is explained in Vishnu Purana as: "that which is the unevolved cause, is emphatically called by the most eminent sages Pradhana, original base, which is subtile Prakriti, viz., that which is eternal, and which at once is (or comprehends) what is and what is not, or is mere process." "Prakriti," however, is an incorrect word, and Alaya would explain it better; for Prakriti is not the "uncognizable Brahma."* It is a mistake of those who know nothing of the Universality of the Occult doctrines from the very cradle of the human races, and especially so of those scholars who reject the very idea of a "primordial revelation," to teach that the Anima Mundi, the One Life or "Universal Soul," was made known only by Anaxagoras, or during his age.
This philosopher brought the teaching forward simply to oppose the too materialistic conceptions on Cosmogony of Democritus, based on his exoteric theory of blindly driven atoms.
Anaxagoras of Clazomene was not its inventor but only its propagator, as also was Plato.
That which he called Mundane Intelligence, the nous ([[ nous ]]), the principle that according to his views is absolutely separated and free from matter and acts on design,** was called Motion, the ONE LIFE, or Jivatma , ages before the year 500 B.C.
in India.
Only the Aryan philosophers never endowed the principle, which with them is infinite, with the finite "attribute" of "thinking." This leads the reader naturally to the "Supreme Spirit" of Hegel and the German Transcendentalists as a contrast that it may be useful to point out.
The schools of Schelling and Fichte have diverged widely from the primitive archaic conception of an ABSOLUTE principle, and have mirrored only an aspect of the basic idea of the Vedanta.
Even the "Absoluter Geist" shadowed forth by von Hartman in his pessimistic philosophy of the Unconscious, while it is, perhaps, the closest approximation made by European speculation to the Hindu Adwaitee Doctrines, similarly falls far short of the reality.
[[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- [[Footnote continued from previous page]] A.D.
There was another Aryasanga, who lived during the first centuries of our era and the Hungarian scholar most probably confuses the two.
* "The indiscreet cause which is uniform, and both cause and effect, and which those who are acquainted with first principles call Pradhana and Prakriti, is the incognizable Brahma who was before all" (Vayu Purana); i.e.
, Brahma does not put forth evolution itself or create, but only exhibits various aspects of itself, one of which is Prakriti, an aspect of Pradhana.
** Finite Self-consciousness, I mean.
For how can the absolute attain it otherwise than as simply an aspect , the highest of which known to us is human consciousness?
[[Vol.
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According to Hegel, the "Unconscious" would never have undertaken the vast and laborious task of evolving the Universe, except in the hope of attaining clear Self-consciousness.
In this connection it is to be borne in mind that in designating Spirit, which the European Pantheists use as equivalent to Parabrahm, as unconscious, they do not attach to that expression of "Spirit" -- one employed in the absence of a better to symbolise a profound mystery -- the connotation it usually bears.
The "Absolute Consciousness," they tell us, "behind" phenomena, which is only termed unconsciousness in the absence of any element of personality, transcends human conception.
Man, unable to form one concept except in terms of empirical phenomena, is powerless from the very constitution of his being to raise the veil that shrouds the majesty of the Absolute.
Only the liberated Spirit is able to faintly realise the nature of the source whence it sprung and whither it must eventually return.
.
.
.
As the highest Dhyan Chohan, however, can but bow in ignorance before the awful mystery of Absolute Being; and since, even in that culmination of conscious existence -- "the merging of the individual in the universal consciousness" -- to use a phrase of Fichte's -- the Finite cannot conceive the Infinite, nor can it apply to it its own standard of mental experiences, how can it be said that the "Unconscious" and the Absolute can have even an instinctive impulse or hope of attaining clear self-consciousness?* A Vedantin would never admit this Hegelian idea; and the Occultist would say that it applies perfectly to the awakened MAHAT, the Universal Mind already projected into the phenomenal world as the first aspect of the changeless ABSOLUTE, but never to the latter.
"Spirit and Matter, or Purusha and Prakriti are but the two primeval aspects of the One and Secondless," we are taught.
The matter-moving Nous, the animating Soul, immanent in every atom, manifested in man, latent in the stone, has different degrees of power; and this pantheistic idea of a general Spirit-Soul pervading all Nature is the oldest of all the philosophical notions.
Nor was the Archaeus a discovery of Paracelsus nor of his pupil Van Helmont; for it is again the same Archaeus or "Father-Ether," -- the manifested basis [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * See Schwegler's "Handbook of the History of Philosophy" in Sterling's translation, p.
28.
[[Vol.
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and source of the innumerable phenomena of life -- localised.
The whole series of the numberless speculations of this kind are but variations on this theme, the key-note of which was struck in this primeval Revelation.
