The Gospel of St. John (Basle)
GA 100
17 November 1907, Basle
Translator Unknown
Lecture II
According to Spiritual Science man, as he stands before us, is divided—from one point of view—into seven parts, of which the physical body perceptible to our senses is only one part of the human being. Man possesses this physical body in common with the whole of the mineral kingdom surrounding us; the forces at work in our physical body are the same as those operating in the whole of so-called inanimate nature.
This physical body is, however, permeated by still higher forces, just as a sponge may be permeated by water. The difference between inanimate and animate bodies is that in inanimate bodies the materials of which they are constituted follow physical, chemical laws only; but in animate bodies the various materials are combined with one another in a very complicated manner, and only under the influence of the etheric body can they be held together in this form, which to-them is unnatural and is forced upon them. The physical materials have the constant tendency to group themselves according to their own nature; this signifies the destruction of the living body and the etheric body fights continually against this destruction.
When the etheric body withdraws from the physical body, the substances of the physical body group themselves in the manner natural to them, and the body becomes a corpse and falls to pieces. The etheric body, therefore, continually combats the destruction of the physical body.
Each organ of the physical body has behind it this etheric body. Man has an etheric heart, an etheric brain, etc., which holds together the corresponding physical organ. One is naturally tempted to picture the etheric body in a material way, somewhat like a thin cloud, but in reality the etheric body consists of a number of currents of force. The clairvoyant sees in the etheric body of man certain currents that are exceedingly important. Thus, for example, there is a stream which rises from the left foot to the forehead (see diagram), to a point which lies between the eyes, about half an inch down within the brain; it then returns to the other foot; from there it passes to the hand on the opposite side; from thence through the heart into the other hand, and from there back to its starting-point. In this way it forms a pentagram of currents of force.
This current is not the only one in the etheric body, there are very many of them. It is to this stream of force that man specially owes his upright position. We do not find this current in animals, they are bound to the earth by their front limbs. In respect of the form and size of the human etheric body we may say that in its upper part it is an exact image of the physical body. The lower parts are different; here they do not coincide with the physical body. There is a great secret underlying the relationship between the etheric and physical bodies, one which throws a strong light upon human nature. The etheric body of a man is female, that of a woman is male. This explains the fact that in each man's nature there is much that is feminine, and in each woman's nature there is much that is masculine. In the animals the etheric body is larger than the physical body. Thus, for example, in the case of the horse the clairvoyant sees that his etheric body projects above his head like a cap.
There is something in man that is much closer to him than his blood, muscles, nerves, etc., namely, his feelings of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain,—all that he calls his inner being. In Spiritual Science this is called the astral body, and man possesses it in common with the animals only.
A man who is born blind only knows the world around him imperfectly; for him the world of colour and light does not exist. Man is in the same position in respect of the astral world; it exists just as truly, it surrounds and permeates the physical world, but he does not perceive it. When a man's astral senses are opened the astral world becomes visible to him. The significance and importance of this moment in the development of a human being is, however, very much greater than when a man who is born blind recovers his sight through an operation. Every human being knows this astral world, although imperfectly, for his astral body is transposed into it each night.
We repose in the astral world in order to restore the harmony of the astral body, for from the standpoint of Spiritual Science tiredness is only disharmony in the physical and astral bodies. The relationship between the physical and astral bodies may be illustrated in the following way. If we take a sponge, cut it into a thousand small pieces and place them in a glass of water, so that the water is absorbed into these tiny pieces, this represents the waking condition of the average man. If we squeeze out the little sponges and collect the water again in its container, it flows together into one common mass: In the same way the human astral bodies, which during the day were individualised, like the drops of water which were absorbed into the tiny sponges, enter into the common astral substance and are strengthened by it. This we recognize each morning by the fact that our tiredness has gone. Until a person becomes a seer his astral body during the night mingles with the others; but in a seer the conditions are different.
