Theosophy and Occultism
GA 90c — 2 October 1903, Berlin
VII. Origin and Meaning of Human Suffering, Hereditary Diseases
Today we want to look at the question of the origin and meaning of human suffering. Why are there suffering, evil and pain in the world? That was the fundamental question for Gautama Buddha. This question is also important for every human being. Man has to deal with suffering and pain over and over again. Where do they come from, what do they mean? The answer we can give will not satisfy everyone in every moment. The answer is to be sought at great heights. I can give one thing as an assurance: for the more highly developed person, the answer to the question of the origin of pain and suffering is unsatisfactory. The chela gains insight into it. Pain and suffering pass the chela by like events that no longer concern him much. Even if we could see a larger world context than that which represents the world soul and its context, we still could not yet give an explanation of suffering. To some, my words today will sound strange, and yet they will be clear about what suffering is.
Do not believe that pain and suffering are to be found in the same degree throughout the world as in our stages of development. Nor do you believe that they have always been there. Only when man entered into our physical development, that is, since the third human race, has physical pain come into existence in the modern sense. Before the physical body was present, there was no physical pain. Pain is nothing more than a disharmony in the natural order. These disharmonies are necessary, however. Nature consists of a sum of special beings. Nature must allow a being to express itself in such a way that it may possibly harm another being.
If man did not also have an astral body and what we call the “desiring soul,” then man would never be able to perceive physical pain. If he only consisted of the “mental body” and the physical body, he could cut off a finger and then he would be able to look at it like at a glass of water standing next to him. But with the astral body switched on, the disharmony becomes pain. Only in the connection between the astral body and the physical body is the origin of pain to be sought. If we did not have an astral body, we would have no sense of the world. Our eye would not see the color red; our eye would be only a physical apparatus if the astral body were not present. The eye is therefore not a photographic plate. If a photographic plate could be permeated with astral matter, it would also feel the image as we do.
The effect of light at a certain intensity is pleasant. If the effect of light is too strong, it becomes painful. Every natural gift is accompanied by its opposite. But why do some people suffer particular pain? Pain is something that individuals suffer. But does the human being have the right to regard what they suffer as their own personal suffering? We have to look at the big picture in which the human being is placed. On the contrary, we must also ask: Why is the pain dumped on us? We can ask: Who causes pain to be inflicted on us? Materialism has no answer to this. The question cannot be answered even if soul and body have nothing to do with each other. If we think that the human condition does not go beyond birth and death, then we could ask: Why does one person suffer so much and why does another have so little suffering? I am not just talking about the concepts of 'karma' and 'reincarnation'. Does it not seem unjust that we do not know why we suffer? People cannot always relate the pain to past sins or see them as consequences.
If we want to find answers to these questions, then we have to take the theosophical point of view. Theosophy offers us the opportunity and shows us the way to overcome and free ourselves from suffering. It gives us the means to improve our lives. Theosophy therefore not only has an effect on the present and the past, but also has an effect on the future.
In ancient Atlantis and Lemuria, there were beings who did not suffer as we suffer on today's Earth. Suffering was also treated and healed differently back then. Even physical ailments were cured in a completely different way than they are today. We usually have very wrong ideas about earlier times. This is often not correct even for the most important and striking things. This does not only apply to times long past.
That is why hardly any doctor today can understand Paracelsus. Paracelsus healed in a completely different way than is done today. He did not heal with physical means, as is done today for the most part. Paracelsus was a soul doctor. He knew how to seek out the evil in the soul of man. Today's materialistic direction almost does not understand at all when one speaks in this way. The reason for this is that we descend with our astral body [...] into the physical nature. This is related to the answer to the question: Why are physical pains so severe? You just can't get the astral body out of the physical body. The astral body is the seat of evil. The pain can be reduced to a minimum if you know how to work on the soul of the person. The sensation of the sick person is then taken out of the sick limb. You leave the physical to the physical.
The true physician alleviates the pain in the soul. Then the soul can overcome the physical pain and heal it. We live in our age. This age has sunk the lowest into the physical. The example of the house that we used will make this clear to us. The closer we are connected to the house, the more detrimental are the damages of the house for the inhabitant.
So it can also happen that the human soul has to move into a body for which the inhabitant is not responsible, and for which the balance can only be achieved in a larger circle.
Theosophy can only ever hint at ways and means by which we can overcome this age again. Theosophy has a much greater task than some people imagine. Theosophy has the task of reawakening the language of the soul. In this respect, too, Theosophy has something to offer: the physician is once again able to heal from the soul. A martyr can walk to the stake with a smile on his lips. His smile is completely sincere and true, because he has detached himself from his physical body with his astral body. Giordano Bruno only suffered from not being able to take the works he was supposed to accomplish further.
Suffering that is not personally caused can also affect us. The present human being is far from understanding these things because he is unable to develop spiritual life. Those people who believe in re-embodiment and karma do not suffer so much from the same wounds as the modern human being. They have withdrawn their spirit.
Because an ancestor once contracted a disease, it was also inherited by his descendants. But even inheritance was never as prevalent as it is in our present age. Inherited diseases were not present in the same way, and especially not among spiritually developed tribes. Look at history. It takes the whole materialistic spirit of our time. Not because there were no newspapers in the past, not because we didn't hear anything, but because hereditary diseases didn't exist in the past.
The soul depends on what kind of spiritual stimulation it receives. The soul must absorb the spiritual environment within itself. Imagine a healthy animal being placed in an area where the air is polluted. It will become ill. In healthy, free air, where it can breathe, it will not only be able to live alone, but it will also be able to strengthen and invigorate the body.
What the external environment is for the animal, the spiritual environment is for us. In an age when there was still faith in the spirit, the spirit became stronger. In a spirit air that is materialistic, the soul can no longer develop the flight. Then the soul gasps under the burden of physical circumstances. A soul in our age is quite powerless against the physical composition of the body. A soul that lives only in the physical is subject to suffering. A soul that lives only in the spirit overcomes suffering.
But we also have a retroactive effect on the pain that has already been suffered. If you refrain from having a soothing effect on the future, then you also refrain from having a soothing effect on the past.
Theosophy must develop spiritual life again. The only reason why humanity suffers so much today is because the spiritual life within it has almost died. Perhaps someone else is personally to blame for what he has to suffer. But if we develop spiritual life again, we will overcome all this again.
Why do we suffer not only in the passive sense, but also in the active sense? If you work with the active sense, you promote the development of humanity and help in the redemption of pain and suffering. Theosophy does not give idle answers, but active answers, that is, to participate in the events of existence.