Rudolf Steiner, February 23, 1911, Basel
Automated Translation
Spiritual science, when properly recognized, gives life assurance and strength. How can it be beneficial in life? Many people believe that learning and gaining spiritual knowledge is more of a hindrance than a help to a truly good human life. Why do you actually need so much spiritual knowledge, why do you need to learn so much about the development of the earth and an entire planetary system? If you simply try to search for your higher self within yourself and thereby become a good person, then you are basically also the best theosophist. — Other, more theoretically inspired minds enjoy hearing what a person consists of, to exercise their intellect by seeing how humanity has developed through the various cultural periods, to know regular number periods, and they want to learn such things as soon as possible, preferably to be able to write down the most important teachings in a nutshell and spread them in a kind of catechism.
These two views do not correspond at all to what spiritual science can be for a person and what it becomes for someone who is able to place himself in life in the right way through spiritual science. First of all, it is certainly true that we consist of physical, etheric, astral bodies and I. But if one believes that this is all there is to it, that one can list these, then one is mistaken. One knows nothing but a schema. One only knows something about the human being when one can apply such knowledge to life. But one cannot do that if one is not clear about the fact that it is not just a matter of knowing the names of these four members, but of knowing how these four members are connected in the human being. Whether the etheric body is more or less connected to the physical body in a person, whether the etheric body and the astral body strive towards each other and seek close contact with each other, or whether they are more loosely connected, that is what matters. If we focus our attention on this, it becomes clear that in the course of human development on earth, this relationship between the limbs changes. It was different in the past and will be different in the future than it is today. If we look at the ancient Egyptians in the very early millennia of Egyptian culture, that is, at ourselves in earlier incarnations, we find in this ancient Egyptian a person in whom the connection between the physical, etheric and astral bodies is looser. If we look at present-day man, we find a much more intimate, denser connection. And in the future, this connection will become ever denser and denser. It is only in this context that the passage through the different cultural periods makes sense for us. When we speak of the fact that a person embodies himself so and so often, one can also ask: Why does he embody himself again? We do indeed encounter a different kind of outer human being each time, because the connection of the sheaths is always different. As Chaldeans, we actually had a very different bodily structure than we do today, and in the future we will have still others. Thus we have different experiences because we have different human sheaths.
Now it is a matter of forming correct ideas about how this inner human core, which goes from embodiment to embodiment, actually relates to the one in which we clothe ourselves, to the astral body, the etheric body and the physical body. External science basically only examines the outer shell. It knows nothing of the deeper laws that prevail from incarnation to incarnation. But external science also misunderstands the laws of the outer shell in terms of their actual deeper meaning. We can see this for ourselves when we look at the connections that external science believes in and those it does not believe in. It is quite interesting to note that for a long time science tended to ascribe free will to man. But I have already pointed out that more recent science often denies this free will. It relies on external research. This tells us: Look at the course of external life. For example, statistics can be used to determine how many suicides occur in a particular area. A certain regularity of suicides can be observed. The statistical data show that something like this happens with a certain regularity. There are simply so and so many people doomed to commit suicide. How could one still speak of free will there? One could go much further and could point to actuarial practice. This practice consists of calculating and formulizing how many of so and so many people are still alive after thirty years. So it is numerically determined how many people born today will still be alive after thirty years. Death and life are bound in strict external natural laws.
This has been recognized by external science. But it will be forced to recognize other things as well. It is already being asserted that facts are coming to light that will force people to think spiritually. In general, science is not inclined to accept something new very quickly. It has a peculiar habit in this regard. One can hear great declamations about the fact that in the “Dark Ages” there were people who opposed the discoveries of Copernicus. His teaching had to be established with great effort against the obscurantists of that time. And those who talk most about it do not just behave in this way with regard to spiritual science, but also with regard to such facts of science that force us to seek spiritual laws. For example, a doctor in Berlin established certain numerical relationships in the course of life. This doctor, Wilhelm Fliess, began to make notes about how births were related to deaths in individual families. For example, on a certain day a female personality died in a family. 1428 days before, the first grandchild of this person was born, 1428 days after the death of the second grandchild, so that we have the death of the grandmother and symmetrically forward and backward a grandchild is born. But that's not all. In a period of 7 times 1428 days after the death of this person, a great-grandson is born. So that if you follow this, you always come across very specific numerical relationships; numerical relationships that ultimately determine the connection between deaths and births in a most wonderful way. Fließ has found this out in numerous cases.