The various plants do not possess an astral body of their own, but the whole world of plants has one astral body in common, namely that of the earth. The earth is a living being and the plants are part of it,—just as the hair belongs to the human body:
The fourth principle of man is the ego. The word “I” can only be uttered by a man with reference to himself; this word can never strike our ear from outside with reference to ourselves. When this “I” sounds in a being, then God is expressing Himself in him. In respect of the ego, the animal, plant and mineral worlds are in a different position. For example, an animal can no more say “I” to itself than a finger on our hand can say “I” to itself. If the finger desired to name its “I,” it would have to point to the “I” of the human being; in the same way the animal would have to point to an ego which belongs to a being living in the astral world. All lions, all elephants, etc., have a group-ego in common; thus there is a lion group-ego, an elephant group-ego, and so on.
If the plants wished to point to their ego they would have to point to a common ego in the centre of the earth, in the lower spiritual world. When an animal is injured it feels pain. In the plant it is different, and the seer is able to say that the plucking of a flower or the cutting of the corn gives to the earth the same pleasant feeling that a cow experiences when her calf draws the milk from her. But when a plant is torn out of the earth by the root this is just as though one were to tear a piece of flesh out of an animal. It is felt in the astral world as pain.
Were we to seek for the ego of the minerals, we should not find it in a being forming a centre in the spirit world, for the ego of the minerals is to be found in the higher spiritual world outspread everywhere as a force of the whole cosmos.
In the Christian occult doctrine the world in which the egos of the animals are found—the astral world—is called the world of the Holy Spirit, and the world which contains the egos of the plants—the lower spiritual world—the world of the Son. When the seer begins to have perceptions in this world, the “Word,” the “Logos” speaks to him. In the same occult teaching the world of the mineral egos—the higher spiritual world—is called the world of the Father Spirit.
Man is involved in a process of continuous development. We have now become acquainted with all four principles of his nature; they are what Pythagoras referred to in his school as the lower quaternary. The savage, the civilised man, the idealist, the saint—all possess these four parts. But the savage is the slave of his passions; the civilized man no longer follows indiscriminately all his passions and desires; the idealist does this still less, and the saint has fully mastered them.
The ego works upon the astral body and separates a portion from it. In the course of human evolution this part grows larger and larger, whereas the inherited portion becomes ever smaller. In Francis of Assisi almost the whole of the astral body was worked upon by the ego and transformed. This transformed part forms the fifth principle of human nature: the Spirit Self.
But the ego can also become master of the etheric or life-body. The part of the etheric body which has been transformed by the ego is called Life Spirit. The etheric body is transformed under the influences of art and religion. The influence of religion is especially strong because it is repeated day after day, and this repetition is the magic power which transforms the etheric body. But the conscious work in occult training acts most strongly upon the etheric body, and meditation and concentration are the means here used.
The relative speed in the transforming of the etheric body and the astral body may be compared to the movement of the hour and minute hands of a clock. If a man succeeds in changing his temperament ever so little, which depends on the conditions of his etheric body, this is of more value to him than the acquisition of many clever theories.
It requires the very greatest strength to change the physical body consciously. The means for this are only given in the occult school. We can only indicate here that the regulation of the breathing forms the beginning of this transformation. The physical body that has been consciously transformed by the ego is called Spirit Man or Atma. The force for the transformation of the astral body flows to us from the world of the Holy Spirit; the force for the transformation of the etheric body flows to us from the world of the Son or the Word; the force for the transformation of the physical body flows to us from the world of the Father Spirit or the Divine Father.
Zweiter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Der Mensch, wie er vor uns steht, wird von der Geisteswissenschaft in sieben Teile zerlegt. Der unseren Sinnesorganen wahrnehmbare physische Körper ist nur ein Teil der menschlichen Wesenheit. Diesen physischen Leib hat der Mensch gemeinschaftlich mit der ganzen uns umgebenden mineralischen Natur. Die in unserem physischen Körper wirkenden Kräfte sind die gleichen wie in der scheinbar unbelebten Natur.
