It exists in a latent condition in the bosom of Parabrahmam at the time of Pralaya.
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." (During Manvantara) "it has a consciousness and an individuality of its own .
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such centres of energy are almost innumerable in the bosom of Parabrahmam .
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." "It must not be supposed, that even the logos is the Creator, or that it is but a single centre of energy .
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their number is almost infinite." "This Ego," he adds, "is the first that appears in Kosmos, and is the end of all evolution.
It is the abstract Ego" .
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"this is the first manifestation (or aspect) of Parabrahmam." "When once it starts into conscious being .
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from its objective standpoint, Parabrahmam appears to it as Mulaprakriti.
" "Please bear this in mind," observes the lecturer, "for here is the root of the whole difficulty about Purusha and Prakriti felt by the various writers on Vedantic philosophy.
This Mulaprakriti is material to it (the Logos), as any material object is material to us.
This Mulaprakriti is no more Parabrahmam than the bundle of attributes of a pillar is the pillar itself; Parabrahmam is an unconditioned and absolute reality, and Mulaprakriti is a sort of veil thrown over it.
Parabrahmam by itself cannot be seen as it is.
It is seen by the Logos with a veil thrown over it, and that veil is the mighty expanse of Cosmic matter.
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." "Parabrahmam, after having appeared on the one hand as the Ego, and on the other as Mulaprakriti, acts as the one energy through the Logos ." And the lecturer explains what he means by this acting of something which is nothing , though it is the ALL, by a fine simile.
He compares the Logos to the sun through which light and heat radiate, but whose energy, light and heat, exist in some unknown condition in Space and are diffused in Space only as visible light and heat, the sun being only the agent thereof.
This is the first triadic hypostasis.
The quaternary is made up by the energizing light shed by the Logos.
The Hebrew Kabalists give it in a shape which esoterically is [[Vol.
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identical with the Vedantic.
A IN- S OPH, they taught, could not be comprehended, could not be located, nor named, though the causeless cause of all.
Hence its name -- A IN- S OPH -- is a term of negation, "the inscrutable, the incognizable, and the unnameable." They made of it, therefore, a boundless circle, a sphere, of which human intellect, with the utmost stretch, could only perceive the vault.
In the words of one who has unriddled much in the Kabalistical system, in one of its meanings thoroughly, in its numerical and geometrical esotericism: -- "Close your eyes, and from your own consciousness of perception try and think outward to the extremest limits in every direction.
You will find that equal lines or rays of perception extend out evenly in all directions, so that the utmost effort of perception will terminate in the vault of a sphere.
The limitation of this sphere will, of necessity, be a great Circle , and the direct rays of thought in any and every direction must be right line radii of the circle.
This, then, must be, humanly speaking, the extremest all-embracing conception of the Ain-Soph manifest , which formulates itself as a geometrical figure , viz., of a circle, with its elements of curved circumference and right line diameter divided into radii.
Hence, a geometrical shape is the first recognisable means of connection between the Ain-Soph and the intelligence of man."* This great circle (which Eastern Esotericism reduces to the point within the Boundless Circle) is the Avalokiteswara, the Logos or Verbum of which Mr.
Subba Row speaks.
But this circle or manifested God is as unknown to us, except through its manifested universe, as the ONE, though easier, or rather more possible to our highest conceptions.
This Logos which sleeps in the bosom of Parabrahmam during Pralaya, as our " Ego is latent (in us) at the time of sushupti , sleep"; which cannot cognize Parabrahmam otherwise than as Mulaprakriti -- the latter being a cosmic veil which is "the mighty expanse of cosmic matter" -- is thus only an organ in cosmic creation, through which radiate the energy and wisdom of Parabrahmam, unknown to the Logos , as it is to ourselves.
Moreover, as the Logos is as unknown to us as Parabrahmam is unknown in reality to the Logos, both Eastern Esotericism and the Kabala -- in order to bring the Logos within the range of our conceptions -- have resolved the abstract synthesis into concrete images; viz., into the reflections or multiplied aspects of that Logos or Avalokiteswara, Brahma, Ormazd, Osiris, Adam-Kadmon, call it by any of these names -- which aspects or Manvantaric emanations are the Dhyan Chohans, the Elohim, the Devas, the Amshaspends, &c., &c.
Metaphysicians explain the root and germ of the latter, according to Mr.
Subba Row, as the first manifestation of Parabrahmam, "the highest trinity that we [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * From the Masonic Review for June, 1886.
[[Vol.
