The Inner Nature of Man

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The Inner Nature of Man

and

Life Between Death and Rebirth

By Rudolf Steiner

GA 153

The Inner Nature of Man and Life Between Death and Rebirth consists of six lectures given at Vienna, Austria in April of 1914.Published in German as: Inneres Wesen des Menschen und Leben Zwischen Tod und Neuer Geburt . eproduced here !ith the "ind

permission of #arie $teiner, Goetheanum, %ornach, $!it&erland. 'rom GA (1)*.

+opright - 19/0his e.0ext edition is provided through the !onderful !or" of:

The Anthropoophi!al "ublihin# $o%pany

ondon

ecture 1: 0he 'our $pheres of the 2nner ife April &'( 1'1)

ecture : 0he Vision of the 2deal 3uman eing April 1&( 1'1)

ecture *: 0he $enses and the uciferic 0emptation April 11( 1'1)

ecture 4: 5isdom in the $piritual 5orld April 1*( 1'1)

ecture ): et!een %eath and the 6+osmic #idnight 3our7 April 13( 1'1)ecture 8: Pleasures and $ufferings in the ife eond April 1)( 1'1)

Printed for #embers of the $chool of $piritual $cience, Goetheanum, +lass 2. o person is held ualified to form a ;udgement on thecontents of this !or", !ho has not acuired < through the $chool itself or in an euivalent manner recognised b the $chool < the

reuisite preliminar "no!ledge. =ther opinions !ill be disregarded> the authors decline to ta"e them as a basis for discussion.

S+N,"SIS ,- $,NT.NTS

0his $nopsis of +ontents is in no !a authoritative but is merel intended for the possible convenience of students: <

?+0@? 1.

0hought, 'eeling, 5ill and the $enseperceptions. 0he value to us of Perception and 0hought is in their relation to the outer!orld. 'eeling and 5ill are more interior in their value and constitute manBs true inner nature. 'eeling though in!ard can beshared !ith others, but t!o 5ills cannot unite in a single ob;ect. 5ill constitutes the individual !orth of each human being.

0he above is an exoteric consideration. ?sotericall it is different. $piritual investigator is affected in his vision b !hat heconsciousl intended. 2ntention is most important. 3ence great variation is possible. 0hese lectures !ill investigate !hat

clairvoant consciousness discovers in the human life of Perception, 0hought, 'eeling, 5ill. Perception of outer !orld becomes an inner !orld. =ne goes out of the bod !ith the intention of becoming acuainted !ith the inner man, and one

meets the human form. 2t is a bod of light. As regards thought, one sees at this time in this bod of light, the dar"ening !aves

of the etheric bod < a spiritual blood circulation. 'eeling in this connection is also different in the spiritual !orld. 5hat !asonl felt in phsical life no! comes to life as inner soul content. 0he astral bod < and innumerable stars in motion < this is

the spiritual substitute for 'eeling in the phsical. o! !e let all this fade a!a, there comes an image of our o!n being <

6personified "arma.7 0he next stage of consciousness is one !here one sees this personified "arma in oneBs muscular sstem.5e then come to !hat corresponds !ith 5ill, and !e realise our connection not onl !ith the planets but !ith the sun, and !e

experience the ?go outside the bod. ext comes necessit for being and for deca. 5e see the eings causing both and !esee the s"eleton !hich the have created. 'or all this a !hole planetar sstem has been necessar and !e realise !e are born

from a source divine < ?C %?= A$+2#@.

?+0@? .

0his lecture explains the different !as of leaving the bod Dergson on #emorE. 0he treasure of memor helps us to leavethe bod. 2magination is not bound b experience as memor is. 5e must strengthen our memor of the past events, and !e

shall then be able to discriminate bet!een !hat comes from spiritual sources and !hat comes from our memor. 5e then pushon to !here !e !ere before !e incarnated. 5e described in ecture 1 a means of leaving the bod b going into $pace.

ecture describes going into 0ime !hich is a process much more in!ard and more important. 0here al!as has been andal!as !ill be a higher life of the soul. eligion. 2s there a religion in spiritland, or something that can have the same

reference to the supersensible !orld as !e have in everda lifeF 0he ans!er is 6es7H 2n the spirit!orld religion isexperienced as a picture of 6the 3uman 2deal.7 5e learn that this is the !or" of the hierarchies, this is the religion of the gods.All this exists in the dimension of 0ime. 0here is no religion there founded on "no!ledge. 0here !e have the content of

religion al!as before us. =n earth our teachers spea" to us, but during the second half of our postmortem existence spiritual

teachers pour their light into us. 0he forces !hich our spiritual postmortem teachers can give us, depend greatl on !hat !e

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have made of ourselves in previous incarnations. 0hen comes the great temptation to become a permanent spiritual being and

to remain in spiritual !orlds. ucifer up to this time has helped us but !ishes to prevent our return to help the human ideal. A big battle ensues bet!een ucifer and the gods. And the human ideal is thro!n out from the dimension of 0ime into the

dimension of $pace, a magnetic attraction is felt to the future parents, and the human ideal is veiled from ucifer b beingenveloped in a phsical bod. #an no! no longer sees the spirit!orld, he is a sense bod, !here $pirits !atch over his

development. $piritual !isdom in our unconscious existence, controls us upon earth, because !e have to be !ithdra!n for atime from the vision of !hat !ould be a temptation. 0he Guardian of the 0hreshold protects us, but the gods hide from us. =ur

present existence has been lent us b the gods. 0he rule the inner soul !hich !e cannot guide. 0his "no!ledge is deeper thanthat !hich !e learned in ecture 2, but it leads to the same statement < ?C %?= A$+2#@.

?+0@? *.

=ur ees cause a sensation of light and colour. 5ith this comes 2magination, 2nspiration, 2ntuition in the bac"ground> and a

sort of corpse of colour is the result. 0he Guardian allo!s sensation to enter our consciousness, but does not allo! 2magination,

2nspiration, 2ntuition to enter> ucifer other!ise sends this impulse into our subconsciousness and thus fighting against the

gods, serves their designs> because if he had his !a, our phsical bod !ould be li"e a pane of glass !ithout an re;ectingsubstance, ut the phsical bod becomes permeated !ith 6corpses7 !hich resemble the reflecting substance, reflect

everthing and thus originate sense perceptions. 0rue thought does not consist in sense perception, it is more interior. 2t doesnot touch the phsical bod but the etheric bod. 0hat !hich permeates thought as a living force enters into the etheric bod.

5e do not perceive the elemental forces s!arming through us. $hado! pictures appear as thin"ing. 2n this case of thin"ing,conflict occurs !ith Ahriman, and thus thoughts do not appear alive, but sin" into the etheric and become opaue spiritual

obscurit. ut thus reflection occurs bac" to the time to !hich our memor extends. #emor consists in thoughts reflected in0ime. 0he good po!ers reanimate in the etheric bod !hat has died in the phsical bod. 0he meaning of 6before7 and

6after!ards.7 AhrimanBs action prevents our using 2magination, 2nspiration, 2ntuition in the present and delas ourspiritualisation. 0his !or"s out for our good. 2n 'eeling, $pirit eings live but the do not enter our consciousness. 'eeling is

onl half barn in us. 0he same !ith !illing, but more so, as it is the +ausal eing, living in the $un that is hidden from usthough forming part of the 5ill. 0hat !hich lives in 'eeling and 5ill, but remains unborn is Iarma in process of development.

0hat !hich remains unborn in our 'eelings lives in the Astral bod> that !hich remains unborn in our 5ill lives in our ?go.2nner dissatisfaction comes from pressure of the subconscious part of 'eeling and 5ill. ?verone possesses the "no!ledge of

$aturn, $un, #oon, but it is belo! his consciousness. 3e !ould prefer not to remain on earth if he sa! it directl. 2magination,2nspiration, 2ntuition is !hat !e have gone through in the past> and to regain this "no!ledge !e must pass beond the veil of

sense perception. 0he dead part in us of past evolution is illumined b !hat !e can acuire of $piritual $cience. 0he onl ideas!hich are active after death are those !hich do not depend on the brain or on our senses. eligious conceptions become active

forces in us after death. 0he use of $piritual $cience. 'ull consciousness of the ?go can onl be obtained b development of

the phantomcorpse. 0he phantomcorpse: < ?ach act of Perceiving the sense !orld brings death. ?ach act of 'eeling andeach act of 5illing brings about something that remains unborn> all this !e can onl use after death. 5e recreate it as a ne!

form of consciousness !hen !e let it flo! into the +hrist eing < 2 +32$0= #=2#@.

?+0@? 4.

=n ?arth, ature does not ield up its !isdom to us unless !e tr to acuire it. 2n the spirit!orld, !isdom pours into us

!ithout effort. ut !e have to deplete ourselves of it in order that the !isdom transformed ma become the life forces drivingus to!ards the ideal of humanit. 0his is the onl right !a to approach a fresh incarnation. 5e need this life force to permeate

the substance received from our parents. A lie < its effect in the spirit!orld. ?ffect of la&iness, and illness in the spirit!orld.0hings of this spirit!orld must be grasped through our 'eelings. $piritual $cience should never be ta"en up li"e other

sciences. 2t should be lifeblood. 0he practical results of $piritual $cience in life. 2t gives the instinct and po!ers to !or" !ell,to do the right thing. Iarma and the cure of illness. As nature surrounds us on the phsical plane, so does !isdom surround us

in the spiritual. 2n the phsical !orld !e are al!as uestioning nature> in the spiritual !orld the opposite occurs. 0o help us toans!er !e must become more and more conscious of the $pirit impulse. 0he JuestionmotifK in fairtales. 2n the spirit!orld

our !isdom depends on the development of 5ill and 'eeling, bringing realit out of !isdom as something creative. 0he formof nature depends on spiritual creative po!er. #ost philosophers admit God the 'ather < #onotheism. +hrist cannot be found

b an philosoph or method of thought. $olovioff: 60he highest truth !or"s as a free act and is not forced.7 +hrist the $on is

not the result of +hrist the 'ather, but is a free and independent matter. 2n the spirit!orld the important thing is to create as afree realit something out of the cosmic !isdom that surrounds us. 0his can onl be done b a right realisation of +hrist. 5e

prove 3im not b logic but b 3imself. God the 'ather !e find in life and nature. +hrist is onl rightl found !hen !e

confront 3im in the right !a at death, meaning death in the phsical or going forth from the phsical to "no! oneself in thesoul, outside the bod < 2 +32$0= #=2#@.

?+0@? ).

At death, the inner experience is that of leaving something behind, the phsical returns to the phsical. 0he first experience

after death is the feeling of expansion beond the blue for nothing else. 5e no! become 6at home7 in the spirit!orld andrecognise the friends !e have "no!n and the eings of higher hierarchies. 0he difference in recognition is that on earth !e

become a!are of things through our senses, from the outer !orld. 2n the spirit!orld !e become a!are b means of the light

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streaming from !ithin. 5e no! reach half!a bet!een death and ne! birth, our soullight no! begins to gro! dim. 5e

become solitar> but the contents of our soul become richer. 0he periods of companionship alternate !ith solitude. 5e no!reach the description of the !orldBs midnight in the 6Soul's Awaenin!"# 5e no! have the strongest in!ard life but not the

creative soul force enabling us to illuminate our environment. 5e onl "no! about ourselves. 2n the phsical !orld desire is passive, in the spirit!orld it is creative. At this point !e no! begin to earn to create an outer !orld and !e have a vision of

our past incarnations. 2n all this the feeling of the ?go must be preserved. efore Golgotha this !as preserved b the forces ofinheritance. $ince Golgotha it is the permeation !ith the +hrist 2mpulse that gives the po!er to maintain the remembrance of

the ?go. 0he +hrist 2mpulse brings us to the midnight of the !orld: our desire to!ards creation illuminates our being and !elearn to "no! the 6e! $pirit7 that a!a"ens us and illuminates our human past. 0his being is the 3ol Ghost. 63ol7 means a

$pirit !ithout the !ea"ness of one that lives in the bod < P? $P220@# $A+0@# ?V2V2$+2#@$.

?+0@? 8.

At the 6!orld midnight7 our inner experience is most intense, and our spiritual companionship is least. 5e begin to long for

action and !e loo" bac" at our past life. 5e see our past pleasures and !e have the alternative of creating out of them

something that ma be useful or allo!ing ourselves to degenerate in the past pleasures. 5e have become debtors to the !orld.ut !e become a!are that the transformation !ill ta"e man incarnations. $ome almost animal pleasures give intense pain to

the spirit!orld. Pain suffered on the phsical plane gives spirit strength and !ill po!er to!ards creativeness on the spirit plane. efore and after the 6!orld midnight7 !e see again the friends !e met on earth> but after the midnight !e learn !hat !e

must do for them in the next incarnation. +oncrete example of a lie and its result. 0he action of certain elementals !ho hinder agood resolution. means of earl death, forces are accumulated before the 6midnight hour,7 !hich after the 6midnight hour7

are used so that, in that personBs next incarnation, he has more !ill and more character than other!ise. D0his does not refer tosuicidesE. 2ntellectual po!ers are often the result of death b accident before the normal time in a previous incarnation.

+ommunication from living to dead is barred if those left behind on earth are not spiritual. =nl spiritual experience thro!slight into spirit!orlds. 0he one in the spirit!orld ma, ho!ever, later, in his so;ourn, have a vision of those left behind, but

he then realises that the materialisticall inclined are obsessed b Ahriman, until the reach the spirit!orld and have liberatedthemselves from materialistic tendencies. 2t is onl later that he experiences union !ith them. 0hose in spirit!orld approach

those on earth !ith a different point of vie!. 0here is no !aste in life on earth, e"!", fish spa!n, !heatgrain. People !ho cometo spiritual lectures and turn aside. 2t ma be necessar to bring them light, for it remains a force in their souls for the next

incarnation. #ass production. $ocial life is a disease that !ill destro itself. 0hat !hich in one sphere !or"s as nature !or"s,ma become a disease if it enters another sphere. 0hese different vie!s confront one at the 6midnight hour,7 for from them one

must !or" creativel on oneself. =ne realises not onl oneBs intimate "arma, but so as not to become onesided the tendenciesof religions and societies to !hich one has belonged. After 6midnight hour7 this life still alternates bet!een solitude and

companionship, but one is meantime constructing a spiritual ethericarchetpe for the next life in a spirit form. 5ithin this

archetpe are forces dra!ing us to phsical parents !ho can give hereditar attributes !e shall need. 0he normal time for thisis !hen !e feel unit !ith !hat !ithdre! from us as the fruit of our former life. ut !e seldom !ait for this. @suall !e

incarnate too soon. At the 6midnight hour7 !hen in deepest solitude, !e earn for an outer !orld, the 3ol Ghost fills our

longing into a soullight. @p to this point !e must have "ept connection !ith our ?go. 2t is due to +hrist that !e can "eep thismemor up to the 6midnight hour.7 ut !e must accumulate more than ;ust sufficient of this +hrist 2mpulse. 0he surplus

strengthens the impulse of the 3ol Ghost. i"e the case of excess of fishspa!n !e must have a surplus of the $pirit !hen !eincarnate. 0heodora, in the #ster Plas. #ore people must see the etheric +hrist. 0he $pirit must first prepare b bringing

smpathetic understanding. 0he $pirit !ill shine more and more even into dro!s man, even no! !hen humanit is in its6spiritual death7 < P? $P220@# $A+0@# ?V2V2$+2#@$.

L.$T/R. 1

Vienna, 9th April, 1914.

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=ur aim in this course of lectures !ill be to describe the inner life of man in relation to the life bet!een death and rebirth, in order

to sho! ho! intimatel these t!o realms of existence are connected. A secondar aim !ill be to point out, as the result of this"no!ledge, certain guiding lines !hich !ill enable human beings to ta"e the right course in man difficult situations in life, and !hich

are fitted in man respects to give a sure support to the life of the soul, affording as the do, a thorough understanding of this soullife.

0o this end it !ill be necessar for ou to !or" through these first lectures, !hich are intended to provide a foundation. 0he !ill leadus into esoteric, scientific realms !hich to man might perhaps at first appear to be far removed from !hat human feeling !ould li"e to

grasp at once> but !hen !e have arrived at the true goal of these lectures ou !ill see that this goal can onl be attained in a puremanner if !e first !or" through the apparentl remote esoteric "no!ledge !hich is no! to be put before ou.

2f, to begin !ith, !e consider the inner life of man abstractl, it appears in the three forms !e have often mentioned> in the forms

of thought, feeling and !ill. ut in order to consider this in!ard life full, !e must add a fourth, for to the inner life of man belong notonl the three realms !e have ;ust mentioned, but also that !hich he obtains through the perceptions of the senses. 5e do not allo!colours and sounds, perceptions of !armth and other sensations to rush past our consciousness, but !e la hold of these impressions,

!e turn them into perceptions. 0he fact that !e are able to remember these impressions, that !e are able to retain them, that !e notonl "no! a rose is red !hen !e have one directl in front of us, but that !e are able to carr the red of the rose !ith us, to preserve as

it !ere, the colours as a conception in the memor < this testifies that the life of sensation, the life of perception through !hich !e bring ourselves into touch !ith the outer !orld belongs also to our inner life. $o that !e ma sa, that !e must count our perception of

the outer !orld as part of our inner life, in so far as !e ma"e it into something in!ard in the ver act of perceiving it.

5e must rec"on our thoughts, b means of !hich !e create "no!ledge for ourselves regarding !hat is immediatel around us, andthrough science regarding !hat is more distant, as that, b means of !hich !e ma"e the outer !orld into our o!n inner !orld in a

much deeper sense than b perception. 5e do more than merel live in our perceptions, !e reflect upon them and !e are a!are that

through this reflection !e are able to experience something of the secrets in the things perceived.

ext, !e have to rec"on our feelings as part of our inner life> in our feelings !e are immediatel in that realm of the inner life of

man !hich contains !ithin itself all that brings us as human beings in touch !ith the !orld in a manner !orth of humanit. 0he primar foundation of our trul human existence is that !e are able to feel concerning things < that !e are able to feel pleasure in

!hat is around us. 2n a certain sense this is also the foundation of all our happiness and sorro!> for these are made up of feeling, !hich!ells up and again subsides. +ertain feelings arise !ithin us, or force themselves on us, !hich uplift and strengthen our life and in

!hich !e feel happ and satisfied> other feelings arise through the events of life, through our destin and also through our in!ard life,!hich give us pain and sorro!. 5hen !e use the !ord 6feeling7, !e are referring to the realm !hich embraces the happiness and

sorro! of human life.

5hen !e refer to the !ill, !e are dealing !ith that !hich ma"es us of value to the !orld, !hich so places us in the !orld that !e

not onl live a life of "no!ledge and a life of feeling !ithin ourselves, but are able to react upon the !orld. 5hat a human being !ills,

and !hat flo!s from his !ill into his actions, constitutes his value to the !orld. 0hus !e ma sa that in referring to the realm of !ill!e are dealing !ith that element !hich sho!s that man is a part of the !orld and it is our inner life !hich thus flo!s out into the !orld

and forms part of it. 5hether the are the emotions and passions of criminal natures hostile to social life that flo! into the !ill andthence become part of the !orld to the !orldBs detriment, or !hether the are the high, pure ideals !hich the idealist dra!s do!n from

his contact !ith the spiritual ordering of the !orld and allo!s to flo! into his actions, allo!s to flo! perhaps onl into his !ords !hich

act upon human beings, stimulating them or revealing the !orth of man < in either case !e are al!as dealing !ith !hat lies in therealm of !ill, !ith !hat gives to man his value. $o that all the !ealth !hich man can reall possess as a soulbeing, is expressed, !hen

!e mention these four realms: Perceptions, 0hought, 'eeling and 5ill.

o! to one !ho goes some!hat more deepl into the consideration of !hat !e ma call the four inner spheres of the soulnature

of man, there appears a significant difference bet!een the first t!o and the last t!o parts of this fourfold human being. 2n ordinar life,the difference does not reall enter ver much into the consciousness of man> at the most it onl enters our consciousness !hen !e

reflect upon these four spheres of human nature in the follo!ing manner.

2n spea"ing of perception, and reflecting upon it, !e have the feeling that !ith perception !e are directl in touch !ith the outer

!orld. 0hrough perception !e interiorise the outer !orld> it furnishes something !hich belongs to our inner being !hen !e have!or"ed upon the sensation. ut !e have the feeling that !e must so order our sensation that it gives us true images of the outer !orld

in certain conditions, and ever failing or defect in the life of perception and of sensation, ever distortion of the senses means that ourinner life is impoverished through our becoming poorer !ith respect to !hat !e are able to obtain from the outer !orld.

2n passing from perception to thought, !e become a!are that also !ith respect to thought !e ma have the feeling that !e must

not be satisfied if this thought merel stirs and dies do!n again !ithin itself> thoughts onl have an ultimate value !hen the represent

!ithin us something !hich is ob;ective, something that is outside us. =ur reflections !ould give us no satisfaction if through them !ecould not experience something about the outer !orld.

ut !hen !e pass to our feeling and reflect a little thereon, !e find that this feeling, or, perhaps better, the life of feeling, is muchmore intimatel connected !ith our o!n inner being than are thought and perception. 5hen !e !ish to perceive or feel certain

subtleties of the outer !orld in the right !a, !e have the idea that !e must, to begin !ith, develop ourselves in a purel externalmanner on the phsical plane. 2f !e have a thought !hich !e can call true, !e sa of this true thought that it must reall hold good for

all our fello!men and it must also be possible to convince others of this thought if !e can onl find the right !ords to express it. ut if

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!e stand before a phenomenon of nature, or, shall !e sa, a human !or" of art, and through this develop our feelings, !e "no! that

fundamentall our human nature alone does not help us full to exhaust !hat ma thus be in front of us. 2t ma be that !hen !e hear a piece of music or see a painting !e remain uite dull simpl because !e have not educated our feeling to be able to perceive its

refinements. 2f !e follo! this direction of thought !e find that this life of feeling is ver interior and that !e are unable to conve it to

others directl in thought in the manner !e experience it in!ardl. 2n our life of feeling !e are, under all circumstances, in a certainsense alone. 5e "no! at the same time that this life of feeling is the source of a special in!ard treasure, it is an in!ard result of

evolution, and ;ust because it is something so sub;ective, it cannot directl pass over into the ob;ect in the same !a as it livesin!ardl.

0he same thing must be said !ith respect to the !ill. 3o! different !e human beings are !ith respect to !hat !e !ill, !ith respect

to !hat passes into our actions through our !illH 0he great variet of human action reall comes about through one person !illing thisand another that. 5hen in the case of feeling !e are able to re;oice in finding a companion in life !ho, in a purel in!ard, sub;ectivemanner, has arrived at a similar standpoint of feeling as ourselves, one !ho, through feeling, can so interiorise certain refinements in

the external !orld that he has an understanding !hich is independent of and et connected !ith us, !e feel that our life is enhanced bsuch companionship. ?ach one of us has to develop his o!n feelings !ithin himself> but !e are able to find others !hose feelings echo

our o!n. 'or although the life of feeling is in!ard, it is still possible for different human beings to have feelings that are in unison. utthere cannot be t!o !ills !hich are directed to one and the same ob;ect, that is, t!o human beings !ho !ish to do one and the same

thing at the same time. 0he t!o !ills cannot unite in a single ob;ect. ?ven the handle !e grasp to turn a machine !e can onl graspourselves, though another helps us !ith it, the part of the !or" that !e do through our o!n !ill is onl half of the !hole !or". 5e do

our half, the other person the other half. 0!o !illimpulses cannot exist together in one ob;ect. Although !e occup common !orlds

through our !ill, it is exactl through this !ill that !e are so placed in the !orld that each of us is a single individualit. 2t is ;ust bthis !e are sho!n ho! the !ill constitutes the individual !orth of a human being, ho! from this standpoint the !ill is the innermost

thing.

5e ma gather from this that perception and thought are more external in the inner life of man, and that feeling and !ill are moreinternal, and constitute his true inner nature.

o! !ith respect to these four spheres of human soullife another distinction ma be seen, even through an entirel external,exoteric method of observation. 5hen !e confront the !orld !ith our perception !e ma sa that this perception does indeed bring the

!orld to us, but from one standpoint onl. 3o! small is that section of the !orld !hich through our perception !e are able to ma"einto our o!n inner lifeH 2n perception !e are dependent upon place and time. 5e must allo! that the ver least part of !hat !e

perceive in the !orld enters our inner life through our perception. And !ith respect to our thought !e have the notion that no matter!hat efforts !e ma"e there are al!as further steps that can be ta"en> through our thought !e can al!as press on further and further.

