Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]

It will never occur to anyone to dispute the doctrine of reincarnation once he has properly understood it. Those who oppose it are only fighting their own false ideas, which they have formed as a result of their lack of knowledge. Many confuse it with the ideas they have of “transmigration of souls,” others with possession; but there is neither a migration of the astral body from one organism to another, nor a reappearance of the personality which has disappeared from the stage of life; rather, the qualities which belonged to the previous human appearance on earth come together again and form a new abode for the immortal self, which, as the Bhagavad Gita teaches, is never born and never dies.

          Religion, philosophy, science, nature as a whole, common sense and even personal experience all bear witness to the truth of these teachings.

I. Religion.

          The great majority of all religiously-minded people on this earth believe in the doctrine of reincarnation. The Buddhists and Indians believe in it, although not everyone among the common people understands it correctly. The Bhagavad Gita says: “Just as a man who has laid aside his old clothes puts on a new garment, so the eternal essence, when the decayed forms are laid aside, reveals itself in other newly formed bodies.” The immortal part of man may be compared to an actor who plays different parts on different evenings. During the play he may become completely absorbed in his role and therefore forget himself; but when he goes home after the performance he is himself again. In a similar way man, who is a son of heaven, appears on the stage of life in different successive appearances and identifies himself more or less with the part he plays; but when the play is over, he returns home, and he is left with the memory of whether he played his part well or badly.

          In Christianity, reincarnation is not described in dry words, and this is probably because this doctrine was already generally known among the first Christians or Essenes, who were a society of mystics; nevertheless, the Bible refers to it in various places. For example, Jesus asks his disciples: “What do people say that I am?” They answered: “Some say you are Elijah, and some say you are one of the prophets” (Matthew VIII: 28). Furthermore: “Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him” (Matthew XVII: 12). When Jesus saw a man born blind, his disciples asked: “Teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John IX: 2). If they had not believed that the same man had lived before, this question would be nonsense; for if he had not been there before, he could not have committed sins which caused him to be born blind. Moreover, reincarnation is an article of faith of the Christian Church; for when it is said: “I believe in a resurrection of the flesh,” this means a reunion of the qualities (the skandhas of the Buddhists) of which the previous personality consisted, and the construction of a new organism from them. Let us imagine that the immortal ego of man (the soul) is the architect; his personality is the house which he has built for himself and in which he lives. The house grows old, collapses, and after a period of rest the architect builds a new house from the materials of the old one. These “materials” are the “flesh,” i.e. the talents, inclinations, dispositions, and in general the character which the man has acquired in the course of previous incarnations and which is now embodied again in a new form.[2] The character is the same, it only changes during life; The self is eternal, but the appearance is new each time.

II. Philosophy.

          As regards to philosophy, all the great philosophers of the world have recognized the truth of the doctrine of reincarnation; Çankaracharja [R.H.—Śaṅkarācāya], Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, Plotinus and countless others have taught it, as have most of the philosophers of modern times, from Schopenhauer to our own time.

III. Science.

          While direct knowledge corresponds to one’s own experience, human knowledge is largely based on logical conclusions, on externally observed facts. For example, one can determine the size and weight of celestial bodies by observing their movements, and their composition by spectral analysis. It is just as scientific to prove reincarnation by logical reasons based on externally observed facts. If a child is born and brings special characteristics into the world that it cannot have inherited from its earthly parents, it is logically correct to assume that it acquired these during a previous form of existence, i.e. inherited them from its “father in heaven”. Every person brings such characteristics into the world, and this is particularly noticeable in the so-called “child prodigies” who have very special talents in music, mathematics, medicine and the like that their parents did not possess. It is, for example, a generally observed fact that the sons of great scholars are often great fools, and this can also be explained psychologically; but even if, for example, a child is born into the family of a musician who has a talent for music, this is no proof that he has inherited this talent from his parents; rather, another law of nature comes into play here; for if a person has developed a special inclination to practice an art, it is understandable that the ego, in its next reincarnation, will be instinctively attracted to a family where it will find an opportunity to follow this inclination and further develop the acquired talent. However, this is not always the case, because in the process of reincarnation many other circumstances come into play which regulate these attractions. For example, there could be an even greater inclination to steal, as a result of which the child is born into an unmusical family of thieves.

