JACOB BOEHME, “the god-taught philosopher” and greatest German mystic of the sixteenth century, was a poor and uneducated shoemaker: nevertheless he wrote a great many books, and his writings have furnished the foundations upon which most of the greatest German philosophers have built the systems of their philosophies, a fact that can be […]
Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl[1] Jesus of Nazareth. Question. — What is historically known about the personality of Jesus of Nazareth? Reply. — As good as nothing. — His story in the “New Testament” is a symbolic representation of man’s spiritual evolution, from incarnation to transfiguration; a symbol of salvation, […]
[Theosophische Korrespondenz] Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl[1] Spiritual development. Question. — What do I have to do to get ahead spiritually? Answer: This question has been discussed countless times in theosophical literature and every theologian should be able to give the right information. In the following, we would like […]
Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl[1] It is exceedingly difficult, if not downright impossible, to persuade those lovers of dreaming, divination, table-breaking, table-turning, and hauntings, who do not know the laws of the mind and their effects, that the visions which they so think, from their dear deceased friends, and the “messages” which they […]
(Founder of the Order of Jesuits) [1] The study of comparative religion being one of the objects of the Theosophical Society, it may be of some interest to compare the yoga-practices of the Roman Catholic Church with those described in the Oriental writings. We will then find that they are to a certain extent identical, […]
[Verschiedenes] Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[1] The Catholic Church, apart from all its attendant phenomena of ignorance, superstition, and clergy, like the Buddhist sangha, is fundamentally and in its essence an “esoteric school” for spiritual education and the awakening of inner divine powers. The following is one of their “secret” guides to meditation, […]
[Bruchstücke aus den Mysterien.] Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, with the thirteen articles assembled as a single document.[1] Introduction[2] “I am the truth!” (John XIV. 6.) There is scarcely anything in the world which has caused so much calamity as the difference of opinion as to the person of the founder of Christendom. […]
Note[1] THERE is a great deal of prating about what is called “exact science,” but nothing is said about the development of the investigator himself necessary to make his science exact and to enable him to practically apply it. We do not recognise any other science as being “exact,” except that which results from true […]
A Letter to the Editor of Borderland. [1] Dear Sir,—I am living in a small town located in a corner of the Austrian Alps, where I seldom see one of the English newspapers, and I know, therefore, very little in regard to the interest which the public in England take concerning the storm in […]
Note[1] There are two ways, which lead to true religion, or, to express it in other words; to the realization of absolute truth; namely, knowledge and possession. Neither of these two is perfect without the other; for we cannot really know a thing unless we are in possession of it, and the possession of a […]