Stanza 1
I will mostly try to follow the order of the paragraphs of the Stanza. The commentary on the first Stanza mostly lists things that don't exist at this point as the eternal Parent space can’t be described in any way. I have not much time to edit my text so forgive me for all the possible unclear parts or errors in interpretation
1. Blavatsky begins from the state where everything has returned to the unity behind all existence and it already gets clear at this point that there has been life and universes before and new ones will be born but at this point there is only that which can’t be described. It is interesting to note that spirit is the first differentiation from this eternal ”Parent space”. I would make a guess that this spirit is in someway the consciousness that starts to observe for there would be no differentiation if there was nothing that would begin this process. Of course it’s a bit problematic to say it this way because it is very far from our experience (though still very near) and we can think and express ourselves only within the context of linear time. If we could get behind our senses of time maybe we would notice that the ”alaya” or ”akasha” in meaning of eternal Parent space, the cause of all existence is everywhere and that the past, present and the future would all fall into one creation, the robes of oneness where we are like little spots in the weaves of the whole.
2. The illusion of time only begins with the differention when there is someone who begins to observe the otherness. Yet I am personally quite hesitant to even speak of illusion in any other sense but that which we ourselves unconsiously project to the world seemingly outside of us. The only illusion is the illusion of separation but the world, the universe is not illusion but holy as it is the robes of the eternal oneness of all. The idea of illusion is probably the one that most easily causes the error in thinking that there is something meaningless from which we can draw all the possible justifications to wrongful deeds.
3. Blavatsky is quite clear in describing the Ah-hi, the hierarchy of celestial and spiritual beings which contain the universal mind. I assume the universal mind is the sum of all these minds.
4. The development of the Ego is a series of awakenings which all bring larger understanding and sense of unity. These awakenings are reached by following the seven ways to bliss which in this primal state of Stanza 1 don’t exist. I guess then that these seven paths are something that manifest in all possible universes and that they are always the path back to unity and non-existence of the universe. Returning back to the second phrase above the future was merged with ideology. I think we could say that in the manifested universe of linear time, heading toward the future that is always the coming non-existence, it is these seven paths that are the root of all ideology, the way toward unity that in our linear time, before some final enlightenment and Nirvana, appears as our ideal goals. Of course these ideals get unclear and corrupted when we are under the illusion of separation.
5. Mother and Father, the male and female polarities of the root-nature are still one. Maybe this is the ”Parent space”, the non-existence, darkness from our point of view. If Son is the spirit and spirit the first differentiation from the eternal Parent, all existence is the pilgrimage of the Son, spirit, through the linear way of experiencing everything. I think of the gnostic idea that Christ is not born of the creator god but straight from the unity of Parent space, Father and Mother separated into to polarities to create the world that seems like a duality of matter and spirit but which after all is far from the actual truth of oneness.
6. I think these Seven Sublime Lords are the seven archetypes in their various manifestations. Of these Seven we are able to reach the first four at the moment as they only have given their manifestations on Earth and they are the first four states of adepthood. Blavatsky writes that these Seven Lords (or the first four of them?) will get more ample treatment later on in the book.
7. We return to ideas more closely related to original cause of existence which is the desire to exist. Blavatsky writes that this desire is caused by Nidana and Maya – Karma in a broad sense of the word and the cosmic illusion, the ability to observe the other. Blavatsky writes that the esoteric reason of existence forever lays hidden and I think it is something that could not be expressed in any words but only experienced by those who happen to get to that point in their path and of course everyone will get there sooner or later without a doubt.
8. - 9. Blavatsky repeats the content of earlier paragraphs in various ways here and compares the ideas of German transcendentalists and eastern philosophy. Some of this is very complicated but the main point seems to be the consciousness in everything, pan(en)theism.
Once again I feel that so many ideas could be found here that trying to write down some of them doesn’t do enough justice to the whole. I read through this part various times and during everyone of them I read something that I hadn’t notice the last time.