The Rudolf Steiner Archive

53. The Effects of Spiritual Science Truths on the Behavior of the Dead and the Living

For the dedication of the branch office

[ 1 ] It was a sad experience for the spiritual researcher to encounter, in the life between death and a new birth, a person whom he had known in his past physical life. This person had left behind a personality with whom he himself had been close. But he heard nothing from her, since she did not lead a life oriented toward the spiritual. The person sensed a gloomy desolation all around them, and a deep longing for communion with others filled them. The language of the spirit is the one understood by both the living and the dead. The souls of the dead have a deep longing for it. The terrifying aspect of events that deny the spirit (monist gatherings) is that they starve the soul life of the dead. Souls who did not concern themselves with spiritual matters during their physical existence must pass heedlessly by the souls of great individuals such as Laozi and Buddha during the life between death and a new birth.

[ 2 ] The language of spiritual life is acquired through what we call theosophy. Spiritual Science serves to bridge the chasm between the physical and spiritual worlds. It can only be acquired in physical life. The work performed by a soul that absorbs nothing spiritual falls away from the Earth. Therefore, if we absorb nothing from spiritual life, we are beings who destroy. Such souls destroy the temple of the world. We can be either destroyers or builders. Spiritual Science will become a kind of Last Judgment. This was made clear to the students of the sacred mysteries. Today, this is being communicated to wider circles. The teacher made it clear to the students: Human beings can deny their connection to the spiritual world. There is no compulsion preventing human beings from pursuing only non-spiritual sensations. Human beings are free to choose.

[ 3 ] But it is true that all people who turn away from the spiritual life are destroyers of life. The teacher said: “You may deny the spiritual world; but you will become a destroyer because you are working to destroy the forces that created you.”

[ 4 ] Most of the souls who spread knowledge today have been completely abandoned by spirituality. It is said that Newton discovered the laws of falling objects by seeing an apple fall from a tree. That was not quite how it happened: He had dozed off under the tree, and the apple fell while he was asleep. He was in a state of consciousness that was not entirely physical. Galileo is said to have discovered the laws of the pendulum by observing the oscillations of a church lamp. But there is something else at play here as well. He was somewhat detached from physical consciousness due to the abundance of incense. The spiritual world influences everything. One can sense how physical existence is interwoven with grace from the spiritual world. The question presses upon us: Do you want to be destroyers or promoters of the world? In the past, people had received a spiritual heritage from the spiritual world. Today, this has been lost because people can consciously attain spiritual knowledge. That is why associations such as the one we have formed come into being. We should heed this quiet urge.