The Rudolf Steiner Archive

92. Knowledge and Immortality

[ 1 ] “You will never find the limits of the soul, even if you walked every path; so vast is its essence!”—These prophetic words were spoken in the 5th century B.C. by none other than the philosopher Heraclitus, known as “Heraclitus the Obscure.” And yet it is precisely through the tireless work of theosophy (the science of the spirit) that we have succeeded in shedding light on the depths of the soul and providing a decisive answer to the question: “Is man a passive spectator of the world?” No, for knowledge (knowledge as such) most certainly has a positive value for life as a whole, even though the theosophical worldview does not initially concern itself with useful and practical matters, but is directed specifically toward the spirit. And the concept of “immortality” (now juxtaposed with the idea of “knowledge”) also embodies—even though denied by many—a confidence and hope, a power and strength that are of the greatest value for our mortal life. – Let us examine more closely the threefold division into which Theosophy breaks down the entire life of the soul (namely: the sensory soul, the intellectual or emotional soul, and the conscious soul) and let us also consider the structure of the human being as taught by Theosophy (namely: the physical body, the etheric or vital body, the astral body, and the individual “I,” along with the three products of transformation: “Spirit in itself,” “Life Spirit,” and “Spirit-Man”) while delving into the resulting accompanying circumstances (human emotions, the course of human development, “devotion,” the doctrine of incarnation, etc.), we come to the conclusion that the source that connects life to life lies in knowledge, and it is through this that we secure our immortality. “Knowledge is the creator of immortality!” And thus, even today, we can add these words of confidence to Heraclitus’s anxious question: “What is man?—Nothing but a shadow, a dream!”: “But if only a single ray of light, sent by God, shines into the soul, then life will become light and every day will be bright!” – That was, in essence, the main content of the nearly two-hour lecture that Dr. Rudolf Steiner of Berlin delivered on Saturday evening at the Theosophical Society (Heidelberg Branch) before an exceptionally large audience in the reading room of the Stadthalle. Following the lecture, which was received with great applause by the audience, a question-and-answer session took place, and the lecture evening came to a close around […] o’clock.