The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XXI

[ 1 ] In order to form a precise concept of the technique of reincarnation, we must first familiarize ourselves with an idea that is significant for our entire worldview, namely the law of action and reaction. Every action produces a reaction.

[ 2 ] What can be observed in a crude way, namely when I strike a person and he strikes back, i.e., when a counterstrike follows a strike, can also be observed throughout nature. This is expressed in many places in Newton's works. It also applies to the occult realm. The reaction is not always perceptible, but it is eminently perceptible, for example, when pressure is exerted on a rubber ball. The stronger the pressure, the stronger the reaction. When an effect such as heat arises in nature, this heat must be removed from another part of the environment; there, cold arises as a reaction.

[ 3 ] This law of action and reaction also applies to the entire spiritual world, and it is extremely important to know this if one wants to understand karma and reincarnation. An action finds its expression on the physical plane. A feeling does not manifest itself directly on the physical plane. If I am connected to a person in friendship, we may be physically separated, so that our feelings cannot be expressed outwardly through an action, and yet we can still love each other. A feeling finds its immediate expression on the astral plane. Only when the feeling is translated into action does it find its expression on the physical plane. We must take this difference into account. We must be very clear that every action that takes place on the physical plane has an effect somewhere and then also has a counter-effect. Action always brings about a change on the physical plane.

[ 4 ] If we want to understand the world more deeply, we must not limit ourselves to what we can see. All physical facts are based on forces that cause them to happen. For example, when we look at the structure of a crystal, we can observe its shape and color on the physical plane. But there are forces involved in building it. These forces cannot be perceived on the physical plane. These forces must also be present first. These forces, which create the forms on the physical plane, which have a formative effect there, are themselves not on the physical plane.

[ 5 ] If we try to immerse ourselves meditatively in a crystal, for example, in a crystal shaped like an octahedron, if we allow it to submerge completely in our soul and adapt ourselves inwardly to the shape of the crystal, perhaps by allowing the shape of the crystal to work on us for an hour and then being able to suggest it away, then we reach the Arupa plane... (Gap in the text.) So if we allow any crystal, for example a rock crystal, to work on us, then retain the forms in the inclinations of the soul and finally let them disappear, then we are on the Arupa plane. Through this we learn that the forces that build up the crystal are on the Arupa plane.

[ 6 ] Everything that underlies the phenomena of the physical plane as forces can be found on the Arupa plane. It is true that such observations do not provide any insights that are directly relevant to human life. In fact, it is very difficult to transport oneself to the Arupa plane by observing human actions, except in the case of the actions of adepts. But we gain a great deal when we start from the purely physical realms and undertake a procedure such as immersing ourselves in a crystal, because there is great purity and chastity in the crystal. There are no instincts or desires in it.

[ 7 ] This ideal, which human beings are to achieve in the distant future, appears in all its purity when we immerse ourselves in the silent mineral kingdom. A silent, unobtrusive, desireless stone possesses an enormous magical power, especially for the occultist. Even in the plant world, one cannot make that silent, chaste purity the object of one's contemplation as in this oldest kingdom.

[ 8 ] Since forces that actually exist on the Arupa plane are now effective on the physical plane, we always have to consider two sides of the physical world: the visible side, which is phenomena, and the hidden side, which is forces. When we are active on the physical plane, we initially cause phenomena, but every action actually extends up to the Arupa plane, where it has its counteraction. Actions on the physical plane are imprinted on the arupa plane like the signature of a seal and remain there. The material of the arupa plane is fine, soft, and permanent; it is akasha, and human actions remain inscribed there.

[ 9 ] We now come to all those expressions of human beings that contain feelings. All feelings expressed by human beings have their counteractions just like actions, but feelings do not reach up to the Arupa plane; instead, they find their counteraction in the lower parts of the Devachan plane, on the Rupa plane.

[ 10 ] In fact, this can already be deduced from a certain observation of nature. If we concentrate on a plant in the same way as we do on a crystal, we have to linger much longer with our imagination on the plant, because we have to let not only its form work on us, but also its inner mobility, its life. In this way we can also have certain experiences, but it takes longer than with the mineral. We have to see the plant every day as a growing plant. If we first allow it to work on us as a small plant and meditatively observe its growth until it has produced flowers and fruit, then let this have an after-effect, erasing its sensual form within us – one could practice this for decades – then what the plant has triggered in us in terms of soul forces will transport us to the lower parts of the Devachan plane.

