Theosophy of the Rosicrucian
GA 99
29 May 1907, Munich
Translated by Mabel Cotterell and Dorothy S. Osmond
V. Man's Communal Life Between Death and a New Birth. Birth into the Physical World.
We have come to the point in our studies where we heard that the human being who is descending from spiritual regions is clothed in an etheric body and has, for a brief moment, a pre-vision of the life that is awaiting him on earth. We have heard of the abnormalities and conditions to which this may give rise. Before proceeding, we will answer a question which may seem of importance to one who turns his spiritual gaze to Devacha: In what sense is there community of life among human beings between death and a new birth? For there is community of life, not only among men on the physical earth but also in the higher worlds. Just as the activities of human beings in the spirit-realm reach down into the physical world, so all the relationships and connections that are established between men on the earth stretch up into the spiritual world.
We will take a concrete example of this, namely the relationship between mother and child. Is there a relationship between them which endures? There is indeed and moreover a much more intimate, much firmer relationship than can ever be established here on earth. Mother-love, to begin with, is a kind of natural-instinct, it has something of an animal-like character. As the child grows up this relationship becomes a moral, ethical spiritual one. When mother and child learn to think together, when they share experiences in common, natural instinct with draws more and more into the background; it has merely provided the opportunity for the forging of that beautiful bond of union which is present in the very highest sense in the mother's love for the child and the child's love for the mother. The mutual understanding and love which unfolds here continues on into the regions of the spiritual world, even although, as the result of the one dying earlier, the other seems for a time to be separated from the dead. After this period has passed, the link that was on earth is equally vital and intimate. The two are together, only all the purely natural, animal instincts must have been outlived. The feelings and thoughts which weave between one soul and another on earth are not hindered in yonder world by the encasements that exist here. Devachan actually assumes a particular appearance and structure as a result of the relationships that are woven here on earth.
Let us take another example. Friendships and affinities are born from the kinship of souls; they continue on into Devachan, and from them the social connections for the next life develop. By establishing connections with souls here, we are therefore working at the form which Devachan receives. We have all of us worked in this way if bonds of love were forged between us and other men; thereby we create something that has significance not only for the earth but which also shapes conditions in Devachan. What happens here as the fruit of love, of friendship, of mutual inner understanding—all these things are building stones of temples in the spiritual region above and men who have this certainty cannot but be inspired by the knowledge that when, here on earth, bonds are forged from soul to soul, this is the foundation of an eternal “Becoming.”
Let us suppose for a moment that on some other physical planet there were beings incapable of mutual sympathy, incapable of forming bonds of love among one another. Such beings would have a very barren Devachan. Only a planet where bonds of love are forged between one being and another can have a Devachan rich in content and variety. A being who is already in Devachan and whose presence, it is true, cannot be experienced by ordinary men, has, according to his stage of development, greater or less consciousness of communion with those who have remained behind on the earth. There are, indeed, means whereby consciousness of these bonds of communion can be intensified. If we send thoughts of love-but not of egotistic love-to the Dead, we strengthen the feeling of community with them.
It is a mistake to assume that the consciousness of the human being in Devachan is dim or shadowy. This is not the case. The degree of consciousness once attained by a man can never be lost, in spite of darkenings which occur during certain periods of transition. The human being in Devachan has, through his spiritual organs, clear consciousness of what is happening in the sphere of the earth. Occultism reveals that the human being in the spiritual world lives together with what is taking place on the earth.
Thus we see that life in Devachan, if viewed in its reality, loses every element of comfortlessness; that the human being, when he ceases to regard it from his earthly, egotistical standpoint, can experience it as a condition of infinite blessedness—even apart from the fact that all freedom from the physical body, freedom from the lower nature in which he is enclosed here, brings with it a feeling of intense relief. The fact that these encasements have fallen away—this in itself brings a feeling of beatitude. Devachan is thus a time of expansion and expression in all directions; there is a richness and an absence of restriction that are never experienced on the earth.
We have heard that on his descent to a new birth, man is clothed with a new etheric body by Beings of a rank similar to that of the Folk-Spirits. This etheric body is not perfectly adapted to the reincarnating human being; still less perfectly adapted is the physical sheath he receives. We will now speak, in broad outline, of the incorporation of the human being into the physical world. Much of the subject baffles any attempt at outer description.
We have heard that in accordance with his qualities, the human being clothes himself with an astral body. Through what is contained in this astral body he is attracted to certain human beings on the earth; through the etheric body, he is drawn to the folk and to the family in the wider sense, into which he is to be reborn. According to the way and manner in which he has developed his astral body, he is drawn to the mother; the essence, the substance, the Organisation of the astral body draws him to the mother. The ego draws him to the father. The ego was present even in ages of remote antiquity, when the soul descended for the first time from the bosom of the Godhead into an earthly body. This ego has developed through many incarnations; the ego, the “I,” of one human being is distinct from the ego of another and at the present stage of evolution gives rise to the force of attraction to the father. The etheric body attracts the human being to the folk, to the family; the astral body attracts him particularly to the mother; the “I” to the father. The whole descent to the new incarnation is guided in accordance with these principles.
It may happen that the astral body is attracted to a mother but that the ego is not attracted to the corresponding father; in such a case the wandering continues until suitable parents are found.
In the present phase of evolution, the “I” represents the element of will, the impulse of perceptivity. In the astral body lie the qualities of phantasy or imagination, of thinking. The latter qualities, therefore, are transmitted by the mother, the former by the father. The individuality who is approaching incarnation, seeks out through his unconscious forces the parents who are to provide the physical body.
What has here been described takes place, in essentials, by about the third week after conception. True, this being who consists of “I,” astral body and etheric body is, from the moment of conception onwards, near the mother who bears within her the fertilised germ-cell; but it works in upon the germ-cell from outside. At about the third week the astral and etheric bodies take hold, as it were, of the germ-cell and now begin to participate in the work on the embryo; up to that time the development of the physical body proceeds without the influence of the astral body and etheric body. From then onwards these bodies participate in the development of the embryo and themselves influence the further elaboration of the human-germ. Therefore what was said about the etheric body holds good still more for the physical body and complete suitability is even less easy to obtain here. These significant facts shed light upon a great deal that happens in the world.
Up to this point we have been speaking of the normal evolution of the average man of modern times; what has been said does not altogether hold good of a man in whom occult development began in a previous incarnation. The higher the stage to which he attained, the earlier does he begin to work upon his own physical body in order to make it more suitable for the mission he has to fulfil on the earth. The later he takes command of the physical germ, the less control he will have over the physical body. The most highly developed Individualities, those who are the guides and leaders of the spiritual life of the earth take command already at the time of conception. Nothing takes place without their collaboration; they direct their physical body right up to the time of their death and begin to prepare the new body directly the first impetus for this is given.
