Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[1] [2]
Ηow many thousands are there who mindlessly repeat the Lord’s Prayer every day without knowing the true meaning of the words they say? Others seek to uplift their souls and strengthen their spiritual powers by penetrating the words; but find an insurmountable obstacle as to the wrong conception of these words; for where the meaning of a word is misunderstood, even a deeper penetration into the meaning by the wrong view can only lead deeper into the labyrinth of error. Therefore, in order to recognize the correct meaning of the words of the “Lord’s Prayer”, it will be useful to research these words found in the ancient Greek texts, since the original Syro-Chaldean manuscript from which the Greek translation originated, is no longer available.
As with all such translations and explanations however, we are faced with an insurmountable obstacle; namely, the impossibility of making understandable to the material mind the true meaning of words which refer to spiritual forces and which the material mind cannot understand because the material mind does not possess the capability of understanding [spiritual things]. What one cannot feel, one cannot understand either, and in order to feel or perceive a spiritual force, it must above all be alive in us. The material worldview of our century, which is coming to an end, knows nothing of spiritual forces; the self-confident possession of them and with it the feeling and the knowledge of them, have been lost for the great majority, and therefore the majority also have no understanding of the true meaning of the words which refer to these unknown things. As a result however, the words in question have generally been given a wrong meaning, and in our modern languages one would have to invent new words when speaking of spiritual things in order not to be misunderstood. Thus, for example, the Greek “pistis” means “standing firm in spiritual knowledge”, and not what is nowadays understood as “belief” or “holding a theory to be true”; “Dikaiosune” [R.H.—dikaiosyne] means something other than “self-imposed righteousness,” “ktisis” something completely different than a “creation out of nothing,” etc., and it must be pointed out again and again in the study of true mysticism that not earthly common sense, but only the spirit of God in man (in the microcosm) can explore the depths of the knowledge of God (in the macrocosm). Only in this way can the individual succeed in clearing the truths of the Christian religion from the theological misery which has accumulated to it. Whoever succeeds in this will find in the four Gospels of the “New Testament” a depth of thought, breadth of knowledge and height of conception achieved by few other religious writings.
Our Father, You, Who is in the over-world!
In order to understand Who is considered to be God as the Father, we would first have to understand God through His aspect as the Son, that is God, Who has become Himself in man; for as the Bible teaches us, no one can come to the Father except through the Son; or in other words, man can create any creature he calls “God” in his imagination or, in his folly, imagine himself to be a God; but the true, infinite and omnipresent Father of the universe cannot be grasped or grasped by the limited human mind. Eckhart says: “If I were to understand God, then man would be something higher than God; because only the greater can comprehend and understand the lessor.”
The higher-world or “heaven” is the state of consciousness in which it is above all earthly and transitory things; the God-consciousness in which God rests and in which only true theosophy or knowledge of God can be found; because where there is no consciousness there can be no perception or knowledge.
In addition to the Father of everything, every human being has his own Father, Who can be viewed as a ray of light from the original source of all light, namely, the spirit incarnated in his personality and “overshadowing” it; his actual essential individuality, which outlasts that which is mortal in man; his heavenly Soul, which repeatedly builds up a new human form in order to gain experience on earth and thereby to soar to a higher degree of self-knowledge and self-control. This “Father” or the higher “I” is the true spiritual Guide of people striving for truth, Who can bring people closer to Himself and thereby closer to God. The doctrine of reincarnation gives more information about this.
Your name rings out; let your rulership resound; your will arise.
The name of God is its essence. He is the sacred OM or Amen; the mystical name of the Christos, the redeeming power, the word that is used to bring the spiritual breath to life in us. It is the sacred syllable of the Buddhists and Brahmins, the inner meaning of which can only become clear to the spirit man. In it is contained the great and holy mystery, which the worldly man cannot understand and which the fool blasphemes, and of which it is said: “Do not give the Holy to the dogs and do not throw your pearls before the swine, for they would kick it with their feet and turn against you and tear you apart.”
That this creative word, which is the expression and the revelation of the Divine Will and Thought, in other words, the Holy Spirit, is revealed within us and fills our consciousness, which should be the striving of every Christian, as is the endeavor of the Indian yogis; for this word is the word of God and not a human word; it is truth and reality itself, and only through the fact that the spiritual power expressed by it becomes reality in us can we ourselves attain true self-consciousness. If this seems incomprehensible, you should consider that divine self-knowledge is not for everyone, and that this is not about material science, nor about the “wisdom of this age and the greatness of this world, which becomes nothing, but we bring forward God’s mysterious and veiled wisdom (Θεõυ-σοφίαν), which God has determined from eternity to be our glory” (I. Corinth. II, 6)[3].
