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Reincarnation and Destiny: Ch. 2 of Theosophy (in English)
Rudolf Steiner
Synopsis "Reincarnation and Destiny: Ch. 2 of Theosophy (in English)"
This excerpt is taken from the book Theosophy, which Rudolf Steiner published at the beginning of his theosophical career in 1904. Although Steiner himself did not make such a designation, Theosophy has come to be regarded as one of the four "basic books" of anthroposophy. This chapter however is quite exceptional within the book, and thus it deserves to stand alone. Unlike the rest of Theosophy, which consists of somewhat static revelations of spiritual facts, Chapter 2 is a closely-argued, logical argument. Indeed, it is quite gnomic in many places. The argument is hard to follow, but it is well worth the effort. The high point comes early in the essay, where Steiner sets up a beautifully symmetrical case for reincarnation and karma. He reminds us that memory transforms transitory experience into permanence. On the basis of remembered experience, we react differently when we next meet a similar stimulus. But in the same way, the world is permanently changed by our deeds, and the world remembers our actions the next time we encounter it. The world reacts to us differently as a result of our previous action. Seemingly chance events that "strike" us are anything but: rather, they are the karmic consequences of our deeds, and as much a part of an expanded notion of our self as is memory. There are several other beautiful arguments besides. A notable example is the claim that each human individual is a species unto themselves, and thus the talents that we bring into incarnation can only be inherited from ourselves, in an earlier life. Such arguments must inevitably remain "silhouette-like." But Steiner assures us both that the trains of thought are shadows of spiritual realities, and that the labor of following them is a good preparation for spiritual seeing.
Rudolf Steiner (Donji Kraljevec, Imperio austrohúngaro, hoy Croacia, 25 o 27 de febrero de 18611-Dornach, Suiza, 30 de marzo de 1925) fue un filósofo austriaco, erudito literario, educador, artista, autor teatral, pensador social y ocultista. Fue el fundador de la antroposofía, la educación Waldorf, la agricultura biodinámica, la medicina antroposófica5 y de la nueva forma artística de la euritmia.
Describió la antroposofía como sigue: La antroposofía es un sendero de conocimiento que quisiera conducir lo espiritual en el hombre a lo espiritual en el universo. Pueden ser antropósofos quienes sienten determinadas cuestiones sobre la esencia del hombre y del mundo como una necesidad tan vital como la que se siente cuando tenemos hambre y sed.
Steiner propuso una forma de individualismo ético, al que luego añadió un componente más explícitamente espiritual. Derivó su epistemología de la visión del mundo de Johann Wolfgang Goethe, según la cual el pensamiento es un órgano de percepción al igual que el ojo o el oído. Del mismo modo que el ojo percibe colores y el oído sonidos, así el pensamiento percibe ideas.