[ 2 ] Dieser physische Körper ist aber noch durchdrungen von höheren Kräften, ähnlich wie ein Schwamm von Wasser durchdrungen sein kann. Der Unterschied zwischen unbelebten und belebten Körpern ist folgender: Im unbelebten Körper folgen die ihn bildenden Stoffe lediglich den physischen, chemischen Gesetzen. Im belebten Körper dagegen sind die Stoffe in sehr komplizierter Weise miteinander verkettet, und nur unter Einwirkung des Ätherleibes können sie sich in dieser ihnen unnatürlichen, aufgedrungenen Gruppierung halten. In jedem Moment will der physische Stoff sich seiner Natur gemäß gruppieren, was einen Zerfall des lebendigen Körpers bedeutet, und in jedem Moment kämpft der Ätherleib gegen diesen Zerfall an. Wenn sich der Ätherkörper aus dem physischen Körper entfernt, so gruppieren sich die Stoffe des physischen Körpers in der für sie natürlichen Weise, und der Körper zerfällt, wird ein Leichnam. Der Ätherleib ist also der fortwährende Kämpfer gegen den Zerfall des physischen Leibes.
[ 3 ] Jedes Organ hat diesen Ätherleib zu seiner Grundkraft. Der Mensch hat ein Ätherherz, ein Äthergehirn und so weiter zum Zusammenhalten der betreffenden physischen Organe. Man ist leicht versucht, sich den Ätherleib in materieller Weise vorzustellen, etwa als einen ganz feinen Nebel. In Wahrheit ist der Ätherleib eine Summe von Kraftströmungen. Für den Hellseher erscheinen im Ätherleib des Menschen gewisse Strömungen, die von sehr großer Wichtigkeit sind. Es steigt zum Beispiel ein Strom vom linken Fuße nach der Stirne, an eine Stelle, die zwischen den Augen, etwa ein Zentimeter tief im Gehirn liegt, kehrt dann in den andern Fuß hinunter, von dort in die entgegengesetzte Hand, von dort durch das Herz in die andere Hand und von dort an ihren Ausgangspunkt zurück. Es bildet sich in dieser Weise ein Pentagramm von Kraftströmungen.
[ 4 ] Diese Kraftströmung ist nicht etwa die einzige im Ätherleibe, sondern es gibt deren noch sehr viele. Speziell dieser Kraftströmung verdankt der Mensch seine aufrechte Stellung. Das Tier ist mit seinen vorderen Gliedmaßen an die Erde gebunden, und im Tiere sehen wir eine solche Strömung nicht. In bezug auf Gestalt und Form und Größe des menschlichen Ätherleibes kann man sagen, daß derselbe in seinen oberen Partien ein vollständiges Ebenbild des physischen Leibes ist. Anders ist es mit seinen unteren Partien, welche nicht mit dem physischen Körper übereinstimmen. Dem Verhältnis von Ätherleib und physischem Leibe liegt ein großes Geheimnis zugrunde, das tief hineinleuchtet in die Menschennatur: der Ätherleib des Mannes ist weiblich, derjenige des Weibes ist männlich. Dadurch wird die Tatsache erklärt, daß wir in jeder Mannesnatur viel Weibliches, und in jeder Frauennatur viel Männliches finden. Bei den Tieren ist der Ätherleib größer als der physische Leib. So sieht der Hellseher zum Beispiel beim Pferd über dem Kopf den Ätherkopf in Form einer Kappe herausragen.
[ 5 ] Es gibt etwas im Menschen, was ihm viel nähersteht als Blut, Muskeln, Nerven und so weiter. Dies sind die Empfindungen von Lust und Leid, Freude und Schmerz, kurz alles das, was der Mensch sein Inneres nennt. Dies wird in der Geheimwissenschaft der Astralleib genannt, den der Mensch nur mit dem Tier gemein hat.
