The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 10 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 1 (part 10)
It is itself the most secret thing, which can be known by no one except by him who has experienced it; neither do those that live entirely within the realm of animality, or within that of the speculating intellect, believe that such a state is possible, and in fact it is unattainable for any person; because he who enters into it, ceases to be a person, except in regard to his external appearance and form—that is to say, all sense of personality is lost to him, and has ceased to exist in the field of his inner consciousness.
It is therefore unnecessary to repeat that this state cannot be entered by the exercise of the self-will of animal man; neither can it be produced by him by means of any intellectual study; nor is it dependent on his social condition, or education, profession, or external qualifications in life, but it comes to man solely and alone by the mercy and grace of God .
It means the presence of the divine light, and that presence depends on nothing else than on that presence itself.
Boehme says— "It pleases the Supreme to reveal His secrets by means of the foolish, who are looked upon by the world as being nothing; so that it may be seen that their knowledge does not come from these fools, but from Him.
Therefore I ask you to regard my writings as being those of a child in which the Supreme has manifested His power.
There is in them so much, that no kind or amount of argumentation and reasoning can comprehend or grasp it; but to those that are illumined by the Spirit their understanding is easy and merely child's play." ( Letters , xv.
10.) "The understanding is born of God.
It is not the product of the schools in which human science is taught.
I do not treat intellectual learning with contempt, and if I had obtained a more elaborate education, it would p.
53 surely have been an advantage to me, while my mind received the divine gift; but it pleases God to turn the wisdom of this world into foolishness, and to give His strength to the weak, so that all may bow down before Him." ( Forty Questions , xxxvii.
20.) The reasoning intellect has nothing to do with originating perceptions, but is used for the purpose of bringing the ideas received from the clear perception of truth into a requisite form; and as the mind is then in a higher than the normal condition, it often happens that on returning to the lower state it does not understand, and perhaps not even remember, the ideas which it expressed during that time.
"I say it before God, and testify before His judgment-seat, where everything must appear, that I in my human self do not know what I shall have to write; but whenever I am writing the Spirit dictates to me what to write, and shows me all in such a wonderful clearness, that I often do not know whether or not I am with my consciousness in this world.
The more I seek the more I find, and I am continually penetrating deeper; so that it often seems to me as if my sinful person were too low and too unworthy for the reception of knowledge of such high and exalted mysteries; but in such moments the Spirit unfolds His banner and says to me, 'Behold!
in this shalt thou live eternally, and be crowned therewith.
Why art thou terrified?'" ( Letters , ii.
10.) "I might sometimes perhaps write more elegantly, and in a better style, but the fire burning within me is driving me on.
My hand and my pen must then seek to follow the thoughts as well as they can.
The inspiration comes like a shower of rain.
That which I catch I have.
If it were possible to grasp and describe all that I perceive, then would my writings be more explicit." ( Letters , X.
45.) p.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The passage states the state cannot be produced by intellectual study or known by the speculating intellect.
All passages →◆Birth Of Word In Soulanthropology
Eckhart's signature doctrine that the Father eternally begets the Son in the ground of the soul; the human interior as the actual site of the divine generative act, distinct from inner_light's static indwelling.
The Spirit 'dictates to me what to write,' suggesting the divine word originates within the soul.
All passages →◆Childlike Innocenceanthropology
The infant or child as symbol of the unfallen, undivided spiritual state; return to primordial simplicity.
Boehme asks readers to regard his writings as 'those of a child' and notes God reveals secrets through the 'foolish'.
All passages →◆Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The state 'cannot be entered by the exercise of the self-will,' requiring a letting go of personal agency.
All passages →◆Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The divine is described as a 'most secret thing' revealed only by grace to the foolish.
All passages →◆Divine Madnesssoteriology
Ecstatic irrational rapture — Plato's mania, Bruno's furore — by which the soul transcends ordinary reason and attains direct contact with divine reality; madness reframed as higher knowledge.
The text contrasts worldly wisdom with divine 'foolishness,' framing the ecstatic state as turning 'wisdom of this world into foolishness'.
All passages →◆Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The passage emphasizes that this state is 'known by no one except by him who has experienced it' and cannot be grasped by reasoning.
All passages →◆Heroic Furorpraxis
Bruno's eroici furori — a passionate, ennobling spiritual ardor that drives the soul toward divine wisdom; distinguished from base or animal passions by its orientation to infinite truth.
