Reincarnation and Resurrection: Two Central Concepts in Theology and Philosophy
At a seminar held at the University of Lundo in Trentino, Italy, at the turn of the year 2025–2026, I - the author of this page - spoke on the philosophical and theological topic “Reincarnation and Resurrection - How Are They Related?”
These two concepts of life after death are, from both a philosophical and a theological perspective, a topic that is, in some respects, highly controversial. This goes so far that in some religious traditions, one concept has been or is completely rejected because it is said to contradict the other. For example, reincarnation is rejected in certain Christian denominations because it is deemed incompatible with their concept of resurrection.
The following information on these two concepts can be found in encyclopedias (from Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia):
The term reincarnation (English: “Reembodiment”), also known as palingenesis (Ancient Greek, from pálin, “again,” “once more,” and génesis, “generation,” “birth”), refers to beliefs that a (mostly human) soul or continuing mental processes (Buddhism) manifest themselves anew in other sentient beings after death - the “excarnation.”
Resurrection (Ancient Greek: anástasis; Latin: resurrectio) refers to the raising of the dead to eternal life after or from death. Various religions, particularly the three monotheistic world religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - hope for and teach the concept of resurrection. They follow the religious concept of the resurrection of all the dead for a final judgment by God on good and evil (Persian Empire), but differ from concepts of the separation of the immortal soul from the deceased body (Hellenism) and the reincarnation (rebirth, transmigration) of the soul into another mortal body (Hinduism, Egyptian mythology).
The lecture mentioned above, to which this article refers, was divided into two parts: an initial section consisting solely of exercises, intended to prepare participants for the second part, which then directly addressed the concepts. The exercise section was intended to help participants develop an initial sense of the depth of the topic and to highlight the very different perspectives on the concepts of reincarnation and resurrection as they have been formed in various cultural contexts and religious traditions.
The division of the lecture into two parts is also maintained in this article. In this article, I present a perspective that makes it possible not only to allow both concepts to coexist, but also to relate them to one another. The perspective presented here also has the advantage that certain religious or philosophical disputes - such as the choice between “resurrection or reincarnation” - are no longer necessary.
Part 1, the exercises:
First, I will present a contemplative exercise - in the form of a video - designed to help cultivate an initial sense of the coming into being and passing away of things in the world. This exercise was also guided in the lecture in the manner shown here.
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The development of a geometric figure is shown from its creation to its dissolution. During the lecture, the participants then reconstructed it in their minds. Readers can also try this exercise here (Images: Author): Link to the dodecahedron image sequence (in German) |
Readers can find the full meditation exercise on my YouTube channel, “Saturno1137” (in German).
Adress: https://youtu.be/9rHj__GWYoo
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Using this image to illustrate the idea that “the path into the depths has an impact far and wide,” readers can also practice another exercise, similar to the one conducted during the lecture through contemplation and recollection (Image: Author). Link to the “Depth Effect” video (in German) |
Readers can find the full meditation exercise on my YouTube channel, “Saturno1137” (in German).
Adress: https://youtu.be/A8cvtPOFWXg
According to spiritual researcher Rudolf Steiner, the various forms of transience in the external world are not equivalent; in short, “death” is not simply “death.” I also presented this distinction to the participants during the lecture. The reader can now understand this distinction through the various linguistic expressions of transience in different spheres of life and nature (based on a compilation by Rudolf Steiner):
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· The stone is crumbling · The plant withers away · The animal perishes · The human dies · Christ returns to the Father |
(See the book "Das Geheimnis der Zeit" (The Secret of Time), page 309, from a lecture by Rudolf Steiner.)
The book reference is to Andreas Neider’s book, "Der Mensch und das Geheimnis der Zeit", (Man and the Mystery of Time), published by Verlag Freies Geistesleben, ISBN: 978-3772541889.
What is interesting in this compilation is that Steiner once again assigns a distinct role to the death of Christ. For example, in the Gospel of John in the New Testament, Christ does not speak to his disciples, saying, “I will die and rise again,” as a foretelling of his death, but rather he says to them, “I am going to the Father.”
