Life Between Death and Rebirth
GA 140
5 April 1913, Breslau
14. Further Facts About Life Between Death and Rebirth
In coming together in our group meetings we can speak more precisely about things than is possible in public lectures and written works. Today I would like to present supplementary considerations to add to what is to be found in the books and cycles of lectures.
You can imagine, my dear friends, that life between death and a new birth is as rich and varied as life here between birth and death, and that whenever one describes what happens after death one can obviously only deal with certain aspects. Today I will not touch so much on what is already known, but draw attention to what can shed further light upon it.
If one is able to look into the spiritual worlds where man dwells between death and a new birth, then particularly in our time the necessity of what is intended with our spiritual scientific work is confirmed, that is, the need to give something to the hearts and souls of men by way of spiritual science.
Let us take our starting point from a particular instance. A man died. He loved his wife deeply and was much attached to his family. Spiritual observation showed that he suffered deeply from the fact that when he looked down on the earth he was unable to find the souls of his wife and children. Now in the manner of which the seer can enter into communication with a person after death, the man informed the seer that with his thoughts and with all his feelings he was able to relive the time when he was united with his beloved on the earth. But he added, “When I lived on earth my wife was like sunshine to me. Now I must forego this. I am able to direct my thoughts back to what I have experienced but I cannot find my wife.”
Why is this? For this is not the case with all who pass through the gate of death. If we were to go back several thousand of years, we would find that the souls of men were able to look down from the spiritual world and participate in the affairs of those who remained behind on the earth. Why was this the case for all souls in ancient times before the Mystery of Golgotha? In ancient times, as you know, men so lived on the earth that they still possessed an original clairvoyance. They not only saw the sense world by means of the eyes. They also gazed into the spiritual origins, into the archetypal beings behind the sense world. The capacity to live with the spiritual world during physical existence brought with it the ability of the soul to perceive what it had left behind on the earth after death. Today souls no longer have the faculty of living directly with the spiritual world because the evolution of humanity has consisted in man's descent into physical existence out of the spiritual world. This has resulted in the faculty of judgment and so forth, but it has robbed man of the faculty to live with the spiritual world.
During a period immediately following the Mystery of Golgotha when souls were deeply moved by the Christ impulse, at last a part of mankind was able to regain this faculty to some extent. Now, however, we again live in an age when souls who go through the gate of death and have not concerned themselves with the realities of the spirit lose the connection. Mankind needs a spiritual revelation and we can have a justified conviction that it should permeate human souls. Today the old religious confession does not suffice. Souls who seek to gaze down spiritually from the other world to ours need what they can receive by means of a spiritual scientific understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha. It is therefore our endeavor that spirit light may develop in their souls.
The man of whom we have spoken had not concerned himself in any way with thoughts or feelings about the spiritual world. He went through the gate of death but no thoughts of the spiritual world had occupied his mind. He therefore was able to say, “I know by means of my memory that my wife is down there. I know she is there, but I cannot see her, cannot find her.”
Under what conditions would he have been able to find her? At the present time only such souls can be perceived in whom spiritual faculties dwell. Such souls can be seen from the other world, souls in whom thoughts live with understanding for the spirit. As the dead one gazes down, a person who has remained behind on the earth only becomes visible for him when spiritual thoughts live within the soul of that person. The dead person sees these thoughts. Otherwise the person remains invisible and the dead one suffers from the anguish of knowing that the person is there but he is unable to find him. As soon as one succeeds in conveying to such a soul thoughts concerning the spiritual world, however, the soul of the one who remains behind on earth begins to light up, to exist for the dead.
Do not object by saying that it is an injustice that people who have no spiritual thoughts here on earth, and perhaps it is not even their fault, should remain invisible to the dead. If the world were arranged otherwise, man would never seek to strive for perfection. Man has to learn by what he foregoes. Such a soul, as a result of the pain and loneliness it suffers during life between death and rebirth, is given the impulse to receive spiritual thoughts. From this aspect we see that spiritual science is like a language by means of which the living and the dead may understand one another, and can be present for and perceptible to each other.
Spiritual science has yet another mission in connection with bridging the abyss between the living and the dead. When human souls go through the gate of death they enter a realm where the connection with life on earth is maintained by the recollection of what has happened there. I am not repeating what can be found in my written works. What I am now saying is intended as a supplement. For a long period after death man re-experiences what has happened on earth and has to rid himself of the longing for his physical body. During this time he learns to live as a soul-spirit being. Let us vividly imagine how this appears to super-sensible perception. To begin with, the soul has a connection with itself. One sees one's own inner life that has run its course in thoughts, in mental representations, etc. One recalls the relationships one has had with his fellow men.
If one seeks to look down upon it, the earth offers a special aspect. One has the urge to look down. The urge to remember the earth accompanies one throughout the whole of life between death and a new birth. As long as man is called to journey from life to life the consciousness remains that he is destined for the earth, that he must return again and again to the earth if he would develop himself rightly. We can see this with the dead because if he were to lose completely the thoughts that link him to the earth, he would also lose the thought of his own ego. Then he would no longer be aware that he is, and this would result in the most dreadful feeling of anguish. Man must not lose his connection with the earth. The earth must not escape his mental representation, so to speak. In general, too, the earth cannot completely disappear from him. It is only in our period of the materialistic deluge, during which the spiritual revelation has to come so that the link between the living and the dead may be maintained, that souls having no connection with people who have spiritual thoughts and feelings on earth find it difficult to look back.
It is important for the dead that those with whom they were connected on earth carry every evening thoughts of the spiritual world with them into sleep. The more thoughts about the spiritual world we carry with us into sleep, the greater the service we perform for those we have known on earth who have died before us. It is difficult to speak of these connections because our words are taken from the physical plane. In the spiritual world that we bring with us as spiritual thoughts in sleep is the substance by means of which, in a certain sense, the dead can live. One who died and has no one on earth who carries spiritual thoughts with him in sleep is famished and may be compared to one banished to a barren island on earth. The dead person who cannot find a soul in whom spiritual feelings dwell experiences himself as if in a desert void of everything that is needed to sustain life. In view of this, one cannot stress too much the earnestness with which thoughts of spiritual science should be taken in a period like our own, when world-conceptions that are alien to the spirit gain the upper hand more and more.
It was different in past times when an evening prayer was said before going to sleep and its after-effects accompanied one. Today it is more likely than not that a person falls asleep after a meal or some other form of enjoyment without a thought devoted to the super-sensible. In this way we rob the dead of their spiritual nourishment. Such insight should lead to the practice, proven to be effective by many of our friends, that I would like to term, the reading to the dead. To read to the dead is of untold significance.
Let us assume that two people lived side by side here on earth. The one finds his way to spiritual science out of a deep, heartfelt impulse, the other is increasingly repelled by it. In such a case little is achieved in attempting to bring the person to a spiritual concept of the world during life. In fact, one's endeavors in this direction may indeed cause the other to hate it all the more. Now when such a person dies we have the possibility of helping him all the more.
What lives in our soul is exceedingly complex and the area bounded by our consciousness is only a small part of the total content of our soul life. Man does not know much of what lives in his soul and often something is present that he takes for the opposite of what is actually there. Thus it can happen that a person comes to hate spiritual science. He becomes aware of this with his consciousness. In the depths of his soul, however, this can reveal itself as an all the more profound longing for spiritual science. When we have gone through the gate of death we experience the depths of our soul existence that come to the surface. When we meet the dead we have known on earth, they often show themselves to be different from what they were on earth. A person who has hated spiritual science with his normal consciousness but longed for it in the depths of his soul without being aware of it will often display this longing powerfully after death. We can help him by taking a book with a spiritual—scientific content, forming a vivid inner picture of the one who has died, and reading to him as we would to a living person, not with a loud voice, but softly. The dead can understand this. Naturally, those who have made a contact with spiritual science during their lifetime understand it all the more readily. We should not fail to read to the dead or converse with them in thought. I would like to draw attention to a practical matter, namely, that for a number of years after death, for a period of some three to five years, a person can understand the language he has spoken on earth. This gradually wanes, but he preserves an understanding of spiritual thoughts. Then we can also read to the dead in a language that he did not understand on earth but that we have ourselves mastered. In this way we can perform the greatest service to the dead.
It is particularly in such realms that one realized the full significance of spiritual science because it bridges the gulf between the living and the dead. We can imagine that if we succeed in spreading spiritual science on earth in ever wider circles, more and more souls will become conscious of a communion with the dead.
Thus for a period after death man is still directly connected with the earth. Then he has to grow into and become a citizen of the spiritual world. This requires preparation. He first must possess a sensitivity and understanding for the spiritual world. Spiritual investigation observes a considerable difference after death between souls who have cultivated moral feelings and inclinations on earth and those who have failed to do so. A person who has not developed moral feelings on earth becomes a hermit after death. He will be unable to find his way both to other human beings and to the higher hierarchies. Consciousness is not extinguished then, and what awaits man is a sense of utter loneliness. From a certain period called the Mercury period onward man gains the possibility of living together with other beings by virtue of his moral life. We may say therefore that the way a person lives on earth determines his existence in the Mercury sphere, determines whether he experiences a dreadful hermit-like existence or establishes contact with other human souls or the beings of the higher hierarchies.
This is followed by another period during which man must be differently prepared if he does not again condemn himself to loneliness. Loneliness comes to pass if he has not developed any religious feelings here on earth. This period is called the Venus period. There a person who has failed to develop religious feelings experiences himself as blind and dead in relation to everything that surrounds him.
In a subsequent period, so as not to remain insensitive toward the beings of the higher world, a preparation in the complete appreciation of all religions is necessary. That is the Sun period. We prepare for it here on earth by an understanding for all that is human, and for the different religious denominations. In former times in the Sun period it sufficed for one man to belong to the Brahma religion, for another to that of Lao-Tse, and so forth. Today, however, because times have changed men stand opposite one another through their religious creeds and therefore the Sun period cannot be rightly experienced. For this a spiritual sensitivity is needed.
In the Sun period, which man has to traverse between death and a new birth, it is as if one entered into a world where one found a particular place empty or filled, depending on one's preparation. We do not find the place empty if we understand the Mystery of Golgotha. The Christ impulse affords the possibility of understanding every human experience. Christianity is a general religion, valid for all people. Christianity is not limited to a particular folk, race or nationality, as is the case with Hinduism and other national religions. Had the people of middle Europe preserved their old folk religion, we would still today find a Wotan cult, a Thor cult, and so on. But the European people have accepted the Christian creed. One is not a Christian in the true sense because one adheres to one or the other Christian dogma, however, but because one knows that Christ died for the whole of humanity. Only gradually will people learn to live truly as Christians.
In our time most Europeans in India pay mere lip service to their own belief. The attitude that one should develop is that wherever we meet a human being in the face of the earth the Christ impulse can be found. The Hindu will not believe that his god dwells in every man. The Christian knows that Christ lives in every human being. Spiritual science will reveal that the true core of all religions is contained in a rightly understood Christianity, and that every religion, inasmuch as it becomes conscious of its essential kernel, leads to the Mystery of Golgotha.
In considering other initiates or religious founders it is evident that they seek to reveal certain things out of the higher worlds because they have gone through a process of initiation. We do not understand the Christ correctly if we do not clearly see that the Christ has not gone through one or the other form of initiation on earth. He was initiated by virtue of the fact that He was there and united everything within Himself.
When the seer looks at the life of the Buddha and then follows it through in the spiritual world, he realizes more clearly the true nature of the Buddha. This is not so with the life of Christ. The Christ life is such that one must first establish a connection with it on earth in order to understand it in the spiritual world. If one does not gain such a connection and one is nevertheless initiated, one can behold many things, but one cannot see the Christ if one has not first gained a connection from Him on earth.
That is why so few people understand the Mystery of Golgotha. The Christ is a Being who is of equal importance for the most primitive human being and for the highest initiate. The most primitive soul can find a relationship to Christ, and the initiate must also find it. One learns to know many things when one enters into the spiritual world. There is only one thing that does not exist there, one thing that cannot be learned there and that is death. Death exists only in the physical world. In the spiritual world there is transformation but not death. Therefore, all the spiritual beings who never descend to the earth and only dwell in spiritual realms do not go through death.
Christ has become the companion of man on earth and the event of Golgotha, if one understands it as the unique death of a god, is what prevents us from confronting emptiness in the Sun period. The other initiates are human beings who through a number of incarnations have developed themselves in a special way. Christ had never been on the earth before His advent but dwelt in realms where there is no death. He is the only one among the gods who has learned to know death. Therefore, in order to become acquainted with the Christ one has to understand His death, and because this is essential the Mystery of Golgotha can be understood only on earth where death exists. We do not experience the Christ in higher worlds if we have not gained a relationship to Him on earth. We find His place empty during the Sun period. If, however, we are able to take the Christ impulse with us, then the throne in the Sun is not empty. Then we find the Christ consciously.
During our present phase of human evolution it is important that we should find the Christ in the spiritual world at this stage and recognize Him. Why? In the Sun period we have gradually entered a realm in which we are dependent on spiritual light. Previously, before the Sun period, we still experienced the after-effects of the earth, the after-effects of what we have been personally, including our moral and religious feelings. Now we require more than these. Now we require the faculty to see what is in the spiritual world, but this cannot be prepared for on earth. We have to journey through realms of forces of which we cannot know anything here on earth.
As he enters into life through birth, man has not as yet got a developed brain. He first must form it in accordance with the achievements of previous earth lives. For if one needs a particular faculty it is not sufficient that one has acquired it. One also has to know how the requisite physical organ has to be formed.
There exists an important but dangerous leader. Here on earth he remains unconscious, but from the Sun period onward he is necessary. The leader is Lucifer. We would wander in darkness if Lucifer were not to approach us. However, we can only walk beside him if we are guided by the Christ. Together they lead man after the Sun period in subsequent forms of life, that is, through the Mars, Jupiter and Saturn periods. During the times following the Sun period, man is brought together with forces that he requires for his next incarnation. It is sheer nonsense to believe as materialistic science does that the physical body is inherited. Today science cannot see its error but spiritual truths will be acknowledged in the future and the fallacy, too, will be recognized. For nothing can be inherited apart from the basic structure of the brain and the spinal cord, that is, everything that is contained within and bounded by the hard skull cap and the vertebrae of the spinal column. Everything else is conditioned by forces from the macrocosmos. If man were only given what he inherits he would be a totally inhuman lump, so to speak. The inherited part has to be worked through by what man brings with him out of the spiritual world.
Why do I use the terms Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn for the periods after death? When man has gone through the gate of death he expands more and more. In fact, life after death is such that one knows oneself to be spread out over a vast space. This expansion goes so far that one finally occupies the space bounded by the orbit of the moon. Then one grows out to the orbit of Mercury in the occult sense, then out to the orbits of Venus, Sun and Mars. One grows out into the vast celestial spaces. But the spatial togetherness of the many human souls is not significant. When you permeate the whole of the Venus sphere this is also the case for the others, but it does not mean that because of this you are aware of them. Even if one knows that one is not alone, one can still feel lonely.
Finally one expands into the universe in a sphere circumscribed by the orbit of Saturn and beyond. As one grows in this way one gathers the forces needed to build up the next incarnation. Then one returns. One becomes ever smaller until one unites oneself again with the earth.
Between death and rebirth man expands into the whole cosmos and however strange it may appear, when we return to the earth we bring all the forces of the solar system with us into life and unite them with what is inherited out of the physical substances. By means of the cosmic forces we build up our physical body and our brain. Here between birth and death we dwell within the narrow confines of our physical body. After death we live, expanded, into the entire solar macrocosm.
