THE SYNTHESIS of SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND PHILOSOPHY
H. P. BLAVATSKY, author of “ isis unveiled.”
“ There is no Religion higher than Truth. ”
London :
THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED,
7, Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C.
WILLIAM Q. JUDGE,
117, Nassau Street, New York.
THE MANAGER OF THE THEOSOPHIST,
Adyar, Madras.
—
1888.
Just with Paypal
Book Details
Price
|
4.00 |
|---|---|
Pages
| 676 p |
File Size
|
2,988 KB |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN
| 978-1-55700-229-7 |
Copyright©
| 2019 |
The Author — the writer, rather — feels it necessary to apologise for the long
delay which has occurred in the appearance of this work. It has been
occasioned by ill-health and the magnitude of the undertaking. Even the
two volumes now issued do not complete the scheme, and these do not treat
exhaustively of the subjects dealt with in them. A large quantity of material
has already been prepared, dealing with the history of occultism as contained
in the lives of the great Adepts of the Aryan Race, and showing the bearing of
occult philosophy upon the conduct of life, as it is and as it ought to be.
Should the present volumes meet with a favourable reception, no effort will be
spared to carry out the scheme of the work in its entirety. The third volume
is entirely ready ; the fourth almost so.
This scheme, it must be added, was not in contemplation when the preparation
of the work was first announced. As originally announced, it was intended
that the “ Secret Doctrine ” should be an amended and enlarged version of “ Isis
Unveiled.” It was, however, soon found that the explanations which could be
added to those already put before the world in the last-named and other
works dealing with esoteric science, were such as to require a different method
of treatment : and consequently the present volumes do not contain, in all,
twenty pages extracted from “ Isis Unveiled.”
The author does not feel it necessary to ask the indulgence of her readers
and critics for the many defects of literary style, and the imperfect English
which may be found in these pages. She is a foreigner, and her knowledge of
the language was acquired late in life. The English tongue is employed
because it offers the most widely-diffused medium for conveying the truths
which it had become her duty to place before the world.
These truths are in no sense put forward as a revelation ; nor does the author
claim the position of a revealer of mystic lore, now made public for the first
time in the world’s history. For what is contained in this work is to be found
scattered throughout thousands of volumes embodying the scriptures of the
great Asiatic and early European religions, hidden under glyph and symbol,
and hitherto left unnoticed because of this veil. What is now attempted is to
gather the oldest tenets together and to make of them one harmonious and
unbroken whole. The sole advantage which the writer has over her predecessors,
is that she need not resort to personal speculations and theories. For this
work is a partial statement of what she herself has been taught by more
advanced students, supplemented, in a few details only, by the results of her
own study and observation. The publication of many of the facts herein stated
has been rendered necessary by the wild and fanciful speculations in which
many Theosophists and students of mysticism have indulged, during the last
few years, in their endeavour to, as they imagined, work out a complete system
of thought from the few facts previously communicated to them.
It is needless to explain that this book is not the Secret Doctrine in its
entirety, but a select number of fragments of its fundamental tenets, special
attention being paid to some facts which have been seized upon by various
writers, and distorted out of all resemblance to the truth.
But it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings, however
fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes, belong neither to the
Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean, nor the Egyptian religion, neither to
Buddhism, Islam, Judaism nor Christianity exclusively. The Secret Doctrine is
the essence of all these. Sprung from it in their origins, the various religious
schemes are now made to merge back into their original element, out of which
every mystery and dogma has grown, developed, and become materialised.
It is more than probable that the book will be regarded by a large section of
the public as a romance of the wildest kind ; for who has ever even heard of
the book of Dzyan ?
The writer, therefore, is fully prepared to take all the responsibility for what
is contained in this work, and even to face the charge of having invented the
whole of it. That it has many shortcomings she is fully aware ; all that she
claims for it is that, romantic as it may seem to many, its logical coherence and
consistency entitle this new Genesis to rank, at any rate, on a level with the
“ working hypotheses ” so freely accepted by modern science. Further, it
claims consideration, not by reason of any appeal to dogmatic authority, but
because it closely adheres to Nature, and follows the laws of uniformity and analogy.
The aim of this work may be thus stated : to show that Nature is not “ a
fortuitous concurrence of atoms,” and to assign to man his rightful place in the
scheme of the Universe ; to rescue from degradation the archaic truths which
are the basis of all religions ; and to uncover, to some extent, the fundamental
unity from which they all spring ; finally, to show that the occult side of Nature
has never been approached by the Science of modern civilization.
If this is in any degree accomplished, the writer is content. It is written in
the service of humanity, and by humanity and the future generations it must be
judged. Its author recognises no inferior court of appeal. Abuse she is
accustomed to ; calumny she is daily acquainted with ; at slander she smiles in
silent contempt.
De minimis non curat lex.
H. P. B.
London, October, 1888.
....
INTRODUCTORY
“ Gently to hear, kindly to judge.”
— Shakespeare.
Since the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it
has become customary to call its teachings “ Esoteric Buddhism.”
And, having become a habit — as an old proverb based on daily experience
has it — “ Error runs down an inclined plane, while Truth has
to laboriously climb its way up hill.”
Old truisms are often the wisest. The human mind can hardly
remain entirely free from bias, and decisive opinions are often formed
before a thorough examination of a subject from all its aspects has been
made. This is said with reference to the prevailing double mistake (a)
of limiting Theosophy to Buddhism : and (b) of confounding the
tenets of the religious philosophy preached by Gautama, the Buddha,
with the doctrines broadly outlined in “ Esoteric Buddhism.” Any
thing more erroneous than this could be hardly imagined. It has
enabled our enemies to find an effective weapon against theosophy ;
because, as an eminent Pali scholar very pointedly expressed it, there
was in the volume named “ neither esotericism nor Buddhism.” Th
esoteric truths, presented in Mr. Sinnett’s work, had ceased to be esoteric
from the moment they were made public ; nor did it contain the religion
of Buddha, but simply a few tenets from a hitherto hidden teaching
which are now supplemented by many more, enlarged and explained in
the present volumes. But even the latter, though giving out many
fundamental tenets from the Secret Doctrine of the East, raise but a
small corner of the dark veil. For no one, not even the greatest living
adept, would be permitted to, or could — even if he would — give out
promiscuously, to a mocking, unbelieving world, that which has been so
effectually concealed from it for long æons and ages.
“ Esoteric Buddhism ” was an excellent work with a very unfortunate
title, though it meant no more than does the title of this work, the
“ Secret Doctrine.” It proved unfortunate, because people are
always in the habit of judging things by their appearance, rather than
their meaning ; and because the error has now become so universal,
that even most of the Fellows of the Theosophical Society have fallen
victims to the same misconception. From the first, however, protests
were raised by Brahmins and others against the title ; and, in justice to
myself, I must add that “ Esoteric Buddhism ” was presented to me as
a completed volume, and that I was entirely unaware of the manner in
which the author intended to spell the word “ Budh-ism.”
This has to be laid directly at the door of those who, having been
the first to bring the subject under public notice, neglected to point out
the difference between “ Buddhism ” — the religious system of ethics
preached by the Lord Gautama, and named after his title of Buddha,
“ the Enlightened ” — and Budha, “ Wisdom,” or knowledge (Vidya), the
faculty of cognizing, from the Sanskrit root “ Budh,” to know. We
theosophists of India are ourselves the real culprits, although, at
the time, we did our best to correct the mistake. (See Theosophist,
June, 1883.) To avoid this deplorable misnomer was easy ; the spelling
of the word had only to be altered, and by common consent both
pronounced and written “ Budhism,” instead of “ Buddhism.” Nor
is the latter term correctly spelt and pronounced, as it ought to be
called, in English, Buddhaïsm, and its votaries “ Buddhaïsts.”
This explanation is absolutely necessary at the beginning of a work
like this one. The “ Wisdom Religion ” is the inheritance of all the
nations, the world over, though the statement was made in “ Esoteric
Buddhism ” (Preface to the original Edition) that “ two years ago (i.e.
