Awareness - Life - Form
GA 89
3 November 1904
Translated by Steiner Online Library
Planetary Development IX
[ 1 ] We want to give an example of the world’s evolution; we want to focus on the point where this development passes through the middle of the Lemurian epoch, and we want to examine a period before and after that time. The aim is to show how the sense of sight arose back then.
[ 2 ] If we could observe the Earth at the time of the first, the polar race, we would find it to be a sphere of ether. Soon—that is, several million years later (which, in the context of world evolution, can be called “soon”)—matter began to condense. We see the beginnings of what we call air developing. Within the air itself, the earliest forms of what we call fire and water began to take shape. Yet water existed in the air only as a fiery mist. The Earth at that time, at the beginning of the Lemurian epoch, was a dense, smoldering mist of fire. Real water, as we know it today, did not form until later, as the Earth cooled, and the solid state did not emerge until even later. One must bear in mind that human beings were present in some form during all these stages of development. Human development always depends on the environment.
[ 3 ] Let us now consider how human beings began to develop during the era of the fire-mist formation. At that time, they possessed the sense of hearing and the sense of temperature differences, and were highly articulated, mobile beings that flew about in the fire-mist. To sense whether the conditions of existence were favorable—whether it was too hot or too cold—he needed an organ. At that time, a cyclopean organ formed, whose initial purpose was to serve as a sensory organ for the surrounding temperature, to determine whether he could enter it or not.
[ 4 ] Then the entire mass in which he was moving began to become fiery. Before that, what we now call a flame did not exist; there was a temperature that was much higher than that of fire as we know it today. This sensory organ perceived how the state of heat became a flame and thus gradually condensed into the organ of sight. We see, then, that this sensory organ forms from within, because it initially arises from an inner need of the human being; its purpose is to indicate whether the person feels well or not. It is therefore originally there for the sake of the human being himself, so that he can develop as a living being under the appropriate conditions. Incidentally—initially as a side effect of sensation—the ability to perceive the cooled-down flame, the light, developed. The organ was located atop the human head like a glowing lantern. As the matter became increasingly condensed, it transformed from a sensory organ into a visual organ.
[ 5 ] As the human body became increasingly permeated by denser matter, the result was that this “sensory eye” lost its significance, for it was confronted with objects that were becoming ever denser and were externally bounded. Now the accompanying phenomenon—namely, seeing the cold flame—came to the fore. The organ became capable of seeing the externally bounded object through the increasingly dense matter; it thus acquired a new purpose due to its changed environment. Its original purpose remained, to be realized in a later state.
[ 6 ] The new characteristic was thus first absorbed into the being from the outside, only to acquire its meaning later. Every being first absorbs from its environment what it will later need for its conditions of life. Human beings could never perceive through their eyes if these had not been formed within them by the environment. The organs must first be formed from the environment so that this environment can be perceived. Then, through the organs that the environment has formed within them, their activity in the environment comes to the fore once again.
[ 7 ] Human beings can never give the world anything for which the world itself has not first created the conditions—just as the interaction between them and the world around them has created the eyes through which they can later influence the world in turn. Everywhere we find the same process: first, a person absorbs from the outside what he later gives back. Everything that is part of us is the result of an activity. There is no being that was not first an activity. All being is the effect of an activity. This applies to all areas of existence, on all planes.
[ 8 ] When one considers the dhyanic entities in their revelatory activity, this is the result of a previous absorbed activity. This is the law of karma in the broadest sense of the word. Every being is the result of an action. If a person is to be happy, he must have created that happiness himself in a previous existence. The happiness a person enjoys is the result of some beneficial action he has performed.
[ 9 ] The contemplation of the karma of the formation of the eyes differs from the other [karmic contemplations] in that, during this contemplation, a person remains completely calm and objective. However, when he contemplates the karma of his being—the concept of what is just and unjust—his emotions become involved. And for this reason, it was customary in the Vedanta and Pythagorean schools to discuss karma in relation to emotionless objects. This initially purified the thoughts so that nothing from passions or feelings flowed into them. This was the study aimed at understanding the laws of the world in such a way that no emotion interfered. This was called catharsis, the detachment from the personal. Only then could the individual become a initiate. As long as a person reflects on the fate of the soul, they are very interested in whether it is mortal or immortal. Therefore, in those days, they first had to undergo catharsis before they could study the fate of the soul itself. Through calm, emotionless study, people had to free themselves from fear and self-pity—from all egoistic pity. That is why Aristotle defines drama as a purification through fear and pity.
[ 10 ] Thus we see that a certain sequence of stages prevails in the process of development. At one stage, the being absorbs in order to act outwardly at another stage. In this way, the being first faces the external world, and then interaction develops. This interaction would remain if conditions did not change. Upon condensation, the activity is repelled and the being is transformed from within.
