The Secret Doctrine for the 21st Century
Steven H. Levy
Sun God images from Hindu (left) Christian (center) and Ancient Roman traditions
Easter is the time of resurrection of all nature in the spring of Northern Hemisphere. For Christians it is a time to reverently celebrate the resurrection of their savior. The earliest depictions of Christ show him with a solar orb radiating above his head, identifying him as a sun god. It is natural for Christians to identify the resurrection of their savior with the sun which seems to awaken in the spring in all its glory after the “death” of winter, in the northern region of the globe. 
In the Vishnu Purana, Book I, the Hindu savior is reverently invoked:
“Glory to the unchangeable, holy, eternal Supreme Vishnu, of one universal nature, the mighty over all;…to Vishnu the cause of final emancipation, the cause of creation, existence, the end of the world; who the root of the world, and who consists of the world.”
The Hindus also associate their savior with the sun and declare that the sun is of a sevenfold nature. It is written in the Vishnu Purana, Book II, Chap. XI:
“Vishnu, in the form of his active energy, never either rises or sets, and is, at once, the sevenfold Sun and distinct from it.” 
In the “Summing Up” section of “The Secret Doctrine” an extract from a private commentary, previously secret, discloses some of the real Hindu ideas on the nature of the sun, which are said to be esoteric.
As the matter of our Solar System is septenary and graduated into seven degrees of density, the Sun, the central star of our system, is also sevenfold in nature. However, as the universe is sevenfold, it should be understood that all central stars of solar systems, are sevenfold. The objective physical sun that we see is composed in its substance of the lowest state of matter of our system. Therefore, it is a reflection of the “real sun”, the universal Presence which is the first manifestation of the ever unmanifested One Absolute All. The substance of the real concealed sun is the seventh and highest of our system. It is the germ, egg or nucleus of undifferentiated primordial substance which is the heart of all the existing forces in our solar system. As the heart pumps and circulates blood throughout the body, the sevenfold forces of nature proceed from the solar heart and spread throughout the entire sevenfold solar system, only to return to the concealed sun on the highest plane.
According to the Esoteric Philosophy, the real hidden sun is the Christos principle within the “inner man” or concealed immortal Ego. It is possible for every human being to find the light of his inner higher self which becomes the creator and preserver of immortal life in spirit, as well as the destroyer of illusion and regenerator of true spiritual knowledge in the mind. Vishnu, the real hidden sun, that can never be seen, is the savior within, the “cause of final emancipation” and “liberator” of his devotees.
At Easter time we are reminded that the power and wisdom inherent to the One Self in each and all, is potentially available to every human being regardless of their race, creed, sex or condition. This special time in the yearly cycle also serves to remind us that, like the sun, every Theosophist can be a center in their little solar system from which proceeds spiritual influence and wisdom for the benefit of all.
NOTES BY THE EDITORS OF
OUR ASSOCIATED WEBSITES:
 Life is symmetrical: in the Southern Hemisphere, the “springtime” brought by Easter must be inner and occult, for externally it is autumn in the South. Every springtime brings with it the secret promise of a future autumn. Winter contains the seeds of summer, and summer, those of winter. (CCA)
 “The Secret Doctrine”, Helena P. Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 1982, Vol. I, p. 290 fn. See also the edition of “The Secret Doctrine”, prepared by Boris de Zirkoff and published by the TPH in 1979 (same page). (CCA)
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