The substances of which the physical body is composed are perpetually changing; after about seven years, every particle has been renewed. The substance is exchanged but the form endures. Between birth and death the substances of the physical body must continually be born anew; they are the ever-changing element. What we develop in such a way that death has no power over it, is preserved and builds up a new organism.
The Initiate performs consciously, between death and a new birth, what the average human being performs unconsciously between birth and death; the Initiate consciously builds up his new physical body. For him, therefore, birth amounts to no more than an outstanding event in his existence. He exchanges the substances only once, but then fundamentally. Hence there is considerable similarity of stature and form in such Individualities from one incarnation to another, whereas in those who are but little developed there is no similarity of form whatever in their successive incarnations. The higher the development of a man, the greater is the similarity in two successive incarnations; this is clearly perceptible to clairvoyant sight. There is a definite phrase for indicating this higher stage of development; it is said that such a man is not born in a different body, any more than it is said of the average human being that he receives a new body every seven years. Of a Master it is said: he is born in the same body; he uses it for hundreds, even thousands of years. This is the case with the vast majority of leading Individualities. An exception is formed by certain Masters who have their own special mission; with them the physical body remains, so that death does not occur for them at all. These are the Masters whose task it is to watch over and bring about the transition from one race to another.
Two other questions arise at this point, namely, that of the duration of the sojourn in the spiritual worlds, and that of the sex in consecutive incarnations.
Occult investigation reveals that the human being returns to incarnation within an average period of from 1,000 to 1,300 years. The reason for this is that the human being may find the face of the earth changed on his return and therefore be able to have new experiences. The changes on the earth are closely connected with certain constellations of the stars. This is a most significant fact. At the beginning of spring the sun rises in a certain zodiacal constellation. The sun began to rise in the constellation of Aries (the Ram) 800 years before Christ; before that epoch it rose in the adjacent constellation of Taurus (the Bull). About 2,600 years are required for the passage through one constellation. The circuit through the whole twelve constellations is known in occultism as a Cosmic Year.
The peoples of antiquity were deeply sensible of what is connected with this passage through the zodiac. With feelings of awe and reverence they said: When the sun rises in spring, nature is renewed after her winter repose; nature is awakened from deep sleep by the divine rays of the vernal sun. And they connected this young, fresh power of spring with the constellation from which the sun was shining. They said: This constellation is the bestower of the sun with its new vigour, it is the bestower of the new, divinely creative power. And so the Lamb was regarded as the benefactor of humanity by men who lived in an epoch now lying 2,000 years behind us. All the sagas and legends concerning the Lamb originated in that age. Conceptions of the Godhead were associated with this symbol. During the early centuries of our era, the Redeemer Himself, Christ Jesus, was depicted by the symbol of the Cross and underneath it the Lamb. Not until; the sixth century A.D. was the Redeemer portrayed on the Cross.
This is the origin, too, of the well-known myth of Jason and the quest of the Golden Fleece.
In the epoch preceding 800 B.C. the sun was passing through the constellation of Taurus; in Egypt we find the veneration of Apis the Bull, in Persia the veneration of the Mithras Bull. Earlier still, the sun was passing through the constellation of Gemini, the Twins; in Indian and Germanic mythology we find definite indication of the Twins; the twin goats drawing the chariot of the God Donar are a last remnant of this. Then, finally, we come back to the epoch of Cancer which brings us near to the time of the Atlantean Flood. An ancient culture passed away and a new culture arose. This was designated by a particular occult sign, the vortex, which is the symbol of Cancer and to be found in every calendar.
Thus the peoples have always had a clear consciousness of the fact that what proceeds in the heavens runs parallel with the changes taking place on the earth beneath. When the sun has completed its passage through one constellation, the face of the earth has changed to such an extent that it is profitable for the human being to enter a new life. For this reason the time of reincarnation depends upon the progress of the vernal equinox. The period required by the sun for its passage through one zodiacal constellation is the period within which the human being is twice incarnated, once as a man and once as a woman. The experiences in a male and a female organism are so fundamentally different for spiritual life that the human being incarnates once as a woman and once as a man into the same conditions of the earth. This makes an average of 1,000 to 1,300 years between two incarnations.
Here we have the answer to the question concerning the sex. As a rule, the sex alternates. This rule, however, is often broken, so that sometimes there are three to five, but never more than seven consecutive incarnations in the same sex. To say that seven consecutive incarnations in the same sex are the rule, contradicts all occult experience.
Before we begin to study the karma of the individual human being, one fundamental fact must be borne in mind. There is a common karma, karma that is not determined by the single individual although it is adjusted in the course of his incarnations. Here is a concrete example:—
When in the Middle Ages the Huns poured over from Asia into the countries of Europe and caused alarming wars, this too had spiritual significance. The Huns were the last surviving remnants of ancient Atlantean peoples; they were in an advanced stage of decadence which expressed itself in a certain process of decay in their astral and etheric bodies. These products of decay found good soil in the fear and the terror caused among the peoples. The result was that these products of decay were inoculated into the astral bodies of the peoples and in a later generation this was carried over into the physical body. The skin absorbed the astral elements and the outcome was a disease prevalent in the Middle Ages, namely, leprosy. An ordinary doctor would, of course, attribute leprosy to physical causes. I have no wish to dispute what such doctors say but their line of reasoning is as follows:—In a fight, one man wounds another with a knife; he had harboured an old feeling of revenge against him. One person will say that the cause of the wound was the feeling of revenge, another that the knife was the cause.—Both are right. The knife was the final physical cause but behind it there is the spiritual cause. Those who seek for spiritual causes will always admit the validity of physical causes.
We see that historical events have a significant effect upon whole generations and we learn how, even in fundamental conditions of health, improvements extending over long periods of time can be brought about.
As a result of technical progress in recent centuries there developed among the European peoples an industrial proletariat, and together with it, untold racial and class hatred. This has its seat in the astral body and comes to physical expression as pulmonary tuberculosis. This knowledge is yielded by occult investigation. It is often not within our power to help the individual among those who are subject to general karma of this kind. We are often compelled, with aching hearts, to see an individual suffering without being able to make him well or, happy because he is connected with the general karma. Only by working for the improvement of the common karma can we also help the individual. It should not be our aim to promote the well being of the single, egoistic self, but to work in such a way that we serve the well being of humanity as a whole.
Another example, directly connected with topical events, is the following—Occult observations have revealed that among the astral beings who participated in the various battles of the Russian-Japanese war, there were dead Russians, working against their own people. This was due to the fact that during recent times in the development of the Russian people, many noble idealists perished in the dungeon or on the scaffold. They were men of high ideals, but they were not so far developed as to be able to forgive. They died with feelings of bitter revenge against those who had been the cause of their death. These feelings of revenge were lived out in their Kamaloca period, for only in Kamaloca is this possible. From the astral plane after their death, they filled the souls of the Japanese soldiers with hatred and revenge against the people to whom they themselves had belonged. Had they already been in Devachan they would have said: I forgive my enemies! For in Devachan, with the clouds of hatred and revenge confronting them from without, they would have realised how terrible and how unworthy such feelings are.—Thus occult investigation reveals that whole peoples stand under the influence of their forefathers.
The idealistic strivings of modern times cannot attain their goals because they are willing to work only with physical means on the physical plane. So, for example, the Society for the Promotion of Peace, which sets out to bring about peace by physical methods alone. Not until we learn how to influence the astral plane too can we recognise the right methods; not until then can we work in such a way that when the human being is born again he will find a world in which he can labour fruitfully.
Fünfter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Wir sind in unserer Betrachtung bis zu dem Punkte gekommen, wo der Mensch, indem er heruntersteigt aus den geistigen Regionen, sich umkleider fühlt von einem Ätherleib und dadurch für einen Augenblick eine Art von Vorschau hat, einen Vorblick auf das Leben, das ihn hier erwartet. Wir haben gesehen, was das für Abnormitäten und Zustände für den Menschen hervorrufen kann. Bevor wir nun weiterschreiten, wollen wir eine Frage beantworten, die manchem wichtig erscheinen könnte, wenn er den geistigen Blick hinaufrichtet in das Devachan, die Frage: Wie ist es mit dem Zusammenleben der Menschen zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt? — Wir müssen uns klar sein, daß es nicht bloß hier auf der physischen Erde ein Zusammenleben, ein Miteinandersein der Menschen gibt, sondern auch dort in den höheren Welten. Ganz genau ebenso, wie die Arbeit der Menschen im Geistgebiet hinunterreicht in die physische Welt, so reichen alle die Verhältnisse zwischen Mensch und Mensch, alle ihre Zusammenhänge, alle ihre Beziehungen zueinander, die gesponnen sind hier unten, hinauf in das Gebiet des geistigen Landes.
[ 2 ] Wir wollen uns das an einem konkreten Beispiel versinnlichen. Nehmen wir das Verhältnis zwischen Mutter und Kind. Es kann die Frage entstehen: Gibt es eine Beziehung zwischen ihnen, die fortdauert? — Ja, die gibt es. Viel inniger, viel fester als irgendein Verhältnis, das hier auf dieser Erde gesponnen werden kann! Die Mutterliebe hat zuerst einen animalischen Charakter, sie ist eine Art Naturinstinkt. Wenn das Kind heranwächst, dann gestaltet sich dieses Verhältnis zu einem moralischen, ethischen, geistigen. Wenn Mutter und Kind gemeinschaftlich denken lernen, gemeinsame Empfindungen haben, dann tritt der Naturinstinkt immer mehr zurück; er hat nur die Gelegenheit gegeben, daß sich das schöne Band schlingen konnte, das Mutterliebe und Kindesliebe im höchsten Sinne in sich begreift. Was da an gegenseitigem Verstehen, an inniger Liebe sich entwickelt, das setzt sich auch fort bis in die Regionen der geistigen Gebiete, wenn auch dadurch, daß der eine Teil früher stirbt als der andere, der Zurückbleibende eine gewisse Zeit scheinbar abgetrennt ist von dem Gestorbenen. Nach diesem Zeitabschnitt ist das Band, das sich hier zusammengesponnen hat, ein ebenso lebhaftes und inniges; man ist beieinander, nur all die animalischen, rein natürlichen Instinkte müssen erst abgestreift werden. Was sich als Seelengefühl, als Seelengedanke von einem Wesen zum andern hier auf der Erde spinnt, das ist droben nicht gehemmt durch die Schranken, die hier vorhanden sind. Ja, das Devachan bekommt sogar ein gewisses Aussehen, eine gewisse Struktur durch die Verhältnisse, die hier angesponnen sind.
[ 3 ] Nehmen wir ein anderes Beispiel. Es bilden sich Freundschaften, Zusammengehörigkeiten, die aus der Seelenverwandtschaft herausgeboren sind; sie setzen sich fort bis hinauf in das Devachan. Und daraus entwickeln sich für das nächste Leben die sozialen Zusammenhänge. So arbeiten wir, indem wir hier Seelenverbindungen schließen, an der Gestalt, die das Devachan erhält. Alle, alle haben wir so gearbeitet, indem wir Bande der Liebe von Mensch zu Mensch schlangen. Dadurch schaffen wir etwas, was nicht nur für die Erde Bedeutung hat, sondern was auch die Zusammenhänge im Devachan gestaltet. Man möchte sagen: Das, was hier geschieht, durch Liebe, durch Freundschaft, inniges Einander-Verstehen, das sind Bausteine, die da oben in der geistigen Region Tempel bauen, und es muß für die Menschen, die diese Gewißheit durchdringt, ein erhebendes Gefühl sein, zu wissen, daß, wenn sich hier schon von Seele zu Seele Bande schlingen, das die Grundlage ist eines ewigen Werdens.
[ 4 ] Nehmen wir an, irgendein anderer physischer Planet hätte solche Wesen, welche sich gegenseitig nicht sympathisch wären, die wenig Bande der Liebe miteinander schließen könnten. Sie würden ein armseliges Devachan haben. Ein reichgegliedertes, inhaltvolles Devachan hat nur ein planetarisches Gebiet, wo solche Bande der Liebe von Mensch zu Mensch sich schlingen. Wer oben schon im Devachan ist und zunächst zwar nicht von dem gewöhnlichen Menschen wahrgenommen werden kann, hat, je nach seiner Entwickelung, ein mehr oder weniger deutliches Bewußtsein von seiner Zusammengehörigkeit mit den Wesen, die hier zurückgeblieben sind. Es gibt sogar Mittel, diese Zusammengehörigkeiten zu vergrößern. Senden wir unseren Abgeschiedenen Gedanken der Liebe, aber nicht einer egoistischen Liebe, so verstärken wir dadurch das Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl mit ihnen.
[ 5 ] Es ist ein Irrtum, wenn man annimmt, daß der Bewußtseinszustand des Menschen im Devachan dämmerhaft, schattenhaft sei. Das ist nicht der Fall. Wir müssen betonen, daß derjenige Grad eines Bewußtseins, den der Mensch erreicht hat, nicht wieder verlorengehen kann, wenn auch bei gewissen Übergängen Herabdämpfungen stattfinden, so daß der Mensch im Devachan tatsächlich ein deutliches Bewußtsein durch seine geistigen Organe hat für das, was vorgeht hier auf dem Erdenrund. Der Okkultismus zeigt, daß der im Geistigen lebende Mensch durchaus miterlebt das, was sich abspielt hier auf der Erde.
[ 6 ] So sehen wir, daß das Leben im Devachan, wenn man es in seiner Wahrheit betrachtet, alles Unbefriedigende verliert, daß der Mensch, auch wenn er es nicht von seinem egoistischen Erdenstandpunkt aus betrachtet, es dennoch als ein unendlich Beseligendes empfinden kann, abgesehen davon, daß jene Freiheit vom physischen Leibe, von den niederen Gliedern, in die der Mensch hier eingeschlossen ist, ein ungeheuer beseligendes Gefühl gibt. Das allein schon, daß diese Schranken gefallen sind, daß der Mensch nicht mehr durch diese Fesseln gehemmt ist, trägt ein Gefühl der Beseligung in sich. So ist das Devachan eine Zeit des Frei-sich-Auslebens nach allen Seiten hin, in einer so reichen, so weiten, ungehemmten Weise, wie der Mensch es niemals hier kennengelernt hat.
[ 7 ] Wir haben nun gesehen, daß der Mensch bei seinem Abstieg zur neuen Geburt von geistigen Wesenheiten, im Range ähnlich den Volksgeistern, mit einem neuen Ätherleib umkleidet worden ist. Dieser Ätherleib ist dem Menschen nicht vollständig angepaßt; noch weniger angepaßt ist ihm aber das, was er als eine physische Hülle erhält. Wir wollen jetzt in großen Zügen die Eingliederung des Menschen in die physische Welt erklären. Manches davon entzieht sich in einer gewissen Beziehung einer öffentlichen Besprechung.
[ 8 ] Wir wissen, daß der Mensch durch die Eigenschaften, die er hat, sich mit einem astralen Leibe umkleidet. Er hat durch das, was in diesem astralen Leibe ist, eine Anziehungskraft zu bestimmten Wesen auf der Erde. Durch den Ätherleib wird er hingezogen zu dem Volk und zu der Familie im weiteren Sinne, in welche er neu hineingeboren wird. Durch die Art und Weise, wie er ausgebildet hat seinen Astralleib, wird er hingezogen zum mütterlichen Teil seiner Eltern. Die Essenz, die Substanz, die Gliederung des Astralleibes zieht ihn zur Mutter. Das Ich zieht den neuen Menschen hin zum väterlichen Teil der Eltern. Das Ich war ja da in uralten Zeiten, als die Seele zum ersten Male herunterstieg aus dem Schoße der Gottheit in einen irdischen Leib. Dieses Ich hat sich durch viele Inkarnationen hindurch entwickelt. Das Ich des einen Menschen unterscheidet sich vom Ich des andern, und wie es jetzt ist, bildet es die besondere Anziehungskraft zum Vater. Der Ätherleib zieht hin zum Volke, zur Familie, der Astralleib zieht besonders hin zur Mutter, das Ich zum Vater. Darnach richtet sich das ganze Gebilde, das zur neuen Verkörperung hinunter will.
[ 9 ] Es kann vorkommen, daß der Astralleib zu einem mütterlichen Teil hingezogen wird, das Ich aber nicht zu dem entsprechenden Vater will. In diesem Falle setzt es seine Wanderung fort, bis es ein passendes EIternpaar finder.
[ 10 ] Im gegenwärtigen Entwickelungszyklus stellt das Ich das Element des Wollens, der Empfindungsimpulse dar; im astralen Leibe sind die Eigenschaften der Phantasie, die Eigenschaften des Denkens. Letztere wird daher die Mutter, wie man sagt, vererben und erstere der Vater. Und wir sehen so, daß die Individualität, die sich verkörpern will, durch ihre unbewußten Kräfte das Elternpaar aussucht, das ihr den physischen Leib geben soll.
[ 11 ] Das hier Beschriebene spielt sich so ab, daß es im wesentlichen etwa bis zur dritten Woche nach der Empfängnis fertig ist. Zwar ist dieser Mensch, der aus Ich, Astralleib und Ätherleib besteht, durchaus vom Moment der Empfängnis an in der Nähe der Mutter, die den befruchteten Menschenkeim in sich hat, aber er wirkt von außen ein. In dieser Zeit, etwa in der dritten Woche, fängt dieser Astral- und Ätherleib gleichsam den Menschenkeim ab und beginnt nun mitzuarbeiten an dem Menschen. Bis dahin geht die Entwickelung des physischen Menschenleibes vor sich ohne den Einfluß von Astral- und Ätherleib; von da ab wirken sie an der Entwickelung desKindes mit und gliedern selbst die weitere Ausgestaltung des Menschenkeimes. Wir sehen also, daß in bezug auf den physischen Leib in noch höherem Maße das gilt, was vom Ätherleibe gesagt wurde, daß hier noch weniger leicht ein Zusammenstimmen stattfinden kann. Diese wichtige Tatsache verbreitet Licht über vieles, was in der Welt vorgeht.
[ 12 ] Wir haben bis jetzt den gewöhnlichen Menschen der Gegenwart in seiner normalen Entwickelung geschildert. Nicht ganz gilt das für einen Menschen, der in einer vorigen Inkarnation eine okkulte Entwickelung angefangen hat. Je höher er gekommen ist, desto früher liegt der Zeitpunkt, wo er selbst beginnt, seinen physischen Leib zu bearbeiten, um ihn dadurch geeigneter zu machen für die Mission, die er hier auf der Erde zu erfüllen hat. Je später er dazu kommt, den physischen Keim abzufangen, desto weniger wird er Herr werden über den physischen Leib. Bei höchstentwickelten menschlichen Individualitäten, die die Leiter und Führer des geistigen Teiles unserer Welt sind, finder solches Abfangen bereits bei der Empfängnis statt. Für sie geht nichts vor ohne ihr Zutun. Sie leiten ihren physischen Leib bis zum Tode und beginnen den neuen zu bearbeiten, sobald der erste Anstoß dazu gegeben ist.
