The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and PhilosophyBlavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Religion
The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy
Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Theosophy
The answer to the first question, suggested by the second, which is the
reply of the teacher to the pupil, contains in a single phrase one of the
most essential truths of Occult Philosophy. It indicates the existence of
things imperceptible to our physical senses which are of far greater
importance, more real and more permanent, than those that appeal to these
senses themselves. Before the Lanoo can hope to understand the
transcendentally metaphysical problem contained in the first question, he
must be able to answer the second; while the very answer he gives to the
second will furnish him with the clue to the correct reply to the first.
In the Sanskrit Commentary on this Stanza, the terms used for the
concealed and the unrevealed Principle are many. In the earliest MSS. of
Indian literature this Unrevealed Abstract Deity has no name. It is
generally called “That” (Tad, in Sanskrit), and means all that is, was,
and will be, or that can be so received by the human mind.
Among such appellations given—of course, only in Esoteric Philosophy—as
the “Unfathomable Darkness,” the “Whirlwind,” etc., it is also called the
“It of the Kâlahansa,” the “Kâla‐ham‐sa,” and even the “Kâli Hamsa” (Black
Swan). Here the m and the n are convertible, and both sound like the nasal
French an or am. As in the Hebrew so also in the Sanskrit many a
mysterious sacred name conveys to the profane ear no more than some
ordinary, and often vulgar word, because it is concealed anagrammatically
or otherwise. This word Hansa, or Hamsa, is just such a case. Hamsa is
equal to “A‐ham‐sa”—three words meaning “I am He”; while divided in still
another way it will read “So‐ham,” “He [is] I.” In this single word is
contained, for him who understands the language of wisdom, the universal
mystery, the doctrine of the identity of man’s essence with god‐essence.
Hence the glyph of, and the allegory about, Kâlahansa (or Hamsa), and the
name given to Brahman (neuter), later on to the male Brahmâ, of Hamsa‐
vâhana, “he who uses the Hamsa as his vehicle.” The same word may be read
“Kâlaham‐sa,” or “I am I, in the eternity of time,” answering to the
Biblical, or rather Zoroastrian, “I am that I am.” The same doctrine is
found in the _Kabalah_, as witness the following extract from an
unpublished MS. by Mr. S. Liddell McGregor Mathers, the learned Kabalist:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account