The Mystery of the Holy Spirit : The truth will out

 

 

Rudolf Steiner, from the lecture "Moral Impulses and Their Physical Manifestations"

     

When we have an impulse to do what is rightly called a good or moral deed, our inner physiognomy is different from what it would be if we had an impulse to do something evil. We have, in a sense, an ugly physiognomy on the inside when we carry out a selfish deed. After all, all moral deeds are basically unselfish, and all immoral ones egotistic. However, in everyday life this moral difference is masked by the fact that people can be very immoral, that is, full of selfish motives, but still follow a conventional code of morality. Of course, this code is not at all their own. Rather, people are stuck in what they were taught since childhood, or in doing things because they are worried about what others will say. However, true morality that lives in the human individuality means that our good deeds originate in our interest in other people. We can develop this interest by feeling within ourselves what others feel and experience. Basically, immorality means that we close ourselves off against the feelings of others and are unsympathetic. To have morally good thoughts is to put yourself in someone else's place; to have morally evil thoughts is to be unable to do so.This can then develop into laws and conventional rules, things people get embarrassed about — or don't. Actions that are, in fact, selfish can be deeply buried beneath conventions. Fundamentally, however, morality cannot be judged on the basis of what peope do; we have to go deeper into the character and nature of human beings to determine the moral value of a person.

Our moral value is expressed in the astral body; its lower part turns a beautiful countenance toward the inside when unselfish deeds and impulses live in us. When selfish and evil impulses live in us, then this part of the astral body turns an ugly countenance toward the inside. Thus, when we can read with spiritual accuracy what is inside a person, we can tell by this physiognomy whether he or she is good or evil, just as we can assess people's other characteristics by their facial expressions. All this is not accessible to our usual consciousness, but it is there nevertheless. It is impossible for dishonesty not to enter deeply into the dishonest person. Now, an out-and-out villain may have complete control over his facial expressions and have the most innocent face you can imagine while he is plotting more villainy; yet, what is in his astral body, in his inner physiognomy and features, he cannot disguise. There he turns into a regular devil the moment his immoral motives appear. On the outside such a villain may seem as innocent as a baby, but inside he looks like a devil; as a pure egoist, he grins diabolically at his own heart. This law applies as much as the natural laws.

Continued:

The Mystery of the Holy Spirit

Source: February 17, 1923. GA 221. Earthly Knowledge and Heavenly Wisdom, pp. 113-116