Sincerity is the First
Step, And There Can Be No
‘Search for Truth’ in the Absence of Truthfulness
‘Search for Truth’ in the Absence of Truthfulness
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
The contrasting
complexity of human soul must be recognized as a fact, if one is to understand
the spiritual path, which is, of course, the steep and narrow path to truth.
Very different impulses coexist in each human being. Loyalty,
therefore, is not a simple process, although it is indispensable. Honesty and
truthfulness are the first inevitable step, without which theosophy and
spirituality make no sense. Yet they cannot be taken for granted.
Dr. Franz Hartmann is a shining example of that. There
is no reason to consider all his writings honest and reliable, or to think that
the letters he said he received from the Masters were authentic. Their
originals never appeared. Such “letters” are full of personal compliments and
praise to Hartmann, while real masters never flatter anyone.
Moreover, Hartmann was a compulsive liar and a living
paradox. He continuously harassed and calumniated H. P. Blavatsky while
presenting himself as her friend.
There were karmic reasons for Blavatsky and other
theosophists to tolerate Hartmann within the esoteric movement. The doors of
the movement have to remain open. A chance must be given to all. The theosophical
project has always been under probation and having to confront one karmic test
after another, since its foundation in 1875. Everyone’s discernment and love for
truth must be strengthened by facing a thousand challenges in many different
ways. The fact remains that Hartmann was a liar, according to the founder of
the movement, and evidences of that are available even now. Referring to him, Blavatsky
wrote:
“The magnetism of that man is sickening; his lying is beastly; his slander of Hübbe
Schleiden, his intrigues unaccountable but on the ground that he is either a
maniac - utterly irresponsible for the most part, or allowed to be possessed by
his own dugpa Spirit. He is exceedingly friendly with me - and was trying all the time to put me up to
every kind of mischief.” [1]
She also said:
“Poor Hartman. He is
a bad lot, but he would give his life
for the Masters and Occultism, though he would do far more progress with the dugpas [pseudo-spiritual liars]
than with our people. He is like the tortoise - one step forward and two back;
with me now he seems very friendly. But I
cannot trust him.” [2]
In 1938, Mr. H. N. Stokes, the editor of the magazine
“The O. E. Library Critic”, uncovered one of the hidden, ambiguous attacks made
by Hartmann against Blavatsky.
Mr. Stokes cautiously calls Hartmann an “eminent
author”, while clearly unmasking him as a man who defends lies:
“I recently read a pamphlet by Dr. Franz Hartmann,
published many years ago and entitled Wahrheit und Dichtung, or as we may
translate, “Truth and Romance”. In this it was maintained that while Madame
Blavatsky occasionally indulged in fraudulent phenomena, according to the
author’s suspicious, this was a matter of small importance because her
philosophical teachings were valuable. In short, it was a defense of committing
fraud, provided no one reality suffered financially or otherwise, in order to
sustain a good cause. With all respect for the eminent author this seems to me
wholly abhorrent. It is the Jesuitical dictum, ‘The end justifies the means’,
all over again. It is permissible to lie, to cheat, to swindle, provided it
hurts no one, if thereby some good end is effected. If you can save a soul by
performing a fake miracle, or cure its body by passing off the leg bone of a
sheep as the relic of a saint, well and good.”
And H. N. Stokes adds:
“There must be something fascinating about this view,
else no otherwise honorable person would accept it. Is it theosophical? The
motto of the Theosophical Society is: ‘There is no Religion higher than
Truth’.” [3]
Stokes then shows in his article the importance of
demonstrating the most basic fact that in spite of what her calumniators -
“friendly” or unfriendly - may say, Helena Blavatsky was a totally honest
woman, and is only attacked because she uncovered
the frauds of dogmatic religions.
It is easy to find misinformed and good-willing people
in esoteric circles who believe that “a little falsity” is part of life, and
that promoting false teachings or protecting a “friendly” fraud can be helpful
to the cause of altruism.
It is necessary therefore - for both ethical and
pedagogical reasons - to let the people who approach the movement know from the
very beginning that any and every form of deliberate falsehood involving
teachings leads to a true hell - the
hell of delusion and disconnection from truth.
‘The Talking Image’:
the Attack
Disguised Under a Friendly Attitude
In his serial novel “The Talking Image of Urur”, published in “Lucifer” magazine
starting in December 1888, Franz Hartmann uses deliberate ambiguity to attack
the theosophical movement under the elegant appearance of a good-willing satire.
The novel and its mockery got gradually more offensive
from month to month, until HPB lost her patience and the novel “ended” in the
February 1890 edition. This happened a little more than one year before her
death. Blavatsky’s mission was facing
various problems.[4] Significantly,
that same issue of the magazine opens with HPB’s article “The Last Song of the Swan”, which she starts by discussing “the
poetical but fantastic notion (…) about swans singing their own funeral
dirges”, and goes on to examine the killing power of influenza in those years.
She would die of influenza, in May 1891. The many disgusting lies and covered
attacks made by Hartmann between 1884 and 1890 didn’t help her, or her mission.
One can see how HPB tries to deal with the novel “The Talking Image of Urur” and related
difficulties within the movement, in her article “On Pseudo-Theosophy”.
NOTES:
[1] “The Letters of H. P.
Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett”, TUP, Pasadena, California, 1973, 404 pages,
Letter L (50), see p. 121.
[2] “The Letters of H. P.
Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett”, TUP, Pasadena, California, 1973, 404 pages,
Letter XLVIII (48), see pp. 118-119.
[3] “The O. E.
Library Critic”, edited by H. N. Stokes, March 1938 edition, front cover,
article “To the Friends of Madame Blavatsky”, first paragraph.
[4] See “Helena Blavatsky’s Self-Criticism”.
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In order to know
more about the ill-disguised hostility
of Dr. Franz Hartmann against the theosophical leaders and the cause of
humanity, see the article “Letters Between Blavatsky and Judge - 01”.
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The article “Franz Hartmann or the Need for Honesty”
was published in the independent websites on 21 November 2021. An initial, anonymous
version of it can be found in the October 2021 edition of “The Aquarian
Theosophist”, pp. 05-07, under the title “Franz
Hartmann’s Falsity or, Why a Profound Honesty Is the First Step”.
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Read more:
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Helena Blavatsky
(photo) wrote these words: “Deserve,
then desire”.
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