by Michael Raysson (Sat Sandesh magazine, July, 1976)
Throughout the ages, however dark
they may seem, the Godman has
existed on this dark sub-lunary planet
holding the key to the inner kingdoms
of God and to God Himself. Outwardly
he may live an ordinary life as any
other man, but inwardly he is an overflowing
ocean of Love and Light. The
sincere seekers who come to his feet
in search of Truth never go away emptyhanded
but also have a dip into that
Light and they begin to hear the Mystic
Music flowing throughout creation.
The East has always more or less
accepted the need for such sublime
teachers, although the idea has generally
been frowned upon in the West. Nevertheless
the great ones have appeared
even so for those few thirsty souls who
were after the direct approach to God
in their lifetime.
One such soul was Jacob Boehme, a
simple cobbler of Germany who came
to revive for his age the forgotten teachings
of Christ. Embedded deep in the
Christ Power, his teachings came from
the universal viewpoint; and while living
strictly in the Lutheran faith all his life
he nevertheless always maintained that
the Kingdom of God was open to all
humanity in whatsoever religion they
belonged, be it Christian, Muslim, or
Hindu.
Life Sketch
"There is a small market-town in the
upper Lusatia called Old Seidenburg,
distant from Gorlitz about a mile and
a half, in which lived a man whose
name was Jacob and his wife's name
Ursula. People they were of the poorest
sort, yet of sober and honest
behavior. In the year 1575 they had
a son whom they named Jacob. This
was the divinely-illuminated Jacob
Boehme, the Teutonic Theosopher,
whom God raised up in the most
proper period as to the chiliad and
century to show the ground of the
Mystery of nature and Grace and
open the Wonders of his Wisdom." (1)
Thus begins the account of Boehme's
life. His youth was spent in the fields as
a simple herds-boy and when he came
of age he became a cobbler's apprentice.
One day when his cobbling master was
away a stranger of "reverend and grave
countenance but mean apparel" came
to the shop and wished to buy a certain
pair of shoes. Jacob, being barely above
sweeping around the shop, knew nothing
about the prices so he gave one so
high that he knew his master would not
be displeased if the man bought them.
Nevertheless the poor stranger did buy
them and just as he was about to leave
the shop called Jacob by name to follow
him. Completely surprised at such a
stranger calling him so familiarly Jacob
followed, quite awed. Alone with Jacob,
the old man apparently imparted to him
a remarkable spiritual experience. Then
fixing his gaze deep into Jacob's eyes he
said :
" 'Jacob, thou art little but shalt be
great and become another man, such
a one as at whom the world shall
wonder. Therefore be pious, fear God
and reverence His Word. Read diligently
the holy scriptures wherein you have comfort and instruction. For
thou must endure much misery and
poverty and suffer persecution. But
be courageous and persevere for God
loves and is gracious to thee'...And therewith pressing his hand he
looked with a bright and sparkling
eye fixed on his face and departed." (2)
Thus passed perhaps the most important
event of Boehme's life and he cultivated
the lesson to its full flower. For
days he would be bathed in the Mystic
Light and inner music. At length he
began to write a book as a private
memorial to the inner life. Quite without
his sanction the book came to public
notice. The local clergy, afraid of the
effect such universal teachings might
have on their own congregation, brought
on Jacob, as foretold, the beginning of
a life-long persecution and it was Providence
alone that prevented Jacob from
living his life in exile. Boehme, who had
never wished any public display in the
first place, silenced his pen for seven
long years. However the secret was out
and the seekers began to flock to
Boehme's door.
Shunning the publicity, Jacob brought
his practices to bloom, rising to yet
higher planes and clearer vision. His
pen began to flow again and he sang
long and tirelessly the praises of the
Mystic Word (the Divine Sound) and
the glories of the inner life.
The Prince of Saxony, hearing of
Boehme's strange teachings, had him
brought before a tribunal of the most
learned men of the day in the studies of
philosophy, divinity and mathematics,
in order to put him to the test. After
conferring with them for a time they all
refused to pass any judgment, agreeing
that what he showed them far surpassed
any earthly reason they could judge him
with. The Prince himself had Boehme
spend many an hour with him.
The many disciples that now congregated
around Boehme came from all
classes. Among them there were apparently
a large group of noble family and
scholarly background who sat at the
shoemaker's humble feet to learn of the
Mysteries of the beyond. One is vividly
reminded of the great cobbler-saint of
the East, Ravidas, around whom congregated
many an earthly king and queen.