1883), neither I nor any other European living, knew the alphabet of the
Science, here for the first time put into a scientific shape,” etc. This
error must have crept in through inadvertence. For the present writer
knew all that which is “ divulged ” in “ Esoteric Buddhism ” —
and much more — many years before it became her duty (in 1880)
to impart a small portion of the Secret Doctrine to two European
gentlemen, one of whom was the author of “ Esoteric Buddhism ” ;
and surely the present writer has the undoubted, though to
her, rather equivocal, privilege of being a European, by birth
and education. Moreover, a considerable part of the philosophy
expounded by Mr. Sinnett was taught in America, even before Isis
Unveiled was published, to two Europeans and to my colleague, Colonel
H. S. Olcott. Of the three teachers the latter gentleman has had, the
first was a Hungarian Initiate, the second an Egyptian, the third a
Hindu. As permitted, Colonel Olcott has given out some of this
teaching in various ways ; if the other two have not, it has been simply
because they were not allowed : their time for public work having not
yet come. But for others it has, and the appearance of Mr. Sinnett’s
several interesting books is a visible proof of the fact. It is above
everything important to keep in mind that no theosophical book acquires
the least additional value from pretended authority.
In etymology Adi, and Adhi Budha, the one (or the First) and
“ Supreme Wisdom ” is a term used by Aryâsanga in his Secret
treatises, and now by all the mystic Northern Buddhists. It is a Sanskrit
term, and an appellation given by the earliest Aryans to the Unknown
deity ; the word “ Brahmâ ” not being found in the Vedas and the
early works. It means the absolute Wisdom, and “ Adi-bhûta ” is
translated “ the primeval uncreated cause of all ” by Fitzedward Hall.
Æons of untold duration must have elapsed, before the epithet of
Buddha was so humanized, so to speak, as to allow of the term being
applied to mortals and finally appropriated to one whose unparalleled
virtues and knowledge caused him to receive the title of the “ Buddha
of Wisdom unmoved.” Bodha means the innate possession of divine
intellect or “ understanding ” ; “ Buddha,” the acquirement of it by
personal efforts and merit ; while Buddhi is the faculty of cognizing the
channel through which divine knowledge reaches the “ Ego,” the
discernment of good and evil, “ divine conscience ” also ; and “ Spiritual
Soul,” which is the vehicle of Atma. “ When Buddhi absorbs our Egotism
(destroys it) with all its Vikaras, Avalôkitêshvara becomes manifested
to us, and Nirvana, or Mukti, is reached,” “ Mukti ” being the same
as Nirvana, i.e., freedom from the trammels of “ Maya ” or illusion.
“ Bodhi ” is likewise the name of a particular state of trance condition,
called Samadhi, during which the subject reaches the culmination of
spiritual knowledge.
Unwise are those who, in their blind and, in our age, untimely hatred
of Buddhism, and, by re-action, of “ Budhism,” deny its esoteric teachings
(which are those also of the Brahmins), simply because the name
suggests what to them, as Monotheists, are noxious doctrines. Unwise
is the correct term to use in their case. For the Esoteric philosophy is
alone calculated to withstand, in this age of crass and illogical
materialism, the repeated attacks on all and everything man holds most
dear and sacred, in his inner spiritual life. The true philosopher, the
student of the Esoteric Wisdom, entirely loses sight of personalities,
dogmatic beliefs and special religions. Moreover, Esoteric philosophy
reconciles all religions, strips every one of its outward, human garments,
and shows the root of each to be identical with that of every other great
religion. It proves the necessity of an absolute Divine Principle in
nature. It denies Deity no more than it does the Sun. Esoteric philosophy
has never rejected God in Nature, nor Deity as the absolute and abstract
Ens. It only refuses to accept any of the gods of the so-called monotheistic
religions, gods created by man in his own image and likeness, a blasphemous
and sorry caricature of the Ever Unknowable. Furthermore,
the records we mean to place before the reader embrace the esoteric
tenets of the whole world since the beginning of our humanity, and
Buddhistic occultism occupies therein only its legitimate place, and no
more. Indeed, the secret portions of the “ Dan ” or “ Jan-na ” * (“Dhyan ”)
of Gautama’s metaphysics — grand as they appear to one unacquainted
