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THE SECRET DOCTRINE

THE SYNTHESIS OF

SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND PHILOSOPHY

BY

H. P. BLAVATSKY

Author of Isis Unveiled

सत्यात् नास्ति परो धर्मः ।

"There is no Religion Higher than Truth"

VOLUME I

COSMOGENESIS

SECOND POINT LOMA EDITION

THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL PRESS
POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA

1917

KG 130561, 1),

HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIPPARY
JAN 31 19.2

"Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1888, by H. P. Blavatsky, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.”

This Work

I Dedicate to all True Theosophists,

In Every Country,

And of Every Race,

For they called it forth, and for them it was recorded.

FOREWORD

THE SECRET DOCTRINE is justly to be regarded as one of the crowning achievements of H. P. Blavatsky's life, and more and more of the best thinkers of today, scientists, deep students of life and nature, are coming to look upon it as the most marvelous work that has appeared in the English language; but while some openly speak of their indebtedness to it, many more study it in secret and draw upon its vast stores of knowledge for teachings which they give out as their own. Its ideas are permeating the thought-atmosphere of the world, and many of its teachings which at the time of the first edition called forth hostile criticism and denial, have already received ample corroboration by the scientific researches of the past twenty years.

In 1885, when beginning the writing of this great work, H. P. Blavatsky said that it would receive recognition in the XXth Century, “when men will begin to understand and discuss this book intelligently." No one who has watched the current of events and has kept touch with the religious and scientific thought of the past thirty years, can fail to note changes and developments, in many cases amounting to a complete revolution of ideas, that are without parallel in history. What has been the cause of this? What new and powerful influence has entered the arena of human life, producing results in a few years such as could not have occurred, under former conditions, in centuries? The experiences of ten years, as our forefathers knew time, are crowded into one. What is it that has caused this? What has been the influence at work? It is the closing of one cycle and the opening of another, and with it came Theosophy: the teaching which H. P. Blavatsky has given to the world partly in THE SECRET DOCTRINE; in part in Isis Unveiled; and in part in her other writings for the public and for her students.

Amid the flickering lights of the innumerable theories of self-styled teachers of "Occultism," pseudo-Oriental practices, and psychism; amid the jangling of creeds and the blind groping of scientific theories, Theosophy alone stands unmoved, the Wisdom-Religion of the ages; not as a theory, not as a supposition or a mere working hypothesis, but as a body of teaching that has been handed down throughout the whole life-history of man, and whose statements have been verified by the Sages of all times. Like a great beacon it sheds its light over heartsick humanity which cries out in the darkness of its despair, asking ever Why? Why? Why all this awful suffering, why the perplexities, the injustices of life? asking questions regarding man, his origin, his destiny, and the purpose of life: the Riddle of the Universe.

Therefore it is that the issue of the first Point Loma edition of THE SECRET DOCTRINE is an event of significance and importance, and marks one of the chapters in the history of the Theosophical Movement. Originally dedicated to all true Theosophists in every country and of every race, "for they called it

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