The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. Jeshu Ben Pandira: The Forerunner for an Understanding of the Christ Impulse. Karma as the Meaning of Life II

[ 1 ] Having discussed yesterday the division of human soul life into three parts—the world of ideas or thoughts, the world of emotional life, and the world of volitional impulses—we must now consider the following question: How can self-education—the cultivation of our inner life—intervene to work autonomously toward the proper development and formation of these three aspects of our inner life? Let us begin with our life of the will, the life of our volitional impulses, and ask ourselves: What qualities must we cultivate in particular if we wish to influence our life of the will in a beneficial way?

[ 2 ] The most beneficial influence on our volitional life is a life that, in its very essence, is guided by an understanding of karma; one might also say, a spiritual life that strives to develop, as its primary quality, serenity and acceptance of our fate. And how could one actually acquire this acceptance, this peace of mind in the face of fate, more effectively than by making karma a true purpose in life?

[ 3 ] What does it mean to make karma a true purpose in life? It means, not just in theory but in practice, that when we are struck by our own suffering or the suffering of others, when joy or the heaviest blow of fate strikes us, we must be truly clear that, in a certain higher sense, we ourselves have given rise to that painful blow of fate. This means developing an attitude in which we gratefully accept joy, yet are also clear that we must not, especially in the face of joy, lose ourselves, for in a certain sense it is dangerous to lose oneself in the face of joy. If we wish to develop ourselves further, we can understand joy in the following way. Joy is, for the most part, something that points to a future destiny, not a past one. In most cases in human life, joy is something one has not earned through previous deeds. When we examine karma through occult means, we find that in most cases, the joy one experiences is not deserved, and that one should regard joy in such a way that one gratefully accepts it as sent by the gods, as a gift from the gods, and tells oneself that whatever joy we encounter today should spur us on to work, so that we may absorb the forces flowing to us through joy and use them in a beneficial way. We must regard joy as a kind of down payment for the future.

[ 4 ] In the case of suffering, however, our actions were usually such that we deserved it, and we can always find the cause in our present or past lives. And then one must be fully aware that, in one’s external life, one has often not behaved in accordance with this karmic disposition. In our outer life, we cannot always behave toward what causes us pain in a way that looks like resignation to fate. We usually do not immediately recognize the law of fate. But even if we cannot behave that way outwardly, the main thing is that we do so inwardly.

[ 5 ] And even if one has not behaved outwardly in accordance with this karmic attitude, one should still tell oneself deep in one’s soul that, fundamentally speaking, one was the cause of all such things oneself. Let us suppose, for example, that someone strikes us, that someone beats us with a stick. Then it is usually human nature to ask: Who is it that is striking me? No one says: It is I myself who am beating myself. In very few cases do people answer that they are punishing themselves. And yet it is true that we ourselves raised the stick against another in days gone by. Yes, it is you yourself who raises the stick there. When we have an obstacle to remove, that is karma. It is karma when the other person has something against us. It is we ourselves who inflict something upon ourselves as compensation for something we have done. And so we arrive at the correct understanding of our lives, at the expansion of our self, when we tell ourselves: Everything that happens to us comes from ourselves. Our deed takes place out there, even if it looks as though someone else is doing it.

[ 6 ] When we adopt such a perspective, serenity and acceptance of our fate in all circumstances strengthen our will. Serenity makes us stronger in the face of life, never weaker. Anger and impatience make us weak. We are strong in the face of every event when we are serene. On the other hand, through grumbling and unnatural struggle against fate, our will grows weaker and weaker.

[ 7 ] However, we must view what we consider to be fate in a broader context. We must conceive of our destiny in such a way that we tell ourselves, for example, that it is also part of a person’s destiny to develop precisely these or those abilities at a certain age. And this is where mistakes are often made in the upbringing of children. Thus, karma also touches on the question of upbringing, for upbringing is destiny—the karma of a person in their youth.

