cosmology
Rhythm
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
104 passages · 2 traditions
theosophy77
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 11)
“Nor could the vast catalogue of the Archaic Sciences be attempted in the present volumes, before we have disposed of such tremendous problems as Cosmic and Planetary Evolution, and the gradual development of the mysterious Humanities and ra…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page 1]] PROEM ------- PAGES FROM A PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD.
A N Archaic Manuscript -- a collection of palm leaves made impermeable to water, fire, and air, by some specific unknow…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 2)
“The latter is either "awake" or "asleep." The Svabhavikas, or philosophers of the oldest school of Buddhism (which still exists in Nepaul), speculate only upon the active condition of this "Essence," which they call Svabhavat, and deem it f…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 3)
“The esoteric symbol of Kali Yuga is the five-pointed star reversed, thus -- the sign of human sorcery, with its two points (horns) turned heavenward, a position every [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * See t…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 4)
“The orthodox Brahmins, those who rise the most against the Pantheists and Adwaitees, calling them Atheists, are forced, if Manu has any authority in this matter, to accept the death of Brahma, the creator, at the expiration of every "Age" o…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 5)
“But this view does not prevent him from believing in its existence so long as it lasts, to wit, for one Mahamanvantara; nor from applying Akasa, the radiation of Mulaprakriti,* to practical purposes, connected as the World-Soul is with all…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 6)
“." For clearer understanding on the part of the general reader, it must be stated that Occult Science recognises Seven Cosmical Elements -- four entirely physical, and the fifth (Ether) semi-material, as it will become visible in the air to…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 7)
“Herbert Spencer has of late so far modified his Agnosticism, as to assert that the nature of the "First Cause,"* which the Occultist more logically derives from the "Causeless Cause," the "Eternal," and the "Unknowable," may be essentially…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 8)
“Moreover, the Secret Doctrine teaches: -- ( c ) The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, the latter being itself an aspect of the Unknown Root; and the obligatory pilgrimage for every Soul -- a spark of the former…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 9)
“As may be judged, however, from the most important, as the best known of the Rosicrucians' symbols, there is one which has never been hitherto understood even by modern mystics.
It is that of the "Pelican" tearing open its breast to feed i…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page 25]] PART I .
COSMIC EVOLUTION.
--------------------- SEVEN STANZAS TRANSLATED WITH COMMENTARIES FROM THE SECRET BOOK OF DZYAN.
[[Vol.
1, Page 26]] Nor Aught nor Nought…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 2)
“T HE ROOT REMAINS, THE LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS REMAIN, AND STILL O EAOHOO IS ONE.
6.
T HE ROOT OF LIFE WAS IN EVERY DROP OF THE OCEAN OF IMMORTALITY, AND THE OCEAN WAS RADIANT LIGHT, WHICH WAS FIRE, AND HEAT, AND MOTION.
D ARKNESS VANIS…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 35 STANZA I.
COMMENTARIES ON THE SEVEN STANZAS AND THEIR TERMS, ACCORDING TO THEIR NUMERATION, IN STANZAS AND SLOKAS.
STANZA I.
1.
" T HE E TERNAL P ARENT (Space), WR…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 2)
“Even so of persons and things, which, dropping out of the to-be into the has-been, out of the future into the past -- present momentarily to our senses a cross-section, as it were, of their total selves, as they pass through time and space…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 3)
“D ARKNESS ALONE FILLED THE BOUNDLESS ALL ( a ), FOR FATHER, MOTHER AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD NOT AWAKENED YET FOR THE NEW WHEEL* AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON ( b ).
( a ) "Darkness is Father-Mother: light their son," says a…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 4)
“1, Page]] 43 MOTIONS, THE "GREAT BREATH." sense, for it must give room to still further absolute perfection, according to a higher standard of excellence in the following period of activity -- just as a perfect flower must cease to be a per…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 6)
“(See Weber, Max Muller, etc.) We labour under the impression that Colebrooke, "the highest authority" in such matters, had long ago settled the question by showing, that "the Hindus were in this instance the teachers, not the learners." [[V…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 6 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 53 THE STATE OF PARANIRVANA.
