The Rudolf Steiner Archive

5. The Four Constituents of the Human Being

The Reflective Nature of Intellectual Thought and the Reality of Moral and Religious Experience

[ 1 ] Let us assume that the human being is a multi-part, multi-membered being—a fact with which we are all thoroughly familiar. Let us assume that within the anthroposophical movement there is always an effort to understand to what extent the human being is composed of parts, each of which requires a certain understanding in its own right, so that an understanding of the whole human being is only possible if one is able to unite the understanding one has gained of the individual parts into a whole. If we set aside everything else for the moment, we know that this human being is divided into the physical body, the etheric body or body of formative forces, the astral body, and what we call the “I.” Now this is not—or at least should not be—merely a classification of the human being and his nature; rather, what is listed here as the four members of the human being actually originates from entirely different worlds and can only be understood in terms of the inner conditions of those worlds. And only when one has understood how the physical body, the etheric or formative body, the astral body, and the “I” are formed from their respective worlds can one, through the harmonious interplay of understanding these individual human components, gain an understanding of the entire human being. One must simply understand the human physical body from within the physical world, but the etheric body—or body of formative forces—must in turn be understood from within the etheric world, and so on. If we are not extremely precise in this area, if we do not accept that things are exactly as I have just described, then we cannot arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the human being as a whole.

[ 2 ] Let us set aside the human physical body for a moment. We can do this because all of today’s external education and scientific inquiry is directed toward understanding the human physical body. But there is no corresponding effort today to understand the human etheric body, or body of formative forces. At most, people imagine that this etheric body—or body of formative forces—perhaps consists of a finer substance than the dense physical body, and that this finer etheric substance is simply mixed in with the physical body. But that is not how things are; the reality is fundamentally different: Someone who has grasped everything that can be understood from physical science in order to form a conception of how the physical body functions could be completely ignorant of the etheric or formative body, for precisely when we look at the human being, it is impossible to find the laws of the etheric or formative body in the vicinity of the Earth. We cannot even seek the laws of the etheric or formative body near the Earth itself. For just as when we observe a stone falling vertically, we say: ‘Gravity is at work here; the stone is moving toward the center of the Earth’—just as we seek the causes of the stone’s fall near the Earth or within the Earth, and just as we proceed correctly in that case, so too do we proceed incorrectly when we inquire into the causes of the event in the etheric or formative body if we remain near the Earth. Rather, we must not seek what acts within our etheric or formative body on Earth at all, but in the vastness of the universe, so to speak, on the surface of a sphere located at an indeterminately great distance from us. There, forces act inward from all sides. Just as physical forces radiate outward from the center of the Earth, so do forces act inward from all sides and determine our etheric body.

[ 3 ] Just recall what I told you regarding the transition of the human being from his pre-earthly existence to his earthly existence. He comes down having already sent the laws for his physical body to Earth. Then, I said, he gathers his etheric body from the vastness of the world ether. So there he is—before he takes up residence in what he has sent ahead, his physical body—the I, the astral body, and the etheric body. But in terms of its laws, the etheric body was not formed from the Earth; rather, we say—by way of analogy—that it is formed from the four corners of the world; but this simply means that the laws are drawn together from all sides. Thus, the laws take effect from all sides of the world’s periphery, its circumference, when the human etheric body is formed.

[ 4 ] Here is something that, from the very outset—when it is explained—has an extraordinarily shocking and startling effect on people today. You will agree with me when I say: No matter how strong a flame we light here, the farther we move away from the light source, the less its brightness will matter to us, and eventually, at a certain distance, there comes a point where this light source is hardly worth considering—where it has already become so faint that we can no longer read by it; where, if there is a light somewhere at a great distance, we can say for all practical purposes that there is simply no light there. Everyone will admit this. Likewise, modern science admits that gravity decreases with the square of the distance, becoming weaker and weaker the farther one moves from the center. But what people today do not consider at all is the following. Here on Earth, we express in our words the laws that apply on Earth. Even the laws that we, as Earthlings, articulate diminish, becoming weaker and weaker, and ultimately, beyond a certain distance, they are practically nonexistent. No matter how cleverly you formulate laws of nature for earthly conditions, no matter how cleverly you formulate historical laws for what happens on Earth: these laws—the laws of nature and historical laws—are just as inapplicable beyond a certain distance as the strength of gravity or the intensity of light ceases to have any significance there. Therefore, it is naive for anyone to claim, for example, that the same laws of nature apply to a star said to be so many light-years away as they do here on Earth. For the validity of our laws of nature applies only to earthly conditions; it ceases when we venture out into outer space. But the laws of the ether originate from the vastness of outer space. If we expect the same laws to apply there as the natural laws of Earth, then we will never comprehend ethereal existence. Even when we speak of the human etheric body, we must speak of something that follows laws entirely different from the natural laws of Earth.

