Adi
Adi (devanāgarī: आदि, ādi) is a Sanskrit word meaning "first, beginning, primeval." It is frequently use to talk about the primordial Buddha (Adi-Buddha), primordial wisdom Adi-Buddhi, the primeval ancient one Adi-Sanat,[1] the first cause Adi-Nidana,[2], adi-shakti (primeval force),[3] and the first Principle (Tattva#Adi-Tattva).[4]
More specifically, the word "Adi" is related to the primordial man:
Âdi is the generic name in our Doctrine of all the first men, i.e, the first speaking races, in each of the seven zones––hence probably “Ad-am.” And such first men, in every nation, are credited with having been taught the divine mysteries of creation.[5]
As suggested in the previous quote, Blavatsky asserts that the name "Adam" for the first man comes from a root used universally in different traditions:
The words Ad and Adi mean in Sanskrit “the first”; in Aramæan, “One” (Ad-ad, “the only one”); in Assyrian, “father” whence Ak-Ad or “father-creator.” And once the statement is found correct it becomes rather difficult to confine Adam to the Mosaic Bible alone, and to see therein simply a Jewish name.[6]
Notes
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 10.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 612.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 175.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 42.