Introduction
Mankind has dwelt upon the very subject of its own existence and of existence itself in every culture at any time period. This lies in the fact that we are well aware of our individualities and the separation between within and without, as we receive, feel and think about the information that our sensatory organs probe in the world. In modern mainstream western culture, science and philosophies seem to be solely focused on the material realm. The domination of the neo-liberal system worldwide and the exponential growth of the use of technique and technology in an industrial manner has deteriorated the global fascination of realities beyond the material senses, and set up a secularizing, atheistic, materialistic and nihilistic ideology in the minds of individuals being born and raised “normally” today.
A quote by Rudolf Steiner (whose will was to bring about a scientific understanding of the spiritual realities, and put it to practical use in our lives) illustrates this perfectly:
“What must be emphasized over and over again is the need there is today for things to be taken with deep seriousness. This goes against the grain. People choose to believe that things will continue in the same way. No, they will not.
If life continues without the stimuli that come from the spiritual world, industry can go on, banks can be in existence and universities where all the sciences are taught, other professions can be developed — but everything will lead to decadence, to barbarism, to the fall of civilization.
Those who are not willing to apply in practical life what can come out of Spiritual Science are working, not for ascent but for decline. And the majority of people today want decline and simply delude themselves into the belief that an ascent can still come out of it.”[1]
Whatever one may think of Steiner’s “Spiritual Science”, his conviction to take “things with deep seriousness” and his inner impulse to create a scientific understanding of the “spiritual” realms is an ever more existential urgency almost a hundred years later.
Shining light on the link between science, spirituality, theology and psychology by understanding esoterism seems to be the most important endeavor in regards to present-day concerns and my personal volition, as to help bring about a paradigm shift in all fields of knowledge. Stemming from the understanding that consciousness is the primary essence of the universe, and that what lies behind matter can be grasped from within, thus a deep understanding of our inner structure is needed for us humans to dwell in the material realm in peace and harmony. We, as an extensively networked civilization, have to shift our focus from exploiting the material realm and resources to developing our inner gardens, following the ancient Greek aphorism “Know thyself” as a collective.
The science in Esotericism
The book the Kybalion was written by “Three Initiates”, wishing to remain anonymous as to put the focus on the information not the authors. I imagine it was also done to give it an even more esoteric “aura”. The principles laid down in the Kybalion are said to come from the mythical figure of Thoth in ancient Egypt.
The hermetic tradition took its roots mostly in the Renaissance with the translation of the Corpus Hermeticum and Hermetica, referring to a perennial philosophy passed down throughout the ages.
“All the fundamental and basic teachings embedded in the esoteric teachings of every race may be traced back to Hermes. Even the most ancient teachings of India undoubtedly have their roots in the original Hermetic Teachings” – the Kybalion[2]
“From the land of the Ganges many advanced occultists wandered to the land of Egypt, and sat at the feet of the Master. From him they obtained the Master-Key which explained and reconciled their divergent views, and thus the Secret Doctrine was firmly established.” – The Kybalion
This prisca theologia is said to be the first Science from which all Sciences stem from. It thus could potentially serve as a “master key” to “reconcile the paradoxes” of the different perspectives of reality that each individual has, and which each culture has had. It could serve as a structure to bring about a syncretism between all Sciences and all Spiritual and Esoteric paths, as well as enable them be grasped by each other.
I will solely focus on the first principle for this article, but I would like to study the other ones as well.
“I. THE PRINCIPLE OF MENTALISM. “THE ALL is MIND; The Universe is Mental.”–The Kybalion. This Principle embodies the truth that “All is Mind.” It explains that THE ALL (which is the Substantial Reality underlying all the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of “The Material Universe”; the “Phenomena of Life”; “Matter”; “Energy”; and in short, all that is apparent to our material senses) is SPIRIT, which in itself is UNKNOWABLE and UNDEFINABLE, but which may be considered and thought of as AN UNIVERSAL, INFINITE, LIVING MIND.” – The Kybalion
The principle emphasizes on the fact that existence itself is contained within the “Mind of THE ALL”, postulating Spirit as the fundamental substance (prima materia) of the universe. The “All is Mind” refers to the philosophy of monism and exposes the link between every part of the “All” as consciousness or mental substance. Thus, the first “master key” of this “hermetic philosophy” that could link all different perspectives together, seems to be the cause of the holistic effect it says it has. Monism indeed unifies in a whole through the understanding that the fabric of everything is the mental substance of creation.
