Causal body

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Causal body (Sanskrit: कारणशरीर karana sharira, via कारण kāraṇa "cause, reason, motive", derived from the Sanskrit root कृ kṛ (kri) "to do, make, act, effect" and शारीर sharira "body") is called in Indian theosophical terminology that extract of the etheric and astral body which the human being carries on from incarnation to incarnation as his eternal (→ entelechy) and thereby enriches it more and more. Rudolf Steiner hardly ever used this term in later writings and lectures.

The causal body is, in the first approximation, the permanent extract of the after-death memory-tableau which man experiences in the first days after death.

„After the expiration of the time during which the etheric body in connection with the astral body has detached itself from the physical body, there comes the moment when the astral body with all that is the higher members again detaches itself from the etheric body. The latter separates, the memory tableau fades away. But something of it remains for the human being, it is not completely lost. It is true that what one might call etheric or life substance is dispersed throughout the ether of the world, but a kind of essence remains of it, which can never again be lost to man on the farther wanderings of his life. He takes it with him like a kind of extract from the life tableau into all his future incarnations, even if he cannot remember it. That which is formed from this memory extract is called concrete-real the causal body. After each life, a new leaf is added to the book of life. This increases the life essence and, if the past lives were fruitful, causes the next to unfold in the corresponding way. Therein lies the cause why a life is rich or poor in talents, endowments, and so on.“ (Lit.:GA 99, p. 38f)

„The first destiny of man after death is therefore this review of the life that has passed, which varies in length and lasts on the average about three and a half days. Then comes a kind of second dying, in which the etheric also completely detaches itself from the astral body, and then a kind of etheric corpse remains. This etheric corpse dissolves very soon, although at a different rate in each human being, in the general world ether, but not completely; a kind of essence from the past life remains, which the I takes with it and which is an imperishable good that remains with the human being for all subsequent embodiments. After each embodiment, a new leaf, as it were, is added to the previous ones. In Theosophy this is called the causal body, and in the quality of this causal body lies the cause of how the later embodiments take shape.“ (Lit.:GA 100, p. 45)

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.
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