CHAPTER I

THE FOUR MODES OF KNOWLEDGE
IN the chapters to which these are a sequel, the Path to the Higher Know- ledge has been traced up to the point of meeting with the two Guardians of the Threshold. The relation in which the soul stands to the different worlds, as gradually it climbs the steps of knowledge will now be described. This comprises what may be called “the teachings of Occult Science.”
Before man enters the Path of the Higher Knowledge, he only knows the first of its four stages. It is the one which
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in ordinary life belongs strictly to the world of the senses. Even in what is called “science,” he has to do only with this first grade of knowledge; for such science only deals with ordinary know- ledge more minutely and in a disciplined way. By means of instruments such as the microscope, the telescope, etc., he makes the senses more effective, and discloses to them what they could not otherwise perceive. But he is still on the same plane of knowledge, whether he sees large things with the naked eye, or observes very small objects and pheno- mena by the aid of a microscope. Also in the application of thought to facts and things, such science still remains in the field of every-day life. Man arranges the objects, describes and compares them, seeks to picture to himself their varia- tions, and so forth. The keenest natur-
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alist does nothing fundamentally, in this respect, beyond bringing to a fine art the methods of investigating every-day life. His knowledge takes a wider range, becomes more complex and more logical, but he does not come one step nearer to any other mode of cognition.
In Occult Science this first stage of knowledge is called the material mode of cognition. This is followed by three higher; and there are yet others further on. They shall be explained here before proceeding further with the description of the Path of Knowledge. Beginning with the ordinary method of scientific cogni- tion, of apprehension through the senses, we shall have to differentiate the following four stages:
1. Material Knowledge.
2, Imaginative Knowledge.
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3. Inspirational, called also “Know- ledge of the nature of Will.”
4. ' Intuitive Knowledge.
The stages that follow these will be spoken of later. We must first be quite clear as to what we are dealing with in these different modes of cognition. In the ordinary “sense knowledge” there are four elements to be noticed: (i) The object which makes an impression on the senses; (2) The image which we form of this object; (3) The idea by which we come to a spiritual comprehension of the object or event; (4) The “Ego” which forms for itself the image and idea based on the impression of the object. Before we make for ourselves an image, a repre- sentation, there must be an object which causes it. We do not form the object, we only perceive it; and on the basis of
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the object is the image formed. As long as we are looking at an object we are dealing with that alone; the moment we turn away, we possess only the image of it. The object is relinquished, but the image remains “fixed” in the memory.
But man cannot stop at the image- making stage, — he must go on to ideas. The distinction between “image” and “idea” is absolutely necessary if we are to be clear at this point. For instance, let us picture to ourselves an object which is circular in form; then turn away, and retain a picture of the circle in the mem- ory. But we have not yet the “concep- tion” of a circle. We only attain this when we say to ourselves: “A circle is a figure in which all points are equi-distant from the centre.” We come to the knowledge of a thing only when we have formed a conception of it. There are
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many circles — small, large, red, blue, and so forth, but there is only one conception “Circle.” This will be more fully dealt with as we proceed; for the present we shall give only an outline of what is neces- sary in order to distinguish the first four steps in knowledge.
The fourth element which comes under consideration in Material cognition is the “ego.” In this is accomplished the union of images and ideas. The ego stores up the image in his memory. If this were not the case, no continuous inner life would be possible. The images of things would remain only so long as the things themselves had some effect on the soul. But the inner life depends upon the link- ing of one perception with another. The ego finds his way in the world to-day because, with certain objects, the images of similar objects of yesterday re-appear.
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It is obvious that the life of the soul would be impossible if we could retain the image of a thing only so long as the thing itself stood before us.
In relation to ideas also, the ego forms the unity. It combines its ideas and in this way makes a survey — arrives at an understanding of the world. This linking up of ideas is what happens w'hen one “forms a judgment.’’ One who has only scattered conceptions does not easily find his way about in the world. All man’s activity depends on his capacity to combine conceptions, that is, to form opinions.
. The Material mode of cognition con- sists in receiving through the senses an impression of things together with repre- sentations of the outer world. Man has the power of perceiving, or “sensibility.’’ The impression received from “outside”
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is also called “sensation.” Therefore in “material cognition ” four elements have to be considered: Sensation, Image, Con- ception, Ego. In the next higher stage of knowledge, the impression made upon the physical senses, the “sensation” falls away. There is no longer any outer sense-object. There remain only three of the factors to which man is accustomed in ordinary knowledge: Image, Concep- tion, and Ego. Ordinary knowledge in a healthy individual creates no image and no idea when there is no object present to the outer senses. The ego is then inactive. He who forms images of sen- sible objects which do not actually exist lives in fantasy.
But the occult student acquires this very faculty of forming images even when no external sense-object is present. Some- thing else in him must take the place of
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external objects. He must be able to call up images when no object affects his senses. Something else must take the place of sensation; and this something is Imagination. At this stage, images ap- pear to the occult student exactly the same as if a sensible object were making an impression upon him ; they are as vivid and true as sense-images, yet they come, not from the “material” world, but from the world of soul and spirit. The senses then remain entirely inactive. It is evident that this faculty of forming pregnant images without sense-impres- sions must first be acquired. This is accomplished through meditation, and through the exercises which have been described elsewhere. ‘ The man confined to the world of sense, lives within the
*See The Way of Initiation^ by Rudolf Steiner, Ph.D, Third Edition. 237 pp. Cloth, crown 8 vo. 3/10 post free.
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limits of a sphere of images which have gained access to him through the senses. But the imaginative man has a world of images which he has drawn from a higher source.
