
yourself. Do EFAP after you do the practice, see if you observe the internal
energy movement described by Steiner or not. (This is part 2 of the Active
practice part 2 for the Second Essential Exercise.)
TIME REQUIRED: 1 Minute.
The powers developed by these types of spiritual practices are much more
efficiently activated by a little time spent on the practice every day, than
they are by devoting long periods of time to a practice on an irregular basis
- this is an absolutely vital principle to understand and follow.
64

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SPIRITUAL SCIENCE:

ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS & PRACTICES

with Dr. Robert J. Gilbert

All contents copyright 2013 by the Vesica Institute.

Please do not copy or distribute this material.

STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BEING PART 1:

Different Systems of Subtle Bodies Enable Different

A Deeper Note on the Sacred Geometry of Multiple Perspectives:

Indian System of 5 Sheaths (Koshas)!! ! ! ! ! ! p. 12

Common Western System of 7 Bodies! ! ! ! ! ! p. 14

Rosicrucian System of 4 Bodies and 7 Bodies! ! ! ! ! p. 15

Daskalosʼ System of 3 Bodies! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 16

STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BEING PART 2:

The Kabbalistic Key to Anchor Points in the Subtle Bodies:! ! ! ! p. 19

The 1 Anchor Point of the “I Am” Spirit Core ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 21

The 3 Anchor Points of the Astral Body (the “Soul”)! ! ! ! ! p. 22

The 7 Anchor Points of the Etheric Life Body! ! ! ! ! ! p. 27

The 12 Anchor Points of the Physical Body! ! ! ! ! ! p. 32

Self-Observation: Awakening Our Spirit Core! ! ! ! ! ! p. 38

Checking-In: Experiences from the First Class Meditations! ! ! ! p. 40

Basic Receptive & Active Practices for Class 2! ! ! ! ! ! p. 43

Rudolf Steinerʼs “Second Basic Exercise”! ! ! ! ! ! p. 45

Details of Our Second Essential Exercise: Illuminating Our Will Power! ! p. 47

The Enlightened Will: Balancing Detachment and Action! ! ! ! p. 52

PRACTICES FOR CLASS 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Class 2 Basic Receptive and Active Practices! ! ! ! ! ! p. 56

The Second Essential Exercise: Illuminating our Will Power! ! ! ! p. 59

Summary of the Practices for Class 2! ! ! ! ! ! ! p. 63

1) The Indian tradition is a key influence on Eastern traditions, yet it also is a

3) The Indian tradition has an unbroken lineage of accumulated knowledge

5) The Rosicrucian tradition -- “Rosicrucian” as understood from the early

6) The foundation of modern Spiritual Science can be found in the Rosicrucian

7) True Rosicrucianism is built on the principle of the modern Independent Path

AN EXAMPLE FROM THE EGYPTIAN MYSTERIES

SEEING SPIRITUAL REALITIES FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

As we have already found in our discussion of Receptive vs. Active meditative

The 12 as a Divine Archetype, a “Thoughtform in the Mind of God”, is most

A Central Sphere can be surrounded by exactly 12 Spheres of equal size, which

One well-known example is the Indian Vedanta system of 5 Koshas, (sheaths, or

1. Anandamaya Kosha: Sheath of Bliss. This is the divine bliss which

2. Vijnanamaya Kosha: Sheath of Wisdom. This is a higher consciousness

3. Manomaya Kosha: Sheath of Mind. This is the consciousness body which

1. Divine Body. The highest body. In some teachings it is presented as the

2. Spiritual Body: Body of advanced spiritual functions and higher

5. Emotional Body / Astral Body: Emotional functions of consciousness.

3. ETHERIC BODY: This is the body of Life Energy. It is also presented as

Daskalosʼ teachings provide a valuable complement to the work of Rudolf Steiner

The Three Bodies of Daskalosʼ system are:

Another interesting facet of Daskalosʼ model is how he presents the energy

Noetic Body: The Chakras appear as “Stars”, Brilliant Spheres of Light.

These Energy Centers allow us to access the powers inherent in each

At other times we will refer to these Energy Centers as “Grail Points” to

Most Kabbalistic writers interpret the 3, 7, 12 in terms of various general

ETHERIC BODY: 7 Anchor Points, known by the Indian tradition as the 7

PHYSICAL BODY: 12 Anchor Points, shown in the West as 12 levels of the

Interestingly, Steiner never mentions in his work that he is giving the

This Anchor point in a human being is a Microcosmic appearance of the same

The request for Initiation to a spiritual master classically required a

A variant on this is the Rosicrucian practice to take a particular question into

In advanced work to stabilize a thoughtform (which some groups call an

1. The First chakra is called Muladhara, meaning literally “Base Support.” It

2. The Second chakra is called Svadhishthana, meaning literally “Dwelling

3. The Third chakra is called Manipura, meaning literally “Dwelling Place of

4. The Fourth chakra is called Anahata, which means “Endless”,