with the tenets of the Wisdom Religion of antiquity — are but a very
small portion of the whole. The Hindu Reformer limited his public
teachings to the purely moral and physiological aspect of the Wisdom-
Religion, to Ethics and man alone. Things “ unseen and incorporeal,”
the mystery of Being outside our terrestrial sphere, the great Teacher
left entirely untouched in his public lectures, reserving the hidden
Truths for a select circle of his Arhats. The latter received their
Initiation at the famous Saptaparna cave (the Sattapanni of Mahavansa)
near Mount Baibhâr (the Webhâra of the Pali MSS.). This cave was
in Rajagriha, the ancient capital of Mogadha, and was the Cheta cave
of Fa-hian, as rightly suspected by some archæologists.†
Time and human imagination made short work of the purity and philo-
sophy of these teachings, once that they were transplanted from the secret
and sacred circle of the Arhats, during the course of their work of proselytism,
into a soil less prepared for metaphysical conceptions than
India ; i.e., once they were transferred into China, Japan, Siam, and
Burmah. How the pristine purity of these grand revelations was dealt
with may be seen in studying some of the so-called “ esoteric ” Buddhist
schools of antiquity in their modern garb, not only in China and other
Buddhist countries in general, but even in not a few schools in Thibet,
left to the care of uninitiated Lamas and Mongolian innovators.
Thus the reader is asked to bear in mind the very important difference
between orthodox Buddhism — i.e., the public teachings of Gautama
the Buddha, and his esoteric Budhism. His Secret Doctrine, however,
differed in no wise from that of the initiated Brahmins of his day. The
Buddha was a child of the Aryan soil, a born Hindu, a Kshatrya and a
disciple of the “ twice born ” (the initiated Brahmins) or Dwijas. His
teachings, therefore, could not be different from their doctrines, for the
whole Buddhist reform merely consisted in giving out a portion of
that which had been kept secret from every man outside of the
“ enchanted ” circle of Temple-Initiates and ascetics. Unable to teach
all that had been imparted to him — owing to his pledges — though he
taught a philosophy built upon the ground-work of the true esoteric
knowledge, the Buddha gave to the world only its outward material
body and kept its soul for his Elect. (See also Volume I I.) Many
Chinese scholars among Orientalists have heard of the “ Soul Doctrine.”
None seem to have understood its real meaning and importance.
That doctrine was preserved secretly — too secretly, perhaps — within
the sanctuary. The mystery that shrouded its chief dogma and aspirations
— Nirvana — has so tried and irritated the curiosity of those scholars
who have studied it, that, unable to solve it logically and satisfactorily
by untying the Gordian knot, they cut it through, by declaring that
Nirvana meant absolute annihilation.
Toward the end of the first quarter of this century, a distinct class of
literature appeared in the world, which became with every year more
defined in its tendency. Being based, soi-disant, on the scholarly
researches of Sanskritists and Orientalists in general, it was held
scientific. Hindu, Egyptian, and other ancient religions, myths, and
emblems were made to yield anything the symbologist wanted them to
yield, thus often giving out the rude outward form in place of the inner
meaning. Works, most remarkable for their ingenious deductions and
speculations, in circulo vicioso, foregone conclusions generally changing
places with premisses as in the syllogisms of more than one Sanskrit and
Pali scholar, appeared rapidly in succession, over-flooding the libraries
with dissertations rather on phallic and sexual worship than on real
symbology, and each contradicting the other.
This is the true reason, perhaps, why the outline of a few fundamental
truths from the Secret Doctrine of the Archaic ages is now
permitted to see the light, after long millenniums of the most profound
silence and secrecy. I say “ a few truths,” advisedly, because that
which must remain unsaid could not be contained in a hundred such
volumes, nor could it be imparted to the present generation of Sadducees.
But, even the little that is now given is better than complete
silence upon those vital truths. The world of to-day, in its mad career
towards the unknown — which it is too ready to confound with the
unknowable, whenever the problem eludes the grasp of the physicist —
is rapidly progressing on the reverse, material plane of spirituality.