STANZA II.
C OMMENTARY.
1.
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W HERE WERE THE BUILDERS, THE LUMINOUS SONS OF MANVANTARIC DAWN ( a )?
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IN THE UNKNOWN…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 62 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
STANZA III.
COMMENTARY.
1.
T HE LAST VIBRATION OF THE SEVENTH ETERNITY THRILLS THROUGH INFINITUDE ( a ).
T HE MOTHER SWELLS, EXPANDING FROM W…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 3)
“unable either to measure the first abstraction yielded to you by the Deity, or to get hold of it, you still hope to subject to your measurements the mystery of the Secret Sciences which emanate from that Deity?
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And what would y…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 6)
“"In the beginning, before Mother became Father-Mother, the fiery Dragon moved in the infinitudes alone" ( Book of Sarparajni.
) The Aitareya Brahmana calls the Earth Sarparajni, "the Serpent Queen," and "the Mother of all that moves." Befo…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 9)
“He is Purusha (spirit), but he is also Prakriti (matter).
Therefore it is only after separating himself into two halves -- Brahma-vach (the female) and Brahma-Viraj (the male), that the Prajapati becomes the male Brahma.
------- STANZA II…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 10)
“T HEN THE SONS ( the Elements with their respective Powers , or Intelligences ) DISSOCIATE AND SCATTER, TO RETURN INTO THEIR MOTHER'S BOSOM AT THE END OF THE "GREAT DAY" AND REBECOME ONE WITH HER ( a ).
W HEN IT ( the Web ) IS COOLING, IT…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 2)
“Latent, during Pralaya, and active, during Manvantara, the "Primordial" proceed from "Father-Mother" (Spirit-Hyle, or Ilus ); whereas the other manifested Quaternary and the Seven proceed from the Mother alone.
It is the latter who is the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 6)
“The larger lumps coalesce and receive new spawn -- in fiery dots, triangles and cubes, which ripen, and at the appointed time some of the lumps detach themselves and assume spheroidal form, a process which they effect only when not interfer…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 8)
“Having evolved from Cosmic Space, and before the final formation of the primaries and the annulation of the planetary nebula, the Sun, we are taught, drew into the depths of its mass all the Cosmic vitality he could, threatening to engulf h…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 9 (part 5)
“Our learned brother and correspondent judges apparently the Hindu religious systems by their Shastras and Puranas, probably the latter, and in their modern translation moreover, which is disfigured out of all recognition, by the Orientalist…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 10 (part 3)
“Crookes, F.R.S ., to admit that Science is yet a thousand leagues from the knowledge of the compound nature of the simplest molecule.
From him we learn that such a thing as a really simple [[Footnote continued on next page]] [[Vol.
1, Pag…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 10 (part 4)
“Were a truly learned Occultist-alchemist to write the "Life and Adventures of an Atom" he would secure thereby the eternal scorn of the modern chemist, perchance also his subsequent [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 10 (part 6)
“In fact, to us the matter of the lower plane there vanishes from our perception into nothing -- or rather it passes on to the higher plane, and the state of matter corresponding to such a point of transition must certainly possess special a…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 11 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 152 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
[[This page continued from previous section ]] A FEW EARLY THEOSOPHICAL MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING PLANETS, ROUNDS, AND MAN.
Among the eleven St…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 11 (part 4)
“" M AN," which came later, was an attempt to present the archaic doctrine from a more ideal standpoint, to translate some visions in and from the Astral Light, to render some teachings partly gathered from a Master's thoughts, but unfortuna…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 12 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 170 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
[[This page continued from previous section ]] ADDITIONAL FACTS AND EXPLANATIONS CONCERNING THE GLOBES AND THE MONADS.
