Theos-Talk Archives (January 1996 Message tl00039)

STANZAS.TXT


THE SECRET DOCRINE (H.P. Blavatsky)

BOOK I., PART I.

COSMIC EVOLUTION.

SEVEN STANZAS TRANSLATED WITH COMMENTARIES FROM THE SECRET BOOK
OF DZYAN.

"Nor Aught nor Nought existed; yon bright sky Was not, nor
heaven's broad roof outstretched above.  What covered all? what
sheltered? what concealed?  Was it the water's fathomless abyss?
There was not death - yet there was nought immortal, There was
no confine betwixt day and night; The only One breathed
breathless by itself, Other than It there nothing since has
been.  Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled In gloom
profound - an ocean without light - The germ that still lay
covered in the husk Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent
heat.

Who knows the secret? who proclaimed it here?  Whence, whence
this manifold creation sprang?  The Gods themselves came later
into being - Who knows from whence this great creation sprang?
That, whence all this great creation came, Whether Its will
created or was mute, The Most High Seer that is in highest
heaven, He knows it - or perchance even He knows not."

"Gazing into eternity .....  Ere the foundations of the earth
were laid,

Thou wert. And when the subterranean flame Shall burst its
prison and devour the frame - Thou shalt be still as Thou wert
before And knew no change, when time shall be no more.  Oh!
endless thought, divine ETERNITY."

COSMIC EVOLUTION.

Seven Stanzas Translated from the Book of Dzyan

STANZA I.

1.  THE ETERNAL PARENT WRAPPED IN HER EVER INVISIBLE ROBES HAD
    SLUMBERED ONCE AGAIN FOR SEVEN ETERNITIES.

2.  TIME WAS NOT, FOR IT LAY ASLEEP IN THE INFINITE BOSOM OF
    DURATION.

3.  UNIVERSAL MIND WAS NOT, FOR THERE WERE NO AH-HI TO CONTAIN IT.

4.  THE SEVEN WAYS TO BLISS WERE NOT. THE GREAT CAUSES OF MISERY
    WERE NOT, FOR THERE WAS NO ONE TO PRODUCE AND GET ENSNARED BY
    THEM.

5.  DARKNESS ALONG FILLED THE BOUNDLESS ALL, FOR FATHER, MOTHER
    AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD NOT AWAKENED YET FOR
    THE NEW WHEEL, AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON.

6.  THE SEVEN SUBLIME LORDS AND THE SEVEN TRUTHS HAD CEASED TO
    BE, AND THE UNIVERSE, THE SON OF NECESSITY, WAS IMMERSED IN
    PARANISHPANNA, TO BE OUTBREATHED BY THAT WHICH IS AND YET IS
    NOT.  NAUGHT WAS.

7.  THE CAUSES OF EXISTENCE HAD BEEN DONE AWAY WITH; THE VISIBLE
    THAT WAS, AND THE INVISIBLE THAT IS, RESTED IN ETERNAL NON-BEING
    - THE ONE BEING.

8.  ALONE THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS,
    INFINITE, CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP; AND LIFE PULSATED
    UNCONSCIOUS IN UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE
    WHICH IS SENSED BY THE OPENED EYE OF THE DANGMA.

9.  BUT WHERE WAS THE DANGMA WHEN THE ALAYA OF THE UNIVERSE WAS
    IN PARAMARTHA AND THE GREAT WHEEL WAS ANUPADAKA?

       STANZA II.

1.  ...  WHERE WERE THE BUILDERS, THE LUMINOUS SONS OF
    MANVANTARIC DAWN? ... IN THE UNKNOWN DARKNESS IN THEIR AH-HI
    PARNISHPANNA. THE PRODUCERS OF FORM FROM NO-FORM - THE ROOT OF
    THE WORLD - THE DEVAMATRI AND SVABHAVAT, RESTED IN THE BLISS OF
    NON-BEING.

