The KybalionHermeticismMystical / EsotericEnglishShareThe Kybalion 14Project Gutenberg - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject GutenbergLanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Kybalion 1The Kybalion 2The Kybalion 3The Kybalion 4The Kybalion 5The Kybalion 6The Kybalion 7The Kybalion 8The Kybalion 9The Kybalion 10The Kybalion 11The Kybalion 12The Kybalion 13The Kybalion 14The Kybalion 15The Kybalion 16The Kybalion 17The Kybalion 18The Kybalion 19The Kybalion 20The Kybalion 21The Kybalion 22The Kybalion 23The Kybalion 24The Kybalion 25The Kybalion 26The Kybalion 27The Kybalion 28›The Infinite All, The Universe, Its Laws, Its Powers, Its Life, ItsThe Kybalion 14ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Phenomena, are as things witnessed in the state of Meditation or Dream; yet to all that is Finite, the Universe must be treated as Real, and life, and action, and thought, must be based thereupon, accordingly, although with an ever understanding of the Higher Truth. Each according to its own Plane and Laws. Were THE ALL to imagine that the Universe were indeed Reality, then woe to the Universe, for there would be then no escape from lower to higher, divineward--then would the Universe become a fixity and progress would become impossible. And if Man, owing to half-wisdom, acts and lives and thinks of the Universe as merely a dream (akin to his own finite dreams) then indeed does it so become for him, and like a sleep-walker he stumbles ever around and around in a circle, making no progress, and being forced into an awakening at last by his falling bruised and bleeding over the Natural Laws which he ignored. Keep your mind ever on the Star, but let your eyes watch over your footsteps, lest you fall into the mire by reason of your upward gaze. Remember the Divine Paradox, that while the Universe IS NOT, still IT IS. Remember ever the Two Poles of Truth the Absolute and the Relative. Beware of Half-Truths. 2What Hermetists know as "the Law of Paradox" is an aspect of the Principle of Polarity. The Hermetic writings are filled with references to the appearance of the Paradox in the consideration of the problems of Life and Being. The Teachers are constantly warning their students against the error of omitting the "other side" of any question. And their warnings are particularly directed to the problems of the Absolute and the Relative, which perplex all students of philosophy, and which cause so many to think and act contrary to what is generally known as "common sense." And we caution all students to be sure to grasp the Divine Paradox of the Absolute and Relative, lest they become entangled in the mire of the Half-Truth. With this in view this particular lesson has been written. Read it carefully! 3The first thought that comes to the thinking man after he realizes the truth that the Universe is a Mental Creation of THE ALL, is that the Universe and all that it contains is a mere illusion; an unreality; against which idea his instincts revolt. But this, like all other great truths, must be considered both from the Absolute and the Relative points of view. From the Absolute viewpoint, of course, the Universe is in the nature of an illusion, a dream, a phantasmagoria, as compared to ‹Previous chapterThe Kybalion 13Next chapterThe Kybalion 15›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg