The Rudolf Steiner Archive

7. The Origin and Meaning of Human Suffering, Hereditary Diseases

[ 1 ] Today we want to address the question of the origin and meaning of human suffering. Why is there suffering, evil, and pain in the world? That was the fundamental question for Gautama Buddha. This question is also of great importance to every human being. Human beings are confronted with suffering and pain time and time again. Where do they come from, and what do they mean? The answer we can provide will not satisfy everyone at every moment. The answer must be sought in higher realms. One thing I can assure you: For the more highly developed individual, the answer to the question of the origin of pain and suffering is unsatisfactory. The chela gains insight into this. Pain and suffering pass the chela by like events that concern him only to a very limited extent. Even if we could survey a broader cosmic context than that which constitutes the World Soul and its interrelationships, we still could not provide an explanation for suffering. To some, my words will sound strange today, and yet they will be clear about what suffering is.

[ 2 ] Do not believe that pain and suffering are found throughout the world to the same degree as in our stages of development. Nor should you believe that they have always existed. It was only when humankind entered our physical stage of development—that is, since the third human race—that physical pain in the modern sense came into being. Before the physical body existed, there was no physical pain. Pain is nothing other than a disharmony in the order of nature. These disharmonies, however, are necessary. Nature, after all, consists of a sum of distinct beings. Nature must allow a being to express itself in such a way that it may eventually cause harm to another being.

[ 3 ] If human beings did not also have an astral body and what we call the “desire soul,” they would never be able to perceive physical pain. If a person consisted only of the “mental body” and the physical body, he could cut off a finger and then look at it as if it were a glass of water standing next to him. But through the interposition of the astral body, this disharmony becomes pain. The origin of pain is to be found only in the connection between the astral body and the physical body. If we did not have an astral body, we would have no perception of the world. Our eye would not see the color red; our eye would be nothing more than a physical apparatus if it were not for the astral body. That is why the eye is not a photographic plate. If a photographic plate could be permeated with astral matter, it would perceive the image just as we do.

[ 4 ] Light of a certain intensity is pleasant. Light that is too intense becomes painful. Every gift of nature is accompanied by its flip side. But how does an individual come to suffer specific pains? It is the individual who suffers the pain. But does a person have the right to regard what he suffers as his own immediate, personal suffering? We must look to the larger contexts in which human beings are situated. We must therefore also ask: Why is pain heaped upon us? We can ask: Who causes the pain that is inflicted upon us? Materialism has no answer to this. The question still cannot be answered even if the soul and the body have nothing to do with one another. If we were to believe that the human being does not extend beyond birth and death, then we could ask: Why does one person endure so much suffering, and why does another have so little to suffer? I do not wish to simply present you with the concepts of “karma” and “reincarnation.” Does it not seem unjust that we do not know why we suffer? People cannot always attribute their pain to past sins or regard it as their consequences.

[ 5 ] If we want to find answers to these questions, we must adopt the theosophical perspective. Theosophy offers us the opportunity and shows us the path to overcoming suffering and achieving liberation from it. It provides us with the means to improve our lives. Theosophy therefore does not merely affect the present and the past, but also extends into the future.

[ 6 ] In ancient Atlantis and in Lemuria, there were beings who did not suffer as we do on Earth today. Suffering was also treated and healed differently back then. Even physical ailments were healed in a completely different way back then than they are today. People usually have completely false ideas about earlier times. Even when it comes to the most essential, the most striking things, this is often not true. This applies not only to times long past.

[ 7 ] That is why even today, hardly any doctor can understand Paracelsus. Paracelsus healed in a completely different way than is done today. He did not heal with physical means, as is mainly the case today. Paracelsus was a healer of the soul. He knew how to seek out the evil within the human soul. Today’s materialistic mindset hardly understands one at all when one speaks in this way. The reason lies in the fact that we descend into the physical realm with our astral body [...]. This is connected to the answer [to the question]: Why is physical pain so intense? They simply cannot separate the astral body from the physical body. The astral body is the seat of evil. The pain can be reduced to a minimum if you know how to work on the human soul. The patient’s sensation is then drawn out of the affected limb. One leaves the physical to the physical.

[ 8 ] The true physician alleviates the pain in the soul. Then the soul can overcome and heal physical pain. We live in our age. This age has descended deepest into the physical realm. The example of the house that we used will illustrate this. The more closely we are connected to the house, the more detrimental the damage to the house is for its inhabitants.

[ 9 ] Thus, it can also happen that the human soul must enter a body for which the inhabitant is not responsible, and for which compensation can take place only within a larger circle.

[ 10 ] Theosophy can only ever suggest ways and means by which we can overcome this age. Theosophy has a much greater mission than many realize. Theosophy’s task is to reawaken the language of the soul. In this regard, too, Theosophy has the potential to enable the physician once again to heal from the soul. A martyr can walk to the stake with a smile on his lips. His smile is entirely sincere and genuine, for he has detached his astral body from his physical body. Giordano Bruno’s only pain was that he could not carry on with the works he was meant to accomplish.

[ 11 ] We may also experience suffering through no fault of our own. People today are far from understanding these things because they are incapable of developing a spiritual life. Those who believe in reincarnation and karma do not suffer as much from the same wounds as modern people do. They have detached their minds.

[ 12 ] Because an ancestor once contracted an illness, it was passed down to their descendants. But heredity was never the way it is in our present age. Hereditary diseases did not exist in the same way, and they were especially absent among spiritually developed tribes. Look at history. It is all part of the materialistic spirit of our time. Not because there were no newspapers in the past—that is not why we heard nothing—but because hereditary diseases simply did not exist back then.

[ 13 ] The soul depends on the spiritual stimulation it receives. The soul must absorb the spiritual environment within itself. Imagine a healthy animal being placed in an area where the air is polluted. It will become ill. In healthy, fresh air, where it can breathe, it will not only be able to live on its own, but it will also be able to strengthen and invigorate its body.

[ 14 ] What the external environment is to an animal, the spiritual environment is to us. In an age when there was still faith in the spirit, the spirit grew stronger. In a spiritual atmosphere that is materialistic, the soul can no longer soar to great heights. Then the soul gasps for breath under the burden of physical circumstances. A soul in our age is completely powerless against the physical composition of the body. A soul that lives only in the physical realm is subject to suffering. A soul that lives only in the spirit overcomes suffering.

[ 15 ] But we also have an effect on the pain that has already been suffered. If you refrain from having a soothing effect on the future, then you also refrain from having a soothing effect on the past.

[ 16 ] Theosophy must revive spiritual life. The only reason humanity suffers so greatly today is that spiritual life within it has almost died out. Perhaps someone has personally brought upon themselves the suffering they must endure. But if we revive spiritual life, we will overcome all of this once again.

[ 17 ] Why do we suffer not only passively but also actively? When you act with an active spirit, you promote the development of humanity and help bring about deliverance from pain and suffering. Theosophy does not offer idle answers, but rather active ones—that is, contributing to the unfolding of existence.