[ 6 ] So wie ein Blindgeborener die ihn umgebende Welt nur unvollständig kennt und die Welt der Farben und des Lichtes für ihn nicht existiert, so ist der durchschnittliche Mensch in der gleichen Lage der Astralwelt gegenüber. Sie ist ebenso vorhanden, durchdringt und umgibt die physische Welt, wird aber von ihm nicht wahrgenommen. Wenn der astralische Sinn bei einem Menschen eröffnet wird, so wird ihm die Astralwelt sichtbar. Die Bedeutung und Wichtigkeit dieses Momentes der menschlichen Entwickelung ist aber noch viel größer, als wenn ein Blindgeborener durch eine Operation das Augenlicht erlangt. Aber ein jeder von uns kennt diese astrale Welt, wenn auch unvollkommen, denn jede Nacht wird unser Astralleib in diese Welt versetzt. Wir ruhen in der Astralwelt, um die Harmonie des Astralleibes wiederherzustellen, denn die Ermüdung ist vom geisteswissenschaftlichen Standpunkt aus betrachtet nur eine Disharmonie im physischen und Astralleibe. Ein Gleichnis könnte das Verhältnis des physischen zum Astralleibe beleuchten. Nehmen wir einen Schwamm, zerschneiden ihn in tausend Stücke und lassen den Inhalt von einem Glas Wasser von diesen kleinen Stücken aufsaugen, so haben wir ein Gleichnis für den wachenden Durchschnittsmenschen. Pressen wir die Schwämmchen aus und sammeln wir das Wasser wieder in seinen Behälter, so schließt es sich zu einer gleichmäßigen Masse zusammen. So treten die menschlichen Astralkörper, die tagsüber wie die aufgesogenen Wassertropfen individualisiert waren, in die gemeinsame Astralsubstanz ein und stärken und kräftigen sich in derselben. Dies erkennt man am Morgen daran, daß die Ermüdung beseitigt ist. Solange der Mensch kein Seher ist, vermischt sich sein im Schlafe herausgetretener Astralleib mit den übrigen Astralleibern. Beim Seher liegen die Verhältnisse jedoch anders.
[ 7 ] Die einzelnen Pflanzen haben keinen eigenen Astralleib, sondern die ganze Pflanzenwelt besitzt einen gemeinsamen Astralleib, denjenigen der Erde. Die Erde ist ein lebendes Wesen, die Pflanzen sind ihre Glieder.
[ 8 ] Das vierte Glied des Menschen ist das Ich. Das Wort «Ich» kann der Mensch nur zu sich selber sprechen. Niemals kann dieses Wort von außen an unser Ohr klingen, um uns damit zu bezeichnen. Wenn dieses Ich in einem Wesen erklingt, dann spricht sich der Gott in ihm aus. Die Tierwelt, die Pflanzen- und Mineralwelt sind in bezug auf das Ich in einer andern Lage. Ein Tier zum Beispiel kann zu sich ebensowenig «Ich» sagen, wie ein Finger unserer Hand zu sich «Ich» sagen kann. Der Finger müßte, wenn er sein Ich bezeichnen wollte, auf das Ich des Menschen hinweisen; ebenso müßte das Tier auf ein Ich hinweisen, das einer in der Astralwelt lebenden Wesenheit angehört. Alle Löwen, alle Elefanten und so weiter haben ein gemeinschaftliches Gruppen-Ich, also ein Löwen-Ich, ein Elefanten-Ich und so weiter.
[ 9 ] Wollte die Pflanze auf ihr Ich zeigen, so müßte sie hinweisen auf ein gemeinschaftliches Ich im Mittelpunkt der Erde, in der Mentalwelt. Es ist bekannt, daß wenn man ein Tier sticht, dieses Tier Schmerz empfindet. Bei der Pflanze ist es anders, und der Seher kann uns berichten, daß das Pflücken der Blumen oder das Schneiden des Kornes für die Erde dasselbe wohlige Gefühl bedeutet wie für die Kuh die Entnahme der Milch beim Säugen. Wird aber die Pflanze mit der Wurzel ausgerissen, so ist es so, wie wenn man einem Tier ein Stück seines Fleisches herausschneiden würde. Dieses Ausreißen wird in der Astralwelt als Schmerz empfunden.