2n short, !e have the notion that the !orld is there outside, and through perception and thought !e can onl ma"e ourselves masters ofa tin portion of this !orld. 2t is different !ith feeling> for in this case one as"s: !hat possibilities of feeling, !hat possibilities in the

!a of ;o and sorro! are !ithin usF 5hat might !e not bring forth from the depths of our soulH And if !e did bring it forth, ho!much more nobl should !e feel about the things of the !orldH

5hereas !ith regard to perception and thought one has the notion that there is a great deal outside in the !orld of !hich one can

experience onl a small portion through perception and thought> !ith respect to feeling one has the sensation: !ithin me are endless

depths> could 2 but bring them forth, m feeling !ould become richer and richer. 2 can onl bring forth the smallest part and transformit into actual feeling ... through perception and thought 2 can onl turn a tin portion of the !orld into m o!n inner !orld, in the

sphere of actual experience 2 can onl give expression to a part of the possibilities 2 have !ithin me. And this is also the case to a muchhigher degree !ith the !ill. 2 refer to one thing onl. 3o! strongl !e feel our shortcomings in !hat !e do, as compared !ith !hat !e

might do, or in !hat it is possible for us to doH

0hus !e realise that !e onl bring a portion of the outer !orld into our inner life through our perception and thought> and !e are

onl able to bring forth a part of !hat lies deep do!n in the soul, through our feeling and our !ill. 0hus the four spheres of our soullifeare divided, as it !ere, into t!o parts> perception and thought on the one side, feeling and !ill on the other.

An entirel different light is thro!n upon these four spheres of our inner life !hen !e tr to illumine esotericall that !hich !ema thus explain exotericall b means of thought.

ou "no! that during the night !hen a person is asleep, the connection bet!een his 627 and his astral bod on the one hand, and

his phsical bod and etheric bod on the other, is different from !hat it is !hile he is a!a"e. %uring the da !hile he is a!a"e his phsical bod, etheric bod, astral bod and 627 are coupled together in a normal manner. 0his connection is loosened during sleep, so

that the astral bod and the 627 are a!a from the sphere of the senses and from the sphere of thought, that is, a!a from the entire

sphere of the instruments of consciousness, and therefore the dar"ness of night is spread over normal consciousness andunconsciousness supervenes. o!, !hen through his esoteric exercises a person so strengthens his soul that he "no!s and perceives <

that is, he spirituall "no!s and perceives < in the spiritual soulbeing !hich he is during the night> !hen he is unconscious outside

the bod, !hen he reall experiences this spiritual soulbeing as his o!n human nature outside the bod, then a ne! !orld appears tohim, a spiritual !orld, ;ust as a phsical !orld exists for a person !hen he ma"es use of the senses and the brain !hich serves thought.0hus a spiritual !orld is around him.

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o!, the spiritual environment !hich can then be observed, is b no means al!as the same. 5ere a person to place himself in the

position of a spiritual investigator, he !ould see at various times and in various !as, ho! the intention al!as affects !hat a personsees spirituall. 2t is not the conscious intention, but rather the unconscious, instinctive intention !hich al!as affects !hat he reall

!ants to "no!. 2f, for example, a person goes out of his bod in order to come in contact !ith a dead person, this intention affects the

!hole of his spiritual field of consciousness> he overloo"s, as it !ere, all that does not belong to this intention. 2f he succeeds at all, hesteers straight for the dead person and his destin, in order to see !hat he desires to see in connection !ith him. 0he rest of the spiritual

!orld remains unnoticed < it !ould be better to use the !ord obscure < and the person then feels his connection !ith the dead. 0hus!hat a man sees in the spiritual !orld, depends upon his intention. And so ou can understand, that !hat is described b the

clairvoant consciousness regarding !hat it sees in the spiritual !orld, ma var infinitel !ith different clairvoant individuals. ?achone ma have seen uite correctl !hat he did see, according to the purpose in him !hen he !ithdre! his soul and spirit from his

phsical, bodil part. 2n this and the follo!ing lectures 2 shall describe !hat the clairvoant consciousness sees !hen it enters into thespiritual !orld !ith the intention of "no!ing the inner humanlife < these four soulspheres of Perception, 0hought, 'eeling and 5ill

< in order actuall to get behind that !hich ebbs and flo!s in this human soul causing it happiness and sorro!.

et us suppose that a clairvoant consciousness has reached the point !here the spiritual and soulpart can reall leave the phsical

bodilpart in a !a similar to !hat is usuall done unconsciousl during sleep> and he leaves it !ith the definite purpose < thedefinite impulse to become acuainted !ith, to feel reall confronted !ith the inner life of man. 3e !ill meet !ith !hat 2 shall no! tr

to describe.

0he first thing that the clairvoant consciousness meets !ith, is in fact a complete reversal of his entire mental outloo". As long as!e are in the bod !e loo" around us !ith our senses and thin" about !hat !e see !ith our intellect. 5e loo" upon a !orld of

mountains, rivers, clouds, stars, etc., and at one point in this !orld !e see ourselves as a ver small thing compared !ith this great

!orld. 5hen the clairvoant consciousness begins to act outside the bod, this relationship is exactl reversed. 0he !orld !hichordinaril is outspread before our senses and !hich !e reflect upon !ith the intellect that is connected !ith our brain < this !orld

disappears from our vie!. 2t no longer provides us !ith thoughts, but one feels as if poured out into this !orld, one reall feels as if onehas left oneBs bod.

0his perception is correctl expressed !hen !e sa to ourselves, 0hou art no! poured out into the !orld !hich previousl thoudidst loo" upon, thou art in it, thou fillest the !hole s$ace up to a certain limit, and et thou thself livest in ti%e. 0his is a sensation to

!hich one has to become accustomed> it is at first a sensation !hich ma be expressed b saing, that !hat previousl !as outer !orldhas no! become inner !orld. ot as if one no! carried !ithin one this former outer !orld, but one has the feeling it has become oneBs

inner !orld> one feels: thou art living in the s$ace in !hich formerl th senseimpressions !ere outspread and art regarding theob;ects and processes of !hich thou didst thin". 0hou art living in it. ... And !hen one develops clairvoant consciousness to a certain

extent, the tin being, the man, !ho formerl seemed to stand in the centre of the sensible hori&on, no! reall becomes the !orld, and!e loo" on it as !e formerl loo"ed on the !hole of the outer !orld !hich !as outspread in space and ran its course in time. 0o a

certain extent !e have become the !orld. =nl imagine !hat a reversal of the human !a of considering the !orld it is, !hen that!hich previousl !as not !orld, that to !hich one had said 627 < !hen this no! reall becomes the !orld outside, to!ards !hich

everthing tends. 2t is as if from ever point of space one !ere to loo" to!ards a single centre and there behold oneself. 2t is as if onefloated bac" and forth in ti%e and at a certain point, on a !ave of this stream of ti%e, one found oneself. =ne has oneself become the

!orld.

0hat is the first impression received !hen < and 2 once more la stress on this < !hen !ith 6intention7 to learn to understand the

inner life of man, one develops the clairvoant consciousness> that is the first impression. 2s it not remar"able that one goes out of the bod !ith intention to learn about the inner life of man and the first thing that meets one is the human form itselfF ut ho! changed is

this human formH =ne cannot sa it often enough: that one must go out of the bod !ith the intention of becoming acuainted !ith theinner life of man and then all that 2 no! tell ou ta"es place. aturall, it does not necessaril al!as appears the same. 3o!

differentl does this human form present itselfH =ne "no!s: 60hat !hich thou art no! loo"ing at, is thself> ea, it is thee. 0hou !hoformerl didst feel thself !ithin th s"in, !ithin th blood, art no! outside.7

At first one sees onl !hat one might call the outer form of that !hich stands there> though changed. 0hese ees, those parts !hich!ere ees, shine li"e t!o suns, but suns !hich in!ardl vibrate !ith spar"ling light, suns !hich spar"le, !hose light shines out and

fades, giving forth radiant light < thus do the ees appear in the changed human form. 0he ears begin to sound in a certain !a. =nedoes not see the ears as one does in the phsical !orld, but one feels a certain resonance. 0he !hole s"in shines !ith a sort of radiation,

!hich one feels rather than sees. 2n short, the human form appears to one as something !hich gives forth light, sound and magnetic,electric radiations. 0hese expressions are naturall inappropriate, because the are ta"en from the phsical !orld. 0hus does the !orld

stand before us, and this is our !orld at the beginning of the clairvoant experience !e have described. =ne sees the human being!hich spar"les !ith light, the !hole s"in spar"les so that one can feel it, the ees can be seen, the ears heard. And !hen one has this

impression, one "no!s: 0hou hast seen th phsical bod, from outside the bod. =ne "no!s: seen from the standpoint of the spirit the

phsical bod is li"e this.

2f one then tries to exercise an inner activit out there, outside the bod, !hich ma be compared to reflection < though thisdiffers some!hat from ordinar thin"ing, for it is the exercise of an inner creative soulforce < if one does this, one sees something

more in this shining being> one sees forces moving !ithin it, something li"e a circulation of force permeating this shining form. 0henone "no!s: 0hat !hich thou seest li"e a separate part !ithin th light bod is th thoughtlife seen from outside. =ne ma call that of

!hich one no! sees part, the etheric bod. =ne sees the etheric bod as the !eaving thoughtlife. 2t is li"e a circulation of dar" !aves,a spiritual blood circulation, one might describe it as dar" !aves in the lightbod, giving a peculiar appearance to the !hole and

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constraining one to ac"no!ledge there in th phsical bod pulses and !eaves the etheric bod, !hich thou no! seest from outside,

!hich no! becomes visible to thee.

ou see, therefore, that outside the bod one gains the "no!ledge that the phsical and etheric bodies reall exist, and ho! theappear !hen seen from outside.

ut this in!ard strengthening ma go still further. 2f one !ere onl to see !hat 2 have ;ust described, one !ould appear peculiar inthe spiritual !orld: one !ould appear in the spiritual !orld li"e a being !ho on the phsical plane could indeed receive impressions

from the outer !orld, but !ho !as in!ardl entirel void of feeling, !ho could feel nothing at all. 5hat corresponds to feeling on the phsical plane, can also move us in!ardl !hen outside the bod. 2t is not feeling, for feeling has meaning and existence onl !ithin

the phsical bod, but it is that !hich corresponds to feeling in the spiritual !orld. Previousl, for instance, !e merel felt that !e !ere!ithin space and moved in time> in that space in !hich !e observed events and beings and in that time in !hich !e realised that !e

!ere in it. 5hen, ho!ever, the inner soulnature !hich corresponds. to feeling is a!a"ened outside the bod, the soulnature begins todevelop a "no!ledge through !hich all sorts of things come to light, through !hich one not onl feels as if outspread in space, but

through !hich one perceives something in this space, something !hich moves in the stream of time> as 6being.7 =ne no! finds, not!hat one formerl sa! b means of the bod and its organs in the outer !orld, but one finds one has experiences in the inner part of

this outer !orld, in the spiritual part !hich lives and moves in this outer !orld. 2t is as if the space, in !hich formerl one had onl been a!are of oneself, !ere no! filled !ith innumerable stars all in motion, to !hich one belongs oneself. 0hen one "no!s: 0hou art

no! experiencing thself in the astral bod outside the phsical bod in such a !a that !hat formerl !as onl felt, no! comes to life

as inner content.

2n loo"ing bac" at that part of oneself seen previousl, !hich !e described as the outer !orld < that lightbod !ith the dar"

thoughtcirculation of the etheric bod !ithin it < then, at the moment of concentration Loutside the bodM upon the astral, the starlifeof the astral bod, < the bod one has left behind < appears different. 0he exact difference ma be expressed as follo!s: 0hou canstconcentrate upon thself, loo"ing bac" on th lightbod and th ethericthought bod> thou canst so concentrate on thself that an

inner star!orld comes to life !ithin these, regarding !hich thou "no!est: 0his thou fillest completel, no! thou loo"est bac" on th phsical bod !hich thou hast left behind> the shining ma then cease, the thought circulation also.

0his is done to a certain extent voluntaril and in the place of !hat has faded, comes an image of our o!n being, !hich appears tous < it cannot be expressed other!ise < it appears as our 6personified "arma.7 0hat, !hich as human beings !e bear !ithin us, that on

account of !hich !e shall have this or that fate, is here as if rolled into one. efore us stands our "arma personified. 5hen !e see this!e "no!: thou art that> such thou reall art in th moral, inner being, as thou standest as an individualit in the !orld, that thou thself

reall artH

0hen emerges another consciousness and this consciousness !hich no! supervenes is ver depressing. 'or instance, one sees the

!hole of this personified fate in such a !a that one feels it in most intimate connection !ith oneBs bod, !ith oneBs earthman, andindeed in such a !a that one "no!s directl: 0he manner in !hich th muscles are constructed in th earthl bod, the !hole form ofth muscular sstem is the creation of this th fate, th "arma. o! comes the time !hen one sas to oneself: 3o! different #aa or

2llusion is from realitH As long as !e are on the phsical plane !e thin" that this man of muscle consists of fleshl muscles> in realit

these fleshl muscles are crstallised "arma. And the are so formed in man, so crstallised, that, even to the finest chemical formationman bears his crstallised "arma in his muscular sstem. $o strongl is this the case that the spiritual observer sees uite clearl that

!hen for example a person has exercised his muscles so that the have ta"en him to a place !here an accident happens to him, ithappened because in his muscles la the spiritual force !hich drove him of himself to the place !here the accident occurred. 0he

cosmic order has crstallised our fate !ithin our muscular sstem. 2n our muscular sstem lives the spirit Dcrstallised for the phsical planeE, !hich !ithout our apparent "no!ledge leads us ever!here, directing our coming and our going in accordance !ith our "arma.

2f in!ard strengthening is carried further, if the pupil !hile outside his bod, experiences his inner being still further, there arises

!ithin him !hat in phsical life on the phsical plane corresponds to the impulse of the 5ill. As soon as this life of 5ill rises !ithin aman < but !hen outside the bod < he feels not onl as if he !ere !ithin a sstem of stars, but as if he !ere in the sun of this sstem:he "no!s that he is one !ith the sun of his planetar sstem. =ne might sa that !hen a person in!ardl experiences his astral bod he

"no!s that he is one !ith the 6planets7 of his planetar sstem> !hen he experiences his 627 outside the bod he "no!s that he is one!ith th sun of his solar sstem, to !hich everthing turns, around !hich all is ordered. 2f !e loo" bac" on that !hich is no! no longer

!ithin us, but outside < and !hat is outside us, so long as !e are in the phsical bod, is !ithin us !hen !e are outside the bod, and!hat is !ithin us, !hen !e are in the phsical bod, is outside us !hen !e are outside the bod < if one no! loo"s bac" at oneself,

something else appears> in loo"ing at oneself, one is confronted b the necessit that !hat exists out there in the phsical !orld as oneBs

o!n bod, had to come into being and must again deca.

0he gro!th and deca of the phsical bod is !hat confronts one. =ne becomes a!are that there are $piritual Po!ers and eings!hich guide and direct the coming forth and gro!th of this phsical bod and that there are others !hich disintegrate this phsical

bod. =ne becomes a!are of that into !hich this actual gro!th and deca in the phsical !orld again crstallises. 'or one "no!s that

this gro!th and deca is connected fundamentall !ith the bonesstem of man. 5ith the formation of the bonesstem in the human phsical bod, ;udgement, so to sa, is given, regarding the form in !hich the human being experiences birth and death in the phsical bod. 0he !a in !hich a man comes into being and decas, is decided b the !a in !hich the bonesstem is crstallised !ithin him.

0he "no!ledge comes to one < thou couldst not be the being thou art in phsical existence if the !hole !orld had not cooperated inorder to bring about the hardening of the phsical nature, so that it appears as it does in th bonesstem. 2n the s"eleton one learns to

reverence < curious as this ma sound < the ruling +osmic Po!ers !hich find their spiritual expression in all the eings concentrated

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in the life of the sun. =ne learns to recognise that this s"eleton has been s"etched out, as it !ere, in the cosmic order as the fundamental

plan of man, and that the other phsical organs have been attached to it.

0hus to clairvoant vision, that !hich no! has become the outer !orld culminates in the smbol of death, or one might sa, in thevision of the s"eleton. 'or through such clairvoant experiences one at length acuires "no!ledge of ho! the spiritual !orlds have

fashioned an external phsical smbol, as it !ere, of themselves < these spiritual !orlds to !hich one reall belongs !ith oneBs inner being and into !hich one enters on going out of the bod. At this fourth stage !e also learn that !hen !e perform actions in the !orld,

!hen !e exercise our !ill, a force is active !ithin us of !hich !e are unconscious on the phsical plane and !hich !e onl no! learnto recognise. 2f !e but ma"e a for!ard movement and in doing so emplo the mechanism of our s"eleton, universal cosmic forces ta"e

part in the action, forces into !hich !e reall first enter !hen !e have experienced this fourth stage outside our bod.

$uppose a person goes for a !al" and !ith the aid of the mechanism of his bones moves his limbs for!ard> he imagines that he

does this for his o!n pleasure. 2n order that forces might come into existence to enable us to move ourselves for!ard b the mechanismof our bones, the !hole !orld had to come into being and the !hole !orld had to be filled !ith divine spiritual forces, spiritual forces

of !hich !e onl become a!are !hen !e arrive at the fourth stage. 0he divine spiritual +osmos participates in our ever step, andthough !e thin" that it is !e !ho move our feet for!ard, !e could not do so if !e did not live !ithin the spiritual +osmos, !ithin the

divine !orld. As long as !e are in our phsical bod !e ga&e around us> there !e see the beings belonging to the mineral, vegetableand animal "ingdoms, !e see mountains, rivers, oceans, seas, clouds, stars, sun and moon> !hat !e see externall has an inner eing

and !e ourselves enter into this inner eing !hen !e live outside our bod in the manner described. 5hen !e live in these eings !e

"no! that their spiritual essence, that !hich is hidden behind the radiant $un, behind the shining stars, behind the mountains, rivers,seas, clouds < that !hich is hidden there lives in the mechanism of our bones !hen !e move them, and that all this must be so.

5e can no! more clearl understand !hat !as said previousl. Oust as our !ill is in!ardl connected !ith the mechanism of our bones, our feelings are in!ardl connected !ith our muscular sstem. 0his muscular sstem is the smbolical expression of ourfeelingsstem. 2n order that our muscles can be constructed as the are, permitting of expansion and contraction, so as in their turn to

set the mechanism of the bones in motion < in order that this can come to pass, the !hole planetar sstem is necessar. 5e learn this!hen !e find ourselves in our astral bod. 2n our muscular sstem lives the !hole planetar sstem, ;ust as the !hole cosmos lives in

the mechanism of our bones. 5hat can be said in a similar !a about our thoughts and our senseperceptions !ill follo! in the nextlectures.

$piritual "no!ledge reveals such things to us. 'rom this !e see that spiritual "no!ledge is trul not merel something !hich givesus thoughts and ideas, but !hich can permeate our !hole soul so that !e thereb reall learn to "no! ourselves> !e become different

human beings in all our feeling and thin"ing. 'or !hen a person accepts !hat has ;ust been described as the experience of clairvoantconsciousness < and !hich 2 thin" can easil be understood < if he accepts this and allo!s it to !or" upon his mind and then gathers

it together in one fundamental feeling in his soul, ho! ma this fundamental feeling be expressedF 3o! must !e describe in a fe!

!ords that !hich is en"indled !ithin us as an inner feeling through this clairvoant "no!ledgeF

5e loo" at that !hich seemingl is most ordinar, the expression of our most everda moods, and !e receive something li"e an

impression of !hat is described concerning +apesius and enedictus in the opening sentences of m #ster %rama, The Soul's

&robation, namel ho! in man are gathered together the aims !hich divine $piritual eings have set before them, ho! into the natureof man flo!s that !hich divine $piritual eings have thought throughout the !orlds, 2f !e !ish to sum this up in one vital feeling, !e

ma describe it b saing that !e no! regard human nature differentl from !hat !e did before, !e no! "no! in a different mannerthan formerl that human nature is permeated b the divine +osmos. =ur consciousness is fired b this and !axing stronger declares

!ith inner understanding of soul and feeling that if !e !ish to understand man, !e cannot do so other!ise than b recognising that the!hole is born from out %ivine$piritualit. 5hen !e consider him and observe ho! his feelings flo! into his muscular activit and

ho! %ivine$piritualit, the +osmos, enters into his bones, ho! the !hole universe lives in the movement of his bones and the !hole planetar sstem lives in the contraction, expansion and relaxation of his muscles, !hen !e ponder on this and feel it deepl, !e can

sa !ith full understanding: =f a truth man is born from God:

?C %?= A$+2#@.

L.$T/R. *


2n the last lecture, m tas" in connection !ith our stud of 0hought, 'eeling, 5ill and Perception, !as to impart a fe! esotericexperiences !hich the human soul undergoes, !hen as a spiritual investigator it lives outside the bod !ith the intention of

experiencing something concerning the inner nature of man. 0oda 2 shall tr to bring for!ard other experiences from a differentaspect, because onl !hen !e observe life from different spiritual points of vie! are !e reall able to arrive at the true explanation of

it.

ou !ill remember, that in the last lectures !e tried to describe !hat the human soul first sees !hen, from outside the bod, it

loo"s bac" at its o!n bod and on all that is connected !ith it phsicall> and then ho! it after!ards discovers !hat the astral bod and?go of man experience !hen the strengthen themselves more and more in the sphere into !hich the enter !hen outside the bod.

o! there is another !a of considering the same matter and indeed it is of supreme importance in true, spiritual research, to realise

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that one onl reall solves the riddle of existence through spiritual observation, !hen a matter is considered from various sides. 0here

is another !a of leaving the bod. 2 might sa that the !a 2 described in the last lecture sho!ed us the soul leaving the bod, so thatit simpl goes out of the bod into space and begins to live there outside the bod. 0his process of leaving the bod can also ta"e place

in the follo!ing manner. 2n order to find the !a out of oneself, one ma tr to begin !ith, to enter more deepl into oneself> one ma

tr to connect oneself !ith spiritual experiences through that in the soul !hich is most similar to them, one ma tr to connect oneself!ith these experiences through oneBs memor. 2 have often said that because as human souls !e are not onl able to perceive, to thin",

to feel and to !ill, but are also able to store up our thoughts and perceptions as a treasure in the memor, !e are thereb reall able tochange our inner life into something spiritual. 2n recent public lectures 2 mentioned that the 'rench philosopher ergson sas that the

treasure of memor in the human soul cannot be considered as directl connected !ith the bod, but rather as an interior possession ofthe soul, as something !hich the soul develops, something !hich is purel of the soul and spirit.