It has now become a vast arena — a true valley of discord and
of eternal strife — a necropolis, wherein lie buried the highest and the
most holy aspirations of our Spirit-Soul. That soul becomes with
every new generation more paralyzed and atrophied. The “ amiable
infidels and accomplished profligates ” of Society, spoken of by Greeley,
care little for the revival of the dead sciences of the past ; but there is a
fair minority of earnest students who are entitled to learn the few
truths that may be given to them now ; and now much more than ten
years ago, when “ Isis Unveiled,” or even the later attempts to explain
the mysteries of esoteric science, were published.
One of the greatest, and, withal, the most serious objection to the
correctness and reliability of the whole work will be the preliminary
Stanzas : “ How can the statements contained in them be verified ?”
True, if a great portion of the Sanskrit, Chinese, and Mongolian works
quoted in the present volumes are known to some Orientalists, the
chief work — that one from which the Stanzas are given — is not in
the possession of European Libraries. The Book of Dzyan (or “ Dzan ”)
is utterly unknown to our Philologists, or at any rate was never heard of
by them under its present name. This is, of course, a great drawback
to those who follow the methods of research prescribed by official
Science ; but to the students of Occultism, and to every genuine Occultist,
this will be of little moment. The main body of the Doctrines given is
found scattered throughout hundreds and thousands of Sanskrit MSS.,
some already translated — disfigured in their interpretations, as usual, —
others still awaiting their turn. Every scholar, therefore, has an opportunity
of verifying the statements herein made, and of checking most of the
quotations. A few new facts (new to the profane Orientalist, only) and
passages quoted from the Commentaries will be found difficult to trace.
Several of the teachings, also, have hitherto been transmitted orally :
yet even those are in every instance hinted at in the almost countless
volumes of Brahminical, Chinese and Tibetan temple-literature.
However it may be, and whatsoever is in store for the writer through
malevolent criticism, one fact is quite certain. The members of several
esoteric schools — the seat of which is beyond the Himalayas, and whose
ramifications may be found in China, Japan, India, Tibet, and even in
Syria, besides South America — claim to have in their possession the sum
total of sacred and philosophical works in MSS. and type : all the
works, in fact, that have ever been written, in whatever language
or characters, since the art of writing began ; from the ideographic
hieroglyphs down to the alphabet of Cadmus and the Devanagari.
It has been claimed in all ages that ever since the destruction of the
Alexandrian Library (see Isis Unveiled, Vol. I I., p. 27), every work of a
character that might have led the profane to the ultimate discovery
and comprehension of some of the mysteries of the Secret Science,
was, owing to the combined efforts of the members of the Brotherhoods,
diligently searched for. It is added, moreover, by those who know,
that once found, save three copies left and stored safely away, such
works were all destroyed. In India, the last of the precious manuscripts
were secured and hidden during the reign of the Emperor Akbar.*
It is maintained, furthermore, that every sacred book of that kind,
whose text was not sufficiently veiled in symbolism, or which had any
direct references to the ancient mysteries, after having been carefully
copied in cryptographic characters, such as to defy the art of the best
and cleverest palæographer, was also destroyed to the last copy.
During Akbar’s reign, some fanatical courtiers, displeased at the
Emperor’s sinful prying into the religions of the infidels, themselves
helped the Brahmans to conceal their MSS. Such was Badáonì, who
had an undisguised horror for Akbar’s mania for idolatrous religions.*
Moreover in all the large and wealthy lamasaries, there are subterranean
crypts and cave-libraries, cut in the rock, whenever the gonpa and
the lhakhang are situated in the mountains. Beyond the Western Tsaydam,
in the solitary passes of Kuen-lun † there are several such hidingplaces.
Along the ridge of Altyn-Toga, whose soil no European foot
has ever trodden so far, there exists a certain hamlet, lost in a deep
gorge. It is a small cluster of houses, a hamlet rather than a monastery,
with a poor-looking temple in it, with one old lama, a hermit, living
near by to watch it. Pilgrims say that the subterranean galleries and
halls under it contain a collection of books, the number of which,
according to the accounts given, is too large to find room even in the
British Museum. ‡
....