The one person has a deep moral sense, the other less so. The one who on earth had a deep moral sense goes through the spiritual world in such a way that he can experience everything as a sociable being. The power for this flows from the starry realms. Another who is not thus prepared is unable to make any connections and because he did not bring any spiritualized forces with him, he also is unable to receive any moral predispositions. He will journey alone through the various spheres. Such spiritual knowledge throws significant light on everything that a man is and on his relationship to the world.
Kant uttered the saying, “There are two things that fill my mind with an ever new and increasing sense of wonder and devotion: The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” He thereby expressed something significant. Spiritual science reveals that both are one and the same. What we experience between death and rebirth we bring with us as moral law. We carry the starry heavens through which we journey between death and a new birth into our earthy life where it must become moral law.
Thus spiritual science brings us insight into the magnitude of the human soul and the idea of human responsibility.
Ergänzende Tatsachen Über Das Leben Zwischen Tod Und Neuer Geburt
Hörernotizen
Wenn wir hier in unserem Zweige beisammen sind, dann ist es wohl möglich, über manche Dinge genauer zu sprechen, als das in öffentlichen Vorträgen oder Schriften geschehen kann. Und so möchte ich heute einiges auseinandersetzen, das als Ergänzung dienen kann zu Erkenntnissen, die uns bekannt sind aus unsern Schriften und Zyklen.
Sie können sich denken, meine lieben Freunde, daß das Leben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt ebenso reich und ebenso mannigfaltig ist wie das Leben hier zwischen Geburt und Tod, so daß man immer, wenn man schildert, was da vorgeht zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt, selbstverständlich nur Teile, nur Einzelheiten herausgreifen kann. Ich will heute weniger berühren, was schon bekannt ist, sondern auf einiges hinweisen, was das Bekannte genauer beleuchten soll.
Wenn derjenige, der in die geistigen Welten hineinzuschauen vermag, wirklich den Blick richtet in jene Welt, in welcher der Mensch verweilt zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt, dann ergibt sich gerade für unsre Zeit so recht die Notwendigkeit desjenigen, was wir hier wollen durch unsere geisteswissenschaftliche Arbeit; durch das, was gegeben werden kann dem Herzen und der Seele des Menschen durch die geisteswissenschaftliche Arbeit.
Es sei von einem besonderen Falle ausgegangen. Da ereignete es sich zum Beispiel, daß ein Mann hinweggestorben ist von seiner Familie, der seine Gattin hier im Leben außerordentlich lieb hatte, der seiner Familie immer zugetan war. Und als er vom Seherauge aufgesucht wurde, litt er ganz besonders daran, daß er nicht finden konnte, wenn er seinerseits auf die Erde hinunterschaute, die Seelen seiner Kinder, die Seele seiner Frau. Und auf die Art, wie sich der Seher in Verbindung setzen kann mit Menschenseelen, sozusagen sich besprechen kann mit Menschenseelen zwischen Tod und neuer Gebutt, tat er dann kund, wie er zwar mit seinen Gedanken, mit all seinen Empfindungen zurückdenken kann an die Zeit, wo er mit den Seinigen auf der Erde verweilte; aber er sagte dann etwa so: Ja, als ich auf der Erde war, da war mir meine Gattin wie eine Art Sonnenschein, jetzt muß ich das entbehren. Ich kann nur den Gedanken zurückrichten an das, was ich auf der Erde gehabt habe, aber ich kann die Gattin nicht finden. — Woher kommt das? Denn es ist nicht bei allen so, die durch die Pforte des Todes gegangen sind. Wenn wir viele Jahrtausende zurückgingen, würden wir finden, daß die Seelen der Menschen auch von diesem geistigen Gebiet hinunterschauen konnten, teilhaben konnten an dem, was die Hinterbliebenen auf der Erde trieben. Warum war das so für alle Seelen in alten Zeiten, in den Zeiten vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha? Warum ist es heute für viele nicht so? Ja, in alten Zeiten, da lebten, wie wir wissen, die Menschen auf der Erde so, daß sie noch ein gewisses ursprüngliches Hellsehen hatten. Es sahen die Menschen nicht nur durch die Augen in die sinnliche ‘Welt, sondern sie sahen hinter den sinnlichen Dingen die geistigen Urgründe, die Urwesenheiten. Und diese Fähigkeit, mit der geistigen Welt im physischen Dasein zusammenzuleben, brachte es mit sich, daß die Seele, wenn sie durch die Pforte des Todes gegangen war, alles das Seelische wieder wahrnehmen konnte, was sie hier zurückgelassen hatte. Jetzt haben die Menschenseelen hier nicht mehr die Fähigkeit, mit der geistigen Welt unmittelbar zu leben, denn darin besteht ja die Entwickelung der Menschheit, daß der Mensch heruntergestiegen ist vom geistigen Leben zum physischen Leben. Das hat gebracht die Fähigkeit zu urteilen und so weiter, aber es hat genommen die Fähigkeit, mit den geistigen Welten zu leben. Eine Zeitlang, in den Zeiten unmittelbar nach dem Mysterium von Golgatha, als die Menschenseelen ergriffen waren von dem ChristusImpuls, konnte wenigstens ein Teil der Menschheit in einer gewissen Weise die Fähigkeit wieder erlangen. Aber jetzt leben wir wiederum in einer Zeit, wo die Seelen, die durch die Pforte des Todes gehen und die sich nicht gekümmert haben um die geistigen Welten, von der geistigen Welt aus den Zusammenhang verlieren.
Wir brauchen die Offenbarung, die wir die spirituelle Offenbarung nennen und von der wir die berechtigte Anschauung haben, daß sie sich einprägen soll in die Menschenseelen. Heute genügt nicht mehr das alte bloß religiöse Bekenntnis; heute brauchen die Seelen, wenn sie geistig schauen wollen von der jenseitigen Welt hierher, was ihnen gegeben werden kann durch das geisteswissenschaftliche Verständnis des Mysteriums von Golgatha. So bemühen wir uns, Geisteslicht in die Seelen zu bekommen.
Der Mann, der in der geschilderten Weise gefunden worden war, hatte sich nicht gekümmert um irgendwelche Gedanken und Empfindungen der geistigen Welt. Er ging durch die Pforte des Todes, ohne daß er hier durch seine Seele hatte ziehen lassen Gedanken der geistigen Welt. So kam es, daß der Mann sagen konnte: Ich weiß aus meinem Gedächtnis, daß da unten meine Gattin ist; ich weiß, sie ist da, aber ich kann sie nicht sehen, nicht finden.
Wann hätte er sie finden können? Von jener Welt herunter kann man heute nur solche Seelen sehen, in denen spirituelle Fähigkeiten leben. Solche Seelen kann man schauen von der andern Welt her, in denen die Gedanken eines spirituellen Verständnisses leben. Wenn man hinunterblickt, so wird eine Seele, die hier geblieben ist, erst sichtbar für den Toten, wenn in dieser Seele spirituelle Gedanken leben. Diese Gedanken sieht man. Sonst bleibt die Seele unsichtbar. Sonst leidet man unter den Qualen, zu wissen, sie ist da, aber man kann sie nicht finden. In dem Augenblicke, wo es gelingt, einer solchen Seele irgendwelche Gedanken zu übermitteln über die spirituelle Welt, da beginnt die Erdenseele für den in der andern Welt Lebenden aufzuleuchten, dann beginnt sie dazusein für ihn.
Sagen Sie nicht, daß es eine Ungerechtigkeit wäre, wenn solche Seelen, die hier auf Erden vielleicht ohne ihre Schuld keine spirituellen Gedanken haben, unsichtbar bleiben für die Toten. Wenn die Welt nicht so eingerichtet wäre, daß dies so ist, dann würden die Menschen niemals dazu kommen, nach Vervollkommnung zu streben. Die Menschen müssen durch das, was sie entbehren, lernen. Eine solche Seele, die dann in dem Leben zwischen 'Tod und neuer Geburt leidet an dem Schmerz und an der Einsamkeit, eine solche Seele bekommt dadurch den Impuls, spirituelle Gedanken aufzunehmen.