[ 8 ] We weaken a person’s will when, for example, we expect them to learn or perform something that is not yet appropriate for their abilities. In education, one must understand what the general human karma is for each stage of life, so that the right thing can be done. An incorrect action is a rush against destiny, against these laws, and is associated with a tremendous weakening of the will. It is not possible here to discuss how a weakening of the will is connected to any premature awakening of the passions and sensual drives. In particular, it is all prematurely awakened drives, desires, and passions that fall under this law. For to make use of such mechanisms as the physical organs too early is against destiny. Everything that goes against the karma of humanity, all deeds that struggle against existing natural mechanisms, are associated with a weakening of the will. Because proper educational principles have long since been lacking, there are many in today’s population who did not spend their youth in the right way. If humanity does not resolve to organize what is most important—the education of youth according to the principles of Theosophy—a generation with ever-weaker willpower will emerge, and not merely in an external sense. This extends far into the life of the individual. Ask a number of people how they came to their profession. You can be sure that in most cases you will receive the answer: “Yes, we don’t know; we were just pushed into it.” This feeling of being pushed into it, this feeling of being driven, this feeling of dissatisfaction is also a sign of a weak will.

[ 9 ] If this weakness of will is caused in the manner we have discussed, it gives rise to further consequences for the human soul, particularly when the weakness of will is brought about in such a way that it triggers states of anxiety, fear, and despair during one’s youth. It will become increasingly necessary for people to have a thorough understanding of the higher laws in order to overcome states of despair, for it is precisely this state of despair that lies in store if one does not proceed in accordance with spiritual knowledge.

[ 10 ] A materialistic and monistic worldview can sustain only two generations of people with strong willpower. Materialism can satisfy precisely two generations: the one that founded it, and then their disciples who receive it. This is the peculiarity of this monistic and materialistic worldview: that the one who works in the laboratory or in the workshop, who establishes the worldview himself, whose powers are fully engaged and occupied by what he builds up in his soul, finds inner contentment. But for those who merely adhere to these teachings, who simply adopt materialism, this inner contentment will remain unattainable, and then despair will have a retroactive effect on the cultivation of the will, leading to weakness of will. A weakening of the will and a lack of energy in people will be the consequence of this worldview.

[ 11 ] The second of the three aspects of the spiritual life discussed yesterday is emotional states. What has a positive effect on emotional states?

[ 12 ] If we do our best to cultivate an alert mind and a keen awareness of what is happening around us—do not assume that this kind of awareness is particularly common or well-developed in people—it can be of great benefit to us. I can only cite one example again and again. In a certain country, the examination regulations for schoolteachers had once been changed, and for this reason all schoolteachers had to take the exam again. The examiner had to test both young and old teachers. He could test the young ones based on what they had learned in teacher training college. But how was he to test the older ones? He decided to ask them nothing other than what they themselves had been teaching year after year in their own classrooms, and it turned out that many, many of them had no idea what they were teaching!

[ 13 ] This attentiveness, this following with keen interest the things that take place around us, is particularly conducive to the development and cultivation of our emotions. Now, emotional states, like everything in the soul, are in a certain way connected to the impulses of the will, and if we influence our emotional life in an unfavorable way, we can thereby indirectly influence the impulses of the will. We nurture our emotional life in a positive sense when, with regard to our affections and passions, we submit to the law of karma and adhere to it. And we find this in our surroundings. We find it, for example, when someone does the opposite of what we expected. Then we can say to ourselves: Well, that’s just what they do! But we can also become angry and violent, and this is a sign of weakness of will. Outbursts and quick temper are things that set back emotional states and also the will, and have far-reaching effects, as we shall soon see. Now, anger is something that a person does not initially have under their control at all. Only gradually can they wean themselves off becoming angry. This can only happen slowly, and a person must be patient with themselves. To anyone who believes they can accomplish this in the blink of an eye, I must recount the story of a teacher who made it a special priority to rid his schoolchildren of anger. And when, after his constant efforts in this regard, he saw that a boy had become angry after all, he himself became so angry that he threw the inkwell at the child’s head. Anyone to whom this could happen would have to devote many, many weeks to reflecting on karma.

[ 14 ] We can only grasp what this means if we take this opportunity to look a little deeper into the inner life of the human soul. There are two poles of the soul’s life: the life of the will on the one hand, and the life of thought and imagination on the other. Emotional states lie in the middle of these. Now we know that human life alternates between sleeping and waking. And while a person is in the waking state, it is their life of imagination and thought that is particularly active. For anyone who pays attention to how a volitional impulse actually arises can see for themselves that the will is not actually awake. One must first have a thought, an idea; only then does the will rise up from the depths of the soul. The thought evokes impulses of the will. When a person is awake, they are not awake in the will; they are awake in thought.

