Original Impulses for the Science of the Spirit
GA 96
22 October 1906 evening, Berlin
XII. Karma Technique
The ways of karma are easier to understand if we consider what happens to the human soul between death and a new birth. Today we’ll therefore discuss different prospects that open up along the road which the soul has to follow between death and a new birth. A picture should unfold of what happens to the soul after death. And as we can only gradually enter into these regions in our thoughts and get accustomed to them, it would indeed be useful to let such thoughts pass through the mind on more than one occasion.
To look at what happens to the soul after death we have to understand above all that the relationship the human being has to the worlds around him is then completely different. It is always good to draw the parallel between death and sleep. Human beings as we now have them before us are made up of different parts. First of all we have the physical body. The ether body is like an archetype behind it. In a way, this ether body is the creator of the physical body. There is relative justification in saying that the ether body resembles the physical body. It is mainly in its head region, the upper region, that the ether body is a kind of double of the physical body. The ether body is the basis of our temperament, and also of the ideas that become established in the mind. If an idea becomes a permanent part of a person, so that it is always to hand, this means it has imprinted itself in the ether body. The ether body provides the basis for memory, and the densest part of the ether body is the basis for our conscience.
The third part of the human being is the astral body, the basis for appetites and passions and wishes that arise from human needs. There is no sharp dividing line between the ether body and astral body.
The fourth part of essential human nature is the I. It holds the germ of the immortal human being, the spirit human being or atman, the life spirit or buddhi, and the spirit self or manas.
When a human being lies asleep in bed, the ether body and the physical body remain connected. The astral body is lifted out. During the night, pain and pleasure and all other sensations vanish because the astral body has separated from the physical body and so there can be no perception of them. It is different when a person goes through the gate of death. We then have a physical body that has just been left by the ether body. In sleep, the ether body does not leave the physical body, but it does do so in death.
After death the physical body dissolves either by decay or by being burned, and its parts are given back to the physical world. The astral body and the ether body remain connected for a time. This is an important moment in life after death. At the moment when the ether body separates from the physical body but remains connected with the astral body, the whole of life presents itself to the human soul as in a tableau of memories. This happens because the ether body sustains memory. For as long as the ether body remains connected with the physical body, our memory is tied to the powers of the physical body. When the ether body has been lifted out of the physical body after death, all of it comes up at once in the soul, like a tableau of memories.
To our ordinary way of thinking it is difficult to imagine how such a long span of time can be apparent to the soul in one and the same moment. But another element also plays an important role here. In the physical world, every event in life brings pain and pleasure, eagerness or reluctance. And when we look back on our lifetime, eagerness and reluctance come back to mind again. After death, however, pain and suffering have gone. The images are objective and do not cause pain; they do not evoke personal feelings. A tableau of memories of this kind can also come up in life on exceptional occasions, for instance in individuals who are about to die of drowning or are in danger of their life in some other way. The best people to cite as witnesses for this are those who don’t want to know about spiritual investigation in any real sense, for instance the Viennese criminal anthropologist Moriz Benedikt.77Benedikt, who by the way was a passionate mountaineer, had this experience not on a climbing trip but when he was about to drown. His description goes like this: 'From my childhood I had been very fond of water, and many of the things I experienced in connection with it stayed in my mind. I wanted to be a natural swimmer, and in the open-air Danube baths it happened that I went down. Fortunately I bumped into a post put there as a marker for bathers. It was no doubt scarcely 30 seconds that I had the feeling: I am drowning now. And I made the peculiar observation on myself that all life's memories passed before me at a tremendous speed within this short period. This observation is known in psychiatry, but few have had firsthand experience of it. I was 12 years old at the time.' Moriz Benedikt, Aus meinem Leben, Wien 1906, S. 35. He has told in his memoirs how on one occasion he was close to death on a mountaineering trip and how the whole of his life went through his mind at that moment. The phenomenon arises because something happens to the ether body when someone gets a major shock in life.
You know what it feels like when your hand goes to sleep. This is because the ether body has loosened. A clairvoyant is then able to see the fingers which have gone to sleep hang down limply from the hand, like a glove. Something like this also happens when you hypnotize someone. The clairvoyant then sees the ether head hang out of the physical head to the left and the right. When someone suffers a shock that touches the vitals, as in the case of drowning, his whole ether body is lifted out of the physical body. This then causes such a tableau of memories to appear.
A second death comes when the soul has lived in this memory picture for some time after death. The astral body with the I separates from the ether body. The ether body becomes part of the cosmic ether or the world of cosmic life in general, just as the physical body merges with the elements of the physical world. When the ether body first separates, it retains the form of the physical body for a time. You can see the ether body like a kind of spectre near the grave or somewhere else where the person has been. It has a tendency to stay close to the physical body.
We now need to see what happens to the astral body with the human being’s self-awareness. A particular kind of conscious awareness develops soon after the ether body has separated from the astral body. This is more powerful than ordinary dreaming. It enters into the reality of the astral world in a condition called kama loka, literally ‘desire world’. This does not refer to a place beyond the physical world, however. The worlds only differ in that one world is perceived with a different kind of organ from another. In the astral world, the human beings then lives surrounded by his astral body. It is a strange life he lives at this time. We can best understand it if we consider how the individual has lived until then.
Let us assume an average citizen of today has his favorite dish, something he really enjoys. This pleasure in his favourite dish is not in his physical body, for that merely takes in the food, in physical processes. Such physical processes may be chemical changes. But that is not the enjoyment of the food. The enjoyment is in the gourmet’s soul. It is the same with all pleasure and pain known to the soul. When the soul delights in beautiful colours or other things, a physical eye is needed if pleasure in the colour is to enter into the soul. The element in the soul that demands to be satisfied through the senses is kama. In the kama loka, the soul still thirsts for the pleasure but it no longer has the organs for this after death. The soul then develops an inner feeling of a particular kind. It may be compared to what happens in the soul if one walks through a desert where there is no well and suffers raging thirst. The condition after death is therefore due to the fact that one does not have the organs to satisfy one’s desires. The individual then experiences a raging thirst which will continue until all desire has gone. The more he has managed to free himself from the need to have his senses satisfied during life on earth, and the more he has made the beauty and the good of the world his own, things that are pure and independent of the body, the sooner will the time in kama loka be over. If he has already found his way into the world of the spirit, if the ideas and thoughts that are behind the world perceived by the senses have entered into his soul, the time in kama loka will be short.
Everything goes back to front on the astral plane, and things are the other way round, mirror images. Thus the figure 641 has to be read as 146 there. A passion which you produce comes towards you as an image, a wild animal, for example. In reality, however, this image comes from you yourself.
Human beings thus live once more through the physical life they have left behind, and do so in reverse. They live through the things that happened before death in reverse. This will take them back to childhood and they finally come free of all the things that tied them to physical life. The words ‘Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as does a child, there is no doubt that he shall not enter it,78Matth. 18:3; Mark 10: 15; Luke 18: 17. are fulfilled. The individual has reached the point where he was before he incarnated. He will be as a child again. With this, he is ready to return to the devachan.
There are two ideas we must make our own. We have to consider an inner sensation that becomes very intense at the moment of death. At the same time as they have the memory picture, the individuals feel themselves growing larger and larger. The images that surround them, images of their past life, also enlarge. Still being in their ether body, they grow into their environment, as it were. When the human being is in his ether body and has relived an event that happened fifty miles away, it will be as if he expanded as far as the scene of that event. If he’s been in America, he’ll feel himself expand as far as America. Human beings feel themselves growing larger and larger in their ether body.
In their astral body, on the other hand, they feel themselves to be divided up into many different parts. They do not experience the astral body as something that is connected in space. There are gall wasps, for instance, where the front part of the body and the abdomen are only connected by a very thin stalk.79Cynipidae, usually small or indeed tiny, dark hymenopters that lay their eggs in plant parts, causing them to produce galls. That is an example of how even in the physical world two parts that belong together may be connected by a very tenuous link. In the astral world it can happen that there is no link at all between two parts and yet the one belongs to the other and there is a definite feeling of their belonging together. In the astral body, human beings can be in all kinds of different places at once. If an individual going through kama loka has caused another person physical or mental pain at some time during life on earth, he will feel himself to be inside the other individual when he reaches that time in his journey back through life’s experiences and he will feel the pain of the other individual in his own astral body. All events and actions of the past life come up a second time in this mirror of inner sensations. This, too, is part of life in kama loka.
Let us sum up what has been said so far about life after death. The first thing is that everything we have experienced in life on earth passes before us without the individual feeling pleasure or pain. The second thing is that he goes through the suffering he has caused in reverse order. Two things remain for him. The substance of the ether body leaves him. but the powers of the ether body remain; an extract of all life’s experiences remains like a kind of residue. This extract absorbs the things he has done. He takes the experiences from the kama loka with him up into the devachan. The substance of which the human being must rid himself before entering into the higher life now separates off. The astral plane all around is full of astral corpses. This is the element the human being cannot take with him into the devachan. The astral corpse dissolves in the astral world.
To understand what a human being does in the devachan one must first of all consider the way life goes here on earth. The way we deal with life’s experiences here on earth is such that only an extremely small part is extracted; one could gain a great deal more from every event. This can be most clearly seen if we look at the matter the other way round. Remember, for instance, how you learned to write. This involved all kinds of experiences. They all condense into one thing—the ability to write. Something which initially occurred in an outward way in the world is transformed into an ability. All of life’s experiences hold that potential, that opportunity; they can later become abilities. Such is the transformation which takes place after death. When the individual is born again, much will show itself as ability or potential. The basic inner feeling on the devachan plane is that all life’s experiences are transformed into abilities. This gives a feeling of blessedness. A stream of blessedness then passes through the human being. The feeling may be compared to the one that goes through a hen’s soul when she hatches an egg. A soul always experiences a feeling of blessedness when it brings something forth. The higher the production, the higher the state of blessedness felt. This devachan feeling is no illusion. The relationships developed in this world are much more intense in the devachan than they are here. The barriers of space and time have gone. In this world one can truly enter wholly into another human being. The feeling a mother has for her child evolves from an animal level of feeling to become a moral relationship. Everything that is animal by nature drops away like scales during kama loka, and everything spiritual fills both entities in the devachan. All relationships that have developed here will be transformed with greater intensity in the devachan. When the human being has developed all that is necessary in the devachan, he is ready for a new birth.
All kinds of different forms and configurations exist in the astral world. One gets to know many different inhabitants on the astral plane. Thus there are forms that hasten through astral space at tremendous speed; they whirr through the astral world like bell—shapes. These are human beings on their way back to being born. When a human being has transformed all life's experiences into abilities in the devachan, he goes down to the astral world again. Just as a magnet attracts iron shavings, so do human beings gather the ether body for their next life as they return to the astral space. This happens with the help of other spirits. At the same time human beings are guided towards the parents who will be more or less right for the new incarnation. They can only be given the best possible body. Entering into the physical body happens not only from this one point of view, for the place and environment in which people develop is also determined. All this is determined by the things which they have done in the previous life on earth. The astral substance coming to them consists in the abilities they have gained. The ideas which have become an established part of the soul influence the configuration of the ether body. The ether body in its turn determined the nature of the physical body.
Now how do human beings come to be taken exactly into the situation into which they are taken when they incarnate again? Here we have to speak of mysterious influences around human beings. When someone has a thought, a wish, a sensation, these are initially experiences in the astral body. Inner feelings and thoughts that come to expression in the aura, are also forms on the astral plane. Anything human beings experience in the soul during physical life has a corresponding form in astral space. Physical experiences not only exist on the physical plane but also continue on the astral plane. Everything human beings experience deep down in the soul has its mirror image on the astral plane. Anything that is a quality of the ether body continues on the devachan plane. Just as every thought creates a form on the astral plane, so does every quality of the ether body evoke its counter image on the devachan plane. Our actions also have their counter images in higher worlds, and that means on the buddhi plane. Thus thoughts have their counter image on the astral plane, habits on the devachan plane, actions on the buddhi plane.
thoughts—astral plane
inclinations—devachan plane
actions—buddhi plane
Human beings are all the time populating the astral plane with thought forms, the devachan plane with forms that are their inclinations, the buddhi plane with reflections of their actions. All this is then around us all the time on the higher planes. That is one side of it. There is also another side. Imagine you have done something to someone, an action that has done him harm. During kama loka you experience this in yourself. The pain you then take with you as the pain you have experienced in the other individual becomes a power that is recorded on the buddhi plane. The unfolding of this power is prepared by being inscribed on the buddhi plane. Human beings are guided towards everything inscribed on the buddhi plane. Through the experiences that have come to them in kama loka they connect again with the consequences of their actions on the buddhi plane. Human beings are not yet able to live on the buddhi plane and therefore cannot do this themselves. They need guides. These are the Lipikas, the destiny gods.80See Steiner R. At the Gates of Spiritual Science (GA 95), lecture of 26 August 1906. Tr. E. Goddard, C. Davy. London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1986. They guide human beings to their destiny because they are not yet able to take hold of it themselves.
Die Technik des Karma
Man versteht die Wege des Karma besser, wenn man die Schicksale der menschlichen Seele zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt betrachtet. So sollen uns heute mancherlei Ausblicke des Weges beschäftigen, den die Seele zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt zurückzulegen hat. Es soll ein Bild von den Schicksalen der Seele nach dem Tode aufgerollt werden. Und da man sich mit seinen Gedanken erst nach und nach in diese Gebiete hineinlebt und hineingewöhnt, so kann es nur nützlich sein, wenn man sich solche Gedanken öfter durch die Seele ziehen läßt.
Wenn wir das Schicksal der Seele nach dem Tode betrachten wollen, müssen wir uns vor allen Dingen klarmachen, daß alsdann ein ganz neues Verhältnis zwischen dem inneren Menschen und den umliegenden Welten eintritt. Es ist immer gut, wenn man eine Parallele zwischen Tod und Schlaf zieht. So wie der Mensch vor uns steht, ist er aus verschiedenen Gliedern zusammengesetzt. Da haben wir zunächst den physischen Leib vor uns. Ihm liegt wie ein Urbild der Ätherleib zugrunde. In gewisser Beziehung ist dieser Ätherleib der Schöpfer des physischen Leibes. Es hat eine relative Berechtigung, zu sagen, daß der Ätherleib dem physischen Leibe gleicht. Namentlich in seiner Kopfpartie, der oberen Partie, ist der Ätherleib eine Art Doppelbild des physischen Leibes. Der Ätherleib ist der Träger des Temperamentes, aber auch der Träger der Vorstellungen, die sich in der Seele festlegen. Wenn eine Vorstellung bleibendes Eigentum des Menschen wird, so daß sie immer verfügbar ist, dann hat sie sich dem Ätherleib eingeprägt. Der Ätherleib ist der Träger des Gedächtnisses, und der dichteste Teil des Ätherleibes ist der Träger des Gewissens. Das dritte Wesensglied des Menschen ist der Astralleib, der Träger der Begierden und Leidenschaften, der Wünsche, die durch seine Bedürfnisse im Menschen auftauchen. Eine feste Grenze zwischen dem Äther- und dem Astralleib besteht nicht. Das vierte Glied der menschlichen Wesenheit ist das Ich. In ihm ist die Anlage zu dem unsterblichen Menschen, dem Geistesmenschen oder Atma, dem Lebensgeist oder Buddhi und dem Geistselbst oder Manas.
Wenn der Mensch schlafend im Bette liegt, so bleiben der Ätherleib und der physische Leib miteinander verbunden. Herausgehoben ist der Astralleib. In der Nacht versinken Schmerzen und Freuden, auch alle anderen Empfindungen, weil der Astralleib vom physischen Leibe getrennt ist und deshalb keine Wahrnehmung davon da sein kann. Anders ist es, wenn der Mensch durch die Pforte des Todes hindurchschreitet. Wir haben es da mit dem vom Ätherleib eben verlassenen physischen Leibe zu tun. Während im Schlafe der Ätherleib den physischen Leib nicht verläßt, verläßt er den physischen Leib im Tode.
Der physische Leib löst sich nach dem Tode dutch die Verwesung oder Verbrennung auf, und seine Teile werden an die physische Welt zurückgegeben. Dann bleiben noch eine Zeitlang der Astralleib und Ätherleib miteinander verbunden. Das ist ein wichtiger Augenblick im Leben nach dem Tode: In dem Moment, wo der Ätherleib sich vom physischen Leibe loslöst, aber noch mit dem Astralleibe verbunden ist, tritt das ganze Leben wie ein Erinnerungstableau vor die Seele des Menschen. Das ist deshalb der Fall, weil der Ätherleib eben der 'Träger des Gedächtnisses ist. Solange der Ätherleib mit dem physischen Leib verbunden bleibt, ist das Gedächtnis an die Kräfte des physischen Leibes gebunden. Wenn nun der Ätherleib nach dem Tode aus dem physischen Leibe herausgehoben ist, dann tritt das alles gleichzeitig wie ein Erinnerungstableau in der Seele auf.
