The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Third Lecture

[ 1 ] What is a person's state between death and a new birth?

[ 2 ] Death is not unjustly called the older brother of sleep, for there is a certain kinship between sleep and death. But there is also a great, immense difference between the two.

[ 3 ] Let us consider what happens to a person from the moment of falling asleep until the moment of waking up. This period presents itself as a kind of state of unconsciousness. Only sparse, sometimes confused, sometimes clearer memories of a dream state emerge. To truly understand sleep, we must recall the individual parts of the human being. We have seen that the human being consists of seven members, four of which are fully developed, the fifth only partially so, and that of the sixth and seventh, only seeds and potentials are present:

1. the physical body, which we perceive with our senses
2. the etheric body, which is fine, luminous, and permeable and permeates the first
3. the astral body
4. the “I” body or body of consciousness.

[ 4 ] The “I”-body encompasses:

5. the mental self, or Manas, partly developed and partly in embryonic form
6. the life spirit, or Budhi
7. the spiritual self, or Atma; however, the latter two are only in embryonic form.

[ 5 ] A waking person has the four lowest bodies within the space they occupy. The etheric body extends slightly beyond the physical body on all sides. The astral body extends about two and a half head-lengths beyond the physical body, surrounding it like a cloud and tapering off toward the bottom. When a person falls asleep, the physical body and the etheric body remain in bed; they remain connected to one another just as they are during the day. In contrast, the astral body becomes detached; the astral body and the ego-body are, as it were, lifted out of the physical body. Since all sensations, perceptions, and so on are generated in the astral body, but the astral body is now outside the physical body, the person is unconscious during sleep; for in this life, the person needs the physical brain as an instrument to become conscious. Without it, the person cannot become conscious.

[ 6 ] What, then, does the detached astral body do during the night? The clairvoyant can observe how the astral body is active around the sleeper at night; it has a specific task. It does not, as is often taught by theosophists, float idly and sluggishly above the person like an inactive entity, but is constantly at work on the physical body. And what does it do? The physical body becomes fatigued and worn out during the day, and the astral body restores this wear and fatigue during the night. The astral body repairs the physical body at night and restores the depleted energies. Hence the necessity of sleep, and hence also the restorative, refreshing, and healing qualities of sleep. We will discuss the nature of dreams later.

[ 7 ] When a person dies, however, the process is different. Not only do the astral body and the “I”-body separate from the physical body, but so does the etheric body. These three bodies emerge and remain together for some time after the death of the physical body. The phenomenon of death unfolds in such a way that, at the moment of death, the connection between the etheric and astral bodies on the one hand and the physical body on the other—specifically in the heart—is dissolved. A kind of flash of light occurs in the heart, and then the etheric body, the astral body, and the “I” rise up above the head. At the moment of death, however, something remarkable happens to the person: for a brief moment, the person recalls all the experiences of the life that has just passed. Like a vast tableau, their entire life stands before their soul in a single instant. Something similar happens to a person during their lifetime only in very rare cases, namely when they are in mortal danger or experience a great shock; for example, a person drowning or falling from a height sees their life laid out before their soul at the moment of impending death.

[ 8 ] Another similar phenomenon is the peculiar, tingling sensation that occurs when a limb has gone numb. Where does this come from? It is caused by a loosening of the etheric body. When a limb—for example, a finger—falls asleep, the clairvoyant sees a little finger protruding from beside the finger; this is the etheric body, which has loosened at this point and is protruding. This is also where the great danger of hypnosis lies, because in this process the brain undergoes the same phenomenon as the finger that has fallen asleep. On both sides of the head, the clairvoyant sees the loosened etheric body hanging out like two flaps or sacks. If hypnosis is repeated frequently, the etheric body develops a tendency to loosen, which can entail great dangers. Those affected usually become unfree, dreamlike, experience bouts of dizziness, and so on. Such a loosening of the entire etheric body occurs in the face of mortal danger. The connection is as follows: The etheric body is the bearer of memory; the finer the etheric body, the more developed it is, and the better the memory. Now, if the etheric body is bound within the physical body—as is the case with the average person—then its vibrations cannot act sufficiently on the brain and come to the person’s consciousness, because the physical body, with its coarser vibrations, effectively masks them. In the face of mortal danger, however, when the etheric body loosens, it is relieved of its memories by the brain. The entire past life appears before the soul of the dying person for a moment. Thus, at the very moment the etheric body loosens, everything that has ever been inscribed into it comes to the fore. Hence the recollection of the past life immediately after death. It then takes some time for the etheric body to separate from the astral body and the I.

