The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XII

[ 1 ] When people talk about the physical body, most have a very vague, confused idea of what the physical body actually is. After all, what we actually have before us is not the purely physical body, but a combination of the physical body and the higher forces. A piece of rock crystal is also physical. But in essence, it is something entirely different from the human eye or the heart, which are also physical. The eye and the heart are parts of the physical body, but they are intertwined with the higher aspects of the human being, and this brings about something entirely different in the physical realm than is the case with the rest of the physical body. We also have oxygen and hydrogen in water, but they appear quite differently there than when we see them or have them separately. Then they present themselves to us quite differently. In water, we have a mixture of the two before us. What we now encounter in the human physical body is also a mixture of the physical with the etheric and astral bodies.

[ 2 ] The physical human eye is similar to a photographic camera, for just as in a camera, an image of the environment is formed within it. If one were to remove from the physical eye everything that does not arise in a camera, only then would one have what is specific to the physical eye. In the same way, one must subtract from the entire physical body everything that is not purely physical; only then does one have what is called the physical body in occultism. This body cannot live, think, or feel on its own. What remains is a very wisely designed, extremely complex automaton—a purely physical apparatus. This alone existed only on the Saturn stage of human existence. At that time, the eyes existed as nothing more than small cameras. Whatever was projected into them from the external world as an image came into the consciousness of a devic being. In the middle of the Saturn cycle, the so-called Asuras (the Archai) were ready to use this apparatus. They were, at that time, at the stage of humanity. They used this apparatus and the images that arose within it. They themselves were not inside it, but outside, and used only the images—much as we can now use cameras to capture images of a landscape. The human physical body at that time was thus an architectural structure of a physical apparatus constructed from the outside. This is the first stage of human existence.

[ 3 ] The second stage of development involved working through this physical apparatus with the etheric body. It then became a living organism. This was also reflected in the body’s configuration. The automaton was composed of a fairly solid, undifferentiated mass, similar to what we today call a gelatinous mass, like a soft crystal.* In the second cycle, during the solar existence, the physical automaton was now permeated by the etheric body. During this solar cycle, the solar plexus also developed; it is so named because it is a real organ of which only rudiments remain today. A nervous system works its way into the physical apparatus. Something similar still exists in plants. This is the second stage.

[ 4 ] But these stages are not complete; development continues gradually. The solar plexus is still such an active agent today in animals that do not develop a spinal cord. All invertebrates are still individual manifestations of residual stages of what was once predisposed. It was only on Earth that human beings gave rise to vertebrates. In the past, human beings were organized in a manner similar to that of the crab today. Human beings have now advanced beyond that stage, while the crab has remained stagnant. It is surprising that the crab’s entire internal structure bears a certain resemblance to the human brain. There is, in fact, a similarity between the internal structure of the crab and the human brain. The crab, too, is enclosed in a hard shell, just like the human brain. After humans had developed a spinal cord and restructured the upper vertebrae, they shed the hard shell. The crab did not develop further. It adapted to its external environment by developing a hard shell, which had to serve for it the same purpose as the protective covering of the rest of the human body does for humans.

[ 5 ] The third stage is the one in which the whole organism is reorganized by the astral body working within it. This reorganization is linked to the development of the heart and the flow of warm blood through it. The fish’s heart has come to a standstill halfway through this process. The heart develops steadily as the body’s internal heat increases; this means nothing other than the astral’s entry into the body.

[ 6 ] The spinal cord and the brain constitute the organ of the “I.” This organ is surrounded by the threefold protective sheath of the astral, etheric, and physical bodies. Once the organ of the “I” (spinal cord and brain) has been prepared, the “I” settles into the bed that has been made ready, and the spinal cord and brain, as organs of the “I,” enter into its service.

[ 7 ] This is how the fourfold human is composed. This is the Pythagorean square:

1. The spinal cord and the brain are the organs of the ego.
2. The warm blood and the heart are the organs of Kama (the astral body).
3. The solar plexus is the organ of the etheric body.
4. The physical body itself is a complex physical apparatus.

[ 8 ] Thus, humankind has been constructed in four ways.

[ 9 ] What we have just described is what is called in occultism a “vortex”—something that builds in from the outside and unites with what is building up from within. The physical, etheric, and astral bodies have built up the human being. Then the “I” asserts itself, and this “I” now builds from the inside out. These are the four parts of the human being. Thus, we find in the external world an imprint of the fourfold human being. All further development consists in the human being consciously going through, from this point of the “I,” everything that he had previously gone through unconsciously.

