Death And The Beyond

  BIRTH AND DEATH 

Birth and death are the beginning and the end of earthly life, and 

no human being who has within him even a faint longing for the Truth can 

disregard the two important questions how does life enter the physical 

body, and what becomes of it after death?    

Most human beings are so fixed in their low views, which are focused 

only on earthly things, that they can no longer free themselves from them. 

Through the one-sided cultivation of the earthbound and therefore transient 

intellect, they have in their investigation into the enigmas of life lost a very 

important key: namely, the ability to draw conclusions from that which has 

its origin “above” down to that which manifests “below” as the effect. In 

spite of this, many a higher recognition may yet be gained simply by studying 

the effects “below,” if it is born in mind that the same Laws operate in the 

visible world as well as in the physically invisible world.   

These Laws of Creation form not only what is on earth but also what is 

in the “beyond,” and furthermore it is through the effects of their working 

that nothing in the great Creation is lost. Hence also the life that has left the 

physical body at the time of death must have some form, and this form must 

have gone somewhere. And so it is indeed. The “formed life” that leaves the 

dead body is the soul, which after death passes over in human form into the 

so-called “beyond” a collective term for a number of different regions.    

The Law of Gravitation determines the place in the beyond to which the 

soul comes after death. Depending on how light or how heavy it has made 

itself on earth through its thoughts and deeds, the soul, after leaving the 

body, either rises or sinks to the region that has the same gravity as itself, 

where it is then attracted by its homogeneous species.   

Man holds far too narrow and one-sided conceptions about the living 

activity in Creation, thus also about the continued existence of the soul after 

death, supposing he really believes in it. He is often of the opinion that after 

death the soul goes to rest. Just the opposite is the case: if the soul wishes to 

remain alive after death, then it must not rest but has to move! For only 

movement is life! Phrases like: “He has gone to eternal rest” and “Rest in 

peace!” therefore give an entirely false conception of what takes place in the 

beyond.    

6The most lively activity prevails in the beyond, and experiencing there 

is much stronger and richer than here on earth. Man finds again in the beyond all that he thought and intuitively perceived on earth. These are his 

“works,” which follow after or await him, the good as well as the evil. These 

alone would be sufficient to prevent him from coming to rest. Thus there is 

no question of a personal resting or repose of the dead up to the Last Judgment!    

The “awakening for the Last Judgment” has a quite different meaning 

from what men imagine: not all the dead, but all that is dead shall be awakened! By this is to be understood also all the evil qualities slumbering in the 

human souls as if they were dead, which will be roused through the Divine 

Power that is increased at the time of the Judgment; that is to say, they will 

be forced into the strongest movement, so that they may thereby pass judgment on themselves. He who as a result of his self-incurred failure does not 

stand the test of this great World Judgment sinks into the “other death” 

which is the “eternal one.” With this he loses his laboriously acquired selfconsciousness.    

Therefore man should never forget the actual goal of his existence 

Paradise! The road there leads through the beyond; earthly death is but a 

gateway on this road, which continues beyond the earthly sphere and offers 

to the upward-striving world wanderer a surprising vista into another physically invisible world, which is much vaster and more beautiful still than the 

earth.    

Unfortunately, earthman has almost completely closed himself to this 

world, which actually does exist. He can no longer understand it because he 

has voluntarily narrowed down his perceptions, and confronts the happenings in the beyond with disbelief and doubt. Yet at any moment he can establish the connection with the beyond in the simplest way; he need be 

gifted neither with mediumistic nor clairvoyant qualities for this.    

We all know of the “conscience,” but without ever having rightly discovered its true meaning: it is closely connected with the working of those 

deceased human beings, who seriously strive with their greater experience 

to help their fellow men still sojourning on earth, to guide them safely and 

to protect them  provided that through genuine longing or heartfelt prayer 

earthmen prepare the way for it. The quiet working of these helpers in the 

beyond is a part of our conscience, the other part being the voice of the 

spirit, thus our intuitive perception.