{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p008-p015","extent":"range","passage_number":8,"through":15,"paragraph_count":8,"first_locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p008","last_locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p015","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"title":"5. Natural and Accidental Illness in Relationship to Karma","date":"1910-05-20","location":null,"alignment_confidence":"medium","alignment_reason":"beads:length","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"not_established","translator":null,"identified_edition":"RSP1984","book_title":"Manifestations of Karma","publisher":"Rudolf Steiner Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100520p01.html","evidence":null,"reason":"source_says_translator_unknown","note":"The source page itself says the translator is unknown. 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And a cure will be effected when the person, in accordance with his whole karma acquires through the conquest of the illness, such forces as will enable him through the rest of his life to make true progress by means of his work upon the physical plane. In other words, if the stimulating forces are so strong that man is able to acquire upon the physical plane itself those qualities, on account of which the illness broke out, then he will be able to work with that reinforced power which he lacked before, and which he gained from the healing process. But if it is in our karma that we have the desire to mould our organism so that through the conquest of the illness in question it should acquire forces which lead nearer to perfection, and yet because of the complexity of the causes we are forced to leave our organism weak in another direction, then it may be that although the forces we develop and make use of in the healing process strengthen us, they do not do so sufficiently to make us equal to our work upon the physical plane. Then because what we have already gained cannot be used upon the physical plane, it will be made use of when we pass through the gate of death, and we shall try to add to our forces what we could not achieve upon the physical plane. So these forces will mature in the formation of the next body when we return to earth in a new incarnation.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":336,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-20/p008","german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-20","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p007","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p007"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","length_check":{"de_words":319,"en_words":336,"ratio":1.05,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. 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See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}},{"passage_number":9,"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p009","text":"Bearing this in mind one more indication should be given which deals with those forms of illness leading neither to a real cure nor to death but to chronic conditions, to a kind of languishing state. Here we have something of which the knowledge is of the greatest importance for most people. When one has recovered from an illness, the effect sought for has been obtained and in a certain sense the illness has been conquered. But in another sense this may not be the fact. For instance, the trouble which was produced between the etheric body and the physical body has disappeared, but the disharmony between the etheric body and the astral body still exists, and we oscillate between attempts at cure and our inability to effect a cure. In such a case it is of special importance that we should make use of all that we have attained in the way of a real cure. And this is what is very rarely done for it is precisely in the case of those illnesses that become chronic that we find ourselves in a vicious circle. We should find a way out of the difficulty if in such a case we could isolate that part of our organism that has achieved a certain cure, if we could let it live by itself and withdraw from the healthy part the rest which is still in disturbance and disorder on account of what is in the soul. But many things oppose this, and chiefly the fact that when we have had an illness resulting in a chronic condition, we are living all the time under the influence of that condition, and, if I may thus crudely express myself, we can never really completely forget our condition, never really arrive at a withdrawing of that which is not yet healthy, so as to treat it by itself. On the contrary, through thinking continually about the sickly part of our organism, we bring as it were our healthy part into some kind of relationship with the sickness and thus irritate it anew. This is a special process, and in order to make it clearer I should like to explain one of the facts proved by Spiritual Science, that can be seen by clairvoyant consciousness when a person has gone through an illness, and has retained something which may be