Lawfulness and Chance
What reincarnates?
Phenomenological approach
Perception and thinking translate German quotes
Thinking about thinking
Models of Psychology
What reincarnates?
Summary.
The purpose of this page is to deepen understanding of the concepts of reincarnation and karma. It is assumed that the reader already believes these concepts to be true or that s/he accept them as a reasonable possibility and also to be two of the fundamental concepts that govern life. There are many persuasive accounts that substantiate the concepts of reincarnation and karma and which at a later date I hope to integrate in to this page.
I want to describe Rudolf Steiner’s perspective on these concepts for the pure and simple reason that it is a view that enhances life, a view that helps us find meaning in our lives, a view that makes suffering more understandable and therefore more bearable. We are familiar with the idea that thoughts can cause war and strife. However, we might be less aware of the need for thoughts that can reconcile and heal. The description Rudolf Steiner gives concerning the spiritual laws of karma also leads us into a world of healing forces. These laws are an antidote to the concept of chance (i.e. that there is no lawfulness or meaning to events) which works so devastatingly in our soul lives. These concepts represent an adversary strong enough to not only refute ‘chance’, but also to heal the destruction it has caused.
Lawfulness and Chance
Consider the idea that there is no lawfulness to anything. To do so would mean to reject much of the knowledge and technical progress made by the scientific way of thinking since its inception in the 16th century. Clearly such a suggestion is ridiculous. We all witness the lawfulness of the world when we cook an egg, do the vacuum cleaning or accelerate and then brake in a car. We are familiar with the idea that all of these events obey certain laws, some of which we learned at school and others which only top notch scientists and researchers in their respective fields of study understand. All of us at some level desire to understand why things happen the way they do. Some are prepared to invest more effort into discovering lawfulness than others and some find it easy than others, but we all desire to. If we understand the laws governing events we can make sure they go according to our will instead of failing to live up to expectations. If we understand lawfulness then we enhance our freedom. Consequently a broad meaning for the role of a scientist could be seen as a means of attaining increased freedom for humanity. It goes without saying that knowledge can be used to enslave people who don’t have the same insights, but I assume that it is the desire to understand rather than enslave that lies behind the remarkable progress made by human beings understand the lawfulness of phenomena.
Understanding is good for the soul, we find strength in the security of things being predictable. If we see in the world stability and order then we feel more comfortable making plans for the future and building social structures that enhance life. Insecurity on the other hand has the opposite effect. It is debilitating and destructive. A world either devoid of or just seemingly devoid of can be frightening a one as good and bad experiences rain down with no apparent order. If we have no idea where or when and why the next painful will happen then anxiety increases and well-being decreases. If we cannot perceive the lawfulness behind events then we become nervous and twitchy in anticipation of the next painful blow from a cruel world. If the above descriptions lead to the insight that understanding and lawfulness are soul strengthening qualities then I have achieved my goal.
It is worth pointing out that it is not me that has convinced you the reader of this, but you have convinced yourself that this is an accurate description of the world. Expressed in other words we agree each other. This is important to recognise as I have no desire to indoctrinate, but instead to help people discover lawfulness in their lives.
Returning to ‘chance’. If we take it to mean the opposite of lawfulness, which seems reasonable as it is used to indicate pure randomness, then all the beneficial properties of lawfulness would seem to be lost for the soul. From this perspective it is reasonable to talk of ‘chance’ as a destructive force in the soul. It is destructive because if we believe in chance then we also preclude the possibility of understanding events. This is not so troublesome when nice things happen to us, but is definitely so for bothersome events especially if they occur often. ‘Chance’ can therefore be regarded as a corrosive force that gnaws at and weakens our souls. It erodes our souls’ strength either at a conscious or unconscious level.
