Roots and Branches

The possession of Knowledge, unless accompanied by a manifestation and expression in Action, is like the hoarding of precious metals – a vain and foolish thing. Knowledge, like wealth, is intended for Use. The Law of Use is Universal, and he who violates it suffers by reason of his conflict with natural forces. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 111

While All is in THE ALL, it is equally true that THE ALL is in All. To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 48

The half-wise, recognizing the comparative unreality of the Universe, imagine that they may defy its Laws – such are vain and presumptuous fools, and they are broken against the rocks and torn asunder by the elements by reason of their folly. The truly wise, knowing the nature of the Universe, use Law against laws; the higher against the lower; and by the Art of Alchemy transmute that which is undesirably into that which is worthy, and thus triumph. Mastery consists not in abnormal dreams, visions and fantastic imaginings or living, but in using the higher forces against the lower – escaping the pains of the lower planes by vibrating on the higher. Transmutation, not presumptuous denial, is the weapon of the Master. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 39

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, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 35

That which is the Fundamental Truth – the Substantial Reality  – is beyond true naming, but the Wise Men call it THE ALL. THE ALL must be all that REALLY IS. There can be nothing existing outside of THE ALL, else THE ALL would not be THE ALL.  THE ALL is Infinite Living Mind  –  the illuminated call it SPIRIT! The Universe is Mental  –  held in the Mind of THE ALL. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 28, 31, 32

Physics Meets Mysticism The ALL changes constantly by the initiative of his parts. Author unknown to me. Syntax A man staring at his equations  said that the universe had a beginning.  There had been an explosion, he said.  A bang of bangs, and the universe was born.  And it is expanding, he said.  He had even calculated the length of its life:  ten billion revolutions of the earth around the sun.  The entire globe cheered;  They found his calculations to be science.  None thought that by proposing that the universe began,  the man had merely mirrored the syntax of his mother tongue;  a syntax which demands beginnings, like birth,  and developments, like maturation,  and ends, like death, as statements of facts.  The universe began,  and it is getting old, the man assured us,  and it will die, like all things die,  like he himself died after confirming mathematically  the sy...

Under, and back of, the Universe of Time, Space and Change, is ever to be found The Substantial Reality – the Fundamental Truth. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 25

Mind (as well as metals and elements) may be transmuted, from state to state; degree to degree; condition to condition; pole to pole; vibration to vibration. True Hermetic Transmutation is a Mental Art. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 20

Wie ich gesagt habe, die Welt selbst hat sich verändert. Es gab eine Zeit, in der ein Reisender, wenn er den Willen besaß und auch nur einige der Geheimnisse kannte, mit seinem Boot auf den Sommersee hinausfahren konnte, und nicht im Glastonbury der Mönche ankam, sondern auf der Heiligen Insel Avalon. Damals trieben die Pforten zwischen den Welten in den Nebeln und waren in beide Richtungen offen – wie der Reisende es dachte und wollte. Es ist das große Geheimnis, das in unserer Zeit jeder Wissende kannte: Die Menschen schaffen die Welt, die uns umgibt, durch das, was sie denken, jeden Tag neu.  (Marion Zimmer Bradley, Die Nebel von Avalon, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1987; S. 7) For, as I say, the world itself has changed. There was a time when a traveler, if he had the will and knew only a few of the secrets, could send his barge out into the Summer Sea and arrive not at Glastonbury of the monks, but a the Holy Isle of Avalon; for at that time the g...

1. The Principle of Mentalism THE ALL IS MIND. The Universe is mental. 2. The Principle of Correspondence As above so below, as below, so above. 3. The Principle of Vibration Nothing rests. Everything moves. Everything vibrates. 4. The Principle of Polarity Everything is Dual. Everything has poles. Everything has its pair of opposites. Like and Unlike are the same. Opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree. Extremes meet. All truths are but half-truths. All paradoxes may be reconciled. 5. The Principle of Rhythm Everything flows, out and in. Everything has its tides. All tides rise and fall. The pendulum-swing manifests in everything. The measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left. Rhythm compensates. 6. The Principle of Cause and Effect Every Cause has its Effect. Every Effect has its Cause. Everything happens according to Law. Chance is but a name for Law not recognized. There are many planes of causation, but nothing es...

Where fall the footsteps of the Master, the ears of those ready for his Teaching open wide. When the ears of the student are ready to hear, then cometh the lips to fill them with Wisdom. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 9

The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding. The Kybalion, The Hermetic Philosophy,  by Three Initiates . First Published 1908. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books, FB &c Ltd., London,  2008; ibid. pg. 5

Temple of Apollo at Delphi © Helen Simonsson License:  Creative_Commons    Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Γνῶθι σεαυτόν Gnṓthi sautón Know Thyself (Inscription in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the all." (Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Thomas, Logion 2; James M. Robinson (General Editor), The Nag Hammadi Library in English; Third, Completely Revised Edition , Harper San Francisco, 1978; pg.126) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then you will become  known, and you will realize that it is you who...

The Decline of the Purely Mechanistic View of the World Continues After the publication of the Special Theory of Relativity (1905) Einstein worked on a refinement and generalization of this theory, which he published in 1915. It became famous as  General Theory of Relativity . Einstein's General Theory of Relativity gave the classical mechanistic world view another very violent blow. Its most succinct statements are that clocks slow down under the influence of gravity (the stronger the force of gravity the more clocks slow down); that matter can condense so much that its gravity becomes so strong that nothing can leave its sphere of influence, not even the light – these are the so-called "black holes";  that our universe is expanding and about 15 to 18 billion years ago must have come out of an infinitely small, infinitely dense and infinitely hot matter accumulation – this singularity is the so-called big bang (today's physics has available scenarios that all...

The Decline of the Purely Mechanistic View of the World The correctness of the mechanistic approach described in the previous parts of this essay must be questioned. As a matter of fact, from the extremely reductionist approach of science and from its attempt to describe the world objectively arise interesting problems and internal contradictions, which seem to lead at least at first glance to a variety of topics that science and the holistic view of mysticism and in particular Buddhism may have in common. On closer inspection, however, it also becomes clear that we actually deal with the approximation of an extreme form of monistic materialism (science) on the one hand to an extreme form of holism (Buddhism) on the other hand, both referring to the material world as well as to manifestations like the I, the self, coenesthesia, self-esteem, and similar as maya (illusion) without going into any detail about how these illusions come about, why they exist, and why we need to live wi...