Karmic Relationships: Volume 5 E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Seitenzahl: 179

Beschreibung

These esoteric lectures examine the underlying laws inherent in reincarnation and karma. In Steiner's words, the study of karma is "... a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world existence..." This volume includes, the difference between "moon karma" and "sun karma", the influences of Christian and Mohammedan thinking, the transformation of inner human qualities from one life to the next, and more.

Leseprobe

KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS

Esoteric Studies

Vol. V

RUDOLF STEINER

Seven lectures given in Prague and Paris between 29th March and 25th May, 1924

Translated by D. S. Osmond

RUDOLF STEINER PRESS

Rudolf Steiner Press Hillside House, The Square Forest Row, RH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

First edition 1966 Second edition 1984 Reprinted 1997,2011,2012

Originally published in German (with sixteen lectures) under the title Esoterische Betrachtungen karmischer Zusammenhänge, Fünfter Band (volume 239 in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe or Collected Works) by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. This authorized translation published by kind permission of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach

Translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 1984

The moral rights of the translators have been asserted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 426 1

CONTENTS

Editor's Preface

1

The fallacies of modern civilisation and their consequences. In olden times man was aware of his dependence on the stars as well as on the kingdoms of nature surrounding him on Earth. Interest in the heavenly bodies is now confined to the physical aspect. The process of fertilisation: the ovum driven into a state of chaos to enable forces to work in from the Cosmos. The primeval wisdom on Earth. Moon Beings and Sun Beings. Two forms of karmic relationships. Example of Garibaldi

Prague, 29th March, 1924

2

The Moon Beings are connected with man's past. Initiation-science and the recognition of karmic relationships. The Akasha Chronicle. The Sun Beings have to do with future karma. Negative space is the condition in the Sun. Influence of the Hierarchies of spiritual Beings upon man after death in the different cosmic spheres. The human heart and the constellation of Leo. Organs in the body are products of cosmic forces, elaborated in co-operation with the Gods during man's life between death and a new birth. The whole Universe is compressed in man—a microcosm transformed after his death into the macrocosm. Qualities of character in an earthly life and their transformation into gifts or defects in subsequent incarnations. Examples: love—joy—understanding of environment; hatred—hypersensitiveness to suffering— obtuseness and lack of understanding of surrounding world. Importance of interest in the environment. As a rule it is the case that illnesses arise from attributes of soul in a previous incarnation, but things appertaining to spiritual life must not be pressed too far. A stream of karma may also begin. Speaking generally, qualities of soul in one life are transformed into bodily traits in another incarnation, and vice versa

Prague, 30th March, 1924

3

Man's life in the physical body among the kingdoms of nature and after death among the Hierarchies of spiritual Beings. Pictures of the deeds of these Beings of the Hierarchies are revealed to man in his life after death and, when the time comes for the descent to incarnation, arouse in him the will to make compensatory adjustment for his dealings with individuals on Earth. Anthroposophy must speak not only to the head but awaken deep feeling in the heart when the spiritual world is described in detail. Studies of the practical working of karma must now be possible. The Mystery of Golgotha, Christianity and the effects of Mohammedanism. Influences of Arabism and the Crusades on European thinking. The Court of Haroun al Raschid and its cultivation of learning and the arts. Haroun al Raschid. Lord Bacon of Verulam. Amos Comenius. Ernst Haeckel. Pope Gregory VII (formerly Abbot Hildebrand). The fruits of each epoch of culture are carried onward to later times by human souls themselves. Realities in history

Prague, 31st March, 1924

4

The nature and constitution of man can be understood only through a spiritual understanding of the Cosmos. Illustrations of how the deeds of one incarnation are carried over into a later one. Garibaldi and his bond with three contemporaries. Garibaldi, an Initiate of the ancient Hibernian Mysteries. Lord Byron. Rudolf Steiner's geometry teacher. The Palladium. Carl Marx. Muawiyah. Woodrow Wilson. Initiates of earlier epochs are hindered in their working by the bodies and education provided by the epoch during which they are incarnated. The ‘twice-born’. The Sun Mystery and the early Christian Mysteries. The birth of Christ in the thirtieth year of the life of Jesus of Nazareth has been confounded with the physical birth. The sacrifice of intellect and the awakening of clairvoyant vision of Christianity as cosmic reality. Maurice Maeterlinck on Rudolf Steiner.

