Awareness - Life - Form
GA 89
3 November 1904, Berlin
Planetary Evolution IX
We are going to have an example of how the world evolved, concentrating on the point where evolution went through the middle of the Lemurian age, and looking at some of the time that went before and came after. The aim is to show how the sense of the eye developed at that time.
If we were able to look at the world as it was at the time of the first, the Polarian race, we would find it to be an ether orb. Soon, meaning several millions years later—which can mean ‘soon’ in world evolution—matter condensed. We see the beginnings of what we call ‘air’. In the air itself, the first beginnings evolved of what we call ‘fire’ and ‘water’. At the time, however, the water in the air was a fiery mist. At that time, in the beginning of the Lemurian age, the Earth was a dense, smoky, fiery mist. Real water as we know it today only developed later as the Earth cooled down; solid matter came even later.
We have to realize that human beings were involved in some form or other at every one of these developmental stages. Human evolution is always dependent on the surroundings.
Let us now look at the human being as he began to evolve at the time when those fiery mists were developing. He had his sense of hearing at the time, and a sense of feeling for temperature differences; he was a highly differentiated, mobile creature flying around in the fiery mist. He needed an organ for feeling if conditions were favourable, not too hot nor too cold. The Cyclops-like organ developed at this time, which had initially served as an organ for feeling the ambient temperature, to tell him if he might enter into it or not.
Then the whole mass in which he was moving started to grow fiery. Before, this element we now call ‘flame’ was not present; the level of the temperature was much higher than the temperature of fire today. The feeling organ sensed that the state of heat was turning into flame and thus gradually condensed into an organ of vision. We see, therefore, that this feeling organ evolved from the inside, arising initially from an inner need of the human being; it was to tell him if he felt well or not. Initially, the organ therefore existed for the sake of the human being himself, so that he might evolve as a life form in conditions that would allow this. At the same time—initially as an attendant phenomenon—the organ developed the ability to perceive the flame which had grown cold, which was light. The organ was at the top of the human head, like a glowing lantern. As matter condensed further it changed from an organ of feeling into an organ of vision.
The mobile human body was getting progressively denser. The result was that this feeling eye lost significance in the encounter with denser objects with external boundaries. Now the attendant phenomenon of being able to see the cold flame came into its own. The organ grew able, as matter was growing denser, to see the object with its boundaries; it was thus given a new role, as it were, as the surroundings changed. The original function has remained and will come into its own at a later stage.66See lecture given on 30 September 1905, in GA 93a, Foundations of Esotericism (see note 13).
The new quality had thus entered into the entity from the outside, to be given its function later on. Every entity first absorbs from the surroundings what it will later need for its conditions for life. Human beings would never have been able to perceive things through their eyes if these had not been created into them out of the surroundings. Organs need to be created out of the surroundings first, so that these surroundings may then be perceived. Through the organs which the surrounding world has created in him, he can in turn bring influence to bear in the surroundings.
Human beings can never give anything to the world unless the world has first created the conditions for it. Thus interaction between human being and world created the eyes, and through them human beings will later be able again to influence the world. We always have the same process; the human being first absorbs something from the outside which he will then later give out again. Everything in us has resulted from an activity. There is nothing in existence that has not originally been activity. All existence is the result of activity. This applies in all areas of existence, on all planes.
If we consider the dhyanic spirits in their revelatory activity, this is the outcome of an activity they had previously absorbed. This is the law of karma in its most comprehensive sense. All that is results from activity. To be a fortunate individual, you must have created your good fortune yourself in an earlier existence. The good fortune someone enjoys is the outcome of some activity on that individual’s part that had proved a blessing.
Consideration given to the karma of eye development differs from other [studies of karma] in that the individual remains perfectly calm and objective in giving his consideration. Emotions come into it when he considers the karma of his essential nature—idea of just and unjust. In the Vedantic and Pythagorean schools it was therefore the custom to discuss karma by choosing objects that would not arouse emotions. This first of all purified the thoughts, so that nothing by way of passions and feelings would enter into them. This was ‘study’, the aim being to get to know the laws of the world in a way that did not involve emotions. It was called ‘catharsis’, leaving aside anything personal. After this the individual concerned could become a mystic. For as long as human beings have reflected on the destiny of their souls, they have been very interested to know if it is mortal or immortal. They therefore had to go through catharsis in those times before they could study the soul’s destiny without emotion. Calm, emotionless study would free them from fear and self pity, above all egotistical compassion. Aristotle therefore defined drama as a cleansing through fear and compassion.67Aristotle (384–322 BC), in Poetics, 6th section. See also Rudolf Steiner’s essay ‘Aristoteles ueber das Mysteriendrama’ in Lucifer-Gnosis, GA 34.
