." For clearer understanding on the part of the general reader, it must be stated that Occult Science recognises Seven Cosmical Elements -- four entirely physical, and the fifth (Ether) semi-material, as it will become visible in the air towards the end of our Fourth Round, to reign supreme over the others during the whole of the Fifth.
The remaining two are as yet absolutely beyond the range of human perception.
These latter will, however, appear as presentments during the 6th and 7th Races of this Round, and will become known in the 6th and 7th Rounds respectively.* These seven elements with their numberless Sub-Elements [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- [[Footnote continued from previous page]] from within outwardly, every atom being said to contain in itself creative energy of the divine breath.
Hence, whereas after an absolute pralaya, or when the pre-existing material consists but of ONE Element, and BREATH "is everywhere," the latter acts from without inwardly: after a minor pralaya, everything having remained in statu quo -- in a refrigerated state, so to say, like the moon -- at the first flutter of manvantara, the planet or planets begin their resurrection to life from within outwardly.
* It is curious to notice how, in the evolutionary cycles of ideas, ancient thought seems to be reflected in modern speculation.
Had Mr.
Herbert Spencer read and studied ancient Hindu philosophers when he wrote a certain passage in his "First Principles" (p.
482), or is it an independent flash of inner perception that made him say half correctly, half incorrectly, "motion as well as matter, being fixed in quantity (?), it would seem that the change in the distribution of Matter which Motion effects, coming to a limit in whichever direction it is carried (?), the indestructible Motion thereupon necessitates a reverse distribution.
Apparently, the universally co-existent forces of attraction and repulsion which, as we have seen, necessitate rhythm in all minor changes throughout the Universe, also necessitate rhythm in the totality of its changes -- produce now an immeasurable period during which the attracting forces predominating, cause universal concentration, and then an immeasurable period, during which the repulsive forces predominating, cause universal diffusion -- alternate eras of Evolution and dissolution." [[Vol.
1, Page]] 13 PROEM.
far more numerous than those known to Science) are simply conditional modifications and aspects of the ONE and only Element.
This latter is not Ether,* not even A'kasa but the Source of these.
The Fifth Element, now advocated quite freely by Science, is not the Ether hypothesised by Sir Isaac Newton -- although he calls it by that name, having associated it in his mind probably with the AEther, "Father-Mother" of Antiquity.
As Newton intuitionally says, "Nature is a perpetual circulatory worker, generating fluids out of solids, fixed things out of volatile, and volatile out of fixed, subtile out of gross, and gross out of subtile.
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Thus, perhaps, may all things be originated from Ether," (Hypoth, 1675).
The reader has to bear in mind that the Stanzas given treat only of the Cosmogony of our own planetary System and what is visible around it, after a Solar Pralaya.
The secret teachings with regard to the Evolution of the Universal Kosmos cannot be given, since they could not be understood by the highest minds in this age, and there seem to be very few Initiates, even among the greatest, who are allowed to speculate upon this subject.
Moreover the Teachers say openly that not even the highest Dhyani-Chohans have ever penetrated the mysteries beyond those boundaries that separate the milliards of Solar systems from the "Central Sun," as it is called.
Therefore, that which is given, relates only to our visible Kosmos, after a "Night of Brahma." Before the reader proceeds to the consideration of the Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan which form the basis of the present work, it is absolutely necessary that he should be made acquainted with the few fundamental conceptions which underlie and pervade the entire system of thought to which his attention is invited.
These basic ideas are few in number, and on their clear apprehension depends the understanding of all that follows; therefore no apology is required for asking the reader to make himself familiar with them first, before entering on the perusal of the work itself.
[[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * Whatever the views of physical Science upon the subject, Occult Science has been teaching for ages that A'kasa -- of which Ether is the grossest form -- the fifth universal Cosmic Principle (to which corresponds and from which proceeds human Manas) is, cosmically, a radiant, cool, diathermanous plastic matter, creative in its physical nature, correlative in its grossest aspects and portions, immutable in its higher principles.
In the former condition it is called the Sub-Root; and in conjunction with radiant heat, it recalls "dead worlds to life." In its higher aspect it is the Soul of the World; in its lower -- the DESTROYER.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 14 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
The Secret Doctrine establishes three fundamental propositions: -- ( a ) An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable P RINCIPLE on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude.
