49. The Difference In Origin Between Man And Animal
In order to make clear the difference in origin between humans and animals, a more detailed dissection of Creation is needed than has been done so far. The usual catchwords such as "group soul" of the animal as opposed to the personal "ego" of this is the human being are not enough, although they are in themselves quite correctly reflected. But in this way only the general and the earthly are outlined, but the actual difference is not mentioned.
The development of Creation must be known here, which is explained in the lecture "Evolution of Creation”
For the sake of an easier overview, the main levels mentioned so far are listed again from above:
1. Divinity:
2. Spirituality:
3. Essentiality:
4. Matter:
Divine Unessential
Divine-Essential
Divine-Essential
Conscious Spiritual-Essential
Unconscious Spiritual-Essential
Unconscious Spiritual-Essential
Conscious-Essential
Unconscious-Essential
Unconscious-Essential
Ethereal Matter
Gross (Physical) Matter
Gross (Physical) Matter
The human being has his spiritual origin in the unconscious-spiritual substance. The animal, on the other hand, has its essential origin in the unconscious-essential. There is a profound difference between these two levels. The animating core of the human being is spirit. The animating core of the animal, however, is only essential.
A spirit stands far above the essentials beings; the origin of the human being is therefore also much higher than that of the animal, while both together have only the origin of the gross material body in common. The spirit of the human being, however, has developed its originally pure animal body further over time than was possible for the original animal.
The doctrine of the natural evolution of the gross material body, starting with the lowest animal body and ending with the human body, is therefore correct. It shows the seamless upward working of the Creative Will in Nature in every respect. A sign of perfection.
The only mistake made in this doctrine, and admittedly a major one, was that it did not go beyond the gross material. If it is said that the physical body, i.e. the gross material covering of the human being, descends from the animal body, which existed before the human body, this is correct. However, these bodies do not constitute either the human being or the animal, but are only necessary for this to happen in the World of Gross Matter. But if one wishes to conclude from this that the inner vital force of the human being is also derived from that of the animal, this is an unforgivable, misleading error that must give rise to conflict. It is out of this conflict that the healthy opposition against such an incorrect assumption arises in so many people. On the one hand, they are attracted by the correctness of the assumption that concerns the body, but on the other hand they are repelled by the gross carelessness that wants to weave the spiritual origin into it without further ado.
Admittedly, science has so far been unable to do anything other than say that in the natural evolution of the human being, this` must ultimately descended from the animal, and initially from an ape-like animal, which in its form came closest to the human body, because so far it was only able to deal with the World of Matter. Predominantly even only with the gross material, which makes up such a short part of Creation. And of this it only knows the coarsest externalities. In reality, it knows very little, as good as nothing. Today, it is now able to use various forms of knowledge of greater value, but it does not yet know them in their essential nature, and must of necessity make do with a few foreign words, which it substitutes for knowledge. These words merely denote the provisional categorization of something that already existed, the actual nature of which is not known, and even less its origin.
Essentiality, however, and still more the spiritual, stand above all that is material, are from the earth upwards the continuation to the origin of all that exists, or, what is more natural, from above that which has preceded the material in its evolution.
It must be borne in mind that everything spiritual, as well as everything essential, goes without saying and, as a natural consequence of evolution, needs the cloak of a gross material body as soon as, obeying the laws of evolution, it penetrates as a formative factor and living nucleus into the gross material. Every conflict will be immediately resolved when one finally either penetrates further upwards in all research, that is, beyond the World of Matter, or is able to follow the natural course of development from above. The time has come when the foundation must be lifted for this to happen. But the greatest caution is required so that spiritual knowledge, which logic unmistakably carries within itself, is not drawn down unnoticed into ignorant fantasy. One must bear in mind that the essential and the spiritual can only be approached with a clear, free spirit, not with scales, dissecting knives and glasses as in the World of Matter.
Just as little, however, with a narrow mind or with bias, as is so often attempted. This is forbidden by the existing Laws of Creation in an irreconcilable way. Even with the greatest presumption, a small human creature will not be able to change the Will of its Creator, which is ironclad in its perfection.
