The Foundations of Esotericism
GA 93a
27 September 1905, Berlin
Lecture II
Today we will concern ourselves with three important ideas connected with parts of human nature. These may be said to form guiding threads through the entire world. They are as follows: Activity or Movement; Wisdom, which is also called Word, and thirdly Will. When we speak of activity we usually mean something very general. The esotericist however sees in activity the foundation of the whole universe as it surrounds us. The original form of the universe is for the esotericist a product of activity. What is seemingly completed is really a stage of continuous activity, a point in continuity. The whole world is in ceaseless activity. In reality this activity is Karma.
When speaking about man, we speak of his astral body as being Karma, as being activity. Actually the astral body is that part of the human being which is closest to him. What man experiences, so that he differentiates between well being and misfortune, happiness and sorrow, emanates from his astral body. Love, passion, joy, pain, ideals, duty, are bound up with the astral body. When one speaks of joy and sorrow, desires, wishes, etc., one is speaking of the astral body. Man continually experiences the astral body, but the seer perceives its form. This astral body is in continuous transformation. At first it is undifferentiated, so long as man has not yet worked upon it. In our time however man works upon it constantly. When he distinguishes between what is allowed and what is forbidden, he works into it out of his ego. Since the middle of the Lemurian Age until the middle of the Sixth Root-Race man works upon his astral body.
Why does man work upon it? He works upon his astral body because, in the sphere of activity, every single activity calls forth a counter effect. If we rub our hand on a tabletop it becomes hot. The warmth is the counter effect of our activity. Thus each activity calls forth another. Through the fact that certain animals migrated to the dark caves of Kentucky they no longer needed their eyesight but only sensitive organs of touch, in order to find their way about. The result was that the blood withdrew from their eyes and they became blind. This was the result of their activity, of their migration into the caves of Kentucky.7 Often quoted by Rudolf Steiner. See: Darwin, Origin of Species, Chapter 5.
The human astral body is in continual activity. Its life consists in this. In a narrower sense this activity is called human karma. What I do today has its expression in the astral body. If I give somebody a blow, that is activity and calls forth a counter blow. This is balance restoring justice—karma. Every action calls forth its counter action. With this must be considered the concept of cause and effect. In karma there is always something needing to be brought into balance; something further is always demanded.
The second guiding thread in human nature and in the universe is wisdom. Just as karma has something needing to be balanced, wisdom has something of rest, of equilibrium. It is therefore also called rhythm. All wisdom, according to its form, is rhythm. In the astral body there may perhaps be much sympathy, then there is much green in the aura. This green was once called forth as complementary colour.
Originally, instead of the green, there was red, a selfish instinct. That has been changed into green through activity, karma. In wisdom, in rhythm, everything is completed, balanced. In man everything rhythmical, filled with wisdom, is in the etheric body. The etheric body is therefore that in man which represents wisdom. In the etheric body repose, rhythm holds sway.
The physical body actually represents the will. Will, in contrast to absolute rest, is the creative element, that which is productive. Thus we have the following ascent: firstly karma, activity, what needs to be balanced; secondly wisdom, what has been brought to rest; thirdly will, such an overabundance of life that it can sacrifice itself. Thus activity, wisdom, will, are the three stages in which all being flows.
Let us study from this point of view the human being as he stands before us. In the first place man has his physical body. As he is at the present time, he has no influence at all upon his physical body. What man physically is and does is brought about from outside by creative forces. He cannot himself regulate the movement of the molecules of his brain; neither of himself can he control the circulation of the blood. In other words, the physical body is produced independently of man and is also sustained for him by other forces. It is as it were only lent to him. Man is incarnated into a physical body produced for him by other forces. The etheric body too is in a certain respect produced for him by other powers. On the other hand, the astral body is formed partly by other powers, partly by man himself. That part of the astral body which is formed by man himself becomes his karma. What he himself has worked into it must have a karmic effect. This is the undying, the non-transient in him. The physical body has come about through the karma of other beings; but that part of man's astral body in which he has worked since the Lemurian Age, that is his karma. Only when man through his work has transformed the whole of his astral body, has he reached the stage of freedom. Then the whole of his astral body is transmuted from within. He is then entirely the result of his own activity, of his karma.
If we select some particular stage of development we always find a part of man's astral body which is his own work. That, however, which is the result of his own work lives also in the etheric body and the physical body. In the physical body lives what man has made out of himself, through the physical body it lives in the physical world. He would be unable to form concepts about the physical world if he did not work in it through his organs. What man experiences in his astral body he builds into himself. In what he observes in the physical world his three sheaths are active. When for instance he sees a rose, all three sheaths are engaged. To begin with he perceives red. In this the physical body is engaged. In a camera obscura the rose makes the same impression. Secondly, the rose is conceived in the etheric body as a living idea. Thirdly, the rose gives pleasure to the person and in this the astral body is engaged. These are the three stages of human observation. Here the innermost part of man works through the three bodies into the external world. What man takes in from the outer world, he takes in through these three bodies.
Desire underlies all those things involving human activity or karma. Man would have no reason to be active if he had no desires. He has however the desire to take part in the world surrounding him. This is why we also call his astral body his body of desires.
An inner connection exists between man's activity and his organs. He needs his organs both for the lowest and the highest impulses. He also needs them in art. When someone has once and for all absorbed everything from the world, he has no further use for his organs. Between birth and death man accustoms himself to perceive the world through his organs. After death what he is thus accustomed to must slowly be put aside. If he still wishes to make use of his organs to perceive the world, then he finds himself in the condition which is called Kamaloka. It is a condition in which there is still desire to perceive through the organs, which however are no longer there. If after death a person could say that he had no further desire to use his organs, Kamaloka would no longer exist for him. In Devachan everything which man formerly perceived around him with his organs, is there perceived from within—without organs.
