The Rudolf Steiner Archive

10. Supernatural Insights and Everyday Life

[ 1 ] Ladies and gentlemen! The subject of today’s lecture may seem somewhat unusual, for it seeks to bring together two things: supersensible knowledge, spiritual research—or, as it is customary to say, theosophy—and everyday life. It might seem as if nothing could be further apart than what we experience in everyday life and that to which the soul seeks to rise when we speak of supersensible research—of insights into the world that lies beyond our physical-sensory world, beyond the world that our senses can perceive and our intellect, bound to the instrument of the brain, can comprehend. But as far apart as these things may seem at first glance, on closer inspection they are by no means so distant from one another. I would like to recall that even the philosopher of pessimism, Arthur Schopenhauer, made a curious statement, which for now should be considered only in relation to his standpoint on our topic. He said: “Life is a miserable affair, and I have tried to make it bearable for myself by seeking to understand it.”

[ 2 ] Let us set aside entirely the idea that this statement is rooted in absolute pessimism—in the conviction that life is not worth living—and instead turn our attention to the other side. Even though Schopenhauer regards life as not worth living, even though he views existence as comprising nothing but suffering and pain, and even though, according to his view, he can find nothing truly comforting in the world, he nevertheless believes that, when he rises to the level of enlightenment, he can find something that enables him to cope with life in the right way and come to terms with it. Thus, even the pessimist speaks of the possibility that, through a worldview that leads us beyond the sensually perceptible world, we might find something that makes this life possible in the true sense.

[ 3 ] Theosophy does not lead us to a pessimistic worldview, but to a spiritual life that shows us that what appears as the material external world has emerged from spiritual sources. Furthermore, it becomes evident that human beings, as they pass through the sensory world, must—once they have been trained by experiences of this sensory world—ascend once more into a spiritual world. And this means: The origin and goal of all worldly experience must be sought in the spiritual realm. This alone shows that by looking toward the great spiritual goal—through which physical life first acquires its value and dignity—a person cannot succumb to pessimism if they are able to make this worldview their own.

[ 4 ] However, even today, theosophy is still something that provokes not only opposition but even ridicule in the broadest circles of our present-day humanity. Or it is viewed in such a way that those who profess it are regarded merely as dreamers. Theosophy still encounters hatred and contempt in many circles today. One can time and again observe that some people, who believe they truly belong to the people of the present, find themselves wondering—when they learn one fine day that an acquaintance, whom they had considered a reasonably sensible person based on his past behavior, has become a Theosophist—how a sensible person could possibly turn to such foolish nonsense. — For they believe that anyone who studies Theosophy no longer lives in the real world, is no longer of any use for anything sensible, and tries to make life as unpleasant as possible for themselves. People think that such a person no longer has any real joy, that they pursue all sorts of idle thoughts, and shut themselves off from everything that brings joy to other people. Perhaps on top of that, they don’t eat meat or drink alcohol—then the disaster is complete, and one can only wonder why they don’t hang their heads and look out at the world with a gloomy expression. One can have such experiences every day.

[ 5 ] But another experience has also been observed often enough and is by no means merely an anecdote. A woman hears that her friend professes to be a theosophist and thinks that this will alienate her from life, because theosophists do not enjoy themselves in the usual way and so on; she feels she must save her friend from such a cruel fate. So she goes over and says: “How can you possibly profess to be a theosophist?” “That alienates you from life—it’s dangerous; theosophists aren’t just dreamers—they become half-crazy.” —Before her friend even has a chance to say anything in response, the one who warned her pauses to think and asks: “What exactly is theosophy?”

