At the Gates of Spiritual Science
GA 95
26 August 1906, Stuttgart
5. Human Tasks in the Higher Worlds
Yesterday we came to know a little about the nature of Devachan; now we have to ask how the bliss of Devachan comes about. Most of the activity there is creative, and though it is difficult to give an idea of the bliss that goes with it, a comparison with something that occurs on Earth will perhaps bring us nearer to it.
Let us observe the feeling that pervades the activity of a being engaged in the creation of another being: for instance, a hen sitting on her eggs. This is really a very appropriate comparison, grotesque though it may sound, for the brooding hen experiences an immense and blissful sense of well-being. Transfer this feeling to the spiritual level and you will have some conception of Devachan.
In the first region, the continental, where everything physical is spread out in negative, but like a vast tableau, a man is under an obligation to create the image of his new body. He does this free of all hindrance, and in so doing feels the bliss of creation.
In the second region, the universal life which under physical conditions is tied up with the forms of man, animal and plant, flows freely like the waters of the sea; and a man sees this flow as something both external and internal. Externally he sees it flow in a reddish-lilac stream from one plant form to another, one animal form to another, all embraced in the unity of life. All forms of spiritual life, for example that of Christian communities, are seen as belonging to the universal flow of life. Hence the first rule for a Theosophist, which is to look for the one life in everything, can be truly practised; for the universal life, common to all things, is seen in flow.
In the third region one sees realised in visible form all the relationships that arise between human beings on the level of the soul. If two people love one another, one sees the love as a real being whose body is love. If you can make a picture of all this for yourselves, you will have some idea of the bliss of Devachan; but anyone who has any knowledge of it will use few words, for the spiritual cannot be rendered in physical language.
But you must not think a man is inactive in Devachan, or is concerned only with himself. He has something else to do there.
The countenance of the Earth with all its flora and fauna, is continually changing: how different, for instance, must things have been in northern Siberia when the mammoth, still to be found as though frozen alive in the ice-fields, lived there. How different things must have been here, when primeval forest still covered the ground, when wild animals of the torrid zone lived here and a tropical climate prevailed. Who is it that brings all this about? Who changes conditions on the Earth? How is it with the souls and spirits of animals, and with the souls of plants?
If we are talking only of the physical plane, we are quite justified in saying that man has his Ego and his dwelling-place here, and that man is the highest of the beings who live on the Earth. On the astral plane things are quite different. As soon as an Initiate enters that plane, he comes to know a whole range of new beings who are not present on the physical plane, but appear on the astral plane as beings like himself. Among them are the species-souls or group-souls of animals, and one associates with them as one does with other people on the physical plane. On the physical plane animals have only a physical, an etheric and an astral body; they have no Ego there, for their Ego is to be found on the astral plane. Just as your ten fingers have a common soul, all animals of one species have their common soul on the astral plane. The Ego of the species lion, dog, or ant, and so on, is to be found there as a real being. It is as though the Ego hovered in astral space and held the individual animals on strings like marionettes. Plants also have group-souls of this kind, but their Ego is in Devachan; the “strings” go still higher. And all the minerals, such as gold, diamonds, rocks and so forth, have their group-soul in the upper region of Devachan.
The various beings, then, are ranked in the following way:
| Man | Animal | Plant | Mineral | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Devachan | — | — | — | Ego |
| Lower Devachan | — | — | Ego | Astral Body |
| Astral Plane | — | Ego | Astral Body | Etheric Body |
| Physical Plane | Ego Astral Body Etheric Body Physical Body |
Astral Body Etheric Body Physical Body |
Etheric Body Physical Body |
Physical Body |
When a man dies, his Ego is to be found together with the Egos of the animals, and the work he can be engaged on is similar to that of the Egos of the animals—to produce gradual changes in the animal world. In Lower Devachan he finds the Egos of the plants as his companions, and there he can alter the forms of the plant-world. In this way he can collaborate in the transformation of the Earth. Hence it is man himself who brings about the great changes in the countenance of the Earth, and also the greatly altered scene in which he lives during his next incarnation. But he carries out this work under the leadership and guidance of higher Beings. Thus it is true to say, when we look at the continually changing plant and animal worlds, that this change is the work of the dead. The dead are active in the transformation of flora and fauna, and even in changing the physical form of the solid Earth. Even in the forces of nature we have to see the activity of discarnate human beings; and we know how powerfully these forces can work on the face of the Earth.