Karma, man's activity through the astral body, is something which has not reached a state of balance. When however the activity gradually comes into a state of balance, equilibrium is brought about. If one strikes a pendulum it gradually reaches a state of balance. Every activity which has not reached a state of balance finally comes to rest. Irregularities which are few in number can be observed, but when they are extremely numerous they balance each other. By means of an instrument, for instance, one can observe the irregularities caused in a town by electric trams. In a small town, where the trams are fewer the instrument continually shows strong oscillations, but in a big town, where the movement is greater and more frequent, the instrument is much quieter, because the many irregularities equalise themselves. So it is also in Devachan with each single irregularity.
In Devachan man looks into himself. He observes what he has taken in. He must observe this for as long as is needed for it to reach a rhythmical condition.
A stroke calls forth a counterstroke; but only through many intermediate happenings does the counterstroke return. The effect however persists during the intervening period. The inter-relationship between stroke and counterstroke is worked over in Devachan and transformed into wisdom. What has been worked over and transformed into wisdom is metamorphosed in man into rhythm in contradistinction to activity. What has been changed into rhythm passes over into the etheric body. After Devachan one has become wiser and better because in Devachan all experiences have been worked over. That part of the astral body, which as vibrations has been worked into the etheric body, is immortal. When a man dies that part of the astral body is preserved which he has worked over and transformed, also the very small part of the etheric body which has been worked through; the remaining part of the etheric body is dissolved in the cosmic ether. In so far as this very small part has been worked through, to that degree is his etheric body immortal. Hence when he returns he again finds this small part of the etheric body. What needs to be added to bring about completion determines the duration of his sojourn in Devachan.
When a human being has progressed so far that he has transformed his entire etheric body, Devachan is no longer necessary. This is the case with the occult pupil who has perfected his development and who has transformed his etheric body so that it remains intact after death and has no need to pass through Devachan. This is called the renunciation of Devachan. It is permissible to allow someone to work on one's etheric body when one is certain that he no longer brings anything of evil into the rest of the world; otherwise he would work his harmful instincts into it. Under hypnosis it can happen that the one hypnotised works into the world the harmful instincts of the hypnotist. In the case of normal people the physical body prevents the etheric body from being dragged and drawn hither and thither. When however the physical body is in a state of lethargy it is possible for the etheric body to be worked into. If one person hypnotises another and works harmful instincts into him, these also remain with him after death. Many of the practices of black magicians consisted in their creating willing servants by this means. It is the rule of white magicians to allow nobody to have his etheric body worked into unless by someone whose instincts have passed through catharsis. In the etheric body rest and wisdom prevail. When something bad enters into it, this element of evil comes to rest and therefore endures.
Before the human being as pupil is led to that point at which of his own choice he can work on his etheric body, he must at least, to a certain extent be able to evaluate karma in order to achieve self-knowledge. Meditation therefore should not be undertaken without continual self-knowledge, self-observation. By this means, at the right moment man will behold the Guardian of the Threshold:8 See: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and the Third Mystery Play. the karma which he has still to pay back. When one reaches this stage under normal conditions it merely signifies the recognition of his still existing karma. If I begin to work into my etheric body, I must make it my aim to balance my still remaining karma. It can happen that the Guardian of the Threshold appears in an abnormal way. This happens when a person is so strongly attracted to one particular life between birth and death, that because of the very slight degree of inner activity he cannot remain long enough in Devachan. If someone has accustomed himself to be too outward looking, he has nothing to see within. He then soon comes back into physical life. His desires remain present, the short Devachan is soon over, and when he returns, the collective form of his earlier desires still exists in Kamaloka; he comes up against this also. He incarnates. The old is then mingled with his new astral body. This is his previous karma, the Guardian of the Threshold. He then has his earlier karma continually before him. This is a specific form of the Double.
Many of the popes of the notorious papal age, as for example Alexander VI, have had such a Double in their next incarnation. There are people, and at present this is not infrequent, who have their previous lower nature continually beside them. That is a special kind of insanity. It will become ever stronger and more threatening, because materialistic life becomes ever more widespread. Many people who now yield themselves up completely to materialistic life will in their next incarnation have the abnormal form of the Guardian of the Threshold at their side. If now the influence of spirituality were not to be very strongly exercised, a kind of epidemic seeing of the Guardian of the Threshold would arise as the result of the materialistic civilisation. Of this the neurotic tendency of our century is the precursor. It is a kind of losing oneself in the periphery. All the neurotics of today will be harassed by the Guardian of the Threshold in their next incarnation. They will be pursued by the difficulties of a too early incarnation, a sort of cosmic premature birth. What we have to strive for in Theosophy is a sufficiently long time in Devachan, in order to avoid too early incarnations.
From this aspect we must consider the entrance of Christ into world history. Previously, anyone who wished to achieve a life in Christ had to enter into a Mystery school. There a state of lethargy was induced in the physical body and only through the purified priesthood could there be added to the astral body what was still needed for its purification. This constituted initiation.
But through the coming of Christ into the world, it came about that a man who felt himself drawn to Christ could receive from him something which could take the place of this old form of initiation. It is always possible that someone through union with Christ can preserve his astral body in so purified a condition that he is able to work into his etheric body without doing harm to the world. When one bears this in mind the expression ‘vicarious atonement through death’ receives a quite other significance. This is what is meant by the atoning death of Christ. Before this, death in the Mysteries had to be suffered by everyone who wished to obtain purification. Now the One suffered for all, so that through the world-historic initiation a substitute has been created for the old form of initiation. Through Christianity much that is of a communal nature has been brought about, which previously was not communal. The active power of this substitution is expressed in the fact that through inner vision, through true mysticism, community with Christ is possible. This has also been embodied in language. The first Christian initiate in Europe, Ulfilas, himself embodied it in the German language, in that man found the ‘Ich’ within it. Other languages expressed this relationship through a special form of the verb, in Latin for instance the word ‘amo’, but the German language adds to it the Ich. ‘Ich’ is J. Ch. = Jesus Christ. It was with intention that this was introduced into the German language. It is the initiates who have created language. Just as in Sanskrit the AUM expresses the Trinity, so we have the sign ICH to express the inmost being of man. By this means a central point was created whereby the tumultuous emotions of the world can be transformed into rhythm. Rhythm must be instilled into them through the Ich. This centre point is literally the Christ.