2.  ... WHERE WAS SILENCE? WHERE THE EARS TO SENSE
    IT? NO, THERE WAS NEITHER SILENCE NOR SOUND; NAUGHT SAVE
    CEASELESS ETERNAL BREATH, WHICH KNOWS ITSELF NOT.

3.  THE HOUR HAD NOT YET STRUCK; THE RAY HAD NOT YET FLASHED
    INTO THE GERM; THE MATRIPADMA HAD NOT YET SWOLLEN.

4.  HER HEART HAD NOT YET OPENED FOR THE ONE RAY TO ENTER,
    THENCE TO FALL, AS THREE INTO FOUR, INTO THE LAP OF MAYA.

5.  THE SEVEN SONS WERE NOT YET BORN FROM THE WEB OF LIGHT.
    DARKNESS ALONE WAS FATHER-MOTHER, SVABHAVAT; AND SVABHAVAT WAS
    IN DARKNESS.

6.  THESE TWO ARE THE GERM, AND THE GERM IS ONE. THE UNIVERSE
    WAS STILL CONCEALED IN THE DIVINE THOUGHT AND THE DIVINE BOSOM.

        STANZA III.

1.  ... THE LAST VIBRATION OF THE SEVENTH ETERNITY THRILLS
    THROUGH INFINITUDE.  THE MOTHER SWELLS, EXPANDING FROM WITHIN
    WITHOUT, LIKE THE BUD OF THE LOTUS.

2.  THE VIBRATION SWEEPS ALONG, TOUCHING WITH ITS SWIFT WING THE
    WHOLE UNIVERSE AND THE GERM THAT DWELLETH IN DARKNESS: THE
    DARKNESS THAT BREATHES OVER THE SLUMBERING WATERS OF LIFE.

3.  DARKNESS RADIATES LIGHT, AND LIGHT DROPS ONE SOLITARY RAY
    INTO THE MOTHER-DEEP. THE RAY SHOOTS THOUGH THE VIRGIN EGG. THE
    RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL, AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL
    GERM, WHICH CONDENSES INTO THE WORLD-EGG.

4.  THEN THE THREE FALL INTO THE FOUR. THE RADIANT ESSENCE
    BECOMES SEVEN INSIDE, SEVEN OUTSIDE. THE LUMINOUS EGG, WHICH IN
    ITSELF IS THREE, CURDLES AND SPREADS IN MILK-WHITE CURDS
    THROUGHOUT THE DEPTHS OF MOTHER, THE ROOT THAT GROWS IN THE
    DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN OF LIFE.

5.  THE ROOT REMAINS, THE LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS REMAIN, AND
    STILL OEAOHOO IS ONE.

6.  THE ROOT OF LIFE WAS IN EVERY DROP OF THE OCEAN OF
    IMMORTALITY, AND THE OCEAN WAS RADIANT LIGHT, WHICH WAS FIRE,
    AND HEAT, AND MOTION. DARKNESS VANISHED AND WAS NO MORE; IT
    DISAPPEARED IN ITS OWN ESSENCE, THE BODY OF FIRE AND WATER, OR
    FATHER AND MOTHER.

7.  BEHOLD, OH LANOO! THE RADIANT CHILD OF THE TWO, THE
    UNPARALLELED REFULGENT GLORY: BRIGHT SPACE SON OF DARK SPACE,
    WHICH EMERGES FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT DARK WATERS. IT IS
    OEAOHOO THE YOUNGER, THE * * *.  HE SHINES FORTH AS THE SON; HE
    IS THE BLAZING DIVINE DRAGON OF WISDOM; THE ONE IS FOUR, AND
    FOUR TAKES TO ITSELF THREE, AND THE UNION PRODUCES THE SAPTA, IN
    WHOM ARE THE SEVEN WHICH BECOME THE TRIDASA (OR THE HOSTS AND
    THE MULTITUDES). BEHOLD HIM LIFTING THE VEIL AND UNFURLING IT
    FROM EAST TO WEST. HE SHUTS OUT THE ABOVE, AND LEAVES THE BELOW
    TO BE SEEN AS THE GREAT ILLUSION. HE MARKS THE PLACES FOR THE
    SHINING ONES, AND TURNS THE UPPER INTO A SHORELESS SEA OF FIRE,
    AND THE ONE MANIFESTED INTO THE GREAT WATERS.

