[T. S. in G. Der erste Kongress der neuorganisierten “Theosophischen Gesellschaft in Deutschland,” versammelt in Berlin am 29. August 1896, in Anwesenheit der amerikanischen Kreuzfahrer.” Ansprache, gehalten von Dr. Franz Hartmann.]
Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[i]
Ladies and gentlemen!
All of you who are acquainted with my writings know that I am an enemy of all obsessions with clubs; and the reason why I am is because most clubs are founded not on principles but on theories. A number of like-minded people get together who hold certain opinions or articles of faith and now fight anyone who has a different or opposing opinion. An exception to this, the only one I know of, is the Theosophical Society founded in America 21 years ago, which I joined in New York in 1882. I belong to this Society because apart from the principle of general human brotherhood, it does not represent any theory or opinion. The members can believe or think what they want among themselves, they can be Christian or Jewish, Buddhist, Mohammedan, Brahmin, theist, pantheist, materialist, spiritualist or even “atheist” if they wish, and if it pleases them, exchange their personal opinions among themselves just as if they were botanists, chemists, astronomers, physicians, and the like. I do not care whether this or that member is Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist or anything else, whether he believes in the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Madame Blavatsky, W. Q. Judge, Mrs. Besant, or anyone else. Even the opinions of the President of the Theosophical Society are his own and have nothing to do with any doctrine established by the Society. It has nothing to do with all sects, systems, opinions and theories. It strives to rise above all dogmatism and to rise above all sectarianism. It establishes no other dogma than the love of truth, and thus all arguments about differences of opinion which could affect society as such are cut off the ground. The only cornerstone on which The Theosophical Society is built is love of truth; the purpose of the society is expressed in its constitution and reads: “To form a nucleus around which the (yes, universally, theoretically recognized) ideas of a universal human brotherhood can crystallize and achieve actual realization.” As you can see, it is not a question of establishing any theory, but of putting into practice a principle which is already known. Enough has already been preached about this principle, it is now a question of putting it into practice. The ideal is not realized by merely observing it from afar, or merely believing it to be there, it can only be realized by action. Theosophy as such has therefore nothing at all to do with belief in the seven principles, reincarnation, adepts, spiritism, etc. It goes without saying that every member is free to occupy himself with any branch of material or spiritual science, but theosophy itself is not dogmatic, but the knowledge of God, which encompasses everything.
Universal human brotherhood is based on universal human love, and this love is not a mere theory, nor a fantastic fanaticism, but consists in the knowledge that all human beings, even all creatures, are essentially a unity, albeit different in their forms, appearances and their properties.
An explanation is now necessary here, and I could be accused of having already set up a dogma, namely the unity of the essence of everything, as a representative of the “Theosophical Society.” I ask you, therefore, to consider that anything I put forward in relation to any theory, or what anyone else says, should not be taken as an official statement by the Society; rather I am only using the freedom allowed to each member to explain and defend my own views.
My idea of the oneness of God in all agrees with that which we find expressed in the writings of the philosophers of all nations, but perhaps most clearly in the writings of Sankaracharya [Śaṅkarācārya]. He says: “Everything is mind (Ātma). The spirit is the one essence of all things, which reveals itself as a multiplicity of different appearances.” — But instead of delving into philosophical discussions, I want to try to make things clear with an example:
When I look around at the world, there is only one world-soul; the individual human souls in it are not different from one another in their innermost essence; all rooted in God. If we regard the soul of the world as a great ocean, we find that everything in it is water. If we imagine that ice blocks or icebergs are swimming around in it, then these too are essentially nothing other than water, the only difference being that the state in which they find themselves is temporarily different from that of their surroundings. They differ from their liquid neighbors not in their nature, but in their frozenness. That is their individuality. But once ice blocks or icebergs have formed, each one differs from the others by its individual properties, by the nature of its crystallization, by its purity, shape, size, etc. When the heat of the sun comes along, they all melt away, the form or appearance with its individual properties disappears; it’s all just water.
Similarly, I should consider the soul of the world and the individual human phenomena existing within it. We should not say, “We have a soul,” but we ourselves are soul; our bodily organization is the visible expression of the mental activity at work in us. The soul, the self from which our self-awareness stems, is our essence; the body is only a temporary phenomenon. In the great true Self, innumerable individual pseudo-selves have formed through the delusion of self-conceit, which in their innermost being are only one, just like the countless ice needles in the polar sea are all made of water. Because this apparent self attains an individual existence, it also takes on individual characteristics that differ from one another and fight one another. One block is learned, another stupid, one follows his animal nature, in another the higher divine nature has awakened, one is beautiful, the other ugly, one good, the other bad, etc.; in essence, however, they are all the same. As the cold freezes water, self-conceit draws a hard crust of selfishness around the hearts of men. But then comes the warmth of divine love, i.e., the recognition of the unity of the being, then the crust of egoism dissolves and the human being recognizes himself as a whole in the whole. Just as a piece of ice melted by heat no longer forms a separate piece of water but forms the sea together with all other parts of the sea, so too is the soul filled with infinity, in which egoism has disappeared, does not form a separate piece of the world soul, but All-consciousness then takes the place of their self-conceit. But the more man recognizes his own true self in all creatures, the more he will love this divine self, the self of all beings, in all other appearances, and the more peace and happiness will also be on earth. This is not pious fanaticism, but is the logically demonstrable science of true religion.
