The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Theosophy and Rosicrucianism VII

[ 1 ] Today we are going to discuss what is known as the law of karma, the law of cause and effect in the spiritual world. First, we must recall the previous lectures, which showed us how the entire course of life unfolds in a series of incarnations, so that all of you have been here on Earth many times before and will return many times yet. We will hear later that it is incorrect to assume that these incarnations will repeat themselves back and forth for all eternity; rather, we will see that they began at one time and that there will come a time when they will cease, when human beings will continue to evolve in a different way.

[ 2 ] We shall therefore first consider the period during which such reincarnations take place, and we must be clear that everything we call fate—in terms of character and inner qualities, as well as our external fate and life circumstances—is caused by our previous incarnations, and that what we do in this life will in turn have an effect on our subsequent lives. Thus, the great law of cause and effect runs through all our incarnations.

[ 3 ] Let us take a moment to understand how this law operates throughout the entire world—not only in the spiritual world, but also in the physical world.

[ 4 ] Suppose you have two jugs of water; then take an iron ball that you have heated until it glows red-hot and drop it into the first jug of water. What happens? The water hisses, and the ball cools down. Then take the ball out and throw it into the second pitcher: the water no longer sizzles, and the ball no longer cools down significantly. The ball thus behaves quite differently in the two cases: it would not have done what it did in the second case if it had not first been thrown into the first pitcher. Thus, the behavior in the second case is the effect of what happened to it in the first pitcher. Such a connection is called karma. It is therefore the ball’s karma that it no longer fizzes or cools down in the second pitcher. — And now an example from the animal kingdom, from which you can see that subsequent conditions depend on previous life. Take the animals that have migrated into the caves of Kentucky: due to the complete absence of sunlight, their eyes gradually atrophy. The tissues that would otherwise be used for the eyes are redirected to other organs, causing the eyes to wither; as a result, the animals gradually go blind. And now it is the fate of all their offspring to be born blind. Had the parents not migrated into the dark caves, their offspring would not be destined to be blind. This condition of blindness is therefore the consequence of an earlier action—the migration into the dark caves.

[ 5 ] Spiritual science teaches that everything that happens in the world depends on karma. Karma is the universal law of the world. — Even the Bible speaks of this karma right at the beginning. It says, “In the beginning, God created the world.” If you read this as superficially as people generally do today, you won’t realize that this is in accordance with the law of karma; but you will readily notice it if, for example, you consult the original text of this ancient document, which tells us of this act of creation, or if you consult one of the oldest Latin translations of the document, such as the Septuagint, which is still regarded today by the entire Catholic Church as the authoritative translation of the Old Testament and especially of Genesis. And precisely in view of such an introductory cycle—which is, after all, intended to acquaint you, step by step, with the immense depths of the spiritual-scientific worldview—it is not inappropriate for us to take a step away from our actual topic for a moment.

[ 6 ] People today actually have no connection whatsoever with the living word. On the one hand, language has become a conventional means of communication, and on the other, it has become the language of business. It was quite different when the word was first coined in ancient times: back then, people still had a living connection with the word. Indeed, in the very earliest times, each individual letter—which came together to form the word—had a profound meaning. People today have no idea what stirred the soul of an ancient Hebrew sage when he uttered the word “bara,” which appears in the very first sentence of Genesis and has been translated by later generations—first by the Latin world as “creare” and by us as “to create.” What is the deep meaning of the word “bara”? In our German language, we still find the same root “bar” in the word “gebären” (to give birth).

[ 7 ] The word “karma” is derived from the root “kr,” which is also the root of the word “creare”; thus, when one says “creare” — to create — in Latin, it means nothing other than: something occurs as a result of earlier conditions; that is to say, something occurs that is karmically conditioned by something that happened earlier.

[ 8 ] Now, one can only speak of karma in the modern sense since the Luciferic impact—that is, from the moment when human beings took on guilt—and for this reason, everything associated with the word “karma” always carries with it an element of the concept of guilt. “Creare,” then, means to bring forth something that is karmically owed due to past conditions, whereas in the root “bar” there is none of this karmic conditioning. How is this so? It undoubtedly stems from the fact that the ancient Hebrews were still much more intimately connected with the spiritual world and were still perfectly aware that back when the Elohim creatively conceived the world, there could be no question of karma in the sense in which we usually speak of it. In the Latin epoch of human development, however, as we shall see on another occasion, human beings were already completely cut off from the spiritual world, and therefore could not even conceive of the creative conception of the Elohim except as being embedded within a karmic context.

