Awareness - Life - Form
GA 89
25 October 1904
Translated by Steiner Online Library
Planetary Development IV
[ 1 ] Since all evolution proceeds according to three principles—consciousness, life, and form—and every being must pass through these three principles many times, we must know exactly which stages of consciousness, life, or form we are referring to. We can know about seven of each. The seven stages of consciousness are:
1. The so-called trance state of consciousness, also known as deep trance
2. Dreamless sleep
3. Dream sleep
4. The waking state or object consciousness
5. The psychic state or conscious image consciousness
6. The superpsychic state or conscious life
7. The spiritual state = self-aware universal consciousness.
[ 2 ] The first, the trance state, is characterized by the fact that it is a universal consciousness. In terms of scope, it is the most all-encompassing consciousness; on the other hand, however, it is limited by its dullness; it is the dullest state of consciousness. A being on our Earth placed into this trance state would perceive the movements of the planets, mineral forms, crystal forms, and so on, but plant, animal, and human life would not exist for this being. If this trance state is induced today, the being is able to see things in the cosmos, but not the life of physical beings. When a trance occurs today in a pathological state, or when this state is induced, those in it begin to describe chains of worlds and the like—sometimes confusedly, but sometimes they produce strange ideas quite similar to theosophical teachings. It is a far-reaching universal consciousness, but too dull to truly perceive living, sentient beings.
[ 3 ] The second state of consciousness is what we call the state of dreamless sleep. The way in which a person experiences this state of sleep is generally still so dull that most people feel as if they are unconscious. It is a less dull state of consciousness than the previous one, but a more limited one. Those who experience this state perceive what is happening in the mineral and plant kingdoms, but the animal kingdom and so on—the world of sensations and thoughts—are not present for them. Somnambulists of this degree produce extraordinary arabesque-like drawings in this state, but they lack the ability to depict cosmic systems.
[ 4 ] The third state is dream sleep, the state of dreaming familiar to humans. Most of the time, a person is unaware of the connection between their dreams and the events of the world. This dream-sleep consciousness is not comprehensive, but it reflects the inorganic, the mineral, the plant, and the animal realms. To the undeveloped person, these dreams often present mirror images of their own passions and their animal nature.
[ 5 ] In the fourth state—the waking state, the closest but also the clearest state of consciousness—one perceives the mineral kingdom, plants, animals, and humans, but only their outward appearance, their form, not their law, not their sensation. In the waking state, a person must first construct this for themselves based on outward appearances.
[ 6 ] This is followed by the higher states of consciousness, in which the bright clarity of physical consciousness is retained. The fifth state, psychic consciousness, expands and extends beyond the astral world. In this state, feelings are perceived directly. For example, one sees not only a person’s sour expression, but the feeling itself directly. The sixth state is hyperpsychic consciousness. In this state, in addition to everything kamic, a person can also perceive everything that lives. They perceive the principle of growth, of life itself. The seventh state is spiritual consciousness: in it, a person perceives everything that happens in the cosmos with bright, clear awareness.
[ 7 ] Then we have the seven stages of evolution of life; we call them:
1. The First Elemental Kingdom
2. The Second Elemental Kingdom
3. The Third Elemental Kingdom
4. The Mineral Kingdom
5. The Plant Kingdom
6. The Animal Kingdom
7. The Human Kingdom.
[ 8 ] If we want to characterize these stages in a similar way to how we characterized the stages of consciousness earlier, we can say:
[ 9 ] The first elemental realm is the most subjective of all. The second elemental realm is already less subjective. The third elemental realm is even less subjective. We can, in fact, distinguish three degrees of subjectivity within the three elemental kingdoms. Where it begins to become objective—that is, where it acts in such a way that it not only works from the inside out but is also perceived from the outside—it becomes the mineral kingdom. In the first elemental kingdom, being asserts itself outwardly. In the second elemental kingdom, life asserts itself outwardly. In the third elemental kingdom, sensation or consciousness pushes outward. In the fourth, the mineral kingdom, being has become objective (4th stage of life). The plant kingdom: here, life has become objective (5th stage of life). The animal kingdom: here, sensation and consciousness have become objective (6th stage of life). In the human kingdom, all three stages become objective (7th stage of life). Consciousness and the “I” have then fully entered into objectivity.
[ 10 ] Life thus evolves through the seven realms, but form also passes through seven stages. These are:
1. The arupic form, the form in its very earliest stage, where it is not yet a true form but is already striving outward.
2. The rupic form, the spiritual form, the most subtle hint of an external form.
3. The astral form, which begins to become visible externally.
4. The physical form.
5. The plastic form, which is no longer rigid but asserts itself from within, in which life pushes outward into the form.
6. The intellectual form, which has become even more mobile, in which the spirit pushes outward.
7. The archetypal, primordial form. This form exercises absolute self-control and is entirely self-moving. Everything pushes outward; it can shape everything; it is active.