The basis of all true religion is the knowledge of the truth. It is different with the religious systems that are built on this knowledge. These may have their origin in this or that tradition; they are only forms which, as history teaches us, are subject to change. As the human organism is a vessel in which the spirit manifests itself, so too are religious systems like organisms whose life is the knowledge of truth. Without knowledge of the truth there is no true religion and no true science; but the more a system is penetrated by this knowledge, the more true it is.
This knowledge of the truth is “Theosophy” or, as it is called in the Bible (I Corinthians II, 7), the “hidden wisdom of God”; — “hidden” or “occult” because they are not compatible with earthly common sense, but can only be felt spiritually with the heart and recognized spiritually. It does not consist in secret theories or in great erudition, but in a spiritual awakening by which man becomes capable, apart from all learned opinions, of penetrating ever more deeply by way of intuition into the divine mysteries of nature; not by clairvoyance or somnambulism, but by the truth itself becoming more and more evident in him.
The greatest mystery is man himself in his innermost being, and the highest science is self-knowledge. Since the innermost being of every human being and its origin is the deity, true self-knowledge is also knowledge of God. There is but one Truth or Being, one True Self, which embodies All in All. This is God. Not the god of the pantheistic worldview, who is called “the universe,” but the deity from which the universe sprang, just as a man’s thoughts spring from his mind. But thought is not man, and the world is not God. God is the essence, the world is its revelation in the appearance of nature.
There are two kinds of looking at people: The so-called “scientific” one, which is in fact very unscientific and short-sighted because it doesn’t know what is essential about human beings, and the spiritual or theosophical one. The former sees man as a material body which in an incomprehensible manner produces phenomena called life and thought, feeling and will, but which no one can explain. The spiritual view recognizes man as a spirit inhabiting a body in which this spirit manifests itself and which it uses as its tool. We must leave it to any reasonable person to judge which of these views is correct.
No one will be so short-sighted as to believe that plants are the producers of the light that makes them grow. They are organisms built by the influence of light. Not their own light, but the light of the sun through them brings life and color to them. It is not the body that creates the mind, but the mind that forms the body and uses it to manifest in it life and consciousness, sensation, thought and will. Where there is no spirit, there is no life, where there is no thought, there is no vital activity. It is not thinking that produces the spirit, but the activity of thinking is made possible by the presence of the spirit. Spirit is higher than thought. One can think when one has spirit; but one can also refrain from thinking without being mindless or unconscious. In other words: There is a consciousness that is raised above all objective observation, feeling and thinking, where all concept of “selfness” ends, where the human being enters the truth, the light, God and what that brain cannot comprehend, spiritually recognizes with the soul. This is a spiritual activity which only one who possesses this spiritual power can perform. It is called “the living faith” in the language of the Church, although few of those who use the word know what it is about. It is not the imagination, but the intuition or feeling of truth, by means of which man recognizes the truth that fills his soul, even without external evidence. It has nothing to do with religious enthusiasm; but it is the power of God in man, searching the depths of divinity. It is the only key to knowledge of God or “Theosophy,” and therefore the wise Sankaracharya [Śaṅkarācārya] taught more than two thousand years ago that the first condition for attaining true knowledge is the possession of that power which enables man to distinguish the eternal from the transitory, distinguish essence from appearance.
All human beings possess this spiritual power or energy; but it is not formed or developed in all. Every human being has a divine spark in their soul that can be kindled by the warmth of love for the flame. The seat of this spark is not in the brain but in the heart; but if the spark becomes a flame in the heart, its light also illuminates the intellect. But the reason why so few people are enlightened by the light of divine wisdom is that most know nothing of this inner life and therefore do not strive for it. The world is full of so-called rational people, who have only a head but no heart, and are, so to speak, beside themselves all their lives. Others wallow in their feelings and lose their minds in the process. However, for true cognition both are necessary, heart and brain, soul and intellect. The light of knowledge dwelling in the heart has been compared to the sun, the light of understanding to the moon. The moon has no light of its own, it shines only as a result of the reflection of the sun’s light on its surface. A mind without love is without true knowledge; he gives a false, deceptive light. Nevertheless, the moon and also the mind are indispensable. Where the sun does not shine, the moon does good service. Where there is a lack of wisdom, science often helps. The heart should feel the truth and the mind should examine this knowledge. Then man finds his way in true wisdom.