There are a wide variety of assessments and views regarding the concepts of reincarnation and resurrection. In the lecture mentioned above, I examined various texts with the participants, which are presented here:
Texts on Reincarnation
1) From Goethe's poem "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" (Song of the Spirits Above the Waters):
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Des Menschen Seele (Man´s soul) Gleicht dem Wasser (Resembles the water) Vom Himmel kommt es (It comes from heaven) Zum Himmel steigt es (It rises to heaven) Und wieder nieder (And then must descend) Zur Erde muss es (again to earth) Ewig wechselnd. (Ever changing.) |
Image: Arthur Rackham (1867–1939), illustration for "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" (Song of the Spirits Above the Waters), ca. 1909, public domain.
2) Diocese of Trier, Episcopal Vicariate General:
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Reincarnation - a non-Christian Concept "According to Christian belief, the human person is unique and can only be conceived of as a unity of body and soul. Only in this unique unity of the concrete body and soul is a human being fully human. This is also the basis for the conviction that every human being will be raised to eternal life with body and soul. This, too, rules out the idea that a human essence would be reborn again and again into a new body..." |
Image: Resurrection, Last Judgment, Gustave Doré (1832–1883), La Grande Bible de Tours, 1866, public domain.
3) Hans Wolfgang Schumann, "Der historische Buddha" (“The Historical Buddha”):
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On the “Wheel of Rebirth” "All beings are subject to rebirth, whereby suffering does not end with death but continues into the next form of existence. Rebirth is governed by the natural law of pure conditions that are carried over from one existence to the next (karma). The driving forces that keep the cycle of rebirth in motion are the craving for (earthly) existence, which everyone can extinguish within themselves through self-control. Liberation or salvation lies in the termination of the cycle of rebirth through the extinction of the craving for (earthly) existence (the desired state of “no longer returning,” of entering “Nirvana”)." |
Image: The Bhavacakra (Sanskrit; Devanagari: भवचक्र; Pali: bhavacakka), or "Wheel of Coming into Being", is a symbolic representation of the continuous process of existence in the form of a circle, used primarily in Tibetan Buddhism (public domain).
4) Rudolf Steiner 1913, "Von den wiederholten Erdenleben und vom Karma" (On Reincarnation and Karma):
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“What is referred to by the Eastern term ‘karma’: it grows, in the manner described, together with the ‘other self,’ with the spiritual self. A person's life course appears to be inspired by their own enduring presence, which continues from life to life; and this inspiration takes place in such a way that the fate of a subsequent earthly existence arises as a consequence of the preceding earthly lives.” |
Image: "Wiedergeburt" (Rebirth), AI-generated based on a reference image.
Texts on the Resurrection
1) Gospel of John 5:28–29:
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“The time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his call (the call of the Son, the Christ). Those who have done good will come forth and find true life through the resurrection; ...” |
Image: Detail of a headstone in a cemetery, Pixabay.
This raises an interesting question, for example: Who in the graves is supposed to hear the call of Christ if the graves (in the earth) contain only the dust of past bodies, and human beings themselves, as spiritual and soulful beings, pass into the afterlife - or if there is no life after death at all, and human beings are to be raised “from nothing” at the end of time?
2) Rudolf Steiner, "Das esoterische Christentum" (The Esoteric Christianity), page. 286:
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"When we explore our Earth, we find that birth and death are its greatest mysteries. The fact that beings can die is, after all, the fundamental problem for humanity’s quest for knowledge. Death and dying exist only on Earth; in the higher worlds there is no death, but only transformation and metamorphosis... and were it not for an intervention by the gods, all of humanity would have become increasingly entangled in a tendency leading to death.” |
Image: Evelyn De Morgan (1855-1919), "The Angel of Death", 1880-1881, public domain.
3) Rudolf Steiner, "Das Sonnen Mysterium und das Mysterium von Tod und Auferstehung" (The Mystery of the Sun and the Mystery of Death and Resurrection), pages 123 - 136:
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“The risen Christ taught the apostles what he had experienced and overcome during his passage through death; he taught them the deeper meaning of death, the ‘mystery of death,’ and what is connected with its overcoming in the form of resurrection and renewal.” |
Image: "Auferstehung" (Resurrection), Pixabay.
The discussions during this part of the lecture raised some interesting questions:
- What has become of humanity through this teaching of the “mystery of death,” or what does it mean for humanity and the world? What is the nature of death, and what of its overcoming - the “resurrection”?
