Theos-Talk Archives (January 2011 Message tt00165)

Dear friends

My views are:



A bit more info about FOHAT could be important.
I will quote from Blavatsky and insert a few comments of my own based on my own views about the teaching.

Fohat is mentioned by Blavatsky as Pho-hat (perhaps also a distortion of Pho-ba or Pho-pa ) and Daiviprakriti, primordial light.
This Pho-hat is known by the author (Richard P. Taylor) to be - phro-wa or spros-pa. And Spros-pa is equivalent of PrapaÃca.  PrapaÃca is said by Richard P. Taylor to be "the mental fabrication of dualistic consciousness which literally creates the world as the non-enlightened perceiver experiences it. In seeing the activity of dualistic consciousness on a cosmic scale, HPB sees prapaÃca as many Tantric texts do."

With this in mind I will forward the following quotes by Blavatsky, seeking to explain what this "mental fabrication" really is.
All the below is of course only my views. And I do not claim to be infallible.

- - - - - -


*** 1 ***

"Sea of Fire"  or FOHAT as Kundalini, the light of the Unmanifested Logos etc.

H. P. Blavatsky wrote:
"The "Sea of Fire" is then the Super-Astral (i.e., noumenal) Light, the first radiation from the Root, the Mulaprakriti, the undifferentiated Cosmic Substance, which becomes Astral Matter. It is also called the "Fiery Serpent," as above described."
.......
"The ancients represented it by a serpent, for "Fohat hisses as he glides hither and thither" (in zigzags). The Kabala figures it with the Hebrew letter Teth , whose symbol is the serpent which played such a prominent part in the Mysteries. "
.......

"  It is through Fohat that the ideas of the Universal Mind are impressed upon matter. Some faint idea of the nature of Fohat may be gathered from the appellation "Cosmic Electricity" sometimes applied to it; but to the commonly known properties of electricity must, in this case, be added others, including intelligence. It is of interest to note that modern science has come to the conclusion, that all cerebration and brain-activity are attended by electrical phenomena. (For further details as to "Fohat" See Stanza V. and Comments.")"
(The Secret Doctrine. vol. I, p. 76 + 85, 1888 edition)


M. Sufilight says:
So my dear reader - you are totally imersed in Fohat, no matter what you do!
(Smile.)

 
*** 2 ***
FOHAT as Divine Love and Electricity etc.

H. P. Blavatsky wrote:
"This shows the "Primordial Seven" using for their Vahan (vehicle, or the manifested subject which becomes the symbol of the Power directing it), Fohat, called in consequence, the "Messenger of their will" â the fiery whirlwind.
   "Dzyu becomes Fohat" â the expression itself shows it. Dzyu is the one real (magical) knowledge, or Occult Wisdom; which, dealing with eternal truths and primal causes, becomes almost omnipotence when applied in the right direction."
........
" Fohat, being one of the most, if not the most important character in esoteric Cosmogony, should be minutely described. As in the oldest Grecian Cosmogony, differing widely from the later mythology, Eros is the third person in the primeval trinity: Chaos, GÃa, Eros: answering to the Kabalistic En-Soph (for Chaos is SPACE, Caino , "void") the Boundless ALL, Shekinah and the Ancient of Days, or the Holy Ghost; so Fohat is one thing in the yet unmanifested Universe and another in the phenomenal and Cosmic World. In the latter, he is that Occult, electric, vital power, which, under the Will of the Creative Logos, unites and brings together all forms, giving them the first impulse which becomes in time law. But in the unmanifested Universe, Fohat is no more this, than Eros is the later brilliant winged Cupid, or LOVE. Fohat has naught to do with Kosmos yet, since Kosmos is not born, and the gods still sleep in the bosom of "Father-Mother." He is an abstract philosophical idea. He produces nothing yet by himself; he is simply that potential creative power in virtue of whose action the NOUMENON of all future phenomena divides, so to speak, but to reunite in a mystic supersensuous act, and emit the creative ray. When the "Divine Son" breaks forth, then Fohat becomes the propelling force, the active Power which causes the ONE to become TWO and THREE â on the Cosmic plane of manifestation. The triple One differentiates into the many, and then Fohat is transformed into that force which brings together the elemental atoms and makes them aggregate and combine."
.......
" In his secondary aspect, Fohat is the Solar Energy, the electric vital fluid,* and the preserving fourth principle, the animal Soul of Nature, so to say, orâElectricity."
.......
"Fohat, in his capacity of DIVINE LOVE (Eros), the electric Power of affinity and sympathy,"
.......
"Thus in the Esotericism of the Vedantins, Daiviprakriti, the Light manifested through Eswara, the Logos, â is at one and the same time the Mother and also the Daughter of the Logos or Verbum of Parabrahmam; while in that of the trans-Himalayan teachings it isâin the hierarchy of allegorical and metaphysical theogonyâ"the MOTHER" or abstract, ideal matter, Mulaprakriti, the Root of Nature;âfrom the metaphysical standpoint, a correlation of Adi-BhÃta, manifested in the Logos, AvalokitÃshwÃra;âand from the purely occult and Cosmical, Fohat,* the "Son of the Son," the androgynous energy resulting from this "Light of the Logos," and which manifests in the plane of the objective Universe as the hidden, as much as the revealed, Electricityâwhich is LIFE."

