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Rudolf Steiner

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Beschreibung

Although western humanity has conquered the outer world with the aid of technology and science, death remains an unsolved and largely unexplored mystery. Rudolf Steiner, an exceptional seer, was able to research spiritually the question of what happens to human consciousness after the physical body passes away. In these remarkably matter-of-fact lectures he affirms that life continues beyond death. Far from being dissipated, the individual's consciousness awakens to a new reality, beginning a great journey to the farthest expanses of the cosmos. Here it embarks on a process of purification and preparation. Rudolf Steiner indicates that one of the most important tasks for our present civilization is the reestablishment of living connections with those who have died. He gives suggestions as to how this can be done safely, and describes how the dead can be of help to those on earth.

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RUDOLF STEINER (1861–1925) called his spiritual philosophy ‘anthroposophy’, meaning ‘wisdom of the human being’. As a highly developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern and universal ‘science of spirit’, accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unprejudiced thinking. From his spiritual investigations Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of many activities, including education (both general and special), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms and other organizations involved in practical work based on his principles. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of the human being, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods of personal development. Steiner wrote some 30 books and delivered over 6000 lectures across Europe. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

Life Beyond Death

Selected lectures by

RUDOLF STEINER

RUDOLF STEINER PRESS

Compiled and edited by Frank Teichmann

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

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 1995 Reprinted 2003, 2014

Originally published in German under the title Das Leben nach dem Tod by Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart, in 1987

© Verlag Freies Geistesleben 1987 This translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 1995

Where appropriate, the moral right of the author has 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 to any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of the publishers

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

ISBN 978 1 85584 455 1

Cover by Andrew Morgan Typeset by Imprint Publicity Service, Crawley Down, Sussex

CONTENTS

Introduction by Frank Teichmann

I Life between Death and RebirthBerlin, 19 March 1914

II Metamorphosis of the Memory in the Life after DeathDornach, 10 February 1924

III Life between Death and a New IncarnationChristiania (Oslo), 17 May 1923

IV Our Experiences during the Night and the Life after DeathChristiania (Oslo), 18 May 1923

V The Working of Karma in Life after DeathBerne, 15 December 1912

VI Inward Experiences after DeathStuttgart, 23 November 1915

VII The Moment of Death and the Period ThereafterLeipzig, 22 February 1916

VIII The Lively Interchange between the Living and the DeadBergen, 10 October 1913

IX The Human Being's Experiences beyond the Gates of DeathDüsseldorf, 17 June 1915

X From a Memorial SpeechDornach, 29 June 1923

XI On the Connection of the Living and the DeadBerne, 9 November 1916

XII Concerning the Affinity of the Living and the DeadBerlin, 5 February 1918

XIII Death as TransformationNuremberg, 10 February 1918

Sources of the lectures

Notes

Introduction

by Frank Teichmann

DEATH PRESENTS the human being with a mysterious phenomenon. It can strike all of a sudden into the midst of our daily life, altering everything we are used to, and yet also, in spite of all sadness and mourning, permeating us in the first few days with a blessing and strength. Even if the dying person has prepared us for this moment of death by, say, a long illness, it is still such an incisive event that our hearts and minds are always moved by its mystery. The moment of death alters the whole life-context of those who are left behind. The one who has died can no longer be spoken to, he no longer responds to the thoughts we send him. The world of the dead appears hidden, inaccessible and silent; we can see no way of bridging this gulf. It is only with the passing of time that this soul-experience transforms itself into a deeper questioning—or into a forgetfulness covered over by the busy preoccupations of our life.

Everyone encounters such experiences in their life. But they grow more real as a person becomes older. This is apparent, for example, in the pictures of dead friends and relations which an older person often exihibits—people with whose life and destiny he was closely connected.

One's experience of death is intensified if one is present when someone is dying. One can often observe that the characteristics a person had during life recede and alter when he is faced with the significance of crossing over the threshold. The unexpected transformations which can occur at such a time are among the most moving one may experience here on earth.