We can see, therefore, that evolution involves a sequence of stages. At one level an entity will absorb something, then to be active on the outside at another. To begin with, the entity comes face to face with the outside world; then interaction develops. This would continue if circumstances did not change. When condensation occurs, the activity is struck back and the entity is transformed from inside.
In the development of the eyes, we have first of all the feeling eye in direct contact with the surrounding world. Then the eye was delimited by the denser matter which formed a layer in between. This physical layer separated the fire of the inner eye from the fire outside. Denser layers form in the following way. If there is a uniform orb to begin with, a spherical shell will first of all develop and this separates from the inner sphere because a layer forms in between. This is how the original atom arose.68See the lectures given in Berlin on 16 & 23 Dec. 1904 and 21 Oct. 1905, in The Temple Legend (see note 22). Initially, therefore, we have equally subtle matter inside and out, separated by a fine membrane of denser matter. Imagine that the process continues. Imagine the membrane of denser matter divides again in a similar way, as if it developed a more recent, denser membrane around itself. A separate entity thus develops, surrounding itself with progressively denser membranes, like the way an atom develops. We therefore have to think of the way atoms form—part of an existing form of matter being separated off by matter that grows progressively denser.
A difference then exists between inner and outer. This will have to show itself in some way. Consider sensation, as we call it. It may be caused by a pin prick, for example. But there has to be something which causes the sensation and something which has it—something active and something passive. Everything in the world comes into existence like this. All that is results from activity. All activity depends on there being something that is passive. These are the two poles we must look for with any activity. Even with the smallest atom we have something active and something passive. In the case of the atom, the forces acting from outside invert the membrane which encloses it. It grows concave from the outside, and convex, the opposite, from the inside.
In relation to the world we are the passive part, for we receive and feel impressions all the time. These continuous impressions are sensed by the astral body. We have to distinguish between activity and passivity in the astral world. Every sensation has to be produced, or rather caused. Nothing can be caused in the world of sentience without having an effect in that world. You have to visualize the whole of sentient space. If there were only a single astral body, we would never be able to ascribe sensations to the activities of other entities. Yet the ability to sense things could not have developed in us if we had not differentiated it out from a whole astral world in this way. Astral existence presupposes astral activity. In the same way mental existence presupposes thought activity, and physical existence physical activity.
Having understood this, we also understand something else. The human being thinks. This is his existence. Cogito ergo sum (Descartes).69René Descartes (1596–1650), French philosopher and mathematician. Principia Philosophiae Part 1, paragraph 7. Our passive thinking about things presupposes active thinking, presupposes that the things have first been created through the thought. Our human passive thinking presupposes one that is active. For every passive thought there must have been an active and creative thought before. Every feeling, every sensation, all passive experience in the astral body presupposes that this astral experience has been actively brought about. Anything which appears in the world all around us presupposes that the phenomena were first called into existence. Light would not exist if light had not been brought about; existence would not exist if it had not been brought about; sensory perception presupposes that the phenomenon is first revealed.
Everywhere in the world we find these three:
Active and passive thinking
Active and passive life
Active and passive existence.
Everything which is passive existence for the human being, is called the physical plane; it is the essence of all passive existence.
The essence of all passive life is called the astral plane.
The essence of all passive thinking is called the rupa mental plane.
The essence of all active thinking is called the arupa mental plane.
The essence of all active life is called the budhi plane.
The essence of all active existence is called the nirvana plane.
These are the five [six] planes known to us. Activity is most intensive in the nirvana plane, for existence itself is created there.