[ 13 ] Die Stoffe, die den physischen Leib zusammensetzen, ändern sich immerfort. Nach ungefähr sieben Jahren hat sich jedes Teilchen erneuert. Der Stoff wird ausgetauscht, die Form bleibt. Zwischen Geburt und Tod müssen wir den Stoff immer neu gebären, er ist das Wechselnde. Dasjenige, was man zwischen Geburt und Tod höherentwickelt über den Tod hinaus, das bleibt erhalten und bildet einen neuen Organismus.
[ 14 ] Was der Mensch zwischen Geburt und Tod unbewußt macht, tut der Eingeweihte bewußt vom Tode bis zur neuen Geburt: er bildet bewußt seinen neuen physischen Körper aus. Die Geburt ist daher für ihn nur ein radikales Ereignis. Er tauscht nur einmal, aber gründlich die Stoffe aus. Daher die große Ähnlichkeit der Gestalt solcher Individualitäten von einer Inkarnation zur andern, während bei wenig Entwickelten durchaus keine Ähnlichkeit zwischen den Gestalten ihrer verschiedenen Inkarnationen besteht. Je höher der Mensch sich entwikkelt, desto ähnlicher sind die zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Inkarnationen. Das kann man durchaus beobachten mit hellseherischem Blick. Es gibt einen ganz bestimmten Ausdruck für dieses Verhältnis, in das der Mensch auf höherer Stufe der Entwickelung kommt. Man sagt, er wird überhaupt nicht in einen anderen Körper geboren, so wenig wie man vom gewöhnlichen Menschen sagt, daß er alle sieben Jahre einen neuen Körper erhält. Man sagt vom Meister: er ist geboren in denselben Körper. — Er braucht ihn Jahrhunderte, ja selbst Jahrtausende. Das ist bei weitaus den meisten führenden Individualitäten der Fall. Eine Ausnahme machen gewisse Meister, die ihre ganz besondere Mission haben. Bei denen bleibt der physische Leib erhalten, so daß der Tod für sie überhaupt nicht eintritt. Das sind die Meister, die für den Übergang von einer Rasse zu einer andern zu sorgen haben.
[ 15 ] Zwei andere Fragen treten jetzt an uns heran, die Frage: Wie lange dauert der Aufenthalt in den anderen Welten, und die Frage nach dem Geschlecht in aufeinanderfolgenden Verkörperungen.
[ 16 ] Die okkulte Forschung ergibt, daß der Mensch durchschnittlich in einem Zeitraum von 1000 bis 1300 Jahren wiederkommt. Das hat seinen Sinn darin, daß der Mensch, wenn er wiederkommt, das Antlitz der Erde verändert findet und dadurch neue Dinge erleben kann. Das, was sich ändert auf unserer Erde, steht mit gewissen Sternkonstellationen im innigen Zusammenhang; das ist eine sehr wichtige Tatsache. Im Frühlingsanfang geht die Sonne in einem gewissen Zeichen des Tierkreises auf. 800 Jahre vor Christo ging die Sonne zuerst im Sternbild des Widders, des Lammes auf, noch früher in dem danebengelegenen Sternbild des Stieres. Etwa 2160 Jahre braucht sie, um ein Sternbild zu durchlaufen. Das Durchlaufen sämtlicher zwölf Tierkreiszeichen nennt man im Okkultismus ein Weltenjahr.
[ 17 ] Tief haben die alten Völker immer empfunden, was in Zusammenhang stand mit diesem Durchlaufen des Tierkreises. Es durchzog ihre Seelen, andachtsvoll empfanden sie: Die Sonne kommt im Frühling herauf, es erneut sich die Natur, die im Winter geruht hat. Des Frühlings göttlicher Sonnenstrahl erweckt sie aus tiefem Schlaf. — Diese junge Frühlingskraft vereinigte sich mit dem Sternbilde, aus dem heraus die Sonne schien. Sie sagten: Es ist der Herabsender der neu zu ihren Kräften gekommenen Sonne, der neu schöpferischen Gotteskraft. — Und so erschien den Menschen einer Zeit, die nun zwei Jahrtausende zurückliegt, das Lamm als Wohltäter der Menschheit. Alle LammSagen entstehen um diese Zeit. Göttliche Begriffe verbinden sich mit diesem Symbolum. Der Erlöser selbst, der Christus Jesus, ist dargestellt in den ersten Jahrhunderten im Symbolum des Kreuzes und unter diesem das Lamm. Erst im sechsten Jahrhundert wird der Erlöser am Kreuz hängend dargestellt. Die bekannte Jason-Sage, das Holen des goldenen Widderfelles, des Goldenen Vließes, hat auch ihren Ursprung darin.
[ 18 ] Vor 800 vor Christo ging die Sonne durch das Sternbild des Stieres, und da haben wir in Ägypten die Verehrung des Apis-Stieres und in Persien des Mithras-Stieres. Noch früher ist der Durchgang der Sonne durch das Sternbild der Zwillinge. In indischen und germanischen Mythen finden wir wirklich den Hinweis auf das Zwillingspaar. Die Zwillingsböcke, mit denen Donar, der Gott, fährt, sind ein letzter Rest davon. Dann endlich kommen wir zurück zur Zeit des Krebses, die uns nahebringt der alten Atlantischen Flut. Eine alte Kultur ging unter, eine neue ging auf. Das bezeichnet man mit einem bestimmten okkulten Zeichen, dem Wirbel, der zugleich das Krebs-Symbol darstellt und in jedem Kalender zu finden ist.
[ 19 ] So haben die Völker stets ein deutliches Bewußtsein gehabt von dem, was am Himmel vorgeht, parallel den Veränderungen auf der Erde unten. Wenn die Sonne ein Sternbild durchlaufen hat, hat auch die Erde ihr Antlitz so verändert, daß es wertvoll ist für den Menschen, von neuem zu leben. Daher hängt die Zeit der Wiederverkörperung ab von dem Vorrücken des Frühlingspunktes. Ungefähr die Zeit, die die Sonne braucht, um durch ein solches Tierkreiszeichen durchzugehen, ist die Zeit, in der der Mensch zweimal inkarniert ist, einmal männlich und einmal weiblich. Denn die Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse, die der Mensch durchmachen kann in einem männlichen oder weiblichen Organismus, sind für das geistige Leben so grundverschieden, daß er in demselben Antlitz der Erde sich einmal weiblich und einmal männlich inkarniert. Und das gibt ungefähr die Zeit zwischen zwei Inkarnationen von etwa 1000 bis 1300 Jahren durchschnittlich.
