{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p024-p027","extent":"range","passage_number":24,"through":27,"paragraph_count":4,"first_locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p024","last_locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p027","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"title":"Reincarnation and Karma","date":"1906-02-15","location":null,"alignment_confidence":"high","alignment_reason":"beads:identity","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"RSA2014","book_title":"World Mysteries and Theosophy","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA054/English/RSA2014/19060215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. 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Giordano Bruno was a believer in this law, and when a new spiritual culture emerged from a period of dullness, it was Lessing who expressed his wisdom in the doctrine of reincarnation. I know that many refrain from praising Lessing. But if one likes to praise him, they will not go along with it. It is strange, however, that when it comes to a great man, people only accept what suits them. And it is the same with Giordano Bruno and Goethe, whose ideas are regarded as senility or something similar. We will see that our German theosophy is also deeply imbued with this view. But only today, only since a few decades, has it been possible to communicate this view publicly again. Throughout the centuries of new development, this was not possible because human culture had a different task, as I have already explained. The teachings of reincarnation and karma emerged dimly, and even these great minds could only proclaim many things figuratively, in symbols, grasping them in a lively way. Where life could be explained to them in its deepest depths, they often pointed to these truths with great humor, to this eternal law of reincarnation that determines what we now experience between birth and death. Goethe pointed to this when he wanted to explain his deep inner soul friendship with Frau von Stein by saying: \" Ah, you were my sister or my wife in times past.\" But Goethe also expresses the law that governs us as the law of karma, as do other great minds. He expresses in beautiful words that we enter the world according to our disposition, as we are, following the law of cause and effect, like everything else in the world:","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":320,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/54/1906-02-15/p024","witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"RSA2014","book_title":"World Mysteries and Theosophy","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA054/English/RSA2014/19060215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 54/1906-02-15/p024"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","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."}},{"passage_number":25,"locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p025","text":"> As on the day that brought you into the world,  \n> The sun stood in greeting to the planets,  \n> You immediately and continuously flourished  \n> According to the law by which you came into being.  \n> You must be as you are, you cannot escape yourself,  \n> So said the Sibyls, so said the prophets,  \n> And no time and no power can fragment  \n> The molded form that develops itself in life.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":75,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/54/1906-02-15/p025","witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"RSA2014","book_title":"World Mysteries and Theosophy","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA054/English/RSA2014/19060215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 54/1906-02-15/p025"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","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."}},{"passage_number":26,"locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p026","text":"But the deepest thing he had to say, he said in imagery, among other things in the beautiful poem where he compares the soul of man to water and the fate of man to the wind, the soul as that which flows from embodiment to embodiment in the stream of life, and fate as the wind that causes this soul to rise and fall in everlasting waves. And just as each successive wave depends in its form on the previous one, so the soul depends on its previous form, and just as the wind is always new, so something new will always enter into the account of human life, something new will always be recorded. “Soul of man, how you resemble water, fate of man, how you resemble the wind,” he says at the end of the poem, where he directly depicts reincarnation in earthly life. “The soul of man resembles water, it comes from heaven, it rises to heaven, and it must descend again to earth, eternally changing.” This is how Goethe depicts the soul. It comes from the spiritual world, descends to earth, returns to heaven, and comes back in a new incarnation:","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":195,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/54/1906-02-15/p026","witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"RSA2014","book_title":"World Mysteries and Theosophy","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA054/English/RSA2014/19060215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 54/1906-02-15/p026"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","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."}},{"passage_number":27,"locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p027","text":"> The soul of man  \n> Is like water:  \n> It comes from heaven,  \n> It rises to heaven,  \n> And again it must descend  \n> To earth,  \n> Eternally changing.\n> Flows from the high,  \n> Steep rock face  \n> The pure stream,  \n> Then it sprays lovingly  \n> In waves of clouds  \n> Towards the smooth rock,  \n> And, easily received,  \n> It surges veiling,  \n> Softly rushing  \n> Down into the depths.\n> Cliffs tower,  \n> Towards the fall,  \n> It foams discontentedly  \n> Step by step  \n> Towards the abyss.\n> In the flat bed\n> It creeps along the meadow valley,\n> And in the smooth lake\n> All the stars\n> All the stars.