[ 9 ] In the average person, the etheric body gradually dissolves into the world ether. In the case of the uneducated, still lowly-standing human being, this dissolution of the etheric body proceeds slowly; in the educated, it proceeds rapidly; in the case of the chela or disciple, it proceeds slowly again and becomes slower and slower the higher the person ascends; and finally, a stage in development is reached where it no longer dissolves at all.

[ 10 ] Now, in the case of the ordinary human being, we already have two corpses: that of the physical body and that of the etheric body; what remains are the astral body and the I.

[ 11 ] We must now realize that a person’s entire consciousness in earthly life depends on the senses. We can begin to imagine how different the state of consciousness must be now. Let us imagine, step by step, all the senses fading away: darkness sets in after the loss of sight, silence after the loss of hearing, and there is neither cold nor warmth after the loss of the corresponding sense. What remains, then, of what animates the soul, what fills our daily consciousness, what we owe to the body from morning till night—now that all physical organs are gone? The content of the soul; and it is precisely when we realize this that we will understand what the state of life is like after death, when a person has shed these two bodies.

[ 12 ] This state is called Kamaloka, which means “the realm of desires.” But this is not a place somewhere out there; no, Kamaloka is right where we are, and the spirits of the deceased constantly hover around us and live among us. But their presence escapes the physical human being. How, then, does a dead person perceive things? A simple example will make this clear: A person eats with desire and genuine enjoyment. The clairvoyant sees, in the upper part of this person’s astral body, the satisfaction of that enjoyment as a brownish-red thought-form. Now this person dies; what remains to him is the desire and the capacity for enjoyment. Only the physical aspect—the material basis of pleasure—remains attached to the physical body; we must have a palate and so on in order to eat. Pleasure and desire, however, are soul-related; therefore, the capacity for pleasure and desire remain even after death. It is just that the person then no longer has the means to satisfy that desire, for the organs necessary for satisfaction are lacking. So it is with all pleasures and desires: one may have a desire for beautiful color combinations—but the eyes are missing; for harmonious music—but the ears are missing.

[ 13 ] How does the soul become aware of this after death? Just as a traveler in the desert, tormented by a burning thirst, wanders about seeking a spring to quench his thirst, so the soul suffers a burning thirst because it no longer has any organs or means to satisfy it. It must do without everything; therefore, “burning thirst” is a very apt description, and it is precisely this that expresses the state of Kamaloka. This is not a torment from the outside, but the agony of the unfulfillability of the capacity for pleasure that still remains.

[ 14 ] Why must the soul endure this torment? So that the person may gradually wean themselves from these sensual desires and longings, so that the soul may detach itself from the earth, purify itself, and be cleansed. When that time comes, the Kamaloka period will be over, and the person will ascend to Devachan.

[ 15 ] How, then, does the soul experience life in Kamaloka? In Kamaloka, a person relives his entire life, but he relives it in reverse. He retraces his entire lifespan from the moment of death back to birth, day by day, with all his experiences, events, and deeds. And what is the purpose of this? The purpose is that the soul, so to speak, pauses at every event in order to wean itself from attachment to the physical and material. It relives all pleasures, but in such a way that it must do without them, that it cannot satisfy them. Through this, it weans itself away from physical life. And when he has relived his life in this way all the way back to birth, then, in the words of the Bible, he can enter the “Kingdom of Heaven,” as Christ says: “Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” All the words of the Gospels are very profound, and one comes to understand their depth as one gradually penetrates divine wisdom.

[ 16 ] We must still highlight certain moments from this life in Kamaloka that are particularly important and instructive.

[ 17 ] Among the various feelings inherent to human life is, in particular, the very sense of existence, the zest for life—the joy of living in general, of being housed within a physical body. That is why no longer having a physical body is a major deprivation. We will now come to understand the terrible fate and the horrific torments of those unfortunate souls who take their own lives. In the case of natural death, the separation of the three bodies is relatively easy. Even in cases of stroke or some other rapid natural cause of death, the separation of these higher bodies from one another has in reality long since been prepared; they separate easily, and the loss of the physical body is then only very slight. But in the case of such a violent and sudden separation from the body as occurs with a suicide—where everything is still healthy and held firmly together—an intense sense of loss of the physical body arises immediately after death, causing terrible suffering. It is a terrible fate. The suicide victim feels as if hollowed out and now begins a gruesome search for the physical body that has been so suddenly taken away. Nothing can compare to it.

[ 18 ] Some will now say: The person who is weary of life is no longer attached to life at all; otherwise, he would not have taken his own life. — That is a misconception, for it is precisely the suicide who clings too much to life; but because life no longer offers him the satisfaction of his usual pleasures, because perhaps changed circumstances deny him many things, he therefore goes to his death, and that is why the deprivation of his physical body is now unspeakably great for him.