Two statements made in "…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 14 (part 6)
“It comes to this: Mankind in its first prototypal, shadowy form, is the offspring of the Elohim of Life (or Pitris); in its qualitative and physical aspect it is the direct progeny of the "Ancestors," the lowest Dhyanis, or Spirits of the E…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 14 (part 9)
“In order to form a clear conception of what is meant by the One becoming two, and then being transformed into the "three-fold," the student has to make himself thoroughly acquainted with what we call "Rounds." If he refers to "Esoteric Budd…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 2)
“of "Ha Idra Zuta Kadisha." "Becomes one body" means that all is reabsorbed once more into the one element, the spirits of men becoming Nirvanees and the elements of everything else becoming again what they were before -- protyle or undiffer…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 8)
“No Hindu has ever mistaken Prakriti -- the Astral Light being only above the lowest plane of Prakriti, the material Kosmos -- for the "immortal Spirit." Prakriti is ever called Maya , illusion, and is doomed to disappear with the rest, the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 11)
“And though it is not yet fully determined whether poisons can be generated by the animal system of living beings without the participation and interference of microbes, it is ascertained that the animal does produce venomous substances in i…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 13)
“Thus proceed the cycles of the septenary evolution, in Septennial nature; the Spiritual or divine; the psychic or semi-divine; the intellectual, the passional, the instinctual, or cognitional; the semi-corporeal and the purely material or p…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 18 (part 2)
“Thus, in the seventeenth chapter mentioned by Maspero, one finds (1) Osiris saying he is Toum (the creative force in nature, giving form to all Beings, spirits and men), self-generated and self-existent, issued from Noun , the celestial riv…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 19 (part 2)
“Without doubt, this one-sided mode of dealing with the problem is due largely to the pernicious Western practice of subordinating consciousness, or regarding it as a "by-product" of molecular motion.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 328 THE SECRET DOCTRI…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 23 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 368 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
[[This page continued from previous section ]] § VII.
THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF BRAHMA.
T HIS is the name given to the Periods called M ANVANTARA…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 23 (part 2)
“No computation of either the Four Ages, or the Manvantaras, has ever been unriddled by our very learned Orientalists, who have therefore cut the Gordian Knot by proclaiming the whole "a figment of the Brahmanical brain." So be it, and may t…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 23 (part 3)
“"Awaking at the end of his night, the unborn .
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creates the Universe anew.
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" ( Vishnu Purana.
) This is "incidental" pralaya; what is the Elemental Dissolution?
"When by dearth and fire," says Parasara to Maitreya, "all th…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 23 (part 4)
“In the Zohar we read as follows: -- "As Moses was keeping a vigil on Mount Sinai, in company with the deity, who was concealed from his sight by a cloud, he felt a great fear overcome him, and suddenly asked: 'Lord, where art thou .
.
.…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 23 (part 5)
“"It was rendered entirely desolate during twelve hours, as is written." It is in the Thirteenth (twice six and the Synthesis) that everything shall be restored "and the six will continue." Thus the author of the Qabbalah remarks quite truly…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 27 (part 3)
“Anger, my son, is the destruction of [[Vol.
1, Page]] 416 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
all that man obtains .
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and prevents the attainment of emancipation.
The sages shun wrath.
Be not thou, my child, subject to its influence.
Let not th…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 40 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 540 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
[[This page continued from previous section ]] ------- IX.
THE SOLAR THEORY.
A SHORT ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOUND AND SINGLE ELEMENTS OF SCIENCE A…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 40 (part 5)
“The precipitation has evidently not been effected at random , those molecules of the base being decomposed which happened to come in contact with a corresponding molecule of ammonia, for we have taken care that the liquids should be uniform…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 40 (part 6)
“, twice as fast; and thirdly, a motion at right angles to these two (suppose downwards), which, in its simplest form, would be with unvarying velocity.
If we project this figure in space we find on examination that the points of the curves…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 42 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 566 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
[[This page continued from previous section ]] XI.