All activity, all work, had its beginning at some time long ago. There were as yet no pyramids, not even any tools. Everything existed in the form given to it by gods, or, as materialists would say, by the forces of nature; and man was set into the midst of it all. Now, however, most of our surroundings are the work of man. Thus the Earth is always being transformed by man. This will go on increasingly, and what man cannot accomplish here, he carries out in the period between death and rebirth. Thus our own evolution is tied up with the changes of the whole Earth. The structure and evolution of the Earth are the work of men on higher planes, and the more highly man succeeds in developing himself, the more quickly and perfectly will the transformation of the physical Earth, and of its flora and fauna, advance. The more highly developed a man is, the longer is the time he can spend at work in the higher regions of Devachan. A savage sees little of it. In many stories and legends the human spirit—apparently childish but in reality inspired by lofty powers has given expression to these facts.
Now how do the forces act which bring man down to a new incarnation? As we saw, there is an interval of about I,000 years between death and the next incarnation, and during this period the soul is making itself ready for its journey to a new birth. It is exceedingly interesting for a clairvoyant to explore the astral world. He may, for example, observe astral corpses floating about, in process of dissolution. The astral corpse of a highly developed man, who has worked on his lower impulses, will dissolve very quickly, but with undeveloped persons, who have given free rein to their impulses and passions, the process of dissolution goes slowly. Sometimes the earlier astral corpse is not wholly dissolved when its original bearer returns to a new birth, and he will then face a difficult destiny. It can also happen that through special circumstances a man returns soon and finds his astral corpse still present. The corpse is then strongly drawn to him and slips into his new astral body. He does indeed create a new astral body, but the old one combines with it, and he has to drag both of them along throughout his life. And then in bad dreams or visions the old astral body comes before him as a second Ego, playing tricks on him, harassing and tormenting him. This is the false, counterfeit Guardian of the Threshold. An old astral corpse finds it easy to withdraw from a man because it is not firmly united with the other members of his being, and then it appears as a Double, a Doppelgänger.
Besides these astral forms, the clairvoyant sees another particularly remarkable set of shapes. They are bell-shaped and shoot through astral space with enormous speed. They are germinal human beings not yet incarnated but striving for incarnation. Time and space hardly matter to these beings because they can move about very easily. They are variously coloured and surrounded by an aura of colour: at one point they are red, at another blue, and a shining yellow ray flashes out from inside them. These germinal human beings have just come from Devachan into astral space. What is happening here?
After a man has taken with him into Devachan his higher astral body, and the causal body made up of the fruits of his former lives, he now has to gather round him new “astral substance” rather as scattered iron filings are brought into order by the pull of a magnet. He collects this astral substance in accordance with the forces within him: the substance collected after a good previous life is different from the substance collected after a bad one. The bell-shaped forms are made up of the causal body, the forces of the earlier astral body and the new astral body. The germinal human being ought not to encounter the old astral body; his task is to build up a new astral body out of undifferentiated astral substance, so that the whole process depends on the man himself. The form and colour of the new astral body are determined by the forces of his previous life: this is a fact to be kept thoroughly well in mind. The reason why the germinal human beings dart about with such enormous speed is that they are seaching for parents with suitable characters and family circumstances. Their speed helps them to find the right parents—they can be here at one moment and in America the next.
For the next stage, help is needed. Higher Beings, the Lipikas,22Lipikas, Maharajas. High spiritual Beings concerned with birth and destiny.guide the germinal human being to the chosen parents; the “Maharajas” form the etheric body to correspond with the astral form and with the contribution by the parents to the physical body. The clairvoyant can descry astral substance in the passion experienced by the parents during the act of impregnation, and the passional nature of the child is determined by the intensity of the passion felt by the parents. After this, etheric substance shoots in from north, south, east and west, from the heights and from the depths.
Parents who will be exactly right for the germinal human being cannot always be found; all that can be done is to search for the most suitable. Similarly, a physical body cannot always be built so as to match exactly the incoming etheric body. There can never be complete harmony. This is the reason for the discord between soul and body in human beings.
Immediately before incarnation a very important event occurs, parallel to the event which follows the moment of death. Just as immediately after death the whole memory of a man's past life appears like a tableau before his soul, so is a kind of preview of the coming life given to the soul immediately before it incarnates. Not all the details are seen, but the circumstances of the coming life are made evident in broad outline. This is of the utmost importance. It may happen that a person who went through a great deal of suffering and hardship in his previous life receives a shock from the glimpse of the new circumstances and destiny now in prospect, and holds back the soul from complete incarnation. Only a part of the soul then enters the body, and this will result in the birth of an epileptic or an idiot.