If we consider the human being in terms of these planes, we see that every thought which a human being thinks is followed by another active thought on the corresponding plane, which is the reaction. If you have a thought on the lower mental plane, this causes a counter image on the higher mental plane. If you have a feeling, this produces a counter image on the budhi plane. If you are active in the physical plane, this produces a counter image on the nirvana plane. Just as earlier an active thought created our passive thinking, so does an active thought creative its passive counter image on the higher mental plane, and so on. We thus cannot take a single thought but that this has its counter image, and the same holds true for a feeling or action.
The sum of all those counter thoughts, counter experiences and counter actions is called the akashic record. It is therefore possible to read every human thought on the higher mental plane, all feelings and experiences on the budhi plane, and all actions in the nirvana plane. The spirits which regulate the relationship between those counter images and human beings play an important role. Human beings live out their thoughts on the mental plane. What they deal with in their thoughts, all happens on the mental plane. When they are there, in the devachan, between death and rebirth, they build the character of their thought body for the next life. That is where the counter images of their former thoughts are. The individual draws them to his mental body, which has been freed from anything physical or astral, and thus creates his future mental body according to the thought images he has created. However, he would not be able to connect the counter images of his experiences and actions with himself on his own. This needs spirits who regulate things from the outside, the lords of karma, the lipikas. They connect the counter images of the human being’s feelings and actions with him when he is on the budhi and nirvana planes—with kamic and other elements already enveloping him—to provide for the incarnations that will follow.
Neunter Vortrag
Wir wollen ein Beispiel für das Werden der Welt geben, wir wollen den Punkt ins Auge fassen, wo die Entwicklung durch die Mitte der lemurischen Zeit hindurchgeht, und wollen ein Stück vor und nach dieser Zeit betrachten. Es soll gezeigt werden, wie dazumal der Sinn des Auges entstanden ist.
Wenn wir die Erde betrachten könnten zur Zeit der ersten, der polarischen Rasse, würden wir sie als eine Ätherkugel finden. Bald, das heißt mehrere Millionen Jahre nachher - was in der Weltentwicklung «bald» heißen kann -, verdichtete sich die Materie. Wir sehen in Anfängen sich das entwickeln, was wir Luft nennen. In der Luft selbst bildeten sich die ersten Anfänge dessen, was wir Feuer und Wasser nennen. Doch bestand in der Luft das Wasser erst als feuriger Nebel. Die Erde war damals, im Anfange der lemurischen Zeit ein dichter, qualmender Feuernebel. Wirkliches Wasser, wie wir es jetzt kennen, bildete sich erst später bei der Abkühlung der Erde und noch später erst das Feste. Man muß bedenken, daß in allen diesen Entwicklungsstadien die Menschen in irgendeiner Form dabei waren. Die menschliche Entwicklung hängt immer von der Umgebung ab.
Wir wollen nun den Menschen betrachten, wie er in der Zeit der Feuernebelbildung anfängt sich zu entwickeln. Er hatte zu jener Zeit den Sinn des Gehörs und den Sinn des Gefühls für die Temperaturunterschiede und war ein vielfach gegliedertes, bewegliches Wesen, das in dem Feuernebel herumflog. Um zu fühlen, ob die Daseinsbedingungen günstige waren, ob es nicht zu warm oder zu kalt war, brauchte er ein Organ. Es bildete sich zu dieser Zeit das zyklopenartige Organ, das zunächst den Zweck hatte, ein Fühlorgan zu sein für die umgebende Temperatur, ob er in diese hineingehen konnte oder nicht.
Dann fing die ganze Masse, in der er sich bewegte, an, feurig zu werden. Vorher war das, was wir jetzt Flamme nennen, nicht vorhanden; es bestand ein Temperaturgrad, der ein viel höherer war als der des jetzigen Feuers. Dieses Fühlorgan empfand, wie der Wärmezustand zur Flamme wurde und verdichtete sich so allmählich zum Sehorgan. Wir sehen also, daß sich dieses Fühlorgan von innen heraus bildet, weil es zunächst einem inneren Bedürfnis des Menschen entspringt; es soll angeben, ob er sich wohlfühlt oder nicht. Es ist also ursprünglich um des Menschen selbst willen da, damit er sich als Lebewesen unter den entsprechenden Bedingungen entwickeln kann. Nebenbei — zunächst als eine Begleiterscheinung des Fühlens - bildet es sich die Fähigkeit, die erkaltete Flamme, das Licht, wahrzunehmen. Das Organ befand sich oben auf dem Kopf des Menschen wie eine glühende Laterne. Mit zunehmender Verdichtung der Materie bildete es sich vom Fühlorgan in ein Sehorgan um.
