Aditi

Wisdom Teachings
Sublime Beings

The Vedic wisdom illustrates cosmic principles in the form of narratives full of symbolic content. To those who know the essence the names and stories are revealed. But those who only know the names get confused.

The Sun of our system is described as an all-seeing eye, and there is also an all-seeing eye for the universe called the great seer Kashyapa. Kashyapa embodies the vault, the space in its potential form. In freemasonry, he is also known as the Great Architect of the universe. Kashyapa is the One who overviews the worlds; he remains an observer without interfering with the work of creation.

Kashyapa is said to have two wives, Diti and Aditi. Diti means the Mother of Darkness, Aditi non-darkness or the Mother of Light. Diti is the Queen of Night and of the west, Aditi the Queen of Day and of the east. In the wheel of the year, the two women are symbolically described as Cancer and Capricorn and Kashyapa as the arc between the two signs. Kashyapa gives his energy to the two women so that they can work in creation; he favours none. The whole creation is a fabric of the activity of these two mothers.

With Kashyapa, Aditi gave birth to 12 sons, the 12 Adityas. They were very powerful and radiant beings. Diti became jealous and also wanted children from Kashyapa. She approached him with this desire. He told her that it was just the twilight hour of the evening and not a good moment but she insisted: “I want more powerful children and greater in number than those of Aditi.” Kashyapa replied, “Let it be so.”

Diti gave birth to thousands of dark beings because they were born out of darkness. The children of Diti are called Sarpas, the crawling serpents. They move horizontally; they are the serpents of time and can bind the beings to matter for innumerable cycles of time. Immediately after their birth they dug holes into the ether and disappeared into the nether worlds.

The children of Aditi ascend vertically; they are the Devas, the beings of Light, the eagles. Through their presence, our soul wants to rise to the greatest heights; our body, however, says, “It is too difficult, better stay at home.” Postponing good habits belongs to our lower nature; it is under the control of the children of Diti, also called Daityas. It is their duty to strengthen the material side.

The Adityas are soft and carry the knowledge; they bring forth in us the divine qualities. The Daityas are hard and strong; they govern the activities of the night and of ignorance. Both come from the same source and keep on fighting with each other. This belongs to the essence of creation.

The members of Hierarchy do not fight with the darkness. They know that there cannot be a day without a night, no full moon without new moon, no expansion without consolidation. They know the purpose of darkness and lead the people even through dark times. The synthesis of wisdom sees how everything is and understands the creation as the play of the forces of Light and of Darkness and that the Lord equally loves both.

Sometimes in the game one side takes upper hand over the other and the equilibrium gets disturbed. When there is a serious disturbance, the Lord comes down into creation to restore the balance. Krishna said, “I come down again and again when there is disturbance to Dharma, the Law.” With our free will we decide if we turn to the energies of Light or of Darkness and this way either knowledge increases in us or ignorance.

In the Scriptures, Aditi is described as Mula Prakriti; in the Secret Doctrine she is referred to as the primordial substance. In the Old Testament she is called ‘the Deep’. She is the World Mother, the Mother of the Devas who bring creation to Light. It is said that the spirit in creation is covered by nine veils. The first veil is the primordial light, Aditi.

From out of this first veil of the Light, three other veils emerge, the trinity of the qualities of Will, Love and Activity. Then there are the veils of the five elements, which altogether form nine veils. They cause the differentiations of creation. On the spiritual path we slowly lift the veils to gain the spiritual perception. Thus, we recognize the Truth that all is one Spirit functioning in many bodies and in varied ways. THAT is the all-pervading Spirit. When we have realised this knowledge, we are in the world but not bound by it.

The experience of the apparent reality is created by the intelligences of darkness; they protect the phenomenon of creation. As long as we live in the five elements, their illusion is a reality for us: Even though we know that from out of Akasha, the space, the other four elements have emerged, we cannot drink matter or breathe water. Thus, the illusion allows us to live in creation. We know that we are all souls, no matter if we are man or woman. But husband and wife feel a special relation towards each other, also towards their children. And the children might be older souls than the parents. This apparent reality is created by the intelligences of darkness. We identify with our roles, and if we forget our original reality, the game of illusion becomes a solid reality.

Aditi is the invisible Light beyond which is also called Cosmic Fire and which is sung in the Purusha Sukta. It is only visible to those whose Ajna centre is open. What we generally see as light is a much later appearance. The Light of Aditi is the light of awareness. The cosmic energy of Aditi permeates space with 12 qualities of energy called the 12 Devas of radiation, the Adityas. They work as units of awareness through the 12 sun signs. It is always the same light but month after month it brings different qualities. The sun ray of Gemini has a different effect compared to that of the ray of Cancer. Through their light, which we cannot see, an Aditya approaches us. Each of the varied 12 lights contains again seven rays. Thus we get the number 84 which goes with Uranus. Uranus is also viewed as the greater Sun; his revolution around the Sun, through all the 12 sun signs, takes 84 years.

The Light beyond all darkness also exists in us as permeating awareness. From head to feet this awareness permeates and fills us and also goes beyond the body. It is also called Vishnu, the cosmic person, who is regarded as the first of the Adityas. “Among the Adityas, I am Vishnu”, says Lord Krishna: “Realise Me as this all fulfilling and perfusing consciousness in you!”

The 12 Adityas with their qualities are localised in our body as 12 potential points corresponding to the 12 sun signs. Through them their specific states of awareness unfold in us. These potential points are stimulated by a contemplation of these qualities focussed upon the Light.

The Sun of each solar system is a son of Aditi. Thus, Aditya also denotes the cosmic or spiritual Sun, from out of which 12 solar systems emerge. In us, the cosmic sun Aditya is the Sahasrara, the central sun, Savitri, the Ajna centre, and the visible sun, Surya, the heart centre, which distributes the Light.

Besides the Devas of radiation, the Adityas, there are the Devas of vibration called Rudras – they generate the pulsation in us – and the Vasus, the Devas of formation. Together with the twin gods, the Ashvins, the inseparable male-female principle, they are together 33 groups of Devas. All Devas also work in us. In us, there is the supra-cosmic, the cosmic, the solar and the planetary planes. There is nothing in creation which is not also in us. We should keep this in mind and try to cooperate with the Devas. The more they can express their qualities through us, the more the material radiates like a jewel. This fundamental Light is the light of Aditi.

Sources: K.P. Kumar: Sri Suktam. The Nature and Characteristics of the World Mother / notes from seminars. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India.