What then is sciences relationship to chance? It is most certainly a strange one. It seems that all inorganic sciences are based on the assumption of lawfulness in nature. However, life itself is merely a product of chance. I think Dawkins’ theory is the most up to date, i.e. that life arose in some primeval puddle as chance caused certain molecules to bind together in some life giving way. This is a single but important example of how phenomena not yet understood is given the label of being understandable, i.e. just a chance occurrence. As we have already seen this has a negative effect on the soul. What is concerning is that the more we scrape the surface of scientific understanding the more we see the concept of chance being used as an explanatory factor. I hope that scientists would agree with me when I say it would be better to talk of a lack of understanding concerning certain areas of knowledge rather than labelling phenomena as chance happenings, which is synonymous with being not understandable. I am merely advocating a certain humility which permits us to say “I don’t know” rather than us projecting our ignorance on to phenomena and then claiming such happenings cannot be understandable. Such humility is what is required for investigating the important questions concerning human existence. A recognition that I don’t know, but believe in the possibility of understanding is a pre-requisite for discovering deeper truths.
What reincarnates?
Before describing Steiner’s view of reincarnation and karma I feel it necessary to point out that this is offered as a hypothesis to be tested. It is in no way meant to be a dogma, but instead an idea to be tested to see if it helps make life more understandable [Verification the problems of confirming assertions of spiritual science]
Reincarnation as the etymology of the word suggests, means to become flesh again. The question thus arises what is it that reincarnates and why? If we tackle the question of what reincarnates then we will be in be better able to deal the question of why.
If we consider the 4 kingdoms of nature, mineral, plant, animal and human then we can view the human being as the pinnacle or crown of nature. What though is the human being? I will argue that it is a compilation of the 3 kingdoms below it plus its own uniqueness. Looking at the mineral realm we find that it consists of dead matter that obeys the physical laws of gravity, erosion etc. The natural sciences are the investigators of this realm. However, if we look at the next kingdom upwards, namely the plant kingdom we find that it has characteristics not found in the dead mineral world. These include growth, reproduction and gravity defying (levity) properties. Obviously these characteristics find expression in the material world, but are not inherent to this mineral world. If we consider the above these characteristics carefully then the phenomena seems to be indicating that a plant is in actual fact mineral kingdom + something which gives it the characteristics of growth etc. It would be at best dubious to attribute these characteristics of growth, reproduction and levity to laws of the mineral realm as we have already seen that they don’t exist in a lump of inorganic matter.
The idea of force fields is nothing new to science nor even is the idea of a body of forces. Think for example of the well known science lesson where iron filings (material world) are used to show otherwise invisible lines of force. Steiner proposes that purely based on the observation on the difference between the mineral and plant kingdom we can reasonably suppose a body of forces that endows plants with their distinguishing characteristics. From this perspective it would be false to attribute these knew characteristics to mineral laws and is also indicative of a materialistic view of the world. Steiner calls the body of forces responsible for growth etc the life-forces body or alternatively ether body.
Schematically we can say
mineral world |
= physical body |
plant world |
= physical + ether body |
By the same process of comparison but this time between the plant and the animal kingdom we can observe that a new body of forces reveals itself over and above the plant kingdom. In this animal kingdom observation reveals what can be called soul qualities or inner experiences such as fear, happiness, obstinacy or gregariousness to mention just a few. We observe also how feelings like hunger, thirst and pain act as motivating factors to movement. All these qualities are beyond what we can attribute to the plant kingdom. This is even more obvious if we consider instinctive desires and lusts. In the not so distant past this awareness of the link between the soul life and animal life was keener. Donkeys are obstinate, cats cautious, dogs loyal, foxes sly etc.
Thus this method of observation reveals an animal to have the qualities of a physical, etheric and soul body. This soul body is also called by Steiner the astral body or even starry body.
Schematically we can say
mineral world |
= physical body |
plant world |
= physical + ether body |
animal world |
= physical + ether body + astral body |
Finally if we compare the animal kingdom with the human kingdom we find a lot of similarities. However, if we look at the most humane or praiseworthy people from this kingdom we find yet again characteristics that go beyond what is present in the animal. These include the ability to refer to oneself as an individual, i.e. have self-consciousness and use the word I, use abstract characters to represent thinking, understand phenomena. Steiner calls the body of forces responsible for these further faculties the I body or ego body.
