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The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 70 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann

Chapter 7 (part 12)

145:1 This was the divine Man, out of whom the world was created, while the natural man is a product of the world. 145:2 Because everything was within his own will, within himself. 145:3 This celestial Adam has not died, but still exists in all of us; but on account of our state of degeneration, caused by the attraction of the lower principles, we have forgotten our own divine nature. 146:1 It was Adam's own state of feeling and thinking that created an Eden for him, and thus each human being creates his or her own Paradise. 147:1 This Paradise ( Deva-loca or Devachan ) is described in Eastern books as an "illusion;" but it is no more an illusion to its inhabitants than the dream called "terrestrial existence" is an illusion to us. On the contrary, it is far more permanent and beautiful than this terrestrial world. 147:2 He could not enjoy similarity with God, because he did not possess divine self-knowledge. To attain this knowledge of self he had to eat from the tree of the self-knowledge of good and evil, and then return to his original divine state. 148:1 This the soul can surely not do by seeking for the Son or the Heart of God in anything outside of her own sphere, and with which she is in no way related. Therefore the meaning of the words, "Thou shalt worship only one God," is "Thou shalt have faith in no other God except the one who is seeking to reveal Himself within your own conscience, and not worship any strange idols, such as exist in the imagination of men." 149:1 God being a unity, has no other will or object in view than to give birth to His Son, i.e. , to manifest His outspoken Word as wisdom in man. 150:1 The spiritual will of man is free; not so the will of semi-animal man, for freedom depends on the extent of knowledge. When man's knowledge becomes divine, then will his will be free—wholly free. 150:2 Man requires the material (animal) element in him to endow him with strength to rise above it by the power of God. Man may be regarded as a god crucified within an animal. The god furnishes him with wisdom, the animal with strength. We are to overcome the animal in us by the power of divine wisdom. He who has nothing to overcome can gain no victory. We cannot rise above a thing as long as we have not attained its highest level. 151:1 It would be foolish to worry about what Adam ought or ought not to have done. The meaning is, that we who have "Adam" in us should enter now with our will into the will of God. 152:1 If primordial man had never fallen from his purely spiritual state and "refused to create," he would never have learned to know the wonders of creation, the unfoldment of the third principle. The external world, as we know it, was created by Adam's fall. 152:2 The "devil" means spiritual will perverted. If it is perverted in a personal being, then will there be a personal devil. 153:1 God (Christ), nature, and the devil (Antichrist— i.e. , Christ perverted) are seeking to attain self-consciousness in man. Man's consciousness is, therefore, continually changing, and in reality not his own. Only when the principle of either good or evil has become self-conscious in man, and he has become identified with it, will he know his true impersonal self. Only then will he be a free and responsible agent. 153:2 It was his desire that the lower qualities should become conscious in himself, each according to its own nature.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

The natural man is described as a product of the world subject to lower principles that obscure divinity.

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◆Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

A hierarchy is implied where the world flows from the divine Man, and the natural man is a product of the world.

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◆Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The divine Man functions as the creative principle out of whom the universe was created.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The text describes man as a 'god crucified within an animal' and speaks of returning to an original divine state through wisdom.

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◆Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The text states that everything existed within the divine will and within himself before creation.

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◇Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

[auto] The divine is explicitly characterized as a 'divine Man' and 'Adam,' using human imagery for the creator.

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◇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.

[auto] The passage describes God's will as giving birth to His Son and manifesting His Word as wisdom specifically within man.

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◇Divine Sparkscosmology

Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.

[auto] The celestial Adam exists within all humans, representing a divine nature that has been forgotten.

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◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] The passage explicitly states that attaining divine self-knowledge is the necessary path to return to the original divine state.

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◇Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

[auto] The divine nature is described as residing within the human being, obscured by lower principles.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The passage asserts that Paradise is created within the individual and God should not be sought outside one's own sphere.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The ultimate aim described is attaining similarity with God and returning to the original divine state.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The text uses a paradoxical comparison between Paradise as an illusion and terrestrial existence as a dream.