So sehen wir, daß Geisteswissenschaft unter diesem Gesichtspunkte ist wie eine Sprache, durch die Lebende und Tote sich verstehen, durch die sie füreinander da sind und wahrnehmbar sind.
Und noch in anderer Beziehung zeigt sich, welche Mission Geisteswissenschaft hat in bezug auf die Überbrückung des Abgrundes zwischen Leben und Tod. Wenn Menschenseelen durch die Pforte des Todes schreiten, dann treten sie ja in ein Leben ein, welches den Zusammenhang mit dem Erdenleben erhält durch die Erinnerung an das, was vergangen ist. — Ich schildere nicht das, was in unseren Büchern zu finden ist, sondern zur Ergänzung dessen. — Längere Zeit nach dem Tode hat der Mensch damit zu tun, daß er noch zurückempfinden muß die Erde, daß er sich abgewöhnen muß die Sehnsucht, einen physischen Leib zu haben. In der Zeit des Sichabgewöhnens lernt der Mensch als ein seelisch-geistiges Wesen leben. Stellen wir uns recht lebendig vor, wie es sich der seherischen Forschung darbietet. Zunächst hat die Seele einen Zusammenhang nur mit dem, was sie selber war; man schaut hin auf das eigene innere Leben, das in Gedanken, Vorstellungen und so weiter abgelaufen ist; man erinnert sich an Beziehungen, die man zu andern Menschen gehabt hat. Aber wenn man auf die Erde hinunterschauen will, dann bietet sich ein besonderer Anblick. Man hat den Trieb, hinunterzuschauen. Dieser Trieb, der Erde zu gedenken, bleibt im ganzen Leben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt. So lange der Mensch berufen ist, von Leben zu Leben zu gehen, so lange bleibt das Bewußtsein: Du bist für die Erde bestimmt, du mußt immer wieder auf die Erde zurückkehren, wenn du dich in der rechten Weise entwickeln willst. — Da zeigt sich bei dem Toten, daß, wenn er den Gedanken an die Erde verlieren würde, er dann als Toter ganz verlieren würde den Gedanken an sein Ich. Dann würde er nicht mehr wissen, daß er selber ist, und das würde ein ungeheures Leidesgefühl bedeuten. Der Mensch darf eben den Zusammenhang mit der Erde nicht verlieren, es darf die Erde nicht sozusagen entrinnen für sein Vorstellen. Im allgemeinen kann sie ihm auch nicht ganz verschwinden. Nur in unserer Zeit der materialistischen Hochflut, wo diese spirituelle Offenbarung kommen muß, damit der Zusammenhang zwischen Lebenden und Toten erhalten bleibe, da ist das Zurückblicken schwierig für die Seelen, die mit keinen andern Seelen auf der Erde zusammenkamen, in denen spirituelle Gedanken und Empfindungen vorhanden sind.
Für die Toten ist es wichtig, daß diejenigen, mit denen sie auf Erden in Verbindung gestanden haben, allabendlich in die Welt des Schlafes hinein mitnehmen Gedanken an die spirituelle Welt. Je mehr wir Gedanken an die spirituelle Welt hineinnehmen in den Schlaf, desto Besseres leisten wir für diejenigen, die uns hier im Leben persönlich bekannt waren oder mit uns in irgendwelchen Beziehungen gestanden haben und vor uns hinweggestorben sind. Es ist ja schwierig, über diese Verhältnisse zu sprechen, denn unsere Worte sind genommen von dem physischen Plan. Dasjenige, was wir in den Schlaf hinein mitbringen an spirituellen Gedanken, das ist die Welt, von der in einer gewissen Weise die Toten leben müssen, und ein Toter, welcher niemand hier auf Erden hat, der in den Schlaf hinein spirituelle Gedanken hinüberträgt, der hungert gewissermaßen, der ist wie einer, der auf Erden auf eine Felseninsel versetzt ist. So fühlt der Tote, wenn er keine Seelen findet, in denen spirituelle Empfindungen leben, wie wenn er in einer Öde wäre, wie wenn nichts da wäre, was er zum Leben braucht. Daher kann man gar nicht sagen, wie ernst wiederum die Gedanken geisteswissenschaftlicher Weltanschauung zu nehmen sind, wenn man in unserer Zeit immer mehr die Weltanschauung überhandnehmen sieht, die nichts wissen will von geistigen Welten. Früher, wo man mit einem andächtigen Abendgebet zur Ruhe ging und mitnahm die Nachwirkungen dieses Abendgebetes, war das anders als heute, wo die Menschen vielleicht nach einem Mahle oder andern Genüssen, ohne an etwas Übersinnliches zu denken, gedankenlos in den Schlaf sinken. So entzieht man den Toten ihre geistige Nahrung. Diese Erkenntnisse müssen immer mehr und mehr zu dem führen, was da, wo es von unsern Freunden geleistet wird, schon recht gute Früchte getragen hat: das ist dasjenige, was ich nennen möchte das Vorlesen den Toten. Dieses Vorlesen den Toten hat eine ungeheure Bedeutung.
Nehmen wir an, hier auf Erden hätten zwei Menschen nebeneinander gelebt; der eine hätte durch innere Impulse des Herzens den Drang empfunden zur Geisteswissenschaft, der andere wird ihr aber gerade dadurch immer mehr abgeneigt. In einem solchen Falle vermag man oftmals über den Lebenden nichts, um ihm zu einer spirituellen Weltanschauung zu verhelfen; ja vielleicht gerade dadurch, daß man sich darum bemüht, macht man ihn erst recht zu einem Hasser derselben. Nehmen wir an, ein solcher Mensch stirbt vor uns, dann haben wir die Möglichkeit, ihm nach seinem Tode um so besser zu helfen.
Dasjenige, was in unsern Seelen lebt, ist etwas recht Kompliziertes, und dasjenige, worüber sich unser Bewußtsein ausbreitet, ist nur ein Teil des Seeleninhalts. Der Mensch weiß gar vieles nicht, was in seiner Seele ist; und es ist manchmal etwas vorhanden, wovon er glaubt, es sei das Gegenteil da. So kann es sein und sich wirklich zutragen, daß jemand ein Hasser der Geisteswissenschaft wird. Das nimmt er wahr mit seinem Bewußtsein. In der Tiefe seiner Seele kann er aber eine um so tiefere Sehnsucht nach Geisteswissenschaft haben. Wenn wir durch die Pforte des Todes geschritten sind, da leben wir das Leben, das wir in der Tiefe unserer Seele gelebt haben. Wenn man an die Toten herantritt, die man hier im Leben gekannt hat, zeigen sie sich oft als ganz anders geartet als hier. Ein Mensch, der mit Bewußtsein die Geisteswissenschaft gehaßt hat, aber in tiefster Seele danach Sehnsucht hat, ohne daß er es weiß, in dem tritt oftmals nach dem Tode diese Sehnsucht ganz besonders hervor. Wir helfen ihm, wenn wir ein Buch geisteswissenschaftlichen Inhalts nehmen, uns das Bild des Toten innerlich vorstellen und wie einem Lebenden, nicht laut, sondern leise, dem Toten vorlesen. Das verstehen die Toten. Natürlich um so eindringlicher verstehen es diejenigen, die schon im Leben dem Spirituellen nahegestanden haben. Wir sollten nicht versäumen, den Verstorbenen vorzulesen oder uns mit ihnen in Gedanken zu unterhalten. Dabei möchte ich auf das eine Praktische hinweisen, daß der Mensch viele Jahre nach dem Tode, etwa drei bis fünf Jahre, ein Verständnis hat für die Sprache, die er gesprochen hat. Das hört allmählich auf, aber er hat dann noch Verständnis für die spirituellen Gedanken. Es kann dann auch vorgelesen werden in einer Sprache, die der Tote nicht verstanden hat, wenn man sie nur selber versteht. Auf diese Weise werden den Toten große Dienste geleistet. — Und gerade auf solchen Gebiete merkt man besonders die ganze Bedeutung der geisteswissenschaftlichen Weltanschauung, da sie die Kluft hinwegschafft zwischen Lebenden und Toten. Und wir können uns denken, daß, wenn es uns gelingt, auf Erden für die Geisteswissenschaft immer weitere und weitere Verbreitung zu gewinnen, daß dann in den Seelen immer mehr das Bewußtsein hervorkommen wird davon, daß man mit den Toten zusammen ist.
