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The Stanzas of Dzyan and Dhyan by H.P. Blavatsky

THE SECRET BOOKS OF DHYAN AND DZYAN

The Book of Dzyan - from the Sanskrit word "Dhyan" (mystic meditation) - is the first volume of the

Commentaries upon the seven secret folios of Kiu-te, and a Glossary of the public works of the same

name. Thirty-five volumes of Kiu-te for exoteric purposes and the use of the laymen may be found in the

possession of the Tibetan Gelugpa Lamas, in the library of any monastery; and also fourteen books of

Commentaries and Annotations on the same by the initiated Teachers.

Strictly speaking, those thirty-five books, ought to be termed "The Popularized Version" of the Secret

Doctrine, full of myths, blinds, and errors; the fourteen volumes of Commentaries, on the other hand -

with their translations, annotations, and an ample glossary of occult terms, worked out from one archaic,

folio, the Book of the Secret Wisdom of the World - contains a digest of all the Occult Sciences. These, it

appears, are kept secret and apart, in the charge of the Teshu Lama of Tji-gad-je. The Books of Kiu-te

are comparatively modern, having been edited within the past millennium, whereas, the earliest volumes

of the Commentaries are of untold antiquity, some fragments of the original cylinders having been

preserved. With the exception that they explain and correct some of the too fabulous, and to every

appearance,grossly-exaggerated accounts in the Books of Kiu-te - properly so-called - the

Commentaries have little to do with these. They stand in relation to them as the Chaldaeo - Jewish

Kabalah stands to the Mosaic Books. In the work known as the Avatumsaka Sutra, in section: "The

Supreme Atman [Soul] as manifested in the character of the Arhats and the Pratyeka Buddhas", it is

stated that:

Because from the beginning all sentient creatures have confused the truth and embraced the

false, therefore there came into existence a hidden knowledge called Alaya Vijnana.

" Who is in possession of the true knowledge?" is asked. "The great Teachers of the Snowy Mountain", is

the response.

These 'great Teachers" have been known to live in the "Snowy Range" of the Himalayas for countless

ages. To deny in the face of millions of Hindus the existence of their great Gurus, living in the Ashrams

scattered all over the Trans - or the Cis-Himalayan slopes, is to make oneself ridiculous in their eyes.

When the Buddhist Saviour appeared in India, their Ashrams - for it is rarely that these great Men are

found in Lamaseries, unless on a short visit - where on the spots they now occupy, and that even before

the Brahmans themselves came from Central Asia to settle on the Indus. And before that more than one

Aryan Dvija of fame and historical renown had sat at their feet, learning that which culminated later on in

one or another of the great philosophical schools. Most of these Himalayan Bhante were Aryan

Brahmans and ascetics.

No student,unless very advanced, would be benefited by the perusal of those exoteric volumes. They

must be read with a key to their meaning, and that key can only be found in the Commentaries. Moreover

there are some comparatively modern works that are positively so injurious as far as a fair

comprehension of even exoteric Buddhism is concerned. Such are the Buddhist Cosmos, by Bonze Jinch'on

of Pekin; the Shing-Tau-ki (or The Records of the Enlightenment of Tathagata) by Wang Puk -

seventh century; Hisai-Sutra (or Book of Creation), and some others.

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The Stanzas of Dzyan by H.P. Blavatsky

SYNOPSIS OF THE FIRST SEVEN STANZAS

Reprinted from the Proem to Vol.-1- of the "Secret Doctrine"

The history of Cosmic Evolution, as traced in the Stanzas, is, so to say, the abstract algebraical formula

of that evolution. Hence the student must not expect to find there an account of all the stages and

transformations which intervene between the first beginnings of Universal Evolution and our present

state. To give such an account would be as impossible as it would be incomprehensible to men who

cannot grasp the nature of even the plane of existence next to that to which, for the moment, their

consciousness is limited.

The Stanzas, therefore, give an abstract formula which can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to all evolution:

to that of our tiny Earth, to that of the Chain of Planets of which the Earth forms one, to the Solar

Universe to which that Chain belongs, and so on, in an ascending scale, till the mind reels and is

exhausted in the effort.

The Seven Stanzas given in this (the first) volume represent the seven terms of this abstract formula.

They refer to, and describe, the seven great stages of the evolutionary process, which are spoken of in

the Puranas as the "Seven Creations", and in the Bible as the "Days" of Creation.

Stanza -1- describes the state of the ONE ALL during Pralaya, before the first flutter of reawakening

Manifestation.

A moment's thought shows that such a state can only be symbolized; to describe it, is impossible. Nor

can it be symbolized except in negatives; for, since it is the state of Absoluteness per se, it can possess

none of those specific attributes which serve us to describe objects in positive terms. Hence that state

can only be suggested by the negatives of all those most abstract attributes which men feel rather than

conceive, as the remotest limits attainable by their power of conception.

Stanza -2- describes a stage which, to a Western mind, is so nearly identical with that mentioned in

Stanza I., that to express the idea of its difference would require a treatise in itself Hence it must be left to

the intuition and the higher faculties of the reader to grasp, as far as he can,the meaning of the

allegorical phrases used. Indeed, it must be remembered that all these Stanzas appeal to the inner

faculties rather than to the ordinary comprehension of the physical brain.

Stanza -3- describes the Reawakening of the Universe to life after Pralaya. It depicts the emergence of

the Monads from their state of absorption within the One,the earliest and highest stage in the formation of

Worlds - the term Monad being one which may apply equally to the vastest Solar System or the tiniest

atom.

Stanza -4- shows the differentiation of the "Germ" of the Universe into the Septenary Hierarchy of

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The Stanzas of Dzyan by H.P. Blavatsky

conscious Divine Powers,which are the active manifestations of the One Supreme Energy. They are the

framers, shapers, and ultimately the creators of all the manifested Universe, in the only sense in which

the name "creator" is intelligible; they inform and guide it; they are the intelligent Beings who adjust and

control evolution, embodying in themselves those manifestations of the One Law, which we know as the

"Laws of Nature".

Generally, they are known as the Dhyan Chohans, through each of the various groups has its own

designation in the Secret Doctrine.

This stage of evolution is spoken of in Hindu mythology as the "Creation of the Gods".

Stanza -5- describes the process of world-formation. First,diffused Cosmic Matter, then the "Fiery

Whirlwind", the first stage in the formation of a nebula. This nebula condenses, and after passing through

various transformations, form a Solar Universe, a Planetary Chain, or a single Planet, as the case may

be.

Stanza -6- indicates the subsequent stages in the formation of a "World", and brings the evolution of

such a World down to its fourth great period, corresponding to the period in which we are now living.

Stanza -7- continues the history, tracing the descent of life down to the appearance of Man; and thus

closes the First Book of the Secret Doctrine.

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