The principle of mentalism – “The All” is Mind; the Universe is Mental / is Consciousness.
The material and the phenomenal universe is a Mental Creation of “The All”, subject to the laws of created things. The universe has its existence in the Mind of “The All”. In this Mind we live, we move, and we have our being.
For the hermeticists “The All” is unknowable and indefinable. They consider all theories and speculations of theologians and metaphysicians about the inner nature of “The All”, efforts of the limited, mortal mind to understand the secret of the Infinite. Trying to understand this is like running in a wheel, running all the time and reaching nowhere, also risking losing yourself in the labyrinth of thought, losing any rationality. Those who tried to explain “The All” by attributing personality, qualities, properties and human characteristics, were equally erroneous.
Hermeticists make a distinction between Religion and Theology – between Philosophy and Metaphysics. Religion represents the intuitive realisation of the existence of “The All” and the relationship with it. Through Theology people try to attribute to “The All” personality, qualities and characteristics, creating their theories regarding the will, desires, plans and designs of “The All” and not lastly, through theology people assume the role of middleman between “The All” and humans.
Through Philosophy, people try to know those things that can be definable and cognisable. Metaphysics pushes the man for searching the knowledge and extending the understanding beyond the limits of the known. Into regions of the unknown and the unthinkable. Unfortunately, it keeps the same tendencies as theology.
Consequently, Religion and Philosophy have roots in Reality. At the same time, Theology and Metaphysics seem to be rooted in the quicksands of ignorance, offering nothing but the most insecure support for the human mind and soul.
And yet what is “The All”? Is it matter? Is it energy? Of course not! It’s Life and Mind! “The All” is “Infinite living mind”, it is Spirit.
Up to this point, I tried conveying the essence of this principle from a hermeneutic point of view. But in the end, the hermetic philosophers, who otherwise warn us what we are risking by getting captive in the running wheel of useless thoughts, themselves got in the running wheel of hollow philosophy, by trying to define the “indefinable” and to explain the “inexplicable”. I can only conclude that, within the limits of my (human) understanding, “The All” cannot be defined and explained, it can be experienced instead. Such an experience of “The All” is unique, individual and subjective. Thus an attempt to define and explain such an experience is in vain.
If these “three initiates” would have remained only by presenting the principles, without trying to explain the nothing, they would have proven to be wise. In attempting to define “The All”, they revealed nothing.
Tomorrow is following the second hermetic principle; the principle correspondence – “As above, so below”.
Have a magical Christmas Eve!
Source: Kybalion.org
24. December 2019 – text original by Diana