Es ist zunächst schwierig, sich im gewöhnlichen Bewußtsein vorzustellen, wie ein so langer Zeitraum in einem einzigen Augenblick von der Seele überschaut werden kann. Aber noch ein anderes Moment ist wesentlich. In der physischen Welt ist jedes Erlebnis für den Menschen mit Schmerzen und Freuden, mit Lust und Unlust verknüpft. Und wenn der Mensch sich im gewöhnlichen physischen Leben erinnert, was er erlebt hat, dann tauchen Lust und Unlust in der Erinnerung wieder auf. Nach dem Tode sind aber Schmerz und Leid ausgelöscht. Es sind objektive Bilder, die uns nicht wehe tun, Bilder, die keine persönlichen Empfindungen in uns hervorrufen. Ein solches Erinnerungstableau kann auch sonst im Leben einmal ausnahmsweise auftreten, zum Beispiel bei Leuten, die dem Ertrinken nahe sind oder sich sonst in einer Lebensgefahr befinden. Man führt für solche Dinge am besten solche Zeugen an, die gar nichts wissen wollen von einer eigentlichen geistigen Forschung, zum Beispiel das Zeugnis des Wiener Kriminalanthropologen Benedikt. Der erzählt in seinen Lebenserinnerungen, daß er einmal bei einer Bergpartie dem Tode nahe war und daß in diesem Augenblick sein ganzes Leben durch seine Seele zog. Diese Erscheinung kommt davon her, daß mit dem Ätherleib etwas Bestimmtes vorgeht, wenn der Mensch einen gewaltigen Lebensschock bekommt.
Wir kennen das Gefühl einer eingeschlafenen Hand. Das beruht darauf, daß der Ätherleib sich gelockert hat. Der Hellseher kann dann sehen, wie schlaff, wie ein Handschuh, die Finger, die eingeschlafen sind, von der Hand herunterhängen. Etwas Derartiges ist auch der Fall, wenn man einen Menschen hypnotisiert. Da sieht der Hellseher den Ätherkopf rechts und links aus dem physischen Kopf heraushängen. Wenn der Mensch einen so gewaltigen Lebensschock erleidet wie beim Ertrinken, dann wird sein ganzer Ätherleib aus dem physischen Leibe herausgehoben. Das bewirkt dann, daß ein solches Erinnerungstableau auftritt.
Wenn die Seele nach dem Tode eine Zeitlang in diesem Erinnerungsbild gelebt hat, folgt ein zweites Sterben. Es löst sich aus dem Ätherleib der Astralleib mit dem Ich heraus. Der Ätherleib geht, ebenso wie der physische Leib in die Elemente der physischen Welt übergeht, in den Weltenäther oder in die Welt des allgemeinen Weltenlebens über. Wenn der Ätherleib sich heraushebt, hat er eine Zeitlang noch die Form des physischen Leibes. Man kann den Ätherleib wie eine Art Spuk sehen, der sich in der Nähe des Grabes oder sonst irgendwo aufhält, wo der betreffende Mensch gewesen ist. Er hat die Tendenz, in der Nähe des physischen Leibes zu bleiben.
Wir müssen nun das Schicksal des Astralleibes mit dem Selbstbewußtsein des Menschen verfolgen. Eine gewisse Art des Bewußtseins tritt auf, bald nachdem der Ätherleib sich von dem Astralleib getrennt hat. Dies Bewußtsein ist viel stärker als ein lebhaftes Träumen. Es erlebt die Wirklichkeit der astralen Welt. Man nennt diesen Zustand Kamaloka, das heißt wörtlich: Ort der Begierden. Es ist aber kein Ort gemeint, der jenseits der physischen Welt ist. Die astrale Welt ist innerhalb unserer physischen Welt. Die Welten unterscheiden sich nur dadurch, daß die eine Welt durch eine andere Art von Organen erkennbar ist als die andere. In der Astralwelt lebt jetzt der Mensch, der von seinem Astralleibe umgeben ist. Es ist ein eigentümliches Leben, das er nun durchmacht. Wir werden uns darüber am besten klar, wenn wir uns vor die Seele führen, wie der Mensch bis dahin gelebt hat.
Nehmen wir an, ein Durchschnittsmensch der heutigen Zeit habe eine Leibspeise, er habe seine Lust an dieser Speise. Diese Lust an der Speise hat er nicht etwa im physischen Leibe. Der nimmt nur die Speise auf, das sind physische Vorgänge. Diese physischen Vorgänge können sich als chemischer Prozeß zutragen. Das ist aber nicht der Genuß an der Speise. Den Genuß enthält die Seele des Feinschmekkers. So ist es bei allen Freuden und Schmerzen, welche die Seele erlebt. Um den Genuß an einer Speise zu haben, braucht der Mensch natürlich das physische Werkzeug, um diese Speise in sich aufzunehmen. Wenn die Seele sich an schönen Farben oder anderen Dingen erquickt, ist es notwendig, daß ein physisches Auge da ist, damit die Freude an der Farbe in die Seele einziehen kann. Das, was verlangt in der Seele, durch die Sinne befriedigt zu werden, ist Kama. Im Kamaloka lechzt die Seele noch nach dem Genuß, aber ihr fehlen nach dem Tode die Organe, um die Begierden zu befriedigen. Da kommt in die Seele eine Empfindung besonderer Art. Man kann sie mit dem vergleichen, was in der Seele vorgeht, wenn man durch eine Wüste geht, in der kein Quell ist, während man einen brennenden Durst hat. Der Zustand nach dem Tode ist also dadurch bedingt, daß die Organe zur Befriedigung der Begierden fehlen. Da erlebt der Mensch einen brennenden Durst, und zwar so lange, bis alle Begierde geschwunden ist. Je mehr er sich in diesem Leben davon befreit hat, durch die Sinne befriedigt zu werden, je mehr er sich das Schöne, das Gute der Welt, das Reine, die leibfreien Ideen angeeignet hat, desto schneller geht die Kamalokazeit vorüber. Hat er sich gar in die geistige Welt eingelebt, hat er seine Seele mit den Vorstellungen und Gedanken durchdrungen, die hinter der Sinnenwelt stehen, dann ist seine Kamalokazeit kurz.
Auf dem Astralplan verläuft alles rückwärts, und die Dinge stellen sich umgekehrt, also im Spiegelbild dar, zum Beispiel muß die Zahl 641 da als 146 gelesen werden. Eine Leidenschaft, die man erzeugt, kommt in Gestalt eines Bildes auf den Menschen zu, etwa als wildes Tier. Ein solches Bild geht aber in Wahrheit von dem Menschen selber aus.