2n fact, !hen 2magination begins in the clairvoant consciousness, !hen from the dar"ness of spiritual existence the firstimpressions emerge, these first impressions are ver similar in ualit and in their !hole nature to the contents of the soul !hich !e

bear !ithin us as the treasure of memor. 5hen !e begin to perceive !ith clairvoant consciousness, the revelations from the spiritual!orld appear in us li"e memor pictures, but infinitel more spiritual. 5e then notice that the treasure of our memor is the first reall

spiritual thing through !hich !e lift ourselves, to a certain extent, out of our bod. ut then !e have to go further, !e have to dra!forth from spiritual depths fleeting pictures, such as those memor presents to us, but much more living> pictures !hich do not belong

to our experience li"e the ideas in memor, but !hich rise, as it !ere, behind the memor. 0his must be borne in mind. $omethingcomes forth from unfamiliar spiritual realms, !hereas the treasure of memor comes forth from !hat !e have experienced in phsical

life.

o!, if !e tr to turn our spiritual ga&e to the experiences of our ?go during the ears that have passed since our childhood, bac"

as far as our memor extends, if !e tr to shut out everthing external and live entirel !ithin ourselves, so that !e penetrate more andmore deepl into our memor and dra! forth from its treasures !hat is not usuall present, !e graduall approach the point of time to

!hich our remembrance extends. And if !e do this often, if !e acuire a certain amount of practice in calling forth longforgottenmemories < and this can be done < so that !e develop a stronger po!er of memor> if !e call forth more and more of !hat !e have

forgotten and thereb strengthen the po!er !hich evo"es memories, !e shall find, that ;ust as in a meado! flo!ers appear among thegreen blades of grass, so bet!een the memories appear pictures, imaginations of something !e have not "no!n before, something that

reall emerges li"e flo!ers among the grass in a meado!, but !hich comes forth from entirel different spiritual depths than do ourmemories !hich onl come forth from our o!n soul. 0hen !e learn to distinguish bet!een !hat might be connected in an !a !ith

our memories, and !hat comes forth from spiritual sources and spiritual depths. 0hus !e graduall become able to develop the po!erto call forth the spiritual from its depths. 5e thereb get out of our bod in a different !a from the one described in the last lecture,

!here one leaves the bod directl, as it !ere. the method !e have ;ust described !e first go bac"!ards through our life. 5e sin"into our inner life. 0hrough strengthening our po!er of remembrance !e accustom ourselves to dra! forth spiritual things from the

spiritual !orld in our inner life bet!een our memories, and thus at length !e attain to !here !e push on beond birth and beond

conception, into the spiritual !orld in !hich !e lived before !e !ere connected in our present incarnation !ith phsical substancethrough heredit. eturning rapidl through our life !e reach out into the spiritual !orld far bac" in 6time7, before !e entered into thisincarnation. 0his is the other !a of leaving the bod and of entering the spiritual !orld, a !a uite different from the one described

in the last lecture. otice this difference carefull, for in this course of lectures 2 have to acuaint ou !ith ver man subtleties andintimate things regarding spiritual life, and it is difficult to describe these in fitting !ords. 2t is onl !hen !e tr to comprehend these

differences that !e enter correctl into these matters and acuire certaint in our thought about them.

2f a person leaves his bod in the manner 2 have ;ust described, he comes out of it uite differentl. 5hen he leaves his bod in the

manner 2 described in the last lecture, he feels that he is outside his life in outer space. 2 described ho! he diffuses himself over externalspace and ho! he loo"s bac" at his phsical bod. 3e slips out of his bod and fills space, as it !ere. 3e steps out into 6space7. ut if a

man reall goes through !hat !e are describing toda, he steps out of space itself> space ceases to have an meaning for him. 3eleaves space and is then onl in 6time7. $o that on leaving his bod in this !a, the !ords: 62 am outside m bod7 cease to have an

meaning, for outside signifies a relationship in space. 3e feels that he does not exist contemporaneousl !ith his bod, he feels himself

in 6time7> at that time in !hich he !as before his incarnation, in a 6before7. And he loo"s upon his bod as existing after!ards. 3ereall exists onl !ithin onstreaming, onflo!ing time. 2n place of 6outer7 and 6inner7, comes a 6before7 and 6after7.

0hrough this !a of going forth from his bod he is reall able to enter into the realms !e pass through bet!een death and rebirth:

for he goes bac" in time, he lives bac" into a life in !hich he lived before his earthlife. ?arthl life appears in such a !a that he as"s:5hat is in the futureF 5hat appears to us there as coming laterF 2n this !a, ou have a more exact understanding regarding matters

!hich 2 have been unable to go into so full in m public lectures, ho! for instance !e enter concretel into the realms in !hich !elive bet!een death and rebirth.

2f in this !a the pupil has passed out of his bod b returning into the life !hich he had previousl lived in the spirit, he has

thereb passed out of space. 0his !a of leaving the bod, going from the 6present7 to the 6previous7, has a much higher degree ofin!ardness than the other !a, and, to the spiritual investigator, the !a !e have ;ust described is infinitel more important than the

!a !e described in the last lecture !hich does not get out of space> for that !hich concerns the deeper matters of the soul can onl

reall be comprehended !hen one leaves the bod in the manner described toda. And no! 2 might mention one thing, from !hichou !ill see ho! one has to tr to get behind the depths and subtleties of human life.

3ere in the phsical bod !e live our phsical life> !e ma"e use of our senses> !e perceive the !orld> !e thin" about the !orld>!e feel in it> through our actions !e tr to be of value in this !orld> !e act consciousl b means of our bod. 0hus everda life goes

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on> this life goes on, in so far as !e belong to the phsical plane. o! for ever one !ho trul !ishes to establish his !orth as a human

being there must be a higher life and there al!as has been a higher life of the soul. eligions !hich inspired men to a higher life haveal!as existed. 2n the future, $piritual $cience !ill inspire man"ind to this higher life. 5hat is the aim of this higher lifeF 5hat is the

aim of this life !hich in 0hought, 'eeling and Perception transcends !hat the phsical plane has to offer, !hich, in one person is but

dim religious ideas, in another through the clear definitions of $piritual $cience, far transcends !hat the senses can see, !hat theintellect !hich is connected !ith the brain can thin", or !hat man through his bod can accomplish in the !orldF 0he human soul

tends to!ards a spiritual life. 0o feel spiritual life !ithin himself, to "no! something about the spiritual life !hich goes beond phsical life < this alone it is !hich gives man his value. 5e might sa that as long as a human being d!ells in the phsical bod he

endeavours to enhance his value, he tries to gain a notion of his true destin, through a life !hich he conceives as going beond the phsical !orld, through a presentiment of feeling, a "no!ledge of the spiritual !orld. 6oo" up to the spirit, feel that spiritual forces

are !eaving through the phsical !orld 27 < 0hat is fundamentall the note !hich religion and the life connected !ith religion shouldgive to man. Anone !ho means to bring up a child seriousl !ill ta"e care not to allo! this child to gro! up !ith external, material

conceptions alone, but !ill provide it !ith ideas regarding a supersensible !orld.

et us no!, !ithout !ishing to dra! attention to the limited and dogmatic side of an religion, describe as religion that !hich

dra!s man out of this phsical !orld. And !ith respect to !hat !e have ;ust described as the passing of the human soul beond birthand conception into a previous spiritual !orld !here it is also out of space, let us as": 2s there bet!een death and rebirth, is there in the

!orld into !hich !e enter in the manner !e have explained, is there something there !hich might be called a religion of that spiritlandF 2s there something above, !hich ma be compared to religious life on earthF 5e have alread described in man particulars and

shall et have to describe further !hat a human being goes through bet!een death and rebirth> but let us no! as", is there such a thing

as religion in spiritual lifeF 2s there something concerning !hich one ma sa that it bears the same relationship to the experiences inthe spiritland as the references to the supersensible !orld bear to the everda life of the phsical planeF

Anone !ho passes out of his bod in the manner !e have described arrives at the "no!ledge that up above in the spiritland there

is also something li"e a sort of religious life. And, curiousl enough, !hile one experiences everthing around one in the spiritland,spiritual beings and spiritual events, one has there before one continuall the picture of the human ideal> this appears li"e a might

spiritual structure, throughout spiritual life, or at least for a great part of this life bet!een death and rebirth. 3ere on earth, !e have asreligion everthing that transcends man> in the spiritual !orld, !e have the 2deal #an himself as religion. 5e learn that the various

eings of the various spiritual hierarchies permit their forces to !or" together in order that man ma graduall be produced in the!orld, in the manner described in m boo", ccult Science. 0he aim of the creative activit of the Gods is the 2deal #an. 0hat 2deal

#an does not reall come to life in phsical man as he is at present, but in the noblest spiritual and soul life that it is possible throughthe perfect development and training of aptitudes !hich this phsical man has !ithin him. 0hus a picture of 2deal #an is ever present

to the mind of the Gods. 0his is the religion of the Gods.

=n the far shore of %ivine existence there rises before the Gods the temple !hich presents the image of %ivine eing in the form

of man, as the highest divine !or" of art, and the special thing is that !hile man develops in the spiritland bet!een death and rebirth,he graduall matures so as to be able to see this temple of humanit, this high ideal of humanit. 5hereas here upon earth, !e

recognise that a life of religion has to be our free act, that !e have to dra! it forth ourselves and that it is also possible for thematerialistic mind to den religion, the reverse is the case in the spiritland bet!een death and rebirth. 0he longer !e live !ithin the

second half of the time bet!een death and rebirth, the more clearl does it appear before us, so that !e cannot disregard it, that this

most sublime 2deal #an, the goal of the Gods, is al!as before us. 3ere on earth a person ma be irreligious, because his soul ma

disregard the spirit as compared to the bod> above, it is impossible for him not to see the aim of the Gods, for it stands clearl beforehis ees. 0hus in the second half of the life bet!een death and rebirth the ideal of humanit stands, as it !ere, on the shore of existence,

that is to sa, on the shore of onflo!ing time Dconsider all these expressions as referring to 6time7 that is outside spaceE. A religionformed on "no!ledge cannot exist there> for in the spiritual !orld !e realise !hat the content of religion is. 2n this sense no one can be

irreligious there. 0he religious ideal of the spiritland is ever before one, it stands there of itself, it is the goal of the Gods and !hen !eenter upon the second half of our life bet!een death and rebirth it stands before us as the mightiest, the most glorious 2magination.

Although !e cannot there develop a religion b "no!ledge, still, under the guidance of the higher $piritual eings !ho are there active

for man, !e do develop a sort of religion.

5hile perception or sight cannot be taught, because things are selfevident> our !ill, our feeling!ill and !illingfeeling have to bestimulated in the second half of our life bet!een death and rebirth, in order that !e ma reall strive to!ards !hat !e see there. 2nto

our !illingfeeling, into our feeling!ill 3o! a divine !ill and a divine feeling. 2n order that !e ma choose the path to!ards these inthe second half of our life bet!een death and rebirth, !e are instructed !ith respect to our !illingfeeling> < all these terms are

inappropriate for this entirel different life, but still this expression ma be used. 2t is onl !hen a teacher has first called forth ideas inus, that he then !or"s further upon our feelings> but over there it is the case that !hen one has passed over the point !hich !e have still

to describe, mid!a bet!een death and rebirth, !hen one has passed that !hich in m last #ster %rama, The Soul's Awaenin! , 2describe as the #idnight 3our, there is at first a certain dullness as regards !illing and feeling in respect of that !hich stands as a

glorious temple in the distance of 6time7. %ivine forces then send a glo!ing !armth through the inner po!ers of our soul. 2t is a "ind of

instruction !hich spea"s directl to our inner being, and !hich has such an effect that !e graduall gain the po!er reall to desire totread the path to!ards the ideal !e see.

5hereas in phsical life !e ma stand in front of a teacher and he ma stand before us, and et !e ma reall feel that he spea"s

to our heart from outside, !e feel that our spiritual teachers, !ho belong to the higher hierarchies, !hen the teach us in the manner 2have ;ust described, send their o!n forces directl into our inner being. ?arthl teachers spea" to us> in the life bet!een death and

rebirth spiritual teachers pour their life into our souls, then the instruct us in spiritual religion. 0hus !e feel these teachers from the

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http://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA013/index.php





higher hierarchies ever more and more !ithin us, !e feel ourselves connected !ith them more and more in!ardl, and thereb our

inner life becomes stronger. 60hou art accepted ever more and more b the Gods> the Gods live in thee more and more, and the helpthee to gro! in!ardl stronger and stronger 27 < 0hat is the fundamental feeling throughout the second half of the life bet!een death

and rebirth.

0hus !e see that everthing in that life is so arranged that our experiences run their course in the depths of the soul itself. o!,!hile being instructed b the Gods, !e arrive at a certain point in our experience bet!een death and rebirth < at a ver important

point. 'ar a!a at the most distant point of time !e see the ideal of humanit> but the forces !hich our divinespiritual teachers cangive us are dependent on !hat !e have made of ourselves in the course of our incarnations, in the course of our previous human life.

As !e turn to!ards life from the #idnight of the !orld, !e stand exactl mid!a bet!een death and rebirth> as !e follo! our life

further and further and see the ideal of humanit in the most distant future, !e are at a point !hence !e have the furthest perspective ofthis ideal of humanit.

5hen !e reach this point !e have to sa to ourselves < of course !e do not sa this, !e experience it uite in!ardl, but it has to

be expressed in the !ords of ordinar life < !e have to sa to ourselves: 6%ivine $piritual 'orces have !or"ed on thee, the haveentered ever more and more deepl !ithin th soul, the live in thee> but thou hast no! arrived at the point !here thou canst not fill

thself an more !ith these forces, for thou !ouldst have to be far more perfect if thou !ouldst go beond this point.7 3ere animportant decision has to be made. At this moment a severe temptation assails us.

0he Gods have meant !ell b us> the have given us all the could in the meantime> the have made us as strong as !as possible

according to the measure of the po!er !e have so far acuired in life. 0he strength given us b the Gods is !ithin us, and a temptation

comes !hich sas to us: 60hou canst follo! these Gods> thou canst no! allo! all that thou art, to enter, as it !ere, into the forces the

Gods have given thee> thou canst go into the spiritual !orlds, for the Gods have given thee a ver great deal.7 5e might at this pointspiritualise ourselves entirel. 0his is the prospect that confronts us. ut !e could onl do this b turning aside from the path leading tothe great ideal of humanit. 0his means, in other !ords, that !e should force our !a into the spiritual !orlds ta"ing all our

imperfections !ith us, and there the !ould change into perfection. 0his the !ould reall do. 5e might enter !ith our imperfections,and because !e !ere permeated !ith divine forces !e should become a spiritual being, but this being !ould have to renounce the

possibilities it no! has !ithin it, !hich it has not realised on its path so far, and !hich lie in the direction of the great ideal ofhumanit, these it !ould have to renounce. ?ach time, before an earthl incarnation ta"es place, the temptation comes to remain in the

spiritual !orld, to enter into the $pirit and to develop further !ith !hat !e alread have !hich is no! entirel permeated !ith %ivinit, but to renounce !hat it is possible for us to become more and more as men, along the path to the distant religious ideal of the divinel

spiritual !orld. 0he temptation assails us to become irreligious !ith respect to the spiritland. 0his temptation is all the stronger because at no time in the evolution of humanit has ucifer greater po!er over man than at this moment, !hen he !hispers 6$ei&e the

opportunit, thou canst remain in the $pirit> thou canst carr over into the spiritual light all that thou has acuiredH7 ucifer tries bever means to ma"e the soul forget the possibilities it et has !ithin it, and !hich stand before it as the distant temple on the far shores

of ti%e. As humanit no! is, a man !ould not be able to !ithstand the temptation of ucifer at this point, if the $pirits to !homucifer is opposed did not no! ta"e upon themselves the affairs of man. A fight for the human soul ta"es place, bet!een ucifer and

the Gods !ho lead man to!ards his ideal, the Gods !ho adhere to the religion of the Gods. 0he result of this fight is that the archetpalimage !hich the human being has formed from his earthl existence, is thro!n out of time into space, it is attracted magneticall b

special existence. 0his is also the moment !hen that magnetic attraction through the parents is felt, !hen the human being is

transported into the sphere of space> !hen he becomes connected !ith space. 0hrough this, all that might instil into him the temptation

to remain in the spiritual !orld is veiled. And this veiling is expressed b his being enveloped b the bod. 3e is surrounded b the bod in order that he ma not see !hat ucifer !ishes to put before him. And !hen he is enveloped b the covering of the bod, !hen

he sees the !orld b means of his bodil senses and his bodil intellect, he does not see !hat he might other!ise strive after in thespiritual !orld, if he !ere misled b the 0empter. 3e does not see it> he sees this !orld of $piritual eings and spiritual events from

outside, as revealed to his senses and to the intellect connected !ith the brain. 5hen he is in the sensebod, the $pirits !ho !atch overhim underta"e his development.

et us no! as": 3o! much goes on in the subconscious depths of our soul bet!een birth and death, ho! much goes on !ithout our"no!ing anthing about itF 2f !e had to do consciousl all that occurs in our lives, !e could b no means go through our earthl

existence. 2 have alread indicated in m boo", The S$iritual Guidance of Manind , that !hen a person enters into phsical incarnationhe himself must !or" plasticall on his brain and nervous sstem. 3e !or"s upon it, but he !or"s unconsciousl. All this is the

outcome of a much greater !isdom than that !hich a human being can comprehend !ith the intellect that is bound to the senses.et!een birth and death a !isdom rules !ithin us !hich exists behind the !orld !hich !e see !ith our senses and concerning !hich

!e thin" !ith the intellect that is connected !ith our brain. 0his !isdom is in the bac"ground> it is hidden from us bet!een birth anddeath, but it controls, it lives and !or"s !ithin us in the subconscious depths of our soul, and in these subconscious depths of our soul it

has to ta"e our affairs in hand, because !e have to be !ithdra!n for a time from the vision of that !hich !ould be a temptation for us.All the time !e live in our bod !e should < if the Guardian of the 0hreshold did not !ithhold from us the vision into the spiritual

!orld < be tempted step b step to abandon our still undeveloped human possibilities and to follo! the up!ard s!eep into the

spiritual !orlds, ta"ing !ith us all our imperfections, instead of allo!ing ourselves to be guided thereto through careful training. 5ehave need of our earthl life so as to be !ithdra!n during this time from the temptation of ucifer.

@p to the time mentioned, !hen !e are led forth into space, ucifer has no po!er over us and there is al!as the possibilit of

progress> but he dra!s near at the time !e have to ma"e the decision. 5e can ma"e no further progress through our previous life, so !e!ish to turn aside !ith all our imperfections and remain in the spiritual !orld. 0he Gods of progress, to !hom ucifer is opposed,

protect us from this b !ithdra!ing us from the spiritual !orld, b hiding themselves from us and from the spiritual !orld, doing that

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!hich has to be accomplished in us !ithout our being conscious of it. 0hus !e stand here as human beings in the !orld, conscious in

our phsical bod, and sa: 65e give e than"s, e GodsH e have given us the po!er to "no! as much of the !orld as is good for us>for if !e !ere to see beond the threshold of the present hori&on of our consciousness !e should be in danger ever moment of not

!ishing to reach the goal of humanit.7 5e have to be transported into the !orld of space from that bright, higher condition of

consciousness in !hich !e live bet!een death and rebirth < !hen spiritual !orlds and spiritual beings surround us, !hen !e are in thespirit, in order that in the !orld of space that !orld ma be hidden from us !hich !e are unable to endure until !e have passed through

the period bet!een birth and death. %uring the time !e d!ell on earth, through our having been !ithdra!n from the spiritual !orld,through this spiritual !orld not having !or"ed upon us and through material ob;ects alone having surrounded us < !e have again

received a ne! impulse to!ards the distant goal of the ideal of humanit. 'or the divine $pirits !ho drive us for!ard !or" in us the!hole time !e live upon earth, during !hich time !e do not see consciousl into the spiritual !orld. 0he !or" in such a manner that

the are not disturbed b our state of consciousness, the are not disturbed b our being tempted to follo! ucifer. 0he instil so much po!er into us, that, !hen !e pass through the portal of death, !e are able again to press for!ard a little further to!ards the ideal of

humanit.

5hat 2 have ;ust indicated in these !ords is another mster !hich lies behind human existence. 2 thin" it is good for us at this

?astertide to consider those conditions of life !hich are attained b going out of the bod in a more in!ard !a> to consider therelationship bet!een death and rebirth and the life !e after!ards pass in the phsical bod. 5e then observe life bet!een death and

rebirth and become a!are of the guidance of the good $piritual eings !ho are helping us on!ard. 5e loo" up to these %ivine eingsas to our past life in the spirit, and !e understand that our present existence in the bod bet!een birth and death has been lent to us b

the Gods, in order that !ithout our doing anthing to!ards it, the ma be able to ta"e care of us so that !e ma develop further. 5hile

!e perceive the !orld, !hile !e thin" in the !orld, feel in it, !ill in it, !hile !e store up our treasure of memor in order to have aconnected existence in phsical life> < behind it all, behind our conscious life, %ivine $piritual eings are active> guiding on!ard the

stream of ti%e. 0he have sent us forth into s$ace in order that !e ma there have exactl as much consciousness as the find it good

for us to have, for behind this consciousness the !ish to guide our destin further to!ards the great ideal of humanit, the 2%?A ofthe religion of the Gods.

5hen !e consider our inner being in this manner, the inner being !hich under normal conditions of life !e are unable consciouslto see and investigate, !hen !e tr to fill ourselves !ith the feeling that there is something !ithin us, !hich, though !e cannot

perceive it, !ith the normal po!ers of human life, is nevertheless our deepest innersoul nature> !hen !e tr to become a!are of thissoulnature !hich is so deepl hidden !ithin us, and then tr to realise that the Gods rule in this soulnature !hich !e ourselves cannot

guide, !e then get the right feeling regarding the God !hich rules !ithin us.

0he !ords that have been spo"en toda have been spo"en not so much on account of their theoretical content but to the end that

this feeling might arise: < a true ?asterfeeling. 5hen the soul, loo"ing on that !hich is revealed to it !hen it goes out of itself intospace, !hen, filling space, this soul learns and "no!s 6=ut of the %ivine 2 am born7, it can still further deepen this "no!ledge through

!hat has been said toda, for it becomes a!are that: 65ith all 2 "no!, !ith all that is accessible to m soul in Perception, 0hought,'eeling and 5ill, 2 am born out of a deeper soulbeing, that soulbeing !ithin me !hich is et one !ith the %ivinit !hich flo!s !ithin

the stream of 6time7, but flo!s in it !ith the %ivine. 5e are a!are of a "no!ledge !hich ma be expressed in a much deeper !a thanthe "no!ledge expressed at the end of the last lecture. As the result of our considerations toda, the statement, 6=ut of God !e are

born7, can be made in a much deeper sense, for !e are a!are that this soul, together !ith !hat it "no!s regarding itself, is born ever

moment from out the %ivine, so that ever moment !e ma fill our deepest, most in!ard being !ith this thought:

6=ut of God !e are born7,?C %?= A$+2#@.

L.$T/R. 3


2n this lecture !e shall have to dra! attention to several positive results of occult investigation !hich !ill enable us to penetrateinto the nature of man and !ill also sho! us !hat a complicated being man reall is as he exists in the !orld. +an !e thin" other!ise

than that this human being must be a ver complicated being, !hen !e reflect ho! the true ideal of man, that !hich it is possible forman to become if he reall develops all the possibilities contained !ithin him, is fundamentall the content of the religion of the Gods

and that all the $piritual eings belonging to the various hierarchies !hom !e "no! to be connected !ith human nature reall !or"

together !ith one ob;ect, that of building up man out of the !hole cosmos, as the purport of that cosmos.

0he first thing !e remar" is that !hen a human being receives impressions of the outer !orld, he actuall receives into hisconsciousness onl a small portion of !hat reall surges in upon him. 5hen in the phsical !orld, he opens his sense organs and the

intellect connected !ith his brain and nervous sstem, !hen he considers the !orld and tries to explain !hat comes to him in this !a,onl a small portion of !hat surges in upon him, reall attains the form of ideas, onl a tin portion reall enters the consciousness of

man. ight and colour contain much more than !hat enters manBs consciousness. 2n sound there is much more than !hat comes into theconsciousness of man. ?xternal materialistic phsics in its childish idea of the !orld sas that behind colour, behind light, etc., there

are material processes, vibrations of atoms and so on. 0his is indeed but a childish conception of the !orld, for in realit the follo!ingcomes to light: <

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5e must investigate human perception !ith clairvoant vision, for onl b observing the actual process of perception can !e

understand manBs relation to the surrounding !orld, even though !e consider onl the phsical !orld. $omething uite uniue appears!hen !e observe the process of perception clairvoantl. et us suppose some ob;ect affects our ees, !e perceive light or colour, and

thus !e have in our consciousness the sensation of light or colour. 0he remar"able fact one discovers through spiritual investigation is

that in the human being there appears not onl this light and this colour, but, in conseuence of light and colour, there appears !hat !emight call a sort of lightcorpse or colourcorpse. =ur ees cause us to have the sensation of light and colour. 0hus !e might sa: 0he

light streams to!ards us and brings about in us the sensation of light> but loo"ing deeper into our being !e discover that !hile !e areconscious of light, our human nature is permeated b something that has to die in us in order that !e ma have the sensation of light.

5e can have no perception, no sensation from outside !ithout a sort of corpse being formed as the result of this sensation.