Eine Zeitlang also nach dem Tode hängt der Mensch unmittelbar noch mit der Erde zusammen. Dann aber muß er in die geistige Welt hineinwachsen, er muß ein Bürger der geistigen Welt werden. Dazu muß er vorbereitet sein, muß Empfänglichkeit und Verständnis für die geistige Welt haben. Da kommt zum Beispiel eine Zeit heran, wo für die seelische Forschung, wenn die Toten beobachtet werden, ein großer Unterschied auftritt zwischen solchen Seelen, welche hier auf Erden moralische Stimmungen und Empfindungen gepflegt haben, und solchen, die ohne moralische Empfindungen hier gelebt haben. Wenn der Mensch hier keine moralischen Empfindungen gepflegt hat, so wird er dann sein wie ein Einsiedler. Er wird den Weg nicht finden zu andern Menschen im Jenseits und auch nicht den Weg zu höheren Hierarchien. Niemals erlischt das Bewußtsein des Menschen; aber was dann des Menschen harrt, ist Einsamkeitsgefühl. Die Möglichkeit, von einer gewissen Zeit an nach dem Tode mit andern Wesenheiten zu leben — eine Zeit, die man die Merkurzeit nennt —, erwirbt sich der Mensch durch moralisches Leben. So daß man sagen kann: Wie der Mensch hier auf Erden gelebt hat, das bildet die Ursache, ob er in der Merkurzeit in einsiedlerischem, grauenvollem Elend lebt oder ob er den Anschluß findet, den Zusammenhang mit Menschenseelen oder Wesenheiten der höheren Welt.
Dann kommt später eine Zeit, für die der Mensch in anderer Weise vorbereitet sein muß und in welcher er sich wieder zur Einsamkeit verdammen würde, wenn er nicht hier auf Erden religiöse Empfindungen entwickelt hätte. Diese Zeit nennt man die Venuszeit. Derjenige, der nicht religiöse Empfindungen in sich entwickelt hat, fühlt sich blind und taub gegenüber dem, was um ihn herum ist.
Dann kommt eine Zeit, für welche der Mensch, um nicht gewissen Wesenheiten der höheren Welt gegenüber unempfänglich zu werden, als Vorbereitung ein völliges Verständnis für alle Religionen haben muß. Das ist die Sonnenzeit. Sie wird vorbereitet hier auf Erden durch ein Verständnis für alles Menschliche, für die verschiedenen religiösen Bekenntnisse, In alten Zeiten genügte es für die Sonnenzeit, wenn ein Mensch die Religion des Brahma hatte, ein anderer die Religion des Laotse und so weiter. Jetzt aber, wie die Zeiten sich entwickelt haben, stehen die Menschen durch die religiösen Bekenntnisse gegeneinander, und so kann die Sonnenzeit nicht in der richtigen Weise durchgemacht werden. Es gehört spirituelles Empfinden hierzu. Diese Sonnenzeit, die der Mensch durchzumachen hat zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt, sie ist so, daß man fühlt, man sei eingetreten in eine Welt, in welcher entweder, je nachdem man vorbereitet ist, ein gewisser Platz leer erscheint oder nicht. Wollen wir verstehen, wodurch wir ihn nicht leer erblicken, so müssen wir das Mysterium von Golgatha verstehen. In dem Christus-Impuls liegt die Möglichkeit, jegliches menschliche Empfinden zu verstehen. Das Christentum ist schon eine allgemeine Religion; das Christentum ist nicht eine Stammes-, Rassen- oder Nationalreligion, wie der Hinduismus oder andere Nationalreligionen es sind. Wenn die mitteleuropäischen Völker ihre alten Stammesreligionen behalten hätten, so hätten wir heute noch den Wotandienst, den Thordienst und so weiter. Doch die europäischen Völker haben das Bekenntnis des Christentums angenommen. Man ist aber im richtigen Sinne Christ nicht dadurch, daß man dieses oder jenes christliche Dogma vertritt, sondern daß man weiß, daß Christus für alle Menschen gestorben ist. Die Menschen werden erst nach und nach lernen, sich als Christen zu verhalten. Wenn heute ein Europäer nach Indien kommt, dann ist in der Regel das, was er vertritt, ein Wortbekenntnis. Die richtige Empfindung aber, die man haben muß, ist diese: Wo man auch auf der Erde eine Menschenseele trifft, kann man finden den Christus-Impuls. Der Hindu wird nicht glauben, daß sein Gott in allen Menschen lebt. Der Christ weiß, daß Christus in allen Menschen lebt. Geisteswissenschaft wird zeigen, daß das richtig verstandene Christentum den Wahrheitskern aller Religionen enthält und daß jede Religion, wenn sie sich ihres Wahrheitskernes bewußt wird, zum Mysterium von Golgatha hinführt.
Wenn man einen andern Eingeweihten oder irgendeinen andern Religionsstifter betrachtet, dann ist es klar, daß er etwas aus den höheren Welten verkünden will, weil er durch die Einweihung gegangen ist. Derjenige versteht den Christus nicht wirklich, der nicht klar sieht, daß der Christus auf Erden nicht durch irgendwelche Einweihung gegangen ist; sondern dadurch, daß er da war, war er eingeweiht und vereinigte alles in sich.
Wenn man als Seher auf das Buddha-Leben hinblickt und es verfolgt, dann wird einem gerade in der geistigen Welt viel klarer, was der Buddha war. Mit dem Christusleben ist es nicht so. Das Christusleben ist so, daß man schon hier auf der Erde eine Beziehung zu ihm gewinnen muß, um es in der geistigen Welt zu verstehen. Wenn man hier eine solche Beziehung nicht gewinnt, dann kann man, wenn man initiiert wird, wohl alles mögliche sehen, aber den Christus kann man nicht sehen, wenn man nicht von der Erde aus eine Beziehung zu ihm gewonnen hat.
Daher verstehen so wenige, was das Mysterium von Golgatha ist. Es macht den Christus zu einer Wesenheit, welche gleichbedeutend ist für den primitiven Menschen und den höchsten Eingeweihten. Die primitivste Menschenseele kann eine Beziehung zu Christus haben, und der Eingeweihte muß sie auch finden. Wenn man hineinkommt in höhere Welten, da lernt man vieles kennen; nur eines gibt es nicht, eines lernt man nicht: das ist der Tod. Der Tod ist nur in der physischen Welt. In der geistigen Welt ist wohl Verwandlung, aber nicht der Tod. So daß wir sagen können: Alle geistigen Wesen, die niemals auf unsere Erde kommen, die nur in den spirituellen Welten bleiben, die gehen nicht durch den Tod. Christus ist ein Mitbürger der Menschen auf der physischen Welt geworden, und dasjenige, was sich auf Golgatha abgespielt hat, das macht, daß, wenn man den einzigen Göttertod versteht, man in der Sonnenzeit nicht leer ausgeht. Die andern Eingeweihten sind Menschen, die sich durch verschiedene Erdenleben besonders entwickelt haben. Christus war nicht vorher als Christus auf der Erde, sondern er war in Welten, wo es keinen Tod gibt. Er ist der einzige unter seinesgleichen, der den Tod kennenlernte. Daher muß man, um den Christus kennenzulernen, seinen Tod verstehen, und weil der Tod das Wesentliche ist, deshalb kann nur hier auf der Erde, wo der Tod vorhanden ist, das Mysterium von Golgatha verstanden werden. Gelangt man hier auf der Erde nicht zu einer Beziehung zum Christus, dann erlebt man ihn in der höheren Welt nicht; dann finden wir in der Sonnenzeit seinen Platz leer. Nehmen wir aber den Christus-Impuls mit, dann erscheint der Sonnenthron nicht leer; dann finden wir bewußt den Christus.