So durchlebt der Mensch das hinter ihm liegende physische Leben noch einmal, rückwärts. Die Dinge, die vor dem Tode geschehen sind, lebt er zurück. Dieses Rückwärtserleben führt ihn bis in die Kindheit zurück. Dadurch wird er schließlich von allem, was ihn an das physische Dasein gebunden hat, frei. Das Wort erfüllt sich: «Wenn ihr nicht werdet wie die Kindlein, könnt ihr nicht ins Himmelreich eingehen.» Er ist angelangt an dem Punkt, wo er war, ehe er sich inkarnierte. Er wird wiederum, wie er als ein Kind war. Damit ist er reif, in das Devachan zurückzukehren.
Zwei Begriffe müssen wir uns aneignen. Wir müssen eine Empfindung in Betracht ziehen, die im Moment des Sterbens mit starker Intensität auftritt. Gleichzeitig mit dem Erinnerungsbilde empfindet der Mensch, daß er immer größer und größer wird. Die Bilder, die ihn umgeben, welche die Bilder des vergangenen Lebens sind, vergrößern sich ebenfalls. Indem der Mensch sich noch im Ätherleib befindet, wächst er sozusagen in seine Umgebung hinein. Wenn der im Ätherleib befindliche Mensch ein Ereignis erlebt hat, das sich fünfzig Meilen entfernt abgespielt hat, dann ist das so, als ob er sich bis zu dem Schauplatz des Ereignisses ausdehnte. Wenn er einmal in Amerika war, fühlt er sich hinauswachsen bis nach Amerika. Im Ätherleib empfindet der Mensch das Immer-größer-Werden. Im Astralleib fühlt er sich dagegen aufgestückelt in verschiedene einzelne Teile. Er empfindet den astralischen Leib keineswegs als eine räumliche Einheit. Es gibt zum Beispiel Gallwespen, deren Vorder- und Hinterleib nur durch einen ganz dünnen Stiel verbunden sind. Das ist ein Beispiel dafür, wie auch in der physischen Welt zwei zueinandergehörige Teile nur durch eine Verbindung von sehr geringer Ausdehnung zusammengehalten werden. In der astralischen Welt kann es nun vorkommen, daß sogar überhaupt keine Verbindung zwischen zwei Teilen da ist und dennoch der eine Teil zum anderen gehört und diese Zugehörigkeit durchaus empfunden wird. Im Astralleib kann sich der Mensch an den verschiedensten Orten zugleich befinden. Wenn ein Mensch, der durch das Kamaloka hindurchgeht, in seinem Erdenleben einmal einem anderen einen physischen oder seelischen Schmerz zugefügt hat und im Rückwärtserleben zu diesem Zeitpunkt gelangt, dann fühlt er sich in dem anderen darin und erlebt dessen Schmerz in seinem eigenen Astralleibe. Alle Erlebnisse und Taten des vorangegangenen Erdenlebens werden in diesem Empfindungsspiegel zum zweitenmal vorgefunden. Das ist auch ein Teil des Kamalokalebens.
Fassen wir noch einmal zusammen, was über die nachtodlichen Erlebnisse gesagt wurde. Das erste ist, daß alles im Erdendasein Erlebte vorüberzieht, ohne daß der Mensch Lust und Leid empfindet. Als zweites macht der Mensch in einem rückläufigen Lebenslauf die Leiden durch, die er selbst verursacht hat. Zwei Dinge sind es, die dem Menschen bleiben. Die Substanz des Ätherleibes geht aus ihm heraus, aber die Kräfte des Ätherleibes bleiben; gleichsam als Rückstand bleibt der Extrakt aller Erlebnisse. Dieser Extrakt durchtränkt sich mit dem, was er an Taten verübt hat. Die Erlebnisse aus Kamaloka nimmt er mit und trägt sie ins Devachan hinauf. Der Stoff, dessen sich der Mensch vor seinem Eintritt in das höhere Leben entledigen muß, löst sich nun heraus. Der Astralplan ringsumher ist wie durchsetzt mit astralen Leichnamen. Das ist das, was der Mensch nicht mitnehmen kann ins Devachan. Der astrale Leichnam löst sich in der astralen Welt auf.
Wenn man verstehen will, was der Mensch im Devachan tut, dann muß man sich zunächst vor Augen halten, wie das Leben hier auf der Erde abläuft. Die Art und Weise, wie die Erlebnisse hier auf der Erde verarbeitet werden, ist so beschaffen, daß nur der allergeringste Teil aus diesen Erlebnissen herausgezogen wird; aus jedem Geschehnis könnte man viel mehr herausziehen. Das wird am klarsten, wenn wir uns die Sache umgekehrt betrachten. Man erinnere sich zum Beispiel, wie man schreiben gelernt hat. Das war mit den verschiedensten Erlebnissen verbunden. Diese Erlebnisse drängen sich alle zu einem einzigen zusammen, der Fähigkeit des Schreibens. Was sich zuerst äußerlich in der Welt abgespielt hat, verwandelt sich in eine Fähigkeit. In allen Erlebnissen ist eine solche Möglichkeit, eine solche Gelegenheit beschlossen: sie können sich später in Fähigkeiten verwandeln. Nach dem Tode geschieht eine solche Umwandlung. Wenn der Mensch wieder geboren wird, erscheint dann vieles als Fähigkeit, als Anlage. Er kehrt mit immer reicheren Anlagen wieder. Das ist im Devachan die Grundempfindung: daß sich alle Erlebnisse in Fähigkeiten verwandeln. Das gibt das Gefühl der Seligkeit. Ein Strom von Seligkeit durchzieht dann den Menschen. Man kann diese Empfindung mit der vergleichen, die ein Huhn seelisch durchströmt, wenn es ein Ei ausbrütet. Jedes Hervorbringen empfindet ein Wesen als Seligkeit. Je höher die Produktion ist, desto höher ist die Seligkeit, die empfunden wird. Dieses Devachangefühl ist keine Illusion. Die Beziehungen, die sich in dieser Welt angesponnen haben, sind im Devachan viel intensiver als hier. Die Schranken von Raum und Zeit fallen weg. Man kann in dieser Welt tatsächlich im anderen Menschen aufgehen. Das Verhältnis der Mutter zum Kinde arbeitet sich aus dem animalischen Gefühl heraus zum moralischen Verhältnis. Alles, was animalisch ist, fällt in der Kamalokazeit wie Schuppen ab, und alles Geistige durchdringt die beiden Wesen im Devachan. Alle hier angesponnenen Verhältnisse sind in größerer Intensität im Devachan verwandelt. Wenn der Mensch im Devachan alles entwickelt hat, was notwendig ist, dann ist er reif zu einer neuen Geburt.