Da des Menschen beweglicher Leib von immer dichterer Materie durchsetzt wurde, war die Folge, daß dieses Fühlauge seine Bedeutung verlor, denn es trat den immer dichter werdenden Gegenständen, die äußerlich begrenzt waren, gegenüber. Jetzt kam die Begleiterscheinung, nämlich die kalte Flamme zu sehen, zu ihrer Geltung. Das Organ wurde fähig, durch die dichter werdende Materie, den äußeren begrenzten Gegenstand zu sehen; es erhielt somit eine neue Bestimmung durch seine veränderte Umgebung. Die ursprüngliche Bestimmung blieb ihm, um in einem späteren Zustand zur Geltung zu kommen.
Die neue Eigenschaft war also zuerst von außen in das Wesen eingezogen, um später ihre Bedeutung zu erhalten. Jedes Wesen saugt erst aus seiner Umgebung dasjenige ein, was es später zu seinen Lebensbedingungen braucht. Der Mensch könnte niemals durch die Augen wahrnehmen, wenn sie ihm nicht durch die Umgebung einerschaffen worden wären. Es müssen erst aus der Umgebung die Organe geschaffen werden, damit diese Umgebung wahrgenommen werden kann. Dann kommt durch die Organe, die die Umwelt in ihn hineingebildet hat, sein Wirken in der Umwelt wieder zur Geltung.
Niemals kann der Mensch der Welt etwas geben, wozu sie ihm nicht selbst die Bedingungen geschaffen hat, so wie die Wechselwirkung zwischen ihm und der ihn umgebenden Welt ihm die Augen geschaffen hat, durch die er später wieder auf die Welt wirken kann. Überall finden wir denselben Prozeß: erst saugt der Mensch von außen ein, was er später wieder hinausgibt. Alles, was an uns ist, ist das Ergebnis einer Tätigkeit. Es gibt kein Sein, das nicht zuerst Tätigkeit war. Alles Sein ist die Wirkung einer Tätigkeit. Dies gilt auf allen Gebieten des Daseins, auf allen Plänen.
Wenn man die dhyanischen Wesenheiten in ihrer offenbarenden Tätigkeit betrachtet, so ist diese das Ergebnis einer früheren eingesogenen Tätigkeit. Das ist das Gesetz von Karma im umfassendsten Sinn des Wortes. Jedes Sein ist das Ergebnis einer Tätigkeit. Soll jemand ein glücklicher Mensch sein, so muß er das Glück in einem früheren Dasein selbst geschaffen haben. Glück, welches der Mensch genießt, ist das Ergebnis irgendeiner von ihm ausgegangenen segenbringenden Tätigkeit.
Die Betrachtung vom Karma der Augenbildung unterscheidet sich von den anderen [karmischen Betrachtungen] dadurch, daß der Mensch bei dieser Betrachtung völlig ruhig und objektiv bleibt. Wenn er aber das Karma seines Wesens betrachtet — Begriff von gerecht und ungerecht -, so mischen sich seine Emotionen hinein. Und daher war es in den Vedanta- und in den Pythagoräerschulen der Brauch, das Karma an emotionsfreien Gegenständen zu erörtern. Dadurch wurden zunächst die Gedanken so gereinigt, daß in sie nichts einfloß von Leidenschaften und Gefühlen. Das war das Studium, welches bezweckte, die Gesetze der Welt so kennenzulernen, daß sich nichts von Emotion hineinmischte. Das nannte man Katharsis, die Loslösung vom Persönlichen. Dann erst konnte der Betreffende ein Myste werden. Solange der Mensch über das Schicksal der Seele nachdenkt, ist er sehr interessiert, ob sie sterblich oder unsterblich ist. Daher mußte er damals erst durch die Katharsis hindurchgehen, ehe er das Schicksal der Seele selbst studieren konnte. Die Menschen mußten durch ruhiges, emotionsfreies Studium frei werden von Furcht und von Mitleid mit sich selbst, von allem egoistischen Mitleid. Deshalb definiert Aristoteles das Drama als eine Reinigung durch Furcht und Mitleid.