But apparently science still does not want to recognize it today, it is still too much against its direction. Even the improvement of health conditions is subject to numerical relationships. The number of deaths from tuberculosis in a given period, compared with the number of deaths decades before, is found to be regulated by certain numbers. The doctors say they have limited the number of cases through hygienic measures. But Fliess proved that this could be calculated according to arithmetic relationships. This is very inconvenient for today's science, but it will be forced to recognize the rule of objective arithmetic. It will again come back to the old Pythagorean theorem: Number is something that rules everything, that moves and lives. While we do our calculating in our souls, the higher spirits have long since done the calculating in order to place themselves in the course of life, which corresponds to the numbers. The Pythagorean theorem: God practises mathematics by allowing life to run its course – seems to be coming into its own again. But on the other hand, this would in turn strengthen that attitude of external science, which leaves the inner life of man out of account of his life's fortunes. If it is arithmetically certain when we must die, if birth and death are so related that they are 7 times 1428 days apart, then our inner life seems to be harnessed into external violent circumstances.
We apparently have to refrain from speaking of special laws that govern our inner selves. But one can certainly cite external reasons that show us that history is not quite right after all. If it is calculated that so and so many suicides are committed or so and so many thefts are perpetrated in a particular place, does that prove that a person must commit a theft? According to the formulas of probability one can calculate the probable length of a person's life. But I do not believe that any person would admit that he must die on the day calculated by arithmetic. Nothing follows for the inner being from these laws of mathematical formulas.
What about it, when Fließ proves that 1428 days elapse between two births and death? Does this prove anything for the inner lawfulness of our ego? It is not so easy to see how the relationship between this inner core of our being and the outer course of life is. How does this fit with the idea that we follow our karma, that we have to follow our inner ego? This is not easy to understand. It can be made clear with the help of an image. It is quite possible that two events, two currents, two facts, which are very much related to each other, proceed independently of each other. Consider the following: if you want to get from here to Zurich, you take the train. But you can see when the train leaves from the timetable, which also contains a lot of numbers. So you are, in a sense, closely connected with the numbers. You feel dependent on the numbers in the timetable in what you think, strive for, and inwardly experience. But isn't it possible, alongside this series of facts, that you can study the timetable, the other one related to the development of your soul, that you want to get on the train? Studying the timetable will never tell you whether you are good or evil, wise or foolish. Just as it is unimportant for the inner workings of our soul which timetable exists, it is equally unimportant for the karma of our lives which numbers result from the calculations made by Fliess. We step into the stream of life, which is governed by laws that have nothing to do with our inner laws other than what we ourselves bring about. We must decide to get on the train. It is equally true that through the inner laws of karma we must determine to step into a stream of life, which is then governed by the laws of arithmetic. Why are all these things being said? Because the spiritual seeker should increasingly develop a feeling that life is complicated, that life is something that cannot be grasped with the most convenient thoughts. Those who think that life can be easily understood by knowing a few sentences from spiritual science are very much mistaken. One must have the will to penetrate deeper and deeper into these connections. One must develop a feeling for the fact that the thoughts according to which the world is structured also apply to the human being. If there were no connection between the external laws and human karma, then the whole of life would fall apart.