“The acceptance of the First Hermetic Principle is the only great point of difference between Modern Science and Hermetic students, and Science is gradually moving toward the Hermetic position in its groping in the dark for a way out of the Labyrinth into which it has wandered in its search for Reality.” – The Kybalion
This is a particularly interesting quote since this article is designed to show that the gap between science and hermetic truths is being breached and that the scientific and academic fields urgently need to take into consideration the perspectives of esotericism and spirituality.
The Kybalion seems to be a book about a kind of “mystic science” that deals not with facts and numbers but maxims and aphorisms that lead to intuitive and symbolically derived understandings. This should not be taken lightlyn for many scholars have been dwelling upon those very subjects, which used to be considered as sacred doctrines and wisdom and sprout forth magnificent civilizations. It is a matter of justice and truth then, than to reestablish the legacy of the knowledge and understanding of Esoterism and particularly the Hermetic teachings of the mythical figure of Thoth.
The Esoterism in Science
What I find most interesting is that around the time the Kybalion was published, the scientific field was undergoing a great paradigm shift with the birth of quantum physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity. With regards to the philosophical axioms exposed in the Kybalion, it is fascinating read what some of the most prominent scientific minds believe and understand about reality.
Max Planck is considered to be the father of the quantum theory. Near the end of his life, this is what he had to say as a scientist about matter and science:
“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.” [3]
The most “clear-headed” science thus reaches back to ancient wisdom.
“…I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” [4]
“Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”[5]
One of the most influential minds of the most clear-headed science thus indicates that science itself is limited by the fact that “we ourselves are part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” Our material senses and our bodies, which are probes in the material world for our consciousness, will never be able to escape from their own limitations by themselves.
Thus, the focus for “solving the ultimate mystery of nature” needs to be shifted within ourselves. We will never be able to evolve or find “ultimate answers” from the material, but from understanding and evolving our own consciousness. As the Delphi axiom says: “Know thyself”.
Since we are but manifestation of consciousness pondering about itself, knowing ourselves from within may enable us to grasp with greater depth that which matter stems from, for we are made of it.
Modern day quantum physicists are researching the theory the Holographic Universe. Here is a quote explaining the theory by analogy:
« Imagine that everything you see, feel, and hear in three dimensions (and your perception of time) in fact emanates from a flat two-dimensional field. The idea is similar to that of ordinary holograms, where a three-dimensional image is encoded in a two-dimensional surface, such as in the hologram on a credit card. However, this time, the entire Universe is encoded. »[6]
This Holographic Universe theory gives to every part of the material realm the quality of being “the All within the All” or “One in All and All in One”, because that is how a hologram works. By reaching to the end of the universe with telescopes, or breaking down atoms at the CERN, quantum physicists as well as ancient hermetic wisdom tell us that we will only be able to explain it through consciousness. Grasping this fact would make us recognize ourselves as the most free, complete and responsible expression of this hologram.
The two-dimensional field isn’t far from “the Substantial Reality underlying all the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of “The Material Universe”; the “Phenomena of Life”; “Matter”; “Energy”; and in short, all that is apparent to our material senses” postulated by the Kybalion.
It is also very similar to the “world of Ideas” of Plato. According to Neville Goddard, a prominent metaphysicist and mystic, the “Mind” of the All is ever-present for us in the form of the human Mind and Imagination: “The mouth of God is the Mind of Man.”. The material world is but a collective plane in which we can physically dwell, but which is a part of the great “Imagination” of the “All”, its substance is mental.
Roger Penrose, a famous mathematical physicist, said this about the evolution of our way of perceiving matter in the scientific realm: “…the contemporary understanding of material is very different now from the way it used to be. If we consider what matter really is, we now understand it as much more of a mathematical thing…But I think that matter itself is now much more of a mental substance…” [7]
This is fascinating in regards to the fact that the Kybalion exposes the first and most important principle of the Hermetic tradition as “The Universe is Mental.”
