Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Theosophy and science.
Question: — Is it necessary that in order to become a theosophist one must study the “Secret Doctrine” and know all about “races and rounds” and the like? — What is the most necessary thing one should know?
Answer: — The first and most necessary thing is to know for what purpose one is in the world. Everything else is secondary.
Secret doctrine and churchism.
Question: — Does the Christian Church have a secret doctrine?
Answer: — The “secret doctrine,” in the true sense of the word, is that which the Spirit of Wisdom teaches man in his inner being. A doctrine which can be taught to someone externally by word or writing is no longer secret. The external doctrine has to do with the brain-intellect, the internal knowledge springs from the revelation of truth in the heart. (Compare Matthew XIII, 11 and 15.) Every religion has its secrets, but the “secret” of this one is that the spiritual truths contained in the external doctrines can only really be understood when they are felt inwardly, and we cannot feel spiritual powers until they awaken within ourselves.
Experience and knowledge.
Question: — Must a person experience all conceivable situations in life in order to achieve true self-knowledge?
Answer: — If that were the case, he would also have to become spiritually and morally depraved in order to experience what spiritual and moral depravity is. He would have to become an idiot in order to experience what idiocy is, but as an idiot he would not have the ability to understand it. One would have to lose one’s individuality in order to know what the loss of individuality is; but who would then benefit from it? Fortunately, humanity is a whole, in which everyone can learn something from the experiences of others.
Physical degeneration.
Question: — Is humanity in general subject to physical degeneration?
Answer: — According to the “Secret Doctrine,” people of the first race had an average height of 54 meters, those of the second 40, those of the third 20, those of the fourth 6 to 8 meters, and in our current race, people who are more than 2 meters tall are a rarity.[2] It is understandable that the more egoism and the consequent “withdrawal into oneself” take over in a people, the more the physical organism shrinks and atrophies according to occult natural laws. The development of higher soul powers is also beneficial to the development of the physical body, but the high demands that are made of intellectual education today are more of an obstacle to this development, because people use the powers that should benefit the entire organism mostly one-sidedly for the brain. Insanity is already spreading at an alarming rate, and more health resorts and hospitals are needed every day. If our civilization continues to progress along the path it is now on, the result will perhaps be a race of stubborn dwarves in a few centuries.
Note:
[1] Hartmann, F. (1908). “Theosophical Correspondence. Theosophy and science. Secret doctrine and churchism. Experience and knowledge. Physical degeneration. Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophischer Wegweiser 9, no 7 (April), 231-232. [Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025]
[2] [R.H.—1st Race approx. 175 feet; 2nd (Hyperborean) Race (one of a race of people in Greek mythology living in the extreme north, beyond the north wind.) approx. 130 feet; 3rd (Lemurian) Race (as written about by ancient Greeks and other authors) approx. 65 feet; 4th (Atlantean) Race (as written about by ancient Greeks and other authors) approx. 26 feet; 5th (Aryan) Race approx. 6.5 feet.]