It is beyond the range and reach of thought -- in the words of Mandukya, "unthinkable and unspeakable." To render these ideas clearer to the general reader, let him set out with the postulate that there is one absolute Reality which antecedes all manifested, conditioned, being.
This Infinite and Eternal Cause -- dimly formulated in the "Unconscious" and "Unknowable" of current European philosophy -- is the rootless root of "all that was, is, or ever shall be." It is of course devoid of all attributes and is essentially without any relation to manifested, finite Being.
It is "Be-ness" rather than Being (in Sanskrit, Sat ), and is beyond all thought or speculation.
This "Be-ness" is symbolised in the Secret Doctrine under two aspects.
On the one hand, absolute abstract Space, representing bare subjectivity, the one thing which no human mind can either exclude from any conception, or conceive of by itself.
On the other, absolute Abstract Motion representing Unconditioned Consciousness.
Even our Western thinkers have shown that Consciousness is inconceivable to us apart from change, and motion best symbolises change, its essential characteristic.
This latter aspect of the one Reality, is also symbolised by the term "The Great Breath," a symbol sufficiently graphic to need no further elucidation.
Thus, then, the first fundamental axiom of the Secret Doctrine is this metaphysical O NE A BSOLUTE -- B E-NESS -- symbolised by finite intelligence as the theological Trinity.
It may, however, assist the student if a few further explanations are given here.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The One Absolute is described as 'unthinkable and unspeakable,' 'beyond the range and reach of thought,' 'devoid of all attributes,' and 'on which all speculation is impossible.'
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
A'kasa is explicitly described as 'a radiant, cool, diathermanous plastic matter, creative in its physical nature' and the 'Soul of the World,' functioning as a universal creative medium.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The correspondence between cosmic A'kasa and human Manas, and the reflection of ancient Hindu thought in Spencer's modern speculation, illustrate structural reflection across scales.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The passage is explicitly about the 'Cosmogony of our own planetary System' after Solar Pralaya, describing how planets begin their resurrection to life from within outwardly.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The ONE Element is described as 'the ONE and only Element' from which all others are merely 'conditional modifications and aspects,' emphasizing undivided simplicity.
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.
The passage describes a cascade from the ONE Element through Seven Cosmical Elements and their numberless Sub-Elements, each level more material than the last.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage explicitly states that secret teachings on the Universal Kosmos 'cannot be given, since they could not be understood by the highest minds in this age' and are beyond even the highest Dhyani-Chohans.
The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.
The passage references 'the Evolution of the Universal Kosmos,' 'milliards of Solar systems,' and a 'Central Sun' beyond all visible boundaries, implying an ontologically vast cosmos.
A non-physical dimension of reality, interpenetrating the physical world, populated by forces, beings, and forms ordinarily imperceptible to physical senses and instruments, that can affect embodied life without being seen — Dion Fortune's 'mind-side of nature,' the astral plane of Western esotericism broadly construed. Distinct from astral_light (a specific transmitting medium or fluid operating within this realm, not the realm itself), pleroma (the divine fullness at the summit of a cosmic hierarchy, not a parallel plane coextensive with ordinary life), and animism (particular indwelling spirits bound to specific natural objects, not the general unseen dimension itself).
Two of the Seven Cosmical Elements are described as 'absolutely beyond the range of human perception,' indicating non-physical dimensions of reality.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The passage describes the directional process from the ONE Element through successive elements to material manifestation, with planets beginning 'resurrection to life from within outwardly.'
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The passage states that A'kasa 'corresponds and from which proceeds human Manas,' directly mapping a cosmic principle onto a human faculty.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage's central thesis is the 'ONE ABSOLUTE BE-NESS' and 'the ONE and only Element' from which all multiplicity and existence flows, described as unthinkable and unspeakable.
The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).
The 'universally co-existent forces of attraction and repulsion' are presented as two poles of the same underlying principle necessitating the cosmic rhythm.
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The passage explicitly names 'rhythm in all minor changes throughout the Universe' and describes 'alternate eras of Evolution and dissolution' driven by attraction and repulsion.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The Seven Elements with their numberless Sub-Elements 'are simply conditional modifications and aspects of the ONE and only Element,' asserting ultimate oneness of all existence.