So sehen wir, wie im Werdegang eine gewisse Stufenfolge herrscht. Auf einer Stufe saugt das Wesen ein, um sich auf einer anderen Stufe nach außen zu betätigen. Auf diese Weise steht das Wesen zuerst der Außenwelt gegenüber, dann entwickelt sich Wechselwirkung. Die würde bleiben, wenn sich nicht die Bedingungen änderten. Bei Verdichtung wird die Tätigkeit zurückgeschlagen und das Wesen von innen heraus umgebildet.
Bei der Augenbildung findet zuerst die unmittelbare Berührung des Fühlauges mit der Umgebung statt. Dann wird das Auge abgegrenzt durch die dichtere Materie, die sich als Schicht dazwischenschob. Durch diese materielle Schicht wurde das Feuer des inneren Auges von dem Feuer außen getrennt. Die Bildung dichterer Schichten geschieht in folgender Weise. Wenn zuerst eine einheitliche Kugel vorhanden ist, so bildet sich zuerst eine Kugelschale, die sich durch eine dazwischengeschobene Schicht von der inneren Kugel trennt. Auf diese Weise bildet sich das ursprüngliche Atom. Also anfänglich haben wir innen und außen eine gleich feine Materie, die durch ein Häutchen dichterer Materie voneinander getrennt wird. Man denke sich diesen Vorgang fortgesetzt. Man denke sich das Häutchen der dichteren Materie in ähnlicher Weise wiederum zerteilt, als ob es um sich herum ein neueres dichteres Häutchen bekäme. So gestaltet sich das Sonderwesen, indem es sich mit immer dichteren Häutchen umgibt, wie das Atom sich bildet. So müssen wir uns als Schema die Atombildung denken: das Abgliedern eines gewissen Teiles einer bestehenden Materie durch eine dichter werdende Materie.
Es besteht dann ein gewisser Unterschied zwischen dem Innern und Äußern. Dieser wird sich in irgendeiner Weise äußern müssen. Denken Sie an das, was wir Empfindung nennen. Sie kann zum Beispiel durch einen Nadelstich hervorgerufen werden. Aber es muß etwas da sein, was die Empfindung hervorruft und etwas, was die Empfindung hat, etwas Aktives und etwas Passives. Alles in der Welt kommt so zustande. Alles Sein ist Ergebnis einer Tätigkeit. Alle Tätigkeit bedingt, daß etwas Passives da ist. Das sind die zwei Pole, die in aller Tätigkeit gesucht werden müssen. So gibt es auch beim kleinsten Atom Aktives und Passives. Die Kräfte von außen stülpen beim Atom das dasselbe umgebende Häutchen ein. Es wird dann von außen konkav und von innen konvex, das Entgegengesetzte.
Der Welt gegenüber sind wir der passive Teil, dä wir fortwährend Eindrücke aufnehmen und empfinden. Diese fortwährenden Eindrücke sind das, was durch den Astralleib empfunden wird. Man muß in der Astralwelt Aktivität und Passivität unterscheiden. Jede Empfindung muß erzeugt oder vielmehr verursacht werden. Nichts kann innerhalb der Empfindungswelt verursacht werden, was nicht innerhalb der Empfindungswelt eine Wirkung hat. Man muß sich den ganzen Empfindungsraum vorstellen. Wenn nur ein einziger Astralkörper wäre, so würden wir niemals Empfindungen dem Tun anderer Wesen zuschreiben können. Es hätte aber in uns nicht die Fähigkeit zum Empfinden entstehen können, wenn wir sie nicht so herausgegliedert hätten aus einer gesamten Astralwelt. Astrales Sein setzt astrale Tätigkeit voraus. Ebenso setzt mentales Sein Gedankentätigkeit voraus und physisches Sein physische Tätigkeit.