Boehme describes a 'fire burning within me is driving me on,' matching the definition of passionate spiritual ardor.
All passages →◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The text refers to the state as a 'most secret thing' and mentions God revealing His secrets.
All passages →◆Inner Lightanthropology
The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.
The presence of divine light is located within the 'field of his inner consciousness'.
All passages →◆Kingdom Withinanthropology
The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.
The transformation occurs in the inner consciousness independent of external qualifications or social condition.
All passages →◆Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The passage attributes active agency to God through 'mercy and grace' and the 'Supreme'.
All passages →◆Mechanical Humanityanthropology
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.
Those who live in the 'realm of animality' are contrasted with those who experience the divine state.
All passages →◆Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
It notes that the Supreme reveals secrets through those looked upon by the world as 'foolish'.
All passages →◆Poverty Of Spiritanthropology
Eckhart's radical reading of Matthew 5:3 — the saint as one who wants nothing, knows nothing, and has nothing, having emptied even the will and the self with which to receive God; distinct from renunciation_of_wealth (material poverty).
The author describes himself as 'too low and too unworthy' and identifies with the 'fools... looked upon by the world as being nothing'.
All passages →◆Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics
Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.
It contrasts external qualifications like profession and education with the internal reality of grace.
All passages →◆Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The loss of personality and entry into the divine light implies a dissolution of separation between self and God.
All passages →◇Divine Lighttheology
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
[auto] The text defines the mystical state directly as 'the presence of the divine light' and discusses being 'illumined by the Spirit'.
All passages →◇Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
[auto] The passage explicitly describes a state where 'all sense of personality is lost' and the individual 'ceases to be a person,' indicating a merging with the divine.
All passages →Related passages · 25 parallels · 3 contrasts
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XVIIb
“For, as he sometimes makes some stupid man to speak wisely, through which it becomes manifest to every one, that this is not a certain human but a divine work; thus, also, he reveals through things which are deprived of knowledge, conceptio…”
Both passages discuss the idea of divine inspiration and the limitation of human intellect in understanding higher truths. They emphasize that true knowledge comes from a divine source rather than human effort or education.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 283
“Section 1 1. In the Intellectual Kosmos dwells Authentic Essence, with the Intellectual-Principle [Divine Mind] as the noblest of its content, but containing also souls, since every soul in this lower sphere has come thence: that is the wor…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the limitations of human understanding and intellection in comprehending it. They emphasize that the divine is beyond human consciousness and that true understanding comes from a higher, transcendent source.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 355 (part 1)
“Section 35 35.
But we must give some explanation of these powers.
The matter requires a more definite handling.
How can there be a difference of power between one triangular configuration and another?
How can there be the exercise of po…”
Both passages discuss the interconnectedness of all things within a greater whole, though from different mystical perspectives. Passage A describes the All as a unified living being with a soul, while Passage B speaks of the divine light and the loss of personal identity in the presence of the divine, both emphasizing a transcendent unity.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 443
“Section 11 11. Thus the Intellectual-Principle, in the act of knowing the Transcendent, is a manifold. It knows the Transcendent in very essence but, with all its effort to grasp that prior as a pure unity, it goes forth amassing successive…”
Both passages discuss the concept of self-knowledge and the nature of the intellect or higher consciousness. They emphasize the idea of a higher principle or divine presence that transcends ordinary human understanding and the limitations of the rational mind.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 444 (part 1)
“Section 12 12.
But why, after all, should it not be such a manifold as long as it remains one substantial existence, having the multiplicity not of a compound being but of a unity with a variety of activities?
Now, no doubt, if these vari…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine knowledge and the self-knowing aspect of the intellect or soul. They explore the idea of self-intellection and the relationship between the divine and the individual's understanding, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 489
“Section 11 11. Similarly any one, unable to see himself, but possessed by that God, has but to bring that divine- within before his consciousness and at once he sees an image of himself, himself lifted to a better beauty: now let him ignore…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine wisdom or knowledge that transcends ordinary human understanding. They emphasize that this wisdom is not acquired through conventional means like study or intellectual pursuit but is rather a direct experience or gift from a higher power.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 503
“Section 11 11. Now as to the arts and crafts and their productions: The imitative arts- painting, sculpture, dancing, pantomimic gesturing- are, largely, earth-based; on an earthly base; they follow models found in sense, since they copy fo…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine intellect and the unity of being and knowledge. Plotinus emphasizes the Intellectual-Principle as the source of authentic existence and knowledge, while Boehme describes the divine light and the illuminated understanding, both of which transcend human intellect and personality.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 566
“Section 5 5. These are incontrovertible facts in regard to the pseudo-substance of the Sensible realm: if they apply also in some degree to the True Substance of the Intellectual, the coincidence is, doubtless, to be attributed to analogy a…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the universal and the particular, with Passage A discussing the universal Intellect and its relation to particular intellects, and Passage B describing the divine light and its manifestation through individuals. Both emphasize the transcendence of the universal over the particular and the ineffable nature of the higher reality.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 679 (part 1)
“Section 40 40.
