10. Between Death and Rebirth of the Human Being

Let us consider this case, which arises quite naturally from spiritual experience. When we are in earthly life, we do not make all the earthly experiences that we could make. It does not take spiritual science to see this; for if much passes our attention in earthly life, then it must be said all the more that much comes to us that we do not bring to consciousness. In other words, if we pay attention, we must admit to ourselves that we do not have the experiences we could have. But the experiences, the events, still come to us. If we regard ourselves as students of life, we must say: all of this comes to us. This experience is also part of our experiences in the life between death and rebirth. But when we reach the second half of this life, we have convinced ourselves: you cannot now, with everything you have acquired, reach the point where you can fully connect with a new earthly life. Then the necessity arises to connect with a new earthly life earlier than would be necessary according to your hasty thoughts — and to remind yourself: Only in another earthly life, perhaps even after two or three earthly lives, will you have reached the point where you experience your now hastily departed thoughts. This will cause such a person not to have the intense desire for earthly life that they would have in the other case, and they would not grasp life fully. There is the possibility that the person does not connect intensely enough with earthly life; they may have gained the strength to reincarnate, but not the strength to experience everything there was to experience. In such a case, they do not have enough joy in earthly life in the depths of their soul. Everything that causes a person not to take earthly life seriously enough or fully enough comes from this side. And here the spiritual researcher sees something that often weighs heavily on his soul.