This will be demonstrated by two facts. In spiritual science, efforts are made to provide the best possible parables. In a sense, however, the numbers on the timetable are connected with practical life. Even if it has nothing to do with the timetable whether we travel to Zurich at all or not, even if we see no connection at all, the timetable is still connected with human circumstances. People have put it together in such a way that it corresponds to life circumstances in a not altogether unskillful manner. So originally the timetable was nevertheless adapted to human living conditions in general. Something similar is the case for our karma and the stream of our life, which is regulated by it. The beings of the higher hierarchies have also determined the “timetable” according to the numerical relationships that statistics finds when it advances with regular numbers, so that these correspond externally to general human conditions. When he is re-embodied, one person finds life comfortable, while for another it is uncomfortable. This law does not apply to all families in such a way that a grandchild is always born 1428 days before the grandmother's death. But if we consider that 1428 can also be divided by 28 - it is 51 times 28 - we understand the numerical ratio a little better. We will not always get the number 1428 in these calculations, but as a rule, there is a multiple of 28 between the death of any family member and a birth. The multiplying factor may be 13 or 17 or something else, but the number 28 is in it, it is regularly arranged. So we have the opportunity to get on different trains according to the timetable. And so, according to our karma, we have the opportunity to arrange our lives, comfortably or uncomfortably.
I am not just saying this to suggest how complicated these external conditions are, but I would also like to point out that we humans can draw a moral consequence from all such insights. And that is what spiritual science gives us as something so infinitely important. We can say: I stand in this world, I find in this world numerical relationships that show how our outer life is regulated. It has taken long periods of human cultural development to discover this. But how much do we actually know about this regularity? — And here we have to say: infinitely little. Slowly and gradually we have explored some of the divine wisdom. But just when we absorb the most beautiful and important things of wisdom, it urges us to humility. It shows how little we can grasp life with the thoughts we have. This contemplation is then an incentive to strive further for the light.
This moral sense, this awe for the wisdom of the world, is what we can acquire and what makes us better people. And this sense of wisdom we acquire, it comes over us when we realize that this wisdom has been close to us in our intermediate life between death and new birth. When we need to descend to a new earthly existence, we choose which train to board in order to fulfill our karma. Then the decision presents itself to us, and we decide whether to choose this or that family tie, this or that parent. But we would not be able to answer if we were asked now which incarnation would be better for us, whether in this or that family. So we are wiser before our incarnation than in our physical existence, because back then, before our embodiment, we made the right choice. This feeling that we have not become any wiser after incarnation than before cannot give rise to pride in what we have achieved.
Why are we so much wiser before birth, when we can make the right choice? We would not be so much wiser on our own, but in our lives between death and new birth we are imbued with different forces than in the moment when we enter physical existence. When we enter physical existence, we are imbued with the substances of the earthly realms that are around us, with oxygen, nitrogen and so on; we absorb these into our bodily shells. When we discard our physical body, when we pass through the gate of death and live between death and a new birth, we are taken up by the beings of the higher hierarchies. Just as we live here in the different kingdoms, with animals, plants, and minerals, so we live there with the archai, with archangels and angels. We are integrated into their nature, just as we are integrated here into physical substances. Just as these substances assert their laws here, just as iron in the blood pulsates according to its laws, so the entities of the higher hierarchies are active in us between death and new birth, and their wisdom steers us in the right direction in existence. The entities of the higher hierarchies have wisdom within them, just as we have physical substances within us. And it is entirely justified when humility is the moral consequence that comes over us; when we truly realize what a small part of the sublime wisdom of these beings we have absorbed into ourselves in physical life. Between death and new birth we are embedded in the bosom of these entities of the higher hierarchies; we must surrender ourselves to them. To refuse to do so would be the same as wanting to live without absorbing the physical substances hydrogen, oxygen and so on. It would be absurd to want to live without full devotion to the beings of the higher hierarchies.
Those who consider that they must surrender themselves to the beings of the higher hierarchies during the time between death and a new birth will ask themselves: What is the best preparation for that time? — And they will answer: The best preparation is to develop this feeling of devotion to the spiritual world now, between birth and death. — Veneration and devotion will permeate everything we take in when we imbue ourselves with the right feelings in the right way. Humility and devotion to the spiritual world will permeate all our feelings.
When a person begins to think and live in this way, he also finds harmony with the world around him. These thoughts also regulate and harmonize his other perceptions. Many vices of the external world are carried into Theosophy. They do not come from 'Theosophy', but from the fact that people carry them in from outside. Let us imagine a person who has been hardworking and industrious in the outside world, but in such a way that those around him say: It is ambition that makes him industrious, he overdoes things, he ruins his strength, he pays no attention to the fact that this work must have limits. — Now he comes to Theosophy. There he encounters quite different ideas from those he had before. But this general characteristic, which he had outside, he can also carry into theosophy. There he hears, for instance, that a certain study is necessary to advance the soul. Well, so he studies, but he studies like a student who wants to outdo his colleagues. He should learn to exercise moderation in his efforts; he should learn to pay attention to how much he can achieve according to the karmically allotted powers; he should not overdo his theosophical studies. So he may have heard that it is good for spiritual development not to eat meat, and he does not ask himself: Is it also good for my body? He abstains from meat to accelerate his development. But we are taught by Theosophy: First I must investigate whether my karma allows me to follow the highest rules at once. We acquire calm and humble observation of our own karma, our own abilities and powers, when we engage in the right way with what spiritual science can give us. Especially those who are most advanced in occult matters observe the rule of balance most precisely. Sometimes, however, the opposite happens: when external circumstances are opposed to proper training, people want to force themselves, they push towards the set goal, they slave away in spirit to get an immediate answer to a question that arises. The advanced student never does this. He will first realize: This question is present. Then he examines himself: Are you able to get a full answer to the question right now? He says to himself: Wait a moment and see if the beings from the spiritual world will give you this answer. If he has to push and pull, he refrains for the time being. He knows he must wait. He can wait because he is imbued with the eternity of life and because he knows that karma, which he does not disregard, gives everyone what is meant to be theirs. Then at some point he will receive an inner hint and the powers of the spiritual world will reveal the answer to him. Perhaps this happens after years, perhaps only after several incarnations. This characterizes the right attitude: being able to wait, developing patience and equanimity, not rushing into anything.
Those who allow the teachings of spiritual science to take effect on them in the right way will be able to master their feelings and perceptions through these teachings in such a way that they allow such equanimity, such harmony to be observed. With this attitude, we permeate the astral body from the ego in such a way that this astral body absorbs the truths from the spiritual world, if I may use a trivial comparison, like a sponge absorbs the water in which it is immersed. The spirit-knowledge gradually enters into the astral body, and the astral body is permeated by it. We live today in an age where it is necessary and where it is becoming more and more necessary that we imbue the astral body with spiritual wisdom. The times are changing more and more in such a way that the astral body of a person who passes through the gate of death and then enters future incarnations will be immersed in darkness, so that he will no longer be familiar with the spiritual world if he is not imbued with spiritual knowledge. But when he is imbued with the spiritual knowledge that we are now absorbing, then he will become a source of light, he will illuminate his surroundings. The wisdom that we are absorbing here will become the light in the spiritual world.
If we now ask ourselves why Theosophy has only come today, why it was not here earlier, we have to say: It did not come because there was an ancient wisdom in the past that impressed itself on people without them having to do anything. It was found as a kind of heritage that people had received from the old world. With this inheritance they could penetrate into the spiritual world. It lasted until Christian times. But then man could no longer directly absorb spiritual wisdom. He must first permeate the soul with spiritual-scientific knowledge, and this will then be the power that causes man in the future to enter the spiritual world with the light of his soul. Human conditions change from epoch to epoch.
All occultism knows that there is a wisdom that comes from the old moon and still worked in its remnants until the 15th and 16th centuries, so that when people came into the spiritual world, they saw the light that shone without their doing. Today, however, we can absorb as much of this ancient wisdom, which was handed down as an ancient heritage in humanity, as we want with our soul - it no longer shines after people have passed through the gate of death. Only the wisdom that people absorb through Christ, by saying, “Not I, but the Christ in me,” only this wisdom will be a shining light for the future passage of man through the gate of death. So we absorb the Christ-centered spiritual science in order to have a source of light in the astral body when we pass through the gate of death.