This knowledge is therefore not the product of pondering and researching, of conceit, cunning and delusion, of dogmatism or fanaticism, but a spiritual awakening, a spiritual nourishment by which the spirit of knowledge is absorbed and strengthened in the heart. But this spirit is identical with the spirit of the divine, i.e., of love exalted above all selfhood, and therefore it is the purpose of the “Theosophical Society” to cultivate and realize this love and knowledge through active practice; for good intentions alone are not enough; action is required in order to realize the ideal. There is no true knowledge without consciousness. If you want to recognize spirit, you have to become spiritually self-conscious. The spiritual consciousness is above all limitations of personal self-conceit, it is the consciousness of the presence of God in all creatures and in one’s self. From this arises the divine life, which recognizes its own nature in all creatures.
This is the message of love with which the American “crusaders” now among us circle the globe. “Learn to know yourself” is their whole dogma. There is nothing to prove and nothing to dispute. This teaching goes without saying; it’s just a matter of understanding and following them. What the Crusaders believe is not a new theory, but a universal principle that anyone can see once they rise above the delusion of egoism.
The “Crusaders” are the representatives of that universal “Theosophical Society” founded in America 21 years ago and recently reorganized. The history of this society is the same as that of all transitory forms: birth, growth, decay, rebirth. When some people gather who have come to realize the true meaning of life, and unite to spread the light that has been bestowed upon them, those who aspire to that light are attracted. But the more such a society grows and spreads, the more strange and irrelevant elements will find their way into it; And since in all of humanity those who have come to real knowledge of the truth form only a small fraction, even in such associations those who are unable to recognize a high principle will ultimately form the majority. Then lust for power takes the place of harmony, megalomania and a personality-cult takes the place of knowledge, lies take the place of truth, unctuous speech, sentimentality, dogmatism take the place of light; the spirit vanishes and the dead form succumbs to decomposition; but from the good seed of the fruit of the tree comes a new form. This was the history of Christianity, Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Freemasons and all societies concerned with higher things. It was also the history of the “Theosophical Society” and it will always repeat itself, for this is the course of nature. What a spiritual society is based on and what holds it together is not attachment to this or that person, but the spirit, the knowledge of the principle. Anyone who remains true to the principle on which the “Theosophical Society” is built belongs to this association; but not the one who just runs after this or that person and thereby acts against the principle. It is not enough to write on its banner: “There is nothing higher than truth” and thereby cling to error, but only he is a genuine theosophist who proves by deeds that for him there is nothing higher than truth.
Error is a great power. Goethe says: “Error is at home in newspapers, encyclopedias, in schools and universities, and feels comfortable in the consciousness of the majority that is on its side.” Fighting this error must be left to each individual, according to his ability; the “Theosophical Society” as such has nothing to do with the battle of opinions; She does not fight for a theory, but fights for the principle of universal human brotherhood, and that this principle is the right one, the opinions of all reasonable people agree. If people acted according to this principle, they would recognize their own higher nature and many a mistake would then disappear. This knowledge of the higher human nature is Theosophy. There can be no error in true Theosophy, for it is the knowledge of truth itself, and any system can only be correct insofar as it contains Theosophy or knowledge of truth. It is therefore erroneous to speak of “Theosophy and religion,” “Theosophy and science,” and the like, as if the knowledge of truth were opposed to religion and science. Rather, every religion and science is only worth as much as it has Theosophy, i.e., contains the knowledge of truth.
There is much talk of a spiritual force behind and guiding the modern theosophical movement. They tell each other the most adventurous things about it. The fact is that similar laws prevail in the spiritual as in the material, as it is not conceivable otherwise, since the material is only the external expression of the spiritual. As there are periods in visible nature when the earth approaches the sun and other periods when it recedes from the sun, so there are also periods in the spiritual when the mind of mankind approaches the sun of divine wisdom, and periods during which it strays from the source of truth. Occult Science teaches that such a rapprochement with the Light occurs towards the close of each century, and that at the beginning of the following century mankind again departs from that Light. The study of history seems to confirm this theory. If such an approach to the spiritual sun occurs, the light will be revealed in those who are accessible to this light. There is no question of possession and no flying “mahatma” in the air, which makes people into wire puppets that he makes dance at will, but of the light of truth, which is omnipresent, to which every human being has access and which enlightens everyone who does not close his mind to the influence of this light. May everyone put aside dogmatism and self-opinionatedness, and open their hearts to the influence of the spirit of self-knowledge. Then the world will become better and happier; then the mission of the “Theosophical Society,” the mission of the American crusaders and ours will be fulfilled.
Note:
[i] T. S. in G. The first congress of the newly organized “Theosophical Society in Germany,” assembled in Berlin on August 29, 1896, in the presence of the American crusaders. [T. S. in G. Der erste Kongress der neuorganisierten “Theosophischen Gesellschaft in Deutschland,” versammelt in Berlin am 29. August 1896, in Anwesenheit der amerikanischen Kreuzfahrer.” Ansprache, gehalten von Dr. Franz Hartmann. Lotusblüten 8, no. 49 (October 1896), 705-725] {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}