Herbert Spencer has of late so far modified his Agnosticism, as to assert that the nature of the "First Cause,"* which the Occultist more logically derives from the "Causeless Cause," the "Eternal," and the "Unknowable," may be essentially the same as that of the Consciousness which wells up within us: in short, that the impersonal reality pervading [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- *The "first" presupposes necessarily something which is the "first brought forth, the first in time, space, and rank" -- and therefore finite and conditioned.
The "first" [[Footnote continued on next page]] [[Vol.
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the Kosmos is the pure noumenon of thought.
This advance on his part brings him very near to the esoteric and Vedantin tenet.* Parabrahm (the One Reality, the Absolute) is the field of Absolute Consciousness, i.e., that Essence which is out of all relation to conditioned existence, and of which conscious existence is a conditioned symbol.
But once that we pass in thought from this (to us) Absolute Negation, duality supervenes in the contrast of Spirit (or consciousness) and Matter, Subject and Object.
Spirit (or Consciousness) and Matter are, however, to be regarded, not as independent realities, but as the two facets or aspects of the Absolute (Parabrahm), which constitute the basis of conditioned Being whether subjective or objective.
Considering this metaphysical triad as the Root from which proceeds all manifestation, the great Breath assumes the character of precosmic Ideation.
It is the fons et origo of force and of all individual consciousness, and supplies the guiding intelligence in the vast scheme of cosmic Evolution.
On the other hand, precosmic root-substance ( Mulaprakriti ) is that aspect of the Absolute which underlies all the objective planes of Nature.
Just as pre-Cosmic Ideation is the root of all individual consciousness, so pre-Cosmic Substance is the substratum of matter in the various grades of its differentiation.
Hence it will be apparent that the contrast of these two aspects of the Absolute is essential to the existence of the "Manifested Universe." Apart from Cosmic Substance, Cosmic Ideation could not manifest as individual consciousness, since it is only through a vehicle ** of matter that consciousness wells up as "I am I," a physical basis being necessary to focus a ray of the Universal Mind at a certain stage of complexity.
Again, apart from Cosmic Ideation, Cosmic Substance would remain an empty abstraction, and no emergence of consciousness could ensue.
The "Manifested Universe," therefore, is pervaded by duality, which is, as it were, the very essence of its EX-istence as "manifestation." [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- [[Footnote continued from previous page]] cannot be the absolute , for it is a manifestation.
Therefore, Eastern Occultism calls the Abstract All the "Causeless One Cause," the "Rootless Root," and limits the "First Cause" to the Logos, in the sense that Plato gives to this term.
* See Mr.
Subba Row's four able lectures on the Bhagavad Gita, "Theosophist," February, 1887.
** Called in Sanskrit: "Upadhi." [[Vol.
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But just as the opposite poles of subject and object, spirit and matter, are but aspects of the One Unity in which they are synthesized, so, in the manifested Universe, there is "that" which links spirit to matter, subject to object.
This something, at present unknown to Western speculation, is called by the occultists Fohat.
It is the "bridge" by which the "Ideas" existing in the "Divine Thought" are impressed on Cosmic substance as the "laws of Nature." Fohat is thus the dynamic energy of Cosmic Ideation; or, regarded from the other side, it is the intelligent medium, the guiding power of all manifestation, the "Thought Divine" transmitted and made manifest through the Dhyan Chohans,* the Architects of the visible World.
Thus from Spirit, or Cosmic Ideation, comes our consciousness; from Cosmic Substance the several vehicles in which that consciousness is individualised and attains to self -- or reflective -- consciousness; while Fohat, in its various manifestations, is the mysterious link between Mind and Matter, the animating principle electrifying every atom into life.
The following summary will afford a clearer idea to the reader.
(1.) The A BSOLUTE; the Parabrahm of the Vedantins or the one Reality, S AT, which is, as Hegel says, both Absolute Being and Non-Being.
(2.) The first manifestation, the impersonal, and, in philosophy, unmanifested Logos, the precursor of the "manifested." This is the "First Cause," the "Unconscious" of European Pantheists.
(3.) Spirit-matter, L IFE; the "Spirit of the Universe," the Purusha and Prakriti, or the second Logos.
(4.) Cosmic Ideation, M AHAT or Intelligence, the Universal World-Soul; the Cosmic Noumenon of Matter, the basis of the intelligent operations in and of Nature, also called M AHA- B UDDHI.
The O NE R EALITY; its dual aspects in the conditioned Universe.
Further, the Secret Doctrine affirms: -- ( b.
) The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane; periodically "the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing," called "the manifesting stars," and the "sparks of Eternity." "The Eternity of the Pilgrim"* * is like a wink [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * Called by Christian theology: Archangels, Seraphs, etc., etc.
** "Pilgrim" is the appellation given to our Monad (the two in one) during its cycle of incarnations.
It is the only immortal and eternal principle in us, being an indivisible part of the integral whole -- the Universal Spirit, from which it emanates, and into which it is absorbed at the end of the cycle.
When it is said to emanate from the one [[Footnote continued on next page]] [[Vol.
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of the Eye of Self-Existence (Book of Dzyan.) "The appearance and disappearance of Worlds is like a regular tidal ebb of flux and reflux." (See Part II., "Days and Nights of Brahma.") This second assertion of the Secret Doctrine is the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed and recorded in all departments of nature.
An alternation such as that of Day and Night, Life and Death, Sleeping and Waking, is a fact so common, so perfectly universal and without exception, that it is easy to comprehend that in it we see one of the absolutely fundamental laws of the universe.