But when we take in this Christ-imbued spiritual knowledge, when we permeate our astral body with it, then it does not remain mere wisdom; it permeates our feelings. We learn what happened on the old Saturn, on the old Sun and the old Moon, and what the task of the Earth is. If you read into the descriptions given in my 'Occult Science', you will feel that the description of Saturn has a completely different tone than the descriptions of the other planetary conditions. When reading about the Saturn condition, you can feel how the circumstances are described in a certain harshness. You can feel this in your soul, and that is necessary. You can feel the existence of the sun as if there were blossoming, sprouting life. You can feel the description of the moon as if a certain melancholy, gloomy trait runs through the multitude of concepts given there. A sensitive person can perceive this down to the sense of taste, down to the tongue.
Fools will say: the descriptions are uneven, the style is not fixed. But we should know that this is necessary, and for what reason. We need to know why a melody of three particular notes is necessary, which must sound from the words, and when we know it, we can also transform it into feelings and send the feelings out into the world. The feelings that we ignite within us in this way are transformed. What is taken up into the astral body as wisdom is transformed into a voluntary surrender to world conditions, and this then takes hold of our etheric body. If we are wise, we prepare the way. The forces with which we descend into the next incarnations shape and permeate the etheric body. If we have imbued our ether body with true, right devotion, and it is then dissolved into the general cosmic ether, we have given the universe an ether body imbued with devotion that benefits the whole world. But if we are unpious, materialistic, then we discard an etheric body that has a dispersing, destructive effect when it is to be dissolved in the general world ether. To the extent that we are wise, we serve ourselves directly, but indirectly we also serve the world. To the extent that we are pious, we serve the world directly, because our piety is shared with the whole world. And spiritual science can give not only wisdom and piety, but also certainty and reflection on the life forces of the body. The very awareness of the connection with the spiritual world gives such life forces.
I have mentioned before that Fichte, who stood at the gateway of Theosophy, knew something of these connections. He had such a sense of certainty of life that he could say, when speaking about the nature of man: “I lift my head boldly up to the threatening rocky mountains and to the raging waterfall and to the crashing clouds floating in a sea of fire and say: I am eternal and defy your power! Break down on me all, and you earth and you heaven mingle in wild tumult, and you elements all foam and rage and grind in wild struggle the last solar dust of the body that I call mine – my will alone with its firm plan shall float boldly and coldly over the ruins of the universe. For I have grasped my destiny, and it is more enduring than yours; it is eternal and I am eternal as it, “- assurance of life flows from the consciousness that man walks in the eternal of the spirit. Can a person become weak when he is rooted in the eternal of the spirit? It is spiritual knowledge that pours more and more strength into us.
What comes to us from this power? Wisdom gives the astral body that through which we increasingly overcome the inhibiting forces. Piety regulates the forces and the correct structure of the ether body. But what flows into our body through the fact that we know about our connection with the eternal is the certainty of life, and it communicates itself to us right down to the forces of the physical body. When we possess this, then maya, illusion and deception recede from us. It is an illusion when someone says: our physical body only disintegrates into dust at our death. No. How the physical body was put together, how the person formed it, is not irrelevant. When such security in the eternal permeates this physical body, then we give back to the earth what we have appropriated as security for life. We fortify our planet with what we have acquired during our lifetime. We give our life security to the world through the physical body. In the disintegrating physical body, the disintegrating is only maja. He who follows the physical body through death sees that the degree of life security that man has acquired during life flows into our earth.
Thus, through wisdom, piety and assurance of life, we strengthen that which we as human beings can work out as our best for the whole evolution of our earth in the astral body, in the etheric body and in the physical body. In this way we work on our planet Earth, but we also acquire a feeling for the fact that the human being does not stand alone, isolated, but that what he works out in his soul has value and significance for the whole. And just as no dust particle in the sun does not carry the laws of the universe within it, so no human being does not build and destroy the universe through what he does and does not do. We can give as much to the progressive world process as we take from it, as much as we can crumble away from it by not caring about the development, by not permeating ourselves with piety, by not acquiring a sense of security in life. Through these omissions, we contribute just as much to the destruction of the planet as we build it through the appropriation of wisdom, piety and life security. So we begin to sense what spiritual science can become for us emotionally when it takes hold of the whole person.
Related post: My University of Chicago Years
Source: February 23, 1911
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