All western nations have developed activity, passionate desires. An impulse must come from the East in order to bring into, them a more tranquil condition. There is already a precursor of this in Tolstoi's book, ‘On Doing Nothing’.9 Published 1893. A detailed description of Tolstoi's ideas in contrast to Western ideas is to be found in Rudolf Steiner's lecture 3.11.1904. Theosophy and Tolstoy. (Typescript). In the activity of the West we find chaos in many spheres. This is continually on the increase. The spirituality of the East should bring a central point into the chaos of the West. What throughout long periods of time had its function as karma, passes over into wisdom. Wisdom is the daughter of karma. All karma finds its compensation in wisdom. An initiate who has reached a certain stage of development is called a Sun Hero, because his inner being has become rhythmical. His life is an image of the sun which in its rhythmical course traverses the heavens.
The word ‘Aum’ is the breath. The breath is related to the word as the Holy Spirit is to Christ, as the Atma is to the I.
II
Wir wollen uns heute beschäftigen mit drei wichtigen Vorstellungen, die zusammenhängen mit den Teilen der menschlichen Natur. Sie bilden sozusagen einen Leitfaden durch die ganze Welt. Es sind dies: Tätigkeit oder Bewegung, Weisheit, die auch Wort genannt wird, und drittens Wille. Wenn wir von Tätigkeit sprechen, meinen wir damit eigentlich etwas sehr Allgemeines. Der Esoteriker aber sieht in der Tätigkeit zunächst die Grundlage des ganzen Weltenalls, wie es uns umgibt. Die erste Gestalt des Weltenalls ist für den Esoteriker ein Produkt der Tätigkeit. Für den gewöhnlichen Menschensinn erscheint die Welt als etwas Fertiges; der Esoteriker aber sagt sich, was vorliegt, ist ein Produkt der Tätigkeit. Was scheinbar fertig ist, ist eine Stufe fortschreitender Tätigkeit, ein Durchgangspunkt. Die ganze Welt ist fortwährend in Tätigkeit. Diese Tätigkeit ist eigentlich Karma,
Wenn man vom Menschen spricht, spricht man von seinem Astralkörper als von Karma, als von Tätigkeit. Eigentlich ist der Astralkörper dasjenige, was dem Menschen am nächsten steht. Was der Mensch erlebt, so daß es entscheidet über sein Wohl und Wehe, über Lust und Leid, das geht von seinem Astralkörper aus. Liebe, Leidenschaft, Freude, Schmerz, Ideal, Pflicht hängen zusammen mit dem Astralkörper. Wenn man von Lust und Leid, Trieben, Wünschen und Begierden spricht, so spricht man vom Astralkörper. Der Mensch erlebt fortwährend den Astralkörper, der Seher aber sieht die Form des Astralkörpers. Dieser Astralkörper ist in einer fortwährenden Umwandlung begriffen. Zuerst ist er undifferenziert, solange der Mensch noch nicht daran gearbeitet hat. Der Mensch arbeitet aber fortwährend daran in unserer Zeit. Wenn er unterscheidet zwischen Erlaubtem und Verbotenem, arbeitet der Mensch von seinem Ich aus hinein. Seit der Mitte der lemurischen Zeit bis zur Mitte der sechsten Wurzelrasse arbeitet der Mensch an seinem Astralkörper.
Warum arbeitet der Mensch daran? Er arbeitet deshalb an seinem Astralkörper, weil auf dem Gebiet der Tätigkeit jede einzelne Tätigkeit einen Gegenschlag hervorruft. Jeder Schlag ruft einen Gegenschlag hervor. Wenn wir mit der Hand über die Tischplatte fahren, so wird sie heiß. Die Wärme ist der Gegenschlag zu unserer Tätigkeit. So ruft jede Tätigkeit eine andere hervor. Dadurch, daß gewisse Tiere in die finstern Höhlen von Kentucky einwanderten, brauchten sie ihr Augenlicht nicht mehr, sondern nur empfindliche Tastorgane, damit sie sich zurechtfinden konnten. Die Folge war, daß das Blut von den Augen abzog und sie blind wurden. Dies war die Folge ihrer Tätigkeit, des Einwanderns in die Höhlen von Kentucky.
Der menschliche Astralkörper ist in fortwährender Tätigkeit. Darin besteht sein Leben. Diese Tätigkeit nennt man im engeren Sinne das menschliche Karma. Was ich heute tue, hat seinen Ausdruck im Astralkörper. Wenn ich jemanden schlage, ist das Tätigkeit und ruft einen Gegenschlag hervor. Das ist die ausgleichende Gerechtigkeit: Karma. Tätigkeit ist ein Schlag, der einen Gegenschlag hervorruft. Damit muß dann der Begriff von Ursache und Wirkung verbunden werden. Im Karma ist immer etwas Unausgeglichenes; es fordert immer etwas anderes.