At the moment of incarnation, immediately after conception, the yellow thread in the causal body darkens and disappears. It persists through all stages only in Initiates.
We must not imagine that the higher members of a man's being unite completely with the embryo from the beginning. The causal body is the first to be active, for it works on the earliest formation of the physical body.
Development goes on after birth by stages, in the most varied ways; specially important for education is the period from the seventh to the fourteenth year. We shall see tomorrow how Theosophy bears on these problems of education, which point to an important chapter in human evolution.
Fünfter Vortrag
Wir haben uns gestern ein wenig bekanntgemacht mit dem Wesen von Devachan; nun liegt die Frage nahe: Wie kommt die eigentliche Seligkeit des Devachan zustande? — Die Tätigkeit im Devachan besteht hauptsächlich im Schöpferischen, und es ist schwer, eine Vorstellung von dieser Seligkeit zu geben. Aber vielleicht wird der Vergleich mit etwas Irdischem sie uns näherbringen.
Es gibt auf der Erde eine Empfindung, die sich am besten studieren läßt, wenn man ein Wesen bei einer Tätigkeit beobachtet, die mit dem Hervorbringen eines anderen Wesens zu tun hat, zum Beispiel ein Huhn, das ein Ei ausbrütet. Es ist das ein grotesker, aber sehr passender Vergleich. Für die sinnliche Empfindung des Huhns ist das Brüten eine Seligkeit, ein ungeheures Wohlgefühl. Das kann man nun auf das Geistige übertragen und so sich das Devachan ausmalen.
In der ersten Region, dem Kontinentalgebiet des Geisterlandes, wo alles Physische im Negativ, aber wie ein riesiges Tableau vor dem Menschen sich ausbreitet, wird er veranlaßt, das Bild seines neuen Körpers hervorzubringen. Er tut das in ungehemmter Tätigkeit und empfindet dabei die Seligkeit des Hervorbringens.
In der zweiten Region flutet das allgemeine Leben, das im physischen Leben an die Menschen-, Tier- und Pflanzenformen gebunden, in jeder Wesenheit abgegrenzt ist, wie die Meereswässer dahin. Man sieht es dahinfluten, das allgemeine Leben, nicht nur äußerlich, sondern auch innerlich. Äußerlich dadurch, daß es rötlich-lilafarben flutet von Pflanzenform zu Pflanzenform, von Tierform zu Tierform, als in der Einheit des Lebens begriffen. Im Devachan lebt das Leben. Alle Formen des geistigen Lebens, zum Beispiel das der christlichen Gemeinschaften, sieht man dort als gemeinsam flutendes Leben. Auch den ersten Grundsatz des Theosophen, das all-eine Leben zu suchen, kann man dort recht ausüben; dort sieht man das allen gemeinsame, das eine Leben fluten.
In der dritten Region sieht man alles praktisch verwirklicht, was hier seelisch zwischen Mensch und Mensch spielt. Wenn zwei Menschen sich lieben, sieht man dort die Liebe als ein Wesen selbst, das in der Liebe den Körper hat. Wenn man dies alles sich ausmalt, dann bekommt man ein Bild von der Seligkeit des Devachan. Wer davon etwas kennt, wird wenig Worte machen, weil das Geistige nicht zu schildern ist mit der physischen Sprache.
Man darf aber nicht glauben, daß der Mensch untätig oder nur mit sich selbst beschäftigt sei im Devachan. Der Mensch hat noch anderes dort zu arbeiten.
Das Antlitz der Erde verändert sich fortwährend mitsamt der ganzen Fauna und Flora. Wie anders war es zum Beispiel im Norden von Sibirien zu der Zeit, als das Mammut, das man jetzt in Eisfeldern wie lebendig vereist wiederfindet, noch dort lebte! Wie anders hier, wo einst Urwälder den Boden bedeckten, wo wilde Tiere der heißen Zone hausten, kurz, eine Tropenwelt sich vorfand! Wer macht das? Wer ändert den Zustand der Erde? Wie steht es mit der Seele, dem Geist der Tiere? Wie steht es mit der Seele der Pflanzen?
