The
chapter 5 of the book The Kybalion
seeks to elucidate how the Universe was formed.
"The
Universe is Mental—held in the Mind of THE ALL.” — The Kybalion.
THE ALL
is SPIRIT! But what is Spirit? This question cannot be answered, for the reason
that its definition is practically that of THE ALL, which cannot be explained
or defined. Spirit is simply a name that men give to the highest conception of
Infinite Living Mind—it means "the Real Essence"—it means Living
Mind, as much superior to Life and Mind as we know them, as the latter are
superior to mechanical Energy and Matter. Spirit transcends our understanding,
and we use the term merely that we may think or speak of THE ALL. For the
purposes of thought and understanding, we are justified in thinking of Spirit
as Infinite Living Mind, at the same time acknowledging that we cannot fully
understand it. We must either do this or stop thinking of the matter at all.
Let us
now proceed to a consideration of the nature of the Universe, as a whole and in
its parts.
What is the Universe?
We have
seen that there can be nothing outside of THE ALL. Then is the Universe THE
ALL? No, this cannot be, because the Universe seems to be made up of MANY, and
is constantly changing, and in other ways it does not measure up to the ideas
that we are compelled to accept regarding THE ALL, as stated in our last
lesson. Then if the Universe be not THE ALL, then it must be Nothing—such is
the inevitable conclusion of the mind at first thought. But this will not
satisfy the question, for we are sensible of the existence of the Universe.
(In reality the Universe is a part of THE ALL, but
this was not understood by the author of the Kybalion.)
Then if
the Universe is neither THE ALL, nor Nothing, what Can it be? Let us examine
this question.
If the
Universe exists at all, or seems to exist, it must proceed in some way from THE
ALL—it must be a creation of THE ALL. But as something can never come from
nothing, from what could THE ALL have created it. Some philosophers have
answered this question by saying that THE ALL created the Universe from
ITSELF—that is, from the being and substance of THE ALL. But this will not do,
for THE ALL cannot be subtracted from, nor divided, as we have seen, and then
again if this be so, would not each particle in the Universe be aware of its
being THE ALL—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. The claim of the corpuscle
that: "I am Man!" would be modest in comparison.
But,
what indeed is the Universe, if it be not THE ALL, not yet created by THE ALL
having separated itself into fragments? What else can it be— of what else can
it be made? This is the great question. Let us examine it carefully. We find here
that the "Principle of Correspondence" (see Lesson I.) comes to our
aid here. The old Hermetic axiom, "As above so below," may be pressed
into service at this point. Let us endeavor to get a glimpse of the workings on
higher planes by examining those on our own. The Principle of Correspondence
must apply to this as well as to other problems.
Let us
see! On his own plane of being, how does Man create? Well, first, he may create
by making something out of outside materials. But this will not do, for there are
no materials outside of THE ALL with which it may create. Well, then, secondly,
Man pro-creates or reproduces his kind by the process of begetting, which is
self-multiplication accomplished by transferring a portion of his substance to
his offspring. But this will not do, because THE ALL cannot transfer or
subtract a portion of itself, nor can it reproduce or multiply itself—in the
first place there would be a taking away, and in the second case a
multiplication or addition to THE ALL, both thoughts being an absurdity.
(I do not see why the ALL could not be increased still
more, since if he obtained the capacity to increase the substance that
constitutes him, he would still be THE ALL, but simply with a greater volume.)
Is
there no third way in which MAN creates? Yes, there is—he CREATES MENTALLY! And
in so doing he uses no outside materials, nor does he reproduce himself, and
yet his Spirit pervades the Mental Creation.
Following
the Principle of Correspondence, we are justified in considering that THE ALL
creates the Universe MENTALLY, in a manner akin to the process whereby Man
creates Mental Images. And, here is where the report of Reason tallies
precisely with the report of the Illumined, as shown by their teachings and
writings. Such are the teachings of the Wise Men. Such was the Teaching of
Hermes.
