The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Sixth Lecture

[ 1 ] Theosophy is, in the most eminent sense, a practical conception of life. The light it sheds on the question of education will bring profound benefit to humanity long before the subject of clairvoyance is even considered; one can already see that there is truth in Theosophy for life long before one approaches direct perception.

[ 2 ] After birth, a person enters a new life, and their various bodies develop in very different ways and at different times. The educator should take this into account. It is quite different from the first to the seventh year, quite different in the second seven years—from the seventh to the fifteenth or sixteenth year—later for boys, earlier for girls. Development is different again after the fifteenth year or, let us say, after puberty. One can only truly understand human development by considering the diverse development of the various aspects of the human being.

[ 3 ] From birth to the age of seven, parents and educators really only consider the child’s physical body. Through birth, the physical body has become free in its environment. Before birth, it forms part of the mother’s organism. Throughout the entire period of gestation, the mother’s life and that of the human embryo are intertwined. The mother’s physical body envelops the child’s physical body; this means that the child is still inaccessible to the physical external world. This changes only after birth. The child can receive impressions from other beings in the physical world only after being born. However, this does not yet make the etheric and astral bodies accessible to the external world. Between the ages of one and seven, the etheric and astral bodies cannot yet be influenced by the external world because both are still engaged in the development of the child’s own physical body. All their activity is directed toward the interior of the physical body; they work on its development. Around the age of seven, the etheric body begins to open up to external impressions. Only then can one influence the etheric body. Between the ages of seven and fourteen, however, one should not yet influence the astral body, for doing so harms it by depriving it of the opportunity to act inwardly. It is best to leave the etheric and astral bodies completely undisturbed during the first seven years, trusting that everything will develop naturally during this time.

[ 4 ] What is the best way to influence a person during the first seven years? By developing the sense organs. Everything that affects them from the outside is significant. Everything a person sees and hears during the first seven years affects them through the sense organs. But it is not through academic material or verbal instruction that one influences the sense organs, but through example and role models. One must offer the child something for its senses; this is more important than anything else during the first seven years. The child sees how people in its surroundings behave; it sees it with its own eyes. Aristotle rightly says: Man is the most imitative of all living beings. - This is especially true during the first seven years. Never again is a person as receptive to imitation as during these first seven years. That is precisely why one must influence sensory activity during this time, seek to draw it out, and stimulate the child to engage in independent activity. This is also why it is so misguided to give a child a so-called “beautiful” doll in early childhood; this prevents the inner forces from coming to work. A naturally developed child rejects such dolls anyway and prefers to play with a piece of wood or the like, which stimulates the fantasy and imagination to engage in their own inner activity.

[ 5 ] No special teaching method needs to be applied to the etheric and astral bodies, but it is immensely important that the higher influences emanating from the physical environment—without any conscious influence on them—be favorable. It is very important that at this age a person be surrounded precisely by noble, generous, and kind-hearted people with positive thought patterns. These are imprinted on the inner working aspects of the being. Thus, the example set—including in feelings and thoughts—is the most important educational tool. It is not what one says, but how one is, that influences the child during the first seven years. Because of the extraordinary subtlety of these constitutional elements, the child’s environment must be free of all impure and immoral thoughts and feelings.

[ 6 ] During the period from the seventh to the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth years—that is, until sexual maturity—the etheric body is brought forth in just the same way that, at birth, the physical body becomes accessible to the surrounding environment. One must therefore work on the etheric body. The etheric body is the bearer of memory, enduring habits, temperament, inclinations, and enduring desires. Therefore, when it becomes free, one must above all devote one’s attention to developing these qualities; one must work on habits, on memory, and in general on everything that is meant to provide a lasting foundation for a person’s character. It will become like a will-o’-the-wisp if care is not taken during this time to ensure that certain habits run through their character like a common thread, so that it can stand firm against the storms of life. And now one must work on the memory; later, after this time, what is to be absorbed as memory material will be difficult to retain. In particular, the sense of art will also awaken during this time, especially for a form of art that has a great deal to do with the vibrations of the etheric body—namely, music. If talents for this exist, care must be taken during these years to bring them to fruition. Parables are effective during this time; it is wrong to attempt to develop judgment at this stage. Our time is guilty of this to an extraordinary degree. One should ensure that the child learns as much as possible through parables; the memory must be filled with content, and the power of comparison must be exercised through sensory impressions. Examples of great figures from world history must be presented to the child; but one must not say, “This is good” or “That is bad,” for that would affect the child’s power of judgment. One can never present enough of such images—which act upon the etheric body—or comparisons with the great figures of the world to the child. In this regard, it is of great benefit to work extensively with symbols. This is the time when meaningful fairy tales and stories—which depict human life in images—have a powerful effect. In this way, one makes the etheric body flexible and supple and imprints lasting impressions upon it. How grateful Goethe must have been to his mother for telling him so many fairy tales during this time!

