52. Theosophy and Modern Science

This journal has repeatedly pointed out that the theosophical worldview is entirely in line with the achievements of modern science, if these are viewed impartially and without materialistic prejudice. Indeed, it has been emphasized here that, with a correct interpretation of its own most recent discoveries, science itself must lead to a kind of elementary theosophy. There is now much reason to say a word about the relationship between scientific observation and theosophical view. The news has spread throughout the educated world that the naturalists Blondlot and Charpentier have found purely physical methods to make perceptible the light that a living person radiates. A type of light that is imperceptible to the ordinary sensory observation is present in the sun, in the well-known aurora light, and in other light sources, which can be made visible by, for example, coating a screen with certain substances, such as barium platinum cyanide or sulfur calcium, and then bringing it close to such light sources. These substances then begin to glow (phosphoresce). The same thing happens when the screen is brought near a living human being. And it glows particularly when it comes near those parts of the human organism that are the seats of special nervous activity and are in a state of increased activity. You can, as it were, see how the brain works by making the rays that it emits through its activity visible as a phosphorescent light phenomenon. — This is how the reports of serious scientific researchers speak. Blondlot, in reference to Röntgen's X-rays, named this type of ray he discovered N-rays, from the city of Nancy, where he observed them. What the theosophists describe as the part of man that cannot be perceived by the ordinary senses seems to be 'fixed on a screen' at least in its elementary stages, and also made credible to those who will not accept anything as true that cannot be grasped with their hands and seen with their eyes.

It would be premature to say anything about the position of Theosophy on these reports, which come from scientific observation. The appropriate time for that may not come in the distant future. It is no different with the investigations into some other discoveries of modern natural science (for example, the so-called radioactive rays).

But perhaps a theosophical point of view may be discussed here in a different way. However important the harmonious union of present-day scientific thought with the theosophical world view may be, it must always be emphasized that for the theosophist it is essential how he arrives at his truths. Let us assume that the experiments mentioned above have reached a certain high degree of perfection. It would have been possible to fix certain radiations of the human being in such a way that they become visible to the physical eye in the described way. What would have been achieved? Nothing more than that the sensory experience of the human being would have been somewhat enriched. In order to observe phosphorescence through N-rays, one does not need to stand at a higher level of perfection than the one who can also see a wooden table in front of him. The aim is to achieve such effects through these N-rays that they can be observed without the human ability to perceive having to develop. For the theosophist, however, it is less a matter of expanding the range of the perceptible than of showing higher forms of perception in people. This should be said here in particular with regard to the messages about the human aura in this and the previous issue. The main thing about these communications is that they present themselves to a person when he is working on himself, when he is developing. He gains access to them by increasing his abilities. If the physicist were himself able to visualize the aura, it would only mean that he had drawn something previously imperceptible into the physical realm. But he would still have remained a physicist and not have become a theosophical researcher. Man becomes this, or, better said, a “spiritual seer”, through working on himself. Then phenomena that were previously unknown to him also arise; but through this method he has become a different person. He has not only enriched his experience; he has developed.

It should only be mentioned in passing that the “seer” perceives his phenomena directly, while the physicist observes them in their effects, in their fixation. This makes a difference that can be compared to that between a real person and a photograph of him. The physicist gives, as it were, a photograph, a sensory image of what the “seer” perceives directly spiritually. — But the main thing is that the way in which the “seer” arrives at his results increases his abilities. And that this increase not only leads him to the perceptions hinted at, but at the same time gives him an insight into the spiritual context of things. — And that is what matters. The theosophical movement strives for knowledge insofar as it elevates man spiritually, insofar as it makes him a citizen of the spiritual world.

The physical phenomena mentioned are no different from, for example, the human being itself. If I observe the human being in terms of what can be observed physically, I am not engaging in theosophical contemplation; this only begins when I become aware that the physical human being is the embodiment of a spiritual entity. Likewise, the physical phenomenon described above is only elevated to the theosophical field by looking at it in a spiritual way. This leads to showing the eminently ethical side of Theosophy in the higher sense. The Theosophist always has the higher side of human ethics in mind. It points man to his destiny in the context of the world, to his highest goal. All knowledge tends to lead man along the path of his development towards this goal. How should we work on ourselves to achieve the destiny that is set for us in the world plan? That is the basic theosophical question. It must be interpreted in a noble sense, but it is nevertheless correct: all knowledge, all insights are means to human perfection, to human ennoblement. Theosophy culminates in a higher ethic, a noble moral teaching. Its main question is not: How can I acquire much knowledge? but rather: how do I become a perfect human being, how do I approach my destiny? The insights provide the path to this goal. The most important thing about Theosophy is the refinement of the soul, the purification of the lower nature. The great law of karma, for example, is not meant to satisfy a higher curiosity; it is supposed to show us how we have to understand life in order to become better people. We learn through the law of karma what we have to do. And so it is with everything that Theosophy wants to teach. Everything culminates in Theosophical ethics. It is absolutely true: What good would it do me if I gained the whole world through knowledge and did nothing to ennoble my soul? Theosophy should give us the ideals of how to live.

Those who see this in the right light will soon cease to think that Theosophy is a life-denying, unrealistic view. The Theosophist does not strive for the spiritual because he wants to flee from reality, because he sees something base and unessential in life. No, he recognizes that the roots of life lie in the spiritual, and that he who recognizes the spiritual roots, recognizes life. He who allows only the sense-perceptible side of life to count, shuts himself off from the real driving-forces of the same. In this sense-perceptible reality lie the effects of life; but the causes are to be found in the spiritual. And just as little as someone understands a machine by looking only at the iron parts, so little does one know life by looking only at its sensual exterior. Only the machine designer knows how to put the parts together; only the knower of the spiritual connections knows how to work in the genuine sense in life.

Our present-day culture clings to the external. Through Theosophy, it will come to know the goals and driving forces of life. It is quite understandable that Theosophy is currently met with the greatest misunderstandings. And no one understands this better than the Theosophist himself. He finds it so natural that he currently finds so little understanding. What is said against it has about the same significance as when the laborer says to the engineer: What do I need you for? I make the machine, don't I? The theosophist does not see his task as lying beyond life, but within it. He knows that the course of human evolution depends on the recognition of spiritual forces. He should spiritualize life, not rob the spirit of life. One is the more of a theosophist, the more one is in everyday life. One becomes a theosophist in the true sense only when one is a theosophist as a lawyer, as a physician, as an artist, as a teacher, as a builder, when one is a theosophist as a father of a family, as a civil servant, when one is a theosophist as a laborer in any field; yes, when one is a theosophist in all the circumstances of life, as a friend, as a benefactor, as a householder, and so on. Theosophy as a doctrine is only a beginning; it must permeate our entire life; it must flow into all our actions, from the most significant to the most insignificant. One learns Theosophy only in order to live Theosophy. Yes, life itself is the highest, truest school of Theosophy; and all theosophical theory can only be an instruction to learn the best Theosophy from life itself. Above all, a Theosophist must be recognized by the fruits of his labor. No doubt: apart from everything else, a single act of true human love is worth more than the knowledge of all the theosophical treasures of knowledge, if these remain barren. On the other hand, it is equally true that theosophy leads to genuine and supreme service to humanity. Those who truly immerse themselves in the theosophical truths sow seeds in their hearts that reach maturity as nobility. Once this aspect of Theosophy is better understood in wider circles than is the case today, then the prejudices that are brought against it from so many sides will disappear. It will then be recognized that Theosophy does not make one unfit for life, but, on the contrary, that by deepening one's life, it makes one more capable of it in the higher sense than the external way of looking at things, which today is considered “practical”, can achieve.