Freedom and responsibility >>> Contributions to ‘Stil’ magazine describe karma without guilt

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 30 January 2026

Reincarnation and karma have been concepts of various cultures and religions, including in Western civilizations. One of Rudolf Steiner’s contributions consisted in looking at reincarnation and karma in the light of the human ability to evolve – without moral implications in the sense of punishment for transgressions in a previous earthly life.

Christiane Haid contrasts the passive understanding of karma as punishment for past errors (less commonly as reward for past merit) with the opposite view: “Only the sovereign thinking ‘I’ can confront spiritual and karmic laws responsibly.” Responsibility means grasping possible insights drawn from a previous life, understanding destiny and acting accordingly in the current incarnation. This view inspired Christiane Haid herself to identify with the given life situation. Alexander Schaumann describes it as a question not about Who, When and Where but about the themes of one’s own life.

Christine Gruwez concedes that actions have consequences but that these approach us from the outside. The way we meet them is based on a new decision, however. The irrevocable logic of karma, she says, is connected with the possibility of development, and more than that, we can help others – and that opens up a new chapter in our own destiny, as Rudolf Steiner writes, speaking of “acts of mercy.” Jaap Sijmons refers to another statement by Rudolf Steiner: “The past unconsciously drives us to encounters and situations – this is moon karma.” Sun karma, on the other hand, has to do with a person’s conscious decision as to if and how they give direction to the conditions of a situation (including their own preferences and abilities): “Without understanding sun karma one cannot resolve the ‘karmic entanglements’.” In this view karma brings together freedom and responsibility. If we are able to evolve, if we are evolving beings, then we are, according to Alexander Schaumann, not the continuation of someone who has become but we evolve in engaging with this former being.

Mechtild Oltmann widens the perspective from the necessarily self-related view of karma – co-responsibility and maturity regarding our own failures in practised self-knowledge – and goes beyond an understanding of the constellation with other people with whom we are connected by asking how our actions impact the earth. This requires in her view transformation rather than avoidance as we fully take hold of the earth so that personal karma can be extended to become a world event.

Rudolf Steiner’s own conclusion culminates in the statement that “karma does not take away our freedom. It is because of our freedom that we can create new karma at any moment through our actions” – a karma that is not associated with guilt but with relationship and agency.

(2777 characters/Sebastian Jüngel; English by Margot M. Saar)

‘Stil’ magazine (in German) Reinkarnation und Karma, 4/2025, 80 pages, CHF 20, Humanities Section at the Goetheanum Web (in German)

Contact person Christiane Haid