Table of Contents
Introduction … … … … … … … … … xvii.
The Need of such a Book … … … … … … xix.
The Antiquity of Documents and MSS. … … … … xxiii.
What the Book is intended to do … … … … … xxviii.
VOLUME FIRST.
COSMOGENESIS.
Proem … … … … … … … … … … 1
The Oldest MSS. in the world and its Symbolism … … … 2
The One Life, Active and Passive … … … … … 4
The Secret Doctrine — Pantheism — Atheism … … … … 6
“ Space ” in all Religions and in Occultism … … … … 9
Seven Cosmic Elements — Seven Races of Mankind … … … 12
The Three Postulates of the Secret Doctrine … … … 14
Description of the Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan … … 20
BOOK I. — PART I.
COSMIC EVOLUTION.
Seven Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan … … … … … 27
Stanza I. — The Night of the Universe … … … … … 35
The Seven Eternities … … … … … … … 36
“ Time ” … … … … … … … … … 37
The Universal Mind and the Dhyan Chohans … … … 38
Nidana and Maya : The Causes of Misery … … … … 39
The Great Breath … … … … … … … … 43
Being and Non-Being … … … … … … … 45
The Eye of Dangma … … … … … … … 47
Alaya, the Universal Soul … … … … … … 49
Stanza I I. — The Idea of Differentiation … … … … 53
The Absolute knows Itself not … … … … … … 55
The Germ of Life was not yet … … … … … … 57
The Universe was still concealed in the Divine Thought … … 61
Stanza I II. — The Awakening of Kosmos … … … … … 62
The Great Vibration … … … … … … … 63
Nature’s Symbols … … … … … … … … 65
The Power of Numbers … … … … … … … 67
The Logoi and the Dragon … … … … … … 73
The Astral Light … … … … … … … … 75
Primeval Radiations from Unity … … … … … 79
The Web of Being … … … … … … … … 83
Conscious Electricity : Fohat … … … … … … 85
Stanza IV. — The Septenary Hierarchies … … … … … 86
The Sons of the Fire … … … … … … … 86
The Vehicle of the Universe — the Dhyan Chohans … … … 89
The Army of the Voice … … … … … … … 93
Speech and Mind … … … … … … … … 95
The Ogdoad and the Heptad … … … … … … 99
The Stellar “ Sons of Light ” … … … … … … 103
Stanza V. — Fohat : The Child of the Septenary Hierarchies … 106
The Fiery Whirlwind and the Primordial Seven … … … 106
They Produce Fohat … … … … … … … 108
The Correlation of the “ Gods ” … … … … … 113
Evolution of the “ Principles ” of Nature … … … … 119
The Mystery of the Fire… … … … … … … 121
The Secret of the Elements … … … … … … 123
The Square of the Tabernacle … … … … … … 125
The Planetary Spirits and the Lipika … … … … … 129
The Ring “ Pass Not ” … … … … … … … 130
The Sidereal Book of Life … … … … … … 131
The Soul’s Pilgrimage and its “ Rest ” … … … … 134
Stanza V I. — Our World, its Growth and Development … … 136
The Logos … … … … … … … … … 136
Mystery of the Female Logos … … … … … … 137
The Seven Layu Centres … … … … … … … 138
The “ Elementary Germs ” … … … … … … 139
The Evolution of the Elements … … … … … … 140
The Building of the Worlds … … … … … … 145
A Neutral Centre … … … … … … … … 147
“ Dead ” Planets — The Moon … … … … … … 149
Theosophical Misconceptions … … … … … … 152
The Planetary Divisions and the Human Principles… … … 153
The Moon … … … … … … … … … 155
Transmigrations of the Ego … … … … … … 159
The Septenary Chain … … … … … … … 161
Relation of the other Planets to the Earth … … … … 163
Explanations concerning the Globes and the Monads … … 170
The Lunar Chain and the Earth Chain … … … … 172
The Earth, the Child of the Moon … … … … … 173
Classification of the Monads … … … … … … 175
The Monad Defined … … … … … … … 177
The Lunar Monads — the Pitris … … … … … … 179
A Triple Evolution in Nature … … … … … … 181
Stanza V I. — Continued … … … … … … … … 191