- Why did the divine Spirit (Christ) pass through matter, through death, if changeable matter or death are merely an eternal coming and going, an eternal becoming and passing away of phenomena, to which one should not attach too much significance, as is often expressed in ancient Eastern philosophies?
4) Gerhard Lohfink, "Die Auferstehung Jesu und die historische Kritik" (The Resurrection of Jesus and Historical Criticism), Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen:
"It must be emphatically stated from the outset: When Jesus was raised from the dead, it was not simply a matter of a deceased person returning to life in this world, as was the case with the raising of the young man from Nain (Luke 7:11–17). According to the testimony of Paul’s letters and the Gospels, the resurrection of Jesus is not merely the reanimation of his body, but an eschatological event. This means: With the resurrection of Jesus, the events of the end have already begun; in the risen Jesus, the “new creation” has already begun; the general resurrection of the dead has already begun with him. The Risen One and the process of his resurrection therefore no longer belong to our world.”
What is interesting here is that Christ’s resurrection is described as an “eschatological event” - that is, as the beginning of a “new creation,” the dawn of a “new world” that no longer belongs to our world. But to which world does it belong, then, and what role does humanity itself play in this process?
5) Heinz Grill, response to a question about the understanding of time, November 2025:
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“It is certainly true that everything the eye sees (everything that is perceived by the senses) is a reflection of the dead, that is, of what has already passed. The experience of time in the physical world is generally characterized by external events that occur one after another, whereas the experience of time in the spiritual world is characterized by the question of development. In this sense, time is also development.” |
Image: Remains of a ruin, Pixabay.
6) Heinz Grill, "Die Signaturen der Planeten und die seelisch-geistige Entwicklung in der Pädagogik" (The Signatures of the Planets and Psychospiritual Development in Education), pages 51/52:
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"The Spirit of Christ or, more generally, the Spirit of Love, lives within the earth, and this Spirit is sun-like. It is also warm. It breathes out silently and freely from all forms of earthly existence, from solid objects as well as from liquids and gases in a quiet manner… The human ego lives within this exhalation of the Christ Spirit, and it forms itself anew and sovereignly at every moment in the innermost being or in the spiritual existence of the human being." |
Image: “Christ as the Spirit of the Earth,” by Ruurd Relick.
The lecture thus raised further questions:
- Is it possible that human beings evolve from creatures into conscious, free creators? Is there a progression from a purely necessary, law-governed development to a free, creative development?
- How do reincarnation and resurrection relate to the idea of development or “evolution”? What is development, and what is its purpose? Why is there a “resurrection” at all if human beings simply reincarnate over and over again?
Part 2, the lecture:
To illustrate my hypothesis regarding the relationship between reincarnation and resurrection, I draw upon Rudolf Steiner’s views on the origin of the world and cosmology, as expressed in numerous lectures. Specifically, these are the lectures reprinted in the following books:
Rudolf Steiner, "Die Evolution vom Gesichtspunkte des Wahrhaftigen" (Evolution from the Perspective of Truthfulness), TB 761, ISBN 978-3-7274-7610-5.
Rudolf Steiner, "Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwicklung im Menschenleben" (The Polarity of Duration and Development in Human Life), GA 184, ISBN 3-7274-1840-0.
This hypothesis was also informed by an examination of Andreas Neider’s book, titled:
"Der Mensch und das Geheimnis der Zeit" (Man and the Mystery of Time), ISBN 978-3-7725-1908-6.
Thus, the consideration of time and temporal matters, and particularly the polarity between permanence and development, played a major role in the elaboration of this topic, since the concept of “permanence” or “eternity” - that is, of what remains eternally unchanged - seems to contradict the idea of development for the world as a whole, including the spiritual world.
It is very important to understand that the origin of the world is described quite differently in Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual science than in mainstream science today.
In mainstream science, it can be said, to put it simply, that the universe evolves in a linear fashion. From the Big Bang, through processes of condensation and compression, material structures form within an expanding spacetime until they reach their present state, which we then refer to as planets, stars, galaxies, and so on.