Schematically we can say
mineral world |
= physical body |
plant world |
= physical + ether body |
animal world |
= physical + ether body + astral body |
human being |
= physical + ether body + astral body + I body |
Click below for an alternative article written to illuminate this idea from a different perspective:
Physical, Etheric, Astral, I bodies
Phenomenological approach
The process we have been using to arrive at the above conclusions is called a phenomenological approach. By looking at the phenomena of the world with a hopefully unbiased eye we arrived at an outline of what the human being exists of, i.e. Pb+ Eb + Ab +Ib. What is also clear is that further meditation on the differences between the different kingdoms of nature will give an ever fuller idea of the properties of these different bodies. Observation has induced these concepts or ideas into us. By letting the world talk to us instead of imposing a materialistic world view we arrive at ideas that are better able to describe reality and more useful for understanding it. The world view that maintains that all life is a chance constellation of dead matter must be severely doubted given the above considerations on the four kingdoms of nature. By using the phenomenological approach we hope to avoid attributing truths belonging to one realm to another one where they are no longer true. Such deductive thinking easily leads to truths becoming untrue. For example a group of scientists might establish from limited observation that salt water kills trees. However, one day they come across a eucalyptus tree and realise that the ‘truth’ that salt water kills does not apply to this particular tree.
Returning to our invisble bodies, Eb + Ab +Ib, these are to be taken as hypothetical bodies whose existence is logically justifed but cannot be confirmed by the senses in the same way as say the truths of physics. We are dealing with subtle ideas here. In Brecht’s play ‘Galileo’s son’ the father is ridiculed for using metaphores to prove that the earth revolves around the sun. According to his critical wife Galileo is no longer using ‘common-sense’ when he tries to prove to his son that earth is part of a heliocentric system and not a geocentric system. In real life 350 years had to pass before proof to satisfy the senses could be provided with photographs from space. However, long before this Galileo’s thinking based accurate observation concluded that planet earth revolves around the sun.
How does this relate to the Eb + Ab + Ib? It means that we can at best test the logical consistency of the ideas presented. However, to determine whether these bodies are true phenomena of the world requires something else. It requires organs of perception, i.e. eyes and ears for the etheric and astral world. Eventually there will be a link to a page dedicated to the development of such spiritual organs of perception. Returning quickly to Galileo it is clear that if the old power structure, namely the church, had succeded in killing his ideas then few of us would believe in his concepts of heliocentricity. Fortunately truth has a beautiful way of crushing falsehood even if the latter usually demands a few lives and or reputations before its falseness is finally revealed.
Perception and thinking translate German quotes
Thinking about thinking
Models of Psychology
What reincarnates?
So what is it then that reincarnates? Clearly it cannot be the Pb as this dissolves to dust when we die. However, we still have the other 3 ‘bodies’ namely the Eb, Ab and Ib to consider. This question of what reincarnates remains unanswerable with any certainty for those without spiritual sight and hearing. One could turn to Buddistic teachings received from ancient masters who had such sight. However, I will present what Steiner has to say according to his own research in the spiritual world. Again I would like to stress that these ideas are to be taken as hypotheses, possibilities, which can only be tested for their logical consistency in the absence of sprirtual sight and hearing. Consequently the ideas should should neither be accepted or rejected, but merely entertained as a possible description of the process in life and death. The more these ideas help us to explain worldy phenomena the more justified we can feel in labelling such concepts as truthful. To accept them unquestioningly would be as unscientific as to reject them without investigation.
According to Steiner, on death the Pb begins to decay according to the laws of the mineral world when it is deserted by the Eb, Ab and Ib. During life the Eb maintained the life forces in the body so that it didn’t turn to dust. It is as if death forces nibbled away at the edges of the human being until in the end the Eb vacated the body and left it to the will of the forces of death. If we consider that our skin is continually dying and being replaced from within on a 8 day process? and that the whole body completely renews itself over a 7 year period so that not one moelcule exists in our body that existed 7 years ago, then we get a strong picture of how internal forces are at work in maintaining life in a fragile structure. It is as if a human body has no place in the mineral world as it is constantly under attack from the forces that reign in that realm. The more we consider such observations the stronger and more truthful our concept of the Eb becomes. The Eb, Ab and Ib are after death freed from the restrictions of the Pb and begin their ascent into the spiritual world. The wonderful image of Jacob’s ladder found in Russian paintings springs to mind here in which souls climb up towards the godhead and flying round the ladder are small black devils trying to pull the souls of the ladder.