termed chronic. The same occurs also when there exists no apparent acute illness, but when a chronic disease is developed without any acute state having been specially noticed. In most of these cases it is possible to see that there is an unstable state of balance between the etheric and the physical body, an abnormal oscillation to and fro of the forces, but in spite of which the body still remains alive. This oscillation of forces which appertain to the etheric body and the physical body bring about in the person a continual state of irritation which leads to continuous excitability. Clairvoyant consciousness sees this agitation transmitted to the astral body, and these states of excitability continually force their way into that part of the organism which is partly ill and partly well, thereby creating not a stable but an unstable balance. Through this penetration by astral excitability, the health which would otherwise be much better is in fact greatly impaired. I must beg of you to remember that in this case the astral does not coincide with consciousness, but rather with an excitability of the inner soul, which the patient does not wish to admit even to himself. Because in such cases the barrier of consciousness is lacking, those conditions and passions, emotional crises, continual states of weariness of mind and inner discontent do not always act as do conscious forces, but rather like the organising forces. Seated within our deeper being they continually irritate that part which is half ill and half well. If the patient by means of a strong discipline of the soul could forget his condition for some time at least, he would gain such satisfaction from this, that even from this satisfaction itself he could derive the necessary force to carry on further. If he could forget his state completely and develop the strong will which will help him to say: ‘I will not bother with my condition,’ certain soul forces would thereby become liberated, and if he applied them to something spiritual that would elevate him and satisfy his inner soul, if he liberated the forces that are continuously occupied with the sensation of aches and pains, oppression and so on he would thereby gain great satisfaction. For if we do not live through these feelings, the forces are free and they are at our disposal. Naturally it will not be of much use merely to say we don't want to take notice of these aches and pains, for if we do not put these liberated forces to spiritual use, the former conditions will soon return. If, however, we employ these liberated forces for a spiritual purpose which will absorb the soul, we shall soon discover that we are attaining in a complicated way that which our organism would otherwise have attained without our assistance through the conquest of the illness. Naturally the person in question would have to be aware of filling his soul with something directly connected with his illness or with that which constitutes his illness. For instance, if someone suffering from a weakness of the eyes were to read a great deal so as to avoid thinking of this, he would naturally not arrive at his goal. But it is quite unnecessary to resort to further illustrations. We have all noticed how useful it is when we are slightly indisposed, to be able to forget that indisposition, especially if we gain this forgetfulness by occupying ourselves with something different. Such is a positive and wholesome forgetfulness. This already suggests to us that we are not entirely impotent in face of the karmic effects of those transgressions of our earlier lives which are expressed in the form of illness. We recognise that what is subject to moral, emotional and intellectual judgement during life between birth and death cannot penetrate so deeply during one single life as to become the cause of an organic disease, but that in the period between death and re-birth it may penetrate so deeply into the human essence as to cause disease; then there must also exist a possibility of re-transforming these processes into conscious processes.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":1085,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-20/p009","german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-20","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p008","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p008"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","length_check":{"de_words":1143,"en_words":1085,"ratio":0.95,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. 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Should we not thus, if we were sufficiently wise, transform illness into a spiritual process and accomplish through our soul forces the self-education that would otherwise be accomplished through illness?","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":129,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-20/p010","german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-20","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p009","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p009"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","length_check":{"de_words":120,"en_words":129,"ratio":1.07,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. 