World karma

From AnthroWiki

World karma, which is inscribed in the Akasha chronicle, is woven from the objective consequences of the deeds of spiritual beings, especially those of human beings. Unlike individual karma, which arises from the subjective consequences of deeds, it cannot be erased by the individual spiritual being itself. By taking the "sins of the world" upon himself through the deed on Golgotha, the world karma created by human beings is gradually dissolved by the grace of the Christ. His individual karma, on the other hand, can only be balanced by each person himself in the course of repeated earthly lives.

„If you now remember that the individual world bodies retain their movement after they have, so to speak, found the conclusion for themselves, are finished for themselves, then you will also understand what must be called the karma of these world bodies. From the moment when the planet has come to its conclusion for itself, those beings who belong to it must again reckon with its dissolution, with its disappearance from the world context. If, for example, we follow the old evolution of Saturn, we have to say that until the whole sphere of heat is joined together, the process of Saturn's evolution is an ascending one, or, if you like, a descending one, for it is a process of condensation. Now, at the moment when Saturn continues to revolve - but now with the first Saturnian evolution - the Saturnian sphere is given, the things are present that are involved. If the spirits are involved in this, they must reckon with what has been assembled up to the formation when it dissolves, and that is karma. There is no escaping it, things must be dissolved as they have been assembled. So the karma of the first half of evolution is fulfilled in the second half. What was assembled in the first half is gradually dismantled in the second half of evolution. The creation of the world is the creation of karma; the perishing of the world in the fullest sense of the word is nothing other than suffering under karma and, in turn, the extinction of the karma in question. So it is on a large scale, but also on a small scale with every planet. For each planet faithfully reflects the conditions in the great.“ (Lit.:GA 110, p. 147)

World Karma and Egoism

„In everything we do, however hidden, there is a selfish motive. We must realise that we cannot be selfless at all. It is world karma that makes us act selfishly. But world karma is God. Everything that God is and does as good is better than we could do it ourselves. And the esotericist should say to himself: If I perform an action which I have made my duty, if I perform it according to my best strength, according to the direction which we feel in ourselves, and if I perform it in such a way that I tell myself that the divine working in me performs this action, and that I am only the instrument of this divine working in me, then the esotericist develops according to the second principle: the higher self reveals itself to him in his striving for perfection.“ (Lit.:GA 266a, p. 525)

„One thing the disciple must tell himself again and again: I will not be able to be a participant in the spiritual world until I have learned to say to myself: I am full of egoism - and I cannot be otherwise here in the physical world. But that which lives of me here in the physical world is only an image, a form, which is the image of my original image. This form, this image, is completely saturated with egoism. And it is the world karma that imbues us with egoism in our course of development through the incarnations. But the world karma is God. God also lives in us. And if we get so far as to act well and nobly, it is the God in us who drives us to do so. And the God in us who makes us act well and nobly lives in our archetype. I myself am full of egoism - but I am destined to become the image of my divine archetype. This archetype rested in the womb of the Godhead - it has descended to this physical form and this form is under the power of the God who is above my destiny, my karma, which is completely saturated with egoism. Never, never may I say I am without egoism, that is never true - I cannot even be without egoism in the physical world.

But if I learn to look at my archetype born of God, if I let my thinking, feeling and willing, all my soul forces die completely into this archetype, then I can hope to conquer the egoism in me and to approach my archetype again. We will notice that to the same extent that we become more selfless, we also become physically more powerful. We will notice that we no longer feel fear or terror, we will no longer flinch in sudden fright. We will become powerful and strong in our whole human being.“ (Lit.:GA 266b, p. 109f)

Literature

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.