0he spiritual investigator has to sa: 63ere 2 see a human being> 2 "no! that he has the sensation of red. ut 2 see that this red!hich is in his consciousness pours forth something, pervades his !hole being !ith something !hich in so far as it has entered !ithinhis s"in and the limits of his etheric bod < "ills something in him !hich becomes li"e the corpse of the colour. 2magine that

!henever !e confront the phsical !orld and have our senseorgans open, !e al!as receive into us the corpses of all our sensations,as phantoms < but active phantoms. 5henever !e perceive the outer !orld, something dies in us. 0his is a most remar"able

phenomenon. And the spiritual investigator has to as": 5hat happens hereF 5hat is the cause of this ver remar"able phenomenonF

=ne has to consider !hat it reall is that comes to us as light. 0his light has a great deal behind it. 5hat manifests as light is onl

the forerunner, as it !ere, of that !hich surges in upon us: at an rate there is not behind the light that undulating motion !hich

external phsics fancies, but behind the light, behind all sensations, behind all impressions, there is that !hich !e onl comprehend!hen !e vie! the !orld occultl through 2maginations, through creative images. 0he moment !e perceive all that lives in light, in

sound or in !armth, !e perceive, behind !hat reaches our consciousness, creative 2magination, and !ithin this again is revealed

2nspiration, and !ithin that, 2ntuition. 0hat !hich comes into our consciousness as the sensation of light or sound is but the outermostlaer, onl the froth, as it !ere, of !hat comes to us> but !ithin it there is that !hich, if it !ere to enter our consciousness, could

become in us 2magination, 2nspiration and 2ntuition.

2n !hat !e perceive, !e reall onl receive onefourth of that !hich assails us> the other threefourths penetrate into us !ithout

our being a!are of them. 5hen !e perceive colour, there presses into us, as it !ere, belo! the surface of the sensation of colour, <creative 2magination, 2nspiration and 2ntuition> these sin" into us. 5hen !e investigate more closel into that !hich thus enters into us,

!e find that if 2magination, 2nspiration, and 2ntuition !ere reall to enter our organism as the !ish to do through sense perception, theresult !ould be, that even during the period of our phsical earthl existence bet!een birth and death, the !ould bring about the same

spiritual effect as 2 mentioned esterda as a possible result of the temptation of ucifer. 0his 2magination, 2nspiration, and 2ntuition!ould so act upon us that !e should have the impulse to cast behind us ever possibilit that exists for our becoming the 2deal #an in

the fardistant future, and !e should !ant to spiritualise ourselves as !e are no!> !e should !ant to become spiritual beings at thestage of perfection !e have no! reached through our previous life. 2n a certain sense !e should sa to ourselves: 62t !ill be too great an

effort for us to become man, for to reach this goal !e should have to tread a difficult path in the future. 5e shall forego the possibilitieset ling in man, !e prefer to become angels !ith all our imperfections, for then !e can rise at once into the spiritual !orld, !e can

then spiritualise our being> !e shall ho!ever, be less perfect than !e might be in the cosmos, in vie! of our possibilities, but still !eshall be spiritual, angelic beings.7

3ere again, ou see from this example the great importance of !hat is called the threshold of the spiritual !orld, and ho!important the eing is, !ho is called the Guardian of the 0hreshold. 'or there he stands, at the point of !hich 2 have ;ust spo"en. 2t is

he !ho onl allo!s sensation to enter our consciousness, and does not allo! 2magination, 2nspiration and 2ntuition to enter> for if these!ere to enter the !ould rouse !ithin us a direct impulse to spiritualise ourselves ;ust as !e are, foregoing all the subseuent life of

humanit. 0his has to be veiled from us> the door of our consciousness is closed against this impulse !hich penetrates our being. Andin so far as it penetrates our being !ithout our being able to illuminate it !ith the light of consciousness, as !e are obliged to let it

descend into the dar" depths of our subconsciousness, there come to!ards it those $piritual eings to !hom ucifer is opposed. 0hesecome into our being from the other side and no! arises !ithin us the !ar bet!een ucifer, !ho sends in his 2magination, 2nspiration,

and 2ntuition, and the $piritual eings to !hom ucifer is opposed. 5ith ever sensation, !ith ever perception !e should behold this battle, if the threshold of the spiritual !orld !ere not closed to our out!ard perception. ut to clairvoant vision it is not closed.

'rom this ou ma see !hat a great deal reall ta"es place in the inner part of human nature, and the result in us of the battle !hichta"es place there is !hat 2 have described as a sort of corpse, a partial corpse. 0his corpse is the expression of that !hich has to become

entirel material in us, it is li"e a mineral deposit, !hich !e are unable to spiritualise. 2f this corpse !ere not formed through the !ar bet!een ucifer and his opponents !e should have, instead of this corpse, the result of 2magination, 2nspiration and 2ntuition !ithin us

and !e should rise at once into the spiritual !orld. 0he corpse forms the dead !eight b !hich the good $piritual eings < theopponents of ucifer < detain us at first in the phsical !orld, detain us in it so that because of this veiling !e should strive to!ards

the true ideal of human nature and the fulfilment of all the possibilities that ma be ours. 0hrough this content, this corpsephantom

being formed in us, through our receiving into ourselves, ever time !e perceive, something !hich is at the same time a corpse, !e "illin us during the act of perception this everspringing impulse to!ards spiritualisation. 2t is !hile this deposit is forming that !hat 2 have

often mentioned occurs, and of !hich it is so important !e should recognise the full significance. Oust considerH 5hen ou loo" into a

mirror ou have a sheet of glass before ou> this ou !ould see through, if it !ere not for the mirroring substance spread on it. 0hroughthe mirroring substance being upon the sheet of glass everthing that is in front of the mirror is re;ected. 2f ou !ere reall to stand

before our phsical bod in such a !a that ou experienced the perceptions !hich pass into it from 2maginations, 2nspirations and2ntuitions, ou !ould then see through the phsical bod, and our feeling !ould be such that ou !ould sa: 62 !ill have nothing to do

!ith this phsical bod> 2 !ill ta"e no notice of it, but 2 !ill rise ;ust as 2 am into the spiritual !orld.7

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0he phsical bod !ould reall stand before ou li"e a pane of glass !ithout an mirroring substance behind it. ut the phsical

bod is no! permeated !ith the corpse !hich resembles the mirroring substance of the mirror and it reflects everthing that falls uponit, exactl as in the case of sense perception. 2t is in this !a sense that perceptions originate. 0he permanent corpse !e bear !ithin us

is the reflecting substance of our !hole bod and !e thereb see ourselves in the phsical !orld. 2t is because of this that !e are

individual phsical beings in the phsical !orld. 3o! complicated does the human being no! appear to usH

et us ta"e the other case, in !hich !e not merel perceive, but !e thin". 5hen !e thin", it is not a sense perception. $ense

perceptions ma give rise to thought, but true thought does not consist of sense perceptions, it is a more interior process. 5hen !ethin", !e ma"e no impression in our phsical bod !ith the actual thought, but !e do upon our etheric bod. 5hen !e thin", all that is

in the thought does not enter into us. 5ere all that is contained in thought to enter into us, !e should feel, ever time !e thin", nothing

but living, elemental beings pulsing in us> !e should feel in!ardl alive. 2 mentioned once at #unich that if a person !ere toexperience thoughts ;ust as the are, he !ould feel some!hat as if he !ere in an ant heap. 0houghts !ould live in him, everthing!ould be alive. 5e do not perceive this life in our human thought, because again, onl !hat is li"e the froth of it enters our

consciousness and forms those shado!pictures of thought !hich appear in us as our thin"ing. =n the other hand, that !hich permeatesthought as living force, sin"s into our etheric bod. 5e do not perceive the living beings, the living elemental beings s!arming through

us, but onl an extract, something li"e a shado! of them> but the other part, the life, does enter into us and as it enters into us pervadesus in such a manner that again a battle ta"es place, this time in our etheric bod, bet!een the progressing spirits and Ahriman, the

Ahrimanic beings. And !hat is the outcome of this battleF 2t is that thoughts do not appear in us as the !ould do if the !ere alive.5ere the to appear as the actuall are, !e should feel ourselves !ithin the life of the thoughtbeings moving hither and thither> but

!e do not perceive this, and our etheric bod, !hich other!ise !ould be transparent, is rendered opaue. 2 might sa that it becomes

some!hat li"e a smo"etopa&, !hich has dar"er laers in it, !hile uart& is uite transparent and pure. 2n the same !a our etheric bod is filled !ith a spiritual obscurit and that !hich thus fills our etheric bod is the treasure of our thought.

0his treasure of thought arises through thoughts being reflected, as it !ere, in our etheric bod in the !a described, but in this

case, in 6time7, the are reflected bac" as far as to the point of time to !hich our memor extends in phsical life. #emor is re;ectedthoughts, thoughts reflected in time. ut deep do!n in our etheric bod, behind memor, !or" the good divine $piritual eings to

!hom Ahriman is opposed and there the create, the construct the forces !hich are able to reanimate !hat has died in the phsical bod as the result of the abovedescribed process. 0hus !hereas in our phsical bod a corpse is produced Da corpse !hich has to be

produced, because other!ise !e should have the impulse to spiritualise ourselves !ith all the imperfections !e possessE, somethingli"e an invigorating vital force proceeds from the etheric bod, so that in the future that !hich has been "illed can once more be

regenerated.

5e no! see for the first time the significance of 6before7 and 6after!ards7. 2f in the immediate present !e !ere full to experience

the 2ntuitions, 2nspirations, etc., !hich enter into us, !e should spiritualise ourselves, but through their being thro!n into the future bAhriman, through their not being used no!, but being preserved as germs for the future, the attain at last to their true nature. 0hat

!hich !e should misuse at the present time !e shall emplo in the future, !hen !e have passed the portal of death, to shape a ne! lifefor ourselves from out the spiritual !orld. 0hat !hich < if !e !ere to use it in the phsical !orld < !ould lead us to spiritualise

ourselves !ith all our imperfections is the force that leads us after death to appl ourselves again to phsical earthl life. 2n suchopposite directions do things !or" in different !orldsH

$uch is the case !ith respect to our thought. And no! let us consider feeling, that !hich !e have !ithin us as inner feeling. 0hat!hich !e perceive as inner feeling is, once more, not reall !hat it could be according to its !hole inner nature. 5hat !e have !ithin

us as feeling, !hat enters our consciousness as feeling, is onl the shado! of !hat reall lives !ithin us> for here again, in our feeling$piritual eings live. emembering !hat 2 said in the first lecture, ou !ill perceive that in feeling live the $piritual eings !ho are

reall at the bac" of the !hole of our planetar sstem, onl the do not enter our consciousness. 'eeling, as !e "no! it, enters ourconsciousness> the rest remains outside our consciousness. 5hat does it reall mean !hen !e sa that the rest remains outside our

consciousnessF 2t is reall ver difficult to find !ords in ordinar language !hich exactl describe these things. Oust as !e must sa perception and thought produce !ithin us something that is reall li"e a 6"illing7 < but in the case of thought, through counteraction,

there is at the same time a sort of impulse to!ards a future 6ma"ing alive7 < so also !e have to sa that ever feeling !e have is notreall born in us, it does not come full into existence. 2f everthing that is in us !hen !e feel !ere to emerge, !hat is contained in the

feeling !ould la hold of and give force to that !hich is behind the feeling in uite a different manner. 0hat !hich reall ma"es feelinginto a living being, into a living being !hose life is nourished b the entire planetar sstem, does not appear directl. 'eeling does

arise in us but as a shado! of !hat it reall is. 0he result is that ho!ever profoundl a person ma enter into his !orld of feeling,ho!ever deep his feeling for humanit, he is reall a!are of something unsatisfactor in respect of ever feeling. 3e perceives that

each feeling might be enhanced, it might come forth !ith more po!er. ?speciall as regards feeling !e have something li"e a secretconsciousness that it could reveal to us much more than it does> it hides something that lives in our inner being, something that is in the

depths of our soul and that is onl half born.

5hen !e pass on to our !ill, to all that as !ish and !ill can arise !ithin us, the case is the same as !ith feeling, but to a higherdegree> for behind the !ill is to be found the $piritual eing, the +ausal eing, !ho reall lives in the sun. 2n the !ill there lives not

merel that !hich lives in the planets, but that !hich lives in the sun itself < but hidden. 0he !ill is still less entirel born than is

feeling. 0he !ill !ould permeate us ver, ver differentl, if all that is contained in it !ere reall to manifest itself in ourconsciousness. =nl the outermost surface of the !ill, onl itBs most superficial part is reall expressed. 0he other remains hidden from

us. 5h does a !hole !orld remain hidden from us in feeling and in !illF 2t is because if that !hich remains hidden from us !ere to beseen from the phsical plane, !e could not bear it. $een from the phsical plane it !ould have such an appearance that !e should !ant

to !ard it off, !e should !ant to turn a!a from it.

Page 14 of *1



0hat !hich lives in feeling and in !ill, and remains unborn, is "arma in process of development, evolving "arma. et us suppose,

to choose a concrete example, that !e have a hostile feeling to!ards someone. 0hat !hich comes into our consciousness !hen !e havethis hostile feeling is but the ripple on the surface> belo!, forces are active !hich extend over the !hole of our planetar sstem. ut it

is precisel that !hich remains hidden that sas to us: 60hrough th hostile feeling thou art implanting in thself something that is

imperfect,7 this thou must ma"e good. 0he moment that !ere to appear, !hich d!ells belo! the surface, !e should see before us the62magination7 of !hat "armicall must balance this hostile feeling. 2n order to avoid the compensation !e should unite ourselves !ith

ucifer and Ahriman, because !e should ;udge !hat !e sa! from the standpoint of the phsical plane. =n the phsical plane this ishidden from us> the Guardian of the 0hreshold hides it from us because !e can onl ;udge the things !hich are unborn in our feelings

and in our !ill !hen !e live in the spiritual !orld bet!een death and rebirth. 0here !e !ill !hat other!ise !e never should !ill> there!e !ill that !hat corresponds to a hostile feeling shall reall be corrected, because there !e have a true interest in the contents of

divine religion, in the perfect ideal of humanit, !hich !ould ma"e of us perfect human beings. 'rom this !e "no! that !hat has cometo pass through a hostile feeling must receive its euivalent compensation. 2t has to be held over till the future, onl after death ma that

appear !hich has remained unborn in our feeling and !ill.

0hus ou see 2 have presented to ou four things connected !ith the human soul. 0hat !hich remains unborn in our feeling lives in

the astral bod. 0hat !hich remains unborn behind our !ill, lives in the 627. Again, !hen !e receive impressions of the outer !orld !ereceive into us at the same time something li"e a phsical corpse, !hich is reall the mirroringsubstance of our phsical bod. 5e also

have !ithin us a deposit, resembling a beclouding of the etheric bod. 2n our astral bod !e have something !hich does not come to birth in the period bet!een birth and death> and in our !ill !e also have something !hich is not born during this period. 0his fourfold

possibilit !hich a human being bears !ithin him, must be aroused in the period bet!een death and rebirth. 2t lives !ithin us as the

"ernel of our soul, ;ust as surel as the seed for the follo!ing ear lives in the plant. 0hus !e do not onl spea" of a soulseed in ageneral !a, but !e can even comprehend this soulseed in its fourfold nature. 5hen !e have a feeling !hich produces an in!ard

uneasiness, !hen !e are not in harmon !ith life, it is because a certain pressure is exercised upon the conscious part of our feelings

b the unborn part of our feelings. 3o! can this pressure be relievedF o! this pressure is something to !hich ever human being iscontinuall exposed> for !hat 2 have ;ust described < in so far as it relates to feeling and !ill, that is, to !hat is reall our soullife <

is that !hich brings us into inner disharmon. 2f there !ere true unison bet!een that part of feeling and !ill !hich is born, and that!hich remains belo! the threshold of consciousness, if the right relationship, the right harmon existed, !e should live in this sense

!orld as happ and useful human beings. 3ere lies the real reason for all inner dissatisfaction. 2f anone is in!ardl dissatisfied, itcomes from the pressure of the subconscious part of his feeling and !ill.

o!, to the explanation 2 have given, 2 must add that the nature of man has changed in the course of his evolution. 5hat 2 have ;ust described applies particularl to the present time, but it !as not al!as thus. 2n ancient periods of human evolution, let us sa in

the ancient Persian, ?gptian and 2ndian ages, it !as different. =f course manBs perceptions arose in exactl the same manner, and2maginations, 2nspirations and 2ntuitions !ere contained in them> but in ancient times these 2maginations, 2nspirations and 2ntuitions

!ere not so entirel !ithout effect upon man as the are toda. 0he did not "ill so completel the inner phsical part of man. 0he

did not ma"e such a dense mineral deposit. 0his !as because, in those ancient times under certain conditions !hen perceptions camefrom outside, something shot up out of feeling and !ill to meet it. 2f, for example, !e go bac" to the ?gptian or the abloniancivilisation and observe human beings, then !e find that the perceived uite differentl. =f course the confronted the outer sense

!orld ;ust as !e do, but their bodies !ere so organised that the 2maginations hidden !ithin the senseperceptions had not onl theirdestructive effect, but the entered !ith a certain lifegiving po!er. ecause the entered in this living !a the produced in!ardl the

reflection of that !hich no! remains entirel hidden in the ?go and astral bod. 0he $piritual eings belonging to the sun and

planetar sstem pressed out from !ithin and reflected as it !ere that !hich !as animated b the 2magination> so that to the people belonging to the ancient ?gptian and ablonian civilisations there !ere certain times !hen, on turning their ga&e to the phsical

!orld, the did not onl have phsical perceptions as !e have them, but lifeendo!ed perceptions.

0he ?gptian "ne! that behind his perceptions there !as something !hich expressed itself in 2maginations. 3ence he !as not sofoolish as to suppose that behind the perceptions there !ere vibrations of material atoms, as our present phsicists do, but he "ne! that

there !as life behind them and from his inner being there streamed to!ards him pictures of the animated starr heavens and the living

sun.

0his !as particularl strong during the Persian culture, !hen, together !ith the outer perception, something li"e the inner, spiritualforce of the sun shone forth < Ahura #a&daoH 2f !e go bac" to still more ancient times !e find this interaction, this meeting of the

inner and the outer expressed ver much more strongl. 0oda this can no longer be the case> but there can be a substitute, and here!e reach a point !here from the ver nature of the thing !e can reall understand the tas" of the anthroposophical conception of the

!orld. A substitute has to be produced. 5e confront the outer !orld !ith our perceptions. 5e thin" about it, a part of this outer !orldremains hidden from us, and this has a deadening and dar"ening effect upon us, but through $piritual $cience !e can restore that !hich

is thus dar"ened and deadened. 2t is precisel through the restoration of !hat other!ise is "illed and dar"ened, that the scienceoriginates !hich portras evolution through the $aturn, $un and #oon Periods, as described in m boo" ccult Science. ?ver human

being possesses this "no!ledge regarding the evolutions of $aturn, $un and #oon, onl it is in the bac"ground of his consciousness.

3e !ould prefer not to be an earthl man !ere he able to see it directl, !ithout the necessar preparation: he !ould prefer not to havean connections !ith the earth, and to end !ith the #oon evolution. All the "no!ledge !e are able to acuire through $piritual $cience

illuminates the hidden part of evolution in the past. 0hat !hich as 2maginations, 2nspirations and 2ntuitions lives outside and does notconsciousl enter into us, is reall !hat !e have gone through in the past. 0o gain this "no!ledge !e must pass beond the veil ofsenseperception.

Page 1) of *1







2t is some!hat different regarding !hat is contained in our feeling and !ill. A person ma sa Dand man have the impulse to sa

this at the present timeE: 65h should 2 concern mself !ith !hat these odd people thin" out, or have thought out, regarding asupersensible !orldF 2 do not accept such ideasH7 A person !ho sas this has never formed an idea as to !h religions have come into

our evolution. 0he one thing !hich all religions have in common is that the relate to things !e cannot perceive !ith our senses: a

person !ho accepts religious ideas fills himself !ith something he cannot perceive !ith his senses. 2deas !hich come from !hat !esensibl perceive, never give such an impulse to our feelings and !ill as ma have an uplifting po!er after death. 2n order that the

6unborn7 part of our feeling and !ill ma continue to be active after death < as indeed it must < !e do not use ideas gained throughthe perception of the senses, or through the intellect attached to the brain. 0hese do not help us at all. 0he onl ideas !hich give us the

impulse and po!er !hich !e need after death, are the ideas !hich correspond to that !hich is not out!ardl real, the conceptions!hich !hen accepted ma"e us pious and b !hich !e loo" up to a spiritual !orld. eligious conceptions are those !hich cannot !or"

in us as et, but the become active forces after death. 5hen !e acuire religious conceptions !e are not merel acuiring "no!ledge, but something that can become active after our death. 'or this reason it must be that anone !ho does not !ant to reflect upon active

forces of such a nature ma laugh about them and in his materialism ma re;ect them, but if he does not acuire ideas regarding !hat issupersensible he !ill have but crippled po!ers !here!ith to develop that !hich has remained unborn in his feeling and !ill.

0herefore it must freuentl be stated that light is thro!n on the past b clairvoant consciousness. 0his is recognised at the present time in so far as it exists behind the veil of the sense!orld as 2magination, 2nspiration and 2ntuition. 2n former times this

consciousness !as given to man as a religious belief, in order that he might not lose all uplifting po!er for the period after death andthat he might have something in his soul < li"e a seed < that could carr on the life of the soul even !hen he had laid aside the

phsical bod. 0he time has no! come !hen man"ind ought to acuire ideas about the supersensible !orlds through the understanding

of $piritual $cience. 'or this reason it cannot be too often stated that the spiritual investigator alone can investigate these matters in thesupersensible !orld> but !hen the have been investigated and then imparted to us, there is something in our inmost soul !hich is a

hidden language of the soul, !hich can grasp and understand the discoveries made b the spiritual investigator. 2t is onl !hen the

pre;udices of the mind and senses hold s!a that the supersensible ideas furnished us b spiritual research are loo"ed upon asnonsense, as foolishness and fantas < ideas !hich, !hen accepted, endo! the soul !ith an uplifting po!er !hich enables it to find its

!a in the cosmos through all the ages to come. 2t !ill al!as be the case that onl those !ho have gone through an esotericdevelopment !ill be able to investigate the contents of the spiritual !orld> but to "no! these contents, to !or" upon them in!ardl in

the consciousness, to hold them as ideas and conceptions, to possess the spiritual !orld as a certaint of the soulBs existence issomething that humanit !ill have need of more and more as its necessar spiritual food.

2t is this !hich sho!s us ho!, from its ver nature, the mission of our Anthroposophical #ovement can be understood. 2n ancienttimes it still !as the case that "no!ledge !as animated from above and the capacit for receiving this "no!ledge came from belo!.

3ence the ancients still possessed a direct consciousness of the spiritual !orlds, but this consciousness graduall became dim and dar".3ad this not come to pass, man !ould not have arrived at the full consciousness of the ?go, 3e can onl attain to full consciousness of

his ?go b developing to the highest degree in his phsical bod, the phantomcorpse of !hich 2 have spo"en. =ur phsical bod, as a

transparent being, must be, as it !ere, entirel overlaid !ith 6mirrorfoil7 and onl !hen it is completel overlaid, are !e so consciousof ourselves that !e can sa: 62 am an 27. ut the complete overlaing has onl been done slo!l and graduall, for it has developed inthe course of the evolution of humanit: it !as completed in the age in !hich the #ster of Golgotha too" place.

0he application of the 6mirrorfoil7 !as then completed. efore that time the higher and the lo!er natures of man still met, !hat

!as belo! and !hat !as above in a human being came together. =ne ma sa that through the covering of 6mirrorfoil7 being

perfected, the higher and the lo!er !ere completel forced apart and this onl came about !hen the event of Golgotha dre! near.

