{"id":344,"date":"2012-07-09T16:59:40","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T14:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=344"},"modified":"2012-07-09T17:43:54","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T15:43:54","slug":"the-three-logoi-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/the-three-logoi-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Three Logoi (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

2. The three logoi in The Secret Doctrine<\/em><\/h3>\n

What comes closest to a definition of the logoi in The Secret Doctrine<\/em><\/a>, is a quote from the 1885 lecture of T. Subba Row, published under the title Notes on the Bhagavad Gita<\/em><\/a>. In SD I, 429 we find:<\/p>\n

Metaphysicians explain the root and germ of the latter, according to Mr. Subba Row, as the first manifestation of Parabrahmam, “the highest trinity that we <\/em>are capable of understanding,” which is Mulaprakriti (the veil), the Logos, and the conscious energy “of the latter,” or its power and light*; or — “matter, force and the Ego, or the one root of self, of which every other kind of self is but a manifestation or a reflection.” <\/em><\/p>\n

So we have as the triad, according to Subba Row (Notes…<\/em>, TUP 2nd ed., p. 22):<\/p>\n

1. Mulaprakriti,
\n2. Eswara or Logos,
\n3. conscious energy of the Logos, which is its power and light.<\/p>\n

Subba Row describes M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti as a \u201cveil over parabrahman\u201d. He identifies the third aspect with the concept of Daiviprak\u1e5bti as used in the Bhagavad G<\/em>\u012b<\/em>ta<\/em>, and notes that it \u201cis called fohat<\/em> in several Buddhist books\u201d.<\/p>\n

HPB and Subba Row\u2019s interpretation seems to correspond to Plotinus, who is considered the main representative of the Neo-Platonic system. In this model the Nous is the second<\/em> hypostasis:<\/p>\n

1. To Hen (The One)
\n2. Ho Nous (Intellect, Spirit, Universal Mind)
\n3. H\u0113 Psuch\u0113 (The World Soul)<\/p>\n

Mead in his work on Plotinus (p. 26 and 28) also describes the Nous as the second principle. Proclus, in his Metaphysical Elements<\/em>, follows Plotinus in this respect: Proposition XX: The essence of soul <\/em>[H\u0113 Psuch\u0113] is beyond all bodies <\/em>[To S\u014dma], the intellectual na\u00adture<\/em> [Ho Nous] is beyond all souls, and The One<\/em> [To Hen] is beyond, all intel\u00adlectual hypostases.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the Christian tradition, for example in Augustinus\u2019 De Trinitate<\/em>, we find the same triad:<\/p>\n

1. Father, cp. To Hen
\n2. Son, the Christ, the Word, the Logos, cp. Ho Nous
\n3. Holy Ghost, cp. the Anima Mundi, World Soul, H\u0113 Psuch\u0113<\/p>\n

Contrary to Plotinus however, who identified the Nous with the Demiurge, in the Christian tradition the Father-aspect is identified with the Creator God, as formulated in the first line of the Nicene Creed of 325 (tr. Philip Schaff):<\/p>\n

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible<\/em>.<\/p>\n

3. The three logoi in The Ancient Wisdom<\/em><\/h3>\n

The introduction to Besant\u2019s The Ancient Wisdom<\/em> we find a clue as to the origin of the Besant-Leadbeater interpretation. On page 28, reference is made to Orpheus<\/em>, a study by G.R.S. Mead of 1896 on the theogony of the Orphic religion. In Orpheus<\/em> the creation of the universe begins with The One. The One Existence is called thrice unknown darkness<\/em> in the Orphic system. From the darkness comes the primordial triad, with its three hypostases:<\/p>\n

1. Universal Good (super-essential),
\n2. World Soul (self-motive essence),
\n3. Intellect (Mind).<\/p>\n

These three hypostases \u201cappear\u201d, in AW p. 34-35, as the Christian Trinity where the First Logos is the Father, the \u201cfount of all life\u201d, the Second Logos the Son, and the Third Logos the Holy Ghost, the \u201ccreative Mind\u201d. The creative Mind, the \u201cnoetic\u201d aspect, is presented here as the third<\/em> aspect.<\/p>\n

From Orpheus<\/em> (p. 93) we learn that the essential characteristics of the Orphic triads are defined by Plato as<\/p>\n

1. Bound (hyparxis)
\n2. Infinite (power)
\n3. Mixed (noesis, fr. Nous)<\/p>\n

In Plato\u2019s dialogue Philebus<\/em>, these characteristics are summed up by Socrates in a different order: 1. infinite (apeiron), 2. finite (peras) and 3. mixed (meikton). In SD I, 426, HPB states that Porphyry shows that the Monad and the Duad of Pythagoras are identical with Plato’s infinite and finite in “Philebus” — or what Plato calls the <\/em>\u1f04\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd<\/em> and <\/em>\u03c0\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1\u03c2<\/em>, confirming this order. The noetic, \u03bc\u03b5\u03b9\u03ba\u03c4\u03cc\u03bd, is again in third<\/em> position.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mead in his turn in Orpheus<\/em> refers to Neo-Platonist authors Proclus and Damascius. Damascius\u2019 Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles <\/em>seems to be Mead\u2019s main source concerning the Orphic metaphysical system. Moreover, HPB has also read this work, and refers to it as \u201c\u03c0\u03c1\u03ce\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u1f00\u03c1\u03c7\u1ff6\u03bd\u201c. In the First Principles<\/em>, for example in the French translation of Edouard Chaignet of 1898, we find in \u00a7 55 that the third principle, which is the Nous, \u201cis called mixed by Plato\u201d and by \u201cPhilolaus and the pythagoreans\u201d. The Three Universal Principles, the proen\u014dma, are called<\/p>\n

1. Father, Pat\u0113r
\n2. Power, Dunamis
\n3. Reason, Nous<\/p>\n

We can see that Damascius\u2019 interpretation of the Primordial Triad goes back to Plato\u2019s Philebus<\/em>. Even earlier, Anaxagoras (and later Aristotle) used the term Nous to denote purely the creative principle in the universe. As such, it could of course also be associated with the third<\/em> principle.<\/p>\n

Continued in part 3<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2. The three logoi in The Secret Doctrine What comes closest to a definition of the logoi in The Secret Doctrine, is a quote from the 1885 lecture of T. Subba Row, published under the title Notes on the Bhagavad Gita. In SD I, 429 we find: Metaphysicians explain the root and germ of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,34,46,41,3,48,40,45,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brahma","category-cosmogenesis","category-darkness","category-demiurge","category-fohat","category-hypostasis","category-logos-logoi","category-mulaprakriti","category-nous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}