Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Meditation and the different types of thinking.
- Cogitatio or ordinary thinking is a state in which the brain exercises its thinking function without the use of any special willpower. Nature thinks in us, man thinks what occurs to him, and just as in a dream (in which will and reason are inactive) one thought calls forth another and is displaced by others. For example, one thinks of a journey; this directs the thought to a train journey; from this arises the memory of a railway accident; from this arises the thought of injury, from this arises the thought of war, then of the Russians, of fur hats, cold, the North Pole, the aurora borealis, etc. ad infinitum.
- Concentratio, concentration. — Here there is no unconscious hunting of thoughts, but the thought once chosen is retained on the object to which it is directed, as every mathematician, chess player, accountant and indeed every business person knows. The opposite of concentration is distraction and enthusiasm.
- Meditatio, contemplation. — Here the mind not only holds the thought, but pursues it to its origin; it examines the idea underlying it in its forms and consequences. In this way inventions are made. Religious meditation has as its object eternal principles and forces: love, faith, hope, justice, etc., and as these spiritual essences are formless and inconceivable, it is difficult to hold the thought to them until they have become forces in man himself and are felt and recognized by him.
- Contemplatio (from con and templum), contemplation, means in a religious sense a “dwelling together” with the object of contemplation and the contemplation arising from it, which is no longer an objective contemplation as if from afar, but an approach to the divine and a feeling of it.
- Adoratio, worship. — Worship or veneration arises from correct contemplation; for one cannot come into intimate contact with the divine without being penetrated, filled and elevated by its spirit.
- Unificatio, union. — As a result of this penetration, a union with the deity can take place. In this state, the idea of “mine and yours” or “I and you” disappears from consciousness, and the human spirit recognizes its unity with God. This knowledge is not a product of the imagination, but arises from the self-consciousness in which the deity reveals itself, and it can only take place in a spiritually reborn, enlightened person, because this requires a suitable, developed spiritual organism with spiritual powers. The “Tat tvam asi” of the Indians can only be truly uttered by someone in whom this truth is realized.
Becoming one with God.
Question: — How can man become one with God?
Answer: — Man is already one with God and therefore does not need to become one; for if God is everything in everything, then nothing is conceivable without God, and a man without God would be nothing, an empty reflection, a shadow without essence. Since man is essentially one with God, it is only a matter of becoming aware of this oneness, and for this he needs to develop the (occult) divine powers hidden within him. All existence is relative. If a man were a god and did not know it, his divinity would not exist for him either; but if the true knowledge of God has awakened in man, he recognizes himself in God and God in himself as his true self. Thus true self-knowledge and knowledge of God are one and the same.
Mental strength.
Question: — What is the easiest way to gain spiritual strength?
Answer: — Through self-control and overcoming desires. Each of our passions represents an ego formed from our will and thoughts and is, as it were, a part separated from our will which has a certain existence of its own, although it feeds on our life like a vampire. Depending on the nature of our passion, such a being can be beautiful or ugly, an angel, animal or devil. The more we give birth to such creatures, the more disjointed and divided our being becomes. By overcoming the desires underlying these creations, they are destroyed, and the will which formed the substance of such monstrosities returns to its origin, i.e. it becomes our own again. The greater the passion and the greater the resistance it offered, the greater the overcoming must be, and the more our strength is strengthened by overcoming it.
A huge advance in science.
The “psychologists” are beginning to believe in the existence of something called the “soul.” In Prof. Wilh. Wundt’s Outline of Psychology, § 22, page 381, it is printed:
“In a similar way to the concept of matter being an auxiliary concept of natural science, so the concept of the soul is an auxiliary concept of psychology.” Thank God! Now there is no need to blush in shame when psychologists mention the “powers of the soul.”
Schools for yoga.
Question: — Which school should I join to learn yoga?
Answer: — Christ says: “When two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.” — If you have the selfless urge for true knowledge within you and find someone who has the same holy spirit within him, you need look no further, for you are already in the right school. But if you are only interested in satisfying curiosity or in acquiring occult powers, then I can only advise you against such experiments which are called “yoga exercises,” for they lead to moral and physical corruption, to mediumship, hysteria, stupidity, illness, suicide, and in the worst cases to black magic.
There are nowadays a number of so-called schools of occultism which spread a moral plague and are eagerly sought out by people who are happy to give money to acquire higher spiritual powers which, if they had them, they would misuse for base purposes. Warnings, advice and arguments are generally in vain in such cases, because they are neither accepted nor followed by those whose desire or ambition is greater than reason. Such people only become wise through their own experience and ultimately learn to distinguish con artists and pickpockets from true prophets.
The first steps which a beginner who is striving for inner sanctification must take are well known everywhere, but very seldom followed. No one can take the second step before he has taken the first. It is foolish to always ask for new instructions when one ignores the old ones which everyone knows. It is written: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all else shall be given unto you.” This kingdom is the kingdom of love and self-knowledge, the kingdom of the Holy Spirit, which each one can find only within himself, and in which all external seeking is only an obstacle and a waste of energy.
Reincarnation.
Question: — What is the belief in reincarnation based on?
Answer: — On the perception that every thing is the representation of an idea, and that although forms pass away, the ideas which they represent always reveal themselves in new forms. Man, like everything else, is an embodied idea or sum of thoughts. His form passes away, but the same sum of ideas, that is, the same character which is his real individual essence, which distinguishes him from other men, reappears in new forms. Without this law there would be no evolution of mankind. Whether a person is high or low depends on whether the idea of which he is the embodiment is high or low, noble or ignoble. As it ennobles itself, it brings forth with its union with matter (“incarnation” or “reincarnation”) into ever nobler forms.
Note
[1] Hartmann, F. (1905). “Theosophical Correspondence. Meditation and the different types of thinking; Attunement with God; Strength of mind; A giant advance in science; Schools of yoga; Reincarnation.” Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophischer Wegweiser 7, no. 8 (May), 250-253. [Robert Hutwohl, ©2025]