[ 6 ] The fact is that when it comes to subjects such as theosophy—which, in a certain sense, are meant to take root in culture as something new—people often do not allow themselves to form a judgment based on the subject matter and content, but instead judge based on secondary considerations. It may therefore be worthwhile to consider how theosophy relates to what we have to go through in everyday life. Indeed, we will even see how valuable it can be for our lives to reflect on these matters. Theosophy, however, will say nothing about how one should eat “theosophically,” how food should be prepared, or how the purely external aspects of life should otherwise be managed through theosophy. But since it is meant to bring down to us knowledge from the supersensible worlds, we will see how it can affect our inner life, our mood, our joy and sorrow, our pleasure and pain, and how it can influence the way we live our lives.

[ 7 ] Among the most important truths in this field is one that is today met with hostility by many people and viewed as if no reasonable person could possibly believe such a thing. This truth has already been touched upon in earlier lectures, but since it is one of the fundamental truths, it must be referred to again and again. It is a truth that, in the not-too-distant future, will take its place in spiritual life just as another [truth did in the past]. As late as the 17th century, there was a belief—not only among laypeople but also among natural scientists—that lower animals, and even fish, could develop from river mud. It was Francesco Redi who first formulated the statement: Life can only come from life. — And for this truth, which he dared to articulate, he was nearly burned at the stake. Today, there is no rational-minded person—whether they have drawn their education from Haeckel’s work or from that of his most radical opponents—who would not acknowledge that a viable organism cannot arise from the inanimate.

[ 8 ] Spiritual research now shows that in the realm of the spiritual and soul, we can speak of a similar truth, namely that a person does not merely display the characteristics they have inherited from their parents, grandparents, and so on, but that we truly understand them only when we recognize a spiritual and soul core within them. The life a person is now living is not their first, and it is the starting point for many lives in the future. And the living core of a person’s being absorbs and permeates itself with whatever inherited traits it can take in, just as the living germ of a worm absorbs the matter surrounding it. We must distinguish [a purely spiritual life] between death and new birth from the life between birth and death, where we once again clothe the spirit in matter. Thus, the entire existence is a chain of earthly lives and purely spiritual stages of existence.

[ 9 ] If this is claimed today, it is dismissed as fanciful speculation. People say that [the Theosophists] know nothing about natural science and so on. And yet it is just as well-established a finding of spiritual research as Darwin’s theory is from a scientific standpoint. But that is how it is with all truths. What is regarded as reality today was considered heresy when it was first asserted years ago. Later on, one cannot even comprehend how anyone could ever have thought otherwise. And later on, with regard to the truth of repeated earthly lives, one will likewise be unable to comprehend how anyone could ever have thought otherwise.

[ 10 ] Linked to this truth is another: the doctrine of karma. Karma refers to the law of our human destiny, and if we wish to characterize this law in its essence, we find it not only in the human world—where it manifests in a particular way—but everywhere we look. We need only consider, for example, that edelweiss can grow only on the mountain. Every being is drawn to the environment to which it belongs. Every being strives, as if drawn by magnetic forces, toward this environment to which it belongs. One must learn to recognize that human beings, depending on how they have developed in past lives or what flaws they have acquired, are constituted in such a way that, in terms of environment and destiny, they are driven to where they belong. What they experience is not truly foreign to them; rather, through the general laws of nature, they fit precisely into that environment [by destiny]. This law is, after all, already recognized for non-human beings. In the future, human beings will come to realize: When good fortune or misfortune befalls me, it was necessary for me, and in a certain sense I sought it out, because in past lives I laid the foundation for why I fit precisely into this environment. This statement will be a self-evident law in the not-too-distant future.

[ 11 ] One might say that when we speak of the causes of happiness and unhappiness, of talents and gifts, lying in past lives, all of this lies far beyond our everyday perspective on life and leads us into distant worlds. But the question is: Does this law really apply only from one life to the next, or must it not also apply within a narrower scope—to our ordinary life between birth and death? Through supersensory research, we come closer to understanding this law as it relates to our present life. People usually see only very short periods of time and have a certain reluctance to connect longer periods with one another. But one can recognize cause and effect only by attempting, for example, to connect what took place in childhood with what happens in later life, or similarly to connect the other stages of life with one another—in short, by making an effort to investigate, piece by piece—in the same way a scientist conducts research in his field—how [the concept of] karma bears fruit in life.