[ 11 ] Now we must ask ourselves: What force is at work in plants and determines life? — If we could crawl into a plant, live inside it, and grow up with the plant, if we could detach ourselves and crawl into the vegetation, then we would have learned something from the outside that we know quite well from the inside, namely human feelings: pleasure and pain, sorrow and joy, and so on. If one could remove pleasure from oneself, one would be able to make mere mineral components grow through pleasure. Through this power, certain yogis find it possible to influence the growth of plants; but they have practiced these observations and meditations for many years, indeed through many incarnations.

[ 12 ] Feeling has its counterpart on the lower Devachan plane. Humans have no influence on plants unless they have developed yogic powers, but we can have an invigorating effect on our fellow human beings through warm feelings. Educators of children in particular can observe this. When you face a child with warm sympathy in a lesson, you know what an invigorating power feeling has. In other ways, too, you can observe many things as an effect of feeling in the world. Where growth begins, feeling is also called upon. Through art, a beginning is made for growth in human beings. The artist has at least the beginning of what is organizing power within him; at least a high-ranking artist, for example, the creator of the head of Zeus. Artistic creation in connection with human feelings is something that, if it were heightened, would make it possible to grow plants. Theosophy should once again provide an opportunity for understanding everything that is truly artistic, where it is grasped as a concept of world culture in the purest, noblest sense.

[ 13 ] Everything that is combined on the physical plane has no etheric body; but everything that grows has an etheric body. When a person works artistically, whether contemplating or creating, they are working on the etheric body. An artistically designed clay model or a painting has a direct effect on the etheric body. A virtue, on the other hand, has an effect on the astral body. Some noble people who return from Devachan, because they have done nothing to organize themselves in the sense of beauty, encounter an etheric body that does not match their advanced astral body at all. This is why many people who lived very saintly lives in their last incarnation, but without engaging in anything outwardly sensual, are afraid of incarnation when they reincarnate, because their etheric body has not been ennobled by sensual beauty.

[ 14 ] This very often causes a fear of incarnation and, in extreme cases, idiocy in reincarnation. If a person experiences all the disadvantages of their etheric body in an idiotic life, this is compensated for in the following incarnation. Because a person experiences a shock at the time of their incarnation, at birth, if they have not ennobled their etheric body through the influence of sensual beauty, beauty has been adopted as the second principle in Freemasonry. Wisdom, beauty, and power or strength are the three constructive forces; they should be developed. Those who possess all three will become human beings who fit into the next incarnation with all three bodies.

[ 15 ] These things impose on us the duty to reintroduce artistic activity into theosophical life. This has now also been incorporated into the current of the theosophical movement. In the beginning, the mere teachings were supposed to act on the astral body. Now, feeling should also influence the etheric body. The great teachings are not only spoken, but also built, painted, and carved. If we have a world around us that is built in the styles of the great theosophical movement, then we have accomplished a great deal. Christianity is not only given in the canon, but has also been painted by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo, and built in Gothic cathedrals. Then came the musical element, into which Christianity grew after it had been internalized.

[ 16 ] After the world of feelings, we ascend into the world of thought. When a person conceives a pure thought, they enter a different state than through their feelings and actions. For whoever conceives a pure thought also generates a counteraction through that thought. Europeans very rarely have such pure thoughts; instead, their thoughts are mostly clouded by instincts, desires, and passions. For the most part, there is only one case in which Europeans have pure thoughts, namely in mathematics. When people calculate, their passions are very much absent. Because most people want to have feelings and criticism everywhere, they do not love mathematics. This cannot be decided by parliamentary vote. Human beings recognize mathematical truth through truth itself; a problem can only be solved in one way. Whether one person or a million people decide, the problem must always be solved in the same way. We would not need majority decisions anywhere if it were possible to decide as dispassionately and objectively in all areas as in mathematics. In Europe, this can only be pointed to as an ideal, that one day judgments will also be made in such a dispassionate, objective manner in other areas of life.

[ 17 ] Researchers would not argue at all if they considered the factors completely objectively, because the truth cannot approach people in different ways. People have different opinions because their instincts and passions involve them in their ideas in different ways. Haeckel has different instincts than Wasmann, so they both judge differently. In the highest sense of the word, no philosophy has spoken about human affairs as objectively in the purity of mathematical judgments as Vedanta philosophy. Those who immerse themselves in it know what it means: I don't need anyone else to know whether something is true. Those who truly rise to this clear, dispassionate thinking need no other opinion.