The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
The periodic manifestation and disappearance of universes, described as 'incessantly manifesting and disappearing,' implies a recurring cycle of dissolution and re-emergence of all things.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The Absolute is called 'the Causeless Cause,' 'the Unknowable,' and 'Absolute Negation,' and the passage argues that the 'First Cause' cannot be the absolute because 'it is a manifestation,' describing the divine only by negation and limitation of positive categories.
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.
Fohat is described as 'the intelligent medium, the guiding power of all manifestation' and 'the dynamic energy of Cosmic Ideation,' functioning as a transmitting bridge between spirit and matter, analogous to a universal 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 idea that individual consciousness is 'a ray of the Universal Mind' focused at a stage of complexity, and that the Monad is 'an indivisible part of the integral whole,' implies a structural correspondence between the micro and macro levels.
A state of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness, often involving unity with the universe or higher dimensions.
Cosmic Ideation (MAHAT) is described as 'the Universal World-Soul' and 'the Cosmic Noumenon of Matter, the basis of the intelligent operations in and of Nature,' a state of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness.
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 presents a structured account of cosmic origin: from the Absolute through the unmanifested Logos, to Spirit-matter, to Cosmic Ideation, and finally to the Manifested Universe.
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The Absolute is described as 'the Unknowable,' 'out of all relation to conditioned existence,' and the 'Causeless One Cause'—radically concealed beyond ordinary knowledge or conceptual grasp.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
The 'impersonal reality pervading the Kosmos' and the claim that the Absolute is the substratum of all existence, with consciousness welling up within us as a ray of the Universal Mind, express divine immanence throughout creation.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
Parabrahm is described as 'the One Reality, the Absolute' that is 'out of all relation to conditioned existence,' with all duality arising only when one 'passes in thought' from this undifferentiated unity.
Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
The 'sparks of Eternity' and the Monad as 'an indivisible part of the integral whole—the Universal Spirit, from which it emanates, and into which it is absorbed at the end of the cycle' express the divine-spark concept.
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 lays out a clear cascade from the Absolute (Parabrahm) through the unmanifested Logos, Spirit-matter (Purusha/Prakriti), and Cosmic Ideation (MAHAT), each level a further differentiation of the One.
The Hermetic doctrine that a masculine-feminine generative principle operates on every plane of being, not only the biological — present at all times as a structural feature of creation itself. Distinct from divine_marriage (a specific reunification event or symbol) and aeons (paired divine beings arranged in syzygies, not a universal structural claim).
Purusha and Prakriti are named as the dual aspects of the second Logos (Spirit-matter), invoking a masculine-feminine generative pair, though not framed as a universal structural claim operating on every plane.
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 explicitly affirms 'the Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane' and 'the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing.'
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).
The unmanifested Logos and pre-cosmic Ideation are described as real but non-physical dimensions underlying the manifested universe, though not framed as a parallel plane coextensive with ordinary life in the Dion Fortune sense.
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 a directional descent from the Absolute through successive planes (Logos, Spirit-matter, Cosmic Ideation, Cosmic Substance) to full materialization, with consciousness needing 'a vehicle of matter' to manifest.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The Logos is a structural pillar of the entire cosmological scheme: the unmanifested Logos as 'First Cause,' the second Logos as Spirit-matter (Purusha/Prakriti), and Fohat as the dynamic energy of Cosmic Ideation mediating between spirit and matter.
The Hermetic doctrine that THE ALL is Mind, and the Universe is mental in nature — a created thought held in the mind of THE ALL. Distinct from unity_of_being in specifying WHAT the underlying oneness is (mind, not an unspecified single substance), and from logos (a mediating ordering word BETWEEN a transcendent God and a separate material world) in collapsing that mediation entirely — under mentalism there is no world outside mind to mediate to.
The Absolute is described as the 'pure noumenon of thought,' Cosmic Ideation is 'the fons et origo of force and of all individual consciousness,' and the universe is pervaded by 'Cosmic Ideation'—suggesting the universe is mental in nature.
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.
Individual consciousness is described as 'a ray of the Universal Mind' focused at a stage of complexity, and conscious existence is called 'a conditioned symbol' of the Absolute, making the human a small-scale image of the cosmic whole.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The 'Pilgrim' is explicitly identified as 'our Monad (the two in one),' described as 'the only immortal and eternal principle in us, being an indivisible part of the integral whole.'
The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.
The passage states that 'the opposite poles of subject and object, spirit and matter, are but aspects of the One Unity in which they are synthesized,' and that the Absolute is 'Absolute Negation' from which duality supervenes only in thought.
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 entire passage is structured around the doctrine that Spirit and Matter, Subject and Object are 'not independent realities, but the two facets or aspects of the Absolute,' with duality being 'the very essence' of manifestation.
The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.
The distinction between the Absolute (unknowable, beyond all relation) and the conditioned/manifested universe (where duality and individual consciousness operate) implies two registers of reality, though not explicitly framed as two coexisting registers of truth-claim.
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 second major assertion of the Secret Doctrine in this passage is 'the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow,' with worlds appearing and disappearing 'like a regular tidal ebb of flux and reflux.'
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The central metaphysical claim is that Spirit and Matter are 'not independent realities, but the two facets or aspects of the Absolute (Parabrahm),' and that 'the opposite poles of subject and object, spirit and matter, are but aspects of the One Unity in which they are synthesized.'