Wenn wir den physischen Plan betrachten, sagen wir mit Recht: Der Mensch hat hier sein Ich, hier seinen Wohnort; er ist das hervorragendste Geschöpf unter den Wesen, die hier leben. Ganz anders ist es auf dem Astralplan. Sobald der Eingeweihte den Astralplan betritt, lernt er eine ganze Reihe von neuen Wesenheiten kennen, die hier auf dem physischen Plane gar nicht vorhanden sind. Es ist in dieser Hinsicht gleich, ob es sich um einen eingeweihten Menschen oder um einen Toten handelt; der Eingeweihte kann schon während einer Verkörperung auf dem Astralplan arbeiten. Er sieht dort zum Beispiel die Gattungs- oder Gruppenseelen der Tiere; mit denen hat er dort so Umgang wie hier mit den Menschen; er sieht sie wie seinesgleichen. Die Tiere haben auf dem physischen Plan nur den physischen, Äther- und Astralleib; das Ich haben sie nicht auf dem physischen, sondern auf dem Astralplan. So wie Ihre zehn Finger eine gemeinsame Seele haben, so haben alle Tiere einer Gattung eine gemeinsame Seele auf dem Astralplan. Das Ich der Tiergattung Löwe, Hund, Ameisen und so weiter ist dort vorhanden als eine Wesenheit. Es ist gleichsam, als schwebte das Ich im Astralraum und hielte an Seilen die verschiedenen Tiere wie Marionetten. Auch für die Pflanzen gibt es solche Gruppenseelen; sie haben ihr Ich aber im Devachan. Da reichen die «Seile» gewissermaßen noch höher hinauf. Und alle Mineralien aus gemeinsamen Stoffen, wie Gold, Diamanten, Steine und so weiter, haben eine gemeinsame Gruppenseele in der oberen Partie des Devachan. So unterscheiden sich die Wesenheiten in ihrer Stufenfolge:
| Mensch | Tier | Pflanze | Mineral | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oberes Devachan | Ich | |||
| Linie der Akasha-Chronik | ||||
| Unteres Devachan | Ich | Astrallib | ||
| Astralplan | Ich | Astrallib | Ätherleib | |
| Ich Astralleib Ätherleib physischer Leib |
Astralleib Ätherleib physischer Leib |
Ätherleib physischer Leib |
physischer Leib | |
Wenn nun der Mensch gestorben ist, dann ist sein Ich auf dem Astralplan mit den Ichs - dieser ungewöhnliche Plural kann nicht umgangen werden — der Tiere zusammen, und er kann dort eine Arbeit verrichten wie die Ichs der Tiere. Diese Arbeit besteht darin, daß er die Tierwelt nach und nach verändert. Im unteren Devachan findet er die Ichs der Pflanzen als seine Genossen; da kann er die Pflanzenwelt verändern. Auf diese Weise wirkt er selbst mit an der Umgestaltung der Erde.
Mithin ist es der Mensch selbst, der die großen Veränderungen der Erde vollbringt; er arbeitet selbst an dem Antlitz der Erde. Den so ganz veränderten Schauplatz bei seiner neuen Inkarnation hat der Mensch selbst bewirkt. Aber diese Arbeit verrichtet er unter der Leitung und Führung höherer Wesen. Es ist also durchaus wahr, wenn wir im Hinblick auf die Tier- und Pflanzenwelt, die sich fortwäh pyright Rudolf Steiner Nachlass-Verwaltung Buch: 95 Seite: 49 rend verändert, sagen: Das ist das Werk der Verstorbenen. Die Toten arbeiten an der Umgestaltung der Fauna und Flora, ja selbst an der Umwandelung der physischen Formen der festen Erde. Erdenarbeit ist Totenarbeit. Auch in den Naturkräften haben wir die Handlungen der entkörperten Menschen zu sehen. Und wie gewaltig arbeiten diese Naturkräfte die Erde um!
Alle Tätigkeit, alles Arbeiten hat einmal vor Zeiten einen Anfang genommen. Da gab es noch keine Pyramiden, da gab es auch noch keine Werkzeuge. Alles war da, wie die Götter, oder wie die Materialisten sagen, die Naturkräfte es gegeben hatten, und der Mensch war in das hineingesetzt. Jetzt ist rund um uns her die Erde durch äußere Menschenarbeit umgestaltet; und was hier nicht erreicht werden kann, was der Mensch hier nicht tun kann, das tut er in der Zeit zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt. Somit hängt unsere eigene Entwikkelung zusammen mit der Veränderung der ganzen Erde. Der Bau und die Evolution der Erde ist die Arbeit des Menschen auf den höheren Planen, und je höher sich der Mensch selbst entwickelt, um so rascher und vollkommener schreitet die Umgestaltung der physischen Erde und der Fauna und Flora vorwärts. Je höher er entwickelt ist, desto länger hat er zu arbeiten in den höheren Partien des Devachan. Der Wilde hat noch wenig Einblick darin. In vielen Sagen und Märchen hat der scheinbar kindliche, in Wirklichkeit aber von hohen Kräften inspirierte Menschengeist diese Tatsachen zum Ausdruck gebracht.
Wie arbeiten nun die Kräfte, um den Menschen zu einer neuen Inkarnation zu bringen? Ungefähr tausend Jahre gehen dahin zwischen Tod und neuer Inkarnation, wie wir sahen; in dieser Zeit reift die Seele aus, um den Weg zu einer neuen Geburt wieder anzutreten. Für den Seher ist es außerordentlich interessant, die astralische Welt zu durchforschen. Er kann zum Beispiel fliegende, in Auflösung begriffene Astralleichname beobachten. Der Astralleichnam eines hochentwickelten Menschen, der an seinen niederen Trieben gearbeitet hat, löst sich rasch auf; aber langsam geht die Auflösung vor sich bei niedrigstehenden Menschen, die ihren Neigungen und Leidenschaften freien Lauf gelassen haben. Da kann es sogar vorkommen, daß der alte zurückgelassene Astralleichnam sich noch nicht aufgelöst hat, wenn der ursprüngliche Träger zu einer neuen Geburt schreitet. Und das ist dann ein schweres Schicksal. Es kann auch sein, daß ein Mensch durch besondere Umstände bald wiederkehrt und seinen alten Astralleichnam noch vorfindet; dieser hat dann eine starke Anziehung zu ihm und schlüpft mit hinein in den neuen Astralleib. Der Mensch bildet sich also wohl einen neuen Astralleib, aber sein alter verbindet sich damit, beide schleppt er dann mit sich durchs Leben. Der alte Astralleib tritt dann in bösen Träumen oder Visionen vor ihn als sein zweites Ich und umgaukelt, quält und peinigt ihn. Das ist der unberechtigte, falsche «Hüter der Schwelle». Dieser alte Astralleichnam tritt leicht aus dem Menschen heraus, weil er nicht fest mit den anderen Wesensgliedern verbunden ist, und erscheint dann als ein Doppelgänger.
Außer diesen Gestalten sieht der Seher noch eine ganz besonders merkwürdige Art von Gebilden; es sind glockenförmige Gebilde, die mit riesiger Schnelligkeit den Astralraum durchfliegen und durchschießen. Das sind die noch nicht verkörperten, aber nach Verkörperung hinstrebenden Menschenkeime. Die Zeit und der Ort sind eigentlich ziemlich bedeutungslos für diese zur Verkörperung hinstrebenden Menschenkeime, weil sie sich so leicht bewegen können. Sie sind mannigfaltig gefärbt und umgeben von einer Farbenatmosphäre, an einer Stelle sind sie rot, an der anderen blau, mitten drinnen funkelt ein gelbleuchtender Strahl. Es sind dies also die eben aus dem Devachan in den Astralraum hineinkommenden Menschenkeime. Was ist da geschehen? Der Mensch hatte den höheren Astralleib und die Früchte der verschiedenen Leben als Kausalleib mit sich ins Devachan genommen, und nun sammelt er eine neue «Astralmaterie» um sich herum. Es ist das gleichsam, wie wenn herumgestreute Eisenspäne sich ordnen nach den Kräften eines Magnets. Je nach den innewohnenden Kräften sammelt der Mensch die Astralmaterie um sich herum; bei einem guten Vorleben sammelt er anderes Material als bei einem schlechten. Das glockenförmige Gebilde nun ist der frühere Kausalleib, die Kräfte des früheren Astralleibes und der neue Astralleib. Der Keim soll nun nicht mehr den alten Astralleib finden, sondern er soll sich einen neuen Astralleib bilden aus der undifferenzierten Astralmaterie, so daß dieser Vorgang von dem Menschen selbst abhängig ist: Je nach den Kräften des vergangenen Lebens ist die Form und Farbe des neuen Astralleibes. Das ist eine Tatsache, die man wohl beachten muß. Warum schießen diese Menschenkeime mit solch rasender Schnelligkeit dahin? Weil das Elternpaar gesucht werden muß, das nach Charakter und Familienverhältnissen zu dem Menschenkeime paßt. Die Schnelligkeit ermöglicht es, daß das Elternpaar gefunden wird. Der Menschenkeim kann in diesem Moment hier, im nächsten schon in Amerika sein.
