Introduction to the Basics of Theosophy

GA 111 — 27 March 1909, Rome

XXVIII. Introduction to Theosophy III

We have followed man up to the point where he enters the spiritual world. Let us now take a look at this world. This is not so easy, because the conditions in the spiritual world are essentially different from those of the physical world and we have no words to describe such things. Every language is shaped for the physical world, and because we are talking about supersensible worlds, we cannot use the usual language, but must use images. Nevertheless, the spiritual world can be compared to the physical world. Everything the latter contains – lands, seas, air – has its counterpart in the spiritual world. What 'earth is in the spiritual world contains what the physical world also has, that is, people, animals, plants, minerals, but as in a negative image. For example, a crystal has a certain form of physical matter filled in [on earth]. But in the spiritual world, this matter does not exist. In its place there is a hole, and what the clairvoyant sees as an aura around the [earthly] crystal is all that is present of the crystal in the spiritual world. It is the astral light, whose rays penetrate into the space corresponding to the physical part of the crystal.

When we observe a plant in the spiritual world, we do not see its root, but only the part of the plant that rises above the earth, especially the leaves and flowers. A rose, for example, shows reddish glowing leaves; the flower is transparent and has a greenish-yellow color. Of the animals, only the nervous system, which looks like a tree, can be seen. These animal figures in Devachan are quite fantastic when you think of them as a prototype [...] of a future stage of the animal kingdom as we know it. A horse, for example, shows the clairvoyant eye a colossal mass above the head. The elephant has an even larger head, as big as a house, and the physical body disappears completely from the clairvoyant's eye. The same applies, comparatively, to humans. All these forms together form what could be called the solid earth of Devachan, on which its human inhabitants walk.

In Devachan there are also things that can be compared to our seas and rivers, also running regularly. There too there is a unifying element that can be compared to the water here on earth: the unified life that, as on earth, also there animates all people, animals and plants. But there, on the spiritual earth, it works like a spiritualized element. The rivers can be compared to the regular currents of the blood, the seas to the blood reservoirs [...].

There is also a spiritual air, which is formed from the same ever-changing substance that forms our sensations, feelings and passions here on earth. Just as our air has storms and thunderstorms, so it is there. The storms there are the passions materialized here on earth. So, for example, when violent passions here on earth bring people to fight each other, the clairvoyant above in the spiritual world sees the battle of passions, while on the physical plane the physical battle takes place. Hence the legend of the battles in the air, as they were seen after the defeat of Attila. Just as we have the four elements in the physical world, so in the occult we have earth, water, air and fire, and in Devachan just as many realms. The realm that would correspond to fire is formed by what we create that is original. And next to it we also see the archetypes of what exists on earth. In reality, man brings something original from himself that he does not receive from the outside world.

Let us consider the moment in the history of human development when the first fire was created by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and then let us look at all the passions that arose from this discovery. Progress is due to this inventive activity of man. The archetypes of these human thoughts are the fourth element, which spreads throughout the whole devachan as “warmth”. Then there are further fields, which, however, have no correspondence here on earth, so that it is unnecessary to mention them. Man enters devachan with his ego, his purified astral being and the essence of the life body. What happens to him then? He is then irradiated by the light like a vegetal germ. Everything that surrounds him affects him like the juices of the earth and the light affect the vegetal germ. And just as the plant develops here on earth, so does the human being develop in Devachan, gradually transforming into another being.

What are the first perceptions in Devachan? [The deceased] sees various forms. First that of his own body, which is very different from our physical body. Furthermore, while we identify ourselves with our physical vehicle on the physical plane, in Devachan we clearly perceive the difference between our ego and its vehicle. We see the form of the latter like a drawing and understand that we have left it, risen above it and left it behind to form part of the earthly element of Devachan. The basic feeling is therefore this: 'I am I' and 'You are I', whereas before we also said 'I' about our body.

Around us we perceive pink currents of spiritual fluid, and we realize that there is a unified life in everything. This life gives us a more powerful conviction of the unity of all life than even the greatest religious feeling can give, and fills us with joy.

Then we become aware of the air: everything, love, hate, joy and sorrow, is visible there in its true form. Everything that lives hidden in the souls here on earth can be seen. What is down here hides everything behind a mask; seen from there, everything is visible and every soul is unveiled. A sensation similar to warmth or cold is produced in Devachan by perceiving the real form of the world of thoughts. Here on earth, thought is not a reality, especially not for the materialist. Only the spiritualist has an inkling of its reality. So what we understand here by thoughts is only a shadow in relation to the real essence of thoughts, which are true entities. There we move between real figures that are interwoven with our thought material. We have already said that man is like a germ there; this develops like a plant on earth and acquires limbs and organs. What kind of organs? Spiritual organs, that is, spiritual eyes and ears. The first sense to open is sight. Hearing follows. When the sense of hearing is developed, the person, who was previously in absolute silence, will begin to hear the harmonies of the spheres, as Pythagoras spoke of them. Music, the spiritual Word, or as the church calls them: the choirs of angels.

