The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XII

[ 1 ] When we talk about the physical body, most people have a very vague, confused idea of what the physical body actually is. We do not actually have a purely physical body, but rather a combination of the physical body and the higher forces. A piece of rock crystal is also physical. But in essence it is something completely different from the human eye or the heart, which are also physical. The eye and the heart are parts of the physical body, but they are mixed with the higher members of the human being, and this causes something completely different to happen in the physical than in the rest of the physical. We also have oxygen and hydrogen in the water before us, but they look very different there than when we see them separately or have them separately. Then they appear to us in a completely different way. In water, we have a mixture of the two before us. What now appears to us in the physical body of the human being is also a mixture of the physical with the etheric and astral bodies.

[ 2 ] The physical human eye is similar to a photographic camera, because, as in the camera, an image of the environment is created in it. If we now subtract from the physical eye everything that is not created in the camera, we are left with what is specific to the physical eye. In the same way, if we subtract everything from the whole physical body that is not purely physical, we are left with what occultism calls the physical body. This cannot live, think, or feel directly. What remains is a very wisely designed, extremely complicated automaton, a purely physical apparatus. This existed on its own only at the Saturn stage of human existence. At that time, the eyes existed only as small cameras. What was projected into them from the environment as images came to the consciousness of a Deva being. In the middle of the Saturn cycle, the so-called Asuras (the Archai) were ready to use the apparatus. At that time, they were at the stage of humanity. They used this apparatus and the images that were created in it. They themselves were not inside it, but outside, and only used the images; similar to how we can now use photographic apparatus to capture images of a landscape. The physical body of the human being was therefore at that time an architectural structure of a physical apparatus, operated from outside. This is the first stage of human existence.

[ 3 ] The second stage of development was the working through of this physical apparatus with the etheric body. Then it became a living organism. This was also expressed in the configuration of the body. The automaton was constructed from a fairly solid, undifferentiated mass, similar to what we now call a jelly mass, like a soft crystal.* In the second cycle, in the sun existence, the physical automaton was now permeated by the etheric body. In this sun cycle, the solar plexus also developed, which is named after it because it is a real organ of which only rudiments remain today. A nervous system works its way into the physical apparatus. Something similar is still present in plants. This is the second stage.

[ 4 ] But these stages are not complete; development continues gradually. The solar plexus is still such an effective agent today in animals that do not develop a spinal cord. All invertebrates are still individual formations of stages left behind from what was previously predisposed. Humans first separated themselves from vertebrates on Earth. In the past, humans were organized similarly to what crabs are today. Humans have now progressed beyond that stage, while crabs have remained unchanged. It is surprising that the entire interior of a crab bears a certain resemblance to the human brain. There is indeed a similarity between the internal structure of a crab and the human brain. Like the human brain, the crab is also enclosed in a hard shell. After humans had developed a spinal cord and transformed the upper vertebrae, they shed the hard shell. The crab did not develop further. It adapted to its external environment by means of a hard shell, which had to be for it what the protective covering of the rest of the body is for humans.

[ 5 ] The third stage is that in which the whole is reorganized by the astral body working within it. This reorganization is linked to the formation of the heart and the flow of warm blood through it. The fish heart has stopped halfway. The heart develops evenly as the inner body heat increases; this means nothing other than the astral body drawing into the physical body.

[ 6 ] The spinal cord with the brain is the organ of the I. It is surrounded by the threefold protective shell of the astral, etheric, and physical bodies. Once the organ of the ego (spinal cord and brain) has been prepared, the ego lies down in the bed that has been made ready, and the spinal cord and brain enter into its service as organs of the ego.

[ 7 ] This is how the fourfold human being is composed. This is the square of the Pythagoreans:

1. The spinal cord and brain are the organs of the ego.
2. Warm blood and the heart are the organs of the kama (astral body).
3. The solar plexus is the organ of the etheric body.
4. The physical body itself is a complex physical apparatus.

[ 8 ] Thus, the human being is constructed in four parts.

[ 9 ] What we have just described is called in occultism a vortex, something that builds from the outside and unites with what is building up inside. The physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body have built up the human being. Then the point of the I asserts itself, and this now builds from the inside out. These are the four parts of the human being. Thus, we find an imprint of the fourfold human being in the external world. All further development is such that the human being consciously experiences everything from this point of the I that he had previously experienced unconsciously.