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Here again we must insist that only those examples are given which have been investigated by Spiritual Science. They are not hypothetical assertions but actual ‘cases.’ A certain person contracts measles in later life, and we seek for the karmic connection in this case. We find that this case of measles appeared as the karmic effect of occurrences in a preceding life—occurrences that may be thus described: In a preceding life the individuality in question disliked concerning himself with the external world but occupied himself a great deal with himself, though not in the ordinary egotistical sense. He investigated much, meditated much, though not with regard to the facts of the external world, but confined himself to the inner soul life. We meet many people to-day who believe that through self-concentration and through brooding within themselves, they will arrive at the solution of world riddles. The person in question thought he could order his life through inner meditation how to act in one instance or another without accepting any teaching from others. The weakness of the soul resulting from this led to the formation of forces during existence between death and re-birth which exposed the organism comparatively late in life to an attack of measles.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":215,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-20/p011","german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-20","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p010","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p010"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","length_check":{"de_words":257,"en_words":215,"ratio":0.84,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. 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For the failings I have mentioned are present in a great many lives and especially in certain periods did they prevail in many lives. When such a personality enters existence he will be anxious to make the corresponding correction as soon as possible. In the period between birth and the general appearance of children's complaints which effect an organic self-education, there can as a rule be no question of any education of the soul.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":205,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-20/p014","german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-20","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p013","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p013"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","length_check":{"de_words":246,"en_words":205,"ratio":0.83,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. 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See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}},{"passage_number":15,"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p015","text":"From this we see that in a certain respect we can really speak of a disease being transformed back into a spiritual process. And it is most significant that when this process has entered the soul as a life principle, it will evoke a viewpoint that has a healing effect upon the soul. We need not be surprised that in our time we are able to influence the soul so little. Anyone regarding our present period from the standpoint of Spiritual Science will understand why so many medical men, so many doctors become materialists. For most people never occupy themselves with anything which has vital force. All the stuff produced today is devoid of vital force for the soul. That is why anyone wishing to work for Spiritual Science feels in this anthroposophical activity something extremely wholesome, for Spiritual Science can again bring to men something which enters the soul so that it is drawn away from what is acting in the physical organism. But we must not confuse what appears at the beginning of such a movement as Anthroposophy with what this movement can be in reality. Things may be brought into the Anthroposophical Movement which prevail in the physical world, for people on becoming Anthroposophists often bring to Anthroposophy exactly the same interests and also all the bad habits which they had outside. There is thus brought in much of the degeneracy of our age, and when some such degeneracy appears in the persons in question, the world says that this is the result of Anthroposophy. That is of course a cheap statement.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":265,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-20/p015","german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-20","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p014","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p014"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","length_check":{"de_words":285,"en_words":265,"ratio":0.93,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. The German original passage(s) above are the edition-invariant anchor — fetch them (lang='de') to verify wording before quoting across editions."