Lecture III

Spiritual science does not teach renunciation of life. The spiritual scientist can use the following comparison: the soul is like a bee that flies out into the fields to seek honey and bring it back. Here on earth, the soul collects the honey of life, which it brings to the altar of the deity after death. Without life in the sensual realm, the soul would never be able to do this. When a person has incarnated and begins to see, they initially perceive things simply with their eyes. Gradually, this gives rise to spiritual enjoyment. Physical pleasure is transformed into spiritual enjoyment. The savage, who has only undergone a few incarnations, rejoices only in the colorfulness of colors and the simplest sensory impressions. With each incarnation, the senses become more refined. If humans had never experienced sensual enjoyment of colors, they would never be able to rise to spiritual enjoyment. That is why sensual enjoyment is a necessary detour. We should rejoice in the beauty of the sensual world. Similarly, sensual love gradually leads to the highest, purest, spiritual love. All experience should transform the soul and then carry it up to the altar of spirituality. For nothing, absolutely nothing, is lost. Sensuality is the school without which humans would never attain spirituality. The earth is not a vale of tears; it is a gathering place, and humans are messengers sent out — God's angels, says the Bible — to gather honey.