[ 9 ] But neither the word “bara” nor the word “creare” ever means that God created the world out of nothing; for the meaning underlying both words is that God caused earlier states to flow into new ones; just as a mother does not give birth to a child out of nothing, but rather, to give birth means that the child visibly emerges into the world from its earlier hidden state in the womb.

[ 10 ] You can see how the meaning of the Bible can be twisted in this way. At first, theology claimed: God created the world out of nothing—because this theology knew nothing about the cosmic periods of development that preceded earthly existence, and entire libraries have been written on this subject. But all these theologians fought like Don Quixote against windmills. One must, however, always know what one is fighting against; that is, one must always clarify the original meaning of the ancient texts.

[ 11 ] If we now conceive of this law of karma as it must in fact be conceived—as the connection between cause and effect, not only here in physical life between birth and death, but also in the life after death in the spiritual world—then this very law of karma becomes the illuminator of our own lives. Insight into this law of karma provides not only deep satisfaction for our intellect but also, in the deepest sense, for our soul, and it gives us the right understanding of our relationship to the world. You will come to see ever more clearly what profound significance it holds, and how only a correct understanding of this law of karma enables us to live in harmony with our surroundings. It does not shed light on those mysteries of the world that one must first conjure up, but rather on those that we actually encounter at every turn in life. Or are they not, in fact, life’s mysteries when we see how one person is born into hardship and misery seemingly through no fault of their own, while another’s finest talents are forced to wither away due to the social circumstances into which life has placed them? We often ask ourselves in life: How is it that this person is born into such hardship and misery through no fault of their own, while another, through no action of their own, is born into abundance and wealth, so that they are surrounded by tender, loving parents right from the cradle? — These are questions that only the thoughtlessness of people today can overlook.

[ 12 ] The deeper our insight into the law of karma becomes, the more we will see that all the harshness that seems to exist at first glance—when one considers the law of karma only superficially—fades away. We will then become increasingly clear about why one person must find themselves in these circumstances in life, while another in those. One can and must perceive hardship in one life situation or another only if we consider just this one life. But when we know that this one life is the absolute consequence of past deeds, then this hardship vanishes completely, and we come to realize that each person shapes their own life.

[ 13 ] Now someone might say: Yes, but isn’t it terrible to think that a person is himself to blame for all the misfortunes that befall him in this life! — We must realize that the law of karma is not for sentimental brooding, but that it is a law of action that strengthens us and gives us courage and hope. For even if we have brought upon ourselves the life that befalls us with all its hardships, we also know that it is a law whose primary significance lies not in the past but in the future. Even if we are still weighed down in the present by the effects of past actions, it is precisely our understanding of the law of karma that will bear fruit in future lives. Depending on how we conduct ourselves, the fruits of these actions will be reaped in future lives, for no action is done in vain. And how much more theosophical it is to understand the law of karma as a law of action! For whatever we do, we cannot escape the fruits of those actions. The worse our circumstances are in this life, the better we endure them, the better our circumstances will be in future lives. Thus, the law of karma is a law that solves the mysteries of life that we encounter at every turn.

[ 14 ] How, then, is this life connected to future lives? We must be clear that everything we experience as the inner effects of external events—whether pleasure or suffering—has its effects in future lives.

[ 15 ] Now you know that everything within us—whether pleasure, sorrow, joy, or pain—is carried by the astral body. Everything that the astral body experiences in this life—and especially when these experiences are repeated more and more often—manifests in the next life as a quality of the etheric body. The joy that you evoke in your soul time and again in one life in response to a particular object will cause you to have a deep inclination and fondness for that object in the next life. But inclination and preference are character traits, and their vehicle is the etheric body; thus, what the astral body brings about in the previous life becomes characteristics of the etheric body in the next life. What you repeatedly experience in this life emerges as a fundamental character trait in your next life. A melancholic temperament arises because a person experienced many sad impressions in a previous life that repeatedly put them in a sad mood; as a result, the next etheric body develops a tendency toward a sad mood. The opposite is true for those who find a positive side to everything in life, thereby generating delight, joy, and a sense of elation in their astral body; this results in a lasting character trait of the etheric body in the next life and gives rise to a cheerful temperament. But if a person, even though life puts him through a hard school, powerfully overcomes all that is sad, then in the next life his etheric body will be born with a choleric temperament. So, knowing all this, one can actually prepare one’s etheric body for the next life.

