Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society. Discussions on the stanzas of the first volume of The secret doctrine

...he has, in a sense, seven skins, entities, or souls. These principles are all aspects of a single principle, and even this principle is merely a temporary and periodic ray of the one eternal and infinite Flame or Fire.

Verse (6). THE SEVEN SUBLIME LORDS AND THE SEVEN TRUTHS HAD CEASED TO BE; AND THE UNIVERSE, THE SON OF NECESSITY, WAS IMMERSED IN PARANISHPANNA absolute perfection or Paranirvana; in Tibetan, Yong-Grüb, TO BE OUT-BREATHED BY THAT WHICH IS AND YET IS NOT. NOTHING EXISTED.

Verse (7). THE CAUSES OF EXISTENCE HAD BEEN ELIMINATED; THE VISIBLE THAT WAS, AND THE INVISIBLE THAT IS, RESTED IN ETERNAL NON-BEING—THE ONE BEING.

Question: If the "causes of existence" had been eliminated, how did they come into existence again? The Commentary states that the chief cause of existence is "the desire to exist," but in the verse, the universe is called the "son of necessity."

Answer: The statement "the causes of existence had been eliminated" refers to the previous Manvantara a great cosmic age or cycle of manifestation, or "Age of Brahma." However, the cause that makes the Wheel of Time and Space turn within Eternity—which exists outside of Space and Time—has nothing to do with finite causes or what we call Nidanas the twelve links of dependent origination or causes of existence. There is no real contradiction in these statements.

Question: There certainly seems to be a contrast. If the causes of existence were done away with, how did they reappear? But the answer clarifies the difficulty: it explains that one cosmic cycle had disappeared into a period of rest, and the cause that brought the previous cycle into existence is now beyond the limits of Space and Time, thereby causing another cycle to begin.

Answer: Exactly. This single eternal and "causeless cause" is unchangeable. It has nothing to do with the causes on any of the planes related to finite and conditioned being. Therefore, the cause cannot be a finite consciousness or desire. It is absurd to attribute desire or necessity to the Absolute; the striking of a clock does not imply that the clock had a desire to strike.

Question: But the clock is wound up and requires a Winder?

Answer: The same can be said of the universe and this cause. The Absolute contains both the "clock" and the "Winder," since it is the Absolute. The only difference is that the former is wound up within Space and Time, while the latter is wound up outside of Space and Time—that is, in Eternity.

Question: The question is really asking for an explanation of the cause of differentiation within the Absolute.

Answer: That is beyond the scope of legitimate speculation. Parabrahm the supreme, boundless reality is not a cause, nor is there any cause that can compel it to emanate or create. Strictly speaking, Parabrahm is not even the Absolute, but Absoluteness itself. Parabrahm is not the cause, but the causality—the propelling but not intentional power—within every manifesting cause. We may have some vague idea that such a thing as this eternal "Causeless Cause" or Causality exists, but it is impossible to define. In the Lectures on the Bhagavad Gita by Mr. Subba Row, it is stated that logically, even the First Logos the first manifestation of objective consciousness cannot perceive Parabrahm, but only its veil, Mulaprakriti primordial root-matter. Since we do not even have a clear idea of Mulaprakriti—the first basic aspect of Parabrahm—what can we possibly know of that Supreme Totality which is veiled by Mulaprakriti even from the Logos?

Question: What is the meaning of the expression in verse (7), "the visible that was, and the invisible that is"?

Answer: "The visible that was" refers to the universe of the previous cosmic cycle, which had passed into Eternity and no longer existed. "The invisible that is" signifies the eternal, ever-present, and ever-invisible deity, which we call by many names—such as abstract Space or Absolute Sat pure being or reality—though in reality, we know nothing about it.

Verse (8). ALONE THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED, BOUNDLESS, INFINITE, CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP; AND LIFE PULSATED UNCONSCIOUSLY IN UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS PERCEIVED BY THE "OPENED EYE" OF THE DANGMA an enlightened seer or purified soul.

Question: Does the "Eye" open upon the Absolute? Are the "one form of existence" and the "All-Presence" something other than the Absolute, or are they various names for the same Principle?