[ 5 ] Therein lies what is startling and shocking to humanity today, but which must gradually be understood. Otherwise, humanity today will simply become entangled in earthly circumstances and, with its current state of mind, will be unable to rise above them. I want to tell you this now in a way that can be said—or at least should be said—after having spoken for some time within a circle about anthroposophical truths. For if one were to say today before any other circle what is now to be said, people would think one was not quite in one’s right mind. But that is by no means a reproach. For as long as one is in one’s right mind, one remains within the realm of sensory science. So, fundamentally speaking, one must be able to take such things seriously, because the genius of language is at work quite correctly. The most one could reproach someone who lectures on spiritual science is that they are not in touch with the spirit. That is no reproach at all! That they are not in their right mind. One must simply be in one’s right mind with full consciousness—that is what matters. But if one says that one has legitimate consciousness only when one is in one’s right mind, then one must renounce spiritual science.

[ 6 ] People everywhere today proclaim: There are certain incredibly simple laws that one ultimately arrives at. — People call them axioms or something like that; the names aren’t important right now. I want to name such axioms. One axiom is: The whole is always greater than one of its parts. — That goes without saying, people say, and anyone who goes against such axioms is not quite in their right mind, for the whole is greater than one of its parts. Or: A straight line is the shortest path between two points. By earthly standards and in the sensory world, this holds true to the fullest extent. When we proceed to the most extreme abstractions, we arrive at propositions such as: The whole is always greater than any one of its parts, and: A straight line is the shortest path between two points.

[ 7 ] But when you sail into the ether, you must truly break through from the sensory world into another world where even the most trivial laws of the sensory world no longer apply. As soon as you enter the etheric world, the law that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” no longer applies. For in the etheric world, the situation is as follows, for example, with regard to the human being: If you look at what lies etherically behind the individual parts of the entire human being—if you look at the liver, the lungs, and search for their etheric counterparts—then every single part of the human being is essentially greater than the whole human being on Earth. And if you were ever to believe that a human being is greater than his liver, you would never be able to penetrate into the spiritual realm. For in the spiritual realm, a whole comes into being through the interaction of the larger parts with a smaller one; it is precisely through the interaction of the larger parts that the whole arises.

[ 8 ] This may become even clearer to you with the other example: that a straight line is the shortest path between two points. Yes, that is true in the physical world. There, if you have one point here and a second one here, the straight path is the shortest. But when you enter the etheric world, every path taken is easy—every crooked one, every winding one—and if you try to take the straight path, it comes to a dead end. It comes to a dead end at every point; in fact, it is the very longest way to get from one point to another. That is why, in relation to the etheric world, a statement like this applies: “The straight line is the shortest path between two points”—a statement that traps one in the physical realm, preventing one from ever escaping the crust in which one is enclosed. As long as one does not take seriously the fact that, even in the etheric world, everything is different and even opposite to what it is in the physical world, one will not gain an understanding of the spiritual world.

[ 9 ] People would like to understand the components of human nature: the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the I. But now they want to apply the exact same way of thinking to the etheric body as they have applied to the physical body. But that simply does not work, because to the same extent that one moves away from the physical world—which is identical to the earthly world—the validity of the laws of nature diminishes, and entirely different laws take their place. I am simply drawing your attention to the fact that, as soon as one comes to this second aspect of human nature, it becomes absolutely necessary to enter into a completely different way of thinking.