In der Astralwelt existieren die verschiedensten Gebilde. Man lernt die mannigfachsten Bewohner des Astralplanes kennen. So gibt es Gebilde, die mit riesiger Schnelligkeit durch den Astralraum eilen; wie Glockengebilde durchschwirren sie die Astralwelt. Es sind die wieder zur Geburt zurückkehrenden Menschen. Wenn der Mensch im Devachan alle Erlebnisse in Fähigkeiten umgewandelt hat, steigt er wieder nieder in die astrale Welt. Wie der Magnet Eisensplitter anzieht, so gliedert sich der Mensch bei der Rückkehr in den Astralraum den Ätherleib für sein neues Erdenleben an. Das geschieht mit Hilfe anderer geistiger Wesen. Dann wird der Mensch gleichzeitig hingeleitet zu dem Elternpaar, welches für seine neue Inkarnation annähernd geeignet ist. Nur der bestmögliche Leib kann ihm angegliedert werden. Nun geschieht die Eingliederung in den physischen Leib nicht bloß nach diesem einen Gesichtspunkt, sondern auch der Ort und die Umgebung wird bestimmt, woraus sich der Mensch entwikkelt. All dies wird bestimmt durch die Handlungen, welche die Menschen im vorhergehenden Leben vollführt haben. Was sich von Astralsubstanz herangliedert, das sind die Fähigkeiten, die er erworben hat. Die Vorstellungen, die zu einem festen Bestandteil seiner Seele geworden sind, wirken sich in der Gestaltung des Ätherleibes aus. Der Ätherleib bedingt wiederum die Beschaffenheit des physischen Leibes.
Wie kommt es nun, daß der Mensch gerade die Situation antrifft, in die er bei seiner neuen Inkarnation hineingeführt wird? Da müssen wir noch von geheimnisvollen Wirkungen sprechen, die sich um den Menschen abspielen. Wenn der Mensch einen Gedanken hegt, einen Wunsch, eine Empfindung hat, dann sind dies zunächst Erlebnisse im astralen Leibe. Seine Empfindungen, seine Gedanken, die in der Aura zum Ausdruck kommen, stellen zugleich Formen auf dem Astralplan dar. Was der Mensch im physischen Leben in der Seele erlebt, hat eine entsprechende Form im Astralraum. Physische Erlebnisse sind nicht nur auf dem physischen Plan vorhanden, sondern sie setzen sich fort auf dem Astralplan. Alles was der Mensch in seiner tiefsten Seele erlebt, hat ein Spiegelbild auf dem Astralplan. Was aber eine Eigenschaft des Ätherleibes ist, setzt sich fort auf dem Devachanplan. So wie jeder Gedanke eine Form auf dem Astralplan erzeugt, so ruft jede Eigenschaft des Ätherleibes ihr Gegenbild auf dem Devachanplan hervor. Auch Handlungen haben in höheren Welten ihr Gegenbild, und zwar auf dem Budhiplan. Die Gedanken haben also ein Gegenbild auf dem Astralplan, die Gewohnheiten auf dem Devachanplan, die Handlungen auf dem Budhiplan.
Gedanken: Astralplan
Neigungen: Devachanplan
Handlungen: Budhiplan
Der Mensch bevölkert fortwährend den Astralplan mit Gedankenformen, den Devachanplan mit Formen seiner Neigungen, den Budhiplan mit Abdrücken seiner Handlungen. All dies umgibt uns auf den höheren Planen fortwährend. Das ist die eine Seite. Nun gibt es dazu noch eine andere Seite. Man denke sich, man habe irgendeinem Menschen etwas getan, eine Handlung zugefügt, die ihn geschädigt hat. Während der Kamalokazeit erlebt man das an sich selbst. Was man dann mitnimmt als den Schmerz, den man im anderen erlebt hat, wird eine Kraft, die eingeschrieben wird auf dem Budhiplan. Die Entfaltung dieser Kraft wird dadurch vorbereitet, daß sie auf dem Budhiplan eingetragen ist. Der Mensch wird zu alledem hingeleitet, was auf dem Budhiplan eingeschrieben ist. Durch die Erfahrungen, die ihm in Kamaloka zuteil geworden sind, verbindet er sich wieder mit den Folgen seiner Handlungen auf dem Budhiplan. Weil der Mensch jetzt noch nicht auf dem Budhiplan leben kann, vermag er dies nicht selbst zu tun. Er muß Führer haben. Das sind die Lipikas, die Schicksalsgötter. Sie geleiten den Menschen in sein Schicksal hinein, weil er selbst noch nicht imstande ist, es zu ergreifen.
The Technique of Karma
One understands the ways of karma better when one considers the fate of the human soul between death and a new birth. Today, we will examine various aspects of the path that the soul must travel between death and a new birth. We will paint a picture of the fate of the soul after death. And since one can only gradually become familiar with and accustomed to these realms, it can only be beneficial to allow such thoughts to pass through the soul more often.