    {In the English translation from the Sanskrit the numbers are
    given in that language, - _Eka, Chatur,_ etc., etc. It was
    thought best to give them in English.}

8.  WHERE WAS THE GERM AND WHERE WAS NOW DARKNESS? WHERE IS THE
    SPIRIT OF THE FLAME THAT BURNS IN THY LAMP, OH LANOO? THE GERM
    IS THAT, AND THAT IS LIGHT, THE WHITE BRILLIANT SON OF THE DARK
    HIDDEN FATHER.

9.  LIGHT IS COLD FLAME, AND FLAME IS FIRE, AND FIRE PRODUCES
    HEAT, WHICH YIELDS WATER: THE WATER OF LIFE IN THE GREAT MOTHER.

10. FATHER-MOTHER SPIN A WEB WHOSE UPPER END IS FASTENED TO
    SPIRIT - THE LIGHT OF THE ONE DARKNESS - AND THE LOWER ONE TO
    ITS SHADOWY END, MATTER; AND THIS WEB IS THE UNIVERSE SPUN OUT
    OF THE TWO SUBSTANCES MADE IN ONE, WHICH IS SVABHAVAT.


11. IT EXPANDS WHEN THE BREATH OF FIRE IS UPON IT; IT CONTRACTS
    WHEN THE BREATH OF THE MOTHER TOUCHES IT. THEN THE SONS
    DISSOCIATE AND SCATTER, TO RETURN INTO THEIR MOTHER'S BOSOM AT
    THE END OF THE GREAT DAY, AND RE-BECOME ONE WITH HER; WHEN IT IS
    COOLING IT BECOMES RADIANT, AND THE SONS EXPAND AND CONTRACT
    THROUGH THEIR OWN SELVES AND HEARTS; THEY EMBRACE INFINITUDE.

12. THEN SVABHAVAT SENDS FOHAT TO HARDEN THE ATOMS. EACH IS A
    PART OFF THE WEB. REFLECTING THE "SELF-EXISTENT LORD" LIKE A
    MIRROR, EACH BECOMES IN TURN A WORLD.

       STANZA IV.

1.  ... LISTEN, YE SONS OF THE EARTH, TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS - THE
    SONS OF THE FIRE.  LEARN, THERE IS NEITHER FIRST NOR LAST, FOR
    ALL IS ONE: NUMBER ISSUED FROM NO NUMBER.

2.  LEARN WHAT WE WHO DESCEND FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SEVEN, WE WHO
ARE BORN FROM THE PRIMORDIAL FLAME, HAVE LEARNT FROM OUR FATHERS...

3.  FROM THE EFFULGENCY OF LIGHT - THE RAY OF THE EVER-DARKNESS
    - SPRUNG IN SPACE THE RE-AWAKENED ENERGIES; 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, THE RUPA, AND THE FORCE OF 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 WITHIN THE HOLY FOUR.

4.  THIS WAS THE ARMY OF THE VOICE - THE DIVINE MOTHER OF THE
    SEVEN. THE SPARKS OF THE SEVEN ARE SUBJECT TO, AND THE SERVANTS
    OF, THE FIRST, THE SECOND, THE THIRD, THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH, THE
    SIXTH, AND THE SEVENTH OF THE SEVEN. THESE "SPARKS" ARE CALLED
    SPHERES, TRIANGLES, CUBES, LINES, AND MODELLERS; FOR THUS STANDS
    THE ETERNAL NIDANA - THE OEAOHOO, WHICH IS:

5.  "DARKNESS" THE BOUNDLESS, OR THE NO-NUMBER, ADI-NIDANA
    SVABHAVAT: -

    I. THE ADI-SANAT, THE NUMBER, FOR HE IS ONE.

    II. THE VOICE OF THE LORD SVABHAVAT, THE NUMBERS, FOR HE IS ONE
    AND NINE.

    III. THE "FORMLESS SQUARE."

    AND THESE THREE ENCLOSED WITHIN THE O [Circle] ARE THE SACRED
    FOUR; AND THE TEN ARE THE ARUPA UNIVERSE. THEN COME THE "SONS,"
    THE SEVEN FIGHTERS, THE ONE, THE EIGHTH LEFT OUT, AND HIS BREATH
    WHICH IS THE LIGHT-MAKER.

6.  THEN THE SECOND SEVEN, WHO ARE THE LIPIKA, PRODUCES BY THE
    THREE. THE REJECTED SON IS ONE. THE "SON-SUNS" ARE COUNTLESS.

       STANZA V.

1.  THE PRIMORDIAL SEVEN, THE FIRST SEVEN BREATHS OF THE DRAGON
    OF WISDOM, PRODUCE IN THEIR TURN FROM THEIR HOLY CIRCUMGYRATING
    BREATHS THE FIERY WHIRLWIND.

2.  THEY MAKE OF HIM THE MESSENGER OF THEIR WILL. THE DZYU
    BECOMES FOHAT, THE SWIFT SON OF THE DIVINE SONS WHOSE SONS ARE
    THE LIPIKA, RUNS CIRCULAR ERRANDS. FOHAT IS THE STEED AND THE
    THOUGHT IS THE RIDER. HE PASSES LIKE LIGHTNING THROUGH THE FIERY
    CLOUDS; TAKES THREE, AND FIVE, AND SEVEN STRIDES THROUGH THE
    SEVEN REGIONS ABOVE, AND THE SEVEN BELOW. HE LIFTS HIS VOICE,
    AND CALLS THE INNUMERABLE SPARKS, AND JOINS THEM.

3.  HE IS THEIR GUIDING SPIRIT AND LEADER. WHEN HE COMMENCES
    WORK, HE SEPARATES THE SPARKS OF THE LOWER KINGDOM THAT FLOAT
    AND THRILL WITH JOY IN THEIR RADIANT DWELLINGS, AND FORMS
    THEREWITH THE GERMS OF WHEELS. HE PLACES THEM IN THE SIX
    DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, AND ONE IN THE MIDDLE - THE CENTRAL WHEEL.

4.  FOHAT TRACES SPIRAL LINES TO UNITE THE SIXTH TO THE SEVENTH
    - THE CROWN; AN ARMY OF THE SONS OF LIGHT STANDS AT EACH ANGLE,
    AND THE LIPIKA IN THE MIDDLE WHEEL. THEY SAY: THIS IS GOOD, THE
    FIRST DIVINE WORLD IS READY, THE FIRST IS NOW THE SECOND. THEN
    THE "DIVINE ARUPA" REFLECTS ITSELF IN CHHAYA LOKA, THE FIRST
    GARMENT OF THE ANUPADAKA.

5.  FOHAT TAKES FIVE STRIDES AND BUILDS A WINGED WHEEL AT EACH
    CORNER OF THE SQUARE, FOR THE FOUR HOLY ONES AND THEIR ARMIES.

6.  THE LIPIKA CIRCUMSCRIBE THE TRIANGLE, THE FIRST ONE, THE
    CUBE, THE SECOND ONE, AND THE PENTACLE WITHIN THE EGG. IT IS THE
    RING CALLED "PASS NOT" FOR THOSE WHO DESCEND AND ASCEND. ALSO
    FOR THOSE WHO DURING THE KALPA ARE PROGRESSING TOWARDS THE GREAT
    DAY "BE WITH US." THUS WERE FORMED THE RUPA AND THE ARUPA: FROM
    ONE LIGHT SEVEN LIGHTS; FROM EACH OF THE SEVEN, SEVEN TIMES
    SEVEN LIGHTS. THE WHEELS WATCH THE RING ...