},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"not_established","translator":null,"identified_edition":"RSP1984","book_title":"Manifestations of Karma","publisher":"Rudolf Steiner Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100520p01.html","evidence":null,"reason":"source_says_translator_unknown","note":"The source page itself says the translator is unknown. No translator is established for this lecture: nothing at the level of the lecture names one. Do not attribute this English to a translator, and do not borrow a credit from another lecture of the volume. Cite the German for anything load-bearing.","warning":"No translator is recorded for this edition. An unattributed translation cannot be weighed as a witness: you cannot tell which hand made the choices in it. Cite the German for anything load-bearing."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 120/1910-05-20/p014"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"medium","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}],"witnesses":[{"lang":"de","edition":"original","is_original":true,"is_default_edition":true,"first_passage":1,"last_passage":27,"passage_count":27,"word_count":6799},{"lang":"en","edition":"English","is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"first_passage":1,"last_passage":28,"passage_count":28,"word_count":6654,"completeness":{"ratio":0.98,"band":"comparable","note":null}}],"aligned_witness":{"status":"aligned","lang":"de","edition":"original","confidence":"medium","passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p007","passage_number":7,"text":"Aus all dem ergab sich uns: Wenn wir einen Organismus haben, der gebildet ist von einer Seele, die in sich die Tendenz hat, dieses oder jenes nach der einen oder der andern Richtung zu überwinden, so führt diese Tendenz den Menschen dazu, in sich hineinzuprägen die Möglichkeit zur Krankheit, aber auch zugleich die Möglichkeit, anzukämpfen gegen die Krankheit, weil ja die Krankheit aus keinem andern Grunde hervorgerufen wird als aus dem, die Möglichkeit der Heilung zu haben. Und Heilung tritt dann ein, wenn der Mensch nach seinem Gesamtkarma durch die Überwindung der betreffenden Krankheit sich solche Kräfte aneignet, daß er in dem restlichen Leben bis zum Tode durch seine Arbeit auf dem physischen Plan wirklich sich vorwärtsbringen kann. Das heißt, wenn die zu erregenden Kräfte so stark sind, daß er auf dem physischen Plan das auch erreichen kann, weswegen die Krankheit hervorgerufen worden ist, dann arbeitet der Mensch gerade mit den ihm aus dem Heilprozeß zugeflossenen verstärkten Kräften weiter, die er früher nicht gehabt hat. Liegt aber sein Gesamtkarma so, daß er zwar die Absicht gehabt hat, seinen Organismus so zu gestalten, daß er durch die Überwindung der betreffenden Krankheit sich Kräfte zuführt, welche zu seiner Vervollkommnung führen, daß aber, weil die Dinge mannigfaltig sind, er gleichzeitig den Organismus nach einer andern Richtung hin hat schwach sein lassen müssen, dann kann der Fall eintreten, daß diejenigen Kräfte, welche der Mensch herausstellt und anwendet im Heilprozeß, ihn zwar verstärken, aber doch nicht so weit, daß er dem Arbeiten auf dem physischen Plan schon gewachsen ist. Dann wird er das Stück, was er schon gewonnen hat - weil es auf dem physischen Plan nicht verwendbar ist —, verwenden, wenn er durch die Pforte des Todes geht, und er wird versuchen, das seinen Kräften hinzuzufügen, was er auf dem physischen Plan nicht hinzufügen konnte, um diese Kräfte in der Ausgestaltung des nächsten Leibes zu zeigen, wenn er wieder in die Geburt tritt.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":319,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p007"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p008","passage_number":8,"text":"Es bleibt uns noch, wenn wir das vor Augen haben, einen Hinweis zu geben, wie es sich mit denjenigen Krankheitsformen verhält, welche weder zu einer ordentlichen Heilung noch zum Tode führen, sondern zu chronischen Zuständen, zu einer Art von Siechtum oder dergleichen. Da liegt allerdings etwas vor, was im eminentesten Sinne für die meisten Menschen von einer großen Wichtigkeit ist zu wissen. Da liegt das vor, daß allerdings durch den Heilungsprozeß innerhalb der menschlichen Körperhüllen eingetreten ist, was nur zu erreichen war, daß also in gewissem Sinne die Krankheit überwunden ist. Aber in einem anderen Sinne ist sie doch nicht überwunden; das heißt, daß alles das, was an Ausgleich hat geschaffen werden sollen zwischen Ätherleib und physischem Leib, zwar erreicht worden ist, nicht aber das ausgeglichen worden ist, was an Disharmonie vorhanden war zwischen Ätherleib und astralischem Leib. Das bleibt zurück, und der Mensch pendelt hin und her zwischen Versuchen, zu heilen, und nicht heilen zu können. In einem solchen Falle ist es immer von einer ganz besonderen Wichtigkeit, daß der Mensch möglichst ausnutzt, was er an wirklicher Heilung errungen