One of Boehme's most intimate disciples
was Dr. Walter, a Silesian who
had traveled extensively in the East in
search of a Master and returned unsuccessful
only to find his search crowned
at his own front door.
In his later years Boehme came to
have devotees at many a far clime. In
order to better instruct these dear ones
he laid down his cobbling tools and
became a trader of cloth so he could
travel to them in person. He invariably
would instruct his disciples that while
cultivating the inner life of the spirit
they should outwardly keep up a normal
life and earn an honest living.
It was the custom then in Germany
to keep autograph books in which all
callers would leave some remembrance.
In such books Boehme always would
insert such verses as:
"To whom Time and Eternity
Harmoniously as One agree;
His soul is safe, his life's amended,
His battle's o'er, his strife is ended.
Whose time and ever all are One,
His soul's at rest, His warfare's
done." (3)
At length the time came for this simple
Godman to take his final leave of this
frail human body. The family was congregated
around the bed, and to his son
Tobias who had failed to cultivate the
inner lie he turned his head. Speaking
of the inner Sound Current Boehme
asked him if he heard "that sweet harmonious
music." As all was outwardly
quiet, young Tobias said he heard nothing.
"Then open up the door," said
Boehme, "that you may better hear."
Boehme's simple existence was a perfect
example of a godly life, living in
the world but out of it. He always
earned his living, however poor it may
have been, by the sweat of his own
brow; while keeping a normal family
life he always reflected chastity and the
highest virtues; despite great persecution
he was always loving even to his
enemies, although never timid in upholding
the grand truth he had found
by long inner practice. Lastly and most
important of all his life and teachings
were steeped in the effulgent Word, "the
Divine Sound," ringing in the depths
of the human body, without contacting
which, he claimed, all outer churches
and rituals and all good deeds were of
no avail.
His Teachings
Mystical experience is a subject of
infinite communion and any writings on
the subject can only feebly reflect on
the immeasurable vastness of the original
experience. This and the alchemical
metaphors in which Boehme often
couched his writings has tended to
make almost all the translators and commentators,
themselves unversed in practical
mystical experience, ignore the
whole inner basis of his writings.
Drawing away the dross of time and
clearing the misinterpretations that have
come down, the message sings forth in
crystal clear tones (as have all Masters'
past and present) of the Divine Sound
and Light ringing and shining in the
man body. Boehme describes this Divine
principle in terms that leave no doubt
of its true nature:
"In the Light of God which is called
the Kingdom of Heaven the Sound is
wholly soft, pleasant, lovely, pure and
thin, yea as a stillness in reference to
our outward gross shrillness in our
pronouncing, speaking, sounding,
singing and chanting as if the mind
did play and melodize in a Kingdom
of Joy within itself, and did hear in
a most entire inward manner such a
sweet pleasing melody and tune and
yet outwardly did neither hear or
understand it. For in the Essence of
Light all is subtle." (4)
"If you should in this world bring
many thousand sorts of musical instruments
together, and all should be
tuned in the best manner most artificially,
and the most skillful masters
of music should play on them in concert
together, all would be no more
than the howlings and barkings of
dogs in comparison of the Divine
Music, which rises through the Divine
Sound and tunes from Eternity to
Eternity." (5)
It is by this Divine Sound, Boehme tells
us, that the soul is manifested, that all
powers are moved and by which all of
"man's science of knowledge of the invisible
and visible essence" is made
known and from that contemplation he
himself learned everything.
Man, says Boehme, has nothing more
necessary or profitable in this lifetime
than to know himself and then to know
God of whom he is the same essence.
And to do so one must come in contact
with the Divine Light and Sound Principle
in the human body. And Christ teaches the same (saying)
"That His Light shineth in us."
"All Christian Religion consisteth in
this: to learn to know ourselves . . .