[ 10 ] But as soon as one enters into this other way of thinking, one must take it seriously in the broadest sense. No matter how far you go in the physical world, you can find all sorts of things—not atoms, to be sure, but you can find cells and the like. But it should never occur to anyone that they would find thoughts under a microscope, for example, or through a telescope. You have to find them in a different way. You can examine the brain under a microscope until the end of time, but you will not find thoughts in it; they do not appear under the microscope. But this is precisely proof that under the microscope—and indeed in all visual perception—one finds only the physical world, for the etheric world consists entirely of thoughts. The etheric world is the activity of thoughts as forces. And as soon as one penetrates from the physical body to the etheric body in a human being, this etheric body is composed through and through of thoughts, but the thoughts act as forces. We are completely permeated by thoughts, interwoven with them everywhere, but these thoughts act as forces.

[ 11 ] But this has a very important implication for our understanding of the human being. For imagine now that you are going to sleep. There, lying in bed, are the physical body and the etheric body. The etheric body is full of thoughts. It is a kind of distillation, a kind of extract from the world’s ether, and the world’s ether is an active world of thought. And therefore, the human etheric body is in fact something extraordinarily intelligent—if I may put it that way—full of luminous and consistent thoughts. And when a person, with their “I” and their astral body, leaves their physical body and etheric body, they are actually leaving behind a very intelligent being. The only unfortunate thing is that when a person is asleep, they do not realize at all just how intelligent the one who has remained in bed is. For the reason we are not so wise during the day is that, during the day, we—with our “I” and our astral body—plunge into the very wise etheric body and continually dull it. For insofar as we are imperfect as human beings, this stems from our “I” and our astral body. Our astral body and our “I” are incapable of rising to the inner solidity, clarity, and worldliness of the etheric body. If one could make the etheric body speak and then transcribe just as faithfully—or unfaithfully—what it has to say all night long about the mysteries of the universe, that would be something immensely wise, even wiser than what is written here.

[ 12 ] Thus, universal thoughts act as forces within the human etheric body, and we are always only able to make use of a small portion—it is always very little—of what is spread out within our etheric body, depending on what we possess in our astral body.

[ 13 ] And yet, what are we—as physical and etheric bodies—that remain in bed when we sleep and have drawn our “I” and our astral body out of them? There in bed, we are a being composed of a physical body and an etheric body; thus, we carry within us only the laws of the plant kingdom. And the very same thing we can perceive in ourselves—by looking back, as it were, and seeing the wisdom of the entire world shining forth from our sleeping etheric body in radiant spiritual clarity—is what we might observe in a human being when we cast our gaze backward; we essentially have before us, on a small scale, everything that we also have before us when we look at the Earth—as it stands there as a physical sphere, yet allows the plant world to sprout and grow from within itself, and this plant world is ethereally stimulated from all sides by the world-thoughts that are actively weaving in the world-ether. This is that infinitely sublime image of the cosmos—the cosmos that lies before us if we are only able to look upon all that which springs forth from every single plant on our Earth, as it were, from spiritual flames, drawing lines and waves out into the farthest reaches of space. So that we indeed have before us the globe of the Earth, with the forces that bring vegetation forth from the Earth sprouting in from the most distant point in space, and this formation of the Earth is repeated in every single sleeping human being.