hat. Und das geschieht am allerwenigsten im Leben. Denn gerade bei solchen Krankheiten, die chronisch werden, befindet sich der Mensch in einem rechten Kreistanz darinnen. Wenn der Mensch in einem solchen Falle imstande sein würde, den Teil seiner Organisation, welcher in sich eine gewisse Heilung erfahren hat, zu isolieren, für sich sozusagen leben zu lassen, und wenn er davon dasjenige zurückziehen könnte, was da noch rumort und nicht in Ordnung ist und was in solchem Falle gewöhnlich mehr gegen das innere Seelenhafte zu liegt, dann würde sich der Mensch sehr viel helfen können. Aber dagegen wirkt das Allerverschiedenste, namentlich das, daß der Mensch, wenn er irgendeine Krankheit gehabt hat und ein chronischer Zustand zurückgeblieben ist, fortwährend unter dem Einflusse dieses Zustandes lebt und daß er — wenn ich mich grob ausdrücken darf - eigentlich niemals gründlich vergessen kann seinen Zustand, niemals gründlich dazu kommt, das, was in ihm doch noch nicht gesund ist, zurückzuziehen von diesem Zustande und es für sich zu behandeln; sondern er wird durch das, was man nennen kann das fortwährende Denken an den andern Teil der Organisation, veranlaßt, gleichsam seinen gesunden Teil wieder in irgendeinen Zusammenhang zu bringen mit dem früher kranken Teil und diesen so neuerdings zu irritieren. Das ist ein besonderer Prozeß. Und um Ihnen diesen Prozeß klarzumachen, möchte ich Ihnen einmal den geisteswissenschaftlichen Tatbestand klarlegen, das, was das hellseherische Bewußtsein sieht, wenn jemand eine Krankheit durchgemacht und dabei etwas zurückbehalten hat, was man als etwas Chronisches bezeichnen kann. Dasselbe geschieht übrigens auch dann, wenn nicht eine besonders auffällige akute Erkrankung vorlag, sondern wenn sich ein Chronisches einstellt, ohne daß ein Akutes besonders bemerkt worden ist. Dann kann man in der Tat sehen, daß sich in den meisten Fällen ein gewisser schwankender Gleichgewichtszustand herausstellt zwischen dem Ätherleibe und dem physischen Leibe, ein Hinund-her-Pendeln von Kräften, wie es nicht sein soll, bei dem es sich aber doch leben läßt. Bei diesem Hin-und-her-Pendeln von Kräften des Atherleibes und des physischen Leibes wird der betreffende Mensch fortwährend irritiert und dadurch erfüllt von fortdauernden Erregungszuständen. Die sieht das hellseherische Bewußtsein fortwährend auftauchen im astralischen Leibe, und diese Erregungszustände drängen sich fortwährend hinein in den halb kranken und halb gesunden Teil der Organisation, wodurch dann nicht ein stabiles, sondern ein labiles Gleichgewicht zustande kommt. Durch dieses Hineindringen der astralischen Erregungszustände wird der menschliche Zustand, der sonst viel besser sein könnte, in der Tat sehr verschlechtert. Ich bitte zu berücksichtigen, daß das Astralische in diesem Falle nicht zusammenfällt mit dem Bewußtsein, sondern daß es vorzugsweise mit dem zusammenfällt, was innere seelische Erregungen sind, die sich aber der Patient nicht eingestehen will. Weil in solchem Falle das Hemmende der Vorstellungen nicht da ist, deshalb wirken diese Zustände und Affekte, die Gemütserschütterungen, die fortwährenden Zustände des Überdrusses, des In-sich-unzufrieden-Seins nicht immer wie bewußte Kräfte, sondern wie organisierende, wie Lebenskräfte, die in der tieferen Wesenheit des Menschen sitzen und fortwährend den halb gesunden, halb kranken Teil irritieren. Könnte nun der betreffende Patient es wirklich durch starken Willen, durch Seelenkultur dazu bringen, wenigstens für eine gewisse Zeit seinen Zustand zu vergessen, so würde er daraus solche Befriedigung schöpfen, daß er dann schon aus dieser Befriedigung die Kraft ziehen könnte, um das weiter durchzuführen. Könnte er seinen Zustand vergessen, ganz von ihm absehen, mit starkem Willen sagen: Ich will mich jetzt nicht kümmern um meinen Zustand! — und würde er sodann die Seelenkräfte, welche er dadurch frei bekommt, auf etwas von geistigem Inhalt verwenden, was ihn erhebt, was ihn innerlich sättigt in seiner Seele, würde er diese Kräfte, die sich sonst immer damit beschäftigen, die Gefühle des Schmerzes, des Drückens und Stechens und was da alles ist, zu durchleben, frei bekommen, so würde ihm das eine große Befriedigung gewähren. Denn wenn man diese Gefühle nicht durchlebt, hat man die Kräfte ja frei; dann sind sie verfügbar. Freilich hilft es nicht viel, wenn man sich bloß sagt, man will dieses Klemmen und Stechen und so weiter nicht bemerken; denn wenn man die Kräfte, welche man da frei bekommt, nicht auf etwas Geistiges verwendet, werden die früheren Zustände bald wieder da sein. Wenn man aber die frei gewordenen Kräfte verwendet auf einen die Seele ganz in Anspruch nehmenden geistigen Inhalt, dann wird man bemerken, daß man auf einem komplizierten Wege das erreicht, was sonst unsere Organisation selber ohne unser Zutun in der Überwindung des Krankheitsprozesses erreicht. Es ist ja natürlich, daß der Betreffende dann sorgfältig darauf sehen muß, daß er nicht gerade seine Seele auf einem solchen Wege erfüllt, der wieder direkt zusammenhängt mit dem, was seine Erkrankung ist. Wenn jemand zum Beispiel an einer