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The universe, with its stars and galaxies, came into being as a result of a singular or point-like “Big Bang” that occurred “billions of years ago.” The Big Bang itself, with its “inconceivable energy density and unimaginably high temperatures,” defies any visual description as a point-like state. Image: Wikilmages, Pixabay. |
According to Rudolf Steiner, the creation and development of the world occur in stages. There is a first form of the world that appears and takes shape, in which everything still exists in a highly refined state, but which then disappears again, that is, dissolves completely. Then the world reappears in a second stage, initially repeating the old, but then something new is added - something like a further shaping of the world. This stage, too, dissolves completely, that is, it disappears. It is not merely that the world stage becomes more nebulous or something like “thinner,” but it truly vanishes completely. Then the world reappears in a third stage, and so on. So, according to Steiner, the development of the world is not linear, but rather occurs in stages. What we today call the Earth and its entire cosmic environment is the fourth stage of the world according to this view, and the world’s future development will also unfold in stages through a sequence of formation, dissolution, and reformation.
The sequence of the four-stage worlds and their characters is best represented by pictorial symbols, whose appearance and order have an almost meditative quality:
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From left to right: “From a wide radius, a center emerges in a radial movement. It is a kind of primal beginning, a time of origin. From this center, a line springs forth in a rhythmic, undulating motion. Through receding lines or movements, two-dimensional forms unfold, eventually curving into the third dimension of a three-dimensional space.” (Drawings: Author.)
For Steiner, the world appears as a kind of organism within a cosmic consciousness that unfolds in stages of emerging and passing away.
First, I would like to explain the relationship between the permanent and the transitory, as I have understood it from the writings mentioned above.
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Graphic: Author.
This pure form of the separation of duration and temporality corresponds to a certain stage in the development of the world, a stage that has already been surpassed, as I will explain later on.
So we return to the question of how development can take place for the entire world - including the spiritual world - when everything in the spiritual world is eternal, that is, unchanging, and changes (development) are possible only in the lower world. How, then, can there be “becoming and passing away,” a process of development for the entire world?
This question is central to the relationship between reincarnation and resurrection as presented here, as I will show below.
Another key question is: What is humanity’s place in this temporally structured world?
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Graphic: Author.
Through his outward appearance in his earthly, physical form and in the forms of consciousness bound to this physicality, the human being reveals himself as a transient being. His earthly lifespan is bounded by birth and death; his physical and mental forms are subject to constant change. Nevertheless, even in this outer life, human beings are connected to the spiritual core of their being, even if they are not consciously aware of this connection in their everyday lives.
After death, a person initially continues to live in the world of eternity as a disembodied spiritual and soul-based being, and later as a purely spiritual entity. However, even here, the person remains connected to the physical realm, since it is in these realms that the physical body is already being prepared for the next incarnation.
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The position of an imaginary compass needle in Earth’s cosmic magnetic field as a symbol of human orientation in cosmic time. (Image: AI.) Rudolf Steiner offers an interesting description of how human beings fit into a greater whole¹): Just as the magnetic needle of a compass aligns itself with the cosmic-spatial dimensions of the Earth’s magnetic field, so too does the human being align itself with the cosmic-temporal dimensions. The distant past and the distant future are both inherent in the human being. Just as the compass needle points to the south and to the north, so too does the human being, even in his physical constitution, point both toward the past and toward the future. |
1) Rudolf Steiner, "Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwicklung im Menschenleben" (The Polarity of Duration and Development in Human Life), pp. 97/98 u. p.105, GA 184, ISBN 3-7274-1840-0.
Thus, for human beings, temporality - or time itself - is never truly abolished, and they belong to both worlds: the world of permanence and the world of space and time, even though the spiritual is the defining factor in the afterlife, whereas in earthly life, physicality or transience dominates, at least on the surface. This dual nature - the alternation between a purely spiritual life and an earthly existence - already hints, in embryonic form, at something that could lead to the overcoming of the polarity between permanence and transience.
To further examine the relationship between reincarnation and resurrection, I will now present a schematic overview of the world’s development in successive stages with respect to time:
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The first three stages of global development in terms of time (Graphic: Author):
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It should be noted that each stage, after its formation and development, disappears completely and necessarily reemerges, repeating the old and inevitably giving rise to what follows. What is depicted in the illustration as a spatial arrangement and could be interpreted as a temporal sequence is, in reality, an interpenetration of world states. Thus, the “old” or “earlier” world stages still exist today within the current world stage. However, they are not readily comprehensible to human beings.
The third level of the world corresponds to the more detailed picture presented above of a relationship between permanence and transience that essentially still exists.