In dem, was weiter geschieht, ist der Mensch auf Hilfe angewiesen. Höhere Wesenheiten, die Lipikas, leiten den Menschenkeim hin zu dem entsprechenden Elternpaar, die Maharajas formen den Ätherleib in Gemäßheit der Astralform und dessen, was die Eltern an äußerem physischem Körper beitragen. Bei dem Befruchtungsakt kann der Seher in der Leidenschaft, die sich dabei von seiten der EItern entwickelt, auch Astralmaterie entdecken. Dadurch wird die Leidenschaftlichkeit des Kindes je nach der Intensität dieser Leidenschaft bestimmt. Dann schießt die Äthermaterie an von Nord, Süd, Ost und West, aus der Höhe und von der Tiefe.
Nicht immer kann ein Elternpaar gefunden werden, das ganz genau zu dem Menschenkeim paßt; es kann immer nur das am besten passende herausgesucht werden. Und ebensowenig kann ein physischer Leib gebaut werden, der ganz genau zu dem Ätherleib des Menschenkeimes paßt. Eine völlige Harmonie kann es nie geben. Daher rühren die Zwiespalte im Menschen zwischen Seele und Körper.
Unmittelbar vor der Verkörperung tritt ein sehr wichtiges Ereignis ein, das demjenigen im Moment des Todes parallel ist. Wie unmittelbar nach dem Tode die Rückerinnerung an das vergangene Leben gleich einem Tableau vor die Seele tritt, so ist unmittelbar vor der Einkörperung eine Art Vorgesicht auf das kommende Leben vorhanden. Man sieht nicht alle Einzelheiten, aber in großen Umrissen alle Verhältnisse im kommenden Leben vor sich. Dieser Moment ist von ungeheurer Bedeutung. Es kommt vor, daß Menschen, die in früheren Leben viel gelitten haben und sehr Schweres durchgemacht haben, beim Anblick der neuen Verhältnisse und Schicksale einen Schock bekommen und die Seele zurückhalten vor der ganzen Einkörperung, so daß nur ein Teil der Seele in den Körper eingeht. Die Folge des Schocks bei einem solchen Vorgesicht ist die Geburt eines Idioten oder Epileptikers.
In dem Moment der Verkörperung, gleich nach der Befruchtung, verdunkelt sich der gelbglänzende Faden im Kausalleib und verschwindet. Nur bei dem Eingeweihten bleibt er in allen Stadien.
Nun darf man sich nicht vorstellen, daß die höheren Wesensglieder von Anfang an in vollster Weise mit dem Embryo verbunden sind. Was seine Tätigkeit zunächst entfaltet, ist der Kausalkörper, denn dieser arbeitet schon bei der allerersten Entstehung des physischen Leibes.
Der Ätherleib fängt erst in der siebenten Woche an, am Embryo zu arbeiten, der Astralleib erst im siebenten Monat. Vorher arbeitet am Kinde der Ätherleib und der Astralleib der Mutter. Es ist nun sehr wichtig für die Erziehung der ersten Jahre beim Kinde, diese Körper weiterzuentwickeln. Diesem sollte bei der Erziehung des Kindes viel mehr Rechnung getragen werden, als es geschieht. Es sollte die Zeit beobachtet werden, wo der Ätherleib und der Astralleib des Kindes anfangen mitzuarbeiten.
Die Entwickelung geht nach der Geburt in verschiedenster Weise stufenförmig weiter, und besonders wichtig für die Erziehung ist dann die Zeit vom siebenten bis zum vierzehnten Lebensjahre. Wir werden dann morgen weiter sehen, wie die Theosophie sich zu den Erziehungsfragen stellt, die ja ein wichtiges Kapitel in der Menschheitsentwickelung darstellen.
Fifth Lecture
Yesterday we became somewhat acquainted with the nature of Devachan; now the question arises: How does the actual bliss of Devachan come about? — Activity in Devachan consists mainly in creativity, and it is difficult to give an idea of this bliss. But perhaps a comparison with something earthly will bring us closer to it.
There is a sensation on earth that can best be studied by observing a being engaged in an activity that has to do with the creation of another being, for example, a hen incubating an egg. It is a grotesque but very apt comparison. For the sensual perception of the chicken, brooding is bliss, an immense feeling of well-being. This can now be transferred to the spiritual realm and thus Devachan can be imagined.