In the light of this, questions about the continued life and destiny of the dead become all the more pressing. It is not only on occasional visits to the grave-side that memories can resurface; sometimes the image of a person who has died is conjured up in the semi-consciousness of our dreams. This is hardly ever in the form of memories of specific events and occurrences; on the contrary, we may often see the dead person in a quite unaccustomed environment, often as a young person and in a context which we would not normally associate with him. One also seems to continue one's connection with the dead person in waking life, perhaps through memories which enter one's soul now and then during the day, or through a thought which one might send out towards him or her.

But one may well also ask: ‘Does he still live in some form and continue his own existence? What does he experience now? Does he still have consciousness of any kind? Is he able to think of those who are left behind here?’ These are questions which human beings have always asked themselves through the ages; and have always asked with particular urgency during wars and catastrophes when apparently pointless deaths brought the world of the dead very close to common experience. After the events of the last war, in whose dreadful battles thousands of people at a time crossed the threshold of death, Max Frisch expressed the urgency of this question in his play Nun singen sie wieder (Now they sing again). In it he drew attention with great clarity and awareness to the legions of the dead and their significance. But hardly anyone took notice of this, either in the play at that time or in the years which followed those disastrous events.

Science, which has made giant strides by confining its research to observation of the world of senses, cannot help us in this domain. It does not take the sense-free world, in which the dead live, into account. Even the threshold experiences of people who have successfully been resuscitated and brought back to life, cannot tell us much more than that the person has certainly continued conscious existence, although in another form. Rudolf Steiner attempted, even in his early writings, to extend the scientific method of observation into soul-spiritual realms. The method of research which he developed ultimately enabled him to accompany the essence of the human being on its after-death journey in a conscious and discriminating way.

In earlier times, life after death was accepted as self evident. One often remained closely connected with those who had died and followed the progress of their continuing existence. Likewise, the dead accompanied the earthly life of those they were close to and, if necessary, sometimes even took part in it. Old legends recount that some valiant heroes, even after their death, rode at the front of earthly armies, helping them on to victory.

Gradually the widespread and common powers of clairvoyance of very ancient times diminished and faded; but there were still sages in many parts of the world who had knowledge of the spiritual worlds through their initiation into the Mysteries. Under the cultural influence of these Mysteries, temples and institutions were founded whose teachings spoke of the reality of the after-death world. Burial sites, rituals and memorial festivals for the dead were introduced; knowledge of the after life was formed and presented in pictures and images.

In Egypt the pharaoh was the representative of this knowledge. He was initiated into the sense-free worlds and had knowledge of them while still alive. He knew of the sun-god's journey through the ‘underworld’ and of the spirits which inhabit it. His kingdom was founded upon this knowledge. Only one who could perceive the realms in which the dead live could be king on earth. For it was through this perception and wisdom that he could speak to the living and guide their destiny. So he could say, at the end of the Book of the Underworld (Amduat), in which images of this realm were portrayed:

Whoever knows these mysterious images is a spirit well-provided for.

Continually he leaves and enters the underworld, continually he speaks to the living.

There he could meet the souls of those who had died and share in their after-death experiences. The knowledge of this existence flowed into the conceptions and images which the Egyptian people had of life after death. These were represented in their burial places and have survived to this day. We can conclude from them that the Egyptian possessed a detailed and differentiated view of the essence of the human being according to which he incarnated into various ‘members’ of his being and inhabited them during earthly life. After death, he separated from them in several stages: first of all he detached himself from his body, which was embalmed; then from his ‘Ka’, a constituent of his being in which the formative life-forces were experienced; and finally also from his ‘Ba’, a kind of personification of his soul which had first of all to be judged and purified before it could enter, transformed, into the realm of the sun god.

One can observe, however, that a marked change in conceptions about the life after death occurred already during the Egyptian cultural epoch. At the beginning of the third millennium BC, there still existed an unshaken conviction that souls lived on after death; gradually, though, doubt entered in. Towards the end of the second millennium, a song could even end with the refrain:

Live for the day

and do not grow weary.

For no one takes with him

the things that he cherished,

and no one returns

when once he has perished.