One might well ask why human life on earth seems so mysterious, why, on the one hand, there is a spiritual world of “coexistence,” through which, on the other hand, earthly matters are apparently determined in a temporal “sequence,” without this connection usually being accessible to human beings in the earthly realm.
For, according to a statement by Rudolf Steiner, the following applies to the third level of the world, characterized by the polarity of eternal and fleeting time:
“What appears in the realm of the physical and soul as evolution, as development (generally as change, that is, as something temporal), is bound up with a spiritual-soul aspect in which one cannot speak of development (that is, of time), but only of the transition... from one image to another (which are enduring, that is, eternal)...2)”
2) Rudolf Steiner, "Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwicklung im Menschenleben", page 129, GA 184, ISBN 3-7274-1840-0 (The Polarity of Duration and Development in Human Life).
This enigmatic quality is precisely an expression of a world that remains divided or polarized. It is divided between permanence and transience; from an original commonality, one part of the world descended into the transitory, while another rose to eternity or permanence. Human beings, as “dual beings,” belong to both realms.
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Philosophical Spirit - Natural Laws (Temporality): An Irreconcilable Contradiction? (Illustration: Author.) According to spiritual researchers, it is precisely people of the last few centuries who experience this distinction so sharply between what is spirit and what has become nature or the laws of nature, whereas for people of times long past, this distinction was not so clear. The various philosophers of the modern era, in particular, have repeatedly addressed this problem. |
See, for example, the following books:
- Gregory Bateson: "Geist und Natur", Suhrkamp Verlag, ISBN 978-3-518-28291-5. Eine Erkenntnistheorie einer Einheit, die auf der Annahme beruht, dass stochastische Prozesse die Grundlage aller Entwicklung (geistig wie äußerlich materiell) bilden. ("Mind and Nature": A theory of knowledge of unity based on the assumption that stochastic processes form the basis of all development.)
- Walther Christoph Zimmerli, Hans Peter Dürr: "Geist und Natur. Über den Widerspruch zwischen naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis und philosophischer Welterfahrung", Scherz-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-502-19171-1 ("Mind and Nature: On the Contradiction Between Scientific Knowledge and the Philosophical Experience of the World".)
With the third stage of development of the world described above, we can address the important questions that have already been raised in an even more focused way:
So there are two poles at this third level:
- The world of permanence: The spiritual world (to which the spiritual-soul aspect of the human being belongs). In this world of permanence, one cannot speak of development, since development is a temporal process (from the less developed to the more developed).
- The world of transience: The temporal, earthly world (to which the physical-soul aspect of the human being belongs), in which development - that is, temporal processes - takes place.
It has been explained so far that the world of duration determines the world of time: What exists in the world of duration as timeless relationships in various “regions” results, in the world of becoming and passing away, in a temporal succession, a development.
Humans are the only beings that reincarnate repeatedly, that is, that oscillate back and forth between the two worlds. The overall picture that emerges essentially corresponds to the “pre-Christian” form of Buddhism, in which human beings are caught in an eternal cycle, the “wheel of rebirth” (see above, Part 1, the exercises), in which everything unfolds and repeats according to the principle of necessity (karma).
But what significance does the world of becoming and passing away have for the world of permanence (the spiritual world)?
This raises the question of the relationship between and the meaning of the temporal world and the world of permanence in general. The concept of development can only be conceived in connection with time and not outside of time; it cannot, therefore, be conceived in the sense of something that remains eternally constant.
One therefore gets the impression that the third level of the world is split into two “parallel worlds,” in which one determines the other, but not vice versa, so that the world of the temporal would thus be meaningless for the world of the eternal.
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“The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” painting by Matthias Grünewald (1480–1528). This painting is part of the Isenheim Altarpiece in Colmar, created between 1512 and 1516. The original is housed at the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar, near the German-French border. Does the impact of Christ belong to the world of the temporal and transitory, or to the spiritual world of permanence, or to both? |
However, with regard to the resurrection, a new, third aspect begins to emerge here:
The impact of Christ cannot be attributed to either the world of permanence or the world of the purely transitory. For if it were a purely earthly, transitory phenomenon, one could not speak of resurrection in the sense of overcoming death or the transitory. Nor does it belong to the world of permanence, for, according to Rudolf Steiner, there is no “archetype” for this impact of Christ, no “region” in the world of spiritual permanence.
Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual science describes Christ as a high cosmic spirit who voluntarily descended into earthly life to accomplish what is expressed through suffering, death, and resurrection.
But what significance does this path of suffering or sacrifice hold within the dichotomy of permanence and transience - that is, in the divided world? Does it have significance only for the world of the “dual nature” of the human being, or does it also have significance for the world as a whole, including the spiritual world of permanence?
Furthermore, logical contradictions arise in Steiner’s account if one does not assume that the polarity of permanence and transience is overcome by a third element:
Rudolf Steiner speaks of how, on the one hand, there is this strict separation between the world of permanence and the world of the purely temporal - that is, of development - and that one cannot speak of the temporal or of developments in the world of permanence, that is, in the world of the soul and spirit, because there everything endures, remaining eternally the same3).
On the other hand, however, he speaks of how human beings are prepared in the spiritual world to attain a noble human form in earthly life; and conversely, he also speaks - if I may put it in my own words - of how human beings must prepare themselves in earthly life to attain a noble soul life in the world after death, that is, in the spiritual world of permanence4).
3) Rudolf Steiner, "Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwicklung im Menschenleben", GA 184, pages 122-132, ISBN 3-7274-1840-0 (The Polarity of Duration and Development in Human Life).
4) Rudolf Steiner, "Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwicklung im Menschenleben", GA 184, pages 133/134, ISBN 3-7274-1840-0 (The Polarity of Duration and Development in Human Life).
In this way, through his earthly life, the human being brings into the world of eternity something that was not previously present there (a human spiritual life or a non-human spiritual life as an individual soul); he thus brings about a change there.
In the case of a human being's entire life, therefore, something is described in such a way that it is presented in terms of cause and effect. Spiritual life influences the subsequent earthly life, and earthly life influences the subsequent spiritual life. However, when one speaks of something in terms of cause and effect, one automatically places it in a temporal context, in the sense of a temporal sequence. And so there is only one possibility: either the depiction of the third world stage as a strict division of the entire world into an eternal realm characterized by permanence and a temporal realm characterized by transience is incorrect, or one must introduce a third element that subsequently overcomes this polarity of permanence and temporality - at least for human beings.
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Overcoming the polarity of permanence and transience through a third element. (Illustration: Author.) What could this “third” be that overcomes both the rigidity of that which remains eternally the same and the irretrievability of the transitory, so that, as a result, it brings a new quality of development to both? |
Another clue for overcoming the polarity described above comes once again from Rudolf Steiner himself:
"Death is, in fact, nothing other than the expression of the fact that the former spiritual world had reached a point from which it could not proceed any further on its own. A general death would have been necessary for it had it not received a new impulse of life. And so this new life has become a struggle against general death. From the remnants of a dying, ossifying world, the seeds of a new one blossom. That is why we have death and life in the world.5)"
5) Rudolf Steiner, book „Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?", TB 600, pages 172-173, ISBN 978-3-7274-6001-2 (How does one gain insights into the higher worlds?).
This statement is extremely interesting because:
- Rudolf Steiner speaks of how “a general death would have been necessary for the former spiritual world.” By “spiritual world,” he certainly also means the world of the higher spirit - that is, the world of permanence. It is indeed true that one can perceive the world of permanence, with its eternally unchanging conditions, as something rigid and dead, even though death is not supposed to exist in the world of the spirit.
- And he hints at something that is meant to overcome this general death - including that of the spiritual world - and refers to it as a “new impulse of life” or “new life,” from which “the seeds of a new world blossom.”
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“The Death of the World, Dying and Life as a Transition” (Illustration: Author.) From a crumbling, dying world, the seeds of a new world with new life spring forth. From what power do these seeds spring forth? Is it the power of an angel, or is the angel merely the one who receives these seeds? |
The spiritual researcher Heinz Grill also suggests that, for human beings, the cycle of living in permanence and living in transience - that is, the cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation) - cannot continue indefinitely, since the Earth or earthly life increasingly traps human beings:
"Over the course of human history, consciousness and the body have become increasingly intertwined. People became aware of this materialization and, as a result, felt their hopelessness in spirit and in sin. One can describe this merging, this intense intertwining of consciousness and body, as a densification, and this traps human beings - with all their higher aspects of being - in the earth and in matter. For human beings, the dramatic reality of their own physical imprisonment and of sin became increasingly apparent.6)"
6) Heinz Grill, book "Erkenntnisgrundlagen zur Bhagavad Gita", page 316, Stephan Wunderlich Verlag, ISBN 978-3-948803-18-6 (Foundations of Understanding the Bhagavad Gita).