(The Secret Doctrine. vol. I, p. 108 + 109, 112, 119, 136 , 1888 edition)
_______


M. Sufilight says:
Now we can, as I read the above and elsewhere, conclude that Fohat is the essence of Cosmic Electricity, Daivi-Prakriti, the "fiery whirlwind", LIFE, the Kundalini serpent, Dzyu (the one real (magical) knowledge, Occult Wisdom). 

As I see it, we can also conclude that Foaht is one thing in the Manifested world as the Light of Logos, while pervading the planes and something else in the Unmanifested. There Fohat is the essence of Cosmic Electricity, the reflection from Mulaprakriti (Mulaprakriti+Parabrahm  is viewed even by Logos as Mulaprakriti, SD. vol. I, p.273), the Light of the Unmanifested Logos, the First Logos. - Yet Fohat is both electricity pervading all planes manifested and unmanifested, but also LOVE or Compassion-force in another aspect, and Life-force in another aspect, and Occult Wisdom (or its force) in a fourth aspect etc. I would say, that it is the force or energy in all binding all aspects together. The "fire" or energy. - It is also the intellectual energy of the Logos, (SD. vol. I, p. 137) - as well as its Light. It is the one instrument with which the Logos works. Manifested or unmanifested. Fohat is ordinarily understood as manifested by the Esoteric Seekers. Since the Fohat in the Unmanifested is not ordinarily reached by the incarnated human. "The whole Kosmos must necessarily exist in the One Source of energy from which this light (Fohat) emanates." 
......
"* "Fohat" has several meanings. (See Stanza V., Commentary et infra). He is called the "Builder of the Builders," the Force that he personifies having formed our Septenary chain."
(Sd. Vol. I, p. 139)

This Electricity resides in the innermost chamber of the spiritual heart of each human being. The center of compassion. (See "The Voice of Silence", by Blavatsky; footnote 22 + 24, and page 10 - 1889 edition)





*** 3 ***

FOHAT as Kundalini in the innermost chamber of the spiritual heart etc.


>From The Voice of Silence by Blavatsky:
"Let not thy "Heaven-born," merged in the sea of Maya, break from the Universal Parent (SOUL), but let the fiery power retire into the inmost chamber, the chamber of the Heart (23) and the abode of the World's Mother (24). 
Then from the heart that Power shall rise into the sixth, the middle region, the place between thine eyes, when it becomes the breath of the ONE-SOUL, the voice which filleth all, thy Master's voice. 

