The Rudolf Steiner Archive

11. On Good and Evil

[ 1 ] Everything we call evil takes on a different form in another cosmos. We can only speak of evil within a specific cosmos. During the Lunar Epoch, evil and wickedness would have taken on a completely different form than they do today. We can therefore only speak of our earthly evil, of our earthly wickedness.

[ 2 ] The fact that evil is possible is connected to the Earth’s position in the cosmos. Our Earth has a very specific task. Our cosmos is called the cosmos of love. The preceding one, the lunar cosmos, is called the cosmos of wisdom. It is called the cosmos of wisdom because it laid the groundwork for what we now have before us as fruits in our cosmos.

[ 3 ] The task of earthly evolution is essentially this: [human beings] must integrate Kama-Manas into the form that [they] brought with them from the Lunar Epoch, along with the nervous system. (A description of the Lunar Epoch follows here.)

[ 4 ] People back then had everything except our intellect. The people of the Lunar Epoch did not possess intellect. However, they thought and did not [imagine] things the way we do. They participated in a much more universal spirituality. This more universal spirituality surrounded them as a spiritual power. It can be compared to a swarm of bees that has a collective soul. [In the Lunar Epoch, not every individual possessed an intellect of their own.] They were driven to their actions by a wisdom living within the Lunar cosmos. This is similar to instinct in animals.

[ 5 ] What I have in my nervous system, and what I have in my Kama-Manas, has been prepared by lunar wisdom. Lunar wisdom sought to shape the organs with wisdom. It was tasked with preparing the human physical personality. This wisdom aimed to make the body physiologically and physically perfect.

[ 6 ] The human soul arises through the influence of Kama-Manas. Universal wisdom descends like a drop into the individual personality. It is as if the individual bee had brought down the wisdom of the bee into itself and, of its own accord, were to do what it [otherwise] does instinctively. Wisdom has immersed itself in form and manifests itself in shape. Now this wisdom must be used as a means to attain love.

[ 7 ] All those who underwent a regular process of development during the Lemurian epoch embark on a path during the Earthly epoch of sacrificing their physical, pranic, and kamic lives.

[ 8 ] However, there are also beings who are unable to make this sacrifice. These beings have not undergone a completely regular development. They descended too deeply into the physical-pranic-kamic realm of the Lemurian epoch. Their attention was drawn too strongly in that direction. This gave rise to an intimate kinship. These beings have undergone an excessive degree of development. They have delved too deeply into the physical sphere. Consequently, during the Earth epoch, they lack the ability to begin where they must in order to undergo the regular earthly development. They have drawn too much from the physical-pranic realm. Consequently, on the one hand, they possess too much of the principle of wisdom, and on the other hand, they have too close a connection to the physical-pranic realm.

[ 9 ] Thus, beings entered the earthly epoch who possessed too much intelligence to undergo earthly development. They must seek out a higher form of physicality. Such a being is incapable of incarnating in our bodies. In a human body, such a being would be constrained in every way. Such a being seeks incarnation in a different way, so that it does not descend into humanity but rather seeks material from the manas bodies to embody its essence. They attract, as it were, the intellectual substance of human beings in order to embody themselves. This is a constant danger to humanity on Earth. Exoteric wisdom refers to this danger as the evil principle.

[ 10 ] Because hyperintelligences have come over from the Lunar Epoch and are pushing people off their normal course, we have evil. That is the origin of evil. Evil arises from the presence of hyperintelligences that push human beings off their normal course. In Christian esotericism, these hyperintelligences are collectively referred to as “Lucifer.” This is also the principle of wisdom, but on an incorrect level.

[ 11 ] The kamic principle in a criminal nature clearly shows that human beings are thereby misguided by the intellectual principle. Evil is thus a deviation from the true purpose of our cosmos, a deviation from love. Love consists in the sacrifice of the individual physical-pranic self for the higher purpose. Every predominant egoistic impulse arises because the person in question feels more connected to [the physical] than is proper. A connection with the physical has become too deep. The point of balance between the physical and the physiological is love. When misguided, it is driven into hyperegoism.

[ 12 ] Take the piano as an example. It is made with a hammer and a saw. If you continue to work on it after it is finished, it fails to fulfill its purpose, and the instrument is ruined. Earthly egoism is nothing more than a benevolent principle in the lunar epoch. It is something evil in the earthly epoch. There is actually no such thing as evil. Evil is good—only in the wrong place. Evil arises when a cosmic principle of development occurs in the wrong context. Evil appears evil to us only as long as we view it within a limited context. However, it brings about something good elsewhere, thereby balancing itself out. For every evil in the world, there is a corresponding good that restores the balance. This is also what the saying refers to: “Only the Father in heaven is perfect; why do you call me perfect?”