The Rudolf Steiner Archive

27. Introduction To Theosophy II

[ 1 ] Today we will continue our discussion of what takes place at death, when a person enters a new existence. We have already seen that a person retains an essence from the physical body, and we will yet see how important this essence is and how it is incorporated into the higher bodies. Now let us consider the astral body. It remains what it was before death and retains all its good and bad qualities, its instincts, passions, and so on. What, then, are the first sensations of the deceased in their astral body?

[ 2 ] Once the life body—which still constituted a link to the physical world—has dissolved, the deceased, unless he is clairvoyant and has never in earthly life risen above the circle of his own selfish interests, will, after an initial period of complete unconsciousness, awaken in a painful state in which he is aware that he is alive, but with the deceptive sensation of still possessing his physical body, just as a person still feels an amputated limb of his physical body yet is aware that he cannot use it. On the other hand, however, the astral body, freed from its physical bond, vibrates with full power and strength, so that the person feels his instincts, passions, and so on to an heightened degree, and suffers immensely [from] being unable to satisfy them due to the lack of the necessary instruments. For the instincts are in reality inherent in the astral body and not in the physical body, and the astral body can satisfy them only through enjoyment. If a person is, for example, a gourmet, he retains the desire for fine food even while his palate is missing. The same applies to the other sense organs.

[ 3 ] Added to this is the feeling of loneliness caused by the fact that the person cannot perceive anything at all of the new world surrounding them. Gradually, however, they begin to perceive. First and foremost are auditory perceptions, for the astral world is, in the most eminent sense, a world of sounds. Then come the perceptions of light. It is important to note that, whereas in physical life we see the things around us illuminated by light, in astral life, on the other hand, the person themselves begins to shine like a small sun. When we observe him there, we first see him as if shrouded in a dark cloud. This cloud is formed from that part of the astral body which contains the passionate elements and which must be cast off on the astral plane at the end of life.

[ 4 ] Life in the astral world usually lasts one-third of the preceding earthly life, although there are exceptions, for example, for very intelligent people who are, however, completely entangled in materialistic views, whose lives on the astral plane can last for centuries. It should be noted, however, that the perception of time there differs from ours. Once astral life is complete, the person leaves behind their third body. We are surrounded by such bodies, which hover around us and even penetrate into us. It is these that can be made visible during spiritualist séances through mediumistic powers or somnambulists. The Christian religion calls life in the astral world “Purgatory,” and in India it is called “Kamaloka.”

[ 5 ] When we speak of supernatural worlds, we must not fall into the error of forming a mental image of them—through terms such as “plane” or “realms,” as they are often called—as layers of space superimposed one upon another. In reality, they are states of consciousness and different modes of perception within a single space. The length of stay in purgatory or Kamaloka depends precisely on the intensity of the individual’s drives and passions. It is a time of purification. Unfortunately, we do not always strive to shorten it. However, those who are already capable of spiritual enjoyment on Earth will have a shorter stay in Kamaloka. Above all, artistic pleasures—such as contemplating the works of art by Raphael or Michelangelo—help make life in the spiritual world accessible to us. The same cannot be said, however, of art that merely seeks to glorify the physical form and has no uplifting effect whatsoever. Furthermore, life in the Kamaloka is also shortened by noble deeds and by a life devoted to the search for truth and knowledge.

[ 6 ] A peculiarity of astral life, rarely mentioned in occultism, is that it proceeds in reverse. At first, the initiate is completely confused because everything in that world unfolds in reverse and appears inverted, like an image reflected in a mirror. Thus, a number such as 345 is read as 543. It is particularly disconcerting and confusing that this also applies to time, so that the past appears to us after the present, as if it were the future. For example, one will see the chicken crawl back into the egg from which it came. As for our lives, we relive them in reverse as well; we begin with the day of our death and end with the day of our birth. In contrast, however, to the panorama presented to us by the physical body, the perceptions of the astral body do not leave us indifferent, and they are always accompanied by the corresponding feelings.

[ 7 ] For example: If a person died at the age of eighty and, when he was fifty, caused pain to another, and has now reached his fiftieth year in his retrograde Kamaloka life, then he feels the pain because he [now] identifies with his victim.

[ 8 ] The same applies, however, to joys experienced. If a person did not have these experiences, they would later encounter many obstacles on their path. But in this way, we learn that every evil must be atoned for. If this were not the case, evil would never be separated from us, and union with God would be impossible.

