Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine, Book I - Part I)

Discussion on literature other than by the Star of Azazel.
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Smaragd
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

Post by Smaragd »

It took me a while, but finally managed to go through the last bits of 5th Stanza. Ready to proceed when you are.

Stanza V.6.
"The Lipika circumscribe the triangle, the first one (the vertical line or the figure I.), the cube, the second one, and the
pentacle within the egg (circle) (a). It is the ring called “Pass not,” for those who descend and ascend (as also for those) who, during the Kalpa, are progressing toward the great day “ Be with us ” (b). . . . Thus were formed the Arupa and the Rupa (the Formless World and the World of Forms) ; from one light seven lights; from each of the seven seven times seven lights. The “ Wheels” watch the Ring."
Secret Doctrine wrote: Moreover, in Occult metaphysics there are, properly speaking, two “ Ones ”—the One on the unreachable plane of Absoluteness and Infinity, on which no speculation is possible, and the Second “ One ” on the plane of Emanations. The former can neither emanate nor be divided, as it is eternal, absolute, and immutable. The Second, being, so to speak, the reflection of the first One (for it is the Logos, or Eswara, in the Universe of Illusion), can do all this.
Similarly in John 10:30 Christ says ”I and my Father are one.” In the footnote Subbarow is quoted and he speaks of the center of spiritual energy as the first Logos, Christos, Avalkôtiêshwara. From this center all emanates from. First come the triangle, the cube and the pentacle and in this Logos they are circumscribed by the Lipika from the absolute One, thus creating limited conditions, then comes the 7 ”architects” ie. the Dhyan Chohans or the 7 Sephiroth below the first triad in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, or. the 7 Celestials. These create the condition that is mind and mind creates more and more hierarchical structures and workers.

Talking about the Dhyan Chohans, Blavatsky states: ”But these, unless they return into their primal Element, can never cross beyond the Laya, or zero-point.”
My take on this is that without striving to understand them as a one whole, some of the demonic sides of them are usually contacted. As in the Celestial Hymn practice it is recommended that a proper balance should be held by reciting the hymns daily giving attention to each of them. More of the lower hierarchy spirits under one of these seven are contacted if emphasized too much. I can imagnie there’s still space for doing these cycles in a more vast cycles than one week, but I can imagine it becomes risky after some point.
Secret Doctrine wrote: All that science has a right to affirm, is that there are no invisible Intelligences living under the same conditions as we do. It cannot deny point-blank the possibility of there being worlds within worlds, under totally different conditions to those that constitute the nature of our world ; nor can it deny that there may be a certain limited communication between some of those worlds and our own. To the highest, we are taught, belong the seven orders of the purely divine Spirits ; to the six lower ones belong hierarchies that can occasionally be seen and heard by men, and who do communicate with their progeny of the Earth ; which progeny is indissolubly linked with them, each principle in man having its direct source in the nature of those great Beings, who furnish us with the respective invisible elements in us.
I understand that here are hinted of the myth where the giants procreate with the daughters of men. It is more literal idea than I have thouht of. Ofcourse the daughters are not that literal…

At the end of the stanzas commentary the Seven cosmic elements and their cycles in us are again elaborated: "The “Monad,” born of the nature and the very Essence of the “ Seven ” (its highest principle becoming immediately enshrined in the Seventh Cosmic Element), has to perform its septenary gyration throughout the Cycle of Being and forms, from the highest to the lowest; and then again from man to God. At the threshold of Paranirvana it reassumes its primeval Essence and becomes the Absolute once more."

Overall this sloka and its commentray seemed to be largely about perceiving the (mostly) invisible ”celestials” and their hierarchies. The ant metaphor was good. We can not perceive these spirits with our normal senses, but they are real active beings working in another plane that is still inseparably woven (though the hierarchies) to the plane we perceive with our five senses. It could be also seen as ”sensing” when we start to understand these higher beings, and in such a process perhaps an occult aspirant feels somekind of guidance in his path towards working with them.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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Thank you for taking the lead on this, brother, and for your valuable insight. It's interesting that you mention John 10:30, as my reading of Frances Yates touched on the beginning of John this week, And in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God" 1.1. This was in relation to how the Corpus Hermeticum was perceived by influential figures during the Renaissance, but I do think it's interesting to note since I found many parallels with the Secret Doctrine and what I read of the Hermeticum itself this past week, and I will touch on those parallels in the near future.

