INTRODUCTION

Throughout “The Secret Doctrine,” H. P. Blavatsky frequently repeats one of the most central teachings of the Esoteric Philosophy or Theosophy, namely that in the latter part of the Epoch of the Third Root Race, known as the Lemurian, divine beings or entities – called by a wide variety of names, from Manasaputras, Kumaras, Agnishwattas, Solar Pitris, Lords of the Flame, Fire Dhyanis, and Solar Angels, to collective Prometheus, Nous, the Lords of persevering, ceaseless, devotion, the Fiery Angels whose nature was Knowledge and Love, and much more besides – descended or incarnated into the mass of Lemurian “animal-men” and became the souls, the Egos, the permanent spiritual individualities, of humanity.

Referred to by William Q. Judge as “the lighting up of Manas” (“Manas” meaning “mind” in Sanskrit) this great event made man on Earth truly self-conscious, intelligent, and capable of thinking and acting rationally, reasonably, and in harmony with their higher, spiritual, divine nature. The Manasaputras, who became our Higher Manas “principle,” provided the necessary connecting link between the Monad of Atma-Buddhi (the highermost aspect of each being) and the lower or personal self, this vital link not having been present until then. (Please click here for a chart of the Seven Principles of the human constitution.)

While this much is fairly clear – theoretically at least – for most students of Theosophy, what has been much less clear is the question of the relation of the Manasaputra or Higher Ego to our Monad or Atma-Buddhi. Theosophists typically think and speak of it as the Manasaputras being initially some sort of “external” being which somehow connected itself with our being, having not been thus connected with us before, or at least not in any definitely discernible or readily solvable way, and therefore “stepped in” from “outside,” so to speak, and, in so doing, “added itself on” as the third component of our immortal “spiritual triad” of Atma-Buddhi-Manas.

This and numerous other difficulties and confusions in relation to our Monad and Ego are largely solved by gaining understanding of the primordial and inherent oneness or triune nature of our higher triad, i.e. of Atma-Buddhi-Manas. We shall endeavour to provide that understanding now, for the benefit of serious students of the original Theosophical teachings, by piecing together and unfolding the numerous key segments of this highly metaphysical jigsaw, which HPB deliberately left scattered about in the two volumes of her master work, so that her students, through diligent study and an ever-increasing intuitive insight, could eventually become their own illuminators.

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THE THREEFOLD FLAME AND THE FOURFOLD SPARK

“The Monad of every living being . . . is an individual Dhyan Chohan, distinct from others, a kind of spiritual individuality of its own, during one special Manvantara. Its Primary, the Spirit (Atman) is one, of course, with Paramatma (the one Universal Spirit), but the vehicle (Vahan) it is enshrined in, the Buddhi, is part and parcel of that Dhyan-Chohanic Essence; and it is in this that lies the mystery of that ubiquity, which was discussed a few pages back. “My Father, that is in Heaven, and I – are one,” – says the Christian Scripture; in this, at any rate, it is the faithful echo of the esoteric tenet.” (H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 265)

“The monad of every human being (spirit and divine soul) is a Dhyan Chohan, individual and distinct from all other Dhyan Chohans . . . While the Souls of Humanity in their triple aspect of Atman, Buddhi and Manas (or Spirit, the Divine and the human Souls) proceed directly from, and are in fact part and parcel of the essence of those “Seven,” the latter being themselves part of the Supreme and One Essence or LIFE; . . . nevertheless these “Mind-born” Sons of Heaven have withal an independent existence. . . . The number seven does not imply that there are only Seven Entities but seven hosts as explained before.” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine – Wurzburg Manuscript” p. 233, 220)

“The Monad is impersonal and a god per se, albeit unconscious on this plane . . . without Manas.” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 123)

“It stands to reason that a MONAD cannot either progress or develop, or even be affected by the changes of state it passes through. It is not of this world or plane, and may be compared only to an indestructible star of divine light and fire, thrown down on to our Earth as a plank of salvation for the personalities in which it indwells.” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 174-175)

“Remember that the only God man comes in contact with is his own God, called Spirit [i.e. Atman], Soul [i.e. Buddhi] and Mind, or Consciousness [i.e. Manas], and these three are one.” (HPB, “Transactions of The Blavatsky Lodge” p. 69)

The Monad of each human being is an individual Dhyan Chohan (i.e. a celestial being, a god, or one could say an angel) distinct from all other Dhyan Chohans.