That there can be no intellection in the First will be patent to those that have had such contact; but some further confirmation is desirable, if indeed words can carry the matter; we need overwhelming persuasion.
It must b…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the limitations of human understanding or intellection in comprehending the ultimate reality. They emphasize the transcendence of the divine beyond human thought processes, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 688
“Section 6 6. How then did we come to place freedom in the will when we made out free action to be that produced- or as we also indicated, suppressed- at the dictate of will? If what we have been saying is true and our former statement is co…”
Both passages discuss the limitations of human intellect and the nature of divine knowledge. They emphasize that true understanding comes from a higher, divine source rather than from human reasoning or education.
18 more
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 690
“Section 8 8. But it is not, in our view, as an attribute that this freedom is present in the First. In the light of free acts, from which we eliminate the contraries, we recognise There self-determination, self-directed and, failing more su…”
Both passages discuss the limitations of human intellect and the nature of divine knowledge. They emphasize that true understanding comes from a higher, divine source rather than from human reasoning or education.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 716
“Section 11 11. This is the purport of that rule of our Mysteries: Nothing Divulged to the Uninitiate: the Supreme is not to be made a common story, the holy things may not be uncovered to the stranger, to any that has not himself attained t…”
Both passages discuss the ineffable nature of divine experience and the limitations of intellectual understanding in attaining it. They emphasize the need for a transformative, direct experience that transcends ordinary knowledge and personal identity.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1|
“For any man, who is not devoid of natural feeling, has reason to fear, if he has no knowledge or proof of the soul's immortality.
That is what I suppose you to say, Cebes, which I designedly repeat, in order that nothing may escape us, and…”
Both passages explore the limits of human understanding and the nature of knowledge. Plato's Socrates discusses the inability to comprehend the causes of generation and corruption, while Boehme describes the divine light and the limitations of human intellect in grasping higher truths.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialogueb
“He forms intelligible conceptions in his own way and proportions them to his capacity, so that they are received according to the manner of the recipient.
Tans.
And does he hunt through the operation of the will, by the act of which he co…”
Both passages discuss the transformation of the individual through divine intervention and the loss of personal identity in the process. They also emphasize the role of divine grace and the limitations of human intellect in achieving this state.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fifth Dialogueg
“This special human intelligence which influences all individuals is like the moon, which partakes of no other species but that one alone which always renews itself by the transmutation caused in it by the sun, which is the primal and univer…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine intelligence and human understanding, emphasizing the limitations of human intellect and the superior, stable nature of divine wisdom. They also touch on the idea of divine illumination and the transformative experience of divine presence.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fifth Dialoguei
“It seems to me, that it means that his particular intelligence is to the universal intelligence ever the same—that is to say, the one is ever illuminated by the other, over the whole hemisphere; notwithstanding that to the inferior powers,…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between human intellect and a higher, divine intelligence. They explore the idea of an unchanging, divine light or intelligence that illuminates human understanding, despite the fluctuations and limitations of human perception and intellect.
◆taoism|Tao Te Ching|Chapter 10
“When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy, he can become as a (tender) b…”
Both passages describe a state of spiritual illumination or divine connection that transcends ordinary human understanding and is not achieved through intellectual or worldly means. They emphasize the role of divine grace or the Tao in achieving this state, and the limitations of human reasoning in comprehending it.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XIII (part 2)
“The positivistic scientist finds himself in the presence of nature almost in the position of a savage in a library of rare and valuable books.
For a savage a book is a thing of definite size and weight.
However long he may ask himself wha…”
Both passages explore the idea of hidden knowledge or deeper truths that are not immediately apparent to the untrained or uninitiated observer. Passage A discusses the concept of noumena and phenomena, emphasizing the need to recognize the hidden aspects of nature, while Passage B describes the divine light and spiritual insight that can only be experienced through grace and not through intellectual or worldly means.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVIII (part 5)
“If we consider the emotional nature of man as self-contained, as serving life and not serving knowledge we shall never understand its true content and significance.