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◇Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

[auto] The text describes the goal as returning to the original divine state after a fall into degeneration.

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◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] Divine self-knowledge is identified as the primary means to attain similarity with God and overcome ignorance.

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◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

[auto] The soul is described as needing to return from a state of degeneration to its original divine state.

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Related passages · 18 parallels
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 75)
“xcviii} heaven nor earth, and when neither gods had been born, nor men created, the god Tmu was the father of human beings,[1] even before death came into the world. The first act of Tmu was to create from his own body the god Shu and the…”
Both passages discuss the creation of the world and the role of a divine being in that creation. They also explore the concept of human consciousness and the struggle between divine and animalistic aspects within humans.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 76)
“These eight elements were called Nu and Nut,[1] Heh and Hehet,[2] Kek and Keket,[3] and Enen and Enenet,[4] or Khemennu, the "Eight," and they were considered as primeval fathers and mothers.[5] They are often represented in the forms of fo…”
Both passages discuss the creation of the world and the role of a divine being in that creation. They also explore the concept of a primordial state and the development of consciousness, though within different mythological frameworks.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn XXIV. PROTEUS
“XXIV. TO PROTEUS * . The FUMIGATION from STORAX. PROTEUS I call, whom Fate decrees, to keep The keys which lock the chambers of the deep; First-born, by whose illustrious pow'r alone All Nature's principles are clearly shewn: Matter to chan…”
Both passages explore the concept of a primordial, divine being that encompasses all forms and knowledge. Passage A describes Proteus as a shape-shifting, all-knowing entity, while Passage B discusses the divine Man and Adam, who possess divine knowledge and create reality through their will.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres|Section 1c
“And when she saw that Form of beauty which can never satiate, and him who [now] possessed within himself each single energy of [all seven] Rulers as well as God's own Form, she smiled with love; for 'twas as though she'd seen the image of M…”
Both passages discuss the creation of man and the dual nature of humanity, with parallels in the concept of a divine origin and the struggle between the divine and earthly aspects within man. They also share themes of self-knowledge and the fall from a spiritual state.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount|Section 1e
“And for this cause is water poured around earth, to be a guard and wall, to keep the blazing of the fire away. But mind, the swiftest thing of all divine outthinkings, and swifter than all elements, hath for its body fire. For mind being…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine within humanity, the concept of a fallen state, and the path to divine knowledge or Gnosis. They also explore the idea of the soul's journey and the consequences of piety or impurity.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount|Section 1f
“But God is o'er them all, and God contains them all. God's rays, to use a figure, are His energies; the Cosmos's are natures, the arts and sciences are man's. The energies act through the Cosmos, thence through the nature-rays of Cosmos u…”
Both passages discuss the divine nature within humans and the journey towards self-knowledge and unity with the divine. They also explore the concept of the higher self governing the lower, and the importance of divine wisdom in achieving freedom and true consciousness.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer|Section 1e
“Observe this too, my son; that each one of the other lives inhabiteth one portion of the Cosmos - aquatic creatures water, terrene earth, and aery creatures air; while man doth use all these - earth, water air [and] fire; he seeth Heaven, t…”
Both passages emphasize the divine nature within humanity and the interconnectedness of all things with God. They also highlight the importance of self-knowledge and the divine spark within individuals, though they use different metaphors and frameworks.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 202 (part 2)
“All this is the doing of man knowing no more than to live the lower and outer life, and never perceiving that, in his weeping and in his graver doings alike, he is but at play; to handle austere matters austerely is reserved for the thought…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the divine and the individual, emphasizing the divine nature within humans and the process of attaining higher spiritual states. They explore the idea of the individual's role in the cosmos and the path to divine self-knowledge.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 302
“Section 15 15. The souls peering forth from the Intellectual Realm descend first to the heavens and there put on a body; this becomes at once the medium by which as they reach out more and more towards magnitude [physical extension] they pr…”
