LL is in All." The Teaching on this point is
emphatic. And, we may add the concluding words of the quotation: "To him
who truly understands this truth, hath come great knowledge."
CHAPTER VIII
PLANES OF CORRESPONDENCE
"As above, so below; as below, so above."--The Kybalion.
The great Second Hermetic Principle embodies the truth that there is a
harmony, agreement, and correspondence between the several planes of
Manifestation, Life and Being. This truth is a truth because all that is
included in the Universe emanates from the same source, and the same
laws, principles, and characteristics apply to each unit, or combination
of units, of activity, as each manifests its own phenomena upon its own
plane.
For the purpose of convenience of thought and study, the Hermetic
Philosophy considers that the Universe may be divided into three great
classes of phenomena, known as the Three Great Planes, namely:
1. The Great Physical Plane.
2. The Great Mental Plane.
3. The Great Spiritual Plane.
These divisions are more or less artificial and arbitrary, for the truth
is that all of the three divisions are but ascending degrees of the
great scale of Life, the lowest point of which is undifferentiated
Matter, and the highest point that of Spirit. And, moreover, the
different Planes shade into each other, so that no hard and fast
division may be made between the higher phenomena of the Physical and
the lower of the Mental; or between the higher of the Mental and the
lower of the Physical.
In short, the Three Great Planes may be regarded as three great groups
of degrees of Life Manifestation. While the purposes of this little book
do not allow us to enter into an extended discussion of, or explanation
of, the subject of these different planes, still we think it well to
give a general description of the same at this point.
At the beginning we may as well consider the question so often asked by
the neophyte, who desires to be informed regarding the meaning of the
word "Plane", which term has been very freely used, and very poorly
explained, in many recent works upon the subject of occultism. The
question is generally about as follows: "Is a Plane a place having
dimensions, or is it merely a condition or state?" We answer: "No, not a
place, nor ordinary dimension of space; and yet more than a state or
condition. It may be considered as a state or condition, and yet the
state or condition is a degree of
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