The Nature of Man in the Light of Spiritual Science
GA 68d — 11 October 1907, Leipzig
11. The Delusion of Illness in the Light of Spiritual Science
Illness and health are words that interest everyone and that are, to a certain extent, at the center of our thoughts and feelings; not only for selfish reasons, but because our ability to live and our life's work are connected with them. Those who enjoy good health can be of greater help to their fellow human beings than those who are weighed down by illness and suffering; they will fulfill their work, their profession and their mission in the world with more joy.
When we speak of health and illness from a spiritual scientific point of view, we must be aware that we have to take a different point of view than the materialist. We have to raise our approach to a higher level. But to justify the term “disease delusion” to some extent, I would like to present two images. From the first, you will see that disease delusion is something modern, and from the second, you will see to what extent one can speak of disease delusion.
I was traveling with a well-known personality past many ruins picturesquely situated on the hills, but among the many newer buildings built up on the hills, many sanatoriums also appeared. The fellow traveler said: “Those ruins are a reminder of the strength and power of times gone by, and all the sanatoriums, on the other hand, are a reminder of weakness and illness.” I had the need to visit a sanatorium for a short time, a quarter of an hour. At that time, I just saw all the patients passing by for lunch. I got the impression that most of them could do something better than be there.
Another picture: I traveled from Rostock to Berlin with a gentleman and a lady. They shared their ailments with each other. The lady recommended various prescriptions to the gentleman for his various ailments, but he, on the other hand, drew her attention to Lahmann's book, which he had with him and which led him to the sanatorium. The woman had a few ailments, but the man certainly lacked the will to get well. For someone who does not observe himself much, it is what is called an imaginary illness. When you hear about it, you imagine it to be something slight. Even if the man lacked the will to get well, it is not so easy to give him the will without knowing the real cause of the illness. There is a cause for the illness. He was in pain from all sorts of things, and here too one could not speak of an imaginary illness. When we speak of delusions, we must be clear about how the cause of the illness relates to the imagined illness.
Anyone who observes life, first of all the physician who has acquired the ability to see and has recognized what is mental disposition and what is physical basis, can say a great deal about the role that imagination plays. For example, if a much-read article about some disease describes all the sensations that are felt by the patient, many people will come to the doctor who feel that they have a predisposition for this disease. Without that article, this would not have been the case!
The following example shows how a doctor can act in such a case: a famous doctor was called to a family where not only the family but also the family doctor believed that the young girl was suffering from meningitis. At first he suspected that love stories were to blame; then he found out that the young girl was to leave school, although she had an urgent desire to be taught subjects that particularly interested her. He promised to see that she was, on condition that she dress immediately and be at the family table in ten minutes. There was no trace of meningitis. It was generally a matter of some combination of mental states.
Another example: a lady had suffered from a long-lasting foot ailment since the death of her husband; it was attributed to her mental state. A doctor found a large corn on the sole of her foot, and after it was removed, the nerve pain was also lifted.
A doctor experienced the following: A brother was watching his brother perform knee surgery and heard a crack that seized him so energetically that he suddenly felt pain in his knee, while the person being operated on felt nothing. — Sleeping pills often have deceptive effects. Those who cannot distinguish in such cases where the line lies will never come to clarity. Certain forms of illness originate in the soul; they are connected with the life of the present time in the broadest sense.
If we want to understand this, we must turn to spiritual science for help. We must take into account the interaction of the different parts or members in the human being. The physical body is completely permeated by the etheric body; the latter forms the physical body. If the physical body were left to its own devices, it would disintegrate. The etheric body fights every moment to hold the physical body together. When it separates, the physical body is a corpse.
I would like to touch on one thing here: one of the hopes of science is that in the future, living things could be built in the laboratory. Spiritual science is clear that this will one day be the case. What holds the chemical substances together is what we call the etheric body. The carrier of desires, of pain and joy, suffering and pleasure, is the astral body. Every being feels a push as pain; humans feel this in the same way as animals.
Now let us speak of the fourth limb of man, of which I in relation to his three bodies. Whoever visualizes this structure will clearly understand that what we call pain, joy, and displeasure presupposes an astral body. Pain is only present where an astral body is present. How do these three bodies relate to one another?
Pleasure and suffering are not just the result of what happens in the physical body; pleasure and suffering are the formers of the etheric and physical bodies. The astral body was the first and was already there long before. Why are they structured the way they are? Ultimately, the astral body did. If we go back far, far, we come to a state of man when he was only the astral body.
You ask: What did such bodies look like millions of years ago? To our modern concept they looked grotesque and comical, with their boneless, soft bodies and long tentacles that could stretch out and retract. At that time, the soul first took possession of this strange body and gradually formed it into its present shape. A faint echo of this influence can still be seen today in the blanching or the blush that comes from fright. You see how a physical change can take place through a feeling in the soul. In those days man could still work mightily upon his body because the body was still quite soft. The astral body first works upon the etheric body and this in turn upon the physical body.
Let us make it clear how this influence occurs. Let us take any pain, any pleasure in the astral body; what arises in the etheric body? An image, a form, and this form is what lives into the physical body, so that the physical body is an imprint of this image.
