Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
What is Nirvāna?
Answer: — The eternal rest that springs from the highest self-knowledge, the giving up of the madness of personal existence for ever. Anyone who does not understand this would not be helped much by a long treatise on the subject.
Misunderstandings of the word theosophy.
Question: — Why is the essence of theosophy so little understood?
Answer: — Because no one can know what wisdom is unless he himself possesses wisdom. Theosophy, or knowledge of God, is the knowledge that springs from religious consciousness. It is not the work of the brain and not a product of it, and it is therefore a mistake to speak of a “study of theosophy.” One can study the “theosophical teachings” that arise from the knowledge of truth, but not theosophy itself. It is the spiritual life within man himself, which cannot be attained by pondering and racking his brains, but springs from his own development, for which the study of the teachings of the wise is nothing more than an aid. Theosophy is one’s own knowledge of the true essence of religion, which, however, has nothing to do with external church belief, dogmas or formulas, or with adherence to any theories or hypotheses. It is the self-knowledge of truth, which is above all opinions and all belief.
Every man who is not animalistic or spiritually dead has a spark of this theosophy within him and can never find it anywhere else than in his higher, immortal Self. All church-work has only one true purpose, to cultivate the religious feeling in man and to awaken the religious consciousness in him. Everyone must learn for himself to distinguish the kernel of religion from the shell; but if he clings to the external, this is an obstacle to his knowledge of the inner. As Tolstoy shows in his excellent pamphlet “Reflect!,” the decline of religion is the cause of all the evils that affect the world today, and there is no remedy for this except the revival of religion (by which, however, is not meant a restoration of ecclesiastical superstition), and this is religious knowledge, in other words, theosophy.
The Key to Theosophy.
Question: — What is the key to theosophy?
Answer: — There is no other key to the knowledge of God or “theosophy” than God and the power of this knowledge itself; in other words: there is no other means of knowing the truth than this knowledge. For those who do not have it, wisdom does not exist any more than light does for the blind. One must know gold in order to be able to examine whether gold is contained in another thing, and one must know the truth in order to find out whether something true is contained in a thing. Without this knowledge, even the best “proof” would be of no use, since one would then not be able to understand the truth of the proof. There is no other key to reason than reason, and to the knowledge of a higher existence there is no other key than its experience.
If you want to know a person thoroughly, you must enter into his spirit, then the spirit of this person also enters into him, and through this union knowledge comes about. Conclusions can be drawn from observing the external form, but this does not lead to true self-knowledge. The same applies to the knowledge of God. By studying nature or reading edifying books we can be led on the path to knowledge of divine existence, but we must walk the path ourselves to reach it. A theoretical knowledge of theosophical teachings is by no means theosophy. God is above all human intellectual concepts; whoever wants to know him must enter into his spirit and absorb it into himself, then this spirit can reveal itself in him, raise him up and awaken him to divine existence. This spirit is the “holy spirit,” i.e. the spiritual knowledge of truth. The eternal truth is only recognized by looking at it in its own light.
This inner revelation takes place in the higher region of the soul, where the “personal” ends and the impersonal existence begins. Anyone who cannot feel, think and act impersonally has no understanding of the meaning of the word “theosophy”; he may be able to speak learnedly about theological or scientific questions, but the teaching of wisdom itself is incomprehensible to him; for “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; they are foolishness to him” (I Corinthians 2:14). The key to theosophy is therefore the divine spark that is placed in the heart of every natural man and from which springs the light of self-knowledge of the Most High.
Yoga Exercises.
Question: — How can I make the quickest progress?
Answer: — Behind this question, which is asked from many quarters, there is often another one hidden, and if it were asked sincerely, it would be: “How can I most easily satisfy my unjust curiosity? — How can I most quickly acquire occult powers in order to use them for base purposes? — How can I learn witchcraft and sorcery and devote myself to black magic?” The correct answer in such cases would be: “Please don’t hurry, the devil will get you soon enough anyway.”
