The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 53 THE STATE OF PARANIRVANA.
STANZA II.
C OMMENTARY.
1.
.
.
.
.
W HERE WERE THE BUILDERS, THE LUMINOUS SONS OF MANVANTARIC DAWN ( a )?
.
.
.
.
IN THE UNKNOWN DARKNESS IN THEIR A H-HI ( Chohanic, Dhyani-Buddhic ) P ARANISHPANNA, THE PRODUCERS OF FORM ( rupa ) FROM NO-FORM ( arupa ) , THE ROOT OF THE WORLD -- THE D EVAMATRI* AND S VABHAVAT, RESTED IN THE BLISS OF NON-BEING ( b ).
( a ) The "Builders," the "Sons of Manvantaric Dawn," are the real creators of the Universe; and in this doctrine, which deals only with our Planetary System, they, as the architects of the latter, are also called the "Watchers" of the Seven Spheres, which exoterically are the Seven planets, and esoterically the seven earths or spheres (planets) of our chain also.
The opening sentence of Stanza I., when mentioning "Seven Eternities," is made to apply both to the Maha-Kalpa or "the (great) Age of Brahma," as well as to the Solar pralaya and subsequent resurrection of our Planetary System on a higher plane.
There are many kinds of pralaya (dissolution of a thing visible), as will be shown elsewhere.
( b ) Paranishpanna, remember, is the summum bonum , the Absolute, hence the same as Paranirvana.
Besides being the final state it is that condition of subjectivity which has no relation to anything but the one absolute truth (Para-marthasatya) on its plane.
It is that state which leads one to appreciate correctly the full meaning of Non-Being, which, as explained, is absolute Being.
Sooner or later, all that now seemingly exists, will be in reality and actually in the state of Paranishpanna.
But there is a great difference between conscious and unconscious "being." The condition of Paranishpanna, without Paramartha, the Self-analys- [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- "Mother of the Gods," Aditi, or Cosmic Space.
In the Zohar, she is called Sephira the Mother of the Sephiroth, and Shekinah in her primordial form, in abscondito.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 54 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
ing consciousness (Svasamvedana), is no bliss, but simply extinction (for Seven Eternities).
Thus, an iron ball placed under the scorching rays of the sun will get heated through, but will not feel or appreciate the warmth, while a man will.
It is only "with a mind clear and undarkened by personality, and an assimilation of the merit of manifold existences devoted to being in its collectivity (the whole living and sentient Universe)," that one gets rid of personal existence, merging into, becoming one with, the Absolute,* and continuing in full possession of Paramartha.
------- STANZA II.
-- Continued .
2.
.
.
.
.
W HERE WAS SILENCE?
W HERE WERE THE EARS TO SENSE IT?
N O!
T HERE WAS NEITHER SILENCE, NOR SOUND ( a ).
N AUGHT SAVE CEASELESS, ETERNAL BREATH ( Motion ) WHICH KNOWS ITSELF NOT ( b ).
( a ) The idea that things can cease to exist and still BE, is a fundamental one in Eastern psychology.
Under this apparent contradiction in terms, there rests a fact of Nature to realise which in the mind, rather than to argue about words, is the important thing.
A familiar instance of a similar paradox is afforded by chemical combination.
The question whether Hydrogen and Oxygen cease to exist, when they combine to form water, is still a moot one, some arguing that since they are found again when the water is decomposed they must be there all the while; others contending that as they actually turn into something totally different they must cease to exist as themselves for the time being; but neither side is able to form the faintest conception of the real condition of a thing, which has become something else and yet has not ceased to be itself.
Existence as water may be said to be, for Oxygen and Hydrogen, a state of Non-being which is "more real being" than their existence as gases; and it may faintly symbolise the [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * Hence Non-being is " A BSOLUTE Being," in esoteric philosophy.
In the tenets of the latter even Adi-Budha (first or primeval wisdom) is, while manifested, in one sense an illusion, Maya, since all the gods, including Brahma, have to die at the end of the "Age of Brahma"; the abstraction called Parabrahm alone -- whether we call it Ensoph, or Herbert Spencer's Unknowable -- being "the One Absolute" Reality.
The One secondless Existence is ADWAITA, "Without a Second," and all the rest is Maya, teaches the Adwaita philosophy.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 55 THE ABSOLUTE KNOWS ITSELF NOT.
condition of the Universe when it goes to sleep, or ceases to be, during the "Nights of Brahma" -- to awaken or reappear again, when the dawn of the new Manvantara recalls it to what we call existence.
( b ) The "Breath" of the One Existence is used in its application only to the spiritual aspect of Cosmogony by Archaic esotericism; otherwise, it is replaced by its equivalent in the material plane -- Motion.
The One Eternal Element, or element-containing Vehicle, is Space , dimensionless in every sense; co-existent with which are -- endless duration , primordial (hence indestructible) matter , and motion -- absolute "perpetual motion" which is the "breath" of the "One" Element.
This breath, as seen, can never cease, not even during the Pralayic eternities.
