Compiled from the writings of a Labourer.)
Introduction.[1]
ABSOLUTE Truth is self-evident.[2] It is recognised by all who are in possession of a sufficient amount of Reason to see it; but those who are not able to see it require intellectual proofs and logical arguments to persuade themselves that it exists. Everybody knows that one is one, although no one is able to give any intelligible reason for it; but when it comes to making a multiplication of compound numbers, our Reason may not be sufficient to directly perceive the result, and we have to call the intellect and mathematical argumentation to our aid to inform us about it.
Self-knowledge in the Absolute is absolute knowledge; we can actually know only that which we see and know ourselves. A science which teaches the true relations which things bear to each other is relatively true as far as the relations of these things are concerned; but it conveys no real knowledge to man; it can only be a guide to him how to find the truth in himself. To know and to understand what another person meant to say, is not sufficient to know the truth oneself. To see the truth within oneself by the light of Reason and to understand it intellectually is self-knowledge.
Self-knowledge can only be acquired by self-examination. To develop the truth we must practise it. Only when it begins to exist in us can we become self-conscious of its existence.
Those who will practise the following truths will understand their true meaning.
Those who will not practise them will not understand them.
Those who understand these truths will practise them.
Knowing should be identical with growing. Intellectual acquisitions without spiritual growth are like flowers that die without producing a fruit.
i. One is One.
One is a Unity and cannot be divided into two Ones. The One, if divided into two, gives two parts of the One. Each of these parts may assume a form differing from that of the other, according to the conditions by which it is surrounded; nevertheless the two parts will essentially remain two parts of the original one.
The Universe, i.e., the All, is only one; it is impossible to conceive of two or more All is in the absolute sense, and every part of the Universe is therefore a part of the All, or a manifestation of the original One in a separate form, being an integral part thereof. The various forms of substance and activity in the All cannot be essentially and fundamentally different from each other; they can be nothing else but various aspects and functions of the indivisible aboriginal One. Matter in all its shapes, visible and invisible, and Motion in all its forms, unconscious, conscious and self-conscious, can be only two modes of manifestation of the originally unmanifested One; because One is One and cannot be divided into Two.
The original One or the Cause could not have come into existence out of nothing and without a Cause; and as it exists (as we see by its manifestations in Nature), it must therefore be self-existent, having existed from all eternity by its own power. The One, being self-existent and indivisible, cannot be divided and transformed into anything which does not exist It cannot be annihilated by anything, because nothing exists but itself, and its existence must therefore be without an end as it is without a beginning.
The reason why the finite intellect of man cannot conceive of an eternal self-existent Cause, God or Law, is because man is not self-existent, and self-existence is, therefore, beyond his experience, and beyond his conception.
The original One, manifesting itself as Substance in all its shapes and Power in all its forms, cannot be essentially and fundamentally different from its own productions, which it must have produced from itself, and within itself, there being nothing else to produce it from. Nor could Matter and Motion continue to exist if the self-existent cause that enables them to continue to exist were to cease to be, or to cease to stand in relation to, and be active within them.[3] The unmanifested One is, therefore, whenever and wherever it manifests itself, a Trinity of Causation, Substance and Power.
Note.—A just consideration of the above will raise us up to a higher conception of Nature, with all its multifarious forms. It will bring us nearer to the truth than the narrow-minded conception which seeks for the origin of power, life and consciousness within the corporeal forms, while, in fact, forms can be nothing else but vehicles or instruments through which the One which is at once Cause, Substance and Motion manifests its presence.—[Author.]
Looked at from this higher standpoint, the Universe appears to us as one Universal Substance, which, in its various states of density, we may call Matter, Ether, Akasa, Mind-substance, Spirit, and we see it pervaded by one Universal Power, which, according to its mode of action within the universal substance, manifests itself unconsciously, consciously, or self-consciously in various ways, which we may call Motion, Vibration, Gravitation, Cohesion, Affinity, Attraction, Repulsion, Heat, Light, Electricity, Magnetism, Life, Emotion, Love, Will, etc., while the eternal co-existent and self-existent Universal Cause of all these manifestations of its own substance, power and consciousness, remains for ever hidden to all inferior forms of existence, and can be known only to itself by the power of its own self-consciousness and self-knowledge.
To express the above in other words, which may render our conception still clearer:—We may look upon all things in the Universe—not as being essentially different from each other, but as being all merely various modes of manifestation of the eternal One. What we know of “Matter” is not the substance itself, but merely its external appearance; what we know of “Force” is not the energy itself, but merely its mode of manifesting itself on the outward plane. One and the same impulse going forth from the eternal and self-existent centre may cause vibrations in all planes of existence, manifesting itself in the region of Mind as Thought, in the astral plane as Emotion, in the ether of space as Motion in all its forms, active or latent, producing in the sphere of gross matter the phenomena known as heat, light, electricity, etc., etc., while rising up again from Matter to Spirit it may manifest itself as Life, Instinct, Consciousness, Love, Will, Knowledge, and Wisdom.
We should free our minds from the erroneous conception, due to external and, therefore, superficial observation, that forms produce activities, and we should habituate ourselves to look at all things with the eye of Reason, which (if unclouded by the intellectual vagaries of the speculating brain) will be able to see that forms are merely centres, through which already existing powers can manifest themselves, and by means of which these powers may change their modes of action according to the law of Induction.
Thus certain vibrations existing in the Universal Ether, and manifesting themselves in Matter as “Heat,” may, by coming in contact with other forms of matter, be changed into “Light,” in others into “ Electricity,” etc. Thus certain vibrations existing in the Universal Mind as abstract ideas, may, in the brain of man, take shapes as Thoughts. Thus other certain vibrations existing in the Universal Spirit may, in the souls of (the ephemeral) living beings, awaken corresponding vibrations, and manifest themselves according to the nature of these beings as “Will,” “Love,” “Faith,” etc. But Ether, Mind, and Spirit, are, like all other things, fundamentally one, and all may be changed one into the other by correspondingly changing the conditions under which they are manifesting themselves, provided that we are in possession of the knowledge necessary to establish the conditions under which such a change of activity can take place.[4]
F. Hartmann, M.D.
(To be continued.)
Notes:
[1] Self-Evident Truths and and Logical Deductions. F. Hartmann, M.D. Lucifer 2, no. 7 (March 1888), 6-8. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[2] But compare editorial in the February No. of Lucifer: “Self-evident” truth may be considered absolute in relation to this Earth—only casually. It is still relative, not absolute with regard to its Universal Absoluteness.—[Ed.]
[3] But can the Absolute have any relation to the conditioned or the finite? Reason and metaphysical philosophy answer alike—No. The “Self-existent” can only be the Absolute, and esoteric philosophy calls it therefore the “Causeless Cause,” the Absolute Root of all, with no attributes, properties or conditions. It is the one Universal Law of which immortal man is a part, and which, therefore, he senses under the only possible aspects—those of absolute immutability transformed into absolute activity—on this plane of illusion—or eternal ceaseless motion, the ever Becoming. Spirit, Matter, Motion, are the three attributes, on this our plane. In that of self-existence the three are ONE and indivisible. Hence we say that Spirit, Matter, and Motion are eternal, because one, under three aspects. Our differences, however, in this excellent paper, are simply in terms and expressions or Form—not in ideas or thought.—[Ed.]
[4] An illustration of the transformation of will-power into mechanical motion, even without the aid of the physical body, may be seen if we succeed in dispersing a cloud in the sky by the power of will; an experiment which may be successfully tried by anyone who is able to concentrate his thoughts. (See Cahagnet: “Les mystéres de la Magie.”)