There is also a very interesting connection to make with the Kabbalah or the Book of Zohar, the esoteric wisdom of the Jewish tradition:
“We see a great world before us, and all the wondrous things it contains. But in fact, we see all that, only within us. In other words, there is a kind of photographic machine in the back of our brain, which portrays everything that we see, and there is nothing outside of us!”
–Baal HaSulam, Preface to the Book of Zohar[8]
The hermetic teachings seem to be related to the Book of Zohar for they both talk about the structure of the universe. The “Holographic Universe” scientific theory seems to fit perfectly with those teachings. “There is nothing outside of us”, this can be interpreted as the theory that the “projected 3D material realm” actually is contained within the “two-dimensional” field that birthed it. If that is the case, as we are focused and fascinated by the material realm, we are but the two-dimensional field experiencing itself in a 3d fashion. And there are traditions that have focused specifically on what lies beyond matter, and what we are composed of. We now have the necessary scientific background to understand that Kabbalists, Alchemists and many ancient traditions were not talking about ungraspable concepts and incomprehensible things.
Personal composition: Marrying the opposites, an illustration of the syncretism between science and esotericism, in an effort to shine light on the need to create a Spiritual Science.
The Kabbalah is an esoteric view of reality, the manifestation of Ein Sof from Kether to Malkuth as well as the ever-present structure of the Sephiroths in every part of existence. The “manifestation of creation from higher realms” that the scientists are decoding through mathematics and physics has been investigated for millennia by philosophers and sages. The Zohar and the Hermetic tradition are but examples of many, and are only perspectives fathomed by geographic location and time periods, by culture and by the uniqueness of the individuals who linked ideas together by pondering on structural truths across the ages in my opinion.
Thus, we can foresee a future birthing of a contemporary understanding of the prisca theologia, and strive to be very well versed in the history of ideas across the different cultures to bring about a global structure.
An idealistic neo-hermetic philosophy could perform a syncretism between all cultures, theologies, cosmogonies, arts, philosophies, sciences through the spectrum of monism and consciousness as fundamental substance of the universe, expressing itself in different planes and shapes and colors.
Science is focused on Malkuth, the material world, and is stemming from material techniques, whereas other traditions understand that there are different planes to investigate other than the material, and the human being is composed of all of them and can navigate in understanding through them from within.
I will point out the fact that the title of the article from which I took the quote of the Preface to the Book of Zohar is “All in One and One in All”.
Apparently, quantum physicists are very well versed in the lecture of “ancient wisdom”, particularly the Vedanta:
“Vedanta teaches that consciousness is singular, all happenings are played out in one universal consciousness and there is no multiplicity of selves.” – Erwin Schrödinger[9]
I haven’t researched the teachings of the Vedanta, but they as well as other Eastern tradition like Zoroastrianism are most likely a great part of the thread followed by the mythical prisca theologia that the history of western esotericism need to shine a light upon, since it seems to be intrinsically linked to Hermetic teachings.
Both of the scientists that I have quoted are considered to be the fathers of the quantum theory. Does this stem from the fact that they both also seem to be educated in ancient wisdom?
I have found this quote around the internet, but couldn’t identify a reliable source. “Schrodinger (1961) claims that the Vedic slogan “All in One and One in All” was an idea that led him to the creation of quantum mechanics.”
If it is the case, then it is (another) historical proof of the utmost importance to give credit to ancient wisdom for giving “master-keys” of understanding to our most prominent scientific minds. There is a structural necessity in my opinion to shine light upon the “formerly hidden secrets of occult knowledge” for they may sprout forth a structural basis for new paradigms to be born in many fields.
If the hermetic principles, teachings of the Vedanta and of the book of Zohar correlate so much with each other and the most recent findings in physics, it is time to provide a definite syncretism of the traditions of ancient wisdom through the spectrum of monism and hermeticism, and to finally consider them as profound key to unlock new perspectives for our contemporary minds that are blind to subtle realms.
