Theosophical Correspondence.

Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl^[1]

          Question: — How does spiritual growth take place?

          Answer: — Like all other growth, through nutrition. Our material body, which is born from the elements of our planet and ultimately returns to them, is nourished by their products. Our desires and passions grow the more we surrender to them and absorb them. The realm of knowledge and understanding expands the more we grasp new ideas and acquire new theories and store them in our memory. The same applies to the mental or spiritual growth of the soul. Nothing grows out of man that has not first come into him from without; the physical requires material nourishment, the intellectual spiritual, and the divine heavenly nourishment. Anyone who wishes to promote the growth of the spirit of self-knowledge and enlightenment within himself must absorb this holy spirit. It is the spirit of love and is also called “grace” because no one can give it to himself. But like sunlight, it penetrates everywhere where selfishness does not block its entrance.

            Much has been written of the “seven principles” of which man is composed, but these principles are of no use to us unless they are put into action both actively and passively. If our body were composed of unorganized matter, like a piece of clay, it would be of no use to us. For every activity requires organs adapted to it. Thus man has not only an intellect, but also an intellectual organization, which enables him to seek ideas, to grasp them, to arrange them, to analyze them, and to shape them into new forms. In the same way, the immortal divine man needs an organization within himself for the exercise of his appointed faculties. He lives by breathing in knowledge and breathing out love, and he receives his substance from the heavenly food which he takes in, that is, from the noblest feelings and thoughts which mortal man gives birth to. By ugly thoughts he creates and feeds a host of hideous elementals; Through good thoughts he creates and nourishes God.

Note

^[1] Theosophical Correspondence. Spiritual growth. By Dr. Franz Hartmann. [Theosophische Korrespondenz. Geistiges Wachstum. Von Dr. Franz Hartmann. Theosophischer Wegweiser 8, no, 6 (March 1907), 189-190] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than minor typos, translation from German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}