       STANZA VI.

1.  BY THE POWER OF THE MOTHER OF MERCY AND KNOWLEDGE - KWAN-YIN
    - THE "TRIPLE" OF KWAN-SHAI-YIN, RESIDING IN KWAN-YIN-TIEN,
    FOHAT, THE BREATH OF THEIR PROGENY, THE SON OF THE SONS, HAVING
    CALLED FORTH, FROM THE LOWER ABYSS, THE ILLUSIVE FORM OF
    SIEN-TCHANG AND THE SEVEN ELEMENTS:

    {Verse I of Stanza VI. is of a far later date than the other
    Stanzas, though still very ancient.  The old text of this verse,
    having names entirely unknown to the Orientalists would give no
    clue to the student.}

2.  THE SWIFT AND RADIANT ONE PRODUCES THE SEVEN LAYA CENTRES,
    AGAINST WHICH NONE WILL PREVAIL TO THE GREAT DAY "BE-WITH-US,"
    AND SEATS THE UNIVERSE ON THESE ETERNAL FOUNDATIONS SURROUNDING
    TSIEN-TCHAN WITH THE ELEMENTARY GERMS.

3.  OF THE SEVEN - FIRST ONE MANIFESTED, SIX CONCEALED, TWO
    MANIFESTED, FIVE CONCEALED; THREE MANIFESTED, FOUR CONCEALED;
    FOUR PRODUCED, THREE HIDDEN; FOUR AND ONE TSAN REVEALED, TWO AND
    ONE HALF CONCEALED; SIX TO BE MANIFESTED, ONE LAID ASIDE.
    LASTLY, SEVEN SMALL WHEELS REVOLVING; ONE GIVING BIRTH TO THE
    OTHER.

4.  HE BUILDS THEM IN THE LIKENESS OF OLDER WHEELS, PLACING THEM
    ON THE IMPERISHABLE CENTRES

    HOW DOES FOHAT BUILD THEM? HE COLLECT THE FIERY DUST. HE MAKES
    BALLS OF FIRE, RUNS THROUGH THEM, AND ROUND THEM, INFUSING LIFE
    THEREINTO, THEN SETS THEM INTO MOTION; SOME ONE WAY, SOME THE
    OTHER WAY. THEY ARE COLD, HE MAKES THEM HOT. THEY ARE DRY, HE
    MAKES THEM MOIST. THEY SHINE, HE FANS AND COOLS THEM. THUS ACTS
    FOHAT FROM ONE TWILIGHT TO THE OTHER, DURING SEVEN ETERNITIES.

5.  AT THE FOURTH, THE SONS ARE TOLD TO CREATE THEIR IMAGES. ONE
    THIRD REFUSES - TWO OBEY

    THE CURSE IS PRONOUNCED; THEY WILL BE BORN ON THE FOURTH, SUFFER
    AND CAUSE SUFFERING; THIS IS THE FIRST WAR.

6.  THE OLDER WHEELS ROTATED DOWNWARDS AND UPWARDS ... THE
    MOTHER'S SPAWN FILLED THE WHOLE. THERE WERE BATTLES FOUGHT
    BETWEEN THE CREATORS AND THE DESTROYERS, AND BATTLES FOUGHT FOR
    SPACE; THE SEED APPEARING AND RE- APPEARING CONTINUOUSLY.

7.  MAKE THY CALCULATIONS, LANOO, IF THOU WOULDEST LEARN THE
    CORRECT AGE OF THY SMALL WHEEL. ITS FOURTH SPOKE IS OUR MOTHER.
    REACH THE FOURTH "FRUIT" OF THE FOURTH PATH OF KNOWLEDGE THAT
    LEADS TO NIRVANA, AND THOU SHALT COMPREHEND, FOR THOU SHALT SEE...