THE ALL
can create in no other way except mentally, without either using material (and
there is none to use), or else reproducing itself (which is also impossible).
(I don't see why the ALL couldn't reproduce itself, since
that is part of the Creation principle which says that every entity creates
another entity.)
There
is no escape from this conclusion of the Reason, which, as we have said, agrees
with the highest teachings of the Illumined. Just as you, student, may create a
Universe of your own in your mentality, so does THE ALL create Universes in its
own Mentality. But your Universe is the mental creation of a Finite Mind,
whereas that of THE ALL is the creation of an Infinite. The two are similar in
kind, but infinitely different in degree.
How is the Universe created?
We
shall examine more closely into the process of creation and manifestation as we
proceed. But this is the point to fix in your minds at this stage: THE UNIVERSE,
AND ALL IT CONTAINS, IS A MENTAL CREATION OF THE ALL. Verily indeed, ALL IS
MIND!
"THE
ALL creates in its Infinite Mind countless Universes, which exist for aeons of
Time—and yet, to THE ALL, the creation, development, decline and death of a
million Universes is as the time of the twinkling of an eye.” — The Kybalion.
(This is incorrect since the Universe is
the physical body of God and therefore the existence of the Universe
corresponds to an "incarnation" of God.
And if instead of one universe, we
assume that there are multiple universes, it would simply be to scale up and
consider all those universes as the physical body of an even greater God.)
"The
Infinite Mind of THE ALL is the womb of Universes." — The Kybalion.
(This is also incorrect, because although the divine
mind is the one that designs the Universe, instead the astral is the womb of
the Universe.)
The
Principle of Gender (see Lesson I. and other lessons to follow) is manifested
on all planes of life, material mental and spiritual. But, as we have said
before, "Gender" does not mean "Sex" sex is merely a
material manifestation of gender.
(This is also false as gender only manifests on the
physical plane.)
"Gender"
means "relating to generation or creation." And whenever anything is
generated or created, on any plane, the Principle of Gender must be manifested.
And this is true even in the creation of Universes.
Now do
not jump to the conclusion that we are teaching that there is a male and female
God, or Creator. That idea is merely a distortion of the ancient teachings on
the subject. The true teaching is that THE ALL, in itself, is above Gender, as
it is above every other Law, including those of Time and Space. It is the Law,
from which the Laws proceed, and it is not subject to them. But when THE ALL
manifests on the plane of generation or creation, then it acts according to Law
and Principle, for it is moving on a lower plane of Being. And consequently it
manifests the Principle of Gender, in its Masculine and Feminine aspects, on
the Mental Plane, of course.
This
idea may seem startling to some of you who hear it for the first time, but you
have all really passively accepted it in your everyday conceptions. You speak
of the Fatherhood of God, and the Motherhood of Nature—of God, the Divine
Father, and Nature the Universal Mother—and have thus instinctively
acknowledged the Principle of Gender in the Universe. Is this not so?
But,
the Hermetic teaching does not imply a real duality—THE ALL is ONE—the Two
Aspects are merely aspects of manifestation. The teaching is that The Masculine
Principle manifested by THE ALL stands, in a way, apart from the actual mental
creation of the Universe. It projects its Will toward the Feminine Principle
(which may be called "Nature") whereupon the latter begins the actual
work of the evolution of the Universe, from simple "centers of
activity" on to man, and then on and on still higher, all according to
well-established and firmly enforced Laws of Nature. If you prefer the old
figures of thought, you may think of the Masculine Principle as GOD, the
Father, and of the Feminine Principle as NATURE, the Universal Mother, from
whose womb all things have been born. This is more than a mere poetic figure of
speech—it is an idea of the actual process of the creation of the Universe. But
always remember, that THE ALL is but One, and that in its Infinite Mind the
Universe is generated, created and exists.