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are capable of understanding," which is Mulaprakriti (the veil), the Logos , and the conscious energy "of the latter," or its power and light*; or -- "matter, force and the Ego , or the one root of self, of which every other kind of self is but a manifestation or a reflection." It is then only in this "light" (of consciousness) of mental and physical perception, that practical Occultism can throw this into visibility by geometrical figures; which, when closely studied, will yield not only a scientific explanation of the real, objective, existence** of the "Seven sons of the divine Sophia," which is this light of the Logos, but show by means of other yet undiscovered keys that, with regard to Humanity, these "Seven Sons" and their numberless emanations, centres of energy personified, are an absolute necessity.
Make away with them, and the mystery of Being and Mankind will never be unriddled , not even closely approached.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
Ain-Soph is defined as 'the inscrutable, the incognizable, and the unnameable' — a term of negation — and Parabrahmam 'by itself cannot be seen as it is,' both expressing the divine only through 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 passage explicitly states that the Hebrew Kabbalistic formulation is 'esoterically identical with the Vedantic' and maps the same structure across multiple traditions (Avalokiteswara, Brahma, Ormazd, Osiris, Adam-Kadmon).
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 cosmic origin: Parabrahmam appears as the Ego and Mulaprakriti, the Logos starts into conscious being, and the universe radiates forth through it.
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
Parabrahmam is described as hidden behind the veil of Mulaprakriti, and the Logos is 'as unknown to us as Parabrahmam is unknown in reality to the Logos,' establishing radical concealment at every level.
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.
Parabrahmam is described as acting 'as the one energy through the Logos' and the light is 'diffused in Space,' suggesting the divine pervades creation rather than remaining solely transcendent.
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
The 'energizing light shed by the Logos' forms the quaternary, and the sun simile describes how light and heat radiate from the Logos as the agent of Parabrahmam's energy.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
Parabrahmam is described as 'an unconditioned and absolute reality' that is 'no more' than itself — the bundle of attributes (Mulaprakriti) is not the pillar itself, affirming the divine as undivided and without composite parts.
The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold.
Ain-Soph is explicitly discussed as the infinite, unknowable divine prior to emanation, represented as a boundless circle that human intellect can only perceive as a vault.
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 explicitly maps a cascading hierarchy from Parabrahmam through the Logos to Mulaprakriti and then to the Dhyan Chohans, Elohim, Devas, and Amshaspends as successive emanations.
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 references Mr. Subba Row and an unnamed lecturer as sources of the teaching, implying a chain of transmission of secret wisdom.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage references 'undiscovered keys' and presents knowledge that is 'unknown to the Logos, as it is to ourselves,' framing the teaching as esoteric.
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 passage describes non-physical dimensions — the bosom of Parabrahmam, the cosmic veil of Mulaprakriti, and the Logos as an organ of creation — that are real but imperceptible to ordinary senses.
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 unconditioned Parabrahmam through the Logos to Mulaprakriti and the manifested universe, with the Ego as 'the first that appears in Kosmos, and is the end of all evolution.'
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 the central mediating figure throughout the passage, described as the first manifestation of Parabrahmam, the organ of cosmic creation, and compared to the sun through which light radiates.
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 draws a direct parallel between the Logos sleeping in Parabrahmam during Pralaya and 'our Ego is latent (in us) at the time of sushupti, sleep,' mapping the human microcosm onto the cosmic macrocosm.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
Parabrahmam is described as 'an unconditioned and absolute reality' from which all multiplicity flows, fitting the definition of the absolutely simple first principle.
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 Parabrahmam as it is in itself (absolute, unconditioned) and as it appears to the Logos (as Mulaprakriti, veiled), holding both as legitimate on their own plane — 'Parabrahmam by itself cannot be seen as it is. It is seen by the Logos with a veil thrown over it.'
The doctrine that the one Godhead or first principle subsists as three co-equal aspects or persons rather than a bare unity — the Christian Father/Son/Holy Ghost invoked in the recurring liturgical formula 'In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' but structurally the same pattern as the Egyptian Amen/Ptah/Osiris, the Hindu Brahma/Vishnu/Siva, and the Kabbalistic Chochmah/Binah/Kether triads that esoteric writers explicitly map onto it as instances of one universal law. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about internal plurality) and divine_simplicity (God as having no parts or divisions at all) in asserting a definite three-aspected differentiation within a single divine essence.
The passage explicitly identifies 'the highest trinity' as Mulaprakriti (the veil), the Logos, and the conscious energy of the latter — 'matter, force and the Ego' — as a three-aspected differentiation within the one divine essence.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage asserts that Parabrahmam is 'the ALL' and that the Logos, Mulaprakriti, and conscious energy are all aspects of one reality — 'the one root of self, of which every other kind of self is but a manifestation or a reflection.'