Back on track with the stanza, I've been reading that the Ring Pass-Not is pi (3.1415) taking us all the way back to Stanza 4.3:

" From the effulgency of light- the ray of the ever darkness- sprung in space the reawaken energies (dhyani-chohans): the one from the egg, the six and the five: then the three, the one, the four, the one, the five- the twice seven, the sum total. And these are the essences, the flames, the elements, the builders, the numbers, the arupa (formless), the rupa (with bodies), and the force or divine man- the sum total. And from the divine man emanated the forms, the sparks, the sacred animals, and the messengers of the sacred fathers (the pitris) within the holy four."

I'll have to go back and see our notes on the fourth stanza, but I'm not sure if we made the pi connection there.
Aha! Cerastes did!! We actually went over that stanza in some detail.
Cerastes wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 2:34 pm
3. FROM THE EFFULGENCY OF LIGHT -- THE RAY OF THE EVER-DARKNESS -- SPRUNG IN SPACE THE RE-AWAKENED ENERGIES (Dhyan Chohans): THE ONE FROM THE EGG, THE SIX AND THE FIVE (a); THEN THE THREE, THE ONE, THE FOUR, THE ONE, THE FIVE -- THE TWICE SEVEN, THE SUM TOTAL


As darkness is the original state of the universe and as I understand it, the ray of light is the beginning of manifestation. Obviously every state of cosmogenesis or deity has been given a number here and Blavatsky tries to find numerical parallels to the spiritual tradition of different cultures.
The circle with the dot in the middle is no number as it is the unmanifested universe.
1 (circle with dot) coming from the world egg (circle without dot) 0 ->10
10-65= Number of the first-born deity. 21 or 3 x 7
(In the Kaballah it is the value of JHVH)
31415 or 14/ 2 x 7 refers to the circle because the relation of the diameter to the circumference is 1:3,1415 (->U= 2πr or πd)
I assume that the 3 x 7 deities created the lower 2 x7.

The great circle of “pass not” represents the borders of consciousness or understanding for humanity. This reminds me on the ritual circle that is used as a “do not pass” protection when working with certain entities. In a way, this seems a to be a very saturnal symbol as it stands for limitation and marks the ending of things. The gatekeeper to pass not area may be the higher knowledge that Blavatsky constantly mentions.
So if I'm understanding correctly, the numerical hierarchy of the dhyani-chohans is the same as the Ring Pass-Not. Is Blavatsky just restating 4.3 here? Or is this something else entirely? OR BETTER YET, something entirely that is also the same :o :D
Blavatsky got me again! You guys should see the state of my book with me trying to draw out the Ring Pass-Not.

But triangle (3), vertical line (1), cube (4), horizontal line (1), pentagram (5), all within the egg.

Forgive me, but I must leave it here for now and come back tomorrow. If I scratch my head any more over this I will surely bleed to death.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Smaragd
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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Polyhymnia wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 6:11 am So if I'm understanding correctly, the numerical hierarchy of the dhyani-chohans is the same as the Ring Pass-Not. Is Blavatsky just restating 4.3 here? Or is this something else entirely? OR BETTER YET, something entirely that is also the same :o :D
I was re-reading the poems of stanza V and VI without the commentary last night and thought about this same thing. I think the poems are again and again coming back to the previously mentioned things and expounding on them with greater detail, perhaps moving onwards in the laying out of the cosmogenesis. As it is a layout of the birth of the cosmos, these back and forth movements seem to imitate how everything moves in a nonlinear way building on the previous cycles below (or in my wild interpretation I thought everything happening in one moment and thus any sort of layout is incomplete and every stanza needs to internalize the previous ones). I assume the number of the stanzas (7) and the typical number of the slokas (7) underlines this: "Thus were formed the Rupa and the Arupa: from one light seven lights; from each of the seven, seven times seven lights."
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

Post by Polyhymnia »

Ah! This makes sense. I’m going to read the whole of Cosmogenesis again, but not as intensely this time.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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Okay, I'm done my casual re-read. So here's a quick recap of Stanza 1 since it's been several months:

Stanza 1: The Night of the Universe

Things that don't exist in Pralaya (where the eternal parent slumbers for seven aeons in invisible robes which are the mystic root of all matter and of the Universe):
-Time (it's only an illusion, anyway)
-The Ah-hi, or Dhyani-Chohans. The vehicle for manifestation. Therefore, universal mind (thought, will, feeling) does not exist. Also known as the seven sublime lords, the seven truths, the Seven Creative Spirits. They correspond to the Hebrew Elohim.
-Moksha or Nirvana (the seven ways to bliss) and Nidana and Maya (the great causes of misery)
-The twelve Nidanas (causes of being)
-The causes of existence
-Light, which is the son of Darkness, the Father-Mother. Darkness filled the boundless all. Within this boundless all, the son had not yet awakened. The son also being the Universe, or the Son of Necessity.