5hat had then reall ta"en placeF et us loo" more closel at !hat had ta"en place. Picture to ourselves the consciousness of

these ancient people before the #ster of Golgotha. 'rom outside comes the lifegiving force of 2maginations> from !ithin arise pictures of the superhuman spiritual !orld. 5hat are these pictures !hich thus arise in the human beingF As !e "no!, this !as

possible in ancient times, o!ing to the clouded condition of human consciousness. 0hose !ho "ne! these things, those !ho as 2nitiates!ere able to see the human soul and !ho sa! it in this meeting of the lifegiving 2magination from !ithout and the vision from !ithin,

these did not sa, 6#an alone sees this7> but these ancient 2nitiates < the ancient Oe!ish 2nitiates, for example < said: 6Oahveh orOehovah loo"s upon 3is !orld in man. God thin"s in man.7 Oust as at the present time, in our ccle of evolution, !hen !e have a

thought, !e ma sa 62 thin"7, those !ho "ne! these things in ancient times said, !hen the pictures from the spirit!orlds appeared tothem, 60he Gods are thin"ing in us.7 =r as the recognised the unit of %ivinit in #onotheism, the said, 6Oehovah thin"s in man> man

is the stage !hereon the pla of divine thoughts is carried out.7 #en felt themselves inflamed b these thoughts> therefore the said, 62nme the Gods thin".7 ut the necessit arose in human evolution that this should become more and more impossible and that dar"ness

should spread more and more. 0he possibilit of seeing visions, the thoughts of the Gods in man, ceased. 0he phantomli"e corpse inman became more and more pronounced. 0he time dre! near, !hen no more thoughts came forth from out human nature to meet the

Gods. 0he %ivine eing regarding !hom it !as said that 3e thought through man, felt 3is consciousness becoming dimmer anddimmer < for 3is consciousness consisted in 3is thoughts. And the longing arose !ithin this %ivine eing to a!a"en a ne! form of

consciousness. 5hen men acuire a different form of consciousness, the acuire something of the utmost importance. 5hen the Gods

create a ne! form of consciousness, the create !ith it something essential> something of the most profound moment occurs. 0he thingof profound importance that no! came into being !as the +hrist. +hrist the child of the Godhead, restored to man the po!er !hereb

he !as conscious of God < restored the consciousness !hich the previousl mentioned %ivine eing had felt to be dar"ened. 0oaccomplish this the +hrist had to enter into and become a part of human nature. 5e must become full a!are of the fact, that in the actof perceiving the sense!orld !e receive continuall into ourselves the content of death> that !hen !e thin" about this !orld !e are

receiving obscuration and dar"ness into ourselves> and !hen !e feel and !ill, something remains unborn in us. All these remain belo!in the depths of our consciousness, and !ith them there enters into us the content of something dead and something unborn !hich !e

Page 18 of *1



can onl first ma"e use of after !e are dead. ut the po!er to do this !ould be crippled, if !e could not let it sin" into the eing !hom

the Godhead has brought to birth as the principle of a ne! consciousness, if !e could not let it flo! into the +hristeing. 5henthrough spiritual science !e reall recognise the meaning of evolution, !e become conscious of the follo!ing: < 5e realise that !e

send do!n into the subconscious depths of our being that !hich dies in us> but the death !hich !e send do!n more and more into our

o!n being is received b the +hrist 5ho comes to meet us !ith lifegiving po!er. +hrist gives life to that !hich dies in us, !hichdar"ens in us, !hich remains unborn in us. 5e allo! that to die in us, !hich must die in order that !e ma approach the true ideal of

humanit !ith all the possibilities it contains> but the deathcontent !hich streams into us !e pour into the +hristeing, for 3e has pervaded human evolution since the founding of +hristianit, and !e also realise that !hat remains unborn in us, our feeling and !ill,

is received b the +hristsubstance into 5hom it !ill sin" after death. 'or !ithin us d!ells the +hrist ever since 3e passed through the#ster of Golgotha. 2nto +hrist !e let sin" the deathcontent !hich is present !ith ever perception> into 3im !e allo! the dar"ening

of our po!er of thought to sin". 2nto the light, into the spiritual sunlight of +hrist !e send our dar"ened thoughts, and !hen !e passthrough the portal of death, our unborn feeling sin"s !ithin the substance of +hrist and so too does our unborn !ill. 5hen !e

understand evolution aright !e sa to this evolution: 2n +hrist !e die <

2 +32$0= #=2#@.

L.$T/R. )


2n m second public lecture here, 2 tried, as far as is possible in a public lecture, to describe in broad outline the life of man bet!een death and rebirth. 5e shall go more deepl into this sub;ect in the next t!o lectures, in order to gain a clearer understanding ofour life here in the phsical !orld. 0he preparation provided b the previous lectures !as necessar before !e could go further. 0his

course of lectures !ill provide the means !hereb !e can enter more deepl into this sub;ect than !as possible in the public lectures.

2 have often said that if a person !ants to "no! and understand the spiritual !orlds < and these are the !orlds in !hich !e live

bet!een death and rebirth < he must ma"e certain conceptions and ideas his o!n, !hich cannot be gained from experience here onearth, but !hich, if once gained, !ill be of infinite importance to life on the phsical plane> and this importance !ill increase more and

more.

0o begin !ith, let me no! explain one difference bet!een the experience in the spiritual !orld and the experience on the phsical

plane, !hich !hen heard for the first time must seem astonishing and strange, so that !e might easil thin" that these things !ould be

difficult of comprehension. ut the deeper !e go in $piritual $cience, the more !e shall find that these things become ever morecomprehensible. 5hen !e live on the phsical plane and are affected b the experiences of the phsical plane, one thing must, uponrecollection stri"e us forcibl. 0hat is, that on this phsical plane !e are confronted !ith !hat !e call realit, existence, being. =ne

might sa that the more unspiritual a person is, the more does he rel upon !hat he has before him on the phsical plane as the 6realit7that presses in upon him. ut as regards !hat !e !ish to acuire on the phsical plane as 6"no!ledge,7 "no!ledge of this realit, the

case is different. As children !e have to be taught to develop the capacities for acuiring the "no!ledge of the phsical plane and then!e have to !or" further and further. 0he acuisition of "no!ledge demands mental !or". ature, that is to sa external realit, does

not of itself ield up the contents of its !isdom and its la!s> !e have to acuire this "no!ledge. 2ndeed, all human striving after"no!ledge consists in activel acuiring from passive experience, the !isdom and the la! that ature contains.

o! matters are uite different !hen either b the exercises !hich lead to spiritual investigation, or b passing through the portalof death, !e enter into the spiritual !orld. 0he relation of man to the surrounding spiritual !orld is not, under all circumstances, !hat 2

am no! about to describe> but it is so in important moments, during important experiences. 2n our life on the phsical plane !e are not

al!as striving after "no!ledge, for sometimes !e pause in this labour. $o also, !hat 2 shall no! describe is not continuall necessarin the spiritual !orld, but it is reuisite and necessar for us at certain times. 0he astonishing thing is that man has no lac" of !isdom inthe spiritual !orld. A person ma be a fool in the sense!orld, but simpl through his entrance into the spiritual !orld !isdom streams

to!ards him in its realit. 5isdom that !e acuire !ith trouble in the phsical !orld, that !e have to !or" for da after da if !e !ishto possess it, is alread ours in the spiritual !orld, ;ust as surrounding nature is ours in the phsical !orld. 2t is al!as there, and it is

there in the greatest abundance. 0o a certain extent !e ma sa that the less !isdom !e have acuired on the phsical plane, the more

abundantl does this !isdom stream to!ards us on the spiritual plane. ut, !e have a special tas", !ith respect to this !isdom on thespiritual plane.

2n recent lectures 2 told ou that on the spiritual plane the ideal of humanit stands before us, the content of the religion of the

Gods, and that !e have to strive to!ards it. 5e cannot do this, if !e are incapable of so exercising our !ill < that is, our feeling!ill,our !illingfeeling < that !e continuall diminish this !isdom, continuall ta"e something a!a from the !isdom !hich for ever

streams to!ards us and !hich there surrounds us as the phenomena of nature do here. 5e must have the po!er to deplete more andmore the !isdom !hich there comes to!ards us. 3ere, on the phsical plane !e have to become !iser and !iser> there !e have to

endeavour so to exercise our !ill and our feeling that !e diminish and dar"en the surrounding !isdom. 'or the less !e are able to ta"efrom it, the less strength do !e find !ithin us !hereb to fill ourselves !ith the necessar forces to approach the ideal of humanit as

real being. 0his approach has to consist in our ta"ing more and more a!a from the surrounding !isdom. 5hat !e thus ta"e a!a !eare able to transform !ithin us so that the transformed !isdom becomes the lifeforce !hich drives us to!ards the ideal of humanit,.

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0his lifeforce !e have to acuire during the period bet!een death and rebirth. 2t is onl b changing into lifeforce, the !isdom !hich

flo!s into us so abundantl, that !e can approach a fresh incarnation in the correct !a. 5hen !e return to earth, !e must havechanged so much !isdom into lifeforce, !e must have diminished the !isdom b so much, that !e have sufficient organising spiritual

lifeforces to permeate the substance !e receive through heredit from father and mother. 0hus !e have to lose !isdom more and

more.

5hen !e find a thorough materialist again after his death, one !ho on the phsical plane did not recognise an realit in spirit,

!ho said during his life, 6All that ou sa about spirit is nonsense> our !isdom is nothing but fantas> 2 !ill have nothing to do !ith it.2 admit nothing but !hat is to be found in external nature7 < in the case of such a person, !hen met !ith after his death, one sees

!isdom stream to!ards him so abundantl that he cannot escape it. 'rom all sides spirit streams to!ards him. 0o the same extent that

he did not believe in spirit here, he is overflooded b it there. 3is tas" is no! to change this !isdom into lifeforces, so that he ma produce a phsical realit in his next incarnation. 3e is to produce !hat he called realit from this !isdom, he is to diminish this!isdom> but it !ill not permit itself to be diminished b him, it remains as it is. 3e is unable to form realit out of it. 0his dreadful

punishment of the spirit confronts him, namel, that !hereas in his last life here on the phsical plane he relied onl upon realit,!hereas he entirel denied spirit, he is no! unable to save himself, as it !ere, from spirit and he is unable to produce anthing real out

of this spirit. 3e is al!as faced !ith the danger of not being able to come again into the phsical !orld through forces !hich hehimself produces. 3e lives continuall in the fear < 6$pirit !ill push me into the phsical !orld and 2 shall then have a phsical

existence !hich denies everthing that 2 recognised as true in m previous life. 2 shall have to allo! mself to be thrust b spirit into phsical realit, 2 shall not have produced realit b mself.7 0hat is a most astonishing thing, but it is a fact. 0o be a great materialist

and den spirit before death is the !a to be dro!ned, as it !ere, in spirit after death and to find in it nothing of the onl realit one had

formerl believed in, A man is then cho"ed or dro!ned in spirit.

0hese are ideas !hich !e have to acuire more and more in the course of our. stud of spiritual science> for if !e do acuire themthe lead us on!ard harmoniousl even in phsical life and the sho! us, to a certain extent, ho! the t!o sides of life have to

supplement and balance each other. 5e form the instinctive desire reall to introduce this balance into our life.

2 might give ou another example of the connection bet!een phsical and spiritual life. et us ta"e a concrete, individual example.

$uppose !e have told a lie to someone on the phsical plane < 2 am spea"ing of actual cases. 5hen !e tell a lie to someone, ithappens at a certain point of time and !hat 2 shall no! describe as the corresponding event in the spiritual !orld also ta"es place at a

certain point of time bet!een death and rebirth. et us suppose !e have told a lie to someone at some particular time on the phsical plane> then, during our so;ourn in the spiritual !orld, be it through initiation or through death, there comes a certain time !hen our soul

in the spiritual !orld is entirel filled !ith the truth !e ought to have expressed. 0his truth torments us> it stands before us and tormentsus to the same degree in !hich !e deviated from it !hen !e told the lie. 0hus one need onl tell a lie on the phsical plane in order to

bring about a time in the spiritual !orld !hen !e are tormented b the corresponding truth, the opposite of the lie. 0here the truthtorments us because it lives in us and burns us, and !e cannot bear it. =ur suffering consists in our seeing the truth before us. ut !e

are in such a condition that this truth gives us no satisfaction, no ;o, no pleasure> it torments us. =ne of the peculiarities of ourexperience in the spiritual !orld is that !e are tormented b !hat is good, b the things !hich !e "no! ought to uplift us.

0a"e another example. 2n our life in the phsical !orld !e ma be la& in doing something !hich it is our dut to do industriousl>

then comes a time in the spiritual !orld !hen !e are filled !ith the industr !e lac"ed in the phsical !orld. 2ndustr most surel

comes> it is alive in us !hen !e have been la& in the phsical plane. 0he time comes !hen from inner necessit, !e have to exercisethis industr unconditionall. 5e devote ourselves to it entirel and !e "no! that it is something !hich is extremel valuable> but it

torments us, it ma"es us suffer.

et us ta"e another case !hich is perhaps less under the control of human volition, but depends upon other processes of life !hich

go on more in the bac"ground of existence and are connected !ith the course of our "arma> let us ta"e the case in !hich !e have passed through an illness. 5hen in phsical life !e have had an illness !hich has caused us pain, !e experience at a certain point of

time in the spiritual !orld the opposite feeling, the opposite condition, namel, that of health. And this feeling of health strengthens usduring our so;ourn in the spiritual !orld to the same degree that the illness !ea"ened us. 0his is an instance !hich perhaps ma not

onl shoc" our intellect, li"e the other things !e have mentioned, but it ma enter much more deepl into the emotional aspect of oursoul and irritate it. 5e "no! that the things of $piritual $cience must al!as be grasped through our feelings> but in this case !e must

remember the follo!ing. 5e must clearl understand that something li"e a shado! lies over this connection bet!een phsical illnessand the corresponding health and strength !e have in the spiritual !orld. 0he connection exists, but there is something in the human

breast !hich prevents the feelings from rightl coming to terms !ith this connection. 5e must indeed admit this connection hasanother result !hen !e reall understand it, and this result ma be described as follo!s: <

et us suppose that a person ta"es up $piritual $cience and devotes himself seriousl to it < not in the !a in !hich other

sciences are ta"en up. 0hese ma be studied theoreticall> one ma receive !hat the give merel as thoughts and ideas. $piritual

$cience ought never to be ta"en up in this manner. 2t ought to become a spiritual lifeblood !ithin us. $piritual $cience ought to liveand !or" in us> it ought also to a!a"en feelings through the ideas it gives us. 0o one !ho reall hear"ens to $piritual $cience in the

right !a there is nothing it has to give !hich does not either, on the one hand, uplift us, or on the other, allo! us to see into the abusesof existence in order that !e ma there find our !a aright. 0he student !ho understands $piritual $cience correctl al!as follo!s

!hat it sas !ith the appropriate feelings. $piritual $cience !hen accepted !ill transform his soul, even !hile in the phsical !orld,simpl through the ideas that live in him and through his acuiring the habits of thought and feeling !hich !e have ;ust mentioned as

being necessar. 2 have often said that the earnest stud of $piritual $cience is one of the best and most deeplpenetrating of allexercises.

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$omething remar"able graduall appears in one !ho ta"es up $piritual $cience. A person !ho performs exercises < possibl he

does not do it in order to become a spiritual investigator himself, but onl tries earnestl to understand $piritual $cience < such a person ma perhaps not be able for a ver long time to thin" of seeing clairvoantl for himself. 3e !ill be able to do it sometime>

though this ma perhaps be a faroff ideal. ut if he reall allo!s $piritual $cience to act upon his soul in the manner !e have

indicated, he !ill find that the instincts of life, the more unconscious impulses of life change. 3is soul reall becomes different. o onecan ta"e up $piritual $cience !ithout it influencing the instinctive life of the soul. 2t ma"es the soul different, it gives it different

smpathies and antipathies, it fills it !ith a sort of light, so that it feels more certain than it did formerl. 0his ma be noticed in everrealm of life> in ever realm of life $piritual $cience expresses itself in this !a. 'or example, a person ma be uns"illed> but if he

ta"es up $piritual $cience he !ill see that !ithout doing anthing else than filling himself !ith $piritual $cience, he !ill become moreapt and capable, even to the manner in !hich he uses his hands. %o not sa: 62 "no! some ver uns"illed people !ho follo! $piritual

$cience> and the are still ver uns"illedH7 0r to reflect to !hat extent these have not et reall permeated themselves in!ardl !ith$piritual $cience according to the necessities of "arma. A person ma be a painter and exercise the art of painting to a certain degree> if

he ta"es up $piritual $cience he !ill find that !hat !e have ;ust mentioned !ill flo! instinctivel into the actions he performs. 3e !illmix his colours more easil> the ideas he !ants !ill come more uic"l. =r suppose he is a teacher, and !ishes to ta"e up some

science. #an !ho are in this position !ill "no! ho! much trouble it often costs to gather together the literature reuired to clear upsome uestion or other. 2f he ta"es up $piritual $cience, he !ill not go as before to a librar and ta"e do!n fift boo"s that are of no

use, but he !ill immediatel la his hands on the right one. $piritual $cience reall enters into oneBs life> it ma"es the instincts different>it gives us the impulse to do the right thing.

=f course !hat 2 shall no! sa must al!as be thought of in con;unction !ith human "arma. 2t must al!as be "ept in mind that

man is sub;ect to the la! of "arma under all circumstances. ut ta"ing into consideration the la! of "arma, the follo!ing is still thecase. et us suppose that a certain "ind of illness attac"s someone !ho has ta"en up $piritual $cience in the !a described and it is in

his "arma that he ma be cured. aturall, it ma be in his "arma that the disease cannot be cured> but, !hen considering an illness,

"arma never under an circumstance sas that it must run a certain course in a fatalistic sense, it can be cured or it cannot be cured. o!, anone !ho has earnestl ta"en up $piritual $cience acuires an instinctive feeling !hich helps him to oppose the illness and its

!ea"ening effect !ith the proper remed. 0hat !hich in the ordinar !a is experienced as the result of the illness in the spiritual!orld !or"s bac" into the soul, and, in so far as one is still in the phsical bod, it acts as instinct. =ne either succumbs to the illness or

finds !ithin oneself the !a to the forces of healing. 5hen the clairvoant consciousness finds the right remed for an illness, ithappens in the follo!ing !a: such a clairvoant is able to call up before him the picture of the illness. et us suppose that he has the

picture before him of the illness !hich approaches a person in such or such a !a and has a !ea"ening effect on him. =!ing to hisclairvoant consciousness there appears to him the counterpart of the illness, namel, the corresponding feeling of health, and the

strengthening !hich springs from this feeling. 0hat !hich can no! happen to man in the spiritual !orld as the corresponding cure forthat from !hich he is suffering in the phsical !orld, is perceived b the clairvoant. 0hrough this the clairvoant is enabled to advise

the man for his good. 2ndeed, one need not even be a full developed clairvoant, but this ma appear to one instinctivel from seeingthe picture of the illness. ut the cause of that !hich to clairvoant consciousness appears as compensation in the spiritual !orld,

belongs to the picture of the illness as much as the s!ing of a pendulum to one side belongs to the s!ing to the other side.

'rom this example ou !ill see ho! the phsical plane is related to the spiritual !orld and ho! fruitful for the guidance of our life

here the "no!ledge of the spiritual !orld ma be.

et us go bac" once more to the first concrete fact !e mentioned, namel: that ;ust as nature surrounds us on the phsical plane, so

!hat is spiritual, !isdomfilled spirit, surrounds us in the spiritual !orld and is al!as there. o!, if ou understand this thoroughl,an extremel important light is cast on !hat ta"es place in the spiritual !orld. 2n the phsical !orld !e ma pass b ob;ects and

observe them in such a !a that !e ma as": 5hat is the principle or nature of this ob;ectF 5hat is the la! of this eing, or this processF =r, on the other hand, !e ma pass stupidl b and as" nothing at all. 5e shall never learn anthing intelligentl on the

phsical plane if !e are not impelled, as it !ere, b the ob;ect itself to as" uestions, if these ob;ects do not present problems !hich !erecognise as such. merel loo"ing at ob;ects and processes, !e should never on the phsical plane arrive at being a soul that guides

itself. =n the spiritual plane this is different. =n the phsical plane !e put our uestions to ob;ects and processes, and !e have to ma"e

efforts to investigate them in order to find the ans!er to our uestions from the things themselves. =n the spiritual plane things andeings surround us spirituall and the uestion us, not !e them. 0he are there and !e stand before them and are continuall beinguestioned b them. 5e must no! have the po!er to dra! from the infinite ocean of !isdom the ans!er to these uestions. 5e have

not to see" the ans!ers in the ob;ects and processes, but in ourselves> for the ob;ects uestion us> all around us are ob;ects uestioningus.

At this point the follo!ing comes under consideration. et us suppose that !e confront some process or some eing in the spiritual!orld> inevitabl it as"s us a uestion. 5e cannot approach it !ithout its doing so. 5e stand there !ith our !isdom, but !e are unable

to develop sufficient !ill, sufficient feeling!ill, or !illingfeeling to give the ans!er from out this !isdom, although !e "no! that theans!er is !ithin us. =ur inner being is infinitel deep> all ans!ers are !ithin us < but !e are unable reall to give the ans!er. 0he

conseuence of this is that !e rush past on the stream of time and fail to give the ans!er at the proper time, because !e have not gained

the capacit < perhaps through our previous evolution < !e have not become mature enough to ans!er the uestion !hen the timecomes for it to be ans!ered. 5e have developed too slo!l !ith respect to !hat !e ought to ans!er> !e can onl give the ans!er later.

ut the opportunit does not recur> !e have missed it. 5e have not made use of all our opportunities. 0hus !e pass b ob;ects andevents !ithout ans!ering them. 5e have experiences such as this continuall in the spiritual !orld. 0hus it ma come about, that inour life bet!een death and rebirth !e stand before a eing !hich uestions us. 5e have not developed ourselves sufficientl in our

earthl life and the intervening spiritual life, to give the ans!er !hen !e are as"ed. 5e have to pass on> !e have to enter into our nextincarnation. 0he conseuence of this is that !e must receive the impulse once more, in our next incarnation, through the good Gods,

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!ithout being conscious of it, so that !e shall not pass b the next time !hen the same uestion is as"ed. 0his is ho! things come to

pass.

2 have often mentioned that the further !e go bac" in human evolution the more do !e find that humanit did not then possess our present mentalit, but had a "ind of clairvoance on the phsical plane. =ur present mental outloo" developed from a dull, dream

clairvoance. 0he more primitive and elementar the stages of mental development of some races still are, the closer connection !efind in their thought and feeling to this original clairvoance. Although the primitive atavistic clairvoance is becoming less and less

freuent, !e still find in unexplored regions of the earth people !ho have preserved something from former times, so that !e still findechoes of the ancient das of clairvoance. 0his clairvoance reveals < although in a dim, dream form, because it is a seeing into the

spiritual !orld < it reveals peculiarities !hich reappear in the developed clairvoance> onl in the latter case it is not dim and dream,

but clear and distinct. $piritual $cience sho!s us that !hen a man of the present time goes through life bet!een death and rebirth, hehas progressivel to ans!er the uestioning eings more and more at the proper time> for on his po!er to ans!er depends his truedevelopment, and his approach to the ideal of the Gods < the perfect man. As !e have alread said, in former times people had this

experience in the domain of dreams and !e have the remains of it in a great number of fairtales and sagas. 0hese are gradualldisappearing, but the run some!hat as follo!s. A certain person meets a spiritual eing. 0his eing repeatedl uestions him and he

has to ans!er. And he "no!s that he must give the ans!er b a certain time, !hen the cloc" stri"es, or something of that sort. 0his6uestion motif7 in fairtales and sagas is ver !idespread and is a form of dreamli"e clairvoant consciousness !hich no! reappears

in the spiritual !orld, in the !a have described. =n the !hole, the description of !hat ta"es place in the spiritual !orld provides in allcases a valuable clue to the understanding of mths, sagas, fairtales, etc., and enables us to place them !here the belong. 0his is a

point !hich sho!s that ever!here, even in the mental culture of the present da, evolution is standing, as it !ere, at the door of

$piritual $cience.

