Theosophy or True Knowledge
Dr. Franz Hartmann[1]
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl
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Theosophy, the highest wisdom and the recognition of truth, is not a system that can be learned from books, not the acceptance of dogmas or theories, not a faith based on tradition, conclusions, or proofs, but rather the revelation of truth within oneself and the recognition of that truth itself. All true knowledge, whether of God or of nature, must be born within ourselves. We cannot possibly know anything of God except insofar as God Himself has become revealed within us and His spirit and light live and work in us as they do in Him. A distant, absent, separate “God” is an unknowable God, just as a light “that we cannot see” is no light for us, despite all the theories we may invent concerning it.[2]
Likewise, we can have no other true knowledge of nature and its inwardly active forces than insofar as nature and its creations bring about a creation within ourselves. Our intellect can concern itself with the external aspects of things, measuring, describing, and weighing them; it can investigate things on and above the earth and explore much that is interesting and useful concerning the forces and properties of the realms of all four elements, but in doing so, it penetrates no deeper into the essence of nature than a potter who shapes various vessels from clay. The science that counts the stars and measures their movements is based on the same external investigation and is no more advanced than that of a shepherd who counts his sheep and calculates how and when they multiply.
The distinction between pseudo-knowledge and true knowledge is difficult because the world generally labels everything that is discussed with intelligence as “knowledge” or “to know,” be it imagination, conjecture, hearsay, history, criticism, or the like. All this is considered genuine knowledge, but it is nothing more than an activity of the intellect playing with its own creations. Thus, when the rationalist turns to the study of spiritual matters, he is content with the same theoretical knowledge. He relies on hearsay, inference, and criticism, and imagines himself to be a member of the true church when he knows as much about it as he does about Roman history. He then thinks he truly knows something about God and believes his knowledge of heaven is sufficient if he knows that such a place exists, just as he knows that there is a place called Constantinople without ever having been there. In his exploration of divine mysteries, he looks outwards as if he were dealing with the antiquities of Greece.
All true knowledge is self-evident and requires no proof. Therein lies the key to Theosophy. We cannot possess more true religious knowledge than what is self-evident within us. A blind person may be rich in theories concerning the nature, power, and benefit of light and may dispute and change the opinions of another blind person, but when the light is bestowed upon them, its existence becomes self-evident without any theories, and all uncertainty about it ceases. True religion, or Theosophy, is not a theory, but the spiritual light and life within humanity, and it becomes self-evident to humanity as soon as it is revealed within and comes to clear consciousness. We can, in truth, know nothing of God and nature, heaven and hell, and our own selves, except what is revealed within us, and then all of this becomes self-evident. If, in our wisdom, we doubt the existence of hells and devils, we need only turn to that which is self-evident within us, and with the same certainty with which we know that we are alive, we will recognize that within us are anger, self-torment, envy, malice, ill will, vanity, cruelty, vindictiveness, and so forth. These are devils enough; we are surrounded by them and tempted by them. Furthermore, flesh and blood alone cannot resist them; rather, overcoming them requires a higher power that works within us and hinders and destroys the works of these devils within us. This is the only true knowledge one can have of hells and devils. However, external devils, as creatures living outside of us, are only recognized by humankind when everything within them of a divine and human nature has been extinguished. Then it will become clear and self-evident enough to him that hell is a place and that the devils of anger, envy, vanity, etc., are living creatures.
Or let us assume that our faithless intellect leads us to doubt the nature and existence of God. What good would it do us to study the arguments of philosophers, theologians, deists, and atheists? What kind of knowledge of God is it that rests solely on inferences? If, on the other hand, we turn to that which is of a divine nature within ourselves, perceptible and self-evident, then we have the true proof and find the real God of life and light, of love and goodness, manifest within ourselves as our own life. For with the same certainty with which we know that we think and live, we also know that goodness, love, benevolence, humility, compassion, peace, wisdom, and blessedness exist, and this is the God whose existence within us is self-evident to everyone who feels and recognizes it and requires no external proof. This God, whose knowledge imposes itself upon us, demands from us reverence, love, worship, and obedience, and in this lies our true faith and our knowledge of God. Even the atheist does not deny the existence of a first cause, but he does not recognize the attributes of the divine nature if these are not manifest within himself; however, whoever possesses these attributes and carries goodness, love, peace, and purity in his heart also has the clearest proof of the existence of these divine powers. All other knowledge, based on external evidence, is merely like the knowledge of a blind person regarding the light that has never reached his consciousness.
Note:
[1] Theosophy or True Knowledge. By Dr. Franz Hartmann. Theosophischer Wegweiser 4, no. 1 (October 1901), 1-5 [Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025]
[2] After William Law, † 1761.