The only progress in true self-knowledge that a selfish man can make is to progress beyond himself, that is, to abandon his assumed self-delusion and grow out of his conceit; for this assumed self-ownership is an illusion, and illusions are what stand in the way of knowing the truth. The “self” is the shadow of the light, and the greater the shadow, the more it stands in the way of enlightenment. They want to try “Hatha Yoga,” but such exercises serve the purpose of nourishing and embodying the “spirit” that one carries within oneself. If this “spirit” in us is impure and produced by selfish desires, then through such exercises we will give birth not to a god but to a devil who will do a somersault in front of us and take possession of us. Then our powers will not be divine but devilish, and the gates of hell will be open. This is the fool’s way. For the wise man, the first step is inner purification, i.e. becoming free from bondage to self and its desires. The second step is enlightenment. One cannot take the second step before the first.
Many people imagine that spiritual progress consists in drawing down the divine powers and making them subservient to the animal human being. This is the road to madness, to physical and moral depravity and in some cases to union with evil, i.e. the road to “black magic.” Those who have wisdom, on the other hand, seek to abandon their “selfhood” and raise their soul to the divine.
This happens because he is not concerned about his own advantage, but thinks, feels, wants and acts for the greater good. Nor does he do this of his own will or in his own name, but the spirit of good thinks and acts in him and through him. For those who do not have this spirit, occult science is a dangerous thing. He cannot understand the great secret and runs the risk of misusing his knowledge. Anyone who gives such immature people instructions for occult exercises takes on a great responsibility. He plunges himself and others into ruin. There has been no shortage of examples of this in Germany in recent years.
The most harmful books are those which supposedly teach Pranayama; for they are misunderstood by most people, and H. P. Blavatsky also often warned against them. “Prāna” [prāṇa] is life and Prānāyama [prāṇāyāma] is death, “Prānāyama” [prāṇāyāma], the killing of life. He who stifles external life before the spiritual life has awakened within him will soon have cause to regret it. First the soul must be able to breathe spirit before the lungs can do without air to breathe. It must breathe in wisdom and breathe out love; then the external breath will regulate itself. This is the right Prānāyama, through which the inner man attains spiritual life. God cannot be forced by man; all external means undertaken for this purpose are worse than useless and belong in the madhouse.
Inner peace, higher self-consciousness, self-control, firmness of character, consciousness of purpose, chastity, freedom, edification, modesty, benevolence, mercy, these are the elements of spiritual progress which every religious system teaches. Everyone knows them, but few pay attention to them. Purifying the heart, refraining from doing evil, striving for and practicing good, living according to one’s highest ideal and realizing it within oneself, this is “Rāja-Yoga,” the “royal art,” which is taught to each one by his inner guide; but few follow it. Those who, in their hearts, desire to learn witchcraft run from one “master” to another, constantly demanding more instructions, without following even the simplest of those already given. They want to “try” this today and that tomorrow, to see what comes of it, they stagger from right to left like a drunkard and finally fall into the dirt.
Spiritual progress does not consist in enlarging and empowering one’s personality with all its ugly inhabitants and in establishing the kingdom of the devil on earth under the guise of religion or “theosophy,” but in revealing in us the “kingdom of God,” the kingdom of love, intelligence, and eternal life. This is why the Bible teaches: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God (the kingdom of truth), and all the rest shall be given (as soon as ye are ready to receive it).”
Get used to living in the higher region of your soul, instead of wasting your energy in your brain or on a lower level. Healthy thinking also makes the body healthy; discontent, sensuality, vanity, brooding, melancholy, hatred, pessimism and everything that springs from egoism poison the soul and body. Always try to live in the company of good thoughts, and spiritual progress will come of its own accord.
Note
[1] Hartmann, F. (1906) “Theosophical Correspondence. What is Nirvāna? Misunderstandings of the word theosophy. The Key to Theosophy. Yoga Exercises.” Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophischer Wegweiser 8, no, 1 (October), 43-47. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than minor typos, translation from German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}