Neue Lotusblüten 6, no. 1-2 (January-February 1913), 50-59
[Unabhängigkeit. Eine Betrachtung]
Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl[1]
People think they can stand on their own two feet, while only their lower self is under the spell of passions and often enough demons chasing behind them. The Christian education consisted essentially in the fact that one should distrust one’s “I.” “Le moi est haïssable,” “the I is worth hating” says Pascal, and Christ already said that one should hate one’s soul, i.e., one’s lower self. That’s why in the Catholic Church we have the sacrament of penance and instruction through the confessional, to which even advanced persons, even saints, have much to thank. The theosophical movement, on the other hand, rightly desires the greatest possible spiritual independence and therefore no moral influence by others.
How should one behave here? Every reader should ask themselves this question and make their own point of view clear. There is hardly anything more educational than to think about ethical questions and then to freely choose according to one’s insight. Most people today are in an intermediate stage between the earlier moral dependence on regulations which were considered objectively correct and free humanity, as preached by those who abolished the “law.”
Each person has a different point of view than the other. Karma and Dharma are different. Everyone follows a slightly different course of development than their neighbors. The ideal that one has often does not correspond to the ideal of the other. What they all have in common, however, is the view that one is right and thinks “objectively”. Unfortunately, objectivity all too often lets you down when the will (in the broadest, Schopenhauerian sense) is engaged. Everyone is under the influence of their character and that can only be changed slowly. But knowledge often only comes after long suffering. On the other hand, you usually don’t want to wait until you’ve learned from damage. The experiment is often too expensive. Some then even renounce action altogether (following the process of the Buddhists, who do not want to create any new karma), although inaction is often enough even more harmful or dangerous than action.
Whoever thinks wrong is dependent. Whose continued wrong thinking leads to wrong feeling becomes addicted. One whose continued wrong feeling drives foolish action becomes addicted.
Therefore, the first task in becoming independent would be to think correctly, clearly, and without bias. But very few can do that. Their little self is their god, they hardly know anyone else. What has been preached to them about religion has only been absorbed intellectually, but not digested, and most have neither time nor instructions for philosophical deepening.
As long as the mind is still ruled by the will, it must always be mistrusted. On the other hand, light comes to everyone when they make their ego receptive to it, usually when they are relaxing rather than concentrating. Few can concentrate so hard that the good thoughts come to them whenever they want. That’s why there are so few truly independent characters and independent magazines. Every newspaper calls itself “independent,” but in truth it is far from it.
A good way of becoming independent is to try to get to know and endure, even to love, the most contradictory views. Whoever reads the same sheet or associates with the same people becomes one-sided. There are also highly one-sided theosophists. “No intellectual opinion, says Annie Besant (“Theosophist” August 1912), is of any value to a man who has not acquired it through his own investigation. It is more beneficial to exercise our reasoning, even when it leads us to an incorrect conclusion and to an erroneous opinion, than to simply repeat like parrots what other people tell us and thus cut off the opportunity for intellectual development.”
“I hate the reader of a book,” says a Latin proverb. Belonging to one “direction” easily becomes blind to all good things that come from another direction. One tries to learn from the supposed opponent. The Theosophist has no enemies. He should love and appreciate everything and learn from everyone.
Unfortunately, today we lack the classical training of the Pythagoreans and other mystery schools, which Schuré describes so wonderfully in his “Great Initiates.” Theosophical training is mostly still too theoretical, which all too often degenerates into knowing everything. Conversely, it would be better if one began to develop the character and only then read theosophical works, as was customary in the old schools of philosophy. It would be desirable if one went through a few years of really religious, ecclesiastical discipline before one believed one could rely on one’s dubious ego, and some theosophists, especially females, would do better on Sundays to take the dusty hymnal off the bookshelf again and going to church than listening to spirited theosophical lectures for which they are not yet ready — and neglecting the household chores.