Es ist wichtig für unsere heutige Menschheitsentwickelung, daß wir in diesem Punkte den Christus in der geistigen Welt finden, indem wir ihn wiedererkennen. Warum? Ja, wenn wir durch diese Sonnenzeit gehen, dann sind wir allmählich eingetreten in eine Welt, wo wir angewiesen sind auf geistiges Licht. Vorher, vor der Sonnenzeit, da haben wir noch die Nachwirkungen der Erde, die Nachwirkungen dessen, was wir persönlich gewesen sind: moralische und religiöse Empfindungen. Jetzt brauchen wir mehr. Jetzt brauchen wir die Fähigkeit, dasjenige zu schauen, was in der geistigen Welt ist und was hier noch nicht in uns vorbereitet werden kann; denn wir müssen nun durch Welten von Kräften hindurchgehen, von denen man hier nichts wissen kann.
Wenn der Mensch durch die Geburt in das Leben hereinkommt, ist sein Gehirn unentwickelt. Der Mensch muß es sich erst erarbeiten nach dem, was er sich in früheren Leben erworben hat. Denn wenn man eine bestimmte Art von Fähigkeiten notwendig hat, dann genügt es nicht, daß man sie sich erworben hat, sondern man muß auch wissen, wie das erforderliche physische Organ gebaut sein muß.
Es gibt einen wichtigen, aber sehr gefährlichen Führer. Hier auf Erden bleibt er unbewußt. Aber von der Sonnenzeit an wird er notwendig: Luzifer. Wir würden in Finsternis wandeln, wenn nicht Luzifer an uns herantreten würde. Wir können aber nur an der Seite Luzifers wandeln, wenn wir die Führung des Christus haben. Die beiden führen den Menschen nach der Sonnenzeit dann weiter durch das folgende Leben: die Marszeit, die Jupiterzeit, die Saturnzeit. In diesen Zeiten nach der Sonnenzeit kommt der Mensch zusammen mit Kräften, die er zur neuen Verkörperung braucht. Es ist nämlich Unsinn, wenn die materialistische Wissenschaft glaubt, daß der materielle Körper vererbt werde. Sie hat heute keine Möglichkeit, ihren Irrtum einzusehen; aber man wird die spirituellen Wahrheiten erkennen, und dann wird man den Irrtum einsehen. Den Menschen kann nichts vererbt werden als nur die Anlagen für Gehirn und Rückenmark, für alles das, was eingeschlossen ist in die nach außen fest abgeschlossene Knochenkapsel des Gehirns und die Ringe des Rückgrates. Alles andere wird durch Kräfte aus dem Makrokosmos bestimmt. Der Mensch würde eine sozusagen vollständig unmenschliche Masse sein, wenn ihm nur das gegeben würde, was ihm vererbt wird. Dieses, was ihm vererbt wird, muß durchgearbeitet werden von dem, was der Mensch sich aus den geistigen Welten mitbringt.
Warum nenne ich die Zeiten nach dem Tode Merkurzeit, Venuszeit, Sonnenzeit, Mars-, Jupiter- und Saturnzeit?
Wenn der Mensch hindurchgegangen ist durch die Pforte des Todes, wird er immer größer und größer. In der Tat ist das Leben nach dem Tode so, daß man sich über einen großen Raum ausgebreitet weiß. Da wächst man zunächst so weit, daß man sozusagen den Raum ausfüllt, der durch den Umlauf des Mondes umgrenzt wird. Dann wächst man weiter bis zum Kreis des Merkur, okkult gesprochen, dann bis zum Kreis der Venus, der Sonne, des Mars. Man wächst in den großen Himmelsraum hinaus. Jeder Mensch wächst nach dem Tode in den Himmelsraum hinaus. Aber dieses räumliche Zusammensein aller dieser Menschenseelen hat keine Bedeutung. Wenn Sie die ganze Venus-Sphäre durchdringen, so tun das die andern auch, aber sie brauchen deswegen voneinander nichts zu wissen. Wenn man auch weiß, daß man nicht ein einsames Wesen ist, man kann sich dennoch einsam fühlen. Man wächst schließlich in das Weltenall hinaus bis zu einer Sphäre, die beschrieben wird durch den Saturn, und noch weiter. Und indem man so hinauswächst, eignet man sich die Kräfte an, die man braucht, um das nächste Leben aufzubauen. Und dann geht man wieder zurück, wird immer kleiner und kleiner, bis man sich wieder mit der Erde verbindet. So dehnt sich der Mensch zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt über den ganzen Makrokosmos aus, und so sonderbar es aussieht, es ist so: Wenn wir in ein Erdenleben wieder eintreten, dann bringen wir die Kräfte des ganzen Sonnensystems mit ins Dasein und vereinigen sie mit dem, was uns vererbt wird aus den physischen Substanzen. Mit den Kräften aus dem Kosmos bauen wir den physischen Leib und unser Gehirn auf. Wir leben also hier zwischen Geburt und Tod in den engen Grenzen unseres physischen Leibes; wir leben nach dem Tode im ganzen SonnenMakrokosmos ausgebreitet.
Der eine Mensch empfindet tief moralisch, der andere weniger. Der eine Mensch, der jetzt tief moralisch empfindet, er geht durch die geistige Welt und kann alles erleben als ein geselliges Wesen. Aus dem Sternenleben herein kommt die Kraft dazu. Ein anderer bereitete sich nicht so vor, er konnte keine Beziehungen gewinnen, er brachte keine vergeistigenden Kräfte herein, er kann zunächst auch keine moralischen Anlagen haben. Er geht daher einsam durch die Sphären. Alles, was im Menschen ist, seine Beziehungen zur Welt, alles tritt uns in bedeutungsvoller Weise entgegen durch eine solche spirituelle Erkenntnis.
Kant hat den Ausspruch getan: «Zwei Dinge erfüllen das Gemüt mit immer neuer und zunehmender Bewunderung und Ehrfurcht: der bestirnte Himmel über mir und das moralische Gesetz in mir.» Er hat damit etwas sehr Bedeutungsvolles gesagt. Geisteswissenschaft zeigt, daß beides dasselbe ist. Was wir erleben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt, bringen wir als moralisches Gesetz mit; was wir durchleben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt, den bestirnten Himmel, wir tragen ihn herein in unser Erdenleben, wo er zu unserem moralischen Gesetz werden muß.
So bringt uns Geisteswissenschaft die Anschauung von der Größe der menschlichen Seele und die Anschauung von der menschlichen Verantwortlichkeit.
Additional Facts About Life Between Death and Rebirth
Listeners' notes
When we are together here in our branch, it is possible to talk about some things in more detail than can be done in public lectures or writings. And so today I would like to discuss a few things that may serve as a supplement to the insights we have gained from our writings and cycles.
You can imagine, my dear friends, that life between death and new birth is just as rich and varied as life here between birth and death, so that whenever one describes what happens between death and new birth, one can of course only pick out parts, only details. Today I want to touch less on what is already known, but rather point out a few things that will shed more light on what is known.
When someone who is able to look into the spiritual worlds truly directs their gaze into the world in which human beings dwell between death and rebirth, then the necessity of what we want to achieve here through our spiritual scientific work becomes very clear, especially for our time; through what can be given to the heart and soul of human beings through spiritual scientific work.