[ 16 ] The qualities that the etheric body possesses in one life appear in the physical body in the next life. So if someone has bad habits and character traits and does nothing to break them, this manifests in the next life as a predisposition in the physical body—and that is, in fact, a predisposition to illness. As strange as this may sound to you, this predisposition to certain illnesses—and especially to infectious diseases—actually stems from bad habits in a previous life. With this insight, we therefore have the power to determine whether we will experience health or illness in our next life. If we break a bad habit, we make ourselves physically healthy and resistant to infections in our next life. In this way, we can ensure our health for the life to come by striving to cultivate only noble qualities.

[ 17 ] And now a third point, which is extremely important for a correct understanding of the law of karma: this is the correct assessment of our actions in this very life. So far, we have spoken only of what takes place within the human being; but what a person does in this life—that is, how he behaves toward his environment through his actions—has its effect in the next life precisely within this environment.

[ 18 ] I have not yet done anything simply because of a bad habit in and of itself; but when this bad habit drives me to act, then through that action I change the external world. And everything that has such an effect on the physical external world comes back to us as external fate in the next life in the external world. Thus, the actions of the physical body in this life become our destiny in the next life. We experience this through being placed in one situation or another. Whether a person is happy or unhappy in a given situation, then, depends on the actions of their previous life. Here again, the example of the murder serves as a fitting and instructive illustration, showing us how an action—as an external act in one life—returns to the person as fate in the next life.

[ 19 ] So, in brief, these are the karmic connections within the individual human being. However, we must not speak of karma only in relation to the individual human being; human beings must not regard themselves as isolated entities—that would be fundamentally wrong, just as wrong as if a single finger on our hand were to try to feel itself as an isolated entity. Just as far as a finger would go if it separated itself from the organism, so far would a human being go if he were to rise a few miles above the Earth. Thus, when a human being delves into spiritual science, he is virtually compelled, by virtue of this insight, to realize that he must not succumb to the delusion of insisting on himself as an isolated being. This is true in the physical world and even more so in the spiritual world. Human beings belong to the whole world, and their destiny is also found within the whole. Karma affects not only the individual human being but also extends across the lives of entire peoples. An example of this: You all know that in the Middle Ages there was a plague known as “miselsucht”; this is a form of leprosy. It did not disappear from Europe until the 16th century. There was a very specific reason why this plague occurred precisely in the Middle Ages—namely, a spiritual cause. The materialist is, of course, inclined to attribute such a contagious disease to germs, but the physical cause is not the only factor to be considered in such a disease. It is just as if someone were beaten up, and one were to investigate why this person was beaten. The discerning person will readily see that the cause of the beating lies in the fact that there are some people in the village who are very brutal. But in this case, it would be a downright foolish conclusion—just as the materialistic one is in the above example—if someone were to come along and say that the man’s bruises on his back stem solely and exclusively from the fact that the sticks came down on his back such-and-such a number of times. The purely materialistic cause of the bruises is undoubtedly the sticks that struck his back, but the deeper cause is, after all, the brutal people. And so this illness, in addition to the materialistic cause of the germs, also has a spiritual one.

[ 20 ] Crying provides a very similar example. The mental cause is sadness, while the physical cause is the secretion of the lacrimal glands. It is hard to believe that even a quite prominent contemporary scholar could have managed to draw the same foolish conclusion as above, for he has put forward the downright outrageous statement: “A person does not cry because he is sad, but rather, a person is sad because he cries!”