Independence obviously consists in the true freedom of the ego, that is, in the independence from the world, namely from people, their views, prejudices, etc., and from oneself, that is, the foolish, immoral, unfavorable opinions, idiosyncrasies, desires, etc., accumulated in previous lives, which lie dormant in the “subconscious” and can be awakened at any opportunity. When the Bible says that the devil walks around like a roaring lion, this can be related to the sleeping lion in the “unconscious.” From time to time he roars at everyone and tries to devour him. “Where you do not dwell according to your own will, angels dwell with you and everywhere; — and where you live according to your own will, the devils will live with you and everywhere,” says the Theosophist Jakob Böhme (Werke 1, 143).
Catholicism emphasizes the dependence on the personally conceived God, which the Buddhist understands as the great universal Law. Theosophy includes both views, the abstract as leaning on the world order and the personal as leaning on the Solar Logos (Christ, Indian Ishvara “the Lord”). I am ultimately Christ, the Lord of the world, and salvation consists only in our seeing this. The Oupnekat (“Upanishads”) says that he who recognizes that he is God becomes free.
Therefore one can say that the attainment of independence consists in disregarding all that has become, earthly, worldly, carnal, individual, divided and recognizing the great unity. The more you progress, the better you see unity everywhere. A narrow-minded, narrow-minded, one-sided, egotistical person is always dependent on his lower self, which morbidly clings to something created because it instinctively expects an advantage from it. But when “personality” rises into “individuality,” the ego gathers some good from whatever comes near it, and grows that way, just like a small state that takes advantage of the embarrassments of its big neighbors, can gradually become a great power.
The foundation for independence of character should be laid in youth. I am therefore pleased to be able to recommend a book which, although intended primarily for young people of both sexes, is also aimed at all thinking people in general and can be regarded as an “ethics for educators.” It is “Lifestyle” by Fr. W. Förster (Berlin Verlag by Georg Reimer). Every Theosophist can read the little book with benefit and recommend it to others. There is a lack of good instructions on the art of living.
I would like to give a small example (p. 102): “Schiller describes hunger and love as the two main driving forces of man.
But it is precisely in youth that the fear of ridicule and disdain for companionship, and the striving for the respect of chumps and dandies is perhaps the strongest of all motives. This is where it comes to light most quickly whether a person has what it takes to have character and really achieve what is called “self-determination,” or whether they are simply exchanging domestic immaturity for a different kind of paternalism. Anyone who wants to be free here must become aware of the temptation to dependency in all its strength, must also offer resistance in harmless things for the sake of practice — must generally show indomitable courage, his demeanor and his attitude to life entirely according to his personal conscience and judge taste.
Now if anyone who considers it slavery to obey conscience, and to refine and deepen that conscience daily—if only he knew how quickly he falls under the sway of the rascals and the scoundrels, the gamblers and liars, without this “discipline of self-determination!”
Another work, just published in English, “The Transparent Jewel” by the well-known Mabel Collins (London W. Rider 1912) is highly recommended for the more advanced. In this inconspicuous little book, the famous author of “Light on the Path” gives a wealth of suggestions that will last a lifetime. The gem that is translucent is the human spirit when it is rid of all earthly dross, clairvoyantly discerning God. The Instruction is the old Patañjali, given in translation, and with a long excellent introduction. Whoever reads them recognizes how one can become truly independent.
There is no safer method. But it is difficult for us Europeans. The “Siddhis,” i.e., attaining secret powers of yogins is the greatest art on earth. One should not advance by mechanical training in the manner of so-called hatha yoga, with its torturous postures and strange practices, but by the yoga of devotion, as so many saints of the Catholic Church have done.
There are now so many ways to improve the soul through breathing exercises, but the truth is that they are often detrimental to both body and soul. Without training the higher soul faculties one should never practice breathing exercises. Both are present in Patañjali’s system, but only hinted at. Nor is it advisable to attempt such practices without the supervision of a practiced master. But it is clear to anyone who reads Patañjali that truth can never be arrived at through the five senses, that rather it can only be known within itself in mysterious ways hitherto accessible to few. What was only possible for a few great Adepts, such as Apollonius of Tyana, will gradually become the common property of all when the translucent jewel will sit in a translucent body. Then alone will full independence be attained, then full freedom will be attained.
Note:
[1] Independence. A Contemplation. [Unabhängigkeit. Eine Betrachtung. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Neue Lotusblüten 6, no. 1-2 (January-February 1913), 50-59] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl, ©2025}