Let us take a special case as an example. For example, a man died and left his family. He had loved his wife very much during his life and had always been devoted to his family. When he was visited by the seer, he suffered greatly because when he looked down to earth, he could not find the souls of his children or the soul of his wife. And in the way that the seer can connect with human souls, can converse, so to speak, with human souls between death and rebirth, he then revealed how he could indeed think back with his thoughts and all his feelings to the time when he was with his loved ones on earth; but then he said something like this: Yes, when I was on earth, my wife was like sunshine to me, but now I must do without her. I can only think back to what I had on earth, but I cannot find my wife. Why is that? For it is not so with all who have passed through the gate of death. If we went back many millennia, we would find that the souls of human beings could also look down from this spiritual realm and participate in what their loved ones were doing on earth. Why was this the case for all souls in ancient times, in the times before the Mystery of Golgotha? Why is it not so for many today? Yes, in ancient times, as we know, people lived on earth in such a way that they still had a certain original clairvoyance. People did not only see through their eyes into the sensory world, but they saw behind the sensory things the spiritual origins, the original beings. And this ability to coexist with the spiritual world in physical existence meant that when the soul passed through the gate of death, it could once again perceive everything spiritual that it had left behind here. Now human souls no longer have the ability to live directly with the spiritual world, for it is the development of humanity that man has descended from spiritual life to physical life. This has brought the ability to judge and so on, but it has taken away the ability to live with the spiritual worlds. For a time, immediately after the Mystery of Golgotha, when human souls were seized by the Christ impulse, at least part of humanity was able to regain this ability in a certain way. But now we are once again living in a time when souls who pass through the gate of death and have not concerned themselves with the spiritual worlds lose their connection with the spiritual world.
We need the revelation that we call spiritual revelation, which we rightly believe should be imprinted on human souls. Today, the old, merely religious confession is no longer sufficient; today, if souls want to see spiritually from the world beyond into this world, they need what can be given to them through the spiritual scientific understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha. Thus we strive to bring spiritual light into souls.
The man who was found in the manner described had not concerned himself with any thoughts or feelings of the spiritual world. He passed through the gate of death without allowing thoughts of the spiritual world to pass through his soul. So it came about that the man could say: “I know from my memory that my wife is down there; I know she is there, but I cannot see her, I cannot find her.”
When could he have found her? From that world, one can only see souls in which spiritual abilities live. Such souls can be seen from the other world, in which the thoughts of spiritual understanding live. When one looks down, a soul that has remained here only becomes visible to the dead when spiritual thoughts live in that soul. These thoughts can be seen. Otherwise, the soul remains invisible. Otherwise, one suffers the torment of knowing that it is there but cannot find it. The moment one succeeds in transmitting some thoughts about the spiritual world to such a soul, the earthly soul begins to shine for those living in the other world, and then it begins to be there for them.
Do not say that it is unjust if such souls, who perhaps through no fault of their own have no spiritual thoughts here on earth, remain invisible to the dead. If the world were not arranged in this way, human beings would never strive for perfection. Human beings must learn through what they lack. Such a soul, which then suffers pain and loneliness in the life between death and rebirth, receives the impulse to take up spiritual thoughts.
Thus we see that, from this point of view, spiritual science is like a language through which the living and the dead understand each other, through which they are there for each other and are perceptible to each other.
And in yet another respect, the mission of spiritual science in bridging the abyss between life and death becomes apparent. When human souls pass through the gate of death, they enter a life that maintains its connection with earthly life through the memory of what has passed. — I am not describing what can be found in our books, but rather supplementing it. — For a long time after death, the human being has to deal with the fact that he still has to feel his way back to the earth, that he has to wean himself of the longing to have a physical body. During this period of weaning, the human being learns to live as a soul-spiritual being. Let us imagine this vividly, as it appears in clairvoyant research. At first, the soul has a connection only with what it itself was; one looks back on one's own inner life, which has taken place in thoughts, ideas, and so on; one remembers relationships one has had with other people. But when one wants to look down upon the earth, a special sight presents itself. One has the urge to look down. This urge to remember the earth remains throughout the entire life between death and rebirth. As long as the human being is called to go from life to life, the consciousness remains: You are destined for the earth; you must return to the earth again and again if you want to develop in the right way. — This shows that if the dead person were to lose the thought of the earth, he would then, as a dead person, completely lose the thought of his ego. Then he would no longer know that he is himself, and that would mean an immense feeling of suffering. Man must not lose his connection with the earth; the earth must not, so to speak, escape his imagination. In general, it cannot disappear completely. Only in our time of materialistic excess, when this spiritual revelation must come so that the connection between the living and the dead may be preserved, is it difficult for souls who have not come into contact with other souls on earth in which spiritual thoughts and feelings exist to look back.
It is important for the dead that those with whom they were connected on earth take thoughts of the spiritual world with them into the world of sleep every evening. The more we take thoughts of the spiritual world into our sleep, the better we do for those who were personally known to us here in life or who were connected to us in any way and have died before us. It is difficult to talk about these conditions because our words are taken from the physical plane. The spiritual thoughts we bring with us into sleep are the world in which the dead must live in a certain way, and a dead person who has no one here on earth to carry spiritual thoughts into sleep is, in a sense, starving, like someone who has been transported to a rocky island on earth. This is how the dead feel when they find no souls in which spiritual feelings live, as if they were in a wasteland, as if there were nothing there that they needed to live. Therefore, it is impossible to say how seriously the thoughts of spiritual science should be taken when, in our time, we see the worldview that wants to know nothing about spiritual worlds gaining the upper hand. In the past, when people went to rest with a devout evening prayer and took the after-effects of this evening prayer with them, it was different from today, when people perhaps sink into sleep thoughtlessly after a meal or other pleasures, without thinking about anything supernatural. In this way, the dead are deprived of their spiritual nourishment. These insights must increasingly lead to what has already borne good fruit among our friends: that is what I would like to call reading aloud to the dead. This reading aloud to the dead has tremendous significance.
Let us suppose that two people lived side by side here on earth; one felt an inner impulse of the heart to pursue spiritual science, while the other became increasingly averse to it precisely because of this. In such a case, it is often impossible to do anything for the living person to help them attain a spiritual worldview; indeed, it may be that your efforts only serve to make them hate it even more. Let us suppose that such a person dies before us. Then we have the opportunity to help them all the better after their death.
What lives in our souls is something quite complicated, and what our consciousness extends over is only a part of the soul's content. Human beings do not know many things that are in their souls; and sometimes there is something present that they believe to be the opposite. So it can happen, and indeed does happen, that someone becomes a hater of spiritual science. He perceives this with his consciousness. But in the depths of his soul he may have an even deeper longing for spiritual science. When we have passed through the gate of death, we live the life that we have lived in the depths of our soul. When we approach the dead whom we knew here in life, they often appear to be completely different from how they were here. A person who consciously hated spiritual science but who, in the depths of his soul, longed for it without knowing it, will often find this longing coming to the fore after death. We can help them by taking a book on spiritual science, imagining the image of the deceased in our mind's eye, and reading aloud to them, not loudly but quietly, as if they were alive. The dead understand this. Of course, those who were already close to the spiritual in life understand it all the more deeply. We should not fail to read aloud to the deceased or to converse with them in our thoughts. I would like to point out one practical aspect, namely that for many years after death, about three to five years, a person has an understanding of the language they spoke. This gradually ceases, but they still have an understanding of spiritual thoughts. It is then also possible to read aloud in a language that the deceased did not understand, provided that you yourself understand it. In this way, a great service is rendered to the dead. — And it is precisely in such areas that one particularly notices the whole significance of the spiritual scientific worldview, since it removes the gap between the living and the dead. And we can imagine that if we succeed in spreading spiritual science more and more on earth, then more and more awareness will emerge in souls that they are together with the dead.
