Ah-hi

The term Ah-hi, as such, is not found in any known language. According to H. P. Blavatsky it is a Senzar word related to the Sanskrit ahī (devanāgarī: अही) "snake", symbolizing “Wise Serpents” or "Dragons of Wisdom".

In the Theosophical literature, the Ah-hi are the highest Dhyāni-Chohans that appear on the scale of manifestation, to become the vehicles for the expression of the Universal Mind. They are seen as the seven primordial rays emanated from the Logos, and the source of all differentiated beings as they descend into the more and more material planes. Some synonyms used for them are "Primordial Seven" and "Dhyāni-Buddhas".

General description

Given the claim that the term "Ah-hi" is connected to the Sanskrit word for snake (ahī), David Reigle suggests that this term may be understood in connection with the Sanskrit word "nāga":

We may apply a rule for “ferreting out the deep significance of the ancient Sanskrit nomenclature” given by T. Subba Row in his article, “The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac,” namely, to “find the synonyms of the word used which have other meanings.” A widely used synonym of ahi is nāga, as in the name Nāgārjuna, famous for having received the Prajñā-pāramitā or “Perfection of Wisdom” scriptures from the Nāgas, the Serpents of Wisdom.

The Ah-hi are the highest Dhyanis that appear at the beginning of a manvantara. They "proceed from unity, and are the first of its seven rays". When they appear, they become the vehicles of the universal ideation, which continues throughout the Manvantara. As the Stanza I.3 states: "Universal Mind was not, for there were no Ah-hi to contain it". Mme. Blavatsky comments:

The AH-HI (Dhyan-Chohans) are the collective hosts of spiritual beings . . . who are the vehicles for the manifestation of the divine or universal thought and will. They are the Intelligent Forces that give to and enact in Nature her “laws,” while themselves acting according to laws imposed upon them in a similar manner by still higher Powers. . . . This hierarchy of spiritual Beings, through which the Universal Mind comes into action, is like an army—a “Host,” truly. . .

Although the Ah-hi are said to be the highest Dhyānis, Mme. Blavatsky mentions above "still higher Powers". The following dialogue was held regarding this with some of her students:

Q. What are the higher powers which condition the Ah-hi?

A. They cannot be called powers; power or perhaps Potentiality would be better. The Ah-hi are conditioned by the awakening into manifestation of the periodical, universal LAW, which becomes successively active and inactive. It is by this law that they are conditioned or formed, not created. "Created" is an impossible term to use in Philosophy.
Q. Then the power or Potentiality which precedes and is higher than the Ah-hi, is the law which necessitates manifestation.

A. Just so; periodical manifestation. When the hour strikes, the law comes into action, and the Ah-hi appear on the first rung of the ladder of manifestation.

The Ah-hi appear on the highest plane of manifestation and descend through all the planes, being transformed on each one:

The Ah-hi are the flame from which the rays stream forth, becoming more and more differentiated as they fall deeper into matter, until they finally reach this world of ours, with its teeming millions of inhabitants and sensuous beings, and then they become truly complex.

The "Ah-hi" pass through all the planes, beginning to manifest on the third. Like all other Hierarchies, on the highest plane they are arupa, i.e., formless, bodiless, without any substance, mere breaths. On the second plane, they first approach to Rupa, or form. On the third, they became Manasa-putras, those who became incarnated in men. With every plane they reach they are called by different names — there is a continual differentiation of their original homogeneous substance; we call it substance, although in reality it is no substance of which we can conceive. Later, they become Rupa — ethereal forms.

The difference between Manas and Buddhi in man is the same as the difference between the Manasa-putra and the Ah-hi in Kosmos.

Vehicles of the universal mind

As the Ah-hi appear, they become the vehicles for the Universal Ideation (coming from the Absolute Mind), manifesting the Universal Mind:

Q. The Commentary suggests that the Ah-hi are not themselves the Universal Mind, but only the vehicle for its manifestation.

A. The meaning of this sloka is, I think, very clear; it means that, as there are no finite differentiated minds during Pralaya, it is just as though there were no mind at all, because there is nothing to contain or perceive it. There is nothing to receive and reflect the ideation of the Absolute Mind; therefore, it is not. Everything outside of the Absolute and immutable Sat (Be-ness), is necessarily finite and conditioned, since it has beginning and end. Therefore, since the "Ah-hi were not," there was no Universal Mind as a manifestation. A distinction had to be made between the Absolute Mind, which is ever present, and its reflection and manifestation in the Ah-hi, who, being on the highest plane, reflect the universal mind collectively at the first flutter of Manvantara. After which they begin the work of evolution of all the lower forces throughout the seven planes, down to the lowest — our own. The Ah-hi are the primordial seven rays, or Logoi, emanated from the first Logos, triple, yet one in its essence.

Q. Then the Ah-hi and Universal Mind are necessary complements of one another?

A. Not at all: Universal or Absolute Mind always is during Pralaya as well as Manvantara; it is immutable. The Ah-hi are the highest Dhyanis, the Logoi as just said, those who begin the downward evolution, or emanation. During Pralaya there are no Ah-hi, because they come into being only with the first radiation of the Universal Mind, which, per se, cannot be differentiated, and the radiation from which is the first dawn of Manvantara. The Absolute is dormant, latent mind, and cannot be otherwise in true metaphysical perception; it is only Its shadow which becomes differentiated in the collectivity of these Dhyanis.

Their consciousness

The Ah-hi should not be thought of in an anthropomorphic way, as if they were self-conscious angels:

A man has free will and Ah-hi have none. They are obliged to act simultaneously, for the law under which they must act gives them the impulse. Free will can only exist in a Man who has both mind and consciousness, which act and make him perceive things both within and without himself. The “Ah-hi” are Forces, not human Beings.

This does not mean that they are blind or mechanical forces. They are "conscious in as far as they act within the universal consciousness". But they are beyond the concepts of personality, independent thought, etc., which appear only on a lower plane, with the Mānasaputras. As Mme. Blavatsky said, "the so-called “consciousness” of the Ah-hi, that consciousness cannot be judged by the standard of human perceptions. It is on quite another plane".

See also

• Primordial Seven
• Seven Rays

Additional resources

Articles

• Ah-hi and Ahi in the Writings of Blavatsky by Jon W. Fergus
• Ah-Hi in Theosophy World