“ Creation ” in the Fourth Round … … … … … 191
The “ Curse,” “ Sin,” and “ War ” … … … … … 193
The Struggle for Life and the Birth of the Worlds … … … 202
The Adepts and the Sacred Island … … … … … 207
Stanza V I I. — The Parents of Man on Earth … … … … 213
Divisions of the Hierarchies … … … … … … 214
Correlations of Beings … … … … … … … 223
What incarnates in Animal Man … … … … … 233
Formation of Man : the Thinker … … … … … 238
Occult and Kabalistic Pneumatics … … … … … 243
Akâsa and Ether … … … … … … … … 257
The Invisible “ Lives ” … … … … … … … 259
Occult Vital Chemistry and Bacteriology … … … … 261
The Watcher and his Shadow … … … … … … 265
Earth peopled by the Shadows of the Gods … … … … 267
Summing up … … … … … … … … … 269
The pith and marrow of the Secret Doctrine … … … 273
Hermes in Christian Garb … … … … … … 285
Some Occult Aphorisms … … … … … … … 289
The Seven Powers of Nature … … … … … … 293
BOOK I. — PART I I.
THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER.
§§
I. Symbolism and Ideographs … … … … … … 303
Emblem and Symbol differ … … … … … … 305
Magic Potency of Sound … … … … … … 307
Mystery Language … … … … … … … 309
I I. The Mystery Language and its Keys … … … … 310
Egypt’s many Religions … … … … … … 311
The Jews and their System … … … … … 313
Moses copied from Sargon … … … … … … 319
Identity of Ancient Symbols … … … … … 323
I I I. Primordial Substance and Divine Thought … … … 325
Divine Thought, or Cineritious Matter ? … … … … 327
Ether and Intelligence … … … … … … 330
The Seven Prakritis … … … … … … … 335
The Mystic Fire … … … … … … … 339
One Tree of Knowledge … … … … … … 341
IV. Chaos — Theos — Kosmos … … … … … … … 342
The Union of Chaos and Spirit … … … … … 343
The Birth of Mind … … … … … … … 345
V. The Hidden Deity, its Symbols and Glyphs … … … 349
The Gnostic Idea … … … … … … … 351
International Correlation of Gods … … … … … 355
V I. The Mundane Egg … … … … … … … 359
Egg-born Logoi … … … … … … … 363
The Winged Globe … … … … … … … 365
V I I. The Days and Nights of Brahmâ … … … … … 368
Human Gods and Divine Men … … … … … 369
The Rebirth of Gods … … … … … … 371
The Puranic Prophecy … … … … … … 377
V I II. The Lotus as a Universal Symbol … … … … … 379
Exoteric and Esoteric … … … … … … 381
The Purity of early Phallicism … … … … … 383
The Egyptian Lotus … … … … … … 385
IX. Deus Lunus … … … … … … … … 386
A Glance at the Lunar Myth … … … … … 387
A Key-note to the Moon … … … … … … 389
Copies and Originals … … … … … … … 393
The Moon Bi-sexual … … … … … … … 397
X. Tree and Serpent and Crocodile Worship … … … 403
Degeneration of the Symbol … … … … … 405
The Seven-headed Dragons … … … … … 407
Dragon and Crocodile … … … … … … 409
XI. Demon est Deus Inversus … … … … … 411
Death is Life … … … … … … … … 413
The Fall of the Angels … … … … … … 418
Transformation of the Legend … … … … … 421
XI I. The Theogony of the Creative Gods … … … … 424
The Point within the Circle … … … … … 426
The Logos or Verbum … … … … … … 429
The Factors of Creation … … … … … … 432
Identity of the Hierarchies in all Religions … … … 438
Difference between the Aryan and Semitic Systems … … 444
XI II. The Seven Creations … … … … … … … 445
The Gnostic and the Hindu Versions … … … … 449
The Seven Puranic “ Creations ” … … … … … 450
XIV. The Four Elements … … … … … … … 460
The “ Gods ” and the “ Elements ” … … … … 463
The Language of the Elements … … … … … 464
Pagan and Christian Worship of the Elements … … 467
XV. On Kwan-Shi-Yin and Kwan-Yin … … … … … 470
Kwan-Shi-Yin and Phallicism … … … … … 471
The Real Meaning … … … … … … … 472
BOOK I. — PART I II.