[ 10 ] To recognize this today, we must first investigate what happened when our “I” took shape. We must, so to speak, adopt a perspective from below a certain organ. This is expressed with extraordinary insight in the legend of the Buddha. The legend states that Buddha remained beneath the Bodhi tree until he attained enlightenment, in order to reach higher levels—Nirvana. To do so, Buddha had to descend below the brain, below the organ of consciousness. This means that he had to consciously retrace the paths he had previously traversed unconsciously. Beneath the cerebrum, more toward the back of the head, lies the cerebellum, which is shaped like a tree. Buddha positioned himself beneath it. The cerebellum is the Bodhi tree. This shows how what such profound legends convey is drawn from human development itself.

[ 11 ] All the things that are now known through anatomy alone were discovered in a completely different way back then. Occult researchers investigated with the help of the Kundalini light. A student was prepared for this in the following manner. He went to a master. If the master recognized him as trustworthy, he was not given a doctrine as instruction—today things have changed; today, people must find their way through the intellect and concepts—but rather the master would say to him, for example: “You must spend several hours every day, initially for about six weeks, in meditation and devote yourself to one of the eternal truths, immersing yourself completely in it.” People today cannot do this because life in today’s culture places too many demands on them. Back then, however, the student meditated six to ten hours a day. He cannot do that now without withdrawing from culture. Back then, the student needed almost no time for culture. He found his sustenance outdoors. He therefore devoted his time to meditation, perhaps ten hours without interruption. Very soon, they reached a point where they could bring their body—which had not yet become so dense—to a state in which the Kundalini light awoke within. This light is to the inner world what sunlight is to the outer world. In truth, even outdoors we do not see objects themselves, but rather the sunlight reflected back. The moment we are able to illuminate the soul with the help of the Kundalini light, the soul becomes as visible as an object illuminated by the sun. Thus, the entire inner body gradually becomes illuminated for the yoga student. All ancient anatomical descriptions are viewed from the inside, through inner illumination. Thus, the [Indian] monks, who transformed their experiences into legends, spoke of what they had seen through the light of Kundalini.

[ 12 ] We must now ask ourselves how work is carried out on the various parts of the human being. It is only on the physical plane that the human being consciously works on the parts that belong to the brain and the spinal cord through the human “I” ... (gap in the text.) At first, human beings have no influence over other aspects. For example, they have no influence over the circulation of the blood. Such processes develop only gradually. Other spirits—deva beings—are at work here, so that all beings, insofar as they have a circulatory system, depend on deva forces to regulate it. External deva forces permeate and work upon the astral body. The lowest devas work on the astral body. Higher forces work on the etheric body, and even higher devas work on the physical body—the most perfect of all that a human possesses. The astral body is significantly less perfect than the physical body. The physical heart is indeed very intelligent, but what is foolish is the astral body, which supplies the heart with all manner of toxins. The most perfect part of the human being is the physical body; the etheric body is less perfect, and the astral body is even less perfect. That which is just beginning—the “baby” within the human being—is the “I.” This is the fourfold human being, which contains the “I” within itself, just as a temple contains the statue of a god.

[ 13 ] The entire development of human culture is nothing other than the process of weaving the “I” into the astral body—a process of shaping the astral body. Filled with desires, instincts, and passions, the human being enters life. By overcoming these instincts, desires, and passions, the human being works the “I” into the astral body. When the sixth root race—the sixth great epoch—is complete, the “I” will have been fully worked into the astral body. Until then, the astral body is constantly dependent on support from the devic forces. As long as the “I” has not permeated the entire astral body, the devic forces must continue to support this work.

[ 14 ] The second stage of development, which follows cultural development, is the development of the initiate. He works on the “I” right into the etheric body. As a result, the devic forces are gradually replaced in the etheric body by the “I’s” own work. Then the human being also begins, little by little, to see through himself.

[ 15 ] We may now ask: What is the astral body? Why does a human being have an astral body? — To provide the human being, through the detour of desire, with the impetus to do what he would not otherwise have done: to enter the physical plane. For before a human being can perceive the physical plane objectively, they must direct their wishes and desires toward it. Without these, they would not have been able to develop an objective view of the world, nor would they have been able to develop duties and morality. Only through a gradual transformation of desires are they converted into duties or ideals. Human beings had to follow this path through the driving, organizing force of the astral body.

