Quotes From The Kybalion Part 2

 But the Hermetic Teachings go much

further than do those of modern science.
They teach that all manifestation of
thought, emotion, reason, will or desire, or
any mental state or condition, are accom
panied by vibrations, a portion of which
are thrown off and which tend to affect the
minds of other persons by "induction."
This is the principle which produces the
phenomena, of "telepathy"; mental influence, and other forms of the action and
power of mind over mind, with which the
general public is rapidly becoming ac
quainted, owing to the wide dissemination
of occult knowledge by the various schools,
cults and teachers along these lines at this
time.

Every thought, emotion or mental state
has its corresponding rate and mode of
vibration. And by an effort of the will of
the person, or of other persons, these
mental states may be reproduced, just as a
musical tone may be reproduced by causing
an instrument to vibrate at a certain rate
—just as color may be reproduced in the
same way. By a knowledge of the Princi
ple of Vibration, as applied to Mental Phenomena, one may polarize his mind at any degree he wishes, thus gaining a perfect
control over his mental states, moods, etc.
In the same way he may affect the minds
of others, producing the desired mental
states in them. In short, he may be able
to produce on the Mental Plane that which
science produces on the Physical Plane—
namely, "Vibrations at Will." This power
of course may be acquired only by the
proper instruction, exercises, practice, etc.,
the science being that of Mental Transmu
tation, one of the branches of the Hermetic
Art.

A little reflection on what we have said
will show the student that the Principle of
Vibration underlies the wonderful phenom
ena of the power manifested by the Mas
ters and Adepts, who are able to appar
ently set aside the Laws of Nature, but
who, in reality, are simply using one law
against another; one principle against
others; and who accomplish their results
by changing the vibrations of material ob
jects, or forms of energy, and thus perform
what are commonly called "miracles."
As one of the old Hermetic writers has
truly said : ' ' He who understands the Prin-
cible of Vibration, has grasped the sceptre
of Power."

There is always an action and reaction;
an advance and a retreat; a rising and a
sinking; manifested in all of the airs and
phenomena of the Universe. Suns, worlds,
men, animals, plants, minerals, forces,
energy, mind and matter, yes, even Spirit,
manifests this Principle. The Principle
manifests in the creation and destruction
of worlds ; in the rise and fall of nations ;
in the life history of all things ; and finally
in the mental states of Man.

Suns spring into being, and then their height of power
being reached, the process of retrogression
begins, and after aeons they become dead
masses of matter, awaiting another im
pulse which starts again their inner ener
gies into activity and a new solar life cycle
is begun. And thus it is with all the
worlds ; they are born, grow and die ; only
to be reborn. And thus it is with all the
things of shape and form ; they swing from
action to reaction; from birth to death;
from activity to inactivity—and then back
again. Thus it is with all living things;
they are born, grow, and die—and then are
reborn. So it is with all great movements,
philosophies, creeds, fashions, govern
ments, nations, and all else—birth, growth,
maturity, decadence, death—and then new-
birth. The swing of the pendulum is ever
in evidence.

They discovered that there were two general planes
of Consciousness, the Lower and the
Higher, the understanding of which fact
enabled them to rise to the higher plane
and thus escape the swing of the Rhythmic
pendulum which manifested on the lower
plane. In other words, the swing of the
pendulum occurred on the Unconscious
Plane, and the Consciousness was not af
fected. This they call the Law of Neutrali
zation. Its operations consist in the rais
ing of the Ego above the vibrations of the
Unconscious Plane of mental activity, so
that the negative-swing of the pendulum is
not manifested in consciousness, and there
fore they are not affected. It is akin to
rising above a thing and letting it pass be

neath you. The Hermetic Master, or ad
vanced student, polarizes himself at the
desired pole, and by a process akin to
"refusing" to participate in the backward
swing, or, if you prefer, a "denial" of its
influence over him, he stands firm in his
polarized position, and allows the mental
pendulum to swing back along the uncon
scious plane. All individuals who have at
tained any degree of self-mastery, accom
plish this, more or less unknowingly, and
by refusing to allow their moods and nega
tive mental states to affect them, they
apply the Law of Neutralization. The
Master, however, carries this to a much
higher degree of proficiency, and by the
use of his Will he.attains a degree of Poise
and Mental Firmness almost impossible of
belief on the part of those who allow them
selves to be swung backward and forward
by the mental pendulum of moods and
feelings.

