This is part of my series about the Seven Hermetic Principles and the 12 Universal Laws. Visit my post Diving into the Universal Laws and Hermetic Principles to find the links to all of the Laws and Principles.
We’ve made it to the last law, the Law of Oneness/Principle of Mentalism. There has been a lot of information thrown at you about these laws, but here is where they all tie together.
According to the Kybalion, The Principle of Mentalism is summed up simply. “THE ALL IS MIND; The Universe is Mental.”
The Kybalion goes onto explain what THE ALL is, but I’m going to break it down for you simply. “The All” is everything our minds can comprehend and everything it can’t. It’s this mental plane we’re on, where materials manifest into our realities, it’s the spiritual plane where souls go before and after life on this plane, it’s matter, it’s energy-it’s THE ALL. Don’t overthink it, just roll with it because there’s no reason to give yourself a headache trying to figure it out. Take this information in like the initial viewing of a Christopher Nolan film: interesting concept, but will definitely need another viewing or two to get a good grasp on.
This law is all about the mental aspect and how you play the game on the mental level. Imagine that the Earth is a giant simulation where we come to in order to learn lessons. Each religion believes that we all have a purpose here, as well as a place we go after we die, so no matter your beliefs you can still go on this imaginative journey with me.
In order to get the most out of our time on Earth, we need to be open to all possibilities and experiences it extends us. Remember, we’re essentially in a video game, so we can play in whatever way we want. However, in order to advance to the next level we need to learn lessons as well as apply them.
When you are a baby, you’re open to all kinds of things because you are a new player in this game. While sitting there in your crib, watching others move around you, you are “open” to the lesson of crawling so that you can also move around and see the world. Once you scoot your booty around on all fours, you decide to learn to walk in order to see even more. At this stage in life, our minds are fully open to anything and everything, so we take the information in around us, decide that it looks good and then go for it. Babies and kids level up fast until they reach a certain point, then limiting beliefs set in.
As we grow up, we are subjected to all kinds of beliefs and information around us that mold us into what we are. It happens to everyone, just in very different ways. We all reach a point in our lives where we realize that we either want to keep playing the game the way it’s been laid out for us, or we want to change it. It’s all up to you.
The biggest limit in this world, or simulation, is you-more specifically your mind and the thoughts it generates. Thoughts are a tricky thing. They walk a thin line between helpful and hurtful. We need these thoughts to function in everyday life, do our jobs, drive our cars and survive. However, those thoughts can also quickly fall down rabbit holes of fear, anxiety, self-doubt, you get the idea.
We’ve already talked about how our thoughts and emotions are energy, so we know we have to learn to transmute them so that we can control our vibrations that we are emitting. What we also need to do is shift our perception of what’s going on around us so that we can learn the lessons the Universe is sending our way to basically get to our next level. In order to truly start living in the Universe’s world, you have to be completely open to everything and step back and look at it from a perspective where it’s happening for you instead of to you.
It’s time to look at where the Universal Laws come into play. They are a guidebook on how to level up in this lifetime! By recognizing and using the Universal Laws in your everyday life, you are expanding the opportunities that are presented to you in this Earthly simulation. Exciting prospect, yes?
I’ll bet when we arrived at the Law of Oneness, you thought I was going to tell you this is where we need to sit around a campfire, talk about how much we need to love each other, and learn to accept the flaws in our fellow human beings? That’s what I originally thought when I saw the title of this law.
Guess what though, by gaining control of your mental game, emotions and changing your perception, you are still hitting the touchy-feely perspective of the Law of Oneness. That’s because when you learn to change your point of view, and look at everything as a lesson to learn and a potential for growth, instead of another thing you have to endure-the world opens up. So does your heart, but that’s another topic for another time.
I’ve already given you a lot of tips to flow with each of the laws, but here are a few more that I think encompass not only the Law of Oneness/Principle of Mentalism, but all of the laws. In fact, even though this is the last law we’ve talked about, it might not be a bad idea to start working with these tips right off the bat.
1. Don’t take anything personally. I’m borrowing this from the fantastic book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, because it’s such great advice and is life changing. He says, “Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.” Boom-mic drop!
It’s so easy to take things personally, but when you step back and realize that each person is running their own simulation, or playing their own video game of life-it’s easy to see that we are all really dealing with our own crap.
It’s part of the human experience to feel emotions brought on by ourselves and others, you just have to remember that it’s your job to deal with it. Other people can’t jump from their game to yours, so recognize the emotion, deal with it and move on. Blaming someone or holding onto resentment just holds you back from progress, or if you want to keep with the video game analogy, bonus points.
Assume good intent from everyone you meet, because most of the time people are not out to get you.
2. Adopt a mentality of neutrality. When you remain neutral to a situation, it’s much easier to deal with, obviously. It’s never great to have that pendulum of emotions swinging too much, since it messes with our vibrations. However, things are still going to push you to extreme levels of emotions. Maybe those emotions involve tears of anger, grief and despair, or they may be feelings of elation and hope.
Whichever way your emotional pendulum is swinging, try to step back and let it go for a moment. Recognizing your emotions and the lesson that the Universe is giving you at any given moment, is a gift. Having a neutral perspective will help you expand your awareness and level up faster.
3. Be vulnerable and open up. This feels counter intuitive, because I just compared each of our lives to an extremely advanced video game, but bear with me.
No matter how hard we try to be neutral, to not take things personally, to look at things from a different perspective, it sometimes feels impossible, because we are all human. One of the great and messy things about being human is that we can feel intense and soft emotions- sometimes simultaneously!
It’s impossible to live life happily all in your head, or all in your heart- there needs to be a balance, the in-between where the good stuff happens. Do not get hung up on mastering these laws. That is NOT the point. In the history of time, there may have been a handful of people who maybe, possibly could have mastered these laws. Life is not something to be mastered, it’s to be lived in the best way possible, experience and learn. Enjoy the journey, don’t get hung up on rescuing the princess/prince or getting the highest score.