It may
help you to get the proper idea, if you will apply the Law of Correspondence to
yourself, and your own mind. You know that the part of You which you call
"I," in a sense, stands apart and witnesses the creation of mental
Images in your own mind. The part of your mind in which the mental generation
is accomplished may be called the "Me" in distinction from the
"I" which stands apart and witnesses and examines the thoughts, ideas
and images of the "Me." "As above, so below," remember, and
the phenomena of one plane may be employed to solve the riddles of higher or
lower planes.
Is it
any wonder that You, the child, feel that instinctive reverence for THE ALL,
which feeling we call "religion"—that respect, and reverence for THE
FATHER MIND? Is it any wonder that, when you consider the works and wonders of
Nature, you are overcome with a mighty feeling which has its roots away down in
your inmost being? It is the MOTHER MIND that you are pressing close up to,
like a babe to the breast.
Do not
make the mistake of supposing that the little world you see around you—the
Earth, which is a mere grain of dust in the Universe—is the Universe itself.
There are millions upon millions of such worlds, and greater. And there are
millions of millions of such Universes in existence within the Infinite Mind of
THE ALL. And even in our own little solar system there are regions and planes
of life far higher than ours, and beings compared to which we earth-bound
mortals are as the slimy life-forms that dwell on the ocean's bed when compared
to Man. There are beings with powers and attributes higher than Man has ever
dreamed of the gods' possessing. And yet these beings were once as you, and
still lower—and you will be even as they, and still higher, in time, for such
is the Destiny of Man as reported by the Illumined.
And
Death is not real, even in the Relative sense—it is but Birth to a new life—and
You shall go on, and on, and on, to higher and still higher planes of life, for
aeons upon aeons of time. The Universe is your home, and you shall explore its
farthest recesses before the end of Time. You are dwelling in the Infinite Mind
of THE ALL, and your possibilities and opportunities are infinite, both in time
and space. And at the end of the Grand Cycle of Aeons, when THE ALL shall draw
back into itself all of its creations—you will go gladly for you will then be
able to know the Whole Truth of being At One with THE ALL. Such is the report
of the Illumined—those who have advanced well along The Path.
And, in
the meantime, rest calm and serene—you are safe and protected by the Infinite
Power of the FATHER-MOTHER MIND.
"Within
the Father-Mother Mind, mortal children are at home.” — The Kybalion.
"There
is not one who is Fatherless, nor Motherless in the Universe.” — The Kybalion.
OBSERVATIONS
In
this chapter the author of the Kybalion made a whole mess (with several
errors in his explanation) to want to convince the readers that the
Universe is a mental creation created by the mind of God.
Which is only a half truth, and then I will explain the reason why that statement is not completely true.
First, he begins by saying that the SPIRIT
is synonymous with all, which is false, and so that I understand
it better, let's make an analogy with the human being.
The masters explained that the human is a consciousness that has seven principles, which are:
And
this implies that the human being in its entirety is made up of these
seven principles, while its divine spirit is only its highest principle.
And
since humans were created in the image of God, that means that THE ALL
(that is, the Creator God in its entirety) is also made up of seven
immeasurable and immense principles that make it up, while instead the
Divine Spirit is only the highest principle of those seven principles.
And
this tells you that the rest of the explanation given by the author of
the Kybalion is going to be wrong because he is using incorrect
definitions from the beginning.
Then the author of the Kybalion asks:
What is the Universe?
And he replies that the Universe must be a creation of THE ALL, which
is not correct, because the masters explained that it is the Divine
Spirit who is going to create the other principles, although it would be
more complete to say that it is a cascading creation and that the
superior principle helps the elaboration of the inferior principle.
And
the Universe is the densest principle of those seven principles that
make up THE ALL, and by this I mean that the Universe of matter that we
perceive is "the physical body" of GOD.
Then the author of the Kybalion wonders:
How was the Universe created?
And he answers that some philosophers have answered that question by saying that God created the Universe out of himself. But the author of the Kybalion refutes that answer by saying that the ALL cannot be subtracted from THE ALL, nor can the ALL be divided.