(See Part II., "Primordial Substance.") ( b ) The term Anupadaka, "parentless," or without progenitors, is a mystical designation having several meanings in the philosophy.
By this name celestial beings, the Dhyan-Chohans or Dhyani-Buddhas, are generally meant.
But as these correspond mystically to the human Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, known as the "Manushi (or human) Buddhas," the latter are also designated "Anupadaka," once that their whole personality is merged in their compound sixth and seventh principles -- or Atma-Buddhi, and that they have become the "diamond-souled" (Vajra-sattvas),* the full Mahatmas.
The "Concealed Lord" (Sangbai Dag-po), "the one merged with the absolute," can have no parents since he is Self-existent, and one with the Universal Spirit (Svayambhu),** the Svabhavat in the highest aspect.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The passage repeatedly emphasizes that the Absolute is 'uncognizable,' that 'the Finite cannot conceive the Infinite,' that even the highest Dhyan Chohan 'can but bow in ignorance before the awful mystery of Absolute Being,' and that the Absolute 'transcends human conception.'
A state of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness, often involving unity with the universe or higher dimensions.
The passage discusses 'the merging of the individual in the universal consciousness,' the 'Universal Soul,' and the 'MAHAT, the Universal Mind' as states of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness and involving unity with the whole.
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 discusses the unevolved cause (Pradhana) as 'the original base, which is subtile Prakriti, which is eternal,' and the origin of the universe from the Absolute, constituting a doctrine of cosmic origin.
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The passage references the 'Concealed Lord' (Sangbai Dag-po), the 'uncognizable Brahma,' and the 'awful mystery of Absolute Being' before which even the highest beings bow in ignorance, emphasizing radical concealment of the supreme principle.
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 passage explicitly states the 'animating Soul' is 'immanent in every atom, manifested in man, latent in the stone,' and calls this 'pantheistic idea of a general Spirit-Soul pervading all Nature' the oldest philosophical notion.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The Absolute is described as 'the One and Secondless' and 'changeless,' and the Aryan philosophers are noted for not endowing the infinite principle with the 'finite attribute of thinking,' emphasizing its undivided, non-composite nature.
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 MAHAT as 'the Universal Mind already projected into the phenomenal world as the first aspect of the changeless ABSOLUTE' and references Dhyan-Chohans as celestial beings, indicating a structured descent from the Absolute through successive aspects.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The passage claims the teaching of the One Life was known 'ages before the year 500 B.C. in India' and that Anaxagoras and Plato were merely 'propagators' not inventors, establishing a chain of transmission from a primordial source through various cultures.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The passage states 'Only the liberated Spirit is able to faintly realise the nature of the source whence it sprung,' implying salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine rather than intellectual comprehension.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage references 'Occult doctrines' and a 'primordial revelation' known from 'the very cradle of the human races,' suggesting esoteric teachings with an inner meaning accessible only to those initiated.
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 of the Absolute projecting MAHAT 'into the phenomenal world as the first aspect of the changeless ABSOLUTE,' naming the staged descent of spirit into matter.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The passage discusses Anaxagoras' 'Mundane Intelligence, the nous' as the ordering principle, and identifies MAHAT as the Universal Mind projected into the phenomenal world, functioning as a mediating ordering principle between the Absolute and the material.
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 passage identifies the 'Mundane Intelligence, the nous' and 'MAHAT, the Universal Mind' as the principle that 'acts on design' and is 'projected into the phenomenal world,' suggesting the universe is mental in nature, though it does not fully collapse the distinction between mind and world.
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 notes the animating Soul is 'immanent in every atom, manifested in man, latent in the stone,' suggesting the same principle operates at all scales from the atomic to the human to the cosmic.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage explicitly states 'Spirit and Matter, or Purusha and Prakriti are but the two primeval aspects of the One and Secondless,' identifying the undivided first principle from which all multiplicity flows.
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The passage quotes Fichte's 'the merging of the individual in the universal consciousness' and discusses the liberated Spirit's realization of the source 'whence it sprung,' describing the dissolution of individual identity into the universal.
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 passage presents 'Spirit and Matter, or Purusha and Prakriti' as 'the two primeval aspects of the One and Secondless,' treating apparent opposites as two sides of a single underlying reality differing in degree.
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 passage distinguishes between the Absolute (unknowable, beyond all categories) and the phenomenal world (where MAHAT operates), and notes that the Aryan philosophers 'never endowed the principle, which with them is infinite, with the finite attribute of thinking,' holding both registers as legitimate on their own plane.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The entire passage is organized around the claim that all existence is one: 'the One and Secondless,' the 'changeless ABSOLUTE,' the 'One Life or Universal Soul,' and the pantheistic idea of a 'general Spirit-Soul pervading all Nature' as 'the oldest of all the philosophical notions.'