As in Egypt, so it was elsewhere in the other countries of the ancient Orient. Questions arose everywhere about the continued life and destiny of the dead, but could no longer be answered with the same certainty as previously. Gilgamesh, at the death of his friend Enkidu, felt the deep urgency of this question and was spurred on by it to undertake the far journey to Utnapishtim. Although he did not succeed in the trial he met there, he was given the magic herb with which he could renew his life. Through his carelessness, though, a snake ate the herb, shed its skin and became young again. At the end of the Gilgamesh epic the hero still retains a close connection with his dead friend, who rises up for moments at a time from the realm of the dead and speaks to him, revealing to him secrets of the underworld.

The mystery of death becomes a really pressing problem in the Greek cultural epoch. For the first time in his long evolution, the human being now learns to fully inhabit the world of the senses. He feels himself at home in his body and can only imagine life without it as the bleak existence of disembodied shadows. ‘Rather a beggar in the upper world than a king in the realm of shades’ is a phrase which aptly expresses this feeling. The Greek still knows that there is an afterlife, but the nature of it is as shadowy for him as the phantoms of the dead. Only the Mysteries still brighten this shadowy teaching and allow at least a few rays of light from the greater knowledge of the past to shine into the pallid world of the dead. There is a saying by Sophocles about the Mysteries of Eleusis, which conveys his trust and belief in them: ‘Those mortals are thrice blessed who have known this initiation and go to Hades; they alone find life there, while for all others there is only suffering.’ Plato and Socrates still pass on to their pupils what they have learned from the initiates. But they do not simply hand down to them the ancient images and wisdom; they also try to examine and understand these with the power of thinking. Socrates, in his farewell speech to his pupils before drinking the cup of poison, not only refers to reincarnation but also tries to explain it and make it understandable. According to him, whoever dedicates himself to philosophy will find access to inner mysteries, for the world of thought reaches into supersensible regions: ‘All those who engage themselves, in the right way, with philosophy, are also evidently occupied—although others do not notice this—with nothing other really than dying and death.’ (Phaedon, 64a) This fact was of the greatest significance for the Greeks. They were convinced that by means of a trained and disciplined thinking they could rise up into supersensible regions, in which truth could be found and where the dead also lived.

In Christianity also there was a conviction that the human being lives on after death, although the idea of reincarnation—in spite of being hinted at in the Gospels—faded for the time being into the background. The Christian churches continued the old traditions in modified form; they remembered the dead regularly in prayer, inaugurated acts of worship and the reading of masses for their succour, and established festivals wholly devoted to them.

At the same time, though, a way of thinking which had begun with the Greeks continued to evolve. Various Christian schools of thought paid particular attention to thinking, enhancing and disciplining it until it could become an organ of perception for higher worlds. This practice, which now proceeded in a quieter, more concealed way, led to new images and conceptions. What was thus discerned by a thinker was experienced as something holy, which should not be profaned. Overall, though, it has to be recognized that the differentiated ancient oriental perception of life after death did not yet find renewal.

Through the ages, people's conception of this realm became static and constricted; it only received new life in the time of Goethe, when the idea of evolution arose. Suddenly, the great poets and thinkers could only make sense of history if they saw the human being taking part in its great transformations through repeated incarnations, in the course of which he could gradually perfect himself. Novalis, for example, remarked in his scientific notebooks (1798–9, No. 5): ‘Whoever does not achieve perfection here, achieves it perhaps in the hereafter—or must otherwise embark on a new earthly life. Might there not well be also death on the other side, whose result is to be born here on earth?’ Seen in this light, mankind's spiritual evolution could continually progress. Ever new levels could be attained, without any final limit. Why, such thinkers wondered, should the dogma of one life only, current up until then in occidental lands, continue to be valid? Must our spiritual evolution really be terminated after a few years? Once and for all? What about those who die young? No, if the idea of evolution can really also be applied to the spiritual realm, then not only must there be life after death but also a reincarnation of the spirit.

The thoughts of Rudolf Steiner become pertinent at this point. By the term ‘Theosophy’ he understands the highest level of evolved thinking. And such thinking results in the concept of reincarnation. One of the earliest essays in the periodical Luzifer, which he founded, had the title: ‘Reincarnation and Karma from the point of view of conceptions necessary to science’ (1903). The fundamental idea is, at this point, still only sketched out and hinted at; but as a consequence of the continual training of his thinking it led ultimately to a concrete, precise and accessible content.