The real difference between the human being and the animal lies only their inner core. An animal can only return to the essential after it has discarded the gross material body, whereas a human being returns to the spiritual, which is much higher.
Man may indeed often descend in certain respects to the level of the animal, but must nevertheless always remain man, since he cannot evade the responsibility for his actions, inherent in the germ in his spiritual origin; the animal, however, with its merely essential origin, can never rise to the level of man. The difference between the bodies, however, lies only in the form, and in the nobler evolution of the human being, which was brought about by the spirit after it had entered the gross material body.
A spirit stands far above the essentials beings; the origin of the human being is therefore also much higher than that of the animal, while both together have only the origin of the gross material body in common. The spirit of the human being, however, has developed its originally pure animal body further over time than was possible for the original animal.
The doctrine of the natural evolution of the gross material body, starting with the lowest animal body and ending with the human body, is therefore correct. It shows the seamless upward working of the Creative Will in Nature in every respect. A sign of perfection.
The only mistake made in this doctrine, and admittedly a major one, was that it did not go beyond the gross material. If it is said that the physical body, i.e. the gross material covering of the human being, descends from the animal body, which existed before the human body, this is correct. However, these bodies do not constitute either the human being or the animal, but are only necessary for this to happen in the World of Gross Matter. But if one wishes to conclude from this that the inner vital force of the human being is also derived from that of the animal, this is an unforgivable, misleading error that must give rise to conflict. It is out of this conflict that the healthy opposition against such an incorrect assumption arises in so many people. On the one hand, they are attracted by the correctness of the assumption that concerns the body, but on the other hand they are repelled by the gross carelessness that wants to weave the spiritual origin into it without further ado.
Admittedly, science has so far been unable to do anything other than say that in the natural evolution of the human being, this` must ultimately descended from the animal, and initially from an ape-like animal, which in its form came closest to the human body, because so far it was only able to deal with the World of Matter. Predominantly even only with the gross material, which makes up such a short part of Creation. And of this it only knows the coarsest externalities. In reality, it knows very little, as good as nothing. Today, it is now able to use various forms of knowledge of greater value, but it does not yet know them in their essential nature, and must of necessity make do with a few foreign words, which it substitutes for knowledge. These words merely denote the provisional categorization of something that already existed, the actual nature of which is not known, and even less its origin.
Essentiality, however, and still more the spiritual, stand above all that is material, are from the earth upwards the continuation to the origin of all that exists, or, what is more natural, from above that which has preceded the material in its evolution.
It must be borne in mind that everything spiritual, as well as everything essential, goes without saying and, as a natural consequence of evolution, needs the cloak of a gross material body as soon as, obeying the laws of evolution, it penetrates as a formative factor and living nucleus into the gross material. Every conflict will be immediately resolved when one finally either penetrates further upwards in all research, that is, beyond the World of Matter, or is able to follow the natural course of development from above. The time has come when the foundation must be lifted for this to happen. But the greatest caution is required so that spiritual knowledge, which logic unmistakably carries within itself, is not drawn down unnoticed into ignorant fantasy. One must bear in mind that the essential and the spiritual can only be approached with a clear, free spirit, not with scales, dissecting knives and glasses as in the World of Matter.
Just as little, however, with a narrow mind or with bias, as is so often attempted. This is forbidden by the existing Laws of Creation in an irreconcilable way. Even with the greatest presumption, a small human creature will not be able to change the Will of its Creator, which is ironclad in its perfection.
The real difference between the human being and the animal lies only their inner core. An animal can only return to the essential after it has discarded the gross material body, whereas a human being returns to the spiritual, which is much higher.
Man may indeed often descend in certain respects to the level of the animal, but must nevertheless always remain man, since he cannot evade the responsibility for his actions, inherent in the germ in his spiritual origin; the animal, however, with its merely essential origin, can never rise to the level of man. The difference between the bodies, however, lies only in the form, and in the nobler evolution of the human being, which was brought about by the spirit after it had entered the gross material body.
- Lecture No. 52: Evolution of Creation
- Lecture No. 7: The Creation of the Human Being