Important takeaways:
-The Father-Mother are the male and female principles in root-nature and these opposite poles manifest on every plane of the Kosmos.
-The Universe appears and disappears with the Great Breath, or "that which is and yet is not". The exhale is the One Existence breathing out a thought which becomes the Kosmos. The inhalation is when the Universe disappears back into the "the bosom of the 'Great Mother' who then sleeps 'wrapped in her invisible robes'" which I take as being back in Pralaya?
-The Dangma (the highest adept) can sense this cosmic display through his opened inner eye.
-"The universe was Anupadaka" describes the formless universe in its absolute condition before the builders fashion it.
-Life manifests in man as Spirit, Soul, and Matter. Matter being the vehicle for the manifestation of the soul on the earthly plane, and soul being the vehicle on the astral plane for the manifestation of spirit. This trinity is synthesized by Life.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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And a recap of Stanza 2, which may as well be called "Hey, where is everybody?"

Stanza 2: The Idea of Differentiation

In this stanza we're introduced to some key players. But where are they? Let's find out.

-The Builders, the luminous sons of the Manvantaric Dawn? In their ah-hi parinishpanna, also known as yong-grub in Tibetan, which is the "absolute perfection to which all existences attain at the close of a great period of activity, and in which they rest during the succeeding period of repose." The summum bonum.
So, in short, they were resting in the bliss of non-being.
-The silence? Resting in the bliss of non-being.
-The ears with which to sense the silence? Resting in the bliss of non-being.
-The hour? Resting in the bliss of non-being.
-The ray flashing into the germ? Resting in the bliss of non-being.
-The mother lotus? Resting in the bliss of non-being.

Important takeaways:
-The Builders, the Sons of the Mavantaric Dawn are the creators of the universe.
-The ray is that of ever darkness emitting and becoming a ray of light or life. The germ into which it flashes is the point in the Mundane Egg represented by matter in an abstract sense. Which, to me, invokes images of Phanes emerging from the primordial Egg. Relevant to us in the Lodge! Maybe not so relevant to those who aren't apart of Lodge Phanes. So feel free to apply, if the spirit moves you!
-The germ is svabhavat and the Mother-Father.
-The Lotus can be seen as a symbol of those male/female poles within the Kosmos, deriving from the Father-Mother principles in root-nature spoken of in the first stanza. Ether or Water as the Mother, and Fire as the father, with both coming together for the Dual creative power in Nature, producing the Lotus.
-First mention of Fohat and logos. We start to see what the universe will look like once the Great Breath exhales. "But as the hour strikes and it becomes receptive of the Fohatic impress of the Divine Thought (the Logos, or the male aspect of the Anima Mundi, Alaya)- its heart opens. It differentiates, and the THREE (Father, Mother, Son) are transformed into four. Not yet, though. Right now that's all resting in the bliss of non-being.
-The Seven Sons are the creator of our Solar System, but they're also currently resting in the bliss of non-being.
-Svabhavat: the "plastic essence". It fills the universe and it's the root of everything.


So, to answer the question, everyone is currently resting in the bliss of non-being.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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I struggled so much with stanza 3 and 4 the first time around that I think I have to read through one more time. I hope no-one minds the recaps. We've just stepped away for so long that I was afraid it would take me forever to go through the thread again just to try and jump back into V and onward to VI.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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Polyhymnia wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:18 am I hope no-one minds the recaps.
These are most welcome as we are slowly getting back to the cycle of the reading group again (I guess we have to get one big project out of our shoulders before we can find enough time to dwell in to the pages of this book).
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

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I’m glad you feel that way. For me it felt nearly impossible to jump back in without some kind of preparation. Even if now isn’t quite yet the time, I think it will be helpful to have the summaries to help act as a launching point.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Re: Reading Circle (Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine)

Post by Silvaeon »

There's been doubt! There's been tears! But as momentum has slowly been building in the background, we're back!

The previous loose structure served us as well as it could up to a point, but in order to keep things moving forward, a timed schedule has been designed. The presentation of ideas will continue to be loose, but the reading itself will be scheduled as follows: And of course, outside participants are most welcome still.

Start February 1st - Stanza 6.1 (pg. 136) to Stanza 6.4 (page 161) - End March 31st
Start April 1st - Stanza 6.4 (page 161 to 191) - End May 31st
Start June 1st - Stanza 6.5 (page 191) to end of Stanza 6.7 (page 212) - End July 31st

Start August 1st - Stanza 7.1 (page 213) to Stanza 7.4 (page 237) - End Sept 30th
Start Oct 1st - Stanza 7.5 (page 238) to end of Stanza 7.7 (page 268) - End Nov 30th
Start Dec 1st - Closing thoughts of Cosmogenesis Book 1 part 1 (page 269 to 298) - End January 31st 2022
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