Rudolf Steiner first provides a basis which can be built upon in his book Theosophy (1904). Here he develops concepts which can facilitate an understanding for life after death. He takes his starting point from Goethe, but redefines the concepts of body, soul and spirit. In particular he makes a distinction between the soul and spirit, and characterizes the properties and attributes of each one. These concepts, it is true, existed since the late Greek and early Christian period; in the course of time, however, their particular differentiated meanings became unclear and eventually undiscernible. Today people normally only believe that the human being possesses a body and perhaps also a soul; they no longer know anything of the threefold constitution of body, soul and spirit. In contrast, say, to an Origenes or an Augustine, who were both convinced of the existence of the human soul and spirit, it is usual in contemporary science to refer everything back to the physical body and senses. People believe that a concept of spirit is unnecessary, but do not notice that this involves overlooking themselves, suspending their own statements—nothing one might say would have any worth if it was simply secreted from the brain's cells, as is suggested by standard scientific views.

Those who comprehend this believe themselves mostly to be unconstrained by such a view, as long as they recognize a ‘soul’ to which can be attributed all the faculties which constitute a person. They forget, however, that this conception also only represents the last stage of an evolution during which human beings gradually lost sight of the significance of the spirit. In the universities nowadays one can study psychology, but no longer pneumatology, the field of knowledge concerned with the human spirit! Rudolf Steiner introduces clarity here. By means of his characterization of the concepts of body, soul and spirit, a path is opened up whereby these ‘members’ of the human being can also be traced and followed after death.

In the chapter ‘The Essential Nature of the Human Being’ in Theosophy, the separate attributes and interactions of the body, soul and spirit are delineated. Especially important for our theme is, in this context, the division of the various soul faculties. The sentient soul is the first level, in which the soul reacts to the impressions of the world which our senses convey to it. For example one may see something moving which has a particular shape and form and is of a yellow-brown colour, and recognize a lion. Everything we encounter is immediately recognized and named by the sentient soul. This reply to the stimulation of the sense world connects with our feelings, desires and also instincts. Every kind of impression which we encounter stirs the sentient soul.

The next level is attained through the activity of thinking. We no longer only experience, we also evaluate our experiences. If they proved pleasant, we strive to repeat them. To this end we make rational plans to enable our wishes to find fulfilment. Thinking is used initially wherever it proves to be of use. It serves the sentient soul. But it is not long before it becomes independent and generates its own systems, taking pleasure in self-created contexts. Rudolf Steiner called this activity the intellectual soul. At this stage of development the thinker is still convinced of the evident truth of his thoughts. He cannot detach himself from his thoughts, cannot observe and test his own thought-processes. Not until he reaches the level of the consciousness soul does the human being strive for an ‘objective’ thinking, which is in accord and harmony with the world, and is wholly true. It is no longer important to him merely to have thoughts and think things out, but for his thinking to reflect the truth. This becomes an aim worth striving for, because he thereby unites himself with something eternal. For what is really true shares in the nature of eternity. ‘By letting what is intrinsically true and good come to life within us, we rise above the mere sentient soul. The eternal spirit shines into the sentient soul, kindling in it a light that will never go out. To the extent that our soul lives in this light, it takes part in something eternal, which it links to its own existence. What the soul carries within itself as truth and goodness is immortal.’ With these words Rudolf Steiner points to the core of the soul, which cannot perish even at death. It remains precisely because it is formed of eternal ‘substance’.

The second chapter of Theosophy, ‘Destiny and the Reincarnation of the Spirit’ contains—as an addition to the chapter heading—the phrase: ‘Only the human spirit reincarnates; and the eternal truths which he makes his own, remain united with him.’ Rudolf Steiner then proceeds to draw attention to the fact that a single truth has virtually no significance on its own. It is only one element in a living whole; one single element also in the whole living context of a human being's biography. A truth receives meaning from the context of which it is a part. And this context changes and transforms itself. It transforms itself in different ways, according to the specific aptitudes which a human being ‘brings with him’ into the world. Mozart, for example, was musically gifted from a very young age and also skilled in manual dexterity, so that his remarkable musical abilities were evident in early childhood. Somebody else, perhaps, can learn languages with extraordinary ease. Take Champollion, for example, the man who deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs. As a child he was thrilled by the reward offered to him for getting good reports: he was allowed to learn yet another language. When the aptitude someone brings with him is present as a capacity which would otherwise require effort and application, one may ask: where has this gifted person been able to practise his skill? Unless one believes that the spirit—which expresses itself specifically and individually in capacities which can only be attained by individual effort—simply falls from heaven, then there is only one other possibility; that a particular capacity must have been developed in a previous life. Besides the bodily heredity from one's ancestors, there is also an ‘inheritance’ of the spirit which comes only from oneself.

