Karma, Rebirth, and the Moral Shaping of Physical Form

GA 94 — 4 July 1906, Leipzig

Lecture VII

Yesterday I spoke about the path that the human core takes after death and about the return to a new life on earth. First, after death, the image tableau of the etheric body appears, followed by a kind of brief sleep state. In this sleep state, the images of the memory tableau are processed into the causal body. This itself manifests as rays that radiate from the remaining flame-like formations toward the blue and indigo colors. When the astral body remains behind as the third corpse, it continues to live on its own for a while. It is then absorbed by the astral world. Such “astral specters” are often cited by mediums in spiritualist séances. (See appendix.) After a long period of preparation, the human being enters the Devachan in order to transform his experiences into abilities. After passing through the first two regions of Devachan, they enter the atmospheric – third – region of Devachan. There they experience everything that can be experienced in terms of pleasure and pain, passions and drives; this is the “air” of Devachan. For spiritual human beings, it is as invigorating an element as oxygen is for physical human beings here. When the human being has thus alchemically transformed his entire life, his causal body and his ego return to the earthly sphere. The spiritual human germs are formed, which have been described as bell-shaped structures, which arise when the astral matter, as it were, attaches itself to them according to the inner lines of force of the abilities of this spiritual human germ. None of these formations is the same as another in color and shape, expressing the diverse individualities. The entire character is preformed in them and expressed in color and form. The formation of the new etheric body, as we have seen, does not take place through the attachment of etheric matter, but only through the work of the so-called Mahadevas. This attraction of the new etheric body occurs when the bell-shaped formation has already found its way to the embryo. However, a complete connection of the etheric body with the physical human germ does not take place until the seventh week after conception. Until then, the bodies are linked, but the connection has not penetrated to the germ. (See appendix.) Beings called Lipikas guide the human being to the parents and into the family circumstances in which the karma can best be lived out.

Now let us discuss how karma works in detail. If we consider human actions, we see that behind them there is always a certain character predisposition. What happens externally as an action can be one and the same, but with different motives. (See appendix.) The deed and its consequences are first lived out in outwardly favorable or unfavorable fate. Character, inclinations, and habits are also imprinted in karma. These human characteristics remain imprinted on the etheric body and are processed in the physical body in the following life. They are transformed into forces that appear as organ-forming forces in the physical body in the next life. Since the characteristics of the etheric body thus affect the physical body of the next life, the healthy or weak constitution of a person in one life depends on their inclinations and habits in the previous life. In this way, a person can influence the nature of their next life by cultivating noble inclinations and feelings within themselves, thus making the body of their next incarnation strong and healthy. The causes of illness are indeed moral.

However, this process of transformation of moral forces often takes a very long time. Declining peoples and races have a kind of decay process in their astral bodies. The invading Huns and Mongols brought fear and terror to the European peoples through the nature of their decadent astral matter. Fear and terror, however, are a very suitable breeding ground for such decaying astral substances. These declining forces spread to the etheric bodies of the European population, and the result was the terrible disease of leprosy in the Middle Ages. Those who are courageous and fearless cannot be harmed by such decaying astral substances as those carried by the Huns and Mongols.

Since moral qualities are physically expressed in future generations, living morally benefits not only oneself, but also the health of future generations.