Wenn wir dies verstanden haben, dann verstehen wir etwas weiteres. Der Mensch denkt. Dies ist sein Sein. «Cogito ergo sum» (Cartesius). Des Menschen passives Denken über die Dinge setzt aktives Denken voraus, setzt voraus, daß die Dinge erst durch den Gedanken geschaffen sind. Unser menschliches passives Denken setzt ein aktives voraus. Für jeden passiven Gedanken muß ein aktiv-schöpferischer Gedanke vorausgegangen sein. Jedes Gefühl, jede Empfindung, alles passive Erleben im Astralkörper setzt ein aktives Bewirken dieses astralen Erlebens voraus. Alles, was ringsherum in der Welt erscheint, setzt ein ins Daseinrufen der Erscheinungen voraus. Licht wäre nicht da, wenn das Licht nicht bewirkt worden wäre; Sein wäre nicht da, wenn es nicht bewirkt worden wäre, das Wahrnehmen setzt ein Offenbaren der Erscheinung voraus.
Überall in der Welt finden wir das Dreifache:
Aktives und passives Denken,
Aktives und passives Leben,
Aktives und passives Sein.
Alles, was für den Menschen passives Sein ist, nennt man den physischen Plan, das ist der Inbegriff alles passiven Seins.
Den Inbegriff alles passiven Lebens nennt man den Astralplan.
Den Inbegriff alles passiven Denkens nennt man den Rupa-Mentalplan.
Den Inbegriff alles aktiven Denkens nennt man den Arupa-Mentalplan.
Den Inbegriff alles aktiven Lebens nennt man den Budhiplan.
Den Inbegriff alles aktiven Seins nennt man den Nirvanaplan.
Das sind die fünf [sechs] uns bekannten Pläne. Der Nirvanaplan hat die intensivste Tätigkeit, denn auf ihm wird sogar das Sein geschaffen.
Wenn man im Sinne dieser Pläne den Menschen betrachtet, so wird man sehen, daß jedem Gedanken, den der Mensch denkt, als Reaktion auf dem entsprechenden andern Plan, ein anderer, aktiver Gedanke folgt. Wenn man auf dem niederen Mentalplan einen Gedanken hegt, bewirkt dies ein Gegenbild auf dem höheren Mentalplan. Wenn man ein Gefühl hegt, bewirkt dies ein Gegenbild auf dem Budhiplan. Wenn man auf dem physischen Plan tätig ist bewirkt dies ein Gegenbild auf dem Nirvanaplan. Wie früher der aktive Gedanke unser passives Denken geschaffen hat, so schafft sich ein aktiver Gedanke ein entsprechendes passives Gegenbild auf dem höheren Mentalplan und so weiter. Es kann also kein Gedanke von uns gefaßt werden, der nicht sein Gegenbild hätte, ebenso kein Gefühl, keine Handlung.
Die Summe von all diesen Gegengedanken, Gegenerlebnissen, Gegenhandlungen nennt man Akasha-Chronik. Man kann also alle Gedanken des Menschen lesen auf dem höheren Mentalplan, alle Gefühle und Erlebnisse auf dem Budhiplan und alle Handlungen auf dem Nirvanaplan. Die Wesenheiten, welche nun den Zusammenhang zwischen den Gegenbildern und dem Menschen regeln, haben eine große Bedeutung. Die Gedanken lebt der Mensch auf dem Mentalplan aus. Was der Mensch in Gedanken abmacht, geschieht alles auf dem Mentalplan. Dort, im Devachan, baut er sich zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt den Charakter seines Gedankenkörpers für das neue Leben auf. Dort sind die Gegenbilder seiner früheren Gedanken. Die zieht er an seinen vom Physischen und Astralen befreiten Mentalkörper heran und bildet sich so seinen künftigen Mentalkörper nach den von ihm geschaffenen Gedankenbildern. Dagegen würde er nicht von selbst die Gegenbilder seiner Erlebnisse und Handlungen mit sich verbinden können. Das unterliegt von außen regelnden Wesenheiten, den Herren des Karma, den Lipikas, die die geschaffenen Gegenbilder der Gefühle und Taten des Menschen auf dem Budhi- und dem Nirvanaplan mit ihm - der schon wieder die kamische und andere Hüllen um sich hat - in Zusammenhang bringen für die folgenden Inkarnationen.
Ninth Lecture
We want to give an example of the becoming of the world, we want to focus on the point where development passes through the middle of the Lemurian epoch, and we want to look at a period before and after this time. We want to show how the sense of sight arose at that time.
