The Body, Soul and Spirit of every human being has not only a physical body permeated by formative life forces, but an enduring soul or body of consciousness, consisting of thinking, feeling and will. Living within, and active through the soul and body, is the I, Self or true Ego - the individual spirit and eternal part of the human being.
Reincarnation and Destiny: Anthroposophy gives detailed knowledge of the processes and principles which guide the re-embodiment of the individual human spirit in repeated earthly lives in successive cultural epochs. World evolution and history are recognised as the learning and development process for each of us, as well as for humanity as a whole. The laws of Destiny (or Karma) are spiritual laws of cause and effect working from one earthly life to the next, ensuring not only that we reap what we have sown, but also that we have the opportunity to set right what has gone wrong through our past mistakes and failings. Each life is a meaningful process of development during which we again meet others with whom we are connected, guided by the usually unrecognised hand of a divine wisdom, prepared in the time between death and re-birth.
Freedom: We become free to the extent that our I or thinking spirit consciously masters and determines our inner soul condition, outer behaviour, and our own development, within the framework of destiny. Free deeds are possible out of the creative source of imagination. However this capacity for freedom will lead to increasing egotism, and consequent greed, conflict and destruction, unless we develop the forces of love which have their source in our higher spiritual nature.