ON THE ELEMENTS AND ATOMS.
FROM THE STAND-POINT OF SCIENCE AND THAT OF OCCULTISM.
W HEN th…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 47 (part 2)
“But it is not physical Science that we can ever ask to read man for us, as the riddle of the Past, or that of the Future; since no philosopher is able to tell us even what man is, as he is known both to physiology and psychology.
In doubt…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 47 (part 4)
“But spiritual Forces having been usually confused with the purely physical, the former are denied by, and therefore, have to remain unknown to Science, because left unexamined.* "The history of the World begins with its general aim," says H…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 52 (part 11)
“In Assyrian Ak meant Creator, the letter K pronounced Kh (Ah) gutturally.
According to Swedenborg's mysticism Adam was not a man but a church (?) of primitive light.
In the Vedas Ad -iti is the primitive light, the Akasa of the phenomenal…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 53 (part 11)
“They are never erring, perpetually recurring numbers, unveiling, to him who studies the secrets of Nature, a truly divine System, an intelligent plan in Cosmogony, which results in natural cosmic divisions of times, seasons, invisible influ…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 54 (part 3)
“It is those who are unable to create the spiritual immortal man, who project the senseless model (the Astral ) of the physical Being; and, as will be seen, it was those who would not multiply, who sacrificed themselves to the good and salva…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 73 (part 7)
“Says the crucified Titan: -- "And, portent past belief, the speaking oaks By which full clearly, in no riddling phrase Wast hailed as the illustrious spouse of Zeus .
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(v .
853).
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stroking thee With touc…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 74 (part 4)
“Gould, the well-known geologist, says: "Can we suppose that we have at all exhausted the great museum of nature?
Have we, in fact, penetrated yet beyond its antechambers?
Does the written history of man, comprising a few thousand years, e…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 75 (part 3)
“When Leverrier and Adams predicted a planet by calculation, it was gravely asserted in some quarters that the planet which had been calculated was not the planet but another which had clandestinely and improperly got into the neighbourhood…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 80 (part 7)
“As in the Chaldean Cosmogony of Berosus and the Stanzas just given, some treatises on the Kabala speak of creatures with two faces, some with four, and some with one face: for "the highest Adam did not come down in all the countries, or pro…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 81 (part 4)
“It is mankind which has become the "Serpent of Genesis," and thus causes daily and hourly the Fall and sin of the "Celestial Virgin" -- which thus becomes the Mother of gods and devils at one and the same time; for she is the ever-loving, b…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 86 (part 4)
“But this is a mystery which the writer dares not dwell upon at length, not being sure of being understood.
Thus the mystical side of the interpretation must be left to the intuition of the student.
Let us note one more thing in relation t…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 86 (part 5)
“Thot was the inventor of the Egyptian alphabet, and the letter tau closed the alphabets of the Jews and the Samaritans, who called this character the "end" or "perfection," "culmination" and "security." Thence -- Ragon tells us -- the words…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 88 (part 7)
“Furthermore, it is not only in the Hindu Scriptures and philosophy that one finds references to the Seven Earths, but in the Persian, Phoenician, Chaldean, and Egyptian Cosmogonies, and even in Rabbinical literature.
The Phoenix* -- called…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 88 (part 8)
“Kenealy believed that, in India, Karttikeya is the secret symbol of the cycle of Naros, composed of 600, 666, and 777 years, according to whether it is solar or lunar, divine or mortal, years that are counted; and the six visible, or the se…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 88 (part 9)
“183); the Arabs anciently divided the year into six seasons, each composed of two months; in the Chinese astronomical work called Kioo-tche, it is said that two moons make a measure of time, and six measures a year; and to this day the abor…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 88 (part 10)
“"If the fourth (paroxysm) be severe, and the fifth less so, the disease will end at the seventh paroxysm, and .
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change for the better .
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will be seen on the fourteenth day , [[footnote continued on following page]] [[Vol.