A consequence of losing the Pb is that the Eb , which is also responsible for memory, reveals its content to the Ab and Ib but now unhindered by the Pb. This is experienced as apporoxiamately 3 days backward review of the life just lived. The phrase ‘my life flashed before my eyes’ though often used jokingly has an origin in the experiences one has after death. As the Eb is the memory carrier it is also theoretically possible to review one’s life at any time in life, but because of the relative strength of the impressions received from the physical senses, the reality is that near death experiences are the most common way of becoming aware of this memeory tableau. This is because with near death experiences, like in old initiation processes, the Eb, Ab and Ib temporarily leave the Pb.
After 3 days the Eb dissolves into the etheric world in a similar way to which the Pb dissolves into the mineral world. Then the Ab and Ib continue their journey up into the spiritual world. The next stage lasts a third of a life time or to be more exact the time spent asleep whilst living. During this period the soul (Ab) experiences the mirror image of the its thoughts and deeds on earth. That is to say it experiences how the person on the receiving end of my deeds and thoughts experienced them. Steiner says that these experiences are far more intense then anything we are familiar with in normal life. I think this is what Prospero is referring to in The Tempest when he says;
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought will be my grave.
(The Tempest Act V, scene I)
Also bound up with this period after death is the inevitable consequence of getting used to living life without a Pb. Remembering that desires etc reside in the Ab it is clear that these desires continue to live on as long as we have the Ab. It also follows that if our particular desires required a Pb in order to be satisifed then this is clearly no longer possible. Consequently the soul will experience the pain of the impossibility of fulfilment of such desires. Over time, the length of which is determined by the souls reactions to this new situation, these desires are gradually shedded as the soul seek to avoid further pain or futile hopes. This is also a requirement before the soul can continue its upward journey into the spiritual world. This notion of purging the soul is after death and being racked by perhaps hellish pains corresponds in a symbolic way with to this process. Nobler desires or so called good desires, however, do not need to be purged, but are received by the spiritual beings of that realm as gift which they in turn will later help to bring to fulfilment. As the journey continues the astral qualities are absorbed into the atmosphere of the astral world like the Eb dissolved and the Pb decayed.
After the Ab has fully decayed the Ib carrys on its journey into the higher spriritual hierarchies. Eventually it reaches the stage when it is furthest from earthly life, when it meets the godly image of man. Using biblical imagery we can talk of the spiritual archetype of man before being exposed to temptation, before the good gods allowed him to be corrupted, before man decided to separate himself from the spriritual world. The Ib confronts at this stage what it longs to be, the nobelst image of mankind. I interpret Steiner’s description as a meeting with a being so full of love, wisdom and inner strength that it awakens the longing to become a true human being in its nobelst sense. By meeting this spiritual being, the Sun Being or as it is commonly referred to the Christ, we realise what we can become. Our innermost self, the ego, wants to become more like this being that radiates such love and wisdom. We are also aware that this development can only take place on earth and by becoming a human being again. Coupled with this meeting we are also aware of all the imperfections that we have, this was made clear to us when we reviewed our lifes from the perpsective of the person on the receiving end of our thoughts and actions. These to factors provide the impulse to reincarnate and make good past mistakes and develop our good qualities even further. Qualitites which were developed to such a sublime level in the Christ being we have just met.
We this huge impulse to improve and repair we begin planning a new life. With the wisdom and help of the different spriritual hierarchies we plan a life in which we can redress past mistakes. This involves planning a life in which we can meet souls with whom we have issues to resolve, that is to say with whom we have karmic relationships or with whom we desire to work in pursuit of specific goals. This process of karma formation is another huge topic area which will eventually have its own web page. Just as the Ib divested itself of the Pb, Eb and Ab on its ascent into the spiritual world so must it also reaquire them before reincarnating on earth. A consequence of what is here offered as a hypothesis is that prior to the birth of a child, this child has established certain goals that it wishes to achieve in its soon to begin life on earth. William Wordsworth’s ‘Ode to immortality’ can be seen as an accurate representation of the time prior to incarnation according to Steiner’s ideas.
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting, and cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home:
"Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy.
"The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day."
Wordsworth himself claimed of his poem that it is a memory from his own childhood. Unlike Wordsworth most children forget about this descent into earthly life or better said most people’s memory doesn’t reach back as far as Wordsworth’s.
Summary