The ONE universal divine Principle of Atman, and the quality or energy of Buddhi in which the light of Atman is enshrined, are focalised, focused, harmonised, or centred, within each one of those Dhyan Chohans.

Hence they are termed the threefold, and also the three-tongued flame of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, as well as being called the Monad-Ego. This is what a Manasaputra is (see Stanza VII:1 from the Book of Dzyan in “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, quoted in full below), which can also be termed a Kumara, Agnishwatta, Dhyani, etc.

A contrast yet inseparable interrelation or connection is indicated in Stanza VII between the threefold “flame” and the fourfold “spark.” The spark was sent forth, shot out, or projected by the flame many aeons ago and has been slowly passing through the elemental kingdoms, the mineral kingdom, vegetable or plant kingdom, and animal kingdom.

We say that “the monad” is present in and gradually unfolding or developing itself through those stages of evolution, and yet we clearly do not mean to imply that an individual Dhyan Chohan is stuck inside a rock (during the mineral stage) or that there is an individual Dhyan Chohan – a divine being, a cosmic god – within a cabbage or living in a cat, etc.

What is “within” or animating those forms, and thus unfolding itself, is the “spark,” not the “flame” from which the “spark” originates. Hence we still speak of it as the “monadic” stream or line of the “three lines of evolution” (which are the monadic, the egoic/manasic/intellectual, and the physical/astral) but it is not the Monad itself. Our “Monad is impersonal and a god per se,” says HPB in a sentence quoted above.

The spark hangs from the flame by the finest thread of Fohat and that thread grows stronger and stronger. When the spark has reached the required degree of its fourfold unfoldment and entered upon life in a suitable physical (or astral) form/body/vehicle, the three-tongued flame itself can descend to “meet” it. 

It is said that until the mass descent or incarnation in the Third Root Race of the Manasaputras, early man had “Atma and Buddhi” but nothing to connect or link them with the lower self. This is because Atma and Buddhi reach a being only through the Higher Manas, the Higher Ego, and that is always the case.

Our Monad and our Ego form one and the same triune Entity or Trinity: Atma-Buddhi-Manas.

When the time came in the Third Root Race for that “lighting up of Manas” by the Manasaputras, some fully entered some of the Lemurian bodies because “THEIR (i.e. the Manasaputras’) MONADS (in the sense of the sparks from the flame) were READY” while some only “projected a spark” (the term “spark,” like the term “flame,” does not always have an exactly identical meaning; one must always pay attention to the context) of themselves into some of the Lemurian bodies (and will only have fully entered or totally incarnated in flesh by the Fifth Round, in the far distant future) for the reason that “THEIR (i.e. those particular Manasaputras’) MONADS (sparks) were only HALF-READY.” And others waited until the Fourth Root Race, the Atlantean, as “THEIR MONADS (sparks) were NOT READY.” (See “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 161)

From the very birth of the First Root Race, humanity on this Earth has existed in seven “monadic groups,” also termed the seven “primordial human groups.” HPB shows these to be expressions or embodiments of the SEVEN RAYS.

But what are the Seven Rays? We often say they are the Seven Dhyani Buddhas which are our “Parent-Monads” or “Monadic Parents.” This is true but we must not think of this as meaning a mere seven individual great Beings. HPB says often enough that the expression “Seven Dhyani Buddhas” (or Seven Kumaras, Seven Manasaputras, Seven Archangels, or any other relevant term from the world’s religious and mystical traditions) really refers to Seven Hierarchies or Groups of the highest divine Beings.

Each of these is at the same time one of the seven primordial forces or energies or powers of the Universe and corresponds to one or another of the seven prismatic colours, the seven tones of the musical scale, the seven principles or components of the human constitution, the seven sacred planets, and so on.