[ 15 ] But occult science teaches us: When we sleep, everything is reversed. Then the will is awake and very active, while thought is inactive. At first, a person cannot know this in the normal state, simply because they know only through their thoughts, and these are asleep. Thus, they do not realize how their will is active. When they ascend to clairvoyance and enter a world of imaginative perception, they then realize that the will awakens the moment the thoughts fall asleep. And the will slips into the images they perceive and brings them to life. The images are then woven from the will, so that the thoughts sleep, but the will is awake.

[ 16 ] But this wakefulness of the will is connected to our entire human being in a completely different way than our thinking is. Depending on whether a person works or does not work, is healthy or sick, depending on whether they develop serenity or are angry, this results in a healthy or sick will. And depending on whether our will is healthy or unhealthy, it works during the night on our state of life, extending even into the physical body. There is a great difference between a person who, during the day, develops serenity and resignation to their fate—thereby preparing their will in such a way that one might say this will generates a pleasant warmth, a feeling of well-being—and a person who develops anger. This unhealthiness of the will pours into the body during the state of sleep and is the cause of numerous forms of illness, the cause of which is sought but not found, because the real consequences, which manifest as physical illnesses, only appear after years or decades. Only those who can survey long periods of time can see the connection between mental and physical states in the manner described. Thus, the will must also be trained for the sake of physical recovery.

[ 17 ] In the same way, we can also influence our emotional states through serenity and resignation, so that they have a beneficial effect on our physical constitution. On the other hand, nothing harms it more than apathy and indifference toward what is happening around us. This dullness is something that is spreading more and more; it is a trait that is the ultimate reason why so few people are interested in spiritual matters. One might believe that objective reasons lead to the adoption of a materialistic worldview. In reality, there are not that many objective reasons for a materialistic outlook on life. No, it is dullness; no one can be a materialist without being dull. It is inattention to our surroundings. For those who observe their surroundings with keen interest, what can only be reconciled with spiritual insight stands out everywhere. Dullness, however, suppresses emotional responses and leads to weakness of will.

[ 18 ] Of particular importance is also the trait known as obstinacy, a mindset that rigidly insists on one thing or another. Unhealthy emotional states can also lead to obstinacy. These things are often like a snake biting its own tail. All of the above can also be caused by obstinacy. Even people who go through life very inattentively can be very obstinate. People who are completely weak-willed are sometimes seen to insist on this very thing where one would not expect it, and the weakness of will grows ever greater if we do not try to combat obstinacy. It is precisely in people of weak will that one finds this stubbornness. If we, on the other hand, strive not to cultivate this stubbornness, we will notice that with each attempt we have improved our emotional state and strengthened our will. Every time stubbornness really stings us and we do not give in to it, we will face life with greater strength each time. We will see the results if we systematically combat this flaw; by fighting stubbornness, we become contented people. Specifically, it is the cultivation of our emotions that depends on our combating stubbornness, dullness, and apathy in every way. Thus, interest and attention to one’s surroundings foster the spirit and the will. Dullness and stubbornness have the opposite effect.

[ 19 ] To describe a healthy emotional response, we have the fine word “meaningfulness.” Meaningfulness is when something meaningful comes to mind. Children should play in a way that stimulates their imagination, that awakens the independent activity of their soul, so that they are compelled to reflect on their play. They should not arrange building blocks according to templates; this only fosters pedantry, not meaningfulness. It is meaningful when we let them create all sorts of things in the sand, when we take them into the forest and let them form little baskets from burdocks, and then encourage them to make other objects from linked burdocks. Things that foster a certain inventiveness cultivate meaningfulness. As hard as it may be to believe, it is through such cultivation of meaningfulness that peace of mind, harmony of the soul, and satisfaction enter human life.