[ 7 ] So, the later one begins to foster this sense of judgment in the child, the better. But the child asks, “Why?” These questions about the how and why should not be answered with abstract explanations, but with examples and symbols. And how infinitely important it is to find the right symbols! When the child asks about life and death, about the transformations of human beings, one can present the example of the caterpillar and the chrysalis; one makes it clear to the child how, as it were, the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis into a new life. Everywhere in nature one finds such parables for the highest questions. But authority is particularly important for the child at this time. However, this must not be a forced authority; rather, the teacher must earn authority in a completely natural way so that the child believes before knowledge can develop. Therefore, theosophical pedagogy demands not only intellectual knowledge, pedagogical principles, and insights from the educator, but also that one select people who, by their natural dispositions, promise to become authorities. Does this seem harsh? But how could one not incorporate this, since the future of humanity depends on it! This is precisely the perspective for a great cultural mission of Theosophy.

[ 8 ] When a person enters the third seven-year period—the time of sexual maturity—the astral body becomes free, and it is to this body that judgment, criticism, and direct relationships with other people are attached. Just as feelings toward other people awaken, so too do feelings toward the rest of the environment; that is when a person is ready to begin to understand. The personality is revealed through the astral body; one must draw a person’s own judgment out of them. Nowadays, people are challenged to be critical far too early. Seventeen-year-old critics are common, and how many write and pass judgment in ways that are utterly immature for humanity! One must be twenty-two to twenty-four years old before one can judge for oneself; anything else is absolutely impossible. From the age of fourteen to twenty-four is the time when a person learns best from the world, when everything that surrounds them becomes a lesson. Thus they grow into full maturity.

[ 9 ] These are the fundamental principles of education. Countless details follow from these. The Theosophical Society will publish a book for teachers and mothers, showing how, from the first to the seventh year of life, the example must guide the child; from the seventh to the fourteenth year, authority must guide the child; and from the fourteenth to the twenty-fourth year, independent judgment must guide the child.

[ 10 ] This is meant to be an example of how Theosophy seeks to fulfill its cultural mission, and how it is able to address the real, practical challenges of life at every turn.

[ 11 ] Another example of practical theosophy is the study of the great law of karma. It is the law that truly makes life understandable to human beings. The law of karma is not merely a theoretical law or something that simply satisfies our curiosity. No, at every turn, it is something that gives life the strength to act and a sense of security, making everything that is incomprehensible understandable.

[ 12 ] First of all, the law of karma answers a major question of life: What determines our fate in the first place? Why do children face such different circumstances even at birth? For example, one sees a child born into wealth, perhaps also with great talents, surrounded by the most tender love. And one sees another child, born into misery and poverty, perhaps with few talents or abilities, so that he or she seems predestined to amount to nothing; or even with great abilities, which, however, may not be able to be developed. These are the enigmas of practical life, and only theosophy provides an answer to them. A person must have answers to these questions if they are to face life with strength and hope. And how does the law of karma answer these questions?

[ 13 ] We have seen that human beings experience repeated lives on Earth. A child is not born on this Earth for the first time; it has been here many times before. Everything in the outer world is connected by cause and effect; everyone recognizes this. The great law of cause and effect thus governs nature, and this law, when applied to the spiritual realm—to the spiritual world—is the law of karma.

[ 14 ] How does this law work in the external world? If we take a ball, heat it, and then place it on a wooden board, it burns a hole in the wood. If we heat another ball, throw it into water first, and then place it on the board, it does not burn a hole in the wood. The fact that I throw the ball into the water is significant for what the ball does afterward. The ball, as it were, has an experience, and what it does before and after this experience is different. Thus, the effect depends on the cause. This is an example from inanimate nature, and so it is throughout the world. Animals that migrate into dark caves while still sighted lose their eyesight. If an animal in a later generation could reflect on this—Why don’t I have eyes?—it would have to conclude: My ancestors’ migration into these caves is the cause of my fate. — Thus, past experience determines future fate. This is how things are interconnected through cause and effect. The closer we move up to the human being, the more individual the whole matter becomes. The animal has a group soul, and the destiny of a group of animals is linked to the group soul. Human beings, on the other hand, have an individual “I.” This individual “I” undergoes a destiny similar to that of the group soul of animals. Just as the entire species of animals transforms, so does the individual “I” transform from one life to the next. Cause and effect carry over from one life to the next. What I experience today has its cause in a previous life, and what I do today shapes my destiny for the next life. The cause of one’s varied rebirths does not lie in this life; nothing is brought about by one’s own actions now. The cause lies in the previous life. Human beings have brought about their present destiny themselves in their previous lives.