Das zweite in der menschlichen Natur und im Weltenall ist: Weisheit. Ebenso wie Karma etwas Unausgeglichenes ist, hat Weisheit etwas von Ruhe, Ausgeglichenheit. Darum nennt man sie auch Rhythmus. Alle Weisheit ist der Form nach Rhythmus. Im Astralkörper ist vielleicht viel Sympathie, dann ist viel Grünes in der Aura. Dieses Grün wurde einmal als Gegenfarbe herausgefordert. Dem Grünen entsprach ursprünglich ein Rot, ein selbstsüchtiger Instinkt. Das hat sich durch Tätigkeit, Karma, in Grün verwandelt. In der Weisheit, im Rhythmus ist alles fertig, ausgeglichen. Im Menschen ist alles Rhythmische, Weisheitsvolle im Ätherkörper. Der Ätherkörper ist daher das am Menschen, was die Weisheit repräsentiert. Im Ätherkörper herrscht Ruhe, Rhythmus.
Der physische Körper repräsentiert eigentlich den Willen. Wille ist im Gegensatz zur bloßen Ruhe das Schöpferische, das hervorbringt. So haben wir folgenden Aufstieg: erstens Karma, Tätigkeit, das Unausgeglichene; zweitens Weisheit, das zur Ruhe Gekommene; drittens Wille, ein so übervolles Dasein, daß es sich hingeben kann. Also Tätigkeit, Weisheit, Wille sind die drei Stufen, in denen alles Dasein verfließt.
Betrachten wir von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus den Menschen, wie er vor uns steht. Zunächst hat der Mensch seinen physischen Körper. Wie der Mensch gegenwärtig ist, hat er auf den physischen Körper gar keinen Einfluß. Was der Mensch physisch ist und tut, ist von außen, von schöpferischen Kräften gemacht. Er kann die Bewegung seiner Gehirnmoleküle nicht selber regeln, er kann den Blutumlauf nicht von sich aus beherrschen. Das soll eben nur sagen, daß der physische Körper ohne den Menschen hergestellt ist und ihm auch erhalten wird von anderen Kräften. Er ist ihm gleichsam nur geliehen worden. Der Mensch wird hineininkarniert in einen physischen Körper, der ihm von anderen Kräften hergestellt worden ist. Auch der Ätherkörper ist in gewisser Beziehung für ihn von anderen Mächten hergestellt. Dagegen ist der Astralkörper teilweise von anderen Mächten, teilweise vom Menschen selbst geformt. So viel wie vom Astralkörper vom Menschen selbst geformt ist, wird zum Karma des Menschen. Was er selbst hineingearbeitet hat, muß eine karmische Wirkung haben. Das ist auch das Unsterbliche, das Nichtvergehende an ihm. Der physische Körper ist durch das Karma anderer Wesen zustande gekommen; aber der Teil des Astralkörpers des Menschen, in den er seit der lemurischen Zeit hineingearbeitet hat, der ist sein Karma. Erst wenn der Mensch den ganzen Astralkörper durchgearbeitet hat, dann ist er auf der Stufe der Freiheit angelangt. Dann ist der ganze Astralkörper von innen heraus umgewandelt. Der Mensch ist dann ganz Ergebnis seiner Tätigkeit, seines Karmas.
Wenn wir irgendeine Entwickelungsstufe herausgreifen, so hat da der Mensch einen Astralkörper, der zum Teil seine eigene Arbeit ist. Was so seine eigene Arbeit ist, lebt aber im Ätherkörper und im physischen Körper. Im physischen Körper lebt, was der Mensch aus sich gemacht hat, und durch den physischen Körper lebt es in der physischen Welt. Er würde nicht zu Begriffen von der physischen Welt kommen können, wenn er nicht durch seine Organe in ihr arbeitete. Was der Mensch im Astralkörper erlebt, arbeitet er in sich hinein. Bei dem, was er in der physischen Welt beobachtet, sind seine drei Hüllen tätig. Wenn er zum Beispiel eine Rose sieht, sind alle drei Hüllen daran beteiligt. Er sieht zunächst rot. Daran ist der Physische Körper beteiligt. In einer Camera obscura macht die Rose denselben Eindruck. Zweitens wird aber diese Rose vom Menschen aufgefaßt im Ätherkörper als lebendige Vorstellung. Drittens erfreut die Rose den Menschen, und daran ist sein Astralkörper beteiligt. Das sind die drei Stufen menschlicher Beobachtung. Es arbeitet das Innerste des Menschen durch die drei Körper in die äußere Welt. Was der Mensch von der Außenwelt aufnimmt, nimmt er durch diese drei Körper auf.
Allen diesen Dingen, die sich auf die Tätigkeit des Menschen oder Karma beziehen, liegt die Begierde zugrunde. Der Mensch brauchte sich nicht zu betätigen, wenn er keine Begierde hätte. Er hat aber die Begierde, teilzunehmen an der Umwelt. Daher nennen wir seinen Astralkörper auch seinen Begierdenkörper.
Es besteht ein innerer Zusammenhang zwischen der Tätigkeit des Menschen und seinen Organen. Für die niedrigsten und höchsten Triebe braucht der Mensch seine Organe. Auch in der Kunst braucht er sie. Wenn der Mensch einmal alles aus der Welt gleichsam herausgesogen hat, braucht er keine Organe mehr. Zwischen Geburt und Tod gewöhnt sich der Mensch, die Welt durch seine Organe anzuschauen. Diese Gewöhnung muß er nach dem Tode langsam abstreifen. Will er auch dann noch seine Organe zum Anschauen der Welt gebrauchen, so befindet er sich in dem Zustand, den man Kamaloka nennt. Es ist ein Zustand, in welchem noch Begierde da ist, durch die Organe zu schauen, die aber nicht mehr da sind. Wenn der Mensch sich nach dem Tode sagen könnte, daß er keine Organe mehr brauchen wolle, so würde es für ihn kein Kamaloka mehr geben. Im Devachan nun wird alles dasjenige von innen angeschaut, ohne Organe, was der Mensch vorher im Leben durch seine Organe ringsherum wahrgenommen hat.