[ 20 ] Furthermore, when we go for a walk with a child, we do well to let the child do as it pleases, provided it does not become too unruly. And when the child does something, one should express one’s joy, approval, and interest; one should not become displeased or indifferent toward what the child creates from the depths of its soul. Even when instructing the child, one should draw on the forms and processes found in nature. Once the children are older, one should avoid engaging them with puzzles or riddles from newspapers, which only foster pedantry. In contrast, the contemplation of nature offers the opposite of what the newspaper industry offers us today in terms of nurturing emotional well-being. Not only mental but also physical health depends on a calm and harmonious mind, even if there are sometimes great gaps between cause and effect.

[ 21 ] Now we come to the third aspect of the supersensible life: thinking. In this regard, we cultivate it and make it acute, in particular, by developing qualities that seem to have nothing to do with thinking or ideas. Nothing cultivates good thinking more than devotion and insight—not so much through logical exercises, but rather by observing this and that, using processes in nature to penetrate hidden mysteries. Through devotion to questions of nature and humanity, through the attempt to understand complex human beings, through an increase in attention, we make our thinking acute. Devotion means: attempting to unravel things through thinking, through imagination. In this regard, we can see that such devotion, through the intellect, has an extraordinarily beneficial effect on later life.

[ 22 ] Here is a real-life example: A little boy revealed to his mother some remarkable aspects of his observations, which were linked to extraordinary devotion and insight. He said: “You know, when I walk down the street and see people and animals, it’s as if I have to go inside them. I met a poor woman, and I went inside her, and that was terribly painful for me; it was very miserable.”—Yet the boy had never seen any misery at home; on the contrary, he lives in quite good circumstances. - And then I went into a horse, then into a pig. - And he describes this in great detail, and through this empathy he is inspired in an extraordinary way to compassion, to specific acts of compassion. Where does this come from, this expansion of understanding for other beings? If one reflects on this, one returns to the previous incarnation, where the person in question cultivated the devotion to things, to the mysteries of things, described above.

[ 23 ] However, we do not need to wait until our next incarnation to see the effects of the culture of devotion. These effects are already evident in a single lifetime. If we are encouraged to cultivate all of this in our earliest youth, we will have clear, lucid thinking later in life; otherwise, we will develop fragmented, illogical thinking. The fact is that truly spiritual principles can help us move forward in life.

[ 24 ] Truly theosophical principles of education have been scarce, almost nonexistent, in recent decades. And now we are experiencing the consequences. Incorrect thinking is extremely prevalent in our time. One can experience a kind of torment when confronted with the world’s terribly illogical existence. Those who have acquired a certain degree of clairvoyance do not merely feel that this is right and that is wrong; rather, they experience genuine pain when confronted with illogical thinking, and a sense of well-being when encountering clear, transparent thinking. This means: One has developed a sense for it, and one can make decisions based on that. And that is a much more accurate way of deciding once one has reached that point. It yields a much more accurate judgment regarding truth and falsehood. This seems unbelievable, but it is so. When something incorrect is said to a clairvoyant, the rising pain shows them that it is illogical and incorrect. Illogical thinking is widespread to the greatest extent; at no time has illogical thinking been as widespread as it is in our present age, even though we take such pride in logical thinking. Here is an example of this, which may seem a bit extreme, but is typical of thoughtless and disinterested experience.

[ 25 ] I was once traveling from Rostock to Berlin. Two other people got into my compartment—a gentleman and a lady. I sat in a corner and just wanted to watch. The gentleman soon began to behave strangely—he was otherwise perhaps a very cultured man—he lay down, jumped up again five minutes later, then groaned pitifully once more. Since the lady apparently thought he was in pain, she was overcome with compassion, and soon a conversation was underway between them. She then told him that she had indeed noticed that he was suffering, but she knew what it meant to be ill, for she was also sick. She had a basket with her that contained everything that was healing for her. She said: “I can cure everything, for I have a remedy for everything. And just think what misfortune I have. Here I come all the way from deep within Russia to the Baltic Sea to recuperate and do something for my ailments, and when I arrive, I realize that I forgot a remedy that is important to me at home. Now I must turn back immediately, and even this hope has been in vain.” - Then the gentleman described his ailments, and she gave him a remedy for each of his illnesses, and he promised to do everything and wrote it all down. I believe there were eleven different prescriptions. Now she began to list all her ailments one by one; and then he began to know everything that could cure them, that she could be helped for this ailment at this sanatorium, and for that one at another. So she, for her part, wrote down all the addresses and was only afraid that the pharmacies might be closed in Berlin on Sundays when she arrived. Not for a moment did these two people realize the strange contradiction that each knew everything that might help the other, yet for themselves they knew of no remedy. For two educated people, this experience was an opportunity to bathe in the sea of nonsense that was pouring forth.