IV. Nature.

          We have only to look at nature to get an idea of ​​reincarnation, for everywhere in nature there is a reconstruction of new forms from the elements of the decaying ones; the same character is constantly reproducing itself, and man is no exception to this general law of nature. In autumn an ​​acorn falls from an oak tree, it sinks into the ground softened by rain; winter spreads its white blanket over it. Then spring comes and it celebrates its resurrection. The warmth of the sun penetrates its grave, it begins to live again; it draws from the earth the forces that are appropriate to its nature, and from the acorn sprouts a young oak tree, which has the character of the old one. It is not the old oak tree that has become young again, but the qualities of the old have become “flesh” in the young one and have been embodied in it again.

          For such a reincarnation of a plant a seed is necessary; without it there would be no tree. The same is the case with man; but in him this seed is his soul, his ego, together with the characteristics that belong to him individually; for man has acquired a spiritual individuality in the course of his evolution; he is no longer a herd animal. The plant does not yet have self-consciousness, and in animals this is only personal. In him and also in the animal-human, only nature feels, thinks, wills and acts; but man, who is capable of absorbing the higher spiritual principles, self-knowledge, justice, selfless love, etc., and of allowing them to become spiritual forces within himself through which he can control his nature, has an individual self-consciousness that is higher than his personality, which enables him to work for the good of all mankind and to sacrifice his personal interests for it. This is his individual “seed”, his immortal part, which is rooted in the Godhead.

V. Common sense—

          tells us that human life would be pointless if it were not for the purpose of spiritual development and perfection; but that a human being cannot attain divine perfection in a single short earthly life. What would become of those who die prematurely or who have no opportunity to gain the experiences necessary for their higher development?[3] But if one believes that further development after death takes place in a physical state, then it is not clear why humans needed to be born and have a body at all. Nature is also full of analogies that can give us a hint. We see that a rosebud cut from the stem can still bloom in water; but it only lives on until the life forces contained in the stem are used up. Then it has nothing left to draw new strength from and withers. The human body is like the soil from which the plant draws nourishment. From it the soul draws its strength; After leaving the body, it only has what it brought with it, and this supply is exhausted after a shorter or longer period of time.

V. Your own experience.

          The best means of convincing oneself of the truth of the doctrine of reincarnation would be to remember previous lives on earth, and one often hears the question: “If I was here before, why can’t I remember these previous forms of existence?” The reason why the personal man cannot remember is that he never was there before,[4] and consequently can have no memory of what did not exist. The person of man is new and never existed with each birth; the brain can only retain in memory those impressions which it has received. The “Father in heaven” is the creator, the personality is the son. The son was not there before the father created him; but when the son has become one with the father, he will also know who the sons were who are created by him. The full memory of previous lives on earth is therefore only the property of those who have come to self-knowledge of their higher origin, i.e. those holy people who have entered into that state which the Christian mystics call union with God and which the Indians call “yoga”. Images from previous incarnations may well float before the eyes of ordinary people in a dreamlike manner, like flashes of light from a higher spiritual world surrounding them; but many such spiritual dreams are only a play of the imagination. A person can imagine all sorts of things, but in truth only he who has become an image of God can recognize himself as divine.

          It is easy to understand that belief in reincarnation is capable of teaching people a completely different worldview from the popular one up to now and of ennobling it, for this teaching shows us that in this life we ​​have become precisely that which we have suited ourselves to in a previous life, and that in the next life we ​​will reap what we now sow. Man has his fate in his own hands; everyone is the architect of his own happiness or misfortune. What happens to him does not happen to him without cause, but as a result of the law of order and harmony that prevails in the universe.

Note:

[1] Hartmann, F. (1905). “Witnesses to Reincarnation.” Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophisches Leben 7, no. 10, (January) 308-314. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025

[2] [R.H.—Because Dr. Hartmann is not entirely clear here, I should note that not all of the skills, qualities, “talents, inclinations, dispositions” are used during an incarnation, but are brought down as one gets closer to the third esoteric initiation. Then, there is the full pouring forth for future use. I give an example here. A soul which needs to utilize the skills acquired and brought forward for using musical talents may hold back the mathematical talents acquired from former lives and utilize only the music skills, in accordance with the needs of a particular incarnation. Whereas, in the case of a Leonardo da Vinci, who utilized the talents of sculpting, math, painting, drawing, invention, etc. may utilize all those skills, as certainly was his case during that incarnation.]

[3] [R.H.—Neither Christianity, nor Judaism, not Islam, nor science have any answer to this. And, atheism certainly is not coherent about this.]

[4] [R.H.—i.e., a new personality brings with it a new set of nerves, brain, etc.]