Burning Desires

In Dante’s Purgatory, the second part of The Divine Comedy, we read about the various levels of purgatory, which correspond to the seven deadly sins. Dante has arranged these seven levels with the lowest level being the worst sin and each level in turn above representing a less terrible sin.

Thus, Dante has lust as the worst sin occupying the lowest level, with gluttony, avarice, sloth, wrath, envy and pride following. Maybe the fact that we are still aware of the work of this thirteenth century poet is an indication that he was onto something.

Dr. Steiner speaks of seven different levels of Kamaloca, with the desires of the lowest level – the first level we reach – being the “coarsest, lowest, most selfish desires of the physical body.” We do not have the option of entering this “region” once we’ve crossed the threshold of death. Just like physical laws of nature, we are subject to spiritual laws. They operate whether we believe in them or not; whether we are conscious of them or not. Our freedom as human beings is that we can work to harmonize ourselves with these spiritual laws while we’re alive or wait until we face ourselves after death.

As we embark on our third and final exploration of Kamaloca, we may wish to refresh our memory of last month’s post. In October, we recognized that in addition to assessing our relationships with others, we need to relinquish our earthly desires so that our spiritual journey can continue. Now we will look with more detail into the first “region” of Kamaloca, the lowest, and ask ourselves what affinity we may have for this level in which we cleanse ourselves of lust.

Let’s see what Dr. Steiner has to say:

The lowest region of the soul world is that of Burning Desire. Everything in the soul that has to do with the coarsest, lowest, most selfish desires of the physical life is purged from the soul after death in this region… (because) now the desires aim at physical enjoyments that cannot be satisfied in the soul world. The craving is intensified to the highest degree by the impossibility of satisfaction. Owing to this impossibility, at the same time it is forced to die out gradually. The burning lusts gradually exhaust themselves and the soul learns by experience that the only means of preventing the suffering that must come from such longings lies in eradicating them.

During physical life, satisfaction is ever and again attained. By this means the pain of the burning lusts is covered over by a kind of illusion. After death in the “cleansing fire” the pain comes into evidence quite unveiled. The corresponding experiences of privation are passed through. It is a dark, gloomy state indeed in which the soul thus finds itself. Of course, only those persons whose desires are directed during physical life to the coarsest things can fall into this condition. (Those who possess) natures with few lusts go through (this region) without noticing it because they have no affinity with it. It must be stated that souls are the longer influenced by burning desire the more closely they have become related to that fire through their physical life. On that account there is more need for them to be purified in it.

Such purification should not be described as suffering in the sense of this expression as it is used in the sense world. The soul after death demands its purification since an existing imperfection can only thus be purged away.

Excerpt from: Theosophy, Chapter III: The Three Worlds: The Soul in the Soul World After Death by Rudolf Steiner. 1904.

Though the quote above is dense, as we read over it, we discern that the soul which has already rid itself of the baser desires while still living in its earthly body no longer has any affinity for this first realm. In other words, if we don’t have that problem, we don’t need to fix it. Steiner describes six more “regions” in which the soul cleanses itself so that it may move into the higher realms of the spirit world.  Each soul that had desires in one or another of these regions, stays within that region until the soul is cleansed. Souls not feeling an affinity within a region go on without feeling the effects of purification necessary in that realm.

Ages ago, these ideas of purification of the soul were common to humankind and formed the basis for lives lived in privation within the various religious sects. Seven various virtues were listed beside each sin that would guard against that sin. Today, we can rely on our own intellects to observe our lives objectively. We can figure out ways to resist succumbing to our own worst natures and determine whether we need help from others or not.

It is no longer appropriate to remove ourselves from society in order “cleanse” ourselves. Today, the appropriate response is for us to work on ourselves within our normal daily lives. If we meditate, if we practice mindfulness, the work begins. Dr. Steiner spent his life trying to show us the necessity for this work and the means by which to do it.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Sometimes we just need a hug. We’re distraught or tired or lonely or hurt or scared or, hey, we just need a hug. Our feelings, including the desire for the hug that would assuage them, reside in our astral body. After we die, we still retain our astral body once we’ve laid aside our physical and etheric bodies, as discussed in the two previous posts. What happens with our desire for a hug when we no longer have a body to receive it?

The answer lies in the period referred to by Dr. Steiner as Kamaloca, which means Place of Desires in Sanskrit. In last month’s post we explored a process occurring during the Kamaloca period wherein we experience the karmic relationships of our previous life. This month we will discuss another aspect of Kamaloca: our habits and desires.

What we want in life initially matches our basic needs, but our desires soon reach beyond what we actually need. Food, clothing and shelter, though influenced strongly by economics and culture, are also influenced by our individual choices. The way we satisfy both our needs and our desires during life has an influence on what we encounter in Kamaloca. Once we’ve crossed death’s threshold, we must let go of all these things we’ve enjoyed while residing in our physical body. The more deeply immersed we are in the material world, the more arduous is the task of letting go.

Let’s see what Dr. Steiner has to say:

After death there follows for the human spirit a time during which the soul is shaking off its inclinations toward physical existence in order to follow once more the laws of the spirit-soul world only and thus set the spirit free. The more the soul was bound to the physical, the longer, naturally, will this time last. It will be short for the man who has clung but little to physical life, and long for the one whose interests are completely bound up with it, who at death has many desires, wishes and impulses still living in the soul.

The easiest way to gain an idea of this condition in which the soul lives during the time immediately after death is afforded by the following consideration. Let us take a somewhat crass example—the pleasure of the “bon vivant”. His pleasure is derived from food. The pleasure is naturally not bodily but belongs to the soul. The pleasure lives in the soul as does the desire for the pleasure. To satisfy the desire, however, the corresponding bodily organs, the palate, etc., are necessary. After death the soul has not immediately lost such a desire, but it no longer possesses the bodily organ that provides the means for satisfying it. For another reason, but one that acts far more strongly in the same way, the human soul now experiences all the suffering of burning thirst that one would undergo in a waterless waste. The soul thus suffers burning pain by being deprived of the pleasure because it has laid aside the bodily organ through which it can experience that pleasure. It is the same with all that the soul yearns for and that can only be satisfied through the bodily organs. This condition of burning privation lasts until the soul has learned to cease longing for what can only be satisfied through the body. The time passed in this condition may be called the region of desires, although it has of course nothing to do with a “locality.”

Excerpt from: Theosophy: Chapter III: The Soul in the Soul World After Death. Germany, 1904.

This may sound pretty scary and awful, but our spirit wants more than anything to advance on the path toward perfection. To do this we must first cleanse the astral body of all passions and desires connected with our physical body because the only way to get to the next level is in purity. Our spirit wants this and willingly undergoes the suffering it takes to liberate itself. We choose this.

What if we started earlier? If we realize that we will, ultimately, take full responsibility for the choices we make that bind us to the physical world, we might look at our desires differently. We might adjust the degree to which we placate ourselves each time a desire arises. We might start exercising some self-discipline. That’s one way to change the world.