Schwäche seiner Augen leidet, und er beschäftigt sich, um nicht an die Schwäche seiner Augen zu denken, damit, daß er viel liest, um geistige Kräfte aufzunehmen, so ist es selbstverständlich, daß ihn das nicht zum Ziele führen kann. Aber ganz so weit herzuholen brauchen Sie sich die sogenannten kleinen Belege dafür nicht. Jeder kann an sich selbst bemerken, wenn er eine kleine Unpäßlichkeit hat, wie sehr es ihm nützt, wenn er es zu einem Vergessen seiner Unpäßlichkeit bringt, namentlich zu einem solchen Vergessen, das hervorgerufen wird durch eine anderweitige Beschäftigung. Das ist also ein positives, gesundes Vergessen! Da haben Sie schon einen Hinweis, daß wir nicht ganz machtlos sind gegen die karmischen Wirkungen unserer Verfehlungen in früheren Lebensläufen, welche sich in Krankheiten zum Ausdruck bringen. Denn wir müssen uns sagen: Wenn wir zugeben, daß das, was im Leben zwischen Geburt und Tod einer moralischen, gemüthaften und intellektuellen Beurteilung unterliegt, in einem Leben nicht so tief gehen kann, daß es die Ursache zu einer organischen Erkrankung wird, daß es sich aber in der Zeit nach dem Tode bis zur neuen Geburt so tief in das Leben hineinsenken kann, daß es Krankheit bewirkt, dann müßte es doch auch möglich sein, diesen Prozeß wieder zurückzuverwandeln in einen Bewußtseinsprozeß!","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":1143,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p008"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p009","passage_number":9,"text":"Die Frage kann auch so gestellt werden: Wenn Krankheiten sich ausleben wie eine karmische Wirkung von geistigen oder sonstigen durch die Seele hervorgerufenen oder erfahrenen Erlebnissen, wenn sie also die Umwandlung solcher Ursachen sind, können wir uns dann nicht auch denken — oder erzählen uns davon die geistigen Tatsachen nichts —, daß das Umwandlungsprodukt, die Krankheit, vermeidbar ist, insofern vermeidbar, als wir statt des Heilungsprozesses, statt dessen, was aus den organischen Regionen herausgeholt wird, als Krankheit herbeigeholt wird zu unserer Erziehung, das geistige Gegenstück, das geistige Äquivalent dafür setzen? Daß wir, wenn wir klug genug sind, die Krankheit umwandeln in einen geistigen Prozeß und die Selbsterziehung, die wir durch die Krankheit ausführen sollen, sozusagen durch die Kräfte unserer Seele ausführen?","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":120,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p009"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p010","passage_number":10,"text":"Daß so etwas in den Bereich der Tatsachen gehört, möchte icii wieder durch ein Beispiel illustrieren. Wieder muß aber hierbei gesagt werden, daß nur solche Beispiele angeführt werden, die geisteswissenschaftlich untersucht sind; es sind nicht Hypothesenaufstellungen, sondern Fälle. Daher können Sie von mir nicht gerade eine Vollständigkeit verlangen weil nicht Hypothesen aufgestellt werden, sondern Fälle, die als solche hingenommen werden müssen. Nehmen wir an, im späteren Leben bekommt eine Persönlichkeit Masern, und wir suchen nach dem karmischen Zusammenhang dieses Falles. Wir finden dabei, daß dieser Masernfall aufgetreten ist als eine karmische Wirkung von solchen Vorgängen In einem vorangegangenen Leben, die wir etwa so beschreiben können: Die betreffende Individualität war in einem vorhergehenden Leben eine solche, die sich nicht gern um die äußere Welt bekümmert hat, sich nicht gerade im grob egoistischen Sinne, aber doch viel mit sich selber beschäftigt hat; eine Persönlichkeit also, die viel nachgeforscht hat, nachgedacht hat, aber nicht an den Tatsachen der äußeren Welt, sondern die im inneren Seelenleben geblieben ist. Sie finden auch heute sehr viele Menschen, welche glauben, daß sie durch In-sich-abgeschlossen-Sein, durch Grübeln und so weiter zur Lösung von Welträtseln kommen können. Bei der Persönlichkeit, die ich meine, handelte es sich darum, daß sie mit dem Leben so fertigzuwerden suchte, daß sie innerlich nachgrübelte, wie man sich in diesem oder jenem Falle verhalten soll. Die Schwäche der Seele, welche sich daraus ergeben hat im Verlaufe des Lebens, führte dazu, daß im Leben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt Kräfte erzeugt wurden, welche den Organismus in verhältnismäßig später Lebenszeit noch einem Masernanfall aussetzten.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":257,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p010"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p011","passage_number":11,"text":"Jetzt können wir uns fragen: Wir haben auf der einen Seite den Masernanfall, der die physisch-karmische Wirkung ist eines früheren Lebens. Wie ist es denn aber nun mit dem Seelenzustand? Denn das frühere Leben gibt ja als karmische Wirkung auch einen gewissen Seelenzustand.