[ 14 ] When we visualize this image, however, we must set aside everything that belongs to our ego and our astral body, and we must exclude from the cosmic image the image of animals with their astral bodies. That which is within our astral body does not belong to what is earthly on the one hand or ethereal on the other, but rather belongs to an entirely different world—a world, however, that we do not seek in the same way that we seek the ether. If one were to describe it figuratively—and these things can only be described figuratively, because otherwise one would fall into earthly conceptions—one would have to ask: How does one arrive at a conception of the world-ether? — One arrives at a conception of the world ether by simply tracing what is here on Earth outward, by swinging farther and farther outward—one must, of course, do this spiritually. Here on Earth, the activity of the ether is actually hardly perceptible, for that is where it is weakest. Just as earthly lighting effects, for example, become weakest far out in the distance, so the activity of the world ether is weakest near the Earth. As soon as we venture out into the vastness of the universe, the true nature of etheric activity becomes increasingly evident. If we venture out into the vastness of the universe, it begins to dawn on us how the physical realm of the Earth is woven into the etheric realm according to laws entirely different from those found on Earth. But if one could go all the way out to the boundaries where the ether sprays its effects in from the outside, one would experience something curious. Superficial physical thinkers say: If you move out from the Earth in a radial direction into the world, you can go on into infinity. At most, those familiar with some modern geometry might say: If you go out into infinity, you’ll come back around on the other side—it’ll just take a while. — But that is merely a theoretical notion; in reality, it is not so. In reality, you do indeed reach an end, even if the path—in earthly terms and superficially speaking—could be called infinite. The world undergoes a transition from earthly laws to cosmic laws, which radiate inward. The world is a self-contained whole, and if you reach the end—you must imagine this only figuratively—then everywhere you encounter the inner surface of a sphere. That is where the astral realm shines in. The astral realm begins to exert its influence from the outside by taking hold of the etheric realm.

[ 15 ] But even then, you still do not arrive at anything that constitutes the “I.” When you explore the world, you first encounter nature—physical nature, earthly nature—and from there move into the etheric realm, and at the end of the etheric realm, into the astral realm. But you have not yet entered the world to which the human “I” belongs. This world does not exist at all within that region of the cosmos that can be perceived even by the astral senses; rather, the “I” belongs to yet another world, which in turn has its own distinct laws. Thus, when speaking of the human being, one must be clear that the various members belong to entirely different worlds. This is not merely a matter of classification, but rather a description of the fact that within the human being, entities from radically different worlds converge. And now, the moment you wish to reflect at all on the distinction between waking and sleeping, you must also give thought to this distinction between the various worlds. For what we actually possess in our “I” and in our astral body does not belong to the same world as the two aspects of human nature that lie in bed. What we have left behind in bed, we have entrusted to the mineral and plant worlds for the duration of our sleep. What we carry within us as the “I” and the astral body, we have drawn out of the plant and mineral worlds and raised it up into another world that is neither the plant world nor the mineral world.

[ 16 ] And what happens now, while we sleep? While we sleep, exactly the same processes take place within what lies there in bed as occur out in the world in the mineral and plant kingdoms—as long as the plants are not eaten by animals. For that is where the astral forces from the animal world exert their influence. But if we set aside humans and animals and consider only the Earth with its plants, we have there the world to which we entrust our physical and etheric bodies during sleep, and everything that takes place in the mineral and plant kingdoms then also takes place within our physical and etheric bodies.

[ 17 ] Let’s assume we couldn’t sleep. I’ve said before that people sometimes claim they can’t sleep, but they do sleep, even if they interrupt their sleep and wake up frequently. For the amount of time some people claim they have not slept is so great that they would have been dead long ago if it were true. So sleep is indeed necessary for the entire human being. But if we did not sleep—let’s assume that—then we would be constantly active within our physical and etheric bodies using our astral body and our “I.” But the physical body and the etheric body simply cannot tolerate this. The physical body follows the laws of the Earth. The astral body, however, does not belong to the Earth at all; it constantly works on the physical body in opposition to the laws of the Earth. If a person were unable to sleep, the physical body would become completely unfit for use because it would be constantly subjected to non-earthly laws. Just as if someone were to constantly work a field in the mineral kingdom with a hoe and a spade, thereby completely pulverizing it, so our astral body begins to work upon the physical body. The physical body must once again assert the earthly laws within itself so that it may be strengthened in a certain way. And the etheric body is dulled by the astral body. I don’t mean to make it sound so bad—there are also intelligent people, and one need not always reproach people for being intelligent—but in fact, from a cosmic perspective, that is how it works. Then, in turn, the etheric body must once again be exposed to the cosmos so that it can shake off this dulling influence for a time. And so the human being must become a mineral and vegetative cosmos so that what is within him can flourish, so that a certain state is established when we wake up. I am now speaking of normal life. In the case of abnormal phenomena, the human being naturally sleeps and wakes as well.