To belong to one of the seven “groups of monads” or “seven ray groups” means that one’s Monad (which in its totality or completeness is not simply Atma-Buddhi but is – eternally “in the heavens” and since 18-million years ago on Earth – Atma-Buddhi-(Higher)Manas), one’s threefold or three-tongued flame, is one of the many Dhyan Chohans which collectively or synthetically form, as a united aggregate, ONE of the seven hierarchies of the highest Dhyan Chohans. The descent or incarnation (in varying degrees of completeness or fullness) en masse in the latter half of the Lemurian Root Race was thus in reality a sevenfold affair.

Regarding that incarnation of the Manasaputras, HPB makes the important clarifying statement: “It does not mean that Monads entered forms in which other Monads already were. . . . The entrance into a dark room through the same aperture of one ray of sunlight following another will not constitute two rays, but one ray intensified.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 167)

It was, instead, a flame linking itself in a powerful way with its own spark . . . the three-tongued flame reuniting, in a sense, with its four wicks . . . the Watcher or Witness undertaking a most important degree of connection with that offshoot of itself which it had for long ages been – and still is now – watching over and, where possible, guiding and influencing for good, not just the personality’s own good but the good of all who dwell on this “radiant Earth,” “the garden of the gods.”

Such a thing as “loss of the soul” can occur and in fact occurs almost daily, if not every single day, somewhere in the world.

This is the Monad-Ego – the three-tongued flame of Atma-Buddhi centred or focalised in a Manasaputra or “Higher Mind-Entity,” which latter is a Being of Light or “beam of light immaculate,” the pure bright essence or ray of Alaya (the Universal Soul, Universal Mind, or Logos) as “The Voice of The Silence” p. 57 declares – separating itself (for a variety of reasons but most commonly in response to persistent and extreme degeneration and evil conduct on the part of the personal ego, i.e. the personality or lower self) from the fourfold or four-wicked spark.

The opposite of such a tremendous tragedy is an ever-increasing unification or union – which is what the Sanskrit word “yoga” literally means – between our personal self, i.e. our personal self-consciousness, our everyday “I,” our personal ego (whose highest principle is the Lower Manas or “brain-mind”) and our real, immortal “I,” our impersonal Higher Ego, the Higher Manas, and thus, through that, with Buddhi and with Atman itself, which is inseparable from Brahman or Parabrahman, the Absolute or Infinite.

The externalities of our lower quaternary change from life to life but the inner features, characteristics, impressions, and impulses, are carried over from one incarnation to the next. All true progress is stored within and no effort is ever lost.

Let us stop thinking of our lower self or present personality as “me,” “my self,” and “I,” and draw closer daily to the sublime and sacred reality that your true “I” or Ego, which links you to the ONE Universal Self or Divine Essence of ALL, is your own Inner God, an individual Dhyan Chohan but one which does not exist in any separation or isolation from others, for all are of and from the same essence and source as it.

It is the Lord within, Ishwara, Avalokiteshwara, Padmapani, etc, the Inner Ruler. Its name or designation is OM (or AUM, which is threefold) says Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. The mantra or sacred formula “Aum Mani Padme Hum” can be specially used to invoke the joint help of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, our Higher Self and our Higher Ego, our Monad-Ego, says H. P. Blavatsky on p. 44 of “The Theosophical Glossary.”

“Each human being is an incarnation or manifestation of Deity. It is said – so many men on earth, so many gods in heaven; and yet these gods are in reality One; like the rays of the moon, they are withdrawn [i.e. at the end of the great universal life cycle] into the parent luminary [i.e. the Logos], which in its turn is merged in the One Absolute.” (B. P. Wadia, “The Three Hypostases,” “Studies in The Secret Doctrine” Book I, p. 95)

Through construction – by sustained aspiration, effort, and cultivation of meditative living as well as actual practise of meditation – of the internal Path or Antahkarana linking the lower and higher like a bridge or a road of communication and influence, let “the Lord within” become the Lord of the outside too. After all, you are That!

