{"id":532,"date":"2013-03-19T19:05:38","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T18:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=532"},"modified":"2013-03-19T19:18:47","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T18:18:47","slug":"two-aspects-of-the-absolute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/two-aspects-of-the-absolute\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Aspects of the Absolute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Studying the first fundamental proposition in The Secret Doctrine, we see that the \u201cOmnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable PRINCIPLE\u201d postulated in SD I, 14 is the Rootless Root of \u201call that was, is, or ever shall be\u201d, Parabrahman, the Absolute.<\/p>\n

Two aspects of the Absolute are then described, which are absolute abstract Space and absolute abstract Motion, the latter symbolized in the Book of Dzyan as The Great Breath.<\/p>\n

The Great Breath is seen by HPB as precosmic Ideation, while the other aspect of the Absolute is seen as precosmic root-substance (M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti). Both these are underlying manifested Consciousness and manifested Matter respectively, or Spirit and Matter, Subjectivity and Objectivity in the manifested universe.<\/p>\n

These two aspects are obviously referred to in the last sentence of the passage, after the summary, \u201cThe ONE REALITY; its dual aspects in the conditioned Universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti: the Veil over Parabrahman<\/b><\/p>\n

In this context HPB refers to \u2018Mr. Subba Row\u2019s four able lectures on the Bhagavad Gita, \u201cTheosophist,\u201d February, 1887.\u2019<\/p>\n

In the first of these lectures, on page 304 of The Theosophist Vol. VIII, we find some explanation about the relationship between Parabrahman and M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti:<\/p>\n

From its objective standpoint, Parabrahman appears to it as Mulaprakriti.<\/i><\/p>\n

The \u201cit\u201d in this sentence is the ego \u201chaving an objective consciousness of its own\u201d.<\/p>\n

Parabrahman is an unconditioned and absolute reality, and Mulaprakriti is a sort of veil thrown over it. Parabrahman cannot be seen as it is.<\/i><\/p>\n

What is said here, is that Parabrahman is the Absolute, and M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti is an aspect of it, only in the sense that we cannot see more of it than that. M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti is not a component, \u201caspect\u201d or principle in itself, either separate from or united with Parabrahman. This is different from HPB\u2019s interpretation in her description of the first fundamental principle, as two aspects, pre-Cosmic Ideation and pre-Cosmic Substance.<\/p>\n

On page 305 of The Theosophist Vol. VIII, \u201cthe highest Trinity that we are capable of understanding\u201d is mentioned, being M\u016blaprak\u1e5bti, \u012a\u015bvara (the Logos) and the \u201cconscious energy of he Logos\u201d (i.e. HPB\u2019s fohat). This is the trinity we have defined as the First, Second and Third Logos. (see The Three Logoi<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In SD I, 14 we find:<\/p>\n

Thus, then, the first fundamental axiom of the Secret Doctrine is this metaphysical ONE ABSOLUTE — BE-NESS — symbolised by finite intelligence as the theological Trinity.<\/i><\/p>\n

On page 305, Subba Row describes the \u201cconscious energy of he Logos\u201d as the \u201cHoly Ghost of the Christians\u201d. This confirms that Subba Row thought of this trinity as the \u201ctheological Trinity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although HBP does not give any indication which trinity she is referring to, from these correspondences between her description and Subba Row\u2019s, we can assume that she refers to the Trinity that we have defined as the First, Second and Third Logos, which she sees as \u201csymbolising\u201d the \u201cmetaphysical ONE ABSOLUTE — BE-NESS\u201d, which is the \u201cOmnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable PRINCIPLE\u201d postulated in SD I, 14.<\/p>\n

This same problem appears in SD I, 15:<\/p>\n

Considering this metaphysical triad as the Root from which proceeds all manifestation, […]<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThis\u201d seems to refer to:<\/p>\n

Spirit (or Consciousness) and Matter are, however, to be regarded, not as independent realities, but as the two facets or aspects of the Absolute (Parabrahm), […]<\/i><\/p>\n

Again the only possible interpretation here seems the Absolute itself, together with its two aspects. A more fitting interpretation would be though, that the Root is the Parabrahman which she sees as a \u201cmetaphysical triad\u201d in itself, or the triad \u201csymbolising\u201d Parabrahman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Studying the first fundamental proposition in The Secret Doctrine, we see that the \u201cOmnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable PRINCIPLE\u201d postulated in SD I, 14 is the Rootless Root of \u201call that was, is, or ever shall be\u201d, Parabrahman, the Absolute. Two aspects of the Absolute are then described, which are absolute abstract Space and absolute […]<\/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":[40,45,94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-logos-logoi","category-mulaprakriti","category-parabrahman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532","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=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}