[ 20 ] Damit ist zugleich die Frage nach dem Geschlecht beantwortet: es ist in der Regel abwechselnd. Diese Regel wird oft durchbrochen, so daß manchmal drei bis fünf, aber nie mehr als sieben gleichgeschlechtliche Inkarnationen aufeinanderfolgen. Es widerspricht allen okkulten Erfahrungen, wenn gesagt wird, daß sieben aufeinanderfolgende gleichgeschlechtliche Inkarnationen die Regel sei.
[ 21 ] Bevor wir nun das Karma des einzelnen Menschen studieren, müssen wir eine Grundtatsache berücksichtigen. Es gibt ein gemeinschaftliches Karma, ein solches, das nicht durch den einzelnen Menschen bestimmt wird, obgleich es sich ausgleicht im Laufe seiner Inkarnationen. Ein konkretes Beispiel soll hier folgen.
[ 22 ] Als im Mittelalter die Hunnen von Asien her sich in die europäischen Länder ergossen und beunruhigende Kriege verursachten, hatte das auch eine geistige Bedeutung. Die Hunnen sind die letzten Überbleibsel alter atlantischer Völker. Sie stehen in tiefer Dekadenz, die sich in einem gewissen Verwesungsprozeß ihres Astral- und Ätherleibes äußert. Diese Verwesungsstoffe fanden einen guten Mutterboden in der Furcht und dem Schrecken, den sie bei allen Völkern verursachten. Dadurch impften diese ihren Astralleibern solche verwesenden Stoffe ein, und das übertrug sich nun bei einer späteren Generation auf den physischen Leib. Die Haut saugte das aufgenommene Astralische ein, und die Folge davon war eine Krankheit des Mittelalters: der Aussatz. Der physische Arzt würde selbstverständlich physische Ursachen für diesen Aussatz ins Feld führen. Ich will nicht bekämpfen, was der Arzt sagt, aber es liegt bei ihm folgende logische Schlußfolgerung vor: Es verletzt jemand bei einer Rauferei einen anderen mit einem Messer, er hatte ein altes Rachegefühl gegen ihn. Nun sagt der eine, die Verletzung entstand aus dem Rachegefühl, der andere sagt, das Messer war die Ursache. — Beide haben recht. Das Messer war die letzte physische Ursache, aber dahinter liegt die geistige. Wer nach geistigen Ursachen sucht, wird immer die physischen gelten lassen. Wir sehen hier, wie geschichtliche Ereignisse bedeutsam wirken auf ganze Generationen hin, und wir lernen, wie wir verbessernd eingreifen können auf lange Zeiten bis tief in die Gesundheitsverhältnisse hinein.
[ 23 ] In den letzten Jahrhunderten entwickelte sich bei unserer europäischen Bevölkerung durch die technischen Fortschritte ein Industrie en proletariat, und mit demselben hat sich eine Unsumme von Klassenund Standeshaß gebildet. Die sitzen im Astralleib des Menschen und wirken sich physisch aus als Lungentuberkulose. Diese Erkenntnis ist ein Ergebnis okkulter Forschung. Den einzelnen unter solchem Gesamtkarma Stehenden können wir oftmals nicht helfen. Wir müssen oft mit schwerer Seele sehen, wie der einzelne leidet, wir können ihn nicht gesund oder froh machen, weil er im Zusammenhang mit dem gemeinschaftlichen Karma steht. Nur indem wir das Gesamtkarma verbessern, kann auch dem einzelnen geholfen werden. Nicht das einzelne egoistische Selbst sollen wir hochbringen wollen, sondern so wirken, daß wir der gesamten Menschheit zum Heile dienen.
[ 24 ] Ein anderes Beispiel, das unmittelbar in die Zeitverhältnisse eingreift, ist folgendes: Okkulte Beobachtungen haben ergeben, daß unter den astralen Wesen, die in dem Japanisch-Russischen Kriege an den einzelnen Schlachten teilnahmen, verstorbene Russen sich befanden, die gegen ihr eigenes Volk wirkten. Das kommt daher, daß in den letzten Zeiten der russischen Volksentwickelung viele edle Idealisten durch Kerker und Schafott zugrunde gingen. Es waren Menschen von hohen Idealen, doch nicht so weit entwickelt, daß sie verzeihen konnten. Sie gingen in den Tod mit einem starken Rachegefühl gegen diejenigen, die ihren Tod verursacht hatten. Das mußte sich ausleben in ihrer Kamaloka-Zeit, denn dort allein leben sich solche Rachegefühle aus. Nach ihrem Tode erfüllten sie vom Astralplan aus die Seelen der kämpfenden Japaner mit Haß und Rachegefühlen gegen das Volk, dem sie selbst angehört hatten. Wären sie schon im Devachan gewesen, dann würden sie gesagt haben: Ich verzeihe meinen Feinden! — Denn im Devachan würden sie in den ihnen von außen entgegentretenden Haß- und Rachewolken erkannt haben, wie furchtbar und wie ihrer unwürdig solche Gefühle sind. So zeigt uns die okkulte Forschung, wie ganze Völker unter dem Einflusse ihrer Vorfahren stehen.
[ 25 ] Die idealen Bestrebungen der Neuzeit können nicht ihre Ideale erreichen, weil sie nur mit physischen Mitteln auf dem physischen Plane wirken wollen. So zum Beispiel die Friedensgesellschaft, die den Frieden nur mit physischen Mitteln herbeiführen will. Erst wenn wir lernen, auch auf den astralischen Plan hineinzuwirken, erst dann können wir erkennen, welche Mittel die richtigen sind. Erst dann können wir so wirken, daß der Mensch, wenn er von neuem hineingeboren wird in die Welt, er sie so vorfindet, daß er gedeihlich in ihr arbeiten kann.
Fifth Lecture
[ 1 ] We have come to the point in our consideration where the human being, by descending from the spiritual regions, feels that he is clothed by an etheric body and thus has a kind of preview, a glimpse of the life that awaits him here. We have seen what this can cause in terms of abnormalities and conditions for the human being. Before we go any further, we would like to answer a question that many people might have when they direct their spiritual vision up into devachan: What about the way people live together between death and a new birth? We must realize that people not only live and interact with each other here on the physical earth, but also there in the higher worlds. Just as the work of people in the spiritual realm extends down into the physical world, so do all the relationships between people, all their connections, all their relationships with each other, which are woven down here, extend up into the realm of the spiritual.