Although such a train of thought leads only to an outline of the idea of reincarnation, it still, nevertheless, provides a foundation for understanding life after death. Upon this foundation Rudolf Steiner constructed a lofty edifice. His increasingly precise observations reveal, step by step, the experiences of the human soul and spirit after death and the continued connections and collaboration with relatives and friends. Rudolf Steiner communicated these findings to the initially small groups of members of the Anthroposophical Society.

Since such ideas were completely new, even for those listeners who were in some way prepared, he tried first of all to establish a basis for them by means of extensive expositions in lecture cycles. These were taken down in shorthand and copied for the members. Rudolf Steiner, though, was not able to read through and correct them, and they were not initially intended for publication. However, as soon as they were available for the members, Rudolf Steiner took it for granted that his listeners were familiar with them, and continually enlarged upon them with new insights and points of view. Together they now form the most comprehensive description of life after death. Those who listened to these lectures for the first time, experienced them as courageous communications which went far beyond anything they had heard before. A reader of today would need to imagine the situation at that time if he wished even to begin to evaluate their style.

Most of the lectures gathered in this volume were also spoken to people who had lost friends and relatives in the First World War and who therefore had a consuming interest in such knowledge. It was possible to say things within these intimate circles which might perhaps not have been possible in larger groups, or which would at least have had to be said differently.

Rudolf Steiner's audience had a basic familiarity with the fundamental works of anthroposophy, such as Theosophy and Occult Science; these had already appeared and provided an initial framework for an understanding of life after death. This framework was expanded by the lecture cycles referred to. The reader of this volume, in contrast, is presented only with a selection of lectures, not the entire cycle. However, each lecture has its particular place within the whole. This volume was compiled for those who wish to gain an initial insight into the event of death, the after-death journey of the human being and his connections with those who are left behind. Those who would like to pursue the subject in greater depth should refer to the bibliography at the end of this book. Much of what is only touched on here is elaborated in the volumes of Rudolf Steiner's collected works.

This selection begins with a public lecture which Rudolf Steiner held in the Architects’ House in Berlin. Although the audience was familiar with the fundamental teachings of anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner warns his listeners not to take what he has to say in too superficial a manner, nor judge it too quickly; for these results of his research only became accessible to him after long and disciplined training. They deserve, he says, an attitude of awe and respect, as does everything issuing from the realms of truth.

In the next six lectures the main events and stages of life after death are characterized, in each case from a different aspect: the death of the physical body with the fading away of the etheric body; the soul-spiritual re-experiencing of the life which is past; and the purely spiritual existence in planetary spheres together with purely spiritual beings. The various descriptions are a good example of how the same thing can appear different when seen from different angles.

During the First World War, Rudolf Steiner observed and traced the after-death progress of many who died. For most of them death came violently and too early. Only a few of them were prepared for it. In this difficult situation Rudolf Steiner was particularly concerned to show ways in which a connection between the dead person and relatives could be established. The suggestions and advice which he gave in this respect are among the most intimate sources for a future civilization in which the Mysteries will again have a place. Since such a connection is so important for a healthy future, the lectures in the second half of this volume were chosen with this aspect in mind. Rudolf Steiner repeatedly describes how we can ‘speak’ with a dead person, how we must listen for the very delicate ‘replies’, in what manner we should think of our communication with the dead. We can be continually surprised to discover how very differently we must learn to think and feel if such a connection is to be sought. The common experience of meeting the dead in our dreams has usually nothing to do with their real being. They are, though, present in what seem to be our own decisions and initiatives—in fact in the very domain where we do not expect their influence. If we could learn to take notice of very subtle phenomena and could learn, once again, to communicate with the dead, then, according to Rudolf Steiner, our culture would be immeasurably blessed.