[ 18 ] What state is brought about when we wake up? The state that is brought about consists in the fact that our soul elements—namely, the astral body and the “I”—cannot, at first, fully enter the physical body and the etheric body. In fact, they can never fully enter them. Oh, what clever individuals we would be if we could enter our etheric body completely. But that would wear us out; we couldn’t bear it. It’s really true: this astral body is, at its core, terribly selfish. The etheric body, which is actually identical in its essence to the cosmos, is not selfish. Nor is it envious; it has no need to be. But the astral body is subconsciously terribly envious of the etheric body, which is so wise and contains the thoughts of the whole world within itself—it is terribly envious. And now it has already been arranged that the senses remain independent, and that the “I” and the astral body remain independent during the day. Then, gradually, the “I” and the astral body are increasingly able to sink deeper into the physical body and the etheric body. But this only fills them with a longing to emerge once more. They then want to sleep, and that is why the I and the astral body grow tired. For it is precisely through this that human beings are able to prove themselves as independent beings—that they are not absorbed by the physical and etheric bodies while awake. If a human being were absorbed by the I and the astral body, then we would know nothing of ourselves or of the world; rather, we would find ourselves within our physical organism, which would extend only as far as the skin, we would observe the processes within our physical organism, and we would know nothing at all beyond our inner self, and then we would still know that magnificent, wisdom-imbued thoughts surge into our inner being, but even there we would not go beyond these thoughts. We would know absolutely nothing about any other human being, about animals on Earth, or about other beings on Earth if we were completely absorbed into our physical and etheric bodies. If we did not preserve the independence of not becoming completely absorbed in our physical and etheric bodies, we could never establish relationships with the world; we could know only something of our physical body and our own etheric body.

[ 19 ] People ponder this: How is it that we say the table is outside of us? — We would never arrive at this statement—“The table is outside of us”—if we were to immerse ourselves completely in our physical and etheric bodies. We would never arrive at the awareness that “the table is outside of us” if we were to experience only what is within us—namely, what lies within the skin of our body. And there would shine forth an inwardly enclosed universe, one that is ethereal and full of wisdom. But the judgment that there is something outside of us arises from the fact that we ourselves are outside of ourselves during sleep. There, when the “I” is outside the physical body, it becomes accustomed to a state of being outside the physical body. When the “I” slips back into the body, it then has an understanding of the external world. It is precisely because we are able to sleep that we have the possibility of perceiving things outside ourselves at all. We become accustomed to being outside ourselves by placing ourselves outside ourselves during sleep.

[ 20 ] Philosophers reflect on what guarantees being; why I say at all: “Something is”—or: “I am.” If I were completely absorbed by my physical and etheric bodies, I would not even be able to say: “I am.” — But because I can detach myself from my physical and etheric bodies between falling asleep and waking up, I accustom myself to living in relation to the external world as well. Just as one consciously has a memory—such as when I saw someone yesterday and consciously recall it today, attributing reality to that memory—so, out of habit—because I am also sometimes outside myself in sleep—I attribute an external reality to what is outside of me.

[ 21 ] So one must think about these things from entirely different perspectives than is done today. Only then can one truly understand how much depends on the human being not being absorbed by his physical and etheric bodies. Only then can one truly grasp how the sense of freedom is essentially conditioned by the fact that one can also exist outside of one’s physical and etheric bodies. People who, as natural scientists, do not give any thought to the independence of the “I” and the astral body during sleep can never come to an understanding of freedom, for a human being would not be free if he were united with his physical body and his etheric body all the time, How could those who know nothing of the times when a person renders their astral body and their “I” independent of their physical and etheric bodies possibly know anything about freedom! If we could not sleep, we could not be free. Only what we bring with us from sleep into wakefulness is what sets us free.

[ 22 ] Modern people have absolutely no conception of this world in which the “I” and the astral body reside during sleep. But if one knows that everything modern people can conceive of lies within the mineral and plant kingdoms, then one knows that modern science really has to deal only with the sleeping human being and not with the waking one; and even with the sleeping human being, only if one forms such conceptions of the ether as I have described today. If one knows this, then one will say to oneself: Now I must also be able to form concepts regarding the ego and the astral body. — Today, as I hinted at recently, we have only words for these things.