[ 12 ] To gain a deeper understanding, one can start with situations that are familiar to everyone and examine them from the perspective of karma. Of course, external circumstances will modify the law of karma, but if one views life seriously and with dignity, one will always return to the underlying law. One simply must not come up with all sorts of objections and cite exceptions and so on—these do not hold up in the natural sciences either. There is a law that a thrown stone falls in a certain direction, but a gust of wind may come and alter that direction—yet the law still holds. Life can become true and fruitful only if we recognize the law of karma and if it becomes a way of life, just as the laws of physics are in physics. Theosophy can become something that influences the practice of life just as the laws of physics influence external life processes and activities.

[ 13 ] Let’s move right on to something very specific. Let’s assume that a person, during his or her youth—say, up to the age of 15 or 16—shows us that he or she becomes angry when he or she sees injustice around him or her. This happens easily, especially when one is young. What stirs within the soul in such moments should not be regarded as worthless, for if a person can become truly angry at injustice in his youth and later learns to overcome this anger, to purify himself of it, and to refine himself through appropriate self-discipline, he will become something entirely different from, say, a phlegmatic person. Anger is an emotion, a form of passion, and when it is transformed, it becomes something entirely different—and the earlier this anger arose in childhood, the more profound the transformation will be later in life. The true observer of life will recognize this everywhere. In a phlegmatic person, this transformation will never occur. But what brings about this transformation of anger? What we experience [in youth] as blind anger in the face of injustice, we channel in later life into a willingness to help our fellow human beings: anger in youth is transformed in this way.

[ 14 ] Today, schools teach that heat is converted into kinetic energy. A similar law—one that operates in the same way as the law governing the transformation of natural forces in our external lives—applies to our inner lives, to what can be experienced and felt in the soul. It is not for nothing that a man like Goethe said: “What one desires in youth, one has in abundance in old age.”—This does not mean that one need only desire such things in youth; rather, Goethe meant this: A hot-tempered person may wish to help but is unable to do so in youth; this desire to help is transformed, and now, in old age, one has it in abundance. People still do not believe today that such a thing is the case. We have, it is said, ample opportunity in old age to develop love and goodwill as if by themselves. But if one looks more closely, one will find that it is precisely those who were hot-tempered in their youth who are active in helping their fellow human beings.

[ 15 ] Another example also shows us how karma manifests itself in our lives. Upon sufficient self-reflection, one cannot be grateful enough for having had the opportunity, as a child, to look up to one’s relatives with such reverence and shy awe. And if one even had the opportunity not only to revere people but also to rise in reverence before the great realities of life, that is something one should look back on with the deepest gratitude. It corresponds to an instinctive feeling that the sense of reverence one may experience in youth has causes that produce effects in later life. One could express what lies at the root of this through an image—that of folded hands and bent knees. One might say—and life proves this to be true—that the person who, in youth, had many opportunities to fold their hands can, figuratively speaking, raise their hand in blessing in old age and thereby become a benefactor to those around them. There are people who enter a circle, and one senses, even without them saying much, that their mere presence is a blessing. They bless through their very existence, for they have acquired the corresponding soul forces. Such forces manifest in later life when, in youth, the karmic causes were laid by reverently looking up to something worthy of veneration. Devotion is transformed into blessing-bestowing powers.

[ 16 ] We can go much further in this examination of everyday experiences—to something that most people deeply hate and find terrifying, not only among the less educated but even among the most highly educated: lies and envy. Nevertheless, we never find these traits woven into a person’s character. They can be traced back to earlier experiences, but when we see them manifest, we can say that lying and envy are the causes of something that plays out between birth and death. We know how a person, as it were, despises himself when he has to admit, “I am envious” or “I have a tendency to lie.” They are convinced from the outset that these are not good traits. Goethe, for example, says in his self-reflections that he is glad that, among his vices, envy is not one of his traits, and Cellini says that he feels particularly fortunate not to be aware of any lying on his part. People try to break themselves of these habits when they find them within themselves. Let’s suppose a person realizes that he is envious; he would like to break the habit, but he is not strong enough to uproot envy entirely. After all, one cannot simply uproot such a thing, but—like external forces—can only transform it. The person fights against envy so that they no longer think: “I do not want this person to have this or that.” With their intellect, they have thus overcome envy, but they cannot do so in the depths of their character, and the envy reappears in a transformed form.