Studying the structure of the next paradigm
As we have seen, mystical figures of wisdom as well as scientific geniuses dwell on the same ideas about consciousness. Consciousness ponders about itself, and whether it be philosophical or scientific in its quest for understanding, it will always reach itself, only in different degrees. As the archetypal figure of the Ouroboros shows, the snake bites its own tail. Consciousness is contained within consciousness, thus even by trying to break up all the bricks of the material realm, which can be considered as a dense manifestation of consciousness; we will always find consciousness behind it. We will always find ourselves.
Through this understanding, we can now shine a light upon Carl Gustav Jung’s work and personal will to make Psychology or the Study of Consciousness the link between all fields, birthing a new paradigm. As we are consciousness pondering about itself, it is a matter of true urgency to go as deep with our understanding of consciousness within the psyche of Man than we have gone with the paradigm shift of quantum physics with matter. There hasn’t been a “quantum psychology” acknowledged as a new fundamental paradigm shift, but Carl Gustav Jung has brought about many new understandings and a solid esoteric foundation for the science of the psyche.
In my opinion, the Kybalion as well as the work of Rudolf Steiner and C.G. Jung need to be studied with utmost attention from the academic realm, for they contain a tremendous amount of knowledge that stem from a grasping from within of principles that are structural to the structure of consciousness and its manifestation in our material and immaterial existence.
Of course, all of them are but individual expressions of the grasping of those structures, which have been grasped for thousands of years and re-expressed and recomposed over time until now and will ever be.
Today, we have the opportunity to make a great syncretism between what used to be “sacred wisdom” with the most recent scientific discoveries.
As the quantum physicist and Nobel Prize receiver Wolfgang Pauli said: “I do not believe in the possible future of mysticism in the old form. However, I do believe that the natural sciences will out of themselves bring forth a counter pole in their adherents, which connects with the old mystic elements.”[10]
By making a strong stand with academic rigor on the link between Science and Esotericism or Spirituality, we may reduce the gap between what is occult and what is not to an exponential extent. Esotericism ponders about what lies beyond the material senses. Since that is consciousness, the hermetic axioms as well as the whole of theology and esoteric traditions will be rediscovered anyway by science, and grasped with a deeper understanding within the materialist frame.
We are seeking the essence from the material senses through the material realm, but as we have seen, the 3d reality stems from the “two-dimensional field” or “Spirit” or “world of Ideas” or “Imagination” which is consciousness itself, and which is every present and underlying in the material realm.
Thus by studying ourselves directly as subtler manifestations of consciousness than dense matter, we shall reach new and greater understanding. By studying human imagination, different states of consciousness (with meditation and psychedelics for example) and especially through direct experience from scientists, we may bring about an exponential evolution of our collective understanding of human nature and the existential questions of our species.
The paradigm shift in global civilization may stem from the fact that we acknowledge our responsibility as expressions of consciousness within consciousness, and the monistic reality of our “holographic universe”.
Socrates said according to Diogenes Laertius: “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
Then one may hope that, as our culture rests not upon religion and faith anymore but on science and materialism, the very fact that we have disregarded religion will come to a paradigm shift with the understanding that theology, esotericism, age old philosophies and cosmogonies were talking all along about the most prominent scientific discoveries that we make today, just in a different fashion, with a symbolic, intuitive, imaginative or archetypal viewpoint.
One would want to pave the way for such a paradigm shift by marrying the opposites of science and spirituality, in order to help bring about a new “Spiritual Science” stemming from radical empiricism and openness to new discoveries. Cognitive science, psychedelics, hermeticism, C.G. Jung’s work as well as Rudolf Steiner’s and many other age-old and modern teachings, are to me very good resources to build a practical understanding of how consciousness can be refined and transformed from within.