Karma, die Tätigkeit des Menschen durch den Astralkörper, ist etwas Unausgeglichenes. Indem die Tätigkeit aber nach und nach in einen Zustand des Gleichgewichts kommt, ergibt sich eine Ausgleichung. Wenn man ein Pendel anschlägt, geht es nach und nach ins Gleichgewicht über. Jede unausgeglichene Tätigkeit geht zuletzt über in etwas Ruhendes. Wenige Unregelmäßigkeiten lassen sich beobachten, aber wenn die Unregelmäßigkeiten unendlich zahlreich sind, gleichen sie sich wieder aus. Man kann zum Beispiel durch ein Instrument die Unregelmäßigkeiten beobachten, welche in einer Stadt durch das Fahren der elektrischen Bahnen verursacht werden. In einer kleinen Stadt, wo die Bahnen nicht so viel in Bewegung sind, zeigt das Instrument fortwährend starke Schwankungen, aber in einer großen Stadt, wo die Bewegung viel stärker und häufiger ist, ist das Instrument viel mehr in Ruhe, weil die vielen Unregelmäßigkeiten sich ausgleichen. So ist es auch im Devachan mit einer jeden Unregelmäßigkeit.
Im Devachan sieht der Mensch in sich hinein. Er beobachtet, was er aufgenommen hat; so lange muß er es beobachten, bis es in einen rhythmischen Zustand gelangt ist.
Ein Schlag ruft einen Gegenschlag hervor; aber durch viele Vermittlungen kommt erst der Gegenschlag zurück. Die Wirkung dauert aber in der Zwischenzeit fort. Wie Schlag und Gegenschlag zusammenhängen, das wird im Devachan zur Weisheit umgearbeitet. Was der Mensch zur Weisheit umgearbeitet hat, verwandelt sich beim Menschen in Rhythmus, im Gegensatz zur Tätigkeit. Was sich in Rhythmus verwandelt hat, das geht über in den Ätherkörper. Man ist nach dem Devachan weiser und besser geworden, weil man alle Erfahrungen im Devachan verarbeitet hat. Was von dem Astralkörper an Vibrationen in den Ätherkörper hineingearbeitet worden ist, das ist unsterblich. Wenn der Mensch stirbt, bleibt erhalten, was er von dem Astralkörper umgearbeitet hat, und von dem Ätherkörper das kleine Stückchen, das er bearbeitet hat; der übrige Teil des Ätherkörpers löst sich auf im Weltenäther. Soweit der Mensch dieses kleine Stückchen Ätherkörper bearbeitet hat, ist sein Ätherkörper unsterblich. Darum findet er dann bei seinem Wiederkommen dieses Stückchen Ätherkörper wieder. Was er braucht, um dieses Stückchen Ätherkörper zu ergänzen, das bestimmt die Dauer seines Aufenthaltes im Devachan.
Wenn ein Mensch soweit ist, daß er seinen ganzen Ätherkörper so umgewandelt hat, dann braucht er kein Devachan mehr. Dies ist bei dem ausgebildeten Geheimschüler der Fall, der seinen Ätherkörper so umgewandelt hat, daß der ganze Ätherkörper nach dem Tode verbleibt und nicht durch das Devachan hindurchzugehen braucht. Das nennt man das Verzichtleisten auf Devachan. Man kann einen Menschen am Ätherkörper arbeiten lassen, wenn man sicher ist, daß er nichts Übles mehr in die übrige Welt hineinbringt; er würde sonst seine schlechten Instinkte in die Welt hineinarbeiten. In der Hypnose kann es sein, daß der Hypnotisierte die schlechten Instinkte des Hypnotiseurs in die Welt hineinarbeitet. Beim normalen Menschen verhindert der physische Körper, daß man den Ätherkörper nach allen Richtungen zerren und ziehen kann. Wenn sich der physische Körper aber in Lethargie befindet, kann man in den Ätherkörper hineinarbeiten. Wenn man einen Menschen hypnotisiert und schlechte Instinkte in ihn hineinarbeitet, so bleiben diese auch nach dem Tode vorhanden. Viele Praktiken der schwarzen Magier bestanden darin, daß sie auf diese Weise sich willige Diener schufen. Regel der weißen Magier ist, niemanden in anderem Maße in seinen Ätherleib hineinarbeiten zu lassen, als seine Instinkte schon durch die Katharsis hindurchgegangen sind. Im Ätherkörper herrscht Ruhe und Weisheit. Wenn etwas Schlechtes hineinkommt, kommt dieses Schlechte zur Ruhe und bleibt dadurch.
Bevor der Mensch als Schüler bis zu dem Punkte geführt wird, daß er willkürlich an seinem Ätherkörper arbeiten kann, muß er wenigstens teilweise in die Lage kommen, das Karma zu beurteilen, Selbsterkenntnis zu erlangen. Darum darf Meditation nicht ohne fortwährende Selbsterkenntnis, Selbstschau vorgenommen werden. Dadurch wird erreicht, daß der Mensch im rechten Augenblick den Hüter der Schwelle sieht: das Karma, das er noch abzutragen hat. Wenn man diese Stufe in normalem Zustande erreicht, bedeutet das nichts anderes als die Erkenntnis des noch vorhandenen Karmas. Fange ich an, in den Ätherkörper hineinzuarbeiten, muß ich mir vorsetzen, das Karma, das noch da ist, auszugleichen. Es kann vorkommen, daß der Hüter der Schwelle auf abnorme Weise auftritt. Das geschieht, wenn der Mensch eine so starke Anziehung hat zu dem einen Leben zwischen Geburt und Tod, daß er wegen des geringen Maßes an innerer Tätigkeit nicht lange genug im Devachan bleiben kann. Wenn der Mensch sich zu sehr gewöhnt hat, nach außen zu schauen, hat er im Inneren nichts zu sehen. Er kommt dann bald ins physische Leben zurück. Seine Begierden bleiben dann vorhanden, das kurze Devachan ist bald vorüber; und wenn er zurückkehrt, ist das Gebilde seiner früheren Begierden noch im Kamaloka vorhanden; er trifft es dann noch an. Er verkörpert sich. Da mischt sich zu seinem neuen Astralkörper der alte hinzu; das ist das vorhergehende Karma, der Hüter der Schwelle. Er hat dann sein früheres Karma fortwährend vor sich, dies wird eine eigentümliche Art von Doppelgänger.