[ 23 ] How do we arrive at concepts of the “I” and the astral body? Let me use a trivial comparison. First, this will give your mind a chance to rest a bit during the comparison, and second, we’ll understand each other better if I include this comparison. Just imagine a being—a human or any other creature—that depends on food but refuses to eat, rejecting food entirely. It grows thinner and thinner, until finally it is nothing but skin and bones. This is beautifully symbolized by a story: There was a farmer who had decided to wean his ox off food. And by this point, he had made considerable progress with this weaning process. He gave the ox less and less each day and was confident he would eventually get to the point of giving it just a single straw each day. He would have succeeded, too, but the ox died before that happened, so he was unable to complete the experiment. Ultimately, the creature simply stops living when it is no longer given food.

[ 24 ] But this is what has happened to the human soul in the course of historical development—or, as we call the soul: the “I” and the astral body. People have gradually lost any concepts they could apply to the soul. Thus, the soul has become a mere word. As I already told you last time: Mauthner, who wrote *Critique of Language*, no longer wanted to use the word “soul” at all. He wanted to say “Geseel.”

[ 25 ] Now let us recall times when there was still a living awareness that the concept of the soul needs nourishment if it is to exist; that the soul requires something that must be given to it, just as a living being needs nourishment. The concept of the soul has, after all, died completely because, in the end, there was no longer any nourishment left in the content of people’s concepts. Let us look back on such times. I remind you here of a well-known saying of Paul’s: “If Christ had not been raised, our preaching would be in vain and your faith would be in vain,” for people—and this is the underlying point—would have to die in their souls if that power had not come into the world, the power that lies in the resurrection of Christ. But this power is a spiritual power that is bestowed upon the souls. And if one proceeds from such ideas, one will ask oneself: What, then, must be incorporated into the concept of the soul—as nourishment, so to speak—in order for it to become a living concept? It must be nourished by that which, on earth, is not earthly: the ethical-religious and moral contents. These are what keep the soul alive, just as food sustains the body.

[ 26 ] How far is humanity today from saying to itself: If the soul does not receive spiritual nourishment, it dies along with the body! In Paul’s time, there was still a vivid understanding that failing to receive spiritual nourishment posed a mortal danger to the soul. This must once again be brought into the world through anthroposophy. For you can be sure that if anyone today seeks proof of the soul’s immortality, they seek it in much the same way as natural science does. It does not even occur to them to say: The soul becomes more and more like the physical and etheric bodies in the course of earthly life; in order to sustain itself, it must receive spiritual nourishment—that is, moral and religious content—and then it overcomes the transience of the physical and etheric bodies. Thus, the fact that the spiritual—that is, the moral and religious within the spiritual realm—has something to do with the life of the soul must first be understood by humanity once again. Only then will we come to attribute reality and authenticity to the moral and religious.

[ 27 ] You can see from this what the Age of Intellectualism has actually wrought. What, then, has the Age of Intellectualism done? You see, before the Age of Intellectualism had arrived, people still immersed themselves to some extent in their physical and etheric bodies. The fact that people no longer immerse themselves at all is the very achievement of the age of intellectualism. Since then, their thoughts have consisted only of mirror images. The nature of abstract, intellectual thought is that it contains nothing in itself, because it is a mirror image. People’s earlier thoughts still had power. That is when people developed mythology. Myth still penetrated down into reality. With abstract, intellectualistic thinking, one can think everything out precisely, but it acquires no content; rather, what one has with intellectualistic thinking is merely a sketch of the world. So the situation is that the intellectualistic age has completely estranged people from themselves, allowing them to experience only mirror images of reality. The moral-religious world is not experienced at all if one tries to experience it through intellectualism, because moral-religious acts must, after all, be performed by human beings. No mirror images are experienced of these moral-religious things unless they are actually carried out. Thus, the point is that, precisely in order to experience the reality of the moral-religious in actuality, human beings must in turn transcend intellectualism and move toward a real inner experience. This is possible only when one faces the will of spiritual science with complete clarity.