2, P…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 93 (part 4)
“Yet this Darwinian theory, correct as it is in minor particulars, agrees no more with Occultism than with Mr.
Wallace, who, in his "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection," shows pretty conclusively that something more than "natu…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 94 (part 6)
“Frederick Collingwood, F.R.S ., F.G.S ., 1864.
[[Vol.
2, Page]] 720 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
scientific hypothesis coupled to the recently adopted belief that there exists no "Vital principle" whatever, but only vital phenomena, which can al…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 94 (part 7)
“For this is what we learn from these works and others: -- (1) As we pass from Neolithic to Palaeolithic Man, the stone implements become, from gracefully shaped and polished instruments, rude lumbering makeshifts.
Pottery, etc., disappear…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 94 (part 10)
“And yet what do we find: -- "It is significant," says Sir W.
Dawson, F.R.S.
, "that Professor Huxley in his lectures in New York, while resting his case as to the lower animals, mainly on the supposed genealogy of the horse, which has oft…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 96 (part 3)
“It is well known that "the tongue of the AEgyptian Sea," or the Delta of lower Egypt, became firm land very gradually, and followed the highlands of Abyssinia; unlike the latter, which arose suddenly, comparatively speaking, it was very slo…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 96 (part 6)
“They are found in the Mediterranean basin; in Denmark (among the local tumuli from twenty-seven to thirty-five feet in height); in Shetland, and in Sweden, where they are called ganggriften (or tombs with corridors); in Germany, where they…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 97 (part 5)
“Ulysses belongs to the cycle of the heroes of the Fourth Race, and, though a "sage" in the sight of the latter, must have been a profligate in the opinion of the pastoral Cyclopes.**** His adventure with the latter -- a savage gigantic race…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 97 (part 7)
“He is born on the seventh of the month, and the swans of Myorica swim seven times around Delos singing that event; he is given seven chords to his Lyre -- the seven rays of the sun and the seven forces of nature.
But this only in the astro…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 97 (part 8)
“The Laplanders call their corpses to this day manee, ( Voyage de Renard en Laponie I., 184).
Mannus is the ancestor of the German race; the Hindu Manu, the thinking being, from man; the Egyptian Menes ; and Minos, the King of Crete, judge…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 98 (part 4)
“( Continental, not cosmic, catastrophes.) We learn from Plutarch that this was the theme of one of the hymns of Orpheus, so celebrated in the fabulous ages of Greece.
It was brought by him from the banks of the Nile; and we even find in hi…”
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The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter II (part 1)
“CHAPTER II THE SEVEN HERMETIC PRINCIPLES "The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these, understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before whose touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open."--The Kybalion.
The Seven Hermetic Principle…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter II (part 4)
“The Hermetists have grasped this Principle, finding its universal application, and have also discovered certain means to overcome its effects in themselves by the use of the appropriate formulas and methods.
They apply the Mental Law of Ne…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter IV (part 1)
“CHAPTER IV THE ALL "Under, and back of, the Universe of Time, Space and Change, is ever to be found The Substantial Reality--the Fundamental Truth."--The Kybalion.
"Substance" means: "that which underlies all outward manifestations; the es…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VI (part 4)
“So that if even these highest Beings, whose powers exceed even those attributed by men to their gods--if even these are bound by and are subservient to Law, then imagine the presumption of mortal man, of our race and grade, when he dares to…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 3)
“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 T…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VIII (part 6)
“Only those whose minds have been carefully trained along the lines of the Hermetic Philosophy for years--yes, those who have brought with them from other incarnations the knowledge acquired previously--can comprehend just what is meant by t…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XI (part 1)
“CHAPTER XI RHYTHM "Everything flows out and in; everything has its tides; all things 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 compensat…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XI (part 2)
“But the Hermetists carry the principle much further, and know that its manifestations and influence extend to the mental activities of Man, and that it accounts for the bewildering succession of moods, feelings and other annoying and perple…”
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