In the first region, the continental area of the spirit world, where everything physical is negative but spreads out before the human being like a huge tableau, he is prompted to bring forth the image of his new body. He does this in uninhibited activity and feels the bliss of creation.
In the second region, general life, which in physical life is bound to human, animal, and plant forms and is delimited in each being, flows like the waters of the sea. One sees it flowing away, the general life, not only externally but also internally. Externally, it flows in reddish-purple colors from plant form to plant form, from animal form to animal form, as if in the unity of life. Life lives in Devachan. All forms of spiritual life, for example that of Christian communities, can be seen there as a common flowing life. The first principle of theosophy, to seek the all-one life, can also be practiced there; there one sees the one life that is common to all.
In the third region, one sees everything that plays out spiritually between people here in practical reality. When two people love each other, one sees love there as a being itself, which has its body in love. If one imagines all this, one gets a picture of the bliss of Devachan. Those who know something of it will say little, because the spiritual cannot be described in physical language.
However, one must not believe that human beings are idle or only concerned with themselves in Devachan. Human beings have other work to do there.
The face of the earth is constantly changing, along with all its fauna and flora. How different it was, for example, in northern Siberia at the time when the mammoth, which is now found frozen in ice fields as if alive, still lived there! How different it was here, where primeval forests once covered the ground, where wild animals of the hot zone lived, in short, where a tropical world existed! Who does this? Who changes the condition of the earth? What about the soul, the spirit of the animals? What about the soul of the plants?
When we consider the physical plane, we say with good reason: Man has his ego here, his place of residence here; he is the most outstanding creature among the beings that live here. It is quite different on the astral plane. As soon as the initiate enters the astral plane, he encounters a whole series of new beings that do not exist here on the physical plane. In this respect, it makes no difference whether it is an initiated human being or a dead person; the initiate can already work on the astral plane during an incarnation. There, for example, he sees the species or group souls of animals; he interacts with them there as he does with humans here; he sees them as his equals. On the physical plane, animals have only a physical, etheric, and astral body; they do not have an I on the physical plane, but on the astral plane. Just as your ten fingers have a common soul, so all animals of a species have a common soul on the astral plane. The ego of the animal species lion, dog, ant, and so on, is present there as a being. It is as if the ego were floating in astral space, holding the various animals like puppets on strings. There are also such group souls for plants; but they have their ego in Devachan. There, the “strings” reach even higher, so to speak. And all minerals made of common substances, such as gold, diamonds, stones, and so on, have a common group soul in the upper part of Devachan. Thus, the entities differ in their sequence of stages:
| Human | Animal | Plant | Mineral | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Devachan | I | |||
| Line of the Akashic Records | ||||
| Lower Devachan | I | Astral body | ||
| Astral plane | I | Astral body | Etheric body | |
| I Astral body Etheric body Physical body |
Astral body Etheric body Physical body |
Etheric body Physical body |
physical body | |
When a human being dies, their ego is on the astral plane together with the egos — this unusual plural cannot be avoided — of animals, and there they can perform work like the egos of animals. This work consists of gradually changing the animal world. In the lower devachan, they find the egos of plants as their companions; there they can change the plant world. In this way, they themselves participate in the transformation of the earth.
It is therefore human beings themselves who bring about the great changes on earth; they themselves work on the face of the earth. Human beings themselves have brought about the completely changed scene of their new incarnation. But they do this work under the guidance and leadership of higher beings. It is therefore quite true to say, with regard to the animal and plant world, which is constantly changing: this is the work of the deceased. The dead are working on the transformation of fauna and flora, even on the transformation of the physical forms of the solid earth. Earth work is the work of the dead. We must also see the actions of disembodied human beings in the forces of nature. And how powerfully these forces of nature are transforming the earth!
All activity, all work, once had a beginning. There were no pyramids then, nor were there any tools. Everything was there, as the gods, or as the materialists say, the forces of nature had given it, and man was placed within it. Now, all around us, the earth has been transformed by the work of external human beings; and what cannot be achieved here, what man cannot do here, he does in the time between death and new birth. Thus, our own development is connected with the transformation of the whole earth. The construction and evolution of the earth is the work of man on the higher planes, and the higher man develops himself, the more rapidly and completely the transformation of the physical earth and its fauna and flora progresses. The higher he is developed, the longer he has to work in the higher parts of Devachan. The savage has little insight into this. In many legends and fairy tales, the seemingly childlike human spirit, which is in reality inspired by higher powers, has expressed these facts.
