Saturday, December 15, 2018
Sunday, December 9, 2018
The Kybalion
In my quest to uncover the mysteries, I recently read this book which is said to be the interpretation of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus. It describes seven principles that govern the universe and claims to be the source of much alchemical wisdom. I have been aware of the book for a while but did not feel inclined to read it until recently. In many respects, the information contained in it I have already come across elsewhere or intuited it for myself, such as the Law of Rhythm, which speaks of the inflow and outflow, the swing of the pendulum, the growth and decay of the seasons, the rise and fall of civilisations. This I felt for myself once, as I lay on the shore and surrendered to the gentle caress of the waves as they came and went.
In my mind's eye I have seen the Source, a light so bright, but so gentle, from which everything explodes outwards and then withdraws back into itself to repeat once more and over and over in a pulsating rhythm. This leads me to something I read in this book that was completely new for me. I have never heard it explained in this way until finding this book: that all of creation comes from the mind of the All.
The writers of the Kybalion refer to what many religious people call God as the ALL. The All, whose inner nature is unknowable. According to the writers, hermetic masters say The All is all there is, that there can be nothing outside of it, that it is infinite, immutable, absolute. They conclude that the All is Infinite Living Mind as compared to the finite living mind of man. That which the illumined souls call "spirit" which transcends our understanding.
When considering the nature of the universe the authors say that some philosophers declare that the All created the universe from Itself, from the being and substance of The All. But they say that this is impossible because the All cannot be subtracted from, nor divided, and if this were the case each particle would be aware of its being the All and that the All could not lose its knowledge of itself.
The authors say,
They explain the mystery by turning to the Principle of Correspondence, that of "As above so below, as below so above". When considering how man creates, they consider that he creates with his hands from outside materials, by procreation, and finally with his mind. This third one they conclude is the way in which the All creates because it requires no outside materials, of which there are none because the All is All there is. It requires no division or reproduction of itself which they declare to be impossible. Therefore the All must create mentally and that all the universes are a creation of its mind. Therefore, All is mind.
This was a shock to me for I was one of those silly men who believed themselves to be a part of God. In all of my searching and reading, the only explanation for where I had come from that made any sense to me was the one that said I was a spark of divinity, a tiny piece of God, that lived a temporary existence inside this fleshy body until it wore out. I was God seeing its existence through the senses of the person it had chosen to be in this life. I was one of an infinite number of beings that allows God to experience itself as a separate entity. To imagine that I am nothing but a figment of God's imagination is somewhat disconcerting. It requires some contemplation before I can accept or reject this new perspective.
But perhaps I am worrying about nothing. Does it really make any difference if I am an actual piece of God, or one of its mental creations? What is God made of anyway? What is real? Is God more substantial than the product of its mind? The Kybalion concludes that the All is substance, but how can there be any certainty of that and what does that actually mean?
Since all matter and substance that we know of is composed of protons and electrons and particles that become waves and, if we are to believe the authors of the Kybalion, this substance that physics is working so hard to explain is nothing but the fantastic daydream of an infinite mind, that would explain the mutability, the impermanence of all things in our world. This is incredible and has opened up this finite mind of mine to new realms of thought and possibility.
In my reluctance to believe this new interpretation of reality, I would argue that if I were nothing but an imagining of God, how would I then be able to create from my mind? How could I use free will to make decisions about what I would like to manifest if I have no will of my own? Am I just channeling the will of God every time I make a decision? The Kybalion teaches us the Principles and laws of our world so that we might become more conscious creators. How can we be such masters of our reality if we have no power of our own? These are all questions that I can see are going to take me in new directions.
Now I feel a little bit like Rachel in Blade Runner.
"The Infinite Mind of The ALL is the womb of Universes." The Kybalion.
In my mind's eye I have seen the Source, a light so bright, but so gentle, from which everything explodes outwards and then withdraws back into itself to repeat once more and over and over in a pulsating rhythm. This leads me to something I read in this book that was completely new for me. I have never heard it explained in this way until finding this book: that all of creation comes from the mind of the All.
The writers of the Kybalion refer to what many religious people call God as the ALL. The All, whose inner nature is unknowable. According to the writers, hermetic masters say The All is all there is, that there can be nothing outside of it, that it is infinite, immutable, absolute. They conclude that the All is Infinite Living Mind as compared to the finite living mind of man. That which the illumined souls call "spirit" which transcends our understanding.
When considering the nature of the universe the authors say that some philosophers declare that the All created the universe from Itself, from the being and substance of The All. But they say that this is impossible because the All cannot be subtracted from, nor divided, and if this were the case each particle would be aware of its being the All and that the All could not lose its knowledge of itself.
The authors say,
"The All could not lose its knowledge of itself, nor actually become an atom, or blind force, or lowly living thing. Some men, indeed, realizing that the All is indeed ALL, and also recognizing that they, the men, existed, have jumped to the conclusion that they and the All were identical, and they have filled the air with shouts of "I AM GOD," to the amusement of the multitude and the sorrow of sages."
They explain the mystery by turning to the Principle of Correspondence, that of "As above so below, as below so above". When considering how man creates, they consider that he creates with his hands from outside materials, by procreation, and finally with his mind. This third one they conclude is the way in which the All creates because it requires no outside materials, of which there are none because the All is All there is. It requires no division or reproduction of itself which they declare to be impossible. Therefore the All must create mentally and that all the universes are a creation of its mind. Therefore, All is mind.
This was a shock to me for I was one of those silly men who believed themselves to be a part of God. In all of my searching and reading, the only explanation for where I had come from that made any sense to me was the one that said I was a spark of divinity, a tiny piece of God, that lived a temporary existence inside this fleshy body until it wore out. I was God seeing its existence through the senses of the person it had chosen to be in this life. I was one of an infinite number of beings that allows God to experience itself as a separate entity. To imagine that I am nothing but a figment of God's imagination is somewhat disconcerting. It requires some contemplation before I can accept or reject this new perspective.
But perhaps I am worrying about nothing. Does it really make any difference if I am an actual piece of God, or one of its mental creations? What is God made of anyway? What is real? Is God more substantial than the product of its mind? The Kybalion concludes that the All is substance, but how can there be any certainty of that and what does that actually mean?
Since all matter and substance that we know of is composed of protons and electrons and particles that become waves and, if we are to believe the authors of the Kybalion, this substance that physics is working so hard to explain is nothing but the fantastic daydream of an infinite mind, that would explain the mutability, the impermanence of all things in our world. This is incredible and has opened up this finite mind of mine to new realms of thought and possibility.
In my reluctance to believe this new interpretation of reality, I would argue that if I were nothing but an imagining of God, how would I then be able to create from my mind? How could I use free will to make decisions about what I would like to manifest if I have no will of my own? Am I just channeling the will of God every time I make a decision? The Kybalion teaches us the Principles and laws of our world so that we might become more conscious creators. How can we be such masters of our reality if we have no power of our own? These are all questions that I can see are going to take me in new directions.
Now I feel a little bit like Rachel in Blade Runner.
"The Infinite Mind of The ALL is the womb of Universes." The Kybalion.
3, 6 & 9
Despite the fact that we are taught that science, religion and philosophy are separate subjects, in truth there is no separation. They are just different interpretations of the same thing and there is truth in all of them. Mathematics is no exception, and this elegant theory shows a way for those of us who are not gifted in this discipline to see the beauty of numbers.
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