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Chapter 31
Terrestrial disharmony gives rise to spiritual development
The eternal existence of the terrestrial human being thus takes the form of alternating physical and spiritual existences. As this being in its evolution still finds itself in the second plane of existence of the spiral zone, that is, the physical world, its physical body will, as previously mentioned, be the most developed; while the bodies for the other planes in the same spiral cycle, on the other hand, are still relatively unfinished or latent. The physical existences therefore also become the most fundamental for the same individual. But gradually, as evolution proceeds, the individual becomes more and more spiritually developed. Since the physical body, as far as the terrestrial human being is concerned, has passed its evolutionary peak, it will therefore be the spiritual bodies of the same being that are under development. In this growth, the body of feeling, the seat for the individual's faculty to sense or experience pleasantness or unpleasantness, will thus be that which is most advanced. Next comes the body of intelligence, the seat for the individual's faculty to define the experiences of pleasantness and unpleasantness or to create knowledge from these experiences. The evolution of terrestrial mankind will thus primarily be based upon the development of feeling and intelligence. As feeling can only be developed through suffering, and intelligence through competition in the struggle for one's daily bread, the earth is extremely well designed for such development, because its citizens, grounded in their primitive or relatively latent level of feeling, do not hesitate to maintain their existence, their pleasure or well-being at the expense of the over-exertion, poverty, sickness, pain, need and even mutilation of their fellow-beings or, in brief, entirely upon the right of these beings to life. In a world where the instinct for self-preservation of the beings is mutually or reciprocally based on such a level of feeling, only the strongest and most insensitive or inconsiderate will, without outside assistance, be able to reach a high physical position, meaning wealth and material prestige, while the less greedy or more sensitive or considerate must of necessity become the vanquished and so the slaves of the victor. The earth is therefore also the scene of many tears, much want and suffering, chaos, need and misery. It is the battlefield for the struggle of the beings for booty. But as such conditions or difficulties inevitably give rise to a growing desire in mankind for ordered relations or harmony, which in turn can exist only as identical with spiritual development, such a form of development can thus be traced in the terrestrial zone. But in order to attain ordered relations in the world, knowledge is essential. The desire referred to then also manifests itself to a great extent as an attraction towards all enlightenment about the eternal facts or most profound causes of life. The most universally known and most realistic result of this development is, as previously mentioned, "science".


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