My hypothesis is that what overcomes the polarity of transience and permanence - and thus also death in general - is directly provided by the resurrection, that is, through the work of Christ.
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Overcoming the polarity of permanence and transience through the work of Christ in freedom. (Illustration: Author.) “No one can take my life from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the freedom to give it up, and also the freedom to receive it anew. This is the mission my Father has given me.7)” John 10:18 |
7) Emil Bock, "Das Neue Testament", Johannes-Evangelium 10:18, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, ISBN 978-3-87838-236-2 (“The New Testament,” Gospel of John 10:18).
Thus, resurrection - as a third or newly added dimension - would be fundamentally distinct from reincarnation. Reincarnation occurs, according to its laws, out of necessity (karma) and the “thirst for existence,” as Buddhism puts it. Resurrection takes place as an act of pure freedom: “I have the freedom to give up (the life), and also the freedom to receive it anew.”
To help you grasp the full depth and the effect of Christ that transcends the polarity of permanence and transience, I would like to quote the following statement by the spiritual teacher Heinz Grill. It is the death of Christ as the supreme sacrifice:
“Brahman (the supreme spirit) is the offering itself; its very essence is the fire. That which offers itself is Brahman. Figuratively speaking, one could say: It is the spirit that offers itself, and it appears to offer itself for the world, but not really for the world—rather, for itself, for its own spiritual perfection.8)”
8) Heinz Grill, book: "Erkenntnisgrundlagen zur Bhagavad Gita", page 358, ISBN 978-3-948803-18-6 (Foundations of Understanding the Bhagavad Gita).
How can we understand this? With his death, Christ did not merely die, as is commonly understood, but he passed through an absolute zero point and, in the Resurrection, completely recreated himself - that is, he was called back into a new existence. It is a “creation out of nothing” in a completely free act, for as Christ himself put it:
“Until now, all action has come from the Father. But from now on, it is the ‘I’ that lives within me who acts.9)”
John 5:17
9) Emil Bock, "Das Neue Testament", Johannes-Evangelium 5:17, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, ISBN 978-3-87838-236-2 (“The New Testament,” Gospel of John 5:17).
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The Third, Transcending the Polarity: “Creative Power in Freedom” (Illustration: Author). Thus, up to now, everything in the development of the world has arisen from the necessity of the inherent relationship between permanence and transience; now, a completely new principle of creation - or of the creative - has been born in freedom. |
Two things are key here:
- First, that human beings themselves, as “dual beings,” belong to both the world of permanence and the world of transience.
- Second, that something was brought to them through Christ - namely, “death and resurrection” - which gives them the possibility of creative, free action by overcoming the polarity of permanence and transience.
The fact that this new form of creative, free activity is intended as a gift to humanity can be seen in the words Christ spoke to his disciples:
“Yes, I tell you, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in the spiritual world, and whatever you unlock on earth shall be considered unlocked in the spiritual world.10)”
Matthew 18:18
10) Emil Bock, "Das Neue Testament", Matthäus-Evangelium 18:18, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, ISBN 978-3-87838-236-2 ("The New Testament", Gospel of Matthew 18:18).
Or:
“I have given you the capacity, when you leave this earth, to carry the fruits of your lives with you and to ensure their permanence.11)”
John 15:16
11) Emil Bock, "Das Neue Testament", Johannes-Evangelium 15:16, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, ISBN 978-3-87838-236-2 ("The New Testament,” Gospel of John 15:16).
The central and remarkable aspect of these passages is that they state that human beings - in this case, the disciples - can exert an influence from the temporal, transitory world into the spiritual world, and thus, through human beings, something from the earthly world can be carried into the world of permanence. This overcomes the strict separation between eternity - with its eternally unchanging conditions - and pure transience, for changes occur in the spiritual world through human beings acting within the temporal realm!