[ 16 ] The etheric body is the vehicle of thought. What thought is on the inside, ether is on the outside, just as desire on the inside is astral on the outside. But only when pure thinking begins is etheric matter radiated into the astral impulses. As long as thoughts are not yet pure, we have astral matter surrounding the etheric form. Thus, what are called thought-forms are composed of a core of etheric matter surrounded by astral matter. The currents of so-called abstract thoughts flow along the nerve pathways; yet in reality, these are the most concrete of all, for they are etheric forces. As soon as a person begins to think at all, they are already weaving the “I” into their etheric body. When a person dies, it becomes clear that the physical body has nothing to do with the “I.” Every connection from the physical body to the “I” is severed after death. Previously, this connection took place indirectly through the other bodies. Once these are gone, the corpse no longer has any connection to the “I.” Then the outer devic forces take it upon themselves, and it is reorganized back into the physical environment. The word “decay” does not merely mean to perish, but to become the being from which the body originated. This is what can be said regarding the physical body. The Dutch word “lichaam” does not mean corpse, but rather the physical body that is carried about.

[ 17 ] The etheric body, too, remains for the most part in the same state as the physical body. After death, it is likewise taken up by the devas and then reenters the general cycle. But what the human being has worked into the etheric body remains and does not dissolve. This is what later, upon reincarnation, forms a center around which the rest crystallizes. This small portion of the etheric body remains with every human being. Likewise, as much of the astral body remains as the human being has worked into it. Only during the last third of the sixth root race will the entire astral body be preserved in all normally developing human beings.

[ 18 ] Development thus begins with the human being consciously working on the astral body. The work of the chela, the inner disciple, is further to transform the etheric body. He has completed his training as a chela when, after death, the entire etheric body is preserved. The sojourn in Devachan is necessary to enable the organization of the etheric body to be renewed again and again. The small fragment of the etheric body that a person initially carries into Devachan can grow into a complete etheric body through the conditions created for this purpose in Devachan.

[ 19 ] This explains how things stand with regard to the stay in Devachan. When a person is at the beginning of their development and has transformed only a very small part of their etheric body, they can remain in Devachan for only a very ‘short time.’ The missing part of the etheric body must be replaced for them by the outer devas. As they continue to develop, they remain in Devachan for longer and longer periods, and the duration of their stay there increases. The time they spend there thus grows in proportion to their own development. However, more advanced individuals are sometimes reincarnated earlier for other reasons—for example, because they are needed in the world.

[ 20 ] When the chela dies, the entire etheric body is present. Thus, at this stage, the chela can do without Devachan, precisely because the etheric body is fully developed. Then, after a very short time, reincarnation occurs. He first waits in the astral world—as if in a transitional station—until he receives a specific mission from his Master. Then he can re-enter his etheric body in order to reincarnate once more.

[ 21 ] Until then, two things are necessary for development: namely, that the things one cannot develop within oneself must be incorporated from the outside. Help must come from the outside. Thus, in Devachan, the etheric body is replenished by external Devic powers. The physical plane and Devachan are opposites. Between them lies Kamaloka, a transitional station, a transitional stage, an intermediate state brought about by the fact that the human being remains connected to that into which he has worked. The astral body leads the human being to the physical plane, where he turns his attention outward. There, the desires begin to take a liking to external things. Once a person has died, the craving for external objects does not cease immediately, even though they no longer have the organs to interact with them. The craving remains, but the organs are missing. In Kamaloka, the person must wean themselves off this craving for the external world. Kamaloka is not actually part of normal evolution; it is merely a state of weaning. Because a person can no longer physically satisfy their desires—because they no longer have organs for the physical world—Kamaloka comes into being.

[ 22 ] When a person commits suicide, he has identified his self with the physical body. Consequently, the craving for the physical body becomes all the more intense afterward. He then feels like a hollowed-out tree, like someone who has lost his self. He then has a constant thirst for himself.

[ 23 ] When a person is killed violently, they find themselves in a similar situation. For a person who dies a violent death, the search for his physical body—for his self—persists until the time when he would otherwise have died. This search can manifest itself in severe reactions. In the case of someone who is killed by violence, this can, in certain instances, evoke immense rage against those who caused his death. Thus, for the executed person, the initial blow is transformed into a counterblow. Thus, from the astral world, the souls of Russians who had been executed for political reasons fought against their own compatriots on the side of the Japanese. This occurred during the Russo-Japanese War, but it is by no means a general rule.