[Der kommende Messias]
Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl[1]
“As often as people’s sense of justice and truth wants to disappear and injustice
Raise your head, I’ll be born again
In this world. So say the Law.
To protect the good; but to ruin
I come among the wicked among them.”
—Bhagavad Gītā. IV. 7.
H. P. Blavatsky in her Key to Theosophy (page 306) says:[2]
“The next impetus (of the theosophical movement) will find a numerous and harmonious organization of people ready to receive the new light-bearer of truth. He will find the hearts of men ready to absorb his message, there will be a language fit to put into words the new revelations he brings, and a body will be in place to overcome the mechanical and material obstacles will remove those who are in his way.”
There are numerous sects which definitely hope for the appearance of a new world savior and regard themselves as his chosen ones, and it is also understandable that the beginning of a new spiritual era is a necessity if the world is not to perish because of the egoism that is generally gaining the upper hand; but whether this reversal will take place through a new spiritual tidal wave, or through a personality who is the embodiment of this new spirit, opinions are divided. Both are likely to be the case; for the spirit needs the material for its revelation, the invisible a symbol for its embodiment. Why shouldn’t a person be born in our time who, like Jesus and Buddha, is a lamp for those who cannot see the light without the lamp, and who works more powerfully through his personal influence than a thousand preachers through their words.
It is also understandable that such a person does not have to be a personification of the divine Logos from birth; rather, he becomes a Redeemer only through the descent and influx of the Holy Spirit, i.e., through the great inauguration or “initiation.” It is also said of Jesus of Nazareth that he only became a “Christ” and Savior through the baptism he received from John and when the Holy Spirit came over him, and Gautama Siddharta became a Buddha only when he received the light of enlightenment.
It is difficult to say in what form the new spirit will appear.
Notes:
[1] The Coming Messiah [Der kommende Messias. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Neue Lotusblüten 5, no. 7-8 (July-August 1912), 193-195] {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}
[2] {R.H.—Dr. Hartmann’s extract was paraphrased. I have inserted below, the entire reference, from my first edition of The Key to Theosophy, Being A Clear Exposition, in the form of Question and Answer, of the Ethics, science, and Philosophy For the Study of Which the Theosophical Society has Been Founded. By H. P. Blavatsky, New York, W. Q. Judge; London, The Theosophical Publishing Company, Limited, 1889, 306-307.
“If the present attempt, in the form of our Society, succeeds better than its predecessors have done, then it will be in existence as an organized, living, and healthy body when the time comes for the effort of the twentieth century. The general condition of men’s minds and hearts will have been improved and purified by the spread of its teachings, and, as I have said, their prejudices and dogmatic illusions will have been, to some extent at least, removed. Not only so, but besides a large and accessible literature ready to men’s hands, the next impulse will find a numerous and united body of people ready to welcome the new torch-bearer of Truth. He will find the minds of men prepared for his message, a language ready for him in which to clothe the new truths he brings, an organization awaiting his arrival, which will remove the merely mechanical, material obstacles and difficulties from his path.”}