[ 9 ] In this way, then, we purify ourselves. And when we reach the state of childhood, we have arrived at the threshold of the heavenly world. Scripture alludes to this, albeit in a veiled manner, with the words: Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Through purification, the mist that darkened the astral body dissipates, and it then shines in all its splendor. The I, with the purified astral body, enters the Devachan.

[ 10 ] Has it always been this way? We know that humanity lived on Earth in a certain way during the Egyptian era, in another way during the Indian era, and so on, and that our time is also quite different from the Greek era. Is there, then, also a history for the other world? Yes, certainly: the inner life of an Indian from two thousand years ago was quite different from ours. He had no interest whatsoever in the physical world. To him, people, animals, plants, and so on were all Maya, a dream. He wanted to decisively renounce this world, which was an illusion to him. Even during this life, he was in the spiritual world, and after death he did not feel disoriented at all. Humanity, however, has not retained this inclination to flee the physical world.

[ 11 ] The ancient Persians, who were taught by Zoroaster—not the historical figure, but a much greater one—learned to love life and take an interest in the physical world, while the Indians thought only of Brahma beyond the stars. Zoroaster taught that man must live and work here on Earth, but at the same time direct his spirit upward. He preached that humanity must work on the material, physical world in order to unite with the great spiritual aura of the Sun. He called this Ahura Mazdao; later it was called Ormuzd.

[ 12 ] In the meantime, however, humanity lost its direct and conscious connection with the Primordial Light; its life on Earth—and also after death—became darkened. This darkening was already very great during the Egyptian-Chaldean period and reached its peak in the Greek era. The Greeks placed the center of life entirely in the physical world. If we look at a Greek temple, we see that it is harmoniously constructed according to spiritual measures. It can stand there, abandoned and lonely, and yet we feel that nothing is lacking in it, even if there are no people inside, because the deity to whom it was dedicated could dwell within it—and indeed did so, filling it completely. If, on the other hand, we look at a Gothic church, we truly feel a void. It requires the souls of the faithful to bring it to life. Viewed clairvoyantly, the Greek temple appears in its astral form as nothing more than a black spot. That is why the people of that time could take nothing with them when they passed through the gates of death; they were not at all prepared for a life after death. Life after death was for them the realm of shadows, which they feared so much that they said: Better a beggar on earth than a king in the realm of shadows. — At that time, human beings found themselves isolated in the spiritual world. In contrast, the astral form of the Gothic church appears quite different; it is radiant and offers the eye the point of connection between the two worlds. Let us now trace the history of the spiritual world.

[ 13 ] After the classical era, an immensely important event takes place within it, one that all the great teachers of humanity had previously foretold. The seven great Rishis of India had said: “Our wisdom extends to a certain point, but no further.” Beyond this point comes a being who will redeem humanity. Zarathustra, too, had a premonition of this being, and Hermes [Trismegistus] showed the Egyptians a being who was ready to come—Osiris—and would come with a divine mission.

[ 14 ] Before this important event, which we will discuss later, another equally significant one took place six hundred years earlier: the appearance of the Buddha. We know that he came from a royal family and that his attention was drawn to the suffering of humanity by the sight of a sick person, an old man, and a corpse. In sickness, old age, and death, he saw only suffering; the same was true of unfulfilled desire. Life as a whole appeared to him as suffering, so that he wished to teach humanity to flee from life. He left his family, his relatives, and his possessions and devoted himself entirely

[ 15 ] to seeking the path to this liberation. Thus the so-called truths of life arose in his soul. [But six hundred years later, with the great event of Golgotha, we see that everything has changed fundamentally.]

[ 16 ] What, then, did a corpse on a cross mean for the new community? This corpse had become the true sign of redemption and bliss! Nothing like this has ever occurred in the history of humanity, and it happened only through the Mystery of Golgotha. Had there been a clairvoyant present when the Mystery of Golgotha unfolded and the blood of Christ flowed from the five wounds, he would have seen how Christ penetrated the realm of the dead like a ray of light, transforming it from a realm of darkness into a realm of light.

[ 17 ] At that moment, the substance of the Earth’s astral body received the Christ principle and began to shine; which is precisely what happens to us as well, the more we draw near to Christ. Formerly, man brought nothing from the Earth; now he can love life, [because the human elements have been shaped by the elements of Christ]. The clairvoyant sees nothing of the Greek temple on the astral plane, but of the Gothic church and the works of art by Raphael and Michelangelo and so on, what he sees there is infinitely more beautiful and sublime than what exists physically here on Earth. The same can be said of the Gospels and the Revelation of John. When we experience them, we take in a large part of the spiritual world.

[ 18 ] Later we will see how the dead continue to live in heaven in the light of Christ.