Rolling of a die

If a die be cast a great number of times,
it will be found that the numbers shown
will be about equal, that is, there will be
an equal number of one-spot, two-spot, etc.,
coming uppermost. Toss a penny in the
air, and it may come down either "heads"

or "tails"; but make a sufficient number
of tosses, and the heads and tails will about
even up. This is the operation of the law
of average. But both the average and the
single toss come under the Law of Cause
and Effect, and if we were able to examine
into the preceding causes, it would be
clearly seen that it was simply impossible
for the die to fall other than it did, under
the same circumstances and at the same
time. Given the same causes, the same re
sults will follow. There is always a
"cause" and a "because" to every event.
Nothing ever "happens" without a cause,
or rather a chain of causes.

No

event "creates" another event, but is
merely a preceding link in the great orderly
chain of events flowing from the creative
energy of THE ALL. There is a contin
uity between all events precedent, conse
quent and subsequent. There is a relation
existing between everything that has gone
before, and everything that follows. A
stone is dislodged from a mountain side
and crashes through a roof of a cottage in
the valley below. At first sight we regard
this as a chance effect, but when we exam
ine the matter we find a great chain of
causes behind it. In the first place there
was the rain which softened the earth sup
porting the stone and which allowed it to
fall ; then back of that was the influence of
the sun, other rains, etc., which gradually
disintegrated the piece of rock from a
larger piece; then there were the causes
which led to the formation of the mountain,
and its upheaval by convulsions of nature,
and so on ad infinitum. Then we might fol
low up the causes behind the rain, etc.

Every thought we think, every act
we perform, has its direct and indirect results which fit into the great chain of Cause
and Effect.

The majority of people are more or less
the slaves of heredity, environment, etc.,
and manifest very little Freedom. They
are swayed by the opinions, customs and
thoughts of the outside world, and also by
their emotions, feelings, moods, etc. They
manifest no Mastery, worthy of the name.
They indignantly repudiate this assertion,
saying, "Why, I certainly am free to act
and do as I please—I do just what I want
to do," but they fail to explain whence
arise the "want to" and "as I please."
What makes them "want to" do one thing
in preJerence to another ; what makes them
"please" to do this, and not do that? Is
there no "because" to their "pleasing"
and "wanting"? The Master can change
these "pleases" and "wants" into others
at the opposite end of the mental pole. He
is able to "Will to will," instead of to will
because some feeling, mood, emotion, or
environmental suggestion arouses a tend
ency or desire within him so to do.

The majority of people are carried along
like the falling stone, obedient to environ
ment, outside influences and internal
moods, desires, etc., not to speak of the
desires and wills of others stronger than
themselves, heredity, environment, and
suggestion, carrying them along without
resistence on their part, or the exercise of
the Will. Moved like the pawns on the
checkerboard of life, they play their parts
and are laid aside after the game is over.
But the Masters, knowing the rules of the
game, rise above the plane of material life,
and placing themselves in touch with the
higher powers of their nature, dominate
their own moods, characters, qualities, and
polarity, as well as the environment sur
rounding them and thus become Movers in
the game, instead of Pawns—Causes in
stead of Effects. The Masters do not
escape the Causation of the higher planes,
but fall in with the higher laws, and thus
master circumstances on the lower plane.
They thus form a conscious part of the
Law, instead of being mere blind instru
ments. While they Serve on the Higher
Planes, they Rule on the Material Plane.

But, on higher and on lower, the Law
is always in operation. There is no such
things as Chance. The blind goddess has
been abolished by Reason. We are able to
see now, with eyes made clear by knowl
edge, that everything is governed by Uni
versal Law—that the infinite number of
laws are but manifestations of the One
Great Law—the LAW which is THE ALL.
It is true indeed that not a sparrow drops
unnoticed by the Mind of THE ALL—that
even the hairs on our head are numbered—
as the scriptures have said. There is noth
ing outside of Law; nothing that happens
contrary to it. And yet, do not make the
mistake of supposing that Man is but a
blind automaton—far from that. The Her
metic Teachings are that Man may use
Law to overcome laws, and that the higher
will always prevail against the lower, until
at last he has reached the stage in which
he seeks refuge in the LAW itself, and
laughs the phenomenal laws to scorn. Are
you able to grasp the inner meaning of
this?

