The Full, The
Void, and
The All, According
to H.P. Blavatsky
Steven H. Levy
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The following article was
first
published at E-Theosophy in 2011.
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Several abstract
concepts can be presented to convey the proper idea of Parabrahm, the absolute
Deific Principle.
These include the Supreme cause, the Supreme reality,
the absolute existence, the one Be-ness, and the One Supreme All. Yet, the best
representation on our earth, on our plane of existence, and on our plane of
consciousness, of the One All is space. In fact, H.P. Blavatsky writes that
space “is its only mental and physical representation on this Earth - or our
plane of existence.” [1]
The “Proem” of “The Secret Doctrine” explains why.
Four reasons are given.
1. Space as the All, cannot
evolve or manifest something outside of itself.
If it could, it would cease to be the All. All
objects, beings, worlds, solar systems, and universes are created, evolve and
eventually disappear within space, but space does not create, preserve or
destroy them. Nor is space changed by what manifests and disappears within it.
There is no direct interaction between space and what manifests within it.
There is no objective observable end to space, nor is there a conceivable limit
to space in our consciousness. Whatever can be said of space in this regard can
be said of the Deific Principle.
2. Space is the only physical reality that is not an object of
perception and it is the only mental concept that is not subject to perception.
We can perceive objects in Space and we can perceive
the space those objects occupied when they disappear. However, Space itself
cannot be perceived. We can neither perceive Space to be an object that is the
cause of any existing object or force, or the effect of any existing object or
force. We just know it is. We cannot say
it exists as an object or no longer exists as an object. We can conceive of the
idea of limited space, but we cannot perceive it in its infinite abstract
oneness. No matter how far we stretch our minds to perceive space, we
intuitively know that there must be more space beyond our mental perception.
Whatever can be said of Space in this regard can be said of the Deific
Principle.
3. Space is both an absolute void and a conditioned fullness.
Space as an absolute abstraction is infinite and void
of any qualities or attributes that we can conceive of. It has no dimensions,
since concepts such as length, breadth, and depth are relative to our physical
world and relative to a frame of reference. For example, what is the length of
this written sentence? Does your answer take into account the distance between
the atoms of the paper on which it is printed or the distance between the first
and last letters. There can be no such dimension for that which is the All.
However, space abhors a vacuum. Every “point” in space as a center for the
focus of our limited perception is filled with some degree of substance, force
or being. Even the “points” in space that we cannot perceive directly with our
powers of perception are similarly filled. Space is the All and the absolute
container of All. Whatever can be said of space in this regard can be said of
the Deific Principle.
4. The fullness of Space is sevenfold in its manifestation from its
undifferentiated to its most differentiated degree of substance.
It is in and through this fullness of space,
symbolized as the “eternal mother-father,” that all beings and worlds are born,
live, move and have their being. All beings and worlds are sevenfold in regard
to their constitution, states, and planes of consciousness. Like space, our
consciousness even in the waking state, has its absolute voidness and its conditioned
and differentiated fullness.
Consciousness, or awareness, in itself is devoid of any attributes or
qualities. Yet, the states and planes of consciousness are distinguished by the
different objects and subjects which we are conscious of, while in those
states. While in those states, we are consciously full of impressions of
different degrees and qualities. What can be said of space in this regard can
be said of the fullness of the periodically manifesting Kosmos within the
Absolute Deific Principle.
An excerpt from “The Secret Doctrine” will further
illustrate the issue:
“…. The Occultists are, therefore, at one with the
Adwaita Vedantin philosophers as to the above tenet. They show the
impossibility of accepting on philosophical grounds the idea of the absolute
ALL creating or even evolving the ‘Golden Egg’[2], into which it is said to enter in order to transform itself
into Brahmâ - the Creator, who expands himself later into gods and all the
visible Universe. They say that Absolute Unity cannot pass to infinity; for
infinity presupposes the limitless extension of something, and the duration of
that ‘something’; and the One All is like Space - which is its only mental and
physical representation on this Earth, or our plane of existence - neither an
object of, nor a subject to, perception. If one could suppose the Eternal
Infinite All, the Omnipresent Unity, instead of being in Eternity, becoming
through periodical manifestation a manifold Universe or a multiple personality,
that Unity would cease to be one. Locke’s idea that ‘pure Space is capable of
neither resistance nor Motion’ - is incorrect. Space is neither a ‘limitless
void’, nor a ‘conditioned fulness’, but both: being, on the plane of absolute
abstraction, the ever-incognisable Deity, which is void only to finite minds [3], and on that of mayavic perception [4], the Plenum [5], the
absolute Container of all that is, whether manifested or unmanifested: it is,
therefore, that ABSOLUTE ALL. There is no difference between the Christian
Apostle’s ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’, and the Hindu Rishi’s ‘The
Universe lives in, proceeds from, and will return to, Brahma (Brahmâ)’: for
Brahma (neuter), the unmanifested, is that Universe in abscondito, and Brahmâ, the manifested, is the Logos, made
male-female in the symbolical orthodox dogmas. The God of the Apostle-Initiate
and of the Rishi being both the Unseen and the Visible SPACE. Space is called
in the esoteric symbolism ‘the Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father’. It is composed
from its undifferentiated to its differentiated surface of seven layers. ‘What
is that which was, is, and will be, whether there is a Universe or not; whether
there be gods or none?’ asks the esoteric Senzar Catechism. And the answer made
is - SPACE.” [6]
The esoteric catechism directs the student to clearly
understand this basic teaching on space because of its meditational and
practical value.
Thoughtful consideration of space as a transcendent
limitless void and a manifesting fullness expands the mind to the realization
of the eternal invisible One life, and the unity and interdependence of
differentiated forms of life. As all are part of the whole of life, our friends
and enemies are part of ourselves. Our welfare and happiness is wrapped up in
theirs. No one can think, feel or act rightly or wrongly, altruistically or
selfishly without advancing or impeding their own evolution and the progress of
all. Universal Brotherhood is a fact in nature and the natural duty, or Dharma,
of a human being.
NOTES:
[1] “The Secret Doctrine”, H. P.
Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, vol. I, p. 8.
[2] “Golden Egg” - The Egg of
Brahma, the cosmic womb of the universe as described in the Laws of Manu: “Removing the darkness, the Self-Existent
Lord became manifest, and wishing to produce beings from his Essence, created,
in the beginning, water alone. In that he cast the seed. That became a golden
Egg, in brilliancy equal to the sun; in that he himself was born as Brahma, the
progenitor of the whole world.” – Laws of Manu, 1.6-9
[3] At this point H.P.B. added the
following footnote:
“The very names of the two chief deities, Brahma and
Vishnu, ought to have long ago suggested their esoteric meanings. For the root
of one, Brahmam, or Brahm, is derived by some from the word Brih, ‘to grow’ or ‘to
expand’ (see Calcutta Review, vol.
lxvi., p. 14); and of the other, Vishnu, from the root Vis, ‘to pervade’, to
enter in the nature of the essence; Brahma-Vishnu being this infinite SPACE, of
which the gods, the Rishis, the Manus, and all in this universe are simply the
potencies, Vibhutayah.”
[4] Mayavic perception - The
infinite scope of reality cannot be measured against human standards. Each
person interprets and measures what is perceived according to one’s own
limitations and preconceptions. These illusory perceptions are called maya
(from the verbal root ma, “to measure”).
[5] The Plenum - The “fullness” of
space, as opposed to the Void or so-called empty space; the fullness of matter
in space which forms space.
[6] “The Secret Doctrine”, H. P.
Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., volume I, pp. 8-9.
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