[ 18 ] Heraclitus and Hegel were more purified of their passions than Du Bois-Reymond, Herbert Spencer, and Haeckel, which is why they stand higher. There are different points of view and judgments, but not really contradictory truths. Haeckel's truth crawls on the ground; Vedanta wisdom rises in dispassionate purity and surveys things from above. It does not contradict materialism, but has a higher standpoint than materialism. In his “Metamorphosis of Plants,” Goethe attempted to create such a dispassionate form as the mathematician creates. He actually wanted to create such dispassionate thoughts and bring the mathematical spirit into the higher realms. Only a little yoga, a little purification of emotions, can make it understandable what Goethe means by his botany.

[ 19 ] Because thought is sacred in this way, one is on the Devachan plane with one's thoughts. Europeans are almost never on the Devachan plane except when they are calculating. Certain areas of artistic creation also ascend to the Devachan plane. When Goethe reaches the highest heights as an artist, he becomes very difficult to understand. He attempted to introduce this dispassionate thought in “Iphigenia” and “Tasso,” but even more so in the drama “The Natural Daughter.” It was precisely these dramas that had a powerful effect on people who were strong and energetic. Such people shed tears over “The Natural Daughter.”

[ 20 ] The counteraction of such a thought, which is on the Devachan plane, is found on the astral plane. These thoughts act downwards on the astral plane, the other things act upwards. For example, in Fichte's case, the content of the thoughts in “The Natural Daughter” acted on the astral plane, on his feelings, and brought him to tears. That was the counteraction of the thought. Some people are most deeply moved by the influence of such pure thoughts. In action and feeling, the counteraction goes upward; here it goes downward.

[ 21 ] Even if thoughts rarely show themselves as such pure thoughts, they are always present as driving forces. Even if there is much quarreling among opinions, the thoughts are still there. When a person lives in thought on the devachanic plane, they must also grasp this thought in such a way that they develop a feeling for it. Most people agree with the first theosophical principle insofar as it is an opinion. But if one asks whether they also support it with feeling, one will come to a different conclusion. Only when one has brought an opinion to which one professes to believe down to the astral plane has one's own feeling become completely imbued with it; only then does the opinion become truly active. The theosophical movement wants to develop people, to bring them with their lives and feelings to where their principles are.

[ 22 ] Let us recapitulate. All our outer actions have an effect on the arupa plane. We leave behind a whole skeleton of effects on the arupa plane in a life between birth and death. Everything we have felt in life leaves an imprint on the rupaplan. Everything we have thought leaves an imprint on the astral plane. After death, we first pass through Kamaloka and then arrive on the Rupaplan. We arrive there if we have not yet conceived very many such Devachan thoughts. Once we have conceived such Devachan thoughts, we have already become Chelas, secret disciples, and then we already have the Devachan plan completely within us.

[ 23 ] The chela can remain on the astral plane; he renounces Devachan because his pure thoughts have purified and strengthened his astral body to such an extent that he can continue to use it. In our case, everything that has not yet been processed and refined by the ego dissolves in Kamaloka. In the savage, most of it dissolves; in the highly developed human being, the least of it dissolves. The astral body that has already been refined is taken along after Devachan. Everything we have developed as our emotional life prepares us for a new life and works on us. When we have united with all our actions, we are pushed back to our next incarnation. The eternal part of the self—the self and the refined astral body—now returns and rejoins itself in the astral plane to a body that corresponds to what has not yet been refined. The preparation for joining a foreign astral limb is acquired in Devachan. Then it joins itself to the etheric body. As a result, a preview of everything that awaits the human being emerges. Just as when leaving the physical body in the etheric body and astral body, the memory awakens for the immediate past up to birth, so now the preview of what is to come. Now, something special can sometimes happen here: one can experience a shock that causes idiocy. - As one descends further, the physical body is attached.

[ 24 ] Because thoughts only have an effect on the astral plane, they are karmically the most intimate. They are creative in themselves. That is why the saying applies: What you think today, you will be tomorrow! The purer and more supersensible the thought, the more one becomes the creator of one's character.

[ 25 ] Destiny is also shaped by other factors: feelings create opportunities, actions create form.

Appearance		Powers
Physical plane	Actions	Arupa plane
Astral plane	Feelings	Rupa plane
Devachan plane	Thoughts	Astral plane