If we want to consider the fate of the soul after death, we must first of all realize that a completely new relationship then arises between the inner human being and the surrounding worlds. It is always good to draw a parallel between death and sleep. As the human being stands before us, he is composed of various members. First of all, we have the physical body before us. It is based on the etheric body, which is like an archetype. In a certain sense, this etheric body is the creator of the physical body. It is relatively correct to say that the etheric body resembles the physical body. Particularly in its head region, the upper part, the etheric body is a kind of double image of the physical body. The etheric body is the bearer of temperament, but also the bearer of the ideas that become fixed in the soul. When an idea becomes a permanent part of a person, so that it is always available, it has been imprinted on the etheric body. The etheric body is the bearer of memory, and the densest part of the etheric body is the bearer of conscience. The third member of the human being is the astral body, the bearer of desires and passions, the wishes that arise in the human being through his needs. There is no fixed boundary between the etheric and astral bodies. The fourth member of the human being is the I. In it lies the potential for the immortal human being, the spiritual human being or Atma, the life spirit or Buddhi, and the spirit self or Manas.
When a person lies asleep in bed, the etheric body and the physical body remain connected. The astral body is lifted out. At night, pain and pleasure, as well as all other sensations, sink away because the astral body is separated from the physical body and therefore cannot perceive them. It is different when a person passes through the gate of death. We are dealing here with the physical body that has just been left by the etheric body. While the etheric body does not leave the physical body during sleep, it does leave the physical body in death.
After death, the physical body dissolves through decay or cremation, and its parts are returned to the physical world. Then the astral body and etheric body remain connected for a while. This is an important moment in life after death: at the moment when the etheric body detaches itself from the physical body but is still connected to the astral body, the whole of life appears before the soul of the human being like a tableau of memories. This is because the etheric body is the ‘bearer of memory’. As long as the etheric body remains connected to the physical body, memory is bound to the forces of the physical body. When the etheric body is lifted out of the physical body after death, everything appears simultaneously in the soul like a tableau of memories.
At first, it is difficult to imagine in ordinary consciousness how such a long period of time can be surveyed by the soul in a single moment. But there is another essential factor. In the physical world, every experience is linked to pain and pleasure, to desire and aversion. And when people remember what they have experienced in ordinary physical life, desire and aversion reappear in their memories. After death, however, pain and suffering are extinguished. These are objective images that do not hurt us, images that do not evoke personal feelings in us. Such a tableau of memories can also occur exceptionally in other situations in life, for example, in people who are close to drowning or otherwise in mortal danger. The best witnesses for such things are those who want nothing to do with actual spiritual research, for example, the testimony of the Viennese criminal anthropologist Benedikt. In his memoirs, he recounts that he was once close to death during a mountain hike and that at that moment his entire life flashed before his eyes. This phenomenon occurs because something specific happens to the etheric body when a person experiences a tremendous shock in life.
We are familiar with the feeling of a hand falling asleep. This is due to the etheric body loosening. The clairvoyant can then see how limp, like a glove, the fingers that have fallen asleep hang down from the hand. Something similar happens when a person is hypnotized. The clairvoyant sees the etheric head hanging out of the physical head on the right and left. When a person experiences a tremendous shock in life, such as drowning, their entire etheric body is lifted out of the physical body. This then causes such a tableau of memories to appear.
When the soul has lived in this memory image for a while after death, a second death follows. The astral body with the ego detaches itself from the etheric body. Just as the physical body passes into the elements of the physical world, the etheric body passes into the world ether or the world of general world life. When the etheric body lifts itself out, it still has the form of the physical body for a while. The etheric body can be seen as a kind of ghost that lingers near the grave or elsewhere where the person in question has been. It tends to remain near the physical body.
We must now follow the fate of the astral body with the self-consciousness of the human being. A certain kind of consciousness arises soon after the etheric body has separated from the astral body. This consciousness is much stronger than vivid dreaming. It experiences the reality of the astral world. This state is called Kamaloka, which literally means “place of desires.” However, this does not refer to a place beyond the physical world. The astral world is within our physical world. The worlds differ only in that one world is recognizable through a different kind of organ than the other. The human being now lives in the astral world, surrounded by his astral body. It is a peculiar life that they now go through. We can best understand this if we consider how the human being has lived up to that point.
Let us assume that an average person of today has a favorite food, that they enjoy this food. They do not enjoy the food in their physical body. He merely ingests the food; these are physical processes. These physical processes can take place as chemical processes. But that is not the enjoyment of the food. The enjoyment is contained in the soul of the gourmet. This is the case with all the joys and pains that the soul experiences. In order to enjoy food, the human being naturally needs the physical instrument to ingest it. When the soul is refreshed by beautiful colors or other things, it is necessary to have a physical eye so that the joy of color can enter the soul. That which demands to be satisfied in the soul through the senses is kama. In Kamaloka, the soul still craves enjoyment, but after death it lacks the organs to satisfy its desires. A special kind of feeling then arises in the soul. It can be compared to what happens in the soul when one walks through a desert where there is no spring, while one is burning with thirst. The state after death is therefore caused by the lack of organs to satisfy desires. There, the person experiences a burning thirst until all desire has disappeared. The more he has freed himself in this life from being satisfied by the senses, the more he has appropriated the beautiful, the good of the world, the pure, the incorporeal ideas, the faster the kamaloka period passes. If they have even settled into the spiritual world, if they have imbued their soul with the ideas and thoughts that lie behind the sensory world, then their kamaloka period is short.
On the astral plane, everything runs backwards, and things are reversed, that is, they appear as mirror images. For example, the number 641 must be read as 146. A passion that one generates comes to the person in the form of an image, such as a wild animal. In reality, however, such an image emanates from the person themselves.
In this way, the person relives their past physical life in reverse. They relive the things that happened before their death. This reverse experience takes them back to childhood. This ultimately frees them from everything that bound them to physical existence. The words are fulfilled: “Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” They have arrived at the point where they were before they incarnated. They become again as they were as a child. With that, they are ready to return to devachan.