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With the above fresh in mind, Stanza VII of the Secret Book of Dzyan in Vol. 1 (Cosmogenesis) of “The Secret Doctrine” may now make so much more sense and statements and sentences which previously seemed unfathomable might now have become clearer, as might HPB’s comments upon it, even if there are admittedly still parts of it which mystify. Its title is “THE PARENTS OF MAN ON EARTH” and we have included below the explanatory words in brackets which HPB adds in when elaborating on its highly arcane and occult language which, as she stated, appeals “to the inner faculties rather than to the ordinary comprehension of the physical brain”:

1. BEHOLD THE BEGINNING OF SENTIENT FORMLESS LIFE. FIRST THE DIVINE (vehicle), THE ONE FROM THE MOTHER-SPIRIT (Atman); THEN THE SPIRITUAL (Atma-Buddhi, Spirit-soul – “This relates to the Cosmic principles.”); THE THREE FROM THE ONE, THE FOUR FROM THE ONE, AND THE FIVE FROM WHICH THE THREE, THE FIVE, AND THE SEVEN. THESE ARE THE THREE-FOLD, THE FOUR-FOLD DOWNWARD; THE “MIND-BORN” SONS [Note: “Mind-Born Sons” is an exact translation of “Manasaputras”] OF THE FIRST LORD (Avalokiteshwara); THE SHINING SEVEN (the “Builders”). IT IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH LANOO. THEY, WHO WATCH OVER THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH [Bhumi].

2. THE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE SMALLER RAYS. LIFE PRECEDES FORM, AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM OF FORM (of Form, Sthula-sarira, external body). THROUGH THE COUNTLESS RAYS PROCEEDS THE LIFE-RAY, THE ONE, LIKE A THREAD THROUGH MANY JEWELS [through many beads (pearls)]. [Note: The real “Life Ray” or “Living One” within us is the Jiva, in its highest meaning of the Monad-Ego, which in Theosophy is sometimes called the Sutratma, the “Thread Soul.”]

3. WHEN THE ONE BECOMES TWO, THE THREEFOLD APPEARS, AND THE THREE ARE (linked into) ONE; AND IT IS OUR THREAD, OH LANOO, THE HEART OF THE MAN-PLANT CALLED SAPTASARMA [changed later in the text to SAPTAPARNA, meaning the seven-leaved plant].

4. IT IS THE ROOT THAT NEVER DIES; THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME OF THE FOUR WICKS. THE WICKS ARE THE SPARKS, THAT DRAW FROM THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME (their upper triad) SHOT OUT BY THE SEVEN — THEIR FLAME — THE BEAMS AND SPARKS OF ONE MOON REFLECTED IN THE RUNNING WAVES OF ALL THE RIVERS OF EARTH (“Bhumi,” or “Prithivi”).

5. THE SPARK HANGS FROM THE FLAME BY THE FINEST THREAD OF FOHAT. IT JOURNEYS THROUGH THE SEVEN WORLDS OF MAYA. IT STOPS IN THE FIRST (Kingdom), AND IS A METAL AND A STONE; IT PASSES INTO THE SECOND (Kingdom) AND BEHOLD — A PLANT; THE PLANT WHIRLS THROUGH SEVEN CHANGES AND BECOMES A SACRED ANIMAL (the first shadow of the physical man). FROM THE COMBINED ATTRIBUTES OF THESE, MANU (man), THE THINKER IS FORMED. WHO FORMS HIM? THE SEVEN LIVES, AND THE ONE LIFE. WHO COMPLETES HIM? THE FIVE-FOLD LHA. AND WHO PERFECTS THE LAST BODY? FISH, SIN, AND SOMA (the moon). . . .

6. FROM THE FIRST-BORN (primitive, or the first man) THE THREAD BETWEEN THE SILENT WATCHER AND HIS SHADOW BECOMES MORE STRONG AND RADIANT WITH EVERY CHANGE (re-incarnation). THE MORNING SUN-LIGHT HAS CHANGED INTO NOON-DAY GLORY. . . .

