An Outline of The Secret Doctrine
Franz Hartmann
Translated by Susanne Hoepfl-Wellenhofer
N.p: European School of Theosophy Press, 2024. 202 pp., paper, $20.50.
H.P. Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine intimidates many readers. Consequently, a number of guides and introductions to it have been published over the years.
The latest to appear in English is An Outline of the Secret Doctrine by the early Theosophist Franz Hartmann (1838‒1912). For more on Hartmann, see the article by Susanne Hoepfl-Wellenhofer, TSA board member and translator of the work reviewed here, in the winter 2022 issue of Quest, Franz Hartmann: A Pioneer of the Theosophical Movement . Hartmann’s book has recently been translated as part of a larger project to make his works available in English (see article in this issue).
Hartmann had the highest opinion of The Secret Doctrine. This edition reproduces a note he wrote in 1889: “My dear H.P.B. Your ‘Secret Doctrine’ will be ‘The Bible’ of the coming millennium.”
As the introduction to this book by Doss McDavid points out, “While it does present the Stanzas [of Dzyan] in sequential order, the accompanying commentary is not merely a shortened version of HPB’s explanation but rather a completely new exegesis, written by a friend who had spent hours with HPB, listening to her serious teaching and everyday banter while all the time absorbing her views on the nature of the world.”
Hartmann’s view of the Stanzas is distinctive in at least a couple of respects. He provides remarkably clear explanations of abstruse concepts and symbols. For example, “Fohat, the personification of the electric life force, the transcendental one, serves as the binding that connects all cosmic forces. It can also be considered as the energy of the sun, the electric life-giving fluid, and the fourth principle known as the animal soul of nature.” And “the ‘dragon’ or ‘serpent’ signifies a living, moving, intelligent force and essence, and is therefore the symbol of spiritual (‘superhuman’) intelligences or ‘spiritual men,’ whether these forces manifest in a visible material body or whether they are in the state of Nirmanakaya” (emphasis in both passages is Hartmann’s).
There is one striking difference between Hartmann’s and HPB’s views: Blavatsky not only rejected the notion of a personal God but avoided the use of the word God in most of her writings. Hartmann, on the other hand, uses it freely, citing German mystics such as Meister Eckhart and Jacob Boehme. He writes, “The Secret Doctrine asserts that the entire creation is a manifestation of the divine nature, originating from the breath of the Godhead”—here identifying the Godhead (a term used by Meister Eckhart) with what Blavatsky calls the “Absolute.” This does not reveal any great discrepancy between Hartmann’s views and HPB’s: it rather indicates that he is more likely to use terminology from the Western than the Eastern version of the esoteric tradition.
One particularly enjoyable feature of this book is an appendix giving Hartmann’s brief autobiography. His verbal portrait of HPB is apt: “To me she always appeared as a great spirit, a sage and initiate inhabiting the body of a grown-up capricious child, very amiable on the whole but at times very irascible, ambitious, of an impetuous temper, but easily led and caring nothing for conventionalities of any kind.” This account describes HPB concisely and objectively—which is particularly valuable for a figure who has been bandied about back and forth so much between scoffers and idolizers.
In short, this volume presents not only a succinct and insightful glimpse into The Secret Doctrine but an account of the life of Hartmann, an extremely influential but sometimes overlooked figure in early Theosophy. (A short introduction to his life and works by Robert Hütwohl appears at the front of this volume.)
In my opinion, the most comprehensive study of Blavatsky’s book remains The Divine Plan by Geoffrey A. Barborka, first published in 1961. Nevertheless, Hartmann’s perspective not only presents the Stanzas of Dzyan in concise form but sheds important light on Theosophy, particularly in relation to the Western esoteric tradition, and on a man who was a fascinating figure in his own right.
Richard Smoley