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED.
I. Reasons for these Addenda … … … … … … 477
Occultism versus Materialism … … … … … 479
The Sabbath of the Mystic … … … … … 481
I I. Modern Physicists are Playing at Blind Man’s Buff … 482
I II. An Lumen Sit Corpus nec non ? … … … … … 483
The Hypothetical Ether … … … … … … 485
Scientific Theories of its Constitution … … … … 489
IV. Is Gravitation a Law ? … … … … … … 490
Intelligences or Blind Forces ? … … … … … 493
The Cause of Attraction … … … … … … 498
§§ page.
V. The Theories of Rotation in Science … … … … 500
Conflicting Hypotheses … … … … … … 502
More Hypotheses … … … … … … … 505
V I. The Masks of Science … … … … … … … 506
What are the “ Forces ? ” … … … … … … 508
The View of the Occultists … … … … 510
Scientific and Occult Theories on Heat … … … 515
The Atoms of Science … … … … … … 519
V I I. An Atta ck on the Scientific Theory of Force by a Man of
Science … … … … … … … … 523
Ether and Atoms … … … … … … … 527
VIII. Life, Force, or Gravity ? … … … … … … 529
Dr. Richardson on Nervous Ether … … … … 531
The Senses and their Action … … … … … 535
Too much “ Life ” may Kill … … … … … 539
I X. The Solar Theory … … … … … … … 540
The Primordial Element … … … … … … 542
Elements and Meta-Elements … … … … … 546
The Tree of Life and Being … … … … … 549
Prof. Crookes on the Elements … … … … … 552
X. The Coming Force … … … … … … … 554
Mr. Keeley, an Unconscious Occultist … … … … 557
Inter-Etheric Waves … … … … … … 561
The Secrets of Sound and Odour … … … … … 565
X I. On the Elements and Atoms … … … … … 566
Metaphysical Chemistry … … … … … … 569
What are the Seven Planets ? … … … … … 575
The Cyclic Fall of the Gods … … … … … 577
X I I. Ancient Thought in Modern Dress … … … … 579
All-Potential Unity … … … … … … … 583
The “ Seventh ” in Chemistry … … … … … 585
XI I I. The Modern Nebular Theory … … … … … 588
Forces are Emanations … … … … … … 591
What is the Nebula ? … … … … … … 595
XIV. Forces — Modes of Motion or Intelligences ? … … … 601
The Vital Principle … … … … … … … 603
Occult and Physical Science … … … … … 605
XV. Gods, Monads, and Atoms … … … … … … 610
The Gods of the Ancients — the Monads … … … 613
The Monad and the Duad … … … … … … 617
The Genesis of the Elements … … … … … 621
Hermes and Huxley … … … … … … 625
The Teaching of Leibnitz … … … … … … 627
The Monads according to Occultism … … … … 632
XV I. Cyclic Evolution and Karma … … … … … 634
Karmic Cycles and Universal Ethics … … … … 637
Destiny and Karma … … … … … … … 639
Karma — Nemesis … … … … … … … 643
X V I I. The Zodiac and its Antiquity … … … … … 647
The Jewish Patriarchs and the Signs of the Zodiac … … 651
Zodiacal Cycles … … … … … … … 656
Hindu Astronomy … … … … … … … 661
XVIII. Summary of the Mutual Position … … … … 668
Science Confesses her Ignorance … … … … … 669
Materialism is leading Europe towards a catastrophe .. … 675
N.B. — The Index and Glossary will be found at the close of Volume I I.
Screenbook
....
“ Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1888, by H. P. Blavatsky,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C. ”
Theosophical University Press
Post Office Box C
Pasadena, California 91109-7107
2019
Unabridged Verbatim Edition
The paper in the print edition is acid free and meets the requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 for libraries and archives.