Webshop Blavatskyhouse

Transcribed and annotated by Michael Gomes

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) in the latter part of the 19th century brought to the world a renewal of the Ancient Wisdom presented through a “synthesis of philosophy, religion and science.” In 1888 her masterpiece, The Secret Doctrine, was published where she outlines with clarity and insight – guided by its source, the ancient Stanzas of Dzyan – the origin and development of the universe and humanity

Immediately after The Secret Doctrine was published, Blavatsky assembled a small group of students, at the Blavatsky Lodge in London, for more in depth inquiry and study of the ideas in the book.

The Secret Doctrine Commentaries contains the never before published transcription of the shorthand notes of these Blavatsky Lodge meetings. Here is Blavatsky in dialogue with her students: Provocative, insightful, spontaneous, and inspiring of the deeper meaning. It offers a unique opportunity to read Blavatsky’s direct, prescient answers to questions on Cosmogenesis, Fohat, the infinitude of the Atom, the nature of Consciousness etc., giving the reader the impression of participating in these Blavatsky Lodge meetings themselves.

The well known theosophical historian and researcher Michael Gomes has conscientiously transcribed and annotated the hand- written transcription of this text, which had been forgotten for many years. Only an abridged version of the initial meetings had been published. Here for the first time is Blavatsky’s direct teaching on The Secret Doctrine with her students, imbued with her humor, insight, and wisdom.

The hitherto unpublished instructions in this book hold invaluable insight into Blavatsky’s method and wisdom and carries us to deeper discoveries within of the mystery of her “Secret Doctrine”.

Amongst Michael Gomes’ publications are numerous books, articles and papers on the history of the Theosophical Movement, and two abridgements of Blavatsky’s Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine. He is also the author of Theosophy in the Nineteenth Century: An Annotated Bibliography, The Dawning of the Theosophical Movement and HPB Teaches, a one volume anthology of her articles published for her death centenary in 1991

Contents
Introduction vii
1. Meeting January 10, 1889
2. Meeting January 17, 1889
3. Meeting January 24, 1889
4. Meeting January 31, 1889
5. Meeting February 7, 1889
6. Meeting February 14,1889
7. Meeting February 21,1889
8. Meeting February 28, 1889
9. Meeting March 7, 1889
10. Meeting March 14, 1889
11. Meeting March 21, 1889
12. Meeting March 28, 1889
13. Meeting April 4, 1889
14. Meeting April 11, 1889
15. Meeting April 18, 1889
16. Meeting April 25, 1889
17. Meeting May 2, 1889
18. No meeting preserved
19. Meeting May 16, 1889
20. Meeting May 30, 1889
21. Meeting June 6, 1889
22. Meeting June 20, 1889

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Index


Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge

In response to the demand for further light on the “Stanzas of Dzyan” which form the basis of The Secret Doctrine (1888), H.P. Blavatsky answered a variety of questions at weekly meetings of the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society in London. He replies illumine many facets of the teachings that are important, but often difficult for students and inquirers.
The discussions cover the first four stanzas of Volume I and treat of such topics as cosmic genesis, universal mind, man’s inner nature, the mystery of fohat (divine ideative energy), the relation between consciousness and substance, religious symbolism, and the evolution of worlds and men – with an appendix on dreams following Part I.
Because the members of the Blavatsky Lodge felt these meetings would be helpful to other readers of her works, they transcribed the questions and answer and, in somewhat condensed form, issued them in two parts in 1890 and 1891
Presented here in one volume, this Commentary makes a thought-provoking companion for all students of the Secret Doctrine


Continuously in print since its first publication in 1888, The Secret Doctrine remains the most comprehensive source book of ancient and modern theosophy available today. Its 1,537 pages comprise a virtual encyclopedia of the “anciently universal wisdom-tradition.” Scarcely an issue of consequence in the broad range of human knowledge is left untouched.
This Index provides ready access to the vast quantity of material from many cultures set forth in the original two volumes (pagination of entries follows that of the 1888 edition). Due to the topics covered, it is as much an index of ideas as it is of subjects, works, persons, and proper names.
To aid the reader, major subject entries are cross-referenced; foreign terms are identified by language and, where possible, given in both their 1888 spelling(s) and as modernly transliterated, often with a one- or two-word definition; translations for foreign phrases are given in the Appendix – all helping to make this Index an invaluable reference tool for students of The Secret Doctrine