7. THIS IS THY PRESENT WHEEL, SAID THE FLAME TO THE SPARK. THOU ART MYSELF, MY IMAGE, AND MY SHADOW. I HAVE CLOTHED MYSELF IN THEE, AND THOU ART MY VAHAN (vehicle) TO THE DAY, “BE WITH US,” WHEN THOU SHALT RE-BECOME MYSELF AND OTHERS, THYSELF AND ME. THEN THE BUILDERS [changed on p. 266-267 of Vol. 1 to “the Watchers”], HAVING DONNED THEIR FIRST CLOTHING, DESCEND ON RADIANT EARTH AND REIGN OVER MEN — WHO ARE THEMSELVES. . . .

“It is only when, from a potential androgyne, man has become separated into male and female, that he will be endowed with this conscious, rational, individual Soul, (Manas) “the principle, or the intelligence, of the Elohim,” to receive which, he has to eat of the fruit of Knowledge from the Tree of Good and Evil. How is he to obtain all this? The Occult doctrine teaches that while the monad is cycling on downward into matter, these very Elohim – or Pitris, the lower Dhyan-Chohans – are evolving pari passu with it on a higher and more spiritual plane, descending also relatively into matter on their own plane of consciousness, when, after having reached a certain point, they will meet the incarnating senseless monad, encased in the lowest matter, and blending the two potencies, Spirit and Matter, the union will produce that terrestrial symbol of the “Heavenly Man” in space – PERFECT MAN.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 247)

“The “Watchers” reign over man during the whole period of Satya Yuga and the smaller subsequent yugas, down to the beginning of the Third Root Race; after which it is the Patriarchs, Heroes, and the Manes (see Egyptian Dynasties enumerated by the priests to Solon), the incarnated Dhyanis of a lower order, up to King Menes and the human kings of other nations; all were recorded carefully. In the views of symbologists this Mythopoeic Age is of course only regarded as a fairy tale. But since traditions and even Chronicles of such dynasties of divine Kings – of gods reigning over men followed by dynasties of Heroes or Giants – exist in the annals of every nation, it is difficult to understand how all the under the sun, some of whom are separated by vast oceans and belong to different hemispheres, such as the ancient Peruvians and Mexicans, as well as the Chaldeans, could have worked out the same “fairy tales” in the same order of events. However, as the Secret Doctrine teaches history – which, for being esoteric and traditional, is none the less more reliable than profane history – we are as entitled to our beliefs as anyone else, whether religionist or sceptic. And that Doctrine says that the Dhyani-Buddhas of the two higher groups, namely, the “Watchers” or the “Architects,” furnished the many and various races with divine kings and leaders. It is the latter who taught humanity their arts and sciences, and the former who revealed to the incarnated Monads that had just shaken off their vehicles of the lower Kingdoms – and who had, therefore, lost every recollection of their divine origin – the great spiritual truths of the transcendental worlds. (See Book II., “Divine Dynasties.”)

“Thus, as expressed in the Stanza, the Watchers descended on Earth and reigned over men – “who are themselves.” The reigning kings had finished their cycle on Earth and other worlds, in the preceding Rounds. In the future manvantaras they will have risen to higher systems than our planetary world; and it is the Elect of our Humanity, the Pioneers on the hard and difficult path of Progress, who will take the places of their predecessors.” (“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 266-267)

We would suggest that the Stanza’s words “REIGN OVER MEN – WHO ARE THEMSELVES” could be paraphrased as “[Some of the Builders/Watchers, the highest of them] REIGN OVER [all] MEN – WHO ARE THEMSELVES [i.e. those early Root Races are all inwardly Manasaputras, albeit of differing degrees].”

