Martinus: Livets Bog, vol. 4, sect. 1413

1413. And is not this speech more in keeping with the reality or the current principles of creation that the Godhead reveals everywhere in Nature, than the view that no being whatsoever can survive its present step on the ladder of evolution, which thereby becomes totally meaningless and unfounded? Where in Nature is there anything that in a corresponding way has come into existence and exists quite without reason? It is, indeed, through the cycle of matter that the spirit or I can take part in climbing down and up the steps on the ladder of evolution. It thus becomes evident that the steps exist only in order that the living being can climb them and experience them. And since the steps are spheres or planes of existence, each with its specific details that differ from those of other spheres, to whose details are connected the organisms or bodies that the "divine something" or the I uses on the step, it is not so remarkable that the same "something", the I or the "spirit" must be "born anew" in order to enter the next sphere. In order to reach a higher step the "spirit" must unite with a constellation of matter that is in harmony with the laws and conditions of the higher step. If one is to be very close to fire and heat, one willingly wears asbestos, while if one wants to be at the bottom of the sea, one must have a rubber suit or a suit made of some other waterproof material. A being that still has to walk around on four legs cannot manage, in this state or with this organism, in a sphere or zone where life is conditional on the being having the ability to walk on two legs, having a spirit and developed hands with which it can create technology, art and culture, and thereby carry out the manifestations and perfection that are characteristic of the step in question. That a four-legged being without hands cannot possibly enter the mental zone of the terrestrial human being without having been "born anew of water and the spirit" is here a matter of course. Every time it is born and has experienced a terrestrial life, it has gained a series of experiences that have enriched its spirit. But if experiences can be gained only at the expense of the organism, the organism will, for every terrestrial life, become increasingly out of date and worn out, at the same time as the spirit, as already mentioned, will have advanced. Now how could such a living being be able to go on living unless it were able to replace its old, worn-out body and then connect its spirit with a new physical body, a body that was improved and adapted to the elevation of spirit that it had undergone in its previous life, this improvement and adaptation being the very reason why the organism of this life perished? Every terrestrial life is thus the passage of the being through a new step. Reaching a new step is thus possible only by being "born anew", not only bodily but also in "spirit". The spirit cannot ascend anything except by increasing its experience. If there were no increase in experience, there would be no mental movement on the step, and the being would then have to remain on the same step. Without life elevating the spirit, this spirit could not possibly move up to a higher step and would consequently have no need of a more highly developed organism either. When the world redeemer in no uncertain terms lets Nicodemus understand that no one can enter the "kingdom of heaven" (a higher mental step or a higher sphere of existence) unless they "are born anew of water and the spirit", which respectively means a new physical organism and a more highly developed mentality or consciousness, this is thus not a postulate, but a real, scientific truth or occult fact that he has revealed to the world.