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The Kybalion
CHAPTER VII
"THE ALL" IN ALL
"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.
How often have the majority of people heard repeated
the statement that their Deity (called by many names)
was "All in All" and how little have they suspected
the inner occult truth concealed by these carelessly
uttered words? The commonly used expression is a
survival of the ancient Hermetic Maxim quoted above.
As the Kybalion says: "To him who truly understands
this truth, hath come great knowledge. And, this being
so, let us seek this truth, the understanding of which
means so much. In this statemnt of truth--this
Hermetic Maxim--is concealed one of the greatest
philosophical, scientific and religious truths.
We have given you the Hermetic Teaching regarding the
Mental Nature of the Universe-- the truth that "the
Universe is Mental--held in the Mind of THE ALL. As
the Kybalion says, in the passage quoted above: "All
is in THE ALL. But note also the co-related statement,
that: "It is equally true that THE ALL is in ALL. This
apparently contradictory statement is reconcilable
under the Law of Paradox. It is, moreover, an exact
Hermetic statement of the relations existing between
THE ALL and its Mental Universe. We have seen how "All
is in THE ALL--now let us examine the other aspect of
the subject.
The Hermetic Teachings are to the effect that THE ALL
is Imminent in ("remaining within; inherent; abiding
within) its Universe, and in every part, particle,
unit, or combination, within the Universe. This
statement is usually illustrated by the Teachers by a
reference to the Principle of Correspondence. The
Teacher instructs the student to form a mental Image
of something, a person, an idea, something having a
mental form, the favorite example being that of the
author or dramatist forming an idea of his characters;
or a painter or sculptor forming an image of an ideal
that he wishes to express by his art. In each case,
the student will find that while the image has its
existence, and being, solely within his own mind, yet
he, the student, author, dramatist, painter, or
sculptor, is, in a sense, immanent in; remaining
within; or abiding within, the mental image also. In
other words, the entire virtue, life, spirit, of
reality in the mental image is derived from the
"immanent mind of the thinker. Consider this for a
moment, until the idea is grasped.
To take a modern example, let us say that Othello,
Iago, Hamlet, Lear, Richard III, existed merely in the
mind of Shakespeare, at the time of their conception
or creation. And yet, Shakespeare also existed within
each of these characters, giving them their vitality,
spirit, and action. Whose is the "spirit of the
characters that we know as Micawber, Oliver Twist
Uriah Heep--is it Dickens, or have each of -these
characters a personal spirit, independent of their
creator? Have the Venus of Medici, the Sistine
Madonna, the Appollo Belvidere, spirits and reality of
their own, or do they represent the spiritual and
mental power of their creators?
The Law of Paradox explains that both propositions are
true, viewed from the proper viewpoints. Micawber is
both Micawber, and yet Dickens. And, again, while
Micawber may be said to be Dickens, yet Dickens is not
identical with Micawber. Man, like Micawber, may
exclaim: "The Spirit of my Creator is inherent within
me--and yet I am not HE! How different this from the
shocking half-truth so vociferously announced by
certain of the half-wise, who fill the air with their
raucous cries of: "I Am God! Imagine poor Micawber, or
the sneaky Uriah Heep, crying: "I Am Dickens; or some
of the lowly clods in one of Shakespeare's plays,
grandiloquently announcing that: "I Am Shakespeare!
THE ALL is in the earth-worm, and yet the earth-worm
is far from being THE ALL. And still the wonder
remains, that though the earth-worm exists merely as a
lowly thing, created and having its being solely
within the Mind of THE ALL--yet THE ALL is immanent in
the earth-worm, and in the particles that go to make
up the earthworm. Can there be any greater mystery
than this of "All in THE ALL; and THE ALL in All?
The student will, of course, realize that the
illustrations given above are necessarily imperfect
and inadequate, for they represent the creation of
mental images in finite minds, while the Universe is a
creation of Infinite Mind--and the difference between
the two poles separates them. And yet it is merely a
matter of degree--the same Principle is in
operation-the Principle of Correspondence manifests in
each--"As above, so Below; as Below, so above.
And, in the degree that Man realizes the existence of
the Indwelling Spirit immanent within his being, so
will he rise in the spiritual scale of life. This is
what spiritual development means--the recognition,
realization, and manifestation of the Spirit within
us. Try to remember this last definition--that of
spiritual development. It contains the Truth of True
Religion.