This is really how Rudolf Steiner viewed the cultural task of anthroposophy. It should help to re-establish the connection and communication between human and supersensible beings. We could begin to do this by turning to our own dead, as happened in earlier times, and forming a connection with them. They can, by our selfless striving, be moved to take an active, wholesome part in helping the world to thrive and flourish. An enormous amount depends on this. That is the deeper reason for Rudolf Steiner's repeated emphasis on the phenomena which can be observed in this respect and on the possibility we have of actively engaging them. This selection of lectures is intended to help open the first doors to such an involvement.

I. Life between Death and Rebirth

Berlin, 19 March 1914

TODAY'S THEME is without doubt a most hazardous and difficult one. Nevertheless, it is one which I would like to broach, concerning as it does a very special object of spiritual-scientific research.1 I believe that my very respected listeners—some of whom have been present at these lectures over many years—will find this object of spiritual-scientific research acceptable, since I have often endeavoured to present here, in a general way, the possible proofs and justifications for such research. Today, though, we must distance ourselves a little from these proofs and justifications. For the findings of spiritual-scientific research, about the life of the human being between death and rebirth, will be presented here in a descriptive form. In spite of the fact that today's theme is a conceptually difficult one for contemporary consciousness (and must still be wholly rejected by such a consciousness, which regards the results of this research as unproven), I would nevertheless like to make the following introductory remark: I am fully aware that I speak in an age which has advanced sixty years since Julius Robert Mayer made the great discovery of the metamorphosis of natural forces; and more than half a century since the great discoveries of Darwin; in an age which has experienced great successes in science such as, for example, spectro-analysis and astro-physics and, in more recent times, experimental biology. Although I recognize and am fully aware of these scientific achievements, I still wish to address the theme of today's lecture, in spite of the fact that this must seem contradictory to those who believe that spiritual-scientific research and spiritual-scientific conviction should be rejected if one is to proceed in a truly scientific way. I would also like to make one further introductory remark: if I was not quite clear that what is to be presented about the life between death and rebirth adheres to the most rigorous spiritual-scientific method and can be upheld on equal terms with the results of science, then I would regard it as thoughtless, even frivolous to speak of spiritual-scientific results before this assembly. I am fully aware of my responsibility, precisely in regard to this theme, to speak in a scientific way. Yet the whole manner in which one must approach the truth and truthfulness of spiritual-scientific research involves an open, receptive mood and gesture of soul, which is today hardly a common one. I would like first of all, very briefly, to examine the mood of soul needed by the spiritual researcher and also, to a certain extent, by anyone who would recognize the truth of the results of spiritual-scientific research.

A quite different attitude towards truth and truthfulness from the one prevalent nowadays is needed. Whoever wishes to achieve spiritual-scientific results with the methods which have been elaborated in these lectures must above all have an attitude of awe and unbounded reverence towards truth and knowledge. In our time one so easily accepts an attitude towards the truth which is based on making decisions about everything arising in human life; decisions of the kind which presuppose that I am in a position to judge life and reality simply with the attitude and mood of soul in which I find myself, which are present in me. The spiritual researcher—and whoever wishes to receive the results of his research—needs a quite different attitude of soul. He needs one which says to itself: to receive the truth and share in it my soul needs to be prepared, needs to immerse itself in an attitude and mood which goes beyond ordinary life. And when one becomes involved in spiritual science—please do not misunderstand this term as having to do with any such thing as asceticism—then the ordinary attitude of soul of daily life is felt to be quite useless for genuinely experiencing truth and knowledge. Knowledge is then perceived as something which hovers above one, which can only be approached by going beyond one's ordinary self, by exerting all the strength at one's disposal in order to prepare to receive the truth in a worthy fashion. Through spiritual science, the inappropriateness of judging truth on the basis of the ordinary attitudes of soul of daily life is experienced; one tries, rather, to wait until the soul has made a little more progress, has gathered its strength and prepared a fitting vessel for receiving truth. And one may often say: I prefer to wait patiently, let the truth hover over me, for I may not yet pass over its threshold; if I should do so now, I might spoil my experience of this truth, for which I am not yet ready. Awe and unbounded reverence towards truth, truthfulness and knowledge must be inherent in spiritual-scientific research. As one progresses on this path it becomes ever clearer that the soul must grow beyond itself, must be less and less concerned with making final judgements on the basis of ordinary attitudes of daily life and must take ever more care in preparing the forces through which it can make itself worthy to receive the truth. In short, whoever seeks the truth through spiritual science must take more and more care to prepare his soul, to develop capacities for receiving truth; any desire he might have to approach this truth with ordinary, critical faculties, will dwindle and disappear.