[ 17 ] There is a natural connection between envy and its byproduct, a kind of compulsion to criticize. One finds fault with everything one possibly can, and such a person is often very pleased with himself. They no longer notice their envy, and finding fault—well, that’s only fair, after all; one must point out people’s mistakes! Certainly one must, but it depends on whether one does so to improve people or merely to criticize them. In the latter case, it is transformed envy. This is very common in life. Many tea and coffee gatherings, as well as morning and evening drinks, could not exist if envy had not transformed itself into nitpicking. Here we see how, under the influence of the human soul’s own striving, a quality undergoes a transformation. Let us now examine what later occurs in a person when they develop envy and nitpicking, particularly when these traits raged during their youth. He becomes what we might call a dependent being—a person who needs the advice and help of others even in the smallest matters, who does not know how to cope with life. One may doubt such things, but if one looks closely at life, one will see that these hold just as true as the laws of physics in the natural sciences.

[ 18 ] From this, we can derive sound educational principles for life. We must ensure that envy and nitpicking do not run rampant. We cannot eradicate them, but we can transform them in the right way. The educator must use all manner of methods and means inherent in genuine pedagogy to ensure that these traits do not degenerate into aimlessness, but rather become what one might call a certain longing to delve into the inner self—so that the person feels there is something within them that they sense as a faint premonition, something that lies dormant within them. This is one of the most beautiful fruits that can arise from properly transformed negative traits, when they are guided in the appropriate manner.

[ 19 ] In general, even the worst traits can have the most beautiful effects if they are channeled in the right way. Take, for example, lying and a tendency to lie. When they appear in youth, we should pay close attention to them. This does not refer solely to telling untruths; rather, we should remind ourselves again and again how difficult it is to always be truthful. It is easy to set ideals for life, but always being truthful is not entirely easy, and even the best intentions and the noblest dispositions can lead one to be untruthful in certain respects. An educator who says to a small child who is tormenting a worm [and cutting it in two], “Don’t torment this worm, because it feels pain just like you do”—is telling a lie, and yet he may be inspired by lofty ideals. For when a worm is cut in two, a piece of it may indeed continue to live. [So when one says something like this to a child], which the child is supposed to apply to itself, one is drawing its attention to something that is not true, because it could not continue to live [if the same thing happened to it]. Something entirely different would have to be said to the child to prevent it from killing or tormenting the worm.

[ 20 ] A child may well forget things like “The worm feels pain just as you do.” But where does this forgetting take place? In the child’s outer consciousness. However, human beings have a deeper core of being, and while we may have long since forgotten something in our everyday consciousness—it remains in the astral realm and continues to have an effect. Something like this, which does not exactly correspond to reality and is not controlled by the upper consciousness, nevertheless has the same consequence as a direct lie. [Through this untruth] the child develops what we might call a timid nature. Such a child becomes shy and does not dare to look people in the eye. Just like a law of physics, every untruth has an effect, even one planted under the guise of a lofty ideal. From this example, we can see how spiritual science can be useful.

[ 21 ] Spiritual science teaches us how careful we must be with every word. We can see how engaging with spiritual science as such affects human life in general. Here is a concrete example: Many people suffer from a poor memory, with which they themselves are dissatisfied and which they claim is getting worse and worse. It is a finding of supersensible research that, for modern people, memory is bound to deteriorate the more they absorb only materialistic ideas—that is, only what they can hear, see, and grasp with their intellect. Such ideas fill the lives of most people today, but they are the least suited to generating the forces needed to truly keep the memory alive. When we fill a person’s mind solely with materialistic ideas, we also deprive them of certain soul forces.