2t is ver interesting, that a boo" such as the one b m friend ud!ig aistner, The Riddle of the S$hin(, !hich in man respectsis a good and !ellintentioned boo", is unsatisfactor, because in order to be satisfactor, the 6uestion motif7, !ith !hich ud!ig

aistner speciall deals, !ould have had to be treated from the basis of occult "no!ledge> the author !ould have had to "no!something about the truths of occult science !hich enter here.

earing these examples in mind, !e see that the conditions in the spiritual !orld depend upon something uite definite. 2n thespiritual !orld it is not a case of gathering "no!ledge as !e do here> it is even a case of diminished "no!ledge and changing the force

of "no!ledge into lifeforce. =ne cannot be an investigator in the spiritual !orld in the same sense as one can in the phsical !orld>that !ould be an absurdit, for there a person is able to "no! everthing, it is all round about him. 0he uestion is !hether he is able to

develop his !ill and his feeling, in contradistinction to his "no!ledge, !hether in individual cases he is able to bring forth from thetreasure of his !ill sufficient po!er to ma"e use of his !isdom> other!ise he is stifled b or dro!ned in it. 5hereas in the phsical

!orld !isdom depends on thin"ing, in the spiritual !orld it depends upon the adeuate development of the !ill, the feeling!ill, the!ill !hich brings forth realit out of !isdom, !hich becomes a "ind of creative po!er. 0here !e have $pirit as here !e have ature,

and our tas" is to lead $pirit to ature. A beautiful statement is contained in the theosophical literature of the first half of the nineteenthcentur, a statement made b =etinger, !ho lived at #urrhardt, in 5urtemburg, and !ho !as so far advanced in his o!n spiritual

development that at certain times he !as able uite consciousl to help spiritual beings, that is, souls !ho !ere not on the phsical plane. 3e made the remar"able statement !hich is ver beautiful and ver true: 6ature and the form of nature is the aim of spiritual

creative po!er.7 5hat 2 have ;ust brought do!n to ou from the spiritual !orld is contained in this sentence. 2n the spiritual !orld

creative po!er strives to give realit to that !hich at first heaves and surges in !isdom. 3ere, !e bring forth !isdom from the phsical

realit> there !e do the reverse. =ur tas" there is to produce realities from !isdom, to carr out in living realities the !isdom !e findthere. The !oal of the Gods is realit) in for% .

0hus !e see that it depends upon !ill permeated !ith feeling, or feelingfilled!ill being changed into creative force> this !e mustemplo in the spiritual !orld in the same !a as here in the phsical !orld !e have to emplo great mental efforts in order to arrive at

!isdom.

o!, in order that this should be possible, it is ver important that !e should develop our feeling and thin"ing in the right !a,

that !e should prepare ourselves here on the phsical plane in a manner !hich is right for the present ccle of evolution> for all thatta"es place in the spiritual !orld bet!een death and rebirth is the result of !hat ta"es place in the phsical !orld bet!een birth and

death. 2t is indeed true, that conditions are so different in the spiritual !orld that !e have to acuire entirel fresh conceptions and ideasif !e !ish to understand them, but all the same the t!o are connected li"e cause and effect. 5e onl understand the connection

bet!een !hat is spiritual and !hat is phsical, !hen !e recognise it reall as the connection of cause and effect. 5e have to prepareourselves !hile in the phsical !orld and !e might therefore no! consider the uestion: 3o!, at the present age, can !e prepare

ourselves in the right !a, so that < !hether !e enter the spiritual !orld through initiation or through death < !e shall reall possessthe spiritual po!er necessar to dra! !hat !e have need of from the !isdom that is there < so that !e ma bring forth realities from

this surging flo!ing !isdom. 5hence comes such po!erF 2t is important that these uestions should be ans!ered in a manner adapted

to our present age. 2n the age !hen man"ind thought in such a !a, that the origin of !hat 2 have called the 6$aga motiv7 resulted, thecase !as different> but from !hence comes this soulforce in the present ageF

2n order that !e arrive at the ans!er to this, ma 2 bring for!ard the follo!ingF

5e can stud the various philosophies and inuire as to ho! philosophers arrive at the idea of God < there are, of course, philosophers !ho have sufficient spiritual depth to be convinced from the existence of the !orld that !e ma spea" of a %ivine eing

!ho pervades it. 2n the nineteenth centur !e need onl ta"e ot&e, !ho tried to produce in his religious philosoph something that

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!as in harmon !ith the rest of his philosoph. =thers too !ere sufficientl profound to have !ith all their philosoph a sort of

religious philosoph also. 5e find one peculiarit in all these philosophers, a ver definite peculiarit. 0he thin" to reach %ivinit!ith ideas gathered from the phsical plane> the reflect, the investigate in a philosophical manner, and come to the conclusion < as

is the case !ith ot&e < that the phenomena and beings of the !orld are held together b a divine 'irst +ause !hich pervades all and

brings all into a certain harmon. ut !hen !e go more minutel into the ideas of these religious philosophers, !e find that theal!as have one peculiarit. 0he arrive at a %ivine eing !ho pervades all> and !hen !e consider this %ivine eing more closel,

this God of the philosophers, !e find that it is approximatel the God called in the 3ebre!, or rather, the +hristian religion 6God the'ather7. 0hus far do the philosophers go> the observe ature and are profound enough not to den everthing %ivine in an empt

headed, materialistic !a> the can arrive at %ivinit, but it is God the 'ather.

=ne can demonstrate most exactl, after studing these philosophers, that mere philosoph, as thin"ing philosoph, can leadno!here but to a monotheistic 'atherGod.

2f in the case of individual philosophers, such as 3egel and others, +hrist is mentioned> it does not spring from philosoph < this

can be proved < it comes from positive religion. 0hese people have "no!n that positive religion possesses the +hrist and thereforethe can spea" of 3im. 0he difference is, that the 'atherGod can be found through philosoph, but +hrist cannot be found b an

philosoph, b an method of thought. 0hat is uite impossible.

0hat is a statement !hich 2 suggest ou should !eigh !ell and consider> if rightl understood it leads us far into the mostimportant probings and strivings of the human soul. 2t is connected !ith something !hich is expressed in the +hristian religion in a

ver beautiful, smbolic and pictorial manner> namel, that the relation of this other God, +hrist, to the 'atherGod is understood as the

relation of the $on to the 'ather. 0hat is a ver significant fact, although it is onl a smbol. 2t is interesting to notice that ot&e, for

example, cannot ma"e anthing out of it. 6=ne cannot ta"e this smbol literall, that is obvious,7 sas ot&e. 3e means that one Godcannot be the son of another. ut there is something ver stri"ing in this smbol. et!een father and son the relationship is somethingli"e that bet!een cause and effect> for in a certain !a one ma see the father is the cause of the son. 0he son !ould not exist if the

father !ere not there < li"e cause and effect. ut !e must ta"e into account one peculiar thing, namel, that a man !ho eventuallma have a son, ma also have the possibilit of not having a son, he ma be childless. 3e !ould still be the same man. 0he cause is

the man A, the effect is the man , the son> but the effect need not come about, the effect is a free act, and follo!s as a free act from thecause. 'or this reason, !hen !e stud a cause considering it in connection !ith its effect, !e must not merel inuire into the nature of

the cause, for b this !e have done nothing at all> but !e must inuire !hether the cause also reall causes> that is the importantuestion. o! a characteristic of all philosoph is that it follo!s a line of thought, it develops one thought out of another> it see"s for

!hat follo!s in that !hich has gone before. Philosophers are ;ustified in doing this> but in this !a !e never arrive at the connection!hich comes about !hen !e call to mind the fact that the cause need not cause at all. 0he cause remains the same in its o!n nature

!hether it causes or not. 0hat changes nothing in the nature of the cause. And this important fact is presented to us in the smbol ofGod the 'ather and God the $on: this important fact, that the +hrist is added to the 'atherGod, as a free creation, as a creation !hich

does not follo! in due course, but !hich emerges as a free act alongside the previous creation and !hich also had the possibilit not to be> the +hrist is therefore not given to the !orld because the 'ather had to give the $on to the !orld, but the $on is given to the !orld

as a free act, through grace, through freedom, through love, !hich !hen it creates, gives freel. 'or this reason !e can never arrive atGod the $on, the +hrist, through the same "ind of truth b !hich the philosophers arrive at God the 'ather. 2n order to arrive at +hrist it

is necessar to add the truth of faith to the philosophical truth, or < as the age of faith is declining more and more < to add the other

truth !hich is obtained through clairvoant investigation, !hich li"e!ise onl develops in the human soul as a free act.

0hus from the ordered processes of nature it ma be demonstrated that there is a God> but it can never be proved b external meansfrom the chain of causes and effects that there is a +hrist. +hrist exists and can pass b human souls if the do not feel in themselves

the po!er to sa: 0hat is +hristH An active uprousing of the impulse for truth is reuired in order to recognise +hrist in that !hich !asthere as +hrist. 5e can arrive at the other truths !hich lie in the realm of the 'atherGod, if !e merel devote ourselves to thought and

follo! it consecutivel> for to be a materialist means at the same time to be illogical. eligious philosoph according to ot&e, andreligious philosoph in general, has its origin in the fact that through thought !e can rise to this %ivinit of religious philosoph. ut

never can !e be led to recognise +hrist merel through philosoph> this must be our o!n free act. 2n this case onl t!o things are possible> !e either follo! faith to its ultimate conclusions, or !e ma"e a beginning !ith the investigation of the spiritual !orld,

$piritual $cience. 5e follo! faith to its ultimate conclusion !hen !e sa !ith the ussian philosopher $olovioff: 65ith regard to allthe philosophical truths man gains about the !orld, to !hich his logic forces him, he does not stand related as to a free truth. 0he higher

truth is that to !hich !e are not forced, !hich is our free act, the highest truth !on b faith.7 $olovioff reaches his highest point !henhe sas: 60he higher truth, that !hich recognises +hrist, is the truth !hich !or"s as a free act, !hich is not forced.7 0o the spiritual

investigator and to those !ho understand $piritual $cience, "no!ledge comes> but this is an active "no!ledge !hich rises from thoughtto #editation, 2nspiration and 2ntuition, !hich becomes in!ardl creative, !hich, !hen creative, participates in spiritual !orlds and

thereb becomes similar to !hat !e have to develop !hen !e enter into the spiritual !orld, !hether !e do so through initiation orthrough death.

0he !isdom !hich !e acuire !ith such difficult on earth, surrounds us in all its fullness and !ealth in the spiritual !orld < ;ust

as nature surrounds us here on the phsical plane.

0he important thing in the spiritual !orld is that !e should have the impulse, the po!er, to ma"e something out of this !isdom, to produce from it realit. 0o create freel through !isdom, to bring about something spiritual as fact, must become a living impulse in

us. 0his impulse can onl be ours if !e find the right relationship to +hrist. +hrist is not a eing !ho can be proved b external brain bound logic, but !ho proves 3imself, !ho realises 3imself in us as !e acuire spiritual "no!ledge. Oust as $piritual $cience ;oins up

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!ith other science as a free act, so "no!ledge about +hrist is added to us as soon as !e approach the !orld into !hich !e enter through

spiritual investigation, or through death. 2f in our present age !e see" to enter the spiritual !orld aright, that is to sa, if !e !ish to dieto the phsical !orld, our attitude to the !orld must be that attitude !hich is onl gained !hen !e relate ourselves to +hrist in the right

!a. 0hrough the observation of nature !e can attain to a God !ho is li"e 6God the 'ather7 of the +hristian religion, 3im !e find

through the observation of !hat is around us !hen !e live in the phsical bod> but to understand +hrist aright, apart from traditionand revelation, from pure "no!ledge alone, is onl possible through $piritual $cience. 2t leads into the realm !hich man enters b

ding < !hether it be that ding !hich is a smbolical ding, the going forth from the phsical bod in order to "no! oneself in thesoul outside the bod, or the other ding, the passing through the portal of death. 5e provide ourselves !ith the right impulses to pass

through the portal of death, !hen !e find the true relationship to +hrist. 0he moment !hen death ta"es place, !hether it comes aboutthrough $piritual $cience or !hether !e actuall go through the portal of death, the moment it comes to ding, to leaving the phsical

bod, the important thing in the present ccle of time is that !e should confront in the right !a the eing 5ho has come into the!orld, in order that !e ma find connection !ith 3im. God the 'ather !e can find during life> !e find the +hrist !hen !e understand

the entering into the $pirit, !hen !e understand ding in the right !a. 2n +hrist !e die <

2 +32$0= #=2#@.

L.$T/R. 5

Vienna, 1*th April, 1914.

2 have no! to spea" once more of the events bet!een death and rebirth, ma"ing use of the ideas !e have acuired in the previouslectures. As !e can onl deal briefl !ith this !ide sub;ect, a great deal can be but indicated and much else !hich perhaps does not

follo! from this pictorial presentation !ill have to be !or"ed out later> but that !hich at present ou ma find incomplete !ill be madeclear in the further course of our studies in $piritual $cience.

5hen a person passes the portal of death, he las aside his phsical bod. 0his is consigned to the elements of the earth. 2n other!ords !e ma sa of the phsical bod, that it has !ithdra!n from the forces and la!s proceeding from the true man !hich permeate it

bet!een birth and death and !hich are different from the mere chemical and phsical la!s to !hich, as phsical bod, it succumbsafter death. 'rom the standpoint of the phsical plane, a person has naturall the idea that he has left on the phsical plane that part of

his being !hich belongs to that plane. 5hat belongs to the phsical plane is consigned to the phsical plane. 'or the comprehension ofman himself and also for an comprehension of the spiritual !orld, !e have naturall to consider the point of vie! ta"en b the dead

person !hen he has passed through the portal of death. 0o him the leaving of the phsical bod means an inner process, a soulprocess.0o those !ho are left behind, !hat happens to the phsical bod after death is an external process, and the inner being of the person

!ho has died, his human soul nature, can no longer express itself in the mortal residue> but to the man himself !ho has passed throughthe portal of death, something is connected !ith this leaving of the bod. 0o him it means an inner experience of the soul> he feels:

0hou hast come forth out of th phsical bod and art leaving it behind.

'rom the standpoint of the phsical plane, it is extremel difficult to give an accurate description of !hat here ta"es place !ithin

the soul> for it is an inner process of far reaching importance and immense significance. 2t is an inner process !hich lasts but a briefspace of time, but it is of universal importance to the !hole of human life. o! if the ideas connected !ith !hat then ta"es place in the

soul !ere to be described < these ideas !hich of course cannot be touched upon at present in a public lecture because the !ouldastonish the public too much, though perhaps the time !ill also come for this < if !e !ere to describe the external process of ideas

Dno! of course the spirituall externalE !ith !hich the path of life running bet!een death and rebirth commences, !e might sa that the person !ho has passed the portal of death has the feeling: 0hou art no! in an entirel different relationship to the !orld from that in

!hich thou !ast before> th former relationship to the !orld is radicall reversed. 2f !e !ished to describe the ideas !hich are thenexperienced in the soul, !e should have to sa that up to his death a person has lived on the earth. %uring this time he has been

accustomed to stand on the solid, material earth, to see there the beings belonging to the mineral, vegetable and animal "ingdoms, to

see the mountains, rivers, clouds, stars, sun and moon> and from his o!n standpoint and through the po!ers of his phsical bod he has become accustomed to conceive of all this as !e do toda. 0his he does although at the present da !e "no! from the teaching of+opernicus that fundamentall !hat !e see is an illusion. 0here above us is the blue vault of the heavens, li"e a bo!l, there are the

stars, over it pass the sun and moon. #an is !ithin this bo!l as it !ere, he is !ithin this hollo! globe, in the centre, on the earth,together !ith all that the earth reveals to his po!ers of perception.

5e are not at present concerned !ith the fact that it is an illusion !hen through the limitation of our capacities, !e picture to

ourselves this blue circumference, but !ith the fact that !e cannot do other!ise than see it> !e see a blue globe as a firmament aboveus. o! !hen a person has passed the portal of death, the first idea he has to form in his soul is: 60hou art no! outside, but as though

sun" into a single star.7 At first he is unconscious of the starr !orld in !hich he is reall outspread, at first he is onl a!are of !hat he

has left, he is onl a!are that he has left the sphere of consciousness he possessed in the phsical bod, he has left all that he !as ableto see b means of the human capacities developed in his phsical bod. $omething has reall happened < but spirituall < similar to

!hat !ould happen if a chic", !hich at first is !ithin the eggshell, !ere consciousl to experience ho! it brea"s through this and

after!ards sees the bro"en eggshell < the !orld !hich had previousl surrounded it < from outside, instead of from inside. aturallthis idea, !hich passes through the human soul at this point is #aa> but it is a necessar #aa or illusion. As !e have alread said,that !hich previousl gave our consciousness its content has shrun" together as if into a single star, onl that from this star radiates

!hat !e might call 6radiating cosmic !isdom.7

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0his radiating cosmic !isdom is !hat 2 dealt !ith in the last lecture and regarding !hich 2 said that !e possess it in its fullness. 2t

shines and glitters at first as if from a fier star. 2t is no! not blue, li"e the firmament, but fier, shining, reddish < li"e a fier star.And from it streams forth into space the plenitude of !isdom, !hich in in!ard motion first presents to us !hat might be called a

memortableau of our last earthl life. All the events !e have consciousl experienced in our soul bet!een birth and death no! come

before our soul, but in such a manner that !e "no!: 0here thou seest all, because the star shining before thee is the bac"ground !hich,through its inner activit, is the cause of th being able to see !hat is outspread before thee, as a memor tableau. 0hat is expressed

more from the standpoint of the imagination. 'rom the standpoint of in!ardness the experience is some!hat as follo!s: 0he one !hohas passed the portal of death is entirel filled !ith the thought: 0hou hast left th bod> no! in the spiritual !orld this bod is nothing

but !ill. 0h bod is a star of !ill, a star !hose substance is !ill> and this !ill glo!s !ith !armth, and into the expanses of the !orldinto !hich thou hast no! poured thself, it ras bac" to thee th o!n life bet!een birth and death as a great tableau. 0o the

circumstance of th so;ourn !ithin this star thou o!est the privilege that thou art able to dra! and absorb from the !orld !hat thouhast dra!n and absorbed from it !hile on the phsical plane: for this star, this !illstar, !hich no! forms the bac"ground is the

spiritual part of th phsical bod, this !illstar is the spirit !hich permeates and strengthens th phsical bod. 0hat !hich streams tothee as !isdom is the activit, the mobilit of th etheric bod.

0his period passes. 0he period during !hich !e have the impression that our life is running its course li"e a memortableau reallonl lasts for some das. =ur thoughts, !hich became our memories during life on earth, unfold once more before our souls in this

memortableau. 5e can maintain this tableau as long as !e have the po!er under normal conditions to "eep a!a"e in the phsical bod. 2t does not depend upon ho! long !e once remained a!a"e in life under abnormal conditions, it depends upon the po!er !e

have !ithin us to "eep ourselves a!a"e. 2n one case it ma be that a person can scarcel "eep a!a"e one night !ithout tiredness

overcoming him, in another case it ma be that he can hold out longer !ithout becoming tired> but the length of time he needs to finish!ith this memortableau depends upon the degree of this po!er. 5e also have the distinct inner consciousness that because this !ill

star is in the bac"ground, there is contained !ithin the memortableau !hat !e have gained in our last earthl life, there is contained

in it that b !hich !e have become more mature, !hat !e have carried beond death as a plus uantit as compared !ith !hat !e hadas a minus uantit !hen at birth !e entered into earthl life. 0his, !hich !e ma describe as the fruit of the last life, !e feel in such a

!a as if it !ould not remain as it appeared during the memortableau, but as if it !ithdre!, as if it !ent a!a into the future anddisappeared in those future ages.

2n this lecture 2 shall spea" principall of the condition in the life bet!een death and rebirth of those !ho have reached the normallength of life and have died under normal conditions. ?xceptional cases !ill be dealt !ith in the next lecture.

0hus the fruit of our life, if !e have gained such fruit, !ithdra!s to a distance and !e "no! !ithin our soul: < 0his fruit existssome!here, but !e have been left behind b it. 5e have the consciousness that !e have remained at an earlier period of time, the fruit

of our life hurries for!ard, it arrives before us at a later period of time and !e have to follo! after it. 5e must grasp correctl !hat 2have ;ust said, this idea of the in!ard experience of the fruit of our life being in the universe> because it is this in!ard experience !hich

forms the basis of our consciousness, the beginning of our consciousness after death.

=ur consciousness must al!as be aroused b something. 5hen !e a!a"e in the morning our consciousness is en"indled ane!through our entering into the phsical bod and thereb confronting outer ob;ects, through something affecting us from outside, !hile

during sleep !e are unconscious. 2n the state immediatel after death, this consciousness is en"indled b our in!ard feeling and

experience of the fruits of our last life, experience of !hat !e have gained. 0hese fruits exist, but outside us. =ur consciousness is firsten"indled after death through this feeling and experience of our inmost earthl nature being outside us. this our consciousness is

uic"ened. 0hen begins the period during !hich it is necessar for us to develop soulforces !hich had reall to remain undevelopedduring our life on the phsical plane, because the !ere used to organise the phsical bod and all appertaining to it < soulforces

!hich during phsical life have to be changed into something else. 0hese forces have to a!a"en graduall after death. ?ven in the dasduring !hich !e experienced the memortableau !e notice this a!a"ening of soulcapacities. 0his happens !hen the memortableau

graduall fades a!a and gro!s dim, because it is during these das that !e actuall develop the forces ling at the foundation of thefacult of remembrance, but not acting consciousl during phsical life. 0he reason these forces do not act consciousl during phsical

life is because during this phsical life !e have to transform them in order to be able to form memories. 0he last great memor !hich!e have after death in the form of the tableau must first fade a!a, must graduall gro! dim. 0hen out of the dar"ness develops that

!hich !e could not consciousl possess before death> for if !e had had it consciousl before death !e could never have formed theforces of memor. 0he forces !hich no! develop in the soul during the fading of the remembrance of the tableau of life !ere, during

life, transformed into the po!er b !hich !e remember: the no! emerge, because the po!er to remember earthl thoughts in theordinar !a is overcome and this spirituall transformed memorforce is a!a"ened !ithin us as the first spiritual soulforce !hich

comes forth from the human soul after death, ;ust as the soulforces come forth in a gro!ing child in the first !ee"s of its life. As thissoulforce gro!s it is revealed to us that behind our thoughts, !hich !hile !e !ere on the phsical plane !ere but shado!s, something

lives> there is life and movement in the !orld of thought. 5e become a!are that the thought pictures in our phsical bod !ere but ashado! and that in them there reall lives and expands a vast number of elemental beings. =ur memories gro! dim and in their place

!e see emerge a vast number of elemental beings out of the universal cosmos of !isdom.

ou might as", 62s it not a great loss !hen after death the po!er of memor is overcome and !e have something else in its placeF7

5e do not miss it, because !e then have a ver good substitute for it. 2nstead of remembering our thoughts as !e do in life, !e noticeafter death that these thoughts, !hich !e had in life as memorthoughts, onl seem to be memories. 0his treasure of memor !hich is

ours during life becomes something much more than merel a treasure of memor. 5hen !e are out of our phsical bod, !e see allthis treasure of memor as a living presence> it exists. ?ver thought is alive, is a living being. o! !e "no!: %uring phsical life thou

didst thin", th thoughts appeared to thee> but !hile thou !ast under the delusion that thou !ast forming thoughts, thou !ast producing

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nothing but elemental beings. 0hat is the ne! thing thou hast added to the !hole cosmos. $omething ne! exists, to !hich thou gavest

birth in the spirit> that !hich th thoughts reall !ere no! stands before thee. 5e no! first learn b direct vision !hat elemental beings are, because this is the first time !e come to "no! the elemental beings !e have ourselves produced. 0his memortableau is

the ver important impression !e receive in the first period after death> but this begins to live, reall to live, and as it begins to live !e

perceive it as nothing but elemental beings. 2t no! sho!s its true face, as it !ere and its disappearance merel signifies its change intosomething different. 2f, for example, !e died at the age of sixt or eight, !e do not need the po!er of memor to remember a thought

!e had, sa, at the age of t!ent, because it is there as a living elemental being, it has !aited and !e do not need to remember it> thenif !e died, for example, at the age of fort the thought !ould onl be t!ent ears old and !e should see it clearl. 0hese elemental

beings themselves tell us ho! long it is since the !ere formed. 0ime becomes space: it stands before us, because the living beingsreveal their o!n timesignature. @nder these conditions time becomes the immediate present.

