The Rudolf Steiner Archive

9. Why Must Human Beings Be Reincarnated Again and Again?

[ 1 ] Among other things, the body and its organs—such as the heart—must become ever more perfect. Today, human beings still have little ability to influence their souls. Once they are able to move their heart organ at will through etheric currents, they will become the independent masters of their own organism. This is how humanity changes from one incarnation to the next. Whenever a person returns, their dwelling place has been improved.

[ 2 ] The Indians influenced the etheric body, the Persians the sensory body, the Egyptians the sensory soul, and the Romans and Greeks the intellectual soul. Humanity today has progressed as far as the consciousness soul. We observe a progression of individualities through the cultures. The Indians developed memory, but it was more of a spiritual memory than that of the Atlanteans. The Persians developed an intimate relationship with nature. The Egyptians had a mystical disposition. The Greeks and Romans developed intellect and wisdom. Now, through experience, human beings must truly experience the outer world, where they belong; otherwise, it remains a dream to them. We are now at a stage where human beings are attempting to master the forces of nature.

[ 3 ] There is a form of karma that binds entire peoples together. Example: Throughout the Middle Ages, the peoples of Europe were often threatened by the Huns, just as they had barely begun to raise themselves up through Christianity. These Mongols possessed astral bodies that were decaying, though this is a spiritual process. They were remnants of the ancient Atlanteans under their leader Attila or Etzel. Had the peoples not been afraid, the Huns would have been powerless to harm them. Thus, the corrosive influence spread to the fresh astral bodies of the peoples. This gave rise to leprosy. The legend of this is found in “Poor Henry” by Hartmann von der Aue. The painting “The Battle of the Huns” depicts the event on the astral plane.

[ 4 ] We accumulate good karma when we bring our lives together into a harmonious whole. We are always experiencing something; life brings it to us, and we must add the fruits.

[ 5 ] To gain certainty about the facts of karma, we must not speculate or philosophize; we must let the facts speak for themselves as events unfold. The occultist examines real facts. It is difficult to trace past lives backward. The occultist does not formulate hypotheses; otherwise, he would soon gain a reputation for being untrustworthy. Intuitive thinking is better for the occultist than subjective thinking. What matters is to experience the world’s thought processes firsthand.

[ 6 ] From a karmic perspective, experiences fall into two categories: those beyond our control and those we have earned. Not everything is a karmic consequence. Events come upon us, misfortunes; those for which we are not to blame will be balanced out later. A thought that becomes a habit in our life expresses itself in the etheric body in the next life; the tendency to rejoice becomes a tendency of the etheric body. Feelings and ideas depend on the experiences of the previous life; we cannot help how they arise within us now. Let us consider the astral body itself. Feelings, passions, sensations, and ideas are qualities of the astral body. Turbulent lust indicates an undeveloped astral body; high moral ideals indicate a purified one. Depending on whether we cultivate it with careful moral principles and lofty ideas, or by indulging every desire, the astral body—and, as a result, the etheric body even more so—takes shape in the next life as inclinations and temperaments. A libertine who indulged in sensual pleasures in a previous life will see those pleasures become a temperament in the etheric body in this present life. Those who engage in intellectual work thus acquire talents and abilities for the future.

[ 7 ] The occultist must cultivate the ability to return effortlessly to the same fact and to cherish it; this will have a great influence on his etheric body, namely, that he will acquire an excellent memory in his next life. In the Buddha’s teachings, there are always repetitions; these serve the purpose of enabling the etheric body—which is dependent on the astral body—to expand its memory. The qualities of the astral body become those of the etheric body and are expressed in the physical body in the next life. Through patience and perseverance, we can already expand our memory somewhat in this very life.

[ 8 ] Predispositions to illness come from outside and from within a person. Such predispositions stem from sensual habits and manifest as illnesses in the next life. We should not only cultivate healthy dispositions but also acquire good ones. A person in good health cultivates good habits. This is how abilities and temperaments develop. Those who are bitter and do not shake off this flaw develop a predisposition to typhoid and febrile illnesses. Those who are always critical, for whom nothing anyone does is ever good enough, and who are incapable of true love, will age prematurely, develop wrinkles easily, and become unattractive. Those who can develop sympathy and love will remain young for a long time. Those who focus their attention on an unhealthy, excessive drive for wealth and desire to possess much will, as a result, be prone to infectious diseases.

[ 9 ] Experiences affect a person; what he does and [what] constantly takes place on the physical plane—all of this shapes his future destiny. His actions, whether good or evil, in turn shape his future body. Thus, we have a cycle of events and their consequences.