” ‘Learn to separate the fine from the coarse’ — this principle from the ‘Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus’ refers to the work of the human factory, and if a man learns to ‘separate the fine from the coarse,’ that is, if he brings the production of the fine ‘hydrogens’ to its possible maximum, he will by this very fact create for himself the possibility of an inner growth which can be brought about by no other means. Inner growth, the growth of the inner bodies of man, the astral, the mental, and so on, is a material process completely analogous to the growth of the physical body. In order to grow, a child must have good food, his organism must be in a healthy condition to prepare from this food the material necessary for the growth of the tissues. The same thing is necessary for the growth of the ‘astral body’; out of the various kinds of food entering it, the organism must produce the substances necessary for the growth of the ‘astral body.’ Moreover, the ‘astral body’ requires for its growth the same substances as those necessary to maintain the physical body, only in much greater quantities. If the physical organism begins to produce a sufficient quantity of these fine substances and the ‘astral body’ within it becomes formed, this astral organism will require for its MAINTENANCE less of these substances than it required during its growth. The surplus from these substances can then be used for the formation and growth of the ‘mental body’ which will grow with the help of the same substances that feed the ‘astral body,’ but of course the growth of the ‘mental body’ will require more of these substances than the growth and feeding of the ‘astral body.’ The surplus of the substances left over from the feeding of the ‘mental body’ will go to the growth of the fourth body. But in all cases the surplus will have to be very large. All the fine substances necessary for the growth and feeding of the higher bodies must be produced within the physical organism, and the physical organism is able to produce them provided the human factory is working properly and economically. Fragments: Nine

“All the substances necessary for the MAINTENANCE of the life of the organism, for psychic work, for the higher functions of consciousness and the growth of the higher bodies, are produced by the organism from the food which enters it from outside Fragments: Nine

“For its normal existence the organism must receive all three kinds of food, that is, physical food, air, and impressions The organism cannot exist on one or even on two kinds of food, all three are required But the relation of these foods to one another and their significance for the organism is not the same The organism can exist for a comparatively long time without a supply of fresh physical food Cases of starvation are known lasting for over sixty days, when the organism lost none of its vitality and recovered very quickly as soon as it began to take food Of course starvation of this kind cannot be considered as complete, since in all cases of such artificial starvation people have taken water Nevertheless, even without water a man can live without food for several days Without air he can exist only for a few minutes, not more than two or three, as a rule a man dies after being four minutes without air Without impressions a man cannot live a single moment If the flow of impressions were to be stopped in some way or if the organism were deprived of its capacity for receiving impressions, it would immediately die. The flow of impressions coming to us from outside is like a driving belt communicating motion to us. The principal motor for us is nature, the surrounding world. Nature transmits to us through our impressions the energy by which we live and move and have our being If the inflow of this energy is arrested, our machine will immediately stop working Thus, of the three kinds of food the most important for us is impressions, although it stands to reason that a man cannot exist for long on impressions alone Impressions and air enable a man to exist a little longer Impressions, air, and physical food enable the organism to live to the end of its normal term of life and to produce the substances necessary not only for the MAINTENANCE of life, but also for the creation and growth of higher bodies. Fragments: Nine