'rom these, our o!n elemental beings, !hich surrounded us during life and !hich !e see at death, !e learn the nature of theelemental !orld and thereb prepare ourselves graduall to understand the elemental beings in the outer !orld not produced b us, but

existing apart from us in the spiritual cosmos. 0hrough our o!n elemental creations !e learn to "no! the others. 0hin" ho! verdifferent this life bet!een death and rebirth reall is from our earthl life. 0he main thing is that after phsical birth !e are not a!are of

ourselves. 5hat !e experience as a bab, those around us experience !ith us> !e are born, and others, our parents, loo" upon this!hich has been born. either are !e a!are of ourselves at first after death, but !e see as an outer !orld that to !hich !e have given

birth. 5e ourselves loo" upon that !hich is outside, that to !hich !e have given birth at the moment of death. 5hen at our phsical birth !e enter into existence, !e have an incomprehensible !orld before us, and to those around us !e are indeed a being !ho onl

spra!ls and cries and laughs> but after death, after our birth into the spiritual !orld < !hich to the phsical !orld is death < !e enter

at once into an environment to !hich !e ourselves have given birth, !hich !e have ourselves organised, for !e have ourselves given birth to it. 0here, !e have given birth to a !orld, !hereas, !hen !e are born phsicall, this !orld gives birth to us. $uch are the

conditions !ith respect to thought and also to that !hich springs from thought as our store of memor.

2t is different as regards !hat belongs to our feeling and our !ill. 2n the first lecture 2 mentioned that all that belongs to the spheresof our feeling and our !ill is not et born in us, that in a certain respect !ill and feeling are something !hich is not full born. 0his can

be seen clearl after death> for !ill and feeling, as the pervade the phsical bod, still exist after death. $o that after a time, after the!illstar has !ithdra!n !ith the fruits of our last earthl life, !e live in an elemental !orld !hich forms our environment to !hich !e

ourselves give the fundamental tone through our transformed memories. 5e live in such a manner in this !orld, !hich reall isourselves, in the sense 2 have ;ust explained, that !e "no!: 0h feeling and th !ill are still in thee. 0he have still a sort of

remembrance, a sort of connection !ith th last earthl life. 0his condition lasts for decades. 5hen !e are in earthl life bet!een birthand death, !e en;o and suffer, !e live in our passions and !e develop impulses of the !ill through having the feeling and !illing soul

in our bod> but it is never the case that all the forces contained in feeling and !ill are reall able to find an outlet through the bod.?ven though !e ma die in ver old age, !e still could have en;oed more, suffered more, !e still could have developed more

impulses of the !ill. All the possibilities of feeling and !ill that et remain in the soul must, ho!ever, be overcome. As long as these

are not full overcome !e still have a connection of desire !ith our last earthl life. 5e loo" bac", as it !ere, at this last earthl life. 2tis, as 2 have often expressed b a trivial !ord, a sort of !eaning from the connection !ith the phsical earthl life. Anone !ho is butto a slight degree a true spiritual investigator soon penetrates into the nature of the force !hich !e have no! to overcome, and this

overcoming ta"es decades to accomplish: but it is revealed comparativel easil to spiritual investigation.

?ach da !hen !e fall asleep and !hen !e experience the interval bet!een sleeping and !a"ing, !e are in our soul and spiritual

nature outside our bod. 5e return, because in our soul and spirit nature !e have the impulse to return, because !e reall have a desirefor our bod. 5e absolutel long for our bod. And one !ho can consciousl experience a!a"ing, "no!s: ou !ant to a!a"en and ou

must !ill to !a"en. 2n the spirit and soulnature there is indeed a force of attraction to the bod. 0his must graduall decline, it must beentirel overcome and this ta"es decades to accomplish. 0his is the period in !hich !e graduall overcome our connection !ith our

last earthl life and this is !h, in the period !hich is occupied in the manner 2 have ;ust described, !e reall have to experience in areversed direction everthing that too" place in our earthl life.

o! that the previous lectures have been given, 2 am in a position to describe various conditions more minutel than before, !henonl a general outline could be given> for before this could be done, it !as necessar that certain ideas should first be brought for!ard.

et us suppose that !e have passed the portal of death and that !e have left someone behind on the earth. 5e are no! in the period !hen !e have gained the po!er of beholding elemental beings and of having the in!ard feeling that the fruits of our earthl life

have !ithdra!n> but that !e are still connected !ith this last earthl life. et us suppose, that !hen !e have passed the portal of death!e have left behind one !hom !e have loved ver much. o!, !hen after death !e have become accustomed to our elemental

creations, !e graduall attain to seeing the elemental beings of others> it is possible for us no! to see the thoughts of others aselemental beings. 5e see the thoughts that live in the soul of the person !e have left behind, for the are expressed in living elementals

!hich appear before our soul as might 2maginations. 2n this !a !e can no! have a much more intimate connection !ith the inner

life of this person than !e had !ith him in the phsical !orld> for !hile !e ourselves !ere in the phsical bod !e could not indeedsee the thoughts of the other, !hereas no! !e can. ut !e have need of the feelingmemor < please note the !ord < the feeling

memor, the connection of feeling !ith our o!n last earthl life. 5e must feel, ;ust as !e felt in the bod, and this feeling must echo in

us. 0hen, !hen the thoughts of the other appear to us, the !hole condition, !hich other!ise !ould onl be as a picture, receives life.0hus, b the route of our feeling, !e gain a living connection !ith our friend: it is reall so !ith everone.

ou see, it is a development of a condition !hich ma be described thus: 0here is a period during !hich !e still have to dra! fromour last earthl life the forces enabling us to enter into living relationship !ith the surrounding spiritual !orld> !e have still to be

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connected !ith this earthl life. 5e love the souls !e have left behind, the contents of !hose souls appear to us as thoughts, as

elemental beings. ut !e love them because !e ourselves are still living in the love !e developed for them during our earthl life. 0heexpression is not a happ one, but some of ou !ill understand me !hen 2 sa that earthlife < not the thoughtlife but the earthlife

!hose soulcontents are filled !ith feeling and permeated !ith the impulse of !ill < this earthlife, !ith !hich !e are still connected,

becomes li"e a sort of electric s!itch connecting our o!n individualit !ith !hat goes on around us spirituall> !e perceive everthingin a roundabout !a through our last earthl life, but !e onl perceive !hat appertains to us in the spiritual !orld, through the feeling

and !ill that !ere ours in our last earthl life. 2t is no! reall the case that !e feel ourselves living on further into time, as a sort ofcomet of time. =ur earthl life is still there li"e the "ernel of the comet, but the "ernel sends out a sort of tail into the near future

through !hich !e live. 5e are still connected !ith our earthl life in so far as this is filled !ith feeling and !ill, and from thisexperience something must be born !ithin our soul as 2 have described, something that is not directl feeling and !ill. 0he soulpo!ers

!e develop here in the phsical !orld, !hich include the po!er of feeling as !e have it here in the phsical !orld and the po!er of the!ill as !e have it here in the phsical !orld, these soulpo!ers !e possess in this form, because !e are living in the phsical bod.

5hen the soul no longer lives in the phsical bod, it has to develop other ualities !hich onl slumber during phsical life. ecausethe echoes of feeling and !ill reverberate in it for ears, the soul has to mature something from them !hich it can also use for the

spiritual !orld in this respect, namel a force !hich 2 might describe as something li"e a feelingdesire or a desiringfeeling. 2n respectof our feeling and our !ill, !e "no! that these d!ell !ithin our soul> but after death !e do not, on the !hole, possess such feeling and

desire, the must graduall fade and die do!n, and the do this after some ears.

ut during this ding do!n and fading a!a, something has to develop from feeling and !ill !hich can be ours after death. =ur

thoughts live outside us as elemental beings> of in!ard feeling and !ill !e should have nothing in this spiritual !orld !hich !e

ourselves are, and !hich is there, outside us. 5e have graduall to develop a !ill < and this !e reall do < !hich streams forth fromus, !hich pours forth from us, as it !ere, and undulates and moves to !here our living thoughts are. 0hese it penetrates, because then

upon the !aves of !ill floats the feeling !hich in phsical life is !ithin us and not outside. 'eeling then returns to us floating on the

!aves of !ill. 0here, outside surges and billo!s the ocean of our !ill and upon this s!ims our feeling. 5hen the !ill stri"es against anelemental thoughtbeing, the contact produces an upglimmering of feeling and !e perceive this 6ricochet7 of our !ill as an absolute

realit of the spiritual !orld. et us suppose there is an elemental being in the outer spiritual !orld. 5hen !e have graduall !or"edout of the condition !e must first pass through, our !ill going forth from us brea"s against this elemental being. 5hen it stri"es against

the elemental being it is thro!n bac". 2t does not no! return as !ill, but as feeling, !hich floats bac" to us on the !aves of !ill. =uro!n being !hich is poured out into the cosmos lives as feeling !hich comes bac" to us on the !aves of !ill. 0he elemental beings

thereb become real to us and !e graduall perceive that !hich exists outside us as the outer spiritual !orld.

$till another soulforce has to come forth from us, !hich slumbers in a much deeper laer of the soul than the feeling!ill or the

!illingfeeling. 2t is creative soulforce, !hich is li"e an inner soullight that must shine forth over the spiritual !orld, in order that !ema not onl see the living, active, ob;ective thoughtbeings floating bac" to us on the !aves of feeling in the ocean of our !ill, but

that !e ma also illumine this spiritual !orld !ith spiritual light. +reative, spiritual illuminating po!er must go forth from our soul

into the spiritual !orld. 0his a!a"ens graduall.

ou see, that !hile living in phsical life !e have at least differentiated !ithin us the pair of brothers < feeling and !ill, fromfeeling!ill or !illingfeeling: !e possess these as a dualit !hereas !hen !e have passed the portal of death the are unit. 0he

creative soulforce !hich !e radiate as soullight into spiritual space Dif 2 ma use the !ord 6space7 here, for in realit it is not space,

but !e have to tr to ma"e these conditions comprehensible b expressing them pictoriallE, this soullight slumbers so deep do!n

!ithin us because it is connected !ith something regarding !hich !e neither ma nor can "no! anthing during life. 0hat !hich isliberated as light and !hich then illumines and brightens the spiritual !orld slumbers ver deep do!n !ithin us during our life on the

phsical plane. 5hat then ras forth from us, has to be transformed during our phsical life and used in such a !a that our bod shallreall live and that consciousness shall d!ell in it. ?ntirel belo! the threshold of consciousness !or"s this spiritual illuminating

po!er in our phsical bod, as the po!er !hich organises life and consciousness. 5e dare not bring it into our earthl consciousness,for !e should then rob our phsical bod of the po!er !hich has to organise it. ut !hen !e have no bod to ta"e care of, it becomes

spiritual illuminating po!er, and streams through, shines and glitters through everthing: these !ords signif actual realities.

0hus !e graduall !or" our !a on!ards to !here !e become at home in the spiritual !orld and experience it as a realit, ;ust as

here !e experience the phsical !orld as a realit. 5e graduall arrive at reall having the souls of those !ho have passed the portal ofdeath as our companions in the spiritual !orld, in so far as these reall live in the spiritual !orld. 5e then live among souls, ;ust as

here in the phsical bod !e live among bodies. As !e enter more and more into the true spirit of $piritual $cience, the assertion thatafter death !e do not meet again all those !ith !hom !e have lived here, !ould be, to one !ho goes more deepl into the matter, as

foolish as if someone !ere to sa, !ith respect to the phsical plane, that !hen !e enter upon the earth at birth !e find no human beings there. 3uman beings are all about us. < 0o one !ho "no!s spiritual life it is exactl the same as if someone !ere to sa: the

child comes into the phsical !orld, but it sees no one there. 0hat, obviousl, is nonsense. 2n the same !a it is nonsense !hen peoplesa: !hen !e enter into the spiritual !orld !e do not find again all the souls !ith !hom !e have been associated, neither do !e find

the eings belonging to the higher 3ierarchies, !hom !e recognise in their order, as here upon the earth !e recognise minerals, plants

and animalsH ut there is this difference, here in the phsical !orld !e "no! that !hen !e see and hear ob;ects and beings, the possibilit for doing so comes through our senses, from the outer !orld. 2n the spiritual !orld !e "no! that this possibilit comes from

ourselves, because !hat !e ma call the soullight streams forth from our souls illuminating everthing about us.

0hus do !e live in the period !hich ma be called the first half of our life bet!een death and rebirth. 5hile !e are living in this period !e go through the t!o conditions 2 have alread described: < one, a condition lasting for ears, in !hich, through the

illuminating po!er proceeding from our soul, !e are connected !ith the spiritual !orld and are thus enabled to perceive spirits and

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souls about us. 0his then gro!s dim and !e have the feeling: thou canst develop th soulilluminating po!er, th soullight less and

less, thou art obliged to let it become dimmer and dar"er in a spiritual sense. 0hereb thou canst see spiritual beings less and less. 2t becomes increasingl the case that !e enter alternating periods in !hich !e have a feeling !hich !e ma express thus: eings

surround thee on all sides but thou art becoming more and more solitar, thou art a!are onl of the contents of thine o!n soul and

these contents gro! richer to the same extent that thou ceasest to be able to illuminate the beings !ithout. < 0here are periods ofspiritual companionship, and again, periods of spiritual solitude during !hich !e live over again in our soul, !hat !e experienced in

the periods of spiritual companionship. 0hese conditions alternate. $uch is our life in the spiritual !orld: spiritual companionship, andagain spiritual solitude. 2n periods of spiritual solitude !e "no!: !hat thou didst experience in the spiritual !orld around thee !as

indeed there, thou "ne!est about all that> but no! there remains onl the echo of it !ithin thee. =ne might sa, that !hat !e experiencein the periods of spiritual solitude, are memories> but these !ords do not express it exactl. 2 must therefore tr to describe it to ou

from another aspect. 2t is not as if in the period of spiritual dar"ness, !hen one has no companions, one !ere to remember !hat onehad previousl experienced in the spiritual !orld, but as if one had to produce this afresh ever moment: it is a continual in!ard

creation. =ne is in!ardl a!are: 5hile there, outside thee the outer !orld exists> thou must remain alone and create and create. 5hatthou createst is the !orld !hich surges around thee beond the shores of thine o!n being.

As !e thus live on further during the first half of our life bet!een death and rebirth and approach the middle of the period bet!eendeath and rebirth, !e feel the solitar life gro! richer and richer and at the same time the vision of our spiritual environment becomes

dimmer and more restricted. 0his continues until !e arrive at the middle of the period bet!een death and rebirth, !hich in m last#ster %rama, The Soul's Awaenin! , 2 have endeavoured to describe as the #idnight of the 5orld. 0hat is the period !hen !e have

the strongest in!ard life, but !e no longer have !ithin us the creative soulforce enabling us to illumine our spiritual environment.

3ere, one might sa, infinite !orlds fill us in!ardl, spirituall, but !e are unable to "no! anthing about an other being except ouro!n. 0hat is the central point in our experience bet!een death and rebirth, it is the #idnight of the 5orld.

o! the time begins !hen there develops !ithin us the longing for a positive creative po!er> for although !e have an infinite

inner life, there a!a"ens !ithin us the longing to have an outer !orld again. And so different are the conditions of the spiritual !orldfrom those of the phsical !orld, that !hereas in the phsical !orld longing is the most passive force D!hen there is something for

!hich !e long, this something is !hat determines usE, the reverse is the case in the spiritual !orld. 0here, longing is a creative force> ittransforms itself into something !hich, as a ne! "ind of soullight, is able to give us an outer !orld, an outer !orld !hich is et an

inner !orld, inasmuch as it reveals to us a vision of our previous earthl incarnations. 0hese no! lie outspread before us, illumined bthe light that is born of our longing. 2n the spiritual cosmos there is a po!er !hich comes from longing, !hich can illumine this

bac"!ard surve and enable us to experience ourselves.

ut to this end one thing is necessar in our present age. 2 have said that during the !hole of the first half of our life bet!een death

and rebirth !e alternate bet!een inner life and outer life, bet!een solitude and spiritual companionship. At first the conditions in thespiritual !orld are such, that each time !e return to our solitude in the spiritual !orld, to our inner activit, !e call up before our soul

again and again !hat !e have experienced in the outer !orld. 0hereb a consciousness is aroused !hich expands over the !hole of thespiritual !orld> !ith the s!ing of the pendulum this again contracts during the period of solitude.

0here is one thing, ho!ever, !hich exists there and !hich !e must retain, no matter !hether !e expand into the great spiritual

!orld, or !ithdra! into ourselves. efore the #ster of Golgotha too" place, it !as possible, through the forces connecting man !ith

primeval times, to preserve a connection !ith that !hich gave him the feeling of 627. 2t !as possible not to lose this connection, for hecould preserve a clear remembrance of one thing in the previous earthl life, namel, that in this life on the earth he had lived as an 627>

and this remembrance continued both through the periods of solitude and of companionship. efore the #ster of Golgotha the forcesof inheritance too" care of this. o!, it can onl be accomplished through the fact that the soulcontent, !hich !e ma have through

+hrist having entered into the earth aura, remains connected !ith that !hich !e have released from us as the treasure !e have broughtfrom the earth, !hich !e perceived !ithdra! immediatel after leaving the phsical bod. 0his is the permeation !ith the +hrist

substance, !hich after death gives us the po!er to maintain the remembrance of our 627 up to the time of the !orldmidnight, in spite ofall expansion and in spite of all the contraction into solitude. 0hus far does the impulse proceeding from the po!er of +hrist extend,

that through it !e do not lose ourselves. 0hen from our longing must spring a ne! spiritual po!er, a po!er that onl exists in spiritual"nife and b !hich, through our longing a ne! light ma be "indled.

2n the phsical !orld there is ature and the %ivinit !hich pervades ature, from !hich !e are born into the phsical !orld.0here is the +hristimpulse !hich is present in the earthBs aura, that is, in the aura of phsical nature. ut the po!er !hich dra!s near

to us in the #idnight of the 5orld, through !hich our longing is enabled to illumine the !hole of our past, this po!er exists onl in thespiritual !orld !here nobod can live. 5hen the +hristimpulse has brought us as far as to the #idnight of the 5orld, and !hen the

#idnight of the 5orld is experienced b the soul in spiritual loneliness, because the soullight cannot et stream forth from us, !hen!orlddar"ness has come upon us, !hen +hrist has led us thus far, then in the #idnight of the 5orld there emerges something spiritual

from our desire, creating a ne! !orldlight !hich illuminates our being and b means of !hich !e enter ane! into !orldl existence.

5e learn to "no! the $pirit of the spiritual !orld !hich a!a"ens us, because out of the #idnight of the 5orld a ne! light shines, thelight !hich illuminates the !hole of our human past.

2n +hrist !e have died> through the $pirit, through the bodiless $pirit for !hich the technical expression 3ol Ghost is used, i"e",

the $pirit that lives !ithout a bod < Dfor this is meant b the !ord 3ol, namel, a spirit !ithout the !ea"ness of one that lives in the bodE < through this $pirit !e are rea!a"ened at the #idnight of the 5orld. At the 5orld#idnight !e are a!a"ened b the 3ol

Ghost:

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P? $P220@# $A+0@# ?V2V2$+2#@$.

L.$T/R. 0


2n this, m last lecture, 2 should li"e to continue from !here !e left off esterda. 5e !ere spea"ing of !hat 2 described as the

great 6#idnight 3our of our spiritual existence bet!een death and rebirth7, that #idnight 3our !hen our human inner experience ismost intense and !hen that !hich !e ma call spiritual companionship, our connection !ith the outer spiritual !orld, has reached its

lo!est ebb, so that in a certain respect during this #idnight 3our of our spiritual existence spiritual dar"ness surrounds us. 5e saidalso that the longing for the outer !orld again becomes active !ithin us, that this longing arises through the $pirit !hich !or"s in

spiritual !orlds, and that it en"indles a ne! soullight in us, so that it becomes possible for us to see an external !orld of a particular"ind. 0he external !orld !e then see is our o!n past, !hich has run its course through previous incarnations, and the intervening

periods bet!een deaths and rebirths: this !e then surve as an outer !orld, through loo"ing bac" upon !hat !e have received from,and en;oed in !orldl existence, and upon that for !hich !e are indebted to the !orld. 5hen !e thus surve our previous

experiences, t!o things come before us !ith particular intensit. 5e have en;oed certain things and this is sho!n us b spiritualvision> !e have had certain ;os and sorro!s in life. 5e can surve these ;os and sorro!s, but !e see !hat !e have experienced in

such a !a that it is its spiritual value !hich appears to us> !e see it !ith respect to !hat it has made of us.

et us ta"e a concrete example. 5e loo" bac" upon some en;oment, some satisfaction !e have had at some time in our past life.

5e then feel: this is not something that is past> the time !hen !e en;oed it does indeed lie behind us, but it is not something that isabsolutel past. 2t is something !hich continues its activit into all future time and it continues it in such a manner that it still a!aits

!hat !e are going to ma"e out of it. 5hen !e have experienced some en;oment, some satisfaction, in our soul !e feel some!hat asfollo!s !hen !e surve it: 60his must become a force !ithin thee, a force in th soul, and thou canst allo! this force to act !ithin thee

in t!o !as. 2n this spiritual existence in !hich thou art after the #idnight of the 5orld t!o things are possible> the spiritual !orldsimpl gives thee the po!er to bring about one of these possibilities> thou canst change this past en;oment, this past in!ard

satisfaction into a capacit, so that through the past en;oment thou art able to develop a certain po!er in th soul, !hereb thou canstaccomplish something in the !orld, small or great, that is of value to the !orld. 0hat is one thing. 0he other !e ma express to

ourselves thus: 62 have had the en;oment, 2 shall be satisfied !ith it, 2 shall ta"e it into m soul and refresh mself through this pasten;oment.7 5hen !e do this !ith much of !hat !e have en;oed and has given us pleasure, !e produce a po!er !ithin us through

!hich !e graduall degenerate and suffocate spirituall. 0his is one of the most important things !e can learn in the spiritual !orld,that through en;oment, through that !hich has given us pleasure, !e have also become debtors to the !orld. 0here rises before our

spiritual ees the prospect of our suffocating in the aftereffects of these past satisfactions and en;oments, if !e do not decide at theright time to create capacities from them !hich can produce something of value to life. 'rom this ou see once more, spiritual events

interact !ith !hat ta"es place on the phsical plane.

5hen a person fills himself more and more !ith the "no!ledge of $piritual $cience as outlined in the lecture before the last, this!ill pass into the instinctive life of his soul and in respect to the pleasures he has upon the phsical plane !ill develop a feeling, li"e the

stimulus of an inner conscience, that he must not give himself up to certain en;oment, pleasure or ;o for its o!n sa"e, but he must fill

this ;o !ith a feeling of than"fulness to the universe, to the spiritual po!ers of the universe> for he !ill "no! that through ever pleasure, through ever en;oment he becomes a debtor to the universe. 5e arrive most easil and most certainl at the right attitude,

in the transformation of those en;oments and pleasures !hich are of a spiritual nature. ?n;oments and pleasures !hich can onl besatisfied through the bod, or through having a bod on the phsical plane, confront us in this period bet!een death and rebirth as

something that must be transformed if !e do not !ish to be slo!l suffocated in them. 5e feel the necessit for this transformation, but !e also feel that in the first place it !ill reuire man incarnations, that !e must be in the spiritual !orld again and again bet!een

these incarnations, so that at length !e ma be able to bring about this transformation.

0hen !e discover something else in the spiritual !orld. 5e find that in our present ccle of humanit !e have en;oments and pleasures on the phsical plane in !hich our soulspiritual nature is entirel submerged, that the en;oment or the pleasure, assumes asubhuman, 2 !ill not sa animal character> for pleasure and en;oment ma assume a subhuman character. 5e find that !ith

en;oments such as these, !e reall prepare infinite pain for certain beings in the spiritual !orld !ith !hom !e onl meet !hen !eenter this !orld. And the sight of the pain !e cause these beings is so extremel disturbing, so oppressive, filling our soul !ith such

forces, that !e cannot !ell arrive at the harmonious upbuilding of the things necessar for our next incarnation.

