{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 140/1913-10-10/p015","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"Thus we may hope that the partition separating the dead from the living may become thinner as Spiritual Science is more widely known in the world. Truly it will be a beautiful result of the work of Anthroposophy, paradoxical though it may seem, if men eventually learn by practical experience, and not merely in theory, that we only have a difference of experience when we have passed through so-called death and are in the company of the dead. We can even help them to share in what we ourselves take part in physical life. We are forming an entirely wrong conception of the life between death and rebirth if we ask: “What is the good of reading to the dead? Can they not see for themselves all that we can read to them, and know it all much better than we do?” This question can only be asked by one who is not in a position to judge of what can be experienced in the spiritual world! As you know, a man may be in the physical world without acquiring knowledge of it; and if he is not in a position of being able to judge of this or that, he cannot acquire knowledge of the physical world. The animals live in the physical world with us, yet they have not so much knowledge concerning it as we have. The fact that the dead live in the spiritual world does not necessarily give them knowledge of the world, although they can see it. The knowledge which can be acquired through Spiritual Science can only be acquired on earth; it cannot be acquired in the spiritual world. If, therefore, the beings in the spiritual world are to possess it too, they can only gain it from the beings still on the earth. That is an important secret of the spiritual worlds. We may live in them and be able to perceive them, but the necessary knowledge concerning these worlds can only be acquired on earth. Here I must mention something about the spiritual worlds which I shall amplify in my lecture tomorrow—something of which most people have no correct conception. While man between death and rebirth is living in the spiritual world he has more or less the same longing as we here below have for the spiritual world, and he expects from us on earth that we should show him things connected with the earth, and cause them to shine forth so that they can be seen by him and thus give him the knowledge that can only be acquired on the earth. Not without reason has the earth been founded on the spiritual cosmic existence; it has been called to life so that what can only be brought about on earth can come into existence. Knowledge of the spiritual worlds which transcends the vision and perception of those worlds themselves can only be acquired on earth. I have already said that the spiritual beings of the spiritual worlds are not able to read our books, and I must now add that what lives in us now as Anthroposophy is to the spiritual beings, as well as to our own souls after death, what books are to human physical beings on our earth—something whereby they acquire knowledge of the world. But these books which we ourselves are to the dead are living books.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"Lecture I","site_heading":"Living Intercourse with the Dead Through Spiritual Science","site_heading_note":"A heading the site wrote for this unit from a summary of it; not in the edition, and not the words of Rudolf Steiner or of the translator. Cite the unit by its title and locus, never by this heading, and do not quote it.","date":"1913-10-10","location":null,"word_count":563,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/140/1913-10-10/p015","alignment_confidence":"medium","alignment_reason":"beads:length","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Henry Collison","identified_edition":"APC1928","book_title":"Descriptive Sketches of the Spiritual World","publisher":"Anthroposophical Publishing Co.","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA140/English/APC1928/19131010p02.html","evidence":"lecture_list_row","note":"rsarchive's lecture list spells the credit 'Harry Collison'; the lecture pages of this edition print 'Henry Collison', which is served.","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. 