This will enable us to evolve as a global civilization with a new paradigm on which to stand, one that may integrate a greater part of the whole than all previous civilizations. Hans Peter-Dürr is a quantum physicist who was really engaged in ecology and world peace. He held a particular belief about reincarnation :
“You are 78 years old. Do you believe in afterlife? Is there existence after death? Professor Dürr: “That is an interesting question. What we consider the here and now, this world, it is actually just the material level that is comprehensible. The beyond is an infinite reality that is much bigger. Which this world is rooted in. In this way, our lifes in this plane of existence are encompassed, surrounded, by the afterworld already. When planning I imagine that I have written my existence in this world on a sort of hard drive on the tangible (the brain), that I have also transferred this data onto the spiritual quantum field, then I could say that when I die, I do not lose this information, this consciousness. The body dies but the spiritual quantum field continues. In this way, I am immortal. “ – (P.M. Magazin 05/2007) “
This quote is an example of a kind of Spiritual Science that can stem from radical empiricism. Marrying a scientific mindset with a study of mystical philosophies seems to produce the kind of structure that our global species can rest its culture upon. It also shines light upon the fact that many ancient cultures focused on “other realms” and it will eventually give a greater understanding of their mindset, as well as a respect for all cultures, and all life.
Conclusion
There are tremendous amounts of fallacies in our global system as a civilization, in all fields of human endeavors, which are producing debilitating results for the evolution of our species in my opinion. It is of utmost importance in regards to present-day matters to be engaged in “marrying the opposites” of science and spirituality and/or esotericism.
As quantum physicists have brought about a paradigm shift in physics, a global paradigm shift in human civilization is on its way any way with the unstoppable progress of science and technique. This needs to be greeted with great wisdom and forecasting in my opinion, because we may evolve so rapidly in our scientific discoveries that our own immature evolutionary state as conscious beings would condemn us to be overwhelmed and “eaten by our own children”.
We cannot stand silent in front of the hidden “war” undergoing between the race in material scientific discoveries fueled by the neo-liberalist system, and the invisible conquest and cartography of the spiritual or mental realms that has been practiced for thousands of years, and is today invisible in our mainstream culture.
As long as our contemporary civilization will put aside Esotericism, there cannot be a balance in my opinion, because it is the link with the lost Nachtseite of nature by using C.G. Jung’s lexicon. If one individual’s individuation process stems from “marrying the opposites”, the unconscious and shadow parts of the self, then we can correlate this globally to the human civilization and understand the fact that as long as we do not recognize our own “shadow”, we will not be whole and there will be conflict.
As we are consciously recognizing our inner structure and the structure of the Earth and the Universe we dwell in, we will eventually reach a shift in paradigm as to recognize the truths of ancient wisdom in the light of contemporary science, and derive practical uses of these in order to allow each individual to grow in depth of understanding without any limit whatsoever, for the evolution of consciousness seem to be infinite and only narrowed by our own lack of understanding.
As cultures evolve, so will our understanding and our intellectual production of knowledge, from which new understandings and practices will stem from. This has been the case since the beginning of information exchange. It is my personal will to make a stand on the fact that we need to marry the spiritual and the scientific in all fields of knowledge and in culture in general, in order to bring about new practices that do not continue the infernal cycles that humanity has dealt with/ the mistakes of the contemporary age.
Monism, the “All” as “Living Mind”, consciousness as fundamental mental substance of the holographic universe, these understandings seem to be a basis on which the new paradigm may rest upon. Thus, psychology or cognitive sciences will be the link between all sciences and arts as well as spirituality, for they deal with the most fundamental substance of the universe in its most subtle form: our own consciousness.
[1] Rudolf Steiner – GA 202 – The Search for the New Isis, Divine Sophia – Lecture IV – Dornach, 26th December 1920
[2] The Kybalion, 1908 – http://www.hermetics.org/pdf/kybalion.pdf
[3] – Das Wesen der Materie [The Nature of Matter], speech at Florence, Italy (1944)
[4] The Observer, London, January 25, 1931
[5] Where is Science Going? 1932
[6] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170130083231.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmost_popular+(Most+Popular+News+–+ScienceDaily)
[7] Journal of Consciousness Studies 1:24
[8] http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/58953?/eng/content/view/full/58953&main
[9] – Mein Leben, meine Weltansicht [My Life, My Worldview or My View of the World] (1961)
[10] Deciphering the Cosmic Number: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung
Arthur I. Miller – W. W. Norton & Company, May 17, 2010 – 336 pages
Qilin Egostasie 