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FROM THE WRITINGS OF RAGHAVAN IYER

“The Monad-Ego is the three-tongued flame, the Atma-Buddhi-Manas which overbroods throughout the manvantara myriads upon myriads of personalities, instruments and vehicles through which the great work of evolution proceeds. This is made possible by the fact that the three-tongued flame of the four wicks is connected with the myriads of sparks. Although in each life these sparks seemingly become entangled through the four derivative principles into a shallow sense of separative identity as a personal man or woman in that life, this is really an illusion. All the elements in all the personal lives throughout the manvantara represent the diffused intelligence which is here ascribed to a single source – the Queen of the Night – radiating her lustre on the running waters of life. Between the hidden source of the flames throughout evolution – the Central Spiritual Sun – and the manifest source of all the myriad sparks involved in the evanescent phenomena witnessed by personal consciousness in incarnated existence, there would be a causal relationship. One is like a necessary reflection of the other. This is true cosmically. It is also true of every single human being. The astral form is like a lunar reflection of a solar light-energy that belongs to the Atma-Buddhi-Manas which is like the sun overbrooding every single human temple. The profoundly mysterious relation between the two is intimated by the symbol of the thread of Fohat. A very fine thread connects the solar activity of the higher principles and the lunar activity involving the reflected and parasitic intelligence of personal consciousness.

“Everything can be seen, as in the Platonic scheme, as a reflection of what is higher on a more homogeneous plane. The relative reality of every single entity and event in life is a shadowy reality that presupposes something more primordial and more homogeneous. In this way, all life would trace back to the one single field of homogeneous ideation, homogeneous substance. If this is what makes the universe a cosmos – a single system – then the solemn task of the human being is to integrate life consciously and cheerfully; to do this, one must first negate the false sense of identity that belongs on the lunar plane. One must perceive in depth all the elements of being that contribute to the seeming continuity of consciousness in and through the astral form, and then reach further inwards through deep meditation to the sacred source of all consciousness and life. This alchemical work is represented in many myths as the separation of what is food for the soul from what is not, before and during after-death states. This sifting takes place through all nature and is the deliberate undertaking of those who are pledged to self-regeneration in the service of humanity. “‘Great Sifter’ is the name of the ‘Heart Doctrine,’ O Disciple.”” (“Self-Transformation,” in “The Gupta Vidya” Vol. 2)

“Then as surely as there is a law of periodicity that cannot be confined to the trivial timetable of the ignorant personal self which does not know the vaster cycles or the previous lives of its indwelling monad or what is at the very core of its own being, invariably and infallibly the strength of that impulse will prepare one for that perfectly right moment when the Atman through Buddhi can initiate and instruct. The Atma-Buddhi is the Guru. It speaks to the soul as the inner voice of the daimon, the voice of the Master, who is the invisible escort. [Note: In Theosophy, the ancient Greek term “daimon” or “daemon” generally means “the incorruptible part of the man, or rather the real inner man which we call Nous or the rational divine Ego,” i.e. the Higher Manas, says HPB in “The Theosophical Glossary” p. 94.] That is the sovereign experience of true initiation.

“A constant flame, enabling one to come to ever-higher levels of purification, the ceaseless self-purgation that is a prelude to total self-transformation, can be lit from small beginnings. Such endeavours must be sifted, honed down to a fine authenticity, and not even whispered to a single living person. But at the same time the line of life’s meditation must not be forgotten by oneself. That is difficult. Maintained steadily and with continuity of consciousness, sincere efforts will lead from what, at one level, is the spark of simple devotion to an unknown object, to that deeper fire of inward devotion of the whole of one’s sense of being in a manifest form, and then to the invisible prototype that is the Guru.” (“Aquarian Therapy,” in “The Gupta Vidya” Vol. 3, published by Theosophy Trust)

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SOME RELATED REFERENCES, FOR FURTHER STUDY AND CONTEMPLATION

“. . . the Dhyani-Buddhas of contemplation: the concrete forms of their formless Fathers – the Seven Sons of Light, still themselves, to whom may be applied the Brahmanical mystic phrase: “Thou art ‘THAT’ – Brahm.” . . . The “Seven Sons of Light” are also called “Stars.” The star under which a human Entity is born, says the Occult teaching, will remain for ever its star, throughout the whole cycle of its incarnations in one Manvantara. But this is not his astrological star. The latter is concerned and connected with the personality, the former with the INDIVIDUALITY. The “Angel” of that Star, or the Dhyani-Buddha will be either the guiding or simply the presiding “Angel,” so to say, in every new rebirth of the monad, which is part of his own essence, though his vehicle, man, may remain for ever ignorant of this fact. The adepts have each their Dhyani-Buddha, their elder “twin Soul,” and they know it, calling it “Father-Soul,” and “Father-Fire.” It is only at the last and supreme initiation, however, that they learn it when placed face to face with the bright “Image.” . . .