Where will you seek God? In the
deep above the stars? You will not
find Him there. Seek Him in your
Heart in the center of your birth." (6)
"O! Thou blind mind full of darkness,
the Heaven where God dwells is also
in thee." (7)
"Now go whither thou wilt, thou hast
the center of the Deity in thee in the
Sound." (8)
So far so good...But alas, steeped in
duality and identified with the outward
things as we are, we find it well-nigh
impossible to contact this Divine Principle
which holds the "Open Sesame"
to the inner kingdoms. For this contact
we need a true teacher or Master of this
science, one who (like Boehme himself)
is already centered in the Godhead and
through whom the Godpower works:
"And man wants nothing but the wise
Master that can strike his Instrument
which is the true spirit of the high
might of eternity. If that be quickened
in man, that it stirs and acts in the
center of the mind, then it plays on
the instrument of the human form
and even then the form is uttered with
the Sound in the Word." (9)
"Now the Father is manifested to us
in the Son; and when they now do call
upon the Father, He hears them only
in His Son, viz. in His Voice manifest
in the human property. And yet
they serve the Son in the Father...For the Father has manifested Himself
toward us with His Voice in the
Son." (10)
And the Son works through and for all
(no matter what religion).
"Now when the Turks worship the
Father, He hears them in the Son,
and receives them to adoption in the
Son, in whom God has manifested
Himself in the human property and
in no other property besides." (11)
"So God has sent His officer, viz., His
Holy Word by His servant in the
world to the true man... and He
causes His servants to sit down by
the Fountain of His Holy Word with
command that they should in their
ofice and charge committed to them
call upon God and pray and teach
His Word till God draws the virgin's
Heart and brings her to the Fountain
of His Word to draw water out of the
well-spring of God's Word." (12)
Such a teacher, says Boehme, will not
merely teach out of the outward letter,
but from the Love and Light of Divine
knowledge which flows out of His every
pore; the Spirit of God speaks through
him and his tongue is filled with the
essence of the five divine Names. He
speaks without regard for a man's personality,
for he sees the inner man and
is free from the hold of mind. He is
God-in-him and he enlivens the God-in-
us.
"And therefore God became man that
He might again repair His Glorious
Instrument which He had made for
His praise, which perished as to Him
and would not sound according to the
desire of His Joy and Love and introduce
again the true Love-Sound into
the strings. He has introduced the
Voice which sounds in His Presence
again into us, viz., into His Instrument.
He is become that which I am
and made me that which he is." (I3)
In a very rare statement Boehme tells
us of his attainment of at-one-ment with
God and even goes on further to unequivocally
state that what Jesus had
done in his ministry, he in his lifetime
was also doing and so also was that
work being continued by his "fellowmembers" :
"Whatever Jesus has done through the
Christ, viz., through his and my humanity,
the same he does yet today
in me and in all my Fellow-Members...Thus now I live in God and my
selfhood does not know it." (14)
Having found such a Master the
secrets of the "Mysterium Magnum" or
great mystery are revealed both in
theory and practice and one begins to
journey to inner regions. The Masters speak of the inner
realms as containing a vast network of
planes of differing degrees of spirituality
leading up to the pure spiritual region
from whence the Masters themselves
have come. The traversing of these inner
realms is a most subtle and tricky
undertaking and thus there is all the
more need of'a Guide who knows the
Way from beginning to end. Boehme
through long devotion and discipline
had mastered this inner science and become
an adept. He was a knower of
the inner regions and the True Home
and in his own words gives revelations
of his experiences. Sometimes he conceals
himself in alchemical language
and at other times he speaks of the
inner regions in the Christian idiom,
speaking of the different Angelical kingdoms
and principalities and describing
the inner music as it changed from
region to region in terms of changing
angelical choirs. As the Saints always
speak from an exalted viewpoint
Boehme never failed to emphasize that
all the inner planes were but different
degrees of the One Divine Word or
Sound, the Voice of God:
"For all whatsoever has life, liveth in
the Speaking Word, the Angels in
the Eternal Speaking and the temporal
spirits in the re-expression or
echoing forth of the formings of time,
out of the sound or breath of Time
and the angels out of the Sound of
Eternity, viz., out of the Voice of the
Manifested Word of God.
And therefore they bear the Names
of the several Degrees in the Manifested
Voice of God. And one Degree
is more holy in the Power than another.