[ 26 ] One must take such things into account if one expects self-knowledge to yield insight. One must demand that self-knowledge foster coherence in thought, but above all, dedication to the cause. All these things work together within the soul. Such fragmented thinking has the effect—albeit only after a long time—of leading a person to feel the need to be gloomy, grumpy, and hypochondriacal about everything, and one often does not know where to look for the causes of this. A lack of cultivation of insight and devotion makes one grumpy, gloomy, and hypochondriacal. What is so immensely necessary for thinking seems to have nothing to do with thinking at all. All self-will, all selfishness has a destructive effect on thinking. All qualities connected with self-will and selfishness, such as ambition, vanity—all these things that seem to be directed toward something else—make our thinking unhealthy and have an adverse effect on our mood. That is why we must also strive to combat self-will, selfishness, and egoism, and instead cultivate a certain devotion to things, a certain willingness to sacrifice for others. Devotion and a willingness to sacrifice even for the most insignificant objects and events have a beneficial effect on thought and mood. In fact, selfishness and egotism punish themselves in that the selfish person becomes increasingly dissatisfied, complaining more and more that their own interests have been neglected. When someone feels this within themselves, they should submit to the law of karma and ask themselves, when they are dissatisfied: What selfishness has brought this dissatisfaction upon me?

[ 27 ] In this way, one can literally point out how to nurture and how to harm the three aspects of our inner life, and this is of extraordinary importance. We therefore see that Theosophy is something that penetrates deeply, deeply into our lives. It penetrates deeply into our lives because a genuine observance of theosophical principles can make us self-educators, and this is of immense importance for life; but it is also becoming increasingly significant insofar as the times of human development are over when people were guided from above by the gods, from the higher worlds. More and more, people will have to act on their own, without being guided or directed.

[ 28 ] In light of what the Masters have now taught regarding the process of working one’s way up to Christ, who will appear on the astral plane before the end of this century, a deeper understanding of this human progress can only be achieved in this way: Human beings must increasingly generate their own impulses for the future. Just as we described yesterday that humanity is gradually working its way up toward the Christ, so must we gradually perfect our impulses of thought, feeling, and will in freedom. And this can only be achieved through such self-control and self-observation. Just as in the past, through ancient clairvoyance, impulses were bestowed upon humanity by the gods, so later, through new clairvoyance, humanity will have to determine its own paths. That is why Theosophy has emerged precisely in our time, so that humanity may learn to develop soul qualities in the right way. Through this, humanity then lives in harmony with what the future is to bring. Only in this way can one comprehend what must eventually come to pass: namely, that those who are clever yet immoral will be cast out and rendered harmless.

[ 29 ] The qualities mentioned are important for every person. However, they are particularly important for those who wish to strive in a special way to quickly and efficiently acquire the qualities that are becoming increasingly necessary for humanity. That is why it is especially the leaders of humanity who strive to bring about this development in themselves to a very special degree, because one can achieve the highest only through the highest qualities.

[ 30 ] This development is exemplified to the highest degree by that individual who once rose to the dignity of a Bodhisattva—when the previous Bodhisattva, Gautama, became a Buddha—who has since been incarnated nearly once every hundred years and lived approximately one hundred years before Christ as Jeshu ben Pandira, the forerunner of Christ. It takes him five thousand years to ascend to the dignity of a Buddha, and this Buddha will then be Maitreya Buddha. He will be a bringer of good, and this is because—as those who are clairvoyant enough can see—he has attained, through the strictest self-discipline, the ability to develop those powers to the utmost degree that give rise to magical-moral forces, such that he will be able to impart emotional stirrings and morality into souls through the word itself. We are not yet able to develop words on the physical plane today that would be capable of this. Even the Maitreya Buddha could not form such magical words today. Today, only thought can be conveyed through the word.

