[Die Geistig Toten]
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
“Dying” is the loss of the ability to know.”
From time immemorial the problem of immortality has stirred hearts and troubled minds; innumerable books have been written on the subject, and there is scarcely a man on earth who has not already asked himself: “What shall become of me when my body crumbles to dust and ashes?”
However, nothing is easier than answering this question, if only we listen to the voice of reason. We know very well that our physical visible body (Sthūla Śarīra) is not immortal, for we see daily our own kind, friends and relatives, being swept away by death. We also know that our intellectual functions, opinions and memories are not immortal, because they often change during life on earth and many an intellectual giant has already become a helpless fool in his old age. From this it follows with certainty that not all which is ordinarily regarded as belonging to man is immortal, and the question is therefore reduced to whether there is anything immortal in man, and, if so, what is its essence.
It goes without saying that the answer to this question cannot be solved by means of objective observation alone, because everything that we can objectively observe are appearances (māyā), they belong in the realm of deception, are temporary and prove nothing more than the existence of what they are, namely appearances and nothing more. Even if a million apparitions from the spirit world came to us claiming to be the spirits of dead people, all that could prove to us was that there was something involved that was left of certain people, not quite dead and is still connected with life on earth. Even if a man who had become a god descended from heaven and, if that were possible, brought us the proof of his immortality, this would prove nothing more than that this man had become immortal; but that does not mean that we ourselves are immortal. Anyone who wants to find proof of immortality must get to know the immortal being within himself; there is no other way. The one in whom the consciousness of his immortality has awakened, who is self-aware of his immortal nature, needs no further proof of it. He is immortal because he is aware of it, and he is aware because he is. An immortality of which one is not aware would be an “unconscious immortality,” an absurdity and could not be of any use to anyone, because the unconscious matter is also immortal, but it knows nothing about it.
All the theories and experiments brought along the same lines with “spiritism,” “psychism,” “experimental occultism,” “necromancy,” and whatever the frippery of all may be called, have no value at all in order to free man from his own immortality; there is only one way to do this, namely, the attainment of that self-knowledge which makes man immortal. All such so-called “evidence” can at most serve to point out to man that the possibility of becoming immortal exists, so that he may strive to attain it. The belief that man is immortal, doing as he pleases, is as demoralizing as it is false; the belief that man’s immortality depends upon the willful favor of any third party, which he depends upon beside himself, brings no answer.
The sages of all peoples and of all times have taught that there is something in man which is immortal, and that the man who comes to the knowledge of this immortal being within him thereby becomes a partaker of its immortality. This immortal being was referred to by various names, such as “God,” “Brahma,” “Chu” (Egyptian), “Atma,” “Christos” and so on. Meister Eckhart, Jakob Boehme etc. call it the “divine spark” in the human soul, others call it “divine love,” others “divine self-knowledge.” It is the self-consciousness of God in man, the light which, if illuminating the soul, makes it immortal. It is “the Father,” the sacred fire (Ātmā), to which none (manas) can come except through the “Flame” (Buddhi), “the Son,” and the power by which this is done is the Light of divine self-knowledge, “the holy spirit.”
Now there are people of different kinds, namely:
- People who have no spark of this divine love within them. These are only humanoid creatures; in appearance they are human-like, perhaps even well-trained and learned, sharp-witted, cunning, etc., but have no trace of genius or real spirit; they are only human animals and not immortal.
- The vast majority of people who are born with this divine spark within them, but in whom it lies dormant and will sooner or later, though not during their present existence on earth, come to awaken. The degree to which they can enjoy the consciousness of their immortality depends on the degree to which they feel this existence (the presence of God within them).
- People in whom, as a result of their vices or perverted desires, the feeling and awareness of this divine spark has been totally lost, “ungodly,” that is, those in which this divine (Ātmā Buddhi) has separated from the earthly being (Manas-Kāma), never to return. These are the spiritually dead for whom there is no awakening because the ability for spiritual recognition has been lost in them. Despite their astuteness and piousness, they are irretrievably lost if this divine spark does not return to their hearts through a complete reversal, which is only possible as long as they still have a trace of the divine within themselves.
With regard to these spiritually deceased, Chauncey Giles says:
“Physical death, that is, the death of the human body, is a beneficent arrangement in nature, a means by which man can attain his higher destiny (on the path of evolution). But there is another death, which is not in purpose the divine order, but opposed to it, and by which the destruction of humanity in man’s nature and the impossibility of his salvation are brought about. This is the spiritual death which can take place before the body dies. A great “spiritual” (intellectual) unfolding of the natural mind (Manas-Kama) can take place without any trace of divine love (self-knowledge) being associated with it. Whoever sinks into selfishness and love of the world and its pleasures loses love of God (his Divine Self, i.e. truth) and his fellow men; he sinks from life (the higher consciousness) into death (the pseudo-animal consciousness). The higher principles, which constitute the essential elements of his humanity, leave him, and he lives only at the level of his human earthly activity. Physically (and intellectually) he is there, but spiritually he is dead. To all, which pertains to the higher and alone immortal existence, he is as dead as his body will be dead to all sensual and worldly enjoyments and pleasures when the spirit (prāṇa) will have left him. This spiritual death is the result of a way of life contrary to the laws of the (Divine) Spirit in nature, which has the same consequences on the spiritual level as disobedience to the laws of physical nature on the physical plane. At least the mentally dead have their amusements. They have their intellectual abilities and powers and may be intensely intellectually active. All animal faculties are in their possession, and for the majority of people these are the highest ideal of their happiness. These living-dead, intoxicated by the indefatigable thirst for wealth, by the pleasures and amusements of social life, may cultivate elegance of appearance and demeanor, seek social favor and scholarly distinction; but with all their charms, proud robes, and resplendent attributes, these hollow creatures are dead in the eyes of the “Lord” (Īśvara), and when measured by the only correct and unchanging standard (truth), such creatures have in reality no more life than a skeleton whose flesh has become dust and earth.”
All such views we have heard from the pulpit during our youth, but it is one thing to make such statements in a dogmatic manner and require the hearers to give the same blind faith, and it is another to explain such doctrines scientifically and make it tangible. Anyone who is used to believing blindly and letting the pastor think for themselves has it easy, they have no doubts and ultimately no knowledge either. But the self-thinking man encounters the objections of his reason everywhere, he would always like to know the “how” and “why” before he decides to believe. He wants to understand something theoretically before following it practically.
This purpose is fulfilled by the theosophical teaching as we find it in the ancient scriptures of the Indians. Where the Bible merely tells us, “This and that you must do,” the Vedas give the reason why. According to these, the separation of Kāma-manas from Ātmā-buddhi-manas is a possibly occurring event during life, and the study of the “seven principles” in man’s constitution gives the key to its explanation. In the end, some of our today astonished celebrities are nothing but an elemental — an “earth spirit”!
Note
[1] The Spiritually Dead [Die Geistig Toten. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Lotusblüten 3, no. 17 (February 1893), 125-134] {This was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}