Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Theosophy and occult science.
Theosophy or the inner, spiritual self-knowledge of the true arises from the inner, spiritual awakening of man to the self-consciousness of his divine essence, which underlies his physical, mortal appearance; it is the wisdom, i.e. self-knowledge of the inner, immortal man, which can reveal itself through his personality. Occult science is the intellectual knowledge which arises from this inner self-knowledge.
The best treatise on “Theosophy” that I know of is contained in a letter from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, in which he says: “The wisdom of which we speak is not the wisdom of this world, nor of the great men of this world, who are passing away, but the hidden wisdom of God (θεοῦ σοφία)—theo sophia, divine wisdom], which God established from the beginning for our glory.” (I Corinthians 2:6 and 7.) The reason why Paul calls this self-knowledge a hidden (occult) one is that it does not belong to the external intellectual man (who is passing away) nor to the fantastic religious fanatic, but to the man reborn in the spirit of God (i.e. in the spirit of true self-knowledge), and such a reborn and enlightened man, who has come to the light of true knowledge (Buddhi-Manas), becomes different from the unenlightened man. (Kama-Manas) [R.H.—kāma-manas] called a “son of God”.
Sankarācārya [R.H.—Śaṅkara-ācarya] also teaches the same thing, for he says in his “Tattva-Bodha” (“Knowledge of Existence”): “The first condition for the attainment of true self-knowledge (Theosophy) is the possession of the ability to distinguish the permanent from the non-permanent (i.e. the eternal and immortal from the transitory, essence from form).” But in order to possess and exercise this power of discrimination, the “permanent”, i.e. the existence of the immortal inner self, must have come to our consciousness. This inner, eternal self is man’s personal God; it is the God-man (Christ, the “Son of God and Son of Man”) in man whose kingdom is the kingdom of truth, which is why it is said: “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all else will be given to you.” But no one can enter this kingdom “unless he has been born again in the spirit,” and this statement is justified by the fact that life and perception at every level of existence require a living, perceptive organism. Just as on the physical plane we need a physical body to perceive external phenomena, on the higher levels of existence we require a corresponding organism to grasp, feel and perceive intellectual and spiritual things. Consequently, progress in true self-knowledge is achieved through one’s own development and growth, that is, through self-realization. through the spiritual rebirth and “resurrection” of the incorruptible spiritual body, and an ordinary person, even if he is very inexperienced in the “wisdom” of this world, but has awakened to true self-consciousness and consequently recognizes the presence of God in all things, can be a better “Theosophist” than a great scholar who is versed in all branches of science but knows nothing of God and does not recognize himself in him.
Since the whole of creation was created and came into being by the will of God from his wisdom, the area of occult science also includes all areas of the super-sensible world and the causes of all phenomena perceptible to the senses. It differs from external knowledge in that it is a whole, whereas the latter, as Paul says, is “piecemeal”; for while in the realm of phenomena one can investigate each area individually, an investigation of the truth that underlies all phenomena is only possible if one recognizes the whole great world in the small world, i.e. in each individual the essence as a whole in the whole.
“Natural” and “Unnatural.”
Some people, including certain “theosophical” writers, like to assert that there is nothing supernatural, and if by “supernatural” they mean something that has arisen outside of nature, they may be right; for we cannot know anything about something that exists locally outside the universe; but there is something above nature that from which all nature has sprung, and it is man’s privilege to recognize this supernatural and divine, because he himself possesses a spark of the divine life which is the cause of all existence. The word “nature” comes from natus = born, and includes the whole world of appearances and everything that is born of the “word,” but the spirit or the word is higher than what is born of it. The forms pass away, the essence endures.
If man had nothing within him that was above his human nature, he would not be able to control himself, that is, his nature. An animal cannot control itself; it is driven by its desires and controlled only by the hope of reward or fear of punishment. It is the same with an animal-man. In him one passion is controlled by the other; perhaps his avarice prevents him from extravagance, his vindictiveness is controlled by cowardice, his envy by pride, and the like. But because man has higher principles within him, which, when practiced, can become powers and virtues in him, he can control himself by them. The sense of justice, true faith, selfless love, chastity, modesty, renunciation, etc., do not belong to the natural man, who is a product of nature, but to the God-man. Thus all willful suppression of natural impulses is of little value; all true self-control is in the “name,” that is, in the name of God, in the power of the God-man in us, who stands above nature; only what God does (in us) is well done.
There are two kinds of evolution, material (natural) and spiritual (supernatural). Nature produces individual forms; from the mineral kingdom arises the plant kingdom, from this the animal kingdom, the highest level of which is the animal man with his intellectual abilities. In order to develop his individuality, the animal man needs egoism with the desires that arise from it. A child without a desire for food would soon starve, a person without a thirst for knowledge would remain a fool for life; without greed there would be no trade, etc. But where the God-man begins, the natural man ends, egoism is an obstacle that stands in the way of his freedom.