There are many planes of Being--many sub-planes of
Life--many degrees of existence in the Universe. And
all depend upon the advancement of beings in the
scale, of which scale the lowest point is the grossest
matter, the highest being separated only by the
thinnest division from the SPIRIT of THE ALL. And,
upward and onward along this Scale of Life, everything
is moving. All are on the Path, whose end is THE ALL.
All progress is a Returning Home. All is Upward and
Onward, in spite of all seemingly contradictory
appearances. Such is the Message of the Illumined.
The Hermetic Teachings concerning the process of the
Mental Creation of the Universe, are that at the
beginning of the Creative Cycle, THE ALL, in its
aspect of "Being" projects its Will toward its aspect
of "Becoming" and the process of creation begins. It
is taught that the process consists of the lowering of
Vibration until a very low degree of vibratory energy
is reached, at which point the grossest possible form
of Matter is manifested. This process is called the
stage of Involution, in which THE ALL becomes
"involved" or "wrapped up" in its creation. This
process is believed by the Hermetists to have a
Correspondence to the mental process of an artist,
writer, or inventor, who becomes so wrapped up in his
mental creation as to almost forget his own existence
and who, for the time being, almost "lives in his
creation. If instead of "wrapped we use the word
"rapt" perhaps we will give a better idea of what is
meant.
This Involuntary stage of Creation is sometimes called
the "Outpouring of the Divine Energy, just as the
Evolutionary state is called the "Indrawing. The
extreme pole of the Creative process is considered to
be the furthest removed from THE ALL, while the
beginning of the Evolutionary stage is regarded as the
beginning of the return swing of the pendulum of
Rhythm--a "coming home idea being held in all of the
Hermetic Teachings.
The Teachings are that during the "Out-pouring" the
vibrations become lower and lower until finally the
urge ceases, and the return swing begins. But there is
this difference, that while in the "Outpouring the
creative forces manifest compactly and as a whole, yet
from the beginning of the Evolutionary or "Indrawing
stage, there is manifested the Law of
Individualization--that is, the tendency to separate
into Units of Force, so that finally that which left
THE ALL as unindividualized energy returns to its
source as countless highly developed Units of Life,
having risen higher and higher in the scale by means
of Physical, Mental and Spiritual Evolution.
The ancient Hermetists use the word "Meditation" in
describing the process of the mental creation of the
Universe in the Mind of THE ALL, the word
"Contemplation also being frequently employed. But the
idea intended seems to be that of the employment of
the Divine Attention. "Attention is a word derived
from the Latin root, meaning "to reach out; to stretch
out" and so the act of Attention is really a mental
"reaching out; extension of mental energy, so that the
underlying idea is readily understood when we examine
into the real meaning of "Attention.
The Hermetic Teachings regarding the process of
Evolution are that, THE ALL, having meditated upon the
beginning of the Creation--having thus established the
material foundations of the Universe--having thought
it into existence--then gradually awakens or rouses
from its Meditation and in so doing starts into
manifestation the process of Evolution, on the
material, mental and spiritual planes, successively
and in order. Thus the upward movement begins--and all
begins to move Spiritward. Matter becomes less gross;
the Units spring into being; the combinations begin to
form; Life appears and manifests in higher and higher
forms; and Mind becomes more and more in evidence--the
vibrations constantly becoming higher. In short, the
entire process of Evolution, in all of its phases,
begins, and proceeds according to the established Laws
of the "Indrawing process. All of this occupies
æons upon æons of Man's
time, each æon containing countless
millions of years, but yet the Illumined inform us
that the entire creation, including Involution and
Evolution, of an Universe, is but "as the twinkle of
the eye to THE ALL. At the end of countless cycles of
æons of time, THE ALL withdraws its
Attention--its Contemplation and Meditation--of the
Universe, for the Great Work is finished--and All is
withdrawn into THE ALL from which it emerged. But
Mystery of Mysteries--the Spirit of each soul is not
annihilated, but is infinitely expanded--the Created
and the Creator are merged. Such is the report of the
Illumined!
The above illustration of the "meditation" and
subsequent "awakening from meditation" of THE ALL, is
of course but an attempt of the Teachers to describe
the Infinite process by a finite example. And, yet:
"As Below, so Above. The difference is merely in
degree. And just as THE ALL arouses itself from the
meditation upon the Universe, so does Man (in time)
cease from manifesting upon the Material Plane, and
withdraws himself more and more into the Indwelling
Spirit, which is indeed "The Divine Ego.