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Man macht sich eine falsche Vorstellung von dem Leben zwischen Tod und einer neuen Geburt, wenn man etwa die Frage stellen würde: Ja, wozu braucht man den Toten vorzulesen? Wissen sie das denn nicht aus eigener Anschauung, was der Mensch hier auf der Erde vorlesen kann, wissen sie das nicht viel besser? Dieses frägt allerdings nur derjenige, der da nicht in der Lage ist zu beurteilen, was man eben in der geistigen Welt erfahren kann. Sehen Sie, man kann ja auch in der physischen Welt sein, ohne das Wissen der physischen Welt zu erfahren. Wenn man nicht in der Lage ist, dies oder jenes zu beurteilen, so erfährt man eben das Wissen von der physischen Welt nicht. Die Tiere leben ja mit uns auch zusammen in der physischen Welt und wissen doch nicht das von ihr, was wir Menschen wissen. Daß ein Toter in der geistigen Welt lebt, das macht noch nicht, daß er auch von dieser geistigen Welt etwas weiß, obzwar er sie anschauen kann. Dasjenige, was in der Geisteswissenschaft erworben wird, das wird nur auf der Erde als Wissen erworben, es kann nur auf der Erde erworben werden, es kann nicht in der geistigen Welt erworben werden. Es muß daher, wenn es eben von Wesen in der geistigen Welt gewußt werden soll, durch diejenigen Wesen erfahren werden, die es selbst auf der Erde erfahren. Das ist ein bedeutsames Geheimnis der geistigen Welten, daß man in diesen sein kann, sie anschauen kann, daß aber dasjenige, was als Wissen über die geistigen Welten notwendig ist, auf der Erde erworben werden muß.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":358,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/140/1913-10-10/p017"},{"locus":"GA 140/1913-10-10/p018","passage_number":18,"text":"Ja, meine lieben Freunde, etwas muß ich Ihnen da sagen in bezug auf die geistigen Welten, was in mancher Beziehung weiterklingen wird und ausgeführt werden wird in unserer morgigen Betrachtung, von dem man sich gewöhnlich nicht eine rechte Vorstellung macht. Wenn der Mensch in der Zeit zwischen Tod und einer neuen Geburt in der geistigen Welt lebt, so richtet er auf unsere physische Welt sein Sehnen ungefähr so hin, wie hier in einer gewissen Weise der physische Mensch sein Sehnen richtet nach der geistigen Welt. Und was der Mensch zwischen Tod und einer neuen Geburt von den Menschen auf der Erde erwarten muß, das ist, daß diese Menschen ihm von der Erde aus zeigen und auferglänzen lassen dasjenige, was nur auf der Erde erworben werden kann. Die Erde ist wahrhaftig im spirituellen Weltendasein nicht umsonst gegründet worden. Sie ist in das Leben gerufen worden, damit dasjenige entstehen kann, was nur auf der Erde möglich ist. Wissen von der geistigen Welt, das über das Anschauen, das Anstarren der geistigen Welten hinausgeht, ist nur auf der Erde möglich. Und wenn ich früher gesagt habe, daß die geistigen Wesenheiten der geistigen Welten unsere Bücher nicht lesen können, so muß ich jetzt sagen: Dasjenige, was in uns als Geisterkenntnis lebt, das ist für die geistigen Wesenheiten und auch für unsere eigenen Seelen nach dem Tode, was für den physischen Menschen die Bücher hier auf unserer Erde sind, was für den physischen Menschen dasjenige ist, wodurch er etwas über die Welt erfährt. Nur sind diese Bücher, die wir selber sind für die Toten, eben lebendig. Fühlen Sie dieses gewichtige Wort, daß wir den Toten gewissermaßen die Lektüre geben müssen! Unsere Bücher sind ja in einer Beziehung geduldiger, unsere Bücher bringen es nicht zustande, daß sie zum Beispiel ihre Buchstaben verschlucken in das Papier hinein, während wir sie lesen. Wir Menschen entziehen den Toten dadurch oftmals die Lektüre, daß wir uns nur mit dem, was wirklich unsichtbar ist in den geistigen Welten, daß wir uns nur mit materiellen Gedanken anfüllen. Das muß ich sagen, weil die Frage oftmals auftaucht, ob denn die Toten nicht selber wissen könnten, was wir ihnen geben können. Das können sie nicht, weil Geisteswissenschaft nur auf der Erde gegründet werden kann und von dort aus hinaufgetragen werden muß in die geistigen Welten.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":380,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/140/1913-10-10/p018"}],"english":["GA 140/1913-10-10/p015","GA 140/1913-10-10/p016"],"method":"length","confidence":"medium","correspondence":"established","length_check":{"de_words":738,"en_words":679,"ratio":0.92,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"verified","verified":true,"evidence":["length","reader"],"reader_german":["GA 140/1913-10-10/p017","GA 140/1913-10-10/p018"],"reader_part":true},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":0.94,"band":"comparable","note":null,"word_count":6352,"original_word_count":6736,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Henry Collison","identified_edition":"APC1928","book_title":"Descriptive Sketches of the Spiritual World","publisher":"Anthroposophical Publishing Co.","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA140/English/APC1928/19131010p02.html","evidence":"lecture_list_row","note":"rsarchive's lecture list spells the credit 'Harry Collison'; the lecture pages of this edition print 'Henry Collison', which is served.","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. 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