The Secret Doctrine

THE SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND PHILOSOPHY.

by H. P. Blavatsky



Blavatsky’s masterwork on theosophy, covering cosmic, planetary, and human evolution, as well as science, religion, and mythology. Based on the Stanzas of Dzyan, with corroborating testimony from hundreds of sources.

Originally published 1888. Theosophical University Press HTML version ISBN 1-55700-124-3. For ease in searching, no diacritical marks appear in this electronic version of the text.

This HTML edition was corrected against the facsimile edition of 1888. Obvious errors, such as missing letters, have been corrected; otherwise it follows the facsimile edition — material not appearing there appears in double brackets [[ ]]. Hebrew characters are inserted as illustrations, but Greek text has been transliterated into italic Latin characters in double brackets. For further explanation of the conventions used in this version, go to the Notes file.

PDF eBook ( ), Scanned, and Print versions of The Secret Doctrine are also available. As aids to study and research, see also Introductory Notes and Secret Doctrine References.

HTML Version Updated: 5-28-19

Quick Links to Condensed Table of Contents of

Volume 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Volume 2: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Index (prepared by John P. Van Mater)

VOLUME FIRST: COSMOGENESIS

Title Page . . . iii

Preface . . . vii

Introduction . . . xvii.

Proem . . . 1

BOOK I. — PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION

Seven Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan . . . 27

Stanza I. — The Night of the Universe . . . 35

Stanza II. — The Idea of Differentiation . . . 53

Stanza III. — The Awakening of Kosmos . . . 62

Stanza IV. — The Septenary Hierarchies . . . 86

Stanza V. — Fohat: The Child of the Septenary Hierarchies . . . 106

Stanza VI. — Our World, Its Growth and Development . . . 136

Theosophical Misconceptions . . . 152

Explanations Concerning the Globes and the Monads . . . 170

Stanza VI. — Continued . . . 191

Stanza VII. — The Parents of Man on Earth . . . 213

(continued) Formation of Man: The Thinker . . . 238

Summing Up . . . 269

BOOK I. — PART II. THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER

I. Symbolism and Ideographs . . . 303

II. The Mystery Language and Its Keys . . . 310

III. Primordial Substance and Divine Thought . . . 325

IV. Chaos — Theos — Kosmos . . . 342

V. The Hidden Deity, Its Symbols and Glyphs . . . 349

VI. The Mundane Egg . . . 359

VII. The Days and Nights of Brahma . . . 368

VIII. The Lotus as a Universal Symbol . . . 379

IX. Deus Lunus . . . 386

X. Tree and Serpent and Crocodile Worship . . . 403

XI. Demon Est Deus Inversus . . . 411

XII. The Theogony of the Creative Gods . . . 424

XIII. The Seven Creations . . . 445

XIV. The Four Elements . . . 460

XV. On Kwan-Shi-Yin and Kwan-Yin . . . 470

BOOK I. — PART III. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED

I. Reasons for These Addenda . . . 477

II. Modern Physicists Are Playing at Blind Man’S Buff . . . 482

III. An Lumen Sit Corpus Nec Non? . . . 483

IV. Is Gravitation a Law? . . . 490

V. The Theories of Rotation in Science . . . 500

VI. The Masks of Science . . . 506

VII. An Attack on the Scientific Theory of Force by a Man of Science . . . 523

VIII. Life, Force, or Gravity? . . . 529

IX. The Solar Theory . . . 540

X. The Coming Force . . . 554

XI. On the Elements and Atoms . . . 566

XII. Ancient Thought in Modern Dress . . . 579

XIII. The Modern Nebular Theory . . . 588

XIV. Forces — Modes of Motion or Intelligences? . . . 601

XV. Gods, Monads, and Atoms . . . 610

XVI. Cyclic Evolution and Karma . . . 634

XVII. The Zodiac and Its Antiquity . . . 647

XVIII. Summary of the Mutual Position . . . 668

VOLUME SECOND

Title Page . . . iii

Preliminary Notes . . . 1

BOOK II. — PART I. ANTHROPOGENESIS

Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan . . . 15

Stanza I. Beginnings of Sentient Life . . . 22

Two Antediluvian Astronomers . . . 47

Stanza II. — Nature Unaided Fails . . . 52

The Chronology of the Brahmins . . . 66

Stanza III. — Attempts to Create Man . . . 75

Stanza IV. — Creation of the First Races . . . 86

Stanza V. — The Evolution of the Second Race . . . 109

Stanza VI. — The Evolution of the Sweat-Born . . . 131

Stanza VII. — From the Semi-Divine Down to the First Human Races . . . 161

Stanza VIII. — Evolution of the Animal Mammalians — The First Fall . . . 180

What May Be the Objections to the Foregoing . . . 185

Stanza IX. — The Final Evolution of Man . . . 191

Edens, Serpents and Dragons . . . 202

The Sons of God and the Sacred Island . . . 220

Stanza X. — The History oF the Fourth Race . . . 227

Archaic Teachings in the Puranas and Genesis . . . 251

A Panoramic View of the Early Races . . . 263

Stanza X. — Continued . . . 271

Are Giants a Fiction? . . . 277

THe Races with the “Third Eye” . . . 289

The Primeval Manus of Humanity . . . 307

Stanza XI. — THE CIVILIZATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH RACES . . . 316

CYclopean Ruins and Colossal Stones as Witnesses to Giants . . . 341

Stanza XII. — The Fifth Race and Its Divine Instructors . . . 351

(continued) The Origin of the Satanic Myth . . . 378

(continued) Western Speculations founded on the Greek and Puranic Traditions . . . 402

Additional Fragments from a Commentary on the Verses of Stanza XII. . . . 423

Conclusion . . . 437

BOOK II. — PART II. THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS

Esoteric Tenets Corroborated in Every Scripture . . . 449

§ XVI. Adam-Adami . . . 452

XVII. The “Holy of Holies”: Its Degradation . . . 459

XVIII. On the Myth of the “Fallen Angel,” in its Various Aspects . . . 475

(continued) The Many Meanings of the “War in Heaven” . . . 492

XIX. Is Pleroma Satan’s Lair? . . . 506

XX. Prometheus the Titan . . . 519

XXI. Enoichion-Henoch . . . 529

XXII. The Symbolism of the Mystery Names Iao, and Jehovah . . . 536

XXIII. The Upanishads in Gnostic Literature . . . 563

XXIV. The Cross and the Pythagorean Decade . . . 573

XXV. The Mysteries of the Hebdomad . . . 590

(continued) The Septenary Element in the Vedas . . . 605

(continued) The Seven Souls of the Egyptologists . . . 630

BOOK II. — PART III. ADDENDA. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED

I. Archaic, or Modern Anthropology? . . . 645

II. The Ancestors Mankind is Offered by Science . . . 656

III. The Fossil Relics of Man and the Anthropoid Ape . . . 675

IV. Duration of the Geological Periods, Race Cycles, and the Antiquity of Man . . . 690

(continued) (c) Esoteric Geological Chronology . . . 709

V. Organic Evolution and Creative Centres . . . 731

VI. Giants, Civilizations, and Submerged Continents Traced in History . . . 742

(continued) (a) Statements about the Sacred Islands . . . 760

VII. Scientific and Geological Proofs of the Existence of Several Submerged Continents . . . 778

Index [[As prepared by John P. Van Mater - not the facsimile Index]]

HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY

1831-1891

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