[ 2 ] Let us visualize this with a concrete example. Let us take the relationship between mother and child. The question may arise: Is there a relationship between them that lasts? Yes, there is. Much more intimate, much stronger than any relationship that can be formed here on this earth! At first, motherly love has an animalistic character, it is a kind of natural instinct. As the child grows, this relationship develops into a moral, ethical, spiritual one. When mother and child learn to think together and have common feelings, the natural instinct recedes more and more; it has only provided the opportunity for the beautiful bond to develop, in which motherly love and childlike love embrace each other in the highest sense. The mutual understanding and intimate love that develops between them extends to the spiritual realm, even if one of them dies before the other, seemingly separating the survivor from the deceased for a certain period of time. After this period of time, the bond that has been woven here is just as strong and intimate; they are together, only all the animalistic, purely natural instincts must first be cast off. What is woven here on earth as soul feeling, as soul thought, from one being to another, is not inhibited up there by the barriers that exist here. Yes, devachan even takes on a certain appearance, a certain structure through the relationships that are woven here.
[ 3 ] Let us take another example. Friendships and bonds that are born out of soul affinity are formed; they continue up to devachan. And from this, the social connections develop for the next life. So we are working on the form that devachan takes by forming soul connections here. All of us have worked in this way, weaving bonds of love from person to person. In doing so, we create something that is not only important for the earth, but also shapes the connections in devachan. One would like to say: That which happens here, through love, through friendship, through intimate understanding for one another, these are building blocks that build temples up there in the spiritual realm, and it must be an uplifting feeling for people, permeated by this certainty, to know that when bonds are already woven here from soul to soul, this is the basis of an eternal becoming.
[ 4 ] Let us assume that some other physical planet had beings who did not like each other and could form few bonds of love with each other. They would have a poor devachan. A devachan that is rich and full of content has only one planetary region where such bonds of love entwine from person to person. Those who have already reached the devachan and who cannot be perceived by ordinary people at first, have, depending on their development, a more or less distinct awareness of their belonging together with the beings who have remained here. There are even means to increase this sense of belonging. If we send our departed thoughts of love, but not of selfish love, we thereby strengthen the feeling of belonging with them.
[ 5 ] It is a mistake to assume that the state of consciousness of a person in Devachan is dim and shadowy. That is not the case. We must emphasize that the degree of consciousness that a person has attained cannot be lost again, even if certain degradations take place during certain transitions, so that a person in Devachan actually has a clear consciousness through his spiritual organs for what is happening here on earth. Occultism shows that the human being living in the spiritual realm definitely experiences what is happening here on earth.
[ 6 ] Thus we see that when we look at life in devachan in its true light, all that is unsatisfactory disappears, and that even if a person does not view it from his egoistic can still perceive it as an infinitely blissful state, quite apart from the fact that the freedom from the physical body, from the lower limbs, in which the human being is enclosed here, gives an immensely blissful feeling. That alone, that these barriers have fallen, that the human being is no longer constrained by these fetters, carries a feeling of bliss within it. So the Devachan is a time of freedom to live life to the full in all directions, in a way that is so rich, so wide, so uninhibited, as man has never known it here.
[ 7 ] We have now seen that man, on his descent to the new birth of spiritual beings, similar in rank to the folk spirits, has been clothed with a new etheric body. This etheric body is not completely adapted to man; but what he receives as a physical shell is even less adapted to him. We now want to explain in broad terms how the human being is integrated into the physical world. Some of it is not suitable for public discussion.
[ 8 ] We know that the human being, through the qualities he has, clothes himself with an astral body. Through what is in this astral body, he has an attraction to certain beings on earth. Through the etheric body, he is drawn to the nation and the family in the broader sense into which he will be born anew. Through the way he has developed his astral body, he is drawn to the maternal part of his parents. The essence, the substance, the structure of the astral body draws him to the mother. The I draws the new human being to the fatherly part of the parents. The I was there in ancient times, when the soul descended for the first time from the bosom of the deity into an earthly body. This I has developed through many incarnations. The I of one person differs from the I of another, and as it is now, it forms the special attraction to the father. The etheric body draws towards the people, towards the family, the astral body draws particularly towards the mother, the I towards the father. The whole structure, which wants to go down to the new embodiment, is based on this.
[ 9 ] It may happen that the astral body is drawn to a maternal part, but the I does not want to go to the corresponding father. In this case, it continues its journey until it finds a suitable parent pair.
[ 10 ] In the present cycle of development, the ego represents the element of will, of sentient impulses; in the astral body are the qualities of imagination, the qualities of thinking. The latter will therefore be inherited from the mother, as they say, and the former from the father. And so we see that the individuality that wants to embody itself selects, through its unconscious forces, the parental couple that is to give it the physical body.
[ 11 ] The process described here is essentially complete by about the third week after conception. Although this human being, consisting of I, astral body and etheric body, is close to the mother who carries the fertilized human germ within her from the moment of conception, it works from the outside. At about the third week, the astral and etheric bodies intercept the human germ and begin to collaborate in the formation of the human being. Until then, the development of the physical human body takes place without the influence of the astral and etheric bodies; from then on, they collaborate in the development of the child and themselves structure the further formation of the human germ. We see, then, that what was said of the etheric body applies to an even greater extent to the physical body, that here a harmonious attunement can take place even less easily. This important fact sheds light on much of what is going on in the world.
[ 12 ] We have so far described the ordinary person of the present day in his normal development. This does not quite apply to a person who has begun an occult development in a previous incarnation. The higher he has come, the earlier is the time when he begins to work on his physical body in order to make it more suitable for the mission he has to fulfill here on earth. The later he comes to this, the less he will be able to control his physical body. In the case of highly developed human individuals, who are the leaders and guides of the spiritual part of our world, such an interception already takes place at conception. For them, nothing happens without their intervention. They guide their physical body until death and begin to work on the new one as soon as the first impetus is given.
[ 13 ] The substances that make up the physical body are constantly changing. After about seven years, every particle has been renewed. The substance is exchanged, the form remains. Between birth and death, we must constantly give birth to the substance anew; it is the changing element. That which one develops beyond death between birth and death remains and forms a new organism.