[ 10 ] Wenn man fragen wollte: Wo ist das Ich der Gesteinswelt? — so würde man nicht mehr imstande sein, ein solches einen Mittelpunkt bildendes Wesen in der Geisteswelt zu finden. Als Kraft des ganzen Kosmos überall verbreitet, ist das Ich der Mineralien in der übergeistigen Welt, theosophisch höhere Devachanwelt genannt, zu finden.
[ 11 ] In der christlichen Geheimlehre bezeichnet man die Welt, in welcher sich das Ich der Tiere befindet, die Astralwelt, als die Welt des Heiligen Geistes; die Welt, in der das Ich der Pflanzen ist, die geistige oder devachanische Welt, als die Welt des Sohnes. Wenn der Seher anfängt, in dieser Welt zu fühlen, so spricht zu ihm das «Wort», der Logos. Die Welt des mineralischen Ich, die übergeistige Welt, wird in der Geheimlehre die Welt des Vatergeistes genannt.
[ 12 ] Der Mensch ist ein in fortwährender Entwickelung begriffenes Wesen; wir haben nun alle vier Glieder seiner Natur kennengelernt. Sie sind das, was Pythagoras in seiner Schule als die niedere Vierheit bezeichnet. Der Wilde, der Zivilisierte, der Idealist, der Heilige: alle haben diese vier Teile. Der Wilde aber ist der Sklave seiner Leidenschaften; der Zivilisierte folgt nicht mehr wahllos seinen Trieben und Begierden; der Idealist tut dies noch weniger, und der Heilige ist völlig Herr über dieselben geworden.
[ 13 ] Das Ich arbeitet am Astralleib und gliedert einen Teil aus ihm heraus. Dieser Teil wird im Laufe der menschlichen Entwickelung immer größer, während der ererbte Teil immer kleiner wird. In einem Franz von Assisi ist der gesamte Astralleib vom Ich aus durchgearbeiter und umgewandelt worden. Dieser vom Ich umgewandelte Astralleib bildet. das fünfte Glied der menschlichen Natur: das Geistselbst oder Manas.
[ 14 ] Das Ich kann aber auch Herr werden über den Ätherleib oder Lebensleib. Der vom Ich umgewandelte Teil des Ätherleibes heißt Lebensgeist oder Buddhi. Umwandelnd auf den Ätherleib wirken die Impulse der Kunst und der Religion, letztere in ganz besonders starkem Maße, weil sie sich täglich wiederholen; und Wiederholung ist die Zauberkraft, welche den Ätherleib umwandelt. Am stärksten wirkt in diesem Sinne die bewußte Arbeit in der Geheimschulung, und Meditation und Konzentration sind die Mittel, welche hier angewandt werden. Die Geschwindigkeit der Umwandlung des Ätherleibes und des Astralleibes zeigen ein Ähnliches Verhältnis wie bei der Uhr der Gang des Stundenzeigers zum Gang des Minutenzeigers. Wenn es gelungen ist, im Temperament, welches von den Verhältnissen des Ätherleibes abhängig ist, das Geringste zu ändern, so ist dies mehr wert als das Aneignen von noch so vielen geistreichen Theorien.
[ 15 ] Die stärkste Kraft ist notwendig, um den physischen Leib bewußt umzuändern. Die Mittel dazu werden nur in der Geheimschule gegeben. Angedeutet kann nur werden, daß die Regelung des Atmens den Beginn dieser Umwandlung bildet. Den vom Ich in bewußter Weise umgestalteten physischen Leib nennt man Geistesmensch oder Atma. Die Kraft zur Umgestaltung des Astralleibes flutet uns zu aus der Welt des Heiligen Geistes. Die Kraft zur Umgestaltung des Ätherleibes flutet uns zu aus der Welt des Sohnes oder des Wortes. Die Kraft zur Umgestaltung des physischen Leibes flutet uns zu aus der Welt des Vatergeistes oder des göttlichen Vaters.
Second Lecture
[ 1 ] Spiritual science divides the human being, as it appears to us, into seven parts. The physical body perceptible to our sense organs is only one part of the human being. Man shares this physical body with all of the mineral nature that surrounds us. The forces at work in our physical body are the same as those in the seemingly inanimate natural world.
[ 2 ] This physical body is, however, still permeated by higher forces, much as a sponge can be permeated by water. The difference between inanimate and animate bodies is as follows: in inanimate bodies, the substances that form them merely follow physical and chemical laws. In the living body, on the other hand, the substances are interlinked in a very complicated way, and only under the influence of the ether body can they maintain this unnatural grouping. At every moment, the physical substance wants to group according to its nature, which means the disintegration of the living body. At every moment, the ether body fights against this disintegration. When the etheric body withdraws from the physical body, the substances of the physical body group together in their natural way, and the body decays and becomes a corpse. The etheric body is thus the perpetual fighter against the decay of the physical body.
[ 3 ] Every organ has this etheric body as its basic power. Man has an etheric heart, an etheric brain and so on to hold the respective physical organs together. It is easy to be tempted to imagine the etheric body in material terms, as a very fine mist, for example. In reality, the etheric body is a sum of currents of force. To the clairvoyant, certain currents of great importance appear in the etheric body of a person. For example, a current rises from the left foot to the forehead, to a point between the eyes about one centimeter deep in the brain, then returns to the other foot, from there to the opposite hand, from there through the heart to the other hand and from there back to its starting point. In this way, a pentagram of energy currents is formed.
[ 4 ] This flow of energy is not the only one in the etheric body, but there are still many more. It is to this flow of energy in particular that the human being owes its upright position. Animals are bound to the earth with their front limbs, and we do not see such a current in animals. Regarding the shape and form and size of the human etheric body, it can be said that the upper parts of it are a complete reflection of the physical body. It is different with its lower parts, which do not correspond to the physical body. The relationship between the etheric body and the physical body is based on a great secret that shines deep into human nature: the etheric body of a man is female and that of a woman is male. This explains the fact that we find a lot of femininity in every man's nature and a lot of masculinity in every woman's nature. In animals, the etheric body is larger than the physical body. So the clairvoyant sees, for example, in the horse above the head, the ether head in the form of a cap protruding.
[ 5 ] There is something in man that is much closer to him than blood, muscles, nerves and so on. These are the sensations of pleasure and suffering, joy and pain, in short, everything that man calls his inner self. In the occult science, this is called the astral body, which man has in common only with the animal.
[ 6 ] Just as a man born blind has only an incomplete knowledge of the world around him and has no sense of the world of colors and light, so the average person is in the same position with regard to the astral world. It is just as present, permeating and surrounding the physical world, but it is not perceived by him. When the astral sense is opened in a person, the astral world becomes visible to him. The significance and importance of this moment in human evolution is even greater than when a blind person acquires the use of his eyes through an operation. But each of us knows this astral world, even if only imperfectly, because our astral body is transported into this world every night. We rest in the astral world to restore the harmony of the astral body, because fatigue, from a spiritual point of view, is only disharmony in the physical and astral bodies. A parable could shed light on the relationship between the physical and astral bodies. Take a sponge, cut it into a thousand pieces and let the contents of a glass of water be absorbed by these small pieces, and we have a parable for the waking average person. If we squeeze out the little sponges and collect the water back into its container, it coalesces into a uniform mass. Thus the human astral bodies, which were individualized during the day like the absorbed water drops, enter the common astral substance and strengthen and invigorate themselves in it. This can be recognized in the morning by the fact that the fatigue is gone. As long as a person is not a seer, his astral body that has emerged during sleep mixes with the other astral bodies. For the seer, however, the situation is different.