Therefore the angels also in
their Choirs are diflerenced in the
Power of the Divine Might. And one
has a more holy function to discharge
than another." (I5)
The Masters of the highest order generally
speak of five principal manifestations
of the Sound Current, forming five
main planes of creation, speaking of the
five-sounded Word or the five Holy
Names, etc. Boehme, likewise, tells of
the five holy Speeches, five head
Speeches, five Names, etc., in a most
revealing way:
"These FIVE Names figure out and set
forth as in a type the FIVE HEAD
SPEECHES of the spiritual Tongue
through the formed Word, proceeding
from the high NAME of God out of
which Tongues the prophetical and
apostolical spirit speaks...For the
spirit does also under the Names point
at the Kingdoms and Dominions, and
they are God's, who with His Name
does order, govern, guide and lead
every kingdom according to the property
of His Name...Not that there
is more than ONE God, only we
understand therein the Divine Manifestation,
how God gives Himself forth in His manifestation in the
formed Word." (16)
"Through the five holy Speeches proceeding
from the Eye of Eternity the
spirit in the formed Word of nature
speaks holy divine words in the children
of the Saints." (17)
"The five Speeches belong to the Spirit
of God who speaks by His Children
when and how He pleases." (18)
Of course it is to the highest region, the
region of pure spirit or Love, that the
Masters wish to take us. It is the origin
and essence of all creation. Boehme calls
it the "Principle of all principles" being
far above the Heavens and angelical
kingdoms :
"Its Power supports the Heavens; by
this thou wilt come to understand that
as the Heavens, visible and invisible,
are originated from this great Principle,
so are they likewise necessarily
sustained by it. And therefore if this
should be but never so little withdrawn
all the Lights, glories, beauties
and forms of the heavenly worlds
would presently sink into darkness
and chaos." (19)
"Its height is higher than the highest
heavens. This thou mayest also understand
within thyself. For shouldest
thou ascend in spirit through all the
Orders of the Angels and Heavenly
Powers, yet the Power of Love still is
undeniably superior to them all." (20)
"It is higher than the highest and
greater than the greatest. Thou mayest
hereby perceive as in a glimpse
the supreme height and greatness of
OMNIPOTENT LOVE which infinitely
transcends all that human sense and
reason can reach to." (21)
"Whoever finds it, finds nothing and
All things...He that findeth it
findeth a supernatural supersensual
Abyss which hath no ground or byss
to stand on and where there is no
place to dwell in, and he findeth also
nothing is like unto it." (22)
There is a secret gate, the seat of the
soul in the human body, where one
begins the inner journey to these higher
realms. It is the Master alone who can
bring us in contact and open up this
grand gateway which lies behind and
between the two outward eyes. Here the
inner music begins to resound and one
sees the light:
"Behold here you find the beginning
of the Life and the tincture wherein
the Life exist...the breaking open
of the dark gate stands in the Sounding
and has its gate open next the
fire-flash near the eyes and receives
the noise of whatsoever sounds." (23)
This gateway Boehme calls "the single
eye." Other Masters have called it the
third eye, latent eye, etc. And all of
them have enjoined meditation upon
this point to begin the Way back to
God. Here "through a pillar of fire and
Thunder-clouds" the inner way opens
up and one awakens into the "Supersensual
Life." Boehme clearly reveals
his method of inner concentration where
by single-pointed attention the inner
goal is reached:
"Cease but from thine own activity
steadfastly fixing thine Eye upon ONE
POINT and with a strong purpose relying
upon the promised grace of God
in Christ to bring thee out of thy
darkness into His marvellous Light.
For this end gather in all thy thoughts
and by faith press into the center laying
hold upon the Word of God which
is infallible and which hath called
thee. Be thou then obedient to this :
Call and be silent before the Lord
sitting alone with Him in thy inmost
and most hidden cell, thy mind being
centrally united in itself, and attending
His Will in the patience of hope.
So shall thy Light break forth as the
morning; and after the redness thereof
is passed, the Sun himself, which thou
waitest for, shall arise unto thee, and
under his most healing wings thou
shalt greatly rejoice ascending and
descending in his bright and salutiferous
beams. Behold this is the true
Supersensual Ground of Life." (24)
To achieve the single-pointed inner
vision to proceed on the inner Way is
indeed a great and arduous task for our
vision has long been bound and darkened
by duality. Man's heart is broken
in a million pieces and he finds no real
peace or rest in all the world. True
rest and peace and all bliss lies in the
Light of God which we must make our
true lord.