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":43,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p011"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p012","passage_number":12,"text":"Dieser Seelenzustand stellt sich so dar, daß die betreffende Persönlichkeit in dem Leben, wo sie auch den Masernanfall hatte, immer wieder und wieder Selbsttäuschungen unterworfen war. Da haben Sie also die Selbsttäuschungen anzusehen als die seelisch-karmische Folge dieses früheren Lebens und den Eintritt der Masern als die physischkarmische Folge jenes Lebens.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":51,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p012"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p013","passage_number":13,"text":"Nehmen wir nun an, dieser Persönlichkeit wäre es gelungen, bevor ‘der Masernfall eintrat, etwas zu tun, um sich gründlich zu bessern, das heißt, um eine solche Stärke der Seele sich anzueignen, daß sie nicht mehr ausgesetzt wäre allen möglichen Selbsttäuschungen. Dann würde diese dadurch heranerzogene Seelenstärke dazu geführt haben, daß die Masernerkrankung hätte unterbleiben können, weil das, was im Organismus schon hervorgerufen war bei der Bildung dieser Organisation, seinen Ausgleich gefunden hätte durch die stärkeren Seelenkräfte, welche durch die Selbsterziehung herangezogen worden wären. Ich kann natürlich nicht ein halbes Jahr über diese Sachen reden; aber wenn Sie weit im Leben herumschauen und alle Einzelheiten, welche sich als Erfahrungen darbieten, von diesem hier gegebenen Ausgangspunkt aus betrachten würden, so würden Sie immer finden, daß das äußere Wissen voll bestätigen würde - bis in alle Einzelheiten —, was hier gesagt worden ist. Und was ich jetzt gesagt habe über eine Masernerkrankung, das kann zu Gesichtspunkten führen, die erklären, warum Masern gerade zu den gebräuchlichen Kinderkrankheiten gehören. Denn die Eigenschaften, die genannt worden sind, kommen in sehr vielen Leben vor. Insbesondere in gewissen Zeitperioden haben sie in vielen Leben grassiert. Und wenn dann eine solche Persönlichkeit ins Dasein tritt, wird sie so schnell wie möglich Korrektur üben wollen auf diesem Gebiet und in der Zeit zwischen der Geburt und dem gewöhnlichen Auftreten der Kinderkrankheiten, um organische Selbsterziehung zu üben, die Masern durchmachen; denn von einer seelischen Erziehung kann ja in der Regel in diesem Alter nicht die Rede sein.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":246,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p013"},{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-20/p014","passage_number":14,"text":"Daraus sehen Sie, daß wir wirklich davon sprechen können, daß die Krankheit in gewisser Beziehung wieder zurückverwandelt werden kann in einen geistigen Prozeß. Und das ist das ungeheuer Bedeutsame, daß wenn dieser Prozeß in die Seele als Lebensmaxime aufgenommen wird, er eine Anschauung erzeugt, die gesundend auf die Seele wirkt. In unserer Zeit braucht man sich nicht besonders zu wundern, daß man so wenig auf die Seelen wirken kann. Und wer die Zeit heute vom geisteswissenschaftlichen Standpunkt aus durchschaut, der wird es begreifen, daß so viele Mediziner, so viele Ärzte Materialisten werden können, das heißt, verzweifeln an einem seelischen Einfluß. Denn die Mehrzahl der Menschen beschäftigt sich ja überhaupt nicht mit etwas, was eine befruchtende Kraft hat. All das Zeug, was heute durch die gebräuchliche Literatur geht, hat für die Seelen keine befruchtende Kraft. Deshalb fühlt der, welcher für die Geisteswissenschaft wirken will, in diesem theosophischen Wirken auch etwas im eminenten Sinne Gesundendes, weil das geisteswissenschaftliche Wissen der Menschheit wieder etwas bringen kann, was sich so in die Seelen hineinergießt, daß die Seele abgezogen wird von dem, was die leibliche Organisation bildete. Man darf nur nicht verwechseln, was im Anfang einer solchen Bewegung auftritt, mit dem, was die Bewegung wirklich sein kann. Es werden ja in die theosophische Bewegung tatsächlich Dinge hineingebracht, welche in der äußeren Welt auch grassieren, das heißt, es bringen die Menschen, wenn sie Theosophen werden, vielfach genau dieselben Interessen der Theosophie entgegen, die sie für die Dinge draußen auch haben, und auch alle Unarten, die sie draußen haben. Da wird vieles hineingetragen von den Schattenseiten unseres Zeitalters. Dann aber, wenn sich irgendwelche Schattenseiten bei den Betreffenden zeigen, sagt man, das habe die Theosophie bewirkt. Das ist natürlich eine sehr billige Auskunft!","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":285,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-20/p014"}],"beads":[{"from":[8],"to":[7],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[9],"to":[8],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[10],"to":[9],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[11],"to":[10],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[12],"to":[11],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[13],"to":[12],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[14],"to":[13],"confidence":"medium"},{"from":[15],"to":[14],"confidence":"medium"}],"note":"Paired by the paragraph aligner; each language numbers its own paragraphs. A bead at either end of the span can carry text beyond it (the `from` numbers show what each bead covers)."}}