Reincarnation and Karma: Two Fundamental Truths of Existence

5 lectures, Berlin and Stuttgart, January-March 1912 (CW 135)

“Just as an age was once ready to receive the Copernican theory of the universe, so is our own age ready for the ideas of reincarnation and karma to be brought into the general consciousness of humanity” (Rudolf Steiner).

Rudolf Steiner introduces the West to his detailed, scientific knowledge of reincarnation and karma. He provides concrete descriptions of the ways individuals transform during the course of successive incarnations and specific examples of how karma works. Steiner also provides practical exercises that lead us to experience the reality of reincarnation. He believed that, by experiencing the reality of successive earth lives, we can form a foundation for a spiritual understanding of the relationship between humankind and the cosmos.

These talks contain some of Steiner's most important teachings on reincarnation and karma. His examples and exercises can lead us to direct knowledge of the laws of reincarnation and karma.

Topics include: How to perceive directly the part of our being that passes through many lives on earth; how to develop a "feeling memory," which we need before we are able to experience reincarnation; thought exercises for gaining knowledge of reincarnation and karma; examples of how karma works between incarnations; how knowledge of reincarnation and karma affects our moral life.

This volume is a translation from German of Wiederverkörperung und Karma und ihre Bedeutung für die Kultur der Gegenwart (GA 135).

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe's scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.