Continuously in print since its first publication in 1888, The Secret Doctrine remains the most comprehensive source book of ancient and modern theosophy available today. Its 1,537 pages comprise a virtual encyclopedia of the “anciently universal wisdom-tradition.” Scarcely an issue of consequence in the broad range of human knowledge is left untouched.
This Index provides ready access to the vast quantity of material from many cultures set forth in the original two volumes (pagination of entries follows that of the 1888 edition). Due to the topics covered, it is as much an index of ideas as it is of subjects, works, persons, and proper names.
To aid the reader, major subject entries are cross-referenced; foreign terms are identified by language and, where possible, given in both their 1888 spelling(s) and as modernly transliterated, often with a one- or two-word definition; translations for foreign phrases are given in the Appendix – all helping to make this Index an invaluable reference tool for students of The Secret Doctrine


All Volume and Page References in this Index are to the Original Edition (London: 1888), and to its photographic facsimile reproduction by The Theosophy Company

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
VOLUME FIRST
COSMOGENESIS
PROEM

BOOK I – PART I
COSMIC EVOLUTION

SEVEN STANZAS FROM THE BOOK OF DZYAN

STANZA I. THE NIGHT OF THE UNIVERSE
STANZA II. THE IDEA OF DIFFERENTIATION
STANZA III. THE AWAKENING OF KOSMOS
STANZA IV. THE SEPTENARY HIERARCHIES
STANZA V. FOHAT: THE CHILD OF THE SEPTANARY HIERARCHIES
STANZA VI. OUR WORLD, ITS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
THEOSOPHICAL MISCONCEPTIONS
EXPLANATIONS CONCERNING THE GLOBES AND THE MONADS
STANZA VI. CONTINUED
STANZA VII. THE PARENTS OF MAN ON EARTH

SUMMING UP

BOOK I – PART II
THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER
1. SYMBOLISM AND IDEOGRAPHS
2. THE MYSTERY LANGUAGE AND ITS KEYS
3. PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE AND DIVINE THOUGHT
4. CHAOS – THEOS – KOSMOS
5. THE HIDDEN DEITY, ITS SYMBOLS AND GLYPHS
6. THE MUNDANE EGG
7. THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF BRAHMÂ
8. THE LOTUS AS A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL
9. DEUS LUNUS
10. TREE SERPENT AND CROCODILE Worship
11. DEMON EST DEUS INVERSUS
12. THE THEOGONY OF THE CREATIVE GODS
13. THE SEVEN CREATIONS
14. THE FOUR ELEMENTS
15. ON KWAN-SHI-YIN AND KWAN-YIN

BOOK I – PART III
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED

1. REASONS FOR THESE ADDENDA
2. MODERN PHYSICISTS ARE PLAYING AT BLIND MAN’S BUFF
3. AN LUMEN SIT CORPUS NEC NON?
4. IS GRAVITATION A LAW?
5. THE THEORIES OF ROTATION IN SCIENCE
6. THE MASKS OF SCIENCE
7. AN ATTACK ON THE SCIENCTIFIC Theory of Force by A Man of Science
8. LIFE, FORCE, OR GRAVITY?
9. THE SOLAR THEORY
10. THE COMING FORCE
11. ON THE ELEMENTS AND ATOMS
12. ANCIENT THOUGHT IN MODERN DRESS
13. THE MODERN NEBULAR THEORY
14. FORCES – MODES OF MOTION OR INTELLIGENCES?
15. GODS, MONADS, AND ATOMS
16. CYCLIC EVOLUTION AND KARMA
17. THE ZODIAC AND ITS ANTIQUITY
18. SUMMARY OF THE MUTUAL POSITION

THE SECRET DOCTRINE, VOL II. ANTHROPOGENESIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME SECOND
PRELIMINARY NOTES