[ 15 ] Now one might say: But doesn’t that just weigh people down and rob them of all hope? — And yet the law of karma is the most comforting law in life. For just as it is true that nothing happens without a cause, it is equally true that nothing remains without an effect. Even if I am born into hardship and misery, even if my abilities are limited: whatever I do must have its effect, and whatever I acquire through diligence and morality will surely bear fruit in my future lives. Just as it may weigh me down to realize that I have brought my fate upon myself, so too may it uplift me to know that I can shape my own destiny for the future. - Whoever incorporates this law into their thoughts and feelings will see what strength and security they gain in life. It is not so important to understand the law in every detail; that comes only at the higher stages of clairvoyant insight. It is far more important to view the world in accordance with this law and to live by it. If one does this earnestly over the course of many years, then this law will reveal itself to one’s inner sense quite naturally. It proves itself true through application.

[ 16 ] Now someone might object: That would make us pure fatalists! Everything that befalls us, we have brought upon ourselves, but there’s nothing we can do about it; so it’s best to do nothing. If I’m lazy, that’s just my karma. — Or perhaps one might say: There is a law of karma that states we can achieve favorable effects for our future life. So I’ll start being really good in my next life; for now, I just want to enjoy myself. I have plenty of time, after all—I’ll return to Earth later, and that’s when I’ll start. —Another person says: I won’t help anyone anymore, because if someone is poor and miserable and I help them, then I’m interfering with their karma. They deserve what they’re suffering; they must take it upon themselves to change their karma.

[ 17 ] All these things are the most gross misunderstandings. The law of karma states: Everything good I have done in life will have its effect, as will everything bad, so that there is a kind of account in the book of life with a debit and a credit side. At any moment, one can take stock. If I now close the books and take stock, the result is my destiny. — At first glance, this seems somewhat rigid and unchangeable; but that is not the case. A proper comparison with an account book reveals the following: Every new transaction alters the balance, and every new action alters one’s destiny. After all, a merchant cannot say: “Every new transaction disrupts my balance sheet, so I can’t do anything.” Just as a merchant is not prevented by his ledger from making a new transaction, so too is a person not prevented from entering a new fact into the book of his life. And if the merchant were in dire straits and said to his friend, “Hey, lend me a thousand marks so I can extricate myself from this difficult situation”—and the friend were to reply, “But that would mean I’m interfering with your ledger”—such a response would be nonsense. Likewise, it would be nonsense if I refused to help in order to avoid coming into conflict with the law of karma. Nothing prevents a person who firmly believes in the law of karma from alleviating all misery and all hardship. On the contrary, if one did not believe in it, one would have to doubt whether the help would be effective at all; but as it is, I know for certain that the help works as it should. Therein lies the comforting, active side of the law of karma. One should not focus so much on the past aspect of the law of karma as on the future. One does look back on what has happened and bears the karma, but above all, one rolls up one’s sleeves because one must lay a foundation for the future.

[ 18 ] Christian clergy often raise the objection: “Your Theosophy is not Christianity, for it attributes everything to self-redemption.” You say that a person must work out his own karma entirely on his own. If a person can work out his own karma, then there is no room for Jesus Christ, who suffered for all of humanity. The Theosophist says, “I need no one.”—This is a misunderstanding on both sides. People do not realize that free will is not limited by the law of karma. The Theosophist must realize that, if he believes in karma, he cannot rely solely on self-help and self-development. He must know that others can help him; and then we will easily find the genuine union of the law of karma with the central tenet of Christianity. This harmony has always existed; the Christian esoteric teaching recognizes the law of karma.

[ 19 ] Let us imagine two people: one is suffering due to his karma, while the other helps him because he has the power to do so; the latter has improved his karma. Does this abolish the law? On the contrary, it confirms it; it is precisely through the law of karma that help can be effective.

[ 20 ] If someone is more powerful, they can help two, three, or four people when they need it; and if someone is even more powerful, they can help hundreds or thousands and influence their karma in a positive way. And if someone is as powerful as Christianity conceives Christ Jesus to be, then at a time when all of humanity needs help, he helps all of humanity. And the law of karma is not rendered ineffective by this; on the contrary: the work of Christ Jesus on Earth is effective precisely because one can rely on karma.

[ 21 ] The Redeemer knows that, through karma, the work of redemption truly becomes accessible to all. Yes, this deed was performed precisely in accordance with the Law of Karma—as a cause for a future glorious effect, as a seed for a later harvest, as an aid to those who allow the blessings of salvation to take effect in themselves. The deed of Christ Jesus is conceivable only through the existence of the Law of Karma; the Testament of Christ Jesus is, in fact, the doctrine of karma and reincarnation. It does not say: “Everyone must bear the consequences of their own actions”—but rather: “The consequences of the action must be borne, no matter by whom.”—If the Theosophist claims that he does not understand the unique deed of Christ Jesus for all humanity, then he simply does not understand karma. The same applies to the priest who claims that karma hinders salvation. The reason Christianity has, until now, placed less emphasis on this particular law and on the concept of reincarnation lies in the evolution of humanity and will be discussed in greater detail later.

[ 22 ] The world does not consist of individual selves, each existing in isolation, but rather there is a great unity, a great brotherhood in the world. And just as here in physical life one brother or friend can step in for another, so too, in a far deeper sense, in the spiritual world.