43. Consciousness – Life – Form

The stages of soul experience arise when one thinks in an internalized way about what is perceived in the states of consciousness as the external world. First, there is the dullest state of consciousness that precedes dreamless sleep. In this latter state, the soul works harmoniously on the body; its corresponding state of life is the harmonization of one's own inner being. It thus permeates itself with a world of sounding movement. Before that, in the dullest state of experience, it was in its own motionless inner being. It felt this inner being through on all sides with indiscriminate indifference. This lowest state of life is called the first elemental realm. It is an experience of matter in its original state. Matter comes into being through the most diverse directions of movement and agitation. The first level of life is the first elementary realm, which is the self-awareness of this mobility. The second level is reached when rhythm and harmony arise from these movements. The corresponding level of life is the inner awareness of rhythm as sound. This is the second elementary realm. The third stage develops when the movements transform into images. Then the soul lives in itself as in a world of images that are both formed and dissolved. This is the third elementary realm. In the fourth stage, the images take on fixed forms: a single element emerges from the changing panorama. This means that it can no longer be experienced inwardly, but perceived outwardly. This realm is the realm of the outer bodies. In this realm, one must distinguish between the form that it has for the bright day-consciousness of man and the form that it experiences in itself. The body actually experiences its form within itself, that is, the substance forming itself into regular shapes. On the next level, this mere experience of form is overcome; instead, the experience of changing form occurs. The form forms itself and transforms itself. It can be said that at this stage the third elementary realm appears in a higher form. In the third elementary realm, movement from form to form can only be experienced as an image; in this fifth realm, the image solidifies into an external object, but this external object does not die in the form, but retains its ability to change. This realm is that of growing and reproducing bodies. And its ability to transform itself is manifested in growth and reproduction. In the next realm, the ability to experience the external in its effect on the internal is added. It is the realm of sentient beings. The last realm to be considered is that which not only experiences the effect of external things within itself, but also experiences their internal reality. This is the realm of compassionate beings. Thus the stages of life can be categorized as follows: