Note[1]
Hallein, (Austria.)
February ist, 1898.
To the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society in America:
Dear Brothers:
It is with great pleasure that I remember the spirit of harmony which prevailed during our Convention at New York in 1897, and I regret exceedingly not to be able to be again present during this coming Convention. I therefore take the liberty, as an old friend of H. P. Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge, to send you greetings and in my own name, no less than a mouthpiece of many people in Germany and Austria to address to you the following in writing:
If we look at any church, Theosophical Society, or any similar co-operation or organization whatever, we always find, that it is an organism composed of many parts, each having its seven principles the same as any individual man. The physical body of such a Society is formed by the persons composing it, its astral body by their instincts and desires, the quality of their life depends on the quality of the spirit prevading [pervading] the whole; the Kama Rupa is constituted by those who care only for the form of their Society, but do not recognize the spirit, and Kama Manas is represented by those intelligent members, who use their intellectual powers for the mere purpose of advancing the interests of their church or society, and if they do this in a spirit of intolerance and in opposition to the spirit of universal brotherhood, they represent the devilish element of their church. They constitute the animal body of their society, or the beast in each church, spoken of in St. John’s Revelation and which has to be overcome by the spirit of the true church. The true church or Theosophical Society is composed of those who care for wisdom more than for the form in which it is to become manifest; they are more anxious that the light of truth should spread through the whole body of humanity, than that it should be made subservient to the interests of any sect or society. They work for the spreading of light through the darkness and not for the fattening and glorification of their Society, leaving the development of that material body to the law of its own nature, which is the law of Karma—this being the law of justice, according to which every enterprise will receive its reward according to its actions. Those who are wise and above society interests, constitute the head on the top of the body; they are the real leaders, whether or not their names are publicly known. The beast in the church is the same as the beast in each member and has to be conquered by the spirit of wisdom in the church and in each member; but if all the efforts in a Society are directed principally to the advancement of its own material increase and glory, the body will grow fat, but the spirit will depart and a Theosophical Society, from which the spirit of wisdom has departed, is “theosophical” only in name. Happily this has not yet taken place in the Theosophical Society in America, and all true followers of Theosophy remember with pleasure the wise words spoken by Mr. Temple at the last annual Convention and which were received with acclamation and enthusiasm when he said:
“Every man, every woman and every child on earth, if they are willing to work for the brotherhood of man and humanity, is a member of the Theosophical Society, whether they have diplomas or not.” It is therefore not those who swear to the flag of a certain “leader” or cling to the dogmas of a certain “authority,” however great such a person may be, who constitute the true and free Theosophical Society instituted by H. P. Blavatsky on the basis of universal brotherhood. If the external form and historical documents were decisive in this matter, the pope in Rome would have more right than any other “president” to call himself the only leader of the theosophical movement all over the world, to pose as the patented keeper of divine wisdom, to regard the external body of his church as the only means of salvation and to exclude the whole of humanity from the light of truth, unless they were to submit to his supposed infallible dictates.—
The Theosophical Society—founded at New York in 1875—has always been free and universal, recognizing no pope, prescribing no creed or dogma or authority, not even a belief in the existence of Mahatmas or Adepts—and this freedom was maintained until the dogma of the existence of Adepts was forced upon it by the mistaken proceedings against W. Q. Judge. Now—our endeavour in Germany, Austria and other countries is to make clear to the public the difference between the spirit and the form of its manifestation; to make everyone understand the absolute freedom of that Theosophical Society, which was instituted by H. P. Blavatsky and founded by Col. Olcott, W. Q. Judge and others, and to which all who act according to the principle—laid down in its constitution—belong. We desire to keep the Theosophical movement— in this country at least—free from the spirit of clericalism, intolerance and partisanship. However much we may esteem the greatness of this or that person, we do not wish to belong to any personality or to be the blind followers of any “leader,” but we seek to attain Theosophy, the mastery of our own self. For this purpose we have not—as has been erroneously stated by some, founded a new or exclusive Society of our own, but we called the attention of all to the necessity of reviving the true spirit of that International Theosophical Brotherhood of Humanity, which has existed on the higher plane for thousands of years; whose laws and regulations may be found in all the books of the sages and among others in the Bible, where it says, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” These are all the laws we need. We ask no “loyalty” to any personality regardless of principle, and we owe allegiance to no man, but we strive to be loyal to the principle of humanity and recognize as our brothers all who are willing to be recognized as such. True brotherhood is only possible on a theosophical basis, which is the recognition of the unity and indivisibility of the light of divine wisdom that shines into all, whether they belong to a church or not. This light is nobody’s invention or creation, and no one is excluded from it except by his own ignorance. It has found its expression at all times in different forms and organizations and one of these is the Theosophical Society in America. In that Society it will manifest itself so long as the spirit of tolerance prevails therein, and while that spirit prevails, shall we be glad to meet our brothers there and to co-operate with them.
Wishing you good success, I am—with many others across the sea,
Yours very fraternally,
(Signed) Franz Hartmann.
Brotherhood, not subjection.
Co-operation, not vassalage.
Note:
[1] Dr. Hartmann’s Letter. Hallein (Austria.) February 1st, 1898. To the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society in America. The Theosophical Forum 3, no. 5 (September 1897), 23-25. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}