Prague, 5th April, 1924

5

Man in the life between death and rebirth. The aspects of ‘death’, the ‘vanishing of earthly life’, and the ‘stars’, revealed by Imagination, Inspiration, Intuition. The Moon-sphere and the primeval Teachers of mankind. The figure of Strader in the Mystery Plays. The soul passes into the Cosmos. The experience of earthly life in backward order as the first seed for the fulfilment of karma in the following incarnation

Paris, 23rd May, 1924

6

After death man passes first into the region of the Elements, then into the region of cosmic Intelligence, then into the region of the Stars. Passage through the Moon-region, the Mercury-region, the Venus-region, the Sun-region, and the effects of existence in each of these spheres. Removal of the consequences of illness in the Mercury-sphere. Healing was the secret of the Mercury Mysteries. The Venus-region ruled by love. The Sun Mysteries and moral realities. Survey of seven-year periods in earthly life and the revelations of cosmic secrets

Paris, 24th May, 1924

7

Mysteries of the Sun-existence: the province of the Exusiai, Dynamis and Kyriotetes. The Sun is the spiritual embryo of the future earthly life. The Christ was first in the Sun-sphere; since the Mystery of Golgotha He has been united with the Earth. After his sojourn in the Sun-sphere, man passes into the spheres of Mars-existence, Jupiter-existence, Saturn-existence. The elaboration of karma for the new earthly life through the divine deeds of the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. Individual examples of karma elaborated in these spheres: Voltaire (Mars). Victor Hugo (Saturn). Eliphas Levi (Jupiter)

Paris, 25th May, 1924

Notes

Publisher's Note

EDITOR'S PREFACE

During the year 1924, before his illness in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures, published with the title Karmic Relationships: Esoteric Studies, to members of the Anthroposophical Society in the following places: Dornach, Berne, Zürich, Stuttgart, Prague, Paris, Breslau, Arnhem, Torquay and London. English translations of these lectures are contained in the following volumes of the series:

Vols. I to IV. Lectures given in Dornach (49).

Vol. V. Lectures given in Prague (4) and Paris (3).

Vol. VI. Lectures given in Berne (2) Zürich (1), Stuttgart (3) Arnhem (3).

Vol. VII. Lectures given in Breslau (9).

Vol. VIII. Lectures given in Torquay (3) and London (3).

All these lectures were given to members of the Anthroposophical Society only and were intended to be material for study by those already familiar with the fundamental principles of Anthroposophy. The following extract from the lecture of 22nd June, 1924 (see Vol. II) calls attention to the need for exactitude when passing on such contents:

“The study of problems connected with karma is by no means easy and the discussion of anything that has to do with the subject entails—or ought at any rate to entail—a sense of deep responsibility. Such study is in truth a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world-existence, even of the phenomena of nature.... These difficult and weighty matters entail grave consideration of every word and every sentence spoken here, in order that the limits within which the statements are made shall be absolutely clear....”

The attention of readers is called to the fact that the fundamental explanations given by Rudolf Steiner of the laws and conditions of karma are contained in Vol. I of the series. Knowledge of the earlier lectures should therefore be regarded as an essential basis for study of those contained in the later volumes.

LECTURE 1

Prague, 29th March, 1924

I want to begin these lectures for Members by speaking of how Anthroposophy lifts human consciousness above the earthly and material domain simply through the light it sheds upon the nature and being of man.

