10. The Essence of the Human Being

GA 68d/1907-07-02/p049 ·1907-07-02 · English High

Record: mixed sources. This volume draws on more than one kind of record (transcripts, notes, documents). Check the volume's own front matter before weighing a single passage. Evidence: «Vorträge aus den Jahren 1905 bis 1909 in Form von ausführlichen Mitschriften, Zuhörernotizen und Zeitungsreferaten» (Lectures from the years 1905 to 1909 in the form of detailed transcripts, listeners' notes and newspaper reports). The publisher's description of the volume, as mirrored on AnthroWiki (GA 68d). The translation is the maintainer's, not a published one.

The entire past life then appears before the soul of the person like a large tableau, like a panorama, but in a very peculiar way, because everything that has given the person joy or caused him suffering in his life is missing from this painting. The person looks at his life quite objectively. This is as long as the etheric body is connected to the astral body and the ego. Then the astral body separates and the second corpse of the human being remains behind, the etheric corpse. It dissolves into the general cosmic ether just as the physical corpse dissolves, only much faster. But an essence, a center of power remains behind from this life tableau, so to speak, a sum of the experiences. Just as you add a new page to a book, you add the content of your last life each time you look back at your life after death with clairvoyance. This can take hours or even days, depending on the person's individuality.

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Cite: GA 68d/1907-07-02/p049 · edition English