[ 7 ] The individual plants do not have their own astral body, but the whole plant world possesses a common astral body, that of the earth. The earth is a living being, the plants are its limbs.
[ 8 ] The fourth link in the human being is the I. Man can only speak the word “I” to himself. This word can never sound to our ears from outside to designate us. When this I resounds in a being, then the God in him speaks. The animal, plant and mineral worlds are in a different situation with regard to the I. An animal, for example, can say “I” to itself just as little as a finger of our hand can say “I” to itself. If the finger wanted to designate its ego, it would have to point to the human ego; similarly, the animal would have to point to an ego belonging to an entity living in the astral world. All lions, all elephants, and so on, have a common group ego, that is, a lion ego, an elephant ego, and so on.
[ 9 ] If the plant wanted to point to its self, it would have to point to a collective self at the center of the earth, in the mental world. It is well known that when you sting an animal, that animal feels pain. It is different with plants, and the seer can tell us that picking flowers or cutting corn means the same pleasant feeling for the earth as taking milk from a cow while suckling. But if the plant is pulled out by the root, it is as if a piece of flesh were cut out of an animal. This uprooting is felt as pain in the astral world.
[ 10 ] If one were to ask: Where is the I of the mineral world? – then one would no longer be able to find such a center-forming being in the spiritual world. As the power of the whole cosmos is everywhere spread, the I of the minerals is to be found in the super-spiritual world, the Devachan world, which is called higher in Theosophy.
[ 11 ] In the Christian Secret Doctrine the world in which the animal ego resides is called the world of the Holy Spirit, the astral world; the world in which the plant ego is found is called the world of the Son, the spiritual or devachanic world. When the seer begins to sense in this world, the “Word” speaks to him, the Logos. The world of the mineral I, the supersensible world, is called the world of the Father-Spirit in the Secret Doctrine.
[ 12 ] Man is a being in a state of constant evolution; we have now become acquainted with all four aspects of his nature. They are what Pythagoras in his school called the lower tetrad. The savage, the civilized man, the idealist, the saint: all have these four parts. But the savage is the slave of his passions; the civilized man no longer follows his impulses and desires indiscriminately; the idealist does so even less, and the saint has become completely master of them.
[ 13 ] The I works on the astral body and divides off a part of it. This part becomes larger and larger in the course of human evolution, while the inherited part becomes smaller and smaller. In a Francis of Assisi, the entire astral body has been worked through and transformed by the I. This astral body, transformed by the I, forms the fifth limb of human nature: the spiritual self or manas.
[ 14 ] But the I can also become master of the etheric body or life body. The part of the etheric body transformed by the ego is called the spirit of life or buddhi. The impulses of art and religion have a transforming effect on the etheric body, the latter to a particularly strong degree because they are repeated daily; and repetition is the magic power that transforms the etheric body. In this sense, conscious work in the esoteric schooling has the strongest effect, and meditation and concentration are the means used here. The speed with which the etheric body and the astral body are transformed is similar to the way in which the hour hand moves in relation to the minute hand on a clock. If we succeed in changing the slightest thing in our temperament, which depends on the conditions of the etheric body, this is worth more than acquiring any number of ingenious theories.
[ 15 ] The greatest power is needed to consciously transform the physical body. The means for this are given only in the school of initiation. It can only be hinted that the regulation of breathing forms the beginning of this transformation. The physical body consciously transformed by the I is called the spirit man or Atma. The power for the transformation of the astral body flows to us from the world of the Holy Spirit. The power for the transformation of the etheric body flows to us from the world of the Son or the Word. The power for the transformation of the physical body flows to us from the world of the Father Spirit or the Divine Father.