A very careful training is necessary in order to distinguish delusion from reality in this higher world of images. When such images first enter a man’s mind he is inclined to say : “Ah ! that is only fancy ; a mere out-flow of my imagination.” This is quite comprehensible, for man is accustomed at present to call that alone “real” which, without his own effort, he finds on the sure foundation of the evi- dence of his senses. And he must first accustom himself to accept as “real” things which are caused in quite another way.
In this matter he cannot be too careful not to fall into fantasy. The
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capacity to decide, in these higher regions, what is “real” and what is “illusion,” can only come by experience. And this experience must be gained in a quiet, patient inner life. We must be quite prepared to find that at first Illusion plays sorry tricks with us. EveryAvhere lurks the possibility that images will present themselves which are the result of some delusion of the outer senses, or of abnor- mal life. All such possibilities must first be done away with. We must first com- pletely arrest the flow of fancy ; then alone can we achieve Imagination. When a man has come so far, it will be clear to him that the world which he has thus entered is not only just as real as the world of sense, but much more so.
In the third stage of knowledge, images no longer appear. We have now to deal only with the Conception and the ego.
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Whereas in the second stage there was still a world of images around us, remind- ing us of the moment at which a vivid memory conjures up instantaneously im- pressions from the outer world, without ourselves receiving such impressions, — in the third stage even such images are ab- sent. Man lives altogether in a spirit- ual world. Those accustomed to confine themselves to the senses will be tempted to believe this world to be pale and colourless. But this is far from being the case. Neither has the image- world of the second stage anything pale or shadowy about it; though this is what the images of memory for the most part are, when the physical objects have vanished. But the pictvires of the Imagination have a vivacity and a comprehensiveness which far surpass those of the shadowy memory -pictures of the sensible world.
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and even the gaudy and ever-changing physical world itself. Even this is a mere shadow beside the realm of Imagi- nation.
But how shall we describe the world of the third stage of knowledge? Nothing in the world of sense can give any idea of its wealth and luxuriance. That which was Sensation in the first stage, Imagi- nation in the second, here becomes “In- spiration.” Inspiration g^ves the impres- sion, and the ego forms the idea. If anything at all in the realm of sense can be compared with this world, it is that region opened up to us by the sense of hearing, the world of tones. But now we have to do, not with the tones of earthly music, but with a purely spiritual cadence. One begins to “hear” what is going on at the heart of things. The stone, the plant, and so forth, become
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“spiritual words.” The world begins to express its true nature to the soul. It sounds grotesque, but it is literally true, that at this stage of knowledge one “hears” in spirit the growing of the grass. The form of the crystal is perceived as sound; the opening blossom “speaks” to man. The inspired man is able to realise the inner nature of things ; his soul beholds the resurrection of all things in a new form. He speaks a language which be- longs to another world, but which alone can make the every-day world compre- hensible.
Lastly, in the fourth stage of knowledge Inspiration also ceases. Of the several factors which man is accustomed to ob- serve in every-day knowledge, the ego alone remains to be considered. The attainment of this stage by the occult student is marked by a very definite
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inner experience. This experience mani- fests itself in the feeling that he no longer stands outside the things and occurrences which he recognises, but is within them. Images are not objects, but only the expression of them. Again, what Inspi- ration gives is not an object, but only an utterance of it. For that which now lives within the soul is verily the object itself. The ego has poured itself forth over all beings; it has merged itself in them. The life of things in the soul is now Intuition; and when we say of Intuition that “through it man glides into all things,” this is literally true.
In ordinary life man has but one “ Intui- tion,”— that is, of the ego itself. For the ego can in no way be perceived from with- out; it can only be experienced within. A simple consideration will make this fact clear, and it is one which psychologists
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have not used so forcibly as might be wished. Insignificant as it may appear, to those who understand it fully it is of the most far-reaching significance. It is as follows: in the outer world the same name may be applied by all to the same thing. Any one may call a table a “table”; a tvdip, a “tulip”; or address Mr. Miller as “Mr. Miller.” But there is one word which each can apply to him- self alone: it is the word “I.” No other person can say “ I ” to me. To every one else I am “you,” just as every one else is a “you” to me. Only of myself can I say “I.” And this is because each man lives, not outside, but within the “I.” And in the same way, in Intuitive Cogni- tion, does a man live in all things. This perception of the ego is the type of all intuitive knowledge. And in order thus to enter into all things, we must clearly
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begin by coming out of our self. We must become “selfless” before we can blend the self, the ego, with another being.
Meditation and Concentration form the sure method by which this stage, as the earlier ones, may be reached. But it is essential that these be practised in a quiet and patient way. He who imagines that he can violently and forcibly climb into the higher worlds is greatly mistaken. One 'who so believed would also make the mistake of expecting the realities of the higher regions to approach him in the same way as those of the sensible world. Rich and vivid as are the worlds to which man may climb, they are rare and subtle, while the world of sense is coarse and rude. The most important thing to be learned is that we must accustom our- selves to regard as “real” something quite other than that which we so desig-
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nate in the realm of sense. And this is not altogether easy. Herein lies the reason why so many who would fain tread the Occult Path are frightened away at the first steps. They expect to encounter things like tables and chairs, and find, instead of these, “spirits.” And because “spirits” are not like tables and chairs, they take them for “imagin- ings.” The fault lies only in their un- familiarity with them. We must first acquire the right attitude towards the spiritual world; then shall we not only behold that which is spiritual, but also recognise it. And a great part of occult training is concerned with this right recog- nition and valuation of the spiritual.