[ 10 ] In order to recognize that this is so today, we must first investigate what happened when our I was formed. We must take our standpoint, so to speak, below a certain organ. This is expressed in an extraordinarily witty way in the Buddha legend. The legend says that Buddha remained under the Bodhi tree until he attained enlightenment in order to reach higher stages, to attain Nirvana. To do this, Buddha had to go below the brain, below the organ of consciousness. This means that he had to consciously go through the paths he had previously gone through unconsciously. Below the large brain, more towards the back of the head, sits the small brain, which is shaped like a tree. Buddha placed himself below this. The small brain is the Bodhi tree. This shows how what such profound legends say is taken from human development itself.

[ 11 ] All things that are now known through anatomy alone were known in a completely different way at that time. Occult researchers investigated with the help of the Kundalini light. A student was prepared for this in the following way. He came to a master. If he was recognized by the master as reliable, he did not receive a teaching as instruction — today this has changed; today, people must find their way through the intellect and concepts — but the master told him something like this: You must spend several hours every day, initially for about six weeks, in meditation and devote yourself to one of the eternal sentences, immersing yourself completely in it. Nowadays, people cannot do this because life in today's culture places too many demands on them. But in those days, the student meditated six to ten hours a day. He cannot do this now without withdrawing from culture. In those days, the student needed almost no time for culture. He found his nourishment outside. He therefore used his time for meditation, perhaps ten hours without interruption. Very soon, they were able to bring their bodies, which were not yet so dense at that time, to the point where the kundalini light awakened within. This is to the inner world what sunlight is to the outer world. In truth, we do not see objects outside either, but rather the reflected sunlight. The moment we are able to illuminate the soul with the help of the kundalini light, the soul becomes as visible as an object illuminated by the sun. In this way, the entire inner body gradually becomes illuminated for the yoga student. All ancient anatomies are seen from within, through inner illumination. This is how the [Indian] monks, who translated their experiences into legends, spoke of what they had seen through the kundalini light.

[ 12 ] We must now ask ourselves how the various parts of the human body are worked on. Man only consciously works on what belongs to the brain and spinal cord on the physical plane through the human ego ... (Gap in the text.) Human beings initially have no influence on other things. For example, they have no influence on the circulation of the blood. Such things only develop gradually. Other spirits, devas, work together with them, so that all beings, insofar as they have a blood circulation, are dependent on devic forces to regulate it. The astral body is permeated and worked on by external devic forces. The lowest ones work on the astral body. Higher forces work on the etheric body, and even higher devas work on the physical body, the most perfect body that humans have. The astral body is significantly less perfect than the physical body. The physical heart is actually very intelligent, but what is stupid is the astral body, which supplies the heart with all kinds of heart toxins. The most perfect part of the human being is the physical body, less perfect is the etheric body, and even less perfect is the astral body. What is just beginning, the “baby” in the human being, is the I. This is the four-membered human being, which contains the I within itself, just as a temple contains the statue of a god.

[ 13 ] The entire development of human culture is nothing other than the working of the I into the astral body, a training of the astral body. Filled with desires, drives, and passions, the human being enters into life. By overcoming these drives, desires, and passions, he works the I into the astral body. When the sixth root race, the sixth main epoch, is complete, the ego will be fully integrated into the astral body. Until then, the astral body will always need to be supported by the devic forces. As long as the ego has not permeated the entire astral body, the devic forces must support the work.

[ 14 ] The second development, which follows cultural development, is the development of the secret disciple. He works the ego into the etheric body. As a result, the devic forces are gradually replaced by the ego's own work in the etheric body. Then the human being also begins to gradually see through himself.

[ 15 ] We can now ask, what is the meaning of the astral body, why does the human being have an astral body? - It is to give the human being, via the detour of desire, the impetus to do what he would not otherwise have done: to enter the physical plane. For before the human being can recognize the physical plane objectively, he must direct his wishes and desires toward it. Without this, they would not have been able to develop an objective view of the world, nor duties and morals. Only through a gradual transformation of desires are these transformed into duties or ideals. Humans had to take this path through the driving, organizing power of the astral body.