There is one more matter of which we desire to speak
in this lesson, and that comes very near to an
invasion of the Metaphysical field of speculation,
although our purpose is merely to show the futility of
such speculation. We allude to the question which
inevitably comes to the mind of all thinkers who have
ventured to seek the Truth. The question is: "WHY does
THE ALL create Universes? The question may be asked in
different forms, but the above is the gist of the
inquiry.
Men have striven hard to answer this question, but
still there is no answer worthy of the name. Some have
imagined that THE ALL had something to gain by it, but
this is absurd, for what could THE ALL gain that it
did not already possess? Others have sought the answer
in the idea that THE ALL "wished something to love;
and others that it created for pleasure, or amusement;
or because it "was lonely; or to manifest its
power;--all puerile explanations and ideas, belonging
to the childish period of thought.
Others have sought to explain the mystery by assuming
that THE ALL found itself "compelled to create, by
reason of its own "internal nature--its "creative
instinct. This idea is in advance of the others, but
its weak point lies in the idea of THE ALL being
"compelled by anything, internal or external. If its
''internal nature" or ''creative instinct" compelled
it to do anything, then the "internal nature or
"creative instinct would be the Absolute, instead of
THE ALL, and so accordingly that part of the
proposition falls. And, yet, THE ALL does create and
manifest, and seems to find some kind of satisfaction
in so doing. And it is difficult to escape the
conclusion that in some infinite degree it must have
what would correspond to an "inner nature" or
"creative instinct in man, with correspondingly
infinite Desire and Will. It could not act unless it
Willed to Act; and it would not Will to Act, unless it
Desired to Act; and it would not Desire to Act unless
it obtained some Satisfaction thereby. And all of
these things would belong to an "Inner Nature" and
might be postulated as existing according to the Law
of Correspondence. But, still, we prefer to think of
THE ALL as acting entirely FREE from any influence,
internal as well as external. That is the problem
which lies at the root of difficulty--and the
difficulty that lies at the root of the problem.
Strictly speaking, there cannot be said to be any
"Reason whatsoever for THE ALL to act, for a "reason
implies a "cause. and THE ALL is above Cause and
Effect, except when it Wills to become a Cause, at
which time the Principle is set into motion. So, you
see, the matter is Unthinkable, just as THE ALL is
Unknowable. Just as we say THE ALL merely "IS--so we
are compelled to say that "THE ALL ACTS BECAUSE IT
ACTS. At the last, THE ALL is All Reason in Itself;
All Law in Itself; All Action in Itself--and it may be
said, truthfully, that THE ALL is Its Own Reason; its
own Law; its own Act--or still further, that THE ALL;
Its Reason; Its Act; its Law; are ONE, all being names
for the same thing. In the opinion of those who are
giving you these present lessons, the answer is locked
up in INNER SELF of THE ALL, along with its Secret of
Being. The Law of Correspondence, in our opinion,
reaches only to that aspect of THE ALL, which may be
spoken of as "The Aspect of BECOMING. Back of that
Aspect is "The Aspect of BEING," in which all Laws are
lost in LAW; all Principles merge into PRINCIPLE--and
THE ALL; PRINCIPLE; and BEING; are IDENTICAL, ONE AND
THE SAME. Therefore, Metaphysical speculation on this
point is futile. We go into the matter here, merely to
show that we recognize the question, and also the
absurdity of the ordinary answers of metaphysics and
theology.
In conclusion, it may be of interest to our students
to learn that while some of the ancient, and modern,
Hermetic Teachers have rather inclined in the
direction of applying the Principle of Correspondence
to the question, with the result of the "Inner Nature
conclusion,--still the legends have it that HERMES,
the Great, when asked this question by his advanced
students, answered them by PRESSING HIS LIPS TIGHTLY
TOGETHER and saying not a word, indicating that there
WAS NO ANSWER. But, then, he may have intended to
apply the axiom of his philosophy, that: "The lips of
Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of
Understanding" believing that even his advanced
students did not possess the Understanding which
entitled them to the Teaching. At any rate, if Hermes
possessed the Secret, he failed to impart it, and so
far as the world is concerned THE LIPS OF HERMES ARE
CLOSED regarding it. And where the Great Hermes
hesitated to speak, what mortal may dare to teach?
But, remember, that whatever be the answer to this
problem, if indeed there be an answer--the truth
remains that: "While All is in THE ALL, it is equally
true that THE ALL is in All. The Teaching on this
point is emphatic. And, we may add the concluding
words of the quotation: "To him who truly understands
this truth, hath come great knowledge.
Read the Message of The Kybalion--and follow the
example of "the wise"--avoiding the mistake of "the
half-wise" who perish by reason of their folly.
Human Mind
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