( See " Chaos , Theos , Kosmos ," in Part II.) But the "Breath of the One Existence" does not, all the same, apply to the One Causeless Cause or the "All Be-ness" (in contradistinction to All-Being, which is Brahma, or the Universe).
Brahma (or Hari) the four-faced god who, after lifting the Earth out of the waters, "accomplished the Creation," is held to be only the instrumental, and not, as clearly implied, the ideal Cause.
The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
The 'Nights of Brahma' followed by the 'dawn of the new Manvantara' that recalls the universe to existence, and the 'Solar pralaya and subsequent resurrection of our Planetary System on a higher plane,' describe periodic cosmic restoration after vast cycles.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The Absolute is described through negation: 'Non-Being,' 'the Unknown Darkness,' 'No! There was neither silence, nor sound,' 'Nought save ceaseless, eternal breath which knows itself not' — the divine is defined by what it is not.
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 'Seven Eternities' are made to apply both to the Maha-Kalpa and to the Solar pralaya, and the Seven Spheres are both 'the Seven planets' exoterically and 'the seven earths or spheres of our chain' esoterically.
A state of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness, often involving unity with the universe or higher dimensions.
The state of Paranishpanna with 'full possession of Paramartha' and the 'assimilation of the merit of manifold existences devoted to being in its collectivity (the whole living and sentient Universe)' describes a state of awareness transcending ordinary consciousness into 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 narrates the origin of the universe: the Builders producing form (rupa) from no-form (arupa), the 'Breath' of the One Existence as the generative mechanism, and the transition from the state of Paranirvana into manifested existence.
A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.
Brahma is explicitly described as 'only the instrumental, and not... the ideal Cause,' functioning as a secondary creator distinct from the supreme transcendent principle (Parabrahm/Ensoph/Unknowable).
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The One is described as 'knows itself not,' resting in 'the Unknown Darkness,' and the 'All Be-ness' is explicitly distinguished from All-Being, indicating radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge.
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 statement that 'all that now seemingly exists, will be in reality and actually in the state of Paranishpanna' implies the Absolute underlies and pervades all of creation.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The One is described as ADWAITA ('Without a Second'), the 'One Causeless Cause,' and the 'One Eternal Element' — pure undivided being with no parts or composite attributes.
The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold.
The 'One Absolute' Reality, identified with 'Ensoph' and 'Herbert Spencer's Unknowable,' functions as the infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation.
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.
A clear cascade is described: the One Absolute → Devamatri/Svabhavat → the Builders (Luminous Sons) → the Seven Spheres, each level being a further manifestation from the transcendent source.
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).
Devamatri ('Mother of the Gods') and the feminine principle of Cosmic Space are explicitly named as a generative force alongside the masculine creative principle.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The passage describes 'full possession of Paramartha' (the one absolute truth) as the state attained through 'a mind clear and undarkened by personality' and 'assimilation of the merit of manifold existences,' pointing to direct experiential knowledge of ultimate reality.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The entire text is structured as esoteric commentary revealing the inner meaning of the Stanzas, with explicit references to 'esoterically' versus 'exoterically' and the concealment of true doctrine within apparent paradox.
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.
Space is described as 'dimensionless in every sense' and co-existent with 'endless duration,' suggesting a cosmos without bounds or center.
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 process from the unconditioned Absolute (Paranirvana/Non-Being) through the 'Breath' (Motion) to the production of form (rupa) from no-form (arupa), complemented by the eventual return to Paranishpanna.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage centers on the 'One Absolute,' the 'One Causeless Cause,' the 'One Eternal Element,' and ADWAITA ('Without a Second') as the absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all existence flows.
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The passage describes 'merging into, becoming one with, the Absolute, and continuing in full possession of Paramartha' as the state achieved when one gets rid of personal existence.
The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.
The passage explicitly dissolves the binary of Being and Non-Being, declaring Non-Being to be 'absolute Being' and the state of Paranirvana to be 'more real being' than manifest existence.
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
The passage explicitly uses the paradox of Non-Being being 'more real being' than existence, and the chemical combination analogy, to destabilise ordinary understanding of existence and non-existence.
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 treats Being and Non-Being as two poles of the same reality, with Non-Being being 'more real being' — an identity-by-degree relationship between apparent opposites.
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 Para-marthasatya (the one absolute truth) from the relative plane of apparent existence, holding both as legitimate on their own plane — 'a great difference between conscious and unconscious being.'
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The passage describes the eventual return of all things to the state of Paranishpanna and the individual's 'merging into, becoming one with, the Absolute' as the culmination of spiritual development.
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 cyclical pattern of pralaya (dissolution) and manvantara (resurrection) operating across 'Seven Eternities' represents a measured cosmic oscillation between manifestation and dissolution.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The doctrine that 'Non-being is ABSOLUTE Being,' that all of existence ultimately returns to the state of Paranishpanna, and that ADWAITA means 'Without a Second' with all else being Maya, asserts ultimate oneness of all reality.