Before Daniel Nicol Dunlop met Dr. Steiner (and Dr. Stein), he had given some lectures and published some articles, amongst which Initiation is to be found. He gave this lecture before the Theosophical Society in December 1915. Curiously, after meeting with Dr. Steiner in 1922, he would not speak or publish again on the subject of spiritual matter.
That D.N. Dunlop had intimate knowledge of the content he spoke about is reflected in this lecture. It is, from this point of view, of high interest to everyone striving for spiritual development. For now, however, we would like to emphasize a different aspect of the lecture: Initiation can give us a sense of Daniel Dunlop’s inner maturity and spiritual realism in which he lived. It seems to us that his attitude is foremost very down-to-earth.
Most important to D.N. Dunlop appears to be self-consciousness, or self-knowledge. And from this follows the necessity of self-development. As he writes: “His [the esoteric student’s] effort, therefore, is not so much to know as to become, and herein lies the tremendous import of the Delphic inscription: ‘Know thyself,’ which is the key-note of all true esoteric development, for the true esoteric student understands that self-knowledge can be attained only through self-development in the highest possible sense of the term […].”
To pursue self-development, D.N. Dunlop gives very unemotional advice: “Spiritual forces, for the majority of humanity, can only be awakened by introspective meditation, by control of thought, by the ability to concentrate the mind upon abstract conceptions to the exclusion of irrelevant ideas. This has been set forth in detail, step by step, by all the wise teachers of man; its repetition becomes wearisome, but the purifying virtues can be acquired in no other way.“ In other words, short cuts that avoid purifying ones virtues in one way or another – for example mystical or half-conscious visions – should be avoided if one aims towards a healthy development of spiritual forces; hard work is imperative.
Both examples reflect the calm, matter-of-factly attitude towards spiritualism that D.N. Dunlop has to offer in this lecture. It is this posture that is needed in every discipline, but especially in matters of spiritualism.
Please find his lecture here.