[ 28 ] I would like to repeat here what I have already been compelled to say elsewhere. In certain parts of the world, people are finally coming to realize that there is a difference between today and a hundred years ago. People speak of Goethe as he lived, say, in 1823, without emphasizing something that is only now beginning to dawn as an intuition—especially over in America, where it is even more pronounced than in Europe. Just think: in Weimar, where Goethe walked—and indeed wherever else he walked—there were no telegraph wires all around, no telephone lines, and so on. The air was not permeated by telegraph lines or electrical cables. Now just imagine how sophisticated the instruments are, and how the effects of electricity are transmitted everywhere. But people today have all sorts of such devices in front of them and all around them. People over in America are beginning to realize that this has an effect on the physical human being—that he is surrounded on all sides by electrical wires and the like. Goethe walked through the world without his body carrying any induced currents. Today, you can go far out into the countryside—but you can’t go so far that the power lines don’t follow you. This constantly induces currents within us. Goethe was not exposed to such currents. All of this robs humanity of its physical body, rendering the physical body such that the soul cannot enter it at all. We must be clear about this: In the time when there were no electric currents, when the air was not crisscrossed by power lines, it was easier to be human. For back then, these Ahrimanic forces were not constantly present to rob one of one’s body, even while one is awake. Nor was it necessary for people to exert themselves so much to reach the spirit. For it is only when we turn inward that we truly reach the spirit. That is why, today, we must expend far greater spiritual capacity just to be human than was necessary even a hundred years ago.

[ 29 ] It would never occur to me to be reactionary and say, for example: “So let’s do away with all that stuff—the achievements of modern culture!” That is not the intention. But modern human beings need this direct turning toward the spirit, as provided by spiritual science, so that through this intense experience of the spirit they may indeed be stronger than those forces that are emerging precisely with modern culture—forces that seek to solidify our physical body and take it away from us. Otherwise, it will come to pass that human beings, I would say, will miss the connection in human evolution.

[ 30 ] This age of intellectualism dawned for the good of humanity at a time when people were still able to immerse themselves somewhat in their physical bodies. Had we remained as people were in the 13th and 14th centuries—with the spiritual dispositions of those people—we would not have been able to grasp intellectualistic thoughts at all. Then, although we would no longer have the older ways, we would not even arrive at abstract intellectualistic thoughts; they would simply vanish into thin air. The old ways would become alien to us; we would be unable to think, and so we would go about the world as dreaming beings, reeling in the face of the most important world affairs. We would go about like reeling dreamers. But that is precisely what would be in store for humanity if it did not sharpen and strengthen its inner spiritual capacities. Humanity would suffer so much from progress that it would immediately cause a person pain to think. In the 16th century, people were still inwardly robust enough to engage in sharp, intellectual reflections. Back then, they still took great joy in engaging in such intellectual reflections. Today we are already very close to the point where people say: “Oh, thinking—it’s so hard. Just film the whole story for me so I don’t have to think, so I can watch it unfold in its various stages!” — Strange things could arise from that. I really don’t mean this as a joke. As you will see in a moment, this is something that lies very much within the realm of possibility. Just imagine, if the entire multiplication table were filmed, then people could always carry a device with them, and as soon as they began a calculation, the correct answer would pop up in response to a specific sound, and they would have the whole thing filmed right in front of them. Little by little, people no longer want to think, because it’s starting to become unpleasant. Thinking becomes unpleasant. People would much rather daydream than think. And if those external things—that is, external cultural development—were to continue indefinitely without a strong inner spiritual force emerging in the course of development, then people would essentially all become wandering “dreamers.” I mean this quite seriously; such a prospect lies ahead for humanity. And this very prospect can only be counteracted by truly committing oneself to venturing into the spiritual world with courage and boldness, just as spiritual science intends and is capable of doing. There is still every possibility today that we, as humanity, can muster the inner strength to achieve inner activity. But all those who recognize this must work earnestly toward this end, using every means at their disposal.