It is God’s will that he should come to revelation in us; the will of man cannot contribute to this, but only hinder this revelation. Only when the will of God rises in us like a storm wind, will the selfish personal will opposing it be overcome. That is why Jacob Böhme says in his book “About super-sensible life”: “If you stand still from the senses and the will of your selfhood, then the Eternal hearing, seeing and speaking becomes ever evident within you and the seeing and hearing of God through you. Your own hearing, wanting and seeing prevent you from neither seeing nor hearing God. If you remain silent, you are what God was by nature and creature, from which he made your nature and creature. So you hear and see with what God saw and heard in you, prior to your own will and seeing began.”
“Your will be done” in an external sense usually means that we consent to God’s Will be done in the universe, even if it is uncomfortable for us; because we cannot prevent it the way we would like to.[4] In the mystical sense, however, this prayer, is not a “please,” but a decision of will, and interprets that the will of the man of God becomes a living power in us and permeates our consciousness (heaven) and our body (earth).
The kingdom or rulership of God in us extends just as far as the Will which has become alive and the consciousness of God expands out. This divine self-consciousness was present in a much higher degree during an earlier evolutionary period, before man had descended into matter, and dissipated [accordingly] as man identified with his animal existence. As man awakens again to the self-consciousness of his higher nature and the kingdom of God descends again on earth, it should not be a mere pious wish or inactive request, but rather the active endeavor of everyone. The kingdom of God, i.e., Self-knowledge, appears before it can become common on earth, and no one can attain to this Self-knowledge in anyone else other than in oneself.
What is not talked about among the theologians is the “submission to the Will of God,” and how few people know what this will is. A surrender to a will which one does not know is a surrender to the will of ignorance, whereby one runs the risk of falling into the greatest follies and taking the will of the devil[5] for the will of God. In order to be able to surrender to the will of God, one must enter into this Will, and in order to be able to enter into it, it must be revealed to us, which is only possible when the Will of the divine Self in our personal selves elevates above our personal [lower] will.
As [it is] in the heavens, so [it is] also on earth.
The “firmament” or the fixed is God-consciousness based on the knowledge of the true. It is the true Church, which is not based on the crumbling sandy soil of theories and churchly articles of faith, but on the inward revelation of the truth. Whoever is completely filled with this consciousness, is also permeated with the material body and this spiritual power brings about certain changes in the material body, which enable people to do wonderful works which are impossible for ordinary people, and for scholars of the world, who only know the lower laws of nature are incomprehensible.
Give us today the bread of the coming day[6] and release us from our debts, just as we have freed those who had debts against us. Do not bring us to trial, but free us from uselessness.
The “coming day” is the day of enlightenment; “bread” is the light of the knowledge of God. A purely theoretical science in relation to the properties of this light will be of little use to us if we do not absorb it within ourselves, so that this “blood of Christ” becomes spiritual power in us and passes over into our own flesh and blood. This “bread”, which our body enjoys by breathing in our soul, is the “elixir of life” of immortality. “Whoever enjoys it will live through the eons (Manvantara’s).”
This light is present everywhere and does not close itself off to anyone who wants to or can absorb it. So here, too, it is not a question of a selfish request for something external to be given; instead, the above words express the soul’s striving to ward off the shadows which are a hindrance to inner enlightenment, in other words the soul’s struggle through night to light, from bondage to freedom.
Neither does the following sentence speak of a reduction in our material debts or moral obligations, which would be the greatest injustice to our creditors, but rather relates to the doctrine of karma, according to which we must reap what we sow. Ignorance of our true nature is the cause of our desire for personal existence, and that desire is the cause of our mortal existence, whereby we are subject to the law of karma. Once the self has been overcome, everything which is connected with and related to this self is overcome; for that which is above everything is no longer bound by anything. The words in question therefore express the joyful anticipation of a voluntary and complete renunciation of all selfishness and all that is connected with it; the fulfillment of this “request” depends on ourselves; nothing binds us to the self but our own will. If we let it go, we’ll be free.
The effect of the law of karma, however, is based on the fact that all creatures basically have only one single origin and are therefore one in their innermost essence, even if their physical appearance is different from one another. Therefore what one creature does to another, it basically does to itself. Furthermore, as we know, everything finally returns to its origin, and the good as well as the bad deed is a cause which produces consequences which sooner or later revert to their originator; be it in this or in a following existence. The doctrine of karma explains more about this, through which this part of the “Lord’s Prayer” can be understood.
The great trial to which man is called takes place on the “day of judgment”.
The “day of judgment,” however, is the day of self-knowledge, to which the now existing self-knowledge judges the person and rejects what it finds useless in him.