Viele von den Päpsten der berüchtigten Päpstezeit, wie zum Beispiel Alexander VI., haben solche Doppelgänger in der nächsten Inkarnation gehabt. Es gibt Menschen, und zwar jetzt gar nicht selten, die ihre frühere niedere Natur fortwährend neben sich haben. Das ist eine spezifische Art von Wahnsinn. Das wird immer stärker und heftiger werden, weil das Leben im Materiellen sich immer mehr ausbreitet. Viele Menschen, die jetzt ganz im materiellen Leben aufgehen, werden in der nächsten Inkarnation die abnorme Form des Hüters der Schwelle neben sich haben. Würde nicht der spirituelle Einfluß jetzt sehr stark ausgeübt, so würde eine Art epidemischen Sehens des Hüters der Schwelle eintreten als Folge der materialistischen Kultur. Ein Vorbote ist die Nervosität unseres Jahrhunderts. Sie ist eine Art Aufgehen in der Peripherie. Alle Nervösen von heute werden gehetzt sein durch den Hüter der Schwelle in der nächsten Inkarnation. Sie werden gehetzt werden in eine zu frühe Inkarnation, eine Art kosmischer Frühgeburt. Was wir mit der Theosophie anzustreben haben, ist eine genügend lange Devachanzeit, um solche zu frühe Inkarnationen zu vermeiden.
Von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus ist der Eintritt Christi in die Weltgeschichte zu betrachten. Vorher wurde jeder, der zu einem Leben in Christo kommen wollte, dahin gebracht, daß er ins Mysterium eintreten mußte. Der physische Leib wurde dort lethargisch gemacht, und nur von der reinen Priesterschaft wurde dem Astralleib zugefügt, was noch an seiner Reinigung fehlte. Das war die Einweihung.
Dadurch aber, daß Christus in die Welt kam, geschah es, daß der, der sich zu ihm hingezogen fühlte, von ihm einen Ersatz [für diese alte Art der Einweihung] bekommen kann. Es ist immer möglich, daß man durch die Verbindung mit Christus seinen Astralkörper so weit gereinigt erhält, daß man ihn ohne Schaden für die Welt in seinen Ätherkörper hineinarbeiten kann. Wenn man das bedenkt, bekommt das Wort von dem stellvertretenden Sühnetod eine ganz andere Bedeutung. Es ist dies gemeint unter dem Sühnetod Christi. Den Tod in den Mysterien hatte zuvor jeder erleiden müssen, der die Reinigung erlangen wollte. Nun hat ihn der Eine erlitten für alle, so daß durch die welthistorische Einweihung Ersatz geschaffen ist für die alte Einweihung. Durch das Christentum ist vieles Gemeinschaftliche geschaffen worden, was früher nicht gemeinschaftlich war. Die wirksame Kraft drückt sich dadurch aus, daß durch Innenschau, durch wahre Mystik, die Gemeinschaft mit Christus möglich ist. Das wurde auch in die Sprache hineingelegt. Der erste christliche Eingeweihte Europas, Ulfilas, hat es in die deutsche Sprache selbst hineingelegt, daß der Mensch in der Sprache das «Ich» fand. Andere Sprachen drücken diese Beziehung zum Ich durch eine besondere Form des Zeitwortes aus, zum Beispiel im Lateinischen «amo», aber die deutsche Sprache setzt das Ich hinzu. «Ich» ist: J.Ch. = Jesus Christus. Das ist mit Absicht in die deutsche Sprache hineingelegt, es ist nicht Zufall. Es sind die Eingeweihten, welche die Sprache geschaffen haben. So wie man im Sanskrit das AUM für die Trinität hat, haben wir für das Innere des Menschen das Zeichen «ICH». Dadurch war ein Mittelpunkt geschaffen worden, durch den die Leidenschaften der Welt sich in Rhythmus verwandeln können. Sie müssen sich durch das Ich rhythmisieren. Dieser Mittelpunkt ist wörtlich der Christus.
Alle westlichen Nationen haben die Tätigkeit, die Leidenschaften entwickelt. Ein Impuls vom Osten muß kommen, um in dieselben Ruhe hineinzubringen. Ein Vorbote davon ist schon Tolstojs Buch über «Das Nichtstun». In der Tätigkeit des Westens finden wir vielfach ein Chaos. Das vermehrt sich immer noch. Die Spiritualität des Ostens soll in das Chaos des Westens einen Mittelpunkt bringen. Was lange Zeit hindurch geübt wird als Karma, das geht in Weisheit über. Weisheit ist die Tochter von Karma. Alles Karma findet seinen Ausgleich in Weisheit. Ein Weiser, der auf einer bestimmten Stufe angekommen ist, heißt ein Sonnenheld, weil sein Inneres rhythmisch geworden ist. Sein Leben ist ein Abbild der Sonne, die in rhythmischen Bahnen den Himmel durchwandert.
Das Wort «AUM» ist der Atem. Der Atem verhält sich zum Wort, wie der Heilige Geist zu Christus, wie das Atma zu dem Ich.
II
Today we want to deal with three important concepts that are related to the parts of human nature. They form, so to speak, a guide through the whole world. These are: activity or movement, wisdom, which is also called the Word, and thirdly, will. When we speak of activity, we actually mean something very general. The esotericist, however, sees activity as the foundation of the entire universe that surrounds us. For the esotericist, the first form of the universe is a product of activity. To the ordinary human mind, the world appears as something finished; but the esotericist says to himself that what exists is a product of activity. What appears to be finished is a stage of progressive activity, a point of passage. The whole world is constantly in activity. This activity is actually karma.
When we speak of human beings, we speak of their astral body as karma, as activity. Actually, the astral body is what is closest to human beings. What humans experience, which determines their welfare and misfortune, their pleasure and suffering, emanates from their astral body. Love, passion, joy, pain, ideals, and duty are all connected with the astral body. When we speak of pleasure and suffering, drives, wishes, and desires, we are speaking of the astral body. Human beings constantly experience the astral body, but the seer sees the form of the astral body. This astral body is in a state of constant transformation. At first it is undifferentiated, as long as the human being has not yet worked on it. But human beings are constantly working on it in our time. When they distinguish between what is permitted and what is forbidden, human beings work on it from their ego. From the middle of the Lemurian epoch to the middle of the sixth root race, humans have been working on their astral body.
Why do humans work on it? They work on their astral body because in the realm of activity, every single action causes a counteraction. Every action causes a counteraction. When we run our hand over the tabletop, it becomes hot. The heat is the counter-effect of our activity. Thus, every activity causes another. When certain animals migrated into the dark caves of Kentucky, they no longer needed their eyesight, but only sensitive tactile organs to find their way around. As a result, the blood drained from their eyes and they became blind. This was the consequence of their activity, of migrating into the caves of Kentucky.
The human astral body is in constant activity. That is what constitutes its life. This activity is called, in the narrower sense, human karma. What I do today finds expression in the astral body. If I strike someone, that is an action and it provokes a counteraction. That is compensatory justice: karma. Action is a blow that provokes a counter-blow. This must then be linked to the concept of cause and effect. There is always something unbalanced in karma; it always demands something else.
The second thing in human nature and in the universe is wisdom. Just as karma is something unbalanced, wisdom has something of calmness and balance about it. That is why it is also called rhythm. All wisdom is rhythm in form. There may be a lot of sympathy in the astral body, then there is a lot of green in the aura. This green was once challenged as a complementary color. The green originally corresponded to a red, a selfish instinct. This has been transformed into green through activity, karma. In wisdom, in rhythm, everything is complete, balanced. In humans, everything rhythmic and wise is in the etheric body. The etheric body is therefore what represents wisdom in humans. Calm and rhythm reign in the etheric body.
In contrast to mere calm, will is creative, it brings forth. So we have the following ascent: first, karma, activity, the unbalanced; second, wisdom, that which has come to rest; third, will, an existence so overflowing that it can surrender itself. So activity, wisdom, and will are the three stages in which all existence flows.
Let us consider the human being standing before us from this point of view. First of all, the human being has his physical body. As the human being is at present, he has no influence whatsoever on the physical body. What the human being is physically and what he does is made by external, creative forces. They cannot regulate the movement of their brain molecules themselves, nor can they control their blood circulation of their own accord. This simply means that the physical body is created without the human being and is also maintained by other forces. It has, as it were, only been lent to them. The human being is incarnated into a physical body that has been created for them by other forces. In a certain sense, the etheric body is also created for him by other powers. In contrast, the astral body is formed partly by other powers and partly by the human being himself. As much as the astral body is formed by the human being himself becomes the karma of the human being. What he himself has worked into it must have a karmic effect. This is also the immortal, the imperishable part of him. The physical body has come into being through the karma of other beings; but the part of the human astral body into which the human being has worked since Lemurian times is his karma. Only when the human being has worked through the entire astral body has he reached the stage of freedom. Then the entire astral body has been transformed from within. The human being is then entirely the result of his activity, his karma.
If we take any stage of development, the human being has an astral body that is partly his own work. But what is his own work lives in the etheric body and in the physical body. What the human being has made of himself lives in the physical body, and through the physical body it lives in the physical world. He would not be able to grasp concepts of the physical world if he did not work in it through his organs. What the human being experiences in the astral body, he works into himself. In what he observes in the physical world, his three sheaths are active. When they see a rose, for example, all three sheaths are involved. First, they see red. The physical body is involved in this. In a camera obscura, the rose makes the same impression. Secondly, however, this rose is perceived by the human being in the etheric body as a living image. Thirdly, the rose delights the human being, and their astral body is involved in this. These are the three stages of human observation. The innermost part of the human being works through the three bodies into the outer world. What the human being takes in from the outer world, he takes in through these three bodies.
All these things that relate to human activity or karma are based on desire. The human being would not need to be active if he had no desire. But they have the desire to participate in their environment. That is why we also call their astral body their desire body.
There is an inner connection between human activity and their organs. Humans need their organs for their lowest and highest instincts. They also need them in art. Once humans have sucked everything out of the world, so to speak, they no longer need their organs. Between birth and death, humans become accustomed to viewing the world through their organs. After death, they must slowly shed this habit. If they still want to use their organs to view the world, they find themselves in a state called Kamaloka. It is a state in which there is still a desire to see through the organs, but the organs are no longer there. If, after death, humans could tell themselves that they no longer need their organs, there would be no more Kamaloka for them. In Devachan, everything that humans previously perceived through their organs in life is now seen from within, without organs.
Karma, the activity of humans through the astral body, is something unbalanced. However, as activity gradually reaches a state of equilibrium, a balance is achieved. When a pendulum is struck, it gradually comes to rest. Every unbalanced activity ultimately transitions into something at rest. A few irregularities can be observed, but when the irregularities are infinitely numerous, they balance each other out. For example, an instrument can be used to observe the irregularities caused in a city by the movement of electric trains. In a small town, where the trains do not move so much, the instrument shows constant strong fluctuations, but in a large city, where the movement is much stronger and more frequent, the instrument is much more at rest because the many irregularities balance each other out. The same is true in Devachan with every irregularity.