[ 14 ] What a person does unconsciously between birth and death, the initiate does consciously from death to the new birth: he consciously forms his new physical body. Birth is therefore only a radical event for him. He only exchanges the substances once, but thoroughly. This explains the great similarity of the form of such individualities from one incarnation to another, whereas there is absolutely no similarity between the forms of their various incarnations in the case of those who are less developed. The higher a person develops, the more similar the two successive incarnations are. This can certainly be observed with clairvoyant vision. There is a very specific term for this relationship, which a person enters at a higher level of development. It is said that he is not born into another body at all, just as it is not said of the ordinary person that he receives a new body every seven years. It is said of the master: he is born into the same body. He uses it for centuries, even millennia. This is the case with the vast majority of leading individuals. An exception is made for certain masters who have their very special mission. For them, the physical body remains intact, so that death does not occur at all. These are the masters who are responsible for the transition from one race to another.
[ 15 ] Two other questions now arise: how long does the stay in the other worlds last, and what is the sex in successive embodiments.
[ 16 ] Occult research shows that on average a person returns in a period of 1000 to 1300 years. The reason for this is that when a person returns, he finds the face of the earth changed and can thus experience new things. The changes that take place on our Earth are closely connected with certain star constellations; that is a very important fact. At the beginning of spring, the sun rises in a certain sign of the zodiac. 800 years before Christ, the sun first rose in the constellation of Aries, the Lamb, and even earlier in the neighboring constellation of Taurus, the Bull. It takes about 2160 years to pass through a constellation. In occultism, passing through all twelve signs of the zodiac is called a world year.
[ 17 ] The ancient peoples always felt deeply what was connected with this passage of the zodiac. It permeated their souls, and they felt devoutly: The sun comes up in spring, nature, which has rested in winter, renews itself. The divine ray of the spring sun awakens it from a deep sleep. This young springtime power united with the constellation from which the sun was shining. They said: It is the bringer of the newly invigorated sun, the newly creative power of God. And so, to people of a time now two millennia in the past, the lamb appeared as a benefactor of humanity. All lamb legends arise around this time. Divine concepts are associated with this symbol. In the first centuries, the Redeemer Himself, Christ Jesus, is depicted in the symbol of the cross, with the lamb below it. It was only in the sixth century that the Redeemer was depicted hanging on the cross. The well-known Jason saga, the obtaining of the golden ram's skin, the Golden Fleece, also has its origin in this.
[ 18 ] Before 800 BC, the sun passed through the constellation of Taurus, and so we have the worship of the bull Apis in Egypt and of the bull Mithras in Persia. Even earlier, the sun passes through the constellation of Gemini. In Indian and Germanic myths we really find the reference to the pair of twins. The twin rams with which Donar, the god, rides are a last remnant of this. Then finally we come back to the time of Cancer, which brings us close to the ancient Atlantic flood. An old culture perished, a new one arose. This is indicated by a certain occult sign, the swirl, which also represents the cancer symbol and can be found in every calendar.
[ 19 ] Thus, the nations have always had a clear awareness of what is going on in the sky, parallel to the changes on the earth below. When the sun has passed through a constellation, the earth has also changed its face so that it is valuable for man to live anew. Therefore, the time of re-embodiment depends on the advance of the spring equinox. Approximately the time it takes the sun to pass through such a sign of the zodiac is the time during which the human being is incarnated twice, once male and once female. For the experiences and events that a person can undergo in a male or female organism are so fundamentally different for the spiritual life that he incarnates in the same part of the world once as a female and once as a male. And that gives us a time between two incarnations of about 1000 to 1300 years on average.
[ 20 ] This also answers the question of gender: it usually alternates. This rule is often broken, so that sometimes three to five, but never more than seven, same-sex incarnations follow each other. It contradicts all occult experience to say that seven consecutive same-sex incarnations are the rule.
[ 21 ] Before we study the karma of the individual, we must consider a basic fact. There is a collective karma, one that is not determined by the individual, although it balances itself out over the course of his incarnations. A concrete example will follow here.
[ 22 ] When the Huns poured into European countries from Asia in the Middle Ages, causing disturbing wars, this also had a spiritual significance. The Huns are the last remnants of the old Atlantean peoples. They are in a state of deep decadence, which manifests itself in a certain process of decay of their astral and etheric bodies. These putrefactive substances found a good mother soil in the fear and terror that they caused in all peoples. As a result, they inoculated their astral bodies with such decaying substances, and this was now transferred to the physical body in a later generation. The skin absorbed the astral substance taken up, and the result was a disease of the Middle Ages: leprosy. The physical doctor would, of course, cite physical causes for this leprosy. I do not want to refute what the doctor says, but the doctor is faced with the following logical conclusion: in a scuffle, someone injured another with a knife, he had an old feeling of revenge against him. Now one person says that the injury was caused by the feeling of revenge, the other says that the knife was the cause. — Both are right. The knife was the last physical cause, but behind it lies the spiritual one. Those who look for spiritual causes will always accept the physical ones. We see here how historical events have a significant effect on entire generations, and we learn how we can intervene to improve health conditions over the long term.
[ 23 ] In the last centuries, technical progress has led to the development of an industrial proletariat among our European population, and with it an enormous amount of class and social hatred has developed. These sit in the human being's astral body and have a physical effect as pulmonary tuberculosis. This knowledge is a result of occult research. We are often unable to help the individual under such collective karma. We often have to watch with a heavy soul as the individual suffers; we cannot make him healthy or happy because he is connected with the collective karma. Only by improving the collective karma can the individual be helped. We should not try to uplift the individual egoistic self, but work in such a way that we serve the welfare of all mankind.
[ 24 ] Another example, which directly concerns the present time, is as follows: Occult observations have shown that among the astral beings who took part in the various battles of the Russo-Japanese War, there were deceased Russians who worked against their own people. This is due to the fact that in the last days of the development of the Russian nation many noble idealists were destroyed by dungeons and the scaffold. They were people of high ideals, but not developed enough to be able to forgive. They went to their death with a strong sense of revenge against those who had caused their death. This had to be worked off in their Kamaloka period, because only there do such feelings of revenge work themselves out. After their death, from the astral plane, they filled the souls of the fighting Japanese with hatred and revenge against the people to whom they themselves had belonged. Had they already been in Devachan, they would have said: I forgive my enemies!” For in the devachan they would have recognized in the clouds of hatred and revenge that met them from the outside the horror and unworthiness of such feelings. Thus occult research shows us how whole nations are influenced by their ancestors.
[ 25 ] The ideal aspirations of modern times cannot achieve their ideals because they only want to work with physical means on the physical plane. For example, the peace society that wants to bring about peace only with physical means. Only when we learn to work on the astral plane as well, only then can we recognize which means are the right ones. Only then can we work in such a way that when a person is born into the world again, he will find it in such a way that he can work fruitfully in it.