[ 31 ] Please do not take the things I say in a negative sense as negative. I have no intention of taking anything away from modern culture. The more things are developed, the more enthusiastic I am about them. I do not want to do away with either the telegraph or the movie; that would never occur to me. But it is truly necessary in the world to take into account that two things are always in opposition to one another. The world is entirely dominated by externalization. The balance: just as one must dry off after taking a bath, so must one delve deeper into the spirit when, on the other hand, the culture of external visualization is growing ever larger and larger. This is precisely what calls on us to become ever more active inwardly when we are outwardly caught up in that which no longer works through us but acts upon us, so that we effectively shut ourselves off as soul and spirit.

[ 32 ] The best way to find these thoughts we need is by making it very clear to ourselves: Human beings are such complex beings because the essences of the most diverse worlds converge within them to form a single, complete being. After I had written my *Outline of Esoteric Science*, a rather prominent contemporary philosopher—as I have mentioned before—sent me a long treatise on this “esoteric science.” And when I began to read it, I immediately found such clever remarks in it: “Yes, this is an abstract division of the human being into physical body, etheric body, astral body, and so on.” Now, that is just as clever as if someone were to say: “It is abstract to say that water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.” It’s no surprise when one has to say: You can’t have a discussion with someone like that. We must always distinguish between the impossibility of discussing factual matters with our contemporaries. Such discussions are fruitless. They are, of course, also the rarer ones. More common are the cases where opponents resort to personal slander and lies. In such cases, the task is to expose the lie as a lie and the slander as slander before the world. But discussions accomplish very little. For this is precisely the essence of anthroposophy and the essence of what such opponents—who now wish to engage in some form of discussion—have to offer: that no bridge can be built; that anthroposophy must forge its own path in all areas through its own strength. We must be just as vigilant in rejecting slander and lies as we must, on the other hand, be clear that anthroposophy can make its way through the world only by working with all its intensity out of its own inner strength. So, dealing with opponents means: being vigilant where the fight is waged with untruthful means. On the other hand—well, certainly, circumstances may make it necessary to point out how justified one thing or another is; one can certainly do that when one is dealing with nothing more than a fictitious opponent. Some have taken to copying the refutations contained in my writings and omitting only the positive aspects. It is indeed true that one can derive objective refutations from my writings themselves. It is necessary to see these matters clearly and not to begin daydreaming in this area.

[ 33 ] Please forgive me that almost every reflection now—even if it attempts to venture into somewhat more remote areas—must nevertheless conclude with such an appeal. The most harmful thing for the Anthroposophical Society is if it develops too great a tendency to sleep; it must remain awake. A human being becomes like a plant when he sleeps. But the Anthroposophical Society, too, takes on a plant-like existence when its actual affairs are neglected. Just as a human being cannot endure being a plant all the time—cannot sleep his entire life—so, too, the Anthroposophical Society cannot endure it if people are always asleep. Vigilance must also be cultivated. And I would like to recommend this without distinction to both the Anthroposophical Society and the Free Anthroposophical Society. For otherwise it might turn out that the two societies have developed only side by side because, had they remained united, the members of one would have disturbed the sleep of the other too much. But when one is independent, others disturb one’s sleep less, and one can sleep all the better.

[ 34 ] The point will be that both societies come to realize that they are now awake—and not happy—because of their own inner forces, and that the other should no longer disturb their sleep. Of course, I don’t mean to be suggestive, but sometimes one has to say such things—and one must even say them to the Free Anthroposophical Society. If neither is to be the favored child, then both should be treated in a fully human way. So I would like for that to be taken into account a little. I believe that one or the other already knows, even today, what I actually mean. People often say they don’t know what I mean, but I still believe that if one wants to, one can know what I mean—and even when I call for people to wake up, one can know what I mean, even if it sounds unpleasant.

[ 35 ] So, my dear friends, send your delegates to the Delegates’ Assembly of the Anthroposophical Society in Dornach from July 20 to 22. Send them with a keen sense of awareness. For we will need this awareness in the future—full awareness throughout the entire Anthroposophical Society.