In Devachan, man looks within himself. He observes what he has absorbed; he must observe it until it has reached a rhythmic state.A blow provokes a counterblow, but the counterblow only returns after many mediations. However, the effect continues in the meantime. How blow and counter-blow are connected is transformed into wisdom in Devachan. What the human being has transformed into wisdom is transformed into rhythm in the human being, in contrast to activity. What has been transformed into rhythm passes into the etheric body. After Devachan, one has become wiser and better because one has processed all experiences in Devachan. What has been worked into the etheric body from the astral body in terms of vibrations is immortal. When a person dies, what they have transformed from the astral body remains, as does the small piece of the etheric body that they have worked on; the rest of the etheric body dissolves into the world ether. To the extent that the human being has processed this small piece of etheric body, his etheric body is immortal. That is why he finds this piece of etheric body again when he returns. What he needs to supplement this piece of etheric body determines the length of his stay in Devachan.
When a person has transformed their entire etheric body to this extent, they no longer need Devachan. This is the case with the trained secret student who has transformed their etheric body in such a way that the entire etheric body remains after death and does not need to pass through Devachan. This is called renouncing Devachan. One can allow a person to work on their etheric body if one is certain that they will no longer bring anything evil into the rest of the world; otherwise, they would work their bad instincts into the world. In hypnosis, it is possible that the hypnotized person will work the hypnotist's bad instincts into the world. In normal people, the physical body prevents the etheric body from being pulled and tugged in all directions. However, when the physical body is in a state of lethargy, it is possible to work into the etheric body. If a person is hypnotized and bad instincts are worked into them, these remain present even after death. Many practices of black magicians consisted of creating willing servants in this way. The rule of white magicians is not to allow anyone to work into their etheric body to a greater extent than their instincts have already gone through catharsis. Calm and wisdom reign in the etheric body. When something bad enters it, this badness comes to rest and remains there.
Before a person is guided as a student to the point where they can work on their etheric body at will, they must at least partially be able to assess karma and gain self-knowledge. That is why meditation must not be undertaken without continuous self-knowledge and self-observation. This enables the person to see the guardian of the threshold at the right moment: the karma that they still have to work off. When this stage is reached in a normal state, it means nothing more than the recognition of the karma that still exists. When I begin to work into the etheric body, I must set myself the task of balancing the karma that is still there. It can happen that the guardian of the threshold appears in an abnormal way. This happens when a person has such a strong attraction to the one life between birth and death that he cannot remain in Devachan long enough because of his low level of inner activity. If the person has become too accustomed to looking outward, they have nothing to see within. They then soon return to physical life. Their desires remain, the short devachan is soon over; and when they return, the structure of their former desires is still present in Kamaloka; they still encounter it. They incarnate. The old astral body mixes with the new one; this is the previous karma, the guardian of the threshold. They then have their former karma constantly before them, which becomes a peculiar kind of doppelganger.
Many of the popes of the infamous papal era, such as Alexander VI, had such doppelgängers in their next incarnation. There are people, and not infrequently nowadays, who constantly have their former lower nature beside them. This is a specific kind of madness. It will become stronger and more intense because life in the material world is spreading more and more. Many people who are now completely absorbed in material life will have the abnormal form of the Guardian of the Threshold beside them in their next incarnation. If spiritual influence were not being exerted very strongly now, a kind of epidemic vision of the Guardian of the Threshold would occur as a result of materialistic culture. A harbinger of this is the nervousness of our century. It is a kind of absorption in the periphery. All the nervous people of today will be hounded by the Guardian of the Threshold in their next incarnation. They will be hounded into a premature incarnation, a kind of cosmic premature birth. What we must strive for with theosophy is a sufficiently long devachan period to avoid such premature incarnations.
Christ's entry into world history must be viewed from this perspective. Previously, anyone who wanted to come to a life in Christ was led to the point where they had to enter the mystery. The physical body was made lethargic there, and only the pure priesthood administered to the astral body what was still lacking in its purification. That was the initiation.
But through Christ's coming into the world, it became possible for those who felt drawn to him to receive from him a substitute [for this old form of initiation]. It is always possible, through connection with Christ, to purify one's astral body to such an extent that it can be worked into the etheric body without harm to the world. When one considers this, the word “vicarious atoning death” takes on a completely different meaning. This is what is meant by the atoning death of Christ. Previously, anyone who wanted to attain purification had to suffer death in the mysteries. Now the One has suffered it for all, so that through world-historical initiation, a substitute has been created for the old initiation. Christianity has created much that is communal which was not communal before. The effective power is expressed in the fact that through introspection, through true mysticism, communion with Christ is possible. This was also incorporated into language. The first Christian initiate in Europe, Ulfilas, incorporated it into the German language itself, so that man found the “I” in language. Other languages express this relationship to the I through a special form of the verb, for example in Latin “amo,” but the German language adds the I. “I” is: J.Ch. = Jesus Christ. This was deliberately incorporated into the German language; it is not a coincidence. It was the initiates who created the language. Just as in Sanskrit we have AUM for the Trinity, we have the sign “ICH” for the inner being of man. This created a center through which the passions of the world can be transformed into rhythm. They must be rhythmicized through the ego. This center is literally the Christ.
All Western nations have developed activity, the passions. An impulse must come from the East to bring calm to them. A harbinger of this is already Tolstoy's book on “Doing Nothing.” In the activity of the West, we often find chaos. This is still increasing. The spirituality of the East should bring a center to the chaos of the West. What is practiced for a long time as karma is transformed into wisdom. Wisdom is the daughter of karma. All karma finds its balance in wisdom. A wise man who has reached a certain level is called a sun hero because his inner being has become rhythmic. His life is a reflection of the sun, which travels through the sky in rhythmic orbits.
The word “AUM” is the breath. The breath is to the word as the Holy Spirit is to Christ, as the Atma is to the ego.