“UNIVERSAL MIND WAS NOT, FOR THERE WERE NO AH-HI TO CONTAIN IT.”

– Stanza I:3 (“The Night of the Universe”), from the Secret Book of Dzyan, quoted by H. P. Blavatsky in “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 27

“WHERE WERE THE BUILDERS, THE LUMINOUS SONS OF MANVANTARIC DAWN? . . . IN THE UNKNOWN DARKNESS IN THEIR AH-HI PARANISHPANNA.”

– Stanza II:1 (“The Idea of Differentiation”), from the Secret Book of Dzyan, quoted by H. P. Blavatsky in “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 28

“The AH-HI (Dhyan-Chohans) are the collective hosts of spiritual beings – the Angelic Hosts of Christianity, the Elohim and “Messengers” of the Jews – who are the vehicle for the manifestation of the divine or universal thought and will. They are the Intelligent Forces that give to and enact in Nature her “laws,” while themselves acting according to laws imposed upon them in a similar manner by still higher Powers; but they are not “the personifications” of the powers of Nature, as erroneously thought. This hierarchy of spiritual Beings, through which the Universal Mind comes into action, is like an army – a “Host,” truly – by means of which the fighting power of a nation manifests itself, and which is composed of army corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and so forth, each with its separate individuality or life, and its limited freedom of action and limited responsibilities; each contained in a larger individuality, to which its own interests are subservient, and each containing lesser individualities in itself.”

– H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 38

“Ah-hi (Sensar), Ahi (Sanskrit), or Serpents. Dhyan Chohans. “Wise Serpents” or Dragons of Wisdom.”

– H. P. Blavatsky, “The Theosophical Glossary” p. 11

“The Ah-hi, . . . being on the highest plane, reflect the universal mind collectively at the first flutter of Manvantara. After which they begin the work of evolution of all the lower forces throughout the seven planes, down to the lowest – our own. The Ah-hi are the primordial seven rays, or Logoi, emanated from the first Logos, triple, yet one in its essence.”

“The Ah-hi are the highest Dhyanis, the Logoi as just said, those who begin the downward evolution, or emanation. During Pralaya there are no Ah-hi, because they come into being only with the first radiation of the Universal Mind, which, per se, cannot be differentiated, and the radiation from which is the first dawn of Manvantara.”

“The Ah-hi are conditioned by the awakening into manifestation of the periodical, universal LAW, which becomes successively active and inactive. It is by this law that they are conditioned or formed, not created. “Created” is an impossible term to use in Philosophy.”

“When the hour strikes, the law comes into action, and the Ah-hi appear on the first rung of the ladder of manifestation.”

“Q. To what cosmic plane do the Ah-hi, here spoken of, belong?

“A. They belong to the first, second, and third planes – the last plane being really the starting point of the primordial manifestation – the objective reflection of the unmanifested. . . .”

“Q. Have the Ah-hi been men in previous Manvantaras, or will they become so?

“A. Every living creature, of whatever description, was, is, or will become a human being in one or another Manvantara.

“Q. But do they in this Manvantara remain permanently on the same very exalted plane during the whole period of the life-cycle?

“A. If you mean by “life cycle” a duration of time which extends over fifteen figures, then my answer is most decidedly – no. The “Ah-hi” pass through all the planes, beginning to manifest on the third. Like all other Hierarchies, on the highest plane they are arupa, i.e., formless, bodiless, without any substance, mere breaths. On the second plane, they first approach to Rupa, or form. On the third they become Manasa-putras, those who become incarnated in man. With every plane they reach they are called by different names – there is a continual differentiation of their original homogeneous substance; we call it substance, although in reality it is no substance of which we can conceive. Later, they become Rupa – ethereal forms.

“Q. Then the Ah-hi of this Manvantara . . . ?

“A. Exist no longer; they have long ago become Planetary, Solar, Lunar, and lastly, incarnating Egos, for, as said, “they are the collective hosts of spiritual beings.”

“Q. But it was stated above that the Ah-hi did not become men in this Manvantara.

“A. Nor do they as the formless “Ah-hi.” But they do as their own transformation. . . .”

“Q. A man can choose what he will think about; can the analogy be applied to the Ah-hi?

“A. No; because a man has free will and the Ah-hi have none. They are obliged to act simultaneously, for the law under which they must act gives them the impulse. Free will can only exist in a Man who has both mind and consciousness, which act and make him perceive things both within and without himself. The “Ah-hi” are Forces, not human Beings.

“Q. But are they not conscious agents in the work?

“A. Conscious in as far as they act within the universal consciousness. But the consciousness of the Manasa-putra on the third plane is quite different. It is only then that they become Thinkers. . . .”

“Q. Can the Ah-hi be said to be enjoying bliss?

“A. How can they be subject to bliss or non-bliss? Bliss can only be appreciated, and becomes such when suffering is known.

“Q. But there is a distinction between happiness and bliss.

“A. Granting that there may be, still there can be neither happiness nor bliss without a contrasting experience of suffering and pain.

“Q. But we understand that bliss, as the state of the Absolute, was intended to be referred to.

“A. This is still more illogical. How can the ABSOLUTE be said to feel? The Absolute can have no condition nor attribute. It is only that which is finite and differentiated which can have any feeling or attitude predicated of it.”

“. . . the Ah-hi are the flame from which the rays stream forth, becoming more and more differentiated as they fall deeper into matter, until they finally reach this world of ours, with its teeming millions of inhabitants and sensuous beings, and then they become truly complex.

“Q. The Ah-hi, then, considered as a primary essence, would be unity? Can we regard them as such?

“A. You may; but the strict truth is that they only proceed from unity, and are the first of its seven rays.

“Q. Then can we call them the reflection of unity?

“A. Are not the prismatic rays fundamentally one single white ray? From the one they become three; from the three, seven; from which seven primaries they fall into infinitude. Referring back to the so-called “consciousness” of the Ah-hi, that consciousness cannot be judged by the standard of human perceptions. It is on quite another plane.”

– H. P. Blavatsky, “Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge” p. 19, 20, 21, 23-26

“The Secret Doctrine points out, as a self-evident fact, that Mankind, collectively and individually, is, with all manifested nature, the vehicle (a) of the breath of One Universal Principle, in its primal differentiation; and (b) of the countless “breaths” proceeding from that One BREATH in its secondary and further differentiations, as Nature with its many mankinds proceeds downwards toward the planes that are ever increasing in materiality. The primary Breath informs the higher Hierarchies; the secondary – the lower, on the constantly descending planes.”

– H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 492

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