Emotions serve knowledge.
There are things and relations which can be kno…”
Both passages emphasize the role of emotions and inner experiences in understanding and knowledge. Passage A discusses how emotions serve as a means to comprehend certain aspects of life and nature, while Passage B highlights the divine light and spiritual experiences that transcend intellectual understanding.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 10)
“But it does not bear fruit presently; and, though it blossoms, they fall off; also many a cold wind, frost and snow, puff upon it, before it comes to any growth and bearing of fruit.
Boehme's books are full of wonderment before these myste…”
Both passages discuss the mystical experience of uniting with the divine through the surrender of the self and the stilling of the mind. They emphasize the ineffable nature of this experience and the role of divine grace in achieving it.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 13)
“Then the understanding of such a man receives from the Holy Spirit the highest and hidden mysteries which according to the divine Paul, neither the human eye can understand nor the human reason comprehend unaided.
(Ii Corinthians ii, 9).…”
Both passages discuss the limitations of human reason and the ineffable nature of divine mysteries. They emphasize the transformative experience of divine union, which transcends ordinary understanding and cannot be fully expressed in human language.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 20)
“I feel as if it must mean something, something like what the Hegelian philosophy means, if one could only lay hold of it more clearly.
Those who have ears to hear let them hear; to me the loving sense of its reality only comes in the artif…”
Both passages discuss mystical experiences that lead to a monistic insight where the individual self is absorbed into a greater, divine unity. They also emphasize the ineffable nature of these experiences and the limitations of intellectual understanding in grasping them.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 3)
“And this formation of special literatures is the chief evil and the chief obstacle to a correct understanding of things.
Each "literature" elaborates its own terminology, its own language, which is incomprehensible to the students of other…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a higher consciousness or divine illumination that transcends ordinary human experience. They describe this state as something that cannot be achieved through ordinary means but rather through a transformative experience or divine grace.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 4)
“This last is called Self Consciousness and is that faculty upon which rests all of our life (both subjective and objective) which is not common to us and the higher animals, except that small part of it which is derived from the few individ…”
Both passages discuss higher states of consciousness beyond ordinary human awareness. Passage A describes 'Cosmic Consciousness' as a state of universal awareness and moral exaltation, while Passage B discusses a divine illumination that transcends personal identity and is granted by grace, highlighting a similar theme of elevated spiritual consciousness.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 13)
“From our standpoint it is clearly impossible to regard a man sitting in the horse's saddle as a fact of horse evolution, but from the point of view of the scientist who knows nothing about man, this will be only logical.
Dr.
Bucke finds h…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a higher state of consciousness or spiritual awakening that transcends ordinary human experience. They also emphasize the idea that this state is not achievable through ordinary means but is a gift or grace from a higher power or through evolutionary processes.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|1. The CandidatebCONTRASTS
“He will fail to understand it, and it will trouble him, while if he should divine the meaning, there will be a still greater source of disquietude.
If you hold by anything in the world more than by reason, truth and justice; if your will b…”
Both passages discuss the idea of divine inspiration and the limitations of human intellect and education in understanding higher truths. They also emphasize the role of divine grace or spirit in revealing these truths, which is a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|3. The Triangle Of PantaclesaCONTRASTS
“THE Abbot Trithemius, who in Magic was the master of Cornelius Agrippa, explains, in his Steganography, the secret of Conjurations and Evocations after a very natural and philosophical manner, though possibly, for that very reason, too simp…”
Both passages discuss the concept of evocation or inspiration from a higher realm, emphasizing the role of divine or spiritual forces in achieving a state of higher consciousness or understanding. They share the idea that this state is not achievable through mere intellectual or personal effort alone, but requires divine grace or the presence of a higher power.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|9. The Ceremonial Of InitiatesaCONTRASTS
“THE science is preserved by silence and perpetuated by initiation.
The law of silence is not therefore absolute and inviolable, except relatively to the uninitiated multitude.
Such knowledge can be only transmitted by speech.
The sages t…”
Both passages discuss the transmission of esoteric knowledge and the role of initiation. They emphasize the need for a higher understanding that transcends ordinary intellectual or sensory experience, and the idea that true wisdom comes from a divine or transcendent source rather than from human effort alone.