There is this dual aspect in the mind of every person. The
"I" represents the Masculine Principle of
Mental Gender—the "Me" represents the
Female Principle. The "I" represents the
Aspect of Being; the "Me" the Aspect of
Becoming. You will notice that the Prin
ciple of Correspondence operates on this
plane just as it does upon the great plane
upon which the creation of Universes is
performed. The two are similar in kind,
although vastly different in degree. "As
above, so below; as below, so above.'"
These aspects of mind—the Masculine
and Feminine Principles—the "I" and the
"Me"—considered in connection with the
well-known mental and psychic phenomena,
give the master-key to these dimly known
regions of mental operation and manifesta
tion. The principle of Mental Gender gives
the truth underlying the whole field of the
phenomena of mental influence, etc.

Are not the majority of persons mere shadows and echoes of others
having stronger wills or minds than them
selves? The trouble is that the average
person dwells almost altogether in his
"Me" consciousness, and does not realize
that he has such a thing as an "I." He is
polarized in his Feminine Principle of
Mind, and the Masculine Principle, in
which is lodged the Will, is allowed to re
main inactive and not employed.

The strong men and women of the world
invariably manifest the Masculine Princi
ple of Will, and their strength depends
materially upon this fact. Instead of liv
ing upon the impressions made upon their
minds by others, they dominate their own
minds by their Will, obtaining the kind of
mental images desired, and moreover dom
inate the minds of others likewise, in the
same manner.

The manifestation of Mental Gender may
be noticed all around us in everyday life.
The magnetic persons are those who are
able to use the Masculine Principle in the
way of impressing their ideas upon others.
The actor who makes people weep or cry
as he wills, is employing this principle. v
And so is the successful orator, statesman,
preacher, writer or other people who are
before the public attention. The peculiar
influence exerted by some people over oth
ers is due to the manifestation of Mental
Gender, along the Vibratorial lines above
indicated. In this principle lies the secret
of personal magnetism, personal influence,
fascination, etc., as well as the phenomena
generally grouped under the name of Hyp
notism.

The student who has familiarized him
self with the phenomena generally spoken
of as "psychic" will have discovered the
important part played in the said phenom
ena by that force which science has styled
"Suggestion," by which term is meant the
process or method whereby an idea is
transferred to, or "impressed upon" the
mind of another, causing the second mind
to act in accordance therewith. A correct
understanding of Suggestion is necessary
in order to intelligently comprehend the
varied psychical phenomena which Sugges
tion underlies. But, still more is a knowl
edge of Vibration and Mental Gender nec
essary for the student of Suggestion. For
the whole principle of Suggestion depends
upon the principle of Mental Gender and
Vibration.

Nothing escapes the Principle of Cause
and Effect, but there are many Planes of
Causation, and one may use the laws of
the higher to overcome the laws of the
lower."—The Kybalion.
By an understanding of the practice of
Polarization, the Hermetists rise to a
higher plane of Causation and thus coun
ter-balance the laws of the lower planes of
Causation. By rising above the plane of
ordinary Causes they become themselves,
in a degree, Causes instead of being merely
Caused. By being able to master their
own moods and feelings, and by being able
to neutralize Rhythm, as we have already
explained, they are able to escape a great
part of the operations of Cause and Effect
on the ordinary plane. The masses of peo
ple are carried along, obedient to their en
vironment ; the wills and desires of others
stronger than themselves; the effects of
inherited tendencies; the suggestions of
those about them; and other outward
causes ; which tend to move them about on
the chess-board of life like mere pawns.

By rising above these influencing causes,
the advanced Hermetists seek a higher
plane of mental action, and by dominating
their moods, emotions, impulses and feel
ings, they create for themselves new char
acters, qualities and powers, by which
they overcome their ordinary environment,
and thus become practically players in
stead of mere Pawns. Such people help
to play the game of life understanding^,
instead of being moved about this way
and that way by stronger influences and
powers and wills. They use the Principle
of Cause and Effect, instead of being used
by it. Of course, even the highest are sub
ject to the Principle as it manifests on the
higher planes, but on the lower planes of
activity, they are Masters instead of
Slaves. As The Kybalion says:

"The wise ones serve on the higher, but
rule on the lower. They obey the laws
coming from above them, but on their own
plane, and those below them, they rule and
give orders. And, yet, in so doing, they
form a part of the Principle, instead of
opposing it. The wise man falls in with
the Law, and by understanding its move
ments he operates it instead of being its
blind slave. Just as does the skilled swim
mer turn this way and that way, going
and coming as he will, instead of being as
the log which is carried here and there—
so is the wise man as compared to the or
dinary man—and yet both swimmer and
log; wise man and fool, are subject to
Law. He who understands this is well on
the road to Mastery." - The Kybalion.