The Secret
Doctrine for the 21st Century
Steven H. Levy
Sun God images
from Hindu (left) Christian (center) and Ancient Roman traditions
Easter is the time
of resurrection of all nature in the spring of Northern Hemisphere. For
Christians it is a time to reverently celebrate the resurrection of their
savior. The earliest depictions of Christ show him with a solar orb radiating
above his head, identifying him as a sun god. It is natural for Christians to
identify the resurrection of their savior with the sun which seems to awaken in
the spring in all its glory after the “death” of winter, in the northern region
of the globe. [1]
In the Vishnu
Purana, Book I, the Hindu savior is reverently invoked:
“Glory to the unchangeable, holy, eternal Supreme
Vishnu, of one universal nature, the mighty over all;…to Vishnu the cause of final emancipation, the cause
of creation, existence, the end of the world; who the root of the world, and
who consists of the world.”
The Hindus also associate their savior with the sun
and declare that the sun is of a sevenfold nature. It is written in the Vishnu
Purana, Book II, Chap. XI:
“Vishnu, in the form of his active energy, never either
rises or sets, and is, at once, the sevenfold
Sun and distinct from it.” [2]
In the “Summing Up” section of “The Secret Doctrine”
an extract from a private commentary, previously secret, discloses some of the
real Hindu ideas on the nature of the sun, which are said to be esoteric.
As the matter of our Solar System is septenary and
graduated into seven degrees of density, the Sun, the central star of our
system, is also sevenfold in nature. However, as the universe is sevenfold, it
should be understood that all central stars of solar systems, are sevenfold.
The objective physical sun that we see is composed in its substance of the
lowest state of matter of our system. Therefore, it is a reflection of the “real
sun”, the universal Presence which is the first manifestation of the ever
unmanifested One Absolute All. The substance of the real concealed sun is the
seventh and highest of our system. It is the germ, egg or nucleus of
undifferentiated primordial substance which is the heart of all the existing
forces in our solar system. As the heart pumps and circulates blood throughout
the body, the sevenfold forces of nature proceed from the solar heart and
spread throughout the entire sevenfold solar system, only to return to the
concealed sun on the highest plane.
According to the Esoteric Philosophy, the real hidden
sun is the Christos principle within the “inner man” or concealed immortal Ego.
It is possible for every human being to find the light of his inner higher self
which becomes the creator and preserver of immortal life in spirit, as well as
the destroyer of illusion and regenerator of true spiritual knowledge in the
mind. Vishnu, the real hidden sun, that can never be seen, is the savior
within, the “cause of final emancipation” and “liberator” of his devotees.
At Easter time we are reminded that the power and
wisdom inherent to the One Self in each and all, is potentially available to
every human being regardless of their race, creed, sex or condition. This
special time in the yearly cycle also serves to remind us that, like the sun,
every Theosophist can be a center in their little solar system from which
proceeds spiritual influence and wisdom for the benefit of all.
NOTES BY THE
EDITORS OF
OUR ASSOCIATED
WEBSITES:
[1] Life is symmetrical: in the Southern Hemisphere, the “springtime”
brought by Easter must be inner and occult, for externally it is autumn in the
South. Every springtime brings with it
the secret promise of a future autumn. Winter contains the seeds of summer, and
summer, those of winter. (CCA)
[2] “The Secret Doctrine”, Helena P. Blavatsky, Theosophy
Co., Los Angeles, 1982, Vol. I, p. 290 fn. See also the edition of “The Secret
Doctrine”, prepared by Boris de Zirkoff and published by the TPH in 1979 (same
page). (CCA)
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