For a time after death, therefore, the human being is still directly connected to the earth. But then he must grow into the spiritual world; he must become a citizen of the spiritual world. To do this, he must be prepared; he must have receptivity and understanding for the spiritual world. For example, there comes a time when, in soul research, when the dead are observed, a great difference arises between souls who have cultivated moral feelings and sensibilities here on earth and those who have lived here without moral sensibilities. If a person has not cultivated moral sensibilities here, he will then be like a hermit. He will not find his way to other people in the afterlife, nor will he find his way to higher hierarchies. Human consciousness never dies, but what awaits man then is a feeling of loneliness. The possibility of living with other beings for a certain period of time after death—a period called the Mercury period—is acquired by man through moral living. So we can say that how a person has lived here on earth determines whether they will live in the Mercury period in solitary, miserable isolation, or whether they will find connection with human souls or beings of the higher world.
Then comes a time for which human beings must be prepared in a different way, and in which they would condemn themselves to loneliness again if they had not developed religious feelings here on earth. This period is called the Venus period. Those who have not developed religious feelings within themselves feel blind and deaf to what is around them.
Then comes a time for which human beings must have a complete understanding of all religions in order not to become unreceptive to certain beings of the higher world. This is the Sun Age. It is prepared here on earth through an understanding of everything human, of the various religious creeds. In ancient times, it was sufficient for the Sun Age if one person had the religion of Brahma, another the religion of Lao Tzu, and so on. Now, however, as times have developed, people are opposed to one another through their religious creeds, and so the Sun Age cannot be lived through in the right way. This requires spiritual feeling. This solar age, which man must go through between death and new birth, is such that one feels one has entered a world in which, depending on how one is prepared, a certain place appears empty or not. If we want to understand why we do not see it as empty, we must understand the mystery of Golgotha. The Christ impulse holds the possibility of understanding all human feeling. Christianity is already a universal religion; Christianity is not a tribal, racial, or national religion, as Hinduism or other national religions are. If the peoples of Central Europe had retained their ancient tribal religions, we would still have the worship of Wotan, Thor, and so on. But the European peoples have accepted the Christian creed. However, one is not a Christian in the true sense by professing this or that Christian dogma, but by knowing that Christ died for all human beings. People will only gradually learn to behave as Christians. When a European comes to India today, what he professes is usually just a verbal confession. But the right feeling to have is this: wherever you meet a human soul on earth, you can find the Christ impulse. The Hindu will not believe that his God lives in all people. The Christian knows that Christ lives in all people. Spiritual science will show that Christianity, when properly understood, contains the core of truth of all religions and that every religion, when it becomes aware of its core of truth, leads to the mystery of Golgotha.
When one looks at another initiate or any other founder of a religion, it is clear that he wants to proclaim something from the higher worlds because he has gone through initiation. Those who do not clearly see that Christ did not go through any initiation on earth do not really understand Christ; rather, by being there, he was initiated and united everything in himself.
When one looks at the life of Buddha as a seer and follows it, then it becomes much clearer, especially in the spiritual world, what Buddha was. It is not so with the life of Christ. The life of Christ is such that one must already gain a relationship with him here on earth in order to understand it in the spiritual world. If you do not gain such a relationship here, then when you are initiated you may see all kinds of things, but you cannot see Christ unless you have gained a relationship with him from the earth.
That is why so few understand what the mystery of Golgotha is. It makes Christ a being who is the same for primitive humans and the highest initiates. The most primitive human soul can have a relationship with Christ, and the initiate must also find it. When you enter higher worlds, you learn many things; there is only one thing you do not learn: death. Death is only in the physical world. In the spiritual world there is transformation, but not death. So we can say that all spiritual beings who never come to our earth, who remain only in the spiritual worlds, do not pass through death. Christ became a fellow citizen of the people of the physical world, and what happened on Golgotha means that if you understand the only death of God, you will not come away empty-handed in the solar age. The other initiates are people who have developed themselves through various earthly lives. Christ was not on earth before as Christ, but he was in worlds where there is no death. He is the only one among his peers who experienced death. Therefore, in order to know Christ, one must understand his death, and because death is the essence, it is only here on Earth, where death exists, that the mystery of Golgotha can be understood. If we do not establish a relationship with Christ here on earth, we will not experience him in the higher world; then we will find his place empty in the solar era. But if we take the Christ impulse with us, then the sun throne will not appear empty; then we will consciously find Christ.
It is important for the present development of humanity that we find Christ in the spiritual world by recognizing him. Why? Because as we pass through this solar age, we are gradually entering a world where we are dependent on spiritual light. Before, before the solar period, we still had the aftereffects of the earth, the aftereffects of what we had been personally: moral and religious feelings. Now we need more. Now we need the ability to see what is in the spiritual world and what cannot yet be prepared in us here; for we must now pass through worlds of forces of which we can know nothing here.
When a human being enters life through birth, his brain is undeveloped. He must first develop it according to what he has acquired in previous lives. For if one needs a certain kind of ability, it is not enough to have acquired it; one must also know how the necessary physical organ must be constructed.
There is an important but very dangerous guide. Here on earth he remains unconscious. But from the time of the sun onwards he becomes necessary: Lucifer. We would walk in darkness if Lucifer did not approach us. However, we can only walk at Lucifer's side if we have the guidance of Christ. The two of them then lead human beings through the following lives after the Sun period: the Mars period, the Jupiter period, and the Saturn period. In these periods after the Sun period, human beings come together with the forces they need for their new incarnation. It is nonsense for materialistic science to believe that the material body is inherited. Today, it has no way of recognizing its error, but people will come to recognize the spiritual truths, and then they will see their error. Nothing can be inherited by human beings except the predispositions for the brain and spinal cord, for everything that is enclosed in the outwardly closed bone capsule of the brain and the rings of the spine. Everything else is determined by forces from the macrocosm. Human beings would be, so to speak, completely inhuman masses if they were given only what they inherit. What they inherit must be worked through by what human beings bring with them from the spiritual worlds.
Why do I call the periods after death Mercury time, Venus time, Sun time, Mars time, Jupiter time, and Saturn time?
When a human being has passed through the gate of death, he becomes greater and greater. In fact, life after death is such that one knows oneself to be spread out over a great space. There one grows first to such an extent that one fills, so to speak, the space bounded by the orbit of the moon. Then one grows further to the circle of Mercury, occultly speaking, then to the circle of Venus, the sun, and Mars. One grows out into the great space of heaven. After death, every human being grows out into the space of the heavens. But this spatial togetherness of all these human souls has no meaning. When you penetrate the entire sphere of Venus, so do the others, but they do not need to know anything about each other. Even if you know that you are not a lonely being, you can still feel lonely. You eventually grow out into the universe to a sphere described by Saturn, and even further. And as you grow out like this, you acquire the powers you need to build your next life. And then you go back again, becoming smaller and smaller until you reconnect with the Earth. Thus, between death and rebirth, human beings expand throughout the entire macrocosm, and as strange as it may seem, it is true: when we reenter an earthly life, we bring with us the forces of the entire solar system and unite them with what we inherit from the physical substances. With the forces from the cosmos, we build our physical body and our brain. So we live here between birth and death within the narrow limits of our physical body; after death, we live spread out throughout the entire solar macrocosm.
One person feels deeply moral, another less so. The person who now feels deeply moral passes through the spiritual world and can experience everything as a social being. The power to do so comes from their life among the stars. Another person did not prepare themselves in this way, could not form relationships, did not bring spiritual forces with them, and therefore cannot initially have any moral dispositions. They therefore pass through the spheres alone. Everything that is in human beings, their relationships to the world, everything comes to us in a meaningful way through such spiritual knowledge.
Kant said, “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe: the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.” He said something very meaningful. Spiritual science shows that both are the same. What we experience between death and rebirth, we bring with us as moral law; what we live through between death and rebirth, the starry sky, we carry into our earthly life, where it must become our moral law.
Thus, spiritual science gives us the view of the greatness of the human soul and the view of human responsibility.