       STANZA VII.

1.  BEHOLD THE BEGINNING OF SENTIENT FORMLESS LIFE.  FIRST THE
    DIVINE, THE ONE FROM THE MOTHER-SPIRIT; THEN THE SPIRITUAL; THE
    THREE FROM THE ONE, THE FOUR FROM THE ONE, THE FOUR FROM THE
    ONE, AND THE FIVE FROM WHICH THE THREE, THE FIVE, AND THE SEVEN.
    THESE ARE THE THREE-FOLD, THE FOUR-FOLD DOWNWARD; THE
    "MIND-BORN" SONS OF THE FIRST LORD; THE SHINING SEVEN.

    IT IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH LANOO. THEY, WHO WATCH OVER
    THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH.

2.  THE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE SMALLER RAYS. LIFE PRECEDES FORM,
    AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM OF FORM. THROUGH THE COUNTLESS
    RAYS PROCEEDS THE LIFE-RAY, THE ONE, LIKE A THREAD THROUGH MANY
    JEWELS.

3.  WHEN THE ONE BECOMES TWO, THE THREEFOLD APPEARS, AND THE
    THREE ARE ONE; AND IT IS OUR THREAD, OH LANOO, THE HEART OF THE
    MAN-PLAN CALLED SAPTASARMA.

4.  IT IS THE ROOT THAT NEVER DIES; THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME OF
    THE FOUR WICKS.  THE WICKS ARE THE SPARKS, THAT DRAW FROM THE
    THREE-TONGUED FLAME SHOT OUT BY THE SEVEN - THEIR FLAME - THE
    BEAMS AND SPARKS OF ONE MOON REFLECTED IN THE RUNNING WAVES OF
    ALL THE RIVERS OF EARTH.

5.  THE SPARK HANGS FROM THE FLAME BY THE FINEST THREAD OF
    FOHAT. IT JOURNEYS THROUGH THE SEVEN WORLDS OF MAYA. IT STOPS IN
    THE FIRST, AND IS A METAL AND A STONE; IT PASSES INTO THE SECOND
    AND BEHOLD - A PLANT; THE PLANT WHIRLS THROUGH SEVEN CHANGES AND
    BECOMES A SACRED ANIMAL. FROM THE COMBINED ATTRIBUTES OF THESE,
    MANU, THE THINKER IS FORMED. WHO FORMS HIM? THE SEVEN LIVES, AND
    THE ONE LIFE. WHO COMPLETES HIM? THE FIVE-FOLD LHA. AND WHO
    PERFECTS THE LAST BODY? FISH, SIN, AND SOMA ...

6.  FROM THE FIRST-BORN THE THREAD BETWEEN THE SILENT WATCHER
    AND HIS SHADOW BECOMES MORE STRONG AND RADIANT WITH EVERY
    CHANGE. THE MORNING SUN-LIGHT HAS CHANGED INTO NOON-DAY GLORY...

7.  THIS IS THY PRESENT WHEEL, SAID THE FLAME TO THE SPARK. THOU
    ART MYSELF, MY IMAGE, AND MY SHADOW. I HAVE CLOTHED MYSELF IN
    THEE, AND THOU ART MY VAHAN TO THE DAY, "BE WITH US," WHEN THOU
    SHALT RE-BECOME MYSELF AND OTHERS, THYSELF AND ME. THEN THE
    BUILDERS, HAVING DONNED THEIR FIRST CLOTHING, DESCEND ON RADIANT
    EARTH AND REIGN OVER MEN - WHO ARE THEMSELVES ...

    Thus ends this portion of the archaic narrative, dark, confused,
    almost incomprehensible. An attempt will now be made to throw
    light into this darkness, to make sense out of this apparent
    NON-SENSE.

Alan
--
Member, Theosophy International.
Member, Human Race.