'Tis only then thou canst become a "Walker of the Sky" (25) who treads the winds above the waves, whose step touches not the waters."
......
"(23). [(22) second] The inner chamber of the Heart, called in Sanskrit Brahma poori. The "fiery power" is Kundalini.

(24). The "Power" and the "World-mother" are names given to Kundalini â one of the mystic "Yogi powers." It is Buddhi considered as an active instead of a passive principle (which it is generally, when regarded only as the vehicle, or casket of the Supreme Spirit ATMA). It is an electro-spiritual force, a creative power which when aroused into action can as easily kill as it can create. "
http://www.phx-ult-lodge.org/Avoice%20of.htm#n23


M. Sufilight says:
This elecricity is therefore as I understand it EROS or the LOVE force - or Compassion-energy on various levels. Compassion-Kundalini is perhaps a better word, yet it can also operate destructively. Now I am not pretending to be an expert in Sanskrit and Tibetan, but I find by inner vibrationary understanding that the word Fohat is expressed in sound like the hissing of a serpent and the sound of the fiery sparks in the bonfire, and like electrical sounds. It is the propelling sound-force it self in the Universe, as I understand it. It is the "Fiery Whirlwind" of the spiral-galaxy with its arms in the universe, it is the sound of rotation of the Earth.

_______

*** 4 ***
More on Fohat?

CROSS AND FIRE
(by Blavatsky, written 1879)
"Perhaps the most widespread and universal among the symbols in the old astronomical systems, which have passed down the stream of time to our century, and have left traces everywhere in the Christian religion as elsewhereâare the Cross and the Fireâthe latter, the emblem of the Sun. The ancient Aryans had them both as the symbols of Agni. Whenever the ancient Hindu devotee desired to worship Agniâsays Ã. Burnoufââhe arranged two pieces of wood in the form of a cross, and, by a peculiar whirling and friction obtained fire for his sacrifice. As a symbol, it is called Svastika, and, as an instrument manufactured out of a sacred tree and in possession of every Brahmin, it is known as Arani. "
......
"Light, and Heat, represented by the terrestrial fire. So much, again, for physics and chemistry, for the field of analogies is boundless, and Universal Laws are immutable and identical in their outward and inward applications. Without intending to be disrespectful to anyone, or to wander far away from truth, we think we may say that there are strong reasons to believe that in their original sense the Christian Cross, as the cause, and Eternal torment by Hell Fireâas the direct effect of negation of the formerâhave more to do with these two ancient symbols than our Western theologians are prepared to admit. If Fire is the Deity with some heathens, so in the Bible, God is likewise the Life and the Light of the World; if the Holy Ghost and Fire cleanse and purify the Christian, on the other hand Lucifer is also Light, and called the âSon of the morning star.â*
Turn wherever we will, we are sure to find these conjoint relics of ancient worship with almost every nation and people. From the Aryans, the Chaldaeans, the Zoroastrians, Peruvians, Mexicans, Scandinavians, Celts, and ancient Greeks and Latins, it has descended in its completeness to the modern Parsi. The Phoenician Cabiri and the Greek Dioscuri are partially revived in every temple, cathedral, and village church; while, as will now be shown, the Christian Bulgarians have even preserved the sun worship in full."

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v2/y1879_031.htm


M. Sufilight says:
I will now conclude that Blavatsky mentioned precisely what Fohat was. And that she wrote a whole lot about it (Fohat as heat, fire, electricity, force, life, kundalini, LOVE, energy etc.). She did not forward it in a so to speak systemic manner, but rather in a manner operating and aimed at provoking the theosophical experience and esoteric intuition in the readers - This can be compared with an intellectual provokation given in systemic presentations. And she forwarded it seeking a synthesis between various cultures and worldviews teachings on it. The book was as it is stated not for beginner-Seekers.