“Atma is not-Spirit in its final Parabrahmic state, Iswara or Logos is Spirit; or, as Occultism explains, it is a compound unity of manifested living Spirits, the parent-source and nursery of all the mundane and terrestrial monads, plus their divine reflection, which emanate from, and return into, the Logos, each in the culmination of its time. There are seven chief groups of such Dhyan Chohans, which groups will be found and recognised in every religion, for they are the primeval SEVEN Rays. . . . The monad, then, . . . as a triad, it is the direct radiant progeny of the said compound UNIT, . . . The “triads” born under the same Parent-planet, or rather the radiations of one and the same Planetary Spirit (Dhyani Buddha) are, in all their after lives and rebirths, sister, or “twin-souls,” on this Earth.” (H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 572-574)

“Q. What is the real difference between the Dhyani-Buddhas in the orthodox and the esoteric conceptions?
“A. A very great one philosophically. . . . Exoterically [i.e. in all publicly known forms of Tibetan Buddhist teaching, where they are in fact called the Five Jinas, meaning Conquerors, or the Pancha Tathagatas, or “Buddhas of the Five Families” rather than “Dhyani Buddhas”] they are five in number, whereas in the esoteric schools they are seven, and not single Entities but Hierarchies . . . the “Seven Dhyani-Buddhas” – or, rather, the Seven Hierarchies of these Dhyanis, who, in Buddhist mysticism, are identical with the higher incarnating Intelligences, or the Kumaras of the Hindus . . .” (HPB, “Transactions of The Blavatsky Lodge” p. 50-51)

“The closer the approach to one’s Prototype, “in Heaven,” the better for the mortal whose personality was chosen, by his own personal deity (the seventh principle), as its terrestrial abode. For, with every effort of will toward purification and unity with that “Self-god,” one of the lower rays breaks and the spiritual entity of man is drawn higher and ever higher to the ray that supersedes the first, until, from ray to ray, the inner man is drawn into the one and highest beam of the Parent-SUN. . . . Yes; “our destiny is written in the stars!” Only, the closer the union between the mortal reflection MAN and his celestial PROTOTYPE, the less dangerous the external conditions and subsequent reincarnations – which neither Buddhas nor Christs can escape. . . . Those who believe in Karma have to believe in destiny, which, from birth to death, every man is weaving thread by thread around himself, as a spider does his cobweb; and this destiny is guided either by the heavenly voice of the invisible prototype outside of us, or by our more intimate astral, or inner man, who is but too often the evil genius of the embodied entity called man. Both these lead on the outward man, but one of them must prevail; and from the very beginning of the invisible affray the stern and implacable law of compensation steps in and takes its course, faithfully following the fluctuations.” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 639)

“It is then the “Seven Sons of Light” – called after their planets and (by the rabble) often identified with them – namely Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and – presumably for the modern critic, who goes no deeper than the surface of old religions – the Sun and Moon, which are, according to the Occult teachings, our heavenly Parents, or “Father,” synthetically . . . the visible orbs furnishing our Humanity with its outward and inward characteristics, and their “Regents” or Rectors with our Monads and spiritual faculties.” (HPB, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 575)

“No religion can prove by practical, scientific demonstration that there is such a thing as one personal God; while the esoteric philosophy, or rather theosophy of Gautama Buddha and Sankaracharya prove and give means to every man to ascertain the undeniable presence of a living God in man himself – whether one believes in or calls his divine indweller Avalokiteswara, Buddha, Brahma, Krishna, Jehovah, Bhagwan, Ahura-mazda, Christ, or by whatever name – there is no such God outside of himself. The former – the one ideal outsider [i.e. something or someone which can properly be referred to and thought of as “God” outside of the human being] – can never be demonstrated – the latter [i.e. the presence of a living God within every human being], under whatever appellation, may always be found present if a man does not extinguish within himself the capacity to perceive this Divine presence, and hear the “voice” of that only manifested deity, the murmurings of the Eternal Vach, called by the Northern and Chinese Buddhist Avalokiteswara and Kwan-Shai-yin, and by the Christians – Logos.” (HPB, “Theosophical Articles and Notes” p. 88)