It is hardly possible for anyone immersed in modern civilisation to think otherwise than that during his life from birth to death he belongs to the Earth. Membership of a spiritual world is in most cases a mere belief or a dim inkling. Insight into the fact that man belongs to any world other than the Earth is scarcely within the power of human beings whose education and whole upbringing are the outcome of modern civilisation. Nevertheless, to believe that when man is being spoken of earthly conditions alone have to be considered is the great fallacy of all contemporary spiritual life in the West and in Middle Europe. The East alone has preserved a certain consciousness—although in a decadent form—of man's connection with the supersensible, cosmic powers and forces around the Earth. In olden times man felt himself dependent on the stars as well as on the plants and the animals around him on the Earth; he knew, too, that the Moon is not simply a physical orb revolving in space. Interest in the Moon today does not really go much further than attempts to discover whether there are or are not mountains or water there; hypotheses are advanced, but little thought is given to any other aspect of this neighbouring planet. As for the other heavenly bodies, investigation is entirely concerned with their physical conditions. In ancient times it was altogether different. Man was aware of his dependence on the heavenly bodies just as today he is aware of his dependence on the Earth.

I will start with something that has a certain scientific importance; it is an example that may perhaps not be to the liking of some people, but it is easy to follow. I have often emphasised in anthroposophical lectures that the formation of the human embryo in earthly life, even when investigated from the purely scientific point of view, provides the proof in itself that something extra-earthly is at work in the process. Natural science believes the ovum to be the most complex structure that can possibly exist on Earth. Much thought is given to this complex structure of the ovum and recently we have been hearing about the wonders of the atom and the molecule! The structure of a cell is said to be indescribably complex. But this is a fallacy, for the ovum is, in reality, chaos; it is not a complex structure. The chemical-physical structure goes to pieces, and before a living being can arise the ovum must have been in a state of chaos. The very purpose of fertilisation is to produce this state of chaos in the ovum, so that within the mother's organism there is matter which has been completely broken down. The processes in the mother's body produce this state of chaos. And now think of a crystal. The Cosmos cannot work in a crystal with its hard, firm edges; neither can the Cosmos work in the substance of a plant, which also has solid form; nor in that of an animal. Fertilisation means that the ovum becomes a chaos. Only then does the whole surrounding Cosmos work in upon this germinating entity and build up the living human form in such a way that the being of soul-and-spirit coming from earlier earthly lives can enter into it.

According to modern views this is so much nonsense—but it happens to be the truth! What is so deplorable in our time is that when one speaks the truth it is almost inevitably pooh-poohed by contemporary scholarship. Some people may say: “This statement of yours may be based upon occult vision; but is it also capable of proof?” It is indeed—and in more ways than one might imagine. At our Institute for Biological Research in Stuttgart remarkable confirmation of this fact has come to light. Investigations have been made into the function of the spleen. You know, perhaps, that the spleen has always been considered a very enigmatical organ. The story goes that in a viva voce examination the candidate was asked by the professor: “Can you tell me anything about the spleen?” The candidate puzzled his brains and at last blurted out in desperation: “I have forgotten it all.” “What a pity!” said the professor. “Nobody has ever known anything about the spleen; you apparently were the only one, and you have forgotten it!”

I indicated a certain method, based on the principles of Spiritual Science, according to which Frau Dr. Kolisko has investigated the function of the spleen. The validity of her results is still being questioned but they will eventually win through, because the investigations were genuinely exact. During the investigations something else came to light. Because of the methods in general use today, one is sometimes obliged to adopt procedures that go much against the grain, but we finally decided to excise the spleens of rabbits. It was nothing in the least like vivisection but a quite simple operation; and we did everything that could possibly be done to avoid causing suffering. Unfortunately one of the rabbits died from a chill after the operation because by an oversight it was not taken immediately into the heated room. What result was to be expected from this operation? After the removal of the spleen something developed in the rabbit's body at the same place, something to which the Cosmos could have access. As long as the spleen itself was there the Cosmos could do nothing; but if the spleen is removed, the etheric spleen alone remains, and the etheric spleen adapts itself to the inworking forces of the Cosmos. It was to be expected, then, that at the place where the spleen had been, something would develop in the form that is a copy of the Cosmos, namely, the spherical form. And this is what we actually found! When we opened the rabbit we found a tiny organic body, spherical in shape; it had been produced by the inworking cosmic forces—when the condition in which the Earth alone works had been removed. This is entirely in line with the contention that the fertilised ovum is a body in which a state of chaos has been induced. And so karma led us to an external proof of something that holds good in another sphere altogether.