[ 21 ] But back to melancholy. In this case, if you wish to explain the deeper cause of this illness from a spiritual perspective, you must look back to a significant historical event: the event when vast masses of people swept across Europe from the East and plunged Europe into fear and terror. These Asian hordes were peoples who had remained stuck at the old Atlantean stage and were therefore in decline—that is, peoples who possessed the character of decline, or decay, so to speak, particularly strongly in their astral bodies. If these peoples had swept across Europe without the Europeans becoming agitated or terrified, then nothing would have happened. But as it was, these hordes caused fear, terror, and consternation; entire peoples in Europe experienced these states of fear and terror. And now the putrid astral substance of the Huns mingled with the astral bodies of the attacked peoples, which had been ravaged by fear, dread, and horror. The degenerated astral bodies of the Asian tribes—the Jews—transferred their harmful substances to these astral bodies of the Europeans, which had been ravaged by fear, and these putrid substances were precisely what caused the physical manifestation of the disease to occur later on. This is, in truth, the deep spiritual cause of leprosy in the Middle Ages. Thus, something that is spiritually caused manifests itself at a later time in the physical body. Only those who know this law of karma and are able to penetrate it are called upon to actively intervene in the course of history.

[ 22 ] Now I would like to tell you something that has contributed to the foundation of the theosophical worldview, and that is the following: Karma takes effect, just as it does in the case of the individual human being, so too in the case of nations, indeed, of all humanity. Anyone who traces the course of European intellectual history knows that materialism has been on the rise for about four hundred years. In science, this materialism is the least harmful, for there all errors can be recognized and corrected at any time. It has a far more damaging effect in practical life, where everything is viewed from the perspective of material interests. But materialism would never have taken hold in practical life if people had not had a predisposition toward it. There would also have been no Büchner and so on if people had not previously loved the material so much. Materialism, however, has its most harmful effect in the realm of religious life—that is, in the Church; it is precisely the Church that has been heading toward materialism for centuries. Why? If you go back to the early days of Christianity, you would never have heard anyone assume that the Creation in seven days actually took place in seven days—as is indeed widely assumed today—or that the “seventh day” could be imagined as something like a person sitting down on a chair to rest after hard physical labor. The materialistic age knows nothing more of the reality of this seven-day creation. It is once again up to Theosophy to enlighten humanity about the true meaning of this ancient text, Genesis.

[ 23 ] And this materialistic view of religion has eaten its way into the very depths of people’s lives. And this materialism will increasingly prevail, particularly in the religious sphere, and people will find it ever harder to recognize, precisely in this area, that what matters is the spirit and not the physical-material. They will readily admit that materialistic thinking, feeling, and willing have become increasingly ingrained in humanity’s entire outlook on life, and this ultimately manifests itself in the health of future generations.

[ 24 ] An age characterized by a healthy outlook on life creates a strong inner center for people, making them well-balanced individuals, so that their descendants grow up strong and vigorous. An age, however, that believes only in matter produces offspring in whom everything within the body follows its own course, with nothing at the center—which is precisely what gives rise to signs of neurasthenia and nervousness. This would become increasingly rampant if materialism were to remain the prevailing worldview in the future. The spiritual seer can tell you with complete precision what would happen if materialism did not find its counterbalance in a firm spiritual orientation. Mental illnesses would become epidemic; likewise, children would suffer from nervousness and tremors even at birth; and the further consequence of a materialistic mindset is a type of humanity that lacks inner focus, as we are already seeing today. Back then, some three decades ago, it was above all this thought and this foresight—regarding what would become of humanity if a spiritual remedy were not applied against this effect of materialism—that led to the inauguration of the Theosophical Movement. One can certainly argue at length about a remedy, but all objections matter little; the main thing is that it helps. And so it is with the healing effect of Theosophy. It seeks to prevent what would inevitably occur if people were to continue down this path of materialism.

[ 25 ] So you see how—when one thinks about the law of karma in a deeper sense—one cannot regard human beings as isolated individuals, but must also see them as subject to the law of karma within the entire community. The law of karma is not for those who wish to believe only in a completely blind fate. Anyone who were to understand the law of karma in this way would be completely misinterpreting it. And yet, time and again, one finds people who fall into this error. One person says: “I know I can’t help it that this or that happens to me; that’s just my karma, and I have to live it out.” — Another says: “I see someone in distress, but I must not help them, for it is their own fault that this has befallen them; it is their karma, and they must work it out!” All of this is, of course, a completely nonsensical interpretation of the concept of karma!

[ 26 ] To get a very easy-to-understand idea of the law of karma, you can compare it to the business principle of debits and credits. Just as a merchant is subject to this principle in all his dealings, so it is with karma in life. Based on everything you have done—good or bad—in your past life, your ledger is balanced between debits and credits. All good qualities are recorded on the debit side, and all bad qualities on the credit side of your karma.

[ 27 ] But one should not say: “I must not intervene here.” — That would be just as foolish as if a businessman, after closing his books, were to say: “Now I must not do any more business, because otherwise I will alter my balance sheet.” — Just as the merchant improves his balance sheet with every successful transaction, so too do I improve my karma with every good deed. Just as the merchant is free at any time to post an entry on one side—the debit—or the other—the credit—of his account, so too is the human being in the ledger of life. Human beings are always free in their actions, not in spite of the law of karma, but precisely because they take it into account. Precisely because we know that everything we do—and do so of our own free will—will have its effects in this ledger of life, we cannot agree with those who refuse to help the suffering. It is exactly as if a merchant were on the verge of bankruptcy and asked us for a loan of twenty thousand marks. Wouldn’t you give him the twenty thousand marks if you knew he was a capable businessman who could use this loan to get back on his feet? The same is true of the destitute: by helping them, you enable them to improve their karma so that their fate may take a turn for the better, and at the same time, you improve your own karma through this good deed. Thus, the law of karma is indeed a law for active intervention in daily life. And learning to understand the law of karma correctly from precisely this perspective is particularly important when we consider it in relation to Christianity. There are serious misunderstandings today, especially on the theological side. Today’s theologians say: “We teach that sins are forgiven through death on the cross, and you teach the law of karma; but that is surely a contradiction.” — But this is only an apparent contradiction, because the law of karma is simply not understood. Conversely, there are Theosophists who say that, for their part, they cannot accept the atoning death; yet they understand the law of karma just as little.

[ 28 ] Suppose you help a person and intervene in their fate, turning it for the better. If you could now help two people, that would be no less consistent with the law of karma. Now suppose you were an individual called upon to eradicate an evil in the world through a certain act: would that contradict the law of karma? In the broadest sense, the Christ Being has done nothing else—analogous to the example above, like a person who, through his or her act, has helped not only hundreds or thousands, but all of humanity. Thus, the redemptive death—Christ’s vicarious atoning death—is entirely consistent with the law of karma; indeed, it can only be understood in light of this law of karma. Only those who do not understand it can find a contradiction there. It is no more a contradiction to the law of karma than it is a contradiction when I help a single person in distress.

[ 29 ] You must think of the future in light of the law of karma, for with every action we record an entry in our ledger that will bear fruit. Only while we were still in the teething phase of theosophy could one find a contradiction between Christianity and the law of karma.

[ 30 ] Understanding this law of karma clarifies many things for us. First, we can clearly demonstrate the connection between our current physical development and past lives. For example, a life filled with love prepares us for a development in the next life that keeps a person young for a long time; conversely, premature aging is caused by a great deal of antipathy in a previous life. Second, a particularly selfish drive for material gain creates a predisposition to infectious diseases in the next life. Third, it is particularly interesting that, for example, pain—and especially certain illnesses one endures—results in a beautiful body in the next life. Such insight makes it easier for us to bear many illnesses.

[ 31 ] In light of and with insight into such connections of fate, one of the greatest Bible scholars, Fabre d’Olivet, used a beautiful image that makes it clear to us how things in life are linked. He says: Look at the pearl inside the oyster: the creature within had to suffer an illness, and from that illness the beautiful pearl is formed. — And so, indeed, illness in this life is often connected to what beautifies the next life.

[ 32 ] We'll discuss tomorrow how this can be further developed in other areas.

Question about the “sins against the Spirit.”

[ 33 ] There are sins that arise from the fact that a human being has a physical body, an etheric body, and an astral body. Within the astral body, the spirit awakens; the human being becomes conscious. Thus, he is capable of sinning. These sins can be taken away from the human being. But when we sin in such a way that we sin within our own consciousness, outside help becomes ineffective. And because the cosmic order is wise, it will not grant us any help in this case. It is just as if, in the example just cited, the merchant who is on the verge of ruin and asks us for a loan were unworthy of this assistance; for then it would be unwise for us to help him. So it is in the course of the universe as well; where it would be unwise to help us, we will not be helped.

[ 34 ] “Sin against the Spirit” is a sin we commit in the astral body, where we are conscious of it.