But the detail is that the Universe is not separated from the ALL, but as we saw above, the Universe is part of the ALL.
And then to further reject this idea, the author of the Kybalion added:
«
THE ALL (here understand the Creator God) could not lose its knowledge
of itself, nor could it become an atom, or a blind force, or a vile
living thing. »
And
this shows me that the author of the Kybalion was not an initiate, nor
was he a hermeticist, nor did he know much about esotericism, because
that is exactly what the masters taught!
They
explained that since at the beginning there was nothing with which to
create, then a portion of the divine sparks that make up the Divine
Spirit had to be densified to transform into all the substances,
particles and energies that make up the other six principles that make
up the creation.
And
the problem is that by doing that, the more those divine sparks
descend, the more their consciousness falls into unconsciousness. And
it is thus that the divine spark that was transformed into an atom of
matter, that spark is of the same nature as the divine spark that
continues to remain above as part of the Divine Spirit.
The difference is that the spark that descended is completely asleep, while the spark that remains above is fully awake.
And
what men call evolution is simply the process that will allow those
divine sparks that descended into matter to be brought back to the
Divine Spirit.
And
since surely you have to ask yourself what is the use of going all this
way, know that this allows God to regenerate himself.
But since I'm getting a lot off the topic, let's go back to what the author of the Kybalion was addressing here.
So,
having rejected the answer that I mentioned above (which is correct),
the author of the Kybalion concluded that the Universe is a mental
creation created by the mind of the Creator God.
But as I pointed out above, that is only a half truth. And so that you understand me better, imagine a car company.
Well,
if we made a correlation with what the author of the Kybalion said,
that would mean that the design department created the new car that this
company has manufactured.
Which is partly true, but only partly because it wasn't just the designers who made it, they just started that project. But
then we had to get the materials, the electricity, the workers, the
machines, and everything that is required to build this car.
And the same thing happens here with the Universe.
The
divine hierarchy found in the mental plane and which can be said to
constitute "the Mind of God", just as our neurons constitute our brain,
were the ones who designed the Universe.
But
other divine hierarchies were also required that built the energies,
that built the elementals, that built matter, and that built everything
else that is required to create the Universe that we know.
So
it is nothing more than that God visualized the Universe, and as if by
magic it appeared, but rather that the divine mentalization was just the
first part of a very complicated and laborious process that finally led
to the Universe appearing and having an existence.
So when the author of the Kybalion assures that the Universe is a mental creation, my answer is:
“I partly agree, but that answer is very incomplete.”
And then the author of the Kybalion added that since the Universe is a creation of the mind of God, then the Universe is mental.
But
that is incorrect, because although it is true that the first stage in
the elaboration of the Universe was done at the mental level, the rest
of the process was done with the lower planes (astral plane, pranic
plane, etc.) to finally end up building a physical universe.
And
it is evident that the Universe is physical and not mental, since it is
composed of physical matter and not of mental substance.
And
finally, the author of the Kybalion ends by saying that the Universe
was created by the FATHER-MIND and the MOTHER-MIND, which is a very
stolid response, and I do not doubt that energies that could be defined
as "masculine" and "feminine" have participated, since the game of
polarities is an important key in the elaboration of Creation. But
so that you can see to what point that answer is stupid, let's go back
to the example of the car company and imagine that a journalist asked:
How was the car created?
And that the manager answered him:
"It was daddy-mind and mommy-mind who created it."
Well,
the journalist would consider that answer to be really very
stupid, because in reality there were multiple teams of workers who
created this vehicle, and in the same way it was unnameable divine
hierarchies that took care of creating the Universe.
_ _ _
So
those answers given by the author of the Kybalion leave much to be
desired about his knowledge of occultism, and show that although his
explanations have something interesting, unfortunately they are also
very distorted compared to what the true initiates of Hermeticism
taught.
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