In many respects it is the case that if a man's thoughts and feelings are the outcome of contemporary civilisation, his outlook is bound to be limited to the Earth; he is incapable of directing his gaze in any real sense to the Cosmos. Let me remind you of what is said in the book Occult Science, namely that the Moon and the Earth were originally one body, but that the Moon subsequently separated from the Earth. This fact is revealed to seership but it is also to some extent recognised by modern natural science. Particularly in the last few years a certain literary and scientific movement has been speaking—although in an erroneous way—of this relationship of the Moon to the Earth. The Moon in the heavens was once united with the Earth, was then ejected—if I may so express it—and since then has been circling around the Earth.

I must now speak of a second fact, connected with man's spiritual development in earthly existence. Even a purely external survey of what men have achieved on the Earth indicates the existence of a primordial, archetypal wisdom. It was not, of course, imparted in the abstract, intellectual forms demanded today, nor was it so closely bound up with the senses. It was imparted in a more pictorial, poetic form. Of this primordial wisdom itself, which existed on the Earth in times long before writing was known, nothing has remained. Echoes have been preserved in sagas and myths, in the wonderful Vedic literature, in the Vedanta and other Eastern texts. Anyone who steeps himself in this literature— not in the style of Deussen who sees only the outermost surface but for all that is an interpreter of great renown— anyone who can get to the depths of what this literature contains will have a profound reverence for the infinite wisdom there expressed in a pictorial, poetic form. He will feel that behind it all there was something unuttered and unwritten, perhaps even greater and more significant—a primordial, archetypal wisdom. How was this wisdom attained? Men did not study as we to today, imbibing the contents of book after book and so gradually amassing a certain amount of information. Every human being who had developed a certain insight in those ancient times knew what Inspiration is, knew how to read in the world itself—not in books—when he induced in himself the right attitude of soul. He knew the reality of inner illumination; it was as real to him as the reading of books is real to us today. The priests in the Mysteries brought him to the stage where he was able to experience this inner illumination and become aware of spiritual reality in the Universe. This indeed was the purpose of the instruction he received in the Mysteries. He did not feel that the illumination came to him from the clouds. If we today were listening to someone talking from behind a screen, we should not attribute the voice to some undefined source but to an actual person. Similarly, a man who attained illumination knew: there are Beings on the Earth who, although they are not in physical incarnation, are the great Teachers of humanity. Man knew that he moved among Beings who were not, like himself, incarnate in flesh and blood but who were etheric Beings, imparting the illumination and the content of the primordial wisdom. He knew that the Earth was peopled not only by human beings of flesh and blood but by other Beings too, working and living in etheric bodies.

In studying these things we must get rid of the preconceived notion that humanity has lived on the Earth since the time of which records exist and that this was preceded by undefined conditions leading back to the man-ape or the ape-man. This is a really ludicrous idea! What the historians say holds good for a few centuries only, namely, that human beings have not changed fundamentally, except that they are supposed to have become cleverer. It is said that the Egyptians were a superstitious people, that they had mummies and other such customs, but apart from cleverness they are thought to have been just like modern men. Nothing is known with any certainty of the long period of previous history, but the view is that it leads back finally to the man-ape.

That is a view of evolution which must be abandoned! Man peopled the Earth before the animals, only in a different form; man is the older being, as you can read in Occult Science. The ancient Teachers of the primeval wisdom did not incarnate in physical bodies but lived in spirit-bodies, and the men who communed with them, having experienced—as we ourselves experienced—the event of the separation of the Moon, knew that these Beings who had been among them as great Teachers had gone forth into the Cosmos, that they were no longer on the Earth but on the Moon. So that in truth not only the physical substance of the Moon but these spiritual Beings too, separated from the Earth. Once upon a time these Beings—who do not pass through birth and death in the same way as man—withdrew from the Earth and took up their abode on the Moon, although the actual substance of the Moon has been involved for long ages in a constant process of change.