How do the forces work to bring humans to a new incarnation? As we have seen, approximately a thousand years pass between death and new incarnation; during this time, the soul matures in order to embark on the path to a new birth. It is extremely interesting for the seer to explore the astral world. For example, he can observe flying astral corpses in the process of dissolution. The astral corpse of a highly developed person who has worked on their lower instincts dissolves quickly; but the dissolution proceeds slowly in low-level people who have given free rein to their inclinations and passions. It can even happen that the old astral corpse left behind has not yet dissolved when the original bearer proceeds to a new birth. And that is then a difficult fate. It may also be that, due to special circumstances, a person returns soon and still finds their old astral body; this then has a strong attraction to them and slips into the new astral body. The person thus forms a new astral body, but their old one connects with it, and they then carry both with them through life. The old astral body then appears to them in bad dreams or visions as their second self, deceiving, tormenting, and torturing them. This is the unjustified, false “guardian of the threshold.” This old astral corpse easily leaves the person because it is not firmly connected to the other parts of the being, and then appears as a doppelganger.
In addition to these figures, the seer sees a particularly strange type of formation; they are bell-shaped formations that fly and shoot through the astral space at tremendous speed. These are human germs that have not yet incarnated but are striving for incarnation. Time and place are actually quite meaningless for these human germs striving for incarnation, because they can move so easily. They are multicolored and surrounded by a colorful atmosphere; in one place they are red, in another blue, and in the middle a yellow-glowing ray sparkles. These are the human germs just entering the astral space from the Devachan. What has happened there? The human being had taken the higher astral body and the fruits of various lives as a causal body with him into the Devachan, and now he is gathering new “astral matter” around himself. It is as if scattered iron filings are arranged according to the forces of a magnet. Depending on their inherent forces, human beings gather astral matter around themselves; if they have had a good previous life, they gather different material than if they have had a bad one. The bell-shaped structure is now the former causal body, the forces of the former astral body, and the new astral body. The germ should no longer find the old astral body, but should form a new astral body from the undifferentiated astral matter, so that this process depends on the human being himself: the form and color of the new astral body depend on the forces of the past life. This is a fact that must be taken into account. Why do these human germs shoot off at such breakneck speed? Because the parents must be found who match the human germ in character and family circumstances. The speed makes it possible to find the parents. The human germ can be here at this moment and in America the next.
In what happens next, the human being is dependent on help. Higher beings, the Lipikas, guide the human germ to the appropriate parents, the Maharajas form the etheric body in accordance with the astral form and what the parents contribute in terms of the outer physical body. During the act of fertilization, the seer can also discover astral matter in the passion that develops on the part of the parents. This determines the passion of the child according to the intensity of this passion. Then the etheric matter shoots in from north, south, east, and west, from above and from below.
It is not always possible to find a pair of parents who are a perfect match for the human germ; only the best possible match can be sought. Nor is it possible to build a physical body that is a perfect match for the etheric body of the human germ. There can never be complete harmony. This is the source of the conflict between soul and body in human beings.
Immediately before incarnation, a very important event occurs that is parallel to the moment of death. Just as immediately after death, memories of the past life appear before the soul like a tableau, so immediately before incarnation there is a kind of preview of the life to come. One does not see all the details, but in broad outlines one sees all the circumstances of the life to come. This moment is of tremendous importance. It happens that people who have suffered greatly in previous lives and gone through very difficult experiences are shocked when they see their new circumstances and fate, and hold back their soul from entering the body completely, so that only part of the soul enters the body. The consequence of the shock of such a preview is the birth of an idiot or an epileptic.
At the moment of incarnation, immediately after fertilization, the yellow shining thread in the causal body darkens and disappears. Only in the initiated does it remain in all stages.
Now, one must not imagine that the higher members of the being are fully connected to the embryo from the very beginning. The first to develop its activity is the causal body, for it is already at work at the very beginning of the physical body's formation.
The etheric body only begins to work on the embryo in the seventh week, and the astral body only in the seventh month. Before that, the mother's etheric body and astral body work on the child. It is now very important for the child's education in the early years to develop these bodies further. This should be taken into account much more in the child's education than is currently the case. The time when the child's etheric body and astral body begin to work should be observed.
After birth, development continues in various stages, and the period from the seventh to the fourteenth year of life is particularly important for education. Tomorrow we will continue to see how theosophy approaches educational issues, which are indeed an important chapter in human development.