Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Buddhist indifference.
Question: — Question: — Does Buddhism teach indifference and apathy towards the suffering of humanity?
Answer: — Buddhist philosophy is the religion of compassion and therefore cannot teach apathy. Gautama Buddha, as Prince Siddhārtha, renounced the throne and sought enlightenment in order to help humanity. A real “Buddhist” or, as the name suggests, an enlightened person, not only sees the suffering of the world, but also recognizes its causes and helps where he can. But whether he is touched by it in his innermost being and disturbed is another question; for those who live in the eternal (not in fantasy, but in self-consciousness) can also look down on everything that is transient (including their own personal suffering) like an adult who watches what is happening in a children’s school. What is called “equanimity” in Buddhism is called “trust in God” in Christianity. The realization that evil in the world in our present state of evolution is a necessary consequence of previous causes, and that on the whole everything leads to good in the end, will not, however, prevent him from doing good as far as it is within his power.
Family instincts.
Question: — How is it that animals belonging to the same species or family have the same innate instincts?
Answer: — Because, according to the laws of reincarnation, the qualities (skandhas) of the ancestors always combine and produce similar creatures, which possess the instincts of the preceding ones, which they have acquired through their experiences. Animals do not yet possess any distinct individuality. Just as from the trunk of a tree come forth thick branches, which then divide into thin twigs and finally produce leaves, each division having its own character, while all are nourished by the trunk, which draws its nourishment from the roots, so it is with the “tree of life,” i.e., the soul of the world. Each planet has its peculiar qualities, and the same is the case with each race, nation, community and family. After death, the elements of the individual return to the group to which they belong, and the newly formed forms are then again endowed with the characteristics of the group to which they belong. The same is also the case with herd people. Only when a person has begun to think for himself and to form an independent character can one speak of spiritual individuality and personal immortality.
Witches in the Middle Ages.
Question: — Why were so many witches discovered in the Middle Ages?
Answer: — Because the state-employed witch-finder received five thalers for each witch he discovered and burned, and some of these officials had to “burn” a fortune in order to be able to live decently.[2]
Nirvāna.
Question: — What is meant by Nirvana?
Answer: — That state of eternal bliss in which the disturbing concept of the individuality of the soul united with the Godhead has vanished forever. Since this state surpasses all intellectual concepts, it cannot be understood by the human mind; but a person who, in moments of transfiguration, feels in his heart his unity with the Godhead, who fills the entire universe, can have an inkling of it.
Longevity of human larvae.
Question: — Can the larva that a person leaves behind after death continue to exist for a long time?
Answer: — The following may help answer this question:
In a seminar in England, a newly arrived student was quartered in a room that had been empty for a long time. During the night, he saw the corpse of a hanged man hanging from a nail in the ceiling in front of his bed. At first he thought that his comrades had been having fun hanging a doll for him. He threw his cushion at the supposed doll and hit it. The doll turned and now he saw the disfigured face of the hanged man. Research showed that more than a hundred and fifty years ago the then head of the seminar had hanged himself in this room.
The peculiar thing in this case is that this larva was able to assume such a degree of density that it could be set in motion by the object thrown at it; but all bodies, both those perceptible to the senses and those “invisible,” are formed from the same primary substance, although in different degrees of “materiality,” and there are still many laws of nature that not everyone knows today.
Notes
[1] Hartmann, F. (1908). “Theosophical Correspondence. Buddhist indifference. Family instincts. Witches in the Middle Ages. Nirvana. Longevity of human larvae. Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophischer Wegweiser 9, no 7 (April), 229-231. [Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025]
[2] [Metaphorically, witch-finders still exist today, but in a different form: politically, financially and as other disguises. Persecution in the form of deception and lying will continue into the future as long as each person has not discovered the Ageless Wisdom.]