If we could observe the Earth at the time of the first, the Polar race, we would find it to be an etheric sphere. Soon, that is, several million years later—what “soon” can mean in world development—matter became denser. We see the beginnings of what we call air developing. In the air itself, the first beginnings of what we call fire and water formed. But in the air, water existed only as fiery mist. At that time, at the beginning of the Lemurian epoch, the earth was a dense, smoking mist of fire. Real water, as we know it now, formed only later as the earth cooled, and even later still did solid matter. It must be remembered that in all these stages of development, human beings were present in some form. Human development always depends on the environment.
Let us now consider how humans began to develop during the time of the fiery mist. At that time, they had the sense of hearing and the sense of temperature differences and were multi-limbed, agile beings that flew around in the fiery mist. In order to feel whether the conditions of existence were favorable, whether it was too warm or too cold, they needed an organ. At that time, the cyclopean organ was formed, which initially served as a sensory organ for the surrounding temperature, whether they could enter it or not.
Then the whole mass in which it moved began to become fiery. Before that, what we now call flame did not exist; there was a temperature that was much higher than that of the current fire. This sensory organ sensed how the state of heat became flame and gradually condensed into the organ of sight. We see, then, that this sensory organ develops from within, because it initially arises from an inner need of the human being; its purpose is to indicate whether he feels comfortable or not. It is therefore originally there for the sake of the human being himself, so that he can develop as a living being under the appropriate conditions. Incidentally — initially as a side effect of feeling — the ability to perceive the cooled flame, the light, develops. The organ was located on top of the human head like a glowing lantern. With the increasing densification of matter, it transformed from a sensory organ into a visual organ.
As the human body became permeated with increasingly dense matter, the result was that this sensory eye lost its significance, for it was confronted with objects that were becoming increasingly dense and were limited in their external form. Now the accompanying phenomenon, namely seeing the cold flame, came into its own. The organ became capable of seeing the externally limited object through the increasingly dense matter; it thus received a new purpose through its changed environment. Its original purpose remained, to come into its own in a later state.
The new property was thus first drawn into the being from outside, in order to later acquire its significance. Every being first absorbs from its environment what it will later need for its living conditions. Humans could never perceive through their eyes if they had not been created by their environment. The organs must first be created from the environment so that this environment can be perceived. Then, through the organs that the environment has formed within them, their effect on the environment comes into its own again.
Human beings can never give the world anything for which it has not itself created the conditions, just as the interaction between them and the world around them has created the eyes through which they can later act on the world again. We find the same process everywhere: first, human beings absorb from the outside what they later give back. Everything that is in us is the result of an activity. There is no being that was not first an activity. All being is the effect of an activity. This applies to all areas of existence, on all planes.
When one considers the dhyanic entities in their revealing activity, this is the result of a previous activity that was absorbed. This is the law of karma in the broadest sense of the word. Every being is the result of an activity. If someone is to be a happy person, they must have created happiness themselves in a previous existence. The happiness that a person enjoys is the result of some beneficial activity that they have performed.
The consideration of the karma of eye formation differs from other [karmic considerations] in that the person remains completely calm and objective during this consideration. But when they consider the karma of their being—the concept of just and unjust—their emotions become involved. And therefore, in the Vedanta and Pythagorean schools, it was customary to discuss karma in terms of emotionless objects. In this way, the thoughts were first purified so that nothing of passion or feeling flowed into them. This was the study that aimed to learn the laws of the world in such a way that nothing of emotion interfered. This was called catharsis, the detachment from the personal. Only then could the person concerned become a mystic. As long as man thinks about the fate of the soul, he is very interested in whether it is mortal or immortal. Therefore, in those days, they first had to go through catharsis before they could study the fate of the soul itself. Through calm, emotionless study, people had to free themselves from fear and self-pity, from all selfish pity. That is why Aristotle defines drama as purification through fear and pity.
Thus we see how a certain sequence of stages prevails in the course of development. At one stage, the being absorbs in order to act outwardly at another stage. In this way, the being first faces the outside world, then interaction develops. This would remain the case if conditions did not change. With condensation, the activity is repelled and the being is transformed from within.