When the human being passes through the Gate of Death, he becomes part of a world which is otherwise only accessible to the kind of spiritual research of which I have long spoken and written. Such spiritual research can achieve knowledge and understanding that is only possible for self-aware soul faculties, unbound from the physical. We have often spoken of the methods by which the human soul comes to gain knowledge; not only by using its body and senses to come into contact with the outer world, but also by stepping out of the body, which is then separate from the soul, just as an outer object is usually separate from it—then, in this separation from the body, it can experience itself as part of a spiritual environment. I have often described how the soul of the spiritual researcher reaches this point. By so doing, it enters the same world which the human being passes into through the Gate of Death. And now I wish to describe, without any further preparation, what the spiritual researcher can discover, by means of methods which have often been elaborated here, about the life of the human being between death and rebirth.

The first thing which the human soul experiences after shedding the physical body, in a natural way, at death—just as the spiritual researcher can free himself from the body at certain moments during his life—is a change in his relationship to what we normally call thinking. I have often said that the human soul bears within itself the forces of thinking, feeling and willing. This division of the forces of the human soul is really only correct for the life of the soul within the body between birth and death. Besides the general difficulty of today's theme, I will also have to struggle with the difficulty of finding suitable expressions for the quite other world which the human being passes through between death and a new birth. Normal expressions of speech are formed in accordance with the life of senses which we experience through our physical body. I will only be able to do justice to this region of experience, so far removed from what we are used to, by making use of words in an approximate way. It must be remembered that we will be speaking of a region of experience for which words are, in fact, wholly inadequate.

After the human being has passed through the Gate of Death, he experiences his thought-life, his thinking, in a different way. In our life between birth and death we experience thoughts within our soul, we think. And these thoughts, between birth and death, are no more than images of an outer reality. When the human being has laid aside his physical body, then thought becomes an outer reality. This is the first experience in the spiritual world for someone who has died; he perceives his thoughts to be, as it were, set free from himself. They are outside and beyond his soul, just as, in the life between birth and death, sensory objects are outside and beyond us. His thoughts migrate, as it were, into an outer world of soul; they free themselves from immediate soul experience in a similar way to thoughts which become memories in ordinary life. The only difference is that we experience memories as sinking down into the unconscious, from where they can be recalled at an appropriate moment—we still have the feeling that they are within us, although they are removed from our immediate awareness. Thoughts, after death, also loosen themselves from us, but in such a way that the whole thought-world which the human being has gathered to himself between birth and death becomes an objective world. They do not separate from us by sinking down into an unformed darkness; they become independent and form a thought-world outside us. In this world is contained, as thought, everything in the way of life experiences which accrued to us in our last life, all the wealth of experience gained simply by having lived. This is loosened and released into a kind of tableau of life-experiences which surrounds the soul after death. These thoughts, though, are not fleeting, for as they separate from the soul and take on independent life they grow more solid, vital and full of motion, and form a world of beings. This world, in which we then live, is the world composed of our migrating thoughts, which assume independent existence.

This world is often described as a kind of memory-tableau of the life which is past. It is, indeed, a memory-tableau, but one which has emancipated itself and of which we can say: ‘That has come from myself, yet it stands there, objectively, in the outer world; it is alive!’