Rudolf Steiner also speaks of the human being’s task as maintaining a balance between the spiritual world of the eternal and the earthly world of temporality, as is already expressed in germ form in the human being’s dual nature.12)
12) Rudolf Steiner, "Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwicklung im Menschenleben", GA 184, pages 166-170, ISBN 3-7274-1840-0 (The Polarity of Duration and Development in Human Life).
But what for? What does this mean for the world as a whole?
Through human beings, a completely free - and thus new - creative force is to come into the world, one that overcomes the relationships between permanence and transience that arise purely out of necessity.
Let's take a look at the so-called “soul exercise” as practiced in Heinz Grill's School of the Spirit:
The soul exercise developed by the spiritual researcher Heinz Grill is a spiritual-mental practice based on the general threefold division of body, soul, and spirit.
This arrangement is reflected in the three steps:
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Consolidation
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Intensification and
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New creation or transformation.
First, the practitioner turns his/her attention to a chosen topic, object, or thing that he/she wishes to explore more deeply or spiritually.
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During the consolidation phase, perceptions, sensory impressions, and possibly associations and previously known information and concepts related to the chosen topic are gathered and synthesized into an overall impression or concept. This is then supplemented by an appropriate question and/or an imaginative thought.
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In the intensification, the overall impression along with the question or mental image formed is retained during concentration. Heinz Grill describes this as follows: “Concentration is the gathering of one’s entire mental power within the subject or within the mental image that has been formed, and the conscious retention of it.”13)
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In the process of renewal, the true spiritual essence of the matter or the subject is revealed. The practitioner can no longer accomplish this third phase through external will or desire alone. “Nevertheless, it is the ‘I’ that must intervene here on this level in a total and sovereign manner. But this ‘I’ is spirit, and it is not a limited, petty will of the body,” as Heinz Grill states in his description of these exercise13).
In the context discussed here, it is important to point out that one must not imagine this process of “the manifestation of the true spiritual essence” as if an object (as a symbol of the spirit of the matter) had once been placed in a drawer and stored away, and now the practitioner opens the drawer again and retrieves exactly that same object (i.e., the spirit of the matter).
Rather, it is a true renewal - or, one might say, a resurrection. When the practitioner succeeds in the third step, he becomes creatively active; through the sacrifice of time, perseverance, and effort, he truly brings something entirely new into being. The spirit or thought that was once invested in the matter or subject is resurrected in a completely new way. This also brings something new into the spiritual world, thereby overcoming its uniformity as a state of permanence; and such changes in the spiritual world, in turn, have an effect on the temporal, earthly world.
In this context, it is also worth noting that the creative process described above also affects the practitioner’s “I,” spirit, or “self,” as Heinz Grill once put it in a very beautiful sentence:
“Consciousness, grounded in a substantive thought, illuminates the objects of the world, experiences them profoundly, and, through that sustained thought, leads both them and the self onto the path of liberation.”
13) For more information on spiritual practice, we recommend the following book by Heinz Grill: "Übungen für die Seele", Synergia Verlag, ISBN: 9783906873336 (Exercises for the Soul).
Based on what has been said so far, the following concluding summary can be drawn:
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The following three stages of global development in terms of time (Graphic: Author):
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This undoubtedly very unusual train of thoughts places both the actions of Christ and humanity within a much broader context in relation to the whole of the world than is consistent with the view of humanity and the world otherwise familiar from the spirit of the times and from the natural sciences. This train of thoughts also reveals, however, that there need not be a contradiction between the concepts of reincarnation and resurrection - as is often portrayed in some religions or even demanded by their adherents - but rather that these concepts are in fact connected to the development of the world and humanity.
Additional note: In the context of temporality and permanence, it is worth noting a statement by the spiritual researcher Heinz Grill, which deals with the highest spiritual level - known in Indian philosophy as “Brahman” - and points to the changes occurring there as a result of human activity:
"Brahman is the realm of action and the residence of pure thoughts. These thoughts await their realization. They cannot unfold in animals, but only in human beings, with implications for both this life and for life after death and spiritual existence. Ultimately, the thought persists in its immortality in the spiritual worlds. However, this thought is no longer the same as it was at the beginning, for it has been expanded through human beings and their activities.
Thus, it is the spirit that reveals the enduring dimension of all existence.14)"
14) Heinz Grill, Meditation Passages, September 5, 2026
