Stranger wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:53 pm Earth by far is not the only place for growing souls to evolve, it is only one of millions of similar planets and realms. The evolution of Consciousness happens in all those places and realms simultaneously, and souls incarnate in different places on their path to learn more in a larger variety of different scenarios. For some reason Anthroposophy is very anthropo-centric and locked all evolutionary paths only into the Earth and humanity. Most of other spiritual traditions and the modern knowledge from NDE and regression accounts suggest otherwise.
We discussed this many times before, so we are going through circles again. I studied many spiritual traditions and hundreds of modern NDE and regression accounts and never seen there any assertion that the human souls must only reincarnate into humans. This view seems to come from Rosicrucian, Freemasonic and Anthroposophical group of teachings. There is a possibility of the influence from the dualistic hierarchy here because this hierarchy is very interested in keeping the souls locked into incarnating into humans, because they currently have such a strong grip and influence on humanity, so it is a way for them to keep these souls under their control. This does not necessarily mean that these teachings are entirely dualistic, it only means that they were influenced by the dualistic hierarchy in some of their views.
By the way, none of this is news to spiritual science. All of what you are writing, and in fact all that you can imagine about the spiritual worlds, is already contained in some form or another in Anthroposophical teachings. Anyone can strike out into the astral plane and gain whiffs of this or that aspect of our spiritual evolutionary reality. We could go on endlessly saying, 'yes Eugene, we agree about the other planets and realms', 'we agree about certain humans no longer needing to reincarnate and working their beneficial influences from a discarnate state', 'we agree with X, Y, Z'. But this would be completely abstract agreemement and understanding and therefore unhelpful at best, and, more likely, positively misleading. The abstract intellect can take lofty spiritual truths and, in the process of reducing them into its familiar conceptual templates, reach the exact opposite place of where those truths are pointing. That is what is generally happening here. There is no way around this but to inject life and virtue into our conceptual activity, and to generally do the hard but ceaselessly rewarding work of rhythmically incarnating the Spirit into our thinking, feeling, willing experience.
Here is one small example. There is no 'locking in' to Earth evolution taking place here. But, as Cleric also said, simply skimming over these things and signaling our intellectual 'agreement' with them won't get us anywhere, unless we also endeavor to understand how these things function as a living whole within the Cosmic organism, in which our most intimate activities and experiences are embedded.
I have frequently emphasised and must here emphasise again that the life of Buddha is to be understood as the Buddhists understand it and not as it is interpreted by materialistic historians. We must first come ourselves to the recognition that Buddha became Buddha by passing through a great many incarnations; that he became first a Bodhisattva. And then having been born as the son of King Suddhodana, ascended in the 29th year of his life to the dignity of a Buddha. We must know that the ascension of the Bodhisattva to the stage of Buddha means in actual fact that such an individual has his very last incarnation on Earth in the life he lives as Buddha. When he has become a Buddha, he never returns again into an earthly body, but works in other than earthly worlds. This must be quite clear to us from the beginning. We must know for an absolute fact that the Buddha by his exaltation from Bodhisattva to Buddha rose to a cosmic dignity and does not require in the course of his further evolution ever to descend again into a physical earthly human being. Those of you who have followed my lectures will remember that I have alluded to one single occasion when the Buddha, so to speak, allows us to have a glimpse of his further evolution. When I was explaining how two Jesus children were born, the Matthew Jesus Child and the Luke Jesus Child, I said that at the birth of the Luke Jesus Child the Buddha sent down from the spiritual world astral forces that were incorporated into the astral body of Jesus. Mention was thus made of the Buddha sending down forces to Earth. In Norrköping 1 I told further how the initiates were able to meet with the Buddha in still another way. Nevertheless it is still true to say that since his life as Buddha he has lived no more on Earth. An occultist, however, who goes far on the occult path can follow also further the path of Buddha. It is, of course, now no Earth life that he follows. In the field of practical occultism the question arises: What has become of the Buddha, since he incarnates no longer in a physical human body? We can, as it were, go in search of the Buddha, we can look for him in the wide world. It may seem strange to you, but the initiated find the Buddha engaged on a great and mighty task, a task of deep significance. When the eye of the occultist has been opened and he looks out into the vast spaces of the world, he beholds a remarkable sight. He discovers that the Buddha has now for his scene of action that planet which in physical astronomy we call Mars; and he can do no other than relate in all seriousness how, since the time when the Buddha acquired the faculty which made it no longer necessary for him to appear again in Earth life, he has been given a new mission. This new mission of the Buddha we can discover by making occult observation of Mars.
As we enter upon this study, the true and original mission of the Buddha becomes clear to us. We find by occult investigation that the beings on Mars who correspond to men on Earth — they are of course of quite a different nature, but for the moment let us call them “Mars men” — at a certain time in their evolution were in a similar condition of need as were the Earth men in the Fourth Post-Atlantean period when the Christ had to come to them. And as Christ became a Saviour and an Awakener to Life, as that was a mission for the Christ in regard to Earth humanity, so is it a further mission for that Bodhisattva after he became the Buddha, to be a Saviour and Redeemer of Mars men. He has to accomplish on Mars an event similar to the event that the Christ had to bring to fulfilment on Earth.
When therefore we study the life of the Buddha, we find it falls into two parts. There is first the time when Buddha worked for the Earth men and brought them all that they were due to receive from him, including what he had already brought them during the time when he was a Bodhisattva. Then there is the later part of Buddha's life when he worked outside and beyond the Earth, when he rose to a higher power and strength for which his course on Earth was but a necessary preparation. For Buddha grew upwards into the power of one who is a Saviour and Redeemer. If it were possible for us to compare the influence of Buddha on Mars with the — not same, but similar influence of Christ Jesus on Earth and with the Mystery of Golgotha, then we would be bound to find a difference, because of the difference between Earth men and Mars men. If possible, I will tell you more another time about the feelings and response called forth in the Mars men by the working of Buddha.
As you see, tasks are set for the Beings who evolve in the Cosmos. The moment a Being rises from one state or rank to another, a new task is placed before him. And man, who has to fulfil his life's course on Earth, comes into touch during his time on Earth with Beings who, like the Christ, have from the beginning a cosmic task, and also with Beings who in their evolution upward leave the Earth and rise then to a cosmic task, as was the case with Buddha.