“Avalokiteswara (Sk.). “The on-looking Lord.” In the exoteric interpretation, he is Padmapâni (the lotus bearer and the lotus-born) in Tibet, the first divine ancestor of the Tibetans, the complete incarnation or Avatar of Avalokiteswara; but in esoteric philosophy Avaloki, the “on-looker”, is the Higher Self [i.e. Atman], while Padmapâni is the Higher Ego or [Higher] Manas. The mystic formula “Om mani padme hum” is specially used to invoke their joint help. While popular fancy claims for Avalokiteswara many incarnations on earth, and sees in him, not very wrongly, the spiritual guide of every believer, the esoteric interpretation sees in him the LOGOS, both celestial and human [i.e. macrocosmic and microcosmic, “as above, so below.”].” (HPB, “The Theosophical Glossary” p. 44)

Note: The Hindu term “Ishwara” tends to be used more frequently in Theosophy than the Buddhist “Avalokiteshwara” but they are esoterically synonymous, “Avalokiteshwara” being simply “Avalokit-Ishwara,” “The Lord who sees” or “The Lord who is the Witness,” whereas “Ishwara” as a word just means “Lord.”

“Ishvara is a distinct spirit (Purusha), untouched by troubles, actions and their results, and latent impressions. In Ishvara the seed of omniscience becomes infinite. Ishvara is the preceptor even of the Ancients, for He is not fettered by time. His designation is OM. Let there be constant chanting of OM and meditation on its meaning. From that comes the turning inward of consciousness and the removal of hindrances.” (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, I:24-29, Raghavan Iyer translation, published by Theosophy Trust)

“There dwelleth in the heart of every creature, O Arjuna, the Master – Ishwara – who by his magic power causeth all things and creatures to revolve mounted upon the universal wheel of time. Take sanctuary with him alone, O son of Bharata, with all thy soul; by his grace thou shalt obtain supreme happiness, the eternal place.” (Bhagavad Gita, 18:61-62, William Q. Judge rendition, p. 130-131)

“Remember that every man has a god within, a direct ray from the Absolute, the celestial ray from the One; that he has his “god” within, not outside, of himself.” (HPB, “Transactions of The Blavatsky Lodge” p. 53)

“All is impermanent in man except the pure bright essence of Alaya. Man is its crystal ray; a beam of light immaculate within, a form of clay material upon the lower surface. That beam is thy life-guide and thy true Self, the Watcher and the silent Thinker, the victim of thy lower Self.” (“The Voice of The Silence” p. 57, original edition, translated by H. P. Blavatsky from The Book of The Golden Precepts)

“Divine Wisdom being diffused throughout the infinite Universe, and our impersonal HIGHER SELF being an integral part of it, the atmic light of the latter can be centred only in that which though eternal is still individualized – i.e., the noëtic Principle, the manifested God within each rational being, or our Higher Manas at one with Buddhi.” (HPB, “The Dual Aspect of Wisdom”)

“One often finds in Theosophical writings conflicting statements about the Christos principle in man. Some call it the sixth principle (Buddhi), others the seventh (Atman). If Christian Theosophists wish to make use of such expressions, let them be made philosophically correct by following the analogy of the old Wisdom-religion symbols. We say that Christos is not only one of the three higher principles, but all the three [i.e. Atman, Buddhi, and the Higher Manas] regarded as a Trinity. This Trinity . . . answers to abstract spirit, differentiated spirit, and embodied spirit. Krishna and Christ are philosophically the same principle under its triple aspect of manifestation.” (HPB, “The Key to Theosophy” p. 67-68)

“In our sense, the inner man is the only God we can have cognizance of. . . . the only God we must recognise and pray to, or rather act in unison with, is that spirit of God of which our body is the temple, and in which it dwelleth.” (HPB, “The Key to Theosophy” p. 67, 71)

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