The inner man is different from the outer man, although both are connected during earthly life. The Secret Doctrine describes how natural men, when they had reached a certain degree of development which enabled them to serve as instruments for the higher intelligences (i.e., when they had become capable of thinking), were taken possession of by them. The Bible confirms this, for it is written there: “When the sons of the gods saw the daughters of the earth that they were beautiful, they took them as wives.” When the organism of the natural man was perfect enough to serve as a dwelling place for the heavenly man, the latter incarnated in him. Thus the natural man became a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” which is not a product of nature; he became a suitable dwelling place for the “Word” (Logos), who “was in the beginning with God, and was Himself God,” and by this “incarnation” looks forward to his perfection.
“Secret Schools” and “Occult Practices”.
The world today is teeming with so-called “masters of wisdom,” “chief mahatmas,” pseudo-occultists, swindlers, and impostors of all kinds, each of whom has his own factory of adepts, where any fool can be made a sage and magician in the twinkling of an eye for a round sum. On the other hand, thousands of credulous simpletons are ready to be deceived, and will make no sacrifice if they think they have a chance of thereby acquiring occult powers, which, if they possessed them, they would certainly abuse for selfish ends, and thereby injure themselves as well as others. Unable to rise to what is sublime and holy, and to free themselves from the passions which fetter them to the lower, they seek to draw down to themselves the highest, and thereby fall into madness, suicide, or, what is worse, black magic.
Among the above-mentioned “teachers” there are many whose entire knowledge consists of things they have read or heard somewhere, but also of things they have misunderstood because they lack their own insight. They may be able to talk in an unctuous manner and love to give the impression that they have very special occult powers at their disposal, but since they themselves are comedians and like can only produce like, as a rule only comedians emerge from their schools.
We will not speak of common fraudsters, pickpockets and con artists in the field of so-called “Theosophy”. On the other hand, there are some who have acquired some knowledge of occult matters, either through hereditary predisposition or in some other way. They have perhaps learned the first few letters of the occult ABC’s, think that this is all, and now feel called upon to act as leaders in the spiritual realm. They act in good faith, but nevertheless to the ruin of themselves and others; for as blind leaders of the blind, they fall into the pit with their followers.
Among these unholy people and seducers are some who, by means of pompous praise, invite people to learn hypnotism and teach how to gain control over the will of another person and exploit him. There are also certain Indian “Celas” who travel through Europe and have already caused enough mischief through their ignorance of the character of Europeans.
But even if a real adept were to come among the uneducated masses to proclaim his instructions on yoga exercises in the marketplace, he would still do much more harm than good; for of most of the curious it can be rightly said:
“If they had the philosopher’s stone,
The wise man would lack the stone.”
If you let children play with fire, they are very likely to get burned. Leo Tolstoy rightly says that humanity, at its present stage of moral development, does not deserve the invention of gunpowder and dynamite, railways and balloons, photography, etc., because they use all these things to kill or harm each other. How much worse would things be if the occult powers of the soul became the common property of domineering and avaricious villains!
True occult science is something holy and intended only for those who have become holy, i.e. have come to the knowledge of God, and the first step to this is inner purification, freedom from everything that is connected with egoism, ambition, vanity, greed, etc. Only a few want to take this first step, which may take several incarnations; most want to take the second step, which cannot be taken without the first, and if someone actually succeeds in awakening magical powers in himself without having overcome his personal desires, it is to his own detriment; for we see that when the sun shines on a field and the rain falls, all the seeds contained in the soil sprout, both good and bad, and both nutritious herbs and weeds grow. The same law applies in the realm of the spirit. Like attracts like. The occult powers belong to the person reborn in the spirit. Just as the physical body feeds on physical food and each organ draws from it what it needs for its growth, so the inner spiritual person draws to itself what it needs from the plane to which it belongs and feeds on it. All the elements contained in it draw their own kind from the great storehouse of nature and strive to grow; the divine attracts the divine, the devilish the devilish. Envy, malice, greed, lust, vanity, etc. grow in this way just as well as virtues if the seeds for them are present in the heart; and just as a cancerous tumor grows from certain impurities in the body and destroys the whole organism, so too do certain influences have a harmful effect on the “astral body” and ultimately destroy the physical body through this.
Everyone knows today that when the physical body is penetrated by harmful influences, millions of the most diverse microbes arise, which can cause the blood to decompose. The same is true of the astral body. The desires that dwell in it attract similar influences, from which arise herds of psychic “microbes” (elemental beings) that can have a destructive effect on it. Anger, envy, vanity, fear, avarice, etc., affect it in the same way that fire, cold, decay, etc. affect the physical body. But just as the physical body, when it is pure and healthy, offers a certain resistance to all harmful influences, so too the purified inner man is protected against harmful psychic and moral influences, as long as he himself does not open the door to them. The self-consciousness of his higher ego, which dwells within him, forms a protective wall around him, and he is free from fear; which is why the old hymn says: “A mighty fortress is our God,” although not everyone understands the meaning of these words. Anyone who wants to become a theosophist should first strive to become a rational person. Union with the divine (yoga) is only intended for those who are purified and trained in self-knowledge and self-control.
Note
[1] Hartmann, F. (1905). “Theosophical Correspondence. Theosophy and occult science. Natural and Supernatural. Secret Schools and Occult Practices.” Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophischer Wegweiser 7, no. 4 (January), 130-135. ©2025.