BOOK II – PART I
ANTHROPOGENESIS

STANZAS FROM THE BOOK OF DZYAN

STANZA I. BEGINNINGS OF SENTIENT LIFE
TWO ANTEDILUVIAN ASTRONOMERS
STANZA II. NATURE UNAIDED FAILS
STANZA III. ATTEMPTS TO CREATE MAN
STANZA VI. CREATION OF THE FIRST RACE
STANZA V. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SECOND RACE
STANZA VI. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SWEAT-BORN
STANZA VII. FROM THE SEMI-DIVINE DOWN TO THE FIRST HUMAN RACES
STANZA VIII. EVOLUTION OF THE ANIMAL MAMMALIANS—THE FIRST FALL
WHAT MAY BE THE OBJECTIONS TO THE FOREGOING
STANZA IX. THE FINAL EVOLUTION OF MAN
EDENS, SERPENTS AND DRAGONS
THE SONS OF GOD AND THE SACRED ISLAND
STANZA X. THE HISTORY OF THE FOURTH RACE
ARCHAIC TEACHINGS IN THE PURÂNAS AND GENESIS
A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE EARLY RACES
STANZA X. CONTINUED
ARE GIANTS A FICTION?
THE RACES WITH THE “THIRD EYE”
THE PRIMEVAL MANUS OF HUMANITY
STANZA XI. THE CIVILIZATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH RACES
CYCLOPEAN RUINS AND COLOSSAL STONES AS WITNESSES TO GIANTS
STANZA XII. THE FIFTH RACE AND ITS DIVINE INSTRUCTORS
ADDITIONAL FRAGMENTS FROM A COMMENTARY ON THE VERSES OF STANZA XII.

CONCLUSION

BOOK II – PART II
THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS
ESOTERIC TENETS CORROBORATED IN EVERY SCRIPTURE

16. ADAM-ADAMI
17. THE “HOLY OF HOLIES”: ITS DEGRADATION
18. ON THE MYTH OF THE “FALLEN ANGEL”, IN ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS
19. IS PLEROMA SATAN’S LAIR?
20. PROMETHEUS THE TITAN
21. ENOÏCHION-HENOCH
22. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MYSTERY NAMES IAO, AND JEHOVA
23. THE UPANISHADS IN GNOSTIC LITERATURE
24. THE CROSS AND THE PYTHAGOREAN DECADE
25. THE MYSTERIES OF THE HEBDOMAD

BOOK II – PART III
ADDENDA
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED

1. ARCHAIC, OR MODERN ANTHROPOLOGY?
2. THE ANCESTORS MANKIND IS OFFERED BY SCIENCE
3. THE FOSSIL RELICS OF MAN AND ANTHROPOID APE
4. DURATION OF THE GEOLOGICAL PERIODS, RACE CYCLES, AND THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
5. ORGANIC EVOLUTION AND CREATIVE CENTRES
6. GIANTS, CIVILIZATIONS, AND SUBMERGED CONTINENTS TRACED IN HISTORY
7. SCIENTIFIC AND GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF SEVERAL SUBMERGED CONTINENTS

INDEX


TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
VOLUME FIRST
COSMOGENESIS
PROEM

BOOK I – PART I
COSMIC EVOLUTION

SEVEN STANZAS FROM THE BOOK OF DZYAN

STANZA I. THE NIGHT OF THE UNIVERSE
STANZA II. THE IDEA OF DIFFERENTIATION
STANZA III. THE AWAKENING OF KOSMOS
STANZA IV. THE SEPTENARY HIERARCHIES
STANZA V. FOHAT: THE CHILD OF THE SEPTANARY HIERARCHIES
STANZA VI. OUR WORLD, ITS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
THEOSOPHICAL MISCONCEPTIONS
EXPLANATIONS CONCERNING THE GLOBES AND THE MONADS
STANZA VI. CONTINUED
STANZA VII. THE PARENTS OF MAN ON EARTH

SUMMING UP

BOOK I – PART II
THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER
1. SYMBOLISM AND IDEOGRAPHS
2. THE MYSTERY LANGUAGE AND ITS KEYS
3. PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE AND DIVINE THOUGHT
4. CHAOS – THEOS – KOSMOS
5. THE HIDDEN DEITY, ITS SYMBOLS AND GLYPHS
6. THE MUNDANE EGG
7. THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF BRAHMÂ
8. THE LOTUS AS A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL
9. DEUS LUNUS
10. TREE SERPENT AND CROCODILE Worship
11. DEMON EST DEUS INVERSUS
12. THE THEOGONY OF THE CREATIVE GODS
13. THE SEVEN CREATIONS
14. THE FOUR ELEMENTS
15. ON KWAN-SHI-YIN AND KWAN-YIN

