Until this epoch of evolution has been reached, however, the terrestrial human being must still experience its existence as being demarcated into separate physical and spiritual lives, where the transitions can occur only as total replacements of the organisms, which in turn usually cause the being to be conscious in only one of the two spheres in which it finds itself at the moment. Often during its stay in the physical world, at any rate, it is apt to deny the existence of the other sphere. In principle it is in a way the same as if a caterpillar were to deny the existence of a butterfly. Through modern spiritual science, however, the seeking "human caterpillars" of our time have the possibility to become familiar with something other than their own little local "caterpillar world". They can acquire an overview of the evolution of life, of the process of creation in the midst of which they are situated, and they can acquire knowledge about what promotes the development of that state in which pain, suffering and death are totally overcome.
      This imperceptible replacement of the organism that the terrestrial human being now experiences in a physical incarnation has taken it a very long time to attain, and it is just as much a matter of course that it must take some time before the transition to the spiritual world can take place in the same way. But even now the individual terrestrial human being has the possibility to turn death into something beautiful instead of something horrifying. It can learn to die by learning how to live, that is, by becoming familiar with the laws of life and trying to live in accordance with them. The more the human being, with its thoughts, feelings and actions, lives on the same wavelength as the keynote of the universe or universal morality – which is to be a joy and a blessing for all living beings – the easier death will be when it one day comes. It will be felt like a renewal of life, a lovely rest from what is, at times, a rather difficult life in physical matter. But it will not be the kind of rest one can get in an armchair or on a sofa. No – it will be as if one experiences the most wonderful holiday one can imagine. With one's thoughts as the means of transport one can visit zones and spheres at will, this too being based on universal laws. Then the organism is again replaced. The being must return to that world where resistance exists – a resistance that develops the being, to that world in which it hurts to think wrongly. But now it gets a new, healthy organism, which is built up in its mother's womb, and new possibilities in a future physical life to learn to think and live so as to gradually overcome death.