This experience of the soul within a world of thought which has become objective lasts different lengths of time according to each individual, but in all cases it is a matter of days. After some days—I have drawn attention in Occult Science to the connection of this with human life—the human being who has passed through the Gate of Death, experiences this whole world, which has become his world, distancing itself from him, as though diminishing in a spiritual perspective, as though it was going far, far away from him in spiritual regions. It is a matter of days until this point is reached, at which the thought-world recedes and becomes ever thinner and thinner, ever mistier and mistier, ever more veiled in obscurity as it moves away into far distances. I have mentioned in Occult Science that spiritual-scientific research reveals that this first condition after death lasts longer for those who, before death, were more easily able to do without sleep without losing their strength. The memory-tableau lasts roughly as long as one is able, in life, to do without sleep. One can discover this fact by means of spiritual-scientific research. Whoever tires easily—but it is above all a question of how much strength a human being has—whoever really cannot do without sleep even when it might be necessary, will find that this memory-tableau recedes sooner than for the person who can make an effort to rally his strength and do without sleep for longer. There is no need to make strenuous efforts in this direction; it is just a question of what each human being is able to do.

This is also connected with a new kind of consciousness which appears. Our ordinary waking consciousness arises between birth and death as we encounter objects of the outer world. This is not so during sleep, when our ordinary consciousness is set aside; but we develop our everyday consciousness by encountering and coming up against the outer world through our senses. Just as consciousness, in ordinary life, is stimulated by contact with the outer world, so after death our consciousness unfolds as a result of the human being becoming aware of his connection with the receding thought-world which I have described. Consciousness after death is further stimulated by the soul feeling: ‘Your thoughts are disappearing into the distance and you must seek them.’ This is how I might characterize the experience of the soul, which thereby develops the strength necessary to awaken a spiritual consciousness after death: ‘You must seek your thoughts, which have receded into the distance!’ This consciousness of the thoughts which have gone on ahead of us forms a part of our self-awareness after death. We will see shortly what further role this self-awareness has to play.

What we can call the worlds of willing and feeling change after death in a different way. The distinction between feeling-life and will-life that exists from birth to death is no longer at all relevant after death. There is present in the soul after death something like a willing or desiring feeling-life, or a will-life that is wholly imbued with feeling. The expressions with which we describe feeling and willing cannot really be applied to the time after death. Feeling is then more similar to one's experience of willing; and willing is far more imbued with feeling than is so between birth and death. Whereas our thoughts become a world outside the soul after death, our willed feeling and feeling-imbued will bind themselves much more closely and intimately with our soul. The soul, besides developing self-awareness in the way I have described, now begins to experience itself through an empowering and strengthening of its life of willed feeling and feeling-imbued will. This creates an inner life which is immeasurably more intense than the inner life of the soul when it lives within the body. After his thoughts have receded, the human being inhabits his inner world for a long time, for decades even, experiencing it as his principal world. His inner world becomes so mighty that he must—and here I have to use an expression which is not really correct for the life after death—direct his attention towards the willed feeling and feeling-imbued will which streams up within him. For years this felt willing and willed feeling looks back upon its past earthly life. The human soul feels, after death, something like a longing, like a turning back towards what was offered by its previous life. For every life can be seen to have offered far more possibilities of experience than the human being in fact took advantage of. When the human being passes through the Gate of Death, he has the longing and the will to relive everything of which he—I cannot say knows, but—feels: ‘You should have experienced this.’ All the indistinct emotions, all the possible experiences which life could have given us, but failed to give, all this unites with what the soul experiences in connection with the life that is past. In particular, the soul has intense inner experiences of what it feels it should have done. What the soul owes to other people, the harm it has done to others, all this appears as an intense feeling of deficient love, of which we are not at all aware in the life between birth and death.

Years go by after death during which the soul is occupied in gradually separating, unbinding itself from the context of its last life. During this time we are not, however, sundered from the experiences of our previous life. We remain connected to the people whom we have left, whom we have loved. But our connection with them is sustained by the feelings and affinities which we developed towards them in life; we are connected to them also in a roundabout way as a result of what life offered and failed to offer us. It is necessary to express these things in metaphorical terms. It is quite possible to remain in connection, after death, with people who one was close to during life, but only through an emotional affinity which one had with them then. An intense connection is formed as a result of such affinity. After death one lives together with the living; but also with those who have already died with whom one had a connection during life. This is how one must imagine the life after death, which continues in this way for years. It is a life in which the soul chiefly lives through everything which it wills and desires and longs for in connection with its felt and willed memories of the life that is past.



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