[Philosophie und Theosophie!]
Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[i]
Since there is much talk of “theosophy” these days, many demand to know what it means. To give a definition of “theosophy” which can be understood by the limited earthly mind is just as impossible as an “explanation” of “god” “infinity” or other things that are above all earthly concepts. “Theosophy” or “divine wisdom” is the divine wisdom or self-knowledge of God in the universe and therefore belongs to the infinite, eternal and immortal spirit, but not to the limited and ephemeral human being, for the earthly mind cannot comprehend what is beyond its comprehension.
“Theosophy” is often confused with “philosophy.” It is only correct that philosophy only has value insofar as it refers to theosophy, i.e., based on knowledge of the truth. Everything that arises from any conclusions or speculations, no matter how correct the conclusion, is not yet theosophy, but merely theory. Logic can certainly guide you along the path to knowledge of the truth and bring you nearer to the truth; but an opinion or idea formed in this way or in any other way is only an opinion and not self-knowledge. Self-knowledge needs no speculation or philosophy; it rests on no conclusion but on its own being. The truth is because it is.
Philosophy is a product of the human mind; No one can fabricate theosophy. We cannot create the sun, we can only let it shine on us. There are different philosophical systems; but the self-knowledge of truth does not belong to any person or system; rather, every system has no more and no less value than the truth on which it is based represents, and what has no truth is not true.
The difference between philosophy and theosophy is that philosophy is a piece of human work, while theosophy is God’s self-knowledge in the human heart. Philosophy seeks to find out what things might be in their true essence; Theosophy recognizes in itself what is. Philosophy develops through thought, inquiry, comparison and brooding, in which man figures as one thing and truth figures as something else; Theosophy is the self-knowledge of the truth in man, which can only come about when man himself becomes one with the truth, when all his own research and searching in selfhood ceases and the brooding and dissecting mind stands still.
A modern philosopher says aptly: “Only the philosopher who strives towards his goal with rich knowledge and wholeheartedly in years of uninterrupted mental work will be able to create a coherent whole.” The theosophist does not need to forge a whole out of individual parts; he recognizes the already existing whole by allowing the whole to come to knowledge within him. — “Looking together,” says W. Jerusalem, “and summarizing what is being researched in the various fields of knowledge, bringing it together into a unity and bringing it close to our hearts, that is the task of philosophy.” The theosophist, on the other hand, tries not to strive for anything at all for his own transitory “I,” but only to keep quiet, so that the divine I in him can come to his self-introspection. The philosopher strives for his own knowledge, the theosophist for a waking up of his own self in the knowledge of truth, comparable to a spark rising in a flame, whereby the spark is not destroyed but becomes a flame.
To put together, to compare, to create opinions, hypotheses, theories is the business of philosophy. The theosophist, on the other hand, has no other task than to gain victory over his human nature through obedience to the divine law. He does not need to form an image of the unity, but only to allow the unity of the whole to come to cognition in itself. The philosopher forms his own idea of what can possibly be true by trying to determine what, according to his concepts, is not true; the theosophist has no idea of his own at all, but attains knowledge of the truth, in that it reveals itself in his soul without his intervention, under his own power.
Philosophy proceeds, although without being aware of it, from the correct principle that man, as she knows him, is incapable of any knowledge at all other than that which he acquires through objective observation and logical deduction, and most philosophers finally come to the conclusion, like Goethe’s Faust, “that we can know nothing.” The theosophist does not ask to know anything about things that are of no use to him as long as he does not have them, but he strives to become, then knowledge will come of itself. The philosopher seeks to bring his intellectual activity to the highest level of perfection and still remains a mortal man, for whom all his theories and opinions cannot bring immortality, and for whom all his knowledge is useless after death; the theosophist, on the other hand, seeks above all to establish and maintain the conditions in his own nature under which the immortal spark in his heart can ignite and the lotus bud of divine self-awareness can blossom in his soul, in order finally to bring about the ripe fruit of freedom and redemption to produce self-knowledge, not through his own personal will, but through the will of the highest, divine love, becoming active and manifest in him. Theosophy is the attainment of self-awareness of divine and immortal being.
If we have succeeded in making our point of view clear in the above, it follows that theosophy is not easy and not for everyone. One need not confuse Theosophy with what the Theosophists teach. Mere knowledge is not possession. Although theosophical teachings are accessible to everyone, their practical implementation is difficult. One can be a great philosopher and at the same time be of a perverted nature and a wretched man; but theosophy demands a complete transformation of everything that is wrong, a restoration of pure human nature, an entry into a higher spiritual life of which the world knows nothing and cannot know anything, a spiritual awakening, a higher form of consciousness. One can practice philosophy as a pastime and for pleasure, but theosophy demands a complete devotion to “true being,” a full, holy earnestness. Philosophizing can be learned from books, but the entrance to true theosophy is mystical death.
Even the term “self-knowledge” indicates that it is a question of realizing something that one is oneself. One can have knowledge of what one is not, but not self-knowledge. In order to attain theosophy, or divine self-knowledge, one must himself become divine in nature, and since there is but one God in the universe, i.e., there is only one truth, and not many gods, so the man striving for divine wisdom must sacrifice his individuality, insofar as it is something different from God or from truth; in other words, since falsehood cannot itself know truth, what is false in man must die in order that truth may be fully revealed in him, and this is the study and practice of Theosophy.
Note:
[i] Philosophy and Theosophy! [Philosophie und Theosophie! Franz Hartmann, M.D. Lotusblüten 2, no. 11 (August 1893), 639-646] This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}