Just as a plant bears fruit when its cycle has run its course, so too does a person in devachan reach a point of maturity. On the whole, the stay in devachan lasts a long time. Once that person has reached the point of maturity, he returns to earth with what he had brought with him in his astral and etheric bodies as a result of his own experiences.

The teaching of reincarnation can be found in all religions; nevertheless, it has been little emphasized in Christianity for two thousand years. But the Christ talked about it with his apostles. He took three of them with him to the mountain and made them clairvoyant for the moment. The past appeared to them as the present, and they saw Jesus between Moses and Elijah. Then they said: How is it [possible] that Elijah is here, while he is yet to come? But Christ answered: Elijah has already come, but you have not recognized him; John the Baptist was Elijah, but say it to no one until the Christ shall be lifted up by men. - We shall see later why they should keep it secret.

If we follow the development of man from birth, we see that his physical body is formed from the physical world and changes with each embodiment, while the actual essence of man always remains the same for all embodiments, including the life in heaven between two embodiments. What happens to the connections we make during this life, which is so short compared to the one we spend in the spiritual world? Do we find our loved ones in devachan? The answer of spiritual science is a definite “Yes!”

Yes, we find them again, and in a much more intimate way because the physical obstacles are removed. Take, for example, a mother with her child: In the beginning, the relationship was simply physical, bodily; later it becomes more and more spiritual, and it is this spiritual and soul bond that lasts. Nothing of what has been spiritually bound is lost, and we can find the loved one again, even in the last incarnations. The incomprehensible affection people feel for each other, the strangest encounters point to previous connections.

Let us now return to what we have called the history of the soul's states after death. We already mentioned the Mystery of Golgotha and its real and great significance in the realm of the dead as well. Before the appearance of Christ on earth, the soul went through the fire of purification in Kamaloka after death, and when it came to the threshold of the spiritual world, a guide met it. In ancient times this guide was one of their ancestors, followed by an even older one, and so on until the most ancient was reached, the progenitor of the race or people. This fact explains the expression in the Old Testament: to unite in Abraham.

In Egyptian mythology, these guides were called the 'Forty-two judges of the dead' and their mission was to lead the dead to the gates of paradise. From there on, the soul was considered mature enough to continue on its own. In every era and among every people, we find a particular type of such guides. In addition to the ancestors, the great teachers of humanity appear as guides, such as the Rishis, Krishna among the Indians, Zarathustra among the Persians, Hermes in the Egypt of Moses, Buddha, Lao-Tse among the peoples concerned. They are the great initiates who shortened the path for people so that they did not have to go up the entire succession of ancestors step by step.

Through the appearance of Christ, His light has become the guide of the soul. He comes to meet them and accompanies them. In pre-Christian oriental wisdom, there are two paths. Those who were not ready for the teachings of Buddha, Lao-Tzu and so on, had to go up the entire path of the ancestors, the so-called “Pitriyana”. The others, who had entered into a living relationship with a “master” in their lives, were guided by him on the path of the gods, the so-called “Devayana”. But Christ gave a single, common divine path for all those who enter into a living relationship with him, and this path will one day unite them in a great brotherhood. All other paths will merge into this one Christian path through ever-increasing realization.

Let us now compare the path of Buddha with the Christian one. Buddha saw above all the suffering, misery, pain and so on in life and preached that one should quench the thirst for existence. Six hundred years later, Christ Jesus came, and through the Christ impulse, humanity recognized its task on earth. The more the Christ principle penetrates into us, the more we recognize that growing old means “growing” and that the illnesses are “trials”. The Christ principle even overcomes the illnesses because it rules over matter. This property will be recognized more and more by people, and they will be able to use it to eradicate the illnesses. Death brings us closer to the Christ, and through its attraction the Christ principle in us will grow more and more in the following incarnations until we can see the mighty Christ of the Revelation, who redeems everything.

The power of Christ unites souls and destroys the expression that says separation is suffering, because through it no more separation is possible. Even that which we did not love before, we will feel as one with us, without the slightest nuance of opposition or antipathy. Furthermore, it will not be a cause for “longing”, not only because the Christ principle teaches renunciation, but also because in the end there is the feeling of complete satisfaction, which excludes all longing. Christ said, “I am the Way.”