[ 11 ] If we now wish to consider the evolution of any being, we must realize that it must pass through all these stages of consciousness, life, and form, in the following manner:
[ 12 ] Every being must pass through the seven stages of consciousness, and each stage of this state of consciousness, in its various forms, is referred to as a planetary system in theosophical texts. For a being to pass through a planetary system means: It undergoes metamorphosis through these seven states of consciousness. Right now, human beings are experiencing the state of waking consciousness; we call this the Earth state. Previously, human beings went through the state of dream consciousness. At that time, they lived in the stage of lunar development. It is said: Human beings have completed the Moon in their development.
[ 13 ] In every state of consciousness, human beings must pass through all the kingdoms—that is, through all the states of life. Thus, on the Moon, they passed through the first, second, and third elemental kingdoms, as well as the other four kingdoms, in a dream-like state of consciousness. Then, on Earth, they had to go through the seven stages of life. Currently, humanity is in the Earth’s planetary system—that is, in the waking state—and in the middle stage of life, the mineral kingdom. In terms of form, humanity is now physical (fourth globe or fourth state of form); in terms of life, mineral (fourth round); and in terms of consciousness, awake (fourth planetary system). An being’s passage through one of the kingdoms of life is called a round. Each planetary system comprises seven rounds. Humanity is in the fourth round on Earth. In this round, mineral development is brought to completion; in the fifth round, plant development; in the sixth round, animal development—animal consciousness; and in the seventh round, human development—human consciousness. Every being must pass through all seven forms in each of these seven kingdoms; it assumes each form. It first becomes arupic, then rupic, then astral, then physical, then plastic, then intellectual, and finally archetypal. In the early stages of the development of theosophical teachings, these seven metamorphoses of form were called the seven globes:
The Arupic metamorphosis corresponds to the first globe,
the Rupic metamorphosis corresponds to the second globe,
the astral metamorphosis corresponds to the third globe,
the physical metamorphosis corresponds to the fourth globe,
the plastic metamorphosis of the fifth globe,
the intellectual metamorphosis of the sixth globe,
the archetypal metamorphosis of the seventh globe.
[ 14 ] These seven globes are not truly separate globes; the objective process is not one in which one leaves one globe and enters another, but rather the globes together form a sphere in which these various states of form interpenetrate one another and in which the same being undergoes seven metamorphoses. In older esoteric terminology, this development of states of form is called “phase states.” This is related to something that can be described by the following line of thought.
[ 15 ] Let us imagine a physically sighted being and picture that all these states are perpetually present in the world. While human beings are at their own level, other beings are at different stages of development. In esoteric terminology, this is called: “Here begins a higher form of space.” Esotericists refer to this region as the region of permeability. Even in the astral plane, two beings can penetrate one another. One must develop within oneself a sense of the region of permeability—of the penetration of our world by another. When we look out into the world, we can physically see only a part of the cosmos, a fragment of the whole. A celestial body is visible—which means it is in the fourth state of form, in the phase of physical form, and among the stages of life, it belongs to the mineral kingdom.
[ 16 ] A being that passes through the various forms gradually becomes visible, starting from the arupic form and descending, and then gradually disappears again until it reaches the archetypal form. That is why we also call these states of form “phases.” The Earth passed through the arupic, rupic, and astral states before it became physically visible. After the physical state, it will still pass through the plastic, intellectual, and archetypal states.
[ 17 ] On the physical plane, there is an occult relationship between these phases of form and the phases of the moon. Therefore, the passage of a being through the seven phases of form—from the arupic state to the archetypal—is called a world month. The passage through all states of consciousness is called a world year. Between the world day (cycle of form) and the world year (cycle of consciousness) lies the world month (states of life), which is longer than the world day and shorter than the world year.
[ 18 ] In esoteric terminology, consciousness is called the Sun; form, the Moon; and life as we experience it now, the Earth. A state of consciousness lasts the longest, followed by a state of life, which lasts a little less, and a state of form, which lasts the shortest. Every state of life must pass through all seven states of form. From the Arupa state to the archetypal state, it passes first through the first elemental kingdom, then through the second and third elemental kingdoms, and so on. In this way, it undergoes seven times seven successive metamorphoses of life—these are the seven rounds, each passing through seven metamorphoses of form, the seven times seven metamorphoses, or 49, that every being must undergo: 49 on Earth, 49 on the Moon, and so on—49 on each of seven planetary systems, that is, seven times 49 = 343 (the sum of its digits is 10). These 343 states are called a world year. We are now in the fourth planetary system (the fourth state of consciousness, waking consciousness). We are on Earth, and we are passing through the fourth kingdom of life, the fourth round—the mineral kingdom. The mineral kingdom has reached the fourth globe—that is, the fourth phase of form, the physical phase—and will reach completion in this round; hence, the physical body of the human being will also attain perfection in its mineral components during this round. Only after the completion of all 343 states will the human being become what we call a “God”—though not the highest God, but rather what we call the third Logos, which is in truth the Logos of Form, having passed through the 343 metamorphoses. It represents Form at its highest stage. These various manifestations of consciousness are, in turn, Form on the higher plane. Conceived as a unity, these 343 forms are thus the Third Logos. The Second Logos will represent life at its highest stage, and the First Logos will represent consciousness at its highest stage. The stages of form are represented to esotericists through colors and symbols; the stages of life through sounds—life resounds. For the stages of consciousness, there are no symbols in the physical world that can characterize them.