There are now two wills in the soul
of man...Boehme spoke of them as the
Will of Time and the Will of Eternity,
the "Inferior and Superior Will." To
put these in proper order and transform
them into Unity is the first great work
of man in reaching back to God:
"A thing that is one that has one only
will contends not against itself but
where there are many wills in a thing
they become contending for each
would go its own conceived way...and thus we give you to understand
life's contrariety, for life consists of
many wills...the life of man is at
enmity with itself. Each form is hostile
to the other, and not only in man
but in all creatures. Unless the forms
of life obtain a gentle, gracious lord
under whose control they must be,
then who can break their might and
will. That is found in the Light of
Life, which is the Lord of all forms,
and can subdue them all. They must
all give their will to the Light. And
they do it gladly for the Light gives
them gentleness and power so that
their harsh, stern, bitter, anguishful
forms are transformed into loveliness.
They all give their will to the Light
of Life and the Light gives them gentleness.
Plurality is thus transformed
into Unity, into One Will.
God's Kingdom is found only in
the bright clear light, in freedom, in
love, in gentleness; for that is the
property of the white clear light." (25)
"Know then, my beloved son, that if
thou wilt keep the light of nature
within its own proper bounds and
make use thereof in just subordination
to the Light of God thou must consider
that there are in thy soul two
Wills, inferior Will which is for drawing
thee to things without and below
and a Superior Will which is for drawing
to things within and above. These
two Wills are now set together, as it
were back to back, and in a direct
contrariety to each other. But in the
beginning it was not so, for this contraposition
of the soul in these two is
no more than the effect of the fallen
state. Before that they were placed
one under the other - the Superior
Will above, as the Lord, and the
Inferior below, as the subject." (26)
"Mark now what I say: the right eye
looketh forward in thee into Eternity.
The left eye looketh backward in thee
into time. If now thou sufferest thyself
to be always looking into nature
and the things of time and to be leading
the Will and to be seeking somewhat
for itself in the Desire, it will be
impossible for thee ever to arrive at
the Unity which thou wishest for.
Remember this and be upon thy
watch." (27)
"Both these eyes therefore must be
made to unite by a concentration of
rays, there being nothing more dangeyous
than for the mind to abide
thus in the duplicity." (28)
Thus, Boehme spoke from the most
Universal standpoint. Seeing the Godhood
in all he loved all mankind:
"As a tree in many boughs and
branches where the boughs and twigs
do not perfectly and wholly seem
alike or the same in form, but all
have one only sap and virtue; so likewise
is the creature of mankind
among Jews, Christians, Turks and
heathen." (29)
NOTES
1. William Law, trans: THE WORKS OF JACOB BOEHME, in four volumes, London, 1764-1781, Vol. I, The Life of Jacob Boehme, p. xii
2. Ibid, p. xiii
3. Ibid, p. xxii
4. Ibid, Vol. III, Mysterium Magnum (a commentary on Genesis in three parts) Part I, p. 22
5. Ibid, Vol. I, The Aurora (The "Dawning of the Red Rising Sun"), p. 43
6. Ibid, Vol. IV, The Way to Christ: Of Regeneration, p. 67
7. Ibid, Vol. I, The Three Principles of the Divine Essence, p. 158
8. Ibid, Vol. 11, Treatise of the Incarnation, Part II, p. 130
9. Ibid, Vol. IV, Signatura Rerum ("The Signature of All Things"), p. 10
10. Ibid, Vol. III, Mysterium Magnum, Part II, p. 235
11. Ibid
12. Ibid, p. 299
13. Ibid, Vol. IV , Signatura Rerurn, p. 99
14. Ibid
15. Ibid., Vol. III, Mysterium Magnum, Part I, pp. 34-35
16. Ibid., p. 193-4
17. Ibid., p. 189
18. Ibid
19. Ibid., Vol. IV, Of the Supersensual Life (dialogues between a Master and his disciple) Dialogue I, p. 84
20. Ibid, pp. 84-5
21. Ibid, p. 85
22. Ibid
23. Ibid, Vol. I, The Three Principles of the Divine Essence, p. 134
24. Ibid, Vol. IV, Of the Supersensual Life, Dialogue II, p. 89
25. Six Theosophical Points
26. Law, op. cit., Vol. IV, Of the Supersensual Life, Dialogue II, pp. 89-9
27. Ibid, p. 90
28. Ibid
29. Ibid, Vol. III, Mysterium Magnum, Part I , p. 203