BOOK I – PART III
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED

1. REASONS FOR THESE ADDENDA
2. MODERN PHYSICISTS ARE PLAYING AT BLIND MAN’S BUFF
3. AN LUMEN SIT CORPUS NEC NON?
4. IS GRAVITATION A LAW?
5. THE THEORIES OF ROTATION IN SCIENCE
6. THE MASKS OF SCIENCE
7. AN ATTACK ON THE SCIENCTIFIC Theory of Force by A Man of Science
8. LIFE, FORCE, OR GRAVITY?
9. THE SOLAR THEORY
10. THE COMING FORCE
11. ON THE ELEMENTS AND ATOMS
12. ANCIENT THOUGHT IN MODERN DRESS
13. THE MODERN NEBULAR THEORY
14. FORCES – MODES OF MOTION OR INTELLIGENCES?
15. GODS, MONADS, AND ATOMS
16. CYCLIC EVOLUTION AND KARMA
17. THE ZODIAC AND ITS ANTIQUITY
18. SUMMARY OF THE MUTUAL POSITION

THE SECRET DOCTRINE, VOL II. ANTHROPOGENESIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME SECOND
PRELIMINARY NOTES

BOOK II – PART I
ANTHROPOGENESIS

STANZAS FROM THE BOOK OF DZYAN

STANZA I. BEGINNINGS OF SENTIENT LIFE
TWO ANTEDILUVIAN ASTRONOMERS
STANZA II. NATURE UNAIDED FAILS
STANZA III. ATTEMPTS TO CREATE MAN
STANZA VI. CREATION OF THE FIRST RACE
STANZA V. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SECOND RACE
STANZA VI. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SWEAT-BORN
STANZA VII. FROM THE SEMI-DIVINE DOWN TO THE FIRST HUMAN RACES
STANZA VIII. EVOLUTION OF THE ANIMAL MAMMALIANS—THE FIRST FALL
WHAT MAY BE THE OBJECTIONS TO THE FOREGOING
STANZA IX. THE FINAL EVOLUTION OF MAN
EDENS, SERPENTS AND DRAGONS
THE SONS OF GOD AND THE SACRED ISLAND
STANZA X. THE HISTORY OF THE FOURTH RACE
ARCHAIC TEACHINGS IN THE PURÂNAS AND GENESIS
A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE EARLY RACES
STANZA X. CONTINUED
ARE GIANTS A FICTION?
THE RACES WITH THE “THIRD EYE”
THE PRIMEVAL MANUS OF HUMANITY
STANZA XI. THE CIVILIZATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH RACES
CYCLOPEAN RUINS AND COLOSSAL STONES AS WITNESSES TO GIANTS
STANZA XII. THE FIFTH RACE AND ITS DIVINE INSTRUCTORS
ADDITIONAL FRAGMENTS FROM A COMMENTARY ON THE VERSES OF STANZA XII.

CONCLUSION

BOOK II – PART II
THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS
ESOTERIC TENETS CORROBORATED IN EVERY SCRIPTURE

16. ADAM-ADAMI
17. THE “HOLY OF HOLIES”: ITS DEGRADATION
18. ON THE MYTH OF THE “FALLEN ANGEL”, IN ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS
19. IS PLEROMA SATAN’S LAIR?
20. PROMETHEUS THE TITAN
21. ENOÏCHION-HENOCH
22. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MYSTERY NAMES IAO, AND JEHOVA
23. THE UPANISHADS IN GNOSTIC LITERATURE
24. THE CROSS AND THE PYTHAGOREAN DECADE
25. THE MYSTERIES OF THE HEBDOMAD

BOOK II – PART III
ADDENDA
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED

1. ARCHAIC, OR MODERN ANTHROPOLOGY?
2. THE ANCESTORS MANKIND IS OFFERED BY SCIENCE
3. THE FOSSIL RELICS OF MAN AND ANTHROPOID APE
4. DURATION OF THE GEOLOGICAL PERIODS, RACE CYCLES, AND THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
5. ORGANIC EVOLUTION AND CREATIVE CENTRES
6. GIANTS, CIVILIZATIONS, AND SUBMERGED CONTINENTS TRACED IN HISTORY
7. SCIENTIFIC AND GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF SEVERAL SUBMERGED CONTINENTS

INDEX


In the welter of literature today called mystical or occult, the serious student dreads the counterfeit. He wants to be certain that the book he selects is not merely half-accurate, half-truthful, but offers a whole philosophy that includes himself as well as the universe around him.

That wholeness is found in the ancient Wisdom-religion of mankind, and STUDIES IN OCCULT PHILOSOPHY is based on its fundamental teachings.
The work is largely an elucidation of meaningful passages in The Mahatma Letters and The Secret Doctrine. It gives both the mechanics and the philosophy behind the birth and evolution of man and his planet; the processes of life, death and rebirth, and the innumerable paradoxes of our own earth existence.
Dr. de Purucker emphasizes that all is one completeness; that to study component parts and forget the essential unity is to divorce sun from planets. In the ancient Wisdom-teaching, ethics, science, philosophy, art and religion – all are facets of Truth.

G. de Purucker was born in 1874 at Suffern, New York, son of a prominent Anglican minister who for some years served as chaplain of the American Church in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his early education there, in the Collège de Genève and, under private tutors, specialized in Hebrew, Latin and Greek in preparation for the ministry. However, subsequent study of Eastern philosophies, Sanskrit, and the writings of the early Church Fathers led him to the field of occultism with its broad comprehension of all religions, philosophies and sciences. Dr. de Purucker was head of the Theosophical Society from 1929 until his passing in 1942. Perhaps his greatest contribution to spiritual thought has been his elucidation of the writings of H.P. Blavatsky.

Contents:
1. Transactions of the Headquarters Lodge
2. Studies in “The Secret Doctrine”
3. Studies in “The Mahatma Letters”
4. Longer Articles
5. Questions and Answers


In the welter of literature today called mystical or occult, the serious student dreads the counterfeit. He wants to be certain that the book he selects is not merely half-accurate, half-truthful, but offers a whole philosophy that includes himself as well as the universe around him.
That wholeness is found in the ancient Wisdom-religion of mankind, and STUDIES IN OCCULT PHILOSOPHY is based on its fundamental teachings.
The work is largely an elucidation of meaningful passages in The Mahatma Letters and The Secret Doctrine. It gives both the mechanics and the philosophy behind the birth and evolution of man and his planet; the processes of life, death and rebirth, and the innumerable paradoxes of our own earth existence.
Dr. de Purucker emphasizes that all is one completeness; that to study component parts and forget the essential unity is to divorce sun from planets. In the ancient Wisdom-teaching, ethics, science, philosophy, art and religion – all are facets of Truth.
G. de Purucker was born in 1874 at Suffern, New York, son of a prominent Anglican minister who for some years served as chaplain of the American Church in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his early education there, in the Collège de Genève and, under private tutors, specialized in Hebrew, Latin and Greek in preparation for the ministry. However, subsequent study of Eastern philosophies, Sanskrit, and the writings of the early Church Fathers led him to the field of occultism with its broad comprehension of all religions, philosophies and sciences. Dr. de Purucker was head of the Theosophical Society from 1929 until his passing in 1942. Perhaps his greatest contribution to spiritual thought has been his elucidation of the writings of H.P. Blavatsky.

Contents:
1. Transactions of the Headquarters Lodge
2. Studies in “The Secret Doctrine”
3. Studies in “The Mahatma Letters”
4. Longer Articles
5. Questions and Answers


What is Occultism?
The term OCCULT has noble but largely forgotten origins. Derived from the Latin occultus meaning “hidden,” it properly defines anything which is undisclosed, concealed, or not easily perceived. Early theologians, for example, spoke of “the occult judgments of God,” while “occult philosopher” was a designation for the pre-Renaissance scientist who sought the unseen causes regulating nature’s phenomena. In astronomy, the term is still used when one stellar body occults another by passing in front of it, temporarily hiding it from view.

Writing a century ago, when the word had not acquired today’s mixed connotations, H.P.Blavatsky defined OCCULTISM as “altruism pure and simple” – the divine wisdom or hidden theosophy within all religions. Occultism is founded on the principle that Divinity is concealed – transcendent yet immanent – within every living being. As a spiritual discipline occultism is the renunciation of selfishness; it is the “still small path” which leads to wisdom, to the right discrimination between good and evil, and the practice of altruism

Contents:
1. Practical Occultism
2. Occultism versus the Occult Arts
3. The Blessings of Publicity
4. Hypnotism
5. Black Magic in Science
6. The Signs of the Times
7. Psychic and Noetic Action
8. Kosmic Mind
9. The Dual Aspect of Wisdom
10. The Esoteric Character of the Gospels
11. Astral Bodies, or Doppelgängers
12. Constitution of the Inner Man