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The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page 475]] BOOK I. -- PART III. ADDENDA. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED. "The knowledge of this nether world -- Say, friend, what is it, false or true? The false, what mortal cares to know? The true, what mortal ever knew?" [[Vol. 1, Page 476]] CONTENTS. -------------- PAGE I. R EASONS FOR THESE A DDENDA ... 477 II. M ODERN P HYSICISTS ARE P LAYING AT B LIND M AN'S B UFF ... 482 III. " A N L UMEN S IT C ORPUS, N EC N ON" ... 483 IV. I S G RAVITATION A L AW? ... 490 V. T HE T HEORIES OF R OTATION IN S CIENCE ... 500 VI. T HE M ASKS OF S CIENCE ... 506 VII. A N A TTACK ON THE S CIENTIFIC T HEORY OF F ORCE BY A M AN OF S CIENCE ... 523 VIII. L IFE, F ORCE, OR G RAVITY? ... 529 IX. T HE S OLAR T HEORY ... 540 X. T HE C OMING F ORCE ... 554 XI. O N THE E LEMENTS AND A TOMS ... 566 XII. A NCIENT T HOUGHT IN M ODERN D RESS ... 579 XIII. T HE M ODERN N EBULAR T HEORY ... 588 XIV. F ORCES -- M ODES OF M OTION OR I NTELLIGENCES? ... 601 XV. G ODS, M ONADS, AND A TOMS ... 610 XVI. C YCLIC E VOLUTION AND K ARMA ... 634 XVII. T HE Z ODIAC AND ITS A NTIQUITY ... 647 XVIII. S UMMARY OF THE M UTUAL P OSITION ... 668 [[Vol. 1, Page]] 477 MUTUAL POSITION DEFINED. ADDENDA TO BOOK I. -------------- I. REASONS FOR THESE ADDENDA. M ANY of the doctrines contained in the foregoing Seven Stanzas and Commentaries having been studied and critically examined by some Western Theosophists, certain of the occult teachings have been found wanting from the ordinary stand-point of modern scientific knowledge. They seemed to encounter insuperable difficulties in the way of their acceptance, and to require reconsideration in view of scientific criticism. Some friends have already been tempted to regret the necessity of so often calling in question the assertions of modern Science. It appeared to them -- and I here repeat only their arguments -- that "to run counter to the teachings of its most eminent exponents, was to court a premature discomfiture in the eyes of the Western World." It is, therefore, desirable to define once and for all the position which the writer, who does not agree in this with her friends, intends to maintain. So far as Science remains what in the words of Prof. Huxley it is, viz., "organized common sense"; so far as its inferences are drawn from accurate premises -- its generalizations resting on a purely inductive basis -- every Theosophist and Occultist welcomes respectfully and with due admiration its contributions to the domain of cosmological law. There can be no possible conflict between the teachings of occult and so-called exact Science, where the conclusions of the latter are grounded on a substratum of unassailable fact. It is only when its more ardent exponents, over-stepping the limits of observed phenomena in order to penetrate into the arcana of Being, attempt to wrench the formation of Kosmos and its living Forces from Spirit, and attribute all to blind matter, that the Occultists claim the right to dispute and call in question their theories. Science cannot, owing to the very nature of things, unveil the mystery of the universe around us. Science can, it is true, collect, classify, and generalize upon phenomena; but the occultist, arguing from admitted metaphysical data, declares that the daring explorer, who would probe the inmost secrets of Nature, must transcend the narrow limitations of sense, and transfer his consciousness into the region of noumena and the sphere of primal causes. To effect this, he must develop faculties which are absolutely [[Vol. 1, Page]] 478 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. dormant -- save in a few rare and exceptional cases -- in the constitution of the off-shoots of our present Fifth Root-race in Europe and America. He can in no other conceivable manner collect the facts on which to base his speculations. Is this not apparent on the principles of Inductive Logic and Metaphysics alike? On the other hand, whatever the writer may do, she will never be able to satisfy both Truth and Science. To offer the reader a systematic and uninterrupted version of the Archaic Stanzas is impossible. A gap of 43 verses or Slokas has to be left between the 7th (already given) and the 51st, which is the subject of Book II., though the latter are made to run from 1 et seq. for easier reading and reference. The appearance of man on Earth alone occupies as many stanzas, which describe minutely his primal evolution from the human Dhyan Chohans; the state of the globe at that time, etc., etc. A great number of names referring to chemical substances and other compounds, which have now ceased to combine together, and are therefore unknown to the later offshoots of our Fifth Race, occupy a considerable space. As they are simply untranslateable, and would remain in every case inexplicable, they are omitted, along with those which cannot be made public. Nevertheless, even the little that is given will irritate any follower and defender of dogmatic materialistic Science who happens to read this. Before proceeding to other Stanzas, it is proposed, therefore, to defend those already given. They are not in perfect accord or harmony with modern Science -- this we all know. Had they been, however, as much in agreement with the views of modern knowledge as a lecture by Sir W. Thomson, they would have been rejected all the same. For they teach belief in conscious Powers and Spiritual Entities; in terrestrial, semi-intelligent, and highly intellectual Forces on other planes*; and in Beings that dwell around us in spheres imperceptible, whether through telescope or microscope. Hence the necessity of examining the beliefs of materialistic Science: of comparing its views about the "Elements" with the opinions of the ancients, and of analysing the physical Forces as they exist in modern perception before the Occultists admit themselves to be in the wrong. We shall touch upon the constitution of the Sun and planets, and the occult characteristics of what are called Devas and Genii , and are now termed by Science, Force, or "modes of motion," and see whether esoteric belief is defensible or not ( Vide infra , " Gods , Monads , and Atoms )".