In the formation of the eye, the first thing that happens is the direct contact of the sensory eye with the environment. Then the eye is separated by the denser matter that has interposed itself as a layer. Through this material layer, the fire of the inner eye was separated from the fire outside. The formation of denser layers occurs in the following way. When a uniform sphere is first present, a spherical shell is formed, which separates itself from the inner sphere by means of an intervening layer. In this way, the original atom is formed. So initially we have equally fine matter inside and outside, separated from each other by a membrane of denser matter. Imagine this process continuing. Imagine the membrane of denser matter being divided in a similar way, as if it were surrounded by a newer, denser membrane. This is how the special being is formed, by surrounding itself with increasingly dense membranes, just as the atom is formed. We must therefore think of atomic formation as a process of separating a certain part of existing matter by means of increasingly dense matter.
There is then a certain difference between the inside and the outside. This difference must manifest itself in some way. Think of what we call sensation. It can be caused, for example, by a needle prick. But there must be something that causes the sensation and something that has the sensation, something active and something passive. Everything in the world comes about in this way. All being is the result of activity. All activity requires that something passive be present. These are the two poles that must be sought in all activity. Thus, even in the smallest atom, there is active and passive. The forces from outside turn the membrane surrounding the atom inside out. It then becomes concave on the outside and convex on the inside, the opposite.
We are the passive part of the world, constantly absorbing and feeling impressions. These constant impressions are what is felt by the astral body. One must distinguish between activity and passivity in the astral world. Every sensation must be generated or, rather, caused. Nothing can be caused within the world of sensation that does not have an effect within the world of sensation. One must form the mental image of the entire space of sensation. If there were only a single astral body, we would never be able to attribute sensations to the actions of other beings. However, the ability to feel could not have arisen in us if we had not separated it from the entire astral world. Astral being presupposes astral activity. Likewise, mental being presupposes thought activity, and physical being presupposes physical activity.
Once we have understood this, we understand something else. Human beings think. This is their being. “Cogito ergo sum” (Cartesius). Human passive thinking about things presupposes active thinking, presupposes that things are first created through thought. Our human passive thinking presupposes active thinking. Every passive thought must be preceded by an active, creative thought. Every feeling, every sensation, every passive experience in the astral body presupposes an active effect of this astral experience. Everything that appears around us in the world presupposes the bringing into being of phenomena. Light would not exist if light had not been brought about; being would not exist if it had not been brought about; perception presupposes the manifestation of phenomena.
Everywhere in the world we find the threefold:
Active and passive thinking,
Active and passive living,
Active and passive being.
Everything that is passive being for humans is called the physical plane, which is the epitome of all passive being.
The epitome of all passive life is called the astral plane.
The epitome of all passive thinking is called the rupa mental plane.
The epitome of all active thinking is called the arupa mental plane.
The epitome of all active life is called the budhi plane.
The epitome of all active existence is called the nirvana plane.
These are the five [six] planes known to us. The nirvana plane has the most intense activity, for it is on this plane that existence itself is created.
If one considers human beings in terms of these planes, one will see that every thought a human being thinks is followed by another, active thought on the corresponding other plane. If one harbors a thought on the lower mental plane, this creates a counter-image on the higher mental plane. If one harbors a feeling, this creates a counter-image on the budhi plane. When one is active on the physical plane, this causes a counter-image on the Nirvana plane. Just as the active thought previously created our passive thinking, so an active thought creates a corresponding passive counter-image on the higher mental plane, and so on. Thus, no thought can be conceived by us that does not have its counter-image, nor any feeling or action.
The sum of all these counter-thoughts, counter-experiences, and counter-actions is called the Akashic Records. Thus, all human thoughts can be read on the higher mental plane, all feelings and experiences on the buddhic plane, and all actions on the nirvanic plane. The beings who now regulate the connection between the counter-images and human beings are of great importance. Human beings live out their thoughts on the mental plane. Everything that human beings do in their thoughts happens on the mental plane. There, in Devachan, between death and new birth, they build up the character of their thought body for their new life. There are the counter-images of their former thoughts. They draw these to their mental body, which has been freed from the physical and astral bodies, and thus form their future mental body according to the thought images they have created. On the other hand, they would not be able to connect the counter-images of their experiences and actions with themselves on their own. This is subject to external regulating beings, the lords of karma, the Lipikas, who connect the created counter-images of the feelings and deeds of the human being on the budhi and nirvana planes with him – who already has the karmic and other sheaths around him again – for the following incarnations.