ent is feeble in all that appertains
to a perception of the psycho-spiritual world; and he will therefore need
all the inner energy he can summon in order, while meditating, to hold
firm the symbols or other concepts which he has built up from the impulses
of the sense-world. Should he, however, desire to attain to an actual
observation of the higher world, he will not alone have to maintain his
hold on these, he must also, after having done this, be able to remain in
a condition in which not only no influences of the outer sense-world can
affect the soul, but in which also the images above characterized shall
have been effaced from his consciousness. Only now can that which has been
previously formed by means of meditation enter the plane of his
consciousness. The important point is that there should be at this stage
sufficient soul force to spiritually perceive that which has thus been
formed through meditation, so that it may not elude the observer's
attention, as is always the case if this inner energy is still
insufficiently developed.

That which is here evolved as a psycho-spiritual organism and which should
be comprehended through self-perception, is delicate and subtle. The
disturbing influences of the outer sense-world, however one may try to
exclude them, are nevertheless great. It is not merely a question of those
disturbances to which we are able to pay heed, but far more of those which
in ordinary life are ever eluding our notice. But it is just through the
very nature of man that a transitory condition in this respect becomes
possible. What the soul, in its waking state, was powerless to effect,
owing to the disturbances of the physical world, it is capable of
achieving during sleep. One who gives himself up to serious meditation
will, with the proper attention, become aware of a certain change in his
sleep. He will feel that while sleeping, he is yet not quite asleep, but
that his soul has times when, although asleep, still it is, in a certain
way, active. During these conditions, nature wards off the influences of
the outer world which the waking soul is not yet able to keep away of its
own strength. When, however, the meditation exercises have taken effect,
the soul, during sleep, detaches itself from unconsciousness, and becomes
aware of the psycho-spiritual world. This can happen in two ways: the
person may, while asleep, become aware that is is in another world, or he
may, after awakening, remember t