Where did the astral body get its joy and sorrow from in ancient times? It was not something inner. It experienced its environment. At that time it did not experience it through the eyes and ears. Body forms are the expression of the joy and sorrow of the environment. You must think of the four parts or limbs of the human being in a much more intimate connection than was the case with the previous world. Man increasingly became absorbed in his physical self. In the past, the astral body was more creative. It transformed the physical body. In essence, this transformation is now almost complete; that is why we also experience what is happening in the physical body.
Let us try to understand the nature of pain that is caused from within. What causes pain? The astral body is the agent. Let us take the following case: If a finger is cut off, it only affects the physical finger; the astral one cannot be cut. Why does it hurt? Because the connection between the two is inhibited. Inhibition of the astral body is pain. Where the activity is not inhibited, there can be no pain.
What is to be considered here? Here is a comparison. Someone was quite clear that he had a defect in his eye that made him see a kind of ghost at dusk or in certain light effects; there was a cloudiness in his eye. The same thing that happens in the physical body can also happen to the higher body, the etheric body. A person's etheric body receives an incorrect impression, a clouding. The person's own clouding inhibits the astral process. What then occurs? Pain without a physical cause. The astral body has to create images. If the ether body is not right, then distorted images appear. Pain can arise from the physical body being damaged, but it is also possible for the astral body to form its own obstacle. If the ether body produces false images, it contradicts the physical body. This creates a false sense of being in the physical world,
Without a cause of the illness, imitation can occur. This has a profound consequence for our world view. It makes us independent. But it also makes it clear to us that a physical illness can only be cured by acting on the physical body. Whether we are outwardly injured or have a stomach upset, in truth it is outward injuries that must also be healed from the physical realm. What is it different when inhibition arises in the astral body? What harm does it do? If you hold that these are not three separate parts, if you assume that the higher bodies are formers, albeit within narrower limits than before, then you must assume that it cannot be meaningless for the physical body when inhibitions occur in the astral body. If you cut into the flesh, it hurts; cutting off hair and nails does not hurt. This fact is of fundamental importance for understanding. Everything that can be injured in a living being and does not hurt will grow again. In plants, the leaf or flower is replaced because it does not feel pain. Lower animals do the same; they can be cut into pieces and the detached parts are replaced again. The astral body is the carrier of pain and desire; the etheric body is the carrier of growth.
Pain is something that has a destructive effect on the etheric and physical body. Persistent pain gradually kills the limb that it seizes. How can we achieve a healing effect? The physical doctor achieves results through physical means. But he will never be able to intervene on the astral body, which imitates the disease, through physical means. What should we do then? If you were to give medicines, no effect would be achieved, and perhaps a disease would be created. In a pharmacopoeia you can read: a poison makes the body sick, except when it can fight with another poison in the body. Therefore, one must carefully distinguish the causes of disease.
How can we treat an ailing etheric body? Here I would like to point out just one specific fact: everything that affects a person in a way that is in harmony with the harmonious laws of the world destroys all such symptoms of illness that take hold in the physical body.
Here two modes of perception are important. One is where a person is always concerned with his ego. The other mode of perception goes beyond the ego, is concerned with art, takes pleasure in the world of the stars, in nature and in others, and can become absorbed and forget itself in this. The prevalence of the first mode of perception breeds bodies that tend towards illness and produce illness. Those who forget themselves are able to forget pain or causes of pain that arise in the astral body. Just as the former mode of perception can have a negative effect, the latter can have a healing effect. Every pain that is overcome is constructive. We must overcome pain through the power developed within us. For those who are devoted to the great cosmic connections, the processes of their astral body will be creative; where they are lacking, illness is produced.
Where do the many ailments of our time come from? The real reason is that so few people turn to the great interests of the universe. Those who send their spirit up there bring healing. Those who stand before a motley of color splotches that has no deep meaning derive no benefit. But those who stand before a work of art through which the divine spiritual shines through will feel a healing effect. To the extent that the materialism of our time exerts its effect, the astral and physical bodies must become ill. Such illnesses are all nervous disorders, neurasthenia and others. Plagues and epidemics can occur as materialism increases. If people were to free themselves from their limited ego, much would be released from them. The truth is that a high world view is the only thing that can heal and restore health.
But there is also a downside to this: if you brood over something once or twice, it does no harm. But if you do it several times, it has a bad effect because then the person is too concerned with his or her own ego. But anyone who seeks to break away from their ego, who seeks to bring themselves into harmony with the laws of the world and turns to the great facts of the universe, will come to the truth about how to get well. Superstition is the disease of the present time. It is more useful to do something to get away from oneself and to turn one's gaze thoroughly to the great spiritual world connections.
Theosophy and spiritual science are not given to satisfy curiosity, but so that man may learn to get away from the ego. In this way he will found his health more firmly.
Those researchers will not be harmed by materialism, such as Haeckel, who immersed himself in it in a particular way. When thoughts indirectly affect the three bodies, their frequent recurrence has an effect on the whole human constitution. In this way, the soul affects the physical. I would always like to point out that if we can attune ourselves to the harmony of the universe, we can expect real healing. The soul has built its body, and if the soul is given healthy spiritual nourishment, it will shape the body healthily.
Answer to question
{The question has not been handed down.]
Answer: Irreligiosity has a very special significance; it can be a cause of illness. Not only the thought, but also the feeling that turns to the divine, has its importance. [Question not handed down.] Answer: If one works with the whole person, overwork is almost out of the question.
The work must, however, be of benefit. All fruitless labor is harmful.