It should not be expected that what is spiritual can be brought before the eyes, before the senses. It must be experienced inwardly and spiritually.
Interpretation
Spiritual experiences are internal and cannot be fully conveyed through physical senses.
Rudolf Steiner emphasizes that spiritual truths cannot be perceived through mere physical observation. Instead, they must be felt and understood on a deeper, inner level that transcends physical sensations, suggesting that spirituality is a personal, introspective journey rather than something to be externally demonstrated or illustrated.
In practice
In a discussion on meditation, one could reference this quote to emphasize the importance of inner experiences.
In ancient, prehistoric times, the temples of the spirit were outwardly visible, but today, when our life has become so unspiritual, they no longer exist where we can see them with our physical eyes. Yet spiritually they are still present everywhere, and whoever seeks can find them.
Only a person who has passed through the gate of humility can ascend to the heights of the spirit.
Most actions derive not from your own initiative but from your family circumstances, your education, your calling, and so on. You must therefore give up a little time to performing actions which derive from yourself alone. They need not be important; quite insignificant actions fulfill the same purpose.
Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another the most varied opinions can be reconciled - thus one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future is that we should learn to live together and understand one another. If this human fellowship is not achieved, all talk of development is empty.
We will not find the inner strength to evolve to a higher level if we do not inwardly develop this profound feeling that there is something higher than ourselves.
Man only becomes independent of this physical world when he learns to consider the objects around him as symbols. He must, for this reason, seek to acquire a moral relationship to them.
Estrangement shows itself precisely in the elimination of distance between people.
Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.
But every soil becomes finally exhausted, and the ploughshare of evil must always come once more.
When virtue has slept it will arise more vigorous.
No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.
Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don't struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality.
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