[ 16 ] The etheric body is the carrier of thoughts. What is thought on the inside is ether on the outside, just as desire on the inside is astral on the outside. But only when pure thinking begins is etheric matter radiated into the astral impulses. As long as thoughts are not yet pure, we have astral matter surrounding the etheric form. So what we call thought forms are composed of a core of etheric matter surrounded by astral matter. Along the nerve pathways flow the currents of so-called abstract thoughts, which are in reality the most concrete of all, for they are etheric forces. As soon as a person begins to think at all, the I is already working into their etheric body. When a person dies, it becomes clear that the physical body has nothing to do with the ego. Every connection between the body and the ego is severed after death. Previously, this connection took place indirectly through the other bodies. When these are gone, the corpse no longer has any connection to the ego. The external devic forces take it upon themselves, and it is reintegrated into the physical environment. The word “decay” means not only to pass away, but to become the essence from which the body originated. This applies to the physical body. The Dutch word “lichaam” does not mean corpse, but the physical body that is carried around.

[ 17 ] The etheric body is also largely in the same situation as the physical body. After death, it is also taken up by the devas and then re-enters the general cycle. But what the human being himself has worked into the etheric body remains and does not dissolve. It is what later forms a center during reincarnation, around which the rest crystallizes. This small part remains present in every human being's etheric body. Likewise, as much of the astral body remains as the human being has worked into it. Only during the last third of the sixth root race will the entire astral body be preserved in all normally developing human beings.

[ 18 ] Development therefore begins with the human being consciously working on the astral body. The work of the chela, the secret disciple, is also to transform the etheric body. He has completed his chelahood when, after death, the entire etheric body remains intact. The stay in Devachan is necessary in order to make the organization of the etheric body possible again and again. The small piece of the etheric body that the human being initially carries into Devachan can grow into a complete etheric body, because the conditions for this are created in Devachan.

[ 19 ] This makes it understandable how the stay in Devachan works. When a person is at the beginning of their development and has only reworked a very small part of their etheric body, they can only stay in Devachan for a very short time. The missing part of the etheric body must be replaced by the outer devas. As they develop further, they remain in Devachan for longer and longer periods of time. The time they spend there increases in proportion to their own training. However, more advanced human beings are sometimes reincarnated earlier for other reasons, for example because they are needed in the world.

[ 20 ] When the chela dies, the entire etheric body is present. At this stage, the chela can therefore dispense with Devachan, because the etheric body is fully developed. After a very short time, reincarnation occurs. The chela first waits in the astral world as a transitional station until he receives a specific mission from his master. Then he can reoccupy his etheric body in order to reincarnate.

[ 21 ] Until then, two things are necessary for development: namely, that the things that cannot be developed internally must be built in from the outside. Help must come from outside. Thus, in Devachan, the etheric body is replenished by external Deva forces. The physical plane and Devachan are opposites. Between them lies Kamaloka, a transitional station, a transitional stage, an intermediate state, which is brought about by the fact that the human being is connected with what he has worked into. The astral body leads the human being to the physical plane, where he turns outward. There, the desires learn to take pleasure in external things. When a person dies, the craving for external objects does not immediately cease, even though they no longer have the organs to connect with them. The craving remains, but the organs are missing. In Kamaloka, the person must wean themselves off this desire for the external world. Kamaloka is not actually part of normal development; it is only a state of weaning. Because the human being can no longer satisfy his desires physically, because he no longer has organs for the physical world, Kamaloka sets in.

[ 22 ] When a person commits suicide, he has identified his ego with the physical body. This is why the craving for the physical body is all the more intense afterwards. They then feel like a hollowed-out tree, like someone who has lost their ego. They then have a constant thirst for themselves.

[ 23 ] When a person is killed violently, they are in a similar situation. A person who dies a violent death continues to search for their physical body, for their self, until the time when they would otherwise have died. This search can manifest itself in terrible reactions. In certain cases, being killed by violence provokes tremendous anger against those who caused their death. Thus, in the case of those who have been executed, the blow is transformed into a counterblow. From the astral world, the souls of Russians who had been executed for political reasons fought against their own compatriots on the side of the Japanese. This happened in the Russo-Japanese War, but it is by no means a general rule.