[ 11 ] During the formation of the eye, the sensory eye first comes into direct contact with its surroundings. Then the eye is demarcated by the denser matter that has interposed itself as a layer. This material layer separated the fire of the inner eye from the fire outside. The formation of denser layers occurs in the following manner. If there is initially a uniform sphere, a spherical shell first forms, which is separated from the inner sphere by a layer that has interposed itself between them. In this way, the original atom is formed. Thus, initially, we have matter of equal fineness inside and outside, separated from one another by a thin membrane of denser matter. Imagine this process continuing. Imagine the thin membrane of denser matter being divided in a similar manner, as if it were surrounded by a new, denser membrane. This is how the distinct entity takes shape—by surrounding itself with increasingly denser layers, just as the atom forms. Thus, we must conceive of atomic formation as a process: the separation of a certain part of existing matter by matter that is becoming denser.
[ 12 ] There is, then, a certain difference between the inner and the outer. This difference must manifest itself in some way. Think of what we call sensation. It can be caused, for example, by the prick of a needle. But there must be something that causes the sensation and something that experiences it—something active and something passive. Everything in the world comes about in this way. All existence is the result of an activity. All activity presupposes the presence of something passive. These are the two poles that must be sought in all activity. Thus, even in the smallest atom, there is an active and a passive element. External forces cause the same surrounding membrane to invert within the atom. It then becomes concave on the outside and convex on the inside—the opposite.
[ 13 ] In relation to the world, we are the passive element, in that we constantly receive and perceive impressions. These constant impressions are what are perceived through the astral body. One must distinguish between activity and passivity in the astral world. Every sensation must be generated—or rather, caused. Nothing can be caused within the world of sensation that does not have an effect within that same world. One must imagine the entire realm of sensation. If there were only a single astral body, we would never be able to attribute sensations to the actions of other beings. However, the capacity for sensation could not have arisen within us if we had not separated it in this way from the astral world as a whole. Astral existence presupposes astral activity. Likewise, mental existence presupposes thought activity, and physical existence presupposes physical activity.
[ 14 ] Once we have understood this, we understand something else as well. Human beings think. This is their very being. “Cogito ergo sum” (Descartes). Human beings’ passive thinking about things presupposes active thinking; it presupposes that things are created first and foremost through thought. Our human passive thinking presupposes an active one. Every passive thought must have been preceded by an active, creative thought. Every feeling, every sensation, every passive experience in the astral body presupposes an active bringing-about of this astral experience. Everything that appears in the world around us presupposes the bringing into being of phenomena. Light would not be there if it had not been brought about; existence would not be there if it had not been brought about; perception presupposes the manifestation of the phenomenon.
[ 15 ] Everywhere in the world, we find this triad:
[ 16 ] Active and passive thinking,
Active and passive living,
Active and passive being.
[ 17 ] Everything that constitutes passive existence for human beings is called the physical plane; this is the very embodiment of all passive existence.
[ 18 ] The astral plane is considered the epitome of all passive life.
[ 19 ] The epitome of all passive thinking is called the rupa-mental plane.
[ 20 ] The quintessence of all active thought is called the Arupa mental plane.
[ 21 ] The epitome of all active life is called the Budhiplan.
[ 22 ] The epitome of all active existence is called the Nirvana Plan.
[ 23 ] These are the five [six] planes known to us. The Nirvana Plane is the most active, for it is on this plane that even Being is created.
[ 24 ] If one considers human beings in light of these planes, one will see that every thought a person thinks is followed by another, active thought on the corresponding other plane. When one harbors a thought on the lower mental plane, it produces a corresponding image on the higher mental plane. When one harbors a feeling, this produces a corresponding image on the Budhi plane. When one acts on the physical plane, this produces a corresponding image on the Nirvana plane. Just as the active thought previously created our passive thinking, so an active thought creates a corresponding passive image on the higher mental plane, and so on. Thus, no thought of ours can be conceived that does not have its counterpart, nor can any feeling or action.
[ 25 ] The sum of all these counter-thoughts, counter-experiences, and counter-actions is called the Akashic Records. Thus, one can read all of a person’s thoughts on the higher mental plane, all feelings and experiences on the buddhi plane, and all actions on the nirvana plane. The beings who govern the connection between these corresponding images and the human being are of great significance. A person lives out their thoughts on the mental plane. Whatever a person conceives in thought takes place entirely on the mental plane. There, in Devachan, between death and rebirth, they build the character of their thought-body for the new life. There lie the corresponding images of their past thoughts. He draws these to his mental body—now freed from the physical and astral planes—and thus shapes his future mental body according to the thought-images he has created. On the other hand, he would not be able to connect the counter-images of his experiences and actions with himself on his own. This process is governed by external regulating beings, the Lords of Karma, the Lipikas, who connect the created counter-images of a person’s feelings and deeds on the Budhi and Nirvana planes with that person—who has already taken on the kamic and other sheaths once again—for the subsequent incarnations.