Both passages discuss the descent of souls or divine beings into a material world, the impact of this descent on their nature and consciousness, and the potential for reascension or self-realization. They share themes of divine origin, fall, and the journey towards self-knowledge and unity with the divine.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 621
“Section 1 1. It is suggested that multiplicity is a falling away from The Unity, infinity being the complete departure, an innumerable multiplicity, and that this is why unlimit is an evil and we evil at the stage of multiplicity. A thing,…”
Both passages discuss the omnipresence of the divine within the individual and the concept of divine unity. Passage A emphasizes the integral identity of the divine within man, while Passage B speaks of the divine nature within each person and the importance of self-knowledge to attain a divine state.
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◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 642
“Section 3 3. What then is there to prevent man having been the object of planning There? No: all stands in that likeness, nothing to be added or taken away; this planning and reasoning is based only on an assumption; things are taken to be…”
Both passages explore the concept of divine nature within humanity and the process of self-realization. They discuss the idea of a higher, divine state that humans can attain through self-knowledge and the overcoming of lower, animalistic tendencies. The passages also touch on the unity of being and the role of divine principles in creation.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 654
“Section 15 15. That Life, the various, the all-including, the primal and one, who can consider it without longing to be of it, disdaining all the other? All other life is darkness, petty and dim and poor; it is unclean and polluting the cle…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a divine or primal unity from which all existence emanates, and the idea of human potential to reunite with this divine state through self-knowledge and contemplation. They also touch on the theme of the fall or degeneration from a higher spiritual state.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 663
“Section 24 24. But ourselves- how does it touch us? We may recall what we have said of the nature of the light shining from it into Intellectual-Principle and so by participation into the soul. But for the moment let us leave that aside and…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a divine or primal life that humans can aspire to, emphasizing the purity and goodness of this higher state. They also explore the idea of human degeneration and the need to return to a divine state through self-knowledge and contemplation.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 696
“Section 14 14. Another approach: Everything to which existence may be attributed is either one with its essence or distinct from it. Thus any given man is distinct from essential man though belonging to the order Man: a soul and a soul's es…”
Both passages explore the concept of divine essence and human nature, emphasizing the internal struggle and the path to divine self-knowledge. They share themes of the divine within, the fall from a pure state, and the importance of understanding one's true nature.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 705
“Section 1 1. It is in virtue of unity that beings are beings. This is equally true of things whose existence is primal and of all that are in any degree to be numbered among beings. What could exist at all except as one thing? Deprived of u…”
Both passages explore the concept of divine essence and human nature, emphasizing the internal struggle and the path to divine self-knowledge. They share themes of the divine within, the fall from a pure state, and the journey towards unity with the divine.
◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1i
“And being free from jealousy, he desired that all things should be as like himself as they could be. This is in the truest sense the origin of creation and of the world, as we shall do well in believing on the testimony of wise men: God de…”
Both passages discuss the creation of the world and the role of divine and human consciousness. They share themes of divine will, the nature of creation, and the journey towards self-knowledge and divine union, albeit within different theological frameworks.
◆western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Human Body in Symbolismi
“Man's physical body was looked upon as the robe of his spiritual nature; consequently, the more developed were his super-substantial powers the more glorious his apparel. Of course, clothing was originally worn for ornamentation rather tha…”
Both passages explore the concept of the human body as a microcosm of the divine or universal structure. Passage A discusses the human body as a symbolic representation of spiritual nature and the universe, while Passage B describes the divine Man (Adam) as the source of creation and the human being as a reflection of divine nature. Both emphasize the interconnectedness of the individual and the divine.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVII (part 4)
“"It is not the Adam of dust (of Chapter II) who is thus made in the divine image, but the Divine Androgyne (of Chapter I), or Adam Kadmon." ADAM KADMON is HUMANITY, or humankind— Homo Sapiens —the SPHYNX, i.e., "the being with the body of a…”
Both passages explore the concept of the divine nature within humanity and the struggle to achieve self-knowledge and unity with the divine. They discuss the duality of human nature, the role of the divine within, and the journey towards spiritual awakening.