_______


*** 5 ***

Alice A. Bailey on Fohat etc.
(A short comment)

Some Seekers turn to other - authors for inspiration, most often later ones, who more or less have copied Blavatsky's teachings on Fohat etc. In Alice A. Bailey's books some Seekers think they find the real teachings expanded upon in Alice A. Bailey's claimed successor to the Secret Doctrine given by Blavatsky - namely the book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. On top of that we find Alice A. Bailey claims that it is the Psychological Key to the Secret Doctrine - a book mentioned to be given by a person who would be far better fitted to promote the theosophical teachings - while giving irrefutable proof on the science on Gupta-Vidya (ie. the Divine within each human). My view is, that: In it one will by careful studying find - only little extra information. An interesting difference is however, that Alice A. Bailey have written a systemic presentation of what Fohat is (See for instance A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 43, 628, 1187). She however changes (to a certain extend) the terminology given by Blavatsky and the Master M and KH. (Terminology aught esoterically to be dermined from vibratory angles and levels (ie. Levels) of Knowledge, and levels of precognition). Yet, it is, as I see it, not without a strange odeour of Christian flavour attached to it from time to time.

The following should raise some eyebrows among the Esoteric Seekers about what Fohat is. Fohat is here called God by Alice A. Bailey (and her Master D.K.):
"Fohat, or electricity, is an Entity.
* He is the primordial electric Entity S. D., 1, 105.
* He is Will S. D., 1, 136.
* He is Love-Wisdom S. D, 1, 100, 144, 155.
* He is Active Intelligence S. D., 1, 136.
* Therefore He is God S. D., 1, 167.
* He is the sumtotal of the energy of the seven Spirits, Who are the sumtotal of the Logos. S. D., 1, 169."
( A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 69, footnote 23)

Now this reference is as always in Alice A. Bailey's books not to the first edition of the Secret Doctrine but to the third and revised edition of the Secret Doctrine given in 1893. But Alice A. Bailey and her so-called Master D.K. omits telling about this. And we can only wonder why.
A mutilating and distorting version this third and revised edition form 1893 is. It was created by Annie Besant and G.R.S. Mead and others - It contains hundreds of alterations and distortions from the original given by Blavatsky and the Masters Morya and KH. And in various Mahatma Letters and therefore documented by the Masters - it is said, that the original first edition of The Secret Doctrine was given by them in coorporation with Blavatsky - something also mentioned by Blavatsky in more than one private paper to A. P. Sinnett and others.

If one seeks out the reference in the above on whether Fohat is God in S.D. Vol. 1, p. 167 (of course in the third and revised edition form 1893 - because the 1888 edition gives absolutely nothing making sense) - then one finds the following:
"Therefore, the elements of our planet cannot be taken as a standard 
for comparison with the elements in other worlds. In fact each world 
has its Fohat, which is omnipresent in its own sphere of action. But 
there are as many Fohats as there are worlds, each varying in power 
and degree of manifestation. The individual Fohats make one uni- 
versal, collective Fohat â the aspect-entity of the one absolute Non- 
Entity". which is absolute Be-ness. Sat."
(Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1, p. 167 - third and revised edition by Besant and Mead in 1893 - It is p. 143 in the 1888, first edition)

There is no mentioning of the word "God" as given in the third edition reference in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A. Bailey. And the sex-less Fohat is appearntly here turned into a "He" and a giant male.
And we wonder why such a emphasis on a word (God) so misunderstood is necessary. Because the Master and Blavatsky was very precise in the writing of the book the Secret Doctrine.

An example on this is by her friend Constance Wachtmeister:
"One day during this time, when I walked into HPB's writing room, I found the floor strewn with sheets of discarded manuscript. I asked the meaning of this scene of confusion, and she replied, "Yes, I have tried twelve times to write this one page correctly, and each time Master says it is wrong. I will not pause until I have conquered it, even if I have to go on all night."
I brought a cup of coffee to refresh and sustain her, and then left her to prosecute the weary task. An hour later I heard her voice calling me, and on entering found that, at last, the passage was completed to satisfaction, but the labor had been terrible, and the results were often at this time small and uncertain."
(Reminiscences of H.P. Blavatsky, Chapter 5, p. 32)

And we learn that Alice A. Bailey in her first book "Inititation - Human and Solar" written before A Treatise of Cosmic Fire, that it in fact surprise, surprise was Master D.K. who "dictated a large part of that momentous book The Secret Doctrine" (p. 58) and this was asserted in later books by Alice A. Bailey without any credit given to Blavatsky, Morya and KH. Maybe Alice A. Bailey are referring to the thrid and revised edition of the Secret Doctrine given by Annie Besant and GRS Mead - because she so often refer to this version in the book in mention - and as far as I know never to the first original edition given by Blavatsky and the Masters.