We must familiarize ourselves with two concepts. We must consider a sensation that occurs with great intensity at the moment of death. Simultaneously with the memory image, the person feels that he is becoming larger and larger. The images that surround him, which are the images of his past life, also enlarge. While still in the etheric body, the human being grows, so to speak, into his surroundings. If the human being in the etheric body has experienced an event that took place fifty miles away, it is as if he has expanded to the scene of the event. Once they have been to America, they feel themselves growing out to America. In the etheric body, the human being feels themselves becoming ever larger. In the astral body, on the other hand, they feel themselves fragmented into different individual parts. They do not perceive the astral body as a spatial unity at all. There are, for example, gall wasps whose front and rear bodies are connected only by a very thin stalk. This is an example of how, even in the physical world, two parts that belong together are held together only by a connection of very small extent. In the astral world, it can happen that there is no connection at all between two parts, and yet one part belongs to the other and this belonging is felt quite clearly. In the astral body, the human being can be in many different places at the same time. If a person passing through Kamaloka has once caused physical or mental pain to another in their earthly life and reaches this point in their backward experience, they feel themselves in the other and experience their pain in their own astral body. All the experiences and deeds of the previous earthly life are found a second time in this mirror of feelings. This is also part of Kamaloka life.
Let us summarize once again what has been said about post-death experiences. The first thing is that everything experienced in earthly existence passes by without the person feeling pleasure or pain. Secondly, in a retrograde course of life, the person experiences the suffering that they themselves have caused. Two things remain with the person. The substance of the etheric body leaves them, but the forces of the etheric body remain; the extract of all experiences remains, as it were, as a residue. This extract is saturated with the deeds they have committed. They take the experiences from Kamaloka with them and carry them up into Devachan. The substance that human beings must rid themselves of before entering higher life now dissolves. The astral plane around them is riddled with astral corpses. This is what human beings cannot take with them to Devachan. The astral corpse dissolves in the astral world.
If one wants to understand what human beings do in Devachan, one must first consider how life here on earth unfolds. The way in which experiences here on earth are processed is such that only the smallest part is extracted from these experiences; much more could be extracted from each event. This becomes clearest when we look at the matter from the opposite perspective. Remember, for example, how you learned to write. This was connected with a wide variety of experiences. These experiences all converge into a single one: the ability to write. What initially took place externally in the world is transformed into an ability. All experiences contain such a possibility, such an opportunity: they can later be transformed into abilities. After death, such a transformation takes place. When a person is reborn, many things appear as abilities, as predispositions. They return with ever richer predispositions. This is the basic feeling in Devachan: that all experiences are transformed into abilities. This gives a feeling of bliss. A stream of bliss then flows through the person. This feeling can be compared to that which flows through a chicken's soul when it hatches an egg. Every being experiences every creation as bliss. The higher the production, the higher the bliss that is felt. This feeling of Devachan is not an illusion. The relationships that have been spun in this world are much more intense in Devachan than here. The barriers of space and time fall away. In this world, one can actually merge with another person. The relationship between mother and child evolves from an animalistic feeling to a moral relationship. Everything that is animalistic falls away like scales during the Kamaloka period, and everything spiritual permeates both beings in Devachan. All relationships formed here are transformed with greater intensity in Devachan. When a person has developed everything necessary in Devachan, they are ready for a new birth.
The astral world contains a wide variety of formations. One gets to know the manifold inhabitants of the astral plane. There are formations that rush through astral space at tremendous speed; like bell formations, they whiz through the astral world. These are the people returning to birth. When a person has transformed all their experiences into abilities in Devachan, they descend again into the astral world. Just as a magnet attracts iron filings, when a person returns to astral space, they attach the etheric body for their new earthly life. This happens with the help of other spiritual beings. Then the human being is simultaneously guided to the parents who are most suitable for their new incarnation. Only the best possible body can be attached to them. Now, the integration into the physical body does not take place solely according to this one aspect, but the place and environment from which the human being develops are also determined. All this is determined by the actions that people have performed in their previous lives. What attaches itself from the astral substance are the abilities that they have acquired. The ideas that have become an integral part of their soul have an effect on the formation of the etheric body. The etheric body, in turn, determines the nature of the physical body.
How is it that human beings encounter precisely the situation into which they are led in their new incarnation? Here we must speak of mysterious influences that surround human beings. When a person has a thought, a wish, or a feeling, these are initially experiences in the astral body. His feelings and thoughts, which are expressed in the aura, also take shape on the astral plane. What a person experiences in their soul during physical life has a corresponding form in the astral realm. Physical experiences are not only present on the physical plane, but also continue on the astral plane. Everything that a person experiences in their deepest soul is reflected on the astral plane. But what is a characteristic of the etheric body continues on the devachanic plane. Just as every thought creates a form on the astral plane, every characteristic of the etheric body evokes its counterpart on the devachanic plane. Actions also have their counterpart in higher worlds, namely on the buddhic plane. Thoughts therefore have a counterpart on the astral plane, habits on the devachanic plane, and actions on the buddhic plane.
Thoughts: Astral plane
Inclinations: Devachan plane
Actions: Budhi plane
Human beings constantly populate the astral plane with thought forms, the Devachan plane with forms of their inclinations, and the Budhi plane with imprints of their actions. All of this constantly surrounds us on the higher planes. That is one side of the coin. Now there is another side to it. Imagine that you have done something to someone, an action that has harmed them. During the Kamaloka period, you experience this yourself. What you then take with you as the pain you experienced in the other person becomes a force that is inscribed on the Budhi plane. The unfolding of this force is prepared by its being entered on the Budhi plane. The human being is led to everything that is inscribed on the budhi plane. Through the experiences he has had in Kamaloka, he reconnects with the consequences of his actions on the budhi plane. Because the human being cannot yet live on the budhi plane, he is unable to do this himself. He must have guides. These are the Lipikas, the gods of destiny. They guide human beings into their destiny because they are not yet able to grasp it themselves.