The Secret Doctrine

The first proposition is that there is one underlying, unconditioned, indivisible Truth, variously called "the Absolute," "the Unknown Root," "the One Reality," etc. It is causeless and timeless, and therefore unknowable and non-describable: "It is 'Be-ness' rather than Being." However, transient states of matter and consciousness are manifested in IT, in an unfolding gradation from the subtlest to the densest, the final of which is physical plane. According to this view, manifest existence is a "change of condition" and therefore neither the result of creation nor a random event. Everything in the universe is informed by the potentialities present in the "Unknown Root," and manifest with different degrees of Life (or energy), Consciousness, and Matter. The second proposition is "the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow." Accordingly, manifest existence is an eternally re-occurring event on a "boundless plane" "'the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing, '" each one "standing in the relation of an effect as regards its predecessor, and being a cause as regards its successor," doing so over vast but finite periods of time. Related to the above is the third proposition: "The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul... and the obligatory pilgrimage for every Soul-a spark of the former-through the Cycle of Incarnation (or 'Necessity') in accordance with Cyclic and Karmic law, during the whole term." The individual souls are seen as units of consciousness (Monads) that are intrinsic parts of a universal oversoul, just as different sparks are parts of a fire. These Monads undergo a process of evolution where consciousness unfolds and matter develops. This evolution is not random, but informed by intelligence and with a purpose. Evolution follows distinct paths in accord with certain immutable laws, aspects of which are perceivable on the physical level. One such law is the law of periodicity and cyclicity; another is the law of karma or cause and effect.