Fohat is with other words according to Blavatsky the Solar Energy, and the essence of Cosmic Electricity being reflected from Mula-Prakriti/Parabrahm and operating as the propelling force activating the Unmanifested Logos and the Cosmic Ideation of time and evolution, which make the germ manifest and the manifested Logos come forward.

_________

*** 6 ***

TWO IMPORTANT DIAGRAMS on HPB's Dzyan Stanzas teachings:

Se the overview Diagrams by H. P. Blavatsky and Master K.H. here.
Master KH's diagram should be connected with Blavatsky at the "Unmanifested Logos".
( Have a look at the two IMPORTANT diagrams in the links provided here:
Master KH's diagram: http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/images/est2.jpg
HPB's diagram p. 524:
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v12/y1890_053.htm )

These diagrams might be helpful to understand the Secret Doctrine more easily.



All of the above are however just my views.
Others might have other views.


M. Sufilight


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: M. Sufilight 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2011 9:17 AM
  Subject: Re: theos-talk FOHAT in Tibetan Dictonaries - by Richard P. Taylor


    
  Yes.
  But be aware of the fact that the forum are moderated and that your posts might be deleted from time to time without prior warning.

  M. Sufilight

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: MKR 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2011 8:15 AM
  Subject: Re: theos-talk FOHAT in Tibetan Dictonaries - by Richard P. Taylor

  There has been some discussions on Fohat at theosophy.net. David Reigle,
  a well known theosophist and researcher in original Samskrit and Tibetan has
  some contributions there.

  On Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 10:19 PM, John W <JohnWW@QEnUJF0oVOKVA0nX_k4X2beuW7yX6qRwc-gEgpDZtjj_E64EBMTkEVKfepZEfJcw9wwHp24L0xwbyEQ.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

