“This Magnus Limbus, then, or Yliaster of Paracelsus, is simply our old friend “Father-Mother,” within, before it appeared in Space… It is the universal matrix of Kosmos, personified in the dual character of Macro- and Microcosm (or the Universe and our Globe)** by Aditi-Prakriti, the Spiritual and the physical nature. For we find it explained in Paracelsus that “the Magnus Limbus is the nursery out of which all creatures have grown, in the same sense as a tree grows out of a small seed; with the difference, however, that the great Limbus takes its origin from the Word, while the Limbus minor (the terrestrial seed or sperm) takes it from the earth. The great Limbus is the seed out of which all beings have come, and the little Limbus is each ultimate being that reproduces its form, and that has itself been produced by the ‘great.’ The latter possesses all the qualifications of the great one, in the same sense as a son has an organization similar to that of his father.” (See Comment. Book II. para. iii.) . . . “As Yliaster dissolved, Ares, the dividing, differentiating, and individualising power (Fohat, another old friend,) . . . began to act. All production took place in consequence of separation. There were produced out of the Ideos, the elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth, whose birth, however, did not take place in a material mode, or by simple separation,” but by spiritual and dynamical, not even complex, combinations — e.g., mechanical mixture as opposed to chemical combination — just as fire may come out of a pebble, or a tree out of a seed, although there is originally no fire in the pebble, nor a tree in the seed. Spirit is living, and Life is Spirit, and Life and Spirit (Prakriti Purusha) (?) produce all things, but they are essentially one and not two. . . . The elements too, have each one its own Yliaster, because all the activity of matter in every form is only an effluvium of the same fount. But as from the seed grow the roots with their fibres, and after that the stalk with its branches and leaves, and lastly the flowers and seeds; likewise all beings were born from the elements, and consist of elementary substances out of which other forms may come into existence, bearing the characteristics of their parents.” (“This doctrine, preached 300 years ago,” remarks the translator, “is identical with the one that has revolutionized modern thought, after having been put into new shape and elaborated by Darwin. It was still more elaborated by Kapila in the Sankhya philosophy”) . . . . The elements as the mothers of all creatures are of an invisible, spiritual nature, and have souls.* They all spring from the “Mysterium Magnum.” (Philosophia ad Athenienses.)
Prakriti and the Three Gunas
“Prakriti does all action. It is the Gunas that operate. Owing to ignorance the body is mistaken for the Self. Egoism of man asserts at every step, nay, at every second. Just as the motion of the clouds is falsely attributed to the sun, so also the movements of the body and the Indriyas are falsely attributed to the Self. The Self is always silent and is the witness of all actions. He is Nishkriya or Akarta. You will find in the Gita: “All actions are wrought by the qualities born of nature only. The self, deluded by egoism, thinketh: ‘I am the doer.’ But he, O mighty-armed, who knoweth the essence of the divisions of the qualities and functions, holding that the qualities move amid the qualities, is not attached.” Ch. III-27, 28.” — Swami Sivananda
“Prakriti or Nature is that state in which the three Gunas exist in a state of equilibrium. When this equilibrium is disturbed, creation begins and the body, senses and mind are formed. The man who is deluded by egoism identifies the Self with the body, mind, the life-force and the senses, and ascribes to the Self all the attributes of the body and the senses. In reality the Gunas of nature perform all actions.” — Swami Sivananda
“Whosoever wants to be born again, whosoever wants to achieve Final Liberation, must eliminate the three Gunas of the Prakriti from their nature.” – Samael Aun Weor, The Esoteric Treatise of Hermetic Astrology
Prakriti or Pradhana
“‘Prakriti’ means that which is primary, that which precedes what is made. It comes from ‘Pra’ (before) and ‘Kri’ (to make). It resembles the Vedantic Maya. It is the one root of the universe. It is called Pradhana or the chief, because all effects are founded on it and it is the root of the universe and of all objects. Pradhana or Prakriti is eternal, all-pervading, immovable. It is one. It has no cause, but is the cause of all effects. Prakriti is independent and uncaused, while the products are caused and dependent. Prakriti depends only on the activity of its own constituent Gunas (metaphysical properties). […] Prakriti is the basis of all objective existence. Prakriti does not create for itself. All objects are for the enjoyment of the spirit or soul. Prakriti creates only when it comes into union with Purusha, like a crystal vase with a flower. This work is done for the emancipation of each soul. As it is the function of milk to nourish the calf, so it is the function of Prakriti to liberate the soul.” — Swami Sivananda
Three Modes of the Prakriti
“…during the mahamanvantara [cosmic day], as a consequence of the activity of the first, second and third Logoi, the Prakriti expands and builds up from herself in three aspects. The three modes of the Prakriti are: first, the Unmanifested Prakriti; second, the Prakriti in nature; third, the Prakriti as queen of the infernos and death.” —Samael Aun Weor