As regards !hat !e experience in a different !a, as pain and sorro!, it is seen on the spiritual plane that the pain and sorro! !ehave borne on the phsical plane !or" on and permeate our soul !ith such force on the spiritual plane that this force becomes !ill

po!er. =ur soul thereb becomes stronger, and !e are able to transform this strength into moral po!er !hich !e are able to bring bac"

!ith us again to the phsical plane, in order that !e ma not onl have certain capacities, through !hich !e are able to producesomething of value to the !orld around us, but that !e ma also have the moral po!er to develop these capacities into character.

5e have experiences such as these and man others, directl after the spiritual #idnight 3our of existence. 5e feel andexperience !hat our value has become through our previous life> !e also feel and experience to !hat capacities !e ma attain in the

future. And after !e have lived for a time longer in the spiritual !orld, there appears from the t!ilight of our spiritual environment aclear vision, not onl of our o!n past life, but also of all the human beings !ith !hom !e !ere closel connected in that life> people

appear in spiritual relations, !ith !hom !e have been connected in some !a in former stages of existence. 2t is not as if !e had not

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been !ith these human beings before < !e are al!as together !ith those !ho have been near us in life, in b far the greater portion

of the time bet!een death and rebirth < but no!, !hen !e meet them again after the #idnight 3our of our spiritual existence, !e seeclearl in these human beings !hat !e o!e to them or the to us. =ur point of vie! is no! not merel: such and such !as th relation

to these people at such and such a time < !e "ne! this before < but these people are no! for us the expression of the compensation

for our previous experiences !ith them. the manner in !hich the come before us, !e see b !hat ne! experience on the phsical plane !e ma have to repa that for !hich !e are indebted to them, or such li"e. 5hen !e confront the souls of these human beings

!e see, as it !ere, the activities !hich in the future must reproduce the relationships !e have had !ith them in the past. 0his !ill be best understood if !e ta"e an example !hich is as concrete as possible, an application of !hat has alread been mentioned in previous

lectures.

et us again suppose that !e have lied to some one. 0hen comes the time, !hen in the spiritual !orld the possibilit arises of our being tormented b the truth, the opposite to our lie. =ur relation to this person to !hom !e have lied so changes during this time, thatas often as !e see him Dand !e see him often enough !ith our spiritual eesE he causes the truth, the opposite to the lie !e have told, to

rise !ithin us and this torments us. 0hereb arises from deep do!n !ithin us a tendenc !hich causes us to sa: 60hou must meet this person again on the earth belo! and thou must do something that !ill compensate the !rong thou hast done in telling the lie> for here

in the spiritual !orld thou canst not compensate !hat has been brought about through th lie, here thou canst onl see uite clearl theeffect of a lie in the cosmos. 5hat has been done upon the earth in this !a must be made good again upon the earth. 5e "no! that in

order to ma"e compensation !e need forces !hich can onl develop in us !hen !e again possess an earthl bod. 'rom this atendenc arises in our soul to ta"e once more on ourselves an earthl bod !hich !ill give us the opportunit to perform the actions

!hereb the imperfections !e have caused upon earth ma be repaired> other!ise, !hen !e have gone through death once more this

person !ill again appear to call forth the torment of the truth.

0hus ou see the !hole spiritual techniue> ho! in the spiritual !orld there is produced !ithin us the impulse "armicall to ma"ecompensation for various things. 0hese compensations occur also in other connections> but of course 2 should have to enumerate man

thousands of cases if 2 !ere to spea" of all that comes into consideration in respect of this important sub;ect of "arma. 'or example, letus ta"e the follo!ing case: et us suppose !e are in the period after the #idnight 3our of existence in the spiritual !orld, so that !e

loo" bac" at certain pleasures !e have had and sa: 65e can change the effects of these experiences into capacities to !hich !e cangive expression !hen !e are reembodied.7 ut the follo!ing ma also happen. 5e ma observe that !hen !e are changing these past

experiences into capacities, in this our present condition, certain elemental beings disturb us Dthis can happenE> these elemental beingsdo not allo! us to acuire these capacities. 5e ma then as" ourselves: 65hat can 2 do no!F 2f 2 ield to these elemental beings !hich

approach and !ill not suffer capacities to arise in me, 2 shall not be able to develop these capacities. ut 2 must develop them. 2 "no!that 2 shall onl be able to give the service due to certain people in m next incarnation if 2 have these capacities.7 As a rule in such

cases !e decide to acuire these capacities> but !e thereb in;ure the elemental beings !hich are around us: in a certain !a the feelthat the are attac"ed b us. 5hen !e acuire these capacities, the feel that their o!n life is thereb dar"ened, as if something !ere

ta"en a!a from their !isdom. =ne of the conseuences often springing from this is, that !hen !e are reborn !e find that one or more

human beings are possessed b these elemental beings and are inspired !ith particularl hostile intentions to!ards us.

0hin" ho! deepl this enables us to see into human experience, ho! profoundl it teaches us to comprehend human life and reallto acuire the right instinct to comport ourselves correctl on the phsical plane. ut this does not mean that !e should ever sa, !hen

on the phsical plane: 6At that time 2 had to protect mself. 2 have thereb made this person a s!orn enem> 2 must no! give in to him.7

0he case might arise !here it !ould be good to ield, but, on the other hand, it might happen that if !e ield, these hostile elemental

beings !ho act through one person or another might, through !hat the no! do on the phsical plane, compensate themselvesabundantl for the loss the suffered through our selfprotection. 0he might go beond !hat !as ta"en a!a from them, and the

conseuence of this !ould be that !e should not be able to save ourselves from them, !hen !e again enter the corresponding period inthe stream of time bet!een death and rebirth, and the !ould then give the death blo! to certain of our capacities.

0he !orld becomes ever more and more complicated !hen !e get real insight into it> but !e cannot !onder at this. 2 might giveou other examples of the "armic connections bet!een life on earth and life bet!een death and rebirth. et us ta"e the case of a person

!ho through illness dies earlier than another !ho enters into 6time7, as it !ere, after a normal length of human life. 3is illness bringshim to an earl death> but he reall retains certain forces !ithin him !hich he !ould have expended if he had reached the normal

length of human life. 0he man !ould have used these forces, !hich remain !ithin him as a reserve of strength, if he had not died earl,and !hen the life after death is examined, the spiritual investigator finds that these forces are added to the manBs forces of !ill and

feeling, strengthening them. $uch a person is in the position so to use, after the #idnight 3our of existence, !hat has accrued to himthrough these forces before the #idnight 3our of existence, that he enters earthl life as a man of stronger !ill and of much more

character than if he had not died so earl. 2t is, ho!ever, previous "arma that determines this and naturall it !ould be the greatest follif a person !ere to thin" that he !ould gain !hat has ;ust been described b bringing about an earl death artificiall> he !ould not

gain it thus. 5hat happens !hen an earl death is brought about artificiall, ou !ill find described in m boo" Theoso$h), so far as itis necessar to explain it. 2 also referred there to the case !here a person meets !ith an earl death through an accident. 5hen he is

torn a!a from the experiences of the phsical plane through an accident, !hile his forces !ould have still been sufficient to enable

him to reach old age, there remains to him a surplus of force and !hen the #idnight 3our of existence has passed he can use this tostrengthen his intellectual po!ers. 5e find through spiritual investigation that great inventors are often people !ho in former

incarnations died through an accident. 2f !e reall !ish to surve these things !ith understanding, !e have to realise that in thespiritual !orld the standpoint of life is reall uite different from !hat it can be in the phsical !orld.

2t !ill gro! more and more comprehensible to ou, that in order to understand the spiritual !orlds one has first to acuire the

necessar conceptions and ideas, because the spiritual !orlds are so ver different from the phsical !orld. 3ence no one should

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!onder !hen something relating to the spiritual !orlds is described, that !hen the ideas of the phsical !orld are directed to this

description, it should at first be felt to be unsatisfactor. 'or example, it is a fact, !hich is confirmed b spiritual investigation intoman cases, that if a person dies a thorough materialist, !ith a materialistic frame of mind, and leaves others behind !ho are also

materialisticall inclined, he at first suffers a certain loss in the spiritual !orld. 5hen he has passed through the portal of death !ithout

spiritual inclinations, and !ishes to loo" bac" at his loved ones on the earth, he cannot see them directl if in their souls there is nospiritual thought> he has "no!ledge of them onl up to the time !hen he passed through death. 3is spiritual ees cannot see !hat the

are no! experiencing belo! upon the earth, because there is no spiritual life in their souls> for onl spiritual experience thro!s light upinto the spiritual !orlds. efore such a person can see the matter uite clearl, he has to !ait until in the spiritual !orld itself he has

developed the necessar forces !ith !hich to see clearl that the souls he has left behind are materialisticall inclined because thehave succumbed to Ahriman. 5ere he to experience this immediatel after death he !ould be unable to bear it. 3e has first to gro!

into the "no!ledge that materialisticall inclined souls are possessed b Ahriman> then he ma begin to have vision of these souls, untilthe have passed the portal of death and in the spiritual !orld have liberated themselves from their materialistic tendencies. 2t is onl

later that he experiences union !ith them.

$omeone might sa: 0hese conditions !hich ou describe as ta"ing place after death are not at all consoling. 0hat, m dear

friends, is an idea !hich is gained on the phsical plane> it is not an idea that is filled !ith the understanding of the spiritual !orlds. A person living bet!een death and rebirth, comes to a point !here he sas: 6=h, ho! impossible, ho! comfortless it !ould be directl

after death to see those souls !ho are materialisticall inclinedH7 3o! infinitel better it is for these souls to pass first through this period of probationH 0he !ould lose themselves, the !ould be unable to reach !hat the ought to reach if the matter !ere not

arranged in this !a. 0he point of vie! becomes entirel different !hen the things of the !orld are considered from the spiritual side,

and a time !ill come !hen it !ill be necessar for man, !hile still on the phsical plane, to have a correct understanding of the truthsof $piritual $cience.

$piritual $cience has come into the !orld because the evolution of humanit reuires that the "no!ledge of the spiritual !orld and

its conditions should enter more and more into human souls, instinctivel at first, then consciousl. 2 !ill dra! our attention to a purel external thing !hich is ver important, in order that ou ma see ho! !e shall be able more and more to ;udge the true contents

of our life on the phsical plane through understanding the la!s of spiritual existence. 2t is something external and as an external thingis extremel important. 5hen !e consider nature, the remar"able spectacle is presented to us of a small number of seeds being used in

ever case to continue the same "ind of life, but that an extremel large number of seeds come to nothing. 5e observe mriads of fisheggs in the ocean, a fe! onl of !hich become fishes, the rest perish. 5e loo" out over the fields and see vast uantities of grains of

!heat, onl a fe! of !hich gro! into plants, the rest are ground up into flour for human food and for other purposes. A great deal morehas to be produced b nature than reall becomes fruit and again seed in the regular course of existence. 0his is a !ise regulation of

nature> for in nature order and la! exist and demand that !hat thus deviates from its o!n deepl founded routine of existence andfruiting, should be so used, that it serves the other continuing stream of existence. 0he various creatures !ould not be able to live if all

seeds actuall bore fruit and attained the development possible to them. eings have to exist, !hich are used to form the ground!or"

from !hich other beings can gro!. 2t is onl in appearance that anthing is lost, onl in maa> in realit nothing is lost in the !or"s ofnature. $pirit rules in nature and the fact that something is apparentl lost from the continuous stream of evolution is based upon the!isdom of the spirit, it is a spiritual a!, and !e must consider this matter from the standpoint of the spirit> !e then soon find that

!hat apparentl is turned aside from the straight for!ard stream of events, has its o!n !ell ;ustified place in existence. 0his is foundedin the spirit. 3ence it ma also be of value on the phsical plane, in so far as !e here live a spiritual life.

et us consider a case !hich concerns us ver closel. Public lectures have to be given on the sub;ect of $piritual $cience. 0heseare given to a public that is gathered together simpl through advertisement. $omething happens here !hich is some!hat similar to the

case of the seeds of corn, a part onl of !hich are used in the straight for!ard stream of existence. =ne must not be discouraged !hen,in such circumstances, one has to bring the stream of spiritual life apparentl !ithout choice before man, man people, and !hen onl

a fe! separate themselves and reall enter into this spiritual life, become anthroposophists, and ;oin the direct stream. @nder thesecircumstances, it still happens that these scattered seeds come to man !ho, after a public lecture, go a!a and sa, for example, 65hat

mad nonsense the fello! tal"edH7 $een !ith respect to external life, this is li"e the germs < shall !e sa < li"e the fishgerms that

come to nothing in the ocean> but from the standpoint of a deeper investigation it is not so. $ouls !ho through their "arma come to alecture and !ho then go a!a and sa: 65hat foolish nonsense the fello! tal"edH7 < these souls are not et read to receive the truthof the spirit> but it is necessar for their souls in their present incarnation to feel the approach of the po!er contained in $piritual

$cience. 3o!ever much the ma scold, it remains a force in their souls for their next incarnation. 0hus the germs have not been lost>the find a !a. ife !ith respect to spiritual things is under the same la!s, !hether !e follo! the spirit in the order of nature, or in the

case !hich !e consider to be our o!n.

o! let us suppose !e !ished to carr this over into external material life, and !ere to sa: 6ut this is ;ust !hat happens in outer

life.7 es, m dear friends, it is exactl because this is happening, that 2 sa that !e are living to!ards a future !hen this !ill appear inever greater degree. #ore and more articles !ill be produced, more and more factories !ill be built. o one no! as"s, 63o! man

articles are neededF7 as !as formerl the case, !hen the tailors in the to!n onl made a suit !hen someone ordered it. 0he need then

determined the numbers to be made> but no! the are produced for the mar"et> the various !ares are piled up as much as possible.Production !or"s entirel according to the principle upon !hich nature !or"s. ature is carried into the social order, and this !ill at

first gain the upper hand more and more. ut here !e are considering the material realm. 0he spiritual la! has no application inexternal life, simpl because it is suited onl to the spiritual !orld> and something ver remar"able results. As !e are spea"ing amongourselves !e ma sa these things, but at the present da the !orld !ill not agree !ith us in this. 0hings are no! produced for the

mar"et regardless of the amount reuired, not according to !hat !as explained in m essa on Theoso$h) and Social Life < all that is produced is piled up in !arehouses and governed b the mone mar"et, and then the producers !ait to see ho! man are bought. 0his

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tendenc !ill gro! greater and greater until it destros itself and !hen 2 sa the follo!ing ou !ill "no! the reason. =ne !ho

spirituall observes social life, sees the germ of frightful social abscesses springing up ever!here. 0hat is the great social problemconfronting those !ho understand life> that is the frightful fact !hich is so depressing and !hich < even if !e could suppress all our

enthusiasm for $piritual $cience and the impulse !hich ma"es us long for it < et ma"es us cr out for the remed for this !orld

disease that is alread so far advanced and !hich !ill become ever !orse and !orse. 0hat !hich in one field, in one sphere, must !or"as nature !or"s, is seen b one !ho see"s to spread abroad spiritual truths to become a cancer !hen it enters the sphere of culture, as

!e have ;ust described.

2t !ill onl be possible to recognise this and find the remed, !hen $piritual $cience las hold of and fills the hearts and minds of

men. 5hen one sees these things, one !ould fain fill oneBs !ords !ith the most intense fire, so that the attention of as man of our

contemporaries as are able to understand them ma be attracted to the times !e are approaching. 5e can perceive these things !hen !ema"e ourselves acuainted !ith the different points of vie! that exist in one and another spheres of life. 0hese different points of vie!confront a person, !hen experiencing the life bet!een the #idnight 3our of existence and rebirth, for it is from them that he must !or"

creativel on himself.

5hen he has formed the tendencies for the fulfilment of his "arma in respect of his more intimate experiences, others rise before

his soul !hich are not so intimate. 3e experiences the religious and other societies to !hich he has belonged in such a !a that thereveal to him certain things he must do in his follo!ing incarnation in order not to become onesided. 2n short, this life flo!s on in such

a !a that it still alternates bet!een spiritual companionship and spiritual solitude, but its essential tas" is that the human being then

constructs the archetpe for his ne! earthl life in a purel spiritual form.

ong, long before the human being descends to earthl life he has constructed out of the spiritual !orld the spiritual etheric

archetpe, !hich has !ithin it forces, !hich !e might call spiritual magnetic forces. 0hese dra! him do!n to parents in respect of!hom he feels that the give him the hereditar attributes !hich enable him to enter upon a ne! earthl life. 2 have alread mentionedthat the normal time for this is !hen !e have the feeling that !e are uniting !ith that !hich !ithdre! from us as the fruit of our last

earthl life. ut the human being does not al!as reach this point. 5hen !e do come to this point the course of our life is such that !efull feel the connection bet!een the bodil part and the spiritual part, but often the man enters into life too soon. #ost people are

prematurel born, spirituall, and this is onl compensated for later through experiences !ith !hich !e feel entirel in harmon.

=ne thing is of ver special importance !hich 2 mentioned in the last lecture. 5hen our longing for an outer !orld has reached its

greatest intensit because !e have entered most deepl into solitude, then it is that the $pirit, !hich onl lives and moves in spiritual!orlds, approaches us and changes our longing into a "ind of soullight. @p to this point !e must "eep our connection !ith our 627. 5e

must, as it !ere, preserve the remembrance: @pon earth thou !ast this 627> this 627 has to remain to thee as a memor. 0hat man is ableto do this in our age depends upon the fact that +hrist brought into the earthBs aura the po!er b !hich !e can maintain our memor up

to the #idnight 3our, !hen !e again have this 627. =ther!ise this could not at the present time have been brought over from our

earthl life. 2f the +hristimpulse had not entered the earth, an interruption !ould have occurred, a brea", in the middle of the period bet!een death and rebirth !hich !ould have made our existence inharmonious. ong before the #idnight 3our !e should have

forgotten that !e !ere an 627 in our last life> !e should have felt connection !ith the spiritual !orld, but !e should have forgottenourselves. 5e have to develop our ?go so po!erfull on earth, that !e gain this ?goconsciousness ever more and more. 0his has

become necessar since the #ster of Golgotha. ut because on earth !e attain to an ever great consciousness of our ?go, !e thereb

exhaust the forces !e have need of after death in order that !e should reall not forget ourselves up to the #idnight 3our of existence.2n order to be able to retain this remembrance, !e have to die in +hrist. 'or this the +hristimpulse is necessar. 2t preserves for us up

to the #idnight 3our of existence the possibilit of not forgetting our 627.

0hen at the #idnight 3our of existence the $pirit approaches us. 5e have no! retained the memor of our 627. 2f !e carr this on

into the #idnight 3our of existence, to !here the 3ol Ghost approaches and gives us the vision and the connection !ith our o!ninner !orld, as if !ith an outer !orld < if !e have "ept this connection, the $pirit can then lead us further to our reembodiment,

!hich !e bring about through having formed our archetpe in the spiritual !orld. 2n realit, ho!ever, things do not ta"e place in such a!a that one does onl !hat is necessar, but ;ust as a pendulum never rests, but s!ings to one side so as to s!ing again to the other,

and as it is right this should be so, so is it also !ith the spiritual life. 0he +hristimpulse supplies us !ith more than barel sufficientforce ;ust to ma"e the connection, it gives us sometimes so much, that if the $pirit should not come to us, the +hristimpulse !ould be

able to bear us uic"l over. 5e should not be able to ma"e the connection !ith our memor, but the +hristimpulse !ould carr usover. 0his is of great importance> and as !e develop on into the future, it !ill be increasingl necessar for man that he should receive

more than merel a bare amount of the +hristimpulse. ?ven at the present time, it is necessar that man should experience during hisearthl life not merel !hat is absolutel necessar regarding +hrist, but that the +hristimpulse should enter into his soul as a mightier

impulse, so that it !ill s!eep him rapidl beond the #idnight 3our of existence. 'or the force of the $pirit is strengthened through theimpulse of +hrist, and !e feel the force of the $pirit more strongl throughout the second half of our life bet!een death and rebirth,

than !ould be the case if the +hristimpulse !ere not there.

0he surplus of the +hristimpulse that remains !ith us, strengthens the impulse of the $pirit. =ther!ise the $pirit !ould onl be

active for the $pirit, and it !ould cease !or"ing !hen !e !ere born. As !e fill ourselves !ith the +hristimpulse it strengthens theimpulse of the 3ol Ghost, and thereb such a spiritual impulse is introduced to our souls that, !hen !e enter earthl incarnation, it is

not exhausted in this incarnation as are the other forces !e bring !ith us at birth. 2 have alread mentioned that !e transform the forces!e bring over from the spiritual !orld into our inner organisation, but the surplus !hich !e gain in this !a through the +hristimpulse

strengthening the impulse of the $pirit < this !e bring over !ith us into existence, but it does not need to be transformed during ourlife on earth. 0he further !e advance into the future, the more necessar !ill human beings be for the development of the earth, human

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beings !ho, because the are filled !ith the +hristimpulse and the impulse of the $pirit, bring something into earthl life !ith them

!hen the enter their ne! incarnation. 0he $pirit must !or" !ith greater po!er, so that it does not onl !or" up to the time of birth,!hen everthing that is brought from the spiritual !orld is transformed, so that onl the tin amount of consciousness endures !hich

informs us of our phsical environment, and of !hat can be understood b the intellect connected !ith the brain. 2f, as !e develop

to!ards the future !e did not graduall bring !ith us as human beings a surplus of spirit, as has ;ust been described, humanit !ouldgraduall reach the point !here it !ould have no idea that there !as a $pirit, then during earthl life onl the unspiritual $pirit,

Ahriman, !ould rule, and humanit !ould onl be able to "no! of the phsical !orld that is perceived b the senses, and of !hat iscomprehended b the intellect that is connected !ith the brain. 2n the on!ard development of man"ind, all these things are even no!

being experienced to a certain extent, even no! humanit is in danger of losing the 3ol Ghost.

ut it !ill not lose it. $piritual $cience !ill be the !atcher !hich !ill see that humanit does not lose the 3ol Ghost, this $pirit!hich approaches the soul at the #idnight 3our of existence, in order to !a"en !ithin it the longing to see itself in its past andrecognise its value. $piritual $cience !ill have to spea" more and more impressivel of the +hristimpulse, so that more and more

$pirit shall enter into phsical existence through birth, in more and more human beings, and so that in this phsical existence there shall be more and more human beings !ho feel: 62 have certainl !ithin me forces !hich have to be transformed into organising forces, but

there is something also da!ning in m soul !hich need not be transformed. 2 have brought !ith me into this phsical !orld some of the$pirit !hich appertains onl to the spiritual !orlds, although 2 am living in m bod.7 < 0his is the $pirit !hich !ill enable people to

see !hat is spo"en of b 0heodora in the #ster %rama, The &ortal of Initiation, namel, the etheric form of +hrist. 0he po!er of the$pirit !hich thus enters peopleBs bodies !ill open spiritual ees through !hich to see and understand the spiritual !orlds. 'irst, people

!ill have to understand them, and then the !ill begin !ith understanding to behold them> vision !ill come, because the $pirit so las

hold of peopleBs souls that the !ill be able to bring this $pirit into their bodies, and the $pirit !ill shine out even in their earthlincarnations> it !ill da!n first in a fe!, and then in a larger number. $o !e ma sa: 0hrough the $pirit, through the 3ol Ghost !e are

a!a"ened in the great #idnight 3our of existence. $o also from another side !e ma sa < !hen !e bear in mind !hat the $pirit

provides for earthl evolution in the future: < the best part of the soul, that b !hich !e are enabled to see into the spiritual !orlds,!ill be a!a"ened more and more b the 3ol Ghost even !hen in the phsical bod. As man is a!a"ened b the 3ol Ghost in the

#idnight 3our of existence, so also !ill he be a!a"ened !hile living in his phsical bod on the phsical plane. 3e !ill !a"enin!ardl through the $pirit rousing him out of the sleep of sense> other!ise through mere senseperception and through the intellect

that is connected !ith the brain, man !ould al!as remain asleep. 0he $pirit !ill shine into this human sleep, !hich as it developedto!ard the future !ould other!ise graduall overcome humanit. 0he spirit in man !ill shine into this sleep even during phsical

existence. 2n the midst of the decline of spiritual life, in the midst of spiritual death, caused b an outloo" based merel on sense perception and a brainbound intellect, the souls of men !ill be a!a"ened b the 3ol Ghost < even no! during phsical existence:

P? $P220@# $A+0@# ?V2V2$+2#@$.

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The Inner Nature of Man