  >
  >
  > Thanks for the info re "fohat". The complete pages of Taylor's "Blavatsky
  > And Buddhism" (1999, University of California Berkeley) can be downloaded as
  > a series of linked HTML pages, from the links on this main URL:
  > http://www.blavatsky.net/forum/taylor/tibetanSources1.htm .
  > However, it has not yet been made into a PDF or CHM or DOC file.
  >
  > John W.
  >
  > --- On Sun, 16/1/11, M. Sufilight <global-theosophy@lwv5iv6ntV8ELyHKAUGeQYioNoFXtxp4a2FH2arfsYDCT4hV7vw7-doiB8dzHbhlwRv8iFuI7cjX3ZsECXJDbz85sNTjsA.yahoo.invalid<global-theosophy%40stofanet.dk>>
  > wrote:
  > From: M. Sufilight <global-theosophy@lwv5iv6ntV8ELyHKAUGeQYioNoFXtxp4a2FH2arfsYDCT4hV7vw7-doiB8dzHbhlwRv8iFuI7cjX3ZsECXJDbz85sNTjsA.yahoo.invalid<global-theosophy%40stofanet.dk>
  > >
  > Subject: theos-talk FOHAT in Tibetan Dictonaries - by Richard P. Taylor
  > To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com <theos-talk%40yahoogroups.com>
  > Date: Sunday, 16, January, 2011, 12:12 PM
  >
  >
  >
  >
  > Dear friends
  >
  > My views are:
  >
  > The following page by Taylor written in 1999 might be of interest to some
  > Seekers after truth and altruism:
  >
  > Blavatsky and Buddhism
  >
  > Chapter Two: Blavatsky and 'Esoteric Buddhism'
  >
  > "Fohat
  >
  > Blavatsky first writes of this term in 1885 while discussing the several
  > souls in Chinese philosophy: "At death the hwan [hun] or spiritual soul
  > wanders away, ascending, and the pho [p'o] (the root of the Tibetan word
  > Pho-hat) descends and is changed into a ghostly shade (the shell)." (32)
  > Afterwards, however, she consistently spells the term as Fohat. In her
  > posthumous Theosophical Glossary, (1892) HPB writes,
  >
  > Fohat (Tib.) A term used to represent the active (male) potency of the
  > Sakti (female reproductive power) in nature. The essence of cosmic
  > electricity. An occult Tibetan term for Daiviprakriti, primordial light; and
  > in the universe of manifestation the ever-present electrical energy and
  > ceaseless destructive and formative power.(33)
  >
  > Of course there is no mention of a Sanskrit Daiviprakriti in any Sanskrit
  > texts, even today-another mystery term. But the connection between Fohat and
  > primordial light is an important one to keep in mind. In her occult
  > cosmogony, The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky elaborates,
  >
  > He is, metaphysically, the objectivised thought of the gods; the "Word made
  > flesh," on a lower scale, and the messenger of Cosmic and human ideations:
  > the active force in Universal Life.â In India, Fohat is connected with
  > Vishnu and Surya in the early character of the (first) God; for Vishnu is
  > not a high god in the Rig Veda. The name Vishnu is from the root vish, "to
  > pervade," and Fohat is called the "Pervader" and the Manufacturer, because
  > he shapes the atoms from crude material..(34)
  >
  > The spelling of this 'Fohat' misled Theosophists for over a century, but I
  > have now identified it as the Tibetan verb '2ÃâÃ3 ('phro-wa) and/or the noun
  > form cuâ/Ã (spros-pa). These two terms are listed in JÃschke's Tibetan
  > English Dictionary (1881) but with inadequate translations. For the verb
  > form 'phro-wa, JÃschke gives "to proceed, issue, emanate from, to spread, in
  > most cases from rays of light â"(35) while for the noun spros-pa he gives
  > "business, employment, activity."(36) JÃschke's definition of the verb
  > certainly corresponds well with one sense of HPB's definition, that of
  > "pervading" like Vishnu, but leaves untouched the mental and creative
  > aspects of the term. But a comprehensive search of 20th century Tibetan
  > dictionaries, word lists and Sanskrit translations has turned up a wealth of
  > information that would appear to validate HPB's understanding of a cosmic,
  > psycho-creative force. Most importantly, Lokesh Chandra in his
  > Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary, gives for spros-pa several Sanskrit
  > equivalents, including 1. sarga 2. prapaÃca. According to the most
  > authoritative Sanskrit dictionary, that of Monier-Williams, Sarga is defined
  > as "Emission or creation of matter, primary creation â creation of the world
  > (as opposed to its pralaya, 'dissolution,' and sthiti, 'maintainence in
  > existence')."(37) From the same source, we find PrapaÃca: "Expansion,
  > development, manifestations (MÃË?Âkya Upani?ad) â (in philosophy) the
  > expansion of the universe, the visible world (cited in Upani?ads; Kapila's
  > SÃÂkhya-pravacana; SarvardarÃana-saÂgraha)." But in Buddhist philosophy,
  > prapaÃca is much more than this: it is the mental fabrication of dualistic
  > consciousness which literally creates the world as the non-enlightened
  > perceiver experiences it. In seeing the activity of dualistic consciousness
  > on a cosmic scale, HPB sees prapaÃca as many Tantric texts do. This
  > 'Tantric'
  > worldview will be investigated more fully in chapter three."
  >
  > http://www.blavatsky.net/forum/taylor/tibetanSources9.htm
  >
  > M. Sufilight
  >
  >
  >
  > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  >
  > 
  >

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