[ 31 ] How does he prepare himself? Above all, by developing to the highest degree those qualities known as the “good ones.” The Bodhisattva develops to the highest degree what might be called devotion, serenity in the face of fate, attentiveness to all events in our surroundings, dedication to all beings, and insight. And although many lifetimes of the future Buddha are necessary, he devotes himself in his incarnations primarily to paying attention to what is happening, even if what he does now is hardly much, because he is preparing himself entirely for his future mission. This is achieved because a special law applies specifically to this Bodhisattva. We will understand this law when we consider that there is a possibility that, at a certain stage of life, a complete transformation of our inner life may occur.

[ 32 ] The greatest such transformation that has ever taken place occurred at the baptism of John. It was then that, in the thirtieth year of his life, the “I” of Jesus left the flesh and another ‘I’ took its place: the “I” of Christ, the leader of the solar beings.

[ 33 ] The future Maitreya Buddha will reenact a similar transformation. But in his incarnations, he reenacts such a transformation in a completely different way. The Bodhisattva reenacts the life of Christ, and those who are initiated know that he displays very special characteristics in every incarnation. One will always notice, particularly between the ages of thirty and thirty-three, that a tremendous transformation takes place in his life. There, though not in such a dramatic way as with Christ, the soul is replaced: The I that has animated the body up to that point departs during this time, and the Bodhisattva essentially becomes a completely different being than he was before, even though in his case, unlike with Christ Jesus, the I does not cease to exist and is not replaced by another I. This is what all occultists agree upon: that one cannot recognize him before this point, before this transformation. Until then—though devoted to everything with the keenest interest—his mission will not stand out particularly, and even if the transformation certainly takes place, one can never say what will happen to him then. His earlier youth is always quite different from what he transforms into between the ages of thirty and thirty-three.

[ 34 ] This is how he prepares for a great event. It will happen as follows: The old self departs, and another self then takes its place. And this may be a personality such as that of Moses, Abraham, or Elijah. This personality will then be active in this body for some time; through this, what must happen may occur to prepare the way for the Maitreya Buddha. He will then spend the rest of his life living on with this self that has entered.

[ 35 ] It is, then, a complete transformation that takes place. Yet whatever is necessary to recognize the Bodhisattva may occur. And then one knows that when he appears in three thousand years and is elevated to the dignity of the Maitreya Buddha, his ego will indeed remain within him, but will be permeated inwardly by another individuality as well. And this will happen precisely in his thirty-third year, in that year in which the Mystery of Golgotha was fulfilled with Christ. And then he will appear as the Teacher of Goodness, as a great teacher who will prepare the true teaching of Christ and the true wisdom of Christ in a completely different way than is possible today. Theosophy is meant to prepare for what is to take place on our Earth one day.

[ 36 ] In our time, someone might take the position of cultivating qualities that are harmful to the emotions—such as dullness and so on. But this leads to a loosening of the emotions, to a loosening of the inner life of the soul, and the person will then no longer be able to fulfill their task in life. Therefore, everyone can regard it as a special grace if they are able to gain knowledge of future things. Anyone who has the opportunity today to devote themselves to theosophy enjoys a grace of karma.

[ 37 ] For knowledge of these things means establishing security, devotion, and peace within one’s soul, finding stillness within, and looking forward with confidence and hope to what lies ahead in the development of humanity over the coming millennia. All people who are able to know this should regard it as a special blessing, as something that calls upon the highest powers of the human being, something that can fan into flame everything in one’s soul that is dying out, in disharmony, or seems to be heading toward decay. Enthusiasm, fire, and passion also become health and happiness in one’s outer life.

[ 38 ] Anyone who seriously familiarizes themselves with these things, who can develop the necessary devotion to them, will see for themselves the happiness and inner harmony they bring. And if anyone in our society does not yet find this to be true for themselves, they should open themselves to the realization that they might say: If I have not yet felt this, the fault lies with me. It is up to me to delve into the mysteries that can be heard today. It is up to me to feel, as a human being, that I am a link in a chain that must extend from the beginning to the end of evolution, in which all human beings, individualities, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, and Christ are embedded as links. I must say to myself: To be a link in this, I experience as an awareness of my true human dignity. I must sense this, I must feel this.