The Rudolf Steiner Archive

49. Theosophy in Relation to Everyday Life

[ 1 ] We can make theosophy both a source of inspiration and a source of strength in our lives. Above all, we must acknowledge karma and reincarnation as facts.

[ 2 ] A mental experiment: Looking back as far as we can trace our lives to the first awakening of consciousness, and trying to recall things that have become pleasant or unpleasant to us, things we have gladly or reluctantly pursued. —- Then imagine a person who has longed for the exact opposite of our will—a fictional character; also a fictional character who brings about and desires all matters of chance.

[ 3 ] Three examples: A person who climbs onto the roof and loosens the tiles that are supposed to hit him, and so on. If we follow this idea closely, we cannot shake it off. In our perception, this figment of the imagination has something to do with memory, as if it were drawing something out of it. In response to our effort, the past event emerges from memory. The act of recollection brings about a state of exhaustion; the result feels like a release. The person of imagination brings about both: recollection and release.

[ 4 ] The imaginary person gradually transforms within us, and as a result of this effort, we come to feel that the imaginary person has something to do with us.

[ 5 ] Emotional perception versus imaginative perception. Example: Bismarck before the war of 1866. The sense of imagination does not carry over from one incarnation to the next, but the sense of feeling does (emotional memory from a previous incarnation), and the person of imagination serves as the instrument. Through this, one feels something in accordance with how one has attuned oneself to the present life.

[ 6 ] In the future, children should be taught to conduct such memory experiments. If a person in midlife (age 30) is either practical or clumsy, one cannot speak of heredity from the parents in this incarnation. This heredity, which mainly manifests in middle age, can be traced back to the person’s parents or grandparents in earlier incarnations. One’s own upbringing to lead a practical life in middle age results in being drawn to a practical family in the next incarnation. The actual blood relatives do not reunite in the next life.

[ 7 ] When people are brought together in midlife through true friendship and love, they will be blood relatives in the [next] life. A circle of friends chosen by oneself in midlife becomes a family circle in the next life. Example: Joining a monastic community and choosing one’s own friends among fellow monks.

[ 8 ] In the future, after committing an act, a vision—a dream—will arise before a person: a glimpse into the future of karma.

[ 9 ] Until now, only clairvoyants have been able to systematically guide people toward recognizing past incarnations in visions.

[ 10 ] Ancient clairvoyance and its evolution into new clairvoyance. — Later, the law of karma will become fully known through visions. — Theosophy takes a strictly scientific approach to all spiritual fields. — What we have acquired as spiritual assets in one life builds up a body of power in the next life.