\n> Wind is the wave's Lovely suitor; Wind stirs from the bottom Foaming waves! Soul of man, How you resemble water! Fate of man, How you resemble the wind.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":149,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/54/1906-02-15/p027","witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"RSA2014","book_title":"World Mysteries and Theosophy","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA054/English/RSA2014/19060215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 54/1906-02-15/p027"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","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. 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Giordano Bruno war ein Anhänger des Gesetzes, und als aus einer Dumpfheit heraus wieder eine neue Geisteskultur geholt worden ist, da war es Lessing, der seine Weisheit hat ausklingen lassen in der Lehre von der Wiederverkörperung. Ich weiß, daß viele Lessing zu tadeln unterlassen. Wenn es aber einem gefällt, ihn zu loben, da werden sie nicht mitgehen. Es ist aber sonderbar einem großen Manne gegenüber, daß man von ihm nur das annimmt, was einem paßt. Und ebenso ist es bei Giordano Bruno und Goethe, bei denen man diese Ideen als Altersschwäche oder ähnliches ansieht. Wir werden sehen, daß auch unsere deutsche Theosophie tief durchdrungen ist von dieser Anschauung. Aber erst heute, erst seit einigen Jahrzehnten ist es möglich, von dieser Anschauung wiederum öffentlich Mitteilung zu machen. Durch die Jahrhunderte der neuen Entwickelung war das nicht möglich, weil die Menschheitskultur eine andere Aufgabe hatte, wie ich das schon auseinandergesetzt habe. Dämmerhaft kamen die Lehren von der Wiederverkörperung und von Karma herauf, und auch diese großen Geister konnten so manches nur bildlich, in Sinnbildern verkündigen, lebensvoll faßten sie sie auf. Da wo ihnen das Leben in seinen tiefsten Tiefen erklärlich werden konnte, deuteten sie oft mit großem Lebenshumor auf diese Wahrheiten hin, auf dieses ewige Gesetz von der Wiederverkörperung, das das bestimmt, was wir jetzt erleben zwischen Geburt und Tod. Darauf deutete Goethe hin, als er sich seine tiefe innere Seelenfreundschaft zu Frau von Stein erklären wollte, indem er sagte: «Ach, du warst in abgelebten Zeiten, meine Schwester oder meine Frau.» Aber auch das Gesetz, welches als das Karmagesetz über uns waltet, drückt Goethe aus wie andere große Geister. Daß wir in die Welt hereintreten nach unserer Anlage, wie wir sind, dem Gesetze von Ursache und Wirkung folgend, wie alles in der Welt, das drückt er aus in den schönen Worten:","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":329,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/54/1906-02-15/p024"},{"locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p025","passage_number":25,"text":"> Wie an dem Tag, der dich der Welt verliehen,  \n> Die Sonne stand zum Gruße der Planeten,  \n> Bist alsobald und fort und fort gediehen  \n> Nach dem Gesetz, wonach du angetreten.  \n> So mußt du sein, dir kannst du nicht entfliehen,  \n> So sagten schon Sibyllen, so Propheten,  \n> Und keine Zeit und keine Macht zerstückelt  \n> Geprägte Form, die lebend sich entwickelt.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":65,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/54/1906-02-15/p025"},{"locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p026","passage_number":26,"text":"Aber das Tiefste, was er zu sagen hatte, das sagte er im Bilde, unter anderem in dem schönen Gedicht, wo er die Seele des Menschen vergleicht mit dem Wasser und das Schicksal des Menschen mit dem Wind, die Seele als dasjenige, was von Verkörperung zu Verkörperung dahinfließt im Lebensstrom und das Schicksal mit dem Winde, das diese Seele auf und ab wogen läßt in immerwährenden Wellen. Und wie jede folgende Welle in ihrer Gestalt abhängig ist von der vorhergehenden, so ist die Seele abhängig von ihrer vorigen Gestalt, und so wie der Wind immer neu wird, so wird in das Lebenskonto des Menschen immer Neues einziehen, immer Neues eingetragen. «Seele des Menschen, wie gleichst du dem Wasser, Schicksal des Menschen, wie gleichst du dem Wind», so sagt er am Schlusse des Gedichtes, wo er geradezu die Wiederverkörperung im Erdenleben darstellt. «Des Menschen Seele gleicht dem Wasser, vom Himmel kommt es, zum Himmel steigt es, und wieder nieder zur Erde muß es, ewig wechselnd.» So stellt Goethe die Seele dar. Sie kommt aus der geistigen Welt, steigt zur Erde nieder, geht zurück zum Himmel und kommt wieder in neuer Verkörperung:","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":189,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/54/1906-02-15/p026"},{"locus":"GA 54/1906-02-15/p027","passage_number":27,"text":"> Des Menschen Seele  \n> Gleicht dem Wasser:  \n> Vom Himmel kommt es,  \n> Zum Himmel steigt es,  \n> Und wieder nieder  \n> Zur Erde muß es,  \n> Ewig wechselnd.\n> Strömt von der hohen,  \n> Steilen Felswand  \n> Der reine Strahl,  \n> Dann stäubt er lieblich  \n> In Wolkenwellen  \n> Zum glatten Fels,  \n> Und, leicht empfangen,  \n> Wallt er verschleiernd,  \n> Leis’ rauschend  \n> Zur Tiefe nieder.\n> Ragen Klippen,  \n> Dem Sturz entgegen,  \n> Schäumt er unmutig  \n> Stufenweise  \n> Zum Abgrund.  \n> Im flachen Bette  \n> Schleicht er das Wiesental hin,  \n> Und in dem glatten See  \n> Weiden ihr Antlitz  \n> Alle Gestirne.\n> Wind ist der Welle  \n> Lieblicher Buhler;  \n> Wind mischt vom Grund aus  \n> Schäumende Wogen!  \n> Seele des Menschen,  \n> Wie gleichst du dem Wasser!  \n> Schicksal des Menschen,  \n> Wie gleichst du dem Wind.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":145,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/54/1906-02-15/p027"}],"beads":[{"from":[24],"to":[24],"confidence":"high","pairing_state":"verified"},{"from":[25],"to":[25],"confidence":"high","pairing_state":"verified"},{"from":[26],"to":[26],"confidence":"high","pairing_state":"verified"},{"from":[27],"to":[27],"confidence":"high","pairing_state":"verified"}],"note":"Paired by the paragraph aligner; each language numbers its own paragraphs. 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