[ 22 ] What we, on the other hand, take in as the result of supersensory research—what enters the soul as spiritual-scientific insight, what compels us to form very clear and deeply interwoven thoughts—this imparts strength to the soul. It is certainly no easy task to formulate such thoughts, where one does not simply stand beside the other, but one grows out of the other, as with a plant. The result of such thoughts—quite apart from the fact that they convey truths to us—is that our inner life becomes concentrated. For a person who engages with such thoughts, even if they cannot themselves look into the higher worlds, certain key concepts repeatedly present themselves to the soul—provided they do not become tedious. This holds together what we call etheric consciousness, which external science does not recognize. This is strengthened, and the result is that a person maintains their memory in a much better condition than otherwise.

[ 23 ] Of course, it is not difficult to refute this. All it takes is for someone to come along and say: Look, this theosophist has spent his entire life dealing with extrasensory ideas, and now he has almost no memory left. — One would simply have to consider what would have become of him without spiritual science. Such things cannot be compared using statistics and the like, but only through what a person can experience for themselves. When memory begins to falter and a person begins to engage with the supersensible, it will become easier for them to recall it again. Memory will take on a different character. From this we can conclude how much our everyday life is enriched when we infuse it with and permeate it through supersensible ideas.

[ 24 ] And further: What do we, as human beings, need in order to accomplish what we are meant to do? A zest for life and joy, an interest in our surroundings. What fate imposes on us can often be no source of joy, but rather a source of discontent and pain. Life can easily become bleak under such circumstances. But for those who are capable of truly striving toward the truths of the supersensible world, there can be no complete desolation of life. For even if the outer world were to bring misfortune upon misfortune, supersensible knowledge conjures up joy and delight and enlightens us with the awareness: “No matter where a person may stand in life, they belong to the whole of spiritual life; they have their purpose, their task, and their dignity, as well as their source of joy in existence and zest for life, which no external fate can take away from them.”

[ 25 ] A materialistic age should certainly bear this in mind, for many find joy only in what they can grasp with their hands. Then come oversaturation and the greed to constantly seek out new impressions. And when those impressions fail to come and life remains the same, desolation sets in, because people know of no source of happiness other than what comes from the outside. But once they have grasped the concepts of a supersensible world, these concepts work from within, and so—even when we have no external stimulation—we can create joy in life within ourselves from what we conjure up from within. The smallest things in life can become a source of indescribable joy and great happiness for us. That is the difference between the two kinds of concepts: external concepts satisfy only our intellect and, for a short time, our emotions as well; then that comes to an end. Those who explore the material world may experience the joy of discovery, but they will soon feel a desolation in their souls. What we draw, however, from the sources of supersensible knowledge offers an inexhaustible wellspring of joy and vitality.

[ 26 ] One is always tempted to point out something that Fichte—who, though he did not live within the realm of spiritual science, nevertheless aspired toward it—said to his audience. He once remarked: “What I have to offer you speaks of the realities of the supersensible world, but this requires a different, new kind of understanding.” He emphasizes the connection between human beings and this supersensible world with words such as the following: “We can only truly perceive and understand what surrounds us in life—as fate, as pleasure and suffering, joy and pain—and only then gain a true perspective on our destiny when we see the connection between human beings and the divine.” — When a person becomes aware of this connection — so Fichte argues — then he can say: “O clouds, come crashing down and pour out in torrents; O mountains, fall upon my body and bury me; O thunder, roll; O lightning, shatter me. I defy your power, for I have embraced my destiny, and it is eternal, just as the Spirit is eternal.

[ 27 ] Anyone who familiarizes themselves in any way with parapsychological research can get a sense of this kind of sense of security. It is essential to human nature that these things become part of our everyday lives. How does this manifest itself? Let us take a person who lives out in the countryside, in an area where few newspapers and educational literature reach, and compare him to a city dweller who is at the center of modern education, reads newspapers and magazines of all kinds, and so on. By his very nature, this country dweller cannot be satisfied with the understanding provided by the old traditions. And since he has nothing else to read, he immerses himself in the Bible. It happens often enough that the words of the Bible speak to the soul of such a person, but because they affect not only the conscious mind but also the subconscious, they sink deep into the inner self—and this is connected to the need for something superhuman. This is where many harmful superstitions originate; for example, the people in question believe they are prophets, and they then found sects and so on. Because the urge for the supernatural lies in the deepest wellspring of the soul, if a person cannot find the right path, he seeks something else, and this can turn out to be harmful. Such a person merely demonstrates how deeply rooted in human nature is the desire to establish a connection with the supernatural world.

[ 28 ] The city dweller, on the other hand, has no opportunity to let the supernatural take hold of him. Yet the urge is there, and people fill their ordinary consciousness with all sorts of things: with spiritualism, with “mysteries of the universe,” and so on. Many people attend philosophical gatherings for “advanced” participants and even profess such views, yet they do not realize that their soul, in the subconscious, yearns for something entirely different. There, the soul continues to work, and later the effect manifests—not as superstitious sectarianism as in the countryside, but as unease and gloom; this or that—all sorts of ideas come over them; they become nervous, lose their emotional balance, and if they have money, they go from sanatorium to sanatorium. They search for answers: What is actually missing in my life? — Without realizing it, what they lack is a connection to the supersensible truths.

[ 29 ] Some people, who are today denied access to supernatural truths because these are dismissed as mere daydreaming, are thus deprived of what brings them mental health and emotional balance. And because the physical is the consequence of the spiritual, they are simultaneously deprived of physical health. Here we see how the results of supersensory research find their way into everyday life. We often have the opportunity to see how the gravest mistakes are made because people do not know how the supersensible realm works. For example, parents and educators believe that they can do nothing better than to administer punishment immediately after the “offense”; they do not realize that punishment administered only after some time has passed can, first, be much milder, and second, much more effective. The child should never get the impression that the teacher’s punishment is a kind of revenge; the child should never see the teacher angry. Once some time has passed, this will hardly be the case, and the educator will also view many things differently when he considers the mistake soberly, with his everyday sense of judgment. While he may believe he cannot do without corporal punishment if he punishes the child immediately, he will later be able to use milder measures. Furthermore, the child’s awareness of having done wrong has a very different effect on the child’s inner self if the child is not punished for it right away.

[ 30 ] This matter is only truly illuminated when a person rises above his fate—which often seems dark to him—to the level of understanding that insights from the supersensible world can reveal. And this is not merely a matter of thought and intellect, but something that flows through our entire body like blood. Supersensible thoughts permeate even our dexterity. A clumsy person can even become dexterous through them. One gains physical agility when what springs from the supersensible world passes into the physical realm. That is why what comes from the supersensible is clothed in such propositions that it can be tested by logic, so that human beings can receive the truths of the supersensible world through their intellect. Then they can flow into our lives, enrich them, and give us a sense of security in the life we must lead within the framework of our destiny.

[ 31 ] The application of this truth shows us, more than any speculation, that human beings are called upon to bring the spiritual forces and realities from the spiritual world down into the physical world. And when a person strives to do this, he will become all the more certain of his connection to the supersensible world, for he will become aware that he is a spiritual being, rooted not only in the physical world but also in the supersensible world; and from this certainty he will draw an ever-stronger sense of security and greater hope for life. No matter how much external life may torment us with its inscrutable fate, no matter how incomprehensible the mighty waves of fate or even the pinpricks of everyday life may be to us—we know there are hidden forces that can open our spiritual eye and shed light on our dark destiny, so that we may face with strong, inner energy everything that comes our way in the storm of life—for the blessing of the world, for the work on ourselves, and for the development of all humanity.