[ 19 ] But life in Kamaloka is not so difficult for everyone. For those who were less attached to material pleasures, breaking the habit and enduring deprivation is, of course, not as difficult. But even they must completely leave their physical life behind, for life in Kamaloka has another purpose as well.

[ 20 ] Throughout their lives, human beings do not merely engage in activities that bring pleasure; they also live here alongside other people and creatures. Whether consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally, they cause joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain to both humans and animals. This, too, is encountered again during the Kamaloka period. One returns to the exact spot, place, and moment where one caused pain to other beings. At that time, one made others feel that pain; now one must suffer the same pains in one’s own soul. All the torments I have ever inflicted upon another being, I must now endure in my own soul. I am, as it were, inside the person or animal and come to understand what the other being suffered because of me, and now I must endure all these torments and pains myself. There is no escaping this. However, this is not the effect of karma, but merely the process of detachment from the earthly realm. The Kamaloka of the vivisectionist is particularly dreadful as a result. The theosophist must not criticize what the world presents, but he can understand how modern man could have come to such things. In the Middle Ages, no one would have even considered such a thing, and in ancient times, every physician would have regarded it as utter nonsense to destroy life in order to understand life; for it is true that even in the Middle Ages, a large portion of the population was clairvoyant, and physicians could see through people and discern what was damaged within them and what they lacked. Take Paracelsus, for example; he could see right through the physical body. But the age of material culture was bound to come, in which clairvoyance was lost. We see this particularly among today’s doctors and natural scientists, and vivisection was a consequence of this. Thus, it can be understood, but never excused or justified. The consequences of such a life of inflicting torment are inevitable: After death, the vivisectionist himself must undergo exactly all the torments he inflicted on the animals; his soul is, as it were, trapped within every pain he caused. His lack of intent, the pretext of science, or “the good cause” are no excuses. The law of spiritual life is unyielding.

[ 21 ] How long does a person remain in Kamaloka? One-third of their lifetime. If a person lived to be seventy-five years old, their stay in Kamaloka lasts about twenty-five years.

[ 22 ] What happens then? People’s astral bodies vary greatly in color and form. The astral body of a person of low spiritual standing is permeated by all manner of formations and base instincts; it has a reddish-gray base color with reddish-gray radiations and does not differ in form from certain animals. The situation is quite different for a cultured person, or even for an idealist like Schiller, or for a saint like Francis of Assisi; they denied themselves many things, refined their instincts, and so on. But the more a person works on themselves from the perspective of their “I,” the more radiations emanate from the bluish sphere, the “I”-center; these radiations represent forces through which a person gains control over the astral body. Therefore, one can say: A person has two astral bodies, one part that has remained tied to animal desires, and another part that the person has cultivated within themselves.

[ 23 ] Once a person has completed their time in Kamaloka, they are ready to separate the refined part of their astral body from the lower part. This lower part remains behind, and they draw out what they have made of themselves. In the case of a primitive and uncultivated person, a large portion remains as the lower astral body; in the case of an educated person, less remains. When, for example, a Francis of Assisi dies, very little remains, and a powerful, exalted astral body is drawn out, for he has worked hard on himself. What remains is the third corpse of the human being: the lower drives and instincts that the person has not yet refined. From then on, this corpse floats about everywhere in astral space, and many harmful influences emanate from it.

[ 24 ] This is another thing that can appear during spiritualist séances. This astral body often persists for a long time and can manifest itself through a medium, and people often believe it to be the deceased person himself; but it is only his astral body. Like a shell, it contains the deceased’s lower instincts and habits; it can also answer questions, provide information, and speak and behave just as rationally as the lower human being did. This leads to many cases of confusion. A striking example is provided by the pamphlet by the spiritualist Langsdorff, in which he claims to have had a meeting with A.P.B. For Langsdorff, the idea of reincarnation acts like a red rag to a bull; he would do anything to refute this doctrine. He hates H.P.B. because she taught and spread this doctrine. Now, in this pamphlet, he reports that he summoned H.P.B. and that she told him not only that the doctrine of reincarnation is false, but also how much she regretted having taught it. All of this may be true, except that Langsdorff did not summon and question H.P.B. herself, but rather her lower astral body. And the fact that this lower astral body of H.P.B. responded in this manner is now entirely understandable when one knows that, in the early stages of her development, she did indeed reject and oppose the doctrine of reincarnation in Isis Unveiled. She herself advanced in her understanding, but her error remained with the astral shell.

[ 25 ] This third body, the astral body, gradually dissolves, and it is important that it be completely dissolved when the person returns to a new incarnation. In the vast majority of cases, this is indeed what happens. But there are exceptions in which a person reincarnates quickly, before their astral body has completely dissolved. This then creates difficult situations for that person if, upon reincarnation, they still encounter their own astral body, which still contains everything that was imperfect in their previous life.