A person who does not recognize his own true being, in other words, a person who has not yet reached a true self-conscious existence, is also nothing more than a pseudo-being (eidolon) and useless for immortality. If the separation of the spiritual from the material occurs before the human being has come to self-knowledge, he does not pass the test and the appearance which he himself is disappears.
That is why he who seeks truth not only in theory but in practice strives to find himself as he is in truth and advances to separate himself from the illusion of selfhood and special existence; but this only happens through the power of divine love within us; for the self cannot overcome itself. The God-man in us in whom this love is realized is our Redeemer; it redeems itself from the man when the immortal parts from the mortal, and he thereby also redeems that which man is immortally connected to him.
It is not God, but the devil of selfishness, which leads man into temptation, and there is no point in asking God [the Monad or Higher Self] not to do what he cannot do anyway without becoming a devil himself; also an outward release from all evil would put an end to all progress; for evil does not become good by avoiding it, but by overcoming it. Where there is no struggle, there is no victory, and where there is no victory, no crown is won. Anyone who does not use the steps which lead up to a high mountain will not get to the summit. The material is the way to the spiritual, the night is the guide to the light, sin is the way to knowledge, and the devil [the selfish or lower elements in] himself becomes our redeemer through our growing mastery over him.
Because yours is the kingdom, the power and the radiance[7] through all the eons (Manvantara’s). Amen!
This invocation is a renewal of the memory that without God, man is nothing and God in him is everything. Man without God is a larva,[8] an empty semblance, a temporary appearance, created by the moment and without being in himself, a nothing, and as such all his own will, thinking and acting, knowledge and ability is correct and from the point of view considered the truth without value. His actions may be relatively good or bad, but nothing in itself is good but the Spirit of God who is the life of all, the light, the word and love. It is the power of the Father exercised through the Son, and the Son is the person in whom it arrives to self-knowledge and revelation. But this includes the union of God with man and man with God, and this happens through the unity of thought, will and word. The will of God is everything; he is the law, the truth, and the substance. We ourselves are this will, and when we recognize ourselves in truth, we recognize the will of God, of which we are embodied forms. In order to achieve divine self-knowledge, however, this requires enlightenment through God’s light; for this purpose the removal of error, and for this purpose the correct way of thinking; but thought is realized through deed.
The right way of thinking is taught in the “Lord’s Prayer” and the principles contained in that document are affirmed through internal utterance. The practical exercise of the “Lord’s Prayer” is therefore one of the best exercises (yoga) for developing the spiritual powers dormant in us, provided the meaning is not misunderstood, and it shows us that Christianity, in its purity, is a mystical school free of theological mirror-boxing, in which the union with God is taught, which is the only way to immortality.
Notes
[1] {Das ‘Vaterunser’ und dessen mystische Bedeutung. Franz Hartmann. Lotusblüten 6, no. 38 (1895), 767-84. I have formatted the actual Lord’s Prayer translation in bold, text which is not in bold from the original German article.—by Robert Hütwohl, ©2025. Notice should be taken in this article that Franz Hartmann, when he uses the term “God,” is not using it in the theistic Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditional sense. He ascribed to the idea of the One Life, as taught in H.P. Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine. However, as there are many levels of manifestation by this One Life, those levels may be better understood if one reads, as one example, Geoffrey Hodson’s: “Some Theosophical Ideas Concerning God, Religion and Ethics. Geoffrey Hodson. The Theosophist 76 (October 1954), 13-17, available at my website.}
[2] With the use of an article about the “Sermon on the Mount” published in Irish Theosophist. Vol. III, no. 12. {The Sermon on the Mount. Aretas. Irish Theosophist 3, no. 12 (September 1895), 213-220; Irish Theosophist 4, no. 1 (Oct. 1895), 12-15.
[3] See “Lotusblüten,” Vol. 1, No. 1: “The Voice of the Silence.”
[4] There will, however, be many who already know this and will view Christianity from a higher standpoint than the one given here, but the above remarks have no relation to this. It is not our intention to teach the wise something new, but to guide the ignorant to an understanding of their own religion.
[5] [R.H.—Franz Hartmann means here, by the devil, wrong knowledge or misunderstanding, a distortion of true understanding. In his writings, Hartmann did not espouse the traditional understanding of the Devil.]
[6] The word epiousion does not mean daily bread, but rather, that of the coming or future day.
[7] doxa = the shining; the transfigured body of spiritual resurrection or rebirth.
[8] [R.H.—Theosophical Glossary by H. P. Blavatsky: “Larva (Latin) = The animal Soul. Larvae are the shadows of men which have lived and died.”]